They would send out three search parties to take different sections. They were to come back before dark. Sierra was instructed to draw out the print before they left. I glanced at my mom who seemed scared, weak and deep in thought all at the same time. Probably worried about Savanna. It was late morning when they were dismissed. Merfalis sent a messenger to explain the predicament to Murawl while he led a search party and got the other two rolling. "I want to come!" I screamed. "No, we need you here just in cause she comes back. Plus you're not in the military, you just train." Merfalis explained. What a terrible excuse, could have just said no. I probably know the woods better than half of them. Sierra decided to stop training for the rest of the day, which didn't happen often. Mom went off somewhere without saying a word. I didn't feel like talking to Carter or Kurt, they're both too happy. Kurt should probably know. Savanna is his mate after all. Just pull him away from Carter if they're still together. Explain it to Carter later.
First placed I checked was the meadow. It took a while to see if they were there, since most of the defels lay around after lunch. But they weren't there. Are they still at the lake?
Yes, they were. They must have decided to go swimming because she found them paddling along. "Tallia come in the water's magical!" Kurt called in a girl voice. But Kurt and Carter were already walking onto the shore. "Oh, probably. List, Kurt I have-" I was cut off by the lifting me up. I raised an eyebrow, then the boys charged into the water and dumped me in. I love water, but was not in the mood for their games. "Come on babe, loosen up. You're so tense!" Carter laughed, bringing me into a hug. For a moment, the craziness of the day vanished, but when he released her is came crashing back.
"I have to talk to Kurt." I began. Carter gave an unhappy, questioning look. "It's about Savanna." I explained, catching their expressions. "Oh. Come get he when you're done?" Carter asked, trudging to shore. "Yeah." I replied.
"So, what about Savanna?" Kurt questioned lightly, while floating on his back in circles. "Well, you know how I was looking for her this morning?" He nodded. "I still haven't found her." This made him sit up. "Really?" He sunk neck deep into the water. I nodded, having no idea how to put this. "The thing is, I don't think we'll find her; not for a while anyways." I hinted, hoping he would clue in. His blank expression was my answer. I signed. "She's missing Kurt. Savanna has been kidnapped." I explained. It took a moment for him to respond, then he looked like he got sucker-punched. "What?" He managed to choke out. "Yeah, they have search parties out right now." Kurt looked shocked, scared and sad. Tears collected in his eyes and threatened to fall. He blinked them away quickly. Kurt jumped up and grabbed my arms. "They have to find her!" He freaked. "Kurt. It's going to be okay. They'll find her. She couldn't have gone far." I attempted to comfort him. It didn't work.
"Tallia, I need her. She can't be gone! Maybe she's just out for a walk?" He hoped. "All day? Plus we found drag marks and strange tracks. That sounds like a weird walk to me." I explained. He tried to sink under water but instead I dragged him to shore. "Don't move." I instructed. Carter was a bit down the beach and in the trees a little. I raced up to him. He saw my expression and stood up. "What's wrong?"
"Long story short, Savanna's been kidnapped. told Kurt. he's flipping out. They have search parties out there. Can you calm him down?" I replied between gaps of air. The news didn't hit him as hard as anyone else, but he quickly walked to Kurt's side. I sat from a distance and watched.
Kurt was staring over the lake, his arms wrapped around his knees, as if he was holding himself together. Carter reached out and touched his shoulder. Kurt looked up at him with teary eyes. He said something I was too far away to hear. Carter nodded his head. He bent to his knees and explained something to him. Kurt looked down and tried to take it in, then asked another question. Carter was moving his hands around as if they would help the explanation. This seemed to calm him down a little. Kurt took a deep breath. I heard the last thing Carter said. "They're going to find her." This seemed to give Kurt give. He shook his head, signalling that he was done with this conversation. He said something that looked like "Thanks, man." Then Carter walked back over to me.
"Well, I seemed to calm him down a bit, but it's gonna take him sometime to get used to it." He explained. "Of course, Savanna was his life. But thanks, I probably wouldn't have been able to do that. I don't have a way with words like you do." It was true, Carter had a way with words. He could change your mind with a few sentences. He always knew what to say, and that was one of the things that I liked best about him. Once, I was really sad over the loss of my father, and along comes Carter, who held me what seemed like hours, and gave me many reasons to be happy. He calmed me down, reassuring me that it would be fine, life's not impossible without a dad, plus everyone thought my mom was awesome. That was before they were mates, but something definitively clicked that night, that changed how I felt about him. How he would always be there for me.
Carter decided to keep an eye on Kurt and I wanted to help, but I was needed in the meadow, in case a party or Savanna returned. Their lips touched, and they departed in their separate ways.
Sierra draped lazily around the meadow. How wrong it felt to sit around, not training or doing anything! Savanna should hurry up and be found so I can go train. You gotta be the best of the best! Tallia had went to be the bad news bear. That'll turn out great. She walked in a slow circle around the meadow, not really sure what to do with herself. She spotted a tall tree a little ways out and decided to climb it. Sierra latched onto the bottom branches and thrust herself upwards, grabbing branches along the way and pushing her feet against the bark. She was a good climber since she had lots of strength, but still Tallia was better. Has to be her dad's speed. So not fair, that should have been me! One day. One day. When she reached the top, she could see for miles, besides a few taller trees in the way. If she looked hard enough, she could barley make out the mountains, which were miles and miles away. Sierra could also see almost everything in the meadow, which seemed quite empty, with most of the military gone looking for Savanna.
Cera's red strips were so bright, that was all Sierra could focus on. She seemed paralyzed, or zoned out because she was standing straight, unmoving and staring at one spot. Possibly there was a bug, or something, but she looked deep in thought. Silently, Sierra slid slowly down the tree. She started walking towards Tallia's mom to see what was wrong. When she was close, she saw the claw marks of Savanna's attempt to rid of the beast that took her. Sierra was behind Cera. Cera wasn't looking at the marks, but past it, at the print from earlier that the creatures left. She looked scared and sad, like she had seen these before. She took a slow step in towards it, then leaned in closer to it. She stood like this for a moment, and before Sierra reached her, she freaked out and took off sprinting towards the bush at an impossible speed. Her too? What was that all about?
Curiously, she walked up to the foot print and touched it. "I've never seen this before. How would she know about it?" She whispered. Maybe it's a wherloo track? Apparently they were wiped out, so maybe it's from her past. But wouldn't Merfalis mention that, or even look the slightest surprised at it's presence? I get that being military leader means show no emotion, but wouldn't the shock of it crack the mask? I don't know much about wherloos, I wouldn't ask Cera about it, she'll flip again. Ask Merfalis when he gets back?