Episode Two, Part 6:
Debts

For the second time since leaving the Bunker, Wynn woke up in the medic tent, alone and feeling like his entire world had vanished. He looked around, noticing that it was still dark - perhaps the early hours of the morning - and tried to understand why he was there until he remembered what had happened. 

The realization made his chest tighten and his next inhale for breath was more like a suffocated wheeze. His eyes were already watering - just seconds after opening - but through the blur of his vision, he noticed a light on in the corner of the tent. 

There were several figures gathered around; hushed voices whispering into the night. Wynn tried to make sense of who he could see - figure out if he could still recall any of the names of the people he had suddenly become hostage to, or find a friendly face in a world full of ones he didn't recognize.  

Aeryn. The doctor who had been at his side when he woke up the first time; the girl who had been so gentle that he almost forgot how afraid he felt all the time. 

Paying closer attention, Wynn realised Aeryn and everyone else seemed to be talking to someone laying down on the medic bed, and it wasn't long before his heart clung to irrational hope. 

Ares? He thought. Had it all been a bad dream? Was Ares no further than the other side of the tent ? Alive? Safe? 

Wynn tried to sit himself up, but his body was exhausted and lacking his usual enegry. He groaned at his limitations and the ache in his leg, soon gaining the attention of the others. 

"Hey..." Sol frowned, being the first to notice and leave the group. "How you holding up?" 

As she began walking his way, Quill - who was one of the people gathered around - whipped his head in Wynn's direction and hurried over immedaitely after realizing he was away. 

"Wynn!" Quill murmured his brother's name, wrapping his arms around him and engulfing him in a hug before he could get a word out. 

Wynn felt some of his strength return, and his eyes a little heavier with emotion, but he was more grateful than he could express at knowing his brother wasn't going to be on his own. 

"Are you okay?" Quill asked, pulling up a nearby seat and sitting next to Wynn's bed. 

Wynn stretched out his body and then nodded his answer. A moment passed and then his eyes flickered over to Sol - something about the way he looked at her feeling like a plea; a desperation for her to tell him that his memory had got it all wrong, and Ares was fine. 

"You were in shock," Sol said, her voice softer than usual, but she didn't quite know how to look at him. "I called Dreea and she helped me get you back here in the medic tent... I thought you needed to rest." 

Wynn looked over at the girl Sol had mentioned who was now making her way over; she was tall and wore long dreadlocks which hung over the dark skin of her bare shoulders, and took every step with certainty, not seeming phased by the heavy and unspoken emotions of everyone else. 

"You almost got Riverly killed by leaving camp. If I were you, I wouldn't bet on us coming to your rescue next time. Don't do it again." 

"Dreea..." Sol mumbled, giving a slight shake to her head as she nudged her elbow into hers. Perhaps a way of reminding her that regardless of how stupid Wynn had been by leaving camp, what he had to face out there was consequence enough. 

"Whatever. Maybe you should save our resources for people who actually need it, like your friend over there." 

"Ares?" Wynn asked, his eyes instinctively turning to Sol for an answer. 

She tried to figure out how to let him down gently, but to her relief, Quill beat her to it. 

"Azha's doing a lot better," he said, plastering a worn-out smile on his face. "They're going to let him out soon. Well, out of the medic tent." 

"You can go too, if you want," Aeryn announced, offering a tender squeeze on Wynn's shoulder. 

"Can I leave leave the grounds?" Wynn asked, not waiting a moment to propose his question. 

Sol shifted her weight to her other foot, half baffled, half annoyed. "After what I just had to save you from, you still want to leave?" 

"Ares is-" Wynn cut himself off, seconds away from exploding in rage, but his eyes flickered down to Quill and everything changed. Did he know what had happened to their brother? Had Sol him the truth? Or had he figured it out on his own when Wynn was brought back last night, but Ares was nowhere to be found? 

"Ares isn't here," Wynn said, turning back to Sol. "I have to find him, and my little sister, my parents, and the rest of our family. I'm not asking for your help to do that, I'm just asking that you let me out of the gates." 

Quill looked up at Sol, as did Aeryn and Dreea, all anxiously awaiting her permission. But she crossed her arms over her chest and stood firm. "No." 

"...What?" Wynn couldn't quite believe what he had heard. If he knew her better, he'd have assumed she was joking. 

"Last night was dangerous enough, and you wouldn't have even survived it if it wasn't for me. You think I'm letting you out there, or risking my life for the however-many-times to save you? I have more important things to worry about at the moment." 

"And my family isn't one of them?" 

Sol huffed and scrunched up her nose. She couldn't hide how irritated he was making her. "Look," she said. "You don't get it. My father's a Sovereign; he's in charge of our entire clan and soon enough, Dreea and I are going to be two of the people taking over for him. We can't waste our time babysitting you or coming to your rescue. Finding your family will have to wait." 

"I just said I don't need your help," Wynn argued. "If I die out there, it won't affect you. Just let me leave." 

"You don't realize, but you put all of Basilisk in danger last night!" Sol informed him. "If I didn't find you and scare off the attackers, then more could have been sent our way and before you know it, we're facing a war. So yes. Unfortunately what happens to you does affect me." 

"So I'm stuck here? I'm one of your prisoners? That's what you're saying." 

Sol rolled her eyes. "Call it what you want. I still saved your life. You can think about that when you have somewhere safe to sleep tonight, not to mention the clean clothes and rations-" 

"Things all of us had when we were in the Bunker. And we were all alive, too." 

There was a momentary silence that lingered over the group for a few moments, no one brave enough to look at each other. Wynn had made a point and he knew it, as did Sol who was struggling for something to say. 

"...I know where your family are," Sol revealed - the news groundbreaking to Wynn and Quill. "But you've got a lot of training ahead of you if you ever want to leave camp. Maybe you should start by not skipping the classes we've assigned to you." 

If Sol really knew where his family were, which Wynn had every reason to believe she did, then he knew he should probably start cooperating with her if he wanted things to work out in his favor. 

"Fine. I'll take the training, but seeing as you're about to be the one runnings around here, it'll be you that teaches me." 

"And why the hell do you think you get to make that demand?" Sol challenged. 

Wynn stretched out his arm and pulled his sleeve down, revealing her initials tattooed onto his hand. "Because I might not be your prisoner, but you sure as hell made me your problem." 

Two // Part Six
I know where your family are.

So, I've actually already completed writing this entire 10-book series (all books are available on my profile and reading list), so it's really funny coming back and editing this and writing all these scenes between Sol and Wynn while knowing everything that happens. Dramatic irony, but for a writer, lol.

13/08/22.