Ray barely allowed Kerry to sit up when he launched into an explanation of what had just transpired. He said that the Rose Thief was sending assassins to Achievement City, and he, needing to do something, wanted to try and beat them there and warn Michael and Gavin so that they might have a better chance at surviving.

“Are you serious?” said Kerry with a yawn. He rubbed his eye and squinted at Ray. “I know Ray—our Ray—is kinda bitter about the people in Achievement City, but I didn’t think he’d ever… What’s it to you, anyway? As he said, it’s not your Gavin. I’m just curious,” he added when he saw Ray’s exasperated look.

“I don’t know,” Ray admitted, throwing his hands up. “It… it’s not my Gavin, or my Michael, but they’re still some version of them, you know? And… And since this trip turned out to be fucking useless—and since it looks like I might never get home, I—I gotta do fucking something.” He leaned forward and fixed Kerry with an intense stare. “I have information that could prevent Gavin’s death. Shouldn’t I use it? Shouldn’t I fucking do something?”

Kerry sighed and patted Ray’s shoulder. “Alright, buddy. You said that he hired Shadles, and rumor has it he’s one of the best assassins around—to the point where even the Prince, who guards against assassins every day, might not survive that alone… If I can’t convince you otherwise, I’ll help you out.”

Kerry gave Ray a new belt with a frog for his sword and a pouch for coin that the captain also supplied. Then, while Ray retrieved his sword from his room, took off the bandage on his hand, and paced anxiously, Kerry managed to find a large traveler’s cloak. Ray had to pull it over his head, though there was a long slit in the front. The hood was more like a cowl, and when Ray flipped the hood up, it threw his entire face into shadow.

“We’re gonna get you on the first boat out of here,” Kerry said. “You’ll generally want to keep your hood up, and always act confident. If anyone gives you the evil eye, flash your sword and look like you know how to use it. It’ll probably take a day or two to get back to Venator. You might want to sleep light anyway, though ideally you won’t be travelling with highly suspicious folk.” Kerry said that last part with a small smile, though Ray didn’t feel the humor. Kerry sighed and grasped Ray’s arm to tug him along. “Look, I really don’t want to leave you on your own, but you’re an adult. A stranger, but an adult. You’ll have to manage. Because I can’t leave here.”

Ray nodded. “I understand,” he said.

Kerry led Ray out of a side entrance of the Ruby Castle and through the city to the docks. The city was eerily quiet at this time of night, with barely another soul on the streets, but it was somehow peaceful this way. The night was soothing, a balm after long exposure to a sunny day. All the bright colors were washed out in the moonlight. It was far past midnight, Ray supposed, and dawn had to be coming in a few hours.

The docks were less quiet than the city, enough so that Ray wondered if boat workers ever actually slept. Kerry approached several people with Ray in tow, asking when and where they were leaving and if they would accept a passenger. Most of them, in one way or another, gave an undesirable answer, so Kerry moved on down the dock. Finally, they approached a merchant with a beat up but sturdy-looking ship.

“Ho!” Kerry called out. The merchant handed off a box to a crewmember and turned towards Kerry and Ray with his arms crossed.

“What do ye want?” said the merchant in a gruff voice. The man had a frizzled gray beard and a threadbare hat, but the rest of his clothes were kept in good condition. His skin was tan and his face had a leathery wrinkled look to it.

“Are you going to Venator soon?” asked Kerry. “If so, my friend here needs a ride as soon as possible. We have the coin to pay passage with.”

The man studied the two of them with glittering eyes. “Yeah, I’m heading to Venator at dawn with the low tide. Probably the earliest ones heading out. No one else can handle the early hours. I told the last two guys that I don’t have the room for any more passengers.”

Kerry squeezed Ray’s shoulder before sidling up to the merchant and throwing an arm around the man’s shoulders. He put his head close to the merchant’s ear. “Listen, good sir, I’m sure you don’t realize who I am. Perhaps you’ve heard of The Scarlet Dragon?”

The merchant visibly paled and dropped his arms to his sides. “O-oh. Uh. Well I suppose if it is just one more passenger, I can manage… but it will cost ye!” he added fiercely as if trying to reassert his dominance.

“Now that, we can discuss,” Kerry said in a low voice. Ray shifted uncomfortably and rubbed his arm under his cloak. Then he remembered Kerry’s previous advice and forced himself to keep his arms at his side and rolled his shoulders back. Gotta be confident. Can’t show weakness or timidity. Ray was going to regret this, he knew it.

Kerry worked out a price with the merchant and handed over the gold coin. Kerry seemed confident that the merchant would keep his word to take Ray along and soon headed back to the castle. The merchant was thoroughly intimidated and was too scared of offending Captain Kerry to possibly go back on his word, so when the sun was just starting to show its rays on the horizon, Ray was invited onboard and they were off.

