Chapter 25- Together and Apart
Next chapter, I was thinking that there's actually going to be about 8 more chapters and maybe a sequel if you beg enough ;).
Anyways, enjoy the chapter.
Max
The slight night breeze swirled in the leaves and boughs of the trees above, the sound like a symphony of whispers and secrets.
I should be a poet, right?
No, I just can't sleep. It's been harder for me to sleep these days. It's been hard ever since the Purge but since we came here- wherever here is- I've been sleeping less.
Picking up my jacket and slipping it on, I sat up. Shoes on, tongues out, and socks tucked in -it was like a ritual. New York was getting to me. I was used to the noises in the forest but the loudness of car horns and people shouting to my shifter ears was unsettling me.
Looking around, I guess I never really noticed just how big our pack was until we all stood together. It was like a small village or flock or something. I can't really call us a clan or flock because we aren't all birds but I digress. I'm relieved that I have everyone in my line of sight so we aren't being conned by a street kid.
I fall back onto my make-shift bed. It's basically just my cloth bag but I took everything out and filled in with leaves. It wasn't really all that soft but it was better than sleeping on the stones.
A couple walked by who were showing wayyyy too much affection. They were slobbering all over each other as they walked at a constant pace. How is that even possible? They saw us and muttered something like "hobos" and "gyps" whatever that means.
And then my existential crisis kicked in. This entire world was making me so confused. Which one is the real world? The Queen's Realm or this human-run, dirty and messy world? Where did we come from? Did we really come from humans? That sounds really dumb. All of our legends and traditions would mean nothing if we did. What about Cardinalship? How would that come from humans?
I fold my hands behind my head, blinking at the night sky. There weren't red dots here. Come to think of it, the stars back home weren't red either. I close my eyes and picture home before the fire. It was so beautiful and pretty. It was a little bit boring but gorgeous anyways. I was in charge of hunting most of the time and it turns out that the mice and other smaller animals were more appetizing in hawk form. Nothing much ever happened and when Angel was born, everyone held a huge celebration and we had a ceremony to welcome her into the village. Mom said they did the same for me but it wasn't as grand for me. Nice to know I'm loved, chief. I felt a pang at that when I remembered that he's dead now. I know that isn't my fault but I can't help but feel a little guilty that I lived and he didn't. He's part of the Queen's collection now.
This is a strange place. It's a hard place to survive in, especially if you don't have anywhere to be. There's so much competition in the streets. There was competition back home too but no one got killed. Most of the time. Okay, during springtime a lot of the older guys got into fights that some people didn't survive but still. It's not like people are knifed, gunned down, or generally murdered for money. We didn't have that back home.
There was just so much to think about here.
Not to mention that Fang's snoring is pretty loud in addition to the noise of the city.
But maybe if I just close my eyes…
"Max! Get up! It's noon!" Angel jumped on me.
I let out a loud 'oof' as all the air in my lungs blew out.
"Ow, Angel," I groaned, clutching my aching stomach.
"Come on, Max, we're hungry!"
"I don't have any money," I murmur groggily, ruffling her and Gazzy's hair. The guys' hair is getting pretty long now but we don't have anything to cut them with. It looks ridiculous. Fang's hair is covering his eyes basically and mine is getting annoying.
"Can we steal some?" Angel asks and my eyes flew open in surprise.
"Angel!" I scold, "No! That's not an okay thing to do!"
Gazzy looks ashamedly down at the ground.
"Oh, Gaz, I didn't mean say that," I turn to Angel, "That doesn't make it okay to do. But Gazzy, I know it's not your fault, okay? You didn't know what you were doing. Just now you know you can't do that."
My tummy growled in protest, "Okay, but I am getting pretty hungry."
There was a small restaurant that smelled pretty good down the street though.
"So, where do you think we are?" I ask Kate, blowing out into the air. It was getting cooler these days but not enough for my breath to turn white.
"Hmm, what do you mean?" she asks.
"We came out of the tunnel and we ended up here," I gesture to the park, "How did that happen? There aren't any visible mountains near here. Where's the ocean? We can't just go through a magical tunnel and end up in a different world."
"We've noticed that too," Kate says, referring to her group. She stretched out her arms, "But we can't come up with a good explanation for it. Why don't you ask your little mapmaker?"
"Gazzy?" I turn to look at him, "Why didn't I think of that? Gazzy!" I call him over and he looks up from the small hole he was digging with Angel. Who knows what they're doing.
"Yeah, Max?" he squinted at me, the light reflecting in his eyes.
"I need you to draw another map."
He crouched down and picked up a bit of dirt before running over to me. He flattened the dirt out so there was a map. He drew part of the caverns and the mountains. The mountains were a lot longer than I thought they were. We spent about three or four days in that tunnel, and ran a mile of the way. Then we somehow ended up in Central Park. But since there aren't any and the closest mountains that fit the description are the Catskills about 100 miles away, it meant that we probably traveled 100 miles or more in 4 days. That's actually pretty good I think. Does that mean the Catskills were where we're from? That doesn't make any sense.
Then our Realm is actually pretty small. It would have to be to fit in the mountains and then I felt despair. That would mean our Realm is actually human-made.
"Everybody, listen up!" I raised my voice to get everyone's attention, "It's highly likely that humans made shifters somehow. I don't know how and I don't know why. But it looks like we've all been living in an artificial environment made by humans somewhere in the mountains. We need to find out more about Itex."
"We need to split up," Kate adds.
"Max," Fang calls my name, "I need to talk to you."
"Angel and mom go together, Iggy and Gazzy and Kate, you can split up your group," I say, going over to Fang. Everyone got their stuff and dispersed.
"What is it?" I ask him, wary. He had a kind of scary calm about him.
"Max," he says quietly, "What are you up to?"
"I'm just trying to figure things out, okay?" I comb a hand through my tangled hair.
"And what about Itex, what if it's dangerous?"
"So what if it's dangerous?"
"Itex rules about everything here and everything where we came from. Doesn't it bother you that you have the possibility of dying?" he asks, his hand shot up to grab my elbow tightly. Our faces are inches apart.
"Does it bother you?"
"Yes! Yes, Max, it does because I care about you. I told you that."
"I know, and then you walked away from me," I remind him bitterly. He looks surprised.
"Because you didn't say it back."
My eyebrows shoot up in shock, "What? That's what you've been upset about?"
He looks at me in silence, his eyes conflicted.
I breathe out a laugh, "Really? Oh, Fang, you- you're just so- oh my god." I cover my face in my hands, "Fang, I like you too."
He grins suddenly and kisses me lightly on the lips. All his stupid worrying and our arguments was because of his insecurities? I kissed him back that night!
"Ah, young love," I whip around and see an old gray-haired couple waving at us. I wave back, suddenly in a bright mood.
"But Itex," Fang reminds me.
"Whatever Itex is, your mom's most likely part of it," I inform him.
"Then we have to get Ella and Nudge out," he insists, "Promise me we'll go back for them."
"We don't know another way in. The last tunnel's blocked off."
"We have to try. You're the Cardinal, what about the shifters in the caves?" and his brow furrows, probably thinking about Dylan, "Just promise me."
"As soon as we find another way back," I said.
"Promise?"
"Promise."