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@emberynus-the-dragonslayer yeah, Google doc would probably be better.

@naiya-dyani Okay! Her last post was a bit earlier in time, so I’m gonna come up with a way to get her out there at that time. Maybe after she runs  into Kedori and then the two of them come upon them taking Kiet to the tower and they follow them (especially since Kedori knows Kiet) and then (I know, this is a run-on sentence) when they get there, she’s able to convince the guards to allow her to treat him. That sound okay??

BTW, Here’s Rob. Hope this is alright.

@esmeralda-gramilton @kayla-skywriter @kari-karast @mayacat  @trallion @urwen-starial

The moon edged out from behind a cloud as Rob stepped out of the house. Closing the door, he stuck a key in the keyhole and gave it a quick twist, locking the door with a soft click.

A gust of wind swept down the alley as he tucked the key into the pocket of his security shirt. He shivered. “Gonna be a cold one tonight,” he muttered, tugging the patched coat over his broad shoulders.

He stepped away from the leaning house and strode into the alley, face on with the chilly wind. Reaching the end, he paused under a slanting beam from a collapsed structure. First, he glanced up to his right, then down to his left.

With a grunt of satisfaction, he slipped a bit of paper from his coat pocket. Bending his head low, he tilted it toward the dim moonlight and studied it, his face creased in a concentrating frown. Switching the paper to his other hand, he traced it’s lines with this finger as the wind flicked at it’s edges.

He nodded to himself. Straightening up, he ripped the paper into shreds, muttering barely above a whisper, “Better not have this, in case I get caught.” Uncurling his fists, he watched as the wind snatched the  pieces from his hands and scattered them over the ground.

“Alright,” he continued as he resumed his walk,”This street a quarter mile until Broken Door. From BD, left two hundred yard until the Library. From there, one-eight of a mile right until Widow’s Window. From WW, two blocks right to Knot House.” He nodded again, “Got it.

He reached up and squeezed his shirt collar. “Meredith, do you copy?”

Silence.

“Oh, yeah.” He sighed in frustration. “Keep forgetting.”

   It’s hard to break that habit. I’ve been a bodyguard for so long and my ear mic, nor Joe Meredith has ever let me down.

He sighed again as he passed a tumbled pile of stone. I’ve been in this wretched place a week. Over the course of that time, I’ve become this renegade warrior. Wish I knew where I am on the planet and what government I’m pitting myself against. But everyone says the same thing. Outopía. Mockingbirds versus Sparrows. Promises and injustice.

He clenched his fists. “Injustice is right,” he muttered through gritted teeth. ‘It’s all around me.”

The worn and wrinkled face of his late landlady Widow Vance flashed across his mind’s eye. The next moment, his eyes locked onto the scenes passing him in the dark. Building slumped along the streets in toppling heaps, as though a colossal bulldozer had tried to demolish them. Bits of glass, charred wood splinters and chunked of concrete lay littered with trash in the streets-

A short shadow darted across this path. Before he could speak, it vanished into the shadows of an adjoining alley.

The poor kids. “Running in the streets like wild animals.”

As he took his next turn, he thought back to a scene from earlier. Mid-morning. Walking down into an once-ritzy avenue, he came face to face with a young man who was stealing bread from starving children.

His footfalls thudded louder on the street as the scenes replayed. The whimpering pleas of the children. The tears streaming down their dirt-stained faces. Their small hands reaching out, begging for what was being taken away from them.

His footfalls faded from his mind as he reached to his belt and gripped the butt of the gun holstered there. The same grip with which he’d gripped the grimy collar of the thief. Caught in the midst of selfish and uncaring words, he’d turned to Rob with fear in his eyes. Fear of starving. Fear of being caught.

‘And I let him go.” Rob shook his head. Sure I made him give the bread back but I didn’t take him to the authorities. Like they would have done much.

“A bad government has created a bad city.” Only this same morning he’d watched as a government official dragged an innocent man off the to the tower.

I knew he was innocent. But it was too late.

A cloud of frozen breath glowed in the moonlight as Rob sighed. But maybe, the rebels have a fighting chance of turning this place into a just and decent city once again. If I get approved to join the meeting tonight, I’ll give all I go to help them. Maybe I’ll form a troop in one of the districts to try to get a grip on the criminal activity in this place.

A shadow walked out of a side street. Quickly Rob ducked into an abandoned shack.

As the shadow approached, Rob cautiously peered around the corner of the door frame. Adult for sure. Another thief?

He tensed. The shadow stepped into a shaft of moonlight, instantly transforming into a man in a gray uniform . . .  with a mockingbird insignia on his chest.

Rob pressed himself further into the shadows, sliding his hand under to his coat to grip his gun as he did. Don’t want to have fire but- He licked his lips.

But the figure passed the shack, without even slowing his pace.

Rob studied his retreating back. He’s going at a pretty fast clip. Sure in a hurry to get somewhere.

The official turned a corner and disappeared. Slowly, Rob eased out of the shack and glanced up and down the street. Nobody in sight, but those boys aren’t usually out this late.

“Something is up.” he muttered. Upholstering his gun, he pulled the slide back and let snap forward with an ominous, metallic click. Better this .45 handy, just in case . . .

“Meredith. This is Eagle. Proceed with Caution. Location–” Rob grimaced and sighed heavily. “If you copy, Meredith, Never mind. Eagle over and out.”

 An hour later . . .

Rob stepped into the shadows of Knot House Street. His breath hung ghostly white in air as he muttered to himself “Two more blocks-”

His eyes locked onto a figure hurrying up the street toward him . . . away from the Knot House.

Strange.

Side-stepping into an open doorway, he eyed the figure hurrying toward him. As a moonbeam fell over it, Rob cocked his head. Younger guy. But with the Sparrow on this coat. Why is he headed away from the Knot House?

Something moved in the shadowy street behind. A guy in a uniform. Government official.

Rob tensed. If they got him-

The knuckles of his gun hand knotted around the weapon. Stepping back a step, he slipped the weapon back into, he stood waiting, hands ready at his sides. I have to move at just the right second.

The boy appeared in the doorway. With a mighty lunge, Rob jumped forward and seized the boy, dragging him into the room. Thrusting him away into the room  just as quickly, he stood in the doorway facing into the street and whipped the gun from its place.

“Stay put. Don’t make a sound,” Rod said softly over his shoulder.