Simply Survive

  • So many newbies lately! Here is a very important PSA about one of our most vital content policies! Read it even if you are an ancient member!
"I believe that..." Caleb mumbled, but he took the plate readily....if not with some true wariness. They both knew that between the two of them, Caleb was the cook. Jacob...well, he'd been allowed to make sandwiches on occasion... The younger hybrid tried not to chuckle at the thought as he sat beside Lily, smiling at her before he turned his attention to the food, eating the corn first because well, it was guaranteed to be safe!

Lauren was smiling, too and the expression didn't leave when Jacob touched her, perhaps lingering longer than he should have and she took the plate from him, coming around to sit in the small circle with everyone else. "Nice to know you have such astounding loyalty, Jacob." she teased back, but Caleb was grinning, having caught the wink and then they both laughed, watching the elder twin and his dramatic display.

The brunette rolled her eyes at his words. "Really, you can't be that bad..."

"Oh, yes, he can." Caleb assured her, but she'd already taken a bite of the rabbit while Jacob gave Swiftfang her food - something the creature appreciated dearly as she lunged for the meat and started to devour it. Lauren was now busy doing the same. "It's good." was all she offered, too hungry to care to speak more and Caleb looked at his brother in mock astonishment. "Jac, you....you cooked something!"
 
"I know...its a miracle isnt it?" He said, offering a smile and shaking his head.

Jacob finished his food first, satisfied with how it went and he got up, making his way back to his pack and picking up the bomb. He took it outside and away from the group, sitting down on a rock away from them all. Jacob closed his eyes and let his fingers dance around the surface and his hands began to glow with a faint, yellow energy, as he began to disassemble the device. Parts floated around and away from him, separated into small piles. After a couple minutes, all that remained in front of him was a green, glowing core that danced with green lightning. The plasma arced across his skin and he smiled, enjoying the tingle that it gave his body.

He opened his eyes and tilted his head to examine the glowing, knobby cylinder and he smiled. He snatched out, grabbing the core and plasma arced all over his body, causing him to seize up. He forced his head to stare directly at it as his body began to glow green with the plasma but the core was slowly dimming in light. After another couple minutes, the core was dead, devoid of energy. He dropped it and stood up, brushing off the cinders and ashes that were on him and walked back over to the group.

"I needed to learn how to manipulate condensed plasma like that." He said with a shrug, sitting down by the fire and closing his eyes and drooping his head forward, lost in thought.
 
Lauren had watched Jacob leave with the bomb with curiosity and setting her plate down, she'd gone after him, but only to the cave entrance. Her arms crossed as she leaned against the rock, watching him even if she did not understand what he was doing. She was determined to learn, though, to understand her companions better so that if crap happened, she wasn't completely shocked by their abilities - though, she doubted that wouldn't happen at some point - and so she could better adapt the limited amount of help she could bring to better mesh with their skills. That was how you survived in a group.

When Jacob finally came back, she gave him a small smile, but moved aside, back to her previous spot as he sat.

Caleb had finished his food and was now petting the Tracker who had her head in his lap, tongue lolling happily. He looked toward the sky outside contemplatively and then looked toward his brother. "Jacob, maybe we should look in smaller towns instead of the bigger ones. If the Enclave is looking for vengeance, they will strike the bigger places and get around to the smaller."

"Unless they've already gotten to the smaller towns and the bigger strikes you saw are only the start now that they've finished with the outer circle destruction." Lauren pointed out and Caleb frowned, looking down at the Syhariy in thought. She was right, but...they'd already looked in two major bases and only found death. Maybe looking at the smaller ones now would be more fruitful?

"I think we should at least try." he finally answered.
 
"We could always try but where do we start? You and I have no knowledge of the area and Lauren is from another country....Lily? You have been here the longest. What do you know of the area?"

Lily looked up in thought and had her tongue sticking out slightly as she concentrated. She looked down, eyes with a white sheen over them.

"There are three towns within the nearby region of fifty miles. The nearest one is Underpass and its ten hours away by foot. To get there we need to head east and be sure to take the 94 highway east from here. The settlement is at the junction of 94 and 71." She said, with a monotonous tone to her voice.

