Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Darkness swarmed around her along with loud and chilling sounds of metal screeching against metal echoing throughout the claustrophobic cage. She woke up with a start, eyes widening as she took in a sharp gasp of breath. She sat up and looked around cautiously with fear and confusion. It was too dark to see, but she swore she could make out the shape of a mesh walling..? 

She pressed against a hand as she lifted herself onto her feet, the rumbles of her surroundings causing her to stumble on her feet along a light flashing and illuminating her surroundings for an extremely short, but satisfying amount of time. It was for a split second, but it was enough. She managed to catch a brief glimpse of the general area around her. She appeared to be in a box, disarmed and trapped. She pressed her hand against the mesh wall and tried to peer through it as far as she could, watching flaps of metal zoom along the outside. She determined that she was ascending as the light now died, leaving her in darkness once more. The box continued to shake, toppling her onto the ground again. She shivered in terror, clueless about what would happen but knew it wasn’t good. She couldn’t remember anything—how she got here, where she is, hell, she didn’t even know anything about herself until a single word came into her mind: Azure. She was even more puzzled. Why had she only known a single word? Is that supposed to be her name?

My name is Azure. She guessed, although still uncertain if it was truly her name. She went with it anyway. Azure, now that she was referred to by her newfound identity lifted her head and suddenly she no longer felt afraid. She felt as if this were normal—as if this challenged things worse than the many things she had gone through. She wished she could remember what they were, otherwise nothing else felt familiar. Events played through her mind, all devoid of context. Faces were blurred, everything was blurred. It was all so.. Frustrating. She groaned and pressed her hands against her ears and shook her head vigorously. She despised her amnesia. Her true question regarding her memory, however, was why could she only remember her name. Why not anything else? Not even a surname? Surely she has a family name to go by, does she? We– most of us do, anyway.

Silence fell throughout the box except for the continuous rumbles and shakes of the box ascending through the dark shaft. Azure made guesses in her head although she knew most were far off than the original. She played brain games to herself, feeling more and more lonelier with no one else by her side than herself. Her fear had diluted into boredom over time. She was becoming tired of the uneventful ride in the box. When are we going to arrive? She groaned in her mind and sighed, drawing her knees towards her chest and staring off into space. But as soon as she did, she was alerted by lights beginning to flash again. She felt that the elevator's ascent had seemingly slowed. Her alarm flared and she glanced around desperately, wondering where it was going to open. Up? Down? Right? Left? There were 6 sides and 6 guesses. Her head hurt from the processing and she began banging her hands against the mesh wall. “LET ME OUT!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping someone could hear her. “LET ME OUT, YOU PSYCHOS!” She continued banging her hands and screaming until she couldn’t. Her throat hurt and she felt like heaving up her last meal. She fell back onto the ground and covered her face with her hands, the urge to cry blurring her vision. But she choked the sob back, knowing it wouldn’t help in any circumstance. She inhaled sharply, retracted her hand off her face, directed it to her left, and patted her waist. 

Confusion blossomed inside of her. What..? She thought and glanced at her empty hands. Was she expecting something there? Well, whatever it was, it’s not like she’s able to remember it. She clenched her hands into tight, frustrated fists with anger displacing every other feeling. Whoever put her in here..well, they were going to get a real load of her sheer rage.

But an event that seemingly played on its own shocked her. She froze up, peeking at the walls and noticed they had stopped.. The box had..finished its ascent. Azure jumped up in surprise and huddled herself against the far wall, fingers gripping against the tight mesh as a bright light filled the box. She watched the top side open, halving in the middle with both sides lifting and separating from one another. She hissed against the sunlight that poured onto her and covered her eyes, but she managed to catch a glimpse of multiple silhouettes; they seemed to be of more people. Was she saved?! Thank goodness! She thought and glared up into the sky in desperation, surprisingly adjusting to the brightness ridiculously quickly. Relief filled her but it immediately disappeared upon noticing the confused, curious, and estranged gazes of multiple boys..?

“It’s a girl..” She’d heard one of them say. 

“Holy shucks..” She’d heard another say.

The remarks continued and she listened to them carefully.

She widened her eyes and sheer horror etched her face. She felt like she’d been through this before as if she’d seen these sorts of gazes. It all felt scarily familiar, and she hated it. It set her off even further when a blond-haired boy, seemingly older than the rest yet still appearing young entered the box. She yelped with fright and shifted herself away from the boy, trying to avoid the hands that grabbed at her as well. She squealed and huddled against a corner as far as she could from them and sat down, curling up and hugging her knees tightly, her hands pressed against the back of her head. There was a yell for the rest to back off, which sounded awfully close. She figured it might’ve been the boy that entered her box. She heard footsteps, indicating that he was approaching. 

