Elise

The morning daylight roused me from my fragile slumber. The rain had passed, allowing the sun to get to work drying the land.

I took a big stretch, desperately wanting more sleep, but seeing it was day outside, Quinn would probably want to get moving soon.

I turned to look at him; he was staring at me from the other side of the couch. I'd slept draped over his legs last night, and he didn't move me to get up. I wondered how long he'd been awake.

"Sleep well?" he asked. He wasn't wearing the translator; he tended to take it off during the night.

I shook my head. Last night's sleep—if it could be called that—rivaled the sleep I would get while locked in the cage in that human facility. The arousal made it unbelievably thin and constantly pulled me out.

"Sorry," he said. "Is there anything I can do?"

Despite my exhaustion, I felt the ever-present compulsion to pounce on him but, as always, willed myself not to. I shook my head again; he'd already made his rejection clear, so I would bear with the torment subjected to me.

He raised an eyebrow at me. Maybe I took too long to respond, but thankfully, for both our sakes, he didn't press it.

"I'll make you some food, then we're back to walking."

I nodded and hopped down to the floor, which he followed.

Quinn scoured the kitchen and found some tools to prepare food. "I'll just fry up some of this processed meat and add some berries; that should last you for a while," he said.

He turned on the stove and dropped in the ingredients. After some time, I heard sizzling and smelt something delectable.

After not too long, it was done. He doled everything out on a 'plate' and put it on the floor for me. It looked like a pile of brown mush with berries, but I've learned enough about human ingenuity to trust that it'll be good.

I thanked him by dragging my body across his leg. He looked down but didn't say anything. His eyes betrayed that he didn't know what to do with me, but that was okay. Hopefully, this would all be over soon.

Taking a bite, the cooked food wasn't bad, just a lot different from what I was used to receiving from Mother. The inclusion of oran berries in the same bite didn't make much sense in the taste, but it provided moistness that the meat had lost while cooking. In all, it was edible.

"I'm going to go check around the house a little more while you eat," Quinn said.

Finishing my bite, I looked over to him. "Aren't you going to eat anything?"

He equipped the translator. "Food? I'm not hungry," he said.

"Well, you have to eat something."

He turned and walked off. "I can take care of myself, thank you," he said dismissively.

I sighed. How he cared for himself couldn't be healthy, but there was nothing I could do about it. He can provide both of us with food, so at least I could be assured that he wouldn't starve.

But still, he should keep himself in top shape for me.

I shivered; thinking about him was bad, but I couldn't stop. He'd already made himself clear, but the building heat inside me didn't care about such rationalities and simply wouldn't accept no for an answer.

It just. Wouldn't. Stop, and according to Matthew, it wouldn't until I could get Quinn to help me.

Leaving the kitchen behind, I went looking for him; I needed to hear his reasons why he wouldn't accept me.

I tracked his heavy footsteps, leading me to stairs going upward that we'd ignored until now—

"Oh, Arceus!" Quinn exclaimed.

"What's wrong?" I asked. I couldn't see him; he was in a room just around the corner at the top.

"Elise, stay down there, don't come up!"

After hearing something like that? No way. I scampered to the top and to the room Quinn was in.

The smell hit me before anything else. I could smell it throughout the house, but not overpowering like it was up here. Something died and had been sitting for quite some time; it was so intense I'd actually choked.

In the middle of the room was the source: a human lying faceup on the wood floor. The corpse was intact, with no signs of anything having eaten them. They could've been confused to be sleeping… if not for the smell of decomposition and what looked like a piece of metal jutting from their chest.

Quinn didn't chew me out for disobeying. From the look in his eyes, he was in shock.

"Well, I think we found the fate of the residents," he said with a grave undertone.

He was clearly fighting against himself, but he stepped closer and pulled the metal from the body, dropping it on the floor. It was covered in a dark crimson up to the point where it'd been buried. It looked like one of Quinn's 'knives,' but this one was more ornate; it looked like it was made for a purpose.

"Why would someone kill a human and let the meat go to waste?" I asked, earning a sickened look from Quinn.

"We're not pokémon, Elise; we don't eat each other… and typically don't kill each other, either. This is a grave matter to humans."

"Then what happened to them?" I asked.

He pointed at the object he'd dropped. "See that symbol on the handle?"

