Unpredictable

Chapter 29--- Improbity

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Improbity (Noun)

Meaning:
1) lack of honesty or moral scruples
2) perseverance

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<Kai's POV>

We land on the rooftop of an crabby apartment complex— no dragon parking in sight, by the way, but Aquila doesn't seem to mind. Or really care.

Man, the cherry does not fall far from the blossom when it comes to Aquila and Rose, er, Alaula (according to that rant Aquila went on. How has no one addressed that we found out Rose's real name yet?!).

Aquila hums.

Cole flips off Aquila's back and pounds his fist into his open palms. "Alright, so, here's the plan: we find her and drag her back. Any objections?"

We all shake our heads.

Aquila snorts.

That's not a plan.

She sighs. We wait.

She's on the fourth story, third room to the right. And you're not going to have to drag her anywhere.

I rush down the fire escape before she can say anything else. The sooner we have Rose taken care of, the sooner we can get Lloyd back.

I unlatch the window and swing into the apartment. "Alright—"

An old cat lady wearing curlers falls off her fur-covered couch, shrieking like a banshee.
The old lady wore an "I-AM-THE-FUTURE-ALLYMP3-AND-THIS-FANFICTION-WILL-HAUNT-ME-TILL-MY-DYING-DAYS-BUT-I'M-STARTING-TO-STAN-IT-ANYWAY-YEET" shirt.

Zane grabs my shoulders before I can ask who Allymp3 is and hauls me back out the window. "I must beg your forgiveness, my friend here seems to have gotten the room number wrong. Farewell."

Zane leads me to the other side of the building. I pull my gi up to hide my red face.

I grab his shoulder before we enter (what I hope is) the correct window. "Zane. Let's agree to never speak of this again."

Zane quirks his eyebrow up. "...of course, brother."

I shove myself through the window. Before I can shout out the long monologue that I've been planning the entire way here (it was on the value of teamwork and what it means to be a ninja, complete with dramatic pauses. I had even incorporated a place for a fake tear if I was feeling up to it), a tiny human catapults into my arms.

"KAI!"

Only my ninja-reaction time keeps me from dropping her.

Bright blue eyes beam up at me as Kit pulls away, but stays in my arms, legs hooked around my waist. "I missed you all so much! I told you you needed to find Aquila so she could fix you now you're alright I'm so happy you're back because Willy was absolutely miserable and—"

Cole rubs her shoulder. "We missed you too, kiddo. Where's your sister?"

"I... she left a note. She'll be back, right?" Kit's hands grip onto the front of my gi. Her eyes fall to the floor and her bottom lip trembles. "Right?"

I grip Kit, pulling her closer to me. I glare ahead, in my mind seeing the black smith's apron my father gave me before he left, then the wide eyes of Nya as our mother followed him. It took two years to realize they weren't coming home; but only a week for me to promise myself and Nya that I'd never, ever, ever just up and leave my family like our parents did.