"The hell is wrong with that kid?" A tide of curses spewed from Gray as he paced around the small camp. The urge to punch something arose, so he spun and threw a fist at the nearest object. He hit the slender metal pole that braced the front end of their tent.

A dull clang sounded and the pole caved from the strength of the blow. Bent as it was, it could no longer support its side of the tent, so it dropped onto the ground. The fabric of the tent followed behind.

"Gray," came a calm voice, "stop it."

Gray ignored the voice. Instead, he kicked angrily at the pile of fabric on the ground. "Why would he do this? He's crazy!! Just what possessed the brat to even dare to -"

"Gray!"

The shout made him pause. He turned to give a cold glare at the other flyer who interrupted him. "What do you want now?" he snarled.

The Scout flyer who had been assigned to help him could be considered a veteran. Not many people knew him or even knew of him, but among the Scouts, he had a reputation that rivalled that of Ryuto. Ryuto was infamous as the vainest member of the Twelve, but Raith - all the flyers of the Reconnaissance guild had a different name for him.

The Specter.

Outside the Scouts, however, he was relatively unknown. And he preferred it that way. Now, he regarded the enraged Talon with a gaze as calm and steady as a pool of water.

"Gray," he said. "You've destroyed our tent. What do you suppose we will do when it rains tonight?"

Out of pure reflex, Gray glanced upwards. He already knew the sky was a cloudless blue. Yet the suggestion of rain was something so completely ridiculous, he had to confirm it. Not only was the sky perfectly clear, but there was no wind. The air hung heavy and humid, still holding a lot of heat even as the sun had already began to set.

"Rain?" Gray spat on the ground, which was dry enough that it immediately absorbed the small bit of moisture. "Did you get hit in the head by one of those grenades? It hasn't rained in weeks and it ain't gonna start now. What kind of idiot worries about the weather when we've got bigger problems? You're -"

"For a Talon, you're not very observant," Raith interrupted. "However, that was never one of your attributes, so it's nothing to be surprised about." Though his words were unkind, his tone was mild. He walked over to the remains of their tent, regarding it for a moment.

It wasn't a big tent - it held just enough space to shelter the two of them. It would be a cozy fit, but it had never been designed with comfort in mind. It was a simple expanse of material, propped up on two sides with collapsible metal rods that were driven into the ground. However, thanks to Gray, their tent was now a wilted teepee.

"Didn't you hear me?" Gray asked. "Did you forgot why we're out here? We need -"

Raith turned to face Gray. Silently, he lifted a finger and pointed to the north-east. The Talon's expression was absolutely furious, his pale eyes nearly giving off sparks. Yet he clenched his jaw, and followed the line of Raith's finger.

A towering anvil cloud loomed above the horizon. Gray stared, somewhat startled. He was sure the sky had been perfectly clear just two minutes ago. When had -

"I'd say we have about forty minutes before that reaches us," Raith said. "I suggest we try and do what we can for that tent first. Then we can talk."

This Scout, Gray was realizing, had a really nasty habit of interrupting him. But there was nothing he could do to vent his annoyance, because there was nothing he could say against such perfectly reasonable logic. A storm was coming. And he'd just broke their only means of shelter.

Stupid kid. This is all your fault!

Raith's prediction proved to be accurate.

Forty-five minutes later, both flyers were cuddling the single surviving tent pole, praying that it would hold against the 600 km/hour wind that was trying to blast them off the face of the earth. They had hung the tent fabric over the single pole, and spread it out in a rough pyramid shape, fastening it down at the corners as best they could. Even now, it flapped violently in the wind, to the point that Gray wondered how long it would take for it to break free from its fastenings.

With the cruel wind came the rain, pouring down in sheets. Though their little shelter managed to keep them dry, it could not keep out the noise of the storm. It wasn't the first time Gray had camped out in unpleasant weather. However, never before had he been forced to huddle nearly nose-to-nose with another flyer. At least there was still the tent pole between them.

Raith didn't seem bothered in the slightest. Even when the wind shuddered through the canvas and smacked it against violently against his shoulders, he didn't even blink. He merely pulled out a lightstick and snapped it at each end to activate it. Within seconds, it gave off a gentle yellow glow, illuminating their tiny shelter.

"Now," the Scout said. Even though he had to raise his voice to be heard against the storm raging outside, he still managed to sound composed and dignified. "Shall we discuss what happened earlier?"

Gray scowled instantly. "What happened is that the stupid brat wouldn't even listen!"

A soft sigh came from Raith. Even though the sound of it was lost amidst the storm, it was still evident in the brief shutter of his dark eyes and part of his lips. "While your baby Talon's actions are troubling, I was referring to the timely interruption of the Kairg. They seem to have come to his aid. Wouldn't you agree?"

Those words served as a bucket of cool water to Gray. He'd been ready to go on another verbal rampage. Though he would never admit it, Jett's act of betrayal had affected him far more than he'd ever thought it could. After all, the stupid kid was no longer his responsibility - he'd handed those reins over to Raven long ago.

Raven. Jaw tightening, he stared down at his thighs, where his rested hands twitched. If the black Talon had been here, Gray would have punched that violet-eyed freak in the face with all his strength. If you hadn't gotten yourself killed by the Kairg, none of this would have happened!

