I don't own Di-Gata Defenders or the Di-Gata Defender characters.

Chapter Four: The Problems Begin

This is bad, very bad. I keep having that dream over and over again and it's starting to affect me. It stops me from having a good night's sleep and the uneasy feeling is getting worse and worse.

"Ummm… Adam?"

What is going on? Why does the dream repeat itself? Is it trying to tell me something?

"Adam?"

What is it trying to tell me? Am I in some sort of danger?

"Adam!"

Who or what is the hand? Should I be afraid of the light, or what it's trying to show me?

"Adam, snap out of it!"

Is there a way for me to avoid it? Should I try to avoid it? What would happen to…

"Adam! For the love of Altas, hang on to me!"

"Huh, what?" Adam shook his head to clear his thoughts as he began to take in his surroundings. He was riding behind Mel on her Stormer and his grip on her waist was very loose. "Oh, sorry. I guess my mind was wandering but no harm no foul, right?" He smiled as he looked to his left but what he saw made his eyes bulge and his mouth to open wide in shock. "A cliff? For the love of Altas, what are we doing at the edge of a cliff? I could have fallen over."

"Yeah, we know" says Seth from upfront, "that's why Mel was trying to get your attention. You should really pay more attention to your surroundings, Adam."

"Okay, okay, I get it," said Adam. "But seriously, what are we doing riding on a narrow path along the edge of a cliff? It's dangerous."

"Well," began Seth, "if you have been paying any attention at all you would know the answer to that question. We needed to get to the secret place that Tzur mentioned as quickly as possible and we discovered that this narrow and dangerous path is a shortcut. We discussed it and most of us agreed to take it. It took some talking to convinced Erik. I, I mean we decided that your silence was in agreement, so here we are."

"You know, Adam" spoke Kara, "the next time you want to zone out, you should probably make certain we're not on the move. For your own protection."

"What is with you Adam? You've been out of it since you woke up."

"I don't think now is a good time to talk about it, Erik. Maybe later" said Adam as he tighten his grip on Mel's waist.

"You're right, Adam" said Mel "but no more going into Lala Land until after we reach the end of the path, okay? I really hate to lose you…I mean, we wouldn't want to lose you because you are an essential part of the team. I mean, you're a defender like us and we have to stick together and…"

"Don't worry Mel, I know exactly what you mean. I won't allow myself to get distracted again during the rest of the ride. I promise."

Adam felt someone staring at him and peeked behind him to see Rion glaring at him from behind Kara's back. Oh boy, he thought, Rion is so going to chew me out for sure. He's probably knows the dream is at fault and demand to know more about it. The others are also going to want to know what's going on and I'm certain that Rion is going to make things appear worse then they really are. Note to self: avoid Rion at all costs.

He sighed and stared out at the bleak jagged rocks that surrounded them. Cold and distant, with no hint of warmth. It only added fuel to his despair and increased the uneasiness building inside.

That night, the defenders set up camp in a strange circle formation of stones that they found in the rocky terrain. The only sound that could be heard was the crackling of the fire and all eyes were on Adam.

Adam was seating on one of the smaller rocks with his feet drawn to him and his arms around his legs. He found the place depressing and the clouds covering the moon didn't help. He stared into the fire, occasionally glancing at the others. Mel and Kara were looking at him with a concerned look, Erik looked dumbfounded, and Seth and Rion were glaring at him; Rion's glare being more intense than Seth's. He sighed, bowed his head and closed his eyes as he waited for one of them to approach them. I wish that this was a forest instead. Then I could sneak off into the woods to hide without it being too obvious that I'm trying to avoid them. Can't exactly go and hide behind one of these rocks without setting off any alarms. He could hear the soft crunch of someone approaching and prepared himself for the inevitable interrogation.

"Adam? Do you want something to drink?"

He looked up as he open his eyes to see Mel standing in front of him holding a cup out to him. "Um, sure" he said as he reached for the cup, "I am feeling a little parched."

Their fingers touched and for just a moment, all time seemed to stand time. Adam and Mel couldn't help but smile at the contact and Adam could have sworn he saw Seth tense up in the corner of his eye. Must have imagined it. Adam slowly moved the cup towards him as Mel slowly returned her hand to her side. Adam then noticed that Kara was smiling like a cat that just caught a bird and that Mel was blushing slightly.

"Ummm.." began the embarrassed Mel, "maybe you should also get something to eat. You haven't eaten at all today. The stew is almost ready and we still have some grub cakes."

"Don't worry, Mel, I'll have some stew when it's ready." Adam looked down at the ground again before looking straight into Mel's eyes and saying "I'm really sorry for making you guys worry like that. It's just that something has been bothering me lately and, well, I had let it get to me. I'll be okay, I promise."

"Exactly what is bothering you Adam?" Seth gruffly asked. "Is it something we should be worried about?"

