Episode Two, Part 4:
Beautiful & Brutal

And out of all these things I've done, 
I think I love you better, now. 

Izzy began her walk back to Basilisk, trying to maintain a fast pace as she realised it was already getting dark; she didn't notice it as it gradually changed in front of her eyes and it was only when she stopped to look behind her to figure out how far she had made it, that. she realised how late it was getting.

She knew Elara, Kodiak and her uncles were going to be disappointed in her. She knew they were going to be furious at her for leaving let alone without telling anyone, and that she had lost track of time. What if they were all looking for her? What if they had sent out a search party for her and risk everyone's lives in the process?

She breathed deeply, already trying to conjure up the best apology she could think of; have it memorised so she could deliver it the moment they found her so they didn't even have a chance to tell her how angry they were at her.

But something made her stop...

As Izzy reached the top of the final track down to the shoreline, she could see everyone on the beach all crowded around one particular section.

That's odd, she thought to herself. The past few nights had consisted of Basilisk being spread out all along their campgrounds with fires burning every couple of yards so everyone could fall asleep to the same sense of warmth and security as everyone else, but it wasn't like that. Instead, multiple peopled cloaked in dark, intimidating clothing stood holding burning torches with what must have been a hundred people waiting behind them; waiting hungrily in front of the people of Basilisk who were all knelt down in rows.

Who were those people? She panicked. And what were they doing to her friends? To her family? To Elara and Kodiak?

She tried to calm herself and come up with what she knew Elara would say to her: everything's okay, you're fine, no one's going to hurt you, but all those words felt so empty all of a sudden.

She creeped a little closer, making it halfway down the slope and hiding herself behind one of the trees - even though she knew she was too far away to be seen - and tried to understand what might have been happening.

She could see the four Sovereigns at the front of the crowd directly opposing the other clan, but Sol was the only one of them who wasn't on her knees.

Izzy knew Sol was brave; of course she knew that from all the stories Elara had told her, but no one could be brave enough to face that swarm of people all on their own, right? She couldn't fight off all of those people by herself; she had doubts that even Dreea could do that, although that theory, she wasn't so sure of... Dreea was the most skilled fighter ever, according to Elara, and she reckoned that she'd be telling her otherwise if she could hear her. But she couldn't and as far as Izzy was aware, she was the only one of her people who wasn't being held hostage; who wasn't accounted for.

If protecting the people of Basilisk was a job left down for anyone she knew, in that moment, that it was her.

She began to pace around the trees, desperately racking her mind for some kind of clue on what she should be doing, repeatedly asking herself the same question: what would the Great Sovereign Kodiak do? He had thought of a plan to save her from the mines so effortlessly that-

The mines! She interrupted her own thoughts, almost smiling in relief when the idea reached her. Refusing to take a moment to think it over - too afraid that she would somehow convince herself that it wasn't a good idea, Izzy hurried back up the hill to where she had marked out the mines, proud of herself for doing so as she knew it might be the only thing that would end up saving Basilisk.

Once she had located them, she started gathering up the largest, heaviest rocks she could lift, all in preparation for setting off the explosives.

She held them all in a pile, glancing around to make sure she was alone and that no one had noticed her; tried to determine what was a safe distance for her to stand and where the best place would be to run for cover, and then she took in a deep breath, holding all the fear in her throat, and then exhaled it all away.

The rock felt insurmountably heavy in her hands - like every second, it was weighing her down a little more and trying to break her under the pressure, but she wouldn't let it win. Not only had that been something she had learned from Elara over the past few months - watching her keep herself together through what she thought was the endless grief over losing Kodiak, but something she had learned from her dad from all the years they'd had together.

It was hard to think about him because she missed her father in a way that felt like it could bring the entire world to a stop, but she allowed the memories to reach her for a brief moment, hoping with all of her heart that he would be proud of her and every way she had kept her own self together since he left.

Izzy moved to stand as close to the sheltering tree as she could, counting up to three in her head before finally heaving the rock forward and chucking it as close to the target as she could make it.

