The End of the Tunnel: Strangers and Stranger Things

Kal felt an eager tingling enter his limbs as he pushed higher and higher out of the darkness, leaving the constraints of his imprisonment behind, returning to freedom.

“Mister Kal,” Greylyn spoke again, as Kal's calves burned in the cool heat, pulling them up the steepening path. “Why leave Never-land, hm? I don’t believe you know for sure… that there even is a world. It’s only a guess. Who’s to say you’ll /belong/ any more than you do here, eh?”

Kal almost came to a complete stop, instead stumbling as Jaiden resiliantly pulled him on. He sighed.

"Greylyn, I know its out there, it's where I came from, where my birth parents came from," He spoke, air rushing in and out his nose as they continued to move. "It's a place full of strange machines, animals, and wonderful people. I've seen the pictures, I've stared at those runes so hard that I think someday they just might arrange themselves to me in something that makes sense. I've looked at that handwriting, what I know realize is probably my own fathers handwriting. I don't belong here. I belong there. I'm a human, no human's are ever born here, none ever grow up here, none ever die here. I believe in that case none ever live here. I'll leave Neverland. And once I do, I'm never coming back."

His voice had become faster and harsher as he climbed, his heart pumping with the beat of his words as he passionatly declared it. Suddenly he was surprised as Jaiden squeezed his hand.

"You're right Kal," Jaiden said silkily. "You don't belong here, you are of another world. As am I..." She hissed, her voice trailing into silence....except the silence wasn't silence anymore. Kal realized the rush of blood in his ears was not just in his head, it was coming from above them. And up and up, the more it roared, filling the silence with a cool, rushing moisture that seemed to blow by his skin like an evaporated river still flowing along its path. The earth smelled damp and fresh, with a hint of gray spice. The end of the tunnel was growing lighter, and Kal blinked.

A few more minutes, and he could make out the shapes of the two different girls on either side of him. Suddenly the incline rose to almost straight up. Kal was suddenly afraid he'd stumble, stumble and fall all the way back down the tunnel.

"Jaiden," He voiced nervously, but she kept striding along, pulling him and walking up the wall as if gravity did not exist, her toes digging into the now clay like gray earth. Kal gripped her hand and tightened his grip on Greylyns. His foot dug deep into the clay mud walls as he pulled and pushed. The light was gray and omnipotent as he pushed up through it, his muscles straining, his heart pumping slowly and solidly, in time with the growing rushing...

Suddenly they pulled out of a misty patch of ground, Kal collapsed on his stomach, pulling Greylyn along side of him as Jaiden lightly let go of his fingers and danced foward. Kal blinked at the pale grey light that shone through an ever changing bank of clouds above him. He looked around.

Bare trees with smooth branches that twisted every which way stretched out in all directions. Some had a rough black-gray bark, while others had been completely bare and looked ever so smooth and soft to touch. The earth was soft and mulchy, covered with mulchy decaying leaves and dark soil. At first Kal thought their was a slight drizzle in the air, but as he turned his head to the right, a gasp escaped his throat.

Their was a cliff, composed of smooth and jagged rocks that rose sharply from the ground, towering over them, and a huge torrent of blue gray water fell down from in in mighty rush, that was somehow muffled from being a roar by the copious amounts of foggy mist was rolling out of its flow. The river it dove into was wide and no doubt deep. Kal strained to see the other side, but couldn't. All he could see was Jaiden's dark figure standing on its bank, looking ever so dark and strangely beautiful against the rushing gray landscape.

Kal stood slowly up, brushing off his bare body that was now streaked with gray clay and mud, bits of leaves sticking to his chest. He turned around in a circle, taking it all in, gazing around in strange wonder.

"Woah," He finally said, his voice small in the grand bleakness of it all. "Where are we?"

Kal looked down as Greylyn grabbed his arm and pulled herself up, her face flushed with exertion. He frowned, she was still weak from her sickness. Then suddenly she exploded in anger.

"Where are we? Hah, good question. Why don’t you ask your new friend? Or, oh! I have a better idea! Why don’t you listen to /me/? Now, tell me: what is she? A shadow! Okay, here’s another question: /do/ you recognize any landmark? Even the slightest bit? NO. So, logically, what conclusion does this bring us to, hm? Perhaps the one that she’s led you to Shadow territory, and that you followed her like the idiot you are, dragging me with you?”

Kal blinked at her for a second, his cheeks reddening. "Greylyn," he started, but she stormed away...or at least a little bit away, before dropping down in exaustion and crossing her legs defiantly. Kal scratched the back of his head. Shadow territory...He looked around. That sounded about right. He wracked his brains for anything he factually knew about shadows or where they came from and found he knew very little. It made him slightly edgy, but also slightly humbled and curious. Mist sprayed his cheek, and he suddenly felt mad at himself. They could be in danger, Greylyn was right. He had tried to help her, and now had just dragged her into something that could easily get much worse.

He took a step toward Greylyn, intending to try and console her. They'd get out of here. He thought confidently. It's only a matter of walking in the right direction. But as he moved, two cool hands wrapped around his wrist. He turned to look at Jaiden, her red eyes glowing and hair swaying in an invisible breeze. She smiled at him.

"Hey Kal," She said with a small smile, tilting her head to look at him. "I suppose you think I'm evil. Saving you from prison and bringing you to a safe haven. Even letting you bring your little friend. I suppose you're prejudice against the darkness,"

Kal frowned, scrutinizing her. "Not...darkness...no. But evil, yes..."

