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Reks, the caboose of their adventuring raevan and human train, diligently followed his team over the hazards of nature. The raevan did his best to keep up with the crew, making note to practice moving through such cluttered places when he returned home. He may have been legless but it was still a mighty challenge for the raevan to push his clunky form through the dense jungle.

The closer the branches and vines became, the more they seemed to grab and catch his backpack in their grasp. More and more he found himself forcing nature to move aside if he hoped to get through it.

The unsettling darkness returned to lick at their heels and haunt the corners of their vision. The patches of sunlight that did make it through to scatter across the jungle was such a lovely sight to Iorek.

After the events of last night he didn't want to be surrounded by darkness. Honestly he wanted to be as far away as can be from the taunting shadows.

But that was not to be.

They were on a quest and until it was finished their team of four unlikely journeyers had to keep moving forward.

And that was exactly what they did.

Too bad for Zeke 'forward' meant over hills, mud, and giant tree roots.

So how nervous did it make Iorek to see the human scrambling over these natural obstacles?

Extremely.Nervous.

He had actually worn holes into the backpack's straps thanks to his claws constantly clutching at the fabric whenever Zeke shimmied himself over a large stump or leapt across a huge puddle.

Hopefully the man wouldn't notice just how close Iorek was tailing him. The stoney raevan still gave the man plenty of room to do his thing. He was an adult who needed his independence. The raver was perfectly capable of scaling their hazardous environment. At least that's what Iorek continued to tell himself as he kept an eye out for his friend.

Even so, every time Zeke stumbled Iorek quickly moved his arms out to catch him.

But when that moment came to offer a pair of hands to fall against Iorek's attention was drawn off to the side.

The feeling of eyes on him and the ragtag group was exactly the right poison to divert his attention long enough for the human to fall.

As Reks narrowed his eyes and sought out what could be lurking in the deep dark foliage, Zeke took his predicted stumble.

The cry of surprise followed by pained and shaky curses immediately brought Iorek to Zeke's side.

"Hold on, don't..." But it was too late again. Zeke wiggled (unwilling broke) out of his uncomfortable position and proceeded to land smack dab on his back. Eeesh...that looked very painful.

Iorek followed the man's descent and came to rest at his side. He looked over Zeke's sprawled form not exactly sure what he was searching for. he wasn't a doctor, an EMT, or a nurse. Zeke's limbs seemed to be in the right position but it wasn't good to move someone after they take a hard hit. At least not right away.

"Lets just...stay here a moment. We don't want to move you right away after that. Focus on getting back your breath and then do your best to wiggle your fingers and toes."

They didn't even know how badly injured Zeke was but looking over the poor guy, sprawled out on the damp ground, Iorek had already decided he'd try to carry the man at least over the dicey areas. It was a bad move on their part for letting him navigate through such dangerous areas all on his own while they just glided on by.

Zeke continued to cough and sputter as he was grouped around. To the voices of concern he waved his right hand slowly, pushing the comments away as though they were still unneeded. Nothing felt broken; Zeke was a man who had snapped bones before and who had had them snapped. He knew what that felt like and the soreness in his back and shoulders was the product of his own human stupidity having a mixer with the laws of gravity.

"Just...Lost my breath." He still sounded winded, breath coming in and going out in quick, shallow puffs. He waved off the canteen as Cesc offered it. "No...Thank...You."

"The longer we stay here, the longer it takes us to find Kyou."

Floating over the three males, Anastacia's tone was that of clipped practicality rather than concern over the missing doctor's wellbeing. If she had any concerns right now, it would be leaving this damnable place. The Virus had also felt the strangest feeling of being watched and it left an unpleasant feeling tingling in her partially formed spine. Anya frowned as she gazed down at her guardian and her brow furrowed as though she was trying to mentally persuade him to move. The raver did so, but on his own power, coughing his way into a sitting position.

"If Zeke can't walk," she moved her eyes to the great stone behemoth that was Iorek, "Iorek can carry him."

At the very least it would keep them moving forward and Zeke had enjoyed his little ride up the waterfall quite clearly to the femme. What's more, Zeke wasn't in any condition or position to argue which was all the spider queen needed to decide her Guardian's immediate fate. If he couldn't walk, he would be carried, simple as that.

"I'm fine." Sitting up helped a little. The human rubbed his chest as he leaned back against the log that had hurt his pride and looked into the eyes of his Raevan counterparts. "I just need...a minute or two, then I'll be right as rain and we can--"

Thud.