Instantaneously, the ground underneath her feet trembled everything around her, making it that much harder for her to duck to the side and take cover. Pieces of dirt flew everywhere, hitting her - some of them a little harder than she would have liked, but she was safe. She avoided the main blow of the explosion and despite how uncontrollably her hands were shaking out of fear, she was okay.

She debated whether only setting one of them off would be enough for her plan to work, but it might not have seemed serious for everyone that was on the beach to come and inspect what had happened. If she left it as it was, they might only send a few people out to check, leaving the rest remaining with Basilisk on the beach, and then she wouldn't ever know what to do.

Izzy found the next rock she had prepared and repeated her previous action, sending it forward into the mine. She did the same for the third explosive marked out and giving it all she had, she did the same for the final one.

By now, people were bound to notice that they had gone off and if they weren't alarmed before, the people from the island certainly would be now after hearing three more of their assumed traps set off.

Knowing that they could reach her within minutes, Izzy hurried for her bag and secured it around her, turning for the forest that stretched behind and ran in the opposite direction of her people but nevertheless, to the shore. Hopefully she was so far away that no one would find her as they had all missed her in their initial descent down. The only thing she could do now was wait and pray that the people from the island would leave her friends alive.

/////////

Sol tried to control her pacing as she stood in front of all of her people, knowing that it was an obvious giveaway to their sudden opponents that she was beyond terrified and struggling to come up with a solution on how to save Basilisk.

She watched helplessly as members of the other clan searched through all the makeshift tents and huts her people had managed to build, pulling out anyone from Basilisk that was attempting to hide away and giving them a much harsher treatment than everyone else - ripping them outside, slamming them into the ground, pinning them down with their full body weight as they tied them up.

"What do you want with my people?" She finally found the nerve to ask, taking a step forward to who she assumed was the leader of the opposing clan.

He stood unbothered in front of her, scanning his dark eyes across everyone his side had managed to round up, no doubt plotting what evil things he wanted to do to them.

"Revenge is a word that springs to mind," the man said, not even giving the effort to look over at her. It was the first thing he had actually said since determining who the leaders of Basilisk were and Sol wasn't sure why he had waited so long to speak.

"Revenge? For what?" She played dumb to it, not even sure why she was trying to deny what she did.

"Killing my people in the forest. Coming into our territory. Killing more of our people," he growled. "Does any of this jog your memory?"

"Being more skilled and able to defend ourselves against people that were sent to kill us," Sol corrected him. "That doesn't sound like the fault is on me."

"You want to be careful with what you say to me," he spat. "Do you know how easily I could kill anyone of your people right now? Do you have parents here? Siblings? Someone you love?"

He waited to see if he would get a reaction out of her, but Sol gave away no hints that he was onto something.

"What about those three," he said, pointing at Wynn, Dreea and Kodiak who had already been established as co-leaders of Basilisk. "What's a clan of people without someone to rule them, am I right?"

"If you let us go, we'll get out of your way and we'll be gone by morning," Sol negotiated. Despite knowing that if they set out on the vessel ships, they could be sailing for days before they found dry land again, she didn't really have any other alternative to give to him.

The man contemplated her suggestion, frowning and tilting his head from side to side. "The problem with that is I'm kind of angry right now," he emphasised. "As in, I want to return the favour right now. You killed... What was it, seven of my people? I'll get eight of yours - one for good measure."

"Hey-"

Before Sol could even get another word out, the man had moved past her and darted straight for the nearest Sovereign in reach which just so happened to be Kodiak. He ripped him up to his feet, slinging one arm around his neck and holding him in a headlock, bringing a blade out of his pocket and holding it dangerously close against him.

"The name's Calvin," he introduced himself. "Leader of my people - Terra Firma Tribe. Sorry we had to meet this way-"

A sudden boom in the distance interrupted them, everyone collectively freezing as if all allowing each other to try and make sense of what the noise was.

"What was that?" Calvin muttered over his shoulder, somewhat loosening his grip on Kodiak.

