Whoo, another chapter! I was re-reading this one and realized all the inconstancy I have later on... I'll edit this before I post another chapter, that's for sure.

Straight to review replies!

Dinosaur Imperial Soldier: Every story has to have a bad guy though. And we'll see! He may or may not be evil. That's one vote for her brother being good.

Wolfclaw: One vote for him being evil! *laughs* Because I'm curious: Why do you think he's evil? And yeah, trip time, again! Of course they would stowaway. *laughs* But do they need to?

Wolfgirl: Thank you, and I'm so sorry for that DX School is... *growls* But I'm on spring break, so here's another late chapter e,e HA! I sense an unparalleled love for Teddy and Jed from you X3 I can understand that, I love these guys too XD As for kickin' Caagel's butt... It'll have to happen sometime...

Lightraygirl: Yeah. High school is nuts. The first semester was great... and then second semester hit... *sighs* And that's really awesome! Good luck with that :)

On to the chapter!

Chapter 7

Claire punched the lid of the crate off the box and stood up, pulling Styrofoam from her hair. "Remind me to never travel with Styrofoam!" She complained.

Three weeks had passed, much to Claire's annoyance. Finally, some of the exhibits had been shipped to Scotland's museum as a traveling exhibition. Night had just fallen, and everyone was coming out of their crates. Larry and Nick would join them later.

"We still have a return journey, partner." Jed called. He and Octavius were miniature form. They suddenly grew to normal size.

"You may need us in a more powerful, harder to lose size." Octavius explained. "After what happened last time in London… having this advantage is better."

"Good point." Larry grunted. He and Nick had just arrived. "Now, your father will know we're here, right?"

Claire shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know if he can sense us or if he'll know we're here by us making a ton of noise or him seeing us." She shrugged again. "Which ever variable it is, we need to move."

Teddy, Sacagawea, Ahkmenrah, the Tablet in his hands, Lancelot, Attila, Dexter and the Garuda emerged from their crates. "I'm beginning to hate packaging…" Sacagawea complained.

"With the way things are going, my dear, we may have to get used to it." Teddy sighed.

"C'mon! We don't have any time to waste!" Claire hissed.

Everyone started forward, Claire in the lead, her bow drawn and an arrow knocked. "Be warned. There are bears in this museum."

"Bears? Pfft." Lance drew his sword.

"I know you fought Trixie off, but these bears don't like to give in." Claire warned. They started forward again.

Jed moved to her side, a sword in his hand. "Boy am I glad for all those tips you gave me." He whispered.

Claire snorted. "You were already great with a sword." She whispered back.

"Hey, love birds, I think we have a problem." Oct gulped.

"Oi! Love birds?!" Claire protested quietly. She turned at a growl and coughed quietly. "That would be one of the bears. Wait here."

The dark haired Highlander crept forward, her dark clothes blending into the shadows. She peeked around the corner to find the bear exhibit, each bear snuffling around and looking more confused than they probably ever had before. Claire drew her head back and put her back to the wall, muttering a string of choice words in Gaelic.

The way to the famous Scottish Warriors exhibit was past the bears.

Claire peeked around again and noticed that most of the bears were on the right hand side of the exhibit. If they could lock up this entrance and the right hand side, they might be able to make it into the hallway. The only problem was the fact that if they needed to run, they had fewer exits.

If I can knock the bears out, we might be better off… but how long would they stay out?

Claire sighed and crept back to her friends. "So… the bears will be a problem. The hallway we need to take is at the far end of their exhibit, and there's no way past them without them seeing or smelling us. If we can sneak past this entrance, we might be able to find another way to it."

"Bears are nothing." Lancelot scoffed.

"Don't get cocky." Claire warned. "Being cocky is bad. Really bad. I should know. So trust me when I say we don't want to tango with these bears!"

Lance sighed.

"Now." Claire went on briskly. "I'm going to go ahead to find a safe place to hide."

Before anyone could protest, Claire sheathed her bow and rolled across the doorway and stood up, silently drew her sword and prepped herself. If any bears came for her, she'd knock them out.

And come they did.

Roars sounded from the exhibit. Claire growled and leaped into the doorway, shouting, "RUN!"

"We can't leave you!" Larry shouted, racing up.

