Catch a Grenade for ya[BRIGHT/OPEN]

[waterfall]

Brooke snuck into the nurse's office with stealth. Silently, she pulled out her note and laid it the wicked Flock's desk. Lately, something had been up with Fivel. She wasn't herself, and Brooke knew it, and she was going to do something about it. She knew that Fivel was independent, and she wouldn't beg anyone for help, even if she desperately needed it. Brooke was going to take action on her own. At first, she didn't know how to proceed with the mission, but in her gut, she knew that nurse Flock was up to something. She seemed to be the center of stress for the school. Something was also up with Haku, but she figured that he was strong and could work it out himself, but she realized that he was like Fivel in the situation. In the end, she decided to go straight to Nurse Flock. The note she was sneaking onto her desk, she hoped, would lure the nurse out to the second alley, and bring Haku and Fivel with her. They were obviously in her claws' grasp. There, she could confront the witch with no witnesses. She was determined to get her friends back, and as soon as possible.

A chill ran up Brooke's spine, it was dark and freezing in the alley. It surely gave an eerie feeling. Fear was coursing through her veins, but integrity and adrenaline overcame it all. She waited there silently, staring at the moon. She listened to all the sounds of the outside world, the one that was so vague to her. She flinched slightly at the sounded oh an owl's call. She sighed and frowned at herself for being such a wimp. She was on a rescue mission after all. She folded her arms to fight the windchill that blew her uniform skirt slightly. "What's taking that old bag so long...." she muttered. Fivel and Haku were suffering more and more each second that ticked by.

Word Count: 327

[quest]

Nove slid past the door that almost swung shut on him as he followed Brooke. He was silent and dark, darker than he'd been before, when reality sunk in on him. Fivel was captured by Flock, held against her will and then treated horribly by an awful witch of a woman. He ran his fingers across the zipper of his jacket, trying to find something to do.

Suddenly, he saw Brooke crossing the street to the second alley from the window of the school. He carefully folded his jacket zipper back down to its original position and exited out the great oak doors of Castle. Where was Brooke going? With the aura coming off of her, it had to something with Fivel, and something involved with Fivel was something involved with him.
Nove, please let everyone know I'm alright. I'm counting on you.
Fivel's voice came right back to him again, and he growled angrily under his breath, concentrating on making sure he didn't walk through the puddles on the pavement. He caught up to Brooke as she stood in the alley, alone. He grasped her arm gently and stared at her intensely. "What are you doing?" he asked, his tone hollow.
WORDS:210

[waterfall]

Brooke flinched when Nove grasped her arm, gasping with surprise. She was about to let out a shriek, but she recognized the stranger as Nove. Closing her eyes, she let out a sigh and felt some tears well up behind her eyelids. She looked at the floor to avoid making eye contact with him, and so he wouldn't catch a glimpse of her tears. "I could ask you the same Nove....". Her voice shook slightly as her body tensed. She thought that she could do this on her own, but reluctantly realized she couldn't. She hated herself for being so, naturally dependent on others. She had never felt so frustrated with herself in her life. "Look... Fivel, and Haku, need me...... Need us....". There was a lump in her throat, which made it harder to speak. She drew in a breath, and summoned herself to look up into Nove's eyes. She knew that he would do anything for Fivel, just like herself. But what help would she be in her own? She swallowed her petty pride for her friends. "Flock has my friends captive, torturing them ruthlessly. I've put a note on her desk to bring them, so we could negotiate something.... But I realized, I can't do this on my own... " her voice regained power as she spoke and thought about Fivel and Haku. "I'm guessing you're in?". Brooke wiped her tears and put on her determined game face. There wasn't time or room for her weaknesses.

Word Count: 248

[Fel]

Kao walks into the room, still looking sick but not half asleep like he was earlier. He had been sitting in class until the middle of third period when he had gotten up and left without saying anything. That was the first period he had with Fivel and he hadn't been able to take looking at her empty desk.

