The echo of his footsteps was starting to take a toll on him as he continually kept looking behind his shoulder, expecting for someone, anyone, to be following him closely, to be right behind him and on top of things, someone with the ability to read his very guilty thoughts. It was not as if he regrets those thoughts, they were barely what kept hem moving through each day, but still, the mere idea of someone other than the one person that knew finding out about it was downright scary, not because he was going to be ridicule, no, it was because the mere thoughts along cost him his very dear and short life. He finally made it home, his hands shaking violently and sweating profoundly, he needed a drink. Quietly, he moved towards the kitchen, making sure to not step in any of the wooden boards that he very well knew creek under the slightest shift in weight placed on them, once in the kitchen he made for the sink and filled one of the small glasses before quickly gulping down the fresh water. He stayed for a few minutes more in the kitchen before quickly (and once again quietly) he made his way to his own room which luckily enough was on the second to the top floor.

Once in his room, Arthur discarded the old, worn-out bag, changed into a pair of comfortable pants, and got rid of the work shirt he'd been wearing all day. All these actions made his body relax, because these were normal, usual, his routine, a thing he had desperately cling to these past few months in hopes that everything would stay the same, of course it was wishful thinking. Automatically, his eyes shifted to the bag positioned near his bed side, it had been placed there a few weeks ago none other than by Arthur. It contained all that he would ever need to survive if he were to… go away… He quickly turn his head away, his eyes falling on an old worn-out book that had been his only way of distracting his worrying mind from overthinking plans. What was done was done and he could not go back on his words, a Kirkland never went back on his words. Slowly, he pick it up and begin to leaf through it, trying to remember where exactly had he left off, once he found his spot, he neared his bed and lay down, quickly letting his mind loose itself in the world of Ashton and Cindy and of old lands and myths, of dragons and castles, and of forbidden loves and adventures.

Arthur loves adventures, ever since a child, his mom would let him choose his favourite stories and they would all involved adventures in some way or another. They made him believe that anything was possible with a little bit of courage and cleverness. To this day, Arthur still believes in that, but he knows better, he knows that cleverness and courage alone won't help him a bit, you also need planning, physical strength, map reading, and a spirit of adventure.

Spirit… right.

The blond sighed and closed the book with a hard shut, his mind once again wondering back to the afternoon he'd spend at the old dump site with hi… Alfred, the idiot, the absolutely moronic, stupidly hopeful and overly eager idiot. He was the reason why his life had turn from a peaceful and unadventurous thing to a very nerve-wrecking, heart-attack inducing thing.

"Hey, Arthur! What do you think of the land far away?"

"The what?" The smaller of the two asked, green emerald eyes quickly landing on the figure underneath the motor of the flying machine they had been working on for a few months now.

"You know… The land the old folks talk 'bout on their stories, the one filled with forest and mountains and meadows and wild animals. Oh, can you hand me the wretch?" The figure underneath answered before sticking its hand out to receive the tool it had asked for. The green eyed boy sighed before quickly snatching the thing up and handing it to the man on the floor.

"I think it's a land that does not exist anymore and that you, Alfred F. Jones, should stop thinking about, seriously, how many times do I have to tell you this? And not to mention if the peace-"

"Okay, okay I get it, Arthur, now shut up about it," Arthur was cut off by the sudden interruption of his friend which irritated him to no end, but the tone of voice the other had use told him that he needed to shut up about his lecture, so instead of giving him yet another speech on manners, he quietly sat down and took a look around the place.

It had been two years since they first begin to hang out in the made up garage where Alfred kept the motor he found, safe. His dream since then has been to repair it and use it to escape the boring life they live and go on adventures. At first, Arthur had thought nothing of it, just another of Alfred's antics which will probably fail and they will be back to normal, but lately, he's seen Alfred work on it harder and harder, even staying up later than usual on this place, trying to get as much work on it as possible.

Arthur knew exactly why, but he didn't like to think about that possibility, it just made his head spin and his stomach twist in painful knots. He shook his head roughly, he needed to stop thinking about this or it will slowly drive him insane if he kept on remembering that maybe not everything was alright anymore. Looking for a source of distraction, he grabbed the holographic tablet that Alfred had rebuilt and started to scan through the news headlines. Of course, it did not help him either, they were all about that in one way or another and it definitively did not help him get distracted from his worries. He stopped scrolling and landed in one of the articles about the new recruits, after reading the head line, he slowly put the thing down and tried to stop himself from emotionally reacting to those news, after all, he promised himself not to ever react like a weak person in front of him.

