so shaken I
almost lost my balance and fell off, and I felt a sting of embarrassment as
Vaze caught me by the arm. The roof wasn’t very steep, and I had been up there
plenty of times before, but under the circumstances I think any normal person
would do the same.
“What
just happened, Vaze?” I asked in the calmest voice I could manage, but it was
still a struggle to keep my voice from cracking. I looked into his eyes for
answers, but they were hollow.
“I’ll
explain when we’re all together,” was his solemn answer. He jumped towards the
ground and snapped out his wings at the last moment, landing silently. He
motioned for me to jump and held out his arms to catch me, but I only scowled
at him.
Jumping
to a nearby tree I grabbed one of its branches and tossed myself to the lower
branches until I was close enough to the ground to leap down. I stumbled a bit
upon landing, but despite my gracelessness I was satisfied that I had done it
without his help.
Vaze
just shrugged and walked towards the broken mess that I called home. None of
the windows were intact, and the only thing besides broken glass covering them
were shreds of clothes that were so worn or small we couldn’t wear them anymore.
The door was a tad pathetic. The building had giant wooden hangar doors with
rusted hinges, so we had to cut our own door. It was a small opening that was
also covered in cloth to help keep out the cold during the winter. The hangar
doors themselves were rotting. The whole place was a safety hazard. And since
it was mostly made of wood it was a fire hazard too. Ironic, isn’t it?
Vaze
entered and I was right behind him. The first thing I saw was Al. It wasn’t
that I was particularly looking for him; he was just waiting by the door and
decided to tackle me in a bear hug.
“Don’t
ever scare me like that!” He yelled in my ear with his voice cracking. “What
happened?”
“Isn’t
it kind of obvious?” I said while shoving him off of me. “I tried to stop an
idiot from being an idiot. It didn’t work out too well.” I gestured to Vaze’s
many cuts and bruises. I realized that compared to him, I was hardly hurt at
all. All of his injuries were minor but there were a lot of them. They’d be
annoying, but he’d recover. After inspecting myself I found I had about ten
cuts on my arm and a small shallow bite mark on my ankle that hardly broke
skin. I’d say I was lucky.
“What
was Enzio talking about when he said all those things anyway?” I asked,
remembering everything Enzio had taunted Vaze with until he finally snapped.
Vaze looked at me, and if looks could kill, I’d probably have dropped dead then
and there.
“It’s
none of your business, and I’d advise you to forget about it,” he said defensively.
“You
don’t have to be a jerk, I was just asking!” I snapped back. There was no way I
was backing down. Apparently, neither was he.
Al
sensed what was about to happen first. He knew better than anyone how I get
into so many fights in the first place. He was always my voice of reason, and
my conscience. He got between Vaze and me before I had a chance to throw a
punch.
“Stop!”
Al interjected, and got in between us. “If we start fighting among ourselves
we’re dead meat. Mr. Hale said that those Shadow things and Enzio are probably
going to be the least of our problems. If we’re going to make it, we’ve got to
stick together. You two may not like it, but you’re going to have to work as a
team. Scarlet, Mr. Hale said that Vaze would be the only one who would know
where to go. Vaze, he also said that you and the survivors need Scarlet, and
you know it. So if you’re done acting like five year olds, can we please start
making a plan to get out of here?”
Vaze
looked surprised. I wasn’t. Speeches like this were normal for him, and though
I was used to them, they always had the same effect on me. It calmed me down,
and I always listened to what Al had to say. He may have only been a
almost lost my balance and fell off, and I felt a sting of embarrassment as
Vaze caught me by the arm. The roof wasn’t very steep, and I had been up there
plenty of times before, but under the circumstances I think any normal person
would do the same.
“What
just happened, Vaze?” I asked in the calmest voice I could manage, but it was
still a struggle to keep my voice from cracking. I looked into his eyes for
answers, but they were hollow.
“I’ll
explain when we’re all together,” was his solemn answer. He jumped towards the
ground and snapped out his wings at the last moment, landing silently. He
motioned for me to jump and held out his arms to catch me, but I only scowled
at him.
Jumping
to a nearby tree I grabbed one of its branches and tossed myself to the lower
branches until I was close enough to the ground to leap down. I stumbled a bit
upon landing, but despite my gracelessness I was satisfied that I had done it
without his help.
Vaze
just shrugged and walked towards the broken mess that I called home. None of
the windows were intact, and the only thing besides broken glass covering them
were shreds of clothes that were so worn or small we couldn’t wear them anymore.
The door was a tad pathetic. The building had giant wooden hangar doors with
rusted hinges, so we had to cut our own door. It was a small opening that was
also covered in cloth to help keep out the cold during the winter. The hangar
doors themselves were rotting. The whole place was a safety hazard. And since
it was mostly made of wood it was a fire hazard too. Ironic, isn’t it?
Vaze
entered and I was right behind him. The first thing I saw was Al. It wasn’t
that I was particularly looking for him; he was just waiting by the door and
decided to tackle me in a bear hug.
“Don’t
ever scare me like that!” He yelled in my ear with his voice cracking. “What
happened?”
“Isn’t
it kind of obvious?” I said while shoving him off of me. “I tried to stop an
idiot from being an idiot. It didn’t work out too well.” I gestured to Vaze’s
many cuts and bruises. I realized that compared to him, I was hardly hurt at
all. All of his injuries were minor but there were a lot of them. They’d be
annoying, but he’d recover. After inspecting myself I found I had about ten
cuts on my arm and a small shallow bite mark on my ankle that hardly broke
skin. I’d say I was lucky.
“What
was Enzio talking about when he said all those things anyway?” I asked,
remembering everything Enzio had taunted Vaze with until he finally snapped.
Vaze looked at me, and if looks could kill, I’d probably have dropped dead then
and there.
“It’s
none of your business, and I’d advise you to forget about it,” he said defensively.
“You
don’t have to be a jerk, I was just asking!” I snapped back. There was no way I
was backing down. Apparently, neither was he.
Al
sensed what was about to happen first. He knew better than anyone how I get
into so many fights in the first place. He was always my voice of reason, and
my conscience. He got between Vaze and me before I had a chance to throw a
punch.
“Stop!”
Al interjected, and got in between us. “If we start fighting among ourselves
we’re dead meat. Mr. Hale said that those Shadow things and Enzio are probably
going to be the least of our problems. If we’re going to make it, we’ve got to
stick together. You two may not like it, but you’re going to have to work as a
team. Scarlet, Mr. Hale said that Vaze would be the only one who would know
where to go. Vaze, he also said that you and the survivors need Scarlet, and
you know it. So if you’re done acting like five year olds, can we please start
making a plan to get out of here?”
Vaze
looked surprised. I wasn’t. Speeches like this were normal for him, and though
I was used to them, they always had the same effect on me. It calmed me down,
and I always listened to what Al had to say. He may have only been a
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