Forcing myself to step deeper into the room, I saw what he was referring to; it looked like a bird pokémon with sharp talons, looking like it was trying to grab us.

"That's the seal for a group, Silver Horizons, they call themselves. They have ideas of what this nation should look like, and as you can see, they aren't above killing to achieve that."

"What did this person do?" I asked.

He waved his hand in front of his face. "Don't know for sure, but chances are… pretty great, honestly, that this man was a poképhiliac."

I tilted my head. "A poké… whaty-what?"

"A poképhiliac, a label for humans that end up getting very… intimate with the pokémon they care for. Something that is generally looked down upon in society, but some people will take it a step further, like these people."

Quinn dry-heaved. "Okay, I can't take this anymore," he said, leaving the room; I was right behind him.

We descended and sat in the kitchen. "Well, that's enough trauma for one day, and it's not even seven," he said.

"Tell me more?" I asked.

"About what?"

"What you were talking about upstairs."

"There isn't much else to say. The dude was probably a poképhile, and he met a brutal end by a group that didn't tolerate him for it."

The pieces began to fit together, his rejection of me as a mate is likely because of human society and their views. Would someone come after Quinn if he had me as a mate?

"Why is it so bad for a human and a pokémon to be mates?" My mouth was moving faster than my head. My discreetness was no doubt suffering, but I just needed to know.

Quinn shrugged. "It just isn't natural to humans, so it became a taboo."

"What do you think about it? Do you feel the same?" I asked.

He broke eye contact, shaking his head. "I don't know."

After those words, I deflated. I've spoken to him enough to know that answer wasn't a desirable one.

Quinn grabbed his things and made for the front entrance. "Let's get the fuck out of here. We have a full day of walking ahead of us with absolutely nothing interesting along the way, so let's get moving."

I followed him out, stepping over the door, still lying on the floor.

The land smelled of the recent rain, a welcome change from all the unnatural smells of the human abode. It served as a good shelter, but I was glad to be back outside.

The muddy ground made it hard to navigate and made a mess of my fur. Quinn seemed to have similar troubles, his boots sinking into the earth.

"Arceus, damn this!" he cursed as it happened again. Quinn didn't want to take an easier, manmade footpath, so we pushed on through the trees.

Nothing much happened as we went, leaving a lot of time for taking in the sights, or as was the case today, thought. My mind was abuzz with everything that'd happened since last night. My heat still pushed me toward him, but my ineptitude at being a good mate, his disinterest, and the expectations of his human society stood in the way. The barrier was steep, and I was unsure if I could overcome it; I wondered why I even wanted to try.

I thought back to what Mother said: I had to be strong to survive in the wild. Father wasn't unable, and Mother certainly wasn't, either. They were a team; they took everything nature threw at them in stride, but it only worked when both of them participated. When Father disappeared, Mother became overburdened and stressed, but she never gave up.

My determination spiked. Mother had already given me all the answers; I just had to apply them. Together with Quinn's training, I should be able to solve two problems. I felt encouraged as things seemed to come together.

That only left one issue: I might not be able to change what it means to be human, but maybe he could start to look at it in a more pokémon way.

"Elise," I heard Quinn say. As always, my body got excited hearing his voice, but it was only subtle. I turned around to see him sitting on a rock, going through his things. "Food?"

Checking the sky, it was already midday… Wow.

Food sounded good, but I wanted it on my own terms this time. As luck would have it, there was a rustling in a berry bush nearby.

Perfect.

"Don't worry about that; I've got it covered," I said confidently with a flick of my tail.

Crouching low, I crept up on the bush. It was nearly picked clean by whatever was in there, but some oran berries were still attached.

The creature popped its head through the foliage: a Skwovet. Noticing the remaining berries, it quickly plucked them and stowed them in its already overfull cheeks.

"You've had enough; those are mine!" I yelled, asserting myself. It faced me with a look full of mischief and opened its mouth, taunting me with its slimy horde of berries.

Its indignance actually made me angry. "Why you—!" I started before taking after it.

It lept from the bush and weaved effortlessly through the trees, but it was encumbered and losing ground.

I tried to close the distance with a Quick Attack, but it somehow knew it was coming and leaped out of the way, making me hit a tree instead.

My head throbbed angrily. At the point of impact, the bark had spintered.

The Skwovet had stopped running to snicker at me. I blushed in embarrassment before it turned to anger. I knew Quinn was watching; it couldn't get away with humiliating me.

