And how terribly wrong I was to make that assumption. The change was subtle and gradual as we headed deep into Wynnville, the houses and buildings slowly meshing together, their walls receding to a shade of rusted copper amongst grim yellow panels and railings the color of denim. Long, winding pipes strewn over the sides coughed clouds of water vapor out of sears it had sustained over the years, unchecked by the people concerned for things other than what had seemed to be hardly a problem so long ago. Alongside the pipes were long, drooping wires that stretched overhead, buzzing occasionally with a surge of power.

Splotches of grime and blood stained the streets, which had narrowed to the width of one cab—one nearly hit us as we sprang to the side just in time. The red-faced driver cursed at us as he snapped the reins a little too forcefully for my liking, the steed whinnying painfully before it broke into a gallop, trampling waste bins and bursting open trash bags that spewed pungent smells along the street.

I stumbled over a basket full of rotting fruits and worms burrowing within them, and landed into the soft haven of cushions, or so I thought. Camila flapped crazily and hovered over me, her eyes pulsing an amber glow that seemed to warn me. Before I could even turn around, the pungent smell of rotting food and stinking filth burned my nose and I sprang out of the dumpster.

Though it had broken my fall, I wasn't exactly pleased with the grime that clung to my clothes as I wiped a banana peel off the top of my head.

I looked over at the three: Ken was on the verge of tears as he covered his mouth in an attempt not to laugh, Albert clutched his stomach in sheer agony as he bottled the laughter up, and Matilda had raised an eyebrow and a sly smile tugged at her lips.

Even Camila had perched on a low-lying wire, her beak seemingly wrinkling at the sight of filth strewn across my shirt.

"Oh, c'mon," I said irritably as I attempted to wipe my shirt, only to smear the filth even more. At last, Ken's hand couldn't resist the bubbling feeling that flooded from his mouth and he let it out, an uncontrollable fit of laughter that was soon joined by Alberto's rumbling chuckle.

Tap. "What?!" I whipped around expecting Camila to be poking (fun) at me with her talons, but she remained perched on the wire and gave me a curious look. Another tap, followed by the cool water that streamed down my neck, confirmed my suspicions.

Sssss. The tiny flame that illuminated our surroundings flickered before succumbing to a large raindrop that consumed it whole. I looked up and the night sky had been covered in a layer of thick fog that showered rain down on us, smudging windows and dangling light bulbs that cast a surreal glow, the light streaming through the prism of raindrops. I could almost make out a faint rainbow emerging from the array of colors, but perhaps it was just the fog playing tricks on me.

"We should be fine, right?" Ken asked as he scrambled under an overhang that clearly was hastily slapped together with a few rusty metal plates and a hope that it wouldn't immediately collapse on itself.

"Of course," Matilda snorted as she leaned back, basking in the shower. "It's just a little drizzle—"

A thunderous boom erupted above us, like one cloud had cracked a joke and the others fell into a fit of laughter, and the distant crack of lightning stopped her mid-sentence. But before she could utter another word, the gentle pit pat of little raindrops was no more; large, watery tears seeped from the clouds, plummeting down like an onslaught of artillery shells.

"On second thought... we better run!"

Though under the overhang, the weather was not merciful to Ken either as the rain bombarded the many puddles scattered along the street, soaking him to his socks.

"Where to?" He shouted over the roar of the thunderstorm, his voice almost getting lost in the rapid pitter-pattering of the rain as it fired upon those unlucky to be caught in its path.

"Follow me!" Albert signaled toward us as he bound for a narrow street on the left, nearly losing his footing as he slipped on a puddle. "I know a place where we can wait out the rain."

And with no other choice, the rain biting at my cheek viciously and pelting my backside, I scrambled after the three. Camila, was she still on the wire? Or had she been knocked off? My mind seemed to scramble even more as I whipped around, my eyes wild, only to be greeted with her curious look as she flapped through the rain, little wipers drying the water around her eyes.

"Oh, thank goodness you're here," I exclaimed, letting out a sigh of relief before racing after the others, Camila tailing closely behind me.

