So, almost forgot to post this. –is shot- At least we're almost done with Chapter 2.

Again, go vote on the poll! Seriously, go vote! And then go look at the cute little scene I drew and posted on DeviantART after getting frustrated with Zion.

Anyway... Another thank-you to Coren024 for beta'ing!

Enjoy!

"I'm getting the impression he picked that up from Kairi." –Natalia

"There are some really serious liger curses that just aren't effective in the human language... A shame. I've called Danté that a few times... It'd be nice if I could translate it properly and apply it to Mohs." –Dark

Chapter 2.17 – Race, Double Agent!
Part 26

Dark's POV

"I'm going to get told 'no' if I ask for water, aren't I?" Natalia asked quietly. I held up my hand to shade my eyes for a moment before handing over the mostly-empty canteen.

"Dark, I get that you're supposed to protect her, make sure she's taken care of, all that jazz, but that's the last canteen we have, and last I checked, it was half-empty," Reighn said. I smiled.

"It's fine. The oasis is just up ahead... The damn mirages are hiding it from view, but the glare off the fonstone is strong enough to see even through them," I told him. "I'd say to stop, but... If we keep going the way we have been, it should only take us another hour or so."

Luke looked at me, the canteen in Natalia's hand, which she was putting the cap back onto, then toward the spark of light in the distance, then me, then back in the direction of the oasis.

"Let's keep going," he said. "Anise and Guy are the only ones who haven't taken a drink in the last forty minutes or so. You said there's only about half left?"

I sloshed the water around a little and nodded. Contrary to what the initial bets between Reighn, Jade and myself had been, Anise was actually the one who took down the most water out of all of us. I'd actually been expecting to have to rail Luke and Natalia about excessive consumption, but while Luke came in second to Anise, he had been the one to warn Natalia not to drink too much.

In Luke's defense, he was also the only one of us swallowing a whole mouthful at once instead of taking a couple of smaller sips.

And, normally, we wouldn't have been sharing the canteens the way we were. However, Natalia, Anise, and Sync had all neglected to pack their own (something which would be rectified once we reached the oasis), so the three of us distributing water had taken two each and decided to pass around just one at a time, so we could keep track of how much we had left.

I'd initially been very surprised by Luke's preparedness, until Guy explained that he'd reminded Luke about some of the problems we encountered while trying to get back to Kimlasca. Water had been one of those problems. Jade seemed to have a military-issued canteen on him at all times, as did Tear, and I'd packed one, since I'd been planning on camping in the Northern Forest for a few weeks. Guy had been looking for Luke, so he'd been prepared, too.

Luke hadn't been carrying one in the manor, and why would he? Ion hadn't had one either, and when we caught up to Anise, she'd been without hers as well. So there had been four canteens for seven people. We'd also had just two sleeping bags—mine, and Guy's.

They'd gone to Luke and Ion most nights, except for one night when Tear had gotten herself injured protecting Luke. He'd insisted she take the sleeping bag that night.

Natalia hadn't thought about things like water and dried foods, but at least she'd remembered her sleeping bag and mess kit. She'd also grabbed a tent that was a size bigger than the ones Guy, Jade, Reighn and I had packed, so she, Tear, and Anise shared it while the rest of us doubled up, whoever was on watch using the extra as a shady place to keep an eye out.

Anise, unfortunately, still hadn't had a chance to collect up her camping gear, but I'd brought along a spare sleeping bag (expecting to have to give it to Natalia), so she had commandeered that.

Sync, it turned out, had accepted a sleeping bag and a mess kit from the Dark Wings, since his were currently in Kairi's possession, and hadn't picked up anything else. Reighn hadn't initially realized that Kairi had all of their camping supplies locked up in her wing pack, so he hadn't grabbed a second canteen while in Baticul.

"Hey, is that it?"

I looked up, finally broken out of my musings, and smiled. "Yup."

"Great. Can I have a drink now?" Anise grumbled. I blinked a few times before I realized she had been trying to get my attention for the last five minutes.

"Whoops... Sorry, Anise. Here you go," I said, handing over the water.

Jade smirked. "You were thinking pretty hard about something. Care to share with the rest of us, since the telepath isn't here?" he teased. I rolled my eyes.

"Artes," I said. Then, since I'd sent my mind in that direction, of course I actually starting thinking about it. "Something to do with sand, I think..."

