Chapter 8: Unexpected Vacation
"Finally, a chance to rejoin civilization..." Tear muttered under her breath as she entered the city. Teodoro had finally let up on the work a bit and allowed her to spend a day and night in the nearest city, which was Grand Chokmah. Looking around on the restful sight of the waterfalls in the morning light, Tear felt better already.
"Maybe after I have a break, I can actually start finding things when I go out on these missions. Or at least have a good meal or two." With this thought in mind, she headed towards the nearest restaurant.
In a short amount of time, Tear sat at a little table outside, enjoying a salad and some sort of chicken dish. It had taken some time to walk there from Theor Forest, and now it was closer to lunch than breakfast. However, the hearty meal she had ordered was making up for her missed breakfast. Savoring the taste of fresh vegetables again, she didn't notice when someone she knew walked by.
But she did turn her head when she heard her name called.
"Tear! What are you doing here?" It was Guy, standing on the sidewalk smiling... with a rappig on a leash behind him.
"Oh... Guy... how nice to see you," Tear responded after swallowing what was in her mouth. "I didn't know I'd be here myself, until this morning."
"Teodoro's orders again?" he queried, and Tear nodded as she took another bite of her salad. "He's got you on a pretty short leash, huh?"
"Quite. Shorter than the leash on your pet there, actually," and Tear nodded at the rappig, who was indeed on a fairly long leash which Guy was holding as far away from himself as possible.
Guy looked indignant. "Hey, it's not my rappig! It's the emperor's, and you know it!"
"Of course I do. I'm just happy to see you, so I can't help teasing," Tear responded, and reached over to pat the rappig's head. Judging by the collar, it was the one Emperor Peony had named Aslan, after General Frings.
"Just don't start getting like Jade, please," Guy begged her. "One's enough, especially when my work with His Majesty forces me to put up with him almost every day."
Tear laughed a little. "That reminds me- if you're back, you must have found all the rappigs somehow."
"Yeah, but it wasn't easy. We found most of them quick enough, but two of them decided to be stubborn and weren't found until yesterday."
"Which two? I suppose Luke was one of them." Tear had a mental image of Rappig Luke hiding in some bushes somewhere in the city, with a rappig's grin on its face. This made her laugh again, naturally.
"No, surprisingly enough, since Luke loves hide and seek so much. Actually, it was Saphir and Nephry who were missing the longest." Guy took on a sly look.
"Hm, what an odd combination," mused Tear.
"Don't tell Jade, he'll probably strangle the emperor for letting the rappig named after his sister be alone with the rappig named after Dist."
"I won't say anything, even though I find that to be a bit ridiculous." Tear finished her salad and started on the chicken.
"So, putting all that aside, how are you doing?" Guy asked her. "You're eating as if you've been fasting for a week." Tear glared at him, and he quickly backed off. "Hey, it was a joke! D-don't do anything hasty!"
She pretended to think. "I'll let it slide today. But you really should stop and think about what you're going to say before you say it."
"I'll remember that... but seriously, how are you? You do look tired."
"Well, what do you expect when your grandfather makes you run errands all over the world?" Tear shot back at him.
"I just wish he'd let someone help you. Whatever you're doing, it seems like it's too much for one person to do alone." Now Guy looked concerned.
Tear put down her fork. "Not exactly... it's only the endless traveling that's getting to me. I'm fine, I promise."
Guy looked at her closely, seemingly unaware of what Rappig Aslan was doing. "You know... Luke's more worried about you than you think."
"What?" Tear looked up, flustered. "I mean... did I say I wanted him to worry?"
"No, but it looked like maybe that's what was bothering you. I figured you might be upset about what he said yesterday, before he left the message room." Guy walked around the fence, dragging the rappig with him, and sat down opposite Tear at the table. "Tear, Luke has a lot to worry about, with this whole blowup about the replicas. The Replica Resistance Force has been doing real damage, and Natalia can't keep it all quiet. Luke's afraid that his family could be in danger since they associate with him, a replica."
Tear was speechless for a moment. "That... that's just wrong!"
"I know, and so does Natalia. But if these riots keep up, more and more people may side against the replicas, and Luke really might be in danger. All that, plus worrying about where you are every night, probably wears him out." Now Guy looked serious. "Don't give up on him, Tear. You may not be able to be with him right now, but he needs you. As long as Luke knows you still care, I think he'll be okay."
"...Really? You really think that he... he cares that much?"
"I've known him a long time. I think it's pretty obvious." Guy stood up. "Well, I need to finish this guy's walk. How long are you in town?"
"Oh, just for the day." Tear was trying to recollect her scattered mind after what Guy had told her about Luke.
"Why don't you stop by Jade's office later on, then?" Guy suggested. "He might be able to bring you up to date on what's been happening with the Replica Resistance Force. If Teodoro doesn't already know about it, you should let him know. Jade won't discuss it in the message room yet- he doesn't want everyone panicking."
"I'll do that. It was good seeing you again... and thank you," Tear replied, smiling a little.
