Green Hunter

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.

The Stone of the Snake

The path was, of course, booby-trapped, as Phantom suspected. This was normal with his father's tests. Sam's breath was ragged, while Danny's body bore the most damage from the attacks. Sam's clothes were torn and ripped strategically here and there, giving him a delightful eye full of her feminine beauty.

"Are you staring at me?" she asked, turning around.

"Sam, don't move!" Danny hissed, noting the stone her foot was about to come down on. A plain ordinary brown pebble, a tiny blue snake painted on it.

"What?" she looked down, then brought her down to the barest right of the snake stone.

Danny blew a sigh of relief. "That's one trap we never want to encounter," he told her. "Dad calls it the 'Curse of Saint Patrick' or something of the sort."

"Oh," she said. "Anymore traps?"

"No, the way is clear," he said, moving aside a few bushes, revealing a smooth white stone path and a glimpse of a flowery heaven ahead. "We'll take the garden route. Kitchen's round back; Mom will be in the still room making salves."

That reminded Sam. "What are we going to do about your, uh, ghost parents? They are going to come in, guns blazing, and destroy everything to get us back."

"No, they won't," Danny told her. "The Clockwork Chronos, by this time, has already gone and intercepted them. He will explain everything to them."

"I'm his apprentice," came the quiet reply. "I can feel his comings and goings, as he can mine."

"I thought you were Skulker's apprentice?" Sam queried.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Phantom wondered, shaking his head as the strangeness of the ghost girl. "Father insisted I learn to hunt and trained me himself. I had to pass a test for Walker before I could be given my hunting license. Wulf is murder trying to track; never try to catch him on the frozen tundra without an ecto-laced net with electrical implants. Ugh!"

Sam watched him shudder at the memory, and open the door. Warm, soft light beckoned them inside. "Fresh fruits and vegetables on the table with ranch and catalina dressings in those little celery cups you like, dear. Phantom, Goth girl, leave all clothes and shoes at the door."

"She does know my name is Sam, right?" Sam muttered to Danny, who paused in the act of removing one of his boots.

"Yeah," he replied, grinning cheekily at her. "She likes to mess with everyone. The shower is over there; Mom always lays out extra clothes for when we come in. I think there's a robe or something in the back closet you can wear."

"Thanks," she whispered.

"You're welcome," he replied, taking the time to pull the remainder of his mud-splattered boot off. "I wonder if this will ever see white again?"

"Maybe," his mother said from the next room, the light silhouetting her figure. "The Clockwork Chronos is here, Danny. His wishes to see you and the creepy ghost girl."

"Creepy?" came Sam's outraged outburst.

"Mom, not now," Danny moaned. "Call her by her name, please. I really don't want to get in the middle of a cat fight."

"You were oogling her outside," his mother teased. "Don't forget to take your medicine before you go to bed. Another six weeks and you'll be fully acclimated."

"And Sam?"

"I don't know," Ember replied, hearing water splashing from the sink in the mudroom. "It is different with each person. Her father will be Undergrowth, you know. He has yet to receive the dark ecto-ray. Her body may reject the dark ectoplasm. Not all ghost children survive the initial phase of the conversion."

"Box Lunch and Youngblood did. I did."

"You are half-spiritkin," his mother retorted. "Box Lunch and Youngblood were 4 and 7 years old when they were chosen."

"Point," Phantom told her. Sam emerged from the back room wearing a black silk robe with white roses embroidered on the sleeves and hem. Just peeking out in the vee, Danny could a hint of rosy pink...

Whack!

"Get in there and change," his mother ordered. "Quit staring."

"Yes, ma'am," Danny grumbled, rubbing his aching head. "Going , going."

"Clockwork!" Jazz and Tucker exclaimed, watching the Time Master appear with a flick of the clock's hands which appeared from nowhere. Jazz quickly turned off the ghost security system.

"Thank you, child," came the quiet greetings of the revered Time Master.

"Is Danny alright?" Jazz demanded, before her parents could open their mouths. "I miss my little brother."

"He is fine," Clockwork assured her. "Let us retire upstairs and I'll explain everything to you and your parents."

"Okay."

With Clockwork's permission, Maddie Fenton quickly dialed the Manson's private line and explained the situation to Jeremy, who answered. He promised to be there as soon as possible with his mother, Ida. Pamela was off in Mexico, shopping for turquoise and emeralds.

"So my little girl will become a ghost?" he asked, after Clockwork explained his reasons for having Daniel Fenton and Samantha Manson removed from the mortal plane.

"Yes," came the even reply.

"No," Jeremy stated, green eyes flashing fire. "I will not let my little girl be adopted by some invisible plant-eating spook who will teach her, who knows, what kind of bad manners."

"I can assure you, Mr. Manson, that Undergrowth will..."

"See? What did I tell you? Why are all of you taking this so calmly?"

"Jeremy Thurston Manson, sit down!" his mother yelled, effectively shutting him up. "Now, go on, dearie, what were you going to say?"

Clockwork blushed; Tucker quickly snapped the picture, planning to show Danny and Sam if they ever showed up again.

"Daniel has a unique position in our world. When I fade, he will become the new Time Master and will choose his own title and future apprentice. One of our most powerful Ancients, Undergrowth, has expressed an interest in adopting young Samantha. Samantha will reintroduce into our world the vitality and warmth we have lost over the last few millenia when Pariah Dark terrorized both our worlds. Our laws, history and survival skills are taught to all we adopt as our own. The Fentons have agreed to give Daniel in to our care; may I expect the same for Samantha?"

"No."

"Yes," countered Ida, looking Clockwork in the eye, as he shifted from old man to child to adult. "With the condition they lose none of their humanity, I will agree to this for my Sammy and her young boy. I also lay the condition that they be returned to the human world to complete their high school education."

"They will be changed," Clockwork warned. "Can you and Jack live with this, Madeleine?"

"We've reviewed the tapes and all the footage Jazz and Tucker have shown us," Maddie answered. "It hurts me to know that my son calls another 'mother', but I can live with it. I second Ida's conditions.

"Jack Fenton?"

"Yeah, what Mads said," came Jack's sullen reply. "You plan to take anymore children away from their parents."

"Not here in Amity Park," Clockwork said. "Tucker and Jasmine are needed here to provide a strong support for their friends. Their gifts are best suited here in the mortal world."

Tucker nodded. "I'd be horrible as a ghost; Danny taught me that when we met Desiree the first time around."

"I'm better off on the sidelines anyway," Jazz added. "Thanks."

"Mr. Manson?"

"Her mother will not like this."

"I cannot tell you what choices your wife will make or not make," Clockwork told him. "I need your cooperation if young Samantha is to live in our world."

"Then you have it," Jeremy replied. "But only on the weekends and holidays. Her summers will be spent with us while she resides in the human world."

"Done," the Clockwork Chronos concluded. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have a gift of dark ectoplasm to deliver to Undergrowth."