We'll Be Okay

Plans

Grun

     Fluke walked through the dark streets of Grun to the guard tower. He hasn't told Evanz; he was fast asleep back at home. Ever since the incident that happened between their village and Lila, Fluke hasn't been able to get much sleep. They were so close by, they could attack at any minute.

     The streets are full of the townspeople, they always were more active at night. It works in Fluke's favor, though. The more people there are, the more likely it is that the spy Rage and Hollow have will miss something.

     "Good evening m'lord. What is it you wanted to talk about?" Fluke meets up with his head guard Jamie and his spy Zippie. Only, Zippie was nowhere to be seen.

     "I thought I told that spy to be here too." Fluke looks around the area for him.

     "He is weary of the enemy spy. You and I both know he comes at night. He's here, just hiding." Jamie jerks his head towards a small alleyway down the street a ways. "He's using his gear to listen in on us."

     "Smart man." Fluke smirks approvingly at the alleyway. "Now, the reason why you're here. I'm sure you are aware of the situation between us and Lila, right?" Fluke lowers his voice some as they stand in front of the guard tower. Jamie nods. The pair hear a small thud from across the street, making Jamie draw the sword attached to his hip. "It has to be him." says Fluke as the guard goes over to the alleyway. Seeing nothing or no one there, he turns around and goes back across the street. With how big the city-like village is, there's no telling what it was.

     "I'll keep my sword out to be safe." Jamie tells the lord as he approaches him.

     "Right. So, because of this situation, I am paranoid of an ambush, as lame as that sounds. While we are clearly much larger, their army is more skilled, no offense."

     "None taken, I have come to learn that myself over the years. However, we have more magic users."

     "This is true. If you think about it enough, we have an equal amount of advantages and disadvantages. We need to get more advantages if we have a chance. That is why I want to upgrade everything belonging to the Guard. And I mean everything, you name it we upgrade it. If we can get better equipment than them, we may be able to pull a victory if we go to war. We start in the morning. Get some rest for tonight." Fluke pat Jamie on the shoulder as he went towards the Guard's Quarters. Fluke went back to his house to get what sleep he could.

~**~

     "Hey Fluke, wake up man!" Fluke heard the voice of Evanz as he was shaken awake. He woke with a start and sat up in his sweat-soaked sheets. "Oh thank God you scared me. I heard you yelling and found you tossing and turning."

     "I... it's nothing, don't worry about it." Fluke couldn't admit that he had the nightmare again, the one about what happened that day. That day has haunted him for who knows how long.

     "Was it that nightmare again?" Evanz looked at his friend worriedly.

     Heh, well shit you know me too well. Gotta get up and going anyway. We have a busy day." Fluke pushed himself to his feet.

     "I heard about it from Jamie. That's a smart move, upgrading the Guard's equipment." Fluke heard Evanz's voice through his exhausted ears. Evanz watched as Fluke made his way to the bathroom.

     Evanz walked out of the apartment building and onto the streets of the village. He was on his way to Zippie's place, he had plans for him to go over to Lila and spy on Rage and Hollow. When he came upon his house, he skipped the two steps leading up to the front door and knocked. Zippie opened the door and invited Evanz in.

     "So Evanz, what brings you here?" the spy asked as Evanz entered his house.

     "Hi Lord Evanz!" Evanz heard a voice from the next room.

     "Hii?" Evanz followed the voice and sure enough, Hii, Grun's shadow magic user, was lounging on the couch.

     "Hi! I just got here." Evanz disregarded him and turned towards Zippie again.

     "Zippie, we need you to work today. You know about the plan right? You were there?"

     "If by 'there' you mean 'hid down the road and listened in on the conversation with a microphone on Jamie's armor,' then yes. I was there."

     "Ok, good. Now, I need you to go into Lila and try and get some information. Jamie told me their spy may have been there last night."

     "It's entirely possible. He always uses the cover of night." Evanz was aware of this, but hoped he would've changed the way he did his job within the past couple of years.

     "Ok, um, go and find out how much they know, and see if you can find out anything." Evanz told Zippie his mission and he nodded. He watched as Zippie threw on his black cloak and left the house.

     "...What plan?" Evanz jumped at Hii's voice. He forgot he was there.

     "Well, I suppose you are technically part of the Guard, so... I guess it'll be ok to tell you. We're upgrading all the guard equipment, in case we need to go to war." Evanz explained the situation and saw Hii's head drop. Without another word, Evanz left Zippie's house.

~**~

     Zippie snuck his way into the rival village and saw Rage walking down the street. He seemed to be in a hurry. Keeping his distance, he followed from behind the houses lining the street. He saw the shadow magic user talk to him, or try to, before getting blown off. He followed Rage all the way to his house, where he saw Hannah, dressed in nearly all black standing next to the door, and smiled wryly.

     "Stop doing that!" He heard Rage exclaim.

     "Hey, I'm your spy for a reason aren't I?" Zippie was taken aback by what he heard.

     "She is their spy? How had I not noticed?" Zippie thought to himself. He regained his senses when he heard the front door close. He snuck up the stairs to the front door to listen in, but had to retreat when Pyro was stationed in front of the door, and returned to his own village to report.

~**~

     "Fuck, I wasn't expecting that." Zippie reported what he found in Lila to Fluke and Evanz, and explained why he had to leave.

     "Alright, I have a new plan. A plan that could possibly help us with... negotiations. And Zippie is going to be a big help with it." Evanz smirked at the two standing in front of him.