Rogues

Episode 27 | Into the hornet's nest

Over the past couple of hours, the frantic beating of Sunshine's wings had slowed down, forcing her to fly lower and lower towards the ground. It took a lot of energy to stay in the sky for so long, and even more so when there were holes in your wings that made flying a difficult task in itself.

Sunshine was only a few meters from the ground when her wings finally gave out, dropping her back down to Earth. She staggered forward for a moment when her feet hit the ground, trying to slow down from the momentum of flying. She gazed at her surrounding, suddenly realizing just how in the middle of nowhere she was.

Small trees and bushes crowded the undisturbed area of forest she'd found herself in, the dim light of the moon barely managing to peer through the thick canopy above her. It was dark, too dark for her liking. She growled. Ghouls' eyes could usually see very well in the night but the shadows of the greenery around her were making it too dark for even her to see clearly.

She sighed, deciding it best to sleep the night away and continue her search in the morning. She was still desperate to find Sprite, but there was no way she'd be able to fly any further. Her wings felt as if they were moments from falling off.

She swiftly climbed a tall tree next to her, sitting on one of the branches and leaning against the trunk. She wrapped her tail around her legs and the branch, keeping herself in place.

Sunshine's mind drifted briefly back to the Rogues and she couldn't help but feel a slight sadness at not having them there with her. Rage swiftly seeped back in though as she remembered how Bismuth had spoken to her. She wasn't the kind of person to take shit from anyone and that wasn't about to change.

She slept for a few hours and was awake and in the air again by sunrise. Enough time had been waisted already.

Sunshine stared down at the vast forest below her, a sea of green below the delicate blue sky. It was difficult to believe such retched people could be lurking in such an enchanting place.

A gentle breeze helped to push her along, her wings beating against the air to stay up.

After the incident that had left her wings so torn, she'd been petrified that she'd never be able to fly again. But, after a few months of learning how fast to flap each wing and some practice, she'd finally gotten back in the air. The quality of their flying was something multi ghouls took great pride in, so she'd been extatic when she'd managed to stay up in the sky again.

Sunshine flew just over the tops of the trees, surveying the ground below and desperately hoping to find one of the cult's bases.

Finally, she spotted one.

Small wooden cabins were littered around a clearing in the forest, dim lights inside making the window's glow.

The multi ghoulette ducked down into the trees a few meters back and approached on foot, using the same method of walking her mother had taught her that would convince anyone who heard her that it was just the sounds of some wild animal.

She could see the wards they'd put up around the area. All ghouls could see magical defenses and security fields. She surveyed the area for a short while, disappointedly realising there were no openings or places to easily sneak in through.

Sunshine honed in on the auras of the people within the small village, pin pointing which ones would be alerted if someone stepped through their wards. There were only a few, at least five of them, all magic users and all conveniently in the same cabin, alone.

Sunshine grinned, her eyes burning with hot pink flames. It was almoust too easy.

Most other ghouls would have found the following task near impossible to complete, but Sunshine's parents had been Harvenger Ghouls during the revolution: masters of stealth, combat and capture. They'd taught her all they'd known since the moment she was born. It's why she'd been able to save that other kit on her own at so little seasons, despite getting relatively no credit for it and the kit being treated as if nothing had even happened.