[SFX rattling of wagon]

RENA (concerned): Rodrick! Kalani! How are you doing? Did they hurt you? What happened? Did they feed you right?

Rena ran up to the bars that separated her from her two companions. 

RODRICK: No, my child, do not worry. We are quite all right. A few scratches and bruises, but nothing too serious.

Kalani stepped up, placing her hands atop Rena’s. Her knuckles were bloody and scraped, deep red lines running over her brown and white skin. They would need a thorough cleaning to not get infected, even a healing paste to be on the safe side.

KALANI: How are you, Rena? You don’t look hurt. That’s good. [Pause, small sigh] Thank you for coming to our rescue.

Rena felt the warmth from where Kalani’s hands were holding hers travel up her body into her cheeks. Kalani was looking at her with concern, her eyes scanning Rena for any injuries before settling on Rena’s eyes. Rena instinctively looked away, the intensity of her worry too much to bear as something strange twisted in the depth of her stomach.

RENA (a bit shy): I’m not hurt, thank you. Uhm, Logan got injured though, but we’ve been taking care of him.

KALANI (calmly, with a smile): Thank you so much.

Asha stepped forward and unlocked the door so that Kalani and Rodrick could step out of the cell. Finn walked up to them and pulled a key out of a pocket to unlock their shackles.

[SFX metallic clanking, door being unlocked]

[pause]

KALANI (mistrustful): Who’s he?

Kalani eyed Finn wearily as she rubbed her wrist where the shackles had left red marks on her skin.

ASHA (dryly, with some resentment): Part of the royal family, apparently.

Asha unbuttoned the coat and trousers of the guard’s uniform and threw them into the back of the cell. She’d worn her blue tunic underneath, abandoning Darian’s old clothes and the burlap sack at the Red Sardine tavern. Her sword she had simply worn as if it was part of the guard’s uniform, even though she had been the only one of the three of them to carry a weapon. 

RENA (defensively): We don’t know that.

LOGAN: Oh no, now we know. (groan)

Logan carefully lowered himself onto the bench, holding his side with one hand – Rodrick hurrying to help him down before Rena could get to him. He let his head fall against the wall and looked at Finn with a tired expression.

RENA (stammering): W-what do you mean?

LOGAN: They gave us his name.

Rena looked between her companions, her mouth slightly open in confusion. She hadn’t recognised the name even though they’d had lessons about the Royal Council at school. 

Finn’s eyes were fixed on the wall beside Logan, the muscles in his jaw tight. He stood, unmoving, like a deer that knew it was in the presence of wolves.

LOGAN (with some bitterness): Maybe you haven’t noticed it yet, but they have these stupid naming conventions. The suffix at the end reveals their rank. And Captain Liberic here, has the highest of them all. [Pause] Is Finn just an abbreviation of your actual name or did you give us a fake one?

FINN (tense): It is my name.

RENA (stammer): B-but… I’ve never heard of the name.

Rena pivoted around, searching for Rodrick, knowing that he would be able to confirm or deny what Asha and Logan were accusing Finn of being. 

RODRICK: Well, these patronymic last names change depending on the parent. It’s actually a very interesting tradition that is more recent than we might imagine. It only appeared in its current form about seventy years ago, although the highest level denoting the royal family was established at the same time as the creation of the Royal Council. But I digress. If my history serves me right, our friend’s father must have been grand-general Liberic Orid, son of Orid Vassid, high counsellor to the court and sister to High Lord Ste-

FINN (angry, forceful, interrupting): Can we stop talking about it now?

            [pause]

No one moved, their eyes all fixed on Finn who was still staring at the wall besides Logan, his knuckles white from how tightly he was clenching his fists. Kalani finally stepped forward and held a hand out towards Finn.

KALANI: Thank you for getting us out of that cell.

Finn barely moved, only his eyes shifting to stare at Kalani’s hand. His back straightened slowly, his arm twitching as if he wanted to reciprocate the gesture but his body refused to play along. 

