I tried to calm myself, but I found out that that was harder than I thought it would be.

For all I knew I was dead right now, and this was all some strange afterlife dream I was having.

Vace gave a low whistle and I snapped out of my initial confusion. I shook my head, shaking the last bits away. I nodded at him, still seeing the dreaded 'bridge' in my peripheral vision.

Vace nodded sturdily and set in a small jog to the next building. He rolled his shoulders, and after adjusting the sword on his back, he set off. Reaching the building's wall, he immediately hoisted himself up on invisible handholds, climbing up the wall with an incredible speed.

A pipe stuck out of the building, fragile but still puffing out clouds of brown smoke and gas. He pushed himself off the wall, grabbing the pipe in the process and swinging himself against a nearly unreachable raster imbedded in the metal. The wall around it was smooth, but he held onto the fine raster, opening it swiftly before slipping into the opening.

He was graceful in every move he made, precise and efficient to the core.

I closely followed the path he took, mentally making a map of the surface, memorising small handholds and ledges. I studied the way Vace moved, using his legs to push him up as he barely used his arms, only to hold himself against the wall. He climbed up the wall with a poise I could only dream of.

After he had scaled the wall of the tall building, I followed his trail, grabbing the handholds and placing my feet on small ledges, this time prepared for their slippery surface, which was now instead of icy cold, warm to the touch. I suspected there to be machines underneath the metal.

Without thinking my hands reached up to the right handholds as I climbed up with ease. I reached the horizontal pipe, and grabbing it I tested its strength, slightly out of breath. I swung lightly, hanging on the pipe, as I estimated how much power I should put in the swing.

Vace stuck his head out of the opening, throwing an impatient comment at me, but I ignored him.

Back at home I used to climb trees all the time: this shouldn't be any different.

I put power in my swing, letting go at the right moment to create the good angle to grab onto the rims of the opening.

I was weightless for a second, before slamming into the wall, my fingers grasping for security. A small oof escaped my lips, as my body hit the wall, hard.

Bodily hoisting myself up I gave the wall under me a last glance, smirking slightly in my victory.

Vace impatiently tapped his finger against his knee, making a small gesture as I sank onto the floor. I raked my hands through my short hair, ruffling it up and smiling proudly.

"Whenever you're ready, your majesty," Vace commented, giving me a glare.

Back to normal again, I thought.

As my gaze shifted, I took in my surroundings, sighing audibly. "Not again."

* * *

"Why are we going through these again?" I grunted, bumping against the metal walls for the umpteenth time, "We seemed perfectly fine walking with the regg earlier."

"There was a change of shifts then. We could hide among the regg," Vace answered shortly, "We now need the heat of the shafts to cover us."

We crawled in silence for a minute.

"Why are these so big..." I wondered, more talking to myself but ravelling about how spacious these shafts were. Air didn't have a solid form; why were these shafts this large? The currents can flow anywhere, in any shape.

"Did you see the regg in green suits?" Vace grunted, taking another turn.

"Yes. With the droplet on their chest."

"Exactly. Their job is to clean the shafts—and anything else, actually. They have to fit through these, and conveniently, we have the shift routine," he said. "We shouldn't encounter any cleaners."

I opened my mouth again to ask something, but Vace cut me off.

"Now shut up. They can still hear us."

After what had seemed like an eternity of crawling through damp, cramped air ducts Vace finally slipped through a hatch.

With a sigh I followed him, landing in a crouch on the floor. I braced myself with a hand on the ground, and when I pulled it back it came back wet. I wiped it off my pants, and came across a small bump—the two halves of the nail I had broken earlier, back when I had just come here. That seemed like a lifetime ago.

What seemed like a completely different life altogether was my life back at camp. The only thing that assured me that that was real was the slowly healing burn on the palm of my hand. I wished my father and Jaedie and everyone back at camp were unharmed. I hoped Cilen was holding on. He had to.

I looked around, seeing that we were in an alley. High walls rose above us, crossed over by pipes, beams and bridges. I shivered at the memory; I would choose a hot ventilation shaft any time.

