Raleigh the Human's Story

There was pure silence, except for the faint ticking of a clock. On one side of the room, A strawberry-blonde haired teenage girl was sitting on a red sofa, her legs crossed at her knees. On the other side, a small yet massive brown lamb was sitting on a lime green beanbag, his hoof resting upon his right cheek. Both creatures had the same focused expression on their faces as they sat in their cabin located in the ice kingdom. The small cabin was on the rural side of town, far from the village that surrounded the famous mountain. It was almost rare to see anybody wandering outside.

Suddenly, the sience was broken by the girl, who had a booming and moderately deep voice.
"So, Flake, tell me. Where were you thinking?"
The brown lamb hesitated, and then filled the silence as well.
"Well, I'm not the best when it comes to places, but I think it's best if we went to the Candy Kingdom. I mean, the climate's much, much, much, MUCH warmer. For me, anyway..." he said, his heavy english accent melting away the tension of the situation.

Raleigh, the seventeen-year-old girl, had a shocked look on her face. She had never considered the candy kingdom as a place where she and Flake could permanantely move. In fact, she had never considered the candy kingdom a real place. Honestly, she would much rather move to the city of thieves than stay in the candy kingdom. To Raleigh, there was nothing to the place. Sure, there was food to last a lifetime, but that was it. It was all just for show. No substance, nothing important. Just sugar. Besides, her water nymph friend had told her the place was full of cats. Raleigh was allergic to cats.

"I dunno," the girl started, getting up from her chair, "I'm not much of a city person. Is there any room in the candy kingdom? I don't really got much of a sweet tooth anyway...."
The lamb's focused face turned into one of anger....or.... frustration? Or annoyance? It was always hard to tell Flake's emotions since he was always so ticked off over EVERYTHING. It was best to say he was being simply negative.

"Look, RALEIGH, you've been moving ever since you learned to walk. How many places have you been to already? The Wildberry Kingdom, Stock Woods, Mountain Kingdom, The Bad Lands, Rump Town, WIZARD CITY FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, and you've never been to the most famous kingdom in all of Ooo? Raleigh, you love change. I've known you for only two weeks, and i know that you constantly LIVE on change..."
"How do you know that?" the girl interrupted,"You need to know me longer than two weeks to know that i'm not one for commitment! You had AMNESIA, FLAKE. You barely knew your own name when i found you in that pile of snow!"
"TRUE," the lamb took control of the conversation again, "but that doesn't mean that i don't pay attention to details. Admit it, you get antsy after doing things for a while. If I were in your shoes...err...boots, I would be thrilled to be going to the Candy Kingdom. It'd be something different. Something new! Something exciting! Maybe even something challenging! Raleigh, what have you got to lose?"

Moments passed as the girl took all his words in, her eyes showing that she had truly listened to his lecture. Flake waited with anticipation for her response.
"Alright," she said, reluctantly, "...BUT!..." she added just before Flake could jump right out of his seat,
"...there are some things i wanna settle in the Ice Kingdom before we start heading down south. Some things i haven't done that i've been wanting to do for a while now..."

Raleigh moved swiftly across the floor to her small cupboard, where she pulled out a used tube of cookie dough.
"We're baking cookies. Warm ones. Don't ask who it's for, i'm not even sure myself!" she said with a mischievious smile.
Flake was a little hesitant about leaving his chair, but he gave in to curiousity, and in a matter of minutes, the cold air in the cottage was replaced with the warm scent of baking chocolate chip cookies.

Raleigh stopped in her tracks as she looked from side to side, inspecting the snowy landscape around her.
"Did you hear that?" she asked Flake, who stared up at her with pure bewilderment.
"What noise?"
"Never mind..." she said, shrugging off her alertness. Flake did the same, and the two started their pilgrimage in the snow once again. Raleigh had only been on the path a couple of times, while the lamb never remembered being on the path in his lifetime. They were heading to the urban, or rather, more populated part of the Ice Kingdom. (Even in the village near the Ice Palace, there still weren't many people who lived in the Ice Kingdom.) The seventeen-year-old girl had an outlandish plan to deliver her freshly baked chocolate chip cookies to the highest authority in the kingdom: the prince. The girl wasn't one to win people over with her words, but rather with her food. This was a special occasion, because the cookies were BAKED, not frozen. (Flake had been so kind as to transform into his fire person form to heat up the cookies. There was no oven in Raleigh's cottage) Delicious smelling fumes rose from the wicker basket that Raleigh carried firmly. A yellow cloth with red flowers was draped across the opening of the basket. This was to keep the cookies fresh, and also to add a little bit of decoration. After all, this was THE prince Jascro. This guy was as fancy as could be..... at least that's what Raleigh thought.

Suddenly, a dark figure made its way closer to Raleigh and Flake as its dark color clashed against the white snow. As the figure got closer, the two noticed that it wasn't just one figure, but many figures. As soon as Flake noticed the distinct orange colors in the black animals approaching, he shouted with fear,
" OH GLOB!! FIRE WOLVES!!"

As the small but menacing wolves approached, Raleigh tried to stand her ground, despite being slightly nervous herself. She could feel Flake hiding behind her legs as the wolves started to circle the two and expose their teeth. Their yellow eyes glared at the duo with sheer malevolence, as though they would pounce any moment. Then as if out of nowhere, the blatant sound of a teenage boy's voice filled the chilling air.

"Sorry, they can get riled up when they see food," said the boy. Raleigh and Flake turned their heads to find a small boy leaning against a tree nearby. His voice sounded nothing like his appearance. He was smaller than what his voice sounded like, and he had the physical characteristics of a fire wolf himself. As he leaned against the chestnut bark of the tree, he crossed his hands and showed a mischievous smirk that exposed two sharp fangs.

Although the boy had a dark and almost sullen appearance, the duo breathed a sigh of relief, despite the fact that the wolves still surrounded them.
"Oh," Raleigh replied, a friendly smile on her face, "I don't mind giving them two of my cookies. I baked a bunch anyway, and..."
The boy interrupted her with heavy laughter. She raised an eyebrow at him and straightened her posture.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh nothing," he said, containing more laughter. He started to move into the sunlight as he continued, "It's just....I don't think you realize that fire wolves are carnivores."
"What are you saying?" Flake spat out. He already knew what was coming next from the boy before he got the chance to speak the words.
"Well y'know, it's the way of life. Fire wolves gotta eat meat to get the energy they need. I didn't want to say this, but I guess you two brought me to it. Ma'am, I don't think my pack has seen such a fine, healthy lamb before, and it would be our pleasure if we can take him off your hands. Of course, we'll give you whatever you want in return, you just have to give us the lamb."

Raleigh's jaw dropped all the way down to her neck. She placed her hands on her hips and glared at the boy, electricity flowing through her pupils.
"Look, what do you want?"
The wolf boy laughed again, and swiftly stepped through the circle of fire creatures. The girl stood her ground as the boy got closer to her.
"We don't want anything, ma'am. No ulterior motives or anything. We just want the lamb. We're not even willing to accept your cookies, although i'll surely take them," he snatched the basket away from her and ran back to the shade of the tree before she got a chance to grab him. As she took a large step foward, the small fire wolves growled with anger. She moved a small step back, and flicked her furious eyes back at the boy.

"Anything you two would like to say before we start eating?" the boy smirked, his words overflowing with ignorance.
"NOW!!" Raleigh shouted out of nowhere. The words took everyone off guard, except for Flake, who had started to transform into a larger creature. He grew taller and wider, and his wool almost seemed to disappear into fur. With further inspection, one would be able to see his hoofs had been replaced with sharp claws. It was as though the whole time, the duo had known of a secret plan. Flake the lamb had turned into some sort of large, ferocious creature.

"Sure, fire wolves are said to be the most destructive wolves in Ooo," Flake started to say in a creepy yet strong voice, "but i believe that why-wolves are much, MUCH stronger."
"THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!!!" the boy screamed, his face white with fear and embarassment.
"GET 'EM!!!" Raleigh cried, starting a moment of sheer chaos. As Flake tossed the small wolves all around as though they weighed nothing, Raleigh had managed to pin the boy to the tree he was leaning on by the neck. He tried to remove her grasp from his small neck, but she was too strong.
"Are you from the fire kingdom? If so, I'm telling the authorities." she said, interrogating him. Although he was practically choking, he managed to pull a small smirk and say, "It's no use telling the fire kingdom. I've been gone for so long, they barely remember my name."
By this time, Flake had knocked out all of the fire wolves, and approached his partner in crime. Unfortunately, as he turned to face her, all he saw was her hand getting burnt as the wolf boy conjured huge flames around himself, breaking her grasp on him. The girl was about to fall, but Flake caught her into his paws just in time. The fire wolves got up as though they had instantly revived, and started to run into the heavily wooded area. The wolf boy started running, but stopped in his tracks to tell the duo something.
"You think you're both so powerful? Just wait till you see Riddle. He'll take care of both of you."
He maliciously laughed as his body dissolved into black ashes, and the fragments started to blow away in the wind.

The sounds that had surrounded the duo turned into silence again as they both stopped to process what had happened. Flake, still in his wolf form, grabbed the basket of cookies in the snow, (which were still warm) and approached Raleigh as he turned back into a lamb.
"You alright?" he asked, looking at her hand.
"Yeah, yeah, it's burnt, but not badly or anything. Just pain," she replied, rubbing her hand. After a few moments, the two started walking on the path again.
"So, Riddle?" Raleigh asked.
"I don't know anything more than you." the lamb replied. The two kept silent as they continued walking across the heavy snow.

