A/N: Yay, I'm back again! I've had this done, but I wanted to fix a few
things before I posted it. This is my sequel to Choices, and it will help
if you've already read that to understand certain things, but it's not
completely necessary. Comments and criticisms are encouraged, since I love
reviews as much as anyone else. Enjoy! ^^
Lost But Not Broken
By Orenda
Chapter 1 - When Trouble Follows You. . .
"Come on, baby bro'. . You know we're leaving in the morning to go back to the Pond. You need to get some sleep."
The younger of the two didn't even look up at the words. "But Wing, I'm not even tired yet. . . And I won't get another chance to see snow for a while. . ." he complained.
Wildwing sighed, but smiled as he sat down on the porch next to his little brother. After everything that had happened, he had decided that it might be a good idea to take a break. So after arranging a few things with the others, Wildwing had surprised Nosedive by renting a log cabin for a week up in the mountains, just for the two of them. Nosedive had been thrilled, missing the snow from back home, and was more than willing to go on the trip. But the main reason Wildwing had wanted to take Nosedive was to help him forget what had happened to him, as a way of making up for not being there when his brother needed him the most.
It had been wonderful week for both of them, but good things always came to an end. And with a two day car ride back to the Pond, since there had been no point in taking the Migrator or the Aerowing just for this, it was just about the end.
"Still can't get your comm fixed, Dive?" Wildwing asked, looking down at the temporarily forgotten object in his brother's hand.
Nosedive blinked and looked down at his comm as well. After a while he had started to watch the falling snow, and had long since forgotten that he'd been playing around with it.
"No," the teen shook his head. "It's so weird. . . I didn't do anything to it that would make it stop working like that. And I can't figure out what's wrong with it, either."
Wildwing took it from Nosedive's hand, looking at it for a minute. "I don't know what to tell you, baby bro'. We'll have to have Tanya look at it once we get back."
Nosedive sighed, "Do we *have* to go back yet? Can't we stay here for a little longer?"
"No, I'm afraid not," Wildwing wrapped his arm around his brother's shoulders, "We don't have much choice."
"Aww, man. . ."
Chuckling, the white mallard ruffled Nosedive's hair a little, "Maybe we can come back again another time."
"Really?" He looked over at his brother with hopeful eyes.
"Yeah," Wildwing smiled, "Maybe during the summer or something when we don't have as much going on."
"That would be awesome!"
"We'll see. But for now, I think we really need to be going to bed."
"But bro'. . ." Nosedive whined.
"How about 10 more minutes? Then I want you to come inside, okay?" Wildwing knew that the teen probably wasn't going to get much sleep with it being their last night there, if any at all, but he didn't want Nosedive to get really cold by staying outside, either. They had adapted to Anaheim's heat by shedding most of their feathers, so they couldn't stay out in the cold for as long as they used to back on Puckworld.
"Oh, alright," Nosedive agreed finally, knowing that he didn't have much choice.
Wildwing gave him one last hug before standing up and heading towards the door, "Don't forget, now."
"I won't."
With that, Nosedive resumed staring at the steadily falling snow, wishing that it could stay this way forever.
*****
The next morning was pretty much predictable, with Wildwing practically dragging his brother out of bed to organize his belongings. Although the teen was a lot less cooperative than usual at first, he eventually did what he was asked to.
"Nosedive, don't you have all of your stuff ready yet?" Wildwing asked as he spotted Nosedive sitting on the couch in a half-daze. He had left Nosedive sitting there almost fifteen minutes ago, and the teen still hadn't moved.
"I'm ready," he replied absently.
Wildwing frowned in concern, noticing that his brother seemed a little paler than usual. "Dive, are you okay?"
Nosedive blinked and looked up at him, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just. . . had trouble sleeping."
"Are you sure?" Wildwing wasn't quite buying it, "You're not getting sick on me, are you?"
He shook his head, "No, I'm fine, bro', really. . ."
Wildwing came over and placed a hand on Nosedive's forehead. He felt slightly warm, but not quite warm enough to have a fever.
The older mallard sighed, "I don't know. . I'd feel better if Tanya checked you out as soon as we get home, though. But if you start feeling bad. ."
