All through the next day Nosedive was almost impossible. It seemed to the
others that every other word was Ebony. To this, the Ducks could
understand, as they were getting a little excited as well.
What really irritated them most was the fact that Nosedive couldn't concentrate on anything. Throughout training for combat, he was sluggish. He was even worse during practice, for Ebony was scheduled to meet at a random time that afternoon… and he was excited.
"Dive!" Duke yelled at him when he failed to intercept a pass he had sent. Nosedive jumped, looking bewildered. "Wake up and smell the coffee, kid! If we had a game, we'd be flattened by now!" Dive shook himself almost sulkily.
"Sorry," he said, doing a miniature jump on the ice to warm himself back up instead of just standing in his usual stupor. "I'll try harder." He wanted to stay on the others' good sides, as he owed them major time. Duke skated over with a sigh and patted his shoulder, giving way.
"I know it's tough kid, but even with distraction, you shouldn't let your game down because of it."
"I hear ya," Dive said, convincing himself to play best he could. Besides, he never knew when EbonyAmber might be watching. He grinned to himself. He could just see Ebony walking down the aisle and hearing the buzzer over and over, then watching the blond hunkster Duck accepting a pass and scoring yet another goal on his brother.
"DIVE!!" Two or three voices yelled and Dive blushed. He had missed another pass.
*~
Wildwing took a break from the net, to give the others a chance to practice their aim. Bending to the drinking fountain, he took off his mask and cooled his face and beak.
Now that everyone was paying attention, they were giving him a workout. It was to their great satisfaction when on the rare event they got one passed him, mostly on a great stroke of luck… but that was rare as well. They tried to fool him with complicated set ups, but they rarely worked.
Wildwing had always been very aware as to which player was where, always who had puck, and who he was aiming to pass it to, or score on. In that way, Wildwing was a gifted goalie.
He then looked up as Phil entered with another man, followed by a young lady. He put on his mask and started out again when,
"Boobies! Guess who's here!" announced their presence. Wing watched with a grin as Nosedive practically jumped out of his feathers, and was the first to border the team box.
"Guys," Phil said, starting the introductions when the rest of the team had assembled, partly to hold Nosedive back. "Allow me to introduce Jack Diggory and Amber James- affectionately known as EbonyAmber.
Nosedive looked immediately to the girl, the CD image coming into mind. What met his eyes was slightly different.
Before him stood a girl, modestly dressed in jeans and t-shirt with a long, sheer, black cardigan over it. Her auburn hair was short, stopping just above her shoulders. Her eyes instead of a cold gray were sparkling gray blue. They were friendly eyes, mischievous, playful and energetic as well as slightly gentle.
"EbonyAmber?" He asked, his heart thumping painfully in his ribcage.
"In the flesh," she said, grinning. She had a sweet voice to match her face. It was slightly deeper than he expected, and a lot warmer than her recorded voice.
"How totally awesome! I'm, like, a humongo fan! I, like, totally worship you! I heard rumors that you're releasing a new one! Oh, this totally rocks!" He gushed, hopping over the team box edge and energetically shaking her hand, still covering her with praises.
"Thank you," she said laughing. "Now calm down…" she grinned. "I am pretty close to releasing. I'm surprised how fast rumor travels."
"Well, I get it from the most reliable sources," Nosedive grinned, taking deep breaths to cool his jets. "Wait till Thrash and Mookie hear this! They are going to be so hyped!" He said, excitement rising again.
"Dive, calm down," Wildwing said, watching his brother's excitement, and Ebony's face. He thought Nosedive was scaring her, rather than amusing her. "I don't know if Amber's too keen about meeting people just yet, especially with you around. She might be frightened to see another face."
"I'm not that overwhelming… in that way," Nosedive said with a grin. Ebony chuckled.
"It's all right," she smiled. "I'm glad to see people are excited. It makes me feel better about the album. Now, forgive me, for asking but… could you… maybe introduce yourselves? I admit I haven't had a chance to watch much hockey- I've only seen you guys play a few times, so I don't quite know who's who," Ebony said a little sheepishly.
"Sorry babe," Phil said quickly. "These are…"
"Phil, would you relax? We're not hatchlings," Mallory said then skated up. "Mallory McMallard." Duke then pushed her out of the way as she was going to continue with her introduction.
