Emily was seriously regretting her choice of clothing right about now. The Radkova witch really wished she would have changed into some shorts and a tank top before they began their travels through the rough terrain that is the Great Smoky Mountains.
Emily was still wearing the Lockwood werewolf's baggy sweatpants from the night before and it was definitely not agreeing with the hot and humid weather of Tennessee.
The best thing that the Radkova witch could do was roll the grey pant legs up to her knees and tie the long grey Mystic Falls High School football t-shirt above her belly button. It wasn't exactly comfortable but Emily didn't have a choice if they were ever going to get the information they needed before the full moon was completely out for the werewolves to enjoy.
The quartet were quiet as they silently followed the stream of water that is the Baskins Creek Falls towards the Great Smoky Mountains. Alaric was leading the group with the Gilbert twins behind him and the Lockwood werewolf picking up the tail end.
The forty-five minute stretch of silence was broken when Tyler let out a rough and painful cough from the back of his throat. The Radkova witch quickly looked back at her best friend in worry before she found Tyler leaning against his knees as he practically coughed up his lungs.
Emily left her sister's side as she swiftly jogged towards the Lockwood werewolf. The Radkova witch placed a gentle hand on Tyler's back and began rubbing comfortable circles against his warm skin. "Are you okay?" Emily worriedly asked.
"Yeah," Tyler grunted after he wiped the back of his hand against his lips before the Lockwood werewolf stood up straight. Tyler shook the plastic bottle that contained a mixture of wolfsbane and water with a small chuckle. "It's just kicking my ass," the Lockwood werewolf stated.
Emily furrowed her brows in worry as she stared up at her best friend. "Do you need to take a break?" The Gilbert girl inquired.
Tyler immediately shook his head as he quickly waved off the witch's concern for him. "I'm fine," the Lockwood werewolf swore as he bent down and stored the plastic bottle into his backpack before he slid it in place on his back.
Tyler shot the Radkova witch a small smile before he wrapped his arm around Emily's shoulder. "I'll be okay," the Lockwood werewolf assured the worried girl as he pulled her to catch up with Alaric and Elena before he stated, "the wolfsbane just takes a lot out of me."
"We could take a break until you're ready," the Radkova witch quickly offered as she kept glancing over to Tyler to make sure he was actually doing okay.
The last thing Emily wanted was for her best friend to hurt himself right now. For one, they didn't have time for someone to get hurt when they were on a time crunch but most importantly, Emily didn't want Tyler to be in pain from the wolfsbane and the spell she had to perform earlier.
The Radkova witch still had no idea what the spell would do to Tyler once he would have to go through the transformation from the full moon, so Emily was, of course, quite worried for her best friend, no matter how many times the Lockwood werewolf told her that he was okay.
Tyler let out a light chuckle. "I'm fine, really," the Lockwood werewolf promised as he squeezed Emily against his side. "I can handle a little pain," Tyler murmured. "Besides, we don't have time to take a break," the Lockwood werewolf reminded the young witch.
"He's right," the Saltzman hunter jumped into the conversation as he glanced back to Emily and Tyler from his position at the front of their group. "We only have a few more hours until the moon will be in the sky," Alaric mentioned before he stated, "so, we don't have a lot of time left."
"Alright," the Radkova witch quietly mumbled as she thought over their situation. "We should pick it up, then," Emily suggested before she sped up until she was shoulder to shoulder with Elena, who the Radkova witch was most worried about.
Emily, of course, knew this whole plan of theirs was dangerous but the Gilbert girl's worries especially lied in her twin sister. Elena was only human while everyone else was supernatural in some way, except for Alaric but he knew how to handle himself against vampires and werewolves.
Emily didn't want to put her sister in anymore danger than she already was in, so the Radkova witch wanted to hurry up. The last thing Emily wanted was to be still in the Great Smoky Mountains when the full moon was at its highest.
"I got something for you guys before we get too far in the wolf's den," Alaric announced as he pulled the group to a stop in front of the waterfall that they would have to walk around to get to center of the mountains.
