A Moth of Peace

[Pippi]

"Oh! Oh, um..."

Apparently, just like that, they were leaving. It was the logical thing to do, she supposed, if they wanted to find other people. The chances of everyone they were trying to see again stumbling upon their hiding spot in the tower were practically non-existent. They really couldn't afford to stay up here for too long, even if their plan had been 'hide from the world and hope that everything blows over.' The bell tower was several flights high, and Bryony didn't want to test how fast she could descend them when she was racing against the danger zone timer.

Yet despite that, she didn't want to leave the tower. Not just yet. She had felt something over the past few hours, something she had never expected to feel on the island. Something she sometimes struggled to feel back home as well.

She had felt safe.

She still knew that all of her problems hadn't been magically solved, just because she'd finally found Alice and Sandra, because nothing short of a miracle could completely fix this situation. But she had gone to sleep last night without sitting bolt upright at every suspicious sound. She hadn't had to worry about whether she could trust the people she was staying with. She had just been huddled up with two of her friends, supporting and caring for each other, and smiling, somehow smiling, on this hellhole of an island. She was worried that, as soon as she stepped out through the bell tower's entrance, that feeling of safety would be broken.

Bryony looked up at Sandra, looked at her outstretched hand, uncertainty written across her face. Then Sandra smiled, and after a moment, Bryony did as well. Delicately, she took hold of Sandra's hand, and pulled herself up.

"Okay..."

She was still going to be with her friends. They weren't going to up and abandon her, or betray her, or anything like that. They had plans to work towards. Find weapons. Find their friends. See where they would go from there. There would, she hoped, be time to huddle up in safety later. But not now. She'd set herself a mantra, and now was the time to follow it. Now was the time to keep moving forwards.

"Oh, um... hang on..."

Bryony hastily dug her hand into her pocket, and pulled out the next card in the pack, wedging it into a hairline crack in the railings. Then she turned back to Sandra, smiling again.

"Okay, let's... let's do this..."

Find Alba. Find Gary, if he was even here. Find anyone else they needed to. Then, after that?

Well. They'd have to cross that bridge when they came to it.

((Bryony Adams continued in Can You Hear Me Calling Out?))