9. Cornered

Yuri was on his feet, sword drawn, moments after the crunch of frozen grass outside their tent had pulled him abruptly into wakefulness. He worked muscles made stiff by a night spent on the thin travel pallet, eyes adjusting to the gray light of early morning that seeped through the walls of the enclosure, accompanying a misty chill in the air. The footsteps sounded closer.

Nearby, Flynn had awoken as well and rolled over, reaching for his own blade. He rose and stood next to Yuri, who failed to suppress a snort of amusement as he noted the familiar way that some of the feathery layers of Flynn's blond hair stuck up in the back and around his ears. His friend caught the look and scowled, running his free hand over the rebellious strands in an attempt to tame them. Without a mirror, he only made it worse. On any other occasion Yuri would have teased him about it, but he settled for a fleeting smirk before returning his focus to the situation.

"Stay down," he hissed over his shoulder, but Lucas was still wrapped in his blankets. It was easy to forget that not everyone slept so lightly, attuned to the slightest hint of danger as the two men were.

An indistinct form cast its shadow on the tent's dark green fabric. Yuri thrust his left arm forward as the tent flap was pulled back, placing the tip of the sword directly in the way of any who would enter.

"Oh, my. How scary." The Krityan's hand flew to her chest in a gesture of terror, but she was smiling.

Yuri exhaled, letting his arm fall and relax. "Judy."

"Expecting someone else?" Her tone, as usual, was light and playful.

The dark-haired man shook his head, returning the smile. "Not at all. I think we're just on edge right now." He made a vague gesture that was somehow meant to sum up the past few days, then sighed when he realized that Judy had no idea what he was talking about.

"I see." Her eyes slid past Yuri and rested first on Flynn, then Lucas—who had finally lifted his head and was staring at the trio blearily. "Picked up more strays, have you?"

Flynn opened his mouth as if he were about to object to that description, but was cut off by a sharp bark from Repede. The dog, apparently following Judy, slunk around her and into the tent.

"Maybe we need to go over what being on watch means," said Yuri, placing a hand on his hip. Repede flicked an ear back, body language clearly communicating that it was foolish to expect him to warn Yuri about their friend's arrival—couldn't he smell her?

A little while later, Yuri was cooking breakfast and filling Judy in on everything that had happened in his short visit. Flynn and Lucas packed away the tent and other supplies before joining them for what ended up being a fairly spartan meal: eggs, some bread and butter, boiled stream water. Even so, Lucas exclaimed over how good it tasted—but what was with that oddly conspiratory look he shot over at Flynn, and the slight nod he received in return?

Judy remained fairly quiet through the explanation, but those who knew her would register surprise and deep concern in her demeanor. She went very still as Flynn provided first-hand details about the meeting room explosion, and sorrow filled her eyes as Yuri spoke of Noran's decree. Without making a conscious decision to do so, he glossed over Flynn's reaction to the news, and saw the tension drain from the other man's face. It hurt, a little, that his friend would even worry that he'd tell anyone about that. It wasn't like he was that unpredictable. Not when it mattered, anyway.

As they recounted their infiltration into the extremist meeting place, Lucas squirmed a bit, but Yuri was quick to emphasize the vital information that the youth had provided. The teen had another reason to squirm, though, as the Krityan regarded him with great interest.

"He could be very useful," she mused. The statement was so quiet that it seemed to be more to herself than anyone else. "So. We have the extremists to deal with, as well."

"Yeah, as if guild business isn't bad enough on its own," said Yuri, shaking his head. "How's our Cap'n doing, anyway?"

Judy's lips curved upward. "The same."

"That bad, huh? Man. I tried to tell him I was leaving, but he was running around HQ like some kind of…"

"Recently decapitated avian?"

Yuri laughed at the all-too-appropriate image. "Exactly. Couldn't get him to slow down long enough to listen."

Judy set her empty plate on the ground and rose to her feet. She brought a hand up to her face and nodded after a moment.

"Okay, we'll be ready." She didn't have to say it out loud, Yuri knew—it was purely for their benefit, those not fortunate enough to be born with the ability to speak telepathically with the Entelexeia. In the distance, he could hear Ba'ul's warbling cry as he flew toward them, a multi-colored blur streaking through the sky.

"What," said Lucas, "is that?" And Yuri wondered where he should begin.


