"Ok, let me go over this one more time. Specifically for you, Ash. We are looking for Summer. A sheep Faunus with big old droopy ears and pink hair."
"You know I've met her before, right? I know what she looks like." Ash said with a scowl.
"Just being thorough. Never know with that leaky brain of yours." Jett turned to Tidus. "She's short as well, so make sure your eyes are on the floor, Tidus."
Tidus rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Are we really going to find this 'Summer' person in here?"
The four had stopped outside a rundown bar, the building almost seemed to sway in the wind, threatening to topple at any moment. That was still an impressive feat, considering how decrepit it was and how windy the desert could get. Outside, a sign creaked back and forth on a hinge with the name 'Red Canyon' scratched into it. Someone had hastily scribbled the words 'no outsiders' underneath. Outsiders, in this case, not just meaning those not from Vacuo, but just about everyone who wasn't a regular at the bar.
"This might just be the safest bar in all of Vacuo." Tidus said, cringing as a rather fat rat scurried out the saloon style doors. "Although that's not really saying much. You think they'll get me a glass of milk if I order one?"
Jett rolled his eyes this time. "Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure this is the place." He wrinkled his nose, already catching the foul stench of the interior. "Alright, leave the talking to me. Just stay behind me and look tough. Or at least don't look like scared."
The other three nodded and followed Jett inside. Opening the doors made two things immediately clear. The smell inside was way worse than outside, and judging by the way every patron at the bar had turned to look at them, they were not welcome here. If Jett was nervous, he was doing a spectacular job of hiding it. Kai remained stoic as ever, while Tidus and Ash followed, unable to hide the occasional wary glance.
Jett pushed through to the bar without giving a second thought to the malicious gazes that surrounded them. He stopped in front of the bartender and leaned on the bar, staring at him expectantly. The burly man ignored him before realising this latest problem wasn't going to just go away. "You need something?" He said in his gruff voice, fixing them all with an intimidating stare.
"You know exactly what I need," Jett said, staring the bigger man down.
The bartender turned away and focused his attention on cleaning a glass. His tone was low and dangerous. "Afraid I don't."
"I'm afraid you do." Jett's voice dropped to an equally dangerous level. "Where is she?"
The bartender put the glass down and looked at Jett. His tone growing strained as his patience wore thin. "You don't just get to turn back up after a year and make demands. Regardless, she's not here."
"If you remembered who I am, then you'd know I do." Jett said, with venom in his voice.
"Who you were." He corrected before letting out a throaty chuckle. "Times change. Your Street Reaper gimmick is a thing of the past."
"Times do change, so don't make me show you how much better I am than before."
"Heh. Try us." The bartender said, gesturing behind the group.
The four of them turned around to find the entire bar stood up. Many of the people had armed themselves with bats, brass knuckles, and other weapons of the bludgeoning variety. Jett stopped Ash from reaching for his weapon. No weapons. These guys weren't smart enough to work out aura defense.
"This'll be like the first time we met Jett." The bartender lifted a hand, showcasing a missing ring finger. "I've been looking forward to repaying you for this. Although I was thinking of an eye in return. For all the trouble you caused me over the years."
Jett turned back to the bartender. "Wish I could say that I was sorry for what we're about to do to your bar. But I'm not." A shadow almost seemed to cover Jett's eyes and a sadistic grin spread across his face as he spoke his last words. "And if I even find a scratch on Summer, I think I'll take your eye instead."
The bartender only choked out a surprised grunt before Jett reached out across the bar and slammed his face into the counter. Ash's reaction was immediate as he and a burly man from the opposite side charged one another and threw the stunned room into chaos. The all-out brawl in such a tight space resulted in a frantic melee with a bodies and people flying from one end to another. Upon closer inspection, it was very much one sided. The rather inebriated state of the patrons had deteriorated their already lack luster combat skill. Add that to the fact that none of them knew how to use their auras at all meant they were dropping quick. Even so, sheer numbers alone were still enough to slow AMBT down and distract them from the real reason they were here.
Kai, ever the voice of reason, identified the obvious problem they had fallen into. He disarmed a man and knocked him unconscious with his own bat before getting Jett's attention. "I believe we have this under control. Look for the girl."
Jett paused for a moment before sliding under a drunkard's feet and tripping him with Reaper's chain. Leaving his team in the melee didn't sound like the best plan.