"And what makes you think I'm so evil?" She said, looking into his eyes plaintively. "Because I'm different? Because shadows have been kidnapping people? Hurting them? Hah, don't tell me you have fallen for the propeganda of the faun who locked you in prison. You think he knows right from wrong?"

Kal paused, not taking his eyes off her. "What, you're saying that this is all a frame-up of the shadows?" He said skeptically. Jaiden's lips parted.

"Is that so hard to believe?" She whispered, pulling him down so she could lean into his ear.

"Shadow's are people Kal, not all good or evil, but both. But shadows are supposed to keep down, keep quiet. When one is bad, just as a human could be bad, or an elf," Jaiden looked over at Greylyn, her smooth pink tongue running over her teeth. "When one dares do something "wrong", well, it scares people," She laughed, an eery, sad laugh.

"Neverland has fallen into bad shape, the different peoples arn't as united as they were you know, and that means the Council's power was slipping. And what unites people the best? What does Kal?" She said, tossing her bangs. Kal listened intently, interested, absorbed.

"A common enemy," She said, letting go of his hand and dancing away, watching him, her eyes sparkling.

"So...shadows have just been made the common enemy," He said, watching her closely as she spiraled away.

"Only the ones that dare to speak up," She said, before turning and running away to the bank of the river. "Only the ones who dare to try and find their own world!"

Her voice echoes in the mists, and Kal's heart thumped, it felt strange, listening to what the shadow said. She seemed, strangely like himself, Kal ruffled his hair in confusion.

"Come swim with me Kal!" She called through the mist. Kal could make out her figure leap up in a perfect dive before crashing into the water. He made a movement to follow her, then stopped, shook his head to come to his senses and walked over to Greylyn.

"Hey..." He said, "I'm sorry I dragged you into this, and I'll help you get out of it, alright? But don't worry right now. I don't think we're in any immediate danger." He glanced back over his shoulder at Jaiden. It would be nice to go for a swim.... His body was literally coated in filth and how he itched for that cold rushing water.

Kal felt guilt simmering somewhere below his heart. He had to stop himself from reaching out to Greylyn. It was true, he had doubted her. But really, things had seemed so impossible. The sight of a tunnel, a tunnel that he just had to slip into to posess freedom. It had seemed to good to resist. Could she blame him for the rush of freedom that had urged him to crazily accept the help of a stranger? Then again, hadn't he been a stranger trying to help Greylyn? Kal sighed, was trust so wrong? He couldn't tell anymore. It came so easily to him though, good or bad.

"Go and swim, Mister Kal," She said sulkily, not looking at him. Kal dug his nails into the palm of his hand. "She won't drown you yet, while your valuable."

Kal prickled. "What's that supposed to mean?" He grunted, standing. "She hasn't done anything wrong, all she's done is help us." He said quietly.

"I'm going to grant her my trust till I have reason not to." Kal said, almost more to himself than Greylyn, shaking dredges of confusion from his head. He stood.

"I'll be back, please don't leave," He emplored. "Come sit by the bank, we don't know whats out here..."

And again he felt the back of his neck prickle, his body subtly adjusting to the direction of the water. Water he associated with freedom, with saftey. In it, he was in his element. Out here, he still felt clumsy and slow. So, taking slow and careful steps, he turned to face the roaring, gray falls, water succumbing to gravity in a rushing torrent. He walked toward the bank, then began to jog, then run. Bits of what may have been tears leaked out of the corner of his eyes as he sprinted across the bare ground, to the sharp edge of the embankment. His muscles burned painfully as he ran and jumped. Suddenly nothing was touching him, his tan muscular body coated in mist and surrounded by nothing but air. Air, the misty air. There was a second of breath before he plunged, headfirst, down twenty feet into the frothing gray basin at the foot of the falls in a beautiful dive that cut deep into the bubbling water.

The water buffeted him around in every direction as he opened his blue eyes and stared at the milky torrent of water that surrounded him. His arms, pulling up above his head felt strong as they pulled, his body fitting in in the water as he swim and fought to the surface. His head exploded from the water, blond bangs plastered against his forehead. Some water from the falls drenches his gasping face like a heavy bucket poured over someone. Kal laughed, laughed in a crazy pure joy, water rushing into his nose and mouth as he spluttered, taking in flecks of air before diving back down, kneading his way into the current where his body moved sleekly like an eels, his large hands and feet parting the water that was always around him.

After a half hour or so of swimming and diving, Kal returned to the surface again, blowing water out of his mouth in a fountain and floating on his back as the strange eddies carried him in quick circles. Kal turned over and grasped a sharp black rock outcropping from the steep bank, pulling himself up for a moment so the strong current wouldn't bash him headfirst into it.

He laughed again, breathing in the ever present mist. His body was sleek and clean now, the clay and leaves gone from it. Kal smiled and leaned his head back. Nothing was that bad...He'd ask Jaiden the way back to the Neverwoods for Greylyn. And he...well...he wasn't sure where he'd go. But Jaiden had said their was a way to his world if he was determined enough. In that water soaked instant, Kal knew he was.

A pair of red eyes suddenly rose from the water, Jaiden climbing gracefully up to sit on the rock next to him, her nightgown plastered to her body, her hair wet and darker.

"Hey," Kal said easily. Jaiden gave a half-smile.

"So...that elf girl said you lost some books of yours..." She ventured, lifting her slender feet from the water and letting droplets fall from her toes. Kal gazed at the rushing falls in front of them, sitting back on his hands.

