Dragoniers

A New Friend?

In the morning I was woken up by the sound of our engines starting. Guess we're preparing for take off. I got dressed and went to the entrance where I found Ellena trying to coax Mitch back into the ship for take off. That was a little dejavu, I hope Neal decides to show up like I did.

I stepped out and without a word stood next to Mitch. He must have a feeling that Neal will come and I trust his instincts. After five more minutes Ellena repeated her rant about him not coming and we can't wait much longer.

"As I recall you said the same about me. Let's just wait a couple more minutes," I said calmly once I started to get a little annoyed with her. Mitch stayed quiet but I watched his eyes scan the area for any signs of Neal. Though as the minutes ticked by I personally was becoming less convinced he'd show.

"Okay, do you want to wait? I can tell the crew to stop the engines until he gets here," Ellena said after a long while.

"That won't be necessary, Elle, he'll be here soon and we'll probably have to take off right away," Mitch said calmly. I see, he thinks the Hunters might not let him leave so easily. Could also be why it's taking so long to get here, we'll just have to wait and see.

"So you think he really will come, like I did when you picked me up?" I asked. Somehow I think Mitch has a way of reading people that is almost on a psychic level. Something tells me if he didn't think someone would come he wouldn't even offer.

"I think he'll accept the offer for the same reason you did; no reason to refuse. Besides, he isn't getting anywhere, being stuck here. Staying with those morons will only get him killed. Hunters can be blind to their greed way too often and don't look at the bigger picture," Mitch said. Makes sense I guess, his true talent is being wasted because the hunters only care about what's best for their hunt and don't care about what their men want or need.

I was honestly about to give up and agree with Ellena when movement at the trees caught my eyes. It was far away so I couldn't see what it was at first, but quickly realized it was Neal with a few other Hunters on his tail.  I suppose they caught him leaving, which would explain why he's so late. Guess he couldn't convince them that he didn't know anything.

Mitch ordered Ellena to tell them to start getting the ship ready for take off. If it wasn't so obvious he was being chased by the others, I probably would've assumed he turned on us and told them everything. As he got closer the ship started to lift off, making Mitch and I have to hop up into the doorway.

I immediately went to find a rope to toss to Neal, since it's obvious he won't make it before we're out of reach. Thankfully there's rope almost everywhere on this ship so I didn't have to look very far. I tiied the end off to something sturdy and handed the rest to Mitch. He nodded in thanks. As Neal got to where the ship had just lifted from he looked up clearly puzzled and turned to face his persuers.

As he glanced up again I shot him a thumbs up and Mitch threw the rope down to him. At this point he even had to jump to reach the rope, but he managed to grab hold and saluted goodbye to his former team as Mitch, Ellena, and I worked together to pull him up.

Once he was on board we closed the door and all took a second to catch our breath. I wonder how Mitch predicted we'd have company and would have to take off right away. Asking Neal about it right now didn't seem appropriate, so I'll let him explain when it's time to. Right now I'm just glad we got him on board and avoided a fight.

Once we all caught our breath Mitch called a meeting and we headed to the dining area. There Neal explained everything and apologized to me. He ended up getting caught trying to leave and tried to tell them he diidn't know anthing. They obviously questioned him about his bags, the bruise, and where he was off to without making a report.

Eventually he told them about my being involved in the Darensville attack and found a way to get more information by getting onto the ship. They didn't believe that we would actually let him onto the ship after catching him spying. Plus, that still didn't explain why he didn't report any of it. He knew he had to get here soon or we'd think he wasn't coming so he told them there wasn't time to report it and that if he didn't go he'll lose his oppertunity to infiltrate our crew, when they still insisted he go with them he decided to flee and of course they followed him.

"When they report back to the Boss, he'll probably give me the benefit of the doubt. At least until they don't receive any kind of report from me. We'll be long gone by then, though,  we will have Hunters looking for us as soon as they do figure it out," he said.

He also assured me that he didn't say anything specific or about my abilities. Still even knowing I was even partially involved in that scheme would make me a target. Though I suppose they would have found out eventually, it just happened sooner than anticipated.

"Still, I'm sorry. I thought maybe if I gave them something they'd be more inclined to believe my story. Unfortunately I was wrong," he added.

"Well, what's done is done. They know now, so we'll have to move forward with that thought in mind," I said.

"Well said, Zion. And with that why don't we all eat and then maybe you can show him around afterwards," Mitch said. Why me, I don't really know my way around all that much either? I certaily won't be able to show him the engine room or aanything on the lower deck because I haven't even been there myself. Or perhaps that's why he chose me to do it, maybe he doesn't trust him that much yet. It's also possibly he forgot that he hasn't taken me there yet. Whatever the case I can only show him the basic places and the top decks.