Chapter Twenty-Three – Ashes to Ashes

Griff and Aliana sat astride their horses and stared in horror at the scene below them, the remains of Sanctuary smouldered and blistered. They had known to expect some destruction as the pillar of smoke had towered over them long before Sanctuary had come into view, but neither had expected anything of this magnitude.

"Ali," came Griff's voice of warning, "breathe."

"Griff," she choked out a response as she fought against the tension in her chest, "what is this?"

"I'm sorry Ali,"

"This is a joke, please tell me it's a joke," She slid down from Vine, knees buckling as her feet hit the floor, but she managed to catch herself before she crumpled further.

Griff dismounted from his beast with ease, boots landing on the ground with practised expertise. He teased the reins over his animal's head to lead him further.

"You don't need to go down there,"

She gave him a look, "what if there are survivors? What if there are people still down there? I need to know, I need to see for myself."

"Nothing good will come of this, it's only going to hurt you further,"

"My son was here Griff, my parents, my uncles, Sullivan. I need to know what happened, that they're safe."

"There's death down there Ali, I can smell it from here, it's rife. What if it's like Valleyside again? These are your people, your family."

She hesitated, her fingers clasped tighter around Vine's reins and she chewed her lower lip, "I have to."

They tethered the horses on the outskirts of the village and cautiously made their approach, weapons drawn. The gates hung wide open, not smashed or damaged in any way, just propped open in invitation. Sanctuary had always kept their gates locked. She cast a look at Griff who examined the empty watchtowers in an attempt to find something positive. She knew him well enough to know that his blank expression was betraying him.

She took the lead down the main street towards the square, the buildings around her crumbled in charred heaps. Houses she knew well once filled with people she grew up around, every single one destroyed. She kept walking through the town square where her mother had frequently spent her time teaching the children, the grass had burnt to a dried crisp and only the dirt remained. Instincts drew her towards her house despite her heart telling her not to. She picked her way through the gaping holes in once well-constructed buildings, she couldn't tell if they'd been torn through by an explosion or something more sinister. By the time she reached the harbour, she found her first body, or what was left of it, slumped over the wall trying to reach the sea. The flesh had been so scorched that most of what remained was bone and cooked human meat.

"Ali," came Griff's warning reminder that he was still with her.

"My house isn't far from here," she didn't stop, she couldn't, for fear that she would recognise the poor wretch.

From the day the house had been built, the pride of place overlooking the ocean, it had been a family home, made to accommodate the Wilks children and to whoever they opened their doors. Wilks and Aidie had laid it with their own hands, a wooden spine and heart lined with a complex stone wall. Beams propped up the ceiling salvaged from dead ancient trees, and a hearth cobbled with beautiful smooth stone had become the focal point of the house. Aliana stood in stunned silence as she stared at the skeletal remains of her home, the hearth was all that remained intact. The lump in her chest squeezed tighter at her insides. She couldn't breathe.

She picked her way through the ashy remains, warmth still omitting from around her. The chairs positioned beside the fireplace twisted and melted. She gazed up at the ceiling to where her mother had once strung feathers to watch them dance in the heat of the fire, and all she saw was the sky. It wasn't even a house anymore. Everything had been destroyed.

Griff stood back and examined the destruction of the houses along the seafront. He had discovered more bodies under the rubble of different houses, all burnt to death and trapped in their homes. He noticed a couple even with bullet wounds from those who dared to escape the flames. This had been a slaughter.

He navigated his way through one house where the bodies of a family had succumbed to the flames together, huddled up in terror. He could see the fear on their seared faces as their world had enveloped them in the fire. Silently he stepped carefully through the gaping walls and circled the house till he reached the rear of Aliana's house.

"Looks like the fire originated at your place and it spread, my guess is it also had help,"

She nodded, barely processing his words.

"Ali, are you okay?"

"This was my home," her vision drifted over the ruined remains of the furniture, "Miles and my father used to sit here by the fire drinking and chatting the world to rights. My mother used to spend hours in the kitchen cooking, and my uncle Trystan would often sit beside her watching. My uncle Jax spent so many evenings as a teenager on that couch trying to woo women and I used to watch his failed attempts from the stairs over here."

