How much do I loathe thee, Leon? Let me count the ways...

((Sorry for the long hiatus, and even now, this post is a lot shorter than I'd planned. -_- It was originally going to be more than twice as long, but I'm so tired, and still have a paper to write before I go to bed...

School has been kicking me around something fierce. But I should be back now- I’m going to try for a Wednesday update, and we should be back in schedule pretty evenly now! There should be no excuse for me missing another update before the beginning of 2011- I’ve got the Elora arc pretty well mapped out now.

Sami, a few questions: I know Kate likes firearms. Does she have any particular kind that she likes to carry? Also, if you have any more details on her backstory, I could really use them!

Ironic, a few questions: Could I get Aden’s backstory and powers? (Okay, so that’s like one question.)

Also, a question for everyone- how should I do shipping in here? Or should I even do shipping at all? (Aside from Kateon- that’s a given. :3)

Just shoot me a NM or email and let me know. ^_^ See you soon!))

Dextera stepped back, watching as the Agents stepped through the whole they had just blasted in the wall, eyes locking on her immediately. She shivered, watching one of them reach to his side- for a weapon? No… Just for a communication device. She wasn’t sure if that was better or worse.

Behind her back, she gripped the eight different flash drives containing the information she had just hacked out of the Agency’s systems- having the former Captain’s passwords had helped a lot more than she had thought it would. It was all the information Leon had thought to ask for, and even more things he would need, that he hadn’t even thought of yet. Not just for the short term, either… Long-term, things he would need to survive if he couldn’t access the Agency’s resources. Leon needed these files and information!

She had to make sure they got to him. But with this situation…

Kate stepped through the gaping hole in the empty parking level, beneath an old, abandoned mall, Leon had chosen to set up camp in, two agents flanking her on either side. It had been frustrating, getting in here- layers of steel-enforced concrete, combined with all of the weapons and traps whoever was in there kept sending out at them- Leon must have hijacked a small armory along with whatever car he had stolen!

So she was surprised to find not Leon when she entered the large, empty room, but a little girl in a worn, faded Catholic school uniform, looking nervous as she backed up against the single, sleek silver vehicle in the concrete room.

Kate frowned, taking off her tinted glasses. “Dextera?”

Dextera’s dark eyes locked on Kate. She said nothing, taking another uncertain step back towards the car.

Kate pushed past the guards at her sides, in disbelief. “You’re okay? Where were you?! After Leon disappeared, I thought he’d-“

Dextera shook her head, lifting the single pistol she had managed to grab. Kate picked up on the posture immediately- not willing to shoot, just terrified. “He didn’t kidnap me. I went with him.”

Kate stopped, watching the girl in disbelief. “You…what? Why?!”

“Because I need her.”

The voice, male, irritated, low and husky, was unmistakable. The Agents around her stiffened, half turning immediately to face the man who had appeared behind them, the others staying trained on Dextera.

Kate turned more slowly, the voice sending odd prickles down the back of her neck. That odd feeling was back again… “Leon,” she muttered. “I was wondering why you weren’t in there yourself. I thought you’d gotten away.” She lifted her own pistols, one in each hand, definitely postured to fire. “Coming back like this, it’s just stupid.”

The former Agent watched her thoughtfully from his dark brown eyes, the mechanical part of his mind making calculations to track her weapons before they ever fired, the human part… Was that frustration in his eyes? Sadness? She couldn’t tell.

“I’m not so full of myself that I think I can do this on my own,” Leon said, before slowly raising his own handgun. “You have a tool I need in there, Kate. I’d like it if you gave it back.”

“Leon!” Dextera yelled, voice overjoyed. “I’m in here! I’m so glad you’re here- you got here just in time!”

Kate shot a scowl over her shoulder. “It isn’t enough that you had to turn traitor? You had to take her with you too?!”

“What do you care?” Leon asked, slowly walking, at an angle. Mechanical part of his mind trying to find a way around her, to dissect some sort of weakness. Human side brooding, still unreadable… “She’s only a Gifted. You’re in the business of exterminating rats. If your friend’s pet rat starts biting people, you have no business showing it favoritism just because it grew up in a soft cage.”

“The Captain was more than a friend,” Kate spat back. A father figure, a mentor, a hero… “And you… You are not my friend, traitor!”

“Then why haven’t you ordered them to fire yet?” Leon asked softly.

She started, realizing that she hadn’t yet. There was no real reason not to- it was thirteen Agents to one, and he was cut off from his weapons, all still stashed in the car and computer set up in the room behind them. Glaring at Leon, she opened her mouth to issue the command-

Leon moved in the blink of an eye, suddenly hurling his handgun at her. She gasped, unprepared for that, and stepped back, two other Agents stepping forward slightly in front of her in defense-

And then Leon was kicking out hard as the Agents swarmed him, clipping an Agent in the chest, stabbing his electric wand at a second one.

She kicked at the thrown handgun, getting it out of the way. A fake, nothing more than a toy- how hadn’t she seen it before! She had gotten distracted, by what he was saying, and his eyes, and the… Rrgh! “Stop it!” she yelled, jerking a pistol back up again. “Get away from him! I can’t get a clear shot in!”

The Agents glanced at her, confused. Two had grabbed one of Leon’s arms somehow and were trying to lift him off his feet, but he hadn’t stopped fighting, waving the electric wand at anyone who got too close, kicking, biting, moving with a blurred speed that even the three enhanced Agents in their group (who ideally should have been just as fast and strong as he was) were having trouble keeping up with. The wild light was back in his eyes, and he was yelling, laughing, turning and striking like a snake, never letting them keep a hold on him for more than a few seconds. She shifted, right, left, up, trying to get a lock that wouldn’t take out one of her Agents with it-

The starting of the car ignition behind her sent a plummeting feeling in her stomach.

Still deep in the haze of anger, Leon managed a smirk, watching as Dextera floored the gas. He wasn’t going to last more than a few seconds fighting all of these Agents off- he knew it. But Dextera, Gifted or not- was no idiot- she had taken the hint. He watched in satisfaction as the car sped towards them, jumping at the last minute.

Dextera gasped as she stomped on the gas pedal. “That was close!”

“You could have hit me, you know,” Leon muttered, perched on the hood of the car, aiming a kick at one of the Agents that hadn’t either been run over or darted out of the way.

She smiled, shaking her head. “I knew you would dodge! Just like you knew I would take the car, right?”

He glanced at her, about to answer, then stiffened at the sound of a gun firing.

But it wasn’t aimed at either him or Dextera. The air went out of his front tires with an ominous shhhhhh, and he felt the hood of the car sinking beneath him.

Kate stepped towards them, looking angry herself. She hadn’t expected them to work together like this, not after so short a time! Working in tandem, not having to talk, just knowing what the other one was going to do-

Just like she and Leon had been only a little while ag-

Her mind shot the thought down before it could even take full form, Elora’s tampering suppressing all thoughts that hinted at liking Leon. So she only knew that she was frustrated, without really understanding why. “You’re not going anywhere!” she yelled. “Not without your car, your supplies, your weapons. Just give it up already, you worthless worm!”

Leon turned, regarding her for one more moment, with surprisingly calm eyes.

Dextera squeaked as she was suddenly yanked up, slung across Leon’s back. Leon was crouching, then springing the next second, clambering up the side of the building with superhuman speed, leaving the car behind. After all, while the rest of the supplies was a loss, he wasn’t going to get out alive without them.

And his most valuable tool was clinging to his back, holding on for dear life as he climbed.

Kate gritted her teeth. She wasn’t going to lose like this! Not while risking being exiled from the Agency- her very life- as well! She raised her weapon, mind filling with the loathing Elora had given her, pointed it just slightly below Dextera, and pulled the trigger.

Berserk

Terrible sounds were coming from the darkness of the trees. There were sounds of firing weapons, flashes of light- but still the sounds continued, and only got worse. The small group of Gifteds huddled for a moment, not understanding, as they looked in the direction Tori had just run.