"Hello sweetheart… don't mind these rookies. The name's Duke L'Orange, but you can call me Duke," he smiled suavely. EbonyAmber laughed.
"Charmed, Duke," she said amidst a laugh, while he took her hand. Dive, quite fed up with Duke, pushed him off the team box edge as Duke leaned to kiss her hand.
"Hey!" He yelled as he went down.
"Oops?" Dive said snidely.
"While they're goin' at it, I'm Tanya Vanderflock," Tanya said, taking Ebony's hand and shaking it. She then played bodyguard for Grin, who skated up and bowed to her with his palms together.
"I am Grin."
"Pleasure meeting you," Ebony smiled copying him. He smiled his approval.
"Aiiiiiee," Nosedive said, pulling away from Duke, straining against the team box. "Hi… oof!" He turned to slug Duke off him, not working very well. "I'm… Nosedive Flashblade… Hoah!" He fell off the team box, while Ebony leaned over the box to watch in amusement. Wing skated over.
"Okay, break it up you two," he ordered, when they had each other in a headlock. "Sorry about their behavior," he said, turning to Ebony.
"I'm not bothered," she laughed. "You are?"
"Wildwing Flashblade, Dive's older brother," he said gesturing to the blond one, subtly punching Duke as he stood innocently smiling.
"Pleasure to meet you," she smiled shaking his large hand. "And everyone else."
"Okay, okay," Phil, said, trying to step in again. "Let's get Amber settled. The rest of you guys, back to practice."
"Yo! Phil! She just got here, Man! So you've seen us play. Wanna see us up close and personal, girly girl?" Dive asked steering Amber's attention away from a quickly aggravated Phil. Dive smiled flirtatiously.
"If the others don't mind, I'd like to," she said. Nosedive automatically turned puppy dog eyes to the rest of the gang, save Duke. Mallory took one look and laughed.
"You could kill Medusa with that look, Dive," she teased. Dive pouted at her. Duke chuckled and leaned against the team box while Dive bickered with Mallory.
"Eh, don't mind Dive, he's just a kid. Now if you want to see a real Mallard…"
"I don't mind," Ebony grinned. "I think he's cute."
"Ah…" Duke said, a little disappointedly, while Dive perked up. "Well, at least you do." He started skating off and then turned around, bothered. "You think I'm cute too, don't you?" Ebony laughed.
"Yes, I do," she said, blushing. That seemed to satisfy Duke but bothered Nosedive. Duke skated by then randomly noogied Dive best he could- knocking off his helmet.
"Aw man! That sucks! Dude!" Dive protested.
"Do you play?" Wildwing asked, while Dive and Duke got into it once again.
"Only roller," Amber replied. "A few years ago."
"D'you want to come out and play for awhile?" Wing offered. "Get back into the habit of skating…"
"Oh, I'm a bit… tired, Wildwing. Perhaps later?" she asked.
"Suit yourself," Wildwing shrugged.
"Besides, I want to see how well you play 'up-close and personal- like' so I know what I'm up against," she said with a wink. Wildwing laughed.
"Fair enough." He then skated to the net while the others took position.
"Ready?" Dive yelled.
"Lets rock n' Roll, baby bro!" Wing replied, tapping the goal posts with his stick to warm his shoulder back up. He then crouched and waited.
Play began. Duke, Mallory and Dive stared to triple team him, while Grin and Tanya, pretending to be taking care of offending players served as distraction.
Wildwing assessed the situation, watching the puck warily. He took a quick census: Nosedive would be aiming to score while Mallory and Duke set themselves up. He watched as Duke passed it to Mallory, who would up. Wildwing noted Dive to his left and knew they were trying to fake him out.
His anticipation was correct, and he wasn't going to let himself fall for it. Blocking Dive's side, he watched the puck sail to Nosedive who then quickly passed it back to Mallory. Wing wasn't expecting that move, but was ready for it.
Mal shot the puck towards the net. Wildwing's glove was quick as lightning. He felt the puck slap his glove and closed it around, sliding his body behind it, in case he missed the catch.
"Good catch, Wildwing!" Tanya yelled as Wildwing's glove stayed true.
"Better luck next time guys," Wing called to the three, tossing the puck to Tanya. She skated towards him.
