Chapter Text
"They'll be okay, right?"
"Yes Flame. They'll be fine."
Wemmbu and Flame rested on top of yellow and blue beanbags for a good ten minutes after Parrot and Spoke left. With nothing to do - and nothing to run from - there was no reason to stress about anything. They were far enough away from the Admins, and were basically free to do whatever they wanted. They could relax as much and as long as they desired, free from the shackles of the responsibilities forced upon them.
"Alright! I'm bored."
Flame was startled by Wemmbu's sudden outburst, quickly sitting up.
"So what should we do?"
The purple boy pushed himself up off of the beanbag and stretched, doing a short warm-up before answering.
"Oh no dude, we aren't doing. I'm leaving this place."
Wemmbu didn't want to stay long enough to get attached to any of them. Making friends would only make him forget the one that mattered the most. The one that would always matter. The only one that mattered. He felt that he would have fun, and then brush aside the emptiness he would feel whilst around them, trying to forget his grief again. He had to leave before he started to care. Before he wanted to actually be there with them. It wasn't their fault he wanted to leave, he just didn't want to experience that pain again. He wasn't strong enough to protect them and never would be. If Egg was still here he probably would allow himself to have the time of his life with the others. And everything would be fine. He could be happy.
But he wasn't here.
He never would be.
How could he be happy without him?
"What? But they didn't say we could leave?"
Flame didn't want him to leave. Partially because he wasn't used to making his own decisions outside of fighting, and partially because he didn't want to be alone. Not again. Not when he had just tasted the beauty of being with others. He couldn't let it go like this, not when he felt some kind of connection with them outside of being mere "experiments" or "runaways". He didn't know where Wemmbu was going to go, or how long he would be gone for. Or even if he would return at all. Maybe he would get caught again. Plus, Parrot and Spoke probably wanted them to all stick together, right?
"I don't really care. We escaped, and now we're free." Wemmbu's tone didn't stray from sounding bored, like this was all beneath him or not worth his attention.
He felt a hand grab his wrist as he began to walk to the large hole in the house, planning to jump down from it. It looked survivable if he landed properly. There were bushes and such to break his fall if he aimed right.
"Let go Flame. I don't need this."
"But I do."
He snarled as he turned his head, staring into Flame's eyes like he was his enemy and not his friend or ally.
"Don't be selfish."
The fire boy's eyes burnt with determination to keep his friend here, where they could both wait for further instruction. He ignored the words that slightly hurt him. He wasn't being selfish. That's what the Admins always called him. He wasn't being selfish, he just wanted friends.
"Didn't you- didn't you say you were hungry?"
"Well I lied. Or I'm not hungry anymore. Doesn't matter. Now let. Me. Go."
He snatched his wrist away, almost tripping as the two back away from each other. He took on a defensive position against Flame, who did the same. If he was going to have to fight him to leave, he would do just that. He had never lost a battle before after all.
And if Flame was going to keep him here, he wouldn't mind breaking a few of the purple boy's bones to do so. He had never lost a battle either.
They circled for a few seconds, before he reached for the yellow beanbag, throwing it straight at Wemmbu to try and catch him off guard. But he smacked it aside easily with his tail with way more force than probably necessary. It smashed open as it hit the wall, polystyrene beans spilling out across the floor.
Flame didn't even realise his fire had triggered. His hands were engulfed in the heat, adding a little more to his punches. The markings from the burns on his face and body began to glow slightly - that was certainly new. Though he himself didn't realise, and Wemmbu didn't care to think if it was normal or not. If he had to burn a little to leave, then he would do so as well.
"Getting a little heated are we?" He scoffed with a disingenuous smile at his own pun. It was easy to notice Flame's brief panic, not that it was hard to miss when he was frantically trying to put it out - which he succeeded in doing so a few seconds later. Boring, but he was secretly a bit glad that he wasn't actually trying to kill him.
Wemmbu didn't expect him to launch at him straight after though.
