won·der·land/ˈwəndərˌland/nouna land or place full of wonderful things.

What... Is this?

Everything was pitch black. Emma could feel her eyes closed, but no matter how much she tried to pry them open, they stayed shut. As if she didn't have control over them.

She didn't like that. And an uncomfortable, frightful feeling arose in her chest.

Ray! Ray!

There was no answer. Her mouth refused to open, there was no echo of her voice crying for Ray.

Emma reached out in desperation but felt nothing. Now that she thinks about it, she didn't feel anything.

Well no, she felt the clothes on her back, and such. But she didn't feel any ground. Her feet weren't planted on a flat surface or anything. It felt almost as if she was swimming, underwater, drowning.

It felt like something was pulling her, forcing her down.

Fear mixed with panic, and Emma continued to reach out in desperation. Reaching for something she could grab on to. A branch, a hand, just something. Anything!!!

Ray! Norman!

She could feel herself getting sleepy. Her body getting tired, her arms starting to burn.

Gilda! Don! Nat, Anna! Mama!

Emma faintly swung her arm once more, before it fell limply by her side. And as she succumbed to slumber, it felt like something had suddenly swallowed her up.

Emma awoke with a sharp gasp, she was breathing heavily. As if she were out of breath and was in a desperate need for air.

She felt sweat rolling down her face, along with her heart pounding rapidly against her chest.

Her terror was still very much present. Her hands, and what even felt like her heart, were trembling.

She had to squint her eyes due to the brightness, her hands flying above her face for cover. But she could make out the clear blue sky, and pure white clouds, and the two suns.

Wait—

She tried to sit up but instead was met with immense pain. Emma's body started feeling like it was, as the best way Emma can describe, buzzing. She hissed as she carefully laid back down, the apparent two suns entering her view again. One was the usual, bright yellow, while the other seemed to be of a reddish color. Glancing around the area with her eyes. She could see leaves, some green, red, but others were blue and purple. She had to squint just to make sure that they weren't flowers. The trees themselves looked odd in a way that Emma couldn't put her finger on just yet.

A flock of oddly colored birds flew out of one of the trees. Their feathers were (what Emma thought to be) a pastel pink and green, all except for their belly, which was white.

"Huh...?"

The buzzing stopped at that moment. Slowly, she pushed herself up from the ground until she was sitting up. The grass was green, but it was soft under her touch. Emma couldn't help but to run her hands through it for a few moments. It was softer than anything she had ever felt before. (Except for Ray's hair, nothing could ever be more soft than his hair.)

Emma gasped.

Ray! Where was Ray! Norman!

Where was she?!

Emma began patting the ground around her. As if her family had been turned to ants and she couldn't see them.

She heard something rustle behind her. Emma snapped her head to the source, reaching for her gun that was not there. But was met with the sight of a boy.

"Ray!" Emma cried, relief and worry blending together. He was laying behind her, his backpack right next to him.

It occurred to Emma then that she didn't have her backpack. But that didn't really matter to her all that much at this moment.

Her hands planted themselves on the side of his head. Emma hovered above him, heaving sighs of relief.

At this view, his face was upside down, but that didn't bother Emma. He was sleeping peacefully, unaware that his best friend was, arguably, having a heart attack.

She brushed his bangs to the side, wanting to make sure that it really, truly was Ray. And as much as she wanted to let him rest (He rarely ever let himself rest, much to Emma's dismay.), and cry over his safety. The fact remains that she didn't know where they are, and she probably needed Ray now more than ever.

"Ray!" She called, her hands grabbing his shoulders as she began to shake him. "Ray, wake up! I need you to wake up right now!"

His eyes fluttered open for a moment, but he looked like he was half-asleep.

"Emma...?" He called sleepily, his voice sounded hoarse and dry.

"Ray, please! I need you right now!"

She must have sounded desperate. Because the second the words left her mouth, Ray's eyes shot open and he quickly sat up only for his forehead to hit Emma's. Emma let out a small yelp, but it didn't hurt all that much, while Ray hissed. His hands flying to his forehead before he grunted and laid back down.

Emma guessed the buzzing thing, whatever it was, began happening to him.

