hello everyone! today I am pleased to post two chapters!

thanks so much to everyone who has read and reviewed thus far! please review shattered sun so I know how it's going!

thanks so much to my sister helena for the momokase perspectives! I love the character voicing and I'm so happy with this fic so far!

thank you to everyone who reads Resistance! I owe a lot to all of you!

peace out!

—MOMOKASE—

Ripples spread across the water as my toes skim the surface. The moon is reflected in the pond, and a soft breeze whistles in the trees. From this bridge, no one would know that I am a spy sitting in a destroyed city in the middle of World War Three. All there is is cherry blossoms and night sky and stars.

It is so silent that seconds after I hear my name behind me, my graphene blades are out and at the throat of the boy I have pinned to the ground.

"Relax," the boy says softly, and I do as I register that it's Tadashi. "It's me."

I sigh and stand up, sheathing my blades. "What do you want?"

He slowly gets to his feet, brushing dust off his shirt. I sit down on the edge of the bridge again, and after a moment's hesitation, he sinks down next to me.

Tadashi takes a deep breath. "Echo's going to burn down SFIT."

"I am not surprised." I stare at the water. "We did, after all, destroy your home."

"Yeah, but..." He pushes his hair out of his eyes. It has grown since the beginning of the war, and while it makes him look younger, the tired look in his eyes is as old as time. "We shouldn't fight fire with fire. We're as bad as they are."

I turn to face him. "Perhaps your faction is making a mistake, but I forbid you to blame yourself for it. This is not your decision."

"But I didn't stop it."

"But you have warned me, and you have ensured that whatever they do, no one will die." I lock my eyes onto his. "You are the purest soul I have ever met, Tadashi Hamada. You are nowhere near as bad as they are. As I am."

My voice trembles on the last words, and I return my gaze to the water. Something warm brushes against my hand. I look down to see the light tan of Tadashi's skin contrasting my own, and his touch somehow does not make me want to push him away.

We sit in silence for a long time. There is nothing we need to say. His touch is enough, and it is only after we have gone more than half an hour without speaking that he, almost unconsciously, intertwines his fingers with mine.

I cannot help it. I flinch. My hand has not been held, either my cyborg or human one, in so long that I am completely unprepared for the spark that seems to pass between our fingers. Tadashi becomes suddenly aware of what he is doing and pulls away.

"Sorry," he mumbles.

I say nothing. The silence swells, closing in, and it feels that if I do not say something, anything, I will be crushed by its growing power.

I open my mouth, but the words I mean to say never come out. "Vortex has gained a new member. She arrived this morning."

Tadashi looks up. "Really? Who is she?"

"She is a test pilot who worked for KreiTech before the war. She is offering her services as a spy and pilot, and in exchange wants the resistance to help her find her father. Her name is Abigail Callaghan."

Tadashi's eyes widen. "Callaghan..."

"His daughter."

"Can I tell him?"

I lift a shoulder. "I do not see why not."

Tadashi opens his mouth again, but I put a finger to my lips as I hear something.

Footsteps. Growing closer.

"Someone is coming," I hiss, pulling Tadashi to his feet, toward the woods just outside of SFIT. "You must go."

"Momo, wait-"

"Go."

I shove him into the trees and turn around just in time to see Karmi Chen crest the bridge.

"Momokase," she says. "What are you doing out here?"

I discreetly pull my glove back over my cyborg hand, hoping she can't see it in the moonlight. "I needed a moment to myself."

Her eyes narrow, scrutinizing my face for any sign of dishonesty. I stare into her vicious, calculating gaze.

"All right." She turns around. "We need to induct Abigail Callaghan. Meet in five minutes."

"I would advise you not to induct her yet, Miss Chen."

Karmi stops. "You don't tell me what to do."

I casually slide a blade from its sheath. "You need me to win this war. Without me, your resistance is nothing. So yes, Miss Chen, I do."

"We need everyone we can get. I've already told Abigail she can join."

I raise an eyebrow. "I will come with you. But I will speak with her before the induction."

