Thief of Sumeru

Chapter 5:Fire

Yurei looked at the building in front of her, it was commonly known as something shady in Sumeru as the outside looked nothing good. Taking a deep breath she walked in and made her way to the front ignoring shouting and whatever was happening. "Working by yourself today?" A masked figured asked as he was covered head and toe in black. It was the common thief Arrow. Someone to go to if you're looking for information. 

She handed over the note that she had carried in her pocket. "Listen, I don't have much time to explain, do you recognize this handwriting?" 

She looked over at the note. Yurei notice how her face seemed to go from carefree to serious in a matter of seconds. "Sorry, I got nothing" she announced. "What do you mean? You're Arrow, you know everything about everyone" Yurei stated as she stood there shocked. "I'm no archon of any kind really. As a thief, even I have my own limits. Smoky may have been able to track them, but judging by the note, you left them to keep them safe" Arrow stated. 

Yurei looked down almost in guilt as she thought of her dog being hurt. "This isn't something to take lightly. People could get hurt and..." she stopped as to think of her response. This was no time to think back about those memories. "I'll come back and pay a visit later. I have a criminal to catch" "don't get caught yourself" Arrow called as she left. She gave a wave of her hands as she walked out. 

Scaramouche sat at a table grumbling as Cyno had to scold him. "You need to keep yourself in check. Nahida allowed on this case so you can learn to be decent." Cyno scolded as he looked over at his notes as Scaramouche stuck his tongue out. "I saw that" Cyno stated. "Good, you were meant to see it." 

Cyno sighed as this was becoming a bigger pain than ever. Scaramouche being on the case has proven more trouble than what it was worth as he prayed to whatever Archon to give more patience for if they give him strength well that's another story.  

"Shadow is no longer our main concern right now" Cyno stated as Scaramouche looked over at him. "But isn't the main reason why we're investigating because of shadow?" He asked as he was no longer amused by waiting for hours at a time to hope for at least a little bit of information. 

"There's a threat on the Akademiya, our focus has changed onto that." Scaramouche had his arms crossed as he listened. "Do you think its Shadow's doing?" He asked. 

"No, in fact I think its someone from another group trying to cause trouble but nothing has been decided quite yet." He then looked up "but if someone calls for help over them, I'll stop them. They need to face judgment." 

And just like that "someone help, there's a thief" someone called. Cyno hearing this was quick to get on their feet as he heard the call. "You stay right here" he yelled as he went to see who this thief was. 

Shadow ran through the alleyways as she finally got a clue but she had to be careful. 'If Smoky was here right now, him pretending to be dead would be a great aspect' she thought as she watch someone closely. She stayed on their tale as to be careful of not being caught. 

Scaling the roof she was able to hop roof to roof as to stay hidden from sight. She waited as to strike as it was getting later into the evening and she had to do something fast. 

Seeing that the area was cleared, she was able to steal from them. "Thief" they yelled as she ran through the plaza. 

Yurei stayed on top of the roof as she heard someone call for help. Soon her effort would be in vain as she saw a sphere come from her front causing her to roll onto the ground as to prevent her from getting injured. Looking up she saw the one person she hoped to avoid. 

"Heh, General of the General Mahamatra themselves," she said out loud as she got up. "Never had I thought to see the day where you're standing in front of me" she added as she summoned her sword. 

"Shadow, your judgment is long overdue" Cyno stated as he activated his vision. "Listen, as much as I would like to fight you right now, I have a criminal to track down" she stated as she held her left arm out as her right stayed by her side holding the sword backward. 

Cyno then went for an attack as to strike her but she was quick enough to dodge it as the polearm then went to strike her blade out of her hand. Seeing this she was quick to change hands as she blocked the attack. 

"Did you hear me? A criminal is here" she yelled but was quickly cut off by another attack from him. Hearing a metal click together, he backed away as fire swept through her hand to make a shield. 

She watched as he jumped and landed behind her. It was almost as if he went invisible for a spilt second and reappeared. 

She managed to dodge and stumble a little. Not having much time to think she was kicked hard in the stomach. 

She hit the wall causing the air in her lungs to disappear as she sat on the ground. He approached her and kneeled down. 

Before he could say anything,  a sound of an explosion went off. "No" she managed to get out as she watched Cyno runoff. She got up but stumbled a bit and rushed off. 

The sight in front of her of screaming students as they ran was unbelievable. Not having time to stare, she rushed inside. 

Parts of the building were falling down. "Can anybody hear me?" She called as she suddenly heard coughing. "Over here" someone called. She rushed being careful to not get stuck or burned as the fire spread.  Seeing a pair of students and a beam trapped onto one of their legs she  rushed over. "My leg, it's stuck" they cried out.  

"Lift on a count of three" she instructed as she pointed to the end of the beam as she grabbed the larger side. "One, two, three" she counted quickly as she yanked out the student. Grabbing one arm, she watch as the other did the same. "I'll clear a path for you, after that you need to get out" she stated. "Thank you," they said. 

Cyno looking at the scene was a bit slower but watched as Shadow run in. He watched as two students shortly followed from behind after the few minutes she was in. "Have you seen anybody?" he asked them. 

They explained as they watch someone go deeper into the fire to help more people who were trapped causing Cyno to give the order to call for healers. 

Yurei went deeper as she saw a person in a lab trying to gather their research. "Sir, you have to get out. You can restart your research but if you're dead you can't do anything" she said as she pushed them out towards a nearby exit.  

Soon though her vision began to fade as she went deeper and deeper in as the smoke filled her lungs. "Have... to...save" she then fell onto the floor as the fire consumed more wood. She closed her eyes as she could no longer stay awake. 

"You're troublesome" she heard someone say but she couldn't even see who.