Shopping

[dexter]

Ember:
Once they were away from the haunt it was smooth sailing. They hadn't seen any trouble yet, Matt was clueless for the while, and they'd even managed to leave Rian in the dust!

<<Perfect!>> Ember thought to Jullian, dipping and swerving whenever she liked, just to stretch her wings and prove that she was not and never would be a stick-in-the-mud. <<Let them frump, or deal with the chaos of new recruits on their own. We've got far better plans!>>

Below them was the rising city of LA, a little worse for wear but still mostly intact so that the skyline was recognizable. Ember's breath was taken away by the sight of her home city... she didn't realize how much she'd missed it... <<Let's find a sports store first. Then we can work from there, disguised as controllers. We'll have to walk back with the fabrics, but so long as we don't get noticed we should be fine.>>

Jullian:
Jullian tried to nod. And he did, except the effect was that it threw him off and he almost flipped over in the air. He had forgotten that such small body movements could cause big change in flying. He decided to stick to thought speak for communication purposes.

<<Sounds good. So how do we find the sports store?>>

Rian:
Rian was cursing himself. Seriously, he had falcon vision and he had lost sight of a bright red bird! It was unthinkable. He thought about going back and telling Matt about the two AWOL faction mates but he didn't want to deal with the embarrassing situation of telling Matt he'd lost them.

He found himself coming up on the borders of the city and wasn't happy about it. He'd better find them soon or else he would have to go back and report. The city could be a dangerous place.

Ember:
At that point Ember felt a similar inclination as Jullian in that she wanted to shrug, but again it only served to make her swan dive briefly. <<I- whoops>> After a few seconds she'd righted herself <<I'm not sure, how about we take it on foot? I'm sure it can't be that hard to find. Just look for someplace that looks like a mall and we can start there.>>

Mentally she kicked herself, having just thought of something very important <<Oh shoot! We'd better find clothes first if we're going to blend in.>>Her bird morph didn't have the best of eyes, but she could spot a department store logo near the edge of the city. <<Let's go down there, start on the outskirts and make our way in. That way we'll blend better with the controllers.>>

Jullian:
<<Good plan. It would be pretty ironic if we got caught because of our morphing outfits while on a mission to make morphing outfits. Matt would totally kill us.>> Jullian said not even thinking about the fact that if they got caught the yeerks would probably kill them first.

He began a to spiral down. <<We better land in the alley in the back, you see it? That way no one will see us demorph.>>

Ember:
<<Good idea kiddo>> She felt like smiling, and would as soon as she had a mouth. This day was turning out better than she'd hoped. sure shirking her team duties was a little out of character, but talking to Matt had reminded her of how much she'd like having people look up to her. Although she and the kid hadn't been on the best of terms to start with, this mini-mission would go a long way toward cementing their friendship.. he already seemed like the kid brother she'd never had.

<<You'd better go first, i'll keep an eye out. Then I'll come down while you watch guard and look for a place to get in. We need good clothes quickly... oh, and names! i almost forgot! what are controller names again? Matt told me but i forgot>>

Jullian:
<<Well I used Dolin something, I think I was stupid enough to use 123. Maybe we should come up with new names. It's just some weird first name and then three numbers afterward.>> As he said all this he was spiraling towards the alley.

When he got there he concentrated on his human form again. He was surprised out how quickly he had gotten used to the thought of morphing and just let the changes happen. He had a stupid idea and so tried to hold onto his wings until the last moment. As hollow bird bones filled in and cracked as they realigned themselves Jullian tried to hold onto the picture of himself with wings. It seemed to be working. Soon he was mostly himself except for two huge white wings for arms. He looked up to where the cardinal was spiraling closer and said, "hey look, I'm a fairy." Knowing Ember would get it he let the wings go and they quickly turned into arms.


Rian:
Rian was hoping very very hard that he would not be seen. It wasn't safe to be in the city as any type of animal let alone a bright orange fox, but haven lost sight of Ember and Jullian he had decided to try to catch a wiff of them. Like with his Chicago faction members, he had memorized the smells of his faction mates in case of an emergency, and this shouldn't be an emergency but it was starting to feel like one.

He sniffed around and thought he might have a lead but he would have to go out into the open to follow them. When I catch you two you guys are going to train forever and that is not counting what Matt'll do, he thought angrily as he crouched in the shadows and watched controllers go by.

Ember:
Ember nearly dropped out of the sky when Jullian started shouting "Hey look I'm a fairy!" Her Cardinal made a trill sound, a substitution for a laugh, as she swerved to avoid clashing into a telephone pole. Worried about getting to ground in one piece she refused to comment on that statement while in morph, choosing instead to take one last circle around before coming in for a slow glide toward the ground. Her torso and legs appeared first, then her head slowly emerged behind a beak as red feathers shed from her hair. As always when she pulled this stunt she ended with her wings, dissolving away until only her fingers were covered. Unlike most morphs, hers was unnaturally graceful when she took off or landed, so much so that she was able to hit the ground running and as an extra show of enthusiasm for their trip she tucked into a diving roll.

One foot before bowling into Jullian she uncurled onto her feet and held out her hand to him in unnecessary flourish, holding out one last bright red feather. "Kid, you have no idea." She winked at him, tucking the feather into his hand while reaching up to ruffle his hair. "Now c'mon, we've got work to do." They exited the ally way together, clad in similar wet suits that stood out against the whitewashed building.

Jullian:
He let the wings go as Ember did. "You know we could be angels. We could make a whole big thing of it back at the Haunt. Like we could show off our wing morphing skills." He said as he followed her around the corner and into the department store.

"So this place isn't exactly abandoned, there are controllers working here," he said in a whisper, "how are we going to get clothes with no money?"

Rian:
Rian carefully poked his furry head out of the alley he had morphed in and looked down the streets in both ways to make sure there were no controllers on the block. When he was sure it was all clear he ran across the street and into another patch of shadow.

He then raised his nose to the wind and tried to block out the smell of garbage and catch that tentative wiff of Ember and Jullian again. When he thought he had it he began trotting down the alley.

Ember:
"Well it's about time the angels came back to this city, maybe we'll even inspire some real ones to come down and give us a hand." Ember walked forward confidently, "Now watch and learn cute-stuff, this is how we're going to get clothes." Down the various isles of the Macy's department store, switching paths whenever a controller got too close, by keeping the racks of clothes between her and the others in the store she quickly weaved her way along until they reached the back without attracting any notice.