She carefully picked her way from place to place depicting the memories of her childhood, of happier times, of children and laughter. Even though she pointed at the now mangled items Griff could see it through her eyes. The world that had nurtured and protected her, the memories she cherished, now destroyed around her feet.

"What happened here?" She lifted her gaze to meet Griff's and he could see the loss and bewilderment etched across her.

"From what I can gather the fires were set on purpose and people were threatened to stay inside. There are a few bodies inside the neighbouring houses."

"What?" For the first time, she cast her attention on the surrounding houses scrambling over the ruins of her home to take in the various bodies of her neighbours, "why would they do this? There were children here, these people were innocent."

"Should there even be a reason? Your family got out shouldn't that be relief enough for you?"

"We both know these people died at the hands of my brother, and I need to hold responsibility for his actions, so these people will know they didn't die in vain."

Prepared for what was to come they made their way through the town, destruction met them everywhere they went. Miles' home was blown apart and all his varying papers of inventions and designs littered the streets. Her uncles' shared house had taken the least damage and the walls still held but the inside was gutted from the fire. Griff picked out a body unlike the others as they sorted through the ruins of Sanctuary, the unmistakable form of a Juvie. He called Aliana over to point it out.

"I found other bigger creatures a little further away," she shook her head, "this is worse than I could imagine. If these things are involved too there's no chance of survival."

"Don't lose hope Ali, we have to believe the Islander got here in time to warn them,"

"If he got here in time then there wouldn't be any bodies. What happened here is much worse,"

"Look the bodies we've found are sparse in comparison to the population of the town, we have to believe that they got out somehow,"

"But where, where would they go if they haven't been taken by those monsters?"

Griff tried to give her his best dashing smile, but considering the situation, failed terribly. "Well, I'm a Scout for a reason. I'll check the village outskirts over for any tracks."

Aliana nodded, "I'm gonna keep combing through the streets for any survivors."

Griff hated that he felt a sigh of relief leaving the search of the village to Aliana. But logically she knew the place better than he did and splitting up it would cut the time in half. He made his way to the burnt husk of the stables, comforted not to be greeted with any horse corpses, which gave him hope that Sanctuary had planned an exit route at least. He searched the ground and found imprints of wheel treads. He followed the tracks as they led through the village and out of another set of open gates. He followed the tracks as the path wound up the hill and took a moment to assess footprints that gathered around an outcropping. Judging by the boot size and the positioning of the shoes a group of people had stood to watch the town burn. Someone had orchestrated the demise of Sanctuary and had made sure it didn't survive.

As he gazed down at the destruction, he could see for the first time a town that had once thrived and could understand the attachment Aliana had for it. He'd never been a stay-in-one-place person, but if he had to, he would have been comfortable staying in Sanctuary if the right people had been there.

The cart tracks led up beyond the outcropping, which gave him hope that some survivors escaped, although he had picked up a few abnormal footprints heading into the woods. He followed the prints a little while into the forest, working out the direction the creatures had headed and concluded that many survivors would have met their end at an ambush. Tracking back through the woods he caught sight of another set of hoof prints, travelling alone heading along the outskirts of the trees in the direction the carts had travelled. Whether someone had hung back to give the survivors time to run or whether this person was hunting them down, he had no clue.

Aliana was waiting for him by the time he returned, she sat on a jetty that overlooked the ocean, legs hanging off the end as she gazed out into the watery abyss. The jetty creaked and groaned as he made his way towards her, and he half wondered whether it was safe to traverse. He sat down beside her, tentatively tucking his legs under him.

"Anything?" she said without giving him a look.

"I found tracks heading through another open gate upwards along the forest,"

She nodded, "So some got out, that's a relief."

"Although it looks like those Juvie things did chase them through the forest. I also found boot prints of several people overlooking the town, like a group of people stopped to watch it burn."

"Jaime,"

"Did you find anything?"

"No survivors, just a lot of dead people murdered in their home,"

"I'm sorry," and he meant it.

She let out a sigh and drew a leg up where she hooked a hand around it to clutch it close to her.

"I loved Sanctuary because it had overcome so much, it had weathered the storms time and time again without fail. Despite everything that Sera threw at it, it remained. I never thought the day I left it not so long along that it wouldn't be there when I returned. You get careless when you spend your life on the run thinking that your home would be there for you when you return. How do they come back from this, am I even a part of its survival now? Where do I go from here? Do I find them and offer a pointless and unwanted hand? What do I do?"

