Chapter 21: Two Steps Forward and One Step Back
"Destiny, I got it. I've mastered my shifter abilities already!!" Taylor exclaimed joyfully.
"That great! Could you show me?" She nodded and transformed into a lion. Then instead of changing back to her old self she turned into my exact copy before finally changing back into herself again.
"Cool, Huh?!?" She asked.
"Ya that's great!" I beamed at her. I walked a little farther to where Devon and Emily were practicing. I was surprised. I had always thought Emily was the most ambitious one, but it had been Taylor who'd finished first. "How's it going guys?" Emily glared at me.
Oh, god! Not again. I am not killing anyone else today! I thought worriedly.
"I've almost got it. With a little more practice we'll be great!" Devon said trying to calm Emily down. My friendship with that girl was strange. She was my friend one minute and calling me a bitch the next.
I personally just think she's bipolar. "I'll talk to you later. I have to go see how Renesmee's doing." Without waiting for a response I turned from them and walked over to Renesmee. "Are you all right?" I asked her. She shook her head, "I'm sorry this is all my fa…"She put up a hand to stop me.
"It's not your fault! Some of your friends were just a bit…evil." I laughed at that.
"If that's how you see it I blame myself for having evil friends to begin with." Caitlin appeared at my side. "Where did you come from?" I asked her, startled.
"I teleported," she responded, "whenever I'm anxious or nervous I teleport randomly." My face completely fell.
"I'm really sorry about Heather." I told her, staring into her eyes. She smiled a little.
"I understand Destiny. It's all right. I'm just a bit shaken up. Actually, I was going to ask you to teach me to fight. I don't want something like that to happen during the war." She told me earnestly.
"Ummm…I'm not sure. Jasper might be a better fighter." I bit my lip unsure of what to do. Emmett walked over.
"I heard something about Jasper being a better fighter than you." Emmett said.
"I think Jasper would loose if he fought Destiny." Caitlin said.
"Oh, I highly doubt that!" Edward said coming over.
"You haven't seen her when she's really driven. You should have seen her in Columbia! When she first came kids picked on her. She took it for a while but in the end she snapped. She flung them all around in a circle then let them go flying and she chased them around hitting them with a purse and kicking them. They ran away like scared little girls!" Caitlin exclaimed with joy.
"Really?" asked Edward.
"Yeah, and that's not the best part. They were all the toughest kids in the grade and at least a half a foot taller than her. They never messed with her after that." Caitlin sounded happier than a kid in a candy shop. I looked down embarrassed. I could feel their eyes on me.
"If you're so sure Destiny can beat Jasper let's bet on it. I think that Jasper would win, you in?" Emmett asked Caitlin. She nodded and said.
"There is no way she'll lose."
"Umm… Caitlin. I never said I would fight him and he never said he would fight me." Caitlin looked up at me and used her puppy dog look. "Fine, but only if Jasper agrees to this too!" I exclaimed throwing my hands into the air. Caitlin beamed at me.
"Jasper, come over here, please?!?!" Emmett asked yelling over to him.
"What do you want Emmett?" He asked.
"Caitlin thinks that Destiny could beat you in a fight. I think you would beat her. Destiny has already agreed to fight with you to prove one of us wrong, but she'll only do it if you agree too. So will you fight her?" He asked eagerly.
"Sure, it shouldn't take too long to beat her." He teased me.
"Caitlin, I should be back to teach you in about a minute. He'll be easy to beat." I teased back.
"Excellent," Emmett muttered before raising his voice so all could hear. "I need everybody to move out of the way and make a giant circle. Destiny's going to fight Jasper in a friendly competition to see who is better."
"There's no competition! We already know Destiny is going to win!" Sarah R. called. The rest of my coven laughed with her. The circle was made. Jasper and I walked to opposite sides of the ring. Everyone stopped talking as we started to circle each other slowly. This was reminding me of when I had fought Jane. A growl ripped from my throat. Jasper hissed back. He lunged at me. I dodged him swiftly turning to kick him in the side. He flew through the circle landing with a heavy thud.
