The Finders and all characters not previously owned and found in their company are copyright to each of their players. Elfquest and its concept is a registered trademark, and its logos, characters, situations and their distinctive likenesses are trademarks of WaRP Graphics, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. However, there are no trademarked Elfquest characters found in this story.

Who Silenced Twitter’s Song?

Part 1

By Twittersong
 
 A mist sprayed up from the base of the mountainous waterfall, and soft laughter was heard close by. It grew nearer and nearer.
 "I found you, Daddy!"
 "Oh kit, you're getting good at this game."
 "It's my turn, it's my turn!"
 "Okay. My eyes are closed… ONE… TWO…." The giggling faded in the distance as the young kit ran to hide, disappearing into the mist again. "TEN!" 
 'Where is she?' he thought as he searched for the bright colors of his daughter's clothes. He raised his hand to dissipate the mist but knew that it would be cheating, and his fellow player, who also considered herself the judge, would have his head for it. He came to a point where the mist had cleared and he examined every tree with careful inspection. He then noticed, with keen eye, from behind one tree, a foot protruding. 
 'Sweet, sweet kit,' he thought while laughing inside, 'When will you learn to hide properly?'
 The watershaper walked past the tree speaking quite loudly. "Where did she go? Where is my precious youngling?" Muffled giggles cried out from behind the tree. "Oh, High Ones, I don't know if I'll ever find her." Slowly the longhaired elf tiptoed back to the tree, which the shoe revealed to be a hiding place. The giggles were suddenly silenced.
 "Gotcha!" he yelled as he poked his head around the tree, only to see his daughter’s shoe and feel a tap on his lower back. He turned around to see the giggler floating behind him.
 "You used your powers. Isn't that cheating?"
 "Noooo, Daddy, not when you're hiding."
 He knew the rules changed upon her position in the game, but he didn't care. He was happy. The fair skinned girl ran into the ocean of green, again disappearing behind trees as she went.
 "Twitter, wait! Twitter!" Wavetrapper shouted as he tried t catch up. Dodging trees as he charged towards them, catching a glimpse of red hair as it zoomed across any open space. Finally, he saw the girl dash behind another tree and remain at rest there. This time, because he was out of breath, he slowly walked over to the tree and circled around it. The tree must have been larger than it had looked, because it seemed to take forever to get around. As he curved those last few steps so he could see his daughter, he heard a familiar send. 
 **Marin…** 
 He closed is eyes, and when he opened them again, he jumped, for instead of the young, redheaded girl, there was Jade, the spitting image of beauty itself. He realized he had been daydreaming again and hoped he would not be in trouble for his thoughts.
 "A dream about your daughter, yes?" She ran her fingers across the sweating elf's forehead.
 "Uh, I suppose it was." He swallowed to stop his voice from possibly shaking.
 "Quite sweet," she said as she pulled herself up from the furs and walked over to the small pool of steaming water that was shaped by Marin, slowly submerging her body and motioning the coward elf towards her. Marin obeyed and entered the water, feeling the heat rise through his body and warming every bit of him. The steam rose from the water, filling the corner of the room where the pool lay before escaping through a small window nearby.
 "Do you think about her often?" Jade asked as she soaked her hair in the water, leaving it smooth and shimmery, like black silk.
 "Occasionally, that's all," he lied. The white haired elf tried to relax his body so to not look tense, but Jade knew he was lying.
 "Do you wish to leave me, to go to her?" She moved closer to him in a seducing manner, and placed a hand on his chest so she could feel his heartbeat.
 Marin looked at her long slender fingers on his chest and his heart began to race, not from fear, but lust. **No, I do not want to leave. I want to be here, in your embrace.**
 With that, Jade rose to her full height in the water, exposing every part of her flesh and slowly lowered herself onto Marin.
 
