Hey, I'm finally updating! And we're celebrating because this is my longest chapter by 3 whole pages (I have no clue how many words that is)! Mm-hm. It's amazing, because this was the hardest chapter to write. I had serious writer's block, which is why I didn't update sooner. Actually, I didn't update very quickly because I had Girls Camp-which sucked, by the way- but now I'm back, so we're all happy. Or, at least I am. And, you guys- PLEASE review! I need your reviews, because like I said, I have REALLY BAD writer's block. I need ideas! Okay, I'll get on with the story now.

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The next few days passed slowly, with nothing out of the ordinary. Or rather, with everything out of the ordinary. But, if everything is out of the ordinary, doesn't that make everything ordinary?

To sum it up, the flock was falling apart. Angel spent her time with other young Hunter girls, wandering through the village doing who-knows-what; Gazzy refused to leave the hut, saying that the tiger people looked at him strangely; Nudge spent all her time with a group of Hunters- all guys, because there were no teen girls- ranging from ten years old to my age; Iggy was having a hard time getting used to the new environment, now that there were so many noises; Fang spent all his time alone in the jungle, coming back only for sleep, and even then he avoided everyone, but he especially shunned me; and my new best friend was Josh, although Talon was sometimes included in whatever we were doing at the time.

We had been with the Hunters for a week now and I had a very strong urge to get my flock out of here. But how? They all seemed so much happier now that we were with other 'experiments.' Well, not all. Fang, Iggy, and the Gasman were pretty moody, and I wasn't exactly ecstatic. But Angel and Nudge were both having the time of their lives. Okay, two out of four liked it here, So, why hadn't we gone?

It couldn't have anything to do with a certain striped fifteen year old boy.

"Max!" I heard a now-familiar voice call.

Turning around, I replied, "Hey, Josh. What's up?"

"Do you want to go to the Oasis?"

The Oasis. I smiled as I remembered the alluring clearing in the forest. I had gone there with Josh about five times a day, every day, and I still couldn't get enough.

"Yeah," I told him. "Of course." Pulling myself off of the ground in front of our guest hut, I followed Josh to the edge of the woods.

As we started walking through the jungle, I went back to my meditation. After I had freaked out in the forest, it had been hard to explain what had happened. I felt myself frown as I remembered the conversation with Josh.

"Hey, Max. Are you okay?" I looked up at Josh and, after glancing at Fang's closed door, nodded. Immediately understanding that we had to be quiet, Josh whispered, "Do you want to talk?" When I glanced at him, exasperated, he quickly added, "Outside?"

Hesitantly, I stood up and walked over. Josh pulled the hut's door open and let me step out into the radiant sunlight. After a minute of silence, Josh asked, "So, what happened?"

I turned to him, trying to stop the tears that I knew could fall at any second. "I just…" I paused, not knowing what to say to him. "I'm sorry, but, I saw Fang and, I guess I freaked."

"Fang?" he asked. "What was Fang doing there?"

"I don't know- I mean, I guess he followed us, but-"

"Why would he follow us?"

"I don't know!" I whispered shrilly. "Okay? I don't know." I took a deep breath, saw that Josh was still waiting for an explanation, and decided to continue. "I just saw Fang, and it's really complicated, but I had to follow him."

"Well, you were moving pretty fast, so I'm going to guess that he was running too. I don't know exactly why he followed us, but I want you to tell me if my theory is right. Okay?" He paused, waiting for my answer. I slowly nodded. "Alright, so Fang followed us, saw us kissing, and he freaked out. So he ran away, and you had to follow him and make sure he hadn't gotten the wrong idea because he's part of your flock."

I nodded again, analyzing his assumption. "But Max, if you were trying to make sure that Fang hadn't gotten the wrong idea, what's the right idea?"

I paused. What had I been trying to do? Fang had been my best friend for most of my life, and lately he had been even more; then Josh had come, and what was he now?

Thoughts floated through my brain, jumping out of my grasp every time I caught a glimpse of them. I knew something was happening, but I couldn't understand what. "I don't know," I whispered almost inaudibly.