At the same time she was creating this route, she'd been picking up things off the shelves... Jeans, a t-shirt, and flip flops, the bare essentials. When they reached the back she grabbed the kid's arm and slipped inside the changing rooms. Honestly she didn't know what she would have done if someone had stopped her, but previous situations had taught her that confidence was always the best disguise.

The lock snapped shut and no sooner than it had Ember was pulling on the clothes, "Ok kid, I'll go back out and grab some more for you. Stay here and don't make a sound, no matter what, alright? I can talk my way out of anything, but we need to be quick before anyone takes a closer look at the security cameras. Those guys may seem like Zombies, but they have a faster wit than i usually give them credit for." She bit her lip and took a look outside, then ducked around the corner.

Jullian:
Jullian sat tight for about thirty seconds and then he peaked his head out of the door to watch Ember's progress. He wasn't so sure about this, I mean weren't they stealing? Then he realized that all of this stuff had been stolen anyway. The people who owned this store didn't own it anymore, they didn't even own there own lives, yeerks in their heads did.

Still he felt like he was going to be stopped by a rink a dink security guard and then they would call his mom. His mother would be pissed, she wasn't the type to tolerate stealing or lying at any costs.

Now that he had thought of that he sent up a silent plea that his mom would never find out about this.

Ember:
Breathe, in and out, thats a good girl... C'mon, just a bit more... Ember nodded in acknowledgment to the controller organizing clothes on a shelf as she passed by. The nod was curt, containing no more emotion than it should have and Ember made sure to blink at the same time so their eyes wouldn't meet. Then all she had to do was keep breathing. Inhale.. Exhale.. agh! not too loudly! She wanted to emote, bite her lip or twist her hair, but she had to stay calm.

Shopping was her forte, if could be beat in here than there was no hope on the outside. Looking over in men's clothes she found a shirt , but it quickly dawned on her that Jullian would never fit into any of the pants. "Sorry kid" Passing though the women's petite section on the way back she pulled out the squarest cut they had, hoping she wouldn't add to the kid's confusion. The second pair of flip flops was where she ran into trouble.

"There is a tag on your foot." oh no oh damn oh no oh DAMN! The portly controller was concentrating on her so intensely she thought he might just stare right on through, like plastic left in the light too long.

"I'm trying them on. For functionality." Ember responded coolly back, her eyes meeting and matching his. "They fit very well, so I'll take two pairs." Turning, she reached over and took the exact same flip flops off the rack, holding them to match the ones she had on. "Yes. Perfect." breathe... he'll go away... just breathe He didn't leave, just stood there and watched her. Finally she had to turn back to him, "I'm also looking for the dressing room. I want to try on a sweater." What?! it never gets cold in LA! idiot. "For travel." Lies after lies, she was getting too good at this. "I'm being relocated to Seattle."

The man looked as though he were about to ask her something, so she craned her neck to see the fitting rooms behind him. "There it is. Thank you for your help." She nodded and circled around him, going at just a fast enough pace to look like she knew what she was doing.

"Jules!" She hissed at the door once she was back inside, "Let me in, quick. We need to get out of here before they start asking questions."

Jullian:
Jullian quickly opened the door so that Ember could slip in. "You know, it's only just beginning to occur to me that this might be a little dangerous. We could-are those girl's jeans?" Not waiting for her to answer he pulled the jeans from her arms and held them up to look at them. "They are girl's jeans. I'm not that small! And even if I was you could have gone to the boys section?" he asked in a quieter tone remembering there was not supposed to be two of them in here. "I would say let me go get better jeans but I guess we don't have time."

He pulled the jeans on over his morphing suit. They were slightly tight to begin with and the addition of the wetsuit under them made them even more uncomfortable but they would do. "Next time we stop at a beach shop and get swimming trunks or something," he said pulling the t-shirt on over his head and lastly putting the flip flops on.

"Alright, now what?" he asked as he pulled off tags from his clothing and then began doing the same to Ember's clothing. "How do we walk out of here if there is only supposed to be one of us here?"

Ember:
Ember couldn't help herself, slapping a hand quickly over her mouth to stifle the laughter even as her eyes welled with tears. "Oh oh no, Jules, yo- you look great." It took her several more deep breaths to calm down before she could answer his question without cracking up.

"Whew... That's simple, actually. You go out first and pretend to be looking for me in here, circle around front so they think you've just slipped past, then come knock on the door. I'll come out to meet you and comment about nothing working, then we can leave with no one the wiser." At least, she hoped. That portly guy from before had seemed very focused on her... and now that her head was cleared she could have sworn she'd seen him before... Huh, well maybe she'd seen him before he was a controller, back when she didn't have to steal her clothes but did anyway for kicks.

"Ok, go. Don't forget, just look like you're looking for me, don't say anything if you can help it." With that she patted him on the shoulder and shoved him out of the stall.

Jullian:
"Alright." He turned and left the fitting room. He wondered around the store for a while and just so happened to wind up in the boys section, an accident honest.

He spent a while wondering around and then pulled a pair of shorts off the rack. They were green and gray plaid cargo shorts. These had been really popular back when humans had their own fads and weren't slaves and Jullian had begged his mother for some, but she hadn't gotten him any. As long as they were in the store and stealing anyway...

He brought the shorts back to the dressing room and switched them with the jeans. Much better, those jeans had been too tight to be comfortable. He remembered to pull the tag off and left the jeans in the dressing room.

By this point he had been gone a lot longer than Ember had probably expected. Remembering that they were actually here doing something important he went and knocked on the door of the dressing room. "Hey Em, you in there?"

Ember:
"you know" she remarked, eying the cargo pants he'd miraculously acquired. "We aren't actually here to do shopping, right?" With a sigh she shook her head, "Well whatever, let's just get out of here in one piece."

They took off down the isles, speed walking whenever possible. Ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump, Ember could swear that everyone she passed could hear her heart threatening to leap from her chest like some cheesy Alien effect. Oh god, don't think about aliens. The door, just focus on the door because as soon as you make it through that you'll be home free! Her pace was getting faster involuntarily, matching the beat of her heart, but they reached the gates and-

*BEEP BEEP BEEP* dammit...

Jullian:
"Um did we forget any tags?" Jullian whispered right before some guy behind them called out, "Dolin? Is that you?" Jullian turned around in surprise to find the kid controller that he had run into on the beach when they rescued Ember.

Jullian plastered a huge smile on his face, one of the things he was good at, and greeted the controller. "Hey. Good to see you again." He would have gone on but a portly controller came up behind the kid and was looking at Ember like, well like she was up to no good. He then turned his suspicious glare on Jullian and Jullian's smile faded a bit.

