Chapter 4 - Hide and Seek Part 1

One day, Gavin and Courtney have once again gone into hiding in a house in the middle of nowhere, as they've recently escaped an encounter with the military in Centris Kingdom a few days ago. Courtney lays on the couch as she watches her boyfriend, Gavin, trying to do some exercises to try and get strong,

"15... 16... 17..."

Someone counts as Gavin counts his pushups while Courtney watches from the couch, eating chips as she cheers for her boyfriend,

"Go babe, you got this!"

Courtney cheers and chuckles, as she enjoys the sight of Gavin working out.

Gavin then finishes his pushups, as he quickly gets up and pumps himself up, shadow boxing the air a bit, before stopping and jumping straight onto the couch, sitting next to Courtney despite still being sweaty, as Courtney pulls him into her chest, sniffing him heavily as they cuddle,

"sighs contently What a wonderful time to be alive... excluding the fact that we've been on the run for a while now, of course."

Gavin says jokingly, chuckling a bit, as Courtney laughs at the little joke as well,

"Yeah, we just gotta deal with this life..."

She replies with a sigh, as the couple continues to cuddle closely on the couch.

The quiet, peaceful silence of their house, they then start to get a bit playful, as Gavin suddenly starts to tickle the defenseless Courtney, leading to a seemingly wholesome scene as they kiss, before going 0 to 100 as the scene gets heated quickly. Gavin pins Courtney down on the couch as their kiss gets more and more passionate, their hands now exploring each others' bodies as Courtney slowly takes off Gavin's shirt, as she pulls away from their kiss to take off hers,

"Oh, Gavin~"

Courtney lets out a soft moan as he does so.

The passionate love-making session gets even more heated as it goes on, with all of their love for each other put into each thrust, hands exploring each others' bodies, their tongues wrestling as they kiss, as soft, hot-breathed moans can also be heard, despite the loud creaking of the bed. These times are really the only times where Gavin is dominant over Courtney over something.

A few hours pass, and the couple finishes up, they lay on the couch as the TV plays their usual favorite, a high school rom-com love story as they lay next to each other, naked under the sheets, Courtney's head on Gavin's shoulder.

"sigh Well that was fun."

Gavin says with a soft chuckle as he plays with the tired Courtney's hair as she lays on his shoulder,

"Yeah, always is... And you keep getting better every time."

Courtney replies playfully with a chuckle, as her hands lay on Gavin's chest, playing with them in circles.

The couple continue to lay on the couch, cuddling, occasionally giving each other a soft kiss on the cheek or head,

"Hey, baby, I'm hungry."

Courtney says to Gavin as she feels her stomach rumble, as Gavin chuckles,

"Alright then, I'll go get some food."

Gavin says as he gets up, stretching a bit as he puts on a pair of underwear, before going to the kitchen and getting a bag of chips, along with some cold ones from the groceries earlier. He returns back to the couch as he hands her a can, while he opens the bag of chips, as they share the food in the relatively peaceful setting.

The sun sets as the night begins, the couple asleep as the TV stays on the whole time, Gavin in his underwear and an undershirt, and Courtney in one of Gavin's shirts, under a blanket on the soft, old couch, as only the sound of their breaths, a fan, and the TV can be heard.

Suddenly, the peaceful moment is ruined as a loud thundercrack can be heard outside, causing Courtney to instinctively get up and protect the both of them, as Gavin wakes up as well,

"Courtney, babe, what's going on, you alright?", he asks her as he tries to calm her down,

Courtney pants as she runs to the window and looks out, as the rain falls outside, she looks left and right through every window of the house, before sighing in relief as she notices nothing is up... Gavin then comes up behind her and gives her a warm, comforting hug by the waist as Courtney holds his hands, he gives her a soft kiss on the neck as he shushes her,

"Hey, just calm down, it's alright, it'll still be a while before they find a place like this..."

Gavin assures her as Courtney then faces towards him,

"Yeah, I know, you're right... But we can never be too prepared... We have to be prepared."

Courtney says with a worried look, as Gavin gently caresses her by the cheek and gives her a comforting smile, as they both then have a warm, gentle kiss, calming the tense Courtney as the rain continues to pour outside.

Meanwhile, in Centris Kingdom, it is in complete chaos, as the military is now breaking into everyone's houses, ravaging through them as they search for the criminal, with the people who try to stop them are then beaten to the ground or shot. Outside, a camp seems to be set up as soldiers continue to train or eat, the lava general sits in his tent, staring at his plan board while clenching his fists once again, an officer comes into his tent as he takes a deep breath,

"General, sir, the criminal doesn't seem to be in this location sir..."

The officer says as he gulps nervously, trembling a bit as he reports the news to the seemingly calm general.

The general turns around slowly to face the officer,

"I see... What was the last direction they said they were going to again?"

The general replies as he grabs his pack of cigarettes and lights one up,

"It was said that she flew somewhere in the northeast sir, she wasn't seen after they saw her leave."