Karmi seems to realize that a compromise is the best she will get, and I set off ahead of her. When I open the door to the commons, Professor Granville and Abigail Callaghan are inside. Granville stands with her arms behind her back, posture impeccable, but Abby Callaghan paces the floor in front of the window, biting her fingernails nervously.

I size her up—close to my height, brown hair, blue eyes. She bears almost no resemblance to her father.

"Abigail Callaghan," I say. "You are here to join the resistance?"

She nod. "Yes, ma'am."

She seems slightly more relaxed now, and holds herself in an almost military posture, likely an effect of her pilot's background. She certainly seems capable—a girl we do not want on the wrong side.

"You are a pilot, Miss Callaghan, correct?" I ask. She nods. "What is your rank?"

"Captain."

"Before your induction, Captain Callaghan, I wanted to inform you that there is another resistance movement in this city. They are a faction called Echo, based somewhere in Muirahara Woods, and led by Big Hero Six." I glance at Karmi. "Miss Chen does not like them much."

"They are a resistance in name only," Karmi says. "They have no interest in winning this war."

"Considerable evidence disproves this claim," I say evenly. "The point, Captain Callaghan, is that you are free to join Echo instead."

Abigail inclines her head. "I don't see much of a difference between the two. I'll join Vortex."

The look on Karmi's face tells me to say nothing more. I step back while she does the induction, while she draws one more innocent soul into her den of murderers.

—MEGAN—

"Hiro," I whisper, shaking his shoulder. "It's time. Let's go."

Hiro opens his eyes and looks blearily at me, obviously exhausted. Then his eyes widen and he sits up, putting on his helmet and gauntlets. "Do you have the cubes?"

"Yeah," I reply, holding up the small explosive cubes Hiro designed for me. "And the controller. You can carry that one." I shove the small device into his hands as he stands up, and we set out through the woods. I feel kind of bad about leaving while I'm supposed to be on watch, but I trust that Vortex won't find us up here. Krei chose our camp well—and besides, if we're burning down Vortex's base, they can't exactly come attack us.

We cross the bridge and head into the main city, staying out of sight of the few North Korean guards stationed on street corners. When we reach SFIT, Hiro puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Meg," he whispers. "Are you…are you sure we should be doing this? They were my friends."

"I'm sure," I say determinedly, fingering the explosive in my pocket. "Your supposed friends almost killed you, Hiro. They destroyed your home. Vortex deserves this more than Jeong deserves to be assassinated, and that's saying something."

Hiro sighs. "You're right. I want revenge as much as you do. They—they deserve it." His face doesn't say the same thing as his voice, and I know an entirely different war is going on inside him.

I muster a faint, artificial smile. "It'll be okay, Hiro. They won't be able to hurt you anymore."

Hiro nods, his wide eyes reflecting the moon. "Let's do it."

I pull out the explosive cubes—which Hiro designed—and walk around the buildings as silently as possible, placing a cube on the front step of each one and hoping no one from Vortex sees me. Dad would kill me if he knew what I was doing right now.

When I've placed all the cubes, I walk back to Hiro, whose hands are shaking as he clutches the controller—the controller that will destroy the home of the people who nearly destroyed us. Destroyed him.

"Let's get out of the way," I whisper, steering my best friend away from the school. "We'll push the button when we're out of range."

As soon as we get far enough away, though, Hiro says, "Meg, no, I can't do it—we can't do it—"

And he pulls away from me and runs back toward SFIT.

I have no choice. I have to do it before he gets there.

I push the button.

Even at this distance, the explosion still knocks me backward, and I curl into a ball on the pavement, shielding my head from the flames. Hiro will be okay. He wasn't close enough to SFIT.

I hope.

When the initial roar of sound and ash has passed, I raise my head and stare into the burning college, watching every building go up in flames, spewing smoke into the sky. A single dark figure is slumped on the ground in front of the largest one, shaking.

"Hiro," I whisper, hurrying over to him. "Hiro, are you okay?"

Hiro raises his head and turns tortured dark eyes to me. Thankfully, he doesn't look hurt—not physically, anyway. But the sorrow in his gaze is enough to rip my heart in half.

