My eyes flutter open as the sun shines through the window of my carriage, causing me to groan from such a bright light. I brought my hand up to shield my eyes, only wince from the sudden pain that I felt in doing so. 'Damn it, how long am I going to be like this before I can get back out in the field?' I thought as I placed my arm to the side of my body, looking up to the ceiling as I let out a sigh.
Noticing how the train appears to be quiet, I carefully got up from my bed and made my way out of the carriage, only to see that Evie and Henry are the only ones here besides me.
"Good morning (Name), how are you feeling today?" Evie said as she glanced up from the stacks of paper on the desk before looking back down again.
"I'm really hoping that these wounds will be healed in no time, I can barely move without it hurting." I replied.
"Well, they probably would have been slightly better had you rested up in the train instead of sneaking off yesterday." I could hear the light scolding in her tone and knew instantly that she must've checked up on me at some point, only to see that I wasn't there.
"Evie's right." Henry begins to say as he too looked up from the stack of papers. "If you had rested, you wouldn't be as sore as you are now."
"Gee, thanks mum and dad for establishing that." I couldn't help but speak in a sarcastic tone.
"Where did you run off to anyways?" Evie asked, completely disregarding my tone. Her question caused me to look towards the ground, suddenly embarrassed. I mean, this is Jacob's sister I'm talking to, and I did follow Jacob yesterday. Both Henry and Evie must've noticed how I went quiet because they both looked up from their work and looked at me in curiosity.
"Umm...I might've followed Jacob from a distance." I whispered, not wanting to look at them as I continued to look to the ground.
"What?" Henry said.
"(Name), why were you doing that, exactly?"
"I...I got curious as to what he was doing. And...I kinda wanted to be by his side...as stupid as that sounds." I could feel my cheeks burning from embarrassment at admitting the truth. I looked up and saw them both just looking at me, not a word was said from either of them. Wanting to escape from this embarrassment, I quickly gathered my things and ran out of the train, not once looking back, and decided to walk around the streets of London once again, being very mindful of the wounds, but to also use the shadows as I'm in no shape or form to fight.
It wasn't long before I happened to stumble upon Jacob, who looked to be entering a carriage, and a familiar one at that. 'I really shouldn't get involved.' I begin to think as my curiosity raises with each passing second. 'What the hell.' As stealthily as I could, I made my way to the back of the carriage and jumped on the back, once again wincing at the pain, before leaning my heads on the carriage and listening in on their conversation.
"Mr. Frye!" A woman's voice, I'm guessing belongs to Pearl, calls out, in what seems to be a surprised tone. "I told you to make an appointment."
"My schedule was open." I heard Jacob reply and I couldn't help but scoff. 'Of course, your schedule was open, you have nothing else to do but meet up with this woman.' That jealous feeling from before made another appearance, but I tried my best to not let it consume me. 'There really is no need to be jealous (Name), it's not like he likes her like that.' Happy with that conclusion, I smiled to myself before listening in once again.
"You're fortunate I like you." I felt my heart sped up at this, wondering what's going to happen next. I held my breath as it went quiet before, what sounded like a piece of paper being handed over, was heard.
"Internal combustion engines?"
"Eight small syllables that mean a great deal of money. The engines will be delivered to Millner by train. Secure them for me and he will be...devastated." It was quiet for a few moments before Jacob spoke up.
"I'll need a second train to pull this off...And I think I know just the man." I could hear the door begin to open and, just as I was about to jump off the carriage to make sure I wouldn't be seen, I heard Pearl speak once again.
"So, we have a deal, Mr. Frye?"
"You're fortunate I like you, Miss Attaway." With that said, he opened the door and, as fast and as carefully as I could, I ran from the carriage, my heart shattering as I go. 'Well, that settles that then.' I think as I begin to run, a few tears running down my cheeks, but I wipe them away as soon as they fall. 'I'm an idiot for caring for a man who simply doesn't feel the same way. George was right, we should never allow ourselves to feel something for someone, for those feelings only get in the way. It's even worse when they don't feel the same way about you.' Without another thought, I ran into a crowd of people, blending in with society as I made my way back to the train.
