Cleo's Game

11. Rusted Fork

There was no more nervous waiting. Today was the day. Cleo rubbed her eyes and sat up in her stone-cold sleeping bag. There was no time to wait around. She rushed to get dressed and to get out of her tent, not wanting to be remotely late or anything less than early. That man from the announcement ceremony a week prior, Francis, would be waiting for the rookies that are tagging along in his expedition.

Cleo eventually found him, standing guard in front of his vehicle. It was a standard-issue scrappy metal vehicle possessed by any soldier of a certain rank. These technological leaps forward could only be made by this power-hungry army, motivated not by the desire to make a better world, but to climb on top of the world that already exists.

She was the first one to make her way over, shortly followed by another rookie, who was visibly frustrated not to be first. It was that annoying, immature brat, Mince, thought Cleo. "Good morning sir," greeted Mince, with an overeager salute. Francis glanced over at him from the side of his eye, unamused, not acknowledging it. After around ten minutes, the rest of the rookies caught up. Cleo was happy to see Vitaliy and Leah, but there was an unfamiliar face along with them.

She was an incredibly tall girl with pale skin and blonde hair so light that it bordered on white. She had an air of arrogance in the way that she refused to make eye contact with the other people that she soared over. Her eyes were bright blue, so blue that they didn't even look real. With her arrival, there was no one else left to wait for. The six of them climbed into the vehicle, and it was deathly awkward.

None of the rookies dared to speak, in fear of embarrassing themselves. They were headed north-east into disputed territory, where the Rusted Caves lied. The opening was at the bottom of a cliff edge and went deep inside, filled with raw iron that caused the cave to have a hideous stench and rusted pools of water that are its namesake. It's location was strategic, as it stretched across the border into the Northern Army's territory, meaning it's a secure pathway to enter it.

The vehicle wasn't loud, but it was far from quiet, so it parked around half a mile away. From there, it was trekking through densely forested area towards the obscured cave opening. They had already crossed the line into no man's land, where they could be ambushed if they didn't tread carefully. The opening was finally visible, about two metres high and plenty wide. Outside of it stood two gate guards that were right next to a big brass bell with a string attached.

"It would be best if we were able to take them out silently without alerting everyone inside," Francis whispered. "I could cut them with wind from afar," Mince offered. "I could just shoot an ice dart at their eyes," Cleo responded, trying to one-up Mince's offer. He scowled at Cleo, while Vitaliy and Leah stayed quiet, just feeling lucky to be there. "Quit bickering. We'll carefully come up with a plan of action before doing a single thing. Alright?" Francis stated, before looking around the group. Everyone was where they were supposed to be, except the most noticeable one of them all, the incredibly tall girl dressed in white, Tranquility.

He frantically looked around, dreading the idea that he had already lost one of his soldiers. The last direction he thought to look was up, where Tranquility was hovering with her feathery wings. She silently and gracefully dropped down right behind the two soldiers, evading their detection. With a half-smile on her face, she grabbed a hold of the back of their tunics and took off, bringing them high up with her. Using the momentum from her flight, she flings them out of sight, before casually drifting back down, successful.

"I... guess that works too," said Francis, still partly in disbelief. He peered into the mouth of the cave. He took a match from his pocket and lit up a lantern, before being very disappointed by the layout of the cave. The cave forked into three, with no indication of which way to go. "We really don't have time to check each tunnel as a group; they will likely have checked on the guards by then. I'm splitting the six of us into groups of two." Francis announced, causing the rookies' ears to perk up.

"I'll go with Leah, as I'm the strongest here. Tranquility will go with Vitaliy because she's the second-strongest. That leaves Mince and Cleo, who will go together." Francis didn't even look at the disappointed expressions of the rookies. The most annoyed by the decision were the two petty nemeses, Cleo and Mince. The only reason they have been able to stop bickering for the duration of the mission is their shared interest in impressing the higher-ranking officer.

Without any time to discuss or question Francis' quick decision, the troops were sent on their way. Leah is fine with the arrangements, just happy to be on the mission at all. Tranquility finds Vitaliy's energy highly obnoxious, so she isn't happy. However, none were as discontented as the third group. As soon as they got out of earshot, it was like a cork had been popped off of a bottle of champagne.

"Why were you even picked for this mission? Is being a useless fighter with a high-ranking brother enough these days?" Mince bickered. "I could say the same for you. Is being an arrogant moron who is named after meat enough these days?" Cleo clapped back. "Just don't hold me back on this mission with your weakness. I won't forgive you if you do," Mince warned, only to be laughed off by Cleo. They stormed through the tunnel until, suddenly, they were overwhelmed by a completely awful smell. "Ugh, I wish Francis bothered to pack more than one lantern." Cleo griped. "Tell me about it." Mince agreed.