'This is new,' he thought with interest. He watched as Duke flanked her while Grin came up on the right and Mallory and Dive stayed, hovering in their respective positions.
Grin and Duke were the key players. He watched Tanya pass the puck quickly to Grin who in turn passed it to the middle.
Duke was in Wing's face at that point, and then fast as lightning, he intercepted the puck and shot it. Wildwing was faster and raised his stick arm, deflecting the puck then kicked it away into Dive's waiting stick.
"Yes!" he heard Amber yelled and grinned to himself. If she was excited now, wait till she got to the game.
Nosedive tried to take his brother by surprise with the classic slap shot. No good, for Wing was right on top of it.
"Come on, you guys, stop fooling around. You can do better than this!" Wildwing called.
The team tried again and again and again a few times more until Duke finally scored one on Wildwing with a surprise maneuver which sent him toppling over. He then did a victory lap while Wildwing picked himself up, and Nosedive sulked.
"Good move, Duke," Wildwing praised. "I'll be ready for it next time."
"Yeah, I'll bet," Duke said seriously. New moves never lasted long with Wildwing.
"Where's Amber?" Nosedive asked, immediately noticed her not-long absence.
"Yeah, I hope she didn't miss my goal," Duke muttered. "All that for nothing."
"Men!" Mallory said with an indignant huff.
"She went with Phil to her quarters," Jack said. Nosedive and Duke looked at each other, and then scrambled towards the locker room, both fighting for first entry with their hockey sticks. Duke made it first by beaning Nosedive with his helment.
"There they go," Grin observed with an arched brow.
"Yeah, and if they trash my room, they're going to be toast," Mallory said irritably. Wildwing chuckled and cleaned up a bit in the rink before heading to the locker room.
*~
Nosedive tailed Duke as they battled for the first entry into Mallory's room. Nosedive grabbed Duke's plumage and yanked him back.
"Ow!" Duke grunted, grabbing Dive around the neck.
"Lemme go!" Dive muttered hotly.
"Me first," Duke grunted back. The door to Mallory's quarters opened, revealing two small suitcases and a guitar case opened but out of the way. Duke released Dive, staring around.
"Amber?" he called uncertainly, then asked. "Where is she?" Dive shrugged then grinned wickedly.
"I bet I can find her first," he challenged.
"You? You who even gets lost in here of all places? Na-uh, I'll find her first," Duke said, rising to the occasion.
"You're on!" Dive yelled, and dashed down the hall, deeper into the pond.
*~
The Saurion Overlord, Dragaunus, the last of his race sat broodingly on his tall throne, which stood a good ten feet above the floor. Being an eight foot two inch lizard, he seemed even greater. About the only thing that could equal his greatness was his temper, and with this he stood, his eyes flashing gold while steam curled in silky white ribbons from his nostrils, standing out against his red, scaly hide.
"SIEGE!" he suddenly yelled, his great voice booming off the walls of The Raptor. His great hands balled into fists, his great long, yellow claws curling against his skin. Siege trudged in.
"Have you gotten any new leads to a possible source of Bulerium crystals yet?" Dragaunus demanded, for lack of better topic. The smaller, orange, beach ball shaped saurian stupidly looked at him, registering what he had asked. The small green eyes suddenly lit up as he understood and replied,
"Yes my lord." Siege's voice was gravelly. He produced a CD and stuck it in. Dragaunus waited a few moments before a sweet voice floated over him, singing of glowing crystals in faraway deserts at the time of setting sun, or silver stalagmites in caves beneath the cool arctic.
"What is this rubbish?" Dragaunus demanded, eyes losing their pupils in his rage again. Siege shifted his weight nervously.
"You see, my Lord, Chameleon was listening to this disk thing. I went to set him straight, but heard this song, and think that the artist may know about similar crystals… maybe one of them she mentions might be Bulerium. Dragaunus listened a few minutes more.
"Locate this person, and investigate."
"Yes, My lord," Siege said, starting to withdraw the disk.
"Leave it," Dragaunus ordered, and when Siege looked at him, he sneered. "I'm going to listen further for clues." Siege nodded and left, while Dragaunus listened carefully to the voice of the earthbound angel, her voice being addicting.
