A/N: Sorry for the two weeks of writer's block. I finally sat down and wrote through it. I'm actually very proud of this chapter. It is very exciting because the plot cooks up after this chapter. Read, enjoy, but most importantly...review!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or settings.

Chapter 5 Cave of Light

Kat woke up at seven in the morning. She groaned because she wasn't a very good morning person. She sat up with a scowl on her face and looked down to where Alder had been sleeping next to her. His mat was gone and there was no trace of him.

Putting her hair back up in a messy ponytail, Kat stood up and grabbed her shoes with a yawn. While still moving, she managed to slip the things on, hopping ungracefully a few times and almost falling over. She walked into the living room of Patrick's small apartment and saw Patrick cooking something in the kitchen that was open to the room she was in.

Spader was snoring loudly on the couch, not even hearing the clatter of pots and pans behind him. Kat wondered how he could sleep so soundly like that as she passed him and moved to the kitchen. Alder was sitting in one of the bar stools there, drinking some orange juice.

"Does my future still have bacon and eggs in the morning?" Kat asked Patrick as she sat beside Alder on a stool. Patrick smiled at her while pouring a glass of juice for his new arrival.

"Some things never change," Patrick told her. He cracked a few eggs on the side of a pan and said, "Now, which Earth do you come from, Kat?"

Kat shrugged. "How many are there?"

"Wait, did Pendragon ever tell you which Earth she was from?" he asked Alder.

Alder was in mid sip as he was asked this question. He stopped and put the glass down, trying to remember if Bobby had told him or not. "I don't think he did," Alder finally said.

"That's Pendragon for you," Spader suddenly chimed in. He sat next to Kat and thanked Patrick as the man poured him a glass. "He most likely didn't want Kat to figure anything else out about the Territories, so he kept his mouth shut about the three Earths."

"Well, now she knows," Patrick said. He served them all their eggs and bacon and then sat down on the counter and ate his own breakfast. "Alder told me you want to go back to your Earth," he said to Kat once he was done.

"No, I don't want to," Kat said. Everyone gave her confused looks and she explained herself. "I just wondered if I had choice. I mean, if I want to back out, I want to have a choice to do so."

"We're not just throwing you into danger for the fun of it," Patrick said. "Everything will be fine."

-Hour Later-

"Anything I need to know before we fly off to some other world?" Kat asked Alder where they were standing in front of the flume. "What is the next place like?"

"Well, do you like to swim?" Alder asked her.

"Sure," Kat said with a shrug.

"This world is covered with water," Alder said.

"Good thing I've scuba dived," Kat muttered to herself. Alder didn't know what scuba diving was and shrugged it off as some Earth thing. He led her to the mouth of the flume and smiled faintly at her. He motioned for her to follow. She slowly walked up next to him while having a pulling feeling. She finally shrugged it off and stood next to Alder with a perky smile.

"Cloral!" Alder called out. Kat gave a whoop as she watched the ground leave her. It was the total opposite reaction to her first flume trip. She felt the warm, happy feeling of the flume and didn't speak till the very end of the trip. Alder watched her with curiousness. It was weird how happy she looked during a flume ride.

"Hang on! This part gets rough because it's kind of broken," Alder told Kat. The girl's happiness ended as they were slightly thrown off course and almost rammed into the crystal wall. Then the musical notes captured her and gravity settled in. The ride was over…and she was falling into a pool of water.

With a loud scream of surprise, Kat fell all the way into the water with a loud, ungraceful splash. By the time she pushed her way to the surface, Alder was already on the side and trying not to laugh at her. "Lovely landing," he told her.

Kat spat water at him with a frown. "Shoot! I lost my shoe!" she said. She swam up to where he was sitting and looked around. "If it wasn't for the rude drop, this place would feel sweeter to me," she said. "And you didn't want to come here because…?"

Alder shrugged. "It's nice, isn't it?"

"Heck, yeah!" Alder smiled at her answer. Everything about her was loud or bold. Girls back where he came from were nothing like her. Just watching Kat was an experience.

It didn't take long for the two to get dressed in their new Cloral clothes. Kat was just itching to start moving. That pull on her was there again. She just wanted to get rid of it. Alder explained the air globes and belts to her, and soon they were diving into the water again.

