Aspen watched the fire's constant, ravenous hunger as it ate through the strips of wood that had been laid down in the hearth. A charred and oakley aroma escaped from the chimney-bound smoke and filled the room, acrid but somehow comforting. Crackles and flickers were the only thing that kept him from drifting off to sleep. They were also the only distraction from the incessant aching in his arm.
Beside him, Aria was laying a blanket down over Azure. The girl had fallen dead-asleep on the moss circling the alcove after she and Aspen's return home. A long and testing discussion with the should-be five Captains had filled the evening and night; four had been present in Brianna's absence, with Mouse attending in her place. For people that had such fierce personal opinions about humans, and about their human in particular, it was unbelievable that none of them had been able to come up with a plan on how to rescue Rosin which didn't involve Lucius in some way. Hours of debating for nothing. All that had come of the discussions was an unspoken tension and even more stress. The back and forth had exhausted Aspen, he couldn't imagine what it must have been like for Azure when most of the comments were directed at her. All decisions ultimately fell to the Elder.
Azure slept motionlessly on the moss, her energy wholly spent.
"Bless her heart..." Aria touched the girl's cold forehead, "She's working too hard."
"She never changes." Aspen murmured, not looking away from the flames. He wished he had never allowed the other Captains to push her into being in charge. From the start she had hated it, and now it was just getting ridiculous. Why couldn't people just make their own decisions without having a figurehead leader? But he reminded himself that it could be worse: "At least she's not running around on her own like before."
His mother shivered in spite of the roaring flames, "Don't remind me. That awful creature, taking her like that..."
No reply to that particular comment.
She looked to Aspen. The boy was perched on the edge of the moss just beside Azure, arms crossed. His eyes were somewhere faraway, dazed in the flickering embers, and in his subconscious thought he thumbed the lacerated scar that traced the length of his arm. Restless.
Aria's heart softened.
She came to her son and brushed his hair from his eyes, neatened the strands around his ears.
"Mum." He groaned. Though he didn't shove her away, only averted his gaze, as if to tell her he was too old to be fussed over.
She held her cool palms to either side of his face and looked fixedly at him. Still, he kept his eyes on the fire. Aria searched his face, then touched under his eyes, "You look tired, sweetheart. Go to sleep."
After some hesitation, Aspen's somber eyes turned to her. "I won't be able to sleep. This is so bad. Rosin-"
She hushed him before he could go into a full-on rant, "If Azure can sleep, you can sleep."
Aspen glanced at the said girl, dozing peacefully. He opened his mouth, Aria spoke over him, "Go. The night will only get colder the longer you wait."
But Aspen shook his head. The words he had been trying to keep back were released, "I can't sleep without her." And in the corner of her vision, Aria saw him close his hand over the long scar.
Her heart ached for his hurting face, but she maintained her earlier words. "You must try." She lightly kissed his forehead, "There will be times when you two aren't together."
Aspen jerked back as if she had uttered a death sentence, "Don't say that."
"It's true. I know it's not easy, I know. But you must try to get past your fears."
His face twisted up like he couldn't believe she had just said those words. Aria leant to hug him, but he stood up before she could, shoved his way out of her arms.
"Aspen." She sighed.
Aspen made a sound that might have been Goodnight and trudged up the stairs.
Aria sat on the moss in quiet and listened to the fire burning. Faintly she could hear Aspen's footsteps upstairs, Azure's soft breathing, but the fire was loudest. Her mind turned over and over.
Perhaps her children weren't totally grown up after all. They still needed a little help when things got tough. But she didn't know what to do about this, any of this. Rosin abducted, Viridis late back from Bruon. Aspen's... trauma. She thought that might be the right word for it. He still hadn't recovered from whatever that human did to him, not really. He may not like her addressing his behaviour as what it was- fear- but acting as though something never happened isn't getting over it. And she knew that from experience. At the first mention of humans, Aspen reverted right back to that frail and trembling boy Lucius had returned to her. Azure couldn't be his only comfort. That girl already had enough on her shoulders, and her own memories to tackle.
Aria longed to help them, all of them. But she didn't know how. Funny that even people who know so much and have been through such trials can still feel helpless and stupid in times of need. The woman let her hair down over her shoulders and closed her eyes to the firelight. She should go to bed too. It's no good to try and think when your mind is tired. A hurting heart makes for hurting thoughts.
Hammering footsteps passed overhead, and dust showered down from the floorboards.
Aria opened her eyes and looked to the stairs.
"Mum?" Aspen whispered from the next floor up.
"Yes?"
"Where's Lyn?"
The question lingered. Aria rose from the moss.
"What do you mean?" The woman whispered, louder. Azure stirred at the sound of her voice.
More stomping footsteps as Aspen hurried down the stairs. "Where's Lyn?" He appeared at the bottom with wide eyes, still clenching the banister, "She's not in her room."
"What?"
"What's going on?" Azure roused from behind her. She groaned into her arm and tried to open her eyes. Aria watched, then turned back to Aspen, who was standing frozen on the stairs. On his face was already a look of half-formed terror.
"Nobody's left the house since midnight." Aria breathed. Lyn had to be in her room, how could she not be in her room?
Azure sat up fully, "What's wrong?"
"Where's Lyn?" Aspen asked her instead. He came down the rest of the stairs, but only made it as far as the ledge where the floor dipped into the alcove, then stopped dead, as if possessed. The fear was in his eyes, the panic— where was his child?
Azure was still groggy, she yawned and rubbed her eyes, "Lyn?" She made a face, "In her room." Her tone said where else would she be?
"No she's not."
The house had gone very cold. Aspen stared between them, frozen in place. He looked like he wanted to ask a thousand questions but couldn't think of a single thing to say. The fire snarled in their silence and began to gnaw on the last of the wood.
