Chapter 8

POV: Sheila

I waited, my fingers poised above the keyboard, as the Wands and Worlds chatroom loaded.

*You have joined room: member_chat
Welcome! Remember not to give out any personal information, such as address or telephone number! For your protection, all activity in this chat room is logged.
Coalfang: hihi
Thunder: it still hurts
Squirrelflame: SHEILA!
Foxwhisper: Hi!
Thunder: hi
SheilaRuth: Hey everyone.
Squirrelflame: *hugs tight*
SheilaRuth: Are you all right, Thunder? Everyone?
Coalfang: im good
Foxwhisper: All fine over here.
Squirrelflame: We're all okay, Sheila.
Thunder: just sore from yesterday
SheilaRuth: Did any of you get injured?
Foxwhisper: Nope.
Squirrelflame: Only a small scratch, it's all good.
Coalfang: a little, but im fine.
Thunder: my leg hurts, but not to bad
SheilaRuth: Did you put some ice on it?
Thunder: yeah
SheilaRuth: That's good. Any sign of swelling?
Thunder: no
Squirrelflame: I was over at Thunder's earlier. She's fine, we all are. Don't worry so much.
SheilaRuth: I worry for all of you. Especially after what happened yesterday.
Foxwhisper: Yesterday just happened. We're all going to be more careful.
Squirrelflame: Like how I've bolted my door shut and stuck a chair under it, lol. XD
Thunder: lol!
SheilaRuth: Glad to know you're going to the extreme, Squirrel, lol.
Squirrelflame: Proud of it. XD

Footsteps thumped on the stairs behind me, and I turned to see my son, Magicyop, carrying a large stack of papers in his arms. I signed off in the chatroom and shut my laptop as he reached the table and dumped them everywhere, scattering paper on the floor.

"I found the stuff you wanted," he huffed, ducking beneath the table to pick up the fallen papers.

"That's great," I said, bending over to help him. "Including the most recent town map?"

He held it up as he re-emerged from beneath the table. "I marked out some spots on this map too," he stated, unfolding it and spreading it out on the table. I glanced over it; it was a rather small map, which reflected the size of the county. The school was off in one corner, surrounded by the suburbs where most of the Wandies lived. The main town park was situated in the center of the suburbs; beyond that was most green area, with a small lake and a creek that wound all over the town as a pale blue line.

Magicyop pointed to a house near the town park, not too far from the school. "This is our house here," he said, tracing a path past all the houses and across the forest with his finger. He indicated a spot circled in pink highlighter and added, "In this area there are some new high rise apartment buildings going up. You know, for the temporary members who don't live here."

I nodded. There were plenty of people who only stayed in Wands and Worlds County for a short amount of time before leaving, particularly when an author stopped by for a while. These apartment buildings were set aside for them.

"A few of them are finished, but there's still a bunch of construction going on. Probably best to stay away from there for now."

"They're building in the winter?" I asked.

Magicyop inclined his head slightly. "Not right now, but there's still diggers and whatnot around there."

"Mm," I agreed. "It won't be safe with all that machinery around."

"Unless we want to use it as a trap?"

I shook my head. "It's dangerous even for us to lay a trap. We'll just have to avoid it."

"All right," Magicyop said, turning back to the map. "The lake's over here; I highlighted it in green. There's a lot of rocks and coves around there. Maybe we could set a trap around there or something?"

"It's a possibility," I began.

The doorbell chimed, and I turned to go answer it. "You got the older map too, right?"

"Yeah, took me ages to dig that one up," came his faint reply as I opened the door.

Soundstorm, Starsight, Rabbitfoot, the Dog, Fai, and Syaoran barrelled inside, all of them looking scared to death. Syaoran was pacing restlessly, the Dog was growling softly, and Soundstorm looked close to tears.

"What's going on?" I asked, bewildered.

"Lilac's missing!" Rabbitfoot burst out.

"Wha?" Magicyop yelped, startled, as he raced into the front foyer.

"She's been gone for over an hour," Fai said, putting a hand on Soundstorm's shoulder and steering her towards the living room.

"I tracked her as far as the park, but there's a fresh layer of snow falling," the Dog growled. "No tracks, no scent."

"Did she say where she was going?" I asked, herding the others into the living room after Soundstorm and Fai.

Starsight sat down on the couch next to Soundstorm and gave her a half hug. "You said she was just going out for a walk, right?" she asked with a glance at Fai.

