[Winter - Moonton]

It was still a bit before The Immortal’s compound saw the morning Sun. Tucked amid the few patches of sun rays left, dense white fir trees overlapped. Bare from the season, a mad man lived with his captured Agists amid constant isolation.

Yells were commonplace, work was plentiful, as no task went unpunished within the tall wooden walls. “The Devil’s Wire,” or barbed wire, lined the rim of the property, adding a bit of disheartenment to its absentminded residents.

Days blurred into messy memories made of time when captured by The Immortal. Multiple buildings had been constructed since last Summer, just another cause for a sleepless night. Pests, such as mosquitos, scorpions, and spiders would occupy the same quarters and act equally agitated as fellow prisoners. There was only one prisoner who did not seek a miserable rhythm. Instead, Earle McFinley had an entire family and life to return to.

He thought about them frequently.

He was an observant one. With the plainest of attire, Earle was a bit too conscious for his kidnappers most of the time. Always aware of things like routines, or habitual habits of Eriko, it got under The Immortal's thin skin. Yet, Earle overlooked raising his voice or threatening violence. Instead he took pride in his ability to remain focused on escaping back to his wife and two children. “One fact of life at a time,” he often reminded himself while performing hard labor.

Eriko was a vile man in Earle’s honest opinion. One who would threaten anyone for an incremental gain. It was this sort of radicalism that kept him cautious and raised the difficulty of escaping safely. Eriko was too quick with the trigger, like someone exceedingly terrified about the details of life.

In the dirt a great distance away, Penny and Buck rested with desperate theatrics on an inconspicuous knoll. Penny, shoulders slouched and hobbling, while Buck had enough sweat and grime dripping from his face that he could’ve filled a bucket. Obscured behind several tall trees and boulders, Penny lost vision of the Ageast they pursued here but hadn't given up scanning the outskirts of the compound.

Danger began to creep into contemplation, but she had prepared for the worry. Penny spoke to Buck, hushed.

"It's somewhere around still. I see the embers lying about. What is this thing?"

Buck points to a spot he thought he had seen a passing glint. Penny affirmed what they saw.

“There it is, it just went behind that wall, look.”

Kneeling, Penny acutely identified where the Ageast would emerge from next, sharing the information with her partner Buck. The light, yet persistent breeze helped cover any small crunches from the leaves littered about.

A chilling sensation overwhelmed her for a brief pause. Her vision was met with a man sneaking outside the gate, by himself. He was holding a makeshift torch and didn’t seem uncomfortable close to the Ageast. The Agi-creature appeared right where Penny had predicted, then halted.

With bland form, the fire Ageast began to haze out of existence. The sparks of dwindling fragments floated in a vortex pattern. A column of debris swirled with purpose, converging and combining the flame atop Earle's torch as one.

Earle remained stoic and hunched. He was aware there was at least one witness, he could feel a stranger's vision as it permeated through the night and onto him.

"Got one."

Earle took a deep breath. His voice was incomplete, missing syllables through strain and fragility.

"Finally."

He mumbled so that only he could hear. Penny, still believing she hadn't been spotted, glared on.

Buck broke his silence, crab-walking a slightly further distance, without abandoning Penny.

"He knows we're here watching."

Earle submitted it was unlikely that his optimism had paid off. In a world where people would rather pull a quick trigger than get to the root of a problem, he had hoped for a while that he’d find anyone able to help. He took a calculated risk.

Earle raised his arms above his head, palms open and free, he began to wave them back and forth. Making no noise, his Agi-sourced flame failed to extinguish but instead illuminated his innocent facial mannerisms upon each wave.

Penny and Buck took notice and scuttled ahead, moving towards him at her lead, down the slope. There was an unknown time limit looming over their interaction, but Earle wished to pursue it. He had lost sight of them as they moved closer, so he rested his arms, staring straight ahead, fueled by hope, it kept him warm in the unknown.

Closer to Earle, and daybreak, further features became visible in the waning darkness for Penny. His tattered attire looked hollow over his thin frame. His black beard was a mess, patchy, with bruises present, telling untold stories as Penny approached the stranger with caution. Buck behind her, following and assessing their safety in realtime. However with Earle looking more struck in fear than herself, she hadn’t felt alarmed.

Closing the distance, she initiated contact.

“Hey-”

Earle raised a lingering finger to the front of his tight lips. They had to remain quiet, as the wind seemed to have died down, leaving them more vulnerable to the possibility of a loud noise. His fire Agi-lit torch was revealed to be a rudimentary stick with an infinite flame, brushing a tint of orange against the party’s face as Earle spoke, hushed amongst a makeshift huddle.

“Can you help us?”

Buck surveyed Earle. The man pleaded for help in the night and had immense skill in the Agi craft if he could conjure whatever type of Ageast they followed for the meeting. He could’ve approached the situation with a lot more aggression, but instead, Earle earned Buck’s swift decision of trust. Buck, kneeling within arm’s reach of Penny, snags a pinch full of her shirt to garner her attention.

Penny peeked backward, wanting and receiving a nod for an assured affirmation, a dose of empathy.

“We must hurry, I have three waiting.”

Earle twisted his torso and with a growing drooping expression, he ensured that they remained hidden. The wind returned with a brisk gale. Causing a propped open segment of the fence to jitter, vibrating without sound. Earle knew he had to expedite the meeting for everyone's safety.

“Three?”

Penny stole a jaded look from Buck, almost blowing their soundless cover with her surprise.

“All you two gotta do is not shoot...and point them in a direction. That’s it. They just want a chance to see their family again, that’s all. No troublemakers.”

The statement gained a gloomy inflection as it finished. Buck had returned to Penny’s side, having already determined their surroundings to be safe enough for the continued conversation. As Penny hardly doubted her interest in helping, rushing her decision was a trio of gazes found stacked at the crack in the fence.

It seemed the wobbling on Earle’s stopgap was experiencing slight separation and was beginning to take its toll on the opening. From the aforementioned gap appeared three similar looking strangers. The faces displayed slumped brows, reflective, dirty cheeks covered in nervous sweat like dew on the surrounding morning leaves, modest differences. They had to have been a small family.

No more convincing was necessary, both Buck and Penny began to frantically wave them over. Buck took the extra second to point in a direction past them, covering their rear.

The fresh breeze of night’s freedom stung their nostrils a bit. Arms tucked at their side, yet with vigor, the crying family progressed through step-by-step. Emotions streamed down their faces, and a thank you was mouthed as they passed, Penny and Buck both struck with jagged, painful memories of their own past running by.

After the family disappeared into the night, the elder parent illuminating the way with a bright, however tiny, fire-Agi orb directed forward toward the exterior brush. Buck finally lowered his arm back to his side, watching Earle begin to arrange his return back to within the walls.

“Thanks a bunch, cannot thank you enough. Please, fetch us some help, yeah?”

The plea was genuine.

Buck listened as a lookout, once more leaving Penny to dictate the state of their interest. With a lead leg, Earle began to swing his body weight through the gap to the other side, maintaining eye-contact along the way, awaiting his important answer and never receiving it from Penny before the fence slammed shut with a smashing creek. Earle had gone back into captivity for another night.

Penny feared the potential weight of the answer she never gave. The duo left back the way they arrived, back onto the path to meet with Jennings and inform him of what they just learned.