Mark of the Magi
Chapter 2
By
Lily of Trust
Disclaimers: Not mine! But I do lay claim to the world, the city, the docks, the clothes they're wearing...or not wearing, as the case may be....but I digress.
Warnings: As before, blatant disregard of actual statistics as far as height and age go. Also, if you're one of those people who like Touma as a moody, quiet little bookworm...well...you're in for some disappointment. There're probably lots of typos too, since I didn't have time to proof read it ^_^;; Sorry....
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Something heavy and insistent pounded violently at the thin wood of Shin's door. The entire tenement almost seemed to shake, and some of the neighbors shouted for him to keep the noise down, dammit! Mouri untangled himself from the thin sheet on his pallet and staggered towards the door, raking a hand through his hair as he went. His eyes were slightly blurred from sleep, but the moonlight through the single open window was more than enough to see by.
The tiny, single roomed apartment was only fifteen by fifteen, and sparsely furnished at that, so it wasn't too much of a challenge to reach the door and pull it open.
"Ah...Shu?" He blinked once or twice to clear the film from his eyes, and frowned slightly in confusion. He hadn't thought the other man knew where he lived.
"You're in serious trouble shrimp!" Shu said shortly, barging his way in and shutting the door securely behind him. Or at least as securely as inch-thick plywood set in a badly sized frame was likely to become.
"Trouble?" Shin echoed. His brain hadn't quite kicked in yet.
Never one to beat around the bush, Shu fixed him with a direct gaze and said,
"One of the Elementals dropped over dead 'bout an hour ago. They're looking for a replacement right now."
All the color drained out of Shin's face. His eyes darted nervously towards the shutterless window, as if expecting men in Royal livery to come bursting into the room.
"Oh not again..." He breathed softly.
"How did you ever slip away from them before?" Shu wondered aloud.
"Hid down by the piers. In the water," Shin replied absently. "There's something about the ocean that dampens a Diahora's effect." He turned suddenly piercing eyes on the larger man. "Why'd you come here to warn me? If you're found here..."
Shu shrugged awkwardly. "I caught wind of it, and remembered you looked dead tired after hauling today. I didn't think you'd still be awake." He took hold of the still disoriented teen's elbow and pulled him towards the door. "Shouldn't you be going into hiding about now?"
Shin nodded. There wasn't anything here he couldn't do without, especially since he'd slept in his work clothes, with that day's pay tucked into the little pouch on the inside of his belt.
Shu pulled the door open just a little bit too hard, and it came right off the pins that served as hinges. The two exchanged a brief, deadpan sort of glance, before he shrugged and set it aside. Shin knew the rickety old building better, and ghosted down the stairs so silently that he just had to have had practice at it.
From down below came the sudden, sharp sound of wood splintering as someone smashed the tenement door open. A sickly orange light filled the stairwell, and the heavy thudding of booted footsteps echoed the narrow hall.
"Get up those damn stairs and find what we came for!" Someone shouted "I don't care if you have to raze through every rat-infested hole t'do it!"
"Too late!" Shin choked out the words and made an attempt to dash back up the stairs. One of the men on the floor below caught site of the movement and sent up a shout. Shu caught hold of his smaller friend and leaned over the banister to see perhaps half a dozen men swarming up the stairs. Another stood in back, holding a curious, octagonal crystal in his hand. The hazy light emanated from it, and grew in strength and intensity as he pointed it towards the landing where the two dockers stood, frozen.
"Is there a back way out of here?!" Shu demanded as he backed hurriedly up the stairs.
Shin shook his head. "No, this whole place is built around just these stairs!" He looked around frantically for a window, a place where the boards of the wall were thinner than most, anything that might offer an escape route.
"Then we'll just have to use the door," Shin looked back at Shu in confusion, and his eyes went wide as the docker grabbed hold of the banister. He flexed the muscles in his shoulders and tore it loose from the stairs. A chunk about five feet wide came off into his hands, and he grinned and hefted it experimentally. He jerked his head, indicating that Shin should get well out of the way. The brown-haired man didn't need to be told twice. He flattened himself against the wall and watched in amazement as his friend set the spar of wood lengthwise across his chest and charged down the stairs with a wild bellow.
The party of searchers literally went flying off the staircase, hitting the ground hard. Shin didn't waste any time in sprinting after Shu. The other man was already slamming the banister into the shoulder of the man holding the Diahora. The orange crystal went flying, and shattered as it struck the hard stone of the ground floor. The guard himself screamed shrilly in pain as his collarbone splintered under the impact, and the force of the blow drove him to his knees. Shin shot a single backward glance at the faintly flickering shards of crystal, and turned his back on the scene without another thought.
"Come on!" He was already out into the street, and waved Shu towards him. He knew more shortcuts to the docks than anyone else. Being small meant you often had to know escape routes nobody else would ever have considered. The two of them wove their way unerringly through back alleys and supposed dead-ends.
