NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOI!!!!!!!!!! My HAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

(I feel rather like Cress now, no?)

TOP! A new part will come either tomorrow or Monday.

NEW PART TOMORROW OR MONDAY

Crypto just said boho. You like Bohemian fashions, Crypto? I guess you'll be wearing a Bohemian scarf from now on. 

Curio, Curio, l trusted you.......Trusted. Oh well. If it's you to be the backstabber, so be it.

PART 10~

Abigail woke early. The others had falled haphazardly asleep on logs, against trees, in leaf piles. Shade and Keira were still sleeping; Shade lay in a cove in the ground, clutching something tightly, while Keira lay on a wide tree branch. Leopard was across a small clearing, gathering firewood. A moment later, Somebody emerged from the other side. Leopard and Somebody began talking; all Abigail caught was "Oh, thank you, dear Somebody! I would have utterly HATED to have help gathering firewood-" "Don't blame me, there wasn't a speck of dry wood in the deep forest-" Abigail turned away from the quarrel, turning to where Owlgirl had collapsed last night. Owlgirl was nowhere to be seen.

Abigail stood, walking to the patch of leaves. Only the barest imprint lay in the leaves now; the leaves appeared to have been scattered, as though a large bird had flown away from the spot.

Or a girl with massive owl wings that seemed to defy the very laws of nature. Either one.

Abigail kicked the leaves in frustration, casting them like beige dancers into the air. Whoever said that autumn leaves were orange were liars. Like most dead leaves, they were a disappointing brown.

In the midst of the brown, a flash of white appeared like an angel's feather; that didn't make sense, Owlgirl had brown wings. Abigail snatched it out of the air only to find that it was a scrap of paper. Abigail flipped it over and read:

Abi, Shade, Keira, Leopard, Somebody:

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I have to leave. I feel like a traitor, leaving my sisters behind. And Balea. I'm going to find them if it's what kills me. I'm sorry.

Love,

Owlgirl

Abigail, for the first time in three years, was angry and willing to shout. "NO!" she screamed, hurling the note to the ground. Shade leapt from the floor, unsheathing claws and snarling ferociously, only to trip in her delirium and lack of proper rest. Keira stirred.

"NO, NO, NO!" Abigail screamed, releasing her sonic voice. Birds took off in the trees ahead, squawking and panicked. Keira yelled something in panicked Irish and tumbled from the tree.

Abigail crumpled the paper and threw it with all of her might, only to realize that Leopard and Somebody had come back.

Leopard caught the note. After all, she and Somebody had both dropped the firewood in shock.

There was a silence. Eventually, Keira walked over and plucked the note from Leopard's hand, reading it hesitantly out loud.

Abigail didn't register it. She was fuming. She had watched Shade's sister, Catherine, die, and hadn't done anything. She had been a whiny fool this whole time. It was likely her fault as much as Owlgirl's that the Forbidden hideout had been discovered.

She realized that the four girls were staring at her, shocked and apprehensive.

"We," Abigail said, "are going to find-"

The beat of large wings sounded above them; Abigail looked up, hopeful. Instead of Owlgirl, a large hawk dropped a small screen onto the ground. Everyone except Somebody and Leopard jumped when it flared to life; even Leopard pinned her ears back, but it was against her training to react with fear. She was impressed at Somebody's stoic stance, but then again, Somebody was likely an assassin. She was used to strange things.

"Greetings," a masked person said, voice deep and hollow, "I am Centurion Firelock of the True Guard Elite. Your friend sends her regards."

Abigail screamed and reached for a log to batter the screen. Somebody held her back. Abigail let out a cry, and Keira helped restrain her with psionic energy. Keira winced as the freezing energy made Abigail go limp.

"This is a recorded message, by the way," said Centurion Firelock, "anyway, if you're wondering how our hawk found you, well... we have many means of extracting information. Some subtle. Some... violent. Your Owl friends were a BIG help."

Abigail began fighting again, but she was succumbing to the cold lull of the psionic energy. Psionic energy sapped body heat like the bite of winter wind.

"In fact, here they are now!" Firelock said, voice sickeningly cheery even through the voicemask.

Four girls were led in; Balea first, angry red whip marks on her back, hair shorn to a boy cut; then the Owls, who looked like walking corpses. Owlgirl still had a spark in her puffy red eyes, but her sisters looked dead. Shade growled furiously when she noticed why.

Owlgirl had managed to keep her wings in, and obviously had been fairly compliant towards her captors.

Saint and Booksy?

Their wings had been cut off.

Only stubs remained, sickening reminders of their former glory. Owlgirl had likely been forced to watch.

When the last prisoner entered, Shade screamed.

The last prisoner, looking exhausted and dead-eyed, was Catherine "Curio" Curious Dragon.

The grove was silent. Keira's psionic energy stopped working as she gaped in horror. Leopard looked near tears. Somebody stood, mouth open. Abigail, though nearly unconscious, managed a gasp.

"Turn yourselves in by noon a month from now, on the first day of that month," Firelock was smiling beneath his or her mask, "or say goodbye to your friends."

The signal cut out just as Shade tore the screen to pieces with her claws. 

Oh.

My.

Gosh.

