Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any of the characters. Danny Phantom is the sole property of Butch Hartman, Nickelodeon and Viacom International.

Stranded

Chapter 9: Spooky Happenings

Star jolted awake, feeling a cold drops falling on her.

"W-what?..."Star mumbled as she found herself unceremoniously waking up.

The blonde haired popular girl looked up and frowned when she saw that the cave is beginning to drip and frowned.

'Perfect...like this couldn't get any worse...'Star grumbled as she was about to move to a dryer spot of the save...only to suddenly notice something.

Star blinked as she turned her head and to her surprise...she saw a chest...a well toned chest that had some chest hair on it.

The blonde girl froze but somehow looked up and saw that she was looking at the face of a still sleeping Danny Fenton.

"Oh my...'Star thought in a panic as she quickly crawled away and hit the wall of the cave, feeling an unwanted blush on her face.

"I must have rolled during my sleep and ended up next to him..."Star said, feeling so embarrassed.

If anyone ever saw them together like that, Star knew that she would never be able to live it down. Thankfully Danny was still sound asleep and was still totally oblivious of the position they had been in.

"Thank goodness that he's still asleep...I don't even want to think about what would happen if he woke up and I was still next to him...'An embarrassed Star thought to herself as she felt the fire in her cheeks finally died down.

No sooner than that, Danny finally began to stir awake and Star tried to act as casual and as discreet as possible as the boy yawned and stretched his arms. Once he was done, the two made eye contact and Star turned away, the memory of their fight from last night still fresh in her mind.

Danny saw this and frowned before he got up and went to the entrance of the cave to see how the weather was right now.

"It's still raining..."Danny commented.

"Duh, I can see that..."Star said sarcastically while Danny sighed.

"I meant to say that it's hard to tell what time is it...I don't suppose you have a watch on you?..."Danny asked sarcastically.

Star blinked as she glanced at her wrist and frowned.

"It doesn't work...it got busted during the storm. .."Star said to the dark haired boy.

Danny sighed as he soon sat next to the fire he had made last night. Star kept sitting in her spot, trying to avoid looking at him...but the blonde girl's mind still went back to their fight from last night. She didn't understand why she is still thinking about what he said. I mean, it's not like they are really friends or anything, they are just two people trying to survive using the same crises but wouldn't willingly socialize in any other situation. Why should she care about his opinion, anyway?...especially since he was a total wannabe and...

"You know...you have a lot of nerve..."Star couldn't stop herself and got Danny's attention.

"What are you talking about? ..."Danny asked in confusion.

"Dismissing the A-Listers code last night..."Star said.

"You're still on that?..."Danny said in annoyance and Star frowned hard.

"Yes...I think you had a lot of nerve talking the way you did, especially since you pretty much tried every trick in the book to become popular last semester..."Star criticized and got Danny's attention.

Referring to the times he got invited to Dash party, when he briefly dated Paulina and when he had been made judge of that beauty Pageant.

"If my memory is right, you didn't exactly had a problem with our policies back then,you just kept kissing up to Dash and Paulina like a total wannabe..."Star pointed out.

Danny heard this and sighed, since she did have a point but he had matured since then...his friends helped knocked some sense into him during those experiences.

"I will admit that did want to be popular, to fit in but honestly, nobody told me about those rules back then..."Danny said.

He hadn't exactly stayed popular long enough for that, it seems...

"It should have been obvious..."Star said.

"Maybe I did act stupid then...I was just being young and naive back then but that was a long in me ago and I learned my lesson since then..."Danny said and Star blinked.

"What are you going on about?..."Star asked.

What lesson is he talking about?

"That trying to please a bunch of shallow jerks isn't worth it, since they don't actually care about you. ...you need to stick with your real friends who actually do.."Danny said and Star looked insulted.

"You act all dismissive about my friends but yours aren't all that great either..."Star shot at him.

