The scream rang through the forest. It reached the ears of Zatara, who had been leaning against a tree on the side of the path.
"ZATANNA!" He shouted, standing bolt upright. His head whipped in the direction of the clearing.
"Etaerc a mroftalp rof em ot ylf no." In an instant, glowing orange circle of magic appeared under the frantic man's feet. He rode it as fast as he could back along the path. As he emerged in the clearing, the sight before him made him stop cold.
A light in the middle of the clearing was expanding toward Zatanna, who he could see crouched with her hands over her head. A sound like a thousand voices came from the light. Zatara stood on his platform staring in shock. Frozen, he continued to stare as if in a trance, until another scream from his daughter shook him out of his stupor.
He flew to his daughter's side in a blur. Jumping down next to Zatanna, he dismissed the platform.
"Etaerc a reirrab ni neewteb su dna ti," with that, an orange force field encompassed father and daughter. Zatara crouched down and scooped the crying Zatanna into his arms.
"Shhh. It will be all right," he said, holding the girl close to his chest. Still crouching, he turned to stare at the thing that had so scared his daughter, stroking the back of her head all the while. Though her cries quieted, the sound coming from the light grew still louder. Zatanna peeked out from where she had buried her face in her father's T-shirt.
As the noise became near deafening, one voice rose above the rest. It was the sound of a young girl, crying out in fear and pain. The sound tore at the two magicians' hearts.
Then in a blinding flash, it stopped. The screaming stopped, the light went out, and everything seemed to have returned to normal. They opened their eyes, which had been closed against the flash of light.
Zatara set Zatanna down before straightening. Looking around towards the spot where the light had come from, he saw a dark form slumped against the ground. When it did not move for a few minutes, he dismissed his shield. Pushing Zatanna behind him, he cautiously crept toward the thing on the ground.
When they were about two yards from the form, they stopped.
"Etaerc a llab fo thgil." As Zatara spoke, a small ball of light appeared. As it illuminated the ground in front of him, Zatanna gasped. For the second time that night, Zatara looked frozen in shock.
It was a girl.
As the father and daughter crept closer, they had a better view of the girl. She had long, light brownish-blond hair that gently curled and waved. She wore a gray robe looking-thing as if she had just gotten out of bed. She also had on a necklace with four different colored stones. She couldn't have been more than eight.
Her face was pale and ashen, her eyes closed. She was breathing lightly and quickly, as if she had just had a fright. But what struck them the most was the fact that she was injured.
Her arm was positioned the wrong way and she had a great many cuts and scrapes. She also had a rather large gash on her forehead, which bled sluggishly.
"Look dad, she's hurt!" Zatanna cried as she ran the last few paces to the girl's side. Kneeling beside her, Zatanna reached out to touch the girl's arm.
Suddenly the girl's eyes flew open! She looked around wildly before spotting the older girl looking down concernedly, her father a few paces behind. Sucking in a large gasp of air, the girl sat up and quickly scooted a few feet away from the shocked pair. As she sat breathing heavily, she stared at them with wide frightened eyes.
"It's alright. We aren't gonna hurt you." Zatanna said, still kneeling on the ground. The girl looked out at Zatanna through a curtain of hair. Zatanna smiled encouragingly, and earned a small glimmer of a smile in return.
"Little one, what is your name?" Zatara asked, stepping around his daughter. Noting that she once again seemed scared, he added, "You have no reason to fear me, or my daughter."
She looked to Zatanna, who nodded and smiled wider. The girl gave the glimmer of a smile again, and relaxed slightly. She attempted to use her arms to push herself up. At once her right arm collapsed, and she gasped, this time in pain. Throwing caution to the wind, both magicians ran to the girl.
"Are you alright?" Zatanna asked, her brow furrowed in concern. The younger girl looked up at the older one beside her. Quickly she averted her eyes, and shook her head. Kneeling beside his daughter, Zatara looked to the girl.
"May I?" he asked, gesturing to the injured arm. The girl nodded. He lifted the arm and felt along it for breaks. When he neared her elbow, she inhaled sharply in pain.
"I believe that it is broken. Perhaps we should take her to the hospital." He stated, standing up.
"We can't do that!" Zatanna cried.
"Zatanna, she needs medical attention. We can't give it to her. They can."
"Well, what would we tell them? That we were in the woods when a bunch of light and screaming dropped her here with a broken arm? Yeah, they'll believe that for sure." She shot back sarcastically. "And you know very well that we can so give her attention. Better attention than 'medical,' (GG: Heh, nine-year-old speak) anyways."
"What would you have us do with her, then?" He asked his daughter doubtfully. She grinned before replying.
"Bring her to our house." She replied, as if it were obvious. Zatara cocked an eyebrow.
"At least until we can figure out who she is and where she came from! Please?" with her best pouty-puppy face on, Zatanna looked up at her father hopefully. The other girl, still sitting on the ground, rather liked the two people she had met, and enjoyed the thought of living with them. She too beggingly looked at the dark haired man. Studying the expressions of the two girls in front of him, Zatara sighed.
"Fine."
Zatanna squealed in delight, and turned to the mysterious girl. The girl beamed up at her. She slowly made her way to her feet (using her left arm to push herself up), and wobbled bit. Zatara stepped up ready to steady the girl, or even catch her if she fell. With a look of determination set on her face, she waved him off. She took one cautious step. Than another. And another. She slowly made her way across the clearing, following Zatanna, who had run ahead, to the path. They where nearly there when she began to wobble again. Her steps slowed as she concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. Father and daughter exchanged glances as the girl swayed once more. The short walk from the middle of the clearing had clearly exhausted her.
At the edge of the clearing she stopped, yawned, swayed again…
And promptly fell over.
Luckily, Zatara was close behind. He caught her, then after a moment of hesitation, picked her up bridal style. With a little shiver, she snuggled up close to him for warmth. His eyes softened, and a little smile played upon his lips at he looked down at the sleeping girl in his arms.
She looks like a little sleeping cat. He thought to himself. Zatanna came over to look at the girl in her father's arms again. Then she giggled.
"She looks like a sleeping kitten!" she said, unaware of the thought her dad had had only moments before.
"Then we shall call her Kat, until we know what her real name is." He proclaimed." Seeing his daughter's raised eyebrow, he said "Well, we need something to call her until she is recovered enough to tell us her name. It does not mean that we are going to keep her!"
The newly proclaimed Kat shivered slightly. Zatara instinctively tightened his grasp, pulling her closer to him. Zatanna gave her father a look that clearly said Suuuure, It means nothing at all. She then turned and ran down the path. With a sigh, Zatara followed his daughter, her laughs ringing through the night air.
A/N: Yay! Two full chapters done! And an OC introduced, a bit of a plot set up, and it's my longest chapter yet! I think that this has been a very productive day.
Girl Scout cookies to those who review!
Until next time,
-GG (Guest Girl)