Evan is noticeably gone and he can't help but feel uncomfortable. His twin had disappeared after breakfast and Kao hopes that he is just hanging out somewhere and isn't in any trouble. "Don't tell me you both were planning to leave me out." He says softly. If anyone was going to try and save Fivel then he was going to, whether it failed or not he knew that he had to be there. It is the least he owed to Fivel, anyways.

He looks around the quiet, dim office. No Flock. It occurs to him that it would fit her personality to have put several traps in the room. He shifts uneasily where he stands but is confident that he can get out of any trap Flock puts him in. That or he'll reduce the entire school to rubble. It doesn't matter much to him what happens.

Words: 212

[quest]

[Alright.]
Nove got down to Brooke's height and stared her in the eyes. "It's alright." he said. "We'll find them. Fivel wouldn't want you to cry."
Nove glanced back at Kao and glanced forward at Brooke again. He nodded. "Alright, we're all going to have to work together on this." he said. "But here's the deal. No running off by yourself. We don't know where Flock is lingering, and she could be planning something." He smiled. "Fivel always did say, tough times are better with a group, right?" He laugh, then put a finger under his chin in thought; he was thinking hard and long about what to do. Nove figured that if Flock was this late, she'd never be coming, and so there was only one thing they could do; circle back to her office and find a way down into Fivel's cell.
"Alright." he said, biting the inside of his cheek, considering what he was about to say. "Okay. Here's the deal. Flock is late, so we should go back and find a way into her office. Fivel said she's underneath the office, though, so we'll have to find a way down."

WORDS:206

[waterfall]

Brooke nodded silently. She hated this darkness anyway. Curiously, she wondered how Nove got any information from Fivel, when she couldn't herself. The thought of Fivel not trusting her was like someone aphid stabbed her heart with a dagger, but she new her friend better than that. She shook the thought off, following the boys to Flock's office.

The office was just as it was when Brooke had snuck in earlier. She tiptoed to the nurse's desk, seeing the note untouched. She face palmed herself for being so dumb to have left it in the first place. She snatched the note off of the desk, crumpled it up, and crammed the note into her black sweater's pocket. She then stood there silently, hearing nothing, which was weird because her sense of hearing was impeccable. She closed her eyes and strained her ears. Then she heard it. Nurse Flock's menacing song. It wasnt as different as when she had first heard it, after her dreadful encounter with the spirits for the first time. The only comparison was that the melody was openly malicious this time, with no facade of any sort. "She's here, she's under the office...", she mouthed almost silently, sending the sound waves straight to the guys' ears. The sound would reach them as whispers, without really making a noise. She was finicky with the level of noise in the office, knowing that Flock was cunning. She didn't want to risk anything. She tiptoed around the room silently and swiftly, searching for clues. Her agility was always one of her strengths, but her clumsiness was a foible. She tripped over a loose paper on the floor, gasping as she fell.

Word Count: 281

[Larksing]

Flock watched the scene fall into suit from her chair under her office, the camera catching everything. "Oh, my." she said. "Fivel, look at your loyal friends. Isn't that sweet of them to come to your aid?" She watched the ragtag team continue to discuss their plans. Flock spun around in her chair and stood in front of Fivel's cell. She could see the dark green eyes, and the ringed irises of desperate, hungry anger. But the girl that faced her was too weak even to take on the smallest of challenges, and Flock was not afraid. "Maybe I should send them a little greeting."

"No." The voice came. Fivel's arms slammed forward towards the nurse in wild anger, but Fivel could go no where, as her hands fell slack in the chains once again. Anger shook her voice when she continued. "Don't go any where near them." Flock watched the girl as she receded. Poor, pathetic, pitiful thing. She wants to be a hero, but she doesn't have the strength to. She lifted a small hourglass next to her on a nearby table, and the security camera screen went blank. The hourglass shifted over backwards and the sand began to fall into the lower bay. Flock disappeared, but the opening to the upper room opened. Fivel was too deprived of strength to notice. She began to drift into the shadows, completely exhausted. It's only a matter of time, now. Fivel could nearly hear.