The Saltzman hunter removed his bag from his shoulder before he tossed it down on the ground. Alaric bent down and unzipped the bag before he began looking through it for a certain item through all of the different weapons he had packed.
"Wow," Elena murmured as she peaked over the vampire hunter's shoulder and into the bag, "you came stocked."
"Well, we aren't out here to pick blackberries," Alaric muttered as he grabbed two identical weapons before he stood up. The Saltzman hunter turned around and faced the Gilbert twins. "Here," Alaric muttered as he handed each of the sisters a weapon.
"What is it?" Elena curiously inquired as she rolled the clear bottle around in her palm.
"That would be a grenade full of pure wolfsbane," Tyler responded for the vampire hunter as he took a small step away from the Gilbert twins, who were holding the grenades. "I can feel it burning from here," the Lockwood werewolf muttered with a slight shiver.
"I would have given you one, but I didn't think you want anywhere near it." Alaric told the Lockwood werewolf as he zipped up his bag before he tossed it over his shoulder.
Tyler let out a light chuckle before he muttered, "yeah, I'm gonna have to pass on that one."
"Well, since we're handing out gifts," Elena began before she pulled out the familiar blue Gilbert ring that belonged to her and Emily's biological father from the front pocket of her shorts.
"That's John Gilbert's ring," the Saltzman hunter noted as he stared at the piece of jewelry that once sat on his finger for a time being.
"It was yours, too," the human Petrova doppelganger reminded the vampire hunter. Elena took a few steps towards Alaric before she held out the ring to him. "Go ahead," the Gilbert girl encouraged before she stated, "it'll protect you from whatever supernatural danger we're about to get ourselves into."
Alaric quickly shook his head as he denied the magic ring. "He gave it to you," the Saltzman hunter reminded the human girl.
"Yes," Elena agreed before she stated, "but I'm a doppelganger." The Gilbert girl glanced over to her twin sister before she continued, "Emily's a witch, so it won't work on either of us." Elena lightly shrugged before she recalled, "he left it for us if we ever have kids."
"Yeah, well, then why don't you guys save it for future generations of stubborn, relentless baby Gilberts," the Saltzman hunter suggested as he took a step back away to avoid accepting the piece of jewelry.
"Ric, take the damn thing," Emily ordered the vampire hunter before she took the ring from Elena's hand and thrusted it towards Alaric.
"I got Elena," the Radkova witch assured her aunt's boyfriend before she added, "but I can't protect us all." Emily took a step closer towards the Saltzman hunter with a softened gaze before she begged, "so, please wear it."
The Radkova witch could still see the fight in Alaric's blue eyes, so Emily quickly added to hopefully convince the vampire hunter, "how about just for today? You can give it back once we're back in Mystic Falls if you really don't want it anymore."
The Saltzman hunter silently stared across at Emily for a few seconds before Alaric released a loud huff. "Your kids are going to be the most stubborn," Alaric muttered to the elder twin before he finally accepted the magic Gilbert ring as he grabbed it from Emily's stretched out hand.
Emily widely grinned at the vampire hunter before she murmured with a slight smirk, "I'll take that as a compliment."
"I'm definitely going to be busy every time you need a babysitter," Elena joked along as she playfully bumped her hip into her sister's side.
The group of a witch, a werewolf, a hunter, and a doppelganger all chuckled together at the series of jabs. It was a nice way for them to release the tension in their bodies from all the nerves they felt while hiking through the Great Smoky Mountains on a dangerous mission.
However, the laughter quickly came to a stop at the speed of a single blink.
Emily didn't even know how it happened. One moment, the Radkova witch was smiling across at Elena and the next she found herself face down in the water below them.
Emily quickly bounced up out of the water like a floundering fish before she planted her Vans into the ground underneath the water as she stood up. The Radkova witch looked up to where she had previously been standing and found Tyler holding a newly arrived Damon Salvatore by his throat against a tree.
