I apologize that this chapter is a week late. Things in my rl have been kinda crazy lately and have taken some of my time away from working on this story, so I needed the extra time to finish my revisions on this chapter.

Anyway, this chapter's going to be a little different in that it's told from the pov of one of the inhabitants of Parodox, a cat named Piper who's a scientist and field biologist. From her viewpoint we'll get a glimpse of Anne and Sprig, as well as the world of Parodox, from a new perspective.

Btw, I wrote her with having a British accent in mind, but I'm not sure how well that came across in the dialogue, and I couldn't find a good place to mention it in the chapter because it's told from her perspective. So I thought I'd mention it here.

So without further ado, enjoy!

It was a beautiful day in the jungle! The sky was clear and a beautiful shade of light green, the air was warm yet breezy, and the pterodactyls were singing in the tree tops. Ah yes, a perfect day to study this jungle biome's unique flora and fauna. Or at least it was if you just so happened to be a scientist and field biologist, like Piper.

Which is what brought the brown and white tabby out here in the first place, she had a job to do. Study and document the local flora and fauna and collect samples to bring back to the lab. Of all the things her job entailed this was one of the few things she actually enjoyed.

It got her out of the lab and into nature, where she could enjoy the wonders and beauty of the different biomes. It also helped her to get her mind off of things and relax a bit. One of the few joys she had left in this world.

Her ears perked and swiveled towards the sound of movement. As quiet and carefully as she could she snuck over to its source and peered through some tall grass to witness a couple of young compsognathus playing in the thickets.

Her green eyes widened and a small smile graced her lips as she pulled her chirpad up to take a picture. As soon as she snapped the photo, she was startled by the ground shaking beneath her feet and the sound of something big heading this way.

The compys seemed unnerved as well, as they quickly scattered. Without hesitation Piper quickly scrambled to her feet and tried to find a good spot to hide so that whatever it was it hopefully wouldn't notice her. But she still needed to stay and get some documentation of it to add to her research.

She was both relieved and terrified when she saw the giant Tyrannosaurus rex break through the tree line. Relieved for the fact that she hadn't yet documented or photographed this particular animal before and now was her chance, terrified because she knew this giant could easily sniff her out and make a meal out of her if it wanted to.

It hadn't seemed to notice her presence yet though, so holding her breath she held up her chirpad again to sneak a picture. Thankfully the camera function on the tablet was on silent mode at the moment so it didn't make a sound when she did.

She quickly started jotting down some notes and observations about the creature. When she looked up again though she almost gasped when she saw that it was sniffing the exact place where she had been crouched down before.

Oh goose feathers no. She thought, her ears flattening to the side of her head. As she stared at the ginormous predator with wide eyes she fought the urge to crouch down low to the ground as she saw it lift its head, sniffing the air, before its giant eye pointed itself in her direction.

It can smell me.

Her breath caught in her throat as the dinosaur made its way over to where she was hiding, sniffing the large hollow log with intensity. The cat could practically feel the rapid in and out breaths like a current of air around her.

After several long seconds it stopped, but Piper knew better than to breathe a sigh of relief. Moments later a loud chomp echoed all around her as the log began to quiver and shake. She suddenly felt like she was moving and looked outside the see that the log itself was being lifted off the ground.

As terrified as she was, she knew her only hope of escape was to jump for it, and that she better do it now before she was too high up. So without hesitation she leapt out of the log, landing on her feet and taking off running.

Unfortunately the T-Rex noticed this and dropped the log to chase after her. It was times like these that she really missed having wings. If she were still a bird she could escape this situation no problem by simply flying away, out of the dinosaur's reach. But those days were long behind her now, she was just thankful that although cats couldn't fly, at least they could run pretty fast and were quite agile.

On the other hand though, a T-Rex could run pretty fast too, and the long strides of its ginormous legs certainly helped with that.

She did her best to lose the beast, darting and weaving through the thick foliage of the jungle. But no matter what she did the reptile stayed on top of her like a hawk tracking a mouse. She came bounding out of some dense undergrowth, but her leg snagged on something causing her to trip. She came tumbling forward a little ways before falling to the ground, realizing in utter horror that she had just been inches away from stumbling off the edge of a very high cliff.

She immediately tried to get back up but a sharp pain ran through her left ankle. She let out a cry of pain as she collapsed back to the ground, grabbing her leg in the process. She must have broken or twisted it. To make things even worse, at that moment the T-Rex came crashing through the undergrowth and charged towards her.

