Crystal rushed through the camp with Acorn by her side. Panting for her life, they scanned around. Crystal gripped the knife in her hands tightly, so that it created red marks on her palm.
"Where's Gray?" Acorn exclaimed to a senior warrior named Neon.
Neon pointed to the leaders there, "In there. She's having a meeting with-"
They scurried off, not caring to hear the last few words of her sentence.
"Gray!" Acorn cried, as she burst through the doors of the den. All heads turned towards the brown neko, as Crystal quickly ran to Gray, giving her the knife.
"Thank the heavens you're here," Eclipse exclaimed, "We got your message. Where in Arian did you find it?"
"In the Ice Kingdom. The sunos gave us a bag filled with supplies as a reward for modelling," panted Acorn tirelessly, "And.. we found the knife in it."
"Yeah. It took awhile, but I realized why it was so familiar," added Crystal. "I rushed back as soon as I could. And by that, I mean that I threatened to rip Hawk's damn wings off if he didn't fly me home."
Gray held the knife in her hands, and examined it.
"Are you absolutely sure this was the same exact knife?" She hesitated, feeling the knife's handle.
Crystal nodded, then pointed to a scratch mark on the handle,
"You see this scratch mark? I remember seeing it when I took the knife out of Strikepaw." She cowered at the disturbing memory, which replayed in her head over and over again. "And this one scratch isn't from Strikepaw. It's from me." She pointed the the one that was the deepest. Gray knew that her sister always had strong grip strength. No reason to doubt that.
"Oh, yeah there's one more thing too," Acorn remembered from the top of her head, "We're going to meet with Northstar, the Ice Kingdom's leader about the knife. The meeting will take place tomorrow when the sun rises. Lark and Pluto are going to be come as well."
Gray widened her eyes, "Lark? Pluto? What do they have to do with this?"
Acorn nodded at Crystal, and she opened her lips to speak,
"We ran into Lark while we were on our way to the Ice Kingdom. Turns out he wants to model too. What a coincidence, eh?"
"Are you sure it was a coincidence?" Red suddenly spoke, his ears whipped back.
Crystal gazed at him, while tilting her head,
"What are you saying, Red?"
"I'm saying," Red looked down, "that maybe Lark was the one who killed Strikepaw."
"WHAT?"
"He went home that day. I am sure of it. I did DO something. If anyone who is not registered in our clan is on campus, a notification will wake me up," answered Crystal, her eyes sure.
"He could've glitched it and made past it."
"That's impossible," Crystal shook her head, dismissing the thought. It wouldn't make sense anyway. Lark cares about me, so why would he kill Strikepaw?
The rope. Suddenly, Crystal remembered. Lark wanted to take a piece of rope, but she didn't know why. Acorn peered at her, her face twisted with thought. Suddenly, they met glances and it's as if she could read her mind.
"Should we tell them about the rope?" Acorn mouthed.
Crystal shook her head ever so slightly, so that it could be just mistaken as a soft tremble. Besides, I don't want to make him a suspect, she thought. Gray, who kept her gaze on the floor, finally looked up before taking a long awaited sigh. She looked at Red, who looked right back at her without hesitating to look away. They looked at each other deeply so that their souls could be seen through the gleams of their eye.
"I guess we'll go to the meeting then," Gray murmured, gazing away.
Crystal nodded, "Alright. We meet at dawn tomorrow by the Ice Kingdom's camp. It'll be a long day. I'm sure of it sis."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next morning, Gray woke up with her head hanging off of her bed, and her fur tangled in some sort of twisted mess. She ran to her closet, and threw on a pair of gray jeans as well as a black shirt. Her usual hairstyle which consisted of a tight, high pony tail was always compulsory to start the day.
Crystal was awake before her, something very unusual. Crystal was wearing a white crop top and short shorts. Gray remembered that as a child, Crystal didn't like wearing clothing because she felt it was unnatural. That might reflect why her clothing covered the minimum to be socially acceptable. Or maybe those were just the most loose ones. Either way, at least her sister wasn't a nudist.
Gray grabbed her cargo pouch and threw in a water bottle, a piece of fresh kill, a light raincoat, as well as the knife that was apparently used to kill Strikepaw. Fanatically, she scurried out of the den and into the clearing where Crystal was waiting with crossed arms.