The meaty sound reverberated in the air, which seemed to buzz after the sound faded. Zeke turned and looked up where he found the arrow lodged deep into the bark just above his head. Immediately the color in his face drained and his expression fell from sheepish smiling to shock and then rapidly turned to ill horror. His blood ran cold, his hands felt clammy, and his stomach flipped sickly. They had been followed.

"s**t," he breathed. Turning back around, the veterinarian's gaze turned from tree to darkened tree trying to find the archer. His left hand seemed to raise of its own accord and he pushed against Iorek's mighty forearm. "Run."

To see the arrow vibrating in the felled tree's side made the memories of last night come to the forefront of Anastacia's mind. The tent, Iorek's roar, Cesc's sudden snap of anger, Zeke's vomiting...It slammed the spider queen hard enough that she audibly gasped. Whirling around in a tempest of spiny ribbon and chitinous extras, she tried to make her vision clear past its limit to see where the shot had been fired from. Darkness pressed back from everywhere around. Anastacia floated backwards toward the group on the ground with her heart beating somewhere around her throat.

She heard Zeke's word but instead of fleeing Anastacia found that she couldn't move anywhere but back. She finally came to a stop when her ribbon grazed the ground and it was there that everything she had that could be stretched did so. Her crown went as far as it could go, her arms went out from her sides, and her wings flared into their full, massive length. Then, as naturally as could be - as though some part of her deep down in her very being was pulling the strings - those pinions were flipped over their bearer's shoulders and had their tips pressed into the ground. Unable and unwilling to close her eyes in this moment of fresh terror, the world before Anya's eyes became a mix of both types of sight she possessed. White hot ripples spread out and climbed over the dark greenery in their path, lighting up even those things that were nothing but blurs with evenly spaced rings.

No birds, no animals, but there had to be something. No, rather, someone. The source of the arrow was out there and it had stalked them here as though they were prey. Anastacia parted her lips and hissed; she would be damned if she was going to let this thing follow her for one moment longer!

Iorek watched Zeke with concern as the man sputtered and gasped for air just a few feet away. It was a painful to watch the man struggle as he tried recover from his fall. Unable to lend a hand, Reks felt like a useless lump.

His rigid stance softened just a tad as Zeke, in between ragged breaths, did his best to reassure them. "At least you didn't break anything. So...that's sort of positive." He added a smile along with a little chuckle to lighten felt tense atmosphere.

"Yeah, I can carry you. Anya's right, we need to keep moving to find Kyou and the terrain looks like it's going to stay rough so I can lend a hand to you." Reks knew the man probably wouldn't want such a hands-on aid but the need to find Kyou and get everybody out of this crazy jungle was right at the tippy-top of Iorek's desires.

They could maybe wait a few minutes but if Zeke needed a half hour too bad, he was going to be carried.

Then that sound...that panic-inducing call of danger pierced their little pow-wow. Such a simple noise had joined the cast of Iorek's nightmares overnight.

This time there was no tent to aim for, only innocent travelers who couldn't catch a break.

Immediately Iorek dove to cover the closest person, that being Zeke, as he sought out the direction their stalker had fired from. With his head on a swivel, the raevan caught just how close he and the human had been to losing their heads after the arrow barely missed Cesc. Sickeningly close.

This was absolutely ridiculous! Did this man make duplicates of himself? Everywhere they turned he was there, firing arrows and causing mayhem. If Iorek wasn't so frustrated and angry he yell for the hunter to try out some new material.

Instead he settled for something quick and simple.

"Oh come ON!" He roared into the foliage. Out of rage and bitter frustration, Iorek slammed his fists against the ground.

Red started to seep into his vision as he looked all about to find their tormenter. The angry raevan just ignored Zeke's pleas to run while towering over the raver. He wanted to leap into the bushes, find the hunter, and end it.

Running was for cowards...but it was also a good idea for those who knew when they were beat. Iorek may have found a powerful creature inside himself, but the new beast caused too much turmoil in his head. He couldn't think when it emerged. If it got out it would make finding the hidden hunter all the more difficult. But the monster pounded at his chest to be released and show their foe who they were messing with.

Good thing for scared teammates. When Cesc tore off his backpack that was Iorek's sign to go. "I got Zeke. Hold on to me, okay? And you two better follow! Don't fight him! I'll handle it if it comes to that." He shared a glance between his partners then proceeded to scoop up Zeke and dart off in the direction they had been heading in. The hunter wasn't going to scare them off the path!