"Okay, i thought it wouldn't be as scenic as walking, but i admit it, you were right!"

Only a little while ago, Flake the lamb had proposed the idea that instead of walking to the Ice Kingdom village, they should travel a bit faster. Raleigh was hesitant, since she enjoyed picturesque sights of nature, but as she started to get tired, she reluctantly agreed to his plan. She was now high up in the air with her arms up above her head, full of energy. Flake had transformed into a morrow, a large falcon-like creature with astounding speed, so that the travel to the village would only take about 20 minutes. With the height the two were at, the Cloud Kingdom could be seen just off into the distance.

"We should go there someday, you and I. I hear there's a humongous cloud forest just waiting to be explored."
"Not until you bribe me with some tea or something first. You know I'm scared of heights" the lamb replied.
"But you're fine right now!!"
"Yes, but i have wings..so my phobia is sort of...pacified."
"Yep. You just admitted that you're a bird afraid of heights."
The two shared a chuckle for a brief moment, and then the girl went back to peacefully daydreaming as she looked across the horizon. However, things didn't remain peaceful for long. Suddenly, Raleigh noticed a shiny orange speck sparkling in the sky. She pointed her finger at the object so that Flake could see the pretty light, but as soon as he turned his head, the two figured out what the speck really was:
A fireball.

It was much bigger and brighter and hotter than what it looked like from a distance. Before Flake could barely flap his wings to change direction, the fireball crashed straight into the lamb's wing, as if it had a mind of it's own. The last thing Raleigh remembered before blacking out was Flake's hooves stretching over her shoulders.

"Raleigh...wake up.....Raleigh!"
The teenager shook her head as she woke up to the sound of Flake's voice. Once she felt the soft but gritty ground beneath her, a chill went down her spine. She wasn't in the safety of the sky anymore. In fact, as soon as she saw the shapes of the trees around her, Raleigh immediately knew she was in the Evil Forest, the scariest and most deadly place in Ooo.

She had been in this forest once as a child, and had encountered some of the frightening creatures that lurked in the woods. She was lucky to be alive.
She got up quickly, knowing that if her and Flake were going to get out of the place alive, they would have to move at a steady yet quick pace. Dangers could be lurking almost anywhere.
"Can you transform back into a morrow and get us out of here?" Raleigh asked the lamb.
"I've already tried. For some reason, i'm not able to change into any form at the moment. It's like the impact of that fireball thing caused some sort of glitch or something. And besides, my arm is burnt up badly."
He turned to show her the huge red burn along his arm. Raleigh cringed at the sight.
"Don't worry, i'm fine, it just stings." he said, sitting on a rock nearby. He was starting to nervously shiver as though he knew the place. Raleigh wondered why he knew about all these locations in Ooo, but when she found him unconcious, he couldn't even remember his own name.

"We should camp out for the night. It's already afternoon."
Raleigh immediately opened her mouth to object, but before she could, Flake continued.
"We'll set up in a while. I want you to stay here while i use the lu."
"The what?"
"The lu."
"What's that?"
"It's what my parents used to call the....oh never mind. I'll be right back. DON'T WANDER OFF"

And so Raleigh sat there, bored out of her mind. Clutching her white backpack, she wondered what kind of monsters would be lurking at night. If most of the deadly creatures came out during the day, there was no telling how many would come at night. She removed her fur hat and scarf, storing them away in the large pack, and as she looked up, she noticed something in the darkness around her. There in front of her were two yellow eyes, staring at her. To the girl, the eyes didn't seem threatening, but looked as though they wanted her to come closer. She sprung up off of the ground, like she was under a spell, and held her hand out towards the eyes. As she approached the yellow light, getting closer and closer, her spell of curiousity was broken by a familiar voice.

"HELLLPP!!!!"

Immediately, Raleigh started to blindly run to where she assumed the voice was coming from. "FLAKE!!!" she cried, but no answer called back. She frantically searched all around, hoping that the lamb was just pulling some sort of prank, but as she saw the footprint that lay on the ground before her, her heart plunged into her stomach.

Raleigh recognized that footprint anywhere: it was an imp. Imps lurked in the badlands where Raleigh had lived for a while. Although quite small, imps could be numerous in number. However, those were desert imps. Forest imps could be different.

For about an hour, Raleigh desperately searched the woods, hoping to find something or someone that could give her a clue as to where to find her companion. She knew that he was probably dead by now, but she would push the thought aside before finding out for herself. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a glimmer (or rather a flame) of hope could be seen in the darkness. There was a fire nearby, and fire meant people. People meant help. She ran with all her might to the flame, and without taking a good glance at who she was speaking to, she spoke quickly and frantically.

"Have you seen a short, brown-wooled lamb about two feet tall and big blue eyes? He's lost, and i think he was taken by monsters or something...Have you seen him?"
She breathed heavily, trying to catch her breath after running for what seemed like eternity.

"It's still a few hours walk from here. Our best bet is to take shelter nearby, build a fire, and stay the night as safely as we can. This way," Jo-Jo said, motioning towards a small clearing to their left. Entering the clearing Chrissy could see a small cave, really more of lean-to formed out of three slabs of rock, positioned along the side of a small ring of trees which formed a natural clearing with the cave at it's head.

"Wait here," Jo-Jo said, gently lowering Chrissy to the ground.. "Don't move too much or your wounds won't start getting better. I'm just going to check out that cave, make sure there's nothing in it. I'll be right back, don't you worry." Jo-Jo said reassuringly, then slowly walked over to the cave, his bow held high. As he reached it, he slowly lowered his bow and peeked inside.

Chrissy, who'd eyes had been following him, now turned to the tree line. It was dark and thick with thorn bushes and dead, dried up plants. A few pairs of glowing eyes peeped out from the brush but vanished so fast Chrissy wondered if they d been a trick of her imagination. Regardless of what it was, Chrissy was glad when Jo-Jo called "It's safe!" He walked over to where she sat and she looked up at him with an expression of deep thankfulness. "Here, let's get you situated. Then I'll make a fire." Gratefully Chrissy took the extended gloved hand and used him to standup, her injuries going numb. She hoped that it was because of the cold, though she knew better to believe in dumb luck. But then again, she'd meet Jo-Jo by chance and so far it was the best thing yet to have happened to her.

"It looks like an abandoned nest, but I didn't see any signs of recent use, so we'll set camp here for the night." Jo-Jo said with a smile, carefully lowering Chrissy to the ground. She sat in a semi comfortable position which encouraged blood flow to the injured limbs. They'd seal up enough by now to maintain a continuous flow of blood, which she wanted as soon as possible. She's need to leave the bandages on for the rest of tonight and possibly the next day but she should be fully healed after a week or so.

"Here, take this." Jo-Jo said, holding out his spare gauntlet to Chrissy who, though surprised, took it. "Wear this till I get back. It'll protect you." Jo-Jo said with a large smile which made Christina also smile, the purple shades returning to her cheeks.. "I'm going to get firewood, I'll be back in two shakes, alright?" Jo-Jo said, walking out if the cave, stating to talk to himself as he did. "We need that fire..." Christina watched as he walked out. The moment he was out if the cave she let out a shuttering sigh. Her body was racked with pain as the muscles of her two hurt limbs throbbed in painful, violent protest. Focusing she put as much of her energy as possible into the healing but it did little good. Guardian Angels could not heal themselves.

Jo-Jo walked in a moment later and Chrissy manages a smile. "See, I'm back!" Jo-Jo said with a smile. "You miss me?" he asked, blushing ever so slightly and gazing at the ground. Chissy smiled, nodding her head enthusiastically. "Never mind, I've got a fire to build." He set the stones down in a ring a few feet away from the cave, and he set to building a tepee out of sticks. He put the smaller sticks in the center and the larger logs on the outside. Christina watched intently, making notes of what he was doing so she could hopefully use the knowledge later.

Take some paper from his backpack he tore them up into little pieces. He placed the shreds inside the tepee and gave them enough room to breathe. Finally, Jo-Jo picked up one of the rocks that formed the ring and slapped his gauntlet covered hand against it, once, twice, and on the third time sending a few sparks into the nest of paper at the center of the tepee. After blowing on the sparks, the paper ignited, the sticks following and setting the logs ablaze.

"There! Fire! Now we have light, warmth, and a way to keep anything that wants to eat us away from here." Jo-Jo said proudly and Chrissy applauded with a short span of laughter. Once the fire was set, however, he seemed to remember Chrissy again, and blushed. She wondered what was wrong. As the firelight flickered in her blue eyes she raised her hands to warm them near the fire's blaze. There passed between them a few lax moments of silence before-

Something came crashing through the brush. Chrissy whirled around, quickly regretting it as her wounds protested the sudden movement. Opening one eye she looked at the intruder, a girl, who was panting hard. "Have you seen a short, brown-wooled lamb about two feet tall and big blue eyes? He's lost, and i think he was taken by monsters or something...Have you seen him?" For the second time today, Chrissy was lost for words.