"Yeah, it was my parents I guess, they crashed here and gave birth to me, thats when I was adopted. Anyway, they brought tons of...books. I think they could help me get back to my world, but most important ones I have, well...they're back at the palace. Marjx confinscated them from me," He finished, though his bitterness was less than before.

"Hmmm...they may not be as gone as you think," Jaiden said. Kal looked at her in confusion. She laughed, twisting her hand in a funny circle as she pointed up to a tree on the steep embankment. Kal squinted to make out what she was pointing at. His mouth dropped open...their, hanging from a smooth tree branch, was his satchel.

"What?" Kal said loudly, bewildered. Jaiden laughed.

"I want you to think about coming to Twisted Oak City. I'll teach you to read there. I'll help you get home..." She slid from the rock back into the water easily, like liquid darkness. Kal frowned now.

"Okay, whats the catch?" He said, his blue eyes staring firmly into her red ones. Jaiden smiled.

"That's my Kal, he is no dummy..." She laughed. "Just think it over, Kal." And then she disappeared beneath the frothing water. Kal frowned, almost wanting to swim after her, watching her toes disappear beneath the water. But instead, he turned himself back against the cliff face, grimacing as he began to climb up the rocky wall. Eventually he found a kind of footpath between the sharp rocks, and made it to the top. He bled from new cuts, but felt better than he ever had. He walked across to the tree, feeling the smooth contours of the branch as his large hands made their way gently to his satchel. The contents were all there. Kal slid down to the bottom of the tree with a relieved sigh, looking around for Greylyn.

Kal saw Greylyn waving to him down the bank next to one of the few trees that was still coated in thin black bark, and he smiled, throwing the strap of the satchel over his shoulder. He stood up and walked over to her, his large feet leaving wet imprints in the soft soil. Kal reached her and sat down promptly, crossing his legs next to her. She appeared sullen, and looked a mess. Kal reflected that he had probably looked the same until he had returned to his element, refreshing his mind and soul. He gazed out at the rushing falls, tumbling and swirling with a misty roar. The strange forces of nature rocketing all those tons of water off a cliff. It was mesmerizing, and Kal found that he could stare at the ever changing patterns of falling water forever if he didn't have something worth doing in this life.

He turned back to Greylyn, her cool green eyes had been previously focused on a pile of the black bark in her lap that was twisted up, as if reflecting inner turmoil. He paused, shaking his wet hair so little droplets scattered on her and the ground. Then he gathered his thoughts, and spoke into the wordless air.

"I really am sorry you know, about dragging you here." He said honestly. "I just got caught up in the moment," He glanced over at her. "I really am grateful, for what you did. Thank you,"

He gazed back out at the falls.

"It's alright though, once Jaiden gets out, I'm sure she can point out the way back to the Neverwoods." He said. Then he pulled his satchel over towards Greylyn in a scruff of movement.

"Look," He said, unable to keep the enthusiasm out of his voice, "Somehow...I don't know how, but look, she got my books!" He cast it open with a flip of his hand, revealing the two heavy bound encyclopedias and the leather bound parcel of notes. He ran his thumb down the edge of it, glancing up at Greylyn.

"She invited me to go to the Twisted Oak City," He said quietly, leaning back on his hands and blowing air out his mouth. "I don't know...I've heard so many aweful rumors about that place from the merpeople of my lagoon. But none of them has ever been there, or even talked to someone there. The rumors can't all be true, can they?"

He sighed. "It's all so confusing and messy, it seems no one knows the truth. And the truth is an important thing to know, don't you think? Maybe there I can even find Antonella if she really was kidnapped by shadows,"

Kal bit his lip. "Jaiden said she'd teach me how to read," He added, "She said she'll help me find my world," His voice was a wistful whisper as he squinted up at the sky, as though trying to imagine what it would be like, and what he imagined was big and bold and beautiful. Finally he turned back to Greylyn, full of a tight wonder and excitement.

"I dunno, what do you think?"

Kal's face fell, from a twist of confusion and misunderstanding to down right anger, his blue eyes bright against the gray of the mist as Greylyn spoke. He remained quiet, steaming on the inside, until Greylyn finished her tirade and began to examine his book. His book.

"That's totally out of line," He finally said flatly, shaking his head and looking at Greylyn as though he had seen her for the first time. "You've hardly met her, how in the world can you make that assumption? All she's done is help me get out of the palace! What's wrong with you!"

He scratched the back of his head, drying bits of blond hair sticking up awkwardly in the back. Red spots appeared on his cheeks.

"Hmm, why have they run away from being normal shadows?" Kal added, speaking fast. "Well maybe they wanted to be more than that, huh? How would you like it, to only be the shadow of someone. Jaiden obviously is a person, not just a reflection of one! Isn't it aweful to think we might be enslaving many different people in our own shadows? And is it so strange to believe that they might want to be someone?"

Kal stood up, still shaking his head back and forth as he looked at her, his body wet, muscular and bold against the foggy outline of the gray waterfall and empty forest. "You just don't want to trust her, like you didn't want to trust me, or Antonella. Well, if it wern't for the last two people you refused to trust, you probably would have died, Greylyn," His voice ached with a weird confusion and pity as he looked at the small, sulky elf below him. He felt sad, and distant from her.

"You may want to isolate yourself from other people, but I don't. I'm going to Twisted Oak City with Jaiden, and then I'm going to leave Neverland for where I belong," He said. Then he stooped down and grabbed his satchel, taking the book Greylyn had removed slowly from her lap, looking defiantly into her eyes.