** **
 
 Longrunner sat by the fire, watching Smokeweaver warm the last of the meat for the meal that evening. The hunt did not turn out too successful, but it would be enough to fill the tribe for the night and in the morning Smokeweaver would gather berries and make a salad that would boost their spirits and their energy.
 "Mmm… You can make anything smell sweet 'Weaver," he smiled.
 Crystal came from her den to see how the food was coming. She sat down next to Longrunner, hugging her knees and staring at the fire.
 "How is your sister and her kit coming along today?" the messenger asked as he blew a little steam away from his face.
 "He's fussy, and noisy," pouted the young rockshaper. Longrunner and Smokeweaver had known Crystal since she was born and knew she liked to be the center of attention. Since the smallest member of the tribe had just started to come into his powers, all attention was on him. Especially Twittersong's, who, like an overprotective mother, was worried the elves at the Black Mountains may find interest in him, or that he may cause harm to himself. So, she kept watchful eye over him, and since he wanted to wander, Twittersong refused to let him go anywhere out of her range, restricting the boy to a small perimeter around her. So, quite frankly, Crystal felt a little left out.
 " I wish your mother would let him out and about more often. He rose maybe a toe's length of the floor the other day and she made it as though he'd been hunted by humans and the like," Smokeweaver sighed lightly. The food was now done and the cook motioned for Crystal to lift the lid of the pot. When she did, the air filled with such a sweet aroma, every elf in the holt could smell it, and they started heading for the fire. The first the three elves saw was little Dak. No more than two seasons old he was waddling his way over as fast as he possibly could. Drooling and licking his lips, he'd trip, get up, and start running again. The next to enter their view was Twittersong, frantically trying to catch up to the tan skinned boy that had nimbly gotten away from her, so he could be the first to eat. The three observers laughed at the sight of the little kit outrunning his elder.
 "Mother, settle down. You don't see him flying out here do you? He's fine. Like Duskwhisper said, he may show slight glider characteristics once in a great while long before he may come to his full power."
 "Yes, Mother," Imberglow strolled in after the glider. "He is in no danger. Let him have his fun. You act as if he is your son, sometimes." Dak stood, with arms outstretched to his mother. Imberglow picked him up and sat him on her lap as she sat down. The wide-eyed elf sat and took in all his surroundings. Now came the rest of the tribe, chatting and dancing as Jrean and Wisedove played a duet on pipes they had recently made. Wisedove had shaped her own, but Jrean whittled his, saying he wanted it to be a piece of himself.
 They all sat down and started serving themselves when Windweaver noticed someone was missing. Not only someone but two tribe members, and one was no mere member, but the chieftess.
 "Has anyone seen Duskwhisper? I just realized, she's not here," he announced to the tribe. They looked around at each other, noting who was there, and who wasn't.
 "Rayen's missing, too. They must be together, fighting most likely." Wisedove took another sip of water from a wooden cup she had shaped that day.
 "I don't know why she bothers with him," Longrunner stuffed another piece of meat in his already full mouth. 
 "Yeah!” Jrean added. “I mean, does he have to be so mean to her? Sometimes he can be really rude and insensitive." Everyone seemed to look at him with a bit of a smirk on their faces, remembering how he had acted with Imberglow in the beginning. Imberglow gave him a nudge with her elbow, and he choked a little on a piece of meat. The tribe snickered.
 Then in stormed Duskwhisper, flustered and steaming. She plopped down and sliced a shank off the carcass, wiping her dagger on the grass before stuffing it back into its sheath. 
 "Well, hello to you, too, Chieftess. And how are you this fine evening?" Summerstream offered her some water, which she took with a grunt. 
 "I'm just fine. Thank you for asking."
 At that moment, Rayen waltzed in. He nodded at the tribe in a gesture that said, 'Hello,' and sat down in front of the fire across from Duskwhisper.
 "What you do this time?" Windweaver questioned the blue-eyed elf, who seemed to be amused by Duskwhisper's mood.
 "I just said hello to her, that's all." Windweaver raised an eyebrow at Rayen. "Okay, so maybe she was up in a tree, and I said it really loud, and kinda, sorta, in a way, startled her and she fell…" Rayen shot Windweaver a glance that seemed to say, ‘Yeah, I feel guilty,’ but Windweaver was busy trying to hold back laughter. He found it very funny, imagining how it must have happened. 
 Duskwhisper looked up at her tribe mate with a puzzled expression. "Why are you laughing?" Rayen began to snicker. "What's so funny?" Their snickers broke out into full-blown laughter. "What?"
 "Nothing, Chieftess," Windweaver wiped a tear from his eye. “Just a story Rayen was telling me." 
 Duskwhisper glared at Rayen. "You think it's funny for someone to sneak up on you while you are reflecting on the day and scare the daylights out of you, causing you to plummet to the earth, only to be snatched from deaths door by the very one who caused you to fall?" she demanded overdramatically. Certainly, she’d been frightened, but she had never truly believed she was going to die from a little fall.
 "Well, he sure made a good catch!" Windweaver and Rayen burst into laughter again, this time accompanied by giggles and snickers from the rest of the tribe. It was infectious.
 "Oh you think you're so funny." Her blazing green eyes looked from Finder to Finder, "I don't know why you are all laughing!" She felt a smile start on her face, and tried to push it back. "I don't know why you find it funny. There's nothing funny about someone being sacred out of their life and falling from atop a tree." Her lips quivered as she fought to hold her own laughter in.
 "How about the time Twit was startled by a starbug while a little tipsy on dreamberry juice a few moons ago?" chimed in Smokeweaver. "Did you not laugh then?" Duskwhisper could no longer hold it in and exploded into laughter. She had forgotten how funny Twittersong had looked when she fell before she remembered her powers and saved herself a foot's length above the ground.
 "Okay, okay, so maybe it is funny, but, still, it wasn't a very nice thing to do. What if you hadn't caught me?" The laughter suddenly died down.
 "I'm sorry, Duskwhisper,” Rayen broke the sudden silence. “I didn't think anything bad would have happened."
 The tribe enjoyed the rest of the evening by the fire for as long as they could, then they went back to their dens and fell asleep. All except for 
Twittersong. Something seemed to be bothering her.
 **Cath,** Summerstream wrapped his arm around his lifemate's slender waist. **Why are you not sleeping? It's late.**
 Breaking the silence of the night, Twittersong whispered, "You know how Duskwhisper went on the quest to find her father because she felt something calling her?" The brown-eyed warrior nodded. "Well, I feel something is calling me. Not pulling at me like Duskwhisper experienced, just calling."
 Summerstream sat up and looked at the mother of his children, lying amongst the furs, "Get some rest tonight, we will talk to Duskwhisper tomorrow."
 
