Lily frowned. "What's a Commanding Office and a terrorist?" Those were words she was unfamiliar with, but they seemed important to know. In the meantime, Dae set Bob down and took a piece of jerky and a few peanuts, then stuffed them into the living toaster. It hummed and its inside glowed red.

> John starts off towards the forest, looking back every few minutes to make sure Ice is still there. Once they reached the forest John started to move a bit slower, trying to minimize the sound that he created every time he stepped on a dead leaf. Eventually, they reached the site of the explosion. "Shit," John muttered. There were dead Blades scattered around and one tree had been blown up. "Looks like there's an Outcast running around with an affinity for pyrotechnics." "Seems like it," Ice says, icing down on of the trees that was still on fire. She covers the tree with ice and leaves it that way, following John closely behind. "Hopefully they're a friendly. I don't think I would have the best time with a pyro Outcast." She stares down at her now, full on, iced hands. She clenches them together and the ice shatters, exposing her soft, pale skin. She sighs and continues to follow John.

> > Jason approached the group where one girl seemed like she was literally about to just burst into flames right there in front of him. She seemed to be hostile towards the other boy there who was calmly responding. The boy decided to stand back a little bit from the group. He was in plain sight, but still a little ways away. Just... watching them. > > Shade noticed that he'd been talking for longer than he thought , and quickly scanned the surrounding area for any threats or unknowns . He thought he picked up one guy near the edge of his vision, but visibility in a forest isn't the greatest. Jason noticed a boy that seemed to be looking at him. He watched this boy, any move that seemed hostile and Jason decided that he would kill the person. Right where he stood.

> Drops of water began to fall on his face. They began in a slow, rhythmic motion until suddenly, a wave of ice cold water washed over his head and he nearly jumped out his skin, finally awoken to a sarcastic giggle and the sound of a bucket being dropped innocently onto the ground. **"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty,"** Taylor's voice was recognizable enough since it had the highest pitch out of everyone in the group. > > Jude's mind was fuzzy and it was dark in the woods. When had it gotten dark? **"What happened?"** He mumbled, trying to wring some of the water off of his hoodie. Great, his hoodie was absolutely drenched. It had become ragged and torn due to day after day of constant abuse on the material. > > **"Well,"** he imagined her fixing her glasses right now, though it was a bit too dark to see, **"You were training with Milla and your power overloaded. After that, you passed out cold and I had to save a giant rock from crushing your sorry ass,"** she paused momentarily, **"You're welcome."** > > **"Yeah, thanks,"** there was slight irritation towards Milla and especially towards Rusty for leaving him with Taylor. Speaking of which, his mind was still unable process properly from the apparent overload, **"Where are the others?"** > > **"Well, Milla decided to take Adam out for training,"** Owch, the poor guy, **"And Rusty said something about having to run errands and just disappeared. I'm hoping he went off the island again so he can bring us something good."** Jude stood up and dusted himself off as she spoke. > > Though his mind was freaking out, it didn't imagine the sound of the gunshot not too far off. Now much more alert, he searched the dense woods, **"Taylor,"** he waved for her to follow. She didn't even need to hear, she was already behind him. Knowing Milla, she'd already be there. > > - - - > > And of course, she was. > > Apparently, by the time that Jude and Taylor had arrived, the entire scene was already over. Adam and Milla were perched up against a fallen log a few yards away and told the story of how "two unseen and brave Outcasts burned the despicable Blades to death" and then Milla laughed, while Adam remained silent. > > **"Aww, I wanted to kill some Blades,"** Taylor spoke with a partial pout and Milla looked over the log into the woods, **"Not to easily to see at this time of night in a forest this dense. There may be more."** > > She looked back at the other three, "**Adam, go back to camp and wait for Rusty to return. Tell him what's going on as soon as he arrives. Jude, you're backup. Taylor, you're with me,"** and with that, she hopped over the fallen log with Taylor and Jude in tow. > > Orson had turned intangible and was floating in an almost carefree manner towards the cabin when he heard the explosion. He stopped for a second and decided to check it out. He hadn’t gone far when he heard voices. It was obvious owners of the voices had heard the explosion as well. Orson only heard the end of the conversation. A woman gave out commands. It seemed these people were organized and it was obvious that the woman was in charge. One of the members split off from the group having been ordered to return to the camp. Orson decided to follow the three that remained. They were obviously going to check out the explosion as well and something about the way the woman in charge spoke made Orson want to learn more about their group. He floated over a log and followed the group. Orson was completely visible but remained intangible as he trailed the three.

Midnight walked to the carcass and said a tiny 'sorry' before cutting the stomach open. She watched as some of the guts fell out themselves, so she took out the rest from the poor thing. She wasn't bothered by doing this, buts a bit sad that the poor animal died. When Justin asked her that question, she answered "Yes I can see them. Even the Outcasts that died anywhere. It's crazy how many people die these days." She said softly. Midnight looked at her amulet as she bite her lip. Then said "My amulet helps me go through these kind of things....." She mutters as she finally took out the guts.

Oliver looked up at the girl. "They're the people in charge. They tell all the other Blades what to do and stuff" he said. He tried to stand up. He still felt weak but he was slightly better. Cerys helped him up. "We should go soon, people will have heard the explosion"

Lily nodded, accepting his explanation. Basically: _Commanding Officer_ and _Terrorist_ were the one's in charge. Wait . . . "Why would the Blades fight other blades?" asked Lily, even as Pip hoisted her on his shoulder. Lily petting Bob affectionately while Dae sat on Pips other shoulder.

Oliver screwed his face up in confusion. He thought for a couple seconds. "What no, The Commanding Officer says he's going to bring down the terrorists. We're the terrorists. At least to them we are. --- Cerys paced back and forth. She didn't like sitting around. Not right after a huge explosion at least. People could be coming. Blades, Outcasts, anyone.