Luke groaned. "Can it wait until we've gotten to the oasis? Please?"

I shrugged, accepting the canteen back from Anise and slipping it back around my torso, following as Luke started walking again.

It only took us another fifteen or so minutes to reach the oasis, and I spent the entire time constructing a half-thought-out arte in my head. Once we arrived, however, my musing was cut short by a cry of pain.

"Luke!"

My eyes widened when I saw Luke hit the ground, clutching his head. Sync looked mildly concerned, but not extremely worried. I thought I heard Luke muttering angrily under his breath, until most of the tension in his body suddenly left and he groaned, running his hands through his hair to push it out of his face before he stood up, shakily.

"Luke?"

The redhead turned to look at me, before he looked at Sync. "How much do you trust Asch?"

Sync scowled. "Asch is one of the few people I trust, period, and is third only to Kairi and Cantabile. Why?"

Luke crossed his arms. "He said they're taking Ion to the Zao Ruins, once they get the Tartarus up and running again. It looks like Arietta got the soldiers messed up and they went the wrong direction before being forced to stop and get sand out of the equipment," he said. "He said if we could make the same time we made from Baticul to here, we should be able to get to the ruins before they leave."

I frowned, and thought about that a moment.

"Why do you sound so worried about it, then? He's obviously helping us," Anise asked. Luke sighed.

"Actually... it sounded like he was repeating something someone else said."

Sync smirked. "Kairi, no doubt. I can't see Asch doing the mental math it would take to figure out how long it'd take them and us to get to the ruins," he said. Jade nodded.

"Yes. And Asch is technically a prisoner. He might not have had access to half of that information. Kairi, as Major Mirage, does." His thoughtful look turned into a smirk. "In fact, Kairi wouldn't even have had to risk them finding out she was passing information to Asch to send along to us. She's telepathic, remember?"

"So why didn't she contact me?" Luke complained. "That was painful..."

Sync chuckled. "There's a limit to how far Kairi can reach. Besides, Asch isn't telepathic. You two are isofons. It doesn't matter how far apart you are, you can contact each other at any time. Asch has never done it before because he never had reason to," he said. Luke frowned.

"How do you know?" he asked. Sync cringed.

"Ah... Kairi's seen you both on the second plane. She can't give you numbers, but you two give off the same fonic signature," he said. It wasn't immediately obvious to anyone looking, but I could tell that he'd come up with a lie off the top of his head to explain that little slip-up. Then he shook his head. "I might be Ion's replica, but even he and I give off different signatures."

Jade nodded, seemingly accepting this answer, even though I had a feeling he knew it was a lie. Well, I guess he figures if they think he believes Sync, they'll go along. "Well, then. I'd say we should go after them, but... The Zao Ruins were supposedly lost two thousand years ago. We'd waste time trying to find them, and I'd rather not get lost in this desert," he said.

Natalia folded her arms and looked smug. "Well, it's a good thing we know where they are, isn't it, Dark?" I gave her a completely baffled look, and she deflated, her expression becoming exasperated. "You're telling me you don't remember?"

"Well, we're screwed," Anise said cheerfully. Er, somewhat.

Natalia huffed. "East! The Zao Ruins are east of here!"

Tear frowned. "How do you know?"

"Because Kairi told me the first time she came to Baticul."

The many conversations of the day flooded back to me... One particular one regarding the Zao Ruins seemingly dancing around in my mind to taunt me. I groaned.

"Fine. But we're doubling up on canteens," I said. "Kairi said she never made it far in, and I'm getting the really bad feeling—"

"It's fucking long."

"Thank you, Sync."

"It's long, and dusty, and hot, and there are a lot of monsters."

Jade raised an eyebrow. "And you know this because...?"

"Ah..." I started, more of that conversation coming back. Sync turned to me and raised an eyebrow. "I take it Kairi did take the two of you after all?" Sync growled under his breath, and Sorylle and I sweat-dropped. "No need for that kind of language, now..."

Natalia giggled. "I'm getting the impression he picked that up from Kairi."

I scratched the back of my head. "There are some really serious liger curses that just aren't effective in the human language... A shame. I've called Danté that a few times... It'd be nice if I could translate it properly and apply it to Mohs."

