Alice

Kiba turned his head and looked down at me with his black eyes and grinned slyly. Before I could say anything, I heard screams down the street. I quickly stood onto my feet and looked out over the street. It was Blakely. His arms and legs were slashed up and pouring blood, and he was being pursued by several more Fallens. Blakely feel to the ground, and his assailants jumped on his like a pack of wild animals. I could make out his pleas for mercy, but after a few more seconds he wasn't saying anything else.

While I was staring down in horror, I saw one starting to glance up in my direction on the roof. I quickly dropped down to the flat surface of the roof and made sure no part of me could be seen. Kiba had vanished sometime during the chaos. The savagery down below had scared me and my hands were shaking. What if they flew up here and saw me?

I'd be as good as dead. I remembered the instructions Shun gave me before he left. I had to get as far away from this place as I could and get Dan and the others if possible. But first I had to get off the roof without being spotted from above or below. I crawled on my hands and knees and made my way to the hatch in the roof. Once inside the storage room, I ran down the stairs and found Shun's Clan and Bertha all huddled together. Thatch's voice was booming over everyone else's as he gathered their attention.

"Guys, we cant hide here forever. They'll figure out soon enough that we're in here since they just got Blakely." So they saw him get ripped to shreds too. Something was tapping on my shoulder and I turned to see Mason standing behind me. "Can I speak to you in the other room, Alice?"

I followed behind him and now we were in another sitting room that the tenement building had. He said to me, "I know that Tristan didn't kill Shun. At least not that quickly. Odds are he went against his word and sent his Clan here anyway. We need to find him."

I figured out that much. About Shun not being dead yet. I asked Mason, "Do you really think he's still alive." I was usually the optimistic one, but right then I was becoming really doubtful. Mason looked up at the ceiling as if thinking about my question.

He sighed. "He might still be, but if we keep standing around here we're only wasting time." I nodded and snuck out through the back down with him. He told me before he shut the door, "I hope they can hold off till we get back."

Shun

My back burned with pain. Had he cut through my spine? No, I could still feel my arms and legs. I tried to stand up on my hands and knees, but they started to shake and I fell back onto the muddy grass. The rain was still pouring where I was, but I didn't know about in the city.

I turned my head and looked up and saw Tristan looking down at me and grinning. In his hand was a solid black sword that was dripping with my blood. He turned it sideways and swung it into my ribs like a baseball bat. Tristan was truly being relentless. More than I remembered. While I was laying on my side and clutching my newly injured ribs, he listed his foot up and stomped it into my stomach.

Causing me to lose my breath. I found enough strength in me to get onto my hands and knees, and I looked up at him. The trees behind him bent with the wind and rain. Tristan threw his head back and laughed. "Oh, how the might have fallen. Twice at that!"

I glared my eyes up at him and panted. I knew he could of killed me the minute he sliced into my back, but he hadn't. Tristan was torturing me. Making the last few hours I had left a living hell. His demeanor turned from that smile to a scowl.

"How sad. You look like a beaten down dog with nothing left to live for. You've failed your Clan, yourself, and don't forget about your little Bondage. Alice was her name, I think." He lifted up the black sword and pointed it right at my face. Rain washed away my blood from the blade, only for in a few minutes it to be covered once more. He drew the sword back, and I braced myself for the blade to hit me.

Alice

Mason and I were running as fast as we could. It was too risky to fly, so both of us had on black hoodies to keep ourselves hidden from any of Tristan's Clan that may have been flying overhead. It was a good thing we did have them on because the further we got from the city the harder the rain was and the colder the air got. I found it odd that no people were out on the streets.

It was like since Tristan had made his grand return, the world had stopped moving. Mason and I started running through some of the not so dense part of the forest the Shun was in. The ground was muddy and we occasionally slipped in the wet ground. Mason said to me, "I remember what the area looked like when Tristan showed me so I could describe it to Shun." The rain was pelting down on us, and I was wondering how those two could of possibly fought with this much raining down.