He nodded in confirmation. "She mentioned ten minutes to an hour, 'depending of Foxy would chase her around the block or not'."

"I was just talking to Foxy in the chatroom," I said quietly.

Soundstorm went pale.

"We can't keep sitting around here, we need to be out there looking for her!" Syaoran burst out.

"We've already searched the entire neighbourhood!" Rabbitfoot exclaimed. "Where else can we look for her?"

"Magic, do you still have that map?" I called, struggling to keep my voice calm.

He nodded and darted into the dining room to fetch it.

"She could have taken a route outside the main part of the county," Starsight agreed. "Though why she would do that I can't imagine."

"There's not much outside the suburbs," Magicyop said, racing back into the room with the map and spreading it out on the coffee table. "It's mostly forested area, with the lake over here."

"We'll need to start somewhere," I said, leaning over the map. "Let's head to the town park and follow the creek; that'll be a good place to begin."

There were various murmurs of agreement from the entire group at my suggestion. I turned to go down the hall to get my coat. "Magic, stay here in case Lilac happens to come back."

He nodded in approval as the rest of the group followed me out. The seven of us were out the door in record time, racing towards the town park. The Dog took the lead, snuffling along the ground as she tried to pick up a scent. Syaoran and Soundstorm were close behind here, with Starsight and Fai on their heels. Rabbitfoot and I brought up the rear.

"Lilac!" Soundstorm shouted into the forest.

"Lilacheart-san?" Syaoran echoed.

"This is hopeless," Rabbitfoot muttered beside me. "What if she can't hear us?"

"We'll just have to keep looking," I said. "We'll find her eventually."

Rabbitfoot fell silent.

The search continued like this for nearly half an hour, following the creek banks. At one point the Dog crossed a fallen log to check the other bank as we raced along. Soon I realized our path was getting rather close to the construction site Magicyop had pointed out earlier. I prayed that we didn't have to get much closer, and that Lilacheart wasn't anywhere near there.

Without warning Soundstorm came to a sudden stop. "Where is she?" she wailed.

"It's all right, Soundy," I soothed. "She can't be too far off."

"Lilac!" Starsight called.

"Here."

For a moment we all froze. Then Soundstorm gave a delighted cry of relief and whipped around, catching her sister in a huge hug. Lilacheart staggered back a pace, then after a moment tentatively hugged her back.

"Lilacheart-san!" Syaoran gasped, sounding relieved. "Where have you been?"

Lilacheart looked a little flushed, as if she were embarrassed to have caused so much trouble. "I just got a little side-tracked is all," she muttered monotonously.

"Where to?" the Dog woofed as she clambered onto the bank, shaking water from her paws where they had broken through the ice.

I gave a small shake of my head. "What matters is that you're safe," I said. "Let's all go home and take a break for the rest of the weekend. I'm sure we all need it."

There was a murmur of assent from everyone, and slowly we all turned to leave. I caught sight of Fai near the back of the group; he hadn't moved and was staring after Lilacheart with a curious expression on his face. As I watched his eye narrowed, and he reached up to rub his left temple, as if something were bothering him.

"Anything wrong?" I asked, approaching him.

Fai started, then gave a small smile and shook his head. "It's nothing," he said, moving after the rest of the group.

I glanced around and spotted Starsight, who gave me a doubtful look. I suspected that she didn't believe him.

"Let's not worry about it for now," I said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Go home and get some rest; this is something we can deal with on Monday."

She still looked doubtful, but she gave me a nod and together we turned and followed the rest of the group.

—

POV: ?

It was working. Everything was going according to plan. I had spent a long time working towards this moment. The moment where they would take me in as one of their own.

I had arrived under the guise of another, successfully fooling my adversaries. No one knew I was here. No one knew that I was tracking them, learning their movements for the moment I would strike. I knew their habits, their daily patterns of life, enough so that I could easily fit in among them. Especially one in particular. It was easy to take that one out. Slowly, I would destroy them all from the inside, until none of them knew what was happening. Until everything broke down into chaos.

I need to fear no one; I had the ultimate weapons at my disposal. But I had to be wary when using them. Especially of the magic users. They—one in particular—would sense my magic patterns, and know that it did not come from the right source. That this pattern only belonged to one person. If that happened, I would have no cover. If that happened, an all-out war would being. But it was not to happen yet.

