Gwen waited in the living room as Trent finished getting ready for the concert they were attending with Duncan. Six months had passed since the war with the psychotic Dorian McGraver III, who had been intent on killing Gwen and her friends. Though Gwen had seen Dorian die she still could not shake the feeling of uneasiness she had felt since meeting Dorian. She still felt threatened, a feeling that just didn't seem to want to dislodge itself from her soul. She couldn't figure out exactly why she was struggling to escape the memories of the encounter; perhaps it had something to do with her own death during the conflict. Dying and coming back tends to have that effect on people. Regardless, Gwen had more important things to look forward to, namely the concert she would be attending tomorrow with two of her favorite people on Earth.
"Ready to go honey?" Trent asked, his voice bringing Gwen back to reality.
"I've been waiting for you." Gwen replied with a sly smile. "You take too long to get ready."
Trent smiled at his wife. He knew she was teasing him to lighten the mood. He had seen the darkness that lay behind her eyes, and knew she was still feeling the effects of their recent ordeal. He did not have an answer as to how he could help her and he hoped the concert would take her mind off the recent past.
They headed out to the gas station where they were meeting Duncan. He was coming alone, as his wife, Courtney, was too busy to make it. Given this, Gwen and Trent were surprised to find Courtney waiting with her husband.
"Hey, Court I thought you weren't gonna come." said Trent as he and Gwen approached.
"Nice to see you too, Trent." Courtney replied, coolly. Trent's eyes widened. Courtney wasn't usually so abrupt.
Courtney smiled and said, "I got some time off. Figured I'd come see you guys off."
Trent sighed, and Gwen and Duncan laughed. It was obvious that Gwen had been faking her surprise; she had known Courtney was going to be there. Trent glared at his wife and Gwen slugged him in the shoulder.
"Well we better get going." said Duncan. "I want to get there before all the good camping spots are taken." The others nodded in agreement.
"Have fun honey." Courtney said, kissing Duncan. She looked at Gwen and said, "Please don't let him get into too much trouble." Gwen smiled and Duncan rolled his eyes. He knew Courtney's intentions were good and, given everything that had happened, entirely justified. Still he found her mothering slightly annoying.
They waved goodbye to Courtney and took off. Once they had gotten a few miles down the road Gwen asked Duncan a burning question. "So, who're we gonna see?" Duncan had not told them who was playing this show, despite the fact that he had invited the others two weeks earlier.
"Oh, you're gonna love this." Duncan replied with an evil grin. "We're gonna see the Agonist, In This Moment, Killswitch Engage, and motherfucking Mastodon."
"Nice!" said Trent. "I didn't even know they were all on tour together."
"Yeah well, it was actually Court who found out." said Duncan. "I had no idea either."
"Well it should be good." said Gwen, staring out the window.
The following night as they headed back to the campground following the concert, Duncan was ecstatic. "Fuck that was a great show!" he shouted, punching the air. Gwen and Trent smiled and nodded in agreement. It was the most fun any of them had had in months and they were not about to let the euphoria die.
They arrived back at their camp and Duncan broke into the beers. After a half an hour Gwen got up and headed for the tent. "I'm going to bed." she said, yawning.
"Okay, night honey." said Trent getting up to give her a kiss. Gwen smiled at them and headed into the tent. Trent sat back down and Duncan offered him another beer. They sat in silence for a moment before Duncan spoke.
"She's not doing so well is she?" he asked. "I can see it in both of your eyes, somethings bothering Gwen, isn't it?"
Trent hesitated before replying. "Yeah, she's still dealing with, you know, the shit that happened six months ago." He sighed. "I don't know what to do for her, I can't make the bad dreams go away, but it kills me to see her suffer like this."
"Well, I might have a solution." said Duncan. "We all need a new beginning after that war and I think I know how to get it." He paused, but Trent said nothing. Duncan continued, "see I think we should form a band, as a way to release the negative feelings and whatever. I mean, I know you got your solo thing, but I think if a bunch of us got together and just wrote some shit it would lift the weight off all our shoulders." He stopped waiting for Trent's reaction.
Trent nodded and said, "Yeah that sounds like a good idea. But we gotta do it soon before the darkness takes over again."
Duncan nodded and lit a cigarette. "I thought you quit?" Trent said.
"I did, but the stress of the war made me start up again." said Duncan. "You want one?"
Trent nodded and he and Duncan turned the conversation back to the concert.
The next morning, as they packed up Gwen brought up Duncan's idea. "I heard you guys last night, talking about forming a band." she said casually. Trent and Duncan glanced at each other. "You were intending to count me in on this right?" Gwen asked with a grin.
"Yes, of course." said Duncan, looking right at her.
"Good." said Gwen. "But don't forget, we have something to do before we start this band."
"We do?" asked Trent, a puzzled look on his face.
"Yes!" said Gwen, almost shouting. Trent and Duncan continued to look puzzled. Gwen rolled her eyes, "Owen and Izzy's wedding you fucking idiots!" she snapped.
Understanding hit Trent and Duncan like a ton of bricks. "Shit." said Duncan. "How could we have forgotten that?" Gwen glared at them.
"I still can't believe their actually getting hitched." said Duncan.
"Well like you said last night, we all need new beginnings." said Trent.
A/N: And there you go. Chapter 1 of the sequel. Now, before I continue I gotta take care of the usual shit. TDI is not mine, it is the property of Teletoon Inc, and blah, blah, blah. You guys know this already, right? Anyway, like the Hunted there will be some OCs, who are obviously mine and you may be surprised by who a few of them are. Oh, and, as I promised, this will be better than its predecessor.