I'm sorry for never updating on time! I get so distracted with school that I honestly forget this exists sometimes. Huge thank you to CosmicKitten16, I'd never finish this without you poking me in the butt XD
When the sun is high in the sky and beginning its arch towards the horizon, I wake up to one of my wings smooshed in my face and dripping with drool. I jerk my head back with a disguised noise and wriggle out of my sleeping back, picking my wings gingerly from the cocoon of fabric before rolling it up neatly and tying it to my pack. Nobody else was awake. Michelle slept silently, Sam was snoring lightly, and Reid makes a small noise at my movement before falling back into dreamland. It looks like my internal clock was till set on laboratory mode: it was too late to still be sleeping. I walk over to the fire with a stretch and poke it curiously with a stick. Embers glow red and ash billows up towards my face. I step back and rub the grit out of my eyes, flicking my wings and sneering at the drying drool. I shuffle my wings a little then fold them under my shirt. I throw on a jacket to guard myself from the forest chill and grab my toiletries and a change of clothes. Going on a hunch, I close my eyes and turn to my internal GPS to lead me to some water. I was only mildly disappointed when my attempt leads me out of the woods and smack into a water fountain. I snicker, then flush as several passersby look over at me. I knew I had to look like a homeless person (which, let's be honest, I was) and the lack of muscle and fat from being trapped in the School only added to that image. I believe that idea is what saved me from anyone becoming too curious. They all turn away after a brief glance and I quickly dart back into the woods, glad it had been cold enough to make me put on a jacket. Well, at least my GPS idea worked. I just have to be more specific. I close my eyes again. The woods seem to pulse around me, the light from the sun settling on my shoulders as I feel into the heart of the earth. Every noise in the forest amplifies: the leaves shiver in the slight breeze, the rock creaks with lava pulsing like blood far beneath it, and the creatures of the world whisper. The forest seems to sigh. My eyes fly open, my heart racing in my chest. No. I couldn't do this. This is so wrong. I lean against a tree, closing my eyes and pinching the bridge of my nose as I force myself to calm down. That was beyond GPS, and everything about it felt off. My other hand grips the toiletries tightly and I lean against the tree until I feel the forest abruptly go silent. Whatever I had just done was gone now. I didn't try to bring it back.
I quickly rush forward, my distracted mind focusing on water and quickly bringing me to a smoothly flowing river. I clear my mind and focus on figuring out the soap bottles and remembering how to bathe. I strip, stepping into the icy water with a shiver. Soon I adjust and I quickly soak my wings, washing my body then working the soap through the water-resistant feathers.
I feel clean in no time and after a vigorous rinse I get out and dry off with a flick of my wings. I quickly wrestle the clothes and get dressed, gathering everything up again and heading for camp. When I reach the clearing I see Reid holding Sam and murmuring in his ear. Sam looked distraught. His head is in his hands and he was just staring vacantly into the fire. Michelle was packing everyone's supplies while looking apprehensively around the clearing. I rush forward, drawing Reid and Michelle's attention. Sam doesn't look up.
"Amanda! Where were you? We were worried sick!" Michelle rushes forward and hugs me, relief flooding her face. Reid grins tightly then turns back to Sam.
"I went to wash up … What happened?" Michelle steps back and only then do I register her hug. She looked sad again.
"I just woke up and …" She takes my hand to simply show me.
"The sun shifts backwards in the sky and I see everything through Michelle's eyes. She was tending the fire, one hand idly using a twig to draw in the embers while the other brushed dark, curly hair out of her face and over her shoulder. Suddenly a cry pierces through the silence and she looks up sharply. Sam was upright in his sleeping bag and holding his head, eyes blankly staring at the ground. She leaps off the log and runs over. Reid sits up in his sleeping bag and struggles to get out of it while Michelle bends down next to a panicking Sam. "Sam! Sam what's wrong?!"
"His face is contorted and now he looks around wildly, "I can't hear them! I can't feel anything Michelle!" He grabs her shoulders, starting to tear up. His brown eyes glisten in the light and he looks fevered, panic setting and clouding his face and mind. He zones out, briefly in another world like a ghost trying to contact the living.
"What do you mean?" She tries to calm him down, talking low and calmly (and maybe with a slight tremble). He blinks and connects his eyes with hers again.
"The animals, they're gone! And the earth … I can't feel the earth!" Reid finally made his way over, hugging Sam from behind. Sam instantly stops talking and closes his eyes, leaning back against Reid while dissolving into tears. Reid begins quietly talking into his ear and Michelle stands, knowing Reid was the best person for Sam right now. She hesitates then beings to grab the sleeping bags. The scene fades.
I blink, readjusting to the sun in its current place in the sky then looking at Sam again. His face was dry now but I could see some red rings around his eyes. Oh Sam. Michelle looks away from the patch of dirt she had focused on and back to me. "We thought something may have happened to you. That the erasers had followed us and could nullify powers. I was scared…"
"I shake my head, "No, nothing like that. I haven't seen a single one so far. I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have left— "
She shakes her head and cuts me off, "No, you didn't know and you couldn't have helped. I'm just glad you're back now." She grins softly, her eyes still tinged with worry, then she turns and goes back to packing. I follow and help her by packing the rest of Sam's bag and putting away my old clothes and toiletries. Michelle and I put out the fire, Sam watching us pour the dirt on it for a moment before turning away, then grab our bags and hand the boys theirs. No matter how long we wanted to let Sam rest, we had to move. If erasers did this then there's no telling what else they could do and when they'll strike, and if they didn't then they could be here any minute. Even more pressing was if the erasers didn't do it, then who did? We take to the skies swiftly as the sun makes its way towards the other side of the world. We stay in front of the sun until we reach a high enough altitude to disappear into the atmosphere. We fly in silence from there, heading who knows where. All we knew is it was further away from the School.