Despite rubbing his forehead and being in visible pain, Emma was his first priority. "Are you okay?" He asked.

Regardless as to whether he was asking about her head, or the obvious fear in her voice from earlier, Emma nodded. "I'm fine." She pulled away from Ray.

He tried sitting up again, but only hissed in pain again. Emma leaned over and laid him back down.

"Just wait for the buzzing to stop. I think then it'll be okay to get up."

Reluctantly, Ray laid his head back down. Groaning in pain. Yet, he looked at her and asked, "What's wrong? Something's wrong. You wouldn't call me like that if something wasn't wrong." His voice still sounded dry, and it must've been as Ray began coughing (which also sounded very dry) as he finished speaking.

Emma hesitated, taking another glance at their surroundings.

Where does she even start?

She didn't know where they were, or where their family was either. Her backpack was missing which is not a good sign, she didn't have her gun. Ray's backpack looked much lighter than it usually did. She had a splitting headache, and—

"Hey, calm down."

Ray sounded gentle, and kind. She looked back at him, and saw that he was gently holding her hand. His thumb rubbing circles on the back side of her hand. His gesture was soft, yet his hand felt rough and dry. More so than usual, at least.

Ray was still wearing his expedition jacket, the ends of his shirt peaking out just under it. It looked torn and dirty.

His hand was wrapped in a bandage.

His hand was wrapped in a bandage that wasn't there before.

It looked aged, it wasn't anything like the white, fresh ones they would pack before leaving. No, this one was not pearly white, it was dirty. Some of it was borderline black.

Emma was about to ask him about it, but he spoke first.

"What happened to your arm?" He didn't even attempt to hide the distress in his voice.

"My arm?" Emma repeated before looking at her left arm.

"Not that one! Your other arm! The one I'm holding."

She looked at her right arm. And Ray was right. Her sleeve was rolled up to above her elbow, her forearm wrapped in a bandage like Ray's. Except hers looked more recent.

It wasn't only that, her arm was covered in scratches, small bruises. Tiny injuries that would heal in no time, that she knew she didn't have earlier.

What?

"I... Don't know." She whispered. She heard movement and saw Ray slowly sitting up. The buzzing must have stopped.

"You don't know?"

"I don't, I really don't." She pointed to his hand, which was still holding hers, "Your hand. What happened to your hand?" Emma asked.

Ray looks at her like she's crazy before looking at where she was pointing. His hair was covering his face, and after a few moments of silence, he whispers, "I don't know..."

Ray pulls his hand away, taking it's warmth with him. Emma's hand suddenly felt a lot more cold.

It was then Ray finally checked out the land around them. She watched as his eyes widen with confusion, fear, then worry.

"Wha—?"

"Ray."

He looked back at her. And Emma didn't care if he saw the fear in her eyes. It didn't matter at this moment, and either way he was feeling it too.

"I don't know where we are! This isn't the demon world! ... And I doubt that this is the human world either!"

Ray gawked at her, he leaned in, "Are you sure?"

"Oh gee, I don't know. I don't recall ever reading that the human world has two suns!" Hysteria leaking into her voice. Ray grasped her shoulders.

"Okay, okay, Emma, calm down! Take a deep breath." His eyes were staring into hers. His violet eyes soothing her. Emma closed her eyes, and followed Ray's advice, taking in deep breaths.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Ray asked.

Her eyes remained closed. "I... I don't know. It's all fuzzy."

"Then what's the last thing you remember clearly?"

Emma had to think for a moment. What was the last thing she recalls clearly? She remembers returning from the Seven Walls, going after Norman, entering the demon town and reuniting with Mujika, Sonju, Don and Gilda. And...

"We were stopping Norman." She said, "We had gotten inside the palace, and we were talking to him."

"Anything after that?"

Emma tried to think, really she did. But all she got was blurry and fuzzy. It was like static.

She shook her head. "No. Nothing. It's all one giant blur that I can't make out." She looks at him, "Ray, what about you?"

He lets go of her and shakes his head, Emma's shoulders and mood visibly drop.

"It's exactly like yours," He says, "Except, I just know that there's more than that. We're missing something, something important. And we're missing a lot of it."

"How are you so sure of that?"

