Secrets of the Starnik

Chapter 5: Fast Learners

The rock vibrated, it gently rocked side of side as if something invisible had its hand around it and tried to lift it. "That's it, go on you're so close." Scott said, rather impressed by what he was seeing. Aria had a keen and hardy stare going on in her eyes, she didn't blink and she didn't take her eyes off it. So this first day together Scott wanted to teach her how to use her powers. Telepathy was already under her wing, it was an easy gift to master, it only took Scott and Rosie a morning to learn how to use it and talk over long distances. It took a little while longer to learn to share images, memories and rummage through other's memories thought. It was something she could learn herself. But now Scott was convinced he had once against passed down his telekinetic gift, for as he talked her through how to use it on a rock he placed on top of the boulder outside their home, it started to move. Her eyes flickered green for a second before returning to normal. Her shoulders were high, her hands tucked into her sleeves and her eyes wide as she focused while her father walked back and forth behind her to talk her through it. Rosie sat in the den entrance watching and listening with a smile, he was using the same methods he used to teach Myka.

Those methods sounded easier then they really were. When Aria first heard it, she thought it was a piece of cake, but no, it required much more concentration. The idea was that you focus on the object you want moved, bent or just what you want to control, then picture it happening so hard in your mind that it happens. But it requires complete concentration; she couldn't be put off by anything. She seemed to be doing ok, so Scott started making distractions for her, throwing sticks to the sides to make noises, clapping his hands behind her, things like that. Some put her off and other didn't, and soon nothing fazed her. She was in the zone, but she still struggled to lift it.

But finally, her eyes flickered quickly and sparked before staying green, causing the rock to rise. Scott's smile grew enormously. "That's it, you're doing it." She grew ambitious, and as her eyes brightened for a second, the two cracked and split in two and she was able to concentrate on both pieces. He looked back to his mate.

"I don't even Myka was this fast."

"She's good, maybe better then you." Rosie giggled teasingly.

Aria was getting the hang of this, it was simple really, just picture what you want to happen so hard and vividly that it does. She gently raised her hands towards the two rocks, her mouth opening and her breathing getting a little louder. She eyes shone brightly, this was incredible, with this gift she could do anything! She squeezed her hands quickly into a fist, and the rock shattered into dozens of tiny rocks and each little piece continued to float. He was now getting more then impressed, she could indeed turn out to be better then him if she was this fast at learning. A slight hint of jealousy as well maybe. Her eyes pulsated a final time, but this time things didn't go to plan. Each tiny piece of rock flew away from her at the speed of a bullet, well…more like the spray of a shotgun. The loud boom of Starnik energy banged in their ears before the rocks burst away from her, hitting trees, bushes and eventually passed them all and into the valley. She covered her ears from the sound and eventually looked up at the small holes she made in the trees. She looked back to her father. "Well, that was…good." He said, rather in shock from what he just witnessed.

"Was that just real?" She asked.

"You better believe it." Rosie answered with a proud expression. "That was very impressive." But then, a flash of green and a light boom sound rung out, and there appeared Dakota walking towards them shaking his head and his teeth gritted together. He didn't look happy. "Hey baby." Rosie smiled while walking towards him and licking his cheek. "Missing us already?"

"Hey mom." He replied less enthusiastically and hugging her. Something as wrong, she could hear and feel it.

"What's wrong honey, something is."

"It's nothing; Chance is just being cranky and I've had enough of it." He replied as they pulled apart.

"Go back and talk to her." She pretty much ordered back. "Walking away from her will only make things worse."

"She told me to get out; I'm giving her the space she needs gladly." He replied a little hotly. "She's taking this bet with Myka way too seriously."

"Bet with Myka?" Scott asked.

"Don't ask, it's pretty weird." He sighed and shaking his head. "I was hoping we could go Ditori hunting or something today, it'll help take my mind of things."

"Sure, I was thinking the same thing." Rosie nodded in agreement. She too needed to do something to day, and what batter way to have fun and pass the time then to go and hunt down your enemies for a bit of sport. "Scott are you about done here?"

"Yeah I think so." He nodded. He then looked down to his daughter. "Listen, Rosie and I have to go out to see some old friends. Do you think you'll be ok here by yourself?"

