(warning: very smol description of a wound)

As soon as they were out of the tunnel, Cleo confronted him. "Ren what the hell?!" she yelled angrily. "Is this why you said earlier, "oh humans and witches aren't so bad!" Is it?!" Her tone was mocking as she quoted his earlier words, as if she scorned them all her life.

Ren flinched away. He'd seen Cleo like this before and it had never ended well. "Y-yes it is," he stammered, not wanting to say anything wrong for fear of angering the zombie hybrid even further.

Cleo let out an exasperated sigh and turned around, storming off in the depths of the forest despite the desperate protests of her friends. "Why can't they just stay safe?" she muttered to herself. "It's not that hard!"

"Cleo!" a voice suddenly gasped. She spun around and instantly noticed the familiar messy-haired blonde running towards her, his pointed tail lashing behind him. "Oh thank god," he panted out, skidding to a halt in front of her. "I... I need to tell you something."

The ginger raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What is it Tango?"

He hesitated for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Zloy... They... they got him..."

Cleo stared at him for a moment, processing what he had just said. "Y-you're kidding me..." Tango shook his head. "I really wish I was."

"NO!" she yelled abruptly, vibrant eyes burning with anger. Tango flinched, but didn't say anything. "They can't have! How did they even find you?! What happened?!"

Tango gestured to his arm. A bullet was lodged in it and blood still seeped from the fresh wound. "Me and Zloy were out when some humans found us," he explained, keeping his eyes glued to the floor as to not meet Cleo's gaze. "We were outnumbered... there wasn't any way we could have gotten out and then they..." He trailed off, not wanting to finish.

Tears pricked at the edge of her vision, but she wiped them away. "I swore that I would protect him," she growled lowly. "We're... we're getting him back."

"But how would we?" the blonde in front of her asked. "Cleo I know you love Zloy, I do too, but please just try and be reasonable. It's a suicide mission to go in there! He's in human territory now so there would be no way to get him back unless we let ourselves get captured as well. And then we'd also have to save ourselves," he added, not wanting Cleo to get any ideas

She was silent for a moment, thoughts whirling around in her brain. On one hand, she wanted to save Zloy since he was practically her younger brother and her family; but on the other hand, there was no way to get into human or witch territory without being caught...

Then an idea struck her.

The ginger grabbed Tango's hand and tugged him towards the forest. "I have an idea!" she gasped excitedly.

"Care to explain?" Tango muttered, wincing at the slight pain that stung his arm. "Also please let go."

She glanced at the wound for a second before dropping his arm. "Ah, sorry. Anyways, my plan is..."

Cleo whispered into the blonde's ear and he listened, nodding tentatively. "You sure that'll work?" he questioned once she pulled away. "What if they turn on us?"

The zombie hybrid shook her head. "They won't, or at least the others can convince them not to," she reassured. "C'mon! We have to hurry!"

Tango hesitated, but finally shook his head. "I'm really sorry Cleo, but I'm not risking my life to save Zloy. It might not work and then we'll all end up as slaves or worse."

Cleo's gaze hardened into a sharp glare. "Fine then," she spat, turning away. "I'll go get him myself. But when I come back with him, I'm going to tell him about how you were too scared to even come try and rescue him."

Before he could say another word, Cleo darted through the forest, leaving Tango alone. He sighed and leaned against the sturdy bark of a tree, still clutching his wounded arm.

Did I make the right choice?

   ~*~

sorry this took so long to get out, writer block's a dick :/ (also school likes to  e x i s t)