"Do you think they'll send someone after us?" Shu panted; he wasn't really built for distance.
Shin nodded grimly. "Yes. But they'll need to send someone back to the palace to retrieve another Diahora. That should buy us some time." His eyes flickered backwards towards his lumbering companion. "I'm sorry I got you into this. There'll be a price on your head now too, for assaulting an officer."
Shu shrugged. "I was getting sort of bored with Kichis anyway."
Shin almost froze as he realized what his friend had just said; that they would have to leave the city. Now that the guards knew where he had lived, and had a general idea of what he looked like, they would find him sooner or later. And Shu stood out in a crowd. All anyone had to do was ask around the harbor to find out their names and jobs. Their lives in Kichis were officially over as of now.
From up ahead came the sudden sound of something falling to the flagstones with a clatter. A really loud clatter, actually. A shadowy figure darted towards the two young men, and their momentum was too great to halt. The other person crashed into them and all three went down with a mixture of yelps and grunts.
Shu felt something tug at his belt, and realized just what the other person was after. He lashed out with a closed fist and caught the figure a glancing blow to the head.
"Pickpocket!" He growled, tossing the lithe body off of him and disentangling himself from Shin. "Bloody lightfingers!"
The thief tucked into a ball and rolled harmlessly away. In the faint light from the street beyond the alley, it was possible to make out a man's silhouette. He uncoiled from the ball and fell back into a wary crouch.
The three men regarded each other evenly. The light happened to be behind Shu and Shin, which meant they could almost make out the thief's features. Wild blue hair stuck up from every angle, and his face was smudged with soot and dirt. His clothes were even filthier, consisting of a cut off pair of linen breeches, a light vest, and a pair of fingerless leather gloves. He slowly stood and held up his empty hands, realizing he was both outnumbered, and outweighed.
"Hey, no harm meant, you know?" The pickpocket flashed even white teeth in a bright grin. "It's just reflex."
"Reflex my-" Shu started to grab for him, and stopped as a familiar orange light flooded the alley.
"Down there!" Someone called, and there came the clamor of many men trying to fit themselves into the confined space between the walls. The thief shot the two men before him startled glances, obviously wondering whether the officials were after him, or them.
"Damn it!" Shin snarled, as any trapped creature will. "I thought we'd have more time than this!" His hand fell to the crowbar he always kept in his belt, and he saw Shu tighten his grip on his makeshift staff.
The guards burst around the corner, and seemed slightly surprised to see three men instead of the two they'd originally been chasing. The Diahora blaze like a corrupt sun in the hands of one man, casting an eerie glow over the scene.
"Kraken take this!" The thief spat, and hastily spun on his heel to run, only to find that another contingent of armed men had moved up behind them. He backed up until he accidentally bumped into the stout man.
"What in all the watery hells did you two do?!" He demanded
Shin winced. The thief was anything but innocent, but he didn't deserve to be accused and punished for aiding an Elemental.
"You don't want to know," Shu warned him in a low tone.
"Yeah well, whatever it was, I'm not going down with you!" The pickpocket drew something from a pocket on the inside of his vest and smashed it to the ground. A thick, steel gray smoke rolled through the alley, leaving the guardsmen coughing and sputtering.
Shu and Shin clutched at their throats and fought to draw clean air into their lungs. Though they were right beside each other, their eyes were watering too heavily to make anything out. Except for the fact that the third member of their litter party was now nowhere to be seen.
Shin reached out and took hold of Shu's wrist. Whether he knew it or not, the blue haired man had given them an opportunity to escape as well. He ducked down low and pulled his coughing friend towards the street ahead. They jostled against the guards, but the armed men were too busy hacking up their lungs to notice.
They broke out of the alley, and sucked in deep gulps of salty sea air. The smoke dispersed as soon as it hit the open air of the side street. Shin caught the faint sound of feet fleeing and looked to the right to see the thief disappearing around a corner.
"Follow him," Shu said, his voice a little hoarse from coughing. "He probably knows this area better than we know the docks. He'll have some kind of hidey-hole."
"He's headed for the harbor, any way." Shin replied as he broke into a run again. "We need water to throw off the Diahora."
"I'd nearly forgot," Shu panted. All this running was more work that an entire afternoon hauling crates.
The sounds of pursuit faded. It was late enough at night that most of the after-hours business had already been conducted, and the streets were deserted. Buildings flashed by, houses becoming warehouses as they entered the harbor district. Up ahead were the docks; specifically, the one they'd been working at a few days earlier when the pulley accident had occurred. The gaping hole in the pier had yet to be repaired, and the entire dock had been closed for renovations. Not a bad hiding place, all things considered.
"They probably won't think to look around here," Shin said, slowing his pace to a walk. There was practically no light; they'd left the streetlamps behind on the harbor front.
