I can't help feeling a sense of deja vu as I swat a branch out of my face.

It's a few hours later, and now we are back in the jungle, a couple of miles between us and the Darklings territory headquarters.

Peter marches in the front, map in hands as he tries to read it. I'm honestly not feeling that confident in his direction skills, especially since we have had to turn over the map so it's not backwards multiple times. How does he even manage to turn the map on its wrong side so many times?

Becky and Max hike behind him, or should I just say Becky, since Max in tiny blue monkey form lounges on her shoulder, grabbing passing leaves and chewing on them. I roll my eyes at his antics, surprised Becky has even let him remain lazily relaxed on her shoulder this long.

I'm the last person to take up the rear of the group. Person, as in a certain Shadow man who doesn't quite count as a person lurks behind me, constantly on my heels like a good watchdog.

I curse Lager in my head, remembering a few minutes before we left how End had appeared out of nowhere, silent as a wraith.

"Watch over her." Lager had said, a tiny, knowing smirk on his face. End gave one, stiff nod, and ever since he's been my shadow. Literally and figuratively.

I don't want to admit it, but it's also a little comforting having someone at your back. It means I don't have to look over my shoulder every few seconds to see if a Lyncher has caught scent of us. Lager did assure us that the Darkling Lynchers wouldn't bother us, since they listen to him and guard Darkling land against intruders, not people leaving, but I am still cautious.

Deciding that the buzz and humidity of the jungle might very well kill me, I decide to strike up a conversation.

"Soooooo End, how do you know Lager?" I ask, looking behind me. End just looks at stares at me. Yeah, probably not the best idea to start off a conversation with a speechless shadow.

I sigh, but then perk up when I spot Becky only a few yards ahead. I pick up my pace and am soon only a few feet behind her and Max.

"Hey guys." I say excitedly. "Is this humidity terrible or what?" I nearly wince at my terrible conversational skills.

Max, the monkey, cracks one eye open, giving me a smirk, before letting it fall shut as he goes back to dozing, bustling closer to the curve between Becky's shoulder and her neck. I clench my fists to keep myself from pushing him off. I mean, seriously, can monkeys even smirk? Well, I guess they can, since I just saw one do it for myself.

Becky, thankfully, doesn't leave me hanging in awkward silence and glances over her empty shoulder at me, giving me an inquisitive look.

"You've been on Dalton fo Mr this long and you're still not used to the humidity? Pathetic." She rolls her eyes.

I open my mouth to defend myself, but let it fall shut at the last word she spoke, my shoulders slumping. All I wanted was to socialize.

To make things better I'm too busy looking st the ground, ashamed, to notice another branch in front of me, hitting me in the face. From there I stumble back a step, only to slip on mud.

I close my eyes, preparing for the impact of my bottom hitting the ground, but it doesn't happen. Instead, really cliche like, End is behind me, arms underneath my armpits as he holds me up.

I marvel at the solidness of his form, still not used to how he can switch back and forth at the snap of his fingers, before scrambling up and away.

"Thanks," I mutter, and End nods. I guess having a constant shadow is good for something.

For the next few minutes we continue walking in utter silence, nothing but the buzz of insects and humidity to keep us company.

Some point along the way Becky gets tired of Max's antics and shoves him off her shoulder. He yelps, tumbling down and landing in the mud as Becky keep walking.

Sometimes it surprises me how heartless she can be.

Moving past Max, my eyes briefly connect with his bright blue ones, and this time it's my turn to smirk.

He growls at me, but in monkey form it doesn't come out as threatening at all. I thought I could be cold hearted like Becky, and just continue walking past him after my dramatic smirk, but I can't find it in my hear to. Max after all is just a boy who keeps getting rejection after rejection from his crush.

So I swoop down and hold my hands out for Max to inn into, which he does. I turn to ask End if he has a towel, but he's already handing me a small cloth he pulled from his bag.

I wipe Max off and let him climb onto my shoulder.

"Just don't snuggle like you did with Becky." I warn him, and he snorts.

As if, He seems to be saying. No way would I snuggle with you. You're not Becky.

I sigh before jogging to catch up with the others.

From there time passes by in a blur of humidity, green leaves, and even more silence, followed by righting the map every time Peter turns it in the wrong direction again.

I have almost given up hope that we are anywhere near our intended destination when End tugs at my sleeve. I swat his hand away, but my hand just goes right through his. Turning his hand solid again, He tugs my sleeve insistently.

"What?" I snap, looking over at him.

He puts a finger to his mouth, telling me to be quiet, and then putting his hands up and cupping his ears, showing that he's listening.

I stop walking, following End's advice and listening. And that's when I hear it. The faint roar of water. My eyes widen as I realize what this means.

"Peter!" I yell, nearly tripping again as I stumble ahead of Becky and Max, coming to a halt besides Peter, who looks up from the map.

"What?" He asks, confused.

"Listen." I say excitedly, putting a finger to my lips in a gesture to be quiet. The whole group quiets, and we all listen to the sound of near water.

