Forged Destiny [Book 7: Ch. 15]

"Why did you attack us?" I demanded. "We were just trying to rest out the storm and were no threat to you."

"You trespass on forbidden land."

"Who forbids it? You?" I threw one arm wide, indicating the vast desert. "There are no signs of warnings, or if they were we didn't see them in the sand storm. We only came here for shelter, yet you tried to kill us!"

Sun huffed and leaned back. "You would have been taken alive."

It was a tiny concession, more of a platitude – but it was enough. All those lessons from mom on how to sell and drive a price higher came to the fore, one of which being the importance of tempo. I had him on the back foot. As long as I kept pushing, he wouldn't be able to ask me questions I couldn't answer.

"Fat lot of good that did us when your friend here was attacking out camp." I pointed to our hostage, and then to Dew, the Lancer I'd faced. "And she tried to stab me in the face – multiple times. It's a miracle I managed to survive at all." I brought my sword up to point at them, and though the crowd tensed, Sun did not. "So, give me one reason why we should trust a word you say. If you think we're going to let her go when you could still kill us, you've got another thing coming."

"Well I'm hardly about to let you leave with Gwen," Sun said.

"Then it seems we're at an impasse." And since Sun had been the one to bring us there, I felt confident in waiting for him to suggest a solution. That was my big plan at the end of the day. Put the pressure on him and hope to hell he offered to let us go.

"What is it you come to the desert for?"

Answering a question with a question. It wasn't what I wanted, but it was better than an order to kill us. "I told you, we came to escape the sand storm."

"I doubt you came to Vacuo to escape a sand storm in another Kingdom. I'm asking you why you're here in the desert. Not why you are here right now."

"We're looking for something."

Spears rattled and people shifted. It might have been a small thing but with so many doing so in synchrony, it led to a cacophony of noise. I was suddenly aware that everyone was more alert, more prepared for violence. Not the right answer, then.

"Something?" Sun asked.

"Someone," I amended, watching the crowd. They did not lower their weapons, but some relaxed. "There are two criminals we seek from Vale. They came here. It's our job to find them."

"And is it your intent to pillage the desert?"

"No." I kept my face firm, hoping he couldn't see the lie there. We had to bring back a gift, which meant going into a Dungeon. Somehow, I had the feeling that would count as pillaging in their mind. "We're just here to find the other two. But it's possible they're here to look for something. They don't know we're after them, so they're here for their own reasons."

Sun's eyes narrowed and the odd mutter spread through the crowd. They looked uncertain now, or at least angry in another direction. Behind, I heard several relieved sighs as the mood shifted from imminent violence to something still bad, but not quite as much.

It was Sun that worried me, however. His eyes hadn't left mine and I had the feeling he was judging me, or my words, looking for the lies hidden beneath the surface. I forced myself not to look away.

"We do have some proof," I said. "Limited, but it should be proof we're looking for them."

"Oh? You care to share it?"

"Blake has it. The Assassin," I added. She was busy holding the hostage, and it was obvious she couldn't move or do anything without leaving an opening Sun's tribe could take advantage of. We knew that and so did they.

"You have my word we will not harm you as you bring it forth."

"Your word isn't worth very much right now," I pointed out.

Sun laughed, uncrossed his arms and stepped towards me. "Then take me hostage instead."

I stepped back. "What?"

"I won't ask you to release her, nor to trust me. Take us both hostage, but once you have me, your friend can release Gwen, if only for a moment, to bring me this proof of yours."

Not a prisoner exchange, then. Sun was offering himself up as a hostage just so he could verify what I was saying. That was either incredibly ballsy or just a sign of how screwed we were. The Monk's smile gave nothing away, still wide and easy as he came to a stop less than three paces from me, arms held wide out, empty. Blake shrugged when I glanced her way. Weiss considered the offer for a second and nodded.