Before he could say anything more Zeke was being lifted and carried off by Iorek. The Gargoyle grabbed him roughly and the suddenness of the action had the raver coughing and sputtering. On the positive side, the coughing helped bring the vet's breath back and he was soon struggling to get out of the Stone Frei's claws.

"Stop, stop! We can't leave them!" His heart was in his throat and fear for the two now left behind coursing through his veins. Iorek had the brawn and Zeke had the knife. Anastacia and Cesc were practically defenseless.

The meshing of her two types of vision was quickly making the spider queen nauseous. Having never used the two together, the white hot ripples laid over the natural world was akin to crossing ones eyes and attempting to go all day like that. It was bad enough on its own, but made worse when the great stone brute came up from behind and smashed the ground. The vibrations from him mingled with those Anastacia had made along with the ones bouncing off everything there was to bounce off of, and that marked the end of Anastacia's attempt to find the hunter right then and there. She ripped her wings from the ground and fell back; coughing, sputtering, and rubbing at her lavender eyes to clear the 'double vision' she had been using. Had she a stomach, it would have been flipping like Zeke's had last night. Given her physical form, the heavy and rapid beat of her heart did the job in the missing organ's stead.

"Iorek I'm going to--"

The statement was cut off by the Gargoyle's roar and Cesc's sudden appearance at her front. She opened her eyes, blinking wetly at the Stag who was encouraging her to move and to do so now. Move where exactly? She had tried to find the damnable thing that hunted them but he was like the opossum of the night before - melted into the foliage and thus invisible to her sight. Not even a shape could be found with how the wind blew the leaves into a blotchy mass of white with jagged edges. She couldn't find him, but knew full well he could see them. Moving anywhere was a joke; a crock. He would follow and they would be picked off.

"If we run he'll get us." The fear was in her veins and it was as cold as ice. That was why the level sound of her voice in that moment startled her. But we can't find him here either.

"Anya, we have to go."

She only now became aware that Zeke and Iorek had vanished into thin air. Cesc's desperation was clear on his face, but in the heat of the moment the look did not hit home with Anastacia. Her mind whirled, suddenly unsure of her prior statement and thoughts. If they stayed they were still sure to be picked off. If they moved, they could get lost in the trees. The hunter-thing, wherever he was, could not - would not - be able to track them as quickly as they could fly. If they stayed, they were sitting ducks.

The spider queen raised a hand to her head, which was now hurting like a ********. Her temples pulsed in time to her heartbeat. Her hand felt clammy but not cool in the slightest. Indecision hit her hard for the first time in her life and left her dumbstruck. Go or stay? Stay or go? Both options had pros and cons that could NOT be measured and thought upon with the time Anastacia would normally give. They had to act fast and time was dwindling rapidly as Iorek and Zeke got farther and farther away.

"Anya, please."

She wanted to go home. Oh gods above how she wanted to go home. But home was hours and hundreds of miles away and they were here, sure to be picked off if they stayed and sure to be picked off if they went, but at least the trees and thick brush that lay beyond this little clearing offered them a better chance. She rose and urgency made the aloof Virus grab hold of her companion's shirt and drag him up with her.

"Move, Cesc! No--"

Thud.

The earth reeled and Anastacia's gaze was dragged upward rather than forward. The world grew silent save for a crackling static in her tapered ears as pain blossomed red hot in her right shoulder, just below her collar bone. As though time had slowed exponentially, the spider queen turned her head and raised her right arm to feel for the source of her hurt.

The shaft of an arrow, its head embedded into her lovely skin, sticking out and gently rocking from the force of impact.

It took but a split second to process - a single moment that felt like eternity in this slowed state. The Widow raised her left hand and grabbed the wooden shaft. It broken in half in her hand, which shook violently before her six eyes. Anastacia gaped, her lips trembling and her eyes bulging out from their sockets.

Everything that had gone on over the course of this excursion replayed in her mind in the blink of an eye. It culminated, mixed, and now added up to this. This. Suddenly the world rocketed back into normal speed and with that return to the here and now came forth a sound Anastacia had never once made until this day: a scream. From the very depths of her half-chest it came, starting off as a human sound before wavering and climbing in octaves until it sounded very much arachnid. Her very soul cried out in pain and rage and it was that which triggered the spider queen into acting.

She was not Iorek, she did not flee. She was not Cesc, she did not stay. She was not Zeke, she did not fall. She was Anastacia, and hell hath no fury like a woman's fear-wrought rage.

