There came a rapping from the other side of the door, brisk as a heartbeat. He didn't reply. Darius let himself in anyway, as Lucius knew he would. He made sure to turn his face away.
"Oh Lucius. You didn't sleep in your clothes, did you?"
Lucius watched a cloud slog by. It looked full to bursting with rain. A smudgy shape in the reflection moved closer and he heard Darius padding over the rug.
"Here. I brought you breakfast."
A cutlery-sounding clatter suggested that Darius had laid a tray on the bed. Almost immediately Lucius smelt toasted bread, and his stomach knotted in response. He inched further away.
"Lucius?"
"Thanks."
There was an uncomfortable pause when he made no effort to even glance at what had been brought for him. Darius didn't get it— The best chocolate cereal in existence could have been piled on that tray, and he still wouldn't have been able to nibble at it. The smell of food was making him heave.
"Please eat." His brother tried. He sounded genuinely concerned, for once. Lucius wondered how long the sympathy would last before it turned into more lecturing. "You haven't eaten for days."
He tracked a raindrop as it slid down the glass. It soaked into a clod of brown moss when hit the sill. The moss was long dead. "Not hungry."
"It's not healthy to starve yourself-"
Five seconds. He was tempted to kick the tray of food to the floor, just to shut his brother up, but resisted.
At one point or another, Darius got the hint that Lucius wasn't listening to him, and the incessant buzz of his voice cut off.
"I brought you apple juice." He switched back to a more pacifist tone. Obviously he thought it was more effective than ranting.
Lucius didn't say anything.
He cleared his throat, "You still like apple juice, don't you?"
"Haven't had it since I was like, two years old."
"Oh." The catch in his voice almost made Lucius feel bad for being so unfriendly. But then he remembered that they all treated him as if he was two years old.
Silence hung heavy while Darius waited for something. Lucius didn't know what he was expecting. A thank you? Thank you for treating him like a child, thank you for keeping him locked in a room.
He felt a nudge on his arm, "Why don't you drink something? It might make you hungry."
Lucius mumbled a barely coherent no thanks. He could feel Darius staring at him, fretting very loudly without words, suddenly oh-so concerned for his wellbeing. Everything Lucius did was observed and judged. He felt sick, he wanted to smoke, he wanted to hide somewhere. Darius would snitch to their parents about this— 'Lucius isn't eating, Lucius must have something wrong with him, Lucius is this and Lucius is that.'
Lucius was tired. He didn't want food or juice, and he definitely didn't want Darius hovering around him. If he actually stopped to think about it, he wasn't sure what he wanted anymore. He missed Lyn.
Eventually there came a huffy sigh. It must have been the sound of Darius accepting there was no way to convince him to eat. Which left only one thing to do.
"Are they ready to go?"
Lucius was glad he hadn't touched food for a day, his stomach curdled like bad milk at those words— but he set his jaw firmly. They had all known this was coming. He forced himself to turn and reveal the two tiny people who had been huddled in his hand since his brother barged in. Any animosity between him and Bree had been temporarily set aside, knowing what had to happen next.
Bree and Vids looked up at him, blinking in the light that was forever too bright for their gentler eyes. Then over to Darius. Lucius forced himself to do the same.
Darius was knelt on the floor, elbows resting on the bed. He tried to smile when Lucius looked at him. Lucius thought he had better stick to frowning if that's what his smile looked like.
He used the last of his energy to search his brother's eyes. "I'm trusting you."
Darius blinked, "Pardon?"
"I'm trusting you, Darius. You gotta..." he could hardly bear to look at the two little lives in his hand, "You gotta promise to get them home. You ain't just doing this to trick me. You'll take them all the way back, you'll make sure they know where they when you get to Ernwood, that they'll be okay. Yeah?"
"Yes." Darius said shortly. He didn't like being lectured by his younger brother, "I know what I'm doing."
"No you don't." Lucius snapped, "You don't know shit about them."
"Do you want me to help you or not?"
"You ain't helping me!" He cried, "You're helping them! Don't you understand? I got them stuck here, that ain't their fault. None of this has anything to do with them." He would never forgive himself for dragging them out of Ernwood. Viridis could have died because of him, and without Darius, they would have been trapped here. Thinking about it made him feel sick again. Lucius wished more than anything that he could be the one to carry them home and mend his screwup, but he knew it was impossible. This was the next best thing.
"They just wanna go home, Darius. And they can't do that on their own, so you gotta help them." He bore into his brother. "Please."
Darius was visibly uncomfortable. He glanced away to Bree and Viridis, brow furrowed. Lucius willed his words to get through to the thick-headed toff.
"Alright." He said. "I'll keep that in mind."
Lucius still withheld his hand, "Promise me you'll look after them?"
"I promise."
"You ain't gonna give them to Ellie or dad?"
"What? Why would I do that?"
