It was, perhaps, by some fair chance of luck and misfortune combined that Iolani Tori managed a draw so oddly familiar.

__________________________

The bearded vulture perched on the railings of the balcony, a pouch tied to its feet. Its stare was uncanny—something that none of the Hearts had noticed in the past and only did so now; when times have changed and perspectives no longer dry and fixed. Lucienne went up to the Avian and carefully freed the pouch from his feet.

"Who's going first?"

Dmitri stepped forth without a second to waste, reaching into the bag after the harpy undid its drawstring. A single glance at the charm in his hand called for a contented whistle.

"Ace of Hearts."

Jeremiah snorted. "You don't need to announce it to the world, sweetheart."

"Sure I do, Jerry-o." The falcon made way for Abigail who asked to draw next, leaning against the doorframe to the balcony. "You've only ever got numbers."

Unlike Dmitri, Abby was the kind to keep her role private. This however, would prove unnecessary since the Hearts would end up having to work as a team either way, and there was thus no need for discretion. Or so Io would have advised.

He saw that Odette had drawn twice—once for herself and another for her brother, and it reminded him of the time when he gave Pipa the Mark that he'd drawn during the very first games. The act had made all the difference in the world and paved the path to his present being.

"Sullivan?"

Apart from Vaughn and Jing, everyone else was entitled to a rank and Luka was the last to draw. There were three charms left in the bag and he fished for the first that he touched.

Io peered up at his eagle friend as soon as he returned with a role, gaze alternating between the latter's eyes and closed fist. He needn't say a word; Luka showed it to the curious sparrow.

"Oh! It's the same one from last time."

The King of Hearts nodded.

"Well...it could be a good omen?" His friend laughed before turning to the bearded vulture that had yet to leave. "Do I get to draw too?"

Almost at once, the bearded vulture turned to him with a cock of its head, holding out a dull-coloured pouch that was tied to its other foot. The words 'prey' were embroidered in the middle of the cloth, as though a stark reminder of his place in the order of Flight School.

"Woah woah woah hold on a sec," Dmitri held out an arm to stop Io from approaching the Avian. "Io doesn't get to draw a Heart?"

"Faustes said he wasn't on the team, remember?" Shri reminded the falcon, lips drawing thin. "And his name was on the list..."

It seemed as though Dmitri wasn't the only one who had allowed the fact to slip his mind. Those who had gathered at the balcony exchanged looks—exhaling a single breath that seemed to release, along with it, a tension taut and heavy.

Unease.

"That doesn't sound too bad. I mean," Io sought to address the looks of surprise at his words. "The fact that I'm able to draw a Mark means that the point system is still relevant, right?"

"Which means the team that gets the Joker will win regardless. So...that kinda leads to my point that, well, if I draw that role again and we find each other in the arena, or—what was it called again? Oh yeah, the Box—then, I guess it's a win for all of you!"

Io stared back at eyes that did not blink; expressions that appeared fairly stunned. He waited for them to recover.

"No."

Luka was the first to go against the idea and Io almost instantly knew why. "You're not going through that again."

"But you guys will win."

"That's not what I care about," the eagle snapped quietly in return—upset.

The world came to a halt at which nothing seemed to move and thoughts would drift like a log, still and patient.

Io smiled.

"Well, I know what you care about." He turned to untie the pouch before reaching into its open jaws.

"But what if that which you care about cares about something more? Will you therefore care about it too?" A Mark was drawn and he laid it in the heart of his palm. "Unless you're not confident enough that you'll find me first?"

It had been said in a teasing lilt. Almost like a challenge posed to the eagle in the sweetest manner—with a smile. Dmitri was inclined to attribute this to the sexual tension that he thought existed between the two. The thought was abrupt and thankfully private.

I can't believe that's all you're thinking about at a time like this, came Lucienne's voice at the back of his mind. He blinked.

Well...unless the thought was transmitted through his Link and unfortunately heard by the many others beside him. He was given dirty looks.

"Looks like I'm in luck!" A Mark of Prey was held up by the sparrow and all at once, there were varied reactions that ranged from the exact opposite of his own to those that shared his excitement and joy.

"Again?"

Surely, this had to be the workings of a wheel so absurd, Fortune herself could not grasp its favour. Iolani Tori had drawn what he had wished, and although it seemed to many a mere progression of plot—a necessary armour that the protagonist was to wear in order for the story to unfold—the truth remained quite hidden; shrouded in darkness.

After all, there were certain things that the power above had not their control over, and the true mastermind could only be revealed by the order in which was created by the skies.

"That's some...twisted luck you have there," Meryl frowned at the charm in his hand, having approached him for a closer look. "I mean...what are the chances?"

