YES. I FINALLY GOT AROUND TO THIS CHAPTER. GOD. I had writers block right in the middle of it, dammit. Oh well. Enjoy!

Chapter 6

"Hidan?" Guess who.

"What do you want, bitch?" How polite.

"Will you carry me?" Insert irresistible puppy-dog eyes here.

"Fuck no." Such a party pooper.

And that, my dear readers, was a lovely conversation between the Albino and me. I hadn't gotten a wink of shut-eye since our little run in with the shinobi, and I think blasting people to kingdom come didn't help at all. My feet were currently snoring, my arms had curled under their imaginary covers, and the rest of my body is currently on the floor, drooling. I was so damn tired.

"Could we at least stop before I pass out from exhaustion? Then you'll have to carry me, Hidan," I remarked, placing my hands on my hips.

"Hell no, we aren't stopping. Fucking deal with it, bitch!" Hidan snapped. I stared at him, my mind having a hard time coming up with witty comebacks because of its total tiredness that was akin to near-death. Then I finally responded.

"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"Both of you shut up. I'm not in the mood to deal with either of your whining, so we'll stop," Kakuzu barked at us. Aw, I knew he did care about me, somewhere deep, deep down inside of one of those five hearts of his. "Don't take too long, time is money." Maybe not.

"YES! Thank you, Scrooge!" I cheered, before plonking (Note: Plonking is a made-up word) my rear-end down upon the grass, curling up underneath a tree. "Wake me up whenever," I snapped to them, curling up into a ball and quickly falling asleep.

O.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.O

"Maya…" came the voice, echoing. I frowned, shifting slightly.

"Maya…" That voice again, only more persistent. How annoying.

"Nngh. Five more minutes, mom," I muttered, rolling onto my side.

"Maya, quickly, the manga-store is running out of Naruto volumes!" the voice said. Clever voice.

I sat up straight, back erect, eyes darting around in slight fear. "They are? No! I'm missing volume twenty!" I screamed. Then I realized: there was no manga store! The stupid voice was lying to me.

"Hey, who are you?" I called, looking around. I was in a field, littered with flowers and the occasional stunted tree. I got to my feet, frowning. This wasn't where I left off with Stitches and Albino. "Where are you? What the hell do you want?" I snapped, swearing to God if someone kidnapped me (again) I would flip a shit on them.

"Over here," came the voice. It sounded like it was coming from a tree, which was hunched over, sending a shadow over the ground. The voice belonged to a man, with a slight accent of which I could not identify. The voice had this air to it, this hoity-toity air that I was skeptical about.

I sighed, walking over to the tree. Surprisingly, I wasn't at all fatigued anymore. I felt refreshed. As I neared the tree, I glanced over my shoulder, raising an eyebrow. Behind me, there was a trail of white flowers. Every step I took, flowers sprouted out. Man, my dreams were weird, since I identified this as a dream.

I stood in the shadow of the tree, looking around. Nothing. "Dammit, am I hearing voices again?" I grumbled. Then there was the voice once more.

"Up here," it said. I said, turning my gaze up towards the branches in the tree, an eyebrow cocked in waiting. My mouth fell open at the sight.

A big, black cat was perched in the tree, its tail dangling lazily in front of my nose. The cat was about as big as I was, and came up to my shoulder on all fours, and if I were to lie down next to it, it would probably be longer than I was. There were pale silver markings all over its body, in shapes I identified as suns, and moons, and stars. Its eyes were a piercing scarlet, staring down at me without malice, but amusement. But the one thing that really got me were the big, feathery, white wings protruding from its back.

A fucking winged cat. It released this faint sound, a low grumbling, that sounded a lot like laughter to me. "You should close your mouth before you catch flies, Maya," it purred.

My mouth snapped closed, and I glared at the feline. "How do you know my name? Who are you?" I asked. The cat jumped down, landing with silence, despite his size.

The cat, which I determined as male, touched his tail to his chest, bending one paw and placing his snout low to the ground in a bow. "I am Asen, Black Panther, and your familiar," he said, before lifting his head straight up.

"Familiar? Isn't that for like, witches, or something?" I asked, very much confused. The panther gave another rumbling laugh.

"Only in some cases, Maya, I am here to aid you," Asen said, sitting on his haunches, and thus becoming a full head taller than me.

"Uh… Aid me?" I asked, tilting my head to the side in apparent confusion. Asen released a sigh.

"Yes, aid you. Along with your abilities, I was placed into your conscious. Your mind has become very powerful during your transfer between dimensions, and can turn imagination, into reality," the panther told me, looking at me blankly.

"Wait, so, I can make stuff I think up of real?" I asked him, mouth open once more.

"Yes, you can, and stop gaping at me," Asen hissed, lashing his tail. "Your powers can range from what I just told you, to telekinesis. Thus you being able to move things only with the will to," he said. I nodded.

"So, how do I make things from my imagination real?" I asked him. He gave a little kitty-chuckle.

"I knew you would ask that. First, picture what you want to come into reality. Second, concentrate very hard. Imagine how it would feel, act, look, taste, all of that stuff." he instructed me. Wordlessly, I obeyed. I had in my mind a donut. Don't judge me, I was craving donuts.

"Then, force it from your mind. Imagine you pushing the object out of a door, which leads into reality. Since this is a dream, it will be there when you wake up," he said, as I opened my eyes, completing the instructions. I felt my mouth watering. I couldn't wait for that chocolaty ring of fried dough.

"I want it now," I pouted. "And another question; if I want to summon you, do I just do the same thing?" I asked. Asen shook his head.

