Espérons Inutile

A Mortal Instruments Fanfic

Disclaimer: I don't own Mortal Instruments. Any familiar names, places, etc. are property of Cassandra Clare.

Chapter 8: Sentez la chaleur

It didn't look like what Alec first imagined a desert to look like. Having never seen a real one before, he'd been imagining great sand dunes, cacti, and camels roaming free. Of course he'd been off. All around him, he saw the great landscape, a mess of grey green shrubs growing in the bright red dirt, though he had yet to see a cactus. And, he thanked the Angel, there were no animals around. He'd learned from Aaron that there weren't a lot of friendly animals out in the wild (Ah, and there was the great tale of Aaron's encounter with a real kangaroo. Always better not to bring it up unless he was drunk).

He was at a loss. Alec looked out, seeing hills off in the distance, but he couldn't see anything new. Dirt. Plants. A couple of hills. Other than that, there was nothing. Frustration welled up inside him, overshadowing any feelings of helplessness. He urged himself to remain calm and try to get back to Sydney. Well, anywhere would be nice, he thought as he rubbed his warm arms that, seemingly pale, reflected the light of the morning. There was a lot to think about.

Alec was already starting to worry about overheating. He was in a desert for God's sake! He had no survival tools, no way of protecting himself from the heat… he didn't even know how to survive out here on his own without any tools. He couldn't see any now, but he knew there were also dangerous animals out here.

"This is some kind of karma, isn't it?" Alec said aloud. It was nice to hear something that wasn't the rustle of tiny shrubs.

It made sense, in a way. Five years of being a total asshole had to catch up with you at some point. How had he even gotten here in the first place? It made no sense, now that Alec thought about it.

It was that dark thing, Alec remembered. I followed it out of the Institute, it dragged me here – but that was a dream. Right? Had it been a dream? There had been the creature; was it a demon? And – it couldn't be real – but who was that man?

666.

Alec looked at the sun. It was so blinding. There was something about… that number…

His eyes didn't leave the sun. He didn't even move. It was the ground that suddenly rose up.

-Break-

Well, the coffee machine wasn't broken. Isabelle checked it a few times to be sure. Nope, there wasn't anything wrong with it. Perhaps it had been her. She turned around to look at the offending coffee mug. She'd barely been able to take a sip of it before gagging. It was as bad as vegemite. Of course, that had led her to believing that the coffee grinds had been spiked with the "spread". Nope, they were clean.

An echo of Jace's voice rang in her head, attempting to solidify the idea that it was her fault the coffee had turned out dreadful. Isabelle couldn't remember a time when anything had worked for in the kitchen. Struck by a sudden thought, she reached over to the table and picked up the mug. Swirling it around a little, she examined the liquid inside. She took a sip, tasting the same foul substance. But she noticed something else this time. It didn't taste very different. It reminded her of the coffee she had every morning.

Wow. She was really dense when she wanted to be.

So she wasn't a good cook, she'd always known. Yet she'd always been able to stomach it. Why was that? Was it because she needed to prove to herself that it wasn't that bad? Could be. Or perhaps it was that things tasted a lot better when someone else was suffering from food poisoning from the same dish. Watching their efforts to spit and gag made her almost enjoy her food. And of course, as soon as these thoughts began, she turned towards the obnoxiously empty chair where Alec usually sat in the mornings.

Over the past few days, it had become something of a tradition for her to meet Alec in the morning. She'd always be up before him, so she'd be able to tease him about Carlos. They'd only had one discussion about the mundie. Alec had told her right out that he really didn't want to be judged. Anyone could see that what he was doing bothered even him, so Isabelle never really pushed hard on that front.

The sound of the door opening caused her to look up. Her hopes quickly faded as the woman… uh… Ziyi came into the room.

"Good morning," Isabelle said politely.

"Oh," the woman started. She seemed distracted, Isabelle noted. "Good morning. You are Alec's sister, am I right?"

Isabelle frowned slightly as she nodded.

"Do you know where he is?" Isabelle blinked a couple times, taken back by the question. So not even this woman knew where Alec was.

"I haven't seen him this morning," she told Ziyi, and the woman sighed deeply. Isabelle considered her strained face, which, on top of her evident worry, seemed very tired.

"I hate it when he does this," Ziyi hissed suddenly. Isabelle stared the woman right in the face, raising an eyebrow. For all Isabelle could tell, the shadowhunter was actually angry with her. She tried to ask the woman what she meant, but the words seemed to fail her for some odd reason.

