Don't Forget

#23 Shifting Sky

Ty was terrified when Sky told him about Mitch's orders. He has some of an assassin's stealth in theory, but it's never been tested in a high stress situation. You can't become a master in a month.
"Are you kidding me? Mitch wants to put us up against an entire army!?", Ty argues even as Sky drags him over to the horses.
"It'd be stupid for them to send all their troops. A third at the most. And all we have to do is keep them away from the people long enough for everyone else to catch up", the assassin shrugs.
"We'll be alone for at least two hours! I don't care how skilled you are. You can't fight off an entire army", the street rat barks back.
"The two of us only have to separate the civilians and the squids. There's probably not many entrances to an underground hideout", the assassin shrugs.
"No offense, but why are you even helping with this?", Ty reluctantly mounts one of the prepared horses. He's stalling for time, at this point.
Sky doesn't answer him. Instead, he counts each weapon on his person and tries to focus his thoughts away from the why. Ty's seen him dodge multiple questions like this before. All of the assassin's strange behaviors keep contradicting each other.
"Mitch gave me a map to the base. We should get there a little after dark", Sky explains before mounting. Two swords, six knives, a small bundle of rope, and whatever else is in his pockets.
It's impossible to talk once they get the horses moving. Ty is left alone in his thoughts. He's the one who's spent the most time with Sky, as fleeting as the ambushes were in training. He still only knows a few things about his teacher.
Sky is definitely an assassin. That much is true with the way he fights and moves. But Ty's noticed that he doesn't seem to enjoy it or have any pride. It's hard to hide much from Ty. He sees the that the assassin cringes when people look away or avoid him. Some part of Sky wants to be social and get to know the people around him.
Ty is actually a couple years older then Sky, despite being shorter. This was found out when the street rat called the assassin an old grandpa. This resulted in Ty being thrown into a river. If Ty is 23 now, then Sky must have been 12 during the attack on the capital. Where was he during that?
Although he wears mostly black, Sky has two strips of dirty cloth tied around his wrists. His jacket sleeves cover them up during the day. Ty only saw them before the two went to sleep. The strips of cloth are covered in dirt, but still have a faded golden color. The color of the GoldenEye kingdom.
The two horses eat up mile after mile. Still, it's only a matter of time until they tire. Sky has brought the horses down to a slow trot by the time the reach the closest village.
"Why are we here? Shouldn't we go straight to the base?", Ty asks when they reach the village and dismount.
"The horses are exhausted. Hopefully we can exchange for some fresh ones. Most villages are happy to trade horses with travelers", Sky explains, "Plus, I grabbed Mitch's wallet". The assassin pulls out a small bag and shakes around the gold coins.
"No way! He's gonna kill you", Ty gawks. No one else in the camp would dare mess with the Captain or General. Sky only smirks in response.
The village is a bit on the smaller side of the scale. A single main road goes straight through the town and continues past. Many smaller roads branch off of the main and into the residential areas. Most of the shops are on the main road, including the stable. That's here they'll be able to exchange horses.
"Sky, the road's covered in hoof prints", Ty speaks up. The two stand at the edge of town, holding the reins of their horses. There's an obvious trail leading into town. The tracks are so numerous that they cover up each other.
"Lachlan would of known if there were GoldenEye troops already here......", Sky trails off. He's staring at the tracks with a stoic expression. "We have to be careful. Take off your jacket".
     Ty hesitates for a second before taking his uniform. The jacket is the only real proof that he's a soldier. Ty would look like a normal civilian if he unclipped the sword. Worse, he's closer to his old life without that jacket. The soldier has to remind himself that Lachlan chose him for this special position.
The two turn off the main road and onto a side street. With the darkening sky, it's easy to leave the horses tied up to on of the nearby houses. The village is strangely quiet. It's like everyone is hiding in their homes.
     Although, it isn't totally silent. Ty can just about make out voices echoing in the streets. He's sure that Sky can hear it better than him.
     "Stay close to me. We have to figure out what's going on here", Sky mumbles, voice barely audible. Ty nods and follows right behind the assassin when he starts moving from house to house.
     Sky isn't resorting to the roofs just yet. It would go unnoticed if there was more noise, but there's no other sound to cover up the obvious thumps. It's easier to move through the shadows.
     Ty's recent training involved many of these skills. He had to hide almost all the time in fear of Sky pouncing from the trees. It's almost second nature at this point. Still, he's nowhere near the assassin's level. Sky is like a silent wrath as Ty drags his feet on accident. The sound is like screaming to Sky's instincts. Red would be laughing at both of them.
It only takes 15 minutes of creeping before the two have to stop. Through the buildings, they can see a large group of people gathered on the opposite side of the village. This is the route that Sky was planning to take to the base. The road leads half a mile from it at one point.