As he leaned against the ship's railing, Yuri thought that there really was nothing like flying. He closed his eyes and let the refreshing sensation wash over him. The wind whipped his hair in every direction, faintly carrying a salty tang from the ocean far below. Ba'ul threw a kind of half-shade on the deck, making it even colder to stand there, but Yuri vastly preferred it to traveling in the cramped quarters in the belly of the ship. When he had last seen them, Flynn and Judy had been about to start a friendly card game—the Krityan casually suggested they play for gald, but a quick shake of Yuri's head over her shoulder had been sufficient warning for Flynn to become skeptical of her modest claims of skill.

At the ship's bow, Repede had apparently taken a liking to Lucas, allowing the boy to sit next to him companionably and carry on one of those not entirely one-sided conversations that Yuri often had with the canine. Though he'd known Repede since he was a pup, it remained a mystery to him as to which individuals he'd deign to acknowledge, and which he would shun. Like Estelle, for example. Despite her best efforts, the princess still failed to connect with him. Sometimes Yuri suspected that Repede found it amusing to thwart her enthusiastic attempts to become his friend. He also suspected that the warrior dog was actually very fond of her. It was, after all, nearly impossible not to be.

From where he stood, Yuri could hear but not see the door creak open. Flynn emerged from below, walking a little unsteadily toward the railing at the stern. Though from this distance he couldn't be sure, Yuri thought his friend looked a little nauseated. In his travels as a knight, he had probably become accustomed to the rhythmic sway of a ship on water, but the way that Ba'ul moved was different—rising and falling sinuously, like the whale he resembled. It couldn't be helpful that the boat swung wildly whenever the Entelexeia changed direction.

Flynn folded his arms atop the rail, eyes fixed on some point on the horizon. He was looking southeast, toward Zaphias, Yuri realized. Maybe the miserable expression on his face wasn't just nausea, then. The wind mussed Flynn's hair, rippled the fabric of his button-down shirt—like the one that had been torn while fighting the boar, but a different color, maybe. It wasn't like Yuri was keeping track of these things. He sighed, then stiffened when he realized that Judy had somehow materialized next to him while he wasn't paying attention.

"Still persisting in your little game of self-denial, I see."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Hmm. I'm sure," she said breezily, bracing her arms and leaning out a bit over the railing.

Considering the season, more skin was covered than was typical with the Krityan woman, but a significant amount of cleavage still lay bare above the scooping neck of her garment. Yuri noted it, could appreciate it on some level, but his gaze slid away after a fraction of a second without thinking much more about it. He and Judy weren't like that, despite the flirtatious banter they easily slipped into from time to time.

"Estelle is doing well, then?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah." He paused, then shook his head, chuckling. "She seems really happy. I guess she met this guy, and—"

"Ooh, that must be the boyfriend she was telling me about. Tor? He sounds cute."

Yuri just looked at her, incredulous. "Am I seriously the last person to know about this?"

Laughter bubbled from Judy's throat, light and musical, and she patted Yuri's hand consolingly. "Don't take it too hard, now. At least she did tell you."

"But she didn't," he muttered, frowning a bit. Judy tilted her head curiously, but didn't press any further. Instead, she turned toward the back of the boat again. Flynn was still standing there looking, if anything, more despondent than before.

"It's really too bad," she said, softly. "This must be hard on him." Yuri made a vague sound of agreement, shifting uncomfortably when she didn't speak again. Instead, she just kept staring at him, then at Flynn, as if expecting something.

"What?" The word snapped more than he'd intended.

"I see," said Judy. "I wonder, though, if you do." She slid away from the railing, and shortly after Yuri heard the door click shut. He turned, stared down into the deep blue water, annoyed not with her, but himself.


Winter didn't mean much in the tropical region where Dahngrest was located. It was a little less muggy, the air not quite as heavy, but still warm enough to make coats and gloves unnecessary. As usual, billowing clouds darkened the sky, threatening a downpour at any second. Having left Ba'ul outside of town, the group walked across the long bridge that entered the bustling city.

Though at Brave Vesperia's founding they had agreed that there was no reason the guild must be located in Dahngrest, the convenience of being in the same city as most of the older, more established guilds was too attractive to pass up. However, Yuri wasn't convinced that they would ever move their headquarters elsewhere without a very compelling reason to do so. The truth was that both Karol and Raven loved the city that they considered their hometown, and Yuri had to admit a growing attachment to it himself. The combination of rough edges and vibrant spirit reminded him a little of the Lower Quarter where he had grown up, and the most interesting sorts of people seemed to gravitate there.

