Jared started to get chills as he led them down the path 
into the coniferous forest where he'd found Brittany.  This 
was exploration; their purpose was to explore.  Yet, he 
almost felt as if they were rubbing salt into his wounds by 
bringing him back here.

 Only Brittany knows, his mind whispered.  Only she knows 
what an ass you made of yourself back there, losing every 
ounce of control you possessed......

 SHUTUP!! some stronger part of his mind bellowed.  Yet the 
reminder lurked there, laughing.

 Control, control yourself Jared!! he thought to himself, 
yet it wasn't working.  It seemed that this Island was 
slowing fraying the edges of his already ratted sanity.  His 
trances, his battle with the spider, his conflicting sets of 
memories.

 A dream of a beach and the three of us...clashed 
with...waking upon a cliff, no memory, nothing, just a black 
bag and a breeze in my hair.

 He really didn't know which one to believe.

 The path sloped into the swampier area with its willows and 
new trees different from those on the path two steps away 
showed.  They were right..this island doesn't believe in 
gradual changes, Jared thought with a grin.

 He drew his sword automatically.  He could hear Mike follow 
suit, and felt Brittany tense behind him.  Brighty, though, 
seemed to eminate more confusion than anything else.

 Ahh, the innocent, he thought almost lovingly.  He was 
taking a kind of shine to the little bear--if he hadn't 
reminded him so much of an altar boy/angel with a heart of 
gold.  Those types could rub him raw if they tried not to--
and of course, Brighty was trying not to.

 "It was further up," Brittany intoned gently.  

 "I know," Jared replied more tightly than he wanted to.  

 "Wait...I think I know..." Brighty said, his voice passing 
from its hyper nasal tone to a sort of dreamy nasal tone.  
His eyes flickered from open to shut twice, and then he 
moved in front of them, making tracks in the hard path.

 "Brighty!" Mike said, but Jared put up a hand to stop him.
 
 "Mike, wait," he said softly. "If the bear knows something 
we don't, it's best to let him take it his own way."

 "He's a raccoon, Jared.  And he's also defenseless and 
going to get himself killed!" Mike burst back, going through 
his hand as if it was just the air around him.

 "This has been a bad year," Brittany intoned softly to him 
as she passed, following Mike in her imitation long stride.

 "Worse than you think," he murmured to her flouncing hair.

 Still, he followed the two, letting his thoughts wander in 
intelligent circles around those unanswerable questions he 
loved to pick apart.  It was a way for his mind to rest, to 
recuperate in the face of mental stress. And this day had 
been full of it.  

 "JARED!!" 

 The voice was Brittany's; the tone was high and urgent, not 
really in danger.  Yet he ran, ran to help them.
 
 He found them a hundred yards away, standing in front of a 
giant skeleton.  "What is it?" he asked quickly, sword 
forward, point shining.

 "We don't know, Jared," Mike said impatiently, his sword 
poking the jointed bones.  Something in his mind clicked 
then, and he pushed his way through whatever lay in his way 
to stand in front of it.  Only his eye could see them, 
identify them, and understand them.

 "It looks like it was mutilated," he heard Mike say.

 "It was," replied a numb Brittany.

 "It was," echoed Jared.  The sword marks were so obvious, 
so very obvious to him--the hacking, clean motion through 
the limbs, the way they were arranged.  He walked around the 
body, noting the marks and cringing; his rage had been 
insane.
 
 "The spider," he said, coming around and meeting Brittany's 
eyes.

 "The spider," she said with a nod.

 "What are....the spider from the woods?  Did you kill it?" 
Mike asked.

 "You killed this spider, Jared?" Brighty asked.

 "Don't you ever listen, little bear?  Yes, I killed this 
spider.  I hacked it to PIECES!" he said, voice hard and 
emotionless, his sword arm swinging to finally chop off a 
hanging piece of leg.

 SCRANNNNNNNN!!!! seemed to whistle on the wind just then, 
and they--Britt and Jared--both winced.

 "What are you wincing for?  He killed it?" Mike asked, 
rounding on her.

 "I...I just felt it, what he felt," she retorted.  "I was 
there, and I saw it.  It's worth wincing at."

 "IT'S MAGIC!" 

