EyeWatch: Hurzin Up

The ground shook as we
had landed. Our eyes peered through the darkness surrounding us. We all stepped
forward at the same time, Zander and Doaz quickly grabbing onto the handle of
the trap door. Thus pulling it upward and raised over their heads, Yang motioned
everyone with her claw and pointed to the opening of the trap door before her.
Everyone else ran in, disappearing from our views up until I and Yang were the
only ones there. She looked at me, I return the gaze and silently nodded as she
said nothing in response before entering in followed by me. We all entered the
darkened hallway. The walls were pure black, no torches were about. The hallway
was narrowed but short. It took a few seconds before we all gathered at the
bottom of the halls, finally reaching the first floor of the building. As
everyone split off into their respective groups, Yang turned to me and silently
grimaced. Her face was pale, her eyes rose while I stepped to her to comfort
her and whispered in her ear. “I assure you, you know what to do right?" “This
part of the plan is stupid, you know that." Yang pointed out, maintaining her
eye contact with me. I just slowly nodded and said nothing else while my pupils
turned to Doax, who nodded and pointed to the path behind me. My unit ran after
him while I spoke to Yang,

“It does not matter if
the part of the plan is stupid or not. Just stop them is all I ask." I
summarized and she pouted but nodded. As she departed from me, I turned her
back on her and looked towards Doax who remained in sight. Even though he was a
few steps ahead of me where the darkness had covered half of his body. We
remained silent, I walked forward to him. Doax place his claw upon my shoulder
and just nodded in silence and answer the questioning doubt in my mind. I smiled
at him before we return to the task at hand. Our mission was to arrest the
blizeon who had escaped our and the R7's grasp two weeks ago when we were
fighting with our counterpart amongst the streets. Yet, we did not know how the
blizeon had escaped. We only knew the aftermath and the clues which the target
had left behind. I thought about the dark circle mark upon the floor adjacent
to the water fountain. The poster upon the wall. And other things that I could
not think of at the top of my head. Regardless, I shook my head and continued
following Doax as he led me through the halls towards my unit who was already a
few steps ahead of me.

After regrouping with
them, Quichie was the first to notice us. A smile return to her face, but I
failed to even acknowledge her. For instead, I questioned their findings and
Quichie answered quickly. She swiped Lutica's white posture sign and held it up
to my face. I lowered my eyes and met with the sign. I blinked curiously as to
what it meant. A picture of a zebra was insane a silver cage. Held to the
basement on the building we were in as indicated by the pointing arrow towards
the ground floor of the tall building that looked like a big rectangular.
“Whoever is the artist is very bad at drawing," Lizrow commented which Lutica
smirked at her. Doax and Quichie rolled their eyes but answered nothing as
Quichie turned to me. “A blizeon was held inside the cage. Bottom floor of the
building." I answered to the following silence, Quichie nodded before handing
me the poster. For she break off from the group, disappearing while me, Doax,
Lutica, and Lizrow stuck around one another.

“Well. At least that is
answered," Doax replied, glancing over to me while I nodded. “We do know that
the blizeon is captured. How did he get inside the cage anyway?"
“Teleportation?" Suggested Lizrow while our eyes turned to her, “I mean he did
teleport here. He probably miscalculated somewhere and found himself in jail."
“Sure yea… But that conclusion does not explain how. I mean, look at the clues
in the previous scenario." Doax argued, pointing at her. “A broken circle which
we deemed it at a Q. Pointing southwest which was here. The winds were even
calm and blowing from the southwest as well; so that further confirms he is
here. No." Doax finished, his eyes swaying to me again as he growled “No. I
think, he got captured by someone here within the building and was placed in
jail down below." “Then who do you think caged him?" Lutica asked, “We would
have to find out eventually." Doax growled and I interrupted their conversation
by stepping between Doax and Lutica, coughing while I spoke to both “Then we
should split up and meet up in different spots within the building. We will
have to keep our enemy and other rivals guessing. We cannot be consistent or
else…" The two nodded their heads, then split off from me until I was the only
one left.