"What are you two doing here? Where are you supposed to be?" The grown up controller asked.

"Yeah, are you always slacking off?" This last was from the kid controller. He glanced at Ember in panic. They now had two suspicious controllers looking at them and he wasn't sure what to do.

"Uh, work, yeah work, we were just headed that way now. We, uh, needed some things from this store and, um, this is my partner Em-Emle356 and we needed stuff, supplies from this store so we came to get them and now we're leaving. Good job on forwarding the conquest. You know, good- you guys are great citizens of the Yeerk Empire. Vigilance, vigilance is what is needed to run an empire and you guys got it. And so do we which is why we're leaving and going back to work." He knew he has screwed up by talking too much. 'This isn't good.'

Ember:
"E-exactly..." Ember withered under their stares, wondering in the back of her mind what Jullian could possibly have interpreted out of her request to Not Talk?

Time inside her head froze, and then rewound back to high school. Or, at least, the part of high school she'd been in school for. The memory she recalled was one of very little importance at the time, because back then she used to talk her way out of any trouble. After all, she was an A student so far as anyone knew, and the most popular girl in her grade. Why would she lie? But because she had such an incredible knack for finding trouble there was always this one teacher who just snooped around until he found something to report. Unfortunately he never had to snoop very far.

The last straw came when, on a dare, she pulled the fire alarm so that her friends could get out of school early. Mr. Stalks-a-lot (she never actually knew his real name) caught her just after she'd pulled the lever. And, as in this moment, time slowed down. she knew she was as good as expelled when she saw his ugly, snouted face loomed out at her through the red flashing lights, so... doing what any resourceful trouble maker does, she created a distraction and ran for it! 'Look a Fire!' She remembered yelling, pointing wildly over his shoulder until he was forced to look. That was when she ducked into the girl's bathroom and made it out the window.With no proof except one crazed teachers ranting, she got off scott free.

Now this situation was completely different. Except for one thing.

Ember's eyes grew wide with fright as she stared at blank space over the portly controller's shoulder, her shaking hand pointing quickly at the very back of the store. "Look a Fire!" They fell for it. She almost couldn't believe it actually worked again! It stunned her so much that she nearly forgot what they were doing. With an almost vicious jab at the kid's ribs she jerked her head toward the door and bolted for it. It wasn't the best of plans, but if they could lose them in time then what did it matter?

Jullian:
Jullian ran for it but as he did he was yelling. "Fire! That's the best you could come up with! At least before you yelled fire there was the slightest chance that they might have thought we were controllers. Now they know for a fact we're free. Fire! Seriously!"

They were running full out on the sunny side walk and drawing quite a bit of attention. He guessed that normal controllers didn't run anywhere and in a second the two back in the store would come out on the street and would have no problem following their trail.

As he bumped into and old lady controller he yelled, "Excuse me! Summoned by the Visser!" He didn't specify which one but he knew that was the highest rank in the Yeerk military and probably the only thing worth running for. But that wouldn't fool people for long if those two from the store came out.

He grabbed Ember's arm. "Come on! Down there," he said pointing towards an alley.

Ember:
"Hey it worked didn't it?!" She shouted back indignantly. When she got feathers again you could bet they would be ruffled. After all it was mostly his fault she'd had to resort to such stupidity.

"Like 'summoned by the visser' works any better!" Ember turned back to look over her shoulder as they ran, searching for any sign of pursuit but before she could get a good look Jullian had yanked her off down a dingy alleyway. Like the typical LA back street it had grunge and slime and dumpsters, all carefully ignored by both humans and yeerks alike. Luckily it didn't dead end, even though they had their flying morphs they would have had to ditch their newly stolen clothes and be back at square one. Instead the passageway continued on, turning sharply to the right and down behind an apartment complex.

The adrenaline was starting to wear off and she could feel the sharp pangs in her legs as they reached their end point. "Wait. wait!" Ember gasped, stumbling to a stop just beside an abandoned car. "I think we've lost them." On a gut reaction she quickly turned back to see where they'd run from, expecting the old cliche to catch up anytime now. But it was deserted...

Her hand ran through her hair, brushing it back from her face as she doubled over trying to catch her breath. "whew.. that was really close kid. I hate to say this but i think we need to be more care-" A soft thudding echo of footsteps made her cut off abruptly. Without waiting to see who was chasing them, she grabbed Jullian and gave him a shove, "Go! Run!" And they were off again. The back street burst onto an open road and they had no choice but to follow it, cut across, twist and turn, find more alleyways, double back... And just as it dawned on her that they might get lost, the thought was dispelled by a familiar restaurant sign.Then a street. And then she knew where they could hide. If there was anywhere they could be safe from yeerks it would have to be the Angel's stadium. After all, what kind of yeerk played baseball?

"This way!" She called and their direction changed, leading them charging into an abandoned parking garage that linked to the field. "We'll be safe in here until we can go back."

Rian:
RIan had abandoned his fox form once he thought he had a general direction. He had been walking that way when he saw two people that could only be Ember and Jullian come running out of a department store. He was too shocked to see something so dangerous that he didn't immediately react.

They ducked into and alley and disappeared. Realizing he couldn't lose them he ran to the mouth of the alley. He thought he heard something but by the time he turned the corner they were gone.

Crap! He looked around to see if it was safe to morph but he knew that someone would be following his two wayward faction-mates soon enough. He ran back out of the alley and looked for a safe place to morph his fox. At least now he had a place to pick up their scent.

Jullian:
Jullian looked around at the remnants of the baseball stadium. It was now a construction site with only the bones of the old stadium left to show what it was. Beams of some odd material criss-crossed over their heads. Jullian walked over to one of the beams but, even after closely examining it, couldn't figure out what it was.

"This looks like alien stuff Ember. You sure they won't come looking for us?" He asked, though inwardly he was confident they wouldn't since Ember wouldn't get them into trouble.

Ember:
The look of horror in her eyes was only matched by the look of hurt confusion. "They... tore it down?! The spirit of Los Angeles and they tear it down?!" Ember made a snorting sound of exasperation, kicking at one of the metallic bars. "No kid, they won't look for us here. It's deserted." She waved a hand irritably as the clang of her heel rang dully against the metal and echoed morosely around the broken remnants of the field. The whole place disgusted her. First Hollywood, now Anaheim? She hadn't made it back to check on Beverly hills... now she didn't want to try, preferring to keep the memory intact.