"I'll find out if this is the original copy or not because I'm not afraid to try and find out; new things and new people." Kal slung the satchel over his shoulder then rummaged through it to find his shark tooth knife, which he again tied to his loincloth. The whitness glinted from a ray of hidden white sun.

"Goodbye Greylyn," He said sadly, turning around. "I hope you find your way..."

Turning his eyes, he started. Jaiden was standing in front of him, her hair dripping like a siren, her lips parted into a small smile.

"Glad to hear your coming, Kal," She said.

Cool, cold, beautiful. Jaiden ran a finger up and down Kal's arm, enlacing her fingers in his wide hands with a smile. Her customary smile, one that, while gorgeous, stemmed from dark passions and confidence. It would be really too easy, she thought to herself, peeling the shadow off his dying body, taking with it the inumerable powers and spirit that only come from a shadow birthed of two worlds. As was this ignorant, whining boy, so anxious to leave Neverland. He was right, he didn't belong here. Maybe he would belong better in the life after.

Jaiden began walking, her hand in his, off to the left of the river through the spindly bare trees. The absense of beauty did not bother Jaiden as it might bother other girls. She was all the beauty, all the life and death there need be. That was all there is.

Her body, in its solid, real form, one that could touch and feel without passing through, was something that living shadows craved, but rarely could fully sustain. It took all their concentration, but Jaiden had edged her concentration and perfection for many years, and could switch between dimensions with serpentine ease. Yes, she could creep from the dark to appear a real being, though one with every scar of the dark depths of shadowhood.

Ah, but shadow was the new life.

Jaiden's mouth twisted into a smile, her red eyes burning bright. With the powers another man-shadow could bring to her, she would fully execute the shadow takeover of Everblossom. The rumors and creeping of the past few years that had filled everyone with such paranoia, hah, they would finally feel real fear. And when her plans, her big, glorious plans succeeded, well, they wouldn't have time to come to turns with her fear before all the dark and light of heaven and hell came together and purged the land of all but the strongest of heart.

And Jaiden's heart was burning brightly. Many theories floated around in her head, most of which she'd admit to none but the Shadow King, and some not even to him. But she knew the merging of the three worlds would solve it. She would discover the essence of shadows and her true purpose in this world and beyond.

For now though, it was all tedious preperation with the multitudes of stupid shadows being trained in her army. Well, the Shadow Kings, but she, his most trusted advisor, his daughter almost, she carried the bulk of the responsibility of taking over Neverland.

So it was that only she, master of persuation, was suitible to batt her eyelashes at the human, flirt with his impressionable mind as she lured him in to the point he would bequeth his own shadow life. Yes, it was necessary to extract the full potential from his growing reflection. And once Kal opened the flow of his spirit to his shadow, she would simply execute him. Slowly, so he could not stauch the flow of his spirit to his shadow. As the last drops of spirit drained, then she would dispose of his handsome body. Shame, she thought, her tongue running over her white teeth with a silent sarcastic laugh.

Suddenly a hunting horn sounded long and bold through the trees that stood wintery and hateful amoung the sound of pure emotion. Jaiden's face distorted to one of annoyance, her thin eyebrows twitching as she turned her gray neck back toward the sound.

A throw of centuars, fauns, and a brigade of lost boys were marching through the trees, bravery, really a false bravado, they wore on their foolish and weak sorrows. Searching for their silly princess. Well, Jaiden had already dealt with her hours before. She rolled her sharp firey iris's, then looked up at Kal, who had stopped and twisted back to see the procession. They were small figures to him. His senses were not as sharp as a shadows, though she was sure his own shadow could see the angry search party, no, war party, as clearly as she could. Well, these beings were marching into shadow territory. They would have to be expelled. Jaiden glanced toward the falls. If shadow warriors were training in the cave like they should, instead of slacking, they should be out here by now, picking off the invaders. Jaiden sighed, making a mental note to severly punish them. No matter though, she could take care of these herself.

"They are looking for you, you know," She spoke to Kal, turning back his head with a wave of her slender hand upon his cheek, staring vividly into his eyes. Kal blinked.

"What?" Idiot

"Well they were looking for Princess Antonella, but now that you have escaped, well they're sure you are some demon. They are sure that you escaped and are returning to were you are hiding their dear princess."

Kal blinked and shook his head. Jaiden smiled, disguised irritability, she stood on his feet to look at him levely, a poisoness perfume making his eyes water.

"Yes, Kal. They'll kill you. Not right away of course. They'll torture you for information first. Once they realize you won't talk, they'll kill you out of spite. Thats how they are, all united against those different from them. We're the enemy now," Jaiden's voice, powerful, rung in his ears.

"Be ready to fight to survive," She said, stepping away from him, pulling the knife from his belt and handing it to him. Kal took it, shaking his head as he did. She could see his muscles tense. So he was strong, it really was a pity he was so dense.

"No," He said. "Not all of them are bad. They think we're bad, we should try and escape."

Jaiden smiled, one that did not extend to her eyes. "Fine, hide then. I won't let them reach my village. I'm going to protect my people," Her words rang with courage and loyalty, while her mind laugh. Laughed in contempt.