". .I'll be sure to tell you," Nosedive finished.
Wildwing gently hit his brother's shoulder, "You'd better."
Nosedive poked him back, "I will."
Amused, Wildwing thought briefly about starting to tickle him, but decided against it, simply because they had to take off soon if they wanted to arrive somewhere to stop for the night at a decent time. That, and he didn't want to get Nosedive too roused up right before leaving.
"Let's get going, baby bro'," he said, offering a hand to Nosedive.
*****
Wildwing chuckled softly as he took his eyes off the road for a brief moment and glanced over at his brother. Just as Wildwing had predicted, Nosedive must have been up all night, because now he was sound asleep, snoring softly as his head rested against the cool car window. Wildwing shook his head with a smirk; at least Nosedive wouldn't be complaining that he was bored for a while. Of course that meant he wouldn't have anyone to talk to for a while, either, but he figured that he could manage.
The older brother sighed. He could tell something wasn't quite right with Nosedive ever since he had gotten up this morning. Wildwing strongly hoped that his little brother wasn't getting sick. Nosedive hadn't been sick since before the invasion, and it didn't happen very often. But whenever he had gotten sick in the past, it always seemed to hit Nosedive really hard. If his brother came down with a human sickness, he wasn't quite sure how badly it would effect the teen.
He begged that that wasn't the case.
As he continued driving, Wildwing noticed a gas station down the road with a small convenience store. He glanced down at the car's gas gage, then back over at his brother. After a moment of debate, he decided it'd be a good idea to stop. They wouldn't reach the main highway for a while, and he'd rather not end up stranded somewhere if Nosedive really was coming down with something.
So he turned into the station, distracted from his thoughts for the time being.
*****
He was running.
At full speed, he could barely feel the winter's cold around him, the wind being kept from his facial features by the dark colored face mask he wore. He could hear his partners' breathing right behind him, so he didn't bother to slow down or turn around to see if the other two men were following. All he knew was that they had to keep going.
They had been running for quite some time now. He could feel the fatigue slowly taking its toll on him, and they couldn't keep going at this rate forever. They would have to find a better means of travel, and soon.
So when the trees started to clear out of the way and they arrived at a clearing, he stopped rather abruptly, taking the other two behind him by surprise. He looked around quickly; apparently, they had reached one of the roads, and now they had stumbled upon a semi-deserted gas station.
"What the. . ?" One of the other two asked, pointing at something.
He looked over in the direction indicated, blinking when he saw what appeared to be a large, white duck walk into the building. Blinking in surprise, he looked at the door where the duck had just entered, and then over towards the car where the duck had came from.
He got over the surprise quickly, though, telling the other two, "Eh, who cares what it is. ."
His eyes suddenly narrowed; this would be perfect.
"Boys, I think we just found our ticket outta here."
*****
Wildwing walked out of the convenience store a short time later with a small bag. He had left Nosedive asleep in the car, so he had bought a few snacks for when his brother woke up, knowing the teen would probably complain of being hungry later.
Taking his keys out of his pocket, he approached the car again. But suddenly, he froze, looking around cautiously. Something didn't feel right to him.
After hesitating for a moment, he sped up, approaching the car door faster than before as he felt the urge to check on Nosedive. Was he. . ?
A hand suddenly came down from behind him, quickly tightening his grip on Wildwing and pulling the mallard backwards with some force. Wildwing's eyes widened, and he attempted to pull away, but another arm grabbed onto him, and another pair quickly after that, keeping him from escaping.
A harsh voice filled his ears, "Don't try to do anything, or we'll take it out on your buddy, here."
Quickly turning his head, Wildwing let out a small gasp as he saw Nosedive, awake now, looking fearfully back at him as a third man held him tightly, masked and dressed in dark clothes similar to the two keeping him from moving.
"Nosedive!" Wildwing tried to reach out to him, but they held him back even tighter.
"Shut up!" the one man said, "Or you won't like what we'll do to him!"
Wildwing fell silent at the threat on his brother, looking over at him with worry.
"That's better," the same one told him. "Now, we're going to go for a little ride, and you're going to be taking us. Understand?"
