Chapter 5 time! Updates are going to be slow from now on. Really, really slow. I'm doing NaNoWriMo, so I might not even write until December. Anyway, thanks Allie for the betaing, DISCLAIMER: about me not owning TUC, ect., ect. Enjoy.

The thing must have been 4 feet long, at least. The top of its shell came all the way up to my breasts, and its feelers could have easily touched my chin. Each segment of its spindly legs probably couldn't even be measured with a basic ruler. In short, biggest bug ever.

I dropped my flashlight, the lower beam of light only making the roach look creepier. Sure, the cockroaches back home were weird, the fall was a bit over the top, but this was completely insane! I slapped myself in the side of the face and winced in pain.

So much for dreaming.

Something in the back of my mind began to poke through, and suddenly this whole experience seemed extremely familiar. Kind of like déjà vu, but not quite. It was enough to really send shivers down my spine.

Suddenly, the roach's front legs slipped out from underneath it, sending its whole front half crashing clumsily to the ground. "Princess…" it murmured. Should have seen that coming, but something was different. It toke me a whole ten seconds of staring to figure out that it wasn't clicking.

It was talking.

Out of all the things that had happened, that took the cake. At least the cockroach was speaking its native tongue when I had talked to them back in the orphanage. But this roach- this gigantic, talking, strait from a horror movie creepy roach- was just too much. The world became blurred and dizzying. I stumbled backwards, passing out in mid fall.

"Princess?"

My eyes flickered open. At least ten antennae hung over me, like some kind of weird Halloween decoration. Only it was real. Why did it have to be real?

I lifted myself into a sitting position, my back aching like heck the entire time, only to come face to face with one of the huge insects. I groaned and flopped onto the cold floor. Go away, my mind wailed weakly. Go away…

They seemed to get the message. They all backed up a few paces, mumbling and giving each other worried looks. One finally had the guts to ask. "All right, is the princess, all right?"

"No…"

A wave of panic swept through the crowd, causing antenna twitches and horrified squeals. I heard almost all of them mutter the same word, "Regalia… Regalia…"

A sudden rising motion shocked me just enough to lift me from my trance for a few seconds. Not enough to register much though; I slipped out of lucidity quickly. But the one thing I did notice filled me with terror. Zoey, alone, sleeping on the floor, completely oblivious to the giant cockroaches surrounding them. The roaches were moving, dragging me along, and leaving my friend behind.

"No!" I shouted with the little strength I could muster. The roaches slowed to a halt in surprise. "Don't leave her," was all I could moan.

While the rest of the roaches waited, anxious to go on and get me to safety, two of them turned around and flanked either side of the sleeping body. Somehow, gracefully shifting their bodies in just the right manner, managed to slip Zoey onto the first one's back without waking her up. They scuttled straight back to their ranks and the pack started off again.

Deciding that she would keep me company, they had graciously moved the roach with Zoey on its back next to me. By then I had realized that they must have put me on another roaches back, probably the same way they did with Zoey. I silently watched her slow, even breathing, so quiet, so peaceful.

In a few moments, I had drifted off to sleep to the rhythm of the marching roaches.

I was riding, not on a cockroach, but a large, brown furry mass. Two black wings, each large enough for an adult to sleep on without rolling off, beat softly next to me, barely fitting inside the tight stone walls surrounding me. Around me was a set of arms, strong and secure. I looked behind me, and there was the owner of the hands holding me; an average sized, browned eyed, messy haired youth around my age. But even with these common features, he held an air of seriousness and courage around him, like an army man who had lived through many battles. He looked ahead into the darkness blankly and intensively, but when he saw me looking up at him, he beamed down at me with an expression of warmth and love.

The cavern shook. The boy looked up in shock and turned around. I only caught a glimpse of who was behind him, just a leather-clothed arm and a strand of glittering silver hair. The figure spoke, but all that I heard was a bubbling language that I couldn't even begin to understand.

The rumbling became fiercer- the dust that fell from the roof grew into whole rocks, and small water-filled cracks formed in the walls. Whatever she was on began to panic, shaking violently. I cried out to the boy, but he couldn't hear me. He was completely stunned, staring up at the rock face above them. I followed his gaze, and saw why.

A massive fissure opened up, and a burst of water blasted into the cave. The boy held on with all his might, bracing both me and himself for impact. The flow crashed down upon us, forcefully pulling me from his grip. I screamed and tried to grab him, but my arms did not seem to react. I closed my eyes and the water took me, sending me straight into the flooding at the bottom. I paddled as well as I could, gasping for air, but the waves crashed over my face and pulled me under. I opened my eyes, and I was falling through air.

At this point I wasn't dreaming.

I rolled onto the ground from about four feet off the ground, only bruising my forearm on impact. I must have fallen off the roach in my sleep. Something pressed down on my stomach, pushing me back into full lucidity.

Above the swarm, it just looked like a slithering shapeless mass, bodies floating on air. But down below, it was more like a storm of legs, feet pattering down from above like raindrops. They rapidly stepped on me in different places without warning. The whole experience was quite shocking, if no frightening. Then I finally got some warning- A big, hairy foot shooting down like a bullet into my face.

I screamed a short little scream right before it hit me. The roach stopped in its tracks, confused and alarmed. It took a few steps back, looked down, and if it had an expressive face I'm sure it would have had a look of horror.

It bowed down, trembling. "Sorry, princess, sorry!"

"No, no, it's okay," I assured, "it was just an accident, I understand!"

The roach continued to tremble and look away in shame. I sighed. "Oh, stop that already, you're making me feel depressed." The roach, which I was fairly sure was a boy, did as he was told and looked at me, still shaking a bit.

"Look. Making mistakes is a part of life- it happens to everyone. You just happened to almost step on the person you worship. So, when you think about it, you didn't even really so anything. And don't worry, if you did step on me," I patted his shell with a still bloody hand, "I would have forgi-"

I stopped mid sentence. A sharp, indescribable feeling shot through my arm unlike anything I had felt before. It washed over my senses and thoughts, leaving me disconnected and emotionless. Images flashed before my eyes, appearing and disappearing at a speed that most would not be able to comprehend, but somehow I could.

A female roach, relatively slender with long, slim legs and a midnight black shell, looking down at me; running with a swarm of roaches away from unknown danger; several giant mice along the shore of a raging river, dead and rotting; a monstrous furry face above me and a set of claws raking down my forehead; two small boats overflowing with supplies and shadowed passengers on the horizon; tiny white forms swarming around another female roach's body, clicking and squealing. Feelings came with the pictures- happiness, fear, grief, pain, curiosity, love. And then finally a name- Twi. It was over in a split second, stopping as suddenly as it started.

I yelped and stumbled back, panting. And once again, the roaches panicked. All were either afraid or shocked at my sudden reaction. One spoke up. "Okay, is the princess, okay?"

"Yes," I puffed, still trying to catch my breath. "I'm fine, but I have a question." I turned to the roach I just touched, who was completely terrified of the fact that he might have hurt his beloved princess. "What's you name?"

"Twi," he squeaked. I felt dizzy.

"Well, we better go," I announced, dazed. The roaches settled down a bit and prepared to continue, not like it needed much preparation. I tried to get onto the cockroach was carrying me before, but he didn't trust himself with being my transport anymore, so I got on another one. I moved back next to Zoey, who had somehow managed to sleep through all that commotion, and we set off once more for Regalia, wherever it was.

I personally think this is a pretty cool chapter, but it's my writing, so my opinion doesn't count. Tell me what you think. Review, peoples! :P Thanks for reading!