*~
Nosedive was fed up with wandering through the halls. It seemed he had searched every nook and cranny of the Pond's underground, while worrying that Duke was having more luck than he.
"Aw, man!" He muttered to himself. "How am I supposed to find a needle in a haystack?" He looked around, listening as well. He walked a little way further of the first floor, before… he heard a guitar. He listened even harder, and confirmed it… there was no mistaking it. He eagerly ran towards the sound, determining it to be in garden hall, as Grin insisted about having a garden.
"Hey!" He started but ran smack into somebody.
"Ow!" He grunted back.
"Duke!" Nosedive hissed. "I beat you!"
"I doubt that… notice we can't sure if that's her," he snapped. "Now, get outta my way."
"I don't think so," Dive said, elbowing his way into the front. Duke tried to keep him from behind but, straining, Dive dragged them both into the room. There they saw Ebony sitting on a stool with the guitar in her lap. They paused and listened while a figure watched her from the shadows. She strummed it and sang in a warm voice a song Dive recognized to be Sarah McLachlan.
"Yeah you're working, building a mystery; holding on and holding it in. Oh yeah you're working, building a mystery and choosing so carefully. You're building a mystery." She finished the song, and smiled at the boys who just toppled in.
"Hello," she greeted.
"See? Didn't I tell you she rocked, Duke?" Dive demanded, shrugging away from him.
"Who can believe Dive before seeing it for themselves," Duke replied suavely. "That was beautiful!" He started walking forward, but Dive shrugged him out of the way.
"Yeah, we were wondering where you went. We tried to find you and all," Dive grinned. "I'm glad you found the garden. We were worried about you."
"But… I haven't been alone," she said, rather confused. "I've been safe and sound. I just took out my guitar to entertain myself and others." She turned and smiled at the figure they hadn't seen.
"And let me say, you sing quite nicely," Wildwing said, stepping forward. Dive's jaw dropped.
"WING?!" Dive asked incredulously. Even Duke looked stunned.
"What?" He asked, nonchalantly.
"You knew where she was the entire time??" Dive and Duke asked together.
"Yeah, I ran into her in the halls… she was a little lost and wanted to go somewhere peaceful," Wildwing said, and Nosedive slapped his forehead.
"You could have told us," he muttered.
"Of course not, Baby bro, or peace would have walked right out that door," Wing teased.
"Come to think of it, I think she just did," Duke muttered, looking around, Ebony being quite gone. Wildwing sighed while Dive and Duke scurried after her, bellowing her name.
*~
Amber trudged back into Mallory's room and collapsed on the floor while the red head read a magazine on her own bed. She looked up to hear Amber sigh.
"Thanks for letting me share your room," Amber said. Mallory looked over at her. She seemed tired, as though she had had a busy day.
"Always at service," Mallory replied. "Now before we start, I have a few ground rules."
"I get to sleep on the floor?" Amber guessed, grinning. Mallory stared at her. "Probably no eating in here, that's the mess hall, no music after a certain hour and bedtimes are definite unless there's an emergency, right?"
"Riiiiight," Mallory said, looking at her as though she had read her mind.
"Sorry, I'm used to protocol," Amber replied shyly, blushing a bit. Mallory laughed.
"So am I," she replied easily. "So how's it like to be a rockstar?"
"Tons, and tons of work," Amber replied seriously. "It's not easy having to deal with so many people, so much excitement, so much…dare I say, worship? Sorry if that sounded egotistical, but I mean… I can't believe some of the fans I have. Tattooing my name across their chests and stuff… scary." Amber sighed. "But as much as I work, I love it."
"You sure you're ready going into another album?" Mallory asked, arching a brow.
"I think so," Amber replied, smiling. "I've had a really long vacation. I forgot the excitement… though I'm not too used to two mallards fighting over me." Mallory laughed. "I don't understand how you deal with it, Mal, I mean… they have to be all over you."
"No," Mallory replied, smiling. "They're not. They don't generally waste their energy on little old me, and I don't think I could stand it much either. I figure once they get used to you, then things will cool down a little bit."
"You think so?" Amber asked, smiling. Mallory nodded.
"Yep." Amber settled down, happily, on her cot on the floor. It sounded to be like a two-week sleep over with Mal, and for that, she was thankful. That's all she needed, was a down to earth girl talk, especially when she'd get very little of it in the year to come.
