Chapter Two: An Otter-Angeli Attacks Me: Amber

"Calm — down — Cirrus!" I growled, my canine teeth dug into the protesting angeli's fur. He ignored my order with another ear-shattering wail and then proceeded to nearly wrench my teeth out of my mouth.

I was in my land-form, appearing a perfect enlarged duplicate of Ember. I was irritated.

Just coincidence, of course. It had nothing to do with the fact that Skyler had gotten himself captured.

Oh, wait, yes it did.

I should explain.

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"Today's the day?" Sky yawned.

I nodded, combing my thin fingers through Ember's fur absent-mindedly.

"The day we get to steal something bigger than a sugarcane?" he pressed. (He adored sugarcane).

However, I was in a tenser mood, seeing as I was going to sneak into the heart of enemy territory alone today, so I snapped, "You're referring to my sister as a thing?"

Ember growled at Cirrus, who remained unperturbed.

"And you're sure you'll be fine without me or Cirrus?" Skyler insisted, ignoring my reference.

I shook my head firmly. "You'd screw the plans up somehow —" he made a sound of protest that I ignored — "and while Cirrus could possibly cooperate, when he gets loud, he gets really loud and won't shut up, so no. Just me and Ember."

Skyler pouted moodily, picking at the stone ground. "Meaning I get the boring, person-who-waits-back-here's job."

"Pretty much," I laughed. "You do realize, though, that once we go back to the clan, you'll need to start addressing me formally unless you want to give off the impression that we're —"

"No, thank you, High Faerie Amber," Sky interrupted hastily. I could've sworn he was blushing.

"Just teasing, Sky," I winked, rising from my seat on the ground. "But you know it's true. See ya when we get back."

"Sure, sure," he muttered, watching me disappear from sight around a curtain of water.

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Which was why I was very irritated to find that Sky had disobeyed me despite that fact that I had specifically ordered him not to come. I was worried that he, being the over enthusiastic Chirou that he was,[1] would either give us away before we could convince Crys and thus give our position away to Munah or get himself captured.

Thankfully, only one of my assumptions had come to pass, and it was the lesser of the two, although it was still pretty bad. Crys knew the truth, at least. She accepted it.

But with Sky out of the "help-rescue-my-sister" pan and in the "I-need-rescuing" fire, things just got a whole lot more complicated.

I sighed through my clenched teeth. It didn't help that Ember was still back in Castle Munah guarding Sparkle.

I realized, as Cirrus let rip another wail, that I would have to risk Warping. Warps were not inherently a part of a Faerie's magic: they were stolen from the Warphilia by the Faerie Thief,[2] the first Faerie, who is considered the legend of legends among Faeries. As a result, Warps were finicky at best and downright malevolent at worst. For short distances they were accurate enough, but when it can to long-distance travel, they were horribly unreliable.

For instance, I tried Warping away from some city guards once, aimed for Haven. We — Sky and myself — had been filching sugarcane from Munahville's markets. However, we'd suddenly ended up in the desert, which was at a ninety degree angle from Haven.

Sky refused to talk to me for a week after that mishap: my aiming had caused the sugarcane to dry up and rot in the heat.

I tried Warping now, fervently hoping that I would not end up back in Castle Munah.

Once I released the Warp, I was immediately aware of the water weighing my fur down. I'd made it.

Or at least, I'd made it to the water entrance of Haven, a hot spring still undiscovered by the humans. Cirrus took advantage of my distraction and squirmed away from my loosened grip, only to begin frolicking happily in the water.

He was a tiger: what else could a faerie expect?

Sighing, I popped out of my land-form into my faerie body. Cirrus whined.

"Please, Amber-hyrie?"

"Play when we get in Haven, Cirrus. Here." I formed a wave of air around the length of his body. It would supply him with enough oxygen to last him a while.

I changed to my sea-form: a relatively large bala shark at least two feet long.

Cirrus watched impatiently as I brought us both underwater. He'd nearly forgotten about Sky.

Good. He wouldn't be a hassle, then.

My irritability made itself known in the next instant when a bundle of pale brown fur — so pale that it would look pink in the right light underwater — pounced on my still-fish-like body.

"PERLITA!" I screamed, flicking the otter-angeli up and off with a rather clumsy snap of my sinuous body. I changed again, standing up in the shallows of the warm pool, glaring at the angeli.

Cirrus, released from his protective air-suit, bounded cheerfully to my side and shook himself, further coating me in water.

"Hey, Amby!" a familiar, hyper voice called.

Oh, wonderful. Now I had to deal with her.

"Don't call me that," I growled, turning my infuriated orange eyes on her.

She was tanned, darker than I was, more like Sky and Crystal (which was, by the way, because Crystal had made the same mistake with Pearl's skin as she had with her own). Her hair was cropped to a shoulder length, a change since she'd left. Her eyes, far more mischievous than mine, twinkled cheekily at me, a pale shade of reddish-gray that looked exactly like a pink pearl.

Rita bounced happily to her.

"Aw, no fair. You're such a spoilsport, Amby," Pearl pouted. Rita pouted with her. "Where's the Chirou who stayed with you? I don't see him around."