"Exactly."

A single glance at the expression on Luka's face confirmed his discomfort and unease. Io had learnt to pick up the tiniest details from the otherwise impassive disposition of his eagle friend's and although this would certainly allow himself to understand the other better, it certainly did not mean that Luka had meant for his emotions to be laid bare.

"Isn't it great, Luka?" Instead of running away, he headed straight for the fire. "We're going to win."

"You sure seem confident that I'll find you first," said his friend, not particularly referring to his hunting as a predator but given the context, seemed to everyone else to be so.

V's Avian let out something akin to a snort (if birds were capable of snorting) and took off after retrieving the pouches.

"Of course," Io responded as though it was the weather that they were discussing. "I mean, you've done it before."

That itself was enough to soothe the eagle's unease; a reminder of the past drew upon memories that were, at least, fond. Of beginnings that held a certain...special value to it all. He nodded, accepting the conclusion that they'd somehow arrived at after much idling.

"It's great though, right? We're basically given a huge advantage since the Joker, or Io, like yeah, he wouldn't be running away from us!" Shri was excited. She'd never caught a Joker in her entire life.

Slayne wasn't very particular about winning but the thought of reduced effort meant that he could get home fast and see the one that he missed. It was not an unpleasant thought.

"Let's get back inside."

They followed suit, filtering back into the predator's common room the way they came from.

"Seriously though," Dmitri gave Lucienne's shoulder a nudge and lowered his voice to a whisper. "If that isn't sexual tension I'm quittin' on Oreos for the rest of my life."

__________________________

He was flowing down the stream.

Carried by its current, he allowed himself to be brought someplace far and above. And above he flowed; peering down from a point of vantage he was—field of vision beyond what he was to see and there, he saw.

There was something among the trees and the turn he made, similar to the one from before, found himself watching what he knew was not something he should be watching and that was himself. Once again, the he in which he thought existed independently of himself stood, seemingly tall, against a shadow. He did not appear to be speaking.

The shapeless form was dark, breathing only wisps of smoke that coiled and wrapped around his being. All of a sudden he was standing in the middle of crossroads, to which the shadow stood in his way and he was all-too-aware that a choice had been forced upon the external he.

And the choice?

He waited for the boy to make a choice but the boy was taking long. The roads were split and he did not know what they were or what they would lead to and hence entail—what the choices were. What was he choosing between?

Something huge was stepping up to the plate and he knew not what it was. He felt a rise of something. Of urgency and time; of panic and warning for something ill was about to unfold.

He waited. Nothing came and the shadow remained and there was nothing but a sound.

The whistle of a train.

It was far off but approaching and he knew the decision had to be made but all of a sudden the phantom had disappeared and before him, was an old-fashioned lever.

The whistle was loud.

He could not tell what the boy was thinking or even the sweat upon his brow. What he was meant to witness remained fixed and it was the choice.

The clearing of the fog revealed mistaken identities—something that had never occurred in his dreams. What he had assumed were crossroads turned out to be tracks of a railway. What he thought was the whistle of a train was a bear whisper of something else.

The choice was made

in the pulling of the lever.

Luka was gone

And he was close to tears and understanding what the choice was when he found himself back in the river.

Flowing up against the current.

____________________________

Io woke with a shiver of fear, bolting up in an instant with a throat that was dry and cheeks that were wet. He breathed as though a mile had been flown and calmed the creature in his cage sufficiently to recall a part of his surroundings, waiting for sense to hit and the waking life to draw him away from the well that was deep.

"Io?"

Luka.

He had fallen fast asleep on the eagle's bed as soon as they returned to his room. It had become part of their routine to laze around in each other's company, quiet and happy in their lack of obligation to speak. Just be.

"You're crying."

It was a strange thing to say aloud but it was only after Luka handed him a face towel that Io noticed this. He laughed small.

"Yeah. I had a nightmare," he nodded after a while, taking the towel and wiping his face. Red.

He was given another towel, because the eagle wished to make up for the time that he witnessed his friend break down in the middle of the forest and had nothing but a leaf to offer. "Um, thanks."

Luka acknowledged this with a silent nod. He watched the fingers that received it—saw them tremble like a blossom in the wind. He reached down to stroke his back.

Io's eyes were a colour dull, unusual because it was half-past nine and they were usually the shade of the moon by this point in time. There was something tampering with the creature in his cage and Luka did not know what it was.

"Do you want to talk?"

"Not yet."

"Okay," his companion accepted at once, waiting for further instructions. He decided soon after that a glass of water was due, or perhaps those oats that they'd bought from the convenience store earlier this afternoon—so he picked Io up and transported him to the pantry.

