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【8】
The Right Time has yet to Appear
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It had been two hours since their escape from the masquerade.
Aurora and her friends unfortunately had to leave their current abode earlier than anticipated. After their final encounter with the Den of Snakes, they weren't willing to stick around for another.
So, to prevent being caught, the six headed straight for the forestry closest to the village. They only stopped once they were deep in the heart of the greenery, far from the site of the masquerade. Even if the Den of Snakes tried to search for them, their chances of scouring the woods was slim.
They were safe at last.
Once they were sure of that fact, the vigilantes had set up camp. They came across a wider gap in the trees through their journey– after clearing away some fallen branches and pointed thorns, it was the perfect place for them to rest.
Aurora felt her body relax as they broke into their familiar routine. While the others finished cleaning their makeshift camp, Gold started a campfire in the clearing's center. Fortunately, they hadn't run out of food stores yet that week; they set to work on cooking dinner soon after the fire flickered to life.
Once the camp was done, the remainder of the group tended to their injuries. None of their wounds had been major, but it was important to look over them to prevent infection.
Yuri headed right for Gold first, pulling out a small collection of tools from the android's duffel bag. The android themself shook their head as she approached, ushering her in the direction of their other friends, but the hypnobrai pretended not to notice. Instead, she carefully grabbed onto their arm, pulling them away from cutting vegetables. Caving in, Gold rolled up their sleeve, revealing a section of the appendage that had almost lost its plating. The scrap had nearly been torn off by their constrictai opponent; now, it barely hung onto its place.
While Yuri tended to Gold, Onyx was giving Eris another lesson in first-aid. She treated some nasty scratches on her arms without so much a wince, explaining her process to the ghost as she went. Of course, Eris repeatedly interrupted her words with undead puns relative to her demonstration, but the merlopian didn't seem to mind the occasional distraction.
Aurora couldn't help but smile at the interaction as she watched from a few paces away. She sat with her back to one of the surrounding trees, Akiri sitting close to her side.
Stubborn, Aurora refused to let the oni treat her injuries first. Although she was just as insistent, Akiri nonetheless went along with it. She propped her arm against her knee, giving Aurora a better view of a bleeding cut.
It didn't take long for a conversation to start as they worked.
"Well, that could've gone better." Onyx started flatly, catching the group's attention.
"Tell me about it." Aurora groaned as she finished wrapping Akiri's wound. "Don't even get me started."
"I can't believe Aurora had to dance with a crime boss." Eris snickered, nonchalantly phasing into the air again. She hovered over them as they continued to talk– a sight that her friends had quickly become accustomed to.
"Yeah, Aura." Yuri agreed. She winced as Gold applied some ointment to an injury on her shoulder. "Sometimes it scares me how far you go for this job."
"Trust me, I didn't think I'd go that far, either." Aurora huffed as she straightened in her seat. "Honestly, I think I would've preferred if he shot me."
"Don't say that!" Akiri whacked her shoulder at the comment, though she couldn't help but laugh. "We came close enough to that!"
"I'm glad you guys decided to stall for a while," Gold confessed. "I don't think we would've made it there in time if you hadn't."
"You should've seen Gold," Eris grinned. "Watching them hurry to get their gear on was the funniest thing I've ever witnessed."
"Oh, really?" Gold quirked a brow. They made a show of looking into the pot that was placed over the campfire, peering closely at its contents. "Oh, darn, look at that. We won't have extra for you."
"HEY HEY NOW, HOLLUP–" Eris immediately zipped over to their side at the empty threat. "Gold, you're my FAVORITE ANDROID I've EVER MET!! Have I ever told you that????"
"Eris, I'm the only android you've ever met." Gold crossed their arms, sending her a look.
"Well that makes you just as special!" Eris beamed innocently, causing them to sigh.
"Alright, fine. You can still have your share." They turned back to the food with a decisive nod. "You don't really need food to survive, but I'm in the same boat. It wouldn't be fair to keep you from it."
"Plus, she'd be seriously missing out." Onyx interjected. "I'm starving after all the bullshit we just went through."
"At least it wasn't for nothing." Aurora considered. "We got the shot, and Gold's already tipped off the authorities with it."
"This masquerade might've been an elaborate scheme to catch us, but it ricocheted on them." Gold agreed. "The rest of the criminals will surely see our victory as a warning– they'll stop attacking the villages if they have intellect."
"So, what you're saying is: VIGILANTES– ONE." Eris announced, stretching her arms to the sky for dramatic effect. "DEN OF SNAKES– ZERO!"
Aurora laughed along with her friends at the ghost's celebration. Meanwhile, Akiri took the time to examine her injuries once her own were treated.
The oni pulled back the bottom hem on the leg of her pants, revealing the result of Aurora's first run-in with one of the constrictai. Aurora pulled a face as she spotted the purpling bruise on her ankle. It stung in agitation as Akiri began to disinfect it; to distract herself from it, Aurora turned to her other friends, thinking back to Eris' previous words.
"We might've won," she went on. "But we're going to have to lay low for a while."
"What's the problem with that?" Eris halted midair. "The accurate reaction to that should be 'YAY! RELAXATION! NO WORK!'"
