She turned, picking up a nice, sturdy stick with which she planned to defend herself. The pounding feet drew nearer. She waited a moment, then swung the heavy stick. The stick collided with a meal frame and bounced off. N-81 stood before her, cocking his head with curiosity.
“Did I do something wrong?” he asked in a confused voice. Essa let out a sigh of relief.
“Geez Nate, you scared me, I thought you were a wolf.” N-81 drug forward a wooden sled, onto which another one of his shells was tied.
“I utilized one as a decoy. That should keep the wolves distracted for a few minutes.” Con emerged from the grass suddenly, making Essa scream and stumble backwards towards the cliff. N-81 caught her arm and pulled her back. “Please do not scream Essa. It will draw them to us.” Essa ran forward and caught Con in a tight hug. Sweetcrazy emerged from the grass, tailed by Stan. Andrew was nowhere in sight. Stan realized this, darting back into the grass.
“Stan no!” Con hissed.
***************
Andrew backed himself up until he hit a rock as he watched, paralyzed in terror, as three giant wolves tore apart his robotic companion. His breathing quickened and his heart skipped a beat as one of the wolves suddenly paused, perking its ears. The wolf sniffed the air and began to turn towards him. Suddenly, a figure dive tackled him, pinning him to the ground while keeping a firm hand over his mouth so he couldn’t scream. He struggled against his attacker, then noticed it was Stan. Stan quietly pulled his brother to his feet and cautiously snuck him into the tall grass.
Essa finally let out the breath she had been holding when Stan emerged once more through the grass.
“Look we don’t have much time,” he whispered, “they finished N-81’s decoy and are most likely heading this way. Sweetcrazy,” Sweetcrazy looked up, “I need you to take him.” Stan passed his brother to Sweetcrazy. Andrew kicked and fought, but Sweetcrazy held him tight. She was still clearly in shock about being abandoned by her once loyal servants, so she didn’t offer any complaint. Stan pulled Con, N-81, and Essa aside. “Look,” he whispered, “I’m saying this discreetly because Andrew cannot know what’s going to happen to me. Tell him whatever you need to. Lie to him if you must, although that may not work. Andrew’s a pretty smart kid. Those wolves are right on our doorstep here. Someone needs to distract them. This is not up for debate here. I’m giving Andrew to Ms. Sweetcrazy. I know she’s got a mean streak, but I have a feeling that things can change with her. If-“ he paused, “if you ever run…run into Tad again…tell him I’m sorry. For everything.” Stan bolted off into the tall grass without even waiting for anyone to protest.
“He’ll be okay, right?” Essa whispered to Con. Con just stood there, silent. “Right?”
“I..I-I don’t….I don’ know…” Con stammered.
“Where did her go?! Where’s my brother?1 I want Stan!!” Andrew fought against Sweetcrazy, who simply continued to sit there with a blank stare.
“Hey, hey…” Essa said softly, kneeling down in the grass next to him, “he’s gonna be alright.”
“You’re lying, aren’t you? He went off to distract them didn’t he?1 He’s gonna die isn’t he?!” Andrew said frantically.
“Look,” Essa said calmly, “your brother…is…very brave. He’s going out there to fight off those wolves for us while we escape. And then he’s going to go get your other brother, Tad. Then he’ll meet up with us when we find a way to escape. Alright?” Andrew just nodded and gave Essa a small hug.
“We need to move, now,” N-81 said. Boomer put a hand on Essa’s shoulder. Essa had almost forgotten he was there in all the drama. She grabbed her brother in a tight hug, choking back the tears that were forming in her eyes.
N-81 ejected a cylinder about three inches in diameter from his back, just above his power unit. He pressed a button in its side and four small handles popped out.
“What is that?” Con asked.
“A parachute,” N-81 said in a matter-of-fact tone. How could humans be so dull sometimes?
“Wait wait wait,” Con said, shaking his head, “you’re telling me that you expect us to jump off a cliff holding onto that? What if we fall off?”
“You will fall hundreds of feet and-“
“What on Earth makes this a good idea in any way?!” Con yelled. N-81 gave a small shrug.
“Statistically speaking, your chances of making it to the ground safe are greatly increased to 80% if you grip the handles tight enough.”
“Great. Just great. This is a horrible plan.”
“Do you have a better one?” Boomer said, reaching out and taking hold of the parachute canister, then offering one of the handles to Con. Con sighed.
“Fine, but I still don’t like it. What about the kid?”
“I will climb down with him on my back,” N-81 said.
“You’re crazy, you know that?” Essa piped up, taking hold of the parachute, “How does this thing work?”
“Press the button on the bottom to engage the parachute.” Sweetcrazy guided Andrew over to N-81, who knelt down to allow the child to climb onto his back. Sweetcrazy then took hold of the parachute.
“Hold on tight…” Essa said to Andrew. The child nodded and tighted in arms around N-81 neck. The four of them half walked, half stumbled in sync to the edge of the cliff. All of them hesitated.
“Do you require a push?” N-81 asked.
“No!” They all started yelling. They began to figure out how they would go about jumping off in unison. The wolves began baying in the distance. They had discovered Stan. It was now or never. They sloppily threw themselves over the cliff, screaming in terror. N-81 watched until the parachute deployed, slowing their fall. Then, he jumped off the cliff. Andrew screamed. N-81 caught the cliff and began to slide down. When he came to a halt, he let go and repeated the process. Drop, slide, grab, stop, release, repeat, repeat, repeat. The process continued until he reached the bottom of the cliff five minutes later. The wolves howled victoriously in the distance. No words were spoken. The howling said it all. Andrew began to sob. Soon Essa joined him.