"No. Just call for me, and I will come," he said. "Now it is time for you to rejoin the waking world. We have a mind connection, just in case you wish to speak to me," he said, bowing his head. He stretched out those feathery wings of his; wrapping one around me and pulling me close to his side. He was warm.

"Close your eyes, Maya," he whispered to me. I obliged, burying my face into his soft fur. So fuzzy…

"Now open them." When I did, soft fur was replaced with itchy grass. I sat up straight, grumbling. Then I noticed something. Sitting innocently in my lap, was the promised chocolaty donut. I laughed, digging into the poor pastry until all that was left was a few crumbs.

I looked around, spying Kakuzu who was too busy staring blankly into the fire to notice my donuticide. Hidan was lying on the ground, snoring loudly. How attractive, note the sarcasm.

"Oh, you're awake," Kakuzu said gruffly. I scoffed.

"Good morning to you too, Scrooge," I retorted, causing the stingy man to glare at me. Then he got up, and kicked Hidan sharply in the side of the head.

"Ow- what the hell! Fuck you Kakuzu!" Hidan snapped. I fell over, clutching my sides and laughing. Oh, Hidan's face was just too funny. I wish I had a camera, because that was a total Kodak moment.

"Stop laughing, you two-faced bitch!" Hidan bellowed, flailing his arms in a comical fashion. I rolled my eyes, making like Kakuzu and ignoring the albino. I wondered if I could talk to Asen…

Testing, one-two-one-two. Come in Asen- over! I called mentally. I waited for a few moments, before there was an unamused sigh. A sigh that did not belong to me.

Is that really a good way to talk for our telepathy, Maya? You sound ridiculous, came the mental reply. I giggled, which earned me weird looks from our two favorite immortals.

Yes! And you didn't say over, you party pooper. Anyways, I was just testing our connection. Good to see it works! I responded, complete with a mental salute. By the way, is our connection like AT&T? Do we have bars? If we were to go up a mountain or something would we lose connection?

I heard Asen sigh- again. Wow, I must really be ditzy. This is how I normally act around people I enjoy being around. If I don't like you, I will be mean, sarcastic, and a downright grump 97% of the time.

No. Our connection will never be severed, unless one of us dies. If I die, you will get a different familiar. If you die, I die too. So, don't die.

I smiled, giggling again, causing Stitches and Albino to look at me again. "Are you insane or something? What are you laughing at?" Hidan snapped. Wow, not one curse word in those two sentences. Good job, Hidan! I wish I had a golden-star sticker.

"I'm laughing at you, Hidan. Your face is so weird looking it's hilarious." I replied dryly, holding my chin high and ignoring Hidan's angry attempts to strangle me. Luckily Kakuzu was holding him back.

"Don't kill her," he grunted. "She may be annoying, but we need to get her to the base."

"Love you too, Stitches," I sighed, pouting at Kakuzu's lack of love and joy. Why am I stuck with Scrooge and his wonderful sidekick The Ghost of Jashin's Past? I could hear Asen laughing from the other end of the line. Good job, Maya; mental pat on the back for getting that stick out of Asen's ass.

I grinned as we walked, causing another weird look from the two of them. I must look insane to them, smiling about nothing in particular. To them, at least.

We walked in silence from then on. Well, not in complete silence. Occasionally Hidan and Kakuzu would have an argument- but I wasn't paying attention. I was busy talking with Asen.

Asen had said that the moment the plane crashed into the World Trade Center, the force of impact had caused an object to fly out of the plane's cargo hold. That object was a katana, one with a handle made out of ivory and a pitch-black blade. That katana was called La Clave, which was Spanish for 'the key'. That one knife had the ability to rip the barrier between dimensions- among other things. Apparently the knife accidently caused a rip in dimensions, and I fell through with it. And this is where we ended up.

So… Did I die or not? I asked hesitantly.

No, you did not. The sound you thought were your bones crunching was actually the sound of the rip closing around you. Then you were in that floating space. The in-between, the blank area that serves as a sort of docking station for dimensions. Wherever your mind goes, the dimension with the closest description to your thoughts is where you will be. Asen said.

Ooh. I must have been thinking about the anime Naruto, I said. Asen made a small sound of agreement.

Yes. But La Clave had fallen into the rift with you. That is very, very dangerous, because in the wrong hands it can be very dangerous, Asen growled, his tone sober. I suppressed a shiver at his voice.

So, it's up to us to find it. Are we the only ones in the dimension that know of it? I asked. Asen was quiet for a few moments.

I don't know. Whatever you do, do not let your traveling companions find out about it. It could cause destruction for many, many dimensions if the Akatsuki got ahold of it. Not just for this one. It is crucial that we find La Clave ourselves.

In order to do that, we need to get away from the Akatsuki, I said. I glanced up at the backs of Hidan and Kakuzu, furrowing my brow.

Yes, and I think I may know how we can do just that, Asen grumbled. I could hear the smirk in his voice.

Fill me in, Asen-dear! I chirped.

"Oi, bitch, stop staring into space. We're stopping for the night," Hidan barked. I glared at him.

"Put a sock in it, Albino," I snapped, sitting down once Kakuzu set up the makeshift fire. Hidan gave me a dirty look, before sitting down also.

Now then, this is what we have to do…

O.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.O

Me: And thus, the Akatsuki are the antagonists! Surprised, no? Ohoho, I'm such a genius. Also, welcome Asen-san to the LAD crew! *applause*

Hidan: I'm allergic to cats, dammit!

Me: Oh shut your trap, Albino. Anyways, tune in next time!

Chapter 7 Preview

Next time on LAD, Maya and Asen's escape plan goes underway. Also, the panther appears to be hiding something from Maya. What could it be?

Me: TUNE IN NEXT TIME, HERE IN LAD! Reviews are wonderful. Toodles~!