"So I was thinking, that with all the work I've put to this, it should be done by a few weeks from now… Maybe even in a few days. Yeah that sounds about right…"

Alfred started to ramble on, but Arthur couldn't hear him, no, he was back at thinking of the few mornings ago when he had gotten the mail from the box outside and scanned through the envelopes until he landed on the manila coloured one, the one directed to his little brother. Taking a shaky breath, the blond stood up and slowly walked towards the door, he needed fresh air and a distraction. Once by the door, he took in a big gulp of fresh air, letting it fill his lungs to the brim before slowly releasing it, feeling the soothing movement of muscles around his rib cage and the way his shoulders would relax at getting more oxygen to them.

The night was clear and the moon was in full view today, Arthur stared at it for a while, his arms automatically wrapping themselves around his waist and his hands tracing light patterns on top of his worn out shirt, soon, his breathing turned into an even rhythm and his eyes stopped throbbing with unshed tears he'd not realize he was holding back. He kept on looking at the celestial body illuminating the dark sky, the moon had always been able to calm him even if he seemed like nothing would, there was just something astonishingly innocent and beautiful about its light that made Arthur believe that he was actually looking at some divine being that always protected the young and right individual from any harm.

"Arthur, what's wrong?" The soft voice of his friend made him snap from his short break by surprising him at how close it sounded to him. Arthur turn his head sideways and soon enough he could see by the corner of his eyes that the figure had moved from underneath to right behind him, it was no surprise really, he was just like that sometimes, well, specially to those who he cares about the most. Arthur shook his head at the question and continued to look at the moon, his hands ceasing their complicated and soothing pattern making and holding just a bit tighter on to the dirty blond's waist.

"Peter got the letter a few mornings ago," he let out after a few more moments of silence, his fingers curling in on them-selves and turning into a fist that dug into his sides. He felt as a set of stronger, more muscular arms wrapped themselves around him, he also felt the warm that only the body of another being could emit wrap around him in a comfortable way that made him relax and lean back for support. Arthur let out a shaky breath and closed his eyes, relishing the warmness around him and the thought of having someone there who, even though could not completely understand the situation, still care enough to give them a hug without even asking if he needed one.

Of course, Arthur would have never admitted that he needed one in the beginning.

"I'm so sorr-"The other began to whisper softly, but Arthur rudely cut him off by shaking his head and quickly responding.

"Don't be, Alfred, the brat is actually excited about this. Stupid child, he doesn't understand what it implies! What they want him to do! I wish I could make him see just how dangerous the situation truly is!" As he said this, his voice had gotten a lot stronger and louder, and somehow he had begun to shake out of anger or maybe fear perhaps.

"He's just barely 17, Alfred…"

"I know and I understand, but you gotta remember, he's raced by your father and the schooling system of the province, we can try and convince him is wrong, but he has been brainwash to believe that protecting the Queen's Land is more important that his own life." Alfred argued, his arms tightening his grip on Arthur's waist.

"Of course I know, but I just wish there was a way I could save him… He's my little brother, Alfred, I can't just watch him leave knowing he will most likely die trying to win a battle for someone who doesn't respect him or acknowledge his existence as a human being that can feel and die! Maybe if I get the call, I can send back a note saying that I'm the only one who will be attending the army…"

"NO ARTHUR!" A loud and booming serious voice carried itself across the room, ringing still on Arthur's ear and scaring away the small birds that had been sitting near the shed all this time. Arthur widen his eyes at that voice, knowing well that whenever Alfred used that voice, he was to say something important or defend what he thought was right. The last time he used that voice in public, they were both 19 and Alfred had gotten a beating from the peacekeepers from disturbing the peace and going against the Queen's words. Arthur threated his wounds afterwards, with a little help of Alfred's brother Matthew and his own brother William, and made the stupid sunny blond promise to never do such foolish thing again, which to that day he hadn't… publicly at least.

"Remember what you've said to me so many times? What you always fear? Arthur you want to live, you want to know what is like to feel the breeze blowing at you and making the dust and the tiredness leave your body, you want the knowledge that when you wake up next morning, you will not be asked to leave everything you know behind in order to fight for something you have never believed in!" Alfred took a moment to just look at the other, his bright cerulean eyes holding the gaze of emerald green once, searching for a sign of surrender, something he knew the other could not debate because he had already told Alfred of how much he has wished to leave this place and go somewhere else where he was allowed to have adventures, his own beliefs and be happy without expecting something to give back to a society who has only looked down on him for most of his life.