Lily's eyes returned to normal and she tilted her head and gave a smile.

"My sister knows a how to explain things better than I do so I let her talk. Was she able to help?"

"Very much so. We have an idea where to go and we best start now so we can get there before nightfall. Actually, we can afford to wait a little bit; take some time to relax."

Lily's face lit up, looking over in the direction of her stream.

"Oh! I know where we could go take a bath! There is a pond near where my stream is that is deep enough to bathe in and I just happen to have soaps! I may be quite childish, but I do know how to take care of myself." She said in a cheerful tone, looking around and awaiting responses to her offer.

"I dont see why we cant. Sounds relaxing enough as well and Im pretty sure I smell of plasma and singed flesh...hardly attractive." Jacob had a toying tone but was serious all the same. The past couple days were rather terrible in terms of making smells and he would rather be rid of them.
 
Lauren thought about drawing their attention to the fact that Jacob had created a pond right outside the cave, but looking at Lily's eager face, she refrained and instead smiled. She nodded her agreement and stood, moving over to her pack to acquire new clothes. She pretended to wrinkle her nose as she passed Jacob, giving him a wink afterward and then touched Lily's shoulder with a warm expression, brown eyes meeting green.

"There is nothing wrong with being a child at heart and no one thinks you can't take care of yourself, Lily. Children and those who think like them are some of the best survivors." There was absolutely seriousness in Lauren's tone and Caleb smiled to hear it as he stood as well. He was rather curious about Lily's 'sister', but he didn't ask about it yet. Right now everyone wanted to have some fun and he could do so later. He had no clothes to grab, so instead he took Lily's hand without any hesitation whatsoever and pulled her toward the entrance of the cave where Swiftfang was already rushing away to. The young hybrid had faith that before long Lily would be the one try to drag him.

"Come on, little fire." he coaxed with a grin and the two took off.

Lauren glanced at Jacob them, a gleam in her eyes. "Race you." She was gone then with a laugh.
 
Jacob didnt race, instead he took his time with it and absorbed the scenery around him. While most of it was dead and desolate, there was still beauty and he was surprised to find a wild flower patch on his way there. He stopped for a moment to take some of them with him, as he had a plan for the group.

After a few minutes, he caught up and stood by the side of the pond, his arms glowing with the yellow energy.

"Ladies and gents, today I have prepared for you a mystical show of the glories of....Magic!"

Lily's eyes widened at the sound of Jacob's words and she clapped her hands enthusiastically.

"A magic show?! Really?! Ohmigosh! Ohmigosh! Ohmigosh! Ohmigosh!"

She stopped clapping and talking, immediately dropping into a cross-legged position and stared at Jacob with wide eyes, her head resting on her hands in an effort to contain them.

"Alright! For this show, I will need everyone's participation in opening their minds and letting their emotions run free! It is imperative that I can feel your joy or discontent! For this show, I will be telling a story through my magics! Is everyone ready for the show?"

All Lily was able to say was a barely audible 'yes' of a squeak.
 
Lauren had arrived well before Jacob and seeing that he wasn't behind her, she frowned a bit, but shrugged it away and instead joined Lily and Caleb as they were already by the pond, splashing one another and having a good time. The brunette watched for a minute or two and as she was about to join them, Jacob announced his plans. Lauren smiled a little, but raised her brow in interest at his request.

She sensed there was a bit more to this than a 'magic show' but the brunette dropped down beside Lily and leaned back on her hands, closing her eyes as she tried to...well...open her mind. It wasn't something she was greatly familiar with. She had told them she was human and she was. And she'd grown up in this broken world, not the old world with it's new age crap and the like. Still, it couldn't be that hard right?

Needless to say, Lauren did her best to not put walls up and she let the curiosity and wariness, uncertainty and determination she felt all run free as it were. Or at least...she hoped they were...

While Lauren was uncertain of what to do, Caleb was not and he opened his mind to his brother without difficulty as they were rarely shut off from each other as it was. Sure, Caleb and Jacob both tended to put dampers on what they felt because they felt powerfully, but his brother had said to let the emotions free, so here went nothing.

