"Get up, I repeat, wake up!" A loud voice wakes me. I open my eyes and sit up. The sun's barely even risen yet. Why all the commotion?

"The issue that has us stuck here is fixed, more or less," the voice continues. "Please return to your cages. If, for some reason, you choose not to obey, then we have patrollers who will catch you." Sure enough, a small distance away, I spot a large man with a scowl on his face. He looks in my direction, but doesn't make any threatening movements. I decide to return to my cage. No point in trying to escape now, anyway. Not with that guy so close. I force myself to go fully awake and begin the walk back to my cage. On the way there, I count dozens of patrollers. No way I'm escaping now. Once I reach the cages, three men are herding people in. I get into my cage, and the curtain is placed back on top. Once again behind bars.

The next few hours are dull. I bump around in my moving cage, which makes it impossible to get comfortable. I can't see anything through my curtain. We continue moving for hours. At least, it feels like hours. When we finally stop, the same voice as before makes another announcement.

"Your cages will be opened shortly. You may go to the usual tents. There is no problem. This is just a routine stop." The door of my cage creaks open, and I push it all the way open. After my eyes adjust, I get out of my cage and glance at the sun. It's just past noon. Cass won't be at our meeting place yet. I've got a few hours yo waste, so I head over to the food tent. Today's meal is a few large fruits. They're orangish, and when I bite into one, it's sticky ad soft. Although it's a bit difficult to swallow, it tastes good. I eat slowly, making my food last. But I've cleared my plate in half an hour, so I've still got some time to waste. I decide to search for a tent that I haven't explored yet. I find a blue tent with white stripes relatively quickly, and its sign reads Free Entry. Entering, I notice the this tent, although not too small, has hardly any people in it. A man with large dish-like things for fists approaches me. I notice that he has no mouth. He begins to rub his odd fists together, and a ringing sound starts to form words.

"Welcome to the favors tent. Does Axle owe you anything?"

"No," I respond, feeling a bit silly. "I didn't know this was a favor tent."

"That's fine," the man says, making his ringing voice. "Folks stumble in here all the time." I grin apologetically and start to walk out, but a voice- a regular voice- stops me.

"Hey, boy." The voice is muffled. I know that voice. Axle strolls into view.

"I was just stopping by, but I suppose its lucky I found you. I suppose you ought to know... head here if you find yourself in trouble, right?"

"Um, okay," I respond nervously. Axle doesn't seem to be threatening me... why would she want me here if I'm in trouble? But Axle gives me no time to ask questions as she walks out of the tent. After a moment, I walk out as well.

After a time of pointless wandering, it's finally sundown. I head to the help tent and wait for Cass. After only a few moments, I spot a hooded figure among the crowd. Cass walks over to me and grins.

"Hey there. Good of you to show up."

"Wouldn't miss it," I reply truthfully. Cass smiles, but her smile quickly fades.

"Okay, let's get serious. I think Rolly is here somewhere."

"Really?" I ask, excited. "Why do you think that?"

"While snooping around, I thought I saw someone with glasses in a crowd. I tried to follow, but the crowd was tight. I lost him pretty quickly."

"All you've got is someone with glasses?" I ask, discouraged. "That could be anyone."

"Yes, but there's more," Cass says, a note of excitement in her voice. "Just before I lost him, I think I noticed a thermometer go up to 1,000 degrees." That was Rolly's ability- her could tamper with machines from a distance. Not that great, but his brain and surprisingly good swordplay made up for it. So now I know for sure Cass is here, and have reason to believe that Rolly's here too.

"That's three out of seven," I observe, which makes it seem like less of a victory. Cass pats me on the shoulder to cheer me up.

"Don't worry, Wrive. I'll find them all in no time."

"That's another thing," I complain, a bad mood taking me. "You're making so much progress, and I'm just sitting here uselessly."

"Wrive," Cass says, looking me in the eye. "You are not useless."

"I just feel so pointless." And then, it happens. Maybe it was the chaos of Odds And Ends messing with our brains. Maybe it was late, and we were tired, and that made us think differently. But it still happened. Cass leans forward and kisses me. My eyes go huge, and I basically die mentally. A million thoughts flood my head, a million emotions attack me. But I don't pull away. The moment that is just a second or two seems to last an eternity. A happy eternity. Cass' soft brown hair blows in my face, and her lips are on mine. Not just a peck on the cheek. A full-out, 100% actual kiss. And then it's over. Cass pulls away and looks me in the eye.

"You aren't useless, Wrive. I believe that. You should too." And then she pulls her hood low and walks away. I simply stand and stare, even after she's gone. She kissed me. Did I kiss her back? No, I stood there dumbstruck. I didn't think about that when it happened. It happened. Oh gosh, it happened. Did I want it to happen? Maybe. I think so. I'm not sure. Oh, I'm still so shocked. I need to sit down. My legs give way, and I sit. There. Sitting. Good. I need to keep thinking. Or do I? Should I just let that kiss be a kiss? Maybe. No, I can't just forget about it. So what do I do? I need to calm down. In, out, in, out. There. I'm calm. Now, what do I think about this? I think... I think I'm okay with it. I mean, this isn't serious yet. And I like her- do I like her? Yes, I think I like her. So I'll let this happen. We'll just see what happens.

After gathering my thoughts and taking a few deep breaths, I try to move on from the... thing. That thing changes everything. Cass and I aren't just friends anymore. Will things be awkward? I better try to make it not awkward. I'll fail. Hopefully Cass can make things not awkward. Will we tell the others? Probably. Maybe. Probably not. I'll make a decision. I'll fail. Hopefully Cass knows what she wants.

The sun is down, and I lie awake, staring at the stars. They seem brighter. And I'm smiling, without even trying. Nothing will ever be the same between me and Cass. This is definitely going to change things. We'll have to talk about it. But I think I'm ready. I hope I'm ready.

***

The man sat at his desk, thinking. This a peaceful time in his life. He sat at his desk, thinking, when suddenly a vision enveloped him. He was somewhere with big colorful tents, and he saw that boy, Wrive, with a girl. He'd seen her before, in other visions. The girl was speaking, but he couldn't make the words out. And suddenly, she went in. Her face went forward, and...

"Woah!" the man cried. The boy was taken by complete surprise, but after a moment, the man could see happiness in his eyes.

"Young love," the man said, rolling his eyes. "You silly boy, Wrive." But the man felt good for the boy. He had tough times coming (or maybe they'd already happened in this vision) and he could use some happiness. The vision began to fade, and the man once again found himself at his desk. Without anything else to do, he doodled a picture of the hooded girl and Wrive. He looked at his paper when he'd finished and decided to write a bit.

Congratulations, Wrive. You deserve a bit of love.

P.S: You have no idea what you're doing, do you?

***

Wrive smiled as the thought came to him, even if it wasn't particularly encouraging.

I have no idea what I'm doing.

Status

Wrive: Safe inside Odds And Ends
Cassie: Wanted, but unharmed, inside Odds And Ends.
Tarna: ???
Rolly: Possibly in Odds And Ends
Person: ???
Shawn: ???
Ray: ???