Author's Note: Ahhh! Finally. I didn't think I get this up this soon! I'm telling you, I had ZERO inspiration left for this story DDX...but when I opened up what I had typed of this chapter yesterday and re-read it sort of came back to me a little, so I finished it and there you have it! This is a rather chill chapter, some more action probably in the next chapter. =) I hope you like it! Feel free to point out any mistakes, grammar, anything =)

~HG~

My eyes slowly opened and I couldn't make out anything at first before they involuntarily shut closed again. I opened them once more and forced them open as I took in my surroundings. It was dark and the sky was…grey? I blinked several times to clear the haze and stop my head from spinning and I squinted again, alarmed that nothing had changed. I pushed off from the ground, trying to get up and my arms gave out, my body collapsing to the ground like a bag of bricks. I couldn't even get up. My head was swimming like I'd been held upside down for hours and all the blood had rushed up to my skull. I was barely aware which way was up and which way was down. Images started flashing through my mind and I struggled to make sense of them.

Light.

A really bright light.

People screaming…Why?

What's Gwen doing there? And why is she holding Will?

I'm running. Fast.

And then I…jump?

Realization dawned on me and panic gripped my heart.

I'd gone through the portal.

I'd jumped through that light.

Leaving the others behind, I realized, as the memories came back rushing into my head. And I had no way to get back.

But wait, I thought as another memory nudged me at the back of my mind.

The light was closer, the path getting thinner. The brightness was almost blinding as I leapt through it. Not before feeling a hand grasp mine from behind.

Someone had tried to hold me back. Probably one of the teachers. The thoughts swirled in my head some more before I waved them away. The wind was cold and harsh and the dark soil had stained my dress. So much for the perfect homecoming. Tall and stiff trees with barely any leaves towered over me menacingly, their scarecrow branches tearing through the smallest bit of sky I could see. It was a cold, hostile forest I had landed in. Fear now wormed its way into my mind. What if I got attacked? Who knew what animals were here, or other creatures for that matter? But I shook my head to clear it and swallowed my fear. I hadn't come here to be scared, or have second thoughts. I knew very well what I was getting myself into, so I wasn't going to just lay here, sprawled in the dirt. Wherever 'here' was anyways.

I straightened up trying to get up and my effort was rewarded with white hot pain shooting through my ankle. I winced sharply at the fierce pain and reached down to stroke the swollen area that largely stood out. I'd probably injured it when I fell. Well, this was certainly not going to help me in my now less than helpless situation. I attempted a step forward.

"Don't force on it, idiot."

I jumped at the voice and whirled around to see Warren leaning against a nearby tree. His clothes were as tattered as mine and he was in equally bad shape. My eyes roamed up his frame and I took in whatever was left of his black tux and white dress shirt. The fabric was torn, the slashes revealing portions of tan skin. His brown hair was disheveled, still gracefully falling on his shoulders and his gaze was unwavering as he fixed me expectantly, a light scowl tugging at his lips.

"We have enough on our plate without you becoming invalid too."

My eyes widened slightly in shock at his presence and I searched for the words to formulate my question. "Wh-what? Y-you…followed me?"

He sighed exasperatedly and pushed from the tree behind him, making his way over to me in purposeful strides. He stopped when he was facing me and spoke, looking down at me.

"No," he mocked, the sarcasm heavy in his tone, "I didn't. I'm just a figment of your imagination," he finished calmly before his expression was replaced with the usual annoyed mask. "Did you really hit your head that hard? Anyway, let's get a move on. Contrary to what you might think, I don't plan on spending the rest of my life trying to save Stronghold's sorry ass." And with that he started walking ahead, leaving me frozen in my spot still trying to grasp what was happening.

He walked a good distance before realizing I wasn't following and he turned around, shooting me a glare.

"Are you coming or not?" he spoke, clearly annoyed and dark brown eyes fixing me. "Because if you're not that's fine. I'll just find Stronghold by myself. Oh, wait that's right. I'm not the one who jumped through this thing in the first place, now am I? So start walking," he snapped before he turned his back to me and resumed walking. After a few seconds of staring after him I followed. Somehow I knew he wasn't going to turn around anymore. And I wouldn't let the little protection I had walk away from me like that. As we silently walked, me trailing a few feet behind him, I mused over the situation.

He followed me.

He was the one that tried to hold me back then, so he probably fell in with me.

But he doesn't look too happy about it, I thought to myself as I stared at the back of his head.