He let out everything he was feeling; the happiness of being near Lily, appreciation to Lauren for trying to help him as she could, his admiration and yet slight frustration with his brother, his unease about what was going on inside him, fear for their parents, hope for the future and then there was something dark, very dark that Caleb didn't even realize was slipping out until he felt it and abruptly pulled it back, not letting that emotion out. The others were fine. But not that one.
 
Jacob smiled and took in their emotions, giving his brother a gentle prod with his mind for holding something back but not too worried about it. He spun around and the glow of his arms followed and enveloped his body. When he finished the spin, he threw his hands out and a dozen little wildflowers flew from his hands and floated around in the air, glowing with a faint energy of their own.

"Everything in this world has its own energies, its own wavelength that one can tap into and amplify. Sometimes, you never notice it. Sometimes, you can feel it and it does wonderful things to you." He looked around the group and smiled again, stepping into the air on steps of energy.

"Even something as simple as an emotion can carry you to great heights and they can change the ambitions of the world. I, however, can use them to shape the world around me. I can take your fears, that dark emotion, and blot out the sun and only allow you to see what I want you to see..."

He swept his hand over the air, the area suddenly getting darker and eventually becoming pitch black.

"...but you dont need to be afraid of the darkness, because where there might be bad and dark emotions, there can also be good...like happiness."

He snapped his fingers and the flowers floated over the group, glowing and radiating a light down over everyone and Jacob.

"You dont have to be afraid of the dark or what comes from it, what hides in it...you just have to know that you can get rid of it with the bright emotions you have."

He turned around and in front of him was a fifteen foot monstrosity, its horns curved up and around, forming a ram's head. Its skin was glowing crimson and eyes glowing gold. It had massive wings that smoldered with orange and yellow energies. It slowly reached up with its clawed hand and began to reach for Jacob.

"You need to learn to face your demons. You need to face your heart and the fears inside of it. This is my demon, I fear fire. I fear giant winged creatures. So giant winged flaming are even worse. But I happen to know that I can get over it and get past it. I use the happiness and the help of others to do it." He made his hand look like a gun and fired from his hip, a small, purple ball flew from the tip is his finger and destroyed the image. He turned to face the group again.

"So tell me, do you have the strength to face your demons? If not, dont be afraid to call upon your friends. Lily...what are your demons? Can you face them?"

Lily's eyes went wide and filled with tears as a figure manifested in front of her, it bore the resemblance of a soldier in heavy armor. His suit glowing a green energy and his gun with the same effect. It raised its gun up at Lily, who began to cower and cry.

"GO AWAY! PLEASE MAKE IT GO AWAY!"

"Lily, focus your emotion into making it go away. You have the power to do that, if you cant do it alone I can help."

He let out a calming wave over the group and Lily slowly looked up with her tear stricken face, her face glowing with anger and righteous determination. Slowly, she stood up and got face to face with the soldier, yanking the gun from his hand and aiming it at him instead. The figure slowly stepped back but was blasted away by his own gun, Lily standing there with red energies radiating from her before turning blue and sitting down again, sighing in relief as she destroyed the fear that plagued her mind so much.

"My family was killed by them, by those soldiers. Everyone I know and love was killed, turned to ash and piles of goo...I will make them feel my pain."

"What of you Lauren? What are your demons? And you brother?"
 
Lauren started when her name was mentioned. She'd been watching everything with an intent gaze, mouth parted in wonder, in horror, in...shock. She hadn't thought she could be so surprised after what she'd seen, but this...blew everything she'd seen out of the water in a way she couldn't even describe. Watching Lily and Jacob fight their demons, watching the light and the darkness around her, the power that flowed through the air and listening to Jacob's words had absorbed her mind and now she struggled to make sense of the question.

Her demons?

The woman didn't even really realize she was already thinking about them until she saw them manifest as energy. Hybrids. Feral, nearly mindless creatures who cared for nothing but blood. They leaped out of the darkness with bursts of red and green sparks, racing for her and Lauren froze, watching, trying to make her mind work. It wasn't her mind in the end that stopped them, but a courage that rose up when she thought of her father's face and Lauren simply raised her hand after a moment, watching as the images disintegrated as if they were nothing.

The brunette didn't look proud of what she'd just accomplished, but simply accepting and attention turned to Caleb.

