CL! You are here! I'm back, and I'm wondering what to do about Hemin and 8-Piece. Does 8-Piece have another crush or anything? Because elementgirl's AE likes him. Do you wasn't to do a love triangle?

"Happiness is a direction, not a place." ~Sydney J. Harris

Sorry for inactivity on this. I tried to write over the weekend, but I was feeling kinda uninspired. I've just started work on Part 14, though! It should be out very soon. :)

Have yourself a WIP drawing, CL.

Part 14

~~

Bird calls resonated across the canopy of the rainforest, filling Claaws’s ears with raucous cries. Sleepily she blinked her eyes open, brushing a leaf frond off her face in annoyance, and slowly sat up. She heaved a deep sigh when she saw her friends segregated into tiny clumps in the glade, except for Kestrel, who was huddled alone at the far end. Sadness and fear swept over Claaws as she looked at her hunched form, long brown hair falling over her face. For a second Claaws thought about getting up to go and talk to her (though she didn’t know how long she could maintain a one-sided conversation) when she saw Scylla beckon St Owl over, and momentarily caught Claaws’s eye and nodded to her as well.

Obligingly Claaws veered off her path and smartly walked across the forest floor, once nearly slipping on a slick patch of moss. Growling under her breath, Claaws joined Scylla and St underneath a low-hanging branch. She would never get used to all the clutter in rainforests, all the stuff that was draped around her. She liked to be free, to be able to run for as long and far as she wanted without anything in her way. Squatting down so her knees stuck awkwardly out, Claaws leaned in as Scylla started speaking in a low voice.

“So,” she sighed, her turquoise eyes shadowed with exhaustion. “Kestrel.” St nodded grimly, her a lock of blonde hair falling over her eye. St brushed it away in annoyance, hissing at the tiny dewdrops that beaded on the leaves and dripped into the girl’s faces.

“Kestrel,” Claaws responded, shifting on the damp earth. “Okay, so wait--before we do anything, we should go over what it’s like with her. What her condition is and what she can and can’t do, I mean. Everything we know, basically.”

“Weell…” Scylla said, musing over the question until her face lit up. “I… I think I might know something about where she went that night she disappeared.” St’s eyes widened, reflecting Claaws’s own shock.

“Where?” St Owl breathed, shivering as a raindrop slid down her spine.

“When Kestrel and I first got our animal forms, and we flew into the sky,” Scylla began, twisting around so she could look at both of her companions. Claaws felt an odd flash of jealousy again, at the mentioned animal form. Both the people she was sitting next to had already been given their special powers, but not Claaws. So… what if she never got it? What if everyone else was a main character in this story, and Claaws was nothing but support? The thought chilled her more than the cold wind gathering in the air, but Claaws tried to quickly shake it away and refocus her attention on Scylla. “… saw a weird smudge-thing there, like a portal or at least something that didn’t belong. It was all red, and purple and orange, and all kinds of colors that shouldn’t exist. Maybe… maybe Kestrel went into it, and saw something she shouldn’t have.”

“Like what?” St asked curiously, the gears in her mind beginning to turn.

“Like… Vox,” Scylla suggested quietly as bolt of surprise flashed through Claaws’s head. Vox? Did Kestrel really see the god in person? The tiny scrap of jealousy grew inside Claaws until she remembered what had happened to Kestrel now. “I’m not saying that’s a fact,” Scylla said hurriedly as St and Claaws glanced at each other with wide eyes. “And I’m definitely not going to try and go in there, because what if I get cursed too? But it’s certainly possible.”

“Do you think something like that happened to Icy?” St said, her mind wandering. Claaws winced slightly as she saw guilt sear through Scylla eyes, and felt a bit annoyed at St for bringing Icy up again. It had been so long since anyone had seen the girl, even Claaws was beginning to lose hope…

“...Icy?” The word came to Kestrel’s ears like it had been whispered right into them, a single phrase that threw her memory into a turmoil. If anyone had been watching Kestrel as she sheltered under the foliage, perhaps they would have seen how her face struggled composure for a moment, fear and hatred and betrayal pouring through the stolid mask. It seemed like a war was happening inside her mind, with half of Kestrel slamming down on the frightened and secret-bearing side of Kestrel. It was all over so quickly you might have missed it if you blinked, but the winner was still clear. Kestrel stared blankly out at the rest of the group as they talked in their clumps, her face a pale and emotionless sheet.

“Linguam et tacet… linguam et tacet… *urgh* linguam et tacet!” A flash of white energy rippled out of Vox’s hands, spreading across the room and seeping through the grass. Exhausted, they collapsed onto the ground, panting under their breath. Perhaps it hadn’t been wise of them to cast such a complicated and energy-stealing spell on Kestrel after all. There were so many forms of communication they had to be careful of--speaking, hand gestures, drawing…

Emotion.

