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Post by LordTigress on Nov 8, 2021 17:14:44 GMT
He walked briskly out of the cabin and headed downstairs to the quarters. The corridors to the bedrooms were empty, so he entered the den where the video game console was. He caught the sound of someone’s voice just as he was grabbing the handle of the sliding door.
He slid it open—then froze. Cole and Nya, standing by the couch, stopped talking and looked at him inquiringly.
Why’re they in here together—alone?! His breathing quickened. An image from his nightmares flashed back into his head—what had they been doing in the den by themselves? Panic rose. Is it true? Is this what Kohuru meant? Is she cheating on me—?
“What is it?” Nya spoke up. Her eyebrows furrowed in concern. “Are you OK?”
Her voice brought him back to earth. He licked his lips and stammered, “Uhh— yeah. Yeah, of course! Why wouldn’t I? Just, ahh, making the rounds. Yep!”
Cole looked annoyed. “Do you need anything?”
Jay bit back a snappy retort. “Nope. Just— making sure Nya’s OK.”
“I’m fine.” She looked perplexed, but gave him a smile. “Could you give us just a minute? I’ll be right up.”
Jay felt his mouth go dry. “Sure. No problem.” He turned and walked away abruptly. He wished he could make the sick feeling in his stomach go away.
Nya looked on after him a moment before turning back to Cole. “So you told Master Wu?”
Cole nodded. “He gave Liana some tea that’ll hopefully calm her and slow down the effects of the nightmares. He said he has no idea why she and Talon could share the same dream and hurt each other, but it’s something we might have to be prepared for to happen again.”
“I wish Matilda was here,” Nya sighed. “She’d probably know what to do.”
His grim expression deepened. “Me, too. But we have to just move forward. Whatever happens next, I’m going to do whatever it takes to protect Liana.”
Nya arched her eyebrows, surprised by the passionate outburst. Slyly, she said, “So she does mean a lot to you.”
Cole looked at her uncomprehending. Then his face flushed pink. “So? I’d do the same for all my friends.”
“Are you two just friends, though?” She grinned. “I heard you two talking the other night in the attic.”
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Post by LordTigress on Nov 8, 2021 19:11:38 GMT
Cole’s eyes widened. “Shut up! There’s nothing between us, OK? C’mon, Nya! We’re about to warn Ninjago City about the attack from the Moon Tribe and you’re trying to play matchmaker?”
“Oh, I don’t have to play matchmaker,” she retorted coyly as she headed for the open door. “You two seem to be handling it pretty good by yourselves. See ya.”
He couldn’t bluster a response before she’d left the den and gone upstairs. He could feel his face burning so hard, it was ridiculous. What embarrassed him even further, though, was the fact that Nya merely mentioning it made him want to recall the moments he’d shared with Liana last night and the night before—when she’d grabbed his hand and looked so small and fragile sitting there by herself. He’d struggled against the urge to not scoop her up into his arms and—
Knock it off, knucklehead. He ran a hand through his hair, wishing his face would stop burning.
This is getting ridiculous. I need something to do. A distraction. He left the den and wandered to the kitchen. A snack. Snacks were good. He liked snacks.
When he entered the kitchen, however, he was surprised to find Eagle Talon and his father there—not only there together, but talking and— laughing?
“—Ancestors help me!” Talon was chortling. “Tell me that’s not how humans actually dance!”
“It’s a very special kind of dance, and only the best of the best can do it!” his father was blustering—yet, grinning broadly. Cole stopped, startled.
The last time someone made fun of his troupe’s dancing, Dad threw a chair at the guy. But now Talon’s laughing at him, and he’s cool with it? He’s even laughing with him! Clearly, the return of his older son had summoned an uncharacteristic surge of something in Mr. Brookstone. For a moment, Cole felt a vague sense of jealousy that he’d never gotten to make his dad laugh like that when he was younger.
Then his father and Eagle Talon looked at him, and he shook off the feeling. “Uhh… what’re you guys doing?”
“I was telling your brother what I did for a job,” Lou huffed. “He couldn’t seem to understand, so I had to give him a demonstration.”
“Don’t your people dance?” Cole grinned at Talon.
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Post by LordTigress on Nov 8, 2021 20:04:35 GMT
“Not like that,” Talon said lightly, “and only for special ceremonies.”
“Show us,” Lou commanded.