So this was it, after everything that had happened this was how she was going to die. She braced herself, tail curling around her body as she crouched down into a ball and waited for the jaws of eternity to close around her.

….But they never did.

Instead she heard the dinosaur let out an agitated roar as the sound of ever closer approaching monstrous footsteps came to a sudden stop. Cautiously she cracked one eye open, then both eyes flew wide open as she gasped in shock.

She couldn't believe what she was seeing. The first thing she had noticed was that there was mud covering one of the T-Rex's eyes, but then she saw a mud ball shoot through the air and hit the other one. In surprise and confusion she looked in the direction the mud had come from and saw one-no, two figures riding a dragon in the sky, one of whom was shooting mud balls at the dinosaur that was about to devour her.

She watched as the dragon flew through the air, circling around the other giant reptile as it did. It was strange enough to find a dragon in the Jurassic jungle biome, considering they weren't even native to this region, but the fact that there were two people riding it was even stranger. In her experience, such creatures were not easily tamed and most people wouldn't even bother trying.

She continued watching as the dragon stopped circling and dove down below the cliff. Then she watched the T-Rex as it attempted to rub the mud off of its eyes with its tiny arms, which wasn't going very well.

"Hey, are you alright?"

She was startled by the sudden voice behind her, tail puffing out and fur standing on end as she whipped around and saw that the dragon was right there behind her, hovering right next to the cliff's edge. Riding on its back was a blue frog person and another individual who's species she at first didn't recognize, but then recalled that she had seen something kind of similar before….what were they called again? Oh right, humans.

Another roar from the dino behind her broke her out of her thoughts, she looked behind her to see that it had gotten the mud off of its eyes and looked like it might charge again.

"Hop on!" The frog said, gesturing for her to get on the back of the dragon with them, while the human held out his hand for her to grab.

She hesitated a moment but her only other option was to stay and probably get eaten by that T-Rex. Even if she didn't trust these strangers, her chances of survival were probably better if she went with them.

So as the dinosaur started to charge at her again she grabbed the boy's hand and let him help her up as she tried to hurriedly climb onto the back of the dragon. She held on tight as the creature took off into the sky, the T-Rex below roaring in protest at its stolen snack.

Now that she wasn't being chased by a giant predator, she could at least catch her breath a little. She looked down to see just how high up they were now. It was pretty high, but heights had never scared her. Heck, she had flown higher than this before herself.

A small smile crossed her face as she felt the wind blowing in her fur and she took a deep breath. Boy had she missed this sensation, it had been so long since she'd flown and although this wasn't exactly the same, it still reminded her of just how much she missed it.

"So uh…that was kind of a close call, you doing alright back there?" The blue frog spoke up, bringing Piper's attention back to the two people who had rescued her.

"Oh, yes, I'm quite alright." She simply replied.

A beat of awkward silence passed before the human decided to break it. "So I guess we should introduce ourselves, I'm Sprig and this is my best friend Anne." He said, gesturing to himself and the frog. "What about you? Got a name stranger?"

"My name's Piper, Piper Oakwood." The feline replied.

"Well, nice to meet you Piper." Anne said, glancing back at her.

"Oh, the pleasure is all mine, you two saved my life after all. Thanks for that." Piper said.

"Oh it was no trouble, I'm just glad we got to you in time before that T-Rex did." Anne replied.

"Yeah, I mean did you see the teeth on that thing! It would have gobbled you up for sure!" Sprig said.

"Yes, well, thanks to you two it didn't. I must say most folks around here are more concerned about their own survival rather than the survival of others, so I really wasn't expecting any help." Piper said, and it was true. She was honestly shocked that these two individuals had actually come along to save her, although if she were being perfectly honest with herself she was pretty sure they only did so to see what they could get out of her in return. Nothing in this world was without a price, not even kindness.

"Well, I guess we're just not like most folks around here." Anne said.

Piper was a bit surprised by the remark and despite her suspicions she gave the frog a small smile.

The girl smiled back and there was a moment of silence before Sprig piped up.

"So Piper, what're you doing out here anyway? Do you live here somewhere?"

"What? Oh no, no, no, I don't live out here. I'm a scientist and biologist, i came out here to study the local flora and fauna and collect specimens for my research." She replied.

