Shattered

Furious was an understatement.

James yelled with exasperation in his voice, it was obvious he had been looking for him. But why? Wasn't the party still bumping? I mean he was just watching the...

Maxie looked around in stunned silence.

The lights were gone, and so was the music. The mass of people watching the fire bender had all scattered a long time ago. He was alone, standing aimlessly in a deserted gravel clearing. 

Coming to, he looked down at himself. He had lost his shirt somewhere along the way and was now standing in a hunched posture that looked extremely awkward for his figure. 

'What... happened?'

His memory had grown a bit spotty, with many parts seeming just outlandish. He would have loved to contemplate just how or when everything went so terribly wrong, but it would have to wait for now, because James was still standing in front of him, staring grimly. 

Coughing, he gathered himself and shuffled his feet in nervous apprehension. 

"We have to leave now before we get caught— and don't even think about doing anything stupid or you're dead. Jasmine's pulling up the car with everyone right now so we have to hurry." 

Before even getting a word in himself, James grabbed him by the hand and started walking with hurried steps. They had trekked pretty far to reach the venue so if they wanted to get back anytime soon they had to pick up the pace.

The duo weaved effortlessly through the bushes blocking their path with an uncanny precision. It was the same path they walked to get there, but Maxie suspected that James had traversed it more times than he had, which only served to worsen his already rapidly deflating ego.

'I should at least say sorry—'

Ducking under a large branch his pupils narrowed and his breath was suddenly caught in his throat. James and Maxie froze in their tracks because the two were now standing face to face with a blinding flashlight. The bright white flares streaked across his vision and obscured the figure behind, but the man's imposing silhouette gave him enough clues. Not at all influenced by the blue and red lights flashing in the distance behind the guy. No, not at all...

"RUN!"

Only giving him a second to process, James suddenly darted to the side, showing no signs of turning back to help his less-than-adept brother.

'Shit'

Still frozen in front of the officer's flashlight, Maxie darted in the opposite direction from James. 

"No wait!"

The man's stifled shout fell on deaf ears as both boys ran swiftly away, only a scattering of leaves left in their wake.

Maxie ran. He ran far, then even farther still. He didn't know where he was going or where he would even pop out on the other end, he just hoped it would be by civilization. There he would be able to rest and recuperate, enough at least to hopefully find the group.

God everything just went so wrong, and it was all his fault. 

Suppressing his quickly darkening thoughts he bit his lip and forced himself to focus on the matter at hand. Things were still a bit dizzying, but the weirdly vivid, swirling colors had dissipated at the very least. 

Looking behind him he didn't know where he was anymore, but at least he shook the officer off his tail. Letting out a triumphant chuckle at his novel feat he suddenly thought,

'Now what ?'

He was in the woods and could see the distant lights of civilization on the horizon, but his path was barred by a steep slope. Feeling like he was already on the verge of puking and in no mood to start climbing like Aaron might suggest, he decided he would find a way around, if not just find his way back the road and follow along the outskirts.

Catching his pained breaths he walked along the basin of the steep slope until he reached a slightly beaten tail that was unfamiliar. He assumed it was something for hikers or the sort and followed it for as far as he could, gaining valuable distance to the approaching lights and sounds of the city.

It felt like he had been walking forever, and while he had some experience in the wilderness due to the various camping trips he had been taken on when he was younger, the darkness had never felt this oppressive or haunting. He felt like prey waiting to be snatched up by some fearsome predator.

Crrck!

In front of him, something's foot crushed the dried leaves littering the ground.

The subtle sound wouldn't have attracted his attention in any other scenario, but not now. Whipping his head to look in the direction of the sound, his heart quickened at a frightening pace, thumping deafeningly through his chest. There, in front of him, barring his path forward like some demented bridge troll, was a pair of glowing green eyes looking back at him, reflecting the pale moonlight. Maxie cursed, his mind racing, formulating various scenarios where he escaped unharmed. 

'You have got to be kidding me.'

"Maxie...?" 

There was a long silence.

"Oh thank god!"

Letting out a sigh of relief he looked intently in the darkness to make out the obscured figure of James. It seemed that the trail he was following truly was one made by people. With his heart relieved from the insurmountable pressure of the unknown, he ran over to where James was standing and said quietly, out of breath,

"You really scared me you know—"

"Talk about it!"

Laughing, the two continued traversing the difficult path ahead of them, newly reunited.

Eventually the pair made it out of the basin, following the rough trail through the wilderness and into local park of sorts, nestled between a cul de sac of low slung houses and tall trees. 

Catching their breath, they both let out hearty laughs in tandem. Something about their wild and reckless escapades tonight struck a chord with the brothers, who were now helplessly sprawled out on the freshly cut green grass.

They were sitting together in a comfortable silence, each enjoying the others company without the need for words to dampen the mood. 

Maxie was idly stargazing, looking for the most notable constellations in the sky that he recognized.

'Thats the Big Dipper, and over there is Orion's Belt—'

Tracing the stars in the sky, his idle contemplation was unexpectedly cut short when the piece of sky he was observing suddenly rippled...

And shattered.