Talon made a face. “Why?”
“Because I’d like to see how my other son does it, and if it can top Cole’s skills! He can perform the Triple-Tiger-Sashay, you know.”
“Dad,” Cole groaned.
Talon grumbled, “Fine, whatever,” and proceeded to act out what Cole initially thought was a representation of a mime having a seizure; it involved a rhythmic stamping of feet and throwing his arms wildly in the air. Cole and Lou stared at him with mouths open.
Talon finished and looked at them inquiringly. “What? That’s the gist of it. We typically do it in a circle around a fire.”
“Doing that?” Cole laughed. “It looks like you’re possessed by a ghost having a temper tantrum!”
“That would definitely not win you the Blade Cup,” his father remarked. “Though I love the enthusiasm.”
“Uh-huh, like your dances are any better,” Talon snorted.
“It can’t be as impressive as this!” Cole crowed and proceeded to moonwalk—right into the kitchen table, succeeding in knocking over a plate and smashing it on the floor.
“Yup, very impressive,” Talon snorted.
In cleaning up the mess—Cole sweeping, his dad holding the trash bag, Lou asked Eagle Talon, “Is that dance part of some ritual in your tribe? I’ve heard of people doing dances like that in ancient tropical clans.”
“Just for special ceremonies, like when a student becomes an official warrior, or there’s a feast, or when someone becomes the new leader. It’s better when the females do it.”
“Girls?” Lou’s eyes sparked mischievously. “Have a girlfriend, do you?”
Cole felt a surge of panic, remembering Dove Stream. “No, Dad, he doesn’t—”
“No.” Talon’s voice was soft. “I mean— once, but not anymore. And never again.”
Lou’s grin faded and was replaced by a thoughtful expression. “Oh—well, don’t worry, son. There are plenty of fish in the sea. Right, Cole?” His tone suddenly became teasing again.
Cole flashed him a dark look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Ohh, nothing. I just noticed how close you and that Liana of yours have become. I just can’t help but wonder—”
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Post by LordTigress on Nov 8, 2021 21:25:09 GMT
“Dad! We’re not a thing!” Why is everyone suddenly picking on me about Liana?! Cole flushed, embarrassed.
“Don’t be so sure,” Talon interjected slyly. “You should’ve seen them together a few nights ago, while we were traveling together. They disappeared into the woods nearly all night—”
“Talon!” Cole whirled on him furiously. Betrayal. “I swear, I will rip off one of your tails and stuff it—!”
“All right, all right, relax,” Lou laughed, stepping between the boys. “Maybe it’s time to change the subject. How about Little Leaf? Any boys I need to be aware of?”
Eagle Talon stiffened, but Cole didn’t notice as he replied, “Nope.”
“What about—?” Lou stopped.
The lighthearted vibe vanished. Their dad wore an uncomfortable look, realizing his mistake.
Talon didn’t let the silence last long. “Black Blood’s never been really interested in the toms. She’s always been so focused on becoming a sorcerer and leading the tribe…” His voice trailed off.
Lou looked back and forth between Eagle Talon and Cole. “Is there.. any chance we can— that she’ll— uhh… change… her mind? About— about everything?” The words sounded pathetically small.
Again Cole stayed quiet, looking to Talon. His brother’s gaze drifted away from the faces of his family. Almost absentmindedly, he reached up and trailed his fingers along a few shallow scratches on his face; they reached from the side of his head above his eyebrow to his left cheek. “I don’t know. It’s hard to tell under all her anger and longing for power. I think she’s forgotten that the duty of the leader is to do what’s best for the tribe, not getting revenge.
“But— she’s still my sister… you know?” He finally looked back at them. “I still— I still love her. For the longest time she was one of the only family members I had left. And— and I’m gonna tell her that.” His voice got stronger. “Next time I see her, I won’t fight her. I’ll face her and tell her that I still love her, and our home.
“Maybe that’ll help. Seeing that I haven’t changed and that I still care. Maybe one day she’ll… change her mind.”
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Post by LordTigress on Nov 9, 2021 2:50:24 GMT
Cole felt his heart swell. He threw an arm over Talon’s shoulders. “We’ll help you. She’s my sister, too. We can do it together.”
“All of us.” Their father placed a hand on Talon’s shoulder as well. “One day, we’ll be a whole family.”
“A family,” Talon repeated huskily. A shaky smile grew. “Yeah.”
