Frank stood in darkness. There was nothing around him, no matter where he looked. He was alone in this void of nothingness.

He tried to call out, but no sound escaped him. He brought a hand up to his neck before trying to yell into the darkness, but still nothing.

He took a step forward, but it didn't seem like he moved at all. He spun around, hoping to see something, anything, that might have been a relief from the darkness. There was nothing.

"Don't leave."

The soft whisper echoed off of the emptiness. Frank recognized it, but he still couldn't make a sound to respond. He didn't even know where he was, how could he leave?

"Don't go back."

Back? Frank's brow furrowed. There was nowhere to go. Darkness waited wherever he turned.

"He's getting closer."

The words were no longer a whisper. Frank covered his ears at its sheer volume. More voices added to it as it began to speak again, but there were so many that he couldn't make out the words.

Frank dropped to his knees, pressing his hands over his ears to try and drown out the sound. There was so much, but it only seemed to get louder.

"T̶̡̟̭̻̹̣̙̰̫̤͓̮̠̙͒̽͜ḩ̶͖̭̤̪̉̓̇̔́̈̈́̄̃͆̀͝ͅȩ̵̗̝̠̪͕͒͗̌͒̕͜͝r̴̨̭̙̗̘̐͛͋̐̂͗̈́̿͛͆̌̈́̄̐͜͝e̷̛̗͂͆̍͌̈́̀̐̄̄̓͘͘͜ ̵̧̖͇̭͚̭͖͚̘̭͊̅͋͊̉͑͆͐͂͘͘y̸̨͈̙̯̮͇̭̬̺̺̯͔̌̀̌̆ǫ̵̨͕̪̠͉͍̪͖̬̂̽̊̉̈͋̄͛̑́̑͛̚̚u̴̧̢̳͈̭̤̙̟͓͖̝̺̦͋̃̈́̐̂̽͐ͅ ̵̰̪̹͖̘͖̘̼͙̓a̵̗͎̪̫̞̦̬̱͆̓͂̄̀̓̽̐̐̓̂̔̕͝r̴̡̨̜̳̲͕̣̳͍̟͎̱̙̅̉͋͝ͅȩ̶̝͎̦̻̦͙̣͍̳̟̫͚̦͚̐͐̏̎̐"

Through everything, the fragmented pieces of one message broke through as a bright whiteness consumed the dark.

Frank gasped, jolting upright with his chest rising and falling rapidly. For a moment, everything was still consumed by white. It quickly faded back to the recognizable colors of the shelter's interior. A hand landed on his shoulder,making his head snap in that direction.

Ryan looked at him with worry. "Are you okay?"

Frank couldn't bring himself to speak. The words seemed to catch in his throat. He instead nodded, though his breaths were still erratic.

"You were just asleep, it was just a dream." Ryan assured him, scooting closer and rubbing his back. "You're here in the now, focus on that."

Frank gulped, trying to hold back another gasp for air. The now. Ryan's contact. The grass beneath him. The shelter around him. That was all real. It was just as it had been before. He tried to speak again, succeeding with slow words."How... how long was I asleep?"

Ryan frowned. "Not long. You still look tired."

Frank shook his head. "I can't rest anymore. Has the smoke gotten closer?"

"I don't know. I've been here with you." Ryan brought his hand to Frank's shoulder again. "You shouldn't worry over that right now."

"I have to." Frank pressed his palms against his eyes until squiggles and shapes of colors formed. "It's something bad, Ryan."

"Is it who was looking for you?" Ryan asked, "Is it why we're preparing to leave again?"

Frank's shoulders slumped. They shouldn't have to leave this place because of him. They shouldn't have to deal with him.

"You know, they used to round up people with magic." Frank's gaze was brought back to Ryan as he spoke softly. "Gerard was one of the last people born with it before it started leaving us on our own. That's why there's so few magic welders left. I'm assuming that's why they're after you. It seems to be why they continue to chase us." A small smile tugged at his lips, "Besides the fact that we taunt them whenever opportunity arises."

"Everything more I learn about them is more horrible than the last." Frank felt his stomach twist into knots. He had known of rebels being brought in for information, but never if they had magic or not. Though he had been tasked with studying their information gathering methods, most of it happened while Frank was still a child. Gerard had been the only one he could recall from recent memory.

Frank wondered if he was considered a rebel threat now. Was it widely known now within the Force that he had magic? Or had it been kept a secret for a torture the Force Captain would deliver once they found him?

"It'll be nice to move again though." Ryan's smile was fonder now, as he traced patterns along the ground. "Maybe we'll see the coast again."

"How long has it been since you've seen it?" Frank asked.

Ryan laughed. "Too long."

Their conversation fell to silence. Frank didn't know hat else to say. He was still tired, but the mere thought of what woke him up kept him from attempting sleep again. Ryan seemed to be reminiscing, so he didn't want to interrupt and pull him from his happy memories.

