Nicole groggily opened her eyes and struggled to adjust to her surroundings. Through the gaps in the curtains, a beam of light shone on her face. Half awake, she fumbled with the blanket with her and sat up on the floor beside her bed, questioning what had occurred only moments before. Eventually, she realized what had happened. It was a nightmare, she thought. I must have rolled out of bed. A small part of her denied the possibility. She didn't remember falling asleep, and no matter how obscure the dream had been, it had felt real nevertheless. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the closet. No sound came from the other side of the door.

"Um... Liam?" Nicole sputtered, her thoughts drifting back to her dream. "You're still in there, right?" She held her breath.

A flat response came from the inside the closet. "Where else would I be?"

Nicole exhaled as she stood up. Everything's fine now, she told herself, walking over and unlocking the door. Liam immediately pushed it open, staring daggers at her with feline pupils. "I'm never sleeping in a closet again," he complained, before turning his attention to the rest of her room. "Did you fall out of your bed?" he asked, eyeing the sheet on the floor. "I heard a thumping sound." At his words, Nicole felt her cheeks heat up.

"Yeah," she admitted. He raised an eyebrow, only embarrassing her even more. "I had a . . . weird dream last night."

The mention of her dream seemed to bother him. "Was it a nightmare?" he questioned, his expression softening.

"I guess," answered Nicole, confused by his change in behavior. He chewed on his bottom lip, directing his gaze to the bed for no apparent reason.

"How severe was it?" he asked, his demeanor implying that his question was in no way unimportant. Briefly, Nicole went over the details of the vision in her mind.

"I don't think it was that bad, actually," she confessed. "It was just really creepy and unsettling, and the last part was kinda freaky."

Liam remained nonspeaking for a bit. "Oh," he eventually muttered, the tone of his voice sounding both relieved and bored at the same time. "I guess it's fine then." Quietly, he picked up his bag from inside the closet, his features once again mirroring his attitude. "In that case, I should get going soon."

"Just a second," Nicole said, quickly exiting her room and looking around. As expected, her parents had already left the house for work, but the distinct music coming from her older brother's room told her that he was still home. Surely he would kill her if he found another boy in the house. Thank goodness he hadn't already, as he was known for occasionally snooping around her bedroom. Nicole turned back to Liam and headed over to the window, opening it and motioning him towards it. "I don't want to take any chances. You can get out this way, right?" The frame itself was too small for a human to climb through without difficulty, but a cat could easily jump out from the bedside. Unhappy, but cooperative anyway, Liam did so, leaping onto the grass.

After cleaning herself up, Nicole joined him outside, where he shifted back into a human without anybody seeing him. "Can we go now?" he asked.

Nicole acceded. "Why wouldn't we?" The two made their way across the town, all the while exchanging information about their worlds. Most of the time, Nicole asked questions and Liam answered them. Though he was very vague through the conversation, he did hint at possibly coming from a rich family.

"So, why do you need this medallion anyway?" Nicole asked. It wasn't difficult to see that he wasn't fond of the question. He paused for a long while but continued to walk. ". . .You don't have to answer if you don't want to.

"Yeah, I'd rather not," he responded, kicking a pebble farther up the sidewalk. "Anyway, are we close yet?"

"Yup," she said, "Just another turn to the right and we'll be there."

Sure enough, as they turned, the two were greeted by large, vibrant trees, long grass, and tropical flowers. Unlike the other thickets surrounding the town, it's leaves appeared to shine, resembling the color of gemstones. Nobody had previously been able to explain how the greenery of the Emerald Forest became so remarkable. Now, Nicole at least had an idea of why that was the case.

Liam didn't seem fazed as he ran toward the rain forest, Nicole following close behind. They came to the dirt path leading into the jungle when he stopped, giving her a small smile that almost looked forced.

He's going to say goodbye, Nicole recognized. She, however, wasn't too keen on that.

"Thank you for your help," he told her. "Trust me when I say that your actions won't go to waste. You have my gratitude." Liam glanced at the path in front of him. "I should be going now." He took a step forward and started forward.

Of course, he had to stop when Nicole grabbed onto his wrist. "So, you expect me to leave you alone now?" she interjected. "That's impossible. I'm still coming with you."

Liam pulled his arm away from her grip. "Sorry, but I need to do this on my own."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do."

"Why can't I come?" she asked. Both she and Liam seemed to become impatient.

"It's dangerous," he responded, taking a step away from her. Nicole frowned. Hadn't he already used that excuse on her?

"I recall us making a deal," she pointed out. "I give you a tour. If my world turns out to be unsafe, you continue on your own. If not, I go with you. We even shook on it!" She took his arm again and pulled him closer. "Now, did any part of my tour come off as unsafe to you?" Liam grumbled, prompting her to smirk.

"I think not."

. . .

I can't believe this.

Liam walked along the path, looking down at the bugs on the ground. Nicole remained beside him, despite the fact that he wanted her gone. Sure, she was nice enough, not an unpleasant person to be around. The problem she posed him was the possibility of her getting hurt. Am I going to have to ditch a dying girl? he thought. He considered his luck and concluded that it was entirely possible. I don't want to do that. I can't do that. Moreover, his conversation with Gloria didn't make matters better. Clearly, she cared about Nicole very much, and could probably mess him up pretty badly. Every situation he thought of only ended up hurting somebody. Why did somebody always have to get hurt?

The pair came to a stop at a large river. "This is where the the trail stops," Nicole said. "I don't think anybody has found a way across the river yet. I heard some stupid kid tried climbing across the branches once to get across one time. He fell into the river. Nearly drowned."

Branches. Liam looked up at the trees. He spotted a broken branch - no doubt where the kid had fallen from. Another branch, however, looked thick enough for a smaller creature to walk across. While Nicole searched for her own way across, which he was positive she wouldn't find, he shifted into a cat, climbing up the tree with little difficulty. He tiptoed (or whatever a cat would do) across the branch and jumped onto the ground on the other side, shifting back into his human form.

Nicole noticed him. "Oh, you got past already? How will I get across?"

"Sorry, but I don't you can," he responded. Her eyes narrowed.

"You're leaving without me aren't you."

Liam sighed and nodded. "I told you, this is too dangerous." He turned around and began running deeper into the woodlands. He heard Nicole yelling at him from behind, cussing and also saying thing he presumed were swear words in another language he didn't know.

"I'll find a way across and when I do, you'll be sorry!" She screamed. As guilty as he felt leaving her behind, he knew he was making the right choice. He didn't want to see her in pain. He didn't want to see anybody in pain anymore. So, he left her on one side of the stream, while he continued on the other.