Meep … I don't particularly like this chapter --;; try to enjoy.
--
The evil looked with its 'eye' as it saw its plan being set into motion. Yes, soon, all will belong to it again. Satisfied, the evil smiled to itself … or at least, it could have if it had a form, let alone a mouth to smile with.
But what if things were running too smoothly, it wondered … in all possibility, when things run this smooth, there is bound to be a 'bump' somewhere. It wanted none of that. It wanted the delicate plan to run just so perfect, like it was doing right now. Never the less, he had to make sure it continued to run perfectly.
Calling forth energy from his myriad of powers, it had formed entities which resembled something close to humans, only their eye-sockets were empty, replaced with nothing but a dim, red glow, and had no noses. They were long and slim, their fingers webbed, and their hair was grey and tangled.
Yes … these entities, these 'children of the nightmare', they would serve as part of its plan.
Taking one of the Nightmare Child back, it spoke to the rest in a dark, gruff and crackling voice.
'Go, my children …' it said, 'Go and see to it there is nothing stopping me from taking what I own.'
The Nightmare Children bowed and turned. Again, if it had a mouth, it would have smiled, confident its plans would not go wrong.
Of course, still being paranoid, it had to at least keep watch. Using one last bit of its power, the entity of evil came close to the Nightmare Child it had taken earlier.
'You …' it said, 'You, I will assign you this job.'
If one had been around to hear it laugh, one would hear sheer nightmare and evil amongst the laughter …
--
Flint banged on the door of Duster's house, making a loud racket. It was amazing some one could sleep through this, no wonder Boney had a tough time getting to him.
"DUSTER! Open up!" Flint yelled at the door. Alas, there were no answers of any kind, not even a slight moan. Inpatient and somewhat infuriated, Flint finally kicked down the door right off its hinges. That finally woke Duster up.
"FLINT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Duster said, shocked.
Flint glared slightly at Duster "Get up. Lucas and Claus are missing."
"Again?" Duster moaned, "Geez, you have no control over your children … what are they doing now."
Flint showed Duster the parchment Lucas had wrote. When Duster was finished reading it, he sighed and rubbed his eyes "That boy is crazy."
"What's worse, he's taken Claus with him." Flint grumbled to himself. "When we find those two, they are in deep, deep trouble."
Duster got out of bed, "So why are you coming to me for help? I'm just a plain old thief."
"You actually went with my son all those months ago: You followed him as your leader. I was hoping you may know where he would go." Flint said silently.
"Well …" Duster said, "I might be overshooting it a bit here … but I would suspect they're not in town or in its areas around it. Have you checked the river?"
"Yes." Flint replied.
"The Forest?"
"Yes."
"The Farms?"
"Yes."
"Even the chicken coops?"
Flint looked at Duster awkwardly "Why would I …?"
Duster shook his hands "Er … never mind …"
Flint sighed. "I'm going to wake Kumatora up. She'll probably be of more use."
"Hey!" Duster Growled, "Don't you turn into my father! I'm coming with you!!"
Duster and Flint went to Kumatora's house. Unlike Duster, she was actually wide awake and answered the door quickly. After Flint told her what was going on and showed her the note, Kumatora leaned against the door frame and thought.
"Maybe Lucas was having one of his 'episodes' again … you know, where he goes out looking for something that just isn't there?" Kumatora said.
"I don't think he would've written the note if he was." Flint said, "It seemed like his own decision to do so …"
Kumatora looked sideways, worried. "Then where could they be?"
'Um … hello?' A brown dog, Boney, barked. He approached the three and sat down. 'If you haven't noticed, I am a dog who can track things.' He said, wagging his tail, 'I could be of some assistance.'
Kumatora looked at Flint. "He has a point there." She simply said.
Flint scratched the back of his head, the led Boney, Duster, and Kumatora to his home. After thoroughly catching the scent of the two, Boney pointed his nose down to the floor and followed the twisted scent trail. He went all over his house, all around, and even all through town. Boney then led them across the river and through the woods, and eventually started to climb up a hill.
Kumatora took a second to look back, and was taken by surprise. "Guys, look!!"
The group turned around, and saw that they were miles away from town.
"The boys actually got this far …" Flint said silently to himself.
"And the trail keeps on going …" Boney said.
"How far do you think they went?" Duster asked.
Flint turned around and headed back home. "Boney, you stay here for a bit. Kumatora, Duster, start packing your bags."
"Why?" Kumatora asked.
"If they're on a journey, then we're on a journey too." Flint answered back.
--
Lucas woke up, yawning. He and his older twin brother, Claus, had spent the last four days traveling. Determined to keep in front of their father, they would only sleep at least four hours, and wake up just at the crack of dawn. They would then spend most of the day walking, only stopping for a very short amount of time to eat, rest, or use the bathroom. They had plenty of water, but their food rations were running short. If they didn't find a town soon, they would surely starve.