"To be honest? I don't know." He looks at his left hand, the one bandaged. "But when I try to think about what happened, I get this strange sensation." He looks back at her. "I think it might be tied to the same reasons for why I still have my memories from when I was a fetus."

Emma leans in, "So you mean?"

Ray nods. "I think it might be a force outside of our power causing this."

Dread fills Emma. She feels Ray place his hand on her shoulder.

It reminds her of that conversation they had at Norman's hideout.

"But, we can conclude that a portion of our memories is missing. The last thing we both remember clearly is talking to Norman at the palace. But neither of us are wearing our disguises."

Emma's eyes widen. And she glanced at her clothing, he was right. Emma didn't even have her expedition jacket (which she wore under her disguise) on. It was just her regular white, albeit dirty, shirt.

She looked around the area again before turning back to Ray. "And my backpack is missing."

"Right." Ray nodded. "Something happened. Something that someone doesn't want us to remember."

Emma stared at him hard, before looking at the ground. What could this be? Where were they? Was any of their family here? What is even happening?

"Emma, is this—?"

"No, this isn't the Reward." She said without even sparing him a glance.

She could feel him looking at her, observing her. Thankfully, he believed her. She could tell when his gaze faded.

No, this wasn't the Reward. This was the exact opposite of the Reward. He didn't push her anymore on the subject. Which Emma was grateful for. She wasn't sure if she was ready to tell him. There was a part of her that wasn't even fully admitting it to herself.

"Ray." She was looking at him now, and he met her eyes. "What do we do?"

Ray looked as if he didn't know how to answer that. She could tell he was searching his mind for any sort of answer, any answer, just, not the obvious one.

But in the end, there was no other answer. They both knew that.

Something about this area was peaceful. Peaceful in a way Emma couldn't put her finger on.

The birds sounded cheerful, chirping in a way that Emma dare say was actually a song itself. There was a breeze every now and then, cooling Emma's body. For some reason, she had been sweating a lot since she woke up, but was finally cooling down.

Now that she thinks about it, maybe it was because of the two suns.

They were following the sound of running water, as Emma states that it would be best if they found a water source. Especially for Ray who sounded like he hadn't drunken anything in weeks.

Ray was ahead of her, his gun loaded and in his hands. Emma was following him, not that far behind. But she couldn't help but to stare at the trees.

Up close, they looked smooth. They almost looked as if they were made out of plastic, the sun lighting them up into unique shades of brown, green, blue, etc.

Enthralled by the trees, Emma takes a step closer to one of them. And upon closer inspection, sees that there are swirls and random patterns almost engraved into the wood.

She places her hand on the wood, and is surprised to see that it's not completely rough under her touch. It's smooth, yet hard under fingertips. In the end, it still feels like wood. In a strange way.

"What are you doing?"

Emma turns to the source of the voice, Ray is staring at her, walking back towards her. He probably got pretty far until he noticed that she wasn't behind his tail.

Emma smiles sheepishly, "I wanted to look at the trees."

"There's trees everywhere."

"I mean I wanted a closer look at them!"

She looks back at the tree and runs her hands on the wood again. Ray looks at her like she's insane.

"What are you doing?"

"Ray, touch this tree!" Emma demands. Even if she didn't actually "demand" him, he still would've listened to her.

Ray complied, sighing before walking over to her and placing his hand on the same exact tree that Emma had hers on. His eyes widen.

"What the—?"

Emma nodded, "Right! It's texture is so weird! I don't think I've ever felt anything like this before."

After a few moments of, more or less, petting a tree, Ray announced that they shouldn't get distracted. Emma agreed and the pair continued on following the sound of moving water.

There was a small clearing in the woods, and right in the middle of it was a river. Emma practically cried at the sight of water. Rushing over to the body of water, passing small trees and bushes along the way.

"Hey, be careful!" Ray called, tossing her a small, metal bottle for water.

She caught it with ease. And while it seemed like Emma paid no mind to Ray's words, she did become alert of just where she was. They didn't know where they were, and they didn't know what type of threats were lurking in the shadows of the corners here.

Reaching the river, she placed her hands on her knees, and leaned over a bit. Taking in the scene of the river.

