“Great, I have to rely on you.” Despite her scathing words, Enna followed after him.

Her chest heaved and her legs shook, but it was mostly from fright than exhaustion. And then, to make matters worse, she saw a looming silhouette by a building. Enna grabbed at Beefcakes arm and attempted to pull him back, but she mostly just fell over herself due to her lack of strength.

“Beefcakes, wait here.” She whispered to him, pressing a single white finger to her pink lips and shhing lowly.

Enna crept forward a little bit, pressed against a few buildings, and inched closer until she saw the outline of a Crucible leaning lazily against the shop of some sort, his gun resting easily in his arms. It was like her heart dropped to her stomach. Enna stood there in shock, not even bothering to hide anymore, as it suddenly became real. Krukow was going to be taken by the Crucible. There was no chance of fighting. All she could do was run, run and leave everything behind. Leave her parents behind. But she would have to.

The Crucible solider shifted and jarred Enna from her fear-induced daze. Enna stumbled backwards, a sudden urge to get as far away from him as possible, but her foot collided with a can and accidentally kicked it.

CLANK!

Then she was off, because, undoubtedly, behind her was a Crucible solider chasing after her. Because, undoubtedly, Krukow was behind her now. There was just her. And Beefcakes. With that last thought, a disgruntled Enna shifted her running so she was running towards Beefcakes and not away from him.

“Beefcakes, let’s go. Now.” She said once she was close enough, grabbing his wrist and running forward. “There’s a Crucible behind me, so we’re gonna haf’ta lose him. I suggest we run t’the woods. We know it like the back of our hands, he doesn’t.”

Without waiting for his answer, she began running for the woods.

"What?" asked Pansy, watching as the girl raced past him. He let her hand slip off his wrist easily as she ran ahead, confused at these frantic movements. She looked terrified but it didn't take long to see why. A man in full Crucible uniform turned the corner and for the first time in his life, Pansy stared into the eyes of a veteran killer. The baker fell back in surprise, yelping loudly as he did so. The Crucible soldier stumbled in surprise and Pansy took his chance. He tore down the street, his companion just metres ahead. All other thoughts were gone as his primordial 'fight-or-flight' instincts took over and a shot of adrenaline stained the back of his throat.

Behind him, he heard the shouts of the Crucible soldier. "Get back here! No one is allowed to leave!" he commanded, his voice echoing down the empty streets. Pansy glanced behind him and saw the Crucible was gaining ground quickly. Despite the heavy-looking armour, he was no doubt accustomed to chasing down his prey. A gun bounced off his hip, which made the situation seem so much more real. "Oh, gods!" he cried as his legs pumped faster and he ran straight passed the girl. The forest...she said the forest...that's a good idea..

Glancing behind again, he saw the Crucible soldier just an arms length away from the girl who's name no longer mattered. She was going to get caught if he didn't do something. So Pansy does what Pansy does best - he panicked. He picked up a stone mid-step and flung it blindly behind him. It crashed straight through a shops front window and glassy shards scattered across the inside. The baker winced as he thought of the poor soul who'd had their front window broken but the effect worked - somehow. As the glass smashed, the Crucible soldier assumed he was being fired upon and instinct won over reason as he immediately dove for cover. This allowed the girl took start taking ground back from him and pull ahead.

This didn't last for long, however, as the soldier drew his pistol and began the chase again. "Stop!" he roared, firing a warning shot into the air. The desired effect of stopping his targets didn't work, however and instead made them run even faster. Pansy tore down the street, desperately trying to remember his way out of town. His legs were beginning to tire by now and his lungs screamed for him to stop. If it wasn't for the adrenaline, Pansy knew he would of given up long ago.

The town slowly began to fall into countryside as they raced through the streets. There was a stretch of fields just before getting to the greater forests that covered the north of the island, where Pansy hoped they would lose themselves in. He jumped a field gate with one hand and ran across the field, his feet moving wildly in the grassy terrain. It'd be far harder to run away through the fields but it'd also be harder to catch them in. Once again, he swung his head behind and saw the girl just steps behind him. The Crucible soldier was behind a bit, probably starting to tire and unsure of what to do in this unfamiliar terrain.