I whipped up a Swift and sent the stars careening at it, but it had an answer for that, too. It took a breath and began shooting seeds from its mouth, shattering the stars and pelting me afterward.

It felt like millions of little Combee stings, and the seeds kept coming!

A powerful volley came and knocked me off my paws. It laughed at me again before scurrying up a tree and out of sight.

I lay there, partially from the pain but mainly from the shame. What was I going to do? I couldn't catch one tiny rodent pokémon…

Arceus, Mother was right to be worried about me surviving on my own.

Footsteps approached from behind me, and I was scooped up. Quinn must've thought I'd fainted like the weakling I was. Though I'd felt safe and secure as he cradled me, it was bittersweet from the events that'd just unfolded; I'd failed to provide the food I'd promised.

He set me down, crafted another bowl from an unused water bottle, and filled it with 'dry food.' It looked much the same as what I was given back in the human complex.

Quinn was eating something from a can; they were long, thin, and green. Whatever they were, he was eating them raw, so they must not have needed cooking.

He noticed my disinterest in eating. "What's your deal? I know you're hungry by the way you were chasing that pokémon; eat it."

I didn't respond, refusing to make eye contact, but I gave in and shamefully ate what he'd given me. Just like back then, the dry texture was awful, but it was a step up in taste.

He gave me some water, which I was grateful for as I finished the food.

"Can you walk?" he asked.

I nodded and stood up before crying out; my right foreleg screamed in pain. I didn't remember what would've happened to cause this. I tried to push through it, but it was unbearable, sending me back down.

Weak. Pathetic, Pitiful.

I couldn't look at him as he approached again.

He grabbed my bad leg. "Bear with me; I've never done this before," he said. In his hand was a purple… thing. It somewhat resembled his water bottles in that it contained some liquid, but that was where the similarities ended.

A similarly-colored, slightly viscous substance shot onto my leg, startling me.

"Hold still!" Quinn complained.

With my ears folded, I obeyed, waiting until the spray stopped and he discarded the bottle.

"There. How does it feel?" he asked.

I got back to my feet, expecting to feel the same rush of pain, but to my surprise, it wasn't nearly as bad, annoying at worst.

"Good," he said as he watched me wander around. "Those morons came in handy for once." I had no idea what he was referring to.

I tested my leg again. The relief brought gratitude, sure, but more than that, it brought more shame. No matter what I did, I was nothing but a detriment.

"If you're done moping, the mountains aren't getting any closer," he said.

Quinn was right, the entire goal was to make it to the mountains so he could be rid of me.

We walked on.

The rest of the day was uneventful. We walked, stopped for another meal, walked some more, and found a dry, quiet spot to sleep, but the traveling was anything but fun. I was inside my head the entire way.

What was worse was that Quinn saw plainly how much I was struggling and decided to stop to set up camp early. At that point, I didn't have any more energy even to feel bad about it; I just curled up on a bed of moss and passed out. When I woke up the following day, I was on cold, rocky ground some paces away from the moss. Sleep had been, once again, terrible.

I got to my paws; Quinn was nowhere to be found, but his backpack remained where I last remembered him. He'd done this many times before, walking off somewhere while I was sleeping. The first time he did it, I'd panicked, but quickly picked up on that he'd leave his things behind as a message to me that he'd be back.

Sure enough, I heard him approaching from behind me. Whenever this happened, it made me shiver; my instincts told me to give him a special greeting. I groaned; I just didn't have it in me to resist anymore.

As I desperately contorted myself for him, Quinn stopped at his backpack and rummaged through his things, promptly ignoring me.

"Alright, you know the drill, food, then on the road again."

Quinn started a fire and got to work, peeling open two cans and setting them in the fire.

"My shoulders are killing me hauling all these cans around," he grumbled.

He fed me first; then we were walking as he fed himself.

"What's up with you?" he asked suddenly. "Not that I don't enjoy it, but silent isn't you."

My eyes found my paws. "Just not feeling well; my sleep wasn't good either."

He said nothing for a while, but I could feel his eyes were on me. "Well, at least you're not dead."

I might as well be.

My ears perked, picking up a faint crinkling sound, but it didn't sound like leaves, and it was coming from above me. I looked to see Quinn eating some brown, globular… things. He peeled away more of the shell and ate some more.

My curiosity piqued, bringing me from myself for at least a moment.