“What happened?” Konki breathed. She stumbled up, turning to Shan. “What happened?!”

“Her eyes,” he said vaguely. “…They turned black.”

“Again? But we took care of that!” Konki yelled. “The contract- Tau said he dumped it in a volcano!”

A dry scoff from behind them. They turned to look at Null, staring at her incredulously. “That doesn’t ‘get rid of it’,” she said, arms folded as she looked into the trees. “Believe me, I know a couple of things about Gifteds who work like Dextera. If they work through influencing your mind like that, just burning a piece of paper isn’t going to do anything!”

“But…” Akaru trembled, clutching his wounded arm to himself, not daring to try shifting while it was in there. “Dextera said that was how it worked! The piece of paper gave her the ability to control Tori. Or something like that, right?”

Null sighed, shaking her head, as the screams came from the trees. “Maybe the piece of paper helps her focus. It can be instrumental, for an inexperienced Gifted. And maybe she even transferred some of her energy onto it, so that it would work like a seal. But in the end, the influence she had on Tori’s mind stays there, no matter what happened to the paper. It was damaged somehow when Tau took it, but… There’s no telling, exactly how much hold Dextera’s instructions still have. Not without her here to question.” She sighed, rolling up her sleeves. “I had hoped she would stay cured, but now it looks like…”

A figure appeared in the underbrush, crawling towards them in a panic. They straightened up, going silent, Konki drawing her swords and Shan lifting his knife in preparation for the Agent-

Only to watch as a dark shape dropped on him from above, a resounding crack ringing against his skull.

The hair rose up on the back of Konki’s neck as she watched Tori, hunched over, snarling ferally, the shifting black weapon gripped in her hand. The regular Tori wouldn’t hurt anyone more than she had to, and definitely wouldn’t kill. But this one… There was no hesitation, whatsoever, in the violent creature in front of them.

She stepped back, foot over foot, keeping her eyes on the girl as she moved. Maybe if they backed away slowly, waited for Tori to snap out of it, then they could come back later and-

Krch!

A cold feeling ran down her spine as her heel crunched down on the dry twig. Tori’s head snapped up immediately, black eyes fixed on them. Konki gritted her teeth, motioning behind her back for the others to start backing away. Maybe she could turn them invisible, if she could only get to them. But for now…

Tori got up, weapon shifting in her hand, slowly forming into claws that covered her fingers and stretched out to long, lethal points. She stalked towards them, slowly, with all the grace of a predator.

“Tori,” Konki said warningly. “You got rid of the Agents. You’re safe now. We’re… We’re your friends. You can calm down now!”

The martial artist stepped into a beam of moonlight, not slowing down. The rods had fallen away somewhere in the trees, but she didn’t appear to be bleeding. Somehow, she had healed incredibly quickly. Konki had to wonder what toll that had taken on her body.

She had to wonder whether Tori would even notice if she were in pain right now. The three or four darts sticking up from one of her arms didn’t seem to suggest she could. Metabolism, the deeper, more cynical part of Konki’s mind suggested. If she can speed herself up, she can probably speed her metabolism up too, with enough focus. It would make drugs useless… Although how the heck she would even know how to do that is- !

The regular Tori hadn’t known how, come to think of it- the bear trap wound on her leg had taken forever to heal! In fact-

The bear trap wound.

Konki’s eyes flicked down to Tori’s legs on instinct, picking out the wound that had been injured before. “Come on, Tori, it’s us! We’re on your side! You don’t have to-“

Tori yelled and sprang.

“Konki!” Shan yelled. He tackled her, shoving her out of the way, and making the area echo with the sound of the black weapon hitting his ribs with heavy force.

Tori immediately whirled around, trying to vault over Shan to get at the more vulnerable girl behind him. Konki took a moment to gasp for breath, then rolled onto her back, swinging a sword up. It met Tori’s spear at the very last moment.

Shan lunged for her from behind, trying to grab around her neck, to choke her. Tori kicked out hard, forcefully, sending him flying. Snarling, she turned on him to try to finish him off, and Konki pushed herself up on one elbow, one foot snaking behind Tori’s, trying to trip her.

Tori jumped, and landed crouched a short distance from Konki, who was shakily getting to her feet. She growled, shifting the spear to a pair of swords to match Konki’s, then suddenly yelled out in pain as Akaru, still injured, bit her foot. She kicked him, hard, elbowed Shan’s return punch away, tensed at the sudden grab at her shoulder and whirled violently, stabbing behind her with the spear still half-morphing-

The grip on her shoulder tightened to white knuckles, Null staring at her in dull pain as Tori’s weapon sank into her shoulder.

Tori, Null’s hand still firmly holding on, stared in slowly-dawning, uncomprehending concern as the green flooded back into her eyes. “Wh-“

The hilt of Shan’s dagger came down hard on the back of her head, and she crumpled.

Null held on only long enough to see her fall, then released her, coughing hard as she stumbled. Shan stepped forward, grabbing her before she could fall on top of Tori.

“Null!” Konki yelled. “Wh… Why did you- !”

“I told you… not to touch me,” Null hissed quietly as Shan reached beneath her, scooping her up.

“You were just stabbed,” Shan replied flatly. “I can take being vulnerable for the few seconds it takes to get you out of here.”

“I’m fine- it’s nothing ser- nng!” The thin woman gritted her teeth painfully as Shan shifted, a wave of pain running through her shoulder. She rode through it for a moment, not speaking.

When she opened her eyes again, they were staring at her. Tori lay unconscious at Shan’s feet, Aden and Elora were crumpled on the ground not far away, completely out of it, Konki was holding an injured monkey, and Shan was still standing still, holding her in her arms, saying nothing.

…It didn’t matter, if they didn’t like her. They really didn’t know what to do, right now.

She took a shaky breath. “Tie her up,” she said, eyes flicking down at Tori, then up. “After that, find a way to pick up those two over there. We’re getting out of here.”

No one moved.

“Well?” she said, voice rising. “I know somewhere we can go so we won’t die. Do you want to get there, or do you want to stand here staring at each other until reinforcements show up?”