"And your family, what about them?" Helpless to offer her the solace she needed he opted for the only thing he knew he was good at, motivating her to keep going.

"If they survived,"

Griff let out a bark of a laugh, which he realised could have sounded callous if she didn't know him so well. "Yeah right, I can't believe you're questioning whether your family survived this. Weren't both Miles and your father soldiers during the Locust War? And I haven't even included the Islander in this, because you know he wouldn't allow any harm to come to that boy of yours."

"You're probably right, I just see this much destruction and can't help thinking what if. I suppose I'm selfish, all that matters to me is my family's safety. The fate of Sanctuary means little to me."

"Did they have evacuation plans, a place they could retreat to?"

"Well sure, when the other settlements had people in them, but there's nowhere for them to run to now," she twisted to look straight at him, "Which direction did the tracks lead?"

He shifted and angled an arm up towards the slope in the distance that wound up through the forest. "Up the hill."

"The only thing up that hill is Canyon Village,"

"So, it's a possibility, there's a chance,"

"I mean sure, but there's no protection in Canyon, they'll be sitting ducks,"

"But this is positive, Ali, surely you can see that. Those that escaped made it to Canyon to assess the survivors and make a plan."

"Those things took Canyon once, what's stopping them from taking it again?"

"I don't know, but we have to keep a positive head,"

"You think?" Her gaze thoughtfully lingered on the hill.

He gently nudged her arm to draw her attention to him, "Hey, your village has some of the strongest people I know. The things they've achieved, there's no way they met their end here. You're tired, you've pushed yourself too much when you should still be recovering, so trust me on this when I tell you that they're okay."

She blinked, searching his expression for any sign of dishonesty.

"Besides," he added, turning his gaze out to the ocean to hide the blush that threatened to oust him, "I have to believe that, otherwise I'll have to adopt you and you'll have no choice to be my family instead. And that'll be such a pain."

Smiling, she hoisted herself to her feet, "wouldn't it just."

He turned to watch her oversee the ruins of her home, with her hands on her hips she let out a sigh.

"I never thought this would be the last time I return home,"

He took to his feet beside her, straightening out his jacket, "Depends on what you define as home. I mean to me 'home' has never been a place, it's a feeling I get when I'm around people I care for deeply."

For a moment Griff wasn't sure whether she was going to tease him for his sincerity. They had danced around one another for years, been semi-serious and played it off jokingly almost like they'd been too scared to say what they were feeling.

"I suppose you're right," she responded quietly, "I mean all this time I've been travelling with you I've felt the same as when I'm with my family."

Griff's heart rapidly beat in response, no way was he hearing this correctly. This was dangerous territory he was treading, alarms blared in his head, escape, run away, do not take that step closer. He grabbed hold of her and pulled her into him, she did little to resist almost like she needed his embrace right now. The alarms were almost deafening now, what was he doing he kept asking himself, what was he doing stepping on the Islander's toes when he wasn't there to defend his place? And Priya, the calm protective Priya, the woman to which he'd opened his heart. What a sorry excuse for a human he was, ditching the woman who loved him to follow a woman around who had feelings for another.

"It's a good thing I'm not going anywhere then," he cursed himself for being that person, for breaking the trust of those who'd put their faith in him. For if Aliana's world was going to crumble around her, he was going to be there for her, regardless of who he betrayed doing it.

Several hours later Griff and Aliana had gone through the painstaking job of digging out the bodies and laying them to rest in the cemetery on the outskirts of the village. One by one they gave each body a proper burial. Some Aliana was able to identify based on where their bodies had been discovered and marked their graves so their families would find them. But many were found inside random buildings or on the streets, and the fire had done a good job of ensuring that their identities would never be discovered. She still made sure that each one was granted the respect they deserved, whether she knew who they were or not.

They worked in silence, it was exhausting filthy work but neither complained. Griff understood what this meant to her, he'd seen her compassion back in Valleyside for people she barely knew, so he knew it would be no different for those she lived with. She expressed no sorrow, she said barely anything, and she no longer smiled. It broke him to see her change.