The pair sat next to the fire for a little while, enjoying its warmth and light. There was something magical about a campfire to Jo-Jo. It seemed to always calm you, make your worries insignificant. Jo-Jo felt himself relax, a wide smile played across his face. There passed between them a few lax moments of silence. It wasn't awkward or uncomfortable. The pair just sat and enjoyed the presence of the fire. They didn't need to say anything. There was nothing except the firelight, the occasional crackle of wood burning, and the ambiance of the forest. While Jo-Jo wished that the forest's ambiance didn't include the occasional howl or, what sounded like, cackling, it was still relatively calming. Jo-Jo propped himself up against the side of the cave, next to the fire and close to the entrance of the cave. He was preparing to take the night shift. Jo-Jo knew Chrissy needed her sleep, especially with her wounds, and he was beginning to psych himself up to go without sleeping. Jo-Jo was just about to ask Chrissy how she was doing when he heard it. Footsteps, fast ones, coming from the side of them. Jo-Jo stood, his bow clutched tight. Were they enemies? Monsters? Jo-Jo hoisted his bow, intent on filling the offending party with arrows like a pincushion when-

A blonde haired girl wearing a green dress came crashing through the brush. She was panting hard, a look of panic on her face. As she made it into the clearing, Jo-Jo lowered his bow. 'Oh good,' Jo-Jo thought. 'I don't have to fight again.' The girl took a short second to catch her breath, then blurted out a question that Jo-Jo almost missed. "Have you seen a short, brown-wooled lamb about two feet tall and big blue eyes? He's lost, and I think he was taken by monsters or something...Have you seen him?" Jo-Jo's mouth hung open. He looked over at Chrissy who was similarly lost for words. "Umm... no?" Jo-Jo offered, more asked than stated. "Calm down. I can see you're upset but that's not helping anyone." Jo-Jo said, walking over to the girl. "What exactly happened? You lost your... sheep?" Jo-Jo asked, trying to get a handle on the situation. That, however, is when Jo-Jo noticed the girl herself and not the situation she presented. She was cute. Her blonde hair was dazzling in the firelight. Jo-Jo felt his eyes avert themselves from her face, and his own heat up. He tried to stare off into the forest, as if he were scanning the area for threats, or as if he was starting to look for her lost sheep.

"Umm... no?"

The words sent an explosion through Raleigh's body, and she became more worried than before.
"OH GLOB OH GLOB OH GLOB OH GLOB OH GLOB...." she kept repeating as she paced around the two people settled by the fire. She was all over the place. Could she find more people in the cave that was before her? Maybe the imps were deeper inside. Before she could take the first step to enter, the same voice spoke to her again, "Calm down. I can see you're upset but that's not helping anyone."

Being a little hot-tempered, Raleigh was a little bit drawn back by the words. Did he have any idea how long she had been searching in the deadliest woods of Ooo? It made her wonder what these people were doing in the woods themselves. Why would anyone just wander into the Evil forest to go camping? It made no sense.


"What exactly happened? You lost your... sheep?"
A dark silhouette of a man approached her as he spoke to her again. She put up a tough front, knowing that she would have to show this creature who was boss if he was going to help her, but as he stood right in front of her, her expression of stability broke apart and was replaced by shock and awe.

This creature looked almost exactly like her. His skin was nearly the same color and it showed no sign of an alien texture. His hair was a light blonde, and he had a frame that was similar to hers. Could he be......no. It was impossible. This guy couldn't possibly be human. Raleigh had been reminded since she was born that she was a mysterious race, known only as a "human", in Ooo. She was one of a kind. It was impossible for this man to be the same species as her, as humans were believed to die out ages ago. They were extinct. She was much more willing to believe that he was a candy-person humainoid than one of her kind. She would make her decision when she was out of the dim light of the fire. She snapped out of her thoughts as Flake crossed her mind.

"Uhhh...yes," she finally replied to his question. "But he's not just any sheep, he has magical powers that can make him transform into anything...so maybe you saw him as something else....but then he just lost his powers a while ago...so....so....OH MOTHER OF GLOB!!!"

She ran up to the warmth of the fire, and collapsed on the ground, her head in her hands. She noticed the other person as she sat in defeat. The woman had extraordinary white hair, bright blue skin, and an astounding white dress with so much detail that Raleigh got lost in it. However, the brightness of the dress looked as though it had been stained in blood. Maybe this couple wasn't camping in the woods after all.
After sighing, Raleigh spoke again. This time, she was more calmed down, "When i searched for him, i found the footprint of an imp. I hate to say it, but i think he got taken by one of those things. I don't know how, but then again, Flake can be a coward when he wants to be..."

After Jo-Jo's initial shock had faded, Jo-Jo looked up towards the girl in front of him. Her face was dotted with freckles, her blonde hair was about waist length, and her complexion was remarkably similar to Jo-Jo's own. Was she... human? Jo-Jo had never seen another human, not in all his years as an adventurer, and he'd started about 5 years ago when he'd turned fifteen. Jo-Jo took a step back and really looked her over. He blushed when he found she was doing the same thing. They would very much have to chat later. However, Jo-Jo suspected that her presently pressing worries would override any familiarity between the two until it had been taken care of. He shelved his thoughts and turned his attention to the present situation.

"Uhhh...yes," she finally replied to Jo-Jo's first question. "But he's not just any sheep, he has magical powers that can make him transform into anything...so maybe you saw him as something else....but then he just lost his powers a while ago...so....so....OH MOTHER OF GLOB!!!" She exclaimed, overcome with emotion.

She ran up to the warmth of the fire, and collapsed on the ground, her head in her hands. Jo-Jo followed her back to the safety of the cave. He sat next to Chrissy while the girl cried. Jo-Jo was dumbfounded. He had no idea what to do. It was very late, and the forest would only get more dangerous as it got darker. However, this girl, this human girl, needed his help. Justice demanded that he act. Common sense, however, argued otherwise. If they rushed off now, they might only be adding to the body count, springing a well laid out trap. They couldn't wait though, that sheep was in danger. Further, what about Chrissy? Jo-Jo couldn't leave her, not with those wounds. The same wounds would make her less desirable in a fight or dungeon situation as well. Jo-Jo shook his head. He was lost for words, unable to comfort her and unable to come up with a plan that would make everyone happy.

After another minute or so, and beginning with a heavy sigh, the girl spoke again. This time, she was much more calm. "When I searched for him, I found the footprint of an imp. I hate to say it, but I think he got taken by one of those things. I don't know how, but then again, Flake can be a coward when he wants to be..."

"Hmm..." Jo-Jo wondered aloud. "Aha!" he exclaimed, experiencing a sudden moment of clarity. He had information about imps in his guidebook! Jo-Jo slung off his pack, depositing it in his lap and dug around for a moment until he found his book. Taking the book out, and closing up his pack, Jo-Jo slung the pack back over his shoulders. "Here." Jo-Jo offered, "Let's consult my guidebook."

Jo-Jo's guidebook was a wealth of information. The sturdy brown leather bindings held every single scrap of knowledge about adventuring, justice, morality, monsters, fighting styles, and even proper etiquette. It was the perfect guidebook for adventurers and heroes. Jo-Jo slid his hand over the cover of the book. In the low light, one could see a pair of crossed swords over a shield and the title, "Adventurer's Guidebook". Jo-Jo opened the book, its well worn bindings held in placed by heavy braces. "Let's see what I've got on Forest Imps." Jo-Jo said, perusing the table of contents until he found the Monster Manual. "Ifrits... Incubi... Ah, here we are, Imps. Imps are nasty, ugly little ankle-biters. They delight in playing practical jokes on anyone and everyone they can find. Their favorite types of pranks include kidnapping pets and getting people lost in jank places. Relatively weak, use strong blunt or sharp weapons and big swinging attacks to send them flying. Challenge rating of 1 out of 10 in a 1 vs. 1 situation. NOTE: They do tend to travel in packs with a large amount of members. Most imps aren't very tall or overly malicious, and really only like to cause mischief, not serious harm. However, their leader, often a Queen, will sometimes direct the entire coven of Imps into coordinated attacks or raids. Imps are notoriously greedy, and will often do most anything for a 'shiny'. NOTE: 'Shiny', being taken to mean small, brightly colored, baubles and treasures. These raids will often target single, traveling merchants in order to minimize casualties while maximizing 'shiny' acquisitions. Overall, not dangerous unless swarming against a single target."

Jo-Jo closed the book, placing it back in his pack. "Will your lamb, will... Flake be able to last the night?" Jo-Jo asked, a cold seriousness in his voice. "Because as much as I hate to say it, unless it's daytime we cannot run off after him. I've got a friend to consider." Jo-Jo said, looking over at Chrissy; her wounds looked so painful. After a moment, he turned back to face the other girl. "Even if I leave her here and she doesn't get attacked, I cannot condone flying off, half-cocked, into the woods after your lamb. We'd just be adding to the body count. The forest is full of worse things than Imps." Jo-Jo said sadly, shaking his head. "I realize that he's very dear to you, however, I can't go chasing after him with you right now, unless..." Jo-Jo hesitated, he knew the risks, but Justice demanded that he act. "Unless I go to do it myself. If you stay here, and protect Chrissy until morning, then I will go, alone, and search for your lamb myself. I'm the only one who isn't emotionally attached to the lamb, I'm the only one in fit condition to fight a coven of Imps, and I'm the only one who can track in the dark." Jo-Jo said confidently, standing and offering his hand to the new girl. "Do we have a deal?" Jo-Jo asked, deadly serious. He was so intent on rescuing the lamb, so focused on making sure Chrissy would be ok that he completely forgot about how cute the new girl was, and how amazing Chrissy looked in the firelight, despite her nasty wounds and bloodstained dress. "I'm Jo-Jo by the way. Jo-Jo the human."

