Chapter 13

Kook was running at high speed, with Gildar a few yards behind him.

"Don't sass me Kook!" he called. "You know I hate that!"

Kook just kept running.

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?" Gildar asked loudly.

Kook was listening to him, intently, just not by choice.

He crashed into Ballista, who was, as usual, taking an opportunity to file her nails.

"Kook, what are you doing? And, why have you got Gildar's mirror?" she asked.

"Ballista, I..." he started.

But, he was interrupted just at the wrong moment, by Gildar, who had now caught up.

"He's... he's right, he can explain." Gildar said breathlessly. "He was being delusional. Something about a portal, I dunno."

Kook looked over at Gildar, who smiled sarcastically at him, whilst all the others laughed.

The laughter went on for a few minutes, before Crocness' voice silenced it all.

"PEOPLE! she said, voice like thunder, before dropping to normal level. "Kook's idea might help us find Thorne and Shaiden."

Gildar laughed. "How is some silly portal theory gonna help us find Thorne and Shaiden?"

Crocness turned and gave Gildar a death glare. Gildar stopped laughing.

Kook smiled. She's returning the favour, he thought happily.

"Now, Kook?" She gestured towards him, and Kook stepped forward and began speaking.

"Earlier on, I was outside the Stockade, playing around with my Sling Splatter..."

Gildar opened his mouth to interrupt again, but Crocness gave him another death glare, and he shut up.

Kook spoke again. "I was playing around with my Sling Splatter, and I shot a paintball into the air, y'know, as a practice, but instead of falling to the ground, it hit something."

Knightriss spoke, a perplexed look on her face. "And, you say you shot this paintball into thin air, with nothing in front of you?"

Kook nodded. "Well, there was the outer wall of the Stockade, but I was standing a little too far back for the paintball to hit that."

Kook saw that he didn't need any permission to continue speaking. "So then, the empty space started rippling, like water, and I was there, getting really freaked out, when it suddenly bursted open..."

He made an explosion movement with his hands.

"And then there was this forest, and, this creature..."

He stopped, and looked around. All the other Defenders were gripped by his story.

"And, as I crept closer and closer to it..."

He paused for a minute or two, for dramatic effect.

"It GROWLED!"

He made a claw movement with his hands. Everyone jumped. Kook was satisfied with the reactions, so he continued.

"And, as it turned around, I could see it had these stripes all over it's body, and and this mark on it's eye."

Crocness' eyes went wide. "Thorne! The creature, it must have been Thorne! And, if he's there, then Shaiden must be with him!"

"Oh Kook, you're a genius!" she said, her voice full of happiness.

Kook smiled.

Gildar tried to chime in. "How can we be sure he's telling the truth?"

Crocness started to get up, but Ballista stopped her. "Don't worry Croc." she said firmly "I'll take it from here." She walked towards Gildar, and everyone except him knew what would happen next.

"Oh, this is gonna be so funny!" said Skabb, who hadn't really spoken much during the last couple of minutes.

"Look," Ballista said, her voice noticeably angry, "I can tell when people are lying. Their voices are different, their body language changes- none of that happened with Kook. He's telling the truth, you know that."

Gildar nodded quickly, and Ballista pushed him away, and walked back, high fiving Croc in the process.

She turned to Kook. "Say, how exactly are we gonna get to see this portal?" she asked.

Kook said nothing, and turned to Tinkor. "Tink, go to the Weaponry Store Room and get out everything you've got, then bring them to the outside of the Stockade. Slime Sticks, Splatzookas, Lethal Launchers..."

Tinkor nodded, and rushed off.

He turned to all the others, and said, with a smile on his face, "Guys, follow me."