ASHA: (snort) Really, Kalani? You also want to congratulate him for putting a giant target on our backs.

KALANI: The target was there no matter what. And I don’t hold someone’s past against them. The city of Rancor would be much smaller if we did. 

Kalani let her hand drop to her side again and turned away from Finn, her gaze shifting to Logan and Asha, who both conveniently looked away at that moment. 

RODRICK: Has anyone perchance found Vincent?

RENA: Oh, no, I’m truly sorry. We haven’t seen him.

A knot twisted in the pit of Rena’s stomach as she realised that she hadn’t thought of the dog all day. With some luck, he had found his way back to Halvint and Darian was taking care of him. She didn’t want to imagine any other scenarios.

LOGAN: I’m sure we’ll find him if we go back to the site of the crash. He’s smart enough to stay somewhere we can find him. 

KALANI: Which leads us to the question of how we’ll get back to Rodrick’s vehicle. I don’t suppose the driver is also on our side, right?

LOGAN: Nope. But I’m sure we can overwhelm him once he stops. [quieter] If he stops.

            [SFX conversation in the background]

KALANI: We can’t exactly afford to drive all the way to the military academy. Not just that it will be difficult to sneak our way out of it again once we are inside, but it’ll also take several hours to drive there and back.

            LOGAN: Maybe we can punch a hole through the wall to get to him. 

ASHA: The walls are reinforced with metal bars, you idiot. We can’t just punch through it.

LOGAN: Okay. Do you want to climb around on the outside to get to him? Or do you want to just jump out of the moving vehicle? 

ASHA: Honestly, with the speed these things are going, we could definitely jump out and run up to him to drag him out of his seat.

LOGAN: Pretty sure this one’s going faster than Rodrick’s.

ASHA: How would you know? You barely saw it move.

LOGAN: It just feels faster.

ASHA: If we tie up the benches and throw them out the door they could act as an anchor.

LOGAN: Oh yeah? Which benches? The ones that are bolted to the floor?

ASHA: How about we use your corpse instead?

KALANI (exhausted): Kids, can you stop bickering for a second. We first need to figure out what our next steps are going to be before we take any hasty actions. Did you find out more about where Rena’s sister might be? 

LOGAN: Not really. We were pretty busy with getting your asses out of jail. And personally, I was slightly preoccupied with trying not to die.

KALANI: Shouldn’t have let them injure you in the first place. [sigh] But I somewhat agree with Asha’s suggestion. We simply need to get the driver to stop the vehicle so that we can overwhelm them. We might not be able to create a true anchor out of the benches but if we make enough noise or commotion the driver will stop to check up on what’s going on.

Finn sat down on the bench on the opposite side of the wagon and let his head hang between his legs, wrapping his arms over his head, his hands clenching and unclenching rhythmically. The tension in his shoulders relaxed with each exhale. 

Rena sat down next to him, but when she noticed that his body went rigid again with her presence, she decided to scoot away to leave more space between them.

RENA (quietly): I’m sorry they’ve been so tough on you. [Small pause] Thank you for helping us. I don’t know what we would have done without you.

[Longer pause]

FINN (murmur): It’s been a long day.

It was, in fact, still the early morning, but Rena thought she understood what he meant.

RENA: I don’t know much about the Royal Council, you know, beyond what they taught us in school, so I’m not sure why there’s so much tension between Asha and you. But I know she’s got a reason for holding such a grudge in her heart, I’m just not sure you should be the target for it. You’ve helped us so far, I don’t think that should be ignored.

Finn straightened, his hand carting through his blond hair as he took in a deep breath. 

FINN: (muttering, slightly bitter) They conveniently leave out a lot in your schools. (Louder) But Asha isn’t wrong. My presence is putting you in more danger than you would be in on your own.

