The dawn began to rise ever so slowly. Grasping tightly in my hand, a cherry blossom, I stared up into the sky. "Funny. I never knew you had a soft side, Zak," laughed Dahveed.
"They're beautiful," I whispered with emotion, letting the petals float and scatter away from my hand in the wind. "Cherry blossoms were a gift from Japan, you know. There might be a few trees season in this large forest. But why cherry blossoms?" For that moment, I almost forgot my hatred towards Dahveed. With a sigh I said, "Maybe… because they remind me of something." It was rather a symbol of love. My love for my family. "And because…," I began, before Dahveed interrupted with, "'Bout time the sun rose." In truth, there seemed to be no better place to be than falling out of darkness. Without a premonition, I asked Dahveed, "Could you tell me where we stand?"
Dahveed stretched, yawning, "I don't really know. The Pacific Ocean was a bit southeast from where we are now." Closely examining our surroundings, I realized that we had found ourselves in a secluded forest. Gone was the wonderful calm of the ocean. Living there all my life had been an amazing experience; to wake up each morning to the salty smell and taste of the sea.
I would miss it.
Through the night, we had both ventured far into the unknown territory. The thick shrubs and greenery would mask our movements until otherwise. At a rapid pace, Dahveed and I leapt and sprinted through the forest silently, the world around us a blur. My eyes began to water at our immense speed, but I said nothing. Exhausted, we both collapsed. Our Dragon Forms dissipated from our bodies, only my usual customized orange custom Secret Scientists tee shirt over my long sleeved black sweater remained, along with my yellow jeans. Wiping away the sweat from our face, I could see we were not far from civilization.
The busy streets were quiet and empty, silence taking over most of the ambience. Casually, we both walked down the street, the city at dawn dyed red with twilight. As the sun rose, I could see flocks of people coming and going. For some reason, I tried to stop. Bit by bit, the crack inside my heart became empty. A feeling of loneliness? "You aren't alone, Zak. Look," Dahveed placed his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it a bit in a brotherly way. "We'll support each other." I made no move to shove it away.
At that moment, I felt almost like bursting into tears. Fear of the instable future; it came towards me and I was worried until now. Dahveed quietly reached out his hand without a word. Sadness was only half of it, my happiness and joy swelled up twice as much. I swore that if I was in the opposite situation, that I'd come running across. Far away, even if I was far apart from my friends and family, I could still feel them.
The memories of the days that we had spent together would by no means disappear into the flow of time, which was scarce. "Thank you." A wonderful power dwells within words. Only now, had I realized this?
Point of View: Fiskerton a.k.a. Fisk Saturday
Millions of questions ran through my head at once, giving me a headache. If only Zak was here to scratch my ears. Who was making Zak do this? What was going on? Where was my brother going? When was this mayhem going to end? Why was Zak doing this? And more importantly, how was this going to be solved? Hopefully, it would end well.
Preferably, with everyone alive.
Point of View: Drew Saturday
Who, me? Why, should I be worried? Was I worried? What kind of mother wouldn't? But I didn't show it. I wouldn't show it. Glaring at my husband, who was completely absorbed in a single strand of hair in Zak's closet for the slightest evidence of foul play; could this be grounds for divorce?
Komodo, Zon, and Fisk worriedly whimpered, beginning to miss their fellow sibling. Actually, I could sympathize with them. Soon, I also succumbed to the loss of my son and his loving childhood. That was all gone now, Zak's childhood, his innocence…But what was left? Hopelessly, I wept silently. I missed him so much! How could I possibly deal with the emptiness? "Drew! We've got a lock on Zak's position, let's go!" Doc shouted. "Cortex Disruptors?" I asked in disbelief. "What for?"
