losers

IV

olivia's pov

Torches flickered with every breath you took in, the flame reeling with every exhale. You were careful not to breathe heavy or else the flame would flicker out, and you'd be left in the night forever.

You held one 2 feet away for warmth and had others circling the perimeter of your small base. You sat next to Axel, the horses in a small stable right to his left. Neither of you spoke a word and you tapped your feet to the tunes of nothing as you tried to waste time, dismissing your racing thoughts and controlling anxieties as best as you could.

You didn't know how to feel if you were honest with yourself. You felt a twinge of guilt but most of all your felt regret. Jesse could never come back and the last thing you said to him would've been through your glare.

Your eyes settled on the place that he left. Plagued by shadows, but still brightened by torches. Your mind was troubled by many things- but what got you is the emptiness.

What if they got lost? What if they're never coming back?"

"They said that if they're not back in a day, that we should just leave without them."

You looked over to Axel and nodded slightly, turning back to staring at the bare lands. Looks like the Witherstorm destroyed it all.

Axel sighed and you could see in his internal conflicts, the many perspectives in his mind.

"Has it been a day?" He spoke again, raising an eyebrow to himself. You couldn't help but chuckle. At least he's still kicking.

"We have no way to tell and if we did count days by seconds, it would still be inaccurate. We have no way of telling when to go, no matter what we do."

You felt the twinge of guilt intensify into a wave of regret.

"Look," you shrugged,

"we'll wait five more minutes. After that, we go."

He nodded, but you couldn't help but feel guilty for making the decision for him, even if it was the right choice.

"One Mississippi, two Mississippi-"

You cut Axel off with a chuckle, elbowing him in his arm.

"Ax... no."

"Why do you call me Ax? My name is four letters long! That's like, the length of a nickname?"

"Okay, Ax." You both returned to silence, lying down on the grass. For a moment.

Someone was suddenly sitting next to you. They had honey tan skin with pasty-white vitiligo patches all over their body. They had red and brown eyes, with hazel brown chin-length messy wavy hair. They had a soft beige-colored vest on with 9 squares with different colors, black short sleeves from the said vest and black fingerless gloves on their left hand. They had similarly colored pants- and it went up to their knees. Their boots were worn and dirty, compared to his clean armor.

You stood to the side and kept your distance, Axel following your lead almost instantaneously.

"Who are you?"

They shrugged with a conceited grin and laughed.

"I'm whatever I want myself to be, but I go by "them" or "him" for your sake."

Axel shot you a confused look, then turned back to him. He couldn't form words well under pressure- or whatever this is- so you took control of this weird conversation with a pretentious jerk.

"Which one?"

"You choose." Him it is.

"And what do you mean you're whatever you want yourself to be?"