Klef wakes up before I do the next morning, and is taking a shower when I finally come to. I knock on the door and the water turns off. Klef pokes his dripping head out in front of the door. “Yes?”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCftRMJem00
“I’ve got to pee,” I deadpan.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkZaVeB4miZ
“Nah, I don’t think you would yet…you went before bed, didn’t you?”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmKJ2V12C63
“Nope,” I say, shaking my head. “Dry off in the bedroom, bird brain.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkFqvIqJ2Gt
Klef closes the door and I’m about to yell at him when the door opens and he walks out in just a towel. I walk into the bathroom, closing the door harder than necessary. I do my business as fast as I can and open the door to the bedroom when I’m decent. Klef walks in, ruffling his hair and feathers. “There a comb in here?” he asks.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqgQ6fjoJF
I toss the brush by the sink toward Klef. “Use a brush, comb might be hard to find when everyone around here is covered in fur.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xAdiPKNhi
Klef whines. “But brushes are for long hair!”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhTQduV4OCs
“I use a brush, and my hair is almost as short as yours.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVCQPM94TBP
“But I don’t wanna!” Klef protests.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOd26A8aw5A
“Use it or have a nest of birds in your hair.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAcfsVpw44W
Klef frowns and chews the bottom of his lip. Then he hands the brush back. “‘Kay, I’ll risk it.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIOv5FAy7zq
“You are ridiculous,” I scoff, running the brush through my own hair.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD3X60nzZ2R
“And you love me for it!” he cheered.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPa35r2fiPN
I look just beyond Klef, to find Dad in the doorway, jaw dropped and looking murderous. “Klef…” I try to warn.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnVd1q4kuuu
“No no, don’t even try to deny it! You know as well as I do that you are smitten!”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡADg78XmmuJ
“Klef, it’d be best if you shut up, now.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGmW9iMWpkH
“Oh yeah? Why?”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4LzpWEhi8A
“Probably because you didn’t lock the door,” Dad growls.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLGxBoHT0R
Klef jumps up and runs behind me. I roll my eyes. “Really? Treble, you’re 21.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5YNs7SG1G
“Sh-shut up!”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEHfcd5sUia
Dad frowns. “A good boyfriend would stand up for his girl, you know.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSuSIHQq51K
“A good father lets his grown daughter stand up for herself,” I threaten.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnyGtCurAQe
Dad smiles. “Always nice to see you, Iri.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ju2mI7wha
“Why are you here, Dad?” I ask.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJiAaoU5BvD
“I need to get you somewhere safe. Out of the way of a siege or an uprising.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC0McvQtSWg
“Oh, come on, what are the odds of me getting hurt out here?” I scoff.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJKWEdyhmu7
Klef tenses behind me and wraps me in his wings. “Get down!” he yells.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQTZMm5mMy
All 3 of us hit the floor as a flash of light and a loud BANG appear from the main room. Everything in the room is shrouded in dust and smoke. But when it starts to clear, Klef stands up. “Thought I recognized the shape! That was a grenade!”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4O5V0C8jQz
“What’s a grenade?” I rasp, even though I dread the answer.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3oDgiU610
“It’s a bomb. A small, strong bomb.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDkFb8274yD
I swallow and cough. “What was it doing in our bedroom?!”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTeYNi3jIga
“I saw someone throw it in! Crap, I thought you were gonna die!”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIFc5MDaPmI
Dad growls, fur standing on end as he stands up. “And how do you know what that thing was?”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9kmPtBucVQ
“I-I stole one once,” Klef says, scratching the back of his neck. “You both know my job. It took my buyer until I got the grenades he wanted to tell me how dangerous it was to have them loose!”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZvMotHkHgh
“How dangerous?” Dad asks.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEHOFa6K9S
“You pull a pin, and then throw it or roll it. When the timer runs out, or if it’s jostled too hard, that happens,” he nods at the flames licking the remains in the bed. “Unfortunately, with more technology being spread, weapons are being made more too.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnwMFx0RgDB
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” I say, standing up. “That had to have come from the doorway. One of the Crusaders is trying to kill us.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDJGajkNinT
~/~673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ17aAzZBe36
