Episode Seven, Part 1:
Y o u   M e a n   t h e   W o r l d   t o   M e

Although everything around me is screaming otherwise, 
you're the last thing on my mind. 

Kodiak shot awake, gasping for air like he had been smothered in his sleep. When he opened his eyes, he understood why: Kane had a hand covering his mouth, and his other held a finger up to his own mouth, instructing him to be quiet. 

Kodiak calmed his instincts off fighting against Kane, and he exhaled deeply, nodding to say that he understood the terms of Kane stepping down. 

He glared up at the older man, unable to disguise the hatred in his stare as he waited to hear what he came here to say. 

"Kodiak, right?" Kane began nervously. It was a poor attempt given that it was obvious he knew his name by now. "I know that you care a lot about Elara-" 

"Damn more than you do." The Sovereign snapped, trying to make sense of his surroundings at the same time. 

They were in a different room that he last remembered, and instead of being chained up in a cell, Kodiak was now tied up to a bed, just like Elara was. He knew before he even looked down that there was a drip connected to his arm, and a bag of fluid slowly being transfused into his body; he was strong enough to ignore the fear of what was happening to him, but not the curiosity. 

"She's my daughter." Kane reminded him. "I'm trying to do what's best for my kid." 

"If you really meant that, then why aren't your other 3 here?" Kodiak challenged. 

The older man scoffed, running a hand through his graying beard. "They made their choice." 

"So did Elara." Kodiak defended her. "And I know it wasn't this. Maybe my question should have been why that doesn't matter? How can you love someone and put them through hell at the same time?" He asked. 

"Because-!" Kane lost his cool for a moment, having to lower his voice so no one discovered he was in there with their hostage. "Because what is waiting for her is so much greater than what she's leaving behind. I'm the only one who's seen it. Believe me, if she could see it, too, she'd-" 

"Don't you dare try and justify yourself. I've heard her screams relentlessly since we came here. And it's not just fear that they're full of, it's pain." 

"I-I know." Kane admitted, full of shame. 

"Then stop doing this to her!" Kodiak pleaded, sitting up as much as the restraints would allow.

"She's the Heir, Kodiak." 

"She can't be if she's dead." 

His words hit a nerve in Kane, like salt on a wound, it burned right through him. Kodiak noticed his reaction, his heart suddenly beating at twice it's normal speed. 

"Tell me she's okay..." He begged, feeling nauseous down to his bones as he waited for the answer. 

"She's fine. She's sleeping at the moment." 

Kodiak knew there was more to it than just that. It was obvious that he was hiding something, and his gut was telling him exactly what that was. 

"You almost lost her, didn't you? Something happened... I can see it all over your face, Kane! You're killing her! If you don't stop, you'll kill her-" 

"Shh, shh!" Kane hushed his voice, but the urgency in his voice filled the entire room. He hurried back over to Kodiak, covering his mouth once again so he couldn't speak. 

"I know the risks, but she's strong." 

Kodiak shook his head, trying to get him to move his hand, but he only held on tighter, each time taking away more of the air he could breathe. 

"I shouldn't have even came to talk to you." Kane muttered to himself, fully aware that the Sovereign could hear him. "I just thought you deserved to know, because its clear how much you mean to her, that she's holding up okay... When the Alteration is complete, she'll be gone, and you shouldn't try and follow us. You'll only get killed, and she wouldn't want that." 

The entire time Kane was speaking, Kodiak had been developing a plan in his mind - what would be his only chance at making it out alive. Kodiak bit down on Kane's hand with all the strength he could muster, the man's pain only made worse by his attempts to free himself. 

Kane held in his roars of pain as best as he could, mumbling profanities to the Sovereign who watched on in equal rage. 

Kodiak spat the blood out of his mouth, all over Kane who made a sudden lunge over towards him, grabbing him by the neck this time with his good hand. He began to choke him, watching Kodiak's face turn red as he laid there stubbornly, refusing to fight. 

The Sovereign never broke eye contact, feeling a smirk appear on his face, even as the life was being drawn out of him. 

Kane sighed, slamming Kodiak harshly against the bed as he let go of him. He didn't have it in him to kill him; partly because of his cowardice, and partly because he knew the guilt would eat him alive when Elara would find out he was dead. 

He did the next best thing he could think of - heading over to the medic supply table and grabbing one of the drip bags; the fluid was red, but transparent - unlike how blood would look like. The man breathed heavily, walking around behind Kodiak, and swapping his current drip bag for the one he held in his hands. 

"What is that?" Kodiak asked, perhaps not as worried as he should have been. 

