The wind whistled violently as I fell, whipping my hair into my face with the speed. It reminded me of my 15th birthday, when my mom managed to get off her ass and stumble along long enough to take me to an amusement park-

Oh my god. I'd totally forgotten about my mother.

Is it possible to un-take a leap of faith? Is that a thing I could do? Because while I was falling into a centaur den and gallivanting about with fantastical creatures, my mother was probably at home on the couch seeing some drug-induced fantastical creatures of her own. That, or she was dead. I was usually the one who reminded her to eat when she was on a particularly long bender, but now who would? The shady people she hung around with were more likely to just take advantage of her. Which was another thing to worry about.

The panic was beginning to set in, so much so that I barely noticed the fluffy surface I fell on to. Immediately, I got up and started pacing. Realistically, she was probably fine, right? I mean, she could take care of herself. I had no idea what she was like before I was born, but she had to have been somewhat independent, right? And it wasn't like all the people she hung out with were shady. I mean, drug addicts could be good people, so it wasn't like-

"Blythe!" I jumped, the sharp bark scaring me back into reality. In front of me, Ruby stood, her arms crossed and an exasperated look on her face.

"What? Why are you yelling?"

"The horse freak asked you what you thought of his dumb underground lair," she sneered, though it clearly wasn't directed at me. Ant kicked her, though considering she didn't topple over immediately, it couldn't have been that hard. I found myself wondering what kind of relationship those two had. I mean, for enemies, they were awfully buddy-buddy. Maybe monsters just didn't know how to have rivalries.

I shook my head. Not important. "Sorry. Um, your lair is pretty cool," I said absently, taking a glance around the place as my mind began to wander back to my mother.

That is, before the lair actually caught my eye. The place was massive and well-lit by fairy lights strung from the high ceiling. I suddenly realized that I wasn't getting that strange, slightly humid feeling you get when underground at the metro or something. The air felt clean, the was ground grassy the area vast and filled with stands and houses. It was like a cute little rural town, just completely underground. But most notably, it was filled with (oh my god!) lots and lots of centaurs. The 6 year old My Little Pony fan in me squealed, and I breathed out a tiny "holy shit!"

Ant grinned, his fists planted proudly on his hips. "There's the right reaction. When Ruby first saw this place, I think she peed her pants a little."

"That didn't fucking happen you creep," Ruby snapped, grabbing my hand in her cold one. "Come on witch, let's go find our people." I let myself be dragged around by her confident strides. She seemed to know the place well.

"Uh, actually," I heard Ant say. "You may wanna slow down there. Oak's been kind of overzealous lately and-"

"Well, well," a booming voice echoed through the lair, making the lights on the ceiling sway and my eardrums hurt. I was surprised to find that Ruby listened, albeit with a huge groan. Before I could locate the source of the voice, another giant shape swooped down in front of us. Which, I mean, that was cool the first time, but kind of lost its impact on repeat.

The centaur in front of us spread her wings wide to reveal herself. She was shorter than Ant, with long black hair and glasses. Her horse half was also smaller, but not by much. It was jet black, like her hair. Honestly, a little spooky. She took a deep breath and boomed, "You fiends just keep on coming today, don't you?"

"Yes, hello Oak, nice to see you again. I'll sit through the speech later, but we're kind of in a hurry right now." Oak frowned.

"You know we're enemies, right? I'm not just gonna let you wander around my home." Finally! Someone who got how you were supposed to treat your enemies!

"Okay, yeah, but you nabbed Liam. That's like, not allowed," Ruby said, moving to side step her. Which was difficult because she was half giant horse.

Oak smirked. "Oh we did much more than that, vampire girl. We have your little soldier and her little group of invaders." They had Helena!

Oak went on, laughing, "That was pathetic, by the way. I mean couldn't you afford to send more than 5 people?"

I saw Ruby's jaw clench. "I don't care, just bring me to them," she said lowly. Oak shrugged.

"Oh I was planning to," Oak said haughtily. "You know, to lock you in there with them." Okay, maybe we could go back to being fake enemies.

"Oak, come on, these two not doing anything. Just let them see their friends." I heard Ant's voice from behind me.

"I mean, I would only call one of them a friend, but okay," I muttered. Ruby kicked me.

"Oh, are you two back together or something? I thought that phase of yours was over." I heard Ant let out a strangled sort of noise.

"That's not-We're not-" he spluttered, deep voice going almost squeaky. Oak flipped her hair.

"That's what I thought. Guards! Please take our two prisoners to their new homes." She said, turning to walk away.

"Dude, I'm the only guard on duty right now and I just said-" Ant said, voice thoroughly pissed.

"Yes, exactly. You're on duty. Which means that I don't need your opinion right now, I need you to act. Fast. I'm a busy woman, you know." Oak sing-songed as she sauntered away.

"You're a fucking asshole is what you are," Ant muttered. But he still did what she asked, an apologetic look in his eyes as he lead us closer and closer to a strange, underlit back area.

I looked to Ruby for reassurance, hoping for her ever uncaring, confident attitude because that meant we were fine, that this was just another little adventure. But her hair was down, black hair covering her face in a dark, opaque veil.

Wonderful. Just wonderful.