All Things Probable IV: Graduation

by Slyrr

Ron and Shego fly to rescue Kim and Drakken, who break out of jail on Warhok's flagship! While for Team Probable, Rhonda and her friends struggle to help save the Earth, but find complications as Maze returns and offers his assistance in defeating the Lorwardian invaders! Can they trust the man who helped start the invasion in the first place? Read and review!

10. Ch 9: Diverging Paths

All Things Probable IV
Graduation

Kim Possible is owned/copyrighted by Disney and its affiliates, etc. etc.
Chapter 9

Diverging Paths

Rhonda woke up to an early morning cacophony of droning insects and chirping birds. For a moment she wondered why her room was so noisy. Then her heart fell as the fog of sleep lifted and she remembered where she was. 'Oh yeah - Kwitcherbeliakin.' She groaned.

She dreaded getting out of bed to confront whatever horrors the camp might have in store for her that day, plus the bed was warm and comfortable. But she knew she couldn't hide forever, and made to throw off the covers to get up and get washed. She met resistance. Something heavy, but squashy seemed to be nuzzled up to her. Leaning up, she saw one of Gentle Paw's cubs had climbed into bed with her while she slept. Moreover, the other two cubs were curled up asleep on either side of her legs.

With a mighty effort, she fought back the screams that her lungs were trying to push out, and bit her lip hard.

'Finally awake?'

She started at Grimm's voice. He was already up and fully dressed, and looked like he was getting ready to go out.

'How long have they been there?' Rhonda said in a faint whisper, nudging her head at the sleeping cubs.

Grimm shrugged. 'Not long after you fell asleep, I think.'

'And you just let them...?' she started, but halted as one of the cubs wheezed and turned in its sleep.

'Hey, you know they won't listen to me.' he said mischievously. 'Besides, they were there all night and they didn't eat you. Give 'em a break.'

'But how am I supposed to get out?' Rhonda wheezed almost silently.

'Just have Gentle Paw wake up and take over.' he said with another shrug.

Rhonda blanched. Looking over at the other bunk bed, she noticed for the first time that Gentle Paw's enormous, furry hulk was wedged into the straining mattress frame. 'He's in here too?' Rhonda hissed. 'I thought they were gonna sleep outside!'

'We're in his room babe, not the other way around.' Grimm said with a faint smirk, then he vanished through the door before she could do anything more than splutter.

xxxxxxxx

Grimm felt slightly guilty about leaving her in the room with Gentle Paw and his cubs. But part of his strategy for tracking down Maze involved helping Rhonda to overcome her long-established animosity towards the camp. The more he had pondered on it during the night, the more he was convinced that what he had said to Uncle Jim was correct.

On their previous visit, the more time Rhonda had spent in the forest, the more in tune with it she had become. And he suspected now that it would happen even more quickly. The recent times when Rhonda had accessed her abilities without even realizing it came to his mind. The incident at the race track before graduation, and others. She seemed even more connected with her powers than ever. The only issue was her reflexive belief that Kwitcherbeliakin was somehow out to 'get' her.

It was with that in mind that he made his way to the main hall and found Sakituya. He was speaking in low voices with Samoset and some other members of the tribe they had met the previous day. There were also a few new faces there he didn't recognize.

As he entered, Sakituya gestured him over, but he seemed bemused for a moment, looking around him towards the door.

'Good morning, Chief.' said Grimm with a nod.

'You are here without Katasiistsikoowa.' said Sakituya. 'That is... unusual.'

Grimm gave a very slight shrug. 'She's looking after Gentle Paw's cubs.' he said, and that was sort of true. Sakituya's eyebrow remained raised, but the explanation seemed to satisfy him and Grimm pressed on. 'Did you find Maze?'

'My tribe kept watch all through the night. There was no sign of him.'

Grimm shook his head. 'That may not necessarily be because of any precautions we took. He may have simply accomplished everything he wanted when we saw him in the main hall.'

'And what do you think that might be?' said the Indian Chief.

'I don't know yet.' he answered, shaking his head.

'But I am sure the cunning fox has his suspicions.'

Grimm smiled faintly. 'Ever read Sherlock Holmes?' And the expressions on their assembled faces told him the answer at once. 'Eliminate everything that isn't possible. And whatever is left, however unlikely it may be, is probably the truth.'