"Ray! Look at the water!" She called.

Emma was pointing at the river. Which was so blue, and clear. She could perfectly make out the (what looked like) fish swimming. Along with the pebbles, rocks, among other things, in the river. She could see everything. Even her reflection was as if she was straight up looking into a mirror.

"What about it?" He asked.

"It's so clear!"

There's a moment of silence, then, "Yeah, I know. Water's supposed to be like that Emma." His tone sounding as if he was talking to an idiot.

Emma pouted, a glare aimed at the boy, who was smirking. "I know that!" He only chuckled as she turned back around.

There was something about watching the water that was memorizing. Satisfying even, Emma didn't know how to describe it.

Something rustled behind her, cautiously, Emma looked behind her. But it was only Ray plucking a leaf from one of the trees. She knew that he was going to try to examine it as best as he could.

She smiled, and turned back to the river. Grabbing the bottle, she was about to scoop some of the water into it. And then something occurred to her, she hesitated, the bottle hovering over the body of water.

"Ray?"

"Yeah?"

"This isn't the demon world."

"Hmm?" Ray turned around to face the girl. He couldn't see her, for she was still looking down at the water.

"And this isn't the human world." She turned to look at him, her eyes concerned. "So, how are we sure as too what's edible and what isn't here? That water looks clean, but can we be sure about it? We don't know where we are, we're outsiders. Our law of physics and nature might not apply here."

Ray had to admit it, Emma made a good point. And he couldn't help but to feel a bit proud of her. The water may look clean and clear for them. But what about the actual residents of this world? If there even were any? Was that water clean or no?

A small shiver went up Ray's spine. He really didn't want to consider that possibility. But he knew he had to, if he wanted to be ready for anything, and to protect Emma, he had too.

"Smart." Ray said as he dropped the leaf and stood up, wiping his hand on his pants. "You make a good point though, we don't know what is and isn't consumable here."

Emma stood up and walked towards him, "I don't think we can get any water, at least not until we find someone here who knows this place."

Ray nodded in agreement, "Looks like we're going to have to ration on water."

Emma hummed, handing the bottle back to him. "Do we have any food in there?" She said pointing at his backpack. "If so, how much?"

They came to the same conclusion all the same, ration food until they meet someone from here who could inform the pair as to what they can eat. Preferably, without it killing them.

"What if the first person we find is hostile?" Emma asked.

"Then we'll be hostile, too." Ray replied. His voice no longer sounding all that dry.

Emma frowned, "Ray, I don't exactly have my gun on me. What do you expect me to do if that happens."

Ray doesn't say anything, then shrugs, "You're smart. I'm sure you can figure something out."

As much as Emma's heart soared from the compliment, she raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Easier said than done. It's not like I could just pop out my hair dinky and use it as a weapon to defend myself, and fight off demons."

"Wait."

Emma's body reacts before her mind does. Her body on guard and on the offense, her mind and ears alert.

They couldn't put it past consideration that there weren't any demons here.

"Do you hear that?" Ray whispered.

She doesn't reply, but rather listens intently with her ears. She could hear the wind blowing, what she hoped was birds chirping, and... A rumbling?

Emma's body tensed up. She grunted quietly to herself, she didn't have anything to defend herself with! And like hell she was going to leave Ray to fight something alone when she can help!

She heard the noise again. Emma knew it wasn't a rumble, but she didn't know how else to describe it other than it sounded loud.

Ray instinctively placed his arm in front of Emma. Studying the area around them, his gun ready if he had to use it in a moment's notice.

The sound came again. But this time, Emma could make it out a bit more. It sounded like... Like wind. As if a large amount of wind was being blown.

Some of the birds started chirping, but Emma couldn't tell if it was a cry of terror or one of panic.

Suddenly, something flew over them. Something big. Casting a large shadow over the pair.

A huge gust of wind came upon them. Emma instinctively protected her face from any incoming rocks and pebbles.

Ray grabbed onto Emma's sleeve, determined that she wouldn't be knocked over, or worse, blown away. Emma grabbed Ray's sleeve in return.

The wind stopped, the shadow passing over them. Emma let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding.

"What is that thing?!" Ray yelled.

