Warrior/Side story

More hunters!

She swore as she dived down. Venus watched.

"Mars, no that's some human diplomats!"

The bark-brown Phoenix stretched out her talons. She caught the nearest human in her talons. She hadn't heard the newly fledged Phoenix at all. Venus winced. She couldn't do anything. She had only just learned how to fly.

Mars killed it swiftly with a swipe of the talon. She did the same to the others...

"Mars Planet of Fighting!" a grand voice screeched.

Hera flew down. The look of disbelief was horrifying.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Killing hunters..."

"DIPLOMATS!"

Mars blinked.

"This is a crime punishable by one thing..."

Mars breathed in sharply. She knew.

"The Eclipse Chamber."

### Chapter 2:

The Eclipse Chamber is a large, pitch-black room underneath the palace. It could only be accessed by flying creatures without death, for the entrances were entrances that had tiny platforms before a long drop down. It was filled with horrid torture methods.

This didn't help Mars. She could feel a lump in her throat. It was an accident. Not that the court cared. Death of a human just meant torture.

One of the guards(Fox That Leaps in Meadow) looked sympathetic. He had a long scar down his fiery-orange neck due to being tortured himself. He had stolen from an upperclass Phoenix. However, that Phoenix turned out to be corrupt, having stolen money from his neighbours, and torture was finished. They hadn't been quick enough. The other guard was glaring with brown eyes. She hated Mars. *This was when we were Fledgelings*. After they had gone to Flight School, the only school a Phoenix attended, Mars had met Sky That Never Ends. The sky-blue Phoenix had a crush on a Phoenix but said Phoenix had liked Mars.

"Down..." Fox murmured.

"And no funny business, murderer," Sky hissed.

Mars flew down. The guards didn't join her. There must be another doomed to the Eclipse Chamber. There was some squawking but then silence.

"Hey..."

A voice whispered. Mars jumped up. She turned.

"Sorry, why are you here?" The voice asked.

The voice was female but a bit deep. Mars squinted and could only just see a violet Phoenix with white flecks. There were glowing, emerald eyes.

"Accidental murder."

Mars sighed.

"How do you accidentally murder someone?"

When Mars didn't reply, the Phoenix continued.

"I'm here from stealing from five ups," she used the criminal term for rich birds,"Including Hera's nephew..."

"I'm Mars. Mars Planet of Fighting, Mars Fighting."

"Oh, names. I'm Hyperbole A Statement," Hyperbole paused,"Don't ask."

### 3:

The executioner stood on the platform. He was golden with blue eyes. Mars wasn't surprised when Hyperbole took in a deep breath.

"I am Corvus Star of Raven. I am here to execute you."

Like we didn't know, Mars thought.

"Here are your crimes: Mars Planet of Fighting, killing a messanger; Ice That Covers Sea, attacking a Phoenix; Snow That Sparkles With Frost, slaying the queen's deer, and my favourite... Hyperbole a Statement, stealing from five upperclass birds including me!"

Hyperbole flinched. Her eyes avoided the prince.

"This is how you will die... Mars by drowning, Ice by hanging, Snow by guillotine, and Hyperbole by loss of blood."

Loss of blood! Mars trembled and saw Hyperbole sweat. That meant he would rip off her feathers one by one before slowly scraping off skin so she bled to death. It was cruel. She realised Corvus had chosen the punishment himself.

"First... Snow!"

The White Phoenix went up. He put his head in the guillotine board without fighting back. Corvus untied the rope holding the blade up. It dropped and Snow was gone. Literally gone. No head, no feathers, no blood. He had disappeared.

"Ice!"

The blue Phoenix was gone too.

"Not the hyper-star now!" Corvus cried.

Mars and Hyperbole grinned. They were getting out of here!

### Chapter 4

It was dark. Mars stood up. She walked into a mirror. Her brown feathers fluffed up.

There was something trickling down her neck. A voice whispered where her ears would have been.

"That wound will get infected."

Hyperbole. Of course. It was in the ear tuft, the place that got infected the most. She'd rather face a chance of her head than tufts. Her dagger-talons reached up. Mars braced herself.

Rip. Shred. Tear.

She yelled in pain. A large clump of feathers fell to the ground. Hyperbole put something on the back of Mars' head.

"Bandages. I took them from Corvus. I wouldn't be able to tie them on ear tufts," she explained.

Mars sighed. That was a bad reason. Hyperbole had other intentions. The fact she was literally gathering the blood totally wasn't suspicious at all.

Mars gazed into the mirror. She saw a dragon talking to young Phoenixes. Time had passed, she realised. Her time in prison had been for years. She knew them.

Mars slumped against the wall. She was useless.

"Place of criminals,"Hyperbole muttered,"so I'm here. Just like my research told me."

"What?"

"Notes in Corvus' house. We'd Hyper-star... But any the star decided was criminal would be sent here."

"I'M NOT A CRIMINAL! I thought they were hunters!"

Hyperbole smiled. There was something odd about it;like she'd been expecting it.

"The star can see all, including your fate. It would've been a rocky road."

Mars shook her head angrily.

"I'm a LOYAL WARRIOR to HERA. WHAT DO YOU KNOW, theif, ABOUT my FATE!"

