.......(thats all I can say) except that you're a great writer OMK keep it up THIS IS GREAT! (I mean...poor Ember....but your writing and how you portrayed me was great (really though, you're awsome!)) I wonder what's gonna happen now...

Part 15 is in progress. I'll only be able to write sparsely soon, since I'm travelling out of state for Spring Break, but it should be done within a reasonable amount of time. Thank you all for being so interested in this! It's the first time I've been able to carry a solo write/ski lodge to completion. Keep it topped! :D

Part 15

~~

The silence lasted for so long.

The night after Ember died seemed to last an eternity to Danie, each second etching itself out as slowly as possible. Finally she just decided there was no way she could sleep, and rolled over onto her back to stare at the stars. Determinedly she looked away from the place where Ember had been buried, the grisly act performed by a distraught Booksy. Pity twisted at Danie’s heart once more as she thought of Booksy’s tear-streaked face and reddened eyes, wet and sore from crying. After Vox, speaking through St Owl’s mouth, had told them all about Ember’s prophesied death, Danie had been terrified. Afterwards, though, other things had surmounted it as most important in her brain—Scylla’s transformation, Kestrel’s disappearance and curse, Claaws being lost in the rainforest. Her real death had been twice as terrible, Danie having to suffer it all over again.

Her eyes fixating on one particularly bright white star, she let her mind travel back to the time when she’d just arrived in the Garden. She’d woken up in a clean-pressed bed, all memories wiped from her mind (and she hadn’t gotten them back, yet, either. No one really had except maybe Kestrel, but she wasn’t about to tell anytime soon). Ember had been the very first person she’d met in the forest, and now that she considered it, if it weren’t for her Danie might have never found her friends in the first place, might have never been able to come along on this adventure.

Might have never seen Ember die.

Growling under her breath, Danie shoved herself to her knees, her hands digging into the peaty earth. All of a sudden the heat of the jungle seemed unbearable, stifling and choking. With a snort Danie jumped to her feet, taking care to step around her sleeping friends. Well, ‘sleeping’ friends. She suspected many, if not all of them, were as awake as she, or closing their eyes as tightly as possible at least. Either way, it wasn’t that hard for her to escape camp. As she vanished into the thick foliage of the rainforest, the thought of what had happened when other members of their group wandered off—Icy, Kestrel, Claaws—crossed her mind, but frankly she didn’t care. All she needed right now was some time away from all the stress and grief.

A sudden rasping croak besides Danie made her jump, her heart set pounding, and she whipped around to see a tiny blue frog, its back mottled with black spots, staring at her with large, dark eyes. Realizing what its tropical coloring meant, Danie slowly backed away, being reminded once more of the dangers the jungle really held for her. Danie shivered, glancing up at the lightening sky as the long night crept to a close. I should probably get back… she thought, worry tinging her thoughts. She didn’t want anyone to wake up and freak out because she was gone. Sighing, Danie turned away and began to head back to the camp, honestly not feeling much better than before she left. She had no idea how long it would take to get rid of the terrible feelings Ember’s death had left lingering, or if anyone would be able to get over it at all.

Just as she was about to re-enter camp, the tropical dawn breaking above her head, a low and guttural growl stopped her cold. Normally, because of her surroundings, she would have attributed the sound to the seemingly endless jaguars that prowled the rainforest, amber eyes tiny coals in the night. But this sound was much darker, much more… canine.

Without even pausing a second, Danie dug her feet into the ground and took off in the other direction, mixed exasperation and fear running through her mind. Sure enough, the snapping and baying of wolves exploded behind her as several of the gray-furred animals gave chase. She could distantly hear her friends waking up to the raucous barking, but Danie couldn’t even give it a second of thought. She considered herself to be pretty fast, maybe enough to outrun a wolf or two—but not in the rainforest. Every moment she had to spend swatting vines and branches aside was a moment that the wolves got closer and closer. For what must have been the millionth time Danie wondered why these wolves only ever went after her, her and no one else. “Go chase a jaguar, you stupid animals!” she snapped out loud, her chest heaving with exhaustion. Black spots fuzzed in her eyes as she stumbled along, the wolves right on her heels and so close she could feel spittle fleck her ankles.

