M

     "And here they come." Jay laughed as the bedraggled trio made their way down the slope to the roadside, knee-deep in mud. "You brought someone along!?"

     "Well somebody's energetic." Kuchiha cursed for what must have been the fortieth time that day as she landed directly in a sloshing rut at the bottom of the slope. Such bad luck with dirt.

     "We brought back one of your ambushers, M. One of them got away." Preoccupied with swimming out of the mud puddle, Kuchiha hadn't realized there was someone besides Jay in the pincushioned coach until she heard Runo talking to him. "Thought he might come in handy."

     "Wh-what do you m-mean, co-come in h-h-h-handy!?" The archer was knocking in his boots. [figuratively. i don't really have navi tribal attire down yet, but i think they go barefoot...in this weather they might wear boots, though...???]

     "Woah there," a voice chimed from between the splintered felt and wood. Jay's horse was blocking her view. "Anybody got a spare coat? You, Mr. Ambusher, sound like a chicken stuck in a freezer."

     Kuchiha burst onto firm ground and trudged uncomfortably towards the unfamiliar voice. Runo had already disappeared inside the coach remains. She reached it just as the archer was dragged in, and ducked her head to look inside through the entrance. Sitting across from her was a stranger who looked hardly over twenty [ava and i had an argument about this, and i have finally decided that he's 24 and Jay's 18], and his clear brown eyes now directed a ray of sunlight towards Kuchiha.

     "M, huh?" The letter "M" was carved in gold plates on the shoulders and thighs of his clothes. "If anybody's got a spare coat, I'm changing into it."

     "Sorry, M'lady, looks like I took the only one." The stranger pointed to his left leg, bandaged securely with a jacket she had never seen before.

     "Don't call me lady." She quickly scanned the small wooden room. To her right, Jay was fiddling with something in a black cylindar strapped to his waist. To her left, Runo was argueing with the archer as he tried to untie the whip. And to her front, the stranger watched her with a sparkle playing in his eyes. "Where's the kid and his bunny?"

     She half-expected Kake to squeal "Rabbit!" from behind her. Instead Jay looked up. "Oh. You don't know what happened, right?"

     "Well how should I know what's going on in the middle of a coach wreckage as I'm jumping around cleaning up garbage!!?"

     The archer and Runo shot her accusing looks at the offensive words, and Runo dropped the whip. It landed square on the prisoner's foot.

     "Here, why not let Jay handle the explaining?" The stranger grinned at Jay as the archer hopped on his good foot, gripping the other and howling. Jay flushed. "Well, first things first, I'll introduce myself. My name is Kucabara Bartholomew, nice to meet you. I was born in the city, bred in the city. My driver and I were heading home from the neighboring Limo Town when we were attacked."

     "Your driver?"

     "He and--he and Kake decided to go back to Angel City and tell everyone about the Navi." Jay's voice was naturally soft, but around Kucabara it rang out clearly.

     "N-N-N-Navi!!??" The archer stared open mouthed at the company. "What ab-about them!? They're i-innoccent!"

     "Ah, I knew all along that you guys were Navi. I picked up the scent that was on Jay."

     "That sounds wrong, Ruru."

     "Runo."

     "So, Mr. Chicken-in-the-Freezer, you're cover's pretty much blown, I take it?"

     "More than blown, Ruru's not as bad an information-wheedler as I thought."

     "Runo. Could it be that the she-wolf's licking up on me?"

     "WHAT!!!??? NO WAY!!! GROSS!!!!"

     "So the Navi had sent a regiment after you, M, eight in all. One of them got away, probably to report back to the tribe. I don't know, the storm's messing up the scent. You must be quite a figure, having a whole regiment to yourself."

     "He's Angel City's Minister!"

     Everybody stared at Jay but the Minister himself, who was sitting with a slow smile creeping through his sparkling eyes. There was stone silence.

     "YOU'RE KIDDING!!!" Kuchiha somehow always ended up being the silence breaker.

     "You-you're our target!!??" the archer sputtered.

     "And it's harder to believe that you don't even know who you're killing!!!"

     "Then that means the Navi'll come back for you. Why..." Runo glanced at the archer, standing awkwardly in a corner. [he wanted to ask why the navi were after him, but well, he's a nicer and smarter guy than he looks...i think?] "Why didn't you go back to the City? It's safer there; instead you sent a kid and your driver." [he wasn't there when they left, since he ran off to beat up Kuch]

     "Oh, multiple reasons. I was hurt, Kake wanted to see the Festival, Jay wanted to stay, and I decided to stay with Jay. Besides, I prefer thanking my lifesavers personally." He gave an easy grin to Kuchiha and Runo.

     "...Hate to ruin the moment, but about the Festival. The Lead Archer or whatever made a roadblock. Snapped his spine. Found a replacement yet?"

     "...Oh?" Kucabara's face said that he hadn't.

     Runo conked Kuchiha on the head. "You idiot, why'd you say that?"

     "Huh!? What!? I was just asking!!"

     "He was away!? How would he even know about it!?"

     "Oh." Such an unlucky day.

     "Ah, it's alright. Vladimier'll do something about it. That's what Vice Ministers were made for, right?" Still, Kucabara glanced at the dark sky uneasily. "Well, anyways. I still haven't heard some of your names."

     "Call me Kuchiha. This guy's Ruru."

     "Runo! I already told him my name's Rukamina Runo!"

     "Nice to meet you, Kuchiha. And you are...?"

     The archer stared at the ground.

     "Ah, he's a nobody. You can just call him Shorty."

     "Hey! I'm not a nobody, the name's Merlaindalil! Though everybody calls me Merl." It took a little while for Merl to realize what he had just done.

     "...Nice one, Ruru. So Merl, you ready to talk?" 

     Merl was saved by Runo and splashing footsteps gallopping towards them. "Hold on. Sounds like a Sheemah's coming."

     Everyone but Kucabara piled outside to see.

     "We've got to go! Now!" Kake pulled his Sheemah to a halt in front of them and leaped off. "They found you! They're coming to get you! You have to run!"

Table of Contents

Chapter 19

Chapter 21