Chapter 3
The Guardians
"B-but….." Sotako struggled to get the word out, "Y-you died ten years ago, in the explosion."
"I almost did." Azalea corrected. "If someone hadn't found me and taken me back to The Guardians' Home."
"Huh?" everyone turned to stare at Icefire as she spoke; she looked back, confused.
"I agree." Sotako said, returning his gaze to his long-lost sister.
The white-haired girl smiled. "Maybe it would be best if I showed you, instead." She suggested.
"I don't think that's a good idea." The boy said. Icefire turned to look at his uneasy eyes.
"Why not? He's my brother."
"No one can go to The Guardians Home except those who live there." He told her.
"Lighten up." Azalea retorted laughingly, grabbing the blonde-haired boy's arm. As she led him away, she told Sotako to follow them. Icefire ran after her partner as he followed his sister through the forest. Azalea ducked under limbs, jumped over brambles, and crawled around boulders. All the while, the boy kept a watchful eye on the surroundings, and every time he seemed to hear something, he would jerk around and stare into the undergrowth. After some time traveling, Azalea finally stopped in a large meadow blanketed with green grass. Icefire stood speechlessly as her eyes found a gigantic oak tree stood on the far side of the clearing, with a fat trunk and thick branches. The tree looked huge even from the other end of the field. Two more oak trees, slightly smaller, acted like guards, standing one on either side of the largest oak. A few shady trees dotted the meadow and boulders sat in random places as well, providing unlimited hiding places. A large lake lay at the left of the meadow, right next to a mountain. The boy let out a wolf-like howl, which was quickly answered by three new voices. A lone figure stepped out from behind a boulder, leaping onto the big rock to confirm the call. He howled back and the figure shot across the clearing at such great speed that Sotako stepped back out of wariness. However, Azalea and the boy stood calmly until the person reached them. The figure turned out to be a young girl with short, light blonde hair and ice-colored blue eyes. She wore a black tee with long silver sleeves and green camouflage cargo pants, cut off at the knees in order to make shorts.
"Nightsky." The boy greeted.
"Snowburner." The girl nodded.
"Anyone else here?" he asked.
"Yes. Pyro and Echo." She reported.
"And the others?"
"Their out foraging for dinner." She told him. "They should be back soon, though."
Icefire suddenly noticed that sundown was approaching.
"Good. I hope they bring some extra home. We have guests." Snowburner stepped aside to show her Icefire and Sotako. Nightsky eyed them warily. She turned questioningly to the blonde-haired boy.
"It wasn't my idea." He muttered as he passed her. She nodded, staring knowingly at Azalea.
"What?" the white-haired girl said, wide-eyed with innocence.
"You know what we agreed on: no outsiders." Nightsky told her, irritably.
"But this is my brother."
The icy-blue-eyed girl eyed Sotako with guarded curiosity.
"It's nice to meet you." He said. "I hope-" whatever he was going to say was cut off by a wolf-like howl from behind Icefire. She and her partner spun around to see three kids coming toward them. All were female; each carrying a leather sack that looked like it was going to burst into a hundred pieces. The girl on the far left had silvery blue-gray hair and, as they got closer, Icefire noticed a pair of deep green eyes. She wore only leaves for clothes, stomach exposed, and had leaves strapped to her upper arms and just above her kneecaps. The one in the middle had black hair with dark purple streaks in it; she had glowing red eyes and wore a tight black shirt, loose black Capri's, and black boots. A black, hooded cape completed the outfit. The last kid, on the far right, had loose silvery blonde hair and azure blue eyes. She had a short-tailed camouflage shirt, short tan shorts, and dark gray combat boots.
The bluish-gray-haired girl imitated a wolf and howled challengingly at Icefire and Sotako. She stared nervously at the approaching group and as they neared, the girl in the camouflage shirt let out a low growl. Sotako stared her through narrowed eyes. The girl handed her bag to her companion and squared up to the black-haired boy.
Nightsky pushed in between the two. "Silver, stop. These are our guests."
Icefire turned and stared across the clearing in wonder. The meadow was amazing, with plenty of protection and shade and shelter. As she stared, Azalea came up behind her and led her toward the giant oak, Sotako trailing behind.
"Come on. I want to show you guys The Guardians' Home. You can see it better from HomeOak." She leaped onto the lowest branch and climbed steadily higher, on the low-hanging boughs. Icefire and Sotako followed her to the middle of the tree. She looked around; wooden planks formed a floor and thick branches grew into a sort of wall with large gaps that acted like windows. Branches grew up between the cracks in the floorboards, creating furniture.
"Whoa!" Icefire exclaimed, staring out of one of the gaps. "This is so cool!" she stood frozen, gazing at the sunset reflecting
Sotako came up to stand to her, Azalea on her other side.
"You're lucky you get to live here." the black-haired boy told his sister. "I'm sorry that I left you to die all those years ago. I should have been responsible." He turned away hide his tearing eyes, "I should have been there for you."
Azalea shifted over to him. "It's okay." She soothed, rubbing his back comfortingly, "You knew I was close to death. Even I didn't think I was going to make it." She turned to look out the gap to where a blonde-haired figure was having a conversation with the red-eyed girl, "When Snowburner found me, I was on the brink. He knew I needed help, so he took me in and nursed me back to health. The Guardians have been good to me, they raised me, though they weren't much older than I was. I understand that you were scared, you were only six by the way."
He turned back to her. "But I should have stayed with you. Instead, I ran; I ran from you and from my past, from everything." He faced the other way again, "At first, it hurt to think about what happened. Then I found someone who promised me great things, someone who would give me the skills to live with what I did. Soon I decided not to think about it, so that I didn't have to suffer."
Azalea grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. "Stop feeling sorry for your self!" she scolded, "Don't make me set you straight, boy."
"Thanks. I'm sorry." Sotako said.
"That's more like the brother I remember." Azalea smiled, and then danced backwards. "Now come on, dinner will start soon. See, they're already starting the fire."
Icefire looked down into the clearing and, sure enough, a few people were gathered around a big fire. Azalea led them down, jumping to each lower branch. At the bottom, she led them to were many people were sitting around. Icefirenoticed that three new figures had joined them. They looked like humanoid felines. Their skeletons were human, but their features were not. They had cat ears, eyes, fur, tails, and retractable claws. One, female, had thick gray fur that matched her naturally gray hair and big blue cat eyes. The other two, male, had dark brown tabby fur, black hair, and amber eyes.
Snowburner looked up from where he sat next to them by the fire. "Oh, hello." he greeted, oblivious to the fact that he was near wierd creatures. "This is Wolf," he gestured to the gray female, "and these are Tiger and Bramble." he pointed to the males in turn.
"Pleasure to meet you." Icefire said, sitting on the other side of the fire with Sotako and Azalea. After everyone ate their fill of nuts, berries, and freshly fried rabbit meat, they sat around flickering flames and talked. Sotako decided take the time to figure out more about his long lost sister. Icefire just stared quietly into the fire, watching the flames dance around and throw up sparks. Soon though, she drifted off to sleep.
