Episode Five, Part 5:
Love and War

This world is changing me, 
but I'll love you faithfully. 

"Where is she?" Elara asked, trying to hold off the anxiety that came flooding into her heart for a minute longer, but she couldn't keep it away. How could she not worry about her baby? 

"She's not here so she should be with Harlow," Kodiak said, remembering what they had agreed on. "I think he's over there with Bas; let's go."

He grabbed onto her hand, pulling her along behind him with an urgency in his pace, knowing with every step closer they got to the boys that Izzy wasn't with them.

"Bas!" Elara called out, grabbing the older boy's attention. He immediately recognised the panic in her voice, halting his actions with Harlow to listen to her.

"Hey, what's up?" He asked. "Everything okay?"

"Did Izzy come over here? Has she been playing with Harlow?" She asked.

Bas shook his head. "No, I haven't seen her today. Can you not find her?"

"We just started looking," Kodiak answered, reminding them that it was possible she could be at the other end of the beach with the other children and they had simply not noticed her, but even he knew that it wasn't likely to be the truth. The same pit of nausea that had Elara captive was also working its way onto him. "But she wasn't with Elara, so she was supposed to be with Harlow..."

"And she tried to leave camp last night," Elara informed him, running a hand through her hair, letting her wild eyes search every direction. "I... I think she might have tried to do the same thing when I was asleep," she said. "We need to start looking for her."

"Where was she trying to go last night?" Bas asked. "We can start there. She's probably close by so we can catch up to her-"

"We don't know," Kodiak answered regretfully. "We couldn't get a word out of her."

"Okay, I'll start checking the tents to make sure she hasn't gone in the wrong one," Bas said, already beginning to run towards the nearest tent when his brother stopped him.

"Is Izzy okay?" Harlow asked, trying to piece together what was happening.

"Harlow, I need you to go find Quill or Atlantis and wait with one of them," Bas said, not wanting to panic his little brother, but not wanting to lie with him either. "Can you do that for me?"

Harlow nodded cautiously but obliged to Bas' request, turning around and hurrying over towards Atlantis who he could see nearby.

"We should tell the others," Kodiak said. "We can start a search for her."

Elara nodded, unable to say a word as she followed Kodiak towards the other Sovereigns, quickly catching the attention of Wynn as they approached.

"Hey, guys, what's going on?" He asked, stepping away from Sol and Dreea, immediately worrying that it had something to do with Elara and one of her many side-effects from what she endured on Neptunum. "Ell, are you okay?"

"Izzy's missing," she confessed, her voice strained with fear. "We can't find her anywhere!"

"How long has she been missing?" Dreea butted in after hearing their conversation. "She was here when Ivy arrived - she can't have gotten far in that time."

"I don't know," Kodiak shrugged. "I'm guessing that's the last time any of us saw her. Just before..."

"Just before what?" Elara asked.

"Just before Riv and Wynn left camp," he answered. "And we know that Izzy had been trying to leave too, for some reason."

"You think she followed us?" Wynn asked, hoping they'd have some sort of reason as to why she would have done that.

"She could have done?" Elara there her hands up, defeated. "I don't know! I don't know why she wanted to leave. It feels like I don't know her at all, lately. I-"

"Hey," Kodiak cut her off, slinging his arm around her and pulling her into his side. "We'll figure this out. As Dreea said, she can't have gotten far."

"Guys?" A voice sounded from behind them. Elara and Kodiak turned around to see Quill making his way over, clearly having noticed the commotion and grew concerned. "What's wrong?"

"They can't find Izzy," Wynn frowned, trying to hide his fear so he could keep them both calm. "We're going to organise a search. I'll need you to stay here in case Izzy comes back. And one of us needs to stay and keep an eye on Ivy and Tobias..." He sighed, trying to figure out what to do about them.

"I heard my name mentioned?"

Wynn looked over, startled by Tobias' sudden appearance. Ivy was also behind him.

"What has you all so concerned?" He asked.

Wynn sighed, glancing over at everyone to try and weigh out the risk of telling him. "...One of our people is missing. A child."

"Is it the same girl who came over not that long ago?" Ivy asked, pushing her way into the conversation.

Wynn was nervous to trust her, but he could see the genuine concern on her face and he didn't know what else to do. "Yeah," he nodded. "My sister's and Sovereign Kodiak's kid. She's the one who-"

"Is from Exile Allegiance," Ivy finished for him, trying to piece together everything she knew.

"Pardon?" Tobias asked. "One of the children from my-"

"She's a Basilisk," Kodiak answered.

"We adopted her after finding her in The City," Elara said. "But her name was in one of your journals. She was born at Exile Allegiance. Is this important? We need to get to finding her," Elara sighed, growing impatient for everyone's conversation.

"It is important, actually," Tobias informed her. "If you believe she really has left camp-"

"She has," Elara insisted. "I'd appreciate it if you get to letting us find her-"

"If she is from Exile Allegiance, she will have our clan markings. That can make her vulnerable to the people from Terra Firma that are out in the forests. I do not think they would harm her if they knew she is a part of Basilisk, given your alliance, but if they see her markings-"

"We got it," Kodiak cut him off, frustrated that they were still going on about it. He and Elara very clearly got the message.

"Sorry. I will help you look for her," Tobias offered his assistance, knowing that their intolerance to him at that moment was nothing more than a desperation to find their daughter. "If you suspect she might have followed Sovereign Riverly and Sovereign Wynn, we stand a chance at finding her on the way to my camp. If you two follow me, we can search that way."

