Lalalalala....*picks random flower*

Happy place...must not freak...

So yeah, I just love sunny days! And rainy days! And windy days! I can't really think of any type of weather that bothers me really. Anyway, here's more to Ice Crystals, which I have neglected to post...

Cougar

            “Shoot! Crystal, no!” I swerved back, kicked my opponent away, and lithely spun in midair to land on all fours. I saw Crystal’s bright red lifeblood seep out of her. Shadow exploded, energy from him throwing the men away so he could get to Crystal. But I reached her first.

            With a cry that shook the rocks, I attacked the man she called ‘dad’. Shadow fervently called Crystal’s name in panic.

            “Oh my goodness! Crystal!” Chef swung her gun in the direction of the men advancing with Spark at the tank. There was a shot, but the tank was suddenly gone. The men turned and raced away. That’s when I spotted the tank picking them up and rapidly moving away.

            And they had Spark.

            Shadow moaned. “Oh Crystal, don’t die!”

            “Make u-up your freaking minds, then.” Crystal coughed, and blinked up at Shadow. “Where’s Spark?”

Crystal

            Cougar trailed his tail along my arm. I think he was trying to comfort me, but I didn’t know why….that is until he told me.

            “They took him, Crystal,” Cougar rasped. His wounds were slowly starting to disappear, but my own wound throbbed painfully. My dad had missed my heart, instead hitting my shoulder. As Cougar’s words set in, my heart began to race faster.

            “He…why? Why didn’t you do anything?” I cried, tears streaming down my face. Bitter agony crashed through me. I clutched someone’s shirt. Who ever it was, they held me tighter. I recognized the scent of Shadow.

            I sobbed raggedly into his shoulder.

            “Why! Spark!” I wept. While I cried, Chef attended to my bullet wound. I didn’t even need the anesthesia; I was still numb from shock. Even when she plucked the bullet out, I didn’t feel it. Shadow rocked me back and forth, whispering, “It’s okay. You’re going to be okay. Shhh.”

            Shhh. Shhh. Shhh. I sleepily closed my eyes.

           

            Everyone was assembled in the main area. The Tess’s had tears in their eyes. I suspected that the taste of the area was like swallowing cotton covered in bitter herbs. Tex couldn’t stop twitching his hands, which in one held his latest device, a spark absorber. He had wanted to Spark so that when he went into shock he wouldn’t hurt anyone else.

            When the four of us had returned from the desert, Tex had greeted us, smiling. Behind him, Sugar stood on her tiptoes to see where Spark was.

            “Hey guys! Where’s Spark? I made this for him,” Tex held out the device, “it absorbs electrical pulses!” I choked up. Shadow had carried me, and I turned my face into his chest. He bent his head to whisper to me, rocking me back and forth.

            “Gone,” Chef whispered hoarsely, “he was taken.”

            Later, but before now, I was in Shadow’s area, holding on to him.

            “They took him, Shadow,” I hissed, “he’s gone.” I began to cry again in the arms of Shadow.

            And now, everyone was whispering those words, unsure if it was a bad dream or reality. Sugar huddled in the corner with her knees drawn up to her chest. Rocking back and forth she went. Reilly came up to me and held onto my finger. My whole hand was too big for him to grasp. Sadly I lifted him up onto my hip.

            Everyone’s attention turned up to Shadow’s ledge. He had his wings out, to tired to pull them back in. No one gasped, they’d seen it all.

            “We’re all here to acknowledge Spark, and the loss we had suffered. He was taken trying to save one of us in a fight.” Shadow’s blue eyes became the color of the midnight sky in sadness. “Due to this attack, we will have to move the Refuge to another place.”

            “Why don’t we go get him?” shouted one of the few people here that I didn’t know. His blue hair was spiky, and his eyes were black. Next to him, a small boy clung to his pant leg.

            I couldn’t take it anymore. Not willing for anyone to see me cry, I spun and launched myself to Chef’s area. No one would be there.

            We didn’t even know where they went. I trembled. He was gone…Spark was really gone.

            “Crystal?”

            I turned, looking into Chef’s rich brown eyes. She took me into her arms, whispering “Hush…”

            I shook violently. I wanted to stop crying so bad. I was sick of crying. But my body didn’t seem to want to oblige. My brain, very confused, booted out my ‘common sense’ part of me and began a body check. I mentally sighed, and let my over-programmed brain to its thing.