[Pause]

RENA (quietly): Your presence is also getting us out of situations we wouldn’t have been able to get out of on our own. And everyone’s bringing their own past with them. If she can accept Logan into the group then there shouldn’t be a problem with you either.

FINN (tired, bitter): No one on the Royal Council knows Logan by name and could send the entire kingdom’s army after him.

RENA (slight chuckle): No, but from what I’ve heard he’s making enemies on other fronts.

[SFX footsteps coming closer]

LOGAN: What are you two gossiping about? I’ve heard my name.

Logan came to sit next to Finn and tried to drape an arm around his shoulders which Finn evaded with poise and precision.

FINN: She’s informed me that you’re a menace to polite society.

LOGAN (flirty): Oh, I’m so much more than that. 

[SFX more footsteps coming closer]

KALANI: No time to chit chat. The longer we wait around, the further we get from where we have to go. We need to get the driver to stop the vehicle. Anyone who isn’t injured, try to dismantle the benches. Maybe the noise alone will make the driver stop. Otherwise we’ll use them to fashion ourselves an anchor. We’ll pass through Rancor on our way to Baedan. Just long enough to gather some supplies. 

LOGAN: Cas said the city’s moving. I don’t know if anyone’s still around.

KALANI: Good. This region isn’t safe anymore. [Small pause] I’m sure we can find what we need on the way. The faster we get to the Crow, the better.

RENA: But don’t you have to get back to Rancor if the city is moving? What will happen to your stuff?

ASHA: My uncle’s taking it with him.

LOGAN: Yeah, I’ve got some friends who’re gonna take care of it.

ASHA: You? Friends?

LOGAN (slightly offended): I’ve got a million times more friends than you, miss grumpy-all-the-time.

RENA: How will you know where the city’s moving to? 

KALANI: I know Cas’ plans. If we need to find the city, we’ll find it. 

RODRICK: Are we certain we shouldn’t find the city’s next resting place first? We don’t know what might await us in Baedan. We, in fact, know woefully little about the Crow’s operations. Maybe rushing towards them isn’t the smartest idea, especially considering that some of us do not have as much fighting experience as you have. I wouldn’t want to put Rena in any unnecessary danger, or make Logan’s wound worse.

LOGAN (dismissive): My wound’s fine. I’ve never felt better in my life.

RODRICK: But wouldn’t it be more helpful if we gathered more information about their operation before we attack? So as to minimise any potential harm? 

Rena hadn’t really thought much about what might await them if they caught up with the Crow, or how well organised they might be. Considering that they were working with Silac, and potentially more of the guards’ corp, they were, in all likelihood, more than simply a handful of dissatisfied people. And it was true that, now that the Crow probably knew they were coming, approaching any of their potential lairs without a thorough plan might spell their doom. What if they had weapons? What if they set a trap for Rena and her companions? What if they had the might of the entire province’s military behind them? Or the kingdom’s?

There was so much Rena didn’t know, and so much that was different from what she thought she’d known. Rodrick was right, she wouldn’t be any help at all. 

Rena’s mouth ran dry, her stomach twisting and turning until she could taste bile on the back of her tongue. 

Kalani turned to Rodrick and crossed her arms. 

KALANI: I understand your concern, Rodrick, but we have to set our priorities, and I think we can all agree that getting Rena’s sister out of the Crow’s clutches as fast as possible is the highest of them.

Maya. She couldn’t abandon Maya. What was she thinking? No matter how weak or ignorant or inept she was, she simply couldn’t abandon her sister. But what if she messed up? What if her involvement would make the entire situation worse? 

Sure, she had managed to get Finn’s attention at the market, but she couldn’t pretend that it had been a good plan. She’d simply gotten lucky. And if Asha was right, having him in their group might actually be a detriment to them. 

Finn leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and his interlocked hands in front of his mouth. He looked at the space between Kalani and Rodrick, squinting as if deep in thought. 

