Six Of Foxes (Six Foxes)

Tera

Tera is eager to jump off the ship and swim just to change her routine. Six more days. Six more days on this ship, if they're lucky and the wind is good. The west coast of Barchen is dominated by sharp rocks and steep cliffs. The coast could only be approached safely in Udeshleg, but due to the recent high security, they were forced to turn to the whaling port. Tera secretly hoped that if only they were attacked by pirates, but their ship was too small, so it was seen as not loading a lot of cargo.

    Tera was pacing the deck, climbing the rope, seducing the crew to play cards with him. He misses the mainland and the good food and the tasty soybeans. He misses the city. If he had been in the vast field of land and stillness, he would have stayed in Riverdale and become a farmer as his father wished. On the ship, there was no other event except studying the layout of the Royalemerald, listening to Reader grumble, teasing Reyn, whom they busied about the mechanism of operation of the gate on the outer wall.

    Ken was impressed with the sketches.

    "You think like a key-breaker" he told Reyn.

    "No, ah."

    "I mean you can see the room in three dimensions."

    "I'm not a criminal."

    Ken looked at Reyn with an almost pitying expression. "You're right. You're the wrong flute player to hang out with."

    Tera sat next to Reyn. "Can you take the compliment. Ken rarely says it."

    "The word is not a compliment. I'm another with him. I shouldn't be here."

    "I won't argue."

    "You shouldn't be here either."

    "I'm sorry, Little Prince, but what did you say?"

    "We don't need a sniper in Ken's plan, so what's your job? Pacing around and making us all restless?"

    Tera shrugged her shoulders. "Ken trusts me."

    Reyn snorted and raised his pen. "Related?"

    Tera shifted with carelessness, of course unsure. He spent too much time second-guessing Ken Lunark's thoughts. And maybe if he had gained a little bit of trust in Ken, would he have deserved it?

    Tera tapped her thumb at the revolver and said, "When the bullets started flying, you might be grateful for my presence, those nice pictures of you couldn't keep your life."

    "We need a plan. And if you forget, we can leave Moontown thanks to my light bomb."

    "Bill strategy."

    "Is it forgiving?"

    "Fall, to the point that you blinded our members."

    "I've calculated that risk."

    "The big risk you're putting and hopefully it goes well. Trust me, I know the difference."

    "I hear that."

    "You mean?"

    "I mean everybody knows that you can't stay away from fights and bets, no matter how small the odds are."

    Tera narrowed her eyes towards the screen. "You were born without privilege."

    "I'm not-" Reyn fell silent and put down the pen. "Why do you think you know everything about me?"

    "Much do I know, Little Prince."

    "Enak, yeah. I always felt that my knowledge was lacking."

    "Knowledge of what?"

    "About everything" Reyn murmured.

    Tera was curious. Against his common sense advice. "For example?"

    "Well, let's say the gun" Reyn said, pointing at Tera's revolver. "The mechanism must be unusual, right? If I can get it--"

    "Don't you dare do that."

    Reyn shrugged his shoulders. "Or what about the ice ditch?" he said while tapping the Royalemerald floor plan. Reader says the trench is not solid, just a thin layer of ice on shivering water, which opens in all directions and is impossible to cross.

    "Why indeed?"

    "Where's the water from? Royal itself is on a hill, so where is the aqueduct or aquifer that channeled the water up?"

    "really important? There's a bridge, don't bother to cross the ice trench."

    "But aren't you curious?"

    "For the sake of Goddess Shi, absolutely not. Put me together how to win the Gambling Wheel or the Straight. If so, I'm curious."

    Reyn again nailed his gaze to his work, very disappointed.

    For some reason, Tera herself was a bit disappointed.

<<>><<>><<>>

    Tera checks on Krista every morning and night. He is shaken when he imagines it could kill Krista. Although Silva has worked hard, Tera was convinced that Krista did not last long in this world.

    However, one morning, when Tera sees Krista, Tera comes to the cabin and finds Krista sitting up straight while wearing long pants, a vest, and a hooded tunic.

    Silva leaned over, struggling to fit the Zemeni girl's legs into her strange rubber-coated slippers.

    Tera had many words to say, to the point that she did not know which one she should say first. "Ke, ka, you know, what?" he said the bricks while pointing towards Krista. "You're not dead."