Aria shook her head, "She was up there with her friends."
"What friends?" He demanded. As if she knew them all by name.
"Cecelia's sister."
"Fleur." Azure filled in.
The boys she knew, "Your scout, Alder. And Micah."
Azure was fully awake now, sensing something was wrong. She had been listening to every word, and at that moment went pale.
"Micah." Azure breathed. She got up and the blanket crumpled to the floor. There would be no sleep tonight for any of them, or many more nights to come. "You don't think..."
Aspen realised. A wave of horror swept over him, his eyes went wide. "Fuck."
"Aspen Fenland!"
"She's gone to get Rosin." He breathed. Aria froze. No.
Aspen turned to his mother with terror in his eyes. The fire sputtered out behind the three of them. And then Aria was in no place to lecture her son, because she uttered the exact same word that he had.
———
"This is so dumb. I bet she's not even in there." His teeth were chattering, his ears were cold and damp, and he wanted to go home. The tree gave about as much cover from the snow as a ripped up sock.
Mist swelled as Fleur spoke, "I hope she is... Rosin is nice." She was shivering too, even in his cloak. He almost wished he hadn't given it to her now. If his arms trembled any fiercer they might just jitter right off his body.
"She's not. She's the moodiest person ever." Moody was Alder's way of admitting he was secretly very scared of her.
Fleur didn't disagree that she had a scary face, but maintained her earlier comment, "She helped me when I was younger."
"With what, your class work?"
"No. When... you know... when the Hollow got destroyed..." she didn't say anything else, and she didn't have to.
Alder remembered that day vividly, as did everyone who had been taken by the human.
"Oh yeah." He said half-heartedly. It was something he mostly tried not to think about, but it was hard to forget how the human had eventually forced Rosin into submission. Rosin wasn't afraid of anything... but when he threatened to hurt Fleur, she had been left with no choice but to surrender and allow herself to be imprisoned.
Can't be much fun to have your life threatened, Alder supposed. He didn't know how Fleur was so... alright with everything. She was supposed to be the baby in their group. But if that had happened to him...
"She's still moody though." He grumbled.
Fleur poked her hand out from beneath his cloak, reached over, and poked his scowling face, "You're moody."
"Shut up." Alder hissed. The ice-burn mercifully hid the blush on his cheeks.
From beneath the tree there was a clear view to the human building, and in waiting for Micah and Lyn's return they had sort of got used to its presence. But when the drainpipe suddenly began shuddering, fear reawakened.
Fleur reached for Alder's arm, "Alder."
He was already looking. He stuck one arm in front of her and told her not to move.
Cold air blasted over the three of them as they came tumbling out of the chute. Rosin fell first, into a deep mound of snow, then unwillingly caught Lyn and Micah's fall when they crashed on top of her. If panic wasn't enough, a healthy dose of cold and a punch to the guts was enough to ward off her lingering fatigue.
Rosin picked herself up with a groan, "Are you two alright?"
Nods from both of them. The two children were shivering like reeds in the wind, dust still clinging to their cheeks in spite of the harsh breeze. Rosin hoisted them up, then herself. "Come on, let's..." but when she turned towards the lake, water wasn't all she saw. Two small shadows were sprinting towards them. One was waving her hand, calling out to them in ecstatic joy. It was Alder and Fleur.
Rosin couldn't believe her eyes. Lyn had brought her entire posse along on her mad rescue.
Rosin spun round to Lyn, "Faelyn!"
"Don't call me that!" Lyn snapped. She genuinely didn't like it anymore.
Rosin threw a hand at the two children as they arrived panting, "What are they doing here?!"
"They followed me too!"
"Gods give me strength..." she pinched between her eyes. "A quartet of children rescuers. Brilliant." She faced the four of them, "Do any of your parents know you're here?"
They glanced at each other. The floor suddenly became a subject of great interest.
Rosin rubbed a hand on her face and looked up to the sky. "Brilliant." It would have been hard enough to get Lyn and Micah home when she barely had the strength to lift herself off the ground, how was she supposed to carry two more people over the lake?
"You can say thank you." Alder grumbled.
Rosin looked at him and he shrunk backwards.
"What did you do to help?" Lyn glared at him. He lurched to punch her, she met him with an angry shriek, but Rosin yanked the two of them apart.
"Enough." The woman ordered. They all fell silent.
Perfect... this is just perfect... but less than ten minutes ago she had been sealed inside a plastic container, so maybe she should count her blessings and get away while they still had the chance.
"Let's just get out of here," Rosin ushered them away from the building, "Quickly now, before the humans come looking." Maybe they could go to a neighbouring tribe for a while, just until she recovered her strength. Nieva perhaps, or even home to Wren. Crossing the lake to Quercus seemed like a trek she couldn't withstand tonight... but come to think of it:
"How did you get over here?" Rosin realised aloud. It took days to walk the trail around the lake, and these four had appeared within a matter of hours.
"Lake surfing." Lyn smiled.
"Lake what?"
"Lake surfing." She repeated, "You get a leaf-"
"Has to be a strong leaf." Fleur helpfully reminded.
Lyn nodded, "Yeah, a strong leaf, and you put it on the water so the curly side is down."
"The curly side is the dipped part." Micah clarified.
"Yeah. And you get rope and tie it into the leaf, and then that's like the, uh..."
Micah tried to help, "The steering?"
She shrugged, "Well, you can't really steer, but it helps you turn. So you do that, and then you start..."