Because people turn nasty around them, he thought, but didn't say it. Darius didn't have that edge to him. He was self-centred for definite, but he wasn't horrible.
Lucius turned his attention to Brianna and Viridis for the last time. Vids was watching the world through his half-slit eyes, drowsy on pain. Brianna rotated her scowl between Darius and him. He couldn't help but search for excuses not to give them away. He couldn't trust anyone with these little guys, it seemed like he was the only one in the world who could truly keep them safe.
That's some bullshit and you know it, you got a temper just as bad as Mike's. Brianna's rueful glare cut straight to his heart. Twice now he had lost his temper and almost hurt someone. First Lyn. Now her. Who next?
"We should go. It's going to be a long journey."
"Where are you gonna put them?" He cradled them away from Darius' outstretched hand.
He obviously hadn't considered that. "Well... in my pocket, I suppose."
"Like hell you are!" Brianna shrilled. Lucius could hear a quiver in her voice.
He coiled his fingers tighter, "Yeah, not happening. You'll have to carry them to the car."
His brother pulled a face, "Carry them?"
"Oh— pardon us," Brianna hoisted herself over the wall of Lucius' fingers and sneered, "We aren't too heavy, are we?"
Darius reddened. "There's no need to be rude." He got huffily to his feet, brushed down his jumper, "Say goodbye. I want to go."
Brianna flopped back onto her knees and muttered to herself. Whatever she said probably wasn't very polite.
And then it was time.
Their eyes linked. Her delicate, watery blue beneath his darker gaze. Neither knew what to say. The air was thick enough to cut through. Whether her and Viridis ever saw home again would be Darius' decision. Whatever happened to Lucius would be determined by his parents. But they tried not to think of their parting like that, because it made the future look pretty bleak.
Saying goodbye was hard, but apologising wasn't.
"I'm sorry-" Lucius started.
"Thank you." Brianna cut over him. She pressed her little hand to his before he could so much as blink. "For everything."
His mouth was dry. His heart was hammering. Lucius had braced himself for everything from shouting to a downright refusal to talk to him, but not this.
"That's okay." He said faintly. He couldn't stand the warmth in her eyes— He didn't deserve it, he hadn't even apologised. "Brianna, I get mean when I lose my temper, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."
She looked like she might laugh. "You don't have to apologise."
He didn't know what to say. She was forgiving him that easily?
Bree signalled for him to lift his hands higher. He did, until she was at his eye level and close enough to feel the flutter of her breathing. She came forwards and pressed her little hands to the bridge of his nose. It tickled. Lucius did his best to breathe very softly, but he still ruffled her hair when he exhaled.
Brianna rested her forehead on his and shut her eyes, "My boyfriend is a scout and I have to put up with Aspen Fenland every week at council. I'm used to boys and their bad tempers. We all get snappy sometimes."
He laughed a soft, disbelieving laugh, and she shut her eyes at the vibrations. Her smile gave her a dimple. "You've got nothing to be sorry for. Dope."
Viridis murmured a sound of agreement.
In that moment, Lucius could have cried if he allowed himself to.
"Thank you, Lucy. For looking after us. For sending us home." The clear blue of her eyes turned solemn, "I don't mean to leave you here, but..."
That was his cue to lower them, "No, don't be stupid. They need you at the tribe."
"Can't leave Fenland in charge." She agreed, then pulled a face at the thought. "But what about you?"
"I ain't your responsibility." He glanced at the oversized bedroom around her and smiled lopsidedly, "And this ain't your home."
She bit her lip. "It doesn't feel like it's yours either."
Lucius' smile flickered, but he was too caught off-guard to control it. For a moment he couldn't speak. "I'll be fine. Hey, Vids?" She was trying to say something, but he purposely spoke over her, "Can you tell Lyn and the others I'm okay? They're gonna be worrying."
Viridis sleepily opened his eyes and mumbled something. He hadn't been right since losing all that blood, so nobody blamed him for being constantly half-asleep. But realising that this really was goodbye, maybe indefinitely, he did his best to rouse himself. Bree helped him to sit up.
"Thank you again for saving my sister." He hugged Lucius' littlest finger, "And Aspen. I'll never forget that..." he yawned and tucked his head under Bree's chin, "And now us too..." his eyelids were already drooping.
Bree affectionately fixed his hair, "You're such a baby. Stop sleeping."
He had already dozed off.
Lucius did that same one-sided smile, "You guys don't have to keep thanking me. It's my job to look out for you. I'll always be around when you need me."
How he could possibly 'be around' from his locked bedroom was a problem yet to be solved. Nobody felt like addressing it.
Brianna's face was tight, "I'll miss you, Lucy. I swear to you, I'll pay you back for this someday."
He forced a laugh, "Don't make such a big deal out of it. I'll see you in a week once I get out of here."