The Sovereign would have tried to escape if it wasn't for his - and the rest of Basilisk's - wrists being bounded together by rope. Instead, Kodiak scanned his eyes out across everyone, relieved to have spotted Elara safe beside Quill, but there was someone missing and the worry on Elara's face was enough to let him know that something was wrong.

'Izzy?' He mouthed, knowing he had Elara's attention, but she just shrugged - miserably - begging for him to figure out what to do.

Calvin turned his attention back to Kodiak, not having heard another explosion for a few moments and assuming that one had been set off by a stray walker or a flock of wild animals. "Now... Where was I?" He said.

"If you hurt him, I swear that'll be the last thing you do," Sol stepped forward, refusing to let Calvin lay a finger on Kodiak. "You might think you have all the power here, Calvin, but don't underestimate us. Like you said, we killed five of your people out in the woods effortlessly and another two in your own grounds without being seen. Tell me, how throughly did you search the forest before you came here? Did you really make sure you checked every possible place our people could be? Are you one hundred percent sure this is all of us? I would want to be if I was you. It seems like an awful lot could go wrong if-"

Sol felt convincing in what she was saying; she could see her words start to irritate Calvin and lay a seed of doubt underneath his skin, but she was certainly grateful when another explosion echoed in the distance, followed closely by another one, and one more after that. They weren't just accidents - she knew that. And despite the added danger it could potentially bring for her people - that someone was setting off explosives nearby - it was a problem she could afford to worry about later, once all of her people were safe.

"Calvin, that's four of the mines that have gone off, now... It could be, you know..."

"I got it, Ivy," he called over his shoulder, starting off sounding frustrated at the girl's interruption but he quickly softened his tone towards her as if he didn't want to upset her.

Calvin paused for a moment - debating what he needed to do, and with a twitch of his nose and a frustrated grunt, he shoved Kodiak away from him, causing him to land on the ground in front of Wynn and Dreea. If it weren't for the restraints around her, Sol would be immediately at his side, helping him to sit up.

"You guys got lucky - for now," Calvin growled. "But this isn't over. If we catch any of your guys even close to our territory, there won't be any remorse. Stay. Away."

Sol didn't know what to say in response but she kept her eyes focused on Calvin, letting him know that he had be heard.

"Terra Firma!" Calvin called out to everyone, gaining the attention of all of his people. "Let's go!"

Reluctantly, everyone followed their leader's orders and backed away from the people of Basilisk, not before shoving and kicking several of them on their way past. Sol remained where she was standing until everyone was far up along the shore and most of them had already disappeared into the forest before she turned around to face everyone, letting out a breath of relief that they had avoided any of their people being killed.

"Dreea, help me out. Something's wrong with Elara," Kodiak muttered, knowing - without even having to look - that she had managed to get the restraints off of her hands long before Calvin and his people had dispersed. There was a knot or rope she couldn't work her way out of.

"What are you talking about?" Wynn interrupted, desperate to be next in line for Dreea to help free.

"Izzy..." Kodiak muttered, unable to say anything else out of fear of what his mind was already speculating. Once Dreea had untied him, he took off past all of his people who were finally understanding that it was safe to stand up, and headed straight for Elara, following her and Quill back through the crowd as they made their way to the other Sovereigns, needing something to be done immediately to find Izzy.

"Ell, what's wrong?" Wynn asked, grabbing onto his sister's arm as he saw a familiar state of terror on her. "Izzy's not here?"

"I tried to find her before those people got to us; Quill and I looked in every tent; she wasn't with Harlow or Bas! I-I don't know where she is!" She informed them, grateful that everyone around her seemed just as concerned as she was. "We need to get everyone looking for her. Those people could have something to do with it-"

"We need to recheck all our surroundings, our tents, and people, first," Dreea answered, looking up at Kodiak as she spoke, knowing he would be able to take her advice a little more rationally. "She doesn't seem like the type of kid to wander off if she sees a clan of people coming our way."

