esp_dragon (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
esp_dragon) wrote2015-08-19 12:40 am
esp_dragon) wrote2015-08-19 12:40 am
All You Have to Do is Breathe [Part 7]
Fandom: Noblesse
Summary: There's a new guy in town, an inventor, and if Tao can steal a few interesting things from him, he'll be able to eat for a few days, maybe longer. He might even be able to get out of the town!
Tao's wish comes true, just not in the way he expected.
Contains: Blood and violence.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Steampunk? Friendship
Word count: 7,270
Total word count: 37,371
Status: Work in progress
"Yes, now," Boss said. Then he paused and turned to face them again. "My apologies for being so blunt." He took deeper breaths as he gazed into the fire. "There is something there that I would like to investigate."
"Because…of the coffin?" Takagi-san asked, his eyebrows drawn in.
Boss nodded. "Yes."
Tao stared at Boss, not understanding. Why would Boss want to investigate a dead body? And rush going there? The body wasn't going to leave. Not unless the person's family had been found, and a name hadn't been mentioned yet on the radio. In fact, the announcer had moved onto other news, about how bandit attacks were on the rise, starting to work closer to towns.
"Boss?" Tao said. "The coffin's not going to walk away; we don't have to rush going there." Though if the bones had been disturbed already…
Boss exhaled, his shoulders slumping a little. "Unfortunately, we do. The coffin cannot run off by itself, no. But if the Union has found out about this –and they will have, as it's been publically announced- they will also be trying to retrieve it."
Why was a dead person who had been dug up from under the sea so important to the Union?
"How do you know the Union'll go after it?" M asked, his lips pursed.
Boss gave him a soft chuckle. "The coffin is indicative of a certain group of people," Boss said. "There are not many who would have the resources to make the coffin that way."
That was true. It must have been someone rich if the coffin was lined with gold.
M smirked, crossing his arms. "So you're going to steal it before they do."
Boss nodded, a small smile on his face. "Yes." His smile faded and he studied M. "However, there is a large chance that we will meet Union agents in doing so – if you wish to leave-"
"You're certain the Union wants this?" M cut in instead.
"Yes."
"Then I'm staying with you." M's arms tightened. "It's not big, but if I can stop the Union from getting one thing they want and inconvenience them, I want in." He let out a long breath, frowning as his gaze went elsewhere.
"It's the only thing I can do anyway," he muttered.
Boss didn't say anything but when it was clear M wasn't going to say anything else, he turned his attention Tao and Takagi-san. "I offer the same to you: if we meet Union agents, there is a chance you could be hurt or die. Therefore, if you wish, I can drop you off at the next town with compensation."
Takagi-san just smiled. "This is what I'm being paid for; I'm already aware of the dangers."
Tao ducked his head, not meeting Boss' gaze when Boss looked at him. He had known the danger from the start too, but all this time, they had been running from the Union agents, not towards them. But he wasn't going to leave Boss, and he would try his best so that Boss wouldn't have to use Dark Spear again.
"I'm coming too," Tao said, lifting his head.
"Are you sure?"
Tao nodded. "I'm not doing it because I think that's what you want," Tao said, even though his stomach was squeezing in on itself at the realisation of what he was agreeing to. "But... Yeah. I want to come. If - if you want me to." Because for all he knew, he would get them all killed. He didn't have the fighting experience they did, and he didn't have the time to learn either.
He heard footfalls coming closer, and then Boss was patting his shoulder. "Of course I do."
"Thanks, Boss..." Tao whispered, his shoulders slumping.
"Come on then," Boss said, keeping his hand there. "We need to pack up."
Tao nodded, standing up, and Boss gave his shoulder a squeeze as he did so.
* * *
"Boss," Tao said when most of their things were packed into the wagon.
"Yes?" Boss slid his box of tools further into the wagon and then turned to him. "Is there something wrong?"
Tao shook his head. "Not really," he said, glancing at Dark Spear, who seemed to know what he was thinking and flicked her tail at them. "I want to drive, so you can rest before we get there."
Boss' eyebrows twitched up.
Tao fidgeted with a cuff, not looking at him. "I know I said I didn't want to drive again for at least a month, but if something happens where we're going, you need to be rested." Boss would know what to do in any situation and could tell the others what to do; Tao couldn't. Driving was the most he could do.
Boss studied him for a few seconds and then smiled. "Very well. Thank you."
Tao beamed back at him.
* * *
Sunlight had started to creep up over the horizon as Boss and Tao swapped places in the carriage before approaching the town. He napped in the short time it took to reach town and Tao peered out when they arrived.
The air was filled with salt and fish, and Tao wrinkled his nose. It had been a long time since he'd smelled similar air; he'd gotten used to the dustier plains.
The townsfolk didn't seem too excited when Tao saw them, but maybe a coffin was only good for gossip for one day. Or maybe the person's family had been found and notified.
Tao looked around when Boss stopped Dark Spear and leaned over to someone walking down the street. "Excuse me," Boss said, "but could you direct me towards the morgue?"
"Yes. You just need to keep going down this street," the person said, pointing, "and go left. When you see gravestones, you're there."
Boss nodded. "All right. Thank you."
It didn't take them long to reach the morgue, but Tao frowned when he saw the sheriff carriage outside. That…was a coincidence, wasn't it?
It seemed too ominous; Boss had good reason to hurry them.
But they couldn't have gotten there faster if they'd tried. Still. Maybe they could have.
Boss hopped off the wagon, Takagi-san following, and Tao peered out after them. Should he go with them? The sheriff was there… Boss hadn't asked him to go so Tao was content to stay where he was. Far away from the sheriff.
As Boss and Takagi-san neared the front door, it opened, and two people stepped out. The sheriff's badge flashed in the sunlight and Tao ducked back into the safety of the wagon.
"Morning, Sheriff," Tao heard Boss say.
"Mornin'. You come to try your luck at opening that coffin too?" The voice was wry, like the person was on the verge of chuckling.
"I – excuse me?"
"People were trying to pry it open all of yesterday," a second voice said. "In case there were documents inside detailing who the poor soul was."
Did people do that? Why put the dead person's name inside, where no-one could read it? That sounded like an excuse.
"They couldn't even pry the gold off the lid," the first voice said.
So he and M had been right that someone would do that.
"You're too late anyway. Someone got greedy and stole it in the night."
Tao froze. It was gone? After they'd travelled the entire night to get here?
"Took the door right off the hinges, they did."
"And some of the wall."
"I see…" Boss said.
"Is there any other business you have here?"
"…No. Thank you, and good day."
Boss sat down with a thump when he came over and Tao stayed silent as they moved off again.
* * *
Tao hummed as he finished brushing down Dark Spear, M somehow finishing before him. Though, his horse was smaller than Dark Spear, not that that was hard. Tao wrapped an arm around her neck as she led him towards the house; he smiled at her and gave her one last pat before going in.
He wandered through the house, following the sound of voices and found the kitchen, the others surrounding the table.
There was a steaming mug of tea at an empty spot at the table and Tao sat down at it, curling his fingers around the mug.
"They won't have left a trail," Boss said, "as much as they destroyed things in their wake."
"So we'll leave here soon?" Takagi-san asked and Tao was content to not join the conversation, savouring the tea.
"Unless there's a way to track them or have an idea where they may have gone." Boss shook his head, and then he sighed, brushing his hair away from his shoulders. "I am unfortunately used to being chased rather than being the chaser."
"There is a way," M said, his words slow. "There's a fort not too far from here. The agents would have taken the coffin there to store it before getting their next orders of what to do with it."
"You're sure?" Boss demanded.
"Yeah." M nodded. "That's what I would have done."
There was a scrape of a chair over the floor and Tao jerked at the sudden noise.
"Where?" Boss demanded, his hands braced on the table, staring at M.
...They were going to travel again? They'd jumped the last time, they'd still been late. Which was why they had to be faster this time. They hadn't unpacked apart from the essentials so they wouldn't waste as much time as before.
"North-west of here," M said, jerking his head in that direction. "Away from the sea front. It's only a couple of hours away."
"And you're sure that's where it is?"
M nodded. "I've been there a few times."
Boss sighed and then closed his eyes. "We need to go."
M raised an eyebrow at Boss, his lips pursed. "Do you even know how you're going to get in?"
They had Takagi-san's guns and however M attacked and - Tao froze, his eyes going wide. No. If Boss was going to use Dark Spear to get in-
Boss didn't say anything, his gaze going towards the stable.
M-21 huffed. "I can get you in, but I'll need something to give them. Something of yours – fake information or an invention or two."
