Moon Kingdom: Fair Warning

Downtime

           They focused all their energy to one goal. A blizzard. Snow, hail, ice flurried from the owl's feet. The ground below them froze. The air became windy and chilled. They flew further towards the forest, fighting against the fatigue that using so much energy caused. The crow and the dove followed the white snowy owl through the darkened night.

At the edge of the forest they could hear the familiar grumbling sound louder than ever. The Bears were awake and nearby. Athena took one last surge of icy power through her talons and then used her wings to make the storm move toward the forest. The blizzard covered a relatively small range of forest but it seemed to be where the Bears were located, judging by the sounds they made.

The three women, as birds, flew back to Marama. It was a short flight and the sky was clear before they reached the wall, although the air still had a sharp chill in it that made their feathers feel heavy and their fragile bones ache. Athena flew through the window and was followed by Bree and Athena. They landed on the floor gently. It was then that they heard Ava scream.

Ava, who had woken up while they were gone, was standing on the bed clutching a sheet over her body and looking absolutely terrified by the three birds that had flown in through her window. Klaus heard the scream and opened the door which only made Ava scream again.

"Calm down," Klaus put his arms up as a sign he wasn't there to hurt her, "It's just a few birds."

No sooner than he had said those words, Bree managed to focus her energy on transforming back. Clouds of white and black smoke filled the room as each woman returned to their true form. They choked a bit on the smoke, which began to flow out the window and the open door. When the smoke cleared, Ava and Klaus saw Athena, Bree, and Diana sitting on the floor. Ava fainted, luckily onto the bed where she stood.

"I thought that hooded crow look familiar!" Klaus exclaimed, "But you didn't tell me that you all could turn into birds. Are you sure you aren't witches?"

"That was my fault." Bree admitted, "I'm not sure how I did it but I turned these two into birds as well. If you accuse us of being witches one more time I will find out how and turn you into one permanently."

Klaus laughed, "What kind of bird do you think I would be anyway?"

"What do you think, Diana?" Bree nudged her and winked.

"Oh!" Diana said, "Maybe an eagle?"

"I was thinking more like a chicken." Bree shrugged.

"A rooster then?" Athena offered, "We can always try to find out, but maybe now isn't the best time."

"You're right." Bree said, "I'm actually exhausted. I think we should eat and then get some well needed sleep."

"I think I saw some straw in the street." Klaus grinned, "Maybe I could build you girls a nest."

They all laughed. Athena was glad that the tension between them had faded. She was also glad that her plan had worked so far. The amount of power they had used was beyond what she had previously thought possible. They had connected their spirit energy and accomplished something amazing. She just hoped that it would actually help.

They worked together to get everything unpacked and organized. Blankets and other soft things were piled up for Klaus to sleep on. The women would share the two small beds. Athena went to get some water from downstairs while Bree and Diana began to get the food ready. Klaus had packed some things to eat. Smoked sausages and a small variety of vegetables flowed out of one of his bags.

"I should see what's in the bag from Sonya!" Diana suddenly remembered that she had been given a final parting gift from the head Spiritess.

She opened the bag just as Athena was arriving back with the water. Inside the cloth bag was some cloth napkins wrapped around various things. A loaf of bread baked fresh that morning, a small wheel of cheese, and two jars of marmalade were unwrapped first. A small basket of tomatoes and blueberries was the next to be removed. It was not the food that was the most interesting thing inside the bag, however, but the two items that lay wrapped in the bottom.

"What's that?" Athena asked, as Diana pulled the smaller bundle out of the bag.

"I'm not sure." Diana said.

"I hope its more food honestly." Bree said as she used a small knife to slice some of the bread.

Diana carefully unwrapped the item from its cloth. It turned out to be a silver Spiritess pendant, shining in the light from the lanterns which Athena had begun to light after getting the water. Diana was confused. Why would Sonya give her this? It was a symbol of belonging to the Spiritess order, a mandala representing years of sisterhood. A sisterhood that Diana was no longer a part of.

"I'm suddenly not very hungry." Diana said.

"Good," Bree replied, taking another bite of her sausage, cheese, and tomato sandwich, "More for me."

"You have to eat something." Klaus insisted, "I'll cut up some vegetables for you."

"Is something bothering you?" Athena asked her friend.

"Why would she give me this?" Diana asked, holding up the pendant. "It makes me feel as though I've made a terrible mistake. I feel so confused right now."

"Don't let those jerks manipulate you." Bree shook her head, "You made your decision."

"They aren't so bad you know." Diana defended, "I was happy. Just because you don't like them doesn't mean they're such terrible people."

Athena didn't want them to start fighting again so she interjected, "What else is in the bag?"

Klaus moved closer to Diana and put his arm around her. Bree and Athena smiled knowingly. Diana blushed but leaned back on him, still clutching the Spiritess mandala in one hand and the bag in her other. She gave Klaus the pendant to hold onto while she unwrapped the final item.