The Thieves of Otar

A Turn For The Worse

Zia and Elaina stood by, waiting, as the rest of the group gathered their things. They had put off their good-byes long enough, but now was the time to give final farewells and good wishes.

"Bes' of luck to ye, Miss Zia," Archibald said as he embraced her in a hug. "I hope ye find what yer lookin' fer."

"Thank you, Archibald," Zia said warmly. "My best wishes to you and your family."

Archibald smiled at her, gave her one last hug, then went to wait for the others.

"Well, you've surprised me, girl," Percival told her. "You're not half bad with a sword, and your terrible plan actually worked, something I will never understand."

Zia smiled. "Perhaps if you work hard you'll be able to gain a sliver of knowledge that will allow you to get an inkling of what happened."

He huffed. "The same to you."

Zia laughed. Then, in a more serious tone she said, "Thank you for everything, Percival."

Percival raised his eyebrows. "I don't recall doing anything for you."

"Well, you put Ryker in his place more than once," she reminded him.

"Saved the world single-handedly doing that, didn't I?" he agreed. And with that he went to wait with Archibald.

Zia said good-bye to everyone else, giving thanks and good wishes and stood back, waiting for Elaina to finish her farewells. When Elaina finished, Zia was very surprised to see Jay walking with Elaina to meet her. When they reached her, Zia asked him, "You were serious about accompanying us?"

Jay nodded, but didn't speak, for Heath and Ike had just joined them.

"How much longer are we going to wait here?" Ike asked with his trademark goofy smile. "Time is a-wasting."

"I agree. The longer we stand here the longer the trip," Heath said.

"Why are you here, Ike?" Zia said, ignoring Heath.

"Well, we're coming with you, of course. We can't let Captain Pretty Boy have all the fun."

Zia shook her head. "No you're not. Arch will be angry enough that I've gone, but with you gone too he'll be so mad Cook could fry eggs on his head."

Heath huffed. "I think he would be even more angry if we let you go all alone."

Zia rolled her eyes. "I'm not alone. Jay is here."

Heath's smile disappeared. "I see how it is. Jay can insist you don't go alone, but heaven forbid a friend trying to do the same.

Zia's eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me?"

"Let's get going," Ike said quickly, trying to keep the peace. "The sooner we get there the sooner we can go home."

"Yes," Jay agreed. "Let's move out."

Zia glared deeper at Heath before spinning on her heal and walking quickly down the Pass, grabbing her horse's reins as she went.