"What are you doing here, Pearl?" I snarled. "And without the rest of the clan, no less."

Her innocent mask slipped from her face, but she hitched it up immediately. "C'mon, Amby, you're no fun. I left them with a friend."

"I don't need to be your sister — no, I don't even need to be in the royal family to know that you're lying, Pearl."

She glared at me, her facade still firmly in place, before she sagged tiredly. "Fine. I'll tell you later."

"Now, Pearl."

She flinched against my glare. "Okay, okay! Just stop glaring at me like that! Sheesh!"

I relinquished the tiniest amount.

Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair and said suddenly, "I'm such an idiot, Amber."

I kept my silence, my glare softening. She only ever called me Amber when she was extremely worried or sad — things like that.

"Everything was fine at first — well, it was great for me, actually. We ran into a Loner after four or five years, and he joined us with a will.[3]

"Eventually, we — myself and the Loner — started getting closer. He knew the area for a long way around, knew it so well that I spoke to him a lot. He even warned us that the rival clan, Sænk'tuori, was nearby.

"But he never told us his name, instead insisting that we give him a different one. He said that he wanted to forget his old name. We ended up simply calling him Wendol."[4]

"I hate to interrupt you, Pearl, but I need a short version."

She shrugged. "Good. I don't like talking about it. It took me two years to get back here on my own. Long story short, he turned out to be Sean Sint'tœxna, the next Hyrie in line for Sænk'tuori."[5][6]

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"You led our clan into rival territory and ran into one of their Hyrie?!" I howled, infuriated. "Pearl, how much more — more idiotic can you get?!"

She did not look at me, instead preferring the floor. "That's not the worst of it," she said in a very small voice.

"How much worse can it get?!"

"Like I said, we — we started getting closer — so I..." her voice petered out.

There was a deathly silence, interrupted only by the roaring waterfall that poured into the pool.

And then, "You fell in love with a Hyrie of our rival clan?" My voice was dangerously low and dangerously cold.

She bit her lip, still refusing to look at me. "It — it's not that bad! I just — I just kind of like him, that's all!"

"Any affection is deadly. What of the rest of the clan?"

"They left me to join the Sænk'tuori clan. They didn't really care about Munah any more," she admitted in a tiny voice.

I sighed. "Mom and Dad would've banished you for this. I should banish you for this."

Pearl shivered. "Amber, please?" It was more question than plea.

"I would, probably, if Sky were here. Fortunately for you, he got himself captured by Munah, so you have this chance to redeem yourself. Help me rescue Skyler and Crystal, and we may one day retrieve our clan from Sænk'tuori. Formality aside, you need to help me get Sky and Crys away from Munah, and then possibly get the rest of the clan from Sænk'tuori later," I said.

"Alright," Pearl said meekily. "Amby?"

"Don't call me that."

"I'm sorry."

"What did you want?" I snapped.

"I'm sorry. About leaving you here, about our clan, about everything. I'm sorry."

I let myself grin, though I was still rather unhappy with the situation. "As a sister, apology accepted. As the ruler of the now almost nonexistent clan of Haivœnu, you've still got to help me get Sky and Crys out of Munah's clutches. Come on. We've got a lot to discuss about the rescue tonight."

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Amber? We have a bit of a situation.

How bad?

It's not bad... but... it's kind of strange. One of Munah's guards is helping us. He... spoke to Crys about it.

What the — who is he?

Um... his name is Landon.

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Some faeries lose their wings before the 7th complexity.[7] Others lose them long after they are through with their complexing.

I lost my wings the day before the start of the 10th lex.

I'd steeled myself for the pain that I'd thought would have to come with the loss of my wings, but there was nothing. I'd simply woken up... and found them gone. My shoulder blades were tingling.

The first effect I'd felt was clumsiness, which turned out to be clearly evident (too clearly evident) as I made my way down to the throne room.

Mom and Dad looked up from their work as I stumbled into the chamber with a muffled curse. They could only give me words of sympathy.

Sympathy did not help me that next day of complex.

That next day, I experienced the next effect of Klœw'inn: instinct... and hormones.

I suddenly found myself nervous around most guys. Seth-Loame Lee, who I'd known for most of my life, was one of the faeries I found myself awkward around, though the feeling faded within the course of that single day.

I'd gotten to my fourth course (Physical Education) before I saw him: Landon-Cyeuhe Yue, a faerie who I had never shared a class with before.

It hit me hard. I could not look at him without fear of seeming impolite or blushing. Fortunately — or unfortunately, since I was unsure whether I wanted to run from the feeling or stay to savor every moment I could get around him — it was a free day: play the given game or sit in the sidelines to watch.

Before, I would have played eagerly. Then, I was too unsure of my balance, too wary of my clumsiness, to play. I found myself unable to tear my gaze from Landon for more than a minute or so (though, thankfully, he gave me an excuse by performing magnificently). Airj'ev Bour-Drægi, yet another classmate who I found myself uncertain around, kept me company.[8]

At lunch, I had another shock: Landon had the locker directly above mine.

