Questions

[Iƪƪia]

Illia hadn't stopped running since she left the town. She had run as fast as she could; stars in the sky becoming little more than streaks of white; the foliage all around her turning into a giant green blur. Her mind was racing with the new questions that this day gave rise to as well as trying to find possible solutions to all the existing questions. Finally, she had made it to the caverns, however, she didn't make it in far before she collapsed against the side of the cave. She lied there for a long while, watching the grass roll in the wind, her mind finally blank.

[ωΘĿƒ]

Illia was fast. Very fast. Z was never so grateful that he had wings. He'd flown most of the way, being bulky and not at all fast himself. He'd pumped it all the way to the caverns, wind whipping past and small trees snapping as his wings roared by.

He landed, at the entrance tired and huffing. He tried to slow his breathing and make his body temperature go down as he walked up to Illia.

"He's our principal. He can't hide from us forever."

Z was careful in approaching Illia, for two reasons.

One, he didn't want to upset her by being smothering, and two, he was hot from the flight and didn't want to singe her.

He opened his mouth, letting the steam roll out. He'd give it a second before coming any closer.
[/size]

[Iƪƪia]

Illia growled a long, low growl as Z approached. She knew he'd follow her. He probably just wanted to make sure she was okay, but she wasn't in the mood to talk. Was it too much to ask for a little quiet? Some time to herself? Illia didn't liked to be comforted. No, she preferred to deal with things by herself.

The chimera was also tired. Too tired to bother walking any further into the caverns. Instead, she pushed herself up and turned her body away from Z before falling against the wall again. She then curled her tail around her so that it too faced away from him.

[ωΘĿƒ]

Z couldn't help but snicker a little at Illia. He couldn't stop himself. He always laughed to cheer himself up in sad times.

"Okay, well you don't have to talk to me, but shunning me with both of your heads is a little cold..."

He hunkered down next to the cave wall, letting the smooth stone shape his side. The cave ws cool, and it crackled against his steaming hide. He took in plenty of cool cave air, trying to cool himself with it. So far, it wasn't working. He couldn't keep his fire down.
[/size]

[Iƪƪia]

Illia only growled again at the sound of Z's laughter. Wasn't he here to try and cheer her up? Instead, she's only getting angrier by the second.

"Would it kill you to take sssomething ssseriousssly for once?" She snarled.

She pushed herself further into the cool cavern wall. She was still hot from the run and her discomfort only added to her anger.

[ωΘĿƒ]

"I don't know." Z said, honestly. "I've never tried being serious before."

It was true... Even when he was young, he really couldn't seem to take life as all it was cracked up to be. Maybe he liked it better this way? Life should be funny. It shouldn't be painful. His parents abandoning him was even a funny thought. Didn't they know it was just making him worse? Didn't they know that if they just took five minutes out of the day to talk to him, it wouldn't be so bad?

He held back the laughter. It hurt, that kind of laughing. It probably hurt for Illia when he laughed too...

"I'm sorry. I won't laugh anymore."

He meant what he'd said, and as he'd said, he kept his face straight, leaning against the wall and feeling the rock slowly cool the roaring fire inside him.

"You may not want to talk, but at least let me stay. I'll be quiet. I promise. You can have all the time to think that you want."

He was willing to wait. He closed his eyes, not tired but merely resting. He'd ignore Illia, so she could have some time to herself.

But he'd never walk away. He wouldn't abandon her like his parents had him.
[/size]

[Iƪƪia]

Illia listened to Z, unable to understand his responses. It wasn't supposed to go like that. Whenever she snapped at someone, they would snap back then leave her alone. No one ever really understood her and no one ever bothered to try. That was the way it worked. The way it was supposed to work. She looked back at Z, strange feeling beginning to bubble up inside of her. She didn't like these feelings.

The chimera buried her lionesses head into the cave wall, gritting her teeth and digging her claws into the earth. She held her breath, blinking back the tears that threatened to flow over at any time now. Illia stayed like that for awhile, until she felt in control again, taking a few shaky breaths for good measure. She laid a paw over her face, hoping Z didn't notice her lack of composure.

[ωΘĿƒ]

Z kept his eyes closed, listened to the sound of his own breathing. He wouldn't bother Illia. He'd wait for her to come to terms. If she wanted his help then, she wouldn't have run away, and if she wanted his help now, all she'd have to do was ask.

If she didn't, if she just needed a little time to get it all out, then he'd wait. He'd wait until she was ready to tell him what she wanted to do.

He couldn't stand not doing things, but he had to. He had to pause, and let her calm down. He couldn't do what he did to fix things, and go break a water fountain or spray pain the lockers. He had to soak it all in and wait for Illia.

And he waited...
[/size]

[Iƪƪia]

Finally, Illia rolled her head to the side to look back at Z. He was still there, of course. Eyes closed, just... Waiting. The chimera wasn't sure how to approach this strange situation. This was all so new for her. With a sigh, she heaved herself up and walked over to Z, once again collapsing against the wall, this time in front of him, facing him. She let out another sigh as she rested her head on her paws.