After a small nod, he felt himself get shoved into the driver's seat. A feeling of confusion crossed his mind; he was positive he had locked the doors when he went inside, and he was sure that Nosedive wouldn't have opened them. . So how did they. . ?
His train of thought was disrupted as he heard a small cry of fright come from Nosedive, who had been shoved in the backseat with two of the men. The third was in the front with him, keeping a close eye on his movements.
"Go that way," he demanded, pointing to a back road that was going perpendicular to the one they had been taking. It looked a lot less used, too, the snow on the road not being plowed in a while.
Wildwing did as he was told, though, more fearful for Nosedive than himself.
In the backseat, Nosedive was on the verge of panic. This brought up a few mental images that he would rather forget, especially this close to everything that had occurred with Canard. . .
One of the men held a knife up against the teen's throat, looking across to the man on his other side.
The man chuckled at his trembling, "Looks like we've got a frightened one, here."
The other reached up and ran a hand through Nosedive's hair, "Yeah. . Do you think we could play with him for a while? I like it when they're scared."
The one in the front shook his head, "We don't have the time. Unless, of course, the other one decides not to cooperate. . ."
Wildwing tensed, but said nothing. If they did anything to his brother. . . No! He wasn't going to let it happen this time! The Saurians had tortured Nosedive in the camps, and Dragaunus had made him feel grief and loneliness for no reason, but these humans weren't going to get away with anything else.
It won't happen again, he continued to tell himself. It won't.
They continued on for some time, mostly in silence, with occasional threats being made about Nosedive if Wildwing tried to do anything. They had also noticed his comm, and had quickly taken it away from him. The men didn't find Nosedive's because the teen's comm was still broken, and he had it down in his pocket instead of on his wrist. If they had a chance to try and get it working again. . .
"Okay, stop here!" the one in the front seat commanded.
Wildwing stopped, but he didn't understand why. They were out in the middle of nowhere now, with nothing but trees and snow. . . He suddenly paled a little; were they going to. . ?
If they attempted to try something with Nosedive, he would stop them, no matter what the consequences were.
"Now get out," they told him.
Hesitating only slightly, he stepped outside. He quickly looked over at Nosedive, who was being forced out as well. The two men still had a hold on him, the one with a knife still at his throat, so Wildwing knew not to try anything just yet. But when Nosedive sent him a pleading look, his eyes softened a little, and he tried to give him a look of reassurance in return.
Soon, baby bro', he thought. Just hang on. . .
There was a sharp wind blowing, and Nosedive couldn't help but shiver from the coldness of it. It didn't help that he didn't have his jacket on like Wildwing did, since it was thrown in the very back of the car while he'd been asleep.
"Are you sure that I can't play with him?" the one with the knife asked. "It wouldn't take too long. . ."
Anger flashed briefly in Wildwing's eyes once more at the comment.
The leader of the group looked around, "Well, maybe if you're quick about it."
The one with the knife grinned, "Oh, I will. Trust me. . ."
With a gesture from the leader, the third man let go of Nosedive and went over to help hold onto Wildwing. Knowing what was about to happen, he figured it would take more effort to hold the stronger one back, anyways.
The man still with the teen knocked Nosedive down to the ground. By that point, he was too terrified to even put up a fight. The man laughed with a dark tone, crouching down next to him. He ran his hand across Nosedive's cheek.
"Just relax. . . It'll be over quicker if you enjoy it. . ."
That was enough! He couldn't just stand there and let anything happen again! Wildwing pulled against the two holding him with full force, breaking their grip. He quickly moved out of their reach, then ran up to the other man and yanked him away from Nosedive before anything else could happen.
"You're not touching my brother!" he yelled as he slammed the guy down into the snow.
Nosedive blinked, and then he managed to gain enough composure to back away from them.
"Hey, who said you could go anywhere?" the third one said from behind him, the only one not distracted by Wildwing's actions.
He attempted to pin Nosedive down into the snow as he pulled out a knife of his own from his back pocket, but Nosedive dodged away from him, his fear still giving him energy to move faster. The man's knife came dangerously close to his arm, but Nosedive barely managed to keep from getting stabbed by it.
