Chapter twelve:
The patrol keeps moving as they move closer and closer to the town that holds the palace. They stay low and continue moving as quietly as possible then once they can see the town they stop to peer over a bush.
People of the town that are awake right now are walking minding their own business seemingly without a care in the world. As if they were unaware that another attack was indeed coming though when is still a little unclear at the moment.
"What's the plan?" Rester asks.
"We are going to scope the area." Near responds slightly glancing around. "Half of you go over that way and half of you go the other way. Don't let yourselves be seen or get caught. Look for anything that might be important or helpful. We will meet up here after so don't take too long but get a good idea of an important areas."
The group nods and does as Near says.
Near turns back to the entrance way and begins mapping out what he can with the town that he can see from where he is. He calculates good ways to possibly go when they will attack. He moves to get a little closer being cautious as he uses nature to hide himself alongside the shadows. He ducks behind a tree only to peer out taking a closer look at the town. He spots a few routes that look like not many people go but right now he only makes mental notes about them as he doesn't want to risk going inside the town at least right now. He ducks back behind the tree he is hiding behind just as a guard starts to turn to look in his direction. He waits a few moments only to hear some footsteps moving closer and closer to him. He allows his breathing to quiet down and he stays still to avoid stepping on anything that might alert the person who is moving closer.
However as the footsteps continue to come closer and closer to him he begins to think that he might have to fend off an attacker without alerting anyone in the town.
He only moves one hand as he pulls out a sharp pocket knife since right now his powers will not work especially for this fight. He stays hidden giving whoever it is a chance to just turn around and leave.
The footsteps slow to a stop and Near waits for what will happen next.
"Could have sworn I sensed someone over here…." A gruff voice speaks to himself. "Maybe it was my imagination?" The voice pauses before speaking again. "Anyone out there?!"
Near spots a fox not too far away and begins carefully moving towards it while staying close to the tree then stops once the fox dashes away making a bunch of noise.
The person on the other side of the tree yelps in surprise and throws a sword at the fox hitting it in the back of the chest killing it instantly. Then with a small pause the person laughs going to retrieve the sword letting Near see that it is indeed the guard he spotted just a few moments before. "It was nothing but a stupid fox." The guard turns heading back to town. "Silly me for getting all worked up for nothing."
Near lets the guard get far enough away before letting his breathing return to normal. He begins heading away from the town to get back to the meeting place. He ducks behind bushes and trees until he reaches the meeting spot as the others come to join him. "Did anyone find anything?" He asks once everyone is back.
"Not much more than that we don't know already." Rester says. "We found a path with what we could see was boarded up houses. It's on the outskirts of the town a third of the way to half way to the direction that the palace is but we didn't get any closer just in case there's guards there."
Near nods. "That might be useful." He says slightly thoughtfully. "Anything else?"
"A few new faces on the guards." Rester says. "Though it's possible we just didn't see them before."
"Or they are recruiting more guards." Near says mostly to himself. "We'll need to be cautious of that."
"Yes and that is all that we have to report." Rester says with a nod.
"Ok." Near turns to Ukita and his group. "What'd you find?"
"They've extended by a house or two one fourth of the way past halfway the direction of the palace." Ukita says. "We saw people in that area but it was only about two people." He reports. "That's all anything new that we could find."
"Ok. We will retreat for now. I think all of us has found things that might help us if we play our cards right. Though for now we head home." Near says.
So the patrol heads to go home being as stealthy as they were before.
….
L turns to look to Light upon hearing this. "Oh?"
"Under certain circumstances." Light says. "I don't want anything to happen to you if the others see you as if you forced me to take you out or something." He begins to explain. "You see you need to promise that if I let you be able to get some exercise a little then you must keep what we use to block your magic on the whole time and you cannot attack me. I am only telling you this before your own safety. You have no idea how much I need you." He watches L's eyes. "So please don't try anything that might get you hurt or killed."
L lets himself ponder over the pros and cons of the situation but the pros win. "Alright." He agrees.
Light's face lights up in happiness upon hearing that single word come from L's mouth. "That's great! Oh thank you!" He says happily. "I will go get the bracelet that will keep you from using your powers." He then leaves the room in a hurry.
L turns to look away from the open doorway in slight thought. "I can use all of this to my advantage." He says quietly to himself making sure to keep his voice whispered or under his breath. "I will see how far we can explore right now."
Someone enters the room and L turns to look to see who has entered into the room through the door Light had left open.