"Really? Neato!" Sprig replied.

"Yeah, that's pretty cool! So if you're a scientist then any chance you might know a way to-!" Anne had started to say, but cut herself off with a gasp when she saw the clouds they were flying up towards, for they were no ordinary clouds.

Before them was a bunch of clouds, beautiful clouds of different shapes and sizes, some of which even seemed to glow with vibrant prismatic colors running through them.

"Woah, it's so beautiful." Anne said, astonished.

"It's amazing!" Sprig said.

Piper sighed. "Yeah, it is." She was pretty sure the other two people present didn't notice the sullen expression form on her face as they stared in awe at the amazing beauty of the clouds before them. Deciding she'd rather not dwell on those thoughts herself she decided to point something out to her aerial chauffeurs.

"You know, these clouds are pretty stable, you could always try landing on one." Piper suggested.

"Really, we can land on an actual cloud!?" Sprig asked excitedly.

"Well sure. Try landing on that one over there." The scientist replied, pointing at a nearby cloud.

Anne steered the dragon towards the cloud Piper had pointed out and got it to land there. The duo looked truly amazed that it actually worked and the dragon was now standing on said cloud.

The brown and white tabby carefully slid off the big lizard and stepped onto the surface of the cloud. She turned to look at her two rescuers who still seemed amazed at the concept of a cloud you could actually walk on.

"Well, are you guys coming?" She asked.

Sprig cautiously slid down the creature's side slightly and dipped one foot down to touch the tips of his toes to the top of the cloud. He did this a couple of times before finally setting his foot down onto the misty surface, then placing the other foot down as well.

"Woah, this is so cool!" He exclaimed as his amphibious friend jumped down onto the cloud as well.

"This is incredible, how did you know we could do this?" Anne asked Piper.

The feline's face grew sullen again. "…I used to live in a place like this, before…"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-" The blue frog had started to apologize, but the cat cut her off.

"No, no, it's fine." She said, before watching as the dragon they had been riding took off into the sky. "You know I must say I'm pretty impressed you managed to tame that thing, how did you do it?"

"Oh, well it wasn't too hard really. Sometimes you just gotta know the right moves." Anne replied, sharing a look with her human companion. Piper wasn't really sure what she meant by that but had to assume it was shared knowledge between the two of them.

She gritted her teeth and hissed slightly as the pain in her leg flared up again. The duo immediately gave her looks of concern.

"Are you sure you're okay, maybe you should sit down." The frog suggested as she walked over to her side. She then looked around, realizing that seating options were pretty limited when you were on top of a cloud.

Piper was a little surprised by their concern, but nevertheless replied. "I wouldn't worry about that, sitting on a cloud is pretty comfortable after all." She said as she sat down and started tending to her injured leg. Thankfully she had a first aid kit on her, including some extra sticks she could use to build a splint.

As she worked on that the other two people present stood nearby and watched in silence, until one of them decided to speak up.

"So, can we get you anything or…do you need any help?" Sprig asked.

Piper gave him a somewhat odd look. But to be fair it was pretty unusual that someone would ask such a thing, or offer any kind of help. It was an exceedingly rare occurrence in this world and usually even when it did happen the person offering the help would always expect something in return.

Then again, these two had saved her life and hadn't even brought up how she owed them yet, but maybe this was part of it. She almost gave them a suspicious look before simply replying. "No thanks, I'm fine."

Sprig blinked before shrugging. "Okay, just let us know if you need anything." He said as the two sat down a few feet in front of her.

Once she had finished the splint and bandaged up her injured ankle she formed a small footrest out of the cloud to prop it up on.

"Wow, I didn't know you could do that!" Sprig exclaimed. It seemed to her that he was very easily impressed.

"Yes well, this particular type of cloud is very moldable." She replied. "Back in my home world of Avia, people would build houses and even skyscrapers out of clouds like these."

Sprig's eyes were alight with wonder. "Wow, your world sounds incredible!"

Despite the deep sadness that filled her eyes a small smile spread across her lips. "It was."

"You must really miss it, huh." Anne spoke.

Piper was almost taken aback by the sympathy in her voice when she said that, and when she looked into her eyes she saw just as much. It took her a moment to get over the initial shock of it before replying. "Y-yeah, I really do."

"I understand what that feels like, we both do." Anne said, looking at her friend who nodded and added. "Well, I'm sure everyone here does, since y'know."

