"I hate you, everyone in the rebellion hates you ... if I kill you, I'd be doing everyone a favor. Good thing I plan on making it a slow process."

     A soft breeze made the grass gently sway. The sky was darker than usual, no moonlight or stars visible in a dense cloud above. The forest was covered in darkness, and for a moment, the boy didn't know where he was.

The ground under him was red, covered in whatever was splashed onto it. Blood? It smelt like it...

Where was he? When did he get back to the forest? Wait, who was he again? Oh, nevermind, there it is, duh, it's too easy to forget.

He tried to get to his knees before letting out cry of pain as thundering pain seemed to split his skull in half. He grabbed his head, holding it as he pressed it into the palm of his hands.

What happened? Where was Seven? Why wasn't he in the-

He let out another cry of pain. Okay, trying to remember hurts, noted. Okay, deep breath, deep breath, try to think.

Ow, ow ow ow- okay! Okay! Thinking hurts too!

He tried to open his eyes, and just as he suspected, he still had trouble looking out the left one. He looked around the best he could, seeing glass and blood cover the area around him (along with a nasty pile of black gob which he didn't want to ask or think about because ew and OW-).

Maybe he could stand? He shakily moved his hands down to push himself up, but midway through, he lost his balance, falling over.

Okay, new plan.

He carefully crawled to the nearest TV (wait, why was he in a giant ring of them? Why were they all off?), and used it as leverage as he pulled himself up.

Shaky, but a good start. At least he could-- WHOA do NOT look down!

He grabbed the TV frame tighter, nearly falling over. The world around him faded black around the edges, but would fix itself  before it got too bad, and it spun and spun and spun and-

He felt his stomach lurch as he suddenly felt sick from the spinning. He put a hand over his mouth, closing his eyes. Breathe, breathe.

Wait, where was his bag? It wasn't on his face, where-

He spotted it on the ground near where he woke up, well the remains anyways. He frowned when he saw it ripped to shreds, if he was any younger he probably would have cried over it too. It was his old safe space, having it be around his head. It hid his scars, it shielded him from judging looks from others, it was something Rain gave him the day after the fox attack...

Great, now his head hurt and his eyes were watering. Stop it, emotions, he couldn't cry anymore, he was one of the older kids now! Older kids didn't cry! ... but older kids also didn't wake up in the forest with blood on the floor, surrounded by broken TVs, with their most prized item torn to bits of paper.

Something was wrong, really, really, wrong.

He carefully walked along the ring, hands on the blackened screens as he slowly, but surely, came to the entrance.

Okay, so far so good, again. He should find the rebellion's hideout, the rabbit warren found near the base of tree near the middle of the forest. It wasn't hard, he knew the forest from years of scouting.

He took a step without the aid of the TV screen. Okay, okay, easy, don't go too fast, just one foot in front of the other, slooowly. Hey, hey! Not so bad, walking isn't so-

THUD-

Okay, take that back, walking isn't easy. He groaned he pushed himself off the ground again. Once on somewhat (key word is somewhat) stable legs, he dusted his brownish colored trenchcoat off. Okay, let's try this again.

THUD-

Oh by the- why was walking so hard! He gave another groan, trying to ignore the pounding in his head. Okay, one more try, let's go, up on your feet, c'mon-

THUD-

Screw it, he'll just crawl to the rebellion-

He lifted his head, looking at his hands. Wait, what was he thinking, he could just try and teleport, he just left a ring of TVs. He could go back and turn one on and travel through it to get home! He was a genius sometimes.

Now how could he turn around when legs didn't want to work and he had the arm strength of a girly girl?

After a bit of struggling, he was able to get back to the TVs. He pulled himself up again, using the ledge as support again, and turned the dial.

It flickered on, a small smile of victory coming onto his lightly scarred face. Wasting no time, he put his hand on the screen.

Nothing happened. Okay, weird...

He tried it again, still nothing. Both hands? Nope, not even a flicker. Great, were his powers not working either? Ugh, forget it, the frequency was making his head hurt worse than before!

He turned it off, so much for that idea. Carefully, he made his way back to the exit of the ring, this time grabbing a flexible twig on a bush, catching himself before he could fall on the ground the moment he let go of the TV side.

Who set these TVs up like this anyways? He never remembered there being a stack of TVs in the forest positioned like that. Maybe he ended up in an unmarked part of the forest, which posed a small problem for him now that he thought about it...

Suddenly, the bushes across from his rustled. A large furred creature-- no, multiple! There had to have been at least seven of them, all walking together to somewhere. Before long, he realized what they were: wolves, like the pack Rain had been studying. Was it the same pack?

