(ROUGH DRAFT) Endless Sky ~Elemental Chaos~

Chapter Six

Avaro had forgotten that detail when explaining to Lucerne. He'd completely forgotten that as well as the clearly man-made bags on its back. Even at a glimpse it was obvious no paw could make something like that. That detail was enough to cancel Lucerne's theory. Even if a fire elemental did manage to melt some sand to make glass, they couldn't have made the bag, nor any other cat. Not without some outside help.
"So what are you implying?" Lucerne questioned as Avaro filed through his memories. "That someone has been here before, a human, someone who could've made that wall. You think the elementals are in danger?" He asked, looking back at his friend with wide eyes. Lucerne frowned. "We have no idea how long that wall has been there, have you flown far before here?"
"No," Avaro admitted before shaking his head. "It doesn't matter, I think Zeru should know."
"Why?"
"Because what if they aren't good? And has been getting outside help for bad reasons?"
"What if they're good reasons?"
"Can I at least ask Zeru for identification?" The dragon finally asked with a hint of irritation in his voice. "Whoever it was had a pretty unique pelt."
Lucerne stared at Avaro for a long moment before sighing and agreeing.
"Alright, fine, but only that. Dont start going into wild conspiracy theories," he warned, a flash of seriousness in his eyes. "Alright then lets go," Avaro said as he got to his feet, bouncing a bit on his heels.
"You seem quite excited," Lucerne aknowledged, getting to his feet with the bundles.
"Cause I feel like we got a case! Something strange to investigate!" He exclaimed.
"You're assuming who you saw is evil, having glass and a man-made bag doesn't make someone evil," the celestial pointed out.
Avaro rolled his eyes. "Come on, don't be a downer now," he said.
"I'm not being a downer, just trying to keep you from wrongly accusing someone,"
Avaro refrained from rolling his eyes a second time. "Let's just go."
Together they headed back. More cats having woken up by now, padding around, deciding who to hunt and who to scavenge. Not wanting to make the long walk to his den, Avaro took a moment to scan the area. Looking for the familiar large pink shape. Surely he would be out by now.
There.
A large pale pink furred cat.
Bigger than any other cat, standing out from the crowd. All giddy and excited, Avaro hurried over, waving his hands to get the leader's attention.
"Good morning, Avaro," Zeru greeted, dipping his head slightly. "And Lucerne," he added as the Celestial Beast arrived quickly after.
"Zeru, can we speak to you out in the woods?" Avaro asked.
Zeru looked at him for a long moment, noticing the excitement in the dragon's motions and face.
"Alright..." He said with hesitation, skeptical and curious why Avaro was as excited as he was. There was no special event coming anytime soon.
The trio hurried off away from the other cats, Avaro leading far ahead and constantly calling back. Begging for them to hurry up.
"This should be far enough," he finally said as the other two caught up.
"What's so urgent that you need to tell me out here?" Zeru asked, frowning down at the dragon.
"Well, I need you to identify someone, and don't want to be interrupted," he responded, straightening up and preparing. Avaro dove right into the details of the cat. The obvious red fur of a fire elemental, the purple ends it had on its ears and tail, even the bag and sound of glass clinking as they ran off. He said everything, all that he could remember.
"And after that I flew off, didn't see them again. Haven't seen any cat like that before anyways. But I don't usually pay attention to the cats around me unless I already know them," Avaro chuckled, continuing. "So I was wondering if you knew anything. Anything at all on who that could be,"
Zeru stayed silent at first, his expression giving nothing away. It wasn't until the tone of his voice that alarmed the two others.
"I know who that is," he hissed through clenched teeth.
"You do?!" Avaro gasped, feeling successful.
The leader nodded, scowling.
"She's old, maybe over a hundred years by now. And she was something back then. Causing chaos wherever she went, lying, stealing, occasionally murdering. She killed a kit once," Zeru explained, his gaze cold as it bore into Avaro. The dragon felt his excitement fizzle out and drowned by dread and horror. "Killed a kit..?"
He wasn't worried about being attacked himself, a quick shift into half dragon and he can take on even Zeru. But he had friends here. Cats who cant get big and scary, cats who cant even defend themselves yet. And knowing that theres a killer on the loose...
Avaro thought about waking up to Blaze in a puddle of blood, killed in the middle of the night. Mystic's last gift, gone. It made him feel hollowed out, emotionless.
"Does she have a name?" Avaro managed to ask without sounding too hostile.
"Her mother called her Sunset, for the sun like mark on her chest and color of her fur," Zeru answered with a flick of his tail.
"Sunset. What a nice name for a cruel beast," Avaro thought sourly, feeling a hand rest on his shoulder. He looked back to see Lucerne, his white eyes full of concern, worry, and fear.
"Thank you for telling me this Avaro, I'll have a search party and guards set up to keep an eye out," Zeru meowed, getting to his paws, his form towering and full if authority. Perfect for a leader. "I am not letting her hurt anymore of us," he added before motioning the two to head back.
"I know you two can protect yourselves, so I wont force you to stay inside," Zeru said as the two started to walk off. "But it would be nice to have two strong surprises hidden under, if she ever were to strike,"

