Where is she, where is she, where is she?!
Kook was running around the castle in a frenzy. Shaiden was gone. She had been within his sight about fifteen minutes ago, after they had gotten some ice cream, but then she disappeared. Kook didn't understand why she strongly wanted to be rid of him; he hadn't teased her THAT much, and she was Shaiden; she could handle it. Besides, she knew it was in the bird's nature to tease people. It just didn't make sense to him why she would suddenly be so sensitive.
Anyways, Kook had just checked the dungeon, the courtyard, the Stockade, the moat, the dining hall, Tinkor's Techni-Cave, and was now darting through the halls where three of the Defenders' bedrooms were located. Thorne's, Knightriss's, and Shaiden's to be exact.
Kook dared not enter Knightriss's room, and he knew that neither would Shaiden. He was less skeptical with Thorne's, and eventually forced himself to stick his head through the doorway. Shaiden wasn't in there. He quickly shut the door and paced over to Shaiden's. He bit his tongue as he contemplated entering or not.
"Hey, Kook."
Kook whipped his head around. He felt a mist of relief wisp through him when he saw long blond hair instead of a brown mohawk.
"Hey, Ballista," Kook said with a half-hearted wave.
"What's up?" the kilted huntress asked, casually crossing her arms.
Kookaburrad flapped his "wings" frustratedly. "Shaiden's hiding from me and I can't find her anywhere!"
Ballista laughed. "I don't blame her; I don't like being around you, either."
Kook made a face at the huntress, but didn't retaliate with a comment. He had to find Shaiden, and fast. He turned back to the ninja's door. He hesitated. He knew he wasn't allowed in the ninja's room.
"Ballista, can you check if Shaiden's in there?" he asked.
The huntress clasped her hand around the door's golden handle, gave it a twist, then swung the door open. She stuck her upper body inside and glanced a couple times around the room. She shook her head.
"Nope, she's not in there," Ballista said, shutting the door.
"Are you sure? She is a ninja, you know."
Ballista rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm sure."
Kook sighed. "Alright. Thanks, Ballista."
The huntress nodded, then walked past Kook and out of the hall. After she was gone, Kookaburra started pacing back and forth. He ran his hand through his wind-blown, green hair.
Where is she?! Kook screamed inside his head for the thousandth time.
Skabb's deep voice suddenly penetrated his thoughts.
"SURPRISE ATTACK! OUT ON THE MOAT!"
Kook lifted his head in a panic. He cringed. "...Found her..."
Without another word, Kookaburra whirled around and ran for the moat, accidentally tripping before he made it out of the hall.
Out on the moat, Shaiden was attempting to climb up the Slippery Slope while Knightriss and Skabb, who thought she was an Attacker, were shooting splat balls at her.
"You guys, it's me! Shaiden!" she shouted, dodging two more splat balls.
"This one's clever, Master Skabb," Knightriss said.
"WE'RE NOT FALLING FOR THAT, ATTACKER!" Skabb yelled before firing another slime ball.
The ninja ducked, which resulted in the splat ball just barely missing her face. "I'm serious! It's me! I'm Shaiden!"
"You're not Shaiden!" Skabb screamed back. "Shaiden's taller, and bigger, and not as annoying!"
The ninja bore her teeth at the barbarian, who just shot three more slime balls at her. Shaiden slipped down the Slope, but managed to keep herself from falling into the moat. Just as she started climbing back up again, Ballista and Gildar had made there way to the moat. Gildar stood by the Beastly Battle Axes with vaporizers in his hands, and Ballista ran up to Skabb and Knightriss.
"Alright, what've we got?" Ballista inquired.
"This Attacker's trying to trick us into believing she's Shaiden," Knightriss explained.
"That's because I AM Shaiden!" the ten-year-old shouted.
Ballista gazed at the ten-year-old carefully as Skabb fired again. She narrowed one of her eyes. Hang on, is that really... Ballista shook her head. Nah, that's just not possible.
"HOLD YOUR FIRE! HOLD YOUR FIRE!"
Knightriss and the huntress turned around to see Kook burst through one of the moat's blue doors. He ran up to them, then pointed out at Shaiden.
"That's not an Attacker, that's Shaiden!"
Ballista stared at Kook as if he had just said Gildar got rid of his mirror. "Kook, did you hit your head really hard or something? Are you actually falling for this?"
Kook shook his head vigorously. "No, really, that's Shaiden!"
Gildar cocked his head. "Is this one of your annoying practical jokes, again?"
"For once, Kook's not joking!" a new voice shouted.
Everyone looked up at the Defender's Douse. Thorne was leaning over the front of the wall, glaring at the four Defenders down at the Splatzooka.
"That's my sister!" he declared. "That's really Shaiden!"
Everyone stared at Thorne. If even he said that the Attacker was actually Shaiden, then she must be.
"THAT'S Shaiden?" Ballista asked, shocked.
"YES!" Kook yelled. "I just told you!"
"And I just said so, myself!" Shaiden, who was now on the edge of the Mace Roll, shouted.
"Whoa, what happened to her?" Gildar inquired.
Before Kook or Thorne could answer, Skabb accidentally fired the Splatzooka again. A splat ball hit Shaiden's face. Shaiden cried out with surprise, lost her balance, then fell off the edge of the Mace Roll.
"Shaiden!" Kook cried.
The ninja disappeared into the moat's murky waters with a splash. Kookaburra stared the water's rippling surface, frantically waiting for Shaiden to reappear. Much to his relief, a moment later, the ninja's head emerged above the moat's surface, along with another familiar face.
"I've got 'er," Crocness announced. "Now someone help me get 'er up on dry land."