Iridescent: Chapter Twenty-Five

Iridescent

Chapter Twenty-Five

~Winds of Change~

After the Fall

Chaud woke up when the bus lurched to one side suddenly. The sand storm started a few days ago and had continued since, delaying the caravan’s journey. The winds had subsided substantially the last twenty four hours. There was the occasional strong gust that rattled the vehicle but overall the wind was starting to die down. The bus lurched again. Chaud sighed. There was no way he was getting any more rest.

He stood up and looked out of the window. The visibility was much better than the day before. There was a possibility that they would set out today to the Great Oasis. Fang said they needed more supplies and needed to make a pit stop. Chaud thought it was fine. Their location was near there anyway. Chaud looked out the window and thought to himself.

“What on earth could you be thinking, Chaud?” Puppetmaster asked. His eyes looked with interest at the teen.

Chaud looked over his shoulder, “Nothing.”

“Nothing usually means something,” Puppetmaster smiled.

Chaud decided to throw him a bone, “I just had a dream, that’s all.”

Puppetmaster looked interested, “What kind of dream?”

Chaud shrugged, “Something about a mission. Can’t remember details.”

“You miss the way things were, don’t you,” Puppetmaster said, “Perhaps you miss someone in particular?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Chaud said.

Puppetmaster waved a hand, letting the matter pass. The radio in the front of the bus crackled to life. Tempi jerked awake at the noise. She muttered something under her breath before answering it.

“What?” she said, obviously in a bad mood.

“We’re heading out,” Fang said on the others end.

Tempi looked outside, “Now?”

“We need supplies and we need them now,” Fang stated before cutting the line.

Tempi sighed and started the bus. The vehicle rumbled to life. A few slumbering bodies stirred slightly before descending back into sleep. Puppetmaster looked toward the head of the bus.

“It looks like we’re back on the road,” Puppetmaster said.

“Finally,” Chaud looked down at his sister.

Amber had wakened by the bus starting and looked up at her brother. She smiled at him and rubbed her eyes.

“Are we there yet?” Amber asked.

Chaud shook his head and smiled, “Not yet. We’re just getting out again.”

“Oh,” Amber yawned, “okay. Wake me up when we’re there.” She curled up by her brother’s leg and fell asleep in only a few moments.

Chaud looked at her. It was nice to see her so at peace. The past few weeks had been especially hard on them both but especially on Amber. She had to deal with things that Chaud hadn’t wanted her to deal with. In all honestly, she had grown up in the time she and Chaud had been together. Chaud sighed. Taking care of little kids was harder than he thought.

The trip droned on. Eventually Naru woke up. It was amusing to see his hair completely disheveled. Hina made fun of his appearance and said that she didn’t need to take as long as her brother getting ready in the morning. Chaud kept a diplomatic view, not taking one side or the other. Vicky simply watched their antics beside Puppetmaster who found in interesting to see the partial team interact.

Kumo and Chou sat near the front of the bus by their team leader. Chaud glanced at them occasionally. It seemed that Naru, Hina, Kumo, and Chou had come to some mutual understanding. They didn’t talk to each other as much since they were rescued. Now that they were back with they were back with their own teams there wasn’t much of a reason to interact. But Chaud sensed that there would be always be a certain connection between the four of them.

The children started to wake up and make noise. Many of them walked toward Puppetmaster to see what toys he could make them. The parents fed the youngest children food with the supply in the bus. The last to get any food was the older agents. The wind died down throughout the day. Soon the sand cleared up and the sky could be seen. The children in the bus were allowed to open the windows finally.

As the sun started to set, their destination was in sight. They drove toward the Great Oasis for supplies. The caravan curved toward the cluster of oases, resorts and hotels.

Fang veered toward one of the buildings. Shadow leaned against Fang with his feet propped out the window. Fang gave him frequent annoyed glances. Shadow, however didn’t pay him much mind. He even teased Shadow occasionally. Shadow looked our through the dashboard as the windshield wipers smeared sand left and right. He saw something that interested him. Shadow sat up, bringing his feet back into the jeep and pointed.

“Well, what so you think about that?” Shadow smiled, “Looks like someone beat us here.”

Fang had already noticed.

Zara walked out onto a large balcony outside. The sandstorm had subsided and she was out and about to stretch her legs. She propped a sniper on her shoulders and walked around on the balcony. Zara looked out at the desert and stopped. She saw a trail of dust rising in the distance. The caravan approached, Zara called to Deontay.

“Hey!” she called.

“Mmn,” Deontay looked up from what he was doing.

Miwa walked outside. He jumped up on the ledge beside Zara and looked over to see. His tail wagged with excitement.

“We have visitors,” Zara said.

Deontay raised an eyebrow, “Really? Are they coming this way?”

“Yeah,” Zara walked back inside, “I’ll go check things out.”

“I’ll join you,” Deontay followed her, “Keep an eye on things Miwa!”

Miwa turned his head, “Yeah, yeah, I got it.”

Together Deontay and Zara walked out to the front of the resort. The caravan pulled up as Zara walked out into the sun light. The jeep pulled up first. Fang stepped out and looked at her.

“We’ll you seem to be doing well for yourself,” Fang stated.

Zara shrugged, “It’s alright I guess. What are you doing here?”

Fang motioned to the caravan, “We need supplies. That and we’re getting off the Island.”

“The world is small,” Zara pointed to Deontay, “We’re doing the same thing.”

“You have anything we could use?” Fang asked.

Zara motioned inside, “Got a few things. Help yourself.”

“You’re just going to give them to us?” Shadow asked as he walked around the car.

“No,” Zara said, “I just haven’t thought of what I want yet.”

Shadow smiled, “Oh.”

“Zara?”

Zara looked around Fang and saw a school bus. Vicky ran off the bus and ran toward her. Hina walked after her beside her brother. Vicky threw her arms around Zara in a friendly hug. She then ran over to Deontay and gave him a Vicky-sized bear hug. Deontay hugged her back and spun her once in the air.

“Kew!” Kew kewed at Deontay.

Deontay put Vicky down, “Now who is that?”

Kew sat on Vicky’s shoulder. His fur stood up on end making him look bigger than he was. Deontay reached over and petted Kew. At first Kew growled at the stranger but after a while his growling stopped and he even purred a little.

Hina slapped Zara on the back, “Where have you been!? We’ve been looking everywhere for you two!”

“You haven’t been looking at all,” Naru said to his sister.

“I have too!” Hina countered.

Naru looked at Zara, “She wasn’t.”

Chaud walked out of the bus wondering what all the fuss was about. He saw Zara standing there talking with the others. Amber stood by his side. She looked to Zara then back up to her brother. Amber rolled her eyes and sighed. She grabbed ahold of her brother’s hand and pulled him toward Zara.

“Amber wait—!” Chaud struggled.

“Come on! I want to join the others!” she said, “Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

When they were close enough, Amber ran behind her brother and pushed him forward. Chaud bumped into Zara. Zara stepped backward. She pushed Chaud away from her.

“Watch where you’re going!” Zara snapped at him.

Chaud smiled, “Sorry, about that.”

Zara looked Chaud over, “You know, I didn’t miss you as much as I’d thought.”

Chaud sighed, “Thanks. I’m glad you feel that way.”

Zara shrugged, “What? I actually enjoyed the peace and quiet that your absence brings.”

“I love you too, Zara,” Chaud caught himself, “As a friend, of course.”

“Right,” Zara walked off, ignoring Chaud the rest of the time.