_
Run. That's all she had to do. She had to leave her tribe, her people, and her problems behind... As screams of terror and cries of war echoed from behind her, the young girl dressed in dark clothes, dashed into the dusky black night, listening to the demonic screams of the Legion. But was that really all she could do? Was run? No... she was not a coward, but this time, she would have to be... She would have to find him once more.
Zak Saturday sat on the couch of the cavernous living room, wishing he were in some boring lecture rather than the torture of staring at a blank screen. Ever since the loss of Kur, things were different, to put it bluntly. But nonetheless, it was too different. After he'd lost Kur, he felt free from the shackles of a prophecy, but almost... weaker. But he tried never to show it. Weakness was never an option for him, especially when living in a family of crypto zoologists. Zak looked out the window into the dusky desert night outside, and decided he was fed up with just sitting. He wanted to- no, he needed to- clear his head from these unsettling thoughts.
As the stars were endlessly gleaming in the dark night, Zak was sitting outside the ginormous airship. He tried his best to clear his head, to try to steer away from dark thoughts, but it was of no use. He was happy that he would not be hunted and stalked anymore, but after the war, not only was his connection with Kur was severed, but also his connection with his friends. He hadn't seen Ulraj or Wadi after the War, and he was beginning to feel lonely. The Saturdays hadn't been trying to hunt and learn about cryptids for a while. "Everything is still settling down," Drew had said. Settling down? Pfft! The Saturday family wasn't the kind to wait for something to 'settle down' before going on some totally awesome but frightening adventure! Or so Zak thought. After that war, too many things changed. He realized that it wasn't just him who had changed, it was the whole family. Even Komodo had stopped attempting to eat the couch cushions constantly. It was like the family was at a standstill, sort of like a car slamming on it's brakes after going 100 miles per hour. For a little bit, you get sparks, and then, it all simply stops. It was quiet. Too quiet. Zak almost wished some bad guy would come and fight him, or something. Or even for Wadi to steal his belt again! Anything was better than being stuck in a rut of quiet and peace! In his tornado of thoughts, Zak was looking down at the sand, not even realizing that a hooded figure clad in a dark cloak with familiar emerald eyes was dashing towards him.
As the boy decided to head inside, he caught glimpse of something... A figure running in the night. He decided to ignore it. It was most likely a mirage... Wait... Do mirages even occur at night? Zak turned around as quickly as he could and was instantly met by a dark blur running into him, knocking the confused boy over. The first thing he saw were the person's eyes. They were a beautiful vibrant green, and very dazzlingly familiar. Zak's vision soon completely refocused, and saw the bewildered face of Wadi. The hood of her always-worn cowl was cast down, letting her brown, ringed curls frame her face, and there were numerous scratches on the girl's face. She got up quickly, helping Zak up as well. "W-wadi?!" The boy managed to huff out. (Wadi sort of knocked the wind out of him when she fell right on top of him... Oops.) "W-what are you doing here?!" Zak hadn't meant to be rude, but judging by the expression on Wadi's face, it sure sounded that way. "M-m-my village... i-it was... it was attacked!" The girl stuttered desperately. Drew, who'd heard the screaming (Super-mom-senses. Makes you able to hear ANYTHING!), had walked out of the airship. Being met by the puzzling sight, the woman was ready to interrogate. Even if there's no problem, mom-interrogations were never good. Ever.
_ "Attacked?!" Drew was almost astounded. An assault on the Hassi tribe would mean all-out war. "By who?" "By what, actually," Wadi corrected. The cloak was hanging on the back of her chair, and she was clad in her normal outfit, but the hood of her cowl was still down. "Okay, by what?" Drew questioned further. "I don't really know what they were," Wadi began, "but they were fierce. These things were like cryptids, almost, but they were too human. They attacked the tribe with all their might. I was lucky to escape with a few scratches." As Wadi talked, Zak couldn't help but notice that her accent always made a 'w' sound like a 'v'. He thought at first that it sort of sounded like a stereotype French man, but Wadi... she sounded different. She sounded cute to him. Heh. Cute. Wadi had once said to him that he was 'cute'. That one sentence she said, ("Too bad, you're kind of cute,") had earned him some serious teasing, especially from Doyle. Once he heard his mom say, "You're going to have to stay for a while, then," Zak was immediately snapped out of his trance, his hand slipping out from under his chin, landing his face on the table with a THUD. Wadi giggled a bit. Same old Zak. Clumsy and often awkward around her. It was quite funny to watch him stumble around, especially when the girl stole his belt. Now if face-planting on the table wasn t enough for poor Zak, who was now red-faced from embarrassment and his previous thoughts, Komodo decided it was a good idea to just randomly pounce on the boy, causing him to fall off of his chair, hitting his head on the chair to the left of him. Komodo turned invisible immediately. "I'm gonna get that lizard," Zak grumbled. He got up, and sat back in his chair. "Anyways," Drew continued after being interrupted with Zak's unfortunate events, "How long do you think you'll be staying?" Wadi shrugged. "I just don't know," she sighed. "That first assault will not be the last, and from the sounds of it," Doc started grimly, "The attacks from this Legion aren't going to stay with the Hassi. We're going to have to fly out immediately." Things aren't going to go well from here.
A /N: Hehe! A sort of cliffie! This is my first, and most definitely not the last TSS story I'm making. So, what do you guys want in the next chapter? Humor? Attacks? Mystery? One thing's for sure. Zak's trials and tribulations ahead will be the hardest he's ever faced.