Darius shifted uncomfortably. Problematic promises. But all of them knew it was probably a lie.
"I swear it." She repeated gently. Maybe it was meant to be some sort of comfort, but it just served to reheat the warmth behind his eyes.
There was nothing more to say. Now he really was dragging out their parting just for the sake of reluctance.
Lucius fought to keep his face neutral. His hand wobbled as he leant over. Darius cupped his own hand to take them. Bree and Vids climbed out, her supporting him, one small step at a time. She kept glancing back at Lucius. She was scared, even if she wasn't vocalising it, he could tell. But then his hand was empty, and her fear was someone else's responsibility. Darius took them away.
"Gently..." Lucius flinched. Every wobble made his breath catch. He could feel the ghostly weight of them, the cold where their little bodies had rested. It was like he was surrendering the last little piece of the forest, his last scrap of home.
He wondered how long it would be before they all forgot him.
Darius marvelled at the lives he now held in his palm.
Brianna gathered Viridis against her and shrunk from the stare, "Stop leering at us."
"Christ!" He flushed the colour of roses in spring, "Obviously I wasn't- I would never- why are you so brash?"
Brianna grinned wickedly, obviously proud of herself for flustering him again.
"Be nice to him, Brianna." The faintest smile tugged at Lucius' face. They would be okay. "He's helping you."
She looked back at him, and he could see her little face still full of trepidation. She pouted up at his brother. "Supposedly..." her narrowed eyes seethed with mistrust, "We'll see how helpful Darius actually is."
He promptly busied himself with gathering up his things.
His phone and keys were on the bedside table, everything else in his pockets. He had to take a moment to button the front of his coat. It wasn't easy to do with only one hand, and he was aware of the little eyes judging him, grinning with delight at the fumble of his fingers. She was like a wasp.
He got himself organised eventually.
"I'll be back later. Maybe tidy up in here a bit..." he cast a suggestive grimace at the broken lamp shards littering the floor. "And change your clothes, it smells like mud in here. I'm sure your old shirts still fit you. You can have one of mine if not. If you shower. When are you going to shower? I don't suppose you've even considered that you probably have lice after living on the streets, now have you?"
There was no reply.
Darius sighed, exasperated. "Are you listening to me?"
Lucius was slumped beside the window, with his hood pulled over his head. Darius couldn't see his face.
"Be good." He murmured. The tray of food was on the floor, untouched. His chest felt full of water looking at it. "It will make things easier for you."
Lucius nodded gently. He seemed to shrink into the corner.
He was midway through opening the door when he heard a voice, very, very soft.
"Tell Lyn where I am."
He stopped and looked at his brother over his shoulder. Lucius hadn't moved.
"Tell her I'm okay."
The words weren't meant for him. Darius looked down at his hands. The tiny girl had her eyes on Lucius, and she looked one nudge from tears.
"Tell her yourself." Brianna craned her neck to get a glimpse of him. "You said you'll be back in a week."
He didn't answer.
"Lucy." She pleaded, her voice catching. "You'll be back in a week."
Darius gently closed the door. Enough. With a twist of the key it was locked, and his little brother— and all the problems that came with him— were sealed on the other side of the door.
The tiny girl bowed her head. She said nothing more and refused to look at him.
He tucked his scarf into his coat and set off.
—
It was an old house, and the floorboards creaked when you walked. He was used to the sound, but it made the two small people flinch every time he took a step. He was halfway down the hall, passing the oil painting when she made him jump.
"You're a shitty excuse for a brother, you know that?" A little voice spat.
He looked down, "I beg your pardon?"
The little blonde one was glaring like she intended to melt him, her arms crossed. "Yeah. You and your pardon."
The concept of manners was apparently foreign to her kind. He huffed indignantly and held his head up, "I've no idea what you're talking about."
She went to start squeaking again.
"Shush. You'll be in all sorts of trouble should somebody hear you."
He marched down the stairs. They swept outwards and descended bit by bit, too many steps to count, curving in a spiral. The banister perpetually smelt of varnish. He was already halfway down when it struck him that it would have been better to use the side stairwell. It would have been less conspicuous. Now they would have to walk right through the cross hall, where anyone might be milling around. No use in turning around though. He would look more suspicious looping back past Lucius' room when he had only just exited it.
Despite his best efforts, Darius' thoughts kept drifting back to that oak door.
"You think I'm a bad brother?"
The tiny girl turned her face away and crossed her arms, "You told me to stop talking."
"Yet talk you continue to do."
"You asked me a question!" She protested.
He huffed, for lack of a retort. Technically, she was right. His pride kept him silent for a while after that. They had reached the central passage by the time he spoke up again.
"But... do you?" Darius pressed tentatively. He couldn't help himself. Now that she had opened her yapping mouth and nattered at him, her words wouldn't get out of his head.