“Guys?” Cole looked up to see Lloyd standing at the threshold.
“What is it, Lloyd?” Talon asked.
“We’re here. Ninjago City.”
* * *
The Commissioner looked up, surprised, when Lloyd, Jay, Nya, Cole, Zane, Liana and Eagle Talon strode into the lobby of the police station. “Where were you? It’s nearly noon! We thought you’d be here much earlier—we beat you to it.”
“We had a delay last night,” Lloyd responded briskly. “We got your call. What’s going on here?”
The Commissioner dismissed the other officers he’d been talking to with a gruff nod, and they scurried away. People were moving in and out of the lobby hurriedly like agitated bees. Obviously the arrival of the feline prisoners had caused a stir. The air was thick with worried chatter of men and women.
“Well, you see,” the Commissioner said as he led them from the lobby down one of the hallways. “Thanks to you ninja, we know that the city will be attacked tomorrow, and that wolves will be involved—somehow. But as helpful as that is, we don’t know all the exact details we need to prepare everybody for it. So we’re trying to interrogate some of the prisoners we bought in.”
“Good thing we didn’t bring Leaf here,” Eagle Talon remarked, curling his lip.
“We’re not being cruel, if that’s what you’re insinuating, sir,” the Commissioner retorted, back stiff. “But this interrogation—it’s slow going.”
* * *
“Now, Miss—” The young police officer frowned and glanced again at the clipboard in his hand. “… Wolf Paw, why don’t you tell us about this attack your leader’s planning?”
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Nov 10, 2021 12:54:31 GMT
Post by LordTigress on Nov 10, 2021 12:54:31 GMT
Three officers sat around a small table sitting alone in the middle of the plain gray room. On the table sat a wire cage; in that cage huddled, bristling with hostility, a small black cat. White patches broke up her black pelt here and there while amber eyes glinted angrily at the policemen from her prison. “I’m not talking, you hairless rats!”
“Look, kid,” one of the older men sighed. “This’ll go a lot easier if you cooperate. Remember, we’ve got a few dozen other of your cat friends locked up here, too, and things won’t get quite so nasty if you just tell us—”
One of the men, this one in a suit and tie, cast the older policeman an alarmed look. “Whoa, we’re not going to do anything violent—?”
“Shut up, I’m trying to intimidate her!” the older one growled.
“But she’s just a kid!” the younger man protested. “At least… I think she’s a kid.”
“Good luck intimidating me.” Wolf Paw cocked her head and gave her captors a sassy twitch of her whiskers. “And good luck fighting the Moon Tribe. We’re the strongest army in all Ninjago! If you just let me out of this dumb metal den, I’ll claw your faces off and feed them to the crows—!”
“Uh-huh, sure, you keep telling yourself that,” the older man interjected. He leaned forward and slapped the flat of the table. “Now I’m asking you one more time—when exactly is your tribe going to attack Ninjago City, where, and how?’’
Wolf Paw’s girlish smirk remained on her muzzle. She sat up in her cage and counted off her claws. “When: soon. Where: wherever there are people to get. How: with no mercy.”
“That’s no answer and you know it, you sassy, disrespectful little—!” The officer was still blustering when Lloyd walked into the interrogation room.
“The Green Ninja!” The blue-uniformed policemen snapped to attention while the older man in the suit and tie gave Lloyd a mildly irritated look.
“Excuse me, young man, but we’re in the middle of a—”
“I know,” Lloyd interjected, though keeping a polite attitude. “But the Commissioner thought it might help if I brought in someone—someone she knows.”
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Nov 10, 2021 17:09:18 GMT
Post by LordTigress on Nov 10, 2021 17:09:18 GMT
The man cast a dark look at the one-way mirror, where the Commissioner was undoubtedly standing in the next room watching them. “All right. Whatever you want.” He sighed and left while Eagle Talon walked in. The man gave Talon an incredulous look.
One of the young officers gaped at Talon, surprised. “He— he looks like one of the—!”
“It’s OK. He’s on our side,” Lloyd assured them. He gestured to Talon. “Go ahead.”
Talon looked nervous standing within the depressing gray walls of the interrogation room, but he raised his head and stepped before the cage on the table nonetheless.
The little black cat sitting there bristled. “Eagle Talon! What— how—?!”
