This time Kurt wasted no time in leaving the Tor. He just wanted to be back in the attic but, no, he found his self once more in a wooded area. In his frustration he kicked a nearby tree. Then he felt stupid for acting out like that, like a little kid. He just had to take a deep breath and keep going. That was the only way. There had to be a point to all of this besides running from the Witch who wanted the silver key and spending his time in each world, helping people or doing whatever he was supposed to be doing. The bigger question was: why him? And why was Blaine in almost every single adventure?

Loud screams and yelling suddenly interrupted his thoughts and he cautiously made his way through the trees to see what was going on. Hiding behind some trees he spotted a band of what looked to be robbers attacking a carriage full of people. His stomach lurched at the bloodshed and he swore to himself right then and there he was never watching movies with this much gore in it ever again. One last person – a girl – tried to escape but was caught and killed as well. Once everyone was dead the robbers took everything they wanted and left. Kurt waited in hiding for almost a good hour just to take make sure they were all gone before he moved again. The smell of blood was reaching his nose and after a few more minutes his stomach could not take it anymore and he threw up, leaning against a tree for support until he was finished. When he was finished his wipe his mouth with his sleeve, glad it wasn't his normal clothing, and left in the opposite direction, not wanting to be near that sight again.

After a while it became evening and he found himself quite lost. He had found no other signs of human life since the robber attack and he was quite hungry. Sitting down to lean against a tree, Kurt sighed and figured he may as well just stay there for the night. Either he would finally find other people in the morning or he would just have to find the Tor again and see if it would take him elsewhere. Otherwise he might perish and that was not something he wanted to think about. Not shortly after he had sat down, a small white dove flew near with a small golden key in its beak. Dropping the key into Kurt's hand, the dove explained – yes, by this point Kurt was no longer bothered by talking animals – that in the one nearby tree there was a lock in the bark. Inside was food and drink that never wasted or ran out. Then the dove flew off. Kurt stood and went over to the tree the dove had indicated and found the lock. When it opened Kurt found there was indeed food and drink inside. After he ate and drank a bit, he yawned and wondered if he should just stay there for the night. The dove appeared again and gave him another small golden key. This time the dove explained that in another tree Kurt would find a bed to sleep in. After it had left, Kurt unlocked the second tree and found a soft white bed. Glad he was not going to have to spend the night on the hard ground again; Kurt got into the bed and fell fast asleep. In the morning the dove came a third time and gave him another key to another tree. Inside was extremely nice clothing so he could change. Kurt was rather impressed with the make of the clothing. It all looked fit for a prince or king.

Kurt spent almost three weeks living like this, the dove returning every day to see how he was doing. They became quite good friends even. The first time Kurt started to suspect something was up was when the dove told him his name one day. Kurt had already told the dove his own name but had never gotten the dove's in return – for surely the dove must have a name as well? And it did. Blaine.

So was Blaine really an animal this time or was it like back in his first adventure when Blaine had become a fawn? If so then Kurt knew he was here to help Blaine regain his human form.

One day the dove appeared and asked Kurt to do something for his sake. Kurt replied that he would do anything for him and so the dove explained what he wanted Kurt to do. There was a little house that he would lead Kurt to that Kurt had to enter. Inside would be an old lady sitting who would say good day to him. Kurt must not say a word to her at all but just pass by her right-hand side and go into a little room. In the room would be dozens of pretty rings of all styles, but he was to ignore them all and just look for a small plain one that he had to bring back to the dove.

Kurt thought this all sounded easy enough – even though he had some slight reservations about pretty much breaking into an old lady's home - so he followed the dove to the little house. Once there he entered and saw the old woman. She stared at him and bade him good day, but Kurt spoke not a word. Spotting the door to the next room, Kurt continued on walking by her. The old lady leapt from her chair and seized the back of his shirt yelling that he was not allowed to go in there because she had not given him permission to do so. Kurt managed to yank his shirt from her grasp, still saying nothing, and continued into the next room. There he found all the rings mentioned but not the small plain one. As he continued looking about he spotted the old lady trying to creep away. In her hand she held a birdcage. Suspicious of her behavior, Kurt went over and, despite her protests, took the cage from her hand. Inside was a small bird and held in the bird's beak was the plain ring.

Kurt took the ring and ran from the house; quite pleased he had managed to do what the dove – Blaine – had wanted. Of course he was a bit scared that the old lady would come after him, but it seemed once he had reached the familiar trees that she was not following him so he was safe. Now he just had to wait for the dove to the return. Time went by and darkness was starting to fall but the dove never appeared.