 The three turned from their cornered argument and looking 
at Brighty.  His hand was on the leg, eyes closed, and all 
the fur on his body stood on end. 

 "It's a magical creation," he whispered.  "Trying to feed, 
to survive..." His bright eyes suddenly turned to pierce 
Jared.  "Trying to get someone's attention."

 "What do you mean, Brighty?" Brittany asked.

 "This creature was created as this.  It's not some beast 
that populates this forest--it was a spider blown to these 
proportions," he replied, his voice a crystal clear murmur, 
toned over with mystical implications.

 "This was created?" Jared said.

 "Don't you ever listen, Jared?  That's what he just said!" 
Mike yelled.

 "No, Mike, you DON'T GET IT!!" Jared yelled.  "If this was 
a created spider, WHERE'S ITS CREATOR?"

 Silence wheezed through the forest.

 "Guys, don't think me a coward," Brittany said, "but this 
is just too damn spooky and I think we should leave.  Now."

 "I second," Jared added quickly.  Brighty nodded as well, 
his hand off the spider's leg, but still under its scant 
influence.

 "Let's go then," Mike replied.  The others scurried in 
front of him, running up the trail and back into the real 
woods.  Mike walked slower, sword in hand; just before he 
reached the edge, he turned and snarled at the forest, "I'll 
be back for you."  He then proceeded up the hill, following 
his friends.

 And if he'd stayed a little--five seconds--longer, he 
would've heard the ghostly reply, "I know you will."

*	*	*	*
 "So, Brighty....what do Care Bears do in their free time?" 
Brittany asked as she poked the fire.

 "Free time?  Oh, we have parties and celebrations.  
Usually, though, I don't go," replied the little raccoon.

 "Why?" Brittany asked.

 "Because I'm the mechanic of Care-A-Lot, and there's so 
much stuff to fix.  And then there's always new inventions; 
I have scores of new inventions! I brought some with me, 
too," he said, motioning to the Black Bag.

 Brittany nodded, half-listening, half-eating.  It's been 
ten minutes since the boys had trekked into the woods in 
search of food; it'd been about two minutes since the soup 
and sandwiches had mysteriously appeared next to the fire.  
It was really creepy to watch the food appear from thin air; 
it was even worse to find your name on it.  But that's what 
had happened, and Brittany had ended up with a turkey 
sandwich (lots of mayo) and Ham N'Bean soup.  Brighty had 
ended up with grilled cheese and tomato soup, a meal he'd 
never had before, but pleasantly enjoyed.

 Brittany looked around again, wishing for the guys to come 
back.  The raccoon was cute and all, and she was still 
adjusting to the fact that he could walk and talk without 
puppet strings.  But, he was also overly naive and WAY TOO 
nice.  She wondered how she could explain getting sick when 
the food was all good; maybe she'd pass it off as a feminine 
ailment and leave it at that.  Guys never suspected feminine 
ailments were just covers, and that's how it should be.  She 
also was a tad worried about them; they'd not been on the 
friendliest of terms this afternoon.

 Brighty glanced around a little as he bit into his 
sandwich, wishing for the presence of the gentlemen, 
especially Mike.  Not that he didn't like Brittany or her 
company, but he felt strangely uncomfortable around her.  
Maybe it was the way she looked at him with that scientific, 
appraising, creepy look in her eyes.    

 "Really?" she finally replied.  "What kind of stuff did you 
invent?"

 "Oh, lots of things.  However, my best stuff was the Care-
O-Meters.  I've improved them so much!" he said, the pride 
in his work tumbling over and over in his voice.  "Would you 
like to see one?"

 "Sure," she added, and as he reached into his black bag, a 
sudden chirping went off.  Surprised, she looked around; he 
merely pulled out a rectangular object that looked like a 
beeper.  

 "They're coming back!" he crowed.

 "Umh," she replied, looking at her food.  Now the time 
estimate of them being in the woods was about fifteen 
minutes, closer to twenty when they finally showed up.  She 
considered what they'd do when they found food here, and the 
thought was NOT pretty.  Quickly, she shook it off.