He dodged, letting Flame fly into a bookcase. The books fell out and onto him, stacking to make some sort of pile. Wemmbu got slightly worried because he wasn't getting up, but as he edged closer to check to see if he was alive, Flame pounced on him again. He threw a book at him to obscure Wemmbu's vision, then tackled him onto the floor to pin him down.
"You can't leave!"
"Well I don't want to stay!"
He pushed him off, but Flame's grip was stronger than like that of anyone he had faced before. They rolled about, each fighting to pin the other down. One to cause the other to become unconscious to escape, the other to not let him run away. They crashed into a flowerpot that landed on Flame's head, causing him to let go and hold his head in pain. First a bookshelf, now a flowerpot!
Wemmbu scrambled to get away with the distraction, but he yelped as he felt his tail being pulled back. He tripped, irritated that someone who looked like he would fight fair no matter what would use such underhanded tactics. Not that he wouldn't himself, but it was different when it came to someone else like his own opponents.
He whacked Flame with his tail and jumped to now be the one to pin his opponent down. It was a good thing he was stronger than Flame in terms of raw strength. He pressed his forearm to Flame's neck, attempting to make him pass out. He struggled to escape, but wouldn't dare give up. A fight was only lost if you choose to give up.
Something in Flame's eyes made Wemmbu feel a pang of loneliness. This felt less like fighting and more like playing, even through the pain they each inflicted on the other. He never used to play-fight with Eggchan - not as rough as this at least - but the sense of friendship still felt similar somehow.
No no no- there was no way he was getting attached. Not like this- that was stupid!
Flame noticed that Wemmbu's grip eased slightly, and took the chance to throw him across the room. He crashed into the wall and a painting fell on top of him, leaving him slightly dazed. The room started to spin a little, and Wemmbu was thrown off balance. He heaved the painting aside - it was miraculously undamaged - and tried to get up. He couldn't see things properly, and was stumbling about.
Just then, something clicked open. The actual door of the room opened, and through it came the head of someone neither of them recognised. Followed by a slightly nervous-looking Parrot and Spoke.
"MY ROOM!" the stranger cried out. He ran to try and salvage whatever was left of the room and move it all right outside of the door, moving quicker than any of them could see. He sighed, disappointed as he finished. In about three seconds, everything that hadn't been destroyed had been moved out safely. Though there wasn't all that much that had been left unscathed…
"Flame, what were you guys even doing?" Parrot scolded upon seeing the mess. It was in even worse condition than last time.
"It wasn't me! He was trying to leave! I told him not to and-and that you didn't say to a- and-!" Flame frantically pointed towards Wemmbu, who had ended up passing out.
"Wait- what?"
Both Parrot and Flame were apprehensive in their own ways. Back in their quadrants, the Admins always gave some kind of punishment when they did something wrong. Whilst the bird boy didn't take long to remember that Rekrap wasn't that kind of person and calm down slightly, Flame was undoubtedly worried. He didn't know who this person was, and he didn't know how they were affiliated with Parrot and Spoke. Or even if he was on their side. If this was his house, then were they to be in trouble for wrecking the place?
"It's okay! This isn't the first time some part of my house was destroyed. Fixing it won't be a problem!" Rek reassured. He could tell that they were all apprehensive, and didn't want them to tell them off. Sure they were in the wrong, but they all looked about a few years younger than him, and he didn't want them to see him as their enemy. From experience, he knew just how much anxiety they probably all felt. Having just escaped from a facility of their own and likely not met any adults that actually had their best interests in mind was not easy to deal with.
"It's… not?"
"Nope!" he grinned. "Here, come sit down. I can tell you more about this place. And about me. Aaaand you might wanna help your friend up. Oh! You can also eat the cakes that your friend Spoke brought!"
Flame dragged a now unconscious Wemmbu towards the rest of the group as they sat around in a circle in the middle of the room, moving aside any rubble and destroyed furniture and decorations. Spoke took out the cakes one by one, leaving one by each of them. Including Wemmbu for when he awoke.
