Okay, people. My friend came over and we decided to change this around a bit. So, here's the brand new first chapter! lol I know it's been forever since I updated but hopefully with this new version I'll be able to, like, actually update it. Anyway, here you go! Hope you like it and review!!
Chapter 1:
Perhaps the Great Sand Dunes weren't the hottest place in the world, but when you're right smack in the middle of them, it sure feels like it.
"We didn't even bring any water. I mean, how stupid is that? We forgot the basic need of all humanity! Water! We're gonna die! We're doomed!"
The girl droning on about how doomed they were was Cassidy Bennett, aged 17.
She was one of a party of two, trekking the endless expanse of hot sand between the desert-forest and the Dunes themselves. Not so much of a party, really. The second girl, Erma Niac, aged 17 as well, wasn't even wearing her party shoes. Just sneakers. And although Cassidy was wearing flip-flops, they were, in this case, not the smartest choice in footwear.
"And my feet hurt!" the flip-flopped girl cried.
There was no one in sight. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Some small dots on the top of the tallest Dune were evidence of another hiking party out on this blazing hot, sunny day. They'd made it to the top. They probably had water. The two girls hadn't even made it to the slopes yet. And Cassidy wasn't convinced they were going to.
"Maybe we can just go to the Dunes and back, we don't actually have to climb them," Erma suggested.
"Sure!" Cassidy agreed without delay. "But that still leaves the problem of getting the rest of the way there, and of course, back! Without water. We're doomed!"
"Now, that's not very optimistic of you," Erma said. But secretly, she thought Cassidy might be right. "We must hold on!" she suddenly said, valiantly. "We must make it there and back! We can do it!"
A hot, wearying hike was definitely not what they needed to conclude a perfectly good day. The day had started and continued on in a gloriously endless discussion of their favorite book. Until they'd gotten here, to this hopeless desert.
We don't even have enough strength or energy or breath to talk about MR, Erma inwardly moaned.
"Ow! Hot hot hot," Cassidy said, hopping quickly on one foot as she vainly tried to empty sand from her other sandal. "Flip-flops!" she exclaimed in self-disgust.
"Why did you wear flip-flops?" Erma asked innocently. "Didn't you hear your mom say we were coming here?"
"Well yeah," Cassidy put her flip-flop back on and hurried up the gritty stretch of sand to where her friend waited, "but I didn't think we'd be walking so far in hot sand. I thought we'd, you know, just sit around and look at it and—ugh, that was a rock. That hurt."
After that they started walking in earnest and had to stop talking, the cloudless—oh wait, there was one tiny, tiny cloud in the distance—blue sky stretching overhead, sun beating down mercilessly on their exposed necks and backs. Even simply clad in t-shirts and shorts, the girls were dying of heat, of exhaustion, of dehydration.
"Oh, I'm feeling so faint!" Erma exclaimed, stopping in her tracks.
Cassidy spun to face her. "What happened to 'we must carry on'?"
"Someone save me!" Erma put the back of her hand to her forehead in a traditional gesture of fainting and Cassidy, thinking that Erma was looking at something in the sky, turned and scanned it. There were a couple of specks, or was that her vision going haywire without water—
A sudden thump sounded behind her and she spun again to face empty air, mounds of tan and brown and yellow, the air practically seething with absence of Erma.
Looking down, she saw her friend slumped in a heap, fainted, flat out on the hot sand.
Soaring, dipping, air cascading over him and his grayish-green and black-streaked wings in cool waves of pleasure. This was the life. Flying free in the open air with his sometimes flock surrounding him.
Yes. Brain didn't always hang out with his famous friends because he and Joel didn't want to be put in James Patterson's novels (where he got the flock's adventures way messed up since he'd only met six of them and attributed all Brain's and Joel's comments to Iggy and Fang).
Fang, Max, and the gang were on their way back to their old house in the mountains, stopping by request of the younger kids at the National Parks they'd never been to. Some Great Sand Dunes or something. Brain rolled his eyes. The younger ones could get Max and/or Fang to do almost anything, and Angel didn't even have to control their minds. Ridiculous.
