Jason winced as Grim mentioned Ash's emotions and dark purple boiled at the edge of his scales but then fluttered away as he kept himself calm and watched Grim curiously. He knew about souls a bit but didn't know it you could get one that wasn't truly someone.Humans fell to the Lost/Fallen Plane after death and yet dragons fell to the Second/Secondary Plane.And now,the First Plane,the level of the living.

"I do not," Grimalkin said simply, and for a moment Ash's heart sank. "But, there are...rumors. Legends of those who wanted to become mortal." He lifted a front paw and began washing it, scrubbing it over his ears. "There is...one...who might know the way to becoming human," he continued, much too nonchalantly. "A seer, in the wildest regions of the Nevernever. But the way to the seer is twisted and tangled, and once you step off the path, you will never find it again."

Jason found this a little interesting,tilting his head slightly as his white tips dangled in front of his curious hazel eyes.

"Right, and you just happen to know the way, don't you?" Puck interjected, but Grimalkin ignored him. "Come on, cat, we all know where this is going. Name your price, so we can agree and get on the road already."

"Price?" Grimalkin looked up, and his eyes gleamed. "How well you seem to know me," he mused in a voice Ash didn't like at all. "You think this is some simple request, that I guide you to the seer and that will be all. You have no idea what you are asking, what lies ahead, for all of us." The cat stood, waving his tail, regarding Ash with a solemn gold gaze. "I will name no price, not today. But the time will come, prince, when I arrive to collect this debt. And when that day comes, you will pay it in full."

The words hung in the air between the two, shimmering with power. A contract, and a particularly nasty one at that. Grimalkin, for whatever reason, was playing for keeps. A part of Ash recoiled, hating being bound in such a way. If he agreed to this, the cat could ask anything of him, take anything, and he would be forced to comply.

Jason felt the way it hung and his shoulders stiffened. He didn't want Ash to put himself into a contract because he felt for him,and knowing why Ash was doing this only made it harder on himself to continue letting these feelings die down instead of uprooting them. He bit his lower lip with a fang and looked worriedly to Puck.

"You sure about this, ice-boy? Puck caught Jason's gaze, worried as well. "This is your quest, but there's no backing out if you agree to do this. You can't just promise him a nice squeaky mouse and be done with it?"

Ash sighed and faced the cait sith, who waited calmly for my answer. "I will not deliberately harm anyone," Ash told him firmly. "You will not use me as a weapon, nor will I work evil against those I consider allies or friends. This contract will involve no one else. Just me."

"As you wish," Grimalkin purred.


"Then you have a deal." Ash felt a tingle in the air as the bargain was sealed, and clenched his fists. There was no backing out of it now, not that he had any intention to do so, but it seemed that he'd made more deals, accepted more contracts, in a single year then he had in his entire life as a prince of Winter. He also had the feeling he'd sacrifice more before the trip was over, but there was nothing for it now. He'd made his promise, and he would see it through.

Jason felt only a little soothed by the terms Ash spoke but still wasn't sure about the bargain,he knew first hand that others found ways around terms and still where not doing anything wrong in technicality.

Grimalkin nodded and leaped off the bucket, landing in a patch of weeds surrounded by mud. "Let us go. We waste time dallying here."

Puck blinked. "What, just like that? You're not going to tel the old chicken plucker you're leaving?"

"She already knows," Grimalkin said, picking his way across the yard. "And incidentally, the old chicken plucker can hear every word you say, so I suggest we hurry. After she is done with the fowl, she intends to come after you as well." He reached the fence and leaped up on it, somehow balancing himself on a crooked skull, peering back with glowing yellow eyes. "You did not think she would let you go so easily, did you?" he asked.

"We have until nightfal to be clear of the marsh, before she comes riding after us with all of hell close behind her. So let us pick up the pace, hmm?"

Puck shot Jason a sideways look, grinning feebly. "Er. Never a dull moment, huh?"

"I'm going to kill you one day," Ash told Puck as he hurried after Grimalkin, back into the swampy marshland. It was not an idle threat.

Puck just laughed. "Yeah. You and everyone else, prince. Join the club."

Jason nudged Puck though,biting his lip. His eyes looked up with their rich hazel depts and golden flecks,serious and nervous. He knew that threat wasn't small and he didn't want Puck hurt,he knew that Ash would do as he said. He knew Ash didn't lie,as far as he knew,and he knew why Ash wanted Puck dead.And being honest with himself he thought it a rightful reason,but he didn't think he could handle the death of another loved one,and Puck wouldn't be on the Secondary or Fallen plane,he'd be gone and he didn't think he'd be able to heal him fast enough,just like last time with that bullet. His freckles where blue and gray,swirling and smashing together as a mark of his stress that matched no color.

"It's okay," Puck murmured, placing a quick kiss on his lips.