One was down. And I already had my sights set on my second target...

—

*Starsight: Do it.
Rabbitfoot: No.
Rubystripe: Do it!
Rabbitfoot: No.
Starsight: You made a bet!
Rabbitfoot: You weren't there. o_o
Starsight: Ruby told me all about it, of course. }83
Rabbitfoot: T_T
Rubystripe: You have to do it. You already lost the bet.
Starsight: Or won it, depending on your
Rabbitfoot: O_O -smacks-
Starsight: *fleez*
Rubystripe: You will do it tomorrow.
Rabbitfoot: No way.
Starsight: Fun-Bun, just face it. If you don't do it, you know we're just going to give you a bouquet of flowers and shove you in his face.
Rabbitfoot: You wouldn't. o_o
Rubystripe: We've already decided on roses. Red and orange, because it works perfectly.
Starsight: I'm sure Lilac and Soundy would love to be in on it too. ;3
Rabbitfoot: ...I hate you so much right now. T_T
Starsight: I love you too.

—

POV: Starsight

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"What do you mean, 'well what?' You are going to do it, right?"

"...What if I don't?"

"You know what Plan B is."

"I hope for all our sakes that we don't have to implement it."

I sniggered softly as Rabbitfoot blushed slightly. She, Rubystripe, Soundstorm, Lilacheart and I were standing in the hallway of Rubystripe's house, waiting for whenever Roy Mustang would decide to wake up at this early morning hour. Let me say right now, it had been a tough task getting Rabbitfoot over to Rubystripe's house. Lilacheart, Soundstorm and I had to literally drag her out the door, and with Danny's help too. Fortunately he had helped us rather willingly, albeit with a rather bewildered expression on his face the entire time.

"I'm not doing it," Rabbitfoot said, taking a step backwards.

"Oh yes you are," Soundstorm responded, giving her a shove forwards again.

"Ow, watch it," she protested with a wince. "That's the shoulder I hurt the other day."

"Sorry," Soundstorm apologized. Not many Wandies had escaped without injury at the battle at my house the other day. I felt guilty for everything that had happened because I couldn't have just handled it on my own.

"What's that look for?" Rabbitfoot asked apprehensively. "Oh no. You are not giving me the guilty face. This had better not be about that battle again or I really will do it."

It took all my willpower just to hold a relatively straight face. "Hate to break it to you, but that's exactly what I was thinking."

Rabbitfoot went pale and muttered a curse under her breath. "Me and my big mouth."

Footsteps suddenly echoed down the hall, and Rabbitfoot gave a giant start.

"Don't forget your flowers!" Rubystripe hissed, suddenly producing a bouquet of roses from behind her back and shoving them into Rabbitfoot's hands.

She gave us all a pathetic pleading look. "Don't make me do it, I'll go all fluffy bunny pill bug if I do."

"All the better if you do it in front of him," I laughed, then gave her a huge shove around the corner and into the hall.

Rabbitfoot let out a squeak, whether of terror or embarrassment I didn't know, and literally crashed right into Roy. He took a step back in surprise, then gave her a nod. "Hello."

Rabbitfoot's face turned bright red. Around the corner, it took everything we had for the rest of us to not burst into insane laughter.

"Do it!" Soundstorm hissed with a hysterical giggle.

Rabbitfoot gulped audibly. "R—Roy..."

He watched her curiously.

"Will...will...will you..."

Spit it out already! I thought, not trusting myself to say it out loud.

"Willumarryme?"

The look on both their faces was just priceless. Rabbitfoot was a brighter shade of red than the roses, while Roy's was blank with the weirdest expression of shocked I'd ever seen. Several long moments passed, then Roy smiled mischievously and plucked a rose from Rabbitfoot's bouquet.

"I'll think about it."

Rabbitfoot let out a low moan; I swear she would have curled up in a little trembling ball right then and there if she could have. Roy stepped around her and continued down the hall. "Ladies," he said, tossing the rose to Rubystripe before continuing on out of sight. Rubystripe caught the rose, her face red from laughter or embarrassment I couldn't tell.

"That was officially the worst moment of my life," Rabbitfoot moaned.

"That was officially the highlight of mine," I responded, then we all burst into hysterical laughter.

