Chapter 14: Tales of Kindred Spirits (part 2)

Five Years Prior
Tokatsu: ….I keep forgetting that… -facepalm- well we should be close to our target if they had armed guards behind that door… I suppose if we;re lucky we can use the air vets to sneak in and steal it, then use the same vents to get out under their noses….
???: We’re nowhere close. The reason being was that there were so many guards there. That was a trap room. There’s nothing in the room we’re looking for. They were there because we drew too much attention to ourselves.
Tokatsu: well even then, we at least drew some attention off of us with that escape...
???: Yeah, and like always I had to save your sorry ass from drawing us unneeded attention. Seriously, do you not understand that the full frontal approach doesn’t work?
Tokatsu: …. -sigh- I understand it’s just the fact I choose the quickest option rather than the smartest is what always gets me nearly killed…. It’s honestly funny how we end up like this every time...
A sigh escaped the beastkin as the guards eventually left the room, presumably to search the area for the two of them. Tokatsu shook his head as he tried to move through the vents. The woman taps the left side of her ear and a small device dimly lights up.
???: Piper, read me?
Piper: Loud and Clear. Let me guess, Tokatsu decided to be too loud.
Tokatsu: shut uuuup… -facepalm-
Piper: So what’s the plan?
???: I need some schematics. Can you get me air vents?
Piper: Standby. Done. New record.
???: Quit showing off. Guide us.
Tokatsu: please… -he resumes his crawling through the vents- while the guards are searching the area and are unaware of our current location..
Piper: You got caught by guards?
Tokatsu: she says it was a trap room… So they may alert the others if we’re not careful
Piper: Catriona’s right. Looking at the schematics, that’s a guard station.
She looks back and glares at Tokatsu.
Tokatsu: …. how was I supposed to know?!
Piper: Uh, hate to be the sarcastic one for her, but you guys must have the compass turned upside down or something because you’re on the wrong side of the building.
Catriona: *almost growling* We’re what?
Piper: You guys are on the South, why aren’t you on the north?
Catriona looks back at Tokatsu again.
Tokatsu: … -he almost looks back and facepalms- I thought we actually agreed on entering from the south!
Piper: Ok, before Catriona goes postal, you can get to the room you guys need to be through the air ducts. Just move quietly and before they decide it's too cold.
Tokatsu: right then.. just lead the way. -to himself- ...spare me when this is over….
Quietly they weave through the ducts until they’re just above the room with the jewels. Catriona looks down and notice a two guard patrol.
Catriona: Great. They beefed up the patrol because of what happened earlier.
Tokatsu: … -sigh- even then, it shouldn’t be as big a problem…. Just have to be careful...and I just have to avoid screwing things up… again. Any suggestions….??
Catriona: That’s tricky. They’re on a rotation every few minutes. We’re going to have figure out a time where we’d have to deal with one quietly.
Tokatsu: that’s really all we can do. But only one of us can go down between that… I’m not risking us both being caught and I’d rather to be safe if it does have to be one of us...
Catriona: Then stay here and shut up.
She quietly unscrews the grate underneath them and waits patiently before jumping out and quieting the guard. She didn’t kill him, but incapacitated him. She grabs the jewels and throws them in a small bag and then retreats back into the air vent. She quietly puts the grate back in place.
Catriona: Move quickly. I’ve made it look like we didn’t come from the air vent.
Tokatsu: right, Piper, where’sthe closest exit from here in the vents? -he’s already turning around to make the movements from the vents-
Piper: There’s a vent right near the entrance to the building, if you can get outside quickly you’re home free.
Tokatsu: very well then..!
Tokatsu quickly began moving through the vents, his ears twitching uncontrollably from all of the footsteps from all of the guardsmen,presumably they were searching frantically for the both of them. He shivered slightly before he looked back to Catriona.
Tokatsu: It’s really damn scary how you can make things seem like they didn’t happen like they did… You got them scrambling everywhere for us….