"Yeah, you go looking we'll be-" At that moment a woman sledgehammered a chair into Tidus' back. His yellow aura glowed from the hit, but it was the furniture that crumbled in the collision. Tidus' retaliation punch launched her toward the opposite end of the bar. "We'll be fine." He let out a puff of air. "I don't think I'm getting my glass of milk."
That was enough to convince Jett that he could leave them to it. He weaved his way through the bar brawl, slipping under punches and diving over kicks, and handing out a few sucker punches along the way. He had at least one idea on where Summer could be. When he reached the other side of the bar, he searched for the door to the storeroom and got to work. At first, he thought about picking the door's lock, but a flying body crashing through it for him expedited the process. Unmistakable pink hair and a pair of droopy sheep ears poking out the side of her head. Sure enough, Summer was in there with her hands tied to a shelf above her head.
Her head shot up in surprise as she saw Jett standing in the doorway. The carnage that was ensuing behind him only made his intense look scarier. He crouched down beside her and worked to undo her bindings with a not too cheerful look on his face. The scalding started before she got a word in.
"What the fuck are you doing here?"
"I-"
Jett cut her off. Obviously, that had been a rhetorical question. "Because I'm pretty sure I told you to never come here."
"I didn't mean to, I was just-"
"You didn't mean to? How the fuck do you end up at this one bar, out of all the places in Vacuo, by accident?!" Jett took a moment to compose himself. He didn't want to end up cutting something other than the rope. "Just start from the beginning."
Summer's voice was soft, barely above a whisper. But Jett listened intently, like he always did. "Some kids said that the people here were bothering them again. Red and Rosy even got shaken up a bit whilst they were playing. So I did something about it." Her voice trailed off when he shot her a doubtful look. "Or I tried to. Like you would."
Jett finally finished cutting the bindings. "Listen, you are not me. So don't act like me."
"But-"
"Do as I say, not as I do. And when I tell you to do something, do it." He stood up and let out a tired sigh. "Understood?"
Summer couldn't help herself from sulking a little. "Why do I feel like I'm being told off when I'm the victim here?"
"Because you're fucking stupid sometimes." The prone man in the doorway stirred. Jett put an end to that with a swift kick to the head. "And we're still in the middle of dealing with your captors." He took a step over the body to survey the fight.
Summer poked her head out from behind him to take a peek. She struggled to understand what was going on, only being able to make out a few prominent figures. Sudden realisation struck her when she recognised a face. "Is that Ash? Wait a minute, is this your team?"
"We'll discuss that after. Stay in here and don't move a muscle." Jett only managed a few steps before he was ducking under elbows and jabs.
The fight had thinned out somewhat, but that didn't make things any easier. The bar was still an endless sea of brawling bodies with seemingly no sign of an ending. Now made worse by the many eliminated combatants that littered the ground.
"This is really getting out of hand. How many more of these idiots do we need to put down?" Tidus said as he sidestepped another punch before lifting the man over his head and slamming him through a table. A glass bottle came flying from behind, but he dodged, stomping down on the table below, causing the opposite end to launch up into the attacker's jaw.
"Yo, that was awesome! I've always wanted to do the table thing." Ash flipped over the back of an opponent and kicked him in the face before searching for a table of his own. He found one, but his opponent wasn't too eager to end up like his friend. The two shuffled awkwardly around the table as Ash tried to position himself on the long end. The man doing everything in his power to avoid going to the opposite end of the table. In the end, Ash gave up on the move, instead hooking a nearby chair with his leg and kicking it over the table into the man's head.
From behind the counter, the bartender held his bleeding nose and looked on in horror as his bar fell further into disrepair. They destroyed tables, cracked open his most expensive barrels of liquor, smashed his windows. Not to mention the current fountain of blood that left his nose. He took in a shaky breath as he fumbled under the counter with a crazed look in his eyes. His hands closing around the cool grip of his shotgun. He'd only ever used it once before. Usually, waving it around a bit was enough to scare rowdy visitors off. He aimed it and scoured the fight for a target. The big one seemed like an obvious choice until he disappeared, wrestling two of his opponents to the ground. That stupid Street Reaper Jett was next on his shit list, but the Faunus was swinging from the lights and remained hard to hit. That just left the rich kid who just set one of his tables on fire.
