The Land Runners made room for Carson in their circle as he approached, Malia leaning forward to watch as he dropped the arrow onto the table. She carefully picked up the piece of cloth, running her fingers over the words. She looked back up to Carson, kicking her eyes with his, furrowing her eyebrows. She didn’t understand who would’ve written this, her only suspect would be the huntsmen, but she definitely didn’t want Carson to go out there alone. As the other Runners glanced around, muttering to one another, she cleared her throat.<br/><br/>“Like Carson said, we’ve been planning to go and check some things out before the skull group went and began to wipe us out. We’re still going, Luke will be Lead but...” She looked to Luke, holding his gaze for a moment before he nodded. “...but if this issue becomes too prevalent, too dangerously close to us, we need to consider going public.”<br/><br/>There were whispers of rejection, but she shook her head. “Understand this, if we end up in the center of this, we need our walls to be completely intact. No holes or secret entrances, we would have to make the only entrance the front entrance. And with that, we can’t get in and out without the guards noticing, so we may just...have to tell them.”<br/><br/>The Runners bowed their heads in thought, but ultimately they realized she was right. “Yeah, Okay, but that’s last minute options.” One piped up.<br/><br/>“Yeah, definitely. But for now, let’s just let the counsel know what we think and then Luke and I will talk some more, let’s just feel it out and up our defenses for now.” She dismissed them and they left the table, walking out of the house. All but Luke left, he stayed a moment longer.<br/><br/>“So, you’re leaving?” He looked over to her, glancing back to Carson.<br/><br/>“Yeah,” she gave him a smile, reaching over and squeezing his arm. “You’ve got this though, trust me.” She glanced to Carson, her eyes warming towards him.<br/><br/>“Okay,” He sighed, nodding. “But if you don’t come back alive, I’ll kill you.” He smirked, drawing a laugh from her lips. She nodded in agreement, reaching over and hugging him tightly. After a moment he waved to Carson before stepping away, turning his back to them and stepping out the door, leaving her and Carson alone. She sighed, running a hand down her face before she turned to him. Walking over, she wrapped her arm around his back, standing on her tiptoes and pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. “Im sorry, that wasn’t exactly the warmest welcome, they’re just stressed.” Malia attempted to defend her friend’s behaviors, rubbing his side. “Who do you think wrote this, are you going to go?” She looked to him curiously. “Let me come with you.” She suggested