Day 2, Part 3

*

Silver stared at the tiny poem in confusion. Her hands shook from the exertion of the day, and she accidentally dropped the piece of paper. One word was scrawled, in loopy, sideways handwriting, on the back of the paper.

Iyan

Silver wasn't sure why that word made her shiver, but she hurriedly flipped the paper back over and tucked it into her pocket. All thoughts of tea gone from her mind, she hurried to her cabin. "Juni," she whispered urgently, "I've found something strange. Can you go to the Cougar Cabin? i'm going to go get the Bear Cabin-ers." Juni nodded, then stood and strode numbly out the door in the direction of the Cougar Cabin. Silver went the other way, towards the Bear Cabin. "Sterling, Lumi, Kitty, NoOne," she said questioningly into the darkened one-room building. Four heads shot up and looked at her, equally questioning looks on their faces. The four CBers were crowded in a huddle. Silver stepped in and asked, "What's going on?" Lumi, wordlessly, held up a small scrap of paper, identical in size to the paper in Silver's pocket. The brown-haired CBer gasped and pulled her poem out of her pocket and showed it to the others. She crouched on the floor near the others and showed them the words on her scrap. "Oh, look!" NoOne pointed out, "the poems are the same." "They are," Sterling agreed, "but the words on the back aren't." The word on the Bear Cabin's scrap of paper was:

danger

Silver shivered. "Well, that's not foreboding at all," she muttered. "Anyway!" she stood up, "I came here to ask you to come to the Cougar Cabin. We need to all talk together." There were murmurs of assent from the other CBers, and they all exited the cabin and went towards the Cougar Cabin. They entered the small building, and immediately the air became stuffy. "We better make this quick," Silver said, "before we all suffocate." There were a few tentative giggles that died out almost immediately. Silver held up her poem. "Me and Lumi both found these scraps of paper. They have poems and- foreboding words on them." "I found one too!" moondemon called, pushing forward through the crowd and holding a piece of paper above his head. "What does it say on the back?" Sterling asked quickly as he came up to her. "I didn't think to look there," he admitted. He flipped it over and read, "It says... brings." Silver was confused at first, then a look of understanding spread across her face. Then, quite suddenly, she looked scared. "Oh, no," she whispered, "Ohhhhhhh no." Everyone looked, confused, at her. "It-it says," Silver stuttered in an attempt to explain, "it says Iyan brings danger." 

*

Storya dropped a mug on the kitchen floor. "Someone said it," she said, turning to Poetina. "someone said his name." Poetina's expression didn't change, but Storya seemed to read something on her dark features. "Poetina," she whispered, "what did you do?"

*

Dead: Luna-Starr

Suspects: Silver, moondemon, Sterling, Juni

*

Answer these questions: Who do you think Iyan is? Should everyone confront Storya and Poetina? If so, how?

*

Storya and Poetina: 

I kinda think Iyan is the bear who hurt sterling.

Day 2, Part 4

*

Silver was sitting on the rough wooden bench of one of the outdoor picninc tables, the other CBers around her. Clutched in her hand were the three pieces of paper, taped together so the words were in the right order. moondemon, who'd been snooping, had said that he'd heard breaking china and hushed whispers from inside the cafeteria, so they were all waiting outside in the hopes that Storya and Poetina would come out. Silver had convinced everyone that they should ask the camp leaders about the paper scraps. What could go wrong, anyway?

*

"Poetina," Storya hissed, leaning close to the window, "every single one of the CBers is out there. What are we going to tell them?" A starling landed on the windowsill, and Poetina tilted her head at Storya, as if that was her answer. Storya nodded slowly. "That could work," she admitted. The starling chirped brightly, and Poetina leaned in. A series of odd chirps and whistles, exactly like a bird call, came from her throat. Then, Storya followed her sister outside, where the CBers were waiting for them.