Dropping their head into their hands, Vox took a few shuddering breaths as they tried to get themselves under control again, their chest trembling with the effort of such magic.

Was this… really all worth it?

Of course! Vox snapped back at themselves, jumping to their feet. Of course it was worth it! Of course it was… needed… Hissing angrily, Vox stormed over to the main fire, grabbing a charm and hurling it into the inferno for all they were worth.

“Take it!” they snapped, their eyes a blood-red crimson color. “And I hope it makes you happy!”

Because it certainly isn’t making me so.

By that afternoon, the rain hadn’t tempered at all; in fact, it had only gotten worse. Annoyed, Claaws tore a wide and flat leaf off a branch and tried to hold it over her head to stop the rain from slicking down her clothing, but to no avail. A loud series of sneezes from Ember caused a ripple of dismay to run through the group as they stumbled through the rainforest, desperately searching for solace from the near-typhoon. “This is awful!” Little Reader wailed from somewhere near the middle of the train, her long brown hair plastered to her back.

“Well, it was going to happen eventually,” Nebula replied evenly, spluttering as a burst of rain suddenly splattered down from the trees above. “We are in the jungle, after all. Rain is one of the most common things that happens. Actually, I’m surprised it hasn’t rained yet, honestly.”

“No one’s dying, so stop complaining,” Scylla snapped, her bad side being brought out through the downpour of rain. “It has to stop eventually.”

Does it? Claaws wondered as she felt her way forwards, nearly blind in the thick sheet of rain. Vox is the one who controls the rainforest, after all. Doesn’t it make sense that they would control the weather, too?

“Hey, guys--” Claaws started to say, then stopped short as she realized she couldn’t hear voices anymore. “Guys?” Still she got no response, and with a shiver of fear she realized that she had accidentally gotten lost in the massive rainforest, one so big she might never find her way back to her friends. And with a storm like this going on, it was impossible she’d ever find them now. Crumpling to the ground, Claaws let the inevitability of the situation wash over her as the tears dripping from her eyes blended with the howling rain that thundered down from above and pounded at Claaws’s body. For too many minutes Claaws was kneeled on the ground, her hands clutching at the tree roots and scattered leaves below her as the sky openly wept.

A loud, screeching yowl that echoed from the distance jolted her out of her daze.

Oh, no… not now… she thought in desperation as she jumped up, whirling around to try and detect the source of the howls. There was only one cat in this rainforest that made a sound like that, and she knew exactly which brown-spotted one held it. Jaguars, now?! Shaking her head like a dog to momentarily clear water from her eyes, she spotted a towering tree nearby and wondered if jaguars could climb in a rainstorm. Maybe, just maybe, if she could get up a tree then it wouldn’t be able to hear or smell her.

Staggering over the cluttered forest floor, Claaws grasped at the tree bark, tiny shreds of wood flecking off as she dug her fingernails into it. She had seen Kestrel climb a tree just yesterday--oh, how did she do it again? Another scream, closer this time, reminded Claaws of the precious seconds she had to escape the carnivorous predator that was on her tail. Seething in frustration, Claaws scrabbled at the tree with all her might, praying to any deity she could think of that she would just be able to get away from this terrible place.

I don’t want to die tonight!
And suddenly her bones were melting, sticking apart and sealing back together. Fur erupted from seemingly beneath her skin, covering her shifting body with a pale-tawny hue. Long black claws sprung from where her fingernails were, and without even wasting a second on thought, Claaws shot up the tree, crouching in a thicket of leaves. As she slowly slowed her pounding heart and began to think she would be safe, she was hit without another wave of shock, so strong she nearly fell from the tree.

It had finally happened!

Stretching out on of her front paws, Claaws marveled at the sharp claws, and as she was partially protected from inside the shelter of leaves, she could finally see what she looked like. Reaching up a paw, she patted around the top of her head, feeling two sharp and tall ears with stray bits of fluff on the ends. Her mind ran through all the big cats she knew, and finally the puzzle pieces clicked together and she though of one word: caracal.

Just then, she heard the sharp drumming of rain on the leaves overhead start to taper, faltering in their strength and intensity. Shaking out her rain-flecked ruff, Claaws poked her head out of the foliage and looked around, delight thrumming in her chest as she saw the sun beginning to shine through the haze of rain. As she was about to clamber down from the tree, though, she spotted a lashing golden tail as a jaguar paced around the clearing, its nose raised to the air to try and scent Claaws out. Digging her paws into the bark, she hauled herself back up and sped to the top, perching on top of the canopy.

