Chapter 6

The Sun

A few days have passed since Kassidy, Holden, and Shade made their journey to the jeep and Kassidy's house. Over these last few days, Kassidy has been getting more and more worried about her family. She has been trying to put together who could've been the thief and kidnapper, but she didn't know who it could've been. She thought that maybe her Aunt or Uncle had an enemy that despised them but she has never heard either of them talking about someone that hated them. She went back to her house along with Holden and Shade to see if there was some sort of evidence that her family had enemies, but there was nothing. Not one single trace.

However the night that Kassidy, Holden, and Shade saw that the house was damaged, Kassidy saw a note lying on the kitchen table. When she read the note she felt her blood go cold. Reading it out loud to her friends only made her want to rip her own ears out so she wouldn't have to hear it. After she read it she ripped it into shreds and the feeling of anger almost got out of control like when she pounded her fists inside her jeep. Not only did her stuff get stolen, but also Holden's but her family got kidnapped by someone she didn't even know who. However, before her anger could get too out of control she managed to try and calm down but remembering that note over and over again could only anger her.

Dear Kassidy,

You may be wondering why the inside of your house looks like a total mess and why you can't find your family. Well the reason being is because I kidnapped your family and don't worry about them they're in good hands. Try to find them all you want but you'll never find them and the reason being is because I'm very good at hiding things. I would give you a clue as to where you could find them, but making things difficult for people is too much fun. Good luck in whatever situation you're in right now, you're going to need the luck anyways. You don't know me but soon you will.

From,

Anonymous

She didn't know who was responsible for this but she was determined to find him or her and make them pay for what they did. She was determined to solve this mystery.

When Kassidy, Holden, and Shade got back to Tree Haven, they went to the elders and Kassidy, Holden, and Shade explained the whole situation to them. All of them besides Bathsheba listened to them carefully and worried. After they finished their story, Frieda suggested to Kassidy and Holden that they should travel with them so they could get the help they needed. Of course, Bathsheba was not too thrilled with this, but Frieda's decision was final. Kassidy and Holden thanked them, but they didn't know who they could go to for help when they migrated with the colony. Kassidy suggested that they could find someone that had magic like her and she said the only way they would determine if someone had magic is if they possessed a pendant mark on their palm. But they both knew that it would take a while before they could even find someone that possessed the star mark on their palm like her.

Kassidy didn't want to go back to that house after she, Holden, and Shade went back there a second time. She knew that she was no longer safe anywhere. She didn't know what kind of threat this person had, but she didn't want to think this person was harmless. This person sounded dangerous, but who was he or she and what did they want? Holden, Shade, and Ariel would try to calm her down and try to reassure her that everything would be fine and things would get fixed as soon as possible whenever they saw her looking worried.

Ariel was very hospitable to Kassidy and Holden and made sure they were getting what they needed like Shade. She told them that they should be feeding on insects so they could prepare for the migration and Kassidy was perfectly fine with that, but Holden wasn't. He didn't want to eat any insects and insisted that he could have some berries instead, but when he tried to eat blueberries he immediately spit them out because he found the flavor of them to be gross. Kassidy and Shade warned him that they wouldn't taste good if he tried to eat them but he did so anyway. Even though Kassidy was still worried sick about her family she knew she couldn't go light headed before the migration started, so she ate all that she could.

Kassidy and Shade managed to take the time to help Holden with his flying and hunting. They taught him all he needed to know and he did complain sometimes, but he tried to do as they say. Holden got better at flying and landing better, he even managed to finally learn how to take off from the ground. Holden was still working on his hunting skills but he was getting better and soon would be where Kassidy and Shade were. Whenever he couldn't catch one insect he would usually fly out of control and crash into something, like a lake. Kassidy and Shade tried not to laugh but sometimes they couldn't help themselves, but they would cheer him up.