Ah, good times.**

—

Later that day found me back at my own house, on the computer with the Dog snoozing by my feet. Lilacheart and Soundstorm weren't on, and I figured that Rabbitfoot was hiding from me, so I was making some updates to my adoptables website instead. I was rather surprised that the Dog had consented to let me use her back as a footstool; it was nice to feel her furry body slowly rising and falling beneath my feet. It made me wish I had a pet of my own. Emily wasn't around; she had left shortly after I had come back from Rubystripe's house, saying she wanted to make rounds on the members and check that they were all okay.

The sound of the doorbell echoed throughout the house, and I saved my work and carefully took my feet off the Dog's back. I didn't want to disturb her rest. I headed through the living room towards the door; I still hadn't finished cleaning it up yet. There was still a lot of splintered furniture around and most of my belongings and whatnot. It served as a painful reminder of the battle, and how careful we all had to be.

I hopped down the short flight of steps and unlocked the front door. Lilacheart stood on the front steps, her expression unusually solemn.

"Hey," I greeted. "Is something wrong?"

"We need to talk," she replied.

I blinked. "Okay then. Come on in."

Lilacheart shook her head. "We can't talk here, we need to be somewhere more private."

"...You mean the Dog? I can ask her to leave us alone for a while."

Lilacheart shook her head again, this time a little more forcefully. "No. There's another place that's better."

"Okay then..." I said skeptically. "Let me just get my shoes and coat." I took my shoes off the rack and slipped into them before pulling on my coat. "I'm going out! I'm not going alone, Lilac's coming with me!" I called to the Dog.

A sleepy grunt was my only reply.

I stepped out the door after Lilacheart, making sure to lock my door this time. When I turned around again, Lilacheart was already halfway down the street. I had to run to catch up.

"Where are we going?" I huffed.

"You'll see," she responded.

We spent a good five minutes just walking. I was bursting with curiosity as to where Lilacheart wanted to go, but the pace she set left me little room to speak. Plus when I did find the breath to ask, she just responded with, "You'll see."

Something kept bugging me in the back of my mind, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It was almost like the route we were taking was somewhat familiar. It didn't actually hit me until the school building came into sight. Lilacheart climbed the front steps, but I hesitated at the bottom.

"Lilac, it's Sunday," I said. "The school will be clo—"

She pulled on the door, which swung open easily. My mouth probably fell open in shock, but I was too busy being shocked to notice. Lilacheart turned around to look at me. "Coming?"

"Uh, sure," I muttered, climbing the steps after her and into the school. It seemed like such a different place on the weekend; the only light came from windows set along one side of the hall. Lilacheart lead the way again, her footsteps ringing purposefully out along the floor. I stepped lighter, for I felt the need for silence in this deserted place.

Lilacheart finally stopped by the gym doors and pulled them open. I hesitated for just a second before I followed her inside, the door shutting with an ominous bang behind me. I paused just inside, staring around at the rays of reddish sunlight streamed in through the window. The sun was beginning to set.

"Lilac, wait!" I said, racing across the gym to catch up with her. I was right behind her when suddenly I heard a desperate banging sound. I jumped, startled, and whipped around.

Soundstorm was there, just on the other side of the gym doors. I could hear the handle rattling, refusing to open as it was locked. But...we had just come inside, and it wasn't locked...

She looked like she was screaming something, but I could barely hear her through the locked doors. "What?" I called, beginning to make my way back over to the doors.

"Get away from her!" came her faint scream.

I stopped, my heart pounding. It was like something was falling into place, something that made everything suddenly make sense...

I whipped around, fear gripping me. No longer was Lilacheart standing behind me. Now it was a boy, a boy who was a mirror image of Syaoran. But I knew straight away, as I gazed into his one blue eye, that this wasn't Syaoran.

It was his clone.

In one smooth motion he drew his sword. Hien crackled with magic energy, and flames licked along the blade. I took a step back, every instinct screaming at me to run but frozen in place.

Without warning he lunged at me. I leapt backwards, trying to avoid the sword, but I wasn't fast enough. The blade cut into my side, opening a long but shallow wound. I didn't have the breath to scream, all that came out was a gasp of pain as I fell to my knees, pressing my hand against the wound. I could vaguely hear something heavy slamming against the gym doors, as if someone were trying to bash it open. Be faster! I thought as I looked up again, tears of pain glazing my vision.

I could see Shaoran*** standing over me, blade raised for the final blow. I shut my eyes and braced myself, ready for Hien to cut in again as he let the sword fall.

