Hawk clambers up onto Tremor's neck, but he's on the wrong side. The Silver Shock shakes him loose, and rips off part of one of my brother's floppy ears as he throws him off. "You're next, little dog." He growls. I cling to the gray creature's shoulders. Tremor spins in a circle, and falls to the ground. I throw myself off of him just before I'm flattened. The Silver Shock's on his feet in a second and flying at me. Hawk barrels into the gray creature's side, but it only knocks him slightly off course. My claws dig into Tremor's face as I hop onto him and hitch a ride. Sand sprays as the Silver Shock skids across the plain. I claw at his cheek, and my jaws snap onto the bone just above his left eye. My teeth break through his eyelid. Blood drips from my chin. Tremor roars, and thrashes, trying to break free from my grasp. That ought to have blinded him, shouldn't have it. One-eyed Tremor? Eh, Hawk'll come up with some name that thoroughly insults him. More so than old man or chicken. I hold on with my teeth still firmly latched onto Tremor's eye, and my claws still sinking into his cheek, until the Silver Shock rams a forepaw into my chest, nearly dislocating my shoulder. I do a backwards somersault. My shoulder's hit the ground first. I land in an explosion of dust and sand. Tremor shakes his head, and blood falls to the ground. I smile in satisfaction as I look at the bloody mess that was once his eye. Hawk chuckles behind me, and it's easy to imagine his smirk.

I roll and stand up, trying to catch my breath. The reopened wound on my neck has finally stopped bleeding. Thank goodness. Hawk's got his teeth gripping what appears to be Tremor's shoulder blade. He's managing to hang on while the Silver Shock spins in a circle. Tremor rises to his hind legs. No. I bunch my hindquarters and take off at a sprint. The wind blows in my face as I accelerate. Time seems to slow down, just for me. My paws bring me closer and closer to my target. I'm the hunter, and he's the hunted. My prey. I take a stride, then another, and another, before leaping upwards. My paws slam into Tremor's lower jaw, and the force shakes up my forelegs. I watch his body fall to the side, and his spine curve, so he falls on his shoulder rather than his back. "Hawk! You idiot! You were almost squashed! You know, I'm rather fond of my brother not in the form of a furry pancake."

"Ah, Jay. Am I a furry pancake? I think not."

"I hate you, you know that?"

"You love me."

"Just don't let that happen again." I sigh, and shake my head.

"I love all this gushy sibling talk, but I've a challenge to win." Tremor's standing before us, with his red eyes glimmering.

"Then come and get us." Hawk smirks, his orange eyes closing slightly.

I watch the Silver Shock's face bend in a slow smile, and he nods. My brother's muscles go taught beneath his thick coat of fur. Tremor breaks into a sprint, and Hawk races to meet him. I dash after my orange-eyed brother. I leap onto the Silver Shock, my claws tearing at his gray fur. Hawk miss times his jump, so he lands on Tremor's foreleg. He sinks his teeth into the gray creature's paw as Tremor tries to shake him off. Fangs snap just to the side of one of my tall, pointy ears. I flatten them to the sides of my head, and slash my claws at Tremor's jaw. He snarls as I carve lines of red across his mouth and lower jaw. "Get off me, little dog."

"Make me." I growl, baring my teeth. He glares at me through his eye, pure hatred burning in the red depths. I smile, showing all of my pearly whites that end in points.

After glancing down to find my brother, I see that he's dropped to the ground. Hawk shakes himself off, and blood splatters the already red ground. His fur sticks out at all angles, held in place by the drying blood that's soaked most of his body. I don't know how much is his, and how much isn't. I can't say I'm doing much better. Countless cuts and burnishes riddle my body from head to tail, and a claw was torn out, but most of them I'll have forgotten about tomorrow. Tremor growls and starts to move. My head whirls around. A spark of pain ignites of my neck and I cry out. The warm wetness of blood trickles down my throat and chest. I hiss, and a low curse falls from my mouth.

The Silver Shock's forepaw slams into the side of my face, and four shallow red lines are carves across my cheek as I'm thrown to the ground. My shoulder complains sharply at the impact, but I barely notice it. The other side of my head hits the ground, though not as hard, and explosions of pain go off like fireworks. It feels like my head is rocking on fifty foot waves, and I want nothing more than to curl up in a ball until I can make this go away. The rolling nausea threatens to make me hurl. I don't realise my eyes are closed until I hear Hawk calling my name. "JAY! Move! Please!" I frown. What's he talking ab-? Oh. I takes me a few seconds to process my surroundings, but I register Tremor's gray form. His fore paws are right above me, and his lips are pulled back in a smile. Just behind him, Hawk's running as fast as he can, fear and desperation written across his orange eyes. The Silver Shock's paws draw closer and closer. Time seems to move sluggishly. My mind works of its own accord, and I roll to the side, my claws digging deep scores across Tremor's paw pads.