Kassidy was flying in the forest trying to catch a beetle and she didn't take her eyes off it. She produced a net of sound on it, but in a very fast movement, she used her wing to guide the beetle towards her mouth and as soon as the beetle was near her mouth she opened it and started to chew on it as soon as it touched her tongue. It tasted exactly like chicken as she was chewing on it and swallowing it. After finishing up her beetle, she rejoined Holden and Shade on the tree branch they were hanging out on. When she got to the tree branch she planted her feet on it and swung upside down.

"I don't know about you guys," Kassidy started, "but I don't know if I can eat anymore. I'm pretty much filled up."

"Same here," Holden said. He then looked at Shade. "I don't know how you guys manage to do this without barfing it all up. This is kind of like eating too many sweets."

Shade laughed. "Well, this is how we've always done things around here. Even though I'm feeling stuffed as well I think I'll go for one more insect."

Even though Kassidy knew a lot about bats, she was learning something new from them. She even learned that bats honored a goddess named Nocturna. She wasn't a religious person and didn't go to church, but she didn't judge anyone's beliefs. She found it quite interesting that even some animals worshipped a god/goddess of their own and that it wasn't just humans. This was kind of like the books she read.

A few days ago, Kassidy's eyeliner had been smearing all over her eyelids, so she had to wash it all off so she wouldn't deal with it so often. She didn't mind the fact that she had to get rid of the eyeliner; she was, in fact, glad because she didn't like to wear it whenever she was in nature.

Flying past the three friends was a tiger moth and that immediately got Shade's attention. Kassidy knew what Shade was thinking and she saw that he was smiling at it. "I call dibs on the tiger moth," Shade then took off from the tree branch and went after the tiger moth.

Shade had been talking about wanting to catch a tiger moth for a while and this was his big moment. Kassidy and Holden watched as Shade pumped his wings, used his echo vision on the moth, and kept his eyes on it. They saw the yearning in his eyes for that tiger moth as he chased it down through the forest and through different things like a log. He even flew through tight openings just to try and catch it.

He was close to catching it, but the tiger moth started to duplicate into other ones just to trick Shade. Shade tried biting into all of them to find the real one, but all of them were the same projections. "Hey!" Shade shouted as the moth was getting away, but he kept flying after it and kept producing a net of sound.

"Shade, you got this!" Kassidy shouted towards Shade. "Be smarter than the moth!"

"Come on, Smalls!" Holden shouted towards Shade. "We believe in you!"

Smalls was a nickname that Holden gave to Shade, but he made sure that if it was okay with him that he called him that. Shade didn't mind and he said it was better than being called a runt. He hated being called a runt. Quite frankly, Kassidy and Holden didn't like that anyone called Shade a runt either.

Because of Kassidy and Holden's support, Shade flapped his wings more and was now close to catching the tiger moth. Shade smiled and was about to snap his teeth on the moth, but out of nowhere someone flew in fast and knocked Shade out of the way and caught the tiger moth and this caused Shade to spin in the sky like he was a dancer piece in a music box, but he managed to stay in flight before he crashed into anything.

Kassidy was about to shout to Shade and ask if he was alright, but she all the sudden heard cheering. She and Holden looked to see what the commotion was and they saw that it was Chinook, Todd, and Breeze on a different tree branch a few wing beats away from them and in Chinook's mouth was the moth that would've been Shade's.

Holden threw his hands up and then threw them down. "Are you kidding me?"

"Way to go Chinook," Todd said impressed.

"Who's the bat?" Breeze said. "You the bat." Chinook swallowed down his moth with pride and this could only make Kassidy annoyed. Kassidy could tell that Holden was annoyed by this as well. "Cool technique."

"I know," Chinook said as he finished down the moth.

"That tiger moth never saw what hit him!" Breeze swung her fist in the air which could only make Kassidy roll her eyes.

"Ha! Neither did Shade." Chinook and his two sidekicks laughed.

Kassidy rolled her fingers into fists but didn't dare try to fly over to them and punch either of them in the face even though she wanted to. She repeated in her head to calm down and don't use violence on them. It was bad enough her family was kidnapped and she didn't want any more problems than there already was. She just wanted to try and have fun with Holden and Shade, but no, these guys came in and ruined the fun. Even though Kassidy wanted to focus more on finding her family than having fun, she didn't want Holden and Shade to worry about her too much.

