Sorry about the false start. I forgot to make sure Fanfiction uploaded the chapter correctly. Of course, it didn't.
Chapter Twelve
"Rain, when may I see my family again?" Alice asked as I held my sword to Cumulus's neck after our fight. I sighed.
"You're the one who can see the future," Cumulus grumbled. "Why don't you tell us?" Alice pulled a face.
"I can see myself with my family soon, but I can't tell when. The future gets really fuzzy when I try to pinpoint a time. Emmett!"
"What?" I asked for Emmett.
"Has anyone said anything about my disappearance?"
Jasper has, but I wouldn't tell her that, Emmett replied. She has a hard enough time forcing herself to stay here without telling her that he misses her.
"We still don't know what to tell them, Alice," I replied.
"I've been gone for over a day, Rain! Ever since Rose disappeared, we've all worried about each other's whereabouts! And I miss Jasper," she finished in a small voice. I couldn't ignore the pain Emmett felt when Alice mentioned Rose.
Later, I promise, he thought to me. I mentally nodded in reply.
"Then we decide now. Wind, I desire the presence of wind brothers Julius and Luke, and wind sisters Hail and Gale." Grandma pulled her legs up to sit on the wind. The others didn't take long to arrive. A new mare followed Aunt Hail and pricked her ears forward in interest when she spied Alice, who smiled as they walked towards each other. They breathed in each other's scent.
"She says her name is Mountains of Mystery," Alice said as she caressed the brown mare's neck. In the next breath, she gasped, and what little color she had drained out of her face. "We have to go," Alice whispered, though I could not tell to whom she spoke. Then she looked at me. "Rain, Fire Clan will attack my family, and soon. We must bring them here!" I nodded.
"Emmett, Grandma, Grandfather, Alice, Sun, and Dave, you're with me. Sun, will you fly with Nessie if she and her parents are agreeable?" Sun nodded. "Alice, will there be anyone besides family there?" Alice nodded. Dave jogged into the trees to become a wolf.
"Jacob is on his way over there. It will be best if Dave runs with him. Mount up!" Alice exclaimed as she stole the order out of my mouth. I whistled for the herd. The family members I named mounted their horses as I mounted Thunder. As one unit, we rode in the normal open arrow formation. Emmett and Alice rode behind me, Alice on my left and Emmett on my right. Grandfather rode behind Alice. His mare, a blue roan named Forget-Me-Not, snorted in the joy of running. Lady of the Mist, Grandma's dappled gray mare, matched Forget-Me-Not with every step, as in tune with each other as their riders were. Sun flew in her golden eagle form overhead as Dave ran next to me. "Edward, Bella, and Nessie are at their cottage, which is where Jacob's heading," Alice said, shattering the calm, as we neared her home. I nodded.
"Will you desire our help to explain why they need to leave?" I asked. Alice shook her head. I nodded as Emmett led Sun, Dave, and I to the cottage. Edward met us outside. "Bella, Nessie, we need to speak with you, too!" I called into the cottage.
"Wind friend Alice says you have two minutes," a breeze announced. I frowned.
"We don't have much time," Emmett said. "We're all in danger if we stay here. Alice and two others are at the house, evacuating the others. Nessie, can Ellen fly with you to Raven's home? Edward, Bella, the question is more of who you're riding behind." When Nessie nodded, Emmett and I dismounted.
"Ellen, will you need help taking off? We have a minute and a half to leave," I said.
Help would be nice, Sun replied. She folded her wings and plummeted to land in front of us. On the ground, she stood as tall as I did, but with the same proportions as a golden eagle. Sit her behind my wings. She will have to grab my neck. Sun tilted forward a little. Don't you dare grab my feathers. It hurts, she said with the strange double echo. Nessie nodded and walked over to stand in line with Sun's shoulder. I lifted Nessie into my arms and onto Sun's back. Nessie immediately leaned forward to wrap her arms around Sun's neck. Sun opened her wings as Emmett and I positioned ourselves on either side of her. She pushed off as we sent the first breath of wind under her wings. Within seconds, she was in the air with a good, steady tail wind.
"Wind friend Alice is telling you to run," a wind said, blowing around Emmett and me. "She says you have less than one minute before the fire daughters arrive." I mounted Thunder as Emmett mounted Lightning.
