Iridescent: Chapter Twenty

Iridescent

Chapter Twenty

~Tempi’s Temper~

After the Fall

Chaud’s eyes shot open. For a moment he lay still, listening for any sound. He sat up quickly and tried to reach for his gun but found that it was gone.

“Calm down, young Galaxy,” a voice said, “No need to worry.”

Chaud looked over to his left. Puppetmaster sat a few feet away. He carved away at a piece of wood. The object he was carving started to take place. It was a single figure doll like in nature not like his usual dolls that he carved. Chaud watched him work for a few moments before looking around his surroundings.

He noted that he was in the back of a school bus. Half of the seats in the back were removed replaces with several blankets and personal effects. He lay on a similar blanket. Chaud sat quietly and heard the sound of children talking and playing outside. He couldn’t see out the windows but he could see that the sun was out. With most of the windows opened Chaud could hear the steady wind outside. Chaud looked back at Puppetmaster.

“Doctor,” Puppetmaster called, “Are you out there?”

There was a moment of silence before someone climbed into the bus. Puppetmaster looked up at the doctor as he approached. The doctor knelt down by Chaud and looked at him with a critical eye. His wide brimmed hat kept the doctor’s black hair in order. The doctor wore a white shirt and black pants. He looked at Chaud for a long time before speaking.

“You were dead for five minutes, you know,” Jekyll stated as took Chaud’s pulse, “Another minute and we might not have been able to bring you back.”

Chaud didn’t say anything as he thought over that piece of information. Jekyll could care less if Chaud responded or not. He checked Chaud’s vitals.

“How long have I been out?” Chaud asked quietly.

“A few days,” Jekyll stated.

Chaud turned his head the direction that Jekyll indicated. He followed Jekyll’s finger with his eyes.

“Take it easy today,” Jekyll said, “I’ll check on you often. For now, go ahead and walk around but don’t over exert yourself. Oh, and no Blue Gold for you for the foreseeable future. There are only so many times you can use that stuff before you lose control.”

Chaud nodded. He didn’t feel like using it anytime soon anyway. It still hurt to move his muscles.

“Puppetmaster! Is my doll ready yet?” a girl ran into the bus.

Puppetmaster smiled, “Almost, just a little longer.”

The girl sat beside the master as he worked on the small wooden doll. Jekyll stood up and left. Chaud carefully got to his feet and walked off the bus. He squinted his eyes as he looked around the camp. Vehicles of all kinds were the outer perimeter. The vehicles consisted of the school bus, an ambulance, an animal transport, a pick-up truck, a mobile home bus, and a heavy duty jeep. Smaller vehicles like motor bikes and four wheelers were in the center. In the center of the camp was a large fire place. Children and woman walked around freely within the perimeter. The men all held weapons and stood usually along the edge of the perimeter. Some of them stood on top of the taller vehicles as look outs.

Chaud spotted his sister playing among the children of the camp. The wolf lay in the sand a few feet away from her watching closely. He walked over to her.

“Amber,” he said.

Amber turned to where she heard her name. She jumped to her feet and ran to her brother. Amber threw her arms around her brother and squeezed him.

“Chaud!” Amber squealed, “I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“Keep squeezing me like that and I might suffocate to death,” Chaud laughed.

“Sorry,” Amber let go and whipped tears from her eyes.

Chaud stopped down and held her shoulders, “Hey, don’t cry. I’m fine.”

Amber looked at him, “Promise me you’ll never use that stuff again.”

Chaud smiled, “Amber, I—”

“You have to promise!” Amber cried, “You have to promise to never EVER use it again! No matter what!”

Chaud looked at her in the eyes, “I promise. But Amber, I need you to understand that if I need to protect you or my friends I will do what I have to but I wouldn’t do it with you looking. Alright?”

“You can’t take more than one!” Amber crossed her arms.”

Chaud nodded, “Deal.” Chaud stood up and looked around, “Where is Vicky?”

“She went to look for supplies with the others,” Amber answered.

“Others?” Chaud asked.

“Here they come!” a man on lookout yelled.

Chaud heard the sound of motors coming. The children all stood up and waited anxiously. Sand was kicked up as the group of four traveled in. Chaud instantly recognized Vicky among the four riders. She took off her protective eye wear and smiled at Chaud when she saw him out and about. Vicky got off the four-wheeler and walked up to him.

“Good to see you in the land of the living,” Vicky smiled.

Chaud nodded, “Defiantly don’t want to be the first one of the team to kick the bucket.”

Vicky hugged him, “It would be embarrassing wouldn’t it. You’re supposedly smarter than all of us.”

