Christopher fiddled with his mug uncomfortably and then lifted it to his mouth to take a sip. The smell of whatever was inside caused him to recoil and he nearly spilled the drink. He placed it back down on the table and scrubbed furiously at his burning nose.

"Don't worry. I think they fished all the dead rats out of this week's kegs," Portia commented, finally managing to recollect her ability to speak.

Night laughed uncertainly, wondering if Portia was kidding or not. She was beginning to regret sitting at the strange woman's table. Night ducked her head and fiddled with a thread fraying off of her right hand's glove. She peeked up at Christopher, silently begging him to say something to break the ice.

"So you from around here?" Christopher asked, aware of Night's discomfort. Due to the nature of her mutation, socialization had been difficult at best for Night.

"This crappy excuse for a town? Heh, even if I were, I wouldn't admit to it," Portia replied. She gazed at Christopher, coolly appraising him. She knew there was something different about her two tablemates. The nature of their difference eluded her, but she was putting the pieces together. Even though she was half-drunk, Portia's hard-earned survival skills were still at work.

Christopher forced a laugh and continued making small talk.

"I guess we should introduce ourselves. I'm Christopher, this is Night. We're passing through, maybe headed toward Ditto Town. Haven't decided yet."

"You normally tell complete strangers your travel plans, Christopher? If that's really your name."

Christopher flushed faintly and was grateful that the dim light of the bar helped to hide his face. He had a feeling this woman was laughing at him inside and Christopher truly disliked being mocked.

"It could be a false name. I could have lied to you about our travel plans as well. Or maybe I don't think you're much of a threat. So what's your name, ma'am?"

"Portia. Just Portia. But you should definitely think of me as a threat," Portia replied, a cold edge entering her voice as she continued, "Unnaturals should consider everyone a threat."

Night let out a frightened squeak and began furiously tugging at her left glove, trying to get it off. Christopher gave her a warning look and carefully placed his hands on the table, tensed and ready to reach out and touch Portia.

"What makes you think we're Unnaturals?"

"The fact that the girl nearly wet herself when I said the word makes it rather obvious. But would you like to hear my line of reasoning? I think it's fairly clever, actually."

"What do you want?" Night snapped, surprising everyone including herself. "Is it money? We have practically nothing of value. And if you've been hunting Unnaturals long enough, you must know by now we won't go without a fight. And there is only one of you."

"So you do have a spine after all," Portia said, sounding pleased. She sat up, carelessly dropping her mug onto the table. "What makes you think I'm hunting Unnaturals? How do you know I'm normal?"

"Are you saying you're ... an Unnatural?" Christopher asked quietly, desperately hoping no one had heard any of this.

"You noticed all that subtle hinting? Geez, you're not exactly the bright part of this dynamic duo, are you?" Portia said with a smirk. "Yes. I'm an Unnatural."

"So how did you figure it out? What are we doing wrong? We thought we were being careful," Night said anxiously. She saw the embarrassed flush creeping up Christopher's face again and patted him on the arm. She knew they couldn't afford to indulge Christopher's temper.

"You weren't doing too bad a job. Someone who didn't know what they were looking for might be fooled, but not the good bounty hunters, the ones who've been at it awhile. For one thing, you're too quiet. The two of you creep in here, acting like this is a temple or something and you don't want to wake the gods. The people after us are hunters. We're their prey. You act like prey, the hunters notice you. You act like a normal; careless, blithely happy, and stupid as a post, they won't notice you. You'll just be another mundane, out for a night on the town. The next thing I noticed is your clothes. I don't know what you're ability or species is, Night, but covering up just about every square inch of skin screams that there's something odd about you. And you, Christopher. That cloak is hiding something, isn't it? An extra set of arms or wings or something not normally found on a mundane. There's something odd about the shape of your back and it doesn't move right. It quivers occasionally, like there's something struggling to get loose. Am I right?"

Christopher nodded tensely and said, "The second on that list, actually."

Night placed her hands on the table, frowning down at her gloves.

"The clothing isn't optional for me. My skin is dangerous. If someone were to touch it, even for a second, it could drive them mad or maybe even worse."

"Some kind of tactile psychic ability then?"