Rosin had stopped listening. She led the four of them away from the looming shadow and watched them chatter as if all was right in the world, as if they hadn't just faced near-capture by humans. They interrupted each other after every sentence, smiling at the contributions each made to the explanation, and stumbled over one another's feet in their enthusiasm to detail their lake-surfing to her. Kids these days were something else when it came to disastrous events. To them, those who had grown up with invasions, abductions, human friends and human enemies, a rescue was just another Tuesday.
"And you all know how to do this?" She said when they were done. When all boiled down to the bottom line, she was just happy to be out of that hell of a building still in one piece. She owed these four her life.
Alder spoke before anyone else had the chance to, "Only me and Lyn can do it properly. Micah can a little bit, but he always sinks."
Micah reddened.
"I'm the best." Alder added.
Rosin rolled her eyes, smiling. Okay, Alder. You're the best. So different to Kovu.
Then she stumbled over thin air and they whipped round with a unified gasp of Rosin!
"I'm alright." Rosin calmed. Which considering she was seeing stars and tasting metal was a lie, but they didn't need to know that. "How about this? I wouldn't mind stretching my wings after being cooped up in there, so I can carry one of you over the lake, and the rest of you can do your... leaf surfing."
"Lake surfing." All four said in unison. Had she the strength to smile, she would have.
"Okay." Lyn answered for all of them, "We can do that. Carry Fleur, she's the lightest."
Fleur blushed, "If- if you don't mind."
"Not at all." Rosin wobbled again. For a moment, the forest fuzzed black, and when she opened her eyes she was ten steps further than before. She warily touched her aching head, "Let's just get home..."
The four of them ran ahead. Rosin took a moment to lean against a lake-reed and catch her breath. Over her shoulder, the building she had been so dazzled by, then imprisoned in, had melted to shadows. She could see no humans. But the girl had lived in the forest for a long, long time, and she knew to trust her the churning of her insides, the subconscious tingling in her stomach. This wasn't over.
Something told her this was just the beginning.
———
The battery lantern had its third sputtering session of the night, but mercifully regained its normal glow after a moment. It had to be pretty close to running out of juice after being left on for the past few hours... hopefully they would all be asleep by the time it gave up. Lucius had spent a fair few nights wandering around the forest until sunrise, but even he was starting to feel tired.
"Is this okay?" Lucius dared ask. Avery looked up from his sewing and nervously bit his lip. He had a suspicion he already knew what the answer would be.
Unsurprisingly, her response was a series of hacking coughs that made both boys jump, and Avery prick himself with the needle. Brianna's eyes were watering when she finally got her breathing under control.
"Are you trying to poison me?" She wheezed.
"Geez, sorry." Lucius tossed the biscuits into the growing mound of opened but uneaten food. Popcorn, chocolate cereal and just plain chocolate all seemed to make the little guys want to throw up, but he would have thought they might at least like oreos. Apparently not. He half-heartedly started rummaging through his backpack in search for something edible.
Avery broke off another square of chocolate and thoughtfully munched on the corner. He was in the process of trying to stitch some clothes for Brianna and Viridis. Brianna wasn't very happy with either of them: first Lucius had cut their clothes and ruined all the ties, and then Avery's attempt to try and sew them up again had turned the cloaks into essentially a handful of soggy fur. He peered meekly at the tiny girl.
Brianna immediately snapped to face him and he didn't look away fast enough.
"Quit your leering." She snarled.
"I'm not-" he began, then blushed.
"You've been peeking at me for the past five minutes."
"Not like that." He stammered. She went to say something else, but Lucius saved him.
"Here." The boy produced a strange green packet, and broke it open. The smell that filled the tent was sharp and sour, and Avery winced.
Brianna narrowed her eyes in suspicion. He took a sort of yellow disk from inside it and snapped a fragment off for her, "Try this."
She snatched it from his fingers. After some angry squinting and close inspection of the could-be food, the girl took a tentative bite. Brianna's angry face evaporated. The girl looked up at Lucius in surprise, back down at the food he had given her, and ravenously devoured the rest. Her eyes watered on every bite. She hadn't even realised how hungry she was.
"Knew it." Lucius smiled. Finally he had found something she would eat. Took long enough.
"What did you give her?"
"Salt and vinegar." He smiled, holding up the packet for Avery to see, "Best type of snack."
Avery wrinkled his nose, "I think it's vile."
"Get some chocolate then."
"We don't have any."
"You ate it all?"
Avery looked away indignantly, "No."
Lucius snatched up the empty wrapper in his lap and smiled, "You're addicted."
"I am not!"
"Chocoholic."
He tossed his sewing down, "Don't call me that!"
Brianna coughed and interrupted their jesting.
"What's up?" Lucius' face fell, "You don't like it?"
She nodded, trying to say that she did like it, but struggled to produce sound. "It's salty."
The boys both laughed. Introducing human food to people who lived off pure forest foodstuff was always bound to be entertaining. "That's the point." Lucius took a few crisps himself, "Nice though, right? You want more?"
She nodded. He broke her off another piece, then set a whole one down beside her so she could divide it herself.
Bree could just about stomach the alien food. How anyone could actually enjoy it was beyond her, but at least it was edible, unlike the rest of the chalky grit they had tried to tell her was food. Humans were so freakish.
Viridis slept soundlessly with his head in her lap. She had considered waking him and giving him some food, but with his injury it was probably better to let him rest. They were going to be here a while.
She realised that the tent was unusually quiet again. The girl glanced up at the two humans. Just as she expected, both had stopped what they were doing and were staring blankly at her and Vin.
"Would you stop staring?" She hissed at them.
They both hurriedly glanced away, caught in the act. Instead of looking at her, they looked at each other instead. Then saw each other looking and blushed like preschoolers, suddenly all smiles and red ears.
Brianna raised her eyebrows. That she could have ever been afraid of these two...
