NOIR:- A Wings of Fire Fanfiction

Chapter 17

Star's PoV

After the shock with the Saint, the whole gang had flown home and almost everyone had immediately gone to sleep. Star, however, hadn't, and had instead gone looking for Lupus, who was missing.

Soon after they'd reached the mansion, the tribred had dissapeared, and nobody seemed to know where he'd gone. But Star was determined to find him. Maybe he was hurt, or had by accidentally wound up in the greenhouse.

No, Star thought, shaking her head. Lupus is smarter than that. He wouldn't go there again, not after what happened last time.

Room after room, she searched, with no luck at all. Where is he? She wondered over and over again, growing increasingly worried each time.

Maybe he's sleeping, and I just missed him the first time, Star reasoned, heading up the stairs to the fourth floor. Yes, that must be it.

Unfortunately, she didn't find Lupus in his bed, and was forced to search every bedroom.

Please be alright, Lupus, Star begged silently, and she listened intently for any noises out of the open, like she'd been doing every little while for the whole search. Nothing, again, she thought to herself, and that's when she heard it:

It was a small popping noise, and as Star moved down the wall, the sound grew slightly louder. She was on the fourth floor, and she had accidentally made her way to the part of the floor that hadn't been touched in years.

Cobwebs were strewn about, with a gentle coat of dust on the furnishings of the end of the hallway. Guess I'm hearing things. She thought, standing there for a second to listen.

As she was about to walk away, she heard it again: Pop!

Star tried to pinpoint where the noise was, but all it did was lead her face first into a bookshelf.

Rubbing her nose and wincing, she looked at it. It was an ordinary bookshelf, strewn with books. Upon further investigation, she noticed something:

The shelves were clean.

Hm. She mused, running a talon along the middle shelf, and her talons stopped at a red book.

As if like a puzzle piece, one of Star's visions clicked neatly into place, and she pulled back the book. As she was pulling, something clicked, and Star jumped back, muffling a gasp. The bookcase had swung off to the side, revealing a set of stairs.

She steadied her pulse, calming herself. It's just a set of stairs. Just a set of stairs leading up to the greenhouse.

She took a few deep breaths, and began climbing up. There was another pop, this one closer and louder. Star continued up, unaware of what could be up here. There was a loud explosion, along with some cursing from a familiar voice:

"Dangit! Why won't this work?" Lupus cursed, looking at the desk.

Star stood at the top of the stairs, scanning the room. This appeared to be some kind of study? Where was the greenhouse though? They were on the fifth floor, right?

Her talon bumped something, and it fell, crashing to the ground. Lupus turned around, and Star quickly hid herself.

"Who's there?" Lupus asked, looking around the room, hand on the hilt of his knife. Should she hide, run, or reveal herself? Star sighed. Choices never really were her thing, and she tended to make bad decisions when she wasn't resorting to her visions.

She made up her mind, and revealed herself. "It's me, Lupus" she said, stepping out of the shadows. Lupus took his talon off his knife. "Oh- Hey Star." Lupus said, and then asked, "why are you up here? How did you find me?"