"Excuse me?! What is wrong about Tucker and Sam and don't use that unpopular line..."Danny said, angry that she had the nerve to say something about his friends.

"Fine, Foley is a total creep, the way he is always desperate when he is trying to pick on girls and he likes his tech waaayy too much and Manson acts like she is a deep individual but in reality, she just hates anything that isn't as dark and spooky as she is..."Star said in anger.

Danny was silent for a moment and Star smirked, as she thought she had got him. However, to the bLowndes surprise, the dark haired boy now had an unreadable expression on his face. She is confused, wondering what's going on with him...

"My friends aren't perfect, they make mistakes but you don't know them the way I do...yeah, they have their flaws but their good traits way more than make up for them..."Danny said in a low voice.

"What are you talking about?..."Star asked, wondering what exactly she did to him.

"I won't lie...yeah, sometimes Tuck is a little too into technology and yeah, he thinks that he is a ladies man in the making...those are his worst flaws but that's just it... flaws... but there is way more to him than that...not that you would know..."He said and Star remained silent.

"You have no idea that he is also really smart, that he's really fun to hang out with and that I can talk to him about anything. Sure, Tucker has made some bad choices, he can get cocky, make mistakes and can get a little carried away but he would never, ever deliberately hurt me or anyone else. He's really loyal and I know that I can count on him for anything, even when I have acted like a total idiot, he still had my back because he's that good of a friend, one I am proud to call my best bud..."He continued.

"Sam is no different...Sure, she can sometimes get biased with her views and options but she is not the antisocial person you make her out to be...She's actually a very caring person who will stop at nothing to help and protect something she cares deeply about. Sure, maybe she can get carried away or her emotions can cloud her judgement but her heart is in the right place. She's very smart, strong, brave and loyal...I can always trust her for...anything..."Danny said as he suddenly got up and Star remained in spot as he continued talking.

"I am not going to lie and say that my friends are perfect, because they are not...no one is perfect...I'm not perfect but I can say this without a doubt, that there are no friends more loyal, patience, caring and understanding than Tucker and Sam. They are good people and greater friends...there have been times that I have acted like a colossal jerk or took them for granted but they were still there, they still had my back and I know that I can trust them with my life..."Danny said with the most serious one.

He thought about his entire friendship with Tucker and Sam. Sure, they had their ups and downs but at the end or the day, they were still friends who cared about him. Heck, they have to be good friends for sticking by him since he got his powers and during all of the adventures that they shared together. He really misses them.

"Can you do that?..."Danny asked, startling Star.

"W-what?..."Star stuttered, still surprised by his long speech.

"You keep saying that your so called friends have their reasons for the way that they act...can you honestly tell me that you can trust them with your life? If you can do that, I'll take back what I said..."Danny said.

Star was silent. She didn't understand it but it's like she just lost her ability to speak, something that Fenton just said. ..well...it's affected her it turn some way. Danny took her silence as his answers and went back to staring at the fire, which is beginning to die out.

"I'm going to go deeper into the cave and see if I can find more sticks for the fire..."Danny said as he pulled out a stick and used the remaining fire to make a small torch.

Danny soon ventured deeper into to the cave. Star remained in to ton the same spot, thinking over what Danny just said. She didn't understand why she could even answer him... she didn't understand why his words had some hold over her...and she didn't understand when she felt a tear slid down her cheek...

She's glad that no one she knows saw her shed it...

"Fenton..."Star muttered as she wiped her tear away, trying to regain her composure.

Just what is happening to her, now?

With Danny

The teenage boy ventured deeper into the cave and managed to find some extra sticks and dried leaves that thankfully hasn't gotten wet yet by the leaking in the cave. Danny picked them up and was about to head back. ...

Only to trip and land painfully to the ground...

"OW!..." Danny yelped when he landed and dropped his torch, thus eliminating his sole source of light.

"What's going on in there, Fenton?..."Star shouted and Danny heard her fast footsteps.

