𝑺𝑯𝑬 𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑴𝑻 𝑭𝑶𝑹 the first time, that night. It was barely there: she felt a shadow. The sensation of her back clamped against cold, harsh metal. A scalpel, slicing through the skin on her legs and arms. Across the crown of her head. She was swimming, drowning in her blood.
Her eyes flew open, chest heaving as she shot up into a seated position. The momentum knocked the hammock off-rhythm, and it flipped over, dumping her into the dirt.
She groaned quietly, rubbing her back. That's got to bruise, she thought, pushing off the side of the tree and standing up. She brushed dust off of her pants and sat down awkwardly in the hammock, pulling her boots towards her and stuffing her feet inside them.
"Hey —" She whirled, spinning round and catching Newt's wrist in one hand before he'd had a chance to let it fall on her shoulder. His expression was sleepily bewildered as his eyes widened. "Bloody hell," he muttered. She let him go, feeling her cheeks flame with embarrassment. Talk about an overreaction, she thought, cringing inwardly.
"Sorry." She said quietly. He chuckled.
"Don't worry 'bout it." He stifled a yawn. He was bleary eyed, his hair messy from sleep. "Keep your voice down, though. We don't want to wake anyone else up."
"Right." She swallowed, watching as he clambered onto the hammock next to her. She felt the butterflies again as he moved slightly closer. She could feel him shivering. Here, under the shade, where the rising sun hadn't reached, was freezing. So why didn't she feel the cold? "Why's that again?" She added, distracting herself.
He smiled. "Come on. Shoes on, we have to be quick." He stood up, hands shoving into his pockets as he took a step back. She reached over to tighten her shoelaces, and as she did he caught sight of something on her sleeves. "Emis... your arms —"
She glanced down at what he was staring at. Each sleeve had four long gashes torn into it, stained red at the edges. She'd scratched her arms half raw in the night. She swallowed, looking up to meet his gaze.
"I might need a new shirt." She croaked. He nodded.
"We can look through the supplies later." He said, tearing his gaze from her sleeves, at last. She breathed out. "First, Alby wanted me to show you something. Since I'm second-in-command, and all." There wasn't a sliver of pride in his voice. He sounded more resigned, than anything.
