Chapter 14: Divided

Sia went back into the forest and walked back to the area where Matthew was cornered. THe Howl Moon pack was there waiting nervously. When they saw Sia, almost every wolf lied down on their stomachs, their legs stretched out, with their front paws covering their eyes. Shiver shook his dark gray fur and glared at Sia with his orange eyes. Ajax stared at Sia with his yellow eyes like she was an interesting thing he had never seen before. "Guys stop. I didn't mean to shout. I was just a little angry. Please don't submit to me. Please!" Sia pleaded.

The wolves sat up uncertainly. Even Izzie paused before doing so. "Twinkle, Jet, Rocky. Iz! Can you forgive me?" Sia sank down to her knees and stared at them with wide eyes. Twinkle, Jet and Rocky padded over to Sia and licked her with their coarse tongues in forgiving. Sia ran her hand through Jet's black fur, Twinkle's white fur, and Rocky's tawny brown one. "Iz. Izzie?" Sia asked. Izzie stood up and ran away in the opposite direction.

Sia's heart broke. She scrambled after Izzie, past her powers, past the wolf pack, past the confusion. "Iz! Iz? Iz? Izzie!" Sia shouted until her throat was raw. Sia found herself at her treehouse. Sia was completely lost. Where could Izzie be? She sat down at the stream and drank the clean water until her throat hurt even more from the cold. Twinkle, Jet, and Rocky went over to her and sat down, huddled around her in a triangle.

"Sia?" Twinkle whispered, her eyes filled with concern. Jet just nodded grimly and let out a howl of pity. Rocky's eyes brimmed with tears, and he let out a howl of sadness. Twinkle let out a howl filled with concern. Sia changed into her wolf, threw back her head, and let out a howl with all 3 mixed in, plus guilt and searching. 

Sia stood up when she was done and changed into a camouflaged green serpent. She flicked her tongue and began her search for Izzie. She slithered through the grass and smelled, looked, and used her tongue and organ at the roof of her mouth to grasp at anything that was Izzie's. When night fell with no sign of Izzie, Sia slithered back to her home and glided up the stairs. She eased the door open as she slipped inside and it closed behind her.

She was super surprised to see Izzie staring mournfully out the open shutters. Sia changed into a human and addressed Izzie slowly like a skittish horse. "Hey Iz." Sia said gently. "How are you doing? Why'd you run off on me like that? Where were you?"

"I was behind Howl Hill. For your first question, I am confused, guilty, sad, and angry." Izzie said in the sternest, most business-like tone.

"But Iz, I asked for forgiveness. I love you Izzie. You know that. So why did you run?" Sia dared to take a step closer.

"Remember? When I was just a puppy, and you adopted me when you were 9 years old? The rest of your family was mean to me, mad at me. You promised." Izzie sighed.

"I remember now. I said, 'I will never ever get mad at you. If I do, do whatever you want. Leave me, bite me, or forgive me.'... So what do you choose?" Sia asked.

"I am debating between leaving or forgiving."

Sia choked back a sob. "I'll... leave you to it then..." Sia walked into her room and scrambled under the blankets. Suddenly, Izzie jumped onto the bed and licked Sia's face repeatedly. "Iz?" Sia felt a small spark of hope.

"I'll forgive you, but on one condition. This. Never. Happened. We'll act like we did before." Sia nodded so hard she thought she felt her brain bouncing up and down. Izzie barked and wagged her tail so fast it was a blur. Izzie leapt under the covers and they snuggled together. And they both slept soundly.

Sia woke up with a yawn and a stretch. Izzie rolled over onto her stomach and sprawled on the bed. Sia gave Izzie a pat on her head and a scratch behind her ears. Sia got up and walked through the doorway into the living room. Faber woke up, ruffled his feathers and stretched his wings. Faber tilted his head towards Sia and cried, "Hey, want to go for a morning flight?"

