Day Twenty One - 34,984/50k

The roof of the dojo standing above the trees was the single most welcome sight Destiny had seen in a long time. They passed over it, following the trail that was currently hidden in the trees, but whose path was forever ingrained in their minds. Soon they could see the ring of buildings surrounding the wide fountain and plaza that was their home village, Anaxagoras. Although Destiny felt the warm happy feeling she expected at seeing Anaxagoras again after such a long time gone, but it was tinged with a sort of regret. This was the only time she had ever left home alone, without her parents, and although the outside world had been intimidating it had also been exciting. There was much to learn beyond the borders of their little world. The words from her dream still echoed in her head and she glanced up at Kida, looking away quickly before she noticed. To kill her childhood friend… she didn’t know if she could do it. Or how. 

Those thoughts were quickly driven away by their arrival in the middle of town, right next to the fountain. It was late evening by this point, so the plaza was mostly empty. A few people were still hurrying home, but the warm cozy lights shining from the windows of the buildings around them proved that most were home, probably eating dinner.

Destiny looked over at Kida and sighed. “Well, I guess this is where we part ways.”

“Just for tonight, though. We should meet here tomorrow and find Elder Kakashi, he will want to know what we have discovered,” Kida said.

“Yes, you’re probably right. So, tomorrow morning it is, right here. Say, just after breakfast, around nine?” Destiny usually woke up just after sunrise, unlike her sister - a notoriously early riser - so a meeting at nine would give her time to actually get up, get dressed, and eat before leaving. 

“Sounds good to me. Well, I’m off to see the family, I’ll see you tomorrow!” With a wave goodbye, Kida turned and jogged off towards her parent’s house. Destiny too took off running, eager now to see the faces of her family again.

They lived in a small house set a ways back from the rest of the buildings in the circle, and separated from it by a short wrought iron fence. The area leading up to it, the front lawn, was devoted entirely to her mother’s gardens. Plants both large and small covered the patch of land, from the herb garden near the door to the tall apple tree by the gate. Most of the plants had lost the majority of their leaves, but there was still beauty in the garden. Several of the trees leaves were still showing their colors, the reds and golds just visible through the evening darkness. Destiny walked down the cobblestone path in the center slowly, the memories weighing heavily on her shoulders. All the times she’d come down this path. Never before had it seemed so meaningful, this return to hearth and home.

When she pushed open the door, she was met with a waft of delicious aromas. She picked out curry, chicken, and spiced rice, and… just a hint of apple pie, probably still sitting on the windowsill in the kitchen cooling. All the smells told her one thing. Her mother must have actually let Nanashi, her sister, cook for once.

Destiny loved her mother, she really did, but the woman simply could not cook. She made a mess of the simplest recipes, and Destiny and her sister had learned at an early age how to make their own sandwiches for lunch, to avoid their mother’s “experiments.” Fortunately, for the first fifteen years their grandmother lived with them and cooked dinner each night. Nanashi had learned from her, although Destiny had never really seen the appeal. 

The sound of the door opening and closing had apparently gone unnoticed, because the chatter and clink of utensils and plates from the dining room continued unabated. Destiny considered being sneaky for a moment, slipping in and surprising them, but decided against it. Nanashi’s cooking was excellent, there was no point in putting any of it at risk of being spilled or knocked over in shock. So instead she simply stood in the doorway of the dining room and knocked on the doorframe, grinning.

The reaction was both predictable and heartwarming. With a cry of “Destiny!” her sister leapt up from her seat and threw her arms around her, hugging her tight. Although Destiny was just a few years older, they had always been the closest of siblings and friends. Even so, as she hugged Nanashi back, she realized with a twinge of guilt that she had not thought about her sister at all on their journey so far. The adventure had just been too distracting, she supposed.

Next in line for a hug was her mother, then her father. Neither of them asked where she had been, they knew better. Destiny had the wandering spirit, or at least that was what her father had always told her when she insisted he take her on one of his expeditions out into the woods. That, and she suspected Kakashi had spoken with them. Either way, they welcomed her in with open arms, asking all the right questions and listening avidly to her stories of the adventures she and Kida had run into on the road. Heavily edited, of course, and imbued with a bit of Destiny’s own natural flair for storytelling, but she felt she managed to keep the exaggeration to a minimum. After dinner, and the excellent apple pie that had indeed been cooling on the windowsill, Destiny found her old room just as she’d left it. Her mother had apparently come in and dusted, maybe straightened up a bit, but other than that, it was still her room, her sanctuary. 

That night, she laid down in her own bed, with her own pillow, surrounded by the familiar sounds and smells of home. Even so, it took her a long time to fall asleep. Thoughts kept spinning through her mind, most related to the dream, the ninja clan, and her task. If she went through with it, killed Kida, and joined the clan, she would have to leave all of this behind. How could she ever return home after something like that? The decision was a difficult one. Family and friends on one side of the balance, power and her future on the other. When she finally did drift off, her sleep was fitful, riddled with strange, half-formed dreams and nightmares.

When she met Kida the next morning, she knew her rough night showed on her face, so she was silently grateful that Kida’s only reaction was a long look. Other than that, she didn’t mention it, a cheery “Good morning!” her only greeting.

“A good morning to you too, miss sunshine. How long have you been waiting?”

“Oh, not long.” The impatient bounce in her foot put the lie to her words, as did her next exclamation. “Well, what are we waiting for! Let’s go find Kakashi, he’s probably up at the dojo teaching the morning class!”

Kida was right, that was their best bet for finding him, so they started running, laughing. Of course they had to race, but Destiny had a bit of an unfair advantage. As a cat, she was simply naturally faster than an angel like Kida. Still, she had to push herself to stay in the lead, and only made it to the top of the hill a few seconds ahead. They took a few moments to catch their breath before Destiny led the way into the dojo, ducking easily under the low sloping roof into the shade of the training area. Sure enough, Kakashi was standing to one side, watching his class of a dozen or so young children go through the moves of their simplified kata. Destiny slipped her sandals off and stepped up onto the wooden floor, approaching Kakashi with a bow of respect. Kida simply nodded her head gravely - only ninjas were required to give the full honors to the elder.

“Sensei, we have returned,” Destiny said quietly once he had acknowledged them with a look and a small smile.

“So I can see. Were you successful?”

“We’ve gathered quite a lot of information,” Kida replied. “We can relay it to you in private, if you would like.”

“Yes. I shall finish the lesson and then we shall go. Please wait for me outside.” He turned back to his class and began moving through their careful formation, correcting a hand here, a foot there, murmuring quiet words of encouragement and criticism. 

Destiny and Kida ducked back outside to wait as instructed. After a while, Kakashi joined them and they returned to the village, albeit at a much slower pace. As they walked, they started telling their story. Kida did most of the talking, with Destiny piping up only when something was left out, or it was a time when Kida was either not there or was asleep. The tale lasted the entire walk back, and another hour once they had reached Kakashi’s house. After it was done, the elder sat quietly on the stool in his living room, looking from one to the other where they sat on the floor on cushions. 

“What you have told me… all of this is very interesting. I do not yet know what to think of this Midas person, but I am inclined to agree with Kida. His intentions did seem honorable. Exacting punishment on one who has betrayed you is understandable. This is an acceptable reason for why he burned the house. He could have simply killed the man and his wife, but instead chose something that would be a painful loss, but not an impossible one to overcome.” There was a long silence as the girls pondered his words. Then Kakashi stood and sighed. “I am afraid I must leave again. There are things I must do now that I have heard your story. I will return in a few days. If you are still here, we will speak again then.” 

“Yes, sensei,” they both replied. He escorted them to the door and bid them farewell. Once the door was closed behind them Kida frowned and scratched the back of her neck.

“Well… that was unenlightening. We know that Kakashi seems to support Midas, but not much more than that,” she said.

“True. Hopefully he’s off doing something helpful. Elder Kakashi is always so mysterious.”

“That he is. Well, I’m going to head back home to read a bit. I’ll see you around!” 

Kida spread her wings and kicked off, gliding the short distance across the plaza back to her home. Destiny watched her go for a moment, considering her own next move. As she thought back over what they had just told Kakashi, something Midas had said sprang to her mind. He had mentioned Zadkiel, the owner of the magic shop there in Anaxagoras. Told them to say hello, in fact. Well, who was she to deny a reunion of two old friends, even if it was secondhand? And besides, her investigative spirit had lifted its head again. Maybe he could tell her something about Midas.

The magic shop was off to her right, a tall, narrow building that was one of the few in the city with more than one floor. She entered with some trepidation. Her memory of Zadkiel cast him as a somewhat sour, cranky old man who didn’t like small children in his shop, and who more often than not was gone off to far away cities with strange and exciting names.. The man who stood behind the counter fit that description roughly, but the smile that lit up his face when she walked in eased all of her worries as to his temperament now that she was all grown up.