"Still, we'd better find some place to lay low," Shu looked around, and was about to point out a few likely spots, when there came a cry of surprise followed by a splash. The dockers looked at one another, eyes wide.
"The thief..." Shin began.
"You don't think he...?" Shu glanced towards the dark splotch where the ragged hole still was.
Shin didn't answer. He took off towards the gap and leaned over the edge. Someone was down there alright, and splashing noisily as he tried to stay afloat. Shin pulled the crowbar from his belt and tossed it aside, then dived down past the jagged spars of broken wood. He hit the water cleanly, and was at the thief's side in a few short strokes. From the way the man had been floundering, it seemed he hadn't had any idea how to swim. The water smelt rank and foul from frigate waste, and other things he didn't really want to contemplate. He towed the sputtering pickpocket towards the wall of the dock, where iron ladders had been nailed to the side.
The blue-haired man needed no help swarming up the rungs. In a few moments, they were both seated on solid ground, soaking wet and panting but in good shape. Shu jogged up just as they were getting their breath back.
"Didn't know that was there, did you?" He seemed to be fighting laughter as he leaned over the thief. The other man glared darkly at him and wrung out the hem of his vest.
"What kind of idiot puts a hole right in the middle of a dock, and doesn't mark it off?!" He growled huffily.
Shin looked to Shu and burst out laughing. He flopped down onto his back and chuckled tiredly. Shu grinned and sank down to the ground as well. He set an elbow on his knee and leaned his chin into his hand.
"We got lucky," He said "They went right past us while you were pulling off that rescue."
"What does the city guard want with you two?" The thief asked curiously, all signs of his earlier anger gone. The quick dunk into the harbor had sluiced off most of the grime and dirt from his skin, leaving him ghost pale in the dark. "You don't exactly look like criminal offenders."
"Nevermind that," Shu snapped.
The pickpocket shrugged. "It's your business. But I do owe you, or at least, your little friend here, my life. I couldn't swim if my fortune depended on it." He held out a hand to Shin, who sat up. "The name's Touma."
"No last name?" Shin asked curiously, accepting the hand. Touma shook his head, and droplets of water went flying from his bangs.
"Thieves don't have last names. Makes it easier to be found."
Shin nodded, although he didn't quite understand. He squeezed some of the water from his hair and looked over to Shu. "We're safe for now...but we need to get away before they figure out where we've gone. I don't know if a Diahora would be fooled just by proximity to water."
"Dia-...GAH!" Touma sprung to his feet with a curse and backed away from them both. "One of you's an Ele-"
"Think you could shout it out a little louder?" Shu growled. He got back to his feet as well and looked to Shin. "The quickest way out that I can think of would be to book passage on one of the frigates...but I don't have that kind of money."
"Me neither." Shin admitted.
"Why bother paying for something you could steal?" Both of them looked back at the thief, who was grinning again. "There're plenty of little skiffs in the harbor, aren't there?"
Shin glanced at Shu and blinked once or twice. "I hadn't thought of that," He said quietly.
"Would two be enough to man one of those things?" Shu asked.
"Make that three," Touma butted in, earning himself two more surprised looks. "Either of you know anything about sailing?"
"What makes you think you're coming along?" Shu glared at the lithe little man, who just rolled his eyes.
"Firstly, you can't work a skiff with just two men. Secondly, you'll need my help to pull off the heist, and thirdly..." His eyes suddenly went hard and cold. "I want out of this cesspit of a city."
"...He has a point," Shin admitted reluctantly. "But you do realize that you'll be in danger if you try to escape with us? If we're caught, they'll string you up as well."
Touma shrugged. "I've done enough quasi-legal stuff that I'd be in the same situation if they caught me alone. Which they may well do, now that they've seen where one of my usual haunts is."
Shin nodded slowly and turned to Shu. "I think we should bring him with us. He could be of help."
"We don't even know where we're going yet," Shu reminded him. He gave Shin a hard look, but eventually backed down from the determined green eyes. "Fine. It's your call," He held up his hands in defeat and glanced over his shoulder at Touma. "But no funny stuff from you, lightfingers."
Touma smiled angelically, and agreed. "You two seem to know these docks pretty well. Think you could find a place where there'd be a serviceable little boat?" As the other men affirmed this, he smirked. "Good. Pick one out, and I'll be right with you."
"Where do you think you're going?" Shu asked suspiciously. Touma rolled his blue eyes in exasperation.
"Look, I don't know where we're headed, but I'd be willing to bet that what you're wearing isn't the acceptable dress code," He jerked his chin towards their shirtless-and-shoeless state. "And besides, we'll need some supplies, won't we? Child's play. Now get to work." He melted back into the shadows and disappeared from sight.
"This is a baaaad idea," Shu muttered to himself. Shin chuckled again and got to his feet.
"Come on, let's find ourselves a ride out of here."