Emma looked behind her, squinting her eyes at whatever it was that was flying over them. It was gray, she could see that much. And big, very, very big.

It had a tail, and had wings. And as Emma's eyes adjusted to the sight, she gasped as it dawned on her as to just what it was that she was looking at. Ray seemed to realize it too.

"That's..." Ray says sounding out of breath. Emma didn't have to look at him to know he was completely and utter flabbergasted. "That's... That's a—"

"That's a dragon!" Emma shouted happily. Her heart was racing, but for different reasons now. She had almost a sudden increase in adrenaline.

She had only ever seen a dragon in illustrations, or her dreams. The thought of ever seeing one in person was ridiculous. Yet, here one was! Right in front of her! Right before her eyes!

Emma pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. It hurt, without a doubt it hurt.

She grabbed Ray's arm, jumping with glee and swinging his arm along with her.

"It's a dragon! A really, truly, real dragon!"

It made a one-eighty turn, and the pair caught a glimpse of the front of it. Emma roared with laughter. Ray's mouth fell agape, and began muttering incoherent non-sense. (At least that's what Emma heard.)

It was defiantly gray, Emma could see that much now. It's scales being illuminated by the sunlight. She could see multiple spikes on it's head, along with two very prominent ones. Those must be it's horns! Though, Emma couldn't help but to think that they almost looked like ears.

It's wings were wide, and long. Emma dared to say almost as long as the dragon itself!

It passed over them again, along with another large blast of wind. Emma had to close her eyes, but her grip tightened on Ray's sleeve, her laughter filling the air around them. She could feel her hair flying everywhere, her clothing blowing against her body.

She couldn't remember the last time she felt this ecstatic about something.

When it passed, her laughter sounded out of breath. As if she had just finished a marathon.

The pair turned to face it, and saw it flying away from them. Until it was nothing more than a blurred gray dot in the sky.

Emma was gasping for air, but she was still excited. Ray was stunned.

She was sure her hair was a mess, her clothing too. And she didn't have to look at Ray to know he was the same also.

Even once it was out of sight, Emma threw her arms in the air. Letting out a loud cheer, while almost losing her balance. She paid no mind to it, and while she did trip over her own legs a bit, regained her balance within seconds.

It was anything but graceful, but who cared!

"Ray! Did you see that!" Emma yelled, now gushing with excitement. "That was awesome!"

Ray was still muttering, still sounding out of breath. He took a step back, and then fell onto the ground. Landing on his rear.

He was panting, even though he didn't move at all except for a few inches in the past moments. Emma whips her head to him, still beaming with happiness.

His eyes were wide, his mouth open. He was astonished beyond words.

"Pinch me, I must be dreaming..." Was the first thing he mumbled.

"You're not dreaming!"

Ray jerked his head to Emma. Her eyes gleaming with excitement, her smile challenging the sun itself.

"And that was definitely a dragon!"

He stared at her in disbelief, before turning his head back in the direction to where the dragon was.

"Huh..."

The sun(s) were beginning to set. And soon night would arrive. They had to find some sort of shelter before then.

Emma chuckled. The word 'shelter' reminded her of both their home of two years, and Norman's hideout.

Both seemed so long ago now. Like a distant memory one could hardly recall, yet still could remember the feelings and emotions from it perfectly.

"What's so funny?"

Emma picked up her head at Ray's voice. He's right beside her now, looking at her. And she only smiles in return. "Nothing." She says as she reaches out and tucks a stray piece of hair behind Ray's ear. (Which is now red.)

Ray turns away from her. His ears turning a brighter shade of red. Emma pretends that she doesn't notice, and casually says, "Your hair is growing."

"Mm." Ray only grunts in reply. She glances at him before looking forward, placing her hands behind her.

"I can cut it for you later if you want. We can see if you're backpack has some scissors of some sort."

"Yeah, maybe."

Emma grins.

She knows very well that that 'maybe' is a yes, and that her cutting his hair is definitely happening.

Moments pass, filled with silence. They didn't stop walking until coming across a part of the forest that seemed to be relatively peaceful. There were more trees than usual, but that only meant more leaves, and more leaves meant more shade, which also meant cover.

