"So, you seem a little quiet," Wanda said, walking into Fern's room sometime later. Fern looked up from her book, a faint smile on her face. "What's going on inside of that head of yours?" Wanda sat at the end of the bed petting Elder as he perched on the footboard.
"It's weird not having Bucky and Ryker here. I got used to Ryker always lurking around behind me, so for him not to be here, it's just strange." Fern shrugged, closing her book and setting it on the bedside table. She glanced at the empty corner Ryker usually occupied.
"Well, you're going to continue to feel lonely if you sit here alone. We did not come back here for you to sit in your room. Come on," Wanda stood with a smile holding her hand out to Fern.
Sighing, Fern took Wanda's hand, allowing her to be pulled out of her room and through the house to the living room, where Natasha, Clint, and Peter sat watching Buzz race around the room. Catching sight of Fern, Buzz zoomed over to her, nuzzling their faces together; he knew she was upset. "You seem to be enjoying yourself," Fern commented to the hummingbird, taking a seat on the empty loveseat as Wanda joined Natasha on the couch.
"So what's this secret everyone's been teasing me about? I've been dying to know since I first met you," Peter asked, leaning forward in the lazy boy he was in.
"There's a guardian of the forest who must be kept a secret at all costs, so if you learn the secret, you will take it to your grave, understand?" Fern raised her brow to the young boy; Peter's facial expression changed to one of worry before he nodded. "A Thunderbird protects the forest and its surrounding area. She is very cautious and trusts few. If she starts a storm, never go out in it; you won't make it back alive."
"You're kidding, right? Thunderbirds are myths; they're from storybooks." Peter laughed, looking at everyone in the room. The four shared a look knowing that Peter was in for a trip when he saw the Thunderbird for the first time. "Seriously, you guys are joking, right? Wanda, come on."
"I've seen it with my own eyes, Peter; we were attacked by it. Did you not see the state Thor was in? Fern did that protecting the Thunderbird." Wanda smirked, playing with a ball of her magic. "I can show you if you don't believe us."
"Clint, you've been here the most, is there some bird made of thunder running around?" Peter looked to the archer hoping for an answer.
"Kid, when I tell you that I'm only scared of a few things in this world, the Thunderbird is one of them." Clint chuckled.
"The Thunderbird isn't made of thunder; it makes thunder. The Thunderbird can create storms that can last for days and flood this entire valley if it chooses to. She's made of beautiful gold and silver feathers, standing nearly ten feet tall, and she has a wingspan of over thirty feet; the Thunderbird's gold eyes bring both fear and peace when you look into them." Fern sighed, looking out of the window with a smile. "Show him, Wanda, use one of my memories if you must. Be careful; it's dark in there."
"You know, I think I'm okay. I'll wait to see it for myself. No reason to go digging around in our heads." Peter stood backing away from the four of them, holding his hands out, ready to run or fight if he needed to.
Fern went to say something else about the Thunderbird when Elder flew into the living room and began pulling at her hair. "What's wrong?" Fern stood quickly, racing out of the door; she found the herd of elk running past the house in a panic. "Whoa, hey, calm down. What's going on?" She tried to slow them, nearly being run over multiple times.
"What's going on?" Clint asked, running out to pull her out of the way of the stampeding elk.
"I don't know; they won't talk. They're too scared," Fern glanced up the mountain, she couldn't see the Thunderbird, and there was no answer as she called out to it.
"Fern!" Natasha shouted from the house. "There's smoke to the east."
"Smoke," Fern's heart dropped, seeing smoke rising into the air. It wasn't far, no further than the lake. "Come on." Fern grabbed Clint and started running.
Fern looked into the air; she caught a look at the Thunderbird in the distance, flying in the direction of the smoke. "Shit," Fern cursed, pushing herself to run faster. The smoke wasn't in a large proportion, so there was no reason for the Thunderbird to have to attack whatever started the fire. The elk running worried Fern, but the sound of gunshots put her into a fit of rage.
"Fern, let me handle it," Clint said as they came to a stop at the edge of the lake; on the other side was a camp full of around ten hunters. Their fire was small, but the mess they had made in the short time they had been there was massive.
"You need to make sure the Thunderbird keeps its distance. We'll handle them. With force, if we must." Natasha said, running up next to them with Wanda and Peter. Fern nodded as the group walked around the lake and into the hunter's camp.
"Hey, fella's, you do know that you're trespassing, right?" Clint asked, trying to keep the situation calm.
"Last we knew, this whole place was National forest land. So we can be here." One of the hunters laughed, crushing a beer can in his hands, throwing it into the bushes. Fern went to lunge at the man; Peter grabbed her wrist to hold her back. Fern knew she shouldn't attack them yet, but if Peter thought holding her back would stop her, he was wrong.
"You'd be wrong. Mountain, forest, and this lake are all government land that is not huntable. You'll have to pack up and leave, now." Clint's voice became more demanding, taking a step closer to them. "You will not be asked again, and if we have to use force, we will."
"I'd sure like to see you try. I'll be needing to see a map before I even think of leaving. Have you seen the number of animals around here? I'd be stupid to leave." The man laughed, looking at all of his friends.
"Would you like me to handle them, or would you like the first shot, Nat?" Wanda asked, ready to drop all of the men with her powers.
Natasha didn't answer as she walked up to the man who seemed to be leading the group. "My friend asked nicely; I won't be doing that," Nat smirked, quickly grabbing the man's outstretched arm and throwing him over her shoulder. The other men began to jump into action, going after Natasha. Wanda used her powers to throw two of them into the air, making the men back away.
"Who the hell are you?" One of the men asked, looking ready to piss his pants.
"The Avengers and you're all under arrest for trespassing, and well, I'm going to think of a couple of other things." Fern snapped, using her powers to grow the roots out of the ground around the men, the roots wrapped around the men bringing them to their knees and locking them in place. "Clint, call whoever and get these fuck heads off of my land."
Fern turned and walked away from the scene with Wanda and Peter, leaving Natasha and Clint to call Fury. "That was so cool; I didn't know you could do that." Peter bounced around in front of Fern, excited to learn about her powers.
"That was nothing; you should watch me regrow the forest when assholes like that happen. I haven't even started growing everything back that was damaged after the Thunderbird took down the quinjet." Fern smirked. She was happy that the situation was handled quickly and that the Thunderbird didn't get involved. However, this incident brought on the anxiety of ever leaving the forest and not being able to help.
"Holy crap, you weren't kidding." Peter's voice brought Fern out of her thoughts; she hadn't realized that they had made it back to the house already. Fern looked up to be greeted by the Thunderbird sitting on the ground by the house.
"What are you doing out in the open like this?" Fern asked, rushing over to the Thunderbird. "I wish I would have seen them before this happened; I'm sorry. Clint is making sure they're taken care of and never come back here again. I'm sure we scared the living daylights out of them as it is."
"I wanted to tell you that I was proud of the way you handled the situation. However, it does seem that we need a few more lookouts. I'm not sure how they entered the forest. Be sure to find out and let me know."
"Of course. Before you go, after this, I don't know how you'll feel, but Tony and Bucky invited me to go to the Avengers compound for a party and to see their world a little. Would you be okay with me going away for a few days?" Fern felt as though she was asking for permission from her mother to go out with her friends. It was strange.
"Of course you can. I can handle the forest on my own, and if anything happens that needs your attention, I have a way to notify you." Fern didn't get to thank the Thunderbird as it rose off the ground and flew back to its nest on the mountain. A smile spread across her face, happy that things were changing.