Mikachi: Haha! I'm proud of myself. I'm making a chapter map for this story and a 'creature dictionary' to keep track of all the weird little guys running around in here xD So now it's REALLY planned and I won't have to worry half as much. I don't know why I didn't do this for my stories sooner. Fail x3

Disclaimer: I do not own DuRaRaRa!

Wheatfield

"Izaya?" Shizuo groggily sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking around the treehouse for his companion. He stood and walked to the window when he didn't hear a response, thinking the imp might be outside. Looking out the window, he saw that he was right. Izaya was placing fruit in a sack that was slung over his shoulder. Shizuo smiled, thinking it looked kind of cool. Izaya would lift his open palm and say something , Shizuo guessed he was speaking Elven, and when he spoke it sounded like three more people were speaking with him. The man would then twirl his finger and a fruit would fall into his hand.

"Izaya! What are you doing?" Shizuo asked curiously, still leaning on the windowsill.

"What does it look like, protozoan? Gathering food for our journey," Izaya said, stopping his gathering and walking to the foot of the treehouse, "If you are feeling better, we should set off soon."

"Yeah, I'm feeling fine. But don't call me a protostome, Flea," Shizuo said, sneering as he sheathed his sword and buckled it to his belt.

"I hope you realize you just called yourself spineless, but okay," Izaya chuckled, calling a vine in front of Shizuo, "Grab on. Wait, did you just call me 'Flea'?"

"Yes. You annoy me like a Flea. How do I know you won't drop me half way down?" Shizuo said, raising an eyebrow at the imp below him.

"Don't call me that. And, well, then you would probably be injured more, and that would slow us down. I hate being outside of my forest, so it would be nice to get through this journey as fast as possible. I'm dreading going on this expedition, so I want to start and end it already. Also, if you break a leg, I'd have to help you walk, and you look heavy," Izaya said, exasperated, "Now will you just grab onto the vine already?"

"Fine," Shizuo said, holding tightly onto the vine with his arms and legs, "I just wanted one reason, not a rant."

When Shizuo finally reached the ground, he breathed a sigh of relief. After a moment's thought, he decided he could at least try to trust Izaya. After all, the imp had saved him, given him food and shelter, and was going on the journey with him. If they were going to be together for that long, they should at least trust each other.

"Well, we should probably get to the next town tomorrow afternoon," Izaya said, looking upwards at the canopy as if he could see through them.

"What are you looking at?" Shizuo asked curiously, he had noticed Izaya.

"The sky. I forgot to tell you, but I can see with the trees. I see what they see if I choose to. That's how I know where the towns are and I can watch all the humans~!" Izaya said, throwing up his arms and spinning in a circle.

"That's sick. You're like a stalker or something. For the human race," Shizuo said, wrinkling his nose at the twirling elf.

"Eh? I am not! They're just so interesting, I can't help myself! So predictable in their daily lives!" He said, getting louder with each word until he broke into a maniacal laugh.

"I'm sleeping with my eyes open now," Shizuo said, wondering why he was with this weirdo.

"Don't worry, I don't consider you human. The sword chose you, so you are different. You now have powers that no human should possess," Izaya said, stopping his laugh abruptly, "You will discover them in due time. It depends what element you feel strong near."

"What? Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Shizuo said, his eyes widening, "Is there anything else I should know?"

"Well, I don't know if this is important, but I inherited fire powers from my father. I am a little devil from hell," He said, squinting and smiling evilly with his pointy teeth, pointing downwards and wiggling his fingers. Shizuo clutched his stomach as he tried to hold in his laughter.

"So, have you felt stronger or more comfortable near a certain element recently?" Izaya said, placing his hands back in his pockets and looking up at Shizuo sideways.

"Nope. Not that I can think of. Maybe when I got back on the ground from that treehouse, but that's a given, right?" Shizuo said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Probably. Well, it looks like it's getting dark already. We should probably start setting up camp. Hold on, I'll find a good treetop to sleep in," Izaya closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he had a faraway look in his eyes and he was speaking elven again. After a minute or two, he blinked at looked at Shizuo, smiling. "Found a place. It's that way, and it shouldn't take that long to get there."

"Cool. That really comes in handy, Izaya," Shizuo said, following behind him.

"Yes. Yes it does. Here we are!" Izaya said, pointing to the top of a large tree, "This shouldn't take long."

Shizuo decided to look around while he waited, so he walked around the other side of the tree. He hummed a random tune in his head, and started skipping over tree roots until he found a patch of mushrooms.

"Aha! I can be a nature man, too, it seems," Shizuo said, grinning and picking them up. He looked around, and he realized he was lost, "…Fuck."

"Izaya! Where are you?" He shouted, hoping that the imp would hear him. Shizuo thought hard and headed back in the direction he came from, still holding onto the mushrooms, "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit…" He muttered, scanning the trees around him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a red arrow. Shizuo turned towards it, and reached out to grab it, hoping it was what he thought it was.

"Gah!" Izaya shouted, trying to cover up a different sound while sounding much like a startled little girl, "What did I tell you about my tail?" He shouted, his voice high pitched and strained, his face painted with worry, "Can…you please…let go…of my tail?" He asked between breaths, his fists clenching.

"Oh, yeah!" Shizuo said, letting go of Izaya's tail, "Sorry, I got lost, wanted to make sure it was you…" He said, rubbing the back of his head. As soon as Shizuo's grip was gone, Izaya sighed and loosened up.

"Alright. Next time, just look. Do me a favor and just don't touch my tail. And don't ask why. Anyways, camp is set up," Izaya said, pointing to the two hammocks slung between the trees, "Here."

Shizuo caught the two apples that Izaya had thrown him, "Thanks." He ate the apples and went to bed shortly after, completely exhausted.

-(-)-

It was the next day, and they had been walking for hours without any arguments. Shizuo was getting anxious about learning his new powers, he wanted to discover them already. Just as he was about to speak up, there was a break in the trees.

"Welcome to Wheatfield," Shizuo said, reading the sign next to them, "What a weird name for a town."

"I've heard weirder. There's a baker here that could probably give us a place to stay, I've watched him before and he's usually nice to travelers," Izaya said, looking at the town from the top of the hill they stood on, "Well, let's go."

Shizuo nodded, and started walking with a determined face. He was hoping that somebody knew about where Izumi was, he just wanted to face her already.

Mikachi: Fufufu, cliffhanger. I'm just mean like that. I hope this chapters long enough ^u^