Hello Nerdians! I AM SO SO SOOOOOO SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN AGES I HAVE BEEN REALLY BUSY! AND I KNOW THIS CHAPTER IS SHORT AND HAT IT SUCKS I SORRY


We shouldn't of run.

I'm sick of running.

But running is all I'm good at.

Chapter Six

-Elove

Aleks and Mitch on Rojo. Sky beside the horse making sure Aleks – poor, half dead Aleks – didn't fall off of the horse. I had my sword out and a lump in my throat.

"Why are we still running?" Sky asked his voice as clear as it had been in ages. I looked up at the sky and bit my lip. It was around midday but you won't be able to tell from a glance. Mixing with the now dying smoke was dark, rolling clouds. Thunder rumbled off in the distance and I shivered. It was freezing.

"Elove?" Sky asked impatiently. "Elove!" he snapped in annoyance, and my head snapped up and I looked at him over the horse.

"Because we need to find the Alliance," I said simply, tugging on Rojo's reins and trying to get him to move faster.

"You heard Eddie," Sky said poisonously. "It's not real. We're just condemning Aleks by running. We could've stayed and Seamus could've helped him. Hell, we can go back now and-"

"No!" I yelled, my hands tightening on the reins. "We aren't going back. We're going to keep moving."

"You're too proud," Sky spat. "Too proud to turn around and admit that you've lost!"

"I'm not proud!" I snapped. "This isn't a game, Sky! We can't just go back and admit defeat! Aleks is a war criminal, I've been kicked and you, you're nothing! You were a leader and a soldier and you're falling apart! Can you not see that?" I said, and his eyes widened. I'd hit a chord and I was grimly satisfied. His eyes narrowed.

"I know that I'm insane," Sky hissed. "But at least I'm not too afraid to admit it." I gulped, feeling it strike my heart. I was killing Aleks by doing this, and I knew it. But I was too stubborn to give up.

-Ty

I sighed and sat down on a fallen log, dumping Jason beside me. Bash stopped and walked back to us, sitting beside me. We stared wordlessly at Jason as he lay there, crumpled.

"My wing hurts," I said absently.

"I'm hungry," Bash added. I stretched my wing out in front of me and gazed at it sadly. It was ripped up too badly. I wouldn't be able to fly.

"I'll go see if I can pick some fruit or maybe get a rabbit," I said standing up. I instinctively moved to stretch out my wings and then refold them and hissed in pain.

"Will I stay here with Jason?" Bash asked. I nodded and then heard his stomach loudly. He blushed and I smiled slightly.

"I'll be as quick as I can," I said, and then I took off into the woods around us. It all smelled like smoke and ash and I rubbed my nose a lot, trying to dislodge the scent. I needed to focus so I could sniff out some animals. I only found two rabbits and a handful of berries in twenty minutes. I sighed sadly at the meagre food and then turned around and headed back to Bash, following the smell of melon. I wrinkled my nose. I didn't like watermelon. I was allergic or something. He was lucky he didn't have to worry about me eating him. I brought the food back and saw he had already made a fire.

"Smart," I said, and he smiled happily. We crafted a spit and he set the first rabbit to roast after I skinned it. It was easy with my claws. We sat around the flickering fire, me rubbing my nose in annoyance and Bash humming a tune I didn't recognise. I hadn't been able to grasp human songs. I looked over at Jason and watched his chest slowly rise and fall. A small sigh escaped his lips and I scooted closer to him. I touched his cheek and got no reaction.

"We've been feeding him, giving him water and cleaning him every now and then," I said absently, my brow furrowed. "And you said that your friend thought he fell into this sleep thing because he was exhausted and neglected."

"It's called a coma," Bash supplied. "Usually when people fall into a coma we taken them to the Hospital and they hook them up to a bunch of machines to help then wake up. Sometimes doctors would deliberately make the person get into a coma if they needed it. But I haven't seen of a Hospital in two years and I doubt that the Hybrids would've left any… human hospitals." Bash finished sadly. I shrugged.

"Maybe they missed a town with a doctor's clinic?" I mused. Bash picked up a blueberry and threw it in his mouth and chewed it thoughtfully.

"Maybe. But where are we going to a find a town they magically missed in their crazy rampage?" Bash asked, and at first I was hurt and then realised he wasn't being sarcastic. I shrugged and looked back at the rabbit.

"Food's ready," I said, and I pulled it off the spit and pulled off some of the good meat. I passed some to Bash and he ripped into it.

"Wow, rabbit is good!" he exclaimed. I nodded, looking up at the sky as I bit into mine and smiled as I looked back down. Then my head snapped back up.