WORDS:282

[quest]

Nove patted Brooke on the back for support and pulled her close to him. this is what he did to comfort Fivel after the storm, and it made him feel safe being close to her. He held the note in his other hand, gripping it so hard that the paper crumpled around his fingers, where all the pressure was put. He could feel the anger getting more and more fiery as he thought of Fivel. "Fivel.. you poor thing. No one deserves to be treated this way. And you're not the only one, there's a Haku, too.." he muttered. He pulled away from Brooke and cursed. "Dammit." he mumbled. "This whole damn thing makes me so pissed!" He stomped his foot on the ground and suddenly it opened underneath him and he felt the ground shake. "Ah!" he cried, as he fell, he gasped for air before hitting the ground, the impact making a hollow, painful sound. "Aaaaaaah. Oww." he moaned. "Oh, my god, that hurt so freaking bad." He looked around the dark room, and had to squint to see clearly. Man, its dark down here. He thought. Suddenly, he saw a small figure through the dark. "Fivel..?" he said. "FIVEL! FIVEL!! GUYS, I FOUND HER!!"
WORDS:210

[Fel]

(Sorry I didn't reply for so long!)

Kao looks at the ground, almost like he expects her to pop out of it at any moment like some bizarre jack-in-the-box. He shivers, remembering how easily she had knocked him out and chained him up last time. Then she'd hurt Fivel so badly, there was no mistaking that the nurse had a powerful gift. He's about to suggest that they find a better way of sneaking around than walking above Flock's head when Nove falls through the floor.

Uncomprehending, he stares at the spot Nove used to by in until he realizes what happened, a few seconds later. He mentally shakes himself out of his daze and walks towards the hole. "Nove? Are you alright?" He shouts down, momentarily forgetting that Flock's nearby. In the end it doesn't matter because Nove yells himself. Without bothering to hear anything besides 'I found he' he jumps into the hole, using his gift to manipulate the floor so he lands without hurting himself. He looks around before summoning a small amount of fire into his palm to light up the room. Kao sees Fivel and strides over towards her.

He kneels down next to her, muttering something unintelligible. As gently as he can he touches the metal around her wrists. He extinguishes the fire in his hand and slowly heats up the tips of his fingers. They burn through the metal without touching Fivel and then he pulls them off her. Then he pulls her closer into a hug, even though she's limp and hurt she was warm. "So so sorry. I won't let this happen again. Please forgive me. I'll protect you now. You're safe. You're here. I've got you. She won't hurt you any more. God, I found you. Thank you thank you. " He mumbles, as much to himself as Fivel. It was a promise, as long as he says it aloud then it won't be broken.

Words: 327

[waterfall]

Brooke's eyes widened as Nove descended. She face palmed herself, convinced that it was her fault. She forgot about that the moment she saw Fivel though. She jumped down without thinking, landing on her ankle but she didn't really notice. She automatically sprinted to Fivel, eyes full with tears. She clung to her helplessly, "Oh Fivel, I'm so sorry we took so long...". She felt her tears soak into Fivel's shirt, but she couldn't stop. She was overflowing with relief, grief, sorrow, happiness, love towards her best friend, and hate towards Flock. she froze when she heard her friend's song. Tortured. She turned abruptly, looking through her hot tears of anger for the malicious 'nurse'. The one who did this to her friend. Her friends. The one who was infecting the school with her venom. "Come out here Flock" She glared into the dark. "Free Fivel Now." she demanded, clawing at the chains restricting Fivel. "GAH!!" she yelled in frustration. She kicked the wall furiously, then winced in pain. It was the ankle she had landed on when she leaped from the floor above. "ugh....". She could not think straight at all, nothing was precessing through her mind the way it usually did. Despite the fact, she refused to lose faith. She was going to rescue her friend and defeat Flock. That was the one thing in her mind that remained determined.
Word Count: 232

