"You know," England said as they traveled, "the way to Camelot had less sand and more trees."

Prussia shrugged, "I think that a cactus can count as a tree. Besides, what would you rather have had me say?"

France shifted on his mount, "Well, something that made sense would have been nice."

Russia was still evidently enjoying the situation, "But we are not walking, da?"

Germany nodded, "He makes a valid point."

Japan urged his lizard to go faster, "We should still probably move faster."

The others followed suit. After about an hour of silence, France spoke, "Does anyone know where we are going? I do not want to wander through a desert canyon all night."

Russia pointed up at the sky, "We have time. I think that night will last for a while longer, comrade."

England also looked up, "I am still wondering how they managed that."

France looked a bit frustrated now, "None of you have answered my question! Where are we going?"

Japan looked over his shoulder over at France, "We are looking for any sign that shows where they might have gone."

France sighed, "Like what? I see nothing but canyon walls and sand! I hear only the wind and bugs scuttling about!"

Prussia watched him for a moment, "You seem a little distressed. What's wrong?"

France threw up his hands, only to have to clasp them back onto his lizard for fear of falling, "What isn't wrong in this situation?"

Germany halted the group, "I hate to interrupt your heart to heart chat, but I think they went this way." He pointed to their left which proved to have a very large tunnel, that went about one hundred feet, before opening up on the other side.

Russia was the first to go forward, "Then we will go this way, da?" He got within ten feet of the entrance before his lizard went wild. It started to try and buck him off. When it finally succeeded, it ran away. Russia got up and dusted himself off, extremely irritated.

The rest of the nations decided it was wise to dismount first, and then approach the tunnel. The rest of the lizards also ran away, presumably to the hole tat they first spawned from. Prussia laughed as he watched them go, "Kesekesekese! What a wimpy creature! Not worth my awesome!"

Japan looked up at the tunnel worriedly, "What could frighten anything so much, that it would risk throwing Russia of all people off it's back?"

France peered at the wall by the cave, "Perhaps zat could shed some light on zis?" he pointed to the wall in question, that held a message of some sort, written in Anasazi.

Germany walked up so that he could read the message, "England. I never thought I'd say this, but...work your magic."

England drew his wand and smiled, "I get a strange sense of satisfaction whenever someone finally admits that magic is real." He walked up to the wall, and waved his wand over it, much like the last time. He whispered "Vertere" over and over again.

As the words unscrambled, the rest of the nations crowded around to get a clear view of the message. It finished translating and read: ENTER TRAVELER IF YOU DARE BUT BEWARE OF THE TICKERS.

"What is a 'ticker'?" Japan wondered aloud.

"Probably something mean and antisocial." Prussia said.

"It probably hurts too." France added.

Russia pulled out his pipe, "Tickers will face the wrath of my pipe, da?" and walked into the tunnel. The rest of nations followed, albeit more hesitantly.

It was too dark to see anything at first, but England whispered, "Lumos." and suddenly there was enough light to see for a few feet coming from the tip of his wand.

Germany looked around warily, "I don't see any tickers."

France had his hand near his dagger, "How would you know if you did?"

Prussia pointed, "Check out the paintings all over the walls."

Russia studied them as they walked, "These paintings show some rather violent acts, da?"

England craned his neck to see the ceiling, "How did they get paintings up there? It must be at least twenty feet high!"

"We can ask America later." Japan stated. He paused, "Wait, I hear something."

Prussia drew his sword in apprehension, "Sounds like...scuttling."

"I wish I could say that it's probably just a bug but..." France started.

"Not here...not now." Russia finished as he pulled out his pipe.

"Ah! I see it! Oh wait, it's gone." Germany looked frustrated as a shadow darted just out of sight.

England had his spell book on hand, "I have an idea. Everyone gather around me!"

"Why?" asked Prussia.

"I'm going to end this before it starts." England replied.

Japan, having seen England in action up close before, complied. He encouraged the others to do the same.

The scuttling sounds increased in volume and frequency. Shadows continued darting around just beyond the light of England's wand. When everyone had regrouped, England neutralized his light spell. The world was consumed in darkness for a second, then England yelled out, "Rotunda Scuta!"

The cavern was illuminated by purple light as a translucent ball of energy grew from England's upraised wand. It continued to grow until it completely encircled the nations' tightly knit group in a dome shape.

France reached out to touch to wall of energy, when England suddenly exclaimed, "Don't touch that!"

France withdrew his hand like a child caught opening the lid of a cookie jar. There was a moment of silence. Germany was about to remark on the situation but he was interrupted by a loud THUMP! and a BUZZ! shortly after. The nations turned toward the source just in time to see an unmoving lump on the ground disintegrate.

Russia found this amusing, "Is that all?"

As if on cue, shapes started to form in the darkness. They started to charge toward the dome. As they came into the light, one could see that they were about two feet tall, with a loping gait. Their faces were pinched up into a permanent frown, with pinpoints of green light in their sunken eye sockets. They had wicked claws on their limbs. Every time one leaped up to attack the nations, the dome would flash and the creature would fall off and disintegrate.

Prussia was laughing really hard, "Kesekesekese! Oh god my side! Aha! They don't know when to give up!"

Japan watched the little things for a moment, "So why are they called 'tickers'?"

Germany shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe it was a mistranslation?"

England, who was evidently struggling, shook his head, "No, that spell is never wrong. Now come on, lets get moving. I can't keep this up forever!"

The nations started to move toward the exit. About three fourths of the way there, the shield started to flicker. Needless to say, France was alarmed. "Anglettere," he said, "Now iz not ze time to be joking around!"

England was shaking his wand, "No! Don't give up on me now-oh, bloody hell." The shield disappeared and the world was plunged into darkness again. Tickers could be heard. They were getting bolder now. The noises got louder.

"Guys..." Prussia started.

"...Run!" Germany finished.

Nobody needed any more prompting. They ran for it. Unfortunately, the tickers had no problem catching up. Russia was at the end of the group. He could feel a sharp pain as a ticker latched itself to his leg. As Russia tried to pry him off, the creature began to make a rapid ticking noise. Like a timed bomb. This spurred Russia to work faster. He got it off and threw it away just in time for it to explode. In the sudden light, he could see hundreds more swarming after the group. Russia ran faster, "I know why they're called tickers!"

France was ahead by a few yards. He called over his shoulder, "We figured zat one out ourselves! Hâte!"

The nations emerged from the tunnel one by one. The pursuing tickers stopped at the cavern mouth, as if something was holding them back. The tired nations regarded them warily. After about thirty seconds, the tickers began to disperse. First one, then another. Then the whole group retreated back into the tunnel. Japan merely brushed of his uniform, and stood there. Germany leaned on a nearby boulder to catch his breath. Prussia was laying in the sand getting as much rest as possible, and England was letting a wound that he got somewhere in the tunnel heal. Russia was looking down at his pant leg, rather annoyed at the rips that were in it.

Hooray! Another chapter is complete!

I got the tickers idea from a videogame called 'Gears of War.' The tickers in the game don't really look like the ones I used though. It's an awesome game if you're good with blood and gore.

Thanks for the reviews and such! They're much appreciated!

Later dudes. ^J^