“Destiny! It’s so good to see you again. Your father has been telling me all about your adventures, he was in here earlier today.”

“Really? I, ah, hope he didn’t overexaggerate too much.” 

Zadkiel laughed at this, coming out from behind the counter. “Not too much, not too much. Now, what can I do for you, young lady?”

“Well, I’m actually here to deliver a message. While Kida and I were travelling we met an old friend of yours, Midas.” At the mention of the name Zadkiel’s face grew serious. “He told us to tell you hello for him.”

“Did he now… well, that’s interesting. I haven’t spoken with Midas in, well, in quite some time. Not since he started pursuing the Chaos. Not since Matt Fisher went missing.”

“Matt Fisher? Who’s he?”

“An old friend of Midas’s. They were students together. After he went missing… yes, that’s when all the trouble started. No one really knows what happened. No one but Midas, that is.”

“Of course. So you’re saying he only started studying Chaos magic after his friend, Matt Fisher disappeared?”

“Yes. Some people say he was desperate to save him, but from what, no one knows. Personally, I think that Matt boy just up and ran away. He’d always been the troublemaker of the two. Back when they were my students they were always up to mischief, and it was usually Matt’s doing.”

“I see… so when did Matt first disappear?”

“Well, let’s see, that’d be… about three years ago now. He’d been off travelling for a while, but always kept in touch with Midas and his other friends. I was still spending most of my time there, just summers here in Anaxagoras. Midas would stop by and see me regular-like, so I was likely one of the earliest to hear that Matt had supposedly vanished. He was due back in Blowin to visit his family, but never showed. I still say he just wanted his freedom. Don’t blame him, to be honest. My folks are back in Mizumi, and I’ve never looked back.”

Destiny kept her own opinions on the subject to herself. She loved her family, true, but could easily see a situation that would cause her to abandon them, as Matt had his. The ninja clan. Perhaps something similar had happened to Matt Fisher, if there were such “clans” among the wizards. It had been hundreds of years since the last truly power-hungry, ambitious wizard. Anyone who showed those traits these days were rejected from the schools at a young age. The thought of another one on the loose sent unpleasant shivers down her spine. The thought of the damage he could cause if unopposed was downright frightening.

“Thank you for the information, sir, you’ve been very helpful,” she said respectfully. “I just have one more question. Do you know where we can find Midas? Kida and I wish to help him, if that is possible.”

He sighed and shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t. Even if I did, I couldn’t tell you. That’s why he burned down that man’s house, you know. He gave away Midas’s location to Matt, betrayed a confidence and put Midas’s life in danger.”

Destiny could only nod, finally understanding what could have made a supposedly honorable wizard do something like burn a house down. A betrayal like that, a broken trust… yes, he had indeed been merciful in sparing their lives. Destiny did not know if she could have shown similar self control. 

“That’s all right, I understand. Well, again, thank you. It has been nice talking with you again,” Destiny said.

“Yes, yes it has…” he replied. Just as Destiny was turning to leave, he spoke again, stopping her short. “Wait… Would you and Kida mind running an errand for me? There would be compensation in it for you.”

Destiny considered his words for a long moment. She wasn’t sure how Kida would feel about it, but she knew she was open to it. Although it was nice to be home, now that she had gained a taste of the outside world, she found she wanted more. Geonova was a huge place, after all, and she had seen only a small portion of it. It would not at all surprise her if Kida felt the same way. “Well,” she said slowly. “I know I’m willing. I can’t speak for Kida, but I imagine she will be as well. What is the errand?”

“It’s quite simple. Just deliver this package to the magic shop in Gerse for me.” Zadkiel reached under the counter and brought up a small package wrapped securely in brown paper and tied with a long piece of twine. Destiny could not help but feel a twinge of disappointment. Gerse was not far, and it was only a medium sized town, although their technology was quite good. She had been there once with her father, as a child, and remembered being impressed by the electric lights and small cars owned by the wealthy inhabitants of the town. Even so, she had agreed to the task, and it was another excuse to leave Anaxagoras, after all. Nothing exciting ever happened in Anaxagoras.

She picked up the package, which was surprisingly light for its size. “Not a problem. Should we just drop it off, or would you prefer we give it directly to the owner of the shop?”

“Oh, you can just drop it off. It’s simply some dried herbs that the owner asked me for. Apparently she has been having some trouble growing them, and I have something of a reputation as a gardener.” Zadkiel laughed, gesturing towards the window, outside of which she knew lay the patch of ground where he kept an herb garden.

“Very well, should not be too hard. We’ll probably be back within the week, unless we decide to go off on another adventure,” Destiny said, the last part tinged with sarcasm. Maybe they would be lucky enough to run into something interesting again, but then again, that was hardly how the world worked. One adventure was more than anyone could rightly hope for in their life. 

She scooped up the package, and the rather generous bag of gold he had placed next to it, and bid farewell to Zadkiel, walking out of his shop back into the fresh, cool outside air. Takin a deep breath, she took off at a slow jog towards Kida’s house. It was a good deal smaller than Destiny’s, and built in a more minimalistic manner. Kida had once told her that the design was a reflection of the simplicity a true swordsman sought in his or her life. Material possessions were supposed to mean nothing, outside of one’s blades. Kida had confided in Destiny that she thought it was just because her father was too cheap to properly decorate, but the house was at least functional, if not entirely comfortable.

Destiny knocked on the front door and waited. She heard the scramble of footsteps inside, then the door was yanked open by Kida’s younger sister, who immediately attacked Destiny with a bear hug, although the effect was somewhat spoiled due to the fact that her head barely reached Destiny’s stomach.

“Well hello there, Marin,” Destiny greeted the little girl, laughing. “Is your sister at home? I need to talk to her.”

“I’ll get her!” Marin caroled happily, turning and bolting away as fast as she’d come, disappearing quickly up the stairs that were just visible from the front door. Destiny waited patiently for a few minutes until Kida came down those same stairs.

“Hey Dez, what’s up?” she asked. 

Destiny chose to ignore the nickname this time. “Just came back from talking to Zadkiel. He had some interesting things to say about Midas - I’ll tell you later. He also has an errand for us, he wants us to deliver this…” She held up the small package. “To the magic shop in Gerse.”

Kida wrinkled her nose, echoing Destiny’s own feelings about the job. “Gerse? Really? It couldn’t be somewhere more exciting?”

“I know, I know. But he seemed to want both of us to go. And it’s an excuse to get out of here again. You know, we don’t have to come straight back afterwards…” Destiny let her words trail off. When Kida’s mouth curled up into a mischevious grin, Destiny knew her thoughts were on the same track. With their pockets weighed down by the new gold they’d just earned, and a whole world to explore, there was no reason at all they should return to the tiny little town of Anaxagoras.

“Should we leave notes?” Kida asked.

“Don’t bother. Zadkiel will tell our parents, I’m sure. ‘Course, they probably know by now not to worry too much. We’re young, this is our time to live and have fun!” Destiny was excited now at the potential of more adventure. And in the back of her mind, a small voice spoke up, telling her that she would never be able to complete the task of killing Kida here in Anaxagoras. Too many witnesses. Out in the world there were all kinds of ways to die, many of which at least looked like accidents. She kept her expression cheerful, though, not wanting to betray any of her inner thoughts to her friend.

“Well, all right. Just let me pack, and then we can meet up and leave.”

Destiny agreed and they parted ways. She headed home to pack as well. Miraculously, she managed to avoid her family, and the awkward questions that seeing them would have entailed. It took her barely ten minutes to repack, as all she needed were a few changes of clean clothes and some food from the kitchen to add to her bag, which was still mostly packed from her arrival the day before. Then, slinging the bag onto her shoulders, she returned to Kida’s house. A few minutes later and Kida joined her.

“You ready?” Destiny asked.

“As ready as I’ll ever be. To adventure?”

“To adventure!” They both laughed, then Kida snagged Destiny’s arms and took off into the air with a kick, her wings soon falling into the easy pattern they’d developed. It was still a bit nervewracking for Destiny at first, seeing her feet dangling so far above the treetops that soon were all she could see below them, but it didn’t take long before she could let herself zone out into the relaxed state that made the miles and minutes fly by.

Day Nineteen - 31,228/50k

Kiri’s opinion of Tomlyn was getting worse by the day. The man travelled horribly. He fell asleep on watch, then complained that he couldn’t sleep on the ground when it was her watch. He kept Renee awake with his snoring, and was terribly picky about his travel rations. After the fiasco of the other night, her patience was wearing thin. 