Total, utter blockheads. Enormous blockheads, but still. They were harmless as daisies and bluebells.
"What happened to you guys?" Lucius asked once his face had returned to a normal colour.
Harmless, but that didn't mean Bree liked them. "Why should I tell you?"
His smile flickered at her tone, "We saved your life?"
"You cut my clothes." She retorted.
"To help you." He reminded her crossly, "How about a thank you?"
"For cutting my clothes?!"
"Uh- For saving your life?"
"The only reason we needed saving in the first place is because of you humans!"
"Then maybe don't go wandering around in the middle of fucking winter, hey?!"
"Lucius." Avery said. Lucius looked at him with fiery eyes, breathing roughly. Avery made a face. Brianna didn't need to know how human relationships worked to work out that look meant stop it.
Lucius crossed his arms and glared at the tent floor. Hurt, she realised. For some reason, the fact that she wasn't immediately being friendly with him was really getting under his skin. Then again, he had saved their lives. And he looked about twelve. Maybe it wasn't fair to treat him like she might treat Aspen and the other scouts. He seemed like a nice enough kid... and he was kind of a legend back home.
"We're from Quercus." She murmured, "Azure's tribe. We were going to Bruon to see my parents. And it was fine... but on the way back there was this... beast..."
"A human?" Avery asked.
"No. An animal that follows humans around. Horrible thing with a black nose and loads of fur. Enormous too."
"A dog?" The boy guessed. Lucius shrugged in indifferent agreement. He was still sulking and gave no further comment. Brianna felt a twang of guilt.
"Did it attack you?" Avery questioned gently.
"Mm." She stroked Viridis' forehead with the tips of her fingers. "Hurt Vin bad. I thought it would kill us."
"What happened after it attacked you?"
"Its human came, I think. I'm not sure..."
Lucius looked at the tiny girl. She had a tight face as she moved her hand through Viridis' hair. Unfriendly pout, kinda like Rosin. But she looked shaken too, he thought. Freaked-out underneath her glare. And yeah, how could she not be? Sounded like a proper nightmare. Lucius was still trying to work out what the hell a dog and its owner were doing taking a walk all the way out here. It was the middle of winter, which left the forest in pretty grim shape— all boggy and cold and just generally unpleasant. Ernwood wasn't near any towns or cities... it didn't make sense for someone to come all the way out here just for a walk.
Brianna suddenly spoke, unprompted. "Humans have no place here. All they ever do is mess things up." Her words were hissed, her eyes were narrowed and hateful.
Lucius chest tightened. He gulped and looked at the floor. He had always known that being friends with people who were a fraction of his size was... difficult, but Brianna really doing her best to remind him that her people loathed humans. He walked a microscopically thin line when it came to him and the little guys. If he wasn't their protector, their hero, their this and their that, he was just another human. Feared, detested. A monster. What if one day humans stopped bothering the forest? What if one day they didn't need him anymore?
Lucius' heart squeezed in his chest.
Something touched the side of his hand.
Avery smiled softly when Lucius looked at him. It was a 'human to human' smile. And the tension in Lucius' shoulders melted. They were both thinking the same thing: it was nice to finally have each other. Avery nudged his pinky finger against Lucius' hand again, until their fingers were touching. Lucius nudged his own closer, until a few of his fingers were laying over Avery's. Avery turned his wrist so their palms were laying against each other... and then their hands wove together.
Lucius realised that he couldn't blame Brianna for her for her harsh words, just looking at Vids was reason enough for her anger. It wasn't personal.
He kept his voice soft, "Listen, try to rest. I know where Quercus is, I'll take you there in the morning."
Brianna looked up at him with guarded suspicion, trying to judge his words. She narrowed her eyes, "...you will?"
"Course. I was going there to see Lyn at some point anyway."
The girl pondered this in tight silence. Her blue eyes flicked to Avery, "What about him?"
"Avery's fine." Lucius snapped, "He can come."
Her retort was instant, "Humans have no reason to be around our tribes."
"What about me?" He countered.
Brianna gave him a look, as if to ask why he was being silly. "You don't count as a human, Lucius." Was all she said.
Oh. That felt... nice. Any inhibitions about being viewed as a monster evaporated— but he ignored the feeling of warmth. That wasn't fair on Ave.
"Azure trusts me. And I trust Avery. So there. He's coming." And that was final. "If you don't like it, you can walk back."
He spoke a little snappily, and Brianna definitely didn't like that, he could tell by the way she suddenly sat up, her face frosty again.
"Maybe I will!" The girl yelled up at him. "Gods, you just automatically assume we're helpless without you, we would all be doomed without your godly intervention."
"Yeah. Okay. Whatever." He didn't have the patience for this anymore. She had a merry quirk of forgetting that they had just saved her and Vids' life. Viridis, geez, if he was awake then things would be so different.
Brianna couldn't stand what she saw as belittling undertones in Lucius' expression, she wasn't done: "Just because we're smaller than you doesn't make us any less..." the right word wouldn't come though, she ended up yelling, "Better!"
Avery squeezed Lucius' hand. Don't get angry.
Lucius looked at the boy, and huffed. Ave was right. It wasn't personal, the little guys just had a grudge against humans, and who could blame them? It wasn't personal. He had to constantly remind himself that. They didn't hate him, they hated humans. And they needed him around at the moment, whether they liked him or not, so he didn't need to worry about the day they wouldn't need him anymore.
"I'm tryna help because I can." Lucius maintained, "He's hurt, you must be tired... I know what you guys are capable of, you don't gotta tell me." Once again he tried to soften his voice, "I know you're all mad brave."
Brianna held Viridis tightly. She touched his face, wishing he would wake up. But these two boys... they seemed okay.