The officer continues to report the information to the general as he stands there, praying in his mind that he survives.

The general then gets up, slowly making his way towards the officer, as the officer trembles even more in fear as the general passes by him, as he suddenly stops right beside him, patting his head,

"Good job, Officer Jacobs, thank you for the report."

The general says as he then walks out of the tent, as the officer takes a deep sigh of relief.

The general exits the tent, as he takes a few steps, looking around at the soldiers, who seem to be doing nothing but drinking and having fun, which triggers him a bit as his soldiers are just lazing around, but he calms down, taking a deep breath, as he proceeds to throw a lava projectile at his tent, trapping the officer inside and killing him, all to let go of some steam.

"WHAT ARE YOU MAGGOTS DOIN, GET BACK TO WORK OR TRAIN, OR WHATEVER SHITTY JOBS YOU ALL DO!"

The general shouts at all the soldiers as he releases his aura once again, causing all the soldiers nearby to shiver in fear and get up, immediately saluting him and greeting him,

"LAVA GENERAL!"

All the soldiers shouted in unison as they all got up and fixed themselves.

"SIR, UNDERSTOOD, SIR!"

They all continued to shout in unison, as they all went back to work.

The general then walks through the camp, watching everyone scatter around and doing some work as he does. He then exits the camp, going out to the town area where the soldiers are still searching, as he walked towards one of the supervisors. The supervisor smokes a cigarette as he suddenly notices the general walking up to him, causing him to panic as he drops his cigarette and saluted him,

"Lava general, sir! What is it, sir!"

He said as he stood nervously, sweating heavily as he looked face to face with the man,

"Call them all back, cancel the search, we're moving again"

The general says as he then immediately turns and walks away, as the supervisor rushed to call everyone back in.

All the soldiers then quickly packed up all of their things, their tents, and everything, as they all left in their jeeps and helicopters, while others stayed marching on towards the northeast, through the forest. They all eventually vanish to the darkness, leaving the entirety of Centris Kingdom in shambles, over 1,000-5,000 homes completely ravaged, with an estimated death count of 500 and over 3,000 injured and traumatized, all in a desperation to find one person.

A few hours after that incident, the sun slowly rises as the rain slowly dissipates, the couple has just awoken, Gavin quickly gets up and gets dressed, as Courtney gets up with a stretch and a yawn,

"yawn Good morning, Gavin..."

Courtney greets him with a tired smile as she stands up herself, walking towards the bathroom to shower,

"Good morning, babe."

Gavin replies as he goes to the kitchen, turning on the stove as he prepares to cook something to eat.

After a few minutes, Courtney exits the bathroom, going over to Gavin in her towel, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek while he finishes up the food,

"Alright, breakfast is ready!"

Gavin calls out to Courtney with a smile as he wipes off some sweat.

Courtney chuckles at the adorable sight, as she walks into another room,

"Alright, baby, I'll go change for a bit and I'll catch up with you."

Courtney replies as she then closes the door, as Gavin goes ahead and prepares their table for breakfast.

He then finishes up the meals, as he sits down and thinks, resting his head on his hand on the table as he thinks,

"I wonder what I'd be doing if I never..."

He thinks to himself as he then sighs, as Courtney exits the bedroom with some new clothes, she then sits next to Gavin as they both begin eating.

The peaceful moment continues to play as the sounds of birds chirping, and plates and utensils clanking can be heard, as the couple finish up both of their meals.

"satisfied sigh Ahh, that was delicious!"

Courtney praises her boyfriend's meal, as Gavin gets flustered and blushes a bit, playing with his fingers as Courtney holds onto his arm,

"T-thanks-"

Gavin replies shyly, when suddenly, another loud bang can be heard outside, causing the couple to be rattled,

"What was that!?"

Courtney says as Gavin gets up, walking slowly towards the window to check it out,

"Could it be another thunderbolt?"

Gavin wonders as he walks closer to the window, about to open the curtain,

"No? The rain ended hours ago…"

Courtney then senses something wrong, as she realizes before it's too late. She quickly jumps towards Gavin and pulls him down,

"Gavin, get down!"

She shouts as they both drop down on the floor, when suddenly, bullet fire is bursting through the window, destroying everything in the house.

The couple crawls around on the floor, heading towards the back door as they slowly get up, trying their best to avoid the enemy's sights,

"What the hell? How'd they find us so fast!?"

Gavin whispers to Courtney as she slowly opens the back door, Gavin goes ahead and checks, but gets pulled back by Courtney once again, sensing danger, as a sniper bullet gets fired, almost hitting Gavin in the head,

"Baby! Be careful..."

Courtney scolds Gavin a bit as he falls, making a sound and causing another rain of bullets to fire at them, causing the couple to fall to the ground once again,

"This makes no sense, this house should be completely hidden!"

Courtney wonders as she starts to get tense, Gavin then holds her hand to try and calm her down,

"Hey, relax, you're a strong woman, Courtney, literally... Meanwhile, I'm... kind of strong, b-but what matters is, we can both get through this somehow, like always."

