Cloak and Dagger

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The hooded wagon bounced gently with every step the large camels took across the burning deserts sands. They had left the green foliage covered areas of Ashvattha before sunrise and now as the midday sun bore down on them with full force the vast and open desert was all there was for as far as either of them could possibly see. A hot wind blew across the surface of the soft sand floor and threw dirt about like a child playing in the mud. However, all of it was of little concern for Gendo who sat on the floor on the wagon, his eyes seeming to stare off pass the tarp that protected them from the harmful rays of the sun and even past the blue sky so high above them as if he were in a deep thought. "Your armor, it isn't suited to extreme temperatures. It gets too hot and too cold too easily, getting stabbed is the least of your worries." He said, his eyes never leaving the upward glare toward the sky. "I thought we had a very similar conversation a long time ago." A small smile appearing on his face as he spoke.
Satura chuckled at his words, laced with what sounded as something of a mix between humor and concern. "We did, and I'll have you know that I am still a poor listener. I didn't bring much else, so unless you want to see me walking around in my undies, the armor stays." She spoke, teasing the man. It was a bit odd. Despite having been parted for so long, she still felt so at ease with the man, to the point where she could pull naked-jokes on him without the slightest inhibition or care in the least. "Don't worry yourself. I've had missions in deserts before and I know what to expect. I just hope this won't be a wild goose hunt." She said as she leaned back in the cart, looking up at the tarp which protected them from the intense rays. "How well do you know this person? Are they reliable?" She asked, feeling uncertain, for with the exception of Gendo and another man, she had never been one to be of a trusting nature, much less rely on someone.
"I wasn't aware I had a choice," he spoke quietly as her words made his mind wander to places it hadn't been in quite some time but he shook away the thoughts when she asked about his informant, refocusing his mind on the task at hand rather than long gone fantasies. "About a year now, but up until this point he has only given me info on low-rank bounties. You know, loan-sharks and gangsters who stepped on the wrong people's toes. This is my first time going to him for big fish, Aarif has been helpful and I hope we can give us something worthwhile. Of course, even just a name at his point would be more than most anyone else has, so I'll take what he can give." He repositioned himself to sit up straight, "That being said, trust isn't something given easily but my relationship with Aarif is business so he knows better than to send me on a goose chase. He says he has info and so for the sake of his own wallet I'm sure it'll be something worth paying for. You getting cold feet already?" He asked in a teasing tone.
Satura playfully scoffed. "Never. With you by my side, I have nothing to fear. It's just that I am slow to trust, you should know that. I can still remember back in our early days where I practically slept with my eyes open just to be sure you wouldn't turn on me." She said chuckling. It was a comfortable feeling to be back at pace with Gendo as if things were falling into place in a puzzle she hadn't even realized that pieces were missing. "Well, if you vouch for him then I'll place some trust in that he will offer something of value. Just get ready to fork over that 60% once we are done." Satura spoke playfully.
"People with trust issues are a dime a dozen in our line of work. People adapt to occupational hazards, it becomes instinct after a while." He shrugged lightly, checking his watch to make sure they were keeping pace before asking the driver something in Ishtarian and then settling back down in his spot. "I remember doing the same thing at first, I would get used to you being there and finally be able to sleep then we would move closer and it would start over again like a cycle until eventually there wasn't a space between us at all. I don't know if I ever really got used to it, not for lack of trust, just...wasn't used to someone being there I suppose." He spoke with clear nostalgia in his voice as he spoke of fond memories of the once unbreakable trust he had with his partner. Of course, with good memories always came the bad and so he cleared his throat as if to swallow his words and move on from them. "I would certainly like to see you jump through the hoops of actually doing enough of the work to earn a sixty-forty split. With money this big on the line even if we each got a quarter of the bounty we'd each be set for years. So I'm more focused on getting it at the moment, like I said, if Aarif has as little as a name we'll be miles ahead of where we are now in terms of leads." Gendo spoke with a slightly excited tone. While the man wasn't normally one for money his lifestyle up until recently saw to it that he was set back more than he would like and even the sixty-forty split that Satura offered would leave him many times more than needed to get his life back together.
