Rogues

Episode 16 | Ringing

Copia's ghouls rushed around the lair frantically. The keys for the bus had been left with Swiss a day ago and he'd already managed to loose them.

"I swear, if we're late because of this, I'm attacking Swiss with a pick!" Sodo yelled over the chaos, his tail lashing behind him.

"We won't be late if we just keep looking." Aether yelled back.

Rain sighed. "At this point, Swiss probably just shoved them up his ass...and I will not be checking!"

"Found them!" Cirrus shouted from the kitchen.

"Where were they!?"

"The sink."

"Someone wash them off, please!"

By the time the pack had finally left the lair and reached the garage, Copia had been waiting for almoust half an hour. "You all took your time with that. Now, hurry up. We don't want them thinking we're not coming."

Cirrus and Cumulas climbed in almoust immediately, Swiss following close behind. Sodo, Rain and Mountain all stepped in behind them and Copia and Aether brought up the rear.

The large Quintessence ghoul took the wheal and all the ghouls instantly hurried to grab onto something.

Within seconds, Aether had launched them out of the drive way and turned onto the road. He was known for breaking every speed limit imaginable, he almoust seemed to take it as a challenge. They raced into town and parked up outside Aquaika in record time.

The ghouls tumbled out of the bus, followed by Aether and Copia who seemed completely unfazed by their crazed arrival.

"I get that we were running late but damn!" Swiss called out.

"Yeah, and who's fault was that?" Rain replied, turning and crossing his arms.

Swiss opened his mouth to give some smart comeback but paused for a moment instead. "...Touché."

"That's what I thought." Rain strolled off into the building. Despite not being the pack leader, Rain seemed to command more authority than Aether did.

The ghoulettes laughed at his sassy reply, patting Swiss on the back with mock pity. The multi ghoul just growled at them playfully.

Copia lead the way into the building, instantly spotting the table where the Rogues had sat last time. Once again, they were crowded around it. The only difference was that Sunshine was sat with them. She was smiling and chatting happily and Copia felt relieved that she seemed to have been treated well.

"I'm not sure I really need to ask how she's been, do I?" Copia joked.

The Rogues instantly turned their attention to him, smiling at his friendly remark.

Bismuth stood up first to speak. "Well, I hope our treatment of her is enough to gain your trust. We don't just let people into the Nest for nothing."

Copia nodded. "I, for one, feel that you've done exactly as you'd promise. She is perfectly fine and seems to have enjoyed her time with you. I just hope this means you can trust us more often. We really don't want to seem like a threat to you."

Bismuth smiled, turning to the other Rogues for their opinions. They all met his gaze, nodding or humming in reply. He turned back to Copia and held out his hand. "Good to know we have protection now."

Copia took it and shook firmly, smiling back. It had been a long week and he had definitely had his doubts, but the result was exactly what he'd hoped for. The Rogues had proved that they could be trusted and Copia had proved that he trusted them. It was all as it should be.