A few hours later, Ruby finally awoke from her exhausted slumber. When her green eyes opened, they looked much more alert than they had yesterday. She lifted both of her arms and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands, pushing away the sleepiness behind her eyes. 

Moon shifted onto her knees and took her sister's shoulders gently, helping her sit up against the pillow that was against the arm of the couch. Shintaro stood patiently behind the two sisters, his arms crossed over his chest. After Ruby had gotten some food and water into her, he wanted to ask her a few questions. 

Ruby grunted in pain as she shifted into a comfortable position, but she pushed it away and looked around at her surroundings. She must have not been fully aware enough to do that yesterday. Her eyes caught on Shintaro, and she expressed her surprise by a small raise of her eyebrows. 

"How do you feel?" Moon asked tentatively, letting go of her sister's shoulders and letting her arms drop to her sides. She leaned back and folded her legs under her again, gazing intently up at her sister. 

"Much better than the days in the woods," Ruby replied with a small sigh, resting her folded hands on her lap. She looked back up at Shintaro with a raise of her eyebrows. "Do you mind telling me where I am?" 

"You're in my hut," Amy's voice said from the hallway's doorway, and when Shintaro turned around, he found her leaning on the doorway with her arms crossed over her torso and a curious look on her face. "We heard your sister calling for help yesterday." 

Ruby gave Moon what seemed to be a grateful look, but it seemed somewhat forced and hesitant. Turning her eyes back to Amy, she gave her the same rehearsed smile Shintaro had noticed when she had turned Nanami over to them. 

"Thank you for letting me and my sister stay here," Ruby said softly, nodding politely up at Amy. 

"Meh, it's not a problem," Amy said cheerfully, but Shintaro noticed her glance warily at the back of Moon's head with a frown - one that she quickly wiped away as she straightened away from the doorway. "I'll be right back with some food and water." 

Shintaro stepped aside as she walked by, walking normally instead of "using her power to her advantage", like she'd said she did often. She disappeared around the kitchen doorway and began making Ruby something to eat. 

Nanami walked out of the hallway looking nervous with Rachel behind her; but as soon as she spotted Ruby, her face lit up. She hurried toward the couch, hesitated when she noticed Moon was sitting there, but decided to go forward anyway. She tentatively walked around Moon and crawled onto the free spot on the couch, beside Ruby's feet.

"Hello," she said quietly to Ruby, who gave her the same rehearsed smile. Nanami gently leaned forward and hugged Ruby's bent knees, beaming happily up at her. "Do you feel better?" 

Ruby reached over and patted Nanami's head gently. "I'm feeling much better, yes. I'm guessing Shintaro helped me the best he could, and he did a good job." She gently touched her stomach, and although she hid it well, Shintaro could tell the wound was still hurting her. 

Falte was the next to walk out of the room, pushing his glasses onto his nose and rolling his shoulders in a stretch. When he spotted Ruby sitting up, a look of relief washed over his face, and he smiled happily.

"Good, you're awake," he said to her. "How do you feel?" 

If Ruby was getting annoyed with the question, she showed none of it. She gave Falte the same smile she'd been giving everyone else. "Much better, thank you." She patted Nanami's head as the girl continued to cling to her legs. 

Falte's smile disappeared, and he folded his hands in front of him dreadfully. "Um... Ruby. About the town..." 

Ruby's smile also vanished, and she shook her head solemnly. "They left no survivors. Moon and I were lucky to get out of there alive. They were attacking ruthlessly, without any order or reason. 

"We have never had anything to do with the Darks," Ruby informed with with a sigh, "so I don't understand why they would attack an innocent town without being told to. They're like sheep. They only do things because they were told to. But they didn't have any order in the attack whatsoever."

Shintaro nodded silently, knowing exactly what she meant. The only reason the Darks did things was because someone of higher power told them to do so. Any of the Darks that were under Thorn had simply done what he said because they didn't want to see his bad side. Any of the other roaming Darks knew that The Dark Lord still was out there, and they did nothing until he'd shown up. 

They only followed the leader.

Falte blew out a devastated sigh, running his hand down the side of his face. Rachel touched his shoulder gently, casting him a sorry glance. 

"I'm sorry," Ruby said quietly to Falte. 

"There's nothing for you to be sorry about," Falte assured her. "It wasn't your fault that-" 

Amy suddenly was standing in front of him, clapping her right hand over his mouth and shushing him sharply. Falte made a muffled confused sound, but Amy shushed him harshly again, turning toward the doorway with a tipped head.

Shintaro moved forward and stood beside her, eyeing the doorway with caution. "What is it?" he asked quietly. He tipped his head and listened like she was doing, but he heard nothing. 

"There's someone coming," Amy reported in a hushed tone. "There's more than one, but I can't tell how many there are exactly." She took a step toward the doorway protectively, but Shintaro caught her arm. 

"Wait," he instructed her firmly. "Wait until they get closer before we make a move. They could very well pass right by us without doing any harm. They could be travelers." 

"I don't want to take any chances," Amy said back. "And travelers? Who would be traveling while your dad's on the loose?" 

Shintaro huffed through his nose, realizing she made a valid point. Who would be traveling in the middle of a worldwide crisis? 

Amy rocked back on her heels, putting her hands on her hips. "If they get any closer, I'm going out there - and you're not stopping me." She turned around, walked past Shintaro, and disappeared down the hallway. 

The others wisely remained quiet, but Moon stood up in front of the couch protectively, her arms crossed and a frown directed at the door. Shintaro turned toward the door again and copied what Amy had been doing with her head, switching the angle in frustration (seriously, how had she done that so quickly?) when he couldn't find anything - until he finally heard what she'd been hearing.

Something was coming through the forest toward them, but now it was making an awful lot of noise. Branches were snapping, bushes rustling, and even a few shouts accompanied those sounds. 

Startled, Shintaro turned toward the others. "Amy," he said sharply as Amy walked back out of the hallway with her belt of pouches around her waist, "you're coming with me. The rest of you, go back to the guest room and lock the door. Moon, stay here with Ruby. If anyone gets into the house, you have permission to knock them out." 

Moon grinned at him, slamming her fist into her other palm. "Sir yes sir," she said smoothly, cocking her hip. 

Shintaro fought back a roll of his eyes as he turned toward the door. He heard the others clatter toward the guest room, and he put his hand on Amy's shoulder before she could move for the door. As she tipped her head to listen, Shintaro did the same.

The commotion was much closer, and Shintaro could make out the voices of two men. One of them was laughing, but not in a wholehearted way. His laugh was laced with cruelty and sick amusement. The other voice was deeper, full of anger and pain. 

Amy clicked open a pouch on her belt as the two men got closer. Their shouts were clear - one was angry and laced with anguish, the other was full of amusement. 

Suddenly, a scream of pain from the deeper voice echoed through the forest. It was almost immediately followed by the thud of a body. 

Amy, looking panicked, lunged forward and whipped open the door. 

And Ezekiel collapsed onto the doorstep.

~

WHAT? 

HUH?

ZEKE?

WHEN DID YOU GET HERE?

WHY DID YOU GET HERE?

WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU? 

WHERE HAS HE BEEN THE WHOLE TIME?

*announcer voice*

FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON FOUND!!!

XD

I love leaving you guys on weird cliffhangers and I have no freaking idea why.

Well, thanks for reading!! 

Love y'all!!

P3ac3!!~~~