Episode Five, Part 4:

R a d i o   S i l e n c e

"The enemy is Basilisk. All of Basilisk." 

"You sure about that?" 

Lyra stared at Noah, confused out of her mind at what he was referencing until she noticed him nod his head in her direction, pulling out his sword that was strapped over his back. Lyra turned around, feeling the ground shift beneath her feet as she laid sight on familiar faces. 

She almost called out the names of the two boys she recognized, as if the relief that they were still alive was spilling out of her, as if she couldn't quite contain it. But Ares stared back, his gaze cold and aggressive, warning her that he felt the opposite. Noah had walked forward, motioning for Lyra to stand distant with Jonas as he confronted the group. 

"Sovereign Kodiak!" Noah teased, standing awfully close to him. "What an honour to meet you out here. We were just coming to find you." 

Kodiak kept a blank face, ignoring the childish antics of The Noah Show. It was just in his nature to be annoying, but he could really do with beating the crap out of him right then. 

"I'm only going to ask you this once," Kodiak cut Noah short, seizing his attention. "Do you know what happened to Riverly?" 

Noah's features softened, a stumble in his demeanor, as if noticeably shaken by the question. His voice became low, calmer than it had been when taunting him, suddenly serious. "What are you talking about?" 

As the heir to the throne, it made sense for Noah to hate Riverly and everything she stood for. Their father's were out for each other's blood, hence why they always remained in the safety of their camps and sent their kids to do their dirty work for them. 

"No one has seen her in days. Eryx has announced her death, but..." Kodiak was hesitant to admit it to him, worried that he would yell the news to Blood Riders and they would come for Basilisk. "Well, we're not so sure. But she is missing."

Missing. Seen in days. Her death- missing. No one has seen- missing.

Noah was pulled deep into a memory, as if the vision tore through him and ripped him back in time. 

He pushed the branches out of his face, creeping down the ditch with his spear in hand. Every move was precise - or at least, as precise as it could be for an eight year old. He did his best to stay quiet, but he still hadn't mastered the art of silence, and every now and then, he would step on a twig or stumble over the root of a tree. 

He knew he had seen it. There had been a deer that had just ran down here a second ago, yet he couldn't find it anywhere. A sudden thud shook the ground behind him and Noah spun on his heal, raising his weapon. 

He was terrified at first, then relieved to see it was only Sol, then angry that she had jumped out on him like that. 

"What are you playing at, River?" Noah wined, shoving her backwards a little. 

Sol laughed and brushed at her shoulders, clearly amused with herself. "Always watch your back. Oh, I'm sorry. Do they not teach you properly at Riders?" 

Noah rolled his eyes, turning away from Sol. He wanted her to sense that something wasn't settling well within him. 

Confused at his unusual distancing from her, Sol stepped closer to Noah. She reached out for his shoulder to turn him around, but he refused, instead, walking away to perch himself down against a boulder. 

"Whats up with you?" She asked. 

"Where have you been?" His voice was bitter. Heavy with heartache. 

"What are you talking about?" Sol tried to laugh it off, pretend she had no clue what he meaning, but Noah wasn't having it. 

"You ran away?" He asked. "Or you got lost somewhere... No one at Basilisk knows where you've been. No one's seen you in days." 

"Noah-" 

"And then you didn't show up by the lake. We always meet there to train together, River, every Thursday. Guards from your camp came and they were asking me why I was on your side of the lake. They said you were missing. You know what they would do if they knew we were friends. And..." Noah sighed, struggling to admit what was weighing down. "And I thought something bad had happened to you." 

Guilt swarmed in Sol's chest for failing to realize how her decision would hurt Noah. She took a moment to contemplate her apology before sitting herself down next to him. 

Once Noah looked over at her, Sol raised up her pinky finger, out-stretching it towards him. "I promise not to run away again until I'm at least 16 and a half. Then you can come and find me and you'll be my hero." She declared. "Not that I need a hero!" Adding on quickly as if it was the most important part of the whole promise. 

Noah huffed out his bitterness, and gave into her smile, locking his fingers with her's. 

