The Boy from the Bunker

Episode Six, Part 2:

Episode Six, Part 2:
Stoic

Sol and Wynn arrived back at the gates of Basilisk, following Kodiak as he carefully snuck them back inside, cautious to stay out of sight of Eryx's guardsmen. He led them inside the Sovereign's Quarters, helping Sol to unload all the supplies she had taken.

"Did you find anything?" Kodiak asked. Sol looked to Wynn who just shrugged.

"It didn't go as planned."

Kodiak laughed. "Plan 1 should always be assumed to not work. That's why you have backups."

He was unsure how to bring it up. "I did find out who survived, though."

Kodiak calmed his laughter, his lips resting in a smile as he awaited to hear from Wynn. "Six of them. My family all included, except for my dad... And, well, my brother isn't dead."

Kodiak looked over to Sol, trying to understand what he meant. "Wasn't he the kid that got shot?"

Sol nodded.

"How did he survive that? That's almost unheard of."

"Stim-bullets." Sol replied. "They replica the pain of a real bullet, without causing the real damage. They obviously stunned him and took him back to base to patch him up. Now he's their prisoner, just like the rest of them. Well, most of 'em..." She was talking about Lyra.

"Game-changer." Kodiak mumbled. "Does your dad know about this?"

Sol shook her head. "I'm dealing with it. Both of us." She looked to Wynn.

"Do you have any idea how you're gonna get to them?"

Sol sighed. "I'm thinking Dreea."

Kodiak shared a knowing look with Sol, but Wynnlow was none the wiser. "Dreea?"

"The other Sovereign." Kodiak answered.

"Thought I told you about her." Sol added, shrugging off Wynnlow's uncertainty.

Wynn rolled his eyes. "Well, how can she help? If she's just one of you, why don't you just take us in there, Sol?"

"She's not 'just one of us.'" Sol replied, her patience wearing thin as she began to explain it to him. "She's a traveller."

Wynnlow just stared blankly on. He was tired of asking questions that only belittled him in her eyes. Sol knew what he didn't understand.

"Sometimes she'll just disappear for a while. You know, be on her own. Almost like she's not belonging to anywhere."

"But she is a Basilisk.." Wynnlow sought confirmation from someone.

"Yeah." Kodiak agreed. "But she's also an ally for the other Clans. They accept her."

Wynnlow furrowed his brows, wondering why the others hadn't realised what took him a matter of seconds. "Great! So we'll just get Dreea to tell them that they're my family. They'll-"

Sol cut him off with an enraged laugh, shaking her head in frustration. Kodiak knowingly retreated to the other side of the room, continuing to empty their bags, keeping an ear out to calm his friend if she got too out of control.

"You're doing it again." Sol pointed out.

"I'm doing what?"

"Letting your emotions make your decisions."

"At least I'm trying to make decisions. So much for a Sovereign. I thought that meant that you guys were supposed to help your people?"

"I thought we weren't your people."

Tension filled the small room, already feeling crowded with only the three of them in there. Kodiak turned around after inhaling a sharp breath, debating if he should say anything or not. In his deciding, Wynn grew frustrated, his hands flying around in anger.

"You're impossible, you know that? Just get me to my family and you'll never have to see me again."

"If you quit your whining you might see that that's exactly what I've been doing.  Besides, no one needs you here. The day you leave will be so sweet."

Wynnlow rolled his eyes and turned around, like a bitter young boy deprived of chaos. Sol and Kodiak went back to their planning, but there was nothing else he could do. He didn't know Dreea, and he didn't know Blood Riders.

All he knew was that Sol seemed the only person who stood a chance at getting his family back to him, and she just happened to be the one person Wynn despised most in this world.

Tired of waiting around, he ventured for the doorway,

"Hey, where are you going?" Kodiak called out to him. Sol stopped her actions but dismissed the effort of looking over to him.

"I'm not needed here." Wynn replied, stepping outside. "No reason to stay is a reason to go."

s i x  //  p a r t  t w o