#best performer and she leaves so early urgh

[gael-garcia]

Pedro Páramo (2024)

directed by Rodrigo Prieto cinematography by Nico Aguilar, Rodrigo Prieto

[monacodaydreaming]

Don’t Fall In Love With Me | Part Four

“Okay, so what do you suggest we do?”

“We’re suggesting that you start radiotherapy. The stress to the body is much less damaging than chemo. And if you’re wanting to continue working and continue leading a normal life for the time being then this is the best way to go. However, it’s going to be an intense course. Multiple sessions per week . And we need to start as soon as possible.”

You were trying to take in the information, but it was honestly all a bit too much. Thankfully you had your agent and best friend Lucy by your side asking everything that you couldn’t bring yourself to say.

“What chance do we have.” She paused glancing to you for the quickest of seconds. “What chance do we have that this will beat it. For good.”

You couldn’t believe that this was your life now. A few months ago a friend had recommended you go to the doctor after some unexplainable weight loss and your constant tired state. The last thing you were expecting to come out of it was that you had cancer.

“Strong. We’re looking at really good odds. You’ve been lucky Miss. Love. To have caught this early. And I strongly believe that if was start this treatment plan now. There is no reason that we won’t beat this.” 

Lucy let out a sigh of relief from next to you. Reaching to grab your hand that was resting in your lap.

“Please Dr. Benson. How many times….It’s Ellie.”

__

You were waiting for him to answer the phone. Pacing around your flat at the same time you were waiting for your mother to arrive.

“Hello?” urgh, his Australian accent had never sounded better.

“Hi Danny” you could practically hear his smile on the other side of the phone.

“Is is bad that you saying that has already made my day about 10 time better.”

“Bad? Not at all. Slightly unusual? Maybe a lil.” He laughed at your words. “So…I have good news. I can come this weekend…to Spain.”

“Are you serious?”

“Very serious.”

“This is fantastic.”

“I’m just looking at booking flights now. So I can fly in on the Friday morning and then out on the Monday morning.”

“Wait, just hold off on booking your return flight for the moment.” You were confused. “Please don’t ask why. Just trust me.”

“I trust you, I just need to be back in London for Wednesday, latest.”

“Wednesday, got it. Don’t worry about booking a car or anything, I can pick you up from the airport.”

“Okay, if you’re sure.”

“100% sure.”

“Okay, just need to book my hotel then.”

“Don’t worry about that either.”

“I need somewhere to sleep Daniel.”

“Just stay with me.”

You couldn’t help but blush, he was very forward and open. It was refreshing really. “Okay. I’ll stay with you.”

__

The minute that you touched down in Spain, you could feel the stresses of home leave your body. Your health had taken over your life recently. You had made the decision to keep it private. The only people in your life who knew about your current illness were your parents, your agent (and best friend) and Chris (your other best friend). You didn’t want it effecting your work or how people perceived you. Until it got to the point (if it ever got to that point) where you weren’t able to act and perform stunts, only then would you share it with the world.

Lucy had insisted that you should tell Daniel. It was quite obvious that the two of you were starting some form of romantic relationship and she was adamant that he needed to know about your health. You on the other hand were persistent that you didn’t want him to know. You didn’t want that to be the overriding thing that changed how he saw you, you didn’t want it to effect anything that was blossoming between the two of you.

As you made your way out of the airport you kept your sunglasses on and your head low to avoid the paparazzi getting shots of you. You made your way over to where Daniel told you he had parked. When he saw you approaching with a crowd of cameras following he jumped out of the car and grabbed your suitcase from you, opening the boot and slipping it inside. You both then jumped back into the car without exchanging a word in front of the crowd of reporters. The second you were both situated safely in your seats, Daniel sped off.

“Kinda sucks I wasn’t able to give you a kiss hello there.” He spoke taking a sneak glance at you from the drivers side of the car. You giggled at his words and leant over the car placing your hands on the middle console placing a deep kiss on his cheek. “Hmm, not quite enough. Think I need a lil more.” He came back cheekily. This time you leant back over and peppered lots of little kisses all over the side of his face. “Mmm much better.”

“How have you been?”

“Busy.” He sighed. “We’ve been training hard this week. Plus lots of press, but I’m glad excited for the race.” He reached over and grabbed your hand. “And I’m glad you’re here.” 

You leant your head back on the rest and observed him.  “I’m glad I’m here too. This weeks been a lot.”

“Work?”

“Yeah. And just life stuff I guess, but i’m here now and I’m happy.�� You smiled at him. He smiled back at you.

“I’m happy too.”

__

The two of you didn’t have much time alone at the hotel before you had to head down to the circuit ahead of FP1. You only had time to drop your bags off, for Danny to show you around the room and to have a passionate but by no means long enough make out session. 

“Lets just be late.” He’d said as he had one hand under your top whilst you were both lying on the bed.

“I’m not entirely sure Zak would appreciate that.”

When you walked into the paddock together, you’d received a few stares. You’d noticed a few cameras go off, but you’d tried your best to ignore them and remember that they didn’t matter. Drivers greeted you and made you feel welcome. You saw Charlotte and spent some time with her whilst Daniel prepped for his practice session.

Danny had, had a pretty bad FP1, you could tell he was feeling low and his mood going into FP2 had effected his performance as well. He’s finished P14 and P15. He was in a bad way. You knew that he had been disappointed with his performance this year. He’d struggled getting to grips with the car and it had been obvious that he wasn’t performing to his normal standard. You hated seeing him questioning his talent. 

