The ropes holding the horses in place came undone easily and Butterscotch woke up without so much as making a sound. There were a few tins of food sitting in Ann's travel case and a map in Wu's satchel, both of which Jay placed in his own saddle bags. He grabbed a warm jacket then climbed up onto his steed and took one last glance back at his companions. He had come so close to finding real friends... but not everyone gets that kind of clique.

The forest was especially difficult to navigate in the dark, but thankfully Jay always came prepared. He pulled out his electric blue flashlight and began plotting his route home. It wasn't as complicated as people made it look in the movies, but then again he was on a horse and not in a car on a busy city street.

A cold wind rushed passed making Jay shiver and he was zipping up his jacket when Butterscotch began grunting and whinnying violently. She started to back up and her ears stood on end, her head moving from side to side looking around the brush in front of them.

"Woah, woah, woah! Butterscotch, calm down! Calm down! It was just the wind!" Jay said as he tried to stroke her neck. Butterscotch did calm a little bit, but her ears were still up and she was visibly nervous. "We're just gonna keep moving forward. See? Nothing to worry about. Just your imagination." Perhaps he was saying it as much to himself as to the horse. After seeing how frighted she was, he began to wonder if perhaps there really was something out there, behind the black trees and bushes, and he began shining his flashlight wherever he thought he heard something.

Several minutes passed by and still the eeriness hung heavy around the young traveler. Staying back at camp suddenly became much more desirable, but it was too late now. And what if he returned and someone was awake and saw him? How would he explain himself then? No, he had to move on.

Butterscotch began to whinny again and she started to thrash and squirm, refusing to move any farther.

"Buttersco—Woah!!" She reared up on her hind legs; Jay clenched his legs around her body and leaned in to hold her neck as tightly as possible and when he opened his eyes a moment later, miraculously, he was still on her back, however he had dropped his flashlight and now was left to what little moonlight could penetrate the thick branches above him.

The frightened horse remained in one place only long enough for Jay regain his senses before she charged ahead, through brush, into spiderwebs, and past the unkept trees. There was very little Jay could do, especially since he was much more concerned with avoiding the hard tree limbs as much as possible, and so was at the will of fate.

"Please stop! Please stop! Please stop! Please!" Jay screamed into Butterscotch's flurry of a mane.

Suddenly he felt something strong grab hold of his shoulder and he screamed and jumped so badly that he exposed himself and was immediately hit by passing foliage. A tree branch, no doubt, had struck him in the face, and the next thing he knew he was finally still and lying on the ground, ears ringing and mind swelling. There was a sickening moment when Jay couldn't so much as breathe in and panic seized him, but he lost consciousness before any real terrifying thoughts could form.

* * *

"Grritch! O ckheger ugg toolihee... all right... that should do it... be safe."

* * *