Hey Everyone! :D
Thanks for those two who reviewed ;) Have a cookie :3
There was also a question from ~BlueJay026 which I'll answer at the end of this chapter. And since I don't have anything much to say here, lets get to it!
Chapter 2
"...Are you absolutely sure that that's what you saw?" Knightriss demanded.
The blue ninja nodded, standing to attention beside the long wooden table in front of her boss. "Positive. We were being watched by someone. Whether it was a spirit or a real person we don't know."
"Don't tell us what we don't know girl. Tell us what we do know!" Madeva shouted, her voice high and agitated- enough to make Skabb and Tinkor cover their ears in pain.
"Well..." Shaiden sighed. "The one thing we do know is that it's not completely impossible for a human to also be a bird..." Her voice trailed off as she gestured towards Kookaburra, who was pacing around the room like a hunted rabbit. "Kook is proof enough of that."
The green haired defender kept jumping at the shadows and eventually resorted to pulling down his goggles and diving onto the worn sofa in-between Gildar- who had been brushing his hair- and Vane- who was licking his hands to ensure that not a bit of his chicken mayo sandwich escaped his stomach.
Shaiden sighed and shook her head at the birds antics.
It might not have been the best idea to tell the leading defenders straight away, but the ninja guessed it was inevitable with Kook flapping around the castle in panic.
Thorne had disappeared almost instantaneously upon them coming inside- most likely into his lab. Faetal, Ballista and Crocness were keeping the child attackers at bay in the dungeon, so they were absent from the defenders meeting.
It had been surprisingly easy to get everyone to sit down and listen, but then again it was lunchtime.
Everyone loved lunchtime.
Well- everyone except Thorne.
Shaiden frowned at her own thoughts. Her brother didn't seem to love much in the world, did he.
Apart from maybe his lab... and chemistry. And her- to an extent. Thorne would protect her with his life if it came to it. And that was enough, she guessed.
And it was at that same moment that her brother stormed into the room with a face like thunder.
Shaiden eyed him warily, trying to figure out what the problem was. She eyed the cut on his forehead from earlier.
He'd obviously cleaned it since- it was far less bloody than it had been and he'd stuck a few steri-strips on it for good measure.
The other defenders froze momentarily, their eyes flicking to Shaiden for confirmation that they could continue to breathe.
No. That wasn't the problem.
Shaiden had a growing suspicion that whatever the problem was, had something to do with the book her brother was holding in his hand.
Shaiden flicked her eyes at them, just as Thorne slammed down the heavy leather cased book onto the table, raising a cloud of dust.
"Well someone's been busy..." Knightriss commented coolly.
"Heh...You'll never guess what I found out while the rest of you were sitting here." Thorne growled at Knightriss, flicking open the book to a specific marked page.
"What is it?" Shaiden asked tentatively, moving closer.
Kook, Vane and Gildar hid themselves in the sofa cushions, preparing themselves for the worst.
Madeva made her way over to stand beside Knightriss.
"There." Thorne said, pointing to a passage of the book with one gloved finger. "That must have been who it was."
Shaiden frowned at him, pulling the book closer so she could read it.
"It talks about a family of Bird entities." Thorne explained, to those who couldn't read the book.
Vane, Kook, Gildar, Skabb, and Tinkor blinked at him.
Thorne narrowed his eyes and mentally face-palmed. "A person who can turn into a bird. With, you know... magic."
The faces of the other defenders lit up in understanding, accompanied by a chorus of "Oh"'s.
Thorne internally sighed.
""There are only about 3 of those families left in the world. It says there's a family of Bird entities that live in the Castle Of the Mountain Keep. The King of the Bird entities named Orion and his wife Elinor." He paused and frowned, trying to remember the passages of the book that his mind had so easily devoured earlier. "They had two kids... a girl and a boy..."
"Just like you and Shaiden then!" Kook grinned, poking his head out from between the sofa cushions.
Thorne's icy glare made the birds head shrink back down until only his green hair was visible- like a tuft of abnormal grass.
"The girl was crown princess to ALL her father's lands!" Madeva continued, quoting lines from the actual book and waving her arms around like some sort of bad magician. "But she was a mischievous little sucka, constantly goin' walkabout and into the kingdoms of others!"
"She inherited the power of the bird entities from her father." Thorne interrupted- throwing an icy glare at the female dragon-slayer and taking control of his story once again. "So, she was able to change into the bird she was named for- Raven."
"But her brother didn't possess the power of the entities..." Shaiden murmured, her eyes scanning the book.
"Precisely." Thorne nodded. "So he couldn't inherit. No one could understand how that was even possible, since his mother was a dove entity, and his father was a crow entity."
The defenders exchanged glances and began muttering about the possibility that it was the daughter that was causing mischief in the castle.
It made them smile- a child of their lands was a child, and could be dealt with by using other means.
However if any of them had been watching Shaiden at that moment, they would have seen her expression of amusement fade and change into something much darker. "Thorne..."
"So what'cha saying," Madeva spoke over her, "Is that we just need to catch the little tyke in the act and deliver her back to her parents."
