Hey guys. A lot of this chapter is from Riku's POV. I know I don't usually do that, but it just seemed to fit. And it'll probably happen again a few times, especially since there's a lot more to this story than just Bruixe's side of things… lol. You don't know what I'm talking about. But I do. mwahahaha.
This chapter's a little short, but you'll survive. I have faith in you.
Caught up in the middle
Had no choice, had no choice
Birthright forgotten
So silent, no voice
I see you, you know who
Little sister, little sister
Now realized, little sister
Overlooked, little girl
-Creed, "Sister"
Getting to Councilor Isalena's home turned out to be a lot harder than Bruixe had anticipated.
First off, the manor was outside the eastern City walls, and you had to go through the Fire Gate to get there. However, the Fire Gate had been pretty much destroyed with all the fighting there – it turned out that Bruixe, Riku and Sora hadn't managed to defeat them all, and Donald and Goofy had had their hands full at the Fire Gate.
Ren explained that the gate was now under construction, and to get into the desert you had to go out the north gate and hitch a ride with one of the merchant caravans that traveled that way.
"Lovely," Bruixe commented. "Detours. And every minute we waste is one that Terra or Riku have to catch up to us."
"Which would be trouble?" Ren asked
Bruixe shrugged. "Lectures I can handle. Let's just focus on getting into the desert."
They climbed into a wagon with seven other people, and it became clear that Ren wasn't comfortable in crowds; the younger girl kept nervously stroking the handle of her bow, which was slung across her back along with a quiver of bluejay-fletched arrows.
"That's a pretty little stick thrower you've got," Bruixe observed as the wagon lurched over the uneven ground. The bow was some sort of silvery wood – Bruixe guessed some sort of birch – patterned with sky blue lines in a wavelike design. "Can you use it?"
"A little," Ren replied, blushing. "I mean, I can hit targets and stuff. But I've never… well, I've never really had to use it."
Bruixe glared across the wagon at a middle-aged man, who was eyeing Ren as if she were a gemstone and he were appraising her. "Something the matter?" she demanded angrily.
"How much for the little one?" the man replied with a hoarse voice.
Bruixe clenched her teeth and stood up, despite the fact that the caravan was moving. Beside her, Ren fell silent and seemed to shrink into the canvas wall. "Just who do you think you are?" Bruixe snarled.
The man rose to his feet, taller and thinner than Bruixe would have guessed, but with oddly hunched shoulders and a crooked nose. "My customers like them young," he hissed appreciatively. "Soft skin."
Bruixe lunged forward and grabbed the man's collar, shoving him against the wagon's hard wooden bench. "Keep your eyes to yourself, creeper," she growled in his face, "otherwise someone might gouge them out, you get me?"
"It's just good business," the man wheezed. "I'm sure you'd get a good price yourself, my lovely."
It was possibly the worst thing he could have said under the circumstances. Bruixe's right fist came around in a swift uppercut to his jaw, which cracked audibly; she hauled him up and slammed his face into her knee for good measure, then heaved him out the open back of the caravan, where he sprawled satisfyingly in the dirt.
"Teach you to mess with my mates," Bruixe muttered, sinking back into her seat and rubbing her knuckles as if they had touched something dirty. Seven pairs of eyes – Ren's included – watched her with awe and a little fear, then quickly darted away.
"Thanks," Ren said quietly, looking at her hands, folded neatly in her lap.
"No worries," Bruixe told her. "I said I was going to protect you, and I'll be damned if I don't keep that promise."
Ren smiled a little, then said, "You remind me of my sister."
"Stop, you're embarrassing me," Bruixe replied, but a little voice in the back of her head commented, Well, I never had a sister of my own.
"She WHAT?" Riku demanded.
His mother clucked disapprovingly. "You know, she told me this would happen. But darling, you have to realize, Bruixe isn't a child. She knows what she's getting into, and she clearly doesn't want you involved. You should respect that."