"We can't be too safe. How can we be sure that Zak is really Zak? There's no way of telling!" argued Doc. "How can we be sure that Zak isn't really our Zak?" I shot back. "My son. Your son. Our son," I pleaded. Doc rubbed his chin in thought, before saying, "Good point. But I will not take risks." My head perked up with a bat of an eye, wiping away a lone bang of my silver hair. "They can't be far…" I whispered to no one in particular. Outside, there was a whoosh as the Airship was fired up, everyone piling in. "You coming, Drew?" I rolled my eyes; no good mother in her right mind would say no! Determination was my resolve; I was going to find my son.
And get to the bottom of this.
Point of View: Zak Saturday
My heart ached dearly, as if the sorrow of my family could be felt through my being. There was an ungainly presence of sadness. Mom…? "Zak? Zak! Don't zone out on me now, bro. C'mon," Dahveed sang loudly. I shook my head fiercely, pulling my mind from a trance. "W – What, Dahveed?" I stammered. "Earth to Zak, you've got a phone call." The device blared loudly as I reached to answer the call. Dahveed suddenly threw the phone into the morning commute of the jam packed vehicles. I yelled, "What are you doing?!"
"Those were your parents trying to track you down, Zak. Do you really want them to find us?" Dahveed grimly noted. Suddenly, there was a small twang inside my heart. They were going to hunt me down, like an animal. "Must be closer than we thought," mustered he, ushering me to quickly move. From underneath a loose piece of driftwood at the docks, Dahveed reached and found what he was looking for.
"A duffle bag?" I raised an eyebrow. "We have to blend in, right?" Dahveed goofily smiled, "Much, much better than your usual outfit. I'm starting to wonder if you only have one pair of decent clothing, Zak!" Dahveed revealed tastefully well chosen jackets and jeans. Two pairs of turtle neck leather jackets of a different style, dark black jeans, and to top it all off, designer sunglasses. Undressing myself, there was a horrible reminder of the past events at Oceanside View Middle School. I shuddered, hoping to rid myself of the memory. Dahveed flexed his muscles, admiring his complexion. "You know I'm better looking than you," he challenged playfully. I rolled my eyes; it was almost as if Dahveed had my personality.
"Sure, of course you do. Besides the fact that I have had gone through a much more rigorous training program," boasted I, also joking around. "Therefore, I am stronger both mentally and physically." In that moment, there was a sudden silence. Dahveed gestured to hush. My honed senses could pick up the faint engine of the Airship.
Point of View: Solomon a.k.a. Doc Saturday
"GPS says they're right here!" Peering into my binoculars, frowning as I muttered, "That can't be right. There's nothing there except the beach and docks…" Something caught my eye, a shift of movement.
Point of View: Drew Saturday
"Do you see that?" I didn't want to answer that question nor ask why. Reluctantly, I mumbled, "Maybe we should let things be, Doc…"
"What are you saying?" Doc asked slowly, not wavering. "Let bygones be bygones, hon. Zak's going to come home on his own, right? Then we could ground him, I don't know! Zak must have a good reason for doing this…" I sadly looked at my own reflection in my cup. What was I saying? I could barely believe it myself, but for that brief moment…
It was almost as if I wasn't a good mother. There was a feeling of weakness inside of me. I loathed weakness. Never would I remain as the submissive wife of an oppressive husband so which the media loved to portray. Always I've wanted to be on equal terms with Doc. "Let's go," I stated, reassuring myself to stay strong. The hatch doors opened, the wind whistling outside.
Others followed, ready to parachute down.
Point of View: Zak Saturday
Our animal – like senses warned us as we both urgently growled, "They're coming." My heart began to pound furiously. "Go, go!" Dahveed shouted as I sprinted away. Tightly I gripped my Blade of Kur, almost wishing I hadn't done so by calling upon Kur's power, as the robe seemed to limit my movement so. "Zak!" I heard a desperate cry. "You idiot, don't think! Run!" At once I began to see a change in both of our appearances. More or less, a black jagged lightning ran down our star shaped patch of silver hair. Did this mean something?
"Please come home, Zak!" begged Mom, her Tibetan Fire Sword drawn. At the sight of both of us there was a gasp. "How can there be two Zak's? It's impossible." Needless to say this was not going to end well at all.