The three hunters walked through the woods, each one of them holding a knife and a basket, Marisa holding an extra basket and Sparna holding an extra knife. Marisa had ended up sharing the mint leaves, and both Sparna and Liam were extremely grateful. Sparna tried a few more berries, and the three of them were relieved to find that she was completely fine. Liam and Marisa each had a couple, even though they were tempted to eat all of them.

The sun was setting, clouds covering light from the sky. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. The only thing that could make their hunting harder was the dark.

"Do either of you know how to start a fire?" Sparna asked. Marisa looked Liam.

"I might be able to figure it out?" He said, but it sounded more like a question. "Just give me a few rocks and a large stick."

Marisa nodded and ran around, desperately trying to find what he asked for before she could no longer see clearly. She came back with what he needed, and he started rubbing the stones together, trying to get enough friction to spark a flame.

After a few minutes of trying, the stick caught fire, and he quickly held it up.

"This should help for a little," He said, standing up. "It's a long stick, so maybe about thirty minutes?"

"What about after that? We can't just keep lighting sticks every few minutes." Sparna pointed out.

"We might have to," Liam said.

There was a moment of silence before either of the girls said anything in resistance. "Maybe we should go back..." Marisa said quietly, trailing off.

"Are you serious?" Liam blurted out. "We left for a reason, and we barely have anything!"

"Maybe, but we've been gone for too long. Zeke might have already told them where we are." Marisa tugged on her sleeve, looking down. "Plus, it's dangerous. I-I don't want to end up like William."

"We'll be okay. We just need a little more time."

"If we don't find anything in that time, you'll make us stay out here even longer until we stumble across something." Marisa took a breath, her voice even quieter.

"I-I didn't want to have to admit this, but I'm scared." Her voice trembled, along with her hands. "So many people have died already, and most of them were because of those...those things."

Sparna walked over to Marisa and grabbed her hand. "It's okay to be scared," She said reassuringly, stroking her palm. "I am too."

Liam bit his lip. "Okay, Marisa. We'll head back in a few-"

But he was cut off by the shrieking sound of a huge bird flying above them. It landed on one of the lower branches of a tree.

"I got this!" Sparna whispered, releasing Marisa hand and grabbing a rather large rock from the ground. She ran a little closer to the tree, blowing at the short brown locks that she was still not used to that got into her, and with all her might, hurled the rock in the direction of the bird, silently praying for it to hit her target.

The bird let out a cry because dropping backwards, and Sparna ran as fast as she could towards it, leaving Marisa and Liam in the dust. After a few seconds, she came back with the prey, a knife sticking out of it's chest

"Who wants dinner?" She asked with a grin. Sure, it wasn't a lot, but it was sure helpful to the group to have at least a little meat in their stomachs. Marisa pointed out that they needed to get it back before it went bad, and the other two agreed, putting it in Marisa's empty basket and walking in a speed that was not too quick that they would get tired quickly but not too slowly either.

"We did it, we did it!" Liam cheered in a sing-songy voice. "You saved our asses, Sparna!"

"It was just luck," She said modestly. "Especially that the bird was flying right above us."

"Shut up, Sparna, you did great," Marisa said, hitting her in the side and smiling. Sparna gave a weak grin back, brushing away hair from her face.

"Well, maybe, but I-"

Sparna was cut off when the ground slipped from under her feet, sending her tumbling into darkness. She let out a scream, but it was drowned out as she fell.

Marisa and Liam shrieked. Marisa put her hands to her face and Liam looked around anxiously, as if there was something on the ground that would help. After some contemplation, he made up his mind and jumped right in after her.

"What the hell, Liam?!" Marisa yelled. Both Liam and Sparna's berries had spilled, and Marisa did her best to clean them up and put them in her own basket, taking off her ripped vest and tying it over the top so it wouldn't spill.

"Are you guys okay?" Marisa yelled.

No response.

"Guys!" She screamed even louder into the hole. She still got no response.

Panicking, Marisa pulled at her hair, muttering to herself. She couldn't decide between running and following them. If she came in after them, she might hurt herself. But she could also save them. If she ran, she would get supplies back to the group, but would leave her two friends behind.

She thought about it, and when she made up her mind, she closed her eyes, holding the bird down so it stayed in the basket, and jumped.

***

The funeral for Quinn happened a few minutes after he passed. Everyone walked out of the cave, Jayed saying a few blessings while crying, Lany even giving his best wishes to Quinn in the afterlife. Some people that barely knew him, like Talon and Nico, cried during the speeches, but no one as much as Jayed.

The teens didn't have a coffin, so as a substitute they decided to bury Quinn with flowers in his hands. They used long sticks to dig the hole, and they made sure to dig it somewhere where they wouldn't run over. Somewhere special. Protected.

Around the side of the cave, Jayed, Eira, Hedi and Lany put little sticks around the hole where they had buried him so they knew where it was. When the other three left, Jayed brushed a little dirt aside and placed the sheet of paper from Quinn's journal that he had given him, covering it back up with dirt when he was finished.

Quinn needed to rest with his masterpiece. Jayed would have it no other way.

Now, it was just after the funeral, and Jayed was sitting by the cave wall, trying to think of all the good memories he and his friend had.

The first memory that came to mind was a time when Quinn welcomed Jayed to stay at his house for Christmas. His whole mother was so kind and generous, treating him like her own. They probably gave him more presents that they had for themselves. Jayed told them to keep them, but they insisted.

Quinn was like his brother, the closest thing he had to family in a very long time. Now he was gone, just like the rest of his so called family was.

Images of his sister flooded into his brain, and while he desperately tried to shake them out they stayed there, implanting themselves into his mind. He hated to relive that pain, the agony of what had happened to her. No matter how long ago it was, he would never forget that day.

Sometimes, when he remembered it, he could feel the burns on his body.

And Quinn would be right there beside him, supporting every second of it.

"Jayed?" Lany stood in front of Jayed, and he had not even noticed it until then, but he had been there for a while.

Jayed wiped his eye, then looked at him. "Yeah?" He asked in a hoarse voice.

Lany hesitated, then sat down next to Jayed, his back pressed against the cave wall. "How are you holding up?"

A tear ran down Jayed's face, and he just shook his head, looking Lany in the eye. He then looked away, playing with his hands and trying to hold back any more tears that might bleed through his closed eyes.

"He seemed like a great friend," Lany said, pulling his knees close to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. "I wish I got to know him better."

"You would have loved him," Jayed said, hands shaking. He looked back up, leaving his bangs in his face and his eyes wet. "He was the best friend I ever had."

Jayed looked at Lany. "He didn't want me to worry about him, so he pretended to be alright when he clearly wasn't. He just wanted me to be happy."

"He must have meant a lot to you."

Jayed nodded, his voice cracking as tears streamed down his face. "Yeah," He said weakly, covering his face in his hands and and letting out his sobs.

Jayed curled into a ball, shoving his head as far down as he could so no one could see it. He sat there crying for a few minutes before sitting back up, looking at a silent Lany.

"Thank you," He started quietly. "For staying with Quinn when he was sick. He was really grateful, you know. He said that you calmed him down, helped distract him from what was going on."

Behind his frown, Jayed thought he could see the slightest bit of a smile on Lany's face. "He did?"

Jayed nodded. "Little things like that made him feel good. Appreciated." He felt the tears come back, but he desperately tried to push them back.

"You sure did love him, didn't you?"

Jayed chuckled a little to hide the pain in this voice. "Yeah. I do. So, so much."

***

A/N

I'm fricking crying right now help

Also, sorry for the short chapter. The next one will be longer.