Oh, of course, Layla. Warren Peace would love to be stuck in some unknown hell hole because he tried to save your stupid self.

I shut up my witty conscience and kept walking.

Maybe he's still mad about…that…

I frowned lightly and looked down to my feet as I walked. I don't blame him, and I had to fix this. But how? And do I even know that's what he's mad about? He could be mad about having to endure my company for all I know.

But he wouldn't have come, then.

True.

What if I asked him?

I opened by mouth only to shut it when he whirled around and frowned at me, "Can you walk any slower?" I bit my lip and glanced at my swollen ankle, wincing as I felt it throb uncomfortably. I saw him follow my gaze and in a moment he was in front of me, crouching down, his back to me. I cocked an eyebrow at him strangely and waited.

He sighed heavily before speaking, "Get on."

I blinked once. Twice. I stood still, not moving an inch until his glacial tone reached my ears.

"You realize this is starting to piss me off, don't you? I don't want to be here anymore than you do, but thing is, we don't have time for this. It's either you limp your way to god-knows-where by yourself and Stronghold enjoys his nice quality time with Royal Pain or you get on right now and we maybe find a way out of this goddamn place and save the jerk. Either way, your problem."

I frowned slightly, a bit put off by his irritated tone but took in a breath and let it out, shivering against the cold before I laid both my hands on his shoulder blades and gently hoisted myself up onto his back as to not further damage my ankle. My arms slowly wrapped around his shoulders, wrists locking and he immediately straightened up and hooked his hands under my knees, his fingers grazing my bare thigh in the process. I blushed lightly and turned my head away, focusing on a skinny branched tree nearby. It wasn't like I'd planned for any of this to happen. If I had, I wouldn't have worn such a revealing dress, of course. But how could I have foreseen Gwen turning evil, abducting Will and me landing in an alternate world? "Is this fine?" he asked.

"Y-yeah…thanks," I murmured and we went on our way, whatever it was. We spent several minutes walking through the isolated forest in complete silence, except for the occasional rustle of bushes and noises that made me jolt in alarm. I ended up leaning into his back and burying my face in his neck, the pleasant scent of his silky hair filling my senses. He smelled nice. He'd always smelled nice for as long as I could remember. I'd now gotten accustomed to the musky yet soft scent with a hint of pine that radiated off of him. We walked on what seemed an endless path for what seemed like an eternity, insecurity nagging me the whole while.

You don't even know where you're going, do you?

What makes you think you'll get anywhere?

And even if you do? You don't know if it'll be too late.

I constantly tried to shut it up but it kept on rearing its ugly head. Finally Warren broke the silence and I was thankful.

"Didn't we already pass this tree?"

I looked around, at loss of an answer. They all looked the same to me and we'd been moving nothing but forward since we started walking so I didn't know what he was getting at.

"No, we didn't. We went straight the whole time. Unless you took some turns I didn't notice."

I could hear him frown, confused, "No. No, we didn't. Never mind."

We continued walking. Well, Warren did, until he stopped again.

"What is it?"

"Something's wrong here. Definitely wrong."

"What?"

He resumed walking before answering, "You see that branch there?" he said, indicating with a jerk of his head a thick oak branch with a few single leafs hanging from it.

"Yeah."

"Look at it closely," he instructed as he kept on walking, "Then tell me if you notice it too."

I kept my eyes fixed on the branch, my gaze slowly changing from confused to weary as the branch seemed to stay in the same place even as we walked several steps ahead. My eyes widened in surprise and my heart thudded loudly in my chest as the impossible registered.

"It's not moving," I muttered, still in shock.

"Good," Warren said before halting. "You see it too. And that means two things. One, I'm not crazy and imagining things, and two, we're in serious shit," he finished as he slowly eased me down to my feet.

I stared up in wonder, now weary of my surroundings, a new fear getting a hold of me as my mind struggled to understand what was happening. It couldn't be…

I tried it myself, limping a few feet forward, but the result was the same.

"It's no use," I heard him say. I turned around and looked at him fearfully and hopefully at the same time. I wanted an answer. A logical one. One that would make sense of all of this as a big misunderstanding or mistake so we could be on our way again. But I heard no such things. The words I heard intensified my fear, made my doubts reality, and my helplessness rise to a whole new level. Warren looked around warily and then I knew we were screwed. Because Warren Peace doesn't get wary. Ever.

"We're trapped."

