Sleek brought Ash and Dan to the safe house at the edge of the city. There she threw ready duffel bags full of clothes for Streak, Ash, Dan, and herself into the waiting car, along with a box full of non perishables. She would go shopping once they reached the cabin down in Virginia. Then she hustled the kids into the car and sped towards the highway. Sleek pushed her worry for Streak to the back of her mind and prepared herself to answer the inevitable questions. To her surprise Dan fell asleep almost immediately, leaving the conversation to take place between her and Ash. "Why have you and Ja- I mean, Streak, been watching us? And what did Streak mean when he said that that thing, the Shadow Warrior, wanted to kill all Guardians? What are they?" Sleek had known Ash would be the one to ask the more thoughtful questions, for Streak had described both their personalities to her, but the bluntness of the question surprised her. "We've been watching you because you two are the first of the next generation of Guardians, an ancient race of beings charged with the responsibility to protect life. The Shadow Warriors are our natural enemies, though there is nothing natural about them. They want nothing more than to destroy all life, but as long as one Guardian still stands and breathes, they cannot according to ancient law." Ash nodded like she understood. The elders had said some of them would be like that. Accepting their role, while others, would attempt to reject it at first out of fear. "What happened to the last generation of Guardians?" Sleek flinched slightly at the question. She had known it would come, but still, visions of her slaughtered friends and companions filled her head. "They died in the war, 11,000 years ago." Ash made a choking sound. "Say what? You're 11,000 years old?" "Actually, I'm 15,116 years old, still young for a Guardian. We can live up to 100,000 years unless killed in battle. We can not be poisoned, and can survive in the most extreme of conditions, including less than -50 degrees below zero with no extra warmth and more than 150 degrees above zero. Celsius. We can go for months without food, water, or even sleep if we have to. We heal several times faster than the average human, though it can be slowed if we are injured bad enough, and even in our human forms our skin is ten times stronger than a humans, our bones more dense and just as many times stronger than a humans as our skin. Our senses more acute and sensitive, though mine are better than anyone's due to my own special...abilities. Some Guardians have extra abilities. Mine are heightened senses, five times better than the average Guardians, and the ability to move with absolute silence no matter what I'm doing. My sound simply ceases to exist" Sleek took a breath. Thinking back on what she just said, Sleek was making it sound like they were gods. "Let me be clear. We are not gods. We have limits and we can die. Just not easily." Ha, she thought. If only I believed that. "Does Streak have any special abilities?" This made Sleek laugh. "Yes actually. He does. His speed is unmatched. He can run up to the speed of sound, where as the average Guardian can only run up to maybe 250 miles per hour. 300 of your sacred animal is a cheetah. And he has random bursts of strength that is unrivaled by even the strongest of Guardians, who can lift up to 50 tons. Or, they could anyways. He inherited these from his parents. Speed from his mother. Strength from his father." Ash took it all in without comment. The car was silent for a few minutes. "So what's going on between you and Streak?" The question shocked her. "What do you mean?" "Oh please, the way the way you looked at him before we got on the train, and the way your eyes light up ever time you say his name or talk about him? It's kind of obvious that there's something there. Are you two dating?" "Not exactly. Guardians don't really date." This caused Ash to raise an eyebrow. "Not exactly? Don't really date?" She laughed. "Then what do Guardians do per say?" Sleek was not at all comfortable talking about this. So she changed the subject. "So how do you feel about all this?" Ash seems to notice the question dodge, but lets it go. "Honestly... its a bit overwhelming. I do have one more question though. What happened to our parents?" Uh oh. "Well... you never had any. You were created from pure magic, just like the first Guardians, for we are creatures of magic. Just not what people think of magic now a days." "Oh", she says in a small voice. Ash and Dan were told that their parents had died when they were young. Ash's in a fire. Dans in a car crash. They were orphans payed for by an inheritance left for them by the state of New York as compensation. All a lie. Streak and Sleek had