Meanwhile, the leader had gone back to help with Wildwing. The white mallard was doing his best to fight them off while at the same time leading them in the direction opposite of where Nosedive was.
The leader was getting annoyed at their attempts to fight back. . . This was taking too much time! They still weren't far enough away from the gas station for this to be happening. So he decided that it was time to put an end to this.
His chance came when Wildwing spun his head away from him. A sharp cry of pain and surprise had come from Nosedive, proof that the knife had finally made contact.
"Dive!" Wildwing cried out, distracted momentarily.
It was enough of a distraction for the leader to get a tight grip on the white mallard, and he forced Wildwing down hard into the snow.
Wildwing felt himself being pinned down with the man's knees, and the pressure happened to be just enough to prevent him from rolling out of the way fast enough. The white mallard wasn't completely sure what happened, but he suddenly felt pain in his head before things turned dark and then blacked out altogether.
*****
Feeling a bit disoriented, Nosedive blinked in confusion as he realized that the guy who had stabbed him with the knife was no longer after him. In fact, they were all no longer after him or his brother, instead getting back in the car. Before he could react, they had restarted the engine and sped off down the road, leaving him and Wildwing out in the snow.
Speaking of which. . Where was Wildwing?
He started looking around for any signs of his brother. Then, he froze, paling a little as he saw the still figure about twenty feet away in the snow.
"B-Bro'. . .?" he whispered, barely able to find his voice.
No. . . Not again. Not like this. . .
He moved over to his brother's side, not even noticing the sharp pain in his arm or the trail of blood that was still forming from his wound.
"W-Wing?" He pulled his brother's still form closer to him. Was he. . ?
It was hard to tell, the cold wind making it difficult for the teen to check for vital signs. Either way, Wildwing was going to need help, and Nosedive had absolutely no clue where they were. He didn't even know which way they had came from to turn around and go back. And it didn't help that it was so hot. . .
He blinked. If he was out in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but snow and a few trees around him, why did he feel so hot? That wasn't a good sign. It really made him wish that he had his jacket on, but there wasn't much hope of getting it back.
But he couldn't worry about it now. Wildwing needed his help, and he wasn't going to let his brother down!
I wish we were back home right now. . .
To Be Continued
Lost But Not Broken
By Orenda
Chapter 1 - When Trouble Follows You. . .
"Come on, baby bro'. . You know we're leaving in the morning to go back to the Pond. You need to get some sleep."
The younger of the two didn't even look up at the words. "But Wing, I'm not even tired yet. . . And I won't get another chance to see snow for a while. . ." he complained.
Wildwing sighed, but smiled as he sat down on the porch next to his little brother. After everything that had happened, he had decided that it might be a good idea to take a break. So after arranging a few things with the others, Wildwing had surprised Nosedive by renting a log cabin for a week up in the mountains, just for the two of them. Nosedive had been thrilled, missing the snow from back home, and was more than willing to go on the trip. But the main reason Wildwing had wanted to take Nosedive was to help him forget what had happened to him, as a way of making up for not being there when his brother needed him the most.
It had been wonderful week for both of them, but good things always came to an end. And with a two day car ride back to the Pond, since there had been no point in taking the Migrator or the Aerowing just for this, it was just about the end.
"Still can't get your comm fixed, Dive?" Wildwing asked, looking down at the temporarily forgotten object in his brother's hand.
Nosedive blinked and looked down at his comm as well. After a while he had started to watch the falling snow, and had long since forgotten that he'd been playing around with it.
"No," the teen shook his head. "It's so weird. . . I didn't do anything to it that would make it stop working like that. And I can't figure out what's wrong with it, either."
Wildwing took it from Nosedive's hand, looking at it for a minute. "I don't know what to tell you, baby bro'. We'll have to have Tanya look at it once we get back."
Nosedive sighed, "Do we *have* to go back yet? Can't we stay here for a little longer?"
"No, I'm afraid not," Wildwing wrapped his arm around his brother's shoulders, "We don't have much choice."
"Aww, man. . ."
Chuckling, the white mallard ruffled Nosedive's hair a little, "Maybe we can come back again another time."
