⋅ ⌖ ⋅
When Inej clarified to Leo she knew where she was going, they went separate ways. Leo saw her move to a big list of names carved into stone, before she left she told Inej, who was staring at the names,
"Your Suli, that means you family is too. They don't cross they go around. Don't get your hopes up"
Leo, for some reason she couldn't point, felt like she had to console the girl, protect her in a sort of way. She even got a strange feeling in her stomach knowing she was going to leave the girl where she would get her hopes up. And Leo knew from experience that hope was dangerous. A complete devils game, one only the luckiest of people can win.
And she was by no means lucky.
She decided to find Jesper, wherever the boy may be. She headed where she knew there was coal and figured she'd start there,
Despite her literally hunting down his friend, his fellow Dreg, he didn't change he mind in thinking Leo was a cool and fun person to be around... at least with a drink and a gambling table she was. Even if he did frighten her just in the slightest. Okay maybe a lot.
The was she was completely unpredictable made him a little bit uncomfortable, something she liked to tease him with.
Whilst walking down the familiar street, she cursed in her mind when she spotted the man she robbed the Jurda from. Anyone looking saw her face scrunch as she cringed and quickly turned 90 degrees on her heel straight down an allyway,
Clearly, things were not going her way as of late, she quickly realised she had wandered into a dead end. A gambling table sat with men hunched all around it,
Of course, the first thing she did was to try and spot a familiar face in the small crowd. But instead, she spotted something worse.
The money Kaz had given Jesper, sat perfectly in the centre of the table. Now up for gambles. She sighed as her head dropped,
'I have got to teach him to win a game of cards'
She walked up to the table and asked "hello there fellas, have you by any chance, seen a tall teen? One with overdramatic glittery guns and an attitude like a smacked ass?"
The men turned to look at her, subtly trying to hide their winnings as if she was going to take it and run.
'I'm not that creepy? Am I? Oh no-'
"He went that way" an old man pointed back out of the street and to the left, he had dirt smeared on his face and teeth as yellow and brown as a rotten banana,
"Yeah! Cheatin' bastard tha one!" Another called out,
Leo nodded with a huff, turning back and heading back into the bustling crowd,
"Thanks gents, been a pleasure" she called out as she let with a salute,
It seemed her luck just kept getting worse from then onwards,
Shouts and screams and accusations where yelled out, people cleared to the side of the streets.
And that's when she saw him.
Jesper.
Running like a mad man with a bag of coal in his hand, and around 10-15 other chasing after him.
Leo looked fed up, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath to calm her ranging storm that was in her head,
When she re-opened them, Jesper was right in front of her face. She let out a scream,
"Run. Run run run run!" He said in a fast, rushed pace as he grabbed onto her wrist and practically yanked her down the street.
It was now dark out, and looking where she was putting her feet was near impossible. How Jesper stayed balanced with them long legs, shed never know.
As she ran besides him she tripped a few times, cursing when she did "shit!"
"Come on!"
"What the fuck did you do!"
"The best thing ever!"
"Oh yeah! And what's that, huh?" Leo said out of breath as they ran,
"I won a game! Only 17 coins, I lost the rest"
"That's not something to be proud of!"
Jesper let out a loud laugh as they ran "of course it is, isn't this fun"
"... you and me have very different ideas of FUN!"
⋅ ⌖ ⋅
"There. So, goat, Jurda... thank you. Now we are just waiting on...-"
A gun shot sounded through the air as Kaz, the Conductor and Inej stood by the skiff,
Despite Inej trying to push it away, the worry that Leo hadn't been with them when they got here worried her.
"Wait for me!"
Leo turned to his in betrayal "Us! Wait for us Jesper!" She hissed at him, about to collapse from running so much.
More gunshots rang out behind the and the covered their heads as they ran,
"Jesper get here now!" Kaz shouted,
"Leave the lantern!" Inej yelled to Leo, speaking about the lantern that was currently swinging in her hand as she ran. She came to a stop at the landmine sign,
"Fuck" Leo said, as Jesper said happily,
"Oh, Landmines!"
Leo dropped the lantern, killing the flame, and they ran to the others. Following the footsteps traced there, gunshots still fired behind them.
"Oh, wait for me! Don't you go without me!"
"Us. Jesper. Us!"
They quickly made it to the train and Jesper, seeing as he was faster, made it there first. He sung the coal over his shoulder and jumped in.
Leo hot on his tale, she took a glance back, seeing the men pause at the sign before the began to charge.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck"
She turned back around and saw a hand held out to her, grabbing onto it, Inej helped haul her into the rain and they both pulled the rope. Slamming the door shut, together.
One they were in safe, and the door was shut, Leo spun and charged at Jesper, hitting him in his chest repeatedly.
"You. Absolute. Idiot. You. Almost. Got. Us. Killed." She said after each hit, he quickly covered himself and shaded his chest from the brutal attack,
"Please tell me you have 20 pounds of Alabaster coal" Arken pleaded as Leo took a seat opposite Inej with a huff and a sulk,
Inej found it adorable in the back of her mind, even let out a small smile at the sight. One Kaz did not miss,
"Slight snag in the plan. Turns out the kid who was helping me buy the coal... didn't exactly know how to, uh, buy coal"
"You had all that time and that's the excuse you come up with" Leo gawped at him,
"I lost a little bit of the money" he spotted Leo's glare "I lost all of the money. Uh, but I managed to steal 20 pounds of Alabaster coal" he said proudly,
"No, no, no, this is 16 pounds" Arken said, alarmed,
"16 pounds of Alabaster coal"
"Fool."
Inej snickered,
"Can we do it on 16?" Kaz asked, Arken turned to him,
"Never been done before"
They all ducked as gunshots hit the metal walls,
"Sit here" Arken grabbed Jesper and shoved him down on to the back seat,
'Strange'
Leo and Kaz gave each other a look, they didn't trust the man. He was able to put Jesper on his ass way to quickly and far to smoothly.
'This man is trained in combat'
It seemed from Kaz's face, he was thinking the same thing.
As Arken rolled up his sleeve, Leo spotted all the scars. Inej asked the question that popped into her head,
"You've crossed that many times?"
"It's a numbers game. Cross this often and you get nightmares"
"No shit-"
Leo turned to Inej, watching the girl signal a cross over her head with her dagger in hand. It reminded Leo that one of her daggers currently sat in her waist band.
Her attention was stripped away from the girl when a loud explosion rocked the train,
"Landmines."
"I thought you said they weren't real" Kaz accused in anger,
"I said nothing of the sort" Arken shrugged "I just said I put up the sight myself"
Leo wanted to gut the man right then and there,
Arken opened the throttle and the train jolted forward, the clanking of the tracks began and they entered the Fold.
Somehow it turned darker than it already was, Leo and Inej look at each other, a silent conversation. Worry.
⋅ ⌖ ⋅
This update is late I know!
It was my Grans birthday and then a meal the next day and then it's my birthday tomorrow so, everything has been hectic!
Due to this the chance of an update tomorrow are slim, but you never know 🤷🏽♀️
What did you think?
I kind of enjoyed this chapter because it's just pure chaos.
See you all in the next!
Anywhoooo