Pyrus: War

Hurricane

We are greeted the same way we left; cheering. Banners have been erected and everyone is cheering and clapping. We all walk throughout the city, circling it before heading to the square. Once there, I make an announcement.
  "Thank you all for the wonderful welcome home," I say. Everyone claps. "I'd like to announce a total success, and our second at that. The castle is destroyed and the Soul Hunters dead." Everyone cheers again. When they hush, I continue. "However, this war is far from over. They have many bases and camps all over, and we must be ready for a retaliation. But for now, let's enjoy our victory, and celebrate with a feast!" Everybody cheers and claps again. The chefs, including Gaia, head to the kitchens to get the feast ready. I head to my room, utterly exhausted.
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  I wake at 7 o'clock, just in time for the feast. Slipping on a red robe and quickly feeding Firebolt, I rush off to the mess hall.
  Almost everyone is already there. The council is all sitting at one table, and Rocky has saved me a seat. The tables are piled high with boars, deer, buns, soup, and so much more. Everyone grabs food and chows down, talking and laughing.
  "That was awesome. I can't believe it worked that well," says River.
  Hawk nods in agreement. "Yes, it was quite the exercise. Very smooth."
  "And of course, we owe it all to our leader," Gale puts in. I blush from the compliment.
  "To Pyrus! To the Sanctuary!" proclaims Sky.
  "To the council," I correct before bring my glass up. They clink and we all take a sip of the sweet Honeywine inside. "You guys all do a lot of it for me."
  Gale shakes her head. "Oh, quit being so modest. You lead the attack, and discovered out abilities."
  "Actually, Richard discovered them. I just read his books and found out," I point out. After Sky shoots me a look of exasperation, I quickly add, "But you're right. I don't give myself enough credit."
  Lilly pats me on the back. "That's the spirit!" she says. Then, with a mischievous smile, she adds, "Now if only there was something to give yourself credit for..." We all laugh, even Shark.
  The evening proceeds quite nicely, the mood light and the food good. After dessert, the adults go one way and my friends and I decide to take a walk before heading home.
  We all chat amongst ourselves, discussing the food and recent events.
  "Has anyone seen Sun and Moon lately?" I ask. "I haven't seen them since, well, since the Sanctuary came back."
  "I'm pretty sure they've been helping Gaia out in the kitchen a lot," Rocky answers.
  "Makes sense," I agree. "I think I might go say hi sometime soon."
  As we walk past the gate, it suddenly slides up, silently. I whirl around in alarm.
  "Did anyone here do that?" I ask, a bit panicked. My friends all shake their heads.
  I look at the entrance of the Sanctuary. That's when I spot the girl. She is short, thin, blonde, and covered in blood, dirt, and black dust. She takes a couple of steps into the Sanctuary and collapses.
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  Ten minutes later, she is laying on a bed in our clinic, alive but unconscious. The nurses said she'd lost a lot of blood, and was probably exhausted. I stand over her, anxiously waiting for her to wake, though a small part of me knows she won't quite yet. I want to be there when she wakes up, or at the very least, have a council member there instead of me. That way, someone who represents the Sanctuary would be there right away.
  I chew my lip anxiously while she lays unmoving in the bed. I check her arms for her marks. She wouldn't have been able to get in otherwise. I find them. Double water. Good. We need lots of doubles. Only about a third of us are, and that's not a super comforting thought. Even in a city as large as ours, it's not too many.
  Suddenly, the girls eyes shoot open. I sit up, hopeful she is awake, but find her eyes are rolling around rapidly, and are completely unseeing. Her body begins convulsing, and I struggle to hold her down.
  "Nurse!" I scream. "I need a nurse in here!" Two nurses run into the clinic and towards the bed where the girl is. I step back to allow them through. One produces a small needle, and injects into the girls arm. After her eyes shake a little more, they finally stop and she relaxes, breathing deeply.
  She suddenly sits up, awake. She takes a look around the strange, unfamiliar place.
  "Hello? Are you OK?" I ask softly. She looks at me and forces a smile. She suddenly gets a sickly look on her face and promptly throws up. Green bile splatters all over my shirt and robes. Yuck. The smell is enough to make me gag. She looks at me apologetically, I smile to tell her it's okay. Thank goodness I was wearing one of my worse robes.
  I quickly change into a clean robe and gather the council to go talk to the girl. She seems to be doing a little better, he nauseated look on her face gone.
  "Hi there. I'm Gale," Gale says to the girl, holding out an arm, which the girl uncomfortably shakes.
  "I'm Pyrus, by the way," I inform her. "Your in a place called 'The Sanctuary'. Your safe here." Then, in attempt to make her feel a little cheerier, I add, "About the only thing that can hurt you here is a bit of vomit." She laughs.
  "My name is Hurricane," she tells me. "I use water magic." I nod. I had already figured THAT out at least. Taking a quick glance at everyone, she adds, "Who are they?"
  "Well, the adults would be Shark, Dolphin, Hawk, and Quake," I start. They each raise a hand in turn. "The little, but strong, boy is Rocky. The girl beside him is Flora. The girl with the blue hair is Sky, and Lilly has the blonde hair with blue streaks." I then smirk at Gale. "And the black haired one who may or may not be secretly plotting your death is Gale, but you already know that."
  Gale glares at me jokingly. "Watch it,
Pyrus. You might just make my list."
  Hurricane gets this nervous look on her face. "She has a list?" she asks nervously. Everyone, but Hurricane, has a good laugh at that.
  "No, no, of course not!" I say. "Gale wouldn't hurt a fly!" I put a finger to my chin. "Well, actually, that's not true. I have the bruises as proof." Gale and Lilly have made it their personal business to ensure training always leave me bruised and battered, thus earning me the title of, "The Twig".
  Hurricane eases up. "Well then, Gale and I should get along quite nicely," she says. Gale laughs.
  "So what brings you here, Hurricane?" I ask.
  She sighs and her face falls. "Well, that's a bit of a long story. My village was fairly abundant with magic, though there were many non-magicians. But one day, these men dressed in black came. They-they killed everyone except the people with magic. They took them as slaves. I was able to escape, and I eventually stumbled upon this place. When I tried signalling you guys to let me in, the gate suddenly opened."
  I look at my feet. This is not good. "Thank you for telling me, Hurricane," I say softly. "When your feeling better, come visit me. I should be in the giant tower, at the centre of this place." With a quick smile, the council leaves.
  I walk back to the tower deep in thought. Gale is walking beside me. "Watcha thinking about?" she asks.
  I bite my lip. "Something's going on here, something we missed. I don't know what, though. But I need to find out," I reply grimly.
  She looks down. "Would the scouts help?" she ponders.
  I shake my head. "No. In order to find out, we need a warrior. And I think I know where to get one." I stop and look at Gale. "Help me gather the council, excluding adults. We leave immediately."