"He'll be fine, Orin. Come on, we've got to get you fed, look at the state you're in!"
"Did you fill his bowl? He has water, right?"
Orin struggled, hung over my shoulder as I helped him toward the door, a taxi waiting patiently outside.
"I've sorted everything out, don't worry. Atlas will be fine. Please, be more concerned about yourself right now, you're a mess!"
"Thanks, that makes me feel much better..."
He chuckled.
Hana was stood just outside. She helped him into the back and paid for the taxi.
"Oh dear, you don't look all too well, my boy! You sure you want to head out like this?"
The driver asked, watching us in the mirror.
"He just needs some fresh air, but thank you."
I brushed him off, keeping my eyes on Orin.
It had definitely been far too long for him to go without a proper feed, along with losing all that blood...
I'd never seen him look so pale and drowsy.
Once at the forest, we led him into a safe, deep area. Autumn had stolen almost all the leaves so we had to be double as careful.
I couldn't imagine how difficult it must be to hunt in winter.
"I'm alright...you can let me go, I can do this..."
He insisted, pulling out of my grasp.
"Be careful...just shout if you need help, okay? Go for something easy first. You may need a couple feeds before your back to normal, so start small."
Hana advised, watching Orin stumble forward then crouch down before leaping out of view, already sensing something to eat.
"We should feed too, while we're here. I can just grab you something, if you're still not confident enough to-"
"No, I've got it. Thanks though."
I smiled.
Hana nodded before pouncing off in a different direction.
I paused, taking a long breath.
The air was cold, chilling my lungs and helping me relax. The natural burn beneath my eyes mixed with the shivering sensations was a satisfying mix.
Opening my eyes again, a small, red leaf gently fell down in front of me, landing delicately among the others.
Normally, the weather in the city was completely varied.
But autumn seemed overbearing to the normal randomness of sun and rain.
It was actually quite nice.
Immediately, I sensed a fairly large body close by.
The bigger the better, I could go without for longer.
I wanted this to go well.
The first time was obviously a mess, emotionally and with all that blood.
This time, I wanted to keep it quick and clean, like it had never even happened.
Blink and it's over.
Bending my knees, I held my breath and faced the direction the creature was in, waiting until it was the perfect moment...
Then, a skip and a leap and I caught it, slamming it hard against the ground and digging my teeth down without looking.
It was so quick.
It kicked for a moment, just a moment.
This was so much easier than I thought.
I knew I could do it better, after fighting those red Rogues I'd wanted to try it like that for so long.
It was like instinct.
I pulled back, staring down at the doe beneath my hands. Mouth open, eyes wide, she was gone.
Just like that.
So easily...
In the beginning, all life felt so precious to me.
Now, I could see just how fragile it was.
Hana quickly found me again, already looking brighter and more energised.
"I got a nice fat pigeon. You?"
"Deer."
"Woah, you found a deer? Lucky."
She scoffed with a smile, crossing her arms.
It seemed like Orin was still prancing around and feeding, so we both took a seat to wait for him.
"It's so nice to be back home again. I never realised how much I could miss this crappy place."
"Hah, yeah."
"It must be great for you, seeing Liam again after how down you were back there?"
"Definitely, he's doing great too. Oh, Alma, I meant to tell you, remember that Ethan guy? He was the one who broke into the Council and shot Liam, so...just be careful if you ever see him again, alright?"
She warned, looking in my eyes.
"It was seriously him? Wow, I never thought that...why would he...ugh, what the hell happened to that guy?"
"You'd know better than me. I've only seen him be an asshole so far."
"Listen, let's stop being all dark and serious. We're back home, everything's alright. We can relax for now. So, I was thinking, maybe tomorrow, we can all go out again? Maybe to the café where we met, for old times sake?"
"...Alma, I don't think-"
"Obviously, Liam doesn't have to come if he's still hurting, but you know, we can make a day out of it. Just have a break, right?"
"...sure. Maybe."
She wouldn't look at me.
Something was wrong.
"...Hana, is everything okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine...I just..." Hana froze, her head lifting and staring straight ahead, "...something's wrong..."
Without any hesitation, she skipped forward at a crazy speed, darting through the trees.
"Woah, Hana, wait!"
I called out, trying to follow her.
She definitely wasn't kidding when she said skipping was her strongest skill.
That girl could get a far better distance than Orin and me combined in every single skip.
It was nearly impossible to keep track of her.
"Orin!"
She yelled out, running now.
I stumbled out of a skip into a run, fairly close behind.
Orin was stood before someone else, turning and looking at Hana and me.
Suddenly, I froze on the spot.
My eyes caught the strange boy, directly across from me. His gaze met mine and both our mouths seemed to hang open, just a little.
A small, black phone slipped from his hand and landed in leaves beneath him.
"No way...there's...no way..."
He gasped, taking a hesitant step forward.
My mind went crazy, flooding with confused thoughts and bright images.
"...Alvy..."
I struggled, covering my mouth with my hands as my eyes began to well up with tears.
He ran toward me, straight past Orin who reached out to grab him, but Hana interjected. Holding him still while watching us both.
Alvy grabbed me tightly, almost knocking me off my feet.
"I...I thought you were dead..."
He wept helplessly into my shoulder, grip only tightening.
My arms moving slowly, I held him back, taking in his familiar scent.
I could remember him.
I could remember them all.
And that night...
So suddenly, it flooded back...
It all became so clear...