He fights kind of like Jane. This shouldn't be that hard! I thought.
He ran at me again and I dodged. He spun around and growled at me. I smiled back evilly. I was enjoying myself. I started to circle again and he followed my lead. I walked for a minute then lunged at him. I had caught him off guard, and he was knocked sideways. I flipped backwards landing lightly on my feet, leaving him to crash into a tree. He shook himself, got up, and lunged at me again. This time he caught me. He didn't let me go but turned me and flung me in the opposite direction. I spun into somebody nearly knocking us both to the ground. I turned and growled at him. He just lunged at me again. I lunged at him at the same exact time. We kept clashing. Attacking, backing up, and attacking again. Then something changed. Jasper started to slow a little and then it started to grow. I took advantage of this using it to pin him to the ground. He struggled. Trying to get free and rolled over forcing me to the bottom. I wrestled with him for a minute trying to pull away.
I can't loose! I got it! Play possum!! I thought quickly going limp.
I lay there, unmoving. Jasper wasn't completely fooled. He only slightly loosened his grip. I suddenly moved closer to him. He wasn't expecting this and did just what I wanted him to. He let me go. I flipped him over and pinned him. He struggled for a while but he knew as well as I did that he couldn't win. I stood up and offered him a hand. He took it and I helped him up. Emmett was irritated.
"You owe me $50!" Caitlin crowed at Emmett joyfully. I laughed at him.
"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Jasper asked. I shrugged.
"I fight by my instincts and improv. is my friend. I was a good fighter as a human. I guess I didn't loose my touch." I joked with him. He was disturbed. "What is it?"
"So you've never been trained. You just fight like that?" He asked. I nodded. "I think fighting's another of your powers. No one has beaten me before. But then again, I've never seen anyone with as many if not more scars than me, that's still alive." I smiled.
"I was lucky." I told him.
"So was I." He replied, walking back over to my newborn friends, to teach them how to fight. I went back to Caitlin.
"Did you pay close attention when I was fighting Jasper?" I asked her. She nodded.
"I want to be able to fight like that!" She exclaimed.
"I fight by pure instinct. Remember how I taught the guys at our school a lesson? Well I didn't plan it. I didn't learn any special moves. I just make it up as I go along. We can try it, but it may not work for you." I lead her to the middle of the hollow. "Attack me!" I ordered her. "Use your powers however you want to. Try to knock me off my feet." She shifted into a look of deep concentration.
She lunged at me and I dodged to the side. She stood there a calculating look on her face. "Stop thinking just act on your first instinct!" I called to her. She nodded as if to herself. This time she just disappeared to reappear behind me. I moved to the side a millisecond before she could knock me down. As I was dodging her I didn't see her teleport in front of me. She put her foot out and tripped me. I crashed onto the ground. I stood up and looked at her.
"You did it!" I exclaimed proudly. She smiled at my praise. "But for you I don't know how to teach you to use your instincts. I'm going to give you my memories of letting my body do the work for me. Shut your eyes." I instructed placing my hand on her forehead. I let her see my memories: the feelings of letting my body dodge, slash, move, purely on instinct. Letting my mind free to wander as my body was at war, using my mind only for tactics never letting it slow me down. I stopped the flood of memories. Caitlin opened her eyes. "Do you understand now?"
"Yes." She replied.
"Good we're going to test that. Jessica, come here." I called. She ran over.
"What is it?" She asked perplexed.
"Will you fight Caitlin? I want to see if she can be trained using my methods." She nodded.
"All right then, fight!" I called. Caitlin ran at Jessica who tried to dodge out of the way. Caitlin's arm caught her around the middle and brought her to the ground. They wrestled for a while but in the end. Jessica won. I applauded their performance. "Great job Caitlin and Jessica! Caitlin practice fighting, find someone new to fight with. Vary the moves you use. If you want to learn more talk to Jasper." I left her to find a new sparing partner.
