Okumura Syndicate

Chapter 45: Perculiar cave

As morning turned to afternoon, Aster's group found themselves wandering aimlessly throughout the land, no clear goal in mind. "I suppose the other groups have it covered, as if they'd contact me for any reason other than to spite me...", he complained. The wind blew with a lot of force, and fog was setting in the distance. They were lost.

As Aster's group sat down to wait for the weather to clear up, six figures of people settled around them, unable to make out from how far away they were. "Who goes there?!", shouted Aster at the top of his voice, hoping they'd hear him. Seemingly understanding him, the figures moved closer, clearer, until the group were finally able to make out what they were, recognised by their emblem, a group of Renegard soldiers.

"Trying to beat us to the bounty, scum?", one of the soldiers called out. Aster readied his weapon, preparing to attack, the rest of the group following suit. Tamara with her paper, ready to slice cuts, Hayden and his invisible blade, and Simone, ready to copy whatever her opponent has in store. "If you're after a fight, you'll need to face all four of us!", yelled Aster.

Meanwhile, Fleur's regime was approaching the cave after 3 miles of walking. Waiting by the entrance was Edward's group, listening in to the commotion. Fleur remained quiet, "Sir Edward, have you noticed anything suspicious?", she questioned the vampire. "Young Leon has been listening in for 2 hours and has determined that there could be up to 7 people in that cave, 2 men and 5 women.", whispered Edward.

"I-I can't seem to read any of their thoughts right now. Best to...lay low for the time being.", Fleur muttered. "There's no need to worry Fleur, we'll outnumber them 9 to 7. I'm sure we can win.", Craqq reassured the elf girl. Fleur focuses clearly on all the commotion going on within the cave, hoping her ability will work for once. Her stress was visible to most of the group.

"I still can't read anything...I'm useless...", Fleur sighed. As she looked on, all she could hear was the muffled speech that everyone else was picking up. "Why do I do this? Why do I feel so useless in these situations? I can't fight, that's for sure. Waiting patiently is all I can do for now, but it's so frustrating, everyone relying on your stupid, weak ability!", Fleur was unable to clear her thoughts, as much as she tried to activate her ability, it all got blocked by stress.

The sounds of heavy breathing quickly became apparent, not from the cave, but from Fleur, Craaq became concerned with her wellbeing, hopping in shock and worry when he noticed. "Fleur! Calm down", he shouted. However, this alerted those in the cave, who immediately got suspicious that people were outside.

Fleur and Edward's groups moved out of the entrance, hidden in plain sight. Suddenly, one of the two men from the cave walked out to check, the exact man from the photos. He approached the exit of the cave and looked left and right, brushing his long red hair out of his face with his hand while doing so. "Who trespasses near our cave?", he scowled.

The group analysed him while walking out of the cave. His top was a light cream mostly unbuttoned, he was practically shirtless, and below he was wearing baggy trousers in a faded burgundy, tucked into black boots. Craaq looked startled at his presence, aware it was his fault he was there in the first place, but then he looked up at Edward, unusually smirking as the traitorous associate went back into the cave.

"I'm going in.", he whispered. Fleur tried to hold him back, "But Sir Edward, you haven't been out in 5 years, why now?", she pondered quietly. "I'm going to give them an offer they can't refuse.", replied Edward, determined to stop whatever they're doing. "This syndicate is not going down without a fight!", the tall man marched into the cave alone.

Fleur was overwhelmed by the events of the last few minutes. Writing a message for her raven, she ordered for it to be sent to the nearest group, running a safe distance from the cave, she raised the bird up. "Whether you be in battle or anything else, this has to be more important! Get here soon!".