“Haven’t you heard? I’ve switched sides,” Talon responded gruffly.
Wolf Paw looked horrified. “With the Sons and Daughters? Why?!”
“Because unlike the Moon Tribe, the ninja respect the meanings of peace, honor, and loyalty.” The words became less gruff as he went on. “Black Blood doesn’t care about the tribe, Wolf Paw—not really. She just wants violence and hatred to define us. She doesn’t care how many cats fall in battle as long as she gets what she wants.”
Wolf Paw’s amber eyes were round and wide with astonishment. “You’ve got bees in your brain! Of course Black Blood cares about us! That’s why we’re fighting the humans! It’s the only way we can survive!”
“That can’t be true. We can’t solve a problem like this through war, destroying innocent lives meaninglessly! It’s stupid and pointless!” Talon burst out. “There has to be a better way that doesn’t involve hurting others!”
The young female stared at Eagle Talon. “Ancestors help you… well, whatever it is, you’re welcome to think up a glorious solution and suggest it to Black Blood. Why’re you talking to me about it?”
He sighed. “Because we want you to join us.”
Wolf Paw’s jaw slacked open before she burst into purring laughter. “Me? Join you? Now I know you’re mouse-brained. Did the Sons and Daughters cast some kind of evil mind-wiping spell on you?”
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Nov 11, 2021 13:09:13 GMT
Post by LordTigress on Nov 11, 2021 13:09:13 GMT
“No. I’ve had all my mind-wiping completely taken away, and I see the truth.” He leaned forward with his hands on the table. “Wolf Paw, right? You haven’t earned your full name yet.”
She huffed, “Yeah, that’s my name. Don’t overuse it.”
“You want to protect your tribe, don’t you? Save everyone?”
The female eyed him for a moment. “You want me to tell you what Black Blood’s plan is, don’t you?”
He sighed. “Yes.”
“Then ask someone else, because I sure don’t know. I’m just a student,” she snapped. “Ask one of the warriors!”
* * *
“No,” the gray-patched tom growled. “I’ll give up one of my tails before I tell you.”
“So you do know how they’re going to attack,” Lloyd pressed, hands on his hips.
Gray Puddle sniffed through the muzzle clamping his jaws down together. He spoke through gritted teeth. “Black Blood assigned me to the mining clan—to get the clearstone and deliver it to the tribe. Recently she informed me of the change of plans to attack your beloved city.” His eyes glared balefully at the group of humans surrounding him. “And you’ll never get it out of me alive.”
The ninja, Eagle Talon, Liana, and the Commissioner all stood before the large nekomata in a plain cell like the interrogation room. Though they appeared to be alone, Cole could see several cameras mounted on the walls and was aware of a dozen armed men and women standing behind the one-way mirror and single locked door. They were taking no chances with the shapeshifter.
Cole observed the white and gray-patched tom coldly. Wolf Paw had admitted he was the cat in charge of the enslavement of Oxstone village. If any cat would know of the exact details of the attack, it would be Gray Puddle. However, it was plain to see that he wasn’t talking.
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Nov 11, 2021 16:14:08 GMT
Post by LordTigress on Nov 11, 2021 16:14:08 GMT
They had the huge cat muzzled and strapped down with thick chains. Even if he shifted into his small bakeneko body or into his human form, the narrow black collar around his neck would send an electric shock through his body—as if he wouldn’t have had enough to worry about being surrounded by six armed ninja. Gray Puddle was forced to sit still in his chains while they humans peppered him with questions.
“We have ways of making people talk.” The Commissioner’s mustache twitched as he rumbled, “It didn’t take long for that Wolf Paw to tell us who the leader was of this little operation.”
Gray Puddle’s torn ear twitched. “Wolf Paw is a kit and should not be punished for whatever happens. Besides, you would have found out who I was, anyway. Cats of the Tribe of the Moon are much more honest than humans.”
“Except when you want to manipulate your enemies to get what you want,” Nya retorted coolly.
The cat’s yellow teeth flashed. “No species is beyond dirty ploys. That’s survival of the fittest.”
“Enough talking!” Liana snapped. “Now tell us: how is Black Blood going to attack Ninjago City?”
“The mangey dog may bark all she likes, but her insults will never persuade the cat to come down the tree,” Gray Puddle sneered. He eyed her. “Not that a cat would run from a blind dog. It would just watch her run face-first into the trunk.” He chortled.