[Larksing]

[Sorry. I've just had a bad day. Needed to post long and hard, you know..? :/]

Fivel's tears left stains on her cheeks through the grime and blood as she wept. She couldn't bear the thought of losing someone else she loved, and it pained her. She throbbed and ached with pain. Suddenly, she heard and thud and her name being yelled. But it was distant, and layered in slow moving nothingness. She looked up in suspicion but was rewarded. "Nove.." she whispered. Her voice was hoarse and tired, and sounded ages older than she really was.

Suddenly, there was Kao and Brooke holding her, and she flet dizzy and confused. She looked up at Kao, into his bright blue eyes and shivered. She was terribly ill, and bright colors burned her irises all together. She caressed the side of his cheek with the soft end of her finger and thought, He's real. She's real. They're all real, all of them. She listened to Kao speak to her, mumbling things to her and she calmed down a bit. Kao. She wanted to say. Kao.. the day I ran away, I was so afraid. So afraid for you, afraid of the lightning. I didn't want you to get hurt.. because, I realized, that I'd fallen in love with you. I'm happy I met you in the woods that day, and you don't know how much I depend on you but just.. just don't..
"No," she whispered to him. She could barely see straight. Fivel hadn't eaten or drank for days and was repeatedly hurt from different causes. "It's okay.. Kao, I did it.. to save you.." From the top of her head, she could recite her broken bones and injuries; sleep deprived, anemonia, broken ankle, wrist, and malnourished. All because she was waiting for this ragtag team of rescuers to come find her. "Because... living without you.. would be worse.. than not living at all..."
She laid her head on his shoulder, exhausted. She just breathed in his scent and his warmness and shivered, as she was cold as hell. Has he always smelled this good, and I haven't noticed? She thought. "..because.. I need you, Kao. A.. alot more than you will ever know.."
Does this mean I won't see mommy anymore?
Her voice as a five year old sang clear in her head and she remembered her mother's funeral. Days after, Fivel didn't eat or drink until her father forced her to. If I lost Kao.. would it be like losing mom for the second time? she wondered. Losing another person I loved.. would it be the same? She didn't know. She was too tired. Fivel clutched at Brookes back, unable to fully hug her.
"..I'm so tired." she told him. "Am I going to die?"

WORD COUNT:537
Makes me think of Kao at the moment.

[waterfall]

"Of course not!" Brooke exclaimed a little louder than she should've. She was just so appalled. "You're not going to die.... We won't allow it...." Kneeling to Match her friends height, She looked Fivel straight in the eyes. "I can't even imagine life without you... We just won't allow it!" She nearly choked on her words, the lump in her throat big and painful. She forced a smile, knowing Fivel would like it. "What kind of rescuers would we be if we let that happen?". Fivel and Brooke were literally best friends. Brooke couldn't live without her. Fivel was always there for her to lean on, listening, caring, and so loving. There was no one in the world that understood her better than Fivel did. She hoped the feelings were mutual. Just then, she recalled her healing powers. She sat in front of Fivel, taking her two hands into her own. "Everything is going to be okay..." She whispered to her. "Kao, Nove, I'm going to heal Fivel. She's in pretty bad shape, so I will take a while." Her voice was monotonous, solemn. She then closed her eyes and started to absorb Fivel's pain. She hummed the familiar healing, soothing melody, that went straight to her sister's ears. The pain hit her like she was sprinting and a brick wall decided to appear right in her path. She just held in her grimace. She knew that Fivel would refuse of ot caused Brooke pain, so her facade was calm. She did hold her patient's hands in a slightly tighter grip, afraid that one of them was going to fall limp any second. She wouldn't be able to fix everything, but they would be able to share the pain. That's how it was supposed to be with best friends. They depend on each other. She hoped that Fivel would understand. Understand that it was okay to be vulnerable every once in a while. That people love and cherish her, see her as a blessing even. By now, Brooke had relieved Fivel from almost half of the pain she was feeling before. She felt faint already, she wasn't nearly as strong as Fivel. But she had the will-power. If her friend had to go through this alone, the pain didn't even matter. She felt a bead of sweat run down the side of her face. Her song was starting to get choppy, for she had to catch her breath more often than between the average phrases. Even so, she sent positive and encouraging thoughts to Fivel, hoping she would receive and accept them.