"They were my friends," he whispers. "And now they're all probably dead—and it's our fault. I never should've—" Hiro shakes his head, either to clear his vision or in deepest regret. "This wasn't right, Meg. I thought—I thought they deserved it, but now—" His gaze strays to the ground.

A chasm is opening in my heart. "Hiro—I'm sorry. You were right, I should've listened—"

"Yeah," he whispers. "You should have."

It doesn't even faze me, doesn't penetrate the stone walls encroaching on my heart. He's right. I should have listened to him, to my heart, to God.

What have I done?

With great effort, I push the thought away. "Let's go, Hiro. We have to get out of here."

I take his hand and pull him up, and his eyes sparkle with unshed tears as we climb a pile of rubble and look back down at the burning school. The flames consume it quickly, and the roofs start to fall in. But I hear no screams of pain, no shouting, and there are no small figures running from the buildings. Where is Vortex? Are they not here anymore?

Pulling my mind from that particular issue, I silently descend the wreckage, Hiro trailing behind me. My world narrows down to a three-foot radius, including only myself and the boy walking behind me. I hurt Hiro, more than any injury ever has.

This isn't his fault. It's mine.

And I can never forgive myself.

The walk back to the camp is long and dark, and Hiro doesn't speak for most of it. As we cross the bridge, I decide to break the silence—somebody has to.

"Hiro," I whisper, my voice catching. "I'm so sorry. I made a mistake. I don't expect you to forgive me, and I understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore. I'll even leave the resistance if that's what you want."

Hiro glances over at me, his eyes filled with light and shadow. His tears appear to have faded—or fallen. I can never tell with him.

"This wasn't your fault," I continue. "It's mine. I was blinded by revenge—but that's no excuse. I just—I just didn't want you to get hurt. And I thought I could do that by getting back at Vortex, but it was a mistake. Probably the biggest mistake of my life. So…I'm sorry."

Hiro's eyes start to shimmer again, and I can tell I've brought him close to tears. After several moments of silence, he speaks.

"I felt that way once," he whispers. "When Tadashi almost died. I wanted to destroy Professor Callaghan so badly, it…it consumed me. I thought I could make things right by killing him, but it didn't work. I was furious with the rest of Big Hero 6 for stopping me—I shouldn't have been. They were right. I was wrong. So I understand how you feel—I know what it's like to want to protect the people you love, even to the point that you would kill for them."

Hiro stops walking and stares at the ground. "I'm sorry I got mad at you, Meg. I shouldn't judge you for feeling the same way I did. I don't think Vortex was even in SFIT. I didn't notice anyone—they're probably okay, so I'm sorry for overreacting." He looks up, taking a deep breath, and the faintest smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. "Can you—can you forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive, Hiro," I whisper. "It was my fault. You were only there, you even tried to stop me. And I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. You forgiving me is going to be a lot harder than me forgiving you, but…will you do it?"

"Of course," Hiro assures me, putting a hand on my shoulder. "I don't think there's anything I couldn't forgive you for, Meg. You're the most—incredible person I've ever met, and I—I really care about you." His cheeks flush pink in the moonlight.

I smile, and I suddenly feel tears pricking at my own eyes. With them comes the absolutely overwhelming desire to kiss Hiro, to wind my hands into his hair, to pull him to me and never let go.

But we're in the middle of a war, and romance could never work. So I settle for an embrace, wrapping my arms around Hiro and hugging him as tightly as I can. I realize that he's grown slightly taller over the course of my knowing him—only about an inch, but he's catching up to me.

"It's okay, Meg," Hiro whispers, returning the embrace. "I forgive you. And I'm sorry. But we'll be okay."

We stay like that for a long time, until the moon starts to set, and the sky begins to lighten.

We cross the bridge into the woods, and as we hurry back to camp, I can't stop smiling.

When we return to camp, everyone is still asleep, and nothing appears to have happened to anyone. Thank goodness.

Instead of going to sleep, I sit down on the fallen tree where we keep watch, and Hiro sits beside me.

