Disclaimer: I own nothing but me bloomin' mind . . . and not even that is really mine. *LOL* anyway, I'm still trying to think of a way to get this story from point A to point B, but I think I got most of it sorted out.

Notes: The next chapter in the ongoing Pylea saga...yay, this dying thing is almost to an end. I still have a few good chapters still ahead so stick around!

Dedication: To anyone who has ever read my story and left me a review, you all are the reason I write on this site! Thank you for your reviews and your constant support!

"Kitty" Year-Round

Part XIV: Wish You Were Here

By Mia LeighArc

"Amelia! Where are you?!" Delbert screamed through his thoughts. . "This woman must've led me towards this ledge. She's trying to kill me!" He thought aloud. He realized the ruse once he was dangling over the ledge. Delbert called to her, but instead of helping him up, she only stared at him, smiling quietly and waiting for him to fall. All of the sudden, she dug her claws into him so that he would lose his grip.

He may have been mistaken before, but he was sure now he was in trouble. In fact the woman before him now was in an embroidered red cloak red spiked gloves and thigh high boots. This most certainly was not his wife like he had originally thought. This person was, different... more deadly.

His grip was slipping and the claws were digging deeper into his skin. "Don't look down," he thought as he looked down, realizing how high up he was. With nowhere else to look, Delbert couldn't help but look straight into the imposter's red-tinted eyes. He knew what was about to happen, the last grip he had on the ledge was leaving him and the stranger finally letting him fall to his doom. He felt blood dripping down his arms as he fell in slow motion down off the ledge. Suddenly the ground beneath him went dark and he fell to the shallower end of the water with a splash and the pain of hitting sharp rocks on his back. After several minutes of not being able to move without a painful ache in his back, he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

"Delbert? Delbert, honey where are you?" He could not form words under his current state, not much more than growls and groans…but he knew for sure needed to let her knew he was there. He tried to splash around a bit so she could follow the sound, but after a few failed attempts he finally caused enough sound to get her attention. He called louder as she came running towards the sound. Amelia looked over the side of the ledge.

"Delbert, Delbert I'm so glad I found you. Are you hurt?" She had said as she barreled down to the bottom of the ledge next to him, automatically taking hold of his hand. Delbert could barely keep his eyes open much longer; he was fading in and out of consciousness and Amelia knew they needed to get back to the Legacy as fast as their legs would take them. Mozaic, the stranger who had helped her before, was watching her holding Delbert close from a few feet away.

"What can I do to help?" he said to her as she began to fight back tears from seeing her husband hurt like this. Amelia could not form any logical thought or any possible emotion that would show she had a good head on her shoulders. She didn't even know this man's name, but he wanted to help them. Amelia knew well enough that Delbert could've died and still can if they don't move fast. Mozaic gently set Amelia aside and took hold of the Delbert's arm and slinging it over his broad shoulders. The kind man said a few words, held his free hand to the sky and a bright orange glow flickered on above their heads. This spell however changed the trees that were above them at the time to 'catch on fire'-thus changing their color—from a healthy green to a beautiful fiery orange. This left a trail of bright orange trees leading to their longboat. They climbed in and in a flash, they were off.

Soon they saw the Legacy up ahead and before they knew it, they were sitting down in the galley giving the good doctor some herbal remedy to ease Delbert's pain. Mozaic sat down and looked over to the stern, worried frame of Amelia. He knew she was upset, but he felt he would help her pass the time by introducing himself. He cleared his throat to get her attention.

"A-hem, I-I'm Mozaic Skylark." He shook her hand and smiled the best he could. Her eyes seemed to be filled with pain and doubt. He realized that the woman before him had almost lost her husband not a few hours ago. Amelia simply sighed as she frowned down at Delbert.

"Is he going to be okay?"

"I'm one of the only survivors from past missions to rescue others that had crash landed on the planet."

"Mr. Skylark is it? I believe that is not what I asked you. Is my husband going to live-" Suddenly Amelia realized what the man had said. This mysterious stranger is what she had been looking for since she had arrived…a survivor. Her eyebrow rose instinctively.

"One of the only survivors you say, how many are there?" This statement took Mozaic off guard leaving him a bit speechless.