"Edward, Bella, now is the time to choose who you will ride with," I said. Edward walked over to Thunder and I while Bella walked to Emmett. I stretched out my arm to Edward in order to help him up. "We leave you here, Dave," I said. "Stay safe, stay hidden until Jacob arrives." Dave bared his teeth.
I don't need you to tell me what to do, Dave growled at me. Just go already. I laughed, turned Thunder on his haunches, and prodded him into a ground-eating canter. Lightning matched Thunder step for step. I'll let you know when we're running. svachI ree ri'hala ronoa adah sanau.
"You didn't give us time to ask questions," Edward said from his seat behind me. I offered him no answer. "Why are we running?" I sensed Emmett wished to answer, so I remained silent.
"We're outnumbered and only Dave and Raven know how to defend themselves," Emmett replied from my right. "They aren't vampires or werewolves."
"I can't hear their minds," Edward complained.
"They belong to a different clan of my people," I replied. "If you cannot read my mind, you cannot read theirs. Easy, Thunder," I said as he snorted and tried to misbehave. "It is Emmett's family; you know him. They will not hurt you."
"Thunder?" Bella asked. I smiled. Thunder quieted under my gentle hand.
"His name is Wings of Thunder, but we shortened it to Thunder early on. Thunder is much quicker to say." I looked ahead to see a fallen tree in our path. "As they jump, lean forward and tuck your chin into your chest." The others did as I requested. In Emmett's mind, I heard Lightning shouting with joy over the successful leap. "Flash of Lightning, Emmett's mare, is called Lightning for the same reason."
"Why not call them Wings and Flash?"
"You should hear Thunder's battle cry," I replied. "And I think Lightning suits her better than Flash." We neared the house. As we cantered closer, I heard hoof beats run towards us. Emmett and I turned our horses towards my house. When we intercepted them, Alice rode point with Jasper sitting behind her. When they saw us, Alice fell back and Grandma and Grandfather opened their formation. I moved to point with Emmett on my right flank and Alice on my left.
"Where's Nessie?" Esme asked.
"Ellen flew ahead with her," I replied. "Alice, will they arrive before or after us?" She sighed and closed her eyes to concentrate. Her silver eyes were worried when she opened them again.
"It depends upon whether we wait for Jacob and Dave when we're attacked," she replied. "Ellen won't turn back, not while she has Nessie. If we wait, they'll get there first. If we keep running as we are now, we'll arrive near the same time. If we go faster, we'll arrive first."
"When we're attacked?" Jasper asked.
"We can't outrun them at this speed, so the attack is part of the most-likely futures," Alice replied as she leaned back against Jasper's chest. "There are two ways we could outrun them. Using a portal is a bad idea until Emmett learns how to do it, so there's really only one choice." I nodded.
"Archers, ready," I said, just loud enough for Grandma and Grandfather to hear. "ianI nia'dah, Thunder," I whispered in his ear. I lifted my fist and swung it forward sharply in the signal to speed up. He shifted into the gait unique to faheer no raa, the horses of Wind Clan. The others shifted into the gait we call iani nia'dah, or fast feet. Arrows flew towards us, missing narrowly as Alice directed the winds to deflect them. "Fire at will," I told Grandma and Grandfather.
"Wind, please tell wind sister Cirrus, the next Wind Healer, that the Lady Thar, Wind Healer, and Wind's Eye will arrive soon, perhaps before we do," Alice said. I looked at her, startled. "Tell her they arrive today in all the futures I can see." I sighed.
"The queen of my clan and her two closest advisers are arriving today," I said. "She is the one who will decide, if she hasn't already, how much you may know. They will likely take more of an interest in Emmett and Alice and perhaps Carlisle."
"They'll be curious to meet a vampire who came across the animal diet on his own. It hasn't happened before, that they're aware of," Alice said.
We're running, Dave said, faintly.
"The boys are running," I said in a low voice. I felt the slight tingling of my now active barrier and gave the hand signal to slow down. We easily cantered most of the rest of the way to my house. Cirrus met us partway on Star with my cloak draped over her arm. She wore the riding outfit of her station: shimmering gray shirt and pants with many pockets within easy reach. I knew those pockets were filled with the herbs most commonly used by the healers, no matter their clan. The ends of her blonde hair were braided together, to keep her hair back without tying it back, which would label her as either a mother or a mother-to-be. Her cloak streamed behind her in the slightly over excited wind.