"What the hell!?" Emily screeched as she roughly pushed her soaking wet hair out of her face to glare up at the vampire. "How did you know we were here?" The Radkova witch shouted up towards the top of the waterfall with her green eyes glued to the ruiner of plans, Damon Salvatore.
Damon easily pushed the Lockwood werewolf off out him before he moved to the edge of the cliff with a wide smirk dancing across his lips as he stared down at the Radkova witch.
"Well, you see, I went looking for my car when it suddenly went missing," the Salvatore vampire began. "I found it at the Gilbert house," Damon mentioned before he stated, "but there was no twins to be seen."
The blue eyed vampire let out a tsk before he lightly shrugged his shoulders. "I figured I would ask Jenna if she knew where you guys disappeared to," Damon commented. "She told me an interesting story of you guys looking for werewolves in Tennessee," the Salvatore vampire uttered with a chuckle.
"Aunt dearest practically did all the work for me," Damon stated with a smirk. "All I had to do was make a single call to Sheriff Forbes to track your phone before I got my answer," the Salvatore vampire recalled. Damon stretched out his arms with a wide smirk before he concluded, "now here we are."
The Radkova witch felt annoyance rise through her bones from the fact that she forgot about their most important obstacle, the vampire above her. Emily really wished she would have told her aunt to keep their whereabouts a secret. The last thing they needed was for Damon to try to stop them from getting their answers when they were in a werewolf infested mountains on a full moon.
"Well, you found us," Emily announced as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You can leave now," the Radkova witch muttered up at the Salvatore vampire.
"Fat chance, Princess," Damon murmured with a roll of his blue eyes before he walked the distance over to his girlfriend to focus solely on her.
The Salvatore vampire placed his cold palm onto Elena's warm cheek before he gently stroked it with his thumb. "Are you okay?" Damon softly asked as his brows furrowed in concern.
Damon may be annoyed and irritated that the Gilbert twins went behind his back to look for answers about Klaus and Stefan but he was also worried. Damon didn't want anything to happen to either sister but the Salvatore vampire was naturally more worried for Elena seeing as she was only a human.
Elena quickly nodded her head as she placed her palm on top of Damon's colder one. "I'm fine," the Gilbert girl promised before she leaned up and pecked the vampire's lips.
Damon deepened the kiss for a couple more seconds before he placed one more on the human girl's forehead. The Salvatore vampire took a moment as he held Elena in his arms to remind himself that she was okay before Damon slowly released her and turned back to the water.
"Chop chop!" Damon exclaimed as he took a few steps towards the cliff until he was staring down at the Radkova witch. "Let's get a move on!" Damon shouted as he clapped his hands together.
Emily looked up at the vampire like he had gone crazy for even suggesting that. "We're not going anywhere," the Radkova witch exclaimed as she took a cautious step back and further into the water. "We're so close to learning the truth," Emily stated. "I can't stop now," the brunette girl murmured as she shook her head.
The Salvatore vampire released a loud and annoyed groan. "Stop being stupid and get out of the water," Damon ordered before he threatened, "or I will drag your ass out."
"You touch me and I will make you regret it," the Radkova witch threatened right back as she twirled her fingers in a circle before Emily conjured a spark of electricity. "I dare you," Emily muttered as she glared up at the vampire.
Damon rolled his blue eyes at the witch's theatrics before he turned to look at the Lockwood werewolf. "Go get her," the Salvatore vampire ordered as he nodded his head towards the water.
Damon knew how stubborn the eldest Gilbert twin could be and he had no patience to deal with that today. The Salvatore vampire didn't even want to get Tyler involved because he frankly didn't like the werewolf but Damon knew the Lockwood teenager was his next best option in getting Emily to listen.
Tyler held up his hands in innocence as he let out a light chuckle. "I'm just following her lead," the Lockwood werewolf uttered with a shrug of his shoulders before he stated, "and if she wants to keep going, then I'm sticking by her side."