"You should go to sleep," I murmur, nudging him. He winces, and I remember he hurt his shoulder in the burning of the Lucky Cat. "Oh—sorry. But seriously, Hiro, you've been up all night."

"So have you," Hiro reminds me, looking at me with concern. "I'll stay up as long as you do. Besides, it's safer to keep watch in pairs."

Hiro doesn't stay up as long as I do. After only a few minutes, his head is nodding, and by the time the moon fully sinks beneath the canopy, he's fast asleep. Hiro's head rests on my shoulder—whether on purpose or not, I don't know—and his soft, messy dark hair tickles my cheek. I smile slightly, staring out at the woods as light starts to stream through the gaps between the trees.

As morning comes, I hear a sound behind me. Someone's waking up. It's not a big deal until I realize it's Dad—and Hiro is suspiciously passed out on my shoulder.

"Hey, Dad," I mumble as he strides over to the fallen tree, arms crossed. I gently shove Hiro off me, lowering him to the bark, and slide off the tree. "It's not what you think. I convinced Hiro to sneak out last night and he fell asleep when we came back. I don't think he was, you know, sleeping on my shoulder on purpose."

"What were you doing?" Dad asks, a steely glint in his dark eyes.

"Just—um—patrolling," I invent wildly, grasping at straws.

Dad's glare gets darker.

I cave, knowing he'll never stop asking if I don't tell him. "Fine—we burned down SFIT."

"What?!" he explodes. "I told you not to! It wasn't necessary, and besides, it was illegal! It was arson, Megan, arson! I could—should arrest you for that, even if you are a minor! You and Hiro—"

"Don't blame it on him!" I defend, unconsciously stepping in front of the sleeping Hiro. "He wanted to back out, he tried to convince me not to do it! It was all my fault, Dad, and Hiro tried to stop me! He was running back toward SFIT when I blew it up! So if you wanna arrest someone, arrest me, but don't touch Hiro! All he's ever tried to do is help!"

"I know that," Dad agrees. "But you put Hiro and yourself in a lot of danger, the least of which is from the law! You both could have been killed—you need to be more careful. If you don't start acting like a leader, the resistance will be in danger of failing!"

"Oh, so I'm not a good leader?" I snap, and I hear Hiro stirring behind me. Ignoring him, I continue my argument, the anger unfurling in my chest now. "All I've ever done is try to protect this resistance, Dad! Maybe I haven't always been perfect, but you should know what it's like—you were the president, and in all honesty, you weren't a very good one! You provoked Jeong into declaring war—you're the reason we even need a resistance!"

The rest of the camp has begun to wake up, and I'm pretty sure Hiro is fully focused on our argument. I take no notice as my world narrows again, shrinking down to the fire in my chest and the ice in Dad's eyes.

"I didn't provoke the war!" Dad explodes. "If anything, Jeong provoked me! I swear this war isn't my fault—and if it is, then look what I'm doing! I'm trying to stop it! But it's hard to do that if all the leader of Echo wants to do is get revenge and destroy all of the city we have left!"

"I made a mistake!" I scream, and my voice echoes through the woods like a gunshot. "I wasn't happy about doing it, Dad, and I regret it! But I only wanted to protect Echo—"

"No, you didn't!" Dad bellows. "You wanted to protect Hiro!"

"And what's wrong with that?" I hiss. "Vortex nearly killed him! They probably could have killed all of Echo if they wanted to—I was protecting us, Dad!"

"Well, it wasn't a good way to do it!" he shouts. "You both could have been killed! Vortex is probably dead right now! Attacking the enemy in a war is one thing, Megan, but attacking citizens of your own country is treason!"

"Then arrest me!" I yell, shaking with fury now. "I don't care, I'll break out of prison, and I will never stop fighting to save this country! I'm the leader of Echo—I can't abandon them! I make the decisions here, and you're supposed to support me!"

"Well, I don't!" Dad thunders. "Not if you're going to burn down buildings and throw your friends into harm's way!"

"I chose to go with her!" Hiro interjects, stepping in between Dad and I. "Don't blame it on Meg!"

