Danny awoke to pitch-black darkness and someone screaming. A large weight fell on top of him and a hand closed around his mouth. The screaming stopped. Another pair of hands grabbed his legs and stopped them from thrashing around.

Ivy's voice came from out of the darkness in a soothing whisper. "Danny, you're alright, calm down, you were just having a bad dream."

Danny was confused, had he been the one who was screaming? What was wrong with him? Taking deep breaths, the girls eventually let him go.

Jade's worried voice came from the doorway, "What's going on, what's wrong with Danny?"

"He was just having a bad dream, go check the camp to see if they heard anything," Ivy told Jade.

A hand, Danny thought it was Brooke's, was rubbing comforting circles into his back. Her voice came from right beside him, "You want to talk about it, Danny?"

Danny sat there for a bit, tired and drained emotionally. He started shaking his head, "No,not... no."

Brooke wrapped him in her arms and rocked him, "It's going to be alright, you will learn to move past this. It is part of what we do now. We have all gone through something like this, and we will probably again in the future."

Danny accepted her words without question, as he was too horrified by her statement. Brooke pulled her pallet over next to his and held him. "I'm going to sleep next to Danny." He assumed she said this to Ivy.

"I will sleep on his other side then," Ivy spoke from the darkness as another pallet moved next to his. A hand reached out and held his.

The goblins had left in the night. Jade returned early the next morning, to report what she had found. She had stalked through the camp, but didn't go into the cave in case there was a trap. The tents were gone, but the cages and their occupants were left in the rush.

"The man in the cage is still alive, but I don't think he has long," Jade urged them.

They quickly traveled to the camp. Danny was grateful no one brought up what had happened last night. Danny rushed over to the cage with the man. The cage was made of thick branches of wood tied together. The whole area stunk. Goblins were obviously not big on hygiene and they didn't bother to keep their prisoners clean either. Danny almost protested when Ivy insisted on going in first, but then he remembered their previous conversation. Ivy cut through the vines holding the cage's door together. She walked in and gently inspected the man inside, before motioning Danny in. The man smelled worse up close. His breathing was shallow and his face was a ruined mess. It looked as if he had received repeated blows and lacerations to his face and someone had cut off his ears. Danny could not guess the age of the man but he was definitely an adult.

Turning to Ivy he said, "I can heal him but he looks emaciated. If I heal him too much his body could go into shock from trying to use his own energy reserves to heal. If he had some fat on him I would feel better. After I get him to a point where he won't die, I will try and create something with my alchemy kit to help speed the recovery."

Ivy nodded her understanding, "Then let's heal him a little at a time. Just try and get him stable so we can clean and move him."

Danny turned to the man and started closing any wounds he found. Some looked infected, but Danny hadn't dealt with disease yet. This was more than likely a bacterial infection, he hoped. He focused on fortifying the angry-looking areas and pictured expelling bacteria. After he was done, the skin still looked irritated and red. Danny figured he would wait to see if it got any better before trying something else.

Danny hadn't been idle over the past five years and had had to fix many a wound or broken limb. He had picked up on a nifty trick, through trial and error. Danny put his hand on the man, spreading a thin layer of mana throughout the stranger's body, then cast heal with the desire to see the man's insides. Danny was pleased to receive an image similar to his earth or air scan he had developed. It took him another casting to get a better idea of what he was looking at. The man's flesh appeared in an image that Danny's brain could interpret. Areas of damage were helpfully highlighted. Danny's first thought was that something was a lot worse than just internal bleeding in his chest and brain. The man's organs were not where they should be exactly. Then it hit Danny, this man wasn't human. There was also mana flowing out of his source, just like his! Whoever this man was, he was a sorcerer like Danny. Danny was dumbfounded for a moment, before the state of his new patient forced him to continue.

Danny healed the internal bleeding, especially making sure the bleeding around the man's brain wasn't due to any bone fragments that may have broken off. Speaking of broken bones, there were quite a few. Danny began healing them. These would use a lot of resources so he only patched them up. They would be prone to breaking again, so they would have to be careful with him. The bones in the man's face were a mess and took a while to push and fix in the right places. Danny knew this had to be excruciatingly painful but the man was unconscious and didn't make a sound. A bone in the man's leg had to be set before he could heal it. That break he risked healing all the way. They might need to run if the goblins returned.

