Episode One, Part 6:
Basilisk

Oh, now it's raining. Oh, how the water falls into 
the safe things we tried to set in stone. I can't 
replace you. I can't escape you, now. 

"Are you okay?" Dreea softened her voice as she spoke to Wynn, unable to wrap her head around how Hannah could use Ares' death against him, especially when she must have known that Quill shared the exact same pain as him because of it. 

"I should have never let her come back with us." 

"You did it for your brother," Dreea reminded him. "Because you couldn't take the opportunity away from him. You did it despite how much you didn't want to: that was brave," she pointed out. "But I'm asking if you're okay. What she said about-" 

"I'm fine," Wynn cut her off, not wanting to talk about Ares. Not when the fear of losing Quill was growing more and more likely every day. "I just need to find him. Do you know where he is?" 

"I don't actually think he's in the Quarters," Dreea admitted. "But Elara is, and she might have seen him. Take her with you." 

Wynn nodded, taking her advice and wandering through the Quarters until he reached Kodiak and Elara's room, encouraging his sister to follow him as he made his way outside, only hoping that they wouldn't run into Hannah. 

"Wynn, what's wrong?" Elara asked, cautious of her brother's evident mood. "Come on, I know when something's bothering you-" 

"Hannah came to the Quarters," he told her. "Things got pretty heated because I wouldn't let her in. She thought Quill was inside." 

"...What did she say?" 

"Nothing important. She just kept insisting that she was his mum, not Martha, and that she had the right to see him." 

"Is that all?" Elara searched. "I know she's wrong about that: giving birth to someone isn't what makes you their mother - but you seem pretty upset. What else did she say?" 

Wynn glanced over at her as they walked around camp, taking a break from scanning his eyes in every direction, contemplating if he should tell her or not. 

"Doesn't matter, Ell. I shouldn't even be telling you this. I don't want to make you worried." 

"Hey, Quill's my brother, too," Elara tried to keep her tone playful. "And you've already said too much, so just tell me the rest. Tell me, tell me," she teased, lightly hitting on his arm in an attempt to break a smile from him. 

He did, rolling his eyes as he pushed her away, but he quickly returned to his sombre disposition. 

"I told Hannah that Quill didn't need her to keep him safe because he had me and I'm the one who looks out for you both." 

Elara nodded, showing she was listening, completely surrendering her efforts to lighten the mood. 

"Hannah said that when she spoke to Quill, they didn't leave on good terms. And she, uh... She mentioned Ares to me..." Wynn admitted, letting out a pained breath as he slowly looked over at Elara, hoping he hadn't made a mistake by bringing the subject up again. 

"What about Ares?" 

"I know it isn't," he began, "but she sort of made it feel like what happened was my fault... Because if it's my job to keep us safe, how did I end up letting our brother die?" 

"It's not your fault. I'm glad you know it isn't. It was Dad's," Elara said. "Ares would never blame any of us for what happened. He just..." She let out a heavy breath, recalling the survivor's guilt they all felt, trying to figure out how to explain Ares' death in the least painful way possible. "He tried to save me and something terrible happened. There was nothing we could do. And hey, look at where I am: no more visions, no serum, no more Targo - that's all because of you. And Quill wouldn't have been able to protect me in The City if you hadn't spent 8 months training him." 

"I-I know, but I don't like that she knows about Ares. That's personal." 

"Quill just probably brought him up. If he was talking about his family, he would have mentioned him and Hannah would have asked why he wasn't around. She knows who we are at this point." 

"Yeah, you're right," Wynn sighed, glad Elara was there to rationalize his thoughts. He looked up, realising they were coming to the edge of the camp, almost having known that it was the only place their brother would be. 

In the very corner where two sides of the gates connected, Quill was sitting on the roof of the shed,  his feet dangling over the edge as he sat with his head down, not even paying any attention to the view in front of him. 

"Let's not mention it," Wynn said once he was sure Elara had noticed Quill. "We'll wait until he brings it up on his own, which I'm sure he will. He'll open up when he realises we're just here to listen to him; we care about him." 

Elara nodded, following her brother's lead as they walked over to the roof of the shed, sitting to the left of Quill but leaving some space between them.  