He aimed the shotgun at Ash's back, taking deep breaths and readying himself. Quick and easy, one shot. A small gust of wind knocked his aim, but he corrected it fast and squeezed down on the trigger.
Nothing.
He pulled the trigger again, only to get a dull clicking sound. To his surprise, the gun split in half in his hands and a pair of boots appeared on the counter.
"I believe there was an unspoken agreement that called for no lethal weapons in this encounter." Kai said as he delivered a kick to the bartender's face. The kick launched the man back into some shelves, causing a cascade of bottles to shatter over his slumped form.
The fighting was finally coming to a close. Any patrons who weren't lining the floor had figured out that this wasn't worth their time or breakable bones and had fled. The team regrouped, watching them stumble out into the street before they heard a new set of footsteps creaking down the staircase. Accompanied by the metallic clicking of spurs on his boots. The new challenger stopped at the bottom of the staircase. His eyes scanned over the carnage before him from underneath his cowboy hat.
"Well, I never. Lot a shit went down while I was asleep, it seems." The man said, lifting the brim of his hat.
Jett stared down the wanna be cowboy and snorted. "Who the fuck is this clown?"
"I say, where are your manners? My name is-"
"Clay Moulon." Kai finished for him.
Clay shot them a cocky grin. "At least someone here knows-"
"Ranked number thirteen on Vacuo's most wanted list. Wanted for crimes in the jurisdictions of Atlas, Vale and Mistral. These crimes include grand larceny, petty theft, assault, bounty hunting without a license, and public indecency."
Clay let out a laugh through gritted teeth. "Number thirteen? I remember when I was number five, ain't no way I've dropped that far."
"Either way. We need to bring you to justice." Kai said, reaching for his sword.
"I think that is totally unnecessary." He reached down and grabbed one of the few intact beer bottles and popped the cap, taking a swig. "I've already tried to explain to them that the public indecency thing was a huge misunderstanding."
"Fuck sake Kai. Did you really have to make more work for us? Whatever, I'll deal with him." Tidus rolled his neck as lightning surrounded his body. "All this fighting's got me riled up, anyway."
"Guess we can fight, considering I was supposed to protect this bar and all…" He paused as he narrowed his eyes and carefully examined the team. "But you… Yeah, I think you're the guys."
Tidus didn't leave anytime to understand the last part as he launched into action. A series of electrified punches flying out, all aimed at his opponent's face. Clay didn't even blink. Calm and composed, he took leisurely steps back as he weaved his head to avoid the ever-increasing onslaught.
"Fast, but not fast enough."
A flash of anger passed over Tidus' face before he came to a stop, feeling a foreign object pressed to his stomach. He looked down in time to witness Clay fan the hammer on the revolver and let off four shots in quick succession at point blank range. The reverberating bang of the gun bounced off the walls of the room as it launched Tidus through a wall and into the street. His yellow aura shattering and the lightning abruptly fizzling out around his body. There was a moment of silence that followed as the other three fully understood what had just happened. Tidus rarely lost. In fact, since coming to Shade, he had only ever lost to the instructors. So for Clay to take him out in fifteen seconds flat... it was a less than stellar sign.
"Is he alright?" Ash said with a shaky voice.
Jett's ears twitched around as he made out some pained groans. "Yeah, I think so. He's still making noise, at least."
"Good. That he's alive, not that he got hit." Ash's brain seemed to work slower than usual. He scrambled to organise his thoughts as Clay stood grinning at them, making elaborate flourishes with his revolver. "We… uh. We should…"
"We need to fight." Jett's eyes settled on Summer, hunkering in the storeroom behind Clay. "At least until we can get what we came for."
Kai followed Jett's gaze in understanding. "That should be doable. We underestimated him at first, but his revolver is a six shooter. He has two shots left and then we can strike."
"Right." Ash punched his fists together as he felt his confidence return. "Ok yeah, let's do this AMBT! Let's kick this cosplay cowboy's ass!"
His confidence faded fast when Clay finally leveled his revolver at them and let loose a shot. All three of them dived in different directions, scrambling to use overturned furniture for cover. The rush of wind that followed the luminous green bullet explained why the shot had sent Tidus so far. With only one shot left, Ash made the bold choice to bait it out. He leaped out from behind a table and charged the gunslinger, lifting his shielded tonfa when Clay fired his last shot. Even while blocking, the wind energy released by the dust infused bullet was enough to knock him back and off his feet.