“Hey.” He greeted, sounding suspiciously kind.. However, Azure refused to lift her head and look at him. “It’s okay. None of these buggers'll hurt ya’.” He whispered, trying to sound the least bit hostile as he could. He tried his best to sound reassuring as well. Azure found it honestly strange, especially the fact that everyone seemed so shocked by her delivery. 

She finally caved in and slowly raised her head, now locking eyes with the boy. His gaze was calm, serene, and kind. She felt slightly entranced by it, slowly uncurling herself so that she now sat normally. She, however, kept whatever she had ready in case she were to combat anything. “W-Where am I?” She asked, eyebrows furrowed and mouth unsmiling. She appeared to be more intimidating than the boy himself upon reading his own face. 

“Well.." He turned back to glance at another boy. Azure followed his eyes and they landed on a slightly shorter but older dark-skinned boy with close-cut hair. Although young, he looked surprisingly professional and calm. The surrounding boys looked excited. Meanwhile, he—whom Azure guessed was the leader, gave her an acknowledging nod. "Welcome to the glade, shank."

Shank? She thought, lifting an eyebrow whilst quizzically staring at him. What's a shank? She shook her head and realized that the blond boy had been offering a hand. She was hesitant to take it and pushed it away from her, standing up on her own. Although small and considerably shorter than the boys, she had serious jump power in her legs as she managed to grab ahold of the protruding ledge and climb her way into the Glade. The boy that offered her a hand and introduced her to what they called the 'Glade' followed along behind her.

She could not help but have her breath taken away by the sight. It looked like a minuscule civilization. She was impressed by how progressed these.. teens? managed to be. She turned and glanced back at the other 2 that lingered alongside her, sheer shock, fascination, and curiosity strewed across her face. The 2 could not help but lightly chuckle at her expression.

"This is the Glade?" She asked, eyebrows raised and eyes widened. This was a serious holy frick moment for her. 

The blond nodded and took a brief look around himself. "Yep. Just a buncha' shuckin' klunk." He admitted, shrugging. Azure was puzzled by the terminology he used. What is shuckin'? What is klunk? She was simply more and more confused. These boys treated her suspiciously well too. Perhaps they were just mannered?

Then she noticed something behind them as she took a glance over their shoulders. Although already tons of boys were staring at her, there was this one brunette that stood off to the side, looking more shocked than the others. Azure didn't know who he was, but his sheer surprise at her initial presence seemingly threw him off.

"Who's that?" She asked, pointing to the boy behind them, who now looked to flee. He immediately began trying to swerve through the crowd but people held him back. They held him steady. The blond turned his head in the direction of the individuals and his eyes dulled. "Someone of real importance." He answered with sarcasm, rolling his eyes. "But anyway," he looked back to Azure and locked eyes with her, resting a hand on his hip. "What's your name?" He asked. "If you have one, that is.." 

Azure glared at him and a snarl slightly formed. "Azure." She responded casually, shoving a hand into her pocket and took another look around the Glade, trying to absorb the scenery and memorize it. 

"Azure, huh? Like the colour?" The boy joked and held a hand up in reassurance. He moved it forwards as an offering to shake her hand. "I'm Newt. He's Alby." He pointed to the other boy beside him and patted his shoulder. Azure stared at the hand and shook it, not wanting to seem any ruder than she was. “Nice to meet you..” She mumbled and forced a smile.

Then Newt suddenly turned away so that he now faced the pack of Gladers behind him. Almost all of them were focused solely on Azure, and it made her extremely uncomfortable. She stared at her feet, trying to avoid meeting their eyes.

“Alright!” Yelled Newt, his tone stern and serious. “Listen up, Slintheads! Anyone who even bloody looks at this girl will be spending a lovely night out with the Grievers. Touch her and the cliff will be your new home. Understood?” He turned back to Azure and gave her a reassuring grin. “See? You’re safe now. Turn that frown upside down and take a look around.” He lifted his head to take a brief glimpse up at the darkening sky before locking eyes with the girl. “Runners’ll be back by now. You’ll get a tour tomorrow.”