"Thought we'd find you here," Wynn smiled, glancing out over the Red Hills where Quill's vision also seemed to flicker to, but he didn't say anything. "You been here long?" 

Quill just shrugged, clueless to how much time had passed since he made his way there, completely consumed in his thoughts to pay attention to the hours. His silence only told Wynn that it would be a lot harder to get him to talk than he realised. 

"Hey, Ell, have you managed to beat Dreea yet in training?" He asked, looking over to his other side where Elara was sitting, carving patterns into the tin roof with the edge of her blade. 

"Almost," she smiled. "I'm not quite there yet, but I reckon I could beat her soon. She says I'm definitely the second strongest fighter in Basilisk... She ranked you about 7th-" 

"Okay, alright," Wynn laughed, lightly pushing her away from him a little. "I go easy on you." 

"So you're saying that you can't beat me even when you're going easy?" 

"That's-" Wynn cut himself off, realising the mistake in what he had said. "That's not what I meant." 

"Whatever you say, number 7. If you ever want to challenge me to find out, I'll be ready." 

"That's okay," Wynn chuckled. "At least I still have Quill beat." 

"He's still managed to win against you a couple of times," Elara reminded him as she looked over at them both. "So has Bas. He's right behind you in terms of fighting, you know." 

"You caught me on my bad days," Wynn smirked. "When I'm up to scratch, I could probably even give Kodiak a bit of competition." 

"Now that's wishful thinking," Elara bellowed. "Next thing you know, you'll be saying that you're up to River's level." 

"I'd never say that," Wynn placed a hand over his chest, mimicking being hurt. "Because I know you'd tell her and then she really would kick my butt in training. But like I said, I could handle Kodiak." 

"You're right, I will tell them. You can expect to find out for sure just how good you are, tomorrow, probably." 

"I'm busy tomorrow. And for the foreseeable future. Sovereign duties, you know?" 

"You're so full of it, Wynn," Elara shook her head, joining in with his laughter for a few moments, eventually looking past him to see Quill sitting miserably with not so much as a smile on his face. 

She nodded in his direction, alerting Wynn to the fact that nothing seemed to be working to pull him out of his mood, and the joy of seconds earlier was already a distant memory. 

"Hey, what's up," Wynn sighed, nudging on Quill's arm to get his attention. 

"Nothing," he mumbled, rubbing on his elbow where Wynn had come into contact with him. 

"Come on, Quill, we can know you. We can see right through you," Wynn pushed. "This is about what Hannah said to you, isn't it?" 

Quill's head shot up, his eyes wide with fear as he looked up at them both. "How do you know what she said?" 

"I-I don't," Wynn assured him. "We just had a bit of an argument. She wanted to get into the Quarters and I wouldn't let her. She seemed to know about Ares so it didn't take much for me to guess what you two were-" 

"You don't know what we were talking about," Quill dismissed him. "And you don't need to try and figure it out. It has nothing to do with the two of you." 

"It does if it's about you or Ares," Wynn argued. "It does if it's making you upset." 

"I'm not u-" 

"Quill, just stop pretending!" Wynn raised his voice, not used to getting so frustrated with him, but the threat felt daunting: it wasn't something as trivial as a sibling rivalry, it was someone who had come into their lives and forced a division between them. 

"If some woman is going to come into my Clan and upset my family, then it has everything to do with me." 

"She's not just some woman, she's my-" Quill didn't want to finish his sentence, knowing deep down that it didn't feel right. Martha would always be his mum, and his shattered heart tried to resurface that thought to him every time someone seemed to question it, but it was hard to listen to the truth when everything seemed blurred together. 

Hannah was desperate for him to accept that she was his family, but Wynn and Elara were also trying to do that - and they had been the ones there for him every step of his life. They were the ones who had lived in the Bunker with him, transitioned to the Ground, suffered through the losses of their parents and Ares... But Hannah was the only one who could give him the answers he had been asking himself for the last 17 years of his life. 

He wasn't ready to say goodbye to her again. Not until he knew more about himself or what his life would have been like if she never abandoned him. 

"Please... Wynn murmured, standing on his feet, facing him. "Please, tell me that's not what you believe," he begged. "You're one of us. Part of us. Quill Bell, that's who you are." 

