Thunders Legacy [B. Barnes] [Thunder Wolf B.2]

Chapter 12

Fern felt numb, looking at the creature before her, "You can't go. Not yet." She whispers, laying her hand on the Thunderbird's beak. She glances to her left, where Shuri and Bruce stand, looking at holograms with images and numbers flashing across them. They weren't quiet, but Fern couldn't hear them if she wanted to. The ringing in her ears was far too overwhelming; all she could do was look into the pale golden iris of the Thunderbird.

"If you go, Boran will be sad, and you haven't met him yet, but Mellan is so interested in you. He thinks that you'll play with him when you get better, and Boran refuses to play with him." Fern wasn't sure if her voice was even audible at this point. "We haven't talked yet. I know nothing about you. Please, Thora, don't give up. I'll find a way to save you; I–I just need more time." The warm tears streaming down Fern's face reminded her that every hope she had was slipping away faster than her tears could fall.

"Don't cry, child. It will all be okay."

"Thunder?" Fern picked her head up, looking around the giant tent that protected the Thunderbird and equipment from the elements. She shook her head when she found nothing, "Just my mind playing tricks on me. Again."

Fern closed her eyes, leaning against the Thunderbirds, hoping her prayers were being heard. But all she began to hear was a long beep that wouldn't go away.

∆Ω∆

"Mommy, why can't I go play in the rain?" A tiny voice echo's into the dark room.

"Because it's not safe to play in the rain, sweetie. You could catch a cold, and you wouldn't want the scary Thunderbird to take you away, would you?" A boom of thunder shook the house, and a flash of lightning soon followed, scaring the young girl into her mother's lap.

∆Ω∆

"What do you want to do today, Elder?" The girl looked at the young Great Horned Owl resting on its perch at the end of her bed. The pitter-patter of rain against the window made the girl groan. "I'm so tired of the rain. I swear it's been raining for days. I want to play outside again."

The owl hooted. "You know what happened the last time you went out in the rain. Your mother would punish us if we went outside again in this weather."

"Yeah, well, you're the one who took off in the middle of a storm. I couldn't just let you go and get yourself hurt or eaten by something bigger than you. Your wing wasn't even healed all the way." The girl glared at the owl. "I didn't want to lose my best friend."

The owl flapped its wings, letting out a screech.

∆Ω∆

She lay on the floor in the corner of her room, hot tears streaming down her cheeks as she clung to herself, trying to hold in her sobs. She was utterly alone. There was no one left. Her parents and siblings were slaughtered for information they didn't have, all because she went out into the storm once and came out of it a freak.

She flinched as the door opened, trying to make herself smaller and hide in the corner more if only it was possible. "Do as you please, but do not break it." The nearly impossible-to-understand Russian voice snapped, but it wasn't directed at the girl.

Heavy boots stepped into the room, and the door slammed after. She dared to look at the room's entrance, the faint moonlight illuminating the tall figure standing by the door. She couldn't hold back the squeak that slipped from her lips when she saw the metal arm hanging from his left shoulder. She forced herself not to scream when the figure turned to look at her, his blue eyes nearly black, his long hair framing his face, covering most of it, and the sneer that covered his lips; carefully turned into a barely-there smile.