Little Tsu: Ok, next chap of this is up & runnin'. Enjoy!

Ch: 5

"Clint...?"

"Yes Alister?"

"...Did your surperiors predict that it would rain...?"

Walking through the Amazon Rainforest as they had gotten a decent distance from their Quinjet when a sudden down pour erupted over the forest seemingly outta knowhere. Not having any cover in sight, Clint was currently carrying Alister on his shoulders as per her request. Reason being, she had brought her large wings out and raised them above their heads to act out as a portable cover much like an umbrella only better since the wings were considerably larger.

"Considering the fact that this is a rainforest, it was likely to be raining or eventually would rain during our mission here. Still though,...I didn't expect a sudden down pour like this and especially not when the skies were clear just moments before." He had a point though. Yes, rainforests tended to get rain very often, thus the reason behind their name, but this was almost unnatural as the rain appeared quickly without any warning at all. No looming dark clouds anywhere in sight, no thunder in the distance, nothing.

"So then your world does not have such erratic weather patterns usually?...This is something that is uncommon?"

"Yeah, this doesn't seem natural. With rain, no matter where you are, there's always signs of it coming. This down pour just appeared out of nothing."

"I see...Do you think that perhaps this has something to do with the strange readings your...satelite, I think you called it, picked up on?"

"Maybe..." Clint wasn't entirely sure, to be honest, but if he really had to guess, he was almost certain that this unexplainable down pour was part of the reason behind the strange readings S.H.I.E.L.D's satelites had picked up on. Either that or whatever it detected was what caused this sudden weather change. As he made his way with careful, yet purposeful strides through the forest though, the rain suddenly ceased all at once, causing Clint to halt in his steps and lift his head to glance up at the sky that peeked through the branches of the trees; Alister's wings shifting to rest more raised and outwards at the sides so that both of them could see above their heads. "It stopped...And not in a way that's natural either...Something is definately up now. We best keep going and find whatever's causing this. Hopefully the sudden halt in the rain means we're getting close..."

Nodding her head in agreement towards this, Alister flapped her wings a few times as she pulled herself up into the air a bit and out of Clint's firm grasp that had helped her stay perched on his back despite the quiver of bows and his retractable bow being on his back too. "I will fly ahead and see if I can spot anything from the sky Clint."

Clint seemed hesitant a bit on this as he brought his gaze onto the female creature levitating in the air with the use of her wings before slowly giving a hesitant nod. "Alright, but...be careful Alister. If you run into any danger, then please cry out for me and I'll start traveling as fast as I can..."

Giving a faint smile of reassurance towards him to try and tell him she'd be just fine, the young Malakete flapped her wings a few times lightly before rushing off through the air as she burst up through the canapy of the trees around them. Glancing down through the canapy at where her human companion was on the ground, she watched as he began to move again to continue forward. Glancing around herself through the tops of the vast amount of trees, Alister flew off as she glided smoothly through the air in the direction that they had been going; keeping her senses open for anything out of the ordinary while the tips of her wings skimmed along the tops of the trees whenever they flapped to keep her in flight.

As the search continued, Alister spied a reflective light glinting out of the bottom corners of her eyes through the canapies. Unfortunately, she noticed this an instant too late as a spring load sound was released like from that of a crossbow or catapult and a capture chain with steel spheres at either end of the rope chain broke out through the canapy; spiraling at her rapidly. The weapon coiled around her form, binding her arms and one of her wings down against her torso. Gasping in shock at this, she desperately tried to keep herself airborn by flapping the only wing that managed to escape from being binded. However, she was unable to stay in the air and a startled cry escaped her as her wing gave out and plummeted out of the air as she crashed through the canapy; smashing through branches along the way down. Upon hitting the ground below, Alister landed on her back, causing a sound between a choked gasp and broken pained cry to escape her lips; the feel of her hollowed bones within her wings cracking under the impact shuddering through her entire body.

Whimpering softly in pain as she turned over onto her side, the small girl struggled to push herself up onto her feet while still binded. Not succeeding at all in this, her tail lashed out of hiding within her body and the triple axe end of it curled around to her front and sliced through the rope; freeing herself. The moment the bindings fell away though, the one who had released the weapon at her arrived before her and reached down as they yanked her up roughly by the top of her cape, only to then slam her back against the trunk of a tree; her feet dangling off the ground by three feet. Releasing another cry of pain from the impact with her limp, broken wings, she then began to whimper softly before the one grasping her leaned in and began speaking lowly in a feral hiss in her protective horn coverings that hid her ears, causing her to gasp in slight fear as her eyes shot wide open.

"That's right Aasterinian...I've already arrived on this pathetic planet...My army and myself may have landed quite the distance from where you and those disgusting...Avengers reside,...but trust me when I say that we will be arriving soon enough. You have, at best, three more days before we arrive. You better keep up your end little Malakete. Otherwise, it will be more than those precious wings of yours that I break." With another feral hiss, the Sssthgar stepped back as he dropped Alister, causing her to collapse to the ground again. Hissing angerly as he glared murderously down at the small girl before his feet, he turned his head sharply as he flicked out his serpant tongue. Someone was closing in fast on their location. Narrowing his eyes fiercely, he finally turned around and rushed off, leaving Alister broken on the ground where he dropped her.

Clint soon arrived within the clearing as he broke through the trees and leaped down from the branches he had started to travel along to cover ground more quickly. Landing in a slight crouch, he had his bow out and loaded in preparation to fire, but when he spotted no enemy, he slowly lowered his weapon before replacing his arrow back into its quiver after deactivating the special arrow. As he glanced around, the moment he spied Alister on the ground and in the condition she was in, he suddenly panicked as he closed the distance between them and slid to the ground at her side. "Alister! Are you alright? What the hell happened?!" Scanning her brused and cut up form and the slight rips within her cape, it was then that his gaze finally landed on her wings and he nearly paled at the sight of their condition. Even without touching them or looking through an x-ray, he could tell that they were badly broken and the tears along the membrane only added to the overall damage of them.

Biting his bottom lip, Clint hesitated in even touching his small companion before he finally scooped her up into his arms bridal style as gently as he possibly could despite still getting a pained whimper from her. Pushing himself up off the ground to stand, he made his way back to the Quinjet as he did his best to get back as quickly as he could, but also as carefully as possible so he wouldn't cause her any further damage. He knew that whoever had done this to Alister was still out there most likely, but right now, he had a more important task at hand. As much as he wanted to find who hurt her so badly and also complete the mission Fury had given them, Alister's condition was more important. Upon arriving back at the Quinjet, he walked quickly up the ramp before carefully laying the girl down and strapping her in so she wouldn't jostle any during take off or flight.

Once he decided she was secure enough, he strided to the front and slipped into the pilot's seat as he strapped himself in. Switching all the gages on, he activated the comlink to contact HQ as he lifted off the ground and flew off. "Agent Barton to HQ. I have an emergency. Alister has been badly injured and I need immediate medical attention the moment we land."

-"This is Director Fury. We read you loud and clear Agent Barton, but you will have to report what happened upon your return."-

"I'm not sure exactly what happened though. She was attacked while she had gone on ahead to do a scan from above. The one who attacked was already gone when I finally arrived at the location."

-"...Understood then. Once Alister is tended to and able to talk, we will get a full report from her no matter her condition and that is not up for discussion. Fury out."-

Clint switched off the comlink as the transmission ended and sighed to himself before casting a short glance behind himself to where Alister now laid unconscious due to the pain having become too much for her to handle. "Damn it...Just what happened to you back there Alister...?"

To be continued.

Little Tsu: Heheheh...The beginnin' of the chaos ta come has arrived...