When the both of you made it back to the hotel room he informed you that he was going to have a shower. The minute that he slipped away you called down and requested some room service of champagne and strawberries. You’d requested them for as soon as they were able to bring them. And to your surprise they brought them in what felt like 2 minutes time.

When they arrived you pulled trolley over to the bedroom, ensuring you made as little noise as possible and then made your way over to the ensuite. You pressed your ear against the door and heard that the water was in fact still running. You silently opened up the door and snuck inside. You left the door ajar and tiptoed over to the shower. Danny was stood facing away his head lowered under the warm stream of water. Your eyes couldn’t help but glance over his body. He was stunning.

You slipped your top off your body and dropped it to the floor before reaching down to unbutton your denim shorts. You wiggled them down your legs still making sure you were as quiet as possible. You then slipped off your knickers and let them fall to the floor. Next you reached to your back and undid your bra clasp letting it drop to the floor. You were just behind him now and you reached your hand out and rested it on his shoulder squeezing ever so slightly to grab his attention.  He spun round to look at you. You watched as his eyes scanned down from your face and over your naked body in front of him. He let out a shaky breath as his eyes raked down over your breasts, your stomach all the way down to your pussy. 

You were exposed and you felt vulnerable in that moment. You weren’t sure how he would react to your boldness. Whether he wanted to sleep with you. Whether you had taken it too far too soon. However, when he reached out his hand to grab yours and pull you to him under the stream of water your fears subsided. Your eyes shut momentarily as you felt that warm water run over your body. When you opened them again you saw tat your faces were inches apart. You felt your bodies pressed together. One of Danny’s hands was placed on your back holding you to him. He stared into your eyes for a few more moments, savouring you. Before he leaned forward and kissed you. It was needy. It was deep and desperate. Your hands ran up from his back into his hair. You tugged a little on his damp curls and he groaned into your mouth. He was pulling you into him so there was no air between the two of you. You felt as he begun turning you and walking you backwards so that your back was now pressed against the wall.

You let out a gasp at the coolness of the wall against your skin. He broke away for a second to look at you again. His hand moved to your face where he brushed away some hair and tucked it behind your ear. “You’re so beautiful.” You smiled at his words and ran your hands down from the back of his head to rest on his shoulders. 

“You’re more beautiful.” You whispered back. He let out a little chuckle before kissing you again. One of his hands slid down from your back to grab your thigh. He lifted it up and wrapped it round your waist. Your held rolled back away from his kiss as he rocked his hips into you. When you caught a look at him he was smirking. “Oh my god” you said in a breathy whisper. He began to kiss down your neck, down your chest, making sure to press little kisses across the top of both your breasts. You let out a gasps as he sucked on one of your nipples. Your hands were in his hair. He kissed down your stomach whilst he was on his knees in front of you. His hands rested on your hips just above your ass as he placed delicate kisses on the inside of your thighs. 

“I want to taste you.” He spoke looking up into your eyes.

“Oh my god” escaped your lips as you felt him lick a deep stripe straight through your folds. You fingers pulled on his hair. Profanities poured out of your mouth as his tongue dipped in and out of you. You felt as his fingers squeezed your ass, digging into your skin. He moved to suck on your clit and you felt as though you might explode. “Oh my god Daniel”

“Fuck I need you” he said rising to his feet and pulling you into his for a kiss again. You felt two fingers inside you and you moaned into his mouth. He pumped them in and out of you slowly and deeply. He withdrew them before you felt his tip resting at your centre. When he pushed it in slowly your forehead dropped onto his shoulder and you let out a deep moan. “You feel so good baby.” He said as he lifted one of your legs up and placed it round his waist again. “Oh my god.”

You attached your lips to his again, pulling him in by the neck as he rocked his hips into you.

__

You led Danny out of the bathroom in your matching bathrobes, pulling him along by the hand to show him the bottle of champagne that was resting on ice. He smiled at the sight before him before pulling you to him and attaching his lips to yours. 

When he pulled away, still holding your body against his he said “Thank you for this. Really.”

You didn’t answer only placing another quick kiss on his lips before turning and grabbing the champagne bottle.

“Only problem is I don’t know how to open them.” He let out a laugh before grabbing the bottle from you and popping the cork.

__

“I just wonder if maybe my time is up. Maybe I’m never going to be as good as I was.” You were laying in bed together still in your bathrobes with wet hair. “Maybe I’m not as competitive as I once was. Maybe I won’t ever win a world championship.” You were listening intently as he was talking about the last few years and how he was feeling about his career. You leant back and placed your glass on the bedside table, before turning back to him and swinging you leg over his waist, straddling him. His hands went to you thighs as you sat on top of him. You leaned down so your hands were resting against his chest.

“You’re an amazing driver Daniel. I have no doubts about that. I’ve watched you for years and you can win a championship. I know you can.” He stared at you for a few moments before leaning up to kiss you.

“You’re amazing, you know that?”

“Not as amazing as you.”

[psychemeanscure]

PART 5 {Images and gifs aren’t mine. Hehe. Just a simple reminder. Lol. Happy reading! :)}

Indeed, this couple of weeks and months was hectic days for the both of them. Especially for Jang Taeyoung, true to his words he did manage everything without involving Sung Eunyoung who’s just with her usual business prowess maintaining every aspect of her trades. Truth be told, she was anxious as well, fortunately he certainly did well, from the shipment of both Cargos up to meeting the son. Thus, today they have been invited for dinner by the Spanish old man as gratitude of their partnership.