FINN (pensive): I would have to agree. I’m not sure we can find out much about how they’re currently operating without losing a lot of time. I don’t like heading into a situation like this without being able to form a plan, but considering that the Crow’s had Rena’s sister for a week now, and that Silac will be looking for us, I don’t think we have the luxury of time. 

The more Rena thought about it, the more her brain told her it was too dangerous, and the more her heart screamed for her sister. It didn’t matter what the smart thing to do was. It didn’t matter that her companions would be more efficient without her. And it didn’t matter that she was putting herself in danger. How would she be able to live with herself if she simply sat back and let someone else save her sister? 

RENA (blurts out): We have to get Maya! 

She shot up, startling her companions around her, and looked at Rodrick with desperation.

RENA: I know it’s dangerous and I know it’s stupid to go after them without a plan, but they’ve got Maya and we have no idea why. What if they’re holding more people captive? Cas said there were more survivors from Oceansthrow, what if the Crow has them?

Kalani turned to her, her expression having grown sombre. 

KALANI: Cas said that? 

RENA: Yes! Apparently they heard a rumour, but they didn’t say more about it. But if it’s true and the Crow has them, don’t we have an obligation to try to save them? 

LOGAN: They might have just been playing with you, Rena.

KALANI: They wouldn’t play around with something this serious. At least not completely. Did Cas mention that the Crow has the other survivors?

RENA: N-no. I don’t think they mentioned anything about where the survivor might be. B-but it doesn’t matter! If the Crow doesn’t have them then they’re probably safe, but if the Crow has them then they’re definitely in danger! Rodrick, please! I know it’s dangerous, but I promise I’ll be fine. 

She didn’t quite believe it herself, but if false confidence could convince Rodrick of it, it might convince her too. Eventually. Rodrick looked at her, pity and concern written all over his face. He opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. Rena’s heart sank with every second of silence, knowing deep down that he was probably right, that she had no skills, no knowledge, no expertise that might help them save Maya.

KALANI: We can discuss this again when we’ve reached the crash site. Every second we stand here talking, we’re getting closer to the military academy, and I’d rather like to avoid arriving there. We won’t be able to walk back east, not with Logan’s injury. Don’t argue! We can keep this vehicle for now and we’ll reevaluate if we should keep it later. Rodrick, you can drive it, right?

RODRICK (distracted): I-I haven’t looked at its mechanism yet, but it shouldn’t be too different from my own. 

KALANI: Alright, enough standing around, let’s break some stuff and make that anchor.

[SFX wood breaking]

At first Asha tried to pry the benches away from the floor whole, but she quickly realised that that was impossible and resorted instead to kicking the top of the benches until they broke in two. Together with Kalani and Finn they dismantled most of the furnishings surrounding them, throwing it all together into one big pile in the middle of the room.

Rena’s assigned job had been to fashion a sort of rope out of the clothing they didn’t need anymore, although the reality was that she spent most of her time trying to keep Logan from helping break the benches and inadvertently reopening his wound. 

Rena slipped out of the guard’s coat but kept on the pants. They’d ripped the blue dress she’d gotten from Valentina in half so she could wear it as a shirt underneath the uniform. She’d had to admit that she would never be able to get the blood stains out of her own beige dress and that it was best to simply abandon it with their burlap sack, although she’d kept her green vest and was wearing it over her new make-shift shirt.

Even with the noise they were making, the driver never stopped or slowed down. The walls were probably too thick for any sound to travel through, although, considering that the device powering the vehicle was right next to the driver’s cabin, its noise probably drowned out anything else, no matter how thick or thin the walls actually were.

They fastened one end of Rena’s makeshift rope to the stumps of the benches still jutting out of the floor, using the shackles that had previously held Kalani and Rodrick to hold it tight, while the other end was tied around the pile of debris they had gathered.

[SFX dull wooden crash, continuous rattling after]

They threw their contraption overboard and although it didn’t seem to work as an anchor as they’d hoped it would, the noise it made was so loud that even the driver couldn’t ignore it and the wagon soon stopped.

