07: Assault on Tempest

Day 03

02:32 AM

Capitol Provence Outskirts

Team Tempest were gathered around a dim fire that weakly fought back the chilly air around it with flicks of warm red. Everyone slept soundly except Rein, whose eyelids reflected the fire's glow although it was her turn to keep watch. It was early morning and the others had taken their shifts, and Rein should have slept then, but she had stayed up worrying about what she had seen earlier. That document on which she had read Shayden's and Caius's name. Somewhere on that line of thought she drifted into a dream in which she saw their faces against a fiery red backdrop.

A shuffling sound startled her our of her snooze; her ears straightened at the sound and pinpointed it instantly. Realizing she'd fallen asleep, she decided guiltily that she'd better get up and investigate. She walked over near where the noise had come was and spied a tall, broad shape rustle in the undergrowth and disappear. Grogginess draining out of her body at once, she shot after it instantly.

She did not run too far - she had a responsibility to not abandon her post - but ran just far enough, picking up the scent as she went, pacing herself so her eyes adjusted to the light. There, just beyond the glows and shadows of the campfire, a footprint. Deep in the toes and shallow on the heel as if the person had been running, the imprint of long talons were visible in the dirt. Fresh enough that the mud in the valley of the print glistened with fresh dampness.

It pointed toward the camp.

She raced back the short distance and arrived to a horrific sight - a burning branch crashing to the center of camp, flames licking viciously at the ends of the others' sleeping bags. Rein gave a strangled yelp, jostling Aristotle awake. He was on his feet in a groggy instant, the disturbance enough to rouse Knuckles as well.

"Fire!" Rein howled, and it cleared the fog of sleep from their eyes. the flames were catching on the dry leaves and spreading slowly. "Fire, Shay..." she whipped her head back to Shayden's sleeping bag.

It was empty. Embers settled in the empty fleece bag, wearing orange holes into it.

"Shayden!" Aristle roared, his eyes whipping around the surrounding trees foliage wildly. A moment later there was a high-pitched shriek just out of sight in the shadows. Knuckles and Aristotle dove for the sound. There stood Shayden - disoriented and clutching a red-feathered arm that barred her shoulders against the bird's body with visible force. And it was pulling her further into the shadows rapidly.

"Hey!" Knuckles yelled, and dove at the strange red assailant. The assailant sidestepped; Shayden stumbled. The assailant turned and ran, throwing a wing behind, feathers spraying embers that lit blazes on the surrounding foliage. Knuckles disregarded it, recklessly bursting through branches and underbrush.

Aristotle grabbed Rein's arm before she could follow and threw his arm out. The sound of rain began, first as the sounds of soft rainfall on the treetops, and moments later it was a rushing torrent that dimmed the fires around them. Only then did he release Rein, and she bounded off on the assailant's path, fire licking at her dark tail. Aristotle was not far behind.

They pursued the attacker until they came to another clearing. Though the attacker was swift, the ground had become too damp for fire, and Knuckles and Rein were gaining ground. Before they could reach him, though, the attacker suddenly shifted the proportionally smaller Shay in his arms, spread a pair of huge red wings from his back, and took off.

Aristotle appeared, mouth set in a grim line and hands raised. Clouds were gathering overhead, a foreboding spiral that faced down the bird as he climbed toward it. Lightning flashed threateningly and struck a treetop near the bird's path and he veered away from it, circling for a moment, looming, until he suddenly jerked to a halt.

"Call it off."

Shay struggled, gritting her teeth in response to the bird's growl. She brought an elbow towards his face, but she could do little against the huge strength of the assailant. When she did not comply, he wrapped a hand around her neck and held her out by the throat, her feet dangling in the storm. She choked.

"Call. Off. The storm."

She coughed weakly and squeezed her eyes shut. She knew Aristotle would not dare send a bolt of lightning toward him when she would be hit too. And she knew better than to believe she would escape to safety if she did as he said. But her vision was turning white in patches and her breath was turning shallow, so holding up a weak hand, she spread her fingers wide, stabilizing a small part of the storm around them. A gap opened in the clouds above and the bird shot through, the thinner air causing Shayden to pass out.

On the ground, the others stared after them, tense anger searing through them. Knuckles lashed out and felled a tree, sending dull embers everywhere.

"We have to go after her!" Rein yelled.

"It would do us no good," Aristotle growled, hands clenched at his sides, "we already lost once. We have to go back to the capitol. It must have something to do with... that object."

Rein knew he meant the document. "But-"

"We have no choice. The capitol is only a few hours away. If we act now, we can get back to her quickly, and we can utilize better minds and strengths than ours to do it."

Rein spared one last glance to the sky, burning with resentment at herself and hurt for Shayden, whom she could not save.

Somber now, and numbering one less, they turned and began walking once more.

This chapter:

Aristotle the Echidna

Shayden the Hedgehog

Reinforce the Wolf

In case anyone was wondering why they call themselves Team Tempest.

How is everyone? It's been a minute since I've updated, but for those of you who stuck it out, thank you! You are precious souls to be treasured! And a hearty whoop-whoop to our friend PurrfectChaosInfinity, who checked in to make sure nothing awful had happened to me a few times and was generally all-around supportive. You're a gem, you are!

Okay, so, serious business time. I have decided to shelve this story after the end of this arc, because I am not confident in my current abilities to both finish this arc and sufficiently flesh out another one without a long hiatus. I don't like hiatus, you guys, it's not fair to you as readers. So for now, let it be known that after this arc is finished (two to three more episodes, it looks like), Anarchy will be considered a complete story.

You might ask, what about the characters who haven't been used, or who haven't had much time or development yet? That will be addressed, and there is a solution that will be fun for the both of us. I promise! Just tune in for the author's note after the final episode for further information.

- Mistress Antithesis