Through slitted eyes she could see a clearing only feet away, somewhere she could possibly escape? Just then long teeth scraped down her leg as a wolf lunged forwards, drawing blood to her skin. Danie let out an instinctive cry, lashing back and feeling her heel connect with a skull, and as she burst into the clearing she reacted as many often do—away, taking herself away from the pain. With a massive heave Danie sprung into the air…

…and landed on all fours. The surprise that shot through her mind at the change was immediately suppressed by the heightened terror and will to live, and with new speed Danie blasted away, spindly legs carrying her weightlessly along the ground. Even through this transformation and her greatly increased speed, still exhaustion overwhelmed Danie’s elation, and she knew in that moment she would have to take a chance. Stifling a ragged breath, Danie spun around, barely catching a glimpse of tawny-brown hair rippling along her lengthened body, and launched herself over the heads of the shocked wolves. For a moment she hung in the air, rusine body stretched to its full grace, then she landed hard on the ground and took off running, back to camp. In the split second that it took the wolves to realize what had happened and change direction, the distance between Danie and the pack was growing, and with a final choked hack she skidded into the camp, collapsing in the middle of her concerned friends. For a moment confused bickering broke out, but when Danie shuddered back into her human form, a silver chain around her neck, they realized what had happened.

The group reacted immediately, and as the wolves shouldered through the bracken and into camp, they were met with a snarling tiger and caracal, their faces contorted as they snapped at the wolves. Whimpering, the canines backed away, and as Joan caught the leader against its head with a powerful blow they fled, tail-tips disappearing into the forest once more.

Her head pounding with annoyance and dizziness, Danie sat up, ignoring the blood streaming from her injured leg. “That was why?” she spat, stumbling to her feet and grabbing the silver doe charm with white knuckles. “A deer? I mean, sure, I found out that I have this insane-cool animal power too, but—wolves chase more things than deer!” She finished her speech with a dramatic gesture, flinging her hands into the air.

“Danie…” said a quiet voice from somewhere outside the camp space. Still annoyed, Danie whirled around and was about to snap at them when she saw St Owl dragging an unmoving wolf out of the bracken, moving strangely well for being impeded by a broken leg. “I… don’t think it’s really a wolf.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Danie shot back, rolling her eyes as St hefted the lanky body into her arms.

“Just… look at this,” she said, walking over to Danie. Even though she was still hobbling, and not to mention carrying something that should have been over a hundred pounds, Danie noticed how smooth and clean her stride was, as if the wolf was no more than a housecat. Danie was about to go on interrogating, but at that moment she saw what St had intended, something that make the question die on her tongue. As St held the wolf up for everyone to see, Danie realized she could see the girl’s hands through its body—and they were getting clearer.

The dark-furred wolf was disappearing right before her eyes, evaporating into nothingness, until finally St’s hands dropped limply to their sides. Danie couldn’t say anything, couldn’t find any words to express what she was feeling.

All she could manage at the time was a simple “…oh.”

“It’s not real?” a shaky voice said from the back of group, and the next second Scylla had appeared at Danie’s side, startling her a bit. “Were they ever real? Is any of this real?” Her words had an unsteady tinge to them, as if something was not quite right. Danie’s breath caught in her throat at Scylla’s question and waited for her to go on, but Scylla’s gaze had dropped to her feet.

“It’s real!” Claaws broke in, nodding fiercely. “It has to be. Come on, guys, we can’t give up hope now! What if those wolves were just things made by Vox? They might not be flesh and blood, but we all are.” As Claaws gave her speech, Danie spotted a few people turning her way, the dull hopelessness in their eyes sparked again. “What are we waiting for? Let’s carry this out!” Claaws urged, pointing to the direction they had been hoping to head. “So let’s go!” Her sudden shout jolted a few people up, flinching away as Claaws marched into the forested barrier. Taking in a deep breath, Danie followed her, self-consciously feeling the deer charm bump against her chest as she walked. So… now what? Could she just use this power anytime she liked? The more Danie thought about it, the more excited she got at the idea until she was practically skipping. Turning her head to throw a few words to whomever was behind her, her excitement faded as she saw Little Reader at Scylla’s side, nuding her onwards as the eagle-girl stumbled unevenly.

Scylla had never needed to be helped before…

“We’re almost there! I can feel it!” Nebula grinned, her spirits feeling lifted. Little Reader was trotting along besides her, and curiously looked over as Nebula proclaimed this.

“Almost where?” she asked, pushing an overhanging vine out of the way as it swung into their path. Nebula shrugged, not sure if she could explain it. It was a gut feeling more than anything, an itch in her stomach that she just knew was true.

“Out of here,” she finally said, groping for a word to relate the feeling. “Out of this jungle, or somewhere new at least.” Little Reader glanced up at Nebula for a moment, and she suddenly saw how red-rimmed and exhausted her eyes were.

“I hope so,” Little Reader simply replied, quickening her pace to stand besides Claaws. Nebula watched her go, perplexed. Sure, everyone was tired, but that was no reason to lose hope. That was one thing Nebula would never understand about others—their absolute ability to lose faith. No matter what she did, Nebula never let go of the thought that something better had to happen, even if it took months or years. In spite of adversity, in spite of—death… —in spite of it all, Nebula never stopped hoping.