Stumbling around the corner, I stumbled over a rock, perhaps, and would have smashed my jaw against the metal railing had it not been for her firm beak tugging at the back of my shirt. A sewage canal beyond the railing was a murky, green liquid that swished violently against the rain, pungent smells drifting through the fog.

"Thanks," I huffed, pulling myself up and hurried after the voice of Alberto, yelling something incomprehensible over the rain. At least I'm getting a nice shower, I chuckled to myself.

At times I nearly lost the others in the fog, the rain beating down at me as I tripped over a fallen plank, but Ken's red hat seemed to glimmer in the storm, a lighthouse that would guide me in the right direction. Only it was outshined by another lighthouse, a brilliant gold that skittered across the pavement, concealed under the cover of rain.

"No—the emblem!" Matilda cried out, her hair tangled by mischievous raindrops that slithered through her locks and strands.

The emblem... I couldn't quite recall the specific name, but it didn't matter as I leaped to grab it from the water's clutches, a troublesome child that loved the frustrated expressions of those that they teased.

Tripping over something—the downpour had rendered everything in sight a mesh of wet and blurred colors—I felt my hands slap against the slippery ground, the golden glint just out of reach as I clawed at the water in vain.

The sewage canal! The water rocked the emblem back and forth furiously, slowly inching towards the metal railing where water gushed over the side like a rushing waterfall, taking scraps and trash with it. The others were too far away, their voices a futile attempt that only seemed to push the emblem further, and I scrambled to my feet and grasped onto the railing for support.

One last chance. It shone once again, almost blinding me, and I slammed myself down as if my body weight would be able to stop the rushing water—the emblem slipped from underneath my chest, propelled by the sudden flood of water displaced under me, and over the side and into oblivion.

My knees stung with a pulsing pain that numbed my ringing ears that pounded against my head, and my bloody hands that stained the surrounding water a dark hue of red. Gone was our only ticket to the airship, to the truth, and Matilda's frantic shouting muffled by the rapid raindrops only affirmed our panic as she stared harrowingly into the green sea of filth that surrounded the emblem.

A streak of red flashed before my eyes, an intense whir that seared my ears as a quiet splash spewed droplets of water in my direction, soaking my already drenched face. Could it have been? I thought, desperately clinging to any sliver of hope that was in reach. But such a plunge would have soaked the gears completely...

A moment passed, then another before a blur of red emerged from the canal, the familiar glint of gold catching my eye. The cardinal, her chest rising and resting in exertion, mustered what strength was left in her little body into the drenched gears as she flapped furiously against the rain.

The amber glow in her eyes flickered dangerously as the rain pelted harder against the metal plating, and with one last push, the gears growing to a deafening roar, Camila's form crumpled and landed in Albert's outstretched hands, the coin slipping from her beak onto the ground before Matilda snatched it with a swift motion.

"Holy..." Her jaw went slack before she stuffed the medallion into her coin pouch and snapped it shut. "I'm not doing that again."

Gone was the whir of gears and the amber depths that regarded me with unfound curiosity, but when I looked up to mourn the little bird, Albert just gave me a smile. "That worried look of yours reminds me of the first time I had taken her out for a test run, only to find myself with a broken heap of metal that didn't fly."

Noticing the worried look on my face, he reassured me. "Don't worry, she'll be up and running before the day breaks. Of course, the water is something to be reckoned with..."

"Can we talk not out in a thunderstorm, preferably?" Ken shivered, rubbing his sides as he danced around the puddles to warm himself.

"Yes, of course," he had a curious smile on his face, reminiscent of what Camila seemed to have. "Wanting a few passports is nothing out of the ordinary, but that emblem... I smell an interesting story on you three."

At the sight of Matilda's slightly horrified look, he chuckled, cradling the cardinal under the cover of his coat. "Why're you looking at me like I'm with the police? If you have business here downtown, it's an unspoken agreement that we don't snitch on a fellow friend."

"Of course, being friends doesn't exactly constitute friendliness—though I try to do otherwise," he said as he ducked under an overhang, his laughter a light huff that drifted through the air before being stolen by the wind.