I finished chapter 8 yesterday, but didn't feel like making an update at that point. However, I decided to do so tonight. This chapter jumps ahead six years in the timeframe, which makes Stormy about 12 years old when this chapter begins. Stormy has no idea of her exact age, as you'll come to see. It was time to progress forward; you'll find that I'll do this again in the future, although I won't tell when. I love this chapter, mostly for the flashback and then the dream sequence. They are some of my favorites. If you like, let me know what you think!

Chapter 5 A Gift

Three points of lightning struck down, smashing three different stones. One stone had been low in a crevice, one up high on a cliff, and one wedged between two large stones. They crumbled easily under the force of the lightning bolt, shattered stone flying in all directions. Another low roll of thunder was heard as a lightning bolt cracked in the distance, highlighting the outline of a child clad in shades of grey, her lavender colored hair and piercing green eyes the only colors to be seen. A smirk was plastered upon her face, and she was clearly pleased with her actions. She turned her palm to the sky again, fingers deftly searching for the nearby bolts she so desired. Crack. Crack. Crack. Three more stones, broken into smithereens.

The child turned away, entering the stone lair behind her. She ignored everything in her path, and headed for her room, the place where she'd been kept for the past six years. Of course, she had no concept of time in this place, and no way to keep track of it even if she did. To her, it had merely been a long time, a time where she'd learnt quite a good bit from her keeper. She hadn't changed much in that time span, barely growing an inch before she grew no more. It had seemed odd to her at first that she just stopped growing. Even her hair had grown a little more, but it too had stopped. It was as though time had stopped her from aging any further, keeping her in her current physical state.

At first, she'd found this odd. She knew she wasn't getting any taller, and knew that she should be. She remembered her parents and how big they were. If she tried really hard, she could see their faces for a glimmering second before they faded away in her mind. After awhile, it was just a fact that she was never going to grow and so she forgot about it. Why worry about something that wasn't happening? She'd continued on as usual, and it became just another normal thing.

Her wet boots squelched on the stone floor, echoing off the stone walls. Her wardrobe had been upgraded as soon as her keeper had seen her true potential. Now she wore pale grey boots, each with a darker grey lightning bolt insignia. She was robed in a dress of various shades of grey, one that had both an under dress and then a skirt that was split up the front. The skirt was held up by a pair of suspenders that were hidden underneath the lining of the skirt. On the waist of the skirt was a white cloud, with another lightning bolt insignia on it. After all, her keeper wanted her to use symbols similar to his own, and ones that reflected her own power. She had a new lightning bolt hairclip, also grey in color to hold back her thick, lavender hair.

As she climbed the stone stairs, she heard the unmistakable sound of Lurky, her keeper's clumsy assistant. He seemed to be doing something in a nearby room, and she hoped that she could sneak by without him noticing. Unfortunately, her squeaky boots gave her away.

"Stormy!" he called gleefully, waving his arms at her. "Stormy, wanna play with my new game? All you have to do is—" he stopped talking as soon as he realized that she was no longer in the doorway. He scratched at his head. "Maybe she wants to play later!" he said to himself, always the optimistic one.

Slamming the door behind her, she entered her room and collapsed on her bed, tired, yet satisfied with her training for the day. It hadn't been easy to take care of, but it was done and she had enjoyed every moment of it. The satisfying feeling of hearing the stones burst into pieces, the adrenaline rush of directing a lightning bolt to its desired target, even the feel of manipulating the weather had all become a rush to her. It was all to accomplish one goal: destroy Rainbow Brite.

Over the few years she'd been there, she'd heard, learned, and been drilled about the ways of Rainbow Land and color. At first, it'd seemed like silly things, but now…it was something more. She was going to get rid of that girl, no matter what. She been working to develop her powers, ones that made her keeper very pleased. Of course, he did seem crazy at times, the way he'd speak of plunging Rainbow Land into darkness. For destroying Rainbow Brite, she'd receive the power to do as she pleased with the weather system of the planet. The things she could do! The storms and floods she could create! And all she had to do was get rid of the one who protected the land.

