Wild Tiger Chase - Chapter 6: Chapter 6

— Rob —
It was already dark outside when Rob and Rafa hopped off their dirt-covered white NAV. Rob closed his door with a bang and rounded the vehicle to wait for his sister.
"Will you accept it or not?" she asked. "Marlo can say whatever he wants; this is a good opportunity if you really want to make a career. An I... I suppose I trust Marlo. He still didn't give me a reason to doubt him."
After Rob told her everything about his conversation with the Chief of Police, Rafa shared with him her reasons for refusing to be part of the special joint task force between Old and New Continent. The main one, she had said, was the crazy hours she'd have to pull and how it might impact her treatment—but Rob knew the real reason. She was also afraid of being recognized. Her photo and real identity had been leaked to the press, after all.
"I don't know. I still have this weird feeling when I think about this," Rob said.
"Maybe it's indigestion, Brother," she said with a sweet smile.
"Very funny," he answered, rolling his eyes.
Rafa chuckled, and the smile lingered on her lips as she sneaked an arm behind Rob's neck. With her other hand, she shuffled his hair.
"You're such a good boy. I swear I can't wait to meet Léon and tell him all the embarrassing stories I have about you."
"You wouldn't have the courage."
"Oh? Don't try me, big bear."
Rob laughed and shook his head, sparing his sister a tender glance. She was one year older and a few centimeters shorter, with strong arms and thick thighs carved by muscles. Just like Rob's, her skin was brown and her hair almost black, but her short locks—they were finally growing back after three years of the end of her chemo—were embellished by seeds and one orange feather near her right temple.
"The nerve of some people," Rob said. He raised a hand to push her arm off his shoulders but changed his mind. Every time Rob looked at her, he remembered how excruciating his first months in Old Continent had been. Rafa was still barely conscious back then, fighting life-threatening cancer, while Rob spent his time agonizing over the possibility of losing her again, along with Léon.
He was thankful to have her. Goddess, he was so thankful!
"C'mon, we don't want to keep Kali waiting again," Rafa said. She skipped her next steps—as if she was thirteen-year-old, not thirty—then rushed to cross the double doors of Cidade Santa's public hospital.
"... So I don't think you'll have any problems with that." She closed the folder with Rafa's exams and opened a smile, pinching her chin. "How are you feeling?"
Rafa chuckled. "No more fatigue, and my hair is growing steadily this time. But I still have a lot of nausea, and I still can't eat like I used to."
Kaliandra nodded. "Some of the late effects might take a bit more time to go away. There's nothing to worry about."
"But it's been almost four years, Kali. Does it usually take this long?" Rob asked.
"It might, Robbie. If Dr. Modraniht had used his power to heal her from the beginning, she'd probably be perfectly fine now, but she underwent years of chemo, which helped to save her life, but also resulted in all of this." She raised the folder. "But hey,"—Kali smiled at Rafa and caressed her cheek—"I'm about to complete my residency and go from nurse to doctor. If I can do something like this at my age, this girl can do anything she wants." She popped a kiss on Rafa's forehead. "Just be patient with your body, okay?"
As Rafa's eyes watered and a smile covered Rob's lips, his chest was filled with something warm and comfortable.
Kaliandra Dickens was a hell of a woman. This was one of the reasons why, over the course of the past two years, Rob noticed he'd do anything for her, Pipo, and Léon.
Anything.
"All done. Before you go...." Kali turned to Rob. "Can I talk to you in private for a minute?"
"Of course." Rob got up from his stool.
"Don't gossip about me!" Rafa said as the door closed.
Rob followed Kali out of the room and into a small office lit only by the screen of an old computer. She closed the door with a click and thrust a hand into the inside pocket of her white gown.
"Here," she said, handing him a small envelope. "There's a permir chip inside with my conversation with that Trovone girl after the accident." Her eyebrows furrowed, her worry even more evident in the strong shadows on her face. "Do you think this has something to do with what's happening to Pipo?"
