'Oh, hey guys. You haven't seen Lachlan by any chance, have you?'

'Isn't he here?' Preston asked, dropping his friend's sleeve as Jerome shook his head 'He told me that he felt kind of ill, so he went home to talk to his Mom. He said that he would be back in a few minutes, and that was about an hour ago'
'I know Lachlan has no sense of time, but this is a bit much even for him. D'you think he fell asleep?' Rob said as he looked around, trying to spot the familiar crimson fabric of his friend's jacket. He saw nothing, but felt his wolf ears prick up as he heard a soft sound 'Hey, did anyone hear that?'
'Did anyone hear-'
'There it was again!' Turning his head, Rob strained his ears to try and make the noise clearer before he froze. A quiet, practically inaudible cry sounded from one of the caves behind them, and he turned fully to see a dim blue light coming from one of the large indents. He began to walk forwards, ignoring the other two behind him and running when he heard a scream 'Lachlan?' He called, sprinting to the entrance as the glow disappeared 'Lachlan, was that you?'

There was a minute of silence, and Robert was starting to think he'd imagined it when he heard it. A heart-wrenching scream came from the very back of the cave, followed by quiet sobs. Preston and Jerome immediately dashed over when they heard this, with the youngest of the trio slowly walking into the cave and willing his skin to glow brighter. It countered the darkness, pushing it back as he made his way over rocks and looking around. He couldn't see anything too out of the ordinary, just chunks of rocks and some kind of red liquid on the - Oh.
'-Don't even know if it's-' Preston ignored the voices behind him, kneeling next to the liquid and carefully put a finger into it. His skin hissed, but didn't turn to water or obsidian, so it couldn't be dyed water... It could really only be one other thing 'Guys, whoever's in here is bleeding, badly,' He reported, standing back up and turning back to the older duo, 'I'm going to check it out, it could be Lachlan for all we know'
'But what if it's something dangerous, like a-'
'If it tries to attack me, then I... Let's just say I'll lighten up their day' The Texan smirked, proud of his pun as the other two groaned before turning back and clambering over a boulder 'Hey, Lachlan Dachlan Jachlan, are you in here?'

'Yeah, he's totally gonna reply if he's unconscious' Jerome muttered, but he followed his two younger friends as Preston lit the way. This was one of the larger caves, once belonging to a Venandi 'It smells weird in here'
'That's easy for you to say, you don't have heightened freakin' senses - I can smell what you ate yesterday, fish-breath'
'At least I don't eat waffles every single-'
'Oh my gods. Guys, you're both acting like small children!' Preston snapped, glaring at the two as they narrowed their eyes '...Fine'
Rolling his obsidian orbs, the lava hybrid grew a small fire in his hand and raised it in the air. It provided more light, and upon hearing heavy and uneven breathing he looked up. There, laying on a carved-out ledge, was their blond friend 'Lachlan!' He called, and the figure jolted before pressing himself against the wall. This action was followed by a loud yelp, and the Texan immediately attempted to climb onto the ledge "For fudge's sake, how did he even get up here?!"

His attempt failed, and he merely ended up falling back down. His skin flashed brighter in annoyance, and Rob sighed before walking to the wall a few metres away 'Preston, for being the Parkour King - You're terrible at this' He mused, lifting the flap of his satchel up and withdrawing two daggers. The brunet then proceeded to dig them into the rock, hauling himself up and using one as a foot hold while the other was used as a type of grip 'Lachy, I'm coming up!'
'N-No, don't!' The Australian warned, following up with a soft groan when he tried to move, 'Please, just...'
'Lachlan Power; You're one of my best friends, you might be hurt, and you're telling me to go away? You really don't know how stubborn I am,' The Canadian grunted as he pulled himself up, shaking his head as his eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness, 'Now, why're you all the way up - Ah, right'
Well, he'd found where the blood had come from. The young blond's hoodie was tossed to the side, exposing the previously white undershirt that was now stained red as bones slowly pushed their way out of his back. A long tail was curled around the boy as he hugged his knees to his chest, his pain obvious as he would wince every few seconds 'Jerome, Preston, you guys need to go and get Lachlan's parents'
'Why? What happened to-'
'Just go, for goodness' sake!' The wolf hybrid snapped, 'He could bleed out any minute, please!'
'Okay, okay, we're going - Jerome, come on!' Letting out a quiet sigh of relief when they left, Rob knelt by his younger friend's side and out a hand on his knee 'Hey, you alright?'