"Well... I was going to sit in the stands, but.. i suppose that's not an option anymore." Wearily she sat with her back against a pile of construction materials, staring at her hands in her lap. Then suddenly she brightened, "Oh whatever! We made it out of there didn't we?" Her signature smile spread across her features "Julian and Ember, renegades from the yeerk control. We didn't even need morphs to do it! Tch, that'll teach those aliens not to mess with human ingenuity! The sun is high in the sky, we've got foll proof disguises, and a mission to complete!" Gathering herself to her feet she took in a fresh breath of perspective and nudged the kid on the shoulder with a wink. "Let's take a breather here and then head back out to go find those fabrics!"

Jullian:
"Ok, but we can't draw anymore attention to ourselves. If we are carrying around armloads of fabric people are going to notice." He looked around at the construction site. "This place seems safe enough. How 'bout we make a fabric run, drop off the stuff here and then go get more. Then when we're done we pull a Matt, you go horse to carry the stuff and I'll sit on your back and make sure none of it falls off. I'm pretty light so we should be ok."

After agreeing on this plan they set off for their first stop, the mall. They wondered around the mall for a while, not looking for anything specific just looking for things that might work as morphing outfits. As they passed a t-shirt shop on their way back to the stadium Jullian saw a designer t-shirt on display with a angel wing logo on it. He wanted to stop and get it but settled for trying to memorize the design instead. Hopefully he would be able to recreate it later.

After dropping their first load off at the stadium they headed back out and this time they hit a hunter/outdoorsy store, hoping they would find some vastly different materials to work with.

After dropping off this second load they headed out to their last stop, a sporting goods store, and picked up more skin tight clothing including under armor, bike shorts, running shorts, tight t-shirts, speedos (though Ember tried to get Jullian to leave those behind), bathing suits and even a wetsuit or two.

As they were walking back Jullian was trying to convince her of the wisdom of this. "The more we have to work with the better. I'm not saying we are going to go around wearing speedos but maybe we can cut them up for armbands or something. Besides, why do you care if guys walk around without shirts on, it's not like any of the guys in the faction look bad. If you asked me I think we lucked out on that score. I mean Matt and Rian are pretty good looking and now we have that new kid, did you see his eyes. I mean I know there is like zero chance but it's nice to look. What about you? Who do you think is hottest in the faction?"

Ember:
Her toe stubbed against a crack in the tunnel that was leading them back down to the field and their stash of supplies. She blamed her subsequent stumble on that and tried to wash Jullian's question from her head. "I- uh.." OK, in truth she'd thought about it. A lot. After all she'd been alone for months and the ache of not having someone beside her was starting to wear through her thick independent mindset. But the way the kid had broached the subject by admitting that he too was interested was.. shocking. Not to mention she didn't exactly feel comfortable telling him all her deep thoughts about the guys of the Haunt.

"No, i didn't notice his eyes. And, i- well, its not like i've been keeping a tally or anything! Why should i care who looks nice or not? They're all way below my standards." Her tone of voice came out a bit more snappish than she'd expected. The sharp echoes repeated her words back to her over and over until she hung her head guiltily and lowered her voice, "Sorry... I just.." before she could finish they'd stepped out into the sunlit stadium, her hand automatically going up to shield her eyes from the glare, but it was still several seconds before she'd realized what they'd walked into.

Jullian:
"Uh-uh," he said taking in the snapping tone, "so I guess that's a yes. If I guess the right name, and let's face it I only have two to go through, will you tell me? Is it-" he stopped talking because he caught sight of what Ember was seeing. A glint off metal, no not metal, something like bone. 'Bone? Why-' he didn't get to complete the thought as he was grabbed from behind by a Hork-Bajir and the kid-controller stepped into view. Jullian turned his head and saw that they were surrounded. "Ember! Help!"

Ember:
"Jule-!" Ember turned, but not fast enough. The controller, a kid barely as old as Julian, raised his fist and crashed it against her neck. The blow wasn't bad enough to do any damage but it knocked her to her knees easily enough. She struggled forward, the controller grabbing hold of her ankle and yanking her off balance. The dirt scrapped against her arms as she fought against him, lashing out with her free foot. One solid, yet incredibly lucky, blow landed against his chin hard enough to make him let go. Ember scrambled, half running as she got to her feet and ducked around the construction, trying to put as much distance between her and the yeerks as possible.

A weapon, she needed a weapon! Her pocket knife was back at the haunt... great lot it did her there. If she could find a small pole, or a wrench, ANYTHING! Her mouth was dry, her breathing ragged... She had to fight! Didn't she? The kid was counting on her! She couldn't run! But... how could she fight back against a Hork-Bajir? Even if she could concentrate enough to morph the controller was right on her heels! If they knew they were animorph then they wouldn't just endanger themselves but their whole faction.

So she ran, guilt clawing at her chest trying to drag her back to where she'd left a defenseless kid at the mercy of a monster. But fear gripped harder.

Rian:
Rian had picked up their scent in the alley and followed it to the constructiion site. There he had found another trail leading away and had followed it as far as he could until he realized it double backed on itself.

He again picked up the trail at the stadium and followed it in another direction before again being forced to turn back. They couldn't have done a better job of losing him if they had tried. Had they been trying, Rian wondered as he found a place to demorph and decided to take to the air.

He flew up as a kestrel and headed back towards the stadium. He had wasted a lot of time following trails and staying out of sight but always they seemed to return to the stadium so that is where he headed.

As he got closer he saw a running form that he recognized as Ember. Finally He thought angrily. <<Ember! Where have you been? And where is Jullian?>>

Ember:
Ember scrambled across the stadium, trying desperately for the opposite gate. The controller was right behind her and though she couldn't see it, she knew he was smiling. Like a rat trapped in a maze, every action was already chosen for her until she ran out of options at the dead end. No! That wasn't going to happen. The concrete left behind after the bleachers were ripped out formed pseudo stairs, providing the perfect haven from the alien construction she kept having to duck around.

Jumping upward, she snatched onto a high bar and swung herself upward, letting go at the highest arc and landing among the rubble. The controller followed after, for once loosing his footing and falling just a few steps behind. It was enough.

The tunnel was dark, but she didn't dare slow down to find her way safely through. Running ahead recklessly, she made it all the way through until at last she hit a gate at the end. Trapped. "Trapped like rats" She swore bitterly, glancing behind her through the dark trying to see if she was followed. There was no sign but... she could feel eyes watching her from the other end. Panic rose in her throat, her whole body shaking, time dropping out from under her.