"No way." Becky says in surprise, and I nod, snatching the map from Peter.

"There." I say, my finger stabbing the page at the waterfall that was very close to the cave where my dad is. Folding the map up, I start off in a quick pave towards the direction the water sound is coming from, the others keeping up with me.

"I can't believe we actually made it to the right place with Peter as our guide." Becky comments, making Max the monkey snort.

"Hey!" Peter exclaims, frowning and pouting.

I roll my eyes, and then sigh as End takes his usual position right on my trail. I bet if he turned his feet solid they would scrape my heels every time.

After a minute passes the noise has grown louder and now is so loud it's most likely right up ahead where there's a gap in the trees and sunlight streams through.

We all share a glance, before breaking into a sprint.

I laugh, pumping my legs as Max climbs onto my back, wrapping his arms around my neck lightly to hang on. We break through the trees, and I come to a stop, End nearly crashing right into me but stopping at the last second.

Would he crash into me? Or go straight through? Would it feel like a ghost passing through a person? I involuntarily shiver at the thought.

I focus my thoughts on the view.

A beautiful waterfall flows down from a large cliff that's miles above us, the roar of the water hitting the bottom drowning out most of the jungle noise. It sparkles in the sun, and a faint rainbow can be seen if your really pay attention. Jagged rocks line the bottom, and a large lake of water surrounds the waterfall, before flowing into the jungle in the form of a river.

"Beautiful." I murmur.

Peter releases a sound of agreement from beside me, eyes trained on the beautiful sight.

"Meh. There's better views on Dalton." Becky says, ruining the moment.

Peter and I both glare at her, ad she gives us a flat look back. Finally, I sigh, shouldering my pack and taking a step forward excitedly.

"Let's take a quick stop here for water. My dad should only be less than a mile away now, so let's hurry."

I unsling my backpack from over my shoulder, digging around in it and pulling out my water canteen, which had slowly emptied itself over the course of our hike when I had drank from it. I unscrew the cap, stepping up to the clear Crystal lake and filling it with water.

"Do you know if this water is safe to drink?" I ask Becky, realising right before I raised the canteen to my lips that it might be contaminated.

Suddenly Max lets out a small monkey shriek of excitement, climbing down my shoulder and darting off into the jungle. I stare after him in confusion, waiting as a bright light flashes from somewhere in the trees.

A few seconds later Max strolls out from the trees, wearing his usual outfit of shorts and no shirt. There are a few mud splatters on his chest and in his hair from earlier, but he's mostly clean.

"I can tell whether the water is pure or not." He declares, striding towards us. "Lightling healing magic and all that stuff." He says, wiggling his fingers with a small smile on his face while Becky rolls her eyes.

He grabs my canteen, holding it tightly in both hands and screwing his eyes shut in concentration. There's no glow to signify he's using any power like there is when he's healing, but after a moment he opens his eyes, smiling widely.

"It's drinkable." He says, proud.

I don't wait any longer a gulp a few sips, surprised at the refreshing coolness of it. Also surprisingly, End gets out his own canteen, filling it and taking a few small steps.

I shake my head, watching him in perplexion.

There are so many things I don't know about shadows. I mean, I had no idea they need to drink. The more you know, I guess.

A small smile fins my lips, a giddy feeling overtaking me as I survey the group. We are about to find my dad, and then soon my friends, my dad, and I will also be together, protecting each other's backs on this dangerous island.

You're forgetting two very important people, my self conscious whispers. A sudden pang of sadness flies through me at the thought. That's right, I almost forgot in my excitement.

Lager and Zero.

They are the last two people of the group, but one is a busy High Commander who won't leave his people, and the other is also a High Commander, but one who abandoned me to deal with the truth about the reason behind my impending death.

My head throne suddenly, the sign of an up-coming headache.

I just need to stop thinking about Zero, and then it will go away. I distract my focus instead back to Max and Becky who are bickering, End watching me carefully like he's been doing.

But the headache gets worse, and fear creeps up my spine.

The headache is the effect of Zero, but he's not speaking in my head right now, and I don't think thoughts about him trigger the headache since they haven't before, so that only leaves one option.........he's near.

My head snaps up, only to see a lone figure at the other side of the lake, half of their body hidden by the waterfall and in the trees.

End notices something is wrong and looks to where I'm staring, frozen in shock. End immediately tears, stepping in front of me and releasing the first noise I've ever heard him make, an inhuman growl.

The figure steps out from the trees and waterfall, silver eyes connecting with mine over End's shoulder immediately even across all the distance.

Zero is back.

Dear readers, I'm so sorry for the late update. I hope you enjoyed! This chapter is a bit of a useless filler chapter, hut it does include End and Ashley scenes along with Becky and Max. NOTICE: I need your opinion. I'm thinking about writing a short romantic sorry for Christmas and I wanted to know what you guys think about it. I'm really excited for it! Vote, comment, and come up with ship names for Becky and Max.

Lots of love,

Dangeroustoken