Wild Tiger Chase - Chapter 31: Chapter 31

— Rafa —
Rafa followed Toni's steps.
Like him, she tried to keep close to the shadows and away from the large, white slices of moonlight that seemed stronger than any synthetic light could be. The walls around them were covered with vines and some weirdly-shaped foliage that smelled like chemicals and death, while the floor of the abandoned fabric had large, dark stains that looked like blood. Rafa sucked air through her clenched teeth and leaned forward to whisper to Toni,
"Are you sure this is the place? It seems to be deserted." One of the vines moved and tried to circle around Rafa's ankle, but she kicked it away. "And dangerous."
Toni smiled, half-turning to peek at her over his shoulder. He was taller and stronger at the time and standing in his shadow like that used to make Rafa feel safe. Lately, though, with her powers increasing and getting out of control, she was always in a constant state of fear and anxiety that no one seemed to understand.
No one except Toni, that is.
"My da said this is the last place our agent checked in." Toni turned around and studied his surroundings. He narrowed his eyes, pulling a motion detector screen from his belt. Nothing.
"Right." She tucked a finger into her collar and tugged at it. Was it just her imagination or was that thing really tight?
"She might be in danger, so we need to be quick, Birdie."
"Yeah, yeah. I know."
Toni turned to face her. Without a word, he smiled and wrapped her in a tight, warm hug that was better than any encouragement could be. Toni smelled like fresh flowers, burning cinnamon, and aftershave.
"I'm here with you," he whispered. "You have nothing to be afraid of, all right?" He was always warm, always attentive, always there for her.
Much more than Rob, that's for sure. Rafa hugged Toni back and let out a sigh of relief that made the longer half of his bangs dance. He took a step back and shuffled her hair.
"Thanks, Toni." Rafa took a deep breath. While exhaling, she finally managed to relax her shoulders.
He winked. "It's nothing, Birdie. Back to work, all right?"
"Yes, boss."
A voice rang in her comms. "Bear to team Alpha. Cicinnurus, Gunslinger, do you copy?"
"We're here, Bear," Toni said. "What's wrong?"
Rafa smiled when she noticed the slight flush in Toni's cheeks. Rob's voice always made that to him, no matter how focused Toni was in his missions.
"Sapphi and I are seeing movement in the third quadrant," Rob said. "Asking permission to move team Bravo closer."
"Denied. Keep position, Bravo."
"Denied? Toni—I mean; Gunslinger, I have a visual on the enemy squad! We can take them down and force them to give us the place where they're keeping the cages!"
"Negative, Bear," Toni said, his voice harder. "We need to do the other way around. We haven't found the animals yet; if you attack now and any of the barbarians radio their friends, they might have time to take the animals away—or worse. Smuggling dead animals is only one-third of the sentence. I don't want them to be hurt. Please keep position."
There was silence for a heartbeat.
"Understood," Rob finally said. "Team Bravo keeping position."
"Hell to the no. Are you for real?" came Hernando's voice. "Grizzly Bear following orders from anyone who's not The Mayor?"
Rob stammered in the comms, spreading a wave of contained chuckles from teams bravo, charlie, and delta. "Oi! I'm usually the Team Leader. I don't need to follow orders."
"You're the Alpha Bear, aren't you?" Celena teased.
"Of course I am! But that doesn't mean I'm a prick. Toni—shite, I mean Gunslinger—is right, is all. And he's not an absolute daft like you are."
"Just confess you like him, Bear," Cotton said.
"Of course I like him... who doesn't like him?"
Toni needed to lean against the wall beside him. His breathing was quickening, and his cheeks reddening again. Toni couldn't contain the wide smile on his lips, nor the embarrassed way his index finger curled the longer Locks at his left temple. He lowered his head and buried it in his hands, smiling against his palm.
Rafa chuckled. "You look like a teenager in love," she whispered, nudging his arm.
He shook his head. "I never felt like this before." Toni combed his hair backward with his fingers; the pale platinum locks cascaded down, catching a narrow sliver of moonlight. His cerulean-blue eyes seemed even brighter that night. "The things your brother does to my heart, Birdie. I just wish he would realize... this." He pointed at his flushed face and the silly smile he still wore.
"Yeah, he's slow for that kind of thing. Toni," Rafa called with a whisper. When he looked at her, she smiled and said, "I'm cheering for you. I promise I'll be the best sister-in-law ever."