They had been fortunate enough to be able to follow Kida and Destiny when they left Lumo Bay, and although Kida was an unusually fast flier, they had managed to keep up with them, if not gain any ground. When they had landed for the night, Kiri had come up with the bright idea to ambush them in their sleep. They could take Destiny first while Kida was making a round on watch, then grab Kida when she was distracted. It would be simple and effective, if not entirely elegant. 

Then Tomlyn had spoken up. After all, he had claimed, he was a hunter. He was an expert at laying traps and catching people, it was how he made his living. So Kiri had backed off, given him the lead, trusted him to handle it. That had been a mistake. He had tried to set a rope trap around the tree Kida had climbed to keep watch, but she had heard him and easily leapt over it, directly onto Tomlyn. After that the man hadn’t stood a chance. She’d trussed him up easily, first with her boleadoras, then with his own rope. Apparently he had another coil in his pack beyond the one he carried on his belt. It had taken Kiri and Renee a good half hour to get the knots untied to the point that he could wriggle free, by which time their quarry was long gone. All in all, the entire operation was a horrible, miserable failure. 

Now they stood in the clearing, staring at each other, slowly coming to the realization that they had absolutely no idea what to do. Their last lead had just disappeared into the darkness. It was useless trying to track Midas, the man could vanish into a crowd like nothing Kiri had ever seen. The only thing she could think of would be returning to Onsen, where she was first hired, to try to track down Black Diamond again. Maybe he had new information. She hated returning to an employer empty-handed, that kind of thing was horrible for a mercenary’s reputation, but at least it would show her commitment to the job. It wasn’t like she could give up now. Derek was still missing, and Midas had damaged her pride, something she intended to get revenge for. 

Renee was lying on her back in the grass, and had been staring up at the stars for quite some time. Now she pushed herself up into a sitting position and looked up at Kiri, her expression the most serious Kiri had ever seen in all the time she’d known the girl. It seemed like the gravity of the situation they were in had even managed to quell Renee’s normally exuberant personality.

“Kiri…” she began, her voice so quiet Kiri had to crouch down next to her in order to listen. “I… I haven’t been entirely honest with you.” She paused again, and Kiri had to fight the urge to interrupt. “It’s true that I’m on vacation, but I never told you who I worked for. The company is called City of Gold, it’s in Port Antil. About six months ago I was part of a team that made a major archeological find. The biggest in the company’s history, in fact. As a reward, and as safety to ensure we didn’t know what happened to the artifact, we were all sent away on long-term vacations.”

“All right, but what does this have to do with us? Is the artifact important?” Kiri asked, working very hard to keep her voice level.

“No. At least, not to us. It’s really powerful, but that’s not what I wanted to tell you. City of Gold is run by a wizard, a very powerful wizard. I’ve never met him personally, but I’ve heard his name from my boss and the others in the company. His name is…”

“Midas,” Kiri finished. Pieces began to click in place in her mind. It had always struck her as vaguely odd how willing Renee had been to go along with their mission. She had never seemed like the type to take on jobs like this - archeologists weren’t often mercenaries, after all. Renee must have been keeping an eye on them, maybe even with the intent to sabotage. Somehow, though, the idea of the small, cheerful angel plotting something as treacherous as that seemed strange and very out of character.

“You were just curious, weren’t you? At first it was just an excuse to have fun, then when you found out we were after Midas, you wanted to know why,” Kiri said slowly, thinking aloud. 

“At first, yes,” Renee replied. “But then Midas approached me, back in Lumo Bay while you were off busy. He wanted me to stay with you, but he wouldn’t tell me why.”

Kiri frowned and crossed her arms, glancing at Tomlyn, who was listening intently to their conversation, but didn’t appear to have anything to add. “And he didn’t mention anything else? Anything useful?”

“No. Just that I was to stay with you, and act as I saw fit. He said he knew that I would do the right thing, but I don’t know what the right thing is supposed to be…” Renee seemed almost distraught now. It bothered Kiri more than she would have expected to see her crewmate, no, her friend so worked up. Moved by an instinct almost entirely unfamiliar to her, she dropped down in the grass next to Renee and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Tension radiated from the girl, so much that Kiri found herself tensing in empathy. For lack of anything better to do, she settled with rubbing Renee’s shoulder gently to try and calm her a bit.

“Hey, it’s alright. You’ve been great so far. Really brave.”

“No I haven’t.” Renee sniffled, and Kiri realized to her horror that the girl was actually starting to cry. “I’ve been useless, and drunk half the time.”

“You aren’t the only one who’s been drunk, good buddy. Besides, you keep our spirits up! Tomlyn and I would be a pretty dour pair without you.” Kiri could only hope she was saying the right things. This was way outside her comfort zone, but she was trying her best. Amazingly enough, it seemed to be working. Renee’s sniffles had slowed and she was wiping at her eyes, blinking up at Kiri through the tears with a half smile that did funny things to Kiri’s head. It almost felt like… some strange cross between pity and friendship and something else. 

Kiri had always been an only child. She’d grown up in a household with parents who were loving, but busy. If fortune had blessed her with siblings she would have understood what she was feeling. Renee was becoming like a little sister to her, although Kiri would never be able to put it in those words. Instead, she simply hugged Renee close and patted her on the back. 

“Besides, good buddy. You’re part of my crew. That means we need you, and will watch out for you no matter what.”

Now Renee managed a grin that was much closer to her normal cheery expression. Kiri sighed in relief. Touchy-feely talks like this were just not her thing. From the look on Tomlyn’s face, they weren’t his either. Of course, he got to keep his distance and just watch - let the girls cry, go figure. Just like a guy. 

Kiri stood and offered a hand to Renee, who took it and let Kiri pull her to her feet. They brushed the grass and debris off their pants and exchanged a grin, glancing at Tomlyn to see that he too had managed a smile. They were still a dysfunctional crew on a mission of dubious legitimacy, but at least there were no tears now.

“So. That was wonderful and touching, but we still have no plan,” Tomlyn said, laying on the sarcasm a bit too heavy for Kiri’s tastes, but she let it slide.

“I think I might know,” said Renee. That drew both their attentions. “I work for Midas, who is the head of City of Gold, right? So we go to Port Antil, to the company. Even if Midas isn’t there, they’re bound to know something about his whereabouts!”

Kiri laughed and pulled Renee into a one-armed hug, punching her lightly in the shoulder. “You, good buddy, might have just given us the push in the right direction we needed! To Port Antil then!”

“To Port Antil!” Renee and Tomlyn echoed.

They set about untangling the hammock, which had gotten quite mangled from lying in a heap on the ground all night. It gave them all new energy to have a goal in mind again. Kiri knew it was a tenuous lead at best. While Midas might indeed have been the head of City of Gold, that in no way guaranteed they would know anything about his whereabouts. In fact, with the effort he’d expended so far in staying hidden, Kiri found it entirely unlikely that they would know much at all. But it was still worth trying. Any information, no matter how seemingly insignificant, might prove useful.

Before they took off, Kiri paused to check her map and compass, fixing their bearing in her mind. She knew roughly where they were, judging by the distance and direction they’d flown from Lumo Bay. It would take them a good long while to reach Port Antil, at least a week and a half of travel if they didn’t run in to any complications. She plotted them a course almost directly west, bearing slightly north. It took them directly across the Mist Plains of Corad, the large empty space in the middle of her map, but they would just have to risk it. If they planned right, they could make it all the way across in one day of flying. Staying the night in the Mist Plains was not on the top of Kiri’s list of things to do. There were strange stories about what lurked there, outside the walls of the city of Corad. The farther above all that they could stay, the better, to Kiri’s line of thinking.

Nestling into the hammock, Kiri found she could actually keep her map braced on her lap after the initial wind of takeoff, her compass in one hand, the other wrapped in the ropes for added security. Renee was on her right, Tomlyn on her left, both angels’ wings beating steadily against the air, carrying them upward and forward. Every so often she would shout directions to one or the other, depending on which way they needed to turn. All in all, it was a fairly effective system, with one crucial flaw. It was mindnumbingly, exhaustively boring. At several points Kiri found herself dozing and had to jerk herself awake. It was dangerous to fall asleep, she was the only one who knew which direction they had to go.

They reached the very edge of the Mist Plains just before nightfall and made camp. That night, Kiri rechecked their position, although her knowledge of the stars was limited to a “best guess” situation. Even so, when the set off the next day, Kiri felt certain that she was steering them in an easy tangent that would cut straight across the edge of the Plains in a line towards Port Antil. So when they were still flying above the formless, shapeless, rather eerie whiteness that was the Mist Plains from above when the sun began to set, Kiri started to worry. Within an hour they were forced to land, as it grew far too dark to fly safely. As they dropped down into the mists the air grew thick, damp, and cold, and visibility reduced to a grand total of about three feet. 

Kiri felt it prudent to issue a warning as they began to set up camp. “Stay close, everyone… we sleep in shifts, don’t leave sight of the others. This is going to be interesting.”