Shade flew over to the tree branch Chinook was on and hung upside down on it and he was not too happy. He stared at Chinook very angry-even though he was clearly out of breath. "I could have had him!"

Chinook smiled smugly at Shade. "Coulda-woulda-shoulda." He said as he poked Shade in the chest, which caused Shade to fall from the branch onto the next one below.

Kassidy growled and bared her teeth and took off from the branch she was on towards the tree the others were on. "Hey!" Chinook, Todd, and Breeze jumped at the sound of Kassidy's angry voice and they looked at her. Kassidy landed on the tree branch Shade fell on and kept baring her teeth at them. "Don't you ever touch him again and if you do I'll make sure to grow plants out of your ear holes."

All three of the Silverwings had their eyes widened and Kassidy noticed Chinook looked a little disturbed by what she said. At this point, she didn't care about what she said and all she cared about was standing up for Shade. Kassidy looked at Shade and held her hand out to Shade to take. Shade looked at Kassidy's hand and then grabbed it and then Kassidy pulled him up to his feet as Holden landed next to them. Shade then dusted his arms.

"You alright?" Kassidy asked.

Shade looked at Kassidy. "I'm fine."

"Yeah, he's fine," Kassidy, Holden, and Shade looked at Chinook and Kassidy bared her teeth again at him. "He's just a little clumsy."

"Shut up, man," Holden said. "You're the reason why Shade fell off from that branch."

"So?"

"So," Kassidy began, "if he would've fallen down to the ground and not this branch here-" Kassidy gestured to the tree branch she, Shade, and Holden were on, "he would've seriously gotten himself hurt and we all know who that will be blamed on."

"Relax he's fine for now." Chinook looked at Shade. "Don't sweat it, runt, only the best hunters can see through the moth's echo protection."

Shade looked at Chinook annoyed. "Echo protection? The word is echo projection and don't call me runt!" Shade pointed at Chinook.

Wow, Chinook's stupider than he already looks, Kassidy thought.

"Really?" Chinook said clearly not caring and he turned his back on Kassidy, Holden, and Shade. "Now where was I when I was forced to yet eat another tiger moth?"

Kassidy, Holden, and Shade looked at each other and they all knew what they were thinking. Shade sighed and rolled his eyes. "Here comes another one of Chinook's bragging speeches." He said while whispering.

At the sound of Shade's voice, he was clearly not looking forward to hearing what Chinook had to say. Kassidy knew exactly how he felt.

"You were telling us about your Dad," Breeze said while pointing her finger at Chinook.

Kassidy's heart sank when Breeze said the word, Dad. Even thinking about that word could only make her feel depressed for some reason even though she tried not to think about that day with her and her parents. Maybe the reason she felt depressed all the sudden was because now she was going to hear Chinook talk about his Dad that was currently alive.

Kassidy got along very well with her Dad and they were like best friends. They had a lot in common and her Mom even said that she was like the mini version of him. In fact, she looked a lot like him. He always found a way to make Kassidy smile and when he did she would usually start to glow very brightly. Whenever Kassidy had her bad days, her Dad would always try to find a way to cheer her up and when he did she would cheer up. He was a smart and wise man and Kassidy admired him for what he did, sadly though she would never hear his or her Mom's voice ever again. After they passed away, Kassidy had been seeing a psychiatrist in Canada and as she kept going to the psychiatrist she slowly started to feel better.

Kassidy didn't want to hear about Chinook's Dad, but she decided to zip her mouth and hear what Chinook had to say.

"Oh, he's big." Chinook swung upward fast and raised his wings up as wide as he could. "Big enough to kill an owl!"

Kassidy stared at him with her eyes narrowed and was not impressed. She knew he was lying. Really, that's what he wanted to say about his Dad? Jesus Christ.

"Wow…" Breeze folded her hands and she tilted her head to the side and stared at Chinook with a dreamy look in her eyes very impressed.