"Nothing...I just tripped is all over a hole..."Danny said as Star appeared, carrying her torch.

Danny got up and noticed that Star had a spooked look on her face.

"A hole?..."Star said in a scared voice.

Danny looked and to his surprise, he saw that the hole he tripped over wasn't a hole at all...

"It looks just like that foot print we saw earlier today!..."Star said in a scared voice.

"Calm down, Star..."Danny said but the blonde girl is still freaking out.

"Oh my gosh, what if that creature that made it is still here?! What if it comes back?!What if-..."Star was cut off when Danny placed his hand over her mouth to shut her up.

"Shush! Let's just get back to the entrance. ...maybe the storm has finally cleared up..."Danny whispered to her, while still covering her mouth.

Despite herself, Star nodded and the two teens continued walking back, feeling very wary that they might not be the only inhabitants within theses caves.

"We're gonna die...we're gonna be stuck here forever and get eaten by the monster of the island and I'll never live to go to the prom..."Star whispered to herself in a terrified voice.

"We are not going to die...and what are you talking about, Star?..."Danny said in a harsh whisper as they made it back to their little "camp".

"Don't you remember the stories...this island has a cave on it that's cursed...anyone foolish enough to enter in it will be trapped forever..and also that a monster haunts this island, especially at night and eats anyone it comes across..."Star said in a terrified voice.

"That's just an old ghost story, it doesn't mean anything...'Danny said to the frightened girl, who for some reason, sent him an angry glare.

"In case you forgot, we live in the most haunted town on Earth! Is this really that much of a stretch?!...'Star yelled at him.

Danny was about to retort...only to pause when he realized that she did have a point...if so...

"Point...Okay, the rain is already letting up...I think we can head back to the beach now..."Danny said quickly to her and Star wasted no time in nodding.

However, before either of them could leave...they heard what sounded like foot steps... large, loud, heavy footstep

"What's that?..."Star asked in a scared voice...

Grrrrrllllll ..

"Star...was that your stomach?...'Danny asked the blonde girl who had a nervous look on her face.

"N-No...yours?...'Star asked, getting a really bad feeling right now.

"No...'Danny said as he heard the noises get louder and louder.

"W-What is that?..."Star asked as she is now clinging to Danny, feeling so scared right now.

"Let's not stick around and find out...'Danny said as he and Star soon ran outside of the cave.

Thankfully the rain finally stopped but it was still wet and muddy and the two teenagers ended up tripping and falling to the ground.

"I really.. .really ...hate this island..."Star grumbled to Danny as they were now covered in mud.

However, they heard those noises once more, becoming louder and louder. Suddenly, something jumped out from the caves and landed before them...a BIG, hairy something that was towering over them and bearing it's large, pointy teeth at them..

"ROOOAAARRRR!..."They heard as a large beast was now in front of them and the two teens screamed in horror.

"AHHH!..." Star screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Oh man...'Danny said as he knew now that things have gotten much, much worse.

-To be continued-

Next time on Stranded

The Monster of Specter Island

REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewers:

Wiseguy2415: Technically they have only been on the island for a day...but yeah...

devilxknights86: Looks like it...

Invader Johnny: For now, Star is just getting more and more confused by him...

uwu no name: Here you go :)

SophiPhan29: Thank you :)

Frost Hunter: I saw the video and I can see what you mean. It was a very well made video :)

Kilikani-Ebbets: Thank you. Also to answer your question, he found some small twigs and leaves that was already inside the cave and they weren't wet yet. Hope that clears that up...

Fatcatjohn: Not exactly but I hope that this will do...

cg037: I guess he sometime has...but as shown here, he is aware of their good traits.

61394: I guess he did, and Star did point it out but like Danny said, he has learned his lesson...

Guest: Right now, it looks like gossip isn't on her mind...

:) I hope you enjoyed this! Remember to read and review :)