Rise

Alana

"Hold still love."

"Ouch Nora, stop." I huff, gripping Nora's forearm tightly. She pulls the needle from a small plant that I fell onto, out of my skin. We sit on a road near Gayle, gathering food for ourselves and hiding in our base  for the night. I was gladly offered a chance to go with a group to meet with a smuggling ring called The Illicit. Nora was really the one leading everything, I just tagged along to get out of the stuffy building.

In the past week, it feels like I have been Nora's shadow, following her almost every step of the day, but Nora doesn't seem to mind. though it doesn't mean I don't annoy her.

"All things are difficult before they become easy," she tells me. I don't know where we are right now, easy or hard, but it doesn't matter much.

"Alana I can't stop I have to get these out if we are going to move forward." Nora huffs, her tone motherly but caring.

"Or we could just leave her here to find her own way home" Ruby is apathetic and belligerent, running her fingers through her thick black curls. Both Nora and I glare up at the woman, she shrugs and sighs, turning to face the bustling market not too far away. Jason, the man who broke us out of our cells not even a month ago; leans down next to Nora.

"Let me try." His voice is calm, but his hands to the opposite, shaking as they hover over my legs. He isn't confident in his ability, that makes both him and me nervous. I gasp, feeling the needles pull at my skin. Nora's hands slip into mine, I give it a light squeeze. With a quick draw of breath, the needles zip out of my body and into the air, taken away by the wind. I stand, shaking my limbs free before turning to the rest of the group.

"That wasn't that bad" I speak.

"Well since all that is over, we need to start heading back. Or at least to a safe house, the sun is rising and I can't go into the city until dark." Kai Nelle drops down from the trees, rolling up the torn map and shoving it into his back.

Kai can't travel freely like the rest of us, he has yet to renounce his name and is well known throughout the public. Him being seen wouldn't be good for the rest of his family, which is what is in his mind.

"There is a small supply house not too far from here. If we trek, we can camp next there for the day." Ruby speaks, moving next to Kai. They nod, to each other, eyes flashing something I don't understand. Jason rolls his eyes, moving from the ground.

"Don't you think we could just move in a separate group from you. Taking a whole day to rest would just be a waste of time. Or maybe we can continue on and you just take a stop in Ethose and visit your family. Your wife just had a baby right? How is he?" Jason goads. Kai clears his throat and Ruby looks down, kicking her heels into the dirt. The group falls under a blanket of silence. I watch them all stand there, the dynamic between them has been rotting for a while, you can see it in their eyes. The way Jason glares at the semi-subtle affair that goes on in front of his eyes. Nora is the only one in the group who seems to do anything. And finally, Kai Nelle and Ruby Bruen. I don't know why Ruby hates me, it can't be because of my standing. If she dares to touch Kai there's no way she would hate me for my name. Being a noble is worse right? They're bystanders that help with all the genocide. They could have stopped all of this but chose to stay in their Ivory Tower instead of speaking up. Yes, that is far worse.

Kai Nelle is an enigma, his feelings unbeknownst to us all. He doesn't say much but his actions are louder than anything he can ever say. The man is a joke, a liar and, a cheater.

"We need to get going" Nora mumbles, looking up at the lightening sky. She treads forward, moving even without her team. I trail behind her, of course, and once she even waited for me letting me walk side-by-side with her.