Elara and Kodiak nodded, not even giving a second thought before they began to follow after Tobias.

"Wait!" Wynn called out, grabbing onto Elara's wrist. "Are you sure you can manage it, Ell? It's a hike up there and you're-"

"Wynn, this is Izzy we're talking about!" Elara snapped at him, frustrated that they were sparing a thought for anyone other than Izzy. "I'm not stopping until we find her. No one is."

Wynn nodded, not continuing to interrupt as he knew he would have done the same thing if it was her or Quill that was missing. "I'll search the other side of the woods," he said. "And I'll get people checking everywhere around here."

Elara nodded but turned away before she could say anything, too terrified to trust that her voice wouldn't break with emotion.

"I can help, too," Ivy announced, continuing to move forward to the Sovereigns, hoping they wouldn't deny her offer because she was from Terra Firma. "As I said, the girl has markings; it could be dangerous."

"I'll go with you," Wynn agreed, turning to the others to give further instruction. "Quill, I need you to-"

"Wait a second..." Ivy interrupted, suddenly stepping in between the brothers and grabbing a hold of Quill's face. She tilted it in the light, trying to get a better view of what she thought she was seeing.

"Wynn... What's happening?" Quill asked, his voice restricted from Ivy's grip on his jaw. It was by far the strangest encounter he had ever had with anyone and he wasn't sure whether to pull away from or remain perfectly still.

"Ivy-"

"He's got the markings, too," she declared, cutting Wynn off as he went to move her away from his brother.

"What? The Exile Allegiance markings?" Wynn frowned, feeling his heart sink in his chest.

Ivy nodded, pointing them out to him, "Right there, three circles in a line under his right eye."

Wynn stepped closer to Quill, hoping that Ivy had mistaken specks of dirt for the marking, but she hadn't. Quill had the markings.

"Someone want to tell me what's going on?" Quill asked, looking over to Sol and Dreea given that Wynn and Ivy didn't seem to be answering his concerns.

"You're from Exile Allegiance," Ivy sighed, overwhelmed with how connected Basilisk seemed to be to everything.

"What do you mean I'm from there?" He asked. "I'm a Basilisk... I was born in The City of Targo-"

"Are you sure about that?"

Quill hesitated. He was, but now that Ivy asked, doubt started to creep in. "I don't know?"

"His biological mother was in the journal," Wynn said. "She was a part of Exile Allegiance, but Quill's name was in there like Izzy's was."

"Hmm..." Ivy pondered. "It must be because you're a blood descendant then."

"What are you talking about?" Quill exclaimed, wiping at his face and examining his hand to see if anything had come off.

"You have the clan symbol for Exile Allegiance," Wynn sighed, heavy-hearted to be dealing with the news amidst everything that was already going on. "It means you're promised entry into their clan and protection by them."

"Either you were born into the clan, or you have unwavering rights to join them because of your family," Ivy said.

"No thanks," Quill replied, forcing a nervous laugh at her invitation.

"It also means he's a target," Ivy continued, turning back to face Wynn. "It's not safe for him to be out of camp. If I were you, I'd keep him here."

Wynn nodded, but more questions seemed to arise. "Wait, your people know how to recognise the Exile Allegiance symbol? That means if they see Izzy, they won't realise she's from Basilisk, they'll just assume she's one of Exile Allegiance and they'll-" He couldn't finish his thought, unable to imagine anything happening to her.

"Some of them know," Ivy informed him. "Calvin and a few of his guards. But it's never been that important as everyone our guards found outside of our grounds were always from Exile Allegiance. We've never had to consider someone not being from there."

"As interesting as this all is, can we worry about it later and focus on finding Izzy?" Quill said. "She could be hurt out there for all we know. I'll stay here while you guys go."

"Wait, how old is she? The girl?" Ivy asked, not ready for everyone to leave just yet.

"Why does it matter?" Sol spoke up, already trying to organise with Dreea who would go where.

"Just answer the question!" Ivy pushed. "How old is she? How long has she been with you?"

"She's eight. She's been with us for seven or so months. Why?"

"Because..." Ivy sighed, wishing that Sol's answer had been something different. "That means she's old enough to have memories of this place. You said you found her in The City of Targo?"

Wynn nodded.

"You don't know how long she was there before you arrived. It might not have been long; she might have spent most of her life here... She might know where she is."

"She could be trying to make sense of her surroundings or find a place lost in her memories," Dreea pointed out, suddenly aware of the growing stakes.

"It's quite possible," Ivy said. "With any luck, she'll have headed in the direction of Exile Allegiance, but if she got lost, she could be closer to Terra Firma and if my people have found her, then it could be..."

"It could be what?" Wynn asked, knowing somehow that he didn't want to hear the answer.

"It could already be too late," Ivy confessed. "Terra Firma are ruthless."

"We have to leave. Now!" Wynn said.

"You two come with me," Ivy agreed, motioning towards Wynn and Dreea. "You're already familiar with our territory and Sovereign Dreea's already been inside. Sovereign Riverly, you should search the immediate areas of the forest all along the shore. You never know if she could just be hiding."

Everyone nodded and went along with Ivy's instruction, praying that there would be a perfectly reasonable explanation as to where Izzy was and that, above all else, she would turn up safe. 

Five // Part Five
It could already be too late.

Izzy is missing! And news from Ivy lets her family know how dangerous it could be! What do you think will happen if they don't find her?

Also, Quill has the markings, too? How will this affect him?

21/03/21.