"I know it's hard… I know that you want to do your best to stop Peter from going… But we can't take risks on this, Arthur. We're already so close to being free…"Alfred rambled on, his hands moving from his waist to Arthur's upper arms and tightening their grip there.

"What are you talking about?" The dirty blond inquired, his eyebrows scrunching down to a frown at the confusion of those words brought.

Alfred opened and closed his mouth like a fish for a moment before finally sealing his lips and taking a few steps back, never letting his eyes move away from Arthur's body. He slowly neared the old motor and reached for his bag that had been carelessly thrown there a few hours ago by the owner himself. After a few moments of rummaging, he found what he needed and handed it to Arthur.

"Alfred, what is…"

"Do you remember my brother Matthew? Well he's been asked by his supervisor to do a research with another one of their employees about the rare green lands on the north horizon of the province. Lately, I've been talking to Mattie about them and about the old Betsi motor and he has been helping me figure some things out. Any who, every time they go and research, Mattie is asked to write a report on their new discoveries and if it is appropriate for another extension of the population to be moved there, so far, his reports have shown that the place is to not be populated by people due to their high amounts of toxic gases and wild, genetic altered, animals."

Arthur could only stare at Alfred, his mind slowly processing the information, and quickly thinking of William and if he had anything to do with this project. None the less, Arthur continued to be confused, what did Matthew's research had anything to do with Alfred's plan?

"Arthur… Mattie has been lying to the government."

"He has what?! Is he delusional? If they ever find out then poor Matthew will… He will…"

"Shh! Arthur, listen! They won't and even if they do, they would not do much to him, after all, he is one of the few scientists still willing to contribute to the restoration and study of the new wild life after the extreme war of centuries ago! Listen, his reports say one thing, but his studies have shown that the land has actually reconstructed itself somewhat. It has allowed living organisms and vitamins and minerals to grow again! It is basically paradise for a population in need of vegetation and space, which is why he keeps it a secret." Alfred ended, his eyes shining with excitement as he told his story.

"What I'm trying to say is, that we can escape this, you know? You, Mattie, and I can run away and live in this place where the war will certainly won't reach us! After all, they don't want to lose more than half their men due to toxic gasses left behind by the old world."

Arthur couldn't help but stare at Alfred for a moment, his mind making calculations of its own as he pieced all the things together. Why Alfred had insisted on staying longer to fix the old Betsi and why Matthew kept on taking William away for days only to have him come back excited and jumpy.

But…

"Even still, if there was something we could do, don't you think we…"

"I know what are you thinking and I have a plan, but for this I will need the help of Will and maybe Scott, although I don't really like him and he doesn't like me either so that could be a problem, but for now I'll only stick with Will and-"

"Alfred, shut up! Even if we still have a way out, what about our families? Wouldn't you want them to… You know." Arthur argued his voice small and fragile, the idea had him completely stunned and his mind couldn't piece together a coherent sentence to which he could argue about the idea with. It just… It all made SENSE to him in a way; it would be finally his ticket out that place and out of his duties from the 'call'.

"The old Betsi wouldn't be able to hold that much weight, Arthur. You know that we will have to leave some behind," Alfred responded equally as quiet as Arthur's voice. For a moment they stood in silence, both lost in their own little worlds of what this opportunity meant. After a short silence, Alfred moved closer to the dirty blond and once again wrapped his arms around the other's waist. He leaned in closer until their foreheads were touching and he let his eyes lazily hold the gaze of the man below him.

"Listen, just listen, I know this is all too much to take in one night, but I want you to think about it. It is our only opportunity Arthur, and I am taking it, whether you come with me or not. Of course, I want you to come, you are the most important person to me and I would hate to leave you behind, but… Please, just think about it, will you?" Alfred softly placed a kiss to Arthur's nose before stepping back, his hand holding a piece of paper for Arthur to grab.

"Read it if you decide that you will stay behind," Alfred said before turning his back on him and walking towards the old motor.

…..

Arthur groaned as he came back to consciousness, his mind still groggy from the sleep he had gotten. Still sleepy, the blond sat up and stretch his arms above him, popping noises coming out of the joints between his fingers and arms and a loud yawn overtaking his ability to breathe. He was just about to move out of the bed and make his daily routine when rapid and sharp knocks interrupted his train of thought and movement. Arthur frowned, who would ever think of bothering him at such hours in the morning? It was not even his turn to clean the house and prepare breakfast! Slightly irritated, the small blond made his way to the door and with an annoyed voiced asked "who is it and what do you want?"

