[IC] This Means War

[liah]

I nodded, walking down the patch and moving branches of leaves out of the way in the process. "Watch out." I held a branch back for Sam to walk through. "I hope we find these guys soon." I ducked, dodging a branch. "And duck in about five seconds." I warned him.

[natcat]

“Thanks.” I said, doing exactly what she told me. “So do I, or a lake.” I said feeling the mud beginning to dry on my body and where it was caked under my fingernails. “Did the others contact us before?” I asked suddenly remembering that I’d heard Luke’s voice give away Daisy’s hiding spot.

[liah]

"Yeah, they said some Jaxlor's were heading our way. I guess they waited too long to send the message." I looked back at him. "I hope they're still alright. I can bet you they don't look as messy as us."

[natcat]

I snorted lightly and smiled. “I bet, but who knows how many sudden hills there are in this place.” I said rolling my eyes as I followed behind Daisy, knowing the odds would be few. Looking at the trees we passed, I followed ones trunk all the way up to the sky amazed to see blue sky peeking between the canopy above. For some reason I was expecting to see grey, I guess that what I’d been seeing for the last few months so this pure blue was startling.

[liah]

I giggled. "Yeah, I bet there are a ton." I said sarcastically. After walking for a bit more, I paused, seeing something up ahead. "Hey, look at that. Does that look like a cave to you? Waaaay up ahead?" I asked, squinting my eyes. "Just through those trees."

[natcat]

I stopped walking, making it easier for me to see through the trees. Squinting my eyes and shading them from the sun, I could make out a dark shape in the distance. “Looks like it might be a cave. It could just be a weird shadow… No, I think that’s a cave.” I said.

[liah]

I grinned, looking back at him then towards what we thought to be a cave. "I seriously think that's a cave." I began to walk faster until my walk turned into a half-jog. "It's definitely a cave!" I began to hear faint voices so I stopped. It could be more Jaxlor's.

[natcat]

Coming up beside Daisy, I reached for her arm, pulling her back slightly. “Shh, shh. We don’t know who’s in there, we need to be careful.” I whispered to her closely, gesturing for her to pull out her knife just as I was doing. Nodding at her, we fell against the shadows of the trees and slowly approached the caves.

[liah]

I pulled out my knife, following the same actions Sam did. Peeking out from behind the bushes, I could see a few people. They looked dirty, tired, and were definitely Tilerians. I could tell. "Those are our guys." I whispered. "How do we pop out without them shooting us as soon as they see us?"

[natcat]

“Uh, we just hope they don’t shoot us?” I suggested dumbly. “Wait, is there anything in the backpacks with our symbol on it? Like a flag or something?” I asked Daisy turning to look at her.

[liah]

"Oh, let me check." I slowly took of my pack so it wouldn't make any noise and tried to unzip it as quietly as I could. I went through all the pockets until I found something. "Found this." I held up a tiny flag. Our flag. "I still feel like just popping out is a bad idea. But it's worth a try." I whispered. "Here goes nothing." I sighed before standing up, holding the flag out so they could see it. At first, they immediately pointed their guns at me. "Wait! Don't shoot! I'm on your side!" I explained. One of them, a girl with long black hair walked up to me, her gun at my chest. She snatched the flag from me and looked it over.

"She's a Tilerian." She motioned to the others to lower their weapons and they did so. "Are you alone?" She asked me and I shook my head. Now as the time for Sam to pop up.

[natcat]

Taking a breath, I stood up my hands raised just in case they were feeling suspicious. “It’s okay, I’m a Tilerian too.” I said moving towards them to stand with Daisy. The black headed girl looked me over unsurely.
“Why are you guys covered in mud?” A voice came from one of the guys, his arms folded with his eyebrows raised. “Some rescue team.”

[liah]

"Well it wasn't exactly easy getting down here. And this rescue team just saved your ass." I gave the man a look. He raised his hand up in defense. "I'm Daisy and this is Sam." I gestured over to Sam. They nodded. The black haired girl spoke up.
"I'm Lyric. That's Georgie, Karen, and that guy over there is Slacks. Don't ask about the name." She added. "Come on, sit down. Relax. You're safe here." She motioned to us.

