Spirit Animals: The Keeper's Book

Chapter Twelve: The Redcloaks

After "Tales of the Fallen Beasts" and "Broken Ground."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sailing away from Arctica was Ninani's Heart, with a small team of Greencloaks who had finished their mission in the frozen lands of Arctica. But standing aboard the Ninani's Heart, Jenna shivered as she felt the touch of the cold wind and wrapped herself in her green cloak while leaning against the ship mast. Her cloak flowed behind her partially in the chilly wind. She watched as the ice bergs float in the distance from the water.
Jenna looked up at the blue sky and floating clouds. The chilly winds blew in their favor, filling the ship's sails and pushing them towards Greenhaven Island. She and her team of friends had traveled on enough ships in their time as Greencloaks to understand how to hoist the sails, secure the decks, and steer the ship. They'd found the waters tucked between Arctica and Eura were much calmer than the open sea. Almost pleasant and relaxing. Out of all of them, it was only Keith that seemed bothered by the constant, buoyant rhythm of the ship.
Jenna let out a deep sigh as she leaned against the mast behind as she listened to the peace and quiet, whist keeping a sharp lookout for any signs of trouble. She has been accompanied by Keith, Gavi, Kirsi, Desta, Nico, Emilia, and their respective spirit animals on this particular mission. It took them longer than they thought, but they had finally found that spirit animal thief working with Zerif. Raisha. Jenna wouldn't be too surprised if she suddenly bonded with a very sneaky spirit animal, like a snake. She gained the new knowledge of knowing when a person is about to be bonded with a spirit animal, like an instant buzzing in her ears. But she's going to be sent to prison for the crimes that she has committed.
Jenna smiled as Destiny joined her side and gently petted her beloved spirit animal with a smile. It felt as if she had bonded to Destiny over a million years ago with Olvan and Lenori serving as an audience during her Nectar Ceremony. She smiled softly at the memory as she petted Destiny and let her red wolf lean against her leg.
She cringed as she remembered her startling reunion with Devin Trunswick. A few days after her battle against Devin, she had decided to use the Bamboo Panda to learn what he was talking about and it had done the trick. Jenna has finally managed to recover from her memory loss and understood that she, Devin, Dawson, and Conor were close friends. But she and Devin were more than just friends... Though, Jenna was unsure whether Devin felt towards her now and she was confused about her feelings towards him. But nobody has seen Devin or any of the former Conquerors since the war had ended.
But Jenna remembered meeting Worthy in a shadowy alleyway by night hours, desperately seeking for her aid to find his missing friend in a bunch of mysterious underground tunnels. In which she had decided to give him her aid. She learned more about Worthy and listened to his stories about his mission, the new protective group of Erdas. Worthy somehow reminded Jenna of Devin Trunswick, but she's unsure about it. He's extremely brave, protective, determined, clever, and kind. Her feelings towards him were pretty confusing; she cared about him greatly, but she doesn't want to unintentionally cause a love triangle between them.
Jenna soon spotted a glimpse of bright crimson just across from her. She soon became alert and Destiny perked up, clearly copying Jenna's body language. They both watched as another ship had suddenly sailed out of the mist. Close to the Ninani's Heart, but keeping a fair distance from accidentally ramming them. But Jenna's eyes zeroed in on the small red flag that was waving on top of the ship's mast.
"Everyone on starboard!" Gavi yelled. "We have company!"
At Gavi's order, the small team of Greencloaks started working on the ship while Jenna and Destiny both gazed at the occupants of the unknown ship. A dozen masked figures, all in red, with white masks of dogs, cats, birds, boars, and deer. Many of them were wielded their respective weapons. They moved with inhuman speed and animal strength as they each worked on their ship. A few of them were watching Jenna and Destiny or the Greencloaks.
"Wait!" All of the Greencloaks stopped in mid-grabbing their respective weapons and/or summoning their respective spirit animals at Jenna's order. "The Redcloaks means us no harm."
"They don't?" Keith's relieved voice could be heard by the doorway while everyone else gave him an amusedly sympathetic look. "Thank Ninani."
"Keith." Jenna gave him a teasing glare when he mentioned Ninani.
Keith gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry."
She rolled her eyes knowingly and went towards the railing to see the Redcloaks' ship sailing near their ship. Her eyes widened when she saw both Worthy and Talon on the ship. He perked up excitedly and waved at them. Jenna smiled at her two Redcloak friends and waved at them while Destiny leaned onto the railing to see them and barked excitedly with a wagging tail. By now, many of the Redcloaks started gazing at her.
"We better meet up with them," Jenna told her Greencloak friends. "We need to hear their side of things." All of the Greencloaks nodded their agreements from Jenna's decision.
"And somebody needs to get his sea legs," Nico teased Keith playfully, whilst earning a look from him and a bit of chuckling could be heard from the others.
"Sail to a nearby island Gavi!" He nodded to Jenna understandingly and changed the ship's direction. The Redcloak's ship also started following the Ninani's Heart towards a secretive island.
Calls went up, and ropes were flung onto the docks and lassoed onto the bollards. They soon pulled on the ropes to haul the Ninani's Heart into its berth. Once it did, both Keith and Desta stood waiting on the deck, their crisp cloaks shining emerald in the setting sun. Tattoos peeked over collars and out of cuffs, and a brave hedgehog was held by Keith's hand and a sturdy mountain goat stood next to Desta.