"Sorry, just had to pack my bag," Gray slung the pouch over one of her shoulders and buckled her belt which held her sword as well as two pairs of extra knives.
Crystal threw a piece of raspberry flavored gum into her mouth, "You take forever, you know?"
Gray rolled her eyes, and tried her best to ignore her sister. They sauntered off and out of the camp. The forest's trees grew dull and leaves started to fall off its branches. She was taught at a young age by her father that the heavens would show signs of an upcoming snowstorm. These signs were very vague, for only the most trained of the trained nekos in the clan could interpret them. She remembered that one of the signs were leaves falling off the branches of oak trees. Gray smiled at the warming thought. She missed when her father told her fairytales and stories that were too heartwarming to be denied... even if they were super unrealistic.
After a long 15 minutes walk, they finally reached the familiar Ice Kingdom's camp. Lark and Pluto were already there, dressed in black clothing.
"Do these people only wear black?" muttered Crystal. Gray went back in time with her memories. They really do wear nothing but black! Gray realized.
"We're phantoms! What do you expect we'd wear? Smiley faces, rainbows, and floral print?" Pluto chuckled, hearing Crystal's mutter.
"I at least expected one Hawkwi- I mean rainbow loving idiot," answered Crystal. She almost said Hawkwing, her half-brother's full name,
Lark rolled his eyes, "Back to the point, Crystal. I told Pluto about everything, including the knife. He was very intrigued and decided to help us out."
"Thank you, Pluto. That's very generous of you," Gray dipped her head to the leader, "With everything that's been going on lately, your empire has been nothing but good to us. I don't know how else to repay you."
Pluto held up a palm, "No need. Although some extra herbs would be lovely for brewing more herbal tea."
"How about teaching them that there are more colors than black?" asked Crystal, as Gray lightly nudged her.
"...Unfortunately, I did not choose my relatives," Gray sighed, with a short glare at her sister.
"What? I have perfectly good. ...Fighting skills."
"Who's that?!"
The four turned around and saw the beloved Vicky standing with a sword and shield in her hands.
"You again?!" Vicky snarled as she held up the sword, "What are you doing here on our territory at noon? Don't tell me you're hear to model, 'cause no reasonable Anima would come here when the sky is still dark!"
Gray took a step forward, "Hello, we're very sorry to bother you but we've come to speak with your leader North-"
"Do I look like the type of Anima to care?! North doesn't want anything to do with you, kitty cat. By the way, just wanted to say you're all fired from your modelling jobs so don't even THINK about coming back."
Crystal leaned in to Gray, "She's the person in charge of all of the models. Thank the heavens we're fired so we don't have to deal with her crap anymore."
"Woah woah woah, what's going on here?" The deep, calming voice belonged to North who had just entered the scene. He looked quite tired, probably just woke up from his sleep. His hair was brushed in an uneven way, so that half of it curved to the left, while the other half curved to the right. He was also wearing a soft, white robe.
"Never mind. If you don't want us that much than you can just keep away from us," Crystal hissed at Vicky, her blue eyes glowing with cold rage.
"Northstar, these intruders were found on our territory." Vicky fumed, "I tried to tell them to leave but-"
"We are not intruders. We have a reason to be here. But since you are so unfriendly, you made us look like we were invaders when we were going to ask something of importance," Gray answered calmly and precisely, while interrupting the snobbish Vicky.
" I shouldn't interrupt anyways. If you don't want us nekos so much, I'll go back," Crystal made sure that there was no emotion in her eyes, but she had a plan to push Vicky into lava.
"Silence!" The booming voice belonged to North, once again, "Vicky, go back on patrol. These are not intruders, these are synthesizers. Now tell me, why are you really here Crystal?"
Crystal beckoned to Gray, "She will tell you."
Gray nodded then dipped her head to the slim leader, "Hello Northstar, my name is Graystar, leader of the Storm Empire. I am also Crystal's sister, as you know. She tells me you're her childhood friend. It's so nice that we can finally meet."
Northstar held a hand, and they shook.
"Anyways," Gray continued, "We are here because we wanted to talk to you about this."
She held up the knife from her pouch. North looked at it, then widened his eyes.
