｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡"Except this time it's an actual Burned One."*:･ﾟ☆

Stella

"I don't know, I feel something." I hear Musa murmur as I walk outside the barn to see them walking further away.

I gasp in shock as the sound of Musa's cries fill the surrounding area.

"It hurts," she exclaims and Terra quickly rubs her back as she doubles over, her bag sliding from her grasp.

"Guys! We've got a problem." Terra calls.

I share a concerned glance with Aisha as we both walk towards the pair. What the hell is going on?

Oh Helios.

I look over to see a massacre of bodies, the Solarian guards. Fuck. the Burned One got to them.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

I whip around to Riven and a group of specialists striding towards us.

"Riven?" Terra asks in confusion.

"You need to get back to Alfea, now." He commands, indicating to the specialists.

I watch in shocked silence as the specialists grab hold of my friends and tug them towards the school.

"What are you doing?" Terra cries.

Musa and Aisha quickly echo her sentiments, tugging at the specialists' grip but it's useless as they drag them back to the road where the jeeps are from the Solarian guards.

"Your sister won't be happy with this Stella." Riv reprimands me quietly but Aisha still hears.

"What the hell does Octavia have to do with this?" Aisha demands.

"Captain Siatra," One of the specialists bites out, "Is leading the mission to kill the Burned Ones and recover Silva and Irene."

"What do you mean to recover?" Musa asks, her voice betraying her fear.

"Beatrix was with them as well." Riven murmurs to me, eyes pleading. "What were you thinking, Stel?"

I shake my head and refuse to answer him. What was I thinking? Riven sighs and moves away from me. Beatrix is gone as well, not to mention Sky's parents. Riven's parents now as well, I suppose.

"Back to the jeeps, all of you." He commands, cries of 'yes lieutenant' echo through the specialists and I can't help but wonder when did this start sounding like an army.

I watch as my friends silently follow Riven. What have I done? I doubted my sister but I wasn't wrong. She has already conscripted Sky and Riven to her army, she's already leading missions unconsulted.

But is she wrong?

No, she's not. But this isn't the way to go about fighting the war. We need to work together, with our mother and the Solarian army, not against it. We are but one outpost.

Riv stares at me from the bottom of the hill, he knows. He can see it in my eyes, the decision I've made. I can't leave my sister and Beatrix, I can't have screwed up this bad. He stares at me, eyes pleading as he gestures for the specialists to load up one of the jeeps with my friends.

Bloom isn't there.

I can't leave her out there, and I know how the others feel about her. Octavia will not sacrifice her soldier's lives for Bloom. Riven lunges forward, racing towards me but its too late, I'm already running into the forest.

I have to find Bloom.

Riven's calls echo after me but I don't listen, choosing to follow the path of broken branches. They must be here somewhere. Moving faster and faster through the forest as I hear Riven catch up to me, I desperately plead for my sister to be okay, for Beatrix and Bloom to be safe. To not be harmed because of my actions.

"Stella." He hisses, "For Helios' sake!"

"What!" I snap and whirl to face him, flinching when he skids to a stop in front of me.

"What are you doing!" He cries incredulously, throwing his hands up into the air.

"I'm looking for Bloom and Beatrix." I answer with false calm.

Riven lets out a disbelieving laugh, running a shaky hand through his hair and glancing off into the distance before looking back at me with annoyance in his eyes.

"The Burned Ones are still hunting us, Stella." He hisses and I freeze. "The threat hasn't been eliminated yet."

Fuck.

I really screwed up.

"Yeah, you did." He answers and I realise I must have said the words out loud. "We need to get back to the group now."

I nod and quickly follow him before pausing.

"What about Bloom?"

"What about-" His laughter is born of fear and I can't help but cringe at the noise. "I'm going to kill that stupid firefairy is what."

"You're going to-"

A crack in the forest silences me and I turn to Riven in fear. Please don't be a Burned One. Riv gestures for me to be quiet as he slowly creeps towards me, carefully watching where he places each step.

"The old trenches should be close by." he murmurs with Dumaris' quiet so that I could barely hear his words. "We can bunker down there until my groups of specialists sweep through the trenches."

I nod quietly and follow Riven's lead through the forest. We move in relative silence as I try to control my panicked breathing, which he can no doubt hear thanks to the enhanced hearing. He can probably hear my racing heart for that matter.

"When did you get put in charge." I whisper into the silence after long minutes pass.

He snorts. "30 minutes ago."

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Beatrix

"We need to keep going." I tell Irene as I readjust my grip around her waist.

She shakes her head silently, grief beginning to consume her.

"Can you shift?" I ask desperately as the sounds of the Burned Ones fill the forest around us, mercifully the rain starts pouring down and covering our scent and tracks.

Irene doesn't answer.

"Irene." I shake her until she looks at me, such pain in her eyes that I feel the heartbreak of Ricki hit me all over again.

"They're going to kill him." She whispers, voice broken. "They are going to take my mate from me, take my child's father."