"Yes. When someone touches me, they see things. Every nightmare monster that hid under their bed or in their closet. Every boogeyman from childhood stories. The things they dream about, the things they worry about. They see it all, all at once, in their minds. Either the terror drives them mad or the sheer psychic assault drives them into a coma. It's not something I can control or turn off or fight."

"So you cover yourself up. Try to protect them."

"It doesn't always work. Sometimes people catch me by surprise. Sometimes I do something stupid. People have died because of me," Night confessed. She could feel tears trying to build up and scrubbed at her eyes furiously. She was sick of crying. Crying never changed anything. She wished she was more like Christopher or even this strange woman. Portia seemed cool and composed, like she wasn't even slightly afraid of the people out there who wanted to hurt and kill Unnaturals. Night envied that confidence.

Christopher frowned as Night proceeded to tell everything to this woman, Portia or whatever her name was. Night trusted people too easily, even after everything that had happened to them. The people who had tried to kill them and the people they'd had to hurt and kill to survive. He shoved those thoughts away, feeling his irritation mounting. He still caught Night sniffling over what they'd done. Why did she care anymore? After all the mundanes had done to Unnaturals, Christopher didn't care anymore what he did to survive. The way he saw it, whatever happened to mundanes was just one big heap of cosmic justice coming home to roost. Maybe they weren't all joining in with the torch-bearing mobs, but they stood by and said nothing, which was just as bad.

"So what can you do? Or what are you?" he challenged.

"What can I do?" Portia repeated, sounding pleased to be asked. "I can do this."

And Portia disappeared.

"That's me," Kanti said quietly, looking back at Thomas, "I'd love to tell you the whole story but it seems like you have explaining of your own to do...Majesty," she added the title, trying to sound respectful.

---

Cyrano took Melanie's hand and shook it firmly, trying to persuade himself that he really wouldn't regret this. Releasing her hand he pushed back unruly hair and looked between the brother and sister. "Well we could start by checking email contacts in Monstropolis. If the sneak's been stupid enough to send them from their newspaper account then we might be able to find who's been communicating with anyone from the other publication."

Cyrano felt out of place coming up with an idea for an investigation. This all sounded like something he shouldn't get involved in, something someone else would be doing...like Satin. He winced at the thought, trying not to remember his dead friend. There was enough chaos in this office without adding emotions to it.

---

Basil turned on his stool and glanced at the confrontation, one hand still occupied with his drink. His eyes narrowed as he listened to Matthew's offer. With a twitch of his lips, he downed the rest of the liquid in his mug and spun fully on the seat, two blasters having suddenly appeared in his hands.

Two shots fired at once, one burning into a beam inches from the two, while the other hit Steel's barely exposed shoulder. Without a change of expression, Basil stood and stepped towards the two. "If he has more shots of mine in him by the time he's down we'll go 70-30," he stated calmly to Matthew.

---

"I don't help Unnaturals," Cotton answered, his voice turning firm, "I work for whoever pays the most- to heck with the politics. Might not be a popular set of morals with you lot, but I have a right to live my life my own way. As for why I haven't vanished, I would if I could. There's not enough money to jump towns. I'm desperate- one more reason for me to do whatever you want me to without question."

He eyed the man, attention having almost fully abandoned Ruth. He knew that winning this backer over might be more important than anything else. Ruth didn't care about motivation when she hired an extra hand, but this one seemed to have that thought at the forefront of his mind. Lying would be easy, but his track record with Unnaturals would be evidence for a quick execution. There was no other option that Cotton saw but the plain, simple truth.

---

"Not all vampires are tall, seductive creatures," Talullah deadpanned, losing her smile as she looked from Neal to Mark. Her dark, almond-shaped eyes moved upwards as Brand suddenly appeared behind them. Her lip curled as she stared at the boiling saliva that had landed near Wystan. "This your guard dog?" she asked, clearly unimpressed- or at least making a great effort to sound like it.

"Ack-" Wystan jumped slightly to the side and looked up at Brand before regaining his composure. He didn't like monstrous creatures- especially the likes of dragons. Backing off subtly, he kept his eyes on Brand.

