“We think it must have been Matilda’s doing,” Lloyd added. “We saw some evidence of Traveler’s Tea where we last traced her.” Cole swung his gaze back to Skylor again. Yup, it was her. She wore strange clothes, her blood-red hair was down instead of being held up in its usual ponytail, and she somehow looked skinnier and paler than the last they’d met—yet it was Skylor, alive and well. “Is Kai…?” he began hopefully. Her smirk faded. “I’m sorry. He wasn’t thrown in the same place as I was. I haven’t seen him since the Moon Tribe kidnapped us.” Cole felt his shoulders slump in defeat. So much for hoping. Yet he said, “Well... at least we’ve got the Master of Amber back.” Then something Lloyd had said finally registered in his brain. Cole swung around to face him. “Wait— what do you mean, ‘where you last traced’ Matilda? Where is she?” A chilling silence followed. Liana’s expression abruptly became pained, while the others glanced away from Cole’s gaze uncomfortably. Lloyd swallowed and seemed reluctant to reply. “We— we’re not exactly sure,” he admitted. “But… there’s evidence that she’s been taken prisoner by the Moon Tribe. It looks like she got into a fight with one of the Seven Sorcerers.” “All that was left of her were these.” Jay finally spoke up, venturing forward to display several objects he held in his hands: an old, worn-out pointed hat, several small, multi-colored bottles, and a few charred, broken splinters of wood that had once been a magic wand. Cole couldn’t speak. He stared at the objects, slowly taking in the evidence. His mouth was dry. Nya’s face twisted. She ventured to lay one hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry.” No one noticed how Jay involuntarily stiffened when his girlfriend touched Cole. “She’s not gone, Cole.” Liana finally took it upon herself to interrupt the horrid silence. She spoke firmly. “I mean— not gone-gone, if you know what I mean. I mean she has to be alive. We would have found more otherwise.”
Cole’s gaze drifted away from the things in Jay’s arms and onto the design of his bedcovers. “Alive,” he murmured. “Unless they decided to get rid of her their way. It’s not the first time they wanted to formally execute their prisoners after torturing them for a while.” He cast a significant look at Jay. None of the ninja knew what to say. Lou’s smile had wilted, and he now looked at his son with concern. Liana’s expression still looked pained, but she said, “Matilda can take care of herself, Cole. For all we know, she’s not captured by the Moon Tribe and she’s just— umm…” “Being Matilda,” Lloyd offered. “Yeah, being Matilda,” Liana agreed. “If Matilda was being Matilda, she’d be Matilda here, with us,” Cole snapped. “Fine. She’s captured by the Moon Tribe. Big whoop.” Liana unexpectedly snapped back, equally scathing, “She’s still perfectly capable of handling herself. Whatever’s happening to her, crying about it is not going to help. First thing we need to do is get you healed up and then figure out what our next move against the Moon Tribe is. That’s what she’d want us to do.” After a moment, her voice softened. “That’s all we can do.” Cole heaved a sigh and leaned back on the pillows. He knew she was right. “Yeah, I guess.” The group allowed a respectful silence for pass for a few moments before Nya ventured to clear her throat and say, “We don’t really know why those things were left behind. It looks like they took her belt, and… destroyed her wand. Maybe Matilda dropped these on purpose before being taken. But whatever the reason…” She took some of the bottles from Jay and held them out on display. “We now have some of Matilda’s magical potions, and one of these just might heal you, Cole.” Cole started with surprise—and immediately winced at the sharp movement. He cast Nya an incredulous look. “Wait— are you saying…?” “Whoa, whoa, whoa, Nya, heh-heh,” Jay interjected. He dropped the shards of the wand and the pointed hat at the foot of the bed. “You’re not suggesting we, um—try using one of those potions on Cole, are you?”
Don't worry, you're not missing much. Because it has horses in it and the general plot is the kind of story I like. XD Me too. :3
Oh interesting. Yes! You should do that.
'K great. Me, too...! I'd love to see them make a movie out of it, but only if they were really able to capute the magic of the setting and the precious friendship between the horse and his boy.