As soon as I'm a out of danger, for now at least, my mind roars. I'm almost convinced someone's driving a wedge into my skull. The world rocks, sways, and spins. I close my eyes, and paw at my face and muzzle, trying to block it out. Exhaustion hits me like a tsunami, something I can't resist. You've got this, Hawk. The darkness claims me as I fall into Dreamland.

xxxx

A while later, I start to stir. I feel something resting on my shoulder, but I'm too groggy to do anything about it. A minute or so later, I blink open my eyes. If they were going to kill me, they'd've done it by now, right? "Ah, there you are, Jay!" Hawk grins. He shakes his head, then leans forward, and wraps his arms around my neck. His fingers curl into my fur. My brother's removed his Blend, so he's in his human form, complete with a T-shirt and well-worn jeans. I lean into his embrace. I want to hug him back, but my mind's already complaining from my sudden movement. I mean, I could probably count on one hand the amount of times Hawk's hugged me. My body lacks the necessary energy to remove my Blend and turn back to my human form. "I thought I'd lost you, Jay." Hawk whispers into my fur.

"Aw, was my brother worried?" I tease my brother with a smile.

"Way to ruin the moment." He pulls back. His eyelashes are wet, and he wipes an eye with the back of his hand.

"You're crying!"

"N-no. Uh, I've got... Um. Allergies? The dust. Yeah, there's some, uh, dust."

"I'm your brother, and I know you don't have allergies. But thanks for caring."

Hawk takes off his worn plaid bandana and reties it around his forehead, holding his spiky blonde hair from his face. A few locks fall over the bandana. Blood, sweat, and dirt cover patches of his skin and clothing. A gash runs across his collarbone, and disappears down his shirt. A bruise is blossoming on his cheek, and he's got the beginning of a black eye with a cut severing his eyebrow in half. The bottom of one of his ears is missing, and a trail of red runs down the side of his neck. "How are you feeling?"

"I've certainly felt better. What happened anyways? All I remember was paws, gray... And then this. Wait. Arrow! Where is he?"

"Jay... I'm sorry. I got Tremor though." Hawk gestures to the Silver Shock's motionless form. Blood slowly trickles from where my brother tore his throat out. I rise to a sitting position, grimacing as pain sparks in my head. "Let's go head over to Arrow, shall we?" I turn back to my brother.

"Are you sure you should be walking? No one will be out here for a while, so you can take a bit longer to recover."

"Nah, I'll be fine. I have to see if Arrow was just knocked out. Maybe he's up? Or just still unconscious."

"If you say so."

I morph back to my human form, and run my fingers through my shaggy chestnut hair as a wave of nausea runs through me. A few moments later, it subsides, and I stand. I take a cautious step, Hawk right beside me. Sand shifts under my feet as I walk in a curving line, nearly knocking me off my feet. "Watch where you're going, Jay." My brother murmurs as I unintentionally cut him off.

"I'm going in a straight line! I could say the same to you."

"No, you're not going in a straight line. You're weaving across the ground."

"Oh, sorry."

"It's alright. Watch ou-!" I stumble, and fall to the ground as the sand pulls a foot out from beneath me. Hawk catches me by the collar of my shirt. My hands press against the sides of my head, as I recover. My brother pulls me against him, and keeps an arm around my shoulder. "I'd rather not catch you again." Hawk murmurs the words, as if he's answering the questions in my head. I nod.

Arrow's still motionless as he lays on the ground. The puddle of his own blood has soaked into the dust and sand, turning it to russet mud. We draw to a halt a few feet from the unmoving Gladiator. "Arrow!" I say. My eyes strain for any sign of movement. Hawk reaches out a hand and places it on Arrow's flank. Dried blood crumbles under his touch and falls to the ground. "Arrow, please! Just show me something. You can't be dead. You wouldn't have gone down like this. Please..." My voice drops to a whisper. Please. I sink to my knees and rest my forehead against Arrow's shoulder. The golden metal is cool against my skin.

He doesn't move as the minutes tick by. Slow tears roll down my cheeks. All these years of watching him, and he's killed by Tremor... Adrien studied the Wasteland battles to see who he could pull from the Wasteland, and we watched them to know how to best win against the Gladiators when we were sent to rescue. Many of the Gladiators are vicious. Bear, Tremor, Rhys, Night and Shadow, the list goes on. And Arrow could win against all of them. How could he just die? Sighing, I run my hand across my neck. My fingers and palm come back red. You've got to be kidding me. "That wound bleeding again?"

"Yeah." I nod, frowning.

"I'll go get that backpack. Be back in a sec. You'll be alright here?"

"Just go get it." I shift and lean back against Arrow's shoulder, my hands falling to my lap. After a minute or two, my knees draw into my chest, and I rest my head on my crossed forearms. My skin becomes wet with the saltiness of tears.

"Jay? What the hell is happening to Arrow?" 

Thank you for reading this chapter! Please feel free to comment, and consider a vote if you deem this chapter worthy! 

Any guesses as to what's happening to Arrow? J

ay and Hawk are both Blenders, what do you think of that? 

Are there any thoughts on who Adrien is? 

Thank you again for reading Blend the Light!

-Werewolf14-