B.L.A.Q

Chapter 6

William hadn't been thrilled when he learned that he had to walk them back to the village. He would have preferred to stay in the cave, but Bai hadn't given him much of a choice and Ace had told him that he would drag him if he preferred. As he led them back, the team was mostly silent. He wondered what they had discussed last night when he noticed them all go outside the cave, but decided it wasn't any of his business. Luckily the way getting back to the village was easier than it was to get to the caves. He noticed Ace was having an easier time dodging the low branches and vines as well. Once they had cleared the forest and could see the village he stopped and turned to the four fauness. He looked at each of them and finally said "Good luck". Ace patted him on the back "We won't need it. We'll see you soon. All of us." William smiled before turning back to the trees and disappeared into the forest. The four looked at the spot where he vanished for a few seconds before Bai said "Alright let's get going. We can probably find the mountains once we get clear of the village." They walked back through the village, taking the same road they had taken the day before. Len finally asked "SO how are we going to find these mountains? We never got an actual name for them." Qin pulled a map from her pack and unfolded it. Scanning it thoroughly she stated "The last village was somewhere around here, and we headed north when William found us. So the nearest mountain range is..." she looked at the map a bit longer "Right here." She pointed at the map and the others looked at it. "That's about two days hike from here." Ace said. "So finding them shouldn't be a problem. We use the map to find the mountain, then with at least a hundred rowdy and sweaty bandits, we should be able to sniff them out easily." Qin folded the map and put it back in her pack "That is easy." Then she added "When have things ever gone easily for us?" They all grumbled in agreement and started walking again. After walking for a few hours the sun was at its peak in the sky. They kept walking on, though Ace protested that he felt like he was melting. They stopped for a quick drink and kept moving. "Qin, how much further? We have to at least be close by now right?" Ace sighed. Qin looked around and started to pull the map out from her pack before Bai stopped her telling her not to bother. She looked up in confusion and saw him pointing to something over the trees. In the distance she could see the peak of a mountain. Bai and Len looked at each other and Bai pointed to a humongous tree "Can you get a better view from up there?" Len looked at the tree then back to Bai "Wait here" and leaped gracefully to the first branch and rapidly disappeared into the branches above. Not long after they heard him coming back down just as quickly. "About a half days journey from here," he stated as he landed in front of the group "We've really been moving today." Ace turned to Bai "A half day huh? Let me guess. You want to get there by nightfall right?" Len and Qin looked at each other then at Bai, who was thinking to himself before speaking up "Actually since we're ahead of schedule we'll walk a bit longer then make camp. We'll rest early so we can leave in the middle of the night. We'll do the last bit of the hike under the cover of darkness and maybe we can do some recon before the sun comes up and think of a game plan. If all goes well, by sunset tomorrow we'll make our move. We have the advantage over them in the dark. Anything to add?" He looked at his team and they all shook their heads. They walked for another two hours towards the mountain peak before Bai sent Len into another tree to check their position. "There's a river coming from the direction of the mountain next to a small clearing. It looks like a good spot to make camp." Bai nodded and told Len to lead the way. Once they got to the clearing he told them "No campfire tonight. I don't want to give away our position. I'll take first watch tonight." With that the team began to settle in and Ace pulled out some dry rations and passed them around to everyone. As night fell, Bai told everyone to get some rest. After everyone had taken watch for an hour, they would be heading out again. They climbed into their sleeping bags and looked up at the moon. It was directly overhead of them in the clearing since there were no branches to obscure it from their view. Bai leaned up against a tree and went to fish out his cigarettes to find he had only three left. He cursed himself for not thinking to buy more at the last town they were in and lit one anyway. Ace broke the silence first "You guys think Hina's still alive or what?" The others were used to his blatant way of thinking, but Qin still scolded him for saying that out loud. "Of course I do. If they were going to kill her then they would have done it back in Hyland." Ace sat up "Len? What about you?" Len looked over at him "I agree with Qin. There would be no reason to kill her after kidnapping her. That would seem pointless." Ace turned to Bai "And you?" Bai didn't answer at first. He was watching the smoke rise from his cigarette. Len and Qin sat up and looked over at the captain "Bai?" Qin said "You think shes alive too right?" Bai looked at them "It would be pointless to kill her after going through all that trouble," he puffed on the cigarette and continued "but, we are dealing with bandits. The villagers didn't expect her to be kidnapped which proves how unpredictable they are. So I wouldn't put it past them to do it. So if she is alive, we need to be there to make sure she stays that way. Qin you're up next for watch. Get some sleep." The others laid back down in their bags and Bai finished his cigarette. He knew they wouldn't actually be sleeping tonight. Aside from Ace, they were all night fauness, so he would need the most sleep. He leaned his head back against the tree trunk and listened to the owls hooting and water from the river flowing over the rocks. Bandits were extremely unpredictable and he knew there was a chance that she could be dead and most likely would be if she crossed them the wrong way. He just hoped they would make it in time. After about an hour he heard Qin get up from her bag and come over to where he was. She sat down next to him wordlessly and he stood up and walked over to the bag he had laid out earlier. He crawled into the bag and looked up at the moon. He looked over at Qin, who sat motionless under the tree. She was looking off into the forest lost in thought. He turned back to the moon and closed his eyes as he listened to the sound of Ace's light snoring mix in with the other sounds of the night. His last thought before he dozed off was how he would get more cigarettes.