"Oh!" Was all he received in response.

Io was placed carefully on the couch.

"Water or oats?"

"Water please." Luka got to work while Victoria and Lyra landed beside the boy, the latter flapping her wings anxiously and asking if he was alright. Victoria lifted her wing and appeared to imagine what it would be like to pet the human on the head, then thought against it since it was likely that the fragile thing would receive a concussion.

It did not seem the least bit abnormal for Luka to be there beside him at times like this. Io had become so used to such treatment that he was beginning to find it ordinary—although this had almost never occurred so just when did he have the opportunity to get used to it?

"Here."

The glass of water was held out for him to accept but Io stared at the thing as though it was something beyond his realm of thought and could not be conceived in its existence. Luka waited patiently, waiting for him to come to terms with what he was seeing.

Io reached out for the glass—then, missed it entirely by wrapping his arms around his friend instead.

Luka briefly considered the prospect of Io having mistook him for a glass of water but after ruling out its possibility by telling him that the water was, in fact, in his hand and not his chest, he finally concluded that it was not what the fairly shaken moon needed the most at the point of time.

"Do you still need the water?"

"Mm, not really," said the muffled voice, quieter than usual. "I...I don't know."

"Okay."

They stayed in that position for the next couple of minutes until Io asked if his legs were getting tired.

"No."

"Okay good."

They stayed more.

*

Iolani Tori was surprisingly needy—if compared to a flower, perhaps something of very high maintenance levels—or so Luka had come to understand.

The pair did not speak for the rest of the evening and although they remained close in proximity, settled side by side on the couch, it seemed as though Io was left to his own devices for most of the time. Supper was therefore simple and unrefined; cookies and milk.

Luka acknowledged his urge to know every single detail about his companion's apparent dilemma and was most surprised by the fact that he could remain calm despite the rising unease that plagued the air within his cage.

Victoria reminded him time and again to contain himself because for all she knew, Io's thinking space was to be respected and left alone in its height. All her Winged could do was, at the very least, never leave his side.

"I'm going to tell you something that might seem a little weird at first," he finally said as the heart of the night approached, peering up at his eagle friend before qualifying his statement. "You can't laugh because it's important and I mean everything as it is. Promise?"

Luka agreed in a heartbeat.

In fact, it could have very well been that he didn't give a damn about what was needed to be promised as long as Io would so much as talk to him. The extended period of silence had been dreadfully unwelcome since the desire to help remained salient as ever and yet no will could translate into action if its reason was lacking.

Io breathed once, deep. "It might be...it might be that I can see some aspects of the future. In my dreams. A-and I think, just now, I might have seen you..."

"Seen you..."

He stopped, promptly.

Nothing in his being willed him to say the word and although death was something that Io found himself constantly rationalizing about, it seemed all of a sudden the greatest burden to bear—the knowledge of someone else's imminent death.

Just when was it going to happen? Where? What could he do to prevent it?

His previous vision had been a day away from its actualization; referring to the time when Io spotted Vaughn and the owl along the hallway, engaged in a heated and emotional argument. The possibility of 'it' happening the very next day, then, was not completely null.

He turned back to his friend, swallowing once. Unable to continue.

Luka was perceptive enough (only on rare occasions that mostly involved a certain friend) to ease into the topic of dreams, claiming that Io was lucky enough to remember the entirety of its content.

"I see you in my dreams too," he went on, as though it was perfectly normal to dream about their best friends—which was, indeed, the case either way.

Io prodded his arm.

"That's not the point, Luka. You remember your dreams too...?"

The eagle nodded. Then shook his head. "Only that you're in it. I can't remember anything else."

"Oh."

They retreated under an umbrella of comfortable silence, dipping their cookies in milk—eating supper. The method of cookie-snacking had been introduced by Io, to which they had decided to continue ever since.

"Did you see our future?" The eagle asked after a third cookie, giving his companion a helping hand in getting the words off his chest. "Since you saw me."

Luka could have very well admitted the extent of his happiness upon hearing that Io dreamt of him as well, which of course meant that he wasn't the only one dreaming of the other. He figured that he must have been very important to Io—just as important as Io was to him.

The thought pleased him. It pleased him thoroughly.

There was a brief soothing of the creature within, as though something had reached in between the bars of its cage to caress and attend to its needs for once.

Io paused. "I...I guess maybe it is? Maybe. Maybe, but—"

How was he to tell the other that he in fact did not want it to be? If that were, indeed their future, then was Luka to die in front of his very eyes, at his very hands?