What was there for you if you stopped?

“Everybody!” Claaws shouted excitedly, suddenly breaking into a run. Startled, Nebula stumbled after her, branches clawing at her face and leaving small, stinging cuts. Slamming her eyes shut, she took in an enormous gasp of air as the clutter around her vanished, leaving her arms flailing wildly in thin air. She just barely managed to catch her balance as her eyes flew open, and she was greeted with an unimaginable expanse of rolling hills and golden-green grass, the wind sending ripples along each of them. Every so often tiny red and orange flowers dotted the hillsides, adding bursts of color to the amber waves.

For a moment no one could speak, peering around at each as their mouths gaped open. “A… prairie?” Eria finally said, swallowing nervously.

“Oh, great!” Claaws snapped, clearly fed up. “Something even bigger than a freaking jungle! We could walk for days out there and have no idea where we’re going! Forget this, we’re going back into a place where we can tell what’s going on.” Spinning around, she didn’t even give the plains a last glance as she headed back into the rainforest. St Owl cast a nervous look at the rest of her friends, then hesitantly followed Claaws.

“I… I agree with Claaws. At least we have some standing chance of knowing our direction if we’re in the jungle, where we can mark out our path.”

“What about those jaguars?” Joan shot back, shuddering as a fresh wound on her cheek flexed with speaking. “I don’t want to grapple with them ever again. Are you willing to run away to the forest just to get eaten by a giant cat?”

“Looks like I’m being chewed out by one now,” Claaws muttered, shooting a glare at Joan, who bristled in response. Nebula shrunk away from the tension boiling between the two people, and she could have sworn she’d heard a growl rumble in Joan’s throat. The rest of the group seemed just as daunted as Nebula felt as Claaws and Joan faced off, none of them willing to get in the middle of the catfight. Unrest settled heavily in the pit of her stomach, tugging at her like a deadweight. Finally, just as Joan was about to spit something back, Nebula rushed forwards and shoved both of the surprised girls back, slamming her eyes shut. After a second passed and nothing happened, Nebula cracked her eyelids open again to see Claaws had stumbled backwards into Scylla and Danie, and all three were just now getting to their feet.

“Stop it!” Nebula said before Joan and Claaws could do anything else. “Stop it, stop it, no more fighting!” Breathing hard, she gazed around at the rest of her friends, who were standing stock-still. “We can’t let this happen to us! Ember… she left a hole in us, literally and metaphorically!” Without thinking about it her hands grabbed at her head, lanky violet hair falling through her fingers. For a second she couldn’t think of anything but the raw emotions that coursed through her body, though in another moment she shook them away and inhaled deeply. Her voice stronger, she moved the center of the elliptical circle that had formed and continued. “But we can’t let that break us apart. Imagine what would happen if we left each other now. Too much has been done to this group… Icy, Kestrel… Ember… too much for us to leave now. So come on, please…” she said sadly, meeting Claaws’s wracked eyes. “Can we finish our story?”

Silence met her words, a gentle breeze stirring the rippling grasses. Then Joan slowly nodded, unspeaking yet in agreement.

“Well… okay,” Claaws said, sighing. “I—oh, you’re right. It’s stupid, fighting is. Gets us nowhere. But answer me this, Neb—what are we supposed to do now? I’m not going onto that prairie just to get lost again. That happened once…” Momentarily Claaws looked to be trapped in memories, thinking of something no one else but her knew. “…it won’t happen again.”

“E-excuse me?” a quiet voice spoke up, one Nebula recognized as Booksy’s. She turned to the girl, who stammered for a moment before moving on. “What if w-we just went a little ways into the plains, and then came back if we couldn’t find anything?” Nebula nodded in relieved agreement, thankful that someone finally said something.

“That’s a great idea, Booksy!” Nebula said gratefully, returning Booksy’s smile. “Is it okay with you, Scy—er, Claaws?” Nebula switched names mid-sentence as she realized who she should now be addressing. For so long she had followed Scylla’s leadership and advice, even after Icy had disappeared, but it seemed like after Ember died nothing had been right with her. Nebula looked for any sign of her old friend as the group set off through the swaying haygrasses, but there was nothing except for a distant expression, the ever-silent Kestrel at her back. They seemed like one in the same now, mute and lost figures. Looking at them, sadness hanging like a misty cloud, Nebula wondered…

Quickly she cursed herself for allowing those thoughts into her mind, hastily sweeping them away. Hadn’t she just told herself, not even hours earlier, how important hope was? If that wasn’t maintained, what was she supposed to do? Her milky star-speckled wings waving in the wind, she set off behind the rest of her friends, the gut feeling from earlier still sitting there.

This was the right way, she knew it.

