Us Against Fate [JINGREN]

I. Priorities

Agh... No wonder they call this place the shackling prison. Shackles locking his wrists together, Blade softly kicked the fragmental shackles that were on the floor of his cold, dark cell. The fake sunlight, that was supposedly to give prisoners fake hope, was shining through the small window that had bars on it.  He hated this place. He had been here countless times, and hated it even more every single time he stepped foot in it.

Suddenly, the cell door slid open. There, stood a young girl, blonde hair, brown eyes, with a tray of food in her hands. She placed it down on the table, and slid some bobby pins to Blade. "General Jing Yuan had informed me it was best you released yourself from these cuffs instead of me doing it for you... He said you know how to do it..?"

Blade didn't say anything and just picked up the bobby pins, signaling for the girl to go, and so she did. Tch, she talked way too much. She also made sure to lock the prison door before leaving.

Blade freed himself from the shackles with ease as he did it multiple times before. It didn't matter. He stood up and went over to the table with food on in. Ugh, gross as always. He leaned back on his chair and grabbed one of the books from the bookshelves. Maybe that would keep him entertained. Blade sighed deeply, wondering when Kafka would finally come and get him this time. He'd been in here for almost a whole week, and he'd been tired of it.

After a few more minutes, a bird flew into the cell from the small gaps of the window. It had a piece of paper, most likely a letter in its beak, slowly placing it down right next to Blade's hand, signaling that it was for him. It left quite instantly afterwards. Blade sighed, picking up the paper;

'Sorry for the long wait, Bladie. I got a little too carried away dealing with important matters with the Express. Anyways, here's the stuff you need. Hurry up and get out. Silver Wolf is waiting at the back. She'll take you to Scalegorge Waterscape where I'll be meeting you. Good luck, Bladie. —Kafka'

Inside the letter was also a key to unlock his own cell. The escape route was the same. Blade had always used it. Jukst walk through the back and enter the code. He'd observed it multiple times to get out of this very place. Blade didn't wait one more second and unlocked his cell door.

Blade made sure that there was no one roaming around before actually continuing with his escape plan. He quietly sneaked towards the back door and found the familiar exit door. He quickly entered the code, but.. BEEP! What? How was it wrong? It worked every other time he did it. No... This would attract the attention of the Ten-Lords Commission. It was not good. Blade tried to run away, back to his cell, but was stopped by the guards.

"General, it's him again!" One of them yelled, seemingly calling for General Jing Yuan.

Jing Yuan walked over to see what the fuss was all about. He sighed, closing his eyes for a few seconds. "Take this person back to his cell this instance."

"You...." Blade snarled, his hands being locked up again with shackles. "You changed the passcode to the exit door, didn't you? Huh, I should've seen this coming."

Jing Yuan shook his head, "No, not me." Then, as Blade was being taken away, Jing Yuan slipped a note into his pockets in which the others did not notice.

After finally reaching his cell, the guards threw Blade back into his own cell, then walked away. Fortunately for him, they didn't notice the note that was slipped into the pocket of his pants. Blade grabbed the bobby pin, hands still locked together, then unlocked the shackles once more. Ugh, being at this place was torture. Would Kafka realize that he failed his escape? Blade desperately needed Kafka to come up with another plan, because this one obviously didn't work.

Blade then decided to reach out to grab the note that Jing Yuan had slipped into his pocket, pulling it out and reading it.

'3AFQ7UC; escape tonight.' And attached to the note was the same key Blade had used to unlock his own cell. But.. Why would Jing Yuan help him escape? Wasn't he literally one of the Cloud Knights? Why would he help a sinning Stellaron Hunter such as Blade escape from prison? Whatever, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that Blade could escape.

After waiting for almost an hour, it was finally time to carry out the plan one more time. Night had fallen, and most of the guards had gone to sleep. Blade unlocked his cell door and rushed to the back exit. Blade hesitated, wondering if Jing Yuan was actually helping him or trying to trick him. Whatever, there was no time to lose. He'd deal with the consequences later. He entered the newly given passcode, and the door opened up this time. Thank goodness Jing Yuan didn't do one of his stupid little tricks. Blade quickly rushed out the door and took the elevator back up to the surface.

Blade finally made it outside and spotted Silver Wolf. He quickly walked up to her and she rolled her eyes, sighing. "Took you long enough."

"I was stuck inside. That Jing Yuan caught me trying to escape. But, it doesn't matter. Let's get out of here." Blade commanded as they both fled the scene.

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"Yes, Ren. We will hunt him down together, all right? We will let you get your vengeance." Kafka affirmed, turning around to look at Blade and Silver Wolf. "But now, we have much more important matters at hand. Please be patient, Bladie. Silver Wolf, I need you to help me project myself onto the Astral Express. I would like to have a word with them."

"Yeah, I can do that. But why here?" Silver Wolf asked. The Scalegorge Waterscape wasn't the most ideal places out of all places, especially for Blade.

Kafka shrugged, "No particular reason. I just thought Bladie might like it here. This brings back a lot of memories, no?" She smiled, turning to look at Blade.

Silver Wolf shook her head in annoyance, "Okay, are we going to talk about why the general let you escape? I don't know, but that's kind of fishy to me."

Blade shrugged his shoulders. He really didn't know and didn't really stop to think about it, "I don't know.... We haven't been on the best of terms since I became... you know, Blade."

Silver Wolf folded her arms and leaned back on one of the rocky ledges, "I don't knowww, I think he still cares about you is all. I think you should probably go talk to him about it, fix your relationship. Not that I'm involved in this or anything of course."

Kafka laughed sarcastically, but not to offend Blade or anything, "You know, I'm not so against that idea. However, we have much more important priorities to be focusing on. You can go do that in your own time."

Blade raised an eyebrow and shook his head aggressively, "No, no way. I don't want anything to do with that Jing Yuan. We were friends, yes, but.. We're not anymore."

"Okay, okay," Kafka said, "Let's just carry on with our mission. Silver Wolf, do whatever you have to do. Just get me on the Astral Express within the next 30 minutes."

"All right, whatever." Silver Wolf turned around and began to do her own thing.

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"Hey, March." Stelle walked over to March 7th, "Have you seen my phone? I think I left it in your room. I'm not sure though."

March turned around and smiled, "Oh, yeah, you did." She reached into the pocket of her skirt, grabbing Stelle's phone. She then handed it to her, "Here."

Suddenly, as Stelle was taking back her phone, a visual of Kafka was projected onto the Astral Express. Everyone on it turned their heads and stared right at her.

"Trailblazers," Kafka said, manipulative-lovingly with a smile on her face, "Please, I would like you to tinker a bit with your destination."

"Kafka.." Stelle mumbled to herself, quietly.

"A Stellaron Hunter? Oh, this can not be good." March 7th whined.

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A/N: How we feeling about this so far guys?