Todd, on the other hand, looked at Chinook with a hint of confusion in his eyes. "That's… even bigger than what you said last time."

Holden all the sudden burst out laughing and this made everyone look at him, Chinook especially. He looked at him with his eyes narrowed. "What's so funny?"

Holden tried to stop laughing, but he kept laughing. "Man-" Holden laughed more and then he wiped away the tears from laughing too much. "That's a good one. Clearly, you worked so hard to come up with something so funny like that. I'll give it to you, that was pretty funny."

Chinook flew off from the branch he was on and landed near Holden and got in his face. "You calling me a liar, turd? My father's huge!"

"No, I'm calling you a comedian. Yes, I'm calling you a liar. It's obvious that's not true because if it was you'd be the size of what you say your father is, but you're not. I'm not an expert on bats but I can tell that you ain't telling the truth, fairest liar of them all."

"Holden's right," Kassidy said. "Besides if you know what your Dad is like, how is it remotely possible that you know that if you've never even met him before? It's obvious that you're lying because none of the newborns here have seen their Dad. Not even you."

Chinook stuttered and he rubbed his neck. "Um… well, my Mom told me…" Kassidy cocked her eyebrow up to see what else Chinook had to say. "Okay… so my Dad has never killed an owl. I got carried away, okay? But trust me, when we get to Hibernaculum you'll see that he's pretty big." Chinook looked at Shade and pointed at his wings. "If your runty little wings can make the migration."

Shade glowered at Chinook while Kassidy kept staring at Chinook with her eyes narrowed.

"Big, schmig," Holden said. "Shade's going to make it. Well since we're going to be talking about our Dads here I might as well get on telling you all about my Dad."

Kassidy couldn't believe that Holden was now going to be talking about his Dad like it was show and tell. Kassidy could even tell that Shade couldn't believe that Holden was about to talk about his Dad like it was a contest for the best Dad ever described.

Kassidy covered the side of her mouth with the back of her hand and whispered towards Shade: "Am I the only one finding this dumb?"

Shade used the back of his hand to cover the side of his mouth and whispered towards Kassidy. "If I'm being honest right now, I'm finding this dumb as well."

"My Dad is a very rich guy," Holden began. "He can basically afford to buy anything, just name what you want and he gets it in a snap." Holden snapped his fingers.

Not everything, Kassidy thought.

"You wanna know what my Dad works as to get that kind of money? A dentist."

"What's a dentist?" Todd asked.

"Someone who basically checks your teeth to see if they're healthy or not," Kassidy said.

"Yeah, what she said," Holden said. "Because I live with a rich Dad I get to do whatever I want."

Kassidy couldn't believe now that Holden was sort of lying like Chinook. She appreciated that he was standing up to Shade but she didn't like the fact that he was showing off like Chinook was. She could tell though that he was doing a good job of getting under Chinook's skin because Chinook looked pretty jealous of what Holden was saying. Todd and Breeze, on the other hand, were looking at Holden impressed as if he redeemed himself from not being like a bat.

Holden kept talking about his Dad and his life with some lies in it and Todd and Breeze listened interested while Chinook looked like he was about to attack Holden at any moment. While Holden talked, Kassidy and Shade were already getting bored. Kassidy really wanted to do a spell that could mute his voice, but she didn't know how to do that which figures. She thought he was getting off track here and she was right. He kept talking and looked like he wouldn't stop.

Holden, for god's sake, shut up!

As if hearing Kassidy's thoughts, Holden finally finished. He was still the same guy at school that Kassidy saw talk a lot and this didn't even surprise her. She actually could compare him and Chinook right now because they were sort of similar. Holden was popular, Chinook was popular. Holden talked like he could be treated like a god and told lies, Chinook talked like he could be treated like a god and told lies. She already regretted comparing these two.

"All of what you said there is nothing," Chinook said still looking jealous. "My Dad-"

"Okay, we get it!" Kassidy shouted before Chinook could say anything else and everyone looked at her. "You both have Dads that are impressive. I don't think we need to hear anymore about your Dads."