The young hybrid was rigid, completely still. He had listened to his brother with conflicting desires running through him. He wanted to listen to Jacob, to do as he said, to overcome the fear, nay, the terror he knew he resided inside him and become free of it. And he wanted to shut out his twin's voice. He wanted to be left alone. He was....angry. Caleb could feel the dark emotion he'd not let loose before rising within him and the energy around them started to flicker and turn dark, black and forbidding. Even the flowers started to darken and Caleb stared ahead as images, energy shapes started to materialize. They were all black, all malevolent, and they took many shapes and forms from the Enclave to their machines, the Guardians, destruction and chaos, creature that not even Jacob would recognize, places they'd never been and Caleb reacted to none of them. Not in fear or in rebuttal.

And then a final figure emerged from the darkness and Caleb stood, fire starting flare along his skin, licking out from his body as he approached the black figure that was slowly gaining shape, detail until the two stood face to face.

It was himself he looked at. It was himself he was terrified of and Caleb didn't move as the black-Caleb reached out and touched above his heart. Nothing could have stopped it. The dark energy around them all was out of control, certainly not something Jacob could take charge over himself. No, this was Caleb's power now and it was dark and angry and violent. So the black-Caleb was left unchallenged to touch its counterpart and the original-Caleb started to scream, pain and fury in the sound as the fire around him consumed his body and that of the dark figure. The black energy whirled around in a frenzy before it suddenly died, leaving the real world around them black and barren, cold.

Caleb was out cold on the ground, no dark figure in sight.
 
Jacob just stood there, looking at his brother with a straight look in his face. He knew something like this would happen but he needed his brother to see himself and confront it in some way. He knew that there was a battle raging on inside his brother and that right now he was powerless to help. There was only one person that could help...

"Lily. Go to him." His tone was flat, unemotional and his posture showed the same. He wasnt feeling anything, he could feel all his emotion trapped inside his brother when the hold that he had was ripped from him.

Lily looked to Caleb then to Jacob then back to Caleb and only nodded, shakily crawling towards him and sitting above him.

"Caleb? Are you ok?"

She leaned in close, turning her head to make sure she could hear his breathing.

"Caleb? Please wake up..." She started to shake as tears started to flow down her face and land on Caleb's face. "Please dont leave me alone..."

Her sobbing became audible and it was starting to choke her up, making it hard to talk, so instead she just lay her head on his chest, crying. She closed her mind off from the others, just letting it stay open to his but knowing he might not hear...it didnt matter to her.

I like you Caleb...please wake up...please come back to me....you're the first person I've really liked and I want to like you more...I dont want to be alone again, Caleb...please? Can you please wake up?

Jacob watched as she lay there, mind closed, and sobbing on Caleb's unconscious body. He turned to face Lauren, face betraying no emotion.

"I did this for a reason. I knew that Caleb had a war raging inside of his head and he needed to confront it. I dont expect you to support anything I have done recently but in the end, its the best for him."

He turned back to his brother and watched, waiting.
 
Darkness. Darkness was beautiful. Shadows, black, dark. He liked the darkness. There was no pain here. No fear. No anger. No happiness. There was nothing and yet, there was everything. He could feel the energy around him, the power at his fingertips now. It was wild. It did not know a master, did not understand control. It only knew such hateful restraint, a cage and it lashed out at him just as thoroughly as it wanted to lash out at the world.

It welcomed him, too, though. It needed him. It was him.

He understood it now and now he soothed the wild power, coaxing it to him, promising the destruction it so badly wanted. He wanted it, too. They had caged him, suppressed everything he was because they were afraid. They were afraid of him in a way they'd never feared Jacob and he now knew why, remembered why. They were right to fear. He wanted them to burn, for everything to burn so that the pain and the bitterness and the rejection would never happen again.

He was destruction to counter his brother's creation and he was fine with that. More than fine. He would destroy everything and be happy for it.

But would she?

The sudden words, his own voice, made him frown, made him realize that something, no, someone was trying to breach the darkness. Did he want someone in here with him? No. No he didn't. This wasn't a good place for someone like her. Her. 'Her' had a name. A flower. Lily. A tiger flower. No, that wasn't right. A fire flower. A little flame. HIS little fire. He liked fire.