Some of the tribe looked confused, but others looked interested, and Grimm went on. 'Maze came specifically to see me - and Rhonda. He wants something from us. Not our equipment or our computers - otherwise he would have pilfered the cabin while we were all at the council. And if it was a fight he wanted, he would have hit us in transit to the camp. That says to me, he wants information.'

Now all the assembled tribe members looked interested. 'And what information is it that only you and Katasiistsikoowa may know?' said Chief Sakituya.

'We know... lots of things.' he said cagily. 'The location of our home town, what we did with Monkey Fist after their golem caper... We won't know for sure until we can capture him and question him properly. Or unless you have any more information about this "coming danger".'

'Regrettably, no.' said Sakituya with a grave sigh. 'I truly wish I knew more. But premonitions are not proof.'

Grimm nodded. 'Then for the moment, our goal should be to keep Rhonda safe.' he said. 'If Maze engineered all of this to somehow lure me or Rhonda here, then we should do what we can to keep him away from her. Premonitions aside, I believe you know as well as I do that if Rhonda reconnects with the woods, then good things will happen?'

The other Indians looked to Sakituya, who nodded. 'A wise deduction, Otaatoyiwa.' he said. 'But no less than I expected from you. Though things may happen that you will not expect. What they are I cannot say. I can only foretell. I also foretell, that you will not be content to merely sit back and await what is to come?'

Grimm nodded. 'Maze had better hope you're right about his woodcraft being stronger.' he said. 'He's gonna need it.'

xxxxxxxxx

Rhonda had her teeth gritted as she tiptoed barefoot through the room of the cabin, treading as if she were traversing a mine field. With even the tiniest creaks in the floorboards, she would freeze and glance towards both sides to check that Gentle Paw, and his cubs were still asleep. Somehow she had wormed her way out of the bed and gotten dressed in near silence and was heading for the door leading out.

She knew Grimm was aware of how much the animals frightened her, and she was angry at him for leaving her alone in the room with four bears on purpose. Not that the prospect of going outside into Kamp Kwitcherbeliakin would be any relief. But at least she would not be in the direct presence of bears.

One of the cubs yawned as she started opening the cabin door and she froze, waiting until they all looked asleep again, then she opened the door just wide enough, sucked in her gut and slid outside.

As she closed the door and stepped gingerly onto the porch of the cabin, she heard a sudden wave of chitters and tweets and started, looking around in alarm. But she relaxed as she saw that it was from a flock of birds perched in the surrounding trees, and several rabbits, raccoons, weasels and other animals that were clustered near the fence at the edge of the woods.

'Hey fellas.' she said warily. 'Got any news?'

The large hawk was on the roof ridge of another nearby cabin, and it let out a low screech.

Rhonda nodded. 'Well... he's probably laying low somewhere. Keep your eyes peeled.' The animals did not leave or take flight, they all simply kept staring at her. 'What?' she said after several uncomfortable seconds. 'There something else?'

One of the small birds sounded a piping tweet. Then two more sounded off, then three, in a series of rising and falling notes.

Rhonda sighed heavily. 'Really, is that all you guys ever want from me?'

All of the assembled animals tilted their heads sullenly. With an exasperated groan, Rhonda looked left and right to make sure no one else was around. 'All right fine, but just this once - and let's make it fast...'

xxxxxx

'...now that we know Maze is in on the grass damages, Uncle Jim wants to know who he's working with.' Grimm explained to the tribe members. 'That's where we'll be focusing next. Maze doesn't have the resources to pull this off on his own.'

Sakituya nodded as Grimm made towards the door of the hall. 'We will do as we have promised, and keep the camp safe.' he said. 'We wish you success, and again - beware the unexpected.'

Grimm made his way through the camp. He threaded through the many cabins, heading back to their own. But as he got closer, he noted several of the Blackfoot tribe seemed to have gathered there, standing some distance away as if they were watching something. They were all smiling.

He sidled through and stopped dead. Rhonda was standing in front of the cabin with a veritable flock of birds perched on the roof and in the surrounding trees. There were also large numbers of woodland animals, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons and weasels clustered around the porch. All of them were lending their piping, chitters, croons and growls into a disjointed, but strangely musical chorus.

Rhonda was directing them, reprising an impromptu version of the song she'd sung on stage at their graduation ceremony. And she was singing the lyrics, sounding out of breath but still energetic.

I wanna stand with you on a mountain
I wanna swim with you in the sea!
I wanna lay like this forever
until the sky falls down on me!

