Emi wondered deeper into the forest searching for Wave. The two had gotten spereated when Emi stopped to draw a dlower. "Wave!" She called, hoping for a reply. The only sounds were the rustling of leaves. At some pint, she'd gotten lost. Without Wave's guidence, Emi couldn't get back to the main path. She began to wonder if she should've stayed in the clearing. When Wave realized she wasn't with her, Wave might check the clearing.
(___________)
A scream alerted Emi to another prescense. The scream came gain, closer this time. Emi followed the sound, worried it could be Wave. The screams stopped, a Emi came to a fork in the path. Either way lead to the unknown. Unsure of which way to go, Emi continued forward. She took three steps, before a slight movement to the right caught her attention. Emi turned to go after it, but strumbled. Her legs suddenly felt like lead, as her vision blurred.
Suddenly, she wasn't in the forset. She, or rather, this person stood in her place. Through this person's eyes, she watched as they raed through the forset. Emi found herself taking in the 'familair' scener. The areas passed, were one's she'd been by earlier.
"Over there!" The distortion of the voice made it impossblie to know the ower's gender.
A shiver went down 'her' spine at the voice. They didn't look back, for fear of being caught. Eventually they found their way back to the main path. Emi's relief was short lived, two men wearing black blocked the path. 'They' veered to the right, running back into the forest. 'They' didn't stop until they were outside of an abandon house.
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"Your Emi's friends." Wave apporached the two males she saw helping Emi move in that morning. "Have you seen her?" After making her way back to the main path, she noticed Emi wasn't around. Back tracking resulted in no clues. Wave hoped Emi made it back okay.
Alexei exchanged a worried look with Lynn. "When was the last time you saw her?" Alexei withheld his panic. Emi is still new to earth, her going missing doesn't mean Xana attacked.
"We went off the main path." Wave said sheepishly. "I noticed she wasn't with me and doubled back."
"Could you show us?" Lynn asked calmly. He texted Cam and Kya, letting them know the situtation and to keep an eye out for Emi. Cam quickly replied that'd he'd check his laptop for an actived tower, the moment he could sneak away from Mara and friends. Strangely, there was no reply from Kya. Next even after they searched with Wave for nearly fifteen minutes.
"I think we should tell Mrs. Hertz." A worried Wave suggested. The last thing she wanted was for the science teacher to lecture her once again on being careful and responbile. If she hadn't insisted on leaving the main path, Emi wouldn't be lost. For maybe she would? But at least someone from one of the two schools might've found her.
Lynn placed a gentle hand on Wave's shoulder. "We'll stay here and continue searching, while you inform a teacher." Involving the teachers would draw unwanted attention to them. Espically if this turned out to be a Xana attack. They tried to avoid drawing people into the dangerous attacks, but sometimes it was unavoidable. If Emi was really lost, than extra people searching would allow them to locate her faster.
"Mrs. Hertz is kinda kill me." Wave shook her head, wondering if things would go better if she went to Jim.
"The worst she'll do is give you detetion." Alexei tried to comfort Wave. "It's not like she gave speific instrutions about remaining only on the main path."
Wave shook her head, "Detention is perferable to Mrs. Hertz's lectures. I'll be lucky if only last for two hours instead of three this time."
Neither male commented on this, not knowing what to say. Instead, Wave left with a promise to bring help in searching for Emi.
"Has the general found anything?" Alexei asked, as they made their way back towards the main path. Maybe Emi was already back with the other students.
Lynn shook his head, "He can't get away from Mara and Avery, since he's parntered with Ally." He pulled out his phone, hoping to see an unread message from Kya. "Kya still hasn't replied. Which means she hasn't read my message."
"Let's go get the ice princess first." Alexei's nickname refered to Kya's love of figure skating. It's also a nickname he won't willingly use in front of Kya, for fear of pain. "We'll figure out a plan from there."
The two arrived back on the main path, now looking for Kya to aid them in their search.
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Kya's POV:
"What do you think?" Calex showed me the sketch he'd been working on. The simple drawn picture resymbolzed the shape of the flower, but lacked detail.
"I think you should stick with photographic." It's an old joke between us. He'd stay with photographic and I'd never try my hand at _________ (again).
Caled gave a warm laugh. "I've missed your sense of humor."
I playfully shoved him, falling back into the comfortableness of our friendship.
"What's it like living all over the world?" I've known Calex since we were three. Back than, he'd visit his father every summer. The rest of he year he lived with his mother, a traveling set designer. This job meant every few years they'd have to move for her job. As a result, Calex has lived in several different countries over the years.
Calex shrugged, "Fine, if you like never really have a place to call home." There was a hint of saddness in his voice. He rarely discuss his school life or friends he's made in the other places he's lived.
"But your here now." I playfully shoved him again. "Kanna Academy is your home."
"Sure thing, _______." Calex uttered his nickname for me."Chill, it's a joke." He said, when I threw my notepad at him. He knows how much I hate that nickname, but enjoys using it to tease me.
