I'm still SUPER hyped this is back and alive again

But oh boy am I gonna write some trauma

-

Grian struggled to fall asleep in his nest of blankets. It had been at least an hour, he was exhausted, and there was no real time zone this deep down underground. Fresh air and the occasional bug would hop down into the bunker, but that was about it.

But his worries kept him awake. His stomach churned as he thought about what Jimmy was going through right now-

He could be locked up in a cell, being laughed at by Watchers and Listeners, tied against a wall in a cold stone prison, starving for food in an open field, possessed by skulk...

All of these situations were horrible, but they could happen. In fact, there was a large chance at least one of them was happening at this exact moment.

Grian groaned quietly and rubbed at his eyes. Some of the resistance was still awake, specifically Gem, Naya, Xisuma, and Lizzie. X and Naya were strategizing battle plans while Gem and Lizzie were chatting softly near Ember the dragon about metal limbs and how to deal with them.

The avian sat up and jumped down from his cubby, wings flapping to slow down his fall. Gem noticed him first and waved with her stub of an arm, her robotic one hadn't been finished yet. She took a sip from her plastic cup of water and continued the conversation with Lizzie.

Grian decided to bother X and Naya, so he went over there and hopped onto a flimsy chair beside them.

"Hey, Grian." Xisuma said quietly without looking up.

"Hi, X. Hi, Naya."

Naya looked up when her name was mentioned and Grian saw how tired she looked. He frowned.

"I couldn't sleep. Is everything okay?" He asked, taking a look at the blueprints and maps.

"So far, yes. We're making a plan to rescue Jimmy and Frog. And Cub. We know Ember sacrificed themselves to save him, and it... kind of worked?" Naya started, pointing to a place on the map. "Cub's locked in an obsidian prison here. We've sent out Doc, Joel, False and Scar to go pick him up. Doc and False are good fighters, and Joel is... Joel, so if anyone attacks they can fight them away. Scar's there mostly to help Cub emotionally, but also because we couldn't convince him to stay here."

Huh.

Naya was actually pretty good at this, for someone multiple years younger than everyone else here.

"How will we save Jimmy?" Grian asked, fiddling with his fingers.

"As Naya said earlier, we're currently deciding on which strategy to use, but we think we've come up with one sure to work." Xisuma spoke this time, "If he's where we think he is. We believe he's being held in the main cells in that hallway in the Watcher's lair. So some of us will go to free him, and the rest will distract the guards. Naya is then going to take some hermits with her," X picked up four little pawns on the table and moved them on the blueprints, "to go free Frog."

"That's... A good plan." Grian mumbled.

"Yes, but, since we don't know where Jimmy is exactly, we'll have to find out and build our plan around that. And how do you think we're going to find out?" X asked, a smile visible through his mask.

Grian thought about it for a while, his wings shifting and rustling. "Oh!" He realized, "Cub!"

"Correct. Cub was trapped in the skulk for a long time, so he can hear it's thoughts. He knows where Jimmy is being kept and that's why we need him."

After Xisuma had finished, Naya added to his speech,

"Also because he's a hermit and we need to save him anyways."

I'm so bored! This is boring! The hostage doesn't even do anything!

The skulk sure sounded more like a kid now that it had a new host. The pictures that flashed before him told him everything he needed to know. It wasn't alone at all, Jimmy was held captive in the main host's room, and it was waiting for something to happen.

Cub had been stuck here for a long time. The skulk dug into the back of his head like a knife, multiple little strands connecting him to the thoughts of it while letting him be conscious enough to know he existed. 

A dull ringing filled his ears and Cub blinked as he was suddenly ripped from the tendrils of skulk and pulled into a tight hug. The ringing began to fade and Cub could hear a familiar voice.

"Cub! Cub... can you hear me?! Wake up...!"

Cub grumbled quietly and saw two of his best friend in front of him. "...Scar?"

He could hear clearly now, and his vision went back to normal. He was free.

"Cub!" Scar cried, pulling him into another hug as happy tears streamed down his face.

"Scar, you're okay!..." Cub hugged back as tears threatened to fall from his own eyes. He pulled away from the hug and held Scar by his shoulders in front of him. "Scar... Scar, dude, I'm so sorry..." 

"It wasn't your fault. You're okay now, we're going to the bunker, and we're going to be just fine." Scar choked out a sob of relief.

"We should go soon, I see some Watchers that definitely will kill us if we stay any longer." Joel called from in a tree.

Cub was surprised to see him there, hadn't the Empires members left after the first battle?

"Hey Cub, welcome back to life or something." He waved, and Cub waved back with a small smile.

"Let's go. The others are going to be so happy you're alive." Doc huffed, a sword ready in his hands (claws?).

Scar stood and helped Cub up on shaky feet. The two walked side-by-side, slowing down anytime Cub winced with pain, even though he kept telling everyone he was fine.

Eventually they made it to a place in the field where there was a small dip in the ground. At first glance it just looked like a hole made by an explosion, but if you really looked you could see a tunnel that lead down under the earth.

"Hurry, down into the bunker." False commanded, rushing everyone past her and sealing the top of the entrance behind them. There were possibly hundreds of tunnels that broke off from the main one, but Scar told him they were all dead ends, except for one near the very end. The group turned left into a tight squeeze of a tunnel that looked like it was rebuilt to be so small, and Cub saw a door made of acacia wood. Scar knocked to the tune of "Do You Want To Build A Snowman" from Frozen and pushed it open.

Cub was amazed at what he saw. A huge room, with little beds dug out in the right wall, a huge orange dragon cuddling with an unconscious Pine to the left, targets set up for practicing, and a game of cornhole that was splayed out across the ground. There were plastic cups with names written on them messily littered around the grand space, and in the back near a corner was a small round table with one chair and three people around it.

He was finally safe.

Finally free.

-

Didn't know how to end this chapter so here.

Word count: 1207 words :D