Day Eighteen - 29,157/50k

Kida and Destiny didn’t fly for long. After about an hour the sunset lit the sky up a beautiful glowing blend of red and orange and pink and purple off to their left. It slowly but steadily grew darker after that, until it was unsafe to keep flying if they wanted to actually know where they were going. Destiny spotted a clearing down below and shouted up to Kida. “Down there! Looks like a good place to set up camp!” 

Kida nodded and began to circle downwards until she could drop Destiny gently onto the grass, then land herself. She looked around the clearing then grinned. “You picked a good one as usual, Dez,” she said. Destiny grimaced at the nickname, and Kida just laughed. She knew she hated that nickname, but persisted in using it. Destiny was certain it was just to annoy her, and it worked! Nicknames had to be one of her biggest pet peeves.

In a bit of a huff, Destiny dropped her bag and began to unpack the tent, setting it up without another glance at Kida. Not that the angel seemed to care, she was too busy scouting around in the trees and gathering an armful of firewood. By the time the tent was staked firmly into the ground, Destiny had cooled down, both figuratively and literally. It was cold outside by now, the last warmth of the sun fading quickly into the night. Kida set up the fire and whispered a quick spell, sending a miniature fireball into the heart of the wood. It flickered for a moment then caught, and soon they had a merry little campfire dancing and giving off marvelous heat. Once they had warmed up and eaten some of the bread and fruit they’d packed as rations, Destiny noticed Kida looking longingly at the tent and yawning. It did look awfully cozy, but Destiny knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep yet. Then again, Kida had every excuse to be exhausted, she’d been the one doing all the flying. The few hours nap they’d gotten at the inn couldn’t have been nearly enough, although they’d done wonders for Destiny.

“You go ahead, I’ll take the first watch,” Destiny said.

“You sure?” Kida asked hesitantly. “I can stay up, I don’t mind…” 

Destiny almost laughed. Liar, she thought to herself. You’d just fall asleep, probably before I did! Out loud, she was more gracious. “No, it’s all right. You took first watch last time. Go on, sleep!”

Kida didn’t need any more encouragement. Destiny had to stifle another laugh at the speed with which Kida dived into the tent, snuggling up into her sleeping bag. Within minutes, the sound of her breathing had slowed and become interspersed with the occasional snore. Yes, it was a good thing she was taking the first watch - Kida would not have made it, no question there. 

In spite of herself, though, less than an hour of sitting in the warmth of the fire had Destiny yawning and fighting to stay awake. After the third time she almost fell over, she forced herself to stand up and leave the comfort of their little camp. The night air was biting cold, but it served its purpose. The first breath she took of it once she had left the fire behind seared through her lungs and brought her fully alert and awake. It also started her shivering. While cats could stand up to cold better, there was still only a certain amount she could handle. She found herself thinking longingly of Lumo Bay, only a few hours behind them. Even though they’d been flying south, the weather had still gotten colder as they got further from the ocean - and the fact that they were breaching a small mountain range didn’t help either. The mountains might not have been tall enough for snow, even at the peaks, but the altitude still meant temperatures that dropped significantly below what Destiny considered normal for autumn. Even late autumn.

She began pacing in an attempt to warm herself up. When that didn’t work, she decided a bit of training might help, and shifted into the first pose of the kata for her preferred martial art. Okii-yuri was a widely known art, although obviously it was most common among the ninjas. It focused on defense, on avoiding attacks entirely, or taking them in such a way as to reduce the effects. It also trained the body for increased speed and agility, and as such was an excellent choice for warming up on a cold night. The kata forced her to duck, roll, and leap, twisting her body this way and that to avoid imaginary attacks. She was so caught up in her training that it wasn’t until Kida cleared her throat pointedly that she realized she was being watched. The noise startled her, but she kept her balance, finishing the last turn and dodge before standing straight and smiling.

“Just keeping warm, and keeping in shape. You ready to take the watch?”

“Mmhmm. The tent is all yours.”

Destiny didn’t need to be told twice. She gratefully returned to the embrace of the fire’s warmth, slipping into the comfort of the sleeping bag inside the tent. They had set up the tent on the grass, so the ground itself was even soft, almost like a mattress. There were a few places where rocks poked up, but Destiny managed to position herself in such a way that they didn’t dig into her back or sides. Once she was comfortable she closed her eyes and sighed. Sleep stole up on her quietly, and she drifted off.

It felt like seconds, but she knew it must have been several hours, when she was awoken by the sound of Kida yelling, and the thud of fists striking flesh. She lunged upward in an attempt to get out of the tent, ended up getting tangled in her sleeping back, and finally managed to tumble clumsily out of the tent, drawing her katana as she came fully to her feet. The scene before her took her aback for a moment. Lying on the ground was the hunter who had tried to hire them back in Blowin. He appeared to be wrapped up in a boleadora, and Kida was in the process of taking a coil of rope out of his pack. 

“What… happened?” she barely managed to ask. Kida had a grim look on her face as she proceeded to securely tie the man up with his own rope.

“He tried to set a trap for me, but I caught him. Apparently he was following us. I have no doubt that he was not alone, but I don’t think it’s worth our time trying to look for them. We should leave. Now.”

Destiny could only nod, blinking in shock and grogginess. Although she still didn’t entirely understand what had happened, she moved numbly to start packing up at Kida’s command. Kida was busy tightening her knots and ensuring that the man would not be able to escape on his own any time soon. Worry tried to make itself known, until Destiny remembered that he probably had companions waiting for him in the trees who would help him - once they were gone. In fact, now that she thought about it, Kiri was probably one of the ones out there as well. Oddly, Destiny found she almost wanted to go say hello… but then again, that probably wouldn’t be a good idea. From what they knew now, Kiri was tracking Midas with the intent to capture him. She and Kida had been searching for him purely for information, and now - somehow - had essentially ended up on his side. At least, Kida certainly was. Once someone’s honor was established, Destiny knew Kida would trust them and support them no matter what. Destiny reserved judgement. It was true that sending ninjas to warn rather than kill had been a point in his favor, but they still knew so little about the strange, powerful wizard.

Once everything was packed up, Kida checked over the ropes one more time, then glanced around the clearing. “I know you’re out there! Once we leave, feel free to untie him, but I’m warning you - do not follow us!” she called into the darkness. There was no reply - but then, could they really expect one? 

Without another moment wasted, Kida scooped up her pack, and they took off flying into the darkness. The moon was out by now, just past full but still giving enough light to see, at least for Destiny’s cat eyes. They steered by the moon, keeping in a relatively straight line that would take them back to Anaxagoras. They spent the rest of the night in the air, continuing into the next day. With all the practice they’d had recently, it was becoming easier and easier, and they found they could fly farther and farther every day. They made it almost to lunchtime - with a few breaks in between - before they had to stop for a lengthy rest. 

They found they were outside a small town when they stopped. They stuck to the outskirts, not wanting to draw undue attention. Since Destiny was the least remarkable of the two, with her plain black fur and simple clothes, she decided to slip in and purchase supplies. Although they were almost to Anaxagoras, they were running low on supplies, and Destiny was sick of travel rations. She bought two steaming hot roast beef sandwiches from they inn, along with several bottles of ice cold water, and a map. They had no idea where they were, after all, beyond a vague knowledge that they were more than halfway from Blowin to Anaxagoras. While Destiny had every confidence that they could make it back home - it was an instinctual knowledge for every ninja, or anyone else born there - if they ever wanted to go anywhere else, they would need the map.

After they had eaten the sandwiches, they took the remaining hours of the afternoon and evening to train, sparring back and forth in the forest with fists, then with swords. If anyone had seen them, they would have considered it dangerous, but Destiny and Kida knew each other. They knew each other’s fighting styles, strengths, weaknesses, and skills. It was not true combat that they were fighting. Rather, it was a sort of elegant, deadly dance, their swords whipping around each other, clanging together then sliding apart, under feet and over heads. Destiny was the acrobatic one, flipping and twirling around blows, occasionally even leaping over Kida’s head. Kida was aggressive in her fighting, striding forward with every blow, blocking and striking with powerful grace. There were no words exchanged as they dueled. None were needed. It was something they’d done dozens of times as kids, and growing up. It was how they’d first become friends, matched up to spar as young students in the dojo. Now that they were older it had become more and more of a competition, but neither was willing to truly push the issue and actually hurt the other, so the fight was a constant back and forth, give and take, advance and retreat, attack and defense.

After several hours, when the forest grew too dark to see, they finally gave it a rest, sinking to the ground panting and laughing. “That’ll never get old…” Destiny gasped, dropping her katana without bothering to sheathe it. Kida grinned and smacked Destiny in the arm playfully.

