Author's Note: It's going a bit downhill from here for our poor protagonist. I was asked to do fluffy for a chapter or so, and seeing as it's been nothing but serious and dark, and think that's a great idea. I can't tell when, but expect it in the future, before the main story escalates too far to go back. Also, if anyone sees where I am heading, please help me think of a better ending than what I have. There will be a chapter further ahead that will be a fork in the road, and I will leave it up to you what to do with it. I can't say everyone will be happy, but you do not want to know what I originally thought the ending should be, so have at it!

Jack slept most of the day after his outburst and was feeling, more or less, ready for his adventure that night. The sun had gone down a few hours ago, but it was still before Jack's usual bedtime. Jack had not attended dinner, more for the fact that he did not want to face his peers and less that he was feeling nauseous, although it was true. Jack sat in his room, staring intently at his open window. He left it open so he would be able to escape easily through when the time came. He wasn't entirely sure what he was waiting for, however. The past two times he had seen the woman was by sheer chance, a shadow out of the corner of his eye or a full on attack. It was unlikely that she would just appear in his backyard again. He's not even entirely sure that she was the one who made the movement outside of his window yesterday. That could have been a bird or something. But Jack had to stay positive and vigilant. If he just-

There. Right there. He had just seen it. Jack jumped from his bed and raced over to the window, tripping over his sheets on the way over and clinging to the window sill for support. He stared out into the consuming blackness of the night, the moon's shine gone today because of cloud cover. Jack stared up at the sky after a minute of the still darkness from the woods. The moon. Mannie. The man that gave him a second life and refused to explain why. If only he could see the moon now he would shake his fist or something else just as explicit to show his utter appreciation for abandonment. Even now the moon left him alone, to be by himself, to not explain why he was here, what the purpose was. Why was he a human? Did he do something wrong? Did it have something to do with his dreams? Jack shivered at the thought of his most recent nightmare. It seemed like a reality to him; it might have happened or will happen, and Jack had no idea how to fix it. He didn't even have his staff. His heart dropped as he thought about the past few months without it. North swore that he had never seen such a thing on Jack's persona, but Jack refused to believe him. North tried to dissuade all of Jack's arguments, saying it was all in his mind, that the world he was talking about was not real, but Jack knew. North and Bunny and Sandy would do anything to keep him safe, and if that meant turning him into a human, then so be it. But they did not have to blatantly lie to his face about it. He could handle whatever damage he had done or will do. He wasn't five anymore. He was over 300 years old, and they k-

Again, a shadow, a slight shrug from a branch, or a shift of movement from a leaf. Jack's senses were tingling at the nervous tension building up in his body. There was something out there, and Jack was going to find out what.

After another few minutes of waiting, Jack finally could not stand it any longer and climbed out of the window with only his hoodie and a pair of sweats he had been wearing since last night. He did not see the point in changing if he was not going to leave the house.

Jack paced himself as he made his way through the dense woods, measuring each step, carefully, silently. If he was going to do this, he was going to do it right. A ninja. Jack had observed the way of the ninja when they were still around. Silent killers, smooth as shadows gliding along a wall or over water. For a while there, Jack even tried replicating their movements, when he was younger, but his over-eagerness kept him failing. He was more of a gymnast type anyhow.

Jack made it a hundred feet or so into the woods, and began to see the first signs of the pond lying ahead. That was the first place he had seen her, so why would she not be here again. As he neared the pond, he hid himself behind a tree and gave the area a thorough observation. He took in every detail he could in the darkness and scanned over the underside of the trees, just in case she had climbed up there to ambush him or something. When Jack saw nothing, he took a step away from the tree and out into the open. As he neared the pond, a focused on a log or something out in the middle. Jack had never seen that there before, and was curious how it had gotten there. Maybe it had fallen recently and he was too hyped up about other events that he never noticed or perhaps-