Well yes, obviously. But what she didn't get was why were these two being so sympathetic to her feelings. It was just so unlike the people of Paradox to care about things such as the feelings of others, since they were far too concerned with their own feelings of despair and hopelessness.

Despair and hopelessness weren't quite the right words she would use to describe these two though. Ever since meeting them they've had this certain positivity and energy about them that was hard for her to place and very far from the norm in terms of other people she'd met.

Maybe Anne was right when she said they weren't like most other people here. But why? What made them and their circumstances so different from everyone else's? Perhaps at this point it wouldn't hurt to ask a few questions of her own.

"…So, you two are best friends?" She asked them. She recalled them mentioning this when they first met, but such close friendships were rarely heard of in this world.

"Sure are!" Sprig replied enthusiastically.

"You bet!" Anne followed up cheerfully, then noticed the odd look on Piper's face. "You seem surprised?"

"…Huh? Oh, well, it's just that friends like you are pretty hard to come by in this world…..actually any friends are pretty hard to come by here." The former bird replied.

"Really? That's so sad." Anne said.

"Yeah I mean, no one should have to go through this world alone. Everyone needs someone to support them and have their back!" Sprig stated.

"I know for sure I couldn't have survived this long here without Sprig." Anne said.

"Yeah, and that definitely goes both ways. What about you? Do you have any friends?" Sprig asked Piper.

"…No, but it's fine." The biologist sighed. "Besides, I've been doing fine on my own for this long now anyway."

A moment of silence passed as Anne and Sprig looked at each other then back at Piper, before the blue skinned frog finally spoke her mind. "…Well, if it makes you feel any better, we'll be your friends."

The offer caught Piper completely off guard. She gave the amphibian a surprised look. "S-seriously?"

"Of course! I mean you seem like a nice person, so why not?" Sprig said.

Piper hesitated for a moment, a solemn expression taking hold on her face. It was nice of them to think that way of her, but she wasn't so sure she even really believed that about herself. After all, they had just met her, they didn't even know her. Would they honestly still think that if they knew some of the things she'd done?

She looked at the human boy and the frog girl, still confused as to what their deal was. If it really was some kind of trick or an act, then it wouldn't be the first time she'd fallen for something like that and it would probably only lead to trouble if she said yes, and if it wasn't and they truly were this genuine and nice, then she didn't deserve their friendship.

And yet, despite everything in her telling her to say no, she found herself smiling at them. "Sure, why not."

The duo smiled back at her. Accepting their offer of friendship seemed to make them happy, she just hoped she wouldn't regret it.

There was another question that had been brewing in her mind though, and she figured now might be a good time to ask. "So I've been meaning to ask, how old are you two?"

This was a question she was genuinely curious about, because to her they seemed rather young. Not like little kids or anything like that, but still not full grown adults either.

"Well I'm fifteen." Anne replied.

"And I'm twelve." Sprig also replied.

So she was right, they were fairly young. She'd heard of at least a few teenagers ending up here before, but they were usually older teenagers, twelve was certainly the youngest she'd heard of so far. It actually filled her heart with pity for them, they were just kids after all, they shouldn't have to go through something like this.

"So, now that we're friends why don't you tell us a little about yourself, like what kind of creature were you before you were turned into a cat?" Sprig asked in curiosity.

"I was a bird, a sparrow actually. I lived in the great cloud city of Wingsvale. I moved there to study science and biology after I was offered a scholarship to a big university, but I actually grew up in a small treetop town called Feathersburrow with my mum and little brother." Piper replied.

"Aww, that sounds nice….I bet you must miss them, huh?" Anne asked.

The cat smiled sadly, trying to hide just how painful it was for her to think of them. "With all of my heart."

"I get it, I miss my family and friends too." Anne replied.

"So do I." Sprig said.

"Speaking of, what about you two? What worlds did you come from?" Piper asked.

"Well I used to be a human being from a world called Earth." Anne replied.

"And I used to be a frog from a world called Amphibia." Sprig followed.

Piper's expression turned to one of pure shock. She blinked, staring at them wide eyed for a moment before coming back to her senses. "W-wait so let me get this straight, you two are each other's antipodes!?"

"Yeah, that's what everyone keeps saying at least." Anne replied casually.