"Maybe just don't run away ever again." 

"It's my right to run away and I will do it whenever I want... As long as I'm older than 16." 

"...And a half." Noah finished for her. 

"And a half." 

Noah shook frantically, almost gasping for breath as the long-passed memory released it's hold on him. He was overwhelmed by how real it felt, how he could recall the locking of fingers as if it were only yesterday. 

"Knowing River, she's probably just ran off somewhere. Wanted to avoid the responsibilities of being Nobel, or something like that." 

"Knowing River?" Kodiak asked. "Knowing River!?" He repeated, his voice more hostile than the previous time. "If your people have done something to her, I swear-" 

"Relax, Kodiak." Noah interrupted. He hated himself for having to hide the fact that he cared about her, but there was so much at stake already for his positioning as King that a secret like that could jeopardize everything. It was also confirmation for him that Sol hadn't told anyone about what they used to do when they were kids. Every time they taught they other what they had learnt. When they snuck out of camp because they were bored of being cooped up. When they wanted to talk to someone who would understand the pressures of their fathers. They would always have their secrets. 

"I haven't seen her." He answered. "Have you tried asking those tag-alongs you brought with you? What about the ring-leader that I've heard so much about? The one that this one made me swear never to kill." He nodded backwards in the direction of Lyra, suddenly making her more observant of the situation. 

"Where's Wynnlow?" 

"Wynnlow! That's it." Noah said to himself. "Knew it was a weird name." 

Ares stepped forward, stomping in their direction, but Quill pulled him backwards. Ares wasn't even sure who he was going for; Noah, who he already couldn't tolerate, or Lyra - the girl who had caused their family so much suffering. The girl who was responsible for his mother's death... In spite of everything, when he looked past all the rage and betrayal that he felt for her, there was still a glimmer of recognition in her. Like there was a part of him that wanted to forgive her for the sole sake of her being family. 

"We got separated in the DeadLands after the storms came. We didn't have enough resources to stay out there any longer, so we hope he was smart enough to come back." Kodiak answered. 

"Y-you went into the DeadLands?" Noah struggled to comprehend the news. 

Kodiak nodded. Defeated. "We looked everywhere else." There was a beeping in his pocket from the radio, muffled by the material of his clothes, but he ignored it. 

Something stirred within Lyra. A panic. An anger that wasn't there before. "You left him out there?" She asked them. "You left him to die?" 

"Like you didn't already do that!" Ares called back from the group, shutting down any attempt Lyra had to prove that she still care about them. She knew what he was talking about. How Lyra had turned her back on her people, left Wynnlow in the woods with Sol instead of bringing him back to his family. It was something she still regretted to this day. 

"I was trying to protect him, you idiot! I was never gonna let Riders hurt him. He- He means too much." 

There was so much more Ares wanted to say. So many cruel and wicked words that would surely stay resonating deep in her memory, but he couldn't bring himself to say them. If he did, then it would confirm something he was holding on to. A realization that maybe he wasn't ever going to see Wynnlow again. 

He didn't need Quill to hold him back this time because he turned around on his own accord, hoping that his silence would wound Lyra just as much. 

Kodiak turned round, sighing, evidently exhausted by the constant battle between everyone he knew. 

"It doesn't make sense." He told Noah. "It was the only place we hadn't looked, so we thought it was worth a try-" 

"And?" Noah asked. 

"Well obviously nothing." Kodiak snapped back. 

Noah was ready to retaliate with some witty remark but became distracted by the onset buzzing from his belt line. His radio murmured a static frequency - a voice that wasn't tuned into the right channel, a blur of noises emitting from everyone around who had a radio, too: Bianca, Aeryn and Lyra. 

Noah was the first to tune into the right frequency, everyone silencing themselves to listen in, gathering close. 

"This is Riverly of Basilisk, and I am still alive." 

Five // Part Four

I haven't written a flashback since I wrote 1D fanfiction - and that was as good as you can expect from a 12 year old fic writer - so hopefully it's not as bad as my last one when idk Niall had a flashback to y/n breaking up with him, or something like that.

If you know, you know.