She lounged in his hand, combing one of her long curls with unbearable aloofness. "Who am I to say? I barely know you."
He looked down at the purple rug lining the hallway and considered.
"Of course you are, you great heaving idiot!" She caused him to jump so violently he tripped over his own feet, "Is your head stuffed full of cotton fluff?! Obviously he don't want to be here!"
He recovered and fixed his hair, "Well what can I do about that? He's a child, he doesn't know what he wants."
"Yeah, right. You ever bothered to ask him? All I've ever heard you say is Lucius do this, and Lucius do that. Your bastard father is bullying enough without you and miss bitchy-perfect joining in on it."
"Don't you use that sort of language to refer to my family." He swelled with anger.
Viridis opened one eyes, his hand went to Bree's arm. Stop, his warning grip said.
Brianna wouldn't.
"Family?" She glared up at the boy, "You don't know what that means."
His throat clogged.
"What kind of family locks someone in a room, makes him feel like- like he's nothing. He's too this and not enough that. Self-centred assholes. The lot of you."
"You are vulgar!" He cried.
"You're selfish." She countered.
"Never in my life- such a blatant disregard for- manners."
"Selfish, and so articulate." She muttered as he blundered his way through his speech.
"Why am I even talking to you?" He asked himself, "It isn't possible. You're a hallucination. Lucius is dragging me into his fantasy pretending."
"It shouldn't be possible for a person to be this much of an pampered pompous prick," she unravelled her scarf, hot from arguing, "Yet here we are. Guess we're all being surprised today-"
Brianna screamed when he smothered his fingers over her mouth.
Her nails and teeth had no effect on his thick skin. She could feel Viridis panicking too, crushed up against her and equally gagged.
"Shh." He thundered overhead. And only then did she hear a thudding distinct to his own crisp footsteps. Another human. Bree stilled, her muffled protests falling dead. The huge idiot was actually doing his job and looking after them.
Darius forced his hand to droop to his side, keeping a tight grip so they wouldn't slip free. It was a long way to the floor even with his hand hanging lower. Ronnie would have been turning green. The fist was unbearably cramped, but Bree swallowed her anger. She was thankful she did when the floorboards beneath her creaked.
"Sir." Darius said tentatively. Bree had been a Captain long enough to know what an intimidated person sounded like. She could feel the anxiety in the way he was suddenly squeezing them, tensed up. Anger emanated in every breath as the man swept past them. Darius shuffled out of his way.
"Where's your sister?"
Bree felt him flinch. "I don't know." But his father was already halfway down the hall. She wondered whether he would have noticed them even if Darius waved his hand in front of the man's face.
Darius looked after him for a moment, then relaxed. His fingers stop crushing the air from her lungs. She went to speak, only for him to cram his finger against her teeth and shush her again. She made a mental note to bite him.
Somebody else was scampering along the purple carpet, doing their best to keep up with the man. Her footsteps were darting and soundless, doing double time compared to his. Brianna twisted around until she had a view through the oversized fingers. A girl. Her cream-coloured bow held back tresses of hair, a lovely curly brown that reminded Bree of Cecilia and Fleur. A few strands had slipped loose and were bouncing around her face.
Darius' hand instantly heated to the surface temperature of the sun. She strained for air, smacking at the suffocating fingers.
The girl noticed at him as she passed, and waved, caught somewhere between a smile and a cringe. Here we go again, the look said. Something told Bree that whatever was going on with Elnora and her dad, this wasn't the first time.
Darius smiled back at her, hoping he looked casual. He didn't. She tactfully covered her mouth with a gloved hand and giggled at him.
If this poxy hand gets any hotter, Bree panted, I'm going to melt.
Darius unfurled his fist with a heaving sigh when the two humans had disappeared up the stairs. Bree took in a long gulp of clean air, cool down her throat. She could feel the print of his fingers ingrained in her face. Viridis had laid his head in her lap, one arm curled around his aching chest.
"You ever," she fumed, "Ever put your filthy human fingers on us again, I'll skin you for boots!"
But he smiled. It was impossible to take her little scowling face seriously. She looked like the tiniest tomato in the world. "Forgive me. Would you have preferred I let you keep jabbering and land yourself in my father's hand?"
"Shove off." She smacked his hand and pouted, "Don't you smile your ugly face at me."
Darius picked up his stroll along the hallway, "You are astoundingly rude, Miss Brianna."
"Call me miss again." She snarled. "I'll knock you out."
He chuckled.
"Bree." Vids murmured from her lap. She took his hand and asked what the matter was. "You know I love you..." He squeezed her hand, "But can you just be quiet until we get home?"
The two of them flinched as Darius held them closer when somebody else walked past. She exhaled shakily as his palm flattened out again. Maybe Vin was right. Aggravating their rescuer wasn't the best idea.