Tao huffed in relief, hiding it by pretending to blow into his tea. Boss wouldn't need to use Dark Spear.
Boss nodded. "I can make something up. However…" Boss frowned. "I may have some difficulties doing that if I'm to drive Dark Spear at the same time. I would rather give them useless information rather than something that could help them."
"I can do that, Boss," Tao said.
Boss looked at him. "Are you sure?"
Tao nodded, giving him a reassuring smile. "Yeah, the nap earlier helped." It was true, and if it helped Boss, he would do it.
So long as they didn't bump into any bandits he would be fine. Even though they were heading towards a fort filled with people worse than bandits…
Boss hummed and then looked at M. "Will your horse be able to handle this journey?"
M's gaze drifted towards the stable. "Yeah. It'd be easier on her if she wasn't carrying anything though."
"Hmm." Boss looked between Tao and M. "Would it be better if you sat next to Tao?"
He nodded again. "I can direct from there."
"I'm fine with it too," Tao said.
"That's good." Boss paused, his attention on M. "And thank you."
M's eyes widened, his mouth parting for a second. He glanced away, pursing his lips. "Uh. Yeah, whatever."
…Had he been like that when Boss had praised him too? Tao was sure he had flushed when Boss had complimented him. Did he still do that?
"Well then, we had better get going," Boss said with a clap of his hands. "Tao, could you go prepare Dark Spear?"
"Yeah!"
When Tao entered the stable again, Dark Spear lifted her head and nickered at him.
"Hey," he said as he approached her, "we're on the move again."
Her ears twitched and she walked towards him.
It didn't take him long to set her up but he frowned when he was done, lifting his head and sniffing. Was that…smoke? That couldn't be right.
Tao headed back to the kitchen and the smell got stronger with every step. He halted, seeing Boss in front of the lit fireplace. Tao sucked in a breath when Boss fed it one of his journals.
"Boss!"
"Ah, you're done," Boss said, smiling at him, getting another journal ready.
"What're you doing?" Tao demanded, rushing over. That was Boss' work, that he'd been protecting for all this time and now he was destroying it?
Boss' smile stayed in place. It didn't look forced. "Ensuring the Union doesn't get my data in case something goes wrong."
Oh. That was a real possibility, now that they were going to the Union, but … All the work Boss had done…
"Not to worry," Boss said. "I still have all the information here." Boss tapped his temple with a finger and Tao relaxed. Boss was right. That information could be remade; it couldn't be taken back if it got into the Union's hands.
"Where're the others?" Tao asked as he held out a hand to help Boss.
"Selling some of my more innocuous inventions," Boss said, handing Tao a few of his journals. "The Union will find it harder to get their whereabouts, and it will lighten our load as well."
"But…" Tao said, throwing one in and watched the flames take it page by page, "if you're getting rid of your inventions, what about Dark Spear?" She could be caught. Did they have to leave her behind too? But if they were, Boss wouldn't have told him to prepare her.
Boss chuckled. "She can handle herself."
Yeah, she could.
* * *
Tao settled back into the driver's seat and M sat next to him after tying his horse to the back of the wagon.
"Their storage area's huge," M said once they had travelled for a while, his feet propped up against the edge of the wagon, "but if the Union really wants the coffin, it'll be close to the entrance and somewhere open so it's easier to get out."
"Thank you for all the information you're giving us," Boss said from within the wagon, his tone a little distracted, and Tao could sometimes hear the scratch of pen on paper.
M shrugged and it looked like he was better at accepting gratitude. Or he was better at hiding it now. "The more you know the better chance you've got of stealing from the Union."
When M gave Tao a new instruction of where to go, M peered into the wagon. "What are you putting in there anyway?"
"Hm?" Boss replied. "Oh, formulae that cancel each other out, old discoveries that have since been debunked. Useless stuff. Why?"
"Can you add something that’ll explode in the scientists’ faces?"
Tao listened, quietening his thoughts when he heard Boss chuckle - that wasn’t the response he’d expected from him. But seeing what Tao knew of the Union and what Boss and M must have gone through because of them… It wasn't that surprising.
"If I make it too obvious, they’ll notice and won’t do it."
"Tch." M squared his shoulders, scowling. "I don’t care. There’ll be someone who won’t check, especially after they've been trying to get your information for so long. That's all you need."
Boss hummed. "Very well; I’ll put some in."
M smirked, straightening. "Good."
* * *
"Do you want someone to go with you when you go back?" Takagi-san asked as Tao adjusted his hat against the sun.
M snorted. "No. You wouldn't know what to say or do; it's better if I go alone."
Tao didn't like it, but he was right.
"What do we do if something does go wrong?" Tao asked. No matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise, the worry was still there.
M didn't say anything for a few seconds. "An alarm'll go off and the soldiers will kill anyone who they think is suspicious."
That…was great to hear…
"But this fort's small – there shouldn't be any modified humans there." 'Modified humans'? "They won't be expecting me, so I'll be able to surprise them. It should be enough."
Tao looked at him, puzzled. That didn't make sense to him. "But don't they know about you?" The Union were the ones who had changed him in the first place.
M snorted, clenching his hand into a fist. "My transformation is…different from other modifications. Stronger. Someone like me isn't supposed to have it." He glared down at his hand. "If the Union knew, I would have been dragged back to the labs and kept there."
…Oh. That explained why he hid his hands behind his gloves. "Okay."
M-21 didn't add more, crossing his arms and staring out at the horizon.
So now all they had to do was do it and steal a coffin. Easy. Nothing could go wrong.
Even in Tao's mind, it sounded fake.
* * *
The fort was imbedded into the side of a mountain surrounded by a forest. Tao wouldn't have known it was there at a distance and even knowing that it was, Tao wasn't sure if he would be able to find it again. He wouldn't want to anyway.
"That's weird…" M said, his mouth at a slant as they got closer to the fort.
"What is?" Tao asked, keeping his gaze forward, trying to act 'normal' flexing his hands when they got too stiff. Was something wrong before they'd even started?
"There's more guards out than usual."
Tao squinted, seeing two guards in front of the closed gate and a few more patrolling the wall. He flicked his gaze away when the sun caught off a few rifles.
Tao drew Dark Spear to a halt in front of the gate, keeping his eyes on his own hands.
"You have papers?" the guard on the left said.
Tao froze at the words, his heart stopping. Papers? They didn't have that! They were going to be found out when they hadn't stepped foot into the fort yet!
"Papers?" M snorted, putting his foot up on the rest like there was nothing wrong. "We don't exist - how are we supposed to have papers? All I've got is this," he said, waving Boss' journal, "and all the other stuff we picked up."
Tao peeked from under his hat's rim at the guard's face.
There was no answering scowl or narrowing of eyes at M's remark, but a smirk instead. She waved her hands in a placating way. "Hey, orders are orders; we have to ask anyone who approaches. There's some new drop-off the higher-ups don't want anyone getting."
M rolled his eyes. "That's everything they get their hands on."
Could the guard be talking about the coffin? Tao hoped so. It was something to focus on rather than how his stomach had shrivelled up inside him.
"Heh." The guard jerked her head to the other guard, who started to open the gate.
"You know the procedure," the first guard said as the gate opened. No, Tao didn't.
"Yeah, yeah," M said, snorting. "Report to the Captain straight away and no detours."
She gave him a tight-lipped smile.
"It's not like there's anything else to do here except drop stuff off."
There was a lull in the conversation and Tao twitched when he realised that was his cue to move the carriage again. He clicked his tongue and Dark Spear moved.
That…could have gone a lot worse. Tao's heart wasn't convinced, still trying to smash its way out of his ribcage. But he couldn't relax now, not when they were surrounded on all sides. Tao was sure all eyes were on him and he kept his head ducked, following M's soft directions.
The fort seemed huge with an open courtyard that would make it easy to be picked off by any of the guns the soldiers were carrying.
"Shit."
Tao's hands tightened at the soft exclamation. "What?" he hissed back. Something else was wrong now? Everything was off about this!
"Mary."
Who? Tao pulled his focus away from the buildings, looking at the people around them. He caught sight of one person surrounded by some guards, who wasn't wearing the same uniform as them.
It was a woman with long dark hair tied up in a ponytail, leaning back on a building wall. Her arms were crossed, and she seemed bored at the fact she was surrounded by a number of soldiers. Her dress was loose, not like the fuller shapes of the dresses Tao had seen recently, the sleeves large and poofy. By her side was a parasol.
"What about her?" Tao asked. Though if M knew her by sight and name, it had to be bad.
"The same scientist modified us," M said, his teeth gritted. "So she'd recognise me. She must have been the one who brought in the coffin."