“Sure it will. It’ll get old when I finally beat you!”

“As if. You know I’ll be the one to beat you,” Destiny retorted. Their banter was only halfhearted at this point, as they were both exhausted. Kida was the first one to drag herself up onto her feet again. 

“I’ll take the first watch tonight. You go get some sleep,” Kida said. As she didn’t have the strength to argue - nor the desire - Destiny willingly stood and staggered sleepily back to where they’d pitched the tent earlier. Within moments of laying down, she was once again asleep.

Destiny awoke to a scene that was so strange it took her mind a moment to realize she must still be dreaming. Even so, it felt real, from the cold, smooth floor beneath her feet to the thick, cloying smoke that stung her nose. Her vision was blurry at first, but as it cleared, the first thing she noticed was the brilliantly blue flame that burned in a wide ring around where she was standing. She recognized it immediately - it was precisely the same shade as the fire that the ninjas in the warehouse had disappeared through. It grew slowly brighter, or maybe it was her eyes focusing, and she began to notice dark figures standing outside the ring. They were dressed all in black, but in a much different fashion than she was. Where she wore a simple tank top and skirt, they wore kimonos and ghis, although a few were in pants. The one unifying feature was that they all wore masks that completely hid their faces. That sent a shiver down her spine. She only knew of one type of people that wore masks, and they were not the type that good ninjas associated with, or even acknowledged the existence of. Assassins. Those who killed for money. Those without honor. 

There was one other thing she noticed. On their hands, each of them had a tattoo. It was a skull, with a sword passing through the mouth at an angle. A vine with roses twined around the sword. Their was a certain beauty to it, but it seemed oddly ominous.

One of the men stepped through the ring of flames, which flickered as he passed but did not seem to otherwise affect him. He approached her, and she noticed he did not wear a mask. He had powerful features, handsome but in an intimidating, almost cruel way. His voice was the same, low and sinister, sending a chill through her. 

“Destiny Nokomis. We have chosen to approach you with an offer. We are a clan of ninjas, and we would like to invite you to join us. It will not be an easy path, but if you should choose to join us, we can promise you power beyond your wildest dreams. Power enough to never depend on anyone. Power enough to surpass anyone, to never be second best.”

Destiny’s instinct was to refuse on principle. Any ninja clan that had to keep to these kind of shadows was not one she wanted to be involved in. But there was that word. Power. The one thing she’d always lacked, and always craved. She was too quiet to admit it, but it drove her crazy every time Kida beat her, or condescended to her. To actually be able to be stronger than her friend… to be stronger than all of her friends. It was an intoxicating idea.

“Are you… honorable?” she asked hesitantly. The man’s smile did nothing to reassure her. It was a decidedly unpleasant look.

“We are. To a point. I would not say that we place honor above all, but we are more honorable than most. The ends do justify the means in many situations, after all.”

Destiny nodded her understanding. While the words were unsettling, she found she did understand. Although she had never run into such a situation, she could easily imagine some time when something had to be done that crossed the bounds of what was considered honorable. She weighed her next words carefully.

“What… exactly… must I do, in order to join you?”

“The path will not be an easy one. We will ask you to complete a task for us. You will not want to, it will go against everything you know and love, but it must be done.”

“Tell me.”

“You must kill your friend. Kida must die before the week is out.”

Destiny gasped in shock, and was about to respond. Before she could form the words, the vision began to blur and fade. Just before she returned to the peaceful darkness of sleep, she caught a glimpse of the man who had spoken returning across the flames to speak with another man, who was tall and powerful. He wore no shirt, revealing the twin dragon tattoos that spiraled down each arm, one red and one blue. The image burned into her mind, and she awoke with it in mind, the words of her task still echoing in her ears.

Day 17 - 26,395/50k

((A/N: Yes, I did skip two days in the post title. Took me two days to write this one, and one of the others. Back on track now, though. XD))

The ferry ride seemed to take forever. After just missing the ninjas as the rowed away, they had no choice but the sit and wait for two hours until the ferry was ready to leave on its first trip of the morning. Although the ferry wasn’t extremely crowded, they were still forced to find places to sit on the bare wood of the deck - all the benches and other varied seating places were occupied. Tomlyn pulled out a book and began to read. Renee curled up and took a nap. And Kiri… Kiri cleaned her guns. Which was what she did when she was bored and had nothing else to do. Starting with her pistols, then moving to her shotgun, she pulled each gun out of its holster and laid it in her lap. First she buffed the outside with a rag, cleaning away fingerprints and dust and grime from the road. Then she proceeded to take it apart, laying each piece gently on the deck. They each received a thorough wipe down as well, then she rubbed them down with the special oil she carried in a small bottle in her pack. She checked her bullets and cartridges as well, making sure they were organized and neat in their box, each separated into its designated compartment.

Unfortunately, that only took her about an hour, since it was something she was good at - having had extensive practice. That left her another hour and a half with nothing to do but stare out at the water, or at the other passengers. Kiri did not cope well with boredom, so she began digging through her pack. Towards the bottom she found a pad of paper and a set of pencils that she’d picked up somewhere, she forgot exactly where. Not that it mattered, they’d serve her purpose. Flipping to a clean sheet of paper, she began to sketch. While she had no particular talent in drawing, it occupied her mind well enough trying to sketch various items and people around her. The one thing she was really good at drawing was - of course - guns, which she drew several of.

Finally, just when she was running out of things to sketch, the ferry rocked slightly as it was tugged up against the dock by its ropes. Kiri quickly packed away her sketchbook and stood. Renee was - fortunately - awake, and standing with Tomlyn waiting for her. Together they disembarked and made for the beach.

“Alright, the trail is probably still warm, we can’t be too far behind. The ferry moved faster than any rowboat could. See if you can pick up anything!” Kiri said to Tomlyn. He seemed skeptical, but went to it with a will, walking up and down the beach on both sides of the docks. Surprisingly enough, within the first ten minutes he found the rowboat, tucked into a small cove just out of sight of the docks. From there it was a simple matter of following the footsteps and drag marks in the sand, then the trail of sand left in the street after that. It was a small blessing that they’d apparently stayed to the side streets, as it meant there had been relatively little other traffic to disrupt the signs of the ninja’s passage that Tomlyn was following.

“The ninjas don’t leave much of a trail, but there is someone else… They were being followed.” Tomlyn stopped and held up a feather - tinted an unmistakable shade of brown.

“Kida…” Kiri muttered. She might have known those two wouldn’t be far. And she hated being behind them. “Well, keep going!” she snapped at Tomlyn.

The trail was easier to follow now that they knew to look for signs of Kida and Destiny’s passage as well. They wound through the back alleys of Lumo Bay until they came to a large building with one thick wooden door in the front. It looked like some sort of warehouse. Deciding to go for the frontal approach first, Kiri tried the front door. Amazingly enough, it swung open easily, revealing the dark, dusty, and depressingly empty space behind. Slowly, the three entered, their footsteps making muffled thumps on the dirt floor that echoed off the building’s metal-sided walls. There were very fresh footprints leading away from the door into one corner, where there was a single solitary stack of boxes, then back. A short ways in, though, there was a patch of ground with a scuffle of footprints that even Tomlyn could make little sense of. The only thing really clear were the two pairs leading out from one wall and then back.

Kiri followed them to the place in the wall where they stopped, kneeling down and inspecting it carefully. She noted with some apprehension that the dirt in that area seemed recently disturbed. There was no way they could have dug a hole big enough to fit under in the few hours lead they had. That meant magic must have been involved, and Kiri didn’t have any defense against magic like this. It’s not that it required a strong spell, just a creative and deft mind in using it. With a quick, decisive movement she stood and turned to the others. “They’re likely long gone by now. I say we split up, fan out across the city and gather what information we can. We’ll set up a rendezvous point and meet back there in a few hours.”

“Sounds good to me. Where should we meet?” Tomlyn asked.

In lieu of an answer, Kiri simply walked out of the building and looked around. There were quite a ways from the dock, more than halfway through, but east of the city proper. They needed a place a bit further west and closer to the south edge of town, so she started heading that direction at a jog, glancing behind her to make sure the other two were following - which they were. Despite the lack of clues at the warehouse, Kiri refused to let herself be disheartened. She had Derek to save, and a job to complete, after all. Nothing would get in her way.

After about half an hour of walking through the warehouse and residential districts of Lumo Bay, they finally came to what, by Kiri’s calculations, should be almost directly south of the downtown area. Sure enough, they soon came upon a large road that had to be the main thoroughfare out of town. Lining the street were a few rest stops with hitching posts for horses, one lone gas station almost out of sight down the road, a few stores, and - wonder of wonders - an inn. After all, where there were people and travellers, there were inns, it was a fact of life. An extremely useful one for adventurers like herself.

