"Me either, but beggars can't be choosers...right?" Red panted before he fell over on his back and let out a long, relieved breath.

Q shifted uncomfortably for a moment, before he turned to watch Red.

"...Don't just jump in someone's head like that." Red said. "People got into fights back where we came from for that."

"I'm sorry," Q replied. "I learned what 'fuck' means, though. I'm not sure why you wanted me to mate with a plant, though."

"What?" Red frowned and sat up. "You're still on about that? Who the hell are you?"

"My name is Q," Q reminded, as if it answered everything.

"No shit, really?" Red rolled his eyes and got up. "Jeez, they must've kept you in that tube forever."

"Fourteen years," Q replied, standing as well.

"So you're like...my age then." Red nodded. "So how come you never tried calling anyone before?"

There was a crash in the brush nearby that caught the red-haired boy's attention.

"...Time to go." Red said- taking Q's hand and starting to run again.

He had to be careful about his speed or he'd just sap all his energy.

They weren't running very long before Red spotted blurred forms and slowed down to a stop.

Aireio had started up a fire and they'd made a makeshift camp site. LiSen was leaning up against a tree.

"Oh there they are." Red breathed before hurrying forward. "Hey, guys!"

"Hey," Aireio greeted, looking up from the fire. "There you are!"

"Still alive." Red breathed out before flopping down in front of the fire- catching his breath.

"You over did it." Denum rolled his eyes before looking at Q. "Why the hell didn't you run with us?"

"I didn't need to," Q informed, as if it were obvious.

"We need to figure out what in this forest we can eat and find a town that isn't going to send us back to The Facility," Aireio commented, watching Q take a seat beside Red. "Also, we need to sleep one at a time... its almost completely dark and we don't know what could be lurking out there."

"We only need one person keeping watch before trading off each hour." Denum said. "I'll start, Red can go last since he's all worn out."

"We need to all be ready to run in case!" Aireio snapped.

"We don't need to run," Q informed. "There are many eyes watching us."

"What?" LiSen asked. "What do you mean, Q?"

A sudden ambush. They came from every side - a large group of things that looked almost human, if it weren't for their dragon-fly like wings and long tails with sharp spade-shaped barbs. They had stripes down their back, hips, and legs, and bright silver eyes that took the group of humans in as no threat.

"Holy-!" LiSen squeaked, trying to drag himself away as the others grouped close by the fire, completely surrounded.

"Ah damn, we walked right into them!" Red looked around quickly.

"I thought we were supposed to know when they were around!" Denum frowned. "...They put up a suppressor, we couldn't sense them coming!"

Red took Q's arm and moved the tall boy behind him while Denum covered LiSen. Silvers were sometimes odd in their behavior. Maybe if they didn't attack and saw that one was injured, they'd just move on.

The creatures tilted their heads and watched them for a moment, before whispering amongst themselves. One of them - wearing a long string of different colored jewels around his throat - moved forward.

"Give," He said, motioning to Q. "Give."

"Fuck yourself." Red replied bluntly.

Denum noticed that when they spoke amongst themselves, they didn't use their mouths. He couldn't help but reach forward with his mind a little to try and pick up some of their whispered conversations.

For a second he heard what sounded like gibberish, before he felt a sudden splitting pain in his head.

"Denum!" LiSen gasped as the other groaned and grabbed his head in his hands.

"Give," The Silver said again.

"What do you want with him?" Aireio pressed, her entire body tense.

"Prince," The silver replied.

"Prince?" Aireio asked in confusion, looking at Red and Q. "What, you want to give him to your Prince or something? The studies said that they're very loyal to their royalty."

"Prince," The silver told her again.

Red grabbed Q around the waist.

"One-two-three- BREAK!" Red shouted.

He burst off to the side- grabbing Aireio as he went.

Denum took the cue as well- scooping up LiSen.

They slammed into something hard and invisible suddenly and tumbled to the ground. The world spun for a moment and as Red looked up, he saw tails pointed at him... their tips extremely sharp.

"Shit," Aireio groaned.

"Shit?" The Silver repeated, as if confused.

"What does Shit mean?" Q asked from his place on the ground.

"Really?!" Aireio snapped at him.

"It means we're in trouble," LiSen breathed.

Then, to their surprise, Q turned toward the Silver with the beads on and said something in what sounded like gibberish. It replied to him and he got to his feet, dusting his front off. "He says that he doesn't want to harm you."