Ah, shit. "Would she know what mission you had?"
"…No. Not unless Crombell told her. She's one of his favourites, but I don't think he tells her everything." M frowned. "She's stronger than me; if she found out I'm a traitor and that I'd kept my transformation a secret, she'd kill me." He closed his eyes and exhaled. "She shouldn't. There's no need for me to reveal that here."
Unless something went wrong.
She didn't approach them as they passed and Tao took that as a good sign.
"I'll meet you at the entrance," M said, nodding towards the guards at the storage area.
"Yeah…" Now they were on their own. Well, not quite – Tao still had Boss and Takagi-san, but M didn't have anyone to back him up if anything went wrong. Which there shouldn't. Because all M had to do was go in and out and that was it.
Even though everything else had been going wrong so far.
The guards opened the doors without any questions and Tao took a few breaths as they entered the storage area. It was colder inside, out of the sunlight and Tao had been too distracted to notice they'd been going towards the mountain. They were inside it, the walls smooth and shadows created from the electric lights hanging above them.
Tao looked around, trying to figure out what direction to go in first. There were shelves, bookshelves and entire areas filled up with things that didn't seem to have any kind of order to it. But he had thought that when he'd first met Boss. At least the guards hadn't asked what they were dropping off.
Boss poked his head out as Tao tried to find something coffin-shaped and white. It should have been easy to find in there; most of the items were a lot smaller and darker than what Tao was looking for, but the place was so big. And what were all these items? Tao couldn't recognise them at a glance.
Dark Spear didn't wait for him to direct her and, okay, this direction seemed like a good one as any to start with.
Tao kept a lookout as Dark Spear kept going, but his eyes widened when he saw a door looming ahead. It was made out of metal, as was the wall it was attached to. No doubt this was their high security storage. Dark Spear stopped in front of the doors and M hadn't said anything about this!
How were they going to get through the door without making noise and calling the soldiers to them? Maybe if Boss used Dark Spear but that wasn't an option Tao wanted.
He frowned at the lock dangling in front of the doors.
"…Huh." Could he do it?
"What is it?" Boss asked, and Tao looked at him over his shoulder.
"I think Dark Spear led us to the coffin." How she knew, Tao had no idea. But she had found Takagi-san, so Tao trusted her judgement.
Boss stood up and peered over Tao's shoulder. "Ah, I see…"
Tao pulled his tools out from under his coat; they never left his side and found comfort of them being on him even though he hadn't needed to use them in months.
"Tao…?"
He looked back at him. "I think I can get us in, but it might take some time," Tao said. Boss had to agree because the other way was too dangerous and too loud. Even though Tao's way was also slower and that could cost M if he needed them.
Boss blinked and then looked at Dark Spear, who flicked her ears.
"Very well," Boss said.
Tao smiled at him and slid off the wagon.
The lock was a bit bigger than a regular one, and Tao frowned in concentration as he started feeling about the inside with his tools.
The insides were also configured differently from what Tao was used to, but it was still similar enough. Boss' lock had been harder to figure out. Tao was also rusty from being out of practise so he had to go slower than what he knew he used to be able to do before. He could feel every second tick past as his tools continued to slip, but he could do this. He knew it.
The lock snapped open and Tao grinned, breathing a sigh of relief as he tucked the lock into a pocket.
"Well done," Boss said.
Tao flushed and smiled at the compliment.
Takagi-san came up as they started to pull the door open. They were heavy, but they were made out of metal.
Once the gap was wide enough to look through, they did.
Tao's attention was caught at the same time he heard Boss' hiss. There was a large, white coffin a little distance from where they were, deep enough to fit two people. The description hadn't done the coffin justice.
Tao had never seen something that white before, and it wasn't gold leaf brushed on but it looked like solid bars had been welded onto it. The gold cross itself took up the entire lid.
Something like that could use to buy an entire town and someone had made it into a coffin? How rich was this family?
Boss' breathing was ragged and Tao turned to him; his eyes were wide and staring, his lips parted.
Did that mean it was what Boss had expected or it wasn't...?
"Boss...?" Tao didn't want to ask in case the answer was negative.
Boss closed his eyes and visibly pulled himself together, his breathing evening out again. "We need to put it in the wagon."
Oh! It was what Boss had thought it was.
Tao nodded. "Got it, Boss!" They pushed the doors more so the coffin could squeeze out. Once they had done that, they went into the room.
The coffin was bigger up close, almost reaching Tao's knee. There didn't seem to be a latch or any hinges on the lid, and how couldn't people open it?
There were no scratch marks or dents to indicate that someone had tried to force it open. No name on it either. It was a blank slate; an expensive blank slate, but still a blank slate. Who had they left behind? There must have been someone, if they had been put into a coffin. But if they'd all died at sea…
Now that moving the coffin wasn't just an abstract plan and a reality, it was morbid to think about what they were going to do. He didn't want to move the person's bones, but it was better they did than the Union getting them. Who knew what would happen to the person's relatives then.
Tao backed off when Boss approached the coffin. They should hurry after all the time it took for him to open the door, when M could be waiting for them, but the way Boss was staring at the coffin, it seemed…personal. He looked lost staring at the coffin, his eyes wide and lips parted.
Boss reached out, but he stopped when his fingers almost brushed the metal. He clenched his hand, bringing it back to him.
Tao had spent enough time around Boss to see he was trembling.
"Tao, if you could go to the bottom; Takagi-san, please come carry the head with me."
"Got it, Boss."
Tao grasped one of the handle bars at the side as Boss and Takagi-san did the same on their end. At the countdown, Tao hauled the coffin up.
The coffin was lighter than Tao expected. Hefty enough that it couldn't be empty inside, but Tao had thought there would be more weight to something made out of metal. Or maybe it was empty and all the weight was the coffin.
He peeked at the others, and Takagi-san's eyebrows were drawn in confusion as well. Boss didn't seem that surprised, though he kept glancing at the coffin.
Maybe it had something to do with what Boss knew about the family. Who was this family?
Tao followed the others as they loaded the coffin into the wagon, M's horse getting out the way with no prompting. Boss got up first and carried it in rather than sliding the coffin in.
Tao followed him up and helped to secure the coffin to the wagon, hearing Takagi-san come up behind him.
Boss still wasn't that steady but he nodded at them when they were done and Tao exhaled, nodding back.
They got out the wagon and together they pushed the doors to the room closed again.
Tao leaned on it once they were done, huffing. Only people who had been experimented on by the Union could open that by themselves. They might not have been able to open it if they'd been less than three people.
Once he recovered, Tao slipped the lock back in place.
He went over to Dark Spear and gave her a few pats as she huffed and pawed the ground.
"Think that's us all done," Tao murmured at her and she pawed the ground one more time before settling down. There was a rustle and Tao looked over to see Boss and Takagi-san settle a sheet over the coffin. Tao was familiar with the colour – it was the sheet he and Boss used to make sure they didn't lose any pieces of a machine while they were at a camp fire.
"We're ready," Boss said, and Tao nodded, climbing to the driver's seat.
One of Dark Spear's ears flicked back when he clicked his tongue and she walked forward. Tao saw the straps go taut and with no visible strain, Dark Spear pulled them.
Tao took a few calming breaths as they approached the storage doors, hiding under his hat again. They'd been let in, so they should be let out again. There was nothing suspicious about them. Apart from the coffin inside the wagon. But the back hadn't been checked when they went in, so they could pretend the coffin had always been there.
Tao didn't look at the guards as they passed and no-one called out to them either. Good. Tao flexed his hands, trying to will his heart rate down, but it wasn't listening to him, content to both ram down to his stomach and up his throat.
It would be over soon. They just had to wait for M and then they could leave.
Tao slowed Dark Spear once they were away from the storage area and they stopped near a wall, close to the entrance. They were still under the gaze of a couple of the soldiers but it was better than being open on all sides.
A few minutes passed and nothing happened. Waiting a few minutes didn't mean anything. Nothing had gone wrong on M's side.
Tao couldn't stop bouncing his leg, having too much energy but no way to get rid of it. When another minute passed, Tao huffed and scrambled off the wagon.
"Just checking on the horses," Tao murmured. He heard soft sounds of acknowledgement and walked over to Dark Spear. She seemed fine and nosed at him in greeting.
"A little longer," he whispered, seeing her ears swivel towards him, "and then we can leave. …I hope," he added in a smaller voice.
She nudged and Tao smiled at her, patting her.
He wandered over to M's horse, who turned her attention to him, snorting.
