Swiftwind: For The Win

Nick Fury rushes into the training room right, distracting Rogers long enough for Swiftwind to nail him with a well-aimed kick to the gut. Recoiling, he glares at her. She shrugs and smiles happily. "That's five me, nothing you." 
"Enough of this. We have real matters to attend to." Swiftwind and Rogers watch Nick as he paces back and forth. "We've received intelligence that she is confirmed dead." he announces. "And no, we haven't told him yet. But he'll find out soon enough. She was found earlier this morning underneath rubble after one of those storms collapsed the building she was in. She was alive until just moments ago. I came to tell you that we found her, but, on the way here, the news came that she was gone. I can only assume that this is somehow your doing." He glares daggers at Swiftwind, who seems surprised. 
"Now, wait." Rogers puts in, "how is this her fault? She's been trying to calm this thing since she got here." Nick turns away.
"It is because she's here that this happened. Of all these so-called 'realms', she just had to stumble into ours and mess it up." Swiftwind sits on the ground and thinks.
"Well, where is her body right now?" she asks. Fury seems startled.
"In the infirmary. About to be transferred now." Swiftwind transforms into a cheetah and bounds out of the room and up the stairs into the main corridor. Passing several doors, she finally enters the infirmary, only to be met by Thor. He's leaning over a woman's body. Rogers catches up moments later, and lays a hand on his comrade's shoulder. 
"Just like my dream..." she whispers. She walks over  to where Jane Foster lays, lifeless, on a bed. Swiftwind looks at Rogers and smiles. "I can fix it." she breathes. Rogers turns to her, curious.
"She's already dead. There's no way." She smiles at him.
"I'm a Realm Traveler. My powers are to heal anything and control the air surround us. Furthermore, I can do all things, through Christ, who gives me strength." She stretches out her hands over Jane and mutters something in Latin. A bright flash of white overtakes everyone, and, when it fades, Swiftwind is gone. Jane's eyes flutter open, and she smiles up at Thor. Rogers, too stunned to move, just stands there, a tear slowly streaking down his face. Thor notices this, and sighs.
"What she did, only a true hero can do. To sacrifice oneself for the good of another is truly admirable." he concludes. Rogers clenches his fists in anger.
"But why?! First Peggy, now Swift." 
"She is a hero, it's what she does." They wait in silence for a few moments, until another burst of light follows. Swiftwind emerges from this light as it fades and smiles.
"A nice sentiment, but I'm not dead." Rogers rushes to her and holds her tightly. "I'm a cat, remember? Nine lives? I've only got five left, but who's keeping track anyway?" Rogers kisses her passionately. She backs up, blushing furiously. "I- er- um..." She shakes her head, trying to clear her mind. "Aslan!" she calls out. "Did you hear him? A hero! You know what that means?" Through the window, the sky turns blue again, and the storm clouds melt away. She hugs Rogers and kisses him back. "Challenge cleared." she breathes.

Truth and Blame

TrailBlaiser and RiverFlyte sit across from each other on the floor, their faces dimly lit bythe moonlight treaming in from the window above. "So? That's the secret." she finishes. RiverFlyte lets out a breath.
"Wow. I had no idea that all that was linked. But, this isn't just between you and me. This involves her too." TrailBlaiser lowers her head.
"I know. I'm just afraid to tell her. But, I guess that's not the only thing. There's one more secret. It's not mine, it's Sugar's. I would usually let my agents settle their problems alone but, as second-in-command, it's something you should know." She leans over and whispers something to him. His eyes widen.
"How long have you known?" he asks. 
"A few weeks." His eyes cloud over with thought. "April, Sep. April." He clenches a fist.
"If Kopa doesn't-" he's cut off as TrailBlaiser kisses him.
"He promised exactly what you promised me." she breathes. "Great Aslan, you have no idea how amazing it feels to kiss you without Night Crystal influencing me. Now I can love without... lusting." RiverFlyte watches her as she looks away.
"You were tainted. That's not your fault." he assures her. She scoots closer to him, leans into his shoulder, and closes her eyes, taking in his scent.
"It's just, my thoughts traveled where they would never go. I have a sheild built up against attacks on my purity, but, when the Night Crystal invaded, the walls shattered. I wanted to....." she cuts herself off and weeps. He holds her gently and strokes her hair.
"I understand. I love you, and I could tell that you were always on edge around me, even when you told me you loved me. I could tell because, your voice changed tone around me. Like you were straining, ever so slightly, to say more than what your words meant. But it wasn't how you normally say more than words, it was like there was a whole different voice speaking. It all makes sense now. But I need you to know, no matter what happened to you in these last months, it wasn't your fault. You were unstable, up to the point where anything could make you crack. Only Slade is to blame, not you. Slade and whoever let him get a hold of the Crystals. I don't blame you." He kisses her forehead. "I love you." 
"I love you too." she whispers. They sit in sinlence until sleep overtakes her, and RiverFlyte carries her to her bed and lays her down gently. Covering her with a blanket, he leans over to kisses her goodnight.
"Dream peacefully, my Lenora. For once in a long time." He slips out of the room, shutinng the door silently behind him.