She turned, picking up a nice, sturdy stick with which she planned to defend herself. The pounding feet drew nearer. She waited a moment, then swung the heavy stick. The stick collided with a meal frame and bounced off. N-81 stood before her, cocking his head with curiosity.
“Did I do something wrong?” he asked in a confused voice. Essa let out a sigh of relief.
“Geez Nate, you scared me, I thought you were a wolf.” N-81 drug forward a wooden sled, onto which another one of his shells was tied.
“I utilized one as a decoy. That should keep the wolves distracted for a few minutes.” Con emerged from the grass suddenly, making Essa scream and stumble backwards towards the cliff. N-81 caught her arm and pulled her back. “Please do not scream Essa. It will draw them to us.” Essa ran forward and caught Con in a tight hug. Sweetcrazy emerged from the grass, tailed by Stan. Andrew was nowhere in sight. Stan realized this, darting back into the grass.
“Stan no!” Con hissed.
***************
Andrew backed himself up until he hit a rock as he watched, paralyzed in terror, as three giant wolves tore apart his robotic companion. His breathing quickened and his heart skipped a beat as one of the wolves suddenly paused, perking its ears. The wolf sniffed the air and began to turn towards him. Suddenly, a figure dive tackled him, pinning him to the ground while keeping a firm hand over his mouth so he couldn’t scream. He struggled against his attacker, then noticed it was Stan. Stan quietly pulled his brother to his feet and cautiously snuck him into the tall grass.
We all need to stop sneaking up on Essa, she's going to get a heart attack.
She turned, picking up a nice, sturdy stick with which she planned to defend herself. The pounding feet drew nearer. She waited a moment, then swung the heavy stick. The stick collided with a meal frame and bounced off. N-81 stood before her, cocking his head with curiosity.
“Did I do something wrong?” he asked in a confused voice. Essa let out a sigh of relief.
“Geez Nate, you scared me, I thought you were a wolf.” N-81 drug forward a wooden sled, onto which another one of his shells was tied.
“I utilized one as a decoy. That should keep the wolves distracted for a few minutes.” Con emerged from the grass suddenly, making Essa scream and stumble backwards towards the cliff. N-81 caught her arm and pulled her back. “Please do not scream Essa. It will draw them to us.” Essa ran forward and caught Con in a tight hug. Sweetcrazy emerged from the grass, tailed by Stan. Andrew was nowhere in sight. Stan realized this, darting back into the grass.
“Stan no!” Con hissed.
***************
Andrew backed himself up until he hit a rock as he watched, paralyzed in terror, as three giant wolves tore apart his robotic companion. His breathing quickened and his heart skipped a beat as one of the wolves suddenly paused, perking its ears. The wolf sniffed the air and began to turn towards him. Suddenly, a figure dive tackled him, pinning him to the ground while keeping a firm hand over his mouth so he couldn’t scream. He struggled against his attacker, then noticed it was Stan. Stan quietly pulled his brother to his feet and cautiously snuck him into the tall grass.
We all need to stop sneaking up on Essa, she's going to get a heart attack.
My blood pressure could already be bad. The doc said something about it being the effects of being zapped over and over.
She turned, picking up a nice, sturdy stick with which she planned to defend herself. The pounding feet drew nearer. She waited a moment, then swung the heavy stick. The stick collided with a meal frame and bounced off. N-81 stood before her, cocking his head with curiosity.
“Did I do something wrong?” he asked in a confused voice. Essa let out a sigh of relief.
“Geez Nate, you scared me, I thought you were a wolf.” N-81 drug forward a wooden sled, onto which another one of his shells was tied.
“I utilized one as a decoy. That should keep the wolves distracted for a few minutes.” Con emerged from the grass suddenly, making Essa scream and stumble backwards towards the cliff. N-81 caught her arm and pulled her back. “Please do not scream Essa. It will draw them to us.” Essa ran forward and caught Con in a tight hug. Sweetcrazy emerged from the grass, tailed by Stan. Andrew was nowhere in sight. Stan realized this, darting back into the grass.
“Stan no!” Con hissed.
***************
Andrew backed himself up until he hit a rock as he watched, paralyzed in terror, as three giant wolves tore apart his robotic companion. His breathing quickened and his heart skipped a beat as one of the wolves suddenly paused, perking its ears. The wolf sniffed the air and began to turn towards him. Suddenly, a figure dive tackled him, pinning him to the ground while keeping a firm hand over his mouth so he couldn’t scream. He struggled against his attacker, then noticed it was Stan. Stan quietly pulled his brother to his feet and cautiously snuck him into the tall grass.
We all need to stop sneaking up on Essa, she's going to get a heart attack.
Ah, she’ll be fine! *sneaks up behind Essa Kryze with a zap stick*
I think it suffered other damage, though. I was hanging with a bunch of quirky homeschool teens. 
LOL!! XD 
I'm not the only weird person in my town. ![[derp]](http://storage.proboards.com/6672327/images/YqNTPqyQUocVMYXZgUAI.png)
