Draco turned and started running in the same direction of the other humans. He couldn�t tell if the others were behind him, but he didn�t care. He needed to save himself right now. He ran threw the cornfield, trying desperately to catch up with the other people.
Suddenly, Draco was run over by a rush of humans running franticly back in the direction from which they came. Draco looked up over the cornstalks and finally got his first look at the creatures from which he was running.
They were on horseback, but it seemed that if they stood on the ground they would be as tall as Draco at least. They were an angry red color and their heads almost seemed too big for their bodies. They carried huge nets, stretching between two of them, with which they were catching the humans, sweeping them up off the ground. A few even seemed to be carrying wands.
�No, it can�t be,� Draco muttered, but he knew he was just fooling himself. He knew what they were, though they looked so different from what he remembered. They were giant, mutant pixies. Though, he guessed he shouldn�t say mutant, since, for all he knew, they were always this way on this planet.
Draco backpedaled, trying to get away from those awful creatures. He realized that he wasn�t getting very far, so he turned and took off, running as if his life depended on it, because it might very well depend on it. Draco could see now that Finnegan and Thomas had followed him and were now standing in his path, looking confused.
�Malfoy, what the�� Finnegan started.
�Move it!� Draco yelled, shoving his way past them. �Every man for himself!�
Draco ran on, and, after a while, he heard the others crashing after him too. Thomas soon caught up with and passed him. Draco cursed under his breath and tried to run faster. Then, a beam of green light shot from somewhere behind Draco, hitting somewhere in front of him. Draco only had to wonder what it had been before he tripped over the answer.
Thomas was lying sprawled on the ground, his eyes wide open in shock. Draco checked his pulse but felt nothing. Thomas was dead. It was in that moment that Draco realized the true seriousness of all this. He needed to get outta here before it was too late.
He got up and started off again, trying to keep his head down so as to hide. Then, to his horror, he came out of the cornfield, back where he started, and he was now staring at several wands, pointed in his direction, held by even more red pixies. Without even stopping to think, Draco turned to his right and started running. He wondered vaguely why none of the pixies shot at him, but he didn�t really care.
He soon came upon a cliff, at the bottom of which was a pond of some sort. Some of the humans he�d seen before were crowding around him, forcing him and several of their own over the edge. Draco fell about ten feet down, doing a belly flop into the water, knocking all the air out of his lungs. He swam up to the top and gasped for air. Then, he scrambled up to shore, where several pixies were waiting, grabbing all humans who came out of the water. One of them pointed a wand at Draco.
Draco felt a sharp pain in his neck and clamped a hand to it. He then fell backwards and blacked out.
* * *
Draco woke up and opened his eyes. His vision blurred for a moment before coming into sharper focus. His hands and feet were bound and the floor he was lying on was covered in straw. He looked around a bit and found that he was in a cage of some sort, surrounded by other humans, who were looking at him like he was something that fell out of a tree. He then looked out through the bars of the cage and saw an even stranger sight.
It seemed that the cage he was in was on wheels and had horses tied to the front. It looked like this was the other side of the cornfield, judging by the position of the corn stalks. Several pixies were marching in, some carrying dead humans like sacks of flour. These were placed on a pile in front of three red pixies who were posing for another pixie with a camera.
�Smile,� the pixie with the camera said. The other pixies grinned and giggled a bit as their picture was taken. Draco tried to look around more, but the cart started pulling away and it all became a blur. Draco let his head fall back onto the floor, closed his eyes, and went into a fitful sleep.
* * *
�Which one was wearing the strange clothes?�
�This one.�
�Will you be able to save him?�
�I don�t know. This beast has lost a lot of blood.�
Draco slowly opened his eyes, his vision slowly coming back into focus. A pixie, green this time, was standing over him, holding a cloth to his neck. When the cloth was taken away, he saw that it was soaked in blood.
Draco felt something in his arm and lifted his head slightly to see what it was. A tube was running into his arm, right below his elbow. The other end of the tube was on the arm of a woman, who was looking wildly around the room. Blood ran from her arm, through the tube, and into his arm. It seemed to be a primitive form of a blood transfusion.
The pixie who�d been holding the cloth moved aside and another green pixie came into view. �This room, it�s filthy,� the pixie said and Draco knew it was a female by her voice.
�Dr. Faye, these animals are filthy,� the male pixie said. �Maybe you could talk to Dr. Silth about me. Maybe get me some decent equipment.�
Dr. Faye shook her head. �Dr. Owen, you know how Dr. Silth and the other Violets looks down on Emeralds. The Scarlets have made them that way.�
�But the quota system�s been abolished,� Dr. Owen persisted. �You made it, why can�t I?�
�I�m an animal psychologist, we have no authority,� Dr. Faye said. �We only have funding because Dr. Silth realizes the importance of our research.�
Draco felt slightly lightheaded and closed his eyes to sleep some more.
* * *
When Draco awoke, he found himself in yet another cage. This one, however, was inside and built into the ground. Looking around, he could see other cages around him, each with a human in it. Draco lifted his head and tried to speak, but was met with only a sharp pain in his throat and silence. His throat was now bandaged, and his vocal chords had been damaged.
