"At first sight of those weirdo's, shoot them…." Rodney said, walking next to Julia. Julia looked over at Rodney. "Weirdo's?" she asked. "Well, they are weird…" Rodney pointed out. Julia shook her head with an amused smirk. "So how much further until we reach Central City?" Cain asked. "Who knows… I would say a day at the most," Julia replied.
Cain shrugged. "That's not too bad," "Yes it is! I have to walk a whole day again," Azkadellia spoke up. "Want me to carry you?" DG offered. "Would you?" Azkadellia asked. "No," DG joked, and walked over to talk to Jeb. Azkadellia rolled her eyes. "So what do you want to do on the way? There is a lot of time ahead of us…." Glitch spoke up after a few minutes of silence.
"I don't know Glitch, you think of something…." Jeb said. "Well I can't. Maybe if I had my other half of my brain back I could come up with something wonderful!" Glitch said, looking over at Cain. "Why are you looking at me?" Cain asked. "I…don't know…" Glitch replied, walking away.
They kept traveling until the hours of the night. Julia and Rodney once again were successful in finding a cave. "A cave again?" Glitch asked. "Would you prefer a tree? Or a rock?" Julia questioned. "No…" Glitch spoke up. "Yea. Didn't think so," Julia replied, setting her weapons down on the ground. Aiden fell asleep near the back of the cave, while the rest of the group was broken into small parts.
Jeb was sitting with DG, Azkadellia was leaning her head against the wall near Aiden, Julia and Cain were sitting near the mouth of the cave, and Glitch and Rodney were sitting outside, looking up at the stars. "You do this a lot?" Glitch asked. "Not as much as I wish I would. Most days Julia and I would sit in the cave, talking. We never really took advantage to admire the stars…." Rodney answered.
"In eight years?" Glitch questioned. "Mmm-hmm," Rodney said, looking at the ground. Glitch looked away for a second. "But it is a beautiful sight," Glitch said, breaking the silence. "Yea. It is…" Rodney added. Glitch looked at Rodney and then placed his hand ontop of hers. Rodney looked down at their hands, unsure of how she felt.
She missed the touch, yet it felt strange to her. She simply smiled up at him, and then held his hand in hers; as they continued to look up at the stars together.
Julia began to play with the string of her bow, lost in her thoughts. Cain looked over at her. "So…" he started. There was a silence. Cain looked away. "What was it liked being trapped for eight years?" Julia blurted. Cain turned to look at her. "What?" he asked. Julia raised her eyebrows. "Oh. Well… I…" he paused and looked at her.
"I missed the little things I never really took advantage of. The smells of the spring flowers in bloom, the taste of the sweet pumpkin pies us tin men used to eat every so many months, the feel of the wind against my cheeks. I never knew how much I would miss those everyday things…until they weren't with me," Cain said, his eyes meeting Julia's.
"What would you think about?" Julia asked. Cain sighed. "All I could think about was vengeance…" Cain spoke up. Julia sighed. "How do you feel now?" Julia asked. Cain looked at her quizzically. "What do you mean?" he asked. "You're surrounded by all these good people now. How did you feel to be in company with people again?" Julia asked.
"Probably the same way you did…." Cain said. Julia made a face. "So you were annoyed?" she teased. Her and Cain laughed slightly. She sighed. "I always did have Rodney and Aiden though…" Julia said, looking away. "I have always wondered what Olivia would be like…." She said, seeming distant. Cain put his hand on her shoulder in support, and she turned to look at him.
She smiled slightly, which he returned. They didn't need to say words to know that there was a moment of understanding between the two.
"Finally! At least I can see the city in view!" Glitch said. Julia and Rodney rolled their eyes. "It's been so long since we saw a city…" Julia trailed. She looked over at Cain, and he smiled. "Everything will be fine. Trust me," he said, with a nod. Julia looked away and stared at the city. She squinted. "Why do I get the feeling that something bad is going on around here?" she asked.
Cain turned to look as well. He noticed that even from a distance, the city seemed empty. "The city on the hill is starting to tarnish, again…" Cain replied. "We've dealt with this before. Let's go. Mom is going to be extremely worried…" DG said, marching towards the city. Rodney grabbed her arm, and pulled her back. "Ow. Why did you do that?" DG whined.
"You and Azkadellia better stay behind us. Just to be on the safe side. Julia and I will lead," Rodney said, looking at Julia. DG agreed reluctantly. The group proceeded, cautiously. Once the city gates were in view, Cain grabbed onto Julia's shoulder. "What?" she asked. "Longcoats…" he said, sounding confused. It seemed odd to Cain that he and a bunch of other Tin Men had recently jailed all of the longcoats, and now they were running free again.
"The city is the only way to get to your palace. We'll have to pass by the longcoats. I don't think they'd be too friendly with you having just jailed all of them, and the princess's and all…" Julia said, looking at the group. Rodney looked around. "The question is…how?" Rodney asked. "Diversion…" Julia suggested. "Good idea, what diversion?" Glitch asked.
Julia turned to face Cain. "I can show off some rhythm for them…ask them to throw coins at me…" Glitch continued. "Cain, can I see your gun?" Julia asked, holding out her hand. Cain nervously took it from the holster, and handed it over. "I mean…I won't get offended if they call me 'Twinkle Toes'…." Glitch continued, unaware to the fact that he was being ignored.