For I exhaled and closed
my eyes, my mind racing with my thoughts and newly acquired information from
Doax and Lutica. As I tried to piece together the information, my ears
stretched out and heard some familiar footsteps. I opened my eyes and folded my
wings, glancing to the front spotting Quichie there who smiled suddenly. I said
nothing and stepped to her. Her mouth split opened and responded, “Ling. I
found this poster on the next floor below us. Came upstairs to let you take a
look at it." “Think you can interpret it?" I requested but she shook her head,
“I cannot understand it." She gave me the poster which was rolled, I unfolded
it. It revealed two maps. The first floor and basement. Nothing else beyond it
like the second or third floors, or the rooftop as of example. Regardless, I
stared at the poster before raising my eyes to Quichie and responded to her,
“This is a map of the two floors after this. Where did you find such a thing?"
“First floor, Ling." Quiche remarked, her eyes lowered to the poster in silence
as I looked upon it. I looked back upon the two maps. Silently studying the
layout and features of each map and what makes them unique from each other. But
after a minute of studying it, I realized then that the two were identical. But
something else was also there. On the two maps were four Xs. A pair of black
and a pair of red. The red Xs were at the bottom of the map. The black Xs were
centered. A line of arrows connects the two red and black Xs. I blinked but
made a face. While raising my eyes from the map, I questioned Quichie for a
moment. But she was already gone.

I was rather surprised
but kept that thought to myself. As I rolled the map again and set it aside, I
explored my surroundings. The walls were gray. Doors were white. No light bulbs
or flashlights were about. Some doors were opened, others were not. I reached
the end of the hall and turned my eyes towards the sides. Seeing only a wall before
me, I said nothing but nodded before setting off towards the horizon again.
Entering into the staircase that would lead me down the floor below. Thus
reaching the first floor, I opened the silver door again and exited. The walls
and the doors were the same color. The silence was shattered as I hear voices
and footsteps about which I knew were my coworkers. Pondering about them, my
thoughts suddenly went to Yang's unit and how embarrassed I felt when ordering
our chief about keeping our enemies at bay. Although I shook my head, I turned
my attention back to the surroundings and walked leftward, wondering if this
was a good starting point. I headed down the hallway, my eyes looking about. I
saw the gray walls, some doors, and an extended hallway that was pitch black
inside. I stopped upon noticing it and tilted my head while shoving a claw down
my pocket, grabbing a flashlight. Pressing the button, I flashed it down the
halls illuminating the surroundings while proceeding down. I entered without
hesitation and walked deeper in with curiosity in my mind.

I walked deep. Ending up
in a small room afterward. I shined my light around and saw nothing there. Just
a couple of brown tables and benches. I shrugged and turned around, starting to
head back through the halls and return to my research. However, before I did,
something sparkled at the edge of my eye that I paused and glanced at. I walked
towards the object and leaned forward, I grabbed what seems to be a metal thing
rectangular knife. Adjacent to the knife was a large X mark. I tilted my head
and frowned before stepping back and turned to the tunnel again. Someone ahead
was waiting for me at the other entrance. I stood still, my eyes narrowed while
slowly raising my flashlight. It revealed Lizrow and there was something upon
her claw. I hollered after her. “What you got there?" “I made four arrows, but
it makes two Xs. Both red and black, however." “How do you do that?" I
questioned a bit, peering back upon the map I had received from Quichie, Lizrow
shrugged as I walked through the hallway and peered to her side. I handed her
the map while she looked upon it. Then rose her head facing me before nodding
as she departed.

