Special thanks to Tomadahawk, Sorrelwing and Headhusky for allowing the use of their OC's, and Alex for allowing this story.


The mission is simple. That's what they all said. The military macaw had heard the same line so many times, and it always ended badly. The macaw has dark brown eyes, and is unusually tall for his species. Most of his body is green, with red only appearing around the bottom of his eyes and edges of the wings and tail. He plays the mission parameters over and over, mostly due to the long travel they had endured. He wasn't too fond of that 'portal-transport', and instead used his alter-ego, who could jump from shadows. Certainly faster than walking or flying, but he also forgot how tired out he would be. Panting, he made his way to the rendezvous, finding two others already waiting in some bushes. On the left was a female Spix macaw, with the longest head feathers he'd seen, and green eyes. She has small orbs encircling her, each a different color. On the right was a male Spix macaw with black on the tips and edges of it's wings. It's eyes were a turquoise, and has short head feathers that are slid towards the back. On his back, a knife is strapped. It's expression shows little emotion, only containing a serious look. The military macaw reflects on how he met them. In the past, he would never have imagined he would end up in this kind of situation, fighting evil from the shadows. With him, literally. He approaches from behind quietly, and once right behind them, he opens his beak and-

"Do not even think about it." And shuts it, grumbling at his misfortune. A smirk appears on the second Spix's face. "You're predictable." The military macaw mimics the movement of the Spix's beak in a mocking fashion, earning a glare from both the other birds. He ignores it and goes into a crouched position, looking over the clearing up ahead. In the clearing was a small hill, with rocks circling a hole. An odd place for a stronghold...unless they wanted to hide it.

"Where's that falcon guy?" As an answer, he feels a presence behind him. He knows already who it is. "Nevermind." The female Spix turns to the newcomer with a welcoming smile. Behind them is a peregrine falcon with dark feathers. It has white on it's wings, and brown on it's belly. On it's back, it carries several weapons. The military macaw is still surprised to see one carry so much.

"Tomada. What are we expecting to find?" the male Spix asks.

"Didn't see any guards outside. We're in the clear." The male Spix nods. The military macaw pouts his beak with a grumpy look.

"I could have easily gone inside. You know that, right?" Once again, he receives multiple glares. And once more, he grumbles. The female macaw rolls her eyes and tries her best at ignoring him. The falcon does the same, but the male Spix holds his stare. "What?! Just saying. No reason to get all grumpy at me!" Now the male Spix turns away. All of them, but the military macaw, looked to the hill.

"We should make our move" Tomada insisted.

"No, not yet. We should wait until we see someone. I have a plan." The male Spix starts drawing in the dirt, placing random objects such as sticks and stones to make a map of the hill in a bird's eye view.

"Roran, what is this?" Tomada asks. The male Spix, Roran, glances at the falcon.

"A layout of the entrance and everything around it. I'm showing the plan, and based on what you have told us, it should work." He began scrawling things into the ground, finishing off the design. The military macaw peeks over the other's shoulders, trying to catch a glimpse of the plan. He is taller than most of his kind, so it is kind of easy. "Now, my plan is this: We will take position around on the top of the hill, staying as low as possible."

"Hey, guys" the female macaw interrupts. But the others are too busy with the plan.

"Sorrel, not now. As I was saying, Cody will possess the next guard to come out, and escort us inside-"

"Guys!" she shouts with a touch of irritation. This time, she has their attention. "I think he has another plan." She points her longest wing feather towards a shadow in the clearing.

"Oh, perfect" Tomada says when the shadow darts to the entrance. Then enters. "Looks like we are moving now after all." The three avians rush to the entrance, stopping at the sides. "Can't hear anything." Roran nods and is the first to go in, only to walk into something. Something soft, like feathers. His eyes move up to meet with a burly figure, adorned with body armor. Roran takes a step back, wing ready around the hilt of his knife.

"Move aside, and no one-" he cuts short as the guard collapses forwards, another figure behind it. This figure looks like a silhouette of the military macaw, being a shadowy black with red eyes. A grim smirk appears, showing as a line of red. "That was not needed" Roran scolds.

"Pffft. Like I care" the creature speaks. It's voice comes out in a dark hiss. "And I just let you in, so you should be thanking me." Roran's eyes narrow towards the dark creature. It is like staring into an abyss, with a pair of glowing eyes forever watching.

"You should. You took someone's life. Someone who didn't fight back." The dark figure rolled his eyes, and began mocking Roran with a high pitch voice.

"You took someone's life. Someone who didn't fight back." Roran's glare intensified. his wings curling tightly. Luckily the macaw knows how to control himself, unlike the creature. "If I didn't know you were Cody as well, I would see you as the demon you are. And I would make sure you were far from us. Got it, Shade?" Shade shrugs it's shoulders, and before everyone's eyes, it changes back to the military macaw, Cody.