Lucas saw the sun coming over the horizon and sighed. As much as he wanted to sleep in, he didn't want his father catching up with them. He knew Boney would be able to track them easily, so they made care that they would be at least a day ahead of them. Lucas shook Claus to wake him up. "Claus, it's time to wake up."
Claus moaned and rolled over, determined not to get up. "Jus' … jus' five more minutes …"
"No, we need to get going now." Lucas said sternly. "We don't want dad catching up with us."
Claus finally sat up and yawned, his mouth wide. He then got up and put his blanket back in his pack. He then stared at Lucas, his eyes bloodshot, and his hair a mess.
Lucas got up and dusted himself off. He then made sure that neither he nor Claus was forgetting anything before walking off. "Let's go," he said, "Mom's waiting."
The sun rose higher and higher, and soon it would be a reasonable hour to really wake up. As tired as Claus was in the mornings, for some reason, he would be bounding with excitement and joy. Lucas, on the other hand, still felt fatigued. By now, they would have been walking for at least five hours.
"So …" Claus said, "If we keep heading north, we'll eventually run into 'something'."
"The 'something' better come soon, Claus. Frankly, I'm getting tired …"
"I hope there's a town up ahead. I wouldn't mind sleeping on a real bed." Claus said, dreaming.
"I wouldn't mind waking up very late, if I'm in a bed or not …" Lucas said, sighing.
Claus stared at Lucas "Hey, you wanna take a little break?"
Lucas fell to his knees, indicating that meant 'yes'. Claus then got a small loaf of bread out from his pack and gave a piece of it to Lucas, then put it back in.
Lucas stared at his brother, concerned "Are you going to have a piece?" He asked
"You need it more than I do: I can see how tired you are." Claus said, sitting back.
"But you'll go hungry!" Lucas said, trying to give the piece to Claus.
"You will too if you don't eat that."
Lucas sighed and ate the small piece he was given. He then sat back and sighed.
"Do you think this was a bad idea?" Lucas asked.
"If it is, it's your idea." Claus answered back.
"Hey, that's not nice!" Lucas yelled at Claus
Claus shrugged, "Mom use to say that an idea is never bad until you actually try it."
"And we're trying it right now …" Lucas said, sighing, "And still no sign of mom."
"What about your visions? Have you had any of them lately?" Claus asked.
Lucas shook his head sideways. "No, not since that night …"
Claus then brought his knees up to his chest and crossed his arms over them. "Hey … If mom is alive, then why didn't she come home yet?"
Lucas blinked, then looked at the sky "She … she could be lost."
"What would she be doing in the middle of nowhere anyway?" Claus asked.
Lucas sighed. "Claus, this is a bad idea. I'm sorry I've put you through this …" He got up and picked up his sac. "Lets just head back. If we're lucky, we'll run into dad and-."
"HEEELLLLLLP!" A shrill voice yelled from across the meadow.
"Did you hear that?!" Lucas said, looking to the direction of the voice.
"How could I not?!" Claus replied back, "Some one is in trouble!!"
The two scurried across the field to find a girl, just about their age, running from a giant creature. The creature looked somewhat like a Deer, only its legs were made of scales and its head was in a thin, pin shape.
Lucas made no hesitation as he leaped into action. Calling forth his power, he let out a huge PK Thunder against the creature. In Shock, the creature turned and ran away, tail between its legs.
Claus yelled with joy and high-fived his brother, bouncing with excitement. "WOW! That was soooooo COOL! You just swooped in there and POW! ZAP! You taught that deer who's boss!"
Lucas blushed a bit, "Man, Claus, I only scared it away …"
"But I do admit," The girl piped up, "You were really brave."
The two boys faced the girl who smiled pleasantly. She wore an aged Pink dress with w pink hat to match. Her hair was Jet black, but in contrast, her eyes were a very, very light brown, almost red. She carried a Parasol at her side and had a black choker around her neck.
Claus was immediately infatuated.
The girl giggled. "My name is Polly. Thanks again for saving me."
Lucas Saw Claus's infatuation with her and decided to take advantage. He pushed his brother forward and smiled "He was the one that originally spotted you, thank him!"
"What?! But I-!"
"Thank you" Polly said, smiling once again "… uh … oh my, I never learned you names …"
"CLAUS." Claus yelled abruptly, Shocking both Polly and Lucas. "M-m-my name i-is Claus!"
"And I'm Lucas." Lucas said, trying to hide his amusement.
"Lucas, Claus …" Polly said, curtsying to them "Thank you both so much. I would like to repay you in some way, though …"
"Oh, you really don't have to!!" Claus said, nervous.
"But I insist!" Polly said, taking Claus's arm and dragging him. "You can come back to my cottage; it's not far from here!"
Lucas sighed in relief "We really could use a nice, warm meal by now."
"Then come on back!" Polly said, still dragging Claus, "I'll make you a couple of omelet's!"