“At least it’s a nice day,” Eria commented as she walked along next to her friend. Nebula gave a small murmur of assent, occupied with staring at the infinite amount of rolling hills. These plains were unlike anything she’d ever seen before, a giant ocean of grass. In fact, she wouldn’t have found it too strange if she was suddenly sinking through blue waters.

“Yeah, nothing like the rainforest,” Nebula replied, leaning down to pick a heather-colored flower off the earth and distractedly spin it in her hands. “Much cooler, but not cold like the arctic, you know?”

“Probably the first time we’ve been in a place without extreme weather,” Eria joked, Nebula chuckling.

“Honestly,” she said, but just then something ahead caught her eyes and she stopped suddenly. “Hey, what’s that?”

“What’s what?” Eria asked, but Nebula didn’t hear her as she dodged around her friends and made their way for the sight. Right in the middle of the prairie, like a splash of color on the beige world, was a crystal-clear pool, extending about twenty feet in each direction. Poised in the very center of it, like a drip-painted watercolor painting, was a pure white swan, its head bowed over a slender neck and pale feathers. It wasn’t moving, and at any rate didn’t seem to have noticed the humans yet.

“Bravo, Nebula,” Claaws said, though her tone wasn’t annoyed, just tired. “It’s a bird. Well done.” Then she heaved an enormous sigh, spinning around on her heel. “Well, if this is all there is, we might as well head back to the jungle, or anywhere else really.” As Nebula glanced back at the receding pool, she saw the swan numbly raise its head and peer blindly at the humans, oddly human in its expression. Just then Scylla tripped over a tussock of grass, spitting angrily as a spark of her old flare returned. Nebula saw the swan’s head snap up, and with a cry it shot from the pool, its wings sweeping water in a magnificent arc, and then a small blonde-haired girl was racing towards the group, tackling Scylla in a massive hug.

“ICY!” Nebula gasped, wheeling around and sprinting back to the two girls on the ground. Pure shock was exploding in her mind, numbing her senses to everything else. Icy was… alive? Nebula skidded and stumbled over to Icy’s side, hauling her up as her friends crowded around the girl, exhilarated words and questions firing off everywhere. Scylla’s mouth hung open as she stared at Icy, who had tears beginning to run down her cheeks.

The first words out of her mouth as she hiccuped and cried at the same time, everything mixing into a gibberish speech until she could clear her throat, were, “I am so sorry!” Icy’s hair hung in a ragged braid down her back, her sky-blue eyes wide and misty. “So, so, so sorry for everything, for everything I said, for everything I did, for—“

“Icy! Icy, stop,” Booksy laughed, overjoyed at having her friend back. “Icy, it’s okay. You have nothing, nothing to be sorry about.”

“I do, though!” Icy said, looking faint all of sudden. A hand going to her forehead, she slipped onto the ground, immediately followed by five of the group. They had her back now, and weren’t about to let something happen anytime soon. “I haven’t seen any of you since we were in that blizzard. I… I though I would never seen anyone again.” Sensing Icy had something more to say, the jubilant chatter and questions quieted down.

“When that blizzard first started, I was at the very back of our train, and not saying anything about it either. Because just the previous day, Scylla and I had… we… well, I-I think you know. I’m so sorry about that, I haven’t been able to apologize for anyone! I never meant what I said, I never meant to hurt you, Scylla.” Scylla’s eyes widened, and it just now occurred to Nebula that Icy didn’t know about anything like Kestrel’s silence or Claaws’s near scrape to death, or even—

“A-anyways, though, after the blizzard started, I found that I couldn’t see anymore. By that point, the only thing I was going off of was the scuffed snow in front of me. I figured it was the blown-around footprints of you guys, but then minutes passed and I was getting nowhere. By that time I though I’d call out and ask someone where we were going… but then I got no response. No one was there.

That was when I started to freak out. It was getting really harsh, too. I’m pretty good at withstanding the cold, but even I couldn’t face howling winds and freezing snow without some protection. I remember squinting really hard at the trail I was following, thinking what else could it be besides footprints? It did turn out to be footprints, but not humans. They… led right to a rabbit’s warren.

You ever experience real panic before? Real fear? Right at that moment I was feeling pretty awful. I had no hope of ever finding my friends again in the storm, or even making it through the night. Eventually I had to lay down and stop, too tired to go on. I thought that was the last of me, and I was pretty prepared to have what they call ‘the long sleep’. But then something warmed me, from the inside-out, and then I wasn’t… me.” At this Icy stopped, brushing her hand against something around her neck that Nebula only now noticed. A thin silver chain, grating like fine sand, with the figure of an outstretched bird carved at the end. “Long story short, birds can fly where humans can’t. It didn’t take me long to figure out that I could get out of there, and within a moment I was soaring above all the storm clouds, away from being bullied around by the winds. I just went for as long as I could, until the clouds turned white and I came down on a prairie, this one to be specific. I’ve been here ever since, waiting for something to happen, eating whatever I can find and thinking about what I’d done. ...regret’s a scary thing.”