*~
What really irritated them most was the fact that Nosedive couldn't concentrate on anything. Throughout training for combat, he was sluggish. He was even worse during practice, for Ebony was scheduled to meet at a random time that afternoon… and he was excited.
"Dive!" Duke yelled at him when he failed to intercept a pass he had sent. Nosedive jumped, looking bewildered. "Wake up and smell the coffee, kid! If we had a game, we'd be flattened by now!" Dive shook himself almost sulkily.
"Sorry," he said, doing a miniature jump on the ice to warm himself back up instead of just standing in his usual stupor. "I'll try harder." He wanted to stay on the others' good sides, as he owed them major time. Duke skated over with a sigh and patted his shoulder, giving way.
"I know it's tough kid, but even with distraction, you shouldn't let your game down because of it."
"I hear ya," Dive said, convincing himself to play best he could. Besides, he never knew when EbonyAmber might be watching. He grinned to himself. He could just see Ebony walking down the aisle and hearing the buzzer over and over, then watching the blond hunkster Duck accepting a pass and scoring yet another goal on his brother.
"DIVE!!" Two or three voices yelled and Dive blushed. He had missed another pass.
*~
Wildwing took a break from the net, to give the others a chance to practice their aim. Bending to the drinking fountain, he took off his mask and cooled his face and beak.
Now that everyone was paying attention, they were giving him a workout. It was to their great satisfaction when on the rare event they got one passed him, mostly on a great stroke of luck… but that was rare as well. They tried to fool him with complicated set ups, but they rarely worked.
Wildwing had always been very aware as to which player was where, always who had puck, and who he was aiming to pass it to, or score on. In that way, Wildwing was a gifted goalie.
He then looked up as Phil entered with another man, followed by a young lady. He put on his mask and started out again when,
"Boobies! Guess who's here!" announced their presence. Wing watched with a grin as Nosedive practically jumped out of his feathers, and was the first to border the team box.
"Guys," Phil said, starting the introductions when the rest of the team had assembled, partly to hold Nosedive back. "Allow me to introduce Jack Diggory and Amber James- affectionately known as EbonyAmber.
Nosedive looked immediately to the girl, the CD image coming into mind. What met his eyes was slightly different.
Before him stood a girl, modestly dressed in jeans and t-shirt with a long, sheer, black cardigan over it. Her auburn hair was short, stopping just above her shoulders. Her eyes instead of a cold gray were sparkling gray blue. They were friendly eyes, mischievous, playful and energetic as well as slightly gentle.
"EbonyAmber?" He asked, his heart thumping painfully in his ribcage.
"In the flesh," she said, grinning. She had a sweet voice to match her face. It was slightly deeper than he expected, and a lot warmer than her recorded voice.
"How totally awesome! I'm, like, a humongo fan! I, like, totally worship you! I heard rumors that you're releasing a new one! Oh, this totally rocks!" He gushed, hopping over the team box edge and energetically shaking her hand, still covering her with praises.
"Thank you," she said laughing. "Now calm down…" she grinned. "I am pretty close to releasing. I'm surprised how fast rumor travels."
"Well, I get it from the most reliable sources," Nosedive grinned, taking deep breaths to cool his jets. "Wait till Thrash and Mookie hear this! They are going to be so hyped!" He said, excitement rising again.
"Dive, calm down," Wildwing said, watching his brother's excitement, and Ebony's face. He thought Nosedive was scaring her, rather than amusing her. "I don't know if Amber's too keen about meeting people just yet, especially with you around. She might be frightened to see another face."
"I'm not that overwhelming… in that way," Nosedive said with a grin. Ebony chuckled.
"It's all right," she smiled. "I'm glad to see people are excited. It makes me feel better about the album. Now, forgive me, for asking but… could you… maybe introduce yourselves? I admit I haven't had a chance to watch much hockey- I've only seen you guys play a few times, so I don't quite know who's who," Ebony said a little sheepishly.
"Sorry babe," Phil said quickly. "These are…"
"Phil, would you relax? We're not hatchlings," Mallory said then skated up. "Mallory McMallard." Duke then pushed her out of the way as she was going to continue with her introduction.
