A World Apart - Ch. 15 - Dirty Paws

*Mitch*

     Although I had two people with me to help, I knew I would still need a distraction and I couldn't risk the Woodlanders. 

     "It's Thursday still right?" I asked.

     "Thursday?" Rex asked.

     "Praena."

     "Oh, yeah, it is."

     I glanced at the rising sun and sighed. "Okay, just stay behind me and do as I say." I crept through the town carefully; no one expects me to have survived the river, so they didn't have guards looking for me luckily. 

    I headed immediately to the schoolhouse, and walked to the window. "Stay here, make no noise." I said, and climbed inside. "Okay, guys, I know I sound absolutely insane but I need you to watch out for me and distract some guards because I have to save my best..." I turned around and stopped dead in my tracks. "Friend..." 

    Jumping up and down the floor,

     My head is an animal.

    Jerome sat on the edge of one of the desks, kicking his feet back and forth like a little kid. As he saw me, he froze mid-kick, his black eyes wide. My own eyes widened. "What...?"

    "Breaking a fugitive out of prison is illegal, right?" Kirby asked. "So I'm gonna go to jail, right?"

     I hugged her. "Kirby, you're my new favorite person."

     And once there was an animal,

     It had a son that mowed the lawn.

     Jerome hopped down and hugged me as soon as I let go of Kirby. "You wanna tell me what you did?" He said. "Is your hand okay?!"

     I sighed. "Look, it was a bad idea. We'll never do that again. But the thing is, neither of us can stay here anymore."

     "Yeah, I know." Jerome said. "You know, we thought you were dead."

     "So what were you planning on doing without me?"

     The son was an ok guy,

     They had a pet dragonfly.

     "Somehow getting him home, I guess." Calvin said. He, Jerome, Kirby and I were the only ones in the room. 

     I shook my head. "The ferry isn't there anymore. It was washed downstream."

     Jerome groaned. "What are we gonna do?"

     "There's a bridge not far that way." I said. "If we can make it across, we're home free." I looked at Kirby and Calvin. "But we'll need a distraction."

     "Consider it done!" Bashur said suddenly, from the window. He ran out of sight energetically.

     The dragonfly it ran away,

     But it came back with a story to say.

     Calvin blinked. "Was that a watermelon?"

     I looked at him. "Yes."

     Jerome groaned. "You brought Bash?!"

    "He volunteered! I didn't have a-!"

    "HEY HUMANS!" 

    "Bashur, nulla!" Rex yelped.

    "Oh my god, no." I ran out the door to see Bashur flagging down a trio of guards about twenty meters away.

     Her dirty paws and furry coat,

     She ran down the forest slope.

    "LOOK I'M A WALKING WATERMELON! LOOK!"

    The guards stared at him, probably thinking he was some kid screwing around with his mother's garden.

    Rex sighed and walked after him like an exhausted parent. "Lock, fer deuserres malaterr..." He muttered. "L'KAL MA!" He shouted, firing an arrow at the guards. 

    They all yelped as they saw him.

    "Bacca!"

    "Fire! Fire!"

    He shot again and ran towards the Woodlands, into the woods outside the town. He'd be safest there.

    The forest of talking trees,

    They used to sing about the birds and the bees.

    I looked to Calvin and Kirby. "I can't thank you enough for this."

    "Just keep yourself safe." Calvin smiled. "And send a postcard sometime."

    I smiled back, then looked at Jerome. "You head back to the woods with Bash."

    I started to head for the back door, but Jerome grabbed my shoulder. "What about you?"

    "I have to grab something, just go without me."

    "I won't cross until I'm sure you'll cross with me." Jerome said. "Once we cross the border now, you know we can't come back again."

    "I know." I sighed. "Trust me, just hurry!"

    Jerome nodded and ran out the front door. "Bash, show me where the bridge is!"

    "Sure!"

    The bees had declared a war,

    The sky wasn't big enough for them all.

    I sent a final nod to Kirby and Calvin before bolting out the door behind Mr. Finley's desk, running back to my house. I shoulder through the front door, knowing mom kept it unlocked. There, on the couch, my mom laid sleeping with one arm falling off the edge. She must not have heard the news yet... 

    I stared at her for a moment before waking over, taking off my dad's dog tags from around my neck. I crouched down next to her and put it in her hand, moving her hand up onto her chest so the chain wouldn't fall out. I then stood and kissed her forehead before running out of the house again through the back door and sprinting to the Woodlands. Bashur and Jerome were waiting by the bridge.

     "What'd you have to get?" Jerome asked.

     "Wasn't there!"

     "...Where are your dog tags?"

     "No time!" I stopped beside them and looked around. "Where's Rex?"

     The birds, they got help from below,

     From dirty paws and the creatures of snow.

     "Here! Go go go!" He ordered as he ran over the rise of a hill. He slid down the hill as the guards followed him, guns in hand. I always hated guns...

     "You heard him!" Bashur bolted across the bridge. Jerome followed him and so did I. I could hear Rex's footsteps behind me, hitting the old wooden bridge, and then there was a loud BANG.

     And for a while things were cold

     I gasped and turned around.

     BANG. 

     BANG.