"Wooooahhhh...."

The boy had pulled out an exquisite book with leather binding, a detailed cover, and more pages than Raleigh could ever read in a lifetime. As he flipped through the pages to look up info on forest imps, Raleigh lifted up the cover of the book to see that it was titled the "Adventurer's Guidebook". Raleigh considered herself an adventurer, but with the way this guy made his first impression, she knew she was going to have to raise her standards if she was going to be any good.

Finally, he had reached the pages he was looking for. He read the words aloud.

"Imps are nasty, ugly little ankle-biters. They delight in playing practical jokes on anyone and everyone they can find. Their favorite types of pranks include kidnapping pets and getting people lost in jank places. Relatively weak, use strong blunt or sharp weapons and big swinging attacks to send them flying. Challenge rating of 1 out of 10 in a 1 vs. 1 situation. NOTE: They do tend to travel in packs with a large amount of members. Most imps aren't very tall or overly malicious, and really only like to cause mischief, not serious harm. However, their leader, often a Queen, will sometimes direct the entire coven of Imps into coordinated attacks or raids. Imps are notoriously greedy, and will often do most anything for a 'shiny'. NOTE: 'Shiny', being taken to mean small, brightly colored, baubles and treasures. These raids will often target single, traveling merchants in order to minimize casualties while maximizing 'shiny' acquisitions. Overall, not dangerous unless swarming against a single target."


"Shmowzow," Raleigh exclaimed, shaking her head in amazement, "I need to get me one of those books."
"Will your lamb, will... Flake be able to last the night?" the guy started again, his voice more monotone than before,
"Because as much as I hate to say it, unless it's daytime we cannot run off after him. I've got a friend to consider."
He looked back over at the woman with the bloodstained dress. Raleigh nodded. She completely understood. In fact, she knew all too well....
"Even if I leave her here and she doesn't get attacked, I cannot condone flying off, half-cocked, into the woods after your lamb. We'd just be adding to the body count. The forest is full of worse things than Imps. I realize that he's very dear to you, however, I can't go chasing after him with you right now, unless..."
She could tell that he was hesitating. "Unless what?" she asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Unless I go to do it myself. If you stay here, and protect Chrissy until morning, then I will go, alone, and search for your lamb myself. I'm the only one who isn't emotionally attached to the lamb, I'm the only one in fit condition to fight a coven of Imps, and I'm the only one who can track in the dark."
Raleigh's confused expression still remained as he confidently stood up and extended his hand.
"Do we have a deal?" he said, very much focused and determined, "I'm Jo-Jo by the way. Jo-Jo the human."

So he was human. At least, that's what he called himself. Right now, Raleigh wished that he was anything BUT human, because she knew she was about to burst his big, fat, tunnel-visioned bubble.
"Woah woah woah woah woah woah, wait just a flipping second," she projected. She crossed her arms, leaving his extended hand hanging, "First of all, i didn't even ask for your help. All i asked for was if you'd seen a brown lamb wandering through the woods. Although, i am grateful that you're so eager to find Flake."
She stood up and started to circle around Jo-Jo as she spoke, "Secondly, you say that you're not emotionally attached to Flake like it's a good thing. Let's just say i've been through a lot of stuff today, and now i know that the less you care about Flake, the more susceptible you are to hurt him. How do i know if i can trust you? I'm in the Evil Woods, and I did just meet you like, two minutes ago..."
She stopped pacing around in the circle, and stopped directly in the place where she was sitting before.
"And last but not least, if you go alone, although you're 'in the most fit condition to fight a coven of imps', you're making yourself vulnerable to not only what's lurking in these woods, but possibly A WHOLE TRIBE OF IMPS. Possibly 200 vs. 1. Like what your book said, if they swarm up on you, you're dead meat. It's like suicide, man."
She then put her hands on her hips, and gave a big smirk, "Also, not to brag, but after what i've been through today, I'm pretty sure i'd be more capable of handling all those imps than you. I mean, sure, i don't have any cool swords or maces or anything, but i'm sure i'd be able to kick your butt with my hands tied behind my back."

She sat back on the ground, her legs crossed and her smirk replaced with a cold glare, "If you two don't mind, i'm probably going to have to stay with you for the night. I think Flake will be able to last. In the morning, however, I think it's best if we head our separate ways. I understand that you have your own problems to take care of. Just from my own experiences, I'd say it's best to get her out of here as soon as you can."

She gave a half smile, and then extended her hand out. "So, whaddaya say, Jo-Jo the human? The name's Raleigh by the way."

It was such a marvelous day in the Evil Forest of Ooo. The 'king of the shadows' as he called himself had nothing better to do than wander through the 'dreaded' forest. To Riddle, the Evil Forest was perhaps the best place in all of Ooo. There was nothing more fun than scaring the haunted trees, signs, zombies, and other monsters that attempted to scare him. Their faces of fear filled him with the greatest of pleasure. He knew that once his master plan took effect and he ruled all of Ooo, he'd be able to see more and more of those faces.

Suddenly, a ringing sound could be heard from the red holo-pendant on his neck. Sighing with frustration, he lifted the crystal and shook it, seeing Inferno's face in the red hologram that had appeared before him.

"What could you possibly want? Why aren't you doing what you're supposed to?" he said, his booming voice filling the forest.
"My lord, a girl and her lamb defied your power. I warned them, but they didn't listen."
After a moment of silence, the cold-hearted creature burst out laughing, as if his companion had told him a hysterical joke.
"Are you telling me that you got beaten up by an incompetent little girl and a stupid sheep? What are you, weak?"
"No my lord, you don't understand. The girl is stronger than you think. And the sheep...the sheep can transform into a why-wolf..."

Riddle's look of arrogance was replaced by slight shock, as if he knew one of the people Inferno was talking about. Still, he was not in the slightest worried. Inferno wasn't the best companion a future ruler of Ooo could have.
"I see....can you track them?"
"Yes, my lord, i can. I'm sending the data to you now..."
All of a sudden, the fire-wolf's face was replaced by a map of Ooo. A bright dot flickered on and off to show the duo's location. The dot was located to the south-east of the Ice Kingdom. Riddle cracked his mouth into a terrifying grin, exposing his sharp fang-like teeth.
"Alright," the dark creature said, "I'll see what i can do. They're only a couple of miles away from my location. Thank you for telling me this, Inferno."
"No problem, my master."

The hologram disappeared, leaving Riddle in the dark forest to himself. Focusing his anger, power, and energy into his hands, he created two giant flames. Clapping his hands, he merged the flames together, and swirled his arms in a spherical motion. The fireball he created became so intense, that he had to fly up out of the forest in order to prevent a fire. Finally, he chanted a dark spell, and released his energy out in front of him, sending the fireball across the sky like a shooting star. He revealed another creepy grin as he watched the bright flame disappear. Afterwards, he gently floated down into the shelter of the woods.

He spent the rest of the day wandering the woods, until he could feel the aura of some sort of complex creature. He peeked his yellow eyes through the darkness, seeing an adolescent human girl sitting by her lonesome. Riddle was shocked. He thought humans had been extinct for ages. Not even thinking twice, he took the moment as an opportunity to strike.

"Come closer" he whispered silently to her, using his black magic ability known as telepathy. For Riddle, it was basically mind control. The girl immediately stood up off of the rock she was perched on and started to approach him, her arm extended in his direction. "Yes...closer" he continued, his face curling up into a smirk, when suddenly a loud cry echoed through the woods. The girl must have had a strong will, because her connection with Riddle was broken, and she immediately sprinted off into the canopy.

Frustrated, Riddle floated through the woods, trying to take his mind off of the girl he could have so easily destroyed. She was lucky. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind. Could this be the girl Inferno had talked about? Before he could determine the answer to that question, he saw something moving in the distance.

There, lost between the trees, was a rusty and red-robed robot. Riddle could only imagine what something as complex as a robot was doing in the middle of the Evil Forest. The robot looked like a hunk of junk, but to Riddle, it was extremely valuable. As they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure. Technically, robots had an upper hand against Riddle. He couldn't use telepathy against them, as they possessed no true mind or soul, just wires, batteries, and computer chips. Therefore, if he could make the robot his slave, that would be one less threat to worry about, and more technology in his hands. Then again, he could easily destroy the thing, but he would at least give it a try before burning it to ashes.

He swiftly appeared out of the bushes, circling the red-robed robot like it was his prey, and he was the predator.
"Are you lost?" he said with a malicious chuckle, "Poor robot. The Evil Forest is awfully dangerous for a thing like you. Do you need assistance? I can take you back to where you came from?"
As he levitated around his next victim, he gave another creepy smirk. He would laugh is this thing thought it was tough enough to stand its ground.

Raleigh kept out her arm for a while, and then swiftly let it down, knowing it was too awkward to wait for Jo-Jo to shake it. (Then again, he probably never would.) She silently chuckled to herself, and pulled back a messy piece of hair that had been extended in front of her face. She plopped down unto the ground, backing herself away from the fire, and placing her hands behind her head.