Satin glanced over at Neal, glad for the Darkling's presence though this situation only aggravated the growing feeling that she was a dangerous weakness for the entire camp. She opened her mouth to address the two vampires again but stopped when Pavel stepped forward.

"Gwen?" Talullah asked, looking Pavel over with an appraising glance, "She came to dinner at the coven once- caused chaos at the ball and disappeared. Either she was killed by a vigilante or left town. She didn't show much interest in making allies so we didn't investigate."

Zaref frowned and looked over at Pavel, knowing the vampire had been wondering about Gwen for some time. He took Selena's hand noticing her expression. This wasn't the occasion either of them had dreamed of.

Satin looked towards the chapel doors and decided to go help Pepper with the drinks. If Talullah and her follower were staying then a special recipe was in order for the blood. Quietly she excused herself from the crowd and quickly went up the stairs and into the darkened building.

Her boots made the boards squeak as she let the chapel door shut behind her. Across the room, Pepper was lighting candles.

---

"I'm sure Savage has security even for invisible foes," Naomi offered with a sympathetic smile, "He is used to Unnaturals...but maybe we should come up with a plan that includes your brother as an asset." She listened to Indigo carefully, "Who knows what Savage has implanted in Lark...but then again, he won't try to harm her while she's carrying his prize experiment. Maybe Lark will have more freedom to see the grounds. Do you think you could get Brick to relate to her that she needs to take note of whatever she sees?"

---

Dellan watched Sparrow before his eyes fluttered shut. An incredible warmth spread from his chest to his limbs. It felt better than anything had in a long time. It felt like life.

His eyes snapped open as the warmth ceased and Sparrow fell back with a weary look. Dellan's first reaction was sudden anger. For once in these dark past months he'd felt healthy and almost happy and then suddenly it'd been gone. The look on Sparrow's face however made him realize that she had tried her hardest.

Nodding, he tucked his ragged white hair behind his ears. "It feels better already," he offered.

---

Curse wasn't sure what Caerwyn meant, but decided to leave the subject of Indigo alone nonetheless. Pangs always shot up through her heart when she thought of the lonely werewolf. It hurt to think he didn't want any comfort or help from her now that his brother and Lark were gone.

Sighing, she concentrated on following Caerwyn through the woods and towards the Unnatural camp. It would be a long walk, but it was nice to be out of the house.

---

"They aren't my woods," Udi answered with an amused smile as he leaned against the tree, "Actually I'm just a traveler...mortal traveler. I'm staying just yonder in the Unnatural camp and by the looks of it, you could use some shelter too." He waited a moment, wondering what it would take to get the girl out of hiding. "You a fellow Unnatural darling? I'm a Satyr myself- harmless sort of creature, good-looking too, as I've been told at least."

"Good with me just bring the fella down" he said as a small rodent scampered out of Steel's jacket and across the floor toward Basil's shoe. His ferret teeth gleamed as he went to bite the man's boot.

Meanwhile Steel shoved Matthew into a table then turned to meet Basil, he drew his gun and fired three shots. One passed under Basil's arm and the other two skipped off the floor by his feet.
---
A sly grin grew across Mark's face... He had the edge over the vampires "More or less" he replied to the impish vamp "Down Brand, down boy" he yelled at the dragon. Who mock lowered his head and tried to act like a dumb animal. For the same reason that Mark hid his age, to give him an advantage over potential enemies.
---
Josh sighed and sat down against a tree studying everything he had seen over the last two days "A guard seems to pass every fifteen minutes...” he said "And there is got to be some kind of vent but they’ll be protected by security systems though Mark could find the anchor and disable them with magic... I can’t do that"

"Obviously....." the Darkling replied to Talullah with a slight smirk. Neal watched as Satin went into the chapel before turning his attention back to the "guests".

Mark, did you happen to see this "Gwen" when you talked with Karl a month ago? the Darkling mentally asked the Elf as Talullah answered Pavel's question. The mention of the Ball and of this other female vamp made Neal remember something.... "Was there a man with Gwen when she visited your coven?" he asked after a few seconds.

Thomas grimaced slightly and leaned back, resting his head against the desk, his eyes roaming the area of the abandoned building that he could see from his hiding place.