"Stay out of this, Hiro!" I snap. He backs away, eyes wide. Tadashi comes to stand over by him, and Liv and Krei are watching as well.

"She's the leader!" Dad roars, addressing Hiro. "She's supposed to keep you safe, not blow up buildings with you nearby! You're not making good decisions, Megan!" he adds, whirling back around to face me.

"Well, if you don't think I can run things the right way, by all means just take over!" I yell, infusing my tone with as much fury as I can muster. "Because that worked so well when you were president! Dad, you can accept that I'm trying to protect everyone, or you can leave—whichever works better for you!"

"Megan, I can't just leave you—" Dad starts.

"Yes, you can!" I scream, the fiery wrath completely consuming me. "I don't need your help! I can take care of myself, and I can take care of Echo, but you don't seem to understand that! So just go, and I'll prove to you that I can save this country, no matter what!"

Dad stares at me for a moment, and I hiss, "Go, Dad! Just go!"

He whirls around and stalks into the forest, disappearing into the trees. I stand there at the edge of the clearing, panting, my vision clouded with red, my whole body shaking with fury.

"Meg," Hiro whispers, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"No," I snap, my voice trembling with anger. "He doesn't understand. He doesn't care."

"He does care, Meg," Hiro murmurs, "More than anyone else. He's your dad—he'll understand later. It's just hard to watch people we love be in danger, and I think your dad feels that way right now. He doesn't want you to get hurt."

"But he doesn't understand that that's all I was trying to do for you," I protest. "How can he not know that?"

Hiro is silent for a moment. Finally, he says, "Maybe he doesn't like to admit it, but he'd do the same for you, Meg. Give him a chance. Chief Cruz will come back in a few minutes, and then you can talk to him. He can't stay mad at you for long."

But the rest of the day passes in a blur, and Dad doesn't come back. We all go out to look for him, but after a very thorough search of the woods, Krei—the master of Muirahara—concludes that he is nowhere in them.

Dad's gone.

—HIRO—

I roll over and squeeze my eyes shut, then pull my hoodie over my ears, trying to block out the forest sounds. Even after sleeping on the ground for a few nights, it still takes me several hours to go to sleep. It doesn't help that twice I've woken up with very large bugs crawling over my face.

After several minutes of lying in this position, I sigh and roll back over, staring at the stars through the gap in the trees. In Muirahara, you can see way more stars than in San Fransokyo, and they never cease to amaze me.

Suddenly, a faint light shines through the trees, and I wonder if someone is coming back from using the bathroom. But wouldn't I have heard them leave?

I stand up as quietly as I can, tiptoe over to Megan—who seems only partially asleep—and shake her shoulder gently. "Meg, wake up."

Her eyes open halfway. "Hiro…what is it?"

"I think someone's coming."

Meg sits bolt upright. "Vortex?"

"I don't know. Could be them, could be North Koreans, could just be some super-lost hiker—but I really think we need to get out of here."

Megan gets up and begins shaking everyone awake, whispering, "Get up, you guys, we've gotta move. Someone's coming."

It takes the longest to wake up Fred, but we manage to get everyone up and gather our things in only about a minute. Meg and I won't be carrying anything, since Vortex will want us the most and will undoubtedly go after us. If that happens, we can't have any of Echo's weapons. Of course. We're not sure it's even Vortex, but one can never be too careful.

"We'll head northwest into the woods," Krei decides as we start walking. "I know a place they'll never find us."

"You said that about this place," Meg hisses. "And I think they found us."

"Yes, but this place—never mind," Krei says hastily as a shout echoes through the air and the footsteps behind us speed up. "Run!"

I force my legs into action and sprint after Krei as he gives rapid-fire instruction. "They can't catch us all if we split up! Hiro, Megan, you go west—Callaghan, Tadashi, you go east—Fred, Honey, Liv, you come with me, we're going north! Don't run together, just make sure you all stay in sight of each other! We'll meet at the river source!"

He veers away into the forest, and suddenly I'm running alone. I know Megan is nearby, but I can't see in the dark.