She pointed at the inn with a smile. “That’s the place. Meet there for supper tonight, say, six o’clock? That gives us a good five hours of hunting to do. Tomlyn, you go west, Renee, you take east, and I’ll head north.” Kiri knew she’d given herself both the most interesting and likely most challenging area, but she didn’t mind. She loved a challenge. As the other two set off, she watched them go. Renee probably wouldn’t find anything. In fact, she’d probably get distracted by something shiny and might not even make it back in time. That would probably be for the best, the girl wasn’t cut out for combat of the sort they were bound to run into sooner or later. Now Tomlyn on the other hand, he might have a bit more luck. But it was downtown that she had the most hope of finding clues as to the ninjas, or Midas, or Kida and Destiny. She managed to hitch a ride on the back of a wagon headed that direction, and after a quick, bouncy ten minutes she hopped off in the middle of the shopping district.

All around her were shops of every variety, along with streeth booths and peddlers pushing their carts, hawkers on all sides calling out their wares. Apparently it was market day, as there were even gypsies and other crafstpeople displaying their work on blankets spread on the ground. And there were people everywhere. Both shoppers and sellers, the streets were simply packed. It was intimidating, especially to someone trying to find one of three specific people. Even so, she set off with a will. She spotted a couple standing to one side of the road, in a niche between two booths, leaning over what appeared to be a map and talking. Kiri made a beeline for them, shoving her way through the crowd, ignoring the shouts and curses directed her way.

“‘Scuse me, ma’am, sir, wonder if y’might be able t’help me?” she said, putting on her best charming smile and persona. She could pull it off fairly well when she tried, although it left a bad taste in her mouth to be so… cheerful. “I’m lookin’ for a few friends a’mine.” They actually looked up and listened to her, which told her she was doing the right things.

“Well sure, my dear. What do they look like?” the man asked in a condescending voice that made Kiri grit her teeth, but she continued to smile.

“Ah, well, one of ‘em is tall, dark red hair, angel - brown wings, carries a big sword… coupl’a swords, actually. Then there’s Destiny, she’s a cat, ninja, dressed in black, black hair, fur, tail, all that. Last one’s a wizard, looks human, wears a black cloak and carries a really wicked staff - got a dragon’s head on it.”

As she talked, she could see the vague, glassy look appear in their eyes. It was clear before they ever spoke that they hadn’t seen any of the three. When they did answer, it only confirmed what she already knew.

“Sorry, dear. We haven’t seen any of them. Have you tried the police?”

Kiri could only roll her eyes and leave. She spotted another loner, this time an older woman, and approached her next. After feeding her the same story and description, she was left - again - emptyhanded. Well, she had known it wouldn’t be easy. So she moved on to the next person. Then the next. And the next. With no more luck than she had with the first couple. Finally, after two hours of this, she had to take a break. She was exhausted, overheated, and parched with thirst. The day was warmer than she would have expected so late in the year, and the air was heavy with humidity from the nearby ocean. A quick glance around revealed a general store with its door standing open, the inside appearing relatively empty. It wasn’t too surprising - with all the prolifera of other interesting places to visit on market day, the general store was not going to draw much of a crowd. That was a blessing for Kiri, who immediately took the opportunity to slip into the spacious - and empty! - interior. The shopkeeper was a small middle-aged man who was hunched over a bag of rice, apparently digging through it to check the quality.

Not wanting to disturb him, Kiri contented herself with scanning the shelves. It was an easy matter to find the drinks, lined up in neat rows in their coolers. Most of them had caffeine or exorbitant amounts of sugar; she passed those over as she was trying to rehydrate, not give herself the ability to do more stupid things with insane amounts of energy. After a moment’s deliberation, she just went with a generously sized bottle of water. As she pulled it off the shelf, something caught her eye. Behind the water, shoved to the very back, was a glass bottle with a neon green liquid inside. What caught her eye was that it was glowing slightly, and had a single large lightning bolt on the label. No words, just the lightning bolt. She stooped awkwardly so she could stretch her arm to the back of the shelf, grab it, and pull it out. 

She turned it over in her hands, looking for any information or ingredients. No such luck, just the lightning and the vaguely poisonous green glow. Part of her, probably the rational part, told her to put it back and just take the water. But her curiousity and recklnessness got the best of her, and she carried it over to the counter along with the water bottle. Altogether they were still dirt cheap, so she didn’t feel so bad. She did take a moment to question the shopkeeper about the strange drink, though.

“So… what exactly is this? Some sort’a energy drink?”

He looked the bottle over dutifully, but in the end just shrugged. “Dunno. Must have been ordered by the last guy. I just took over this here store, y’know. Probably isn’t dangerous.”

With that glowing confidence as to the drink’s quality, she left the shop. The green stuff went into her pack, the water she chugged in less than a minute, sighing happily at the cold, refreshing liquid. There really was nothing better than an ice cold bottle of water when you were thirsty. Unless it was an ice cold beer. She took a quick glance at her watch and cursed. She had just over an hour left of searching to do before she needed to head back to the rendezvous point to meet up with the others, and she was already getting worn out, even with the water. Well, there was nothing for it but to keep going, so she set off, following the same pattern as before. Find an isolated person or two, describe Destiny, Kida, and Midas, ask if they’d seen them. Unfortunately, the answers had a pattern all to themselves: they were all “no.” By the time she had to set off back towards the rendezvous inn, she was no further than she’d been when she started. She could only hope the others had found better luck.

This time, she hitched a ride with a merchant. He actually let her hop up on the driver’s bench beside him, since the main body of his wagon was full of goods. What exactly they were Kiri couldn’t tell, because they were covered with a large tarp, but she didn’t really care. They chatted idly, pausing every now and then when he had to flick the reins to keep the horses on the road or shout a command at them. It was a much quicker, more pleasant trip than the ride in to town had been, and she made it to the inn a good half hour before six.

“Thanks for th’ride!” she called to the merchant as she slid to the ground and started inside. He answered with a wave, then with a flick of the reins was off down the road again. Kiri decided this would be an excellent time for a drink, and promptly suited actions to thoughts. So when Tomlyn and Renee finally arrived, it was to find her sitting at the bar just finishing her second glass of beer. 

“Ooooh!” Renee promptly said, plopping down on a stool next to her. “Are we drinking?”

“No. I was drinking while waiting for you two. Right now we’re talking. Did either of you find anything?”

Renee shook her head. “Nope. No one knew what I was talking about. I got some funny looks, too…” 

“I’m afraid my news isn’t much better,” Tomlyn said. “I asked everyone I could find, but no one has seen anyone who fit the descriptions.”

Kiri heaved a sigh, feeling the beginning of a foul mood start to creep into her mind. She had put together such a wonderful crew! Renee was a bit flaky and happy-go-lucky, but she had spirit, and charisma, both of which could help in certain situations. Derek had been almost as good a shot as herself, and she had liked him as a person too. He’d been quiet, but strong, always there in the background, following her lead. And then there was Tomlyn, who she’d had her doubts about at first, but who had proved himself admirably in the capture of the ninja in the motel, and the subsequent tracking. Why was everything falling apart now?

Renee chose that moment to perk up, elbowing Kiri sharply in the ribs and pointing at something.

“Ow! What was that for?” Kiri snapped, before actually looking where the girl was pointing. She turned just in time to see Kida and Destiny walk past the far window of the inn, heading towards the outskirts of town. The stool almost fell over when she launched herself out of it, grabbing Tomlyn and pulling him with her. “Let’s go! We’ve got to follow them!”

By the time they ducked out of the inn, Kida and Destiny were a ways down the road. As she watched, Kida spread her wings and grabbed Destiny’s arms. They took a running start and then leapt up into the air, climbing slowly but steadily. “Now that’s a good idea…” she murmured, glancing over at Renee. She was an angel, after all, but there was no way she’d be strong enough to carry two people, and Kiri said as much. A strange grin came over Tomlyn’s face. He stepped back and shrugged off the long coat he was wearing, revealing strange, long slits in the back of his shirt. He took a moment to fold his coat and stuff it into his pack, then stood straight and shook his arms and shoulder out. A moment of concentration, and two silver wings burst from his shoulders. Kiri’s eyes shot wide - she’d heard of this sort of thing before, angels who could hide their wings, but had never seen it in practice before. This changed everything! 

Her mind moved quickly, and she motioned to the coil of rope on Tomlyn’s belt. “Let me see that,” she ordered. He willingly handed it over, and Kiri quickly unrolled it and began tying deft knots, all the while thanking her experience in Sparta with the pirates for teaching her how to work with rope. It took less than ten minutes for her to turn the coil of rope into a passable hammock. Handing one end of the rope to each angel, she situated herself in the middle and grinned at Tomlyn.

“This ought to make carrying me much easier, and more comfortable. Let’s go! Follow that angel!”

