Ever since Aqua's capture, BlackHawk had been running. Running to find the Guardian hideout and to clear his head of how all of this happened. Because BlackHawk had only been to the Guardian Camp a few times and it was in the middle of a large forest, it was understandable that he could not find it for a while.
When BlackHawk finally found the entrance to the Guardian Camp, he was winded from all the running he had just done. Without any hesitation, he opened the door disguised as part of the tree trunk and went inside. He climbed to the top where blinding sunlight made him have to cover his eyes to see.
BlackHawk only saw one-third of the houses that were once there before the battle that had occurred only days earlier. The devastation was very evident in the treetop village, but the Guardians' made do with what they had. Most of the houses were being rebuilt and bridges to new treetops were taking place as he walked through the camp.
As BlackHawk neared the end of the camp and did not see Firestar, he decided to ask someone. He noticed a mother wolf and her pup trying to pull a large tree limb that had fallen onto their house, but to no avail. BlackHawk, headed over to the mother and pup and climbed on top of their house, lucky for him the house was pretty sturdy otherwise he would have fallen through. With a great use of his strength, he managed to dislodge the branch and take it off their roof.
BlackHawk threw the branch toward the ground out of the way for the Guardians. "Thank you, sir," said the mother as she approached BlackHawk. "You're welcome. Could you do me a favor?" BlackHawk asked.
"Anything."
"Would you please tell me where to find Firestar?"
"Yes. He's probably in his house on the East side of the camp," she replied.
"Thank you," BlackHawk said as he headed off in that direction.
"You're welcome," the mother called after him.
Following the mother Guardian's directions, it did not take long for BlackHawk to find Firestar's house. He entered through the door into the house and saw Firestar sitting at a table talking to another wolf. He waited patiently at the front of the house until the other Guardian left.
Firestar approached BlackHawk with a smile on his face, "Good to see you again, my friend."
"I would say the same if it wasn't for Aqua."
"What happened? Is she okay?" Firestar pressed, both alarmed and worried, having just now realized she was not with BlackHawk. With a heavy sigh, BlackHawk told Firestar what happened at the Lamada castle starting from the jailbreak and ending with Aqua's capture. Firestar was very appalled by this and did not know quite what to do. "If we go to rescue Aqua by force, it will just get everyone killed, and if we don't try to rescue her Sinergy will kill her. One thing that does concern me was why didn't Sinergy just kill her right there? Why keep her alive?"
"I was thinking the same thing. He has to have kept her alive for a specific purpose. He never does anything without a reason," replied BlackHawk. "What do you think we should do?"
Firestar thought long and hard for a moment. How were they going to rescue Aqua? What they really needed was an army, but where were they going to get one? "BlackHawk, do you know where we could get an army?"
"Well... the people under Sinergy's rule are being oppressed and all they need is something or someone to push them to stand up and fight."
"That could work. But we will need someone to lead them since you and I will be busy. Someone who cares about her even though he went about it the wrong way. Someone who once had a kingdom and an army of his own."
"I don't like where this is going."
"We need Stota'shelp."