Questions filled up my
mind. Thoughts and comments whispered to me mentally as I pondered about the
location of where the blizeon was located. I thought back to the map,
remembering its layout and the two locations of where the Xs were. 'But how can
there be arrows when it's just all Xs?' I pondered to myself as my walkie
suddenly came to life. Snapped out of my daydreams, I snatched the walkie from
my pocket and rose it high towards my mouth. I pressed the button and reported,
“Hello?" “Ling. What is taking you so long?" Yang's high-pitched voice came to
my ears as I blinked in surprise, my wings spread out as my face became red and
sweaty. “Sorry, Yang!" I muttered, “We do not know if we are any way closer to
finding the whereabouts of-" “We know where the blizeon is, Ling." Yang
replied, almost growling in frustration. “The R7 had given it to me."  “The… R7?" I reported, a bit speechless as
Yang answered, “Yeah. Down in the basement, to the right-hand corner of the
first floor. To reach that corner, someone must get to the center first." My
mind instantly shot back to the map, remembering the dotted line that was
traveling from the black X to the Red X. 'That it!' I mentally exclaimed,
smiling like an idiot before that expression faded into the darkness. “But why
are you calling now, Yang?" “There is just one thing, I do not understand. The
foxes of R7 kept muttering about some code word that only the blizeons know
about. They  claimed it would release the
blizeon from its cell." “What is the code word then?" I questioned a piped-in
interest.

The second pause of
silence later, then Yang's voice cut through again responded to me. “The
codeword is Dude. Not sure what it is or means. I am sure you probably will
figure it out eventually." “Wait. Dude?" I remarked in surprise. But nothing
else came from her as silence was my only answer. I frowned in response and
lowered my walkie towards my pocket. My eyes remained distant as the words
flashed in my head. Repeating the same word over, I pondered what it meant.
Regardless, I snapped out of it and brought my walkie up once again. Pressing
the black button at the side before reporting to my unit. “Guys! Do not proceed
with the current objective, it is updated now." “What? How?" Claimed Lutica
while Doax grumbled something underneath his breath. “I have assigned my mate's
unit to go follow the R7. However, things took a turn when she had found them
muttering insanely as if they were mentally insane or something along those
lines. Regardless, she had left us with one important notice. You all must hear
this now."

“Well spill it out
already, what the code?" Screamed Lutica who was already frustrated about Yang
better her to the punch. “The codeword is dude." I stated, “Dude?" Doax
frowned, “You… are kidding… right?" He added which I remained in silence.
Doax's voice shuttered momentarily as his eyes widened in surprise, “Yang is
good at her work…" Lizrow commented, almost whispering to herself “Which is why
the original members of Vaster had chosen her to become chief." Quichie
commented “No duh." I followed with a smile afterward as Lizrow's voice called
out to me, “Alright Ling. It had seem we have gotten the second part of our
assignment. What is our objective now that we have solved the map, the Xs, and
the cage?" “Figure out what the code meant. I bet my marbles it has to do
something with those Xs." I growled, “Looks like we need to gather ourselves in
one spot to figure this out then." Suggested Lutica as Lizrow growled in
approval. Doax spoke out after her, “Alright… where?" “The attic..?" I shut off
my walkie after that.

My thoughts were about
the code word. I had pondered what it had meant. There was many meanings behind
the word, 'dude' that it was hard to figure out the best definition for it. I
had thought about it for many minutes as I had started to walk straight down
the halls and turned left. I had wondered if that straight-ahead path was still
there, connecting with the red X on the right corner of the first floor. 'Guess
it was time to find out eh?' I thought to myself with a grin appearing on my
face. With rapid footsteps echoing in my ears, I copied the sound and ran down
the halls. Reaching a corridor where the paths met one another, resulting in a
form of a plus where three other paths stretched to their horizons. I bypassed
the plus and walked a short distance towards another plus. An arrow was
pointing towards the left as a thought appeared in my mind. Ignoring the
thought, I turned and followed the arrow. Walking calmly into the chosen path
and entered into the rapid darkness that filled my eyes. My ears stretched out
and listened to the ringing echoing in my ears as I continued moving onward.

Then, reaching the end.
There, I spotted a large room. The place was empty. Only an arrow stands at the
center of the room, pointing downward towards a hole made adjacent to it. I
decided to look around, hoping to find any secrets or anything left behind. But
all that was there was a map. Two Xs were adjacent to the map. One was red and
the other was black. I stepped towards it in silence, lowering my eyes down
glancing at the Xs and the map. The Xs were popped out from their spots and
extended. Thus separating the parts that make up the letter resulted in four
arrows. Red and black pairs. I grinned in silence, knowing that one of my units
was able to solve that as I gathered the arrows and place them upon the map
again. My thoughts were still on the word, but an idea popped out. 'Dude' I
repeated in my mind as I placed the arrows following the word. 'D' for down,
'u' for up. 'But what about the letter e?' I frowned and rose my claws towards
my head, scratching it.