"Of course. Shall we go to my den?" He lightly quivered.
Gray looked at Pluto, then at her sister, "Of course. Do you mind if they come along too?"
The leader nodded, then together they walked into the entrance of the camp. The camp seemed very quiet, since the sun had not yet risen. The snoring of many arctic foxes could be heard from both inside and out of the igloos. But as usual, the beauty of the camp did not fail to meet its standards. They walked until they reached an igloo next to a frozen pond.
"You may enter first," North led them inside, and they sat on frozen ice blocks. He closed the door to his den, then made his way over to a pile of wood. Snatching a dozen from his pile, he lightly threw it at the center of the den, and compiled it so that it formed a nice, warming fire pit. Using a box of matches, he lit up a fire with a firm swipe across the two sticks. Gray watched the sparkling fire as it fumed from the center.
"So about that knife," North nodded, while throwing more sticks into the center.
Gray took the knife out again, and placed it in his hands. He took a close look at it, and studied every aspect of the weapon including the vague scratch marks on the blade.
"We found this in the bag you gave us," Gray exclaimed, "I just wanted to know.. Where did you get it? Because I've definitely seen it before."
"I remember this," North frowned, "It's quite a strange story. But, most of the supplies that we put in there are old miscellaneous items we don't use around camp, or items that Animas have sold to us. I'm pretty sure this knife was sold to us."
"Sold to you?" Lark spoke, "By who?"
North closed his eyes, "It was a few days ago. I was on lookout when I spotted a strange figure dressed in a dark cloak. The figure had the knife in his or her hands, so I jumped down to see who it was."
"Did you see this anima's face?" Pluto rubbed his finger across his chin.
"No," North shook his head, "But as I said, this person was wearing a dark cloak so long that it covered every aspect of his body including the face. Anyway to continue, the person asked me if I wanted the knife. I asked why, and he said he wanted to sell it to me for eh.. What was it?"
Gray listened intently, jotting down notes in her mind.
"Oh right! The person wanted herbs in exchange." North remarked.
Crystal widened her eyes at Lark. He had a confused expression on his face, as if what he was hearing was not what he expected.
"Herbs?" Crystal stood, "That's strange."
Gray nodded slowly, "Yeah.. herbs are very easy to find in the forest. Was there something special about the herbs you gave him?"
"We collect herbs from the mountains, so I guess they work better. Also winter is coming soon, so that might be why. Either way, the guy seemed very eager to get them." North shrugged, as he handed Gray back the knife, "Now, tell me. What's so special about this knife?"
"Someone killed one of our apprentices with it. We want to know who did it. We figured that the person who sold you this knife... is most likely him.. OR her." Gray angrily spoke.
North widened his eyes, and bowed his head in remorse, "I'm very sorry to hear that. Well best wishes to you and your clan. I hope that apprentice is watching over you and safe in the heavens."
"Thank you," Gray exclaimed, "Hopefully we'll be able to get back on our paws, especially with what has happened in the past few weeks."
North stood up and they shook hands again. He led them to the door of the den, where they exited. Gray took one last look at the Ice Kingdom's leader before heading out. Once they were out of the camp, she looked over to Pluto and saw that he was whispering something to Lark.
"Wonder what they're talking about?" Crystal suddenly whispered into Gray's ear.
Gray frowned, "Don't be nosy Crystal."
Crystal raised an eyebrow, then turned back. They continued to walk until they were miles past the Ice Kingdom's camp. Pluto suddenly stopped.
"What is it?" Gray looked at him.
He glanced at Lark, then fixed his gaze on the leader, "There's something I need to tell you.. Please don't be mad."
"Why would I be?" Gray casually spoke.
Pluto looked down, "On the day of the ambush, I saw an orange haired Okami enter the kits den. I think she may have been the one who killed Strikepaw.."
"What?!" Gray and Crystal spoke at the same time.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Gray gasped.
"The orange okami saw me looking at her, and said that if I told anyone about what I saw, then she would kill me and my clan."
Crystal stared at him, her eyes widened in anxiety, "That orange okami must be Dawn. I.. I knew it! She always seemed so suspicious to me."
"That's not it either.." Pluto spoke, "There was also a male okami, with black fur and-"
"NIGHT!" Crystal spat, "Of course. He had no problem killing innocent kits, so he must be the one who killed Strikepaw and Thunderpaw!"
