The warmth of dawn creeps in, wrapping the morning in a gentle embrace.
The Sneaky Birds halt beside a flat, moss-covered rock near a rushing stream.
The water roars through the silence, a constant, aggressive thrum that seems to vibrate.
Moon Black collapses onto the stone with a heavy, exhausted sigh. "Oh—my feet are killing me," she groans, kicking at a loose strap on her boot.
The adrenaline from the escape drains away, leaving Daisy with a bone-deep fatigue that makes her limbs feel like lead. Every muscle she didn't know she had is screaming.
Uddin scans the treeline, her hand never straying far from her weapon. "We should keep moving. We don't know if someone followed us."
"We need to rest," Moon Black shoots back, her head falling back against the moss.
Uddin snaps, her patience frayed to a single thread. "No. We move."
Moon Black's breath comes unevenly, her face pale. "Then drag me..."
Uddin pauses, looking at her genuine exhaustion. "Fine. But not for long."
They settle into the shadows. Across the clearing, the stranger—Scarface's wife—sits by herself.
She keeps her distance, her eyes carefully watching Scarface.
Daisy watches the stream, the white foam swirling over jagged rocks.
"You hurt?" Uddin asks quietly, sitting beside her.
"I'm fine. You?"
"Still breathing." Uddin's gaze is steady.
Daisy exhales, the chill of the morning's air biting at her lungs. "Thanks for helping me back at the Keep. I would've been done for."
Uddin's eyes flash with an intensity that startles Daisy. "We're sisters now. Blood till the end. I'd take a bullet for you."
"That's… weird," Daisy murmurs, pulling her knees to her chest.
"What is?"
"Yesterday I was a stranger. Today, I'm a sister?"
Uddin furrows her brow, her expression hardening. "Time doesn't matter, Daisy. Shared fire does. We bled together tonight. That makes you kin."
"…Thanks," Daisy says softly.
Across the clearing, Scarface stands up. His movements are jerky, like a puppet with tangled strings. He approaches the girl.
"Hey," he says.
"What do you want?"
"I just—"
"Leave me alone," she cuts in, not even turning to look at him.
"Please. Helma, just listen."
Her eyes harden like flint. "Don't. Don't use that name."
The moment stretches, painful and quiet, broken only by the roar of the water.
Scarface backs away, defeated. He drops onto the dirt near the rest of the group, his fingers nervously plucking at a leaf, tearing it into tiny, jagged pieces until green stains his fingertips.
Uddin watches him, her voice sharp. "Scarface. Enough. Tell us what happened between you two."
Scarface stares at the ground, his voice dropping to a hollow whisper. "I was part of the Blue Whale gang Cleaners Division."
"Cleaners?" Daisy asks."
"Assassins," he replies. "Knives. Close-range work. We were the ones sent in for the final jobs, the ones meant to be forgotten."
He gasps, a ragged sound in his throat. "In the Cleaners, you're a ghost. You aren't allowed to interact with anyone, not even your own gang members."
"You married her anyway. That was the problem, right?" Daisy asks.
"No." His jaw tightens so hard the bone looks ready to snap. "We had a child."
The group goes silent. Even the sound of the stream seems to fade into the background.
Daisy feels a cold pit open in her stomach.
"We hid him," Scarface continues, his voice shaking.
"We paid a nurse to keep him safe in a cellar, but the nurse sold us out for a handful of silver. The Whales came for us in the night."
Uddin's voice is a low growl. "Where is the child?"
Scarface doesn't look up. "Dead."
Daisy stiffens, her breath catching.
"We ran," Scarface says, the words spilling out now, frantic and ugly.
"Helma couldn't keep up. She was wounded, carrying the boy... I saw the shadows closing in. I took the boy from her arms… and I threw him down. I threw him so we could run faster."
A collective gasp ripples through the group.
"She stopped for him," Scarface says, his eyes glassy. "She wouldn't leave him. They caught her. She screamed my name as they dragged her into the dark. I didn't stop. I just kept running."
Uddin's voice is sharp. "And you lived."
"Yes."
"You left her to die for a chance to breathe."
"I thought she would die," he whispers. "I didn't think anyone survived the Whales."
Moon Black mutters from her rock, a cynical smile playing on her lips. "But look at that. He lived. The universe likes a survivor."
Uddin snaps instantly, her eyes flashing with fury. "No one asked for your opinion, Moon!"