"There you are!" a voice called from behind, and in a swift move I turned around. My hand shot in a reflex to my empty sheathe on my hip. I cursed.

"Calm down, kiddo, it's us."

Haco. I closed my eyes briefly, sighing deeply. I was being an idiot.

The red-haired rebel stepped from behind a corner, his arms spread wide. "Did I scare you?" he said mockingly, pouting dramatically, splaying his hand over his heart.

"Shut up, Flitzer," Jinx grumbled, stepping beside him. She slapped him on the back of his head, rolling her eyes in the process.

"Stop it," Vace commanded, "Both of you."

"Okay boss," Haco said, smirking, saluting sloppily. "Did she pass the test?" he asked, turning to me, his brows raised.

I frowned, test? I turned to the rebel leader for explanation, but his face stayed stoic as ever.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, she did," he said, giving me a quick sideway glance. I'd almost missed it, but he was just too slow.

The bridge? Had that been a test?

Haco whistled softly and clapped his hands. "Well done, kiddo. I hadn't expected that."

"Well, apparently I am exceeding everyone's expectations," I said, giving Vace a small smirk. "Where were you going?"

"With you," Jinx said, shifting her belt in which her knife was stealthily hidden. "We were going to pick u..."

A laughter at the end of the dim alley, accompanied by multiple pairs of footsteps. Three men.

I sprained my ears to hear what they said, but I only caught a couple of words above the ever-present noises.

"...rebels...gaol...weapons...kill..."

"Stripes!" Vace hissed, pulling me behind a nasty-smelling trash deposit.

I pressed myself against the side, trying to regulate my ragged breath. I turned my head, pressing my cheek against the cool metal.

My eyes darted to the opposite side of the alley, where no dumpster stood. I frantically looked around for any sign of the other two rebels, but then I heard a soft whistle.

I shifted my gaze to where it came from: up.

Jinx had somehow managed to hide herself, but Haco had somehow scaled the wall and ended up on a small ledge, nowhere else to go. He was in full sight, and if the Authorities came this far, they'd just have to look up and they'd see him in all his red-haired glory. He shrugged yet smirked, before pushing himself against the wall.

I stifled a gasp, and followed his gaze to the beginning of the alley. I gingerly looked around the corner, just to shoot back again into place.

I couldn't help but look again a few seconds later. They could impossibly see me, it was too dark.

Two black-suited Authorities, and even a white-suited one, gun on their shoulder and their chins lifted haughtily. The white-suited up front seemed most stoic, as he silently walked through the alley, his fellow companions swaggering behind him, laughing and kicking about trash and boxes. They were bragging.

"I'm telling you, those Outlaws are getting more and more aggressive," the outer left Authority said. His voice sounded low and gravelly through his helmet, almost like a machine, even.

"I've been there with them, Outside. Savages, I tell you. They use knives. Not like these babies we got here, eh?" A pat against something hard. Probably his gun.

"Yeah?" his mate replied, in almost the exact same voice; maybe slightly lower. "I heard we had intel. One of the Outlaws. That's how they found 'em." He laughed, "One of 'em finally realising that the Masters' hand is not to mess with."

I shot back to my place, slapping a hand against my mouth.

A traitor? Impossible.

Or was it?

"Privates! Shut your mouths," the front Authority suddenly said. "I heard something."

I bit my lip and held my breath. I glanced beside me, but Vace was gone. Panic started to seep in. Where was he?

"Sir, that was probably us," the other Authorities said, laughing loudly. "Let's head back to base, shift's over anyway."

"Shift is never over, Delta," he answered sternly, "Two extra cycles for you tonight, boys."

The other Authorities groaned audibly, but listened to their superior. They kept quiet and went out looking for the source of sound: which was us.

I looked up, to Haco, to find him struggling with keeping his balance. He wobbled on the small ledge he was balancing on, a tiny protruding pipe as only handhold.