*adds that to the long list of vague ideas of stories I ought to write*
Talon was confused. Why would she say that? His mind raced, and he realized the reason: Little Leaf disappeared without a trace several days ago. Rumors were flying among the gossips that she had a thing for the ninja. The cats with common sense were adamant that Little Leaf was smarter than that. Yet how could anyone help it if someone, say a human witch, cast them under some sort of spell? The Moon Tribe regarded human sorcerers with fear and uncertainty. Everyone would be all too willing to blame Matilda for Little Leaf’s disappearance, and Black Blood’s story would only appear to be true when someone from the tribe eventually saw Little Leaf in battle fighting alongside the ninja. One drop of truth can sweeten the pot of lies, he thought to himself. He couldn’t help but feel slightly disgusted with Black Blood. What had happened to the code of honor and honesty their mother had taught them since kithood? The one he had boasted so proudly of to the ninja? Then his disgust evaporated in a sickening flash when his sister turned to him and said: “The time has come for our revenge. Eagle Talon, my brother—you were kept prisoner by the Sons and Daughters. You have fought through the challenges of this time with courage and loyalty. For that, it is only right that you are the one to end this.” Her white teeth and feline fangs flashed in a malicious smile. “I am giving you the honor of punishing the Sister of Darkness.” All eyes turned to him. Silence enveloped the room, and the massive cavern suddenly felt very small. Every cat in the room waited for his reaction with eager expectation. He knew they were all waiting for him to scream a cry of victory and lunge for Matilda with teeth and claws. Talon wished the floor would open up beneath his feet and swallow him whole. He wished he had stayed hidden behind the stalagmite with his dinner. He wished everyone would quit looking at him, that Black Blood would dismiss him, call the attention back to herself, and just get on with her own thing, whatever it was.
“What’s so crazy about that?” she responded briskly. “She’s used one of her healing potions on us before.” “Yeah, she healed my arm when it’d been shot,” Lloyd added in. “It felt good as new within minutes.” “Yeah, but,” Jay sputtered, “that doesn’t mean you know which one to use, or how to use it!” Zane spoke up. “Jay has a point, Nya. If we gave the wrong potion to Cole, it could hurt him.” “Then you could heal me again once you find the healing potion,” Cole protested, seeing Nya’s confident expression falter. “I’ve taken this stuff before. As long as you don’t give me anything that smells like old eggs and burnt spinach, we should be good.” Zane and Jay still looked skeptical, but Wu made no protest, and Nya looked a little more confident. Lou, on the other hand, frowned worriedly as the Water Ninja began rummaging through the collection of little bottles. “How can you tell which one’s which?” he asked. “Some of them are labeled,” Nya noted. “But only a few. ‘invisibility’… ‘underwater-breathing’… ‘cuttlefish extract’… ’polyjuice’…” The bottles were small. A few were attached to pouches that had evidently been clasped to the belt. Nya opened one of the pouches, but found only small clumps of sweet-smelling herbs, a few bags of berries, a smaller pouch of dry dust, and a few small white objects that looked suspiciously like little bones, with odd runes and squiggly lines etched into them. “The potions, Nya,” Cole muttered, making a face as a couple of the carved bones tumbled out of the pouch she held. “I know.” Nya put them back in the first pouch, then opened the second one; this held several more flasks. Zane joined her at the bedside, seeing that she’d need help. They began rummaging through the small collection of glass bottles filled with multi-colored liquids. “Do you remember what it looks like?” Zane asked. “It’s red, I know that,” Lloyd offered, standing off to the side with Liana. Cole agreed. “A kind of dark red, like berries.” “Here’s a red one.” Nya held up a bottle. Cole squinted at it. He wasn’t sure if the healing potion had looked so pink… “Guess I could try that.”
She handed it to him, and he yanked the cork out and took a sip. He then smacked his lips, analyzing the taste. There was a sweet flavor to it, but it was also strangely salty. Really salty, actually. “Tell us if you feel any different,” Nya said. They waited for about a minute and a half before Cole said, “I don’t think this is the healing one, Nya.” “Why not?” “Because I’m growing flippers.” Cole stared down at his hands, the fingers of which were beginning to mold together into pale gray cartilage and shape into something like that of a fish fin. Jay made a funny, choked sound, as if he couldn’t decide whether to laugh or to scream and his voice got stuck in the middle. Nya and Lloyd each made faces at the growing fins, while Zane simply turned away and began looking through the potions again. Lou and Wu stared at the proceedings in mingled fascination and disgust, while Liana merely wore the face of someone who wished desperately in that moment that she could see what was going on. “Perhaps this is the one,” Zane offered, bringing up another small flask. This one had more of an orange tint to it, but at this point, Cole didn’t really care. The strange, rubbery feeling his cartilage hands were bringing were spreading to his elbows. He was pretty sure he did not want to turn into a shark or a whale in front of everyone. Zane helped Cole gulp it down quickly. After a few moments, a warm tingling swept through his arms, and his hands returned to normal, as quick as magic. However, they began to turn into a blotchy green. “Zaaaannneeee…?” Cole could barely suppress the panicky squeak in his voice as he flexed his hands and stared at them. They were beginning to turn into stumpy, canine paws, the color becoming bright as fresh grass. At length Lloyd cried, “There it is!” and yanked a bottle from the bottom of the pile. The small amount of liquid that sloshed in there was bright red. Cole quickly took a sip—only a sip, remembering in the past previous warnings by the witch against drinking too much. He settled back on the pillows with a sigh of relief. At length he looked down at the bandages. “Someone help me take these off.”
