Episode Four, Part 5:
Imitate

With the safety of his family on the line, Wynn knew that it was time to shut up and listen to Sol. He couldn't live with himself if Quill, Azha, Bas, and MaReya were banished from camp because of him.

He had gotten up early, although he didn't manage to sleep much as it was, and drifted around the grounds - observing everyone he saw. He was still too ridden with guilt to face the others after returning without Ares. After all, Ares was their family as well, especially to Quill, and he knew that nothing he could do would ever be worthy of their forgiveness for leaving Ares behind if he could have done something to change things. 

When it reached a reasonable hour, Wynn headed into the medic tent where he had seen Aeryn walk into only a few minutes earlier. She was surprised to see him - possibly because it was so early, but a smile soon appeared on her face when she realised that he had come to see her.

He sat on the edge of a vacant bed, one of his legs folding underneath him as he sat. Aeryn could see that he was hesitant to talk, so she let it him be, waiting until he was ready and Wynn simply sat there, mindfully watching her tend to the patients all the while feeling moved by her compassion.

It was only when Azha limped into the tent that Wynn broke from his gaze and his attention turned to one of the only people he felt he could talk to at that time. Azha half-smiled, making his way over to Wynn and joined him. Out of all the people Basilisk had rescued, Azha had suffered the worst injuries. Even the short walk from his tent to the medic tent was enough to exhaust him.

"Hey Wynn," Azha greeted him, his hand hitting his knee firmly.

"Hey Az," Wynn murmured a response. He was the only one he felt he could be honest with about Ares' absence not feel as though the blame was entirely his to carry.

Aeryn had made her way over and greeted Azha like an old friend. She was quick to tend to his injuries and study how they had healed since the previous day. It seemed like a routine pattern for them now, but they were both unsure at how Wynn belonged in the scenario. 

"What's got you here so early? I hope that leg isn't giving you any grief," Azha quizzed.

"No, no, it's not my leg that's-" he began, cutting himself short. He didn't have the strength to talk about Ares. Not today. "It's not my leg," he answered.

"Uh, don't tell me it's another injury? What happened, Riverly beat the crap out of you?" Aeryn teased, her eyes never parting from her task.

"Not yet," Wynn mumbled. By Azha's concerned expression, he knew he needed to give more information. "She wants me to learn how to shoot today," he admitted.

The shift in Aeryn's position was noticeable along with a slight scrunch on her face that informed Wynn she was surprised about their arrangement.

"What? What is it?" Wynn asked, something unshakeable in his voice; a seriousness that wasn't usually there.

"Nothing, nothing, it's um..." Aeryn was incapable of lying, and Wynn could read her like an open book. "It's just that Riverly's never really dedicated so much time into training someone. And shooting is her strength." 

Her facade broke, and she began to boast a little. "Man, she can really shoot," but her laughter died down pretty quickly, and she was still trying to make sense of what she thought the young Sovereign was up to. "How did you get her to agree to that?"

Wynn shrugged. "She kind of stormed away from me last night. I didn't know what to make of it."

"She did? What happened between you two?"

Wynn sighed, hoping that Aeryn would seemed as baffled as he was. "She was asking me all these questions about the Bunker. She said that it wasn't possible we survived without communication from above, or had as much knowledge as we did."

"Knowledge?" Azha interrupted, suddenly concerned about how much Wynn knew about their home, and what secrets he was giving away to a clan they still knew so little about.

"Yeah," Wynn said. "Like how we thought we might be the only ones alive. She was arguing that by the time mass population decrease occurred, we would have been long underground. But I was trying to explain how it was reasonable to assume that most people wouldn't have survived the war, not to mention a lot of people getting really sick around that time, too." 

As he spoke, Aeryn seemed to look around in a state of panic, acting strangely similar to how Sol had done. It was beginning to freak him out.

"See!" Wynn exclaimed. "Just like that. She got mad when I talked about-"

"Wynn, don't," Aeryn cut him off, leaning close.

He froze mid-sentence, his mouth agape as he leaned back slowly, gazing at her in complete confusion and fear. He knew by her shared reaction that they were serious.

Looking to see if Azha was any more educated than he was, he turned back to Aeryn, desperate for some answers. "Do you mind telling us what's going on? Maybe why everyone freaks out when I try to talk about it?"

She only said one thing. "Riders."

"Riders? As in Blood Riders?" Wynn sought confirmation.

Aeryn bit down on her lip nervously, looking around again to make sure no one was listening to their conversation. She nodded. "A lot of people think that a war is going to break out any day now between us and Blood Riders... Riverly knows it'll probably happen once they make the decision on who the Sovereigns are so that way, they can attack us when we're vulnerable and transitioning between leadership. If Riverly is the Noble, and she probably will be, then she'll be the one leading us all." 

Four // Part Five
Riverly beat the crap out of you?