Tyla lay flat on her front on a hill above the Sky Army camp, squinting down at the collection of tents. There were about twenty of them, although most of them looked like two-person tents. The soldiers were sitting around a campfire in the center of the tent city, and they were having a good, old-fashioned sing-along.
Tyla squinted, making out Saylor. She was entering a tent, and she was soon followed by Sky. Interesting. Tyla racked her brains trying to remember Saylor's idle chatter about the people in the Sky Army, and she was fairly sure she could recognize the girl Saylor called Kris. Other than that, she couldn't remember.
Tyla listened for a moment, and it struck her that the sing-along wasn't exactly old-fashioned. The lyrics were all the proof she needed. Someone had taken some campfire songs and changed the words. And that person, whoever they were, hated squids.
"So what's up?" The question was casual, but Sky's face was uncharacteristically serious. Saylor took a deep breath. She didn't know what to do. Sky had more authority than Kris, but Kris was scary, and she was much more capable of murder than Sky probably knew or guessed.
Saylor took another shaky breath. "She- if I- if I tell you, she- she-" She couldn't get it out. Saylor was so scared she was shaking. "Who's 'she'?" Sky asked quietly. "Kris?" Still shaking, Saylor nodded. "What'll she do if you tell me?" "She- she- she'll tell you I'm a- a traitor." There. It was out.
Sky looked at Saylor. "And you're afraid she'll do more than tattle to me?" Saylor nodded again. "Sit." Sky said. "And tell me; what exactly is she doing? I'll make sure you stay safe."
Tyla frowned. The probably-Kris had crossed to the other side of the campfire and was standing next to the tent that Saylor and Sky were in, obviously listening. Tyla was fairly sure that Saylor would be talking about whatever had her so scared earlier, and Tyla doubted that she would want probably-Kris listening in.
Tyla had a bow. She wasn't very good with it, and she spent so much time in the water that the string was nigh on to useless, but she had one. And it was highly unlikely that one arrow would kill probably-Kris, so no harm, right?
"She said I had to get information from Tyla and then tell her and if I didn't get her some good stuff soon then she was going to tell you that I'm a traitor and I couldn't tell you or Tyla or she'd kill me and- and-" It was all coming out in a rush. Saylor was shaking harder now, and she couldn't stop.
She opened her mouth again, and just then there was a yell from outside the tent. Sky leapt up and ran outside. "Kris?" he asked, shocked. His lieutenant was standing outside the tent, clutching her bloody arm. There was an arrow in her hand, and she had obviously just pulled it out of the wound. Kris pointed to a hill on the other side of the campfire. Sky and Saylor both looked, just in time to see someone -someone with curly blond hair- running away.
"Tyla Kirby!" Sky yelled, loud enough that everyone stared. "Tyla shot Kris!" This roused everyone. Sky drew his sword. The recruits mirrored his action, and they all stood up. Sky had a one-track mind, and this had driven everything else -including Saylor's issue, possibly not including squids- out of his mind.
"Get the squid girl!" Sky yelled. Who could have known that this was all it would take to unhinge the leader of the Sky army?
Kris smiled.
"Are you allowed to work through her? That girl's a dedicated Notchist." "You know what they say, brother. Any good done in my name is yours, and any evil done in your name is mine." "I wouldn't call that 'in my name'." "Close enough."
Tyla heard Sky's yell and ran. Shoving the bow untidily into her inventory, she stumbled along the beach until she ran face-first into a tree. She grabbed her nose with one hand and felt blood. Just great. She saw torches coming up onto the top of the hill and kept running.
She couldn't think of anywhere else to go. Tyla dove into the water, kicking in the direction of the deep water squid territory.
Saylor didn't know what to do. Her only chance of staying safe from Kris was off chasing Tyla, Tyla herself was the target of a manhunt involving all of the Sky Army that had set up camp here. Saylor looked around. Kris was nowhere to be seen. Just great.
Deciding that maybe she could get moving at least, Saylor walked in the direction of the beach. Skirting Sky and his soldiers, who were standing at the edge of the water, Saylor moved down the beach towards an uncertain destination. Soon the beach ended, and Saylor stared at the hill before she realized what she was seeing. There was a door in the hill, and when Saylor opened it, she found someone's house.
"I knew Tyla had to live somewhere!" Saylor whispered and, closing the door behind her, she entered her friend's house.