"Do you want to sit down?" It was the best Isabelle could come up with, and the woman did. She slid gracefully into one of the dining chairs, placing her chin in her hands.

"I'm sorry," she told Isabelle. "It's just that, over the years, Alec's grown fond of leaving the Institute often. He spends too much time neglecting his responsibilities. I-" she stopped, closing her eyes in frustration.

"I don't quite understand," said Isabelle, her voice sharp. "That doesn't sound anything like my brother."

"He changed. Of that I think we can both be quite certain," said Ziyi with firmness. Isabelle frowned, not liking this woman talking about Alec as though she knew him better than his own sister. Although, Isabelle thought sadly, she probably did know Alec better than Isabelle at this point. She wondered if this woman knew why Alec had decided to go after two guys.

"Do you know about the… thing with Alec and Miguel? And-"

"And Haal. Yes, I've known for a few years now," said Ziyi sadly.

Isabelle tried to form her scrambled thoughts into coherent sentences, but something about this new Alec still jarred her thoughts slightly. "Why?" she asked quietly.

Ziyi looked at her sadly. "I've tried to convince Alec to just let them go, but he won't listen. And I don't think he truly cares much for either boy, rather, he's satisfied that they both follow him."

Isabelle sighed. "I can't get over how much he has changed," she admitted. "I can hardly understand him now."

"He's changed a lot since he first came here," Ziyi said, not unkindly. Isabelle was about to ask about the new Alec when the other Australian shadowhunter, Aaron, came in.

"I can't find him," he told the women.

"Did you look-" started Ziyi.

"Everywhere he normally goes," said Aaron. "He must have some other places to go now."

"He's not by the harbour? Up north?" asked Ziyi, to which Aaron replied by shaking his head.

"I'll keep looking with Miguel, but we won't find him if he doesn't want to be found." Isabelle was shaken by Aaron's words. She frowned as she watched him walk out.

"This doesn't sound like Alec," she said to Ziyi, firmly. "He didn't just disappear; he took his responsibilities seriously-"

"He still does," Ziyi said, sounding serious, but not angry with Isabelle. "I just wish he was here half the time to do so." And with that, she followed Aaron out the door, leaving Isabelle angry and confused.

She slowly placed her head in between her hands, trying to take in this news about the new Alec. So now he had multiple flings and vanished whenever he felt like it. He was slowly becoming less and less like the brother she remembered. There would always be something new thing that he did or that liked and it would make him only more unfamiliar. She would not be surprised to hear that Alec had taken to working at a strip joint… if there were strip joints in Australia.

Well, she thought to herself, leaving isn't necessarily new for Alec, but this really didn't sound like her brother. Sure, she was getting used to all these new details and bits of info about her brother, but the fact that he was slacking off disturbed her. Spending time by himself seemed all too common for Alec, and Isabelle remembered how, before he had started dating Magnus, Alec had often vanished in the middle of the night. They had always been "walks" according to Alec (she only believed him half of the time), and, she remembered, he hadn't always left a little note behind when he left. She'd never believed him - especially not after he met Magnus – but it wasn't as if he just vanished for long hours on end. No one had to go looking after him though, because he didn't leave during the important hours. Alec would always come back in the end.

And then there was Australia. For weeks Isabelle had been trying to get Alec to open up to her and stop crying, but Magnus had really hurt him when the two broke up. She wondered now if she'd been at all surprised when Alec had announced he was leaving for Sydney. She supposed it fit in with her brother's personality, the one that didn't change. Running away from his problems was a fifty-fifty for Alec; sometimes it would work, sometimes it would. That's all he'd been doing when he left. He'd been running away from his hurt.

But Alec hadn't come back home. After five years, Alec hadn't come back. And maybe that had gotten to her. Was that simple sadness or nostalgia she was feeling? What did it matter? She had more important things to be doing.

Isabelle considered what the other two shadowhunters had said. So Alec liked hanging out near harbours now. Weird. Though, he wasn't there now. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. It wasn't actually her cell phone; Magnus had lent it to her, saying that her own cell wouldn't work properly in Australia. She'd been too tired to bother ask, so she took it. Of course she'd hated it when she was awake again. It was small, dull, and black; she'd often wondered if it actually belonged to Magnus. If it was too dull for her, it had to be absolutely terrible for Magnus. And speak of the devil who's first on speed dial.

