R U [ I ] N E D

I Speak for the Trees

"What just happened?" Soleil had both of her cousins on their feet as she rushed towards the three that remained: Braedyn, Erzia, and Phoena. 

Brady shook his head, gaze snapping back towards the opening in the tree's that the brothers had darted through. "Doesn't matter right now." He wouldn't tell. It wasn't his place. "What matters now is that we go after them. Who knows what might be lurking out there... it isn't safe." Not that Brady didn't think that Sachi could handle anything that came at them in the boy's Manabe form, but the seeds of doubt that had started sprouting around whether Callan might actually be his brother long since thought dead were only going to grow like an untamed weed the more the boy tried to run from them and from the shifter in hot pursuit. Such a distraction would prove it difficult to defend against any sort of attack.

It took no more than that simple mention of their deficient safety to convince Phoena, who clambered up and darted towards the forest. Sol's eyes widened, blinking between the shrinking figure of the blonde and the two other Runeholders at her side. "Let's go." Sol grabbed Brady's arm, Reighn and Rina in tow as well. "We can't lose her too!"

Brady agreed quickly, shooting a quick glance over his shoulder at Erzia as they started their sprint.

"Oh, fine," the other telepath huffed, "I'm coming." 

And so the five of them went, seeking their comrades wherever the trees might hide them. 

"Do you think you can pick up on her thoughts?" She barely seemed to be breaking a sweat as they ran, which irked Brady to no end as he panted and side-eyed her.

"Why not you?" he asked.

He'd expected her to look annoyed at his insolence, but rather, there seemed to be an air of inward bitterness shrouding her. "I can only hear the thoughts of a single person if I focus on them. I need to be able to see them." Did it upset her that he could do something she couldn't? Skill was a prideful rune, if any ever was, so he couldn't say it shocked him, but Erzia didn't seem the type willing to admit even an ounce of inferiority. "You can open your mind to all the thoughts around you, right?" Brady nodded. "Then you shouldn't have any problem weeding out hers or Callan's. Or even Sachi's. Maybe they'll give us a clue?"

He hated to admit that too, but it was a decent plan. He let his mind wander, seeing what it might pick up on first. It wasn't like there would be much filtering in out in the depths of the forest like they were. A matter of honing in on the right chord was what it was. 

Sol and her cousin's were the easiest, the first thoughts that sprung to mind. Reighn was bemoaning the extra weight-- he'd picked up Ismerina not long after they'd taken off to search for the others--he carried. Soliel, meanwhile, wore a delicate frown as she regarded her cousins, Rina's chin resting on Reighn's shoulder as he carried her piggyback. She wondered if she should cut in and take Rina for a while. She wanted to help Reighn but didn't want poor Ismerina to feel like a burden to the both of them either. But she did, Rina was sulking about not carrying her own weight, chastising herself for being useless and weak.

Brady tore his eyes away from them, hoping that would help snap his mind into focus. He still only found silence where Erzia's thoughts should have been, and while he bristled at that, it couldn't be helped. The next mind he slipped into was comfortably familiar compared to the others, as if his intrusion there was almost too practiced. He was right at home, and Phoena was desperately seeking Callentine. The telepath hadn't expected her to be fretting over how Sachi was, but the boy was important to Callan, and she wanted to find them both. How far could they have gotten when she'd gone after them only moments after?

It was hard to tell, and the harder she tried to find her way, the more lost it seemed that Phoe became. 

"She's lost them," Brady huffed breathlessly, taking a moment to lean forward and brace his hands on his knees as he panted. "I don't know if I'm in any state to keep doing this..." he panted as the other slowed alongside him.