The gate was mesh wire that they used to block the entrances for the off-season, and was mostly there as a symbol than an actual barrier. Maybe.. she tried to see if there was anything she could use, maybe if she could levy it open... There was a chain locked between the gates, if she could squeeze through she could run back to the haunt... it was so far, by the time she got there and back Julian would be... The t-shirt's fabric ripped open as she struggled through, creating a nasty scratch along her shoulder to add to the ones on her legs and knees. Hissing in pain she just kept dragging herself through, knowing if she didn't hurry the controller would catch up, drag her back into that nightmare. It was luck, a lot of it, that she'd escaped at all. They had been following them, watching as they came and went, setting them up to fall before they even knew they were being set up.

Gasping, Ember was free. Her clothes were dirty and torn, her friend captured by a monster, and her own cowardice was the only reason she was free.... but she was free. And then she was running.

Only a block away she heard the most marvelous sound she'd ever heard in her life. "Rian!!!" Her flip flop broke it's strap when she stopped, her foot skidding onto the empty sidewalk. "Oh thank- Julian! He's caught! They've got a Hork-Bajir and they tried to stop us.. I- i got away but..." Her fists clenched, tears running involuntarily down her face until she couldn't keep track of his kestrel and hung her head to stare at her feet. Tension ran electric through her spine, but it was all so useless! She hadn't done anything! Julian could be dead or worse because of her! Why hadn't she morphed?! At least then he would have had a chance, even if it did reveal the animorph's LA faction to the yeerks! For all her promises and confidence... she'd still given up and run like a coward...

Rian:
Jullian. For a moment his mind froze but this wasn't the time. <<Ember! Stop feeling sorry for yourself, we don't have time for it. If we're going to get him back before they make a slave out of him you need to get it together now. Get out of sight and morph. Go horse, it's the only one of your morphs that has some weight behind it and if we get him free then we're gonna need a way to get him away no matter what shape he's in. Catch up when you can.>>

He turned and started flapping for altitude. He needed to get to the stadium and see what he could do for Jullian. When he got close he didn't fly in the open air of the construction site and flew along the rim of the broken stadium and tried to catch sight of Jullian but all he could see were Hork-Bajir.

There were three of them down there and one human kid who had to be a controller. But the three Hork-Bajir parted when the kid-Controller came over. So at least we know who the leader is. When they stepped aside Rian could see Jullian clearly, all too clearly with his falcon eyes. For the most part the kid seemed ok but he was bloodied up a bit.

He couldn't fight one Hork-Bajir, let alone three and that controller was guaranteed to have a Dracon Beam on him. His only chance would be to distract them long enough for Jullian to get away and he would never get a better chance to distract the Hork-Bajir from their prisoner than now.

He went into a dive. The kestrel wanted to give out his hunting call but this time Rian kept a strict hold on the instincts and stayed silent. If they saw him now then he would be done for. He targeted the kid, the leader. He was originally aiming for his eyes but right before he got there the kid pulled out the Dracon beam Rian had predicted was on him and Rian quickly adjusted and grabbed the Dracon beam out of his hands as he shot by at 100mph. He quickly adjusted his wings to try to use his speed to pull up and fly away. <<Jullian, run! Now!>>

Jullian:
Jullian watched Ember run away and tried to follow. He got a viscious punch from a Hork-Bajir fist for his troubles. Ever been punched by a Hork-Bajir? Not fun. He went down and he went down hard. His lip and a cut on his cheek started to bleed. The Hork-Bajir that had originally grabbed him picked him up and two of them stayed with him while the kid and another Hork-Bajir went after Ember who was almost out of the stadium. "Run!" He screamed after her but he didn't think she heard him.

'Please let her get out of here. If both of us get captured then no one will know what happened to us and we'll betray all the others. This was a stupid idea! We shouldn't have come out here!'

Ember got away. He knew because the kid came back and the Hork-Bajir guard with him. He walked over to Jullian and looked down at him like he was a roach. "A free human uh? I thought we had rounded you all up but here you are, hiding in plain sight. That departement store incident was stupid though. No yeerk need steal clothing, we are given what we need. You know what the sad thing is? They were about to take those old detectors down. Like I said, there is no reason for any of us to steal so they weren't needed. If you had tried your little stunt tomorrow you would have gotten away clean."

The kid paused to let this news sink in and do its damage. He didn't have to wait long. The look on Jullian's face said it all. 'A day? I'm going to die because we came today instead of tomorrow.' The kid laughed at him. "I could bring you to the holding center but I don't think my superiors would mind if I just killed you. You're almost worthless as a host body." He pulled out a Dracon beam and pointed it at Jullian's head. "Bye, bye Dolin."

Jullian closed his eyes. Maybe it was the cowardly thing to do. Maybe he should have faced his death, maybe he should have been defiant to the end. Helena wouldn't have closed her eyes. As he thought of her and his family a wave of sadness and regret washed over him. He would die and his mother...'I'm sorry mom...'

Then a voice screamed in his head. <<Jullian, run! Now!>>

He felt the Hork-Bajir's hold on him loosen as it was distracted by something. His eyes snapped open and he saw that he was momentarily free. He ran for it. He ducked into one of those concrete tubes that seemed to be all over construction sites. He had no idea what they did with such tubes but now wasn't really the time to figure it out.

He crawled deeper into the tube knowing that the Hork-Bajir would be too big to fit into it but the kid would be able to come after him. He couldn't just stay here but he also couldn't get out of here as a human. An image of the intersecting beams that spanned the entirety of the construction site popped into his mind and he closed his eyes and concentrated on the one animal that could traverse that landscape as easily as a bird flew.

Fur started to grow on his arms as the monkey morph began.

Ember:
What Rian didn't realize was that Ember was not feeling sorry for herself. Well, that's not entirely true, but she wasn't just feeling sorry... she was also feeling very very TICKED off!

Like most every other traumatic event that had messed with her feelings, she hadn't quite gotten through all of the complexities to be able to return to an eased state of mind. But F that! She let the rage and anger and frustration build inside her until she couldn't contain it any longer and let it flow over, washing away any other issue that got in the way. It built, rising up through her boiling blood covering over the dams of her consciousness, bursting forth as the strongest morph she'd acquired. The bristled mahogany coat glowed red in the late sun's light. Her powerful limbs taking the place of her futile fists, as at last her racehorse form completed itself and the horse's mind took control, adding a dynamic calm to focus her rage.

