Wild Wings

Rescue and Truth

"You're right." Chris lifted his glove and on there was a screen. "Aviva, can you use the flycams to find Shadow's mom? We'll check her den." 

On the little screen was Aviva. "On it." 

Martin led the way as the three and Shadow walked through the rainforest. I was quiet as they were walking, too quiet. Rowan never liked quiet unless she needed alone time. 

The teenager was looking around as the jaguar cub walked beside her feet. "It's too quiet. Even if we're near a jaguar's den, wouldn't there be some noises?" 

Martin looked back at Rowan as they kept walking. "What do you mean?" 

"I mean, listen. No birds, no insects, nothing. No animal is making a sound, unless there's another predator out here, something is wrong." 

The brothers were surprised at how Rowan was acting, but as they listened around, they found she was right. No sounds from anywhere. 

"That's weird. I'll see what I can from the trees." Chris climbed one of the trees and Shadow rubbed against Rowan and Martin's legs. 

"How'd you figure something's wrong?" Martin picked up the cub and Rowan kept her eyes on the trees. "Gut feeling." 

Chris hung upside down from one of the branches. "The Sun Conures! They're gone!" 

Rowan then heard a noise coming from Martin's glove and he held his arm up as he answered the call. 

"Guys, I just checked Shadow's den. His mom isn't there! And when I searched the rest of her territory, she wouldn't show up anywhere! I know jaguars are hard to find but it's like she vanished completely." 

Rowan took a deep breath and looked around, there were some feathers on the ground and boot prints. 

She picked one of the feathers up and Chris jumped down. "You find something, Rowan?" 

"Do these boot prints look familiar to you two? Looks like they might've been covered with flour due to the white powder." Rowan felt the powder between her fingers. 

The brothers seemed to know who it was at the mention of flour. "Gormond!" 

"Gormond?" Rowan stood up and looked between Chris and Martin. "He's a chef that likes to cook rare or endangered animals. We always make sure he can't." 

The three dropped Shadow back at the Tortuga before following the boot prints. Soon finding the chef's camp. In a cage was Shadow's mom, and in a small aviary was the Sun Conures. There were also two people. 

One was dressed as a chef. Rowan had to guess that was Gormond. The other was wearing a black turtleneck, he was pale and skinny looking. 

"Who's the vampire?" Martin snickered at Rowan's observation before answering. "That's Zack. He likes to use animals to power his inventions." 

This made Rowan angry. Really angry. 

"That's not right. Those animals should be free." Chris saw how Rowan's hands were clenched to fists, so he placed a hand on her back in comfort. "Easy, Rowan. We'll get them out." 

Martin rummaged through his pockets, pulling out a disc with the picture of a jaguar on it. "Now all I need to do is get close." 

Rowan looked up and saw two large birds. At first, she thought they were people in feathered outfits, turns out they were eagles. "Would a distraction help?" 

Chris looked up to the birds too, catching onto what Rowan was thinking. "Yeah." He pulled out a disc with a picture of the eagles on it. 

The three nodded and Rowan stuck with Martin as they went for the cages. They looked up to see Chris already in his eagle suit, the plan was ready. 

Rowan gave Chris a thumbs up to start distracting the two. He swooped in and stole the tablecloth Zack was using for the diner setup. With Gormond and Zack now focused on Chris, Rowan picked the lock on the jaguar cage. 

"Almost..." A hand grabbed Rowan's arm and pulled her to her feet. It was Gormond. "Gotcha!" 

The teen struggled as he held her wrist. "Thought you could outsmart me, girly? Doesn't matter, I'm making those birds and that cat into a meal! And you and the Wild Kratts aren't going to stop me!" 

Rowan glared at the man before smirking, she didn't want to reveal one of her secrets, but this was a good time as any. 

Sparks of electricity surrounded Rowan's body, growing bigger as she charged up her power. 

Gormond's eyes widened as the sparks grew bigger and as soon as he saw them, he was zapped and knocked down. "What in the world?!" 

"Sorry, I didn't want to do that, but I guess the jaguar's out of the cage." Martin did manage to free Shadow's mom and the birds as the chef yelled at the teen. 

"Zack Bots! Get her!" Robots were headed towards the girl but Martin, in a jaguar suit, stepped in and slashed the bots with his claws. "Not gonna happen, Zack!" 

Rowan stopped the electricity and picked up a crowbar that was nearby. "Beat it!" 

The villains seemed to listen as they flew off in their jets, and Rowan dropped the piece of metal as Chris landed. "Rowan? How'd you do that?" 

Rowan didn't want to answer. She wanted to keep it inside, but they saw her use her electric defense ability. The teen had to answer as she started to walk back to the Tortuga. "It's a long story." 

Once back on the turtle ship it took off and Jimmy put the autopilot on. 

Aviva was the first to ask about what Rowan did. "How are you able to control electricity?"

Rowan answered as she turned around, her back facing the crew. "Same reason I'm able to heal so fast. I haven't been completely honest. Me and my friends don't know our parents because we were taken from them after we were born." 

Koki placed her hands over her mouth. "Seriously?" 

"Yes, and the people that took us, experimented on us. They kept us in cages, until one day, one of the scientists helped us escape. But up until a few days ago we thought he was dead." 

Rowan then tore the back of her shirt and moved her shoulders a bit before something poked out of her back and out of her shirt. 

Wings. Large, red shouldered hawk wings were coming out of her back. 

Martin and Chris were the first to snap out of their shock and switch to excitement. "Wings!" 

"Born with them. They work too." She flapped them as she turned to prove her point. "The reason I eat so much is because I need at least 8,000 calories a day when it's warm." 

Aviva was the next to come over, reaching to touch Rowan's feathers. "Can I?" 

The teen nodded and the inventor felt the soft feathers on the wings. It was like magic that they were there, fused to the teenager in front of them. 

"Maybe I can make a flight pack based on your wings? I wouldn't be experimenting on you, just studying a bit so I get everything right." 

Rowan was hesitant, but seeing how happy Aviva was with the idea she agreed. "On one condition." 

"Of course, anything." 

"None of you are to reveal I exist to the world. If you do that I'm not only in danger, but you all as well." 

They all nodded. "Deal."