The blow never came. Instead, the harsh sound of metal grating against ice hit me, ringing in my eardrums. My eyes flew open in shock. What literally looked like a shield of ice arced over my head, blocking Hien's blow. Hovering between me and the ice shield was a thin, snake-like creature, with fur as white as snow and wings like icicles, complete with a tail blade of blue ice. Instantly I knew what this creature was. My Kudan.

Shaoran looked furious as he wrenched the blade backwards, slicing out for a second blow. I threw my arm out instinctively, and the Kudan created a second shield of ice in the sword's path. The harsh sound rang out again, the flames on Hien's blade licking at the ice. The ice held strong, not even melting in the face of the fire.

I scrambled to my feet and took a step back, wincing at the wound in my side. The Kudan flew after me, hovering close. Its tail blade whipped out into several sections, like a fan of icicles. It lashed its tail, sending spears of ice at Shaoran. Hien cut through the air, and a torrent of fire erupted from the sword, melting the icicles into harmless drops of water. The Kudan threw up another shield, blocking the worst of the flames.

When it had cleared Shaoran was no longer in sight. The gym doors were open at last, and several people were running towards me. I couldn't see who; I simply collapsed where I was. The sword wound felt like it was burning at me, far more painfully than a regular wound.

"Starry!" a voice shouted, and I felt a crowd of people surround me. There was a hand on my shoulder, but I didn't lift my head. Really, I was just trying not to scream with pain.

A thought hit me. "Where did he go?" I asked through clenched teeth.

"He left by the doors on the other side," I heard Fai answer.

I tried to look up, my head swimming with pain. "Soundy..."

"Here," she said, kneeling down in front of me.

"Soundy, go after him. Someone needs to track him. He'll lead us to Lilac!"

Uncertainty flashed across her face. "But what about—?"

"Just go!" I hissed. "I'll be fine, you need to worry about your sister!"

Soundstorm got to her feet, but didn't move.

"GO!" I shouted.

She hesitated for a moment longer before turning and racing for the exit. I heard a second pair of footsteps follow her out, and I inwardly let out a sigh of relief. She wouldn't be alone in tracking Shaoran.

I tried to get to my feet again, but the pain made me so dizzy I could barely keep upright. The hand on my shoulder tightened. "Starry-chan, rest for a moment. You're badly hurt."

I shook my head stubbornly. "There's no time, we have to go after him! This could be our only chance to find Lilac again!"

"You won't do any good to anyone if you're this badly hurt."

"It'll be worse if something happens to Lilac!" I protested, shoving his hand aside and trying to get to my feet again.

I heard a small chirruping sound in my ear, and I turned my head to see my Kudan. It blinked at me with dark eyes, then ducked its head down and softly nuzzled the wound. A wonderful cooling sensation spread into it, numbing the pain until it was only a dull ache at the back of my mind.

I reached out my hand and gratefully stroked the creature's head. "Thanks," I whispered.

It let out a soft squeak, then suddenly shrank into a small ball of glowing blue light that melted into my chest. I could still feel it, a cold shard of comfort deep inside me.

I pushed myself to my feet. "Come on, we need to get going," I said.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Fai asked worriedly.

"I'm fine," I responded, moving as fast as I could towards the exit. I could see the rest of the group now; Syaoran, the Dog, and Rabbitfoot were there too. The four of them raced out with me, all anxious to catch up to Soundstorm.

I stepped outside to dark clouds a bright sunset, the slanting beams of light coloured orange and gold. It was one of my favourite weather moments, a storm directly overhead with the sun low enough to illuminate the world beneath. But right now, all I could think about was how a storm could mess up the clear prints I saw in the snow. Three sets raced away from the school, heading towards the edge of the suburbs.

"I'm going for reinforcements," the Dog barked from behind me, and I turned in time to see her racing off, ears flying as her paws kicked up snow behind her.

I took off after the trail, the others right behind me. It didn't take long for us to catch up to Soundstorm; she had paused on the very edge of the suburbs. Kurogane was nearby, kneeling down next to the prints in the snow to study them.

"It's definitely that kid," he growled, standing up. "He's heading straight in one direction, and fast."

"We have to pick up the pace too," I said, pushing on past him after the footprints. Already the wind was beginning to kick up and the snow was falling, smudging the edges of Shaoran's prints. Soon they would disappear entirely.

