The Field Trip and a Secret Identity

Chapter 11

It felt like hours before hours before the class finally left the Far Frozen, but in reality, only fifteen minutes had passed at most. Yetis had followed the Fentons to the hut with fuel, the slip, and Dani was already there. A simple thank you was given to Frostbite, who refused to take any payment in return for his hospitality.

Not a lot had happened to many of the students disappointment, and instead of discussions on the "weird ghosts" (words of Dash), the jocks and nerds talked like they would on any school day. In groups. The jocks, the nerds, the neutrals, and Danny was alone in the crow's nest. Meanwhile, the pilots' cabin was a bit less exciting.

Dani was floating in the air above the Fentons heads, avoiding Lancer just a bit. "So," the young ghost attempted to make conversation, "where do you want to go? There are tons of places I can think of off the top of my head. There's Desiree's place. That book nerd guy, Writer or whatever. Clockwork is off limits unless you have a valid reason. Umm, Pandora's castle. Dora. The Box Ghost. Lunch Lady..."

The young ghost girl rambled off ghost names, and Maddie and Jack shared a look. Danny was like this whenever he got into a subject. Like when he wanted to be an astronaut when he was younger... "How about the this ghost writer next?" Maddie spoke up, deciding herself where they were going next.

Lancer however, was trying to read one of the many books he had brought in his travel bag to the trip. He gave up when he realized the child really just wanted to talk with at the moment, even though the destination was decided. He closed his book with gentle care, and looking at it longingly, closed his bag with the book in it.

His focus fully on Dani now, Lancer clasped his hands and for the first time since meeting her, talked. "What's your favorite place to go to? Do you have a home?"

She froze. Literally. She was still floating, but much like her cousin Lancer remembered, frost seemed to emit from the small child. The Fentons began to worry when the child had gone silent and Maddie quickly put the Speeder on Autopilot. The two males in the room swarmed her at first, until the true mother pushed them away and pulled Dani from the air into her arms, a warm hug waiting. The child flinched in the hug at first, unused to any affection from anyone but her cousin, Sam, and Tucker.

She didn't relax though, until Maddie whispered, "Do you want to talk about it?" It was then she realized what had happened. Her toxin green eyes, looking like neon Oreos, huge and wide, stared into the older woman's purple ones. She felt the pain of something she hadn't quite thought of in three years. She murmured something, no one heard.

"What was that, dear?"

"I don't have a home..." Dani's voice faded out once more. She had a family, she doesn't doubt that. Even the most malicious ghosts in the Ghost Zone adored the small child. But what she didn't have was a home. They say home is where the heart is, but even with her closest friends and family she felt something missing. She wasn't crying, but the longer she looked into Maddie's eyes, the more she found herself wanting to. "The closest thing I had to a home, was no more than rocks and wood placed together to make my prison."

The pilot room quickly became silent, and following it came the uncomfortableness. Maddie seemed to realize that she was still hugging Dani and slowly released her. She kept her hands on her shoulders for a few more seconds, then turned back to the seat she had been in not to long ago, and regained control of the ship.

Mr. Lancer and Jack still stood uncomfortably in front of the downcast girl. Jack's eyes widened then and he quickly bolted out of the room. Left with the girl alone now, Lancer tensed up, wondering if he should say something since he caused the whole debacle when he did.

The large man clad in an orange HAZMAT suit soon came back, but with something in his hands this time. The teacher took this as his opportunity to go sit down in his seat. Jack kneeled down to Dani's height, and held out a bowl. Inside was Jack's pride and soul, his fudge cake with a side of chocolate ice-cream. Dani gratefully took it, and while she ate away, Jack went back to his co-pilot seat. Later, they would finally come to realize, that this was no more than a script written by a ghost writer, the same one they were visiting.

merp——————___________——————face

So being in the crow's nest was not the most entertaining job, Danny learned for the second time. He had summoned Little Bob again, and the small dog currently slept (can ice dogs sleep? Danny thought) as he spun around on the spinning chair. Usually he would talk to himself, but he didn't need his dog to think he was crazy. So alas, he was left to think and contemplate the meaning of this job he was given. Which also wasn't fun.

He was almost ready to doze off into what he would hope to be peaceful sleep. Alas, that would rather boring now, wouldn't it? So let's add a tad of excitement...

Danny soon found that he wouldn't be able to sleep. That feeling from deep down had once again risen, and it consumed his mind, leaving no room for other thoughts. He needed to see Sam and Tucker. He did the same thing as the day before, duplicating himself into two, putting his sleeping dog on the sitting duplicate's lap. Instead of turning into Phantom though, in either duplicate, he only turned intangible and jumped out the window and tried his best to float to the back of the bus.

The short distance alone made his head swirl like the ectoplasm around him, leaving Danny feel like he was in a cliche story where the hero is suddenly weak in the first few chapters. Still intangible, he slowly stuck his head through where he hoped was the seats and not the middle of the isle. His wish was thankfully answered, and his head poked out of the seat between Sam and Tucker. As the halfa's eyes met with his girlfriend's, Tucker didn't even bother looking to his friend. In a quiet whisper he knew Danny would hear with his advanced hearing, Tucker said, "You know, you're getting pretty risky with your powers lately. Might just expose yourself on accident," and kept pressing buttons on his PDA. Slapping the beret-loving boy on the arm, Sam gave Danny a questioning face.

"You okay?" she asked.

His face was a depiction of panic, and the same could be said with his voice. In a low but fast voice, he whispered, "Guys, I have a really bad feeling!"

Sam's face of confusion and tense posture was dropped to annoyance and ease. "We know. You've been saying this for weeks now, Dann-"

The ghost child interrupted, floating higher so now his torso could be seen alongside his head. His friends tried to grab him, but he was still intangible and phased through their hands. "Guys, this is serious! I'm serious!" He was able to go back down when he took a deep breath. The air around the trio had grown noticeably colder. He continue to go down further, his face almost fully gone, but his voice fully audible. "I guess I'll just go back to the crow's nest. Maybe Little Bob will listen."

Minutes after he left, Tucker looked over to Sam and whispered, "Drama Queen much." She nodded back.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The ghost sat in the middle of a ring made of computers, typewriters, and all writing materials around him. He chuckled and looked away from what he was writing to look at what he'd written.

"This is quite the story, isn't it, Clockwork?" the ghost asked.

"Yes, this will be quite an adventure." The master of time turned from an elderly man, to a young child, but one thing remained in his eyes. The glint of hidden wisdom. "An adventure indeed."

---------------------------------

So. I really need to think these bottom author notes out more. I feel the need to say something at least. Well, if anything, i guess i can say this, not that you have to read this. It's only a mini rant. I haven't seen many comments on this (none anymore actually thank you), but it's true what they say. You are your greatest critic. I let a few people get to me, and now i need to tell myself that my writing is good. i have really bad confidence issues, so i guess by writing this, i'm trying in a way to show myself to move on, let it go. I try not let these things bother me, and it usually doesn't but when it's something i like to think i'm good at? Like drawing? Writing? It really makes me doubt if i actually am good at it, you know? So it helps to do this, show that it doesn't bother me.

Well... uh... Bye?

SO LONG MY CHICKEN ARMY,

YOUR LEADER,

-Bella