Snippet #1697562

Pyrite glanced around, jumping when Mercy touched his shoulder. He had been so focused on worrying about how they were all going to survive, he hadn't noticed her coming.

"Breathe," she told him in a quiet voice. "They're alright."

Pyrite did as he was told, drawing a slow breath and turning back to watch his family in the canyon. No matter what Mercy said, there was nothing that could get him to stop worrying. He had gotten his family stuck out here, not allowed to fly above the rim of the canyon, unable to find food or any shelter better than the shallow caves that had been carved out of the sides of the canyon. It seemed pretty pathetic. He had led them to escape the greatest prison in the world...
And he couldn't even find them a decent meal.

"They're starving, Merc..." he whispered, beating his wing restlessly against the air. He wanted to take off, fly up and out of the canyon, find them food. But he could not risk it. His white wings, if he left the canyon, would surely serve as a beacon and lead the enemy straight to his flock. He would have to wait for a couple of days before doing anything so rash.

Pyre fell silent again, and could not help overhearing the hushed conversation of the twins, only a few feet away.

"I'm hungry," Jinx murmured, resting her head on her brother's shoulder. "I want to go home." Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. Her brother quickly wiped them away.

"We have no home right now, Sis," he replied softly and wrapped his arms around her to comfort her.

She allowed herself to be pulled into his embrace. She sniffed quietly before more tears trickled down her cheeks. "Why us, Jack?" she asked in a shaky voice. "Why us? What did we do to deserve this?"

"Nothing. They're just mean people."

"I want to go home, Jack."

"We have no home, Jinx."

Pyrite swallowed hard, forcing down his fear and guilt as he turned to the little ones.
"We do have a home," he told them firmly, standing up on his branch and walking along it until he reached the cliff. He approached them slowly, not wanting to startle them. They were allies, family... but these two were young, and they had been traumatized by their lives before the escape. "It's wherever all of us are. Together.