The house was incomprehensibly vast. They watched door after door pass by like a dream, stairways and halls, too many to count. The ceilings were too high for Darius to touch, some windows wide enough to walk through, others so thin you could hardly poke your arm through one. Bree didn't understand how one family could need this much space. And yet Darius repeatedly smothered them to his chest or whipped them behind his back as other humans appeared. Lucius had a brother, a sister, and his parents, yet the house was filled with other humans, all of whom seemed to know Darius. It reminded her of the tribe centre in Quercus. Him, of an Elder. She wondered how the house would react to Lucius when he was eventually let out of his room. Would they greet him the same way they greeted his brother, croon and fuss over him?
Lucius was too wild to become a pompous house cat like his brother. Bree hoped he wouldn't forget where he belonged, who his real family were.
"Are you being funny?" She said after they had been wandering around for five minutes.
He looked down, "Pardon?"
"How big is this place? You're supposed to be getting us out of here, not taking us on a tour."
"Forgive me." He glanced around a corner, then continued through an archway, "I was going to go out through the back way, but the gardeners are there."
"You ever heard of a front door?"
He glared at her, "If it was that simple, do you not think I would have tried that way first?"
"What, you can't leave your own house?"
"I don't want people to ask where I'm going." He snapped. "They'll insist on driving me, or going themselves." He glanced over his shoulder, "Or tell my father."
Sneaking around your own house sounded like a massive headache. She was no stranger to tiptoeing around people— her and Vin had tried to keep their relationship a secret for months, until Mouse found out and blabbered to the entire tribe— but this was another level.
She looked up at the giant boy. Turns out Lucius wasn't the only one who didn't have it easy with their parents. The slightest twinge of something that might have been sympathy pricked her heart for the strange human family. She quickly shook it off and decided that Darius looked far too content for her liking.
"Who's the girl?"
He stumbled. "I haven't a clue of who you mean." Though the flush on his neck would say otherwise.
"Miss bow in her hair."
"Miss Taylor." He snapped. Then clamped his mouth shut, caught.
Bree grinned. "So this one really is a miss?"
He blushed harder. "Her name is Clara. Clara Taylor. It isn't polite to call an acquaintance by their first name. Not that I would expect your kind to know."
She snorted. "Sorry if I hit a nerve."
Viridis shut his eyes and kindly asked the gods to shut his girlfriend up.
Brianna poked his finger, "Does Miss Clara Taylor know you're in love with her?"
His protest was deafening, and she burst into laughter. "Alright, alright. Forgive me." She grinned. "Mr Darius Taylor..."
"Shut up." He hissed. He kept looking around as if she was going to appear and see his red face.
"Who are you talking to?"
It came from behind. They all froze. Very, very slowly, Darius folded his hand around the two little figures and straightened his arm. Bree made no protests this time.
"Nobody." He blundered. "Myself."
Bree held her breath, kept Vin cuddled to her shoulder. He was awake now, watching through the gaps in the human's fingers. She did the same. They both knew that voice— and of course, when she peeked out, it was none other than bitchy-perfect herself.
Elnora took notice of Darius' coat and scarf, "Where are you going?"
"Out." He said. Too quickly.
A silence passed. There was a moment where she looked at his awkwardly clenched hand, and Bree swore their eyes locked. Every muscle in her body tensed. Elnora could clearly see he was holding something. She pressed Viridis to her chest and braced for the worst. But the human looked away.
"You've been talking to him."
Bree felt Darius stiffen. "Yes."
Hesitation. He meant Lucius, but Bree was still trying to recover from the fact that the human girl was unmoved by her brother's hand. Had Darius even realised she had noticed he was hiding something?
"Is he okay?" She asked. Her voice was mellow. Tired.
Darius fidgeted. "He's fine."
That was apparently all she was interested in, because with that, the girl uncrossed her arms and brushed past. Brianna and Viridis were just untangling themselves when a yell split their ears.
"Nora." Darius called after her.
The blazes are you doing? Viridis reached for her arms again, and she hugged him. She scowled at the dark swathe of the hand and prayed Darius Taylor wasn't as much of an idiot as she thought he was.
Elnora had paused at the foot of a staircase. It was the third set Brianna had seen since starting their grand tour of the house. She looked at her brother with dark, tired eyes, waiting.
"You've got sick on your collar." Darius forced out. He sounded pained.
A rare glimmer of surprise flickered on her face. The girl curled an arm over her stomach and tugged her collar up to hide the stain. The blouse was a pearly pink aside from the blemish. Her cheeks were flushing the same shade after his comment.
"Thanks." She turned to go.
"Father is looking for you!"
The girl paused, her hand on the banister. "I know." She said. "Let him look."
Bree raised her eyebrows. Maybe there was a touch of family resemblance between bitchy perfect and Lucy after all.
"I'll be in the loft if you need me."