"Thank you." She muttered begrudgingly.
Lucius nodded without much enthusiasm, his friend Avery smiled, shyly. She pulled the bandage-blanket over her shoulder and turned away from them.
Under the table, Lucius and Avery held hands for the first time. Lucius' thoughts swung between something like you got the smallest hands in the word, Ave, and thank god you're finally here.
———
The two siblings hovered in the open doorway. Wren usually let nobody but Rosin enter their room, but when there had been no response after a minute of knocking, Robin and Silk had let themselves in. Now they hesitated, exchanging a nervous glance at each other. Wren looked... awful. The Elder hadn't even heard the door open, or the knocking that came prior. Wren's bedroom was domed and circular, with the bed and the window both facing the lake, and Wren was currently curled in the window-frame. Their face was clearly pale even in the waning lantern light. Both arms were hugging a leather bound book against their chest like a teddy bear. Robin and Silk both recognised it as the journal Rosin had kept a few years ago when she first stumbled into Hawthorn.
They both felt the same way; helpless. Wren had been in a state ever since Rosin didn't return from her daily sweep of the forest, and that had been two days ago. Now the rumour was that she was trapped in the human fortress, abducted and imprisoned. Or worse. And what could they possibly say to ease Wren's worry? Secretly, Robin felt like she was going to be sick every time she breathed, Silk was chewing the inside of his mouth to shreds, both of them a bundle of bad nerves.
Robin nudged Silk. Say something, her blue eyes demanded.
"Elder?" Silk ventured into Wren's room. "Are you... well?"
Wren gave a start. Dropping the diary, they quickly stood up and gathered their composure. "I didn't hear you knock. Apologies." Their eyes were dewy and rimmed in red, "I'm not myself."
Robin and Silk exchanged another uneasy glance. This time it was noticed, and Wren's gaze hardened.
"Is something the matter?"
Robin went to speak, but her younger brother had it covered.
"Are you okay, Wren?" Silk said. Using Wren's first name was a little pushy— Robin held her breath. Wren could be testy when Rosin was away. As expected, the Elder's face transformed entirely at the use of their first name. But Wren didn't get angry. Wren softened, Wren weakened, and at that moment they couldn't have looked less like an Elder.
"Mm." They nodded, with the tears quivering like tiny dewdrops on their eyelashes. Wren bowed their head, unable to look at their Guard for fear of bursting into tears.
Robin despaired at the sadness in Wren's face, "Silk is going to go to Quercus again. To ask if they have news."
"No." Wren immediately looked up. With a sniffle, they cleared their voice and scrubbed the tears away. "No," and there was the Elder again, steady and measured, "I don't want you going anywhere, either of you. It's dark and snowing. And gods know what's going on with Ama."
There was a red bite mark on their hand. Amaryllis' inexplainable misbehaviour wasn't helping Wren's fragile emotions.
"Maybe tomorrow, but now would be dangerous."
"I'm going." Silk maintained, softly but firm. "I'll be alright."
Wren could say nothing. All of a sudden, the sight of Robin and Silk standing there was too much. Their faces so ready to comfort, to help, totally enamoured and devoted to Wren. It was overwhelming.
"Thank you, Silk." Wren tried to say, but choked on the words. A few tears spilled down. Then turned sharply and hid their face.
Silk shook his head in despair. "Wren..."
"Go." Robin murmured to him, "We'll be okay."
He nodded, but couldn't resist another worried look at Wren. It was rare to see Rosin or Wren upset. It felt... wrong, somehow.
"Bye." He muttered. Wren didn't reply. He repeated the word to Robin, and she hugged him.
"Be safe." Though it was unnecessary. Silk was the best rider in the forest, if anyone could brave the savage conditions, it was him.
He hesitated in the doorway and looked once more at Wren. Robin waved her hand for him to go. Leave it to me.
With a final wavering smile, he was gone.
Wren had returned to the windowpane and was currently preoccupied with brushing the dust off the corners of Rosin's journal, cradling the little book in their hands like a baby. Robin shut the door.
"Wren." She came to sit beside the Elder.
"Leave me." Wren hid their tearful face, "I'm ashamed of myself. It's pathetic, I don't want you to see me like this..."
She could have laughed. So stupidly prideful, at a time like this.
"It's going to be okay." Robin chose to ignore the order to leave, and soothed instead, "Rosin is strong. The strongest of us all. Wherever she is, I'm sure she's perfectly fine."
Wren uttered a soft sound, tears breaking free. Speaking about it aloud made it all seem more real, all the more unbearable.
"Wren, what's wrong?" Robin pleaded. The severity of the tears frightened her. Wren was really crying now, shoulders jumping and breaths whistling.
"It's always the same." Wren wept, "I think things are going to be okay, and-" the book slipped from their hands and fell to the floor. Wren wept inconsolably into their hands, curled small like a child. "I can't..." curled small like a child who was losing their parents all over again, "Not her as well..."
It was disturbing, and surreal, and a whole mess of other emotions all at once. All Robin could think to do was hug them. Terrible, very inappropriate. But maybe treating the Elder like an emotionless rock or some kind of sacred deity was a stupid rule. Wren was only a few years older than Robin. If not for fancy titles, they would be friends, friends who hugged and gossiped and did everything Wren wasn't supposed to do.
"Robin-" Wren tried to pull away.
Robin held on tighter. "You're my Elder, I know. But you're my friend too." She squeezed them, "And it's going to be okay. It won't be the same this time. We have Lucius, we have Mike, Prairie and Azure and the strength of all the tribes, who love her just as we do." Robin shut her eyes. "Rosin will come back, Wren."
She had to.