"We are being rather formal, sister," Cirrus said as she dismounted. Edward and I followed suit. "The Lady Thar wears the formal dress of her station; I suggest you do the same." She handed me my cloak as I nodded. I fastened it around my throat as Sparrow and Wren emerged from the trees. They stood on either side of Cirrus and I as I gathered the edges of my shimmering gray cloak in my hands and closed it.
"That's so cool," Emmett said, breaking the silence. "It became as sleeveless robe thing!" I laughed and gently shook my cloak, causing my clothes underneath to change into my formal dress. After the cloak's magic settled, I parted the edges of my cloak. Emmett's family gasped at the sudden transformation from jeans to a formal, floor-length dress. I reached a hand up to the hood of my cloak. Don't disappear on us, Emmett whispered, for he knew the risk I took whenever I became as the wind. I changed my mind and instead rummaged through the depths of my cloak. I soon found my circlet and settled it upon my head. Cirrus nodded to me as Emmett's family watched, speechless.
"Come," I said, formally. I clasped my hands before me and began to walk. Cirrus walked a few paces behind me, next to Emmett. The others walked behind them. The trees soon gave way to the clearing around my house. I bowed with my right fist over my heart until Butterfly-Thar acknowledged me. "nadA ri'hala aulians leetala," I said, formally, in greeting to the Lady Thar and her sisters.
"laynS kii'ra talition," Butterfly-Thar replied. "baI jâdu, Rythen-tharinA. I trust your time here has been interesting?"
"Indeed." I beckoned Emmett forward and began speaking in the Common Tongue. "Saradon-thaR, advisors to the thaR, if I may present my fhreen, Naamkah of Forks." He bowed to Butterfly-Thar and her sisters.
"Greetings," Butterfly-Thar said in English. "They are your family?" She indicated Emmett's family with a wave of her hand.
"Yes," Emmett replied. Alice stepped forward at the same time as the Wind's Eye, the Lady Dragonfly. Neither one said anything for a long moment before Lady Dragonfly threw her head back in laughter.
"Indeed, Alice," she said. "Starla had yet to figure out how to do that."
"She knew the basic principles, though," Alice replied. She turned to her family. "She can see the future too, though probably better than I can. Raven's sister Starla was the same way."
"We have some things to discuss," Butterfly-Thar said. "Sisters, Sara, Raven, Emmett, saa-shI-eneskI." We followed Butterfly-Thar inside my house. She settled herself in a chair before the rest of us sat. "We may speak as freely as we wish, here. I am coding our words." Emmett looked confused.
"Butterfly-Thar's talent is encoding. You can view it as a scrambling of letters, if you wish. Anyone who tries to listen in will hear a meaningless string of letters. It is an unbreakable code," I explained. Emmett nodded. "Carry on, Lady Thar."
"Rain, why is Emmett's family here? The tharina should know better than to reveal the location of her home lightly," Butterfly-Thar said. Lady Dragonfly opened her mouth to speak, but Butterfly-Thar raised her hand. "I wish to hear it directly from Rain-Tharina."
"They were in danger. Today was the second attack on them. I believe Fire clan sees me as the easiest to wound. Stratus's death was only the beginning. I have had four unfriendly encounters with Fire Clan since my arrival here. I believe there will be more," I said.
"What reason does Fire Clan have to begin a war with us?" Lady Bee asked. "We have little they want. Our cities are in the mountains while their cities are in the deserts. We were neutral in the past few clan wars." Lady Dragonfly shrugged.
"I can see past and present, but not thoughts," she said. "That falls into the category of thoughts. Well." She settled more comfortably in her seat. "The presence of Emmett's family complicates things. Do we tell them anything?"
"Is there precedence for telling them?" Butterfly-Thar countered. Lady Dragonfly closed her eyes and began searching. She opened her eyes a time later. She sighed and sat up straighter.
"One of the Grass Clan thars fell in love with a human. Fire Clan started a war with them and began to target the Thare and his family. He knew he was in danger, but not his family. Eventually, in order to protect them better, the Thar and her fhreen told his family. I believe that this situation here is like the situation then, enough to tell Emmett's family all we know." Emmett and I smiled in relief.
"Bee, what is your recommendation?" Butterfly-Thar asked. Lady Bee sighed.
"Do you need to ask? My answer is this: do not tell them. Do you remember the last time a vampire learned of our people? She threatened to expose our existence. We eventually had to silence her, permanently. That is the reason for the enforced silence. Would you threaten the peace and safety of our people by telling them?" she asked, her gray eyes flashing with emotion. Clearly, she remembered something I did not.