"Really?" He looked over at his brother with hopeful eyes.
"Yeah," Wildwing smiled, "Maybe during the summer or something when we don't have as much going on."
"That would be awesome!"
"We'll see. But for now, I think we really need to be going to bed."
"But bro'. . ." Nosedive whined.
"How about 10 more minutes? Then I want you to come inside, okay?" Wildwing knew that the teen probably wasn't going to get much sleep with it being their last night there, if any at all, but he didn't want Nosedive to get really cold by staying outside, either. They had adapted to Anaheim's heat by shedding most of their feathers, so they couldn't stay out in the cold for as long as they used to back on Puckworld.
"Oh, alright," Nosedive agreed finally, knowing that he didn't have much choice.
Wildwing gave him one last hug before standing up and heading towards the door, "Don't forget, now."
"I won't."
With that, Nosedive resumed staring at the steadily falling snow, wishing that it could stay this way forever.
*****
The next morning was pretty much predictable, with Wildwing practically dragging his brother out of bed to organize his belongings. Although the teen was a lot less cooperative than usual at first, he eventually did what he was asked to.
"Nosedive, don't you have all of your stuff ready yet?" Wildwing asked as he spotted Nosedive sitting on the couch in a half-daze. He had left Nosedive sitting there almost fifteen minutes ago, and the teen still hadn't moved.
"I'm ready," he replied absently.
Wildwing frowned in concern, noticing that his brother seemed a little paler than usual. "Dive, are you okay?"
Nosedive blinked and looked up at him, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just. . . had trouble sleeping."
"Are you sure?" Wildwing wasn't quite buying it, "You're not getting sick on me, are you?"
He shook his head, "No, I'm fine, bro', really. . ."
Wildwing came over and placed a hand on Nosedive's forehead. He felt slightly warm, but not quite warm enough to have a fever.
The older mallard sighed, "I don't know. . I'd feel better if Tanya checked you out as soon as we get home, though. But if you start feeling bad. ."
". .I'll be sure to tell you," Nosedive finished.
Wildwing gently hit his brother's shoulder, "You'd better."
Nosedive poked him back, "I will."
Amused, Wildwing thought briefly about starting to tickle him, but decided against it, simply because they had to take off soon if they wanted to arrive somewhere to stop for the night at a decent time. That, and he didn't want to get Nosedive too roused up right before leaving.
"Let's get going, baby bro'," he said, offering a hand to Nosedive.
*****
Wildwing chuckled softly as he took his eyes off the road for a brief moment and glanced over at his brother. Just as Wildwing had predicted, Nosedive must have been up all night, because now he was sound asleep, snoring softly as his head rested against the cool car window. Wildwing shook his head with a smirk; at least Nosedive wouldn't be complaining that he was bored for a while. Of course that meant he wouldn't have anyone to talk to for a while, either, but he figured that he could manage.
The older brother sighed. He could tell something wasn't quite right with Nosedive ever since he had gotten up this morning. Wildwing strongly hoped that his little brother wasn't getting sick. Nosedive hadn't been sick since before the invasion, and it didn't happen very often. But whenever he had gotten sick in the past, it always seemed to hit Nosedive really hard. If his brother came down with a human sickness, he wasn't quite sure how badly it would effect the teen.
He begged that that wasn't the case.
As he continued driving, Wildwing noticed a gas station down the road with a small convenience store. He glanced down at the car's gas gage, then back over at his brother. After a moment of debate, he decided it'd be a good idea to stop. They wouldn't reach the main highway for a while, and he'd rather not end up stranded somewhere if Nosedive really was coming down with something.
So he turned into the station, distracted from his thoughts for the time being.
*****
He was running.
At full speed, he could barely feel the winter's cold around him, the wind being kept from his facial features by the dark colored face mask he wore. He could hear his partners' breathing right behind him, so he didn't bother to slow down or turn around to see if the other two men were following. All he knew was that they had to keep going.
They had been running for quite some time now. He could feel the fatigue slowly taking its toll on him, and they couldn't keep going at this rate forever. They would have to find a better means of travel, and soon.