“Welcome! Welcome, to my humble home lovely couple.”

A greeting from the former anyhow as they walk through inside, linking each other’s arms. “Thank you for inviting us Señor.” A respond from him as well.  “Oh, Come on. This is just a simple thing to do. Speaking of, the dinner is all set. I bet you two are starving already. Or rather I, was the one who’s starving? I think the latter I guess.” Answered by a humorous remark from the old man then as they went inside it’s dining room, talking random stuffs, compliments to complements and of course business should not be an exemption, and until Jang Taeyoung seems to be looking for someone.

“If I may ask Señor, I haven’t seen your son today. Where is he somehow? “

“Oh, Zilo? Hm. Obviously, enjoying the time of his life out there of your Nightclub. I guess introducing it as a dealing abode is good thing for him surely, since he has no knack for casinos. You really did a good job to that boy. How I wish you’re my son as well.”

If only the old man knew that it isn’t even their reason choosing the Nightclub over the Casino as the dealing premise. Truth be told, it’s simply because his Casino is already famous with the all so loyal fishing police officials that it’s going to be chaos being busted. Well thanks to the connections of her, it never happened.

Hence, seconds later, the whole dining room were filled with their constant laughter certainly. Not for Sung Eunyoung though. She may have the face of an anticipating fiancé, yet the back of her minds says she wants to puke numerous times, cringe at every statement the Spanish gambler is throwing. How she wished he’s aware how many times did she kill him in her mind.

“Papá~ Your dearest son is home~ Where are you my dear el papá?”

The resonating voice of his son echoed effortlessly from the hallway that made their conversation halt for a bit. “Oh! There you are. Ooh… And with a guest. You did not tell me. Hi brother! And you---” as if a shotgun phrase from the young boy definitely, and before its interest motion to her, his father already barge in. “Could you even sit down first, son?” a bit unpleased being interrupted, he followed still anyway, sitting beside his father.

“Happy?” a mockery response from the son indeed, unbothered by his father’s frowning face, as he’s already eager to be able to know the dashing lady across him. Sensing the explicit stare of the latter on her. Well she can’t blame him though, for it’s certainly their first time meeting each other.

Therefore, she chooses to initiate the introduction in some way. “Amilia Martin. Nice to meet you.” Her firm primer indeed while handing her hand to him who’s only delightedly smiling the whole time with her. “Zilo Alcaziar. Pleasingly pleased to meet you as well m---“

“My fiancé, brother.”

He was stop surely for planning to kiss the back of her hand as a greeting, for as Jang Taeyoung dominantly cleared his throat while frivolously snatching the hand of his one and only fiancé. “What? Oh! Come on brother. Do you have to ruin the mood? Urgh. What a great timing. Now I have to call you sis.”

A humorous grumpiness from the troublemaker son indeed, that is once again filled the dining with laughter. If she has one thing wants with the Alcaziar, It’s the humor definitely cause even her was humored unpreparedly. He got her there certainly. But well no thanks. She would rather forget it if it only means coming from them.

Zilo decides to go upstairs first, leaving again with the three of them. Thus, another round of their casual talk follows. It was so-so at first, but not until the curious Jang opens a certain talk he did not expect may fume her.

“Know what, Señor. I’m still fascinated on how you manage to support your son’s activities. I mean, yes there ain’t no parent who wouldn’t want to fulfill their kid’s dream but don’t you doubt teaching Zilo in such a young age? He come a long way for a 20-year-old.”

Only answered by a grinning father while slicing the meal on its plate. “Nah, that boy isn’t even look like a 20-year-old anyway.” As if its backstab remark of his own son that as a matter of fact, indeed mature for his age, given a growing beard from his chin, even still born with a pale skin the built obviously deteriorate it caused from recent addictions.

“But seriously. If you can’t pamper your children as early as now, they only end up getting stubborn. Worst, they’ll only hate us as well. Besides, the younger they started the powerful they could become. Am I right?”

Answered by their agreeing smile anyhow. As they listen to his proceeding sentiments. “It always works for me--- Oh right. Except for one.” Intends to stop its words after wiping his mouth with a cloth and a sip of wine.

“Let me tell you a story. You see, stubbornness is the exact point here and this friend of mine is exactly the same. We were once partners in any ways. The same perspective. We click each other’s company. In short, we simply share the same mind. Then it happens that things didn’t work out for him. So I offered a special deal. I started pampering him things, opportunities and chances but he’s a rock head. He doesn’t glimpse with the idea even with all my efforts to persuade him. To help him. But, still. Nothing.”

Shrugging from reminiscing the memory, as he takes another sip of his wine. “So what happened to him now, Señor?” Jang Taeyoung’s casually following the flow of the conversation somehow. “I killed him, of course! What more should I do if he’s going to be useless anyway. And you know what’s funny?” its cliffhanging sentence then, while a stun flexed by their physique. Worried that the latter may notice their sudden stiffness, Jang instantly reverse indeed. But looking Sung Eunyoung who chooses to eagerly torture the meat on her plate is dangerous.

That he had to hold her gripping hand from the utensils hoping to calm her as the least he could do. It helped somehow maybe. That’s what he wants to believe for he was confused also by her calm but somewhat raging aura.  Lucky the Spanish man is completely unaware someway, as he started his proceeding sentences.