Suddenly, my path is illuminated by a bright light, and of course it's then that I trip. My foot bumps against a rock, and I yelp as I fall to the ground. Scrambling up, I turn to keep running, but a voice cuts through the darkness.

"Hiro, stop."

I can't explain why I stop— I really shouldn't be listening to strange voices—but I do, turning slowly around to see a dark figure, holding a flickering flashlight. I can barely see, but the voice is enough to tell me the figure is Karmi.

"Hand yourself over," she commands. "We're going to kill every one of Echo's members, but I've seen your potential. I want you for Vortex. Come over to the right side, and I'll let you live."

"Why would I ever do that?" I reply, trying to keep my fury contained. She's asking me to join Vortex? "But you burned down my house, and you're a would-be murderer. You nearly killed Meg and the rest of Echo. I will never join Vortex, because I consider my honor above my safety. That's something you don't seem to understand, Chen."

Karmi's face darkens. "Then I suppose I'll just have to kill you, Hamada."

As soon as I see the silver glint, I know she's not bluffing. Immediately, I launch myself forward and snatch the flashlight out of Karmi's hand, then chuck it as far as I can into the woods.

Karmi shrieks as the light goes out, and I seize my chance. I whip around and bolt, sprinting through the woods as fast as my legs will take me.

"You can't run forever!" Karmi scream through the darkness. "I'll find you, Hamada, and I will kill you!"

I don't respond, but I do keep looking over my shoulder to make sure she's not following me. Approximately three seconds later, this proves to be a mistake, because my foot catches on what feels like a fallen branch and I fall forward. It wouldn't be so bad if it was solid ground—just another time I was clumsy—but my ankle twists under me and I suddenly find myself tumbling down a steep slope. I yelp as I bounce twice and then splash into cold, dark water.

It takes me a moment to realize I've plummeted into the River Kawa, which runs through Muirahara Woods, and another moment to remember that I can't swim. I flail around desperately, trying to grab onto something, anything, but my hands find no purchase in the raging river.

The water throws me sideways, then down, then shoves me back to the surface. My brain is screaming at me to call for help, but that would alert all of Vortex to my location. I can't scream—I have to let the river run its course in silence.

Water gushes into my mouth and nose as the river pushes me back under, and I burst into an underwater coughing fit. It only serves to allow more water into my lungs as the river forces me deeper and deeper. Stars begin to swim in my vision, and I think I might be drowning.

I kick furiously, struggling to get back to the surface, but it's not working. I'm not going to get out of here in time.

But suddenly, my head breaks the surface—and something slams into my chest so hard all the wind is knocked out of me and I hear something crack. Whatever the object is stops my wild ride through the river, and I grab onto it, holding on as tightly as I can as I hack up what must be half a gallon of water.

Once the stars have cleared from my vision and my breath has mostly returned, I realize that the miracle object is a large branch, sticking out of the river by about six inches and held in place by rocks. In fact, I think it might be the same branch from when Fred and I first got lost in Muirahara. And now it's saved my life.

Still spluttering slightly, I pull myself down the length of the branch toward the bank of the river and manage to drag myself out of the water. I collapse onto my back on the grass, gasping and massaging my chest.

After a few minutes, I sit halfway up and gently press on my chest, letting out a whispered "Ow!" as I do so. But it doesn't seem like a bad injury—it hurts to breathe, but the worst of the pain is quickly subsiding. I conclude that the crack I heard was probably the branch and not my ribs. Which is good, but I probably have a huge bruise on my chest—that'll be sore for a while.

When I've rested for a few minutes, I get gingerly to my feet, testing the foot I tripped with on the ground. A small twinge of pain shoots through my ankle and then quickly fades, and I determine that it's not badly injured. The gauze on my burn has come off, though, and I resolve to get a new dressing on it as soon as I can find Tadashi and his first aid kit. It shouldn't slow me down, though, so I set off upstream.

Twigs and thorns and spiderwebs tug at my hair and clothes as I push my way through the woods, shivering and wondering which way Megan went. She couldn't have been too far away when I fell into the river—maybe Vortex caught her? Or I might have just veered way off track, which is more likely. Meg can't call for me, anyway—that would basically be announcing her location to literally anyone in the woods. I just have to keep going and hope I meet her at the river source. Which was a smart place to meet, actually—we all know how to get to the river and how to follow it upstream. This makes one time Krei actually did something smart.