"Magnus?"

"This better be good, princess," she heard the annoyed voice through the phone's tiny speaker.

"You have to come over here now," said Isabelle, making her voice sound as urgent as possible. "Alec came back to the Institute this morning covered in blood. We don't know what's wrong, but he's really hurt. We've tried all we can-"

"What?" Magnus' voice suddenly became much more urgent. Isabelle heard a sort of crash on the other end of the line. "Do you not have any idea what's wrong with him?"

Isabelle hesitated for a moment. She hadn't figured out why exactly she was lying. Magnus would still come if she told him the truth. Perhaps it was because watching – or listening – to other people's worries was surprisingly satisfying.

"I… Alec… attack… soon…" and she closed the phone, acknowledging as she did that it had been kind of stupid. Oh well. The sooner the warlock was here, the better. She might even catch Magnus without makeup.

Isabelle looked at the empty seat across from her and sighed. She hoped that this time, Alec would run back to say goodbye first.

-Break-

Alec was tired when he opened his eyes. Evidently being unconscious did not provide the same rest as actual sleep. He sat up and looked around, not very surprised by the long expanse of desert around him. The sun was now much higher in the sky, and Alec was feeling very warm now. In fact, it was uncomfortably hot, though Alec had a nagging worry that it was only going to get worse. He stood up, slowly so as not to dizzy himself, and took in his surrounding again. Okay now… the sun still rose in the east? Yes, the east. So he should go… where? Perhaps if he went north, he would find a town or city. Though he'd have to be careful not to go to far northeast. If he did, all he'd find was that expanse of desert that met the sea, with no means of communication in between.

He took a deep breath, looked up at the sun again, then began to walk in the general vicinity of north. The ground was rough, and Alec kept finding himself looking down more often up, keeping an eye on the knotted plants and such. He worried absently about some of the animals that lived out here. Forget demons; if he got stung by s scorpion or bitten by a snake, he was screwed. He had no means of healing himself out here. But, being Nephilim, he couldn't forget about demons. What if he ran into one out here? Would there be any demons out here? No, they would go to more populated areas. He was fairly certain.

He took deep, calming breaths as he walked, making sure he didn't go at a pace that was too fast. He was not going to push himself out here, not with the sun already beating down on him and the buzz of the wild all around him. Indeed, there was something in the bright landscape around him that seemed to pulse with life. It was as if Alec could feel those tiny creatures crawling around, alert to his presence. Now if only he could see them. Instead of animals, all Alec could see was the bright red and burnt orange ground, dotted with dull grey, hunter green plants. He seriously doubted he would see much else. Perhaps, if the Angel truly hated him, he'd see a kangaroo or a mountain lion of sorts (Alec couldn't think of desert animals off the top of his head.), but nothing worse than that.

Alec winced as the warm rocks scraped against his feet. He was going to have blisters soon. He would be lucky not end up with his feet bleeding as he walked. And of course, he would keep waking when they started bleeding, simply because he had to find some way of getting back to Sydney. He had definitely endured worse; sore feet would be no problem for him. He would keep on going and going, bloody feet making no imprint against the already bright red desert ground.

He turned back sharply, looking down at first to make sure that he wasn't bleeding, but also because something felt immediately off. He slowly looked up, considering the area around him. He hadn't seen or heard anything; it was pure instinct that had awoken in him. He stood frozen, waiting for something to change around him.

A very slight movement to the right caught his eye and he turned sharply. He strained his eyes to see what had moved, but there seemed to be nothing there. Wait! There it was. It was… a dog?

The dog slowly stepped over a plant, carrying the air of one predator approaching another. The fur that covered it was reddish brown that almost seemed to blend in with the ground. Perhaps it was a few shades lighter. Overall, it was rather small in size. It couldn't have been more than two feet tall. Alec knew that this wasn't necessarily what many people would call cute, but there was something oddly interesting about the jagged, angular features of its face.

Alec immediately loosened his tight posture, relieved in a way. Aaron had never mentioned having problems with wild dogs, though Alec was sure he'd heard Aaron call them something. It started with a… W? Or was it a D? Who knew?