Riku looked to Sora and Kairi, a silent plea to back him up. Kairi shrugged. "Bruixe can take care of herself, you know," the redhead pointed out.
Sora snorted. "That's for sure. But knowing her, she'll leave a trail of bodies wherever she goes."
Riku growled and slammed his fist against the tabletop. "She doesn't want me involved? Why? I'm a better warrior than she is, I could help."
"She probably doesn't want you to get hurt," Kairi answered.
"If she's worried about megetting hurt, it means she's not safe either," Riku argued.
There was silence in the room as everyone absorbed that.
"She didn't seem to think there was any danger," Nakia told her son.
"What did she say?" Riku demanded, then realized that he came across rude. "I mean… please."
Nakia waved her hand dismissively. "She was leaving for a while, she didn't want to drag you into her affairs, and she wanted me to keep you here. And frankly, I agree. Sometimes a girl has to do things herself."
"Is that all?" Riku wanted to know.
"She got something out of your room," Nakia added.
Riku sprang out of his chair and darted for his door, looking around wildly. Bruixe's favorite black halter was draped across his bed, along with a note in her distinctive, slanting handwriting.
Miss you already. Try not to worry – I'll be back soon.
~14~
Riku sighed and crumpled the paper in his hand, lifting the black fabric to his face; it still smelled like Bruixe, that peculiar mix of juniper and holly berries, like a wintry garden.
A thought occurred to him; Bruixe had changed clothes. He glanced at his closet; the shelf where his favorite vest usually sat was empty.
"Silly girl," he muttered, then returned to the kitchen where Sora, Kairi, and his mother waited.
"I don't care what she says," Riku announced, "She's up to something, and I'm gonna be a part of it. You guys don't have to come, I know it's not your business –"
"Yes it is," Kairi interrupted. "Bruixe is our friend too, you know. Like the sister I never had."
"Yeah, and island life is so boring," Sora joked. "Gotta liven it up somehow."
Riku looked to his mother, who was still smiling, but her eyes were sad. He knew she was remembering the last time he left home – and didn't come back for two years. She'd never said a word beyond welcoming him home and being glad he was safe… but he knew what it had done to her. Riku knew he would never be able to make up for worrying her that much.
"Don't be like that, Mom," he told her gently, giving her a hug. "We'll be back in no time, all four of us."
"You know I wouldn't let you go if I didn't believe that," she replied, eyes brimming. "Be careful. Be safe."
"I promise," Riku said.
"Riku, slow down!" Sora yelled for the fourth time.
Riku wheeled around angrily and crossed his arms. Around them, crowds swarmed around them, more people than he had ever seen in one place at one time. "We've barely just made it to Kingdom City," he pointed out irritably. "At the pace you're going, we'll never catch up to Bruixe."
"Look," Sora told his friend, voice low. "I can run for days if I want, and I know you can too. But Kairi's not used to this constant traveling stuff."
"So you're saying you want me to take herpace?" Riku demanded.
"Don't talk about her like that!" Sora said defensively. "I'm just saying, Bruixe isn't your only friend, and she's more capable than Kairi. Keep your priorities straight, man."
Riku ran a hand through his silver hair, impatient, but Sora was right. "Fine," he relented. "You stick with Kairi. I'll go ahead and catch Bruixe, and we'll wait for you."
Sora frowned. "You sure? I mean, when you go off on your own… bad stuff happens."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Riku asked, mock-angry, shoving his friend playfully. Sora shoved him back.
"It means don't do anything stupid," the younger boy told him.
Riku snorted, flicking his hair. "I'm not you."
"And clearly not as cool," Sora replied offhandedly.
Riku frowned. "How will you know where to find us?"
Sora shrugged. "Like I said, she leaves a trail of bodies. And you're pretty recognizable, Mister Silver Hair. Trust me, someone will be able to tell us where you are."
Riku shook his head, said, "Well, then, catch you later," and took off running down the street that he remembered would take him to the Temple of Heroes, where the Council was. Surely someone there could tell him where to find his missing Avenger.
