First Strikes Disaster

by Tatiyana Perkins

  "So now," he said, "we talk about what happened.”

  "With theses kids here?" Hazard interrupted.

  “Yes, they managed to find us. Who knows? One day they might join.” "Might," she highlighted.

  "Good enough for me."

  "Of course it is."

  “Something wrong about that?”

  Rose wondered if there was something between the two of them. A few members of the group laughed while the older ones shook their heads.

  Hazard looked ready to retort, so one of the older women stepped up and announced, "Well, from patrolling me and Leo learned that the trail goes outside, and then it stops cold when you reach the forest. They've gathered up all the items, however, so we can't explore it more."

  Rose's head snapped around; they were talking about Daniel. Noah never mentioned that. Did they work for anyone she knew?

  "That information is easy to find," Sakara said lazily. "We need something more to look at."

  "Did you try after the forest" she asked but hardly anyone paid attention and the ones who did, gave dark looks. She was still a stranger.

  "We know it was an organization," another man continued.

  "Again, I knew that."

  "We thought it might have been the chainers but now we think it's…..."

  "Who?"

  "The taken." With this many people shuddered. The taken were a group named after their ability to kidnap and keep people for entire lifetimes. They themselves had been snatched when they were younger. It was very vague what each of the taken people had to do, but “add as many to the group as possible” was on the top of their list.

  “The taken work too closely with the people in Anridrea."

  "Well, don't sell the idea out yet, since there's always what Artisan knows."

  Sakara's face darkened. "Artisan had dreams that were bigger than loyalty."

  Rose now understood why Noah made them go alone. The others looked hopeful, as if they didn't believe his words, but Sakara's loathing for the man was unrelenting. Would he like him more if he knew that Rose felt he was being controlled or if he had seen how he looked that night?

  “If we could just hear what he has to say,” Hazard reasoned.

  “No, I made my choice. So the taken, you think they did this. Why?”

  “Well, it is true that usually they take weaker people, but lately they've been wanting a stronger army. I heard that they steal men and women now and not just girls and boys.”

  “Fine, then we have our new mission.” Everyone groaned, and Sakara reviewed them angrily and said, "We all need to find who did this. Or else,”

  "Or else what?" Lena challenged.

  "They'll find a way to make all of us go down.”

  Is that true?​Rose was not surprised to hear it. When you looked at them all it actually made sense. This group was more than perfectly capable of being in charge of what happened on August fifthteenth. If she didn't know any better she'd think it was them too.

  "Sakara," A little girl called, running up to him. "There's movement over in the north side."

  "Okay team, let's roll out."

  She wanted to call after them, but they faded back into their spots so fast it made her unable to see where they had been. Lena shifted and gazed at her but Rose did not know what to make of the party, so she said, “let's find Noah." Together they went back to the spot they had left him. Despite being so far away he had a face like he heard everything, and Rose wondered if he had been listening.

  “Why do they hate your dad?” she asked as soon as she was within hearing distance “if you don't mind telling me.”

  Noah cracked his neck and ran his fingers through his hair then began “He was on a mission where he had to get a job done for the queen. When the mission was over, he didn't leave.”

  “Like he never went back to join the group again?”

  “Yeah.”

  “But why?” it didn't make sense.

  His face showed that he often wondered the same thing “No one knows, not even me. One day he came home in a sailor’s uniform and he didn't take it off and it's been like that ever since.”

  “He was leader wasn't he?” she asked, though she didn't need to hear the answer. Something about Sahara's over confidence showed he hadn't been in charge long.

  “He was; my dad is really powerful. The rumor is that someone on Ana's team discovered that and promised him he'd make good money if he worked for them, but it's just a rumor. They think he's biding his time until he sells them out.”

  “But he wouldn't” Rose said suddenly sure.

  “Tell that to them. Of course my dad hates the government and a few of them but only because of me.”

  “You?”

  “I've done things I'm not supposed to for the maskers and they think I'd out them too if it came to it.”

  His regretful tone of voice made her curious, "What things were they?” “I can't say them, not even to you.”

  “Can I have a hint?”

  “No,” he muttered, “I'm sorry.”

  ‘Has Artisan done things?” she asked.

  “He'll do what he needs to for his family and his group; he always does." When it went silent, Lena joined in rather harshly, “Do you think that's what he's doing now? Something for his family?”

  Noah noticed her tone, went over to a stump, and sat down. “If it is, we'll never know. He's able to hide in more ways than just being invisible.”

  A bunch of ideas formed in Rose's head, but she pushed them to the side. “Do they always meet here?” she asked, for she wanted to talk to them again.

  “Not really since they move places every day. I wouldn't suggest coming back here.” “Why do they move, if you don't mind me asking? And how did they wind up so close to the school?”

  “They don't want people to get too used to knowing where they are, and surprisingly schools are the least checked areas. Everyone just assumes everyone knows not to hide out near one."

  Lena placed away her weapons and changed her demeanor to one that might have been friendly. "Let us know the next time you know where they'll be.”

  He stood up. “I can't.”

