The Search For Peace 2

Chapter 28

"Cheers!" The word reverberated through the walls of the bar, Adrian flinching as the beer mugs clinked in unison around him.

It was so loud in the bustling space, moreso than usual, all in celebration of capturing the so-called bandits.

They were actually only three people; Karl Anderson and the Gemini twins, Charlotte and Charlie MacFarlane.

And, at the moment, the three of them were tied to wooden chairs smack in the middle of the room, dirty tags shoved into their mouths.

"So...is this how you make an example out of your enemies?" Adrian said to Karen as he slipped beside her, putting the state they were in.

She regarded him with her icy gaze. "No, this is how we interrogate them."

As if to prove her point, the boy named Joshua, who had been serving drinks the whole time, put down his serving tray and walked up to Karl first.

Only a few of the cowboys paid attention, the others consumed in the party.

"Now then," The Boy with the orange undercut and alluring scar positioned a booted foot on the top end of Karl's chair, causing it to tilt backwards. With a bulgingly muscular arm, he held it in place, boring his black and orange glare into the Capricorn. "I think it's time y'all confessed."

When he removed the rag from his mouth, Karl spay in his face.

Adrian gasped, the rest of the room going silent. "What, you think I'm gonna tell you?! Not a chance you low-" But before he could finish his insult, Joshua pushed the dirty cloth in between his teeth once more.

As he mumbled and struggled under his form grip, Karen stepped up, and Addis wondered what horrors she would inflict upon him.

"Let him go, Josh." Her clan mate obliged, red marks apparent on the sides of Karl's quivering mouth. As he caught his breath, Karen crouched to be level with him.

"Answer me this: who sent you three, and why choose out clan?"

Karl's gaze travelled warily to Joshua, who cracked his knuckles with a cocked brow. "Your clan is a nuisance." He said bitterly. "That's why."

Karen looked at him crossly. "You call that an answer?"

"Well does it look like I'm gonna give you real answers?!"

Karen stood gravely, her bangs coming into her eyes. "Then we might as well get rid of you." The Gemini twins straightened in their seats, knowing full well the girl was not bluffing.

Her gun was already out and pointed to his forehead, when someone suddenly blurred out a desperate: "Wait!"

The word slipped out of Adrian's lips before he could stop it, his body bending forward all on its own. He stilled as the entirety of the room turned to ogle at him, Karen's questionable gaze bothering him the most.

"D-don't..." He stammered. "Please don't kill them."

Joshua was the first to break the utter silence that followed. "Why not? They tried to kill us."

"Exactly." He craned his neck to meet the scornful facsa of the other Saggitarius around him. "They ruined out forest." His mouth was dry as he listened to each of them speak.

"They injured our men!" Another one raised a bandaged limb.

"They betrayed the code of The People of Peace." Joshua added finally.

Meanwhile, Karks face was turning redder by the minute. "Oh yeah?! Then what about him?!"

Adrian froze, his hetrochromic eyes wide with horror.

"He's no better!" The Capricorn continued, all feeling home from Adrian's legs. "He's a rogue, you know! He was banished from his clan, so he's no better than us!" He was laughing now, a nasty, sarcastic type of laugh. "Who knows, he might even be a spy! Afterall, his mother is a Capri-"

His baseless telling was rudely interrupted by a gunshot that landed a hole right by his foot. He helped with surprise, shrinking away from the sizzling wood panel.

Adrian stared at Karen, who reloaded her pistol with a snarl. "Shutup." She ordered the trembling boy. "You only speak for yourself. Don't you dare drag another person down with you."

Not long after that, the three 'criminals' were confined to the jailhouse not too far off, a discussion for their consequences due for later. It seemed that they weren't killing them afterall, much to Adrian's shock.

As the party inside the bar continued, the Virgo boy found himself sitting on the end of the porch, the golden Christmas lights illuminating the steps from above.

He gazed ardently at the row of houses and shops in front of him, vacant as the residents played about in the bar and outside it. The cold wind but into his thin arms, and he rubbed them eagerly to warm them a bit.

"Want some hit chocolate?" He all but jumped when Karen approached him, holding two mugs in her little hands.

"S-sure..."

She motioned him to scoot over and he did, her small feane fitting easily in the tight space he left fir her. "Since we're underage this is as good as it gets."

He smirked as the warmth of the mug heated his numb fingers. "Yeah."

For a while, the two said nothing at all, but at some point, Adrian was starting to get antsy.

"Uh...I just wanted to thank you..." He began his planned speech hesitantly. "For standing up for me and all."

Karen let out a dry laugh. "If that's how you see it." As he looked at her, confused, she elaborated a bit. "You know my dad...He left me here in my own when I was probably two. He was the only family I knew, so naturally I was devastated." She sighed deeply, her usually straight features softening. "I remember sitting on a stool in the bar, my face towards the door, waiting for him to just appear and come back for me."

Something inside Adrian stirred, as if he was relating to her somehow.

"But, he never did. Then one day, my clan mates knocked some sense into me, telling me to get on with life. They showed me I shouldn't drag myself down because of him." She turned to smile at him, something he djdnt know she could do. "I guess those words stuck with me."

Adrian bit back a smile himself. "I guess they did."