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Disclaimer: Power o' Five is not mine.

Light and Dark

Scott blinked. For a minute he wondered if he was back in Nevada. He was looking at a rocky valley and through that lay a humongous mountain, with a white top that reminded Scott of icing on a cake. The mountain seemed... different. He had to admit, it was a great sight in front of his eyes.

So that was the first reason he knew it wasn't Nevada.

The other reasons were just little details. The rock all around him wasn't as red or as rough as it can be in Nevada and when it isn't like that, usually there are trees smothering the mountains. As far as Scott could see, not a tree was growing anywhere near. It was much colder here too. Not cold enough to make him shiver, though. He was in a long sleeve shirt and jeans, so he would be just fine. And, he didn't know how to explain it, but somehow here it just felt cleaner. No, that wasn't the word. More pure, that fit.

There was nothing stopping Scott from walking away and trying to find a way back to his brother, nothing. But he didn't want to. He liked this feeling around him. He didn't feel pressured or worried or nervous. He just felt calm and relaxed. It would have been so easy for him to have just turned around and leaped through that door to fulfill his duties as a Gatekeeper, but someone will find him eventually. Right now, he just wanted to see that mountain closer up. It was all that mattered.

Scott went with his gut feeling and headed toward the mountain. He inhaled and fresh air filled his lungs. Even without any vegetation, this place seemed like a story book setting, with unicorns and little elves. It seemed magical.

The boy started moving quicker. The valley was much longer than it had appeared, and it almost felt like he needed to get closer. Maybe he could make it to the mountain today, maybe even start climbing up by evening. Then maybe he'd even make it up the mountain the next day. Sounds like a plan, he thought.

But it was a really bad one. After three hours of speed-walking, he wasn't even a quarter of the way. Now his path stretched on even more, and the mountain seemed even bigger. He trudged on. He didn't care if it took him a week, he was determined to reach it.

Only, he didn't know why.

Jamie ran out, shutting the door behind him. He was breathing heavily. Black surrounded him.

Scott.

He waited, but his brother didn't reply. Jamie would have worried about his safety – what if he was captured again? – but even though Jamie couldn't hear him in his mind, he could feel him. He would try again later. Scott was probably concentrated on something else.

Jamie stopped running. He was safe here, where ever here was. It was dark. Jamie reached out, to grab a hold of something. His arms swung around desperately trying to find a wall that connects to the door, but suddenly he had lost the door. Minutes went by and still he had not felt anything but the breeze of air through his fingers. He forced himself to stay calm and starting to walk around, stretching his arms out as far as they would reach. His finger tips touched nothing.

Scott!

Jamie waited. He was desperate. This dark made him more scared than ever before and he didn't feel as safe. He drew in a weak, shaky breath and called out to his brother again:

Scott, where are you?

Seconds passed. He was aware that his palms had become very sweaty and he wiped them on his jeans.

I don't know.

Jamie was filled with relief and oddly, he felt very safe again.

Scott, I don't know where I am either. It's all dark. I can't see anything and I haven't ran into anything. It's like I'm trapped in a pitch black desert. The only thing I know that's here is the ground. Jamie was exasperated. How had he gotten into this mess? Well, it was all Matt's idea... He frowned and forced himself to oust the blame from his mind. The Five needed to come together now, not fall apart.

Well, where I am – it's, it's ... nice. There's this mountain. It's ... nice, too. I don't know how to describe it. I've been walking all day. I just want to get to it. But look, Jamie, don't panic. That'll get you into trouble. If it is a desert, there won't be water for a long while. You need to wait until morning. It'll all be okay, I'm sure. That girl, she's probably okay. She's got Richard with her. Matt, he might not be so well off, but I'm sure nothing will happen to him that he won't be able to handle. Pedro might just be back at Peru. He might have been thinking about his country and ended up back there. He can speak Spanish, so he'll be okay. That other guy, he could be with either of them, and that would just help them out a lot. Jamie, just don't panic.

Jamie had been holding his breath as his brother spoke. He knew his brother was trying to reassure him, but even so, something seemed really off. Why would he want to get to a mountain so badly? He's spent his whole life surrounded by mountains, why is this one so special? Could it be the Old Ones pulling him in? Jamie knew one thing though, his brother shouldn't go near it.