Danny wiped the sweat from his brow, "We need to get food in him. Also, help me get the rest of his clothes off. You were right Ivy, he can't stay healthy being this filthy."

Ivy didn't say a word and just started helping Danny. Once they had the man stripped, they saw before them a painfully thin man with an assortment of black and blue bruises all over his body. Danny had only sealed up the man's body and fixed his bones; he would wait to try healing the bruising when the man had more strength. Looking around for a clean area to move him Danny used earth magic to pull a slab of stone from the earth the same size as the man. Danny condensed the water from the air and soil around them into a shower above the man's body. They covered his mouth and nose while they cleaned near his face.

Danny laid back against the side of the ravine, exhausted. Ivy checked the area before moving in front of the cave to call to the others. Brooke came out and spoke quietly with Ivy for a minute before Ivy walked quickly into the cave. Brooke came over, checking their surroundings before sitting down next to Danny. She asked, "Is he going to make it?"

"I think so, he's not going to die anytime soon, but if we don't get food in him soon that will change. I also want to make something for him with my alchemy kit. Could you gather some wood to start a fire?"

Brooke nodded and asked, "Sure, we can use that abandoned fire pit over there. How you doing on mana?"

"I should be back to full in a couple of hours. I don't believe this man is human... maybe elven. He took a lot out of me just to heal."

"Based on the other bodies we found in the cave, I would guess he is an elf too."

Danny looked up at her quickly, "Other bodies?"

"Yes, there are at least two elven bodies in the back of the cave, we found their ears nearby. Our guess is they were female, but they had been cut up too much to tell for sure. Looks like they had been that way for more than a few days..."

Danny winced, "They tortured them?"

Brooke sighed and nodded with a grimace, "Best guess is they also fed parts of them to the animals, at least I hope it was the animals that ate them." She said the last nodding towards the cages.

"So no more survivors?"

"No..."

Brooke had collected enough wood and started a fire in the pit. Danny conjured water into a small pot and set it on top of the coals near the fire. Raising another shelf of stone, he made himself a worktable. Unfortunately, if an elixir or compound didn't call for an ingredient that acted as a preservative, it had a very short shelf-life. So Danny ground up a few plants and pulled out some vials containing previously-prepared ingredients. Using a varied array of equipment, Danny got to work. He filtered some ingredients from a common flower through a specially-made cloth with hot water. Two different mushrooms were blended together and steeped, before most of their liquid contents was purposely allowed to boil off. The remaining paste was left to dry. The process was time-intensive but his previous practice paid off and he successfully created a few vials of a healing aid. He really wanted some of his specialty equipment he had made but there wasn't room in his backpack. These elixirs wouldn't heal anyone, but instead would help provide someone with the nutrients needed for healing. It also contained plants with natural regenerative properties.

After sitting the stranger up in his lap, Danny slowly gave the man the entire contents of one of the vials. Too much and the man's body wouldn't be able to absorb it all. Then his body would just pass the majority of it. Finished, Danny hauled himself up and went over to the cages. Brooke moved to follow him closely, "Don't get too close, Danny. Some of them look half-starved."

The rest of the occupied cages held beasts. The majority were wolves, with a boar and some sort of cat as well. They were all young. The goblins either couldn't capture the large beasts or they planned to tame them, and young ones would be easier. Danny nodded to Brooke and sat down cross-legged in front of the first cage with a wolf. He reached into a bag and pulled out some jerky he had brought. With the smell of the camp, Danny didn't figure he will be too hungry until they left. He tossed it to the wolf and watched as it ate the meat. It wasn't much for the starving animal. Danny then reached out with nature affinity and entered the wolf's mind. The wolf responded like the last. He rejected Danny's intrusion and after getting a few images of the wolf's capture, then Danny was kicked out.

Danny went down the next three cages of wolves with similar responses. He did experience an arm being thrown into his cage when he was in the last wolf's mind. Shuddering, he looked between the cat and the boar. He tried the boar first, and quickly left having viewed the things it was willing to consume. Last was the cat. It looked like a leopard except it didn't have the small black splotches on orange and white fur. Instead, it had all-white fur, except where it had really large black splotches with various shades of brown on the inside. It was the size of a very small pony. It would probably be really pretty if it weren't so dirty. When he threw in a bit of jerky the cat just stared at it and looked back at him. This didn't make sense to Danny so he tried reaching out with his nature affinity and touched the leopard's mind.