Wren hugged Robin miserably. Her shoulder was soft and firm, warm. They said nothing. But they didn't believe the words. Call it intuition, a feeling, or perhaps the same connection Azure and Aspen had; close family get bad feelings when something happens to one of them. And somehow, Wren knew Rosin wasn't coming back to Hawthorn.
———
Rosin collapsed at the border of Quercus. The snow on the ground was somehow worse than the snow in the air, and she cried out. Or, she tried to. But didn't have the strength and no sound came out.
She had been flying far too low pretty much since setting off, and had splashed her and Fleur in frozen water multiple times in crossing the lake, so the fall hadn't been from too much of a height. The little girl in question was just getting to her feet a few steps away from Rosin. She was cold and maybe a little surprised, but otherwise unhurt.
Fleur looked around and found Rosin half-unconscious on the ground.
"Rosin?" She asked, worried.
Rosin saw a blurry smudge wading over to her, but that was about it. Everything went black after that. For a while there was nothing but cold and dark and howling wind, her consciousness so slippery that she could barely string a thought together. She might have only been passed-out for a few minutes, or it might have been a few hours. However long it was, when she opened her eyes, Lyn and the boys had made it across the lake and were standing in circle above her. The first thing she heard was them arguing. Loudly.
Rosin sat up. Lyn's scout cloak slid off her shoulders as she did, though Rosin didn't remember her putting it there. The four of them gasped and leapt backwards.
"Rosin!" Fleur cried. "You're awake!"
"Thought you were dead." Alder remarked pleasantly. Micah smacked him on the arm, Alder hissed an ow.
For just a second, Rosin thought that they had run into the tribe and summoned Azure and the scouts outside, because Aspen was kneeling in front of her. It would have made sense for them to go and fetch some adults. But this was their rescue mission, so of course the children hadn't done that— instead they had just stood over her, arguing about how they were supposed to get her inside when none of them could move her an inch. It wasn't Aspen who knelt in front of Rosin, it was Lyn. Maybe it was her swooning head, but for just a moment, the resemblance between them was uncanny.
"Are you okay?" Lyn asked. She was calmer than her friends.
Rosin touched her hand to her forehead, "No."
Lyn made a face.
"Let's just get inside."
They scattered away like birds when she struggled to her feet, even Lyn. Snow slid off her wings, but she didn't feel it aside from a dull shiver in her lower back. Rosin suspected she couldn't move her wings at all, so she didn't even try. As she had said to Lyn: just get inside. Birk could get some hot medicine down her throat and she would be fine.
It clearly terrified the children to see her reduced to such a state. Gods knew she probably looked worse than she felt.
"Go." Rosin ushered them forwards. "Find the path."
They gladly ran ahead.
Ahead was a small opening in an otherwise impenetrable wall of thorns and brambles: the borders to Quercus. Some tribes had natural protection, like the streams that surrounded Nieva, or the spiky rocks that formed Hawthorn's wall. Others were a bit more haphazard. Micah's tribe was hidden in the recess between two large rocks, and Quercus was protected by an ever-expanding curtain of spiked herbary. One day the plants might arch all the way over the tribe and tangle into a sort of dome, but not for many years. Usually Rosin just flew over the top of the thorns and down into the tribe centre, bypassing the tunnels completely. Now was not one of those times.
The trek to the tribe centre passed in a stumbling blur, but also felt like a million years. Sometimes she blinked and she was ten steps further than before, other times she laboured to walk but seemed to go nowhere at all. Dimly, Rosin was aware that Lyn was holding her hand. Whenever the little girl turned to check on her, all she could see was the shine of her white eyes, shockingly bright in the dark. Lyn. Aspen? Lyn. Get me home... get me home before I sleep...
Somehow, they did eventually arrive at the tribe centre, which was packed with every Captain and the various members of their squadrons. The general response at seeing Rosin stumble through the door was a cry. Some yelled with shock, some with joy, then someone had the bright idea to holler for Cecilia.
After slapping her little sister and then showing her face in kisses, Cecilia ran to Aria's house faster than she ever had before.
Lyn, her friends and Rosin were ushered into the council room, where someone closed the door behind them and sealed out the chaos. Rosin slumped against the table and shut her eyes. Fleur rubbed her sore cheek, Micah and Alder argued about whether Cecilia was wrong for hitting her. And Lyn waited expectantly at the door. She could perfectly envisage her parents declaring them all heroes when they burst through the door and found Rosin safe and rescued.
That wasn't exactly what happened...
—
Cecilia must have really run like she meant it, because it was only three minutes later that the door burst open. Azure and Aspen were there, most of the scouts behind them, Aria at the head of the group. The boys stopped arguing, Rosin sat up. Lyn smiled at them all.
Aspen ran to Lyn. He snatched her off her feet before she could even blink and clenched her to his chest.
"Thank the gods." He shuddered. His hand brushed frantically over the back of her head, she could feel his shoulders juddering and his bow poking into her cheek. His breathing sounded raspy and tearful.
Lyn dislodged her face from his shoulder. She could see that Azure was hugging Rosin, also tearful, Ronnie was talking to her friends. Aria had stopped in the doorway, looking fixedly at her and Aspen. The scouts didn't dare pass the woman.
Lyn smiled unsurely. Aria looked... upset. And she didn't smile back. She didn't even react. The woman turned her face away, and before Lyn could do anything, shut the doors.
Lyn didn't know what to think about that.
Aspen finally stopped hugging her and set her down on the floor again. She looked up at him, practically bouncing on her feet with anticipation. When he heard how she had fended off the human with her arrows, he was going to freak out.
"I-"
"I don't want to hear it." Aspen snapped.
Her face fell. The words died in her throat. Aspen sounded angry. He looked angry... he wouldn't look at her.