They began to move, rushing in the dark to get each other moving.

~~~

Leon hissed, keeping himself pressed flat behind a tree, watching the Agents scouring the wooded area just beyond him. Drat it, how had they gotten here first?! Someone must have tipped them off. Or maybe one of the Gifteds had been stupid enough to pull on a trap. In any case…

He swallowed down anger, fists gritting. “Well done,” he hissed. “Well done, Alia! Thanks to you, you’re probably still surrounded by Gifteds, and I can’t get to you through all of the Agents in my way!”

Red threatened to overwhelm him, and for a moment he was really afraid he was going to lose control, going to slip and do something stupid, maybe attack the Agents and get himself caught. But then Dextera’s voice sounded in his ear, and for a moment she snapped him out of it, forcing him to focus. “Leon?”

“…Yeah?”

She exhaled. “Where are you? Are you finished out there yet?”

“Working on it,” he hissed as he listened to two Agents stroll by, deep in conversation, barely five feet away from where he was.

“I know you’re busy, but is it okay if you come back?”

“Why?”

A pause. “…Kate’s here. She looks really mad.”

He stood there in silence, trying to figure out if he had heard that right.

Dark Shapes

((Aaaand, post is up. This week is a little more laid back, so I'm gonna try really hard to get ahead and have a post ready for Wednesday. If not, Sunday definitely, but I'm going to try hard for it!

Enjoy and let me know what you think!))

Elora smirked as she sat in front of the flames, watching things burn. So Null had walked into her game, a few hours ago, and snapped everyone out of it. That was alright, really. After all, it had only been a test run. And such a successful test run, too!

When the time came, she was going to have an absolutely delicious meal.

Konki caught the look on her face, and smiled a little. “Hungry? Don’t worry- stew’s almost done.”

“You could say that,” Tori said awkwardly, stirring the mix in the pot with a small flush. “It’ll be edible, anyways.”

“It smells good to me!” Konki replied. “I mean, I wasn’t looking forward to the canned stuff. But add in that deer and those herbs you gathered, and this is really starting to look good!”

“It’s nothing,” Tori laughed. “Just simple stuff. I’m really no good at cooking- I can make something small that tastes good, but that’s about it!”

“I think we have different definitions of small,” Shan said, coming up to the fire and taking a seat. “All I can handle is microwaveable stuff. By comparison, this seems hardcore.”

“Don’t worry, Tori!” Elora said brightly. “Anything you make is going to taste delicious. I’m sure of it!” Oh, was she sure of it. Such a delicious flavor, the martial artist was giving off. No matter what she was doing, everything tinged with that deep undercurrent of feeling that never went away, as surely as the black rim around her irises…

Akaru crinkled up his rabbit nose, turning away. “I’m sure it will…ugh… Just… give me a minute to turn into something carnivorous, will you? The smell of that deer is making my head hurt…”

They continued on, laughing and talking around the fire with the smells of hot, cooking food drifting out, the stars watching peacefully from overhead. Everything was relaxed and comfortable, in a way it hadn’t been for a while. There was no sign of anyone hunting them, all of their friends were safe (that they knew about), there was good food going to be served soon, and for some reason, they all shared the same, easy buzz of contentment, without really knowing why.

Until Null ruined it all by storming up towards them with a look of fury on her face. “Just what do you think you’re all doing?”

They paused in mid-laughter to some off-handed comment Shan had made, turning to look at her. “Talking?” Aden asked sheepishly, his voice small.

“No, I’m talking about that!” Null yelled, pointing at the fire, burning on freshly-gathered wood, cooking hunted and gathered food items. “Did I not make it completely clear that you weren’t to touch anything in the forest? Stupid!”

“Hey,” Tori said defensively, putting a hand on Aden protectively, even though the remarks were directed at all of them. “It’s just some food, okay? I’m not an idiot- I can tell poisonous plants from the good ones. It’s really not a big deal!”

“Not a big deal? If you can’t even follow a simple order like that, there’s no way any of you are going to survive where we’re going!”

“And who said we needed to obey orders?” Akaru’s serpentine voice was low, a slight tinge of resentment entering it. “Last I checked, this was a democratic group. I don’t recall electing you queen.”

“Null, it’s fine,” Shan said. “It’s just food. What’s the worst that could hap-“

Tkk!

He paused, frowning, as something ricocheted off of his neck, falling into the dirt. Curious, he reached down, feeling for the object, until his fingers locked around something small, cold and narrow. He held it up, trying to see in the flickering light. What-

A startled gasp came from Aden as a second dart suddenly hit him. He slumped, Tori half-rising to catch him. “Aden!”

Akaru whipped around, narrowly missing the dart that had flown for him. “Attack!” he hissed, spitting venom instinctively.

“Great!” Null replied with a hiss of her own, knocking over the pail of water onto the flames, instantly ending the fire- and their dinner- in a cloud of steam. “Shan, take the rear! Tori, pick up Aden and run, and I’ll- hey!”

Konki gritted her teeth as she deflected the darts that had suddenly soared for Null, deflecting more with her second sword. “No time for orders. Everyone run for it!”

~~~

Kate knelt in the ground, staring at footprints with a frown. The tire tracks had vanished not far away. While Leon no doubt still had his car, he was hiding it somewhere, somewhere they hadn’t been able to find. His footprints, however…

“I always told you,” she said with a sigh, under her breath. “You don’t do a very good job of covering your tracks.”

Which kind of made it puzzling, actually. She knew how easy it was to follow him- they should have found him within the first couple of hours, really, distracted or not. Just his watch alone gave off a signal that was easy to follow, and incredibly difficult to turn off. Unless he had found someone skilled to do it for him, there was no explanation for why they weren’t getting a trace on him. But who…

She sighed, straightening, conscious of the three squads of lower-rank Agents watching her back from behind. There was… still no sign of Dextera, the former Captain’s constant companion. But she had left her with Leon. For some stupid, idiotic reason, she had taken a vulnerable, helpless little girl and left her with Leon…

…Maybe it would have been okay, back when Leon was an Agent, bound by all the laws and restrictions she was. But he had gone rogue, and he hated Gifteds more than anyone she had ever met. If there was no sign of Dextera now, when she had last been spotted with him right before the betrayal… She could guess what might have happened. The poor girl.

Leon was a monster. She didn’t know how she hadn’t seen it before. But now, that she saw him for what he really was…

“Alfa. Bravo. Charlie.” She turned back to the agents assigned to her, divided neatly into their three squadrons. “Those are your names, for the duration of this mission, and those are the designations you will use when in all contact through radio or in person. Tell me your mission!”

“Kill the traitor, ma’am!”

Fifteen voices, loud, precise, obedient. And they would carry out their orders without hesitation, she knew. They didn’t know Leon, didn’t care about him. All he was to them was another task to finish, another paycheck to earn.

It was better that way. Surrounded by them, she could pretend that this didn’t feel wrong to her either, didn’t trouble her for some deep reason she couldn’t explain.

“Alright, then!” she yelled, every inch the cool, commanding authority figure. “Bravo, you continue along this track, following the footprints! Charlie, you cover them from the rooftops, guns at the ready. Alfa, you’re with me! Let’s go!”

They jogged out in three separate directions, silent and fatal and disappearing into their surroundings immediately. Leon’s stolen car was somewhere in this city. If they found it, they would most likely find his store of supplies, and whatever accomplice he had in this working the technical angle for him. At the very least, it would be another clue, another large, glaring arrow sign, pointing them towards their target.

“Leon,” Kate hissed under her breath as she ran. “I will find you. And when I do-“