Thorne nodded. "Much easier than launching a full blown war with a bunch of stupid birds..." His eyes flicked over and settled on Kook's. "No offence."
"Guys." Shaiden spoke again, her voice louder this time.
"Well err, if this is all sorted I'm gonna make another sandwich..." Vane announced, wiping his hands on his trousers and standing up.
Madeva and Knightriss were discussing just how to catch a bird, and Kook kept interjecting with his nonsense.
"Guys!" Shaiden growled, with more force this time, so that the others were forced to take notice of her.
Vane sat down abruptly, as did Madeva and Knightriss.
Thorne turned around in puzzlement to see what had his sister so worked up. "Shaiden?"
The blue ninja sighed, trailing her hand down the worn pages. "It can't be her Thorne..."
"But all the evidence points to-" Thorne argued immediately, before his sister cut him off, reading passages directly from the book.
"'For a time the Kingdom thrived. They had a wise king and a promising young heir to the throne. Even the prince showed potential, far above his given status.
Orion employed the help of great defenders, including the once shunned Animalians and peace reigned over the Kingdom for a great many years...
But this Great Kingdom was not so strong as it appeared, and was attacked to breaking point numerous times, before the Prince and Princess were even into their teenage years...
And on one such attack, the kingdom's luck had run out.
Orion stayed behind to aid the battle for his kingdom, while Elinor and his people fled, taking his children with them.
In the panic of the kingdom being destroyed around them, the people fled in any direction they saw fit. Any place that wasn't a pit of rubble, or alight with flames.
And it was somewhere in this struggle that Queen Elinor and her children were lost..."
The defenders had gone eerily quiet.
Thorne's legs felt strangely weak underneath him, and he sat down before they gave out on him.
"'Upon the battles end, the surviving townspeople and villagers joined together to see what they could reclaim from the ashes of their kingdom.
The search was stopped each time a body was discovered, to allow appropriate time for mourning.
Upon the discovery of Queen Elinor, the hearts and minds of all the villagers were shattered. And her death, coupled with the death of King Orion tore great welts in what was left of their people.
There was no sign of either child, and so the people feared the worst.
There was hope- in that the children's newly appointed guardian was missing also, and she was much easier to track, being an Animalian.
All hope was lost however, upon the discovery of Princess Raven's tiara- whole and complete, albeit covered in a great deal of blood.
The search was terminated- their Princess was lost along with her brother. There would be no happy ending.
The tiara was locked in the vault along with Orion's Crown, and was sealed tight.
The villagers scavenged what they could from the ruins of their city and cleaned it up as best they could.
To this day, they travel around as a camp. Forever moving within a kingdom they once considered to be safe.
For they are The Camp of the Rising Sun.'"
Shaiden shut the book sharply and let it drop onto the table. "So that bird we've been seeing. It can't be the princess. Because the princess is dead." Her voice was cold, her eyes shining with unshed tears at a tale of old.
They other defenders sat in silence, trying to absorb what Shaiden had just told them.
"Skabb is... sad..." the barbarian sniffed, wiping at the side of his nose.
Tinkor had his face buried in Vane's shoulder, and the archer was patting his back awkwardly while the inventor sobbed out his misery.
Thorne still sat on the floor, his face a picture of puzzlement.
"Do you know what's funny about all of this Thorne?" Shaiden said, with a false laugh. "If that... Princess had been alive, she would have been the same age as you."
The alchemist opened his mouth, as if to argue back- but no words would come.
He had been wrong- yes- horribly wrong. If only he'd read a little further...
And though he wouldn't admit it to their faces, he felt terrible...
"GUYS!" Faetal yelled, rushing into the room and stopping in the middle- oblivious to the glum expressions on each defenders face, or the fact that Tinkor was still crying into Vane's arm.
"What is it?" Knightriss asked, her voice brisk and business like as usual- as though she was trying to forget all she had just learnt.
"The castle's under attack!" Faetal panted. "It's that bird-person again. And this time, it's brought a... friend..."
The raven settled on its perch above the dungeon stairs. It was perfect.
Those idiots couldn't defend a crown, even if the castle had arms and whacked attackers off itself!
She could hear her friend now- taunting them. She was good at that.
The raven let out a caw of glee and picked up the pretty Redstone amulet beside her.
All she needed now, was to be patient- just like her brother had told her.
And she... was endlessly patient.
A.N.~
Well... that came out far more depressing than I intended it to. Hehe... But I did have to get past that point somehow, however depressing it may sound, its pretty essential for good old character development.
~BlueJay026- T (Means: Teen, so as a clue this may include either blood or swearing- definitely not swearing XD) I don't want to give too much away at the moment (haha), and I might eventually change the rating anyway. We'll see.
Anyway, next chapter we finally get to meet my OC's properly!
Have a nice day, and if you're extra lucky I might update twice today!
(A.N.2~ Does anyone else find it impossible to write as Madeva in character without speaking like her XD That's the only way I can imagine what she might say!)