"The vampire in question had no familial ties with our people," Lady Dragonfly reminded her younger sister. "And do you forget that the first vampire was an elf, before she turned to ice?" Lady Bee sighed.
"Cirrus?" Butterfly-Thar asked. My older sister sighed.
"My vote counts for little, unless we both vote no, Butterfly-Thar. If you ask what I truly think, I do not know. There is the risk they could decide to tell others, but I believe it to be minimal. Rain-Tharina and Emmett wish to tell them to reduce or eliminate the lies we tell them, their family." She closed her eyes and sat back in her chair. "Neither side has delivered a truly convincing argument."
"I shall decide later what they may know," Butterfly-Thar said. "There is tell the matter of skirmishes here. We need to organize patrols of the areas we are protecting and call some of the troops here."
"I nominate Sergeant Typhoon," Cirrus said. "Her troop is accustomed to unusual situations."
"I nominate Sergeant Eagle," Lady Bee said. "Her troop is composed of fighters and she isn't as vocal as General Taye'a.' Lady Dragonfly groaned.
"General Taye'a is very vocal about her dislike of vampires, werewolves, etc. There have been times where she has refused to work alongside them," Cirrus explained.
"The Lady Thar and I are lucky enough to have not met General Taye'a," I said.
"But you are a general," Emmett said, confused. I laughed.
"We have and have not met her. The identities of the generals are a secret, though everyone knows the thar and tharinas are generals," Butterfly-Thar explained. "If we said which generals we have met, we would risk others knowing which generals we could be. In addition, each general has a given personality that must be followed. This way, no one may ask which general acts the closest to the thar or tharina."
"I'm still confused," Emmett said. I curled into his side from our seat on the couch.
"You'll understand when you meet the generals," I said. "And please don't ask which general I am. I cannot tell you aloud, and it is best if you don't look. Grandma was once a general, in between the time Mom was born and when I was born." He nodded as he snaked his arm around my waist.
Asking permission for another wolf named Sam to cross your barrier, Dave thought, faintly. I added the new name to the list of names constantly rolling through my head. Thanks.
"David Jones just crossed my border with two other wolves," I said.
"Then it is not the time to introduce ourselves," Butterfly-Thar said. "The two wolves I have not met have no connection to our people. You may address me as Benigna, when we leave this room. It is the name I use if I see any humans in the Amazon rain forest."
"I use the name Brunilda," Lady Dragonfly said. "Bee uses the name Belinha. What areas are we claiming to protect?"
"My house and the home of the Cullens," I replied. "The town of Forks will not need protection and I have been elsewhere only once in my time here." Butterfly-Thar nodded.
"That is reasonable," Lady Dragonfly said. "What of your presence here, Lady Elf-Friend? Does your presence mean your people are involved?"
"No," Sun replied. "I am here as Rain's eneski, nothing more. That may change if Fire Clan insults me directly with little or no guaranteed effect on Rain. At that point, they would be attacking me as the Daughter of Day, not just the eneski of the Wind tharina."
"So your people will remain neutral until the Daughter of Day is attacked," Lady Bee summarized.
"Yes," Sun replied. "Shall we join the others? I do not think we have much else to discuss behind closed doors."
"We shall," Butterfly-Thar replied as she stood. "Come, let us join the others." We followed her out of the door.
I know, it's been way too long. Sorry. I'm a horrible updater.
Don't forget to PM me if something is unclear.
Common Tongue in this chapter:
svachI ree ri'hala ronoa adah sanau – May the winds blow your way (traditional Wind Clan farewell)
ianI nia'dah – fast feet
faheer no raa – horses, specifically the elven horses of Wind Clan
thar – queen, king, ruler, leader (usage here: queen)
nadA ri'hala aulians leetala. – Our winds cross again.
laynS kii'ra talition. – They do indeed.
baI jâdu, Rythen-tharinA – Well met, Rain-Tharina
fhreen – the chosen mate of an elf
saa-shI-eneskI – Elf-Friend
Tharina – Princess (or prince, or leader/ruler in training)
Thare – for elves, the fhreen of the Thar
eneski – very close friend, though usually translated as friend
Names in the Common Tongue:
Rythen – Rain
Saradon – Butterfly
Naamkah – Emmett