(Y/n) woke up to find that her arms were bound behind her and she was laying in a grassy field. Her ankles were chained together to keep her from running. The last thing she remembered were explosions and nasods. Everything else was hazy.

        The night no longer provided her with the cool atmosphere that served as a break from the daytime heat. It was currently morning and oddly cool enough to be manageable. Dew was still clinging to the grass that she lay in. The scent of smoke and food had her sniffing the air.

        "Hm, you're awake." The voice didn't belong to Add. (Y/n) scanned the area to find the source of the voice. Her eyes skimmed over a camp of masked individuals a short distance ahead of her lime of sight. Located in a much closer vicinity to her was a single individual sitting next to a fire that burned in front of them both. He tilted his head and studied her with his golden eyes. She couldn't help but take notice of his arm, but she tore her gaze away from it to stare back at him. Was it a nasod arm? Add would know, wouldn't he?

        "You're going to sell me, aren't you?"

        The man blinked in surprise. "I take it this isn't your first time being taken as a hostage."

        "I wish it were, but you're already three times too late. You've already underestimated me by not chaining me to something sturdy. I'll escape." (Y/n) was already looking around for Add, but she couldn't find him among the masked people in the distance. Not even a glimpse of white hair could be seen.

        "You sound confident." The man pulled a blade from his belt and flashed the sun's light into her eyes. She shut them to avoid the blinding beam. "It would be a shame for you to find out the hard way that you shouldn't cross Black Crow." That name sounded familiar.

        "Ah, so you're all terrorists. Well that's so much better than regular kidnappers," she bitterly commented. "I'm not afraid of you though. If you wanted to hurt me, you'd have done so already. Either that, or you can't afford to damage your merchandise before the sale." The puzzled look on the man's face had (y/n) feeling a bit smug, but her guard was nowhere near being down.

        "You and him are both crazy." He put his blade away. "It's true. My intention was to sell you, and kill the kid. Your friend is very convincing, but I don't trust either of you."

        "The feeling is mutual," (y/n) expressed with a frown. She tried to keep the conversation as plain as possible. If she showed even a small amount of fear, it could be used against her. "Where are you keeping Add? Where are we right now?"

        "For a hostage, you sure are asking a lot of questions."

        "You're being awfully nice for a terrorist. I'm assuming you don't usually sit and chat with your victims." She flinched at the glare he shot her. Apparently she had struck a nerve. "Not that I mind...haha."

        The man stood up and approached her, sending her on edge from her inability to act against him. She calmed down considerably when he merely cut her arms free of the rope binding them. "You're welcome. Now shut up and wait for your friend to get back. I'm done talking." He sat back down and kept his gaze anywhere but on her.

        "You started it," (y/n) thought with narrowed eyes. She pulled herself out of the grass and adjusted her cloak so that it comfortably hung around her. A better look at her surroundings let her see that an airship was anchored behind the camp. They were in a large field filled with nothing but grass for miles. In the distance, there was a large castle of some kind, but it appeared to be severely damaged. It was the airship that gave away the location. This had to be the island that was floating in the sky. The very place that Add had tried to avoid.

        (Y/n) looked down at her arm seeing that a bandage was around it. She recognized it to be Add's handiwork. The shrapnel from the missiles had caused the wound. It still seemed pretty fresh, so she determined that everything she recalled must have happened last night. Trusting Add's judgement, she remained where she was and watched the camp with this complete stranger. He spared her a glance from behind his long black hair every now and then to make sure she hadn't tried to undo the chains around her ankles.

        "Are you hungry?" He finally said something to her.

        "You won't poison me, will you? I still can't rule that out yet." He deadpanned at her.

        "Fine then. Starve." He stood up and headed towards the campsite. It was a little shocking that he'd leave her there by herself even after saying he didn't trust her. When he came back, he was holding a bowl of soup. (Y/n) expected him to sit there and eat in front of her, but instead he brought the bowl to her. "It's hot." He set it down and went back to sit in his spot again. "Not another word out of you," he said before she could speak.

        "I was going to thank you, but nevermind," she inwardly scoffed. (Y/n) touched the edges of the bowl to test its temperature. It was safe enough to pick up so she brought it up to her face to blow the remaining heat away. The food's fragrance was more than enough to make her forget her suspicions.

        It was while she was eating that she heard someone approaching from behind them. She quickly peeked behind her and saw Add's face light up upon making eye contact with her. He was with Dynamo. The pair made their way towards them without any need to rush. Add was perfectly fine. There wasn't a hint of stress anywhere on him which brought a smile to (y/n)'s face.

        "You're late, kid," the man spoke up when Add reached them.

        "I do recall that you were the one who asked me to investigate for you. And I told you to stop calling me that. Even if you are older, I am no child," Add said. (Y/n) nodded in agreement. Stella had treated them the same way back in Bethma. It was just a little different this time since this man had not once called (y/n) a kid. "And don't complain about someone else doing your job. I ran into some trouble along the way and had to handle it. You don't seem too worried if you're still sitting there doing nothing." The man grit his teeth but said nothing to Add in retaliation. "I kept my end of the deal, so keep yours." A key was tossed in Add's direction. He had to quickly reach out to catch it.

        The key unlocked the shackles around (y/n)'s ankles. She was glad to have them off. It was literally liberating and finally had her feeling more like she stood a chance against any sudden attacks.

        "I'm glad you're finally awake. You overheated on the way here, so that's why you've been unconscious for so long," Add explained as he sat on his dynamos next to her. "Dynamo, project the data for us to view." The holograms appeared for both Add and the man in charge to view. "There are nasods being affected by some sort of strange parasites. It's using their left behind shells which is why it appears that those nasods are still functioning," Add explained. He was talking to the stranger, but he kept his attention on everyone as he spoke. "I had Dynamo do a scan on the nasods we came across. They are essentially zombies, functioning without their conciousness being active. The parasite is what's controlling them, and once that plant spore is removed they go back to their idle state of death again."

        "You discovered all of that in just one night?" (y/n) asked. He nodded.

        "I told Raven that I'm a nasod researcher. We have to go with him to meet his commander. In exchange for my information, we get a free ride to anywhere of our choosing." (Y/n) made a mental note to talk to Add about that later, but for now she wouldn't question his choices. It kept them alive for him to lie for the time being, and he was only partially lying anyway.

        "So your name's Raven then. Why didn't you tell me?" (Y/n) attempted to bring the silent man into the conversation.

        "You didn't ask."

        "You didn't even answer any of my other questions!" (y/n) protested.

        "I wasn't obligated to. You're still a hostage. Both of you are."

        Add rolled his eyes. "We're guests. His commander gave him orders to bring us to meet him. We don't have a choice in the matter considering they technically saved us from those other nasods. All of it was just a huge coincidence that worked out in our favor."

        "Don't talk like you have any authority around here. If I really wanted to, I'd throw the both of you right over Altera's edge," Raven growled. (Y/n) was starting to get a pretty good idea of what sort of person he was. "I don't intend to waste my breath anymore, so as soon as the both of you are done eating we're leaving. Don't take your time."
____________________________________

Oh? A partnership with a stranger? Until next time you epic readers!