"Oh my gosh!" Nudge exclaimed. "I can't believe we've never been here before because we didn't live that far away, but I guess it's understandable because we were kind of always on the run…"
They were closing in on the splendid mountains of "great" sand now, Brain noticed. The little kids would probably want to land on top of the tallest one, just to say they had. To who, Brain didn't know. Iggy would probably want to feel the sand, identifying the components and unique colors or something.
Brain sighed as he watched Fang's wingtip brush Max's. Those two lovebirds were so annoying. And the worst part was that they had admitted their feelings! Why couldn't they be like in the books, hating each other?
What was up with chick-magnet Fang, anyway? Didn't anyone go for the mischievous, wacky, yet still sarcastic types anymore? Like Brain and Joel.
Joel was flying in and out of the group, bugging random flock members as he swooped by. Brain snorted in laughter as he watched them bat uselessly at the weaving Joel. At least he was giving them a fighting chance by staying visible.
Yeah, that's right, Joel and Brain were the invisible ones. Fang was not. He faded into the foreground when still, certainly, but that was no power. He seemed a bit too smug that he'd "gotten" that power in the books.
Brain sighed again in exasperation as Gazzy let another one rip. Compared to the current situation and company the dunes couldn't be that bad. Hot, gritty, sandy, but he'd certainly faced worse. They wouldn't be here for too long, surely.
"…and they're, like, the tallest sand dunes in the whole United States, and maybe even the whole world, but I don't know about that part…" the Nudge Channel was still rolling. Yep, there was one thing the books got right, the Nudge Channel.
Brain was about ready to tuck his wings in and just fall rather than hear one more word from that girl's mouth. Or smell one more gift from Gazzy. Or watch the lovebirds give each other yet one more "lovey-dovey" glance. And don't get me started on that freaky little mind-reader.
Most times he felt like he did belong with the flock, but this was not one of those times. He felt the exact opposite. He and Joel were about to set out on their own adventure again, he could feel it. It always happened when he got sick of the flock and they got sick of Joel.
If only he could convince Iggy to come with him and Joel when they went on their week-long forays away from the flock. Iggy was the only cool one in Brain's mind today.
Suddenly, one of the specks scattered on the dunes far below that were probably people drew his attention. It was actually a pair of them. He squinted down and they came into focus—two girls, trekking towards the freaking mountains of ground-up whatever-it-was.
"…like, quartz, too, which is kind of silly to think of because quartz is so pretty but when it's sand it's mixed in so it's not so pretty anymore, except for that one beach we went to, but I don't know if it had much quartz…"
Mentally Brain screamed. But his facial expression didn't change.
The girls in the sand looked like they were about to collapse. The tall one suddenly stopped and put her hand to her head. She looked like she was about to fall over. The one with the weird hair turned around and looked up right where the flock was—could she see them?—just as the first one collapsed.
Blinking in surprise, he wondered vaguely if they should help the girls. He glanced over at Joel—
—who was already streaking toward them. Brain rolled his eyes and darted after him, leaving the flock behind without a second thought.
Oh no! Cassidy barely had time to think before another thump sounded, behind her. Oh no! she thought again.
She turned around to see who else had fainted out here, and instead came face to face with a very tall, grey-haired boy with…wings?
Cassidy stared, her mouth open like a fish. She hated fish. So she closed her mouth in a hurry.
He looked worried as he stepped past Cassidy, hardly even noticing her, and knelt down next to her friend, only slightly shorter than he was. He had an arm around her shoulders as he cradled her, not making a sound.
Then he seemed to notice her for the first time and stiffened, vanishing into the thick, dry air. Cassidy had already filled her quota of being startled for the day. For the week.
Erma seemed to float limply, but, as already stated, Cassidy was handling the shock quite well by now. The logical part of her would try to figure it out later.
She vowed to stay calm, that is, until someone suddenly came behind her. She turned at the barely perceptible swish of wings, and she caught less than a glimpse of a seventeen year old boy with red, spiked hair. Then he'd hit the ground and remembered to vanish just as thoroughly as his partner had.
Something seemed to click. Who could these two be? Wings, powers, silence, they reminded her of Fang. Cassidy's head fell back and she made out six more figures flying through the air. The flock from the books. Was she missing something here? Was there some factor she couldn't see, literally and figuratively?