You like her, too.

Yes. Yes, he did. Was she calling him?

Curiosity drove him from the darkness, made him brace against the light and Caleb blinked, gray eyes opening to observe the sky above him and then moving to focus on the redhead on his chest. His hand rose to cover her head and then he sat up, working quickly and smoothly to bring Lily into his arms, cradling. "Shh, hush my little fire. It's all right. I am here. Shh, calm yourself." Caleb spoke calmly, resting his head on her own and Lauren looked relieved, slumping before she looked to Jacob.

He'd seemed so 'off'. Was he all right now or had they traded one brother's sanity for another?

She took a step toward him, still unsure if she agreed with his methods or not, but worried all the same. "Jacob?"
 
Jacob closed his mind to where only Lauren could hear him, keeping his eyes on his brother and Lily.

He now controls all of the power that he was born with and raised with, the power that was hidden away and restricted from him. I have allowed him to see it, to tap into it and understand it. What happens now is a mystery but I am the creation to his destruction and vice versa. We are diametrically opposed and it is something that I have known for many years. Now, without the Guardians to hold him back, all that he has is her.

He looked back to Lauren and approached her, slowly feeling his emotions returning but he could feel that they were tainted and damaged. That would take some time to fix but he was ok with it. He stood in front of Lauren and cocked his head to the side slightly. "Ask any questions that you may have."

Lily just lay there, sobbing on Caleb's chest. He was awake but he wasnt 'ok.' He was...different...and she wasnt sure of what to do, so she just lay there and sobbed.
 
She was sad. He'd made her sad. If it had been anyone else, he wouldn't have cared, but it was Lily. And Lily was different. Lily was completely opposite of what he was, like Jacob but even more-so and he was drawn to that pureness. Something in him wanted to destroy it because he was darkness and fire, but more of him was fascinated by it, wanted to protect it, but he was now struggling with how to do so without snuffing that light out.

Jacob would have been better for her. They both created, both looked at the world with wonder and so its potential. Caleb only saw its chaos, but fate had paired Lily with him, not his brother and he would try. For her sake, he'd try. There had to something inside him that she wouldn't fear...right?

Caleb had to dig deep. Very deep. There was light there, sputtering and weak and not inclined to be cooperative, but it was there and he dragged it forward as his mind slowly wrapped around Lily's, taking care to be gentle as he let the fluttering light inside him be a buffer between her and the darkness inside him. And then he just held her close, stroking her hair and waiting to see if she'd stop crying or if he'd had to get one of the others to help her.


Lauren listened to Jacob with a torn expression on her face.

Caleb? Child-like Caleb was...destruction? No, that couldn't be... The North Wind. It had described him. The Prophecy had described all of them and everyone had fit at the time except Caleb. Well, maybe now he did. The thought made her shiver and she looked between the twins. She wanted to scold. Perhaps Jacob could have eased into this. Could have prepared his brother in some way. She didn't know, though, and maybe the way Jacob had gone about this had been the best way.

She did not know, so she did not speak.

He gave her permission to do so, though, and Lauren searched his face, a million questions on the tip of her tongue, but she only let out one. The most important to her in that very moment whether she realized it or not. "Are you all right?"
 
"My emotions are tainted and damaged after being absorbed into my brother during the event. I will be fine, I just need time to reattune to my own body. This also means that my ability to heal will be nearly non-existent and that my combat functions will be erratic and unpredictable, much like the energy that I control." He sighed, looking over to his brother and Lily. "This is my sacrifice that I have given my brother. I have given him control of his life, more than he has ever had, in exchange for my own."

-----------------------------

He could feel the darkness creeping in his mind, infecting who he was, tainting his body and soul.

Was this really worth it? Can we even get out of this?

Yes it was worth it and without her help, we cannot.

Then tell her.

No, it is not the same. She has to see her potential on her own. She will have her own battles to fight now, they all do. Us, however...we will stand idly by and watch as they develop while we dissolve. Its the only way for them to reach their true potentials.

I still think this is a terrible idea.

I never said the idea was a good one, it just is. Id suggest you start putting up all your barriers. We cannot afford to lose your power right now, as erratic as it may be.