Gentle Paw and his cubs were leaning their furry heads out of the cabin windows and nodding to the music. The cubs looked almost hypnotized as Rhonda sashayed in front of the assembled animals and went on to the next verses.

And when the stars are shining
brightly in the velvet sky,
I'll make a wish send it to heaven
Then make you want to cry!
The tears of joy for all the
pleasure and the certainty!
That we're surrounded by the
comfort and protection of
The highest powers!
In lonely hours,
The tears devour you...!

The birthmark on her left arm was starting to flare brightly, visible even through her shirt sleeve, when Grimm's instinct for secrecy kicked in again. Despite his aversion to barging in on a crowd, he quickly stepped forward and took Rhonda by the arm, leading her back to the cabin door.

The animals chittered and squealed in disappointment as Rhonda stopped singing. She looked around at Grimm as if she were bewildered to find him there. He turned briefly to the Blackfoot tribe members, forcing a smile. 'Katasiistsikoowa will be signing autographs later.' he said. 'Peace out!' And the last thing he saw before whisking Rhonda into the cabin and closing the door behind them were the faces of the tribe members, which had lost their smiles.

'What gives?' Rhonda said. 'I was just jamming with the animals - you know what they're like whenever I'm here!'

Grimm shook his head. 'Your bear mark was lit up again.' he said. 'Did you even notice?'

Rhonda blinked in surprise, but her expression rehardened almost at once. 'So?' she said. 'You were at the council last night - everybody here already knows who I am!'

'That's no reason to advertise it.' Grimm said curtly.

'There's no reason to hide it either!' Rhonda retorted, her voice rising.

'Come on babe, you know secrecy is our thing!' He said. 'We've never laid all our cards out on the table, even when...'

'Always your thing, you mean!' Rhonda broke in. 'Why bother with it now? We're looking for Maze in a forest, not trying to bust into some secret lab!'

'We don't know who Maze's partner is yet!' Grimm snapped. 'Until we do, we can't rule out a secret lab!'

Rhonda's expression went pouty, as if she wanted to say something more, but was holding back. 'I told you already, I'm not scared of Maze!' she said sulkily.

'Well, I am!' said Grimm, surprised to hear himself admit it. 'After what he did to you during the golem caper? Do you have any idea...' he started, but stopped himself at once, realizing what he was saying.

But Rhonda picked up on it at once. 'What?' she said, and her eyes were narrowed. 'Any idea what it was like when he banished me? I was the one who got banished! Of course I know what it was like!'

'What you don't know is what it was like back home.' he said. 'Every hour, every day trying to find you, to bring you back...'

Rhonda's face didn't soften. 'Well gee!' she said. 'I'm sorry my getting kicked off into the spirit world for a month was such an inconvenience! Next time I'll ask Maze to pick some way of getting rid of me that doesn't cut into your schedule so much!'

'I don't want him 'getting rid of you' at all!' Grimm said, his own anger rising. 'I only meant I want to protect you from Maze this time out! That means for now, I want to avoid having you wandering around the camp making a prime target of yourself!'

'What's this don't wander around stuff?' She said. 'Since when have I ever liked wandering around Kwitcherbeliakin? I didn't want to come here in the first place! But as long as I am here, and Maze too - I'm not gonna let him run rings around us like he did last time!'

Grimm sighed and ran a hand over his face. 'Why are you being so difficult about this?' he said. 'The time will come when we get our licks in, but I want to make sure it all lands in our favor. We have to plan...'

Rhonda actually turned away from him with a frustrated grunt. 'Plans, plans, plans!' she said. 'Why does everything always have to be so complicated? Why can't the simplest solution be the right one for a change?'

Grimm was going past mad and getting thoughtful. He didn't answer right away, and found himself starting to look at Rhonda to read her reactions the way he would an opponent. 'You've never been like this before.' he said. 'What's really bugging you?'

Rhonda looked back at him, and for a moment she almost seemed fierce. 'I...' she began, but then she balled her hands into fists and sighed. When she opened her eyes again, she looked normal. 'Oh, nothing.' she said. 'Just... nervous I guess. I kind of fell apart the last time I was here too, remember? Just that summer camp mojo hitting me again.'

Grimm was almost as suspicious of her sudden meekness as he had been of her defiance. 'Are you sure?' he said.

