A Lost Cause- Part 3

Five days.

That’s how long I spent searching for Wes so far, and I’ve gotten myself nowhere. He had been missing for five days, and never returned. I missed him more then I ever thought possible. My assistants must think I’m losing it. I would return home after searching all day and night, then go to my room crying so much I would begin laughing at my own pathetic self, as my insanity slowly ate away at my emotions.

I searched the southern woods of the outsider territory, not sensing him or finding any clues that could of helped me track him. I scattered my assistants all over the valley on constant watch and scouting, hoping I would get a message saying they found my scaled companion.

I went through the trouble of asking my fellow guardians if they spotted a green scaled outsider around their villages. Every time I asked, I felt fear rise up within me terrified they’d say they had spotted him, but killed him on sight. The thought of one of them saying that, made me feel sick to my stomach. I was especially scared when I asked my best enemy Bullet. If anyone would of killed Wes, it would have been him.

(Little Background Info)
Bullet, or formally addressed as General Pyro, was known for leading our troops in the army division as an unstoppable force that could never be beaten by rebel outsiders. He was the exact opposite of what a true guardian should be. He was cruel, short tempered, self-centered, and had an unhealthy love for bloodshed and battle. He was feared by everyone; guardian and outsider alike. He’d gone to trials multiple times for killing his students trying to train them. He claimed if they couldn’t survive threw training, they’re better off dead then stepping on his battlefield. The only reason he’s still a guardian of his ranking, is because He’s from a noble family, and the favorite of the Head Guardian.

We constantly butt heads at meetings, and those meetings always end with Bullet throwing a rage fit and storming out of the room with fire in his hands. I have a silver tongue, and know just the right things to say and buttons to push if I want to set the time-bomb of a temper he has off. He surely regrets saving me all those years ago when I was a kid.
(Now let’s get back to my story. Bullet will get time to shine later)


- -


I sat on a hill located directly in the middle of Baron Valley, allowing me a clear view of my surroundings. I dug out Wes’s note He wrote to me before He left from my pocket and read it over multiple times. I read it left to right, right to left, up and down and reversed trying to find a hidden message, or coordinates to where He had gone to. But let’s face it, Wes wasn’t smart enough to even think of writing in code. He wasn’t even capable of boiling water when he first started living with me (luckily a servant was near by to put the fire out, and a few other fires after that).

I noticed water damage on the letter, but knew it wasn’t from water... The thought of Wes crying while writing this made my heart break a little more then it already did, and soon my own tears were falling onto the paper, mixing with his dried ones. I couldn’t hold back my emotions anymore and just sobbed. My whole body shook as I cried, and I had to remind myself to breath between each sob, causing me to gasp for air. I didn’t care who or what might of been around seeing me at my all time low, I wanted them to see just how miserable I was.

It felt like an hour, but I’m sure it was about twenty minutes before I stopped crying. I wiped my eyes, face, and nose. My eye’s were red and puffy and my nose was runny. I looked like an emotional reck. If Wes could see me now, he probably wouldn’t believe it was me. I never showed this emotion around him, or anyone.

He won’t ever see this side of me, because as long as He’s with me I have no reason for pathetic emotions such as sadness.

I put the letter back in my lab coat pocket and got to my feet brushing the dirt off my now dirty white coat. I looked north to my city standing tall and proud along the northern incline of the valley wall. I had to get back before the sun went down. My blue feathers began growing on my arms and face but before I could do my full transformation in my spirit animal, something landed on my head and got it’s digits tangled into my hair. I made my feathers fall off, and lifted my hands above my head, grabbing something that too, was feathery.

It let go of my hair and when I brought my arms down in front of me, I was face to beak with a little hawk (oh irony). A smile small begin to find it’s way onto my face and I let out a dry chuckle.

“Where did you come from? I hope you didn’t mistake me for your mother (wouldn’t be the first time),” I said to the baby hawk as I cupped it in my hands. It’s little body covered in feathers and nesting itself on my palms, tired from flying and starting to fall asleep already.

“You must be very tired. How long you been flying? You’re much too young to of a hawk to be flying for so long.”

His eyes closed and he was soon fast asleep. I held him close to my chest with one hand began walking back home. It was oddly comforting having him with me, and call me crazy but he smelt kinda like, Wes? I shook my head and laughed at myself; I must have really been missing Wes.


- -


When I arrived home I walked inside and went straight to my room. The baby hawk was awoken by the sounds of the door and my footsteps on the hard floor. He let out a few tweets and began flapping his little wings. I kept a good grip of him to keep him from flying off around the house and breaking something.

“Easy little fella. You still half asleep, and I don’t want you sleep-flying,” I cooed and pet his little head and entered my bedroom.