Tomlyn and Renee, who had been watching her work with matching expressions of confusion, both grinned now as they saw her plan. Tomlyn gave a countoff, and they both jumped into the air in perfect sync.

“And one, and two, and jump!”

Day Fourteen - 23,272/50k

Kida didn’t sleep for long. From where Destiny sat on the rock, she could hear her tossing and turning. The excitement of the past hour had left Destiny wired, and she knew it must have had the same effect on Kida. After about an hour and a half of restless shifting on the part of Kida, Destiny finally heard the tent flap open and Kida step out onto the sand.

“Can’t sleep?” she called down. There was the noise of wingbeats as Kida flew up to sit next to her, her wings stirring up a miniature cyclone of sand.

“No. Can’t make my mind shut up. Why would Midas send ninjas after us?” She stared off into towards the horizon. Destiny smiled inwardly - she knew Kida would come to the same conclusion as she had. Their mysterious attackers had to be ninjas, to be able to vanish so easily like that. Destiny herself had that skill, although she was not entirely proficient at it yet. Kida continued. “I mean, obviously to warn us, but why? Is the mercenary girl really that dangerous?”

Destiny noticed she didn’t even mention the hunter. Then again, he hadn’t exactly seemed like much of a threat, unlike the girl, Kiri. “It sounds to me,” she began slowly. “Like he just doesn’t want to be found. Maybe he’s hiding from someone, or something? And if we speak with Kiri and Tomlyn again, maybe we will unwittedly reveal some information that would be dangerous to him. Kiri has been hired to find him, after all.”

Kida was nodding slowly as Destiny spoke, and replied. “Yes, that would make sense. It would also mean that he knows we talked to them, which means he knows they’re here, which means he’s probably not here anymore. So we should leave as well.”

“But… do we really want to find him? If he’s that determined to hide, maybe we should just let him,” Destiny said. Kida actually pondered her words for a long moment, answering slowly.

“Perhaps. But, at the same time… I am still not entirely satisfied with the answer he gave us regarding the house. I understand his motivation, but he did not give us a full explanation. How did the man betray him?” She lay back on the rock and stared up at the stars. Destiny joined her, absentmindedly picking out familiar constellations, although she could not find many. “Either way, staying in Blowin will not help us further. I say we catch the morning ferry.”

“Agreed,” Destiny answered. Almost in sync, they sat up and jumped down from the rock. With the ease of long practice, they packed up the tent and the rest of their gear, reducing their camp to two easily manageable bundles in less than ten minutes. They strapped those bundles into place on top of their packs, lifted them on to their shoulders, and set off down the beach. The docks were another ten minutes away, and by the time they reached them the bare beginnings of dawn were just showing above the horizon way off in front of them, down the beach, to the the right of the docks. The regular ferry did not leave until eight, but there was a fisherman who agreed to ferry them over when he left at six. That still left them an hour to kill, so they found a comfortable place to sit on one of the many benches on the docks to wait. 

As they waited, Destiny actually began to doze off, the adrenaline from earlier finally wearing off. She was brought back to alertness suddenly by Kida’s hand on her arm. “Look, over there!” her friend hissed in her ear. Destiny blinked to clear her eyes, and looked in the direction Kida was pointing. Two black-clad figures, dressed like ninjas, were carrying a third who appeared unconscious, and who was clearly not dressed the same as the others. A fourth followed behind, limping. They headed for a small rowboat drawn up on the sand and clambered in, laying the unconscious one in the bottom, the injured one sitting next to him while the other two took up the oars.

Destiny looked at Kida, her eyes wide. “Do you think…?”

“Yes! Let’s follow them!” Kida whispered excitedly. They had both come to the same conclusion. Those were most likely the same ninjas from earlier that night - after all, how many could there be in Blowin? It appeared they had captured someone, and were taking them away from Blowin. 

They ran down the beach, not bothering to be secretive, but by the time they reached the water’s edge, the boat was already a good distance from shore. Kida spread her wings and looked at Destiny, who gritted her teeth and nodded. Time to try it again.

Kida got a good grip under Destiny’s arms and they started running. At Kida’s shout, they both kicked off, and were flying. Their experience before helped immensely, and they could tell from the beginning this time would be different. Kida’s wings fell into a steady rhythm, and they found a comfortable way to hang on to each other, each wrapping their arms around the other. It was a bit awkward still, and not extremely practical, but it worked. Despite the early morning fog that hung low over the water, Destiny managed to catch the occasional glimpse of the rowboat, which they managed to keep pace with. She occasionally shouted directions up to Kida if they veered off course, but for the most part they found themselves making a straight line towards Lumo Bay. 

After the initial excitement of following the ninjas, the flight grew extremely, mind-numbingly monotonous. There was nothing to keep their attention except watching for the boat, nothing to distract them from the growing ache in their over-stressed muscles as they held on to each other. The wind of their passage was too loud to talk over, except by shouting. Destiny felt like her arms were being pulled out of their sockets - slowly and painfully. She had never realized that adventures could be so insufferably boring. But they had no choice, so they just kept going.

After three long, excruciating hours of flying, they finally sighted Lumo Bay off in the distance. It took another hour to reach it, by which time they were both ready to collapse in exhaustion. Kida obviously had the worst of it, but Destiny felt like her arms would never be the same again. When they touched down on the beach, though, they had no time to rest. The ninjas had a bit of a head start on them - they were just disappearing over the sand dune in front of them as they landed. Taking just a bare moment to stretch their muscles and catch their breath, they started jogging after them. Running was entirely out of the question, but Destiny found she could manage a jog - after all, her legs weren’t tired at all.

They followed the ninjas into town. Since it was now midmorning, the main streets were becoming crowded. Not that Destiny saw much of the main streets, as the ninjas kept to the alleys and side ways. It was unclear as to whether they knew they were being followed, but they could not possibly have moved faster. Somehow, even with the burden of an injured, unconscious man to carry, they still managed to slowly but surely put distance between them and the two girls. 

Just as they were about to lose sight of them, Destiny saw them duck through an open door into a building that looked like a warehouse. The door closed behind them with a slam and a click, and by the time she skidded to a halt in front of it, it was securely locked. It was a sturdy door, too, built of thick, heavy-duty wood. Not something they could break down. 

“Damn it! We were so close!” Destiny let herself yell. Kida put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, a sly grin on her face that told Destiny she had something in mind. She didn’t say anything, though, just beckoned for Destiny to follow her as she walked around to the far side of the building. Now that Destiny could look closer at it, she could tell it was definitely a warehouse. Which, unfortunately, meant no other doors beside the main one. She had no idea how Kida intended to get them inside.

Kida stopped at a point almost exactly opposite from the front door. If they could somehow walk through walls, this would be the perfect place to enter - where the ninjas would least expect it. Kida dropped to her knees and placed her hands on the ground, closing her eyes in concentration. Destiny felt the telltale shiver of magic in the air, then the earth directly under the wall seemed to move. A wide circle shuddered, then abruptly dropped straight down about five feet, leaving a hole directly under the wall with just enough room for them to wriggle under.

“Handy little spell, learned it from Zadkiel. It’s usually used to make a pillar of earth come up, but I figured it could be used in reverse as well. Turns out I was right. You coming?” she asked, then ducked down into the hole and was gone. Destiny quickly dropped down as well and followed her. The hole was tight fit, even for her slim body, but she managed to wriggle through on the heels of her friend. She came up on the other side into darkness. Well, almost darkness. Across the large, empty room was a ring of glowing, pure blue flame. In front of it stood the three ninjas, in the process of lifting the injured man to toss him through the ring. Instead of falling out the other side, as soon as he crossed the flame, he disappeared entirely. Destiny couldn’t contain a gasp of shock. One of the ninjas glanced back at her, his face hidden in the shadows. She half expected him to come at her, but instead he leaped straight into the ring of fire as well, followed quickly by the other two.

Without thinking, Destiny started to run. Kida followed her, both moving as fast as they could towards the now rapidly shrinking ring. It got smaller and smaller, until, seconds before they reached it, it was gone. Destiny cursed vividly in language she would never even think of using otherwise. Kida circled the area where the flames had been, apparently looking for any hint of where they had gone. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. No sign that anyone had even been there, save for a few scuffed footprints and a drag mark in the dust.

Destiny sank to the ground, flopping backwards to lay on the dirt floor. “Great. Just great. We missed them,” she sighed. Kida sat next to her cross-legged, resting her chin on her hand.

“Yeah. We did. So, what now?” she grumbled. 

Destiny pulled herself up into a sitting position, turning over Kida’s question in her mind. What were they going to do? Their lead had run dry - as dry as a lead can get. Once magic got involved, things always got complicated. Neither she nor Kida knew enough about magic to hope to track the spell that had created the ring of fire. She realized they only had one choice.

