MovieGirl44~ I'm glad that you've been enjoying this story. I thought it was not the greatest when I started it so thank you for urging me on to writing this. There is a plane coming along in the next chapter that I may name from your list. Thank's for the names, they'll be a big help to me in more ways than one.

Inzl Kett~ I am also grateful that you have been reading. I hear you're from the Navy and if you see anything that needs improving upon or is incorrect in my stories I'd be thankful for the help.

I'm still taking name ideas so if anyone wants to contribute, let me know.

Chapter 5

"Roven! Regan! You have to evacuate the tunnels and make your way to the second camp!" It was Father, fear and anger rising in his voice. "The twolegs are attacking! Go, go, go!"

The pack was in frenzy as everyone grabbed whatever they needed to bring. Regan and I burst through the entrance to face dozens of twolegs lined up with their fire sticks. Blitz came after us, barking quick orders. "Hold your ground; we only need to distract them! Lead them away from the pack and second camp!"

We split ways, snapping and slamming our wheels into the twolegs. Bullets pelted against our 'skin' and sunk in, stinging bits of flame. I felt my senses go into overdrive, every scream, every fire shot, every strange yelp of the twolegs was finely tuned in my ears. I could see everything before it happened: Father as he took down several twolegs, Blitz as he almost fell from the sky as he took on heavy battle, and Regan as his neck was ripped open once more. I fought with all my might, for the pack. I suddenly heard Conleth scream. I whipped my head around to see that he was pushing Kadesh away from the fighting as she bled oil. More fire shots went off and I watched Kadesh fall from the sky. Conleth pounced on the twoleg that had shot her down, roaring in its face. If I had had time to look closer I would have. Something about the way Conleth was roaring told me that it wasn't punishment but rather communication. But now was not the time to contemplate or blame others for treason, now was the time to "retreat" to the fake camp then sneak around back to the real camp where the other planes would be safely hidden. We broke off the fight and regrouped, setting off towards the false camp, the opposite of where the others of the camp had fled.

We lost the twolegs slightly after breaking and began to slowly travel back to camp. The planes there were shocked as the warriors rolled in, oil splattering across our frames and blood splashing around our lips and landing gear. Father shoved everyone aside and slipped in with mother on his tail. Conleth escorted those wounded to the new infirmary. Soomsani, the light blue healer, was there along with Elsayah. They took a look at Nakaru, a dark grey warrior with navy blue stripes and lighter blue wingtips, and shook their heads, whispering something to him. Nakaru's eyes widened in horror and he stormed out of the room. We never saw him again after that. The nurses looked me down and placed some sort of ivy on my wing where I had been shot repeated times. Soomsani moved on after telling me to wash the blood and oil away. She next looked at Gillzar, who only had a few smaller wounds from hitting trees when we had regrouped. Then Elsayah looked at Regan, who had indeed reopened his neck. They made him lay down in the room where Whitefern began tending to him. She and Regan had become quite close through the days of his healing. After several moments, Elsayah shooed those planes without terrible injury away and took in the next batch of warriors.

I stayed, my starboard wing throbbing and shooting with burning, terrible pain, to see that the last to come in were the leaders. Father and Mother both supported Kadesh on their wings while Conleth came in oddly proudly behind them. The sight of the deputy made a growl erupt from my throat involuntarily. Father gave me a half hearted glare before focusing on Kadesh.

Oil seemed to stream down from everywhere, her neck, her wings, her tail, and all the way down her fuselage. It wasn't until Father and Mother slipped their wings out from under hers until I realized she was unconscious. Whitefern and Regan shared a look of horror behind me, as well as several of the healers. Warriors turned their heads at the sight of the fallen leader. Father wept bitter tears beside Kadesh as Elsayah pronounced her dead. I turned away, tears beginning to flow as I mourned over my grandmother's death. Elsayah and Soomsani hooked their wings under Father's and half dragged the super-alpha to the other side of the room. Whitefern then told Conleth and Mother to bring the body outside and away from the camp where it was sure not to be spotted. I couldn't tell if I imagined it but I thought I saw a victorious glint in Conleth's eye as he slung Kadesh across his back. As soon as it was there, it was gone.