While Ray had been waiting, he had spotted from far off Shadles and Ichigan the guard going up to different boats. With his hood and cloak, Ray was unnoticed by the two assassins. Ray was just glad that he was going to have a head start on them.

On the boat itself, which was much smaller than Kerry’s boat, Ray was kept under the deck with the cargo on a hammock with the rest of the non-crew passengers. He preferred being down there, not interacting with anyone. Occasionally, someone would come down below deck, but they would merely give Ray a strange look and skirt around him. Ray was anxious and didn’t much want to sleep. He sometimes did some exercises with his sword in some corner of the ship, but mostly he just twiddled his thumbs and avoided the crew to the best of his ability. The other passengers and crewmembers seemed wary of him, so it wasn’t hard to avoid them. A day and a night later, the merchant captain thumped down the steps and announced that they had arrived at Venator.

Ray, exhausted and on edge, nodded his thanks and followed the merchant back into the midmorning daylight. He blinked rapidly, his eyes adjusting again to the bright light. He felt tense and uneasy, and the stares he was receiving from the crew didn’t help. Nervously, he put a hand on his sword, a movement that made his cloak flutter and his sword briefly sparkle. He hopped onto the dock, and as he passed a pair of crewmembers, he heard them whisper, “Tower, look at the way his eyes flash under that hood… Like a beast’s… Glad to have him off.”

Ray had assumed that the ship was taking him to Astropolis, given that it seemed like a popular place to go. Now, however, he found himself at the edge of what looked like a small fishing town. The docks were small and mostly meant for fisherman boats, and the town, though sizeable, was clearly not planned by a city planner. The buildings, chiefly made of wood, sprawled out from one another with no clear system of organization. Ray, having no idea where he was and no desire to turn back to the merchant who he pretty sure didn’t like him, pseudo-confidently strode into the town.

On the outside, he tried to appear as confident as possible. On the inside, panic was starting to claw at his throat. As he walked, he forced himself to take a few breaths and think out a plan. People got lost all the time and always somehow got un-lost, right? He would just have to ask the right people. Someone had to be able to help him.

Ray found the only tavern and asked the friendly bartender a few questions about where he was and where Achievement City was in relation. The bartender told him that he was in Angler Town, the place from where most of Venator’s fish supply came. They were just north of Achievement City, probably about ten or twelve miles in distance. There was a straight road connecting the two places, at the very least, so even though there were thick forests in between, he should be able to follow the path and get there within the day. The bartender gave Ray explicit instructions, and Ray thanked him and left immediately. He had no time to waste.

About an hour down the road, Ray began to regret his decision to walk. His feet started to ache, and he was exhausted from his lack of sleep and previous anxiety. After two hours, sheer force of will kept him going. Luckily, soon after leaving Angler Town, Ray entered the forest, which shielded him from the worst of the sun. But even with the near-constant shade, after three hours, he stopped to rest. He had a new blister on his heel and was dying from thirst.

Ray thought he heard running water nearby, and after resting his feet, he started ambling towards it. Just after he stepped out of sight of the road, he reconsidered and doubled back to leave a trail for himself. The water he heard was a small rushing brook cutting across the middle of a clearing. It might not have been the cleanest water, but Ray figured it was better to drink that than nothing at all. After taking a drink, he sat back and closed his eyes against the sunlight streaming down into the clearing.

At this point in his… adventure, he wasn’t sure how to feel about it. He was completely alone for the first time since arriving here, on his own in a strange forest with only a rapier to protect him. If he was to be honest, he was scared. He didn’t know what to expect, and everything was so unfamiliar. He didn’t really have a plan for when he got to Achievement City, and at this point it was only his pure stubbornness pushing his fear down and moving him forward.

He sighed and stood up, preparing head back to the road. Time to get on with it. He was almost out of the clearing when he heard a violent rustling of undergrowth across the clearing. He spun around in time to see a huge gray wolf burst from out of the trees, splash across the brook, and freeze. Foam flecked the wolf’s muzzle as it growled at Ray, glaring with piercing yellow eyes. Ray was next to a pine tree with some low hanging branches, and in a panic, he climbed them. Three branches up, he turned to see the wolf bound out of the clearing, and he saw the long pale shaft of an arrow sticking out of its bloody rear thigh. He leaned forward a bit, trying to get a closer look, but the wolf was gone in an instant.

Another figure stumbled out of the trees and hopped over the brook a few seconds later. Ray stilled. He never thought he’d be so happy to see that mug.

“Where did it bloody go?” said Prince Gavin through clenched and bared teeth. He wore an outfit similar to what Ray last saw him in, though a lot less decorated. A green short-sleeved tunic with golden embroidered patterns that glittered in the sunlight; brown leather straps attaching a quicker to his back; tall soft leather brown boots laced tightly; khaki pants; leather arm guards stitched with gold. His hair was ruffled from his run, though he was only panting lightly. He carried his bow with an arrow nocked but not drawn. He glanced around the clearing quickly.

