Crystal stared out the window worried. Captain Tim was curled up next to her on the blanket draped over her legs. Rain poured outside, pelting the window and streaming water down the panes. Lightning struck the hill for the second time. She watched unenthusiastic.
The barn door opened and Steve ran out into the rain. She watched him run to the back door from the window and quickly stood up. She ran down the stairs and met him at the bottom.
"Are they all alright?" Crystal asked, jumping over the banister and landing on a table.
"Off the table" Steve said, hanging up his coat. "And they're fine. It was just getting Chet to calm down that was the hard part"
Crystal laughed. "yea, he's horrible. Why'd you get such a stubborn horse?" She asked.
Steve rolled his eyes "I didn't buy him, he was gifted to me. And believe me, if anyone else would take him I would give him up. Honest" he held up a hand and smiled. Crystal laughed and walked over to the stove. She put a kettle on and sighed.
"Yea, whoever gave him to you was definitely hoping he'd give you a bad time" She said.
"you got that right" Steve laughed "that guy didn't like me. Can't remember his name though" he leaned back in his chair.
"Dad" Crystal sighed, she looked out the window at the "I need to leave. I'm sorry"
Steve nodded solemnly. "I understand" He sighed and stood up again. "I've been expecting that actually. I have a map you can use to find your way back"
"My- way back?" She looked at him confused.
"Back to someone who can help you" Steve finished quickly. "It'll- It'll be a day or two journey. But- there's a lot of things you need help with"
Crystal stared at him. Her eyes glaring, and starting to glow. "There is nothing wrong with me"
------
Phil yawned and sat up under Qwuen's wing. It was draped half over him, and resting on a fallen log on his other side. The dragon himself was still asleep and had his other wing tucked up tight. His tail was wrapped around the tree stump half way.
Stretching, Phil crawled out from under the wing carefully. He stood up and looked around, being careful to stay under the canopy of trees. It was lightly raining, but the spot they were in was completely dry.
"Phil?" Qwuen groaned. He rolled over and stretched his claws. He sat up quietly, the top of his head brushing against the lower branches of the trees.
"Yea?" Phil stopped and looked back.
He forced a smile, his plan to sneak away then was gone. They were just outside the Fox kingdom by then, and he didn't want to go back there. Never again.
"Where you going?" Qwuen asked, tilting his head to the side. He looked innocent enough, but you can never know with a dragon.
"Just- out to hunt" He shrugged. "I didn't want to wake you"
Qwuen nodded and smirked. "How close did you say we were last night again?" He asked, standing up. He towered over Phil.
"About half a day's flight" Phil lied. He took another step back, but was right at the edge of the canopy. Droplets of water splashed onto his back, burning against his exposed skin.
"Really?" Qwuen smiled "Because I saw a wall yesterday before we landed. It was a ways off yet, but not half a day"
"Must be one of the nearby kingdoms then" Phil shrugged. He knew it wasn't working, but he needed to try and keep it up. He couldn't stop now.
"Phillis" Qwuen smiled. He slowly took a step closer, forcing Phil closer to the painful rain. "Weren't you raised in the end? Us dragons, we know just about everything" he grinned, and his charade fell away. No longer did he look calm, and peaceful. Now, he looked ready to rip Phil's head off.
Phil took one last step back and felt his foot land in a puddle. He barely bit back a yelp of pain as the water burned away at his foot, but he couldn't stop himself from jumping forward again. A rough laugh came from Qwuen.
"You're pathetic" he sneered. Phil looked up just in time to see a huge tail barreling towards him.
It threw him out into the rain, and he slammed against a tree. The rain burned like acid, and pooled around him. Blood began to pool from the burns and soak into the water turning it a murky grey.
He tried to stand up, but the pain was too much. Phil fell back to the ground, splashing more water onto himself. It hit his face, and he fell back against the tree trunk. He couldn't hold it anymore and screamed in agony.
The last thing he saw before passing out was Qwuen's smirk as he walked confidently out of the treeline and up to Phil.
"Endra will be happy about this" Phil heard just as his vision went black.
--------
Budder worked at the wall as best he could. His hands were cut and bleeding, but he mustered on. The stone slowly chipped away as he went at it with his makeshift tool. He had ripped the board off the end of his makeshift cot, and covered the end with his blanket. Nothing looked off. Except the slowly growing hole next to the door. It went unnoticed by the guards, no one really checked the cells as they left.
The days blended together. Roll-call, breakfast, 'training', lunch, free-time, and dinner then bed. Each day, on and off. The same thing. Over, and over again. And then, he chipped away at the cell.
