The hovercraft went into silent mode once we reached two miles from Mabaya's territory. Kani went up to discuss the best place for landing with the pilot. Dara and Titi were cuddling and talking about the mission, along with Iru and Lezi. Akina was sitting with her arms folded, leaning back with her eyes closed, but I doubt she was sleeping. She was probably thinking hard about the mission. I was making sure my ear-piece was well-fit inside of my ear, while making sure my Digi-watch was working. The Digi-watch can show blueprints of any type of building or location and show our location via a blinking yellow light. It can also be a form of communication, but our invisible ear-pieces seemed stealthier in case any opponents break the watch. I glanced over to Chiumbo to find her fidgeting in her seat looking down at her lap. It's either she's really nervous, or she has to go to the bathroom. She often did have a bed-wetting problem…
"You okay Chiumbo?" I spoke up. She snapped her head up and immediately stopped fidgeting.
"U-um, yeah, I-I'm okay." She mumbled, looking down again. I saw her sink further into her seat and fists clench, and knew at that moment that it was not just nerves.
"Be honest with me Chiumbo, what's wrong?" Giving her one more chance to confess, I crossed my arms and looked at her seriously. I understand why she would hesitate to tell me, but even so, she shouldn't have waited this long. She has to remember to tell us before the mission, so we won't have any problems.
"Promise you won't get mad?" She replied, her legs fidgeting as if she couldn't help it. Oh, Chiumbo…
"Chiumbo, you should know by now that I won't get mad at you. Shoot, everyone should know that I can't hold a grudge. Now, what's wrong?" I asked impatiently. She looked down to her lap, her body language giving away her fear.
"I… I-I have to pee…" She admitted quietly with her voice scratchy. I could faintly see her eyes getting glossy as I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. I knew it. I stood up and stretched my hand out for her to take. She grabbed it and stood up, trying to hold it in.
"Akina? Imma take Chiumbo to the bathroom, tell Kani we'll be right back." I told her. She opened her eyes and nodded her head, about to say something, before Kani walked in.
"Right back from where?" He piped in, walking into the room. He so did not hear that. Well, technically he didnt. Screw this crap, I'm not dealing with him right now.
"Somewhere." I answered, teleporting to Chiumbo's room before he started to question anything. I knew Chiumbo and I were gonna get an earful when we returned, might as well warn her now.
"Hurry up, the faster you're done, the less time Kani will spend yelling at you. Probably." I said, pushing her a little towards the bathroom. She didn't waste anymore time running in there, slamming the door shut. I sighed and facepalmed. She just had to wait at the last second, didn't she? Oh well, better start coming up with something to warn Chiumbo and calm Kani down.
A couple minutes later, Kani popped up in the middle of the room as Chiumbo walked out of the bathroom, the noise of the toilet flushing in the background. She froze instantly at the sight of Kani, her ears dropping behind her head. Kani's eyes were glowing red, filled with anger, as his arms were folded.
"You just had to wait 'til the last minute, didn't you Chiumbo?" He asked, his eyes sharply on Chiumbo and his voice dark and threatening. I had to do something fast before this ends up with crying babies and angry boyfriends.
I put a hand on his shoulder hesitantly. "Kani, calm down, it's my fault-"
"No, it's not. It never was." He interrupted, taking my hand, gently but firmly, off his shoulder. "You've stood up for this girl more times than one can count Anaya, you are not responsible for her! She was a liability the minute she joined the group, and if it wasn't for you, I would have made sure she wouldn't have interfered! I'm sick and tired of having to look out for her and trying to save the world at the same time! Anaya, I know how much you care for Chiumbo, anyone with eyes can see that, but you can't keep babying her, and she can't be apart of this mission!" He raged at us.
I was stunned into silence, but I heard Chiumbo whimper before fully hearing her break out sobbing and running out of the room. The sound of her broke me out of my trance, and right after she left the room, I punched Kani in the face. Hard.
"She is going on this mission, whether you like it or not. I will do anything to make sure that Chiumbo is safe, and you better remember that. Now, unless you change that sorry attitude of yours and remember all the times Chiumbo helped our team, our relationship is now hanging on a very thin line." I threatened, my vision slightly turning red as I felt anger pulsing through my veins.