"Um-er-there are two-no including myself three…s-so sorry ma'am."

"Quite alright, I've grown used to my husband's nervous bumbling. In fact I've grown rather fond of it." Amelia replied, she smiled for the first time since arriving back on the ship. With a chuckle her thoughts came back to her husband. Her brilliant smile soon faded into a terribly distraught frown. She let out a sigh as the worry dressed her face once more.

"Um, well the only way I can explain things that have been happening is that I came here with my crew on a rescue mission, about 6 months ago. The Interstellar Academy sent some of my trusted crew-members as well as myself to come find some missing people that had crash landed here about a year ago. I don't know how to say this, but by the time we had arrived, the planet was a constant battle field between the gods.

Now I know what you're thinking, and what I can say is that I saw these gods with my own eyes…very keen in particular…however I was witness to all of this. Anyway, those gods in conflict were Micealy, the god of peace, truth and healing (the weak and weak at heart); and his sibling rival, the evil Navorka. She was the goddess of treason, deceit, and most of all death and destruction. The dragon god was a Good Samaritan, always helping people in need and healing those who were dying. His sister, however, was the evil of the two. She was the trickster, the dangerous villain with the morbid obsession with watching living things die. They appear in what natives called "pashkia" or animagus forms if you will of a dragon and a raven. Being in this form they could manipulate their outside bodies to make themselves beautiful, they both wear ceremonial masks to honor their animal counter-parts. This is why you will never see their faces, unless they wanted you to. She was the one that had created those-creatures that attacked you tonight. Navorka is responsible for this!" He stated in a rage.

"Great, now you're going to freak her out." He thought to himself trying to cool his jets. Amelia looked at him in shock.

"Mr. Mo-Mozaic, may I ask how you know all of this?" Amelia asked a bit skeptical. Mozaic looked coolly upon her and replied with a slight cocky, arrogance that Amelia never appreciated in a man. He feathered his fingers through his long freckled hair. The silver hair that he held in his hands bore many others colors such as streaks of black, purple and gold. Mozaic being proud of his appearance smiled cordially at her before answering to see if she noticed his beautiful physique.

"I have come to know these things about this forsaken planet because I was there when the wars of the underworld were in occurrence. I have seen and bore witness to those catastrophic events. I was the one who saved the worlds of men and carried the last of the survivors on my back through gunfire in the villages. I was the one who led the people out of the villages of Pylea and into the water coves in the north. (And to end it sounding cockier than before,) I know all there is to know about this place."

"Well Mr. Mozaic, you seem quite sure of yourself; tell me were you spoiled as a child or are you this cocky on a regular basis?" Mozaic just chuckled lightly and sat down. Things were drawing silent, but Amelia was the first to speak.

"Can you tell me where to find the rest of the survivors? If you are up to it, I could always use a bit of assistance, though I would usually deny it to the grave." Amelia offered with one of her brilliant smiles. Mozaic simply chuckled at the strange woman, and he realized they were quite similar in ethics and stature over their "crew" as you call them. Amelia looked lovingly down at her husband who was twitching at the ear and snarling slightly. Amelia grazed her hand along his cheek, sending him into a flustered swatting fit.

"I suppose with the circumstances what they are…I think I can make an exception."

Her ears flickered as Delbert groaned as he finally opened his eyes. He reached out for his wife's hand, which made her jump slightly-that is until he took off the glove and planted a kiss upon it. He then nuzzled her hand although his face was rather rough, which was tickling her bare skin. She smiled and kissed him gently on the cheek. Blushing slightly by showing affection for her husband in front of a stranger, she put her glove back on and ran a hand through her hair to straighten it.

Delbert glanced in Mozaic's general direction, feeling as if he was being watched. Delbert felt he was being judged and looked away. He regained his confidence and looked to his wife for answers about the mysterious stranger. He didn't want to appear rude, but he needed answers on what exactly this stranger was doing there.

"Amelia, if you don't mind my asking…who is-?" Amelia cut him off mid-sentence.

"Oh come now Doctor, I'll have none of that. This man here saved our very lives. I am very grateful that he helped me find you in time to tend to your injuries." Delbert went to hug her and soon felt a painful jab in his side. He blushed slightly.