"But-"
He trudged over to Azure before she could say anything else. Lyn knitted her hands together. She turned to her friends and Ronnie, meaning to say something, but Ronnie followed Aspen. He glanced at her as he passed. And didn't smile either.
"What's going on?" Fleur whispered to Lyn and the boys, "Why are they all so angry?"
"You're in for it now." Alder nudged Lyn.
Micah told him to shut up.
"You see the way Aspen ignored her?"
Micah told him to shut up again, and glanced at Lyn. Lyn wasn't even listening. She was staring at where Aspen, Azure and Ronnie had gathered, with Rosin sitting weakly in the chair beside them. Her hands twisted one of her bunches restlessly.
Aspen murmured something to Azure. Azure suddenly turned to the four of them. In her eyes was pure, seething rage. She shook her head.
"I cannot... believe you!" Azure cried.
"What?" Lyn said weakly. This wasn't at all how she imagined this would go.
"You know what!"
Azure stormed over to them. Ronnie and Aspen both stepped aside to let her pass, then glanced at each other with a nervous expression. Rosin shut her eyes.
The kids unconsciously backed away from her as she stormed the length of the roundtable.
"I don't understand why you're shouting at me!" Lyn protested.
"I'm shouting at all of you!" She swept her hand at the rescuing quartet, "Have you completely lost your minds?! What in the blazes were you thinking, going there?! You don't understand? I don't understand, Lyn— you know what humans are like, you know better than anyone else! What were you thinking?!"
Her mind was swimming with emotions, but Lyn managed a response, "That's why I went, because humans are horrible! Rosin was in trouble, she needed help!"
"Not your help!"
"You were busy with other things!"
"I wasn't busy, Lyn, I was thinking of a way to help her safely! Not charge blindly into a building crawling with humans!"
"You knew it was there?" Rosin suddenly spoke from the corner of the room.
Azure stopped shouting and turned to her.
Her eyes had been dull and tired only a moment ago, but now they blazed, "You knew it was there. And you don't think I should have been told?!"
Azure's voice dropped back to its normal volume, "You could have come to the meeting. I assumed Wren would tell you."
Rosin struggled to sit up properly, "Wren won't tell me anything if you tell them not to."
"I didn't tell them not to! We all agreed not to tell any of the tribe people— that doesn't include you! It means people like Lyn, otherwise this happens."
Lyn couldn't believe it. This— Azure said it with such anger. But they had saved Rosin! Why was it being treated as a bad thing, why was everyone acting as though they had done something wrong? Yes, it was dangerous, but they were all home safe, right?
Lyn looked to Aspen for help. He was standing cross-armed against the wall and said nothing. Still, he wouldn't look at her. She looked to Ronnie instead. Ronnie bit his lip and looked away.
Lyn's despair began to change into anger. This wasn't fair. They saved Rosin, they did a good thing, so why was everyone so angry about it?!
"We rescued her!" Lyn pointed to Rosin, then to herself and her friends, "She's fine, isn't she?! We're all fine! Why aren't you happy?!"
"I am happy!" Azure cried unhappily, "But you don't realise how lucky you are! What if they caught you, Lyn? Then what?!" Azure dropped to her knees and gripped Lyn's shoulders. For a moment there was no anger in her face, no disappointment, just fear. Fear for what could have happened.
Lyn blinked. Azure was clenching her shoulders so hard it hurt.
She released Lyn and shook her head, "It's bad enough you did this, but letting those three come along too?"
Aspen looked at Alder and frowned in disapproval. Alder looked away, flushing bright red with guilt and shame. Fleur hid behind him and Micah mostly kept his eyes on the floor.
"They followed me there!" Lyn protested helplessly.
"And you should have marched them right back here the second you realised! What if a human caught them?"
Lyn didn't want to think about that. What she didn't understand was that was all Azure and the others were thinking about: the unthinkable what-if? What if the rescue had gone wrong and the four of them had wound up in a cage, or shoved into a human's pocket, carried away someplace where nobody would be able to find them.
"Lyn's not the boss of us." Alder suddenly grumbled, "We wanted to come."
"Alder." Aspen snapped, "Quiet."
"But he's right!" Micah spoke up, "Don't blame Lyn for our actions, we chose to go." Fleur was frozen in place. The only reason she had any part in this was because of her friends, and being yelled at by the Elder was not a consequence she had foreseen when she climbed out through the window.
Azure sighed heavily. She turned away from them and looked instead at Rosin. Rosin, who was barely keeping herself propped up with her elbows, who was shivering even in the warmth of the room and Ronnie and Aspen's cloaks— Rosin who looked on the brink of collapsing again. She cracked her eyes open a bit and locked eyes with Azure. In her gaze was only one message: go easy on them.
She sighed again.
"I am beyond relieved that Rosin is alright," Azure turned back to them, "Okay? Beyond relieved. And what you've done is amazing. But you had absolutely no right to do this. You could have got yourselves killed. Do you understand that?"
They all started to nod, then Lyn said: "No."
Azure blinked, "What?"
"No!" Lyn cried, "I had every right to do it! She needed help, I helped her!"
Aspen spoke from the corner. "You got lucky," he murmured, "Things could have gone very badly." And for the first time he was actually looking at her. All she saw in his face was disappointment.
"But they didn't," Lyn said desperately, "Things didn't go badly. It wasn't luck, I know what I'm doing when it comes to humans!"
But nobody gave much reaction when she said that.
She wanted to cry. This wasn't fair. None of them would have been able to do what she and Micah did. She led them through the vents, she climbed down and freed Rosin— she even fought off the human, even though she didn't plan on telling them that after this initial reaction. She did something they all assumed only Lucius could do. And all she was getting in thanks was disappointment and raised voices.
