006 – Break Away

Well, crap. It did end in an argument after all. And now he was angry as hell, depressed, and (on top of it all) covered in the sweet drink that Echo had taken a liking to.

Deciding to sleep it off, he retired to his tent and spent the rest of his night unable to relax (he had no real need to sleep, and would not for a few days) because of the uncomfortable reminder drying into his clothes that he would have to avoid Echo for quite a few days.

The next morning, he decided to take a stroll by her tent to see if she was still as pissed off as he thought she would be at the mention that the mansion was probably falling into disrepair… It had been offhand, but he guessed that she was so used to him veiling insults within every comment that it stuck. And the boy cried wolf, but no one believed him this time…

Oh, hey, what was that? Something was missing on this row. He backed up a few paces, but he couldn't find her tent.

After a moment he realized that was because her tent was folded up neatly with a note left on top.

Picking it up, he realized that it was blank.

Blank.

Blank, white paper that threatened to drown him with its sheer significance.

White was the color code for retired veterans. It was traditional (and they were big on tradition here) that if one wanted to retire, they left a white square object somewhere where a superior officer would notice it, report it, and make sure that they were set up somewhere peaceful.

Nowadays, the white was overlooked more often then not, but Echo was one of the superior officers, she could pull this sort of thing with nothing more then mild outrage, especially since the war was technically over now.

Someone was standing beside him, and he glanced over to see China Sorrows, a double agent that had decided whose side she was on merely days before.

Echo had liked her, for reasons he suspected were linked to China's looks.

"…Why?" He whispered the question, hoping that the woman would know. Echo could never leave without any sort of warning, because, after all, she could never leave any thread undone.

China was the one tying up the loose ends for her. "Maybe she wanted to break away?" She suggested, and walked away.

Skulduggery couldn't find the heart to stop her, nor a reason to keep her from going, so he did nothing.

---

Somewhere far away, Echo wiped away her last tears and hoped that the juice that had also spilt onto her own dress would not stain. And, even more, she hoped that the twisted feeling inside her (will he chase me? Do I want him to? What if he does? What if he doesn't?) wouldn't stay either.