The tribute chapter 16.

By X

Now Edge was acting strangely too. He had gone off looking for a deer or a lynx to eat, and had come back with a half rotted crow and a blank face. He had started hiding his eyes with his hair, just like Darling was. They travelled a shorter distance that day. Darling and Edge were walking slower than usual, and creepily, they matched each others footsteps exactly. When they were reaching the end of the deeper forest, there were more rivers, so log crossing was a must. Normally, they all helped each other down, but only Emerald accepted Isle's hand when it was offered. The other two just jumped down, stiff and robotic. Eventually, Isle just stopped offering his hand. They set up camp for the night, on a small island between two rivers. Once they had out out the fire, and settled down to sleep, Emerald stayed awake. For some reason, the usually comforting sounds of crickets, leaves and moving water were keeping him up. He figured the way his friends had been acting had unsettled him. Emerald wondered if they were playing a prank. When midnight came and went, and Emerald still wasn't asleep, he sat up and walked a few laps around the island. When he came back to the sleeping area, Edge and Darling were glowing. Not like beautiful, but releasing a purple illuminessence from their necks. He rubbed his eyes, and looked back at them. The glow was gone.