'It-It hurts' Lachlan muttered, tensing as a fresh wave of pain rolled over his shaking form. The brunet frowned slightly, crossing his legs next to the boy as he hissed 'I know Lachlan, I know... Your parents will be here soon, they'll know what to do'
The blond could only nod, giving a tiny gasp as he tasted blood on his tongue. This was accompanied by two small - Were those teeth?! He spat them out, eyes wide as he felt something push through the now empty holes in his mouth as he whimpered 'Rob, I-I'm scared!'
'Hey, hey, you're gonna be alright. This is just... This is just - Eh, who am I kidding. Lachlan, we may not know what's happening but I know you can do this, you're probably stronger than all of us'
Lachlan opened his mouth to reply, but before any words could come out there was a loud crash. The stone roof above them shook as cracks splintered it's surface, and a piercing roar echoed through the carved-out cave 'Well, your Dad's here'
'I do-don't walk to talk t-to him'
'Why not?'
The Australian sighed, shifting so that his legs were down as he looked at his hands. The action caused the bones in his back to jostle, and he bit back a scream while Rob shook his head once more 'Lachlan, just - Try not to move, alright? The others will be here any minute, until now just stay still'
'I'm try-ying to, but it's uncomfortable!' He groaned, resting his head against the cool stone behind him, 'Besides, what ca-can they d-do?'

'Good point. I don't know what they can do, but they probably have an idea as to what's going on' The older boy shrugged, dangling his feet over the edge as a familiar orange glow came running down the cave system 'Lachlan's Dad-' Preston gasped, bending over and putting his hands knees to try and get air back into his lungs '-Lachlan's Dad just crashed into the mountain'
'He did what?! Damn, I wish I could've seen that' Lachlan grinned cheekily, before wincing and sitting upright 'I literally told you not to move thirty seconds ago!'
'Eh, it doesn't hurt as much now. Anyway, why did my Dad fly into the mountain?' The lava mob simply shrugged, looking back towards the entrance and kicking a small pebble 'He turned into a dragon and tried to fly over, ended up crash landing. Are you okay?'
The sound of footsteps echoed in the cave as Jerome dashed by, closely followed by the tall figure of Lachlan's Mother 'We came - Fast as we could,' The bacca hybrid choked out, breathing heavily as he sat on a boulder, 'I'm never running again'
'Join the club, buddy' Preston groaned, dragging a hand down his face as he joined the older hybrid. Lachlan smiled once he saw his Mother, but hesitated when she called him down 'I can't do this,' He realized, beginning to shake as he pressed himself further against the wall, 'I can't, I can't I can't-'

'Yes you can, Lachlan. What are you afraid of?'
'Oh I don't know, maybe the fact that I just turned into a bloody hybrid and I have no idea how to use my abilities - I can literally kill someone!' Facepalming, the brunet next to him grabbed his arm and slowly dragged him to the edge 'Mrs. Power, you might want to try and catch your Son - I'm gonna push him down!'
'You what?!' The younger boy screeched, before he was pushed off the edge. He fell for two seconds and landed in his Mother's outstretched arms, immediately wrapping his arms around her neck and hugging her tightly 'Mum, Mum I-'
'It's alright Lachy, you're alright now... Boys, thank you so much for looking after him'

'It's no trouble, really. We just wanted to make sure he was alright' Preston said quietly, his glow dulling as he saw how upset his friend really was. When he was talking he sounded okay, but from the scene infront of him the Texan knew that he was far from it 'Is he gonna be okay?'
'He should be fine in a few hours. When he told me he was feeling sick I thought something was wrong, but it's good that he has friends like you to look after him. You should be able to have him back in time for your own celebrations, but he'll most likely be very tired'
'As long as he's not in any immediate danger, that's fine with us' Rob spoke solemnly, hiding his hands in his pockets once he'd jumped down. Marina Power nodded at his words, setting her Son on the ground and wrapping an arm around his bloodied torso 'We'd better get you cleaned up, Mister'
'Y-Yeah, okay... I'm s-sorry about this, guy-guys' The blond stuttered, as the older trio all looked at eachother 'Lachlan, you don't need to be sorry for anything, alright? This wasn't your fault'
'If you sa-ay so. I'll s-see you later, do-don't eat my cake or anything - Looking at-at you Jerome' He smiled weakly as the bacca threw his arms into the air jokingly 'Oi no, that was one time!'
''Still ate my cake though'

~

（╯°□°）╯︵( .o.)