Broken Wings

~6~

Phoenix sighed, leaning up against the straw pillow he had made to use as a bed. Star had refused to leave Big-B's side, and the two had taken a stack of hay in the other side of the barn. Phoenix had helped Haze settle in to the left of him, as well as Jake who was already asleep to his right. Keke was farther down, seated at the very top of the tall stack she had chosen to sleep on. In her current state however, she wasn't going to sleep anytime soon. MCA had flopped down on the flatter area of the stack.

Just before drifting off, Haze turned over to face Phoe.

"You doing okay buddy?"

"Yeah..." He replied, but Haze didn't seem convinced.

"Look, I know it's... hard... but we'll get through this."

"Will we avenge Mini? That's all I want..."

Haze's eyes widened for a moment, before sighing.

"Yeah, you'll get your revenga."

The bird smiled, before closing his eyes and drifting off into darkness...

~~~

Phoenix awoke just barely, sleep clouding his eyes. There was rustling from somewhere next to him, but Phoe was too tired to care. Assuming it was nothing, the bird drifted into unconsciousness once more...

~~~

Phoenix was awoken by a panicked Keke shaking him awake.

"Phoe! Wake up!"

He blinked open his eyes, sitting up and trying to clear his vision. Once he could see, Keke had already moved on to Haze, shaking him awake. MCA was already up, and on his way over to Star and Big-B.

Climbing out of his spot in the hay, Phoe stood up wobbily, trying to figure out what was going on. Turning to Keke, who had finally pulled Haze out of bed, he asked.

"What's going on? What happened?"

"Jake wasn't here when I woke up. Lastnight, he'd gone out on the roof to think before I went to sleep. When I woke up he hadn't come back!"

Star approached, followed by Big-B and MCA.

"Wait, Jake's still not back? That means-"

"He could be hurt... or maybe even... We need to find him!" Keke finished for her. "I'll search Flash Flood, since I'm assuming no one else wants to. Star and Big-B search this section, and the rest of you... figure something out I don't know! Just hurry!"

The koala turned, racing to the ladder and climbing down as fast as she possibly could. Phoe gulped, before turning to Haze and MCA.

"Well, Who's going where...?"

"I can go alone," Haze offered, "It shouldn't take me long to search the Grounded map."

Phoe nodded, then turned to the ladder where Big-B and Star had already begun to descend. He nodded to MCA, and then set off towards the ladder.

He had just barely touched the first rung, when he heard the cry.

"Jake!"

Phoenix didn't waste a moment, practically falling down the ladder before turning and racing after Big-B and Star. He raced into the middle section of the map connecting each bit, skidding to a halt as he spotted Keke.

She was kneeling on the ground, frozen from what was probably shock. From where Phoe was, all he could see was the massive puddle of red on the floor around her. No, there was no way.

Big-B stopped Star where she was, before walking over to see what had happened. A hand flew over his mouth as soon as he approached, and he held up a hand towards the others.

"You guys can look, but unless you have a strong stomach, I wouldn't..."

He turned back, walking over to Star who was frozen where she was. As soon as he entered her vision, she started to walk towards Keke.

"Star, you don't have to-"

"I need to see for myself..."

She continued, coming to stand beside where Keke wept, and immediately froze in shock.

"Wha- what the..."

Phoe followed her, coming to stand beside Keke on the right. He was followed closely by Haze and MCA. When he saw the sight, there were no words. Haze fell to his knees, and MCA turned away, unable to look.

<Gore Warning>

Lying on the ground, dead, was none other than Jake. However, his body had been mutilated. Jake's tongue had been cut out of his mouth, wrapped around his neck and tied into a bow. There was a hole in his torso, straight through him in such a way you could see the stone beneath him.

Despite the gruesome scene, Phoenix took in a deep breath and tried his best to silently assess the situation. If he was going to get revenge, he had to stay strong and do this. It was then that he noticed something on his neck.

Underneath the 'necklace' was a puncture in the side of his neck. Phoe realized in that split second that it couldn't have been made by a sword. It would have to have been...

An arrow.

"I... Excuse me a moment..." Phoe said, turning away to where Big-B paced back and forth.

"What kind of sick monster would have done- Phoenix you going to be alright?"

"I... I'll be back soon..."