Long grasses brushed against Pansy's hands as he stumbled and almost fell. One more fence, then we can lose him in the forest. The fence approached quickly and Pansy jumped it with relative ease. His loose shirt sleeve, however, got caught in the fence and refused to budge. With the soldier approaching quickly and the girl beside him, he decided to cut his losses and tore the sleeve with strength that would be impossible were he not pumped with adrenaline. The trees of the forest were just a few hundred feet away when Pansy made another mistake.

His foot went straight into a small hole in the ground and the baker tumbled to the ground, covering himself in cold mud as he planted straight into a muddy puddle. He gave a cry of discomfort as the girl raced by and picked himself up. His shirt was soaking wet and felt heavy on his back as he continued running, catching up with his companion again. The soldier had stopped just short of where Pansy had fallen for a second time and took aim with his pistol. A quick glance over his shoulder caused Pansy panic once again and grab his companions arm. Together, they dived through the opening trees of the forest and rolled across the ground. A piece of bark flew off a tree as a bullet entered it and the Curcible soldier unloaded an entire round blindly into the trees of the forest, shouting obscenities at his escaped targets in frustration.

He didn't seem too content in following them into the forest and turned away, trudging back towards the town. As Pansy pulled himself to his feet, he gave a sigh of relief. The last ten minutes had practically flew by and his short-term memory was a blur of gunshots, his shoes slapping off of the paved streets of Krukow and the sound of his heart pumping in his ears.

The town of Krukow was barely a mile away but Pansy had never felt so far away from it. What would happen to Carmena, the people he'd grown up with or the mayor? But covered in wet muck with a slight pain in his right foot and his heart feeling like it'd explode, he decided not to worry for now. He gave a reassuring smile at the girl who had escaped with him into the forest and fell to the ground in a heap beside her, his chest rising and falling quickly. He took deep lungfuls of air through his mouth and nose, starting to feel slightly sick. His head was swimming due to the lack of oxygen but he knew that'd pass after a little while. Despite his mind feeling dazed, one thought popped into his head.

"Gods...My name is Pansy, not beefcakes" groaned Pansy between breathes, covering both eyes with the palms of his dark hands.

Back at the Free Wind:

It wasn’t the best morning to wake up to. There were far more peaceful stirrings, those which involved a few rolls in bed, mumbling calming words and facing the endearing sun head on. Unfortunately not a single window was present within in Drew’s room, in fact it barely deterred from how it appeared the day his two other cargo guards and himself were hired for a full time job. It was wellpaying and full of lethargicy, since at this juncture they had their new and young recruit doing most of the handywork. Yet he could feel no remorse for the poor teen, as his stomach was in enough turmoil to take presidence over anything else. His belly let out a loud rumbling, like a storm was brewing within him, soon to be expelled in one fail swoop. Thankfully, his room had its own bathroom, and not a moment was wasted before he lept his way into the tiny stall.

After taking a few painstaking minutes to relieve himself, he slithered his way out of the laboratory and began to dress himself. He followed the required dress code his peers had instated when they first began this service. The guard draped himself in a cyanic bulletproof vest and a police uniform, one which belonged to the trio’s previous profession before being honorably discharged. Lastly, he slipped a helmet over his head, and made sure it was firmly fastened and tightened before slinging his marksman rifle over his shoulder. The man never got used to seeing the world through a visor. The small cutout of glass acted as a medium, a wall, something miscontruding his vision of his surroundings. But it kept his face and true identity from others eyes, yet he also never wrapped his mind around the fact that Varren always opted to wear his own outfit. No helmet, nothing protective, just a hoodie and bare flesh. Granted, he was quite the lanky individual, but bullets were bullets, through and through. He let out another groan as his stomach grumbled angrily while taking his first step out of the door.