Of course, she'd never seen Rainbow Brite, but she'd heard enough of what she did. She spread color over the land, making it bright and cheerful. Year in and year out, she did this, and never tired, or failed. She always managed to beat Stormy's keeper on top of all that. Secretly, Stormy knew he could not wield the power that she could, and she'd prove that once and for all…

Her thoughts were interrupted with her door being flung open, its hinges banging against the stone behind it. There stood her keeper, grinning at her. She remembered that he'd mentioned being gone for a few days, and that she hadn't seen him. He had apparently returned, and by the look on his face, she knew that he had been triumphant in whatever it was he'd set out to do. "Come with me and see what I've brought for you," he called, grinning from ear to ear. Stormy looked at him from her spot on the bed, apparently bored with the idea.

"Don't look at me that way. It's something you can use to help you beat Rainbow Brite," he continued, knowing that would get her moving.

Stormy rose from her bed more quickly than she wanted to, knowing that her body was willing to obey his command, whether or not she wanted to. She silently followed him, listening to the small bits of laughter that came from his mouth. It was something good, apparently. Stormy couldn't recollect the last time she'd seen him so happy. Murky led her into a section of the lair she'd never seen before. She'd never really been in the basement areas of his lair. She had to admit to herself that her curiosity was piqued, and she did want to know what he'd brought her, especially if it was for her to use against Rainbow Brite.

The room they entered was lit dimly with lanterns. In one corner, Lurky was moving bundles of hay into a large pile. A water trough was nearby, and bags of feed stood in another corner. Stormy had no idea what all of this was for.

"Stormy! Murky got you a horsey!" called Lurky as he rushed over to the two of them.

"Get back to work, Lurky!" instructed Murky.

Stormy's eyes roamed the room as Murky and Lurky shared a small battle of wits, which Murky always won. She almost missed him the first time, but a second glance to the far dark corner revealed the surprise that Lurky had indeed spoiled. A beautiful, midnight violet horse stood before her, its mane, tail, and marking on its forehead a lighter lavender. The marking was a lightning bolt, similar to the ones that marked Stormy as a storm maker.

"I see you've found him. I got him pretty cheaply. He's wild and not very tame when let loose. The seller gave me special medicine to keep him calm."

"Why does he have a lightning bolt marking?" asked Stormy.

"That's the best part," answered Murky with a short laugh. "He loves storms, and can blow fog and ice from his nostrils… the seller didn't know if he had any other powers, but he was certain there were more."

Stormy moved closer to the large creature, staring up in awe at him. She looked him in the eye, and though the horse looked back at her, she felt as though he was looking right inside her. He snorted, and wispy tendrils of fog drifted over Stormy, blinding her sight for a few seconds before disappearing. She fanned the air around her, clearing away the leftover remains. She was drawn into those dark eyes, which seemed to relay that there was so much more hidden beneath the surface. "And he's mine?" she asked.

"All yours. You'll train him and he'll help you fight Rainbow."

Stormy didn't care about the second part of his reply, forcibly hiding the scowl that threatened to emerge at being compared to Rainbow yet again. Instead she reached out to touch Skydancer, knowing from the warmth of his velvet coat that he was truly alive and not just a dream of hers. She'd never had an animal of her own… she couldn't remember why. It was yet another memory that seemed so close, yet she couldn't bring it any closer. She only knew she had never had something to care for and own, as Murky wanted her to do with Skydancer.

~ Flashback ~

"Mama, can I have a frog?" asked an impatient Stormy, hopping from foot to foot.

"No, Stormy. You cannot have a frog," replied her mama as she prepared the evening meal, carefully chopping the vegetables.

Stormy scrunched up her face. "Well, what about a bird?"

"No," was the simple reply given yet again.

"Why not?" asked Stormy in a whiny voice.

"Stormy, you can barely take care of the plant in your room. Even then, I have to water it every few days to make sure it won't die."

"But it's so stupid. And it doesn't even have pretty flowers. Just these tiny things." Stormy scrunched two fingers together to illustrate her point.

"How could I trust you with a pet if you can't take care of a plant. A pet needs taken care of every day with food and water. A pet also needs lots of attention."

"I can do that! I do it with the ants in the garden!" replied Stormy proudly.

Stormy's mama turned to look at her. "Stormy, you kill the ants in the garden every chance you get with the magnifying glass."

Stormy crossed her arms. "But I feed them and give them attention!" she protested.

