"It isss a pretty lightssshow, dear, the prettiessst one you'll want to sssee again...and again...and again. That'sss right dear; LOOK into my eyesss."

"Like that...will...what's going on?" As soon as I looked at his so called 'lightshow,' I started to feel...odd. It was like my…mind was being…drained of all…thought…it was getting…hard for me to…to think of anything! "No I...can't" I protested.

"Oh pleassse, oh pleassse," cooed the snake. "I promissse you very much that you will have lotsss, and lotsss, and LOTSSS of fun...my tweedy bird."

I felt like listening to him; the aura in his eyes was soothing my mind, and after all the spraining headaches I had lately, it felt so good let me tell you. Then I felt his tail move slowly around my torso. Perve Alert, Perve Alert, my mind went off like a siren. "GET YOUR FILTHY COILS OFF ME YOU DAMN DIRTY SNAKE!" I howled loudly and scratched at his coils so he would release me.

This idiot snake was having too much fun making me look like an idiot. "Hee, hee, haa-*AHHH*. I had jussst the grandessst idea, little birdie. Tell me, where...are you...ticklisssh?" That's when the snake started poking my tummy like the Pillsbury dough boy. He poked again and again, and then his poking turned into caressing rubs.

NO...NO...Stop doing that!" Oh God, I wasn't making threats, I was starting to giggle like a schoolgirl in a cheesy Anime show. "Stop...stop...stop...stop!" I chanted between the laughing. My whole body convulsed in the anxiety, but at the same time I didn't want to feel ticklish.

I wanted to get angry! "I SAID STOP-AHH!"

I was suddenly flipped over and before I knew it, he was hanging me upside-down! The nerve of that creep; he was going to get a Maximum whelp from me as soon as…as soon as...AS SOON AS I GET HIM TO STOP TICKLING ME!

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the jungle...

Fang: Alright, listen. *This* is where we are. Ten minutes ago, Max split us into two groups to survey the undergrowth to find anything conspicuous. The deadline was thirty minutes only, and then we would regroup to break camp and try again. Now Max had gone with the younger kids, but they have no idea where she wondered off. Anybody got any clue?

Nudge: What's an *undergrowth*?

Angel: What's conspicuous?

Total: Would Iggy be considered handicapped?

Iggy: Shouldn't someone just tie this dog to a tree and leave him?

Gasman: I was busy digging a latrine, but was I suppose to dig a hole before, or after?

Fang: I need a drink of...do you guys hear something?

Iggy: Yeah, what was that?

Gasman: Probably just an animal.

Nudge: I hope its okay.

Total: Sounds too distressing for it to be Max anyways.

Angel, the youngest child, stood at the edge of the clearing facing the vast jungle. She wasn't quite convinced about the flock's reassurance of the mysterious noise. She knew Max was a tough warrior of different trades, but she just wanted to make sure if her Max was alright, whether she needed help or not. Her mind surfed through the trees like radio waves. Nothing. Just the wildlife. She was just going to walk off into the jungle without conscience-will, when her mind picked something up...

"Fang," Angel called. "I think I found Max."

"Max? Wait a minute, did you hear her voice?" Fang picked up his ears.

"No, but I can hear her conscience out there. But it feels like it's getting quieter-slowly fading. It feels like something is de-volumenizing her conscience..."

"You mean silencing, not de-volumenizing?"

"That's what I meant." Angel looked up at Fang, battering her pretty blue eyes.

"Can you pinpoint Max's location exactly?"

"No. I can't get an exact point if her conscience isn't wide awake."

"Then we…we can't go out there."

Angel was taken back at Fang's words. "But Fang, we can't just sit here and wait!"

Fang knew this six-year old was talking more than just sense; she was right. But right now, it was getting dark and he knew that this was not the right time to wander out in the jungle. Fang wasn't the diplomatic type to take his time or make compromises. He handled all of his problems like an all-out soldier, just like Max. Like a soldier however, he needed to have a strategy at hand, to keep his squadron safe. If they just did what seemed right at the moment, such as rescuing Max in a strange place and with the night coming on, they could get killed.

"I know Angel." Fang held Angel by her shoulder. "But it's too dangerous right now. We need to get some rest, and then make a plan in the morning."

Fang wasn't sounding like Fang, Angel thought. "Yeah, but Max-"

"What would Max do if she was here, and one of us was missing?" Fang

An uneasy pause swirled between them. The dusk of the sun was descending behind, and the song of the jungle night began with a single chirp of a night bird like it did not understand the dire situation at hand.

Angel didn't answer at the moment, until: She would...make a plan, after breakfast.

"I know." Fang led her back to the camp. "I don't like that plan ether. She'll just have to make it through the night. Don't worry Angel, before you know it she'll be back in the morning."

Angel only frowned. "...She may not be here in the morning.