"Hey," he said, stopping short and letting her come to him. She gazed at him for a few seconds and then approached him. "He should be back soon," he said, trying to make his voice as soothing as possible.
She seemed calmer than Dark Spear, and right, she'd been in and out of places like this for a while. She must be used to it.
That done, Tao looked around again and he still couldn't see M approaching them. He didn't even know what building M had gone into.
Mary wasn't around either. He couldn't find the large group that had been around her either. That didn't mean anything, right?
Tao put a finger down his collar, and pulled it to cool himself down. Maybe she'd gone inside from the heat.
His stomach squirmed, trying to engulf the rest of his insides. Did the meetings usually take this long? Had something gone wrong? Should they try to find M? But if they moved now it would look suspicious to the s-
Something exploded. Tao dropped down to protect himself, the boom reverberating in his chest. He skittered back as M's horse reared up with a shriek, dodging her hooves.
W-what-?
One of the buildings was a pile of rubble when Tao peeked out from behind the wagon. There was a few seconds of shouting and gestures, and the soldiers rushed towards the plume of dust.
Tao sucked in a breath (and spluttered at the dust he inhaled) at howl echoing in the air.
That was M. He knew that howl. But…if M had lost his senses, something must have made him. Hurt him.
They had to help him.
But what could they do? While Takagi-san had his gun, Tao didn't want Boss to use Dark Spear's power.
Tao froze when he saw no all of the soldiers were focused on the explosion, but on them. They had arrived and a couple of minutes later, one of the fort's buildings was destroyed. Not suspicious at all.
With their guns raised and pointed towards the wagon, the soldiers inched closer.
The soldiers halted, swinging their guns towards the front of the wagon, away from Tao. Gunshots rang out and Tao flinched while the soldiers ducked to cover. Takagi-san must have shot first.
Tao dived into the safety behind the wagon. M's horse screamed again but Tao breathed a short sigh of relief when he heard hoofbeats dash away. One of the bullets must have cut through her reins.
He flinched again as more bullets slammed into the wagon. None had gone through to his side yet. Were they hitting the coffin instead? And what about Boss and Takagi-san inside it?
Dark Spear bayed, kicking the wagon and Tao heard Takagi-san swear. Shit, Dark Spear was trapped, tied to the wagon. She could take more damage compared to a flesh horse, but she was a fish in a barrel like this.
Tao flinched at another gunshot, curling up against a wheel, trying to make himself as small a target as possible. He heard the rapid-fire clangs of multiple bullets smashing into her. She was going to die. They were all going to die.
There was a tremendous crunch as something zinged past, and Dark Spear reared up further than she had before; her straps were hanging free.
She could escape!
Dark Spear wheeled around on her hooves and charged towards the soldiers. What was she going to - oh no.
The soldiers cried out when Dark Spear must have ran into them and Tao cringed at what had to be hooves snapping bone.
There were shouts Tao couldn't make sense of as screams interjected them every time Tao took a breath. But just as soon as they started, the screams and gunshots tapered off one by one as Dark Spear continued to bay.
All Tao could hear was his blood rushing in his ears, while his heart tried to smash out his chest again.
Was it over? Tao swallowed, straining his ears. He heard Dark Spear snort, but that was it.
Tao jerked his head up at a scrape to his left.
It was Boss, peeking out from around the wagon bonnet and after a second, he hopped out.
Tao almost called out after him, but stopped himself in time. What if he brought the wrong attention to Boss?
To Tao's right, he heard Takagi-san go out the front of the wagon.
That had to mean it was safe. As safe as it could be. Neither of them were hurt.
Tao took a breath and peeked around the wagon. There was blood and bodies everywhere, a dust cloud obscuring most of them, to Tao's relief.
Dark Spear was in the centre of it all, her legs bathed in blood, sunlight glinting off where bullets had torn through her skin. Boss was walking towards her, not trying to dodge around the pools of blood or bodies.
Was that everyone? Had everyone come to fight her and died? Tao tried to suck more air into his lungs, getting lightheaded again as he gagged.
Dark Spear snorted and threw her head a little at the sight of Boss, going towards him. She seemed to be moving fine, none of her-
Something slammed into her hard enough to take her off her hooves and she crashed into a wall.
Before Tao could react, something long span out from the dust cloud and crashed into Boss. Through Boss, and Tao could see it sticking out of him.
Boss dropped without a scream and Tao froze. What-?
A shadow appeared through the dust and Mary stepped out from it, her face impassive. Her dress was shorn in places; her sleeves were gone and in their place... That explained why she had big sleeves. Her arms gleamed dark blue in the sunlight, almost black. Spikes ran up her arms, not like M's fur, but actual spikes, one of them the full length of her forearm.
Wait-
That had to mean-
What - what had happened to M?
Those kind of parallel tears didn't happen from a bullet. If she was here with her clothes ripped like that…
He was jumping to conclusions. He had to be.
Tao flinched at the loud retort of Takagi-san's gun. Mary jumped away, far higher and further than Tao thought possible.
"Get Lee-san!"
Get-? Tao span his attention back to Boss – he wasn't flat on the ground anymore, but on his hands and knees instead.
Boss was alive. Boss was still alive.
Tao scrambled over while Takagi-san continued shooting at Mary. As soon as he was close enough, Tao pulled Boss to his feet, slinging an arm over his own shoulder.
"Tao-"
"You're gonna be okay, Boss." Maybe. Hopefully. Tao tried to not look at what was through Boss. It was so red and pieces of it jutted out at all angles.
"I'm all right, T-Tao."
He would have believed Boss if it wasn't for his laboured breathing, every breath sounding like he was trying to use every bit of energy he had to drag air into his lungs. The dark pool Boss left behind looked like it was half the blood in his body.
Boss stumbled and Tao tightened his grip on him, his own legs shaking. He was going to be dragging Boss' corpse by the time they reached the wagon. He'd seen what happened to people who'd lost less.
Every step was a step closer to safety. They made it to the wagon and Tao tried to lean Boss against the wheel but Boss shook his head, moving to lie on his side. It gave Tao a perfect view of what had gone through him.
It was a parasol. The one he'd seen near Mary earlier. How hard had she thrown it to go through a person?
Boss hadn't moved to take it out, and Tao wasn't going to touch it either.
Tao heard Takagi-san swear and a soft clatter.
Something slammed into the wagon a second later, rocking it as wood splintered. Something crashed through the wagon and Tao stared at the rifle embedded in the wall. If she could throw rifles like that, that meant she had a lot of weapons at her disposal, even if Dark Spear had mangled the guns under her hooves.
Takagi-san whirled in from the other side of the wagon, slamming his back against the wheel. His eyes flicked over to Tao and Boss as he reloaded his gun and Takagi-san nodded at them.
Tao nodded back. Last time, they'd had Boss against M; now M had been taken out before they could do something and so was Boss.
M had said she was stronger than him.
Was she just biding her time until Takagi-san ran out of bullets? If she healed faster than M, then Takagi-san's bullets were useless in taking her out. Which meant-
Tao jerked at a familiar snarl and he peeked out from behind the wagon, hope swelling in his chest.
M was there, his shirt gone and streaks of blood in its place. Tao recognised the way he was crouched with his hands curled and the twisted expression on his face that he wasn't thinking either. M leaped towards Mary claws first, slashing down.
She leaped away, the ground where she'd been standing exploding.
There was the familiar snap of Takagi-san's gun clicking into place and a second later, gunshots rang in Tao's ears again.
M was alive. So was Boss. If they could get out of here – but Dark Spear wasn't alive and Tao wasn't sure if M's horse was strong enough to pull all of them and the coffin. If she was still around.
"Tao…"
He tried to smile for Boss, keeping his eyes away from the trickle of blood out his mouth. "Don't talk right now, 'kay? We're gonna-"
"She wants you."
Tao stopped, not understanding what Boss was saying. Boss' gaze was distant, like he wasn't seeing Tao and that must have been it – Boss was delirious from the pain and blood loss.
Except Boss' eyes sharpened on him, and the hairs on the back of Tao's neck rose as Boss repeated, "She wants you."
There was only one being Boss could be talking about.
"Dark Spear's still alive too?" he hissed, his eyes widening and Boss nodded.
"She wants to connect with you. I'm unable to concentrate right now and there's no time." Boss clasped his hand; his grip was stronger than Tao expected. "You know what the consequences are."
Too well. If Tao failed, they would all die, but if he succeeded, he could end up dying from controlling Dark Spear anyway.
But that was from doing it multiple times, wasn't it?
Tao squared his shoulders and nodded. He wouldn't be a coward this time, not when their lives were on the line. Or try to.
