Episode Two, Part 1:
Some Kind of Closure

I'm still a believer, but I don't know why. 
I've never been a natural, all I do is try, try, try. 

Elara walked beside Kodiak as they followed her brothers towards Exile Allegiance, still insistent on maintaining her space from Wynn. She couldn't quite believe Tobias' threat that she would never see Izzy again, but she was furious with Wynn, nonetheless, for making a decision that worked in the separation between her and Izzy. As much as she tried the ignore the thoughts from her mind, she knew there really was a chance that something could happen to them and Tobias could pull through on his claim, never again letting Izzy return to the comfort of her family.

"How are you feeling?" Kodiak asked beside her, softly nudging his arm into hers. He had been quiet for majority of their walk, knowing Elara needed to confront all of the questions in her mind, but he couldn't keep to himself anymore; he needed to know that she hadn't completely given up all hope.

Elara huffed in frustration, somewhat irritated that Kodiak had been more forgiving to Wynn than she liked. "How do you think? Tobias is trying to make sure we never see our daughter again. I want to throw up, burn this whole damn forest down, or-"

"We are going to see Izzy again. She'll be back with us in no time, and she'll never even know that any of this was happening," he was quick to point out. "She'll never even know that someone was trying to keep her away from us. All that'll matter to her is that you're there. You know you make her feel as though everything is okay in the world. Maybe even by tonight, she'll be back with us, and she'll be feeling that way again. Try and focus on that."

"There's infinite things that could go wrong before that's even possible," Elara said, her voice heavy in misery. "Tobias could already be at the shelter, he could have told the rest of his people to not help us, Terra Firma could attack us on our way over, they could kill us-"

"I'm right here, so are your brothers; no one's going to lay a finger on you."

"So you guys will take the brunt of an attack instead of me? Is that what you're implying? That doesn't make me feel any better at all. Nothing does. I just want Izzy here with us... I know it's all my fault for leaving her there-"

"None of this is your fault," Kodiak was adamant, grabbing onto her arm and making sure she stopped walking so she could focus entirely on him. "We made that decision together and it was the right call. If she was out here, the same thing that happened to Chess could have happened to her or Tobias might have even taken Izzy when he found us instead of making that threat, and she'd be traumatised all over again. Listen to me, Ell: putting her in that shelter was the safest option for her, regardless of what we're dealing with out here... We're going to get her back, okay? You have to believe that."

"I'm trying..." Elara murmured, unable to control the quiver of her lower lip as her fear consumed her. "I'm always trying so hard, but it's one loss after another and I've used up a lifetime's worth of courage; I don't know that I have any left in me."

"That's why you have me," Kodiak whispered, bringing his hand up and wiping under Elara's eyes. She softened under his touch - allowed herself to be vulnerable, completely exposed, and all with good reason. Somehow, in spite of how the world was constantly trying to tear her down, she felt a little stronger as she leaned into him, even managing to find a breath of relief as his hands found their way around her back.

"You're not facing any of this on your own, but if you want this to be easier, you have to forgive Wynn," Kodiak spoke, feeling like now was the perfect opportunity to tell her. He felt Elara huff against him once more, her way of informing him that she wasn't too open to the idea.

"Ell, he's your brother; the person who's looked out for you your entire life. All he wants is to protect you."

"How are you finding it so easy to ignore what he did? He knew I needed his help and he chose River over me."

"Because he wasn't the one who put himself in that position," Kodiak reminded her. "When no one else could figure out what to do, we turned to him, and he was the only one brave enough to make a choice. He wasn't the one who put an ultimatum on Izzy, that was Tobias. And..."

"And?" Elara searched, somewhat confused to see Kodiak's gaze drift down in guilt.

"And Riv and Dreea are my family and back there, we were on different sides... That's never happened to us before. I'd hate to see them both lose Chessca just as much as I'd hate if something happened to Izzy, but I had to fight for us instead. Fight against them. That's not a good feeling."