After setting him down on my bed I got a few small blankets and rolls them up around him to create a soft  make-shift nest. Pushing my glasses up on my face I smiled at the little bird, thinking of how cute it looked; sure I would of looked the same if I were a guardian when I was a small child and able to transform.

I laid next to the hawk on my stomach and pet him, making him start to doze off again. His small feathers like silk on my finger tips, and his head fuzzy and soft. I closed my own eyes beginning to fall asleep as well, until my fingers felt something anything but soft. I opened my eyes again and looked up at the hawk. My fingers grabbed a hard flat piece of what ever was hidden in it’s feathers. What I pulled out was something I wasn’t ready for.

A scale. A single green scale that was with no mistake, Wes’s. Carefully I searched the feather’s of the baby hawk to find more without waking it. I found several more and soon had a small collection of scales on the bed. My heart was nearly beating out of my chest as I looked down at all the scales. This little bird was with Wes. The Wes I’ve been searching for five days and not finding a single clue. Yet here right in front of me was the best clue I could of ever gotten.

I shook the bird awake gently again and it ruffled its little feathers as it woke. I held up one of the scales in front of him to see. He let out a little sound as if just remembering something very important that he forgot.

“You met Wes? Do you know where he is?” I asked frantically, seeing he knew what they were. He jumped up and hopped out of the blankets and off the bed onto the floor, “You do don’t you! Please, you have to take me to Him.”

The baby hawk hopped out of the room then flew onto the railing of the  second floor and glided down to the front door, in as much a hurry as I was. I ran down the stairs and followed him, opening the door and letting him lead the way. The moment he got outside, he took to the skies. I had to find my way out of my city before I could transform. The city was too crowded for my spirit animal form and I didn’t want to cause a scene. I actually had trouble finding the way out of my city. I couldn’t remember where to  go or where I had been, and if it wasn’t for the hawk coming back, I don’t think I would of found my way out without his help.

When I finally made it out of the city I transformed into my blue and yellow feathered hawk. With a few huge flaps of my six foot wings I was lifted into the sky and was soon on my way following the tiny hawk. It was a little troubling at first, trying to slow my speed to stay behind him. He was so small compared to me, if it wasn’t for my sharpened eyesight in this form, I would of lost sight of him easily.

I looked below at where he was taking me. We were heading towards the southern woods, of course! I knew Wes was hiding in there. It was outsider territory after all, and safe for him. Only, I soon realized we weren’t going into the woods. We were going over it, heading out of the valley. Had Wes really gone so far as to leave the valley completely? No wonder I couldn’t find him.


- -


After a half hour of flying over the endless forests outside the valley, the baby Hawk began descending down into the trees. I followed, and crashed into some trees in the process. I changed back to my human form and dropped down to the ground and walked up next to the hawk looking around for Wes.

“Wes? You here? Wes it’s Me Dusty!.....” I called out for him but there was no answer. I looked down at the hawk, “We’re is He?”

The small bird hopped over to a spot with scales scattered on the ground. Wes was here, that was for sure. He must of slept here and moved on elsewhere. I couldn’t help but laugh at how obvious it was that he had been here. If there was someone hunting him down, He’d be a dead man in no time.

We took a short break then it was back to the skies. The weather began getting colder, and the wind started to pick up. Ahead I saw the snowy mountains of the north, but I didn’t remember us changing directions. Of course, it was hard to tell which way was north, south, east, or west, when all you saw was trees. We must of flew around the valley. I was starting to get suspicious of this little bird and wondered if he even knew where he was going.

I decided to follow him until the winds were too much for the bird to handle and I told him to land. We landed on snow covered ground near the edge of the forest where the trees were beginning to thin out. I looked around at the snow then to the baby hawk.

“I don’t think this is the right way. We turned completely around from where we were heading,” I told him as I was stuck in a form half human half hawk. The wind began blowing off my feathers and I watched it carry them away never to be seen again.

The bird must of got insulted by my questioning it because when I turned back to him, he was right in front of my face and started sassing me with his little tweets. I pushed him away and began walking again.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. We’ll keep going a little more. But no more flying, you’ll be lost in the wind.”

The hawk landed on my shoulder, gripping my coat with his talons to stay on. He guided me from my shoulder the way to go. The wind only picked up more as I climbs the mountains and go to the other side. It was a snowy wasteland as far as I could see; which wasn’t far with the storm and the sun going down. If Wes did come here, there might have been foot-prints, but with the snow being blown around, it made even my foot-print disappear seconds after stepping.

The farther we went, the more lost I felt. If I looked around me all I saw was the same stormy white wasteland in every direction. The wind bit at my face and I was forced to grow my feathers under my coat and on my face so I wouldn’t freeze to death. Just when I was ready to give up, as if someone flicked off a switch, the storm was over. I could see the stars and moon between the clouds in the sky, and ahed of me, I saw lights, a village.

