BluePhantom15: Hey everyone! I'm soooo sorry for the terribly long wait. I hope you will all forgive me for being such a jerk. It's just I've been really busy with family this past month, and well you get it.
Anyways on to what actually matters!
Thanks so much to: JessLover8705, jgmva, Mayakiba, Nicky1992, Savannah Roux and calynn jiana for reviewing! I'm really glad you like the story so far. You guys are so nice, and I really appreciate your reviews. They really brighten up my day! ^_^
BluePhantom15: Sorry for any grammar/spelling errors you may find.
Hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: Sue the Mog, not me, cause I own nothing.
Move! I shouted at myself, as I ran down the long narrow street. It was so dark I was tempted to use my powers to light up my hands, but I knew that would only draw unwanted attention. I kept moving forward, praying I wouldn't run into anything. At the speed I was going, if I did, it would hurt - badly. I tired my best to make out different buildings as I moved along, in an attempt to get a sense of where I was going. Everything seemed so different at night. It all looked like one giant blob of nothing. Even as I the passed street lights, they barely gave me enough light to make out many things.
Still, I had to keep going. That was only thing that was blazing through my head at the moment. Henri could already be trailing me, and I needed to get to someplace hidden before he could spot me.
Man, he was going to kill me! I was so dead.
What the hell had I been thinking? I just blew my frickin protector into a wall for goodness sake! What did I think that was going to accomplish! I didn't even know where I was going! But it was no time to hit myself in the head now. I had to get off the road, if I had any chance of avoiding Henri's wrath. Looking left and right frantically, I finally spotted an opening through an ally that seemed to lead out of town. Just in time to, as I could distantly hear the sounds of a car's engine move along the black paved road. Forcing my exhausted legs to turn, I dove into the narrowed opening, and ran out into what seemed like a small forest. I immediately could smell the scent of pine, as I sprinted through the dark green needles of the trees. They scratched against my bare skin, but I paid them no heed, focusing only on getting as far away from the town as possible.
It was so bloody dark, that I found myself barley being able to avoid crashing into the tree stumps that stood right in front of my eyes. Several times, I hit my head on the long branches, regretting not bringing a helmet of some sort.
Then it hit me. Shoot! Of course, my bike! Why the heck hadn't thought of that before? Being on my bike would have made this escaping thing so much easier.
Then I remembered that I didn't have a helmet anyway. Henri never bothered to get me one. I found myself chuckle at that. Henri was so obsessed with trying to keep me safe, but not once had he considered buying me the simplest of safety gear. I guess he was too preoccupied at the thought of me being stabbed by mog's to consider the fact I could crack my head open over the two wheeled vehicle.
The forest only seemed to get damper as I went further in, but finally I spotted an opening. It was small, but at this point I couldn't complain. I moved towards it, in hopes that there would be another near by road to follow. As I got closer, I could see that the clearing was quite large. Smiling, I sped up my pace. A clearing that big could no doubt be some sort of pathway. Careful not to slam into any trees, I cautiously slid through the tight space between the closely packed trees.
Odd, I thought, when I was running, the trees weren't this close together.
In fact they were quite scattered. Why would they grow so closely together here? Ignoring my suspicion, I made it through the opening. What I saw disturbed me to say the least.
Much to my dismay, all I found was a peculiar barren place in the middle of the forest. As I looked around, I noticed that the area had nothing in it. No trees, no bushes, no twigs or even leaves. Just dirt.
It looked like it had been cleared out by someone. But why would someone clean up an area right in the middle of a forest, and of this capacity no less? Were they planning to build something here? Looking around I could see that this was not where the forest ended. In fact it looked like it still went on for a couple more miles. The barren area was a perfect oval shape. The trees seemed to make a borderline right around it, making its shape even more apparent. It made no sense. What was even weirder was the fact that the ground seemed to be perfectly flat. As I walked across it, it felt the most inhumanly smooth, not even a small rock coming in contact with my shoes.
Someone definitely maintained this place daily. Only now did I seem to notice how deadly quiet it was. All I could hear in the darkened night was the small cry of the breeze as it moved across my bare neck. It was uncomfortable, almost down right eerie. For the first time in my life, I felt utterly alone. And it frightened me. Usually Henri would be here by now, comforting me, telling me everything was going to be alright like he always had when I was a child. But now I was alone.
Not being able top stand the blackness any longer, I lit up my hands. The blue light emanated everywhere, giving me a feeling of warmth for the first time tonight. I slowly approached the other side of the large area. A guest of wind cut me off as I was about to try and squeeze myself through the trees. Covering my eyes, I ducked down quickly, getting on my knees. The air was cold, and I was starting to feel the effects of my long adventures into the freezing night. Getting back up again, I dusted myself off, hoping the wind would call itself off of a while longer. Without realizing what I was doing, I walked right into the tree that stood before me. Making contact with it, I doubled over in pain, holding my chest.