There was no prey that night for anyone, each and every plane making sure the pack would not be spotted. We would all go hungry for the next few days, shutting ourselves into a deep sleep half the time. We lost Corro, a brave warrior who had saved his brother, Imay, and sacrificed himself for it. Two other warriors were clinging to life in the wings of Greatwings by now. One included Imay, whom Corro had tried so hard to save.

After about a week of deep sleep and hunger, a group of planes decided to try to hunt. To our surprise they brought back several plump deer and a big cow. Sorkarra, a female hunter was pleased to inform us that the hunger days were over. She stood next to my degraded father with a smile wrapped around her nose to spread the good news, "The deer have returned and the twolegs are letting their cow venture once more!" Joyful hollers from the pack could be heard.

The days that followed were good ones, taking hunger and fear away and replacing it with happy gatherings. Regan flew next to me, fully recovered. Whitefern tagged along for this flight. "Do you think the pack is finally out of the hunger days?" I asked.

Regan looked at me with strange eyes, as if they had a new layer of depth to them. "I think the hunger days are over, but not the war days. The forest planes are still in trouble if twolegs come along again."

Whitefern had different thoughts, "I believe the twolegs had learned their lesson. Sure, they took down Corro and Kadesh, but did you see how many we conquered as well?"

"You say that like you do not care that Kadesh is dead," I said darkly. Regan slapped my wing slightly in mid flight. "What?"

Regan didn't answer, only giving me a harsh look then casting a soft, sorry glance at Whitefern. I could see that Regan was in love, it was in his eyes. Whitefern returned it. "It's okay," she said softly, "Kadesh and Corro didn't deserve to die but they died honorable deaths. If not for Corro, Imay would be dead, and if not for Kadesh, we may not have won the fight."

I gave her a surprised look, "What do you mean?" I knew Kadesh had fought harder than anyone else but what had she done that made us win?

"You don't know?" Whitefern asked, her voice going higher in surprise, "She only disabled the leader of that group of twolegs!"

Regan nodded, "The twoleg that gave her all those wounds, the one that took her down, retreated after Kadesh's fight. Not to mention Conleth's wild, strange, uncomprehendable speech."

"I wonder why Conleth didn't kill him," I mused aloud. "He seems in league with the twolegs somehow. Did you see the smug look on his face for a second as he took Kadesh's body away?"

Both of the other planes shook their noses. "Look," Regan said, "I know he sent us out on that crazy mission several years ago that had nearly gotten us killed, but he hasn't done anything since. I know you're paranoid but I thought we put that behind us."

Whitefern decided to join my side. "No, Roven's right about there being something fishy going on with Conleth. Elsayah told me about the night before Lockjaw's death."

"You wouldn't remember Lockjaw," I protested.

"No, but I know what others have told me. She said Conleth had come in that night and said something that made Lockjaw's face twist into that of horror. Nobody knows what he said but Kadesh, and now she's dead. My proof, though, isn't that, it's Lockjaw's reaction. Soomsani said that Lockjaw was trying frantically trying to say something all that night, up until his last breath."

"And how do you know this?" Regan asked.

"When I was still an apprentice they were talking about it nonstop and every healer knew about it," Whitefern shrugged. She then focused her eyes to the ground, "Deer two points north."

We all looked to see an entire herd of deer. This was strange indeed. Deer did migrate, but not so suddenly and in such a random order. We banked to the north and began a quick grab and go hunt. Due of the strange yet bountiful amount of prey we didn't need to hunt very often for the pack. We flew down and picked off a few of the deer and ate our fill.

It was Whitefern who raised her head from her deer first, "I'm confused about this."

"About what?" Regan asked.

Whitefern looked at the deer as if it were poison. "Deer don't just disappear and return like this. The twolegs had something to do with this."

