I am really sorry for the long wait guys. School and all, but I'm back now! Hope you guys like it! Please R&R!
The flight to Australia was actually quite short, and the only thing unlikable about it was that the air turbulences were really bad. A storm had started brewing and it wasn't making the flight any more comfortable.
Griffin jumped as another rumble of thunder made the plane vibrate. Sasha was calm until lightning appeared shortly after.
"I hate storms," Sasha growled, moving closer to her sister.
Griffin nodded in agreement, fingering her necklace. Dren gave the sisters a sympathetic look.
"Don't worry. We're almost there," he promised them, looking out the plane window.
Sasha gave a slight nod and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She looked over at Griffin. "Meditate with me?" she asked.
Griffin immediately nodded and slid out of her seat and onto the floor. Sasha did the same, sitting across from her sister and taking her hands. Griffin smiled slightly and gave Sasha's hands a quick squeeze before taking a deep breath. Sasha followed suit, closing her eyes. After a few minutes, the twins were breathing as one, motionless. Dren was fascinated as he watched, as Sasha followed Griffin. Or was it Griffin following Sasha? He shrugged and continued to watch.
As they meditated, the jet started to land, surprisingly smooth despite the storm raging outside. Sasha took one last deep breath and opened her bicolored eyes. Instinctively, Griffin did the same, sensing that they were no longer on the ground. They stayed on the ground until the pilot, who was also another Joe, informed them that they had landed and could get off the jet. Dren handed Griffin her bags while Sasha grabbed her own. She tried to surprise the giddy smile that touched her lips when she picked up her new bow, but to no avail. She was getting giddy just thinking about using it. True, a gun was better than a bow in combat, but the bow was a gift from her father, and Snake Eyes didn't give gifts unless they were for a reason. And for him to give them each a weapon, he must have had a very good reason indeed.
Sasha stood by the doorway, ready to get off the jet and back onto solid ground. A faint neigh, carried by the wind, reached her ears. She smiled again, recognizing Peace's neigh.
"Hurry up Grif!" she called over her shoulder to her sister.
"I'm coming!" Griffin hollered back, jogging over to Sasha, Dren close behind.
Sasha went down the stairs first to allow Griffin to hear the faint echo of her tennis shoes on the metal, giving her a sense of where the stairs were and how many of them there were. Once Sasha reached the ground, she ran over to where their animals were being unloaded, which was closer to the back of the plane.
"Shadow!" Sasha exclaimed, seeing the familiar black and grey wolf. Shadow ran over to his mistress, rubbing himself against her legs and licking her hands. Sasha smiled and went over to get Peace as well. The mare was used to being on a plane (or a jet for that matter), but that didn't mean she had to like it. Her ears were pinned at the Joe that was leading her out, nostrils flared. She was prancing and snorting, the storm not making anything any easier. But once Sasha touched Peace's shoulder, she was immediately calm, lowering her head so that she could stroke her. She chuckled and did as she requested, looking over her shoulder at Griffin, who was saying her 'hellos' to Queen. The liger was purring so loud that even Sasha could feel the vibrations.
Griffin ran a hand through Queen's thick fur, smiling happily. She allowed her to lead her towards Sparrow, who was having about the same troubles as Peace had. Dren stood just behind them, getting his own mount, a beautiful stallion named Comet. He was the color of the wheat, a perfect buckskin, with dark markings on his legs that looked like tiger stripes. Dren quickly tacked Comet up and mounted, his only other baggage being a large backpack.
"Come on, girls. I don't want to be waiting here all day," Dren told them. "And especially not in a storm."
Sasha and Griffin giggled before tacking up their own horses and mounting up, Sasha helping Griffin every now and again when she needed it. The Joes that had brought them to Australia tacked up another horse that had been brought to use as a pack pony, since they wouldn't be spotting to rest anywhere else besides the village.
While they waited, Sasha talked with Griffin.
"I've been getting this really weird feeling that something's wrong," she said.
Griffin frowned slightly. "Wrong where?" she asked. "Or wrong with what?"
Sasha shrugged. "That's the thing. I don't know. I just feel like something's not right."
As the twins mulled things over, Dren trotted over. "Well, we're all set. So, let's get a move on before that storm breaks," Dren told them, urging Comet into a gallop, pulling the pack pony along behind him.
Sasha and Griffin galloped after him, Sasha keeping an eye on the storm overhead.
"Alright. Yeah...thanks Dren. Keep in touch," Whisper said over the phone before hanging up and slipping her cell back into her pocket.
'They just arrive?' Snake Eyes asked her.
Whisper nodded. "Yeah. They're heading towards the village now," she told him.
Snake knew that something was bothering his wife and he touched her shoulder. 'Something wrong?'
Whisper started to shake her head before nodding, knowing that there was no use in lying. "I'm not sure. Dren told me that he overheard the twins talking. Sasha was saying that she felt like something was wrong. She doesn't know where or what, only that something isn't right," she told him.
Snake was still for a few moments before answering. 'What do you think it might be?'
"I don't know, Snake. But I don't like it. Sasha having a bad feeling about something? That doesn't exactly help my nerves at the moment," Whisper admitted.
'They will be fine,' Snake Eyes told her. 'Dren is with them and they are heading into the village as we speak.'
Whisper's shoulders rose and sagged as she gave a deep breath and released it. "I know," she said after a few moments of silence. She opened her mouth to say something else, but the sound of a vibrating phone stopped her. She looked over at Duke.
Duke shifted his weight in the seat, reaching into his pocket to take out the phone. "Hello?" An urgent voice, not Hawk's, came from the other end. After about ten seconds, Duke's face visibly paled, his hands shaking slightly.