"What the nuts? You can't even see the stars in this forest! It's all blocked by trees! Oh whatever..."
With a yawn, the girl rubbed her eyes and rolled over unto her side, facing the boy and the angel. She was starting to get tired from all the running around she had done during the day, but she wasn't quite ready to settle down and fall asleep just yet.

"Sooooo...since you two don't look like monsters that would actually live in this forest and eat people alive, i gotta ask, how did you two end up in here? Did you just plan to go in here and camp out and junk, or did you guys like, have a SICK FREAK ACCIDENT and you got chased by snakes and vampires and zombies and mutated bears until you bumped into each other and then fought for survival until you defeated every snake and vampire and zombie and mutated bear and then camped out?"

She softly chuckled, and then rolled over onto her back again. Steadily she closed her eyes, planning to relax as she told her story, listen to the two other peoples's stories, and then fall into a dreamless sleep.

"My adventure started when me and my friend, Flake, were planning on delivering some cookies to the Ice Prince. I had never met the Ice Prince before, and since Flake and I are planning on moving to the Candy Kingdom, I just wanted to see him before i might not have a chance to again. So I made the cookies, and then we were traveling on a path and stuff, WHEN THESE CREEPY FIRE WOLVES APPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE! And then this guy came up, and was all like, "we're gonna take Flake and stuff," and then Flake and I TOTALLY kicked his butt!! We were like, POW!!! Totally took the guy off guard, and then unfortunately he escaped before i got the chance to knock him out.... And he was all like, "I'm gonna tell Riddle about this!!" Me and Flake figured that he was just gonna cry to his mommy, and then we kept moving on and stuff until Flake had an idea that he should transform into a morrow so that we could get to the Ice Palace faster. So we were in the air and we saw the cloud kingdom!!! It was amazing!!! I want to go to the cloud forest someday...Anyway, this mysterious fireball-thing appeared out of nowhere and hit Flake. I don't really remember much of that because I blacked out. When I woke up, Flake was there, and he told me to stay where i was because he had to use the 'Lu' or something...i dunno...ANYWAY, a couple of seconds later I heard a cry for help and i knew, I just KNEW it was Flake..."

Raleigh's voice became more monotone and gloomy as she spoke the next part of the story,
"I was calling his name, and then in the sunset, I could see an imp footprint in the ground. I had a heart attack, and then i just kept running through the forest trying to find him. I'm pretty sure I searched for an hour. It seemed like FOREVER though. And then, I saw a fire blazing in the distance, and i ran up to it, and then I met you guys."

She sighed, transitioning her voice back into its normal sound. She smiled, her eyes still closed.
"Your turn," she said to the two before starting her process of dozing off.

Christina had, to say the least, zoned out from the conversation. The moment she saw the girl, the human girl mind you, step into the clearing her hand had found the teddy bear and she'd closed her eyes, tuning out the two human voices. She needed to focus very badly and she took slow, deep breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Inhale, exhale. The knuckles of her hand turned a snowy white color as her fingers squeezed the soft, pushie toy.

Two humans. The pressure building behind her blues was expodential and she clentched her jaw. Normally it wasn't this bad when she was reminded, but now there were two humans standing infront of her and she'd never had any experiance with the change since her training. Would it be enough that she could hold on to her sanity? Was she even sane anymore?

A moment passed and finally Christina felt peaceful (or, at least, mostly at peace) and she opened her blue eyes. They held a slight glow, faint but eery. Her heart was stil racing and she dared not let go of the bear but now her body wasn't shaking, so that was a good sign. Also, the two humans were still alive so that was another good sign. Maybe her training was enough. Maybe it would last. Maybe she could control the change!

Or maybe she was totally screwing herself over with happy thoughts.

'Be optimistic,' Chrissy mentally reminded herself, tuning back into the conversation at hand.

"I was calling his name, and then in the sunset, I could see an imp footprint in the ground. I had a heart attack, and then i just kept running through the forest trying to find him." The girl, 'I think Raleigh is her name...', said, her eyes downcast and her voice strained with fear and worry for her little lost lamb. "I'm pretty sure I searched for an hour. It seemed like FOREVER though. And then, I saw a fire blazing in the distance, and i ran up to it, and then I met you guys."

After a moment's paused her eyes looked back up, but Chrissy avoided her gaze. "Your turn,' she said, though Chrissy bit her lip, still struggling to find words, though this time because of axiety and not shock. Instead she nodded with a feinted shyness over to Jo-Jo as if to direct any attention to him instead of herself.

---
*Small Side Note : Christina maintains her normal appearance but currently does not have her wings out. Additionally her hair in pulled back and she wears a different dress than in her profile pictures. She is unrecognizable as a Guardian Angel at the moment (I have an epic reviel idea but I'm saving it for later). :)

Though the other girl had been rather rude to him, Jo-Jo decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. He was very concerned about the lamb, after all, regardless of its powers, as Jo-Jo himself had said, Imps were very dangerous in large numbers. Jo-Jo wasn't trying to betray her and eat the lamb, that would be absolutely horrible. The fact that she assumed the worst about anybody was probably due to trauma in her past, and Jo-Jo didn't feel like opening up that particular can of worms. However, when she mentioned kicking his butt, Jo-Jo visibly stiffened. Those were fighting words, regardless of whether or not she was a... really pretty girl, Jo-Jo's honor demanded a duel. However, Jo-Jo's shyness demanded he do nothing of the sort. Instead, he sat next to the fire and stared at it for a good long while. He'd grabbed enough extra firewood to last a while, but he'd have to go get some more soon. He looked up just in time to see her offer her hand for him to shake. However, she dropped it swiftly and Jo-Jo was denied the chance of greeting this rude, albeit charming girl properly. 'Oh well,' Jo-Jo thought. 'I guess that just means I don't have to embarrass myself in front of her with my lack of small talk.' The girl then sat and launched into an incredibly amusing story about her adventure thus far and how she managed to get separated from her lamb.

"I was calling his name, and then in the sunset, I could see an imp footprint in the ground. I had a heart attack, and then i just kept running through the forest trying to find him. I'm pretty sure I searched for an hour. It seemed like FOREVER though. And then, I saw a fire blazing in the distance, and I ran up to it, and then I met you guys." Jo-Jo smiled, she was decent enough, she just made a weird first impression was all. Jo-Jo felt kinda bad for being so weird right off the bat, from her story, Jo-Jo could tell she was obviously super worried about her lamb. Jo-Jo looked over to Chrissy, trying to gauge her reaction to Raleigh's story but was shocked at what he saw, though he didn't let on that he knew.

Chrissy's face was turning pale; her jaw clenched tight. She appeared to be shaking. Jo-Jo held back a small gasp, was she ok? Was there poison in those roots? He'd have to find out later. At that, Raleigh sighed, and turned over to face Jo-Jo and Chrissy. She smiled, her eyes still closed. "Your turn," she said. Chrissy looked over at Jo-Jo, a slight blush coloring her cheeks. Jo-Jo chuckled and nodded, getting the hint. 'Just a little shy.' Jo-Jo thought to himself. 'Perfectly reasonable, I'm not one to judge for things like that.'

"Well," Jo-Jo started. "I'm an adventurer, a professional one I suppose. I make a living taking jobs from the quest boards located in every city. I don't ask to get paid because I don't need the money. I just like going out and setting myself against whatever the challenge is I suppose. Plus, the best part of any quest is finding hidden loot. My pack is full of little trinkets I've picked up over the years, but that's not all I've been doing. The book that I read to you earlier, well, I don't mean to boast, but there isn't another one like it in all of Ooo. I wrote it. I've been writing everything I learn on my quests and adventures in this book so that when the time comes, I can give this wealth of knowledge to someone who needs it more than me. Every scrap of knowledge in this book I've experienced first hand. I was actually on a quest to pick up the gem in the center of a temple not far from here when I met Chrissy. I was trying to defuse a booby trap when the fail-safe hit me and knocked me clear out of the temple. I flew a good half a day's travel before I landed in this forest. That's when I ran into Chrissy." Jo-Jo said, nodding at her. "I decided that she might need some help getting out of here so I offered to escort her to the nearest town and that's when we ran into a cursed tree. The nasty thing got a hold of her and messed her up real bad but I managed to kill it. I've been travelling with her since, trying to make sure she doesn't run into anything nasty on her way back. We stopped here for the night because this forest is notorious for being full of some nasty stuff. After I made the fire we ran into you. I was serious about helping you to find your lamb though. I really am worried about him. I made it my goal in life to always help others before taking care of myself. That's it I suppose. Now you know everything." Jo-Jo said, finishing his story.

Christina was relieved when Jo-Jo began to talk. The silent was louder than any of their voics could be, screaming things she didn't want to hear.

"Well," Jo-Jo started. "I'm an adventurer, a professional one I suppose. I make a living taking jobs from the quest boards located in every city. I don't ask to get paid because I don't need the money. I just like going out and setting myself against whatever the challenge is I suppose. Plus, the best part of any quest is finding hidden loot. My pack is full of little trinkets I've picked up over the years, but that's not all I've been doing."

"The book that I read to you earlier, well, I don't mean to boast, but there isn't another one like it in all of Ooo. I wrote it. I've been writing everything I learn on my quests and adventures in this book so that when the time comes, I can give this wealth of knowledge to someone who needs it more than me. Every scrap of knowledge in this book I've experienced first hand. I was actually on a quest to pick up the gem in the center of a temple not far from here when I met Chrissy."

