Once Again

Chapter Twenty - Lonely Soul

Lonely Soul

Braken rubbed his nose again and winced, sticking his tongue in the gap where his tooth had been. "Tristam?" he asked softly. "Why do you use me?"

The leader glanced over at him from where he was sitting at Fij's table. "I don't. I need you, and you obey."

"But I didn't want to obey today. You said you had to use me. I heard you."

"You must not be thinking clearly. Fij, give him another painkiller."

"No, I'm fine. I just want to know." Braken pushed Fij's arm away, making the healer drop the pill on the blanket. "I'm not hurt anymore." Physically, he added silently. Nitro's words still left him aching.

Tristam sighed. "Look, I'm not using you, as you put it. You're useful. You're a good ... partner."

"Does Solar think so?" Braken asked.

Tristam's head snapped up and he stared at Braken with someone else's eyes. They weren't even human. They were just angry, and they made Braken regret everything he'd just said. "How do you know about Solar?" the leader hissed.

Braken swallowed nervously. "Um ... Stella told me."

"Stella?" Tristam cursed under his breath. "Just perfect. Whatever it said about him isn't true, got it?"

Before Braken could answer, the leader rushed quickly out of the tent, seeming almost ... afraid. Braken and Fij watched him for a second, and then the healer quietly asked him to leave. He knew when he wasn't wanted, so he climbed to his feet and left, snagging the journal and pencil off of the desk without the other noticing.

He took them out to the yard and sat down off to the side, by himself. Tristam was organizing some sort of Alpha raid, trying to avoid looking over at him. Braken sighed and opened the book. He recognized Echo's handwriting, even though he had no idea what it said. Thinking about Echo made him feel guilty all over again. He wished he could've done something and freed him. He didn't deserve to be locked up like that. He was Braken's best friend, after all, the only who who trusted him. The Shifter had done so much for him, and he wished he could repay him somehow. He wanted to get him out.

He opened to a blank page and started doodling, but pretty soon, a tingly, nervous feeling crept up his spine, like he was being watched. Carefully, he closed the book and stood up, leaving it on the ground. "Hullo?" he called. He noticed his voice was shaking and tried to steady it, but it was no use.

He got no answer, so he followed the strange feeling out of the camp. He hesitated at the entrance, unable to shake the deep feeling that something terrible was going to happen.

It was quiet outside the camp, the dusk light just bright enough to cast long shadows on the ground. The pollution in the air turned the sky a brilliant blood red, giving Braken the chills. He stuck his hand in his pocket and grasped the star protectively. He didn't know how to use it if the time came, but Stella said it was some sort of a weapon, and if anything, holding it made him feel better.

Farther away, he saw three people coming toward him. He could see the glow of Rogue's sword and hear Noise's loud mind, and as they came closer, he recognized the other as Puppet. He wondered if the bad feeling had something to do with them, but he wasn't so sure.

"Hello, Braken," Puppet said, putting on a smile and handing him his mask. He'd almost forgotten he'd lost it at the Alpha camp. 

"Hullo," he mumbled, shifting his weight uncomfortably and staring at the ground. He could feel Noise's glare burning into him, and instead of reading general ideas, like he usually did, he got a full sentence and a voice to go with it.