"Ahem... If Kairi and Asch think we need to leave by tonight, then we need to get our supplies together and get some rest, quickly," Jade said, once again taking charge. I nodded.

"I picked up a bunch of gald while we were in Baticul. I'll take Guy and... Sync... We'll go get the extra canteens and fill them," I said. Guy shifted his weight to the other leg and looked at me.

"Mind if we find a man by the name of Gee while we're at it? Pere said he'd be able to teach me something," he said. I shrugged.

"Actually, why don't you do that instead? I can take Tear."

Guy smiled. "Thanks, Dark."

Jade frowned. "There should be a large tent set up... There, past the water. It's set up to block the sun so people can sleep. Someone's going to have to volunteer to stay up so we leave at the right time," he said.

Reighn and Sync exchanged a look. "I'll stay up," Reighn offered. Jade nodded.

"Alright. Anise, if you'd come with me? I'd like to go restock on our medicine and dried foods. Make sure to get to the rest tent as soon as possible."

General comments of agreement rose around the group before we split up, Reighn and Jade handing over the four canteens they'd been carrying to Sync and Tear. Luke and Natalia wandered off with Guy for the time being, while Reighn slipped into one of the many merchant tents around the area.

Once we found the well (which had a tent selling camping supplies, including canteens, next to it), we got to work. With the three of us filling six canteens each, rather than the unappealing prospect of nine each had I only brought one other with me, we cut through the work quickly... As well as a good deal of the bag of gald I'd brought. It was a good thing a second bag was still stashed away in my wing pack.

Once all but one of the canteens was tucked away, the three of us headed for the tent Jade had pointed out.

It seemed that he and Anise had beaten us there. Jade had, thankfully, picked up a wing pack in Baticul, so I handed over six of the canteens we'd filled before pulling my sleeping bag out and laying down. Sorylle slipped in behind me and curled up, and I couldn't help but smile.

I woke up maybe an hour later, to find Reighn shaking Sync awake carefully. "Thought we weren't taking turns?" I spoke up quietly.

Reighn froze and glanced over his shoulder at me.

I was already slipping out of my sleeping bag, carefully depositing a still-sleeping Sorylle on the floor next to me, as I rolled it up.

"What are you doing?" Sync asked quietly. I smirked, slipping my sleeping bag into my wing pack and pulling half of the remaining canteens out to place them next to Jade's sleeping bag.

It was a good thing he was on the opposite side of the tent, because while I could walk stealthily, the talking might have woken him.

"Isn't it obvious?" I asked as I picked up Sorylle. Sync had finally gotten out of his sleeping bag and started rolling it up. "I'm coming with you."

"But, Natalia..." the green-haired boy started. I shook my head.

"They'll be right behind us. She'll understand."

Sync handed his rolled sleeping bag over to Reighn, who put it away in his wing pack before tucking the little box into his coat.

"Let's get going then. Preferably before we wake Jade."

I nodded, still clinging to Sorylle. She wasn't as easy to carry as she had been.

It was still ridiculously hot outside, but I had the feeling we'd be running until later than we usually stopped anyway, so I didn't complain. I knew we'd have to deal with the cold later.

Good thing I had Sorylle.

I resisted the urge to knock my head off of something solid for that thought and followed Sync and Reighn out of the oasis.

"How many canteens to we have?" Sync asked.

"Six."

Reighn nodded. "Two for each of us... I take it you left more than just the six with Jade?"

"I gave him six when we first got back, then fell asleep before I could give those to you. Since we're leaving, I figured they'd be better off if they had the water," I said.

Reighn smiled. "Yeah... You think things through pretty quickly, huh?"

I chuckled. "Kinda the point," I said. "So, east... Well, you've been there before, Sync. You can find it again, right?"

Sync chuckled, scratching the back of his head nervously. "Sure..."

"You weren't really paying attention the first time, were you?" Reighn guessed. Judging from the expression Sync wore, I'd say the answer to that is 'yes'. I laughed.

"Let's just head east then. Quickly."

Sync nodded. "If we get close and it's cool enough we don't have to deal with mirages, we'll see the ruins."

Then he turned and started walking.

Fun Fact: I didn't mean for Sync to start cursing in liger! Really I didn't! But don't worry, it doesn't happen often. Actually, I'm pretty sure I've only written it in once so far.