Chrissy looked up from the ground at the girl, not making eye contact but staring just past her. She offered a rather lame, 'I'm-sorry-but-I'm-very-shy' smile before her eyes fixated on the ground once more. Jo-Jo continued on. "I was trying to defuse a booby trap when the fail-safe hit me and knocked me clear out of the temple. I flew a good half a day's travel before I landed in this forest. That's when I ran into Chrissy." Jo-Jo said, nodding at Chrissy, though Chrissy didn't notice. Her mind was far away, meditating. She could feel her fist slowly loosening it's grip on the teddy bear's arm. Progress.

"I decided that she might need some help getting out of here so I offered to escort her to the nearest town and that's when we ran into a cursed tree. The nasty thing got a hold of her and messed her up real bad but I managed to kill it. I've been travelling with her since, trying to make sure she doesn't run into anything nasty on her way back." Chrissy cast a small, grateful smile at Jo-Jo as he went on.

"We stopped here for the night because this forest is notorious for being full of some nasty stuff. After I made the fire we ran into you. I was serious about helping you to find your lamb though. I really am worried about him. I made it my goal in life to always help others before taking care of myself. That's it I suppose. Now you know everything." Jo-Jo said, finally finished.

Christina felt eyes travel over to her and wait there expectantly, but Christina didn't speak. She didn't utter a sound for at least a full minute before she slowly sighed. Blue eyes glued to the ground, Chrissy spoke slowly and with uncertainty. "Well, I don't really have much of a story to tell. I'm a wanderer and I happened to walk into this forest, accidently getting lost. I was trying to find my way out again when Jo-Jo found me and offered to escort me to the nearest village. Of course I accepted his offer; there was no way I was going to be able to find my own way out." Chrissy laughed humorlessly as if she'd just witnessed a cruel joke. It was appearent she was trying to be friendly but she wasn't really succedding and it was making her feel very uncomfortable.

"Anyways, we'd been walking and we were attacked by a corrupted tree. It got me pretty good with it's thorny roots and vines and whatnot but Jo-Jo killed it. I bandaged my wounds and we walked for a while until we got here." Story over, Chrissy fell silent. Her story hadn't shed much light on her past besides who Jo-Jo already knew and certainly didn't explain why she was acting funny. But it was clear she wasn't going to give out those details so freely by the way her blue eyes were focused so intensely on the dirty pebbles at her feet.

There was a short silence after Raleigh had finished telling her story. Once again, the boy chose to speak up first. His story was more lengthy and abundantly more interesting than hers.

"I'm an adventurer, a professional one I suppose. I make a living taking jobs from the quest boards located in every city. I don't ask to get paid because I don't need the money. I just like going out and setting myself against whatever the challenge is I suppose...."
Jo-Jo went on to explain how he had picked up copious amounts of ancient artifacts, written an entire adventurer's guide based off of everything he knew about Ooo, (and from the looks of the book, he knew TONS about Ooo) spent his time completing quests found on various quest boards of different kingdoms, and even visited a temple and got shot into mid-air. This was the person. This was the person who Raleigh had been looking for since FOREVER. Someone with enough adventurer experience and knowledge that could help her to become an adventurer herself. There was so much she wanted to ask him. A flood of questions filled her head, but they only clogged up her thoughts. She was tired, and her brain wasn't in the mood to function properly. She'd ask him in the morning, but in the meantime, she would listen attentively. Eventually, Jo-Jo went on to talk about the humanoid girl with him: Chrissy.

"I decided that she might need some help getting out of here so I offered to escort her to the nearest town and that's when we ran into a cursed tree. The nasty thing got a hold of her and messed her up real bad but I managed to kill it. I've been travelling with her since, trying to make sure she doesn't run into anything nasty on her way back. We stopped here for the night because this forest is notorious for being full of some nasty stuff. After I made the fire we ran into you. I was serious about helping you to find your lamb though. I really am worried about him. I made it my goal in life to always help others before taking care of myself. That's it I suppose. Now you know everything."

The words he had said about his goal in life sent a chill down Raleigh's spine. Those were the exact words of someone she had known. Someone who had been tremendously important in her life. Someone who had been unfortunate enough to leave her...

"Deep. Very deep." she replied to Jo-Jo, her eyes still closed, and her body still resting in the position it had been in for a while.

Seconds passed again, and Raleigh was starting to drift off into the clouds, when a soft, relaxing voice pierced a whole through the cave-like silence. It was the humanoid girl.

"Well, I don't really have much of a story to tell. I'm a wanderer and I happened to walk into this forest, accidently getting lost. I was trying to find my way out again when Jo-Jo found me and offered to escort me to the nearest village. Of course I accepted his offer; there was no way I was going to be able to find my own way out."
She heard Chrissy laughing. It wasn't really a humorous laugh, although it sounded like it. It was a laugh of being uncomfortable. From the couple of minutes Raleigh had spent with these two, Jo-Jo could be identified as the loud, boisterous one, while Chrissy was the silent, shy one, not very willing to speak on her own. However, Raleigh wasn't one to judge. She knew first-hand that people could change.

"Anyways, we'd been walking and we were attacked by a corrupted tree. It got me pretty good with it's thorny roots and vines and whatnot but Jo-Jo killed it. I bandaged my wounds and we walked for a while until we got here." the girl said, finishing her story.

So they were aware of the dangers of the forest. Their introductions were enough to win Raleigh's faith.
"Well, this was nice," she started again before long continuous silence could occur. "I have to admit, I guess i had a wrong first impression of you two. I thought you both were just a couple camping out in the woods. Now i can see you're both much more than that...I guess you can say I trust you now..."

With a yawn, she rolled over on her side, facing the two who had been on her left side, her eyes slightly open.
"I think i'm going to hit the sack. I guess we'll talk about plans and everything tomorrow. Right now, i'm tired. Good night you two. Don't let the bugs bite."

She gave one last smile at the two, and closed her eyes. When she slept, her body was so still, it was like she was dead.

Also, her eyelids turned a dark ominous purple. Literally.

That night was the first time in a long time that Raleigh's reoccurring nightmares started to appear again.

---

Ooc: sorry haven't been posting in a while. This week has been absolutely TERRIBLE. Btw, UltraVioleta, Thank you so much for the sidenote! :D i knew about the wings, but i had no idea that she was in a different form! Thank you for saving me from future embarassment. :)

Finally, after stories and introductions were exchanged and the talking dwindled to a stop, Raleigh spoke up. "Well, this was nice. I have to admit, I guess i had a wrong first impression of you two. I thought you both were just a couple camping out in the woods. Now I can see you're both much more than that...I guess you can say I trust you now..." Jo-Jo blushed at the word 'couple.' The thought of being romantically engaged with a beautiful girl like Chrissy was far too stimulating for him. Jo-Jo blushed, and his eyes burned holes in the ground until he felt comfortable looking up again. Further, Raleigh had said she would trust them and that made Jo-Jo smile. It was really nice to know that his intentions hadn't been misread. He was so happy he'd be able to help his new friend find her lost lamb.

Finally, once his cheeks stopped burning, Jo-Jo looked up between Chrissy and Raleigh for some sort of decision of who would stand the first watch. After all, just because they had a fire didn't mean they were invincible. When it appeared that no such discussion was taking place, Jo-Jo resolved himself to take the first watch and laid another big log on the fire causing a flurry of sparks to take to the sky in a slow, spiraling dance.

With a yawn, Raleigh rolled over on her side, still facing him and Chrissy, her eyes slightly open, though from their half closed blinking, Jo-Jo could tell she was getting ready to sleep. Jo-Jo pulled his bow out from his pack and placed it in his lap, getting ready for the watch. At that, Raleigh spoke.

"I think I'm going to hit the sack. I guess we'll talk about plans and everything tomorrow. Right now, I'm tired. Good night you two. Don't let the bugs bite." She gave one last smile at the two, and closed her eyes. When she slept, her body was so still, it was like she was dead. Jo-Jo sighed, and once more went digging in his pack, pulling out his bedroll and a spare blanket. He stood, leaving his pack on the ground and walked over to Raleigh with the blanket, gently covering her with its warmth. Sure they had a fire, but there was no beating the warmth of a hand knit blanket. Jo-Jo had received that blanket for helping out some old ladies who had their yarn stolen by some large, albeit playful, cats. Jo-Jo hadn't looked at Raleigh while she was sleeping, he was concerned she'd be too cute and he's make things super awk. If he had, he would have noticed the dark circles around Raleigh's eyes as well as the complete stillness of her body. As it was, he returned back to the cave where Chrissy was.

"Here." He said, offering the bedroll, "I'm taking the watch tonight so you can sleep in this." He blushed a little while he said it. "I'm not trying to baby you or anything, it's just that you're wounded and you should get some sleep. It'll help your wounds heal faster." At that, Jo-Jo turned and looked her directly in the eyes, "Speaking of which, how are they doing? You were pretty pale earlier, are you ok?" Jo-Jo asked, edging just a little closer to her, concerned about his new friend's injuries. After all, she had gotten them because he hadn't been quick enough. He looked closer at her ankles and wrists, the blood had seeped through the bandage, but they stopped bleeding as freely as they had been.