The sunlight gleamed through the shattered windows, making the ground look like it was glowing. They devoured their deserts, with Flame asking for another one. He seemed to have developed a sweet tooth extremely quickly. He likely never got the chance to eat anything sweet in his life ever. Spoke was glad he had a more to offer and gave the last two to him.
Once they were all satisfied, Rek began his story. He was eager to be able to tell people, since everyone else he had met was usually just a normal civilian and had no idea about any experiments. It would be dangerous to let the word out, both for the civilians and for him and his friends. He didn't want to involve anyone unrelated to anything anyway.
"You can call me the uhh… protector! of this forest? I guess that works. Anyway since my house here is so big and so far away from the main city, people don't really come here. But when they do, I usually guide them back since I "look the most human" of us!"
"Of "us"? Do you mean those friends of yours you mentioned before?"
"Yup! I used to be an experiment - I assume you all were too and just escaped. I also escaped a few years ago with some others, but not all of us made it out…"
"Did they… kill them?"
Rek shook his head. "No no! Or- not that I know of. But they did take them all away and increase security. From what I've heard at least. We were all useful to them, but those of us who did escape travelled until we came here. It was the perfect place for us! Far away from any potential danger, like being found out."
Suddenly, they heard a whisper from behind the door, paired with the light thumping of what sounded like footsteps.
Ones that belonged to two people.
"Hey Rek! We saw you came home and- WHAT HAPPENED HERE?"
At the door were two people, standing in pure disbelief. The one who had asked what had happened wore pink steampunk goggles, and pink cropped hoodie sleeveless that matched, with a black compression shirt underneath. Her long hair - part of which was tied up in space buns with a black bow in one and a blue bow in the other - and long floppy ears both faded from brown to pink. Her piercing, pink eyes seemed to be able to see through their souls. There was a scar that went through her left eye, probably from an old fight she had. She wore black, fingerless gloves, along with a pink skirt above the black shorts she wore underneath to match the rest of her. Her legs sure weren't human ones either - Parrot recognised they were similar to that of a hare.
Behind her was someone that looked eerily similar to Spoke, yet different at the same time. His skin was the same, and so was his eyes with how they glowed a little in the dark as well. He wore clothes that looked like they were handed down by royalty - a white shirt with ruffles and sleeves that widened towards the bottom before it tightened at his wrists, black trousers that also widened towards the bottom, and a black corset. He had bat ears on top of his head as well as ones connected to his lower back. His hair was tied in a ponytail with blue and pink ribbons, similar to Rek except longer. His face seemed stoic, not showcasing any emotion. However it wasn't all too hard to tell that he was just as surprised as the girl in front of him.
Rekrap welcomed them and invited them over. "Jumper! Minute! Come sit down, we have uh- guests!"
They cautiously came to sit beside Rek as Parrot moved to open the circle bigger.
"This is Jumper," he explained as he pointed to the pink hare girl, and then to the guy in the royalty-like clothing. "And this is Minute! The four of us grew up in the same lab that experimented on enhancing physical abilities to make us faster. Well, most of us. We don't really know what Minute can do, but we don't mind! He's our friend, and he can choose to share that or not."
"Wait the- four of you?" Parrot inquired.
"There's another guy named Mane, he's part lion. He's around, probably taking a nap somewhere as usual." Jumper chimed in. "Rekrap's extremely fast when it comes to anything and absurdly great at parkour, I'm good at jumping both high and far, Mane is extremely quick when it comes to fighting, and Minute… well like Rek said we don't actually know what he can do."
The bat guy got a little defensive in front of the others, since he had never seen them in his life. "And that's not something I ever plan to share."
Rek laughed, reassuring him that it was okay. Like he said, it was his information and he could choose whether to share it or not.
They awkwardly sat in silence for a minute or two before being interrupted by Wemmbu who had woken up at some point.