“Is that the rumors now?” Chaud smiled.

Vicky shrugged, “Zara seems convinced that you and your family know all and any secrets and are sworn to secrecy.”

“What?” Chaud looked at Vicky, “You believe that?”

Vicky looked Chaud over, “I have yet to think on my opinion.”

Chaud looked passed Vicky. He watched as the others dismounted their vehicles. The four-wheelers were adorned with their findings. He noticed Fang and Shadow as two of the riders. The children all gathered around Shadow excitedly asking him if he had found them anything. He smiled and brought out a bag of candies from a bag that he had found. The children jumped excitedly at the sight of the sweet treats. While Shadow handed out the candies, at the disapproving glances of the mothers, Fang walked toward the mobile home. Fang looked at Chaud for a brief second then ignored him as he disappeared into the mobile home.

“Chaud, I want you to meet someone!” Vicky motioned over to the fourth member.

The girl wore a short green sleeveless top and shorts showing a large amount of her midriff. She had a good fit body and was obviously proud of the fact an unashamed to flaunt it. An off white sash wrapped around her waist and was held in place by a large broach or pin creating a drape effect. She wore green fingerless gloves. Around her shins were white leg warmers that fanned out freely and flittered in the wind. Under the leg warmers were her shin high sandals that helped her leg support. On her back was a large brown rectangular container.

She walked toward them. A few strands escaped from her two ponytails and blew in the wind. Her dirty blond hair was in tight curls and the ponytails looked more like poofy round balls on her head. She reached out a hand to Chaud.

“Chaud,” Vicky started the introductions, “This is—”

“Tempi Washington,” Chaud stated, “also known as The Desert Wind due to her ability to manipulate sand. Best sand wielder on the Island and the leader of the Agent team Navi.”

Tempi smiled slyly, “Well, you seen to know a lot about me. ‘Fraid I’m not so privileged as to know so much about you, Chaud Galaxy.”

“You know her?” Vicky asked.

Chaud shook his head, “I did research on the teams before graduation. Standard procedure.”

“Yeah,” Tempi looked around coolly, “My second probably knows more about you other than you’re the big man’s son. I could care less about those things. Everyone ends up the same when they cross me.”

Chaud smiled, “I see.”

Tempi crossed her arms, “Where’s your girlfriend?”

“You mean Zara?” Vicky asked, “She’s not his boyfriend.”

Tempi looked at Vicky, “Right.”

“She isn’t,” Chaud stated, “And I don’t know where she is currently.”

“Well, that’s a surprise,” Tempi said, “I’m not a super genius like you and I know that you’re best known for knowing everything. And still you don’t know where your girlfriend is. Have your sources dried up?”

“You seem to be missing more people from your team than I am at the moment,” Chaud looked at her.

“Hope your girlfriend’s alright,” Tempi turned around, “It’d be mighty unfortunate.”

Chaud sighed, “She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Right,” Tempi said over her shoulder as she walked away.

Vicky looked at Chaud with a curious look, “What was all that about? You were verbally ripping each other’s heads off. She was nice to me until she met you.”

Chaud looked at Vicky, “Let’s just say her family and my family don’t get along.”

“Don’t get along how?” Vicky asked.

Chaud searched for words that didn’t include profanity, “Well, her dad’s the Police Commissioner and my dad’s head of the Tower. They just don’t like each other. I think that this island isn’t big enough for the both of them. Tempi’s dad complains about my dad’s power on the Island and demands more laws should be put in place and then there’s my dad says that there should be less so he can better protect the Island.”

“Ouch,” Vicky stated.

“All the political people’s try to stay away from either side so we’re stuck at a stalemate,” Chaud nodded.

“I guess she won’t want to be my friend now, will she?” Vicky sighed.

“Sorry,” Chaud said.

There was a short silence between them then Vicky spoke, “Their team name is Navi? We should have a team name. Do we have a team name? Why don’t we have a team name?”

“Currently we’re just known as Zara’s team,” Chaud shrugged, “I’m sure once we find everyone we could have a meeting to figure out what we should be called.”

“Sweet,” Vicky smiled, “I really do want a cool name.”

“I don’t care either way,” Chaud said.

“Chaud?” Vicky asked.

Chaud looked at her, “Yeah?”

“You and Zara aren’t dating behind my back are you?” Vicky whispered.

Chaud raised an eyebrow, “No.”

“Good, I thought I was missing something big,” Vicky sighed, “But seriously though, Chaud! We need to discuss a team name. I was thinking along the lines of…”