With that, Icy finished her tale, to shocked stares from the others.

“That’s… terrible, Icy,” Nebula said, her voice thick with sadness. “I’m so glad you’re safe.” Seized by a sudden feeling of protectiveness, Nebula threw her arms around Icy, never wanting to let go. This sudden reappearance of her friend only made her miss her departed friend Ember more, and if she thought away she could imagine Icy’s hair was brown and wavy… but, no, it wasn’t. No, Icy was alive! This was amazing, and better than anything Nebula could have hoped for. Pulling away, Nebula grinned at Icy as the girl let out a huge breath and leaned against the ground. “I just—“ Suddenly something clawed at her arm, and Nebula whipped around to see Kestrel frantically dragging her away from Icy, outright terror blazing in her eyes.

“Kestrel! What are you doing?” Claaws gasped, pushing Kestrel off Nebula. Kestrel’s mouth snarled, though she could still speak no words. Mutinous hatred and betrayal shone clear through every pore of her face, all of it directed at Icy. Staggering to her feet, Kestrel flung an accusing finger at Icy, who looked absolutely perplexed by the action. Tears boiled in Kestrel’s eyes as a hand flew to her throat, pointlessly scratching at it in the desperation to let loose words.

“Are you okay? Is something wrong?” Little Reader asked, concerned. Kestrel hissed and shook her head angrily, her irritation obvious to Nebula. No matter how she tried, Nebula couldn’t fathom this burning hatred that Kestrel held for Icy, who hadn’t seemed to have done anything wrong. As Nebula watched Kestrel clench her fists, she swore she could see white energy pulse from her whole body for a flash, before an emotionless mask crossed over her face. Wrenching away from Little Reader as her expression shifted from rage to indifference, Kestrel snatched at her falcon charm and jumped away as a arrow-shaped bird, shooting into the sky until she was nothing more than a speck.

“…what?” Joan said, dumbfounded. Nebula had to agree with the tiger-girl; she was having trouble comprehending what she’d just seen. Her joy at Icy’s return was momentarily dented at Kestrel’s outburst, something that was backed without reason or explanation.

“I don’t know,” St Owl murmured, looking worried. “I wish she could just tell us, though we all know that’s not happening anytime soon.”

“What? Why? What’s wrong with Kestrel?” Icy asked, confused. “Why is everyone acting like this? Why couldn’t she talk? What is going on?!” Nebula suddenly remembered all that had happened since Icy had vanished, long enough for her to completely be out of the loop. Quickly, with everyone else settled down and looking away awkwardly, Claaws explained what everything they’d come across and every misfortune that befell the group in that time that had Icy had been missing. Icy’s eyes widened with shock at everything Claaws related, stealing a horrified glance at Scylla every now and then. Nearing the end of the tale, though, Icy narrowed her eyes in confusion.

“Wait, wait, Claaws, one thing—“ she asked, holding up her hand to apologize for interrupting Claaws. “Where’s Ember? I haven’t seen her yet, is she waiting for us in the rainforest?” Bile rose with a sick feeling in Nebula’s throat, as Claaws’s tough outer shell splintered at Icy's innocent question.

“I—in a way,” Claaws swallowed, her breathing suddenly uneven. “She—it—c’mere.” An eyebrow raised, Icy let Claaws gently pull her away from the rest of the group as the simmered in renewed sadness over Ember. A moment passed, then Icy’s heart-twisting shriek spread across the whole prairie, both grieving and disbelieving.

“No!” she wailed, fresh tears sliding down her cheeks. “That—can’t be true!” Claaws nodded gravely, drawing in a shuddering breath as Icy staggered back to the group, collapsing on the ground. Nebula slumped against a shrubby tree, its dry and scrawny bark cutting into her back. This was new wave of awfulness no one should have had to go through, something Nebula wished she could never feel again.

Icy missing for days and been feared dead, Kestrel silenced and insane with fear, Scylla broken apart and listless; Ember, dead.

What was happening to them?

Part 16

~~

The winds brushed across the grasses as Eria and Claaws tromped over the prairie, the cool weather luxurious compared to the heat of the jungle and chill of the tundra. “I’m getting so hungry, and all of our food is nearly out,” Eria complained, rubbing her stomach mournfully as it growled back. The corners of Claaws’s mouth twitched up in a halfway-smirk, her stride long and powerful. “What’re you laughing about?” Eria asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes as her blonde-haired friend. Claaws chuckled and held up her hands in a protest, pollen drifting in the air around her.

