"Where is he? Why hasn't he come back yet?" Lucy was pacing the threshold of the cave, staring out into the darkness and scanning for any sign of her brother.

"Lucy, just call down, he'll be back..." Ray glanced at the windian in worry. The trio had just barely managed to find the cave again, and then had set about scrounging up dry enough material to start a fire. Janet was currently tending to that fire as Lucy continued to feverishly pace the entrance of the cave, staring out into the darkness.

"He should have been right behind us, why isn't he here yet?"

"He'll be here."

"Maybe something happened to him?"

"He had Jason with him," Janet cut into the conversation that had been going back and forth between the dragon and windian. "He'll be alright."

Lucy was about to say something when the sound of hurried footsteps caught her attention. The trio glanced up in wonder, peering out into the darkness to see who was approaching. A moment later and Jason burst into the cave, falling onto his hands and knees in front of the fire as he struggled to catch his breath, the three watching him in silence. A minute passed and suddenly Lucy's quite, emotionless voice was heard.

"Where's Brandon?"

Jason couldn't reply. He was still too busy struggling to catch his breath. All he could manage was to glance up at Lucy briefly before shaking his head. The windian gave him a dead stare.

"You left him behind?" Lucy turned her back to Jason and stared out the mouth of the cave, scanning the darkness for any sign of Brandon. "You left my brother behind?"

Jason took in a few more gulps of air before he managed to steady his breathing enough to weakly respond the Lucy. "I didn't have a choice."

"You had a choice." Lucy blinked rapidly as she stared into the darkness, doing her best to hold back the tears that she felt pricking at her eyes. "You could have stayed and helped him."

"I would have been dead if I had stayed." Jason worked himself shakily into a sitting position, watching Lucy's back as he spoke to her, still working to get his heartbeat back to normal. "It wouldn't have been any good."

"But he might have escaped if you had stayed behind..." Lucy's form shuddered as she lowered her head in mourning, a tear sliding down her cheek. In an instant her mood changed from sorrow to vengeful as she turned quickly and glared down at Jason. "He could still be alive now..." her voice trembled with anger and pain as she spoke, "if you hadn't run..."

Jason's breathing stopped all together as he gazed up in wonder at Lucy's expression. He couldn't ever remember seeing her look as she did now. The hurt and hate filled expression on her face was enough to cause Jason to turn his gaze back down to the ground. For a moment it appeared to Janet and Ray that Jason was almost kneeling under Lucy. Then the raven-haired windian was unable to hold in her emotions any longer. With a loud sob she stormed her way past Jason, past the fire, past Ray and Janet, making her way to the absolute farthest possible point in the back of the cave, and then she collapsed, shaking and sobbing into a heap curled up against the wall of the cavern. The others watched her with unease. Finally, Jason stood up and made his way slowly over to the shaking windian.

"Lucy..."

"Go away!" She didn't even look up as she snapped angrily back at Jason. "You left him out there to die! You may as well have killed him yourself!"

Jason stared down at Lucy, watching the windian as she cried. Janet and Ray exchanged worried glances and were about to speak up when Jason turned and made his way quickly out of the cave, disappearing into the darkness beyond the firelight.

"Oh shit." Janet jumped up. "Ray, we've got to stop him..." The dragon motioned for Janet to sit back down and nodded over to Lucy. "First we have to take care of her..."

The woods were silent as Jason made his way through them. No sign of the shadow demons could be found anyway. It's as if they all just left. Jason increased his pace as he walked out into the darkness. What are you doing out here, Burnhart? You should be going back to the cave where you belong. Fucking can't go back to that cave, Lucy's convinced I killed her brother. So maybe I did, I left him out there alone. He told me to go, he threatened me to get me to leave him alone... Maybe he's not dead though, this is Brandon were talking about. Shit Burnhart, now you're talking to yourself. You're paranoid, paranoid and now schizophrenic. Lucy was right, it should have been you left behind out here. Jason started walking even faster now, his pace reaching a type of jog as he headed out into the woods. Where are you going anyway, Burnhart? Are you out looking for Brandon? You won't find anything, he's not out here anymore. But maybe he's still alive, maybe you could find him. Either way, why should you go back to the cave now? They all think you killed Brandon, you can't go back to them now. His pace hit a slow run now as he was thinking. Out into the forest, maybe you'll find Brandon out here. Why did he send you back in the first place? He should have gone, you should have stayed. It's your fault he's dead, Burnhart. You ran out on him, like you ran with the shens. You're always running, you're running right now. Shut up, shut the fuck up! Why am I talking to myself? Jason's foot hit something slick as he ran, and suddenly his legs flew out from under him. Before he knew what had happened, the windian was on his back, staring up at the sky. He had landed hard, knocking his head roughly against a rock as he did and causing it to throb painfully. With a groan, Jason recognized where he had run into.

He was in the clearing. Just a few feet away from him he could see the ashes of the campfire that had been burning just earlier in the night. This was the clearing that he had left Brandon behind in. If he's still alive, he's around here somewhere. Jason pushed himself off of his back and into a sitting position, steadying himself with his hands as he endured the throbbing pain in his head. It was then that he felt something wet on the grass.

