Young Writers Society

James let go of the saddle, letting it sit loosely on Elliot's back. His arms had been ever-so-slightly trembling as he lifted it, but once it was out of his hands he quickly shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. He desperately wanted to get away from Butch and anyone associated with him and forget about everything.

He sent Oliver a scathing glare.

"Why are you here?"

"Because it's a forest and anyone can walk wherever they want," I replied. My gaze lingered on the wounds I had given him for a moment - but then I quickly looked away and pretended like I hadn't been staring. "I was trying to get to a town or something, but I got just a little lost."

I looked back at Tiberius, meeting his gaze.

"I'm not here to catch you," I said, a tired tone to my voice, "if that's what you think I'm going to do. Butch got me in the eye for helping you - do you really think I'd want to help him now? I'm just going for a walk. In the woods. Where anyone can walk."

Tiberius narrowed his eyes at Oliver. This attitude was new. All he'd seen from the medic was averted gazes, passive answers, and a man who was quietly complicit in his suffering. Now he was sassing him. How hard had Butch hit him in the head?

He didn't know if he believed Oliver's story, but he wasn't interested in finding out more.

"Then walk somewhere else," he retorted. "Otherwise, I'm leaving."

"Fine," I said. "I will."

I started to do exactly that, but then I realized something very important: I still didn't know where to go.

...And Tiberius was the first person I had seen all morning.

I resisted the very strong urge to utter a Victorian swear.

Great. I was going to be stuck pretending to be Oliver for who knows how long now; Tiberius was my only chance at finding civilization. I'd have to pull back for a bit and try to be friendly.

I sighed.

"...I'm sorry," I apologized. "I'm just a little...frustrated right now. I was stuck working with Butch because I owed him some money - he was going to kill me if I didn't cooperate. I was planning on helping you escape and leaving with you, but you knocked me out before I could."

I leaned up against Tony, trying to look as miserable as I possibly could.

"Now I'm missing an eye and lost in the woods," I said. "Today really isn't going how I planned it would."

James stiffened, rectifying his posture so he was standing up straight, as much as he wanted to double over and throw himself on the ground. He'd felt like he'd gotten a pretty good read on Oliver over the past week, but this was very different. Either Oliver was very good as deceiving Butch, or all of this was an elaborate ruse.

He hadn't considered that Oliver might've freed him and run off with him, but Oliver had no right to complain. If he'd wanted James's cooperation there were a million things he could've done differently to establish trust.

He set his eyes on Oliver with a cold glare.

"What a shame," he said, his voice dripping in bitter sarcasm. Oliver was missing an eye, but he didn't have James's pity. James couldn't find it within himself to give it, and he was still skeptical as he watched the doctor from a distance.

"What exactly do you want from me?"

I fought back the urge to shoot Tiberius a glare of my own. Oliver wouldn't have done that. I could get away with being myself to some extent, but that was too far. I had to act like the doctor.

Reed had told me something back when I first started possessing him - magic wasn't allowed here. It was actually a threat, but he took it back when he realized who was in control. For all I knew, Tiberius would turn me in to get rid of his bounty. I couldn't risk telling him the truth.

I also couldn't possess him; I didn't want to be walking around as a wanted man.

But it looked like Tiberius wasn't going to pity me just yet. Probably because he was still upset about the not rescuing him sooner bit - I would have been, too.

I perked up a little.

"Directions would be nice," I said. "I have a map, but I can't read it."

James kept his hardened gaze pinned on Oliver, but he narrowed his eyes. A doctor couldn't read a map? It wasn't that far fetched, but it was more annoying and suspicious than anything. And helping to read a map would mean Oliver coming close, which James did not want.

He didn't want anyone touching him again. Not to hurt or to help.

"We're not far from a Moonlight Kingdom outpost. Did you listen to a word Butch said? That's where you were going to deliver me to." He bit back many more words of spite. It wasn't worth it. He just had to get rid of him.

"It's that way," he said, pointing to the left. "Naturally, you can imagine, I am not going that way."

Considering that I was posssessing a dead man, I wasn't in any mood to head towards a place like that, either.

"I did listen," I slowly said, gripping the map a little tighter in my hands, "but I'm terrible with directions."

I glanced down at the map, frowned, and looked back over at Tiberius.

"Assuming I didn't want to go there because a certain mutual friend of ours might decide he wants to take more than my eye, where should I go?" I asked.

James took in a deep breath and let out a slow sigh. His face was frozen in a frown, and he stared at Oliver for a moment before finally rolling his eyes and gesturing with a sharp movement of his hand for Oliver to come over.

"Fine. Show me the map," he growled.

"Thank you," I said, my smile just a little bit strained as I walked over to Tiberius' side. If horses could look concerned, I could have sworn that Tony was. Maybe that was just my mind playing tricks on me - I hadn't seen a friendly face in a week, and Tony wasn't exactly capable of hating me like Tiberius did.

"Here," I said, extending the map towards him. I couldn't tell if he wanted me to hold it or not, but I'd hold it out so he could take it if he needed to.

James took the map a little too quickly, practically snatching it out of Oliver's hands. He scanned it quickly, already familiar with the area enough that he could pick out where they were. He saw the "MKO" for the outpost, and he knew what direction they were coming at it from, so he quickly placed where they were on the map.

He pointed. "We're about here," he said stiffly, still not happy to have Oliver so close. His finger drifted a little lower, to the mark of a town. "Pineridge is just south of us. You should be able to find food and lodging there."

He glanced at Oliver, quickly looking him up and down. He was assuming the man had money on him. But even if he didn't, that wasn't his problem. He looked back at the map.

He traced his finger through the forest. "We came from here."

Now that Tiberius was pointing things out on the map, I was starting to get a good idea of where we were. That Pineridge place seemed like the best place I could go at the moment - I wasn't sure how much I could change up my appearance, but I'd want to make it different enough that people I didn't know wouldn't recognize me as Oliver.

I scooted a little closer to both Tiberius and the map, trying to get a better idea of what other options I had. I could risk walking a little farther if it meant getting to somewhere with better resources.

My shoulder brushed up against his as I peered down at the map; I didn't think much of it.

James was content tolerating Oliver enough to look over his shoulder, but the moment he felt contact, something snapped. He turned swiftly and sent a hard-hitting punch to Oliver's ribs.

I immediately doubled over in pain.

"What the hell?" I exclaimed, my arms wrapped around my stomach. That hurt! What had I even done to deserve a punch? He had said he would look at the map. If he wanted to escape, he could have run away without punching me. "I was just looking at the map!"

James felt a rush of adrenaline, but as quickly as it came, it faded. His body was spent from the night before, and he could feel it in his frame - he'd punched too hard, and too quickly, and he felt a wound in his side rip open and begin to drip down to his hip.

He slowly pulled his fist away, feeling the joints in his fingers creak as he pried it back open. He didn't want to apologize.

"Too close," was all he muttered out, trying to force himself to stand up straight. The reopened wound, however, had started a domino effect. All at once, his side hurt, then his back, then the next wound, and the next wound. It felt like he was on fire.

James swayed on his feet a little, tossing the map over to Oliver with a weak flick of his wrist. He reached for Elliot, behind him, leaning back on the horse's chest.

"You know where to go now," he said, his voice tense and strained. "So go."