"Either that or we slept longer than we were supposed to," Regan joked drily. It was no secret that he was one of the planes that could not stand going into Cold Sleep, as it was called. I was guessing that he was awake half the time, turning bored circles in the room. I wouldn't put it past him to even sneak out of the tunnels to hunt

None of us said anything for a moment as we ate. I broke the silence, "We should be getting back; sundown is soon to come." Regan finished his deer and nodded. Whitefern was still staring fearfully at her catch.

The three planes left the carcasses and took flight. They arrived at the den just in time for the sunset. Father came out with a grim frown etched out on his features. "We have received word that Lightning Pack is gone. They were taken like everyone else." Regan, Whitefern, and I struggled to grasp that Thunder Pack, River Pack, Golden River, and a few other small tribes were the only ones left. Father continued darkly, "The twolegs have not left and will not leave. They will return and we must be prepared."

Not a week later the humans found us again. The battle was fierce for a short time before both sides seemed to stop. We stared the twolegs down and they glared back. For a few precious moments there was no fighting but those moments do not last long. A single shimmering black dot shot off in the air, planting itself into a thick willow behind us. Father made one swift signal that sent us flying into their lines, tearing them apart. There was a sudden break and the twolegs ran for cover. We'd defeated them… for now, but not without losses. Blitz, Gillzar, and Regan were counting now. "Roven!" I heard Regan shriek, "Roven, come here!"

I tried to rise from being hit. My fuselage was bleeding heavily. My landing gear complained considerably and then collapsed. I was out of breath and my vision began to dim. For a split second I heard Regan yelling at me before the world turned black.

"Roven, are you okay?" I awoke to Whitefern staring into my eyes. "Please tell me this pack isn't going to lose you too."

"I-I'm… What happened?" I was in the infirmary along with three other warriors, all of which were awake with and looking at me with fear in their eyes. Regan was by Whitefern's side. He looked beyond relieved yet a gloom was in his eyes.

"You were hit just above your port wing, it hit your hydraulics and you somehow managed to land without brakes relatively easily. Your nose gear is twisted slightly and has to be reset," Whitefern said. Elsayah came up and gave a short, grim, yet approving nod.

"I have some bad news," Elsayah said with dreary light. "Your father is dead."

All of a sudden I was fully awake. I bounced up upon my landing gear only to feel a shooting pain up my nose gear. "Whoa," Whitefern said as she steadied me and made me lie down, "You are not fit to be on your wheels."

"But I can't just lay here when mother is mourning!" I tried to rise once more.

"No," Elsayah said with a surprisingly frightening snarl, "Your mother can't lose you too and right now she's close to!"

Horror lit up my eyes, "Wh-what?"

Elsayah looked down at her wheels. "I didn't mean it," she murmured, "You'll be fine."

Regan gave me a weak smile, "You have nothing to fret over. I'll keep Mother company." I looked away, unable to look my brother in the eyes. I felt, somehow, responsible for Father's death. It was too hard to believe that Regan, Azarias, Finbar, and my mother, and I were the only ones left of the royals.

I then mumbled, "Be sure to comfort Finbar and Azarias as well."

Regan's eyes went dark and I knew that something terrible had happened. "Only Azarias made it through. The twolegs captured Finbar when we escaped."

I only turned my head under my wing and stared into space. My family was being destroyed one by one. Both physical and mental pain tore through me, making its way into my soul. I felt hatred toward the twolegs rising in my belly. I let out a silent growl and swore revenge.

Notes:

I had to shorten some of what I'd planed to be the content of this story because of time issues. I hate to introduce then get rid of characters such as Finbar but it had to be done but don't worry, Finbar will return.

I want to thank my friend Bethany for the names Soomsani, Nakaru, and Kataleen and both my brother Evan and my mom for coming up with the name of Roven.

I also want to thank my friends Tori, Faith, and Jacob for helping me revise Taming Oil. I have to re-post Chapter 1 with their changes when I get to it, thanks.

For a final thank you I want to say thanks to my pen pal Natasha for her encouragement with this story.