    The young man smiled a little. "I'm like the others."

    "Don't just scold there" Silva said. "Help me put her footwear on."

    "I can do it myself."

    "Don't" snapped Silva. "Never bend, jump, and move suddenly. Unless you promise me you won't push yourself, I'll slow your heart rate so you're in a coma until you're fully recovered."

    "Silva Liveko, is that how you treat patients? And, once I know where you keep all my knives, we'll have a chat."

    "Be aware that the content of your conversation is not Thank you, O great Silva, for devoting hours along this arduous journey to helping me from misfortune and saving my life."

    Tera thought Krista would laugh, but she grabbed Silva by the cheek with her right hand and said, "Thank you for helping me and keeping me, though the world seems determined to drag me to another world."

Silva's face turned red. "I'm just teasing you Krista." She's speechless. "You think we both owe a lot."

    "This one I'm happy to bear."

    "Okay, okay, after we get to Moontown, buy me a waffle."

    Krista started laughing. "Hiswa is getting a cake? I'm not sure it's comparable."

    "I asked for a really good waffle."

    "I know the place" said Tera. "They serve waffles with apple--- syrup"

    "You weren't invited" Silva said. "Well, now help me get Krista."

    "I can do it myself" Krista said as she launched her foot onto the floor.

    "Just follow my request."

    Sighing, Krista clutched Tera's faded arm, then they came out of the kebin towards the deck. Silva followed from behind.

    "It's ridiculous" Krista said. "I'm fine."

    "You're fine," said Tera, "but I might be able to stumble at any time, so watch carefully."

    While they were on the deck, Krista squeezed Tera's hand to stop. The girl looked up while taking a deep breath. It just so happened that the weather was overcast today, the sound of white waves, while the sky was colored by thick clouds lined up. Strong winds carried this ship across the waves.

    "Enak is in the middle of the cold like this" Krista muttered.

    "Like this?"

    "About two decks only" Silva said. "Then get back to bed."

    He moves on to join Reyn in the back. Tera did not escape to catch that Silva headed to the furthest place from Reader on board.

    Tera nodded. "It's like watching two cats ready to attack each other."

    Krista nodded. "But, what will they do when the attack begins?"

    "Paws each other to death?"

    Krista rolled her eyeballs. "You always lose at the table."

    Tera leads Krista to the fence, a place where they can walk without blocking anyone. "Let me threaten to throw you, but Ken notices."

    Krista nodded. The girl should not turn to where Ken is standing next to Aye behind the wheel. However, Tera looked and waved with a big smile until her teeth looked cheerful to Ken. Ken's expression did not change.

    "Will he die if he smiles once in a while?" ask Tera.

    "Very possible."

    Each crew called for a greeting and greeting to hopefully heal quickly, while Tera felt Krista getting excited every cheer. "The cat is back!" Even Reader also bowed awkwardly and said, "I know, thanks to you we can leave the harbor alive."

    "Perhaps thanks to various things" said Krista.

    "Thanks to me being the only one" said Tera, ostentatiously helping.

    "Despite that, you're still meritorious" Reader said, ignoring Tera. "Thank you."

    They continued walking. Tera saw a happy grin on Krista's lips.

    "Shocked?"

    "A little bit" said Krista. "Saking often spends time with Ken, I guess--"

    "You rarely feel appreciated."

    Krista chuckles small.

    "They're grateful you're alive. I'm grateful."

    "I hope so. I just thought that I was just a bad fit in the middle of Geak."

    "Well, it doesn't fit."

    "Thank you."

    "We're a crew that has limited interests, whereas you don't gamble, swear, or drink excessively. But, this is him behind the popularity: risking his life so that his comrades are not strafed by bullets until perishing in an ambush. That's a great way to make new friends."

    "As long as you don't come to the party."

    When they reached the end of the ship, Krista propped herself up against the fence and glared at the horizon. "Did he see me?"

    Tera knows what Ken means. "Every day."

    Krista directed her dark eyes at Ken, then shook her head. "You can't read people's actions nor can you deceive."

    Tera. He hates to disappoint people. "Never," Tera admitted.

    Krista nodded and looked back at the horizon.

    "I don't think he likes to go to sick patients."

    "Who likes it?"