"Nora..." but she was already climbing the stairs, gone in a whirl of blonde hair.
Bree blinked in the light as he unfurled his hand. The boy continued his trudge through the house, taking care to keep away from the staircase where his sister had vanished.
"What's with her?" Brianna nudged him.
He didn't reply.
"You have a weird family, D-"
"No more talking." Darius said softly. "Please."
Bree looked at his sombre eyes. There wasn't a trace of blush on his face anymore. And she could have teased him for moping, for being such an awkward wreck around everyone he spoke to.
"Okay." She said gently.
———
The air was a stuffy, constrictive dark. She awoke to quakes fierce enough to bring down the Hollow ruins. They throbbed rhythmically through her body, a swell and a fall, a surreal sense of motion in the blind dark. She found her brother laying atop her, their legs tangled. His hair was heavy with perspiration and he was unconscious.
The humidity was instantly unbearable. Robin heaved herself upright and found her own hair was slick down her back, itching and damp. Another shudder. The walls curved inwards to smother them, a swathe of black fabric, then retracted. She began to tremble with the pure horror of it. Everything was alive and squirming.
The memory of the dark night sat at the back of her throat. She saw its teeth, felt the rancid, hot breath wash over them as it savoured the catch. Then they were plunging down into its pocket, darkness and heat, and there was nothing at all.
Robin made a sound that didn't mean much. She looked around the dark pit. A single slit of light occasionally broke through an opening above her head, but it was far too high to reach. They were trapped.
"Silk." She seized her brother's shoulders, "Wake up."
Silk stirred, but didn't wake.
"Sylvan." She shook him.
Silk swayed to his elbows, his eyes reluctant to open. She went to shake him again, only for him to break into a splutter of coughs, clutching his throat. She recoiled. The sounds were dry and pained, and it took all Robin had not to smother him with her hands. She watched the opening instead. Any second now a clawed hand would nudge down, crunch the two of them to a mangled pulp. But if the human heard, he paid them no attention. Silk slumped against the fabric wall when it had passed, grumbling.
"Are you okay?" She whispered. His eyelids were red and puffed. Upon pressing her hands to his face she found that he was hot as coals. "Silk."
"Where are we?" He croaked.
Another tremor rocked them. Robin pressed her hand over her mouth to hush the sound she made. Her brother froze.
"One of them got us." She whispered.
She watched how her words sunk in. Silk sat up. His head went this way and that around their cramped prison, not wanting to believe.
"A human?" He rasped through his sore throat.
Robin nodded.
The air smelt of earth and denim. Something crunched far away. The sound could have been been snow, or the crunch of bodies beneath his giant feet.
Silk listened in rigid silence. "Oh gods." Was all he could whisper.
Robin gripped his arm. "What do we do?" Trembles were already dancing through her arms. Not this, the dimly conscious part of her mind pleaded, anything but this.
Panic and fear had woken her brother up. "Where's it going?" He tried to stand, but the walls pulsed inwards again and threw him atop Robin.
"I don't know." She clung to his arm. "Keep still."
His breathing grew faster and heavier the more he looked around, his eyes wider, "We have to get out."
"Silk-"
Panic took over. He scrabbled around, catching his nails on the fabric, trying for a hole. It was no use. Every few seconds the monster would move and he would be thrown back to his knees, or flung headfirst into Robin. "Ow, Sylvan!" He was jamming his boots atop her shoulder and using her to lift himself up to the opening. Somehow, he caught his hands on it.
"Stop it." She wept. It would feel them moving. It would remember them, hurt them. But Silk was too gripped by his fear to listen. He yanked at the fabric in an attempt to rip it open.
The footsteps stopped.
He lost his grip and crashed on top of her.
"Don't move." Robin snatched him to her chest, hushed him. Silk was already frozen. He knew as well as she did, the monster had realised they were awake.
They trembled, waiting with baited breath. Until there came a horrific sound as the button above them popped open. Light flooded in. And a hot, fleshy hand spidered down.
They both screamed, pushing against the fingers. No use. It gathered them together and coiled tight, dragged them upside down from the pocket.
Light hit in a rush of cold air. She didn't know what to think. Whether she would open her eyes to a cage, to her tribe up in flames and in ruins, to his gaping maw as he finally swallowed them.
"Oh please don't be scared!" A voice throbbed.
The air was painful without her furs, his hand warm and rubbery. For a long while she could only weep. When it became apparent there was no pain, no sound aside from her own tears, Robin dared opened her streaming eyes.
There was the forest. She didn't know where, the sprawl of snow and barren trees weren't her own. And there was him. He was on his knees, cupping the two of them below his wide, hazel eyes.
"Hello." He had a lilt of song to his voice, "Don't be scared, it's alright. I won't hurt you."
Robin clutched her brother, shaking. She couldn't speak. She could hardly breathe. He was so much worse in the daylight— just a child, mud spattered and dishevelled. There had to be others. He couldn't be out here alone.
