The Snow Ferrets and the Shinju Necklace (completed)

Chapter 17

It's a girl with long silver hair and her back is to me. She's standing in front of something and the room is huge. It's very brightly lit with a huge, rounded ceiling.

I pull my head back and look at my friends, who are watching me eagerly.

"There's a girl." I whisper.

Neve's face falls, "Oh no! Maybe Mr. Baja beat us."

"What color is her hair?" Anemos asks.

"Silver." I answer and Anemos's face falls.

"Errg!" Kin growls. I look at her and am shocked to see her looking very angry.

"Why can't they just go away!!" She whisper yells.

Suddenly, her hands clench into fists and she steps away from the wall, her eyes hard.

"No Kin!" I whisper furiously, trying to grab her arm, but she slips away and steps around the corner.

I quickly follow, deciding our cover has been blown and step out to see the girl facing Kin, who is running toward her.

She has a small, pretty face and large, round eyes full of mild shock and confusion. I feel my own eyes widen as I see that her eyes are a beautiful deep purple.

She doesn't look like a threat.

"Kin!" I shout as she sends a metal ball towards the girl.

I watch in terror as it soars toward the girl, who frowns. Suddenly, once the ball is only an inch away from her, she disappears in what could only be darting. So she must be an electric elementalist. It's strange that she has silver hair then.

The ball smashes into the wall and it cracks, dust and pebbles raining down.

I race toward Kin and grab her, holding her arms down.

She struggles, "Let go Blitz! She's one of them!" She spits out, writhing furiously.

"No! Kin, did you see her eyes?"

Kin frowns and stops struggling, "What?"

I let go of my friends and look around to see the girl standing in the corner, watching me and Kin curiously, her head cocked slightly and her eyes large and watchful.

She could have attacked us or ran away while we were fighting. She didn't, so she must feel totally unthreatened.

"Umm...." I hear Nero's voice.

I look to see Anemos, Nero, and Neve standing near our corner but not hidden. They are standing in tense positions like they were about to step in to help.

"Who are you?" Neve asks the strange girl.

I look back to see the girl's purple eyes fixed on Neve.

"I'm Kiara Althea." She says in a distant voice. Kind of wispy and dreamlike, but calming.

"Hi Kiara....um.....I'm Neve. This is Kin, Blitz, Nero, and Anemos. We're sorry."