Now he understood why Boss had continued to connect with Dark Spear when he'd asked him to stop.
There had been no other choice.
"What do I have to do?"
Summary: There's a new guy in town, an inventor, and if Tao can steal a few interesting things from him, he'll be able to eat for a few days, maybe longer. He might even be able to get out of the town!
Tao's wish comes true, just not in the way he expected.
Contains: Blood and violence.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Steampunk? Friendship
Word count: 7,270
Total word count: 37,371
Status: Work in progress
"Yes, now," Boss said. Then he paused and turned to face them again. "My apologies for being so blunt." He took deeper breaths as he gazed into the fire. "There is something there that I would like to investigate."
"Because…of the coffin?" Takagi-san asked, his eyebrows drawn in.
Boss nodded. "Yes."
Tao stared at Boss, not understanding. Why would Boss want to investigate a dead body? And rush going there? The body wasn't going to leave. Not unless the person's family had been found, and a name hadn't been mentioned yet on the radio. In fact, the announcer had moved onto other news, about how bandit attacks were on the rise, starting to work closer to towns.
"Boss?" Tao said. "The coffin's not going to walk away; we don't have to rush going there." Though if the bones had been disturbed already…
Boss exhaled, his shoulders slumping a little. "Unfortunately, we do. The coffin cannot run off by itself, no. But if the Union has found out about this –and they will have, as it's been publically announced- they will also be trying to retrieve it."
Why was a dead person who had been dug up from under the sea so important to the Union?
"How do you know the Union'll go after it?" M asked, his lips pursed.
Boss gave him a soft chuckle. "The coffin is indicative of a certain group of people," Boss said. "There are not many who would have the resources to make the coffin that way."
That was true. It must have been someone rich if the coffin was lined with gold.
M smirked, crossing his arms. "So you're going to steal it before they do."
Boss nodded, a small smile on his face. "Yes." His smile faded and he studied M. "However, there is a large chance that we will meet Union agents in doing so – if you wish to leave-"
"You're certain the Union wants this?" M cut in instead.
"Yes."
"Then I'm staying with you." M's arms tightened. "It's not big, but if I can stop the Union from getting one thing they want and inconvenience them, I want in." He let out a long breath, frowning as his gaze went elsewhere.
"It's the only thing I can do anyway," he muttered.
Boss didn't say anything but when it was clear M wasn't going to say anything else, he turned his attention Tao and Takagi-san. "I offer the same to you: if we meet Union agents, there is a chance you could be hurt or die. Therefore, if you wish, I can drop you off at the next town with compensation."
Takagi-san just smiled. "This is what I'm being paid for; I'm already aware of the dangers."
Tao ducked his head, not meeting Boss' gaze when Boss looked at him. He had known the danger from the start too, but all this time, they had been running from the Union agents, not towards them. But he wasn't going to leave Boss, and he would try his best so that Boss wouldn't have to use Dark Spear again.
"I'm coming too," Tao said, lifting his head.
"Are you sure?"
Tao nodded. "I'm not doing it because I think that's what you want," Tao said, even though his stomach was squeezing in on itself at the realisation of what he was agreeing to. "But... Yeah. I want to come. If - if you want me to." Because for all he knew, he would get them all killed. He didn't have the fighting experience they did, and he didn't have the time to learn either.
He heard footfalls coming closer, and then Boss was patting his shoulder. "Of course I do."
"Thanks, Boss..." Tao whispered, his shoulders slumping.
"Come on then," Boss said, keeping his hand there. "We need to pack up."
Tao nodded, standing up, and Boss gave his shoulder a squeeze as he did so.
"Boss," Tao said when most of their things were packed into the wagon.
"Yes?" Boss slid his box of tools further into the wagon and then turned to him. "Is there something wrong?"
Tao shook his head. "Not really," he said, glancing at Dark Spear, who seemed to know what he was thinking and flicked her tail at them. "I want to drive, so you can rest before we get there."
Boss' eyebrows twitched up.
Tao fidgeted with a cuff, not looking at him. "I know I said I didn't want to drive again for at least a month, but if something happens where we're going, you need to be rested." Boss would know what to do in any situation and could tell the others what to do; Tao couldn't. Driving was the most he could do.
Boss studied him for a few seconds and then smiled. "Very well. Thank you."
Tao beamed back at him.
Sunlight had started to creep up over the horizon as Boss and Tao swapped places in the carriage before approaching the town. He napped in the short time it took to reach town and Tao peered out when they arrived.
The air was filled with salt and fish, and Tao wrinkled his nose. It had been a long time since he'd smelled similar air; he'd gotten used to the dustier plains.
The townsfolk didn't seem too excited when Tao saw them, but maybe a coffin was only good for gossip for one day. Or maybe the person's family had been found and notified.
Tao looked around when Boss stopped Dark Spear and leaned over to someone walking down the street. "Excuse me," Boss said, "but could you direct me towards the morgue?"
"Yes. You just need to keep going down this street," the person said, pointing, "and go left. When you see gravestones, you're there."
Boss nodded. "All right. Thank you."
It didn't take them long to reach the morgue, but Tao frowned when he saw the sheriff carriage outside. That…was a coincidence, wasn't it?
It seemed too ominous; Boss had good reason to hurry them.
But they couldn't have gotten there faster if they'd tried. Still. Maybe they could have.
Boss hopped off the wagon, Takagi-san following, and Tao peered out after them. Should he go with them? The sheriff was there… Boss hadn't asked him to go so Tao was content to stay where he was. Far away from the sheriff.
As Boss and Takagi-san neared the front door, it opened, and two people stepped out. The sheriff's badge flashed in the sunlight and Tao ducked back into the safety of the wagon.
"Morning, Sheriff," Tao heard Boss say.
"Mornin'. You come to try your luck at opening that coffin too?" The voice was wry, like the person was on the verge of chuckling.
"I – excuse me?"
"People were trying to pry it open all of yesterday," a second voice said. "In case there were documents inside detailing who the poor soul was."
Did people do that? Why put the dead person's name inside, where no-one could read it? That sounded like an excuse.
"They couldn't even pry the gold off the lid," the first voice said.
So he and M had been right that someone would do that.
"You're too late anyway. Someone got greedy and stole it in the night."
Tao froze. It was gone? After they'd travelled the entire night to get here?
"Took the door right off the hinges, they did."
"And some of the wall."
"I see…" Boss said.
"Is there any other business you have here?"
"…No. Thank you, and good day."
Boss sat down with a thump when he came over and Tao stayed silent as they moved off again.
Tao hummed as he finished brushing down Dark Spear, M somehow finishing before him. Though, his horse was smaller than Dark Spear, not that that was hard. Tao wrapped an arm around her neck as she led him towards the house; he smiled at her and gave her one last pat before going in.
He wandered through the house, following the sound of voices and found the kitchen, the others surrounding the table.
There was a steaming mug of tea at an empty spot at the table and Tao sat down at it, curling his fingers around the mug.
"They won't have left a trail," Boss said, "as much as they destroyed things in their wake."
"So we'll leave here soon?" Takagi-san asked and Tao was content to not join the conversation, savouring the tea.
"Unless there's a way to track them or have an idea where they may have gone." Boss shook his head, and then he sighed, brushing his hair away from his shoulders. "I am unfortunately used to being chased rather than being the chaser."
"There is a way," M said, his words slow. "There's a fort not too far from here. The agents would have taken the coffin there to store it before getting their next orders of what to do with it."
"You're sure?" Boss demanded.
"Yeah." M nodded. "That's what I would have done."
There was a scrape of a chair over the floor and Tao jerked at the sudden noise.
"Where?" Boss demanded, his hands braced on the table, staring at M.
...They were going to travel again? They'd jumped the last time, they'd still been late. Which was why they had to be faster this time. They hadn't unpacked apart from the essentials so they wouldn't waste as much time as before.
"North-west of here," M said, jerking his head in that direction. "Away from the sea front. It's only a couple of hours away."
"And you're sure that's where it is?"
M nodded. "I've been there a few times."
Boss sighed and then closed his eyes. "We need to go."
M raised an eyebrow at Boss, his lips pursed. "Do you even know how you're going to get in?"
They had Takagi-san's guns and however M attacked and - Tao froze, his eyes going wide. No. If Boss was going to use Dark Spear to get in-
Boss didn't say anything, his gaze going towards the stable.
M-21 huffed. "I can get you in, but I'll need something to give them. Something of yours – fake information or an invention or two."
Tao huffed in relief, hiding it by pretending to blow into his tea. Boss wouldn't need to use Dark Spear.
