Fowlhunter [GL]

Meanwhile, in Kanch.

At the foot of a crumbling volcano…

A boy in a hooded cloak traipsed aimlessly through town.

He had shaggy teal hair and bluish eyes. His form suggested someone who kept to himself, eyes darting about nervously, his cloak clutched around himself as if he wanted it to meld into his paper-white skin. The boy also walked with a curious limp, as if he was constantly tripping over things that weren’t there. Yet, even as he crashed into a stand of pots, rammed himself into a signpost, or caused a general racket wherever he turned, no one spared him more than a passing glance.

This was the effect of Lunaki misting, Lochlan “Nessie”’s special skill. It allowed him to cloak himself in a blanket that deflected attention and notice. Well, it wasn’t a skill unique to him; all Beasts could create Lunaki mists to an extent. But it was a difficult and highly-advanced skill that not many could master. It just so happened that Lochlan had an unusual talent for it, especially for someone who had transformed so recently.

When Aunt Liz had first met him, she had wanted to make him a scout on account of this. However, as good as he was at sneaking around, he didn’t have good hearing out of water, and couldn’t make sense of eavesdropped information. Thus he was allotted as pincher; a nice word for a glorified petty thief. At least, he was some good at that. As he stumbled and flailed through the passing crowds, under his magical shroud, Lochlan picked through wallets and pouches almost as if to distract himself, lining the multiple pockets of his cloak with coin, jewelry, sometimes food.

Jemi had taught him to pinch. It had been a strange experience, that someone as powerful and feared as the Cockatrice, Princess of Beasts, would lower herself to his level and teach him to thieve. Lochlan had learnt much from her. She described picking pockets “like plucking crabapples from trees, Nessie: pick the ripe ones, and be decisive about it”. She twirled down the streets like a darting waterfowl, tarnished-gold curls bright in the sunlight. She donned a cloak just like his, slender fingers prying lush treasure so quick Lochlan barely saw them, even when he was watching keenly—all without Lunaki misting. And she did all of this with a smile on her face, jesting and laughing the entire way. Even though he had only just met her, Lochlan could see why the human woman had won the hearts of the Beasts’ den.

Once, while out pinching with Jemi, he had reeled in a pendant that had felt valuable to his hand, but turned out to be worthless—a cheap metal bearing false weight. He had been about to discard it into the canal when Jemi stopped him.

“Look at the engravings. It’s clearly carved by hand,” she’d said. Intricate patterns swirled around a single name, framed by little rhinestone hearts. “Put it back where you found it.”

Lochlan cast a nervous look at the man he’d stolen it from. “Do we have to? But why?”

“It’s more important to them than it is to us,” Jemi answered. She took the trinket from him and brushed past the man; when she walked on, her hands were empty. And they continued on.

Now, Lochlan looked down at the loot in his hand. It was a keychain of a teddy bear. It had been attached to a heavy coinpouch of a well-dressed woman. The teddy bear wasn’t pretty, covered in dust and cracks; the neon clay looked shaped by the clumsy fingers of a child. Jemi would’ve told him to return it, too. But he didn’t. Because he wasn’t confident enough that he wouldn’t get caught putting it back. And Jemi Garen wasn’t here.

She wasn’t here. The Cockatrice who had betrayed the Beasts, slaughtering in a second those who had believed in her enough to follow her to the death. Not knowing, of course, that their leader would ultimately be the one dishing it out.

It made a sick thing twist in his stomach. On one hand, he wanted to still believe in Jemi, the woman who had guided him down unfamiliar streets like they were berry fields. He wanted to believe in the Cockatrice, who had done and given up so much for the den. And yet, he could not help but feel conflicted. After all, if the Princess could stab even the ones she had once helped so much in the back, who was to know she wouldn’t do the same to… others? He had lost sight of the squad, when Ying and Asha flew after Jemi, and Jemi had flown with the angel Commander Zoleil; now he wondered if he should try to find them too, or simply let them be.

Lochlan could’ve chewed through his lip with how much he kept biting on it. He became so immersed in his thoughts that he stopped picking pockets altogether and started trying to find a water source, a tap or well or something to splash himself with. It would help the Loch Ness calm himself down.

He made his way to the railway station, knowing there would be public drinking water there. As he was queueing up for the water fountain, he saw a group of angels marching past. He stiffened in place and quickly thickened his Lunaki mistcloud, glancing away at a signboard or other to avoid staring.

“-Ughhhh!” he heard a familiar voice groaning. “What the nox has Nana gotten herself into this time??! I leave her alone for a month, and she goes and blows up a noxin’ volcano???!??!”

He stole a glance back. Then he realised he recognised the angel in the front of the group. It was an angel with tangerine hair, tied half-up in twintails. The ribbon at her front was the red of a Brigadier’s, secured in a rosette bow, her matching insignia that of paired single-lobed wings. In contrast to her cute, lovely fashion style, her face was wrought in a marvellous scowl.

He had seen this angel before back at the Royal Palace of Wataron. Back then, instead of their vested uniform, she had been wearing a silky chiton. They had been at the Ball of Souls, while Lochlan, together with Ying and Asha and the Cockatrice, had infiltrated the Palace lake to let loose a Runt and cause general chaos. The idea had been to pretend to save the day, and then earn the angel commander’s trust, so they could work together with her. This, the Cockatrice had explained, was part of a plan to eventually recruit Ennanis to the Beasts.

The tangerine-haired angel presently in front of Lochlan seemed to be a friend of Ennanis’. Possibly the only friend. Lochlan had never seen any other angels talk to Ennanis, really. At least, without hostility.

“Calm down, Sabira,” one of the angels walking next to her said. This one had dark brown hair, slightly wavy at his shoulder, with a stubbled chin, his red ribbon worn plain, also a Brigadier. “I’m sure that she’s doing fine.”

“Yeah, Derrick,” the angel named Sabira seethed, “I’m sure she’s fine—the tenacious thing, her—but can you say the same for everyone else?”

Lochlan reached the front of the line. He shoved his head under the fountain quickly, then withdrew his head a second later, lips dribbling. He wiped water off on his cloaksleeve and inched closer to the conversing pair, Lunaki mist draped over himself, straining his ears to overhear them in a way he hadn’t tried for ages.

“How about we stop for some dessert? I think you need a break,” Derrick said very kindly.

“We have no time for black sesame soup!” Sabira declared, sounding very much to the contrary. She cleared her throat. “We need to send some angels to help the kids and mining workers out now that their workplace is a bunch of rubble and ash. And I need to find Nana too.”

“Can you find her?”

“Yeah. We’ve got a communication charm,” Sabira said. Lochlan watched as the tangerine-haired angel nipped daylight from the air with her fingers. She pitched a beam into the sky like a golden softball, whizzing westward. Slitted blue eyes squinted. “Prometheus alive—I don’t think she’s even in Kanch anymore.”

“Was it still within your range?”

“Yes, but it won’t be for much longer,” Sabira flexed her wings. “She’s probably been moving for days now; I’ll never catch up on wing. I’ll try to get on the fastest train to Archizoun. Derrick, can you stay here and see to the miners? Also the emergency shelters.”

“On it,” the brown-haired angel nodded.

Sabira and Derrick exchanged a few more words Lochlan missed. Then they turned their respective ways.

Lochlan lingered by the fountain. He could’ve followed her. Via her communication charm, Sabira was likely to find Ennanis. Ennanis was with Jemi, and Ennanis could find Ying and Asha via her charm. If he followed, he might be able to regroup with them once more.

…………

“Screw this,” he thought to himself.

He turned around and left.