'Oh yeah. You know me and this camp - a winning combo, start to finish... So what is the plan?' she said, almost sweetly. 'Can't follow the plan if I don't know what it is!'

Grimm almost didn't answer, but after a moment he decided there was no real harm in sharing the basic details. 'Now that the Chief and his tribe are guarding the camp, that frees us up to investigate. Jade should be done analyzing the soil samples we gave her. If we can figure out what they're using to destroy the grass fields, we can figure out who made the tech. And as soon as we identify Maze's partner, we'll have the CIA on them, probably Global Justice too. Once that's done, Maze becomes a lone wolf again. And that's when I think you'll have your chance at him.'

Rhonda shuffled her toe on the floor while the bear cubs gaped at her from the bed. 'Sounds good, I guess.' she said.

'Don't worry...' Grimm said soothingly. 'If we keep our powder dry just a little longer, we'll have both Maze and his partners - whoever they are. Then I promise, you've got dibs.'

'Promise?' she said, holding a hand up with her pinky extended.

Grimm hooked her pinky with his and smiled. 'You bet.' he said firmly. 'And I'll admit, I can't wait to see what you do to him once you've got control of the board.'

He picked up his pack and made for the door again. 'I don't want to rely on Sakituya's radio equipment if we can avoid it.' he said. 'I'm taking the bike and zipping out to a location beyond the forest so I can use our own communicators to contact Jade securely.' He paused. 'I... think you should wait here and...'

'Don't worry.' she said. 'I'll stay inside like a good girl.'

There was still a tone in her voice that didn't set well with him, but he didn't have time to hash it out. He had to get to the rendezvous point to contact Jade. 'We'll go over the plan more when I get back.' he said, and left the cabin heading for the storage shed where the Ksikkihkini was stowed.

Rhonda waited for a few minutes after Grimm left, then drew a hand from behind her back and uncrossed her fingers. 'Sure, I'll stay inside - unless the animals tell me where Maze is before you get back.' she said in a low voice.

xxxxx

Jade stood in the stable at the Probable ranch regarding the open stall door in front of her, and the pony inside it. Working with computers and technology had made her used to being able to control everything she worked on. It was a puzzle at times to work out glitches, miswires and other such things, but she had gotten a feel for it very early on in life.

But this was a horse. It was another living creature with a brain of its own. And that scared her because she couldn't program it or control it. It was utterly alien to her.

'Don't fret so much, you'll make her nervous too.' Mrs. Probable was standing off to the side and behind her. 'Remember, she likes you.'

Jade panted and nodded, hefting the saddle slung under her arm. Then she took a hesitant step forward. When the pony didn't attack or charge, she kept moving until she was inside the enclosure with the pony. After the previous day, she finished setting up her security grid and begun running scans on the soil samples which Grimm had collected from the ruined field. She had some time to spare before the scans were complete, so she had decided to take Mrs. Probable up on her offer to learn to ride. Jade petted the pony on the side of her head, and she didn't flinch or shy away.

'Decided on a name yet?' said Mrs. Probable.

From her vantage point, Jade could only see the color of her coat. And she couldn't think of anything else. 'Cinnamon.' she answered.

Mrs. Probable chuckled. 'Cinnamon's a bit sweet for a firebrand like her.' she said.

Jade answered on her first instincts before she could stop herself. 'Cinnamon isn't sugar, it's a spice! You have to add tons of sugar to it to make it sweet! You put a spoonful of raw cinnamon in your mouth and it'll kick you in the teeth and leave you...' Then she caught herself and took a breath before going on. 'I mean... it's not as sweet as all that.'

Mrs. Probable chuckled again for some reason. 'Well, saddle her up like I showed you.' she said. 'It's just like throwing a tarp.'

Jade nodded, but she had never done this before, and as a consequence, she did it very awkwardly. It took her two tries to even heft the saddle into a position where she felt comfortable slinging it over Cinnamon's back. It went on crooked and Cinnamon snorted, cantering in place for a bit.

'She... doesn't like the saddle.' said Jade, not knowing exactly how she knew this, but knowing it just the same.

Mrs. Probable shrugged. 'Maybe so.' she said. 'But unless you're comfortable riding bareback, you'll need it. Just try to imagine climbing on without a stirrup.'

She did, and winced. Trying to be reassuring, she fastened the straps, looking at Mrs. Probable occasionally to make sure she was doing it right. When Mrs. Probable nodded, Jade stepped back and petted Cinnamon again. 'See? Nothing to worry about.' she said soothingly. And when Cinnamon stopped fidgeting, Jade moved towards the stirrup.