Before he could stutter another half-baked answer, Jaiden turned and ran, ran on her toes. Her legs were quick and strong, almost sliding across the ground as she ran past the sulking Greylyn. As she approached the party, she slid into the ground as a dark flash, suddenly materializing behind the head centuar, leaping high upon his back and stabbing a spot on the back of his neck with her fore and middle fingers. He slumped to the ground, instantly unconsious. He shadow stirred, crazed by the energy (not spirit, mind you) that Jaiden had unlocked from his being that was suddenly rushing to its flat apendages. A knife suddenly shot down, Jaiden quickly melting into the ground before it could peirce her mind-made flesh, popping up beneath the centuar and paralyzing his legs with some quick jabs that locked his knees and bruised his ankles.

Suddenly there was a flurry as the hunting party turned inward, slashing at the young girl in their midst who kicked high in the jaw of a centuar, then twirled and knocked three fauns unvoncious with several well-aimed jabs. Never once did she remove the long jagged rapier that was tied to her thigh beneath her slit nightgown. She didn't need it. In three short minutes the party was immobalized, all lying on the ground in various states of pain and consiousness. Not one was dead, Jaiden knew not to waste them in that way. Instead she walked amoung them, speaking to their shadows that stirred with knewly released energy.

"Join me," She said, her eyes shining. "Escape from your opressors that have left you dormant for so long, be free from the bounds of their feet. There is a world for people like you, like I. I'm working to find it. I will find it," As she poured out a sense of power and conciousness, bringing to life the minds of the shadows, several tried to bid to her words. The strongest, the loudest. The ones that had ever spoken with there being before had the power to become free. Jaiden helped them, slicing their feet from the feet of the unconcious, bringing, in total, four to life. She stood back and surveyed her work with pleasure. They stood up, flat and shadowy, tendrils of curly darkness whisping off them.

"Swim up this river of Nightmares. Past the falls, to the Twisted Oak City," She spoke, now cool and collected. The new born living shadows drunk in her words, like putty in her well-formed hands. "Once there, go to the shadow of the statue and think about yourself. Right now you are barely a self, so make one up, think, invent, imagine. I don't care if your name is Hesus, Marchell, Egregate, just give yourself a new one and a personality. A strong one. Now is time to re-invent yourself after all. When the time is right, other members of our kind will come and collect you to educate you more in ourselves. Then you will join the army. No go,"

Enchanted by their new freedom and Jaiden's speech, the shadows blew to the river, one formulating a distinct pair of feet before disappearing into the water and letting their liquid darkness run against the flow of water and up the falls, looking disturbingly like souls rising to the heavens. And Jaiden laughed.

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Kal yelled after Jaiden, but she didn't hear him, or perhaps even ignored him. Kal felt his skin turn cold as he watched tiny figures on the horizon drop to the ground, eventually only a black shape standing tall amoung them. He sprinted to Greylyn, grabbing her arm.

"We..." Kal was cut off by his own thoughts. Were they in danger? From who? Well, definetly from that army that had come looking for him, the kidnapper, and Greylyn, no doubt labled as his accomplice. But...what had Jaiden done? Was she acting in self defense? The atmosphere of the gray falls suddenly seemed so much more cold and sinister. Repercussions of precious actions suddenly seemed so much closer and more dangerous. What was he going to do? Kal bit his lip. He knew one thing, he wasn't going to leave Greylyn's side. Somehow they had both ended up in this mess together, and now he couldn't desert her.

Kal let go of her arm, his mind racing at the eeiry spectacle he had just witnessed. He looked down at Greylyn who was griping angrily at him. He shook his head side to side in a weird rythmn as she spoke.

"No, no," He said quietly, his voice getting louder. "I'm not going to desert you Greylyn. We're in this together now, don't you see?" He glanced back at Jaiden's form, amoung the fallen bodies regretfully. She couldn't be trusted. However badly he had wanted to trust her, had wanted to believe her words of getting him off Neverland...It was too dangerous, for him and Greylyn. He blinked, and suddenly Jaiden was gone. Kal felt his stomach drop as he looked up around, wondering where she had disappeared to.

"Come on, lets get out of here together. I'll carry you if you need, it'll be faster that way." He knelt down in front of her, indicating she should climb on his back. Suddenly a presence rose up and Jaiden materialized from the dark ground, her face appearing mere inches from his own. Kal scrambled back, his heart beating wildly.

-----------------------

"Whats this? Leaving so soon?" Jaiden pouted cutely. "And here I thought you were beginning to like it. No matter, go back to your colorful paradise and live forever, live for nothing. I really don't care if you make it off Neverland or not, you know. I was just trying to do you a favor so you're whole life wouldn't be in vain." She lay down on the ground, placing her chin in her hand and blowing whisps of soft, dry hair from her face.

"Jaiden," Kal said angrily, sitting up. "What you did to those people.."

"Oh I didn't kill them!" Jaiden said, putting her fingers to her mouth in hurt surprise. Well, not all of them, she thought to herself. The ones who had lost their shadows, they had probably passed on. Not many survive when your shadow rips part of your spirit away. Maybe its the shock. She chuckled inwardly. Outwardly her face crinkled in despair.

"Why, you must think me so aweful! I merely immobalized them. I wasn't about to let them reach my city, kill my people. They're unconcious. When they come to, in a few hours perhaps. Why, they won't dare attempt to hurt us." She sat up and crossed her legs neatly, her bare feet spotless.

"Jaiden, you...you freed some of there shadows," Kal said, his face twisted in anger and confusion. Jaiden jutted her chin out, feirce and proud.

"So what? They asked me to. It's not like I even complied. They did it themselves. It's a very personal thing, freeing yourself, leaving your master for your own life. I merely gave these freed slaves a place to go. A place to become someone. If thats a crime, than kill me Kal, kill me!" She cried, lifting her head to expose her neck, grabbing Kal's hand fiercely, the one that still held the knife, and bringing it violently to her throat.