Satura chuckled softly. "See me jump through the hoops? Have you forgotten all about me? Trust me Gendo, before this adventure is over, I will have dragged your butt out of one or two struggles, and when that happens, you'll beg for me to take a majority of the profit." She said with a laugh. "What do you have planned after the mission, though? What are your plans for all that cash? High risks with high rewards are always fun, but this is above and beyond anything we've done before. What do you want the money for?"
Gendo brought a hand up to his chin as though searching his mind for the words to answer her question, the black cloth of his glove rubbing against his skin for a few moments. "The money, no matter how we split it, is more than I could possibly think of spending in one place but I suppose I just want to use it to try to get my life back to where it was before. I haven't taken many jobs since we parted ways and I racked up some debts I'd like to pay off and then what is left after that will simply be used as a means to live. I know it sounds boring, to use all that money to just live a normal life, but I've never been an ambitious man as you know. I grew up with nothing but the clothes on my back and the will to survive. After something like that, living normally is its own kind of paradise." He did his best to explain his goals, knowing they were nothing grand or exciting. "What of yourself? What exactly do are you planning to do with sixty percent of an entire fortune? Surely there is some reason you want the majority? Or perhaps you just want to take advantage or my lack of ambition?" He said with half smile on his lips.
"Come on, Gendo, if my intention were to take advantage, I would have aimed higher than sixty," Satura said with a grin. She looked up to the roof. "I suppose that I need it to pay a debt of my own, more or less. Nothing so humble or honest as making a living afterward, I just want to repay my what I owe her..." Satura trailed off, considering if she should go into more detail, thinking that it might be appreciated, and might even help to tell that she still puts a lot of faith and trust in him. "Recently someone very dear to me became cursed to the brink of the afterlife. Neither mage, healer, or doctors could make him better. Seeing as the medicine and magic of ours failed to help, I sought powers beyond our own realms. This one woman gave up something very important to her in order to save him. I want to repay her kindness in the only way I know how."
Gendo nodded slowly, "I can see why you might feel the need to repay such a debt. Messing with things beyond our understanding is dangerous indeed. I'm sure we'll both succeed in our goals," He said but in the back of his mind he could not help but wonder who He was and why he was so dear to her. He quickly identified the odd feeling as a tinge of jealousy and tried to shake it away with little success. It was a new feeling to him, of course, he had once felt possessive of Satura long ago but never had there been a reason for him to feel jealous until now and th new feeling burned in his chest like heartburn. He cleared his throat as if it would push down the acid in his throat. "We should hopefully be nearing our first stop soon, I'm going to talk to the driver to make sure we're on track." He said before standing up and moving to the front of the wagon, pushing aside the white canvas to take a seat up front.
The day quickly passed with the wagon arriving in Sararran with the sun hanging low in the sky, casting an orange glow over the vast desert sands. Gendo stood up from the wagon and jumped down, paying the man before heading to the back and opening up the white canvas. "We're here, it'll be getting cold out soon so we should probably head to meet my informant."
"Let's make it snappy then." Satura chuckled as she skipped out of the wagon. "If there will be cold coming, I'd rather be far away and sheltered from it. You know how I react to chilly weather." Satura smiled at him as she walked by, confidence in her stride, quickly fading away. "Um, I just realized that I don't know where to go." She giggled in an embarrassed manner as she scratched her face with her finger.
Gendo gently placed a hand on top of her head, a silent gesture but one he knew Satura would recognize as an affectionate one. He walked past her, using his free hand to motion for her to follow him into the small but crowded town. It did not take them long to reach the hole in the wall bar that would act as their meeting place. His eyes scanned over the patrons around the bar but didn't see his informant. "He isn't here just yet. We're a little early so let's give him a bit." His eyes continued to scan the place for empty seats and was able to find a table near the middle of the room. Claiming the table he motioned for Satura to sit down, and hoped they wouldn't need to be here long as he noticed a few eyes on them. "I still can't stand crowds, too many things to keep an eye on." He said partly to Satura and partly under his breath.