The cat's mind was more powerful than the other animals. While she at first balked at his intrusion, she also attempted to probe Danny's thoughts in return. Danny had never had a conversation like this before. With just feelings, impressions, and memories, they communicated. After a while, Danny started to feel comfortable 'talking' with the leopard. He learned the leopard's mother was trapped in a net after it almost landed on the leopard in the cage. The cat shared how she had waited, trying to help get her mother out. The goblins came and were only able to kill its mother after losing three of their tribe. They had little trouble capturing the child. Not many days ago a small goblin female wandered too close to the cage one night. The leopard had finished grieving and her hunger found her having a quick meal before the other goblins could take the body away. Danny was surprised the leopard was not killed on the spot. Danny shared his childhood with the cat and he sensed the leopard enjoyed the ride-along in his memories. Danny managed to ask if the leopard wanted be set free. The leopard showed excitement. Danny pictured the girls and himself, then meshed them with memories of the leopard and it's mother. Hopefully, conveying a sense of family and not people you should attack. The leopard showed contentment with this.

Awaking from his connection with the leopard, Danny found Brooke staring at him worriedly. "Danny, you were gone at lot longer than the others, are you alright?"

"Yeah, this leopard is really smart. She ate a goblin before we came and isn't as hungry as the others. I agreed to let her go if she didn't attack us. I think she agreed."

Brooke had been watching his back and glancing back at the animals he was working with. She suddenly looked shocked, and moved closer to get a better look at the cat, "Danny, that's a ghost leopard. They are smart, and extremely deadly. We haven't seen any because they don't go near humans intentionally... thank the elements. They are called ghost leopards because rarely does anyone ever see them."

"Oh this one's mother was caught in a trap, and this little one wouldn't leave her side. The goblins killed the mother then captured her."

Brooke looked like she was trying her best not to haul Danny farther away from the cage. "Well, I would like to wait for the others before we let the nice ghost leopard out to maim and kill us."

"Sure, I will go and get them!"

Brooke grabbed his arm and yelled, "Ivy, Jade, get out here!"

Danny looked back at Brooke before looking towards the cave. It finally dawned on him that they were protecting him from seeing what happened in the cave again. He realized he didn't actually try to go in there himself.

Ivy and Jade came rushing out of the cave. Ivy looked around with her sword drawn, "What's the matter!" Jade had her bow out and an arrow at the ready.

Brooke smiled and explained, "Ivy, Danny wants to let this nice ghost leopard out..."

Ivy's eyes got big and walked over to the cage, "A ghost leopard!"

Jade moved closer to the cage, not letting go of her bow. "Wow, I couldn't tell with all the dirt on it."

Danny said, "She just ate recently and just wants to be set free. I believe I got her to understand that you three are my family so she won't hurt us." Danny turned to the girls, trying to use his most persuasive smile.

Jade looked excited, but Ivy looked like she would rather kill it right there.

Danny decided to try a different tactic, "Look, the wolves will kill and eat us the second we open the cage. I have no clue what the boar will do... probably eat us. The cat though is very smart and I spoke with her for a long time."

Ivy looked at him doubtfully, "You speak leopard now?"

"No, through our minds," Danny tried to explain. He really didn't want to have to do this. He brought out the puppy-dog eyes and pouting lip. That seemed to work on his mother and most women.

Ivy looked at him for a few seconds and rolled her eyes, sighing, "Alright, you stand over there with Brooke and Jade. I will open the cage and hope it doesn't eat me. Jade get your bow ready."

Instead of quickly cutting through the vines tying the cage, Ivy slowly sawed through them with her blade. The cat watched her silently, only occasionally licking its lips and nose. The vines came free and she stepped back. When the leopard hadn't moved she grabbed one of the vines attached to the makeshift door and pulled it open slowly. The leopard stood up and walked out of the cage. Ivy moved carefully back towards the others with slow, deliberate steps, never turning her back. Danny started to move forward but Brooke's arm got in his way.