"They have an odd way of showing it." Denum mumbled as he sat up- holding his head.

Irma...it means little brother...

Red blinked- what was that? A voice or something? He looked between all the points aimed at him as he lay on the ground. Damn, even in that second's little burst, he'd just drained whatever he had left.

Q and the Silver talked for a moment before he explained, "He didn't want you to get away. There is something that he needs to show his mother."

"What about the Prince?" Aireio asked, looking at Q warily. She knew only a few words from the Silvers' language... why could he speak it fluently?

"Mistranslation, I suppose," Q informed. "He will show you that you can trust him."

He said something more to the Silver, who spoke to the group. They all lowered their tails and wings, relaxing.

Denum helped LiSen sit up and wrapped an arm around him protectively- watching the Silvers with distrusting eyes. Damn it, finally out of that place with LiSen and now they could be Sliver food...did Silvers eat people? What did it matter if they were dead? He'd promised to take LiSen out of the facility and to someplace the Asian boy could be happy, but now...

"He only wants me," Q informed. "The rest of you are welcome to-"

"We're not leaving you!" Aireio snapped.

"Yeah, fuck that." Red agreed- still lying where he was on the ground- despite the fact that he was no longer pinned down by the Silvers.

"You're one of us, we don't leave our people behind." Denum added firmly.

"I appreciate your kindness," Q informed. "But it is obvious that you do not wish to come with me."

"Come... with you?" Aireio asked.

"You're going with them," LiSen breathed in pain.

"I am," Q informed. "I do not expect you to come, though I am certain they can at least feed you and perhaps heal your wounds."

One of the Silvers turned to the beaded one and said something- indicating the others and Red heard him use that word again...irma.

"We can't just let you go with them and leave you here." Red protested.

"Then you can come," Q said, simply.

"How long was he in that tube? His people skills suck!" Aireio huffed.

"I don't feel so good," LiSen breathed, leaning heavily on Denum.

"LiSen and Red need medical attention!" Denum shot at Q.

"I'm fine!" Red started to sit up.

Q turned to the one who had spoken to the Silver in beads, saying something quickly.

The Silver nodded before signaling a few of the others. They moved over to LiSen and red and both boys got a good look at just how tall the Silvers really were- they towered over them. One reached down- scooping up LiSen and alarming Denum.

"Its okay," Q told Denum, gently. "They are taking him to their medic. I trust them... no matter what they may have taught you, they are peaceful people. They do not want to harm you."

"We don't really have a choice but to trust them," Aireio told Denum. "Alright, I'm in."

She squeaked as she was scooped up by a second Silver - this one female. Another picked up Denum.

"Hey, hey- I can walk!" Denum protested, but he was carried off all the same.

Red was taken up as well and the group began to move. They slipped into the brush like a passing wind.

The Silvers spread their wings, but instead of using them to fly, they used them like propellers - shooting forward at speeds only Red could match.

Soon enough they were leaving the forest and coming up along the cliff that Red had almost toppled off of. He looked on in horror as the creatures carrying his friends dove off the side and the one holding him followed.

They glided down a good twenty feet before landing in a small entrance to a cave. The Silvers ducked inside and began to move quickly again, navigating the many tunnels easily.

The caverns were like a labyrinth in the cliff- vast and confusing. It wasn't long before they had all lost a sense of their bearings and were at the total mercy of the Silvers. Denum wasn't really aware that he was clinging to the one holding him. Red was more used to this kinda propulsion.

Eventually they were set down in a large cavern and groups of Silvers crowded around them curiously - a lot of them children... or so they assumed, since they were smaller then the rest.

They split after a moment as a pair approached - a male and a female. From the looks of their beaded necklaces, they were of some sort of importance.

The woman was over in a flash, pulling Q to herself and letting out a sob.

The male seemed much more intrigued by the other while the Q was held. What the hell was going on here?

"...The numbered ones." The male murmured with a thick accent as he checked LiSen's sleeve. "Irma...they let you out to play?"

"Play?" Denum frowned.

Red watched the female hugging Q tightly.

Pulling away after a moment, the woman then pulled Red to herself, before reaching over and tugging Denum and Aireio close as well. "My thanks, my thanks!"

"Um, what?" Aireio gasped.

"Assah, he is hurt," Q told her, motioning to LiSen.

"Of course," She breathed, before shouting at a nearby Silver - probably telling him to get a medic.