Before he could say anything though, I was already speeding down the halls looking for Chiumbo. I twisted and turned every corner of the base, worrying about my little girl, even though I knew where she was. I stopped at the storage room, knowing very well that Chiumbo hides in here when she's sad. And just as I thought, as soon as I opened the door, I could faintly hear sniffles and sobs coming from the dark pit. My feline sight along with my powers made the pitch black room turn into a neon blue night show. I scanned around the cardboard boxes that filled the entire room and focused my hearing to pinpoint Chiumbo.
I slowly stepped towards her tiny crying figure in the corner besides the boxes and the wall. "Chiumbo? Sweetie? Please, come out of the dark. Don't listen to what Kani said, you're still going on the mission, I made sure of that." My voice being a little hard at the end.
"K-Kani… hates me…" She said through her sobs and she started crying harder. I went over to her and sat down besides her on the floor, pulling her to me. She immediately accepted my comfort and hugged me as hard as she could, as if hoping all the bad things she's been through would go away.
"Shh, shh, it's okay baby, I've got you now. Kani made a big mistake yelling at you for such a thing, and I'll make sure he learns his lesson, but we still need you to be strong for the mission. You are a giant part of this mission, even if Kani doesn't think you are. Don't try and prove to anybody, anything; if you want to become stronger, than you do it because you want to. Not because it will make Kani happy, not because it will make me happy, but because you want it and it will make you happy. You are a brave, talented, special, beautiful, young girl, that's gonna be a hero after all of this is over. I can't do this without you, Chiumbo." I said, speaking with all the truth in my heart. I held onto her tight, tears threatening to fall in my eyes from hurt, anger, sadness, empathy, love, and so much more. She was still crying, but it simmered down greatly after my speech.
"Thank you, Big Sister, thank you so much. I'll go with you on the mission." I heard her softly reply. I smiled brightly, my heart soaring that I convinced her, but will my choice be as good as I thought it would be?
"Just wait until I get my hands on Kani…" I heard Titi's voice out of the blue. My Digi-watch glowed as the voice spoke and I lifted my wrist and spoke into the watch curiously.
"Hello? Titi, how much did you hear?"
"We all heard everything ever since you left the hovercraft." I heard Dara reply.
"I was going to tell you that your ear-piece was on before you left, but Kani interrupted me and you left before I could." Akina added.
"Kani's ear-piece was off, but we heard everything from your side." Iru piped in.
Well, that saved me from a long explanation.
"Is Chiumbo okay?" I heard Lezi ask.
"That was a pretty nice speech you gave there Ace." Dara said, using my code-name. We don't use nicknames, apparently to Dara they sound too soft and that 'codename' sounded tougher or some crap like that. That boy will never cease to amuse me...
"Yeah, you're a really good care-taker." Titi agreed.
"Thanks guys, Chiumbo's fine and we're heading back now. Did Kani teleport to the hovercraft yet? And how much time do we have left before we land?" I asked.
"He did, but he's staying up where the pilot is, so I'm sure he won't bother you. And we have five minutes until deployment." Akina informed.
"Roger that, sister. We're coming now." I replied, ending the multi-chat and turning off my ear-piece. I placed my hand on Chiumbo's head and rubbed my thumb gently and soothingly.
"Are you ready Chi? We need you strong and determined to go through with this." I said, softly. She slowly looked up at me, her shining black orbs beaming at me with determination.
"I'm ready Nai-nai. Let's go save the world." She said determinedly. I stood up along with her and teleported us both back into the hovercraft. Everyone looked at us as we appeared.
"Just in time, we were just about to put our stealth spell on. Come and join the circle." Dara said, stepping aside a little along with Akina to give Chiumbo and I some room. We joined the circle and prepared for the team spell. We all stuck out both our arms and hands one by one summoning our energy and casting the 'Silencer' spell. The silencer spell stops any voice coming from anyone and makes our footsteps completely quiet. While we did that spell, we also did the 'Mind Communication' spell on the whole group. As the name of it says, it allows us to all communicate through our minds so we don't have to talk. We can separate the private thoughts and the public thoughts individually.
"Are everyone's ear-pieces and Digi-watches on?" Kani thought. I turned on mine and glanced to make sure Chiumbo's was on too. She nodded to me, signaling it was.
"Yes, sir." We all thought.
"Good. Deployment in 5… 4… 3… 2…" Kani was interrupted by the back door of the hovercraft opening. I was greeted by a tsunami of warm air crashing onto my body, catching me off guard.
"Now! Let's go!" Kani commanded, jumping out first and taking position behind a giant boulder. We made our way down, one by one, quickly taking positions behind boulders. Let the battle begin.