"Arthur, open this god damn door, dammit! We need to talk, NOW!" The rough yet familiar voice of his brother William called from the other side, a hint of annoyance and possibly fear tinted the usually cheery and slightly (more like overwhelming) 'I-am-better-than-you' self. Arthur unlocked the door and stepped back as a strawberry blond forced his way into the room and turn to look at the man who occupied the room, his expression grave as if he had been told that the world will be ending in a matter of minutes.

"What's wrong Willi-?"

"Shut up for a second, will ya?" The blond cut in, his eyes averting their gaze from Arthur's figure to look around the room instead and quickly landing on the bag they occupant had place near the bed. Arthur blushed as he noticed the other's gaze stop at the bag and quickly tried to think of reasons that would explain why he would have a suspicious bag near his bed, but, unfortunately, could not find a good reason of which he could try and save his self.

"You've been hanging out with Jones, right?" William suddenly said, his eyes quickly switching over to Arthur, which made the smaller blond jumpy and nervous. He quickly nodded and continued to wearily watch his brother scan his room once again, this time they paused on the note on his bed side and then turn back to Arthur again.

"How is that project of his going?"

"What-"

"Don't act like you don't know, Arthur, I know all about Alfred fixing that old Betsi to make his own flying machine," William interrupted, his eyes holding Arthur's gaze in a venomous stare that made the smaller blond's bones to chill and shudder.

"…."

"Well?"

"He's almost finish with it, he said something about being doing in a couple of days, maybe days.. Actually he said in a day or two," Arthur finally answered for once dropping his gaze as he felt like he had just betrayed hi- Alfred by telling his own brother about the plans he'd been making.

"I wouldn't call it almost… Matthew has been more and more distracted lately… I would say he is about done with it. Hey Arthur, do you know what I got here?" His brother changed the subject abruptly, making Arthur snap out of his betrayer state and look back up at him, his eyes immediately landing on the manila coloured envelope on the other's hand. The blond could feel himself starting to sweat and his breathing to speed up, and even taking a step back, closer to the bag by the bed.

William nodded at his brother's reaction and carelessly threw the envelope on the bed, "now listen, and I need you to listen closely, today at 4'o clock sharp, there will be no person on the radar tower nor any of the other 'Betsi's' flying around. The weather predicts a storm coming from the south a couple of hours away from our place which means the wind will be fantastic to travel north," William nodded once again, his eyes still holding on to Arthur's, the smaller blond couldn't quite understand what he was told, but he was sure that Alfred would and that somehow, his brother was telling him to run.

"I'll tell mom you're out with him again," was the last thing his brother said before walking out of his room, leaving the door wide open and a very scared and confused Arthur behind. It took a few minutes, but before he knew it, he'd grabbed the envelope and opened it just to confirm his fears.

It was the 'call' letter.

"Alfred! Alfred!" It was a quarter to four and his legs couldn't carry him faster and the wind was annoyingly blowing him back every time he tried to take long strides.

"Arthur, hurry up! It's gonna catch the breeze soon!"

"God dammit Alfred!" He yelled while trying his best at catching the dammed machine that was leaving without him! But the more he seems to try, the farther away the machine seems to move from him. For a fleeting moment, his mind imagined it leaving him behind and his heart started to race while his throat felt tight. No, they couldn't leave him.

"Arthur! Grab a hold of this!" Alfred yelled before letting down a rope with a circular wooden base at the end, which thankfully landed just a few feet away from him. Desperately, the dirty blond grabbed on to the rope and placed his feet on the base, soon observing how the ground underneath moved farther away from him. For a moment, he was left just hanging there which gave him enough time to turn his head and look back at the city behind him. He could see his old house at the end, his heart aching as he thought of his mother and how he had not said goodbye to her that morning.

The rope began to slowly be pulled back up and Arthur turned his attention back to the Betsi, he couldn't dwell on things he had not done, because he couldn't go back and do it just for the sake of saying goodbye, it was too late. Moments later, he was on board of the 1SSC Nantucket, commanded by Captain Alfred F. Jones and co-commanded by Matthew Williams Jones.

