Chapter 4
Jade explored the northern side of Werites Beacon. As he spotted the bandits' camp in front of the lighthouse, curiosity got the better of him, and he went over to take a look.
"Hey!" Moses got up to greet him. "Didja come to see our camp?"
"This is your camp? In the middle of a city?" Jade asked. "Fascinating."
"Yeah, this camp is for me an' my boys. Every now and then, Jay camps here, too."
Upon hearing his name, Jay came out of Moses' tent and walked over to him. "Moses, you just can't tell the difference between a subject to talk about and a subject to keep to yourself, can you?"
"Ah, Jay, you're just the person I'm looking for," Jade said, holding out the white sack. "I want you to put this on."
Jay eyed him suspiciously as he took the sack. Reaching in, he pulled out a uniform identical to Jade's.
"You want me to wear this?" Jay asked in disbelief.
Now I know why he measured my bodily dimensions, he thought.
"That's right," Jade replied.
Jay stuffed the clothes back into the sack and dropped it in front of him. "I refuse."
Jade stepped forward. "Now Jay, are you going to put on the uniform, or do I have to?"
Jay shrank back, as he certainly didn't want to be manually dressed by someone else. "Oh...f-fine!" he stammered.
Picking up the sack, he went back into Moses' tent. Seconds later, Csaba flew out of the tent, flying about twenty feet before crashing into the grass.
"Oww..." Csaba grumbled, picking himself up.
"Csaba! You okay?" Moses asked.
"I'm fine," Csaba replied. "But what's with Jay?"
"He needs to change clothes," Moses told him.
Csaba looked up at Jade. "Is this a new friend?"
"This is Jade Curtiss. Jade, this is my boy Csaba."
"Your 'boy'?" Jade asked. "You sure have a lot of boys here. Are you some kind of homosexual?"
"Well..." Moses scratched his head. He'd never thought about his sexuality, but he knew that he loved his bandit boys, and he loved Jay. Yet he struggled to think of a woman that he liked. But then the answer hit him. "Well, I like Grune's boobs."
"Ha...I see..." Jade chuckled.
Jay emerged from the tent, now clothed in Jade's uniform. He walked over to Moses and Jade, not even looking up at them. His face showed a great deal of discontent.
"Whoa, Jay...you look just like Jade!" Moses exclaimed.
"Not quite..." Jade said. "There should've been a pair of glasses in that bundle."
Jay reached into the sack and pulled out a pair of glasses. "You mean these? If I put these on, they'll ruin my eyesight."
"Those are fake glasses," Jade told him. "I just added them for looks. So put them on."
"Grrr..." Jay growled as he reluctantly put on the glasses.
"There. Now, let's go."
"What? Go where?"
Jade stopped. "Hmm, that's a good question. Moses, will you help me?"
"Sure," Moses said. "What'cha need?"
"You know more about the Legacy than I do. Are there any secluded forests around here?"
"There's the Forest of No Return," Moses said. "It's a natural maze, but I know it like the back of my hand. My boys and I used to live there, until the Terrors went and wrecked it."
"What a pity. Well, let's go there, shall we?"
"What...what are you...?" Jay stammered.
"Now, now, come along, little urchin," Jade told him.
"Damn it..." Jay growled under his breath as he reluctantly followed the Colonel down the path, along with the red-haired bandit.
--
After their walk around the city, Senel, Norma, and Natalia returned to Musette's house. There, they found the rest of both parties sitting at the table.
"Oh good, everyone's here," Senel said.
"Not quite," Norma said. "I don't see Red and JJ."
"I saw them leaving the city," Shirley said.
"Aww, are they getting their freak on again?"
"No...they were with Jade."
"Whoa...so Snake is gonna be a spectator!"
"All right, enough of that," Senel said. "Natalia, this is...almost everybody – Chloe, Shirley, Will, and Grune."
"It's nice to meet you all," Natalia said. "I'm sorry to have troubled you yesterday."
"It's a knight's duty to aid those in need," Chloe said. "You need not feel obliged."
Natalia looked at her. "A knight? Well, you certainly have the manner of a knight. I'm impressed."
"So what should we do today?" Norma asked. "We've already shown Natalie around the city."
"Well, we could show them the Quiet Lands," Shirley suggested.
"That's a good idea," Senel said.
"The 'Quiet Lands'?" Luke asked.
"It's so peaceful down there," Chloe told him. "It has the quietest sea that we've ever seen."
"Sounds good to me," Guy said.
"You're gonna love it!" Norma bragged. "It's got a sandy beach down there, we can play some volleyball..."
"Well, we didn't bring any bathing suits," Tear said.
"Don't worry; we can just buy some from the shop," Norma said.
"We didn't bring any money either," Natalia said.
The entire room stopped as Norma gave her an odd look. "You really are on vacation, aren't you?"
Natalia glared back at her. "Is that an insult?"
Norma batted her eyes. "N-No, of course not!"
Anise seized Natalia's arm. "You mean to tell me that we left home...without money??"
"Everyone, calm down," Will said. "We'll provide the bathing suits, and anything else you need during your stay here."
"Wow, thanks!" Luke said. "You guys are the best!"
"Then let's go! Charge!" Norma yelled.
"Charge!" Grune called in her offbeat cheerful voice.
Guy slowly turned around to see Grune standing behind him. "Gwaaaahh!!" He jumped away from her, then fled from the house.
Norma scratched her head. "Wow, he really is afraid of girls..."
Anise looked up at Grune. "I don't know, her knockers are kinda scary..."
Grune returned the look. "Oh, you poor thing, Anise..."
The door opened again, and Guy poked his head in. "So, are we leaving or not?"
"Yes," Will replied. "Let's go, everyone."
The group nodded in agreement as they left the house.
--
Right outside the Forest of No Return, Moses and Jade had positioned Jay in between two trees, chaining his arms to either one.
"Um...is this really necessary?" Jay asked.
"I hear that you're the tricky one, so we're just making sure that you stay put," Jade replied as he finished fastening Jay's arm to the tree. "Moses, are you ready?"
Moses fastened Jay's other arm to the other tree. "Yup, ready when you are."
When they backed off to admire their work, Jay tugged on the chains, but could not free himself. Jade pulled out two small CD cases.
"Now, these contain some very important data," he said, shoving them into Jay's pocket. "It simply won't do to lose them."
"Then why are you giving them to me?"
"Because I'm on vacation." Jade stuffed the cases into the pocket until they were out of sight, then stepped back again. "Hmm...something's still not right. Ah, I know..."
Stepping up to Jay again, Jade took down his ponytail, straightening out his hair. "There, now it's perfect."
Jay gave him an icy glare. "I don't like you."
"Well, that's too bad. Let's go, Moses."
"Wait!" Jay cried. "How long do you plan to leave me out here?"
"Oh, I'm sure someone will come to free you eventually..."
"You...you can't be serious..."
"Now, try not to pull a muscle, little urchin," Jade called as he began to leave, with Moses in tow.
"Don't hang out too long now," Moses added.
As they disappeared within the duct, Jay began to pull on his chains, becoming more upset by the minute. After a moment, he gave up.
All right... he thought. I officially hate that guy...