Lyn shook her head, her eyes misty. "I thought you would be proud of me."
Aspen's face twitched at her tears. He glanced at Azure. But unlike him, she was unfazed. She ignored Lyn's tearfulness and continued pacing around the room. Lyn scrubbed her eyes and crossed her arms, glaring at the floor. Again, her emotions turned to anger.
"Those humans are going to be around for two weeks," Azure spoke aloud, almost to herself, "Then they go on break. You four are going to stay in Bruon while they're here."
It was like a slap in the face. "What?!" They all cried.
"What for?!" Alder demanded, disgusted.
"I'm an Elder!" Micah protested, "My tribe needs me!"
"All the more reason you should know better than to sneak out to visit humans in the middle of the night!" She yelled back at him.
Micah made meaningless gestures with his hands, "But I- Azure I can't go to another tribe! I can't leave my people!"
"You did! What happens to them if you get caught by humans?!"
The boy froze. He didn't know what to say to that.
Azure softened her voice, "You know they rely on you. Why would you put yourself in danger?"
He got tearful, "I don't know. I was only trying to help..."
"Stop shouting." Fleur pleaded, equally tearful. "I'm sorry. We're all sorry."
Even Alder was getting red-faced.
Azure sighed heavily. She felt horrible, yelling at them. It was like Micah said— they were only trying to help. And Rosin was home, safe, the ordeal over. Maybe sending them to another tribe was a little over the top...
She ran a hand over her face. As she did, her thumb caught on the deep line carved into her cheek. Then she didn't feel so horrible anymore.
"It's for the best." She said softly. "It's going to be chaos around here after all this. Sirocco can keep an eye on you while we sort this out."
Lyn despaired to see Aspen nodding in solemn agreement. "I- but- You can't do that!"
"I just did." Azure said emotionlessly.
"That's not fair!"
"It's not about fair," she frowned, "It's about keeping you safe." Bruon was the furthest tribe from the human facility without sending them on a trek halfway across the forest. And it really was going to be chaos. Word about the Facility and Rosin going missing was going to spread like wildfire now, every Elder from every tribe would be sending Captains here to talk to her about Lucius and Mike and all the other humans. She and Aspen would hardly have time to sleep, let alone keep an eye on Lyn and the kids. It would only be for two weeks, and it would be for the best.
Lyn didn't see it that way.
"You were just scared!" Lyn stormed right up to Azure, "That's why you didn't go and help her! You're scared of humans! Just because you're scared of everything doesn't mean I have to be!"
Azure stared at her, mouth open. She couldn't believe this was the same little girl she met in the human city two years ago. Lyn had grown up so much. For better, and for worse. She never thought such piercing, thoughtless words could come from a person who knew exactly why she and Aspen were so afraid of humans.
"Go to your room." Azure said softly. Her hands were shaking.
"What?" Lyn demanded, her scowl disintegrating. Her heart skipped a beat. She had never been sent to her room before.
"Go to your room." Azure repeated, stronger. "Now. It's late. And we're done talking." She turned away so Lyn didn't see the emotion in her face. She got what she wanted, her hurt feelings were hidden. Instead, all Lyn saw was Azure turning her back on her.
Lyn stormed to the door. There were tears in her eyes too. She stomped away, wrenched the door open, then stopped to look back at them all, glaring.
"You're being horrible." She said to Azure.
"Please Lyn," Aspen murmured, "Enough." He could see the distress on Azure's face.
"She's being horrible!"
"Enough!" Azure spun round, "Go to your room!"
Lyn stomped her foot, "Stop telling me what to do!"
"Then don't do stupid things!"
"You're not my mother!" She screamed.
And the room was silent.
"You can't tell me what to do." Lyn whispered tearfully. She slammed the door, and she was gone.
Micah, Alder and Fleur all glanced at each other. Alder made a face of amusement. It was painfully forced.
"Go to our house, Micah." Aspen said, "You're not to talk to Lyn. You two, go home. Explain to your parents where you've been, tell them you're going to stay with Sirocco. Any problems, tell them to come and talk to me."
They left in a miserable procession.
It was very quiet for a very long time.
"What... Rosin slurred, her eyes shut, "In the blue blazes is that... thing doing there..." "Rosin." Azure said softly.
"Why didn't you tell me..?"
"I told Wren." She uttered, "It was their responsibility to tell you, not mine..." Azure wanted to cry. She had reached her limit on being the one in charge. It was too much, and combined with trying to parent Lyn...
Azure sat on the edge of the table. She realised there were tears in her eyes. Parent Lyn? Could she even think that after what had just happened?
Ronnie tutted, "Don't cry, love."
"Did she really just say that?" She managed.
Ronnie came and sat beside her, murmured comforting words.
"She didn't mean that." Aspen said, "She's upset, I'll talk to her." He walked to the door to do just that.
"No, I will." Rosin started to get up from the table, "She did it for me... I'll talk to her."
But then she just collapsed.
"Rosin?" Aspen jerked back when he touched her. "Woah-"
"What's wrong?"
"She's hot as a fire."
She was unresponsive.
"Rosin?" Azure demanded. "Rosin!" Her eyes flooded with panic when she looked to Aspen, "She's not breathing,"
"Ronnie, get Birk." Aspen struggled to heave her up. "NOW!"
Ronnie took off running.
"Rosin!" Azure pleaded, "Wake up!"
Rosin murmured deliriously against Aspen's shoulders, fading in and out of a regular breathing pattern. Her wings had begun to curl at the tips, like shrivelling leaves. The stitches Mike had made a long time ago had loosened, and frost was still spiked along the old rips. The sound of Aspen and Azure screaming at her was lost, all she could hear was the thick, buzzing throb of blood in her ears...