I took a cautious step forward, prepared in case this was an attempt to overwhelm and take me prisoner. At the last second I darted forward, wrapping an arm around his throat and pulling him back. Sun came easily, co-operating without a second thought, and no one in the crowd batted an eyelid at the sight of their Chieftain being held captive.

They were way too calm for this. What the hell was going on?

"You have me now," Sun said casually. "Will you show the worth of your word?"

"Blake. Pass the captive over to Yang," I said, trusting the Brawler to be strong enough to hold her. Pyrrha would have been, too, but she was just too nice. There was a chance she'd let go if the hostage faked pain, giving her a chance to escape.

There was no such chance from Blake, who jostled Gwen into position and spun her into Yang's arms. She even handed a knife over, and any lack of skill on Yang's part was irrelevant when it came to rest against the unarmoured girl's jugular. The whole exchange only took a few seconds, but I was relieved to see it go off without a hitch. The tribe made no move to attack.

"Bring the scroll over here," I called to her. "Hold it out in front of him so he can see it."

Blake did so without complaint, unfurling it and turning it around so that she could stretch it out, showing the entire map of Vacuo in detail. As expected, the blue dot that marked out presence had returned now that we were outside. It flickered and twisted, drawing a line to the south. It turned a shade of blue-tinted purple.

"Interesting trick," Sun quipped. "But I'm not seeing much proof."

"The map is enchanted," I explained. "There are two parties, one on the north – us – and one on the south, which you can see the line travel to. We're going to go across the whole of Vacuo, using the scroll to locate our targets."

"Or you are going to use it to locate and plunder the ruins."

"If that were true, the scroll would be reacting now." I said. "Wouldn't it?"

It was a guess on my part – a complete shot in the dark. These ruins we'd come to for shelter were part of some old village, town or maybe even a city. It was impossible to tell which. Either way, if they weren't important in some way then Sun wouldn't be here trying to attack us.

And if these ruins were important, then the fact we had no interest in them should hopefully be enough to convince him of what I'd just said. Sun remained silent. I hoped he was thinking through my words, but it was just as possible he was planning how to deal with us.

"These ruins are also on the map," I added, pointing them out. "If we'd come here to plunder them, we'd hardly need a spell of some kind. We'd just follow what the map says."

"I can see that. It is an unusually detailed map."

"But not one that says this area is forbidden. We genuinely had no idea, not that we'd have had much of a choice with the storm coming in. Ideally, we wanted to avoid this area altogether and walk westwards along the coast. It was only the storm that pushed us inland."

"And you claim to be seeking someone?"

"Two people. A Thief known as Roman Torchwick, and an Illusionist called Neo. Both are dangerous. Very dangerous."

"They are," Sun agreed with a fierce growl. "For they killed some of my people."

My grip slackened. He could have escaped but didn't. "You've seen them!?" I asked. Without really thinking about it, I let him go and spun him around so that we were face to face. "When?" I demanded. "Where? We need to find and stop them!"

"Two nights ago. Here. Or close by." Sun worked a hand over his shoulder, cracking his neck as he recovered. "But I'm afraid your information is outdated, stranger. There is not just two of them. There are three – and the third is all the more dangerous. The Paladin."

/-/

The Del'Ashari – or the Wukong, whatever they were called – brought us to a large plain over the next dune, surrounded on all sides by low walls that peaked from the ground, signs of some ancient structure. Their tents were aligned within the boundary of such, closely packed together in a large circle, with the centre hollowed out and set aside for a large fire. Around that, people cooked and sat, all working together to form a single meal that would be shared between well over a hundred mouths.

I could say that now with more certainty, since the tribe had ballooned once we came back with Sun. Half of them had come to apprehend us, but the tribe had its old, young and infirm as well, all of which had remained behind with yet more to protect them. All told, I'd have guessed there were two hundred and fifty or more people here, though only half were capable of fighting.

Though the tension had eased somewhat once Sun declared us guests, there was no hiding the undercurrent of suspicion that ran through the tribal folk as we passed into their encampment.

—Forged Destiny [Book 7: Ch. 15]