"They'll forgive you," Elara assured him, realising that she wasn't the only one who facing a terrible conflict from Tobias' actions. "Regardless of if the combination worked on Chessca or not; they know you and they love you. It wasn't your fault that you were each other's opponents-"

"Yeah, and the same can be said about you and Wynn. It's no different, Ell. He had to chose between the girl he loves, and his family. So did I."

Elara sighed, her entire chest sinking under the pressure as she pulled away from Kodiak, allowing him to see her face. "I hate that you're always right," she said, not quite ready to break a smile, but Kodiak knew he had eased her burdens. "And I know, deep down, that it would have broke Wynn's heart to be in that position, but right now, the realest thing I have is the fear that I'll never have Izzy back. It's not something I can push aside or overcome until she's here with me. I can't just abandon all of this anger."

"I get it," Kodiak said, taking hold of her hand as he pulled her along after her brothers. "Just don't shut yourself out to him trying to help you, regardless of how you feel. Do it for Izzy. Besides, I know once she's back, you'll barely even remember why you were mad at him in the first place."

"Okay, I know I said you're always right, but even that sounds a bit far-fetched," Elara laughed, playfully leaning into them as they walked, relieved that he had brought her back down to earth.

"Trust me," Kodiak said, smiling over at her. "I know what I'm talking about. Remember that deal I made with you?"

Elara scrunched up her nose, unable to keep track of all the promises Kodiak made to her and fulfilled to be able to know which one he was talking about specifically.

"When we were on Neptunum," he said. "On the deck..."

She lost her breath momentarily, almost forgetting that she had experienced one of the best moments of her life on the deck of Neptunum before everything in the world came crashing down so abruptly.

"We get the rest of our lives with each other," she murmured, a smile drenched in emotion so much so that she couldn't bring herself to look up at him; all of the oceans inside of her would come crashing out. "Long lives. We'll be a family - Izzy is part of that."

"Exactly," Kodiak smiled, feeling Elara's fingers subconsciously trace over his ring as they held hands. "And the same thing as when we found that house and explored it, before we blew it up, of course," he said, earning a laugh from her. "The three of us are a family and one day, we'll live somewhere, maybe back at Basilisk - with a room next to us for Izzy to sleep in, a couple more down the hall for any brothers or sisters we want to give her, and we'll be safe. No more wars, no more losses - just all of us all together. Focus on that to make it through until Izzy is with us again. This is the final fight, Ell, and it's almost over."

"The final fight," she repeated his words, finding some courage in them; some relief. "I'll face it, just as long as I have you by my side."

"For always," Kodiak promised her, squeezing tightly onto her hand. For always.

//////////

After around an hour of walking, they arrived near to the shelter where Kodiak and Elara had said their goodbyes to Izzy. There was still a noticeable tension between Wynn and Elara, but she was doing her best to let go of her grudge after what Kodiak had said to her on the walk over.

"As far as Exile Allegiance know, we're on their side and they should have every reason to trust us," Wynn said. "We'll locate the entrance or the nearest guard and ask that one of us goes in to find Izzy. If they protest, we'll convince them that Tobias gave us permission."

"And if that doesn't work?" Elara asked, her voice still a little bitter towards him despite her efforts to calm her frustration.

"We'll regroup and come up with another strategy," Wynn replied, being cautious with what he said to her, too afraid that he would somehow make their situation even worse. "If all else fails, we'll launch an attack. Kodiak and I can probably handle most of them, maybe with some assistance from Quill or nearby Basilisk that are in the area. Then we'll go in ourselves."

"Sounds good," Kodiak nodded, hoping that Wynn would realise him and Elara were still on his side, just that it was a little hard for Elara to convey that to him.

Wynn forced a smile their way and gestured them to follow him as he initiated the lead down the path, unable to see past all the trees which were growing overhead. After a minute of walking, Wynn stopped at the base of the path, allowing for the others to pile around him.

Standing in front of them were two members of Exile Allegiance guarding one of the walls to what Wynn assumed was the shelter.

