It only took Aidyn a moment to notice the details, but between the shots and ducking for cover and general panic of "what in all the moons are humans doing here," a couple seconds were required for him to fully process them.

He did not have a couple seconds.

Before the girl even pulled the trigger, Aidyn was shoving Kei out of the way, a ruby shot zipping by where her head had been a moment before. He jumped away from another and ducked behind a tree, the thick undergrowth of the rainforest providing minimal cover as meticulously aimed bolts of color raced by.

A flash of movement caught his eye, and he glanced over to see Jared pulling Ari out of another shot's path. Aidyn flinched backwards just in time as a laser sliced by an inch from his face, his heart racing as he tried to process what was happening.

One thing at a time.

First, the red bolts. Those were illegal as far as Aidyn knew — only top officials were allowed even a limited amount of usage, and not many people knew what they did. He certainly didn't. It was hard to imagine what was worse than cutting off your oxygen for a life-threatening amount of time, but the more Aidyn thought about it, the more he realized he didn't want the answer.

He caught Kei's gaze from her place on the ground and mouthed a quick "Sorry." She shrugged, pulled out her gun, and quietly powered it up.

He peeked around the tree, whipping his head back as the girl fired again.

Steel-colored eyes, silver clothes, perfect posture... six tides, she scared him. Aidyn had barely any time to register other facial features, but it didn't matter — unfortunately, the colored layers in her hair were enough.

What an honor to be shot at by Cynth Leeyung.

Like most people who lived anywhere near humans, Aidyn knew who the Leeyungs were. His dad had been obsessed with them, going on about how if he didn't become a good little hibri, renounce his mom, and fall into human society, he'd end up dead with one less ammo in a Leeyung gun.

As expected, they didn't get along so well.

Point was, Aidyn had expected opposition. They were trying to find the sources of all things. But he'd never thought he'd be within ten miles of Cynth Leeyung, much less have her threatening his life.

And as suddenly as they'd began, the gunshot ceased. A jarring silence pressed again Aidyn's ears, the air filled with nothing but the crashing waves and the occasional rustling of leaves as a breeze meandered by.

Aidyn held his breath. Six tides, six tides...

Padded footsteps and a soft scraping, like rubber on stone, broke the silence. Aidyn guessed Cynth was climbing the rocks scattered across the shore, and whether it was to get the higher ground or an angle on them, he needed a plan fast.

What in all the moons did I get us into.

Aidyn took a slow breath, mind racing. The other two — a dark-skinned girl with brown hair that seemed to glow gold in the sun, and a scared, violet-eyed girl Aidyn didn't recognize. He doubted putting them in danger to pressure Cynth would do any good. If the stories were true, she'd probably shoot them herself before he even had the chance to.

But given their reactions, he had a feeling the other girls didn't pose much of a threat; and although that didn't solve the problem, it admittedly made him feel a little better.

As the seconds ticked by, Aidyn forced himself to stop panicking and think. If she wasn't shooting, she couldn't see them, and Cynth definitely wasn't stupid enough to attack four unknown patrias up close. She was waiting them out for now, but it wouldn't last.

Kei seemed to be thinking along the same lines. She raised her eyebrows and moved her hand in a small circle. What are we doing?

Aidyn raised his hands a little, palms up. No idea, working on it.

A few feet away, Jared made a small finger man, running it across his other palm and jerking a thumb towards the beach. Ari stared incredulously at him.

Aidyn started to shake his head — charging in was one of the stupidest things they could do — but he froze as a realization struck him.

He'd never forgive himself if one of them got hurt fighting Cynth, which was sure to happen somehow... but there was nothing saying he couldn't do it.

The longer he thought about it and the more agonizing seconds that crawled by, the crazier it seemed. He could hold his own in a fight, sure, but Cynth was leagues beyond him — not to mention her habit of ruthlessly killing hibri and enjoying it.

And yet, something seemed to solidify in Aidyn's chest, grounding him and hardening his resolve. Cynth Leeyung, a girl who'd been murdering people like him since she could walk, had something they needed. And if Aidyn had abandoned Damon, broke his oath to the Voc, and dragged Ari, Kei, and Jared into danger with him, he would make damn well sure it wasn't for nothing.