"Hello sweetheart… don't mind these rookies. The name's Duke L'Orange, but you can call me Duke," he smiled suavely. EbonyAmber laughed.
"Charmed, Duke," she said amidst a laugh, while he took her hand. Dive, quite fed up with Duke, pushed him off the team box edge as Duke leaned to kiss her hand.
"Hey!" He yelled as he went down.
"Oops?" Dive said snidely.
"While they're goin' at it, I'm Tanya Vanderflock," Tanya said, taking Ebony's hand and shaking it. She then played bodyguard for Grin, who skated up and bowed to her with his palms together.
"I am Grin."
"Pleasure meeting you," Ebony smiled copying him. He smiled his approval.
"Aiiiiiee," Nosedive said, pulling away from Duke, straining against the team box. "Hi… oof!" He turned to slug Duke off him, not working very well. "I'm… Nosedive Flashblade… Hoah!" He fell off the team box, while Ebony leaned over the box to watch in amusement. Wing skated over.
"Okay, break it up you two," he ordered, when they had each other in a headlock. "Sorry about their behavior," he said, turning to Ebony.
"I'm not bothered," she laughed. "You are?"
"Wildwing Flashblade, Dive's older brother," he said gesturing to the blond one, subtly punching Duke as he stood innocently smiling.
"Pleasure to meet you," she smiled shaking his large hand. "And everyone else."
"Okay, okay," Phil, said, trying to step in again. "Let's get Amber settled. The rest of you guys, back to practice."
"Yo! Phil! She just got here, Man! So you've seen us play. Wanna see us up close and personal, girly girl?" Dive asked steering Amber's attention away from a quickly aggravated Phil. Dive smiled flirtatiously.
"If the others don't mind, I'd like to," she said. Nosedive automatically turned puppy dog eyes to the rest of the gang, save Duke. Mallory took one look and laughed.
"You could kill Medusa with that look, Dive," she teased. Dive pouted at her. Duke chuckled and leaned against the team box while Dive bickered with Mallory.
"Eh, don't mind Dive, he's just a kid. Now if you want to see a real Mallard…"
"I don't mind," Ebony grinned. "I think he's cute."
"Ah…" Duke said, a little disappointedly, while Dive perked up. "Well, at least you do." He started skating off and then turned around, bothered. "You think I'm cute too, don't you?" Ebony laughed.
"Yes, I do," she said, blushing. That seemed to satisfy Duke but bothered Nosedive. Duke skated by then randomly noogied Dive best he could- knocking off his helmet.
"Aw man! That sucks! Dude!" Dive protested.
"Do you play?" Wildwing asked, while Dive and Duke got into it once again.
"Only roller," Amber replied. "A few years ago."
"D'you want to come out and play for awhile?" Wing offered. "Get back into the habit of skating…"
"Oh, I'm a bit… tired, Wildwing. Perhaps later?" she asked.
"Suit yourself," Wildwing shrugged.
"Besides, I want to see how well you play 'up-close and personal- like' so I know what I'm up against," she said with a wink. Wildwing laughed.
"Fair enough." He then skated to the net while the others took position.
"Ready?" Dive yelled.
"Lets rock n' Roll, baby bro!" Wing replied, tapping the goal posts with his stick to warm his shoulder back up. He then crouched and waited.
Play began. Duke, Mallory and Dive stared to triple team him, while Grin and Tanya, pretending to be taking care of offending players served as distraction.
Wildwing assessed the situation, watching the puck warily. He took a quick census: Nosedive would be aiming to score while Mallory and Duke set themselves up. He watched as Duke passed it to Mallory, who would up. Wildwing noted Dive to his left and knew they were trying to fake him out.
His anticipation was correct, and he wasn't going to let himself fall for it. Blocking Dive's side, he watched the puck sail to Nosedive who then quickly passed it back to Mallory. Wing wasn't expecting that move, but was ready for it.
Mal shot the puck towards the net. Wildwing's glove was quick as lightning. He felt the puck slap his glove and closed it around, sliding his body behind it, in case he missed the catch.
"Good catch, Wildwing!" Tanya yelled as Wildwing's glove stayed true.
"Better luck next time guys," Wing called to the three, tossing the puck to Tanya. She skated towards him.