"She won't be." Lupa then came walking in out of no-where with one of her pups, Sarah, sitting on her back. "I want to get to know my sister better and Sarah here wanted come as well."

"There, maybe you won't be alone now after all." He added and looking back to his daughter.

"Ok dad, I'll be fine. I got here by myself didn't I?" She giggled.

"Ok." He smiled and kissing her forehead. "We won't be long." He then walked around her as Lupa swapped placed with him. He walked into the den and geared himself up, clipping on his quiver to his side and slipping his bow over his head. He took that small book of names and addresses and a box kept beside the trunk of souvenirs back outside and together he, Rosie and Dakota looked through them. They had made quite a dent in the book already, there had to be around three hundred names in the book, and now those numbers had been depleted by around one hundred and twenty. They were getting through quickly, they didn't know if there were more names on more books, but they'd be able to rest if these names were gone. The reason they continued to do this s because for the last seven years they done nothing but run and fight these people, it was a way of life, and it's hard to give up a life that you've known for so long. Plus it was a little payback, they forced Lupa to become the Earth Angel, to make her die and leave her body behind and give her children a half life, like she once had.

The addresses were mainly of home addresses, old, small bunkers, abandoned warehouse. Basically, places the Ditori once used as safe-houses and still use as refuges now that everything they once had was no destroyed, and now it was their turn to start running. It as pretty simple really, pick an address, see who was there, kill the people that are, making sure they were Ditori first of course, them find some sort of ID and take their name off the list. Simple really, nothing could and ever has gone wrong. Well, apart from Lupa who seems to want them to stop and believing it was some mid-life crisis they were going through. She wasn't them to stop, but they weren't going to until the last name had been crossed off. Scott followed his finger down the page all the way to the next name on the list. Some ex-commander of one of the old Ditori's HQ's, this was his personal safe-house. They didn't know if these people were dead, they didn't know if they had fallen in the times they had fought, so they followed any lead they could. They fallowed his finger across, the address.

"Salt Lake City?" Dakota asked. "Are you kidding me, the city?"

"Argh, I hate the city." Rosie grumbled.

"We'll make it quick." Scott added. "We'll be in and out before they even know it. Don't worry." He clicked his fingers, and as his eyes flashed the box lid flew open. It rattled a little, but with everything inside it didn't fall. It was full to the brim with leaflets, flyers, brochures, those kinds of things, it was Dakota's way of getting around, and seeing as he can only jump to places he's seen and memorised, it was the only way they could get around the country quickly. A picture of a location would work just fine, hence why many times they've telepathically sent images to him. But when it came to a place they haven't been before, this was their solution, a box full of different locations. After rummaging around for a moment, out Scott pulled a leaflet of Salt Lake City, a leaflet about some colossal banking building, it was pretty much a skyscraper. It dropped it before Dakota so he could put everything back, passing his daughters again. Just doing all that took but a few minutes.

"You'll be ok while we're gone, right?" He asked just making sure. She sat cross legged with little Sarah in her arms, both of them giggling lightly.

"I'll be fine dad, don't worry about me."

"Ok, I'll reach out for you when we're coming home." He kissed her forehead and then kissed Lupa's.

"Look after her." He whispered to her.

"She'll be fine, don't worry." She reassured before he walked away, giving one last smile to them both before reaching his mate and step-son. "Ready to go?"

"As long as you are." Dakota mumbled as he handed the leaflet back to Scott in his mouth.

Only a moment later, before them stretched Salt Lake City with its vast highways, streets, skyscrapers and smaller buildings. One on of them, Scott stood and Rosie and Dakota sat overlooking it all. This was a large bank, clearly, and to add to it Scott stood in-between two letter as he looked over the city with his sharpened eyes. Rosie did the same, sitting on a letter "D" up and beside him and on the other side Dakota stood looking across on a letter "A". This was an advantage point; they could get e brief lay of the land.

"And we've got to find one building in all of that?" Dakota asked.

"Well, we'd better get moving." Scott replied.

"You know, I don't think I've ever felt so ready to kill someone. It's worrying me." He chuckled as he looked down, it was a long drop. "You know what, I think I'll take the short cut, see you down there." He then vanished, and far below them there was a small flash of green that could only have been him.

"And he didn't offer a lift." Rosie giggled. "Come on, I'll race you down." She added before together they jumped and plummeted towards the ground.