Our hoodies were soaking wet, and I was already shaking from the chill in the air. Mason didn't seem phased by the weather like I was. "The clearing is just up ahead if I remember right. I can't really tell with all of this rain and fog." Just as he had said that, the rain started to quiet down, and went from a downpour to a slight drizzle that caught in the tree limbs above our heads. The fog didn't really ease up like the rain did. I looked around at the trees. Everything looked the same against the haze and fog.

"The clearing is right up ahead." We instantly sped up as we approached the area. It was an open area, and laying near the center was Shun. His body was sliced up, beaten, and bruised. Blood was pooling around him and diluting in the wet grass. And he wasn't moving either. Mason and I ran over to him and I knelt down beside Shun. I placed my hand on a part of his shoulder that wasn't injured and shook him gently. I kept whispering into his ear, "Shun. Shun, please wake up."

I hadn't even realized how on the verge of crying I was. Mason was pacing back and forth and running his hands through his hair. Me and him were both on the same page since neither one of us knew what to do. I saw Shun's chest moving up and down. He's breathing. That's good. I tried shaking him once more. A small raindrop rolled off of a leaf above us, and landed right on Shun's cheek.

His eyes opened weakly and slowly as he turned to meet my face. Mason saw he was awake, and ran by my side to see his injured leader. Shun winced as he tried to move and he told us, "Tristan…He went back….On his word…." It was taking everything Shun had to get those words out. I took a moment to assess the damage. His arms and legs were heavily cut up, bruises covered parts that weren't cut, and one of his wings seemed to be broken.

Mason was looking over his wounds as well when he said, "He's hurt pretty badly. I see why Tristan didn't kill him cause he knew Shun wouldn't last very long out here without any help. I don't even know if any help will make a difference." I pushed away a wet, blood matted lock of hair from Shun's face. I felt his skin, and it was warm. I told Tristan, "He's running a fever."

It could have been from anything. From being trapped out in this weather and left so weak, or maybe there was an infection starting up from the open wounds being exposed. Shun's breathing was forced and choppy, but he found enough air in him to speak again. "I'm sorry….That I couldn't…Beat him…" I felt tears swell up in my eyes. What would we do with him if we did get him out of the forest? We couldn't take him back to the city where Tristan and his delusional Clan were.

They'd kill Shun on site along with us. Mason was looking over the damage wing. It was bent in an unnatural position and whenever he touched it, Shun would wince from the pain. Mason heaved a sigh. "We may heal quickly, but there's no way he'll heal in time with the extent of these injuries. It might be a waste of time and energy to try and sneak him back into the city to Bertha." I placed my hand on Shun's, and felt the heat of the fever on him. I got an idea and took off the soaked black hoodies and laid it over his body.

It wasn't much warmer with or without it anyway. I was well aware that Mason couldn't blame me for trying to help, so I didn't bother arguing over it with him. I asked Mason, "Could you take off your hoodie and tear off a few pieces of the fabric?" He raised his eyebrow, but did as I asked. He ripped the thick fabric of the hoodie into several large and small pieces and handed them to me.

I looked on Shun to find the worst wounds, and wrapped the hoodie pieces around them. The worst had to be a painful looking gash right on his lower back. I used the largest piece for that wound. There wasn't any guarantee my makeshift bandages would do anything for him, but at least they should of stopped the bleeding. Shun's eyes looked at me and he said, "Thank you, Alice…..Mason…..Get what's left….Of the Clan….And get them out of here…" Mason nodded his head. He knew he had to take Shun's place as leader now since he was the second in command. He asked me, "Come on, Alice. Let's head back…..You coming?"

I nodded my head without looking away from Shun. His wing was bothering me at the moment. I wished there was something I could of done to make the pain more bearable, but that injury was out of my reach of repair. "Yeah. I'll catch up with you in a minute. Just give me a few more seconds. Kay?" Mason in return told me, "I understand. I'll be waiting by that stream we saw on the way here." Looking back at Shun, my mind drifted back to the Bond we shared. Would it be painful when it broke?

Or would everything go back to the way it used to be and leave me blind from this world I had discovered? A tear streaked down my cheek and fell to the ground. I leaned over and placed my lips on Shun's. They were still hot with his fever. I stood up and looked back down at him.

