Chapter 41

'First things first, we need an airtight form of transport.' Jaye leant quietly against a nearby pillar, prodding at a nearby seagull. Kamina swatted his hand away, shooing the bird off.

'No shit sherlock.' He said, crossing his arms. 'That's why we're here.'

The trio were currently at the pier leading out of Patch. Jaye scouted the ship captains quietly, assessing them in turn.

'I don't think many of them would be very open to transporting people like us.' He said, and Kamina crossed his arms.

'I still don't see why we can't just take a commercial vessel.' He said, picking at his claws. 'No one's gonna follow some trail out of a rickety pier like this just because we paid for tickets.'

'We can't take the chance.' Jaye shook his head. 'Someone could have followed us to Patch, so we should be careful no one notices where we could be going. Boarding a ship bound for Mistral is like sending up a "come kill me" flare.'

'And like I said before, no one's looking for us here.' Kamina crossed his arms. 'I think we'd realize if we were being tailed. We go to all this secrecy and waste money bribing ship captains when that money would be better saved for lodging and other stuff once we actually GET to Mistral.'

'Three people are easier to track than one.' Jaye countered. 'Alone it's easy to know when you're being watched, but it's far easier to track a group than a single person. Leaving a trail is the worst possible thing we could be doing right now.'

The two boys faced each other down, raised eyebrows and tempers flaring. Indigo pushed her way between them.

'Okay, we are not doing this right now, you hear me?' She glared at the two, and they turned away from each other sharply. 'We've been secretive enough coming to this harbor, I think we can spare a bit of caution to save a bit of cash.'

Jaye stared at the girl quietly for a few moments, and she met his stare stoically. He turned away from her abruptly, scratching his head.

'Fine. We compromise.' He turned back to the harbor. 'We don't have to pay off anyone, but we stick to the smaller vessels. AND we'll make a stop or two along the way to shake any trackers off.'

'Fine by me.' Kamina said, clapping the boy on the shoulder. 'Let's go boss.'

'Since when was I the boss?'

'When you started bossing people around.'

'…Whatever.' He marched out past the wall, pushing his way through the crowd of people. Indigo grabbed Kamina by the arm.

'Hey, you okay? You're being a lot more aggressive than you usually are.' She said, and Kamina shrugged.

'Yeah, I guess so. But Jaye's being over-cautious; he's acting like we're the most wanted criminals in the world right now. He's not thinking straight.' He said, scratching his neck. 'I have to call him out on it, or he's gonna make some bad decisions. We both know over-cautiousness is just as likely to get you caught as carelessness.'

'Maybe so.' Indigo said, crossing her arms. 'But you're both being a bit childish. I expect you to be the bigger person, Mina.'

'Yeah.' He sniffed pointedly. 'I'll try,'

In the end, they got tickets to a small commercial ship. It was far smaller than the others and would be much harder to track as compared to a cruiser or a commercially laden vessel. It would take them half the journey, making a stop at a small island called Mire. The plan was to pick up another ship there, to either get to Mistral or at least most of the way. Jaye picked at his rice, raising an eyebrow at its contents.

'Fellas, I'm just gonna go out on a limb and say this, but I might actually die right now. Not from assassins, or grimm, but from this damn rice here.' He picked up a foul-looking grain. 'It'll be the ultimate joke right here. I survived thirty-eight missions, sixteen assassins, and the fall of Beacon, to be killed by carbs.'

'Wouldn't be the first time.' Kamina pointed out. 'Remember that time you got poisoned in the middle of a mission because I dared you to eat a spider and it bit your tongue?'

'And it turned out to be venomous?' Indigo raised an eyebrow, and Jaye grimaced at the memory.

'And I still managed to kill the guy and his guards, pull the files, administer an anti-venom, and escape before passing out.' He grinned, and they laughed. Jaye glanced over his shoulder, staring into the corner. A cloaked figure sat quietly by itself, features covered, and Jaye narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Kamina prodded him, and he swatted at the fox boy.

'It's rude to stare bro.' He joked, raising an eyebrow, popping a spoonful of chicken into his mouth. Jaye continued to watch the figure out of the corner of his eye, and Kamina lowered his voice. 'Think he's been tailing us?'

'Not sure. No sign of being followed, but I've been feeling eyes on us this whole time.' He said, pushing his rice away. Indigo placed a hand on her cheek, feigning a bored look. 'No one else it could be. He's not exactly discreet about it though.'