Boss nodded. "I can make something up. However…" Boss frowned. "I may have some difficulties doing that if I'm to drive Dark Spear at the same time. I would rather give them useless information rather than something that could help them."
"I can do that, Boss," Tao said.
Boss looked at him. "Are you sure?"
Tao nodded, giving him a reassuring smile. "Yeah, the nap earlier helped." It was true, and if it helped Boss, he would do it.
So long as they didn't bump into any bandits he would be fine. Even though they were heading towards a fort filled with people worse than bandits…
Boss hummed and then looked at M. "Will your horse be able to handle this journey?"
M's gaze drifted towards the stable. "Yeah. It'd be easier on her if she wasn't carrying anything though."
"Hmm." Boss looked between Tao and M. "Would it be better if you sat next to Tao?"
He nodded again. "I can direct from there."
"I'm fine with it too," Tao said.
"That's good." Boss paused, his attention on M. "And thank you."
M's eyes widened, his mouth parting for a second. He glanced away, pursing his lips. "Uh. Yeah, whatever."
…Had he been like that when Boss had praised him too? Tao was sure he had flushed when Boss had complimented him. Did he still do that?
"Well then, we had better get going," Boss said with a clap of his hands. "Tao, could you go prepare Dark Spear?"
"Yeah!"
When Tao entered the stable again, Dark Spear lifted her head and nickered at him.
"Hey," he said as he approached her, "we're on the move again."
Her ears twitched and she walked towards him.
It didn't take him long to set her up but he frowned when he was done, lifting his head and sniffing. Was that…smoke? That couldn't be right.
Tao headed back to the kitchen and the smell got stronger with every step. He halted, seeing Boss in front of the lit fireplace. Tao sucked in a breath when Boss fed it one of his journals.
"Boss!"
"Ah, you're done," Boss said, smiling at him, getting another journal ready.
"What're you doing?" Tao demanded, rushing over. That was Boss' work, that he'd been protecting for all this time and now he was destroying it?
Boss' smile stayed in place. It didn't look forced. "Ensuring the Union doesn't get my data in case something goes wrong."
Oh. That was a real possibility, now that they were going to the Union, but … All the work Boss had done…
"Not to worry," Boss said. "I still have all the information here." Boss tapped his temple with a finger and Tao relaxed. Boss was right. That information could be remade; it couldn't be taken back if it got into the Union's hands.
"Where're the others?" Tao asked as he held out a hand to help Boss.
"Selling some of my more innocuous inventions," Boss said, handing Tao a few of his journals. "The Union will find it harder to get their whereabouts, and it will lighten our load as well."
"But…" Tao said, throwing one in and watched the flames take it page by page, "if you're getting rid of your inventions, what about Dark Spear?" She could be caught. Did they have to leave her behind too? But if they were, Boss wouldn't have told him to prepare her.
Boss chuckled. "She can handle herself."
Yeah, she could.
Tao settled back into the driver's seat and M sat next to him after tying his horse to the back of the wagon.
"Their storage area's huge," M said once they had travelled for a while, his feet propped up against the edge of the wagon, "but if the Union really wants the coffin, it'll be close to the entrance and somewhere open so it's easier to get out."
"Thank you for all the information you're giving us," Boss said from within the wagon, his tone a little distracted, and Tao could sometimes hear the scratch of pen on paper.
M shrugged and it looked like he was better at accepting gratitude. Or he was better at hiding it now. "The more you know the better chance you've got of stealing from the Union."
When M gave Tao a new instruction of where to go, M peered into the wagon. "What are you putting in there anyway?"
"Hm?" Boss replied. "Oh, formulae that cancel each other out, old discoveries that have since been debunked. Useless stuff. Why?"
"Can you add something that’ll explode in the scientists’ faces?"
Tao listened, quietening his thoughts when he heard Boss chuckle - that wasn’t the response he’d expected from him. But seeing what Tao knew of the Union and what Boss and M must have gone through because of them… It wasn't that surprising.
"If I make it too obvious, they’ll notice and won’t do it."
"Tch." M squared his shoulders, scowling. "I don’t care. There’ll be someone who won’t check, especially after they've been trying to get your information for so long. That's all you need."
Boss hummed. "Very well; I’ll put some in."
M smirked, straightening. "Good."
"Do you want someone to go with you when you go back?" Takagi-san asked as Tao adjusted his hat against the sun.
M snorted. "No. You wouldn't know what to say or do; it's better if I go alone."
Tao didn't like it, but he was right.
"What do we do if something does go wrong?" Tao asked. No matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise, the worry was still there.
M didn't say anything for a few seconds. "An alarm'll go off and the soldiers will kill anyone who they think is suspicious."
That…was great to hear…
"But this fort's small – there shouldn't be any modified humans there." 'Modified humans'? "They won't be expecting me, so I'll be able to surprise them. It should be enough."
Tao looked at him, puzzled. That didn't make sense to him. "But don't they know about you?" The Union were the ones who had changed him in the first place.
M snorted, clenching his hand into a fist. "My transformation is…different from other modifications. Stronger. Someone like me isn't supposed to have it." He glared down at his hand. "If the Union knew, I would have been dragged back to the labs and kept there."
…Oh. That explained why he hid his hands behind his gloves. "Okay."
M-21 didn't add more, crossing his arms and staring out at the horizon.
So now all they had to do was do it and steal a coffin. Easy. Nothing could go wrong.
Even in Tao's mind, it sounded fake.
The fort was imbedded into the side of a mountain surrounded by a forest. Tao wouldn't have known it was there at a distance and even knowing that it was, Tao wasn't sure if he would be able to find it again. He wouldn't want to anyway.
"That's weird…" M said, his mouth at a slant as they got closer to the fort.
"What is?" Tao asked, keeping his gaze forward, trying to act 'normal' flexing his hands when they got too stiff. Was something wrong before they'd even started?
"There's more guards out than usual."
Tao squinted, seeing two guards in front of the closed gate and a few more patrolling the wall. He flicked his gaze away when the sun caught off a few rifles.
Tao drew Dark Spear to a halt in front of the gate, keeping his eyes on his own hands.
"You have papers?" the guard on the left said.
Tao froze at the words, his heart stopping. Papers? They didn't have that! They were going to be found out when they hadn't stepped foot into the fort yet!
"Papers?" M snorted, putting his foot up on the rest like there was nothing wrong. "We don't exist - how are we supposed to have papers? All I've got is this," he said, waving Boss' journal, "and all the other stuff we picked up."
Tao peeked from under his hat's rim at the guard's face.
There was no answering scowl or narrowing of eyes at M's remark, but a smirk instead. She waved her hands in a placating way. "Hey, orders are orders; we have to ask anyone who approaches. There's some new drop-off the higher-ups don't want anyone getting."
M rolled his eyes. "That's everything they get their hands on."
Could the guard be talking about the coffin? Tao hoped so. It was something to focus on rather than how his stomach had shrivelled up inside him.
"Heh." The guard jerked her head to the other guard, who started to open the gate.
"You know the procedure," the first guard said as the gate opened. No, Tao didn't.
"Yeah, yeah," M said, snorting. "Report to the Captain straight away and no detours."
She gave him a tight-lipped smile.
"It's not like there's anything else to do here except drop stuff off."
There was a lull in the conversation and Tao twitched when he realised that was his cue to move the carriage again. He clicked his tongue and Dark Spear moved.
That…could have gone a lot worse. Tao's heart wasn't convinced, still trying to smash its way out of his ribcage. But he couldn't relax now, not when they were surrounded on all sides. Tao was sure all eyes were on him and he kept his head ducked, following M's soft directions.
The fort seemed huge with an open courtyard that would make it easy to be picked off by any of the guns the soldiers were carrying.
"Shit."
Tao's hands tightened at the soft exclamation. "What?" he hissed back. Something else was wrong now? Everything was off about this!
"Mary."
Who? Tao pulled his focus away from the buildings, looking at the people around them. He caught sight of one person surrounded by some guards, who wasn't wearing the same uniform as them.
It was a woman with long dark hair tied up in a ponytail, leaning back on a building wall. Her arms were crossed, and she seemed bored at the fact she was surrounded by a number of soldiers. Her dress was loose, not like the fuller shapes of the dresses Tao had seen recently, the sleeves large and poofy. By her side was a parasol.
"What about her?" Tao asked. Though if M knew her by sight and name, it had to be bad.
"The same scientist modified us," M said, his teeth gritted. "So she'd recognise me. She must have been the one who brought in the coffin."
Ah, shit. "Would she know what mission you had?"