I understand. Call me if you need me.

--------------------------------

He looked around again, seeing that his vision was starting to cloud with black, seeing that each person here radiated their own light and energy. Lily was red, his brother a dark purple against the black, Lauren a brown and himself...he was gold. His own words rang through his head, "This is my sacrifice..."

He sat down, felt his way around in the dark for a wall to sit against and did so, slumping his head forward and slipping into a trance.

-------------------------------

Who are you?

I am you. I am your brother. I am black. I am chaos. I am destruction. I am the world. I am death. I am your death.

Ah...so then the time has come?

Time. Yes. Destruction and chaos. Your brother is now strong.

Then I accept my fate.

-----------------------------------

He raised his head, face devoid of emotion.

"This is my sacrifice. Dont worry for me."

He turned his head to Lauren, his eyes black as the darkness that they were in a handful of minutes before.

What of you? What will you do?

He looked up to the sky, opening his mouth to scream as his flesh started to smolder, beams of light forcing their way through his skin. His clothes began to catch fire and he just sat there, screaming, as his flesh began to smolder and split apart as more energy forced its way through his body.

"Dont be afraid for me...I chose this end for myself. Its time to live, brother. Its time to explore, Lily. Its time for mercy, Lauren...mercy on those you feel have wronged so many. Mercy on those you feel have destroyed your life. Just let it all out in a scream."

He fell apart into ash, leaving nothing but a small floating orb of gold energy that drifted down and into the ground.

Lily watched in horror, her tears and sobs have stifled with the words that rang through her head, "This is my sacrifice..."

Jacob was gone. Plain and simple. His soul? Yes, his soul...had returned to the earth. She let go of Caleb and stood up, taking him with her, looking over to Lauren then back to Caleb.

"You have been given a gift, Caleb. Your brother gave up his human body so you can experience the life inside of you, the one that has been hidden from you for so long. It is time for you to decide whether to use that power for good or evil."

She turned around again and walked towards Lauren.

"What of you? What will you do? You think of yourself as just a human, and thats what you are, but humans have more power than any of us. They have the strongest ability to feel love. They can feel sorrow. They can feel anger. They use those emotions to bring about the better part of the world, to survive. They use those emotions to bring those they think that are dead back. Jacob isnt dead, Lauren, but he wont come back for anyone but you. His body was destroyed, but his soul was safe. It returned to the earth that he has been tasked with rebuilding. Look."

She looked over to the ash pile, a single flower pushing its way up out of the ash and it blossomed, a black and gold pansy. Gold tendrils of light crawled out from under the ashes and spread along the ground in four directions. They stopped a foot away from the ash pile and three small orbs of light emulated from the heads of three of them. Black at one, brown at another, and red at the last. One spot remained open and devoid of any other energies.

Lily walked over to the pile of ash and sat next to the red light and scooped it up in her hands.

"He left an embodiment of ourselves behind, the mark that we made on his soul. In order for him to come back, we need to nurture his soul back together again. Caleb and I can only do so much, Lauren. The rest is up to you. Why? Because you had the strongest hold on his heart. His love for his brother could only go so far but you brought something else out inside of him."

She brought the orb up to her face and kissed it, red energy beginning to glow from her body and course into the orb she had held to her lips. It began to grow to the size of an apple and she smiled, putting it back where she got it from.

"We all had an impact on who he was, my impact was the smallest but it was there. Caleb's will be much bigger than mine and yours, Lauren...yours will be the biggest. Only when yours is returned to its proper levels, can his soul return from the earth. How you can bring it back up to that, I cannot say. You must find that on your own."

She took three steps back and went to lay against a rock, sighing to herself.
 
Lauren had watched everything play out with a frozen horror, unable to comprehend what she'd seen, unable to accept it. And yet, she'd heard all of Jacob's words as if they were seared like a brand into her mind. They wouldn't leave, circling and prodding, but she couldn't react to them. She couldn't react at all and only stared at Lily when the redhead spoke, not answering, barely even breathing.