Hyperbole didn't flinch. She held up a small fragment. It was a piece of the Hyper-star.

"Holding this lets me know."

Mars struck Hyperbole with her wings. She didn't fight back. Mars sliced at her legs, wings, head, eyes... Everywhere. Hyperbole was close to passing out.

"I told you..."

Hyperbole swallowed the star piece and collapsed to the ground.

Mars looked at her talons.

The star can see all.

### Chapter 5

Hyperbole woke up gasping for breath.

"Eh..."

"You're not dead?" Mars asked.

Mars had been worried for the violet Phoenix. Also, the wounds should have killed her. A warrior knew that.

"We're immortal here."

Hyperbole stood up and she saw that the slashes had almost completely healed.

"The star wants to torture us for all eternity," Hyperbole explained.

"Why?"

"I don't know, not all criminals come here."

Hyperbole looked into a mirror.

"I mean, if causing pain emotionally is a crime, he should be here."

Mars watched. There was a handsome, green phoenix with sparkly, attractive, blue eyes. He was sitting next to a pale pink phoenix with yellow eyes. He poked something;a green egg with pink specks. Hyperbole frowned. She turned her head away then strode to another mirror. There was a murder happening:a slice to the throat and a Phoenix slumped to the ground. Mars observed crime after crime, all the while wondering why they who had done worse weren't here. Murder, rebellions, slaughter, enslave, torture, corruption, hate...

"Hyperbole, stop!"

Hyperbole tapped another mirror; a cloaked phoenix attacked a defenceless chick.

"STOP!"

The chick squeaked a little.

"NO! STOP IT!"

Mars smashed the glass. Shards tumbled to the ground. The identical mirror next to it showed the cloaked bird slump to the ground unmoving. She realised what they did here affected the world there.

"So, you understand?" Hyperbole asked.

"Y-Y-Yes," Mars answered in shock.

"Good."

Mars had a question bubbling like lava in her mind. She decided to question Hyperbole.

"Who was the first phoenix?"

Hyperbole stared angrily into the shadows.

"That was Field That is full Of Grass. I... Knew him."

"What was he like?"

"He was full of \*beep\* alright."

Mars flinched at Hyperbole's coarse language.

"Oh."

### Chapter 6

Mars glanced around. The room around her had become foggy. To be fair, it wasn't a room, more like an endless corridor, but still. Mars stayed still. There was one rules about this place:once you leave an area, you never go back.

Hyperbole was nowhere to be seen.

"Hyperbole! Hyperbole!" she yelled.

Her heart raced. They had been separated. They may never find each other again. She beat her wings, attempting to push away the fog. It didn't move. Then a figure appeared. They were the same height as Hyperbole but didn't have her familiar, flowing head feathers. When they finally stepped into the light, Mars gasped.

He had storm-grey feathers and small ear tufts. He had darker grey stripes on his neck and back. Glinting, his talons were incredibly sharp and his left leg had a deep-looking wound. There was a mark running down his chest to his stomach, yet it seemed closed up. Phoenixes healed well, but a scar like that should still be visible. His eyes were a chilling, icy blue glowing mysteriously from the grey face.

"Who are you?" Mars asked, clenching and unclenching her talons.

He smiled. His yellow beak shined. It was an odd smile, neither friendly nor cruel.

"Are you dead," he questioned,"Or has Jupiter put his plan into action?"

Jupiter? Mars was confused. That was Hera's dad... The old ruler.

"Jupiter? The King?" he prompted.

"We have a queen, Hera..."

He did that weird smile again. It was kind of creeping her out.

"That's why his mirror is shattered! It'll be gone soon!"

Mars was even more confused. He seemed pleased.

"Who are you?" she repeated, not letting her fear into her voice.

He finally introduced himself,"I'm Sharp Claws of a Hawk."

Sharp flicked his head.

"And you?"

"Err... I'm Mars. Mars Planet of Fighting. I was brought here by the Hyper-star..."

The storm phoenix nodded.

"I died."

He pointed to the long scar. Mars was about to ask how but he continued.

"Who were you looking for?"

The earth phoenix wasn't sure she could trust Sharp. She had no idea how or why he had died. However, he'd been here while Jupiter was ruling so it would be good to have a guide.

"Er... Hyperbole? She's my friend."

"You lost her..." he paused,"OK, imagine her. What was her personality like? How did she look? What has she done?"

Mars thought of everything she'd done with the thief. The waterfall of head feathers. White speckles like snow. Shiny green eyes. Cunning. Regret. She could see her now. She could literally see her.

"Hyperbole!" she shouted.

The bird turned her head.

"MARS!"

She flew up to Mars, tackling her so hard she fell over. Once she got up, Hyperbole hugged Mars.

"Don't. Ever. Do. That. Again."

"I could say the same to you," Mars agreed.

Hyperbole asked who the grey phoenix was. Mars replied everything Sharp had done.

"Oh."

She sounded suspicious about the grey bird. She was a criminal and that meant she was wary.

Yes, Mars thought, *but he helped us.*

Sharp remained quite calm. Looking into the glimmering eyes, Mars began to questions everyone's motives.