“Funny when after all my killing of him I am still seeking for my price. Back in… Barcelona I think? 20… oh, yes! 2001. That year. Jeez. I thought I had learned to forget that but No!” He was even laughing while remembering it. “You see; I don’t usually note the dates of my victims really but I guess he’s an exemption indeed. Tss. If only I had claim it back, then. Unfortunately, the one I was looking for is nowhere to be found. Just a snap, vanished. Unlucky isn’t it? Or is it because it’s raining cats and dogs that day? I guess I’m going to go with my superstitions. It’s the rain’s fault then.”

And she lost it. As the halted screeching sound of the table knife she’s using is finally visible to the ears not just with her acting fiancé but with the old man as well. For she already concluded that the one he’s talking is definitely her father. Her inside is fuming definitely. Completely oblivious of the scratch she made on the plate. She was just there, looking down her meal with ferocity.

That even the concern remark of the latter is already out of her range. She’s dying to kill him right there and then and just has to perform striking him with the keen knife she’s holding and viola, end of her misery. “Amilia.”  And yes. If not because of Jang Taeyoung who’s trying to get her composure back with a soft touch of her shoulder.

“Are you alright?”

As much as she does not like to suppress her anger this time. She had no choice anyway. She can’t sacrifice a possible outcome of her impetuosity. “Yah. I’m good. Just a bit nausea though. But it’s bearable, don’t worry.” And nausea, is definitely the understatement. For she intended to throw it to the man across her. Vomit is the best word. But the filthy Spanish man had misunderstood it instead. “Nausea? Oh… Why am I having a good hunch on this, huh? You two. You can’t wait aren’t you?” squinting them with a suspicious look.

And she knows what it meant absolutely. Bringing a fork of meat to her mouth, she speaks. “Shall we go get myself a check-up, then?” Looking lovingly to the man beside her who’s already cringing from the inside. Left with no options. “Well, I guess we need to. Before father may scold us more.” His humorous go with the flow response anyway before giving his all not so forced smiles on them. Only to end him up as a joker though.

“So it’s settled! We are going.”

While she managed to give her all not so fake smiles as well. Especially to the man who’s name she want to engrave to the ground so badly.

~

“Hijo de puta!”

“Did you see that? Did you see how he talk about my father so casually? And that puto is basically enjoying! Mierda.”

That’s it certainly. He was literally punished by her nonstop curses again even he hasn’t done something wrong. She wasn’t even aware that he still following her up to her apartment, only notice when they were already in her doorstep when he walks ahead of her after. “Did you just followed me up to here?” her dumbfounded question indeed that she has to eye between her door and him as if to make sure she’s right. “Obviously? Unless you want to be called as a crazy woman talking by herself though.” And when she was about to proceed for another cursing he stop her promptly then by shutting her mouth with his index finger.

“Shh. Enough of that. Can we just celebrate for now?” thus confusions hunt her at the moment, frowning from his remark. “What has to celebrate?” unwelcomingly rummaging to her kitchen, he went back successfully with a bottle of champagne, a wineglass for two, and a wine opener in his both hands. Setting it up to her bar table which is as well set towards a window glass overlooking the busy neon lights of the city. And with the final pop-up from the cork stopper, he speaks.

“For seeing each other finally after several days?” His blunt answer surely while she was left from a distance. Wandering eyes staring at him who’s already sitting, impatiently waiting for her. True somehow that they haven’t seen each other personally these past hectic days and only talking through phone calls. But why the hell she cares though? “Come on. Don’t keep me waiting, Ms. Sung.”

With crossing of arms and a groaning reaction, she had no choice definitely but to follow his path. “And then, what?” her unwilling words somehow after sitting across him. ”Tell me the whole story.” And just by looking with her ignoring reaction, he understood. “I won’t take a no for an answer this time Eunyoung. I can’t understand anything if you still leave me hanging of everything. I need to at least know something for me to avoid incident just as what happened a while ago.” Shrugging from the thought, he proceeds.

“It’s your lo---“

“Fine. I will.”

He was cut-off undoubtedly, yet relieve after realizing her answer. Readily noting every detail, she would share in his mind. So, she started while all he does was listen. Then until they reach to the crucial side of the story that left him unprepared as well. “Bankruptcy has hit dad bigtime absolutely that he had to seek help with that coño amigo of him. Only to find out his condition as a risk.”            

“Did you found out about the condition as well?”

“Unfortunately, No. I only grip with this information of him from NIS.”

She handed him her phone as he is expecting a file from it, too late to realize… “What the f*ck! You have access in NIS?!”  his curses in no time indeed as he was actually shown by the actual system of it. Only to receive a bragging laugh from her. “Jang. I’m no Amilia Martin for nothing. You should have known that. Tss.” She, who’s now confidently sipping her wine then.

“Whatever. You shouldn’t make it hard for me to search their whereabouts when you can just help me with this. You, secretive volatile.” Twitching his brows in a way as he handed back her phone. “Sorry, but I don’t share. Besides, I’m paying you for that job. Why would I waste my time helping? You should work for it.”

“That’s just it, really? Are you sure it isn’t because you want to keep seeing me as well?” Thus their bickering starts again. Eyeing her suspiciously. “Look who’s talking.” Rolling her eyes unwillingly. Only to see a placing elbow to the armrest of the seat he’s occupying just to caress his smirking lips by his thumb while desirably staring at her. She knew right there, he’s starting again.

“I missed you.”

Like she expected, and she’s lying if she says she didn’t even stiff by that certain remark because she did eventually. But as if she’ll let him take chances. Screw him. Putting down her empty wineglass, sternly looking at him. “Can you at least end a day without picking me up, gilipollas?”  only to hear his nonchalant laugh instead. “You know what, you’re really something. Back there and today, don’t you know how I eagerly want to applause you with that façade annoyance of you? How did you do that, huh? Maintaining a classy calm face but blazingly livid inside?”