“Oh, nothing,” she said airily, glancing at the sky. “But I s’pose being a predator has some benefits. After all, if this forest isn’t real… well, all I’m saying is that there’s plenty of rabbits around that are free for a cat’s taking.”

“Ew!” Eria exclaimed, shoving Claaws’s shoulder and sticking out her tongue. “You don’t need to tell me in detail, I just—” But Claaws had stopped walking, suddenly serious. Eria turned her head and saw that she was staring at the distant dark smear of the rainforest. “What is it?”

“Do you feel…” Claaws hesitated for a moment, seemingly unwilling to go on. Eria waited for her to continue, seeing her friend grasping for words. “Do you feel like this is going to end soon?” Eria looked at Claaws, surprised by the solemness of her voice.  

“I mean, I never thought about it—what do you mean by ‘end’?” she asked, to which Claaws only shrugged her shoulders.

“This… journey. I feel like something’s just out of reach, and with the return of Icy—we have everyone here, don’t we? The original team, aside from Ember—doesn’t that feel important, or something?” Eria looked down, unsure. She hadn’t really thought about the final addition of Icy to the group much, but maybe it was because they still didn’t really feel… complete. Everyone was so different from how they started out, so many things had changed since then. People had died, curses had been enacted, everything and everything had happened since she woke up on a clean-pressed bed in a forest. Deep down, she felt the same way as Claaws—something would happen soon, something big. But what it would be, she had no idea.

“Hey, do you see that?” Claaws suddenly asking, jolting Eria out of her thoughts.

“Hm?” she asked, turning to see whatever Claaws did. In the distance, if she squinted, Eria could just make out a small blue shape winging its way through the sky, something shining silver in its beak.

“Is that?...” Claaws said, a hint of a snarl in her voice. Surprised, Eria looked over at Claaws as she glared at the blue jay that had apparently not noticed her yet, and was still nearing them. By now Eria could see an unnatural purple streak on its feathered white chest, and it looked like the silver was… a chain? But before Eria could observe anything else, Claaws growled, “You!” and sprung into the air, her body shifting faster than Eria could see. In seconds her human form had stretched and changed, gold fur rippling over her skin and a muzzle pushing out from her face, sharp white teeth spiking up in her mouth. Eria scrambled away, terrified of this sudden reaction. Claaws had always been a bit testy, sure, but she was still an amazingly deft and skilled person in panic situations. What unfinished business did have with this—blue jay?

For some reason Claaws was still speaking English, but it was garbled and feline, edged with a hiss. “You—have no right—to keep following us—around!” she snapped, swiping at the blue jay. With a frightened squawk the bird faltered in the air as Claaws’s paw connected with it, sending it spinning away. With a splutter the bird crashed onto the ground, wing bent awkwardly. In a flash Claaws was on top of the bright-feathered bird, her short tail flicking from side to side. Terrified at what her friend might do, Eria stumbled forwards and grabbed at Claaws, yanking her away from the bird just as her jaws snapped closed in thin air. Furiously the Claaws caracal whirled around to Eria as the blue jay gasped behind them.

“What are you doing, Claaws?” Eria cried, perplexed out of her mind. Claaws thrusted Eria off her, pouncing back on top of the blue jay before it could flap away and pressing her paw against its chest.

“Haven’t you noticed?” she spat, casting a contemptuous glare at the blue jay. “This thing has been tailing us everywhere. I see it out of the corner of my eye—in the arctic, on the beach, at Ember’s death, everywhere!” Eria looked down at the bird, writhing under Claaws’s grip. What struck her as most odd wasn’t the silver chain, nor the purple streak, or even the bird’s wide, bluish-orange eyes—it was the humanlike fear and sadness she saw reflected back at her.

She hesitated, and in that moment as Claaws stared back at her the blue jay gave a furious screech and surged upwards, its wings expanding into a mass of grayish-black feathers. Claaws spluttered and scrambled backwards as a harpy eagle screamed at her, sharp yellowish-orange eyes piercing her. The bird whirled around, chainlink rattling, but just as it sprung into the air above Eria’s head, Claaws snapped and leapt at it, her dagger-sharp claws catching the eagle on its back and tearing away gray plumage. The harpy let out a shriek, but vanished into the sky as liquid seeped from its body and splashed onto the ground.

Relieved at its escape—for personally she had never seen the jay and wouldn’t have wished it to die—Eria was about to step away when Claaws whirled around and sprung after the bird, her claws only slicing through thin air. However, that wasn’t the issue—but the fact that Claaws had poorly aimed her leap and was now plummeting towards Eria, claws-out, most certainly was. Claaws gave a shocked hiss and tried to pull away, but she was too close and Eria could barely brace herself for inevitable impact—

Then the world slowed down.