*

"Storya! Poetina!" Juni called as she saw the two tall, elegant sisters exiting the cafeteria. The statement served as both a greeting and an alert to the other CBers. "Ah! Hello!" Silver stood, clutching the scraps of paper in one hand. Storya held up her hand for quiet. "We know why you are here," she said simply. Silver fell silent, and questions raced through her head, but she kept her mouth shut and listened to Storya as she continued, "I heard you say... the name." "Mmph," Silver stifled a million overflowing questions with her hand. Storya glanced at her with a sad, understanding expression. Then she continued, "Poetina, will we be fine saying his name?" Poetina nodded, a tree above casting a sharp shadow onto her face. Even through the darkness, Quill could see that Poetina's eyes were flashing between vibrant, violent red and sickly, pale blue. They turned away, because the colors made them feel a little sick, and looked back at Storya, who was saying, "Poetina and I, as well as a few birds, will show you the past through visual memories. I think the best thing to do would be for everyone to go to bed. Then the visions can come in dream-form. It'll be easier on me, then. I never was quite as Gifted as Poetina." she sighed and smiled at her sister as the perplexed CBers slowly scattered and went to their beds, just as the sun settled firmly below the horizon. As one, everyone's eyes closed and they fell into a sleep-like trance. And, again, as one, they seemingly awoke into... well. it was the Moonlight Forest, but visibly younger. there were less old-growth trees, and the forest was shorter. The few leaves that were on the trees were a bright spring green. The CBers, who could now see each other, looked around them. NoOne reached toward a tree, then shrieked as her hand went through it. "W-we're just bystanders," Kitty breathed. That gained her a few strange looks, but Lumi's expression was one of sudden understanding. "Oh!" she said, "I think I get it. It's like we're... watchnig a movie. But in VR, or something of the like." There were nods of agreement from teh CBers. Suddenly, there was the faint sound of happy giggling coming from farther into the woods. The CBers proceeded curiously, put at ease by the cheerful mood of the forest around them. Eventually, they stopped at the edge of a large, sunny clearing. Two children played in the middle, running and tagging each other, while one sat, watching, at the other end of the clearing, a smile on her face. "Poet!" the other girls called to her. "just because you have a bird's windpipe doesn't mean you can't play with us! We're your siblings!" The girl, Poet, just smiled, shook her head, and chirped. The girl shrugged and turned back to play with the boy. "Aw, no fair, Story!" the boy wailed as she pushed him to the ground playfully. "All's fair in tag and war, Iyan!" the girl laughed.

*

Dead: Luna-Starr

Suspects: Juni, Silver, Sterling, moondemon 

*

You were right, Silver! You get a cookie! Yay! Not that you'll have much appetite for it... 

Oooh! This is amazing!