“Is that a mockery or a compliment? Cause I do think it’s the former. You---“

“Oops! Please, halt there. Can’t you see my ears bleeding already?”

Before she could utter another swear, he instantly stops her with his idioms absolutely. “And picking? Great, look who’s talking as well. For my mind can’t process how did I become an instant father when all we did was still kissed. Unless you do like to brought it to life though. Just one word and I’m so open Sung Eunyoung.”

A frowning her indeed. “Shut up! I’m not one of your perra, you cabrón. And for your information, It wasn’t even me. It was Amilia who’s talking. Please, see the difference for yourself.”

“Uhuh. That’s why I love Amilia, more than you. Her impulsiveness is my everything.”

And she’s finally full of him absolutely, uncontrollably shut her eyes out of frustration. “Are you even--- “

“Jealous with your own identity?”

She was cut-off by his syllabic sentence indeed, even it isn’t what she meant otherwise. That with a final slap of her palm on the bar table, pushing herself to stand up, grab him by his suit gorge and drag him out of her premise is the only way. But not all of it happened though. For by the time she tries to grab his gorge, she was the one been grabbed by him instead. The next thing she realize…

His lips have already pressed to hers. “Don’t worry. I’m still more passionate for you, though.”

Their stares and closeness had her off guard already what more with their position nonetheless. She’s factually cornering him in between his seat. Hands that had to land to the armrest while the other on his beating chest makes it worse. “Feel that? Amilia can never do that. Only you can, Sung Eunyoung.”

His hoarse remark this time, only to mark it as her worst then. ‘Shut up.’ The silent word she keeps on reminding on her pounding heart as well. She knew that it was just one of his usual taming actions, but her inside is fighting again. Thus, with his last farewell gesture. He takes her hand from his chest only to kiss the side of her palm between the thumb and wrist. As if the peck a while ago wasn’t enough and doing so is his only way of satisfaction.  

“Shut up, shut up, Shut. Up!”

Voicing it out definitely after a close from her door was heard that means he left finally.

[k-llama-llama]

Fan Love

TXT AU: 6th member

Sara x TXT

Sara slowly adjusting to the fact that she has fans.

A/N: Requested a while ago, I’m sorry it took so long!

Requests are Open! Submit them! I need them!

Masterlist and other Follow Me links in bio!

“Noona!” Kai’s voice carried through the apartment. 

“What?” She called back, standing up from her bed.

“You’re trending.” He answered, looking up from the couch as she walked into the room. “Did you just wake up?”

Sara looked down at her outfit. Just sweatpants and a hoodie, which was also what she usually slept in, though this time it was her actual outfit. 

She playfully ruffled his hair. “Who do you think made the pancakes this morning?”

“Oh, right.” He held up his phone. “Look.”

She took the phone from him, looking at the twitter trending page. Sure enough #TXT_Sara was on the list.

“Why is that there?” She asked, sitting down next to him.

“I think it’s a picture of you from yesterday’s performance,” He leaned close. “I didn’t really look. Click on it.”

She did as directed and held the phone so they could both see it. Most of the tweets did seem to be about a picture of her from yesterday’s show, and they only had to scroll a little bit to find it.

“The picture isn’t that exciting.” Sara frowned. “I don’t know why that would trend.”

“Because you look pretty!” Kai scolded. “Look at this comment!”

Sara looked. “It’s in English.”

“Urgh,” Kai shook his head. “It says ‘How did Bighit hide her all these years. She’s too pretty.”

“Aw, that’s nice.” Sara smiled, standing from the couch.

“That’s nice?” Kai exclaimed. “That’s all you’re going to say?”

“Sure.” Sara tilted her head. “What do you want me to say? I don’t agree with it, but it’s nice that they’re saying it.”

“Soobin!” Kai exclaimed when Soobin walked into the room. “Explain to Sara why the fans love her.”

Soobin paused. “Is this a trick question?”

“She doesn’t believe that she’s pretty, and that the fans love her.”

“Aw, Soo-ji!” Soobin patted her head. Sara scowled and walked into the kitchen, leaving the two boys behind.

“You’re really pretty!” Soobin called after her. “The prettiest!”

“I’m so glad we’ve established that.” Sara rolled her eyes. “You know, I totally trained all those years for the fans to tell me that I’m pretty.”

Kai followed her into the kitchen. “You’re also talented, smart, the best cook in the world...Anything else you’d like to hear?”

“No. But you can keep going if you want.” She turned to the pile of dishes by the sink. “I told Beomgyu to do the dishes.”

Still, she turned on the tap and grabbed a plate.

“So let him do the dishes.” Soobin scolded. “Don’t do everything.”

She shrugged. “I don’t like the mess.”

Soobin shook his head and exchanged a look with Kai. How Sara managed to think that no one would be a fan of hers, yet she still went out of her way to help everyone, would never make sense to him. However pretty she was aside, anyone who had ever spent any amount of her knew that she was the sweetest person in the world.

“We have a practice later.” Was all he said.

“I’ll be ready.” She hummed, placing the clean plate on the drying rack.

She arrived at the studio a half hour early, ready to put in some early practice just to be certain that she could keep up. A year of training with the boys and she still worried about her dance skills.

“Oh, Sara!” One of the company receptionists stopped her. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Hi.” Sara bowed. “What can I do for you?”

“We’re leaving in a few minutes, but we have a bunch of approved fan letters that have been sitting on our desks. Would you mind taking them and giving them to the boys?”

