The Dragon Parents

Chapter 15 - Returned

Those left outside of the rune cage, who had evaded the armed men and evaded capture eventually regrouped on the southern portion of the mountain. The sun had set, but the rune cage was still glistening faintly in the moonlight. Just a few meters away from it sat the camp with the remaining kids around a small campfire. They all looked terrible.

Victoria had fought tooth and nail, and she looked it as she limped up to the camp, supported by Simon who had found her passed out in the woods. Ame, Silver, Igneel, Emma, and Tug were all moping by a campfire, their faces downcast. Storm was a bit further away and was fuming from where he sat, but he said nothing. Kakumi had been found sobbing in a log thanks to Tug's sensation to both magnetic and electric fields, apparently. The boy's eyes were still puffy and red and he occasionally sniffed but was being comforted by Tug. No one knew where Rose or Rosemary were, but seeing as they hadn't found their bodies, they could only hope that they escaped.

"I that's... I think that's everyone," Simon murmured, doing a quick headcount.

"If we assume that Kina, Shiro and Shido were captured," Ame pointed out hopefully.

"They were," Storm stated with finality.

"Well, no one saw them get captured - " Ame tried to offer.

"They were." Storm glowered.

Ame stuck her tongue out at her brother's attitude but released a long sigh.

Emma let out a frustrated scream and stomped her feet. "It's not FAIR! We have to SAVE THEM!"

"They caught us with out skirts down, we were taken completely by surprise like idiots," Victoria breathed painfully, sitting down on a nearby log and staring into the fire. "Best we can hope for is for help to be on its way."

"And if it comes too late!?" Storm challenged, jumping to his feet. "I mean... we don't even know what the hell they want with them! We have no idea of what's going on and our friends were just - "

"We know Storm, we all went through the exact same thing!" Victoria yelled angrily with a dangerous smile. "I broke a *input word* heel bashing one of those bastard's face in!"

"Oh, you broke a heel, excuse me," Storm seethed.

"You know that's not what I meant!" Victoria cried.

"STOP IT!" Kakumi cried, tears in his lashes, his hands covering his ears. "THIS ISN'T DOING ANYTHING!"

A heavy silence descended on the camp broken only by the crackling fire. Then, there was a small choke and Igneel began crying.

They all looked to him as the blonde began to cry.

"Igneel?" Emma asked, shocked that the boy looked so pitiful.

"First Dad... a-and now Nashi," Igneel sobbed. "I don't know what to do! I'm losing everyone and... and I can't do anything!"

"Oh, sweetie, this isn't your fault," Victoria soothed, limping over and sitting next to the boy. She put a hand on his back and rubbed circles in it.

"B-but I didn't do anything! Dad would've DONE something! Dad could've saved her! Momma could've too! Even HAPPY could've done something!!" Igneel sobbed.

Victoria sighed and kept rubbing circles. "We all were pretty useless today... we all messed up... We all wish we could've been better."

"Lance was right there and I couldn't save him either," Emma murmured, scooting closer over to Igneel and nudging him. "Guess we both kinda sucked."