Piper on the other hand, couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was one thing for these two young individuals to have become friends, but antipodes!? Most antipodes couldn't stand each other and barely tolerated each other at best. It was a constant that held true for literally everyone she met, including herself and her own antipode.

So for these two to be antipodes and not only manage to get along, but be best friends? It seemed impossible to her, like breaking a universal law. And yet, the proof was right in front of her.

"Unbelievable, most antipodes don't get along at all, and yet you two are best friends? It's completely unheard of!" The tabby exclaimed.

"Well what can I say, our friendship is one of a kind." Anne replied.

"Indeed it is…" Piper muttered.

The three chatted for a little while longer, talking about various things and getting to know each other a little better, until a strange sound filled the air.

"What is that?" Sprig asked.

Piper stiffened. She knew exactly what the sound was.

"Be quiet and keep your head down!" She spoke urgently in a hushed tone.

"Why?" Anne asked quietly, her tone of voice hinting that she was already expecting something not good.

"That sound, it's the call of a sky serpent. If it finds us up here, we're as good as dead." Piper whispered.

Anne looked around, at first not seeing anything other than the clouds. But then she spotted some movement in them, and what looked like a giant fin breaking through the surface of them before disappearing again.

As the seconds ticked by, everyone was as stiff and quiet as could be. Nobody moved, nobody made a peep.

….All was silent.

When it seemed like nothing had happened and nothing was going to happen, Sprig started to whisper. "Do you think it's gon-!"

A giant head suddenly burst through the clouds before them, long neck coiling forward to loom over them! In Anne's mind it certainly did look like a serpent, or perhaps something more like what many Asian cultures depicted as dragons, with its long snake-like body and long whiskers coming from its snout. But it also appeared to have long bat-like ears and bioluminescent markings on its sides, head, and the fins that trailed down its spine.

These markings pulsated in bright purple and blue and showed up particularly well on its light gray skin, and despite having no visible arms, legs, or wings, it seemed to float and slither through the sky like a water snake in a lake.

Meanwhile Piper was certain this was it. They had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and they most certainly couldn't fly. And even if they could run, with her injured ankle she wouldn't get very far. There was no escaping it this time, she was going to die today and the ones who had rescued her from her near death experience hours earlier would likely join her.

So she gasped in shock when she saw the two kids whip out their weapons and face the beast with fearless determination.

"What are you doing!?" She exclaimed, looking at them as if they had lost their minds.

"Don't worry Piper, we'll protect you from this beast!" Sprig said before he and Anne started running towards it.

"Wait!" Piper yelled, reaching her paw out to them. She was trying to warn them what this creature was capable of and that trying to fight it was a suicide mission, but they weren't listening as they ran straight towards certain death.

She watched in anticipated horror as Sprig reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of rocks and pebbles. He then loaded his slingshot and fired at the monster. The rocks were tiny compared to the giant sky snake though, and merely bounced off of its skin like it was nothing. Then the boy landed a hit straight in the beast's eye, causing it to blink rapidly and shake its head.

That's when Anne took a running head start and leaped high into the air to smack the beast in the snout with her….what was that a sports racket of some kind? Anyway, but the hit she landed didn't even make the creature flinch.

Instead the monster reared its head back and released a powerful roar and gust of wind that blew them right back over to Piper.

"I was trying to warn you, this thing has powerful wind and storm based attacks and it's virtually indestructible. There's no point in trying to fight it, just go, run and save yourselves before we all become a snack!"

"No, we're not leaving you here Piper, we have to keep trying. Maybe it has some sort of weakness." Anne said, before the duo ran at it again.

"It doesn't!" Piper yelled after them, but they still didn't listen. Why were they so determined to protect her? It was ludicrous, the fact that these two children were risking their lives to save her. They hardly even knew her! Why did they even care what happened to her? If they had just done the smart thing and ran away as soon as the serpent showed up, they could've escaped while it feasted on her. But now, they were putting their own lives on the line just to save her's….why?

It didn't really matter much anyway she supposed, either way she was going to die, and if her companions wanted to put their own lives at risk for the sake of helping her well, that was their problem.

….Even though deep down, she really hated the thought of them getting hurt for her sake.

She continued to watch helplessly as the two kids fought in vain. Though she had to admit that some of their fighting moves and techniques were impressive, they were still no match for the serpent, and it seemed the creature itself was getting tired of playing with its prey.