“Of course not.” Sara smiled as the woman collected a pile of letters from the desk. “I’m sure the boys will be happy to read them.”

The woman winked. “If you want a head start, everything after the purple tag is for you.”

“For me?” She looked down and noted the large collection of letters marked with purple tags. “Yeah, I guess I’ll start reading through them.”

The boys pushed open the door to the practice room, at exactly the time practice was supposed to start. 

Usually they found Sara already sweaty and on her third run-through of the dance, but today it was different. She was sitting on top of her gym back, a pile of opened letters on one side and closed envelopes on the other. 

“Sara? Are those fan letters?”

“Mmm-hmm.” She didn’t look up. “Your’s are over there.”

Beomgyu picked up the pile of letters. “Cool. Can we read them later and practice?”

“Shush.” She said. “I’m reading.”

Yeonjun laughed. “Soo-ji, we need to practice.”

She held up the letter in her hand. “The people love me. Let me finish this letter.”

“We still need to practice.” Beomgyu looked mildly annoyed.

Sara raised an eyebrow. “Don’t be smart with me. I’m always early, give me this.”

“Yes ma’am.” Soobin laughed.

“Thank you.” She turned back to her letter.

Beomgyu glared at Soobin. “Hello? Leader? Can you lead, please?”

Soobin winked at him. “Not likely.”

[gsmatthews95]

"Is it wrap o'clock yet?"

