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Author's note: Hey so Sofurry is not allowing me to edit the character changes. Normally I leave spaces to indicate character change so if I suddenly jump from a different character, just know I couldn't edit it for you because this site is being a bit mean to me. Sorry.

The Fallen

Skylar was scared.

He was alone in a room with only one window, a bed, and a night stand that had a glass of untouched water in it. His legs were huddled closely to his chest, gripped tightly into a fetal position so he could assess what was going on.

But he was four!

Confusion was the only thing that greeted him in his mind. He wanted his father, he wanted to go home and just be safe and comfortable. There were occasional sounds coming from the other side of his door, a voice, a couple laughing sounds, sometimes metal banging on cement. He hated the silence, it made his thoughts go to scary places. Places where his Dad knew how to make go away. Now that he isn't here, Skylar was alone to face them on his own.

His breathing was a little faster than normal and his heart was a bit stressed, beating faster than normal as he felt his body get wet from cold shivers. Daddy... he thought constantly, repeating that one word in his head over and over again. Thinking that with every time he said it his father would come through that closed door and make him feel safe again.

But he never came.

A tear began to form in his left eye, his emotions ready to take over in a full force. Then he saw the bright light form in front of him, becoming so bright that the warmth of it rushed over him like a calming hand caressing him to feel better. His body instantly fell into a deep sleep.

He dreamt of a falling star...

Kevin couldn't do anything with the guards outside the tent. He was a sitting duck right now.

"Get up, you die." Those words echoed in his head over and over again, said by one of the Canine guards watching over the door. The Human had no escape options anyway, there was only one door to this tent and that one didn't seem too pleasant.

How did he get stuck here? One minute he was walking through a portal and then the next he was suddenly in the Eternal Lake. If nostalgia was correct, though, wouldn't the water kill him? It was literally electrified, he should have been dead in seconds. His body felt fine, nothing was in pain and his limbs moved better than ever. To top that, he was in Arella! Ten years ago he died here, then next thing Kevin knew he was awake and alive.

It made him nauseous to think about, the room becoming too bright that he had to squint his mouth and eyes shut to calm himself, otherwise he would hurl. The brightness faded within minutes and the image of Skylar filled his head afterwards, making him feel more sick than before.

He felt a wave of failure come over him as he looked back at the image of his son, knowing full well that he was supposed to protect him from everything and yet he was in another world, god knows how far from Earth and stuck in a chair. He should have ran the second he saw Demetrius at the beginning, pack his bags and escape to somewhere undetectable. Off the radar from talking animals and Eternal armies and old romantic wounds.

Somehow Kevin felt like he was in fictional book!

He snapped his eyes up once the tent opened up at the entrance, breaking the image of Skylar out of his head and feeling another wave of guilt rush over him. When he looked up to see who it was, it appeared the person recognized him first and dropped the towels he had in his hand to the ground.

"Kevin?" The Raccoon's mouth hung open with his eyes full of shock, staring at the Human with pure disbelief.

"Gavin?" Kevin gave the same response but almost felt himself have a sense of calmness to see a familiar and friendly face. He couldn't believe it was him, the Raccoon looked horrible! To put it bluntly, his clothes were almost rags and stained with dirt and blood and his fur was what looked worse as it appeared to have not been combed in years. His eye looked tired by the looks of the bags under his sockets were and his posture was just hanging so low it looked almost like Gavin emerged from a zombie movie!

"Jesus, what happened to you?" Kevin started by almost standing up but almost regretted it as the image of the guard came back to his head. That happened to be another horrible feeling, not being able to stand up to help his friend.

Gavin rushed over and nearly knocked Kevin off his chair, slamming himself into a giant hug and holding the Human into a tight vice. "You have no idea how good it is to see a friendly face again." His voice cracked and nearly broke out into a sob, his arms tightening more around Kevin which seemingly surprised him on how strong Gavin became.

"Hey," Kevin said in a raspy voice, forcing out what air he had left to respond, "What is going on, why are you here?"

Gavin let go and Kevin let out a gasp, his lungs filling with air again. "I could ask you the same thing!" He responded in a harsh whisper, "I thought you were in your world."

"I was, when I crossed the Gateway I somehow woke up here. In the water." Kevin understood why Gavin whispered as he let his voice fall low too, not wanting to let the guards outside the tent hear them.

At first Gavin gave the Human a confused look, watching his expression nearly made Kevin feel sick again as he knew that would probably sound crazy. Then, as if a light bulb clicked on inside the Raccoon, Gavin smiled, "Your body was in the water," He responded, "As soon as you passed through the Gate your soul immediately went to your body, thus bringing you back to life in Arella!"

He was resurrected? It made sense to think that his soul on Earth brought him back to life here, but what happened to the soul on Earth if his soul is here...? So many questions filled Kevin's head and he wanted to ask all of them but right now he could only get out the ones that fled his mouth on autopilot.

"How could I wake up in the water, I thought it was deadly?" He asked curiously, his mind begging for more information.