Anastacia did not know a thing about arcs and paths of flight, but even if she had, in that moment they did not matter. Nothing mattered except to find that son of a b***h who had dared put an arrow in her and rend him limb from limb. There was a red filter over her vision, which tunneled as she threw herself skyward - her long pinions moving like the legs they appeared to be rather than the wings they were. Her fingers curled into claws and beneath her nails white liquid began to pool from spinnerets long not used and perhaps forgotten about. Her lips pulled back into a snarl and the sound continued forth as her fangs revealed and were readied to bite and inject as nature intended.

She had been indecisive. No more. No one would strike the infamous black widow and live to tell of it.

No one.

It didn't take long for Iorek to realize no one was following him. The gargoyle was on high alert and with all senses set on high he could hear that it was only him thrashing through nature. Suddenly he halted and quickly spun to look behind him. His large hands clutched at Zeke as the man pounded at his chest and shouted to go back.

But he didn't hear the poor raver's distressed cries. All he heard now was the piercing wail of silent distress.

They weren't there.

They didn't make it.

He was the one who ran. The raevan who wanted to be a hero had darted off and left two important members of the team behind. Escaping didn't save them. It hurt them, particularly Anya and Cesc who had been left behind to deal with a dangerous hunter.

"What are you doing? You idiot!" Iorek muttered as he stared into the dark jungle. He knew they weren't coming but at the moment all he wanted was to see the pink and purple raevans emerged from the brush. But that was not meant to be.

Fear had gotten the best of him yet again. This time he fled to avoid the hunter and the new addition that dwelled inside himself, the creature. Now that piece of him was thrusting itself against his chest, hammering away at the rock and screaming to be let out.

And now in order to save them he had no choice but to let the natural beast take hold.

For a second he didn't want to hand it the reigns but as he started to hurry back something alerted him. His vision swam and twirled until it tunneled as the scent of blood tickled his nose.

"No..." Claws dug into Zeke as the raevan moved even faster. This time racing back into danger at a speed he'd never gone before.

Poor Zeke was now just a piece of cargo to hold onto and protect. At least he wasn't the one who had to face the snarling gargoyle as he darted over roots and bushes.

The dreaded shout for him pushed him to go faster. He roared mightily in return as if hoping Cesc would hear and know he was on his way.

The jungle became a green blur, rushing past them, until a pink form bloomed just ahead.

"CESC!" Relief washed over Iorek, but it only lasted until he got close enough to see the blood dripping down the stag's face and an absent Anya.

He hadn't made it in time.

"Where are they?!" He snarled, his teeth grinding as the ache to bite returned.

The hunter would pay dearly for what he'd done to them. As soon as Iorek found him, there were no ifs, ands, or buts anymore.

But now there was a dilemma. The violent side of him wanted to run off after the villain while the thinking side knew separating brought them to this situation. He couldn't leave Cesc and Zeke alone...right?

He needed to go, find the monster, and end it before he did anything to Anya...but Cesc was hurt and leaving the two behind would only cause more problems. But the sound of someone dashing through the jungle rang loudly in his ears.

Quickly he looked up and could just see the purple- haired spider chasing after someone.

"ANYA!"

Heart racing even faster Reks started to follow. It had to be a trap. He had fallen into one when he went after the hunter the first time and the same would befall Anya. But before he got far the panicked raevan stopped. "W-We have to follow! B-But...Cesc, are you going to be alright? Zeke, what about you?" He asked as his eyes darted between them and the jungle where Anya was getting harder and harder to see.

What was he supposed to do?! The raevan was actually vibrating as the two voices clashed and time slipped away. A decision had to be made and fast.

If only he hadn't left them behind. If only he had stayed to deal with the hunter. All his fault. This predicament he was now stuck in, a horrid nightmare, was his own creation.

"IOREK STOP! STOP!"

The wind rushed past and deafened his own cries to his ears. Iorek did not slow down. Zeke continued to beat as hard as he could upon the Gargoyle Raevan's stony skin although ultimately the Frei didn't seem to notice once. His hands throbbed with each hit, but he had to get Iorek to stop.

While his rescuer was barreling forward Zeke was the one looking back, and the way behind was empty of Cesc and Anastacia. The bare trail had been a relatively okay sight when they had first started out but now, after what felt like an eternity, worry had made way for fear in his heart and questions burned in his mind. He knew they wouldn't be answered until he could stop his fear-struck savior and make him turn around or simply go back himself if the Raevan was unwilling to return. He bellowed out again, his throat feeling nearly as sore as his hands by this point.