####

The cold wind hit my skin and I shivered, waking up for what felt like the hundredth time. We'd been at this for god knew how long. We would take turns, looking around, going in different directions to try and find a normal path. But whatever turns we took so far, the outcomes were the same. I straightened up and rested my back against the strong bark of the tree behind me.

I squinted hard, trying to make out my surroundings through the fog that had doubled since. He was nowhere in sight. I wasn't panicking anymore. I'd had my panic attack when Warren had briefed me on our situation earlier. Time and distance distortion. I never thought I'd hear of, let alone ever experience anything like that. The absurdity of it still had my head spinning.

I got up and didn't bother brushing off my dress that I was sure would never return to its original color again. It was torn and unidentifiable from any old dirty rag. My hair was gross. Disgusting. I could feel it and I didn't even want to see it. I looked down at my hands and rubbed my fingers together to shake off the dirt still clinging to my palms. I stared in disgust at the dirt that had accumulated under my fingernails.

"No dice."

I looked up to see Warren coming in the distance, looking as scruffy and torn up as I was. Only way better somehow.

"They're all the same," he continued, a frown marring his sharp features, "It's like I didn't even move an inch."

I sighed, still in denial of the situation. There just had to be a way out. There always was. "Are you sure? Every single one?"

His gaze hardened and he scowled, "Yes, I'm sure," he grit out, taking me aback, "I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true, unless you think we can afford to joke now," before whipping around to head in another direction.

I let out a frustrated breath and called to him, "Where are you going? And stop acting like that, okay? I just want us to be as productive as possible if we want to get out of here!"

"You think I don't know that?" he spat, swiftly turning around and locking eyes with me, "You think I wasn't working my ass off trying to find a way out while you were busy sleeping, huh? Productive? Well I'm not exactly sitting on my ass watching time go by, am I? Because the last thing I want right now is to have to stay here a moment longer! Now excuse me, I'll try to find something edible so we don't die of starvation of that's productive enough for you."

And with that he left.

####

The fire crackled quietly, the only noise in the midst of the awkward silence only interrupted once in a while by the rustling of leaves above their heads from the tree they had decided to stay under. There was for sure no sign of any coming rain, not like the limited amount of branches would do much to help them anyways.

I sat on my end on the other side of the burning wood nervously chewing on my bottom lip as I scrambled for something to say that would somehow fix this.

Should I apologize?

But I did nothing wrong!

…still, what else can I do, it can't stay this awkward forever…

Aghh, why does it even have to fall back on ME?

After a good amount of indecisive thoughts and useless questions I sighed quietly and opened my mouth to speak.

"I'm sorry."

I closed my mouth and looked up at the sound of the voice.

His crossed arms rested on the top of his knees and he was leaning on the tree trunk behind him. The dancing flames created shadows that continuously flickered on his face and even with the limited light provided to us, I could see the struggle going on in his averted gaze. I didn't think he would be the one to apologize.

As I stared at him he met my eyes before I could turn away and spoke.

"I didn't mean to jump at you like that, I was just pissed. Guess all this shit is getting to me, us having no idea in hell where we're supposed to do. Feels like I should be fixing this and I am trying and then you started talking about how we had to be productive and I just-"

"It's my fault, Warren. I'm the one who should be apologizing, I mean that was way out of line. We're both stuck in this play, tired, hungry and we don't even know what to do! The last thing I should be doing is making it look like I'm the only one who wants to get the hell out, so I'm sorry. We'll fix this….well, we'll try our best…"

He kept the eye contact even after I finished talking.

"And thanks, by the way. For coming here with me, you didn't have to," I started up again, "And hey, if it helps any I'd probably be dead if you weren't here," I chuckled out, a part of my mind knowing that it was actually true.

A few seconds passed before he replied, a good-natured air around him once again, "Yeah, that's true. You'd probably have managed to find a hole to limp into, shivering in the cold and crying for your teddy bear."

"Oh, shut up," I snapped, but it held no heat. Our gaze crossed again and they locked for several seconds before I looked away, blushing at how long I must have been staring.

We chatted some more until the fired died out and I don't know when I fell asleep. I didn't know what time it was, if it was night or day, and I wasn't panicking anymore. The last thing I could feel as sleep reeled me in was the warmth of his chest and his arm around my shoulders.

Author's Note: Well, that's it! Review pleaasee, I'm getting the feeling there's not much enthusiasm for this story so let me know if I should even continue it DDX! (even though I'll finish it anyways since I won't be able to just leave it like that DDX but still!) Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, and constructive criticism is welcome as usual. =)

Thanks for reading! ^^

~HG~