Catriona: That’s the point. If they don’t know how we got in, they don’t know we got out. They’re thinking we snuck past them somewhere, they’re not even considering the air vents. But that’s why we have to keep moving quietly. We just have to wait for a gap in their movement and then get on the roof and escape.
Tokatsu: right then… It’s no good trying to fight them since they’re moving all over the friggin place. And as soon as we get to the roof we split…. There’s no thinking what’d happen if we stay longer than we should..
Catriona: Right, in more ways than one.
Tokatsu only responded with a quick nod of affirmation, before quickly returning to crawling through the vents. More footsteps were clamoring as more guards poured into the facility, aiming at various angles, before moving to the next room.
Tokatsu: dammit...this is a pain on my ears…. why are fox ears so sensitive…?
Catriona: Like cat ears are better?
Tokatsu: if anything it’d suck to be a rabbit beastkin given how big their ears are..
Tokatsu shakes his head as he kept moving, eventually making it to a dead end.
Tokatsu: is this our exit, Piper…??
Piper: Looks like. Be careful. You might have a wave of soldiers to deal with because of their sporadic movements.
Tokatsu: very well then….
Tokatsu quickly turns to Catriona, he was almost ready to kick down the grate
Tokatsu: Do you have another smoke grenade on you..??
Catriona pulls another out of the bag.
Catriona: As if you have to ask.
Tokatsu: heh… on three then….
Tokatsu reels his foot back, ready for the count.
Tokatsu: One…. two…..
Eventually after a small pause, the beastkin kicks down the grate and propels himself through
Tokatsu: THREE!
Catriona also jumps out but no one is around.
Tokatsu: ….huh, no wave like she said… Either we got lucky or I might have made a slight misjudgement. -shakes his head- either way, we can make it to the roof from here,hopefully
As he opens the door, there were several guards surrounding the building but they weren’t looking their way. He closes the door again.
Catroina: Uh…?
Tokatsu: ….. all right let’s… let’s try on the count of three again….
Tokatsu cracks his knuckles again, his fists again flaring with an icy aura.
Tokatsu: one…. two….. -reeling his foot back again to kick the door- 
Catriona stops him.
Tokatsu: …?? better idea?
Catriona’s ears perk up and she listens intently. She opens the door slightly and rolls the container out there. Slowly but surely she can hear the murmurs of the confusion as the mists bursts out.
Catriona: To the roof, now!
Catriona moves quickly out the door while they’re distracted.
Tokatsu quickly follows after her, wasting no time to attack the distracted guards, eventually the both of them make it out from the facility to the roof safely. Before they eventually hurry back to their base of operations.
Tokatsu: ....You made a good call with that smoke bomb, also helps that they didn’t see it coming...
Catriona: Let’s get out of here quickly.
Catriona turns her back to him as she moves swiftly across the tops of the buildings.
Tokatsu: heh, no kidding….
After they eventually had escaped, the duo eventually make it back to their base.
Tokatsu: ...all right then, that should take care of that… I don’t think they’ll be catching our trail for too long...
Catriona places the bag of jewels on a nearby table, reaches in and throws him a few jewels.
Catriona: There’s your cut.
Tokatsu: very well then.. These might fetch us both quite the price on the market…
Tokatsu pockets the gemstones before turning around. Rubbing the back of his neck.
Tokatsu: Though I figure this is possibly when we’re parting ways, unfortunately…
Catriona: We’re parting ways now. You’re fired.
Tokatsu: -shrug- heh, very well then. Who knows when we may see each other, but hopefully if we do I won’t be as thick headed as I was….
Catriona: Take care of yourself Tokatsu, but I don’t plan on working with you again in the near future.
Tokatsu: Understandable… you take good care of yourself as well...same with Piper…
Tokatsu eventually climbed out the window, eventually seen in the distance hopping from roof to roof.
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Category:Novel Chapter
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