Sydney watched as Casey moved further into the forest. He never looked back, not even when he was so deep in that he was out of sight.
"What are we waiting for?" she asked Reid, tapping his arm. "I'll go ahead and make sure everything's alright. If you don't hear me shout out a warning, then you're in the clear to bring them in after us, okay?"
When Reid nodded his head, she ran forward, hoping her confidence would rub off on the timid group.
Stepping into Shadows Peak, the sensation was similar to how she felt when she stepped off the plane near Yorke. She was entering unfamiliar territory and she didn't know just how dangerous things would be. The Western Region proved to be less harmful than she imagined, but she knew better than to give this forbidden section of land the same benefit of doubt.
With her guard up, Sydney moved further into the forest, her eyes viciously surveying her surroundings the deeper she went.
Where did he go?
Feeling uneasy about her inability to spot Casey, Sydney rested her hand on one of the old throwing knives he'd given her that she had strapped to her thigh, along with a handful of others. It was eerily quiet, and looking back, it didn't seem like any of the villagers were following her in. Darnit, Reid.
So far she hadn't seen anything off-putting about the forest; it seemed just like any other, aside from the fact that it led to the one thing both east and west stayed away from. But, the unsettling thing that was slowly making her stomach tighten was that she couldn't find a certain curly-headed brunette; and the further she walked, the denser the forest became.
The sun was high in the sky, but Sydney realized moving further alone would be foolish. She just wondered why Casey would choose to do so.
Turning around to head to the clearing before she couldn't find her way back, something fell from the sky, pricking the skin on her neck. Instinctively pressing her hand to the stung spot, Sydney lifted her eyes to the forest canopy.
"Casey?" she questioned, squinting her eyes to see clearer through the suns rays that bled through the plentiful ceiling of leaves. Casey was squatting on a thick branch, his other hand secure on it to keep him balanced. "What are you-"
She stopped talking when she made out his panicked gesture for her to be quiet. He brought his finger to his lips and widened his brown eyes in warning before pointing in the direction she was beginning to walk in, back toward the others in their group. Immediately, Sydney returned to alert, backing up until her back was to the trunk of a very wide tree. She was now only visible to someone coming from the direction of Shadows Peak; anyone coming from the west would not be able to spot her.
Sydney kept her eyes on Casey, waiting for some kind of signal or sign of what was going on since he had the only vantage point out of the two.
You're my eyes. Please don't let me down.
She held her gaze on him, her ears keen to all sounds since it was the only sense she could rely on in that moment. Casey's eyes stayed focused on the direction in front of him, and her heart raced when he quickly ducked behind the trunk of the tree he was in.
"Did you see that?!" a gravelly voice asked, sounding about forty meters away. "I think I saw something up there, in that tree!"
"Like what, a monkey? Get a grip, Don," another man said, his tone short and mocking toward the other.
"I swear I-"
"Both of you cut it out," a woman chastised, her voice cold and calculating. "This girl's not a simple civillian. She was one of the top in her class. Don't give away our positions."
"How do we even know it's her that's out here? She could just be a random westerner," the first guy questioned.
"No way," the woman asserted. "I saw her during our raid. The resemblance was uncanny. I watched her shoot down Leo with pin-point accuracy. It's her."
Oh God, no. They can't be. They're mercenaries. Why would they be looking for me?
Sydney looked up to where Casey was, the only thing visible being the side of his face, but it was clear he was honed in to what the trio were discussing, just as she was.
"I still don't see why they had to leave us behind to track her. If she was heading in here we might as well have waited for her to come out on the other side instead of going in after her," Don continued to complain.
The whole time the three were bickering, Sydney was focusing on accounting for how many separate pairs of footsteps she was hearing. She held up three fingers to Casey, who was now barely visible as he stayed in a more hidden position. When he nodded his head to confirm her count, she took a deep breath and cleared her mind. It was either her and Casey, or them.
Ready.
"...he stressed we were to bring her back alive! She'd probably die in here before ever making it through!"
"Well, excuse me if I think it's a bit stupid for us to have to chase down some girl just because they told us to!"
Set.
"Both of you, enough!"
Go.
Without waiting any longer, Sydney stepped out from behind her cover and swiftly threw two knives through the air, aiming low to avoid any death blows. The weapons hit their intended targets, bringing the two men to their knees in pain. Quickly assessing the situation, Sydney's eyes spotted the guns the three held in their hands. One of the men were more focused on dislodging the blade in his quad than her, but the other was beginning to aim his weapon at her, his eyes blazing with rage.
Reaching for another knife, Sydney was surpised when the raven haired woman stepped in front of him, blocking his shot.
"We need her alive!" she shouted before turning to face her. "We don't want to hurt you!"
"It doesn't look like it," Sydney retorted, nodding in the direction of the man who was glaring at her.
"You put a knife in his leg. Let's be reasonable, here," the woman said.
Sydney didn't respond, her eyes routinely darting over each person, trying to stay ahead of them if anyone tried anything.
"Are you alone out here, Sydney?" she asked.
How does she know my name?
Despite the fear and uneasiness Sydney felt from her identity being known, she chose to find comfort in her question. If she was asking that, then the others must have hid before being spotted, and no one saw Casey...besides the man cradling his leg with nothing else on his mind. Surely, he had to be Don.