They returned to their horses once the final body had been put to rest. Griff had already tethered them to the fence surrounding the cemetery, so they didn't have far to walk. Plus, he didn't want her to walk through the ash-laden streets of Sanctuary again. Aliana paused at the gates, propping the shovel she had been using against the fence and turned to take in the fresh graves.

"I'm sorry,"

Griff could sense the ghosts of the lost souls lingering around her, a benevolent feeling of sorrow and loss, taken too soon wishing they could protect them.

Aliana didn't seem to have noticed the wisps as she turned and shut the little gate behind her. She hoisted herself onto Vine and rode away from Sanctuary.

Voices called out in warning from the watchtowers of Canyon Village, "Over there!"

Sullivan and Jaxon followed the direction of the shouts, their weapons in hand in readiness to take on any further Swarm that had been tempted to stray closer to Canyon. They had taken shifts over the last few days to fish out any additional survivors from the forest and had sacrificed sleep to keep the camp safe. This had been the rare moment they had to collect themselves whilst planning for the next step. They knew it was only a matter of time before the Swarm launched an attack on them again.

"How many?" Sullivan called over to the watchmen stationed at the gates as they approached.

"Two I think,"

"Easy pickings," Jaxon chuckled as he checked his Lancer for bullets, "you want me to pick 'em off before they get too close?"

Sullivan felt a niggle inside, something he had almost forgotten, and rather than play to Jaxon's humour his body decided for him. One foot then another, curiosity drawing him forward.

"Islander?" Jaxon's tired voice called back at him, "What are you doing?"

Jaxon's voice almost drifted into nothingness as he kept walking onward. The watchtowers were able to see further from their vantage points but that never stopped him before. Was his mind wild from the delirium of lack of sleep, or was he overthinking it?

He could see the distant outline of two figures riding horses, one slighter and the other towering over. His heart almost stopped in his chest. Almost dropping the Lancer to the floor, he froze to the spot, his breath held in disbelief. As if confirming his suspicions Root whinnied in recognition from the nearby stall, he knew.

He watched as one rider drew their horse to a halt and slid off, their companion checking on them as they took the reins and followed behind. Then they ran, an awkward lolloping gait to start as if they were stretching out limbs that had been long used riding horseback, unmistakable dark curls bounced over their shoulder at each stride. Then stretched out into a sprint and Sullivan felt himself drawing closer, his footsteps picking up the pace as he slung the Lancer over his shoulder.

His brain had pushed away all the questioning doubts that had long clouded his mind about their future, the wall he'd regularly kept up to protect them both. Be damned with it all. It didn't matter anymore. So, he ran. He ran to make up for all the mistakes he'd made, the inability to protect those he held dear. He ran because it was the only logical thing to do, he couldn't stand a moment longer without her. He ran until he could hold her again.

She collided with his chest, and he was ready for her, as her hands gripped around him tightly and she panted breathlessly into his arms. He made the decision there and then, clutching her tightly to him that he was never letting her go again.

"Sul," she gasped between breaths, "oh god Sul."

"Ali," he laced his fingers through her hair, she smelt of smoke and dirt. He planted a kiss on her crown and held her close, "I thought we'd lost you."

He drew her back to take her in, scrutinising her healing injuries, his hand cupping her cheek as a tear trickled across his fingers. As he lightly brushed away her tears he studied the scar across her eye, letting his gaze drift across her features to memorize them. Ash marks smeared across her face where she had wiped at her brow, and he started to understand what she'd gone through, where she travelled from and the hurt she was feeling. He could see the tough exterior she was trying to hold forth, and the cracks that were showing from the tear tracks down her cheeks. He pulled her close lightly planting a kiss on her forehead and as he pulled back, she reached up and met his mouth with hers. It took him a breath to recover, a sensation that had been buried in the depths of his mind surged forward and he kissed her back like those long six years hadn't torn them away. A gentle exchange of comfort and need, he wasn't fooling himself by thinking this was more than what it was. Aliana's way of finding comfort through him, of reaching out through the grief and loneliness and knowing she would always have him there.

She pulled away, but still choosing to remain close, he leaned his forehead against hers, a silent offer of connection that she needed. Her eyes remained closed as the tears she shed continued to fall.