Good one number four! I thought bitterly. I looked up at the tree that had just knocked me over. I don't know why, but I stuck my tongue out at it in irritation. Suddenly, I spotted something out of place. Within the trees braches I could faintly see... pink? What on earth?
I moved to the tree so I was inches away from it, cranking my neck to look up at its leaves.
There! Yes there was something definitely sticking out. I put my arms around the trunk, placing my feet near its base. Then I jumped up... only to fall right down.
Holding my head in pain, I sneered through my teeth. Truth was I never learned how to climb a tree. Henri would never let me when I was a kid.
"It's too dangerous. You could get badly hurt." Is what he would always say. Same old Henri.
Sighing, I got to my feet. Getting an idea, I readied my fists.
Hey, I never said it was a good idea.
But I was supposed to have superhuman strength wasn't I? Well maybe not, but I was about to find out anyway. Taking a deep breath I plugged at the tree with my closed hand, putting as much force into it as I possible could. To my shock the impact didn't hurt all that bad. In fact I only barely gazed my knuckles.
However, my ears did take a toll. The sound of breaking bark rattled through the night air, much louder then I thought was possible. The tree staggered in its place, its branches moving about wildly. Somehow through the loud noise I was also able to hear a small thud come from beside the tree.
Bingo.
Shacking out my hand to loosen it, I moved towards the fallen object.
I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting. But I know for a fact it wasn't what I saw.
A small pink stuffed animal in the shape of a rabbit now lay in my dirty hands. Its eyes were pure black, and it was filthy beyond all belief. Some of its stuffing was coming out of its side, and its right ear was ripped slightly at the top. It hung loosely in my palm, staring up at me as if it knew something I didn't.
Its blackened small eyes gave me a sad feeling. I don't know why, but I felt a bust of guilt rip through my gut. It was like looking at a broken, helpless being that had given up on everything. It looked like it would cry if only it had tears of its own to shed. This little stuffed animal looked at me, like it was pleading for something. Escape maybe? I knew how it felt.
"John! John are you there?"
My heart stopped.
Henri.
Crap.
Before I knew it, I could see the light of a flashlight sink through the thick trees, heading towards me.
Panicking, I began to move around in circles, pacing back and forth, looking around frantically once more.
"John! Is that you?"
Damn it, he had heard me. I needed to find a way out of here without causing too much noise, and making it obvious where I was going. But how? These trees were so closely packed that only a squirrel could get through. And it wasn't like I could go back the way I came, because Henri was coming from that direction. This place was so bare that he would spot me in seconds, and there was no place to hide because the bushes surrounding the area were all too small to cover my entire figure.
I was trapped, and the light was getting closer by the second.
I threw my hand to my head in frustration, only to meet something soft. Remembering that I was still holding the pink rabbit, I looked around for someplace to put it. If Henri was going to find me, it would definitely not be with me holding a pink stuffed animal.
Just when I was about to throw it in a near by bush I stopped myself. For some reason I didn't want to part with it. I felt my heart twitch ever so slightly in my chest. Bringing it down to visible level, I looked deep into its eyes again. There was something so familiar about it that I just couldn't put my finger on. Something that made me feel regret. But why?
"John."
My head bolted upwards, my eyes meeting those of chestnut brown.
His face was covered in dirt, no doubt trialing after me all night. His clothes were crumpled and deformed making him look like some sort of street thug. I noticed that his pants were ripped near the bottom, and a faint colour of red sprained the fabric around it. He looked absolutely exhausted. And it was all because of me.
"Henri, I-" I stopped, cutting myself off. Not knowing what to say. Might as well just let him yell at me. It would save me the trouble of trying to explain.
But that's not what happened.
Instead, Henri marched right up to me, looked me straight in the eye, and then hugged me.
My eyes widened in shock at the sudden embrace. Why was he hugging me? After all I did?
"John, I- I was so worried I- don't know what I would do if- I'm so glad your safe." He gasped, tightening his arms around me.
He was warm, and it felt nice against my cold skin. It was a calming, relaxing, embrace. I had always felt safer in his arms when I was a kid. I guess thinking about it now, I still did. I closed my eyes, trying to savoir the moment.
No. This wasn't right. I didn't deserve this. I tried to push away from the man, only to find that I couldn't. He kept a firm grip on my shoulders, keeping me close. I tried to struggle some more, doing my best to move away, but to no avail. He just kept bringing me closer.
I gave in, allowing myself to bury my head in his shoulders. I felt a hot liquid run down my cheek. No, could I be crying? At a time like this? Man, I was such a pathetic kid!
Henri seemed to disagree, as I felt one of his hands rub my back in a comforting gesture.
"Shuuush, its okay, everything's fine now." He whispered in my ear, his warm brief hitting the side of my head.
I whipped the tears away from my eyes, determined to be stronger than this. Henri moved away from the embrace now holding me at arms length.
