I've done a bit | An SVA stori

Chapter 30: Smelly Nothing

Rowan felt the shadow from a distance, but when he got to the girls it was too late. Tom fell as the night did.
"Tom?" Ire ran to her but Rowan stopped her.
"Wait." He said.
"Isn't this weird." Toms voice said.
Her head lifted up to show the kids a big grin.
"No." Ire gasped. "Don't-"
Everyone looked to Rowan, who waited for the shadow to make a move.
"Aboat." It bowed with Toms body, before stumbling toward them, "Glad to see you alive, you're my favourite. You learn your lesson?"
"I don't wanna fight you but I will."
"Sure." It got in his face, "But who's going to find your friend?"
It slipped past but Rowan grabbed its wrist.
"You don't want to hurt your friend? Not precious little Tommy!" It tugged but Rowan wouldn't let go.
"Give her body back."
"We'll take him!" Piper showed her fists.
"You know I don't have time for this." The shadow huffed, "I've not got long and your bodies are awfully fragile."
"Wanna find out?"
"Don't hurt her!" Ire said.
"Yes don't hurt me!"
"Get out of her!"
"Oh I'm so scared! Or what?" It laughed, "I figured you had nothing to lose but you don't have any threats either! Say, what would happen if I did this-" It struck Rowans chest and slipped away, stealing the second pair of boots.
Rowan spent a second behind the wall he built before picking himself back up.
"Stop!" Ire began chasing it.
"Ire!"
"It's getting away!"
"I know, but Tom's still here." He was winded but ignored it for the moment.
"She's outside her body." Wolf said.
"We need to find her, it's a struggle to walk outside, she can't have gone far and she can STILL HEAR US! TOM!?"
"TOM!" Wolf and Piper called out.
Rowan knelt down to Ire and gave her the business card.
"They gave me this, find Tom, and keep her safe." He said.
"I- b-" She couldn't speak.
"Wolf." Rowan got up, "Stay with Ire, find Tom, you'll see her through rain, and tell Ire it's not her fault, we need her thinking." Rowan planned, "We'll go after it." He said to Piper, "We'll stay in the quarry, and Ire! It's okay." He ordered and ran off after the shadow.

"How do we see her?" Ire sniffled.
"Rowan said through rain." Wolf told.
"Tom if you're here, I'm sorry." Ire cried, "I'm so sorry."
"Dude." Wolf held Ire shoulder, "It's not your fault, it's not Toms either, it's no ones fault now because we don't have time."
Wolf searched through the rain. It was dark and hard to see, and Wolf didn't know how to let alone where to start.
Ire looked at the card and cried more. She knew what it meant, why Tom spent the last few weeks at hers.

Rowan was faster, but didn't know how to fight like the shadow. It scraped across the rocks at first then into the sky erratically but Rowan grabbed its ankles and burnt his arms a second time to bring it down.
He found himself taking punches and landing none. Even in Toms body he couldn't keep up with the shadow. It flipped the boy onto his back and stamped down on his chest, to get a great cry out of him.
"Stay down." It said and went off.
"Rowan!?" Piper caught him up.
The wall he had built around his scar crumbled and Rowan lost himself behind it. On the other side was him as well: the man with the skeleton arms. Who pushed past the pain and arose.
"Get up!" Piper shook him.
And he did, a different person.

Wolf began to pace, she couldn't see. Tom, a point to anything. It
"Dude!" She yelled.
She saw Tom. Not through the rain, but in reflections from the glass. The colourful shards she had hung up all too long ago showed Tom on the ground, cradling herself.
"Hey." Wolf looked through the glass, "It's okay."
Tom poked her head up.
"Wolf?" Ire asked.
"She's here." Wolf sighed.

"You need to catch her." Said Rowan.
So Piper put the second pair of boots on.
The shadow began to fly steady so Piper flew after it. The two lost direction spinning and fighting. Grabbing and pushing away in a wrestle without balance.
"Let her go!" Piper shouted.
"Let me go!" It shouted back and head butted Piper down.
She crashed a few meters to the ground. The shadow looked down at the children and laughed.
"Piper!" Rowan shouted over to the girl, who only just got back up.
He stuck himself to the ground and commanded the sky.