Quill couldn't lie to himself: hearing Wynn so distressed broke his heart into pieces, but he felt completely useless to him, knowing that he couldn't give him the answers he wanted. 

"I need her around," he told them, implying it only for the sake of learning his history, but Wynn didn't see it that way. He thought it meant that Quill didn't need them anymore because his 'mother' was in his life. 

Unable to continue the conversation, Wynn took off, barely able to hold himself together as he fled straight to the Quarters, wanting to be alone as he buried away all the emotions in his heart. 

Elara didn't know who to follow; rarely did Wynn ever let either of them see him so upset, and that alone was enough to tell her that he could probably do with some company, or just an empathetic embrace from Sol at the very least. But Quill had been out here for hours by himself, and he would probably remain like that until rations were served or he headed for bed. 

"Quill-" 

"I'm okay, Elara," he softened his voice a little towards her but he still couldn't meet her worried gaze. "Honestly, I need to be on my own for a while. Go check on Wynn." 

"I don't want to leave you. Not if you're in pain." 

"I'm not," he lied. "And I know where to find you if I change my mind. So go back to the Quarters. Find Wynn or Kodiak or someone." 

"Okay," she gave in, not sure it was the right decision as she pushed herself to her feet, wandering over to stand behind him. "But I love you," she said, wrapping her hands around him to receive a half-hearted hug in return. "And I'm here for you, even if I don't understand." 

/////// 

As Elara, Wynn and everyone else was unwinding in the Quarters, a guard walked inside and trailing behind him, two familiar faces from the alliance. 

"Diego? Cosma?" Dreea stood up, moving over to greet them. "What are you doing here?" 

Diego glanced around at everyone, relieved to see that the only people around were people that he knew and trusted with the information. 

"Who do you send out for your hunt?" He asked, not immediately answering her question. 

"Me," Bas stood up, hopping up from the couch and joining Dreea. "Joren, Ellius, and a few others. Why?" 

"We've noticed a substantial lack of game in the forests," Diego informed them. "Now, I know our numbers have gone up quite a bit since we've returned from The City, but even so, there should be enough for both clans to survive comfortably." 

"We've not been taking extra if that's what you're implying," Bas said. "We were informed of the lack of game not long after we arrived back. They said it's been like this for abut 2 weeks. We also just assumed you guys were why there was less food for us." 

"No, and you guys aren't either." Diego sighed. 

"What does that mean, then?" Atlantis contributed from behind them, standing up from beside Sol. 

"I don't know," Diego admitted. "But there's a few of my people outside, and I suggest you guys bring a couple of your own along with us to see if we can figure out why." 

"Good idea," Dreea said. "Bas and I will come with. Atlantis, you too; you're good at observing the surroundings. It'll be useful to have you with us." 

The three of them wasted no time in getting themselves ready to leave camp, suiting up with torches and blades for when night eventually fell on them, completely unsuspecting to the silent predator they would be bringing back inside. 

/////// 

The group had been in the forests for over an hour searching for any obvious explanation or indication to why all the wildlife seemed to have disappeared, leaving both clans with a lack of food. 

It wasn't pitch-black outside; the evening night still offered enough light for them to be able to move around and analyze their surroundings, but Bas - who was searching his own section of the forest, had his torch on for good measure. 

Truthfully, he wasn't sure what he was looking for: animal traps, skeletal remains, perhaps evidence that something had spooked them away, but he didn't even know where to begin. 

"Bas? Atlantis? Regroup!" He could hear Dreea calling out to them, and hopeful that it was to tell them that she had found something, he yelled back. 

"Coming!' 

But as he turned around, stepping out from behind one of the trees, someone moved in front of him with one finger pressed over their lips as their other hand wrapped tightly around a gun, aiming it towards him... 

One // Part Six
I love you and I'm here for you, even if I don't understand.

Ohhh... Who did Bas come face to face with?
Why are both clans experiencing a shortage of food?

Please keep Naya Rivera and her friends and family in your prayers. ♡

13/07/20

Happy 18th Heavenly birthday to Caleb Leblanc and
happy Heavenly 14th birthday to Payton Chester.