"What the hell do you think you were doing? Running off like that into the middle of nowhere! Do you know how scared I was, when I couldn't find you!" He said, making his grip uncomfortably tighter on my shoulders.
"I-"
"Never, and I mean NEVER, pull a stunt like that again! Something could have happened to you! What if I hadn't found you earlier huh? What if I was too late and all I found was a bloody corpse? I couldn't- I wouldn't be able to bear that..." He whispered, looking down.
I could feel the absolute fright emanating from Henri. He had been truly scared out of his mind for my health. He truly cared about me, more then I could possibly imagine. He had done so much for me, and all I ever did was push him away.
"I- your bleeding Henri." I said dumfounded. It was the only thing I was able to say at that moment.
Confusion spread across Henri's face. Then he glanced down at his leg. Shaking his head, he looked up towards me again.
"That doesn't matter. What matters right now is getting you someplace safe, and cleaned up. You're the priority right now, so don't worry about me." He said calmly.
"But-" I started.
"No buts! We are getting out of here now, no more of your excuses. Thanks to you, I've been up all night chasing your shadow! When we get back, I'm not letting you out of my sight got it? And- what is that?" Henri said abruptly, pointing down at one of my hands.
Glancing down, I saw the pink rabbit, still clenched in my hands. I quickly tucked it behind my back, not wanting him to see.
"Nothing." I said trying to back away.
Henri let go of my shoulders, taking a step forward.
"Let me see. " He said strictly, stretching out his hand expectantly.
"I told you it's nothing" I muttered, backing away further.
Before I could even blink Henri was behind me. Dang- how did he get so fast! Before I had time to turn around, he grabbed the rabbit out of my hand.
Smirking at his victory, he held it up.
Suddenly his eyes widened dramatically.
"What? What is it?" I asked.
"This is- it can't be." He whispered.
"What?" I asked again, curious.
Henri suddenly had the stuffed animal in both hands, turning it and twisting it around.
"What are you doing now?" I said slightly louder, making sure he could hear me.
"Searching for a name tag." He replied, continuing with his investigation.
"What? Why? That thing looks like its been here forever, I don't think whoever owns it will be needing it back."
There was no answer, just a loud gasp.
Eyes widening further, Henri almost seemed like he was going to drop it.
"I can't believe it..." He breathed.
"What? For goodness sake, just tell me already!" I said getting irritated. "What's so unbelievable?"
Henri turned the stuff animal in my direction, bending it over so its head was facing me. Then slowly he pulled back its left ear. There stitched into the fabric was a small set of writing. I read it, my mind going blank.
"Property of Number 4" was etched into the pink fur.
"What? How-" I stumbled.
"That's what I'd like to know." He said
"How did you know to look for the name tag?" I questioned him, raising an eyebrow.
"I remember giving something very similar to this, right before we left Lorien, as a parting gift. But you lost it in the crash." He replied, seriously as if this meant something of the utmost importance.
My head swirled, trying to get a hold of what he was saying. Something bugged me, bringing a question to the very front of my mind.
"Then what's it doing here?" I whispered, trying to keep my voice calm.
"Exactly," Henri said looking around, taking in our surroundings for the first time.
"I can't believe I didn't notice it before. I knew this place felt familiar." Henri said finally, his voice a little shaky. I could see his hands vibrate slightly, showing his sudden discomfort.
"What? What is this place?" I ask, this time my voice wavering slightly as well.
Henri paused, like he was debating whether or not to tell me. Shaking his head, he opened his mouth to reply.
"Look around John. A giant barren place in the middle of a forest perfectly shaped as if something landed here. And you're old wreaked rabbit, just happens to be in a tree near by. We're in the place where this whole thing started." He paused. "We're standing on the same ground we did all those years ago. This is where our ship crashed. This is where we all stepped on earth for the first time."
My eyes felt like they were going to burst out of my sockets, and my knees felt like they were going to cave in. This was the place we crashed?
"Wait a minute, if this is the place we crashed then shouldn't there be all these wreaked trees, and scattered spaceship debris?" I asked, my voice cracking.
"That's what I was thinking. Someone has been here, cleaning up." He spat.
"Which begs the question... Who?" I said, catching my brief.
Suddenly, a sickening inhuman sound rang across the forest. It was an ear splitting, horrific sound.
A battle cry.
"I think I know." Henri said, hearing the sudden panic in his own voice. "And it starts with a Mog."
Well, shit. Looks like it really was going to be a long night.
BluePhantom15: Please review, I need feedback! I'll give you all Henri plushies!
Mog: Bribery will get you no where.
BluePhantom15: Oh shut it, you're just mad that I didn't make you the plushie, because you're too ugly!
Mog: I recent that!
BluePhantom15: And I recent you.
Please review! ^_^
P.S: I know this was kind of a slow chapter, but I needed it to get some info across. If you're not getting enough Henri and Number Four fluff, there will be more in later chapters, hopefully.
Till then,
BluePhantom15