found them by chance and had made sure they were taken care of. But it would have been too dangerous to adopt them. So they watched. Protected them. When they entered high school, Streak befriended them so he could stay close and protect them from any near by threats at a moments notice, to make sure they survived long enough to be able to protect themselves and begin to train under them. "I'm sorry Ash. We didn't want to risk the chance that they would find us before you were ready to receive your power. You had a better chance of remaining unnoticed without us putting our scent all over you. Though now it's too late. You're beginning to develop your own scent. The scent of a Guardian. Because in a few weeks, you will be sixteen, ready to become a full Guardian." Ash sighed. "You did what you had to." There was silence after that. Sleek stopped at a gas station to fill up. Dan woke up and immediately asked "Are we there yet? I'm hungry." Ash rolled her eyes saying, "You're always hungry Dan." He considered this for a moment. "True." Sleek laughed before saying "I'll get you something from the gas station." Dan got a bag of jerky and some powdered donuts, while Ash grabbed a sandwich and a bag of sun chips. They got back on the road. By the time they reached the cabin in Virginia, it was 8:30 p.m. . Sleek sent Ash and Dan to go find rooms while she unloaded the car. Both of them had claimed rooms on the second level of the two story cabin. Sleek took the master bedroom on the ground floor for Streak and herself. "I'm going out on patrol, stay in the cabin!" she yelled up the stairs. "Ok!" "Ditto!" Sleek went to the back door and changed into her animal form, a fox the size of a large wolf. Guardians had three forms. Human, animal, and their true forms, which they did battle in. Their animal forms were larger than the average animals were, though they could shrink down to normal size if need be. Streak's was a wolf the size of a small horse, about five feet at the shoulder. After she made sure the woods were clear, Sleek went back to the cabin. She changed back into her human form and redressed before going back inside. Unfortunately their clothes didn't change with them in animal form. Once she got in side she sat down to wait. After about an hour she heard Streaks voice in her head. "I come." Sleek grabbed a pair of sweat pants and went outside to wait. A few minutes pass before Streak ambled out of the woods in wolf form. She set the pants on the ground and turned around. Sleek could hear him pulling them on. "You can turn around." She did. When she saw him, Sleek gasped bringing her hand to her mouth. "Oh Streak, what did they do to you?" Now she smelled the blood. And the salt water. He was covered in small cuts and gashes, his ribs on the left side black and blue, and six inches of an arrow shaft sticking out of his right shoulder. A blood spot was already forming on the sweats over his left thigh. Sleek helped him into the cabin, and into the living room. "This will take at least a week to heal," she said examining him more closely. "Sit down. I'll grab the med kit." "You might want to take this arrow out of my hip first." Sleek looked at the back of his left hip, and sure enough, there was an arrow shaft sticking out. Sleek went to the kitchen and grabbed a small, but razor sharp, knife and a mini blowtorch. She heated the knife till it was red hot before slipping it between the arrow head and Streaks skin, and slid it out. Streaks breath hissed out in in pain but he didn't cry out. She repeated the process with the other arrow. Then she sat him down and began dressing his other wounds. When she was about halfway through, Ash came down the stairs. "Jack?" Streak allowed the use of his fake name. "Hey Ash. What's up?" Tears filled her eyes as she descend the rest of the stairs. She rushed over and threw her arms around him. It was probably agony, but Streak just gritted his teeth and hugged her back. "I'm sorry Jack. I'm so sorry." "Sorry for what? You didn't cut me up did you?" "No... but if it weren't for us, you wouldn't have had to stay behind." "It's my job. Besides, I've been in worse shape. During the first war I was down for months because of injuries worse than these." Sleek remembered. And she remembered why he had gotten injured so badly. It must have shown on her face. Ash didn't miss it. She didn't miss much. "Don't let it bother you Ash. Go get some sleep." She nodded, and, wiping away her tears, went back up the stairs. "That means you too mister." "Yes maim. You're the boss." Sleek finished dressing his wounds before helping him to the bedroom and into the bed. They lay there in silence, Sleek gently stroking Streaks hair until they fell asleep to the sound of each other's breathing.