"Your sooo lucky we're friends." I lightly smack him upside the head. A warning not to use that nickname again. While I enjoy seeing Calex again, he comes up with the worst nicknames.
Our time in the forest almost over, we deicded to make our way back to the meeting spot. For the most part, the jounrey was silent. There was so much to say since we haven't seen each other in years. Yet, we said nothing. Calex can lose himself in the beauty of nature. When he does, it's near impossblie to get his attention, let alone a response from him. So when he spoke, I nearly jumped.
"Dang, Ky. Jumpy much?" He laughed at his own lame joke.
"What'd you ask?" Rolling my eyes, I turned the converation away from my 'jumpyness'.
"What's up with you and Lynn? We passed him earlier, you neither looked at him or answered when he called you." Leave it to Calex to bring up the one thing I don't want to discuss. "Your avoiding him." He stated.
I've known Calex longer than I've been friends with Lynn. For most of our childhood, Lynn was in the background as he hung out with my brothers. Calex isn't my first friend, but he's one of my oldest. Whereas Lynn knows me well because we're together most of the day, almost everyday. Calex knows me, because we've known each other for years. Although, Lynn still knowns me better than Calex does.
"It's stuipd and I don't wanna talk about it." It's true, I've been avoiding Lynn for the better part of two weeks. Cam and Alexei have even picked up on it. They've begun asking questions here and there, but never really prying into things."
"So it has nothing to do with Lynn studying aboard?" Calex asked. "Than you won't be lonely when he leaves again?"
"You've only been at school for two days. How do you know this?" When Lynn first left to attend Kanna Academy, it differcult for me. Suddenly going from seeing each other everyday to barely talking on the phone was a hard adjustment. I hide how lonely I truly felt from Lynn, since he had more to adjust to than me. Back than, I felt partly guitly for selfishly wanting Lynn to return home. Lynn was several hours away from home, alone at a new school. He didn't know anyone, had a nasty roommate, and perssure from his father to do well in both school and sports. While I was at home, with my family and people I've known for years.
"Some people were discussing a contest or something." Calex was referring to the contest Lynn entered a while back. While he didn't win first, second, or third place. He placed high enough to recive a different prize. Lynn and two other contestants were offered the chance to work with a record label on a upcoming ablum project for a new group that just debuted. They'd learn all about the music industy and have the chance to present a demo to the record label at the end. Problem is, the record label is in another country. Lynn would have to leave and transfer to another school for six months to a year.
"Your not the type to aviod your problems Kya. Why don't you talk to Lynn about how you feel?" Calex has a good point.
"Lynn doesn't know I found out about this." I overheard one of the teachers talking to Lynn about how the transfer proccess who go, one day. That's how I discovered the news. "Second, I don't want Lynn to factor me into his descion to go or not." Truthfully, I've been avoiding Lynn partly to show him I'll be 'fine' on my own if he choses to go. He'll worry about how I'll once again cope if he leaves. The other reason I've been avoiding him, is because I'm scared he'll actualy chose to go.
"Kya?" Lynn's voice made me jump. He was walking towards us with Alexei. "We've been looking for you." He paused to glance at Calex. "Can we go somewhere else to talk?"
"Nice to see you too, Ly." Calex had a playful smirk, like he wanted to tease Lynn. The two of them have a werid relationship. Their friends nor enemies. Lynn rarely dislikes people, when he does there's a good reason. However with Calex, it's different.
"Mi'lady has gone missing." Surpisingly, Alexei didn't miss the tension in the air. Mi'lady is Alexei's nickname for Emi. That alone is enough to tell me who he's talking about.
"Calex, I left my notepad. I'm gonna go get it, go one without me." I don't like lying to Calex, but the others need me. I dashed off back the way we came, with Lynn and Alexei following closely behind.
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"Cam, Emi's missing." Alexei informed his best friend. "Someone from Kadic saw her wonder off the path. We're looking for her now." He followed behin Lynn and an angry Kya. The two best freinds refused to look at each other and kept their distance. This fighting among each other was making Alexei uncomfortable.
"Great, just what we needed." Cam balanced the cell on his shoulder while fumbling with his laptop. The screen flashed a red light, signaling an attack. A loud beeping noise continuously rang, only stopping when Cam opened the loctator program. "Xana's lanuched an attack."
"Hang on, I'm putting you on speaker." Alexei signaled for Lynn and Kya to come over. They stood on oppoisite sides of Alexei appearing unpleased by their closeness. "Do you know which sector the activted tower is in?"
"I'm heading to the lab now to double check. But according to the program, it's the derest sector." Laptop packed up, Cam left Ally to her friends. Slipping into the shadows of the trees, Cam was able to get away unseen.
"Do you want one of us to meet you at the manison?" Kya wanted to help search for Emi, but things were to tense with Lynn currently."
"No, you'll have better luck searching together." At the access tunnel, Cam dropped inside. "I'll also try to figure out the attack."
"We'll contact you as soon as we find her (something)." Lynn said, before Alexei hung up.