Satura nodded, knowing his worries were well founded but found it in herself to jest about it. "Oh? The mighty Gendo still fears the crowds? I remember all the beats and threats we have overcome together, and with that, it becomes all the more amusing to think of how a few pairs of eyes can unnerve you so." she spoke, allowing herself to chuckle a bit. "However, if you want to find the true threats in here, just look for those who refuse to ever look in your direction, as if they are completely unaware." She said as she subtly nodded to a man behind her who, just as she said, wasn't looking, but in such a way where it seemed as if he was straining himself to not do so.
Gendo looked past his red-haired companion toward the individual in which she spoke of and noted he did seem to be forcing himself to look away from them which of course only unnerved the man further and raised a small knot in his stomach. "I don't like the spotlight, I know it seems paranoid but it cannot be helped. Either way, I'm not worried about a few bar patrons. We can watch each other's back plenty well enough." He said as his eyes continued to wander the bar with caution. However, a familiar voice broke through the loud voices of the crowd and from within their ranks came a scruffy looking man in a tanned cloak.
"It is good to see you again, Gendo. It has been long time since you've asked for my help. I must say, this is pretty serious job this time around." The man said in a broken language with a warm and friendly attitude which cut through the tension Gendo had been feeling earlier.
"It is good to see you too, Aarif," Gendo said politely as he motioned for the man to sit down so they could begin their talks. "So what information were you able to get for us?" The silver-haired man got straight to the point without hesitation.
Aarif turned to look at Satura when Gendo mentioned the word 'us'. "Ah, you brought lady friend, yes? Not expected, but good to see you are not as...how do you say...fruity? Yes, fruity as I thought you might be." The man says followed by a good laugh which lasts for several moments before he turned back to Gendo. "You want what I have to give, right?" Aarif got down to business.
Gendo nodded, tossing a bag of coins to the man. "Yes, tell us what you've got." He said, crossing his arms over his chest as if to brace himself for whatever his informant could give him.
"You pay good money, Gendo. We've worked together many times. Business is business is a saying you all have, right?" Aarif ran his fingers through his short-haired beard. "That is why I am sorry." He continued but this time in his native tongue which took Gendo a moment to process and so he had no time to react before he felt cold steel enter his side from behind him. The patrons of the bar quickly turned from their activities and began to walk toward them, brandishing once hidden weapons. The shock from the knife in his side still weighing heavy on him as he stood up and pushed back against his attacker.
"Satura, I don't know what happened!" He managed to say as he pulled out his staff for a fight he wasn't sure he was ready for.
Satura had barely begun to move before Gendo stumbled up on his feet. Just as she was about to interfere, a mace struck her to the side of her head, causing her to stumble. Yet it was not enough to down her, as she pulled forth a Blast Card and threw it at her attacker, causing him to be hurled backward. She turned to Gendo, fearing for the health of him. The men around the bar swiftly approached him with brandished weapons, and there was no way that he was gonna be able to ward them off with his wound. "Gendo!" Satura cried out as she hurled herself at him, transforming herself into her Queen Insect form, a large feminine ant creature, cradling him beneath her body, trying to keep him safe from further attacks. Momentarily surprised, the men continued their assault, now against her. She winced from the pain of her injuries as they hacked and slashed at her body. She looked beneath her to look at the wounded Gendo. "Are you ok!?" she asked, her insectoid voice making it ring with a hissing sound.
The steel felt like it weighed a ton in his side, but he knew it would be foolish to recklessly pull it from himself. Aside from the physical pain, he felt a deep rage and the acidic tinge of betrayal in his heart. Even with all of his hate pointed toward the man who had betrayed him, Gendo could not lift the burden that was becoming his body as he felt the warm red liquid oozing down his side from the fresh wound. A voice broke through the fog as his vision grew blurry, a familiar voice but still alien to him in some way and seemed to be coming from miles away. Dammnit, this wasn't the plan. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. I thought I was cautious... Gendo thought as he gathered all the strength remaining in him to answer the distant voice "No," his raspy voice replied as an abyss surrounded him and suddenly all became dark.