     BANG.

     They were scared down in their holes.

     "Rex!" He fell over the borderline, his bow falling into the river below.

     He had four bullets in his back. Bashur and I rushed to roll him over. His breath came quick and sharp. He was in a lot of pain.

     "Et non ea magis... Immo?" 'We made it... Yes?'

     "Immo." Jerome confirmed in reply.

     The forest that once was green

     "Fui... Mortuus usquam, scio ris..." He said. 'I was... Dying anyway, you know..."

     "He was...?" I asked,

     "Red Gelt." Bashur said, quiet for once. "It's a fatal disease than only affects Baccas..."

     Was colored black by those killing machines.

     "Scio." Jerome replied. 'I know.' Jerome suddenly stood and looked to the three guards who watched in silence from the other side. He slowly set down his axe and held up his hands. "Peace." He said. 

     The middle guard hesitated, then slowly set down his gun, barking for the others to do the same. Jerome slid down the ditch the the riverbank, which was low and steady again. He grabbed Rex's bow and climbed back up without getting shot. He placed it in Rex's hand.

     But she and her furry friends

     "Be at peace." He said in Latin.

     Rex smiled up at him. "Th-Thank you..." He shifted his gaze to me, then took a final shuddering breath and closed his eyes.

     Then he died.

     Took down the queen bee and her men.

     My eyes widened as the reality hit me. He was dead. My friend had died. 

     But instead of feeling sad, I got angry. I stood up. "Was this worth it." I said to the guards, my voice low. 

     And that's how the story goes

    Jerome looked up and spoke quietly. "Mitch, I wouldn't-"

     The story of the beast with the four dirty paws

    "OUR WAR WAS A MISUNDERSTANDING." I said over him. "THE SQUIDS DISGUISED THEMSELVES AS EACH RACE AND ATTACKED THE OTHER. THEY STARTED THE WAR TO STOP BOTH OF US FROM BECOMING STRONGER THAN THEM. DON'T YOU GET IT?! THERE IS NOT ONE REASON WHY YOU SHOULD HAVE KILLED REX! NOT ONE!" I glared at them. "Times are changing." I said. "The Baccans and humanity will be allied again, I'd bet my life on it. And I have, actually. Try actually going into the Woodlands for once!" I said. "Try actually visiting the high city! See for yourself how kind and compassionate the Baccas are!"

     The guards only stared at me in shameful silence. I glared at the three of them. "Tell the others what you saw here." I said. "Tell them that peace is coming, and it is coming soon." 

     The middle guard nodded and turned away, walking back up the hill without picking up his gun. The others followed more hesitantly. The last, the one wearing a hood over his eyes, stared at me for a moment, then gave me a smirk. It was then that I realized that he was Nevermore.

     But he was gone before I could say anything, like he just disappeared.

     The three of us standing around Rex's body remained silent for a moment before my eyes widened. "Dreven!" I nocked an arrow to my bow as I ran into the woods. 

     "Mitch!" I heard Jerome call after me, but I didn't have time to stop.

     Dreven was relying on me, I promised to save him. I had to move, I had to move now. I felt leaves and branches whip at my skin as I ran off the path to move faster, but I didn't care.

     I finally burst through the gateway to the high city, Baccas shouting in alarm ash they saw me. I ran to Dreven's tent, and stopped dead in my tracks.

     My eyes widened in shock. 

     It looked like Dreven had been suffocated, there was no sign of any wounds. The assassin that darted out of sight must have been squid, there was no other being it could be. Under normal circumstances, I would have followed the assassin. But this wasn't normal.

     I fell to my knees, staring at Dreven in something of shock.

     "Mitch, slow..." I heard Jerome pant to a halt behind me. "Oh god..."

     I started at him for a moment, then shook my head. "No, that's not good enough..."

     I placed my hands on the right side of his chest, where I knew a Baccan's heart was, and started to shove down quickly; one, two, three, four, five-

     "Mitch..."

     "Don't try to stop me."

     "Mitch, it's useless..."

     "I have to try!" I leaned down and blew hair into Dreven's lungs.

     "Come on!" I shouted at him, tears starting to form in my eyes.

     "Mitch, stop."

     I tried to give him air again, but there was still no response. His heart wouldn't start.

     "Mitch!" Jerome grabbed me and forced me away.

     "No stop!"

     "It's too late, Mitch, just give up!"

     "Never!"

     "Damn it, there's nothing you can do!"

     I broke down into tears, falling limp so Jerome couldn't keep his grip on me in his surprise. By now, several Baccas had gathered outside the tent in curiosity and concern.

     "Mitch... There's nothing you could have done."

     Suddenly, Dreven moaned. My head shot up. He coughed and looked at me through squinted eyes. He scowled and closed his eyes again. "You're late."

     I clapped a hand over my mouth in relieved shock. Jerome's eyes widened. "Holy shit." He turned and walked quickly out of the tent. "MEDICUS! PRAECIPITO!"

     "Oooow..." Dreven groaned.

     "You're alive...!" I hugged him. "Oh thank gods, you're alive..."

     He patted my back weakly. "Very good young one..." He smiled. "I never doubted you for a second."