B27C17 - Seagull Diversion

I had no answers, so I followed Jake's and Marco's footprints into the hollow, where three identical seagulls were waiting for me.

<Have you seen Tobias?> Marco asked, cocking his head.

"No," I said, concentrating hard on my own seagull morph.

<How about Cassie? Is she coming?> Jake asked.

"You know Cassie. You'll have to tell her to stop working down there."

(...)

<Prince Jake, a situation has arisen,> Ax called down. <Tobias has been spotted and the Controllers are suspicious.>

<We're on our way!> Jake said, taking off.

We followed him, cresting the dune.

Tobias was perched on the whale's back.

Chapman stood below him, pointing and staring.

<Tobias! What are you doing?> I demanded.

<I'm stuck! My talon is caught on some kind of barnacle or something!>

<Diversion!> Jake snapped. <Now!>

<Make it look like we're chasing the hawk away from our territory,> Cassie said. <Try slamming Tobias. It may knock him loose.>

<Oh, great,> Tobias grumped.

We flapped hard and took off, not worried about flying together. We were seagulls. We belonged. Besides, we weren't the only gulls wheeling around the whale.

<Let's wreak some havoc,> I said.

I gained altitude, thirty or forty feet, and swooped. I snatched a man's pretzel right out of his mouth.

We milled and screeched; we stole food and sideswiped people; and we used the seagull's ultimate weapon: precision guided, cruise-missile poop.

<Chapman is mine,> Marco said. <Ready. Aim . . . hah!>

Sploot!

Chapman wasn't looking up. A pity.

I broke away from the melee and aimed for Tobias. <Which talon?> I asked.

<Oh, man,> he groaned. <Left.>