Liana’s face blanched with mingled shock and anger. Outraged, Cole rolled his hands into fists and glared at the nekomata. “Don’t talk to her like that! How ‘bout I skin some of that nice fluffy fur of yours off your slimy—?”
“Cole! We’re not here to threaten them!” Lloyd protested.
“Ohh, yes we are.” Cole yanked a sai out of his belt and marched to Gray Puddle. He snatched the side of his muzzle and yanked it so that the cat was forced to look him in the face. “We’ve got a lot’a people’s lives on the line here, smart guy,” he said, “and I’m runnin’ out of patience! Now tell us: how is Black—?”
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Nov 11, 2021 21:24:15 GMT
Post by LordTigress on Nov 11, 2021 21:24:15 GMT
“If you think simply repeating the question like I’m your kitten is going to make me understand and comply, Son of Earth,” Gray Puddle purred snidely, “then you’re going to make a great parent. No matter how many times you ask, by my ancestors, I won’t ever tell you—”
His voice broke off. The cat blinked several times, looking puzzled. He opened his mouth, but only a strange choking noise came out.
Cole stepped back, perplexed. He wasn’t touching Gray Puddle.
“Cole,” Zane said warningly, “what did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything! I didn’t touch him!” he protested. “He just—!”
“No,” Gray Puddle rasped.
Everyone stared at him. Cole stepped back again, bumping into Lloyd. What was Gray Puddle doing? Was it a trick? Yet an expression of shock and fear had contorted the big cat’s face. He started breathing heavily through the muzzle.
The Commissioner placed a hand on the handgun at his belt. “Watch out… could be a trap.”
“No,” Eagle Talon said. “Something’s wrong with him.”
Gray Puddle began to speak haltingly. He wasn’t looking at any of the humans—only staring into space, as if trying to detect an invisible presence. “No— no, no, I won’t. You can’t make me. Just try it.” A sudden gasp of pain changed the tone of his voice. His ears flattened atop his head while he hissed, “Daughter of a vixen! Let go of me! I can’t— I won’t!” He lowered his head between his paws, as if blocking out a horrible sound.
“Stop it! Let go of me!” His voice rose to a screech of pain. “Stop! It hurts— stop—!” He caterwauled at the top of his lungs.
Nya grimaced and slapped her hands over her ears. Everyone stared wordlessly at the spectacle. Cole wondered if they were finding the scene as eery as he was.
“Tell them.”
Cole whirled around and gaped at Liana. Her eyes were blazing as she seemed to glare at Gray Puddle. Her arms were pressed tightly against her sides with clenched fists. Her breath came out heavily as she gasped, “I’ll make it hurt more if you don’t.”
“You disgusting little—!” Gray Puddle’s curse was cut off by a howl. His voice rang off the walls in shock, confusion, and pain.
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Nov 12, 2021 13:08:36 GMT
Post by LordTigress on Nov 12, 2021 13:08:36 GMT
Lloyd protested, “Liana, stop it!”
She didn’t reply. Gray Puddle spoke next in pained groans. “She— she’ll come— through the desert—the east. On the bikes. Several hundred on the bikes, but the wolves’ll probably move in first… if she manages to gain their trust.
“Tomorrow—after noon. Now, please—make it stop!”
Liana’s shoulders slumped and she staggered against the wall. Gray Puddle staggered, too. He hissed weakly as he tried to get up, but his legs were shaking too badly. The bleeding from his nose dripped onto the dark muzzle.
“Does he need medical attention?” the Commissioner asked no one in particular.
Zane answered. “Perhaps it is best to look him over. My guess is that most of the pain was mental.” He cast a knowing look at Liana. “But it is obvious it had some physical affect.”
At the Commissioner’s order several officers came in and helped Gray Puddle out. The nekomata made little protest aside from a few warning growls as they led him away.
Lloyd turned on Liana. “What was that?!”
“It seems her power to mind-bend is getting stronger,” Zane mused. “Much stronger than any of our abilities.”
“I was mad, OK?” she snapped, flustered. “After what he said— I dunno, I just—” She gesticulated angrily. “I just wanted him to hurt. And we needed the information. So— so I just made him hurt, like how the sorcerers hurt me. I made him tell us…”
Jay and Nya both stared at her, disturbed. Gravely Lloyd said, “Vengeance isn’t the way to go. The best way to defeat your enemy is to make him your—”
“I know, I know!” she blurted, clutching her face with both hands. “I’m sorry! I’m trying to stop feeling so angry all the time and to stop being mean, but it’s hard when people like that— when those cats—!”