"Ah, Rafa." He hid his face again and laughed. The sound was so musical and so beautiful, even Rafa's chest warmed up. "You know," he said, facing her. "I'd love to have a sister like you, Birdie."
A broken twig interrupted their moment. Tension grew on Rafa's muscles and she pressed a finger against her lips, looking around her. Toni seemed to have heard it too. He nodded and sidestepped towards the shadow of a nearby wall to get a better view of their surroundings. There was nothing around them but crooked trees and the remains of an old campfire.
Toni stretched his arms; something akin to a mantle covered his shoulders and spread around him until it touched the ground. He closed his eyes and the pistols in his waist hummed like thin slates of metal reverberating in the wind.
"There are twelve of them," Toni whispered. He reached for Paradise and slid his fingers on the words etched on the metal. "One of my girls should do. Get ready, Birdie."
Rafa nodded. She closed her eyes and tugged at her connection with Sapha and Sophie, her birds of paradise.
Her companions still hadn't completed the step-through when the first explosion happened.
The blast was so strong and so sudden, the duo was launched against the walls of the old fabric like ragdolls. Rafa's ears rang, and her vision was blurred when she tried to open her eyes. Something in her cheek, in her left arm, and in her upper legs burned.
"Ugh." Toni tried to get up, but his trembling arms couldn't keep him up for long.
Rafa looked around through the confusing swaying of her vision. The center of the deep crater lay a good three meters away from where they once stood.
A scared, crackly voice came through the comms. "Cotton Candy to team Alpha. I saw that explosion from here. What happened? Are you okay?"
Rob's voice joined in. "What? Was that you, Cicin? Cicinnurus? You okay?"
Rafa winced, forcing her head up.
"Cicin? Rafa, answer me!"
His shout made a loud crackling noise in her ear. With a grimace, she jerked her comm device off and tossed it aside, cradling her head between her hands. A thin trail of blood ran from her left ear.
Steps approached. Rafa looked up, but her blurred vision didn't let her recognize the faces before her. Two... three. No, twelve people surrounded her and Toni. Rafa shook her head and growled.
A female voice laughed. "This one is strong, boss."
"Yeah, she is. They both are," said another voice; male, this time. "And one of them is a druid. A young woman, no less—imagine how much she would get us in the slave market."
"Or in the red market, along with the monkeys and tapirs we caught; I heard there are all types of weirdos wanting exotic meat out there," said a deeper voice.
Toni raised his pistol. "You're threatening members of the Heroic League." He managed to kneel, both hands holding his pistol. "By The Mayor's orders, you'll lower your weapons and stand down!"
After a heartbeat of silence, laughter echoed around them. Rafa couldn't see where it came from, but a kick swatted the pistol from Toni's hands and a second one hit his side, sending him to the floor again. Toni coughed, holding his ribs.
"Come now, Nessa. Don't be so harsh on them," the male voice said. "They're just kids playing hero."
"Yeah, the kind of shitheads I hate the most," the woman said.
As Rafa's head stopped spinning, she took a better look at the people around her. Strong men and women with mismatched uniforms and gear watched the scene with varying levels of enjoyment and interest. Sweaty, scarred, and itching for violence, they could only be—Barbarians.
Their leader seemed to be an old man, very bald and very strong, with a crooked nose and a gentle smile that looked nothing like what one would expect from a villain. He clasped his hands at his back and glanced at the three older adults at his right.
"You take care of it. If you want my place, you better start working to earn your peers' respect."
A man that looked to be around his twenties stepped forward. He played with a set of knives, making them dance between his fingers. "I'll go first."
A second man followed, and this one looked like the older version of the other one. Brothers, maybe.
"Be careful, Mokk," the older brother said.
"Pfft. Shut up, Cae," Mokk answered. "I'll start with her, you can focus on the other one."
"What about me?" the woman said.
"You watch, Nessa!" the older man answered. Nessa growled.
Mokk had barely finished his sentence when he charged. He was so fast, and his knives danced so beautifully between his fingers, Rafa took a moment too long to react. Mokk's blade sliced one, two, three times as he moved around her, always a step ahead of her.
Bloody hell, that burned!
"Well, doll, sorry to say, but you're finished." Mokk raised his knives. "I use a special, paralyzing coating on these beauties."
Rafa growled. "You're full of shite." She stepped forward and stretched her arms to the sides. Her fingers met in front of her, and the vibration of the clap climbed up her arms forcing the cosmic trace flowing inside her to pierce the skin of her arms, shoulders, and temples. Orange, sharp crystals sprouted, covering her like armor.