To see her comrade collapse to the floor with his lifeblood pooling beneath him sent Satura into a sense of despair and rage. She extracted her head to try and search for the treacherous bastard who had caused this. A slash from a sword came down and slashed her across her face, running a cut down her eye, causing her blood to ooze from the wound. Yet despite the ceaseless distractions of their assaults, she managed to track down the informant, trying to shove his way through the men and women to escape. Her gaze turned red, but whether that was due to rage or the blood was anyone's guess. "Mathayus!" She cried out as she gathered her chi to transform once more, slowly turning into a new and massive entity. This new form was that of a heavily armored scorpion, and with her massive three-clawed pincers she took hold of Gendo, keeping him secure but also stable enough to not worsen his already threatening injury. She then began to sprint, scurrying towards the exit, trampling their attackers along the way before grabbing hold of the informant and crashing through the building's wall and running off into the distance.
How long had she been running now? The panic in her had set in so fiercely that she could not keep the minutes apart. She needed to find someplace safe, someplace where they could feel secure until dawn. Eyes dilated and flying to and fro, Satura searched for a place, fearing for her friend all the while with the informant shouting for his release. Eventually, she came across a cave, deeming it as safe a place as any, she put them down, knocking out Aarif so that she could focus all her attention on Gendo. With a sharp card she began to cut open his shirt to get better access to the wound in his side. She brought forth one of her card sheaths, pulling out about half of her healing cards just to be safe, all while ignoring the leaking blood that oozed from her multiple own wounds. She slowly pulled the dagger out, being careful as to not worsen the damage already done. Once it was out she gently and slightly rolled him over, trying to get out the excessive blood which had pooled up within him.
After all the preparations and attention required had been seen to, she brought twenty healing cards together, immensely amplifying their potency. She placed them on the wound and watched as they slowly disintegrated into nothing as they did their job. The wound was sealing, muscle and flesh weaving back together flawlessly. As it finished, Gendo was still out cold but Satura felt content that she had been able to stabilize him. Grabbing rope she tied the traitor down before walking outside to start a fire, leaving Gendo to recover at his own pace. As she did this she began to remove her chainmail, shirt and rolled up the legs of her pants, just to be able to access her own injuries and tend to them.
Everything was still foggy as Gendo attempted to regain consciousness. He had no idea where he was and while he had his doubts about the idea of an afterlife, he wondered if that was where he would find himself once he found the strength to rise. His thoughts quickly turned to Satura, guilt running through him as he had left her to deal with the gang of attackers. He knew, dead or not, he needed to get up and find out what happened to her. He pushed himself from the ground, the intense pain letting him know that if nothing else, he was still alive. No doubt that Satura had seen to that in some way or another. His eyes adjusted, and he could see the stone walls of the cave and the other body in there with him. It filled him with a deep rage to see the other man, tied with rope, was none other than his betrayer but with Satura nowhere in sight, he knew his anger would have to wait. So, with hand on his side, as if holding himself together, he moved toward the apparent smell of fire. At the cave entrance, he noticed the small silhouette of a woman next to the fire surrounded by the thick darkness of the desert night.
He opened his mouth to speak, but words were lost to him for now and so he moved closer at a slow pace. The strength to move only being a result of his own will as every step sent a wave of pain through his side but he made it to the fire and took his place at the side of his red-haired companion. Again, he felt guilt in his heart and knew that, had his partner been anyone else, he would not feel this way. But because it was her, and because it was his fault, that made all the difference in his mind. "I'm sorry..." finally finding the strength to speak but yet lacked the ability to put them all together in the way he wanted. "I thought I was cautious...This wasn't supposed to happen. Did you get hurt?" He said with badly hidden concern as his own wounds were the furthest thing from his mind.
Satura turned when she felt the presence of Gendo sit down beside her, her arms and legs bandaged and with some bigger scarring on her upper body and a big patch of healing cards placed over her left eye. She smiled at him as she lightly punched his arm. "You tell me." She said playfully as she waved her free arm over her bandaged injuries and scar tissue on her upper body. "Thanks to you, I have finally broken my record of no profession injuries. I can never be a supermodel now!" She cried out in feigned and exaggerated sorrow. She felt a bit disappointed with how it turned out, but she held no grudge against Gendo for what happened. "How about you? I did my best, but I figure that it might still be a bit sore?"
