Star Keepers: Rebirth

Chapter 3

That night, Cynthia is sleeping in her room when a howl startles her awake.

She looks out her window and sees Landon, in wolf form, howling to the sky.

A light comes on in the hallway. "Is that a wolf?" Mom asks.

"Yeah, but it sounds like it's a long way away. Just go back to sleep." Cynthia rushes her mom back to her room.

"It sounds like it's right outside."

"Wow. You have much better hearing than I. Don't worry about it! Go back to bed!" Cynthia closes the door after her mom goes back to her room. She runs outside and finds Landon.

"Landon?! What are you doing?!"

"What? There's a full moon. You didn't think I'd miss this opportunity, did you?" He transforms into himself again.

"Well, Mom almost caught you. Can you come back in now? It's late."

"Is it? What time is it?" Landon asks.

"11:30."

Landon laughs. "Cyn, you are so lame."

"What? 11:30 is late for a school night."

Landon rolls his eyes. "Fine, I'll come inside. There's just one more thing I need to do."

"Ok, just do it and come back." Cynthia watches her brother transform into a wolf again as he runs off.

"Where's he going?" Scorpius asks.

Cynthia yelps. "When did you get here?"

"We never left. We have nowhere to go." Corvus says.

"Where's he going?" Scorpius asked again.

"I don't know. He just said there was something else he wanted to do." Cynthia explains.

Pegasus, Orion, and Corvus sit on the front porch, but Scorpius stays put, looking to the sky.

"We were talking about you in science today. Nobody seemed to notice you were gone." Cynthia says. Scorpius frowns at her. "No, I just mean my classmates don't look up in the sky..."

Scorpius looks at the vacant spot in the sky where he should be. "We need to get back to the Star Realm. We've been gone too long."

"Do Landon and I really need to go there? I mean, the world has survived without us for this long, right?"

Scorpius turns to Cynthia. "Think of it this way. A man and woman have just had a baby. But someone steals this child. Do you think this family is just going to sit there and do nothing about it? Do you think the fact that this child is gone won't make a difference in the world?"

"Kinda like Rapunzel?" Cynthia asked.

Scorpius frowns. "What?"

"Nothing." Cynthia thinks on it for a minute. "You're saying that we're causing some sort of...distress?"

Scorpius nods. "All of us are. Now that family is missing eight children. We need to get back up there so the family can be at peace."

"Eight? You four. Me and Landon. Hydra... Who's the eighth?"

Scorpius sighs, his red eyes revealing a memory only he could see. "Lynx." is all he said.

"Landon's back." Pegasus says.

He transforms into a human, laughing. "What did you do?" Cynthia asked him.

"I went to Mr. Reynolds's house and quite possibly gave him a heart attack." Landon laughs like a hyena.

"What? You can't transform just for the fun of it, only when absolutely necessary. We can't let humans know we exist." Scorpius scolds him.

"Alright. Sorry, man." Landon said. "Any luck on getting to the star place?"

Orion sighed. "No. None of us can access it."

"Maybe you guys should let loose. You're probably all tense. Let's go do something fun." Landon suggests.

"I'm in!" says Orion.

"No, we shouldn't." Pegasus said.

"C'mon, Peg!" Orion pleaded.

"Maybe you're right. I mean, it is 11:45 now." Landon said, snickering.

Cynthia rolled her eyes. "We have school tomorrow, Landon."

"Not if we're in the Star Realm. It seems pretty important that we get up there. And this could be exactly what they need to access it..." said Landon.

"Fine, we'll go out. But not for long. Remember we also have to be on the lookout for Hydra, he could be here too." Pegasus says.

Landon leads them off their front lawn and down the street. Cynthia was thinking to herself on the way to wherever Landon had in mind.

Hydra could be here? Why would he? We're mortals down here, we didn't even know about the Star Realm. Wouldn't it make more sense if he stayed there to carry out his plan?

A yell grabbed Cynthia's attention.

"What is this creature?!" Corvus asked in terror.

"It's a cat." Landon says.

"It's making a strange noise..."

"It's purring."

Corvus looks at the white cat in curiosity. "Can I touch it?"

"Sure." Landon said.

Corvus reaches down and pats the cat's head. "What does purring mean?"

Landon says; "It usually means they're happy."

"Aw." Corvus picks up the cat. "You're kinda sweet." The cat meows. "Oh my god!" He said with both horror and admiration. "What does that mean?"

"Maybe it's hungry."

"Oh." Corvus strokes the cat again, and it bites his finger "Ow!"

Landon chuckles. "Relax. They don't eat humans. Mostly birds."

Corvus drops the cat instantly, and it starts to rub on his legs. "Is it preparing to eat me?"

Landon laughs. "No, that means it likes you."

Corvus side steps the cat, but it follows him. "Why won't it stop?!"

"Oh, for the love of Ursa!" Scorpius picks the cat up and places it away from Corvus. "Can we go now?"

"You've never seen a cat before? What about Leo? He's a lion." Cynthia said.

"That's related to a lion?" Orion asks. "It's so small."

"Yet Corvus is terrified of it." Scorpius smirks.

"Hey, Leo is a good buddy of mine, he would never eat me. That thing...I couldn't even tell what it was thinking!" Corvus said.

Everyone laughs, then Landon turns around. "We're here, you guys." he says. "Welcome to the amusement park!"