[SFX wagon noises stop, screeching to a halt, forest noises become apparent,  footsteps outside slowly coming closer]

Rena grabbed Logan’s arm and gently pulled him back, although he seemed to realise himself that he was in no condition to fight.

GUARD (from far away): Captain Liberic, is there a problem, sir?

FINN (whispering): Let me distract him. You can go around the vehicle and sneak up on him from behind to overwhelm him.

ASHA (whispering): I’m not letting you do anything.

Before Finn could reply, Asha had drawn her sword, jumped out of the vehicle and rounded the corner.

KALANI (muttering): For fuck’s sake.

Without hesitation, Kalani went after her, grabbing a plank of wood from the pile they had thrown out before following Asha around the corner.

GUARD (far off): Hey! What are you- Get back!

[SFX swords hitting together]

Finn jumped out after them, his rapier ready in his hand.

GUARD: Captain? What is th-ugh!

[SFX dull metallic clinking, body falling to the ground]

As soon as they heard the fight was over, Logan slipped out of Rena’s grasp and hurried outside, Rena and Rodrick soon following.

FINN (angry): Why didn’t you wait for us to come up with a plan? This could have gone wrong in so many ways!

ASHA: I’m a better fighter than you’ll ever be.

FINN: I never doubted that you would be able to overwhelm him, that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have still hurt you.

ASHA: What do you care if I get hurt or not?

Asha closed the distance between her and Finn, emphasising the height advantage she had over him by keeping her head held high. Finn rolled his eyes and simply walked past her towards the unconscious body of the guard, rolling him over so he lay on his back.

FINN: I care about how quickly we can get out of here and needing to dress your wounds would have been an unnecessary waste of time.

KALANI (slightly irritated): Don’t argue, Asha. He’s right. Just because you don’t like him doesn’t mean you have to be reckless.

Asha opened her mouth to reply, but one look from Kalani kept her silent, even if it was very apparent on her face that she wasn’t happy about it at all. Logan stepped past them to the unconscious body and started undressing the guard. He handed the coat and the trousers to Finn, gesturing for him to hand them to Rodrick. 

LOGAN: We should get the body away from the road. Asha, if you’re done throwing your tantrum, can you drag him into the woods? 

Asha stared at him for a second, her jaw tight as if she was ready to pounce on him, before she sighed deeply and stepped forward. She dragged the body over the ground deep into the forest without care whether she was injuring the man or not.

RENA (pensive): Won’t the wolves get to him?

KALANI (dismissive): If they do, it was fated to be. (more forceful) Rodrick, get into the driver’s cabin and try to get the vehicle running. Everyone else, put the rubble away so we can get going as quickly as possible. And try to find a way to disguise the wagon. Throw some mud on it until it’s unrecognisable.

FINN: The shape alone tells you what it is. It’s impossible to make it look like something else. There are perhaps five of these coal-powered vehicles in the entire province. Throwing mud on it won’t help even remotely.

KALANI: At least they won’t recognise us from afar. Also I find its current colours hideous. Stop standing around like wilted flowers, everyone. Get to work!

Everyone scattered in a different direction. Rodrick slipped into the uniform that clearly didn’t fit him before hurrying to the front of the wagon. Finn threw their failed anchor back into the wagon while the rest of them grabbed handfuls of mud and dirt and covered the vehicle with it as best as they could until the vehicle rumbled back to life.

            [SFX wagon noises starting again]

Rena wiped her mud covered hands on her new pants, hoping that it would make them less recognisable as originally part of the guard’s uniform, even though it made the experience of wearing them much less comfortable. Rodrick managed to manoeuvre the vehicle around until it pointed to where they had come from and waited for everyone to climb aboard.