"I thought I saw someone to help with the investigation," he said finally. "But I didn't want anyone to know about it. They're, um, not really normal . . ." He bit his lip slightly and glanced sidelong at her. "I probably shouldn't tell you anything else. You'll have to arrest them."

----

Ian nodded. "That's a good idea," he said, impressed and wishing he had thought of it. He turned to his computer and brought up the newspaper email that everyone used for work. Of course legally he could only see his inbox and outbox, but with a few deft hacking skills, he soon got into the mainframe and could see everyone's in this office floor at least.

Melanie giggled and pointed a gloved finger at one email address. "Duckluver4ever?" she said. "What an absurd address." Her eyes lit up suddenly. "Could it be a fake one?" She glanced up at Cryano.

----

Pavel's mouth pulled downward in a sad frown. "She would come get me before she went anywhere," he said, mostly to reassure himself. But in the end it was not very reassuring when he realized that that meant Gwen must be dead. Grief filled him to the core, and he dropped to the ground, gripping the grass as his shoulders began to shake with silent, dry sobs. Normally he would have never given in to such a display of emotion in front of others, but he was too upset to care.

Selena glanced at Pavel with slight pity, but returned her gaze to Tallulah and Wystan. She knew she could not keep these two out of her sight.

----

Indigo gave a sharp nod. "I told him to stay shifted. I'll tell him now."

Without another word, he turned and went a few feet behind some trees. Once he shifted, he told Brick what Naomi had said. When he got a positive response, he shifted back into human form, dressed and came back. With another nod he indicated that the deed was done.

----

But Sparrow shook her head, not satisfied. "She will try again," she said, moving forward and placing her hands above him once more. Closing her eyes, her thin eyebrows met above her slender nose. Once more golden sparks flew into Dellan's body. She held herself there longer than before, every muscle straining it seemed.

Finally she could take no more and she collapsed beside Dellan. All color had gone from her body, and she lay as still as death. After a moment however, tiny sparks, almost invisible, began to dance over her skin, giving her body a warm, soft glow. In this way her body attempted to heal the damage done to her own system in trying too hard to heal Dellan's.

----

Caerwyn heard Curse's sigh and struggled inwardly with what to do. He did not want her to be sad, but that seemed inevitable these days. Releasing her hand, he ran forward several feet and knelt beside a place where several kinds of wildflowers grew. Plucking a small bouquet, he returned to Curse and held it out to her.

Please don't be sad, he entreated, looking up at her pleadingly.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Mark replied to Neal Crud... There was another vampire named Gwen with him... he began mentally cursing himself for not telling Neal this potentially important detail.

Then Pavel broke down and began crying. Mark sighed and gave into his nice guy side to go the young vamp, but first he place a spell on himself that would take away his smell.

He walked over and sat on his heels in front of the vamp "Hey, its going to be ok.... Gwen has got to be out there somwhere, and I bet the moment she knew you were missing she started looking for you... Why she could be coming right now"

He said, speaking to Pavel in the way he would speak to Josh or Rebbeca after they had a nightmere or somthing of the sort. I can't belive I'm helping a vampire right now was the thought running through his head

Will approached Mark. "Any news yet?" he asked, praying that Stella was ok. He couldn't imagine losing his sister.

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

"It must be hard for you," Stella remarked to Becca, "Finding your long-lost brother, then losing him again. Mark talked about you alot, you know. Even when he was happy, it was obvious there was something missing. He loves you guys so much."

((Narnianerd is this ok?))

"Well... Yeah, it hurts but good thing is I know Mark will find us again..." Said Rebbeca "He wont be alone this time though, he's got Will and Josh, and everybody else in that camp... So I don't think we have anything to worry about" she said. Still you could see she was worried.
---
Mark looked over his shoulder at Will "No... I'm sorry" he said before adding mentaly But Josh went on a scouting mission with two werewolves so we should hear somthing soon before he turned back to Pavel.

"How did you get by all these years?" Stella asked Becca. "I can't imagine being in a van for so long." She shuddered

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

"What if we don't get there in time?" Will said to Mark, his face somber. "I can't lose her, Mark. She's all I have."

"Um, nice to meet you ... people," Malachi said, warily glancing at the newly arrived vampires. He pointed at the dragon and said," Be a good little dragonykins. No munchy-munchy on the guests."