Starting to grow rather worried, Kurt made to move from the tree he was leaning against when he felt two branches wrap around his waist. Scared, he struggled against them until he realized they were no longer tree branches but arms. Confused, Kurt turned his head and realized it was Blaine. Well, a Blaine look-a-like. Their close proximity had Kurt's face turning red, but it was thankfully hard to see in the darkening woods. "You saved me from the old lady, who is really a wicked witch." Blaine explained. "She turned me into a tree a while ago, but every day for two hours I became a white dove. As long as she had that ring I could not turn back into a human. Thank you for helping me."

Kurt managed to squeak out a 'you're welcome, it was no problem' and also managed to extract himself from Blaine's embrace. He – Kurt – was seemingly the only one who had been uncomfortable about that at least. Though as uncomfortable as he had been he could not deny it had felt nice to be in Blaine's arms. The surrounding trees around them suddenly turned into some other men and some horses. They were Blaine's servants and their horses. Blaine explained that they had been on their way back to the castle where he lived with his father the king. Now they all could return, and he insisted Kurt should come with them.

Knowing that he had probably done all he could here, Kurt politely declined, explaining that he had only been traveling through when he got lost and now he needed to continue finding his way out. Now Blaine refused to let Kurt travel alone though so he and his servants would accompany him until he was no longer lost. Kurt tried to explain that that was unnecessary, but Blaine would hear none of it. So Kurt tried to figure out the direction he had come from before. It took ages because there were so many trees and plants everything all looked the same. Eventually though they managed to come across the old, well-worn path. The carriage was still there and Kurt refused to go near it. Instead he went around it and continued in the direction he was sure he had come before. Before leaving the path Blaine told his servants to stay behind and wait for him with the horses. So it was only Blaine and Kurt who continued on into the woods.

Shortly Kurt was relieved to see gray wall. He had been hoping it would not take as long, as he was eager to leave and hopefully find himself closer to the attic again, because he was getting somewhat tired of all this adventure. He had forced himself ages ago to stop mourning over his skin care, because there was clearly nothing he could do about it. Finding the door to the gray room, Kurt was about to touch the door handle when a hand stopped his. Looking up in surprise he realized Blaine was right behind him. "Sorry, I forgot to say goodbye, how rude of me."

"What is this?" Blaine asked him, still not taking his hand away from Kurt's.

Kurt had no real good explanation for it, so he just told Blaine the truth. At first he did not think Blaine was going to believe him, but when he was finished Blaine gave him a slightly pitying look and squeezed his hand comfortingly. "I'm sorry to hear all that and I really hope you return to your real home some day. I am thankful though that this thing has brought you here though, because otherwise I might not have ever been freed from that spell, or have met someone as beautiful as yourself."

Kurt's face reddened once more and he blinked in surprise. "Wait...what?" Blaine had not just said that, right?

"I-I know it sounds weird," Blaine laughed nervously, "but it's true. You are indeed beautiful and I am sad knowing now that you must leave me forever. If you were to stay I would have you live with me forever."

Kurt let out a surprised squeak as he felt Blaine move closer, pressing him back up against the gray wall of the Tor. Before he even had time to register what was happening, Blaine's lips were pressed against his own, his hands resting on Kurt's waist. Kurt could not respond for a second, but then his brain unfroze and he was able to react. Normally he would not just let some random guy kiss him – that Karofsky kissing incident had caught him by surprise and had traumatized him for quite a bit – but this was Blaine...a Blaine look-a-like, but for some reason that just did not matter to him right now. Blaine's lips felt soft and nice against his own and he found himself responding eagerly to the kiss, his own hands resting on Blaine's shoulders, gripping them tightly as Blaine pressed closer against him.

As quickly as the happy, bubbly feeling in his stomach came, it left to be replaced by fear. Something did not feel right. And it was not just the fact that the thought had occurred to him that he should not be getting emotionally attached to someone he was never going to see again. Kurt managed to pull away from the kiss, gasping a bit at the lack of air he had been receiving, and ignored Blaine's look of slight confusion to try and figure out what was wrong. That was when the ground beneath their feet started shaking and black clouds started gathering in the skies above them. The Witch was coming.

Kurt knew it was stupid, but this time he was not going to run. Not when it meant leaving Blaine behind to fend for himself against the wicked Witch. The ground was starting to shake harder and they held onto each other for support. A heavy breeze had picked up and was swirling around them, threatening to blow them off their feet.

