Gerard paced back and forth at the base of the tree Mikey and Tyler were rustling through. He hadn't been able to contact his magic since the morning when he found himself on the ground with Frank. It had been a decent amount of time that he was starting to become frustrated.

"Of all the times I wish you would talk to me." He sighed, throwing his arms in the air. "Where are you?..." He dropped his arms back to his side, defeated. He couldn't reach it. He wasn't even sure he could feel it's presence within him. It was a feeling he didn't like... but it was familiar.

Tyler dropped to a low branch above him. He sat down before tilting himself back and hanging himself upside down, holding his weight with his legs. He let his hands hang above his head as he cast his gaze tiredly to Gerard. Spots of red speckled his iris as he blinked tiredly.

"I think I managed to get the messages out." He relayed, twisting his wrist to give a thumbs up before dropping it again.

Gerard frowned at him. "You didn't use too much, did you?" He asked, stepping forward towards Tyler.

Tyler shut his eyes. "Don't worry, I know you're a bit stressed out, I've got it."

Gerard closed the gap between them, resting his forehead against Tyler's. "Just because I'm useless right now doesn't mean you should strain yourself." He could feel the faint buzz of Tyler's magic where their skin touched, but he still couldn't feel his own magic. He let out a sigh.

Tyler tapped his shoulder. "I can handle it. I swear... could you help me down, though?"

A laugh escaped Gerard. He stepped back and carefully helped Tyler maneuver his way back upright in the tree before dropping to the ground. Tyler smiled with thanks, but Gerard could see the strain behind it. Despite that, though, Tyler still reached out and grabbed both of Gerard's hands. He shushed Gerard as he tried to protest, the specks of red in his eyes beginning to glow and spread.

"Tyler, no!" Gerard yanked his hands from Tyler's grip. The red shrunk from Tyler's eyes as he stumbled slightly. Gerard held his hand against his chest as he watched Tyler steady himself. "You've strained yourself enough."

Tyler furrowed his brow as he turned to Gerard. "You're only straining yourself the more you let your magic disconnect."

Gerard avoided Tyler's eyes. "It's not like it's the first time it's happened..."

"That doesn't make it better." Tyler stepped forward. The red in his eyes burned like gently tussled embers in a dying fire. "I have enough left to help... You don't have to just wait it out alone."

Gerard shut his eyes. When he was younger, his magic had done something similar. He couldn't reach it or feel it. At that point, however, there was no one he could reach out to for help. Then, when in Force captivity, there was nothing he could do but wait for it to find its way back to him again.

He eventually sighed and opened his eyes. "Please... Just be careful." He extended his hands to Tyler.

Tyler flashed a reassuring smile before stepping fully forward and taking Gerard's hands. The dulling embers in his eyes flared as they began to unfocus. His grip on Gerard's hands tightened as a silence hung in the air around them.

Gerard's gaze shifted nervously between Tyler's hands and his unfocused eyes. He could barely feel the hum of Tyler's magic against his skin. Maybe it was too much too soon for Tyler. He was about to speak his worry, but Tyler's rapid blinking made the words catch in his throat.

"Why is it scared?" Tyler tilted his head. He held his head high, but his shoulders slumped as he looked at Gerard.

"You can feel it?" Gerard felt his eyes widen. He wasn't even sure he could feel it or if he could feel a bit more of Tyler's magic through his nerves.

Tyler gave the smallest nod. He somehow squeezed Gerard's hands tighter. "It's hiding. I think I can..." Tyler's eyes crossed as his words trailed off.

Gerard could feel the smallest kick from his gut. He gasped as its soft voice called sheepishly to him. "Tyler, how-" He was cut short by Tyler falling forward. He just managed to catch him from falling completely. In the same instant, he urged what part of his magic he could feel to revive what Tyler had drained. It was a slow trickle, but Gerard could feel it following his thoughts as it moved through his arms.

Tyler let out a soft groan. "I'm okay..."

"You didn't have to do that." Gerard kept his hand on Tyler's arm as he began to stabilize himself. "It would have come back eventually."

Tyler laughed. "You would have just kept stressing the entire time waiting for it..." he brought a hand up to tap Gerard's arm. "What are friends for?.."

Gerard frowned, but didn't immediately respond. He could feel more of his magic now. It gathered near his chest, branching off to his arm to help reinvigorate what Tyler had used. He couldn't say it didn't make him feel better to have it back where he could sense it, because it did... but it unnerved him how it had left him so suddenly and completely in the first place.

Tyler stepped back, breaking their connection. Gerard could feel his magic retract, but continue to swirl in his chest.

"That was an experience..." Tyler muttered, shaking his head.

"Thank you." Gerard rubbed the back of his neck, "Do you feel alright?"

Tyler nodded. "Yea, better than before. Could still go for a nap though."

As Gerard dropped his arm, Mikey dropped to the ground a few trees away. He quickly popped up to his feet, looking from side to side with knit together brows.

"Trouble?" Gerard asked. He didn't like how tense his brother looked. It reminded Gerard too much of the day he had been taken by the Force.

"The smoke stopped awhile ago." Mikey replied shortly, keeping his head on a swivel. "Not close enough to worry, but I don't like that it hasn't moved... It doesn't seem to be rising as rapidly either."