Malachi trailed after Satin, wondering if the invitation to help with refreshments still stood.

-----

Christopher blurted out a startled curse and Night slapped a hand to her mouth to muffle a small shriek of surprise.

"What happened? Where'd she go?" Night asked no one in particular, looking around the bar. Portia was nowhere to be seen.

Now that the initial startled adrenaline rush was fading, Christopher was starting to use his head. He stood up and cautiously poked at the empty air occupying Portia's chair.

"Well, she's not invisible. The chair didn't move, so she couldn't have gotten up and she isn't in the chair now."

"Maybe's she also intangible?" Night suggested.

Christopher shrugged and returned to his seat.

"It's possible, I guess. She'll show up when she decides she's made her point."

Night fidgeted with her mug nervously. She flapped at a bug that buzzed around the mug and watched in horror as the fumes coming off the mug caused the bug to fall out of the air, quite dead.

"I'm not drinking this stuff," she said, pushing it away with a shudder.

Christopher turned in his seat to look at the bar's entrance as the door crashed open.

"Look who's here," he said dryly.

Striding into the bar with a bit of a smug smirk on her face was the previously missing Portia. She stopped at the bar to order a fresh mug of whatever the bar's swillish house specialty was and returned to her table.

"Very nice," Christopher commented. "Teleporter?"

"You got it," Portia replied, looking even smugger, if that were possible.

I was afraid of this.... the Darkling mentally replied to Mark before other thoughts sidetracked Neal. Karl isn't one to simply make friends with people simply to make friends with them. If he knew this Gwen character, then you really would not want her coming here.... for any reason. Neal added as he looked down at the young, sobbing vamp.

Mark replied I see your point, Neal... Gwen was a very evil like personality... She and Karl faced off against the cops then he thought to Will We will find them, don't worry

Brand sent a spout of fire and steam after Malachi, he could take it from his rider, but not from a run of the mill mage. Then he turned his head to the coven vamps and licked his chomps before turning and walking away.

Malachi raised his hand and the water vapor that formed the steam crystallized and turned to ice. The air in the clearing grew noticeably warmer as the mage shifted the heat from the water to the air. As for the fire, it was drawn to Malachi's hand and vanished.

"Attacking a Fire Mage with heat and flame? That's ... original," Malachi commented dryly and stepped inside the chapel.

His blond brows bent slightly over his eyes as he continued his tracing, but other than that the dignitary did not show any interest while Cotton defended himself with the same old excuse. Again he was disappointed; for he had hoped that this bounty hunter would be more original than to do that, but he was beginning to think it was code amongst bounty hunters to claim the neutral money line. Smart, he supposed, but really a dull experience.

Anything else other than this vindication the dignitary was not listening to anymore, as he could tell where this was going, and with a sigh he waited with some patience for Cotton to finish. There was a look of lost contemplation on his face as the speech got personal, but when Cotton ended with "one more reason for me to do whatever you want me to do without question" he perked up, strangely like an animated puppy that was offered a bone.

"Really?" he asked, his accent striking with genuine appeal to the notion. He took a moment to think about that, standing and muttering his musings softly under the shelter of his bowed face. It took him all off ten seconds to come to a conclusion, and with the same speed he slipped his hand into his jacket and retrieved a leather planner.

