XIV: Flight
"Ah," said Akane to herself turning the TV off in front of her, "I'm so glad for the girl. She is back with her family and her friends." Akane, a stay at home mom in her early 30s, had just watched a news broadcast that the missing girl, Madison, had just been found and returned to her family safely. It was Monday in the afternoon and her husband, home from work early, was watching her 5 year old daughter out in the yard.
"Speaking of girls," Akane said to herself walking towards the sliding glass door in the back, "Let me see how my princess is doing!" She walked out the door and she her daughter playing in the sandbox and her husband had fallen asleep in the yard chair.
"Oh Muyi!" she called to her daughter, "Would you look at your daddy? Should I pour some water on him or flip him out of his chair?"
"Water!" the daughter cheered jumping up and down, "Water! Water! Water!" Akane smiled and picked up the glass of cold water on the stand next to her husband.
As the little girl cheered, something lifted her off the ground fast. She looked down quickly and saw she was now heading high up into the sky far away from her mom. "MOMMY!" she screamed to her mom, "HELP!"
She looked fast dropping the glass onto the ground shattering it. Her husband woke up after hearing the screams and looked towards the sky along with his wife. "NO!" Akane cried, "Come back!"
Both of them watched the figure who took their daughter away from them. It looked like a giant bird with a wing span of 10-15 feet and at least 20 feet long. The bird was dark black, but its feathers on the wings were light brown. Each time it flapped its wings, a thunder sound came off the bird. "What was that?" asked the husband horrified at what just happened.
"Well," JD said to Sakura after school, "Was Madison at school today? I didn't see hear when I tried to see how she was doing now." He had managed to catch up with Sakura as she skated past him quickly. After he chased her for three blocks, she notices him and slows down for him to catch up.
"Sorry," she said to him sadly, "She wasn't here today. I think her mom wants to keep her in the house for a while until she is sure she is safe in the outside world. But that is what I heard."
"Too bad," he said to her, "Anyways, you wouldn't believe what I saw today!"
"A discount on skirts at JCPennys?" she asked interested.
"Do I look like that kind of person to know that kind of thing?" he said to him, "I am not a girl… anymore."
"But I figured it might have left some feminine touch in you so that you can know this kind of thing," Sakura said, "You never know, Madame Morgan didn't sound so honest with her potion."
"Actually," he said to her honestly, "I do like romance movies and stories more now than before the change. But let me get back onto the subject here. I saw the biggest bird you ever seen! It had to be at least the size of a semi-truck or something!"
"Are you sure you weren't imagining it?" she asked him.
"Then," he said continuing, "I heard the loudest bird call of all time. The glass on the windows of my hotel room literally shook! And if you didn't think that was all of it, the sound of wings flapping in the air made loud thundering noises that rumbled the whole room!"
Sakura was silent, but keep moving forward slowly. "Do you think it is another one of those monsters from the book?" she asked him, "I don't know of any monsters that are a bird."
"You obviously never studied Native American culture and legends before then," he said to her, "I think I know what this bird is! It is possibly a Thunderbird!"
"A what?" she asked.
"You what," he said to her, "Meet me at the Internet Café in town later today. I'll explain more of this thing there." He gave her a smile and headed off in a different direction when they reached a corner.
"Finally!" Sakura thought to herself as she closed her math book, "I finally got my math done! When am I ever going to use integers in my life anyways? I plan on being a…"
"Hey you little monster!" her brother called up to her, "Your friend is on the phone!"
"I'm not a monster!" she shouted at him, but she came out of her room fast.
When she reached the bottom step, her brother handed her the phone and left the room. "Hello?" she asked, "This is Sakura Avalon. How can I help you?"
"Yes," she heard JD's voice on the other line, "I like one large pizza with lots of pepperoni on it. Also, I like a large Diet Coke as well. The address is…"
"JD!" she shouted at him, "Just get to the point of why you called me!"
"Well in that case," he said, "I just been watching the news with Dot. I don't know why I was watching it, but either way, I was watching it. A little girl earlier today was taken away by this huge bird their parents claimed to have seen. I tell you it is the same bird I saw earlier today! Get to the café as fast as you can to explain to you the full power of what we are facing!"
"Fine," she said to him, "Is Eli coming?"
"I called him earlier," JD answered back, "He said he was a little bit under the weather. He isn't coming, it'll be you, Dot, and me this time since Madison isn't out of her house yet. See you later." He then hung up before she could say anything else.
All of a sudden, there was another call on the phone. She answered it and heard, "Wow, you sure answered quickly. How are you doing? I heard from JD and Eli you were a crying wreck. I just wanted to see how you were doing."
"Madison!" Sakura said cheerfully, "How are you doing? Did you hear the news about this giant bird yet?"
"Of course!" she said to her, "It seems to be another one of those monsters. Too bad I can't help you at all here during this one or even tape it! My mom won't let me out of the house because of the incident with the wolves. But I'm sure she'll let me out sooner or later. She can't locked me up in this house forever!"
"Yeah," she replied, "Well, I got to go meet JD and Dot for the meeting. It's nice to hear from you again. Stay strong. See you later." She hung up the phone and grabbed her coat. She decided to head for the café early.