I rushed down to lunch as fast as I could, barely sparing him a glance. I found myself dreading, yet anticipating, the end of the day, when I would have to see him again.

I was not disappointed.

I had to hurry again in an attempt to keep a distance... but then my clumsiness kicked in and I found myself falling down the stairs, cursing under my breath as the adrenaline rush overtook me. I tensed, awaiting a harsh impact.

A hand caught my wrist, jerking me toward the level area. I sprawled backward on the stairs. My hand landed on forbidden area.

I jerked it away as though burned. "S-sorry," I panted, only to look up at the cherished, dreaded face.

"It's fine," Landon dismissed. "You've been avoiding me." It was not a question. As for how he knew me, well, despite all efforts at normalcy Hyrie

"Y-yeah," I muttered, glancing back down at the steps.

"Why?"

He was past the Klœw'inn state: I'd already seen his developing adult wings.

"Do you remember what it was like when you reached Klœw'inn?" I asked quietly. Amongst faeries, Klœw'inn was not a subject usually broached, let alone with an almost-stranger of the opposite gender.

"...oh."

Silence, except for the bustle of students moving around us. No one really paid attention to my almost-fall.

Then, "I gotta go. See you tomorrow... Landon."

When I'd gotten home, Ember had plenty to say about Shadow, Landon's angeli, as well. Angelii were complexed separately from their faeries. Their "complexes" were called "schools." At Ember's school, she had met Shadow, had expressed the same shyness and avoidance that I had, and had been confronted by the end of her day. We both expected to see them "tomorrow."

But there was no tomorrow, because that was the day that Munah attacked.

I had never seen him since, not even amongst the survivors.

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Pearl and I were still smoothing out the disrupted plan when Ember got home with Sparkle. I had refrained from mentioning Pearl's return when I'd opened the Sœlïnku (Link, for short) between myself and my angeli.[9]

Ember was not very happy, to say the least. In the same way that my rage was directed at my sister faerie, Ember's rage was directed at her sister angeli. Pearl spent the next hour wincing as Ember relentlessly mauled her.

It wasn't until we'd finished the plan and were reviewing it that I grudgingly called off Ember so that Pearl could concentrate on what I was telling her and not on the multiple bites and scratches that my angeli had been inflicting on hers. Ember subsided with some reluctance but padded obediently to my side. Rita slunk meekly to Pearl for comfort.

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Sparkle was prowling restlessly, nervous around the larger tiger-angeli, who had retreated from the water and was sitting stock still, immersed in the Sœlïnku, attempting to touch his faerie with the connection.

"Got it?" I demanded after reviewing the completed course of action for what I hoped was the last time.

"Yeah."

"Good." I glanced up, calculating the time by whatever light that could make it through the tangle of soil, rock, and roots of the mountain. The sky, visible only by a far cry above me, was still light in the summer evening. "Let's go. We should get there in time to crash it."

"'Kay."

"Will you run? Or are you winging it?"

"I'm winging it."

"Dang it. I'm running."

Pearl shrugged. "See ya there."

[1] Chirou -- (CHEE row) faerie for "male child"

[2] Warphilia -- (war FILL ee uh) a whole different species; if you want to put in mythological terms (I've been reading a ton of Greek mythology and Percy Jackson lately, a'right?), they could easily be children of Ares (Mars)

[3] Loner -- a faerie that does not belong to any specific clan

[4] Wendol -- kind of random, but I have a Floatzel named Wendol, so that's partly where the name came from (and if you dunno what a Floatzel is, go look it up)

[5] Sint'tœxna -- (sin TOKES nuh)

[6] Sænk'tuori -- (sahn TOO or eye)

[7] complexity -- (abbrev. lex) faerie for grade. likewise, a complex is a school, and a complexing is the equivalent of an education or a schooling.

[8a] Seth-Loame Lee -- (seth lo MAY lee)
[8b] Landon-Cyeuhe Yue -- (LAN dun syu uh YU ay)
[8c] Airj'ev Bour-Drægi -- (AHR zhev bore DRAY guh)

[9] Sœlïnku -- (SO leenk)

Sera: 9_9 Wow. I did most of that in school. =w=

Crystal: I thought this was supposed to be the chapter where Amber comes, breaks Sky outta jail, and takes us to Haven!

Sera: I'll admit, that WAS the original plan, but a certain someone (Pearl!) wanted an introduction, so that's what this chapter is devoted to.

Crystal: ...I hate you, Pearl.

Pearl: You've never even met me!

Amber: Cool it, guys. (A little heads up: it's me and Pearl who butt heads in canon, not Pearl and Crystal)

Crystal / Pearl: ........

Sera / Amber: *sigh*

Sera: There's no helpin' 'em OUTSIDE of the story. Anyways, myself and Crystal's real-life counterpart (who I'm dubbing Lily cuz she likes the name) own everything except the last sentence in this paragraph, which I will borrow from Naruto and Masashi Kishimoto. WE OWN WINGS! Believe it (dattebayo)!

EDITED 04-21-09, 08:17PM