'Now when you're mounting don't...' Mrs. Probable started, but blinked as Jade hoisted herself and mounted without any trouble. '...be too timid.' she ended. 'You done this before?'

Jade shrugged as she squirmed in place on the saddle. 'I rode the carousel at the playground a lot when I was younger.'

But riding a real pony turned out to be a lot harder. She found herself instinctively reaching for a mouse to try and control Cinnamon's movements, then found herself looking at Mrs. Probable pleadingly for direction.

'For starters, don't tense so much in the saddle.' she said. 'Your mount will feel it and it spooks them.' Jade tried to relax, and Mrs. Probable nodded. 'When you're ready, just squeeze a little with both legs at the same time and she'll move forward.'

The next hour was a hair-raising series of frights, as Mrs. Probable directed her through the basics, leading them out into the corral and teaching her how to 'steer', trot, slow and stop. Cinnamon proved kind of in-betweeny as a mount. Sometimes obeying, sometimes not, sometimes seeming inattentive or bored about the whole thing. At last she had Cinnamon cantering around the enclosure fairly neatly.

'Not bad.' Mrs. Probable called from the other side of the corral. 'If you feel up to it later, we can head into the hills for some real riding.'

'What, this isn't real?' Jade said from her saddle.

'It's really beginner.' Mrs. Probable answered. 'But to me, you don't seem the type who's satisfied with just the basics.'

Jade knew a challenge when she heard one. 'Bring it...' she started, but at that moment, Josh stepped out from behind the house.

'Dad says lunch in twenty.' he called out.

'Thanks.' said Mrs. Probable, nodding.

Josh's eyes looked to Jade and at once she forgot where she was and what she was doing. All she knew was that she was in grubby clothes, her hair was messed up, and she was grimy from handling the saddle and half an hour's worth of dust from the corral...

Dah dah da deep!

The communicator signal from her pocket sounded out shrill. Cinnamon reared and plunged. With a yelp, Jade slid off the saddle and landed in a tangled heap in the dirt. Cinnamon had trotted off to the other side of the corral as Jade fought her way to her elbows, madly scrabbling at her pocket to fish out her still beeping communicator.

'What?' she snapped, rolling up onto her backside. She looked wildly around, seeing Mrs. Probable still on the other side of the fence, looking at her. Josh had disappeared. 'I... wait, what again?' she blurted. She had heard a voice through the speaker, but it had only come across as incoherent muttering while she had been composing herself.

'I said, where's that soil analysis?' came Grimm's tinny voice. 'I thought you said you'd be done by now.'

'Oh...' she said, still flustered. 'Yeah... call me back in ten, all right?' she said, wiping a smear of dust from the communicator screen.

'Ten, got it.' came his answer.

Jade didn't close the channel. She looked at Cinnamon, at Mrs. Probable, and the empty space where Josh had been, then at herself, sitting bruised and spread-eagled on the ground. '...better make it twenty.' she said sullenly.

xxxxxx

It was closer to thirty minutes before she contacted Grimm again. Jade had Cinnamon back in her stall, and she had limped back to their cabin to check on the soil samples and all the data from the scanners. When Grimm blipped up on the screen, he was tapping his finger on the dashboard of the Ksikkihkini and looking miffed.

'Twenty plus...' he said flatly.

Jade winced. 'Sorry, G-man. There was this pony I was riding and...'

To her surprise, Grimm did a facepalm. 'What is this, amateur hour?' he said. 'We're working for the CIA on this one - but Rhonda's rapping with chipmunks, you're going on pony rides...'

'I said I'm sorry!' Jade snapped, feeling color rising in her cheeks.

Grimm heaved a sigh. 'Right, me too.' he said sullenly. 'I didn't meant to take it out on you. But we need to be professional if we're gonna parley this into a leg up for our operations.'

'I know.' she said. 'I promise, I'm not letting anything cut into the real work. Where are you anyway? That doesn't look like the camp.'

'I'm on a bluff a few miles outside the forest.' he said. 'And I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to. Maze seems able to move fast when he wants to. So what have you got?'

'I've gone through the samples with every scan I can muster with this equipment.' Jade answered. 'And there isn't any tech on Earth that I know of that could sterilize the ground like this. There was no organic residue left in it at all. And whatever did do it, it's keeping anything from growing back, almost like the soil was irradiated.'