'Doesn't seem like someone we know.' She said. 'Might be a White Fang member staking us out.'

'Maybe.' Jaye said. 'But I can't imagine why the White Fang gives a shit about us.'

'Doubt it's a Vale Faction member.' Kamina pointed out. 'If they could have followed us here undetected, then we'd recognize them for sure. No one that skilled at espionage would have gone unheard of by us. Besides, if he managed to go unseen all his while, why be spotted now?'

'Point taken.' Jaye said, leaning back leisurely in his chair. He mimed a conversation with Indigo, and she gave him a coy smile, glancing discreetly at the hood. 'Let's drag this out a bit.' He said, lips not moving, and they nodded imperceptibly. 'Time to play guess who.'

'So, he watched us from the top of the stairs, and hardly paced quietly when he approached the door.' Kamina slumped into the couch. 'He creaked the floorboards when his ear was to the door and didn't even have the sense to put his ear to the keyhole. He used the "cup to the door" method, which we all know doesn't work.'

'Looks like we were worried for nothing.' Jaye turned his nose up. 'He's a complete amateur.'

'But then begs the question. Why is he spying on us?' Indigo crossed her legs, sitting on the couch beside the fox boy. 'Who is he, and if he was following us how did he get here without us knowing? Plus, his room is barely a door down from us, which I think is hardly a coincidence.'

'I don't want to conjecture here, or even suggest this.' Jaye said, crossing his arms. 'But it might really be a White Fang member, who just so happened to be in the tavern when we arrived and didn't actually follow us, and just so happens to be staying one room down from us.'

'Can we even afford to think like that?' Kamina stood up abruptly. 'We're going to such lengths to hide where we're going, and you're suggesting such an improbable situation?'

'I didn't say I liked the idea.' Jaye frowned, rubbing his temples. 'But I honestly can't think of any other explanation for all this weird behavior!'

'It might be a trap.' Indigo suggested. 'To make us focus on this pursuer, to distract us from the ones who are actually following us?'

'That sounds more likely.' Kamina said, making a "settled" gesture. 'Maybe we should've bribed a captain.'

'If this is a trap, it's a poor one.' Jaye said, crossing his arms. 'I'm not really buying it, but it'll be better to proceed as if we've been compromised.'

'Point taken.' Kamina pulled the curtains shut, locking the window and door. 'I'll take first watch.'

'Fine by me.' Indigo pulled a small drive out of her cloak. She plugged it into her scroll, and the boys leaned over it curiously. 'From the data we got from that broker I met the other day, it seems the Mistral Faction wasn't at all involved in the Fall of Beacon. But it doesn't seem like they were too opposed to the idea. They couldn't care less about the academies, so I doubt we can really rely on them for help.'

'Seems like they probably wouldn't care if Haven Academy fell.' Jaye said. 'But the first thing I want to do is find out their motive for attacking the academies. I don't think knocking out global communications holds much merit for the Faction.' He sat down heavily on the couch. 'It's not like they were even on the network, and if they were planning to seize Vale then knocking out the CCT would've given them away before they could gain a proper foothold.'

'I guess we'll find out when we get to Mistral.' Kamina said, yawning. He stretched out his arms, wiggling his ears, and sat himself in the sofa by the window. 'Should I do a little spying of our own?'

'No, best leave whoever it is unbothered.' Indigo shook her head, hanging up her cloak. 'If you go snooping and it really turns out to be a trap, then we'll all be in trouble.'

'All right.' His ears flicked in response. 'Your call.'

'I need to talk to you.' Indigo raised an eyebrow at the raven-haired boy, rubbing her hair with a towel.

'Then you can help me dry my hair.' She said, raising a brush and hair dryer to the boy. Jaye took the items from her quietly, plugging it into the wall. He switched on the device, running the brush through her hair, and she hummed gently at the dresser. They continued in a somewhat awkward silence for a few minutes, and Jaye cleared his throat uncomfortably.

'So, what'd you want to talk about?' Indigo asked, picking at her bangs. Jaye sighed, shaking the dryer to stop the heat from building up.

'How are you holding up?' He muttered, and Indigo placed a finger to her chin thoughtfully.

'I'm still crying myself to sleep at night, so that's that. In favor of saving money for the trip I stopped buying foundation, so now I just look terrible all the time. Oh, but the stabbing pain in my chest is finally starting to go away a little, so that's a plus.' She said matter-of-factly, and Jaye flinched as if she'd slapped him.