 On the other hand, Brighty was ecstatic.   he thought as he watched the 
two blips on the beeper.  Five minutes later, as Brittany 
had foretold in her mind, they appeared in the light of the 
campfire.  Brighty excitedly jumped up, almost spilling all 
the soup out of the bowl and into the fire, and ran to hug 
them.  She watched with a slight grin as Mike accepted 
gracefully while Jared was a little more shy about it.  When 
they came closer, she saw that they looked weary, and were 
covered almost head to toe in dust.  
It was harder to stifle her giggle now, but she managed to 
do it by taking another bite of her sandwich.

 Again, as predicted, they weren't happy about the food.

 "WHAT!?" Mike yelled as Jared's face sagged.  "Where did 
this come from?"

 Brittany shrugged, chewing; Brighty replied, "It came out 
of nowhere, and it tastes great!"  A pause, then, "Jared, 
have you ever had tomato soup?  It's great!"

 "Uh, yeah, BrightHeart," he said as he sat wearily next to 
Brittany.  Looking at her, he asked, "You couldn't have come 
after us?  It was like summer camp hell in there."

 "I said I would take care of you."

 The voice came from the fire, and all three stared at it, 
amazed.  Mike was the first to address it.  "What the hell 
was that?" he asked.

 Apparently, the figure wasn't one to beat around the bush.  
The fire suddenly dimmed, then sparked, the flames shooting 
up to become a Unisex human figure.  Jared's eyes sparked, 
and he let out a small gasp, instantly recognizing the 
figure.  The others, however, could only stare strangely at 
it.  It stared back at them, satisfied to have their 
attention, and announced, "I told you before, silly humans, 
that I would take care of you.  You need not rely on 
yourselves anymore."  It shook its head like a parent 
disapproving of a child, then thrust out it's arm.  Everyone 
jumped in their own way, but nothing happened for a few 
moments.  Then, two other dishes appeared in a flicker of 
red, along with three sleeping bags, each a neutral green 
color.  The fire roared once again, and the figure vanished.

 "What was that?" Brittany finally gasped out. 

 "Never mind that," Jared snapped, voice ranging out of 
neutral to become harsh.  It startled them, and he shook his 
head.  "It was...nothing.  I think we have more things to 
worry about then that."

 "Such as?" Mike asked.

 "Three sleeping bags, four people," he replied, a grin 
coming to his face.

 That stopped them, and for the next few minutes everyone 
made eye contact with everyone else, trying to see who would 
be the first to suggest something.  Ultimately, and a little 
surprisingly, it was Brighty who piped up with, "I'll sleep 
with Brittany."

 Mike paled literally; Jared's face shone with a quirky 
grin.  Brittany blushed, but straightened to graceful 
acceptance with a, "Okay, BrightHeart.  How?"

 He hopped off the log, and strode over to the triangular 
arrangement of sleeping bags.  Quickly, he hopped on one of 
the legs, and walked to the head.  "I'm sure you've slept 
with stuffed creatures before," he said.

 "Just not living ones," she replied.

 He curled into a tiny ball, and suddenly, a minature 
Brighty was there.  All three gaped, and a normal Brighty 
laugh issued from the creature.  "Like this," he chirped.

 Brittany shrugged, and placed her discarded dishes near the 
fire, which used a tendril of red to lick them up.  She 
didn't see; Jared and Mike did, and gaped accordingly.  
However, Mike placed his down, testing it; it did 
accordingly.  Brittany had slipped into her sleeping bag and 
Brighy had curled up with her softly; Mike was fiddling with 
the zipper.  Jared stood, deposited his dishes--still 
marveling at the sight of the fire eating them--and stepped 
over the corner between Mike's and Brittany's feet.  His 
path cut through the triangle in a shark-like straight line 
toward his bag, and he was zipped and inside in seconds.  
Mike finally managed to zip it up, but his eyes, before 
closing, checked his friends faces.  Jared was shaded, the 
sparks from the fire not quite reaching his face; still, he 
seemed comfortable, if not at peace.  Bright was buried into 
Brittany's neck, and she had a pleasant expression on her 
face.  Now he turned to the fire, and stared at it from the 
depths of his bag, blue eyes contacted by the deep black 
pits inside it.  Not that he could see them; however, they 
smiled at him, and inside his mind drowsiness dripped 
through the telepathic IV, sending him into a darkened 
sleep.

    Source: geocities.com/soho/gallery/8281

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