The Boy from the Bunker - WATTY'S VERSION

Episode Four, Part 6: ✓

Episode Four, Part 6:
Imitate

Wynn was very cautious throughout his training. The idea of holding the weapon in his hand felt all kinds of wrong to him, but if he ever wanted to leave Basilisk, it was a skill he would need to survive.

Sol was a natural when it came to shooting. In fact, she was pretty damn good at everything she had taught Wynn so far, seeming to lack more on the social side of things: manners, empathy, kindness... If he ever had the opportunity to teach her something, he would start with one of those.

When Sol was confident that he had equipped the basic skills, she announced that they were going to head out of Basilisk, just a little further than was out of sight. It was something Wynn had been trying to achieve since arriving, but now that the opportunity was right in front of him, a nausea spread throughout his body.

Sol eyed him up carefully, sensing that something was off, but she let it pass and continued to lead him out of the gates. Anxious to look up, Wynn kept his eyes on where he tread, noticing that he walked over ancient footprints - some sort of trail that Sol was obviously aware of.

Each step, there were new sight to him: things Wynn was still observing for the first time, things he had been void of in the Bunker. His curious eyes got the better of him and he looked up, the entire world still grand and inexperienced to him, but not as innocent as he had spent his childhood hoping it would be. The greens were vast; the colours were vibrant; the sounds all strange and somewhat nervewrecking to him. Even the rustle as the wind swept through the branches, or the distant sound of Basilisk behind him were things he was still taming his mind to.

But there was one element out here that had been burned into the back of his mind. He stumbled to walk over it, the cold, cold memory sending shivers to every nerve in his body.

Sol looked over her shoulder, sensing that he had lost his pace, and didn't understand what he was feeling at the time. Before she could ask, Wyn had his own question for her - one that he immediately regretted after asking. 

"Will his body still be out here?"

Sol felt her throat tighten and she came to a stop several feet away from him. She wasn't used to people being this upfront about their grief. After all, she had learned to hide the majority of her own feelings to avoid ever furstrating her father.

"I don't think he'll be here anymore. I think they took him back with them," she did her best to make her words sound calm; to make them feel like they came from someone else.

"They took him? Why would they do that? What will they do to him?"

Sol avoided his eyes. She wasn't sure herself, but from what she knew about Blood Riders, she knew it was reasonable to assume that it wouldn't be something pretty. "It's probably their own way of marking the dead. Sort of how they avenge for their Clan."

"Avenge? My brother was innocent."

"No, he wasn't. Not to them. He was a Basilisk; that made him their enemy, no matter what he had done."

"He's not a Basilisk," Wynn told her. "And neither am I. I just want to find my family."

Sol was exhausted of his relentlessness. She didn't know what else she could do to make him understand. "Look, Wynn, I get it. I know you don't like it at Basilisk. I think you've said it every day now, but you need to realise that things aren't going to go back to how your life was before you got on the ground. It's just not possible. You're one of us now, and if I'm going to help you find your family, then there are a few things I need you to do for me. One of them is to trust me."

Wynn looked over at Sol. It was as if the hurt from what happened the other night in the forest never parted from him. "Some days it feels like I could never trust you." 

Four // Part Six
My brother was innocent.

18/08/22.