Wolf sped around the city seeing the fractions of Tom in the middle and told Ire where to go to be with her. She ripped them down as she went around and held them together from a string over Tom so Ire could see.
Through the clumps of colourful glass Ire saw Tom in fractions, and Tom looked back, not letting a tear fall.
"Listen." Ire sobbed, "Them men, they weren't Zazus."
Tom didn't move.
"It's okay." Ire sighed, "You should've told us, we would've helped."
"It's okay now." Wolf said, "She's with us. She's safe."

Lightning struck down heavy to the boy who caught it and sent it around, hitting the shadow, Toms body. It fell out the sky and Piper caught it before the rocks could. She laid it down and took its boots.
"It's got a pulse." Rowan picked it up, "Go tell the rest."
So Piper did and Rowan marched through the rain carrying Toms body.
He had enough time to see what he'd done. Her skin was burnt, from her left shoulder up across half her face. His hand hadn't cleaned up, he doubted her face would given time either.

Piper told everyone and a minute later he came over the hill to the four and laid the body before Tom in the reflections.
"Wh- what- what happened?" Ire asked seeing her face.
"Tom you'll feel your body connect to you, just concentrate on it. Feel the rain on it."
Tom wiped her eyes of colourful tears and had her mind open, but nothing was coming to her.
"It's okay it's okay, sit with me." Rowan sat in front of Tom, "What did it used to feel like? The rain, it was nice, when we were catching lightning, it was raining but it was nice."
Tom thought, but she couldn't remember.
"Keep her pulse." Rowan told Piper, so she did.
"It's so slow." She told.
"Rowan?" Ire asked.
"What was the card?" He asked.
"...it wasn't Zazus."
"Okay, it's okay." He assured, "Tom the rain, feel it again. Imagine what it felt like on you."
But Tom didn't move.
"You have to focus, you're nowhere, nothing's gonna duplicate, you're safe, just remember."
"She's slowing down." Piper told.
Tom tried but couldn't.
"Why's it not working?" Wolf began to panic.
"It's-" Rowan thought, "I don't know, she should feel it, you don't feel it?"
She shook her head.
"Rowan it's not working!"
"Rowan! She can't-"
"Panicking isn't helping!" Rowan got everyone quiet.
"Rowan." Piper said. She let go of Toms wrist and told the truth with one look.
"Rowan?" Wolf asked.
"Wh-" He stuttered.
"There's time, right?" Piper asked.
"I..." He couldn't control his breath.
"What do we do!?" Wolf yelled.
"She should fell her body." He repeated.
"But... her body's..."
"Hey Mars. I hurt you." Ire said softly, "I shouldn't have said what I said."
Tom shook her head and spoke, but no one could hear her. Ire knelt down beside her, only seeing fractions of her friend.
"But it's okay, to be hurt." Ire sobbed, "I'm not gonna leave. I think it's good, to be sad. Because then when you're happy, you'll appreciate it, and I want you to be happy." She held back bursting into tears, "But I shouldn't... lock you up, you shouldn't always be happy, because when you're sad that's who you are, the real you, and... I love you, and I want you to feel sad."
When Ire opened her tear filled eyes Tom had gone. Quickly she went over and brought Toms breast to her ear.
"C'mon." She repeated, "Please, Mars."
Wolf hid her tears in the rain and Piper held her breath.
Ire shut her eyes tight and listened for anything.

Inhale

Exhale

"Mars!" Ire hugged her tighter then she could.

Inhale

Exhale

Everyone joined in a sigh.

Inhale

Exhale

Tom was sent to the same hospital her Taid had died in, and she slept.
Ire never left her bedside and Wolf would only go home to bring back food.
But Rowan and Piper weren't there when she woke up.

After they watched the ambulance take the others away, Rowan and Piper stayed outside, in the rain and the cold, for too long.
"...do you wanna get out of here?" Asked Rowan.
"...yea." Piper agreed.