"Shouldn't we be glad we're being given more time for relocation?" Tyler asked as Gerard turned to look off in the direction of the smoke.

He hadn't been paying attention before, but Mikey was right about the difference in how the smoke was rising. Before it had trailed like the end of a snake, but now it was bubbling upward with no indication of movement. He narrowed his eyes as he continued to stare at it. He hadn't seen the smoke stop like this before... What could have made them pause?

"Nothing good comes from the Force." Mikey walked in front of Gerard, briefly blocking his view of the smoke, "Not even halted movement."

Gerard reached out towards the smoke, bringing his magic to his fingertips. "Brother... how far out do you think that is?" He asked as he silently willed his magic to stretch beyond his physical reach. It whined quietly, trying to stretch but sucking back into the confines of his skin.

Mikey's head snapped in Gerard's direction. "Where were you before you were here?" As he responded with his own question, his eyes began to widen. "How secure are they?"

"Where?" Tyler looked between the two with worry digging into his expression, "Who?"

Before either brother could respond, a burning light pierced the sky near the smoke. Everyone in the group turned towards it as an explosion of gray spread high in the sky, continuing to pop with gray sparks as it slowly sunk down and faded.

"Sky sparks..." Mikey whispered, shoulders slumping.

"And not yellow ones." Gerard matched Mikey's tone as he felt his heart sink like the sparks in the sky.

"Wait, that isn't..." Tyler brought his hands up to cover his mouth. He muttered something, but his hands blocked the full sound of it.

Gerard's magic tried to stretch out again, with more desperation now. It knew what the sky sparks meant just as much as everyone else. It was an emergency signal if the Seers safety had been breached. It was something meant to be alerted by the Seers own magic in the sky due to its vibrancy. However, the gray color that was vanishing before their eyes meant that he was incapable of sending them up.

"Pete's still standing, but there's no telling for how long." Mikey's words were shaky. When Gerard turned to look at him, he could see his brother's hands shaking at his sides. He looked to Gerard, fear in his eyes. "What's our move?"

Gerard's hand began to shake where he held it out towards the signal and smoke. There was no way for them to make it back in time to help in any significant way. If the signal was already up, and not from Patrick's magic, things were bad. "We've already alerted the others to movement." He closed his hand, but hesitated in retracting his arm. If the Force took the Seer, there was no telling what they would do to him. However, it also meant they had gained enough ground to be just days of travel away from them. Possibly even faster depending on how well their vehicles could navigate the forests. "We need to move."

"We're just letting them take the Seer?" Mikey turned fully towards Gerard now.

"There's nothing we can do that will matter to what's happening now." Gerard shook his head.

"I know but..." Mikey trailed off.

"They're our friends." Tyler picked up the sentence quietly, lowering his head. "More friends we can't save."

"No." Gerard shut his eyes. "No, no. We can't say that. Not about them. We will save them... But we need to make sure we're ready. We need to regroup. We need to prepare. We need..." He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. He was back to being a leader again, he couldn't let this tear him down in front of the others. "We need to be careful." He reopened his eyes, looking between where Mikey and Tyler looked back at him. "I have a rough idea of where their base is now. If it gets to that point, we can retrieve them. However, if the smoke keeps moving forward, we can assume they still have them."

"Do you really think they'd show that kind of mercy?" Mikey's tone was flat, stabbing into Gerard's composure.

It took a moment for Gerard to respond. "If they know what he is... They might."

"And Pete?" Mikey asked.

"Hope is all we can have at the moment, little brother." Gerard replied. He took another deep breath before pointing up at the trees. "I want you on our tail. Ask and pray your messages will carry on the wind with your high ground."

Mikey nodded, keeping his lips in a firm line. He didn't show it, but Gerard knew him well enough to know he was upset. He hated to know it was there, but he also knew there was no way to make it any better at the moment. At least doing rear lookout would give him first hand eyes as to where the smoke, and potentially their friends, were heading. Not to mention that Mikey was one of the more nimble in his movement through the branches and could keep the lowest profile.

Gerard turned to Tyler. "Stay with him. Just in case. Your magic may be needed if the winds aren't strong enough."

Tyler nodded, expression turning serious. "Yes, sir."

"And you'll go to meet back with your Force soldier?" Mikey asked, as he turned away from the group.

"I'm going back to meet with our group at the camp." Gerard shot a glare in Mikey's direction, "I'll alert them of what happened and where we're going from here."

"Do you even know?" Mikey was walking towards the trunk of the tree he had dropped from earlier. "Last time they closed in, you left with them. Then, when you came back, you brought a souvenir. Do you really think you'll be so lucky twice?"

Gerard lowered his head, taking a silent breath. "As I said, hope is all we can have at the moment." He replied after a brief silence.

Mikey was still at the base of the tree. He didn't turn back to face Gerard or move to climb up the tree's trunk. Tyler silently looked between the two brothers before slowly moving towards Mikey.

Gerard was left where he stood. He didn't know what more to say. He turned away and began moving to the soon to be abandoned base they had established in his absence. He just hoped his brother would listen. He just hoped the scattered group would receive the message of movement. He just hoped he could save who was left to be saved.

He just hoped.