"We will survive this," I snarl, forcing her to look into my eyes. "and when we do I'll bring you their heads on a platter."

For a second she just stares at me, eyes emotionless and heart dead. Then I see it, that spark. The one Andreas would talk about when he told me about his old friends and war buddies. I can't stop the grin that lights up my face as her eyes begin to glow with rage.

"Are you up for one last fight?"

Her answering smile is filled with murder and delight.

Irene and I plan to retrace our steps after She shifts and I don't bother to hid my winces at the sound of her bones breaking and reshifting, the noise echoes over the sound of the rain. It was slower because of the pregnancy. The babe should be fine but she will have limited magic, it may be some days before she can shift back.

A low whine has me turning around and grinning at the sight of the grey Dire Wolf in front of me.

"Well aren't you magnificent." I drawl and smile when her ears twitch with amusement. "Please tell me you have the claws and teeth to match that beauty."

Light crackles across my hands as she bares her teeth to expose the long and sharp canines hidden within her gums.

Sis came to play it seems.

Finally, someone decent here.

"Shall we?" I smirk and indicate to the forests.

The walk through the forest is tense and silent as we both scan the surrounding area. For Helios' sake, when we were being hunted the damn things were everywhere and now when we're finally out to play they all magically disappear.

An annoyed scoff leaves my lips at my thoughts but I'm quickly distracted by a text on my phone.

𝐼'𝓂 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝐻𝒶𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝓃.

Finally, we can get these useless fuckers killed and be home in time for dinner.

And potentially save Saul if Irene still cares for him after she's had a chance to let off steam by ripping Burned Ones apart. I need to find Octavia now. Otherwise we'll all be picked off one by one in the dark.

The sound of Burned Ones echo through the forest and I quickly back against Irene's side, smirking when her snarls drown out the cries of the Burned Ones. I drop down my hand, a whip of pure electricity lighting up the forest and the shadows of three Burned Ones are illuminated by the light.

"I'm going to enjoy this."

Irene's roar of challenge echoes through the forest and the Burned Ones lunge towards us.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Riven

I am going to lock Stella in her fucking room after this, I decide as a beast's battle cry resounds through the forest.

Never mind that, I'm going to feed Bloom to the Helios damned Burned One.

I grunt in annoyance as Stella and trapeze through the mud filled trench. Apollo above it reeks, something tells me it's not just mud down here.

"Helios, this is awful." Stella complains from behind me and I can't help but roll my eyes.

"Yeah, well. You're the one who ran away from the group."

"I didn't ask you to follow me." She gripes as the sound of squelching step are drowned out by the rain.

"Well, it's my job." I answer and then rethink my words. "And that Pixie of mine would have my head if I let anything happen to you."

She's silent for long enough that I begin to hope she's got tired of complaining.

"How's that going, the three of you? Tavi and I-"

"Haven't spoken since the whole hall debacle." I finish for her, "Pix told me. She's been stressing over it. Pretends she isn't but I'm not that stupid."

"I don't know what to say to her."

"Why?" I frown in confusion and fight the urge to look back at the princess, knowing the look would scare her off.

"I've never seen her like that before, in a controlled public setting. In battle, yes, but when were we safe?" She trails off and I feel rage begin to boil within me.

"But we weren't safe, were we Stella?" I turn to face her, staring her down. "We were being insulted, and threatened and degraded."

She swallows heavily and I ignore the twinge of guilt in my stomach as I make her uncomfortable.

"Life is more complex than danger just being death." I state before turning around again and continuing on.

I freeze, my gaze caught on a piece of material tied to a nearby branch. Sky said that Silva would leave a trail-

I rush forward, moving faster than before and doing my best to keep my eyes peeled. Silva could be in the trench or he could have moved on and left another piece of what looks like his shirt somewhere.

"What's going on?" Stella asks but I ignore her in favour of turning around the corner of the trench.

"Oh Helios." I murmur at the sight in front of me.

"That's headmaster Silva." Stella whispers.

We race towards him, splashing through the mud and praying the noise of the rain covers the sound. He looks like shit. Silva turns to us and I gasp at the sight of his black eyes, blood drips down his face and torso.

"It's us Mr Silva." Stella cries when Silva lifts his sword towards. "Riven Everson and Stella Siatra."

I edge closer towards him, trying to get a look at where the wound is.

"I know who you are." he gasps out, taking unsteady breaths. "Please get back."

"The Burned One has cut you, and you're infected," I state in explanation, moving towards him with my hands raised. "But we're gonna help."

I move forward swiftly, disarming him in one movement and throwing the sword to the side, glancing at it to check that it's in grabbing distance should I need it. Silva gasps in shock and pain.

"I've got Zanbaq for you," Stella steps forward, "it will calm the infection until we can get you back to school."

"I need you to hold his head so I can pour it into his mouth." I quickly do as she can, murmuring soft words of nonsensical comfort to him all the while.

Fuck.