I slowly looked up at Josh, watching his green eyes study me as he tried to understand. He moved forward hesitantly, and wrapped his arms around me, enveloping me in a tight hug. I let my head rest on his shoulder and he whispered, "It's okay, Max. If you don't want anything to happen with us, it won't happen. It's fine." I felt a small smile lift my lips as I realized he was willing to wait for me. Maybe things would be fine.

As we made our way through the jungle, I studied the boy in front of me. His lazy yet quick walk accentuated the fluid movements of his limbs. Broad shoulders and medium brown hair made him look stocky, although from the side he was incredibly tall and thin. Josh looked back and smiled at me, letting me get a good look at his face while I smiled back. His teeth were as sharp as ever, and anyone could see he was a born predator. The stripes decorating his tanned skin went straight across his eyes- those bright cat eyes.

Then I noticed he had caught me staring, and I immediately stopped, looking away with a blush. But as soon as he turned away, I felt myself staring again. I couldn't help it. Because somewhere inside of me I was still hoping things would work for us.

When we finally reached the Oasis, we sat next to each other in companionable silence. Slowly, I felt a wall of tension form around us. Although I kept my head forward, I watched Josh through my peripheral view. He sat stiffly, his jaw strained. I watched his lips open and slam shut a few times and realized he wanted to say something.

Assuming he just wanted the silence broken, I whispered, "I love it here."

"Yeah," he managed to mutter. I turned to look at him and saw for the first time just how hard had his jaw clenched.

"Josh, is something wrong?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yeah," he said, with more conviction. He twisted around and looked me in the eye. Before I could register anything, he grabbed my hands in a grip that would make sure I didn't go anywhere. "Max, please don't run," he begged as I instinctively tried to yank away. "Max, please." I stopped, waiting for him to go on. "I really like you, Max, and I want to be with you."

I was paralyzed. This wasn't supposed to happen. My heart pounded as my head screamed, It's going too fast! Run, Max! Run! Before Josh could go on, I interrupted, "Josh, you said it was fine. It could wait."

"I know, Max. I know I did. I'm sorry. I can't do it, Max. Please, I just want to be with you." His pleading eyes burnt through my wet ones. "Max-"

"No, Josh. No."

"Why? Why not, Max? Because of Fang? Who cares about Fang?" I jerked back, a jolt of anger flooding through my body.

"Who cares about Fang?" I asked quietly. "I do, Josh. I've know him for my whole life, and I've known you for- what? The last week?" I watched Josh's striped face become distorted with fury as he realized I wasn't choosing him. "Josh, I'm sorry, but I have to go," I said, assured this time. I pulled away, only to be yanked back by Josh's strong grip. I tugged again, only to be dragged even closer. I knew my normally superior strength was no match for his tiger's. "Let go," I ordered firmly, but I knew I was shaking.

I continued attempting to get away as Josh stood up and began struggling to restrain me. After a few minutes of difficulty, Josh managed to pin my arms to my sides by wrapping one of his arms around my back, pressing my right arm and my wings down, and putting his other on my neck, keeping my left arm out of the way. I attempted to spread my wings, but he had them trapped.

"Josh, don't, please-" I begged as he pushed my head closer to his and put his lips on my won. I felt the now too familiar tears run down my cheeks as the forced kiss continued. My lungs were burning- Josh wouldn't back away. I struggled to get away, to get one breath, and used more precious oxygen in the process. I knew I wasn't fighting much anymore, but I didn't car. My brain was going numb with lack of air. Finally, after what seemed like a full thirty minutes, Josh let go, giving me less than an inch of space to breathe. After hardly any time at all, I felt his lips push on mine once again. I was still breathing, but I needed to do something before I passed out.