And then, like a cable snapping under pressure, the brunette crumpled and scrambled back from the place Jacob had been - was? - her breathing ragged as she continued to stare, unable to process everything, unable to believe yet. Too much had happened. Too much, too fast. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't. She was having a nightmare that wouldn't end. Jacob wasn't gone and Caleb wasn't bent on destruction and Lily wasn't spouting off nonsense about bringing Jacob back in the most calm way like it was nothing to be worried about!

This wasn't happening.

And if it was, she didn't want to be here.

Lauren scrambled to her feet, feeling like there was a weight on her chest, crushing her as she bolted. She didn't know where she was going or when she'd stop, but she couldn't stay.

--

Caleb had watched Jacob burn and fade with a calm expression. He was destruction and chaos and time, yes he was a child of time, and death was part of it. But his brother was not dead. No, he could see him in a way not even Lily with her sudden wisdom and understanding could. Caleb was connected to time, viewed it frequently even if he was not even aware he was doing so and at some point in the future, along one of the many paths that could be taken, his brother was whole again.

Jacob was not dead and Caleb did not grieve.

He understood what his twin had done and now he had a reason to not destroy Jacob when he came back. He loved his brother in a way that he could not explain even to himself. He wanted to snuff out his twin's light because he was darkness, but at the same time, he admired what Jacob could do and he wanted him to succeed. They were opposites sides of the same coin and yet there was a middle ground, the ridging on the side maybe where they intermingled and understood one another.

For what was creation without destruction? What was light without dark? Or life without death? And the two were not always that different.

He heard Lily's words and he understood them better than she probably realized as he approached the black orb of swirling energy. He sat before it, cross-legged and picked it up, head tilting. You should not have done this, Jacob. I would have found myself again. I do thank you for it, though, brother even if you have made everything even more difficult for the both of us. At least now we will be balanced.

He sighed and black energy seeped from his hands into the orb. It was all he had to give, but even as he believed that, faint sparks of light left his fingers too and Caleb shook his head in an almost fond way. You always tried to teach me about miracles. I am not sure I believed, brother, but I believe in you. If anyone could prove my doubt wrong, it would be you. I love you even as I hate you. Come back so we can fight and bring balance properly.

The orb had grown and Caleb placed it back on the ground, knowing he'd given all that he could.
 
Lily swore under her breath as Lauren took off, trying to get away from the place, and she sprinted after her. She knew she could not catch up on her own but her sister could, and her sister new the gravity of the situation and lent her some of her strength and speed. Lily ran faster and caught up to her, grabbing her wrist and forcing her to stop and face her.

"Lauren, he isnt gone. I know you're scared, I know you are terrified, I know that you care for him greatly but you HAVE to stop and think. Look at what he did for his brother. He did what he had to do for his brother to realize his full potential and in a way, for you to realize your own. You may not see it now, but what he did will have helped you. Hes not gone. He needs you, Lauren. You are the only person who he will let bring him back. He needs you more than anyone in the world. You need to go back to him, Lauren...you need to open up your heart and mind and let everything out; show him what you feel. You need to show him a light because without it, he is lost."

She stared into Lauren's eyes, pleading her to go back and do what needs to be done.

--------------------

"Sister, we have a problem."

The female Guardian walked into the room.

"What is it?"

"Jacob is dead."

"What?!"

"We detected a surge of power from he and his brother and then there was nothing. Caleb is there, radiating strong but Jacob drifted away."

"Do you think that he found peace with himself?"

"Its possible...but we wont know for sure for a while."

"Well then I guess we wait."
 
Lauren shrieked, partly in fear and partly in anger as she was grabbed, but the sound died as soon as it came as she stared into Lily's eyes, shaking in the younger girl's grasp. She listened to her and then gave the redhead a look that said, 'what the hell do you want me to do?!'.

"I don't know what I feel! Don't you get it?! I don't know if I cared for him! I didn't know him! I am terrified because this is all so effed up in a way I can't even put into words! I AM thinking! I am thinking this is insane!" Lauren yelled back and she pulled her wrist from Lily's grasp with a strength born of adrenaline. She didn't run, though. "I don't care why he did it! He shouldn't have done it at all! He is gone!"

"No, he's not." Caleb had made his way to the two and now approached at an even pace as Lauren turned her seething gaze to him. "He's not gone, Lauren and you need to bring him back." He reached forward then and Lauren was too startled to jerk away as her mind was flooded with images, none of which made sense until they settled on Jacob. Jacob whole and alive and then the connection cut off and the brunette backed away, grabbing her head.