Gavin says, trying to motivate Courtney and encourage her, as she nods in agreement and takes a deep breath,

"Yeah, you're right..."

Courtney replies as she motivates herself, trying to set her worried thoughts aside and focusing on getting her and her boyfriend out of there.

Suddenly, someone outside calls them through a megaphone,

"Whoever is in the house, please exit the house with your arms in the air! Do not bring any weapons, or we will fire, and any attempt of resistance or threat will not be tolerated."

The man says to the couple through the megaphone, as the couple slowly gets up, seeming to walk slowly towards the front door to exit the house.

The military stands outside the house, with the lava general standing right in front of the army, smoking a cigarette as he waits for them to come out, when suddenly, a bright red glow can be seen inside the house, blinding all the soldiers as the rooftop bursts, with Courtney in her Phoenix form, flying away into the sky.

This made the lava general pissed, as he released his aura, causing Courtney to be stunned and distorted a bit as she loses her balance, almost causing them to fall, making the lava general smile a bit.

When the general's aura reached Gavin and Courtney, Gavin also immediately falls unconscious, as Courtney manages to slowly get back up and continue flying away, pushing through the general's powerful aura attacking her. Seeing this pisses off the lava general even more, as he then signaled a command, shouting,

"EVERYONE, AIM AT THAT STUPID BIRD AND FIRE!"

The general yells angrily as the distorted soldiers all hold out their guns and aimed at the red bright dot in the bright blue sky, firing randomly, praying they hit something, while tanks and other artillery also aim and fire.

In the sky, Courtney and Gavin fly away, still distorted, but eventually, they manage to get far enough to where the general's aura release can't affect them as much anymore. Soon, Gavin manages to wake up, as he gets up, looking back as his eyes widen in fear as he looks at what's coming,

"Courtney, incoming!"

Gavin alerts Courtney, as she manages to fix her composure and sees it as well, she then begins trying to dodge every bullet and projectile, as Gavin holds on for his dear life.

The lava general watches in anger as he crashes out, throwing his cigarette on the floor before crushing it, as he then walks towards the house, jumping on top of it as he prepares an attack. His fist turns into a huge blob of lava as he charges it up.

"Take this!"

The man yells as he then launches it with full force. The lava projectile flies through the air at supersonic speed, breaking the sound barrier as it accurately flies towards the Phoenix.

Gavin once again sees this and alerts Courtney once again,

"Courtney, there's one more incoming... A huge, hot, lava one!"

He shouts, as Courtney realizes this, her heart dropping a bit at the description, as she quickly dodges, while Gavin once again holds on.

She turns to the side as she barely avoids it, grazing against her chest feathers as the lava projectile flies by, successfully ensuring their escape. The lava general watches from the ground as he throws a tantrum, jumping and stomping on the ground as he roars, echoing through the forest, while Gavin and Courtney soar through the sky, exhausted after barely and unknowingly escaping an encounter with the most powerful military leader in the world.

A few hours of flying later, they both manage to find another small city called Fallis City, a bustling town that looks similar to... Lavvendon Town, causing a sense of unease in Gavin. The couple lands as Courtney quickly untransforms, they both hide in an alleyway as they both quickly find some clothes and rags and disguise themselves.

They both then leave the alley as they begin to walk around, trying to act casual as they walk together. Courtney is currently trembling a bit as she gets tense once again, her eyes widening as her heart beats fast, she overthinks as to why there was even a lava projectile, and who was there... When suddenly,

"Hey, you alright?"

Gavin asks her, tapping her shoulder, causing her to snap back to reality as she flinches a bit,

"Oh, i-it's nothing..."

Courtney says nervously as she rubs her arms, trying to calm herself down, while Gavin only gets worried even more,

"Hey, it's alright, we already escaped them, alright? We have some time to ourselves for now..."

Gavin says reassuringly, as they both stop in the middle of the street, Gavin makes her look at him as they gaze into each other's eyes. Gavin gives her a reassuring look as he holds her hand and plants a soft kiss on one of her hands.

"Just relax, we'll make it through this... How about we go on a quick... y'know... date, and we'll get out of here."

Gavin says with a smile, hoping to comfort Courtney,

"I-I don't know if we should even stay here for long..."

Courtney says as she looks around, worried for what could happen,

"It's okay, just trust me okay? 30 minutes, then we'll go, I promise."

Gavin says reassuringly, as he stares into her eyes.

Courtney just sighs, finally surrendering to Gavin's reassuring tone and persuasive behavior, as she smiles warmly,

"Alright then, let's have some fun while we can..."

She says as she holds Gavin's hand tightly, as they both go ahead and walk around town.

Meanwhile, a few hundred miles away, the entire army was moving full throttle towards the direction where they headed, it turned out they immediately started moving as soon as the couple left their sights, chasing after them. The general sits in a jeep as he sits there and thinks, glaring into the void as his thoughts are only filled with rage and revenge on them for escaping him.