They silently swam deep into the cave. Suddenly Kat spotted another small hole in the side of the cave rocks surrounding them. She swam up to it and felt the pull on her stronger. She entered the hole with a sigh. She knew she was crazy. Some animal could be living there, but by now she couldn't resist the pull.

"What are you doing, Kat?" Alder called after her. Kat didn't answer because she had none. Alder rolled his eyes in frustration before following her. It was finally dawning on him that guarding Kat would be harder than he thought.

It was pitch-black in the small tunnel they were now in. They swam for maybe ten minutes till a light showed up above. Kat was now rushing toward the light. Alder was out of breath just following the girl.

Kat got out of the water and yanked off her air globe. Alder came up after her and stopped dead in his tracks with eyes widening. The pull to Kat's mind and body hit a high and she could literally feel her body gravitate toward the light in the middle of the small room they found themselves in.

"Holly…!" Alder couldn't finish his sentence as he saw Kat slowly walk over to the light floating in the air. He pulled himself out of the water and held his breath as Kat reached up with her hand and touched the light. "Look!" he whispered loudly to her while pointing to a star suddenly being carved into the stone wall. It was the same star on every flume door.

Kat slowly walked over to the wall and looked at the symbol that was the same as the one on her shoulder. He had told her she was meant to do this, and she didn't want to for years, but still trained for this. But at this very moment, she actually wanted to do what she was born to do. Fear was washed away as she raised her hand up to the star on the wall.

"Stop!"

Kat was shaken out of her trance and looked over her shoulder with surprise. Alder gave a small gasp and raised the dagger sheathed at his side out of reflex. Wu Yenza stood there with a pistol in her hands. Her eyes were narrowed at Kat as her gun aimed in the same direction.

"You scared us," Alder said while putting his dagger away with a tired sigh. He should have seen her come up. He had been so transfixed on Kat and what she was doing to notice Yenza.

"Do not touch that star, girl," Yenza snapped sharply at Kat.

"Why not?" both Alder and Kat asked at once. Suspicion clouded Alder's eyes as he slowly started to take out his dagger again. He didn't know Yenza enough to know for sure if this one was really her or not.

"Touching that star could destroy this whole Territory," Yenza answered, still aiming her pistol at Kat.

"How do you know that?" Alder asked her. "And watch where you're aiming that thing." He tapped the pistol with his knife to knock it away from Kat.

Suddenly Yenza rammed into Alder and pinned him against the wall. "Drop the dagger, knight!" she demanded while pressing the barrel on his forehead. "Now!" Alder growled in disgust while dropping his weapon reluctantly.

"What is going on?" Kat asked with fright in her voice. She had her back pressed against the other wall as she stared at Alder and Yenza with wide eyes.

"She's Nevva, Kat!" Alder shouted to her.

"A little late, aren't you?" Yenza/Nevva said with a laugh. In seconds, she was back to her normal form and smiling evilly at Alder. She turned her head to Kat to demand something. The blood in her veins ran cold as she saw the girl's hand hovering right over the star on the wall. "Don't even dare!" she seethed.

"Too late," Kat said with a smirk. She pressed her hand on the star. A bright light exploded into the cavern. The three squeezed their eyes shut tightly and raised their arms up to protect their eyes. The same kind of mixed up musical notes blasted into their ears, so they all had to put their fingers in them.

Alder fought against the blinding light and noise to find Kat. She was passed out on the floor. Using adrenaline as an extra boost, Alder carried Kat to the exit and put an air globe on her and himself before dropping Kat in the water then going in. Nevva was still in the room as Alder quickly pulled Kat back through the tunnel. It took at lot of strength to finally get Kat back to the flume.

"We're getting out of here!" he told the unconscious Kat as he took their air globes off. "Zadaa!" he shouted at the flume. He clung onto Kat as they raised high into the air. Water sprinkled off them and dropped into the pool below them.

The two arrived at Zadaa in one wet mess. Alder didn't have enough strength to carry her up the ladder. He collapsed against the dirt wall, breathing deeply. Kat was laid out on her side in front of him, still out cold for some reason. Alder was no doctor, so he didn't know how to help her except put her on her side.

"What just happened?"