Chapter 6 – Tribal abilities and danger forseen

Edward and Bella were sat side by side watching on as Renesmee and Tawémake played happily.

Kaure and the other women had been telling them more about the history of their tribe. They sat and watched on as they demonstrated their shape shifting capabilities.

They asked Edward and Bella to stand back to back in the centre of a circle of 8 of the tribeswomen.

"First we'll shift based on your greatest desire." said Kaure.

Edward suddenly found himself staring at 4 Bella's, whilst Belle found herself staring at 4 Edwards.

"Fascinating" they both said at the same time.

"Wow! I find having one of you a pleasure, but four Edward's are too much for me to handle." Bella teased.

Edward shook his head. "I have four of you"

They each turned around to see what the other could see, but the tribeswomen changed appearance based on who was looking.

The tribeswomen all turned away and allowed Edward and Bella to relax for a moment.

"Now we'll demonstrate a shift based on your greatest fear" said Kaure.

Edward and Bella stood back to back again and prepared themselves for what might happen.

Suddenly they grabbed on to each other as they were surrounded by Aro, Marcus, Caius and some more of the Volturi guard.

"Enough" screamed Bella

Almost instantly the tribeswomen shifted back into themselves.

"That... was... so realistic" panted Bella

Kaure stepped forward and placed a hand on Bella's shoulder. "I'm sorry if we frightened you. We just wanted to show you what we were capable of"

Jacob who had been sat watching with great interest stood up. "That is so cool. Would you like to see what I phase into?"

Kaure smiled and nodded

Jacob turned to Renesmee and gave her a wink. He jumped into the air and phased into his wolf form.

"So big" commented Kaure, who was admiring how large the wolf was. She gently stroked his fur and patted him on the head.

Jacob rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue, he suddenly bounded off behind a shack, only to appear a few minute later wearing nothing but a pair of black shorts, which he had tied round his leg as a spare.

"So how about showing us what this MngWa looks like" he goaded.

Kaure turned to her fellow tribeswomen and grinned.

"Very well"

Suddenly they were surrounded by the MngWa's. They were simply magnificent to look at. Although nowhere near as large as Jacob's wolf form, they were certainly fierce looking. Their fur was a dark silvery grey, with darker grey stripes. They had razor sharp teeth and moved almost silently.

As Edward, Bella and Jacob looked on with shocked expressions the women shifted back.

"Wow, the MngWa is such a beautiful creature, so majestic and stunning" commented Bella.

Edward simply nodded, knowing that any words he could add would not do the vision any justice.

Renesmee suddenly piped up "Pretty kitties" and the whole crowd erupted with laughter.

Everyone sat back down and relaxed for a while and shared various stories. Suddenly Edward's phone rang.

"Hi Alice" he said

Edward listened intently and his face contorted with fear.

"Please keep us informed, I will make sure I keep my phone with me at all times" he said then put the phone back in his pocket.

"Edward? What is it you look like you've just been told your favourite pet has been run over by a bus or something" joke Jacob.

Bella shushed him and turned to her husband. "What's wrong, Is everyone okay? Did Alice have a vision, please speak to me"

Edward stood up and scooped Renesmee into a big cuddle before sitting back down next to Bella.

"Alice saw them... She saw the Volturi find out that we are at Isle Esme... She saw them decide to come here to get us to join them. She knows that the 3 brothers plus Jane, Alec, Demitri and Felix would be amongst them, but she can't see what will happen once they get here" Edward said

Bella couldn't believe what she was hearing. She flung her arms around Edward and Renesmee and held then both tightly.

"But, we'll be no match for them. My shield will only block their mind based powers, but there numbers greatly outweigh us at least 2 to 1. What are we going to do? I don't want to go with them and I don't want them to get their hands on Renesmee".

Jacob growled. "I'll help take a few of those leeches out"

Edward looked at Jacob and knew that he'd do everything he could to protect them, but he knew it would not be enough.

"That's really great Jacob, but there are just too many of them. Alice and the others are trying to sort out travel arrangements for us, but they don't know if they can get it arranged in time. Her current visions indicate that the Volturi will be here within 3 days."

Kaure and the others had been listening on with great interest. They had quietly conferred and unanimously agreed to offer their assistance.

Kaure stepped forward and spoke directly to Edward and Bella. "After everything we've shown you and shared with you today, do you not think that we will be of some help."

Edward suddenly felt his fear dissipating.

"You mean it? You would be willing to help us?" he asked.

Kaure nodded.

"Please, consider us your friends. Besides, I overheard you mentioning the members of the Volturi that you know will be coming and I heard you say Felix. He and I have some unfinished business" she said solemnly.

Edward shared every detail of Alice's vision to Kaure and the other tribeswomen. He then went into as much detail as he could about the Volturi and each of the various gifts they had, paying particular attention to Jane and Alec's gifts.

Bella scanned the crowd of people in front of them and she felt anxious.

"Are you sure you wish to help us? The Volturi are very dangerous and I would hate to think of them harming any of you, just because you tried to protect us."

Kaure moved over to sit beside Bella and placed an arm around her shoulder. "Of course we wish to help you. The Volturi and what they stand for is the very thing that my tribe has battled against for decades. With our abilities and the bloodstones they will be no match for us"

Bella met Edward's gaze and lowered her shield.

'Do you think that they could be any match for the Volturi?'

Edward shrugged his shoulders. As he sat facing the possibility of capture by the Volturi, he would gladly sacrifice himself if they let Bella and Renesmee go, but he knew that this was not a deal that Aro would consider. He wanted all of them.

He contemplated Kaure and her confidence at being able to take down the Volturi and whilst he felt it so very hard to believe, he couldn't find it in himself not to have hope.