“We need to go back to Anaxagoras. Zadkiel knows Midas, maybe he can help us. Besides, we have a message to deliver.”

Kida’s head perked up, a new light in her eyes at the prospect of having a new lead. “Yes, that’s right! Midas wanted us to say hello for him. We should certainly carry that out, shouldn’t we?” She was grinning now, as was Destiny. They both leapt to their feet. Although still tired, they now had a purpose. With that in mind, they left the warehouse they same way the came, Kida closing the hole in the ground behind them. They agreed to catch a few hours sleep on the beach before leaving, but by that evening they were ready. They headed to the outskirts of town on foot then, with a shared grin, Kida lifted Destiny up once again and they took off flying.

Day Thirteen - 21,220/50k

Upon leaving the bar, Kiri was faced with an unusual predicament. Although she easily found several inns in the vicinity, all of them had large “No Vacancy” signs in the windows. If she’d known a little bit more about Blowin, she would have known that it was graduation weekend at the university, but all Kiri knew was that she had a drunk angel sitting with Derek and Tomlyn on a bench waiting for her to return with news of a place to stay. 

Finally, after almost an hour of searching, she found a rundown little motel with no sign in the window. The door creaked when she pushed it open, the one dim light bulb illuminating the room with a flickering, rather eerie glow. It felt like the kind of place designed for murderers and illicit dealings. Needless to say, Kiri felt right at home. She strode straight up to the counter and rang the bell. A great sound of creaking came from beyond the single dark opening in the wall, and eventually an old man just as decrepit as the motel itself hobbled out. “C’n ah help yuh?” he wheezed. 

“Got some rooms?” Kiri asked.

“Got a room. Jes’ one. Big’un, though. Suite. Two beds ‘n a couch.” He squinted at her through a pair of glasses so dirty she was astonished he could see anything at all, much less her face.

“That’ll do, gimme the key,” she snapped, dropping two gold pieces on the counter - the price listed on the board mounted on the wall behind the desk. The old man pottered around for a moment, scrawling something in a large binder then rummaging around in a drawer. Finally, he dropped a grubby key attached to a ragged oval of plastic with the number “215” scrawled on it in front of her. 

“There y’go. Check out’s at noon t’morra’” he muttered at her, then turned and pottered away into the back room. Kiri quickly snagged the key and dropped it in her pocket then took off, jogging back down the street to the bench where the other three sat. Or rather, slept, as they had all ended up napping leaning against each other. She set about waking them up and getting them moving, and before long they were all piling through the door of their “suite” for the night. It barely deserved the name. It did have two beds - twin size, one against each wall of the bedroom, with a window in between. In the main room was a ratty old couch, a fireplace covered in ash, and a table. Other than that, and a small, primitive bathroom, that was it. 

Renee crashed on the couch before they had even finished looking around. Tomlyn volunteered for the floor, leaving Derek and Kiri to take the two beds. All four of them were asleep within ten minutes, the long day and good food taking its toll. The assorted snores soon filled the rooms.

Kiri woke up in the middle of the night with the absolute and utter knowledge that something was not right. She wasn’t sure if it was a sound or a smell or just instinct, but she knew that someone was in the room with them. Multiple someones. Carefully and quietly, she slid her hand down the bed to the holster at her hip. She thanked the gods above that she hadn’t even bothered getting undressed or getting under the covers before falling asleep. It made releasing her revolver from its holster and into her grip relatively easy and quiet. She cracked her eyes open and pinpointed the location of the closest shadowy figure. It was standing over Tomlyn with its blade drawn.

In one smooth movement, she lurched upright and fired off two shots, hitting the intruder squarely in the back. He went down with a grunt, and she swung her head around to look for the other. The noise of the gunshots had awoken Tomlyn, who scrambled for his pack, presumably to get his weapons. The second intruder backed into the room, struggling, because he was carrying a bound and gagged Derek. She was about to shoot at him when a hand snagged her foot and yanked it out from under her and a sword lashed across her arm, opening up a long, shallow gash that made her hiss with the pain. Apparently there was a third intruder. The one who’d grabbed her foot, though, was the one she’d shot earlier, which confused her. Within seconds, he was back on his feet and helping his friend carry Derek out the window. She fired at him again and missed, then had to stop for fear of hitting Derek.

Tomlyn stood up in one motion and threw something at the intruder with the sword. It flew through the air with a whistling noise and wrapped itself around the man’s torso and arms. Once it stopped moving she could see what it was - a boleadoras, a long chain with two small but heavy metal balls on each end, designed to do exactly what it had just done. With him immobilized, his sword clattering to the floor, Kiri ducked around him and ran for the window just as the last intruder ducked through the window, seconds faster than her wild grab at him. Her face an angry mask, she whirled around and stuck her gun in the bound intruder’s face.

“Where. Did. They. Go!” she said quietly, dangerously. Derek was her crew. You did not. Mess. With her crew! So it only made her angrier when the man’s only response was to spit on her gun, which she proceeded to jam under his chin. “Tell me, and I’ll consider killing you quickly.”

He remained silent. She pulled her gun back, stood up straight, pointed her gun at his kneecap and fired. He let out a strangled shout of pain. “You tell me where they took him, or you lose more joints.” A part of her mind knew that she was being cruel, probably even too cruel, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. The bastards had broken into their room with no provocation, and abducted a member of her crew, one of her friends. Friends were a rare enough thing for Kiri that she tended to value them above just about everything but her own life. 

A hand was laid on her shoulder and she spun around, gun at the ready, only to find it was just Tomlyn.

“Easy there, do you really need to maul him like that?” he said in a perfectly reasonable tone. It only ticked her off more. 

“Yes. I do. I will shoot him until he tells us where they took Derek!” She was almost shouting now, aware of the fact that she was probably disturbing the hotel’s other guests, and also aware that she really did not care.

“Kiri, I’m a hunter. I track people for a living, it’s what I do. Stop shooting him, we’ll leave him here for the authorities, and I’ll help you find Derek.” He really was trying to calm her down and help her think logically, but that was the last thing Kiri wanted to do. Still, it didn’t seem like the intruder was going to talk. Even after being shot in what she knew full well was one of the single most painful places to take a bullet, he was still managing to glare at her. She stared at him for a long, thoughtful moment, then cocked her pistol again. Before Tomlyn could stop her, she shot him clean in the head.

“What did you do that for?!” he yelled, grabbing her gun and pulling it towards him, although she refused to let go. “He was no threat, he was unarmed, and bound! You had no right, no need to shoot him!”

Kiri just looked at him. “And leave a witness? Really? No, he was a liability, had to be taken care of.” In her anger, her voice was clipped, short, without any of her usual drawl. “Now, you said you would help me. I am going to wake Renee up. When I get back, you had better have a lead.” Without waiting for a reply, she walked angrily into the other room. Renee was still snoring on the couch, utterly oblivious to the chaos of the past ten minutes. How she’d slept through the gunshots, Kiri had no idea, but the proof was clear. Kiri was not one to be intimidated, and grabbed Renee’s arm and dragged her up into a sitting position, then onto her feet.

Renee awoke with a vague mutter of “Don’t wanna get the corner office, boss…”

Kiri didn’t even want to know. “C’mon, kid. We’re going. Some bastards decided it would be a good idea to kidnap Derek, so we’re going to get him back.” Renee was clearly not awake yet, as she responded only with a huge yawn, and a sigh that sounded vaguely like “Caffeine…”

Kiri groaned and quickly started a pot of cheap and crappy hotel coffee brewing - fortunately it was the five-minute kind. She took the chance to pack her few  belongings and visit the restroom, by which time Tomlyn was also ready, and Renee looked a good deal more alert after drinking half the pot of coffee. Thus prepared, Kiri led the intrepid trio out of the hotel, taking only a moment to drop the key off at the desk, then around to below where there hotel room was, then she turned to Tomlyn. “Alright. Where’s the lead you promised me?”

He took a moment to walk around the area, eyes fixated on the ground, taking slow, deep breaths. Just at the point where Kiri was beginning to feel impatient, his head jerked up. “Gotcha! Footprint here, thread caught on that thorn, they went towards the beach!” And with that, he took off at a slow jog, leaving the two girls to follow behind him. They ran through the empty streets together, Tomlyn zigzagging as he followed the sparse signs of the intruders’ passage. In several places they saw clear drag marks, signs that Derek was still with them. After a while of running, during which time seemed to blend into one long blur, they finally reached the sand of the beach. Just in time to see the last hint of a boat disappearing into the darkness towards Lumo Bay, three figures just barely visible in it. If any of them had bothered to look up, they would have seen a strange sight - an angel, wings flapping frantically, carrying a cat through the air, after the boat. But none of them looked up.