Perhaps that was too broad a conclusion; the whole world didn’t slow down, but Eria’s certainly did. Claaws’s face suddenly expanded until her maw filled all of Eria’s consciousness. Not even wasting a heartbeat to question why the world had seemingly exploded outwards, Eria jerked back, her arms twisting oddly, and easily swerved away as Claaws landed on the ground with a crash.

It was only then Eria thought to look down at herself, a bolt of surprise hitting her as she saw emerald-green feathers and black-scaled bird talons. Shivering with confusion, she felt a chill run down her back and stem into her mind, an awareness of another sensation. Eria’s wings rippled in air, her human instincts shying her away from full control of her new form. Just as she felt herself begin to spiral out of control she released the sensation and felt a thin string of silver loop around her neck as she fell back to the ground. “Eria!” Claaws burst out, and Eria looked up dizzily to see her friend running towards her, human shape restored. “I’m so sorry! I had no idea you were there!”

“It’s fine,” Eria said, catching Claaws in a hug. Truthfully her heart was still pounding from both the close shave and transformation, and it took her a few seconds and deep breaths to get it back under control. “But hey, at least I got this!” She fingered with the silver charm, the sharp-beaked hummingbird glinting in the sunlight. Claaws hesitated for a moment as she let go, staring at the bird.

“Eria…” she said slowly. “You do realize what this means?” When Eria looked at her with an eyebrow raised, she continued to explain. “Everyone in our group now has their animal powers. All of us.”

“So?” Eria responded, slightly bemused. The sensation was still tingling through her limbs, filling her with some newfound energy, and maybe she wasn’t in the mood to participate in Claaws’s ominous theories. Huffing in annoyance, perhaps at Eria’s unwillingness and her loss of the blue jay-creature, Claaws looked towards the sky, squinting as the wide sun glared down at the two girls.

“It feels like the eve of a battle,” she said, shivering despite the warm air. “I’m just worried, is all.”

“If you say so…” Eria said, shrugging, but just then something on the ground caught her eyes. “Claaws!” At her call her friend looked away from the clouds and jogged over, stopping beside Eria as she pointed at the earth. “What do you think that stuff is?” Claaws followed Eria’s finger to a thick pool of liquid spreading across the ground, unlike anything she’d seen before. It was violet-blue in color, and appeared as if it was filled with stars and depths of galaxies—like looking at the night sky as if it had been spilled upon the ground.

“Is this… blood from that bird?” Claaws murmured, a hand pressed over her mouth as her eyebrows deepened in concern. “What kind of stuff is that?” Eria momentarily glanced at Claaws, then reached a finger down.

“I don’t know,” she replied just before she touched the blood. “It looks like—” Then her finger connected with the surface of it, and when it flexed inwards just slightly and burst, her mind was filled with impossible thoughts of stars and skies and infinite space—

Claaws watched with growing horror as Eria reeled back, stumbled, and crashed upon the rippling grasses of the prairie, her blank eyes reflecting the cloud-streaked sky.

“SCYLLA!”

The desperate wail burst from just behind Booksy, jolting the girl upwards. She spun around, her ponytail swinging, and spotted Claaws sprinting towards the group, her eyes wide and terrified at some new problem that had evidently arisen. Booksy started forwards, perhaps to suggest that maybe Scylla wasn’t the best to turn to in this moment, but in a flash Claaws was dragging the shocked girl away towards the crest of the hill. Some unknown force urging her, Booksy jumped up and raced after her friends. “Claaws?” Scylla asked, her voice hesitant. “What’s going on?”

“Eria fell!” Claaws gasped, a sob in her voice. “There was this whole thing with—a bird—and—she collapsed and she hasn’t woken up since!”

“Eria is dead?” Scylla said quietly. Catching up to the two, Booksy silently fell into line beside Scylla, willing her to stay strong until at least she herself could reach Eria and see what had happened. Just then she saw an unmoving form in the distance, someone felled upon the ground.

“Eria!” Claaws shouted desperately, though Booksy could already see she was in no condition to respond. Concerned, Booksy pushed through to inspect the girl and saw with a rush of relief that she was only unconscious, and not dead as Scylla had feared. What scared her most, though, was when she flipped Eria over and saw the sky shining in her eyes, not closed in mock sleep as was with most people who had been knocked out. What could have happened to her? Booksy glanced over and saw a pool of thick liquid shining on the ground, glossy blue, black, and violet. She reached over to it, curious, but Claaws spotted her and quickly hauled her backwards, the rough grass scraping Booksy’s legs.

“Ow!” Booksy complained, still bent over Eria, but Claaws shook her head fiercely.