"So," JD explained to Dot and Sakura as they watched him on the computer, "It states right here that the Thunderbird is very powerful, intelligent, and wrathful. There have been a few sightings of this thing, but most been explained expect for two. Anyways, this thing's home is an America, not Japan."
"So," Dot said, "This thing had to have come from the book. What else do you have for us?"
"Well," he continued, "It states right here that the Kwakiutl and Cowichan that the creature can shapeshift taking the form of a human being. It does this by tilting back its beak and the removes it feathers as if it was a blanket. It even states that some can marry humans in human form."
"Strange," Sakura said, "So we have a powerful, ancient bird that is power, intelligent, and can change shape into a human. This could be pretty hard for us. Then again, where can this bird hide anyways?"
"There is still more," JD said to the girls getting their attention, "According to the Nootka tribe, there is only one Thunderbird that is supposed to live on top of a mountain and is a servant to something called the Great Spirit which is really their God I guess."
"Oh does that help us?" Dot asked.
"Maybe this thing resides on a mountain somewhere," he told her and then asked Sakura, "Do you have any big landmasses around? A mountain or a giant hill that is close to being a mountain?"
"Nothing like that," she said.
"Wait!" Dot said looking at the computer and then pushing JD off so she could get on it, "There is a legend that states that they can create rain, snow, lighting, and thunder."
"It is said that the flapping of its wings can create thunder sounds," JD said connecting the stories together, "So, this thing can affect the weather, change itself into a human, very strong, and very smart. Great… this sounds good."
"We got to try," Sakura sighed, "This kidnapped a child, we have to find it and stop it! Come on! For the kid we have to find the bird!"
"Now listen to me Sal," stated Naps to his buddy has they were in the forest, "We been doing this for years and now we finally got our chance. The city has called for us expert trackers to find this bird and kill it. If we do that, we go back heroes." The city's mayor has been worried about the frequent disappearances, deaths, and creatures that have been appearing in or around the town. Until now, he just tried not to talk about it, but after this latest kidnapping by this bird, he hired the town's best trackers, Sal and Naps, to find the child and bird, and then kill the bird before it takes away another child.
"Now what do you think," said Sal, "Where are we going to find this bird?"
"It is supposed to be huge," stated Naps, "It shouldn't too hard to find it. I mean come on! Those people said it was as large as a truck or something! There is no way this thing can get around without being seen by anyone."
"So that's why you asked around town to see if anyone else saw the bird," Sal said catching on, "Then you would follow all the leads until the last spot where the bird was seen and start looking around this area right?"
"Of course!" he explained to his buddy, "That's why I am one of the best trackers in town. You follow the clues to where it leads you and they led us here into this forest where we'll find this thing!" He cocked his gun and pushed deeper into the forest with his friend close behind him.
They traveled deep into the forest for about a while when they came into a large clearing. It had to be at least 25 by 25 feet on each side. In the center of the area laid a figure. "What the hell?" Naps mumbled running ahead with Sal walking slowly behind him aiming his gun in all directions just incase of a surprise.
Both of them came across the figure and saw that it was the missing girl. "Sweetie," Sal said rubbing the shoulder of the girl trying to wake her, "Wake up. Are you alright?"
She slowly up her eyes and said, "Who… who are you?"
"We're the good guys," stated Naps helping the little girl to her feet, "Don't worry little girl. We'll take you back to your mom ok?" The little girl didn't reply, she was too tired to answer and slowly closed her eyes.
"Looks like we'll have to cut this trip short," Sal said to Naps, "We better take her home and tell the mayor what we found out here. Judging by the size of this clearing, we'll need a lot of help." There was then a breeze of air that came rushing through the air causing most of the trees to sway.
"I don't like the looks of this," Naps stated looking around, "Let's get out of here. I'm starting to get the creeps." Sal nodded and both adventurers with the little girl in hand started their walk back home.
Unknown to them, something was watching them. "So," the thing said in a dark rumbling, "My plan didn't turn out like I thought it would. It didn't bring out the Master of the Cards as I hope. Looks like I'll have to go in a different way to get to the master to come out." The figure started to change into human form slowly in the shadows of the forest planning its next way to expose the master.
Author Notice: Yep, someone mention that people in the town are reacting too much to deaths in the town. This little ending of Sal and Naps states that the town does know. Also, plan on seeing these two hunters again. I'm deciding on letting them become new people in the story so keep a watch on them.
Sorry about the late update, but better late than never. Right? Ok, I'm sorry.
Time for the big event, the Top 5 Stories of the Month! This is the top 5 from the month of September:
1. ReiShine By: Digital Skitty
2. Forgotten By: KH-Akyra
3. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass By: bobsnormal
4. Calvin At Camp By: Blue Paratroopa
5. Synchronicity By: Alexia Krycek
I'm now looking for any good Silent Hill or Anime Crossover stories this month. So if you happen to know anyone, please contact me and I'll give it a look.
In the next chapter, JD, Dot, and Sakura take a deeper look into the Thunderbird, but cut it short when another creatures appears. What creatures is it? Beats me, you'll all know in the next chapter. I'm thinking either a Rakshasa or perhaps Pyramid Head (some of you should know who that is).
Next to Come: XV: Lost in the Dark (Pyramid Head) or Laugh (Rakshasa)
Date: 10/9/06
Reviewers: A Crazy Girl of Many Names
AshK
Ajm88
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Katie Legends