"Stupid mutt," Damon muttered underneath his breath as he bowed his head. The Salvatore vampire looked up and over at Tyler with a fierce glare to his blue eyes. "I'm not trying to get bit by you again," Damon growled as he pointed his finger at the Lockwood werewolf.
"Well, we better keep walking or you just might feel something painful," Tyler taunted as he roughly shoved his shoulder into the Salvatore vampire's as he walked passed him. The Lockwood werewolf didn't even glance back Damon before he jumped down into the water.
Tyler knew he had bested the Salvatore vampire in this moment. There was no way Damon was going to fight with him when a single bite from him could kill the vampire.
The Lockwood werewolf took heavy steps towards the water until he was face to face with Emily. "Hey, did you hurt yourself?" Tyler worriedly asked as he placed his right hand on her cheek.
"I'm fine," Emily quickly assured her best friend as she lightly waved her hand. The Radkova witch looked down to her Tyler's outfit before she let out a groan. "I'm just soaked to death," Emily muttered with a hint of annoyance in her voice.
Tyler let out a soft chuckle. "Don't worry," the Lockwood werewolf told the brunette girl before he joked with a playful smirk shining across his face, "the sun will dry you right out."
The Radkova witch whined at that statement. There was nothing worse than being soaked and not being able to change out of them. It was just an uncomfortable situation to be in while traveling through the mountains.
"Can you please just help me out of here?" Emily begged to the Lockwood werewolf. The least she could do was get out of the water to hopefully dampen the feeling of Tyler's larger clothes from sticking to her body like they were at the moment.
The Lockwood werewolf chuckled in amusement before he nodded his head. "Yeah, yeah. I got you," Tyler murmured as he turned around until his back was facing the Gilbert girl. Tyler bent down into a squat before he ordered, "jump on."
Emily squeezed as much water as she could from the grey Mystic Falls High School football t-shirt, so it didn't weight her down before Emily quickly latched herself onto the werewolf's back. Emily readjusted her limbs around Tyler's body with her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms holding tightly onto the werewolf's shoulders.
"Are you good back there?" Tyler asked the Gilbert girl as he grabbed ahold of Emily's thighs to stop the witch's wet body from slipping from his back.
"Peachy," the Radkova witch muttered as she could feel how Tyler's clothes were practically becoming a second skin on her body from how soaked they were in the humid Tennessee woods.
The Lockwood werewolf lightly chuckled but he didn't say anything as he knew Emily had been stressing all day and he didn't want to make it worse, especially with the Salvatore vampire finding them. Instead, Tyler kept a tight grasp on the Gilbert girl's thighs as he climbed back up the hill until they were standing with the rest of the others.
The Lockwood werewolf helped Emily carefully climb from his back until she was standing flat on her feet. Tyler turned around and did a quick scan of the Gilbert girl's expression to make sure she was okay. Once Tyler found nothing wrong from their trip up the hill, the Lockwood werewolf placed himself protectively in front of Emily, incase the Salvatore vampire tried to do anything.
Emily moved slightly around the werewolf's shoulder before she silently glanced at each face in front of her; Alaric, who looked exhausted, Elena, who looked nervous, and Damon, who looked down right annoyed.
"Let's go," the Radkova witch announced. "If we're going to do this, it has to be now before the full moon rises," Emily told the group.
"How about we get out of here all together?" Damon suggested with a grumble.
"Not a chance in hell," the Radkova witch exclaimed with a sarcastic grin before Emily swiftly turned around and began walking towards the direction that would lead them to the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains.
However, Emily only had the chance to take a few steps before the Salvatore vampire used his enhanced speed to stand in front of her.
"Stop being an idiot!" Damon snapped. "You know it's not safe out here and not to mention you are willingly putting Elena in danger!" The Salvatore vampire shouted. Damon pointed his finger to his temple as he exclaimed, "use your head for a second and think!"
"I am thinking, Damon! That's all I've been doing!" The Radkova witch argued back as she glared across at the vampire. "I had a plan but then you came and disrupted it!" Emily exclaimed as she flung her arms around.