"Gottcha!" The Captain sing sang as he took a hold of Arthur and gave him a loop sided grin, one of those reserved just for him, before he also winked at him. Arthur could not help but smile at the other's antics and soon enough he return the gesture with his own soft smile, a rare smile that he had only show certain people, those included his mother, his brother William, and Alfred of course. They stood there for a moment in complete silence, just letting the excitement die down and letting the smiles show just how relieved both were that they had manage to escape without leaving the other behind.

"Did you know your brother was working with Mattie all along?" Alfred broke the silence at last; his eyes shining with slight amusement and curiosity, Arthur chuckled and nodded.

"I suspected it, after all, he would be always out for days on and I soon discovered that the one that went and picked him up those days was your brother," Arthur answered, his mind quickly taking him back to that one morning where he'd seen Alfred's older brother pick William up and he'd been gone for seven days after that.

"He had been planning this all along with him! Hey, at least he told us when the right time was to leave with Betsi," Alfred said, his grin never faltering at the thought of someone having actually used him to escape as well. Arthur chuckled and leaned back, the arms around him letting go but stubbornly keeping a hold of his right hand.

"Although, I have to say that his method of warning me when the ship was to leave was a bit orthodox and simply confusing," Arthur commented, knowing full well that his brother was somewhere near there listening on his conversation with Alfred.

"Oi! Don't blame me; you're the airhead that didn't get the hints! And thanks to that, you almost got left behind! Idiot." William answered from a little to their side, which made Arthur smirk because it only proved that somehow he knew his brother's moves.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you telling mum that I'm with Alfred? Where did that , oh so sacrificing brother of mine went to?" Arthur mocked, his eyes gleaming with mischief and amusement. William only smirked back and reached out to ruffle his brother's hair.

"Hey, I'm glad you managed to reach the boat, man. Now if you excuse me, I need to go annoy the hell out of a certain blond who promised to make dinner today. Don't start eating each other's faces until I'm gone!" William called out while taking the stairs two at a time and laughing at his own jokes which made Arthur irritated, but not enough to tamper his good mood. Slowly, they made their way to the top floor, his eyes immediately falling on the northern horizon which, according to both the scientist, hold a way of life for them. Arthur also noticed that there were three other ships following them. Confused, he turned to Alfred to ask the obvious question but was beaten by a soft voice.

"Those are others who agree on building their own Betsi in order to escape the war. Don't worry, they are just like us! Perfectly normal individuals with their own free will and believes. I would have never let another person that didn't have a similar point of view as hours come with us to this sacred place. Now, if you excuse me, I need to go prepare dinner or else your brother will not stop annoying me," Matthew ended, giving Arthur a small smile before disappearing below deck. Arthur turned back to the horizon, his hand slightly squeezing the one that was holding his.

"It stars here doesn't it? Our adventures?" Arthur asked, feeling like the small kid he once was asking Alfred to be his friend on break, which the other had said yes too and had never been apart from that day on.

"Our adventure started two years ago, Arthur," Alfred replied, his hand squeezing back before pulling the dirty blond close to him, his eyes locking on with emerald green eyes.

"The moment you started saying yes is where our story begin! This is just a culminating moment in our life, don't you think?" Alfred continued, his smile turning into a grin. Arthur thought it over for a moment before nodding as well. The sunny blond laughed softly and leaned in until his lips captured the other's in a soft kiss which, much like the others they've shared, was full of sweetness, the shocking sensation of current cursing through their veins and that unique flavor that only belonged to them. Afterwards, Alfred leaned back and smiled down at the other.

"Come on, Arthur! I'll teach you how to drive Betsi," he said before letting go of Arthur's hand and skipping up to the control room. Arthur shook his head and followed at his own pace, his eyes still looking over at the horizon and his mind repeating the words Alfred had said.

Yes, this was just the slope to the big climax of his life, which he hope wouldn't happen in a very long time because he wanted to enjoy life at a leisure time with his brother, his friends, and most importantly, Alfred.

Hello, yes, I'm not really back, but I wrote this and I thought it was worth posting.

So, some announcements I guess. For those who follow my long stories specially.
The Hunger Games Cross-Over is being re-written because the format in which I was writing it didn't quite match what I wanted so until I have about all the chapters planned out and everything, that won't be updated (prob I'm gonna update during summer when people kick me to actually sit down and write).
And The Seven Personalities is not going to be continued because a) I lost the file of the story and b) I completely lost inspiration in it ;w; I'm sorry, it was an amazing idea, yes, but I lost inspiration;;

That's about it.

Please leave reviews and all that~!
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