The Archer (Dr. Stone X OC)

Chapter 21

-Arisa POV-

"These markings dotting the way are Homura's path?" asked Kohaku.
"Why can we see this light, though?" asked Suika.
"Come on, wake up" said Senku. "You guys have seen it before"

"The blue gems!" said Suika.
"In powdered form" said Senku.
"I see!" said Kohaku. "You put it on Homura's arms and legs!"

"Oh?" said Kaseki. "I though it only lights up briefly just before dawn"
"Ultraviolet light" said Senku. "This light of science produces it artificially. The black light"
"We can follow these" I said. "We can find her!"

~

"Senku, let me make something clear" said Kohaku when we stopped for a while. "Homura's movements are exceptional"
"Gymnastics" I said. "It's a skill that doesn't exist in your age. I tried it for a while, but archery was more my thing"

"We won't be able to capture her unharmed" said Kohaku. "But I could behead her with my sword. Am I free to kill her?"
"Kohaku, have you ever killed a human being?" asked Senku.

"Of course not" said Kohaku. "That's why, the moment I must do it, I'll hesitate. My weakness will be exposed. In order to have the conviction to go through with it, I must impress it upon myself with forceful words"

"Relax" said Senku. "You might not even get a chance to use that horrible thing you have on your waist. Why do you think we worked so hard on that ridiculously huge box? The ultimate weapon of modern warfare: information communication"

~

"This race is a doubled-up game of tag" said Senku when it was completely dark. "Chrome, who's carrying the cell phone... Homura, who's chasing them... And us, chasing Homura. But what happens if we coordinate via radio in this situation?"
"Our game of tag suddenly turns into a pincer attack!" said Kohaku.
"That's information warfare" said Senku.

~

The next morning, we tracked Homura to a small river...
"This is bad" said Kohaku. "The light ends after this river"
"She must've washed all the powder off" I said. "She must have noticed it glowing in the morning sun"

"Also, why is this so-called cell phone ringing on and off?" asked Kinro.
"Gen is one-ringing us" said Senku. "He's using the ringer to send us Morse code. We can't use voice, so we're texting each other. That would be one way to think of it"

"I don't think that helps them at all" I said.
"We don't get your scientific civilization analogies" said Kohaku.
"Gen's reported locations and Homura's route have matched for the past several kilometres" said Senku.

"Which means Homura has caught up to them and she's following them now" said Kohaku.
"This information is worth its weight in gold" said Senku. "With Homura in front of us, and with us communicating our positions using our cell phones, we can see where every piece is"
He send a signal to Gen and the others.

~

I saw Homura climbing up the tree quickly, and that was the signal for Kinro and Magma to cut it down.
Homura was falling, she couldn't land safely.
"Now! Kohaku!" I shouted and Kohaku jumped to catch Homura safely.

"You may be fast, but if we know everything about when and where you show up, we can capture you unharmed!" said Kohaku.
I tied Homura up, very tight.
We said goodbye to Chrome and the others and went back home...

~

-Ukyo POV-

I was out looking for Arisa, again...
I checked every statue, but I couldn't find her...
"Where are you?" I whispered.