Ty is shocked to see that some of the people look like they're from this village. They seem to be taking orders from the others. The citizens are bringing various supplies out of their own storages. There's also several barrels of ale being carted around.
     A small group of squid soldiers are holding the town as a temporary base. There's only about fifteen, but they're all armored with swords at their sides. None of the people can fight back against trained soldiers. It would be seen as treason.
     The squids are having the people load their horses up with supplies, and a good drink. Ty's anger is staring to simmer at this point. After the attack on the underground base, the squids are probably planning to fall back to this location. GoldenEye's army aren't the only ones suffering from this war.
      Sky is strangely still and silent next to Ty. His eyes follow the various town folk as they gather supplies for the squids. There's even a few older children. The assassin suddenly straightens up.
Ty can't help but gawk when Sky walks around the house and into the street. It only takes seconds for his casual approach to be noticed. Ty nervously falls in behind. At worst, he can probably out run the rest.
     "Get back inside your home. We already have enough...... volunteers", one of the squids yell, their voice going rougher at the end.
Sky keeps waking, a smile actually growing on his face. Ty is becoming concerned for his mental health. How much trust does he have in this assassin? The image of Sky rushing to catch Sub only hours ago comes to mind. Ty has unconsciously put a lot of trust in him. The street rat is starting to look up to Sky.
"When did I say that a bunch of squids could steal from this village?", Sky cocks his head while still smiling. The wording seems a little strange.
     The same squid leans in to tell one of their comrades a quick order, before drawing their sword. They leave the others and start walking towards the two 'pests'.
     Ty takes a step back in nervousness. Provoking all fifteen soldiers would end very badly for the both of them out in the open link this. No matter how good a soldier is a sword's play, it's impossible to fight so many people at once.
     It's clear that the squid means to either scare Sky away, or simply kill him. The later would help keep the rest of the people in line. The assassin doesn't back down or think better of his approach. The two are only three feet apart when the squid soldier draws their sword with a slightly perplexed expression. Even they see the strange behavior.
Sky moves so fast that Ty jumps back a bit. The assassin has drawn both his short swords, and blocks the attack with one. The other finds the soft skin on the squid's neck. Blood sprays.
      It should be no surprise that Ty's seen death before. He is a soldier, after all. Not to mention all the violence on the streets. Sky's brief slaughter was much more abrupt then anything he's seen before. The squid soldiers are shocked frozen for a few minutes.
     "Hey Ty, why don't you move the people to that big hall near the entrance, would you?", Sky turns so that either side is facing Ty and the squid soldiers. He speaks rather loudly, getting the attention of the town's people.
Sky then springs forwards. He runs straight at the squids, and then abruptly swinging to the right. This snaps all the soldiers out of their daze. They yell chase after the assassin while glancing at the dead.
Ty comes to his senses just as they leave. That idiot. Sky is getting the squids to chase him away from the people. As of right now, this is all part of his plan. But that plan leaves Ty in charge of a small mob of people. They're all scared and confused with the situation.
      "What's going on? Who are you?", a woman shouts at Ty, pulling her child close. There is a corpse laying between them.
"It's alright, I'm a GoldenEye soldier. We're here to help", Ty puts his hands up even though there's a sword at his hip.
"The army is defeated. You're nothing but a fake. Those soldiers will come back and kill all of us", a man screams at Ty. The harsh words hit home.
"Well Sky is risking his life to try and help you people! I can't change the past. Just get inside so you can at least be a little safe!", Ty is suddenly screaming. He's mad at the squids for taking over the continent. Ty's mad at the man who threw his history into the dirt. But most of all, he's angry that Sky is playing cat and mouse with the enemy while he's arguing.
It starts slow, but Ty is able to get people back into their homes. It's the safest option with squids and an assassin running around. Yells and shouts echo from all over the area.
Ty needs to find out what's going on. With his recent training, he immediately looks for the high ground. A house across the street has a low roof. The houses next to that one has a sloped roof on one side.
The street rat grabs the roof to pull himself up. His feet scramble a bit on the door nob and siding to make it up. Ty then jumps onto the sloped roof and walks up to the top. There's a clear view of the town from up there. His climbing skills have certainly improved.
Small groups of squid, three or four each, are coming around in the streets that Ty can see. Sky must have split them all apart in the maze of buildings. This entire town is now like a giant chess board to him!
Even as Ty watches, movement catches his eye. He turns his head to see that Sky had popped out of an alcove in front of a group of squids. The assassin dispatches one before the others know that he's there. Buildings block the rest of the fight from view.
Sky has to be insane for doing something like this, but it's brilliant. The squid's advantage in numbers has been eliminated. The battle's direction has completely changed. He's picking them off one by one.