"What's that?" I asked.

He looked at me and pointed at the thing in his hands; I nodded.

"Chocolate bar. Naturally, it kind of melted in the backpack, but still good."

"Could I have some?"

"Uh… sure," he said, breaking a piece off and giving it to me.

Taking it in my mouth, it was strange and barky, but everything changed as I bit into it. Sweetness exploded in my mouth; I almost had to lie down because it was so mind-blowing.

"Woah!" I said; the delectable flavor lingered in my memory even when the piece was gone; it had to have been the greatest thing I'd ever tasted.

Suddenly, my mind was alert, the drowsiness and dreariness was banished; I didn't feel like I'd missed two nights of sleep… it was magic!

I had to have more. "Could I have another?"

He looked at me with what seemed to be concern, but he broke off another piece for me.

I stood on my hind legs to take it from him, my mouth experiencing renewed sweetness. I could feel my tail wagging like a tree branch in a windstorm.

We kept walking, and I kept asking for more; I couldn't get enough.

"No more, just the wrapper left," he said, showing me the crumpled-up shell. My ears folded, sad that the goodness had been used up.

"What kind of berry is that made from?" I asked.

"It's not made from berries; it's chocolate. Candy. Made from something called cacao, it doesn't grow here in this nation, so it needs to be imported from other places around the world."

He saw my confusion and waved his hand. "Nevermind that; cacao goes into human factories and comes out like what you just destroyed, basically."

I realized I ate most of it, even though he took it out for himself. "Sorry," I said.

"Whatever; clearly didn't get as much out of it as you did."

"Do you have any more?" I asked.

"No," he said a little quickly.

I scowled at him. "You're lying!"

"You aren't getting any more right now! I'm not even sure this is safe for you!"

I turned away and pouted.

"Geez, one bite, and you're an addict," he said under his breath.

One paw before the other, we fell silent again as we crossed more distance. Like Quinn said, it was a bright, sunny day, warming up and drying the land. I'd tried asking Quinn how humans could predict the weather once, but he couldn't tell me, only saying it involved countless smart people, and even then, they weren't always accurate.

It was a shame; being able to know the weather beforehand would be extremely valuable in the wild. I could sense changes in the air before bad storms, but Quinn could see that from several days away with his technology.

I wished I had all those things that made survival trivial.

As we crested a hill, we saw buildings in the distance. "There it is, the beautiful city of whateverthefuckville," Quinn said with uncharacteristic grandeur.

I didn't see what made it beautiful.

He looked down at me. His eyes were soft, seeming to be searching for something before they returned to his steely neutral. He turned back to face ahead. I heard him sigh; did I do something wrong?

Moments later, Quinn stopped dead in his tracks, looking at his pants. "What the fuck?"

He reached into his pocket and found his phone. It was making a faint buzzing sound.

"It's Matthew," he said incredulously, standing there for a while before putting the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

The sounds coming from the phone were too faint to hear the words, but it did indeed sound like Matthew.

"Why are you calling me?"

…

"Why do you need to know?"

…

…

"What are you doing in Brixton?"

A lot of time passed; as it did, Quinn's face became increasingly displeased.

"No."

…

"No—no, I'm going to stop you right there, Matthew; I'm not going to some random guy's house in some random part of the nation; I trust you can understand why."

…

…

"In case you've forgotten, I'm a fuckin' fugitive. I don't really care how much you trust this guy; I'm not going there. I'll give you some time to figure it out."

He put the phone back into his pocket.

"What was that about?"

"Nothing important," he said tersely, walking away.

We walked the rest of the day, and the day after that. I wondered how much further we had to go, so I asked Quinn. He showed me the GPS, pointing out where we started and where my home in the mountains was. The distance we'd made wasn't comparable to how far the dot—signifying where we were—had moved; even then, we weren't halfway there!

I put my head back in my paws. I just wanted to go back to sleep. Pushing myself forward day in and day out was taking a toll; my body was tired and aching and burning up.

"C'mon, on your feet," Quinn said, beckoning to me.

My reply was burying my head under my forepaws and groaning loudly; I couldn't stand it.

"That bad, huh?" he asked. I nodded.

He sighed. Taking a seat next to me. He patted my head and went down my back, making me shiver.

"Please don't," I pleaded.