Gavin shrugged and only answered the best he could, "Maybe after ten years your body had become immune to the water."

Again, made sense. It was the best response Kevin would ever get at this point.

This time Gavin asked his question, "Why are you here?"

Kevin sighed and looked down at the ground. After explaining the whole situation in a couple minutes briefly, Gavin could only stare in disbelief. "Yeah... That's how I ended up here."

"This is getting out of hand, they really took your son?" He frowned and put his hand on Kevin's arm for comfort, showing the Human he was at least a true friend still.

He smiled with what energy he had left and sighed once again, his heart suddenly breaking in half, "Besides, Demetrius is probably dead by now and I couldn't even stop it from happening because I ended up here."

"They're not dead..."

Kevin's head snapped up with shock, "What?"

"Damien was sent to stop the capital punishment."

"Damien is dead!"

"No he isn't," Gavin felt tears in his eyes, "He was healed before anything got worse. They healed him, they're using him..."

Kevin began to feel more sick, "For what?"

"The Eternal army, they intercepted his return home and brought him here to heal. Meanwhile they captured me and said to Damien that if he doesn't kill Demetrius, to get him out of the way, then they'll kill me! His brother, Garock, planned this all along!" All of this shocked Kevin, he felt like Gavin wanted to scream but they had to keep to a low whisper.

"Garock is his brother?" He felt more sick than usual. The knowledge of this whole thing came in like an unexpected avalanche plummeting into Kevin's brain. Damien never mentioned his history to the Human so he was unaware of Garock being his sibling. Though it would make sense, Garock was also apart of the Tiger tree, so this puzzle piece snapped into place perfectly.

"Yes," Gavin responded quickly, "He's twisted and believe he can cleanse the Human race. He say's this is all Damien's idea but it isn't true. If all else fails, Garock can have Damien take the fall by sending him to do his dirty work. He sent him to start the attack on the Kingdom!"

Damien was a Rook in the chess game.

And Garock was moving his pieces into place.

"I thought the Attack was on Earth..." Kevin eagerly investigated for more answers, it was the only thing that could distract him from being a horrible father.

"It is, that's where Garock is sending majority of his army. His plan was to make the Kingdom think Garock was Attacking your world so they would focus their defences there. In the meantime, the Elite Ten and a few selected soldiers would siege the Kingdom and take control while they are at it's low capacity. Kill the King, take out Demetrius--the King's guard-- and claim the throne." Gavin was shaking a little but his form remained to look normal, this type of information seemed to be like he needed to vent it to someone. And Kevin seemed like the right candidate.

"I have to get Demetrius." Kevin stood up from his chair, his mind now caring less about him having to stay there. This whole thing was getting out of control! A few days ago Kevin was just a regular father with an amazing girlfriend, now he's stuck in the middle of a full scale invasion between two worlds. He didn't know why but Kevin's mind immediately went to his Husky, he couldn't focus on anything else except finding Demetrius and stopping this whole thing. But how were they going to fix something that was out of their control?

"You want to get killed first?" Gavin's ears fell from the shock and his eyes darted from the door to Kevin, he was in the tent for too long. Any second now and the guards would come in.

"We need to stop this." Kevin didn't care about the consequences, he wasn't even sure if he wanted to think about them. All he wanted was Demetrius.

Gavin opened his mouth and looked back at the door. His tired eyes were showing how much pain it was for him to think on the spot. His lack of optimism was clearly showing that he was exhausted of this place, almost as if Kevin was looking at a person who was about to give up. "If you're going to escape they will have patrols on you like flies on meat. There needs to be a distraction for the door guards. Give you time to get distance before they know you're gone." The Racoon went to one of the weapons racks in Garocks tent and took two shiney daggers into his hands, passing one to Kevin and keeping one for himself. Kevin was confused when he looked at the piece in his hand, feeling its hilt and getting used to the weight of having a deadly sharp weapon in his own grasp.

"You want to fight?" He asked with wide eyes, knowing that idea was crazy.

"You're going to Arella." He said, puncturing his dagger through a piece of tent fabric and slicing down until it split open, staying still a moment in silence so his ears can listen on the other side. Nothing, they were clear.

"What are you doing?!" The Human whispered sharply.

"Run straight to the forest and follow it until you hit the city gates. The second you leave this tent you run like your life literally depends on it." Gavin's attitude changed and it was like a transformation in him took over. No longer was he seeing the weak and scared Racoon ten years ago. This time it was a brave and noble man.

Maybe his exhaustion was getting to him. Maybe it was just pure craziness. One thing Gavin knew for sure though, was that he just didn't care anymore.

Kevin looked at the door, "What about them?" The guards would be in here to notice his absence.

"I'll hold them back and give you time to escape." He responded calmly. This was getting out of hand!

"Gavin, no--"

"Kevin!" He responded sharply in a low voice, "If you don't get out of here we may not have a chance at all in winning this battle. It's you Garock wants, he know's Demetrius--Arella's best soldier--needs you to keep moving forward. So for every second you waste here, the more distracted our hero can be! He already has Damien under his belt, he doesn't need Demetrius!"