"The solution we use for Phase 4." He answered. "The endurance stage... And since I don't particularly want Elara to be the first one to test it out, we'll try it out on you... Let's see if a Sovereign is strong enough to survive this round." 

Kane waited until he could see the first few drips enter their way through the needle, and into Kodiak's veins. He couldn't help but grunt, feeling his body react immediately to the substance that burned and itched it's way inside of him. 

"Sleep tight, Sovereign." Kane spat, already seeing the drugs weaken him before he left the room. 

Kodiak's head fell back against the bed, and for a moment, the drug almost overpowered him, but he fought to sustain his consciousness and get the hell out of that damned bed. 

He fiddled the keys in his hand, having pinched them from the side of Kane's pocket as he distracted him with the bite. The restraints around his arms gave his hands a surprising amount of room to move around - something he had made a mental note of in case he ever wanted to tie any of them up himself. 

He placed one end of the key in his mouth, and the other in the lock that secured him to the bed, struggling for a few seconds to find the right technique to turn them. Finally, he heard the lock click beside him, and Kodiak raced to pull the needle out of his arm, hurrying to seize the flow of drugs into his system. 

But it was too late by that point; even as he pulled the needle out, Kodiak's vision was already spinning, and the pressure in his head was blinding. Knowing that he was about to lose consciousness, Kodiak hurried to secure the stolen keys somewhere concealed on his body. He slipped them on the inside of his waistband, feeling the cool cooper press against his skin. With his last ounce of strength, Kodiak slipped his hand back into the unlocked restraint so no one would notice that he was partially free. 

He knew there wasn't much of the medicine that had worked it's way into him, but even the amount he had was enough to pull him asleep. The only difference between him and Elara was that she had been given the correct doses; for Kodiak, only getting a trace of the substance might prove to be more dangerous than the whole bags' worth. 

///  

Noah let out a sharp breath, making the first step towards Blood Riders as he crept out of the bushes. He tried to walk confidently, as if he wasn't terrified of returning to his people, but he couldn't quite gather the strength to seem fearless. 

The gates opened as he approached, and he could feel the stares on him, as well as hearing all the whispers that broke out at his sudden appearance. Out of instinct, two guards fell in line and followed closely behind him to walk him safely to his chambers, but he dismissed them once he saw his dad hurrying across camp - who had obviously been alerted to his return - not wanting anyone to hear the conversation they were destined to have.  

"Noah.." Rogue stuttered out in disbelief as he caught up to his son, trying to figure out what it must have meant that he was still alive: Judas had failed. 

"You're here-" 

"Of course I'm here, dad. The march is in 13 hours. Think I was just going to abandon my people?" Noah had to play it cool; he had to make Rogue think that he had gotten him all wrong, but even as he spoke, he couldn't deny the guilt he felt inside. After all, he did want to abandon them, just not like this. 

"No... No." Rogue muttered to himself, shaking away the confusion. "Where's Jonas? You go on and on about not leaving him alone-" 

"He safe!" Noah snapped, wondering how he had the nerve to ask about him. "Safe from you." 

"Where?" Rogue demanded he tell him, panic settling in. 

"When I told you that you were never going to see him again, I meant it. I'm not telling you anything." 

"You listen to me-" Rogue roared, not paying attention to where Noah was heading to. "He's my son. Mine. That means he belongs to me more than he does to you. So you tell me where Jonas is before this war spirals into something you can't handle." 

"No. You see, this is where you're wrong." Noah stopped in his tracks, creeping increasingly further to Rogue. He had never felt so angry in all of his life, and even knowing that his father was never going to lay his hands on Jonas again, wasn't enough to calm the storm raging inside of him. 

"He's my brother. He belongs to me. I'm his family." 

"You won't be for much longer." Rogue muttered, glaring around camp. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Noah asked, taking a step back. 

"Once the war is over, I know you'll go back to wherever it is you're hiding him. And trust me, when I find him, you'll be the one to never see him again." 

Noah couldn't distinguish whether his dad was threatening to kill him, or simply to do everything in his power to keep the two brothers apart from each other. But it didn't matter, because Noah knew that no distance or time, not even death itself, could ever come between their bond.  

"You underestimate me, still. The people I have him with - I know I could leave him with them for a long time before I had to go back. Because I could stay away if it meant keeping him safe from you." 

Noah finally turned around and continued walking, knowing that Rogue wouldn't dare leave the grounds of Riders when their entire leadership was crumbling. With everything behind him, Noah slipped out the back exit and began his short trek up to the labs; as he worried about what he might find once he got there, he couldn't shake the thought of Sol out of his mind; how much he owed to her. How much he loved her. 

Seven // Part One
How much.

She can't be the Heir if she's dead.

Can't believe this is the last episode of this season!!!