Jacob's POV
As soon as I opened the door, I could've sworn that I had footsteps running away from near the carriage. Looking around, I notice how there seems to be nothing out of the ordinary happening around me. 'I could've sworn someone was here.' I thought, but then dismissed it. With a shake of the head, I roamed the streets of London, looking for a certain Ned Wynert. As I searched, I happened to have stumbled upon a police convey. With curiosity coursing through my veins, I begin to tail them.
"The captain's been looking for you for some time, Wynert." The policeman at the front spoke, and I knew then and there that I had found the man I was looking for. Making sure to not be seen, I walked closer to the front, thinking of a way to get Ned out of this situation.
"There are law against arresting an innocent?" I heard Ned reply.
"Shut your trap." Nothing more was said as I jumped onto the first carriage, kicked the policeman on the left off the carriage and then pushed the one on the right before grabbing a hold of the reins and spurring the horses on. Of course, the others did not take this too well, so they begin to give chase.
"What the hell's going on out there?" Ned asks.
"A change of plans, that's what's going on!" I shouted out in reply.
"Frye? God, damn it! Where do you come off rescuing me?"
"I believe it's pronounced 'thank you,' you ingrate!"
"I operate on a strict policy of keeping people indebted to me, not the other way around. I hate having to return favours!"
"I could leave you here for the police to collect you."
"No, it's too late now. Just get us out of here." Nothing more was said as I begin to get away from the other policeman.
Time skip
After finally losing sight of the police, I hopped off the carriage and made my way to the back, where I see Ned in handcuffs and sitting on one of the seats.
"So, what do you want, Frye?" He asks as soon as he sees me.
"What makes you so sure I want something? Perhaps I saved you out of the kindness of my own heart?" At my reply, he simply laughed. "Come on, let me tell you about the job."
Mini time skip
After rounding up a few Rooks to help, we managed to 'borrow' a train and prepared ourselves to attack Millner's.
"Millner's pulling a lot of cargo there!" Ned calls out as he sees Millner's train.
"Just be sure to make the transfer!" I say. Just before I jump onto his train, Ned says,
"Give em' hell." To which I simply smirked and then make the leap onto the train. Once aboard, I search for the cargo.
I look up ahead and notice two Blighters who seem to be guarding a crate. With a smile on my face, I pulled out a throwing knife and my kukri. Without even seeing me, I threw both the knife and the kukri straight at the Blighters, embedding the weapons deep within their skulls, killing them instantly. Then, I walked up to them, grabbed my throwing knife and kukri, and put them in my jacket before opening the crate.
"Not this one." I say before closing the crate. Before moving onto the next, I detached the wagon so that any Blighters that may be on there are unable to reach the rest of the train. I walk on and notice how three Blighters seem to be guarding the second crate. I stealthily made my way over and, without hesitation, rammed my kukri and hidden blade into two of them just as the third one notice.
"You bastard!" He shouted out as he grabbed his weapon and lunged straight for me. Knowing that he was aiming for my stomach, I jumped out of the way before slashing my weapon as his stomach, managing to cut him. With a slight wince, he lunged again, however, his movement were a little sloppy, thus I could slash him across the throat and ended his life. With that out of the way, I opened the second crate.
"Not what I'm after." I said and then closed the lid before continuing.
"Oi, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Another Blighter shouted out as I made my way to the third crate. Without saying a word, I flicked my wrist and slashed his throat with my hidden blade.
"Here we go!" I said as I searched the crate and found exactly what I was looking for. I made my way to the front of the wagon and detached it from the rest of the train, waiting for the other train to catch up so the engines can be transferred.
Mini time skip
"The internal combustion engine." I begin to say as I open the crate and show it to Ned. "The end of horse-drawn transport. It's like looking into the future."
"And what is the going rate for the future, do you think?" At his words, I pulled out the piece of paper Pearl had given me and gave it to him as is said,
"Oh, we're not selling them."
"You're giving them to your contact?"
"You'll be paid all the same."
"Who is this Pearl, anyway? How long have you been working with her?"
"She's a business partner. That's all you need to know."