Cold water splashed across Draco�s back and he spun around. A red pixie (Scarlet) was walking in a slow circle, spraying all of the humans with a water spell. Draco huddled against the side of the cage. When the water was gone, he stood up. He spotted a blanket on the floor and draped it over his shoulders as makeshift clothes. It wasn�t much, but it was better than the ratty cloth he�d had.
�Jason!� a voice called from far off. Draco looked out and saw Dr. Faye, the green pixie (Emerald) from earlier standing at a barred door. The Scarlet pixie, obviously named Jason, rushed over and unlocked the door, swinging it open.
�He�s over here,� Jason muttered, leading her toward to Draco�s cage.
�What do you want?� Dr. Faye said to a man who reached out through the bars to her. �Speak! Come on, speak!�
The human moved his mouth slightly, looking confused.
�You want some sugar old timer?� Dr. Faye asked, holding up a sugar cube. The human grabbed the cube from her hand, stuffed it into his mouth, and reached his hand out again.
�You could get hurt doing that!� Jason said nervously, his wand tightly clutched in his hand.
�Oh, don�t be ridiculous,� Dr. Faye said, throwing a sugar cube into another cage. �He�s perfectly tame.�
�Yeah,� Jason said sarcastically, �they�re all perfectly tame till they try to take a bite outta ya.�
�How�s he doing?� Dr. Faye said turning now to Draco�s cage.
�There�s no working with him,� Jason said. �Every time I come in he goes into his act.�
Draco had no idea what the guy was talking about, since he�d been out cold for who knew how long.
�Well, how�s our patient today,� Dr. Faye said to Draco in a loud voice, like he was a small child. �Look at that! He has the most unusual eyes!�
Draco tried to speak and was forced to grab his throat at the pain.
�See?� Jason said, pointing at Draco. �He keeps pretending he can talk!�
�That Gray Eyes is remarkable!� Dr. Faye exclaimed, pulling out a notebook and writing on it.
Draco hit the bars of his cage to get the pixie�s attention. He then motioned for her to come forward.
�He seems to want something,� Dr. Faye said, stepping forward.
Draco grabbed her arm, trying desperately to get the paper and pen. He had to communicate with them somehow.
�Hey!� Jason yelled, shooting sparks at Draco with his wand. Draco flinched as one of the sparks hit him and backed off.
�Dr. Faye!� a voice from behind the barred door Dr. Faye had come through. A purple pixie, probably a Violet, was standing there, flanked by two Scarlets, who seemed to be acting as bodyguards.
�Dr. Silth!� Dr. Faye said, rushing to the door. �He�s over here!� She lead him over to Draco�s cage.
�So?� Dr. Silth asked, looking at Draco disgustedly. �What�s so special about him?�
�Watch,� she said, turning to Draco and, once again, putting on a loud voice. �Hello Gray Eyes. Show him your trick. Go on, speak.�
Draco tried to talk again and cringed at the pain it caused in his throat.
�There, can you believe it?� Dr. Faye asked.
�Yes, a wizard that acts like a pixie,� Dr. Silth said sarcastically. �I don�t know how I could have missed something like that before.
�And most unusual of all,� Dr. Faye continued, �he�s using that old blanket as clothing. I wonder how he�d score on a Standard Dexterity Test.� She held up her hand and started moving her fingers. To show he was listening, Draco did the same.
�Look, he�s moving his fingers,� Dr. Faye said excitedly.
�Just because he saw you moving yours,� Dr. Silth said, shaking his head.
�Or perhaps he understood,� Dr. Faye said.
�Nonsense,� Dr. Silth said, looking at Draco in disgust. �Wizards have no understanding. They can be taught a few simple tricks, nothing more.�
�But sir, my studies show�� Dr. Faye started.
�Dr. Faye, I must caution you,� Dr. Silth said. �Experimental brain surgery on these creatures is one thing, and I�m all in favor of that. But to suggest that we can learn anything about our own culture from them is pure nonsense. Now, if we�re done here, I have other business to attend to.� He left the room.
Dr. Faye took one last look at Draco before leaving too. Draco settled down on the floor of his cage, rubbing his neck and looking around at the other cages around him. So these others weren�t just humans, they were witches and wizards too. He wondered how it was that they could be witches and wizards and not be able to do magic. He only knew one thing. He had to get off this crazy planet before he became a permanent resident.
�Gray Eyes,� Dr. Faye had returned and was standing outside Draco�s cage. She had a leash in one hand, the other end of which was attached to a collar around the neck of a witch. �I have a present for you. Put her in with him.�
Jason came up and unlocked the door. He quickly pushed the witch in and locked the cage again. The witch walked up to Draco and sniffed him. She then looked up at him and seemed to be waiting for something.
Draco looked back out at Dr. Faye, who was looking at him expectantly and looked like she was trying not to laugh. Then, Draco knew. The witch was supposed to be his mate.
__________________________________________________________
Author's note: hee hee, Draco's got himself a girlfriend. Now obviously, I can't make much happen between them, since this is rated PG, but that doesn't mean I can't imply that something does. And, to all those out there who are huge Planet of the Apes fans, sorry. I know I messed up a few of the lines, but that's half the fun of it. If it was exactly the same as the movies, it would be rather boring.
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