It took a quick lunging snap at Anne, the blue frog just barely able to jump out of the way in time. After she did, the wind started to pick up around them, blowing her and Sprig back over to Piper as the wind and clouds started to swirl around the serpent, its eyes and markings glowing brighter as lightning flashed around it.

The cat knew it was readying its killing blow, there was no escaping it now.

"Nothings working, this thing's too tough." Anne said.

"Piper, does it have any weaknesses?" Sprig asked.

"No, and I'm afraid you're too late. Once it finishes charging up its final strike we'll all die." She said grimly.

"Well there's gotta be something we can do!" Anne exclaimed.

If there was one thing Piper was beginning to learn about these two kids it was that they stubbornly refused to give up hope even in the most impossibly dire situations. "No there isn't, it isn't as if a magical snake charmer is just going to fall from the stars and hypnotize the beast! I know it's a hard seed to swallow but this is just the way it goes here. We survive until we die."

Maybe that was a little harsh but she needed to get it through their heads that this was it, and there was nothing they could do to stop it. She looked at their faces, expecting to finally see the dread and remorse set in, but instead their eyes widened and they looked at each other, as if a different sort of revelation had been stirred in their minds.

Their brows furrowed in determination as they both nodded to each other, before approaching the serpent one last time.

At this point, the feline didn't even know what to think. Were they really so blind and in denial to their fate, or were they finally accepting it and deciding to just go ahead and get it over with. She honestly couldn't tell as they both stood before the beast, winds whipping around them, threatening to tear them from their spots, as lightning flashed rapidly around the snake's body.

She knew what was about to happen and she almost couldn't bare to watch….but she was glad she did.

She watched as each of the two kids' left feet slowly slid to the side, before they both closed their eyes and got down on all fours.….and then she witnessed what was by far one of the strangest, most bizarre and remarkable things she had ever seen.

The best way she could think to describe it was that it was some kind of dance or ritual of some sort. Now she had seen some pretty weird and crazy dance moves before in her own world, after all, ritualistic mating dances were fairly commonplace there. But she had never seen anything quite like this.

What was even more unusual and intriguing was just how in sync the two were, flawlessly preforming the exact same movements in perfect harmony, without even watching each other. Clearly this was not the first time they'd done this, surely they must have practiced it!

She was so entranced by what she was seeing that she nearly forgot about the sky serpent, but when she looked back up at it she noticed that the lightning and raging winds seemed to have died down a bit, as its eyes were fixated on the two small creatures below it, following their every movement.

The atmosphere around them seemed to calm down more and more as the snake continued to watch them, seemingly transfixed by their movements. Piper could hardly believe what she was seeing and half expected the snake to strike down at them at any given moment, but it never did.

And just when she thought it couldn't possibly get any more unbelievable, the duo finished off their little dance with a snap of their fingers, and all of a sudden the snake jerked upright as if it had just been startled awake.

"Now, lay down!" Sprig commanded the giant serpent, and it obeyed.

Piper's jaw dropped.

She watched completely dumbfounded as the huge, terrifying, predatory beast lay down on top of the clouds just as the boy had commanded.

….WHAT!?

"Roll over." Anne said, making a rolling gesture with her finger. The serpent complied once more and rolled over like an obedient pet.

At this point Piper was completely slack-jawed and stuttering for words. "H-h-how, wh-wha…h-how did you do that!?"

This grabbed the attention of the two kids as they looked back at her. "Oh this? It's just my family's hunting dance. Sometimes we use it on big predators though if we're out of options." Sprig said.

Well that answered absolutely nothing. "Y-yes b-but how are you using it to control that-that thing!?"

"The dance has hypnotic qualities to it, putting whatever creature that watches it into a trance. It can also put any creature that watches the whole thing through under our command, but it's only temporary." Anne explained.

"…That…was the most astonishing and remarkable thing I think I have ever seen." Piper said, with an air of breathlessness. She still couldn't get over it. Here she'd thought for sure they were all going to die, only for these two kids to prove her wrong by accomplishing the impossible! Truly out of all the people and creatures she'd encountered in this world so far, these two individuals were by far the most incredible and fascinating.

There was still one thing though about what Anne had said that made her wonder…

"So, if it's only temporary, then doesn't that mean that it'll wear off eventually and that monstrous serpent will go back to attacking us if we're still around?" The former bird asked.

"Yeah probably, which is why we should probably get out of here while we still can." Sprig replied.