"What the hell?" I murmured. Bash stopped eating and followed my gaze up. His jaw dropped.

"Wow! The sky's…. black!" he said in surprise. "But the sun only rose maybe an hour ago!" I stood up and grabbed the spare rabbit and the berries, putting them in the sack we'd stolen from a ruined village a few months back.

"It's a snowstorm! We need to find shelter now!" I said quickly, not letting panic into my voice.

"How do you know?" Bash asked sceptically.

"I lived out here for two years and… before I found you I had to walk through one. It's not fun," I said, and Bash stood up. I gave him the sack and picked up Jason.

"Where do we go?" Bash asked, his voice controlled. I looked back the way we came and sighed.

"I don't know. Just tell me if you see a cave or a village or something," I said, and we started walking.

-Mitch

I was on Rojo with Aleks in front of me. I had been tasked with holding him up and I didn't like it. We bounced along at a steady pace and the way the sky was churning up was freaking me out.

"We need to find shelter," I said. "I think it's going to storm." As soon as I said that, thunder cracked not too far away from us.

"We'll be fine," Elove muttered. I straightened Aleks up and frowned.

"Elove, I think it's a snowstorm."

"It's nothing."

"I really think it's going to be bad-"

"I said we'll be fine!" Elove yelled, hysteria tinging her voice. I leaned away. This wasn't really the Elove I'd gotten to know over the past months. Elove was fun, bubbly, and never really showed how she felt. But now… she was breaking apart. She was on edge ad stressed and she hadn't been able to really rest. I had a suspicion something else was going on but I didn't question it.

"Elove, we're going to find shelter. Now," I commanded, and Elove looked up at me, her eyes dull. I was shocked.

"Are you feeling alright?" I asked, and she turned back and looked forward.

"I'm fine," she muttered. "Totally, perfectly fine."

"I think you're losing it," I said sceptically, and she shook her head vigorously.

"I just need some rest, that's all," she said, and she sounded more like herself. Happy, even though it was an insane kind of happy. There was another bout of thunder and then it started to snow.

"Shit," Sky said angrily. "Mitch's right. Snowstorm. We need shelter."

"Thank you!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up. Aleks started to slip so I grabbed him and righted him.

"We'll find a cave," Elove said. She sped up and Rojo whinnied nervously, tossing his head. It dawned on me that Rojo probably wouldn't fit in a cave.

"What about Rojo?" I asked. All that replied was grim silence. "We can't just leave him outside! He'll freeze to death!"

"We left Naranja and Amarillo and that wasn't as big a deal," Sky said, and my brow creased.

"That was in the fire and it was accidental. This would be… deliberately killing him!" I exclaimed, and Sky looked at me sadly.

"It's us or the horse," he said, and I crossed my arms, ignoring Aleks. I glared at him and he sighed.

"If we have time, I'll rig up a little shelter for him," he said in defeat, and I smiled, grabbing Aleks shoulders and pulling him back into the right spot.

"Awesome."

-Eddie

"We need to go after them. Forget the Hybrid," Red murmured, running a hand through her dirty blonde hair. I was surprised. After all of it, she'd give up Ty so easily? It didn't seem right.

"I think it's going to snowstorm," Seamus said nervously, wringing his hands together. James looked grim.

"What do we do?" James asked, looking to Red. Red looked at me and my heart sank.

"I suck at making decisions!" I whined. A small smile danced in Red's eyes and I glared at her. She held her hands up and Seamus's eyes widened.

"What the hell happened? Normally you two are at each other's throats!" he said, confused. "What happened?"

"I found Eddie here trying to get Red undressed," James said with a wink. My fists clenched and I felt a blush creeping up my neck. Red hid her smile.

"I so was not, you dick!" I yelled. Seamus laughed.

"We got a player over here," he chuckled, and I glared at Seamus.

"Do not encourage him!" I snapped. Seamus looked over at James and James bit his lip, trying to hold in a laugh.

"We were not going to do anything!" I said in annoyance. "I was just… kissing her!" Seamus smirked.

"Sure you were," he said, and James gave him a high-five.

"I said the exact same things!" James laughed.

"When you guys stop acting like such guys, we should get moving," Red said, and I could feel her coming back. Old Red.

"But it's hard to not be guys," James whined, and Red gave him her best glare. James took a step behind Seamus.

"You were saying?" Seamus stuttered, forcing a smile. Red patted her bow and didn't reply, making Seamus flinch. I laughed and then Red turned it on me. I stopped immediately and straightened up.

"Let's go find shelter!" I said with forced happy, and Red smiled. She started walking and we followed obediently.


So... yeah.