"How much longer 'til we get there?" Max called up to the front. They had been walking for half an hour, and many of them were getting tired. Tiny and the mouse seemed to be wide awake, though.

The little rodent glanced up at the fairy and squeaked. She nodded and shouted over her shoulder, "Not much longer."

Neil breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against Harrison for support. They were both drained of energy, the night had went by so fast and they could barely keep up with it all. The only thing keeping them going was Tink's promise of sleep.

The group came to a bramble thicket, so large it blocked off their path. Charming groaned in frustration. "How the fuck are we gonna get past this?"

They heard chittering from up front and Tink translated for them. "We don't. We wait for them to come to us."

"Um... Define 'them'?" the physicist asked in a worried tone. There were more squeaks and the fairy answered, "You'll find out soon enough."

The white mouse squeaked once more before disappearing into the thicket. Tink turned around with a sigh. "He said wait here. Damn Max, did you have to pick a bossy one?"

He raised his hands over his head. "Hey, I've only known Edward ten more minutes than you. If he's gonna lead us to safety, let him be bossy."

"Wait, Edward?" Harrison inquired. "The mouse has a name?"

Maxwella rolled his eyes. "Um, yeah? Why wouldn't he?"

A squeal of terror came from the bramble as Edward scurried back out. Some distant running followed, causing them all to freeze. Something brown and furry burst through with a low growl. The group collectively screamed.

There, in front of them, was a wolf. It continued to growl its purple eyes studying them. They watched in horror as it started to circle them.

"What do we do?" Neil murmured quietly. Out of habit, he grabbed his boyfriend's hand. He felt the other give his hand a reassuring squeeze.

The wolf sniffed everyone it passed
First Tink, who acknowledged her with a nod. It snarled at the mouse as it passed. Once it reached Preston and Max, it bowed its head. Then it came to the prophets.

It sniffed them once, then paused. Sniffing them again, its eyes widened in surprise. After a moment, it stepped back and sat on its haunches. They boys were shocked when it spoke.

"The light of hope in this dark world has arrived..." it mumbled, looking up at them. "It's about fucking time, if you ask me."

The world fell silent, only the sound of crickets, frogs, and rustling leaves to be heard. Then, ever so cautiously, Harrison whispered, "Gwen...?"

•~•

A/N: Had to take a short break from this, but it's now back up and running!
~FB667