In the pausing silence, I
stared down onto the letter 'e' at the end of the word. I thought about what
direction would e make. But no other familiar words were there. Nor was up,
down, left or right. My eyes narrowed and my tail swished to the side. As I
formulated a plan, my claws grabbed the fourth arrow and started moving it in
different directions. However, it did not take long for me to solve it,
however. As I turned the last arrow to the left, all four arrows glowed
brightly. I was startled but grabbed onto the last letter. I tried to turn it
like I used to, but all the arrows were stuck in their spot. I could not even
pull them out from the map. All the lights flickered suddenly. My attention was
shattered when I saw it at the corner of my eye. As my walkie came to life in
response to what was happening, I snatched the walkie. Rose high to my feet and
made a run for it with scared and frightening thoughts popping in my mind. I
was panicking and sweating. My scales became moist while my feet dragged me
along. Left, right through the series of halls. Often getting myself into
deadends or in unwanting endings. I just growled every time.

I continued running and
never stopping. With the determination I had, I managed to reach the door at one
side of the floor. I grabbed it quickly and pulled back, rushing through the
door and towards the staircase that awaits me. I ran up them towards the second
floor above, often slamming my feet upon the mental grounds below me which
resulted in loud sounds that echoed the room. I reached the top in no time at
all. Up upon the second floor was Quichie waiting for me. Beyond the opened
room was Doax, arguing with Lutica and Lizrow as Yang and her unit were
blinking perplexedly about the situation that led them to this. I caught up
with Quichie, she pushed me through the door. It shut tightly on its own
afterward and locked us inside. My breath was heavy, I was puffing and panting
as my heart pounded my chest. With my body becoming warm, I turned to my unit and
Yang's before whispering at them. “Quiet down! Quiet down!" I demanded with my
voice just barely beyond the above whisper. My unit and hers gave me a look but
complied with my request. Thus, shutting the lights and sent the room to
darkness was when I whispered of my next plan towards them and explained to
them the situation we had let ourselves in.

All they could do was nod
and watch my fearful expression as I and some others stepped away from the door
behind me. A few steps deeper into the darkening room where we concealed
ourselves amongst the darkness surrounding us. We 'disappeared'. Yet my heart
was beating in my chest, I remained silent and folded my wings while a bright
blue light shines from the leftward corner of the door. 'What… what the heck is
this?' I heard Zander whispered, Kyro growled quietly and rose his claw to
Zander's mouth silencing him. On the other claw, Zander turned angrily to Kyro
but remained quiet. His eyes turned daggered against the red dragon whose eyes
narrowed at him in response. While Yang and Doax watched the two, the rest of
us continued watching the blue light door. It turned to the door; facing us.
Squinting and looked deep inside the room. At this time, I growled at Kyro and
Zander. Yang muttered something that only us could hear, “Make like a statue.
Quick!" She demanded, we remained still. Luckily it did not take long for us to
regain mobility as the blue light disappeared elsewhere. We all breathed a sigh
of relief, Yang grabbed Doax and pulled him towards the door behind us. He
opened it and lights flooded the room, we fled from the dark turning lightroom
in a quick and silent movement up until everyone was extracted.

Once outside, Yang and I
hugged tightly with one another as Doax exclaimed loudly to us. But right
before he could say the words, Zander and Kyro silenced him suddenly and
growled threateningly at him while Doax nodded before darting his eyes towards
me. I nodded in acknowledgment before spreading my wings and flew out from the
building. There were questions and no answers. But one thing that stuck with me
was the connection between the blizeon and the blue light that I had seen
before. 'Were they friends, enemies? Who was that blue light and where was the
blizeon now?' I had wondered as my flight had slowly descended in altitude
which was caught by Yang, Doax, and Quichie. As their voices called to me, I
turned to them and nodded. Regaining altitude until I was back leveled with
them. We flew off Northward and back towards our city in no time at all, where
we planned our next attack against the R7 and hopefully arrest the blizeon.