Heart of The Phoenix

Chapter 4: The Nighthawk Returns (part 1 why u no let me post entire chapter!)

(the next day)

Liara's POV

I woke up to my friends; Horas, Kirava, and Shirak, nudging my face causing me to laugh. 'Morning Li!' I smiled at the strange trio of friends as I replied with a "Morning to you guys too." Horas hopped up closer to my face as he said "So did you tell him everything?" I smiled as I said "Almost but not quite. I do have to keep some things a secret now don't I?"

Atem's POV

As I was walking down to get breakfast I heard Liara as I now know her saying "Almost but not quite. I do have to keep some things a secret now don't I?" There was a short pause then "Horas you know very well what would happen if I told anyone even Amanda that. Now can you guys get off of me so I can get breakfast?" After that I walked away 'Keep some things secret? She hasn't told me the whole truth? She hasn't even told Amanda the whole truth either.' Just as I turned the corner I saw Amanda. "Hey Amanda!" She turned to me saying "Good morning pharaoh." As I caught up to her I asked "Hey do you think Liara would keep secrets from the two of us?" After thinking for a moment she responded with "You maybe, but me no. Why do you ask?" I blinked and told her what I had heard her say. Amanda stopped in her tracks and said "She hasn't told the whole truth yet?..." I shook me head sadly "No, no she hasn't." "But why doesn't she trust us with this?" I was about to shrug when Liara came around the corner saying "Morning everybody!" I smiled saying "Good morning to you too." She smiled at us and said "So are we going to breakfast or are we going to stand here like a couple of rocks?" With that she started to walk to the dining area. The new attitude was kind of scaring me, since she was always a bit sad before so I turned to see what Amanda thought. Her face had a relieved look on it which reassured me a little.

>time skip after breakfast

Atem's POV

After breakfast I decided to go sit in the gardens. When I was about to leave Amanda ran up to me saying "Um. Sire have you seen Liara?" I looked at her saying "No. Not since breakfast, why?" She looked up and yelled "DUCK!" I did as told knowing from experience that these two were to be trusted when they suggested something like this. As I ducked down Horas flew by looking around frantically. "That's why. Horas is having a major freak out since even he can't find Li!" I got up saying "Are you serious. The guy that helps her hide can't find her!?" She nodded as she said "Yeah, so there are two possibilities. One she got kidnapped which I doubt very highly. Or two she snuck out to check out the town on her own which I'm guessing is what she did." I nodded as I said "Alright you, me, and Horas are going into town to see if we can find her.

Liara's POV

I just wanted to explore a little bit around town without having guards or an overprotective hawk watching my every move. So I snuck out after breakfast when no one was looking. I was quite shocked by some of the things I saw. Such as a man beating his son to a bloody pulp, an orphan having an item that belonged to their parents taken away by the the orphanage head, and many, many starving families. 'How could this be happening in such close proximity to the palace?!' Just then a man came up out of no where and grabbed my arm saying "You are coming with me little lady. And you're going to keep me company." But I refused to move so he yelled "Guards! My slave refuses to obey me!" I just scoffed saying "I'm not your slave and if I were I would be scared by now wouldn't I?" The guards came up to us saying "Young lady you are supposed to be staying in the palace taking care of lady Vesantro! And you sir are under arrest for attempted kidnapping!" In the confusion that erupted I managed to slip away into the crowd. Once away from them I saw the boy that had been beaten to a pulp on the side of the street begging. I walked up to the boy and knelt down to their height saying "Why are you out here begging I saw your home you didn't seem to need any extra money?" The boy seemed taken aback that I actually took an interest, but still answered with "My father sends me out here everyday and if I don't bring at least 10 gold coins back he beats me and sends me back out here to get the money. And if I don't get at least 9 gold coins he won't let me have any dinner and when I do get dinner I'm still hungry afterwards." I nodded sadly from having gone through his pain. "Listen little one there is a saying that my mother would always tell me before she died. It helped me through some hard times. It was 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger' you see I have been through the exact same thing but I was an orphan at the time. And look at me now I'm much stronger than I was before." The kid smiled at me and said "Thank you ma'm." He looked up at a hawk that wasn't Horas as he said "Ma'm do you think that the night hawk will come back and help out the people here?" I thought for a moment then said "I think they will someday at least." I reached into my pocket and pulled out 15 gold coins. The boy's eyes grew wide at the sight. "Here, take 5 and get yourself something to eat and take the rest back to your father. Okay?" He just stared at me saying "B-b-but... I can't accept this." Smiling I said "Why not?" "Because you have given me kindness and that's enough for me to get from you." I chuckled softly as I said "Take it I want you to have it and if you don't take it willingly I'll just give it to you and run." He smiled as he took the coins "Thank you! You are truly a gift from Ra!" I smiled and looked up and saw the pharaoh and Amanda not too far away, luckily they had their backs to me. "Your very welcome, but I have to go now if I don't want my sister to win the game!" "Oh. What game are you playing?" Smiling I said "Hide and seek. Well I'll see you around kid!" And with that I ran off into the crowd once more thinking 'The nighthawk will be back today.'