He started it. So it was up to him to finish it.

Aidyn took off his bracelet and slipped it into his pocket. Damon was alive. Aidyn would find him, but he was safer at the Almoons Festival than Kei, Ari, and Jared were here, and that meant right now, they came first. They joined for the sources, so he was going to get it. He was going to make it count.

What other choice did he have?

Aidyn caught Kei's questioning gaze and gestured for her, Jared, and Ari to stay put. Then, before any of them could protest, Aidyn did the only thing he could think of — he unclipped his whip and leapt out into the open.

His feet hit the sand and he was already moving, a ruby-colored shot whistling a millimeter from his nose and out of sight. He briefly caught sight of Cynth, perched on the towering rocks some feet away, gun raised and whirring. On either side of her, the golden and violet-eyed girls stared at him, shocked — but by the time he'd registered that, Cynth was firing again, and Aidyn was rushing forward, shutting his thoughts down and relying on his reflexes to keep him alive.

Turquoise waves crashed to his left and the white sand was littered with black stones, some small and some several feet taller than he was. He ducked behind a particularly large one, back pressed against the rough surface as a shot whistled directly over his head. Cynth was barking orders at the other two — some V-name he didn't quite catch and Willa, apparently — and Aidyn froze, catching sight of Kei creeping out of the bushes.

He gave her a small wave and a look he hoped said, What in all the moons are you doing??

Kei gestured incredulously at him with a, What in the moons are you doing??

He didn't really have an answer for that.

With a quick sideways glance, Kei's eyes widened, and she thrust her hands up. A stone wall erupted from the sand to his right, and a cry of surprise sounded from behind it. A whistle, a thud, and the wall disappeared, revealing the violet-eyed girl — Willa — on the ground, panic filling her eyes as she lay paralyzed on the sand.

Aidyn raised his eyebrows at Kei, and she gave him a thumbs-up, gun in hand. Before he could respond, a flash of light sailed over his head, and Kei toppled backwards, into the bushes and out of sight.

The ground seemed to disappear. Someone, maybe Ari, screamed Kei's name, but Aidyn hardly registered it. He couldn't breathe, his thoughts were racing out of control, he didn't even know what color she'd been hit by. For a millisecond, everything just... stopped.

And suddenly, Aidyn was back in that godforsaken house, trying to process the unimaginable sight in front of him. He had no way of knowing if Kei was okay, and if he stepped out in this state he'd get shot for sure.

Not again. I can't do this again...

How many times was he going to sit by and watch his friends' lives get taken by humans? How long until he realized that he was the reason people kept getting hurt?

Angrily, Aidyn shoved those thoughts away. Now wasn't the time for self-pity.

I will not do this again.

Not after what happened last time. Kei was only here because of last time. So Aidyn would not — could not — mess up like that again. As unlikely as it seemed, he had to believe Kei would be fine.

And if she wasn't...

Aidyn shut that thought down. If she wasn't, he would raise all hell against Cynth Leeyung. But until then, his only goal was to survive.

Before it had been about the sources. Now it was personal.

Though it felt like eternity, Aidyn realized only a few seconds had passed since Kei was hit. More orders from Cynth, soft footsteps, and Aidyn whipped around to see the golden girl freeze on his left, looking apprehensive and unsure. The gun in her hands was raised, the barrel coming to rest a few inches from his face.

For a second, they just stared at each other. Aidyn didn't really have a choice either way — if she pulled the trigger, there was nothing he could do about it, and any sudden movements might set her off. But the longer he stood there, the stronger the feeling got that he knew her from somewhere.

"Just pretend I hit you," the girl whispered, her voice urgent. She even sounded familiar. "Grab your friends and get out of here."

For a second, Aidyn didn't know what to do. Was she... was she trying to help?

"I'll hit the rock, okay?" She shifted, and a strand of dark hair fell over her shoulder as the barrel of the gun moved a few inches to the side.

Finally, he snapped out of it. "I can't do that."

"Why not?"

