Shannon's POV

I could smell the salt from the water wafting through the breeze. The sky was mostly cloudy, with stratocumulus streaming in from the direction of the coast…perhaps, to the south maybe? I could tell that it was a band pattern, so I knew that there was a circulation nearby. However, there was no darkness to be seen-just clouds as far as the eye could see.

I couldn't help but speak, "Wait, I thought the train wouldn't take us closer because of the darkness! From what I'm sensing, we're pretty close."

Rogue shook his head, "I would say luck too. The storm hasn't hit the station yet, however, it was shut down due to-" I didn't hear the rest of his thoughts because I had seen something peculiar-a bunch of trees broken, their tops pointing towards us.

I dashed over there and noticed that there were rows upon rows of trees just like the first. I could see clear indicators of straight line wind damage, and knew that this area had been impacted. I heard someone shout, "Shannon! Frosch wants to come explore with you!"

I turned and shook my head, "Stay back! This is dangerous for many. One wrong move and you could be seriously hurt." So, I kept running and just as I was about to approach the trees, the sky turned pitch black. I quickly pivoted to face where I guessed Rogue and Frosch were, but couldn't see anything. Good thing Frosch didn't come with me-this was spooky to say the least.

I closed my eyes and pictured my left hand lighting up to act like a flashlight. My eyes flew open when I felt the wind dancing through my hair. Sure enough, my hand was bright. I held it up and saw the trees waving their branches in the wind….standing upright. Above me, lightning flashed, with the echoes of thunder ringing across the landscape. How could a storm this brutal not be noticed from afar? And why weren't the trees tipped over from straight line wind damage?

I felt someone grab my right shoulder, so I couldn't help but jump out of fright...just a tad! I turned around and saw Rogue looking at me with...anger? Awe? I struggle with reading stoic people, so I quickly spoke up, "How did you…?"

"You disappeared into thin air, which was suspicious. Can you explain this occurrence?"

Frosch jumped up into the air to catch my attention, "Frosch wants to know too!"

I picked Frosch up with my right arm and smiled, "I don't know, however, I think this storm isn't natural. I think something is causing it, after all, the trees are perfectly-" I was cut off by someone placing their hand over my mouth and saw another hand extinguish my light. My heart raced at this-could I be getting kidnapped?

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a red eye looking straight ahead, scanning the area. Gratitude filled me, and I made a mental note to thank Rogue for saving the mission. I looked right in front of me and saw a few people wearing purple robes. Each of them had a staff that flurese a dark grey color. It was creepy to say the least, but to know what was happening only confirmed my thoughts. The cloaked figures only glanced towards us, and kept walking. I swore I heard one of them muttering, "I swore the alarm went off here...must have been an animal."

Right after they walked by, Rogue took his hands off of my mouth and hand. I turned around to face him, in a way of thanking him, but he quickly whispered, "Stay here with Frosch."

All I could do was quickly nod. Rogue disappeared into the shadows and wove through the trees. I couldn't help but squeeze Frosch a little bit tighter...what would happen if our cover was blown? Hopefully, that wouldn't happen.

I looked back up at the sky to examine the storm once more. However, when I looked...I saw beams of gray light ascending towards the clouds. The clouds were almost the exact same shades as the staffs...and that's when it hit me. The staffs were controlling the storm, and I had to do everything in my power to destroy them.

I dashed out from where Frosch and I had been hiding and saw a crowd of these hooded people around Rogue. They never used their staffs for launching spells at him. Rather, they just fired some spells from their hands, but Rogue was too quick for them! Wait...if he's distracting them, then that means….

By the time my mind had processed this thought, my feet were already charging towards the group of people. I looked at Frosch and smiled, "Can you please grab as many of those staffs as you can?"

Frosch quickly responded, "Frosch can do that!"

"Great! Bring them over to me, and we'll destroy them! Does that sound like a plan?"

The Exceed flew out of my arms and towards the group of villains, "Frosch thinks so!"

Now it was my turn to act. I charged towards the group, and got into the center of the circle by sliding into a member's ankles. He yelped out of fright, and dropped his staff. As the staff touched the ground, the wind from the storm let up just a tiny bit, and I could see thin rays of sunlight coming through the clouds. So the trick was to take the staff away, since it was connected to the user!

I picked up the staff and waved it at the other hooded people, grinning. I now had one of their precious weapons. I quickly glanced at Rogue and saw that while he was holding his own, more robed figures approached. I cracked my knuckles and smirked, "Perfect timing! LIGHT DRAGON'S ROAR!"

Light flew out of my mouth and impacted multiple of the robe figures, which caused them to drop their staffs. I looked above me and saw the sun's rays starting to dance through the clouds, along with the number of lightning strikes decreasing. This plan of mine was working!

Frosch though...was in trouble. I looked over at the frog cat and saw that one of the figures had it by the tail. I dashed over to the figure and clocked him in the head with the staff, causing Frosch to be freed….but I was now surrounded by these figures-and their staves were pointed right at me!

I held the staff out close to me and spoke, "Stay back, or you'll be sorry you've messed with me!"

The figures…started to laugh. One of them got gutsy enough to say, "You were lucky with your first hit. Your luck ends here." The ends of their staves pointed at me…and they all started to glow.

I tried to will my magic into the staff I held, as a feeble way to protect myself, but by the time I saw it starting to work, their staffs had fired at me. I thrust the end of the staff into the ground and cried out, "Light Dragon Slayer's Protection!"