A small knife was gripped at her side, metal glinting in the moonlight for a brief moment before she slid it back into its sheath.

~~~

An attack? What was an attack doing here? Null had said the clearing was safe!

Konki gritted her teeth as she ran through the woods, angry. Of course, leave it to Null, this is what happens. The Agent woman, thinking she could come in and order them around, twist them to her own ends. Nullifying powers? Hah, she was trying to nullify all of them as a threat!

Even as she thought it, she knew there was no stable reason to believe that. But she was angry, and she didn’t want to bother with rationality when she was angry. Just stay angry, get angrier, and you’ll run faster! Faster than-

“Angh!”

The anguished cry came from Akaru, who suddenly stumbled and fell off of Shan’s shoulder. Shan turned, confused, to look back for a moment, and tripped over a root, knocking Konki over as well.

Akaru stumbled up, then gasped with pain and sank back down, the large metal shaft in his arm gleaming in the moonlight, dark red pooling on the gray monkey fur. “Wha…”

“Stay still,” Konki whispered, crawling over to him. Darts had hit Aden and Elora, and Null was a little wobbly from the one that had hit her for a few seconds before Shan had plucked it out. Shan’s clothes were littered with the darts that had tried to pierce his skin and failed. But this… This wasn’t a tranquilizer of any kind. This was just a sharp, metal rod, like an advanced arrow, meant to maim, to hurt-

Akaru let out a shriek of simian pain as the clear cord attached to the shaft suddenly yanked backwards, dragging him along with it.

“Akaru!” Tori yelled, dropping Elora and Aden to the ground and turning to dart after him.

Null staggered up from leaning on Tori’s staff for support, face twisting. “Tori, don’t-“

It all happened quickly. Tori reached forward, grabbing the cord, planting her feet in the ground with a mixed look of determination and concern for Akaru. Her hands came up to snap the cord in half, forgetting that she had left her power-enhancing staff with Null. She pulled, her guard down for only a few seconds, the closest thing separating Akaru and the rest of the group from the hunters hidden within the trees-

And another long, thick, headless arrow zipped through the air, piercing straight through her chest.

Time slowed down. Akaru reached forward, face twisted with pain, and began frantically biting at the cord attached to his arm. Shan started forward, a look of vague concern on his face, moving to catch Tori if she fell. Aden moved blearily, fighting the drugs, staring at the scene in noncomprehension. Konki jumped to her feet, swords unsheathing in a flash of bright metal, as she moved forward and cleanly severed the cord attached to Tori’s rod, then defiantly moved to face the trees, preparing to unleash fire the moment one of their hunters dared to show their faces.

Tori felt Shan coming closer, and knew that she could fall. It would be okay- he would catch her. But she didn’t fall. She stood, wavering on her feet, staring down at the long, dark object in her chest, unable to process thought. Wha…wh…

It hurt. It really did. And on top of that, her friends were in danger. Putting themselves in more danger, because now instead of running, they had stopped to help her. So unfair… She turned to look up into the darkness of the trees, at the dark shapes moving among the trunks, trying to figure out how she felt. Felt… about what? These people? The ones that were hunting her and hurting her friends, and making this hurt…!

A dark feeling coursed through her veins as she recognized the feeling, fists clenching with the measure of her anger. The moment she realized it, acknowledged it, it immediately began to grow, swirling up into a mass of rage that fed on itself. Her fists tightened in shaking fury, the black manacle around her left wrist glinting in the pale light, then beginning to flutter, responding to her, elongating and beginning to separate from her wrist.

Shan frowned, watching her shake, starting to crouch. “Tori? Are you okay?” When she didn’t turn, he reached forward, putting a hand on her shoulder. “It’s going to be alright. We’ll get you out of here, and-“

Tori jerked back suddenly, slashing at him with the black knife that had formed in her hand. “Rragh!” He stepped back, uncertain, and caught a glimpse of black eyes, all trace of green lost, shrouded in fury. She slashed at him again, then stopped when a second rod hit her shoulder, not going in all the way, but bringing a shriek of pain from her lips.

She snapped murderously in the direction of the trees and the people throwing the weapons, running forward with superhuman speed, screaming with rage as she hurled herself up into the trees.

“Tori!”

A Little Game

((Sunday's post is up! I missed last Wednesday, but as soon as I get done with some homework here in a bit, I'm going to go ahead and write the next few chapters ahead of time, so that I won't have to miss an update just because I'm busy. If I can get it done, you can all expect pretty even Sunday/Wednesday updates for a while now.

Still, just because I'm writing ahead doesn't mean that things can't be tweaked or rewritten to be better! If you've got suggestions for the story or characters, or any comments at all, be sure to leave them down in the comments!

See y'all on Wednesday. ^_^ ))

Null frowned, standing in front of the small clearing, taking in the rain-soaked grass, the dripping, sodden trees, the gloomy dark gray skies. “Well… I guess this is it for now.”

“Here?” Elora asked, peeking over her shoulder. Her pretty, flawless face looked absolutely dismayed. “But there’s nothing here! You said we were going to get to sleep and eat soon!”

“I’m guessing we will,” Konki said with an indifferent shrug. “She had us walking through the trees for hours. What did you expect, a hotel?”

“It would have been nice,” Elora sniffed sadly.

Null sighed and shook her head. “We’re out of money. Besides, we need to avoid most cities for now, when we can. It’ll be harder for the Agents to track us in the woods than in the city- they have to leave all their big, fancy vehicles behind, and we have rougher terrain and easier camouflage to take advantage of.”

“It’ll be fine,” Tori said, smiling at Elora. The blonde teenager looked several years older than she did, but for some reason, it felt to Tori like she was reassuring a small child. “My sensei and the other students used to rough it in the woods all the time- I can get us a shelter built pretty quickly. She reached into her pocket, where the spear head waited to be attached to her staff. Not completely a machete, but it could work. Come to think of it, with Akaru’s claws and Konki’s swords… They might all dull up their weapons pretty quickly, but maybe-

“No need,” Null said, cutting off her temporary moment of leadership. “I borrowed a tent from Tau’s people before we left. I think it’s in Shan’s pack.”

Shan looked up from his watch, apparently drifting back into the conversation at the mention of his name. “Huh?”

“We don’t need to draw more attention by scarring the surrounding area through hacking at the trees and plants,” Null said, relaxing on to a tree stump. “You guys set up the tent, and I’ll work on making sure that the area is secured.”

Tori shook her head. “That doesn’t make sense. We could at least help save our food rations by foraging.”

“No touching the plants!”

Elora looked up as a wave of sudden bad feeling rushed towards Null. The funny thing was, it wasn’t just coming from Tori, like it had been earlier. Practically everyone around her was glaring at the tall, thin, pale woman as she strode away, obliviously scanning over the area with her eyes. Such strong emotions…

…This could be very useful indeed.

~~~

Leon hissed in silent frustration as he scanned the area near the edge of the city once again. There was no mistaking it. His former watch was still transmitting code to his new watch- it had definitely gone this way. The two Gifted trackers he had picked up, too, along with a whole lot of Gifted energy traces. He would have bet anything that they had been headed in this direction, and only an hour ago he had been able to follow a tracker proving the same thing.

So why had the signal disappeared now?

“They must be very good at jamming signals,” Dextera said, staring longingly at an ice cream shop half a block behind them. “Getting rid of just one signal is good, but all three? Someone in their group really knows what he’s doing.”

“Apparently,” Leon said quietly. He sighed, picking a medium-sized backpack out of the trunk of his car, and slamming it closed. “Leave it to Gifteds to make this as irritating and time-wasting as possible.”

Dextera turned reluctantly away from the ice cream shop as he stepped out onto the grass. “You’re not moving forward, are you? We haven’t locked on to a new signal yet- we have no way of knowing that they’re still even in the same direction!”

Leon smirked. “More like the computer doesn’t know.” He bent down, hand reaching forward to touch a long stalk of grass, bent from where something heavy had stepped on it. Brush it aside, and half of a human footprint could be seen, still pressed into the mud, not yet washed away by the rain.

“That’s the thing about Agents these days,” he scoffed. “They’re so powerful, with their computers and trackers and machines and subjugated Gifteds. They think they’ll always have them, so they don’t bother to learn the basics really well. Without a tracker, half of them couldn’t find the back of their neck.”