”Damn it, bombs away!” He yelped as he dropped the firearm and dashed back into the bathroom to wage one more war against himself. ”Damn it, how did Varren know that food was bad?! Does he have a sixth sense or something?” After all, the young lad did recommend the trio to not feast upon unknown food. At their last stop, they had consumed quite the hefty amount, like a pack of gluttons. There must have been some poisonous factor, under the secret identity as a secret ingredient. Or maybe it was just that the boy’s picky as hell. Regardless, he was free of dietary distraught while the remaining three were left to writhe.

After the firefight within the bathroom had ceased, Drew finally made his way to the top deck. There she was, standing with that ever so captivating expression as she ruthlessly kicked the short-circuited machinery. The elegant flow of her hair, the power surging with every kick, the spree of gunshots in the dis- Wait, Summer didn’t eminate those kinds of sounds, only curses and obscenities left her perfectly sculpted lips. A few muzzle flashes in the distance caught the guard’s attention, in response he drew his firearm and aimed down the stacked optics. He closed one eye while peering down with the other, keeping his breath reticent as he awaited the appearance of life. And not to his surprise two individuals broke through the evergreens, both seemed to be polar opposites of each other. One was tall, and appeared to have the strength to snap a human in two. With his pinky. They were unarmed and seemed to be fleeing from something, perhaps they were the receivers of those bullets. After a few moments he saw his sights upon the shooter, submerging from the forest cladded in a very familiar uniform and with a pistol in hand. The man came to an abrupt halt to take aim at the two escapees, but to his demise Drew was the quicker of the two. A silenced round wizzed past the two citizens and lodged itself in the man’s shoulder. The round entered and exited in one fluent movement, accompanied by an explosion of red liquid upon its egress. The soldier let out a pained cry as his hand rushed to take hold of the gash, yet another projectile to his chest ceased his existence. The two remaining individuals seemed peaceful enough, yet to be safe Drew kept his firearm trained on the two. ”They don’t appear to be armed, Summer. What is our choice of action?” He asked to his side, keeping the barrel trained on the two as they approached the freighter.

Meanwhile back in Krukow:

Varren wasn’t expecting to come face-to-face with a combatant trained in the art of broom combat. What else did this backwoods town have up its sleeve?! Building-lifting elders? Monsters in the lakes? Fair trading prices? The possibilities were endless, and the young guard was entirely cast out into the void of the unknown. Drastic times called for drastic measures, and a girl only a couple of years younger than himself qualified as lethal, especially one armed with a broom. A quick jab to the throat could collapse one’s airway instantly. Before Varren got his ass royally kicked by the broom ninja, a saving grace stood before the girl, a blonde boy of similar age. The guard let out a sigh of relief and shook his head in response, ”No, I’m proud to say I am not a conscript of the Crucible.” He arched his back an inch at the jutted finger, ”Why yes, I am from that crashed ship over the horizon. It wasn’t the softest landing, but it was… manageable.” The sound of crumbling concrete caught the teen’s attention, his eyes traced themselves to the sound and gazed upon the roof of a building collapsing. The boy grimaced at the sight and shook his head, ”Already begun… Damn it.” The guard cursed in remorse, wincing as he turned to the two teens, ”If you know how to repair damaged machinery, you’ve got the job. I’m sure Summer will gladly give a free ride off of this island. There’s not really an alternative plan, given the Crucible’s presence. My co-worker should keep them occupied.” He motioned his head in the direction of the forest and readied his SMG,

”Well, let’s get a move on. I’ll keep us out of danger, don’t worry.” He made a kind smile at the two, yet the greeting expression quickly faded away and was replaced with stern eyes. Varren raised the tecpatl and began to make his way down the blow, with Aubrey and Emery in tow. ”Oh, if you don’t mind me asking, what are your names? I’m Varren. Varren Yinyues, Ex-officer of the Lemnos Police Department. But currently, I’m an employee of the Free Winds. Pleased to meet your acquaintance.”

"YOU THERE! HALT! HALT DAMMIT!"