"But how? We can't fly and we don't have any other means to get down to the ground." Piper pointed out.

"Oh but don't we?" Sprig replied, gesturing to the giant snake.

Piper's eyes widened. He couldn't be serious, could he?

She watched as Anne hopped up onto the back of the creature's neck, while Sprig walked up to the field biologist. He held out his hand for her to take, and she stared at him, realizing what he was asking.

"It'll be okay, just trust us." He said with a genuine smile on his face.

Trust. If there was one lesson to be learned in Paradox it was that you couldn't trust anyone. She herself had learned this lesson well….and yet, despite that…there was a part of her that almost felt compelled to trust them. They seemed like such nice, genuine kids who would help others at the drop of a hat. There was a part of her that wanted to trust them, and a part of her that knew better.

But after everything she had just seen, and everything she had learned about them in the past few hours, there was no denying it. These two were nothing like any of the people she'd ever met here before. They were just so different from the others of this world. It was perplexing for sure, but she didn't see it as a bad thing.

Maybe…maybe she could trust them…

And so, she grabbed the human's hand and let him lead her over to the snake, where he helped her climb aboard. Once all three of them were sitting atop the sky serpent Anne commanded it to take off in the direction she pointed and it did so without hesitation.

As the girl directed the snake through the evening sky Piper was just trying to process the fact that she was actually riding a sky serpent! She never would've dreamed it to be possible, and yet here she was. It almost made her laugh, just thinking about it, and everything else. She spread out her arms, feeling the breeze. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she felt this light.

Anne had the sky serpent land just on the outskirts of the jungle the brown and white tabby had originally been in. Once it landed on the ground everyone got off and the teenage girl told the creature to fly away into the clouds. Piper watched as it disappeared into the darkening sky, then turned back to the two kids.

"Well, I must say this has been a very exciting and interesting day. Thank you…again, for saving my life…twice." She said to them.

"Oh, well you're welcome." Anne said.

"Yeah, it was no big deal, really." Sprig said.

"But it was, I mean, you're both just so different from the other people I've met here. Most of them never would have even bat an eye at leaving me behind in order to save themselves, nor would they have risked their own lives just to ensure I lived. I am nothing but a stranger to you, and yet you did all of that for me…and I guess the only question I have left is…why?" Piper asked.

"…Because, helping others and showing them kindness is the right thing to do. Maybe it's not very common for people to do that around here, but it's a lesson I've learned time and time again in my own life." Anne replied, her best friend nodding in agreement.

"…Well again, thank you. You know I must say out of all the creatures in this world that I've encountered or studied, you two are by far the most remarkable and perplexing." Piper said.

"…Um, thanks, I guess?" Anne said.

A few seconds of silence passed before Sprig spoke up.

"So how does your foot feel?" He asked.

"Better, but it will probably take at least a few days to properly heal. In the meantime I will be staying out here in order to finish my research." Piper replied.

"Well, as much as we'd love to stick around we should probably keep moving. It was great meeting you Piper." Anne said.

Piper held up her paw. "No please, the pleasure was all mine. I'll certainly never forget you two." She paused for moment, before deciding to make a request. "Hey, before you go, mind if I take a picture with you guys."

The two seemed genuinely surprised by the request. She almost started to wonder if picture taking didn't exist in either of the worlds they were from, before Anne asked. "You have a camera?"

"Close, I have a chirpad that has a camera." The tabby replied before pulling out the device in question and showing it to them. It was a small, thin, clear, double sided tablet that was all screen. She knew that different dimensions had varying degrees of technological advancement. Some didn't have any technology at all, while others like the one she had come from were highly advanced.

She didn't know what the worlds these two were from were like in that regard, but they seemed pretty impressed. She stood in between the two and all three of them smiled as she took the picture. She then looked at it and smiled. "That's a keeper."

"Yeah, well we better get going. See you Piper." Anne said.

"Take care." Sprig followed.

After they said their goodbyes and the human and frog headed off, the former bird smiled as she pulled out her journal and started writing down some notes and observations about the two most interesting creatures she had encountered thus far…

If you liked Piper then you'll be glad to know this won't be the last we'll see of her. If you didn't then fear not, she isn't going to become a main character, but she does have a significant role to play in the story irregardless.

It's possible that the next chapter could be late again, idk for sure, we'll just have to see when the time comes. But I will try to get it out as soon as it's ready.