I didn't want to leave him, but like Mason had said, there was no way he'd make it on the trip back to the tenement building. He'd probably not even make it through the forest. Besides, I didn't want to leave Mason waiting forever for me by that stream.

Every minute we spent here, we were wasting time that we could have been getting Shun's Clan away from the city. I suppressed a sob, and turned and walked in the direction of the stream.

Shun

So much pain and fatigue, and I had nothing to do with them. I would occasionally find it in me to open my eyes, only to see the storm clouds floating away to deliver rain some place else. I remember Alice and Mason had found me, and tried their best to help me to their best extent before coming to the conclusion that there was no point in trying anymore. But how long ago was it that they had found me? Minutes? Hours? I didn't have any perception of time as I passed in and out of consciousness.

But I did agree with them that I was a lost cause. Even I was aware of the extent of my injuries and how fatal they were. All I had left to do was laying in this clearing and wait for them to finally take me. But I should have been dead a while ago. Why wasn't I? I forced to turn my head and looked at where Alice had tied a hoodie to my arm where a large gash had been. My other arm shakily made it's way over to the makeshift bandage and took it off. The gash had stopped bleeding and was actually healing.

I could feel where more bandages were, and I took them off and positioned my head to where I could see the wounds under them. They all had stopped bleeding and were healing as well. The only one I couldn't see was the one on my back, but I could still feel the deep radiating pain. If Alice hadn't done what she did, I may of died much quicker.

I now stood a chance of making it somewhere safer and getting treatment. I could find a hospital and play it off as a Slasher attack, but they wouldn't be able to see my hurt wing and do anything about it. It was then that I decided to see what state my wing was it. My stiff body slowly sat up, and grass and mud clung to my clothes and skin.

The black hoodie that Alice used as a means to break my fever rolled off. That seemed to of worked as well, although I still thought I felt a little warm myself. I turned to my right wing, and saw it was bent at the top joint that controlled movement. It didn't seem like a normal break. The way it was, there should have been bone sticking out from the black feathers.

I tried to move it and only cried out in pain. It was then, that I figured out it wasn't broken, but dislocated. Something that could easily be fixed, but with much pain in store. Although, when the joint was put back in place, I'd be able to fly if I had enough strength left. I took in a deep breath. Now was the best of any to go ahead and get it out of the way. I turned my body towards the wing, despite the pain from my lower back, and put my hands where the joint was. Just touching it hurt enough on its own, and it made me start to think twice about doing this.

No. I've got to do this. I placed a piece of the hoodie cloth in my mouth to give me something to bite down on. 1, 2, 3.… I twisted the joints back to where they belonged, and screamed in pain. It was so intense, that tears started to roll down my cheeks. I finally heard a pop, and the pain started to fade. It wasn't entirely gone, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it was a second ago.

My mind felt dizzy from where I was close to passing out from the act I had just done. I moved the wing, and saw I had full movement over it. Now I knew that I could fly. If only I had the energy. I'd at least need a days worth of rest or more to even be able to walk, and I didn't have that kind of luxury time. I needed to get back to the others as soon as I could.

Although I wasn't in any condition to fight now. I sighed and looked around the forest. I knew of some small hillsides near where I was and that it had small crevices that people had camped in before. If I could find it, then I could rest there for a little while and get out from the damp air. I tried to get up on my feet, but my legs wobbled and I caught myself on my hands and knees.

There wasn't any way I could walk yet. And I sure knew that I wasn't about to crawl all the way to those caves on my hands and knees. I had more dignity than that. I decided, that I'd try out my repaired wing, and took off just above the tree lines.

Occasionally I'd almost lose control and hit a tree branch, but other than that it was a smooth flight. My eyes found a cave not far from me and I dove for it.

The landing wasn't as smooth as the flight though. I slid on the dry cave floor and skidded to a halt. The ground was cool, but it wasn't wet like outside. It felt good against my warm skin though, and I fell asleep right where I had landed. It never had crossed my mind that in a sense, that Alice had saved my life.

well, i bombed one of my scales yesterday. -.-'' this turned out much longer that expected. o.o oh well, read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~