Starless Night - The Ballad of Cassidy Kidd

CHAPTER VI: TAKING THE TRAIN

I HADN'T LEARNED MUCH FROM the last time I was on a train, clearly.

It was a dumb decision, but it was also undeniably my only option, so at least I couldn't have made a smarter decision, either. Don't know why that made me feel better.

Leaning against the metal siding and gazing out the partially-opened train car door at the rising sun, I questioned exactly how long I had been out. I doubted this was the same morning that was dawning when I was shot, so it had been at least a full day- but then again, given the almost completely healed state of my wounds, it must have been longer than that, right? Upwards of a week? I hadn't even thought about Maria. She must be settling into her new life now, I thought.
I wished that I was settling into mine.

I had figured out fairly quickly where the prophecy was sending me. City of saints was clear- Saint Petersburg would be my next destination, same as before. Tallest tower probably keyed into the new factory building that had recently finished construction there- an almost completely vertical, fully automated production chain producing military equipment for the NEASR military. It sounded stupid to me, and incredibly perilous if I actually had to get to the top of it. I'd figure out the 'grasp the ground' bit when I got there, I figured.
I have no idea how people in books mix up prophecies like this- it's all pretty obvious. Probably plot convenience, or something like that.

The only problem I had yet to figure out was how the hell I was supposed to get into the second-most militarized city in the country without being caught by the police. Given that Icarus had used my full name, they clearly knew who I was, and I doubted wearing my mask-and-cloak get-up would really help me lay low. The only other ways would be through direct violence or stealth, and neither of those really seemed viable. Stealth would be impossible in the incredibly high surveillance streets of the big city, and even though my arm was clearly stronger than I had given it credit for at first, it still wouldn't be able to handle the entire city's police force. I was not-so-secretly hoping that I would find Cain at some point, and he'd magically fix all my problems for me with his seer disciple powers or something.
I decided I would camp out in a railyard just outside the main city. Maybe I could find where Cain ended up from there, too, or at least whatever was left of him.

Now I just had to wait. The train ride from where I was in the east precincts of what was formerly Finland to Saint Petersburg should only be a few more hours, I thought, since my fight with Icarus had already taken me at least a third of the way there.

And that would be a very, very grueling wait.

I decided to call out for the one friend I knew was still around- Billy.

Imitating the sound of a seed shaker using a bucket and some scraps I had found in the train car, and yelling out his name in that baby-voice that I'm pretty sure you're legally obligated to use when talking to animals, I yelled out the bird's name into the cold, just-past-noon expanse of white, blue, and grays outside the train car door.
After I started to wonder whether or not he'd be able to hear me at all, I spotted the tiny, black silhouette of my feathered friend flap up and out of the tree line and start towards the train.
About another minute later, Billy had plopped his entire painted self down onto my outstretched metal arm, and was clearly confused about the change of limbs. He poked at it with his beak for a moment, before realizing that the seed my clanging had promised was nowhere to be found. He was clearly disappointed, but still at least kind of glad that I was here. With my mask on, I was afraid he wouldn't recognize me, but Billy was definitely a smart bird, despite the embarrassingly stupid situation I had found him in.

I took solace in having a friend I knew I wasn't going to lose. I was deeply afraid that I was about to do a lot of losing, but at least Billy wouldn't find himself in those losses. I cracked open some of the food I had packed in my bag and tried to enjoy the flavors of tin can and preservatives. Hours passed in minutes, and before we knew it, my splattered friend and I had found our way to the outskirts of Saint Petersburg.