"…No. Not unless Crombell told her. She's one of his favourites, but I don't think he tells her everything." M frowned. "She's stronger than me; if she found out I'm a traitor and that I'd kept my transformation a secret, she'd kill me." He closed his eyes and exhaled. "She shouldn't. There's no need for me to reveal that here."
Unless something went wrong.
She didn't approach them as they passed and Tao took that as a good sign.
"I'll meet you at the entrance," M said, nodding towards the guards at the storage area.
"Yeah…" Now they were on their own. Well, not quite – Tao still had Boss and Takagi-san, but M didn't have anyone to back him up if anything went wrong. Which there shouldn't. Because all M had to do was go in and out and that was it.
Even though everything else had been going wrong so far.
The guards opened the doors without any questions and Tao took a few breaths as they entered the storage area. It was colder inside, out of the sunlight and Tao had been too distracted to notice they'd been going towards the mountain. They were inside it, the walls smooth and shadows created from the electric lights hanging above them.
Tao looked around, trying to figure out what direction to go in first. There were shelves, bookshelves and entire areas filled up with things that didn't seem to have any kind of order to it. But he had thought that when he'd first met Boss. At least the guards hadn't asked what they were dropping off.
Boss poked his head out as Tao tried to find something coffin-shaped and white. It should have been easy to find in there; most of the items were a lot smaller and darker than what Tao was looking for, but the place was so big. And what were all these items? Tao couldn't recognise them at a glance.
Dark Spear didn't wait for him to direct her and, okay, this direction seemed like a good one as any to start with.
Tao kept a lookout as Dark Spear kept going, but his eyes widened when he saw a door looming ahead. It was made out of metal, as was the wall it was attached to. No doubt this was their high security storage. Dark Spear stopped in front of the doors and M hadn't said anything about this!
How were they going to get through the door without making noise and calling the soldiers to them? Maybe if Boss used Dark Spear but that wasn't an option Tao wanted.
He frowned at the lock dangling in front of the doors.
"…Huh." Could he do it?
"What is it?" Boss asked, and Tao looked at him over his shoulder.
"I think Dark Spear led us to the coffin." How she knew, Tao had no idea. But she had found Takagi-san, so Tao trusted her judgement.
Boss stood up and peered over Tao's shoulder. "Ah, I see…"
Tao pulled his tools out from under his coat; they never left his side and found comfort of them being on him even though he hadn't needed to use them in months.
"Tao…?"
He looked back at him. "I think I can get us in, but it might take some time," Tao said. Boss had to agree because the other way was too dangerous and too loud. Even though Tao's way was also slower and that could cost M if he needed them.
Boss blinked and then looked at Dark Spear, who flicked her ears.
"Very well," Boss said.
Tao smiled at him and slid off the wagon.
The lock was a bit bigger than a regular one, and Tao frowned in concentration as he started feeling about the inside with his tools.
The insides were also configured differently from what Tao was used to, but it was still similar enough. Boss' lock had been harder to figure out. Tao was also rusty from being out of practise so he had to go slower than what he knew he used to be able to do before. He could feel every second tick past as his tools continued to slip, but he could do this. He knew it.
The lock snapped open and Tao grinned, breathing a sigh of relief as he tucked the lock into a pocket.
"Well done," Boss said.
Tao flushed and smiled at the compliment.
Takagi-san came up as they started to pull the door open. They were heavy, but they were made out of metal.
Once the gap was wide enough to look through, they did.
Tao's attention was caught at the same time he heard Boss' hiss. There was a large, white coffin a little distance from where they were, deep enough to fit two people. The description hadn't done the coffin justice.
Tao had never seen something that white before, and it wasn't gold leaf brushed on but it looked like solid bars had been welded onto it. The gold cross itself took up the entire lid.
Something like that could use to buy an entire town and someone had made it into a coffin? How rich was this family?
Boss' breathing was ragged and Tao turned to him; his eyes were wide and staring, his lips parted.
Did that mean it was what Boss had expected or it wasn't...?
"Boss...?" Tao didn't want to ask in case the answer was negative.
Boss closed his eyes and visibly pulled himself together, his breathing evening out again. "We need to put it in the wagon."
Oh! It was what Boss had thought it was.
Tao nodded. "Got it, Boss!" They pushed the doors more so the coffin could squeeze out. Once they had done that, they went into the room.
The coffin was bigger up close, almost reaching Tao's knee. There didn't seem to be a latch or any hinges on the lid, and how couldn't people open it?
There were no scratch marks or dents to indicate that someone had tried to force it open. No name on it either. It was a blank slate; an expensive blank slate, but still a blank slate. Who had they left behind? There must have been someone, if they had been put into a coffin. But if they'd all died at sea…
Now that moving the coffin wasn't just an abstract plan and a reality, it was morbid to think about what they were going to do. He didn't want to move the person's bones, but it was better they did than the Union getting them. Who knew what would happen to the person's relatives then.
Tao backed off when Boss approached the coffin. They should hurry after all the time it took for him to open the door, when M could be waiting for them, but the way Boss was staring at the coffin, it seemed…personal. He looked lost staring at the coffin, his eyes wide and lips parted.
Boss reached out, but he stopped when his fingers almost brushed the metal. He clenched his hand, bringing it back to him.
Tao had spent enough time around Boss to see he was trembling.
"Tao, if you could go to the bottom; Takagi-san, please come carry the head with me."
"Got it, Boss."
Tao grasped one of the handle bars at the side as Boss and Takagi-san did the same on their end. At the countdown, Tao hauled the coffin up.
The coffin was lighter than Tao expected. Hefty enough that it couldn't be empty inside, but Tao had thought there would be more weight to something made out of metal. Or maybe it was empty and all the weight was the coffin.
He peeked at the others, and Takagi-san's eyebrows were drawn in confusion as well. Boss didn't seem that surprised, though he kept glancing at the coffin.
Maybe it had something to do with what Boss knew about the family. Who was this family?
Tao followed the others as they loaded the coffin into the wagon, M's horse getting out the way with no prompting. Boss got up first and carried it in rather than sliding the coffin in.
Tao followed him up and helped to secure the coffin to the wagon, hearing Takagi-san come up behind him.
Boss still wasn't that steady but he nodded at them when they were done and Tao exhaled, nodding back.
They got out the wagon and together they pushed the doors to the room closed again.
Tao leaned on it once they were done, huffing. Only people who had been experimented on by the Union could open that by themselves. They might not have been able to open it if they'd been less than three people.
Once he recovered, Tao slipped the lock back in place.
He went over to Dark Spear and gave her a few pats as she huffed and pawed the ground.
"Think that's us all done," Tao murmured at her and she pawed the ground one more time before settling down. There was a rustle and Tao looked over to see Boss and Takagi-san settle a sheet over the coffin. Tao was familiar with the colour – it was the sheet he and Boss used to make sure they didn't lose any pieces of a machine while they were at a camp fire.
"We're ready," Boss said, and Tao nodded, climbing to the driver's seat.
One of Dark Spear's ears flicked back when he clicked his tongue and she walked forward. Tao saw the straps go taut and with no visible strain, Dark Spear pulled them.
Tao took a few calming breaths as they approached the storage doors, hiding under his hat again. They'd been let in, so they should be let out again. There was nothing suspicious about them. Apart from the coffin inside the wagon. But the back hadn't been checked when they went in, so they could pretend the coffin had always been there.
Tao didn't look at the guards as they passed and no-one called out to them either. Good. Tao flexed his hands, trying to will his heart rate down, but it wasn't listening to him, content to both ram down to his stomach and up his throat.
It would be over soon. They just had to wait for M and then they could leave.
Tao slowed Dark Spear once they were away from the storage area and they stopped near a wall, close to the entrance. They were still under the gaze of a couple of the soldiers but it was better than being open on all sides.
A few minutes passed and nothing happened. Waiting a few minutes didn't mean anything. Nothing had gone wrong on M's side.
Tao couldn't stop bouncing his leg, having too much energy but no way to get rid of it. When another minute passed, Tao huffed and scrambled off the wagon.
"Just checking on the horses," Tao murmured. He heard soft sounds of acknowledgement and walked over to Dark Spear. She seemed fine and nosed at him in greeting.
"A little longer," he whispered, seeing her ears swivel towards him, "and then we can leave. …I hope," he added in a smaller voice.
She nudged and Tao smiled at her, patting her.
He wandered over to M's horse, who turned her attention to him, snorting.
"Hey," he said, stopping short and letting her come to him. She gazed at him for a few seconds and then approached him. "He should be back soon," he said, trying to make his voice as soothing as possible.