Okay, Claaws said to herself, squeezing her eyes shut to concentrate as mist swirled around her from the recent storm. If I can’t go across the ground… could I go across the trees? Claaws opened her eyes again and peered around the open rainforest, searching for somewhere to land. Finally her eyes came across a large spread of branches, intertwining to create a platform of sorts. Taking a deep breath, Claaws crouched down and launched herself for the branches, praying they’d be enough to support her weight.

The tree quavered and shook as she clung to it, showering leaves to the ground below, but luckily Claaws was able to keep her balance, her muzzle pressed into the smooth bark. She unsheathed her claws into the wood, using them to scale the tree again. More steadily this time she leaped to another tree, landed on a thick canopy.

Every time she pounced onto a tree she grew more confident in her ability, until she was practically bounding from canopy to canopy. The sun rose over the sky, shedding warm light over the jungle once again, yet still Claaws hadn’t found her friends again. Despite the fact that she had escaped the jaguar by use of her finally-gained power, she was beginning to lose hope once more of finding them.

Suddenly Claaws realized that she was panting with a shaking chest, her tongue hanging out of her mouth with the exertion of the trek across the rainforest. Glancing down the tree, she saw a thick and sturdy branch emerging from the side of the tree, and with one deft movement she dropped onto it, one of her arms hanging languidly over the side. Sighing heavily, she closed her eyes and let the sunshine pull her into sleep for a moment, with nothing but the sounds of the jungle and voices to be heard.

Voices?

Claaws jolted up as she faintly heard voices grow louder and louder, and she looked down to see her friends snaking their way through the rainforest, swatting at the gathering insects and low-hanging vines that blocked their path. Excitement rushing through her, Claaws momentarily forgot that she was still in her caracal form, and with a thrilled yowl she jumped down from the branch, landing right in front of Scylla to a shout of mixed surprise and fear from the latter.

The next second there was a low growl, and Joan as a tiger skidded in front of Scylla, her eyes flashing at Claaws in anger. Balking, Claaws’s ears flattened and she stumbled away, shaking her head furiously as Joan’s claws unsheathed into the swampy earth. Realizing that her friends had no idea who she was, Claaws thought hard for a moment about becoming human again, and before she knew she was sprawled across the leaves, a silver charm around her neck bearing a carved, catlike figure on it. Joan’s eyes widened, and hurriedly she back into a human, helping Claaws to her feet.

“Claaws!” Little Reader said, pushing past Scylla and throwing her arms around her friend. “I thought you were gone, forever! Where on earth did you go?” Claaws smiled, hugging Little Reader, but waited to explain until she released her.

“I got lost when the rainstorm started,” Claaws said, just now realizing how tired and hungry she was. “I thought that you left me behind and I was about to stay in one place and wait, but then I heard a jaguar coming in from nearby.” As Claaws related her story, she realized that she was adding a hint of drama to it without even meaning to. It felt good, she supposed, to have everyone’s enraptured eyes on her as she told of her escape from the jaguar and her transformation into a caracal.

“That’s…” Little Reader murmured when Claaws had finished her story, her shining. “...so amazing!! So you finally have your animal form too? That’s so cool!” As Little Reader said this with such ecstasy in her voice, Danie and Eria both winced a bit, but no one noticed.

“I know, right?” Claaws continued, the silver charm around her neck bumping against her chest. “It was--” But before Claaws could continue she happened to glance over Little Reader’s shoulder and saw Ember’s eyes glaze over, milky clouds settling on top of her brown irises. Behind her, there was a tiny black flash a rounded, dark rock toppled from the clouds and crashed to the ground.

Then she coughed…

…trembled…

…and fell.

The world spun around Claaws as she moved towards Ember in a dreamlike fashion, sound vanishing from the air. Ember’s body was shaking, a cold sweat already beading on her forehead. Claaws flipped her over as her friends crowded around Ember, their voices mingling into one terrified amalgamation. Claaws pressed her hand against Ember’s chest, her breath freezing in her throat as she felt the beat begin to slow.

“No…” Booksy croaked, dropping to her knees.

“…no,” they hissed, searching through the fire with a mad desperation. Coals crumbled at their fingertips, sifting to nothing more than grey ashes as they frantically brushed them aside. Still, there was nothing, nothing they could do to stop it. “I didn’t think… it would come to this…” they growled, tears vanishing as they struck the flames. “I thought I had control. I thought, I thought I could do it…”

Whipping around, they stumbled over to the main fire and plunged their whole head into it, drowning in the blaze of heat. They eyes roved over a neat line of illusionary charms, and they clawed at one shaped like a leaping fox, drawing it out with a gasp. But the second the silvery charm left the fire, it dissolved the same way the coals did, blowing away in the twisting wind. Their hands scraping at the ground, they flung aside the ethereal grass and earth of the room. It didn’t matter. Nothing did.