Cole moved and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. “Hey. It’s OK. We know you’re trying. But what you did was awesome—”
“Cole!” Lloyd protested.
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Nov 12, 2021 19:37:43 GMT
Post by LordTigress on Nov 12, 2021 19:37:43 GMT
“It was!” he retorted. “I mean, harsh, but— man, that was way beyond anything Matilda tried to teach us! And she got the information we needed! Now we know Black Blood’s army is going to attack from the east, on the war-cycles with the wolves tomorrow afternoon! That should give us enough time to prepare the city.”
Lloyd clearly still looked conflicted, but he nodded in acquiesce. “All right—you’re right. But still, we don’t need to stoop down to their level.”
“One thing’s for sure, though,” Eagle Talon interjected. He seemed to be regarding Liana with a combination of admiration and wariness in his eyes. “Whatever element you have, it’s powerful.”
* * *
The Commissioner had spread the news to his men, and everyone suddenly began moving very quickly. Uniformed men and women bustled up and down the halls like a disturbed hive of bees. Urgent phone calls were being made. Some large vans were sent out into the streets. Cole could feel the tension rising within the police station. It would soon spread to the rest of the city as all its citizens prepared themselves for another attack.
People who keep on living in this city have got to be really tough and determined, he thought to himself. He stood at a window that overlooked one of the main streets, one that was buzzing with colorful cars, people and carts. You can’t be a wimp to live in a place like this.
Zane had claimed he was headed to the hospital to visit Dr. Tyler. Lloyd had returned to the Bounty via elemental dragon to update Master Wu and to ask for guidance on what to do next. Jay and Nya had gone with some of the cops in their big vans to get started on enforcing the city and helping people evacuate the areas that were mostly likely to be attacked first. A TV was playing from one of the offices, and Cole could hear Gale Gossip already revealing the expected invasion from “an army of feline shape-shifters”. He figured news like that hardly fazed the people anymore.
He glanced over to where Liana was sitting in a small couch that was set to the side. Officers brushed past her while she sat with her head bowed. Her face was unreadable.
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Nov 13, 2021 16:12:44 GMT
Post by LordTigress on Nov 13, 2021 16:12:44 GMT
“Hey.” He retreated from the window and sat by her. “You OK?”
She sighed, “I guess.”
He thought he knew what the problem was. “Gray Puddle’s gonna be OK. He was more scared than anything else.”
“Yeah…” She straightened up, facing the wall across from them. “That was just— freaky, you know?”
“Not really. How’d you do it?”
“I just…” She gestured helplessly. “I just kinda, like, shoved myself into his head. Like when one of the sorcerers gets into your head? Maybe that’s what it’s like for them. You just— just get in there, feel his consciousness, his heartbeat… and give him all the anger you’ve got. Make him hurt. I wanted him to hurt, and I made him hurt.”
She seemed to sense the maliciousness in her own response and became quiet. Cole could feel the heaviness. He regarded her carefully before venturing, “I don’t want to sound like your sensei, but you’re going to have to learn how to control your anger. It’s good to get it out when you’re fighting and to use it for motivation, but when you let it control you…”
“I know,” she murmured softly. “It’s dangerous, especially when we don’t know what I’m actually capable of. And it’s— exhausting.”
Cole hesitated. He wanted to say something encouraging… something inspiring, something that would make her smile at him, and maybe even lean into him like she did sometimes—
“Liana!”
Startled, both Liana and Cole jolted up from their seats when a figure came running toward them. She shoved herself impatiently through the stream of policemen, ignoring their shouts of “hey” and “watch it!”. Cole was further confused to find he did not recognize this girl; she looked to be in her early twenties, being of a tall, lanky figure with pale skin and dark auburn hair set in a long braid. Her clothes looked rather old and drab compared to most Ninjago City citizen’s colorful attire. Her face was fair but her eyebrows were dark while her eyes were blazing. “Liana!” she cried out as she shoved herself before them.
Wearing a look of complete shock, Liana staggered up from the couch. “R— Rosie? What’re you doing here?!”
“I was going to ask you the same thing!”
