The Glade and Its Glitch: Book 2 Allies or Enemies

Chapter 14

Soar scowled as the ninja argued. Without thinking, he narrowed his eyes and glared at Jay. The older boy seemed to be suspicious of Soar despite the other ninja trusting him. Soar disliked Jay as well, every time he looked in the lightning ninja's direction his anxiety spiked. Soar accounted it to the fact that Jay and Huntress looked alike.

"Soar, you good buddy?" Jay asked, he was confused as to why Soar was glaring at him.

"Yeah, just kinda zoned out... Anyway, I fought back against Huntress, and she gave me a bloody nose. She ran off after knocking Cole unconscious. I was so worried he was dead or something..." Soar faked a look of sadness and acted like he was having flashbacks. The more the ninja felt bad for him, the more likely they would be to trust him.

Nya put her hand on Soar's shoulder. "Don't worry, Cole's strong. PIXAL even said that all of his vitals are steady. He should wake up any day now."

Once again, Soar faked his emotions. He acted happy, "I'm glad," he lied. His thoughts once again wandered to Huntress. He wondered how long the ninja would be convinced that it was her who had attacked Cole. When they found out it had really been him, the ninja would surely attack him.

Lloyd's thoughts also began to turn to Huntress. Who was she really? He and his brothers had heard about Listener, or Tai, and how she came to the Glade with her husband. He also knew she had the ability to read minds. The elemental powers and backstory of Huntress, on the other hand, were unknown. She had that wolf that followed her around, maybe she could talk to animals. But Lloyd didn't know if that was really an elemental power.

Almost as if Zane had read Lloyd and Soar's minds, he spoke. "What do we know about Huntress?"

"She's one of the leaders. Skylight is in charge right now, and Protector led first. Huntress was the second." Soar said, he frowned just thinking of her. "She's got the wolves that chased me. All the animals in the Glade are friends with her. They're like her own little army, even the animals outside of the Glade probably like her."

"Why's that?" Wu asked, "I haven't heard of an elemental power having to do with animals yet. But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

"Do you think she sent the animals to attack Cole?" Kai asked Zane and PIXAL, "Could his cuts have been from some creature?"

PIXAl thought for a second but shook her head, "He had a bit of something that looked like fur on him. But those cuts were clean. Cole was hit with a weapon, not a claw."

"So does that mean it wasn't Huntress that attacked Cole?" Jay inquired, "This is starting to get confusing."

"She could have used a knife though," Soar jumped in with an attempt to not blow his cover.

"It is possible, she didn't have to use an animal to attack him. Just because she's friends with a bunch of them doesn't mean she fights with them all the time." Nya suggested.

"True," Soar said, relaxing a little, "She could have used a knife. But yeah, she likes animals. And the animals like her."

"Why is Skylight the leader now?" Lloyd leaned forward on the table, "It doesn't make sense. It seems like she was a good leader but all of the sudden just quit. Why would she do that?"

If Soar told the truth, that Huntress wanted to focus on Glitch and her family problems, he'd have to explain even more. He didn't know if he could pass Glitch off as being unimportant or an ally. So once again, he decided to lie, "Huntress decided that Skylight would be a better leader. I think she also thought you guys would be more intimidated by a man."

"I mean yeah, it was probably a smart idea. Skylight sounds more terrifying." Dareth thought his input would help the conversation. It didn't and just earned him a glare from Nya.

A memory from the Glade resurfaced in Soar's mind. Once Supernova had been in the Glade for a while Skylight had taken a liking to her. Of course, he was totally awkward about it, and everyone knew about it. Supernova had also had a crush on him, and it was just as obvious as Skylight's. There had been one day when Supernova had grinned at Skylight and waved. The poor boy fell over and couldn't stop blushing for nearly an hour.

"Yeah, Skylight's definitely intimidating," If Soar didn't have an image he had to keep, he would have burst out laughing. Skylight was one of the least scary people in the entire Glade.

"Then he's someone we need to watch out for. Protector and I used to be friends. I don't understand why she would attack one of my students." Master Wu stood up, "I'll see if I can contact her. Perhaps it's all a misunderstanding. Meeting adjourned."

The ninja began to leave the room. Nya walked over to Jay. They made their way back to Jay's bedroom, presumably to talk. Zane and PIXAL headed towards the med-bay to check on Cole. Kai and Lloyd walked off together as well. Soar stayed sitting at the table thinking.

Soar laughed. "A misunderstanding? This is all a misunderstanding? Understatement of the year."