With the last shot gone, Jett and Kai seized the opportunity, advancing from opposite sides. Of all things that could have happened, the last thing Jett expected was for Clay to throw his gun at him. He ducked it with ease, only to stumble when he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. Clay reached his hand out to catch the boomerang that had once been his revolver and made a quick turn to meet Kai's blade. Even against Kai, Clay made the boomerang look like an effective melee weapon. The boomerang was constantly being switched between Clay's hands and its small size and odd shape were making it difficult to block.
Kai finally got a hit in when Ash charged in. With Clay distracted, he brought the butt of his blade down on the back of his head. Only to be met with the flash of a protective aura. Clay stumbled before throwing an object on the floor that exploded into bright lights, forcing Ash and Kai back. Kai blinked a few times before mentally scolding himself. Of course, one of Vacuo's most wanted would know how to control his aura. Going for a knock-out blow like he was still fighting drunkards had been a foolish choice on his part.
Jett watched from afar as he picked himself off the floor. He left them to it for now, instead sneaking over to Summer.
"Make a run for it now and go check on Tidus. We'll meet you outside when we're done in here." He gave Summer a small shove as the two split directions.
When he rejoined the fight, things had gone from bad to worse. Clay had made enough space for himself to use his revolver again and load up some new dust bullets. The blue glow and the fact the last shot had just frozen Ash's shoulder to the wall made it pretty clear what type. With Kai taking cover and Ash frozen solid, Jett moved in for a sneak attack. He moved fast and low to the ground, his chain at the ready to take advantage of Clay's turned back. That was until Clay flicked around, launching a black pellet straight at Jett's face. They exploded into black smoke, sending him to the ground, coughing. Leaving Kai with no choice but to charge out to fight one on one.
Outside, Summer crouched down next to Tidus with a worried look on her face. Her hands hovered over him, trying to figure out what to do. She had to look for a pulse, right? On the wrist or under the neck. She fumbled around a bit until she finally heard it. Light snoring. She could even see his chest rising and falling consistently now as well.
"Are you alright?"
Tidus' right eye twitched open to give her a one eyed stare. "What do you think?" He shifted slightly and let out a pained groan.
She gave him a once over, trying to check for any serious injuries. "Can you at least still fight?"
"Kinda. I'm going to need some time."
"What do you mean, need some time?!" She let out a squeal when a burning bullet landed a few feet away. "They need your help!"
"Getting thrown through that wall completely cooked my aura. If I go back in now, I'll just hold them back." He let his head fall back down into the sand. "Better to recover a little first."
"By taking a nap?!" Summer said in disbelief.
"I can't do anything else from this range without my aura. So yeah, I might rest my eyes." He shifted himself into a more comfortable position. "The guys have got this covered."
The guys did not have it covered.
The fight had been fun, but Clay figured it was about time he wrapped this up. In an instant, he turned the fight on its head, delivering a swift kick to Kai's mid section, pushing him back. He flourished the boomerang in his hand to reveal his revolver and levelled it at Kai. With a squeeze of the trigger, yellow dust energy shot up the barrel as he unloaded two lightning rounds into him. The bullet themselves fizzled out into Kai's aura, but the electricity was the major threat. Kai's entire body went rigid as the yellow sparks spread through his plated armour with ease, making web like lines. The metal served as a conduit, amplifying the effect until his aura finally gave way, exposing him to the full feeling of pain. The electricity ran over his skin, each jolt like a white hot needle jabbing into his skin. Kai let out a few gurgles of pain through gritted teeth before being brought to his knees and collapsing as smoke slowly rose from his body.
"KAI!"
On cue, Ash came flying in fists first, barreling forward with reckless abandon. His shout of anger had unfortunately done nothing more than alert Clay to the attack. Even with the warning, Clay stumbled back as he struggled to find an opportunity to get a shot off. He had to admit, this kid had the hot-hand. Literally.
The next punches were blazing with heat that burned even when he blocked. But the shotgun blast that went off next to his head warned him about how much danger he was truly in. Ash felt a surge of confidence spread through him at the look of terror on the outlaw's face. He only got to appreciate it for a second before a rapid series of open palms hit him. The last one being an uppercut that forced his jaw shut, shattered his aura and made him violently bite down on his own tongue.