"Hey!" Kal called out, angry and frightened, fighting the strength of her hand as she held the jagged tooth to her neck. "Stop it, I don't want to kill you," He yelled.

Jaiden dropped his hand.

"Good," She said quietly. "You're the first. I'm sure the elf would do it without a second thought," She glared in mocking anger at Greylyn, her blood red eyes blazing.

"No we're just confused," Kal said, sheathing his knife in adjitation. "We can't trust you. I'm sorry," He added, uncertain but sincere at the end. He's apologizing to himself, Jaiden knew intuitivily. He want's to trust me because he want's to leave Neverland, but he's too noble to sacrifice his honor and that stupid little elf girl's saftey. No matter, there's always a different angle. She grew tired of playing word games with these two.

"Well, I'll be at Twisted Oak City." She said coldly, alighting to her feet in a flicker of movement. Kal stood quickly as well. "You know where to find me, the path away from here is that way," She pointed down and to the left of them. This time, she wasn't lying. If one followed the path they would end up back in the Neverwoods. And why would she tell them? Hah, well she knew that Greylyn and her impressionable friend wouldn't trust her for direction. They'd head in the opposite way, straight towards Twisted Oak City. If they were foolish enough to take her reccomended path, well, there was always another day. Jaiden had some other, pressing matters to attend to. And she would need time, time to train Kal in opening his spirit. That required his trust.

Or did it? Jaiden glanced between the pair. Perhaps if he grew to care for her, improbable but not unlikely, she could just threaten the elf and make him do what she wanted. Jaiden smiled. Sometimes, things were really just too easy. All one needed was patience.

And, just to be sure Kal didn't forget her anytime soon, Jaiden leaned in and kissed his cheek with her pale, cold lips. Kal flushed, stepping backward angrily and crossing his arms. But before he could retort, Jaiden was running, then gliding upon the ground. Then, with a shivery boom of distant thunder on the horizon, she was gone.

Kal stared up at the moving grays of the sky, his eyes blue against the grays. He subconciously touched his cheek, which still felt icy cold and tingled unnervingly. Why had she done that?

Suddenly and sharply his thoughts were forced down to earth with a growing angry chorus from Greylyn. His head snapped back to her, he felt slightly guilty but didn't understand why.

“Idiot, idiot, idiot!” She yelled. Suddenly she slapped his arm. Kal blinked bemusedly at her unprecidented frustration, uncertain of what exactly he'd done. Greylyn staggered away from him, Kal staring quietly after her.

“Well, Mister Kal: you can follow her way, or you can follow mine. Make your choice and make it quickly, because I’m going with or without you. And considering you seem rather attached to the Shadow—Jaiden, I’d best be off while you linger back here and go through whatever emotional blubbering that you humans do.” Greylyn told him, crossing her arms firmly. Her cool green eyes seemed to harden into marbles.

Kal sighed. He had a weird, gut feeling that Jaiden had pointed the right way to go. But, at the same time, he felt a wave of aversion and distrust. He couldn't trust her. He wouldn't, no matter how much he wanted too. Was it fair? Maybe not, but under the circumstances, maybe it was best he took some time to think about whether or not he should go.

Ah, but was he still even considering it? Kal rubbed his forehead. Yes, of course he was. But he wouldn't tell Greylyn. And he wouldn't let her march off into these woods on her own. He'd continue with her till she was safe. Then they'd part ways, and Kal would do some serious thinking on his own about how deep he wanted to go with Jaiden's proposed freedom.

He took a deep breath, afraid Greylyn would reject him, but she had offered for him to come with her, hadn't she?

"I'll come with you," He said, quietly, stepping up till he was next to her, though hardly shoulder to shoulder considering his height and her lack thereof. He offered a small smile. "This way then?" He nodded toward where she had gestured earlier, taking his first large step toward the growing density of sinister trees.

Relieved at her acceptance, Kal lapsed into contemplative silence as they began to stride through the trees. He walked at a leisurely pace, conscious that Greylyn had to take at least two strides to compete with his one. He didn't look at her though, instead gazing into the crevices of trees and piles of ashy leaves. Soon, as the trees height grew, branches interlaced above their heads, dark leaves painting the ceiling of twisted branches. Kal had the strange feeling they were walking down a long tunnel. He stepped over a heavy root. Infinitely small thorns scraped the bottom of his foot. Kal thought he heard the hollow coo of an owl. But did anything even live out here?

“Mister Kal?” Greylyn suddenly spoke. He glanced down at her. “…Thank you,”

Kal blinked in momentary surprise. For what? For the last few hours, all Greylyn had been done was beating him about the head for all the decisions he made. What was she referring to? Well, perhaps she was still exulting gratitude over him saving her life from that strange sickness. Kal rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand, wondering what to say.

"Kal," He said finally. "Seriously, you can just call me Kal. No one's called me "Mister" in my life. Formal mertitle is actually Shashpei, but I don't want you to call me that either."

Kal felt a slight pang, thinking of his lagoon. Oh, he had really loved it there, hadn't he? He thought of his mother guiltily. At least she didn't know what he had done yet. As far as she was concerned, he was studying in some nearby village to get to the real world.