Soundstorm and I took the lead, the others following close behind. I began to get a feeling of déjà vu as we continued to follow the fading footprints through the building blizzard, but it wasn't until the creek came into sight that I realized we were following the exact same trail we had been yesterday. Where we had met up with Shaoran under Lilacheart's appearance.

Where had he gotten the ability to impersonate someone else? No one had seen him arrive in the county, which meant that he had to have come under the guise of someone else. Who hadn't we seen so far?

...Oh. "Of two evils we just had to get the greater one," I muttered under my breath, remembering how I had seen Ashura on the day this had all begun. He must have stolen Ashura's appearance on that first day, fooling me and everyone else in the county.

I pushed the thought away for now. I could dwell on the past later; right now, the present needed attending to.

A large fence suddenly loomed in front of me, and I skidded to a stop. There was a large sign pasted to the side of the fence: "Construction, keep out!"

"He went in there?" Soundstorm asked, the tremble in her voice barely noticeable.

"Most likely," Fai responded.

I glanced at the ground, looking for footprints. But by now the wind and snow had erased them. "We'll have to go inside then, and check it out," I muttered.

"Is there even a way to get in there?" Rabbitfoot asked.

"This way!" came Syaoran's shout. We all turned to see him waving at us a good ways down the fence, where there was a hole just big enough to slide through. I sprinted over to him and ducked inside, casting a wary glance around once on the other side of the fence.

There were huge steel beams piled everywhere, machinery standing silent and covered in snow. The place had a desolate feel, like a graveyard. I suppressed a shudder as I stood aside for the others to squeeze through.

"This way," I whispered, leading the way through the construction site. I stepped carefully, scared of falling into a hidden hole or something I couldn't see under the blanket of snow. The rest of the group likewise moved just as slow, though I knew we were all impatient to catch up to Shaoran. To find Lilacheart.

I rounded a large crane—and stopped in my tracks. Shaoran was there waiting for us, Hien held loosely by his side. Flames danced around the blade; I could feel the heat from where I was standing.

But that wasn't what worried me. What worried me were the scratches forming in mid air in a semi-circle around him, and the creatures that were stepping out of them. Seven-foot-tall aliens covered in deadly-looking blades. Formerly peaceful herbivores, now an entire race taken over and enslaved to do the bidding of their parasite.

Hork-Bajir.

I heard someone swear behind me and the sound of a sword being drawn. Kurogane, no doubt. And I almost surprised myself when I found that I agreed. Syaoran stepped up beside me, his sword drawn and his gaze trained furiously on his clone. I felt a cold splint shift in my chest, and my Kudan materialized beside me, shivering in anticipation.

Without warning Shaoran charged. Syaoran stepped in front of me and raised his sword to take the blow. The sound of clashing metal rang out in the cold air, suddenly unfreezing everyone from their positions. The Hork-Bajir roared and charged at us as Syaoran shoved Hien away and whirled to the side, his clone leaping after him. I threw my arms up in an X in front of me; my Kudan took the signal and threw up a shield of ice. The first Hork-Bajir's blades screeched against the ice, shaving off tiny chips but not punching through.

The rest of the aliens stampeded past as my opponent wrenched his blade free and drew back for another blow. I heard Kurogane shout something and felt a crackle of magic energy whip through the air behind me before I had to duck in order to avoid the Hork-Bajir's swipe. It took a step back and whipped its tail at me; my Kudan created a second shield of ice in its path. I made a slashing motion with my hand, and my Kudan shot a barrage of icicles at the Hork-Bajir. It roared in pain as the icicles tore into it, but its skin was tough; the attack did little damage.

My Kudan let out a high-pitched shriek, and a jagged beam of pale blue light exploded from its mouth, striking the Hork-Bajir on its right arm. In an instant its arm had frozen in a solid block of ice. I blinked; the attack reminded me of an Ice Beam from Pokémon. The Hork-Bajir roared again in pain and fury, lashing out at me with its unfrozen left arm. I took a step back to avoid the attack, my Kudan jabbing at it with its tail to try and stop its advance.

"Get down!" a voice shouted from behind me. I dropped to the ground, and for a split second I wondered if that was even aimed at me. Apparently it was though; milliseconds later a jagged burst of light lanced over my head, striking the Hork-Bajir squarely in the center of its chest and sending it flying backwards into a bulldozer, nearly crushing the machine. I scrambled to my feet and whipped around; Kurogane had a rather satisfied look on his face. I opened my mouth to call out a "thank you", but he was already whirling away back into the battle.