Jason pulled his hand up reflexively and examined it. There was something smeared across his palm. Something warm and sticky. A sharp smell penetrated his nose, and his nostril's flared as suddenly the new aroma overwhelmed his senses. Blood. Jason leaped onto his feet and gazed wide-eyed around the clearing, a cold shiver ran up his spine and his breath caught in his throat as he took in the sight around him.

The ground was drenched in blood.

Jason was struck by overwhelming nausea and fought back the urge to vomit as he spotted a few scattered black feathers and Brandon's rapier sprawled out on the ground. "Oh my fucking god..." There was nothing else left of the windian. Jason took a few shaky steps out of the clearing and started running again.

You killed him. Shut up, shut the fuck up! I didn't do it... but his blood is on my hands. "You left him out there to die, you may as well have killed him yourself..." Lucy's words echoed through his mind as Jason raced through the woods. You're going insane, Burnhart. First paranoia, now you're talking to yourself. You should have never have left Windia... A new sound managed to reach Jason's ears. Amongst all of his thought, the windian was just barely able to make out the sound of something racing through the woods behind him. I'm not out here alone... A rush of panic hit and Jason tore through the woods, leaping over roots and plowing through bushes. Behind him he could hear the thing following, it's pace slowly gaining on the windian. Jason's breathing was shallow as a cold sweat formed on his forehead. Just turn and fight, Burnhart. Haven't you had enough of running? He was tired of running. Jason screeched to a halt and turned, waiting to face the creature that was quickly about to overtake him.

Ray just barely managed to dodge the fireball that was sent flying at him.

"SHIT! YOU?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE?"

"Hey! Whoa, calm down!" Ray held his hands up as he stared wide-eyed at Jason. "I just came to bring you back."

"What the fuck do you want me back there for?" Jason growled at Ray. "Lucy's right, I belong out here, Brandon should be back with you three."

"Well, it's a bit late to change that around isn't it?" The dragon rubbed the back of his neck uneasily. "Jason, we need you back at the camp with us..."

"No you don't dragon!" He snapped angrily. "Why the fuck are you out here after me anyway? Did you all have a game of 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' to see who'd have to come after the nutcase that ran off and you lost the game?"

"What? Jason... look," Ray sighed. "I'm just here to bring you back..."

"You all don't fucking need me back! I'm worthless anyway! Did you see what happened to Brandon? Look what my help did for Brandon!"

"I saw what happened to Brandon." Ray placed his hands in his jean pockets and motioned over his shoulder with a nod of his head. "And it's not your fault."

"Like fucking hell it isn't my fault!" Jason shouted angrily at Ray. "You fucking heard what Lucy said! She's right! I might as well have killed the fucker myself when I ran out on him!"

"Lucy was angry," Ray calmly argued with Jason. "She didn't mean it... she was just upset."

"Like hell she didn't mean it!"

"Jason, it's not your fault Brandon died."

Jason felt his temper suddenly drop and an overwhelming feeling of guilt washed over him. He held his angry glare at Ray as he growled back to the dragon quietly. "How do you know?"

"Because it's not your fault you left the fight." Ray shrugged his shoulders lightly. Jason gave him a dumbfounded look.

"How do you know that?"

"I know you, Jason." Ray sighed and rubbed his jaw. "I know what you're like when it comes to fighting, and I know when you're set to a fight nothing can pull you out of it." The dragon gave him an honest look. "And I know you wouldn't have just run out on Brandon if you didn't have to."

Jason narrowed his eyes at Ray. "You think you know an awful fucking lot about me don't you. Dragon, you don't know anything."

"I didn't say I knew a lot." Ray shook his head. "I just said I know what you're like when it comes to fighting. I should know. I've been in enough fights with you to notice these things." Ray gave him a smirk, doing his best to humor the windian. Jason seemed to ease up a little.

"I guess that would make sense. You were my main punching bag back in Windia."

"Yea..." Ray rubbed the back of his neck again. "I was..."

Jason let out a sigh and placed his hands in his coat pockets, staring down at the ground for a moment before he looked back up at Ray. "So you really don't think it was my fault?"

The dragon shook his head. "I don't think you're the type of guy who would run out on a fight with his friend just because the going got tough."

Jason let the dragon's comment boost his spirit a little. "Ray, why are you out here?" The dragon gave him a confused look. Jason just shook his head and asked again. "I mean really... you of all people are the last guy in the world I would expect to have come after me."

Ray shrugged. "We've lost one member of the group... I have to do my part to keep the rest of us from falling apart."

Jason sighed and shook his head, rolling his eyes as he did. "You dragons are fucked up."

"Why do you say that?"

The windian chuckled. "You could have been back in a nice safe cave with a cozy little fire going and two chicks with you, but instead here you are, out in the middle of a dark forest with a guy who would beat you to near death any chance he got. What isn't fucked up about that?"

Ray shrugged uneasily and rubbed the back of his neck nerviously. "I'd be lying if I told you I'd rather be out here."

"Yea? Well I'd be lying if I said the same." Jason sighed. "Right, fine." Jason rolled his eyes and finally gave in with a shrug. "I'll head back with you."

Ray gave a relieved smile. "Good. Now let's get back to the cave before Janet and Lucy begin to think something happened to us too." The dragon and windian slowly retraced their steps back to the shelter as the sky above them faded into the pale colors of dawn.