Caliante looked at the other two, at how Rusty was going crazy with anger and Salvation confused. He was right, what where they doing here? And what was this place.

All of a sudden, all three of them felt an oppressive sense of dread. They went silent and still in fear and looked around, trying to find the source of the feeling. As their eyes roamed, they realized that, somehow, the darkness was getting darker. It was as if there was yet a greater darkness rolling in like a cloud, consuming them and choking their minds.

Fear was so thick that it soured the air. Rusty's cheeks were flared and their tail lashed while Salvation's ears were pressed against his skull, his eyes huge. She looked up and her heart skipped a beat. Above them, glowing brightly among the darkness, were a single pair of deep purple eyes. As she looked, it turned and stared into her, so oppressive and evil that she was forced to look away, tears welling in her eyes and her breath coming in pants.

The others seemed to be having the same issues as she heard a tiny squeak coming from Rusty and a terrified growl from Salvation. She shivered, wondering what on earth the thing was going to do with them.

It seemed like a long time before the eyes finally spoke (somehow). "You cower before me. That is good. But I will not hurt you here." Caliante looked up, confused. Was that...Crack?

"Caliante." "Salvation." "Rusty." "Crack."

Crack stared down at them with its huge glowing eyes. All three of them were squashed to the ground, trembling with fear. There had always been something off about the malicious personality, but this took it to a whole new level. Just a single eye was bigger then all three of them combined.

But then there was a rumbling sound coming from the cloud that escalated into a full scale laughter. Crack laughed at their cowardice and the three looked at each other with confusion. They had never heard Crack laugh before. "Look at you three! Terrified of me! I'm glad I can invoke such a reaction. But now is not the time. I'll grant you a single kindness, since we seem to share a body."

The three looked at each other, bewildered. Crack had never showed any sort of kindness to them before. In fact, it had never really interfered at all with their lives except to wreak havoc or chaos.

Caliante looked up at Crack, her ears pulled back, trembling, but her voice was strong as she tried to be brave for the other two. "What do you mean? Do you know what this is?"

An air of affirmation came from the eyes. "This is the centerpiece of our minds, the place where we are joined together, the Inner World. You haven't created it just yet, but you can do anything you want. You've already created forms for yourself that feel most comfortable, so that, at least, is a start. However, you'll need to learn to create more. This is your home when you're not controlling the body."

Its eyes shifted between the three. "My kindness is this - tell me where you would like to live and I shall make it happen. I shall lay the base and you must create what is within."

Salvation perked his ears. Was the thing serious? What would it have to gain from creating them individual worlds? He didn't understand and neither did Caliante, but Rusty jumped forward right away, a determined look in their eye. "Put me in a flaming desert!" Crack blinked its eyes and, in an instant, Rusty was gone. From one area, there was an eruption and light burst to life. Caliante and Salvation whipped around and widened their eyes. In front of them, just as they had asked, was a desert wreathed with flames.

"Caliante." "Salvation." "Rusty." "Crack."

Caliante squeaked with fear "What did you do to him?! Where did he go?" Crack turned its eyes so that it was staring at her. There was another shaking laugh from the dark cloud and the little bat shrunk and flattened her ears. "He is there, in the desert, where he desired to be. Go on, go over there and you'll see him." The eyes suddenly snapped shut and disappeared into the dark mist, which slowly dissipated above them.

Salvation looked at Caliante, his ears perked. "Well, shall we go see?" The bat looked at him with wide eyes. "O-of course not! It's obviously a trap! Crack's killed Rusty and now its trying to hook us in as well!" The silver tabby tilted its head with confusion. "Then how can I hear them?"

Caliante perked her ears and looked at the desert. Sure enough, she could suddenly hear the obnoxious calling of Rusty along with bursts of air so hot it was visibly shimmering above the flames.

With a look towards each other, they shot off towards the sound. Perhaps Crack was being honest and it truly was just making them a place to live in. Perhaps that really was Rusty over there, enjoying themselves.

As they got closer, they saw the little lizard hopping to and fro, letting off bursts of hot air happily. When they caught sight of the other two, they danced over, happier then they had ever seen them. They smiled brightly. "This place is great! The heat is wonderful on my skin and my fire magic is so much stronger here! I don't ever want to leave!"

Salvation, who, in fact, was not at all enjoying this heat, stared at Rusty, as if they were crazy. "Well, I would. I'd like to be somewhere else. Somewhere cooler, maybe a nice forest. Yeah, a forest with cool air and lots of pine trees." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, enjoying the thought before he was suddenly gone.

"Caliante." "Salvation." "Rusty." "Crack."