He carefully stood up straighter, looking over the bushes towards the front. There he was, the kid that lived in the pack, Bandage or whatever Rain named him. Wait, who was that next to him?

A yellow figure padded beside him, but it didn't look like a wolf. It was too small, but was bigger than Bandage. It turned it's head, a hood covering it.

For a moment, he was stunned. It was a girl; another feral child that was just running in the forest. He had never seen her before, where did she come from?

Soon they left through the foliage, a brown wolf made up the rear, followed by two small pups that bounced and ran after one another.

Maybe it would be smart to wait and let them get a head start...

So he waited, trying to practice his walking. He slowly got the hang of it, and was able to make his way to the path the wolves had been on. What had made them go that way? It looked too big to be a hunting party.

His eyes looked up, hoping to see the stars to use them to guide his way back; but was horrified as he saw a thick cloud of smoke covering the air.

Smoke meant fire, fire normally meant explosive, and explosives meant-

"Seven," he mumbled.

The boy started to stumble his way down the path that looked to be heading down the beach. Why was there a fire at the beach? Nevermind that, wolves were going to the beach where Seven and Rain were more than likely at.

Rain, she never skipped out on her Oracle duties. He could almost picture her, sitting on the sand, smiling as she engaged in a silent conversation with the stars only she herself could hear. When she shared with him about it, admittedly, he was hurt.

Oracles were forbidden to be in a relationship, a rule the stars made after a mistake that nearly cost the rebellion everything. He cared for Rain, she meant so much to him.

But, her needs would to be pushed before his own. That's what he always told himself. His friends before him-- no, it's me before them.

He stopped, slightly wobbly on his legs, blinking his eyes. Where did that thought come from? Shaking his head, he started staggering away, now was not the time to worry, he had to keep going.

After many minutes, he finally started to hear the faint sounds of lapping water, he was near the beach. He pushed through the bushes, falling down a small ledge, rolling down into the soft sand below.

He gave a groan, putting a hand to his head, weakly looking up as his headaches started again. After a minute, he was finally able to push himself up.

His heterochromic brown and green eyes looked down over at the fire, watching as it's red and orange claws wrapped and ripped what once looked to be a truck. Wait, was that the Hunter's truck?

He looked to the sand, seeing pawprints, footprints, and even handprints. Seems like the wolves were here, and judging by the markings, a bunch kid seemed to be... surrounded by them? Then walked down the side the of beach, but to where?

Looking out, he could only see a large cloud of fog the farther out the stretch of land went. The wolves and kids were gone now, and whether they were going to be die soon or not, he wasn't sure.

Maybe he should follow, maybe help them-

His eyes looked to the ground again, there in the sand, he found more tracks. They leaded to the side, beside the flaming fire ball that was the the truck. Handprints were there too, so maybe Bandage went with them? Or maybe that yellow one?

It was only two sets of tracks, maybe Seven and Rain's? If they were, where were they going? It was towards the City, maybe to the hospital?

Nothing was adding up... and now his head hurt again.

He gave a groan, putting a hand to his head, closing his eyes as his head pounded again. He took a moment to recover, before turning to where the tracks went to the flaming truck.

He should follow, try and see if he can find them, try to find her.

He followed the tracks, stumbling around the truck. He stepped on the cold, wet cobblestone bridge that helped connect the wilderness to the city. The city was raining, as it normally was each time he visited it.

He came to the other, before he was sent crashing to the ground as the truck finally exploded from the fire. He covered his head as metal was sent flying, the scent of fire and smoke becoming stronger around him.

Scrambling away as quick as he could, he pulled himself out of the way in case of any more explosions. He took refuse under a metal overhang, looking out at the fireball of a vehicle.

Adults were probably on their way, he couldn't stay here for long.

He turned around, holding onto his arms, tucking his head into his coat collar and--

Wait, since when does he keep his collar up? He reached up, popping the collar down. Much better. He continued on, rain continued to fall down on everything around him.

Puddles were formed, splashing slightly with each step he took. The wind was blowing gently, but it was still cold. Buildings casted dark shadows around him, making it tricky to see.

Where would they go? Maybe he could-

He looked up as he heard faint voices.

"Squeaks, c'mon, get down from there, we got to keep going."

The voice sounded so familiar...

He looked up, squinting as he tried to see past the rain. A fence was up ahead, and... hey, there was that yellow feral! And there was another person next to her.

A blue jacket, was it really-

It was!

He couldn't stop himself from smiling, he tried to run to greet his best friend, but lost his balance, falling down onto the ground again. He groaned; at least the grass helped soften the blow, unlike you, stupid concrete.