Day 2, Part 5/ Day 3, Part 1

*

"What-" Dragon gasped, 'They're siblings? Are you kidding me?" Silver shrugged and sighed. "I thiink it makes sense,' she said sadly. "I wonder what's going to hahhhhhhhhhh..." Bright white light captured the CBers in its swirling tunnel and transported them to a new place. Panting and dizzy, Kitty Cat rested their hands on their knees, doubled over. "W-what was that?" they cried indignantly. "Look," Dragon pointed in front of him. The CBers were now in a wooden building, with thin, worn, gray carpet on the floor. An old man, who had strong shoulders and a wide, powerful stance, was showing the same three children- something. The CBers went closer. They saw a green fire, burning in the old man's hand. "Grandpa, look!" Iyan cried. The fire in his hand was blue, with gold around the edges. Story's weak fire was a watery rose-pink. "What about you, Poet?" the children's grandfather turned to the bird-girl. A snake of dark purple liquid was swirling around her arm, every so often bursting into violet flames. "As I expected," the old man smiled at her, "anyone who's born Gifted has a a large affinity for the Gift." "Grandpa, Grandpa!" Story cried excitedly as her flame went out, "tell us the story! Please!" The old man smiled and extinguished his fire. "Alright," he complied. "Sit on the floor and put your fires out." The children's fires went out quickly, and they jumped to the floor almost giddily. "One day, on the first day of human creation, the universe bestowed gifts onto a third of the human population," the grandfather began. "Gifts of magic and power. Some people used their power for good, but most used it to take control of all those without the starry Gift. " "And then what, Grandpa?" Iyan asked. He knew the answer already, but it was an essential part of the story to ask questions like this. "Then, the universe took her Gifts away from all those who had used it for evil. However, humans became wary of even the Gift-bearers who had never harmed a living thing. So us good Gift-bearers retreated into the last magical places on Earth, to hide from those who wished us harm." Poet chirped, her eyes half-closed and her head tilted to one side. "And you three are third-generation Gift-users, are you not? And you keep this forest alive with your happiness." The chidren nodded, than jumped up, and each of them gave their grandfather a quick hug. "Bye, Grandpa!" Iyan cried as he swung around the doorframe and out of the room. The old man flashed the boy a bright smile, but as soon as he was the last in the room, his expression changed to one of dark hunger. Before any of the CBers could react to the chilling, scary look on the man's face, they swirled off to a new vision. Iyan was creeping, silently, closer and closer towards the dark maw of a cave. The forest around him seemed to be growing darker by the second, but he didn't notice. A low growl emanated from the cave ahead. Iyan winced and stumbled backward, then began his slow trek forward again. Just as he reached the cave, two shrill cries came from behind him. One like a bird, and one that was a human screech so loud it made Iyan stop and turn around. "Iyan, stop!" Story cried. Her brother looked at her, but before he could react, a huge brown paw emerged from the cave and cuffed him-hard-on the chest. The cry of a bird in distress and fear was unlike anything any of the CBers had heard before. Iyan's body slowly misted away, and was replaced by  huge, furry brown bear body. Story fell backward and screamed, "No! Iyan! Stop!" but the the bear stood up and started forward menacingly. inside the cave, the bear who'd hit Iyan was misting slowly away, too. The frail body that lay on the ground was the children's grandfather. His eyes were open, blank, and empty. Poet pulled up her sister and chirped to her frantically. "You're-you're right." Story panted. She held out her hand, and a sphere of rosy pink liquid dripped out of nothingness until it levitated above her hand. Poet seemed to pull a swirl of bright indigo light out of the air. Tears streaming down her face, Story held her hands above her head, spreading the liquid like it was taffy. "Stay away," she sobbed breathlessly, throwing the shield down on the ground in front of her. Poet piled her light on top of the flat surface, and a bright white flash emanated from it. A huge, translucent barrier appeared between the girls and the bear. The bear growled and swiped viciously at the white barrier. It trembled, but it didn't break. Not yet. But the CBers could sense that the barrier was weak and would weaken further with time until it broke. Poet wrote with a violet ink on a large leaf, We'll find a way to save him. "Yes," Story breathed, "I promise you, Iyan. We'll find a way to save you." She looked behind her at the bear. Suddenly, a scared and breathless Lumi ran up. "NoOne is gone!" she cried. "Maybe she just woke up?" Dragon suggested. Lumi shrugged, but she still looked panicked. Before the CBers could notice who else was missing, Storya and Poetina pulled them out of their dream-visions. Lumi sat straight up in bed, looking around her. NoOne lay on her bed, blood pooling on the pillow around her. The back of her head looked like it'd been crushed by something huge and heavy. The other Bear Cabin-ers sat up, too. They all gasped, and Sterling's eyes were suddenly swamped with tears. "No, no, no..." she breathed. Kitty screeched, and Storya and Poetina entered. "What happened? ...oh. Oh, no," Storya whispered. "Not again. Gather the others. It's morning, let's get some breakfast, and then we'll talk." Poetina carefully, gingerly, stroked the back of NoOne's head as the others slipped out of the cabin. 

*

When everyone was, slowly, eating their pancakes, Storya stood up. "You all saw the visions," she said. The CBers nodded, even though it was a statement, not a question. "And now, NoOneKnows is dead." This shocked a lot of people, and there were tears and gasps and people shoving their pancakes away from them. "I'll try my best to explain what you saw in the visions." Storya said. "Iyan was our brother. He seemed to discover something about our grandfather. He told us that our grandfather was cursed to pass on the curse that he had, which makes someone's body and mind convert to that of a bear. He followed our grandfather to the place where he was set to turn into a bear for the rest of his life, and the curse was passed on to him. We called you here so that we'd possibly have more heads, more ideas, to get him out of that body. We didn't think the barrier would be so weak when you were here. No, he isn't getting out," Storya assured the CBers with anxious looks on their faces. "I'm not sure whether people are dying because of him or because of some other person with other motives. Either way, though, we're going to have to be careful."

*

Dead: Luna-Starr

Suspects: Iyan, Silver, Juni, moondemon, Sterling

*

Yay, Silver! You were right yet again! Another cookie for you! But you probably don't feel like eating it anymore... 

*

Please tell me what action you would like to take. If you make the right choices, Iyan could be saved, and the family reunited. If you choose wrong, everyone will be dead.