A/N: A couple of nights ago the weather here was exactly the same as in Kyoya's flashback in chapter 3: the swiftly moving clouds over the unbelievably bright full moon, the wind singing its old song about adventures in soft and sudden breezes... I stood at a bus-stop late in the night, watching, listening and wishing I could just walk on and on, all the night, following the moon and the wind. Luckily I had quite high-heeled shoes and not-so-warm clothes on, heaven knows where I'd have found me in the morning...
Maybe it was the silence that woke him up.
Tsubasa stared the darkness around him some minutes before getting up. The storm had ceased, the wind didn't howl anymore but swooshed softly over the roof. There was no sound of the rain either.
"I'd like to know how it is possible to wake because of the lack of the noise", he thought. After his struggle with the dark powers he had been a poor sleeper anyway. It had started soon after his battle with Kyoya, and got worse and worse during the weeks and months that followed. Every time he closed his eyes he could hear the mean voice whispering to him and see the wild images floating through his mind. He had tried to ignore them, but it was impossible to sleep with such a perturbation going on in his head. And even though he had managed to win his darker side and banish it from his mind, the sleep hadn't come back. He had tried several kind of relaxing methods and other tricks, but finally he had had to accept he'd just have to manage with lesser amount of sleep. On this trip he had slept better than for months, despite the uncomfortable beds, but that hadn't been a wonder after the long and hard days they've got.
He rose quietly and tiptoed to the door. As he had guessed, the wind was calming and shifting to the north. The stars were appearing one after another behind the fast moving clouds. He inhaled deeply the tingling cold night air before returning into the stuffy room.
"Kiti, wake up! We're going now." He patted what he thought her shoulder.
Kiti lifted her head and tried to get her sandy-feeling brains to work. There was no fire on the fireplace, which meant there would be no breakfast. At the other end of the room Kyoya was tightening his bootlaces. She scrambled on her feet and started hurriedly to collect her items. In a couple of minutes they were on the path, heading downwards as fast they could in the starlight.
"It's not a long way to the road anymore", Tsubasa said when they heard a distant hum of an engine. They had marched all the morning, seen the darkness turn into twilight and then to daylight, eaten only some energy bars on the run.
Tsubasa missed his pet eagle more than ever. It could have flown ahead and warned them if needed, but now they depended solely on their own insufficient senses. He tried to prick up his ears to notice the tiniest sounds through the rattling of the stones under their feet. If they only could make it to the road...
"Freeze!"
Kiti snorted. You are late, guys!, she thought.
Men in dark clothing were cropping up in the bushes quicker than they thought possible, but Kyoya was even quicker. Leone knocked the first line of them down before they could see him launch. Aquila's precision blow on the bank above them swarmed a huge mass of stones on the path between them and the assailants.
"I must admit I do like that style of yours.", Kiti remarked, running up the path with the boys. "No beating around the bush, but straight to the point..."
"Over there!"
Tsubasa pointed a part of the hill that wasn't so steep. Climbing, sliding and bounding they descended through the brushwood.
"You alright?" He stopped to help Kiti on her feet after an unsuccessful landing from a cliff.
"More or less." She whisked the sand off her palms and winced when touching the fresh scrapes on them. I like it more this direction but this darned backpack...
It was difficult to maintain balance with several kilos of bobbing load on your back, but to Tsubasa it didn't seem to be any problem. The Eagle almost to flied from cliff to cliff, zigzagging among the bushes. Soon he was a good way ahead of them, waving his hands.
"The road is over here!"
Kyoya sped up and reached the last bank soon after him. When they stood there panting they heard a motor nearing the curve.
"Are they already..." Tsubasa exclaimed. Kyoya took a more steady hold on his launcher.
An old, rattling lorry appeared slowly from the curve, driven by a very old and very wrinkled man.
A lift!
The thought flashed through Kiti's brains before she could stop her pace. Her heartstopping leap caused the brakes of the lorry squeal and Tsubasa yell of horror. She missed the closing bumper by inches and rolled aside.