Azure nodded slowly with confusion as she went along with it anyway. “Okay.” She agreed and the smile ever so slightly softened. Now that she’d been introduced to 2 of the boys, she figured she might go meet others, but something else halted her train of thought. She’d noticed there were parts of the surrounding wall missing as if it were a door. She decided to take a step forwards and gaze at the stone. She took a peek inside and lifted an eyebrow. An intense curiosity filled her as she thought back to Newt’s words. Grievers? What were those? She might ask soon. For now, she was going to focus on settling in and determining whether her newfound buddies were worth befriending. Something in her mind told her she’d require lots of allies.

And something else, something about the Glade.. She felt somewhat at home. Better than her previous…circumstance. It’s interesting how she couldn’t remember any of it, though. And she felt somewhat grateful for it. 

Chapter Text

Night fell, and darkness ensued once again. Only the flickers of orange light originating from fire pits danced and illuminated the area. It was poor, it was dim, but it was enough. Azure sat by the pit after exploration of the Glade, neatly folding her hands in her lap. She stared at the bright licks of flames swirling and scorching the logs within the pit. Nobody had dared bother her, never tried to stare at her for a prolonged time either, but she knew eyes were on her. They had always been. Her appearance truly spooked the boys, and it frightened her in return. Everyone seemed so estranged and confused. Shocked and surprised as well. 

She pressed her chin against the heel of her palm while her elbow rested on her knee, continuously watching the embers glow red and slowly fade as the flames died. Darkness engulfed her once more, the light growing weaker and weaker until it was simply smoke rising off the now charred logs. She blinked twice and exhaled, sitting up to glance around her. Not one figure she could recognize bustled until they disappeared from her vision. Her eyes adjusted to the dark quickly but she could barely see much.

Azure sighed. It wasn’t a pleasant sigh of seclusion, it was a sigh of loneliness. She felt so isolated, unincluded, and left out, considering she was surrounded by a bunch of boys that just ogle at her. She contained lots of mystery, some of which she was desperate to get behind on her own. She barely knew where she came from. Memories continued to flood her head, appearing in brief flashes rather than complete excerpts. They began to give her migraines and she was unable to sleep through her first night. Within that duration, she simply thought back to her previous interactions. About the grievers, about what was behind the walls, the damn vocabulary they used.. Then she remembered the tour. The runners. What was a runner? Perhaps she could ask tomorrow, assuming they even answer her questions.

Newt explained to her what happened every night, but left a lot of details out. It annoyed her to the bone and she held back the urge to kick him in his no-no square. She was frustrated by all of this. So many things are left unanswered. It caused her grief and her overwhelming curiosity to simply enhance and become further irritating. She groaned and buried her face between her knees, hugging them tightly. A warm liquid escaped from her eye and cascaded down her cheek. She was crying? 

Azure did not mind much. She was under so much stress and pressure. She wanted to run, to flee, to.. Her mind once again returned to whatever lay beyond the walls. Was there a way out? She wanted to run from everything, to get away from her problems, but she didn’t want to be alone. She was scared to be left behind, but that’s how she closely felt currently. She suspected she may have had a life outside of what she has at the moment, but something about it scared her as if she did not want to return. One certain person—well, 2 kept appearing over and over in her “memories”. The visions contained a white-haired figure, faces featureless but she kept note of the hair colour. She felt close to him, in a familial kind of way. Then there was a ravenette. She knew so little about him, but her heart beat faster every time she thought of him. A strange feeling blossomed inside of her whenever he appeared in her visions. She wanted to desperately see them. Her heart wrenched at her missing friends as she saw more featureless figures in the excerpts of her memories. 

A sigh escaped her mouth, the tension leaving her body as exhaustion consumed her. She needed sleep, she knew she did. She’d never realized how tired she had been until now. Her eyes slowly drooped, eyelids growing heavy as they enclosed her irises. She yawned and was about to drift off to sleep until rustles in a bush alerted her and her sense of rest immediately dissolved. She raised her head, widened eyes peering behind her. Her heart throbbed, eyebrows furrowing and eyes darting back and forth from place to place. 

Then Newt appeared, the moonlight illuminating his figure. Azure relaxed upon noticing him. She was grateful it was someone she recognized. 

The boy strolled over to her side and sat down next to her, dark brown eyes filled with concern locking with her cerulean ones. “Hey.” He casually greeted, dipping his head in acknowledgement. Azure, in turn, simply nodded back. Newt blinked once and handed over a small package wrapped in plastic. It was triangular and a pleasant scent wafted out of it. She inhaled the smell deeply and it was now that she'd realized how starved she had been. Her anxiety had taken over her for the day and she was unable to realize her necessities.

