It was midday. Winter was talking (well, more like arguing) with Hydros about what type of sweet was the best when suddenly she heard a loud crash. Somebody, who sounded a lot like Vida, yelled, “We’re under attack!”

Winter stiffened. “Fudge,” she hissed. For a moment all she could do was freeze, but then she took off sprinting to the meeting hall.

When she entered the meeting hall, she was greeted with a shocking sight.

Shade wasn’t sitting in her chair; instead, she was slumped against the far wall, shadows streaming around her. Winter knew Shade well enough to know that Shade had shadows instead of blood in her veins, and Winter realized how injured Shade must be if that many shadows were coming from her, and was instantly struck with worry.

Standing beside Shade was Vida, who had animated a roll of bandages to wrap around Shade’s wounds and stop the bleeding, but it appeared that Vida’s attempts were fruitless with the amount of shadow-wreathed bandages laying discarded on the floor. 

Gardien Du Temps was running back and forth in front of one of the walls, attempting to calm Shade’s dragons, one of which was bleeding almost as badly as Shade. All of the dragons were screeching, as if Shade’s pain was their own. 

Winter realized Hydros was standing beside her, surviving the scene with both confusion and shock. How had he gotten out of his cell? Winter didn’t have time to think about that, so she ignored Hydros and ran straight to Shade.

“Shade!” she cried. Shade didn’t respond. 

Vida looked up. “Before she fell unconscious, Shade said that there was one of them. Attackers, I mean. And they must’ve been strong, to deal this much damage. Shade said to abandon the Tower and run.”

“I’m not fleeing,” Winter growled. “This is my home, and they harmed my friend. Whoever they are, they are going to pay.”

 Gardien stalked over to them, dragons following. “No time for fancy speeches! We need to kick this jerk’s butt before they harm anybody else!”

Shade’s dragons screeched in agreement, their yellow eyes blazing with the need for revenge. 

Winter looked around at their small, shocked team of Misfits (plus Hydros, who was wisely not getting involved in this talk). She closed her eyes and then said, “Alright, let’s go.”

Everything ached, throbbed, screamed with pain. Shade hadn’t known so much pain could exist in the world, and definitely not in one person. Yet that was exactly what she felt. 

Shade groaned and opened her eyes. The Tower was unnervingly quiet; as if she was the only living being left in the world. But she wasn’t, as hovering above her was one of Vida’s animated armors, and it was bandaging Shade’s arm. 

Shade tried to sit up, but her muscles screamed in protest. The armor seemed to sense what Shade wanted to do and helped Shade into a sitting position.

Had the others made it out? Shade wondered, mind hazy. She couldn’t exactly remember what had happened. She remembered flying into the heart of the storm with her dragon… but then her memory was foggy. All she could remember was her pain, her fear, and her own shadows pouring from her wounds. Whatever had happened, her dragon must’ve carried her out of there.

Shade remembered waking up in Vida’s arms. Vida had asked her what had happened. Shade had said, “Flee the Tower”. A stupid choice, made in a time of desperation, but Shade had known that she, her dragons, and her friends all put together into one force could not stop the person in the heart of the storm.

And the thunder-alpha had been hunting them down. Shade could tell by the one question he’d asked before he had attacked her. Where? He had demanded. Where?

Shade had responded with a defiant Why? And that response had gotten her here.

But… Shade knew her friends, being heroic idiots, wouldn’t just abandon her in the Tower. They would take her with them.

Buuuuuuuut she was still in the Tower. And that could mean one of three things:

1. At best, her friends were still in the Tower, hiding.
2. Or her friends had gone to fight the thunder-wielder.
3. Or, at worst, her friends had been in the Tower but were defeated, but the thunder-alpha hadn’t found Shade.

No. Shade couldn’t – wouldn’t – believe that her friends were hurt. But they weren’t in the Tower. 

They couldn’t take on the lightning wielder alone. Shade needed to find them before they got hurt.

But Shade wouldn’t make it very far, alone and in a state like this.

But she knew someone who would still be in the Tower, locked up in a cell in the dungeon. And if he was a truthful source, he might just be willing to help her.

Hydros had been promptly locked back up when the Misfits set out to hunt down whatever had injured Shade. He had tried to warn them that it might not be the brightest idea (just look what happened to Deadly Nightshade! All that blood…) …but they had ignored him. He’d expected that. He was their prisoner, after all.

The Tower was unnervingly quiet without its inhabitants. Before, although he hadn’t realized then, he could hear the faint sounds of footsteps on the floor above him or the quiet whisper of people talking. But now, there was just… nothing.

That is, until he heard the sound of somebody struggling down the stairs.

He turned to see it was Deadly Nightshade. She was just as badly injured as before, but somehow she had managed to ignore the pain of her wounds and make it to the dungeon. Beside her was a… floating suit of armor?! Shade leaned on the animated armor for support, and the armor didn’t really seem to notice.

“Hi,” Shade said to Hydros, sounding breathless. “Um. You see, I need your help.”

************

Hydros had agreed to help Shade track down her friends, although he didn’t really know why he had agreed. He wouldn’t really gain anything by helping her; he was just putting his life in danger. But either way, he had agreed, and here he was now.

They had waited until nightfall to help cover them. After all, they didn’t know what kind of commotion an animated armor (which Hydros still had to ask Shade about), a cloaked figure (Shade), and a person who had been reported missing and investigators were trying to find (Hydros) would cause. It was best to be stealthy in a time like this.

Luckily, Shade often snuck about the city at night, and apparently had darkvision, so they were able to avoid busy streets and quickly (well, quickly-ish, since Shade was limping) make it to the forest, where the thunderstorm still raged.

“What do we do now?” Hydros asked as they stood on the edge of the forest, watching the thunderstorm rage.

“I’m still working on that part,” Shade admitted.

Hydros observed the storm. It was a sphere, with a diameter of about 40 feet, and it was located deep inside the heart of the forest.

“Maybe we should go to the storm and see if we can spot the others?” Hydros asked.

Shade nodded. “That sounds good to me.”

They approached the storm. The clouds were so thick that they couldn’t see inside, but they could still barely hear the sounds of shouts inside the storm.

“The others!” Shade gasped, and then ran into the storm.

“Wait!” Hydros called after her. “We don’t know what’s inside–”

But it was too late. Shade was gone.

Hydros had to choose now. Run, or join the fight?

Why am I doing this again? He thought, hesitating.

I’m doing this because these people, although we are sort-of enemies, gave me shelter. Protection. The stuff I needed but couldn’t get alone. 

And I want to show them how much that means to me.

And then he ran into the heart of the storm.