Charging forth, the gate didn't stand a chance against her sharpened hoofs. With a crash that rebounded through the stadium, that obstacle did little to sway her from her destructive path. The thundering sound was drowned out by the blood rushing in her ears. Running, and leaping out into the light, her trained equine built for such pitiful hurdles that slowed her human body down. Grace and speed delivered in one very irate package.

The controller never even knew what hit him. The boy was leaning down to follow after Julian in the construction tube and looked up at the last minute to see a chestnut mare baring down on him. Ember swerved around a Hork-bajir, easily maneuvering her lithe form around the bulky creature, intent only upon the young controller. In her rush it was difficult to slow down enough to get an accurate shot, so she opted for the most potent move in her arsenal, counting on it to knock him down for good with just this one hit. She took over for the horse's mind, keeping a clear picture of what she wanted so that hopefully it would come naturally.

Bit of gravel flicked up under her sliding hoofs, her forelegs hardening under her own weight as she concentrated on keeping her back and flank flexible. Leaning into the curve with her left legs bent, she felt her muscles strain, but in a surprisingly fluent move she let her momentum carry her backwards. Once she had aim, her back legs lifted her up and lashed viciously at the controller's chest. Dead on, her full weight behind the blow, knocked the boy into the far rubble with a peculiar double print on his chest. The horse fell, awkwardly trying to recover by rolling back onto its strained legs. If she wasn't careful she would break herself, but the Hork-Bajir were already catching up and she wasn't in the state of mind to prevent her reckless actions.

She never looked back on the human controller... but a part of her knew he wouldn't get up again.

Jullian:
Jullian ran out of the tunnel in the opposite direction from where he entered. If he had gone back out the way he'd come he might have just been able to catch a ride and they all could have gotten out of there but of course he had run away from where he thought the danger was not knowing Ember had already taken care of it.

He emerged from the tunnel and ran right between the legs of a Hork-Bajir warrior. He jumped up onto to a concrete block and then took flying leap to get to a beam. Maybe it was the fact that a kestrel had swooped down and stolen a dracon beam, or maybe it was the charging horse that gave them the clue, whatever the reason the Hork-Bajir decided that his tiny monkey form was one to follow and leaped up into the world of criss-crossing beams after him.

He leaped and swung and leaped and swung. He should've been panicking since he was being chased by seven foot monsters but the monkey knew how to do this. Not only that, it was the best. He didn't even think about it as his limbs reached out and propelled him up, down, around, over and through the maze of bars, faster and faster. But though he tried to get back to where he could see Ember's horse running around creating mayhem he was slowly being forced higher and higher by the pursuing Hork-Bajir who were almost as swift as he in this environment.

Rian:
Rian dropped the Dracon Beam almost as soon as he had gotten it. He had caused the distraction he needed and holding onto to it would only slow him down. Besides, it wasn't like the Haunt needed another Dracon Beam around.

He wheeled back in time to see Ember charge into the stadium and send the Controller flying. He landed hard but Rian didn't spend any time worrying about his fate. He was too busy watching the small monkey swing agilely through the bars of the construction site. He hadn't expected for Jullian to use that morph, he had thought he would go seagull but as he watched the monkey move he realized Jullian had made the right choice. If he had gone seagull he might not have made it off the ground before the Hork-Bajir caught up to him, but as a monkey he was doing a good job of evading them.

Not good enough though. He could see that Jullian was being forced higher and higher and soon he would run out of construction beams to swing through.

Rian quickly took stock of where Ember was and then decided to do something stupid.

He angled his wings and headed for where he thought Jullian would be in two seconds. <<Jullian, jump!>>

Jullian:
Jullian reached a bar. His nimble fingers reached out and grabbed it and he swung all the way around before bringing his feet up to get holds as well. He was about to push off in another direction when he heard Rian's message. Without thinking about it he jumped and only realized after that he was jumping into blank air...7 stories up. <<Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!>>

Rian:
Rian brought his talons forward and grabbed the tiny monkey out of the air. Even though Jullian only weighed about 2lbs in this morph Rian couldn't hope to lift him. He wasn't that big himself and his falcon was used to hunting smaller prey like mice and voles and even in those cases it didn't carry them away. So there was no way Rian could fly carrying Jullian, which is why he didn't try.

The second he had Jullian firmly in his talons, which had to hurt, he locked his wings open and worked on gliding in the general direction of Ember. <<Hold on Jullian,>> he said in private thoughtspeak, then he called to Ember, <<Ember, I got Jullian and we are gonna land on you. Just keep going in the same direction at the same speed for a second so I don't miss.>> Later he would think of a lot of cooler ways to have said that. Like he could have said, 'Coming in for a landing, maintain present velocity,' or something else that sounded more Bondish, but the truth is you never think of those things when you are running for your life.

Ember:
Ember's horse flailed its head wildly, trying to catch up to the ground underneath the tiny monkey while still jumping over metal beams. She was still being chased by the Hork-Bajir which made it hard to both evade and keep track of her teammates. The alien's slashing limbs kept lashing at her from behind, grazing her thighs with a paper-cut thin marks every time she let it get too close. If she'd turned to fight it she might have had a chance to catch her breath, but it wasn't herself she was worried about.

Julian was the only thing that mattered. Keeping him safe. If she failed... Adelaide's stunned face being dragged away from her flashed in her thoughts. The one person she'd cared about was dead because she couldn't save her. All her thoughts of bravery were crushed. She wasn't brave.. she'd run and left Adelaide to die.. she'd run and let Julian... She had to save him, even if it meant killing herself. He'd trusted her and she'd run. But not this time. This time she didn't care about herself.

Rian's thoughts sounded sharp in her ear, adding a burst of speed to her manic drive forward. She took a good look ahead of her, memorizing where she'd have to go to be directly under them. Above her Julian took a daring leap from the last of the construction, a few feet ahead of where she was. Rian's kestrel dove after him, buying her some time...