He was right, he hated to admit it, but if Demetrius has nothing to fight for, then all hope in him fighting is lost.

"Besides," Gavin continued, more softly this time as he lifted his shirt. "I can't leave..."

Underneath the fabric was a purple energy ball clamped around his torso, hugging the Racoon greedily and seeming like it was not gonna let go unless it had a reason to. This was the same contraption that was strapped onto Dr. Ada. Kevin's breathing stopped as he looked at the monstrous vice, fear rising in his gut and burning a hole into every crevice in his body.

"I'm under Garock's control. If I escape, he kills me instantly with this. You still have a chance, he hasn't given you one of these so it has to be you to go to Demetrius. You have to stop Damien, stop Garock and save the Kingdom!"

The pressure was now on Kevin's shoulders, just the thought of saving a whole Kingdom seemed too far fetched to him. But this was what he had to do, this was the story Kevin got himself into. Demetrius and him needed to stop Garock, otherwise both worlds would be lost to a lunatic.

"Hey, what's taking you so long in there?" The guard called out from the door. Time was up.

Kevin nodded and stepped up to the door Gavin made and stopped to stare into the Raccoon's eyes, seeing them for maybe the last time. "I'm sorry." Was all he could say.

Gavin pulled the Human into a quick hug and whispered into his ear, "Tell Damien I love him," He let go and shoved the Kevin out the newly made exit, "Now go!"

Kevin wasted no time and sprinted in the direction of the forest, his speed not giving anybody a chance to react in time. He wanted to stay, drag Gavin out along with him and maybe have a chance to save the Raccoon! But all he heard was shouting from the tent now, it faded with each large step he took. Gavin gave Kevin this window of opportunity to stop Damien from killing Demetrius, this was never going to be a forgotten memory.

Gavin is a hero and for what Kevin does next was not only going to be for Demetrius or his son, but also his Raccoon friend.

Kevin pushed through the tree line.

Demetrius only stared at his friend standing a few feet away from him, the wind around them picking up at an unexplainable pace as explosions covered the whole city in all directions. Havoc reached the skies with black smoke and bursts of red and orange clouds erupting around them in an unsynchronized rhythm which all seemed to follow with enormous cries and scream. If the Husky didn't know better the whole thing would have given him a headache.

But that wasn't as painful as the heartache he was having right now, he felt sick to the stomach after all that has happened to him and still he managed to keep a straight face. As if all the other things on his shoulders right now weren't enough, the Husky had a new weight added as his best friend was not himself anymore. He was different, desperate looking even.

But that wasn't what had him spiralling in his head the most. What bothered him was that he was supposed to be dead! Demetrius was still fresh from seeing him die on the floor of the apartment building, he couldn't believe that after what he's been through he was staring Damien in the face. He should have felt relief--which a small part of him did!--but instead he felt cautious. Like as if his best friend wasn't himself emotionally anymore. Physically he was here better than ever and Demetrius didn't want to know how, he neither cared or needed to know.

It was Damien. Just seeing him alive was a big weight off his shoulders.

The Tiger gripped his sword in his two paws in front of him and readied himself for an attack. Demetrius, instinctively, did the same.

"What are you doing, Damien?" Demetrius managed to speak loud enough despite the multiple explosions happening around him.

His best friend shifted his weight to one foot, Demetrius noted this, "It's too much to explain in such short time I have..."

"Short time?" He repeated, "What are you talking about?"

An explosion ignited close by the two friends, bringing the Husky to break his balance and tumble over to the side a little. Fortunately he was able to catch himself but through the black fog a body came plummeting at him with their sword raised high. Damien was charging at full speed so Demetrius swung his own sword up at the nick of time to clash with the Tigers, sparks shooting from the contact.

"I'm sorry, Demetrius." Damien growled, retaliating by throwing another swing.

The Husky hopped back and felt the tip of the Tiger's sword soar by his stomach, the feeling almost sending a cold shiver up his spine. Demetrius had to find his control in this fight, Damien had a good start and now the Husky was out of breath after dodging those two blows. As the third came by again, Demetrius blocked with the flat side of his sword and charged forward with a kick so hard that Damien stumbled back a bit off balance.

During that brief time, he regained his breath quickly and felt himself gain a bit of control here.

"Why are we fighting?" He growled back more frustrated than ever.

But Damien didn't respond as he charged again, leaping up into the air and jabbing his sword one-handed at the Husky's head which was dodged quickly and slapped out of the way by the Husky's own sword. Demetrius was now at Damien's side as he landed and he quickly moved in from behind to bring his arm around the Tigers neck and pull as hard as he could. But Damien hadn't let up and brought his legs up to his chest with him to absorb the choke hold, then forcing them straight down to the ground to throw the Husky forward off balance and over the Tiger's shoulder's.

He smacked the pavement hard, breath leaving his lungs in a harsh grunt. Before he could regain his bearings, he caught two things in his vision. The first, a sword coming straight down to meet his chest, and the second:

A falling star...