She seemed calmer than Dark Spear, and right, she'd been in and out of places like this for a while. She must be used to it.
That done, Tao looked around again and he still couldn't see M approaching them. He didn't even know what building M had gone into.
Mary wasn't around either. He couldn't find the large group that had been around her either. That didn't mean anything, right?
Tao put a finger down his collar, and pulled it to cool himself down. Maybe she'd gone inside from the heat.
His stomach squirmed, trying to engulf the rest of his insides. Did the meetings usually take this long? Had something gone wrong? Should they try to find M? But if they moved now it would look suspicious to the s-
Something exploded. Tao dropped down to protect himself, the boom reverberating in his chest. He skittered back as M's horse reared up with a shriek, dodging her hooves.
W-what-?
One of the buildings was a pile of rubble when Tao peeked out from behind the wagon. There was a few seconds of shouting and gestures, and the soldiers rushed towards the plume of dust.
Tao sucked in a breath (and spluttered at the dust he inhaled) at howl echoing in the air.
That was M. He knew that howl. But…if M had lost his senses, something must have made him. Hurt him.
They had to help him.
But what could they do? While Takagi-san had his gun, Tao didn't want Boss to use Dark Spear's power.
Tao froze when he saw no all of the soldiers were focused on the explosion, but on them. They had arrived and a couple of minutes later, one of the fort's buildings was destroyed. Not suspicious at all.
With their guns raised and pointed towards the wagon, the soldiers inched closer.
The soldiers halted, swinging their guns towards the front of the wagon, away from Tao. Gunshots rang out and Tao flinched while the soldiers ducked to cover. Takagi-san must have shot first.
Tao dived into the safety behind the wagon. M's horse screamed again but Tao breathed a short sigh of relief when he heard hoofbeats dash away. One of the bullets must have cut through her reins.
He flinched again as more bullets slammed into the wagon. None had gone through to his side yet. Were they hitting the coffin instead? And what about Boss and Takagi-san inside it?
Dark Spear bayed, kicking the wagon and Tao heard Takagi-san swear. Shit, Dark Spear was trapped, tied to the wagon. She could take more damage compared to a flesh horse, but she was a fish in a barrel like this.
Tao flinched at another gunshot, curling up against a wheel, trying to make himself as small a target as possible. He heard the rapid-fire clangs of multiple bullets smashing into her. She was going to die. They were all going to die.
There was a tremendous crunch as something zinged past, and Dark Spear reared up further than she had before; her straps were hanging free.
She could escape!
Dark Spear wheeled around on her hooves and charged towards the soldiers. What was she going to - oh no.
The soldiers cried out when Dark Spear must have ran into them and Tao cringed at what had to be hooves snapping bone.
There were shouts Tao couldn't make sense of as screams interjected them every time Tao took a breath. But just as soon as they started, the screams and gunshots tapered off one by one as Dark Spear continued to bay.
All Tao could hear was his blood rushing in his ears, while his heart tried to smash out his chest again.
Was it over? Tao swallowed, straining his ears. He heard Dark Spear snort, but that was it.
Tao jerked his head up at a scrape to his left.
It was Boss, peeking out from around the wagon bonnet and after a second, he hopped out.
Tao almost called out after him, but stopped himself in time. What if he brought the wrong attention to Boss?
To Tao's right, he heard Takagi-san go out the front of the wagon.
That had to mean it was safe. As safe as it could be. Neither of them were hurt.
Tao took a breath and peeked around the wagon. There was blood and bodies everywhere, a dust cloud obscuring most of them, to Tao's relief.
Dark Spear was in the centre of it all, her legs bathed in blood, sunlight glinting off where bullets had torn through her skin. Boss was walking towards her, not trying to dodge around the pools of blood or bodies.
Was that everyone? Had everyone come to fight her and died? Tao tried to suck more air into his lungs, getting lightheaded again as he gagged.
Dark Spear snorted and threw her head a little at the sight of Boss, going towards him. She seemed to be moving fine, none of her-
Something slammed into her hard enough to take her off her hooves and she crashed into a wall.
Before Tao could react, something long span out from the dust cloud and crashed into Boss. Through Boss, and Tao could see it sticking out of him.
Boss dropped without a scream and Tao froze. What-?
A shadow appeared through the dust and Mary stepped out from it, her face impassive. Her dress was shorn in places; her sleeves were gone and in their place... That explained why she had big sleeves. Her arms gleamed dark blue in the sunlight, almost black. Spikes ran up her arms, not like M's fur, but actual spikes, one of them the full length of her forearm.
Wait-
That had to mean-
What - what had happened to M?
Those kind of parallel tears didn't happen from a bullet. If she was here with her clothes ripped like that…
He was jumping to conclusions. He had to be.
Tao flinched at the loud retort of Takagi-san's gun. Mary jumped away, far higher and further than Tao thought possible.
"Get Lee-san!"
Get-? Tao span his attention back to Boss – he wasn't flat on the ground anymore, but on his hands and knees instead.
Boss was alive. Boss was still alive.
Tao scrambled over while Takagi-san continued shooting at Mary. As soon as he was close enough, Tao pulled Boss to his feet, slinging an arm over his own shoulder.
"Tao-"
"You're gonna be okay, Boss." Maybe. Hopefully. Tao tried to not look at what was through Boss. It was so red and pieces of it jutted out at all angles.
"I'm all right, T-Tao."
He would have believed Boss if it wasn't for his laboured breathing, every breath sounding like he was trying to use every bit of energy he had to drag air into his lungs. The dark pool Boss left behind looked like it was half the blood in his body.
Boss stumbled and Tao tightened his grip on him, his own legs shaking. He was going to be dragging Boss' corpse by the time they reached the wagon. He'd seen what happened to people who'd lost less.
Every step was a step closer to safety. They made it to the wagon and Tao tried to lean Boss against the wheel but Boss shook his head, moving to lie on his side. It gave Tao a perfect view of what had gone through him.
It was a parasol. The one he'd seen near Mary earlier. How hard had she thrown it to go through a person?
Boss hadn't moved to take it out, and Tao wasn't going to touch it either.
Tao heard Takagi-san swear and a soft clatter.
Something slammed into the wagon a second later, rocking it as wood splintered. Something crashed through the wagon and Tao stared at the rifle embedded in the wall. If she could throw rifles like that, that meant she had a lot of weapons at her disposal, even if Dark Spear had mangled the guns under her hooves.
Takagi-san whirled in from the other side of the wagon, slamming his back against the wheel. His eyes flicked over to Tao and Boss as he reloaded his gun and Takagi-san nodded at them.
Tao nodded back. Last time, they'd had Boss against M; now M had been taken out before they could do something and so was Boss.
M had said she was stronger than him.
Was she just biding her time until Takagi-san ran out of bullets? If she healed faster than M, then Takagi-san's bullets were useless in taking her out. Which meant-
Tao jerked at a familiar snarl and he peeked out from behind the wagon, hope swelling in his chest.
M was there, his shirt gone and streaks of blood in its place. Tao recognised the way he was crouched with his hands curled and the twisted expression on his face that he wasn't thinking either. M leaped towards Mary claws first, slashing down.
She leaped away, the ground where she'd been standing exploding.
There was the familiar snap of Takagi-san's gun clicking into place and a second later, gunshots rang in Tao's ears again.
M was alive. So was Boss. If they could get out of here – but Dark Spear wasn't alive and Tao wasn't sure if M's horse was strong enough to pull all of them and the coffin. If she was still around.
"Tao…"
He tried to smile for Boss, keeping his eyes away from the trickle of blood out his mouth. "Don't talk right now, 'kay? We're gonna-"
"She wants you."
Tao stopped, not understanding what Boss was saying. Boss' gaze was distant, like he wasn't seeing Tao and that must have been it – Boss was delirious from the pain and blood loss.
Except Boss' eyes sharpened on him, and the hairs on the back of Tao's neck rose as Boss repeated, "She wants you."
There was only one being Boss could be talking about.
"Dark Spear's still alive too?" he hissed, his eyes widening and Boss nodded.
"She wants to connect with you. I'm unable to concentrate right now and there's no time." Boss clasped his hand; his grip was stronger than Tao expected. "You know what the consequences are."
Too well. If Tao failed, they would all die, but if he succeeded, he could end up dying from controlling Dark Spear anyway.
But that was from doing it multiple times, wasn't it?
Tao squared his shoulders and nodded. He wouldn't be a coward this time, not when their lives were on the line. Or try to.
Now he understood why Boss had continued to connect with Dark Spear when he'd asked him to stop.
There had been no other choice.
"What do I have to do?"