Here we go, another chapter! A little short, but I wanted to post something, you know? I'm starting my time at a new college on Tuesday, so posting for all of my stories will probably slow to some degree. Alrighty; enjoy!

Fone Bone had hoped he would dream. He had hoped that answers would come in the night in the form of the Great Red Dragon explaining to him what was wrong. Or, at least, give him some half riddled answer. That would have been something to work with. But, as he had slipped into slumber, the Bone knew immediately that he would be having no such experience. His sleep was dark and dreamless, and he was consciously aware of it. He felt lost and empty, and if he did, in fact, call out, even if it was in his mind, there was no answer. Just darkness and silence. Terrible silence.

A shaking finally broke through to him, and Fone Bone opened his eyes with a groan. He blinked, clearing the sticky tiredness from his eyes before he looked up to see who had awoken him.

Smiley sat crouched by his side, looking very apologetic. Even in the dim light of early morning, Fone could see the dark circles beneath his cousin's eyes, and that was worrying.

"It's daybreak, Fone Bone," the taller informed in a whisper. Sunlight, pale and darkened by the continually grey clouds made that fact disputable. "We should get a move on before more trouble finds us."

"M'key..." Fone pushed himself up, stiff from sleeping on the floor. He twisted his spine, disappointed when it didn't help loosen him up. "Let's wake Lathan and Phoney."

"Phoney's already up.''

Fone Bone blinked, finally coming to full attention. He took a quick glance around himself, seeing that, indeed, Phoney's bed was empty. But he was also nowhere in sight. He felt a prickly of worry run down his spine. "Then...where is he?"

"Outside."

"Outside?!"

Lathan moaned, rolling over, and Fone lowered his voice, despite the fact that they would be waking up their companion in a moment anyway. Might as well let him sleep as long as he could, especially after what had happened the night before.

Smiley held out a soothing hand, pushing slightly to keep Fone Bone from making too big of a scene. "It's alright. I'm watching him."

Fone Bone realized that was true. His taller cousin was indeed crouched at his side, but only now did Fone notice what an odd angle he was leaning. Fone followed Smiley's gaze to the closest window, which was now open. Smiley answered his question before he even asked it.

"I can see him from here. He's fine."

Fone gave a final groan as he made it to his feet, taking a glance toward the outside world himself. He dusted himself off, a scowl of worry and frustration ghosting across his face. "But the rat creatures could come back," he hissed. "What's he even doing out there?"

Smiley looked uncomfortable. He started heading over to Lathan, gripping gentle hold of the fellow's shoulder, preparing to shake him awake as well. "Visiting someone," was all he said.

"Visiting som-" Fone Bone broke off, a look of surprise now replacing his expression. His gaze shifted back to the window with a snap, a hazed sense of understanding settling in his mind. "Oh."

He really hadn't been expecting that. In fact, with a weak sense of shame, Fone realized he had nearly forgotten.

"I'll go get him if you want," Smiley offered quietly, rolling Lathan back and forth under his hold as the smaller Bone groaned and tried to push him away in his sleep.

Fone Bone shook his head. "No...No, I'll go."

Smiley nodded, turning his full attention to Lathan. A few more shakes, maybe a little more insistent, would probably do the trick. Fone didn't wait around to see. Bracing himself, he walked over to the door, opened it, and stepped out into the farmyard.

It was a lot colder than he would have expected it to be. Inside, the pitiful fire they had managed had kept the chill out, but outside, in the dampness of the morning, he could even see his breath. Dew, freezing and wet against his feet, made him inhale sharply, his senses already on high alert. His eyes tracked the forest line, easing over every bush and tree trunk, ready to spring to action should he see anything of danger. But there was nothing.

Nothing but Phoncible P. Bone standing stock still on the far side of the yard, over by the trees. A little close to the forest for Fone's liking, but obviously not in immediate danger. Fone would have liked to have chided his cousin for his recklessness, but, as he neared, the expression on Phoney's face wiped that from his mind.

Fone came up behind him, slowly, eyes flitting between his cousin's back and the plot of ground Phoney was staring at. He stopped, standing there, trying to muster the courage before he finally spoke.

"It hasn't changed much, has it." It wasn't really a question; more a state of fact.

Phoney didn't startle, but only half turned so he could look his cousin in the eyes for a brief moment. Fone noticed that he too had dark circles under his eyes, and wondered if either of his cousins had gotten any sleep at all. "It's only been, like what? A year? Things don't really change all that much in a year."

