It was pitch black and silent in the secret underground headquarters of the mighty ducks. The ducks had long since gone to bed and were sleeping soundly. It was only the previous month the Ducks had triumphed in the Stanley cup finals and with dragunaus no longer a big threat, the ducks allowed themselves some much needed time off and rest.
A patter of feet echoed around the dark walls betraying the owners presence. The duck walked out of her room and scowled jealously at the dark corridor, hearing the snores coming from the bedrooms. At least the rest of them are sleeping soundly tonight.
Wrapping her dressing gown tightly around her, Tanya shook her head in annoyance and headed off toward the kitchen. For the past 3 nights nightmares had plagued her, forcing her awake. She knew of course what the dreams meant for her and what she needed to do but she was still apprehensive, after all, it would be the first time she would be participating from earth. She was scared about how the team would react when they found out her little "family tradition"
Knowing that sleep would elude her all night, Tanya made herself a coffee and pulled out her pin badge from her pocket, the gold bar shone bright in the light. She wore it every day and it never left her side. Holding it gently, She stared at it for a moment before putting it back in her pocket again. Tanya sighed, it was looking likely it wasn't happening tonight.
Tanya made her way to drake one, her coffee in hand and sat down at its vast controls. If anything was to settle her, it was her baby. Once again she took out the pin badge and set it where she could see it and started up the massive machine. Sipping the coffee as she typed, She pulled up a file called Phoenix and went over her checklist once again. Most of the stuff had been ordered and was already sat inside the hanger she had designated, food stores and a bed had already been set up and she made sure she had everything she needed for her. She had made up the notes to the team and had booked the relevant time off she needed.
Thinking back to the ducks, Tanya knew they suspected something was going on with her. The team had become overly friendly with her over the past week as she grew more anxious and nervous. They constantly asked her if she was ok. She hated lying to them and kept stating nothing was wrong but she knew if they knew the truth, they could try to stop her going. Tanya sighed and held her head in her hands. she wasn't scared of the task in hand, even though it was extremely dangerous she had done it many times and she was excited to be taking part, But the teams reaction was something she had never counted on.
Tanya had come to respect the team as her family. Her dad had died when she was 15 and her mother wanted nothing to do with her so she had been left relatively alone. She found a confident in her fathers friend and his 3 sons but he mostly cared for her as a favour to her father and she never felt a part of the family. But when she came to earth with the team it was completely different. They trusted each other with their lives and they treated each other as a close family. If someone was hurting, the others would be there at their side. If someone was ill the team would take shifts to look after them. It was an amazing feeling Tanya hadn't felt in years. She just couldn't risk loosing everything in case if they found out what she was up to and make her choose between her traditions and them. She knew that when the time came and the ducks found out what was going on they would be mad, but it would be too late to stop her.
Finishing her coffee and satisfied all her plans in place, Tanya locked the files down she was working on and got up to leave. She felt a little better as the nightmares had faded away for another evening into obscurity, she picked up her gold badge and nearly dropped in shock as it started to glow and hum.
"Holy mother of ducks, it's time!"