Then the Witch herself stepped out from the trees. Blaine actually had a weapon, a sword, but Kurt had a feeling that swords were not going to be much of a match against the Witch. The Witch raised her hand and a bolt of dark cloud shot at them. Kurt yelled for Blaine to get down, but Blaine refused and jumped in front of Kurt to protect him. The black cloud pierced his chest and seemed to disappear into him, causing Blaine to cry out in pain and sink to the ground. Dropping to his knees, Kurt pressed his hand over Blaine's heart and leaned over him, begging him not to die, to stay with him, but the life quickly faded from Blaine's eyes and tears ran down Kurt's face. Seeing Blaine dead before him hurt even more than when he had seen Brittany dead. He leaned down closer and pressed a soft kiss to Blaine's forehead.

Then he stood and faced the Witch. He angrily asked her why the hell she could not just leave him alone. All he wanted was to get back home to his world.

"You have the key." The Witch replied. "And you're a lot closer to your world than you think."

"What does the hell does that mean?" Kurt glared. He was angry and upset and straight answers would be damn more preferable than cryptic ones. "And what's so special about this key anyway? All it's done for me is open a lock on a chest some thieves hid money in."

The Witch shook her head. "I will not tell you anything. And if you think the key was only good for unlocking that measly chest you're quite wrong. It can unlock quite a bit more, if only you know where to look."

"Stop messing around and just give me a straight answer!" Kurt snapped.

The Witch's eyes flashed threateningly at him and she moved closer, too close for Kurt's comfort. He backed up against the doorway of the Tor, his hand reaching behind his back for the door handle. His eyes flashed down to Blaine's lifeless form before he looked back towards the Witch. It would have been nice to have actually dug a grave to bury Blaine, like he had done with Brittany, but it looked like Kurt most likely would not get the chance.

"Don't tell me what to do, boy." The Witch snarled at him. "Now hand over the key or I'll not hesitate to kill you."

"I won't!" Kurt replied. "Those old brothers told me not to give it to you. I'm not stupid."

"I suppose they didn't happen to mention that that key is the main thing keeping you here, traveling from world to world, unable to return to your own?" The Witch laughed.

Kurt paused. "Wait...what?" Was that really true? It could not be. They would have told him that, right?

"Yes." The Witch continued. "That key is special, capable of unlocking anything you want it to. It is, you could say, the Master Key to all things locked. Its powers were sealed before being tossed into your world, but now that it has returned to the Brothers, and the Tor, its powers have been unlocked. It can longer return to your world unless its powers are bound once more. So, while you still have the key in your possession you, yourself, are unable to return to your world as well." There was quite a bit she was leaving out about the key, but those things benefited her so Kurt was better off ignorant of them.

Kurt was not sure whether he should believe her or not. She could be lying to him, but, at the same time, it almost sounded as if she was telling the truth. What was left then was for him to decide what he was going to do about it. If this key was really keeping him from returning home then he was not going to just keep it about in his possession, but there was still no way he could just give it to the Witch. Then again, if she had it but he was finally back home then it would not be too much of a problem right? He would be safe at home, far away from any trouble she may cause. "If I-if I give you this key I'll be able to go home, right?"

"Of course." The Witch replied. She was not going to mention however that it still might take him a few tries to get home, not to mention that since she would have the key then she planned on taking the Tor from him at some point. Not only was the silver key able to open any lock, it was also the only key made to lock and unlock the Tor. The Tor was capable of locking and unlocking itself, but if you wanted to do so yourself you had to have the silver key. Kurt probably had not even considered trying the key in the Tor's lock. Ah well, she was not going to tell him all that now. "Let's just do us both a favor, you give me the key so I'm happy, and you get to the go home then and you're happy."

Still somewhat unsure, Kurt stood quiet for a moment, thinking. The Witch had to be tricking him. She had to. Maybe she was giving him truthful information about the key, but she was holding back. Not to mention why did she even need the key in the first place? Obviously it was not for anything good. No. He would not give her the key.

The hand he held behind his back was now gripping the door knob to the Tor tightly. He slowly turned it and waited a few more seconds. "Well...I guess you have a point to all that, so I guess I can give you the key..."

The Witch nodded, excitement shining in her black eyes. "Yes, yes, I do. So just hand it-"

"But I think I'll pass." Kurt continued, quickly pushing the door open and jumping side, slamming it shut once he was safely inside. Figuring since the Witch had told him the key locked any lock; Kurt quickly pulled the key out of his pocket and shoved it into the keyhole on the inside of the Tor. The key fit and he turned it fast, hearing the sure sign of it locking.

The Witch, realizing she had been fooled, was furious and started sending bolts of black cloud at the Tor in her anger. When the dense black clouds cleared the Tor was gone. The Witch screamed to the sky, the ground shaking with her rage. She gathered her black clouds to her and disappeared.