Eventually, the riverbank is wide enough for me to walk on it, instead of in the trees, which are not treating me kindly. By the time I stumble out onto the bank, I have several scratches on my cheeks and twigs tangled in my hair.

Deciding I can't appear before Megan in such a state, I stop for a few minutes and pluck the tiny sticks out of my hair. I can't turn on my phone flashlight to check—that would give away my location like pretty much everything else—but I'm sure my hoodie and cargos are streaked with mud from falling into the river, as well as climbing back out. I can't really do anything about it, though, so I just continue walking over the riverbank, wondering when I'll reach the source.

I'm starting to think I'll have to find a spot to camp for the night when a rocky outcropping comes into view, water bubbling from the top. I conclude that this is the river source and climb up the rocks to discover Fred, Honey, Liv, and Krei, huddled in a small hollow. None of them look any better than I do—all four are pretty scratched up and covered in mud—so thankfully, I'm not the only one that looks like they just spent, well, a night in the woods.

"Hiro!" Honey squeals, throwing her arms around me. "Are you okay? Why are you so wet?"

"Fell in the river, I mumble, rubbing the back of my neck as she releases me. "Yeah, I'm fine. How about you guys?"

"We're okay," Fred whispers cheerily. "Almost fell off a cliff, but that's alright. I'm not dead or anything."

"Great," I whisper, easing myself down into the hollow and wincing as my bruised pectorals protest. Honey notices, and her eyes widen with concern as she leans toward me, her bionic fingertip glowing with pink light. "Are you sure you're okay, Hiro?"

"I just got a little banged up in the river," I tell her, trying to be reassuring. "Nothing's broken. Has anyone else showed up yet?"

"Nope," Krei replies. "I'll be rather upset if they got lost. This isn't a hard place to find—you just have to follow the river upstream."

I can totally picture Tadashi wandering around in circles, unable to find the river, so I won't be surprised if it takes him forever to get here. Still, I'm really worried—what if he, Callaghan, and Megan have been captured by Vortex?

The minutes stretch out longer and longer, and my heart starts to race, pounding against my aching ribs. Where are the others? Were they captured, even killed by Vortex? Did they fall in the river, too? Or are they just lost? It could be anything, but my brain immediately jumps to the worst.

After what must be half an hour, I hear footsteps and peer over the top of the rock. Honey's finger-light goes out, and Krei hisses at me to get down, but I have to see who's coming.

The faint moonlight shining through the trees illuminates the shadowy figures of four people, coming closer and closer to the rocks. I squint through the darkness, making out Tadashi's broad-shouldered form and Megan's short, slender one, and relief swamps me. But it's quickly overtaken by fear and suspicion as I realize that there should not be four people here—we only have three other members of Echo, excepting Chief Cruz, who seems to have left permanently. If Callaghan is one of the silhouettes—and I think he is—then who's the other?

As the figures draw closer, I can make out Tadashi and Meg more clearly, as well as Callaghan. They're all here—they're all safe. The fourth person doesn't look like anyone in Echo, but I would recognize that silhouette anywhere. Taller than Callaghan or Tadashi, with shoulders that dwarf my brother's by comparison. Dark hair edged with silvery light, pulled back in a headband. And finally, the weak, flickering glow of broken plasma blades, illuminating the man's tired, bruised, dark-skinned face.

"Hiro!" Meg's voice calls. "Is that you?"

"Yeah," I whisper-shout back. "Why—"

"Just get everyone out here!"

I turn and beckon to the others, and we cautiously creep down the rocks to meet our comrades. Inadvertently, my hand drifts to my graphene blade.

The previously mysterious figure looks up, and Honey gasps as his face is thrown into relief by the moonlight. Fred drags his hands down his face, and Krei pulls out his own knife as the newcomer speaks. "Hey, you guys. Sorry I'm so late."

I swallow hard and look up. "Hey, Wasabi."