He noticed her eye and, despite the pain he felt in doing so, raised his hand to cup her. He gently forced her head to move so that they were face to face. He stared at the card covered eye and he guilt was replaced by the former anger he had felt before. He noticed just how heavy the revolver at his side felt in its holster and just how much he wanted to use it on the man who had betrayed him, not by stabbing him in his side, but by hurting one of the few things in his life he ever truly cared about. Realizing his own thoughts, what he had once thought were feelings behind him suddenly coming back to the surface he let go of her and moved back to his own place beside her. "I'm fine, but I should have been stronger. I should have been able to hold on longer, to fight back and protect both of us. But I couldn't, and I passed out so quickly. I left you to defend both of us, you should have just left me there and gotten away on your own. What kind of partner could I possibly be if I let myself be taken down by a single blow?" He spoke with frustration in his voice, pulling his knees up to his chest and burying his face into them as though to look back at her now would only validate his own self-loathing and shame.
What Satura did next had no real clear path of reasoning or even a plan behind it. It was as if nature and instinct was pulling at her mind to do it. She leaned forward and pecked him on the cheek. Starting to realize what she had just done, she refused to succumb to nervous ramblings and instead did her best to simply follow it up. "That was how my mother used to comfort me when I made a mistake. Though, to be fair, it was never the best medicine. It was like a bandaid on a swordcut. My father... Once he and I went on a mission together. It was rough and I only barely kept pace with him, but he still did everything I did 50 times better. One day I said that I wanted to go home. That I wasn't good enough to accompany him. Do you know what he said?" She spoke as she reached gently forward and pulled his head up so that his eyes could meet her own. "He said that, no matter who else he would have brought with him, whether it be the strongest man or woman in the world, or even mother herself, no one else could have given him the same comfort and security of presence as I could." She said with a smile. "My thoughts are the same. And I'll even add this: Trust, love and affection are not weaknesses. The fact that he betrayed you makes a lesser man of him, not you. Not even for a second. You ask what sort of partner you'd be to get taken down by a single blow...? The kind whom I would not replace for anyone in this world."
Gendo was unsure how to feel, the combination of her words and actions leaving conflicting feelings deep within him in a way that only she could. He kept his face hidden in the shadows cast by the fire they sat beside, feeling his cheeks burn with a slight blush from her gentle kiss to his cheek as he avoided her gaze. It, even though it were just for a single moment, took him back to better days but he mentally shook the memories away. "We come from different places. Where I grew up there was no love, no room for comradery or affection. Trying to hold onto those types of things only made you weak and an easy target for those who had forsaken those feelings." He spoke, placing his hand on the top of her head, and craning his neck to rest his chin there as well as he pulled her closer to him so that her head lied on his chest. "But I know the world isn't as cruel as I once believed it to be. And that there are people and things in this world worth caring for, as well as strength that can only be seen in those protecting the things they care about...So I'll try harder because I don't think I could ever replace you either." He spoke freely for the first time in a while, Satura melting away the icy walls he placed around his inner thoughts and feelings. However, not being one to dwell too much, he quickly continued. "So, what do we do with our traitor?"
"We're not as different as you may think." Satura returned with a smile. She then turned her head towards the caverns entrance. "We are not murderers, and while I despise him, I can't find it in me to put him down so coldly. But I'll leave that to you if you so desire. However, we will begin by getting what we need out of him. If he has even the faintest trail for our mission, we need to take it."
Gendo once again felt the weight of the revolver at his side, though, he knew Satura was right. He could be brutal, but he was not a cold-blooded murderer even if he attempted to appear otherwise. "No, we're better than them. We can't just put him down like a sick dog. We'll figure it out later but you're right, we'll get what we can from him first." He said, his eyes seeing the red and yellow hue of the sun just about to peak over the horizon and felt far too comfortable in his current position to get up and deal with the pest they had tied up only a few years from them. "Let's just wait a bit longer though, he isn't going anywhere." He said, letting go of Satura but still keeping her close, the feelings of guilt he had felt before gone as he looked at her and felt the strength of their partnership. "I'm still too sore to move," he lied, simply wanting to forget about the night's events for just a bit longer.