Episode Two, Part 2:
Some Nights

Bas woke up in his tent, feeling stiff as he forced himself to sit up on the edge of the bed, rubbing sorely against the back of his neck. He had the most agonising headache he could ever remember, it seeming to pound each time he breathed in. 

Stretching out a little, Bas glanced around his tent, struggling to make sense of everything as it was so dark. He reached down by the foot of his bed, switching his lantern on so he could see around, trying to figure out how late it was. 

He couldn't remember how he ended up in the tent, but he assumed that as his headache came on, he made his way inside, instantly passing out. But it wasn't the cause of the anxiety bubbling inside of him, slowly becoming more noticeable than his headache; the empty bed beside him was. 

"Harlow?" Bas murmured, pushing himself up from the bed and walking over to the entrance of the tent. He pushed it back, in search for his brother, hit by a sudden realisation of how late it was when he saw the state of the camp. The fire was burning in the centre, surrounded by at least 50 members of Basilisk, talking the night away. 

Most people were in their tents for the night and the children of the camp were long asleep. All except Harlow. 

Bas knew in his heart that something was wrong: his brother knew the routine of Basilisk and had never once been roaming around at such a late time. 

He made his way over towards the fire, glancing all around for a sight of him, but it was obvious that he wasn't there; everyone was similar to Bas' height; there was no 4ft tall boy standing anywhere in sight. Without knowing what else to do or where to begin looking, Bas hurried to the Sovereigns' Quarters, crashing in through the doors, feeling the slightest sense of relief at seeing everyone in the lounge. 

Everyone turned around at the sudden commotion, thinking from the noise alone that someone was breaking in, and Wynn was instantly on his feet, not even managing to feel relieved at knowing it was just his friend. 

"Bas? What's going on?" He hurried over to him, grabbing onto his arm to steady him. 

"W-what time is it?" 

Wynn frowned, glancing behind at everyone to see if they were just as confused as he was. 

"Half ten," he answered, peering down at his watch momentarily. "What's wrong?" 

"I think Harlow's missing." 

Elara was immediately on her feet, grabbing onto her jacket that was slung over the back of the couch, pulling it on as she stepped up beside Wynn, desperate to know more. 

"When did you see him last?" She asked. 

"This morning?" Bas guessed. "I don't know... I barely even remember what happened today. I woke up in my bed with the worst headache. I don't know how long I was out for, but I just know that Harlow wasn't there and this has never happened before. He always comes back to the tent-" 

"It's okay," Wynn consoled him. "We'll go look for him now," he didn't even need to think twice about it, and neither did Elara as they all hurried down the corridor into the map room, each grabbing a bag and filling it with supplies: torches, a first aid kit, radios - anything they thought they would need for however long they would be searching. 

As they made their way back out into the lounge the Sovereigns and everyone else were frantically trying to catch up, attempting to figure out a plan of what needed to be done to help. 

"Slow down, we need to figure this out," Sol called out, grabbing onto Bas' arm as he began heading towards the door. 

"River, this is my brother who could be out there all alone! My seven-year-old, defenceless brother! What if it was Atlantis or Chessca or-" 

"I know," she assured him, needing him to understand that she wasn't dismissing his urgency. "I'm just saying that we need to make sure we're searching every part of the forest and surrounding areas that he could have gone to. Do you remember seeing him before you left? Was he with anyone? Someone from one of his classes perhaps?" 

"Uh... No, I don't know," Bas hit at his head, desperately searching his mind for any clue as to what had happened, but his mind was empty. Nothing made sense. Nothing gave him any explanation as to where his brother was, or why no one knew what had happened. 

"Okay," Sol said, turning around and immediately beginning to assemble everyone into groups. "Wynn, Elara, Kodiak - you guys head towards the Bunker with Bas. Dreea, Fenn and Atlantis - search the immediate forest. I'll send some guards to meet Diego and search blood woods and everything their side of the river." 

"What about you?" Dreea asked, lingering behind for a moment as everyone already began departing the Quarters. 

"Chess and I will search around camp in case he's here. He could have ended up in the tent with someone from his classes, or one of his instructors might know what's happened. I'll tell Aeryn to get a bed prepped in the medic tent in case worse comes to worst." 

Dreea nodded, trying to her heart strong in the face of so much uncertainty. "We'll find them," she tried to assure her, gripping tightly onto her wrist for added support. 

"He shouldn't have even been able to get out of camp in the first place, if he really is out there," Sol shook her head, too nervous to meet Dreea's eyes for fear of judgement. 

"Hey," Dreea warned, tugging on her firmly. "We don't know what has happened so don't go pointing fingers at yourself. If anything, we're better off now that we have you back," she said. "We always find our people, Riv. And we bring them home, too." 

Two // Part Two