"Sorry. I'll try to keep him on a shorter leash" Cody replies, his tone more serious than usual. Roran's face went back to what it was before, which was still serious looking. In his eyes, Cody could see a hint of gratitude. "Well, we've gone in. Shall we go deeper into this place?" The others nod, and Tomada takes the lead. He has one of his weapons, a crossbow, drawn. Behind him is Sorrel, then Roran. Cody is last, walking backwards in case a guard decided to come at them from the back.

Inside, the ground begins to soften, and the area around them lights up as the team finds a hanging light. "This must be the place" Tomada says. When Cody walks near it, it hits his head, sending a clank into the cave. They all freeze, and when nothing happens, once again glare at him.

"Sorry. Didn't see it there." They turn back to the front and continue on, and this time Cody goes forward. But he bumps into something, this time it's more closer to the ground than the ceiling. He finds that the team has stopped, and then quickly dart for cover. Seeing that all the cover is taken, Cody makes his own and transforms, making the darkness his cover. Just as he does, two guards appear around the corner, one carrying a torch and the other a black sword.

"That's unusual. Normally, they have guns" Cody says in his mind, since that is where he is. Every time he makes the change, whoever is replaced goes into the mind, and the other takes over.

"At least it means we can get close and personal" Shade thinks back. "I like that." Before Cody can argue, Shade is already moving. He moves into the shadows on the ceiling, ahead of a hanging light and the guards. He waits. And when the guards go under, he goes into his physical form and drops down, stunning the guards. They have no time to react as he uses quick reflexes to grab the blade and skewer both guards. There is a stifled gasp, which originates from the female blue macaw. She had fought others before, and killed. But only in self defense. Nothing like this. Roran approaches Shade and pushes him against the cave wall.

"What did I say before? Did you even listen?" Cody feels the anger rising up, and does his best to calm the beast on the outside.

"The other guy listened. I didn't. And besides, that's two less bad guys in the world." Roran can only look at the shadowy creature in disgust. Tomada is with Sorrel, speaking their own conversation. Then Shade says something they didn't expect. "What? You want to join them?!" That was the last straw. With all his willpower, Cody takes back control.

"I-I am sorry about him...I'll try to hold him back for the rest of this mission." Roran hesitantly nods. Even though he is sadistic and cold, Shade is useful. But perhaps it was for the best.

"Fine. Might be best if you hold back. We cannot have him killing any more. We came here to gather intelligence from whoever is here, not go and create a mass grave." Cody nods, glancing at the other two. He can't bear any of them to look at them, so hangs back as they pass.

"I'll stay and guard the entrance." Tomada nods and takes the lead again.


Cody had found a rock, and had been sitting on it since the others left him behind. He is fine with it, since it was his choice. But someone else wasn't too fond of the idea. He was having a verbal battle in the mind with the 'demon' inside.

"Can't we just go help? I promise I won't kill a single soul."

"I know how you work. You won't kill a soul, but you wouldn't have any problem killing the living being. You've used that trick before." There is a heavy sigh in his thoughts from Shade. The silence, outside and inside his head, stretches on. Until Shade speaks again.

"Looks like we'll be fighting after all." Cody throws a mental image of a confused look into his mind. "From the left. I can sense a presence." Cody readies himself, and then he can hear it. The light tapping of talons on the dirt. Whoever it is, they are moving fast. He lets Shade take over, goes into the shadows and waits. Soon, the figure appears. It is the same shape as a macaw, but adorned with clothing that covers the full body. All except the eyes. One pearly blue, and the other pure red. A sense of familiarity comes to mind. Before he can say a word, she begins to run past him. Shade takes his chance and pounces from the shadow, knocking her down.

"No one's escaping me!" The figure freezes. Cody can see the same feeling. But her's is not for long. In an instant, Shade is seized by something and thrown into the air. As they pass through the air, Cody and Shade catch a glimpse of something against a lit up wall. A large hand, wrapped around their legs. Yet there is not one physically there. They slam hard onto the ground, and when they stand up, the figure is gone. They had to find her again. They begins to give chase, only to be stopped by someone coming behind him. They turn to find the team, with a few scrapes.

"What happened?" Roran questions. Shade does not answer, but Cody does when his form is reverted.

"Someone came through...Someone I must find." He looks into the distance outside. Whoever they were, they had something like him. Giant shadow hands don't come out of nowhere. "And I will find them." He feels a light touch on his shoulder and finds Roran.

"We'll help. Others are coming to secure this place." Cody is hesitant. This could be dangerous for all of them. And then, he gives his answer.

"I'll think about it."


There you go, guys. And with the past Origins story, I realized a chapter was missing. So check that one out. And as always, see you in the next chapter.