"I-OH-REK!" He followed each syllable with a hard hit upon the back of the grey-skinned male. If the Frei had been a Sigel, Zeke would have kneed him in the stomach for good measure even if the end result would have been nothing more than a bruised knee for him. He had to get Iorek to stop. If shouting his head off wasn't doing it and neither was hitting the Frei as hard as he could then his only other option was to free himself and start pegging it back. Iorek had a tight grip on him, but he knew he could do it. He had to.

Fortunately for Zeke, as soon as the thought sprung to mind Iorek came to a complete stop.

"We have to go ba--"

A scream ripped through the jungle and right through Zeke's heart. His eyes widened and bulged, his skin paled even more than it did the night before, and for a split moment, everything just stopped.

"Anya," he breathed though he did not even register saying the name. Zeke began to shake in Iorek's arms and his worst fear began to wash over him as Cesc's plea followed right after. Suddenly he was moving again, a product of Iorek spinning around and mad dashing back. Although the claws sunk into is skin, Zeke did not feel them. All his thoughts, power, and ability were now put into getting out of the Gargoyle's grip as all the bad things that could be thought, Zeke did think. Anya being attacked. Anya hurt. Anya dying. Anya...dead. He fought every step of the way back. Kicking, hitting, struggling.

Soon they were back in the clearing and as Iorek slowed, Zeke lodged his foot into the Gargoyle's hand and pushed. Iorek's surprise at the scene gave the vet the slack he needed and while he fell to the ground in doing so, he was free. Zeke got to his feet immediately, grabbing a hold of Cesc and for a split second merely gaped at the Stag like a fish out of water. Cesc was a mess. In the time before fleeing, Zeke hadn't noticed the pink haired Frei was bleeding. Blood ran down his face and stained his collar where it touched.

Iorek asked a question, but Zeke did not hear it. Holding onto Cesc's jacket tight enough that the vet's knuckles turned as white as his face, Zeke's gaze bored into the Stag's as he searched for the answer to the question he did not dare himself to ask.

An enraged scream overhead provided the resolution he sought. The sound sent cold electricity down his spine and Zeke snapped his head upward as though she would be there - whole, safe, but as angry as she sounded. She was not and that sent Zeke running toward the sound while reaching for the knife still tucked away in his pocket.

"ANYA!"

Anastacia had been devoured by branches and leaves, locked away in a whole 'nother world from the one she had ascended from below. Here the world was dark green and veined with even darker browns, both colors made darker by the blackness that clotted what free space between there was. This was not a world her poor vision was suited for and through the haze of rage and hurt, she knew that. However, her disadvantage was nothing more than a slight nuisance. She could work around it with touch and sound, which immediately proved to be useful to her as soon as she broke through the treeline. The snap of a smaller branch drew her in the right direction and the rustling of leaves as something heavy was drawn over them spurned her forward.

From her lips came another hiss; another testament to her soul and its predatory rage when disturbed or hurt. Anastacia as those below knew her - aloof but stoic, levelheaded and rational if not judgmental - was not here. Running on pure instinct and the rage of her pain she was another person and one to fear. As she moved through the canopy she was more wrecking ball than sleek, agile creature. Leaves fell around her, thinner branches broke beneath her, and whatever her hands grabbed was deftly pulled or broken as she climbed more than flew through this new environment.

The scream those below heard was a result of Anastacia's own actions rather than the hunter's. As she grabbed the trunk of a tree and swung herself around it, an adjacent branch smacked her chest. Part of the arrow's shaft broke off in the process, but the branch also served to hammer the arrowhead in a little deeper. Anya's crown and wings spasmed and pain blinded her, causing her to recoil and grab at the injury. The scream left her but also injected more adrenaline into her body, which sent her moving again rather than let her sit around to attempt to doctor herself. As her right hand left the injured spot, thick gobs of white silk stretched from where the ooze had touched and stretched back to four fingers on that hand. The webbing dangled behind her as she went along and caught on whatever lay in its path like a sticky trail marker.

As Anastacia broke through one tree's canopy, she stopped herself before diving into the next one.