"Sorry," he said, breaking the contact. "We'll stay here for a while, but not too long; I don't want anyone sneaking up on us again."

Quinn made me breakfast, which I picked at slowly. I hadn't been myself lately, and I knew Quinn was picking up on it, too. He frequently looked at me with that look of 'I don't know what to do about this' and left me alone. I felt bad knowing he was putting up with me; all he wanted was to take me home and never see me again. Granted, I couldn't be more grateful for his help, but throughout our time together, I began to see him as something more than an escort—a friend… and maybe even more than that; so strong and brave…

A wave of the terrible, rotten pleasure ran through me, making me groan again.

Okay, definitely more than a friend.

Frustrated, I finished the rest of the food and stood up. "I'm ready," I said.

Quinn nodded; he grabbed his things, and we walked. We didn't get far before we ran into something that made Quinn stop.

"What's with these crates?" Quinn wondered aloud, pushing through some brush to get closer.

He placed a hand on the top of one. "They aren't weathered; they haven't been here long," he said before wrenching at it.

The top of the crate began to come loose; was there something inside?

A growl startled us both, accompanied by quick but clumsy footfalls. A pokémon waddled our way, blue and cream with red spikes on its head, back, and tail. It was much bigger than me but a bit smaller than Quinn.

Behind it came two humans who were strangely missing their shirts. "What are your hands doing on our stuff, pal?" One said. The sun glimmered off something in their hands; they had a knife!

Despite the clear threats before us, Quinn wasn't alarmed, or at least he didn't show it. "My bad, just stumbled across them and got curious; we're just passing through."

"Like I'd believe that," the same human said before looking at me. "Tell you what, drop your stuff and leave your Eevee, and we'll let you go."

"Or else what?" Quinn challenged.

"Or else you're Croc food." The pokémon growled again.

Quinn looked from the human then to the pokémon. "If we have to," Quinn sighed, tossing his bag behind him and readying himself for a fight; was he insane?

Both humans were beyond confused by his actions. "What's with you acting like you're all that? One chomp from Croconaw, and you're down a limb, buddy."

Quinn was silent, as he usually was in these situations.

The knife wielder squinted at Quinn like they recognized him. "Wait, are you the Ghost?"

It was Quinn's turn to be confused. "How the fuck did you know that?"

Like night and day, the humans stood down, even becoming jovial. "Who doesn't know about the guy who fights pokémon? Everyone in this business knows who you are. The stuff you accomplish; you're like an icon, man!"

"Great…" Quinn muttered.

"What happened to your clothes? Your hoodie is rags now; you look like a hobo."

"That's what happens."

"Show us the mask!" the second human said excitedly.

Quinn opened his pack and produced the fake human face that Matthew was interested in. Similarly, it made these two humans go crazy; what was so special about it?

"I need a picture!"

"Me too!"

"Not a chance," he said. The two seemed disappointed, but understanding.

"Alright. What brings you out here, man?" the first human asked; it seemed like they were the alpha of the two.

"Personal business, heading south."

"How far? We could get you there in the car."

"To the mountains."

The knife-wielding human seemed to be the alpha in their group, taking the lead and asking the questions. He pursed his lips. "You were going there on foot? That'd take forever."

Quinn shrugged. "Have to get there somehow."

"Okay, well, we can still give you a lift; we're headed that way, kinda."

Quinn was silent for some time, deep in thought.

"Can you give us a minute?" he asked.

"Sure, we'll be loading up the rest of this stuff," Alpha said.

Quinn led me some distance away, out of earshot of the other two.

"I don't trust these humans," I whispered regardless.

"I don't either, but that truck will cut out weeks of our walk," he said.

"What's a 'week?'

"Seven days," he said. "You know what a day is, don't you?"

I nodded, somewhat feeling the slight. I still didn't know where this was going, but Quinn said we'd get to the mountains faster by traveling with them. I didn't trust them, but I trusted Quinn.

"Just try to relax; I'll handle it."

The two were talking in the clearing when we returned.

"So when do we leave?" Quinn asked.

They looked at each other excitedly. "Right now!" Beta said.

We walked over to a hulking machine. It looked like those we saw when walking through the city the day Lion attacked us, except this one was larger and lifeless, making no noise. It also seemed in pretty bad shape; some brown substance looked to be eating it from all over.

The humans opened the side of the 'car' for us like a door and looked inside. "Oh, right, that might be a problem," Beta said.