"Ali?" he drew a thumb to wipe away the dampness.

Eventually, her eyes drew open, and he was able to see the pain reflected within them.

"It's all gone, Sul, Sanctuary,"

He pulled her into his chest, to hold her close because he knew the worst was yet to come, "I'm sorry."

"Griff and I, we saw the smoke from miles away. The sky was burning. But by the time we got there…" She buried her head into his chest, "there was nothing left."

The sound of the horses drew close, Griff had allowed Aliana her moment to reunite with the Islander and had taken his time joining them. He knew what she'd gone through and that seeing the Islander again would have brought all those feelings back to the forefront. Sullivan looked up to take in the weary Scout, with a worn expression on his face.

"I hope you greet me the same way," he quipped with such tiredness in his voice as he dismounted from his beast, "otherwise I'm gonna think you're playing favourites."

Sullivan grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into an embrace alongside Aliana. He never thought he'd miss them both so much.

"Damn is it good to see you both,"

"Alive," Griff added, gripping the Islander tightly in a bear hug.

Jaxon shouted from further down the path, curiosity drew him from the safety of the walls, "Islander, is everything okay?"

"Come see," Sullivan unfurled Aliana from his and Griff's twofold embrace and gently nudged her forward so that the burly Outsider could take in her features for the first time.

"Aliana?" he cried out, jogging over towards them because running was a little beyond what Jaxon was willing to do in an expression of love. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tightly.

She winced at the overly enthusiastic show of affection but allowed him his moment. She would have stayed longer in his embrace if her ribs hadn't started to hurt.

"Sorry Jax, could you ease it a little, I'm still a bit sore,"

He mumbled his apologies as he released her from his grip to take her in, "My gods the Islander was right. You're alive."

Sullivan gave him a warning look, but Jaxon continued oblivious, "We were told that monsters had slaughtered you."

"Only one monster did that to her," Griff snorted, as he untangled the reins from the horses and led them both alongside them.

Jaxon raised an eyebrow to take in the Scout, "So you're the guy the Islander left to protect Ali."

"You make me sound like a babysitter," Griff snorted, "I have so many more qualities."

"You kept her alive," Jaxon observed, "got her back to us. You aren't so bad in my books."

"Been doing it for years, never needed gratitude before, I still don't now."

Griff's eyes narrowed as he took in the gruff-looking Outsider, assessing and judging him before glancing across at Sullivan who returned the look and shrugged.

"Shall we head to camp, I'd rather we talk somewhere less exposed," Sullivan suggested as he took Vine's reins from Griff and walked alongside him down the path as Jaxon clutched his niece's hand and led her alongside him.

Once the horses were stabled securely, Jaxon and Sullivan brought the pair into the once-ghost town of Canyon Village. The sound of voices hushed and scared as the remaining survivors of Sanctuary huddled up in various buildings surrounding the town hall, where the leading members had assembled. Aliana searched the various members for familiar faces, people were missing everywhere she looked, they were broken and exhausted, their clothing stained with smoke and blood. She thought of the bodies she had buried not long ago and the dwindling numbers that now remained of Sanctuary, and her heart ached.

Sullivan led them to the village square where several people she recognised were in deep conversation around a table. Hayes and Peace both bore cuts and bruises, but they seemed united together in whatever Archer was saying. Trystan with barely a scratch on him held his own as he argued against it. Miles, tired, broken looking Miles stood and listened to the debate. His attention flicked upwards to the approaching group and his expression cracked, letting out a gasp. He didn't even say a word as he rushed over to them and grabbed Aliana into his arms.

"Oh, sweet child," he held her close, "we thought we were never gonna see you again."

"I'm here Miles," she returned his embrace, "I had friends I could trust."

"That's for sure," he commented, nodding at Griff in recognition, "so far from the Caravan, Griff, you sure your people can spare you for this long?"

"I trust my Scouts," Griff took Miles' offered hand, "besides, I have priorities elsewhere."

"From what I hear, you're the reason both of these are alive right now,"

"I might have played my part,"

Sullivan snorted, "Never known you to underplay yourself."

A child's cry bellowed across from the green as Jesse sprinted away from the group of assembled children.