Ash staggered back in a daze as Clay took in deep breaths, still reeling from the near fatal shotgun blast. Jett took his opportunity. With brutal efficiency, he took the chain of Reaper and wrapped it around the outlaw's neck and pulled it tight. Jett wasn't exactly trying to kill the guy, but seeing how he'd just single-handedly torn through his teammates, he wasn't taking any chances. Clay's aura glowed as it strained underneath the pressure from the chain and the two struggled against each other. Finally, Jett got the complete wrap around and made for the last squeeze. He could feel Clay's resistance slow as the seconds crawled by. After a minute, Clay was still.
Jett took a relieved breath as he released his chokehold, only to tense in surprise when Clay's hand clamped around his wrist. Immediately Jett felt a wave of weakness sweep over of his body as Clay's green aura ebbed. The entire room was spinning and feverish heat pulsed across his body. His eyelids grew heavier and knees weaker.
"Should've gone for the kill."
The words barely registered in Jett's head as he fell to his knees, blind spots overtaking his vision. His body was going numb, and the concept of time seemed like a far-flung notion.
It was like everything was slipping away from him.
A shout of pain marked the end of the contact, and the world and Jett's senses rushed back to him. His vision cleared, and the smell of burnt flesh filled his nose. Through his blurred vision, he made out Clay laying in a smoking heap, writhing in pain. Jett looked to the hole in the wall to see the unmistakable pink outline of Summer. An ethereal glow radiating from her hands.
Tidus blinked a few times as Summer stood there with her glowing hands raised and shaking. The wide-eyed expression of shock on her face matching the one on his own. Whatever Summer had just done could wait. Jett was already standing on shaky legs and making his way to the exit. Along the way, he picked up the half stunned Kai off the floor. The white-haired man still wasn't all there, but he had his wits about him enough to know they were making their escape.
Ash got up from being slumped next to a wall. The way his tongue felt and the blood he'd just spat out probably meant he wouldn't be able to talk properly for a week. He'd been outclassed before, but now it was time for round two.
"No shot man, we are out of here." Tidus said, while grabbing Ash from behind. He'd seen that look in his eyes way too many times to not know he was about to do something stupid. And as much as Ash would hate it, running away with their tails between their legs was the only way they were going to live to see another day. The five of them limped out the hole in the wall without turning back, fully focused on putting as much distance between them and the bar as possible. Clay sat up and watched them limp away in frustration. The pink haired one launching some kind of energy beam was the last thing he had expected, and it hurt. Really hurt. Also completely burned a hole through his favourite duster. He lifted himself to his feet and took in a sharp breath as he tenderly touched his burnt side before reaching into his inner pocket. He pulled out a singed magazine cut out and grinned as he looked at the picture. The fight had been a lot more of a pain than he thought, but the contractor said he'd pay for any extra information. Just had to hope that would cover some decent burn medicine.
The team was a sorry sight as they made their way back to the orphanage. Tidus and Jett limped along, one constantly rubbing his back while the other looked physically drained. Ash was at their side with dried blood staining the corner of his mouth, a glum look on his face. At the end, Kai's body went rigid every few seconds as residual electricity ran through his armour. It was safe to say they were getting a few weird looks.
After trudging in silence for an hour, Jett finally boiled over. "What the fuck was that?!"
"That was number thirteen on Vacuo's most wanted Clay Moulon-"
"Not that guy. I couldn't give two shits about him right now." He turned to Summer with a wild look in his eye. "I'm asking you."
Summer flinched back at his raised voice before twiddling her fingers together and looking at the floor. "I don't know. I just got a little angry and worried." Jett didn't look too satisfied with that answer. "and then I…" Her voice trailed off as she searched for the correct words to describe the events. "I don't know."
"Then you just shot lasers from your hands." Tidus said, looking to Ash for added sound effects. Before remembering, he couldn't make any noises other than pitiful groans right now. "You know, with the way your eyes were burning, I thought you had laser eyes for a Semblance."
"Whatever." Jett let out a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I still don't even understand why you went there? What was the plan?"
"I… just thought I could get them to apologise."
"Apologise how?"