"Sarah?" I called. Both of the Sarah's head's popped up.
"Yeah?" They asked nearly simultaneously. This was going to get irritating.
"Come over here both of you!" I ordered, flagging them over to me. They came. "Do either of you have a nickname or a middle name we could call you by instead? I don't want you getting confused in the battle." I explained to them.
"Yeah, my nickname's Bubble." I nodded. That fit. Sarah R. had been known been known to explode if people got to close. She would pounce on them.
"How about Panther: It sounds more deadly, and I think it fits." I told her. She thought about that for a minute.
"I like it!" she exclaimed, grabbing me in a tight hug. I winced slightly.
"I never managed to fully heal my ribs." I explained.
"Oh god, sorry??!?!" She said.
"It's all right. It just hurts is all. I'm fine." I lied. The rest of the day past smoothly and everyone came close to mastering their powers. For Breaking Dawn had claimed that it was supposed to take forever to gather any level of competence or skill at fighting or at managing your power(s). Stephanie had it really wrong! We had one day left until the others had to be here. It was time to visit Logan again.
"It's time for me to visit Logan again. I need to see if she'll come and meet the others when they come. She'll probably come with Seth so be prepared. I should be back with them in a few hours at the most." After I finished telling my coven what to expect I ran to La Push. This time instead of waiting at the edge I found Logan's mind and ran to her. I found her in the woods talking to the animals. She was making an assortment of mews, barks, growls, and hisses. I had no problem understanding. She was telling them how she would tell them during the battle which vampires to attack and that some of them were friends, and that they were not to be harmed. She told them I was one of the vampires helping them and that I would not hurt them and that the vampires coming wanted to destroy them all. The animals were outraged and promised to help. After they had left I walked up to Logan and Seth, who was still in wolf form. "Logan, will you come back to talk and plan with us? The others will be arriving soon and we need to have a plan." I asked d her.
"Sure, I'll come. But tell me who'll be leading us. I promised the animals a good wise leader. That would not steer me and through me them wrong." I grimaced.
"Well, I don't know about wise, but I'm leading us." I told her. She was shocked. Seth was just worried about her being in a house full of vampires. I sighed. "Seth if you're that worried you can come too. I told them you'd be coming anyway." He relaxed instantly. Logan was getting excited.
"I'll just go grab my bag. I can't wait to see the girls!" She exclaimed. I looked down at my feet, my spirits sinking.
She still doesn't know about Heather. I thought, sad. Logan noticed the change in my mood, almost as if feeling emotions was her power instead of mine.
"Destiny, what is it?" She asked concerned.
"Heather's dead." I whispered. I stood still waiting for her reaction. If she was mad about this she would hate me when I told her it was me who killed her.
"What?" Logan breathed out, completely and utterly stunned.
"I had to kill her. She tried to kill me and then three other vampires. I didn't want her to hurt them or anyone else. She didn't give me a choice." I whispered, hardly loud enough for Logan's human ears to pick up. She gave me a hug. I was shocked. I shot her a quizzical look.
"I know you wouldn't have killed her unless you had to." She said grabbing my hand and some of Seth's fur. "Let's go get ready. I've got vampires to meet."
"They'll be here soon." I called to the group.
"Then I have something to tell you." Logan said hesitantly. "The animals refuse to follow any but me." I growled at her.
"You said another animal could lead them!" I exclaimed.
"That's just the thing. They are going to be led by another animal." She whispered.
"What?" I asked completely perplexed. Then right before my eyes she changed into a Tiger, then a horse, and then she changed back to herself.
"Whoa Logan, that's awesome!!!" Sarah squealed running over.
"Why didn't you tell me this sooner? From the look of him you didn't tell Seth either." I stated. Seth shook his head. Logan shrugged.
