The Storm Empire (Completed)

Chapter 8

Crystal opened her eyes and walked out of the den. She peered around and saw that everyone else was praying. As she gazed at everyone, a smile shone on her face, knowing that it would be alright, even if she was dragged through hell and back. There would be at least 1 person in the world who would jump in after her. Loyalty was everything. Her smile reached across her face. One day, destiny will only have 1 path, the one I don't want to accept. When this happens, I will carve my own path. Hate will be cast on me, but defying destiny is my specialty. As she let out another smile, she let Lark approach her and apply the poultice to her still burning wrists. He was surprisingly gentle.

"You're still here?" Crystal teased.

Lark laughed, "Yup, Pluto let me stay for a couple of hours before heading back."

"That's nice of him."

There was a silence for a few moments until Lark finally spoke up,

"Are you going to blame Gray for this too?" he asked. As ever, his voice sent shivers down Crystal, but she let it by, since they were allies.

"Nope. After all, she's my favorite sibling!" Crystal answered, flipping through a fairly old magazine. On one page, she was on it. She hadn't modeled in a while, but she did it part time. Hawk and her posed together, showing off a style that was popular. Next to her was Moon, the two giving off completely different feelings. Crystal was wearing a dark blue fox hat and dark blue clothing, which made her look cool and beautiful, while Moon wore a moon necklace and jewelry for the wings. Crystal had a cool neutral face, while Moon smiled. Crystal was cold and cool while Moon was bright and cute. They were opposites. They were half related, but the difference was drastic. Hawk was by the page next to them. He was popular as a racer, one who like to fly, as well.

"Who are they?" Lark peered over her shoulder at the magazine.

Crystal rolled her eyes then smiled, "You're quite nosy, aren't you? They're my half siblings, Moon and Hawk."

"What are they like?"

"As children, Hawkie and I were close, but he is a bit cold now... Moonie and I are pretty close. We have fun modeling together."

"Did you have any other siblings?"

"Gray and 2 brothers. Gray is the only one living."

"Who were the other two?" as he spoke, Lark tilted his head and scooched closer to her, listening intently.

"The first one was the pride and joy of our family. He was tall, dark gray hair on the long side and green eyes. His name was Thunder," Crystal explained about her eldest sibling. "Out of all of us, Gray was the most intelligent, but our parents always favored him. He was a year older than Gray. When he died, he was 17. I was 15, fresh and sweet. It was a car crash. Slammed straight into him. He was buried and our mother and father spent more time at his grave then with us."

"What about the other one?"

"Oh, that would be Pebble. He was most likely the sibling I spent the most time with. He was pretty tall for his age, a good few inches taller than I was. We were pretty close and we held tails a lot. I remember that he was very quiet. He liked reading and he used a bow. I have pretty fond memories of him. He was a bit younger than me. Long gray hair and blue eyes, I guess he was a pretty cute kid. He was a serious kid, the opposite of the childish me."

"What did you think of him?"

"He wasn't my favorite sibling, but I think that I enjoyed being around him the most," Crystal had a nostalgic smile. "He was a sweet kid."

"Crystal!" Crystal turned around, and saw Red. He looked quite annoyed, almost even disturbed.

"You need to tell him to leave," Red pointed to Lark, "We have much work to do, and you're wasting time."