"We're Basilisk!" He was quick to say, lowering his weapon into his waistband and holding his hands up in defence. "I'm Sovereign Wynn, this is Sovereign Kodiak," he gestured at them both. "We're two of the leaders of Basilisk. These guys are my brother and sister."

"What are you doing here?" One of the men asked, seeming to take Wynn's word for who they are.

"This is the shelter, right? Where Tobias is keeping some of your people safe?"

The two guards shared a nervous look with each other, not sure if they were supposed to reveal that information with the people from Basilisk, let alone if Wynn was bluffing or not.

"It doesn't matter; Tobias allowed a few of my people to get in. One of them's a young girl and we need to take her with us."

"We're aware that Tobias made exceptions for some of your guys to get into the shelter, but he never mentioned anything about letting them out early. The war is still going on; we can't put the rest of our people at risk by opening the shelter-"

"Please, my little girl is in their. She's eight!" Elara stepped forward, carelessly pushing through everyone and making a beeline towards the guards, but Wynn held her back. She resisted at first, but when Kodiak grabbed onto her other arm, she realised she wasn't going anywhere; she didn't have the physical strength to free herself from them.

"Then she's safe inside," the guard assured her, somewhat annoyed that they were all being so persistent about it. "That should be what you want for her, not to drag her out into the forest when all of Terra Firma Tribe are out here-"

"You don't understand," Elara exclaimed, acting as though everything rested on their compliance; as if she had completely forgotten about the other plan Wynn had up his sleeve. "We should have never put her in there. She needs us. She's probably terrified and scared she'll never see us again. Please just go inside and ask for Izzy to come out for me, Elara. I don't even have to go in with her, just bring her out-"

"I'm sorry, but no-can-do," the guard insisted. "You're just going to have to wait until Tobias gives us the command to open up the shelter-"

"He gave us the command," Wynn said without thinking, seeing the surprised looks from Kodiak, Quill and Elara, knowing they were all wondering where he was going with this. "He got caught up - something happened with Calvin from Terra Firma - but he was just with us and the other two Sovereigns. He said we could have Izzy back if we went to the shelter."

"Then why didn't he come here himself?"

"One of our people was hurt-"

"It's war. A lot of people have been hurt out here today. Tobias has a lot of his own people to worry about before yours."

"I get that, but this was different. He decided to stay with the other two Sovereigns and not risk the journey out here as Calvin could be around. They're the stronger half of us."

"Well, then they should have escorted him out here. I'm not buying this story of yours. I'm not prepared to go behind Tobias' back-"

There was a sudden echo in the bushes behind them, steering everyone's attention away from the conversation.

"What was that?" Quill asked, hoping someone had an answer for him.

"My bet is on it being Terra Firma Tribe," the guard said, already drawing his weapon out and getting ready to defend the perimetres.

Knowing he had to find a way to earn their trust, Wynn gave out a command that he hoped would seal the deal. "Kodiak, Quill - assist in the defence. Elara, stay behind us."

Kodiak hurried into action, pulling out his blade from his waistband and using his other hand to hold Elara close against his back. Beside him, Quill drew out the gun Wynn have given him and kept it aimed at the bushes now in front of them, waiting for his brother's command to begin shooting.

A few moments passed - nothing happening - and then the first of the attackers from Terra Firma Tribe jumped into sight.

As Wynn and Quill unleashed their weapons on the enemy, their efforts assisted Exile Allegiance in their defence, allowing for all of the Terra Firma strays to be killed before they could make it too close to anyone.

Once the immediate threat was over and Wynn knew that there was no-one else around, he let out a heavy breath, turning around to face the guards.

"Don't you get it? We're on the same side. We're just here for Izzy, and then we'll go. Everyone else in the shelter - both your people and ours - can stay in there until the war is over for good."

"We appreciate your assistance just then, but it doesn't change where we stand. Unless Tobias is able to come here and tell us otherwise, himself, then that shelter door is staying shut."