Pluto shook his head lightly, then fixed his gaze on the floor, "I'm sorry.. If only I had told you sooner. I didn't want to threaten my clanmate's lives."
"Curse the Ash Empire!" Crystal thundered as she interrupted him. Pluto stared at her with widened eyes, his ear twitching a little bit as she spoke. "They are killers.. MURDERERS! Betrayers of even their own blood!"
Gray watched as her sister angrily kick the ground and mutter insults. This can't be right, Gray thought. Why would Dawn kill an apprentice then trade it to the Ice Kingdom for herbs? Doesn't she have enough resources at her camp anyway?
Suddenly, a sound came from the bushes. Gray reached into her belt and snatched out a knife, holding it with two hands in front of her chest. Pluto whipped out his sword, as Lark reached behind for his crossbow. Crystal, on the other hand, unleashed her claws and snarled signaling an unwelcomeness to anyone who were to come. The bushes shook again, only this time louder.
"Who's there?" Gray yelled, "S..Sh..show yourself!"
"Gray.. it's me Silent!" The voice echoed throughout the forest, making it hard for the gray leader to distinguish where it was coming from.
"Silent?" Gray slowly lowered her knife, "Where are you?!"
Silent cried, "I'm sorry for ever leaving Stormclan.. Please let me back in! G-g-go behind the bush, I'm stuck in a ditch. I've been here for two days!"
"No," Pluto's firm exclaim shook Gray as he blocked her from walking towards her, "How do you know she's not lying?"
"We don't.. But she was our clanmate," Crystal spoke, remembering the happy times that they had had with the happy warrior. "I believe she is not one to lie like that."
Gray nodded as she turned to face Pluto, "I believe Silent was always loyal.. Besides, her kit's death probably traumatized her. Giving a second chance won't hurt anyone.. Will it?" She shoved Pluto lightly to the side, and continued heading towards the bush. When she looked behind it, she gasped. Kneeling down were Dawn, Night, and Silent. They all looked the same as they had before, except for Silent who no longer had cat ears or a tail...
"Silent?!" Gray gasped as she scanned the warrior up to down. Silent had wolf ears, and a longer muzzle filled with whiskers. Instead of her beige fur, she now had black fur identical to Night's. Her eyes shone a bright neon yellow, and her once long fluffy tail had been replaced by a bushy stub.
"Why are you a wolf?" Crystal's furious cry emerged as she ran up to the scene. Pluto and Lark followed soon after, gripping weapons in their hands.
"We meet again," Dawn narrowed her eyes, "Just for your information, her name is no longer Silent. It's Nova."
"Nova.. Silent, whatever." Crystal snarled, "Names don't matter to me, do I look like the type of person to memorize them? No."
Gray lifted up her knife, "Explain this to me, Nova. Why did you lie?"
"I have a new empire now," Nova spoke violently, "One that is more powerful than Storm. I abide with their rules and their morals. I'm not weak anymore, do you really want me to play soft?"
"You don't want to do this," Gray snapped, "These are the same okamis who killed your kit. Do you really want to trust them?"
Night growled, "Get over yourself. We did her a huge favor by showing her how to be tough. Life is tough, and that's something you have to deal with face to face."
"That doesn't make everything alright!" Crystal eyes burned with hot tears, ones that were from a comrade betraying her. "You were with the Storm Empire for so much of your life. And you decide to betray that for shifting the blame unfairly. Did you know that my sister would be up all night, wondering if you are all doing well, even if you betrayed us? You don't know anything. You have your eyes closed to the truth. And now you might as well be blind. Your eyes are no good anymore. Nova, I will treat your past identity as Silentdream as dead, because she would've never acted like this. Even if her life depended on it. I bid you farewell."
"Farewell?" Dawn hissed, "Who said we're leaving so quickly? ASH, ATTACK!"
Wolves of all shapes and sizes leaped out from trees and bushes. They all held sharp weapons which Gray noticed were stained with faint blood. Pluto widened his eyes, and drew out his sword. Among the wolves were two familiar faces... Splash and Dew.
"Look, it's Gray!" Dew pointed a finger and smirked as she padded up, "What are you gonna do now? You're only cats!"