"Mama!" he barrelled into Aliana's legs almost toppling her over if Sullivan hadn't counterbalanced the encounter.

"Jesse!" she held him at arm's length to scrutinise his injuries. There were a few bumps and bruises but nothing that looked overly serious, "thank goodness you're safe, I was so worried about you."

"Mama, a man came. He said things that made people shout, I was scared. Then he did bad things and hurt…"

Sullivan cleared his voice quickly to stop his train of thought, "Jesse, why don't we get your mother something to eat, she must be starving."

The boy nodded eagerly, unphased at the interruption and just happy to have his mother back again, "Okay."

"Ali, we need to talk,"

She frowned, "why? What's wrong?"

She hadn't missed the jumbled mix of events her son had thrown at her and made an effort to scout the green for individuals, an automatic look of panic on her face. Sullivan reached out and gently took her arm to draw her back to him.

"You're scaring me, Sul,"

"What's going on Islander?" Griff asked, concerned for Aliana's sake.

Sullivan indicated for Griff to follow alongside as he led them both a short distance from the assembled villagers. There was never going to be an easy way to tell her, but she would never have forgiven him if he'd kept it from her.

"Your brother arrived at Sanctuary a little before I did, and things got nasty. Words were said, and threats were made. They subdued him and locked him up. But he got out somehow, it's likely he had help, but we can't say for sure. But your mother, Ali I'm so sorry. Your mother didn't make it,"

She stared at him silently for so long that he didn't know if she'd heard him correctly, he didn't even think she was breathing.

"Ali…"

"How?" She blinked, her vision fixed somewhere in the distance.

"We think it was your brother," he fumbled through his words, "We think he attacked her in an attempt to break out of his prison."

"And Dad?" her voice was emotionless.

"He's safe. He's resting in the town hall at the moment, I'm afraid he didn't take it well,"

She swallowed, nodding slowly as she processed it all, "can you take me to him?"

"Of course,"

Sullivan led the way past the congregated meeting to the town hall where he gently pulled the door open to reveal various sleeping families cuddled up in different corners of the room. Right at the back slumped the form of Ollyvar Wilks, he gazed up at the darkened window high above, eyes unfocused, mind whirring. Aliana crept cautiously past the Islander, her footsteps silent as she picked her way around the bundles of sleeping people.

"Dad?" her voice soft but loud enough to hear, "Dad, it's me."

Wilks' eyes flicked from nothingness to fix on her, he blinked a moment as he focused on her approaching outline.

"Aidie?" his voice cracked as he strained forward in surprise.

"No Dad, it's your daughter, it's Aliana,"

He visibly shrank back from her, "I have no children."

Aliana sucked in a breath, his words hurt but she knew he was in pain. She had to steel herself against those emotions to keep going.

"Don't be daft, it's me, I might have been away a little too long but I'm here now,"

His mood switched, "where were you? We needed you!"

She figured this wasn't the right time to tell him that she was safe and protected when they were running for their lives.

"I was on my way, getting there as fast as I could,"

"You were too late, we needed you back there not now. Your mother needed you,"

Everything hurt and she was struggling, but he was her father and she had to keep pushing through for his sake.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there, I truly am. Things were out of my control. But I'm here now,"

"It doesn't matter now, Sanctuary is gone, our home is gone, your mother is gone. We needed you then, not now."

She nodded, "I understand."

"You've always disappointed me,"

Feeling her heart tear she responded quietly, "seems to be the only thing I'm good at."

"Just leave already, it's what you like doing," He spat back.

"I never left by choice, you know that."

"Your brother ruined us, he destroyed everything, and you, what were you doing when we needed you the most? Galivanting with men with no cares in the world, with little regard for your son or your family. You disgust me. As far as I am concerned, I have no children. Get out of my sight."

"Sure," she couldn't help the sharp tone from slipping out, "you be like that. But I'm still here. Say as many hateful words as you want, but it won't change a thing."

She took a step backwards from him.

"Keep on walking," he grumbled, his gaze drifting back to the window overhead.

"You keep warm now," each word felt like she was hyperventilating as she backed out of the room to the doorway. She knocked backwards into the solid wall of Sullivan's body standing guard in the open door. She turned into him, restraining every part of herself to clutch hold of him and fall apart, but he was staring back at the broken veteran.

