Creak rested her head against Stans. He was still unconscious and the twins said he probably wouldn't wake up until they got him help at the rebel kingdom. Six days before her brother would be lost forever. Six days before Creak would lose everything she had ever loved. Sure she loved music, but it wasn't worth it. If her brother dyed, then her fight would be useless. She wanted to live in a world with music, but she didn't want to live in a world without her brother.

It was late at night and Creak had yet to fall asleep. She couldn't sleep. What if her brother woke up confused and in pain? What if he took his last breath? Creak needed to be there for him, no matter the time. She couldn't fall asleep.

Aria stood guard by the door of the cabin they had stopped to sleep in. It was a nice place, nicer than anything Creak had ever lived in, with a fireplace and complete roof.

It was also warm. A fire burned bright in the fireplace, a small stack of wood rested against the near wall. Riptide had been out for hours collecting wood to keep them warm. Creak knew he was trying to prove his worth to all of them, but he didn't have to.

Though she would never let him know, Creak was glad Rip was with them. He was a strong and an amazing warrior. If she had to pick anyone to be with her when things got bad, she would have picked Rip.
She glanced away from her brother and across the room to where he slept. His wavy hair spiked in its normal bed-headed way and his nose twitched as he slept. He looked so peaceful and Creak felt a strange urge to wrap her arms around him. He was unbelievably handsome and amazing. He had followed her for months! Everything she had gone through with Vern, Rip had gone through by himself. The kind of dedication that took was overwhelming.

She shook her head. What would he think of her if she curled herself against him to sleep? He'd think she was even more crazy! He didn't like he, not even as a friend.

"ɧơῳ ƈąŋ ყơų ცɛ ʂơ ʂųཞɛ?" Angel whispered in her ear. "ɧɛ ʂąıɖ ɧɛ ʄơƖƖơῳɛɖ ყơų ʄơཞ ɱơŋɬɧʂ ცɛƈąųʂɛ ɧɛ ɖıɖŋ'ɬ ɧą۷ɛ ąŋყơŋɛ ɛƖʂɛ."

Even Gorgos had something slightly positive to say. "Despite how disgusting it is to admit this, I think Angel might be right. He said he had nowhere else to go, so clearly he feels that you'll accept him."

Creak shook her head. 'He can count on me.' She thought knowing the words were true. 'Now that he's actually here, I don't want him to leave. What does that mean though?'

"ąῳῳ!" Angel squealed. "ɬɧąɬ ɱɛąŋʂ ყơų Ɩıƙɛ ɧıɱ!"

'No!' Creak denied the idea. 'I can't like him. How could I?'

"ɧơῳ ƈơųƖɖŋ'ɬ ყơų?" Angel probably rolled her eyes. "ʝųʂɬ Ɩơơƙ ąɬ ɧıɱ."

Creak shook her head and squeezed her brother's hand. 'Even if I did like him, there's no way he could like me.'

"Yeah!" Gorgos spat. "Creak is way too ugly to be with someone like Riptide."

'Ouch.' Creak didn't even have to pretend to feel hurt. 'Thanks. I really needed that.'

"ῳơąɧ! Ɩơơƙ!" Angel gasped.

Riptide was still asleep, but he had was shaking. Great spasms that send him rolling to and fro. His face contorted in pain and his mouth opened in a silent scream.

'What's happening?' Creak screamed in her head. 'What do I do?'

"I don't know!" Gorgos never sounded panicked, but there was a first time for everything. "Wake him up!"

Creak dropped her brother's hand and scrambled across the cabin to where Rip thrashed. Grabbing his shoulders, she shook his with everything she had.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" She screamed. The fear in her voice woke the others and had Aria running into the room.

"What's happening?" She asked. Seeing Riptide, Aria wrinkled her nose. "What's wrong with him?"

Rip, still asleep, got an arm free of Creak's hold and pinched her in the face.

"Oww." She groaned and fell off of him.

Vern rushed over to her and helped her to her feet.

A scream of pain and horror ripped from Riptide's mouth making his voice go hoarse. A small cut appeared on his cheek and sent a shallow trickle of blood down his face.

"Rip!" Creak pulled herself away from Vern and smacked Riptide across the face. "Wake up!"

With a gasp, Rip sat up and scrambled away from them, his eyes wide. He looked like a cornered animal in a butcher's shop.

Aria was the first to approach him. "What was that?"

Rip shook his head. "It..." His voice was raw. "It was just a nightmare."

Core and Aria looked at each other as if they knew it was more than that, but they didn't say anything.

Vern walked over to the door of the cabin. "It's almost dawn. Maybe we should leave just in case someone, or something, heard his screaming."
The twins nodded.

"I'll go grab Stans." Core said walking over to where Creak's brother lay silently.

Aria looked at the rest of them. "Get your things together. We leave now."

Creak couldn't take her eyes off of Rip and when he noticed her staring he blushed and looked away. Creak knew she would have to talk to him while they walked. She felt there was something more to his nightmare.

                               *                  *                 *

Riptide didn't want to talk about what he had seen. He didn't want them to worry. They all already had enough to worry about, so when Creak came to interrogate him he didn't know what to say. He didn't want to lie to her, but he also didn't want her to know about his 'master of time' thing. He didn't even understand it, so there was no way he could explain it to someone else.

"So are a you going to tell me what really happened back at the cabin?" Creak was too curious for her own good. She didn't know when to just let things go.

Rip looked at her, with her beautiful, brown eyes and crazy hair. He really liked her hair and the slight freckles that spread across her nose. He liked everything about her, even the crazy look in her eyes.

He liked her, but he wasn't sure he really knew her. He wasn't sure if he could really trust her. "No."

"Oh, come on." She pleaded. "Why not?"

He didn't have a good explanation, so he went with the first thing he could up with. "It's personal."

Rip could see in her eyes that Creak didn't know what to say to that. She knew what it was like not wanting someone to know something. When she shook her head, her messy waves went everywhere and Rip almost smiled.

"I can respect that." She said and looked to where Core was carrying her brother. "Sometime keeping secrets is for the best."

Rip wanted to know more about what she said, but he knew it wasn't his place to ask. Instead he nodded silently.

Creak looked into his eyes and he felt a part of himself melt.

"I'm gonna go now." She mumbled and left him to go walk by Core.

Creak was hard to read and Rip didn't really know what he should think of her.

                                  *                 *                 *

'I'm gonna go now.' Creak repeated again and again in her head.
'Stupid! What a stupid thing to say!'
Gorgos laughed at her. "Yeah, you did sound pretty dumb."

'I know I did!' Creak yelled at her. 'I don't know what's wrong with me.'

Creak knew her whole conversation with Rip had been awkward, but she hadn't known what to say. It wasn't easy talking to him like it was with Vern. She always wanted to say the right things, but that just made everything come out wrong.

Creak felt like pounding her head into a pine tree. Why couldn't she just be normal around Riptide? Why did she have to do everything wrong?
Vern came to walk beside her. "Are you okay?"

Creak shook her head. "My brother's slowly dying and I'm a complete fail when it comes to talking to Riptide. But yeah, everything's just great."

Vern put his arm around her shoulders. "Hey, it'll be okay. Your brother will be fine. And I don't think you could do anything to make Rip dislike you, even if you tried."

Creak looked up at him. "What does that mean?"

Vern just smiled. "I'll let you figure it out on your own."

Creak wanted to scream in frustration. She didn't know what she was doing or what Vern was talking about. She just wanted to get to the rebel kingdom without any more problems. She didn't have the strength to deal with anymore loss.