He looked up at Dextera, grinning. “And that’s why, if the Munia Gifteds are really blocking their signals, we’ll be sure to find them before anyone else does.”

~~~

Several hours later, a tent was more or less set up. It was sagging slightly to the side, but it would keep them dry if it rained again. The sun was preparing to set over the line of trees, and the make-shift campsite looked almost peaceful.

Except for the group of Gifteds gathered around the unlit campfire, that is.

“We can’t trust her,” Konki said, voice low as she leaned forward. “You heard what she said in Buma! She used to work for the Agents.”

“So did you, once,” Shan said, shrugging as he ripped out another completed crossword puzzle from his book, wadding it up and throwing it into the circle of vaguely flammable materials. If Null would only let them go gather some logs and branches…

“That was different!” Konki hissed. “I was being controlled. Null has no excuse! She said herself that they didn’t force her to do anything, that she didn’t even regret it!”

“I will admit that it’s suspicious,” Akaru said, panting quietly in dog form. “But think about it. Why would she admit that so openly, without even arguing? And she’s still with us, still leading and helping us survive. Maybe if she were hiding things, I’d be more concerned. But so far, she hasn’t tried to hide really anything that we’ve asked about.”

“Then why is she still with us?” Konki said, turning on him. “No one’s even asked yet, what she expects to do with us. She’s using us, for her own ends!”

Silence for a long moment.

She took a breath. “…I’m not the only one who feels this way. You all keep arguing and making me defend it, but you feel the same way, don’t you?”

By the way they were averting their eyes, she could tell that they were.

She waited a moment, then looked to her right. “Tori? You used to be the leader, right?” She didn’t know Tori very well, but… “What’s your opinion?”

Tori looked at the ground, biting her lip. “I… I’m not…”

“It’s so cute!”

They turned to look at Elora’s sudden exclamation. She had walked up to them while they weren’t paying attention, and was now standing, hands clasped, staring at Tori with shiny eyes. “This uncertainty and guilt- you’re really adorable, you know that?”

Tori blinked. “Um… I guess?”

“Everyone hold on for a moment!” Null’s voice made all of them jump, even yelled from the other end of the camp. They looked in her direction, uncertain-

Tori paled suddenly and wavered, gripping onto the rock she was sitting on. “Ungh… Wha?”

They all felt it, for a moment. Calmly, Shan lifted his pen, pressing it hard into his thumb. “Her nullification powers,” he said unworriedly, watching as a single bead of red dribbled up from the small wound. “She’s projecting it over us somehow.”

Konki started up. “Why? What is she trying to-“

Then, just like that, it was cleared. “All good!” Null’s voice yelled.

Akaru shook with displeasure, looking down at his human hands in distaste. “Well, that was… unnecessary.” He began to shift back into a more comfortable form. “But no harm done, right, Tori?”

Tori nodded to show that she was okay. It was Elora who was currently throwing a fit.

“Ugh,” she said, hands over her eyes, stumbling a little. “I do not like that! Why would she do that? So mean!”

Shan frowned, looking at her, noticing her for the first time in a while. He could have sworn that, when she had first found them, she had been a little thing, barely six. Now… Seventeen? Eighteen? And ridiculously beautiful. Why? “Elora,” he said quietly. “You’ve been getting a little older, haven’t you? Why is that?”

She stopped for a minute, staring at him. For a moment, he almost felt something. Like… Sadness? She frowned, as though he had displeased her somehow. “You’re weird,” she said, wrinkling up her nose. She shook her head, then perked up, beaming again. “Null said she wanted to ask you something! She wants you to go over there, right away!”

“Null?” Shan looked in the direction of the tent, then sighed. “Alright,” he said, getting up. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Elora watched him go, then slowly turned back to the rest of the group, smile widening. “Can I ask you all something? I kind of wanted to play a game!”

~~~

“They’ve covered all quarters within the city and the outlying area,” Marq said, sipping broodingly at his glass of wine. “It’s safe to say that they’re not within the limits of our territory anymore. We’re going to have to go out, send people after them. Which just means hundreds more Agents lost in the end.”

Kate looked down, smoothing her black silk dress, not touching the small, gourmet cuisine that had been placed on the plate in front of her. “Maybe ‘safe’ isn’t the right word,” she said quietly. “They nearly destroyed the world the last time they were free. If they’ve really broken loose this time…”

“Now, now, let’s not be hasty,” Marq replied, laughing roughly as he drained the wine glass and placed it back on the table. “The last time they were free was over three hundred years ago. Well, fully free, anyways. We’ve come a long way in terms of technology since then. We’ll have them by the end of the week, you’ll see.”

Kate said nothing, still looking down.

He watched her for a minute, then smirked, leaning forward and pouring more wine into her untouched glass. “You should relax. Leave the thinking to me and the other men. It’s not something for you to concern yourself with.”

“Concern myself?” Kate’s head jerked up. “I’m an Agent, one of those hundreds of lives you’re about to throw at that… that monster. I have friends who aren’t going to survive this! Close friends! Of course I should be concerning myself.”

He smirked, taking her hand without her permission, tracing the lines of her fingers. “Not as much as you think. It’s not like before, Kate. I’m in a position to… help you, if you’ll accept it. You know…” He chuckled. “I’ve actually been looking for a new secretary.”

“Secretary?” she watched him, then shook her head. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do…” Get her out of danger. Keep her by his side, in a safe job, that paid more than triple what she was getting now. “…but… I can’t. Being an Agent is everything to me.”

He frowned. “Really? Why?”

“It’s what I want!” she said, free hand clenching in her lap. “It’s dangerous and hard, but I love everything about it. I couldn’t trade that. I couldn’t.”

“Oh? And just what about it is so special? More special than being with me?”

“That’s not what I’m trying to say!” She took a breath. “I’m… This is what I wanted, all through childhood. To be good at something, something important. Protecting the world like this, even if it’s a small part, being a part of something, being close to other Agents like Raleigh and you and Leon-“

“Leon?”

She bit her lip. The words had just… slipped out. “No. No! Of course not Leon. I… I don’t care what happens to him.” She looked away, that feeling flashing up inside of her. Two feelings, twisting and warring and shoving against each other. One of utter disgust for Leon, utter love for Marq. Another, that something… Something is wrong. “He’s a traitor,” she said, trying to keep her voice disdainful, but feeling the tremor in it even as she spoke. “He’s… he’s dead to me.”

“Really.”

She didn’t have to look at him to sense the disbelief in his voice.

His hand withdrew from hers, picking up the dinner knife. Beginning to saw and cut and slice mercilessly at his steak. “Perhaps it’s better if you don’t become my secretary for now, then. After all, you were rather… close to that traitor, weren’t you?” Scrape. “It might look bad, is all I’m saying. Perhaps if you proved your loyalty first, beyond a shadow of a doubt, then maybe then…”

Kate winced as the knife slashed again, cutting the steak into dozens of small, uniform pieces. Skritch! Skrr! Sclhh! “Just… what are you saying?”

“That as new captain of the Northeastern North American Agency, I hereby give you official orders.” She didn’t meet his eyes. She didn’t have to. His smirk was gone, a look of suspicion and displeasure on his face as he watched her, evaluated her, tried to figure out just how much on his side she really was.

“You are hereby ordered to find and apprehend the traitor Leon, and kill him with your own hand. For this, you may call upon all the resources of the Agency, to put at your disposal. If you return without accomplishing this task…”

Skkkrrrrrrreeeeeecch!

“Then you may consider your life revoked.”

~~~

Aden watched Elora hesitantly, and glanced at Tori for help. He didn’t really want to play a game. They were in such a big, wide-open space… Just sitting quietly with the others was enough for him.

But Tori was watching Elora with a strange, blank look on her face, frowning, as though confused. As he looked around, he noticed the others growing similar looks. He was about to give in, to open his mouth and ask what was going on… When he felt it himself. A rush of simple, relaxing contentment, washing over him, pushing all doubts and fear out of reach. Maybe it was strange, but at the moment, he was too happy, too comfortable and warm with the feeling of it, to question or fight it. Filled with bliss, he sat back against Tori’s rock, staring at Elora with a small smile on his face and waiting for her to speak.

Elora giggled in excitement. “Good! Then we’re all ready to play. I really miss Clara- she was such a good friend, you know? She wanted to protect me, but now that she’s gone, I need someone else. So…” She looked around for a moment, considering. “Konki! You’re strong, right? And you have such strong emotions now! You’re perfect!”

Konki frowned, putting a hand to her head, disoriented. “I don’t know. I don’t really-“

“We’re going to be the best of friends,” Elora chirped, walking over and plunking herself down next to the assassin. She beamed around at them, going from face to face. “Akaru!”

He stirred. Funny, how he hadn’t been paying attention, distracted, up until now, but at the mention of his name suddenly he couldn’t look at anyone but Elora. “Hah?”

“You’re much cuter as a bunny,” she said, smiling widely as Konki put an arm around her with a look of confusion. “Turn into one.”

Akaru shook his head. “Well, technically I’m not an infant anymore, so I can only turn into a rabbit, not a bunny. And it’s not really an advantageous-“

“Turn into a bunny!”

A look of fear flickered through his eyes for a moment, and he startled into the rabbit form, then immediately curled up, shivering with fear.

She laughed. “Perfect! Now, who’s left?” She turned to Tori and Aden, considering, and a small frown graced her features. “Aden… You’re kind of useless, aren’t you? Okay, you can just sit there!”

Somewhere inside of him, Aden reacted negatively to that, but he couldn’t reach the feelings. He was too happy, too relaxed. Tori wasn’t quite as deep into the feelings, apparently, because she stiffened. “He’s not useless! How could you even say something like-“

“I don’t really want to eat stale food out of a can again tonight,” Elora said, wrinkling her nose in a charming way. “You said that you can hunt, right? And gather food, and firewood. Why don’t you go get something for us?” When Tori hesitated, her smile darkened, for the briefest moment. “I’m sure it’ll make both of us very, very happy if you go get those things. You don’t want to be unhappy, do you?”

A blank look crossed over Tori’s face, the black surrounding her irises flaring for a brief moment. Slowly, she shook her head.

“Good!” Elora said, laughing merrily. It was really interesting. For some reason, Tori was easiest to reach of all. Normally, she had to break down walls, sneak into a person’s subconscious, before they would let her at their feelings completely. With Tori, it was as though all of those walls had already been broken down beforehand, by something.

Her laughter trickled from the camp, as she reached for the emotions swirling around her, beginning to feed.