"I wouldn't say that, Eris," Yuri corrected. "We still need to make money somehow."
"Yeah, but I don't know how we'll manage getting day jobs in the villages." Akiri added. Having finished with Aurora's bruise, she moved on to treat the scratches that littered her arms. "Knowing the Den of Snakes, they probably won't forget about their hunt, even after their leader is taken to Kryptarium."
"I'm not sure, either," Aurora agreed, wincing a little as her injuries stung in protest. "I don't know how we should go about it without facing a risk. Those serpentine will be searching for revenge for sure."
"It's a good thing we don't have to, then."
The group's collective attention immediately shifted to Onyx, confused.
"What do you mean?" Aurora asked, lost.
"I've got a solution." The merlopian shrugged nonchalantly, a smile threatening to rise to her lips.
Her friends exchanged shared looks of bewilderment as she fished something out of her pocket, the only exception being Eris. The ghost watched her action with increasing excitement, as though she'd known what Onyx was about to unveil long before the others did.
That was when Onyx lifted an object into the air for the others to see. Aurora's jaw dropped as she recognized the item's identity.
It was a small, hefty bag of silver and gold coins– despite their tiny size, it would be enough to supply them with everything they needed for weeks.
"HOW?!" Gold was the first to react, just as shocked.
"Hey, when you said Aura was in trouble, Eris and I wasted no time leaving the card games!" Onyx grinned as she dropped the coin bag into her lap. "But we also forgot we had this in the process."
"To be fair, we WON those coins from CRIMINALS very fairly– at least, you know, in their eyes." Eris pointed out, crossing her arms as she floated to Onyx's side. "So that makes us even, right?"
Aurora opened her mouth to object, but she cut herself short. While any kind of stealing was definitely immoral, she had to admit that the ghost made a good argument. Besides, it wasn't as though they could waltz back into the masquerade to find out who the coins rightfully belonged to, even if they really wanted to.
Aurora figured it was best to see it as a lucky accident.
"Alright, fine." She sighed, caving in. "I guess that's true, for the most part."
At that, the group cheered in unison, their spirits lifted. Eris shook Onyx's shoulders, exclaiming something about being the world's greatest trump card. Yuri and Gold celebrated with them, laughing as they cooked together. Akiri said something to them, joining in their laughter as they continued the conversation.
Aurora, in the meantime, wasn't paying attention to their words anymore. Her focus shifted back to Akiri, watching as she finished treating her wounds. The oni wrapped a bandage over her scratches, moving carefully so she wouldn't hurt her in the process.
Aurora's gaze moved down to her disheveled attire– the very same suit she'd seen in the mirror many hours prior. Although she'd discarded her masquerade mask a long while ago, she and the others didn't have the time to change out of their fancy clothes just yet.
Though Aurora didn't feel quite so strange wearing it anymore. Before, she thought it didn't fit her at all; yet after the events of that night–after her dance with Akiri–she instead felt the exact opposite.
Maybe fancy clothes weren't so bad after all.
Aurora's olive eyes fixated on Akiri yet another time, admiring the oni's laugh. She smiled softly at the sight, her previous realization returning to her mind.
I thought I was just acting careless.
But I've just been in love with you this whole time.
Aurora huffed a quiet laugh at herself.
It only took a masquerade for me to finally see that.
"Hey, Akiri?"
The oni turned to Aurora at the sound of her voice, her smile widening as their eyes met.
"Yeah, Aura?"
Unbeknownst to the two, the remainder of the group exchanged another round of knowing looks.
Eris wiggled her eyebrows, and Onyx sent her a warning glare. It took every ounce of the merlopian's power to refrain from whacking her, not wanting to ruin the moment. Gold practically held their breath beside them, and Yuri's tail curled anxiously as she watched the scene unfold.
Meanwhile, Aurora was freaking out just as much internally.
WHAT? NOW?
She mentally cursed.
WHY'D YOU EVEN SAY ANYTHING IF YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY?!?
"Uh– I–" Aurora began, tripping over her own words.
Aurora and Akiri's friends leaned just the slightest bit closer towards them, listening intently.
"I... had a good time." Aurora spoke at last. "With– with the dance, I mean."
Akiri's expression melted with confusion for a split second, perplexed by Aurora's sudden words.
Their friends collectively facepalmed in the background.
Much to Aurora's overwhelming relief, Akiri's frown soon lifted into a beaming smile.
"Oh, you really liked it?" The oni grinned, happy. "I thought it was fun, too! I'm glad I was able to help you have one good experience with dancing tonight, at least."
"Yeah," Aurora laughed nervously. "It was great."
And that was that. The group's conversation continued as abruptly as it had been interrupted, as though nothing had happened.
Aurora couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed at herself. She knew now that she'd been harboring her feelings for a while, but she figured she should spend a little more time thinking over them before she blurted them out to the world.
It just wasn't the right time.
Aurora needed to pick apart her feelings for a bit longer, that was all. Then, she'd be able to confess to Akiri properly.
She would find the perfect moment.
Yet, until then, she'd focus on the present. Her confession would come another day.
Besides, she'd been waiting long enough already– a little more wouldn't hurt anything, right?
After all, what could change in a few months' time?