"Stop doing that! Stop doing things to my mind! Stop doing this to me!"

The hybrid only watched her with an impassive expression. "We are doing anything to you. You're doing it to yourself. Stop thinking."

Brown eyes snapped up, startled. "..wh-what?"

"You're thinking too much and it will always be your downfall. Stop thinking, Lauren. Stop thinking that you know what is true or that you couldn't feel something just because it's not logical. Stop thinking and you'll know how to help my brother." He turned and left then and the brunette looked after him with tears rolling down her face, uncertain, but no longer screaming. She took a step after Caleb and then seemed to forget how to move again.
 
Lily gently took Lauren's hand in her own and she looked into her eyes.

"Ill be here to help you back when you want to go, alright?"

---------------------

Its dark in here...this new world, this earth...its so dark. It needs more light. Light? How does one light a planet? No, it needs more life. Thats it. Life. What better way for life to spread than through death? Jacob blew the ashes across the four winds and smiled. Could he smile? He was sure he could smile...how does a planet smile? He did not know. This was a new feeling for him, to feel so devoid of life and emotion. There was life, though...and quite a bit of it. Not enough to pinpoint, but there was life. He wanted to make more of it. Could he create something from nothing? No...he needed death to create life. Thats it. His brother? Maybe. He did not know. What he did know is that he could make life with his death. But was he truly dead? No, he didnt think so. But was he? Lauren. No, he wasnt dead. He was waiting. Waiting? Yes, Lauren was the key. Who was Lauren? That woman, that spark of life. Life. Yes, thats it. Emotion. He liked her. He liked that feeling of life she gave him. But she wasnt here. He knew that. Or did the earth know that? Dont know. Life, spread yes? Yes. Spread life. Make life from death.

He spread his arms...arms? Yes, arms. He spread his arms out and let the life within him flow from his death, settling on where his ashes landed. He planted the seeds of life in those four corners. A black seed was planted in the north, a red seed to the east, a gold seed to the south and a brown seed to the west. Strange. Two of the seeds didnt take. Why? Sadness. Sadness? Yes. Lauren? Lauren. She wasnt here. He couldnt make life without her. He couldnt come back without her. Thats it. She was that spark of life. Life? Yes. Wait? Yes, wait.
 
Lauren nodded in a small way at Lily's words and it was several minutes before she felt she could start to go back. The brunette squeezed Lily's hand gently to get her attention and then nodded again before the two headed back the way they'd come. Caleb was sitting near the pond, Swiftfang's head in his lap and he was petting the Tracker in a steady way, seemingly unaffected by all that had happened.

It made Lauren feel a flare of anger.

How could he just sit there? His brother was..was...not here. Maybe Jacob wasn't gone for good, but he was not here and Caleb was just...fine with it! It made her want to go over and shake him until he came to his senses, but she doubted it would do any good. Not anymore. So instead she ignored the younger hybrid and focused instead on the task at hand....something she wasn't even sure she could do, but her father's voice had been ringing through her head on the entire walk back.

How did she know if she didn't try?

So Lauren moved away from Lily and she lowered herself down before the brown globe of energy, hesitating for a long moment before she picked it up and simply sat there, cradling it, unsure what to do or how to start. So she just spoke the first things that came into her mind, trying not to think too greatly on them.

"I think you are an idiot."

Perhaps not the best first thing to say, but it got the ball rolling.
 
The orb pulsed at her words and responding to her touch.

What was that? The earth? No. Noise? Yes. What noise? Wind? No, to loud. Emotions. Voices? Voices. Female. Female? Female. Who? Lily? No. Too upset. Upset? Emotion. Anger? Regret? Sorrow? Yes. Lauren? Lauren. Her. Shes back. Shes here. Happiness? Happiness. Feeling. Lauren.

Lauren.

Lauren.

Lily watched Lauren as she picked up the orb and called Jacob an idiot. She smiled to herself and sat down next to Caleb, putting an arm around him.

"You should smile, Caleb. You look much prettier with a smile on your face."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back