Ray tried to quietly move back, to get down in a way that wouldn’t startle Gavin. He needed to approach the situation in a way that would get Gavin to believe him about the planned assassination. His heart was beating hard and fast. Ray wobbled as he moved and lost his balance completely, tumbling out of the tree with a yelp of surprise.

Gavin whirled around, automatically drawing his arrow back. His eyes went wide when he recognized Ray, uttering a “You…!” and jerking his hand on the bow. He had reflexively shot the arrow, but it only nicked Ray’s shoulder and embedded itself in the tree with a dull thunp. Gavin stalked over to Ray as the latter sat himself up against the tree. His ass ached from the fall, and his shoulder burned with his new injury.

“You,” Prince Gavin screeched, jabbing a finger accusingly at Ray. “What are you doing here? I should have shot you, you thief! You… you criminal!”

“But you didn’t,” Ray pointed out, but that only seemed to piss Gavin off more. Not that Ray really cared, he just wanted to warn Gavin and be on his way. Or something. He hadn’t planned much past that, but maybe he could sail back to the Ruby Kingdom. Kerry had given him some coin… “Listen, I came to warn…”

Gavin let out a guttural noise of frustration, rudely cutting Ray off. He paced and clenched his fists tightly. “Ever since you reappeared, Michael’s been all brooding and withdrawn! I don’t like it! He won’t pay any attention to me outside of business, and it’s all your fault!” Gavin twirled to point at Ray again at his last phrase. Ray flinched, both from Gavin’s action and from the burning sensation in his shoulder that didn’t seem to lessen.

Ray’s mouth fell open. “I—well, I—that’s… that’s not really my problem…” He was confused. Gavin seemed about to go into a rage, and just seeing Ray had set him off. Ray understood not wanting to see someone, but this was a little extreme…

In the distance, some men started calling for the prince, wondering where he had run off to. Gavin ignored them and crouched in front of Ray, tossing his bow to the ground and leaning in close to Ray’s face.

“Of course it’s your bloody problem!” Gavin hissed. “Or—or have you bloody forgotten the way you ripped Michael’s heart out when you got caught.” Of course. Gavin didn’t quite realize that there were two Rose Thieves. Or, if he did, he didn’t realize that this Ray wasn’t the right one. And fuck, Ray’s shoulder still burned. It felt like it was getting worse, like the hot sensation was spreading.

“That wasn’t me!” Ray said, trying not to shout. “But that isn’t…”

Gavin’s abrupt laugh cut him off. “Insist all you want that it wasn’t you. You still betrayed him, and he’s mine now.” He paused, glowering at Ray. “Or at least, I thought he was, until you showed up again. You don’t get another chance. You bloody well blew it when you ran instead of facing justice.”

Ray was stunned for a moment. The way Gavin was speaking made it sound like he and Michael… Ray remembered the rumors he overheard at dinner in the Ruby Kingdom, and suddenly they seemed a lot more likely to be true. He shook his head. That wasn’t important now.

“Gavin, listen—ah, fuck!” Ray winced as the pain in his shoulder flared up suddenly. His hand flew to the wound, pressing against it.

Gavin snickered, moving back and standing again. “All of these arrows are coated with my burning jelly. Do you like it?” He glared again. “I should have aimed lower.”

“There you fucking are,” called another, exasperated voice. With the clinking of steel armor, Michael forced his way out of the trees. His face was red, and his voice was hoarse with the shouting he had been doing. “You shouldn’t run off like that, my prince. You should go back to camp.”

Gavin shrugged and beamed at the captain. “I lost it anyway,” he said, picking up his bow and crossing the clearing. As he passed Michael, he lifted his free hand to drift lightly across Michael’s shoulder. Michael nodded but did not return the smile, and then seemed to notice Ray for the first time. As Gavin disappeared back into the forest, Michael approached Ray and kneeled down.

“It’s you,” he said. “The fake one.”

“I’m not fake,” Ray said through gritted teeth. He was hunched forward now, the burning jelly making his entire shoulder feel like it was on fire.

“I see he got you with the burning jelly,” Michael said. “Sorry. Here.” He took out a long strip of bandage out of a pouch at his waist and offered it to Ray. Ray took it with his free hand but merely held it for now. Michael stood. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re doing here, but you should get going.”

“Wait,” Ray gasped out. “I—I came to warn you and Gavin about Shadles—about assassins. The—in a couple of nights, they’re gonna…”

Michael let out a short laugh. “We’ve dealt with assassins before. They’re practically a constant danger. Your warning means little.” He turned to leave.