Back with Lupa and Aria, they were really getting to know one another. Lupa liked her clearly, she saw Aria was a great girl and she was proud to be her step-sister. Aria thought the same thing, even despite the fact they were different species. Right now, Sarah had fallen asleep; the others had been gone for about an hour now and she was bounced out in Aria's arms. She had never had a dog or seen a wolf before today, so this was all new and awesome at the same time. She was getting a lesson about the family, how everything was and why it was like this. So far that was Lupa's early life growing up with her mother and father, how shortly after Scott came back from England Shadow passed away and soon after that Scott and her mother fell in love. One of his powers was to turn into a wolf, and with some help from their family spirit guide, A.K.A her grandmother, his power was reversed, so he was a wolf who could change into a human. She was taught about the Ditori, they constant fights they used to have, how they all once died, how Myka was brought into life and how her life was with Karl and Lexi. She called it "Starnik History 101", it was a long history lesson and one Sarah fell asleep listening to.

Then it was Aria's turn, she explained her short life and the events of it. She'd only been around for around seven years, but Lupa had already explained to her why now, so it put her mind at rest that although she have a short life, but she'd still have many more after that. She explained her mother and family life, how they moved constantly because they didn't want her thinking she was a freak by how fast she was growing. When the subject of her father arose, it was a topic that wasn't around for long. But when her eyes started changing a few months back, both she and her mother knew it had to be from the father, the father being Scott. She had the same eyes the Starnik had, she'd seen new reports and You tube videos of them and she started to think tat possible that human one was. She followed trails and clues she found and her mother gave her and that led her to Kalispell.

"Wow, you really went though all that to find Scott?" Lupa laughed while crossing her front paws.

"Yeah, I really want to know why everything was happening to me the way it was so the best chance was finding my father."

"It seems both our families have been through tough times." Lupa could understand this and where she was coming from.

"Now that I've got answers, I can go home and put my mums mind at rest, she thinks I was going to die before her and she didn't want that."

"Well you probably will." Lupa nodded. "But you'll live again. The Phoenix is an incredibly rare gift that only comes around every few hundred years. It ages quickly, but when it dies whether that be from old age or some other means, it's body will heal itself and return it's mature state, so probably about the age you are now and you'll live again."

"How do you know all this? It's kind of creepy." Aria laughed a little.

"My grandma, she's our family spirit guide and helps us when we need her. She taught me a lot of things and when we all died I learned a lot more. I have loads of cool powers, and one of them is psychokinesis." Aria tilted her head, what she was she talking about? Lupa saw she didn't understand. "I hear and see dead people basically." He added. "Among other things I could do with it, I can hear spirits and… You know, I don't actually know how half my powers work, I haven't had them for very long." She had a point; Lupa didn't know how a great majority of her godly like powers worked, hence why Sarah and Shadow would teach her when she had the time.

"So you haven't always had them like me?"

"The shield…" She answered and holding up her paw to create that sparking ball she could make. "I've been able to so since I was seven months old, that's when mine and Dakota's eyes changed for the first time and our powers were active. Grandma gave me a couple more when I was nearly two and the rest came to me when I became the Earth Angel a few months ago." Aria just had an expression of complete confusion. "I told you it was confusing." She finished laughing.

"Yeah, just not that confusing." She replied. It was then that Sarah shuffled around in her sleep, muttering and whining a little as if she was having a bad dream. Aria began to think she had done something, Lupa only just giggled at her reaction.

"It's ok, she's just dreaming. Pass her here." She shuffled closer and laid her in her mother's paw. Lupa licked her kicked and whispered some quiet words of comfort to the small pup which made her quieten down and eventually stop.

"So if you're a mum now, does that make me an aunt?" Aria then asked. Lupa nodded

"Of course, you're one of the family now. Maybe not related but you're defiantly my sister."

"You really think that?" She asked, believing she was only being modest. She nodded back quickly.

"Of course." She said as if it was obvious. "I saw Scott's power in your blood, if you're his daughter and Myka's his daughter and my sister, that still make you mine and my children's aunt."

"Thank you, that mean a lot to me."

"You are very welcome." Lupa smiled and place her paw on her knee; it was the only spot she could reach. "So has Scott been teaching you how to use your powers yet?" She nodded again.