'This is new,' he thought with interest. He watched as Duke flanked her while Grin came up on the right and Mallory and Dive stayed, hovering in their respective positions.
Grin and Duke were the key players. He watched Tanya pass the puck quickly to Grin who in turn passed it to the middle.
Duke was in Wing's face at that point, and then fast as lightning, he intercepted the puck and shot it. Wildwing was faster and raised his stick arm, deflecting the puck then kicked it away into Dive's waiting stick.
"Yes!" he heard Amber yelled and grinned to himself. If she was excited now, wait till she got to the game.
Nosedive tried to take his brother by surprise with the classic slap shot. No good, for Wing was right on top of it.
"Come on, you guys, stop fooling around. You can do better than this!" Wildwing called.
The team tried again and again and again a few times more until Duke finally scored one on Wildwing with a surprise maneuver which sent him toppling over. He then did a victory lap while Wildwing picked himself up, and Nosedive sulked.
"Good move, Duke," Wildwing praised. "I'll be ready for it next time."
"Yeah, I'll bet," Duke said seriously. New moves never lasted long with Wildwing.
"Where's Amber?" Nosedive asked, immediately noticed her not-long absence.
"Yeah, I hope she didn't miss my goal," Duke muttered. "All that for nothing."
"Men!" Mallory said with an indignant huff.
"She went with Phil to her quarters," Jack said. Nosedive and Duke looked at each other, and then scrambled towards the locker room, both fighting for first entry with their hockey sticks. Duke made it first by beaning Nosedive with his helment.
"There they go," Grin observed with an arched brow.
"Yeah, and if they trash my room, they're going to be toast," Mallory said irritably. Wildwing chuckled and cleaned up a bit in the rink before heading to the locker room.
*~
Nosedive tailed Duke as they battled for the first entry into Mallory's room. Nosedive grabbed Duke's plumage and yanked him back.
"Ow!" Duke grunted, grabbing Dive around the neck.
"Lemme go!" Dive muttered hotly.
"Me first," Duke grunted back. The door to Mallory's quarters opened, revealing two small suitcases and a guitar case opened but out of the way. Duke released Dive, staring around.
"Amber?" he called uncertainly, then asked. "Where is she?" Dive shrugged then grinned wickedly.
"I bet I can find her first," he challenged.
"You? You who even gets lost in here of all places? Na-uh, I'll find her first," Duke said, rising to the occasion.
"You're on!" Dive yelled, and dashed down the hall, deeper into the pond.
*~
The Saurion Overlord, Dragaunus, the last of his race sat broodingly on his tall throne, which stood a good ten feet above the floor. Being an eight foot two inch lizard, he seemed even greater. About the only thing that could equal his greatness was his temper, and with this he stood, his eyes flashing gold while steam curled in silky white ribbons from his nostrils, standing out against his red, scaly hide.
"SIEGE!" he suddenly yelled, his great voice booming off the walls of The Raptor. His great hands balled into fists, his great long, yellow claws curling against his skin. Siege trudged in.
"Have you gotten any new leads to a possible source of Bulerium crystals yet?" Dragaunus demanded, for lack of better topic. The smaller, orange, beach ball shaped saurian stupidly looked at him, registering what he had asked. The small green eyes suddenly lit up as he understood and replied,
"Yes my lord." Siege's voice was gravelly. He produced a CD and stuck it in. Dragaunus waited a few moments before a sweet voice floated over him, singing of glowing crystals in faraway deserts at the time of setting sun, or silver stalagmites in caves beneath the cool arctic.
"What is this rubbish?" Dragaunus demanded, eyes losing their pupils in his rage again. Siege shifted his weight nervously.
"You see, my Lord, Chameleon was listening to this disk thing. I went to set him straight, but heard this song, and think that the artist may know about similar crystals… maybe one of them she mentions might be Bulerium. Dragaunus listened a few minutes more.
"Locate this person, and investigate."
"Yes, My lord," Siege said, starting to withdraw the disk.
"Leave it," Dragaunus ordered, and when Siege looked at him, he sneered. "I'm going to listen further for clues." Siege nodded and left, while Dragaunus listened carefully to the voice of the earthbound angel, her voice being addicting.
*~
Nosedive was fed up with wandering through the halls. It seemed he had searched every nook and cranny of the Pond's underground, while worrying that Duke was having more luck than he.
