Gale's Storm

CHAPTER 21

Rock saw the fear in Gale's eyes and he felt it too. A whole colony, destroyed.

"H-how?!" she asked. "Humans. The big colony, they completely destroyed River Colony. I saw it with my own eyes and came to find you immediately! I've barely stopped for the 3 days it took for me to get here," they babbled on, clearly hoping for help.

"Alright, you need rest, would you like to come with us to see the damage and find Mountain Colony or stay here and rest? You can rest while we walk while you're in your bird shapeshift," Lillian offered. Gale was too stunned to speak, tears starting to well in her eyes.

"Yes please! I would love to journey with you!" they yelped, letting Lillian pick them up. They were as chatty as Needle at times, saying how excited they were to come. His name was Aster and he slept whenever he wasn't talking.

The group walked in silence, walking faster than they were before. Gale was very distressed about this update and wanted to get there as fast as possible. Rock wondered about her thoughts and emotions until they came to Pine Colony to rest for the night. Rock had met Thrift and Tuft, they seemed nice. But he had only really bonded with the history keeper of Pine Colony. They were a sweet and old fellow, who had seen a lot though their many years of living.

While they rested there, Rock went to visit them. They had no gender, and it was unique and interesting to him, that someone was brave enough to be someone like that.

"Cypress?" He asked when he walked into their cave woven from the thick trees and vines of the walls. The colony had planted the trees and kept guard all night long for generations until they were able to weave the live trees into a great wall. Cypress never got to see them weave, but he knew they wished they could have.

"Rock? Oh darling you're back! How was Kelp Colony?" They asked enthusiastically, glad to see their friend back. After a pause Rock said, "Well, They declined and James left. Also River Colony was destroyed by the human kingdom and we are going there to help the survivors and then find Mountain Colony before all out war breaks loose," he said, giving the short story.

The old shapeshifter turned to look at him with wide eyes. And Rock knew they had found what they were looking for, it was the utter truth. "Oh. Oh dear. Well, if it comes to war, you can count on Pine Colony to fight by your side!"

"Hey, at least you will be able to see it with your own eyes and record it in your own writing. You'll be able to add even more to the rich history of Pine Colony!" Rock said, hoping to help them to see the brightest side. "Well, I have been waiting for this moment. Come in, come in. Have some tea."

They were good at making tea, and it was always very tasty. Rock didn't know he would like tea until they had made some for him. It tasted very nice, especially with some wild honey added.

They sat down on a stump of an old tree that had died out a long time ago. It was their only chair, but it was large enough to be a whole table. And it was carved in a way that made it so there was a slight table in the middle. There were cushions all around the area that acted as a bench and a soft table cloth in the center.

The tea was done in a small matter of time and Cypress sat down in front of him and asked for the whole story. Rock told them and they listened, jotting down notes as they always did when he told a story. Like they were waiting to put them in a history scroll on the shelves. And this one might actually be in the hundreds of scrolls and books all along the walls in the shelves made from thick, woven vines.

"Well, best of luck on the rest of your adventure. I have a story for you, you know Anthony and who River was, right?" Rock nodded and they continued, "Well the two had experimented with their combined magics to make shapeshifters, and the first one failed. This failure resulted in River being turned permanently into his spirit animal, or shapeshift, being a cat. River and Anthony were never able to get married as they hoped they would, but River had a child before he met Anthony. And the bloodline continued to Gale."

"You already told me this," Rock chuckled. They continued excitedly, "yes, but there must be more out there. Ones with less direct genes and ones with abilities. Leading us to my theory that Lillian is River's descendant."

Rock just stared at them when they said that. Could Cypress be right? Is that why she has so much endurance? "Ohohoho, this leads me to how far River could swim. Only 3 miles, but that had made history until Lillian."

"It all makes sense now!" Rock yelled excitedly. "Yes it does. And I have one more question of yours that I can answer," Cypress said, clearly pleased at his excitement of knowledge. "River Colony is the place River made with his own two hands, his own magic. Anthony helped, but it was mainly River. He made the great river that you flew over to get to Oak Colony all that time ago. And since you have said that Gale and Anthony's emotions have been becoming mixed, she must be feeling something along the lines of despair and anger. With this, I feel that war isn't avoidable, but we can prepare," they said grimly.

"I can prepare your bed if you would like to stay here for the night," they said, their voice going warm immediately. "Thank you, are you going to tell Fang your predictions?"

Cypress nodded, heading off into the darker side of the cave where they slept on a bed of soft ferns and fresh moss. They didn't like using fur much, and since it was usually warm in Pine Colony, they could get away without it. Their shapeshift was an ibex, and it was extremely interesting to watch them climb the walls when they couldn't reach something like they were doing now.

Rock had nightmares a lot of the night. Fang didn't throw a party since the "great uniters" as they called them were in a rush. It was flattering to be called such a title.

All of his nightmares were of Lillian turning into a shark forever or a huge battle nobody could win. He hoped this was a war they could win, he had a feeling Gale wouldn't stop after the first battle if it was lost. If this war went on for decades, Rock didn't know what he'd do. Fight or flee?

He had nightmares of the consequences of both.

That morning they ate what Pine Colony offered them, packed their bags full of supplies and left at a brisk pace again. They walked, day after day, the days passing in a blurr, until they had made it to Oak Colony to rest in peace for a day.