"She's not here!" Elara whimpered, knowing with all certainty that she was right. She couldn't explain in; she couldn't find the words that wouldn't make her sound crazy, but she knew Izzy was missing.

"Okay," Dreea said. "I believe you. We'll get groups out searching the nearby forest immediately but before we go any further, we need to figure what those noises were that scared off Calvin and his tribe. They sounded like bombs-"

"It could be like the mines we found at that house," Kodiak suggested.

"Right," Dreea agreed. "But my guess is that someone set those mines off and we need to figure out who-"

"It was me."

Everyone turned around at the sudden voice sounding from behind Dreea, the speaker blocked out of sight as everyone was standing so closely together. But as she moved, Dreea allowed for Izzy to slowly come into sight, standing nervously and covered head-to-toe in dirt as well as the dried blood from the cut on her hand.

"Izzy!" Elara cried, running through everyone and immediately scooping the young girl up in her arms, lifting her completely off the ground and holding her so tightly that she couldn't breathe for a moment. "Where the hell did you go!?" She asked, the fear in her voice drowning out any anger that was bubbling underneath. "You left camp? Why did you that? We were worried sick about you!"

Elara set Izzy's feet on the ground and pulled back a little when Kodiak came close and set his hand on her shoulder - his way of letting her know that she had something solid to lead against.

"What happened to you?" Wynn said, approaching nearer to them along with Quill as everyone listened in, eager to understand where she had been. "You look like you've been through a lot. Are you hurt?"

Izzy shook her head, gulping nervously as all eyes were on her, terrified to think she had let them all down or that their stares of concern were really glares full of disapproval.

Not knowing how to start off, Izzy pulled the bag off from her shoulder and her trembling hands tried to get it open, but she couldn't focus well enough. Wynn took the bag from her, quickly searching inside to see if it would give him some answers.

"I just wanted to help you guys," Izzy whispered, looking down. "I was worried about Ell and I knew you weren't telling me something and I thought that was because you were all scared, so I tried to do something to help."

"You went out of camp?" Kodiak searched.

Izzy nodded sheepishly, wondering if she would ever manage to be as heroic or brave or smart as her Great Sovereign Kodi.

"I hoped I would find food or water or another house that was safe for us. Isn't that what everyone's about?" She asked. "And I'm not hurt. I cut my hand a little, but this is just dirt from when I set those mines off."

"You set them off?" Elara suddenly comprehended what she said, bending down and holding onto both of the young girl's hands.

"I was coming back and I saw those people here. I knew you were all in trouble and I thought that the bombs would scare them away. It worked, right? I helped a little bit?"

"Izzy..." Kodiak whispered, reaching out and tilting her chin up to look at him. "Do you know what you just did?"

She could see Kodiak was smiling at her but she wasn't quite brave enough to believe that they weren't all furious at her, so she shook her head.

"You just saved everyone."

"I... I did?" Her watery eyes scanned around everyone, noting that even Sovereign Dreea and Sol seemed impressed with her.

Kodiak nodded, giving her the final assurance she needed and once the relief hit her, Izzy crashed into Elara again, slinging herself around her neck and closing her eyes as she breathed deeply, feeling completely safe.

"You protect me. I protect you," Izzy murmured to her, though, everyone heard it. "I owe you so much, Ell. All of you."

"Sweet girl," Elara whispered, running her hand through her hair. "You are all we want." 

Two // Part Four
You protect me. I protect you.

Protect! Izzy! At! All! Costs!

She is literally the cutest bean ever and the way she wants to protect Elara because she sees Elara as this woman who saved her and loved her and gave her a family when she thought she had lost the only one she was ever going to have, completely warms my heart! Not to mention that she thinks of Kodiak as 'her Great Sovereign Kodi' and that she completely ADORES him!

I literally love the Zora's and Bell's SO much! A lot of things to come for this family and so many exciting things to explore! I can't wait!

11/02/21.
Happy 10th birthday to my Marley.
I miss you every day and never any less than I did before. ♡ 5 years later and I'm still holding onto the hope that I'll see you again one day. Always in my heart.