He slowly approached the dog, looking down at it. The dog just looked up at him, as though trying to say that he wasn't going to be a problem, so long as Alec wasn't. And that seemed fair deal. Alec knelt down beside it, knowing that it was probably very stupid to do so. He looked the dog in the eyes, and then reached out hand. He was careful to keep his hand low, so as not to scare the animal. He held the palm of his hand out to the dog, offering it for the dog to sniff. It did, and Alec grinned.

"I knew you weren't dangerous," said Alec, smiling. He pulled his hand back. He was pretty tempted to reach out and pet it, but he had to remember that this was a wild dog. He stood up then, wondering how he should keep on going north. He decided to take slow step away. He silently stepped backwards, taking great care as he set each foot back another step. After about ten paces, Alec turned and began to walk away, keeping his ears trained on the dog to see if it would come any closer. He figured that he was close to home free, and he thanked the Angel that he had been so lucky.

Alec was already gaining the same pace he'd had before when he heard again the rustle of movement behind him. As he turned back, he saw the same dog walking up to him once again. He looked at the dog once again, very confused. He took a step backwards, moving away from it. Another step back… on more… and the dog started following him again.

"Don't you have somewhere to go?" Alec asked it. "Come on, go."

The dog was not going.

Alec stared at it.

It stared at Alec.

"Are you really going to follow me?" asked Alec. The dog, seeming to know what Alec was saying, took a step closer to him, hesitant, though he began to loosen up. He trotted over beside Alec and looked up at him. Alec sighed and shook his head.

"Fine. You can follow me, but I have to figure out what you are first."

Alec considered the dog in front of him. He knew he had heard Aaron talking about wild dogs in Australia. There had been some sort of attack; Alec looked again at the dog in front of him, and he decided that this dog definitely didn't look as if it wanted to hurt him. What did Aaron call it? It started with a D. Di… Din… Dinner? Alec would've laughed out loud, but there was something about that stare.

Don't even think about it, Alec imagined it saying to him.

Oh… Dingo! That was it. "You're a dingo," he said decidedly to it. It almost looked bored with him.

No shit.

Alec let out what felt like the hundredth sigh of the day. So now he was imagining the dog was talking to him? He had to get out of the sun soon. He was already losing his sanity.

"Come on there… Dingo?" He wasn't quite sure whether or not to give it a name, but he remembered meeting someone in New York who actually went by the name "Dingo". It couldn't hurt to call it that. Alec wondered absently why he was so keen on the idea of naming this thing as though it was his pet. Alec didn't have a good history with pets. He remembered Church, who was always so grumpy towards him, and then Chairman Meow, who hadn't been the worst company, but came with too many bad memories. Well, those were cats, he decided. There wasn't anything wrong with needing some sort of companion, a point that very easily illustrated out here in the blazing wilderness. And he wasn't just thinking that because it applied to so many other parts of his life.

So Alec kept walking north, Dingo following along at his side.

-Break-

Isabelle wasn't in a much better mood when she heard the bell signaling someone trying to get into the Institute. She headed down to the entrance with heavy footsteps. It couldn't have been more than half an hour since she'd called Magnus. He was good.

"Where is he? What's wrong?" Magnus said as soon as she opened the front doors. He hastened to move past her into the entrance, bumping into her as he did. It only made her feel more annoyed.

"Who?" taunted Isabelle. Magnus spun around to glare at her. If Isabelle had been less angry, and therefore more sensible, she might've been intimidated (keyword being "might"). But, being who she was, it only gave her a little satisfaction.

"Listen, Lightwood-" Magnus started. Isabelle spoke up before he could get much of a threat out.

"Alec's fine." Isabelle said it with a smirk, and Magnus' face seemed to freeze in a sort of glare. She grinned as she fully took in his simple black jeans and red T-shirt. His hair was down and, yes, he had no makeup on. Needless to say he had definitely dashed out here. And he'd done it for Alec. That took away any humor she was feeling, and she let the grin fall from her face.

"You called me out here for nothing?" Magnus asked. "You do realize that my time is valuable, don't you? I be running around this city every time one of you stupid Nephilim-"

"Yeah, sure. Listen," Isabelle interrupted. "Alec's not injured; he's missing. I called you over here so you could maybe help track him."

"Okay," Magnus said after a beat. "Anything else you want to lay on me? Because if not, I think I'd like to kill somebody-"

"Magnus Bane?" a voice said from behind the two. Isabelle and Magnus both looked over at Ziyi, who still seemed slightly frazzled, though she contained most of her worries quite well. "I hadn't realized you were coming to the Institute today. Has there been an update in the investigation?"