"What's the issue?" asked Quinn.

"Well, we have a lot of… 'merchandise' in the car; you might need to keep the Eevee in its ball."

Quinn shook his head. "Doesn't have one; we'll have to make do."

With that, he hopped into the car and gestured for me to join him. I crouched low and sprang as high as I could, landing on his lap, inside the belly of the human machine.

The other humans finished loading the other boxes and took their seats in front of us, with Beta taking the one with a weird circular protrusion.

"Man, I can't believe we're ferrying around the Ghost," Alpha gushed.

"Believe it," Quinn said, trying to take them off the subject and get them going.

Beta worked with some device affixed to the front of the car. When he pulled away, I saw the display was similar to Quinn's GPS.

"We're going to be avoiding highways; I'm sure you want to get pulled over about as much as we do."

Quinn expressed silent agreement.

The car suddenly jerked and began lurching forward, rolling over the grass and tree roots until it found a gravel road nearby. I watched the trees roll past as if they were passing us. Soon, we were moving faster than I could run and kept gaining speed; it felt strange moving this fast and not expending any energy to do so. Yet another feat of humans to awe.

"Alright, we should arrive in about eight hours, so it'll be a long ride," Beta said, not turning to look at us.

"It's going to be dark when we get there; I'd suggest you sleep in the car whenever you can," Quinn mumbled quietly so that only I could hear.

I acknowledged him with a nod, but I couldn't even think about sleeping right now; my brain was excited by all the new sensations.

"So how'd you get that Eevee? You were never known to have any pokémon," Alpha asked.

Quinn didn't look at them. "Long story, one that you'll probably hear later."

He left them disappointed, but they didn't push it.

I stood on my hind legs and looked out the window again. After some time, the trees began thinning out, allowing a view over great distances. I could even see human colonies on the horizon occasionally. Clouds were sparse in the sky today, and I found it amusing to watch as shadows rolled over the land where they obscured the sun.

My head hurt, so I stepped down and curled up in Quinn's lap.

Alpha and Beta were chatting amongst themselves to pass the time while Quinn rested his eyes. Now that I was out of the window, I noticed how cramped it was inside the car. Their boxes left little room to maneuver and get comfortable.

Being so close to Quinn with nothing to do, I slowly felt my body heating up. The same fantasies played out in my mind, where he would just take me by the scruff and banish this heat… I just wish he would—

"Ugh, what's that smell?" Alpha complained, startling me. I saw Beta nod in agreement, pulling his shirt over his nose.

I lifted my nose and took a sniff. Bad idea; I couldn't smell anything besides Quinn, which made me lightheaded.

"Probably my Eevee," Quinn said, not opening his eyes.

"Well, crack the window, man! That's awful; you ever bathe it?"

Quinn reached and pressed a button on the door; nothing happened. "Windows are locked."

Beta did something up front, and when Quinn pressed the button, there was a roar and a rush of fresh air. Part of the window disappeared inside the door!

The other two did the same. It was loud, which made conversation impossible, but the fresh air was nice.

Quinn surprised me by petting me on the head and the spot behind the ears. I purred and pushed into the touch, and my mind instantly became mush. I balled up again, and he dragged his hand along my body, though notably avoiding my flank and rear.

Despite all the noise and the bumpy ride, I found myself being lulled to sleep by his ministrations, his touch just so soothing and making me feel so secure. It'd been a long time since I got some decent sleep. I decided not to fight it, nestling in and sighing happily.

Quinn

Elise fell asleep at some point, her rhythmic breathing telling of that. I was pretty tired myself, but I couldn't let down my guard with these thugs. I kept one hand on the GPS in my pocket, ensuring they took us where they said they were.

The ride wasn't comfortable, but I didn't complain; it was cutting out like a month's worth of hiking. I knew I could do it, but I wasn't so sure about Elise, especially not in this state.

We sped down the gravel roads, kicking up a large cloud of dust. Up and down hills and through natural crevices, we made our way.

Eventually, the gravel road ended and became paved for a while as we drove along a rocky alcove. The view wasn't bad at this height; I debated waking up Elise, but wouldn't be a good idea. She should sleep for as long as she could; she hadn't been having an easy time sleeping lately.

Time flew. The road ahead quickly became the road behind, replaced by more road. Maybe I was just used to waiting for long periods, but time seemed almost to condense.