Mokk whistled. "Fancy. Don't play with my heart like that, lady, or I'll want to keep you from myself."
"Shut your mouth," Rafa growled.
All around them, the barbarians cheered. At her side, a new volley of bullets kept the other barbarian busy. Toni was fighting too, and she needed to make him proud. Rafa ducked her head and raised her fists, planning her next move. Start with a hard punch on the floor; swing right, sidestep, block. If he goes right, step back and swing. If he goes left, twist and hook.
She nodded to herself. The trails of blood running down her arms made them feel colder. No matter; she'd clean them in that prick's face once she was done with him. Rafa jumped from one foot to the other, testing Mokk's reaction time—he was pretty fast.
"C'mon, babe!" he shouted. "I have the whole day, but you have less than twenty seconds now. I want to feel how strong you are."
Rafa felt her throat vibrate in a growl. That sack of garbage was starting to get under her skin. She didn't wait. Rafa bashed her right foot to establish her balance and threw a heavy fist on the floor, making a wave of crystals pierce the surface and race towards the barbarian.
"Shit." Mokk widened his eyes. He rolled aside to escape the wave, but he wasn't expecting Rafa to be so fast. When his feet touched the floor again, her fist came like a hammer on the side of his face. Mokk slid a few meters and groaned.
"Fuck! All right. Pretty strong, yeah." He spat to the side, tears welling up in his eyes. "Seven seconds now."
Rafa ignored him. She ran to him again, following the next movements in her mental list. Block, sidestep, punch. Mokk sure was fast, but she was faster. Dodge, step, right hook.
He dodged for the first time and smirked. "Two," he said.
She... was getting slower.
"One."
Rafa's vision blurred.
"And zero," Mokk said, placing his hands on his waist.
Her knees lost force. Rafa fell down, and the taste of blood and earth filled her mouth. Mokk approached with an ugly smile and knelt down before her.
"Don't worry, girl. You'll make us a lot of creds in the market." He brushed a weirdly gentle thumb on her cheek and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. He looked around as if making sure nobody was paying attention to them. Then, he leaned in to whisper, "Here's a tip. Tell Cae you want to join us, all right? My brother has a weak spot for possible new members, and he can convince old Jonas to accept you. It's better than the red market, doll." He pointed at the missing half of his lower lip. "Believe me."
Without another word, he got up. "Cae! Switch; you have twenty." Mokk ran away from her line of sight.
Rafa tried to look up or shout, but she couldn't. What kind of venom was that? The crystals in her arms lost their edge and retreated; they went back to being feathers, and her birds of paradise took shape before her. Sophia seemed as confused as her master. Rafa's lips trembled, unable to speak, but Sapha—being the oldest and strongest of the two birds—didn't need words to understand what she wanted.
Help Toni.
Moments after her birds had taken flight, the older brother entered her line of sight. He cradled her face with the tips of his fingers and pressed a thumb against her forehead.
Her eyes widened. She couldn't feel her connection with cosmic trace flow anymore.
Shit.
"Don't worry, kid. It's temporary," the man said. He had barely completed his sentence when a new volley of bullets whistled past them.
"Stay away from her!" Toni shouted. His shots kicked up tiny sprays of earth, drawing a swirl pattern that followed Cae's quick movements.
Bloody hell, he was using his two pistols.
Toni raced to her and pulled her up, tugging her close. A blue mantle covered his shoulders and Toni pulled it around them. He shut his eyes—a big drop of sweat sliding down his temple—then opened them again.
"I can't step through. What the fuck." He looked around them. "We need to get the fuck out of here!"
Rafa tried to open her mouth. The twenty seconds of Mokk's venom must've ended because she was starting to regain control of her body. Toni groaned and leaned forward. There was a small cut on his shoulder—if this was caused by Mokk's blade, they were fucked.
"The older guy must have the trace of confinement, like Robbie." Her voice was low and ragged. "It can change the vibration of particles, and—"
"It blocks the flow of cosmic trace, I know." Toni clasped a hand on his mouth. He was shaking.
"You have ten seconds now!" Mokk shouted from the outside. There was pure bliss in his voice, and it was mirrored by the cheers coming from the other barbarians.
"We have to defeat them with one single attack before the venom paralyzes you," Rafa mumbled. Her muscles were only beginning to wake up.
"I'll do it." Toni gently placed Rafa on the floor again and pulled his pistols. He cocked both of them. "Can I borrow Sapha's power?"