Shimmer Stone

Several hours later, TrailBlaiser's still writhing about, tied up in ropes. Rabbitleap and RiverFlyte exchange looks. "What do we do about her?" Rabbitleap asks. "If she's really cracked under pressure, we might have to..." she trails off. RiverFlyte's expression is unreadable.

"I know. Earlier, she said she spoke to Aslan about the prophecy, but I'm beginning to wonder if she actually did, because she was hysterical afterward." He gets lost in thought, watching as TrailBlaiser practically strangles herself trying to get the amulet.

"Maybe we should contact Aslan? Or DragonFyre?" Rabbitleap offers. "I mean, most artifact over-loads dissolve after an hour or two without the artifact. This has been five. If she doesn't get control again, we'd have to go further than just tying her up. You know that, don't you?" RiverFlyte nods.

"Yes, I'm aware. And, as much as I don't want to, I'd have to. For the good of the Realm Travelers. We can't have an unstable agent. Ecspecially as our leader. There has to be an explanation." He picks up the amulet, which intices more screams and begging from TrailBlaiser, and examines it. He seems puzzled, and compares it to his own. "Something's not right. It doesn't look the same..." A sparkle on his own amulet catches his eye. "Of course! The stabilizers are broken! The Shimmer Stone on either side of the amulet has been tainted, making them worthless!" He shows the amulet to Rabbitleap, who nods her head in agreement.

"That makes sense. Recently, she has exhibited unusual behavior. Not just this week, either. Even before Persia showed up, she's been acting weird. Like when she attacked Swiftwind because of protocal. Or when she created a magic sword to kill the Supreme Custodian, screaming with bloodlust. But, tainting stablizers made to withstand a drama queen like her would be close to impossible. She'd have to be exposed to extreme evil." RiverFlyte paces back and forth, then stops, his eyes meeting TrailBlaiser's. She glares hard at him, barring her teeth and snarling like a mad dog. 

"She was. Back in April. When Slade was torturing her with Night Crystal  Not only did he bring it near her, but he had a knife made of it, which he cut her with. She still has the scar on her left cheek. The Titans didn't know. It happened when she was taken away from us for questioning. She only told me." He opens a small box on the shelf where the amulet was placed, and takes out a pair of ice fragments. He breaks off the old, gray stabilizers and puts the shining ones on her amulet. Bending down to TrailBlaiser, he artifact around her neck and unties the ropes. She closes her eyes for a moment, and, when she opens the again, they are no longer flames, but bright green. She throws her arms around him, and kisses him deeply.

"Thank you." she breathes. "Thank you for not giving up on me. For figuring it out. Truthfully, I haven't been thinking clearly for months, and it just kept getting worse. Thank you!" He holds her tightly.

"Now that you're sane again, can you tell me that huge secret Aslan was talking about?" Doubt flashes in her eyes.

"Not right now. I promise, I will, but not now. Meet me in my room at midnight." She adds this last sentence quietly, her voice barely a whisper. "I promise, I won't keep this secret from you any longer, Septimus."