As soon as they approached the intersection that led to guild headquarters, it became clear that something was wrong. Men and women dressed in a variety of armor bunched together in a rough circle, shouting and jostling each other. Some brandished weapons, many others only clutching at sheathed swords and axes—this was a conflict that could easily turn violent. Yuri immediately shouldered into the crowd, with Judy not far behind him. A voice rose above the others, tinged with desperation as it attempted to reason with the masses.

"C'mon, don't be like this. Harry's doin' the best he can—it's just for the time being. Over before ya know it. Won't even notice 'em, I promise."

"Like hell we won't!" A gruff voice blasted at Yuri's left, and murmurs of angry agreement rippled around him. "Whitehorse's got to be rolling in his grave right now with what you're suggesting. Cooperation. Bah!" He had more than a few choice words to describe how he felt about the Empire, during which Yuri and Judy slipped past the last few people into the inner circle. In the center of it all, Raven grimaced out at all the people set against him, arms crossed. He brightened noticeably, though, when he spotted the pair making their way toward him.

"Judith, darlin'. You're a welcome sight for this old man's eyes. Ya gotta help me out here."

"Oh? You seem to be handling it alright." Characteristically unperturbed, she clasped her arms behind her back and smiled at him without guile.

"Are you kidding me? They're about ta eat me alive." He scrubbed at the back of his head in a nervous gesture. It did seem that the aggressors surged forward a little more than they had before. "And Yuri, why're you back already?"

"Well," he started, but Flynn had appeared by his side and Raven seemed about to jump out of his skin.

"What'dja bring him along for?" he moaned, adding "not in his armor, at least" under his breath.

"Isn't that what you wanted? Anyway, I didn't exactly plan it like this. It's kind of a long story." Raven gave him an impatient, panicked look that implied something like 'save it for when we don't have a horde of angry, armed guild members breathing down our necks.' He shrugged, and the former knight captain returned to his attempts at mediation—with Judy jumping in as well, despite what she had said.

"What's going on, Yuri." Flynn narrowed his eyes, apparently not pleased with this display of unrest. It wasn't the way the conversation was supposed to happen, but Yuri steeled himself for it anyway.

"Yeah, I meant to tell you. Remember, in the castle, when I asked if you wanted to know what I was doing there? This is it." His hand swept to take in the situation.

"I don't understand."

"I was supposed to be asking for your help, Flynn. As Commandant. With so many of the guild members helping to protect the other cities now that the barriers are gone, we've spread ourselves too thin. Harry thought that we could get some knights to help out, to fill our numbers a bit."

Flynn's eyebrows shot up.

"Yeah, I know. The guilds tend to go out of their way to avoid entanglement with the Empire. Especially within the city itself. So Harry tried to emphasize that the knights would be placed outside the walls, but there's been a lot of concern that once there's a foothold here..." Yuri trailed off, thinking of Noran and others like him on the Council. His friend nodded.

"That makes sense. I'm to understand they sent you because of your personal connection to me, then."

"Something like that. Were they wrong?"

Flynn seemed to consider for a moment, then shook his head.

"No. Besides, it is in the Empire's interest that Dahngrest not be overrun. Power struggles aside, I would have authorized it." His brow furrowed, and Yuri knew what he was probably thinking about. "Sodia would, too," he added, a bit reluctantly.

Yuri wasn't sure what had been said to defuse the situation, if anything specific had done it at all, but the crowd began to dissipate until the last few individuals drifted away, muttering to themselves and throwing dirty looks over their shoulders. After speaking quietly with Judy for a moment, Raven strode over to the two men, looking both mentally and physically exhausted. How long had he been holding that mob back, anyway?

"We should get back ta headquarters," he said. "I've got this funny feelin' you've got somethin' to tell me, and I'm not gonna like it."


A/N: Well, as you can see, I'm back! Sorry for the extra week's delay; the day before my return flight, I started coming down with a cold. By the time I got home, I was feeling awful and was completely out of commission for a while. Anyway, my vacation was fun, but I'll admit it was frustrating to see my story keep slipping down the page and not be able to do anything about it. Haha. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

(Sorry there aren't a lot of Yuri & Flynn moments in this one, some people have mentioned wanting more of that, but they are definitely on their way very soon. Have to balance the plot with the relationship development, and all. Even this chapter has hints of it—they're just flickers instead of flashing neon signs. :) )