'Is this your version of spite?' He met her eyes in the mirror, raising an eyebrow, and she giggled.

'Yep, pretty much.' She stuck her tongue out, and he rolled his eyes at the girl. He lowered his voice, running the brush down her hair.

'I really hurt you, didn't I.' He whispered, and she stiffened slightly. He switched the dryer off, placing it down on the dresser, and ran the brush through her auburn locks.

'Yes, you did.' She said, twisting her fingers together on her lap. Jaye sighed, picking at a tangled knot.

'I'm sorry.'

'I know.'

'I can't fix this.'

'You don't have to. Sometimes things just aren't meant to be, you know? You made a choice, and I respect that.' Indigo scratched her cheek nonchalantly. 'I just need to find out how to deal with it until things blow over.'

'I'll try to make it easier for you.'

'Don't. You'll probably just make things worse.' Indigo ran a hand through her hair. 'It's dry now, thanks.'

'Alright.' Jaye placed the brush down on the table, turning away from the girl. 'I don't really know what to say now, but we're still here for you.'

'I know.' Indigo smiled, running her fingers through her hair. She let her hands fall back to her lap. 'But I'm sorry too.'

'For what?'

'I'm not dealing with this like I should be, you're not the only one at fault.' She grimaced at herself, clasping her hands together. 'To be honest, when I heard the blondie wasn't going to be coming with us, I was happy. Elated. And that disgusts me.'

'I can't blame you for that.' Jaye said, and Indigo glanced at him over her shoulder.

'But I can.' She said. 'It's wrong, and I'm just being petty and jealous, but knowing it doesn't make things any easier. It just makes it all the clearer where I'm lacking.'

Jaye paused at the door, touching the doorframe lightly with a hand. Indigo waved him off, turning back to the dresser.

'I'm fine. I'll deal with it. I have to.' She said, staring at herself in the mirror. 'I'm a bad person, and I need to deal with it like a woman.' She ran her fingers through her hair. 'I need to fix myself. It's something I should've done a long time ago.'

Outside The Door

The cloaked figure pressed his ear to the bottom of the glass, swearing under his/her breath as it still didn't work. Finally giving up, he slipped away from the door as quietly as he could, approaching his own two doors down. He fumbled with the key, nearly dropping it onto the hard wood floor. He made a relatively high-pitched sound of alarm, finally getting the key into the lock and slipping into the room. A girl sat quietly by the window, and she rose to her feet as he came in.

'Apollo! Is it them?' She asked, and he nodded, unclasping the cloak around his neck.

'I'm positive.' The boy, Apollo, said. His voice was soft and high-pitched, and he threw his hood back to reveal a rather feminine face identical to the girl across him. 'It's him, Artemis. It's him.'

'I see.' The twin, Artemis, breathed. She slumped against the table, running a hand through her hair. Her cat ears twitched as she brushed past them, and her tail swished back and forth in alarm. 'Do you think they've noticed us?'

'I don't think so.' Apollo said, shaking his head. 'I think they would've made a move if they'd noticed us. We probably don't even matter to people like them.'

'That's good.' Artemis relaxed, her ears dropping against her hair, and Apollo approached the girl quietly. He bundled her into his arms, and she wrapped her tail fearfully around his leg. 'Do you think we can beat them?'

'We've trained for three years since then. I think we have a fighting chance.' He said, squeezing the girl tight. 'We'll finally get to avenge mom and dad after all these years.'

'Yeah.' She said, chuckling weakly. 'Maybe I'll finally be able to sleep at night without the pills.'

'I promised you I'd find them.' Apollo said, glaring out the window. He watched the rain beat down on the sill, tracing the droplets that tracked down the glass surface.

'We stumbled onto them by accident, silly.' She whispered, releasing the boy and dropping down onto the bed. 'We'll use this opportunity that's fallen onto our laps. God must be on our side.'

'Yeah. What we're doing is justice.' He breathed, touching his hands to the windowsill. 'They'll finally get what they deserve.'

And that ends this chapter. I hope this is interesting enough for you guys, because I'm not really sure how to continue from here despite the developments. Like I have a path planned out, but I'm not entirely sure how to begin approaching the storyline that I've thought up. I've done a lot or rewriting because I honestly feel like I'm starting to drop in terms of quality, like I'm too eager to get to the good parts. So I'm going to pace it and develop each chapter properly.