Throwing back their head, they screamed, “I tried! I tried!” The stars above glimmered coldly, giving no response to the distraught figure below as they curled on the ground beside the rapidly diminishing fire.

“Is this what you wanted?”

  R76

“Ember? Ember, you’re okay. It’s okay, everything’s okay,” Booksy said in fragile voice as Claaws frantically worked at her chest, her hands pulsing up and down as she applied any medical CPR knowledge she’d retained. All Ember could manage back was a weak cough, only a hint of language lost in it. Next to Ember’s head Scylla was seated, the familiar shattered expression in her eyes. Claaws could have sworn the leader had gotten over Icy’s disappearance days ago, but with the new blow Claaws wasn’t so sure…

No! Claaws snapped inside her mind, her fists clenching with white knuckles as she thumped at Ember’s slowing heart. This isn’t a blow! Ember will live!! She can’t die, no one can die… this isn’t real, this isn’t happening… In her terror and grief Claaws pressed even harder, willing the vital organ to work.

“Claaws,” a quiet voice said, softer than the wind blowing through the jungle. “Stop. Please--stop. It’s… okay.”

“Ember?” Booksy wheezed, red tear-tracks streaking down her face. “No, Claaws has to keep doing that! Otherwise we’ll… we’ll lose you…” Ember shook her head sadly, and if Claaws looked close enough while she spoke she could also see painful fear mixed at the moments ahead.

“I’m already lost,” she said, as an almost mournful-sounding bird call echoed across the forest, breaking the eerie silence. None of the members of the group could move, all of them frozen with grief or terrible realization. Booksy’s hair was tangled and loose over her shoulder, carelessly tossed aside as she tried to help Ember. “I can feel it--it’s not a… good feeling… but I know that my fire is going--has gone--out.”

“What?” Booksy cried, fresh tears slipping down her cheeks. “No! But… you’re the best friend I ever had! You can’t--no! You won’t!”

Ember chuckled, a horrible sound to hear. “Oh, come on, Booksy, don’t be ridiculous.” She turned her gaze skyward and pushed herself onto her elbows, misty eyes staring up at the drifting clouds as she struggled against a rising black wave. “I’ll never… really die… I’ll always be an ember in your… heart…”

Up above, a fire drifted away, the last tiny spark extinguishing.

With a sickening thud Ember dropped to the ground, her limbs sprawled across the jungle floor. Booksy remained hovering over her for an unbearable length of time, until finally she collapsed next to Ember, her body shaking with sobs. No one else could speak, all of them staring at each other with disbelieving glances. Surely Ember wasn’t?...

“C’mon, Ember,” someone suddenly said, and Claaws looked over to see Scylla poised above the stilled girl, her speech lilting and unsteady. “Get up. It’s time to go.”

“Scylla…” Danie said gently, pale tears gathering in her eyes and uncontrollably splashing on the ground as she put her hand on Scylla’s shoulder. With a sudden animalistic movement Scylla wheeled around and threw Danie off, her turquoise eyes blazing.

“Get off me!” she snapped. “Ember’s fine. All we need to do is get her on her feet and we can be out of this awful place.” Dropping down next to the trembling Booksy, she weakly shook at Ember’s shoulder, a heartbreaking smile gracing her lips.

“Ember?...” she murmured, as St Owl suddenly broke down behind them. Claaws leaned back, her mind lost in an oblivion of denial. This wasn’t real. Ember wasn’t dead. Suddenly rage exploded through her mind like a bullet, rage at Vox, rage at herself, rage at the Garden for doing this to them. With an inhuman snarl Claaws whipped around as a caracal and spotted a blue jay with an odd purple mark on its chest perched in a tree, its beady eyes a strange dark blue. With a howl she launched herself at it, claws outstretched and aimed for the bird’s throat. With a cry of alarm the blue jay sprung out of the tree, and with a crash of wind it vanished into thin air, blue feathers evaporating before she could catch it. Her already exhausted and grief-stricken mind even more confused, Claaws slammed into the tree and clung onto it, though no one below noticed. Her claws digging into the bark, she stared at the sky hopelessly, her ears pinned back against her head. What was the point of this, of any of this, if Ember wasn’t around? The blue jay’s loud chirp echoed back through the forest, the only thing breaking it.

It was so silent…

~~

...this part...  

:O

Ember!!  

I am in shock.

I'm also a terrible leader.

Just saying.  

I let someone die ;-;

It wasn't entirely my fault, but still!