Sometimes, Anarchy Is Best ~~ Shadows

7.) Rune

As Alastair pushed past Ewe, storming out of the room with all the frustration of a storm cloud that threatened to pour on her, Rune finally let her gaze pull away from him.

It had become habit for her to keep a close eye on anything that even came close to being a threat, the way she'd done to Linus and Nightmare for years, then to Ewe in the alley when the sheep hybrid found her hiding spot, and now Alastair.

She hadn't expected him to come in and confront her, and the surprise of such a thing had left her without words. He'd just torn in, gave her a silent panic attack, and gone right back out. It made her wonder what his deal was, and more importantly, if she was safe here.

It'd been hard to even make sense of what he'd said to her, from the instant fear that had made every feather that would puff out and made her shrink back into the soft comforting cushions. But one thing had stood out, and it was that he knew Nightmare. He knew what he'd done to her, that he was looking for her. It made her mind want to spin out, say right then and there that he was going to throw her out to him.

The only thing that kept her from doing so was how protective Ewe and Gray had been. If Rune had understood Ewe right, Alastair would never do something that would create a rift in the friendship between the three. And if they were that fond of Rune, surely Alastair was bound by some kind of moral compass, however twisted, to keep the crow hybrid around.

No matter what, she felt some kind of comfort from that, and eventually was able to come out from her mind, once again taking more and more awareness of her surroundings. She took note of the way Ewe lingered in the doorway, Gray had gone over there and was now speaking to her in hushed voices, his tail sweeping back and forth slowly and methodically.

That was what Rune had ended up focusing on for a good minute, distracting herself from the flurry of thoughts telling her she wasn't safe in favor of simply following the movements. Those were happening. She wasn't being thrown out. She wasn't being threatened. She was still here. No one had found her.

"Hey, does anyone know why- holy fuck, when did a child get in here?!"

Rune's gaze instantly snapped to the speaker, a young man in a sky blue hoodie and his arm in a sling with the same kind of energy as a cat who just tasted a pickle. Gray spoke up first, since that singular statement had caught everyone's attention. "Archer, this is Rune. We think she's the visitor Toby sent our way. Rune, this is Archer. For lack of a better description, he's our local pain in the ass."

Archer glanced at her, his expression shifting to one more of surprise. "Really? Hm. She seems sleep deprived. Also, Toby's kinda lame for his only friend being a child."

Ewe rolled her eyes, arms crossed. "Oh really? I woulda never fuckin' come to that conclusion myself," she spat back sarcastically. "And Al stormed off into his weapons room because he's a fuckin' jackass who can't apologize for jack shit and I don't understand why we fuckin' stay 'ere with him anymore."

Before Archer even opened his mouth to respond, Gray replied, "We stay with him because he's our best friend. He's a pain in the ass of a different breed, but he's always been there for us. He found something out today that made him worry. You know he wouldn't even attempt to bring stress to an innocent, which I think we've all figured out that Rune is not. She's got a role in all this, and it's not keeping Toby's sorry ass company."

Ewe huffed. "All this bullshit is becomin' too much." she growled crossly.

Archer made a face. "Can have an argument on the morality of our group and the plan we've been trying to avoid for some fucking reason later? I've been in my room for the last two days and have absolutely no idea who this child is or where she came from other than "Toby sent her". Also, I swear to god if she gets even a little bit more pale I'm going to shove the melatonin down her throat myself."