"All right," he said, regarding Cotton now, as he opened the little book, ripped a sheet off the spiral binder, and set the page down on the table, "without any questions then, give me a list of all the Unnaturals at the camp." Looking at him squarely, as if looking for a shadow of a doubt within him, the dignitary held out a gold pen towards him. "And I will give you $50,000."

~~~~~~

Fanny's tense muscles began to relax as the—creature began to explain. Although none of what he said made any sense to her, she was curious by the contradictions he made against her voiced observations.

"Unnatural?" she murmured the word, wondering why it was used in a title form. "I don't understand. Wha-what is that?"

Basil gave a slight, startled yell as the ferret bit his foot. He was lucky his boots were thick, but the p***k was nonetheless an annoyance. "Darn rodent," he muttered, kicking his foot and subsequently dodging three of Steel's shots.

He fired his blaster indiscriminately, backing towards the cover of the counter. If they didn't end this soon the police would undoubtedly be called. However slow their responses had been since the headquarters had been destroyed, Basil knew they would still be displeased to find the building in shambles...even if he had a captured fugitive to show for it.

---

"I'm not really allowed to arrest people at the moment," Kanti answered, slightly amused by Thomas's reticence to say anything incriminating. "Though officially- it's probably better not to go seeking out Unnaturals, especially by yourself."

She knew a rebuttal would come swiftly but continued on, glancing around the place they'd found themselves in, "I've come to help. Well as much as I can help without Ms. Scope catching on. She doesn't want me doing anything but paperwork until they decide if I'm a genuine threat."

---

Cyrano shrugged back at Melanie, but his eyes narrowed slightly, "Could be. I hate to just go around reading everyone's emails...but it seems like the only way. Go ahead and check that account Ian."

---

Eslatar was lurking. He knew it wasn't safe to be here of all places. It'd been only a day since he'd been cast out by Pepper and now he was already stalking the old haunts where they'd all once been friendly. The animal side of him didn't understand why he must stand next to the ruins of the moldering building but there was a strong draw that kept him there in the alley nonetheless.

He swept back his hood, looking out from the shadows like a sentinel. There were these moments occasionally. Twinges from a life disappeared. Eslatar couldn't manage to hold onto them long. Even now the recollections turned into faint outlines and then vanished like vapor. His regal features tightened and the taste of bitter venom filled his mouth.

Why was he standing here next to a ruined building when there was warm blood so near? The animal couldn't remember. Sniffing, he turned his head and looked out on the busier sector of town. Replacing his hood with a slow, feral smile, Eslatar the monster walked out from the alley, kicking at the broken remnant of a sign as he passed.

nd Tears

---

Cotton was caught on the edge of decision. He glanced between the two others in the room and then between the pen and the gun.

"Alright," he said quickly, "But-"

"Nothing else but 'yes' suffices here Raha," Ruth cut across him, pressing the gun close to his side again, "Decide now."

Cotton had been tempted to ask for a contract...or at least payment in advance, but he knew there was no chance with these two. It was now or never. Lowering his hands, he nodded and took a small step towards the outstretched pen.

Ruth watched as Cotton started to hurriedly scribble names on the list, one by one. She didn't know of how much use the names would be now that the dreadful Latch was involved, but at the very least it'd give them a clearer idea of what they were up against.

"Make sure to include their Unnatural classification," she said, green eyes flashing.

Cotton nodded, not pausing as he thought each scribble out. Sweat beaded on his forehead. Would they notice if some were missing? Was this all some sort of evil test to catch him trying to cover for the Unnaturals? He couldn't pause and think about it and continued listing the names.

Mr. T. (Terrance Trafilafilafigus: Shapeshifter, Eslatar: Vampire, Pepper: Zombie, Sat-

He scribbled the three letters out and began again, skipping his cousin's name altogether. This one little ounce of bravery he could manage. After nearly ten minutes, the bounty hunter looked up and slid the list over to the intimidating man sitting across from him. Folding his hands, he waited, glancing over at Ruth and freezing.

Ruth offered Cotton a slight smile, enjoying the look of surprise the double-crosser wore as he saw she too was not opposed to deception. The gun now pointed at his head attested to that. "Thank you for your contribution Cotton."

"But the fifty-" his panicked voice rose.

There was a gunshot.

"Shame about the carpet," Ruth said, stepping over the slouched body of the bounty hunter to look at the blood dripping down onto the floor.

---

Talullah really couldn't care less about the sobbing vampire, though she did wonder if any of her toys ever cared for her like this one obviously did for Gwen. The answer didn't comfort her. Smoothing her features, she looked over at Neal, unaware his question had already been answered.