"I'm Avery." He said gently, "What are your names?"
Silk uttered a soft sob into her shoulder. She squeezed his shoulders. Be brave, she told herself. For him.
"Get away..." she tried to say, but it came out broken. How could she be brave? If they were still alive, not yet down his gullet or crushed, it could only mean he had other plans for them.
"What?" He leant closer to them, "I can't hear you..."
Robin shook her head, tears falling, "I beg of you. Please let us go, please..."
That he heard clearly. "Let you go?" His face knitted to a frown. It only made her all the more certain of his intentions.
She knew that the stories she had grown up hearing weren't completely true. Humans were creatures of destruction, ruthless... but not when it came to her people.
"I won't hurt you..." he whispered, "I want to help you."
"We don't need your help!" She shrieked, "Leave us! Just let us be..." how could she reason with him? He was a dozen times her size. One wrong word and her neck was snapped, try to escape and the gods only knew what he would do.
"I can't just leave you out here in the snow. You'll freeze." Decided, he rose to his full height and began to walk, "Here, I'm going to bring you someplace safe-"
"No!" Horrified tears spilled over her eyes. It was happening, the abduction, "No."
"It's okay-"
"I'm begging you!" She sobbed, "please- please have mercy- leave us-" but Robin broke. She should have known this was coming the second it saw her in that cage. Once you were caught, the beast didn't kill you. It kept you, took you, you became a toy for its pleasures and perversions. The proof was in the destruction of the Hollow. Nobody eaten or crushed, just snatched. Azure and Aspen knew this fate better than anyone. All she could do was try to keep Silk hidden and protect him from the creature's sinister mind.
Avery watched helplessly. He had been buzzing all morning about saving the two gentle creatures, but now that they were awake, all he seemed capable of was making them cry. They looked so afraid. He tried his hardest to do the same as Lucius had and comfort them, but nothing was working.
Lucius. The idea struck him— he should have thought of it sooner.
"Do you know who Lucius is?"
The two small, tear-sodden faces looked up at him. He could hear the tiny rasp of their breath as they tried to stop crying. So scared.
"Lucius?" The boy whispered.
Avery nodded, but they flinched at his movements. "Sorry-" but the crack of his voice made them scream.
He pursed his lips. Obviously this wasn't working. Something had to change, he was scaring them half to death.
Avery knelt, so they weren't so high up. They looked hopefully towards the snow, but he didn't let them down, even though he felt a little mean. They would try to run away. And he needed them just as much as they needed him.
"Lucius," he repeated, no louder than a breath, "And Lyn?"
They exchanged a look.
"Lyn." He went on hopefully, "She has white hair, she's friends with Lucius."
"How do you know Lyn?" The girl asked from beneath her curtains of mousy hair.
"And Lucius?" The boy cut in. He was clinging to the thought of a friendly human.
"I'm his friend, I helped him and Lyn get away from the, uhm... the human city. Have they ever told you?"
They glanced at each other, both seeming reluctant to speak. He couldn't tell whether or not they knew what he was talking about. Of course, Silk and Robin had known Lucius since he was a scruffy child on their doorstep, who Wren had ordered to be poisoned. For another human to suggest they were friends was a bold claim.
"My name is Avery." He repeated. The boy leant into the girl and whispered something, to which she viciously shook her head. Both snapped to face him with fear bright in their eyes, as if he might have heard what was being said. He tried to look as non-threatening as possible, but it didn't seem to help.
"Is Lucius here?" The tiny boy asked hopefully.
Avery felt a stab in his heart. He gulped back emotion. "No."
Their faces fell. I miss him too, he wanted to say. Avery already knew what a comfort his friend was to these people, he had seen the way had soothed Viridis and Bree. As hard as he was trying, he couldn't imitate what effect Lucius naturally had.
He missed him. He needed him.
"You don't have to be afraid of me. I won't hurt you."
"What do you want with us?" The girl demanded, still weak with fear. "Why did you take us from the trap?"
"That's what it was?" He wondered aloud. "A trap?" It made sense. The bars and the metal. But who was trying to catch the little ones? Lucius was going to be majorly annoyed when he got back.
Because he was coming back.
"You."
He looked down at the hissing voice. The girl's brown eyes were wide on his face.
"You set it." She accused gently. The accusation appalled him, his stomach went weak— to think he could be seen as such a horrible person.
"No." Avery shook his head faintly, "I would never."
"You could never have happened upon us in that weather had you not known where to look. Hunter." Her hands were shaking, "You set the trap and waited until we were weak to return and snatch us. You knew exactly what you were doing."
"I fell down a hill."
Her tears stuttered to a stop, taken aback. The boy stared at him.