I paused a moment to regain myself and have a look around. We weren't doing all that great—actually, I thought with a jolt, I think we're losing. Kurogane and Fai were fighting the Hork-Bajir; I had lost sight of Rabbitfoot and Soundstorm entirely. Syaoran's duel with his clone had moved across the compound, leaving a path of destruction behind them. As I watched Shaoran made a slashing motion with Hien, sending a wave of fire at Syaoran. He raised his sword in front of him, two fingers against the flat of the blade, and shouted, "Raitei Shôrai!" A blast of lightning ripped through the air, meeting the fire head-on. The two powers slammed into the side of the apartment building, blowing a huge chunk off it.

Out of the corner of my eye I spotted another Hork-Bajir charging at me, and I whipped around to face it. My Kudan shot a jagged freezing beam, but the Hork-Bajir ducked it and kept on coming. I crossed my arms for a shield, which barely went up before the Hork-Bajir crashed into me. I staggered backwards several paces—

Then let out a shriek as my foot slipped into empty space. I wind milled my arms, trying to regain my balance as the Hork-Bajir fell past me into the sudden pit that had opened up. I could feel a pressure against my back; my Kudan was trying to shove me back up to safety. But it was too light, there was no way it could hold my weight.

Without warning teeth fastened in my coat sleeve, dragging me upright and away from the hole. I stumbled forwards, gasping, and turned to look at my savoir.

The Dog gave herself a shake, scattering snowflakes off her ruff. "I brought reinforcements," she woofed.

"Thanks," I managed to gasp, struggling back to my feet. Sheila, Spirithunter, Amaterasu, Sevenclaws, his Absol, Icestar, and Cloudwind had joined in the battle, all of them working to drive the Hork-Bajir back. And apparently it was working; one of the Hork-Bajir suddenly shouted something in another language, and every single one of them stepped back, disengaging from combat. There was a brief pause, then as one they turned and bounded off.

I gave a mental sigh of relief, suddenly realizing I was swaying slightly with exhaustion. Whatever spell my Kudan had put on my sword wound earlier was beginning to wear off; I could feel a small trickle of blood leaking down my side. I ignored it, limping back over to the others. "That couldn't have been a better time for all of you to arrive," I called once I was within earshot.

Icestar gave me a little grin. "You guys looked like you could've used the help," she responded, slinging her bow over her shoulder again.

I glanced around at them, then did a double-take on Cloudy. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Oh, this?" she asked, shouldering what could only be the keyblade from Kingdom Hearts. "Yep. I found it in the back of my closet—don't ask."

"I won't," I said, slightly amused. "How did you all get here so fast?"

"Everyone here happened to be over at my house," Sheila replied. "The Dog came to get us, and we all came here as fast as we could."

"A good thing you did," came Rabbitfoot's voice as she and Soundstorm came into sight, both of them covered in various scratches from the Hork-Bajir. "Any longer and we probably wouldn't have made it."

"Sorry I didn't get back sooner," the Dog woofed.

Fai shook his head. "What matters is that you made it here and those creatures are gone."

"So is my clone."

We all turned to see Syaoran walking back towards us, sheathing his sword with a grim look on his face. "What do you mean?"

"He managed to get away from me when I was attacked by one of those creatures," he replied monotonously. "I lost sight of him. I have no idea where he could have gone."

"There's not much place to go, yes?" Sevenclaws said.

I nodded in agreement. "I didn't see him follow after the Hork-Bajir, so he must've..."

As one we all turned towards the apartment building. Had he run inside it and was hiding in there? Maybe we could go after him and—

Without warning someone behind me screamed. I jerked my head back with a wince and stared up at the top of the building. The dark clouds were clearing, and the setting sun blocked much of my vision, but I could just barely see the outline of a person falling, falling from the roof of the impossibly high building. Panic hit me, hard, as Soundstorm's scream confirmed my fear.

"LILAC!"

—

* These chats were originally colour-coded. Unfortunately, colour doesn't show up on FFnet, so these lines have been altered.
** An image depicting this scene was originally included within the story. Unfortunately, I can't post it on FFnet.
*** We decided to spell the clone's name differently in an attempt to lessen any confusion when referring to either Syaoran.