You're Never Alone

Chapter 44

Word Count: 1122

The next couple days are filled with the warehouse full of tension due to Phil telling everyone what the king had told them before he came back. Everyone is spending their days communicating with other rebels as all of them formulate different parts of the plan they need to go up against the king. Newer rebels are kept out of most of the planning while more experienced rebels take on most of it. Unfortunately no one knew where to put Dan in all of this which meant that he was just kept out of it. Dan just kind of watches the room from afar, seeing Phil every now and then. The two of them haven't really talked since their last encounter together on the roof a few nights ago.

    Dan watches the sun set through one of the windows towards the ceiling of the warehouse just like he's done for the past few days. He notices PJ walking near where he sits on his cot.

    "Hey, Peej!" he calls out, instantly grabbing PJ's attention. PJ looks over at him and smiles, telling the girl he's walking with that he'll catch up with her. He comes over to Dan and looks at him.

    "Hey, Dan, what's up?" PJ asks and Dan internally sighs, unsure what answer he might get from his friend.

    "I had a question," Dan starts. "How come I'm not involved with any of the planning?"

    PJ thinks for a moment which is a moment too long because Tyler chimes in with "It's because you're not a rebel," from nearby. Dan and PJ look over at him and Tyler shrugs in a matter-of-fact way. "Am I wrong?" Tyler asks and Dan stands, crossing his arms over his chest.

    "What gives you the right to say I'm not a rebel?" Dan questions and Tyler squares him up.

    "You're the prince who we kidnapped. You just so happen to have some information we needed and you somehow think that suddenly means you're one of us which you're not," he explains and Dan narrows his eyes.

    "I think I've done enough to help the rebels to be counted as one." People near them have started to take notice of the situation and PJ sees Cat go into the back room to get Phil.

    "No you haven't," Tyler scoffs. "Somehow you got it into your head that you're a rebel and you're not. Everything you do isn't for us, it's for Phil."

    Dan doesn't notice Phil approach the two of hem arguing until Phil tries to break them up. "Hey guys maybe we shouldn't-"

    "Phil agrees with me." Dan's jaw drops as Tyler bluntly puts that out there and Phil is taken back, confused as to what he agrees to.

    "Agree to what exactly?" he asks and Dan turns to him, hoping that Tyler isn't right.

    Dan takes a step towards him and Phil raises a brow, still not knowing what's exactly happening. "Do you count me as a rebel?"

    Phil stutters as his mind goes blank, completely not knowing what to say in reply. This causes Dan's eyes to darken and Phil desperately tries to think of something to say but he instead just looks like a fish out of water. Dan shoves past him, slamming his shoulder into Phil's as he storms away. PJ sympathetically looks at Phil as Phil runs a hand trough his hair, stress and exhaustion making him feel worn out. Phil glares at Tyler before going back to planning with a few other rebels.

    Later that night, Phil sits on the edge of the roof with the city lights softly glowing all around him. He holds his father's dagger in his hands as he looks up at the stars. He took it from Dan earlier after Dan had stormed off, angry enough to not really feel guilty about taking something without asking first. The tears sting his eyes as he thinks of his father and his chest feels tight as the happy memories still hurt his heart. He looks down at the blade and sees his dark silhouette in the reflection of the blade.

    In a moment of built of sadness and anger, he wraps his hand around the blade and squeezes his palm as hard as he can. He feels the sharp sting as it cuts into his hand and suddenly his vision fills with a memory. Phil gasps in surprise as the memory shows his father and few icebenders standing around the blade, chanting 'memento mori' together until the blade in front of them glows blue. The memory ends and Phil sits for a moment with wide eyes, shocked at what just happened.

    He gently unwraps his hand from around the blade and the blood wells up on his palm, dripping onto the ground below him. Phil looks at the blade in his palm as he tries to process what the hell just happened. He's so wrapped up in the moment that he almost misses the footsteps coming up behind him. Looking over his shoulder he sees Dan walking up to him with his head hanging as he looks at the ground beneath his feet.

    Dan sits down next to him and Phil looks away. Dan's heart pounds as he looks down to see Phil's hand bleeding and his father's blade covered in his blood.

    "What did you do to your hand?" he asks and Phil clenches his hand into a fist, shoving his father's blade into his waistband.

    "It's nothing," he replies, not willing to reveal what he discovered to Dan. Dan nods warily as he looks down at his hands in his lap.

    "Look, Phil, about earlier today-" Dan starts but Phil is shaking his head, making Dan stop what he's saying.

    Phil places his hands on top of Dan's and Dan looks at him, trying to understand what's going through Phil's head. "Dan, right now, I don't have time to deal with small, petty situations that don't matter. I will always see you as a rebel and that's not changing. But you kinda picked a shitty time to be picking fights."

    "I know I have and I'm sorry but-"

    "Stop."

Dan freezes, stopping his words as Phil pulls his hand away and stands up.

    "Phil, please, I'm sorry," Dan says and sadly, Phil smiles.

    Phil looks at him with tired eyes. "I'm trying to keep us from getting killed right now. The last thing I need to be dealing with is stupid arguments. It's fine so just leave it because it won't matter if we all get slaughtered tomorrow. Goodnight, Dan."    

    And with that, Phil walks away, leaving Dan to his own thoughts as he watches the person he loves walk away from him.