A clang of metal sounded above me. My gaze darted up, and I saw Jinx and Vace—the former with a pained expression on her face as she stepped away from a loose pipe which had fallen onto the grid they were standing on. The metal grid reached all the way over the alley; I had no idea how they had come there. Jinx had drawn her curved blade, which glistened in the faint reflected light of the glass ceiling of the Globe, high above us, hidden in mist.

Vace put a finger to his lips, as his hand reached up to the hilt of his sword. In one swift move he drew it, holding the weapon loosely in front of him. He gave Jinx a short nod, and in one fluid motion they both hung under the shadows of the metal grid, ready to drop into the alley.

My eyes shot wide open in surprise—they were going to fight.

Two against three, some rebels with blades against the Authorities with lethal firearms? I think not.

I frantically signalled Vace, trying to tell him to wait. He gave me a confused look, but obliged after a few painstaking seconds.

Peeking around the corner of the dumpster, I saw the three Authorities slowly closing in. I fumbled the broken halves of nail in my pocket, an idea slowly forming in my head.

"Foxtrot, Delta," the higher ranking Authority said, "Shut your nonsense holes. Bring yourself to use—I heard something."

The two Authorities quieted, the only sounds the shuffles of boots and their breathing bouncing through the high walls of the alley.

Haco wobbled even more, his balance failing him as the metal ledge started to bend under his weight. He frowned deeply, pressing himself against the wall as he moved his hands frantically over the wall, trying to find leverage.

The Authorites came even closer, Vace and Jinx still hanging soundlessly on the metal grid over the alley. He gave me a sharp look—hurry up.

I looked around the corner again, shooting back as I saw they were only half a dozen metres away.

"Hey!" one Authority called out, "Who's there? Show yourself!"

I looked up, seeing Vace move, holding his sword tightly in his hand. He was going to jump.

In a split second decision I grabbed the two halves of the nail out of my pocket and stood up quickly, pressing myself against the wall.

I was in full sight, may they look in my direction, but I was hidden by the shadows—I hoped.

I clutched the nails in the palm of my hand, and with all my force I hurtled them though the air, making them ricochet off the walls and bounce into the far end of the alley. The metallic clunks echoed through the alley, seemingly coming from all sides as the sounds reverberated through the walls.

The Authorities shouted out, and were sent off running to the end of the alley, guns raised and loaded.

"Show yourself or meet execution!" the front Authority shouted out, running around the corner. The sounds of their heavy boots simultaneously slamming against the floor quickly died out, as they advanced.

Jinx and Vace let go, landing on the floor in a crouch. Haco let go as well, falling with the grace of having done countless times before, but catching himself poorly.

"I always suck at that part," Haco commented, laughing awkwardly.

Vace took off, stepping off in the opposite directions the Authorities went into. "Stop whining, Haco, come on. Tenna, you too, follow up."

I glanced around, my eyes meeting Jinx's for a split second. She averted her gaze, stepping up to Vace.

"I apologise, I–" she started, grabbing Vace's arm, but Vace interrupted her harshly turning around to Haco and me.

"They'll be back soon, we have to move out. Tenna, Haco with me, Jinx..." he didn't even look at her. "You go and proceed to get the package. We're with too many to remain inconspicuous, in which we already failed," he said sharply, turning around again.

"Move out," he said, returning his sword to his back, running off.

I followed, and as I ran gave Jinx a last glance over my shoulder as she stood alone in the alley, sighing deeply before scaling the wall and retreating into one of the air shafts.

I turned around, my footsteps falling into sync with the ones running next to me. I winced with every step I took, the loud slams of my boots against the ground echoing loudly through the alley, mixing with the whirring of machines and people in this strange, metal prison.

I was surrounded by more people than I had encountered in my entire life, but I felt more alone than ever.

One of us had done this. One of us was responsible for letting the Authorities take Kael. They were the sole reason I was here.

And they were the ones who would have to pay.

_______________________________

Hey guys,

I was wondering... team Vace or team Kael?

;)