Jenna stepped off the ship with Destiny by her side, her eyes remaining on the mysterious island in front of her. The air seemed to become colder as the rolling ground mist became known. The trees' leaves glittered in the shades of dark green and red. Jenna could sense the presences of the hidden animals and birds, who all watched her and Destiny walking through the forest together.
The two of them soon arrived to the top of a hill that'll lead them into a pleasant glade. Jenna could see a creek bubbling nearby, as if it was separating her and the mysterious leader of the Redcloaks. A few woodland critters could been scampering through the clearing as they returned home. Some foxes went into a burrow. A couple of deer could be seen as they bounded away. Some squirrels and chipmunks were scattered about, grabbing their acorns to stash inside their tree homes and went into hiding. From above the birds started flying back to their nests. It was calm and eerie around her in the mysterious forest clearing.
The two partners both perked up when she heard the sound of quiet footsteps heading towards them. At that moment, they soon saw a single Redcloak coming towards them from the other side of the creek and stopped at his side. Jenna placed her hand on Destiny's neck, and leaned into her fur. Destiny licked Jenna's hand and gazed at the mysterious Redcloak warily.
As the silvery moonlight shone down on them, Jenna could see that King resembles Worthy a bit. But he could be seen wearing a smooth, faceless, white mask over his face and she caught a glimpse of his uniquely yellow reptilian eyes while his crimson red cloak was flowing behind him. He was covered head to toe in his black clothes, not revealing any of his features to her.
The two of them both bowed down to each other, even Destiny bowed her head to King. They're both showing their respect for the two respective leaders in front of each other.
"Greetings." King's voice was muffled by his mask, but his voice was calm and determined. "I take it that you're the legendary Keeper of Greenhaven."
"My true name is actually Jenna Wiseheart." She gazed at him in slightly confusion. "And you must be King, leader of the Redcloaks?"
King nodded to Jenna's words. "Indeed."
She gave him a slight smile as she petted Destiny's reddish-tan fur. "And this is my spirit animal, Destiny." The mentioned red wolf barked, accidentally startling some birds out of their nests. But Jenna became serious and crossed her arms over her chest while Destiny sat down next to her bonded partner. "But let's get down to business, why are you and your team following me and my team?"
"A new danger is coming to Erdas," King told Jenna.
She let out a weary sigh. "Why am I not surprised?" Jenna gazed at King warily. "What type of danger is it?"
"This type of danger is older than the Great Beasts," replied King. "It is based off a danger that can become parasites and can serve as forced enslavement."
"Kind of like the Bile." Jenna's brave blue eyes glowed in the moonlight, both illuminating and unnerving. "But who's the servant of this great evil?"
"It's Zerif," King told her. But Jenna noticed that his hands had clenched and his voice was close to an angry growl at the mention of Zerif.
"Oh no." She felt a cold wave of horror, she and her team spent two months searching for that sneaky war criminal. "Let me guess, he's causing chaos again, ain't he?"
King sighed, slowly calming down from the Keeper's gentle strength that was spreading towards him. "I'm afraid so. He already infected Halawir the Eagle, Arax the Ram, Suka the Polar Bear, Rumfuss the Boar, Dinesh the Elephant, Gerathon the Serpent, and Tellun the Elk."
Jenna hissed a light curse underneath her breath about this horrible piece of news that King had told her. Those poor newly Marked kids, their new beast partners have been wrongly stolen from them by Zerif and his rising army. But she soon realized that the only Great Beasts who weren't enslaved by Zerif was Briggan the Wolf, Uraza the Leopard, Jhi the Panda, Essix the Falcon, Kovo the Ape, Ninani the Swan, Cabaro the Lion, and Mulop the Octopus.
"This is bad," said Jenna. "Those beasts could give him extra power and protection. Which would only make it harder for me to help them."
King's pale eyes flashed. "That means you can free them from his control."
She shrugged helplessly. "I would. If I knew where in Erdas he and his army is at."
"Come with us." King gently held her hand. "We could really use your help and your team's aid."
Jenna hummed thoughtfully. Emotions rolled around inside Jenna like a whirlwind. She doesn't know whether to feel wary or curious or confused or uncertainty. New feelings like lightning raced between them: wariness, curiosity, confusion, guilt, regret, and empathy.
"I will speak to my teammates first before we decide our next course," Jenna told King grimly. "If you see our ship sailing nearby, it means we're joining you. But if you don't see our ship, it means we'll stay here till the time is right."
King nodded to her understandingly. "Please, just think about it." Jenna felt herself stiffening slightly when he repeated the almost, same exact words as Worthy pleaded for her aid in rescuing Talon in the mysterious underground tunnels and freeing the possessed beasts there.
Jenna and Destiny both exchanged a swift and knowing glance, she has since that her spirit animal was telling her that she should trust her intuition. But as Jenna turned to look at King again, he had disappeared without a trace into the incoming night.
But once the Keeper returned to the Ninani's Heart, the Greencloaks spoke to each other in hushed whispers in the map room. It didn't take long for them to come into an agreement.
Their decision was made.