A pang of a sharp, red hot sensation flared across her back, buckling the leg out from under her for a moment before she regained her footing and charged onward. The Hork-Bajir had caught her just across the back of her right flank, gashing through half the extensor muscle that allowed her to extend that leg. It fell behind, loosing it's balance after overextending itself to make that cut, but the damage was done. Although she could barely feel the blood rushing from the gaping wound, the racehorse screamed in agony. She kept tripping when she tried to force herself onward, limping over three legs to catch up to the rapidly descending forms above her. Two seconds was all she had to save them. It was now or never. Time slowed- molasses covered her senses- one second... half a second... Ember lunged, flying over the last of the construction out into the empty ground. Her leg twinged in pain, rocking her slightly, but recovered and remained steady as two very light forms dropped onto her back.
Rian:
Rian dropped Jullian right before they reached Ember hoping the monkey form Jullian was in wouldn't have a problem getting a hand hold or a foothold or whatever. He landed for a moment but had seen the damage that the Hork-Bajir had done and knew that Ember would not be able to outrun their pursuers in this condition. <<Keep running. Whatever happens just keep going for as long as you can. If you have to stop morph as quickly as you can to heal yourself.>>

He opened his wings and let the air that was rushing past them pull him into the sky. But he didn't go far. He quickly turned and aimed for the eyes of the Hork-Bajir that was right on Ember's tail. It might not have worked if he had come shooting out of the sky, but coming in from this close distance didn't give time for the Hork-Bajir to react.

Rian sunk his talons into the soft jelly of the Hork-Bajir's eyes and it let out a great cry and stumbled. It fell to the ground clutching its eyes. Rian let go before that happened and shot past the one remaining Hork-Bajir in the opposite direction from Ember and Jullian's forms. The only way that they would have a chance to get away was if he gave the Hork-Bajir something else to concentrate on.

Before he gave up his eyes he looked around to get a grasp of the situation. There had been three Hork-Bajir and a human controller here. The human was out of the fight, Ember had seen to that, and now one Hork-Bajir wasn't going to be fighting, or seeing, again. The Hork-Bajir that had been chasing Jullian into the construction would be back on the ground in a matter of seconds and he was heading towards the Hork-Bajir that had slashed Ember and wounded her so badly. Alright, time to ditch the kestrel.

As he flew toward the Hork-Bajir it raised it's blades to cut him down. He did what no actual bird would do, and went under the slashing arm and towards the ground. He slammed into the ground pretty hard but he was already morphing out. A shifting mass of feathers and flesh went skidding and rolling past the Hork-Bajir and finally came to a stop a couple of feet away.

Rian completed the transformation and stood up. A 7 ft bladed monster landed heavily about 10 feet away. It stood up, none the worse for its fall, and glared at him. He turned and looked behind him. The Hork-Bajir that had been pursuing Ember and Jullian had turned back and was looking at him. For a second time stopped as everyone waited for someone else to make a move.

Then the Hork-Bajir that had come down from the beams yelled, "Grasha, go after others! This one is trak! Mine. Dead." He ran towards Rian and the other turned tail to chase the others. Rian couldn't let that happen so he turned and ran after him. He didn't think about how stupid that was. He was a human, defenseless, and he was running from one 7 ft monster only so he could catch another but that is what he did.

As he ran he morphed. When he had first acquired the morphing power he had thought being able to morph mid run would not only be useful, it would be cool. And so he had tried only to find it was nearly impossible, at first. But he had learned and he used the skill now.

When people morphed normally they thought of what the animal looked like. Rian never did that, and hadn't done it ever. Instead he thought of what the animal was. His morphing got better only in proportion to the amount of time he spent in morph, to the amount of time he spent understanding what his animals were.

He thought of a deer. He thought of the stag as he had seen it that day he had acquired it. He thought of it as it grazed. Of its constant watchfulness, of its confidence. He thought of its sense of power as it ran and leaped through the forest that was its home. He especially held onto that feeling as the changes began.

He didn't notice the changes he just went from one form to the other, never missing a step. As his antlers emerged he lowered his head and aimed them at the back of the Hork-Bajir he was quickly catching up to. He wasn't even sure if he was done morphing but he had to stop that Hork-Bajir.

He didn't try to kill the alien. He had done that once and he had barely survived the encounter. Deer vs. Hork-Bajir was not the best odds. Instead he aimed his antlers at the thing's shoulder and as he hit the sharp points of his antler's sunk into the soft muscle. That wasn't his purpose however. As he hoped, the blow threw the Hork-Bajir off balance and it tripped and spun until it ran into the wall of the tunnel it had been aiming for.

Rian shot into the tunnel that would lead him out of the stadium and hoped he had distracted them long enough because there was nothing else he could do.
Ember:
Ember struggled forward, rocking Julian back and forth as she lost her balance gradually, loosing blood in a thin trail behind her. <<Kid I.. i need to->> Her breath came in ragged gasps, her nostrils flaring as the horse weakly tossed its head in protest. Her leg buckled under her, tossing Julian off her back when they'd only made it halfway up the tunnel. The mare limped a few more steps before crashing to the ground, and even then she tried to roll back onto her feet... but the pain blinded her. This was as far as she could make in while in morph.

She would have risked going farther if only she could have gotten back up, but the horse held her down, unwilling to budge before her suicidal will. Left with no other choice, she had to trust that Rian would buy her enough time to unmorph and heal. The horse's chest moved up and down in giant wheezing gasps as slowly she melted back into human form... Ember concentrated on her legs first, her hoofs turning fleshy and spreading into ten small toes, the changes spreading up her limbs even as her torso caught up. Her lungs shrank drastically, the ribs closing in shortly behind. The dark red coat turning back to the slick black wet suit as she returned into herself. Underneath the suit the gash on her leg slowly mended, weaving the flesh back together and keeping anymore blood from seeping out. Her head felt very light and concentrating on anything gave her a headache as her body fought to repair itself from the damage she'd dealt it.

"K-kid..." Her voice felt weak, even in the silence of the tunnel, "are you ok? ...Jules?"

Jullian:
The pain in his shoulders where Rian had gripped him was his only injury. The fall from Ember hadn't hurt since he had instinctively rolled into a ball after landing. If there was one thing monkeys were good at it was controlled falling. After all that was just another name for tree swinging.

He ran back over to Ember as she began to demorph. <<I'm fine. I'm no the one who was hurt. Are you OK?>>
Rian:
Rian ran down the tunnel and saw a girl and a monkey in front of them. Stupid! I should have stayed longer, bought them more time. Nothing to be done now. The Hork-Bajir was right behind them. His turn to be the getaway car. <<Guys, you have to hop on as I run past. We'll only have one chance.>>

Ember:
Ember's fuzzy thoughts barely registered Julian's voice... then Rian was saying something? run past... jump on? Exerting as much pressure as she dared on her sore limbs, she pushed herself up, floundering slightly as the world seemed to spin underneath her. A distant figure, blurred in her tired eyes into a dull beige colored blob, was charging toward them. The echoing hoof steps clacked against the walls and aggravated her aching head further... but there wasn't time to recover. The excruciating pain stabbed at her brain as she pulled herself together and picked Julian off the ground, hanging him on her back by wrapping his arms around her neck. "Hang on!"

