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Tornado sat up in the kitchen waiting once more as the periodic clicks of the door marked the gathering of the rebels. He sighed hoping to find some way to break the silence of the evening, a way to end the stillness.

“Oh, you’re out here!” Durza remarked coming from his bedroom. “Usually you sit alone in your room on nights like these.”

“You could use the front door once in a while,” Tornado scolded though thankful for her arrival.

“Do you know if Umbro arrived yet?” She asked looking around.

“He’s coming, too?”

“Yeah, I saw him leaving his house earlier. There’s a meeting tonight, isn’t there?”

“Ah, right. He’s a part of the main group, too.”

Slight murmuring could be heard below.

“What’s going on?” Durza questioned looking past him to the door that lead to the staircase.

“I’m not sure. I’ve never been able to hear them talking from up here before. Maybe they’re arguing.”

Durza opened the door as the voices got louder. The trap door slammed open and Umbro lifted himself up onto the stairs. When he saw them he called, “Durza, Tornado, we need you in the meeting.”

“I thought we weren’t allowed-”

“Just get over here!”

“Wait.” Barren’s voice called, “have them wear these.” Two cloths were handed up to Umbro. When Tornado and Durza were blindfolded they were led into the meeting room. They waited until Umbro brought back Ember and Pye. The members of the group discussed in murmuring voices.

“Do you know what’s going on?” Tornado whispered to Durza.

“I’m not sure.” She answered. “But they wouldn’t let us down here, even blindfolded, if they didn’t trust us.”

“We’re back.” Umbro announced leading Ember and Pye to the others.

“Umbro, what’s going on?” Pye asked as he stumbled down the stairs.

“We’re in a meeting.”

“Has everyone assembled?” A voice asked.

“Yes. They’re all here.” Umbro explained, “they’ve all become very skilled-”

“You know that’s not what we’re here to talk about.” The voice reprimanded him.

Umbro was silenced.

“Tornado.” The voice called. “You have put us in a very difficult situation. We have heard everything from Umbro. As such you are both valuable and a danger to us.”

Tornado felt the room tense around him as the whispers began again. They were silenced once again by an unseen force. Tornado let his head droop. He didn’t want to leave the rebel army. It was obvious they would see him as a threat from his blood relation. They were in danger as long as he was there.

“I understand.” He spoke. “You probably think I’m some dog that will listen to my father’s every beck and call.” He clenched his fists. “You’re wrong. I would never do anything that would hurt my friends!”

“Then you really will protect them? Even if the Dark Lord uses your most precious weakness against you?” The voice yelled, “would you still choose them if you risk loosing that?”

Ember protested, “that’s not-”

Pye pulled her back silencing her as he whispered. “He needs to figure this out on his own.”

Tornado froze, torn between his choices. His arms fell limp against his sides as he stared into the darkness of his blindfold. He couldn’t compare the two, Aero and his friends. He felt selfish for wanting to protect both at once, not wanting to choose.

“I won’t let it come to that,” Tornado told the voice. “You can think of me as foolish or even stupid, I don’t care. I won’t let them get hurt because of me. If I see that it’s getting too dangerous I’ll find a way to save them, all of them, and my weakness.” His confidence grew with every word but when the silence was all that answered he faltered. “You don’t believe me?”

A deep chuckle came from the voice. “Barren was right, it seems. You are stubborn.”

“He’s not a complete idiot,” came Barren’s monotone voice.

“So it’s agreed, right?” Umbro asked eagerly.

“Yes, yes they can take off the blindfolds,” the deep voice answered.

Tornado untied his blindfold adjusting to the light. Umbro came over to him smiling.

“What just happened?” Tornado asked.

“Welcome to the rebel army,” he answered. “They needed a little convincing but somehow we managed.”

“Does that mean we’ll be separated from now on like in the other army?” Tornado questioned.

“Do you think they’re so heartless to separate you after what you said?” Barren asked. “You will stay together as a unit working under the leaders.”

“While we’re talking about leaders,” Umbro broke in, “I’d like to hand over my position to Tornado.”

“What are you talking about?” Tornado protested.

“I want to see how you’ll do,” he explained. “If I’m less busy then I have been it’ll bring less attention to our group. Besides, I need to work on scouting out more members.”

“I understand.”

Barren nodded turning to Umbro as he spoke. “We need to discus the new possibilities.”

“You’re still concerned?” Umbro questioned as baren led him to a more private area of the room.