Scott, stop walking, now.

What? What is it?

Don't go near the mountain. I don't like the sounds of it. It could be the Old Ones! What if they capture you again?! The mountain is probably evil and ... I don't want to see you in their hands again.

Jamie strained his mind to hear his brothers response.

Jamie, you don't know what you're talking about. He could sense the anger and tension in Scott's response, and he regretted saying anything. The Old Ones – they don't exist here. You don't know what you are talking about! This place, this mountain, it's not evil! Good luck finding your way, because I've got a mountain to climb.

Scott... You know you've got to be careful.

He didn't respond.

... Scott?

He waited a few minutes with bated breath. Nothing. Great, Scott was mad at him, he was stuck in a dark, endless place and it hadn't got any lighter at all. Jamie didn't care what Scott said, he wanted to go walk around. It couldn't be a desert – he had bent down and felt the ground. It was only rough gravel, not hot sand. He stumbled on. He didn't know how long it had been, but to him if felt like hours. There was no way to tell the time here. It was like he was in outer space, even the air he breathed in felt out-of-earthly. He walked on and on. Jamie didn't feel tired, he just felt agitated and annoyed for not finding anything. Not a tree or a wall. This was a land of nothing.

Of course, Jamie crashed into a thick rock soon after he thought that. Feeling overjoyed, his hands scrambled around it. Quickly, he thought of which direction he should go in. Right or left? Eventually he picked right. He might as well stick to the superstitious side of things – he didn't need anything else to give him bad odds.

He kept his left hand on it and started running. It wasn't a rock, it was a wall. Maybe his was a city. His foot steps were echoing quite loudly. He stopped in his tracks. He wasn't outside, he was in. In a huge, dark chamber. He started running again, much faster than before. Jamie didn't know whether to stop and go the opposite direction to find a way out of here, or to continue going right. He hadn't run into anything out of the ordinary of a big, flat wall. Jamie continued going right, although he was feeling a bit claustrophobic. Even though this place was huge, there were no windows. Maybe he was underground...

The thought scared him even more, and he ran even faster. Suddenly, the wall disappeared from his palm. He reached for the wall he had just lost, found it and continued around the corner. A corner was good. It was different.

He was breathing hard. His eyes opened wide. At the end of the long corridor that he was now in, there was a speck of light. Jamie forgot about the wall and ran toward the light.

Scott woke up, stiff and cold from a night sleep on hard rock. It had gotten much, much colder here at night and he couldn't start a fire. But there was no use complaining about that now, he was so close to the mountain. He wouldn't bother walking today – he would run.

Maybe ten minutes later, Scott had reached the edge. An immense pleasure he had never felt before tore through him and before he knew it he was fighting a smile on his lips. He examined the mountain. It wasn't very steep, but as he had seen from the views getting there, it started out like a hill then little by little got steeper and steeper in a very uneven way. But that wouldn't keep him off of it. Nothing would. Not even Jamie.

His joy was gone and he remembered their conversation. Why would he say something so dumb and disapproving-like? The words made Scott feel like a baby and he didn't need taking care of.

But something else had happened too. Something made Scott feel overly protective of the mountain. He wouldn't think about it, his thoughts only on the glory of the towering mountain, even though he wasn't able to describe the mountain about its full effect. The only word that came to his mind was 'nice'. Nice? Maybe something was wrong with it. Or maybe it was just him. He shook the thoughts from his head and continued on his way.

Scott rushed up the mountain. Too fast. He was hungry and exhausted. He hadn't eaten since well before he had ran into the door that had taken him here. His stomach was grumbling so loudly that, although he would have given anything not to, he had to stop and rest.

He looked around him. It was an amazing sight. There were other mountains in the distance, more mountains sprinkled with white and hills of brownish-grey below them. He relaxed his head against the mountain which was surprisingly comfortable. He hoped to stay here all his life. He looked back to the scenery. It was still the same, but still very different from anything he'd seen before.

Then something caught his eye. He squinted. There was something in the distance. Against the dark rock Scott could easily see that it was bright red. And it was moving very quickly toward him.

He just didn't know what 'it' was.