Cold Blooded

Speeches and Promises

 "Who are you, both of you?" Chongyun repeated quietly. He twisted his hands and pulled on his fingers. "I- I don't know you, and I'm not supposed to talk to strangers... I think."

"But, how-" A dry, empty laugh escaped Saya's lips. "Here, listen. I get it, don't talk to strangers. We all know that, but we're not strangers. You can trust me."

"What about him?" Chongyun pointed over Saya's shoulder at Ajax. "Can I trust him?"

Saya stood up straight and looked at Ajax. She didn't answer for him. He could lie, she knew that. Yet, in this moment, he had the choice. This didn't matter if they could trust him in the past, Saya knew that answer. Could Choungyun trust him now? Could she trust him now? Those were the real questions.

"I'll tell you the truth, Chongyun," Ajax took a deep breath and walked forward. He bent down on one knee so that he was eye level with the little boy. "I was awful to you and to Saya." He gestured to Saya and then rubbed his hand over his face again. "In the past, you trusted the wrong people and they used you. However, I promise you that I will do everything to get you back home. I want to give you back the life that you deserve. No matter what happens," Ajax looked over his shoulder to catch Saya's eye. This was for her too. He turned back to Chongyun and looked straight into the small boy's eyes. "You can trust me."

"O- okay," Chongyun pulled at the edge of his oversized shirt. "M- Misses said that someone needed me and that I needed to remember. Maybe- Maybe you guys are the ones that need me and you're the people I need to remember."

"I'm sure that's what she meant," Saya mumbled, her mind in a million places at once. "Who, um, who is 'Misses?'"

"She's the pretty lady," Chongyun reached up to scratch his neck, but stopped and looked with furrowed brows at his hand. "She lives on top of the mountain in the clouds. She makes the itching go away, but... I'm not itchy right now."
"Okay..." Saya looked at Ajax and Ajax shrugged at her. They were both lost. "How old are you Chongyun?"

"I'm..." Chongyun looked at his fingers and counted out the years he remembered. "I'm six."

"How much do you remember about everything?" Ajax leaned forward, desperate to figure out what was happening. Saya wasn't far behind him.

"I..." Chongyun's small, soft face began to crinkle and tears pricked at his eyes. "I don't know! Too- too many questions. I don't remember anything, but Misses and the mountain."

"No, no, it's okay, Chongyun," Ajax reached out towards the boy and Chongyun fell into his arms. "There's no reason to get upset, we- we just want to take care of you. Okay, buddy?"

"O-" hiccup. "Okay..." Chongyun grabbed the folds of Ajax's shirt. "Okay, I- I trust you, both of you."

"That's good," Ajax held the small boy close, whispering quietly. "That's good. Just trust us and we'll get you back home. All of you."

"Okay." Chongyun burrowed his face into Ajax's shoulders and looped his arms around his necks. "Okay..."

"Not good with speeches or words, you said?" A smile slid onto Saya's face and her reservations melted away as she looked at Chongyun in Ajax's arms.

"Nothing fancy," Ajax shifted Chongyun's weight a bit. "I'm a good liar, but you can tell the difference from the words I mean and the ones I don't. The truth is words that are simple and plain. You don't need to dress up the truth in the way you need to with a lie."

"Hmm," Saya's gaze fell over the rest of the cavern. "You're well prepared this time."

"Two bags filled with more than enough supplies and I'm really hoping you still have the map Tonia gave you."

"Still got it," Saya patted the container the weathered map was hidden beneath her coat. "I've been studying it, since there was little else to do outside of driving myself crazy."

Saya slid the map out and flattened it across the cavern floor. She bent down and traced her finger over the route Tonia had drawn. "This is the way that your sister charted for us. However..."

Saya slipped her hand into her outer pocket and pulled out the small piece of paper that Three had shoved into her hands. She made a silent wish that inside was what she hoped, but also felt the pull of a prayer that hoped it wasn't.

She unfolded the paper and placed it atop the map. Saya gasped as she looked at the paper. A smile pulled at her lips and tears pricked at her eyes. The piece of paper was stained and crumpled, but the meaning was clear. It was a crudely drawn map of the eastern coast of Snezhnaya. The three tower lab was circled by a red marker and an 'X' was drawn along the edge of a ridge in a mountain pass.

In the top corner were two scribbled phrases. "Find him. Stay safe." Those were Three's last words to her. He wanted her to find Gisei, but she didn't know why. Maybe the broken boy thought that Saya would be able to help Gisei. She hoped he was right.

"Tonia said not to take this path through the mountain pass," Saya said, placing the two maps side by side. "But if we go that way, we'll find Gisei and we'll be able to get to the southern docks faster and easier."

"We can't go that way." Ajax stood up and placed Chongyun back on the floor. The little boy reached up for Ajax to hold him again, but the man ignored him. His words had been firm. Not a suggestion, but a command.

"Well, how else do you want us to get to the docks and to Gisei?" Saya asked, she threw her hands wide. "If we go through the southern mountains we could end up taking weeks, especially this far into winter. This is the most practical route."

"We can't go that way," Ajax's voice came out like a threatening whisper. "I- I can't take you guys that way."

"So that's it?" Saya rose to her feet and stormed over towards Ajax's turned back. "After everything you just said, you aren't willing to take a path other than the one you want? We don't have time for personal preferences!"

"Saya!" Ajax spun around and the look of a desperate cornered animal danced in his eyes. Saya had never seen him truly afraid before. "I- I won't be able to make it through there. Not again. Not again..."

His last words were so faint Saya barely caught him. Saya had known that the eleventh harbinger had been through something when he was younger. He had risen through the ranks when he was only a teenager and the light was always absent in his eyes even when he smiled.

"Ajax," He had been through a lot, but so had she and so had Chongyun. "I know that you're scared, even if I don't know what happened to you. I just want you to know that this child has been through it all too. He deserves so much better, like I am sure you did. Just give him the chance to get what he is due. It's time to face your own demons after running away from them for years."

"I-" Ajax took a deep breath and laughed. "I guess today is just a day for speeches and good words. You're right." Ajax lifted Chongyun into his arms again. "He definitely deserves what he lost, so let's give it to him."