Azure reluctantly took the sandwich with gratitude, giving a small smile as she did so. She unwrapped it and took a giant bite out of it, groaning as the flavour burst in her mouth. It had been a plain sandwich, but she enjoyed it so much. Newt handed over a cup of water as well and she chugged it down.

"Thanks." She mumbled and finished the sandwich and the water. Newt hummed in response and lightly grinned. 

"Do you remember anything else?" He asked a few minutes after, a comfortable silence filling the space between them. Azure did not reply herself for a while, processing the question as the delicious taste of the sandwich lingered in her mouth. She craved more but she doubted Newt would give her another.

"No." She answered, at last, pausing for a second or two. "Actually.." She hummed and looked away as she now gazed up at the moon. She'd now noticed there wasn't actually a moon. Where had the light been coming from? So strange.. "I remember a person. 2 of them. No names, though.."

Newt nodded along to her discovery, humming again as he thought about her words. "I see.." He muttered and furrowed his eyebrows. "Any prominent features?"

Azure shook her head. "Besides the white hair that one of them had, nothing else. No faces shown. Nothing."

Newt's sympathetic and slightly envious gaze pierced her. "Ah. That's new."

"It is, yeah." She nodded in agreement slowly. "What about you?" 

"Nope." Newt shook his head in disappointment and sorrow. "Nothin' else 'cept my bloody name. You're lucky to remember someone ."

Azure frowned and returned her eyes to Newt. "I.. I'm sorry." She reached out and gently laid her hand on the boy's shoulder. Newt, in turn, laid his own on hers. " 'S fine." His grin slightly faltered, threatening to soon disappear. This only disturbed the girl further. He trailed his stare to lock with hers once more. Then he tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. Azure appeared confused when he gave her that look.

"What happened to your eye?" Newt asked with his mouth upturning into a frown. He'd clearly never seen anyone with only a single eye. Azure's mouth slightly parted as she lifted her hand to her face and felt the area over her eyes. It was now that she realized she'd been wearing an eyepatch over her right eye. "I.. I don't.." She slightly flipped the patch so that her eye was now exposed and she noticed the horrified look on the glader's face.

"Azure your.. your eye socket.." He pointed to it as he slowly scooted away from her. "There's bloody wires coming out of it!" He exclaimed, frightened by the second discovery. 

"Wha-" She lowered the patch and tightly pressed it against her supposed mechanical (and non-existent) eye. She was too shocked to say anything more. Newt hesitantly moved towards her again and precariously patted her back. "Let's.. not tell anyone about this." He stood up and took a step backwards. "Get some sleep, yeah?" He gestured her a farewell and turned, immediately fleeing the scene.

How could Azure sleep after all this? She was missing an eye for god's sake! She grumbled and buried her face in her hands, the stress consuming her all over again. She thought she'd be relaxed, but Newt said otherwise. Damn it.. She thought to herself and laid back on the grass, staring up at the starless night sky. She was baffled by the moonlight. Where was it coming from? She thought she was going to go insane. Perhaps she is, after all, as she was drifting to sleep.

-

Azure awoke to the unfamiliar but general sounds of the glade, the boys working from left to right with Newt and Alby standing over her. They peered down at her, Newt looking especially shaken. Azure did not blame him, she couldn't. She'd have reacted the same if she'd seen it herself. She grumbled and sat up, pressing a hand to her forehead. Her head throbbed for no reason whatsoever. Was it those terrible nightmares she had then? Or was it everything else?

She shook her head and locked eyes with Newt, then with Alby. "..hey." she politely gave a 2-finger salute to both, acknowledging their presence. Newt offered her a hand and she took it with gratitude and slowly stood up.

"You want the tour now?" He asked, gesturing behind him and towards the rest of the Glade. Azure most definitely wanted to explore. She, in all honesty, would love to explore beyond the walls, however. More than the Glade. "Are we going to see what's in there?" She asked, pointing towards the open door that led into the maze. As soon as she pointed at it, she noticed 2 boys dashing into the ivy-strewn tunnels. Where were they going? Can Azure go along? She wanted to know badly .

"Uh." Newt stammered, rubbing the nape of his neck awkwardly. "No. You can't." He shook his head and frowned.