What they hadn’t considered as they’d dismantled the interior of the wagon, was that they wouldn’t have anywhere to sit on their journey back. Logan lay down across the cabin, Rena sitting with her back against the wall to his left, Finn sitting to his right, while Kalani and Asha sat across from them. They didn’t talk much, most of them opting to close their eyes to rest even if the shaky movement of the wagon made it almost impossible. 

            ~~~

They reached the crash site without any incidents. 

[SFX caravan stops, forest sounds become apparent]

Rodrick’s caravan sat broken to the side of the road where they’d left it, and in front of it, curled up, lay Vincent. His head snapped up when he noticed them approaching, his nose sniffing the air frantically as he jumped up. 

Rodrick rushed towards him and fell down to his knees, letting the dog jump around him and nuzzle his face.

            [SFX dog barking happily, sniffing]

RODRICK: Oh, my boy! You are safe! Oh, I knew we were fated to be together again. Thank the stars. Oh, I was so worried about you. 

Rena ran up to them and crouched next to Rodrick, letting the dog lick her face as she pet him behind his ears.

LOGAN: Look at us! The whole gang’s back together!

Logan came to stand to Rena’s other side and bent down to pet the dog, holding his stomach with his other hand. Kalani walked up to Rodrick’s caravan and looked inside.

KALANI: Astonishingly enough, not everything has been stolen.

RODRICK: I’m sure Vincent protected the caravan. Oh yes, he’s such a good guardian. 

KALANI: Alright, let’s gather our things. I’m sure there’s stuff in here we can use. Do you think you could repair it, Rodrick? We could use it to get over the border. Might be slightly less suspicious than driving around with a stolen military caravan.

RODRICK: Potentially. I haven’t assessed the damage yet.

SILAC: Finally, I thought you’d never show up.

Rena froze, her eyes growing wide, her breath getting caught in her throat. A figure emerged from the forest behind them and Rena instantly recognised the person that had been with Finn at the market. He was tall and muscular, with a clean, short-trimmed black beard, and skin the same shade as Rena’s. He still wore the brown cape from the day before, but now Rena saw that golden details had been woven across its edges, intertwined with shimmering pearls.

Rena shot up and took a step back while Logan held an arm out to guide her behind him. Asha and Finn drew their swords, stepping in front of the rest of their companions, Kalani coming to stand right behind them.

KALANI: Go back to your city. There are six of us and only one of you, or are you hiding your army behind the trees like cowards? 

FINN: Silac, this is going against every protocol. You had no authority to imprison Rodrick and Kalani and you definitely didn’t have the authorization to send them to the academy. Let us go and I won’t report you to the grand-general.

SILAC: You think I don’t know who you are? Inkra told me all about you, you ungrateful brat. 

He stared right at Rena, his dark brown eyes filled with rage, ignoring both Kalani and Finn.

SILAC (angry): You could have had an easy life. Thank your luck for surviving and start a new life. Instead, you’re gathering all of these lowlives just to be a pebble in our shoe. Because that’s all you are. Just a tiny pebble that we need to get rid of. You think you’re important enough to stop this, but you’re nothing!

LOGAN: Clearly we’re enough to get you riled up.

SILAC: Silence! (booming, voice gets an otherworldly echo): You! Old Man! Bring the girl to me!

As he spoke, veins crept over his eyes, but instead of being blood red they pulsed a yellowish green. 

Rena turned to Rodrick, her eyes wide with fear. He stared back, the worry and panic slowly draining off his face until there was no expression left. Was he on Silac’s side? But how could that be? Had Silac recruited him in the holding cells? Had he been lying to her since the beginning? No, something wasn’t right. 

He took a shaky step forward, and then another, his body advancing forward one part at a time. His eyes were glazed over, as if they weren’t focussing on anything. His arm raised, first the shoulder then the elbow then the wrist, until his hand was reaching for her. Vincent came to stand before her, head bowed low as he snarled at his master.

            [SFX dog growling]

RENA (small voice): Rodrick?

---