The leopard looked around and, spotting Danny trying to be pushed by Brooke behind her back, walked toward him. The girls tensed and readied their weapons. Danny, on the other hand, started talking to the cat while connecting with her through nature magic. "Hey, there pretty girl. You sure you don't want some jerky?"

Ivy looked quickly over at Danny before turning her eyes back to the cat, "Danny, what are you doing?! You said it wanted to go back the forest."

Danny stopped waving the jerky at the cat and said, "No, I said she wanted to be free. See, she is purring. That means she is happy... or she could be in pain, or hungry, or possibly angry."

Ivy whispered loudly, "Danny!"

Brooke complained, "Danny you aren't helping!"

Danny connected mentally with the leopard, and imagined petting a cat from his past life. The leopard's purring got louder. Danny smiled and tricked Brooke into which way he was going and slipped around her arm. Brooke whispered, "No, Danny!"

Before they could get to him he reached the leopard and held out his hand. The leopard went up to his hand and rubbed itself under it. Through the loud purring, Danny could hear the girls making noises of protest and frustration. "See! she is a sweet girl, you wouldn't eat me would you? Humans are yucky, that's why you don't eat us."

Ivy lowered her blade and walked slowly toward the boy and cat. "Danny, remind me after this to kill you. If the cat doesn't eat you first."

"Ivy, just hold your hand out and let her rub under your hand. Beside the dirt, she is very soft."

Ivy did as he said and the cat rubbed under her hand, purring loudly again. Eventually everyone was petting the cat, and she was loving the attention.

Unfortunately they had to kill the rest of the animals. Danny opened the cage with the now dead boar. The leopard went inside and started eating.

Ivy pointed at the cat, "You... you said she wasn't hungry, then what's that!"

"I said she had eaten recently, so she wouldn't eat us. She is still very hungry."

Ivy looked angry, "Danny, we need to work on your communication skills. I have recently come to find them very lacking in crucial information."

After searching the cave, the girls found a small box full of valuables. They had probably belonged to the elves. The cat went over to the wounded man and Danny conveyed that the elf wasn't food. The cat then became bored and sat on a nearby rock in the sun. Danny noticed the man was in the sun and grew an apple tree to shade the man. The leopard jumped up when he grew the tree and came over to inspect it. Then she climbed into the tree and laid down.

Jade came up next to Danny, "Why isn't she going away now that she has eaten?"

Danny shrugged, "I don't know, maybe she will leave after we do. Maybe she wants to stay and finish off the wolves after it's digested the boar."

"Can't you just ask it?"

"It doesn't work that way. I can give impressions of things and actions to weigh her reactions to them. Unfortunately, I can't tell what she wants except what she is thinking at the moment."

"Well what is she thinking at the moment?"

Danny looked up at the cat for a second, "She is happy and is sleeping. She isn't dreaming yet."

Jade seemed to think about that a moment, then walked away smiling.

Ivy came over and looked at the wounded man, "What should we do with him?"

Danny asked, "Does anyone know what we could feed him? He still needs food and water, maybe a broth?"

"What about the cooking pot, it's back at the tree house?" Brooke offered.

"I'll go get it," Jade left for the tree house.

They used the fire pit that was still going to boil some water Danny conjured. Then they added some of the dried meat they had. Once the meat had cooked for a while the water darkened. They then slowly fed this to the man.

They stayed there for the rest of the day, and as it was getting close to nightfall, Ivy spoke up, "We need to get back to the tree house. It isn't safe here, and goblins could return at any moment."

Danny reached over and created a stretcher out of the apple tree, making it easy to snap off. He was getting better at manipulating plants this way. The stretcher wasn't as comfortable as one with cloth, but better than dragging or carrying him by hand. Being the strongest, Brooke and Jade carried him back to the tree. Danny thought about raising him with vines into the tree but hadn't tried that before so he created another earth slab, but with sides. The slab slowly rose upward with the stranger and stopped right next to the platform.

"That's not conspicuous," Brooke said sarcastically.

"We can take him off and I will put the earth back like it was," Danny said defensively.

Brooke just smiled at him.

After getting the wounded man off the stone, Danny put the slab back into the ground and regrew the grass that had been there before. He sat down, out of breath. Using so much mana at once was taxing, and nothing did that like earth magic.

"Good job, go eat, you have first watch," Ivy said as she passed by him.

Nodding, Danny got up and went to go eat.