Her mama turned her head to look at her. "You feed them food so they'll come out of their colonies to it. When you feed them, it just so happens that your magnifying glass is hovering near the food. And sure, you give them attention. You make sure that they move directly under your magnifying glass. Neither of those are the same when you have a pet."

"But I won't try to kill a frog or a bird with a magnifying glass!"

"Stormy, you have to show me you can take care of what you have first before I even think about you having a pet to take care of. Right now I'd end up doing all the work for you."

Stormy stomped her foot on the floor. "But that's not fair!"

"Show me you can take care of your plant and stop tormenting the ants and I'll think about it."

~ End Flashback ~

Stormy patted Skydancer's muzzle, hesitantly at first, but soon becoming more comfortable with it. She wasn't used to being near such a large creature. Skydancer pulled away after a few seconds, not wanting to be touched. Stormy watched as Skydancer backed away to the farthest corner of the room. "What's wrong with him?" she asked.

"He's wild. You have to train him. Can't do much with a wild horse, can you?" he asked, chuckling to himself.

Later that evening, Stormy lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She wasn't sure what to think about this new thing. Murky had given her Skydancer for his own purposes, and expected her to train him. Stormy had no idea how she was to go about training a wild horse, not even a clue about where to start.

If only she didn't get these gifts because Murky had bigger plans for her. She was only getting them because he was training her in Rainbow's image. He'd said so enough times that it was burned into Stormy's mind. He expected her to win and to conquer Rainbow, taking Rainbow Land just for him. Part of her wondered what would happen if she failed and Rainbow won in the end. What would he do to her? What would he even begin to say? The thought didn't even cross her mind that he might destroy her for her incompetence. Her physical age may have been more than her body showed, but she was still a child in heart and mind. Rolling over, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

She awoke to find herself in a grassy field. Blinking, she looked up to see a pale blue sky and puffy white clouds. She sat up, and sat that her bed was green grass. She felt the blades between her fingers and on her legs, yet could not feel them at the same time. This puzzled her. She knew she could feel them, but she didn't know what it felt like; it'd been too long since she'd seen or felt green grass. She was used to the stone floors and caverns. The sky seemed strange as well; she was used to a black, stormy sky that streaked with lightning and rolled with thunder constantly. Off in the distance a tune could be heard… it was just one single voice and didn't sound like an animal's. Then again, she realized she wouldn't know the difference.

Rising to her feet, Stormy followed the sound of the tune, and then spotted its source, or rather, the shadow of the source. She lowered herself to the grass, laying on her belly. Here the blades of grass were taller so they afforded her an okay spot to hide in. Stormy watched the shadow in front of her. She quickly noticed a few things. She first realized that the shadow belonged to a little girl. From the distance, Stormy judged that she was about her height or a little bigger. This girl was happy and cheerful, content to sing and hum her tune. Stormy could tell nothing else about her; the girl was engulfed in shadow. Her facial and physical features could not be discerned. Stormy couldn't even tell what she wore.

She continued to watch as this shadow girl danced about in front of her, humming and singing a wordless tune, but one that was calming and peaceful. It then struck Stormy as rather odd that this girl was a shadow when she danced in broad sunlight. Yet, she squinted to get a better view and could not see anything beyond the inky black shadow in front of her. She felt her head nodding, entranced by this girl's merry attitude. The grass tickled against her skin, but she did not move from her hiding spot, least the girl discover her.

Suddenly, the girl stopped twirling and whirled suddenly. She stopped and seemed to stare at a distance beyond. Stormy watched with baited breath. Somehow, she just knew that this girl was staring directly at her. She had spied on something personal and now she was in trouble for it. Realizing that staying crouched in her hiding spot was quite futile, she rose up and ran. She ran as fast as she could, but she still kept hearing the singing voice behind her. It never seemed to get any closer or further away; it simply followed her.

Stormy stopped and turned around to face the shadow girl, who had stopped and was looking right back at her. "What do you want?" she asked the girl.

The shadow girl did not answer though. She continued to sing her tune, not acknowledging Stormy in the least. She merely watched and reached a hand out for Stormy. She waited, wanting Stormy to reach out and clasp her hand around hers. Stormy slowly backpedaled, not wanting to take hold. "Stay away from me!" she called, and was relieved to see that the girl did not come any closer.

"Stay away from me…. Stay away from me…" muttered a sleeping Stormy as she tossed and turned in her bed.