"Not quite-" started Magnus, but Isabelle was again quick to intervene.

"Magnus offered to help look for Alec," she stated, ignoring the look Magnus was giving her. "He can perform a tracking spell."

Ziyi looked as though a great weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. "Can you? It would be a great help. I can pay-"

"Oh, Magnus said he wouldn't charge for this one." Isabelle could practically feel the cat eyes behind her stabbing into her head like daggers.

"That's right," Magnus said after a moment of silence. Isabelle was quite impressed at his calm tone. "All I'll need is something of Alec's."

Ziyi sighed. "Thank you. I just need to speak with Aaron about this." And she left.

"Damn it, woman! Are you planning on letting me finish any sentences today?"

"Nah, it's fun."

"Now if you don't mind, I have to get started on this spell to find your brother."

"I take it you know where Alec's bedroom is?"

"You know, it's fine if Ziyi doesn't pay me. You can do that on your own."

"Fuck you."

"Ha! I'm not that easy, darling. And look at that: we're right back at prices."

-Break-

Alec was getting tired. And hungry. And thirsty. And sunburned. He envied Dingo for having the coat of fur to keep him shielded from the sun.

Why was this happening to him? Alec had been walking for what were probably hours by now, and he couldn't comprehend what had happened to him. He avoided thinking about the dream. He could recall every detail, sure, but he knew that if he thought about… that man, he would fall unconscious again. There was just something so mind numbing about the dream. It was so unreal… Okay, he couldn't just pass out again. He would figure this out.

For starters, what had the shack been about? It certainly hadn't been there when Alec woke up. That definitely added to the unreal sense of the dream. He was having a hard time imagining what kind of person would live in the middle of the desert. Okay, there were probably lots of people who managed it, but still!

Alec was lost in his thoughts when he tripped and stumbled over the root. He fell forward onto his knees, breaking his fall with his hands. He hit the ground with an awful thump. He sat back on his feet and examined his scraped hands. He swore as he took in the blood that was already seeping out slowly from the gashes on his palms. He shifted a little so he was able to see the tears in both the knees of his pants, accompanied with the growing red stain. Alec looked up at the sky.

"What did I do?" he asked aloud. There was no reply except the gentle nudge on his right arm. He turned to look at Dingo, who was staring intently into his eyes. There was something very odd about Dingo, Alec thought. Alec had walked for Angel knew how long, and the dog had followed him the entire way, never straying far from Alec's side. Whenever Alec began to move slowly, the dog would nudge his legs with his nose to get him to move faster. Sometimes he would bite on the bottom of Alec's pant leg and pull him along. Weirdest of all had been when Alec had stumbled over a plant and lost his bearings for a moment. He'd regained his footing and began walking determinedly, until Dingo bit on his pant leg and pulled him in the opposite direction. It had taken Alec a moment to realize that Dingo was the one with the good sense of direction, not him.

Alec had remembered again about Aaron telling him about dingo attacks on the mundanes. They weren't really a threat to Nephilim, but Aaron had advised him to stay away from one if he ever saw one in the wild. That didn't seem to be the case with Dingo, who seemed unusually calm around Alec. The two had formed a sort of bond. They both knew they had to keep going. Alec would probably never understand why the dog needed to keep walking.

And as Alec sat there in the dirt, Dingo surprised him yet again by stiffening up and looking around. Alec heard him sniffing the air, and he almost seemed to tense up more.

"What is it, Dingo?" Alec asked, but he felt it as soon as the words left his lips. There was, again, no sense that told him anything, but pure instinct told him something was wrong. Something was very wrong. He turned around slowly, only to see the great expanse of empty desert. There was nothing in sight, though Alec was not reassured. And apparently, neither was Dingo.

The dog actually bit down on Alec's arm and tugged him forwards. Alec tugged his hand away and stood up. As soon as he was on his feet, Dingo began moving forward. The two started out at a brisk walk, but within moments, they were sprinting across the desert. Both of them knew something was wrong. Alec felt terrifyingly weak all of sudden. He had always been safe before now, always having family and weapons near and at hand. Now, he felt naked. And with instinct biting and nipping at his heels harder than Dingo, Alec was slowly gaining a new feeling. It was that of prey being hunted.