"Oh, no, no, no," said Adam as he turned to Seth. "It's nothing that you guys have to worry about. I can handle it on my own. We'll just pretend that the cliff incident didn't happen, okay?" He turned to Mel, smiled and said "don't worry about me, Mel. I can, after all, take care of myself. I really hate to see a beautiful girl like you worry about a guy like me." He smiled as he saw her blush return and whispered "I really care about you Mel. You mean more to me than anything in the world. I don't know what I would do without you."

Mel blushed even more as the two looked right into each other's eyes and…

"If it's nothing to worry about," said Seth as he came in between the two, "then why did it occupy your mind so much? Not that it would take much to occupy that small mind of yours."

"Look, Seth" said Adam irritably, "there's no reason for you to be concern about me, okay? I can take care of myself."

"The stew is ready everyone" cried out Kara, "come and get it. Especially you Adam."

Adam slid off the rock and shouldered his way past Seth.

"Hey" yelled out Seth, "you haven't answered my question yet!"

"Yeah, I know," said Adam over his shoulder, "I know."

Irritated beyond his belief, Seth turned his back on Adam and noticed Adam's cup on the rock. Peering inside, he noticed that the drink had been untouched. I thought he said he was parched.

Seth glared at Adam from the other side of the fire as he laughed and joked with the others. Nothing was adding up. After noticing the cup, Seth had grabbed and gave it roughly to Adam which he had accepted with a grin. He had been watching Adam closely after that and notice that he still hadn't drank from it. Not only that, but he hasn't eaten any stew yet either. Seth looked at the bowl, which still contained the small amount of stew that Adam had grabbed for himself. All of the other defenders had seemed to be too caught up in the 'merriment' to notice how little he had taken and that he hadn't taken more. All except for maybe Rion. Seth's eyes moved momentarily to Rion who was looking suspiciously at Adam, like he was aware that something was wrong. I'm going to have to talk to him later. He might know more about what's going on than me.

"We need to talk Adam."

Adam put on an uneasy grin as he turned around to face Rion. Mel, Kara, Erik and Seth were already sleeping peacefully in their sleeping bags. He had been lucky that he had been able to ease their fears so that they would stop worrying about him but Rion had not fallen for his act. "Sure, what about? If it's about the dream, then everything's okay."

"Everything is not okay" said Rion, "and I think the dream does have something to do with it. How many times have you had it? And don't you dare think of lying to me."

"Lying to you? Who's lying to you? I haven't been lying to you."

"Oh, really? I believe that you promise me that you would tell me if something was wrong."

"Actually, I believe I promised you that I would tell you if my dreams were getting out of the hand and they're not." Yet.

"Are you saying that your dreams are not out of hand? You were zoned out all morning and you could have fallen off a cliff because of it. Are you saying that makes everything perfectly fine?"

Okay, he's got a point there. I've got to say something to get him off my case. Think, Adam, think. "Um... I'm sorry about not telling you before, but I've had the same dream over and over again. And, well, it is starting to affect me." When he saw that Rion was going to say something, he put his hand up and said "stop. There's no point in getting all worked up about it. Neither one of us can do anything about the dream. We can't control my dream and we cannot stop it. It will eventually go away and everything will return to normal." I hope.

"What happened in your dream?"

"I don't want to talk about that, okay? It doesn't concern you anyway and…"

"Doesn't concern me? Would I be talking to you about it if it didn't concern me?"

"Okay, bad choice of words, but I still stand on my ground. This is my dream and nothing you do will stop it. I have to deal with it on my own. I will find a way to deal with it. But… if you want to offer me comfort, or anything like that, I will gladly take it." Adam smiled when he say that Rion seemed somewhat satisfied with that. "Oh, by the way," said Adam as he headed to his sleeping bag. "Could you please not tell the others."

"Huh? Why not?"

"I just don't want to worry them that's all. They have enough things to worry about, plus I can take care of myself."

"Well… okay, if you say so."

"Thanks, Rion. Goodnight." With that, Adam slipped into his sleeping bag and immediately fell asleep.

"For a guy having nightmares, he sure falls asleep easily, doesn't he?"

Rion turned around in surprise to see Seth crawling out of his sleeping bag. "You're awake?"

"I was awake the whole time."

"So you heard everything?"

"Yep. But I still didn't hear enough. He shouldn't keep secrets from us."

"We all have our secrets to keep."

"Yeah, well, some things shouldn't be kept secret. But, he's right about one thing: there's really no need to inform the others, especially Mel."

"Why especially Mel?"

"She worries about him too much already. I mean, there's nothing wrong with her worrying about him but she thinks of him way too much and she should be thinking about other things like… like…" He scratched the back of his head and said "could you forget that I said anything? Please?"

"Sure, Seth, sure." Rion yawned and slipped into his sleeping bag. "Goodnight Seth."

"Goodnight Rion."

The clouds shifted, allowing the moon a peek at the defenders. They slept soundly, unaware of the troubles that lurked in the shadow. The moon's rays lightly touched a shadowy figure who was hiding behind a huge rock a few yards away from the campsite. Zad poked his head out and watched as the moon once again hid behind the clouds. It was almost time; he could hardly wait.