Øverturning the lies (a twenty one pilots fanfiction)

~Mari~

[So...guess what?  I drew that. What do you think? And can you guess how it fits into the story?]

Panic grips Mari, so tight she can barely breathe. 

These are her options:

Go forward and lead the banditøs to safety, but grow farther and farther away from where Josh and Jenna are traveling. 

Then, in turn, lower the odds of them (and hopefully Tyler too-Mari really, really hopes so, she's afraid of what that might do to Josh if he's unable to save his fren) being able to find their way back to their fellow banditøs and rebels. Their family now. 

The other option: Stay here a while longer and risk being found. 

Staying in the open for more than a day or two-not a good idea. 

She knows that. Everyone knows that. But in the end, it's not her decision to make. 

Josh didn't want her to have to make decisions on her own. Of course not. She's waay too young to be making decisions for all of the banditøs.  

He wanted her to know she had a place. That she was valued. 

And she appreciates that. 

Josh was a nice guy. 

And she wants to help him out, she really does. 

That just puts her in an uncomfortable position. 

Because then she'll have to break out of the protective shell she had slowly built around herself, the one that made it hard for her to open up to others and explain her problems.

She'll have to ask for other's help for once, without waiting for someone else to tell her what to do. 

It won't be easy. And she'll have to try really hard not to be afraid. 

So she takes a deep breath. Touches the yellow flowers she braided into her hair that morning reassuringly. 

Walks across the camp and gathers her little group. Rachel. Xavier. Rachel. 

She had started to trust them a little bit. She supposes she has Josh to thank for that too. 

She knows what they decide is not permanent. But. They can discuss their options, then propose it to the older banditøs. 

And then carry out the plan and worry about it was the right choice. 

Stay or go? 

Go. 

Deep down Mari knows that's the only option. She doesn't have to like it, doesn't want to leave Josh, but she can't put the rest in danger. Josh definitely wouldn't want that.

So she looks towards the city in the distance, tries to keep a tiny spark of hope in her heart, and gets up, towards the rest of the banditøs. 

They leave their latest campsite that evening, walking in an uneven line, carrying all of their supplies on their shoulders, heading towards uncertainty, but freedom. 

That's the banditø way, after all, and one of the first things she learned. Alone, they are more easily susceptible to temptation, to wrong, but together, together, they can draw upon each other for comfort and strength. 

That is what they are doing now, after all. 

Looking at the stars, camping under the light of the moon, living their life the way they want to, without outside influences. 

Finding peace in whatever small ways they can. 

That night, around their small fires, though, Mari doesn't feel at peace. 

She's afraid everyone feels at least some semblance of what she does. 

Unease. 

What did Josh think would happen when he, the leader of the banditøs, left? 

She knows why he did, and part of her really, really admires him for it. 

Her mind goes out to Josh right now, him and Jenna and Tyler and everyone else who's fighting a battle right now that seems impossible. 

"They'll come back," Xavier tells her. "All of them will." 

"I keep trying to tell myself that," Mari says, "But how do we know that? We've all witnessed firsthand what the bishops can do." 

"We know," Xavier tells her. 

Its then when she realizes right then he's kind of attractive, maybe, and immediately tells her brain to file that information away for later-how old is he, even?

She forces herself to pay attention. 

"Because, in the end," he continues, and Mari can't help but lean closer to him. 

"Fear always loses."