"Wynn..." Elara whispered from beside him, no longer able to carry the weight of her anger anymore. "What are we going to do?" She was desperate for her big brother's help; for him to still be the person she had always had to fall back on when the world fell apart; for him to find a way to protect her from this, too.

Wynn exhaled a nervous breath, glancing over at Elara by his side as he considered his words. And then, all of a sudden, he could hear something. His answer.

"We're not going to do anything," he said, shifting his wide-eyed gaze over to Kodiak and praying that he could read what he was trying to say. In some sort of miracle, he did, and right as the next wave of Terra Firma attackers jumped down from the bushes, Kodiak grabbed onto Elara - as Wynn did to Quill - shielding them both as they pulled them to the ground.

Wynn made sure his siblings were bother covered by him and Kodiak before he shifted himself around, arming himself with his gun, and watched as the guards of Exile Allegiance were left to defend for themselves.

It was a pretty even fight, but it went down quick, leaving only the original two guards who they had been conversing with, standing. Behind them, several more of their people were dead and a numerous amount of Terra Firma strays accompanied them.

Once the remaining guards managed to catch their breaths and realise what had happened, they turned their attention back to Wynn and his family.

"Thought you said you were on our side?" One of them growled, bitterly wiping away the splatter of blood from his forehead as he slowly began to walk towards them.

"We said we needed Izzy back. Must be your mistake," Wynn muttered, raising up his gun and pulling the trigger twice, shooting straight through each mans chest without so much as flinching.

He immediately pushed himself to his feet, glancing around in the nearby area to make sure they were alone - even trailing up the path several metres to be sure there were no more members of Terra Firma lurking around. Once he knew it was clear, he hurried back over towards the others, grabbing onto Elara's hands and helping her to her feet.

"Are you okay?" He asked, sharing a quick glance over at Quill to make sure he was also unharmed.

Elara nodded and started to brush the dirt off of her clothes, her already fragile body feeling as though it had taken a brutal hit from the sudden collapse to the ground. Still, she knew it would have been far worse if Kodiak hadn't taken the brunt of the fall for her.

"What now?" Kodiak asked as he brushed away the dirt in the places that Elara couldn't quite reach. "I thought this plan kind of depended on convincing them to let us in."

"That was the more favourable plan, remember?" He said. "The other option was to kill them all so there was no one standing in our way, but Terra Firma took care of most of that for us."

"So you know what to do now? We don't even know how to get into the shelter."

"A set of keys usually does the trick," Wynn smirked, tucking his weapon away and walking over towards the Exile Allegiance guards, picking through their pockets until he found what he was looking for.

A smile beamed brightly on his face as he held them up for everyone to see, feeling as though he had managed to redeem himself a little.

"Come on. Let's find Izzy." 

Two // Part One
I'm trying. I'm always trying, but it's one loss after another and I've used up a lifetime's worth of courage; I don't know that I have any left in me.

I really enjoyed writing this chapter and it was 3.1K words which is a fairly-lengthy one! I don't like the tesion between Wynn and Elara, but it's definitely interesting to write as it's so contrasting from the usual scenes I write between them, especially as Elara looks up to Wynn a lot (as he is the one who has raised her) and Wynn is extremely protective of his younger siblings. Elara being really upset with Wynn isn't something we've seen before in this series (I genuinely don't think there's ever been a big argument between any of the Bell siblings?) and don't worry, you won't have to get used to it. No one is missing their close bond more than me (or maybe Wynn).

My new job is a lot of work but if anything, I think that's good because it makes me so motivated to write. I definitely value my free time a lot more now and hopefully, I'll be able to use most of my weekends exploring L.A (when I finally get my state drivers license (queue the Olivia Rodrigo song that I am going to be referencing at every change I get)).

Speaking of Olivia (because I'm literally obsessed, lol), do you have a favourite song of hers from SOUR? Drivers License will forever be one of my favourite songs ever, but I am also really liking Favourite Crime and Enough For You (and Happier, I literally can't choose).

Anyway,  I hope you enjoyed this (and the gif of Froy up top (my bby, I love him so much, man))!

25/05/21.