The Red Panda Chronicles

Blink and You'll Miss It, Part 1

November 1939

A cool wind rushed across the rooftops, buffeting the peaks of the city with the promise of a long, hard winter to come.

Down its street level, the change of seasons was still just a threat, a rumor to be put out of one's mind for a little longer.

High in the sky, where the mighty towers lorded over downtown, there was no doubt at all. On one of the highest

peaks, a lithe figure in grey was perched like a statue, her foot upon the ledge, poised

for action at an instant, but utterly still her gaze fixed upon the streets far below. Only the

wild whipping of the red hair that peaked out from below her flight

helmet gave her position away. And only then if you knew what you were looking for. Only one

person in the world did, and he was somewhere in the maze of lights below, waiting, just

as she was. The flying squirrel leaned forward in response to movement at street level

and frowned when she realized it was only a sheet of newspaper blowing in the wind.

She leaned her neck to one side and then the other, listening to the cracks and pops.

She was getting stiff in this cold, and that wasn't going to be good for anyone.

She couldn't do much about the temperature, or anything at all about the waiting, but she was

getting bored as well, and there did seem to be a way of putting a stop to that.

She brought her left arm forward, resting her elbow on her raised leg, and brought a gray

gauntleted fist forward

toward her face. She looked at the small red ring on her finger, its hypnotic red circles

the only splash of color she could see. The flying squirrel bit her lip. He had told her not to,

but that made it almost irresistible, and he must have known that when he said

...