The Uprising

First Steps

Hi guys!

Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews! I love them all so, so much and to hear your feedback means the world to me! Thank you so much!

Answers to reviews –

- Lordpujan – Thanks for the long review! I loved reading it all! I'm really glad you enjoy the story, especially the 'realistic' moments where they're in danger – I tried to ignore my love for the characters when I had to kill them, especially Sophia and Hannah. As for Ella's aging, maybe Nine played a role in that, maybe not, I can't say :P

- John being Pittacus is going to be discovered pretty soon actually, I'm waiting for the perfect moment for it to be revealed.

- Nine and Joseph won't be getting any POVs but there will be focus on them still, particularly Nine's development. I was planning on doing a Joseph POV but then I never felt that it was particularly needed unlike some of the others and I wanted his feelings for Marina to be a small mystery, not set out. Also there are so many POVs that I don't really want to add some more.

- Adam and Alicia might also be a thing, or maybe not, I'll see how it works out :P

- I'm glad you all liked the girly chat and since it went down well, I'll definitely add another one in!

Please read on and enjoy!

Marina

"Marina, wake up!"

Maren shakes me awake and I jump up, for a moment thinking we're being attacked. I have my bow in hand at once, my ice legacy ready to be used, as I desperately look around for the attack. My heart pounds frantically, and adrenalin races through me. But when I see Maren's smirk of amusement, I relax, a blush on my cheeks.

"Chill," she grins. "It's just me,"

"What's going on?" I ask, relaxing the grip on my bow. Maren purses her lips, gesturing through the dark canopy of trees to the sky.

"It's time to go," she adds, moving away. "We have a base to attack,"

"Right," I nod, brushing away some stray strands of hair. I take in the dark night sky, starting to lighten in the East as the sun begins to rise. The sky is turning a faint light blue with the thin pink rays streaking through the sky, but the stars still continue to shine. There's a cold breeze in our small clearing and I rub my hands over my arms, trying to keep warm.

"Henri said to take the bags but I think they'll hinder us. We need all our energy and lugging these around won't help," she lightly kicks her. "Besides, it's not as if they gave us anything useful to attack the base," she curls her lips up in annoyance.

"What if they find them?" I ask. "And we need food and water,"

"We drink our share now," Maren replies. "As for the bags, even if the mogs find them we should be in the base at that point," I nod in agreement, ditching my bag as well so that the only thing I carry is the bow over my shoulder. I take a last long drink of water, nibbling at a few bits of food but it tastes like ash in my mouth.

After a few minutes of silence and gathering our belongings together, I take a long look around the clearing. I'd never thought I would be so hesitant to leave it behind, but the fear of the upcoming battle is starting to hit me. I take a deep breath, watching as Maren doesn't even glance behind her once and strides out into the forest. I take one last look at the trees, and then turn away towards the mountain.

It takes about half an hour for us to reach the edge of the forest. It's bigger than I thought it would be and it conceals us well from the base. I know the only reason the mogs don't cut it down is to hide their armies and trucks filled with weapons entering the base. It's a good place to practice with weapons if they need to and no one would have any idea what's lurking in here. I shiver as we pass by trees with bullets lodged in them, others covered with slashes that look distinctively like piken's claws. They're eerie reminders of what we're going to have to face today. Weirdly, I'm glad when we eventually reach the edge of the forest and we hover by the edge of the trees, shivering in the cold morning air.