"I still can't say, Kali; I don't have enough information. All we know is that it began after Pipo came in contact with the Barbarians and that Travone might have plans connected to them. At this point, this is just me following a hunch." Rob took the envelope and furrowed his brows, studying her eyes. "Did you get a hold of that list I asked?"
"Not yet. I'm pretty sure there is someone paying more attention to what I do than they should. I need to be careful."
Rob bobbed his head. "You have my number. Call me at any time if anything happens, all right? I'll be here in a heartbeat."
Kali chortled. "Okay, Robbie." She reached overhead to turn the lights on. A flash of pain crossed her features, but as the light bulb swayed back and forth, the feeling was gone. She supported a hand on the desk at her side. Her eyes refused to meet Rob's as she said, "Did you talk to Léon?"
Right. Of course she'd want to talk about that.
"I...." He thought about saying he didn't; he also thought about blaming Anhangá and saving his skin. Neither option seemed as good as the truth. "I did, Kali."
She raised her gaze to his. "Did you ask him to come?"
Rob grimaced. "Yes."
"You shithead," she mumbled, turning away. She clicked her tongue. "Does he know Modraniht?"
"No. Léon and I talked once in the past four years, and it was only two days ago."
"That's good." Kaliandra nodded. She drew a deep breath and let her fingers study the texture of the computer screen. "Please don't talk to him again, Robbie. If you do, Léon will travel to OC at the first opportunity he gets. We want him safe, far away from here. This sickness and Travone and this storm"—she faced him again—"it all makes my skin crawl, Robbie. There's something really wrong in all this, and I want Léon far away from all this."
The tip of Rob's tongue slid on his pouty lips while he processed those words. He lowered his eyes. "Why is it so important to keep Léon in NC?"
Kaliandra bashed Rob with a heavy, serious stare. Her tone was cold and low when she said, "Call it a mother's instinct, but I'm sure something awful will happen if he comes back to this place." She snapped her gaze to the side and walked towards the exit. "Now go. Take your sister home; she needs rest."
Rob and Rafa's home was a small lilac-and-yellow wooden shack with a spacious front porch and a narrow vegetable garden with sunflowers and strawberries at the back. It was abandoned when they arrived at Cidade Santa in 2047, but after Rafaela underwent Dr. Modraniht's treatment and started to feel better, she tore it down and rebuilt it from scratch with Rob's help.
Four years ago, this place was a pile of rotten wood consumed by nature. Today, it was their home, even if Léon wasn't there to make it whole.
As their NAV rolled to a stop, they saw a slim figure waiting for them on the wooden steps.
"If it isn't our favorite intern," Rafa said. She left the NAV and walked up to Afonso. "What are you doing here so late, Fofo?"
He got up. Afonso had an innocent smile on his lips and an envelope in his hands. "Came to deliver Rob something. How are you, Rafa?"
Rafa nodded. "I'm always great." Her gaze landed on a large fern beside him, and she frowned, taking one of the leaves between her fingers. "Did you eat already, Fofo? Rob's gonna cook something, and you're invited if you want."
Rob sighed. He locked the NAV and followed his sister's steps. "He's too busy today, sis."
"Actually, I'd love to—"
"Let me see that," Rob interrupted.
When he tried to take the folder from Afonso's hands, he tightened his hold on it. "I have to explain it." He glanced at Rafa.
"Oh. In private. All right." She took in a deep breath and wrapped her strong arms around the large flowerpot in which the fern was planted. "My little brother is having many private conversations today, huh. I'm jealous." She stuck her tongue out and climbed up the stairs, taking the plant with her. "I'll be inside, then. Alone. Pruning this baby."
Rob shook his head. He waited until Rafa entered the house to turn to Afonso. They could still hear the song she was humming, but it was too noisy outside for her to discern anything of their conversation.
Once they were alone again, Afonso's posture changed. From small and shy, he squared his shoulders, slid a hand into his pocket, and used the other to make a grand, dramatic gesture pointing at Rafaela. He was almost another person.