“That’s what she touched, and exactly what made her black out,” she growled, her voice low as Scylla silently knelt down to look over Eria. “It’s some kind of blood from the bird I beat down a little while. Whatever you do, don’t touch it.”

“O-okay,” Booksy said, backing away from the shining liquid. Just looking at it made chills run down her spine and caused her head to throb painfully. A flash of movement behind her made Booksy turn around, and she saw Scylla sit back up, her turquoise eyes staring down at Eria as she gradually began to shift and cough. “Eria! Oh thank goodness you’re okay!” Eria’s gaze was bleary as she looked over at Booky, dim confusion in their depths for a second, but then she shook her head and smiled weakly at Booksy.

“Oh, hi, Booksy,” she greeted the girl, shakily getting to her feet with the help of an apparently mute Scylla. “What are you doing here?” Booksy felt a hint of something like concern nag at her, but she pushed it away and replied to Eria.

“I came out here when Claaws came running back to the pond,” she said as the person in question came back from spreading soil and grass over the starry blood as well as she could to cover its touch from any other unaware being to pass by. “She said you had fainted, and—” Booksy faltered as Eria clapped a hand to her forehead, her nose wrinkling in obvious pain. “A-are… are you alright?”

“Ugh,” Eria said, grimacing. “My head hurts so much, and no matter what I do it feels like there’s this—thing I can’t remember. In fact, I… I don’t really remember much after Claaws nearly killed that blue jay-eagle-whatever. It’s all kinda hazy…” Booksy shot a glance over at Claaws, wondering what this blue jay-whatever was. It had been mentioned a few times already, and her curiosity was growing stronger by each minute of this conversation. She was about to ask when Eria waved her off, looking slightly haggard, and started to head back to the rest of their friends.

“It’s okay, Booksy,” she said as the owlgirl followed her. “I’ll tell you all when we get back…”

“What is it?”

The sun had sunken down below the horizon by now and transformed the prairie in twilight, casting gold and scarlet rays across the rippling surface of the pondwater. Little Reader was sat upon an overturned boulder, her hands clasped over her stomach and an uncomfortable expression on her face. Joan had been the one who had spoken, the scar lacing over her eye pale-pink in the dim light. Little Reader opened and then closed her mouth, her eyes nervously flicking from side to side as if she was afraid the shadows would leap out and attack her. Worried, Icy put a hand on her shoulder, gently encouraging her to go on. Little Reader took a quick breath and finally continued her story.

“Well… I was out on the plains looking for things like, um… w-well, I was hungry, so I turned into a tabby and went out like that. B-but… while I was on the trail of something, I saw movement just ahead of me. When I crept over, remembering to keep quiet and stay on guard, I nearly jumped out of my skin. Right there, right ahead of me, was this absolutely enormous wolf. It must have been as big as a tiger, o-or bigger, and it was covered in this dark gray fur. At first I thought it was one of those other wolves, one of the ones that hunted deer, like, um…” She cast a hesitant look at Danie, who chuckled and waved at her to keep going. “Um, yeah. But those wolves all looked normal, and wolfish with light gray and brown fur. This one, though, it had dark red eyes, so crimson I thought it just couldn’t be natural. And the weirdest thing was this—the weirdest thing was that it had this purple mark on its shoulder, kinda shaped like—” And here Little Reader interrupted her speech to sign out a shape in the air with her hands, on that looked like an elongated upside-down triangle.

Next to Kestrel, Claaws stiffened, recognition shooting through her mind. It couldn’t be, but… the blue jay, the shapeshifter. Little Reader finished her story, but Claaws heard none of it as she frantically scoured her mind for memories and thoughts of a purple mark. Purple triangle, purple triangle… then she saw it, over and over again. The blue jay’s chest. An arctic fox Kestrel had reluctantly told her about.

Ember-Vox’s shoulder.

Her breath froze in her throat as she looked around at the rest of her friends, dread horror piercing her body. It couldn’t be… but it was. The familiar feeling from earlier in the day returned, much more powerful this time. She knew, she knew for a fact that something was going to happen soon, even if no one believed her. And with everyone in the group reunited once more, all their powers given to each one, it seemed almost like a prophecy.

As if summoned by her words, an enormous thunderclap rocked the air, sending black clouds rolling over a yellowish sky. Apprehension tugging at her, Claaws looked up. Darkness, darkness everywhere as the rain began to fall…

Soon.

~~~~

Are you ready?

This has been amazing, you guys. This solo write of mine started on November 30th of 2016, and for at least 4 months it has persisted, becoming the longest-running thread I've ever made. I'm immensely proud of the story and characters, and incredibly hyped. But at the same time, it's bittersweet, you know? Up till now I've been very secretive about how much remains, but I will tell you that it is very close to being finished.

Please don't forget this thread, and I will give you the ending all your support and kind words deserve.