"I didn't want you to worry." She told him quietly. I smiled. Her thoughts were so tender and kind. She loved him so deeply and he was staring back at her with so much love and adoration on his face. It was hard to doubt the level of his commitment to her.
"You two are so cute!" Kally told them with a giggle. The others were only a minute away.
"Okay everyone get over here. I want everyone here when they arrive." They all came over and stood behind me. Devon was shifting all over: horse, bat, cat, rat… Taylor shifted into a tiger. She stayed in that form crouched protectively in front of Devon. Taylor was nervous but when she was nervous she never shifted. She barely moved.
I'm staying in this form. Devon is still not a master of the art yet. I am not leaving her unprotected. I nodded to Taylor. I had never seen her so level headed. I turned to face what was coming. The first to arrive were the vampires that Carlisle had specified. Then the others started to arrive. The first was a coven of three.
"Hello, I'm Kent and this is Jessica and her mate Kalvin." I nodded to them all smiling.
"Thank you for coming. We appreciate your help." They nodded and walked over to wait with the others. The rest of the groups arrived. Ten of the strangers had powers. "Everyone, come over here, please!" I called to the group. They all ran over. Taylor was back in her normal form since she had calmed down. Caitlin on the other hand was jumping all over. I looked around at the rest of my coven to see if they were coping all right. That's when I realized Mark was no longer there. Confusion washed through me. Jasper was at my side in a heartbeat.
"Destiny what is it?" He asked confused by my confusion.
"Where's Mark?" I called loud enough for all to hear. "Where did he go?" I asked. I was getting irritated, and the fact that no one would answer didn't help. "When was the last time anyone saw him?" I asked.
"He said he was going on a short hunting trip and that he would be back. But that was over three hours ago!" Faith told me. She was becoming uneasy as well.
"That is the final straw! I am going to contact him and if he doesn't straighten out he is out! He could be dead for all we know!" I said. They all were anxious and worried. I shut my eyes and reached for Mark. I knew his presence well, so it didn't take long to locate him. My eyes snapped open. I was seething.
That back stabbing, low life! I swear I'm going to kill him! Agh!!!! I thought my mental voice ripping through at least 4 octaves. Everyone flinched back and looked surprised. "Sorry guys!" I told them apologetically. I was so angry I was having a hard time controlling my powers. It was just so irritating.
"Why are you going to kill Mark?" Dakota asked hesitantly.
"Well, Mark was an ass before. He betrayed me and yet I gave him a second chance and stopped you all from tearing him apart. I even let him join us against my better judgment and what does he do? He sticks around just long enough to find out how many of us there are, who else is coming, who's leading, and what our powers are. Then he makes up an excuse and jumps on the next plane to Tennessee to meet up with the Volturi like a good little spy!" I said disgusted.
Everyone looked shocked and disturbed. They had trusted Mark to an extent and now he was gone. The new comers even looked uneasy. Emmy was worried and confused, but not for the same reasons as everybody else. I walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Emmy, what is it?" I asked her. She was so worried. The second after I put my hand on her shoulder the vision came.
I was leading all of us into battle and Katerina met me with forces of her own and was flanked closely by Mark. Then it changed. Katerina and I were fighting. I fell to my knees, but the vision continued. Friends were dead. Others had an even worse fate. Someone was going to die. I sat there on the ground. I was shaking. In my time as an immortal it was the first time I ever felt cold.
"Everyone give her some room. Show some respect!" Alexandra ordered. I would have smiled if I weren't so worried. I was lucky to have her as my third, actually now she was my second... I sat up and looked around. Emmy was sitting next to me, and so were Sasha and Edward. They were frustrated, but had all breathed a collective sigh of relief when my eyes opened.
"Sorry, guys when I feel threatened I block my mind. It must have expanded to block Emmy, too." They smiled weakly. I let my shield down, but Emmy was just lifeless and my thoughts were still protected.
"What happened?" Edward asked. I sighed. I didn't really want to tell them.
