Zeravia's Five

thirteen

Unknown time.

A dark figure ran through the thick trees of the forest that boarded a small farming village. Avoiding branches and trees at the last second, jumping over the roots that had grown their way out of the humid dirt. The black cloak the figure wore to hide themselves flowed behind from the speed at which they ran. The darkness of the night granted them help, though the sounds of crushing leaves and cracked branches were enough to get the attention of whoever or whatever he was running from. The cloaked figure noticed what seemed, at first, like fog, creeping into the forest. The smell of smoke quickly reminded them that it was far from being fog. The village was on fire... going up in flames.

Being careless and distracted, the figure tripped over the base of a cut down tree. Falling down with a loud thud, the hood of the cloak fell revealing Tate's face, scrunching up from the pain of his fall. He grunted, punching the ground to try and control himself. He needed to hurry. They needed him. He picked himself up again and resumed his running. He could see it in the distance. That one clearing they had decided to use as a rendez-vous point in case anything went wrong. He reached the first few stone steps leading into the clearing filled with stone statues covered in moss. The light of the moon crashed down into this small part of the forest, the leaves filled branches only allowing the light to come in over these ancient structures. As soon as he arrived there, he fell to his knees, crashing against a wide rock. He breathed heavily, his lung sending shockwaves of pain every time he breathed in. He ran without looking back for so long, not making one stop. His bloody shirt stuck to his skin as he leaned his head back against the mossy rock. He swallowed the clump of emotions that were stuck in his throat and shook his head. He was battling with himself, battling his thoughts, trying to force his mind out of overthinking things. The faint wind that blew in his face felt like ice and fire at the same time. His body felt itchy everywhere, his eyes unable to focus, he felt like his whole being was shutting down.

"Tate," a whisper, one the boy almost didn't hear. His eyes opened up and he looked around.

He slowly pushed himself up, struggling to stand on his wobbly legs. That run had taken away any and all strength he had in him. He walked around, slowly, using the many structures around him for balance. He moved further into the clearing, almost forgetting to breath.

"Tate... help," another weak whisper.

Izzie. His eyes widened and all of the pain that had been stopping him from moving too much or moving too fast vanished. His gaze jumped left to right, his head snapping every time he heard the faintest of noises. When he finally spotted the girl, he almost screamed.

She was laying on her back, her brown hair a mess as it was spread onto the dirt. Her clothes were soaked with blood and she had a knife in her hand. Presumably the knife that had been used to cause these wounds. From the looks of it, she was struggling to breath, her chest rose ever so lightly and in wide intervals.

Tate ran over to her, falling to his knees, his tears simply started to flow without a warning. He felt so tired, he didn't even want to try and contain them. He shook his head, putting his hands over the many wounds thinking that it would be enough to save the girl's life. He looked into her tired eyes and shook his head.

"No... th-" he stopped mid-sentence and looked around.

He had seen this before... he remembered it, this very place. He had been here before... the last time he had been here he had died. His gaze jumped back to Izzie who was now sitting up, glaring at him with anger. The boy's eyes widened, but with his injuries, he couldn't dodge the inevitable knife that was being pushed right in his chest.

He let out a sharp exhale, falling over. His mouth filled with blood and his breathing slowly faded. Whenever he managed to breath, it sounded like someone trying to breath from underwater. He looked at Izzie as she stood up.

"Y-you got me again..." Tate whispered weakly, letting out a choked laugh.

The girl looked down at him with confusion. What did he even mean by that? Her face betrayed her as a tear rolled down her face. Her heart broke into a million pieces in front of her victim and he saw right through it. He flashed a small smile and shook his head.

"I'm sorry," he mouthed as the girl slowly kneeled down next to him, now fully allowing herself to cry.

Izzie face started twisting and scrunching up as she cried. Tate's eyes grew lightly as the girl's face slowly changed back to its original shape... to its original owner.

Gia...