Her shout sounded far more sure than she felt, but as Rian raced past, she used the slight space between them to get a running start, grabbed briefly at his antlers to swing herself up like she would onto a balancing beam. Her one leg got wrapped around to the other side, just far enough for her to pull herself the rest of the way on. For awhile she thought she might fall off, but she got a good enough grip around the deer's neck to at least hold on until they breached the gate. Darkness threatened the edges of her vision... desperately needed rest trying to pull her under even as they made good their escape.

Rian:
As Ember used his antlers to pull herself up Rian tried to help out by pulling his head in the other direction but his neck muscles really weren't meant for this. It hurt but he ignored it. Once she was settled he ran for all he was worth, slowed down now by the weight on his back. <<You know, this is oddly familiar.>> Neither Ember nor Jullian would know what he was talking about. I wish Matt was here. For more reasons than one. He probably would have had a much better plan for getting them out of here but Rian had done his best.

The one Hork-Bajir pursuing them decided it would be better to go back and see about the three fallen Controllers they had left back in the stadium. Not bad work for a monkey, a bird, a horse and a deer.

He turned down alleys just to make sure he would lose any pursuit, always staying in the ones that would keep them out of sight, and then finally came to a stop next to a dumpster. <<I think we are ok. We should go air morphs now and get home. They might be looking for us as we are.>>

Jullian:
Jullian heard Rian's call and prepared to jump into the horns of the approaching deer that looked so much like branches. But before he could Ember scooped him up and vaulted onto Rian's back. <<Nice jump!>> he said enthusiastically though he doubted very much anyone would be paying attention. Since he was the only one facing backwards he was able to see the Hork-Bajir come storming down the tunnel. But as they reached the end of the tunnel and emerged back into daylight he saw the Hork-Bajir turn around and head back the way it had come.

For a moment he was strongly reminded of a demon that was afraid of sunlight but he shook the image off. The Hork-Bajir weren't demons they were slaves and they needed saving as much as anyone else.

Rian leaped through the streets and alleys for a while making sure they wouldn't be followed but he finally slowed down and Jullian hopped from Ember's shoulders to the dumpster. He began demorphing. Rian was right, it was time to go home.

Ember:
When Rian finally slowed the thought entered Ember's head that they'd actually made it away from there at last... then they hadn't been followed and everyone was ok... well that was.. was really.....

"good" She murmured, slipping from Rian's back to fall roughly to the ground. Every ounce of energy in her body felt spent, used up in that one flash of bravery. She found herself looking up at the sky, her hand across her stomach feeling it rise and fall gradually. It was so... blue... crystallized in the kind of blue that you never got to see above LA. It was a once in a lifetime sky... and against all odds she'd somehow lived long enough to see it.

Rian:
Jullian jumped off but Ember fell off. <<Ember! What's wrong?>> His head bent down but he couldn't see anything wrong with her and he knew she had demorphed so what happened. He concentrated on becoming his human self but it took much longer since he wasn't being motivated by life or death situations.

When he was human again he looked down at Ember but she was staring into the sky and it seemed like she couldn't even see him at all. Shock That's what they called this.

He sat down next to her and pulled her up so that she was leaning against him instead of lying in the dirt of the alley, doing for her what she had done for him when he had been shot. But he didn't try to wake her up or bring her back. They weren't safe here permanently but they were safe for a while and they could wait for her to be ok. He hoped she would.

[dexter]

Ember:
She shuddered, the feeling coming back to her after awhile. Ember blinked hard a few times, her hand tightening on her abdomen just to make sure she was still there. "unh..." Rolling off of Rian's lap, she managed to sit up and grimace at the grime that had gotten all over her. With a brief glance at Julian, she fumbled back onto her feet and murmured a thanks to Rian. Clearing her throat she rubbed her sore muscles, knowing that she was fully recovered even if her mind hadn't caught up to the fact yet. It was the first time she'd used a morph to heal herself...

"We- we'd better get out of here." With a faint sense of remorse about the lost fabric which had been the whole point of the trip, she made up her mind to leave it well enough alone. Her dark eyes looked off into space, every inch of her wanting to scream an apology, but now wasn't the time. They were still in danger so long as she kept them there. "Don't worry about me." She spoke before either of them could ask, "I'm fine now. Let's just get out of here." Letting shock get the better of her... it was so weak. She should have been able to keep going, instead of hold the boys back, neither of which were having a problem at all...

Jullian:
When Jullian had seen Ember fall he had been worried but he had been mid morph and had to wait until he was done until he could go over to her. By that time Rian, who was a quicker morpher than him, had gotten to her. Jullian had followed his lead and sat down but it hadn't taken Ember long to recover.

He stood up. "Yeah, I guess we better get out of here. It's too bad about that fabric though, we did all that work and now it's gone. You sure we can't go back for it. No, I guess not."

Ember:
"you sure we can't go back for it" The kid said cheerily

Ember turned and glared at the kid, for a moment regaining her old sense of self. But it slipped away quickly, letting her eyes drop away "Yeah, too bad." It didn't sound very genuine, but she didn't have the energy to comfort him. Without another word she morphed into her cardinal, flitting to the dumpster lid where she waited for them to morph, a distinct sadness about her that the cardinal just didn't understand.

Rian:
Jullian went seagull and Rian went kestrel and they flew home. They didn't hurry, just used the thermals and winds to carry them most of the way. He had the feeling no one was eager to get back and give up the freedom of the air.

When they reached the Haunt they split up and went their separate ways.

A couple of hours later and with the night to hide him a bit Rian did the last stupid thing of the day. He ran back to the Stadium in his stag morph but this time he took his saddle. He demorphed a block away and walked the rest of the way as a human to make sure no one was there. He didn't want to run into trouble for the second time that night and a human kid looked less suspicious than a deer.

When he had checked and rechecked the area he finally put down the saddle he had been carrying and went to go find what he had came here for. He found the stacks of clothing that Ember and Jullian had collected and stored in the stadium and put them in his saddle bags. Then he carefully picked up the last bundle, that had been scattered in the dirt when they had been captured and shook as much dust off of it as he could before putting those in the saddle bag too.

He knelt down and made sure the saddle was around his waist. It was a bit awkward but it worked. He morphed back to the stag and ran back to the Haunt. It took him a while but he eventually got back.

He left all of the clothing outside Ember's door, not wanting to wake up Jullian and Steve by going up to the attic, and went back to his room and back to sleep.

With all that had happened they should get something out of the day.