The Red Robin

Chapter 3

As soon as we have recovered however, Felix announces he is going to name the rest of our 'gang' who have been training with his associates, "I now reveal that your four companions on your journey will be.... Adam, Katya, Oscar and Aimee. These four people will aid you with anything: anywhere, anyhow, whatever the circumstances."

They all step forward out of the shadows and me and Skylark glance at each other; that makes 6, an army is way larger than 6 people! Felix then announces that he will be joining us on our quest, as our main trainer and adviser. "We also have a trained medic volunteering, her name is Lexi."

A girl, maybe 14 or 15, steps out from behind the girl called Katya, and smiles nervously. I smile encouragingly at her and she ventures forward to stand next to me and Skylark.

"Now, your first mission. We must find the....."

But Felix never finishes. At that moment, I see a shadow move in the trees behind him. It gets closer. I think it's a..... a.....

"Felix! Look out!" I scream, and everyone turns towards the trees. Out of the shadows steps a horrendously ugly creature, its face squashed as though it ran into a window playing hide and seek. Lexi screams. Skylark rushes forward to drag me away from Felix, who seems to be frozen to the spot. At the last moment, I see Felix dart out of the monster's way, then the world stops...

I can see nothing. Feel nothing. The only thing I can do is hear. the whimpering from someone nearby. I open my eyes, and see Lexi kneeling in front of me. I try to raise my right arm, but I almost cry out in pain. I raise my head instead, and wish I hadn't. Aimee is lying on the floor beside me, the entire left hand side of her body swollen and bruised; Lexi is applying to her arm an ointment that looks like a mixture of scented oil and herbs.

"Felix?" Katya whispers beside me, "Will she be ok?"

I can hear the worry in Katya's voice. She and Aimee were friends from the start, to see a friend in such a bad state must be heart-breaking. Adam and Oscar haven't said anything yet, but how could they? Oscar was kneeling beside a bed, presumably with Adam lying on it.

"Almost certainly, Katya," says Felix, coming over and putting an arm around me, "But only when our Jamie is up and running will we leave."

"But what if she isn't better by then?" says Katya. I turn to look at her. I see how pale she is, her face tear-stained and dirty. She must have suffered a great deal of shock to find her best friend suddenly unable to use her body properly.

I reach a hand out to her and say softly, "She will be fine Katya, don't worry. As sure as my arm is on the mend, and I tell you Lexi's work is marvellous, Aimee will be alright. Don't get upset; if you like, I'm sure Felix will let you sleep with me and Aimee here tonight, won't you Felix?"

I turn to look at him and he nods.

"Jamie!" You are the best!" cries Katya, hugging me as tightly as, I think, is humanly possible. Felix touches her arm gently and signals to leave, Oscar too gets up and leaves Adam's bedside, and I am left alone with Aimee, Adam and Lexi.

After I recovered, we set about planning our first mission. Felix tore a ligament somewhere during training, but apart from that, no more casualties. Aimee is getting better (slowly but surely) and Adam has regained consciousness, but is obviously getting bored with being confined to a bed all day. Katya, Oscar and I have been training together, and Skylark, being in an angry mood because the monster attacked her boyfriend (Adam), has been taking everything out on a punch bag. We currently have 5 ripped punch bags lying on the floor next to Aimee. They are very handy; we don't have many blankets to keep her warm so Skylark punching the hell out of them is a good idea, then at night when Aimee shows signs of shivering, we place them over her. She is on the mend, slowly, but Katya has been showing signs of distress recently. I don't think it is anything to do with Aimee; when she heard she was getting better Katya was positively over the moon! I think she is homesick, we will see what happens tonight in training....

Yep, I knew something was going to happen. When we were trying the karate kicks again, Katya managed two, then sat down. For a while we thought she had fallen asleep as she didn't wake up. However, it soon became clear she wasn't ok. Oscar and I carried her up to Felix, who told us we should take her straight to Lexi. Lexi told us it was a good idea to stay up here with Aimee and Katya. So that's where I am now. Oscar is over by Adam, talking about football or something. Katya is awake, but she keeps rubbing her forehead. I think she has been bitten by something, personally. I stretch, get up and tell Lexi my theory.

"She has been bitten, but not by just something, Jamie." she says to me, "She was bitten the night she found out Aimee was on the mend, by the giant Bee-eater wasp."

I shrink back in fear: those wasp stings can be fatal. Lexi says Katya will survive, but we won't be going anywhere for quite a while. Oscar and I have been fighting each other lately, in training, for practice so we can show Felix when his ligament repairs itself.

Later, after Felix decides that 'enough is enough' and that 'we should stop sitting around otherwise we will never get anything done', Oscar and I head off to the training room to practise some more moves, such as the new one Felix taught us yesterday, the Black Widow Bite, which involves Oscar arching his back like a spider, and running full pelt at me, only to find I kick him square in the jaw. It's a solid hit, and for a moment I'm scared that I might have caused some permanent damage, but Oscar stands up and punches me in the shoulder, just to prove that he's fine. I stumble backwards, fall over and land heavily on my right wrist. Felix gasps as I try to get back up again and find I can't. Then, he runs over to Oscar and scolds him, although I don't know what for exactly. I'm finding it hard to think through the pain and fog threatening to cloud my mind. I'm about to give in to the pain when Oscar's face appears above me. His mouth opens and he starts speaking, but I can't hear him. All I am aware of are strong arms lifting me up, and Felix's soft voice whispering in my ear, "You'll be alright, Jamie, just try to relax."

a/n

 here come the bits written by 14 year old me i personally think the next bit is adorable but there we go