Luka was waiting. He was waiting long and the seconds seemed to pass like a summer afternoon—hot with dread and sluggish in its wave.

"Luka, what do you think of death?"

*

They spent the night talking about the End. Almost at once, Luka was relieved to know that Io was back to his questioning state, gently rowing their boat into waters that were, to him, unknown. His company was an adventure and if Luka were to allow his thoughts to be guided just a little, he found that there were seas unexplored and islands that did not appear on the standard map—now apparent only because the light of the moon had shed itself upon his darkness.

The End was something that had remained dark for ages, and although Luka could easily understand that his map was not infinite, there was no pin-pointing the exact coordinates where his existence would cease.

"Do you like expiry dates?" Io picked up the can of cookies and peered underneath to get a glimpse of the printed numbers.

"It would be nice if they lasted forever," was Luka's way of saying that he didn't. Expiry dates indicated, for all intents and purposes, a sign of an end.

Io laughed. "True."

"But because we know it doesn't last, don't you think it's better to have an expiry date printed on the back of the packaging? To, you know, at least inform us when we have to start finishing whatever it is."

Luka thought about it, then found that he had never thought about expiry dates in such a manner, apart from discarding expired food products.

"But because we will never know when our dates are," Io chewed on his lower lip. "Because we don't know when we are going to die, because of that, we might die the very next day not having finished what we had set out to do."

He looked as though he was about to cry, once again, and Luka was prepared to fetch yet another face towel.

"Our purpose. We wouldn't know when we should start rushing to complete it. There is no deadline."

"Is it not dangerous to assume that we will die of age, or having become ripe? What do you think about patients who are told that they have three years left to live?"

His questions were urgent, almost impatient to arrive at some sort of conclusion or at least a form of answer to save the creature in his cage from drowning in emotion.

Click.

All of a sudden, Luka understood the contents of the dream and its implications, having been distracted by his companion's mindful return. After all, it was very much like Io to jump from one topic to another and the eagle had not thought very much about the connection between the two—death and the dream. He asked the question.

"Did you see me die?"

Eyes widened in fear and remembrance, a heavy weight bearing upon his shoulders, small. Io nodded.

"How?"

Was he to confess that the lever was pulled?

He decided against it. There was no confirmation. He convinced himself that there wasn't and perhaps he had mistaken the identity of the person who pulled it because Io would never be able to choose something else over—

_____________________________

What if the one person was replaced by someone important to you?

The question written on the blackboard was rather vague for Io, but he was certain that the answer would, for all intents and purposes, remain as it is. Surely, it was a trick question; the kind that warranted a pause and halted any human mind with its sheer adversity. To be selfish and choose the one you love, or to choose—regardless of circumstances—what was deemed to be ethically right.

Then, Iolani Tori had assumed the answer to be painfully obvious and the question, awfully simple.

Save the five.

It was the right thing to do.

The right thing to do.

_______________________________

The answer would remain as it is? How foolish one would have been to choose the option of saving five people who did not matter to one and lose, instead, the most important person in the world to themselves—how absurdly stupid they must be!

"Io?"

He was crying again because there was a dilemma that could not be solved. An uncertainty worse than any other that concerned himself, it concerned another. Another was a word that posed as a threat. He could not decide for himself.

Io, it's okay

It's just a dream

It won't happen.

He wanted, yet did not want Luka to say such a thing because then, it would be denial and denial would make everything worse when it did finally happen. The truth maintained that it was not just a dream and trivialization of what he saw was not going to solve the problem at hand.

Only action. Action and will combined.

"Seems like you saw something terrible," Luka reached out to ruffle his hair. "Afraid?"

"Always," he whispered the answer that everyone but his companion would have thought was a blatant lie.

Iolani Tori gave the impression of someone fearless and almost inhuman in both his emotions and knowledge.

Luka laughed shortly, a hint of a smile remaining on his lips. "So much fear you carry on that back of yours and yet you stand taller than the rest of the world."

He peered up at the eagle.

"You seem confident that I'll continue standing."

Luka did not deny the claim. It strangely had nothing to do with confidence; not even a spark of trust that he otherwise would have placed in his friend. It had nothing to do with all that and yet it seemed to him a belief, justification and truth that was certain—and knowledge that was certain was knowledge in its highest form.

"Things will work out," Luka said as the first sign of light began to ease its way into the sky. "The moon is always in the sky."

____________________

Io arrived outside Pipa's room a minute later than arranged only to find a Nash and Vijay already present, waiting at her door. The sun had yet to rise and the day remained quite asleep despite the bustling on all floors of the prey dormitories. After all, the list had gone as far as to include all prey without a predator—thus resulting in packed corridors and groups filtering out the main entrance, slowly making their way towards the gates of the Box.