[natcat]

I nodded and smiled, thankful they didn't deem it necessary to shoot anybody. “Thanks.” I said letting my bag drop from my shoulder. Holding it in my hand, I took a seat along with the others and sat my backpack down in front of me.
“Daisy, should we be letting the others know that we’ve found them?” I asked remembering my walkie talkie was busted.

[liah]

"Oh yeah, I totally forgot." I dug my walkie talkie out of my bag and called the others, letting them know where we were and that we'd found them. The understood, agreeing to find us and meet us here. I then called back to base. They wouldn't be coming to get us until the morning. I protested, but it didn't work. They'd be here before the sun rose. After hanging up with everyone I sat my bag in front of me as well. I glanced around their little camp. It was messy, but what could I expect from people who had been hiding out. My eye caught a news paper. The title read 'The Infamous Jonathan Darwe and Kae Felder Have Struck Again.' I thought for a moment. Those names were very familiar. "Who's Kae Felder and Jonathan Darwe?" I asked. Lyric had a smirk on her face.

"Jonathan and Kae?" She raised a brow, a grin painted on her face. "Ah man, I haven't seen them in about a year. We're friends. I met them about three years ago when Kae had first been drafted into the war." She started. I definitely wanted to hear these guys story.

[natcat]

I looked between Daisy and Lyric. “Why are they famous?” I asked having spotted the newspaper article myself, curious as to what they had done. “What’s so great about them?” I shifted on my set ready to hear about these two people. From the image on the front page the guy looked like a Barbie doll, what could he have possibly done that made him famous.

[liah]

"Well, Jonathan always had sort of a hot head. Kae was of the kinder sort." She paused, shaking her head. I'm guessing old memories were flooding back in. "Together, those guys are something else. You know somethings going to get blown up with the both of them around. They're like the modern day Bonni and Clyde... Minus the robbing banks... For the most part." She laughed. "This war didn't really get started until those two teamed up. They would sneak into Jaxlor camps and destroy the whole thing. Just those two. They'd sneak in and out of Jaxlon with no problem. Finding out as much information as they could." She paused. "I'd gone a long with them a few times. Like the time we'd thought we found the leader. It was just a clone though. They did something to Kae and she almost lost her mind. Jonathan never left her side though.." She looked to Sam and I. "What are you two? Eighteen and nineteen? They were about your age when they did all that. And madly in love. They were inseparable. Whenever they went through one of their little breakups, they were miserable without each other." She shook her head. "They've done a lot though. They always get so close to ending this thing, but something happens that always pushes them one step up and four steps back. Without Jonathan and Kae, we wouldn't know half as much as we know now. All because they decided to go against orders and take things into their own hands."

[natcat]

I rose my eyebrows and looked at Daisy. To think someone had already done all the things we had spoken about back at camp. Getting out and making a difference on our own. “I suppose that does warrant a reason for fame.” I said and looked back to the newspaper. “What’d they do that time?” I asked nodding towards their image, which I now looked at differently.

[liah]

"Took some important Jaxlon files, blew up a few more camps, aaaaaand took one of their Generals captive." She said this like it was nothing new. Listening to the stories of those two, it didn't sound like it was new either. "That's an old paper though." She sighed. "From about four months ago. I found it lying around." Lyric paused, looking down at the ground. "Kae is actually dead now." She said quietly. "Jonathan.... He didn't take that too well. He uh- He barged into a pretty important Jaxlor camp and attempted to do some damage. He was in a vengeful mood and that doesn't always end well."

[natcat]

I clenched my jaw. “I’m sorry about your friend. I know it doesn’t change much but sorry.” I said looking Lyric in the eyes and she nodded her thanks.
“They sparked a hope in all of us. I was there when they received an award for their work. Jonathan, he said it wasn’t about medals, it was about all of us. Our present, our future, that it was about fighting for something that we all believed in, for peace.” Georgie spoke up from opposite me, making eye contact with me. “They were inspirational. Still are.”