Hey guys, it's Halloween! ^^ Ah, the greatness of being able to scare people... *evil smile* But, anyways, here's the next chapter of Fallen Angel! There's more plot twists to be had! Mwah ha ha ha ha ha ha! *Yeah, I'm kinda evil-ish, heh heh, but I need to work on my dark evil laugh… -sigh-*

Summary: Kurt is a Fallen, an indescribably beautiful race of demon–angels. Kitty is a fledgling priestess with a hidden power. Kitty knows that Kurt isn't her enemy, but can she prove it?

Fallen Angel

6. Disappearance

Kitty had been working on water, with Fira, in the sandy hollow for a few hours. She had learned that water wasn't the same as the other elements—water went at its own pace, and that made it utterly frustrating for Kitty to try to grasp the element's powers.

That morning… She'd left the dragonfire in her house—she didn't know what to do with it, and she doubted she'd be able to find Sparks again to figure out what the girl had wanted her to do with it.

As she swung down from the tree branch, something whizzed past her ear and she jumped back, landing on the ground with a thump.

Where her head had been, a pointed arrow-tip was buried into the bark. Hanging from it was a small shard of metal, an unusual design ingrained into the shiny side.

It was a four-pointed star with pale edges, looped over an arrow, and a grouping of many, very small circles around it. Kitty stared at it numbly—had she seen it before? Or was it something that the Fallen part of her recognized, but she, herself, had no idea what it meant?

She felt an engraving on the back as well, and flipped it over, reading the words there. Her blood seemed to freeze and she could barely hold onto the shard. It said:

He will be the first.

You will be next.

The trek to the sandy hollow that morning had seemed longer than usual—was it just her, or where eyes looking out at her from every tree, every shadow? Was she just paranoid? And last night she had also had somewhat of a shock when she looked in her mirror—her face had changed slightly, the ears' tips becoming pointed, and she was certain there weren't any bruises or scars anywhere either.

The differences between her and the Fallen were disappearing rapidly—how long until not even she would recognize herself from a mirror's reflection?

She had gone to bed that night very confused, as the light from the dragonfire, sitting in a wooden bowl on the table, flickered eerily against the wooden beams.

Kitty's mind whirled back to the present as a jet of water doused her, soaking her just a bit more from where she'd previously been—still soaking wet.

"Fira, are you sure this'll actually work?" grumbled Kitty, blowing a bang out of her face.

Fira's gaze flicked to her. "It takes time," she said quietly. "But I believe in you. You'll figure out a way."

"I'm surprised you have so much faith in me," muttered Kitty, feeling a bit sarcastic—hey, overworking towards something you don't think will happen can do that to a girl.

Fira's water-blue eyes stared solemnly at her, and Kitty sighed.

"I know you guys have been real helpful to me and all, but I…I don't think I can live up to your expectations… I mean, seriously! I can't do anything right!" she tried to explain her feelings.

"Only because you believe you will not succeed," murmured Fira.

Kitty stayed silent, partly because it was the truth and partly because she just didn't want to admit it.

"Do you want to keep trying? Or is this enough for one day?"

"I don't know…" Kitty sighed. She knew she'd been disappointing her Fallen teachers, but the main problem was that she just couldn't reach the power—did she need some sort of motivation or something? She highly doubted any of them would be willing to throw her into a life-threatening position just to make sure her powers worked. No—there had to be another way, and she had to make the power come on command. And this, working with the teachers appointed to her—it was the next best way to try to get somewhere.

Fira nodded slowly. "Then I'll notify Kyana that we'll take tomorrow to learn more." She vanished into the trees, and Kitty was alone again.

Or so she thought…

A pair of eyes was staring out at her from a bush. Kitty remembered those white eyes as belonging to the girl named Sparks—the one who'd given her the dragonfire.

"Hello?" she called cautiously, wondering vaguely if she were only kidding herself.

Sparks appeared like a ghost from the bush. Her glazed pure-white eyes unnerved Kitty, and she avoided looking at them for any length of time.

"Er, hi…" Kitty mumbled, not sure what to say. The question came to mind almost instantly, though. "Oh, wait. What was I supposed to do with the fire you gave me?"

Sparks's face changed, and she looked almost…sad…like it was something Kitty should have figured out by now.

"Sorry… I really couldn't figure it out…" Kitty shrugged apologetically; then very nearly smacked herself for her stupidity—Sparks wouldn't be able to see what she was doing!

"You will discover it, in time," said Sparks quietly, sitting on a rock.

Kitty suddenly remembered the shard of metal from earlier. She pulled it out and asked, "Sparks?"

"Yes?"

"Do you know what this symbol is?" She passed it to the girl who ran her finger over the surface, tracing over the etching. Sparks's blind eyes widened.

"So you know it?" Kitty asked quietly, feeling her stupidity yet again.

Sparks's eyes narrowed and she jumped down from the rock, picking up a stick and drawing in the dirt. "It looks like this, yes?"

She had drawn the symbol from the metal with ease—Kitty didn't know how, as she couldn't see what she was drawing.

"Yeah. What is it?"

"It is the sign of the greatest evil in this forest." Sparks's voice was flat, and Kitty was quite sure that if anyone else had said that, no one else could have possibly achieved Sparks's level of being able to scare a person on words alone.

"Greatest…evil…?" Kitty stammered.

"Yes." Sparks gave her back the metal piece. "Don't let your friends out of your sight…or they might just disappear…"

The way she said that made Kitty believe she'd 'read' the words on the back too—and Kitty had the faintest inkling that she knew who the 'he' mentioned was…

Kitty trudged back to Treehaven, unwilling to take to the air, still a bit unsure of her flying abilities, but walking as fast as she possibly could.

All of a sudden Fira burst out of the forest, eyes wild. She crashed headlong into Kitty. The former human steadied the younger Fallen, keeping from falling herself.

"Kitty!" Fira looked up at her, wide eyes locking on her face.

"What? What is it?" Kitty's mind was already coming up with her answer, each worst then the last.

"It's Kurt!"

"What about Kurt?" Kitty asked, fearful already of the consequences…

"He's…He's gone!"

The plot thickens! What does it all mean? Mwah ha ha ha ha! *Yes, although I hate cliffhangers when I'm reading, I kind-of enjoy making them myself! Heh heh heh* Anyways, all, have a happy Halloween, and don't forget to review!

~Shadey