"Ah, cut her some slack. I mean, she can shoot lasers," Tidus said. "I bet she would have had them begging in like a minute flat."
Summer perked up a bit as Tidus came to her aid. An eye roll and an expectant look from Jett caused her to retreat to her shy demeanour. "Well, I'm kind of… a pacifist."
Both Tidus and Kai did a double take to make sure they were hearing correctly.
"And also an idiot." Jett said, dropping his harsh tone. It was hard to stay mad at someone who spoke in such a soft tone. "You can't go to a bar in Vacuo and get them to apologise for bullying little kids without expecting them to just go off on you instead."
Summer let out at a sigh, sulking like a punished child. Which she was. "I know."
"plumph ef you wan be a Hunthresh you neeth to fifth."
Everybody looked at Ash, trying to decipher what he had just said. "He said if you're still aspiring to become a Huntress, you need to fight," Jett translated. "For once, he is right."
Summer let out another sigh before giving him a small smile. "When did you two become the smart ones?"
"efther shince…"
"Ash, no one can understand a word you're saying." Jett turned back to Summer. "We've always been the smart ones."
Summer let her grin grow and turn smug. "But what about the time you broke your arm? Or when Ash got his head stuck in a washing machine? And that time-"
Jett stopped and leaned over to be face to face with Summer. "As long as you are the wannabe pacifist Huntress, you have no room to speak."
Summer's cheshire cat grin grew as Jett got more irritated. "Really?" She said in a mocking tone.
"Yeah, really. And now you've really set us back. I didn't think we'd end up at the infirmary before we left."
Her face fell. "Sorry."
"It's fine. Nice not having to listen to Ash for a while."
A wave of laughter overcame the group as Ash went red faced. "Yeah, maybe we shouldn't go to the infirmary. He won't be able to talk for a week." Tidus said with a chuckle. "Any way Jett, it's not like she's all to blame for this. Why did you insist on speaking when all you were going to do was start a fight? Maybe you should have stayed outside, considering you seemed to have a history with the owner."
"There is a big difference between picking a fight you can win and one you will definitely lose."
"Definitely looks a like a victory from where I'm standing." Tidus said sarcastically.
Jett ignored the sarcastic comment and continued on. "With that loose end tied up, I can officially say my life of crime is over."
"You were involved in crime?" Kai asked. The word crime almost seemed to set off a radar in his head.
"Keyword is 'was', I'm not anymore." Jett cleared his throat as he prepared to give them the short version. "That guy used to be my employer, to some extent. When I first got to Vacuo, I had nowhere to stay. Ended up at that bar and one thing lead to another… kinda chopped off his finger."
"Didn't look like a kinda missing finger to me." Tidus distinctly remembered the bartender not even having a stump where his finger was.
"That's not important. What is, is the fact it made me indebted to him. Did jobs for him for food and a room under the stairs. Then I finally got picked up by the orphanage, but the money was still tight, so I kept on working. Did that for a while and even ended up teaming with this other kid from the orphanage… actually." He stroked his chin before turning to Summer. "Has monkey boy been in contact?"
Summer clapped her hands together. "Yeah! I was meaning to tell you. He's going to be going to Beacon for the Vytal festival as well."
"Hmm. Ash, you remember monkey boy?" Ash gave a furious nod in response as he grinned. "We'll have to look him up when we get there."
They walked further in silence before Summer turned to Jett. "You know Jett the Academy really changed you. You rarely talk about this sort of stuff with others."
"Huh?" Jett thought about it for a second. He had let a lot more than he expected slip, but it didn't feel all that bad. In fact, it felt pretty nice getting all this out of the way and in the open. "I'm talking about this stuff because I'm with people I trust. The worst that could happen is someone reporting me to Shade." Jett shot Kai a pointed look.
Kai straighten himself up and looked forward. "I will let these recent revelations… slide."
"Aww Jett, it's so strange seeing you all chummy with others."
"Shut up."
As they continued their walk back, Summer spotted a familiar street that caused a sudden surge of emotion in her chest. "Before you take me back, can we go to the weeping wall? I haven't visited in a while."
Jett let out a brief sigh before giving her a sympathetic smile. "Sure, we can make one last stop."