Where's Irene and Beatrix. They wouldn't leave him unless forced. But if the progression of his wound is any indication then they might have been forced to. I watch in silence as Stella pours the Zanbaq into his mouth and the poison clears from his eyes.

Thank Helios, it's working.

"Lift his shirt," Stel asks and I fight the urge to make a joke.

Stella's hands begin to glow with light and I look around in panic, realising that she was essentially making a beacon for our location as she begins to heal some of his wounds.

"Stella." I hiss, looking around as the shadows begin to take form in the distance.

"Give me a second, I can calm the infection further-"

"We don't have a minute." I snap.

Her gaze snaps to me in shock when I quickly tug a groaning Silva onto his feet. Thankfully he manages to loop his arm over my shoulders so we don't have to worry about that.

"We need to get out of this trench."

Stella goes to protest but she catches sight of something over my shoulder and quickly nods, not bothering to complain as she scrambles against the mud side to get to the forest floor.

It takes a fuck load of awkward manovering but we manage to hoist Silva up the wall of the trench with minimum damage and a hundred percent chance of getting an infection from all the mud cakeing all three of us.

We hastily move through the forest, Silva between us as we hobble along one of the forest rivets.

"Irene," he grinds out through the pain, "Where's my mate."

"She safe." I answer without question, catching the way Stella gives me a sharp look. "She's back at Alfea."

"And the baby." He murmurs and I stumble.

"What?" I croak.

"Irene's pregnant." He states, managing to shake his head till he was more coherent. "Are they both okay?"

"They're fine." Stella answers with a soft smile, dropping a glowing hand down to his side to stem the bleeding. "We just need to get you back to them."

Without you realising they're not in fact safe because then you won't make it easy for us to get you back to Alfea.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Octavia

Sky and I walk side by side as we scan the forest for any sign of threat. He's been awfully quiet since we found the hollow filled with blood and empty Zanbaq bottles. We counted the Solarian guards found, there's only three from the group missing, which means at the very least one of our family has been injured.

"We'll find them." I murmur quietly to him.

"But will we find them in time?" He whispers, voice tired and eyes filled with grief and fear.

"Don't lose hope." I command, doing my best to project strength. "They are strong and they know what they are doing."

"I know. I just never let myself believe-"

Burned One!

I whip around to the direction of the shadow's cry, raising my arm to signal to the specialists. Nobody moves and I'm grateful for their Dumaris blood when they go completely still, in an unnatural way. A telltale of their heritage.

How many? I murmur.

One, coming towards you slowly from your ten o'clock.

I raise my hand again and bring it down, pointing in the direction of the Burned One. I receive nods in return from the ten specialists following me and I quickly signal that there is only one.

"Spread out and keep it distracted, don't get too close." I whisper, knowing their enhanced sense will allow them to hear me.

"Strike and then retreat." Sky commands, "Take turns and alternate directions of attack, keep it distracted."

"I'll pin it down with my magic and then Sky will destroy the Cinder." I receive nods in return as the specialist fan out on either side of me. Dane gives me an hesitant smile and I nod in what I hope is a reassuring manner.

The sound of the Burned One gets closer and closer, I can hear some of the specialists begin to shift in fear and panic.

"Hold your nerve," I whisper.

"You have trained for this." Sky adds on. "Just like we practised."

"Except this time it's an actual Burned One." Dane murmurs.

I hear gasps of shock as the Burned One races towards us. Half a though has me flinging the shadows out as though they were throwing knives, hitting the Burned One in its knees. I grin when screeches and stumbles pausing momentarily to rip out my daggers before raging when the shadow dissolves and wraps as cuffs around its wrists.

The specialists race forward, Sky leading them as they surround the creature. Each one keeping a distance and only lunging forward to strike the Burned One.

Quickly, Mistress. Another approaches from behind you.

Fuck.

Shadows coil around the creature's arms and legs, dragging it to the ground as though they were chains. I gasp as the Burned One fights against my powers, feeling the physical strain of each of its movements. Helios, this is so much easier to do in stories.

Bloom is being chased by the second Burned One

Help her! I command and feel the sentient shadows drift away from me.

Just me and my power now.

The creature thrashes in my grip and the specialists wisely retreat, glancing between the creature and I. Taking a step forward, I lift my hands up and force a shadow around the creature's throat, pinning it fully to the ground on its knees.

"Now Sky!" I cry out, feeling my control begin to slip as it continues to fight.

My mate doesn't hesitate, lunging forward to thrust his sword through its chest. There's a collective intake of breath when the Burned One jerks and I can breathe easy again when Sky twists his sword for good measure before pulling it out.

The specialist let out cries of success and I grin when I watch them clap Sky on the back in support and celebration. I smile gently when Sky's gaze catches my own, nodding to him in pride. I distantly register Dane shaking my shoulders in overzealous glee at our victory and I can't help but feel as though our luck has changed as the rain comes to a stop.

My smile drops to hell when the sound of female screams echo through the forest.

A/N: Do you prefer the Burned Ones being a bigger threat than they were in the series?

Also, what did you think of Irene's portrayal here?