I picked up my pace, finding more energy now that I knew there was something to actually go to. The hawk who some how managed to fall asleep during the storm woke up and ruffled it feathers. Seeing its surrounding and the village ahead it lifted from my shoulder and began flying back the way we came. I yelled at it to come back, but it was obvious that what ever job it had to do was over.


- -


Arriving in the village I noticed it’s villagers just coming out of their houses getting started on cleaning the mess the storm made. I walked through and sensed a very strong presence, another guardian. Finding their house was never a hard job, because guardians typically have grander houses then the villagers. I knocked on the front doors of the guardians house that appeared to be glazed with ice and waited for someone  to answer.

Someone in a white cloak answered and I thought it was Treches at first, but after a second look it was obviously not.

“Who are you, and what do you want with our guardian?” The cloaked person, who I assumed was a servant asked rather coldly.

“I’m Dr. Dusty Biter from the southern Baron Valley, I own the most successful city in all of-,”

“Yeah yeah, I get it, you’re a guardian. Now answer the other question, what do you want with our guardian?”

“I’d like to speak with them. It’s about a missing person.”

“Ha! And what makes you think anyone would find their way here? No idiot comes this far north, except you.”

“Rachette, stop insulting the guest!” A voice said from out of the room, and then entered a man, rather short and stalky, covered in animal furs, and looked about 30 years old.

The servant called Rachette scowled and backed away letting his master talk to me instead.

“Dr. Biter you said? It’s quite an honor having you here considering how busy I hear you always are. What brings you this far north?”

“If you don’t mind me asking, could we talk inside. As you can imagine I’m freezing.”

“Oh of course. I forgot you aren’t made for the cold weather. Come inside, take a seat, and then we can talk.”

I didn’t need to be told that twice, and I walked right inside and he lead the way to a cozy little living room, full of more animal pelts on the walls and mounted heads. Made me wonder how he obtained all these when, on my way here, i saw not a single sign of life.

The guardian sat down on a single chair, or thrown I should call it, “Allow me to introduce myself Dr. Biter. I am Vandamere Hiver. Guardian of the Baron Northern Highlands. As far as I know, I’m the only guardian out here. Not even other winter element guardians dare to come this far north.”

“You’re very right about that. Must get lonely out here on your own. And might I ask, is there really any wildlife around here?”

Vandamere let out a heavy chuckle, “Of course not. Only my village and the outsiders that tunnel under all the snow; it’s where I got this,” He gestured the furs accessorizing his clothes.

“Enough with the conversation starters Dr. I know you must of come all the way up here for a reason other then making small talk.”

I adjusted myself in my seat to sit up straight, then used the lie that seems to work far too good for how often I use it,”Oh, yes. I’m here on the account of a missing person. They escaped from my labs. They were part of a very important experiment you see, and if I don’t get it back, then I won’t have complete research to hand into the Higher Ups and I could be downgraded a rank.”

“And you think they would be here? I don’t know what you were thinking, but I doubt anyone running away would come here. They’d freeze to death, unless they weren’t smart enough to know that.”

He made a very good point. Wes wasn’t stupid enough to actually come this far. He’s part snake, and barely generates enough body heat to sleep at night without glueing himself to me for warmth. I made the conclusion that I was probably so mentally  unstable from Wes being gone, that maybe my imagination made up the bird, giving me false hope and nearly leading me to my death. The hawk seemed so real, but you’d be surprised how good our minds are at tricking us.

I stood from me seat,”You’re absolutely right. I don’t even know why I bothered. But I guess I can say now that I at least checked here. If you hear anything, I will be heading to the southern desserts of Baron. There’s been reports that missing people, normally turn up there.”

“If they’re an outsider....” Vandamere added.

I shot back quickly,”If I came looking all the way here, I might as well check there as well. This test subject is a very important one. More then Project Ice.”

“I understand. Well good luck with your search. I’ll help out in any way I can, and I’ll keep an eye out,’ Vandamere stood and show me my way out.

I stepped out into the winter village again. How could I be so ignorant? Wes couldn’t be here. I had a plan now though. The forest connecting Baron Valley with the southern desserts is crawling with outsiders and run aways alike. It will take forever to search on my own, and flying won’t help since the forest are so thick with trees, but I was ready to search the ends of this world to find Him. Growing feathers under my clothes and on my face, I began walking out of this place. The sky was clear now, and the wind died down. A few of my feathers fell off me as I walked, and it didn’t take long for villagers to start collecting them as if those feathers were gold.

I looking up at the starry night sky, I made a promise. One I knew I could keep.


I will find you Wes. I promise.