Unfurling: A Maximum Ride Fanfic
Written by Mudd
Chapter 3: The Twins
A couple months later, we found the twins. They were just barely 5 years old, and were huddled together in a bus shelter. Turtle and I were walking around in the New York area, and they were just sitting there.
One of them – I don't know which one for sure, but probably Sting, because he has an issue with that sort of thing – had part of their wing sticking out, so I whispered in his ear, "The down in your jacket looks suspiciously like a real wing! Crazy, huh?"
Watching him jump was the funniest thing ever. And I do mean that. I must have laughed for 10 minutes before he finally looked at me with a sly glint in his green eyes. "You have them too, don't you?" he said in a little-kid voice, which is now the little-kid voice.
I smiled, and Turtle nodded. "Yeah, we have them too. By the way, my name is Turtle and he's Hawk and we have our own flock so do you wanna join it? If you would then we can be your family, and-"
Obviously, I interrupted her. "Turtle." I said firmly, and she shut up. Then I turned to the boys. I had an idea. "Have you two ever heard of stingrays?" I asked them, and they looked confused.
Who is now Ray shook his head. "No, I don't think so..." he said uncertainly, and I took out a photo that I carried with me all the time, along with one of a turtle, and one of a mud puddle. "This is a stingray." I said, and explained all about the stinger and the jelly-like texture. Then I asked a question that changed these kids' destiny. "Would you like that to be your names?"
Obviously, they exploded with joy, then had their own ideas. They both wanted to be Sting. But soon, we got that figured out, and Sting and Ray were added to the flock. That was a great day.
And, a few days later, Ray ran off because he'd seen this cute puppy for sale at a random street corner and wanted it. I, like the good leader I was, said no, and he, like the 5 year old he was, cried. Of course that made me feel really guilty, but we still couldn't haul a puppy around, so I was firm.
Yay Mudd, right? Well, Ray snuck off to get his puppy, and got lost. Want to hear the story? Well, here it is:
"Mudd! Mudd! Ray's gone! My brother is gone, Mudd! Aw, c'mon Mudd, you've gotta wake up! 'Cause my brother is not here and I need him so badly that I could cry! Mudd!"
This was what I woke up to. This shrill, whiny little voice that just made my insides squirm. The little kid voice. I rolled over, groaning as I went, then remembered I was in a tree, and unfurled my wings, so I didn't fall to the ground. "Sting, you little stinker. I almost cracked my head open." I said, always so dainty and polite.
He shook his head, and punched me in the back. I whipped around, putting him into a fierce arm-and-head-lock, then realized that he was no threat. Well, his so-called "attack" had done its job, waking me up completely. Then he tried again, this time in a more sophisticated tone.
"Mudd, Ray's gone. And I don't know where. Please help me find him," he said pleadingly.
Turtle, of course, was still asleep. That was just so like her that I wanted to, like, scream. Which, of course, I didn't. Instead I said flatly, "Wake Turtle. Then go."
Sting's a good kid, so he immediately stood up straighter, and went up to Turtle, carefully positioning himself so his mouth was aimed at her ear, but not TOO close to it. Then, he yelled, "Ahhh! Turtle, watch out! Help!"
I thought he did an amazing job. Turtle jumped straight up, looking around wildly. "What? Where?" she asked frantically, before Sting cracked up. I, hardly containing my laughter, shook my head, trying to muster a stern look.
"Sting, that wasn't very nice, scaring Turtle like that," I said firmly, but when Turtle rolled her eyes, I gave in and cracked up. "Aw, c'mon, Turtle," I choked out when she gave me a fake-mad look, "You've got to admit that was hilarious!"
At that she cracked a grin, then, getting to the point like only she can, inquired, "Why'd you wake me up, anyway?"
My eyes widened as I quickly recalled the situation at hand. "Turtle, we've got to find Ray. He ran away, looking for that puppy!" I exclaimed, and we were in the air, searching, in about 14 seconds flat. Yep, that's how good we were.
So, it only took us about 2 hours to find the kid, mostly because he was flying straight towards us as if his life depended on it...which is would, if that danged child abuse law would get out of the picture. (I'm just kidding. I totally wouldn't ever hurt a hair on any of the kids' heads. Seriously.)
We did the whole "family-getting-back-together-after-kid-runs-away" thing, where the parent (or me, in this case) wants to be pissed at the kid (Ray), but just freaking can't, because they're way too happy that the kid is safe and back and whatever.
So, there's the story. How did you like it? Oh, wait, ignore that... you can't really respond via this book, can you?
Nope, I didn't think so.