“Don’t leave me,” Ray blurted. He winced when Michael looked over his shoulder. Why did he say that? Did he want to suffer in company, or something? He scrambled for words to keep Michael there. “Whatever—whatever the other me, the other Ray, did, I’m sorry. Okay? I’m fucking sorry—just don’t leave me alone…”

Michael sighed. He glanced off to the other side of the clearing where he had entered. “That’s not something an apology will fix,” he said. But he shifted to more easily look at Ray and smiled a little. “I can’t stay, but I appreciate the sentiment.” He sighed again, exhaling heavily, and when he made eye contact with Ray, his gaze felt distant and weary. Ray waited, pressing his hand to his shoulder.

“When I saw you—this will sound fucking weird, I’m sure, but when I saw your… unmarked back,” Michael said, “I thought maybe Fate or something was giving me a second chance. You know? Start over with someone I didn’t betray…I know, I’m fucking dumb. Forget it.” He threw up his hands and looked away. His face was turning red again. Ray’s own face suddenly felt hot. This only seemed to confirm Ray’s suspicions about Michael and Gavin. But then, that meant…

“Michael,” Ray said slowly. “Were you and the other Ray… in a relationship?”

The look Michael gave Ray was unfathomable, a mixture of confusion, grief, and anger. He shook his head in disbelief, his mouth set into a hard line. “It’s in the past now. Listen. Ray. The burning jelly will wear off soon, since you only got nicked. You really shouldn’t be in the forest during the night.” He marched off without another word, his armor clinking gently and sparkling in the sunlight before he disappeared into the trees.

Ray smacked the ground beside him with a fist and immediately regretted it as pain lanced through his hand. Nearly everyone in this universe liked to talk over Ray and ignore him, especially Michael and Gavin, and frankly he was sick of it. But most of all, he had technically achieved his goal, and now he was lost. He didn’t know what to do. He still had a horrible feeling in his gut about Prince Gavin’s fate, but he had done all he could. He was useless, helpless…

He couldn’t care less about the relationships between this universe’s lads, past or present. Michael had basically confirmed that he and the Rose Thief had been… romantically involved, and with all the information and rumors Ray had gathered, he was inclined to believe it was true. Had been true. Not to mention that this likely made Michael’s and Gavin’s relationship true as well. And, Gavin had mentioned that Michael had been “brooding” ever since Ray showed up. The way Ray saw it, Michael still felt guilty about punishing the Rose Thief, still felt betrayed and like he had betrayed as well.

Ray shivered as he crawled across the clearing towards the brook to rinse his hand off. The burning was starting to ebb, but now his hand had blood smeared on it. He took off his cloak and shirt and awkwardly wrapped the bandage around his shallow wound, tying it tightly with a square knot. He frowned as he put his clothes back on, a little upset that they were now ripped and bloody.

He sat by the brook for a while, staring blankly at the gently rushing water. He hated being here, he decided. He felt powerless, and no one seemed to like him very much—well, except for this place’s Kerry and Caleb. He had spent two months on a boat at sea, learning how to use a stupid sword, only for their destination to not help him at all. He was still trapped here, and whatever he did seemed to affect nothing at all. His hand felt cold and he plunged it ruthlessly into the brook, letting the water chill it further. The chill was refreshing, numbing, and distracting.

Michael had told him to leave the forest, but Ray had no idea where to go and felt so very tired. He let himself slump over onto his side and closed his eyes. He had nothing left to do in the waking world, and he was just so, so tired.

Ray slept.

He awoke when a sharp pain shot through his right hand so suddenly that he thought someone had stabbed him. He lurched up with a shout, flexing his hand and staring at it, rubbing it with his free hand for some evidence of blood. His hand was perfectly unscathed, however, except for the light scars from the shattered Ender Pearl that would fade soon enough. It was dark, probably not more than an hour after sunset, but the sky was overcast and nearly black. Even now, several droplets of rain fell coolly on his face. The air smelled damp, and Ray scurried out of the middle of the clearing to avoid getting wetter.

Ray scooted up against the tree he had climbed before and pressed his hands into his eyes. The pain in his hand had faded as soon as it had come, but now he had to deal with the spiritual anguish of being awake. Emotions churned in his gut, anger and confusion and frustration mixing into a potent concoction. He was losing his handle on his situation. The emotions pushed up his throat and forced their way out in long, guttural cry. When he ran out of air for his shout, he sat there breathing deep and hard, his hands pushed up under his glasses, his knees pulled up against his chest.

What was he going to do now?

(As whoever is reading this (which I doubt is anyone) can tell, I've given up on making my updates come out on a certain day so this book will be updated whenever I have a chapter ready. School is coming soon for me which means a lot of things like homework, football game days, and just a lot of things but I will write whenever I get the chance to. Also, Makin' and Breakin' Laws is still being worked on for sure but updates for that will be slow for now. Really excited for both of these stories. You all are going to hate me soon hopefully >:3)