Young Writers Society

Seth was still panicking when Amerys strode back into the passenger compartment. Samira had been unable to get him to sit down, so he'd fallen on his ass when the shuttle had taken off. He raised an eyebrow at the boy then exchanged a glance with Samira. She was scowling at him, and threw him a jerk of the chin.

"You tell him," she said in Kavian and stalked off into the cockpit. Amerys blinked. Hadn't she been managing her brother better? Apparently not.

He sighed and turned to face the halfing, eyes narrowed. Emir stood near the door, gaze focused on the slim, electronic datapad he held. Teren was seated serenely on the low bench to the right. He deliberately wasn't looking at Seth. Amerys let his gaze drift for a moment before it came to rest on the boy. Seth was just getting to his feet, dusting off his ass. It didn't help that he was facing away from him.

Amerys cleared his throat. "Well," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. Seth shot him a glare. "I suppose I should explain a few things."

Seth stalked towards him, expression furious. "I can't believe you made me leave my friends behind," he ground, giving him a sharp poke to the chest with one finger. "What the hell is wrong with you people?"

Behind the boy, Teren tensed as if to get up. Amerys gestured discretely for him to stay put and turned his focus back to the boy. "There is nothing wrong with us," he snapped, giving the boy an exasperated glare. "As for your friends-- Hakor will keep them alive as leverage. He knows you care for them. He probably heard us arguing; you were hardly quiet about it." He raised an eyebrow at him, which was met with a glare from those near-glowing blue-green eyes. He was, indeed, very close. "He knows now, and so he won't see his threats through. Not yet at least."

Amerys glanced away, feeling slightly guilty about not helping the humans when he could. He could just imagine the atrocities they'd suffer at Hakor's hand. He'd had to suffer a few himself, when he was kept prisoner by the man. That had been many years ago--and on Inarus's order. He grimaced, trying not to make it too obvious.

"It was best that we got you out of there, lest the man got his hands on you. If he had, it is very likely you would not have seen your friends--or Earth--again." He swallowed, then wet his dry lips, dragging his gaze back to the boy's. "Hakor would have kept you as a prisoner, and the entire point of finding you would have been lost."

With a frustrated growl, the boy turned and paced away. "But I don't even know what that is!"

"You are Kaiva's only hope."

Seth whirled to face him. "I don't even know what Kavia is!"

"It is where you were born," Amerys said, trying to keep his voice low and soothing. He wasn't sure if it was working, not if the way the boy kept glaring at him was any indication. He knew he fascinated the halfling. It was as Emir said; give it time. He sighed. "It is part of you."

"That doesn't answer my question."

Amerys growled to himself and turned away. "It will have to do for now."

Seth made a frustrated noise. He watched from the corner of his eye as the boy paced. The boy's shoulders were taught with tension and frustration, his expression twisted into something confused and angry.

"That's not a decent answer," the boy muttered, expression smoothing out. Amerys turned to watch him rub a hand over his face. He was startingg to look tired. Too much at once, Amerys figured and frowned. "Why is it so important that you protect me? Who are you people?" Seth glanced from Amerys to Teren to Emir and back. "Why does she look like me?"

Amerys opened his mouth to reply, then shut it. How could explain that? He didn't have any right to do so. That was Samira's job. He scowled and looked away, glaring at the metal wall to the right. It was not his right...

"That's easy," Samira said from somewhere behind him. He tensed but didn't move, giving Seth a side-long glance. The boy looked confused. "You're my twin brother."

For a long, tense moment, Seth just stared at him. Then he sputtered, "What?"

Before he or Samira could reply, something hit the shuttle, jolting it sideways a little. Amerys hissed, stumbling into the wall. He caught a glimpse of Emir dropping his datapad and also stumbling. Seth went back down on his ass with a flurry of cursing. Somewhere behind him, Samira hissed out a curse in Kavian. Amerys clutched the wall for a moment, then pushed off it, turning quickly to stalk into the cockpit. He braced himself in the doorway as the shuttle shuddered again.

"What happened?" he demanded, looking from Suvan to Anaua and back. Suvan's gaze was firmly fixed on the navigational controls, though she glanced towards the sensor occassionally. Anaua was struggling to keep the shuttle on a steady course.

"Something hit us," Anaua grunted, black braids swinging together, beads clacking, as he struggled with the controls. "I don't know what yet. Suvan's looking into it."

Amerys turned towads his sister. "Suvan?"

She shook her head, biting a lip. "Nothing on the sensor, brother."

Amerys swore, grip tightening. A glance out the cockpit window showed the first glimpse of space he'd had in several hours. "Keep looking," he growled, and pushed off the doorway, swinging back into the passenger bay. "Teren, Emir, get him in a seat. I don't want him damaged yet."

Emir shot him a dark look but went to obey, dragging Seth to his feet. Teren had pushed up onto his feet. He grabbed the boy's arm, and both Emir and Teren got him settled on the bench. Amerys turned to check on Samira where she'd been slammed into the corner of the cockpit, near the doorway.

"You alright, Sam?"

"I'm good," she muttered, pushing off the wall. He could see that she wasn't, but decided not to comment. There was a nasty gash on her forehead, over one eyebrow. He spared Emir a meaningful look, jerking his chin towards Samira as she reached the space beside him. She gingerly touched the gash. "I don't think it needs stitches."

"Good," he muttered and swung back to face the cockpit. "Get us to the Thanatos. Before someone decides we're worth shooting out the sky!"