"Yeah, the telepathy was pretty easy to learn, the whole moving things was a little harder."

"I bet, I remember when he taught Myka." Lupa agreed. "She struggled a little at first, but once you can do one things it's easy to learn the rest."

"You said I could control fire too." She then added. "Would it be pretty much the same thing?"

"I guess." Lupa shrugged back. "Just picture really hard what you want it to do and it'll happen if you will it enough. We know someone who used to be able to do it; maybe we can get him to help you."

"Really, because that would be great."

"Of course, in this family we look out and help each other. We will all do anything to help one another."

Meanwhile, Scott stepped over a bloodied corpse, pulling out the arrow embedded in his brain and wiping it on his leg before placing it back into his bow ready to use again should he have to. They were right; this place was full of Ditori. It was a home, on the outside, a perfectly normal house with flowers, the odd crack in the driveway, and husband and wife inside. It was a cover up, the husband and wife weren't at all and the other's inside weren't family friends. It was a quiet suburban street, so nobody heard the screams. There were six of them in here, so Scott began his normal procedure, look for ID's and cross them off the list. This home looked perfectly normal inside too, apart from the basement that had a stockpile of weapons hung on the walls and in crates around place. Some mean house.

"This is starting to get strange." Rosie said from another room, meeting Scott in some dining room as they both went through different doorways to check the place out. Dakota was upstairs, checking to see if he could find anything or anyone. "This is the most we've found in one place."

"I know, but I bet they're all just survivors sticking together, that's all." Scott finished groaning as he rolled over a corpse and checked the pockets for some ID. He found one in this guy's wallet and looked for the name in the book. "Huh, this guy isn't in the book." He double checked, no, he really wasn't.

"Maybe they were recruiting; maybe he's someone they recently found." Rosie wondered. "Remember, we already talked about this. Not everyone will be on the list." Scott nodded and dropped the ID.

"Yeah I know. It's nothing." He smiled as he stood back up.

"Guys, up here!" Dakota called down. They made a fast paced walk up the stairs.

"Where are you buddy?" Scott asked.

"In here." They saw his shadow moving around in a room. So they went to that one room, a small bedroom with a single bed and a wardrobe. Scott tried to look for whatever it was that Dakota called him up for. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"What's wrong?" He asked. He managed to get his claws around the wardrobe door and opened it, then nosing the other open. Stuck and pinned to the back of the doors were posters, pieces of paper, small notepads, and a map. It looked like a plan of some kind.

"What is that?" Rosie asked.

"That's not all." Dakota added. Look here." They watched him walk towards the bed, the corner of something wooden sticking out the side of it. So his step-father lifted the mattress and pulled it out, placing it on the bed to have a better look. It was something similar to the wardrobe; it was a notice board with paper, a map and a few other things on it. The map had one area circled, an area in South Dakota. But one thing caught their attention more then the rest. Looking back to the wardrobe, Rosie saw the same thing in several places, and that one thing said. "Who's Charlie Norton?" She asked, the name written in several places on the board and wardrobe.

"Beats me, must be some old commander of theirs or something." Scott said. "Well done son, it's a good find." He added and rubbing Dakota's head.

"Are they trying to come back?" Dakota wondered as they tried to make sense of the writings and scribbles.

"They wouldn't dare." Scott answered. "They know they can't defeat us, they're probably just looking for others and this Charlie guy is just an old commander they're looking for." He stood up straight and pushed the broad away. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. Come on; let's get out of here before someone finds us." He then walked away, Rosie right behind him but Dakota stayed put. There just was something about all this, his instincts tingled violently and knew that something was wrong about this. The name, "Charlie Norton", another thing that he seemed more focused on was another thing written down." Serum138". The area in South Dakota, none of it made sense, but it put in instincts into over drive. Were they planning something? Surely not, everything of theirs are in ruins, the leftovers were forced into hiding they couldn't come back no matter how hard they tried.

"Kota, honey are you coming?" Rosie called from downstairs.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" He called back, taking one last look at everything before joining them. Something wasn't right, they were up to something.

OOOOOOHHHHHH, are the Ditori up to something? Are they plotting some sort of up rising against the Starnik? Stay tuned to find out. Until next time. :S

The FalconWolf