Soon enough, we stopped seeing the rolling hills and arrived in the flatlands of central Ferta, covering what would've been a couple weeks of walking in a matter of hours.

The farther away from Idian, the better.

I took a deep breath, thinking about our destination, or rather Elise's destination: the redwood forests that stood at the border of the Craag province. It was her home, where we captured her, but what was waiting for her there? Obviously, her mother wasn't there; perhaps she still had a father? I didn't remember her mentioning him much—if at all.

A wave of guilt came with those thoughts. I wasn't innocent; I was responsible for kidnapping for mother, for ruining her life as she knew it, and yet she trusted me. It was true that I would be the only one willing to help her of the four of us, but the way she behaved… there was something else to it.

The cabin suddenly jerked upward, causing me to hit my head on the roof.

"Fuck!"

Elise wasn't asleep anymore, in similar distress. Her claws dug into my pants and threatened my leg.

Goon One looked at the driver. "Watch where you're going, man! We got precious cargo!"

The driver glared at him. "Not my fault roads around here are ass!"

The two bickered on. I turned to Elise, who released her hold on me to look out the window. The sun had recently set; the light of day wouldn't hang around for much longer.

"Are we almost there?" she asked.

My head shook. There were still a couple more hours until we got to our drop-off.

"How long was I asleep?"

I shrugged. "Five hours?" I estimated.

She scrunched her face in thought. Despite numerous explanations, she could never grasp the concept of time, at least the time that couldn't be measured by the passing of the sun.

"Most of the way," I added. She nodded.

The two up front stopped arguing when a phone rang. Goon One picked it up off the dash and answered.

"Hello?"

I had nothing better to do, so I listened in.

"Probably like… five miles north of Brixton, why?"

…

"Right now? Can't it wait a little? We wanted to take a detour to the mountains."

…

His hand patted the dashboard, clearly not liking the response from the other end.

"Fine. We'll be there on time; bye."

He hung up and tossed the phone back on the dash. "Asshole."

He turned to Goon Two. "Change of plans. This stuff is suddenly all-important; we need to drop these two off and get to the harbor before sunrise."

Goon Two scoffed. "Yeah, sounds about right."

We pulled over and stopped. "Sorry, Ghost, but this is the end of the line."

I grabbed my things, opened the door, and stepped out. "I know how it is… thanks, though."

"See you later," Goon One said before they drove off into the night.

Boy, I sure hope not.

Needing to get my bearings, I found an electric lantern in my bag and turned it on full. I didn't think there were many worse places we could've been dropped off; it seemed like we were in a marsh.

"Well, isn't that just fantastic," I complained.

Gesturing Elise to follow, we walked until we found a sufficiently dry spot to wait out the night. I turned the intensity of the lantern down and placed it in the mossy dirt.

Elise sat down and looked up. "Why is the sky so bright over there?"

I followed her eyes to the south horizon. "Light pollution. Human cities don't stop running at night, so they turn on a huge network of lights to guide people around, which is what you see."

"So, like a fake sun?" she asked.

"Sure."

She settled in; I grabbed my GPS. "Looks like that's Brixton, a major city. We're definitely not going through there, but this marsh probably won't let us avoid it completely."

I played around on the device, looking for routes.

"Looks like we might be able to cut through one of the subdivisions. Things become plain old forest over there; we shouldn't have a problem."

Though she slept for much of the car trip, Elise looked exhausted. She curled up on some moss but didn't sleep immediately. Something was on her mind.

"Quinn, what is your mask?"

Given all we'd been through lately, this question was far down on the list of what I expected. "It's… just a mask. Something humans use to cover their faces."

"Well, people seem interested when they see it; what makes it so special?"

I sighed. This was a question I didn't want to answer, but something inside says I owe it to her.

"It's not what it is; it's what it stands for. As you probably figured out, I used to be a member of an ill-meaning team, a notorious group known throughout the nation. To keep from being identified, we used masks; mine was this one."

I took a breath. "It's a symbol, of terror, of pain and loss. People fear this thing because of what we did… Those guys are an exception; they're bad people who stand for all those things."

"Why don't you get rid of it?"

My mouth opened but immediately shut. I must've had the most conflicted look on my face. I didn't know; I just didn't fucking know.

I shook my head and turned away.

"Goodnight, Quinn," I'd heard after a while.

I hated that name.