Leo Goes Wacko

Wesley watches as Persia leaps through the rainbow portal, which dissolves immediately afterward. "Yes!" TrailBlaiser cries out triumphantly. "A magical signature! Woo!" She quickly scans the magic residue, and her face falls. "What? What do you mean it's not identical to Persia's original?!" she screams at the computer. The other agents watch her bemusedly. "It has to be! I'm Agent freakin' TrailBlaiser! I'm in charge and I say it's identical!" The test runs negative again. "Son of a-!" she's cut off by an amused RiverFlyte, who puts his hand on her shoulder. 

"Let it go, TrailBlaiser. You have a realm signature, that's all we need. Now it's on database and you can stop spazzing out about it." he reasons. She clenches her fist tightly, activating her magic and melting the controls. Liquid metal drips to the floor in a shiny puddle. "Was that necessary?" TrailBlaiser storms off.

"I'm Agent TrailBlaiser! Everything I do is necessary!" She slams the door to the Elemental Commons. RiverFlyte hangs his head. 

"What was Aslan thinking? He picked her to be leader? She can't even keep her temper let alone be in charge of everyone else!" Sapphire remarks. 

"Yeah. But, as much as she talks and acts like she can take on the world, she can't bring herself to do it. She can hurl threats all day, but she never makes good on them. She's the leader because she's incorruptible. Aslan blessed her to always know right from wrong, even in the toughest situations. Whether she always listens is another thing." RiverFlyte explains. A loud crash resounds from the Commons, and a burst of red light follows. Shortly afterward, the fire alarm goes off and the sprinklers start, resulting in a few choice words from TrailBlaiser.

"Wow." Terrance observes. "She is mad." Wesleys smacks him over the head.

"Great observation, Sherlock." he groans. RiverFlyte opens the door, only to have a vase and a blast of fire shot at his head. He quickly shuts it, the tips of his hair singed.

"Um, Rabbitleap? I think you should go. Girl to girl?" he suggests. Rabbitleap nods, trying to hide a smile. As she enters, another crash follows.

"What?!" TrailBlaiser screeches from behind the door. They hear Rabbitleap say something inaudible. "I am not! I'm being completely rational!" Another crash. "You can just shut your face before I break it!" They hear a loud thud and RiverFlyte rushes in, throwing the doors open. TailBlaiser's lying on the floor, tied up in a blanket, struggling to free herself, her fire amulet tossed across the room. "Gimme that! It's mine!" she screeches. Her eyes blaze furiously, every trace of her sea-green eyes wiped out by flames. RiverFlyte picks the artifact up and puts it on a high shelf, just out of her reach. She struggles more, desperately trying to get it. "Mine! Mine! Septimus, as your superior officer, I command you to give me that amulet!" RiverFlyte watches her struggle.

"Sorry, but, according to Article Two in the Realm Traveler Code, 'any officer exhibiting malicious and/or detrimental behavior due to artifact exposure is to be separated from the artifact until the effects ware off.'" he quotes. "And for you, that might take a while."

Deeper and Deeper...

"So?" Rogers asks. "What did she say?" Swiftwind collapses face-first onto a couch.

"She yelled at me, then refused to help me, then hung up on me. Twice. And I'd try calling again, but it won't go through, meaning she got so fed up with me that she destroyed her communicator." Swiftwind sighs. Rogers sits beside her.

"Wow. Anger issues, much?" he  jokes. Swiftwind brushes some hair out of her face.

"Yeah, no kidding. By the way, has Fury gotten any info on Jane Foster's whereabouts?" she asks. Rogers shakes his head.

"No. Thor's been trying to get Heimdall, the gate keeper, to see if he can spot her, but no such luck. It's almost like she's vanished off the face of the planet." Swiftwind shrugs.

"It happens. Especially when Realm Travelers are around. Though, It would be nice to know where she went. As far as we know, if she isn't here, she must be in another Realm or something. But, the Realm Travelers didn't take her, and the Mystique wouldn't venture into our territory without permission. So, I'm all out of ideas. I would call and ask TrailBlaiser if she has any leads, but she probably smashed her communicator... again. That hot-head..." 

