Jess and Tanya ran over to calm Ariana down. As they
did, Ariana tried to get out of bed, but they prevented her from doing so by holding her down.
"Ariana," Jess was speaking to her. "I know you're upset,
but you've gotta stay in bed. You're not quite well yet."
"No!" Ariana protested. "We have to save her!"
"Save who?" asked Tanya as she and Jess struggled to hold the
frantic duck.
"Angelwing! She in trouble!" Jess and Tanya exchanged
glances and nodded in silent agreement.
"I'll try and calm her down while you call Wildwing,"
Jess said.
Tanya took a few steps away and opened her wrist com.
"Uh, Wildwing?"
"Yes," he replied through his com.
"You might, uh, wanna, see this," she stuttered.
"What is it?" her leader asked.
"It's Ana, or Ariana," she stumbled for the right name.
"Oh, whoever she is."
"Is she alright?"
"Well, sorta, kinda......well, she's awake, anyway.
But she keeps yelling out, saying that Angelwing is in trouble," Tanya explained.
Wildwing looked over at Angelwing. She was still
smiling with glee after beating him a sixth time in the hockey video game. "In trouble?" Wildwing thought. "Yeah
right. She will be, though, if she beats me at this game again." Then he looked back at his com and sighed.
"Alright," he said to Tanya. "I'll be right there." He closed his com, stood up, and turned back to Angelwing.
By now, the smile on her face had faded.
"What's wrong?" she asked him.
"It's your sister."
"Is she okay?" Angelwing questioned, trying to sound
concerned. On the inside, the Spirit was grinning joyfully, but she didn't let it show on the outside, so as to prevent
suspicion.
"Yeah," Wildwing answered her. "I'm just going
to check up on her."
Angelwing's eyes lit up. "Could I go with you Wing?
Please?" she pleaded with him.
Wildwing shook his head. "I'm sorry Angelwing,
but this just isn't the right time." Angelwing's shoulders slumped, then she turned around and sat down again.
Wildwing knew that she was sad, and he felt bad about it. "I tell you what," he started and she turned to look up at
him. "Maybe you can see her later."
"Thank you," she replied, smiling. Wildwing nodded
with a slight smile, then he exited the room and ran to the infirmary.
A few minutes later, Wildwing was in the infirmary talking
to Tanya and Jess. "How is she?" the Captain asked them.
"Well," Tanya started, "she's calmed down quite a bit
since I've given her a sedative."
"Yeah, but she's fighting it though," Jess pointed out.
"She's still awake, barely, but she's conscious."
Wildwing walked over to where Ariana was laying.
She was on her back and her head was turned away. "Maybe she's asleep now," he thought. But he decided to try
and test that thought. He opened his beak, but stopped himself before he spoke. He remembered what happened the
last time someone called her 'Ariana'. She wasn't too happy about it. So, he decided to call her by her alias.
"Ana? Ana, can you hear me?"
The female duck turned her head slowly and faced her
speaker. "Please," she started quietly, "call me Ariana." She spoke slowly as she struggled to stay awake.
"Ariana," Wing repeated softly. "Are you alright?"
Ariana looked at him sadly. "What's wrong? What is it?"
"You have to save my sister, Angelwing. Please,
she's in trouble."
"What kind of trouble?" Wildwing pressed on.
"I just left her in her room and she's fine. There's nothing wrong," he told her.
Ariana was getting frustrated. "No, I don't know."
Wildwing could see the tears forming in her eyes. "I just know she's in danger. I can sense it."
All this time, Tanya and Jess had been standing several
feet away, listening closely. Both of them were suprised to hear that Ariana cared so much for her sister.
"But I thought she hated Angelwing," Tanya whispered
to Jess.
Jess shook her head. "No," she whispered back.
"They're sisters. So, no matter how much they say they hate each other, deep down, they truly love and care for one
another." She looked at Wildwing, who was motioning for her to come over. She started walking over when the male
duck met her half way and turned her away from Ariana.
He had just remembered that he left Angelwing unguarded,
and he explained to Jess that he left in a hurry. "Could you go check up on her and keep an eye on her?" Wildwing
quietly asked her. She nodded and left immediately.
"Wha- what's going on?" Ariana spoke from behind them..
Wildwing turned around to look at her.
"Nothing. I just sent Jess to check on Angelwing
to make sure she's alright, okay?" Wildwing said to reassure her. She nodded slowly. "Now, you go to sleep,
stop fighting it. You need your rest."
"But Angelwing-" she protested.
Tanya walked over and put a finger to her beak.
"Shh, she'll be fine," she hushed Ariana. "Don't worry, we'll take good care of her."
Ariana smiled weakly, then layed her head back down and
fell asleep. The remaining two ducks were relieved to finally see Ariana give in to her drowsiness.
"So what do you think she meant by Angelwing being in
trouble?" Tanya asked her leader.
"I don't know for sure," he answered. "But I do
think she's telling the truth."
Tanya's eyes widened in a surprised expression.
"You mean, you really think Angelwing is in danger?!"
"Mmm," Wildwing nodded, "and I have a feeling Dragaunus
has something to do with it."
Meanwhile............
After Wildwing had left Angelwing behind in her room,
she began planning her escape. "Excellent! He's gone!" she exclaimed. "He was in such a rush, I bet he didn't
even lock the door." She made her way over to the panel and punched in the code, then the door slid open.
A smile spread across her face as she stepped out into
the hallway. "Am I good, or what?" Angelwing looked both ways down the hall and saw no one. "The others
must be getting ready for practice," she assumed. "Which means, this should be a cinch." She carefully crept down
the hall and stopped at the next corner, peering around to make sure the coast was clear. Still, she didn't see anyone,
just as she hoped.
"Angelwing?!" a voice suddenly called out from behind
her, taking her by surprise. Angelwing winced and then slowly turned around.
"Jess!" she cheered, sounding happy and smiling too.
While on the insice, she was cursing herself for forgetting about the Ducks' human friends. "How could've I forgotten
about them?!" she thought. "What are you doing here?" she asked Jess.
"Actually, I was about to ask you the same," the human
girl replied. Angelwing just stood there, speechless, searching for the right words. "I thought Wildwing locked
your door," Jess continued.
"He did, or, I thought he did," Angelwing stuttered.
Jess cocked her head and looked at her strangely. "He must have forgot when he ran off to check on Ariana," Angelwing
quickly added.
"Then why are you out here, sneaking around?" questioned
Jess.
Once again, the female duck stumbled around for an answer.
"Well, uh...." Angelwing thought to herself. "Wait a minute! What am I doing, allowing myself to be persecuted
by this worthless human?! There's no one around. I'll just get rid of her now!" She smiled devilishly and
slowly pulled out her duck saber.
Meanwhile, Jess was looking and feeling confused.
"Angelwing? What are you doing?"
Angelwing grinned at her and held the saber in front
of her. "You know Jess, you ask too many questions," she said to the human as she pointed the blade at her, merely inches
away from Jess.
Jess noticed the expression on Angelwing's face and realized
that she wasn't joking. But this wasn't like Angelwing at all. Something was obviously very wrong. "What
ever you're thinking Angel, don't!" she told her.
The smile on Angelwing's face grew wider by the second.
"Alright, but just to let you know, I was thinking of letting you live."
"What?!" Jess shouted as she caught on to the duck's mind game.
With a single move, Angelwing swiftly thrusted her sword foward,
with hopes of piercing through Jess's body, as Jess let out a blood curdling scream.
To be continued..............
Disclaimer: All original characters are owned and copyrighted by Disney, all others
are owned by me.