Kassidy narrowed her eyes at Holden and Holden mouthed "What?" at her.

Kassidy noticed that Shade looked relieved that Kassidy stopped this before it continued any further.

"Sure…" Chinook said sarcastically. "We all have Dads that are impressive." Chinook then eyed Shade. "Well, most of our Dads anyways."

Shade bared his teeth at Chinook angrily and took a couple steps forward. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing much really… " Chinook lazily spread opened his wings and put them down after a few seconds. "Just the fact that your Dad was a phony and besides it's not like you're going to see him anyway."

Shade's eyes widened in anger. "Don't talk about my Dad like that!" Shade wanted to get near Chinook, but Kassidy put her wing in front of him to stop him.

Kassidy was now really furious with Chinook. He took it a step too far. Shade told Kassidy and Holden that he lost his Dad and he said that no one for sure knew what happened to him. He did say that the owls might've taken him, but he wasn't entirely sure, his Mom wasn't entirely sure, and everyone else wasn't entirely sure. It saddened to see Shade's grief for losing a Dad that he never even met before.

Kassidy could only imagine what that would be like if she grew up not having a Dad. She and her Mom would get into arguments sometimes, but it wasn't anything harsh between them. Even though they had arguments they would apologize to each other and try to forget about it.

"Your Dad was bad news!" Chinook said to Shade narrowing his eyes. "He was a troublemaker and a coward!"

Shade's eyes widened more, but he got angrier. "My Dad was not a coward!" Shade then mumbled under his breath: "You fruit bat."

"What did you call me, runt?"

Kassidy pushed Holden aside with her wing and got in Chinook's face which sort of scared Chinook. "Back off, you son of a bitch. If you have anything else to say to Shade, I'd like to hear them right now on this branch. You're sick to the bone and you know why? Because you don't care about Shade. A lot of us don't have Dads, Moms, or even both of them because of certain reasons and that's sad to think about! How would you like it if you lost your Dad or Mom? You think that would be a good subject to talk about?"

Chinook didn't say anything but kept staring at Kassidy with his eyes widened as did Todd and Breeze.

"You think because your Dad is so brilliant you think you have the right to talk shit about others' Dads like that? Well let me tell you this, it's not a good subject to talk about and it will never be a good subject to talk about! A lot think you're cool, but you're not, you're a jerk."

"Umm… the sun's coming up," Breeze said as if wanting this conversation to end, but she was right. The dawn chorus sounded through the woods. "We gotta get back to Tree Haven."

"Come on, Chinook," Todd said as he and Breeze were getting nervous. "Let's go."

Chinook looked at his friends and nervously looked back at Kassidy and she was still staring at Chinook angrily. "Alright… let's fly." Chinook, Todd, and Breeze spread opened their wings and took off for Tree Haven.

Kassidy stared after them still angry, but she was surprised that fire didn't spread over her body. She was glad no one didn't witness her practically turn into a hot head. She turned around and saw Shade hang upside down on the branch and was looking towards where the sun was rising while Holden looked around him and listened to the night chorus kind of nervous.

"I guess we should start heading back as well," Holden said.

"Come on, guys," Breeze shouted towards Kassidy, Holden, and Shade.

"You guys go," Shade said looking back at the three Silverwings with a mischievous smile on his face. "Kassidy, Holden, and I are going to hang around here to see the sun."

Kassidy and Holden immediately looked at Shade fast and were shocked by what he said. "What?" They said simultaneously.

"Guys, please…" Shade said whispering as they heard Chinook, Todd, and Breeze bump into each other. Kassidy could only guess they weren't expecting to hear something like that from him. "I need you… I don't wanna do this alone. I wanna prove to them that I'm not just a runt and plus you guys have seen the sun."

"Man, have you gone mad?" Holden asked seriously. "That's-"

"See the sun?" Chinook asked as he, Todd, and Breeze landed near them.

Shade had a sarcastic smile and swung upward to look at Chinook. "You heard me."