Shite. Toni had been talking about this crazy technique for a time now, but Rafa never felt really comfortable with the idea of lending her birds of paradise to another wielder. But... they didn't have much of a choice, did they? None of them were really strong yet, and if these barbarians managed to get them now, they'd be sold or used only for the most nefarious purposes. Rafa couldn't let that happen.
"Do it, Toni. I trust you."
Toni wore a thankful smile. "He'll be safe with me, Birdie, I promise."
Rafa nodded and Sapha alighted on Toni's shoulder. The male Bird of Paradise was almost one meter long, and when he folded his wings around Toni's shoulder, Toni's blue mantle changed. A strong hue of orange covered the ethereal blue; crystal feathers sprouted from his shoulders and arms, covering him like armor.
"Go get them, Toni."
He took in a deep breath and pressed a kiss on each of his pistols. The guns seemed to hum with power.
"I will, Birdie." With those words, he broke his protection and outstretched his arms, shooting a volley of blue-and-orange bullets on the enemies around them.
— Old Continent, 2051 - now—
— Rafa —
Rafa's voice cracked, and she paused to take in a deep breath. "Toni managed to defeat the barbarians that day. Each bullet was like a small explosion. He destroyed everything around us, including a part of the forest. The blue fire he started burned for two weeks before the League managed to contain it. Four barbarians died, three are probably still in a coma, and two lost their legs or arms." She cleared her throat.
"By the time The Mayor found us," she continued, "the three remaining barbarians had escaped. The Mayor hugged us and cried and said he had never been so proud of us." Rafa smacked her thigh, furrowing her brows. "I hate him. I've always hated him—and even so, I felt happy when he said all that." She scoffed. "It was short-lived happiness, though. When we were safe and Toni gave me Sapha back..." Rafa cleared her throat and steeled her words. "Sapha was so weak and so frail, Sophia and I couldn't do anything."
"Son of a bitch," Phillip growled.
"Sapha died after a week, and Sophia was never the same. It was a mistake. He didn't do it on purpose, but... Toni changed after that." Rafa raised her eyes to Léon. "My Sophia was nothing like Bonee. She didn't look half as sick as Bonee does, even after five years without Sapha." She sniffed and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. "That only makes me believe there's something else going on with you."
Léon lowered his eyes to the tips of his feet and shrugged. "It's been more than four years without Lampee."
Rafa's eyebrows shot upward. "Blimey, Léon. I'm so sorry," Rafa murmured. "Must've been bloody hard for you in that prison."
He nodded. His hand wandered to the side until it met hers. "I had no idea you've been through something like this. I'm sorry too." Léon got up. There was sadness in his eyes as he walked towards a nearby tree and leaned against it. "After the anima weld, I've been feeling how much weaker Bonee is. It seems she's... shrinking. When my powers were unbalanced, she sometimes appeared as a cub, but this? I've never felt her weak like this."
Rafa frowned. "Wait. Your tiger sometimes shows up as a cub?"
Léon nodded. He crossed his arms. "My mom once told me it could be like a psychological response to fear or something. It's like an unconscious defense mechanism, she said." Léon rubbed his face. "Humans do that too. You know, sometimes. I think the name is age regression?" He combed his hair back with his fingers. "I don't know. Maybe... maybe it's my fault."
"Wait," Rob said, facing Léon. "Isn't your brother facing something similar, but opposite? Aging, instead of getting younger?"
Léon's eyes widened. "Yes."
"And if he's facing the same problem your companion is," Rob started.
Rafa's eyebrows arched. "Léon, can your brother summon his companions already? We need our companions."
"Holy fuck, this might help. This might actually help!" Léon mumbled. His lips stretched in a grin so wide and so sincere, Rafa caught herself smiling too. Léon jumped to his feet. "I'm gonna wake him up. I'm gonna teach him!" Léon said, pivoting around.
Rafa laughed and collected a tear in the corner of her eyes.
As Léon dashed past the trees and rushed back to the cottage, Rafa took in a deep breath. Toni was such a good person. If things had been different...
"Hey," Phillip said, stopping at her side.
Rafa glanced at him from the corner of her eyes and nodded.
"I know what you did for Toni." Phillip slipped his hands into his pocket and raised his eyes to the sky. "I know you and The Mayor tried to revive him four years ago. And while I'll never understand why you did it, I think you should be happy he's gone." His expression hardened. "At least he can't continue spiraling downward towards madness. Toni is dead, Rafa. But even if he was alive, he would never, ever find redemption for the things he did."