Jo-Jo's eyes slowly wound their way up her ankles to her bare legs, finally stopping once he saw the hem of her dress. He blushed and looked away. "Sorry, I-I was... umm... I was just looking at y-your wounds. They look like they hurt." Jo-Jo stammered, his face bright red once again.

Chrissy had been lost inside of her mind and snapped back to reality very suddenly at Jo-Jo sat down quietly beside her. "Here." He said gently, holding out an unfamiliar object. a bedroll. "I'm taking the watch tonight so you can sleep in this." He blushed and Chrissy looked at the object before carefully removing it from his hands. She had intended on taking the first watch, but then again, maybe Jo-Jo's plan was better. Sleeping would ease her mind and give her some peace at least until morning.

"Jo-Jo, you don't have to-" "I'm not trying to baby you or anything, it's just that you're wounded and you should get some sleep. It'll help your wounds heal faster." He said quickly and Christina smiled gently, feeling the softness of the fabric beneath her fingers. It wasn't as soft as the bear hidden within the folds of her dress, but it was still nice to the touch and she stroked it slowly. It was very warm on her lap. "Thank you," she said softly.

Jo-Jo turned and looked her directly in the blue, blue eyes and she felt a sensation of both hot an cold course through her body. A sense of tenderness and a sense of heart wretching bloodlust. Chrissy shuttered slightly, wrappinthe blanket around her shoulders are if pretending she was warding off a chill instead of a darkness from within.

"Speaking of which, how are they doing? You were pretty pale earlier, are you ok?" Jo-Jo asked, concern filling his voice as he edged closer to her. Chrissy bit her lip and didn't answer, her face still rather pale. A moment of quite passed between them befre she glanced at him again and found his eyes trailed over the bandages, making their way from her ankles to her knees, her thighs and to the hem of her dress before they suddenly were averted. Jo-Jo's cheeks were noticably red.

"Sorry, I-I was... umm... I was just looking at y-your wounds. They look like they hurt." Jo-Jo stammered, but Chrissy gave a smile, sweet smile. "They're fine, just a little sore." she said, lying through her teeth. They throbbed painfully with every slight moment of her legs but she didn't want to say that and make Jo-Jo feel bad. He'd been so kind to her; it was really no way to repay the one who'd saved your life. "The bleeding has stopped for the most part, which is good. It means we'll be able to search of Flake in the morning."

At Jo-Jo's surprised look Chrissy gave a small laugh that sounded fainting the the chiming of bells. "What, you thought I'd head to a town to nurse my boo-boos and leave some poor little lamb and her friend on their own out here? I don't know who you think I am Jo-Jo the Human," she said with a playful wink, her words like his when she'd been in danger, "But I'm not so low as to leave someone who's in need."

'At least, not again... No, never again.'

A dark chill ran up and down her spine, irritating the place her wings would normally be were she in her Angel form. She tried to brush it off but the memory was so fresh she was having a hard time. 'Now may be a good time to go to sleep,' she thought with a slight sense of urgency. "Thank you for you kindness Jo-Jo," Chrissy said, leaning forward and giving the blushing human a small kiss on his cheek. "Good night."

With that she stood off and walked to the wall furtherst from the entrance, laying out the bedroll and laying herself gently ontop of it, closing her eyes, her back to the other two. She discretely held the bear to her chest where her heart beat was begining to slow in preparation for sleep. By morning she would be rested and better prepared to assist the two humans with who she was acompanied by. Burrying her nose into the off-white bear's fur she breathed in deeply, comforted, and drifted off to a dark andd dreamless sleep.

"They're fine, just a little sore." Chrissy said. Jo-Jo nodded in approval, his cheeks still red. "The bleeding has stopped for the most part, which is good. It means we'll be able to search of Flake in the morning." At that, Jo-Jo raised his hands, attempting to form some sort of argument before Chrissy decided to put her life in danger for no reason. There was a look of pure shock on his face, the blush had entirely dissipated at Chrissy's announcement. There was no way he could let her go looking for trouble all beat up like that. And yet...

At Jo-Jo's surprised look Chrissy gave a small laugh, like the chiming of bells. "What, you thought I'd head to a town to nurse my boo-boos and leave some poor little lamb and her friend on their own out here? I don't know who you think I am Jo-Jo the Human," she said with a playful wink, her words matching his own from earlier that day, "But I'm not so low as to leave someone who's in need." Jo-Jo chuckled. "No fair. I suppose there's nothing I can do to dissuade you? It'll be very dangerous." Chrissy just shook her head. "Thank you for you kindness Jo-Jo," Chrissy said, leaning forward and giving the blushing human a small kiss on his cheek. "Good night." At that, she stood up and walked back into the cave on the other side of Raleigh, leaving Jo-Jo by himself, sitting next to the fire at the front of the cave. His hand floated up to his cheek, his whole face beet red. Jo-Jo felt his mind go blank for a little bit, pleasantly it drifted off into a delirium before coming back to reality. This did nothing to help Jo-Jo stop blushing. He tried to wrap his brain around what had just happened. He hadn't asked her, she hadn't told him she was gonna do it, she just kissed him. For, what appeared to be, no reason whatsoever, other than that Jo-Jo had helped her.

Jo-Jo slapped his face lightly, trying to get the color to drain out of his overly red face. "Oh glob..." Jo-Jo whispered, trailing off, lost in thought. For the rest of the night, Jo-Jo sat, bow in his lap next to the fire, trying to wrap his brain around what had happened. Every so often, he'd get up to grab a few more branches to fuel the fire, once again making sure to take them from the ground so as to not disturb any more trees. When he calculated that there would be just enough wood on the fire to last for a few hours, until the sun had risen, Jo-Jo let himself fall asleep, trying to catch a few quick zzz's. He knew the risk involved, which was was why both his gauntlet and bow remained in his hands while he slept, lest he need them immediately upon waking up.

The waves crashed on Raleigh as she ran out into the pits of the black ocean. She was soaked with on oozy black liquid, but she didn't care. She didn't know what she was running to or for, but she knew she was looking for something. Something important. Finally, she found Flake. Chains stretched across his arms and reached down to the ocean floor. Wind blasted in her face as she tried to approach him, but the faster she ran, the faster he moved away. Could she ever reach him?
"Flake, It's going to be okay..."
"Raleigh," the lamb said, his voice sounding different, "Don't come near me....leave me be."
"No, Flake! I'm coming! I'm not going to..."
"Please. Save yourself, Raleigh."
Just then, the girl gasped as she noticed a monstrous black wave approaching behind her friend. It would hit both of them in a matter of seconds.
"Flake...Flake listen to me! I can get us both out of here. I can make it! I mean," tears started to form in her eyes, "your my friend! We've been through so much Flake! I can't let you go now! You have to trust me. You have to trust me, just give me a CHANCE!"
The lamb shook his head in despair, and his head faced down into the blackness of the ocean. Raleigh's heart stopped beating as the wave grew closer and closer. She tried to run to him, but again, as she approached him, he moved farther away. Just then, the blackness of the waves burst into orange flames. Fire surrounded her everywhere, and before the wave of fire could crash over Flake, his appearance changed into that of a tall boy with shaggy brown hair.
"IAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNN!!!!!!"

---

---

Raleigh woke up in a gasp. She breathed deeply as she tried to remember where she was. As soon as she saw the skeleton butterflies wizzing around her head, she remembered the events that had happened the day before. Wiping the sweat off of her brow, she looked around to find Jo-Jo and Chrissy. Fortunately, they were both there, sleeping in peace. Although there was still darkness and heavy silence in the forest, the morning gave off a tranquil feeling. One thing still remained, however. Flake was still gone. There was still a nervous feeling inside Raleigh. She stretched as she thought about her dream. Was it really how she felt? Was she really that hopeless inside? She stared at the injured Chrissy. As thoughts raced in her mind, she realized that if left unattended, Chrissy would be in the exact same spot as someone else she knew. Jo-Jo would be broken. With his knowledge and skills, there was no way Raleigh would let him become shattered, like she did. He was an important asset to Ooo.

Suddenly, Raleigh had a plan.

Quietly, she pulled out a pen and piece of paper from her white backpack. Silently she wrote,

Jo-Jo,

I'm going to go search for Flake. Right now, you should stay with Chrissy. She's important. I don't want to see her getting hurt on my own behalf. It's up to you whether or not you'd like to stay in these woods. If you do though, I'd like to tell you that Flake is an expert in 'western medicine', as he calls it. He'll be able to heal Chrissy's wounds. Once I find Flake, I'm going to come right back to this spot. I promise. Be careful.
-Raleigh

She placed the note next to Jo-Jo, grabbed her backpack, and started to treck back into the darkness of the woods. Before the two faded off into the distance, she looked back at them for a moment. She left as fast as she could.

Walking through the forest, Raleigh started to think about her nightmare. She had never had a nightmare since she was 14 years old. After that, she had controlled them, and they became non-existent. Raleigh's nightmares were no ordinary nightmares. When she was little, an evil witch cursed her to relive the most tragic event of her life over and over again in her dreams. She had always tried to avoid sleep, but eventually found that it was impossible. As the years past, she learned to control her fears, and her nightmares diminished. It was strange how so suddenly they could appear again. In order to stop them, she would need to save Flake first.