"I heard you… I don't believe you."

"You can't be outside when the sun comes up," Breeze said while pointing her finger up very nervous. "The owls will kill you."

Kassidy saw that Holden looked disturbed by what Breeze said. He had his eyes widened. She then looked back at the other three Silverwings. "I understand that you guys aren't allowed to look at the sun, but what's even the problem with looking at it? The owls I can understand though."

"Don't you know?" Chinook asked. "If one of us even tried to look at the sun we'd turn into ashes."

"Well, whoever thought about that clearly hasn't seen the sun for themselves and if they did and they haven't turned into ashes they would've said they didn't turn into ashes."

"Exactly, Chinook," Shade said with his sarcastic smile. "You don't believe us? Then join us. Aren't you curious?"

"Shade…" Holden said under his breath not finding this funny.

Chinook looked hesitant, but he narrowed his eyes. "Maybe I am… runt."

"Are you out of your mind?" Todd asked seriously while pointing at Chinook. "It's against the law."

"It's a stupid law," Shade said with his eyes narrowed. "Kassidy and Holden have seen the sun so I don't see why we can't do the same." Shade looked at Chinook and brought back his sarcastic smile. "Right, Chinook?"

Chinook didn't say anything and looked as though he didn't know what to say and it seemed that Shade got to him and Kassidy could tell that Shade was trying to hold back his pride. As much as this did sound like a stupid idea she didn't see why it wouldn't hurt to check out the sun. Shade did have a point saying that this law was stupid and Kassidy thought that everyone should have the right to look at the sun. Besides, Shade was her friend and she didn't want him hanging alone with Chinook. Plus she knew this was a good opportunity to repay Shade for what he did.

"Guys… its morning and we should really be inside," Todd said as he took off.

"I'm with you, Todd," Breeze said as she took off to follow Todd back to Tree Haven.

Chinook looked from Shade, Kassidy, and Holden. "So… what are we going to do?"

"Get ourselves killed?" Holden asked. Chinook looked like he was going to fall to pieces just hearing what Holden said. Kassidy knew Chinook didn't like this idea, but she didn't like that Holden was thinking about them getting killed by owls. Kassidy didn't know if it was her or not, but it seemed that Holden would always say something that seemed like bad news every time. "Maybe we should head back to Tree Haven. I'd rather much go back there in one piece than lose any."

Shade crossed his arms and looked at Holden mad. "I thought you were my friend, Holden? I feel like you only care about your safety." Holden was about to respond, but Shade held up his hand. "You know what? Forget it, if you want to go back to Tree Haven then go back to Tree Haven." Shade looked at Chinook leaving Holden's jaw open. "I thought maybe we could fly up top, get a better view." Shade looked at Kassidy with hope. "You with me?"

Kassidy smiled weakly. "I sure am and I'm not going to let you do this alone with him. Besides, it's a stupid law like you said."

Shade smiled at Kassidy. "Let's go then."

"Okay… I guess." Chinook said.

Shade and Chinook took off, but Kassidy stayed and looked back at Holden pretty mad. She walked over to Holden. "I don't know why you got to act this way, but Shade's our friend and we owe him. If you really are Shade's friend then you'd have his back and go with us. It's not the first time you got into trouble you know."

Without waiting for Holden to respond, Kassidy took off to catch up to Shade and Chinook. Shade and Chinook were perched on a very high branch and were waiting for her. Kassidy landed near Shade and hung upside down. They all then looked to where the sun was rising. As Kassidy was looking she thought that maybe this wasn't such a good idea, but she wanted to do this for Shade. Plus she has always wanted to see a sunrise.

Then to Kassidy's surprise, Holden landed next to her. Kassidy thought that Holden didn't care and just wanted to go back to Tree Haven, but here he was next to her. Holden rubbed his arm as he looked towards where the sun was rising.

"What're you doing here?" Shade asked. "Shouldn't you be heading back to Tree Haven?"