"She's a lot of fun, your sister. And knows a lot of very old songs, apparently."
Rob rolled his eyes. "Stay away from her. And don't make me waste my time; what do you want?"
Alfonso's lips opened in a shark-like smile as he walked up to Roberto and rested a hand on his arm. "Well, look at that. Why the hostility, bitter one? Am I not here to offer you aid, as always?"
"Are you?" Rob crossed his arms. "I'm not so sure after what you did two days ago. We had agreed we wouldn't contact Léon until we had enough information about his powers. What we have is too little."
"You wanted to see Léon as much as I."
Rob clicked his tongue. "You're bloody impossible."
Afonso laughed. "Don't pout, bitter boy. I'm here to help, nothing else. Should I think you don't need it?"
"Shut up, Anhangá," he mumbled.
"It's not Anhangá, bitter-boy. It's Afonso. You don't want your sister to discover your little secret, do you?"
Rob twisted his lips. His eyes slid down to meet the worn tattoos on his arms. Everyone had earned a scar or two after their fight against The Mayor and Toni, but Rob and Léon were the ones who had lost the most. Sure, every citizen kept their Life Force—and their lives—so it was worth it, but Rob would need a long time to get used to not having the ancestral powers of his tattoos... and he'd need a lot more than that to figure out why his powers weren't working as they were supposed to.
He sighed. "I obviously don't want that," Rob murmured. "If Rafa knew you were here, she'd go crazy with worry—you know how deep her connection with Entities is."
"Very pretty, very deep," Anhangá agreed with a smile.
Rob clicked his tongue. "I'm... I'm sorry, I'm just frustrated." He let out a sigh. "Kali said she's worried about what might happen if Léon came to OC, and now I... I'm worried too."
"Tsk. That woman," Anhangá said in a bitter voice, narrowing his eyes. "I should hand her to Tau so she'd stop causing problems."
"To... who?" Rob shook his head. "No. You know what, I don't care." Rob zeroed in on Anhangá. "To be frank, I stand by her decision. New Continent might be a snake pit, but Old Continent is a forest of debris and violent gangs. It's safer for Léon in NC."
Anhangá made a dismissive gesture, then turned his back to Roberto. "The safer place for you and Léon is by my side, bitter one." He closed his eyes and wiggled a finger to call Rob. Once he was close enough, Anhangá gripped his hands and pulled his centimeters away from him. "Breath in and focus on your memories of him."
Rob did. He remembered Léon's perfume, his soft voice, and the gentleness of his gaze. He remembered the texture of Léon's hair against his fingers and the wet warmth of his lips against his. He remembered his taste and the delicious sounds he made as Rob took him to his limits.
"There's something wrong," Anhangá said. "I can't feel our sweet one."
"My sweet one."
"You broke up, and no amount of kisses will serve as an official relationship reinstatement, bitter boy. You and Léon need to agree on a new relationship status, yes? With words. Together."
"... My sweet one," Rob repeated in a growl.
Anhangá rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Say whatever you like. What matters is that I can't sense him, so we can't communicate with him." He tapped a finger on his chin and narrowed his eyes.
Then, Anhangá's entire body tensed.
Rob sensed Anhangá's unrest by the way he stepped back, running a hand through his black hair. Rob held his arm and asked, "What happened?"
There was a weird reluctance in the way Anhangá pushed Rob away. "We couldn't reach him inside the prison, and we can't reach him now, bitter boy. In the same way as it was in prison, Léon must be somewhere that hinders the cosmic trace's ability to connect with their undimension." Anhangá gripped Rob's face and pulled him down to level their eyes. "Two groups of people have this kind of knowledge in this world of yours. One, the wardens of your penitentiaries, but I doubt he'd be back with them, so we have to think about the second group. A people-smuggling scum you know by the name of...."
Eyes widening, Rob completed, "Barbarians."