"Something bothers me about this entire situation," Raith went on. When Gray looked up and met his gaze mutely, he continued on. "Let's look at the facts that we do know. First," here, he held up the index finger of his left hand. "Due to his ... relationship with the Kairg leader, Raven was sent to try and negotiate some terms. Second -"

Gray had grown still, eyes widening. "How did you know about that?"

"About what?" Raith paused, gazing at Gray without blinking.

"About Raven's - his ..." Gray made a furious gesture. "That's something that only the Council knows about. And the Twelve. No one else was supposed to know - that was the Council's order!"

"You mean the fact that Raven is the offspring of Ra'Skevvor?" Raith's tone was bored, like he was discussing the weather. "Gray, please. Do you not know what the Reconnaissance Guild's main purpose is?"

"You guys are scouts," Gray muttered. "But what does -"

"Very good," Raith interrupted gently. Suddenly, his voice became warm, as if he was praising a small child. "And what do scouts usually do?"

It was about this time that Gray realized that Raith was just toying with him. It was like some of the storm clouds from outside found their new residence within Gray, for his expression darkened. With startling speed, he grabbed the front armor plate of Raith's suit and jerked him forward.

"Don't play with me," he snarled. His grip tightened, causing the armor to flex beneath the pressure. If he applied just a bit more strength, it would either bend or crack, depending on the quality of material it was made of.

Their faces were close enough for Raith to feel the Talon's warm breath gust across his face. Despite his calm composure, there was faint flicker of distaste within his gaze. Slowly, he reached up and carefully took hold of the Talon's wrist. Even he knew that Gray's strength was not something he could ever hope to match, so he didn't even try.

"My apologies," he murmured. "I was just trying to point out that if there is any sort of secret, be it enemy or friendly, the Scouts are always the first to know. Always."

The dark clouds didn't dissipate from Gray's gaze; he merely stared at the Scout in a cold silence. In that brief moment, Raith wondered if he had miscalculated. But then Gray's fingers relaxed and he drew back his arm.

"So you've all known," he coldly said.

"It shouldn't be such a surprise to you. Besides, who do you think the Council tasked with ensuring that Raven was not a Kairg spy right from the start?"

For a second, something shifted within Gray's pale eyes. It was fleeting, but that tiny glimpse was enough to make Raith's breath catch in his throat. He had to suppress the urge to shiver.

"What's the second fact?" There was a single, lazy blink, and Gray seemed to relax. It was as if his earlier anger hadn't even existed.

The sudden change was unsettling, but Raith did not hesitate to grab the opportunity to move on. "Of course. Second is that shortly before the destruction of Shann Tei, Jett disappeared. From the evidence at the time, it is believed that he either disabled both trainees with him at the time and fled, or that all three of the trainees were disabled by an outside force, which then took only Jett away. Considering that a different trainee had previously been kidnapped from a Troit camp by the Kairg, we were originally leaning towards the second option."

"Makes sense," Gray nodded slowly.

"However, there's the third factor." Three fingers were now lifted on the Scout's hand, keeping tally. "Shann Tei is destroyed in a single day. By the time we hear about it, it's far too late for us to even mobilize. There were Troit survivors who had been stationed there, of course. But that's beside the point - none of them knew anything useful. There was only one person who did have information on what happened."

"Jett," Gray supplied.

"Yes. It was the baby Talon who told us that Ra'Skevvor was there personally, overseeing the destruction of the city. He also is the one who told us that Ra'Skevvor killed Raven. He was the only eyewitness to the event, the only source of information we have. "

Something in the Scout's tone made Gray frown. "You don't believe what the kid told you."

Raith gave a ghost of a smile, the corner of his mouth just barely twitching upwards. "I believe he told the truth, to a degree. No one, not even the best of actors, can fake that kind of stress and shock. Yet, there are questions that he did not answer. Important questions, such as - how did he, a mere fledgling, manage to escape Ra'Skevvor when even Raven couldn't?"

They stared at each other in silence for a moment. One waiting, the other processing the information. Finally, Gray shook his head. "There's no way he could have escaped. If Ra'Skevvor was actually there, then he would have had to let Jett go. But that makes even less sense. Why would he even care -"

He stopped mid-word, face paling as something clicked into place. Gently, he closed his mouth, making an effort to appear calm.

"What is it?" Raith asked.

Gray hesitated. He didn't know why he did so, but a part of him rebelled against the idea of telling a Troit Scout what he suspected. But maybe he knew already, and is just testing me to see what I'll do.

If it had been before Jett's betrayal, Gray would have said nothing. He respected Raven, respected his odd attachment to Jett, and if pressed by the Elders themselves, he would have said nothing.

That was not the case now. The kid didn't just betray Troit. He betrayed the Talons! He threw away everything that Raven ever taught him, and just ran like a stupid coward! He couldn't fathom it. The kid had been so promising near the end. Gray could almost believe that they'd soon have a mini-Raven amongst them.

I guess blood isn't thicker than water after all, huh? Or maybe it is, and he's just following in the footsteps of the other one.

With that in mind, it wasn't all that hard to meet Raith's patient gaze. "We know that Raven is the son of Ra'Skevvor. And Jett ... well. I've suspected for a long time he's some bastard son of Raven's."

Raith just looked at him, completely impassive. Then he smiled a slow, eerie smile. "I see."