"WHERE ARE YOU?" She spun around wildly, trying to find a sound - any sound - that would lead her right to her attacker. "YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE POTSHOTS AT ME YOU SON OF A b***h?!" The noise that followed was once again more arachnid than human. Droplets of venom leaked from her fangs and fell onto her chest, where her skin immediately absorbed the clear but shiny liquid. Her wings and crown were flexed - in and out in and out - but froze when the sound of rustling came from her left. Her head turned fluidly and through the dark and haze Anastacia saw the leaves trembling. It didn't take anything else to set her off again. As the bough got nearer and nearer to her, the Widow flipped her wings. The Sigel-sized pinions would gleam in whatever light caught them, but here they did not shine. The chitin was as black as the world between the leaves and branches and that made them deadlier.

The rustled branch was in front of her. She raised her wings. Whether it continued to rustle or not did not matter because this was where her quarry was and this was where it would end without so much as a pause.

With everything in her egging her on, Anastacia thrust her wings downward and struck.

Cesc could not meet Zeke’s eye when the man looked at him, so pale and horrified that it made Cesc feel as though he had broken glass in his chest, churning in his lungs and making it hard to breathe.

Then Reks grabbed him suddenly, roughly, his stone arm smacking the velvet of Cesc’s antlers. The stag groaned involuntarily, barreling over and getting dragged momentarily like a cat by the scruff of its neck. It was not long before the awkward positioning forced Iorek to drop him and Cesc to falter, unable to use his wings in the posture he’d been forced into.

He sputtered and stopped and the others moved forward, and a thought struck him.

Why was he going along?

There was no reason. Zeke had the knife and Iorek the strength, and Anya would be better protected with them than if he threw in his lot – a bright thing in a forest was like a beacon to a hunter. Iorek could handle it, Cesc had faith, and more…

…more, they were losing time. Already the sun was beginning its late afternoon descent, judging by the shadows in the dappled shade, and the sticky orange warmth of the light’s color. They would need to stop for Anya, to pull the arrow from her skin – her skin, no longer unmarred.

But Zeke was a vet, he knew how to clean and stitch and make wounds right.

The invisible light pulled Cesc toward Kyou. They would have to stop. He couldn’t stop.

He slowed and let the others pass in their haste. He waved them if they looked back at him, and made as though he had lost his breath – a lie, perhaps his first ever calculated deception. He slowed and huffed although he didn’t need to, and knitted his brows in more pain than he felt.

He waited until they were covered by brush, too far ahead of him to notice that pink had left their peripheral vision.

Then the stag doubled back with admirable speed, dropping the expression of pain and moving with purpose the way he had the night before. He went to the space beside the fallen tree where they had first flung off their packs, ripping the zipper open to his old backpack and pulling out the mangled first aid kit, the flare gun, and the half-forgotten compass.

His head was feeling light. He wanted to focus but it was becoming harder, and his brain was giving him images he didn’t want.

The bouncing sheen on Vivi’s hair when she laughed in sunlight. The smooth silk motion of Zurine’s smile when she was pleased. The opening of Melisande’s wings, the glow of her face, when he’d offered to sing for her.

He slung his water canteen over his shoulder. He pulled out the compass and oriented it in Kyou’s direction. And, when he realized he didn’t have a pen, or a knife, or anything else, he put his hand to his head and drew a line of blood over the right coordinates.

His fingers went over the rough stubble at his jaw, where the blood was trying to cake.

Shepard teaching him to shave. Laughing when he nicked himself the first time. “Don’t be stupid,” he said. “You’ve got a knife to your face, remember?”

Don’t be stupid.

Cesc put down the compass. The others could follow, when they were ready. He snapped open the first aid kit and pulled out the bandaids – bandaids, how hilarious—and one of the three bundles of gauze. He tucked them into his jacket pocket, along with the smaller tube of antibacterial cream. He’d take care of himself when he could. When he was closer. He ran as he stuffed first aid safely into the pockets, his other hand full with the flare gun. He went and the jungle was a blur, 90 degrees off from his teammates, fast enough that the blood and sweat in his scalp felt cool with the motion. He followed his internal compass without care, his wings carrying him up and around branches, over fallen trees, through brush. He didn’t care.

He was making up time. This time, there was nobody to watch over. Nobody to worry for. He could just go.

Go to Kyou.

His head felt like a balloon. Slowly filling with air. Slowly leaking out blood and filling with helium.

Vivi tilting her head at him. Opening her mouth to speak. Shepard’s arms crossed.

Don’t be stupid.

He hung onto Kyou’s scent. He closed his eyes and breathed and gathered his focus. They would be fine, all of them. Iorek and Anya and Zeke and Melisande and Zurine and Shepard and Vivi and Xiu and Zul and everyone, everyone. And Kyou.

He ran.