Juryokine

Chapter Nineteen

When Toke finally awoke, it was night time. He sat up, wincing as the hours spent lying on corn stalks took its toll, and saw Zashiel standing right where she had been before, chakrams still in hand.

"What time is it?" he asked, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"Past ten," she answered, putting her weapons away.

"I slept for more than twelve hours?" he asked, standing up. "I've never done that before."

"You've probably never stayed awake for forty eight hours, either," Zashiel replied. "But now that you're up, let's talk."

"Gimme a chance to wake up," Toke grumbled as the Sorakine girl came to stand in front of him.

"Did you learn anything at the Capitol that night?"

"I learned that Yasmik politicians hire the worst guards in the world to protect them."

Zashiel frowned. "I'm being serious, Toke. You created a panic that night. Tell me you at least came away with some worthwhile information."

Toke tried to decide what to tell her. It wasn't as if he hadn't thought about it. He'd mulled it over in his head almost nonstop over the past two days. The problem was figuring out how to tell Zashiel about the conclusion he'd come to.

"I'm pretty sure it wasn't Permissor Adal," he finally said.

Zashiel raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

"I was in his office while he talked about his missing son," Toke went on. "He's been having people look for him all over Yasmik. That means, even if he were capable of causing the Gravity Storms, he wouldn't risk it when he doesn't know where his son is."

Zashiel nodded in response. "That makes sense. Adal was a weak theory anyway."

Toke frowned. He wanted to be offended that Zashiel was able to throw away his only idea without hesitation, but she was right— there was no point in dwelling on a theory that was obviously wrong.

"What else?" she prompted him.

"Um," Toke's face went a shade paler, "nothing. That's it."

This time, Zashiel's eyebrows lowered themselves in disappointment.

"Things didn't exactly go according to plan!" Toke spat before she could say anything. "I couldn't just stick around after they saw me, could I?"

Zashiel sighed and shook her head. "I guess not. It's just disappointing that that's all you came away with."

Toke shrugged. "Well, what do we do now?"

"We can't go back to the Capitol now, not for a long time. I don't want to risk training you again yet, either, just in case someone were to see us."

"I thought you said—"

"I did say that, but it doesn't mean we should take any unnecessary risks. Our innocence is dependent on nobody having a reason to suspect us."

"All right," Toke agreed, "we don't go back to the Capitol, we don't train, so... what do we do?"

For once, Zashiel didn't have an immediate response for him. She seemed to think about it for a few seconds, and then shrugged.

"I don't know. What do you normally do when you're not working with me?"

"Um, well," Toke gave his head an awkward scratch, "I'm usually working on my assignment for class, or with my friends."

"Your assignment," Zashiel echoed. "Your... battery, you called it?"

Toke nodded. "Professor Navras says it's going to change Yasmik just like his inventions did. People won't have to plug their machines into the wall to use them anymore. They'll be able to take them anywhere so long as they have a battery to power them."