"Of course I am," Sydney lied, holding eye contact confidently with the bronze woman. "Are you?"
The woman let out a chuckle at her question.
"Oh, Sydney. If you're not going to tell the truth, neither am I."
The sound of a gun cocking made panicked chills run down Sydney's spine. What took place the next few seconds happened so fast it was hard for her to process. The moment the words left the brown woman's lips, she moved to her left, narrowly missing an arrow to the chest. Instead of it hitting her, it sunk deep into the chest of the man that would have shot Sydney moments ago, his gun still aimed in her direction. The pain of the wooden arrow in his torso caused him to squeeze the trigger of his gun, sending bullets throughout the forest. Sydney dove to the ground just in time and rolled behind cover. Looking up, she spotted the young hunter aiming another arrow toward the mercenaries.
"Casey, don't!" she shouted, not wanting him to have more blood on his hands. He gave her a quizzical look before quickly taking cover as a set of bullets took flight in his direction, burrowing themselves into the tree.
Gaging the direction and pattern of the shots, Sydney could tell it was coming from just one person. Without further hesitation, she sprinted toward their source, tackling the woman to the ground. Blocking an elbow to the stomach, Sydney drove her palm into the woman's nose, drawing blood instantly. Expecting her to reach for it in pain, Sydney was caught off guard when a fist collided with her ribs, causing her to gasp for breath. Stay focused, Syd.
Throwing a combination of punches and jabs, Sydney waited for the most opportune time to stand up, kicking the woman's gun far away from them and positioning herself for further combat. The second the woman stood up, Sydney swung her leg around, causing her foot to come in contact with her opponent's face, packed with enough force to disorientate her.
The woman reached for her face as she struggled to stay on her feet, allowing Sydney to kick her legs out. When the woman rolled over on her stomach in pain, Sydney knelt down, one of her knees on the back of her neck as she gripped her hands and held them together.
"Casey!" she shouted, looking toward the tree, but he wasn't there.
Worried, she scanned the woods for him, her mouth going dry when she realized were he was...but he wasn't alone. In front of him sat the other living mercenary, his hands now tied behind his back. But, behind Casey stood everyone else; the villagers from LeHorn, and all of them wore an expression of shock.
"Um, a little help?" she asked, motioning toward the apprehended woman's hands.
Brooke was the first person to move, running toward her while untying the fabric she wore as a headband around her fawn colored hair.
"Will this work?" she asked.
"It's perfect."
After tying up the woman, Sydney stood to her feet, feeling the soreness around her ribs now that the adrenaline had worn off.
"What the?! How the?! Where did you learn to do that?!" Reid asked, his tone filled with admiration as he rushed over to her.
"I suppose there's no reason not to tell you since you already know I'm an easterner," Sydney began. "When I was in Galdon, I was training to become a soldier."
"Well, that explains a lot," a familiar warm voice commented from behind her.
"Casey, I-" Sydney started, but wasn't able to finish when he kept talking.
"I'll give you five minutes to rest. Then, we keep it moving," he stated before walking away toward Charlie and a few older men.
Sydney couldn't hide the small frown forming on her lips at the way Casey was around her. She knew it was her fault.
"Ignore him," Reid smiled, resting his arm on her shoulder. "Once his manly ego has mended, he'll be back."
I hope so.
True to his word, Casey rounded up everyone and ushered for them all to start moving forward, deeper into Shadows Peak. Letting him lead, Sydney chose to bring up the rear, keeping and eye out in case someone was trailing them.
They chose to leave the two mercenaries behind, tied to a tree. She was surprised when no one notioned to kill them, aside from Evan. But, Sydney wished she could have interrogated the woman for more information. How did the mercenaries know who she was? Why were they looking for her? Who wanted her alive? Those unanswered questions would haunt her, but she knew she couldn't ask her in front of a group of vengeful villagers. Hearing those things would only make them distrust her more.
Hours passed and no other obstacles arose. The sun hadn't quite set yet, but the group stopped to eat, two rabbits roasting over a fire they set up. Sydney hated the way they were exposing themselves.
"Casey, we have to hurry up. I don't know if there are other's tracking us, but we keep this fire going and the smoke with lead them right to us," Sydney whispered to him, not wanting to alert everyone else.
"Darnit, you're right. I was so focused on keeping watch, I didn't even think of that."
Sydney nodded, slowly starting to walk away.
"I heard what they were saying," he added, causing her to stop mid-step. "If I find out they came to LeHorn because they were looking for you-"
"They weren't," Sydney said, although she wasn't sure of that herself. "At least, I hope not. I honestly don't know."
She could understand it if they were Galdon law enforcement, there to arrest her...but they weren't. They were mercenaries that had no connection to her.
"It doesn't make any sense," she sighed.
"Yeah, I noticed a lot of things don't when it comes to you," Casey said.
Sydney watched as he walked away without another word, finding herself agreeing with him. There was so much she didn't understand, and she worried if those mercenaries were her only chance to find out.
Looking up at the setting sun, she blinked away her inner conflicts and jogged toward the others, helping them put the fire out. The day was ending, but their journey had just begun.