So when the trees started to clear out of the way and they arrived at a clearing, he stopped rather abruptly, taking the other two behind him by surprise. He looked around quickly; apparently, they had reached one of the roads, and now they had stumbled upon a semi-deserted gas station.
"What the. . ?" One of the other two asked, pointing at something.
He looked over in the direction indicated, blinking when he saw what appeared to be a large, white duck walk into the building. Blinking in surprise, he looked at the door where the duck had just entered, and then over towards the car where the duck had came from.
He got over the surprise quickly, though, telling the other two, "Eh, who cares what it is. ."
His eyes suddenly narrowed; this would be perfect.
"Boys, I think we just found our ticket outta here."
*****
Wildwing walked out of the convenience store a short time later with a small bag. He had left Nosedive asleep in the car, so he had bought a few snacks for when his brother woke up, knowing the teen would probably complain of being hungry later.
Taking his keys out of his pocket, he approached the car again. But suddenly, he froze, looking around cautiously. Something didn't feel right to him.
After hesitating for a moment, he sped up, approaching the car door faster than before as he felt the urge to check on Nosedive. Was he. . ?
A hand suddenly came down from behind him, quickly tightening his grip on Wildwing and pulling the mallard backwards with some force. Wildwing's eyes widened, and he attempted to pull away, but another arm grabbed onto him, and another pair quickly after that, keeping him from escaping.
A harsh voice filled his ears, "Don't try to do anything, or we'll take it out on your buddy, here."
Quickly turning his head, Wildwing let out a small gasp as he saw Nosedive, awake now, looking fearfully back at him as a third man held him tightly, masked and dressed in dark clothes similar to the two keeping him from moving.
"Nosedive!" Wildwing tried to reach out to him, but they held him back even tighter.
"Shut up!" the one man said, "Or you won't like what we'll do to him!"
Wildwing fell silent at the threat on his brother, looking over at him with worry.
"That's better," the same one told him. "Now, we're going to go for a little ride, and you're going to be taking us. Understand?"
After a small nod, he felt himself get shoved into the driver's seat. A feeling of confusion crossed his mind; he was positive he had locked the doors when he went inside, and he was sure that Nosedive wouldn't have opened them. . So how did they. . ?
His train of thought was disrupted as he heard a small cry of fright come from Nosedive, who had been shoved in the backseat with two of the men. The third was in the front with him, keeping a close eye on his movements.
"Go that way," he demanded, pointing to a back road that was going perpendicular to the one they had been taking. It looked a lot less used, too, the snow on the road not being plowed in a while.
Wildwing did as he was told, though, more fearful for Nosedive than himself.
In the backseat, Nosedive was on the verge of panic. This brought up a few mental images that he would rather forget, especially this close to everything that had occurred with Canard. . .
One of the men held a knife up against the teen's throat, looking across to the man on his other side.
The man chuckled at his trembling, "Looks like we've got a frightened one, here."
The other reached up and ran a hand through Nosedive's hair, "Yeah. . Do you think we could play with him for a while? I like it when they're scared."
The one in the front shook his head, "We don't have the time. Unless, of course, the other one decides not to cooperate. . ."
Wildwing tensed, but said nothing. If they did anything to his brother. . . No! He wasn't going to let it happen this time! The Saurians had tortured Nosedive in the camps, and Dragaunus had made him feel grief and loneliness for no reason, but these humans weren't going to get away with anything else.
It won't happen again, he continued to tell himself. It won't.
They continued on for some time, mostly in silence, with occasional threats being made about Nosedive if Wildwing tried to do anything. They had also noticed his comm, and had quickly taken it away from him. The men didn't find Nosedive's because the teen's comm was still broken, and he had it down in his pocket instead of on his wrist. If they had a chance to try and get it working again. . .
"Okay, stop here!" the one in the front seat commanded.
Wildwing stopped, but he didn't understand why. They were out in the middle of nowhere now, with nothing but trees and snow. . . He suddenly paled a little; were they going to. . ?
If they attempted to try something with Nosedive, he would stop them, no matter what the consequences were.
"Now get out," they told him.