"Sure." Sia shook out her arms and legs, then shifted into a peregrine falcon. Her falcon form was the same color as her hair with lines of black running through it. She suddenly found herself a lot shorter than she was in human form. Faber screeched and they both flew out of the always open windows, since there was no glass panes in them.

They flew out, circled the treehouse a bit, and then bobbed and dived and played in the wind. Then suddenly, Faber let out a strangled cry and nosedived to the ground. Sia hesitated and looked around. There was a huge bald eagle that was heading straight for Sia and Faber, it's eyes hungry for prey. Sia panicked and let her animal take over. She went straight after Faber. She found Faber cowering in the branches of a tree and went to join him. Sia screamed as the bald eagle caught up with them and landed on the branch. 

The eagle bit at Sia's side, holding her in his claws. Sia screeched and struggled and pecked with her beak, no luck, since she was hanging upside down with her wings facing the ground. The eagle's sharp claws went through her soft feathers and pricked her skin. Dots of tiny blood added red to her feathers. Then a whole flock of birds, with Faber in the lead, came to her rescue. They circled the eagle and Sia like a mini hurricane. Faber cried, "ATTACK! RALLY, SKY SONG FLOCK!" And they did. The Sky Song flock of all different types of birds went and harassed the eagle.

They pecked, bit, scratched, pushed, and ripped the eagle's feathers. He never stood a chance. The eagle let go of Sia and retreated. No birds followed him. The birds chirped and screeched in triumph, and swooped down to the nearest tree. Sia followed them. Fox Sparrows, Yellow-headed Blackbirds, all types of grackles, Orchard Orioles, Pine Grosbeaks, Pine Siskins, and House Sparrows were just some of the species of birds in the Sky Song flock. The whole flock started chattering and gossiping. A male Painted Bunting, who was very beautiful by the way, stopped onto a branch next to Sia. Faber flew down to perch on Sia's left.

"Thank you so much, Faber. I owe you one!" Sia trilled as she flitted her wings, and winced. 

"Oh, Rachel. What happened? Why is there blood on your feathers?" Faber shook his head.

"First of all," Sia growled in a very un-birdlike manner. "my name is not Rachel. I am Sia! And second, that eagle's claws poked me."

"Oh, him? That's Ranger. He is the only eagle in Viridi Forest, and super annoying. We told him not to mess with us a long time ago, yet he still does." The painted bunting rolled his eyes and paused. "I guess I need to introduce myself. My name is Cyrus. I get that you're Rachel," The bunting coughed to cover up his mistake, "um, Sia."

"Hi, Cyrus. Nice to meet you, and, thanks." Sia nodded her head.

"And, you have blood on your right side, too." Cyrus cocked his head at Sia's other side. Sia nodded and turned to Faber.

"I'm going to fly down to the ground and change back now. Nice meeting you, Cyrus. Bye Faber!" Sia chirped and glided to the ground. She imagined her human form. Nothing happened. Sia concentrated until a her eyesight became blurry and unfocused. Sia screamed in frustration, a bone-chilling shriek.

"What's wrong?" Faber had been watching her, but he flew down to meet her.

"I can't change back!" Sia panicked and squawked, running as fast as she could with bird feet and claws.

"Relax, Sia. I bet its because you're wounded. Have you ever shifted when you had an injury?" Faber said in a calm voice.

"Um, no." Sia admitted, and stopped running and walked over to Faber.

"So thats it."

Sia nodded. "So, when I heal, I can change? Then how will I heal?"

"Yes, probably. And, maybe, when it stops bleeding? I think you would be able to change back if you just had a bruise or a scab or something."

"Thanks so much, Faber. You're such a good help." Sia sprang from the floor and spread her wings. She took to the air and flew around Viridi Forest, staying low enough so she could see below the treetops, but high enough so no branches or leaves hit her. When Sia looked back, she saw droplets of blood slip off of her feathers and into the air behind her. She didn't have a destination set in her mind, she just cruised along. But she did stop when she heard her name being shouted.

