When he caught Tasunke's attention, he nodded towards the door. His brother hesitated a moment as he looked at Witashnah, then nodded. They both knew that waiting like this wasn't going to help in the fight to come.
Once they were outside Tasunke paused and looked up at the sky, and then towards the center of camp.
"Clear night," he commented.
Wicasa followed his brother's gaze to the tents where the Wilsons were now housed and nodded. It was indeed a clear night, and both of them could see Davy moving between the two tents.
"Now... are you going to tell me what's going on?" Tasunke asked.
Wicasa waited until Davy had disappeared inside one of the tents, then nodded. "Do you remember the prophesy?"
Tasunke turned and stared at his brother for a moment. "We have all memorized it."
Wicasa paused as he heard his brother's breath catch.
"You think its happening now?"
Wicasa nodded. "Think about it... The maiden shall go to the mountain..."
"Where she shall meet a man... He shall show great courage and prove himself worthy of her love... but he will ultimately break her heart."
"Heartbroken, she shall pour her heart out to the mountain... and the land will be made whole," Wicasa continued.
"The stranger?"
"Geoffrey Wilson..."
Tasunke paused and thought about it, then shook his head. "Why is that name familiar?"
"Ten...Fifteen years ago– the Archer's Fist was working with members of the UCAS military. They were researching anti-meta weapons and planning on annexing Pueblo lands..."
"They were stopped by one of the TwoBears clan weren't they?"
Wicasa nodded. "Daniel, I believe. Daniel TwoBears, Granny SeSe's grand-niece... and three brothers– named Wilson. They uncovered the plans– the media and the military did the rest."
"And the stranger..."
"Is one of those Wilsons."
Tasunke paused as he thought about what his brother was saying.
Wicasa waited as his brother put the pieces together as he had. The cruelty that Brighton had exhibited– the ruthlessness was overwhelming. He understood now why he'd taken two of the brothers away. He had plans for the sniper. He remembered the way the younger man had kept him calm... a sniper and a bargaining chip.
"It would seem he hates them more than he resents us," Tasunke finally commented.
Wicasa nodded. "We are merely in the way of his dreams– they..."
"Have actively defied him."
Wicasa nodded, then looked once again towards the tents. Spiral had nothing on Brighton when it came to petty cruelty.
Davy settled back into the chair in Geoff's tent. Boomer was doing a good job of tending Tommy and Kenny. It never ceased to amaze him how gentle Wayne could be. He sighed when he realized it was probably because of the amount of time Wayne had spent on the injured list. The man could sympathize with almost anything. He was drawn from his musings as Geoff let out a soft groan.
"Geoff?" he called.
He'd just about given up, thinking it had just been his imagination when he heard his brother's semi-coherent response.
"...Davy...?"
Davy sat bolt upright at the sound. "Geoff..."
He leaned forward, snagging the herb laden rag Wicasa had given him. As he reached out, towards his brother with it, Geoff flinched away.
"No... Davy...."
The pleading in his brother's voice made him freeze for a moment. "Its okay Geoff... they've explained what's going on and how this works."
Geoff looked up at him, and then turned away, nodding. "Sorry..."
Davy's eyes blazed. "Sorry!? Geoffrey Wilson... this is not your doing."
There was a long pause as Davy's word's sunk in, and then Geoff looked up with a wry smile.
"Yours either brother of mine.... yours either."
Davy glowered at his brother for a moment then shook his head. "That isn't going to work this time Ten."
Geoff looked up at him until Davy met his gaze. "David- this is not your fault. Spiral is the enemy here."
Davy bit his lip realizing that Geoff didn't know about Brighton ... or about Rabbit and Joey.
"What?" Geoff asked wearily.
"Spiral is working with Brighton..."
Geoff's expression grew cold. "Colonel Brighton?"
"Only now he fancies himself a General," Davy answered.
"How bad is it-- and where are the others?"
Davy started to object-- Geoff was in no condition to be dealing with this, but then he merely nodded. This was Geoff's life they were talking about-- his life, and everything he cared about.
"They shot Tommy, stuffed Kenny in a mage mask with a few bonus features," Davy answered, not bothering to hide his disgust.
Geoff's expression hardened at the tone in Davy's voice. "Boom?"
Davy sighed. "They didn't touch him... he's taking care of the others..."
Geoff trembled slightly as he once again locked eyes with Davy. "What else?"
Davy closed his eyes as he tried to tell Geoff, he was sure this would be the hardest part. "Brighton took Joey and Rabbit with him."
Geoff sagged slightly, but remained focused. "It means he still wants them alive..."
"I'm afraid, that's the only good news we have," Davy replied, trying to keep the dejection from his voice.
"At least it's something..."
Davy paused, biting back the family standard reply of 'we haven't lost a Wilson yet.' It wasn't true anymore-- or wouldn't be soon enough.
He looked away, trying to get a hold of his emotions.
"Davy... don't do this. This is not your fault."
Davy bit his lip as he realized how much a part of his own life he was losing. "Geoff... I... Dammit, this is completely fragged-up!"'
Geoff smiled at him. "I know... but... there's nothing we can do about it. And taking any responsibility for it....."
Davy shook his head.
This was not something he could reason through-- even with Geoff's help. "Dammit Geoff- you're an elf... you're supposed to outlive us all. I can deal with just about anything... but this...I just can't..."
There was a long pause as both of them tried to collect their thoughts. Finally Geoff broke the silence.
"David... I have to ask you to do something... and its not going to be easy..."
Davy looked down at Geoff and nodded. "Name it."
"You can't look back. We're only going to have one chance at this... and Spiral is the real threat. This is bigger than family... we have to protect Witashnah and her people. Brighton is a thorn-- we go after him... a lot of good people are going to die..."
Davy drew a deep breath as he realized what Geoff was saying-- and the pain it was causing. He wasn't talking about himself-- he was talking about Joey and Rabbit-- his brothers.
He was asking Davy to let him shoulder the responsibility for the decision he had to make-- to protect the innocent and possibly lose two more brothers....
Davy nodded, knowing Geoff was right. "No regrets?" Davy asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Too many regrets," Geoff answered. "Too many could have been's... but I'm grateful that you've been a part of it."
Davy closed his eyes, fighting the lump he felt in his throat. "So... what do we do brother of mine?"
"Witashnah is the only hope against Sprial. We protect her... " Geoff's eyes widened as he realized Brighton's plan.
"Geoff?"
"Davy... tomorrow is the day. Tomorrow-- Witashnah is supposed to perform the sacrifice... and there is a delegation from UCAS that is trying to stop her... "
"Stop her?"
"It doesn't matter Davy... the President... THE President of the UCAS is going to be there... he's why Brighton took Rabbit...."
Davy felt his blood pressure start to rise. "He's going to use Rabbit to cause an 'incident'"
"And Joey's there to make sure he goes through with it..."
Geoff took a deep breath an looked up at Davy, a hint of hope shining in his eyes. "We may just be able to do this...."
"I'll talk to Wicasa..."
Geoff nodded. "Then tell Boom and the others... tell them... we're going to get Rabbit and Joey back."
Davy swallowed hard, then met his brother's gaze. "We'll get through this..."
"I'm counting on it..."
"I won't let you down."
"You never have Davy-- you never have."