[u] Atticus Fowler and Codi Bailey[/u]

When Atticus and Codi had chosen to follow Henry, it wasn’t difficult for someone to understand that they had been somewhat hesitant to do as he asked. Often, it was generally expected that when you were in the custody of some sort of chaperone, they asked you to stay safe from danger, not run towards it. It would have been extremely bad had something happened that put all of Henry’s charges in bad shape. Because they were conflicted over what to do, though, as well as inexperienced in the use of their powers for any sort of combat purpose, they wound up traveling a lot slower than everyone else, and lagging behind. The fight had already ended by the time they arrived, and perhaps they would get branded as cowards for it, but in the end, it was better that someone had not been hurt. There were a lot of injured people in need of someone strong and able-bodied, otherwise, they would be stuck in the jungle for a long time. Open wounds in a hot, humid jungle were bad news, unless you healed quickly and had resistance to infection.

They had only arrived in in apparent hurry during the last catches of conversation, when people were proclaiming the need for people to be transported to a hospital. Atticus didn’t recognize the one who had requested help for the other two individuals, but they were injured, and they needed help. There were signs of a battle everywhere. There was lots of snapped and ruined plant life, and for some odd reason, everything was drenched with water. He supposed it was safe, for now, so he decided to do what he could, even if he wasn’t built for lugging heavy weight. He didn’t think he liked the idea of being out in the jungle anymore, though.

Atticus walked over to Aislin, and as carefully as he could, picked her up, careful to make sure she wasn’t hurt by any posture it forced her into, and even though he wouldn’t hoist her onto his back, somehow worried the spines on his arms might poke her. He shook his head, “We were too late in getting here, but I suppose this is the best we can do.” He murmured, before looking over at Codi, “Codi, you can move faster with a heavy load than I can. Use Reef’s arms so that Theresa’s well-supported, she doesn’t look like she can handle a lot of disturbances. She needs to reach the hospital more than anyone here, and it doesn’t take a doctor to see that.” Although he hadn’t formally introduced himself to many people, he would use their names, since it was easier than calling them ‘that one’ or ‘her’ or any other abstract term.

Codi nodded, “Alright, I can do that.” She said. She then walked over to Theresa, and as carefully as she could, lowered down all six of Reef’s arms, weaving them together to form a kind of net underneath her body, which she then scooped up over her head. She then removed the two lowest arms that did the least in supporting the victim, in order to use them for locomotion. “We need to hurry up.” She said, alarmed, but somehow so emotionally tired by the chain of events that she could neither find the strength to grow upset or cry.

In this fashion, without asking any questions about what had happened, the two started to head back towards the main campus with the injured victims in tow. They made their procession rather smoothly, and yet, did not once seem to jostle the individuals they were carrying. They did this without speaking, also, as there was nothing either felt willing to speak of. What Codi had done to Atticus had paled in comparison to the real injuries and possible deaths. What both were probably wondering, was why hadn’t the school prepared more carefully to handle these situations? People could really die from things like this, powers didn’t change that.

Although those who could win a fight and still stand after it would have celebrated it, perhaps, that was purely an unrealistic dream that people told in stories; nobody was celebrating this. A lot of people were hurt, and it wasn’t like the training exercises where people had been watching them to make sure nothing went wrong. In the end, people had even taken those exercises too seriously, enough where Atticus had told Codi afterwards that he suspected someone might have tried to seriously hurt him, if they thought they could get away with it. Charging into violence had real consequences, and a lot of people in the school, in Atticus’ and Codi’s opinion both, did not acknowledge how severe they were. Charging into battle wasn’t something you should take lightly, or consider easy, no matter how strong you were.

It was a decision that could end with someone dying, and even though Atticus and Codi had not seen the fight, the aftermath weighed heavy on their minds.