"Aw, man!" He muttered to himself. "How am I supposed to find a needle in a haystack?" He looked around, listening as well. He walked a little way further of the first floor, before… he heard a guitar. He listened even harder, and confirmed it… there was no mistaking it. He eagerly ran towards the sound, determining it to be in garden hall, as Grin insisted about having a garden.
"Hey!" He started but ran smack into somebody.
"Ow!" He grunted back.
"Duke!" Nosedive hissed. "I beat you!"
"I doubt that… notice we can't sure if that's her," he snapped. "Now, get outta my way."
"I don't think so," Dive said, elbowing his way into the front. Duke tried to keep him from behind but, straining, Dive dragged them both into the room. There they saw Ebony sitting on a stool with the guitar in her lap. They paused and listened while a figure watched her from the shadows. She strummed it and sang in a warm voice a song Dive recognized to be Sarah McLachlan.
"Yeah you're working, building a mystery; holding on and holding it in. Oh yeah you're working, building a mystery and choosing so carefully. You're building a mystery." She finished the song, and smiled at the boys who just toppled in.
"Hello," she greeted.
"See? Didn't I tell you she rocked, Duke?" Dive demanded, shrugging away from him.
"Who can believe Dive before seeing it for themselves," Duke replied suavely. "That was beautiful!" He started walking forward, but Dive shrugged him out of the way.
"Yeah, we were wondering where you went. We tried to find you and all," Dive grinned. "I'm glad you found the garden. We were worried about you."
"But… I haven't been alone," she said, rather confused. "I've been safe and sound. I just took out my guitar to entertain myself and others." She turned and smiled at the figure they hadn't seen.
"And let me say, you sing quite nicely," Wildwing said, stepping forward. Dive's jaw dropped.
"WING?!" Dive asked incredulously. Even Duke looked stunned.
"What?" He asked, nonchalantly.
"You knew where she was the entire time??" Dive and Duke asked together.
"Yeah, I ran into her in the halls… she was a little lost and wanted to go somewhere peaceful," Wildwing said, and Nosedive slapped his forehead.
"You could have told us," he muttered.
"Of course not, Baby bro, or peace would have walked right out that door," Wing teased.
"Come to think of it, I think she just did," Duke muttered, looking around, Ebony being quite gone. Wildwing sighed while Dive and Duke scurried after her, bellowing her name.
*~
Amber trudged back into Mallory's room and collapsed on the floor while the red head read a magazine on her own bed. She looked up to hear Amber sigh.
"Thanks for letting me share your room," Amber said. Mallory looked over at her. She seemed tired, as though she had had a busy day.
"Always at service," Mallory replied. "Now before we start, I have a few ground rules."
"I get to sleep on the floor?" Amber guessed, grinning. Mallory stared at her. "Probably no eating in here, that's the mess hall, no music after a certain hour and bedtimes are definite unless there's an emergency, right?"
"Riiiiight," Mallory said, looking at her as though she had read her mind.
"Sorry, I'm used to protocol," Amber replied shyly, blushing a bit. Mallory laughed.
"So am I," she replied easily. "So how's it like to be a rockstar?"
"Tons, and tons of work," Amber replied seriously. "It's not easy having to deal with so many people, so much excitement, so much…dare I say, worship? Sorry if that sounded egotistical, but I mean… I can't believe some of the fans I have. Tattooing my name across their chests and stuff… scary." Amber sighed. "But as much as I work, I love it."
"You sure you're ready going into another album?" Mallory asked, arching a brow.
"I think so," Amber replied, smiling. "I've had a really long vacation. I forgot the excitement… though I'm not too used to two mallards fighting over me." Mallory laughed. "I don't understand how you deal with it, Mal, I mean… they have to be all over you."
"No," Mallory replied, smiling. "They're not. They don't generally waste their energy on little old me, and I don't think I could stand it much either. I figure once they get used to you, then things will cool down a little bit."
"You think so?" Amber asked, smiling. Mallory nodded.
"Yep." Amber settled down, happily, on her cot on the floor. It sounded to be like a two-week sleep over with Mal, and for that, she was thankful. That's all she needed, was a down to earth girl talk, especially when she'd get very little of it in the year to come.
*~