A soft wind blew against the shelter as branches creaked and leaves rustled in the trees. No creatures could be heard amongst the sounds of the air and trees. It was almost enough to pull Frank back into enough of a sense of security to shut his eyes.

The entrance of the shelter shifted. Both Frank and Ryan looked up to see Brendon peeking in. "Just got the sparrow's call." He jerked his head to the side. "We're going to meet at the river's divide."

"Are we sure that's safe?" Frank asked, though immediately after it occurred to him that Brendon might not have even known what happened there with the small piece of technology.

"I scouted there after what Ryan told me." Brendon replied, "I didn't see anything unusual, just some berries that hadn't been picked yet."

"Did you save any?" Ryan asked as he and Frank rose to their feet. Ryan was first to the entrance, letting Brendon take his hand to guide him.

Frank followed after, emerging from the shelter just as Brendon was scooping Ryan up into his arms to carry. Ryan draped his arms over Brendon's shoulders, giving him a look of affection like Frank had never seen before. A frown overtook his smile, however, as his eyes dropped from Brendon's face.

"What happened to your neck?" Ryan asked, tilting his head. "It looks like it hurts."

"It's just a bug bite, don't worry about it." Brendon replied as Frank moved beside them.

Frank could just see a hint of a red mark on Brendon's neck. Before he could get a better look, however, Brendon was turning and moving with Ryan in his arms. Frank followed, keeping an even pace just behind the two as he could hear Ryan mutter softly to Brendon.

The sun was low in the sky, but not low enough to cast them into darkness yet. Hues of mixed orange and violet shared the sky above them. Small black specks were beginning to rise from the clovers and drop from the trees, flickering with light. There was no wind, but the leaves still vibrated lightly on their branches.

Once past the clover field, Brendon lead them through the trees, though it seemed to be a different route from the one Ryan had lead Frank down before. They reached a small drop off, where Brendon stopped their advancement.  He gestured for Frank to wait before slowly climbing down. Once down, he lowered Ryan to his feet and turned to look up at Frank.

"Use my hand for stability." He said, holding it up for Frank to grab hold of. Brendon leaned himself against a tree with one leg propped against the drop off.

Frank reached out to take Brendon's hand, finally getting a better look at the spot on his neck as he did. It was a circular red mark that was hard to miss against Brendon's pale skin. As Frank continued to look at it, though, he could almost see white cracks spreading from it...

"Hey!"

Frank cried out as he stumbled forward, losing his grip on Brendon's hand. It was a blur. He tripped over something, falling face first to the ground and sliding part way down the dirt. He groaned once he finally stopped, tasting dirt between his teeth. He could faintly hear the others saying something, but he couldn't make it out. The short stumble had hurt, but there was also now a buzzing in his head of whispered voices. They spoke all at once in a panic to the point none of them made any sense.

A hand landed on his shoulder, bringing a stabbing pain with it. Frank cried out. The whispers in his head were immediately silenced.

"Frank!" Ryan was calling out to him.

Frank opened his eyes as the hand pulled away from his shoulder. Ryan was in front of him, eyes wide with worry. He reached out to dust dirt away from Frank's face while Frank turned his head to his side. A pain still lingered in his shoulder, but it was fading. He was trying to look at it, but Brendon stumbling back caught his attention.

Brendon's brow was furrowed in confusion. He took another step back before sinking to the ground. His eyes were darting back and forth, though they didn't seem to be focusing on anything.

"Are you hurt? That was a hard landing." Ryan was still dusting Frank off, not having noticed Brendon yet. At the sound of his voice, however, Brendon's eyes finally focused.

"Rose pest?"

Ryan turned towards him. "Why are you on the ground?"

Brendon just squinted towards the two boys in front of him. "You're not hurt?"

Ryan cocked his head. "Frank's the one that fell... Did you hurt yourself too?" He looked between both Frank and Brendon with an expression of uncertainty.

"I'm fine." Frank whispered, keeping his eyes on Brendon. Darkness was creeping in around them, but there were a few light bugs floating around them. Brendon looked different, but Frank couldn't nail down what about him was different. Ryan turned his head so that Brendon was no longer in his line of sight.

"You're bleeding." Ryan reached for one of the flowers on his vest and plucked a petal. He then reached out, pressing it against Frank's nose. Frank was greeted by a faint, but sweet scent from the petal. He let Ryan guide one of his hands up to it to hold it in place. "Don't move." Ryan tapped the back of Frank's hand before pushing himself to his feet and making his way over to Brendon.

Frank inhaled the sweet scent again as he held the petal against his nose. His body didn't feel as bruised as it should have... but maybe it was just something that would re-emerge as a soreness later... The only place that really hurt was his shoulder. He was distracted by that, however, by something wet trickling against his fingers. He pulled the petal away, looking down at the black substance that now coated it.