The seven

Hunted

Third person ———

Song : grow - Conan Gray

When they woke on the forest floor they had been united. The small fire was still burning , the moss and grass smooth beneath their heads and the protecting darkness weaved in protection around their small clearing.

Some had moved closer to the warmest bodies during the night , and so it was Isa that Rosie clutched in her cold hands to keep warm , and it was Sara who was surrounded by the three others and who had her warm feathered wings wrapped tightly around their shoulders , buried beneath their tangled limbs. Gaia was still wrapped in soft grass that had grown beneath her with a huge pillow of moss under jar dozing head.

Each of them woke quickly , scampering up from the ground except Gaia still entwined within the soft earth and plants , and Sara who's eyes only fluttered for a second before closing again, her back against a small tree and her wings pulling tighter around her.

The rest began to stand and survey the surroundings , it seemed they were less than keen to find they had awoken in this strange forest once again with the exception of the two who were still peacefully sleeping.

The forest was filled with dew and soft morning light. It was slightly chilly in the air but Isa's fire was a constant source of heat. And it seemed to barely expel smoke which relieved them of giving away their location to whatever lurked in the forest. They all gathered around the fire waking their stiff bodies with the heat it spread into their bones.

Defne woke up her mind and began to hear strange mumblings. She could feel all their groggy thoughts floating around like foreigners in her own head.

Nadia craved water once more and rubbed her eyes to clean them of the lingering sleep that clung to her.

Isa had moved closer to the fire , and was treating it dearly , stroking the flames and cooing at it , as it seemed to have a mind of its own.

Rosie was brushing of her skirts , finding herself drawn to a feeling of the metal in the earth beneath her feet , and even more so to the useless phones now clutched in everyone's pockets. She hadn't let her power go since the fall and it was starting to crave release.

Then there was Arrchana who began unwinding her shadow from the vined fence around them and drawing the darkness back into herself.

Arrchana moved to wake Sara and Isa to wake Gaia. They needed to find somewhere else in this world. Or at least find out what they now were , with these strange powers that they possessed.

Soon they were all standing and brushing themselves off, Gaia spoke quiet words to the earth and it pulled the wrapping vines back down so that the clearing was as it had been before. She talked to it quietly like it understood her soft words , and Defne , who heard the thoughts in Gaia's head , heard the earth respond to her like an old friend.

And Sara began stretching out her wings , already at tune with the soft warmth they had brought her in sleep. She used the wind to smooth her hair from sleep and eyed the others cautiously , weighing up the groups unease.

They all wondered what the new day would bring.

Isa was the one who broke the silence , the only one brave enough to be assumed their leader.

"Any ideas on where we should head", she asked the others , turning in a circle to survey what lay beyond them.

"Guys ?" , Sara said , her wings poised at an angle as though she was prepared to slice someone in half, held up in the air instead of folded at her back.

"I guess we could follow the river" said Nadia , feeling it's pull all over again. God it was calling to her. Even if her past experience with the water had scared her to the bone, she was ready to run straight back to its depths.