TrailBlaiser wakes up the next morning, this time fully rested. She picks up what's left of her communicator and sends a blast of energy at it, fixing it. "I see you're feeling better." RiverFlyte comments.

"Yeah. My magic's back, too. Not quite as strong, but still." She produces a small flame in her hands, tossing it about and playing with it. "It's good to be in control again." The fire dissolves and TrailBlaiser walks into her closet, searching for the right outfit. She decides on a short, green sundress and snaps her fingers, covering herself  and the dress in flames. When the smoke clears, she's wearing the dress and her other clothes are in a hamper on the other side of the room.  

"Neat trick." he observes. She curtseys slightly.

"Thanks. I figured I'd go outside today. It's so boring being locked up in here all the time." She exits the room, goes down a few corridors, and ends up in front of a few double doors. Pushing them open, birds suddenly start chirping, as if anticipating her arrival. "Okay, okay, that's enough. This isn't some Disney movie. Cool it." The chirping gets softer as she walks down a winding trail. She hears footsteps behind her, and turns to see RiverFlyte behind her. "'Bout time you showed up." she comments. He shrugs.

"You know I'd never pass up an opportunity to be with you. Especially since I'm not sure how much of that I'll have. Considering you always throw your life away for others." he remarks. TrailBlaiser glares.

"I'm sorry, does my being a hero bother you? Should I just let people get hurt? Knowing full well that I could stop it?" She storms off, leaving RiverFlyte chasing after her. "What does he know?" she growls quietly. "If he loved me, he wouldn't question my decisions. Honestly, if I died, for real, at least I wouldn't have to live in fear of my secret anymore..." She drops to her knees and clasps her hands together. "Why? Why did I come back when I was already in Aslan's Country? You know all my secrets, so why did you send me back here where I have to hide? Why can't I tell anyone?!" She cries silently, but a slow feeling of peace covers her. A great beast pads up to her, and licks her face. As her eyes meet his, she instantly recognizes him. "Aslan!" she cries out, hugging him around the mane. "Please, take me back!" 

"Lenora, your life is here. And it is a life you must be more careful to preserve. Septimus loves you, yet you don't love him how you should. Don't keep your life a secret from him. He needs to know." She searches his eyes.

"But why? Why does he need to know? Why does anyone need to know?"

"Something will happen, something to test both you, RiverFlyte, and-"

"Please! I know who you're going to say, just... don't." His gaze softens.

"The truth will come out. That... is your challenge." Aslan turns his gaze toward the horizon. "I must go. I pour my blessings upon you, Agent TrailBlaiser." She watches in awe as he bounds away. Moments later, RiverFlyte finally catches up to her. 

"What's your problem?" he asks. TrailBlaiser wraps her arms around him and cries.

"Aslan spoke to me. He told me my challenge. The prophecy..." she weeps.

"I don't understand. Why are you crying? This is a good thing. We have a clue to what is expected. What did he tell you?" he asks. TrailBlaiser kisses him.

"I can't... I just can't..." she breathes. "No one can know. But he told me to tell you. I just can't." He's too shocked to speak, so they just stand there, holding each other, as the birds continue to sing overhead.