When the figure that looked most like Max waved at one of the smaller flying bird-kids, Cassidy didn't know what to expect. Nudge rushed down in glee.
"Gosh you two! She is sooo mad. She and Fang are going to confer and come up with some punishment for you. Ha. They probably won't carry it out, though. Angel told me they're always planning stuff together just so they can have an excuse to talk. Anywho, Max told me to tell you she's demanding to know why you acted so stupidly."
"Well I demand to know the same about her," said Brain we'll fix it later, though to Cassidy, who knew no names, it seemed merely as if the air to her right had decided to mouth off to a flock member.
Nudge twirled a finger through her hair. "Those are her words, and she's not the one who's done something completely random."
Joel we'll fix it later, known only to Cassidy as the bit of air somehow holding Erma up, said, "Who is she to be asking about random? It's not like she and Fang have had a steady relationship since Angel got kidnapped four years ago and they fought over who would get to save her this time until they ended up kissing and I had to save the day."
"Um, excuse me? Who had to save you halfway through your saving-the-day gig? Give credit where it's due." This voice was moving closer to the one by Erma.
Cassidy saw Erma's body jerk strangely and Joel we'll fix it later continued, "Then you wouldn't get any credit." Joel we'll fix it later appeared momentarily as his concentration slipped, a worried expression filtering across his face as he looked at Erma briefly before slinging her over his shoulder and disappearing again.
Cassidy wasn't certain but she thought she heard him say, "All this going to waste because she wasn't conscious to see me show-off." Of course, Cassidy could easily have been mistaken.
Louder, Joel we'll fix it later said valiantly, "The visitor center has water. Let's head back and revive her, okay?"
"Whoa!" Nudge held out her hands. "What am I going to tell Max? She's gonna want to know what you two are up to. This isn't exactly normal, even for you two."
As he'd been hoping for an excuse to leave anyway, and he bet the flock wouldn't mind Joel getting out of their hair (the others got on Brain's nerves, but Joel got on the others' nerves; it all worked out), Brain we'll fix it later replied, "Tell her we'll see her in a couple weeks when you come around to Mount Rushmore. Enjoy your trip."
"Well, you enjoy yours." Nudge wasn't concerned about the two prodigals. If the Flock had to sacrifice Brain to get rid of Joel once in a while, they didn't really mind. She rejoined the flock, leaving the two invisible boys and their new friends on the sand.
Cassidy gasped just as arms swept her up from behind and Brain we'll fix it later launched into the air at the same as Joel we'll fix it later.
Flying would have been exhilarating if Cassidy was in any state to comprehend it. As it was, she was still trying to figure out whether she'd actually seen kids with wings, whether she'd been abducted or rescued, and who exactly the invisible arguers were.
All too soon they landed on the edge of the parking lot, next to the water pumps but out of sight. Well, more out of sight than before. That was only possible for Cassidy and Erma, however.
"Um," Cassidy said. "Um. I know you're there."
No response.
"Huh?" That was Erma, starting to come 'round.
"Erma!" Cassidy raced to her friend's side, glancing suspiciously around for flashes of red or gray hair.
"Aww man!" Brain we'll fix it later groaned. "She's awake already!"
"That's a good thing," Joel we'll fix it later said slowly to his older brother, as if talking to an incredibly stupid person.
"Well I'm not gonna get cheated out of drenching her anyway."
Before Erma had time to take in the disembodied voices discussing her, the water pump started up as if by magic and water was aimed perfectly at her face as she spluttered.
Joel we'll fix it later knocked Brain to the ground, which caused a cloud of sand and dust to rise where they landed. "How unnecessary! Besides, it was my idea first. Cheater." The fact wasn't lost on him that Erma was now awake to see all his antics at full power. Yep. He'd honed his hard-earned skill of teasing. It had better be worth it.
"Why are you invisible? Are you stuck that way?" Erma dragged herself from the wet ground and shook her hands, spraying water droplets on Cassidy, who barely noticed.
"It's force of habit," came one voice as the dust settled. Perhaps the other was over his issues.
"We don't want humans to see us," said the other.