I could feel Josh pushing against me, until I was pressed against the rock wall. I was no longer shedding tears and my body was burning with anger. Just as I though I would faint, Josh leaped away with a yelp. At first I didn't know why, but I didn't really care much at the moment, either. I immediately spread my wings, ready to take flight, and found out what had happened. MY usually dappled white wings were now a colorful orange. Flames reached up to the sky, creating wisps of smoke. Josh stared at me, the girl with thirteen-foot firewings. A smirk appeared on my face as I flapped my wings, desperately hoping they would still carry me in fire-form.

They did. After one flap, I was ten feet in the air and still rising. Then I noticed what was happening below me. The flames had started a tree on fire, and the turbulence from my wings had spread it to the flowers, bushes, and other trees. The beautiful Oasis was burning before my eyes. Josh was running now, leaping through the flames that were spreading everywhere.

Not waiting to see what would happen, I started back to the Hunter's village, felling proud and disgusted with myself at the same time. I watched my wings as the fire distinguished, leaving my real wings looking like smoky shapes. Finally, the fire was completely out, and a dull glow became the only sign that anything had happened.

It took five minutes for me to get back to the village, but when I did arrive, I wished I hadn't. The whole town was an eerie orange, a reflection of the flames that seemed to be everywhere. These weren't from my wings. Hunters were running and screaming, and wolf-men that I seemed to recognize were chasing them. Erasers.

I landed in a somewhat shadowed corner near the hut that I had stayed in. I had to find the flock. Bursting through the hut's door, I yelled, "Fang, Iggy! You guys? Come on, Angel!" I searched the rooms, hoping I would find someone, but know I wouldn't.

After I had thoroughly examined the hut, I went to the door, desperately looking for the others. When I opened it, I jumped back a foot and stared at the knife being held in the exact place my stomach had been a second before. I hurried to the side before the knife's owner could thrust it forward again. As I ran to the window, the Eraser dashed in after me. He leaped into my path, blocking the only other escape.

Suddenly, a flaming board fell from the ceiling. It landed between us and we both looked up. The ceiling directly above us wasn't on fire, but looking into the gap the board had left, I could see that bright flames were burning through the roof.

Realizing we were both frozen, I started running. As I headed around the couch and toward the door, another board fell in front of me. I froze. I had to get out before the whole house collapsed.

With the board and flames blocking my way, I had nowhere to go but the bedroom and the bathroom. Suddenly, a whistling sound went past my ear. I turned and looked at the wall where a knife was now embedded. Then I chose the bedroom. But as I was about to go in, I heard someone yell, "No!" The sound had come from a few feet behind me. A sickening sound rang out and I slowly turned around. Josh stood between me and the Eraser, his back facing me, and I could see the tip of a bloody knife coming through his neck- right where my head would have been. I stared for a few seconds and then realized the Eraser wasn't doing anything but staring at Josh's form in confusion. The boards above me creaked and I started running- around the boards, over the couch, and through the door before the Eraser could react.

As I exited I heard the thud of Josh's fallen body. I knew I had tears in my eyes, and for once I didn't care. Josh had been a friend. Maybe he'd been a bit too friendly, but he'd saved my life, and I loved him for that.

"Max!" a voice called out. I turned and saw Angel, my Angel, running to me. A smile lit my face as she jumped into my arms. I held here as tight as I could without crushing her, and I never wanted to let go.

"Max," another voice said, "we need to go." I looked up at Fang. Trust him to ruing a happy moment.

"Okay," I whispered, still smiling. I let go of Angel, and spread my wings, taking off into the sky.

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And it's done! Wow, that was a lot of typing. OK- sorry for the fluffy-ish ending. I hope it was okay. And finally- I'm sorry to say that it's going to be a while before I update again. I know I've been really bad at updating lately, and I'm sorry, so now I'm going to warn you because this is going to take longer than the other ones. When I started this story I had a few basic ideas that I wanted to do. I have used all of those ideas up. See- when I had the ideas it took a long time to update, but now it's going to take longer. I'm going to get some ideas and write a few chapters, then I'll update, and hopefully be able to keep up with it. But- it might take a while for me to get the ideas, so PLEASE- help and just review. Okay, thanx- Dringer