New Place to Begin

The sword

Yunjin was still shaken, even a few hours after the events of the station. The memories were slowly coming back to her, though it was still fuzzy.

Chaewon had been quietly fuming since they'd left the station, though Yunjin couldn't exactly tell why. Maybe she was angry that she'd been unable to stop the creature by herself, but, for some reason, Yunjin didn't think that was it.

Still, Yunjin kept her distance, unsure if Chaewon was mad at her or not.

She wouldn't blame her. Yunjin was a little mad at herself, if she was being honest. She'd managed to almost get herself killed in a matter of ten minutes while surrounded by people in a crowded train station. It was almost impressive.

Still, the quest had to continue.

They had a sword to find.

The nine of them walked through the streets of San Francisco, taking directions from random people in order to find their way to the coast. It was approaching sunset, and they didn't want to be in the city after dark.

Sakura walked next to Yunjin, and her quiet presence was comforting, especially after what had happened. Every so often, as if sensing Yunjin's unease, she'd look over and give her a reassuring smile. It was a small gesture, but one that Yunjin greatly appreciated.

Once again, her eyes drifted over to Chaewon, who walked in front of everyone, eyes down and footsteps angry and loud.

Yunjin frowned, and Sakura seemed to pick up on it, glancing between her and Chaewon.

"She's not mad at you, you know." Sakura said quietly, as if reading Yunjin's thoughts.

Yunjin sighed, glancing down. "I...I don't know."

"I promise, she's not," Sakura replied. "I've known Sakura for years. She's my best friend, and I know she would never get mad at you for something like this."

"Then what is she so mad at?" Yunjin asked, shaking her head. "I mean, it all turned out okay in the end. I didn't get eaten, the empousa got killed..."

Sakura hesitated. "I think...she's probably upset that she wasn't able to protect you." she said. "It was too close of a call for all of us." she glanced up at her friend. "She almost watched you die, and she couldn't do anything about it. I might be upset too."

Yunjin swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. Before she could respond, Chaewon's voice called from the front. "There it is."

Yunjin hadn't even realized, too consumed in her thoughts, but they'd already arrived at the coast. Across the water, Yunjin could make out the silhouette of Alcatraz, slowly becoming less and less visible as the sun fell below the horizon.

"How..."

She trailed off, but the question was left unspoken in the air.

How the hell were they supposed to get there? They couldn't exactly just buy tickets for the next tour, and it was likely closed until morning anyway.

Sakura reached over to rest a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry," she said, a smile creeping up on her face. "I got this."

The others watched as Sakura separated from the group and approached a man at the pier. As he was in the middle of docking his boat, Sakura paced over to him, her smile becoming flirty. She ran a finger up his arm and leaned in to whisper in his ear. The man was transfixed, rapidly nodding his head before moving back towards the boat to untie the ropes he'd been in the middle of tying.

Damn, charmspeak was effective.

Sakura ran back over to them. "This nice man would love to give us a ride," she said, giving them all a mischievous smile.