Whisper felt like she was going to be sick, holding her stomach with one hand and grasping Snake's with the other.
"Understood. Any one else injured?" Duke asked, fighting to keep his voice steady. More of the urgent voice.
Bile rose into the back of Whisper's throat and she swallowed, hard. Snake rested his free hand on her shoulder, though she could feel his agitation rolling off of him in waves, mixing with her own agitation and fear. Only two things were going through her mind at the moment: What has my father done now? Has he hurt my family?
The handful of minutes that Duke was on the phone for turned into hours before he finally hung up, looking at each anxious face that was watching him.
"The Pit was just attacked by Cobra," Duke told them, his voice strained. "At least twelve are dead and many more injured." He looked straight at Whisper. "The Cobra Commander was there, too. He kept asking 'Where are they? Where has she hidden them?'"
Whisper shot up from her seat, running towards the bathroom that was in the jet. She barely made it before her stomach heaved over and over again, spilling what had been in her stomach into the toilet. Cool hands touched her clammy neck.
"It's ok, Whisper. He didn't get them. They're safe," came Scarlett's soothing voice.
Whisper leaned back into her friend's arms, relieved tears running down her face. The two women stayed that way for a long time, enbracing each other as they sought to figure things out.
As the women had their private moment, Snake Eyes was barely holding in his fury. Only years of training and disipline kept him from running up to the pilot and forcing him to change the course of their flight to Australia, so that he could see his daughters and protect his family. Looks like Sasha's bad feeling was right.
The trio were about midway to the village camp when Dren got the call. Like the others, he was shocked at the news. The Pit had been attacked. Sasha and Griffin pulled their horses to a stop, Sasha turning in her saddle to look over at Dren.
"What's up?" she asked, curiosity in her eyes.
Quickly, Dren explained what had happened to the twins, though left out the part that the Cobra Commander had been looking for them at the Pit. Two sets of eyes widened in disbelief.
"What do we do?" Sasha asked. Griffin nodded in agreement. It was horrible, knowing that the people they had grown up with were in trouble.
Dren shook his head. "We do diddly-squat. There's nothing we can do," he told them, angrily running a hand through his shaggy hair.
"We can-" Griffin started, but Dren interrupted her.
"We're not going back," Dren told her, knowing that that's what had probably been about to come out of her mouth.
Griffin's shoulders sagged and she lowered her sightless gaze to Peace's mane, intertwining her fingers into the silky hair.
Sasha moved closer to Griffin, close enough to touch her sister's shoulder. Some kind of communication seemed to go on between them and Griffin nodded slightly.
Dren watched, a puzzled look on his face. 'I am never going to understand twins,' he thought.
Sasha looked back over at Dren. "We better hurry then. We still have a storm to outrun," she reminded the mercenary. She gave a small smile before wheeling Peace around and tapping her heels into her sides. The stallion took off, Griffin's stallion hot on her heels.
Dren rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue to his own horse and the packhorse, following after the sisters.
Within the hour, they finally arrived at the camp. Jungle Cat was there to meet them, a broad smile on his face.
"Well isn't it my favorite godchildren," he said, his voice carrying clearly over the high winds of the plains.
"Jungle Cat!" the twins cried in unison. They dismounted, Sasha making sure Griffin was safely on the ground first, and ran to their godfather. The large Australian man hugged them, still smiling.
"It has been too long, my dears," Jungle Cat told them. "I have missed you greatly. Hello Dren."
Dren smiled, dismounting out of curtesy. "Jungle Cat," he greeted.
Jungle Cat looked over both girls. "My you two have grown!" he exclaimed. "You're almost as tall as Quick Breeze."
Quick Breeze was Jungle Cat's nephew, and a close friend of the twins. Sasha giggled.
"We are not," she said. "Quick Breeze is as thin as a twig and as tall as one, too."
Jungle Cat laughed. "You have your mother's tongue, Wolf Eyes."
Sasha smiled when Jungle Cat used his pet name for her. "That's what everyone says," she giggled.
Griffin rolled her sightless eyes, giving her sister's bicep a playful punch. Sasha turned her bicolored eyes to look at Griffin, pouting.
"It's true," Sasha protested.
Now it was Griffin's turn to giggle, and within moments, the sisters were giggling with each other at some private twin joke.
Jungle Cat raised an eyebrow and looked over at Dren for answers, but only received a shrug in response. Once the giggles had died down, Dren spoke.
"I have to get going now, sweethearts," he told them. "Your mother wishes for me to join her and the rest of the team."
In sync, three silver and one blue eye landed on Dren. Sasha frowned slightly. Things must not have been that bad if her mother wanted Dren to join her in Egypt. Either that or things were worse in Egypt then she thought if Dren had to join up with them. Dren saw the frown on Sasha's face and went to reassure her.
"It's alright, Sash. Your mother just doesn't want Cobra to know that I've been here, especially after he attacked the Pit. We know he's looking for you. But don't worry. I would bet my life that Jungle Cat and the rest of the village will look after you to the best of their abilities," Dren said.
Jungle Cat nodded. "What he says is true. I wouldn't neglect my own godchildren," he said with a warm smile.
Dren gave them a reassuring smile. "You're in safe hands," he promised. "And I must get going. Hopefully I can beat the storm back as well." He winked at them and got back onto Comet, leaving the packhorse with the villagers. "Stay safe." And then, just like that, he was gone, just a streak in the endless plains.
Jungle Cat watched Dren go before resting a hand on Griffin's and Sasha's shoulders. "Come, Wolf Eyes, Flying Fox. We have much to catch up on," he said, leading them deeper into the village.