Suddenly, Raleigh could hear the sounds of beating drums and blatant-sounding flutes. She ran full-speed ahead, and noticed the light that was showing through the trees. She hid just behind the clearing of the trees to see the events that were unfolding. There, in large numbers, were red devil-like creatures dancing with pleasure. No doubt about it, these were the imps. Raleigh was confused. Were they having a festival or something? From the stacks of precious items and mountains of gems and gold, perhaps they were celebrating their recent raids. She shrugged as her eyes wandered, trying to find where they were hiding Flake. For some reason, she couldn't find them.
"What the......AAAAAAH!"
She felt something hard hit her back, and fell to the ground with a thud. Around her, she heard the squawks of other imps with large metal spears. They dragged her up, and circled around her, leading her to the center of the clearing. Their spears pointed at her, she closed her eyes as she knew it would be the end. She would never find....

"Stop! Have no fear! She's a friend, not a foe!"

The familiar sound of a British accent. As the noises of the camp ceased to a silent halt, Raleigh opened her eyes. There, on a large throne sat a small brown lamb with a crown made of skulls and feathers. His face was splattered with red war-paint, and he wore golden bracelets around his hooves. As he smiled down at Raleigh, she remembered what Jo-Jo's book had said about Imps. She gasped.

Flake was the queen.

Christina sat up slowly, rubbing her bue eyes and yawning with ferocity. Her sleep had been solid and she'd suffered no livid dreams invovling Samuel or death. In fact, she hadn't slept that well in... actually, Christina couldn't really say. Had she ever slept that soundly? Probably not. Broken Angels needed sleep, unlike their former Holy selves did, but most didn't get it because they spent too much time avoiding others and the Curse. The sound of another's soft breathing had always comforted Chrissy. It reminded her of brighter days. Days... long before the war.

Snapping suddenly out of her sleepy stupior, Christina looked around the cave, tense. She relaxed slightly when she saw Jo-Jo sitting against the wall of the cave, head drooping down slightly as he had appereantly nodded off while he was on duty. The fire was still burning, abeit softly, the wood from last night now burned away to only ash and embers. She carefully spread dust over it, extinguishing the last of the fire. But... where was Raleigh? Christina stood up, confused, quickly rolling the bedroll up and tucking it under her arm. "Raleigh?" she asked, outloud, loking at the vacent spot the human girl had been last Chrissy'd seen her, "Raleigh?"

Walking over to Jo-Jo, Chrissy was about to alert him to Raleigh's disapperance when she spotted a piece of paper by his side. Setting the bedrol down, Chrissy picked it up and read the note softly to herself,

Jo-Jo,
I'm going to go search for Flake. Right now, you should stay with Chrissy. She's important. I don't want to see her getting hurt on my own behalf. It's up to you whether or not you'd like to stay in these woods. If you do though, I'd like to tell you that Flake is an expert in 'western medicine', as he calls it. He'll be able to heal Chrissy's wounds. Once I find Flake, I'm going to come right back to this spot. I promise. Be careful.
-Raleigh

'What, me? Important?!' Chrissy shoved the note into her pocket within the folds of her dress, panicked, 'One of potentially last members of the most endangered species left in Ooo is trying to protect ME by going off ALONE to save her friend?!' Though horrified, Chrissy had to admit this was a noble gesture, despite how much danger she was putting herself in. 'This is not good. We need to find her, and fast! If I let anything happen to another human simply beause I am weak then I'll be Damned! The Coucil would- well, forget the Cousil! I'd Damn myself to something far worse than this Curse!'

"Jo-Jo!" Chrissy exclaimed, kneeling beside Jo-Jo and urgently shaking him, "Jo-Jo, wake up! Raleigh went to save Flake all by herself! We need to hurry and help her! Get up!"

Jo-Jo was having a lovely dream, in fact, his dream was so wonderful that as he dreamed, he spoke the words of the dream, meaning anyone near the sleeping Jo-Jo would hear him mumbling in his sleep.

He was skipping through a meadow of flowers whilst eating a massive turkey leg. "Om nom nom!" Jo-Jo said, feasting upon the freshly cooked meat. He was having a wonderful time, and it was about to get better! Suddenly, a unicorn just walked right up to him. Jo-Jo couldn't remember the last time a unicorn had just walked up to anyone! This was a very special occasion. "Well hey there Jo-Jo!" It said, it's voice full of silliness and joy. "Would you like to go for a ride?" It asked. "Would I ever! Gee, thanks Mr. Fluffy Unicorn!" Jo-Jo replied excitedly, hopping onto the unicorn's back and devouring the rest of his meat. "Yay!!" Jo-Jo squealed as he and the unicorn pranced the the field of flowers. However, just as Jo-Jo was getting to the best part, the part with all the candy, Mr. Fluffy Unicorn started bouncing, shaking Jo-Jo who still sat on its back. "Hey there!" Jo-Jo exclaimed as the unicorn started to buck, attempting to unseat poor Jo-Jo. "What's wrong Mr. Fluffy unicorn?" Jo-Jo asked. "You've got to get up now." The unicorn said sadly. Just then, Jo-Jo woke up to Chrissy yelling at him. "Jo-Jo! Jo-Jo, wake up! Raleigh went to save Flake all by herself! We need to hurry and help her! Get up!"

"Wha-?" Jo-Jo asked, half awake and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Wait... Raleigh did what?" Jo-Jo asked in terror, instantly jumping to his feet. "I fall asleep for two minutes and THIS is what happens? Oh striz!" Jo-Jo swore. "We have to go. Douse the fire, roll up the beds, and let's get a move on NOW!" Jo-Jo said. Luckily, Chrissy had already doused the fire so Jo-Jo simply ran over to where she had slept, deftly rolled up his bedroll and the blanket he'd lent Raleigh and placed them in his bag as quickly as he could. Once he was done, he jogged over to Chrissy. "What happened? She left after Flake? How do you know that?" Jo-Jo asked, trying to get a handle on the situation. Chrissy handed him the letter. Jo-Jo skimmed it quickly, reading some of the lines as his eyes tore across the paper.

"Jo-Jo,
I'm going to go search for Flake. Right now, you should stay with Chrissy. She's important. I don't want to see her getting hurt on my own behalf. It's up to you whether or not you'd like to stay in these woods. If you do though, I'd like to tell you that Flake is an expert in 'western medicine', as he calls it. He'll be able to heal Chrissy's wounds. Once I find Flake, I'm going to come right back to this spot. I promise. Be careful.
-Raleigh"

"Oh Glob! That idiot! She's gonna get herself killed..." Jo-Jo trailed off, his eyes finding Raleigh's footprints and follwoing them off into the woods. "This way, follow me!" Jo-Jo said, taking Chrissy by the hand with his own gloved one and jogging down the path created by Raleigh's tracks. He knew Chrissy was hurting, her wounds couldn't be entirely healed, but time was of the essence. Jo-Jo pushed Chrissy just as hard as he figured he'd safely be able to do. As they ran, Jo-Jo's gauntlet covered arm pushed rough debris and branches out of the way, facilitating quick movement. Finally, once they'd gone a good distance, Jo-Jo heard noises, booming drums and high squealing flutes. "Stay here." Jo-Jo whispered to Chrissy. "I'm going to scout ahead. If I need you, I'll call ok, and don't give me any buts!" Jo-Jo said, cutting Chrissy off, looking her directly in the eyes. There was no blushing this time. Jo-Jo was deadly serious. "Raleigh was right you know. You're my important friend. I will NOT be letting you get yourself hurt anymore. If I need you, I'll call. Otherwise, stay hidden and stay safe."

At that, Jo-Jo dropped his goggles down to his eyes and pulled his bow out of his pack. He quickly climbed a tree and scampered across the canopy of branches until he was within range of the Imp's camp. There was Raleigh. "Oh striz..." Jo-Jo swore again, increasing the zoom on his goggles once more, trying to get a better view. Raleigh was surrounded by a group of imps and they had pushed her down, barbed spears in hand. Reacting quickly, Jo-Jo pulled the drawstring of his bow back as far as it would go, a golden arrow appearing, as they always did, ready to fire. Jo-Jo's breathing slowed, he had his sights set on the lead Imp, intent on putting an arrow right in the base of his neck. Just as Jo-Jo was about to fire, suddenly, the Imps dropped their arms and Raleigh stood up, a bewildered grin on her face. Confused, Jo-Jo lowered his bow as well. "What?" He quietly asked himself. They had backed off, but why? Jo-Jo couldn't see, but it looked as if something had given them an order, the queen perhaps. Jo-Jo dropped from the trees and jogged back to Chrissy. "Something's up. I'm not sure what, but it appears Raleigh's... fine? Let's go to where they are, if they aren't attacking her, perhaps they can be reasoned with. Just in case, take my gauntlet again. Here." Jo-Jo said, handing her his spare. "Let's move."

Jo-Jo walked calmly towards the coven of Imps, his hand firmly, but not overly tightly, grasping Chrissy's. Upon getting to where Raleigh was, Jo-Jo was surprised to see the imps had backed off entirely. Jo-Jo stayed towards the back of the group, politely staying away from the queen and keeping Chrissy behind him, in case things turned sour. "What's going on?" Jo-Jo called out to Raleigh inquisitively. "You were about to be attacked, and yet... no one's dead. What's going on?" Jo-Jo asked again, thoroughly confused.