"We may be cats, and we may be weak. But at least we haven't lost our sanity like you guys," Gray shouted as Night laughed.
Splash looked over at Dawn while giving her a nod, "Should we kill them?" She raised her bow then drew out an arrow, aiming it at Gray's neck.
"Not so fast," Dawn held up a palm and peered at the gray leader, "I don't see how dead cats and phantoms will help us." Splash rolled her eyes, then loosened her grip on the arrow, shifting it back into a safe place.
"Then let's take advantage of them" Night remarked, "Take their weapons, learn their secrets. Claim their territory. Then, we kill them." Gray snarled as wolves began to surround them, trapping them into tight, inevitable circle. She hissed as she saw the familiar faces of nekos who had left the clan, except they were no longer nekos but okamis. The nekos she had once knew from childhood, the ones that would hunt and laugh with her, are now the okamis who would strip her life away from her. They may have the same identities as before, but they surely did not have the same souls.
"Tie them up, all of them!" Dawn demanded. Night, who looked pretty content with the order, padded over to Crystal with a sneer on his face. He tied up her hands, and stuffed a rag into her mouth before shoving her over to a tree. Silent tied up Gray, then shoved her right next to Crystal. Lark and Pluto, who looked quite confused, exchanged glances as Dawn turned to face them.
"Now it's time for me.. To deal with the phantoms," She bellowed, "You see, I've never made any contact with your species so I'm very eager to see how this will go. I'm the type of Anima to give chances, so let's make a deal." She handed both Pluto and Lark a knife.
"I'll be allies with the Shadow empire. We'll help each other out, and provide each other with supplies. We'll be the most powerful alliance in all of Arian," Dawn exclaimed, "All you have to do.. Is kill them both." She pointed at Gray and Crystal who wore scowl faces.
"Pluto.. No," Lark spoke as his leader eyes were suddenly filled with consideration. Pluto nodded as Gray widened her eyes. Dawn smiled then gladly handed him a knife.
"Pluto.. You can't be serious," He spoke again, "They are our allies!"
Pluto looked up, "Lark, please understand. Survival comes at a cost. We do what we need to in order to survive."
"I trusted you!" Gray snapped, as Silent shoved a rag into her mouth. She saw Pluto whisper something into Lark's ears. Lark nodded then took a knife from Dawn.
"Good," Dawn sneered, "Now you Pluto can go kill the leader. Lark, you kill that white neko."
Crystal looked at Lark, her eyes watering as he walked up to her. He looked back, a spark lighting up in his pupil. He raised the knife.
"Don't do it." hissed Crystal, her blue eyes glowing, the sun setting them on fire. She remembered a familiar memory as he stood before her. She braced herself for her final moments of life and let it ease into her mind.
Crystal was still a child at the time. Her eldest brother, Thunder was by her side and teaching some of the moves that he had learned the day before. He had noticed that she was extremely talented.
Lark raised the knife closer.
She easily imitated his moves and a material formed in her hand. A sword that was a gift from her father. It was a icesword, soon to be shown to be unbreakable. He had messaged her earlier and given it to her in a meeting soon afterwards.
He pointed the knife down.
She felt the grip in her hand as she entered her space. With a powerful instinct, she pressed a button that lay behind her. It wasn't the neko, cat, or the human button that she had so familiarly pressed. This one glinted an icy blue, shining it read a familiar word Suno.
He held the knife closer and pushed in slightly so that a minor amount of blood dripped down her neck.
"When a half and half child is born, there is a .00001 of them being able to switch between 2 animals." Crystal was told this soon after, with a message from her brother to hide this power. But this was when she seemed the most powerful...when she got another piece of her identity.
"YOU'VE BEEN FOOLED!" Lark's sudden cry was followed by sly smile as he whipped around and threw the sword so that it pierced Splash's heart. She collapsed to the ground, as Dew shrieked.
The transformation started to begin.
Crystal gasped as she floated in the air, a magnificent amber light surrounding her as a force twirled her around. Her white cat ears and tail had been replaced with those of an arctic fox's. She prefered her neko form for certain reasons, but this was a part of her identity. An ice sword glinted at her side. "Let's do this." She snarled, drawing her sword.