I existed from all eternity and,
behold,
I am here.
And I shall exist 'till the end of time,
For my being has no end.

-Kahlil Gibran

Burns

Nate's driving slow. The car is at the speed limit, as any Soul would drive, but it's still too slow for me.

How is that? A Soul like me wanting to race around, breaking the rules.

But I just want to find Emma.

And Arashi.

My eyes search the landscape frantically, even though I know it's unlikely they would follow the road back.

"Arashi will keep her safe, Burns," Nate pulls me from my thoughts, "and don't underestimate Emma. She's a tough one."

A sigh escapes my lips. "I've already lost her once," I say, "How likely is it she'll be as lucky as she was last time? Maybe the next Soul they'll put inside her will be stronger than Sky and subdue her. What if this time she won't come back?"

"They won't take her that easily this time."

That's what worries me. I know Nate means well and that he's trying to comfort me, but the only other option for Emma not to be taken is Emma being dead.

We haven't been able to track the truck yet. We can't exactly ask around either. We've crossed one or two small towns. There's a hundred ways the truck could have gone. I'm starting to think we'll never find it. This is a needle in a haystack. This is blue ice on the Mist Planet.

I remember the days I would spend, trying to find the rarest of ice, the blue colored crystals. But we don't have days. We only have hours. And maybe not even that.

Suddenly Nate hits the brake. I gasp as I'm being slammed forward and then pulled back by my seatbelt. My eyes fly around. To the road. To the side. Even back. But I don't see anything that warrants stopping. "Nate?" I ask.

Nate checks his mirrors and gets out of the car. He walks towards a thorn bush at the side of the road and kneels down.

I follow him and stare at the piece of fabric that is tied to the bush.

"It's from Arashi's shirt," Nate clarifies.

"What does that mean?" I ask concerned. Were they taken after all? Was there a struggle?

"They jumped here," Nate says, "he left it as a sign."

"How do you know they weren't discovered and had to run?" I ask, "Arashi could have torn his shirt while escaping."

Nate shakes his head. "If that had been the case, it wouldn't be tied so neatly. No, they're alright. Or they were when they jumped off the truck."

There's one thing I don't understand though. Nate told me they have a protocol when things like this happens. Normally they wouldn't have followed if someone had been taken. Why would Arashi feel the need to leave a sign?

When I ask, Nate chuckles lightly. "I suppose he knows you a bit by now." He takes the fabric from the bush and stands up. "Arashi will have cut across country to return," he says, "it's unlikely that we spot them from the road. It's best if we return to where we left Gail's car. That's where they'll be headed."

"Not to the truck stop?" I ask.

"No," Nate says, "Arashi knows that's too risky. He knows I would have told the others to go back to where we met. That's where he'll go first. In case we're not there anymore, he'll find his way back to the hide-out."

I bite my lip. The hide-out is a long way from here. It took us half a day by car. A lot can happen between here and there, especially when you're on foot.

Nate's hand lands on my shoulder. "Come. Let's return to the others. There's nothing we can do now."

Just when we turn around, another car pulls up. The driver opens his window and smiles at us. "Hi there! Having car trouble? I can tow you to the nearest service point."

"There's no need," Nate tells him curtly.

"It's really not a problem," the Soul smiled, "you're far from any town. I wouldn't want to keep you stranded here."

"It's alright," I say, "we're not having car trouble. We're just admiring the scenery."

"Ah. Alright then," the Soul says, "enjoy your view then. Don't stay out in the sun too long. It's a hot day."

"We won't," I assure him, "thank you for your concern."

"It's my pleasure," he smiles, "bye."

We watch as he waves and drives off.

Nate lets out a long sigh. "You know," he says while looking at me, "things would be a lot easier for us if you Souls learned to mind your own business."

"He was just being helpful," I say, "what if we really had been stranded out here? Without food and water..." My voice trails off. That's exactly what's going on with Emma and Arashi.

Nate seems to realize where my thoughts have wandered off to and he offers me a smiled. "The truck they were in had food, Burns, I'm sure there was water too. They are not without support."

I nod. "Yeah. Of course." It doesn't stop me from worrying.

Nate presses my shoulder and steers me back to the car.

We start the long way back.

How long before the night sets in? Should we wait until morning before going home? Give Arashi and Emma time to find us?

We cross the same towns as earlier. The streets have grown quieter as it's getting later. Families will be inside, preparing dinner.

Nate glances at me. "Are you hungry, Burns? We could get something to eat while we drive."

I shake my head. No matter if I'm hungry or not, I don't want any distractions. I won't be able to eat anyway until we find Emma and Arashi.

In the distance, high rocks rise up along the side of the road. When we round them, I gasp. There on the road and in plain sight two people are stumbling along the pavement. One is leaning heavily on the other, slightly taller, person, limping.