** **
 
 'I'm endangering her. I'm endangering myself. Why do I even try to contact her? My life is so good here. I am protected. I have everything I want, everything I need. I have power, love… I have a new life… But I don't have my daughter.' Marin fought over his thoughts as he sat staring out the window that overlooked the one spot of the forest that held the tribe his daughter was with. He had missed her all these years, but had pledged his life to Venyah and gave up the life he had. He never thought he would see his daughter again. And how beautiful she had become, reminding him so much of her mother. **Cath, I love you my daughter.**
 From another room, Jade was listening in on Marin’s thoughts. 'So, you love your daughter, do you? And you miss her? She may cause a problem for you lovemate, in the instance where you may have to chose to which you are more loyal; your own blood, or your own life.' Jade smiled as she placed a single dreamberry into her mouth. 'We shall deal with this immediately.'
 **Marin, come to me.** 
 Marin jumped as he received this sending, it was strong and rang in his head. He exited his room and entered the hallway in the mountain. He walked to Jade's chambers and entered, head lowered to show respect. 
 She continued to send. **I feel that this daughter of yours is causing you too much confusion, I fear your loyalty may wander from us to her. We cannot let that happen. You gave us your life, in return we gave you power, and happiness. Do you want to back to what you were? How you were?** Her eyes widened and he was suddenly plagued of visions of how his life used to be. He felt the fear, and his body was filled with the feeling of paranoia, of uncertainty, of the feeling of being hunted down. And just as it came, it was gone. Marin fell to the floor tears in his eyes, holding his chest. 
 **Now, do you understand how serious this situation is?** A smirk spread across Jade's face.
 **Yes,** Marin whimpered on the floor. **Please, I am sorry.** Tears streamed down his face. 
 Jade walked over to Marin and stroked his cheek. **I know you are. I just needed to remind you of what I am capable of. You do understand don't you?**
 **Yes. I shall never forget again. Never.**
 **And to make sure you do not, I shall leave you with a constant reminder.** She gazed out the window and reached out her powers to the one thing that may be more important than the Black Mountains to Marin His daughter. All the while, she opened his mind so he may see what exactly what his daughter was going through.
 