Grimm clucked his tongue. 'So the ground is permanently dead? Everywhere this was done?'

Jade shrugged. 'That's the funny thing. Because I did determine that the effect is wearing off. But the duration seems to be different for each location.'

'Different? How?'

'With the site near Kwitcherbeliakin, the effect on the soil is wearing off more rapidly than it is with the soil from Killigan's Isle. And get this - the effect wears off for both sites at the same time - about three days from now.'

Grimm didn't respond for several seconds. Finally he leaned forward towards the screen. 'I'm going to contact Twitch.' he said. 'Get the Irregulars and see if they can send you samples from other affected locations across the globe.'

'Run the same tests?' said Jade. 'What are you thinking?'

'I'm not sure.' he answered. 'But if this is really something you haven't seen before, then it could be that one of our clients has come up with something new and didn't tell anybody. That's not unusual. And this effect you're describing - if it all wears off at the same time everywhere else on the globe? It could be that these symbols aren't just vandalism. They could a sign for something even bigger.'

'Such as...?' said Jade, rotating her hand.

Grimm's face kept a deadpan expression. 'I'll get back to you on that.' he said. 'In the meantime, keep the scanners warmed up. And... keep the cabin secure.'

xxxxxx

Rhonda sighed as she stared out the back window of the cabin. Grimm had been gone for over half an hour and she was getting bored. There was a low growl behind her and she started. Gentle Paw's cubs were snuffling at her shoes. She yelped and jumped onto the small dresser. 'Hey back off!' she shouted.

The cubs tumbled backwards and then sat on their haunches, looking surprised and hurt. Gentle Paw looked mournfully at her, as if he were disappointed.

Despite her fear, Rhonda felt a sudden wash of guilt. The cubs looked so pitiful. 'Sorry!' she said. 'You just... surprised me that's all.' When they continued looking at her sadly, she heaved a great breath and put one foot back on the floor, easing herself slowly off the desk. 'Look... I... oh, come here...' she said, and kneeled down, beckoning to the cubs.

At once, they shambled forward, plowing into her and almost knocking her down as they licked her face. From his squashed bunk, Gentle Paw snuffed and nodded.

She tried petting them once or twice, but they were each jostling to nuzzle up to her in a whirl of fur and grunts. 'All right, all right, knock it off!' she said, scrabbling back to her feet. 'I'm gonna have to... warm up to you in phases, OK?'

The cubs backed off a pace and set around her in a semi-circle, staring up at her as if entranced, when there was a knock on the cabin door. Rhonda crossed the floor and skirted as far around Gentle Paw's bunk as she could, then answered.

Corey Proudfoot, the Blackfoot hunk, was standing in front of her and she felt a sudden blush, along with a slightly faster heartbeat. He didn't say anything, he simply looked at her with a very intense pair of eyes. After several uncomfortable seconds, she said. 'Uh... can I... help you?'

Corey answered, and his voice sounded low and intense, as if speaking with her was somehow important. 'I simply felt the need to report to you.' he said. 'There has been no sign of Maze.'

Rhonda almost didn't hear what he said. Her blue eyes had somehow gotten lost in his dark ones, along with her awareness. 'Oh. Um...' she dithered. 'Keep... guarding then?'

He looked past her into the cabin. 'Your friend is not here.' he said. 'But I am glad to care for you in the meantime.'

Rhonda felt her blush deepening, certain that he had not used the word care by chance. 'Th... thanks?' she said.

'I would offer to stand guard inside the cabin.' he said, nodding towards Gentle Paw and his cubs. 'But I see you have protection enough.' And with that, he looked back into her eyes for a moment, nodded, and turned away, heading back into the camp.

She stared dumbly after him for several seconds before shuffling back into the cabin and closing the door behind her. 'What the...?' she said to herself.

A wave of short, barking grunts caused her to look up. Gentle Paw and the cubs were all looking at her and wheezing, their heads nodding up and down with their ragged breaths.

'Laugh it up, fuzzballs!' she said, feeling embarrassed. 'Like I need personal advice from bears?'

Suddenly, she saw a black shade pass across the rear window of the cabin. It was gone almost as soon as she noticed it, but she dashed up to the window and stared out. Gentle Paw shambled from his bunk and settled beside her, looking out with a low growl. From outside the cabin, Rhonda heard the shrill call of a hawk.