Helloooo I am back and breaking my 4 day silence. Im on the bus down to noosa at the moment and I thought this is a good time to catch up with y'all on my comings and goings of the last few days. Also side note, I think I actually got frostbite last night. In a bed. In a hostel. Urgh. I was even wearing my sleeping bag onsie, it was bloody freezing. I just feel sorry for those poor unprepared souls who dont have a sleeping bag onesie. Ha I bet you thought oz would be warm didnt you? But no. Its pretty much arctic here at the moment. Lol. So where have I been these last few days? Oo good question Karen. I have been ticking oz travelling boxes by visiting Fraser island. Yaaaaay. Fraser island is a classic oz east coast stop, somewhere everyone goes for normally three days (dats what I did) on an organised tour, ew organised tour. But no. It was awesome one of the best tours I've done after the San vlas islands and the Lombok to Flores boat trip off the top of my head. Mainly because it was so chilled and fun, the guide was easy, the schedule was loose and we were driving oursrlves. So I think Fraser is the largest sand island in the world and has silica sand similar to Whitehaven beach, soft and white ooooo. Ergo George exfoliated and brushed his teeth again, yessss. But I jump the gun. So what happened was that we were in a group of 24 and one guide. We had three 4x4s with the guide driving the first and us driving the other two beasts. Yes I achieved my ambition of driving these bad boys. The island is famous because there are no roads. The highway is a 70 mile stretch of beach. Yes lots of beach and off road driving, well cool. #CarTwo4Lyf Ok the first day was an early kick off as we cruised to the island and over the ferry from rainbow beach. Then was our first experience of sand driving. Niamh (pronounced nieve. Irish, I know. Weird...) Was up as we skidded thru the deep and soft sand. This was actually the hardest driving as it was high tide and the wheels were going everywhere, a baptism of fire you may call it, well done niamh for getting us thru it all. I was up next as we went inland and off roaded. The moment I'd been waiting for. It was mint. We drove over craters, the car tipped over and the people in the back lost feeling in their bums... Not in a weird way... It was really bumpy I swear. The car smashed it though with its outrageous tires and suspension. It was all I imagined. AND MORE. This was when we came to lake Mackenzie. A rain water lake. Clear, clean and refreshing. With white sands. Idyllic. Kim kardashian actually just put up a photo there if you follow her, I reckon she was following us. We chilled there and swam a bit. Also got some nice snaps obvs. An enduring theme of this trip was Frisbee. Weird. I know. But very fun. So in car 2 (my car, the best car) we had 3, thats 3 out of 8 ultimate Frisbee players slash coaches. What are the chances? Consequentially, there was a lot of Frisbee chat and playing. Hugh and niamh are coaches and Ed plays at a national level (I'll leave it up to you to decide who's cooler me and my quidditch or Ed and his Frisbee). So every beach we got to the disk came out too culminating in a match when we got back to rainbow beach. A competitive yet relaxed affair. A very good game. Edged by team hugh, with yours truely playing centre back, a Sergio Ramos esque performance if I say so myself. It was well fun and is making me think I should have played at Leeds. I dont know if my friends would have stuck by me if I played that and quidditch though, it was hard enough to convince them to hang out with me when just played quidditch. Harry Buxton I'm looking at you. Also this is going to be a very long post, sorry. But a lot happened and I'm in the swing of writing now. The next stop on this adventure was lunch at a nice little creek with a board walk over it. Lunch. Let's discuss lunch. It quickly became the most exciting part of each day. It was the same meal each day but was heavenly anyway. Wraps. Lots of wraps with lots of fillings. It was so intrinsic to our days and necessary to our happiness that most conversations returned the wraps. "Is it wrap o'clock yet?", " I wonder if we're gonna get a new filling for the wraps today?", "im bloody excited about the wraps", "do you reckon dingo would taste good in a wrap?". Yep, wraps are life. I had nine in three days. We even had wrap battles, lol. Who had the best looking wrap?, the fullest wrap? Or even whether beatroot had a place in the wrap, were common lunchtime conversations. Basically we love wraps. The excitement culminated on our final day when Victor, part of our Swedish contingent, caught a fish with his bare hands (very alpha male i know) and proclaimed it was the newest filling for someone's wrap, yummy. Now it was off to camp for a little session. But only after we stopped at a ship wreck, which was quite cool. Nothing to write home about tho. Oh wait a second I suppose I'm writing home about it now. Hmm. Awkward. Well maybe is was worth It after all. We returned to camp, threw the disk, shock and drank goon, shock. We had a BBQ dinner and had some fun. A little trip to the beach for some stargazing and off to bed in my three man tent that i shared with my onesie, very cute. Day 2. An early kick off. Too early. I got up, got breaky and went back to sleep. I held up the group a wee bit, the previous nights antics had taken their toll, lesson learnt. Our first stop today was the champagne poolls. Basically some giant rock pools you can swim in with the waves crashing in. Not overly exciting but nice to see and swim in, obvs, nonetheless. I Just chatted to aido, our guide for a bit. Very funny man. A Bush baby. With a very different upbringing/life to me. Apparently he started a bush fire once, but did he do a fire dance around it while listening to dnb? I think not. Therefore I win. We cruised on Towards a big cliff With a wee little walk up it. We trooped up in true military fashion to get some nice views of the beach and sea. It was also a good sea creature viewing spot, we saw dolphins, a shark and lots of whales. Ok so the whales. There was a lot of them. So many so that the excitement of seeing them ebbed away towards the end. They'd all be chilling and swimming north along the beach. Usually quite far out tho. However, some gave us a show as the jumped out of the water and wagged their tales. One joker even did a workout for us as he repeatedly smashed his tale against the water, it was immense. Having never seen a whale I have now seen enough for a lifetime in 2 short weeks. It was all very impressive. More on day 2. I believe our next stop, after the wraps, was a trip to eli creek nicknamed the lazy river. A fresh water river leading to the sea, so clean you could drink it. It was a funny experience as our whole squad trooped Down the knee high river with only six tubes. There were scrambles for tubes as three would share one. I had a relatively regal experience compared to the rest as I sat on top of hugh, like a king. Then I was then shunted on to jabba's tube which we shared in very cute fashion. There was splashing, pushing and banter. It was all pretty jokes. I then went a second time with Rudy. Much more chilled as we floated down in true chiler fashion. We then played more frisbee and headed home for a sunset walk, with a twist.... What was this twist you ask? The twist was that we missed the sunset cause aido sent us off too late. Great. Luckily there was another group on the sand dunes with boogie boards. Ah, phew, we didnt waste our time after all. We were up and down the dunes standing, sitting and lying on the board. Lots of fun. Bloody tiring tho running up that hill so much and I had sand everywhere. I'm still covered now. A good activity tho, no thanks to aido. We headed back, I showered finally and we boozed. With another twist actually as we had neighbours in the next camp site. North camp. They were 26 strong. 23 girls and 3 guys, lol. 2 of the guys had girlfriends... Lol. So some of them came to join us as we had better banter and music, shock. The entertainment for the night was the excitement of a night at the horse racing. It got intense, especially when Winston pipped Adolf at the final hurdle. Adrenaline was flowing. Before I begin on day 3 I just want to give a little ode to the dingo. I was thinking they could get their own piece but I can't really be bothered. This has taken me like 1.5 hours I reckon already. Dingos are cute. Quite ratty but really they're just chillers. They stroll down the beach chat to humans and hang around with alpha males. There are lots of them on Fraser and people seem to be scared of them, im really not sure why tho cause they're super cute and lovely. They'll always have a place in my heart. I love you dingos. Day 3 started in similar fashion to day two. I hadn't learnt my lesson. We packed up camp and left for wobbi lake (I think). This was a stagnant lake (it was smelly and green) at the bottom of some steep sand dunes. This was the scene for the crumbed sausage. Something I will never forget. And as I have videos of it, I will always remember. Myself victor and jabba submerged ourselves in the festering water. We Got out and ran to the top of the dunes 3 times so we could try entering the water in different ways. We began by charging down at full speed. Easy. The second was the time of the crumbed sausage as we rolled down the hill, wet. This meant the sand clung to us. Hence the crumbed sausage. It was weird. Quite fun but quite painful, disorientating and sandy. This is the other reason im still covered in sand. We went for a third entrance into the water. Forward rolls, like a block of cheese rolling down the hill. This was most successful. As I hurtled down the slope at pace with a relatively smooth entrance to the water. Afterwards my head hurt and I couldn't see straight for about two minutes. If you go to Fraser, join the crumbed sausage crew, you won't regret it. Lol. But that was it as we went for lunch and bombed back to rainbow beach ending a smashing three days. We had a bangin group, lots of fun people in all three cars but seriously #CarTwo4lyf. Now I'm gonna go back to learning all the words to mans not hot and the bog in the valley-o. Maybe I should rename this blog the "blog down in the valley-o" although I do quite like "holidaying" I'll think about it. Anyhow I'll write again in maybe 3 days. Dont miss me too much. All my love. G

[calemor]

Ladder

(Click here to read from the beginning!)

Robin jogged through the Columns, her tongue lolling out the side of her mouth as she panted for breath. No one had bothered to give chase once they realized she hadn't actually stolen anything, but she still wanted to get back to the relative safety of the Plinth as soon as she could.

She pulled open the trapdoor and leapt down into the hideout, scraping her hand on the rough wooden floor as she landed. Hudtan stood up from Anzo's chair, looking at Robin with wide eyes. "You're back! I thought..." She paused. "Well, it's a good thing Anzo was right."