Yes, she had cried, and told him that she hoped he would stay. But, it was something he loved so much about his mother, she had understood. She had said she'd known for a long time that he would one day try to get home. And in the end, she'd given him her blessing. Kal suddenly missed her, his stomach clenching as he looked at the ground. He blinked tears out of his eyes. Focus on the good, he thought, a small smile breaking through his invisible tears. He began to picture his life in his new home, the real world. He imagined riding in those strange-pictured carts, eating at a table with many sorts of silverware. He imagined working hard and being...successful. Like the people in the book with the nice coats and large...houses. He imagined getting married, being respected. He imagined belonging in a society he cared about. A society of people like himself. Then Greylyn spoke.

“What will you do, once we reach the Neverwood, if you care to come that far?” She asked quietly, much more calmly than the last hour of conversation with her. Kal threw back his shoulders; feeling slightly more relaxed himself, but also with a stronger burning in his chest of desire and hope to find an escape.

"Well, I suppose I'll...I dunno, have some time to think," He said softly, fingering his books. "I'm a fugitive from the Council now, so no one will teach me how to read."

His voice was tinged with bitterness, but he offered a smile anyway. "I'll figure something out; find a way back to the other world. I will, you'll see,"

Kal walked with a bit more confidence, his mind chasing itself around as he tried to think of ways to leave. He slowed himself, realizing Greylyn was struggling to keep up, to even be able to walk. He felt unfairly exasperated. If only she'd let him carry her, they'd get out of here so much faster. An eerily night was polluting the air, turning wisps of gray sunlight into shadow as fistfuls of leaves and branches blotted out the darkening heavens.

Suddenly he felt Greylyn's fingers brush his waist, and his knife drawn silently from its sheath. He tensed, shifting his weight away from her, looking down at her grasp on the knife and then up to her eyes in cautious, but firm questioning.

“I…” Suddenly she blinked dazedly, and Kal's brow furrowed in consternation. Confusion appeared on her face, then she swallowed and seemed to return to herself.

“I’ll… Until I have a proper bow, Mister Kal, I’d rather it be me that carry this, yes?” She spoke. Kal blinked incredulously, his mouth slightly parted in small indignation.

"Um, no," He said, grabbing the portion of the sheath that extended above her hand and tugging it back toward himself. "This knife is mine to defend myself, us with. Do you know how I got it? I wrestled and killed a shark with only a lasso, holding my breath underwater for a minute twenty seconds. I choked it to death underwater, then pried its longest canine out with a rock."

He looked rather disgruntled and offended as he sheathed the knife. "Since than I've killed two other sharks and a barracuda. I'm more than capable of handling a knife." He said sourly. There was a silence. After Kal had cooled off, he sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have blown up at you like that. I know how it feels to be in unfamiliar territory without a weapon." He said quietly. Suddenly he stopped, then walked over to a tree with a low hanging, jutting branch that had been nearly severed from the trunk by a lightning, black ash streaking the point it formerly melded to the tree. Kal unsheathed his knife, and hacked at its join point until it fell to the ground. Perfect length, he thought, squatting down and placing the end of the stick across his thighs. Then, with sleek movements using the smooth, rather than the jagged, edge of his knife, he sliced the bark until the end was a hard and pointy stake. His muscles shook and face dripped sweat from the effort. The wood was unusually smooth and hard, but as he sliced away at it, razor edges made four corners for a good three feet of the wood. After five minutes, Kal had produced a, crude yes, but still effective staff that was filed to a deadly point. He ran his finger over one of its edges quickly and was pleased to see a slit of blood well up from his finger. He stuck it in his mouth, and after sucking it dry, stood up to look at Greylyn.

"Here," He said graciously, extending the staff. "You can use it as a walking stick too, but it should be sharp enough to be able to defend yourself. I've never worked with this type of wood before. Usually I just use beach. I used to use things like this for throwing at large fish before I dove in and wrestled them."

He handed it to her.

"Of course, if you need to, I can carry you for a while. We need to hurry if we plan to be out of these woods by dark..." But, Kal looked around and realized with dismay it almost was dark. He and Greylyn were draped in gray shadows, and there was a pressing blackness from above and behind them. Kal took a step forward, straining his eyes to see up ahead.

"Yeah, we need to keep moving..."

Kal laughed as she speculated his name. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. And somewhere out there there was another name intended for me," Little did he know, the pages of his fathers diary he carried left a very distinct wish that if their child was a son, he was to be called Rupert, Rupert Mason.

Suddenly however, his joking expression changed as he listened to Greylyn's slow and hesitante words. He felt his body tense, his very being on edge. Sir Marjx had...known? Known something about where he came from? Kal felt chills run up and down his spine. Sir Marjx could no doubt read as well, what if he had read the contents of Kal's satchel? What if there were answeres revealed inside? Kal felt his heart race. It took a great deal of effort to quelsh the weird hybrid of hope and fear that had quietly set upon his features and return to Greylyn,

"We could camp here for the night," She said, "No use in going where we can't see,"

Kal nodded. She was right. They had better stop and make camp. Kal looked around. "Yeah, I suppose here is as good a place as any." He stumbled around in the growing dark, finally finding a grove of trees leaning that made a small circle inside them and a roof of knotted branches and leaves. They would be at least relatively sheltered in there from any wild beasts. If there were any, that is.

"Over here," Kal spoke to the outline of Greylyn in the dark, pushing his way through a flurry of leaves to sit down inside the almost natural formed teepee. He sat down crosslegged and leaned back against a tree trunk. His eyes closed.

"What do you dream about, Greylyn? Your waking ones I mean," He added quietly.

