Wyatt Everard
Wyatt stood in the living room, sullen and glaring at nothing as his parents fluttered around him. His mother fussed with his hair as his father looked at a checklist, marking things off.
"And you've got your water bottle?"
"Yup."
"Potions?"
"Uh-huh."
"Escape rope?"
"I'm gonna be late." Wyatt didn't really care much if he was late – he just wanted to get away from his smothering parents. He was not looking forward to his 'adventure.' At least his friends would be there. Cas rolled in a happy circle around his feet.
His dad, too optimistic to recognize the excuse to escape for what it was, beamed at him from over the paper.
"Can't have that, can we?" Wyatt wanted to roll his eyes at the pride in his dad's voice. Of course he only seemed proud of his son when he did whatever Jimmy did.
"Oh, oh hold on!" His mom flitted away, turning in place to look for something. "We need a picture!" Wyatt couldn't hold in the groan. His dad shot him a reprimanding look and Wyatt snapped his mouth shut. Skewing his mouth in something that was almost a pout, he looked down. A moment later his mom was back, camera in hand.
"Ok sweetheart, smile!" Wyatt did no such thing. His Spheal beamed, a joyous little ball at his feet. With a sigh, his mom snapped the picture anyway. "One day I'm going to show all these pictures at your wedding and you're gonna regret not making a nice face." He just rolled his eyes, already turning towards the door.
"Hang on, hang on," his dad called after him, catching him by the shoulder. His parents enveloped him in a hug before he'd even finished turning around. "We love you."
"Stay safe," his mom whispered. Wyatt hesitated a moment before finally bringing his arms up to hug them back.
"I know. I will." His parents pulled away, both looking at him with light in their eyes. The corner of his mouth quirked up and he gave a small smile back. "Love you, too. I'll call."
And with that he was out the door, Cas rolling after him. Wyatt pulled out his earphones, putting them in and putting his music on shuffle. The melodies drowned out the early morning sounds of Faduli waking up.
He really was not looking forward to this. But if he was being honest… the nervousness slowly growing in his chest was starting to taste awfully close to anticipation. His friends. New places. Plenty of opportunities to die, of course. He hoped he didn't run into his brother.
His path to the edge of town took him past Arlo's house. At least he was responsible. He probably wouldn't let any of them die. The girls though… they were another story. Wyatt looked down at his watch. It wasn't quite time to meet yet – Arlo might still be home. Taking a chance, Wyatt turned into their driveway and walked up to the door. He rang the doorbell once before calling out.
"Hey Arlo! You home?" His voice was probably louder than necessary, with the music drowning out the noise in his ears. Cas was largely ignored as she rolled back and forth over his feet.
Haven Dao
Haven was awake, packed, and out the door by 5:07 that morning, Vice perched on her shoulder with his roots twining in the cloth of her jacket. Dawn would be breaking in a few minutes. She wanted to watch as sunlight stained the Faduli sky one last time. And… her family was going to give her hell for this, but technically speaking she hadn't actually told them she was leaving town with her friends. Whoops.
Silent as the night, she'd crept down the stairs and left a note on the kitchen counter. A goodbye, I love you, promise to call, alongside a little doodle of her smiling face.
Her mom was going to pitch a fit.
She walked out the door into the pre-morning air, with her Bellsprout and a bag filled with more art supplies than travel gear. Haven wove her way through the still sleeping town, walking past darkened buildings and the yellow glow of street lamps. Eventually she left them all behind, arriving at the east end of town. A great green hill swelled up, only to give a sharp drop, a rocky cliff leading to the ocean below. Haven walked up to it and sat down, her feet dangling above the waves. Ocean mist washed over her and she breathed it in. Dawn began to stretch its grey fingers from beyond the horizon and up across the sky. Color bled into the darkness and dawn broke across Faduli.
Haven and Vice sat there long after the sun hung bright and full in the sky. At 8:16 a vibration from her bag startled her back to reality. Already knowing what it was, she pulled out her phone to see her mother's face on the call screen.
"Yikes," she said, turning her phone off. Haven would call her back later. After she'd left town. Vice gave her a look. "What?" she countered back at him. "You know how she gets." The little Bellsprout just kept staring at her. Rolling her eyes, Haven pushed herself to her feet. Turning, she walked away from the ocean and back down into town until she emerged at the other edge of town.
Lionella was already there, waiting.
"Hey Lio," she greeted as she reached the smaller girl. Haven smiled a bit as she saw her friend practically bouncing with anticipation. Someone was ready to go. "Boys not here yet?" Haven glanced over her shoulder to see if she could spot them. She looked back at Lionella out of the corner of her eye, her smile turning sly. "Wanna ditch 'em?" Her voice and humor made it hard to tell when she was being serious or not, but those who knew her knew Haven was almost always joking. Almost always.
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