Moon Black's smile doesn't fade. "You think survival is evil, Uddin? Look at him. He's alive, isn't he?"
Machi lowers her head, her voice small. "Would you really do the same, Moon? If it were one of us?"
"Hell yes," Moon Black says, her voice chillingly casual. "Dead people don't tell stories, Machi. They just take up space."
Justice nods slowly, his young face unreadable. "She's right. Logic says one life is better than zero."
"You're both insane," Daisy whispers, looking at them like they're monsters.
Helma finally turns her head. Her voice is hollow, echoing as if from a deep cave.
"You weren't afraid of the Whales, David. You were afraid of being a father. You threw him away because he was a weight you didn't want to carry."
Moon Black's smile finally fades. The air turns heavy, thick with a shame that no river can wash away.
Suddenly, gravel crunches nearby.
Moon Black is on her feet instantly, her blade flashing in the dim morning light. "Someone's coming!"
A figure steps out from the mist—a woman with a relaxed, slouching posture.
"Oh," Moon Black says, her shoulders dropping slightly. "It's just the Sniper Girl. Lewa."
The woman lifts her hand in a lazy peace sign. "Yo."
"Why are you here?" Justice asks, his eyes narrowing.
"Checking on you. You're alive. That's my report," Lewa says, her voice light and careless.
Moon Black blocks her path. "Don't walk away. You're hiding something. You've been on our tail since the Keep."
The Sniper Girl smirks, her eyes dancing with mischief. "Big eyes. Tiger energy. You always were a bit intense, Moon."
The Sneaky Birds close in on her, forming a wall of steel.
"Were you the veiled woman in the tower?" Moon Black demands.
"No. Too much running for me. I prefer a high ledge and a long view."
"Then why are you following us?"
"I don't owe you an explanation," Lewa says, her smirk vanishing.
Moon Black presses the edge of her blade against Lewa's neck. "Try again. My patience died back at the Keep."
"Council law!" Lewa snaps, though she doesn't look truly scared. "Ganging up on a citizen gets you killed."
Moon Black doesn't move the blade. Her eyes burn with a cold, focused fury.
Daisy taps Uddin's arm. "Who is she? I've never seen her before."
"She's one of the New Sage soldiers," Uddin whispers. "Part of a four-man squad back home. She's their best shot."
Moon Black drags the blade a fraction closer. "Talk. Now."
"Fine!" Lewa shouts. "The Council leader wanted eyes on you! She doesn't trust you kids on this mission, she believes stealing the gold relic might be too much. That's all."
Moon Black sheathes her blade, though her gaze remains suspicious. "We've proven our competence long enough to be disrespected like this."
Lewa nods. "Yeah. I promised the Old Lady I wouldn't let you know you were being followed. Guess I failed that part."
Moon Black's eyes flicker with doubt. "We're leaving. And don't stay too close, Sniper."
As they begin to walk, Lewa glances at Helma. "New recruit?"
"Scarface's ex-wife," Moon Black scoffs.
Lewa whistles, looking Helma up and down. "She's pretty. A bit gloomy, but pretty."
"She's good," Uddin adds shortly.
Daisy watches the Sniper Girl:
She has thick, intricate braids. It's beautiful.
Lewa walks closer, leaning into Daisy's personal space. "You're the newbie the Council is debated about?"
Daisy nods.
Lewa smiles, a genuine, lopsided grin. "Cool. Try not to get killed. It makes for a boring report."
She turns and starts to walk away, her gait easy and confident.
Daisy's gaze is still onto her, unblinking:
She seems like a kind person, hmm.. she's a bit crazy, but kind.
"Hey," Lewa calls out, tapping Moon Black on the shoulder. "Hope you won't tell the Council leader I talked. I like my head where it is."
"I'm no snitch," Moon Black replies.
"So… the Chuppah? Where is it? I need to tell the leader we're rich."
"It broke," Moon Black says, her voice flat.
Lewa freezes, her playful energy vanishing. "It broke? Don't play with me, Moon."
Moon Black exhales, looking at her empty hands. "It was a trap. We fell for it."
"The Council won't like that," Lewa says, her voice turning serious. "They put a lot of hope on this mission."
"The Sneaky Birds don't fail," Moon Black says, her voice regaining its sharp, dangerous edge.
"We adapt. They will always be next time."
The stream roars beside them, drowning out the rest of their words as they disappear into the trees.