Wolfe's body was completely shut down.

Snow was still cussing as she dragged herself onto the boat.

So Nic got about trying to start Wolfe's heart again and clearing his lungs of water.

Raven slipped back into the water once before slowly managing to pull himself on board. Then he stared blankly at Nic giving Wolfe CPR as he caught his breath.

Once Wolfe's lungs were clear, Snow pushed Nic out of the way. She reached down and took Wolfe's head in her hands. She didn't even hesitate as she twisted his neck hard, a loud crack filling the air. From all appearances, she'd just paralyzed him.

But then Wolfe began to cough.

Nic let Snow take over, going back to the wheel to drive the ship back to the dock. He didn't even turn at the crack.

But Raven immediately let out a string of cusses which stopped abruptly as Wolfe started to cough and quickly crawled over to him.

Wolfe was conscous by the time they reached the dock. He'd already thrown up the water.

Pepper was waiting for them.

Raven had gone to work drying Wolfe off with the few dry towels he had found on the boat. He had also taken off his boots and started to ring out his hair.

Nic stopped the boat shy of the dock - far enough away to talk to Pepper but not close enough for her to jump on board. He turned to Snow, expecting she would be the one negotiating.

Snow was actually silent, watching Wolfe.

Wolfe was still gasping for air.

"You call yourself our leader and yet, look how pathetic you are," Pepper spat, "Why I let you rope me into this halfwit group in the first place is beyond me."

Wolfe didn't reply.

"You say you're looking for our lab but you play around with these others, helping with their problems. What the terra was tonight about? You've lost sight of our goal, playing around with your boytoy there. You don't deserve our respect anymore, Ryuji!" she snared.

Something was changing in Wolfe's eyes. If Nic was watching he would probably recognize it. An exhausted body reverting into training mode. The years of training taking over the mind and body. And from the coldness of it, they had been dark years. Snow's eyes were growing cold as well but she didn't move.

Nic did recognize it. He stayed at the helm, keeping the distance between Pepper and Wolfe.

Raven ignored Pepper as he kept drying Wolfe off, clueless.

"I should have killed him when I had-" she started, referring to Raven. That did it. Wolfe was off the boat in an instant, charging off in an extreme leap. He crashed right into Pepper and then the real fight began. Wolfe wasn't holding back anymore. It was a terrifying yet oddly beautiful sight to behold as Wolfe used his engineered body to it's limits. It was all Pepper could do to defend as a pink hurricane descended on her.

Snow watched passively, as if she was used to the hierarchy being decided using this method.

Raven started wide-eyed as Wolfe suddenly got up, leaped to shore, and fought Pepper. The towel he had just been drying Wolfe off with just a split second ago was still in his hands. So... this was Wolfe's power...? He had thought... one day, with hard work he might be able to not be a burden when the fighting started. But now he knew that was impossible.

Nic was a little more interested than Snow, but he kept the boat where it was, removing them from the fight.

Wolfe continued to fight Pepper and it was eerily quiet as both fighters hardly made a noise. Pepper kept fighting using tricks and low blows but Wolfe's fighting was surprisingly clean as he relied on pure skill.

Snow kept watching somberly.

Raven couldn't turn away from the fighting. It was all just a blur to him. But it was the side of Wolfe he hadn't seen.

And all too soon, it was over. Wolfe stood over Pepper, gripping her throat in one powerful hand. She coughed but Wolfe didn't let go.

Wolfe leaned down and said something to Pepper that the others couldn't hear. Then he let go and stepped back, glaring at her icily.

Pepper got up, rubbing her throat as she matched him glare for glare, "I should have been the leader of this group," she told him in a husky voice.

"The Yin Long will not be what you are expecting," Wolfe stated in a blank voice, body filled with tension that would allow to pounce instantly if she tried anything else. Pepper spat at him before turning to leave.

Kale and Tulip had arrived to witness the tail end of the fighting, both were watching Pepper the same way Snow was.

As Pepper started to walk off, Nic started to pull the boat into the dock.

As Pepper started to leave she turned to Kale and Tulip, "Let's go Kale," she stated before continuing.

Wolfe glanced at Kale, no emotion on his face. Kale wasn't looking at Wolfe as he started after Pepper.

Tulip blinked, "Kale?" she called after him, showing the confusion Wolfe refused to expresses. Kale didn't turn.

Nic said nothing as he docked the boat, grabbed his pad, and began to walk off.

Raven stayed on the boat. He still hadn't moved.

Wolfe slowly turned and walked back to the boat. Snow met him and put an arm on his shoulder. She spoke quietly to him for a moment as Tulip came up stood beside Wolfe.

"I suppose it was a good thing they were fighting..." She muttered as she watched Kale disappear around the corner. "Maybe she won't take it so hard."

"Who?" Tulip asked quietly.

"... Blaze."

Raven was clearly clueless about what had just happened. He slowly pushed his cold, dripping self up, not sure what to do.

Snow and Tulip blinked up at Wolfe as a chocking noise came from him. They watched for a moment then glanced at Raven then quickly left the docks.

"... Huh?" Raven asked, clueless how to handle Wolfe's fighter side.

Wolfe suddenly turned to the wheel and gunned the boat, shooting out of the docks and into open water.

Raven let out a yelp as he fell back onto his butt as the boat shot out of the dock. "What are you doing?!" he asked Wolfe.

Wolfe took them far out onto the water until they reached a small island. He then shot the boat right up onto the sand and jumped out, stalking up the beach.

Raven glanced around, not sure whether to get off the boat or not. He was shaking from the wet. So he took off his socks and tried to dry himself off a little.

Wolfe was leaning up against a tree. Raven could see Wolfe's outline, he was shaking slightly.

When he was shaking less, Raven gathered the last of the dry towels and two thermal blankets before slowly going over to Wolfe, trying not to scare him.

Wolfe was hiding his face from Raven, keeping his back to him. He didn't seem as tense as before, just exhausted.

Raven didn't try to see Wolfe's face. Instead he just tried to dry him off a little more before putting a thermal blanket over him quietly.

When Raven put the blanket over him Wolfe suddenly turned and grabbed Raven in a tight hug. It took only a moment to know he was crying.

Raven was very surprised. But after a moment he managed to get the blanket around both of them while hugging Wolfe back.

The crying very quickly and very surprisingly turned into sobs. It was the first time Wolfe had truly let his guard down with Raven.

Raven hugged him tighter and pulled Wolfe's head into his shoulder.

Wolfe cried for a long time and seemed like he would have kept crying if he hadn't been so worn out.

Raven was wearing out too from the long night. But he was determined to hold Wolfe as long as he needed him.

Wolfe seemed to deflate against Raven's chest, too tired to even breath regularly.

As Wolfe started slipping, Raven quickly kicked the towels a little on the ground to make a semi-comfortable place to sit before he tried to get them sitting down semi-gracefully.

James ruffled Yue's partially dried hair with a smile, "You look so cute with your feathers ruffled," he teased.

Wolfe fell onto the towels, breathing still somewhat labored.

Yue didn't seem to like that either. She didn't like her feathers being ruffled. Or her hair. But she did like the attention.

--

Raven wrapped one of the thermal blankets around Wolfe before wrapping the other around himself and laying close to him.

"Let's do something fun tomorrow," James suddenly said, pinching Yue's nose.

Yue swatted James' hand away. "... I don't know," she replied quietly.