He almost answered with an incredulous "Why do you think?", but decided against it. The last thing he needed right now was a conversation.

Almost as a reminder, Cynth's razor-sharp voice sounded from afar. "Do something useful or get out of the fucking way, Valloma. I didn't let you play along so you could stand there like a dumbass!"

Valloma.

Aidyn almost laughed. Of course she was a Valloma. If the Leeyungs were here, why not the other murderous human families? It made perfect sense.

But if that was the case... why was he still alive? No proper human family would raise a child who was sympathetic to hibri, much less a family famous for their hatred of anything that wasn't human. It was almost like the girl was genuinely worried for his safety.

Which would make Aidyn feel much guiltier if he hurt her.

Then his gaze flicked to the gun. The image of Kei filled his head, and the moment dissolved. It didn't matter how innocent the Valloma girl looked. She was traveling with Cynth — whether against her will or not — and that made her dangerous.

Faster than she could react, Aidyn hooked his foot around the back of hers and shoved her backwards. She tripped and toppled with a cry, her brown hair flying as she landed in the sand with a muffled thud. Her gun tumbled from her hand, and Aidyn scooped it up, kicking it up a notch and aiming it at her head. "I'd stay down if I were you."

The girl froze in the act of sitting up, her honey-colored eyes flickering between his face and the barrel of her gun. She gave the shallowest of nods, and after a moment to make sure she wouldn't try anything, Aidyn did the second stupidest thing of the day — he turned off the gun and chucked it towards Ari and Jared. Whether something happened to him or not, they'd need it.

"You don't understand," the girl hissed, her voice heavy with urgency. "She'll kill you."

"No she won't."

"I've seen her do it. It doesn't matter who you are, you don't stand a chance."

Aidyn shoved his rising anxiety away for later, glaring down at her. "If you really don't want me to die, I highly suggest you shut up."

She did.

Taking a deep breath to clear his head, Aidyn wrapped the end of his whips around his hands, making sure there had enough slack to strike out if necessary. If he could get the gun away from Cynth, he might have a chance.

The first problem was getting close — the ground was unstable, the territory unfamiliar, and he was working with basic training and pure adrenaline. All evidence pointed to him losing this fight. Even if Aidyn took the gun out of the equation somehow, there was no way Cynth Leeyung would go without a backup weapon.

But none of that changed the facts: she'd shot Kei, they needed whatever she had, and right now, he was the only one who could get it. Moons, Aidyn didn't even know what it was, but it had to be important if she was bothering at all.

He was about to battle Cynth Leeyung. He was about to survive that battle.

One last deep breath. See you at the festival, Damon.

And with that, he stepped into the open.

Cynth Leeyung stood atop the towering rocks a few feet away, gun pointed directly at his head, a triumphant smile on her face. She fired, the amber bolt missing by inches as Aidyn sidestepped.

Her smirk disappeared, and she glared down at her weapon, pulling the trigger. Another orange bolt zipped past. A noise of frustrated disgust, and Cynth tossed the gun aside, unsheathing a small silver dagger at her belt, her famous hair swishing with the movement. She held the paper up, her cold slate eyes gleaming with challenge. "Come and get it if you want it. It's not as if a dumbass hibri like you would be able to accomplish anything to begin with."

Tell that to the dead policemen, bitch.

Gazing up at her, Aidyn started clearing his head, searching for any possible weaknesses. He didn't expect to find any, nor did he. She looked completely at ease.

She looked dangerous.

He tightened his fists around the ends of his whip. He wasn't a fan of being intimidated.

Apparently getting impatient, Cynth leapt lightly to the ground, casually nudging a small rock out of the way with her foot. Her steely eyes scrutinized him, the silver dagger brandished loosely in her right hand.

Aidyn dug his feet into the soft sand, waiting.

A weak breeze ruffled her colored hair. Cynth's face betrayed no emotion.

Waiting...

Someone called his name, and for the tiniest moment, his focus shattered.

Faster than lightning, Cynth Leeyung struck. 

｡･ﾟﾟ･｡

With virtual hugs, purple Google features, and thanks to SilverBeams for writing,

Goofy Fish Cliche

(G.F.C.)