Wow, forget what I said about this being shorter than my other story, as far as word count, this will be a lot longer. Also, when Cobra speaks the letters are like that intentionally!

DISCLAIMER: Only my OCs. I own nothing else.

Runt's pov

I watched the teens talking amongst themselves for a long time. They were formulating a plan, or trying to. I remembered when I had been so motivated to escape, so determined. So desperate. After living in the beautiful jungle trees, and being evicted. Of course, it was fun at first, joining the team. Leaper and I were best friends. She even taught me how to do flips. And at night we would gather around Vulture, and he would tell stories. Stories of how was tortured by the metal-armed man. If we had been especially good, he would tell stories of us. He told us our names, and how badly we were tortured. We never knew how he knew, but we were too hungry for any strip of knowledge, that we didn't care.

"Adrian, Dereck made fun of my eyes again," It was the fourth time that I complained about Black Cobra that week. He sighed.

"How many times have I told you. You must all call each other by your code names, except me. Now, what did Black Cobra say this time?" He asked impatiently.

"He called me a freak, a failure. Said I couldn't be a hero if I tried, nor a villain. Said that I have no powers and I slow the group down," I was crying now. Adrian suddenly tilted his head and gave me that odd look he had been giving me since he found me. He doubled over, clutching his head and screamed. Not his bird scream, a normal human one. Melody, or Night Shade, came running along with Emily, or Leaper. Black Cobra slithered behind them.

"You!" He spat when he saw me.

"What have you done?" Night Shade said, looking at nothing, but able to see with her echolocation. She caressed Adrian's black hair with her wing.

"You couldn't have. What happened? Tobias?" Emily looked at me with wide eyes. I waned to say that it wasn't my fault. But I couldn't. I just shook my head and stared at Adrian.

"I told you he wasss trouble," Cobra told Adrian.

"C-cobra, the dungeon. Im-immediately," Our teacher ordered.

"You heard him. Leaper, ressstrain him, Night Shshshade, call Fisshh-face," Black Cobra hissed. The "fish-face" he was referring to was Barracuda, or Kirby. He was the most ruthless, scariest fighter. He had even beat Leaper on one occasion. He rarely spoke and when he did, it sounded like nails on chalkboard. He was Cobra's best friend.

"I'm so sorry Tob-" Cobra shot Leaper a look.

"Runt, I'm sorry Runt," She corrected herself as she pinned me to the ground painfully.

"Shh, you're ok, its ok," She repeated over and over in my ear. I was still numb. The only thing I registered was guilt. I hadn't noticed Adrian was sick, I was so absorbed in my own problems. I didn't feel my body trying to violently break free, and I didn't hear myself screaming deliriously. It wasn't my problem anymore. Nothing was my problem anymore, all I had to do was listen to the voice in my head saying, you're ok, its ok.

"Hey, are you ok?" I woke up out of my trance to see White Tiger staring at me in concern.

"Yes, I'm fine," It wasn't hard to keep from crying. I didn't know how to anymore. I hadn't tasted salty tears since I was imprisoned. Part of me, the part that knew how to cry, was still numb. But these new prisoners were starting to wake that part up. They were amusing, I couldn't remember the last time I had laughed. They were sad, They were determined, they were lively, they were so human. Maybe I could learn from them, learn how to feel, be human.

Danny's pov

We had finally figured out a plan. We were simply going to have to break through and take the risk of being swarmed by who knew how many students. We planned to do it near dawn. We couldn't see outside, but since I woke up at dawn normally, I would be able to tell when it was. That way, the bat girl would just be falling asleep and everyone else would be waking in a good hour or two. I glanced at Runt, he had his eyes open, but they were glossy and misty, as if he wanted to cry, but couldn't. I knew that look. He was in a meditative state, most likely reliving a powerful memory. I couldn't help but sense that I knew him from somewhere, and it was still bothering me when we all went sleep.

I woke up after a few hours, it was dawn. After I finished waking everyone else up we were faced with a choice.

"Shouldn't we, um, you know...bring Runt?" Pete asked awkwardly.

"I feel bad, but he could barely hold a cup. He's going to slow us down," Ava whispered in shame. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Runt's hand move slightly. He was listening. But if I told the others, they would offer him to come with us. And he would know it was out of pity. I couldn't do that to him.

"We can come back for him," I suggested. The team nodded. I found the weak spot faster this time. It was in the same place. We broke through as quietly as possible, which was still very loud, and looked around. It was a small stone chamber with only Runt's cell and ours. At the far end, there was a narrow flight of stairs leading up. We walked over and cautiously began climbing. I squinted in the brightness of day. I let out a deep breath, we were free.

"Where is he?" Leaper dropped out of a tree and landed directly where Sam was about to step. He shrieked and almost fell back.

"You!" Sam growled at her, which in turn, made her smile slightly. But then the frown returned. When she had been cheery and childish, she seemed so innocent. But now she looked ready to kill if we made the wrong move.

"If you hurt him I will make sure that you never come out of that dungeon again," She snarled, literally, bearing her fangs and getting into a fighting stance.

"Who?" Luke asked. She ran on all fours and in a blink, she was on his back, her head by his ear.

"Tobias," She whispered. The others looked confused, but I understood.

"Runt is unharmed. He is too weak to accompany us, but we plan to go back for him when he is strong," I said calmly. Now she was on my back, crouching on my shoulders.

"I see you aren't lying, but you are leaving something out," She ran her fingers through my hair where it poked out from underneath my mask.

"Can we trust you?" I asked.

"Depends," At least she wasn't a liar.

"We must deliver something to Vulture, as friends," I told her.

"His friends would know his name," She hissed.

"Adrian Toomes," Luke stepped up, and I was glad someone had listened. It would look odd if I answered every question.

"You have pretty hair. Adrian told us stories of a boy who almost killed, then tried to befriend him. A boy with hair like yours, and emerald eyes. If I could just-" I grabbed her hand before she could undo my mask.

"Anyway kid, Runt is fine, so you are going to be a good little whatever-you-are and let us go, right?" Sam asked slowly, as if she was stupid. She scowled at him.

"You have been warned. If you harm Toby or Adrian in any way..."

"What are you going to do about it huh?" Sam said in mocking voice. Then she was on top of his shoulder. She grabbed his face and twisted it around to face her. I saw tiny pink claws poking through her small fingers.

"You want to play with me Helmet-Face, because we all saw how well that went last time. If you hurt either of them I will hunt you down. I'll force you to go insane, until I'm your every waking thought and I'm your every dream. I will be the air you breathe, I'll be everywhere, until one day, I'll get you!" She said in a high song-song voice. But her tone was deadly. We all stepped back subconsciously and Sam nodded so quickly his neck popped.

"Good, glad we understand each other! Well, I have sleep to get back to so..." She was back to her happy tone, and she darted up the nearest tree, out of sight. We waited until we could hear soft snores, and we set off. This indeed was proving to be quite an, interesting, journey.

Here it is, a little bit of back story on Runt. Next chapter will be more Luke-ish. Also the contest format is:

(who is hunting): (what is being hunted)

And you can guess more than once... Anyway...

Wolf out...