"Take this!" She hurled her backpack to the boys who had jumped after her. Before they had time to ask anything, she had opened the driver's door and pushed the old man in the middle of the long seat.
"Excuse me!" So nice there isn't any seat belts in this antique!, she thought and sat on his former place.
By now the boys had caught her idea. They threw the backpacks on the trunk and climbed quickly into the cabin.
"Can you drive this?!" Tsubasa asked when Kiti slammed the door shut.
"Bet I can! Hang on!"
The ancient engine uttered an aggrieved sound but shot forward with respectable speed.
"Explain to him." She nodded towards the terrified old man who had huddled in the legroom. He was sure these gangsters were going to skin him alive and burn his faithful vehicle in the first ravine they could find, and Tsubasa's reassurances didn't convince him at all. Why, a young man with the hair like that just couldn't be trustworthy more than that green haired scarface who probably had killed more than once in his life, not to mention that third creature with woman's voice and man's strength... Tsubasa sighed and quitted the subject frustrated. It was difficult enough to stay unharmed on the seat and fit one's limbs among those of the others in the cramped cabin.
The gravel and stones slid dangerously under the tyres. The boys felt their hearts skip a beat or two when they neared a curve without slowing down at all. Kiti muttered something unintelligible and stamped the pedals, making the lorry turn in the last second.
"Where the heck have you learned to drive?", Kyoya shouted over the noise. His head hit the ceiling every time the car jumped.
"On a rye field! Worked on my uncle's farm couple of summers. The cousins let me drive their lorry after I proved I can manage the tractor. This could be great fun if only... There they are again!" She had seen a too familiar black car in the rearview mirror.
"Kyo, stop them!"
"Don't call me..", he began, but decided then not to argue about the nickname right now. There was more important things to think first. Besides, the way she used to say his name – or at least the first part of it – wasn't so very annoying, compared to some other nicknames he had been called.
He stretched the upper part of his body out of the window and tried to stay steady on the wonky ride. He got Leone in the launcher and waited for the right moment.
"Chop-chop!" Kiti yelled when they once more slid in a curve, past a steep cliff.
"Go, Leone!"
A green flash swooshed through the air and hit the bank on perfect timing. Enormous rocks rumbled on the road between their lorry and the closing car. Kiti glanced the mirror and let the speed slow down. Kyoya was inside the cabin again, elbowing Tsubasa to get more room for his shoulders.
After half an hour they neared a little group of cottages they had passed on their way upwards. The old man started an eager babbling and pointed with his forefinger. Tsubasa interpreted.
"He says his dying sister is waiting for him in one of these cottages, and asks us to keep the lorry if we only let him out. I assured him we are not going to rob him or his car, but understandably he wants to get rid of us as soon as possible."
He tried to pay for their ride when they jumped off in a crossroad.
"Tell him to find the nearest garage", Kiti remarked. "The gearbox is as good as gone."
The man looked even more horrified and hurried away. Kyoya grinned.
"That old-timer won't let any womanfolks in his lorry ever again."
Tsubasa looked worried around.
"We must get another lift."
They stood in the crossroad but not a single car could be seen. A weather-beaten shingle informed about a filling station after five kilometres northwards.
"Let's go there. It'll be more vehicles to chose over there", he said. Kyoya wasn't convinced.
"The railway station is just opposite direction."
"Even better. They are expecting us to go straight there and not upwards, so they won't be after us right away." He started to march swiftly forward. Kyoya shrugged and followed. There was a point in his words, he thought. It was likely the Eagle had a new plan growing in his head, so it would be best to wait and see for the results.
A/N: This is a short one, sorry! I've had too many 9 to 9 days lately, and the capacity of my brains is limited. A year ago I'd have never believed I could produce this much text in English, and I've been so happy to notice I'm able to do it, but that doesn't move the constant fear of badly chosen words and ridiculous mistakes... Thank you all for patience and understanding!