~~~

Shan pushed the tent flap aside, stepping in. “You called for me?”

Null looked up, staring at him blankly. In her hands, a machine of some sort and a small velvet box were pressed together. She dropped them onto the ground, frowning. “I didn’t call for you.”

“Really? Then what…” He glanced behind him, then shrugged. “Ah… What are those?”

“Hm?” Null looked down, tracing her hand over the velvet box. “I can project my nullification a short ways if I try really hard, but even then it’s only a yard at the most. This machine helps me boost that, stretching it for a pretty good radius. It’s a safety measure- if there are any traps in this area based on Gifted energy, they’re deactivated now.”

“Oh?” Shan considered that, then nodded. “That’s good, I guess. But… Agents don’t base all of their traps on Gifted energy alone, do they?”

Null sighed. “That’s what I’m afraid of…”

~~~

Tori’s hands moved quickly, reaching into the bush and dropping the small edible berries into her sack of foraged supplies. It had only been five minutes, but it had barely taken that to gather almost everything she needed. Her eyes were unfocused as she moved, her movements a little clumsier than usual. So she didn’t realize when her hand brushed against a wire hidden deep within the bush, wrapped around one of the stems, and didn’t hear the small, almost imperceptible bell that went off as the wire snapped.

~~~

Shan sat down, cross-legged, watching her. It was… absolutely ridiculous. But Konki had a point. What Null had said, in Buma, in front of everyone…

Warning- you are in more danger than you realize. You have a murderer in your midst…

“Why are you with us?” he asked suddenly.

She paused mid-yawn, looking at him. “…You guys are the ones that rescued me in the Munia base, and you’re really asking me that?”

He shook his head calmly. “I know how you got here. Now why are you staying? Everyone else seems to have their reasons. Tori wants to take down the Agents, Aden wants to help Tori, Akaru and I seem to be along for the ride. Konki’s here because we freed her and… I think she feels like she owes us or something. Elora…” He paused for a moment, thinking. “I guess she wants to feel safe.”

He cocked his head very slightly to the side. “What about you, though? You said yourself that you think that we’re ridiculous, that we can’t take down the Agents. And I don’t think you owe us anything. It’s not like we’re protecting you- if anything, you know more about staying safe from the Agents than any of us seem to. So…”

“So what do I think I can get out of you, huh?” Null watched him, an amused smile on her lips, then promptly shook her head. “You don’t have to worry about my motives. For now, it’s enough that I’m on your side.”

“Is it, though?” he asked quietly, voice still emotionless. “What did you mean, when you said that you used to help the Agents capture Gifteds?”

“It’s not important.”

“On the contrary, that seems like kinda an important thing.”

They met each other’s eyes for a long moment, challenging, testing, fighting without words.

“…Why won’t you talk about it?” Shan asked calmly. “You didn’t have a problem not denying it in Buma. What exactly are you trying to hide now?”

“We’ve all got our skeletons, kid,” she said, shrugging as she stood. “Look, you don’t want to trust me, that’s fine. You can just walk away, and take as many of your friends with you as you want. But believe this. You’re not going to survive another encounter with the Agents without me.” Something like a smirk crossed her face as she turned away. “So your choice. Trust me, and survive. Or get all nervous because I don’t want to talk about my past, and get flattened the next time they find you. See how long it takes before you all become like Tori.”

Something about that smirk… Shan sat in the tent for a moment, staring after her for several long minutes after the flap had fallen behind her, leaving him in the dark. He had seen it somewhere before. Where…?

The watch around his wrist seemed to grow heavier as he suddenly placed it, and his hand moved on its own, clenching the diamond dagger through the fabric of his jeans. Leon. For a moment there… She had almost looked like Leon.

He sat alone in the darkness, thinking hard. He didn’t come out to see Null join the others (and inadvertently bring Elora’s little game to a close just by being there). He didn’t see the looks of confusion on their faces as they realized that they couldn’t remember anything from the last twenty minutes. He missed the smug, patient, waiting look on Elora’s beautiful face as she watched them get up and make dinner, a combination of canned food and the stuff Tori had scrounged from the wild. He missed all of it.

Instead, he knelt there as the sun set and the moon rose, the message from the watch playing in his head, trying to make sense of it, somehow.

Warning- you are in more danger than you realize. You have a murderer in your midst. Please agree to a temporary cease-fire, and allow me to contact you. Do not ignore this- this is important!

Kate, setting out that night to kill the person who had once been her partner, wasn’t the only one struck by the feeling that something was horribly, horribly wrong.

Rain

Kate stood uncomfortably at attention in front of the stage, trying to figure out what was wrong. Maybe it was the weather? Big, fat drops of gray rain, drizzling over everything, making it freezing… No, there were hundreds of other agents also standing at attention all around her in their perfect rows, and none of them looked out of ease at all. Or maybe they were just better at hiding it. So what was it? Something… something… She could feel it there, like something stuck behind her teeth, but no matter how much she prodded or searched-

The distant clunking of boots. She looked up as Marq stepped across the stage, with that thin, cold smirk he always wore hidden behind a stiff sad face, while he pretended to mourn the Captain with the rest of them. This was it. He had discussed every aspect of what was going to happen today with her, last night, over dinner. He would say a few words, about his deep remorse over the Captain’s loss, and pretend to be personally grieved. No one would believe him, probably, but no one would care. Then he would assume his role, as the new Captain, and begin reshaping the Agency into the sort of organization he had always wanted. One more militaristic, more rigid, with less pity. A place of total control and domination, fear and power. And nothing else.

It was everything he’d ever dreamed of… And everything she wanted, too. As his girlfriend, she was guaranteed protection and elevation. No more being yelled at and forced to do menial jobs, with the constant threat of being fired. Finally, she would be promoted back to full rank again, for the first time since running into that stupid group of Gifteds in Munia to begin with. She would have power, and money, and Marq, the person she lo…

…That feeling was back. Something wrong, something wrong…

She could see Marq’s eyes sweeping over the perfect rows and columns of Agents, taking stock of them even as he spoke. Even without him mentioning anything, she could tell he was also searching for Leon. She almost had to feel pity for the worm- with Marq in power, he was bound to get punished, demoted, made to suffer. It wouldn’t be long before…

…Wait. Where was Leon?

Brrn! Brrn! Brrn! Red suddenly flashed bright and urgent over the sea of black and gray, causing the masses of Agents to turn as one in startled surprise. What-

Marq, alarmed, suddenly pressed his hand to his ear, listening intently to his earpiece. A look she had never seen on his face- one of sudden fear- appeared as he suddenly gripped the microphone with white-knuckled ferocity. “The H-Block prisoners have just escaped!”

The Agents froze, staring back in him in noncomprehension. Kate felt her breathing shallow with the deep, dreadful realization. “The cursed Gifteds…”

The Agents didn’t wait to be dismissed. They turned, beginning to run, for the doors. Some would be moving to flee. Most would be desperately trying to stop the prisoners, to find them, to lock them up, even if it killed them. If those ones got free again… No amount of fleeing would save the world.