She shoved him back as the first bear leaped for her. Dodging the claws, she slammed the pommel of her sword down on the bear's skull. It collapsed with a snort. Claire growled. "Just run! I can hold them off and catch up with you later. Just get out of here!"

"We'll come back!" Larry sensed that he couldn't change her mind.

Larry, Nick, Teddy, Sacagawea, Attila, Dex, Lance and the Garuda raced off down the hall. Octavius started to follow, but he halted when he realized Jed wasn't with him.

"I ain't leavin' you!" Jed cried.

"Jed, just go with them. Protect them! I've fought bears like these before. I'll be fine!"

"Come on, Jedediah!" Octavius called.

Jed looked from his best friend to his new best friend. Claire knocked another bear out and glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "I'm going in and I'm trusting you to follow my wish and run. You don't have the training to fight bears!"

Before he could answer, Claire leaped up on top of the bear and glared at the other four in defiance. They roared in rage and leaped for her. Claire danced to the side and knocked another on out. She then spun and raced away with a muffled shriek as the others gave chase. She briefly saw Jed standing on top of one of the bears and prayed he wasn't going to jump in. She lost sight of him as she knocked another bear out, and then she kicked another in the snout before knocking it out. The last one was the biggest and the calmest. "Hi. I don't want to hurt you." Claire soothed. "If you don't attack me, I won't attack you."

The bear advanced another step. Claire stood her ground and lifted her sword ever so slightly. The bear growled and raised his paw. Claire tried to calm it again, but it wouldn't listen. With a gasp, Claire lifted her sword just in time to stop the bear's downward swipe. She grunted and felt her feet slide back, but she kept pushing back. If she lost her grip, the bear would surly kill her. If she could somehow slam her foot into its jaw, she might get it off balance enough to knock it out…

"Claire!"

Fourteen years of hard training allowed her to keep her concentration and shout back, "Jedediah Smith, what did I say?!"

"I know, I know." She could just picture Jed's grin.

He suddenly leaped onto the bears back and slammed the pommel of his sword into its skull. The bear went limp and Claire rolled away to let it fall to the ground. Jed rolled off and scrambled to his feet. The minute he was steady, Claire slapped him. "When I tell you I've got something handled, I usually mean I've got it handled!" She growled.

He rubbed his cheek, grinning. "What, so you work alone?"

"Usually."

"That's a shame. We could make a really good team, y'know."

Claire glared at him. "You're lucky I've had fourteen years of hard training. If I hadn't of had that, your call would have distracted me and possibly killed me."

Jed's face fell a bit at that. "Sorry."

Clare sighed and smiled at him. "You've learned not to do it again. I hope."

"Maybe I have." Jed shrugged.

"Uh-huh." She gave him an incredulous look. "Nice job, by the way. It's not that often a newbie bear fighter can leap onto a giant bear's back and knock it out."

Jed smiled. "We should probably go. The others are worried."

Claire sheathed her sword and they hurried out of the bear exhibit, Jed in the lead. They found the others gathered in the landscape exhibit. "Thank the stars you two are okay!" Larry heaved a sigh of relief.

"We're fine. No scratches. Though we do have one cowboy who can do some pretty stupid things." She shot the dusty blond cowboy a teasing look.

"You fought six bears single handedly. I'd call that pretty stupid." Jed flashed a teasing smile.

"You don't have training. I do." She retorted.

"You can teach me."

"We live in the middle of New York with the most ferocious thing being a mad squirrel. We have no way to go into the forest to train thanks to a little something called dawn. Where do you expect me to find bears?"

"Good point."

"Come on, love birds, we have to keep moving." Oct smiled at them.

"Oi!" Claire cried, glaring at him.

"Again?!" Jed glared at the Roman.

"Well, you two are rather adorable together." Octavius admitted.

"Guys! We don't have time for this!" Larry started off.

The other's followed. The carefully made their way into the nature exhibit only to stumble to a halt at the sound of a voice. "Who are you?"

That voice filled Claire with joy. "Keegan! It's me, Claire!" She pushed past Larry to see her brother standing before her.

Keegan was a stocky, five foot eleven Highlander who could wield a clamor like it was a feather. He had short brown hair and grey eyes and he was dressed in a dark brown tunic. Keegan's eyes lit up when he saw her. "Claire! Where did you go? I woke up tonight to find you gone." He pulled her into a hug.