"Sia? Sia! SIA! Where are you! This is super important." A familiar voice called. Sia circled lower, above the few trees where the voice seemed to come from. Sia searched for a tiny hole in the tops of the leaves, and she found one. Sia folded her wings and dived down. She rested on the lowest limb and saw the person who was calling for her. Jade, without her son Matthew, was pacing up and down. It was the same place where they had made the recording, with the 3 rocks. Sia shrieked as loud as she could, and glided smoothly down to a rock. She stared at Jade with a tilted head, hoping that she got the message that she, the bird, was Sia.

"OH!" Jade flinched in surprise. Sia pecked the rock next to her and jerked her head from Jade to the rock. "Y-You want me to sit?" Jade asked. Sia rolled her eyes and nodded in exasperation. Jade walked over to the rock chair and plopped down on it. "Are you Sia?" She nodded and let out a confirming trill. "Krystal? Krys. It's okay. Don't be scared. Come on out." Jade coaxed softly. A girl with curly black hair came out from behind a tree. The girl was about 2 years older than Matthew, so she was maybe a little over 7. The girl, Krystal Sia guessed, had one greenish brownish eye and one bright blue one.

Sia thought that that looked so cool, but she didn't understand why this girl had come with Jade. Jade and Matthew looked a lot alike, with their straight dirty blond hair and brown eyes, but this girl had curly black hair and green/blue eyes! If only she would be able to ask questions... Sia tried to change back to human, and this time it worked. She appeared standing up on the rock, and Sia quickly sat down.

"Sorry, I learned that I couldn't shift back when I'm bleeding. This eagle called Ranger attacked me, but I'm fine now. Who is that girl?" Sia nodded to Krystal.

"Oh, that's my daughter. Krystal, say 'hi'." Jade said.

"Hi." Krystal mumbled, then sat in Jade's lap. Sia nodded hello, and saw 3 little bumps on each of her sides, seeing the small bumps lift up the green shirt. She ran her hand down her side, and realized they were scabs from Ranger's talons. Jade dropped her purse onto the 3rd stone slab.

"She doesn't look anything like you, no offense." Sia commented.

Jade laughed. "Yeah. She takes after her father, Max." More quietly she whispered to Krystal, though SIa could still hear her, "Don't be shy, sweetie. Sia is nice, I promise."

"Okay." Then, just like a bubble burst, "WOW! You know how lucky and cool it is that you can morph into animals!" A toothy grin spread across her face.

Sia chuckled and nodded. Then she turned to face Jade. "So, what is so important?"

A neutral expression replaced Jade's smile. "The country is divided. I gave them the recording, and every single news station played the whole thing, and talked about. Half of the country loves you and wants to help you, and let you stay in Viridi Forest. The other half wants to either kill you or capture you, and destroy all the animals and Viridi Forest. I don't know whether to laugh,"-Jade started counting them on her fingers-"smile, or frown."

Sia nodded. "So?"

"SO, I've heard some rumors that the good side wants to patrol the outside edges, so they can't tear it down. It's like another Civil War." Jade spread her hands and smiled sadly.

"Okay, thanks for informing me. I'll tell a bird flock, the Sky Song Flock, to keep watch for you guys. Come to this spot always if you want to tell me something! I'll also tell the Howl Moon wolf pack to always tell me." Sia stood up. "Goodbye, Krystal. See ya sooner or later, Jade." Sia shook hands with the both of them.

"Bye, Sia!" Krystal said.

"Goodbye, Sia. See you soon, hopefully." Jade hugged Sia, then took Krystal by the hand. They walked off. Just before they disappeared, Sia hollered after them,

"Say 'hi' to Matthew and Max!"

Jade stopped, turned, and stared at Sia. "Worrying about being polite is the least of your concerns." Jade said solemnly. With that, she left towards the hole in the fence.

Author's Note

This is an extra long chapter, because I've realized that I've been writing short chapters. So, enjoy!