"He doesn't mean what he says, we had to hurt him to get him to leave the village otherwise he'd have likely died with her."

She nodded, finding the ability to breathe much harder, the lump in her throat restricting her ability to hold it together. Everything piling higher and higher, the pain, the grief, the thought that she had buried her mother in an unmarked grave without even knowing it.

"I need to…" She tried her best to utter the words out without bursting into tears, she had to keep a calm resolve, but her companions could see the cracks appear.

She quick-marched over to the surrounding wood area, stumbling over fallen branches and slipping through rotten leaves. She headed deeper into the forest away from her family and safety, but she didn't care. When she felt she was far enough away she closed her eyes and let out a breath to finally process everything. And then it hit her, the surge of agony and anguish, like a wave desperate to drag her under. She clutched both hands to her mouth and let out a muffled scream into the silence of the woods around her. She screamed until her lungs burned and her knees gave way under her. She dropped to the damp forest floor and surrendered to the grief that engulfed her.

A short distance away Griff and Sullivan observed protectively as she wept alone. Griff made to step forward to comfort her, but Sullivan stopped him, shaking his head.

"Give her this privacy, she needs this,"

"I hate to watch her cry," he sighed, "I can't stand seeing her in pain."

"Sometimes you have to," Sullivan sadly explained as he drew the Scout away, "she's lost her mother, and her father is so broken I doubt he'll be the same again. She's realising that it's down to her to hold her family together, that she needs to be the strong one despite needing to grieve at the same time. She won't be allowed to cry in front of them, so she must do it alone. It's the only way she'll get stronger."

"And what do we do? Just stand and watch?"

"Pretty much, we protect her so that she can remain strong for her family."

A frown creased over Griff's forehead, "and how did you learn about this?"

"Simple, it happened to me when I lost my parents. It changed me, who I was, but it made me stronger in the end,"

Griff was silent for a moment, scuffing his boots against the dirt before he finally plucked the courage to ask the question, "How bad was it?"

Sullivan swallowed and didn't respond for a while, "Blood, there was a lot of blood. Wilks found her. By the time I arrived, I think a part of him had long gone. He's barely been himself since. He would have sacrificed himself there and then to have a chance to murder his son with his own hands."

"Shit," Griff threw a feigned punch at a tree trunk, "can't believe it."

"I've never seen such a broken man, Griff. I genuinely didn't know what to do to help him, and his entire family were ready to give up on him."

"We buried a lot of burned bodies back in Sanctuary, to think one of them was likely her mother,"

"I'm sorry you had to do that,"

"How do you pick the pieces up and keep going?"

A sadness passed over Sullivan's countenance, "you find a way. It's not easy and there are days you feel like you're drowning, but you make sure you keep going."

"And we'll be there to keep her coming up for air,"

"Every step of the way if we have to,"

"She's gonna want to do it alone,"

"Well, she can try, but I'm not going anywhere."

"I pretty much told her the same thing not long ago,"

"I can think of no one better to share the role,"

"She believes in you Islander, I'm here to ensure you don't fail her,"

They stood opposite one another, in silence, listening to her tears of sadness, and for as long as it would take, they would be her silent support. Sullivan lifted his gaze to meet Griff's, scrutinising his expression as he held everything back so as not to be her emotional support.

She took her time releasing her grief and gathering her emotions together. Eventually, she rose to her feet, brushed off the dirt from her knees, cleared her throat and wiped her eyes. She made her way to where her companions had been waiting, and a feeling of relief surged through her to know that they were there. She didn't meet their searching gazes.

"So, what's the plan?"

Author's Note - Whoops been a little while from this one, apologies it is alive and well and this pesky author has been busying herself with a whole other project. But I promise you Catch You has not been forgotten. And there are plenty of further chapters incoming.

There's nothing I love more than toying with my character's emotions and this chapter was certainly peak emotional upheaval. Let's break them all little by little, that's what I say.

So my question is, does anyone have a favourite character, who they've supported throughout? See how many more favourites I can kill off on the way. I'm pretty divided on which is my favourite, so I'll just have to torture them both, both is good, right?!

Thanks for reading loyal readers, you make it worth it for this pathetic little author.