"Oh I see!" she exclaimed. "So the leader of the Blades is 'Commanding Officer' while the we are the 'terrorists' - that makes much more sense!" The big stuffed toy patted Lily on the leg. "What is it Pip? We have to move fast?" She bit her lower lip, now looking a bit nervous. "All right, if you say so."

> Midnight walked to the carcass and said a tiny 'sorry' before cutting the stomach open. She watched as some of the guts fell out themselves, so she took out the rest from the poor thing. She wasn't bothered by doing this, buts a bit sad that the poor animal died. > > When Justin asked her that question, she answered "Yes I can see them. Even the Outcasts that died anywhere. It's crazy how many people die these days." She said softly. Midnight looked at her amulet as she bite her lip. Then said "My amulet helps me go through these kind of things....." She mutters as she finally took out the guts. Justin saw how upset it made her. He told her how to remove the hide, then said "How about we talk about something else then. I assume you heard that explosion earlier. I actually came out here to look into it. Do you think the Blades did it or one of us?" --- Philip heard the little girl say that they needed to move fast. "Well, I can't hide all of us," he said, giving them the containers of food, "but I can try and draw them away." He pulled out a notebook and wrote down an address. "I've got a safe house in the back of the grocery store here." He tore off the piece of paper and handed it to the man whose shoulder he'd just sowed up. "It's near the edge of the city. I'll draw them off and meet you there." With that he put his mask back on, grabbed his backpack, and disappeared.

Midnight felt herself relax when he changed the subject then said "It could be a Outcast. Probably made the Outcast do it to protect themselves like usual" She said as she started to remove the hide like he explained to her. She wanted to ask him why he was helping her, but decided to say it if he stays any longer.

Justin started building a fire. "I wish they'd stop attacking us. They could easily pull out and leave us trapped here if they just wanted to protect people, but they keep hunting us. As long as they keep attacking us, people will keep dying on both sides." When the fire was done, he pulled an aluminum frying pan out of his bag along with some herbs he'd grown. "Here," he said,"let me show you how to cut the meat."

Midnight looked at the fire then said "They probably think if they keep us alive, we might hurt people. And that would be bad for their reputation and they might die. Or they are scared and want us dead because they don't know how we gained powers." She said like she didn't need to think. "But maybe I'm wrong. It's what I think". Midnight looked at the herbs he had and the aluminum pan he had. Then at the meat, she felt her stomach rumbled like crazy. She cleared her throat and nodded "Okay" was all she said with a tiny smile.

> Midnight looked at the fire then said "They probably think if they keep us alive, we might hurt people. And that would be bad for their reputation and they might die. Or they are scared and want us dead because they don't know how we gained powers." She said like she didn't need to think. "But maybe I'm wrong. It's what I think". > > Midnight looked at the herbs he had and the aluminum pan he had. Then at the meat, she felt her stomach rumbled like crazy. She cleared her throat and nodded "Okay" was all she said with a tiny smile. > "They might be afraid of us," Justin said, "I know the people of the world are. That's why they send soldiers out to kill us." He threw some of the meat into the pan and added a bit of parsley and sage. He also pulled a pair of chop sticks out of his bag to stir it with as it cooked. "My grandparents made me learn to use them." He said. "They were really traditional. Do you want a fork or some of these?" He also handed her some tuperware containers. "Put the rest of the meat in here and and I'll take it home and dehydrate it for you."

Midnight looked at him then grabbed the containers putting the rest of the meat in them. Then she said "If you knew they were afraid of us, then why ask me the question when you already know the answer?", she questioned then answered the question, "And a fork. I can't use chopsticks, never learned how" she grabs a fork after setting the containers down next to him as she sat down on the ground next to the fire. She knew she was probably making no sense or annoying, but at least she understood herself. Midnight looked at her blood stained clothes that made her stomach do flips so she looked at the fire once again trying to get ride of the feeling.

Lily looked at the spot Philip disappeared from and frowned. "I didn't even get his name," she said. Turning to Cerys and Oliver, she checked if they were ready to leave. "There's a lot of stuff going on right now. Dae and Pip can hear a lot of people in the forest. It's very attracting." She wondered if there were a lot Blades coming, and shuddered. "You guys should hurry up. I think I'll follow you for awhile, but I have to go on later."

Oliver looked up at her. "You should stay with us. It'll be safer. Plus, we could use the company too." He said. She was right. We didn't get his name at all. He has a safehouse near the edge though. They could probably find that. "We didn't get your name either" Cerys said

"Oh, oops, ahahaha, I'm sorry about that," she said, looking sheepish. "I'm Lily, nice to meet you, Cerys, Oliver." She shook her head. "I want to stay with you; it would be nice to have more people to stay with, but I'm looking for my parents. I don't want to have to drag you somewhere dangerous." Despite her lack of vocabulary, she was rather mature for her age; then again, being alone for almost 4 year would do that to anyone.

"I'm not sure if thats the only reason these people hunt us. Some of the things I've heard of them doing make me wonder if it's fueled by hatred, or if they're just evil. It's like they're Nazi and we're Jews." He handed her a moist towellete to wipe the blood from her hands and a fork. When the food was cooked he removed it from the foolame and set it on a downed tree. "Eat up." He said, handing her a bottle of water.

Oliver looked at Cerys. She nodded. He thought about it for a few seconds. What the hell, they had nothing better to do. "We could help you. And trust me, we were all dragged somewhere dangerous a long time ago" --- Cerys knew that her parents were either outside the wall or dead. She didnt know why this girl thought she could find tbem. But if the were a chance then they might as well help.