"Yes...though he wasn't one of us really," she answered, but didn't expand.

Wystan wasn't sure there was much point in staying if Eslatar was not to be found here...but at least he had the start of a trail to report to Margaret.

Mr. T. reappeared among them with a glance up at Zaref and Selena. "You two should go get dressed," he offered. "No worries then, I'll see to our guests."

Zaref was slightly relieved that Terrance would keep an eye on the two vampires but it was with reluctance that he looked at Selena to suggest they do as the kitten had said. "It is almost time."

---

Satin looked over as Malachi entered the candlelit chapel. "Oh- I forgot you'd offered to help. Sorry, the vamps had me distracted." She sighed slightly and looked around at the concoction she was creating on the makeshift table (a plank over two aisles).

"You could help me chop the garlic if you don't mind the smell. It's my special recipe for high-strung vampires."

Pepper smirked slightly at the comment, her grasp on sarcasm just strong enough to catch Satin's humor. Wordlessly she left the main part of the chapel to go throw away the dusty rags she'd been cleaning with earlier.

---

Curse smiled at the sudden gift, "Don't worry," she offered Caerwyn, "We're going to a wedding. Of course I'll be happy," she concluded with a smile.

It wasn't long before they ended their walk on the edge of the Unnatural camp. Latch's men had long since learned to recognize the boy and young woman who came so often.

---

"Where have you been living?" Udi asked amazed and then realized he was talking to someone burrowed in a tree. Regaining his patience, the Satyr tried to think of how best to explain this. "Well...Naturals are humans eh? So Unnaturals are anyone not quite human. There's vampires, werewolves, elves, Mrina, naiads and dryads, Satyrs like me...and whatever else sort of creature that doesn't fit in with the normal human stereotype. Some are just called Unnatural because they got a strange ability no one can explain. It's all down to humans being scared of anything being more powerful than themselves really."

---

"Good," Naomi offered to Indigo and then looked to Josh, listening to what his brother might be able to do. She didn't volunteer that she was unsure why Josh had come at all if he thought so little of his own capability.

Later on that night, Naomi had caught a deer in the forest and was in the midst of preparing it for all of them. It would be one thing to hunt as a werewolf and eat but she felt it'd be rude not to eat food suitable to Josh. Besides that, the silence was getting to her. Things were awkward with Indigo's silence, her lack of conversation starters and Josh's musings. At least in the pack, dinner usually temporarily served as a truce time. She hoped it'd be the same with their small group.

---

Lark had expected something different when the technicians had come in again to take her. There was no struggling, Savage's ridiculous collar had made sure of that. She walked silently between the two men. Instead of going to the lab, however, she soon found herself crossing the lawn between the labs and the Manor house where Savage and his family (presumably) lived. Her heart beat loud in her ears as she glanced around subtly. Brick had told her of Indigo's message. It seemed like it'd be a good time to get a grasp on the lay of the land.

---

Dellan leaned over Sparrow with a concerned look, worry grasping at his vocal cords. He blinked and watched as the sparks appeared, and he hoped that soon she'd open her eyes. The idea of her using so much energy on him gave him a feeling of guilt, an emotion he hadn't experienced in a long time.

---

Darileen woke suddenly with an intake of breath that sounded loud in her ears. She quieted her panic and listened to her senses, trying to discover where she was. One moment she had been walking through the woods and the next...black. There was nothing to remember, just the same empty darkness that she saw now through sightless eyes. They must have taken them by surprise.

She was lying on a metal surface, chained by her hands and ankles to the thin bunk. Her gloved hand pushed fingers over the empty edge of one side and the other pushed up against the rougher, metallic material of a wall. They were moving, swaying more like and the motion reminded Darileen of sensations she hadn't encountered since she was a young girl. They were on a boat undoubtedly, though heading where and with whom she had no idea.

Was Victor here? Somewhere? Darileen had just remembered him with a mental lurch. The thought of being utterly alone made her feel sick. He had been with her so long...whether wanted or not, that the idea they'd been separated was oddly frustrating. A nobler person would hope he was safe, somewhere far from this new imprisonment, but the Mrina could only think that despite how selfish it sounded, she wanted him here. Now.

Thoughts were lost as the boat gave a lurching, cranking sound and slowly stopped, only to regain new motion as it bobbed up and down on the waves of whatever body of water they traveled. They had stopped and there were noises now from below as stirring passengers groaned and clanked their own chains. Above, muffled shouts and stomps gave evidence of a crew somewhere, getting ready to disembark.

Darileen's gloved fingers curled into a fist.