** **
 
 Twittersong finally was able to get to sleep. She was dreaming of flying through the night sky, when, in her dream, she saw her father in front of her, laughing mechanically. Then, she began to fall, and she awoke wracked with pain.
 A scream howled from Twittersong's den. A sharp pain ran through the glider’s ears, causing them to bleed. The whole holt awoke to her yells.
 **DUSKWHISPER, COME QUICK! SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH TWITTERSONG'S EARS!! PLEASE!!** Summerstream sent frantically, trying helplessly to stop the pain his lifemate was feeling.
 Duskwhisper ran as fast as she could to their den. When she arrived, she found Windweaver and Longrunner there as well, and soon after she arrived, the rest of the Finders joined the band of worried elves. She entered and was dumbfounded by what she found. The glider was bleeding from both ears. But when she tried to heal them she could find no wound. What she did find was magic, black magic, the same kind she had found in Wisedove, Snowstreak, and she had felt if herself. Then, Twittersong's voice began to change then fade.
 "What's wrong with her voice?!" questioned Smokeweaver, who was comforting Crystal. The girl was bawling onto her shoulder. Duskwhisper placed a hand over the glider's throat and closed her eyes, concentrating hard on her vocal chords, which seemed to be tightening then paralyzed. Twittersong no longer made any noise, but her face was an open window to her pain.
 "Now take away her pain healer," Jrean said while comforting his lifemate, who was trying to settle down her child.
 "But, I didn't even stop her cries," the healer said as she placed her hands on Twittersong's ears. The Finders looked at each other, not understanding what she meant. Duskwhisper opened her mind and started searching for the problem, and sensed a film surrounding Twittersong's eardrums. Then the pain on her face was gone, just like her screams had gone.
 "Thank you healer," a worried Summerstream managed to say with tears streaming down his face.
 The healer sat back staring at her hands with a puzzled look on her face, "I didn't do anything…"
 
** **
 
 Marin remained on the floor as the vision faded from his mind, jaw dropped and shivering. Jade turned to him, with the same casual expression.
 **Do you understand?**
 Slowly he turned his face to her, like a child apologetically to his mother. **Yes,** was his simple reply. She ran her fingers through his soft white hair once again, and he got up and left to his room.
 
** **
 
 Twittersong's eyes opened. The birds were not chirping, nor the fire crackling, nor any other noise at all. She saw Summerstream standing over her. Sitting up, she spoke to him. Why did he not hear her? Why could she not hear herself? Summerstream's lips moved, but no voice came out, or could she simply not hear it? Not hear anything?
 **Lon.** She used all her effort she had left after the battle with pain she had had that night.
 **Cath! You can send…**
 **What… happened? My… ears… voice?** With her slender, shaking hands, she gestured to one tapered ear, and placed the other over her throat.
 **We think Jade may have done something to your voice and your ears. I'm ju… appy… ‘re alrig…** 
 Twittersong’s eyes widened as her lifemate’s sending passed in and out of her mind like someone ducking their head underwater. She could no longer receive the sending. Her mind was too weak and she could no longer send, speak, or hear. She was on her own. Duskwhisper entered the den, then, and knelt next to her patient. She searched for any wounds in Twittersong, but found only the same film of magic around her eardrums and vocal chords, just like the night before. Frighteningly, it so strong, she was not sure she could break through it and still be able to save her hearing and voice. If anything could be done for her, it would take a lot of time.
 
** **
 
 'My kit... my little one... I should go to her... I must go to her. But, I can't... She would know. What would she think...? What would she do? If Jade can affect my child so much from afar imagine what she could do to me her... No, forget it. I refuse to think about it. This life is good... I have no reason to leave. We are the most powerful beings in the world. Nothing else matters... not even the blood of my blood... There's nothing to be done.'
 
** **
 
TBC…