"Emmy had a vision of the battle. Like in Alice's she saw Katerina leading the Volturi but in Emmy's vision Mark was with her. She saw the two of us fighting and it was very evenly matched yet tipped in her favor not mine. It ended but Emmy knows as I do there were bodies that I couldn't identify all came from our ranks. Others had an even worse fate. Someone will also die. It will decide who wins. I don't know how but it will." They stared at me worried and taken aback. I stood up pulling Emmy with me.
"Who is going to die?" Edward asked.
"Some of my coven at least one from yours and all the others and at least 5 nomads." I told him in a whisper. He looked taken aback. It seemed like far too large a number, but it wasn't. It was lucky considering what we would be facing. "The Volturi are going to be here in less than a week! I want everyone training except for the coven leaders! I want them to help strategize or teach something to the newborns.
"What newborns? All I see are mature vampires." Kent asked. I smiled as my coven glowed at the praise.
"No, there are newborns here. I am one of them. The others are Caitlin, Panther, Jessica, Justin, Emmy, Emily, Taylor, Shanna, Devon, and Kally. Come on if I mentioned you move or something so they know who I'm talking about." They all shifted around. The new arrivals stared at me with wide eyes.
"What are you talking about? There is no way any of you are newborns. You're calm, in control." Kent argued.
"Yes, we are in control, we aren't crazy, and yes, we're newborns. All newborns in my coven are less then 2 weeks old including me." I flashed him a smile. He was baffled. No one else had moved.
"If you guys can't figure it out yourselves then I'll do it." I said irritated. "Taylor, help Devon. Daniel, help Emily. Alice and Emmy you're evenly matched, practice! Faith and Kally use your illusions to confuse each other, fight! I want Bella, Sarah, and Kate to help each other! Jem, Panther, come on, practice! Jason you can work with them! Casey, Kally, you know what to do! Nick, Caitlin, fight! Carry while Taylor helps Devon you can help Jessica and Justin learn how to fight. Renesmee, see how well you do against Zafrina. I want the rest of you to find someone with the same or opposite power as you so you can learn something new or if you don't have a power I want you to go see Allen, Dakota, Jasper, Alexandra, and Eleazar. Move it people! I want everyone training!" Everyone went off to do as they were told thankfully. I didn't even have to worry. "I want the Coven leaders over here!" I called. Ten vampires came over to me.
"Logan, Seth, Jacob come here please." I said. The atmosphere changed and thirst was the dominant emotion as Logan came to stand beside me. I growled a warning to them. "Logan is helping us out and I do not want you messing with her. It will be the last thing you ever do." Seth nodded, agreeing.
"How can a human be helping us? What could she possibly do?" Amun scoffed. Logan glared at him.
"Want to fight me and find out?" She asked him. He was shocked. Apparently a human had never challenged him before. He smirked at her.
"You wouldn't last a minute against me."
"So ready to dig our own grave are we?" She asked innocently. I read her mind. She was planning something big. I nodded.
"You're going down!" Amun hissed at her. Logan growled loudly. They were shocked into silence.
"I want everyone to clear out of the way. Amun has challenged Logan, our human companion. He has accepted." Those of my coven and Carlisle's coven were laughing.
"You're a moron!" Alex yelled to Amun. Kebi hissed at her. Alex stiffened and readied to launch herself at Kebi.
"Alex, stop!" She took a step back and bowed her head. They made a large circle. My coven was standing next to the woods. Leave a gap unless you want to be plowed down. I sent to them. They did as I said quickly.
Amun and Logan began to circle one another. Logan started calling her army. She chirped and barked and hissed. All the forest wild life burst through the trees to take Logan's back. A few tigers and mountain lions stood at the head off her army. No one spoke everyone was stunned. Then Logan took full command of them as she shifted into a lion. She roared a warning to Amun. He took a step back. Logan turned and spoke to the tigers. They advanced quickly hissing at Amun.
"I would apologize Amun! Logan won't call them off until you do!" He grimaced.