Even from this distance I recognize her. I would recognize her anywhere.

Nate has spotted them too. I hear his relieved breath as it escapes his lips.

The pair stops as we approach them from behind. There is tension in their bodies as they cast a glance over their shoulder.

Nate drives up until he's next to them and rolls down the window. "Eyes please," he says with a slight smirk.

Arashi narrows his eyes. "What's the use of a protocol if you're not going to follow it?" he growls annoyed.

Nate ignores him and looks at Emma. She looks like she's in pain. "Need a ride, sweetheart?" he asks.

She lets go of Arashi and stumbles towards the car. "Thanks," she mutters at Arashi before dropping down on the backseat.

Arashi scowls at Nate and drops in the back with Emma.

Nate rolls his eyes and drives off.

I glance at Emma concerned. She's biting her lip. That look of pain is still present in her eyes. "Emma?" I ask, 'is everything alright?"

"Can I please take my shoes off now?" she asks in a small voice.

"Sure," I nod at her.

A whimper escapes her as she struggles to free her feet and tears spring to her eyes.

I gasp when I see the raw and bloodied feet. "What happened?"

Arashi rolls his eyes. "She's not dying. She's just wearing the wrong shoes for all the walking we've done."

I watch as Emma closes her eyes and leans her head back against the window. Her face is pale. It's obvious she's in pain. "We'll get you some Heal and No Pain when we've reached the others," I tell her, "Zander collected some from the truck he raided."

"He better," Arashi growls annoyed, "I hope you told him to never come along on raids again, Nate."

"Gail's dealing with him," Nate answers. There's annoyance in his eyes too. I know he's not happy about Zander's actions. He endangered all of us.

My eyes search Emma's and she offers me a smile. "I'm fine now," she says.

We pass the truck stop. There's still several trucks parked there, but we don't stop. None of us seems in the mood for another raid, but we'll need some more supplies. Arashi seems to have the same thought, because he turns to Nate. "We'll have to find a way to gather more supplies, Nate."

"We'll see what we can do," Nate says, "right now I'm focusing on getting us back to the others. When the opportunity arises, we'll raid some more on the way."

"We still have food and water left," Emma says.

"It won't be enough to sustain Gail's group for long," Arashi says, "this could have worked if Zander hadn't gone off on his own."

"I'll tell Gail to leave him home next time," Nate nods.

The canyon where we left Gail's car comes within view. The sun is already setting. We were lucky to run into Arashi and Emma when we did.

The others are nowhere in sight, but that was to be expected. They will be hiding until they are certain it's us and we are still we.

Nate parks the car and unloads our spoils. I open Emma's door and lift her from the backseat so she won't have to walk on her battered feet.

She smiles gratefully and rests her head in the crook of my neck. Her breath tickles my skin and a pleasant shiver runs down my spine.

I'm not sure what sign Nate has given, but the others slowly file out of hiding and approach us.

"Emma!" Ellen gasps when she sees her in my arms.

"I'm fine," she assures Ellen, "just some blisters."

I set her on the hood of the car. "We'll take care of them," I say, "we'll clean them up and give you some No Pain."

"Those are our medicine," Zander protests, "I got them for us. We shouldn't waste them on some blisters."

Arashi narrows his eyes. "This is your fault. If you hadn't gone solo, we wouldn't be in this situation now and we would have been able to raid a lot more."

"I agree," Gail says. She glares at Zander. "Hand them over. We can spare one sheet of No Pain and some Heal."

"Gail..." Zander starts to argue.

"Do as I say," Gail growls, "I'm tired of your antics. You brought us in danger. I warned you before. We owe Burns a lot. The least you can do is help them out. I apologize, Nate. I didn't mean for this to happen."

"We have already gone over this," Nate assures her, "no need to worry anymore. We're all back and in one piece."

Zander still looks a little annoyed as he hands over the bag with medicine.

I hand Emma a patch of No Pain while I spray Clean and Heal over her feet. The wounds are gone in no time and I hand the bag to Zander again. "Thank you," I say.

"Whatever," Zander growls. He grabs the bag and walks towards Gail's car. "Can we go now?"

Gail sighs. She looks at me. "Thank you, Burns, for your help. I'm sorry about him."

I smile kindly at her. "No need to thank me. I'm glad I could help. Just let me know if you need anything again."

Gail answers my smile and nods. "I will. Take care." She says goodbye to the others and we watch them drive away with their share of the spoils. There's not much left for us, but this raid was mostly for them anyway. We'll have to go again soon to keep our own supplies up.

Nate lets out a heavy sigh and runs a hand across his face. "Let's just go home," he says, "it's been a long day."

No one complains as we get in our own vehicles.