Then Azure was furious. "Why?" She demanded, scowling at him. "What's out there? What are you not telling me? Tell me!" She grabbed Newt by the shirt collar and began vigorously shaking him, angry and confused. She felt like she'd been left in the dark, but something in Newt's eyes told her that it was best she didn't know. A pang of guilt struck her as she let go and shoved him away. "I..I'm sorry." She mumbled with a genuinely apologetic tone.

Alby had not done anything as she attacked Newt. He did not bother to help his friend. How come? Were they not close? " 'S 'kay. Let's.. go show you around.." He announced, changing the topic. Azure sighed and began following behind Alby. 

-

There hadn't been a lot to see. After all this, and some of her questions answered, she still wanted to go into what they now called the maze. She'd heard of the grievers from Newt, and how the maze works from Alby. She wanted to find a way out for all of them. She felt so much sympathy for the boys. They were so young..

Azure had also met a little boy named Chuck during the duration of the tour. Although irresistibly annoying, she liked him immediately. Something about him had caused melancholy and nostalgia to blossom inside of her. She'd only known the boy for an hour and she already thought of him like a younger sibling. Azure swore that she'd protect him at all costs.

As she was introduced to the jobs and the keepers (Winston had been looking at her especially strange and it severely discomforted her, but she loved the dog), she'd noticed almost everyone kept calling her 'Greenie number 2', or 'Greenbean the second', or whatever else related to greenbean and her gender. She couldn't understand what was so wrong with being a girl until she was eventually told that she was the first female to ever actually arrive in the Glade. The rest were all boys.. 

This, in between, terrified and fascinated her at the same time. All except her were boys. She was the only girl, but woah , did Newt and Alby take damn good care of her. She appreciated them so much for it. She felt safer around them and she enjoyed bonding with them as Alby showed her around. 

Then came the final keeper..

Minho .

Keeper of the Runners.

"Here's.. Minho." Newt introduced him, gesturing to the aforementioned. Minho waved politely as Azure waved back. 

"He's the keeper of the runners." Newt continued, nodding slowly.

"What's a runner?" She asked, tilting her head and gazing up at Newt with intriguement. 

"They go out into the maze. The best of the best. Someone's gotta map the buggin' thing." He explained, crossing his arms over his chest. 

The Keeper of the Runners was a little embarrassed by the sheer admiration her single eye glimmered. She immediately knew what she wanted to be, ignoring the fact that there were horrifying monsters out there. Azure felt like she'd seen some things far worse than what they saw. If only she could access her memories.. 

"Can I be a runner?" She piped, a small and enthusiastic grin forming on her lips.

Newt exhaled through his nose and smiled, shaking his head. "Azure, my friend. You simply do not become a runner, you must be chosen . Besides, you really think it's your expertise? To run and huff and puff all day?"

Her grin disappeared, only to be replaced with disappointed determination. She fell silent and her eyebrows furrowed. Why did you have to be chosen to be a runner? How would you be chosen? She wanted to desperately explore the maze, and she could barely wait any longer. "I mean.. maybe." She answered his remark at last, shrugging. 

"We'll see to it," Newt added and dismissively waved at Minho as he gestured for Azure to follow behind him. She glanced back at the keeper and frowned, turning to the open gate of the maze next. It was dark, creepy, and chilling, but she was just too curious to not go in. Hold on.. what if she went in by herself? With nobody watching? Oh, no. Newt said going into the maze, unless you're a runner, was strictly forbidden. It was set just for her, and others’ protection. 

She scoffed angrily but there was a little bit of excitement in there. Newt had considered it. Did Azure just have to show her skills? How would she? She wanted to be a runner so badly . But she couldn’t just walk up to Newt, kneel in front of him and begin begging to be one. As soon as the thought entered her mind, she cringed. Actually kissing their feet and pleading as if she were pleading for her life sounded the most horrible thing to do. Not to mention it was extremely humiliating and degrading.

Azure tried to divert from the thought as fast as she could and huffed a defeated sigh. She turned away and began walking off towards the garden as she looked to speak with someone else. Newt, Alby, and others simply annoyed her now. They were all so.. Cryptic. The one who Azure assumed was second-in-command didn’t even bother specifying what she had to do in order to be a Runner. What she had to show. She wished they’d just tell her already. She was becoming more and more impatient by the minute. 

Stupid pieces of.. Her train of thought was halted as a hand was laid on her shoulder and tugged her backwards, spinning her around so that she now faced a familiar but unnamed brunette.

He was uncomfortably close and it caused Azure’s anger to course through her faster. She slapped his hand off and took a step away from him. 