"I'm sorry for underestimating you." Logan seemed to grow so she was twice average size. She stalked up to Amun and reared up on her hind legs. She shoved him back into the crowd before walking back over to me. Once at my side she ordered her army away and shifted back into a grinning 17-year-old girl.
"Leaders back over here, everyone else back to practicing." Everyone obeyed and coven leaders surrounded me once more.
"As I was saying before Amun decided to act like a fool, Logan is here to help. She won't hesitate to kill you if you attack her. Nor will I so watch it. Sam isn't here but Jake is. He is the real leader of the wolf shifters. We have 16 wolves helping us in this fight. Logan how big is your army?" I asked her.
"I have 40 members. I'm working on recruiting another pride of mountain lions and there are a few tigers passing through the area I need to speak with. I think some more are on the way." I nodded in satisfaction.
"Logan is leading the animals into battle for me when the Volturi arrive."
"So you are leading us all?" Tanya asked.
"Yes." I stated simply. She was irritated.
"What gives you the right?"
"Because that was who the Cullens and my entire Coven suggested." She rolled her eyes.
Ya, her coven! She probably rigged it. She thought angry.
"I am only their leader because they chose me. When you manage to break twenty vampires out of Volterra then you can come bitch to me. Until then what do you have to contribute?" No one spoke. My anger was rising. Alex! If you aren't to busy will you handle this part? I'm really close to killing them all. I sent to her mentally.
Watch your temper! We need them! She laughed in her thoughts as she came over. As I was walking away I heard snarls and growls erupting from two of my coven. I ran over to see Devon and Taylor fighting. Not play fighting. Devon was really trying to kill Taylor.
"Stop now!" I ordered them. Devon and Taylor both growled at me before returning to their fight. I growled at them menacingly, and they still ignored me. I lunged between them and grabbed each girl by an arm. Taylor stood limply while Devon tried to fight me. I turned to her.
"Do you no longer wish to be a part of this coven?" I asked her, angry. She stopped and bowed her head. I walked ahead of both of them so I could scold them properly.
"We are facing the Volturi in less than a week. Do you realize that? You've both read about them. I can't have you fighting each other unless it's for practice. Now calm down!" I ordered them. Devon glared fiercely at me.
You can't make me do anything! It's my life! Devon thought angrily. I growled at her.
"Devon, if you don't want to help us get out of here fast. I won't let you stay here if you're going to switch sides once the battle starts." I hissed at her furiously.
"Then I'll leave but I have a question for all of you. Is this really worth it? Once they see you, you will never be safe; if you loose the Volturi will hunt you all down. I don't want to be on the loosing side." She said.
"Get out of here!" I told her, my voice cold. She ran off leaving our group in complete silence.
She can't even handle her own coven! How can she help us beat them all? Tanya thought.
"For the tenth time, Tanya I can hear your thoughts! So if you have something to say, say it out loud!" I said clenching my hands into fists. My entire coven was on edge watching Tanya to see if she would push me any farther. Tanya looked away, annoyed. Everyone else was watching me silent. "I just don't think you have what it takes to lead us." She muttered. I saw her thoughts.
"So you think you could beat me in a fight?" I asked innocently. She didn't answer.
"Why don't we fight and find out?" I asked smiling innocently at her. She hesitated. "I swear I'll leave all of your limbs attached." I said holding up my hands. She turned back to the circle. "Bring it." She growled. My coven laughed in anticipation.
I circled her slowly, growling. She hissed back and made a lung for me. She was slower then the others I had fought. I dodged her with ease. I turned back to face her just as she came running at me. We collided with a loud smack and fell to the ground. She tried to pin me but I quickly flipped her over and had her pinned to the ground. She thrashed violently, but she couldn't move.
I stood, letting her go. "You can't let your emotions control you when you fight. It makes you careless." I reminded her. She didn't even acknowledge me. She just stomped of to practice with Irina.