Blend the Light

Can't Sweat It Out

Silent tears leak from my eyes and roll down my cheeks. Hawk drops down, and Blends himself to his dog form before his hands hit the sand. I stop, sink to my knees, and Blend myself. When I open my eyes, I have to blink a few times- the world is tilting, but I force it away. Arrow. Where are you, Arrow? My paws bring me towards Hawk. "I've caught a scent. It appears that the Wasteland guard is running towards Raydowne."

"Why not back to the Wasteland? Isn't that where they want Arrow?" I frown.

"Don't ask me." Hawk shrugs.

"We'll ask him when we catch him," I say and take off, following the trail. I pause once in a while, making sure I'm still headed in the right direction.

"Jay! Dead ahead. Right on the horizon. Twelve o'clock to you. The Wasteland guard and Arrow. Go get him," Hawk barks. I stop so suddenly that I go tumbling in a spray of sand and dust. My brother starts laughing as I sneeze and get back up. "Cut it out..." I halfheartedly growl.

"Whatever. Let's go." Hawk starts off towards the Wasteland guard. I follow him, paws pounding against the ground. We leave a trail of dust in our wake as we make our way towards the Wasteland guard and Arrow. A smile crosses my face and my eyes narrow as we draw closer. And closer. And closer still.

As we chase the Wasteland guard, a thought crosses my mind. "Hey, Hawk... What happened with the backpack?"

"I thought you had it." My heart sinks to the earth's core.

"Oh, no. I don't have it."

"You. Lost. It? Tell me I misheard you."

"You want me to lie?"

"JAY! That's where our water, food, and everything we need is. Literally everything except the clothes on our back. And you lost it." He curses as he throws his head back.

"I thought you had the backpack. It must have gotten torn off during the fight."

Neither one of us says anything for a few minutes. We run in an icy silence, until we turn towards each other. "Karly's note," we say in unison.

"She's dead meat now."

"Hawk! Be nice. While that could be true, she wrote out Adrien's name, and T-LOOT-D."

"And that we're Blenders. Jeez, we are all so screwed."

"The whole Wasteland knows we're Blenders by now. Anyways, let's just hope for the best, and when we reach T-LOOT-D, tell Adrien what happened first thing. He'll hopefully be able to move our location or something."

"Remember what happened last time we changed locations?"

"Maybe not." We fall into a much more comfortable silence.

"You get Arrow, I'll deal with the Wasteland guard."

"Fine." I nod in understanding. It's probably for the best. Hawk will enjoy it much more than I will. My brother lunges forwards. Sunlight glints off his orange eyes and turns them to fire as his jaws open into a smile. I don't slow, even for a step, as I Blend myself back to my human form. My arms wrap around Arrow's motionless form, and snag her from the Wasteland guard before he's realised what's happened. I continue on. The Wasteland guard cries out in alarm as Hawk barrels into him, tackling him to the ground. He gurgles as my brother's claws plunge into his chest. Hawk tears out his throat with a swift bite, and he's gone. Well, that was fast. "Well, Jay, that was fast."

"You literally just said what I was thinking," I reply with a smile.

"How's Arrow doing?"

"I can't really say. She hasn't changed." Arrow lays limp in my arms, eyes closed, and not reacting to anything around her.