Wake at Own Risk

That morning, TrailBlaiser is awoken by a small buzzing on her bedside. RiverFlyte, who slept beside her while she was unable to to much of anything, sleepily looks over at the buzzing, bedazzled communicator. He picks it up while TrailBlaiser watches. "This is Swiftwind calling TrailBlaiser. Not RTHQ, TrailBlaiser." 
"Put it on speaker." TrailBlaiser groans. RiverFlyte does this and sets the communicator back down.
"You've got a very weak and tired TrailBlaiser. Be-tee-dubs, RiverFlyte's also here." 
"What? But, it's, like, three in the morning according to my time. What's RiverFlyte doing there?" He buries his face in a pillow.
"Trying to sleep..." he mumbles. TrailBlaiser ignores him.
"He's been taking care of me since I almost died. Again. Details later. So, what's up with you that's so freakin' important it couldn't wait 'til morning." she growls.She hears a laugh from Swiftwind's end.
"Aren't you a morning person?" she jokes. 
"My sense of humor doesn't wake up for a few hours, to keep this simple, shall we?" she groans.
"Fine, fine. I think I've discovered how to finish the challenge." This gets TrailBlaiser and RiverFlyte's attention. "My gift in this realm was healing, so, obviously, it has something to do with that. Thor's girlfriend, What's-her-face,  has recently gone missing and he's freaking out. I think it has something to do with the disruption and somehow, by reuniting them, the mission will be complete." They wait in silence.
"That's it?" TrailBlaiser asks. "What does that have to do with becoming a hero?"
"Hero's help people, right? And helping Thor find his girl would be something a hero would do." Swiftwind reasons.
"Girl, I am not helping you right now, mostly because I have no sense of intelligence because I'm about to fall asleep right now. I'll talk in the morning. When it's daylight. For now, sleep..." She whacks the communicator, shutting off the device. 
"You think she actually figured it out?" RiverFlyte asks. "That would require severe analyzing on both our parts. Perhaps we should help her." TrailBlaiser cuddles up next to him.
"No analyzing. Sleep..." she mumbles through his shirt. He kisses her gently.
"Alright, alright. We'll talk in the morning." They settle down, and are drifting off, when the communicator buzzes again.
"Give it here." TrailBlaiser commands. RiverFlyte obliges, handing her the device. "Swiftwind again." With a mighty effort, she throws it against the wall, destroying it. It lays in a crumpled heap on the carpet. 
"Well, most people silence it, but that works too..." RiverFlyte observes.
"Shut your face." she growls. "I'm tired and if anything wakes me up before sunrise again it will die in flames."  She glances up at RiverFlyte. "Even you." RiverFlyte strokes her hair.
"Love you, too."  

MagicRainbow123

Yeah, this was a post written by the talented, Magicrainbow123 on her site, Prolific Quest. However, I decided it needed a little flair, so, here we go.

After a hard day of training with Wesley (who would have thought that a nerd could fight?) we finally retired rest a little. And no, my powers still haven't shown up yet. Major bummer! Fortunately, the pink mist didn't show up either, but the fear of it drove me to stay awake all night.The next morning, when I finally emerged from Swiftwind's chambers, decked out in the new clothes the Headmistress sent me, I spotted Wesley again. He took one look at me an immediately noticed something was up. "Um, Persia?" he questions. "Did you get any sleep last night?" I nod slowly, trying not to let my head droop too low. "Yeah, cause that's totally believable." Darn! My cover is blown! He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and led me back to his room, since we were closer to his and I was too lazy to walk back to my own. He gestured for me to lie down, which I quickly complied to. 
"Sparkly..." I sighed, almost delirious. He rested a hand on my forehead.
"You have a slight fever, on top of being sleep deprived. No wonder you're seeing things. I'll get you some breakfast." She grabs his arm.
"Wait," she begs, "I... I love you..." Wesley stares at her, too stunned to speak. "Someday, I'll be you're girlfrien-" I break off as the embrace of sleep overtakes me. Terrance walks into the room a few moments later, while Wesley still stares.
"Dude, what is she doing here? And what's with you?" Wesley slowly comes to grips with reality.
"She's got a fever and she's sleep deprived. I took her in here so she could rest. And I probably look his way because she just told me she loves me and wants to be my girlfriend." Terrance gives him an incredulous look. "Like I said, fever and sleep deprivation. She's probably a little delirious. I'm sure she'll be back to thinking clearly once she's rested." Terrance nods.
"Yeah, aren't girlfriend's troublesome? Sapphire's also been crazy. It's liked she's wired to get irritated at everything like, every month or something, for a week." Wesley face-palms.
"That's 'cause she is, idiot." he explains.
"Oh... Wait, what?" Wesley drags his friend out of the room.
"It's called, oh, nevermind. Ask Sapphire, at your own peril. Or, better yet, ask RiverFlyte. If anyone's had experience with over-emotional, hormone raging teenage girls, it's him. He does spend a lot of time with TrailBlaiser. And, when she gets mad..." he trails off and shudders at the thought.