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Post by LordTigress on Nov 14, 2021 3:39:01 GMT
Rosie… Cole’s mind raced. Who the heck—? Oh! He inhaled sharply. Rosie’s her cousin! The nice one who goes to college here. He had a flashback of himself, Zane and Jay hiding beneath Liana’s bed in her hotel room while Rosie interrogated her. It felt so long ago, he’d nearly forgotten Liana had left her cousins and uncle behind.
“What—in—tarnation!” Rosie stared incredulously at Liana. “You been gone for weeks, and you left us with just a stupid phone call! Do you know how much we all been worrying for you?”
Liana’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Worrying about me—?”
“I’ve finally found you!” Rosie suddenly yanked Liana into a tight hug, burying her face into the other girl’s shoulder. “We— we didn’t know what happened! We thought you’d been kidnapped, that the phone call was just a trick…! Daddy tried to get the cops to search for you, but they said it was just no use, there was no trace of you, and they had other stuff to do—!”
“Whoa. Whoa-whoa, whoa.” Liana grabbed her cousin’s shoulders and took a step back. “I have so many questions.”
“You have questions?”
Liana ignored the remark. “How did you find me?”
Rosie held up her phone. “The Lightning Ninja just posted on Chirp that you guys were back in the city and at the police station.”
Cole rolled his eyes. “Jay. I’m gonna wring his neck…”
Rosie seemed to notice Cole for the first time. Her eyes widened in shock. “Oh! Uhh— I’m sorry, I didn’t, um, see you there…”
“That’s OK. Kai’s always been the popular one,” he replied wryly.
“Uhh… yeah.” She turned back to Liana. “What’re you doing with the ninja?”
“Helping them.”
Rosie blinked several times, as if she couldn’t comprehend her cousin’s response. “Huh?”
“It’s true.” Cole stood by Liana. “Listen, uhh—I’m sorry. We had to take your cousin away because— well, when your hotel apartment had been attacked, the cats who attacked it saw her with us, and they assumed she was one of us.” His discomfort rose as the other girl’s stare grew accusatory. “So, uhh— we had to— I mean, to protect her—”
“They’ve been looking after me, so that the people after us wouldn’t get me,” Liana offered.
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Nov 14, 2021 16:26:11 GMT
Post by LordTigress on Nov 14, 2021 16:26:11 GMT
Rosie only looked more confused than ever. “People—? I thought you said they were cats…?”
“They are cats. And people.”
“Which is it, cats or people?” Rosie demanded.
“Cat-people!” Liana snapped. “Like— shape-shifters! They can look like cats and people! And I’ve been helping the ninja fight them all month!”
Her cousin’s eyes grew huge. “You been fighting those things?”
“Yeah.” A funny little grin spread across Liana’s face; a look of triumph mingled with a shadow of trauma. “It’s— it’s been crazy, Rosie.”
“I— I think I can tell.” The other girl’s large, dark eyes roved over the dark violet gi on her cousin. Her expression grew more incredulous than ever when her gaze landed on the bow strapped across Liana’s back and the quiver of arrows at her belt. “You look like a ninja.”
“She fights like a ninja, too,” Cole added.
Rosie looked at him uncomfortably. “Umm— I’m sorry, I don’t wanna be rude, but— could I, y’know, talk with my cousin—?”
He held up his hands in surrender. “Yeah, yeah, sure—whatever.” Seeing a vending machine sitting down the hall, he left the girls and used the few tokens in his pocket to get a bag of chips. Though he turned his gaze back to another window, he couldn’t help but look back every so often. Though they were speaking quietly, Rosie seemed to be interrogating Liana and demanding something while her cousin kept shaking her head.
Is Rosie going to take Liana back to her family? The thought disturbed Cole. I mean—I want her to be safe more than anything, but…
He stiffened. A chip was crushed to salty splinters between his fingers.
I don’t want her to go.
“Please, Liana,” Rosie was pleading. “You gotta come home. We miss you. Everyone’s worried about you.”
Her cousin looked startled. “You— miss me?”
“Of course!” Rosie took her hands into her own. “We want you back. Hallie and Tiffany’ve been crying for weeks, and I think— I think Daddy is blaming himself for you disappearing. I think he realizes he was too harsh with you the last time y’all talked.”
Liana looked dumbfounded. She covered her mouth with her hand—for a second, it looked as if she were about to cry.
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