Julia took the gun, and set down her bow and arrow. She aimed the gun at the glass statue of DG and Azkadellia, that had been placed outside the city gates, not so long ago. There were various paint marks all over, like mustaches. Probably the work of the longcoats. "Sorry princess's…" Julia said, apologetically. She fired the gun, and the statue shattered. The longcoats at the gate all jumped, and scattered in different directions, taking cover. "Let's go…" Rodney spoke up, grabbing a still blabbering Glitch's arm.
The group darted past the longcoats, and snuck into the city. They saw that the streets were near empty, and all the windows were boarded up. "What happened to all the people?" DG asked. "Fear. They probably shut themselves inside their house, only envisioning a world they used to know…" Jeb said, looking at her. Julia looked around, and drew an arrow for a safety precaution.
"Let's go. We aren't going to get you all home by just standing around and gaping…" Rodney spoke up. The group moved through the city, cautiously. Cain held out his arm, stopping Julia. "What?" she asked, annoyed. Cain quickly grabbed her by the shoulders, and pulled her into the alley. He motioned for the others to follow. They all hurried in, past Julia and Cain. "Cain, don't you think that you're being alittle forward?" Julia asked, uncomfortable.
Cain clasped a hand over her mouth, and looked at her with warning eyes. A few long coats, walked past. "Zero. We've been looking for you," one said. Julia's eyes met Cain's. "Any signs of them?" Zero asked, sounding bored. "No. They must have taken another way around the city…" another longcoat spoke up. "Yes, how do we know what they look like?" the first one spoke up.
There was some movement on the gravel. "Doesn't matter. No one enters or leaves this city. At least not alive," Zero spoke up. "Yes sir…" the third said. The group could hear footsteps fade away. Aiden pressed himself against Rodney's side. She looked down at him, and showed him a small smile. The longcoats walked past the alley, talking.
"I heard that there is a blonde one who kills you if you look into her eyes," one said. Cain began to chuckled slightly, but Julia covered her mouth with her one hand. Cain's eyes looked down at her in an apologetic manner.
"I heard the other one is a red head who drags their victim into the shadows and all you find are the bones of the victims because she eats the rest…" the other one said. Rodney widened her mouth in shock.
Once the footsteps had disappeared, Julia and Cain let go of each other's mouths. "How is that funny?" Julia asked Cain. "I don't know. It just is…" he shrugged. Rodney scoffed. "The rumors these days. Wait, how did they know that we were coming?" she asked. "I would imagine the Baguns tipped someone off. Damn, we should have killed them all…" Julia said, rolling her eyes and stepping out of they alley.
She sighed when she realized that the streets were clear. "Alright, let's go…" she said. They group began to move cautiously. "You think the baguns told the longcoats?" Rodney asked Julia. "Or told someone else. The longcoats couldn't get themselves out of that prison and the baguns are too stupid…" Julia said. She turned to face Cain.
"Anyone on the inside allies with the longcoats?" she asked him. He shook his head. "Not that I know of. All of those tin men are pretty loyal…" he said. She looked away. "Be careful with who you trust these days…" she said, her eyes scanning the streets. "Well, can I trust you?" Cain asked her. She turned to face him again. "Yes," she said. "If I can trust you, after only knowing you for a few days… how can you say not to trust all those tin men?" he asked. "I didn't specifically say 'those tin men cannot be trusted'. I was just pointing out a fact," Julia spoke up.
"Both of you better keep your voices down or I'm shoving an arrow down your throat and my foot up your butt!" Rodney hissed. Aiden giggled slightly. Julia looked over at Rodney and blew raspberry at her. Rodney smiled slightly. The group had made it into the heart of the city. There were a few longcoats about fifteen feet away. The group hid behind different statues.
Rodney sighed. She felt Glitch breathing deeply and she turned to face him. "What are you doing?" she asked. "Sorry, I'm a bit nervous…" he said. She gave him a reassuring smile. "Its gonna be okay. I'll make sure you'll be okay…" she said. Glitch smiled slightly. Rodney looked over at Julia, who was rolling her eyes. Cain was probably talking about his gun again.
Julia straightened her back, and Cain looked down at her. She tilted her head backwards to look up at him and Rodney resisted the urge to laugh. Julia shook her head and aimed her bow at one of the longcoats. Rodney did the same. Rodney heard the sound of heavy breathing and slowly turned to face Glitch. "What are you doing?" she whispered. "Can we go now?" he asked.
She sighed. "Not until we kill these longcoats!" she said, aiming her bow again. Julia's hand was shaking tensely as she pulled back an arrow. She nodded over to Rodney and they fired the arrows, striking down two of the four longcoats. "When I say run, run…" Julia said, to Cain. She motioned for the group to follow her cautiously. Aiden crawled over to Rodney, and hugged her leg.
The group watched as the other two looked down at the bodies, before pulling the arrows out and looking at each other. "You never said 'run'…" Cain spoke up. Julia and Rodney released two more arrows, killing both longcoats. "Run!" Julia said, with a slight smile. The group stood up and sprinted past the dead longcoats, and the gates of the city….