“Wait!” Marq yelled angrily. He paused for a moment, eyes half-closed, listening intently. Then his face twisted into a mask of pure rage, and he practically bellowed the next orders over the running agents, so loud the microphone wasn’t even needed. “If you see the traitor who calls himself Leon, don’t bother catching him- make sure he dies!”

As the Agents ran around Kate, she stood still, staring at Marq, asking for questions. He himself was moving, though, and didn’t even give her a backwards glance. She trembled, clenching her fists, with no idea what was going on. Leon? He couldn’t… He couldn’t possibly be related to this, could he?! Someone who hated Gifteds so much, who knew the impact they could have on humanity, who knew- !

…Something was wrong.

…Something…

~~~

“Leon!”

Leon looked over his shoulder as the small black girl began running after him, dark braids bouncing unevenly as she struggled to catch up. He stepped on the brake, looking back at her curiously. “Seriously? How did you not die back there?”

She threw herself into the passenger side of the vehicle he had stolen, gasping for air as she slammed the door shut. “Dr…drive!”

He had no problem with complying with that order. He pressed down on the gas pedal, and they shot off, rocketing down the abandoned, rain-slicked roads.

“I… I told you,” Dextera mumbled, trying to breathe. The poor girl looked like she’d been running for her life. “If any… anyone could… do it… It’s me… I saw the… Captain… do it before…” Tears appeared in her eyes for a moment at the mention of the Captain, then were quickly blinked away. She reached with clammy hands into her pocket, then thrust something at Leon.

Leon caught his watch one-handed without looking away from the road. “I’m surprised my clearance even got you that far. Kate will have to forgive me later for borrowing her clearance, but it was worth it.” Hah. Kate, forgiving him for anything, at this point…

Dextera took a shuddery breath, sitting up. It had been… horrible. She had never been so certain she was going to die, just from a glance. Dark, shifting sands… A glint of a jade ring… She exhaled, opening her eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at it anymore, and focused on Leon instead. “Okay,” she said breathily. “What now? You said you would tell me the rest of your plan if I got you this far, and I did!”

He said nothing for a moment, then passed the watch back towards her. “You said that you’d locked and unencrypted the signal I asked you to look for, right?”

She nodded, holding the watch uncertainly. “Right after I removed the tracking signal from your watch, yes.”

“Good. Then there’s a message I want you to send for me…”

~~~

Shan frowned, tapping his pen absently on the crossword puzzle. A five-letter word for “white flag”…

“I suppose it’s a good thing that you got a van this time,” Akaru said from the front seat, where he was curled up near the vents, sleepily trying to absorb any of the heat he could into his serpentine body. Such a cold, dreary day… “Even so, it’s kind of a large vehicle. Are you sure it won’t attract attention?”

“It’ll be fine,” Null said, yawning. “Besides, I’m kinda getting the hang of this driving thing.” She turned the van into a sharp right that made everyone slide against each other, momentarily waking them all up.

But only momentarily. Aside from Shan, Akaru, and Null, everyone else in the van was perfectly content to sleep through the long drive to wherever Null was taking them. Well, he wasn’t sure what Tori was doing- she seemed to be meditating, staff in her lap, eyes closed and breathing unnaturally even. Aden’s head was slumped on her shoulder. Konki was curled up in the corner alone, leaning against a window. Elora practically took up the entire back seat, the way she was sprawled out.

Shan shifted in the passenger seat, trying to get comfortable… Then frowned as the watch he had stolen from Leon suddenly vibrated. He held up his wrist, looking at it curiously.

Null looked away from the road, frowning at him. “Something wrong?”

He blinked at the tiny green letters scrolling across the screen, not entirely sure himself.

Warning- you are in more danger than you realize. You have a murderer in your midst. Please agree to a temporary cease-fire, and allow me to contact you. Do not ignore this- this is important!

Curious, he tapped a few buttons, trying to reverse-trace the illegal signal. If he could just figure out where this was coming from… He stopped, staring in disbelief at the message’s source. No way…

“Shan?” Null asked, starting to slow down in concern.

“…It’s nothing. Just a watch malfunction.” He erased it, then took the watch off and shoved it into the glove box. No way he was messing with something like that right now.

With a quiet sigh, he picked up his pen again, staring at the crossword puzzle without really seeing it. White flag…

…Truce?

Parting Ways

((Well, it's rather late, but I got it in by the time I said I would. Slight hi-jacking of Sami's characters while I write them off, but no worries. If she doesn't give permission, they'll be referred to, but never seen again now.

If there's anything you want to see happen, or anything you want one of the characters to do, leave the suggestion in the comments. :) Also, constructive crits and any other comments can go there. Will update again soon!))

The group stood gathered on the banks of the river, watching the waterfall rush downwards not far away. A couple of albino sentries were keeping watch over them from a distance, but had decided out of respect not to approach. It was enough for them to see that Tau was present and alive- when he was ready, he would give his report. Until then, they kept themselves far away, watching, but not interfering.

Tau smiled as he turned to them one last time, giving a small bow. “I must thank you for all of your help. It is a sheer miracle that we got out of that place alive. Surely it would have been impossible, if I were alone.”

“Are you sure?” Akaru asked, whiskers testing the air as he sat on Shan’s shoulder. “Maybe we didn’t do you a favor after all. You wanted to come back with Sinistra, right? If he’s really gone…”

Tau shook his head. “He was like an older brother to me. When he was captured by the Agents, and then when he turned traitor, it was as though I had lost him, for the longest time. Thanks to you, I was able to find him once again, even if only for a few minutes. That’s enough for me.” He lifted his knife, holding the sheathed weapon out flat, in some sort of salute that none of them were familiar with. “You have earned our trust, and our gratitude. From now on, our tribe is allied with yours. In times of trouble, call, and we will stand together.”

“Ours?” Tori looked around, at the Gifteds surrounding her on all sides. She had never thought about it before, but… They were kind of like a tribe, weren’t they? A group of people, working so close together, like a family, but without being related. Just like Tau had gone back for Sinistra, they had come back for her.

It was… incredible, to think about. Three months ago, she hadn’t even known there were others like her. And now, not only were there others, but to be in a group like this…

“I’m not sure how much of a help we’ll be,” Shan said blankly. “After all, we’re about to all split up, right?”

Tori frowned, looking at him. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s us,” Clara said. She placed one hand on the shoulder of Hisoka, who was looking around nervously. “He’s not like us. He’s timid and scared- not a fighter. He needs somewhere peaceful, somewhere he can heal from all of this. And I think I know a place like that.” She reached into her pocket, pulling out a letter. “The old Gifted base is in ruins- we already checked. But I got a letter from Camdyn the other day. She and Ty have found a hiding place, somewhere they can blend in, undetected. Now I’m going to try the same thing. Hisoka, too.”

Hisoka gave a hesitant, shy nod, not meeting their eyes.

Aden glanced at Tori in concern. He didn’t speak, but she realized she was getting better at guessing what he was trying to say. They were leaving- but what about the rest of them?

“I see,” Tori said. “In that case-“

“Travel safe, you too,” Null said around a yawn. “We’ll head east from here. I know a couple of places the Agents won’t think to look right away. We’ll have to keep moving, but we can regroup from there, and figure out what our next plan of attack is.”

Tori stared at her. Who had made her leader? “Wait a minute. Whoever said anything about continuing to attack?! We haven’t voted yet- maybe we could go with Clara and find somewhere safe! It’s pretty obvious that fighting isn’t working. The least we could do is try to make a life somewhere- especially if there’s somewhere safe!”

Aden froze. What had gotten into Tori? Before, she had been the one urging everyone to fight, to never give up. Until the last of the agents had been stopped- that was what she had said, wasn’t it? What was with this sudden change?

Null met her eyes evenly. “It’s a little too late for that, isn’t it? You already started this- you can’t just drop it now, just because you changed your mind.” A slight scoff. “That Agent tracker you’re wearing kind of guarantees that, doesn’t it?”