Bunches of Crusaders, attracted by the noise, swarm the bedroom and bathroom after the flames are put out and the rooms are impossible to navigate. I try to find Klef in the chaos after I’ve been furiously questioned, but in all the people it’s impossible to find his wild dark hair. Ama and Dad whisk me out of the room as soon as I’m close to the door and to my relief Klef is waiting outside. I wasn’t comfortable around him at first, but now I find it hard to be away from him. Maybe it’s Stockholm syndrome, maybe it’s just the fact that someone is trying to kill me. But I’m not going to fight it as long as it doesn’t cause trouble. “Hey, pointy ears,” Klef teases. “Meet anyone in there half as great as me? Anyone I need to beat up?”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1F6LfslKGk
“Not today, bird brain,” I scoff. “If anyone should be beating up anyone, I should be smacking you around for making that grenade thing public!”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZq7lhJAu7
“I didn’t know it was dangerous, all right?!”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ7tQuteSMH
“Oh, a likely story,” I say sarcastically. “I told you your thieving ways would catch up with you.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbx5SuB0djG
“Lighten up Ride!” Klef retorts. “You and I both know you thieve as much as I do nowadays.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBILeT1s7jl
“You have no proof!” I protest.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjfaou3tbHd
“A testament to how good you are,” he points out.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TJwftdHXj
I pause. “I am good,” I reason. “Maybe not at thieving, but I am good.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0T56qD5ITL
“Oracle,” Ama murmurs. “We need to move you.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUcXRTwwv8u
“Don’t,” I snap. “We need to know who wants to kill me before I can leave. They could just endanger me somewhere else if they tagged along.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2IOjM7J953
“Much as I hate to admit it, Iri has a point,” Dad grumbles. “If we move her, she could be in even more danger.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkAtjsAqg2i
Ama bites her lip. “…Fine. But she’ll need a human I know for protection in addition to myself.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhO9ANKdmSU
She walks off and I don’t hesitate to follow. “So…can I ask you a personal question?” I request.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡogFP1rPT0s
“I won’t guarantee an answer, but sure,” Ama says, smiling.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhDn4UVVsS
“You seem so sweet. How are you a necromancer?”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXTe7JLnEAV
Ama’s smile drops. “You wouldn’t like me angry, let’s put it that way,” she mumbles.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH1E9DgAc4a
Someone laughs walking towards us down the hallway. “You lose it again, Ama?” they chuckle. “Bobbi, they/them. Pleasure to meet you.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjGNdnxwV0x
“Likewise,” I stammer.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeBgva4h3MN
Bobbi runs a hand through their bright blue hair and fixes me with hazel eyes. “So you’re the Oracle, huh?”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsyY576jpCu
I cringe. “Uh…yeah.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzvOev3kgRa
“See anything about me?” they tease.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPIgZxWFVsr
“Bobbi!” Ama reprimands.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL3qTFlS1JL
I laugh, but it’s too high and sounds more like a choke. “Haven’t seen you that I know of,” I supply. “Sight is sort of finicky. Can’t really control it like everyone thinks.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdRmwQ5AGzc
Bobbi nods. “Wasn’t expecting much,” they chuckle. “I’m not a celebrity like you.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjrdtBamfel
“Please don’t call me a celebrity,” I ask. “I don’t know you all that well, and it sort of…makes me really uncomfortable.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMVqezIbCAh
“Oh!” Bobbi exclaims. “Sorry. Want to go somewhere quiet? Away from everyone like me who doesn’t know how to make sure you’re comfortable?”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjIGQzwChxH
“Is there such a place?” I laugh.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCtMOgalza3
Bobbi crooks a finger. “Follow me.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgutjgKYpo2
I run to keep up with their quick pace. Ama follows behind, slower. “Bobbi is who I was going to look for. They’re my partner in crime, I suppose, the way you and Klef are to everyone around here. I couldn’t think of someone I’d rather have my back in a fight more.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhqv0r238DH
“Oh you,” Bobbi laughs, looking back at Ama. “Speaking of, where’s your partner in crime?” they ask me.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBa9UwRlJKN
“Oh, Klef!” I exclaim. “I left him at the bedroom we used last night! I’m not sure if I could find my way back, though,” I say, looking back down the hall we were walking through, upset.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHyISqH9IhQ
“He’ll find us,” Bobbi assures. “He’s that kind of guy.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ63Gvv1p8F6
“He’s really not the best tracker, especially in a concrete jungle.”673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHrinESz3yy
“True, but he also won’t stop until he finds you. It’s his way of caring,” Bobbi rebuts.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUaTl4Rc8nU
I smile at that. “He’s a big softie,” I sigh, shaking my head.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWW7cren2R
“Oh, we’re here,” Bobbi says, gesturing to a nondescript door.673Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2w6ixQ1jox
Penana
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