"It's too early for human interaction," said Nash with a sulk, holding his bag of rations close. Vijay made small talk while they waited for Pipa to get ready, passing a hopeful remark about her ability to shift.

"Tenner's been helping her with private lessons. I'm not sure about her progress, exactly, but hard work pays off you know?" He laughed awkwardly. "By the way, what are your roles?"

Io presented his Mark. There was no point in hiding it, really. Vijay and Nash weren't the kind to betray him—or at least that was what he believed.

"No way," gasped the Indian boy, nearly falling backwards over the railings. "Again? You're way too unlucky!"

Nash sighed, shaking his head. "The system is rigged. The world is rigged."

"Yeah, you always say that."

Before Io could have a chance to elaborate and tell Vijay—a first-timer—more about the games and perhaps how he could best get around without injuring himself, Pipa's door opened and she wheeled herself out, greeting them with a tired wave.

"Hi everyone. Sorry I took so long," she apologised sheepishly while the three hurried to hold open the door and help her with the wheelchair. "Couldn't find my Mark."

"I hope you guys didn't get anything dangerous," the canary went on, directing this at a particular sparrow. Her gaze had rested on him briefly. "My luck was okay."

Io laughed. "Well..."

"Oh Skies," she caught on almost immediately, turning around in her seat. "You're...you're kidding, right?"

It took Io a while to persuade her that he wasn't—and when he finally did, they had arrived at the grounds and joined the queue that had formed before the gates. He recalled a vague familiarity with the current phase: being directed to different doors that spanned across one of the four walls.

There was someone at the front of the line assigning the prey to respective starting points.

"Have you got everything?" Pipa asked the group in general for the third time, checking her backpack once again, ensuring that nothing additional was in it at the same time because there were punishments for breaking the rules. Nothing new.

"Yes, you just asked that five minutes ago!" Nash clicked his tongue. "And I think you've got better things to worry about, Pipa. No one's going to push your wheelchair to the exit just because you ask them to. If we're assigned to different starting points, you're as good as..."

He stopped short, lips thin. They were at the front of the line.

"Names and registration number," requested the official, who Io recognised as someone from the Order. He'd seen her before.

Vijay and Nash produced their charms and the envelope that came with it, similar to the one that he'd received only a few months ago. Everything was oddly familiar.

Pipa tugged at his sleeve. "It's Luka!"

He followed her gaze and indeed, it was. Standing a distance away, past the guides and other officials who were in the midst of a discussion, were the hearts—and of course, his eagle friend who was looking in his direction.

Io waved.

Luka returned the gesture.

"Wait, uh—" Vijay turned to Pipa all of a sudden, gaze alternating between her and the official. "Are there any exceptions for my friend here? Can we, perhaps, be assigned to the same starting point?"

The official spared Pipa a glance and seemed as though she could have quite agreed to his request when her expression faltered at the sight of Io who was standing beside her.

"I'm afraid that cannot be arranged. Please proceed to your respective starting points."

Vijay was blinking hard and looking quite devastated. "But...but ma'am, how is she going to—"

"I'm sorry dear, but the girl is expected to fly under such circumstances." The official lowered her gaze to the clipboard in her arms, pretending to pen down notes. "She can shift, no?"

"Can you stay in your Avian form for 24 hours, ma'am?" Io asked quite bluntly, causing Vijay, Nash and Pipa to turn to him in horror and awe.

"Iolani Tori," the creasing of her brows changed her entire expression. "Know your place."

"It's just a question, ma'am. I meant no offence—just curious. That's all."

The official did not appear very convinced. Her grip on her pen tightened immensely and looked as though it was going to break under such pressure. "Take them to their starting points," she told a nearby guide, who hurried to call two others over. They weren't given a single chance to say their goodbyes before Io was left alone, apart from the line behind the boy that was growing quite anxious indeed.

"Iolani Tori. Number 174—"

"I know who you are, darling," he was interrupted by a snap of her jaws. "Join the Hearts. You will be starting with them."

Io blinked. "Am I not prey?"

"Yes you are. The sheer number this time round however, leaves us no choice but to place you at a shared starting point despite your role as a Joker. Now hurry along."

The sparrow didn't argue, heading towards his classmates to join them. It wasn't as though the decision was particularly against his favour either way, so in truth there was really nothing to dislike about it. How strange it must be then, that things were going so terribly well and at this rate, victory was almost certain—

"Where are you going?"

Io turned around, confused. He pointed at his group of friends, only to witness the official's laugh and a shake of her head.

"I'm sorry dear, it's the other one."