I went to camp for a week, came back, and. . . wow. This is incredible. Absolutely beautiful. I am in awe. Brooke, you are such an amazing writer, and I cannot wait to see what happens next! Eee! 

Part 11~

Keira stood frozen, ready for another explosion of rage from Shade.

Shade held the mauled screen in her hands silently. Keira began, hesitantly, to move forward, approaching Shade as though she were a skittish horse: quietly, gingerly, staying just inside her line of sight.

Keira raised her hand to touch Shade's shoulder. In a flash, Shade grabbed Keira's hand in a python-vise, snarling and scratching Keira's hand with her claws.

Shade's growl faded as she saw the red drops running down Keira's hand. "K-Keira... no, no, I'm sorry..."

Keira gently extracted her hand from Shade's. Shade stumbled backwards, glancing between the four girls rapidly.

"Shade, don't turn yourself in," Abigail said. She had recovered from the psionic energy's lull remarkably well.

"I-I have to save Curio," Shade whispered, "I was alone. I can't live knowing she's going to die..."

"Which is why we need to plan," Keira said, "we have a month. That will give us enough time to figure out what to do."

"I agree with Keira and Abigail," Leopard said, "my agency, Starbird, believes in careful planning. It works. First of all, we need to move. They know where we are somehow, probably through... interrogating our friends..."

Somebody winced. She knew for a fact that "interrogating" could be swapped out with "torturing" with no change in meaning. She interrupted Leopard and, glaring pointedly, spoke her mind.

"Well, even though Leopard here clearly believes in the power of sitting around thinking," she snapped, "my agency, Firebird, believes in actually making things happen. And yes, it doesn't always work. But hey, as some guy who Booksy woulda known about said, 'the best laid plans of mice and men often go... oh, who cares about the last word?"

"It's awry," Keira said quietly, "and the poet was Robert Burns-"

"Shush," Leopard snapped. Leopard glared at Somebody. "Somebody, Owlgirl can fly like no one's business. Even she clearly couldn't outrun or outmaneuver the True Guard."

"I don't care," Somebody snapped, "a few years ago, my brother was taken, and I haven't been able to find him. My own brother. Leopard, when you found me, I wasn't there to delete the data."

"You were there to search for your brother's information," Leopard said quietly.

Somebody was silent. She looked at the ground, laughing with all the joy of a prisoner on death row.

"Shade is with me," Somebody said, "I can tell."

Shade looked uncomfortable. Keira shook her head. "Shade, please..."

Abigail stood next to Leopard. "I side with Leopard," she said quietly. Her nervous, flighty demeanor was gone, replaced by quiet determination. "My mother always told me to think before I acted before-before she was gone. Please, Somebody... Shade..."

Keira stood next to Abigail. She was silent. She stretched out her hand to Shade, and Shade, through habit, began to take it.

"Shade, Curio can be saved now," Somebody said, "I'm a trained assassin. Just come with me."

Shade paused, torn. Her outstretched palm hovered over Keira's poised to take it.

In a smooth motion, she withdrew her hand and stood next to Somebody.

"Shade, no," Keira started, walking towards the two. Shade shoved her back.

"Keira, it's for the best," Shade said.

"No it's not!" Keira shouted, losing her usual calm, "You're being an idiot! You're going to die there, trapped with your sister and the Owls and Balea, and even if you DO get them, you'll have to massacre hundreds to escape! You're being a moron!"

"People do things that the masses consider horrible when their family is in danger," Somebody said, the silver visages of tears in her eyes, "I know I have." 

Keira let loose a burst of psionic energy. Shade and Somebody dodged easily; it was unfocused, a flailing tentacle of green-blue light. The cold breeze it created dried the tears in Shade's eyes.

"Keira, Keira, no," Shade said.

Leopard growled and began to stalk forward. Abigail grabbed Keira and Leopard's shoulders.

"It's their choice," she said quietly. A memory surfaced in her mind.

"Makuakane, can I go with my friends to Bonewood Cove?"

"No. It's dangerous." Her father brushed a string of fluffy brown hair from her eyes.

"But if it is dangerous, why do they go?"

Her father sighed and stopped in his cleaning of fish. "You cannot control others," he said, wiping his hands on his cutoff jeans, "it's against what we believe in. You have to let others have free will."

"But they could get hurt!"

Her father smiled. "My dear little seagull, you must accept that something out there is running the world. Humans are always meant to be able to choose."

"But what if I choose to go?"

"I can only guide you," he said, smiling sadly, "I can't control you. I can only tell you what is right. But listen: undertoe will take you. There are stinging fish. You must trust me."

Abigail nodded softly. Her father picked her up.

"Always remember: it's their choice."

Abigail and the others watched as Shade and Somebody flew off. Leopard and Keira had been barely satisfied, despite telling Shade and Somebody of every possible thing that could go wrong.

"Great," Leopard spat, "now we'll have to save Curio, Balea, the Owls, Somebody McTraitorface and Shade LeLemming. Whoopee."

"Stop it," Keira said. Leopard looked miserable.

"I'm sorry. But I just... I know they'll be hurt. They'll be caught."

"Me too," Abigail said quietly, "me too."