Hesitating only slightly, he stepped outside. He quickly looked over at Nosedive, who was being forced out as well. The two men still had a hold on him, the one with a knife still at his throat, so Wildwing knew not to try anything just yet. But when Nosedive sent him a pleading look, his eyes softened a little, and he tried to give him a look of reassurance in return.
Soon, baby bro', he thought. Just hang on. . .
There was a sharp wind blowing, and Nosedive couldn't help but shiver from the coldness of it. It didn't help that he didn't have his jacket on like Wildwing did, since it was thrown in the very back of the car while he'd been asleep.
"Are you sure that I can't play with him?" the one with the knife asked. "It wouldn't take too long. . ."
Anger flashed briefly in Wildwing's eyes once more at the comment.
The leader of the group looked around, "Well, maybe if you're quick about it."
The one with the knife grinned, "Oh, I will. Trust me. . ."
With a gesture from the leader, the third man let go of Nosedive and went over to help hold onto Wildwing. Knowing what was about to happen, he figured it would take more effort to hold the stronger one back, anyways.
The man still with the teen knocked Nosedive down to the ground. By that point, he was too terrified to even put up a fight. The man laughed with a dark tone, crouching down next to him. He ran his hand across Nosedive's cheek.
"Just relax. . . It'll be over quicker if you enjoy it. . ."
That was enough! He couldn't just stand there and let anything happen again! Wildwing pulled against the two holding him with full force, breaking their grip. He quickly moved out of their reach, then ran up to the other man and yanked him away from Nosedive before anything else could happen.
"You're not touching my brother!" he yelled as he slammed the guy down into the snow.
Nosedive blinked, and then he managed to gain enough composure to back away from them.
"Hey, who said you could go anywhere?" the third one said from behind him, the only one not distracted by Wildwing's actions.
He attempted to pin Nosedive down into the snow as he pulled out a knife of his own from his back pocket, but Nosedive dodged away from him, his fear still giving him energy to move faster. The man's knife came dangerously close to his arm, but Nosedive barely managed to keep from getting stabbed by it.
Meanwhile, the leader had gone back to help with Wildwing. The white mallard was doing his best to fight them off while at the same time leading them in the direction opposite of where Nosedive was.
The leader was getting annoyed at their attempts to fight back. . . This was taking too much time! They still weren't far enough away from the gas station for this to be happening. So he decided that it was time to put an end to this.
His chance came when Wildwing spun his head away from him. A sharp cry of pain and surprise had come from Nosedive, proof that the knife had finally made contact.
"Dive!" Wildwing cried out, distracted momentarily.
It was enough of a distraction for the leader to get a tight grip on the white mallard, and he forced Wildwing down hard into the snow.
Wildwing felt himself being pinned down with the man's knees, and the pressure happened to be just enough to prevent him from rolling out of the way fast enough. The white mallard wasn't completely sure what happened, but he suddenly felt pain in his head before things turned dark and then blacked out altogether.
*****
Feeling a bit disoriented, Nosedive blinked in confusion as he realized that the guy who had stabbed him with the knife was no longer after him. In fact, they were all no longer after him or his brother, instead getting back in the car. Before he could react, they had restarted the engine and sped off down the road, leaving him and Wildwing out in the snow.
Speaking of which. . Where was Wildwing?
He started looking around for any signs of his brother. Then, he froze, paling a little as he saw the still figure about twenty feet away in the snow.
"B-Bro'. . .?" he whispered, barely able to find his voice.
No. . . Not again. Not like this. . .
He moved over to his brother's side, not even noticing the sharp pain in his arm or the trail of blood that was still forming from his wound.
"W-Wing?" He pulled his brother's still form closer to him. Was he. . ?
It was hard to tell, the cold wind making it difficult for the teen to check for vital signs. Either way, Wildwing was going to need help, and Nosedive had absolutely no clue where they were. He didn't even know which way they had came from to turn around and go back. And it didn't help that it was so hot. . .
He blinked. If he was out in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but snow and a few trees around him, why did he feel so hot? That wasn't a good sign. It really made him wish that he had his jacket on, but there wasn't much hope of getting it back.
But he couldn't worry about it now. Wildwing needed his help, and he wasn't going to let his brother down!
I wish we were back home right now. . .
To Be Continued