They agreed on the spot. Ray placed his backpack down and began unpacking some food. Emma had been collecting some sticks while they were searching. Ray didn't ask her as to what she intended to use them for, as it was obvious.

She threw the sticks down and immediately began working on a fire. Which didn't take long, she had done this countless times by this point. And the steps to start a fire were engraved into her memory.

It was now dusk, Ray had begun cooking whatever little canned food they had. He was persistent about cooking for today. While waiting for the food to cook, Emma found one of the extra sticks they will use as fire wood later tonight.

She stared at it for a while, and then got an idea.

"Hey Ray, do you still have your knife?"

He didn't look up from his cooking. "Yeah, it's in my bag, why?"

"Let me see it."

He looks at her, an eyebrow raised but doesn't question her. Instead he reaches over to one of the pockets of his backpack before pulling out his knife. He hands it to her and Emma thanks him.

Placing the blade near the tip of the wood, she then swiped it just barely hovering over the wood. Which, she found much easier to do compared to home.

Home, huh? She only used that word to refer to the shelter, and the House as a child. But she never once referred to the demon world as a whole as "home". And yet, she had such a strange feeling of homesickness.

She knew this feeling very well. She could feel it burning in her chest their first night outside of the House. She felt it every time she left the shelter for an expedition.

She couldn't say she felt it for Norman's hideout. The most was her missing her family, but that was about it. Emma hadn't been in Norman's hideout long enough for it to feel like home to her.

Emma shook her head, pushing the thoughts out of her head. And continued to sharpen the wood.

"You're sharpening it?"

Picking her head up to Ray's voice, she chuckles. "Yeah, gotta find something to defend myself with!" She grinned, making Ray smile. Before turning his attention back to the food.

Dinner was good, it wasn't very big, but Ray and Emma were used to that.

The sun was gone now, and even though Emma couldn't clearly see the sky, she could see more than just one bright light up there.

If there's two suns, I wonder how many moons there are here?, she thought. Before getting hit in the face with something, and having that something land in her lap.

Looking at the culprit of her newly found pain, she noticed that there was a sleeping bag in her lap. She looked over at Ray.

"I'll keep look out for tonight, so get some rest." He said, Emma frowned.

"You do intend on waking me up half-way through, right? You are not staying up all night."

"Yes 'dear.'" Ray replies, only half joking, the other half knowing damn well Emma might kick him in a few moments.

"Ray." Emma said as sternly as she could. Ray only sighed.

"Listen Emma, we don't know how time works here. For all we know, a day here could be forty-eight hours. That includes both day and night."

"And I don't care if the nights here last for seventy-two hours. You will wake me up when you think that it's been half-way through the night!"

The two of them exchanged looks, the scowl evident on both faces. Emma's eyes stare into Ray's bright violet ones. But the determination in Emma's green eyes win over Ray, and he sighs.

"Fine, okay, whatever."

"Ray!!" Emma shouts loudly.

"Emma, be quiet!" Ray shushes her but she pays no mind to him. Instead she holds out her pinky.

"Promise me that you'll wake me up!"

"What? What are we? Six?"

"Promise me!"

"Fine!"

Ray reaches out and Emma smiles. But rather than him wrapping his pinky around hers, like she expected, he gently grabs her hand and places it on top of his heart. The hand holding hers let's go and is placed on top of hers. He raises his right hand up.

"I swear that I'll wake you up when I think it's been half-way through the night."

Something at this gesture makes Emma feel funny. There's a fuzzy feeling of warmth in her chest that's... Not comforting, but not fully welcomed either.

She looks at him funny, then retracts her hand, which feels warm now. And tries her best to act as collected as possible.

"Good. That's, good." She says.

Emma rolls out the sleeping bag before crawling into it. There's no pillow but that doesn't really bother her as she's already used to sleeping on the bare ground.

"When we switch out, you get to sleep in the bag."

Ray scoffs. "Of course. What else did you expect me to do? Sleep on one of those thin trees?"

"Well—"

"No." Ray says, before he chuckles softly and ruffles her hair. "Get some rest." He says. "Don't know how long we'll be on our feet tomorrow."

Emma smiles, and rests her head on the ground. There's no words exchanged between the two for a while. The only sound is of the fire and the occasional gust of wind. But the world of two is silent other than that.