Jack's eyes focused in on the log again, and saw movement. No. No, it couldn't be. Jack stepped into the muddy beginnings of the pond, needing to get a closer look. After a minute, the log moved again. An arm. He saw an arm! And a head! This was a person! Jack splashed his way into the shallow depths of the pond, ignoring the nagging feeling of his fear of unfrozen bodies of water. He sluggishly trudged his way through the shallows, his feet being sucked on by mud and moss lying at the bottom. Jack ignored the shiver that went up his spine as he became waist deep within another few feet and continued on. The figure in front of him began moving more as Jack made his way closer. It was struggling. It was probably the woman. It had to be the woman. She was the only other person he had ever seen out in these woods. Jack continued his trek, the water rising steadily up to his neck and chin. He was close now. He could see her. She was stuck on something. She might be in danger! Jack hurried toward her, his fear changing to concern for the other party in the water.

"Hey! Lady! Are you in trouble? I'm here to help! Just stay there!"

The figure moved to face the voice, and Jack smiled, his waiting paying off. He had come at just the right time. She could have drowned without him here to save her.

"What are you stuck on? Is your foot stuck on a branch or in the mud?"

"Jack, turn back, now! You do not know what you are getting into! You do not want to come any closer!" The voice whispered fiercely. Jack was only persuaded to go quicker. She did not want Jack to get hurt, but he was fine. It was she who was in trouble.

"Hold on! I'll be there in a minute! I'll see what I can do!"

"Jack, turn back! Before it's too late! Please! You do not want to see what is here!" The voice whispered back. She must be tired, Jack reasoned. Her voice sounded so weak, nearly carried off in the wind.

Jack finally reached the prone figure in the water. It was the woman. Her head was barely above the water and Jack himself was struggling to stay above water level. His panic was rising, but he aptly ignored it to focus on saving the woman before him. His toes, which kept his mouth above water level, kept slipping on the grime and mud at the bottom as he came within a foot of the woman. Her face read anger and guilt, Jack could at least tell that much. She was not struggling, but was simply staying just above the water. A horrible realization hit Jack as he reached out to grab her arm. She is probably trying to kill herself. Why else would she be out here in the middle of the pond without struggling to stay afloat. Jack was glad he was here, to prevent a horrible death.

Jack felt around with his foot for the woman's foot, and found a tangle of something at the bottom. Maybe a net or something. People did go fishing in here sometimes.

"No, Jack. You have to understand. You have to remember."

"I understand just fine lady. If you wanted to off yourself, you should do it more stylishly. I'm here now, so there will be none of that today, though." Jack grunted as he pulled on the netting with his foot. The woman simply watched Jack, her eyes scanning him, and Jack shivered. He felt like she was peering into his soul. She was creepy, to say the least, but she had never caused Jack any harm, and Jack trusted her to some degree.

"Just one… more… pull!" Jack pulled on the netting again with his foot, and yelled in triumph as he felt it come loose. He looked up at the woman, but was only met with a frown and a silent shake of the head. She seemed disappointed. Jack became confused, but that feeling left quickly as he felt his own feet becoming entangled in that same netting.

"Crap… no!" Jack yelped as he lost his footing and fell under the murky depths. The water was freezing, Jack now realized as his face began to tingle from the cold. He could not feel the rest of his body very well, for it had been going numb for a while now. Jack pushed on the bottom of the pond when he was able to feel it and broke the surface just as he saw the woman make it to the other side of the pond. His head went below the water again before he could make out anything else.

Panic set in at that moment, the realization that he was drowning dawning on him. He made a silent scream under water, the beginnings of hyperventilation setting in as his worst fear consumed him. He was going to die. His final demise was going to be the same one that gave him his second life. Oh, the irony. But Jack's sense of humor was naught in the confusion and horror of his current predicament. His back rubbed against the bottom of the pond as he struggled to break loose of the bondages around his feet, but his luck was running out just as the air in his lungs had a few seconds ago. This is it. I'm dead. I'm gone. This is the end.

Something grabbed him. He was moving through the water, not of his own volition. The inky black around him became overwhelming just as he felt the cool of the air on his cheek.