Tori’s blood froze, and she slowly looked down. The remains of the black staff that she had used while brainwashed still clung to her left arm, like a long, thick manacle. She didn’t even know how to work it, or how to get it to change. And they hadn’t been able to pry it off. But now that she thought about it… It was so obvious. This thing had to be carrying Gifted trackers!

“You’re pretty much doomed,” Null said nonchalantly, shrugging as she held up her right hand. “Me too- I’ve got one implanted in my palm. We can keep moving, and buy two, maybe three days. But we’ll never be able to sit still, you and I. We’re fugitives for life.”

“No,” Tori said, staring down in dread at the bracelet. “There has to be some way to get rid of it… Some way…”

“Of course, that’s only Tori and I,” Null said, raising her voice. “Any one of you can leave at any time you want, and try your luck alone. But after watching you all charge into Buma like that for her, I don’t think you will, will you?”

She was met with silence.

“East, then,” she said, turning away. “We’ll camp a few miles from here for the night. In the morning, I know a trail we can follow that I’m pretty sure the Agents haven’t found. It’s worth a try.”

Tori squeezed her eyes shut as Null began to walk away, effortlessly taking the leadership Tori had once held herself. That headache was back… She was sure that if she opened her eyes and looked into the river right now, she would see the black, spreading again. But she couldn’t do that, couldn’t worry the others. She had to breathe deeply, focus, empty her mind… Stay in control!

“Well then,” Tau said, watching as the Gifteds began one by one to move after Null, walking away. “I wish you all the best of luck. Travel safely!”

Shan nodded as he accepted the knife Tau had offered. It wasn’t as hard as his artificial diamond one, but it was a nice gesture, he supposed. “We’ll try, I guess,” he said with a shrug. “It’s not going to be hard, though, to run into danger. It seems to find us on its own, lately.”

“Right…” Tau’s smile faded for a moment. “I think… I believe I should warn you, Shan. It’s probably nothing, but… That girl.”

“Hm?” Shan turned to look at Elora, who was tearfully hugging Clara goodbye. For some reason, Konki seemed to have suddenly been struck with distraction, and was standing next to her with an oddly dazed look on her face. “What about her?”

Tau’s voice lowered. “I am not sure. She is just… There is something strange about her. My people have always been more in tune with our instincts, more able to sense danger. We’ve been wrong before, but… For some reason, she feels like a predator, one even more dangerous than the Agents.”

Shan frowned. “I don’t know. She does seem to be growing faster, but… She’s not exactly the smartest person. She doesn’t seem all that threatening to me.”

Tau opened his mouth to speak, then paused as Elora suddenly stopped, looking in their direction with wide blue eyes. His eyes unfocused, and he shook his head, holding one hand to it. “…You’re probably right. It’s nothing.” He looked up and smiled. “Fortunate journeys, friend. I hope that we may meet again soon.”

Shan bowed, copying Tau’s gesture as he pocketed the knife. “I hope so, too.”

The story begins again

((So, everyone is being slow to check the guild, and I felt like writing this. So here it is, the first scene of the guild continuation. I haven't gotten permission to use everyone's characters yet, or even to continue writing like this. So if we end up going with yet another attempt to restart the guild, then okay, I'll delete this, and we can pretend that nothing I write here ever happened. But the moment I get confirmation that it's okay to do this, I'll add more posts continuing the story (and the next one will be with the group of Gifteds, instead of the Agents).

You guys can get involved, too. For one thing, it'd be cool if I could have some pictures of the characters- I'm going to try to pretty up this blog so it's not so bare-bones. Also, you're not relinquishing control of the story all the way. Post in the comments what you want to happen next, or what you want your characters to do next, or anything like that, and I'll write it for you. :3

In the meantime, here's what I wrote in the last fifteen minutes. Looking forward to hearing again from you guys soon.

ETA: Also, if any of you would prefer it, I can put your characters on a bus instead of roleplaying them- I can write them out of the story for you, instead of continuing with them, if that's what makes you more comfortable. I'm all about respecting your wishes- you guys came up with these characters and much of this world, and that's important. Just let me know if that's what you want.))

Kate knocked on the door once again, frowning as she shifted the tray of food to one arm. “Leon? Come on, let me in. Starving yourself isn’t going to make things better!”

Silence dragged on for a few minutes. Then, brightly, Dextera’s voice piped up from behind the metal door, bright and cheerful. “He says to leave it outside the door!”

“We both know he won’t eat it. And I’m not going to pick up moldy food for him again!”

A shorter pause. Then, hesitantly, “I’m not sure if I should repeat what he just said…”

Red flashed behind Kate’s eyes. That idiotic little… “Fine!” she yelled, turning away. “Stay in there! See if I care!”

She didn’t care. Really, she didn’t. Leon was pathetic and disgusting, and… and… And completely the way he had felt, in that hall, during the attack on Buma. That was how she felt about him! How she had always felt about him!

…So why did she feel like she was doing something wrong, by walking away from him like this? This hollow ache, somewhere deep inside of her… Why did she…

…She needed to see Marq. That was probably it. Probably…

~~~

Dextera cracked the door open, peering out cautiously, then slowly closed it with a sigh. “She’s gone.”

“Good,” Leon said calmly, moving the screwdriver in his hand with a deft flick of his wrist into another screw. “It’s better if she’s not around to see this.”

“Why?” Dextera asked, looking back at him.

“Because,” he said, as he lifted the weapon he was creating, holding it up to the light to examine it from a different angle. “What I’m doing at the moment isn’t exactly legal. What do you think, huh? A scared little Gifted like you, you’re watching me break rules. Ones even more serious than the ones being broken by your existence.”

He glanced at her, flashing her a smile. “What do you say? They’ll be appointing a successor if the Captain isn’t found soon. You can report what you see me doing, and they’ll probably be grateful enough to give you some protection. Want to give it a shot?”

She frowned, silent for a moment. “…You’re not crazy. They think you are, but… You’re being rational about this. You’re not telling me this just because you want to be caught. You have some kind of plan, don’t you?”

“You could say that.” He placed the weapon back in his lap, frowning as he tried to figure out which part of it to attack next, screwdriver flexing uncertainly between his fingers. “And I can’t seem to get you to go away. You’re glued to me, these past few days. And you were the Captain’s pet- you’re not used to breaking rules. …So I guess what I’m asking is, if I break all of the rules wide open, just what side are you going to fall on, anyways?”

She said nothing. But she watched him, for a long moment. And slowly, she crossed the room.

This man hated her, hated everyone like her. It didn’t matter that she had been on the side of the Agents- he hated her very existence because of what she could do, her “geis”. He could never respect her. Acceptance, love… Those were things she could never expect, from someone like this.

But then, acceptance, love, respect… Those weren’t things she could expect from anyone. There was only one thing that she had learned. Agents would put her in a cage. Gifteds would be appalled by her, and would chase her far from them. And ordinary people would fear both Agents and Gifteds, and would never let her be near them.

Everyone kicked her out eventually. Except for the Captain- he had kept her close to him, to use her abilities. And this man, also, for some reason, was not chasing her away.

“It’s not a problem with the casing,” she said, after crouching by him for several long moments. “The conduits are fine, too- you’re wasting your time trying to fix it with just ordinary hand tools like that. You won’t find the problem.”

“Oh really,” he asked skeptically, frowning up at her. “And I suppose you know all about advanced weaponry?”

“Yes. I studied with a top expert in the field of munitions for six weeks, until he got angry that I had learned more than he knew. Here.” The little girl reached forward, lifting the casing off and pointing to the circuitry beneath. “See? I garuntee you that one of these connections here is shorted out. You’ll have to test them by trial and error- test them one by one, until you see which one needs to be replace. You do it like this…”

She took the weapon from him while he looked on in astonishment, taking it into her own lap and demonstrating. A small smile curved on her lips, as she felt Leon watching her. Right now, he was realizing that he could use her, that she could be useful to him. He would keep her, for that reason.

As long as he wouldn’t chase her away, as long as she could be useful to him… Dextera would stay beside him, for as long as she could.