He bounded along with Dingo, matching his smaller dog leaps with his own fast tempo. He had always been a fast runner, and he was definitely putting that to good use. It was very hard to keep it up though, as his feet were really starting to ache. He wasn't sure if he would make it.

As he ran with Dingo along the desert, he saw the hill in front of him. Doubtless, they would run up. The two approached the bottom of the rocky hill, moving very quickly. They took quick, sharp strides, so quick they were almost blurs. As he was running, he thought about his family. He thought about Haal and Miguel, and he prayed to the Angel that he would at least live long enough to fix the mess he'd made.

With those dreary thoughts out of the way, Alec made his way to the top of the hill. He stopped there, breathing heavily. He didn't bother to take in the landscape around him, rather, he turned back to see what had been chasing them. He let out a gasp of surprised air, as he saw absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. He looked up to the sky, wondering if it was some sort of bird.

And then it hit him. Literally.

An invisible force rammed itself into Alec's midriff, and he felt himself moving backwards. No… no… NO! He was falling backwards, down the other side of the hill, and he was unable to stop. He somersaulted once, twice, three times; over and over he felt his body slam into the earth over and over and the jolts of pain echoed through his body again and again. After what seemed like forever, Alec came to a stop at the bottom of the hill.

He couldn't move. It could've been that he was o tired he couldn't bother to life so much as a finger. It could have been that he had snapped his neck while falling. He had no idea. He was screwed, that he knew for sure. It was absolutely terrible having no means of saving yourself. There were no healers around, no friends or family to draw a quick iratze. And he had no way of protecting himself from this invisible force. Alec looked back up the hill, but he was still unable to see anything.

He was somehow able to turn his head to look at the landscape on the other side of the hill. And his mind froze. In front of him was a wide expanse of jewel blue ocean. And just like that, Alec knew he was screwed. He had come to the expanse of Australia where desert met sea, much too far away from any type of civilization. From any kind of help…

Alec felt again the nudge of something wet on his arm. Dingo. He could tell without looking it was him, but he could not respond in any way. The shocking realization of his terrible predicament had frozen him even more than the fall. Somehow, Alec was able to turn his head. He was going to die anyways. What did it matter if he hurt himself anymore in the process?

Dingo was facing away from Alec, looking at something off in the distance. Not for the first time, Alec was unable to see what the big deal was. The dog was, surprisingly, in a protective stance in front of Alec. Alec heard a strange noise at his point, and it took him a minute to realize that it was Dingo growling at something.

"Dingo," Alec croaked out. The dog didn't turn. Out of nowhere, it just ran off to the right, and Alec lost sight of the only companion he'd have on the last day of his life. He tried to ignore the hollow feeling right in the middle of his chest. It worked, sort of, and Alec was able to focus on the thing that was hunting him. He turned back to he hill, and this time, he saw a small dark shape. It really didn't have any sort of form, but Alec was willing to bet that it was some kind of demon. A demon that was about to kill him.

The thing was slowly moving down the cliff, clearly moving towards Alec.

Alec's eyes widened, then closed unwilling to torture himself any further.

He heard the swish of fabric against thin bones.

The loud howl of a dog of the wild.

Alec squeezed his eyes shut tighter, letting the howl envelope him…

"Alec?"

AN: BAM! I finished it! After my longest hiatus so far, I finished this. It was again, ridiculously long, but I supposed I owe you guys a lot of writing after my long break. I have to apologize to you for this.

I was going through a really rough spot; my inspiration for this story was nearly gone. But then I was reading the first couple of chapters and the reviews that people wrote (I love you all) and I was getting through it. I should say, I work one chapter ahead, so the one after this took me a while to write. The second half came really fast and as for the next few chapters... well this is the part of Renaissance that I've been waiting for. The first little bit was all intro and it was hard to plan it out in my mind, but the next few chapters are going to be a lot easier. I have up until 13 planned perfectly.

I really hope you all enjoy this. I'll definitely update sooner next time. I'm sorry for the long wait, and if I haven't done so, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed or gave some Spanish names. I really appreciate it. I also probably should've asked someone about dingos. I have one friend who's lived in Australia for half of her life, so I have a bit of info about Australia. After I'd written this chapter, I asked her about dingos and she told me they're like Australia's version of the wolves up here in Canada. Why don't we just say that this is a very special dingo. He might be familiar. Hint, hint.

Thanks for reading. Please review and I hope you enjoyed this.