  “Why not?”

  “If they found out, they'd think I had you guys spying on them.”

  She huffed in disbelief. “We'll figure something out of it comes to that, you already know can trust us to back you up.”

  Noah took a deep breath. “Fine."

  “Promise?”

  “Promise.”

  “Are there other 'organizations' like this?”

  “Not that I know of, we are the only one I know of that isn't documented.” “Good. What time is it?”

  “Roughly five. Why?”

  “We need to go back to school soon, but not right away. Do you think we'll have enough time to stop at home?"

  “If you run.”

  “Rose?”

  “Let's go.”

  They said goodbye to Noah, and Lena winded them away. They arrived back to the house in just enough time to catch Ana before she left. She sat in the counselor’s room wearing a pretty purple gown with lace up the arms and around the top. Her calm expression was on her, and Rose began to wonder if she was ever truly calm when she had it. When she noticed Rose had come in, she sat what she had down and said, “Anything wrong?”

  Rose decided to be blunt, so she stated, “I have to talk to you about what we talked about before; I've found new information that's really important."

  Ana shook her head. “There's nothing I can do about him, Rose. Not now, at least."

  “Not that.”

  “Okay then what?”

  Rose thought about how to word it without directly saying she spoke to Noah, “I was talking to our friend and-”

  “friend?”

  “Yes.”

  “I see. Continue.”

  “He has friends that believe that the taken did it.”

  Ana closed the book she was reading and sat up. “The who?�
��

  “Taken,” Rose repeated, ready for Ana to not believe her.

  A look of someone who just thought up a great theory reached Ana's face. “Maybe,” she said, “but- come with me.”

  Ana stood up, and Rose’s thankfulness grew. She nodded obediently and strayed behind her, happy that Ana was willing to believe her. Ana made stops in at least five rooms before she decided where she truly wanted to go and set out full of determination. They went out into the yard but did not make it anywhere, as they were quickly stopped by a guard saying, “My lady, where are you going?”

  “For a walk,” she answered, clearly confused at why he dared to stop her. He stood up tall but yet said in a small voice, “you can't go out there.”

  “I​can't? Why not?”

  His voice sounded like he had practiced this speech a thousand times. “It's said that the edge of the forest is becoming more populated and it's making problems along the boundary. Monsters are stepping over, so we're trying to stop them.“

  Ana's mouth grew to a straight line. “And the problem is?”

  “They're attacking people whether they are apart of the household or not. No one is safe out there.”

  “How long has this been going on for?” she demanded.

  “About a month or so; I believe it started in early July.” His face turned red at that and Rose thought he looked like a cherry.

  “And no one thought to tell me?”

  The man looked down, suddenly very interested in his shoes. “I was told the patrol are overseeing it.”

  “But they can't handle certain things.”

  “I know, and I'm sorry, my lady.”

  She looked ready to retort angrily but instead patiently inquired, “Have more guards been stationed?”

  “Not yet. They wanted to discuss it with you or one of the other counselors within the week.”

  “They're trying to fix it​themselves​?”

  “Yes. A patrol is out there now working to stop things.”

  “And just what is this 'patrol' accomplishing?” her voice showed that someone would soon feel her wrath.

  “We found a few things that may be the root of the problem but no way to know the exact cause.”

  “Are the peaceful monsters at least cooperating?”

  “No," he said. "They're refusing to talk to us and acting unintelligent, as if they can't understand the language anymore.”

  “I'll go myself.”

  He placed his hand on his sword in a protective manner. “Are you sure? You could be hurt.”

  “Yes. We've had over population before and that never affected the boundary. I want to explore. Your boss will hear what I have to say. I know it's not your fault."

  Relief went through him. “Same thing I thought and I knew you would think it too. I can accompany you there if you want; you might not want to take the little one.”

  She seemed to have just remembered Rose. “Rose, sweetie, you should go back to school; it starts again soon.”

  “But I'm not little and I still have at least twenty minutes."

  “I'll handle whatever this is and then we can go to the forest, I promise.”

  “Okay,” Rose gave in and hugged her aunt. “I'll see you later.”

  “Make sure you tell Kris and Kana about this. Tell them they're not to go outside at all past eleven o'clock,” Ana called after her.

  “What was that all about?” Lena asked as she joined her.

  “Don't worry about it. I told her and things are being looked into," Rose responded.

  “So we'll get our answers?”

  “Soon.”

  The next few days went by in a blur. Nothing special really happened, except Mr. Clark let them try spells on each other, and Mr. Barker told them about an interesting group called the tribe, that were said to be immortal.

  At the end of the third day after class, Rose left the other three. She went through the tunnels, getting guidance from animals, and walked straight until she made it to Ms. Cassandra’s room, where she sat giving a bottle to a turtle and listening to relaxing music.

  "Do you have a minute?" Rose inquired, and Ms. Cassandra looked up.

  "Oh, Rose, dear, of course. Feed Little Harvey for me.” Rose saw she was indicating a puppy, and she picked him up. He howled at her with wide eyes, then gave her a small bark. Rose pet him on his tiny head and he tried to bite her hand. Before long she was laughing as he squirmed in her arms.