"Hey, Ray?" Emma says sleepily.

"Hmm?" He hums.

"Do you think our family is okay? I don't think any of them got transported here. No, I know none of them are here."

Ray doesn't say anything. The silence increasing Emma's fears and anxieties as her heart pounds against her chest.

"I think they are. They're strong, each and every one of them. If anything, I wouldn't doubt it if they're looking for us right at this moment."

Emma smiles softly, and closes her eyes. One last thought floating in her head as she drifts into sleep.

Phil, I'm sorry. I might take a bit longer than expected

And then she falls asleep.

Emma's eyes snap open at the sound of a twig cracking. She knows instantly that it's day, and that her and Ray are surrounded. And immediately stands and reaches over for the piece of wood she sharpened yesterday, until the sight of a handful of spears and swords pointed at her stops her actions.

Out of the corner of her eye, she see's Ray doing the same. Albeit, he was reaching for his gun.

Emma suddenly feels like she's a hostage, or damsel in distress in those old fantasy books.

"I thought you were going to wake me up!" Emma grits through her teeth, trying to be quiet as possible.

"I was! I fell asleep!"

"This is what happens when you don't sleep for three days, Ray!" She whisper-yells as quietly as possibly.

He's about to reply back with something snarky and sassy before the spears are pointed closer at them.

Emma examines the ones holding the weapons. They're wearing what seems to be a lot of armor. Like knights Emma would often see in the pictures of children and history books. But Emma can tell just from looking at it that it's a lot less heavy. She can see some pieces of fabric and cloth poking out of the armor.

Probably uniforms, she thinks.

Ray must've been eyeing his gun (she knows him well enough that he was either doing that, or making that all too obvious face he makes when he tries to come up with an escape plan as quickly as possible.), because one of the guys surrounding them points their weapon at Ray's neck. She sees him flinch in surprise.

"Ray!" Emma cries. Only for another multiple people from the crowd to aim their spear closer to her. And she can't help but to give them a glare.

"That's enough, stop bullying the two!" A voice comes somewhere within the crowd. And, what Emma assumes to be guards, back away from the pair and point their spears and swords away from them. The two snapped their heads to the source of the voice.

Suddenly, the crowd splits in two. And it barely even takes Emma a second to realize that they're making a path for someone.

"I sincerely apologize for intruding on you two like this, and on such sudden notice."

A slim figure emerges from the crowd of guards. They wear a hooded cloak tied together by, what appears to be, a ribbon. Their face concealed from the pair, yet Emma can tell from the floor-length skirt (Or is it a dress? She can't tell.), that it is most likely a woman.

Emma can't help but to be reminded of Mujika.

The figure's hands move, and Ray protectively puts his arm in front of Emma. Only for her to stop him mid-way and push it down, walking forward until she's by his side. Choosing to stand right next to him, rather than hiding behind him.

But their hands land on the hoodie, pulling it down and revealing their face.

Emma was right, it is a woman. Or at least looks like one. Her skin light, her hair and eyes coco. Freckles scattered across her cheeks and nose. A small portion of her hair seemingly braided and tied to the back. Reminding Emma of Anna.

She looks human, very human.

All except for the pointed, elf-like ears.

"But I need you to come with us."

hI I AM STILL PARTICIPATING, ALBEIT VERY LATE-

I don't WHY this took me so long to write. And I hate how it's being posted on the last day of RayEmma Week but hey, better late than never!This simple idea ended up turning into an... Entire fanfiction idea. But, I cannot say as of now if I will write it. If I do decide to write it, it will be AFTER Lost Children, as that story is my priority right now. So if this one shot (obviously) ends up feeling very incomplete and such, that's sort of... Intended.So... How we feelin about the chapter, huh?It's been a ride, tpn has changed my life in ways that even surprises me. It's... Sad to see it end, but, I'm thankful I got to witness it during the short time that I could.I won't say anything more about it in case there are some here who haven't read it yet.But, with that said, thank you to anyone and everyone who read this one shot! And I sincerely apologize for being so late! I'll see you all for Day 5, hopefully, if you plan to read it, that is.Thank you again!