“I.. I don’t recognize her.” She swore she’d heard the boy say. “Who are you?!” He demanded, appearing more and more fearful, backing further away from her. 

“Oh, I wish I knew.” She retorted and scowled, rolling her eye. She wished she could punch him, but one of the main rules was to never hurt another glader. If it were back home, she’d have his arse planted onto the ground and foot pressed against his neck. She could imagine him squirming underneath her. The fantasy of him suffering as she came out at the top of the hierarchy slightly disturbed her. Her gaze softened and she grumbled with frustration. The sudden reminder of her previous.. Well, not really a home but it’s not like she had anywhere else to go. Upon remembering what she defined as “home”, it simply made her feel more and more homesick. She knew she had friends back there. She felt like she wasn’t even supposed to be here, and this dumb brunette clearly confirmed it. “Sorry.” She quickly muttered and continued on her way to the garden. 

A hand wrapped around her wrist and tugged her backwards again. “Wait-!” 

Azure turned back to now pierce the boy with such a volatile glare, it almost caused him to falter. She was quite impressed he managed to hold on. She tore her wrist out of the boy’s grip and balled her hands into tight fists. Oh, how much she wanted to slam her knuckles into his nose…

“I- I’m also..sorry.” He stammered nervously and moved away so that he now gave her enough space. Azure was unable to stay angry at him. She studied his body language closely; he’d been submitting to her. They were so young.. Memories were wiped, and nothing remained of their old life. She could not blame the brunette for his erratic behaviour. Azure exhaled sharply and her mood neutralized. “Fine.” She responded with a single word. She hoped it would be enough.

“Thomas.” He piped suddenly, holding a hand out towards her. He politely offered her a handshake of reconciliation. Azure was astonished by how mannered most of the boys she’d met were. “Azure.” She answered and gratefully took his hand, vigorously and briefly shaking it.

Azure had made another friend, albeit a rough introduction. This isn’t so bad , she thought and nodded slowly. “Greenie.” She snickered quietly. She had previously heard others call Thomas that and she had to agree the nickname was quite fitting. He appeared so innocent and oblivious. There that word goes again . Oblivion, oblivious.. It kept coming back to her over and over, but she couldn’t tell what it was for. Why was it so persistent to stay in her shielded and shrouded memory? 

“Not you too..” Azure heard Thomas quietly complain as an embarrassed and enthused laugh escaped with his words. She playfully punched him in the arm and hummed pleasantly. “You a Runner too?” She asked suddenly, giddy and trembling with excitement. She had partly watched Thomas run across the glade from section to section and his speed intrigued her. 

Thomas shook his head and frowned with disappointment. “Not yet. No. I want to be, though.”

Azure chuckled and nodded along to his words, acknowledging his dream job whilst doing so. “So do I.” She paused for a moment, a plan formulating in her head as she gasped and widened her single eye. It burned through Thomas, a flurry of sheer determination and delight.

"What?" Thomas asked, noticing the look she gave him. He couldn't help but shuffle on his feet awkwardly. Azure grabbed him by the shirt collar and tugged him closer until the tips of their noses lightly touched. "Why don't we show what we're made of together so that we can become Runners quicker?"

Thomas had fallen silent, analyzing the idea carefully and processing it. "I mean.. we could but.."

Azure nodded and shoved him away as she let go of the cloth. She rested her finger on her chin as she brainstormed carefully. "You're right. What do we have to show?" 

She watched Thomas shrug and turn around to take a brief glance at the Glade and the surrounding walls. She did the same, now pouting. "Damn. It's fine. I'm on my way." She dismissively waved farewell to Thomas and continued her wall to the garden. She'd heard of Zart being an expert farmer and Azure wanted to talk to someone less crazier. She felt farmers were calmer and saner. She'd heard footsteps and glanced backwards to find Thomas following her.

"What do you want?" She demanded with annoyance. 

Thomas shrugged again. "I'm a track-hoe for now. We go the same way?"

"Fine." She simply responded and shoved her hands into her pockets. Perhaps life in the Glade wasn’t so bad. She’d already made a couple of friends, and she’d found the second greenie to also pursue the job of a Runner. She continued formulating multiple plans inside her head, including backups. All, she suspected, would fail. It was time she’d just be patient. It exhausted her to use her imagination this much..

She glanced back to check if Thomas was still following her, and he surprisingly was. She’d expected him to walk away out of boredom, but no. He stayed. 

Could she find worthy allies after all?