As Your Friend

--Sky's Perspective--

[SYSTEM EMERGENCY! A WHITE STONE HAS BEEN KILLED IN ACTION!]

I shot out of the same hospital bed holding my left eye. I wasn't sure if it was a dream or not, but somebody dying wasn't good… that meant there were only Five of us left. Was it Zeal? Xian? Talion? Orion?... Am I dead? Is this death?

I raised myself out of bed and slapped the wall. I could still feel it, so I don't think it was me, at least. I opened my door as fast as possible and ran into the room next to mine, watching Tavian get his wounds cleaned up by Ren and Rin.

"Sky? What the hell? Where are your injuries?!" Tavian yelled out to me. I looked over my arms to see what he was talking about… but I was completely unscathed, which shouldn't have happened. I definitely took a ton of damage, but where was it?

"I just got a message. A White Stone has died. Another one." I told them. Rin, Ren, and Tavian all opened their eyes to the same width.

"What the hell," Tavian said, curling his finger and putting it against his lower lip.

"As for your damage… can you heal at an enhanced rate? Some of the cuts you suffered were deep lacerations and should've left scars when they healed, but there's nothing on your body. What did you do?" Tavian asked again. I stared at my stone, thinking of an answer that would satisfy him.

"It's got to be this. There are still things I'm learning about my capabilities and abilities I get from it, I think." I said. I tapped on the back as if it would activate for some reason.

I looked to my right and could see Ellios, Rin and Ren's friend, walking Shiro. I had almost forgotten Shiro was with us, and I don't even think Lia has seen him yet. That would be a pleasing reunion.

I thought of Lia during this time when Rin and Ren talked to Tavian about his injuries. She definitely helped me during that last fight. Even if for a mere moment, my life was saved because of it. I guess she's currently with Dani, Charlie, Ullr, Mandi, and Ellie right now, so I had to put whatever remaining faith I had left in me, into her.

"Don't sweat it, Sky. Lia will be okay with them. She's released from Orion's grasp, she has her own will, just as you do." Tavian told me. He seemed to know what I was thinking about.

It was ignorant for me to think Lia was just a random person, it was easy to forget we all had our own wishes and dreams. I conveniently remembered the dreams that Domin and Red both had before they died.

This sudden realization that Tavian helped me reach replenished the guilt and anger I experienced watching them both lose their lives in front of me. Regardless, my drive of overpowering the competition and keeping my friends safe was much greater, but the deterioration of my will through guilt would last forever; I can currently feel it getting weaker by the minute.

"Hey, what time is it?" Tavian asked, peering into the clock.

"It's nine in the morning, why?" I sat puzzled at Rin's explanation. Morning? Did a day pass by?

"That's odd… I should've gotten the call from Ellie a long while ago. We should go and check up on them." He said, lifting his body up.

"I don't think that's a good idea at all. Your cuts could easily open if you strain." Rin explained.

"I wouldn't be straining at all. I'd be climbing up that tall mountain you can see on the horizon. I don't need to go any closer… Ellie set explosives in his base that will indefinitely slow down his progress." He said. Tavian held up a device that looked like it could activate the explosives.

"But we couldn't use it with our friends in there. We need to get them out first, right?" I asked.

Tavian's look turned grim, "That's where I have my last request to you, not as the leader of this base we both live in… but as your friend. Can you please rescue them if they're in trouble?" He returned another question to me. I understood what that meant.

The White Stones are actively hunting me, to my knowledge, and throwing myself out there in front of Orion's view would most likely trigger a fight between the five of us left. I should also take into consideration that Xian or Talion, the two neutral White Stones, could be dead, either or.

Maybe, if I'm lucky, Zeal would've been the one to die. Going in there with no plan would be suicide but… if it were for Dani and the others, I would do whatever it took.

"I will. As your friend and one of the White Stones, I can't just overlook this abuse to so many civilians coming from Orion. I'll do whatever it takes." I told Tavian. Afterward, he paused.

"…Ha! Sorry, I just thought the speech you were doing was really good, nice, and funny coming from somebody like us. The sudden spike in your courage was astonishing, but I'll take anything I can get. You're doing a great service to us, Sky… no, you're doing a great service to the world. You'll be the White Stone to change it all." He said. Tavian held out his hand, presumably to shake mine. After about a second or two, I agreed and decided to shake his hand.

"Then we should head out. There's no time to waste." I said to Tavian. Then, Ren perked her head up.

"Oh! Drake had been working on something for you… he reinforced the shit out of your sword so you wouldn't break the handle anymore. It's pure metal, with weight added to the blade to make it stronger. I think he put it somewhere around here." She said. Ren upturned most of the room looking for the sword.

While looking smug and irritated, Rin pulled it from her back and handed it to her sister.

"I knew you'd lose it. Gosh, where would you be without my vision?" She said. Rin handed it to me and playfully argued with her sister about it.

"I'll support you the best I can. I have a cannon up there I just have to assemble and then I can fire it towards Orion's base anywhere you need me to." Tavian commented, walking slowly towards the door.

"If you had something like that, why haven't you used it to snipe Orion when he's standing out in the open?" Ren had asked him.

"Taking out Orion could've been done several times in the past; it's about salvaging what he had that's difficult. So many of his soldiers are loyal… too many of them. Killing Orion would just put somebody new into power, and if not all of the candidates were slain, they'd find out who shot it and destroy what home we have over here. It's a complicated fight, but now that this Isle won't be standing for much longer, the chances are that the time to attack and wipe out those candidates" He said.

We both exited the door and gathered together whatever people we could. We had Ren, Griff, Jeff, Alex, and Drake now behind us. They would all go to the mountain with Tavian, and I would walk in unannounced to Orion's home.

Tavian, Ren, Griff, Jeff, Alex, and Drake all packed into the elevator, and we made our way down. It wasn't too cramped, but we were definitely getting close. Again, we were silent on the way down.

"So, have we figured out why Sky heals so fast?" Alex asked. Tavian perked his head up; he had asked the same question earlier.

"No, but he's been able to do it since our first days on the Isle. He hadn't seemed to acknowledge it, but he even healed this fast after his fight with Ullr. I presume it's because of that Stone." Jeff said. Tavian perked his head even higher, as he suggested that as well.

"That's what I was thinking, Jeff!" Tavian said, slapping Jeff on the back.

"It's not far from likely. I don't think there's any other good explanation for it. I'm not different than anybody besides that stone…" I mumbled. I kept my hand over the left side of my eye.

"And why didn't you come get us to fight off Ethos and Logos? We would've helped you; you know." Ren crossed her arms with a pout.

"The lockdown was initiated. Nobody is allowed out of their homes unless it's an absolute emergency. But it never turned into that, Lia and Sky kicked their asses!" Tavian told them. He finally pushed the button to open up the door and we began walking out one after another.

"You shouldn't be so afraid that you wouldn't even call your friends for help, Sky. We can fight too, don't shoulder that burden alone." Ren patted my shoulder and walked forward.

Tavian and I walked through the forest and made it to the midpoint, where he declared we'd split off.

"The mountain path is this way, while if you follow the forest to the end, you'll see the staircase leading up to his city… be careful. I have no doubt that you'll be able to see what's wrong and rescue everybody, so take this radio." Tavian told me. He handed me the same thing I saw him give Ellie before she left.

"It allows us to talk over long distances. Good luck out there, Sky." Tavian said again.

Drake chipped in, leaning against Ren's back, "And don't break that damn sword again! I'm not repairing it for you if it gets busted again!" He told me.

I smiled and waved them off, walking towards the edge of the Redwood Forest.