    "I mean, I'm guessing it's hard for him to be around you when things are like that. On the first day, when you got hurt, he went a little crazy, "Tera himself had trouble admitting it. Will Ken react like a mad dog if the knife-pierced one is Tera, not Krista?

    "Of course, because this job requires six people, and he needs me to ride the chimney anyway."

    Tera could not deny.

    "By the way, why did Reyn fight with his father? Try to tell me."

    Krista glances at Ken at a glance, then looks over his shoulder to make sure no crew members are dangling near them. Ken already asserts that any information that is caught up in the work should not be leaked outside of the six of them. "Three months ago Reyn showed up at a motel near Easd. He used another last name, but Ken was monitoring everyone new to Krisbow, so he told me to spy."

    "Want to?"

    Krista shrugged her shoulders. "The servants Etz Djel paid enough that it was impossible to bribe, the information I obtained was incomplete. There's a rumor that Reyn's playing with one of his tutors."

    "Times?" tera said in disbelief. A buried secret.

    "Just rumour. After all, the truth is that Reyn didn't hitch a ride at a girlfriend's house after leaving the house."

    "So why did Papa Etz Djel kick him?"

    "I don't think he was expelled. Etz Djel writes to Reyn every week, while Reyn doesn't open all his letters."

    "What's it say?"

    Krista carefully leaned against the fence. "You're assuming I read the letter?"

    "No for that?"

    "Of course I read it." Then he frowned and remembered. "It's all the same: If you're reading this, you know how much I want you home. Or I pray that you read these words and think of all that you leave behind."

    Tera looked towards Reyn who was chatting with Silva. "Mysterious prince. I was wondering what Etz Djel did to make Reyn run away to live with us."

    "Well, now try to tell me, Tera. What led you to take part in this risky mission? You know how small our chances of getting back to Moontown alive are. I know you crave a challenge, but it's crazy, even by your standards."

    Tera looked at the choppy grey sea unceasingly to the horizon. He had never liked the sea, following the sensation that someone was dragging him down, there might be sharp-toothed hungry creatures that were about to swallow him to the depths. And it is that feeling that engulfs it, even on land.

    "I'm in debt, Krista."

    "You're always in debt."

    "No, this time it was bad. I borrow money from the wrong people. You know my dad has a farm?"

    "At Ru Kraine?"

    "Yes, in the west. His field has only been profitable this year."

    "Oh, Tera don't-don't...?"

    "I need a loan, I told him I need money for my university."

    Krista looks at him. "Your father thinks you're a student?"

    Tera nodded. "That's why I went to Moontown. On my first week in town, I stopped by East Kharfa with a number of other participants. I placed a bet on some cairo. Spontaneous only, because of impulse. I don't even know the rules of the Gambling Wheel yet. But, when the city turned around, I never heard that faint sound. I won, many times. That was the most beautiful night of my life. I should have just been in the library. I'm win. I'm losing. I lost a lot. I needed money, so I started getting into the gang jobs, two guys ambushed me in the alley one night. Ken subverted them, and then we started working together."

    "He probably hired the boys to attack you so you would feel indebted to him."

    "He won't-" Tera fell silent for a second, then laughed. "Of course." Tera stretched her knuckles while watching her hand lines closely. "Ken it.... I don't know, she's the other one with anyone I've ever known. He surprised us."

    "Yes like a bunch of wasps in our dresser drawer."

    Tera. "Strong as that."

    "So, what are we doing here?"

    Tera turned back to the sea, instantly feeling her cheeks heat up. "Expecting honey, maybe. And pray not to be stung."

    Krista banged her shoulder against Tera's shoulder. "Then we're just as stupid."

    "I don't know what your reason is, Cat. If it were me, I couldn't avoid a desperate bet."

    Krista hooked her arm to Tera's arm. "That means you're a lousy gambler, Tera. But great in friends."

    "You're too good for him, just so you know."

    "I know, you too."

    "How about we go again?"

    "Sure," said Krista while tutoring Tera. "Then, I want you to distract Silva so I can find my knives."

    "Easy, I'm just bringing in a Reader." Tera glanced at the steering wheel while they turned around on the deck. Ken's not moving. He's still in the same place, the same position and the same attitude. He was still watching them, his eyes were fierce, his face could not be read at all.