Katherine sprinted across the field towards her homegrown aircraft with Ava following in hot pursuit. It seemed that The Crucible had already started to fan out into the town to "secure" the location from potential "threats". A scout had spotted Katherine as she ran to her aircraft and was giving chase, only a hundred yards away. Her lungs burned in protest as Katherine ran, but she barely notice, too scared out of her mind by the fact she was spotted before even getting to her plane. The Songbird was only a few meters away now.

"Come on Ava! Let's go, let's go!" Katherine said as she reached the plane. She practically threw open the cockpit door and leapt inside, her pet Kulca following in suit. The last thing she heard was the Crucible scout yelling some sort of warning of sorts. She quickly figured it out when she started the engine.

PING!

Bullets began to ricochet off the body of the aircraft as the propeller began to spin. Once the engine got warmed up, Katherine immediately slammed the throttle into WEP and the aircraft lurched forward, rapidly accelerating. Tracers flew dangerously close to her cockpit as she began to lift off the ground from her makeshift landing strip in the field. Glass suddenly broke to her left as a round passed way to close to comfort by her head. Though soon the gunfire subsided as she rapidly climbed into the sky over the island. Once she was in the air, and confirmed no fighters had come to meet her, Katherine and Ava let out a huge sigh simultaneously.

"Damn that was close...." she thought, now circling over the island. Glancing back at the sleek white airship, she shook her head. "What the hell are the Crucible doing here?"

Enna rolled her eyes and ran a hand through her hair, glancing down at the black guy before her. “Whatever, Beefcakes. I’m Enna.”

She threw herself onto the floor, a sweaty puddle of mess, hair clung to her face and her cheeks were ruby red. Her chest felt as if her ribs were piercing her lungs and she could not gulp down enough air. She felt hot and burning and sweaty and awful. Grass stuck to her legs and she bit her lip, glancing to the distance, wondering if the Crucible would find them.

Shrugging, she glanced over at the muscular man and slapped his beefy arm. “Where do we go now?”

Enna lay back, stretching, though tense and waiting for the Crucible to pop out at any time. She held a hand up to the sky and measured the trees against her fingers, her fingers suddenly appearing huge to her eyes.

“Beefcakes…”

Enna stopped, biting her lip and sitting back up. Tears burned at the edge of her eyes, but she quickly wiped away the salty water. She felt insecure, crying in front of a stranger, oh how her mother would frown. Immediately, as reflex, she smirked that fox-like smirk and glanced back at Pansy.

“Good thing I came up with the plan, eh? If you did, we would’ve been dead.” She sniffed snootily, though it wasn’t her best of insults, and wiped her brow.

"Okay, Enna, whatever you say" replied Pansy dryly, massaging his eyeballs with his palms. The pair sat in silence for several minutes as their pulses slowed and their own thoughts swirled around their heads. The baker wondered briefly about his next move - finding a way off of Krukow with Enna. How would they make it? Steal a ship? Smuggle themselves aboard a skiff bound for Kuiper? The possibilities were endless yet each was more unlikely than the next. He spent more of his thoughts on his family and friends. He didn't have many people he was close to - his overbearing mother who lived with him when not in Kuiper, his bratty sister who worked on skiffs, his kindly old boss in the bakery and the cat who sometimes came to his door looking for milk were the closest things to proper friends he had.

There were others who he'd know by face and could talk to but at the end of the day, Pansy was a rather solitary figure. But he tried to stay positive no matter what. Even now, as the Crucible took over the island, he realised his family were on Kuiper. His mother had her shop and Tully was delivering parts to the mechanics over there. They'd surely hear about the annexation soon. This positive attitude had taken him through life and would take him further if he let it. Even in the dark times, he appreciated the good things about life.

There was always a silver lining.

Pansy pulled himself to his feet suddenly and looked down at his companion. "We'd best keep moving, Enna. We can't stick around this place for too long" he said, glancing through the gaps in the trees to the town below. He walked cautiously through the trees. On many an occasion, he'd walked through the forest, admiring nature. He loved the singing of the birds, the beautiful colours of the flowers and the springy grass. But now it felt different. It was if the entire forest was holding it's breath. The birds didn't sing, the trees didn't sway in the wind and the flowers had closed. It was if the island sensed what was happening and was holding it's own silent protest to the Crucible taking over.