Word Count: 433

[Fel]

Kao stares at Fivel, almost unable to believe what he's hearing. Was he really that important? That she was saying something like this seems surreal to him. He hesitates for a moment, trying desperately to think of what to say but his mind doesn't work properly and he ends up just staring at her face. His arms around her body tighten and he pulls her a little closer.

"You are such an important, beautiful person." He chokes out. How did I get to this place? He wonders. He lets one of his hands go through her hair. "Fivel, without you living here there's nothing to make me want to go out of my room." He closes his eyes, completely at a loss. He'd never thought that a person would ever mean this much to him. Since when had there been people like her?

"Thanks, Brooke." He mumbles in response to her healing Fivel. "See, we're not letting you leave, even if I have to handcuff you to me." Normally he would have been jealous of Brooke,upset that she could do more for Fivel than he could, but he is just grateful that she made Fivel hurt less.

Word Count: 205

(I wanted so badly to have him blurt out that he loves her. Haha.)

[Larksing]

Fivel buried her face in Kao's shoulder, trying to escape the draining feeling the healing left her with. She breathed in Kao's scent, drowning in it, wanting to stay like this with him forever. She was so relieved she could almost feel her bruises melting off of her like ice in a firestorm. She ran her finger back and forth over the fabric of his shirt and took a deep breath. She'd become accustomed to the musty air of the jail cells, and she would almost miss it. Hah. she thought. Yeah right.

She finally felt the urge to tell him, and she opened her mouth to speak. "Kao.." she said. "I-"

Suddenly, there was a flash and a loud hum and all of a sudden she wasn't in the basement of the nurse's office anymore, but in an abyss of pyschedelic colors that swirled together and mixed like paint, their color unappealing. She went to stand, but stumbled on her broken ankle and fell down again, in front of Kao. Flock's laugh echoed around the abyss menacingly, her voice like a drill. "Oh, my, isn't this just delicious?" she laughed. "The team that cries together dies together. I admire your love for this pathetic little girl. She may be powerful, but she's quite a pain in the neck."

Fivel's voice didn't make her sound crippled. "Let my friends go, Flock." she yelled. It boomed around the abyss and echoed eerily. "You have what you want, so let them go." She'd gotten used to addressing Flock already, and it didn't suit the situation to be sweet and kind.

[Fel]

Kao's eyes widen when he realizes that Fivel is about to say something important. He doesn't know how he knows but somehow he's sure. He nods slightly, wanting her to keep talking. Then she breaks off and Kao sees all of the bright colors swirling around them. He stands up, shocked, just in time to catch Fivel. "Are you alright?" He asks, peering at her face. "Don't worry, you don't need to try so hard." Kao turns around to face Flock, determined not to screw up so badly this time.

"You are going to walk away before I set every organ in your body on face." Kao threatens, glaring at the nurse. Without drawing attention to what he's doing her slips a hand into his pocket and scatters all of them on the ground, realizing to late that it was pointless to try and be sneaky about it. He decides that it doesn't really matter.The seeds just lie there, waiting for him to make them turn into evil vines that will rip out Flock's spine.

Kao wraps his arms tighter around Fivel, pressing her closer to his chest. He can't fight as well because of Fivel, though he doesn't mind. He would rather keep her safe and close.

Words: 219