"Anytime," Guy promised as the rappig began dragging him down the sidewalk. "Hey there! Slow down! I don't feel like chasing any more rappigs right now!"
Tear laughed until he was out of sight.
As the nightly chat was going on, after Tear had settled her things in her room at the inn, she headed over to Jade's office. She had sent him a message earlier, so he was expecting her when she arrived on his doorstep.
"Good evening, Colonel," she greeted him as he closed the door behind her. "I trust you've been well?"
"As well as anyone can be after being plagued by such a nuisance," was his sarcastic reply.
"Dist again?"
"Indeed. He seems on the verge of telling me something important, but I'm quite sure I have no desire to know what it is." Jade adjusted his glasses as he led Tear to a chair in his office.
Tear, for once, knew more than she let on, for she'd had one or two conversations with Dist over the fonnet since the Festival of Lorelei. So she knew very well what Jade was talking about, but wisely decided to keep her lips sealed. Just because Dist had decided (for whatever odd reason) to take her into his confidence, didn't mean she had to get in the middle of the Jade vs. Dist duel.
"So, what is it you wanted to discuss?" Jade questioned as he sat down at his desk.
"This whole thing with the Replica Resistance Force- what exactly have they been doing? Guy told me earlier that Natalia's been trying to keep some of the matters hushed. But he thinks Teodoro should know about everything."
"That's a good point... I think," Jade said in that offhand manner of his. "You already know that St. Binah was openly attacked, and since then there have been several small riots both inside and outside of that area. Nothing's been reported in Baticul yet, which is probably why Natalia is trying to keep the news discreet. But there was another, more serious incident yesterday."
"What now?" Tear could only begin to imagine what these insane people had done.
"A citizen of St. Binah who had been working to help the replicas was abducted and taken to Shurrey Hill. The leader of the Replica Resistance Force didn't hold him for long, for he was found early this morning in Kaitzur. But he reported that he had been threatened with death if he continued to help replicas. He's been taken into protective custody in Kaitzur for the time being." Jade said all this calmly, watching Tear's face for her reaction.
For a moment, she couldn't find her voice. Apparently this crazy mob was serious. "Who... who's leading this group?"
"We don't know. The victim reported that the leader concealed himself and used some type of fon machine to disguise his voice. I suppose he thought ahead to take precautions lest someone be able to identify him."
Tear's words came slowly. "Do you think... these people, could they... attack Baticul?"
Jade tapped his fingers on the desk. "I find that highly unlikely at this point. They're causing trouble, but they don't have a strong enough force to openly attack a city like Baticul. Why, are you worried about Luke?"
Indeed, she was worried, so she could only nod instead of retorting with harsh words as she usually did when Jade referred to her relationship with Luke.
"Luke's conduct is what's worrying me more than the idea that he might be attacked by this group," Jade said after a moment. "The way he's going, he'll go out of his way to protect his family from this threat if it does come to Baticul. Either that, or he'll go into hiding to draw attention away from his parents."
"You... you really think he'd do that?" Tear looked up in alarm.
"Of course. He tends to do things before he thinks of their consequences later."
"Colonel, how could you? We need to put Akzeriuth behind us!"
"Goodness, I wasn't talking about Akzeriuth at all. I merely meant that Luke certainly wasn't thinking about what might happen if he started such a relationship with you."
Tear jumped up from her chair. "How could you say such a thing?"
Jade only looked amused at her outburst. "Well, am I wrong? I believe this crisis, combined with the fact that your grandfather may not want you with Luke, will make your relationship harder to keep going."
Sitting back down, Tear gulped back a lump in her throat. As always, Jade was right. And he always knew more than was good for him, as well. Maybe he already knew what Dist had told her. At this point, it wouldn't be surprising.
"Now that we have that business out of the way, shouldn't you be getting some rest?" Jade asked her, pulling off his glasses and cleaning them with a handkerchief.
Tear sighed. "Yes... I'm sure Grandfather will have something for me to do in the morning. And it will be a nice change to sleep in a bed for once."
"Have a good evening, then," replied Jade as she rose from her chair again. "And before you go... don't wear yourself out doing Teodoro's bidding."
"What, now you're worrying about me? That's not like you, Colonel." Tear smiled a little.
"Don't get like Anise now." Jade replaced his glasses and looked at her sideways. "I just have a feeling you'll be needed for something more important soon, and you won't be able to comply if you're too tired to run."
Tear blinked, but couldn't think of anything to say, so she bid Jade good night and left. On the walk back to the hotel, she thought about his last words over and over. What did Jade know now?
Luke... I know this is hard for you.
It's hard for me, too. But stay strong. Keep fighting your demons,
and I'll do the same. Hopefully soon, we can fight them together...
Ok, a scheduled update! Hopefully I can keep this up for a while. Things are finally starting to heat up in this chapter- everything but Luke and Tear's relationship. Do they even have one anymore? I hope so... this fic needs more fluff. We can only hope. Please keep the reviews coming- they keep Peony's rappigs from escaping again!
(By the way, I wonder just what SaphirRappig and NephryRappig were up to... hm...)