Avaro found himself back in Mystic's den. Alone. Laying back against the far wall, his mind wandering in the clouds. Lucerne had went back to see how Zeru worked with his orders, wanting to know more and trying to help. Blaze most likily with Ember, her fire elemental friend who's much older brother was Torch. A soon to be father.
So Avaro was left alone in silence. Knowing too well if he ever saw Sunset, he would to a kill on sight. Not giving her any chance to escape or answer any questions.
After awhile of feeling useless and fusterated at his uselessness, Avaro found his thoughts drifting back to Mystic. His chest plunging into icy waters as he did so.
She was a good friend to him, a sister even. While she wasn't there for long in his life, that small bit she was there ment so much to him. The way he felt to Mystic was so much different than Lucerne or the others. Someone he can express any emotion to and she would know how to help without judgement, know what to say without stressing out. Lucerne worried too much, Roxxan was too harsh, Estella and Afina too naive, Charlotte too unstable and Rual too logical. OStar being way to new to Avaro for him to simply just, tell her all about his life and deepest darkest secrets. But Mystic had no issues. Right from the get go she seemed to understand him and showed him she would listen, hear him out. She even opened up to him, expressed how she was basically an outcast to her kind and abandoned by her father with her mother dead. While Avaro still had his parents, being an outcast was all too familiar. Mystic was basically his calm spot. A place to relax his emotions without worrying about stressing someone else out. But now shes gone.
He has no one.
Avaro doesn't want to burden Lucerne with his issues, nor express things that he of people shouldn't know. In fact, he didn't want to burden anyone. No one else he trusted not to judge or be afraid or stress out. He cared about all his friends, but not all things were worth mentioning. Avaro will simply have to live with it. Remember all that she told him and hang onto that, keep himself from going over the edge or screwing up his relationships with his friends and Lucerne. Especially not Lucerne. The one who's not only saved his life twice, but also changed his life for the better. Gave him the friendship and affection he needed that everyone else but his parents refused to give. Got dragonets to listen and stop acting so harsh and instigating. Lucerne was, quite literally, his light in his life. And losing him would plunge him into the darkest of pits. Avaro didn't want to think about what would happen.
He would cling to Mystic's memory, promise her that above all, he would live.
Avaro felt his eyes burn and blinked, tears having welled up and now sliding down his cheeks. He quickly wiped them away, taking a few breathes to calm down. "Everything will be okay," he told himself with his eyes closed.
Avaro reopened them and stared at the entrance of the den, examinging the light filtering in and trying to determine the time. It hasn't been that long since he'd come here, and without Lucerne, a nap was not an option. Avaro wasn't about to break his back trying to sleep on the cold ground again. He wondered if Blaze was alright. Zeru should have guards up by now, most likily Wild cats. Perhaps Spike was one of them.
A sudden urge made Avaro get up. Zeru told he and Lucerne that they were allowed out anytime. He didn't need permission to search for Sunset himself, or at least find some lead. He could go back to where he saw her, try to follow the direction she went. See if there were any paw prints, caught fur on bushes, or some other thing.
Avaro found it odd that Zeru never asked for where he saw Sunset, but maybe the large cat didn't think he could remember the location.
But Avaro could remember. He always remembers the places he finds prey at and where he buried his carcass. Eventually Avaro would forget in a few days, but it would be fresh in his mind for awhile at first. Taking advantage of this, he headed off. Just as expected, there were bulky mud colored cats at the exit, and all around, but they didn't bother to stop Avaro. They gave him a short nod and he walked past, into the forest. Shortly in, he shifted into his half dragon form and sprinted, directly to the location. It wasn't far. Avaro arrived there rather quickly and came to a stop, going back human.
The ground still looked ruffed up from a tussle where he killed the deer creature, but no paw prints. Or any prints at all. The ground was covered in leaves and undergrowth, no exposed dirt or mud that can leave an imprint. Instead there were broken leaves. Not a great help, but better than nothing.
Avaro headed over to where he last seen the red cat and investigated. Carefully examinging the bushes for fur or the ground for maybe a fallen object. But there was nothing. A few broken leaves, but too scattered to really have a path. Even following the location he'd seen her go, Avaro didn't get far. He had no idea if she made any turns, and no proof that she didn't. He was lost. Avaro tried going half dragon to smell and follow her scent, but it was so faded that he lost it rather quickly. Avaro needed a cat, someone who was better at tracking scents then he was, but who?
"I'll talk to Zeru again, he knows the cats that live here, he would know who's best at scent tracing."
But just as Avaro was about to head back, an ear piercing shriek cut through the forest air.