"Ssso... Do you ssstill want to go through with the raid?" She asked quietly.

[ωΘĿƒ]

Z's eyes opened, slowly. He saw Illia sitting in front of him. There was a triumphant smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, but he held it back for Illia. He couldn't, however, keep the mirth out of his voice.

"Sure do. We need to find out what's happening, right?"

That was what he wanted to hear. The raid. Something to trike back - a counter to what Crane had done. That was his way of coping. He'd be happy to bash some heads at the teacher's lounge, even if they were the heads of the teachers themselves.

It had been only a matter of time 'till he got to that point..

"Do you still want to do it?"

He was making sure she wasn't going through with it just to do something. That wasn't the right reason. She had to want to do it. Nothing else would be good enough when they got in there.
[/size]

[Iƪƪia]

Illia smiled weakly at the sound of his voice. She closed her eyes, listening to Z's question. Did she want to do it? After all they went through so far... After all that's happened today...

"Of courssse I do," She replied, opening her eyes, "I need answers, and I need to hear them with my own earsss."

She tilted her head as she listened to her own words. Yes, her reasoning was as simple as that. She didn't care what the truth was, she just needed to know it. She needed answers and she needed to know now. Nothing would stop her until she got what she was after.

"I just wanted to make sssure that you ssstill want to go through with it."

[ωΘĿƒ]

"You couldn't drag me away from that raid."

He couldn't stop the smile now. He had to let it out.

"But we need to go to the meeting first. We need to get the kids that answered the add."

He was already imagining it - an army of kids ready to fight. That thought got his heart pumping fast, and his temperature rose. He kept it down with a reality check. Would anyone even want to come after they knew what was happening?

Well, he'd drag the ones along that showed up, whether they wanted to come or not. They needed to do this.

"You know, we sorta did get the green light on it. Crane knew, and he actually wanted us to do this."

For him, that was the best sign. The principal couldn't care less. Coincidentally, the principal was the one that did the expelling, so there weren't too many down sides to this plan... He guessed things worked a little differently here than in any other school.
[/size]

[Iƪƪia]

Illia looked away momentarily, lost in thought. It's true. Crane seemed fine with their little raid. He even encouraged them. The question was: why? Perhaps he did want them to know the truth. The entire truth. Maybe?

Crane was a strange man and Illia could never get a good read on him. So just what was he? Good or evil? No... Not evil, Illia decided. Perhaps somewhere in between.

"We might have gotten the 'go ahead' but let'sss not get carelesss."

She inched forward and laid her head across Z's arms and against his chest. He was quite warm, but it wasn't that bad, considering she still hadn't cooled down from her run. Her eyes closed as her mind turned toward the raid or, more importantly, the meeting. They really needed a few good kids to agree to this, but nothing was certain. The chimera let out a sigh, deciding to clear her mind of any of that.

[ωΘĿƒ]

Z was worried about Illia getting scorched, but it seemed he must have cooled down enough for her. She didn't look too uncomfortable as she lay her head across his front legs.

The urge to make a mart comment struck him, and he thought now would be a better time for it than before,

"Careless? Me? Come on! How many times haven't I got caught for all the crap I pull around here?"

It was sort of true... He did a lot of things, but only got caught on some of them. He'd already be out of this place if he wasn't so careful.

But careful enough for the raid?

He set his head on top of Illia's, the excitement and concerns buzzing in his head together, making it hard for him to think.

"I say we get a good night's sleep, and pick up our recruits tomorrow. We need the rest, and we need to make sure everyone's on board with us."

He shivered slightly at the doctor's warning. It's not the door you need to worry about. It's what's behind it. What was behind it? Was it something Crane set up? For all he knew, this could just be a trap set by him. He didn't like Crane. The man was confusing, and he put Z through all this trouble for barely any reward. But Illia seemed to want to know, and maybe she had the right mindset. Crane really wasn't all that evil. He wasn't good, but he wasn't evil. Maybe a little spacey and controlling. The guy needed to stop treating everyone like lab rats.

Well, they'd know what this was all about soon enough. They were going to do this raid.
[/size]

[Iƪƪia]

Illia began purring softly. Of course, she wasn't afraid of getting caught. After all, Crane was on board with all of this. What worried her was whatever was behind that door. Perhaps another troll? Well, that was all too likely. However, the way the doctor had said his warning... It made Illia certain that they weren't simply going to face another troll.

"I know, I know, jussst... Don't do anything ssstupid," She mumbled.

Her thoughts began to fade as sleep overcame her. She needed to be prepared for tomorrow. She needed to be her usual persuasive self so they would be able to pull together the largest group they could. They needed the best of the best, for they were going to complete that raid and they were going to find the truth.