The road lead to the city centre, a paved plaza area close to Shade Academy. It was rather charming, with small market stalls set up, bunting still hanging from a previous festival and a few shrubs and trees. Someone had even gone through the effort to sweep away the sand so you could actually see the stonework underneath. It was just a shame that if you actually shopped here, you would probably leave extorted, pick pocketed and scammed. What they were really here for was a large stone slab that sat in the corner, the Weeping Wall. As the name suggested, several people surrounded it in various stages of grief. The wall acted as a memorial for all those lost to the desert, or missing in the desert if you were optimistic. Jett absolutely despised it. There was nothing more awkward than sitting around a rock with a bunch of people wailing and crying. It was a very love it or hate it attraction.
The group came to a stop in front of the wall to look at the posters on display. Layers and layers of aged paper with pictures of people from all ages covered it with many candles, flowers, and other keepsakes at the base of the wall. Summer went to kneel and light a candle.
Tidus watched before turning to Jett and whispering. "Are we here for anyone in particular?"
"Nope. She just likes to come here sometimes and pray for the missing people. Don't understand why she does, but that goes for half the things she does." Jett's tone showed he was a little more than fed up with this place already.
The four stood around and watched awkwardly as Summer kneeled and muttered something to herself. After a few seconds, Kai went to go kneel next to Summer, followed by Ash. Tidus gave a shrug before joining them. Jett rolled his eyes before following suit. In his opinion, there was nothing more stupid than sitting around and sending positive thoughts to people who were more than likely dead. If you were going to do something, it was better to actually take action.
Summer gave them a smile. "Join me in prayer."
"This is-"
"No complaining Jett, now join your hands." Jett let out a huff before complying. "Dear Maidens, hear our prayer. Please watch over our home, the desert, and all its inhabitants. We request the safe return of those who are missing and that they come to their families in better health. Protect our Huntsman and Huntresses, aid them in battle and leave them victorious. We gracefully ask this of you Maidens."
"We gracefully ask this of you, Maidens." Tidus and Kai said, bowing their heads in reverence.
"Yeah, do something useful for once, ladies." Jett said with a little less reverence.
Summer shook her head. She'd let Jett's disrespect slide, just this once. "Guys, please be safe on your trip. I haven't known Tidus and Kai for long, but I'd rather have you around to get to know you." She stood up and did her best to give both men a group hug. "And as much as I hate you, I'd prefer you alive, Jett." She moved to give Jett a hug before Ash made a disgruntled sound from the back. "You as well, Ash."
"Quit worrying. We'll be gone for a month, do some training and win a tournament. Not like the world's going to fall apart while we're there." Jett said.
"Maybe not, but I know you. More so, I know Ash. And if history repeats itself, which it usually does, you'll get into some trouble."
Ash opened his mouth to retort before Jett covered it. "We won't get into any trouble."
Summer quirked an eyebrow up. "Really?"
"Yes really. We have Tidus and Kai now. They help me keep Ash in line."
"I suppose Ash was to blame for today?"
"Listen, number one, it was your fault and number two, I made the best call in the situation."
Tidus shrugged. "Debatable." Jett shot him a look.
"Either way, just be careful." She took Jett's hand in hers. "For me?"
"Yeah, yeah, don't die and all the stuff like that. We'll be fine. Anyway, I don't plan on dying until I'm filthy rich and have every woman swooning over me." He pulled his hand away, giving it a massage. "Anyway, you ok getting home? We need to get to the infirmary and finish packing."
Summer couldn't help but smile at Jett's childish comment. He always had to keep up appearances. "Yup." She gave a bow to the team. "And again, thank you."
The four waved to Summer as she headed back to the orphanage before they turned to Shade Academy. As they walked, Jett couldn't pull his focus away from his hand. Unclenching it and re-clenching it as they walked and talked. The momentary contact with Summer had been weird. A tingling sensation had washed over his body when she touched his hand. Which was strange considering he couldn't recall another time this had happened in the time they had spent together. Even the hug they shared moments before had felt normal. Clay entered his mind. The sensation similar to (as Kai had now explained) when he fell prey to Clay's aura draining Semblance. But now he felt lighter, rejuvenated, much the opposite of everything he felt before. It was… strange.
He let the thoughts drift away. It was probably nothing. Most likely Clay's Semblance had finally worn off or something. Either way, the other three idiots would make sure he went to the infirmary.