Secrets Intertwined

XXII

"This wasn't here yesterday."

Aislyn was crouched down in some shrubs, spying on the group who had clustered together, cursing herself for not being gathering up her things from the night before.

The boys had left before she had woken up. At first, she was surprised at how they managed to sneak by without waking her, but after her first attempt at sitting up, she realised she was thoroughly worn out from her nightly activities. She watched as one of the women, bent over to pick up the weights she had left lying on the ground.

"Why did they have this?"

As they continued their discussion, Aislyn crept out from under her cover, silently thanking the God of Life for the sense to put her suit on that morning. Noiselessly, she tiptoed to the tree she had tied the rope around and hid behind the gargantuan trunk, blocking her view.

As per her training, she reduced her heart and slowed her breathing, allowing her to hear each movement that they took. Hearing nearing footsteps, she inched her longbow off her back, hitched an arrow, and waited patiently.

She almost growled in annoyance when she heard Jackson, exclaim as he found her bag that was hidden in the leaves.

"Look," he said, holding up the bag, "the person must've left this too!"

As someone began to reply, Aislyn, who's back was against the tree, spun to the left, arrow poised and ready, to face the group. Loosing an arrow, it hit its mark, lodging itself in the strap of the bag.

The momentum yanked it from Jackson's hand and straight into a tree, the arrow shuddering from the sheer force it was released at.

"I think you'll find that that belongs to me," she rasped, grateful for the mechanism she had installed in the mask to distort her voice.

"Azure?" Asked Tamani, taking a step towards her.

"The one and only," she replied, dropping into courtesy.

"We thought you had been imprisoned."

"I expected more from you," she griped, placing her hand on her hip. "You should know better than to listen to rumours."

Before anyone could get another word out, she flew into action; placing the bow over her shoulder, she sprinted forward and in one fluid movement, yanked the arrow out of the tree. She grabbed her bag, strapping the top handle to her waist with a carabiner, she had crafted, that hung from her belt.

As shouts of surprise rang out, she yelled, "Thanks for my anniversary party!"

Not waiting for a reply, she broke out into a run and hurtled herself off the cliff contorting her body so that she fell head first instead of feet first. As she broke the surface of the water, she let out a sigh of relief that she had gotten away.

Letting her body adjust, she let out the rest of the air in her lungs and drew in a mouthful of the seawater, sinking into the murky depths.

~~~

"Oh shit, shit, shit," mumbled Aislyn as she darted across the road to her house, eyes scanning the trees behind her, dripping wet.

She burst through the door and hastily shut it before racing up the stairs unzipping and unbuckling. She stumbled her way into her washroom, trying not to trip over her suit which she had pulled down to her ankles, and with a little jump she flung her leg out, launching her suit into the edge of her bathtub, a large smack echoing around the room. She followed after her suit and turned the faucet on. She began scrubbing at her hair and body, desperate to remove any suspicious smells she had accumulated.

Almost done with her hair, she heard the noise of the commotion outside, so she shut off the water and grabbed two towels, tying one around her hair and the other around her hair.

"Aislyn?" She heard Jackson call from downstairs, his footstep thumbing up the stairs.

She threw on a robe and darted out of her room, meeting him at the top of the staircase.

"What's up?" She replied nonchalantly, leaning against the bannister with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Um, nothing," he grunted, "just checking you were still here."

He ran a hand through his already dishevelled hair and started to make his way back down the stairs.

"Wait!" She called after him.

Skipping down after him, she put both hands on her hip and tilted her head to one side.

"What's going on out there?" Jerking her head in the direction of the open front door.

"Nothing."

"So what's all the ruckus about then?"

"Uh- Logan knocked over some stuff is all," replied Jackson, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, not meeting Aislyn's eyes

"Hmmm," she responded, eyes narrowed.

"I better be going..."

"Are you lying to me, brother?"

Jackson sighed deeply, shifting on the spot.

"We found some suspicious things down by one of the cliffs and as we were investigating, Azure appeared. She took everything and then jumped right of the damned edge!"

"Wait, the same Azure you held the bonfire for the other night? The one you said you thought was dead?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

"And she jumped-" Aislyn made an arcing motion with her hand, "jumped right off a cliff?"

"Yeah."

"Uh, okay..."

"Look, I have to get back to the guys, I was just coming to check to see if you were alright."

"Well, as you can see, I'm perfectly fine. I was in the bath."

"Okay, then. I'll see you in a bit."

"See you later," she replied, turning on her heel and marching upstairs.

Aislyn walked back into her bathroom and braced her hands against the sink and stared at herself in the reflection. Reaching up, she began to worry her lip with her finger and thought over her plan.

"Fuck!" She growled and slammed her hand down on the sink, rattling the contents sitting on top of it.

It was less than ideal Azure had been spotted the day she was supposed to leave for Luxora. Hopefully, her brother, Tamani, and Logan wouldn't think too much into it.

Stripping off her robe, she stumbled back into the bath and let her worries momentarily wash away.

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