He got to his hands and knees, before pushing himself up, nearly falling over again if he hadn't balanced himself as quick as he did.

Another voice could barely be heard, too soft and quiet to make out. Seven said something back, but he couldn't hear him that out as well.

Soon they went through the school door, the boy watching it close. He staggered on, he had to get to them, c'mon, just a bit faster.

He pushed himself to walk faster, finding the piece of broken fence and stepping inside what looked to be a schoolyard. A tire swing and regular swing, a seesaw, two goalposts, yep, looked like a place kids would go.

Wait... this was a school. His eyes widen, cursing under his breath as he made his way to the door, but stopped as he noticed something to the side.

A cloth rope from the upper levels was hanging outside, and if he was careful, he was sure he could climb it. Maybe he'd run into them up there.

He came over, taking the end and tying it around him just in case he were to fall it would save him from smacking the ground. Not like he's done that enough today.

He reached up, grabbing the cloth and pulled himself up, before reaching with another hand, weakly beginning to pull himself up.

Up and up, the cloth slowly shortening his distance to his old and dear friends. The traitor and her.

The thought shocked the boy so much, he nearly slipped from his hold on the cloth. Geez, what was wrong with him? Where were these thoughts coming from? Who was a traitor? No one was a traitor as far as he knew.

He finally pulled himself up, rolling down and falling off the windowsill, safely falling onto the wooden floor. Taking a moment to breath, he looked around.

Lockers, lot and lots of lockers. The lights were unbearably bright, and it seemed to make his headache worse. He gave a small whimper, before slowly forcing himself to push on.

Staggering and hitting the lockers, he was forced to try and focus on the hallway he was in. He had to keep going, this place was not safe, if an adult found them, they were going to be caught and be rehabilitated.

Rehabilitated, a part of the Abandonment Policy, where kids were caught and brainwashed into becoming obeying adults. Seven always said he'd die before being caught, not that he blamed him.

He tripped again, letting out a whine as he hit his chin against the ground. He was do tired, his body was aching, and it felt like no matter how much he tried to pushing himself up, he couldn't.

Maybe a breather would be nice...

Step, step, step.

He looked up, eyes straining to try and see whatever was coming. He was too tired to move out of the way, he couldn't-

The feral in yellow jumped out, letting out an squeaks, bouncing around, looking back down to where ever she came from.

A familiar blue jacket and a yellow coat came from corner, and the boy couldn't help but smile, tears gathering. He staggered to his feet again, wobbly standing back onto his legs.

The movement made the feral look over, a look of shock onto her face as she jumped back, growling loudly as she lowered her head and shoulders in a threatening manner.

Seven looked over, before jumping back as well, sticking a hand out and blocking Rain from, what? Running forward?

"Mono!" Seven shouted. When did his voice become deeper? Did he get taller? He looked thinner than yesterday, what happened?

He pushed the thought to the side, smiling and ran to his friend. Rain ducked out of the way as he tripped on a carpet, falling down and bring Seven with him.

He let out a small cry of pain as he felt a scratch on his cheek, Seven flipping them over  and over until they were a tiny bit aways from the two others. Seven straddled him down, a hand grabbing him by his jaws, the other pulling back for a punch.

"Wait, Sev, it's me!" He shouted.

"I know it's you!"

"Seven, look out!"

A shadow loomed over them for a second, before a loud crashing noise was heard, the two encased in darkness. He tried to get Seven off of him, which seemed easy, but was actually hard to do, as the other refused to let him go.

A scream and squeaking was heard, mixed with growling and the sound of heavy footsteps.

"Seven!"

Seven finally got off of him, bashing against the locker that had landed on them. He couldn't help but watch as Seven tackled and rocked the locker to get out.

"Seven!"

"Rain! Squeaks!"

One final tackle with a boost of adrenaline, the locker finally got off of them. The hallway was empty, no trace of the two even being there could be found.

Slowly, he got to his legs again for the probably the tenth time, looking over at his friend, who seemed outraged at the vacancy around them.

Seven looked over. "You," he hissed, "you fucking asshole, you aren't even supposed to be here!"

He blinked, taken aback. What did he mean? Neither of them were supposed to be here, they were supposed to be in the hospital or at the rebellion hideout.

"Well, neither are you," he said back.

Seven growled, his eyes narrowing under his bangs.

"No, you jackass! You're supposed to be dead!"

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Finished - June 26th, 2021

Seven chill

I'm so excited for this book, let's go-

Hope you all enjoyed!

Take care!