Permafrost: Thunderbird

Chapter 7: The Truth Behind

⭐️Chapter 7: The Truth Behind

Everyone stared for a few minutes. Well, all they could see was a young Inkling girl in front of them, so it wasn't like there was much going on...unless she was special, perhaps? They kept their distance for a while, just to be sure.

"Hello, Bird," Silvia greeted, starting with a calm tone of voice.

"Um...hi?" she replied.

"Ryn told us she'd be bringing an extra with her today," Jack stated, as it was directed towards the new girl.

"Wait, you did?" Bird asked, turning to Ryn.

"Trust me, these guys can help hide you from those scientists. They're my best friends, and I trust them," Ryn replied.

"I mean...I dunno...we don't really know her whole story..." Cosmo said. "How do we know we can trust her?"

"Fair enough..." Bird sighed. "Guess I'll have to explain the forest and Project Thunderbird and the lab and-"

"Wait wait wait, what is this "Project Thunderbird" thing?" Silvia asked, raising an eyebrow with interest.

"Well...you see, there's this legendary creature called a Thunderbird, and it has power over storms. Nobody's seen it for hundreds of years according to older scientists and researchers, so I guess these scientists decided to try and make one...but humanoid, for some reason," Bird explained.

"OOOH! Does that mean you have powers?!" Cosmo gasped, excited.

"Not that I know of...I heard the scientists say something like "we can't catch a Skyling, those are too fast and hard to get, plus they keep trying to shoot squid darts at us!" I think..." Bird explained.

"Wow, these scientists sound kinda dumb," Jack said.

"Well there was more. They also said they wanted the mission to be stealthy and easy, go in and go out. Since they couldn't, they tried to combine DNA instead. They took some from a belieze rainbow squid, a regular flying squid, and I think they even took some sea bird DNA or something," Bird continued. "Maybe an electric eel too, but I don't even remember."

"Belieze rainbow sq-hold on, can't those produce electricity?" Silvia asked.

"Yeah! But...I can't control electricity or anything, I've tried," Bird replied sheepishly.

"Interesting..."

"Silvia, how did you know that?" Ryn asked.

"My old turf team and I faced a variety of species before. We studied up on species so we could face them in a match."

"I see..."

"But back to the topic, they basically tried to make a humanoid Thunderbird so they could have all the power?" Silvia asked.

"Yeah, apparently..."

"That is....wow," Jack muttered out of disbelief.

The group went silent for a bit as they soaked in the information they'd been given. They were now responsible for a (possible) living weapon, one that was around their age and sentient enough to ask questions and know things...and talk.

"So...can you guys keep me away from those scientists?" Bird finally asked.

"Well, you seem like a trustworthy person, so I suppose there's no harm..." Silvia started."

But if you happen to have an evil side to you then prepare to be shown no mercy!" Cosmo exclaimed.

"O-oh! Don't worry about that! I can assure you, I am 100% safe!" Bird said, raising her hands in defense.

"Hey wait, how do you know how to talk and all that? I would've thought an experiment had to learn everything step by step, but you make this seem like you were just created weeks ago!" Jack asked.

"Wait, did they actually experiment on a teenager or something?!" Ryn added, now concerned about just what exactly Bird was and what happened.

"Actually...I don't know. I've been on the run from those scientists for quite a while, and I think they've set up labs in multiple places while trying to catch me. All I remember is seeing how inhumanely they treated the other experiments, and not wanting to be a part of any of that. Another experiment managed to find a way out, so I guess there was a bit of a jailbreak? It's all so hazy..." Bird explained.

"Does that mean...they could have a lab set up outside Laocrah Town?!" Cosmo exclaimed.

"If Talon and Stag can live in a treehouse not far from here, then surely a lab would be...oh boy," Silvia muttered.

"So...are you guys going to help me, or...?" Bird asked.

The Infernos exchanged glances amongst each other, then started whispering. They could probably handle another problem since this seemed more tame than saving the people of their town and fighting creatures, but they could never tell when thing would take an unexpected turn. Well, so far it just seemed like it was "take care of strange lost kid", and they really had no other information to go off of at the moment. So they supposed...

"Alright, we'll help you out," Silvia said, though still wary with the others.

Cosmo nodded in agreement.

"Yeah."

Jack shrugged.

"I guess we gotta."

"Alright!" Bird cheered.

Ryn let out a sigh of relief now that that was over. The group had accepted Bird, but there was still a bit of distrust lingering.

"Anyway, we should probably start thinking of a place to hide Bird..." Ryn said.

"But...what about our turf war? We can't just leave Bird here! What if she gets taken while we're gone?" Cosmo asked.

"Dangit, you're right," Ryn replied. "As much as I'd wanna teach her turf, it's too big of a risk..."

"No, no! Don't worry about me! Go have fun!" Bird exclaimed.

"Did you want to be protected from the scientists or not?" Jack asked, giving Bird a look.

"I mean yes, but-"

"Then we're going to have to stay with you, since you don't even have turf weapon or anything yet. We also don't want the rest of the town involved," Jack responded.

"O-oh. Makes sense...th-then," Bird said.

"I guess we could hide her in my house...since most people know I'm the only person living there and it wouldn't raise suspicion?" Ryn suggested.

"Actually no, wouldn't that raise more suspicion? You'd probably want a house with more people in it, so a family member could cover up for it," Silvia said.

"Oh...but I think she already made herself comfortable at my house," Ryn sighed.

"No, it's okay! If I have to move, then I will!" Bird quickly interjected.

"That's it! What if Bird rotated houses?" Cosmo asked. "That way, she wouldn't be in one place for long and it we could mix it up whenever need be!"

"Yeah, actually! I like that idea," Ryn said.

"I suppose that would work..." Silvia mumbled.

"Okay, the whose house is she starting out in?" Jack asked.

"Uh, probably mine? I'm not really sure. And are we supposed to switch every day, or...?" Ryn said.

"Yeah, we could. We would start out at one house, then move to another's by the end of the day," Silvia suggested.

"Okay, sounds good to me!" Cosmo exclaimed.

"I'm in," Ryn replied.

"I'll be on my best behavior!" Bird said.

"Well, I guess we have our work cut out for us then," Jack smiled.

"Let's get to it."