            Body…convulsing and upset.  Mind…tortured. Emotions…going out of whack. As the body check came out negative in all areas, my brain did a shut down that was saved for emergencies. Slowly, my eyes closed, my heart buzzed to a slow, and my mind blacked out.

           

            My dream was different this time. Instead of destroying the city, the three of us just sat and stared. I had my knees to my chest, arms resting on my knees, head resting on my arms. Shadow had revealed himself to Cougar, so we could all see each other now.

            Cougar was leaning back on his hands, legs crossed. Shadow criss-crossed his own legs into a shape that resembled a pretzel, picking at the grass in front of him. He stared despondently at the city that we faced. The sky vibrated a pinkish-purple color around us. I gazed ahead, my eyes taking on the color of the sky. I kept my hair its natural streaked tabby-pattern. My wings drooped, red feathers dulling.

            Shadow frowned. “Cougar?”

            “Hm?” my brother-experiment cocked his head.

            “What direction was the tank going?” Shadow twirled a blade of grass in his fingers.

            “North, why?”

            “There’s a science institute there that is studying genetics. Our scientists took me there once to present me,” Shadow explained. Slowly, my feathers began to ruffle with realization.

            “Do you think they took Spark there?” I asked hopefully.

            “Seems like it,” Shadow muttered darkly.

            “I noticed that you keep saying ‘our scientist’, Shadow. Aren’t they our parents?” Cougar twitched his tail.

            “We all came from different parents. Our scientists were only my parents. Cougar, your parents were friends of theirs, and I don’t know about Crystal. I was gone before they had finished developing her.”

            My head whirled. “So how are we all close in age?”

            Shadow shrugged, “I really have no idea.” There was silence. Cougar opened his mouth after a while.

            “What…what if it was all planned?” he suggested. I knitted my brows together. Shadow nodded thoughtfully.

            “That is quite possible,” he commented.

            “Anyway,” I shook my head to clear all thoughts of us away, “what about Spark? Should we go see if he’s there?”

            “We should, but it should just be us,” replied Shadow.

            “What about Elocin? She would be a great asset to us,” Cougar put in.

            “We’d have to leave Chef behind,” I thought, “The others need her.”

            Shadow stood up, facing the dim city below us. “So it’s settled. The three of us and Elocin will go in search of Spark.”

            The next few days, my feathers stayed ruffled. I had to put up with Elocin so much. We met every noon at Chef’s area to discuss provisions. Tex made us a container that could hold up to 50 food items. Plus, it was pocket sized for easy storage. He handed one to each of us.

            “Find him,” he croaked to Shadow. He put a hand on Tex’s should and nodded. Elocin remained her fixed expression, dark and daring. And I wasn’t the only one irked at her. Cougar kept a close distance to me, and together we avoided Elocin. Shadow didn’t approve of out behavior but he didn’t pursue it.

            “Why do we need her again?” I asked Cougar at one point.

            “She’s a very powerful fighter,” he explained, though the distaste was clear in his voice. I growled softly, but didn’t do anything else. Spark was always wary around her, and his fear made my blood boil.

            As I passed her to take the lead next to Shadow on our long journey, her always angry gaze followed.  I scowled at her.

            This was going to be a long trip…

           

            They threw the boy into a cage. He coughed hoarsely, stumbling to a sitting position. He cried out in anger, throwing himself at the cage just after they shut the door. The overseer nodded to the men, sending them off. A woman behind him studied their specimen.

            “What does it do?” she asked in an aloof voice. The overseer flinched at the cold tone. He would never get used to his boss.

            “It was one of ours before it escaped, which doesn’t happen often I can assure you. We never, ever-”

            The Boss glared at him. “What. Does. It. Do?”

            “Er, uh, impulsive electrical shocks, ma’am,” the overseer glanced at the boy, “it’s uncontrollable, but after our studies we should know how to harness its power.”

            “Very good,” the Boss sniffed. She turned on her heels and left the storage area. The overseer looked at the boy again. He was still doing it. Shivering, he left as well.

            The boy glanced around. In cages, other experiments paced, slept, or were very still. The boy curled himself, knees to his chest, tracing a finger along the floor of his cage sadly.

            The metal slowly melted.




Five days and a month left to go! (Icewolf countdown)