"I don't know how I found you." Avery murmured. "Really. It was an accident." Fate, and all that. Rolling headfirst down a hill had hardly been part of an evil plot to capture them.
She took a moment to process. The boy was watching warily, looking between her and Avery.
She stuck her chin up, "And what do you plan to do with us, now that you have found us? Avery?" She appeared resolute, but he could see her jaw quivering. The boy looked up at him with tearful, pleading eyes. They were both terrified of his answer. And Avery realised that if he so pleased, he could do horrible things to these small people. It was easier to hurt them than it was to constantly be gentle. It had never crossed his mind, and the thought of harming them made him feel sick. But that's why they were so afraid. Not because of what he was doing, but because of what he could do.
"I need your help."
They stared at him. Whatever they had been expecting, this was not it.
"Lucius is... missing."
They exchanged a look of horror.
"Well, I - I think I know where he is," Avery rushed to calm them, "But he's not here. I need to talk to Lyn and... and the people she's staying with, the people with wings?"
The boy looked at the girl, "He means..."
She looked up, "Azure and-"
"Aspen." He finished with a gasp of recollection. "Yes. I have to find them. I need to tell Lyn what's happened— she's lived with humans, she'll understand what's going on. Then I'm going to look for him. You have to take me to her, please."
She shied back and shielded the boy, "You'll not force us to take you anywhere."
Avery was taken aback for a moment. "I won't force you to do anything." He said softly. He was a little hurt she would even suggest such a thing.
They peered nervously around his hand. He saw that they weren't crying anymore, so maybe that was a slight improvement. The boy, who he was guessing was the girl's brother, stared fixedly at him while she looked around. Stupid as it was, Avery couldn't help but blush. The boy was older than him, his eyes were piercing, his hair wet. Avery wasn't used to being looked at. Especially not by another boy.
"Where are we?" The girl said gently. "Where are you bringing us?"
He turned sheepish, "I, uhm... I was trying to go the lake. Lucius said it's in the middle of everything." His ears went pink at the tips. "I'm really lost..." He admitted, whispering. They probably knew exactly where everything was. He must look like a total idiot to them.
The girl narrowed her eyes at him. "Why the lake?"
"I lost my bag, it had all my things in it. I'm really thirsty." His empty stomach ached, but he did his best to ignore it, "I thought you might be too, when you woke up."
Her nose wrinkled. Robin said nothing, but in her mind her thoughts were loud. You can't drink lake water, every child knew that. Did he not? And his clothes were ridiculous, it was a miracle he hadn't already frozen to death. He was helpless as a cub out here.
Silk coughed.
Avery cringed as the tiny boy keeled over. Each cough shook his fragile body, his sister could only stroke his back until it passed. When he sat up again, his tiny face was flushed red, his eyes watery.
"Is he okay?"
She hugged him tightly, her eyes shining on Avery. Clearly he wasn't. The poor thing had caught a chill.
Avery started to bring them to his chest, to warm them, but her breath caught and she recoiled, looking up at him with horror. He decided it was best to keep some distance for the time being.
"I thought, if you wanted, I could bring you back to your tribe?" He suggested carefully.
She stared, disbelieving.
"I don't know the way, but you could show me. And maybe after, if you don't mind, if you can point the way to where Lyn is, that would really help me..."
He let her think it over. Please please please, he chanted silently.
She looked up after some deliberation, "And if I tell you to put us down?"
Despair washed strong through him. "Well, I..." but he faltered. He was never going to find Lyn. All of this was hopeless, he never should have left the school. If he was Lucius, he would have found a tribe days ago, but he was just... him. He couldn't do anything but draw stupid pictures. Avery wanted to cry. He opened his mouth to say he was sorry for scaring them, and began to lower them.
"Once we get to the lake, you let us go."
He stopped. A moment for the words to process, then his face lit up, "You'll take me?" He couldn't believe it.
She regarded his smile uneasily, "Only if you swear on the gods not to break the deal."
Avery tilted his head. "The gods?"
"Diodes, Diana..."
He was still clueless.
"Crysees." She was visibly agitated by his empty stare, "The gods."
"Uhm... okay." Better to move on before he annoyed, "Do I have to say their names?"
"No." She glared. Avery cringed.
The girl huffed, "Just say you accept the terms. I'll take you to the lake, you let us go."
He put on his best serious-voice, "I accept."
She was still reluctant for a moment. After one more glance at her brother, she lifted her little hand and pointed. "The lake is this way. You've been going wrong."
For miles, probably. "Okay." He reddened. Idiot idiot, you're an idiot.
Robin cringed as the human rose to his full height. "If you try anything..." but she didn't know what she would do. Pray for intervention, maybe. If not from the gods, then through Rosin and Lucius.
Avery tripped over a branch and jolted his hand, they cried out. "Sorry." He blushed. He was far too concentrated on trying to keep his footing to be plotting any evil schemes.