"I was moved to a different museum." Claire explained, hugging her brother back. "We came here to get your help."

"What's wrong?" Keegan turned. "And who are these people."

"These are my new friends at my new museum. The night guard, Larry Daley and his son, Nick." Claire introduced each of her friends.

"You like Jedediah, don't you?" Keegan breathed in her ear.

Claire turned bright red. "I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

Keegan smiled at her smugly. "Sure you don't."

Everyone gave her a confused look. She waved it away, still bright red. She finally got it under control and explained the situation to Keegan.

"Unfortunately, little sis, I'm not strong enough to break this spell." Keegan sighed as he examined the tablet.

Claire muttered a choice word in Gaelic and sighed. "So how do we break it?"

"You'd have to take it to Father." Keegan replied. "And he won't help you."

Claire winced. "True. Where is that old rotten-heart anyway?"

"He… went out to the Cliffs." Keegan said quietly.

"He what?!"

The Cliffs were a jagged part of this area that bordered the sea on one side. Depending on where someone fell, one could die. Claire tugged on her ear thoughtfully. They'd have to be really careful if they were to find him.

"How do we break the spell then?" Claire asked.

Keegan frowned. "Well, if he was still alive, I'd say kill him but…"

Claire looked at her brother, a smile spreading on her face. "That's it! Well, for one thing, we do really come to life thanks to the Tablet. For another, Caagel's spirit is alive. Kill the spirit, and the spell breaks."

Keegan smiled. "There you go! I'll stay here and surprise him in case he comes back."

"Thanks, Keegan! C'mon guys!" Claire turned on her heel and bolted. Larry pushed ahead of her and led her out.

They made it outside and, one at a time, they snuck past security. Claire took the lead then, heading in the direction of the cliffs.

"Claire, how do you know where you're going?" Teddy called.

"The stars!" Claire shouted over her shoulder. "The song I sung seems all too real right now."

"Boy does it." Jed agreed.

It took them an hour to reach the Cliffs. Claire looked around for her father and spotted him near the steepest part of the Cliffs. He was standing motionless, staring out to sea. Claire and the others quietly creeped up on him. What none of them realized is that he knew they were there.

"Foolish children!" Caagel cried. He used his powers to drag them all closer. "You thought you could sneak up on me? I knew of your plans ages ago!"

The sorcerer was dressed in a black tunic with dark grey pants and black boots. He had a long, pitch black cape that billowed out behind him. His hair was dark brown and short and his eyes blueish grey.

"Let us go!" Claire shouted, struggling against his grip.

"I'm afraid not. See, I've looked into the future and I don't like it very much. Killing you, Claire, will change it perfectly!"

"Leave her alone!" Jed hollered.

"Ah yes. The little cowboy who's head over heels for her." Caagel cooed. "You care for her so much, and she for you…"

This time, neither Claire nor Jed denied it. They just glared at him with two pairs of blue flames.

"I wonder what you'd do if I hurt her, cowboy." Caagel mused.

"If you harm a hair on her head, I will shoot you in your dang eye!" Jed raged. He strained against the magic hold.

"If you touch him, I will snap your neck faster than you can scream!" Claire roared. She knew it was pointless to break free of pure might itself. She tried to use magic to break free, but nothing worked.

"Sorry, not a chance." Caagel spun around, cape wiping out behind him. "It's time for my daughter to die."

He released Claire and smiled evilly at her. Claire growled and reached for her sword.

She never got a chance to draw it.

Caagel pointed at her and a powerful blast of magic crashed into her chest. Claire grunted in pain and went flying.

"NO! CLAIRE!" Jed screeched.

She was falling down the Cliffs, at the steepest part. I'm dead. He's finally succeeded. That was her last thought before pain erupted in her body as she crashed into stone. She rolled, over and over until she came to a rest with her back against the cliff wall. The last thing she remembered was searing pain, her father crying out in shock and Jed crying her name.

I don't love cliffhangers, do I? *chuckles* I will try to update the next chapter in a timely matter, I swear. I will update every day, to make up for the days missed. After that... I'll have to update whenever I get a chance *sigh*

QotD: What happens to Claire? Does she survive the fall and die in one of her friends arms? If yes, which friend? If no, who rescues her and saves her?