“The family of the one you’re scouting is closely tired to the Dark Lord. They’re known for their loyalty-”

“Their son is quite the opposite.”

“Umbro, it could be a ploy.”

“But if it isn’t we’ll just have one less member than our potential.”

“If there is enough evidence against you, who knows what the Dark Lord will do to you.” His tone was flat but Barren’s blank eyes seemed to bore into Umbro.

“I’ve known that all along, Barren.” Umbro laughed. “You taught me that the day I joined.”

Barren sighed, placing his hand on Umbro’s head. “You’ve always been reckless when it comes to your own safety. Try to remember to use your head, for once.”

The next day Umbro didn’t go to the rebel army training. As soon as the army training ended he left down the road with no explanation.

“I heard he is trying to recruit someone,” Durza explained. “He must have gone to meet them.”

“Who is he trying to recruit?” Tornado asked.

“I don’t know. I only managed to overhear that he was recruiting,” she answered.

“So much for conferencing everything,” Tornado mumbled.

“He probably is afraid to get us involved.”

“Even so-”

“Hey! Aren’t we supposed to be training?” Ember called.

“What should we do first, Tornado?” Pye asked.

Tornado was stunned for a moment still not used to he idea of being leader. “Ah, alright. Let’s get started!”



“Milord.”

“Ah, yes come in, Stan,” the Dark Lord called across the throne room. “Do you have news for me?” He leaned forward, resting his head on his fist.

“I’m afraid it’s not good news,” Stan replied with the same air. “It seems your suspicions were right. He must be getting desperate asking someone like me, whose family has such tight bonds with the Dark Lord.”

“It must be because of your reckless actions towards the higher ranks. You really should try to show them more respect, many of them have tried to set me against you.” The Dark Lord warned.

Stan laughed slightly at the warning. “I can’t seem to help myself. It’s just in my nature, you see?”

“Ah, yes. I’ve always known that about you.” The Dark Lord leaned back on his throne. “I’ll be looking forward to our next meeting.”



Tornado stayed late in the clearing after everyone left for home. He sat silently just thinking over his day. The training had gone smoothly but it wasn’t the as same when Umbro had led it. He felt like he was being too hard on everyone.

“Tornado?” A voice called as they pushed through the undergrowth in to the clearing.

“Ah, Umbro.” He stood. “I thought you couldn’t make it here today.”

“Well, not in time for training.” He laughed.

“Why are you here?”

“Just to think.” Umbro sat leaning against the tree. “Do you know why I didn’t come today?”

“Durza overheard that you were trying to recruit.”

Umbro laughed. “I’m not surprised she figured it out. I’m trying to recruit just one person in particular now,” he explaned. “But I’m playing with fire it seems.”

“You were worried about leading them to our army, just in case, right?”

“Yeah. I’m fine with getting myself hurt or in a difficult situation but the people here, especially in our group, are too precious to risk.” He sighed. “You know, when I first joined the Dark Army I already decided to make a Rebel Army. I went around eagerly finding people who disagreed with the Dark Lord. That’s part of the reason the Dark Lord hates me. People reported their suspicions. Barren was one of the higher ups at the time. One day, I got angry with the way the higher ups were treating us all. I was fed up with being sent to the Dark Lord and being reprimanded. I started yelling at the Master and all of a sudden I was picked up from the back of my shirt.” She laughed slightly to himself. “It was Barren. He had the same blank ‘I don’t want to be here’ expression on his face as he told my master, ‘let me take care of this one.’”

“What’d he do?” Tornado asked curiously.

“He carried me here, the this clearing and set up a barrier. I was terrified but I was ready to fight back even though I knew I’d never stand a chance. He walked up to me calmly and out of nowhere, I felt a fist slam across my face knocking me to the ground.” Tornado stared at him disbelieving as he continued. “He said he had to or it would be suspicious.”

“He hasn’t changed.”

“Nope, not a bit. He told me there was already a Rebel Army and I joined them that day.” He smiled. “I’ve been working for them ever since. Now I don’t care what happens to me as long as the Rebel Army can profit from it.”

“So, you’re having doubts about the person you’re recruiting?”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s why you came here, right? To think it over.”

Umbro looked up at the sky. “Huh. Maybe, I didn’t really give much thought to coming here in the first place but maybe I did it unconsciously.” He thought for a moment. “It’s fine this way. Even if I fail I won’t bring everyone down with me.”