Zane and Lloyd hastily worked together to help Cole into a sitting position as they began to remove the bandages. Jay looked perplexed at first, quirking his eyebrows at the proceedings. When Cole’s chest was exposed, Jay’s gaze fell upon the wounds that ravaged his friend’s flesh, and he couldn’t stop his gasp of astonishment. Long claw scratches covered Cole’s stomach and rib cage area. There the dark wounds, now dry, were closing up together seemingly of their own accord. The edges of the flesh could be seen meeting together, and a strange knitting procedure took place. The cells of his body were working double-time to regrow and mold back together. Everyone could see the numerous cuts and scratches magically disappearing without so much as a pained look from Cole. He could see the red marks beginning to disappear from his torso and bare arms, and from his shoulder he felt the damage from the deep, vicious bites Black Blood and Eagle Talon had delivered. A sudden, hot jolt of pain shot up from his collarbone. Surprised, Cole released a brief yelp before biting his lips and gritting his teeth together. “What is it?” Nya asked worriedly, her eyes wide. Again, Jay’s expression darkened ever-so-slightly at the attention Cole was receiving from her, though mingled with concern for his friend. “Nothing. Just—” Cole took a deep breath. “Didn’t expect that. This usually doesn’t hurt.” He winced. Another surge of heat coursed from his collarbone. It wasn’t quite as painful, but it was uncomfortable. “The potion probably has to work harder when activating on broken bones,” Zane offered calmly. Cole swallowed. “My collarbone was broken?” “Yes. Not a bad break, it barely nicked the clavicle. Still, it was close to being wrenched from the acromion bone.” Zane frowned. “We saw the bite marks. Did they…?” “Black Blood’s got a big mouth and a stronger jaw,” Cole replied, trying to feign nonchalance. “I guess those cats are tougher than they look.”
Liana’s face twisted into a grimace, nearly matching the sickly expression Mr. Brookstone was wearing. “Well, looks like you’re good for now,” Lloyd announced, granting a small smile of relief. “Anything else you need?” Nya asked. Cole hesitated. “Uhh… actually, now that you mention it, there is one thing…” “What is it?” Cole felt his face heat up. “Could someone help me to the bathroom? I just had a lot to drink.”
* * *
One paw in front of the other. Just keep walking. His paws felt sore and heavy. Both his tails dragged behind him. He forced himself down the tunnel. He relied only on his hearing and the feel of his whiskers occasionally brushing against the wall to guide him. The sky was dark with clouds tonight, and there was no moon nor stars whose light could shine down from the fissures and light up the caves. Eagle Talon stumbled his way along, ignoring the few other cats he passed. Occasionally a whisper would hiss behind him as someone spread the gossip to their neighbor, but like the cats themselves, Talon ignored them. He was too tired to care. Too drained. Slowly, but surely, he felt his way to a generous opening in the wall and entered it. Thus he came into the warriors’ sleeping den. While tonight he couldn’t see, he knew that in this room many clumps of bracken and moss made the beds of his tribe-mates, and that most of the other warriors were already fast asleep. Carefully, he made his way past the slumbering forms of the other cats, wary of stepping on someone. Past experience of receiving angry snarls and threatening mutters made him eager not to wake anyone. At length he collapsed into his own bed. For a few long minutes he lay there in an awkward heap. Then, with a low sigh, he shifted his weight until he was comfortably curled up, with the tips of his tails close to brushing against his nose. He lowered his head and closed his eyes against the darkness of the den. Yet it was a while before he could fall asleep.
She gazed back, expression impassive. She seemed resigned to her fate. There was no hint of fear in her eyes. She should be afraid. “Vengeance, vengeance, vengeance!” Eagle Talon threw back his head in a yowling roar worthy of a lion’s voice, but he barely heard it. The excited chanting shifted into a cheer. Talon bared his teeth and lunged for his prey. The shrieks of pain from his victim drowned out all else.
