Episode Two, Part 4:
Debts

Ares and Wynn crawled their way through the tunnel, dirt covering their clothes with every movement, no matter how small or careful. 

"You sure there wasn't another alternative?" Ares coughed, reaching the end of the tunnel, his lungs relieved to breathe in something other than dust.

"I'll take that as a 'thanks for figuring a way out,'" Wynn remarked, smirking at him, despite them not being able to see each other in the darkness.

Once they had both fully emerged from the tunnel and were standing on level ground, they hurried over towards the distant trees to take cover, not wanting to be in sight of Basilisk's guards and risk being caught so early into their escape. 

"How far into the forest have you seen?" Ares asked.

"Not that far," Wynn replied. 

"When did you come out here?"

"This morning when I was dodging that defense class I was telling you about. I didn't know where you or Quill were, so I just went alone."

"You went in the day?" Ares was bewildered; half impressed, half concerned by his brother's actions.

"It's okay. No one saw me."

"You don't know that."

"Hey, no one stopped us, did they?" 

Ares didn't have a response to his brother's statement, only a roll of his eyes to show defeat. "Well, have you at least got any idea of where we're going?"

Wynn reached into his bag, rummaging for something until he brought out a map. Ares' eyes widened, quickly digging through the bag himself. 

"Man... How much did you pack?"

"If I saw something that looked useful, I took it," Wynn answered. "In case you're forgetting, the last time I was above ground was when I was four: I didn't really know what to expect out here." 

"You can say that again," Ares mumbled, already starting to wonder if he had made mistake by not putting an end to Wynn's impulsive plans when he had a chance. He took the map from him, trying to identify what each carefully marked point meant, and if there was any hope of him decoding it. 

After a moment's glance, Ares could see two, large letters scribbled on one side of the map: BR. 

"Blood Clan! ...Blood Riders, I mean? Surely that's the other clan that girl was telling us about in the medic tent." 

Wynn looked at where his brother was pointing, murmuring his agreement that they seemed to be on track. "Then this must be where we are now," he said, pointing to the second set of letters that read: BA. "Basilisk," he stated. "It must be." 

"Seems like a reasonable guess," Ares declared. "But... I'm not so sure what to do from here. What was your genius plan?" 

Wynn smirked. "You just had to throw 'genius' in there, didn't you? I guess I'll get used to you being complimentary-" 

"I was being sarcastic," Ares rolled his eyes as he swat at Wynn's chest. "Just tell me your plan." 

Wynn let out a breath. "We head to Blood Riders," he said, feeling as though it was the only thing he had been sure of since he arrived on the ground. "That's who Riverly named after the invasion; she said that Riders most likely took the rest of our family, and that..." He cut himself short, not wanting to suddenly put a halt on the progress they had made and cause Ares to return running into camp. 

"...And what?" Ares pushed. "Wynn, those people have our family. If there's something you know that I don't, you need to tell me." 

Wynn swallowed down the lump in his throat and nodded. He knew Ares was right, but that still didn't mean he was relieved about telling him everything. "She said 'they'd kill us, or worse, they'd capture us'. Supposedly, being captured is worse." 

There was an unease that settled on Ares' face; Wynn could see it, even from the dim light of where they were hiding amongst the trees. 

"Then it's settled. We go to Blood Riders." 

For the first time in a long time, Wynn suddenly felt like the rational one of the two. "I doubt that they're going to let us march in there and hand over our family. They must have a reason for keeping them there, otherwise, I'm sure Mom and Dad would have left and found us by now." 

"And what do you think Basilisk's reason for wanting us is?" Ares posed the question. "Look, maybe there's no good choice here: there's just crappy and slightly less crappy, but that's not important. What is, is that we're all together. I don't really care about where we are, just as long as we have each other." 

"I agree-" 

Before Wynn could finish his sentence, a snapping noise distracted them from their conversation, and they both turned their heads to determine the source of the noise. 

"...What was that?" Wynn asked after a few moments of not being able to figure it out on his own. 

"Uh, I'm sure it's nothing. It's probably just a bear or something," Ares replied, attempting to hide his worry over who else was out there so he didn't scare Wynn. 

"A bear!?" 

Ares hit his forehead, realizing that Wynn had taken his words a little too seriously.  "A bird," he corrected. "I meant a bird, Wynnlow." 

The use of his full name was enough for Wynn to know that he was getting on his brother's nerves. 

"I don't remember much about the ground before we went into the Bunker, either. Okay? I don't know what lives out here. There could be five-headed horses, or zombies, or anything." 

"I'll take my chance with the bear." 

"Smart choice," Ares said, swfitly turning his attention back to the map and trying to initiate their walk in the right path. He made a leap of faith, walking in what he assumed was an easterly direction, only to come to another abrupt halt. 

There was the sound again... Definitely not a bear, or a five-headed horse, or a zombie, but someone... And they sounded like they were getting closer. 

Not knowing what to do, Ares reached for the radio strapped onto the side of Wynn's bag and attempted to make contact with their brother. 

"Quill?" He asked, trying to keep his voice to a whisper. "Quill, are you there? Can you hear this? I think we have company-" 

A piercing sound ripped through the sky, greatly startling both boys that they lost their balance and fell to their hands. 

"Okay, seriously, what was that?" Wynn panicked. He turned to face Ares, gulping down a mouthful of fear as he realized the answer, despite neither of them being brave enough to say it. 

Someone was trying to kill them. 

Two // Part Four
I'll take my chances with the bear.

I love getting to show the sibling bickering between Wynn and Ares. It's a great insight to how annoying Wynn can be when he tries, lol. One thing you'll figure out about him soon enough is that he loves teasing his siblings.

13/08/22