Spiraling Storm (Book 1 of the Storm Chasers Series)

Chapter 4

The wind was howling yet again. Snow pelted the ground, and thunder rumbled overhead. Crow looked at the conditions wearily.

"Felidae... didn't Chameleon say that it would be raining today?" He questioned.

"Yes. That little cricket...CHAMELEON!" Felidae stormed over to Chameleon.

"Look, I just got the papers, man. Don't yell at me!" Chameleon held his ground in front of Felidae.

"You're supposed to get the right ones, though!"

"I did! The right date and everything is on it. So stop complaining to me! Just get Raven to figure out the lightning pattern."

Crow backed away from the yelling, going outside. He stood in the snow, looking out for the lightning. He could see bright purple flashes in the distance, west of the river area. Crow brushed himself off and prepared his cloak to glide.

"I am not making the same mistake as yesterday. If I jump off the tops of those trees, I can glide to the general area. I just can't go in the tall trees. This will be fine..." Crow shook his head, almost not believing it. "Dios Mio, I'm actually going to do this. I must be going insane."

Crow started walking. Eventually he could hear the rest of the group get outside, so he started running. The cluster of lightning wasn't too far, so it didn't take long for Crow to climb a tree. He could hear Raven yelling at him from below, but Crow didn't listen. He kept a rhythm, so he didn't get lost in thought.

Soon enough, Crow performed his final glide. He landed on his feet and ran for a second, so he didn't fall. When he stopped, he turned to see Raven's reaction. His face fell as he saw Raven's upset look. Crow turned away and watched Felidae.

Felidae had wrangled the cluster. Chameleon got a copper pole, so Crow went over to him.

"Grab those bottles and just hold them until they're full, ok?" Chameleon ordered.

"Aye," Crow replied quickly. He grabbed the bottles and held them in place. The second they were full, he put the top on. He continued this until all the bottles were full. When they were done, Crow made sure everything was tight and secure. He picked up the container and looked to Felidae expectantly.

Felidae nodded and yanked the net back down to himself. He folded it up and put it back in his bag. Crow watched Felidae begin walking in a general direction. Crow followed close behind, trying not to break any bottles. He glanced behind himself, looking for Raven. He was in deep conversation with Orca, who was showing him a gun of some sort.

Crow grumbled angrily and ran up to Felidae to talk with him. He tried to get some words out, but couldn't orchestrate his thoughts. Eventually he gave up trying and stayed quiet for the rest of the walk.

The weather proceeded to get better as they walked on. Snowy ground turned muddy and green, the needy plants looking for sunlight. 'Poor things can't get much sunlight anywhere, can they?' Crow thought. The group soon approached a shack that had a rusted 'Sparksday' sign out front.

"Why do they have a sign for the day out?" Crow asked.

"The people mainly do it for their own sanity. They don't usually get newcomers," Felidae warmly replied.

"Ayyyyyy... ok." Crow went to open the door himself, but Chameleon opened it for him. Crow opened his mouth to object, but looked at the bottles in his arms. He decided to keep his mouth shut.

The little shack was very cozy on the inside. There were lanterns lit and a fire crackling in a pit. There were some chairs around the pit, and drawings of different animals on the walls. Crow found a counter and set the container of lightning on it. It felt better to have the sparks out of his hands.

The group had resorted to chatting away happily, bringing up memories from the day before. Crow felt awful, not expecting his first full day on the job to hurt him so much. He sighed and shoved it out of his head. 'I'm not going to sit here and whine to myself. I'll make memories. Aye, that sounds good.'

"Did you guys hear about that lightning bolt story? I've heard that the end is rather shocking," Crow loudly said to the group. Everybody stopped and stared at him, and Crow almost thought that he made a mistake. Suddenly, Felidae thundered with laughter.

"Hey, kid! That's a good one! Who taught you that one, huh?" He chuckled.

"My...uh. My dad. He wa- he is a Storm Chaser," Crow fumbled out.

"You have a good dad, kid. Go and talk with the rest of the group, I need to talk with Raven."

"Aye, ok," Crow said, looking at Raven. Before he could get a full look at the steel eyed boy, Felidae led Raven to the couch. Crow sighed and went to talk with the group.

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"What did you need, Felidae?" Raven asked, sitting down on the couch.

"I need you to take good care of Crow, Ok?"

"What?"

"He's a good boy. You live with him on a daily basis, it wouldn't be that hard."

"How do you expect me to do that?" Raven sighed. "I can barely keep myself in order, let alone Crow."

"You can do it."

"It feels more like he takes care of me."

"It may. I just have my suspicions about certain individuals. I don't want Crow getting hurt in the crossfire."

"Who?"

"Don't worry about that now, boy. Just be aware."

"Ok, then," Raven almost continued speaking, but looked over at Crow. He sighed and nodded to Felidae. 'He expects more out of me than my own dad,' Raven realized. He shook that thought out of his head and walked away, sitting down between Crow and Chameleon. Chameleon made an upset noise at this, and Raven just smirked.

The day passed on with joyful talking. Raven wasn't quite sure why the group stayed there so long, but eventually everybody went home. It didn't take long the last time, they dropped the case and left. It didn't matter, though.

When Raven got home, he went to cook. Crow left to go to his room, but was drawn out by the aroma of the food. There wasn't any sunlight that day, so the lights stayed on. A soft rain pattered on the roof as Raven finished making some tomato soup. Crow was sitting expectantly, staring at Raven.

"Have you been doing alright? I've noticed you avoiding my gaze recently, and I've been worried," Raven broke the silence.

"Aye, no. I mean yes! Sorry, I'm fine. Aye, Aye..." Crow started mumbling under his breath.

"Right..."

"I'm Ok, I promise! Raven, don't you believe me?"

"Well even when you're in the worst condition you insist that you're alright, even when it's clear to everyone that you're not. In other words, you've got rust behind your teeth."

"Why are you so concerned?"

"I have to live with you! I don't want to live with-"

"Somebody that's mentally unstable. I get it, you don't want to deal with a crying mess."

"That isn't what I me-"

"I'm going to bed."

"CROW!" The air went still. Raven felt like his heart had been thrown to the floor and stomped on. How could Crow not realize how much he cared? Crow was staring up at Raven, concern in his eyes.

"First off, it's noon. Sleeping now isn't beneficial. Second, I just want you to be happy," Raven spat out. Crow looked at him with a slightly surprised look on his face. Raven sighed, "You're my best friend, ok? Just don't get hurt."

"...Aye..."

"Crow."

"Aye, Aye. I know, ink." Raven set the soup down in front of Crow, and Crow sighed with a small smile. He started to eat the food gratefully, while Raven got himself a bowl. They ate silently together for the first half, not really knowing what to say. Eventually Crow was able to get conversation started, so they chatted away for the rest of the meal.

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