"And don't you dare think I would blindly put Lena in danger!" The Radkova witch growled as she felt her body heat up from the anger pumping through her veins. "One of my duties in life is to keep her safe," Emily exclaimed as she pointed her finger towards Elena, "I would have never let her come if I didn't think I couldn't protect her."
"Guys, let's just calm down," Alaric advised as he took a step towards the vampire and the witch after noticed things were getting a little too heated between them. "We either need to continue on forward or turn around before these woods are infested by hungry werewolves," the Saltzman hunter told the group.
Alaric's advice fell on deaf ears as the Radkova witch muttered, "I understand if you gave up on him because things got too difficult for you but I haven't." Emily shook her head as she exclaimed, "I refuse to turn back now when I'm so close to finding him!"
Damon released a heavy sigh before he calmly stated, "I didn't give up." The Salvatore vampire shrugged his shoulders before he uttered, "I faced reality and our reality is that he's gone. There's nothing we can do."
"You haven't even tried!" Emily snapped for the hundredth time. The Radkova witch felt like a broken record at this point whenever she would bring up Stefan.
"What even is your plan?" Damon questioned as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you really think you're going to walk up to a pack of werewolves and ask to wait for boyfriend dearest to show up?" The Salvatore vampire asked before he rolled his blue eyes. "That's a surefire way to get yourself and everyone else killed," Damon huffed.
"I'm not stupid!" Emily exclaimed as she glared at the vampire. "I wasn't going to sit there and wait for Klaus to find us," the Radkova witch stated. "I just needed to know what their plan is," Emily explained before she uttered, "if we knew what Klaus wants, then we can find an opening to get Stefan away from him."
Damon released a light chuckle. "Do you really think a pack of wolves are going to tell you anything, especially on a full moon?" The Salvatore vampire inquired with a raise of his eyebrow. "They won't care what you have to say," Damon muttered as he shook his head. '
"They will kill you," Damon stated before he paused. "No, better yet, Klaus will find you and kill you himself!" The Salvatore vampire exclaimed with anger quickly rising throughout his voice.
Damon pointed his hand over towards the human girl to the left of him. "Klaus still believes you are both dead!" Damon reminded the Radkova witch. Damon let out a sarcastic chuckle before he muttered, "it's like you want him to kill us all."
"I won't let that happen," Emily angrily fired back.
The Radkova witch knew she was letting her emotions control her every thought and Emily knew that wasn't going to help her win this conversation with the Salvatore vampire. Emily took a deep breath to calm herself before she offered a compromise, "look, we don't even have to talk to the werewolves tonight. We can just get close enough to see if anything strange has happened."
This wasn't exactly what Emily planned to do when they first began hiking towards the Great Smoky Mountains. However, the Radkova witch knew she had to make a deal with Damon if she didn't want to be thrown over the vampire's shoulder and forced back to Mystic Falls without a single answer.
Damon stared at the Radkova witch for a long and tense silence before he released a heavy sigh. "Fine," the Salvatore vampire mumbled before he pointed his finger at the Radkova witch. "As soon as we see the moon, we are out of here," Damon ordered. "I'm not getting bitten again," Damon added as he looked over at the Lockwood werewolf with a glare to his blue eyes.
"Hey," Tyler murmured with a smirk rising onto his lips, "don't piss me off and we won't have a problem."
The air that surrounded the Great Smoky Mountains quickly grew tense between the vampire, the witch, and the werewolf. There was no time to play peacemaker, though. Instead, Alaric clapped his hands together before he muttered, "as fun as this has been, we really need to get a move on." The Saltzman hunter fixed his bag over his shoulder before he muttered, "we're already running behind as it is."
"And who's fault would that be?" Emily sarcastically asked as she glared over at the Salvatore vampire. The Radkova witch rolled her green eyes at Damon before she walked around the vampire and continued to walk down the path that led to the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains.
While Emily did offer a deal with the Salvatore vampire, she was still very annoyed of his presence. If Damon didn't show up and push her in the water, they could have been way further than they were. They could have already been finished by now.