"It's an old sports injury." He said to the stranger who chuckled at his statement and shook his head. Mozaic knew fully that this was not the type of person to be playing sports. Amelia rolled her eyes at the remark.

"Oh and what sport was that Doctor, plotting star charts?" Amelia teased. Delbert could be so absolutely charming at times that it almost made her sick. Delbert's cheeks sometime during the statement had turned bright red like a ripe tomato. Delbert sighed and gazed lovingly upon his wife.

"I had been worried that I had lost her-and then that strange woman was trying to kill me... I had been afraid." He thought with a chuckle. Through his gaze, he saw the pain in Amelia's eyes; he touched her cheek gingerly with the back of his hand. His voice suddenly fell just above a whisper.

"I missed you so much. I thought I had lost you, and then I saw this woman out of the corner of my eye thinking it was you, she trying to kill me! I'm just glad that I'm alive right now…I couldn't have lived with myself if something had happened to you or myself for that matter. Had you not found me in time, I would be a-a-" Delbert's eyes welled up; he didn't want to cry in front of someone he didn't know. Amelia touched his face and smiled sweetly, she kissed him on the lips this time. Wrapping his arms around her, his hands lightly traced her shoulders, arms and the small of her back. After a few moments they pulled away and stared at each other…looking deeply into each other's eyes. Amelia sat next to Delbert, pawing her hands through his hair. Mozaic looked away and finally thought up an excuse to leave them alone. He cleared his throat as he walked towards the door.

"Um, I really should be heading back. I should be checking on Scarlet and Draconia….um, let me know if…" Amelia interrupted him moving quickly to her feet and all the while being embarrassed for her immature behavior and unprofessional ism. She hurled a hand through her frazzled hair, slightly out of breath as Delbert traced his finger along her thigh. Swatting her husband, she gave him a stern look so she could compose herself. Regaining her captain's composure, she urged the man to stay.

"Mr. Mozaic, please feel free to stick around this evening, I would very much like to talk to you all…The academy will be very pleased to know this mission hasn't been a whole waste of time…"

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to intrude." Amelia blushed this time realizing how awkward the situation was…

"Oh don't mind us, we were just going up to my stateroom, weren't we Delbert?" Amelia asked her husband with a smile. Delbert in return nodded happily, wincing slightly as he stood up. Amelia helped him to his feet wrapped one of his arms around her neck and Mozaic doing the same, so they could get him up the stairs.

When they walked in the stateroom, everyone sat and Amelia brewed a kettle of tea.

"So Mr. Mozaic, how exactly can we stop these evil creatures?" Amelia asked. The man simply shook his head.

"They cannot be killed by mere plasmas pistols alone; you will need silver plasma to do any real damage. When the silver gets into their blood stream, they completely loose all vital functions. I have a large supply in our base in the caves, here…take these for you own protection." He said as he handed Amelia a handful of the proper ammo.

"I really should be going, ma'am." He stated kindly as he stepped out of the room (and with Amelia's permission) commandeered on of the Legacy's longboats as he made his way back into the lush forests of Pylea.

Mozaic was almost to the cave when he heard a faint screaming coming from the direction he was headed, he neglected his walk and settled for a sprint. He was almost there and from the sounds of it, the good doctor wasn't the only one who had an encounter with a Cravenwolf tonight.

Upon entering the cave, the screams got louder and louder as Mozaic got into the marshy part of the cave. He got a long hallway of empty rooms all the while getting closer to the source of the ruckus on the planet. Finally getting to the room, he saw Scarlet leaning over an obviously delusion man having some kind of hallucination.

"What's going on here?" Mozaic called, Scarlet on the other side of the door jumped at the sound of his voice and opened the door.

"I found him swimming around in one of the caverns, and then I saved his life when Navorka herself had found their way inside and went after him. After I got her to leave and brought him here to begin using the healing herbs- he started hallucinating, just like Captain Miller."

TO BE CONTINUED

Well, what did you all think of that? Cliffhanger, yay! That should keep you on your toes for a little while...anyway you all know the drill. R&R or youre a monkey! See ya soon!