He had washed his muzzle and his paws in the underground creek, but there was still the smell of Matilda’s fear-scent clinging to his fur. Just as the smell stayed, so did that dark, horrible feeling in his heart. His stomach clenched sickeningly every time his mind yanked back the fresh memories he was trying so hard to repress: the screams of Matilda as she finally gave in to the sensation of pain… Stop thinking about it, he almost snarled out loud to himself in the dark. Just stop. Stop it. It’s done. There’s nothing you can do about it now. Don’t think about her. Don’t think about— anything. Just go to sleep. Miraculously, he felt himself doing just that. Exhausted inside and out as he was, he couldn’t even begin to express the gratefulness that he felt for the sweet feeling of sleep arriving to wrap him in its comforting embrace. Another sigh—this one of content—escaped him. Sleep was his comfort. Sleep was his refuge. There would be no pain in the wonderful unconsciousness that gently slipped its hold over his wounded mind. At least… so he thought.
* * *
Eagle Talon found himself walking among a warm, sunlit forest. The grass was soft. There were many tall, thick trees whose bright green canopies shifted and glittered in the bright sunlight. Yet strangely, there was no birdsong. Nor did any leaf stir and make a sound, and the only thing Talon could smell was lush grass. In this peculiar forest he walked on. Perhaps there was something to hunt here. A fiery color flashed among thick foliage. Talon stiffened as a thin, spindly old fox drifted out from the weeds and stopped before him. Her bright red pelt stood out vividly. The creature’s sharp eyes met Talon’s. He glanced toward her rump to see that not one, but several tails trailing in an odd clump behind her. “K— Kohuru?” he heard himself gasp. The vixen’s eyes brightened with undisguised glee. “Ohh, my goodness! It’s the young half-breed! Finally scented out your human half, did you, little one?”
**** Liana’s lips quirked into a smirk. “You’re heavy. Did you know that?” She huffed, “I’ve met Clydesdales lighter than you. Just how much cake do you eat every day?” “Hey, now. It’s not my fault you’re a weak little beanpole,” he retorted, grin widening. She punched his right shoulder. “Ow!” He bit back a pained curse. “That could’ve been my bad side!” “But it wasn’t,” she shot back cheekily. During this exchange, Lou had been quietly watching the two of them. His gaze fell upon his son’s hand grasping the girl’s. A small, knowing smile alit his face.
Cole happened to glance over at his dad, and their eyes met. Lou raised his eyebrows at him with a small smirk. Cole suddenly felt self-conscious. His face flushed hotly, and uneasily he released Liana’s hand. She didn’t seem to notice. She only said, “‘Beanpole’? Call me a beanpole, will you? If you weren’t hurt right now, I’d show you just how much damage a beanpole can do…” “Liana? Is Cole awake?” Nya’s voice called from the hallway. “Awake enough to call me a beanpole!” Liana responded, still grinning. For some reason, the idea of being thought of as a beanpole amused her greatly. ****
“Back up. Did you just say… Skylor?” “Hey.” Cole swung his gaze back toward the doorway and heard himself make an identifiable exclamation. There, leaning casually against the doorway, stood a familiar figure, wearing a strange uniform of blue and gray armor. Bright red hair fell all around her face. “But— wha—?” Cole sputtered, dazed. He blinked repeatedly and leaned forward, making sure that his eyes were working correctly. Am I seriously seeing who I think I’m seeing? He looked back at his friends and saw them all wearing amused smiles. “How?” he demanded. “I just decided to… drop in, you could say,” Skylor replied with a small smirk. “We didn’t see her,” Nya explained. “But she must have fallen into some portal back home. She just appeared right in the middle of the fight in the town.”
**** “How can you tell which one’s which?” he asked. “Some of them are labeled,” Nya noted. “But only a few. ‘invisibility’… ‘underwater-breathing’… ‘cuttlefish extract’… ’polyjuice’…” ***
**** “Nothing. Just—” Cole took a deep breath. “Didn’t expect that. This usually doesn’t hurt.” He winced. Another surge of heat coursed from his collarbone. It wasn’t quite as painful, but it was uncomfortable. “The potion probably has to work harder when activating on broken bones,” Zane offered calmly. Cole swallowed. “My collarbone was broken?” “Yes. Not a bad break, it barely nicked the clavicle. Still, it was close to being wrenched from the acromion bone.” Zane frowned. “We saw the bite marks. Did they…?” “Black Blood’s got a big mouth and a stronger jaw,” Cole replied, trying to feign nonchalance. “I guess those cats are tougher than they look.”
Because it has horses in it and the general plot is the kind of story I like. XD Me too. :3 
Me, too...! I'd love to see them make a movie out of it, but only if they were really able to capute the magic of the setting and the precious friendship between the horse and his boy. ![[uni]](http://storage.proboards.com/6672327/images/mPKcREJAtrpeAXSOgaOH.png)
![[derp]](http://storage.proboards.com/6672327/images/YqNTPqyQUocVMYXZgUAI.png)