The baker bent down beside a wild daffodil, which grew comfortably in a tree stump. He delicately stroked the petals with one large finger. Pansy had been around flowers all his life but they never ceased to amaze him. The yellow petals, the bell shape of the flower, the delicate stalk - he loved all flowers. "My mother is a flower mage. She taught me some tricks" he smiled, giving a wink to Enna. He slowly slid his finger into the flower of the plant. When he withdrew the finger, just as slowly, he pulled a thin thread of glowing gold.

"Nectar" he muttered. The nectar seemed to keep flowing from this thin thread as a bead of sweat appeared on Pansy's brow. "Useful for all sorts of things". He slowly roped the thread around his index finger, where it glistened in the sunlight. The thread of nectar disconnected from the tip of his finger and sucked its way back into the flower. Pansy examined the nectar that was wrapped around his finger for several moments and when happy, lifted it in the air to show Enna.

"Give it a few hours. It'll harden and form a shell around my finger. It could stop me bleeding out if I was injured, depending on the flower and the amount of nectar I pull out. But it's kinda hard to pull loads out at once. If I do it too much, I'll start getting these crazy headaches. Gosh, they hurt like a bitch" he explained, slowly turning his index finger. Already, the thin layer of nectar was beginning to harden. "Tis the life of a flower mage".

He stood to his feet unsteadily as a wave of dizziness went across his head. "Anyways, gods, we'd better keep moving. We need to find a ship or something. Those Crucible guys won't stand around the town all day".



"Oh my gosh. Is that a ship?" grinned Pansy, staring through a gap in the foliage. He didn't wait for an answer A ship lay in the clearing, with people crawling across it. It was without Crucible insignia and looked like some kind of trade ship. He couldn't believe his luck. They could be anybody - pirates, traders, merchants or even rebels. But they weren't the Crucible and that was all that mattered. "Come on, Enna!" he said, grabbing the girl by the shoulder and attempting to drag her behind him. They exited the foliage, looking a mess but all sense of dignity had been lost by Pansy when he'd fell into a puddle.

"Oh my gosh, people are here!" he began shrilly, practically skipping through the clearing towards the ship. "The Crucible are here! The Crucible are here! I thought we'd be killed out there, it was so terrifying! You've got to help us, oh please!"

An ex-officer! How lucky were they? The trepidation that overwhelmed Emery just moments before had instantly been replaced with relief. Varren was not at all what she feared, and in fact had turned out to be their silver lining. He was armed and experienced and that meant they could rely on him. Already he had guaranteed them protection and a way out of the island; that was more than she could have hoped for. Even Aubrey had no qualms about following him, and that had been the definitive sign for her that they could trust this person. There was also something about the Free Winds that rang a bell, and for someone reason her sister's face came to mind, but she couldn't quite put a finger on it. She'll just have to ask about it when they weren't in immediate danger.

"Nice… to… meet you… Mr. Varren," Emery said in between breaths as she tried to match his and Aubrey's pace. Her shorter legs had to move twice as much just to keep up, and she was already getting winded. If she hadn't been exerting so much focus and energy into keeping herself upright, perhaps she could have been a bit speedier. "I'm… Emery." Still, despite being extra cautious, she nearly stumbled a couple of times, tripping over her own feet yet again. Each time she'd managed to find a way to steady herself—that is to say, she had to yank at Aubrey's arm twice and Varren's once—and she was just lucky she didn't accidentally drag them down with her.

Their path to the forest had been mostly uneventful, thank goodness. She tried to steer them through rarely trodden roads or ones that had the most cover; focusing on directions had been the only effective distraction from the worries starting to catch up with her. Emery tried not to think of the others left behind, of the mayor and the dangers he may be facing, of Auntie Mel, and diverted her attention to doing what she can to keep them out of trouble. It worked for the most past. The closest to trouble they had gotten was an almost encounter with two soldiers, but thankfully her goggles alerted them just in time. The three of them managed to avoid engaging in any sort of combat, and soon they would find themselves surrounded by thickets of green.