Cassidy sang, "Tooo late." Then, as an aside to her wet friend, she said, "They carried us over here to rescue you from heatstroke because otherwise you would've shriveled up and died. I guess one felt sorry for you or something. The other thought I was beautiful. I saw both of them as they landed, though not again."
"How would staying invisible yet carrying two visible humans keep passersby from suspecting? No, you're right. Girls sail through the air all the time. Staying invisible is still way more inconspicuous," Erma shook her head in mock understanding.
"So," Cassidy begged, "Show yourself."
There was a shimmer and suddenly Erma couldn't see anything. He was standing three inches in front of her. She looked up into his face, which was shrouded by dusty-grey hair the same shade as his extended wings. Erma let out a small "Oh" and was silent.
Cassidy started in on her famous pout when an equally adorable bird-guy failed to materialize three inches in front of her. Then she realized that the reason for this was that a more adorable bird-guy—at least, in her opinion—had materialized two inches in front of her. She thought briefly of saying "Oh," but Erma already had that covered.
Her face was a sight, mouth half open in shock but still half-pouting, eyes wide and confused and awed all at once.
"You're real!" she exclaimed.
"Nope," Brain we'll fix it later said.
Joel (whose last name was we'll fix it later) had been fairly enraptured with Erma's appearance at the beginning of the debacle, was now quite pleased with the way she'd handled the situation (which would've made any regular person faint). He stumbled over this thought as he realized she had fainted at first sight, even before the flock had truly been within human sight range. But the younger We'll Fix It Later ignored this fact. Basically, in his mind, it all worked out to mean that he was pretty sure he liked Erma. Yes he….. "NO!"
Erma watched in confusion as her guy yelled at the other and frantically stammered, "Uh, we can't stay. Gotta go, a world to save, places to be and see and don't die we'll probably never see you again." He spread his fifteen foot wing span and took off without a running start. She got a good view of the strength it took him to rise straight into the air, and she wondered vaguely if this was deliberate. She didn't really care, if he would only stay, but she would try not to be selfish. Who was she to keep him from saving the world?
Joel had squeaked out quickly (in pitches too high for the girls to hear him) that he and Brain couldn't possibly like these two. They were humans who'd get caught up in all the danger that seemed to follow every member of the flock. Now he was gone, making a great show of leaving. Brain chuckled at his younger brother's reason for flying off like that.
In all the excitement Cassidy had nearly forgotten to answer Brain. "Yes, you are," she said seemingly out of nowhere as she turned away from her wistful friend and back toward the red-headed, green-gray-winged bird-boy with the twinkle in his eye.
"Am what?" Brain countered.
"And you're going to leave now, aren't you?" She seemed incredibly sad at this fact, but Brain winked.
"We'll meet again someday, I've no doubt. I'd say follow Joel's advice but only if you can even understand it."
Without thinking, Cassidy reached up and kissed the bird-boy on the cheek, blushing as he grinned and took off backwards.
The two girls sat in stunned silence for a while, but not too long, because soon Cassidy's mom came in search of them, for it was time to head back to their campsite.
"Well, what should we do about this terrible thing?" Erma whispered later that night as both girls got into their beds.
"What?" Cassidy asked, using the are-you-out-of-you-mind tone.
"I've been thinking a lot about our strange encounter today, and, no matter what they say, I'm not ready to admit they're not real. They have to be. Hallucinations don't carry people across the sky." Erma half sat up and looked at Cassidy in her bed.
"So that's a great thing! Secret members of the flock rescued, well, you, and they even let us see them at the end."
"You don't get it! They left! That's bad! We, well I do anyway, need them, or at least the grey-haired one, to come back for me."
"I think I've got an idea," Cassidy replied after a moment. "He came to save you, right?"
"Yeah…" Erma said warily.
"So if we put you back in harm's way, he'll show up again!"
"That's brilliant! But what sort of danger?"
"We'll just have to wait and see. After all, there's danger everywhere, I'm sure we'll find something. We'll know when the time's right, I guess."
"Goodnight, girls!" Cassidy's mom said pointedly. She could hear them whispering, even if she couldn't make out the words.
"Goodnight!" Erma called back cheerfully, and the two girls went to sleep, dreaming of peril, and how they could get themselves into it.