Aquila
I think Destiny is weird. One minute she's dealing with one person, and then the next she deals her hand to you. That's how she's always worked. She's not always so kind about it. Sometimes she takes you away from the things that matter most. And that's exactly what she did to me that day.
I was paired with Scourge. I wasn't one to leave others behind. Liber and Oil Slick were partnered up, as were Storm Caller and Dad. The only one alone was probably Snarl, and I should've known that he would attack us. Scourge was falling behind, and he was my partner. I couldn't leave him. I helped him through the beginning of the desert, but we were attacked during a sandstorm. It was Snarl, coming to destroy the one thing that mattered most to everyone on the jungle Planet: Scourge.
He bum rushed Scourge first, hitting him in the side and knocked him over.
"You're love of Half Bloods has made you weak, fool. This little Half Blood will die with you!".
"Snarl!" I exclaimed.
"You!" Snarl started with a low growl and I sent out an angry falcon call.
"I'll teach you to mind your place, filthy little Half Blood!".
"Oh, my place! Bring it, Full Blood!".
He went straight for my throat with the intention to kill, but I wrestled him down into the sand. No one was gonna mess with my friend and get away with it! He soon had me pinned to the ground, biting down on one of my wings. It wasn't long before Scourge was in the fight too, biting Snarl's back. But Snarl easily knocked him off. He was distracted by Scourge and I tried to get up, only to find him hulking over me again.
"Snarl!" I heard my father's voice call, "Leave her be!".
Snarl gasped at the sight of the green and black wolverine that was my father. He definitely wasn't expecting to be challenged by the new leader.
"Dad, you gotta get back with the others!" I told him.
"I'll get back with them, but I gotta take care of him first! Thought we had an understanding Snarl, what happened?".
Snarl growled at my father as the raven flew over head of us. We looked up to see it flying in circles. It flew across the desert and straight to the rest of the beast morphs.
"We have to go, now!" Scourge informed us.
"NO!" Snarl roared at us, "No one's gong anywhere!".
"But the others!" I yelled.
"They chose their fate because of you dirty oiled, paganist rats! Because of you're stupidity, they'll all die along with the rest of our race!".
"Scourge, Aquila and I can hold off Snarl while you cross to the others. They need someone to lead them" dad told the dragon.
"Dad, they're too far off. Scourge won't make it. He's not a flying dragon".
"Unfortunately she's right, only my spirit is strong now" Scourge agreed.
Dad turned to Snarl. "What about you? You wanted a shot at leadership" he removed the emblem, "Take it, it's yours!".
"No way! I'm not leaving our home for anything! Especially not for those Half Blood lovers!".
"Then you've made your choice, and you've made it clear" Dad attacked Snarl and bit hard on his neck.
Just before Snarl could get back up after an attack, dad chased him away. Banishment…nice job on his part. I would've done the same thing. Snarl wouldn't be back.
"I can help you get over there, Scourge" Dad told him.
The dragon shook his head. Then dad caught on that he was right, me and Scourge both were right.
"You guys are right. You won't make it. I'll go".
"No" I objected, "You don't belong here, dad. You belong back at home, with mom, Camelio, Andy, and Chamaeleon. But I do belong here, dad. These are my kind. It's destiny playing her hand the way it should be".
"Cassiopeia told me to find the one who is Half Blooded, but does not know. I knew it was her from the start. But you took over, and I thought I miscalculated. I was wrong about that. I was right. Not you, but Aquila must lead the planet".
Scourge nodded and took off, leaving me and my father alone. He stepped up to me in his normal form.
"You sure, kiddo?" he asked me.
I nodded. Words weren't needed at the time.
"It's just so hard to let my birdie go and fly away".
"Dad, I'm not your-".
He gave me a sad look and I kinda gave in. I hugged him.
"Okay, so I'll always be your birdie".
I let go and started to head off.
"Goodbye, daddy" I said, "Oh, and tell mom and them, I finally found my own home".
I took one last look at him and took to find the others. I knew he was watching over me now as I flew away. It didn't matter where my wings took me, I'd always fly back to him and my bounty hunting heritage. All those memories raced through my head, especially my first flight, when I first used telepathy to talk to dad on my first day (yeah, we had awesome memory cores like that). I finally made it to the others and let out yet another falcon call as a last memory for my father. I knew he was proud of me that day…and he always would be.
Lockdown
I traveled back to the temple, not really sure where else to go. I met up with Scourge again there.
"She'll be fine on her own. You may keep the emblem, as a sign of where you're from, Orion. Never forget your own heritage, your own story, and Cassiopeia will live forever through you and your family. But now it's time for you to return home. Your spark mate is probably worried out of her processor".
"What about you? You're a loner now. Where are you gonna go?" I asked.
"I will find Snarl. I know now that he needs me more than ever. I assure you, his hatred for Half lings like you and Aquila will die with time. We are the same type you know. By the way…you bonded with a human didn't you?".
"I did. Her name was Melissa before she changed it to Shadow. Why's it matter?".
"You and I are similar in that way. I too, bonded with a human. Her name was Lori, but she kept her name as a dragon morph. She was the last femme before your daughter came up".
"What happened to her?".
Scourge sighed. "She was killed by Quentissons a long time ago, like your mother".
"my mother was killed by rogues".
"No, Orion, she was killed by Quents disguised as rogues. It was tragic to everyone. I must leave you now" Scourge chuckled, "Lockdown" it was the first and only time Scourge called me by the only name I ever remembered myself by.
When Scourge was out of sight, the raven flew over me again. This time, it glowed a reddish hue.
"Great" I said, "Now what?" I asked.
"Only the journey back home, Orion" a voice I knew all too well answered.
I turned and there she was, Cassiopeia, my mother, in her phoenix form.
"Cassiopeia…mother, I'm sorry. I know I didn't protect you from them".
"All is well. Artemis…she will be with you now, as well as with Aquila".
"I have so many things to ask you".
"Not now, Orion, but all will be answered in time" Cassiopeia gave out a phoenix call, similar to a hawk's, and disappeared in a red flame.
"Goodbye to you too, mother" I said as I watched the flame vanish.
A/N: Finished! Finally, the Lockdown's Shadow series is over! Now I don't know what to do. This is weird, really, really weird. It's days like these that I wish I had a YouTube file, because I really wanna make trailers for my fics, like some do on theirs, but I can't. I'm not allowed to have one. Well, I also wanna dedicate this to my own dad, who's currently serving in Iraq as a contractor. He was a soldier two years ago when he left the first time, and I wanted to make something for him. I think this is it, though he will probably never read it (he's not into fanfiction). See ya guys next fanfic! In the meantime, don't forget to be awesome!