Better Together Part 4

Truce

It had been halfway through another day that they had been there so far. CC tried everything up to keep them alive. She would check on the stones frequently to make sure nothing was out of the ordinary. Finally, after a night and half a day, Paige opened her eyes and looked at CC who was asleep.

When she moved around carefully and tried to get up, she saw the chain CC had put around her as it made a jingle sound. This woke CC up which then made her shocked to see Paige awake and ready to move around. "W-Where am I? Why am I here? Did you chain me up?" Paige asked her. "We're in some strange underground place, you're here caused I dragged your sorry butt this way, and I did because I can't trust you!" CC replied harshly. "Gee, moody much?" Paige snapped and began to stretch her wing. "Wait don't-" CC warned.

But the warning came too late as Paige cried out in agony. Then she stared at CC in horror. She sunk to the ground and couldn't believe what was going on. "My wing... it's destroyed isn't it?" she asked. CC didn't want to break the horrible news to her but eventually nodded her head. Paige sighed and held her head back. "You know... I never thought in my entire life that I would get to be something special. When I was chosen to be a Phoenix... I was so happy... I was like a little kid on Christmas day. But... I saw all our old pack's reactions to being a Wildcat. They told me if I wasn't like them I would never amount to anything in my life... just because I was nothing like them." Paige began.

"I thought I had to prove something to make them like me... I thought I had to be something I'm not. I almost had it all... but then I messed it all up. Now I'm stuck being a loser like you." Paige finished. CC scowled and retrieved an ax from her backpack. "You almost got us all killed. You didn't even stay loyal. You're a coward and you probably are gonna get everyone else in the lands killed." CC replied, dragging the ax slowly towards Paige. "N-Now hang on Omega! We go way back! I hardly put my hands on you!" Paige stuttered. "You caused my community to fall apart. You almost made my family die. The family that raised you backstabbed you. And you have the audacity to call me a loser?" CC snapped. "C-C'mon Omega! You can't! You wouldn't!" Paige cried as she got closer to the wall of the cave.

"You've gotten backstabbed and you think you're worthless? Well guess what?" CC growled as she lifted the huge ax up to have enough power to bring it down. "Carmen please!" Paige cried. Without wasting another second, CC brought the ax down hard and Paige closed her eyes. A huge clink was made and Paige realized that it never hit her. She looked at her ankle as the chain was broken and she could now get up all the way. CC yanked the ax back and put it back near her backpack. "We're in the same boat." CC said at last. "Now c'mon, we've gotta find a way out." CC told her. Paige was stunned and was surprised that CC was even doing this. "You... you had me right there. Why didn't you... you know?" she asked. "What you've done... is really wrong. But unlike you Paige, I've moved on and I can't hate you. While we shouldn't forget our past, we have to let go to move on. I didn't save you to prove something. I did it because it's the right thing to do. Anyone else in my pack would've left you there to bleed out and die. But we've got a mess to sort out so let's get moving." CC replied and began to walk out.

Shocked by her comment, Paige just followed her and looked down at the ground. "Um... what is it that they call you now?" Paige asked timidly. "Depends on who you ask. Some call me Carmen, some call me Carmax, some even still call me Omega. But out of all the stupid names I've been given, I like the name CC... it seems to suit me best." CC replied. "CC... it's gotta nice ring to it I guess." Paige replied. CC smiled and gently bumped Paige's side. "It's gonna be ok. I'm sure we can do something about your wing." CC reassured. "Eh, I'm not too worried about it. At the end of the day, you know I'm just gonna be a scrap." Paige replied sadly. "Are we good now?" CC asked. Paige looked down but then looked back up. "Truce?" she asked, holding out her hand.

Happily, CC nodded her head and shook her hand. "Truce." she replied. After having a quick moment they decided to light their wings to look around the cave carefully. "This place is huge." Paige gasped. "You should've seen it when we first traveled." CC replied. "Let's keep moving. I'm not sure if they're still up there or not. Who knows what they're doing... I hope we can hurry and find this dragon." CC said before walking off. "Wait there's a dragon?" Paige asked, surprised. "I think so... and if there is... we need to hurry fast."