They had made it to the forest, and now all they had to do was reach the airship. If her calculation were right, and they always were, that should be no more than a ten minutes' walk away. What's the worst that could happen then?

Aubrey felt uneasy about Varren's gun, but considering the circumstances it wouldn't be too terrible if the guard had to shoot one of the Crucible soldiers. He'd rather it be them than him. "My name's Aubrey," the blonde teenager responded, giving his own name in turn. He didn't have much else in regards to a title, given he wasn't even an adult yet. But now they all were able to communicate by name as they escaped they ran from the town.

---

Speaking of the town of Krukow, the sounds of violence began to grow in volume and intensity. As the one-eyed first mate of the Free Wind walked away from the town square, battle began to ensue. His intimidation no longer kept the soldiers or the Rift Hunters at bay, and with the Crucible officers being defeated there was a golden opportunity for the townsfolk to fight back. Weston only let out a sigh as he left the scene, a scene which he was the cause.

After a few seconds of walking, he began to pick up the pace. For a big guy starting to approach middle-age, he could sprint quite fast. His plan succeeded, now there was a window of opportunity for the Free Wind to escape. Provided Varren found a mechanic, that is. With the Crucible now forced to handle the townsfolk, the Interceptor wouldn't be manned in time to give chase once the Free Wind could get in the air. Despite the implications of his actions, Weston showed no signs of a burdened conscience.

Something caught his attention and he skidded to a halt. As the dust from his sudden stop settled, Weston found himself in the middle of a field. The same one he and Varren had encountered Katherine earlier. Though he was now alone, but there was something new in the field. Just as he thought he had detected earlier there was a darkness in the air.

A hole in the air, blacker than the darkest night. Wisps of black smoke flowed out the sides. Electrical pulses popped across the blackness every few seconds. The ominous portal made no sound, but that only made it more ominous. In all it was slightly larger than Weston himself. A rather large Rift, at least by Weston's uneducated standards. But something was strange about this Rift. Despite being more than big enough for human-sized monsters to fit through, nothing was coming out.

And it seemed to be growing bigger.

"Hmm..." he mumbled to himself, slowly picking up the pace again. As intriguing as the Rift was, it was only a distraction right now. Staying on this island any longer than he had to be was dangerous. Twofold, with the imminent threat of Rift Monsters arriving within the next few minutes. Now it was a rush to get off Krukow island. As Weston ran towards the forest a blue, ethereal glow began to radiate from his body. And interestingly enough: he began moving much inhumanly fast.

---

The captain of the ship leaned over the rail along the top deck. Indeed there were two strange, random people shouting up at them. A look of annoyance took her face first, but after properly processing what Pansy was shouting she took a look of surprise. "What?" escaped her as she lost her balance. The momentary surprise was soon consumed by anger and she gritted her teeth. With a sharp kick to the Free Wind's deck, Summer began another one of her tantrums.

"Of course the bloody Crucible has to show up now of all times! Today is just my lucky day!" Before she could begin cursing more, Varren arrived down below. Summer immediately recognized her first mate wasn't with him, and instead there was two teenagers. "I asked for a damn mechanic! And where the hell is Weston!?" Summer began to shout. Before Varren had a chance to explain himself, a port along the side of the ship opened up and a metal walkway extended out. Didn't quite reach the ground, due to the lopsided resting position of the ship, but it was close enough to step on easily.

One of the other guards opened it, to let the passengers on board. Though this irked Summer greatly, she kept her mouth shut as letting the natives on board wouldn't have too much of an impact on their survival. Unless they could fix the Aura generator. Then letting them on greatly improved the odds. "We don't have much time before we're all dead or worse," Summer began, her tone already betraying the coming command. "So the whole lot of you better make yourselves useful and get this baby flying. Varren, take them to the engine room. I'll join you all in a moment. If we get enough monkeys in there we might get through this, but we aren't leaving without Weston."