The note from Ross was tucked under his pillow, and all the ones after that. They used code names, in case they were intercepted by the guards. Ross was Princess, and the one who usually wrote. Since he was locked up closer to Barney and the others, he was the main one to send it out. His alibis were easiest to uphold. but, if need be, Barney would write, and went by the name the Dirt.
Budder wrote back if he could, and sent the notes with Quartz. For some reason, she was allowed out and around to the other parts of the building. From what she told him and the others during free time, the facility was huge.
It took a week, but they coordinated an escape. First, Budder would manage to get out in the hall, unlock all the other cells, and free the other prisoners. Then, once the guards were called there, he, Quartz, Fluffy and Tomy would sneak over and break the adults out.
It was rough, and an outline, but it was the best they could do. They had to get out before D-day. The day these people were 'training' them for. Budder shuddered just thinking about it.
His makeshift pick hit the stone one last time, and it finally broke through. Budder pulled the broken pieces out of the hole and poked his head out. The hallway was dark, and he couldn't see any movement. Carefully, he pulled himself out of the hole and stood up.
After another quick look around, Budder walked up to another door and looked in. Fluffy was asleep on his cot, not moving even after Budder opened the door. Worry crept up his back, and slowly he walked closer.
"Fluffy?" Budder asked hesitantly. Gently, he put a hand on his sleeping friend's shoulder.
In a moment, he was on the floor. Stars bouncing in his eyes as he stared up at his friend, now sitting on his chest and a warm knife cutting against his neck.
"Tell me your deepest memory of us" Fluffy growled, his eyes rimmed red with paranoia.
Budder relaxed and let out an exasperated sigh. Fluffy only tensed more and the blade bit into his neck just a bit more.
"I remember when we locked ourselves in the sewers under the castle by accident and you got your foot stuck in the grate. Then the tide started coming in and we couldn't figure out a way to get your foot out" Budder said "We were up to our wastes in water before we realized how fast it was coming in. You begged me to cut it off, and then it got unstuck somehow. You said it felt as if someone pushed it up from below" He looked up at Fluffy calmly. Slowly, the makeshift knife left his neck and Fluffy stood up.
"It really is you" Fluffy sighed "I didn't know if it was you or one of- one of them"
Budder nodded. "I know, but we've got to get the others now, alright?" Fluffy nodded.
-----
They had the others out of their cells in five minutes, and everyone was gathered around Budder, who held the note.
"Left, Grab a pick, Right, go to the end of the hall, Turn around and dig up" Budder said quietly. "Those were the instructions"
"How can we trust them?" Morgan asked, her silvery hair cut short by the prison.
Now, it stood up in a crew cut fashion, shaved on the sides. They did that because she kept acting out. Always asking about Tomy, and where he could be. As far as Budder knew, her adoptive brother was never captured in the first place. But he hadn't seen the kid in almost a year. Any bet was safe when it came to these people.
"Do you have another plan?" Budder asked, stern. There was silence from the rag tag group.
"That what I thought" He muttered, tucking to plans back in his pocket. "Now let's get going"
------
Ross sat in his completely white cell silently. He had been still for hours now, just staring. Jerome shuddered from watching his friend through the small window in his cell door.
"He still hasn't moved?" Barney asked. Jerome shook his head and sighed.
"No, he hasn't. I think he's actually broke" he replied. He closed the slot and leaned back against the wall. "The boss isn't going to be happy about this"
"They won't know" Barney smirked. Slowly, his skin started to shift, turning from purple to grey.
Jerome grinned and nodded. "Smart" he said "until we get another one down here, you think you can act as him?"
"Of course I can" the man who used to be Barney said, in Ross' voice. Jerome nodded, chuckling.
"We've got at least a week, and we can use one of the new- projects to take your place if you want" Jerome said, rubbing his chin.
Ross shook his head "I'll be fine in there. It'll be like a break" he walked calmly towards the door. "What'll you do with him?"
Jerome thought for a moment before smirking. "I think the ininerator will work just fine"
Ross laughed coldly. "Perfect, they won't find a trace, and we'll keep our jobs"
"We always would" Jerome replied "303 doesn't have enough members anymore to get rid of any others" he smirked. Both shared cold laughs.
Neither noticed the young teens coming around the corner, all armed, with an anger and revenge shining bright in their eyes.
----
A/N Happy early Halloween!!! Comment your costumes below! I'm really curious if any of you were going to be clowns before this "epidemic" of them broke out. I know I was, I had the perfect mask and now I can't wear it cause I'll get shot.
Anyways! Yea, I hope you guys enjoyed this!
SEE YA FOXES! (And ghouls/ghosts/ and all others that go bump in the night)