Emily, of course, wasn't going to turn back now when they were so close to finding out where Klaus and Stefan were heading but the Gilbert girl was quite nervous by how quickly the sun was setting. Emily could only hope and pray that they made it out of the woods in time before the full moon began to affect the werewolves.
The group of supernatural beings and humans had been walking for a good seven minutes before Tyler quickly jogged to catch up with the Radkova witch. Tyler placed his palm onto the brunette girl's back before he asked, "you doing okay?"
Emily glanced over to the Lockwood werewolf before she shot him a small smile. "Yeah," the Radkova witch uttered before she released a heavy sigh. "I'm just tired of fighting," Emily admitted to her best friend before she mumbled, "I just want to find Stefan and bring him back home."
"You will," Tyler confidently told the Gilbert girl as he softly stroked his hand on Emily's lower back. "You just have to ignore Damon," the Lockwood werewolf advised before Tyler stated, "he's just trying to get to you."
"Well, it's kind of hard to ignore when I've been fighting him on this practically every time he opens his mouth," Emily mumbled as she kicked the small rocks on the trail towards the Great Smoky Mountains with her white-but-dirty Vans.
"Hey," the Lockwood werewolf softly murmured as he grasped Emily's hand in his own. "It's going to be okay," Tyler comforted the Radkova witch as he squeezed her hand. "You just need to keep your mind focused on the goal," Tyler instructed before he stated, "everything else is just background noise."
Emily silently nodded her head after she absorbed the werewolf's advice. "You're right," the Radkova witch murmured as she leaned her head against Tyler's shoulder while they continued down the path. "Thank you for sticking by my side," Emily whispered as she clutched onto the werewolf's lower arm.
"You never have to thank me," Tyler told the Gilbert girl. "I will always be here for you. I will never leave you," the Lockwood werewolf swore before he leaned his head down and dropped a soft kiss onto Emily's temple.
The Radkova witch looked up at Tyler with a small smile after his caring action. No words needed to be uttered for Emily to express her praise for the Lockwood werewolf. Instead, the best friends shared a series of smiles with each other while they continued up the trail with their hands tightly clamped together.
Emily felt truly grateful to have the Lockwood werewolf by her side right now. The Radkova witch wasn't sure she would have been able to survive being around Damon without having to use her magic on him. Tyler's presence just helped keep the Gilbert girl relaxed and focused, something she definitely needed to be if she was ever going to be able to bring her boyfriend back home in one piece.
Meanwhile on the other side of the Great Smoky Mountains, Stefan Salvatore stood tense over a cliff as he watched Tyler Lockwood touch and make promises to his girlfriend when it should have Stefan doing those things.
Stefan had to forcefully dig his nails into the bark of an oak tree beside him to stop himself from choke slamming the Lockwood werewolf into the oblivion.
It pained Stefan so much to see someone else taking care of his girlfriend, to see someone else comfort his girlfriend, to see someone else kiss and hug his girlfriend. The Salvatore vampire wanted nothing more than to run across the Great Smoky Mountains and take Emily in his arms to escape this shitty situation they found themselves in.
However, Stefan knew their lives were far from simple and perfect when the hybrid was involved. The Salvatore vampire refused to put Emily in anymore danger than she already was by alerting Klaus to her location, no matter how much he wanted to hug and kiss her.
The Salvatore vampire absolutely hated that Emily was here in the mountains looking for him in the first place. Stefan really wished the Gilbert girl would just move on and continue with her life but Stefan also knew who his girlfriend through and through.
Stefan knew the brunette beauty would never just sit back and enjoy her teenage years when he wasn't safe. The Salvatore vampire loved and hated that about his girlfriend. He would rather Emily move on than worry about him but Stefan knew that wasn't an option when Emily was involved.
The Salvatore vampire could only hope that something would stall Emily from running into them or that Klaus would quickly move on from this pack of werewolves. Stefan would gladly put his life on the line for his girlfriend but he really hoped it didn't come to that.