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Alexei's POV:
"Think she went in there?" Kya asked. We stood outside an old house, with a sign that read: 'Hermitage' written on the gate. The place, like the manison, appeared as if it'd seen better days. 'Why would Emi be here?"
"Kytt lead us here." The young kitten disappered into the yard of the abandon house. The others weren't sure we should follow the kitten. How could she know where Emi was? Than again, Kytt has a strange talent for finding things.
"Wouldn't hurt to check inside." Lynn lead the way first. We didn't linger in the yard, instead making our way carefully into the house. Dust lined the walls and floors, as time had rotted away just about everything else. The place still appeared to be in better shape than I oringally thought. One could tell the owners took care and time to pick out furtinure and decorate the house.
"Where's Kytt?" Kya asked, but didn't appeared to worried. From what we can tell, Kytt is a stray kitten. One day she wondered into the mansion, back in our early days after discovering it. Over the next few weeks she'd randomly appear and disappear. She wasn't afarid of us or any Xana attacks that happened when she was around. Eventually, we started feeding and playing with her. Soon she was apart of the group and had a name.
A meow from the upper floor drew our attention upstairs. We followed the sound to find Kytt casaully licking her paws, beside a passed out Emi. Once again, the kitten has helped us. One thing we've noticed about Kytt, is that she'll appear at the most random times and places. She started coming to our school, somehow sneaking in and out of our classes. Soon it turned into our dorms and my house. She'll also disappear for days, than reappear as if she'd never left.
"Good job, Kytt." Kya patted the kitten's head. We're all use to Kytt's wonderings and strange talent to find things.
"Meow?" Kytt look at us, as if asking 'where's my treat'? I've learned to keep treats with me whenever she's around. She doesn't always ask for them, but when she does, she'll eat alot.
"How's Emi?" I took out a small treat and let Kytt eat it from my hand.
"She's sleeping." Lynn annouced, after checking on our friend. "She'll wake up soon."
"How'd she end up here?" Kya wondered aloud. "The place is abandoned, there's now way she came here for help." She peeked into the room closest to us.
Kya's cell went off. "Calm down general." Kya said into the phone. "we found Emi."
Lynn and Alexei tended to a disoriented Emi. She glanced around her unfamilair enivorement. The last thing seh remembered was looking for Wave.
"Do you know what the attack is?" Kya's voice drew Emi's attention. She realized she wasn't by herself. Kytt rubbed herself against Emi's leg. Grateful for Kytt's attempt comfort her, Emi petted the kitten's head.
"You okay?" Alexei tried to hide the concern in his voice. Finding Emi unconious was worst than her being missing. "You had us worried." When he saw Emi on the ground, Alexei flashed back to when they'd tried to shut down the supercomputer. Emi passed out the moment Cam flipped the switch off. IF they'd been a scrond to late in turning the supercomputer back on, Alexei didn't want to think about what could've happened to Emi.
"Where are we?" Emi asked.
"That's what I wanted to ask you." Lynn picked up Kytt, who now sat in front of him. "How'd you get here?"
Emi took Alexei's hand to help her stand. "I don't know. One mintue I was looking for Wave, than I woke up here." She allowed Alexei to wrap an arm around her wasit to support her weight.
"We need to get to the manison." Kya finished her call with Cam. "There's an actiated tower in the desert sector. He's still trying to figure out what the attack is."
"It'll take awhile. We need to double back to the main path to reach the tunnel." Alexei helped Emi down the stairs. He braced most of her weight, as they made their way down. Emi's head began to be swarmed with visions of the house. Once again she saw through the eyes of someone else. This person lead Emi into the kitchen towards the back of the house. She didn't know why, but something told her there was a path that could quickly take them to the mansion.
"Emi?" Alexei asked, concern filling his voice. "The exits in the other direction."
Emi blinked a few times to regain her normal sight. "I know, but we'll reach the mansion faster if we go this way." She stepped out the back door of the kitchen, Alexei closely behind her.
"Did you guys her something?' Lynn paused in the doorway. He cocked his head to the side listening.
"You've been listening to your music to loud." Alexei joked. He glanced around the overgrown yard. Emi had lead them here, stating it would allow them to reach the manison quicker. So far, there was nothing but overgrown plants.
"Something's definetly making noise." Lynn glanced around, looking for the source of the sound. The hair on the back of his neck went up. Suddenly, the entire house shook. Instively, Lynn pulled Kya away from the door. The ceiling caved in, as the walls came down.
"Lynn! Kya!" Emi cried, as she tried to rush in.
Alexei held her back waiting for the dust to clear. "Woah, Mi'lady. We can't rush in like that, it's to dangerous."
"They're trapped!" Emi tried to shove Alexei off, but he had a vice-grip on her. "We need to save them."
Alexei couldn't aruge, for all they know Lynn and Kya could be injured. "It could've been Xana's attack. Why else would you end up here?" For once, he hoped it was Xana. If not, he'd have to inform their teachers. And nothing good would come from that.