Kal felt a sadness, an unseen pity rise up in his chest as he heard Greylyn stumble, then just give up proclaiming what her dreams were. Kal tried to imagine himself not passionate about achiving something, and failed to. It was just a part of who he was. Surely it was a part of everyone. Maybe Greylyn just hadn't figured out her purpose yet. He tried to put that into words, but a harsh cry of an owl dwindled on the wind. The hair on the back of his neck prickled, and stole his voice away as the darkness began to obscure everything and his mind began to silently wander, but it bounced off the walls of the trees, just kept coming back to him in a box of exhaustion and reality.

He remebered sleeping out in the ocean, lying on his back with his face staring up at the starry bright night. There his thoughts could wander, wander out into the big sky with nothing to bounce off of. Where everything seemed possible, even predestined. Not much seemed to be determined or inevitable in this grove of trees except exaustion, and more confusion that had so plagued Kal these last few days.

"How old are you, Mister Kal?" Greylyn asked suddenly, her voice cutting through the heavy blackness. Kal closed his eyes.

"Seventeen. Because I was nursed by merpeople, and I had arrived in Neverland at the beginning of my life, I was able to age as they were. So I look seventeen, so I am seventeen. More than a lot of people can say around here. But my mother warned me that eventually the protection would start to wear off. Soon I'll stop aging. I want to escape Neverland before that happens. I believe that we were meant to age. Meant to become different people in mind and body. Who knows, if I continue to age, what I might learn about life?"

He was silent for a long time.

"And I might like to be able to grow a mustache," He finally added with a tired chuckle. He paused, than gathered up enough courage to ask. "Well, what about you?" He said. It felt weirdly personal, asking Greylyn's age.

"How old are you? Really...I mean..."

"Hmm… a little over a hundred. I don’t know when my birthday is, which makes it pretty hard to keep track.”

Kal allowed himself to be caught up in the strangeness of it. A little over a hundered. He thought of Mother Langla, an elderly merwoman he had rather enjoyed talking to, he had always helped her in her coral gardens for free. She was old and wise and had many stories about Neverland in times go by. She would be one hundered and three this year. Kal found it hard to believe that she and Greylyn were about the same age. One was at peace with herself, making the bottom of the lagoon beautiful and passing on knowledge to the next generation as she neared the end of her life. The other was full of anger, listening in on conversations, frustrated, running. Refusing help. But not ready to die yet.

“Isn’t that odd?” Greylyn mused aloud, “I’m probably a century older than you, and yet you’re… Gigantic compared to me. Of course, I shouldn’t like to be as tall as you, if that’s the reason you’re so clumsy.”

Kal was quiet. He found it more weird that she should be a century older than him...and not...well know how to read for one. Know exactly what the shadows were up too. Know her place in the world. Kal felt that by the time he reached her age, if he ever did, he'd want to know...Well, alot. Everything.

He heard her move and lie down, he himself sliding of the trunk to lie on his back. For a moment he felt the comforting sensation of rocking on his back in the waves. Then it was gone and he was on cold, hard, unmoving ground.

“Mister Kal, do you think… that everyone belongs somewhere?” Greylyn asked slowly. Kal paused, thinking for a while.

"Yeah, yeah I do Greylyn," He said finally. "I think that everyone belongs somewhere. Thats why they were given life after all, to do something with it." He closed his eyes, blowing a whisp of hair from his forehead, and drifting off into oblivian.

Kal blinked sleep out of his eyes, as he slowly came to. His body felt stiff and uncomfortable from sleeping on the hard ground instead of the soft waves, especially the portion of his shoulder blade where the strap of the satchel was digging in. He arched his back and groaned silently as his thoughts recollected themselves. He blinked sleepily, then suddenly felt a head of sleek hair roll over his arm. He glanced down beneath his lashes, in time to see Greylyn sitting up and scooting back. He closed his eyes again, then, finally stretched largely, his body filling the bough as he stretched out his arms and legs. He yawned and sat up. His mouth felt dry, and his hair was horribly mussed and dirty. Kal scratched some caked mud from his forehead, turning to face Greylyn, wiggling his toes as he came to terms with his wakedness and the options before them.

"Well I guess we should keep going," He said after a tired silence. "I mean, I'd say we should get food and drink, but it looks like theres nothing around for miles. We should get out of here." He wiped his eyes with the palms of his hands, blinking and looking around the small clearing.

He hadn't slept very well, and had had a strange dream. In it, he was tied to a tree in the middle of a clearing. He had struggled and struggled, but it was no use. Suddenly Jaiden appeared.

Help me, Kal had tried to say, but he had no voice. I am helping you, Jaiden had said with a laugh. She had come right up to him, and was touching his face and hair. I'm helping you get home, just open your spirit... she had said. Well, alright... Kal remebered responding sleepily, drifting in and out of the dream. There was something else that he couldn't quite remember too, although he had a weird feeling that someone was screaming. Was it Greylyn?

Kal shook it off. He often had strange and vivid dreams, but they really were only that, dreams. This one had kind of creeped him out though, most of his dreams involved him in the other world, and were a pleasure to dip into now and then.

Kal stood and brushed his body off, stretching so the tips of his fingers scraped a high branch. He cracked his back, rolled his shoulders. Spat in the corner, trying to rid himself of a weird taste. He wondered if he had swallowed a spider or something.

"Well," He finally said, feeling a bit more awake. "You lead the way," He nodded gratiously with a smile. While unnerving, he still felt slightly refreshed from the hard nights sleep. Maybe not refreshed in body, but in mind. He had been given a stretch of time, interrupted by the dream, but still, some time he didn't have to think or worry. He could handle it all now.