  “What was the question?” Ms. Cassandra asked.

  "I wanted to know,” Rose said, looking up from the puppy and almost forgetting why she was there. “How do you fight monsters?"

  Ms. Cassandra put the turtle down and reflected. "Well, it depends on who made them.”

  "What do you mean?​Made​them. That's not possible."

  "Well, most animals were here before us, so we have no claims to them. True. Still, overall, the majority of monsters come from creature crafting. I know you heard of it. Your aunt could do it, and there were rumors that your uncle could."

  She thought of the flower and the stick figure he brought to life. "I'm sorry, I haven't."

  Ms. Cassandra stood up from her desk. She glanced around the room and then grabbed a tiny black and white bunny from the back and held it. "Takes a little time to kick in, don't worry," she reassured the both of them. "I'll set him back after I'm done." She rocked it soothingly back and forth while it restlessly tried to break away. Its tiny noises sounded slow and sleepy. Before long it was completely still for a long time, and Rose nearly panicked; then it started moving again. First a paw and then an ear - only this time it no longer looked like a regular bunny. It began to turn all black, and grow wings from its back. It fidgeted a little when the wings grew, but other than that, you could tell it didn't hurt at all. When it was finished and Ms. Cassandra let go, it flew up to the roof and acted as if it was trying to find a way to go through the glass.

  "That, my dear, is how you do it."

  Chapter 7☆

  Ms. Cassandra must have noticed that a lot of the students did not know about creature crafting, for that was the topic of discussion when they went back to her class the next day. The usual animals that sat on desks were put away, and as soon as they got in, she told them all “sit” and waited until after they were completely settled to announce “we have a new project.”

  The whole class began to groan.

  “What is it?” proclaimed Evan, who, as part of taking honors, was getting the blunt of the abundance of work. Ms. Cassandra waited for silence. “I want you guys to design your very own animal. Now, before we start, I just want to say that every student always says,​but​why Ms. Cassandra. That's so easy.​Then they don't finish or fail. I just want to warn you all that it's not a walk in the park. The point is for you to see that it's really complex.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, depending on the landscape, weather, and population, a creature will have to be able to adapt if they need to. They'll also have to keep their own basic traits that make them what they are. You have to determine how they will fight and what they'll eat and why they'll eat what they eat. Whether they're nocturnal and why they are if they are. Whether they can be tamed or if they're wild. What they love. What they hate. If we'll love them. If we'll hate them. What might make us feel the way we do." The new boy named Alex, transferred from Anridrea, raised his hand. He was tan, with black hair and brown eyes that took everything in. Normally, he never joined these discussions, so Ms. Cassandra nodded excitedly in his direction. “Were animals made by us?” he asked, and half the class laughed, for the answer to that was common knowledge.

  Ms. Cassandra hushed them all with a look. “No, we came after. Animals were here before us, and even now, we have no claims to them. Our lack of claim is simply because creature crafting was not what we were put here on Earth for. Back then water was mild and unmanageable, food was impossible to grow, and the weather was extreme. We do keep it all in check, but we didn't mak
e it.”

  As she grabbed some papers from her drawer, the same kid raised his hand again. “Why don't we just make everything smooth and perfect and warm everywhere?”

  “Because this is the world we were given. Imagine a life without snow and big beautiful mountains and magical rainforest. Wouldn't be as fun, right? Also so many amazing animals come from the wildlife diversity. We're not here to take away the beauty, just to make ourselves comfortable. Plus the world is constantly changing, so we'd probably die if we only adjusted to one thing.”

  Daniel and plenty of other Trearce elders had already told Rose thousands of times, that making the world the same and perfect was only a literal, last resort. It would take hundreds and hundreds of years to change it back, and barely anything would survive if they did sudden exposure. Anridrea was one of the only cities that disagreed. There were people who argued that that didn't matter who were living in Treace, but they were on the part of the political spectrum that got ignored. They eventually moved to the other cities and made them how they wanted. “Class, if you want to start, just grab a packet from up here, it has a checklist and a paper for you to start drawing. You can work alone if you really must, but I prefer for you to be in a group of at least two."

  Lena jumped up to grab the packet while Rose waited expectantly, but she sat down and immediately started to work alone. It seemed that a few minutes passed before she finally remembered Rose, and then she said, “Oh, do you want to work with me?” Rose placed her hair behind her ears. Sometimes Lena's constant aloofness amused her. “Yes.”

  “I don't normally have a group,” she admitted.

  “I noticed,” Rose teased.

  “I kind of already have an idea for what we should do.”

  “Me too.”

  “What are you thinking?” She picked up her pencil, ready to write and listen dutifully. Rose grinned. “I think it should be able to walk, fly, and swim.”

  At her words, Lena's face lit up like the sun. “I was thinking that too. Like it should have retractable wings and feet so it can fly and swim in the water.”

  “Like a duck,” Kana added from behind, and Rose and Lena both looked down, dissatisfied.