She sighed, shaking her head. 'Ho boy.' she said quietly. Grimm hadn't returned yet, and in any case, she had already made up her mind that she wanted to do this without him. But to go out in the forest alone? She glanced aside at Gentle Paw. 'How do you feel about watching my back?'

Gentle Paw huffed and nodded his great shaggy head. His cubs surrounded him and capered excitedly. 'No, you guys stay here and watch the cabin.' she said. 'You're not gonna want to see this.'

xxxxxx

Rhonda had ducked out of the cabin after making sure none of the Blackfoot tribe were directly in sight. Gentle Paw had led her quickly to the forest edge where he had entered the camp with his cubs the other day and at his encouragement, she had followed him and vanished quickly into the surrounding trees.

With Rueful slithering around her shoulders, she had continued to follow Gentle Paw for several minutes into the forest. Other animals joined in the entourage, as well as several birds shadowing them overhead. They continued on, and Rhonda was just starting to wonder if they should not go too deep into the woods. Grimm could return at any time, and she couldn't afford to be away from the camp for long without him getting suspicious.

But they reached a clearing that was nearly laid open to the sky. There was one large, flat rock in the center, looking almost like a table set up for a meeting. Gentle Paw halted and growled, and Rhonda stopped as well.

After waiting a few moments, she heaved a sigh and stepped into the clearing. There was no sound, and no movement, except the occasional twitch of a leaf or a branch in the surrounding trees and shrubs. Gentle Paw snuffed heavily, and the hawk landed on one of the tree branches behind her, letting out a shrill cry.

'All right, come on out!' Rhonda shouted at last. 'I'm getting tired of your stupid game of peek-a-boo!'

There was a cold laugh from across the clearing as Maze stepped out of a patch of shadow. Except for the tech he was packing, he looked exactly as she remembered and hated. She glared at him in silence for several seconds. 'I admit, I am impressed.' said Maze at last. He glanced at Gentle Paw and the small animals and birds which flanked Rhonda in a semi-circle. 'Sensing my presence, even when I am masked by my shadows. Sending the beasts of the woods out as your spies. You seem to have gained some measure of control over the power which you stole from the Great Bear.'

'Are we gonna hash over that again?' Rhonda growled. 'I told you, I didn't steal anything, and I don't control any of these guys, they're...' and she glanced aside at Gentle Paw, who nodded to her. '...they're my friends.'

Maze's expression darkened slightly, but it passed. It seemed to Rhonda that he was forcing himself to be polite to her for some reason. 'We must... agree to differ on that point.' he said.

'You're the one who keeps popping up and arranging these little talks. What do you want?' Rhonda said.

'Want?' said Maze coyly. 'What makes you think I want anything more than to speak with my old friends?'

'Where did you get that tech?' Rhonda said. 'What's up with those symbols in the grass? Who are you working with now?'

Maze tutted his lips infuriatingly and shook his head. 'So many questions.' he drawled. 'Otaatoyiwa constantly speaks as if he has all the answers. Perhaps I should talk with him instead...'

'Hey, you're dealing with me now, Mr. Chumpie!' Rhonda growled, and Gentle Paw also growled. 'I can get answers on my own when I want them!'

'Then show me.' Maze chuckled. 'What answers have you concocted?'

Rhonda glared at him coldly. 'I already know you're working with Dr. Drakken.' she said. 'I just want to know what you're planning!'

'Well.' said Maze slowly. 'Maybe Otaatoyiwa isn't the intelligent one after all.'

'Tell me what the two of are up to!' Rhonda shouted.

'It seems you hardly need me to tell you anything.' Maze sneered. 'But I will say this - you are very nearly there. And you have done so without any help. I think you will discover the rest on your own. And when you do, then you and I will have the battle for which you are so clearly yearning. Until then, Katasiistsikoowa - I suggest you watch your back.'

'You...' Rhonda started, but in a few short seconds, a shade of darkness swept through the clearing like a passing cloud. And when it cleared, Maze was gone.

Coming Soon:

Chapter 10
Shadows of Portent

Merry Christmas to all! The story will be gathering steam soon, I hope. I'm finally getting through the difficult-to-write chapters leading UP to the action, and nearing the action itself. Even I am weary of these long gaps between postings. But I have not been idle. For a look at other projects I'm involved in, go to youtube and search 'deathreviews' (one word)...