Gians of Giri

Vikki's Holiday: Part 5

Venia looked up at the sky. It was noon, and it was snowing. It reminded her of the first dekros that she came there. Olina, though Venia didn't know her name at the time, had pulled on her sleeve. Now that same girl had been kidnapped, along with Aryn, Tomano, and Carlos. Xar skateboarded up to her.

"Viki, you need to come back for the orphanage." He said. "You shouldn't be out here. The police will find them."

"But I want to help." Viki looked at him. "Why aren't you doing anything? They are your kin."

"And at least your allies, Viki."

"For all we know, I did something that caused this." She looked away. Xar put a hand on her shoulder. She pushed the hand away.

"You didn't do anything."

"How do you know that?" Viki looked at him with tears in her eyes. "After all, you didn't go with Tomano. You won't even let anyone see the note!"

"It's because I don't want anyone else getting hurt."

"Four orphans may be getting hurt right now."

"They aren't getting hurt."

"How do you know?"

"My vibes."

"Right. Your vibes." Viki responded angrily. "Can your 'vibes' bring them back? How do you even have them? You're a Knight of Air!"

"Look, I don't know why I have them, okay?" Xar shot back. "If I knew the answer, I'd gladly tell you. But I don't. You have to trust me."

"The last time I trusted anyone, they were taken. All I ever do is seem to harm people, or people leave me and I am equally as hurt."

"Huh, I wonder why. Maybe because you refuse to calm down and relax before doing anything rational when people are in danger."

"Look, Xaris," The blood gian put an emphasis on the last part of his full name. "if I don't do something, I'm going to go insane. So just let me work."

"Fine." The Dian pulled out her cloak. He threw it at her, and she caught it with one hand. "Stay warm, Viktoria."

Viki watched him go. Behind a window, in a room a few stories up, and on the other side of the street, Lira did the same. She devoured what had happened, liking her lips deliciously. This was better than she had planned. She didn't even need her ultra-good hearing to know what emotions happened. Lira's tail swished behind her.

"What happened?" Jake asked.

"Oh, nothing." Lira put her binoculars away. "Just our little target and one of her allies are fighting. My guess is that there is going to be some rough road for her."

"That would explain why you are as happy as Kindle getting the chance to light a campfire."

Kindle glared at the rookie Zikor.

Meanwhile, Carlos was trying to push the door to their cage open. They had been placed in a separate room. Tomano could speak now, along with moving his head. It seemed that whatever Lira did had started to wear off. Aryn was holding Olina tight. Aryn wasn't the best suited for scary things, and Olina was young. The clang of the bars was rhythmic, but not comforting.

"Just give it a rest, Carlos." Aryn said. "We already know that we can't get out of here."

"That doesn't mean we can't try." Carlos told her. He continued to push on the cage door.

"Carlos." Tomano swiveled his head to see him. "It's useless."

"Look, I'm not the one who is immobile."

"Hey! It's not like I knew that the Zikor who enchanted the first note had the power to make hypnosis paper."

"Please stop fighting." Olina pleaded calmly but quietly. The two boys looked at her. "Fighting won't accomplish anything."

"She has a point." Aryn agreed with the little hummingbird. "Even if we don't have my bag, Tomano's sword or his strength, that doesn't mean we don't have each other."

"Besides, Xar can use his vibes to find us, right? The Rosen Orphanage will locate us."

"Olina." Tomano lowered his head. "I don't know if they can find us. For all we know, they enchanted this cage. And Xar shouldn't be able to even have these vibes!"

"Well, I might have the same opinion." Carlos said. "But Olina does have a point. Whether or not we know why Xar has vibes, he made sure we at least had a fighter. He can find us and he will."

"We can't give up hope." Aryn said. Tomano sighed.

"You are right. I guess I'm just a bit stressed from feeling powerless."

"You're not powerless." Olina moved over to Tomano and put his wing around herself. "You can still make me feel safe."

"I can't move, Olina."

"But you are still here. You came for us."

"True, you did." Aryn walked over and moved the other wing around her. Carlos came as well, and sat in front of the trio. He put his fist in his hand.

"Hey, I have an idea!" The others looked at him. "Let's play a game to pass the time. Then it's kind of like forced quality time, and less about us being in a cage."

"I'll go with that." Aryn said.

"I'm in!" Olina cheered happily.

"I'll play. Have nothing else I can really do." Tomano thought. "How about the name game?"

"That's a great idea." Aryn nudged him. "How about I start? I'll start with Xaris."

"Sally." Tomano went next.

"Yolanda." Olina continued the game.

"Aryn." Carlos said with a smile. They continued to play the game to pass the time, pausing when they were fed and stopping the game when they decided to go to sleep. They did not lose hope.