"Ugh great. Now I really can't leave, can I?" He briefly looked around at the new faces before complimenting Minute's outfit. "You look cooler than everyone else here. You probably have spare clothes right? Can-"
Parrot and Spoke tilted their heads in confusion and interrupted him in perfect sync. "Wait what? Why would you want to leave?"
"That's what I was saying! I had to keep him here because you didn't tell us to go Parrot. Right?" Flame looked proud of himself for accomplishing such a task, forgetting that he was also the cause of destroying almost the rest of the room to do it.
"What? Why would you- But I'm not even- actually no, I kind of am the leader now that I think about it… Anyway that's not important- Why do you wanna leave Wemmbu?"
Everyone's gazes turned to him expectantly.
"None of your business…"
But Parrot wasn't letting him off that easily. He had seen this kind of behaviour before. In himself. When his first friend died, he was devastated. He vowed that he would shut emotionally himself away from everyone and never grow close to anyone ever again. He would only hurt them in the end after all. Be the cause of their pain. The same thing happened with the next few friends over and over, until one by one he had no one left to befriend. Maybe it was stupid to keep hoping, to keep trying, to keep wishing that this friend would be the one to stay, every single time, and that no one else had to be sacrificed. It was futile in the end. After about the fifth or sixth the Admins stopped, since they didn't want to completely break their little bird. That, or they just didn't have any more to expend.
However that wasn't the case now, and Parrot knew that shouldn't have ever been the case. He should've striven further to have the power to protect his now dead friends instead of attempting to close himself off from the world. He felt that he should've tried harder to protect them, even if it was considered impossible. No, even if it was impossible. If he just believed a little more, tried a little more, then maybe all those dead friends wouldn't be dead. Perhaps to others it was wishful thinking or naivety, but it was what gave the bird boy hope.
And now, those he wanted to be friends with those that could protect themselves. Those who he had the power to protect. The chance and choice to keep. His hoping through the hurt paid off in the end.
Parrot wouldn't let Wemmbu try and close himself off from them. Sure they barely knew each other as of right now, but he considered them friends. They had both worked together to escape their awful lives, so why wouldn't they have become friends?
"Wemmbu, can we talk for a bit?"
"Oh what am I in trouble?" Wemmbu teased, attempting to deflect the request. Parrot's expression remained unchanging. It didn't work. "Fine whatever. We can talk… I guess…"
The bird looked at Rek to see if it was okay for the rest of them to leave for a bit. He nodded with an understanding smile, gesturing for everyone else to follow him outside and waving at the two of them as they all left the room.
"Sooo… what do we do whilst we wait?" Jumper asked as they headed downstairs.
Spoke grinned mischievously. "We spy on them!"
Flame smacked the back of his head, a bit harder than intended.
"Ow! What was that for? That really hurt you know!"
"We shouldn't spy on them, it's bad."
The words were so obvious, yet seemed so childish. It was a bit funny to Spoke, seeing them come from someone who looked the least like a child. Though at the same time it made sense - back in the facility, he had answered a ton of seemingly small or silly questions about the most random of things, amazed at learning whatever he learned. Just how unaware of the world had he been forced to be?
Jumper shrugged, agreeing with Flame. "He's right you know. And that's coming from someone who was forced to spy for her Admins. And still kind of uses those skills when needed. This is not a situation where it'll be needed."
"Wait- you were forced to spy and stuff too?!" Spoke asked excitedly. He didn't know anyone else who had been sent on missions and such like he did, especially not someone older than him. He was excited to talk about that stuff with someone who would likely understand better than the others.
"Yup! I can tell you all about it if you want?"
Jumper gave Rek a thumbs up as she led Spoke a bit away from the rest of them and he returned the signal. She knew that if they left Spoke alone, he would probably interrupt Parrot and Wemmbu's talk.
"So… what do we do?" Flame asked.
"We're gonna go find Mane. He's probably outside somewhere as usual. Come on Minute, Flame!"