"A year and a half," Fone corrected automatically, wincing at his own words. He wasn't trying to sound particular. But it really had been a year and a half; he had counted every day. He had missed Thorn terribly at first, not eating or sleeping much. But, as time had passed, he had finally realized that they were back home, where they should be, and he had blocked off as much of the ache in his heart as he could. But he had still counted. Every day, hour, and minute.

Phoney sighed, rubbing at his arm uneasily, his gaze returning to the grassy indentation before them. "It still seems hard to believe we lost him," he commented softly. "I just assumed we'd all make it." The notion almost seemed silly now.

Fone Bone let his gaze fall to rest on the quiet grave. "I think we all did. But, that's the thing about real adventures verses the ones in stories. Happy endings aren't always...completely happy."

"Heh. I'd say ours so far hasn't been very happy at all."

Fone felt a twinge of concern for his cousin. Phoney sounded almost defeated. Which, in a way, was understandable. Of the three of them, Phoney had been hit the hardest by the ruthless taunts and degrading comments from both the media and the Council. He had seemed to stand pretty firm against them, but now, now that Fone was really looking, he realized maybe Phoney hadn't been taking it as well as he had thought.

"Maybe that's because we haven't reached the end of our adventure yet."

Phoney was quiet a moment, before he gave a low, quiet chuckle. He turned to face Fone Bone fully, his face a mix of pained amusement and helpless bitterness. "You always have some kind of hope, don't you?"

Fone blinked, before shrugging and glancing away. "Not always."

The smallest cousin's expression softened, gaze returning to the grave. "He never liked me," he stated bluntly. "And I never liked him." A hint of pain spread through his tone. "Then why did it hurt so bad when we lost him?"

"Maybe you didn't hate him as much as you thought," Fone tried. He sighed, reaching out to take Phoney by the hand, pulling him toward the farmhouse with a slight tug. "We should get back. It's not safe out here."

Phoney nodded slowly, giving the grave a final glance before allowing himself to follow Fone Bone's lead.

Behind them, a gentle breeze shifted the grass over the grave of Lucius Down. It was a quiet resting place, so hard to spot that no stranger would even know it was there. There was no marker or stone to indicate the spot. It wasn't made to declare his final stead. It was meant to be found by only those who had counted him a friend.

And, disputed or not, Phoney had always been the one to find it easiest.

Lathan threw the last of their supplies back into Fone Bone's satchel, as Smiley had directed him. He did so at the table, glancing out the window every few minutes, trying to guess what was going on between the two cousins outside. His natural, nosy nature wished that he could hear them, but the distance made that impossible. He resided to merely trying to read their body language, coming to the conclusion that Fone Bone seemed sympathetic and worried, while Phoney just seemed...unlike himself. But that was all he could determine from his place inside the house.

"They're coming," he informed Smiley, seeing that the two were again headed in their direction. He packed supplies with more vigor, pretending that he didn't care that they had been gone in the first place.

Smiley nodded, finishing rolling up the last of the blankets and strapping it carefully to Bartleby's back. "You sure you can take all this stuff, Bartleby?"

The rat creature gave his version of a reassuring smile. "Yes. It will be of no hindrance to me. You will need these blankets later. It is cold."

The door to the cottage opened, allowing Fone Bone to slip in with an unusually quiet Phoney following right behind. Fone closed the door, taking the satchel from Lathan's offering hand as he passed.

"We ready?"

"Just about." Smiley finished testing the pack on their rat creature friend's back. It seemed stable enough. "Is there anything else we should take with us?"

Fone took a quick glance around them. "I don't think so. Anything more would just slow us down." He remembered something, opening his satchel and pulling out five apples. "Here. This'll have to do for breakfast for now."

The others took it gratefully, Lathan wishing fervently that there was more, but thinking it wise to keep his thoughts to himself.

"We're gonna need water in our canteens," Fone continued, shaking the nearly empty containers. We'll do that at the well as we head out. Who knows where we'll find more again."

All their gear packed and fire doused, the Bones and Bartleby shimmed out the door and into the still cold air. Lathan shivered at the unexpected chill, grateful that they would have blankets later, thanks to Bartleby's strength and Smiley's ingenuity.

They made there way over to the well, Phoney and Fone Bone working quickly to fill the canteens, each member of their company taking a few sips before they finished. The caps were screwed on tight to prevent losing any on their way, and placed securely in Fone's satchel once more.

Lathan, as he followed their unspoken leader, matched Fone's pace, wanting to stay as sandwiched between all three cousins as possible. His gaze flitted around him, his mind trying not to think of the various creatures that might be staring back at him. He was deathly afraid of the rat creatures returning, and that feeling only grew the farther they got from the farmhouse. Their only safety now behind them.