Holden looked at Shade and looked guilty about almost leaving him and Kassidy behind. "Look, Smalls… I'm sorry. I should've been more of a friend than a butt head. To show that I'm sorry I'll stay out here… If you'll have me."

Shade and Kassidy looked at each other. They then smiled and looked back at Holden. "Yeah, you can stay," Shade said. "And you're right, you are a butt head."

"Yeah, you're a butt head," Kassidy said. "But welcome to the sun watching group."

Holden smiled weakly and then all three of them turned their attention to the horizon. All four of them said nothing but waited patiently for something to happen. The sky was now turning into a purple and as it did, Kassidy could feel a thrill inside her.

"Well," Chinook started while trying to smile. "I guess that's the sun… uh, let's head back."

"No," Kassidy said. "That's just the pre-glow. It'll get better though."

"Oh… you know Kass… you seem pretty smart and… you look as though you know a lot."

Kassidy looked at Chinook. "What can I say? I read a lot and don't bother trying to flatter me. It's not going to work, not after what you said to Shade."

Chinook's smile went down. He then looked around him nervously. "Sure hope there's no owls around…right?"

"What do you care?" Shade asked as he pointed at Chinook. "According to you, bats can kill owls."

"Hey… you know what I was just thinking? We can… not see the sun and uh… say that we saw it. How about that?"

Kassidy could tell in the hint of Chinook's voice that he wanted to get the heck out of here. There was no denying it really and if he so badly wanted to go back then she could've done a transportation spell-if she knew how. As she thought about it, that suddenly struck her like lightning. If owls did try to kill them she could try to do a transportation spell, but that could take a lot of time to figure out. She knew though that magic doesn't solve everyone's problems.

"Oh, really?" Shade said smiling sarcastically again.

Chinook nodded eagerly and then started to shake like he was a dog trying to hide from the fireworks that were exploding in the sky. Shade looked at Kassidy and Holden and without Chinook looking he used his thumb to point at him and was trying not to laugh. To Kassidy, it was sort of amusing seeing Chinook looking scared and this made her want to laugh, but she held her tongue. However, she understood that Chinook never looked at the sun and she could see why he would look scared. Shade looked back at Chinook and watched as he shook. Chinook tried smiling at them and tried to look as though he was perfectly fine. After a couple of minutes, he eventually couldn't take it anymore and took off towards Tree Haven.

As soon as Chinook was far enough away from them, Kassidy, Holden, and Shade looked at each other. They then slowly started to smile and then they burst out laughing. Kassidy knew this felt wrong, but she couldn't help herself and neither could the boys.

"Okay," Holden said, "I'll admit, that was something. Well… fun's fun but I think we should head back now. I think you proved your point to Chinook."

"Not yet," Shade said as he looked towards the horizon and crossed his arms. "I wanna see the sun for real."

Holden's smile went down and he didn't like what Shade said. "Smalls… this is crazy! We should head back. You won your contest against Chinook and I think you should be satisfied with that." Holden looked at Kassidy. "Kassidy, tell him we gotta go. If we die today, we'll know why."

"Holden," Kassidy started, "if he wants to see the sun then let him. I'd want to too if I was him. Plus I thought you were a trouble maker? Are you chicken?"

Shade turned his head to look at Holden as Holden's eyes widened at what Kassidy just said. Holden smiled sarcastically and crossed his arms. "Fine, I'll stay and watch the sun. Plus the only chicken that was in this group was Chinook and I ain't chicken."

"That look on Chinook's face though was hilarious," Shade said as he looked back towards the horizon. "Now for the grand finale we've all been waiting for."

"This should be something," Kassidy said.

Kassidy and Holden looked towards the horizon and waited for the sun to rise. After a few minutes of silence, brightness filled the sky and all three of them had to cover their eyes before they went blind. They all then put down their hands and wings and together they all watched as the sun slowly went up in awe.

A/N- Hey, guys, I was hoping to write more in this chapter, but this was all I could do for now. I promise though that I'll get to the good parts. I don't know if I put enough description in this chapter, but I hope that this was okay. I'll see you later.