"Hey, um, guys?" Lathan spoke up, uncertainly and in a voice little more than a whisper. "Where are we going now?" When they had arrived, he had understood that their objective had been to reach the farmhouse. But, now, he wasn't sure exactly where else there was to go in a place like this.

"As far as we need to to find someone," Fone answered, eyes straight ahead and focused on their path. They had entered the woods now, and his senses were on full alert. "We'll even go to Atheia if we have to. We have to know what happened here."

Lathan nodded, reading the hint of determination in Fone Bone's voice. He was quiet a moment, before he ventured to speak again. "You know...I'm kind of lost here. I...I don't really understand any of this."

That got Fone Bone's attention, and the expression he sent Lathan was borderline apologetic. "You really haven't heard anything of our adventures in the Valley?" he asked, almost sounding a little amused; like it was actually funny that he didn't know.

"Well, no. Of course I know something of it," Lathan defended insistently. "How could I not? You've been Boneville's main focus for the last year and a half." He paused. "It's just, what's up with this place? I thought that it-"

"That we were just making it all up," Phoney grumbled from behind him. And, as much as Lathan would have liked to deny it, the Bone was right.

"...Yeah."

Smiley, who was in the back of their procession with Bartleby, spoke up. "We can't really blame you for that," he said gently. "It's not like we had any proof. No pictures; no evidence. They said Bartleby didn't count because he could have come from anywhere." He shrugged. "Even when they sent a team in a helicopter out here, they couldn't find anything."

"The only reason we can come up with is that they either went in the wrong direction, or that there's some kind of magic that shields this place from being fond," Fone added distractedly.

Lathan's expression became unconvinced. "Magic?"

Fone chuckled. "That's how we used to feel. Believe me."

Lathan shrugged, looking back at their surroundings. The forest was thick, dark, and smelled very strongly of rotting vegetation. "What happened here, then? You guys described this place as beautiful and full of life?"

"That's what we want to find out. It used to be." Fone carefully stepped over a fallen log, holding out a hand to help the others do the same. "The thing about this Valley is that evil has tried to settle here in the past. More than once. Maybe it's trying again."

"Would that be the 'dark lord' you three mentioned in your interviews?" Lathan tried. Then he nearly ran into Fone Bone's back when the Bone came to a sudden halt. Fone turned around to face him, eyes filled with an emotion that Lathan couldn't quite read.

"Yes," was Fone's low answer. Almost like he was afraid to be heard. "We did our part to defeat him. We weren't the ones to give the final blow, but we helped. I..." His voice broke, and he had to swallow before continuing. "The Lord of the Locust was an enemy beyond anything you could ever find in a novel. Or movie. Or anything. He was...pure darkness, and hurt. We all saw what he was capable of, and when he was defeated, there was no better feeling then knowing that the terror he brought was gone...But..."

"But now you're not so sure he is gone," Lathan finally pieced together. He still wasn't sure how much of this 'dark lord' stuff he believed, but something bad was certainly in this place. And he was finding it harder and harder to take all of the Bone cousins' words as fantasy.

Fone nodded, turning back around and continuing onward. "Exactly."

They traveled on for quite a ways, the atmosphere and background changing very little. The smell of decaying plants was nauseating, to the point that Lathan kept gagging. Finally he opted to hold his hat over his nose, to keep himself from making the embarrassing noise any more than he had to.

Water, as they had expected, was rare. And when they did come across it, it was dirt and mucky, like the spring Lathan had fallen into the night before.

The journey was uneventful, which was both a blessing and a curse. While they were all very glad not to come across any foes in their travels, the quiet was eating at their nerves. Every snap of a twig or misstep on their part frayed them even more. Even Bartleby was on edge, his purple fur bristled.

It was close to noontime when they finally got a change of scenery. The forest gave way to yet another clearing, a bigger one than at Gran'ma's farm. It stretched out before them, opening out into a field that was just as sadly abandoned as everything else had been. But there was one thing of interest on its plane.

"Another farmhouse," Smiley pointed out from the cover of the trees. He pointed with a pale finger out into the distance, where a small house sat perched in the center of the field.

Lathan narrowed his eyes. "Do you think there's anyone home?"

"Doubt it," Phoney huffed.

"But there's no harm in looking," Fone added. He shouldered his satchel again and headed out into the field, his cousins, Bartleby, and Lathan following directly behind.

None of them noticed the pair of uncertain eyes that followed them in the shadows.

There we go! ;)