"What happened?" Robin said. "Why are you back here? Why did the trading house open so early?"

Hudtan raised an eyebrow. "I do not know what you are talking about." She and Robin sat on the floor, with Robin trying to catch her breath after her wild dash. "The job did not go well, to say the least. I got ready in my hiding spot, which should have been imperceptible, I might add..."

"It was behind a trash barrel, wasn't it," Robin said. Hudtan scoffed but nodded. "I would've done the same," Robin added.

"Well, the drug dealer had brought along some muscle, and one saw me hiding and grabbed me from behind," Hudtan continued. "Anzo insisted on identifying as Bedlam instead of Bloodroot, so the dealer got suspicious and wanted to cancel the trade. We were both captured, but I remembered that birdfolk (the dealer was birdfolk, by the way) are susceptible to high-pitched noises. It hurts their ears."

"That's...just not true," Robin said. Hudtan glared at Robin with her empty white eyes, and Robin shut her mouth.

"Well, I let out a high whistle, and the dealer turns to me. I suppose maybe he just wanted to see if I was calling backup, but I'm sure it stung his eardrums a little bit. Anzo took it as an opportunity to break free from his captor. Chaos ensued, I got free as well, but Anzo lost his weapon and the gold."

"Did you get the bloodroot? Did you kill the dealer?"

Hudtan shook her head. "We were lucky to escape at all. Gwynt caught up with us, saying that you and he had become separated, and he couldn't find you. This meant that we hadn't gotten any replacement gold either. Anzo and Gwynt went to meet the leaders of the Bloodroots and Night Lotus, respectively. Anzo told me to wait here for you, but I thought..." She trailed off.

"What?" Robin said.

Hudtan sighed. "I thought you had quit. The gang, us, everything. It seemed like it was too much for you. I apologize; I was wrong."

"Well..."

"So now we have to be the ones to tell the leader of the Axe of Justice that we let our target get away."

"Wait," Robin said, "we aren't seriously going to do that, right? Can you imagine what that dwarf will do to us when he finds out we failed? His entire gang, or club, or cult or whatever you want to call it, is based on the idea that criminals should be killed!"

Hudtan smirked. "Are you saying that you are scared?"

"YES!"

"Then stay here," Hudtan said. "You can watch the base while we are gone." She climbed up the ladder but stopped and looked over her shoulder when she was halfway up. "Unless you want to truly abandon us this time."

Robin shook her head, but couldn't come up with a better plan. She hoisted herself up into a hammock after Hudtan closed the trapdoor behind her. As Robin stared at the ceiling of the Plinth, she thought about her escape from the trading house. Had she really been so captivated by the jewel she found that she hadn't noticed two hours pass, or even the sounds of the merchants and workers starting their business? And why hadn't the workers noticed her until the trading house had been busy long enough for everyone to get set up? Something about that crystal was strange, and Robin wanted to find out.

This time, the hours stretched on as she waited for the rest of Bedlam to return. She took a nap, but then started getting bored and rummaged around for something to do. She poked around the remnants of Gwynt's alchemy station, but nothing seemed salvageable. She went through the bits they had stolen from the orphanage, wishing it were something more valuable. She removed the cloth from Anzo's stool to find that he was carving something out of a block of wood, though she couldn't really tell what. She covered it back up with the cloth.

She was hanging from a hammock and trying her best to exercise when Anzo burst down through the door. Robin yelped and slipped from the hammock, bonking her head on the floor. Anzo helped her up, eyes wide with urgency.

"Robin, we must move, now!"

"Urgh," Robin groaned.

"NOW! Negotiations did not go well. Broos Bellinger is incredibly irate, and he's going to come here to finish us off for ruining his plans!"

Robin let Anzo drag her out of the Plinth and they both set off running. They practically trampled Gwynt as he was heading the opposite direction.

"Gwyntmarwolaeth, the Plinth is not safe!" Anzo said.

"I was coming to tell you the same thing," he said as they continued running. "Rivka thinks she ought to try out a new poison on us for failing to follow through with her orders."

"I'll bet Hudtan'll say the same thing about the Axe," Robin said while trying to keep up.

Sure enough, Hudtan was dashing down an alley when she saw them pass, and ran towards them to catch up. "We're in trouble!" she said.

Angry shouts started coming from behind them. Windows on the nearby buildings were shut in response. The people of the Columns were familiar with gang violence erupting in their streets, and they knew that if they shut their doors and locked up, it would all go away eventually. For Bedlam, it meant that they no one would keep them hidden, for fear of bringing the wrath of a gang leader down on their home.

"Anzo, where are you leading us?" Hudtan said. Loud footsteps were echoing from the direction of the Plinth.

Before he could answer, dark shapes suddenly stepped out of the shadows ahead of them. Anzo skidded to a halt, the other three bumping into him. Robin peered around Anzo's waist to see agents of Night Lotus blocking their path. The footsteps behind them caught up, and she looked over her shoulder at the men and women wearing the Axe of Justice insignia on their armor. The two rival gangs saw each other over Bedlam.

"Stay back, Axes!" a Night Lotus assassin declared, pointing his sleek dagger at the head of the pack. "This scum has betrayed Night Lotus and must pay for their actions. We know you, you'd just kill them and be done with it. We have plans to drag out their suffering."

"Betrayed you?!" an Axe of Justice cavalier bellowed. "They were working for us, and they couldn't perform a simple execution!" He turned to Anzo. "You double crossed us?!"

"You were meddling in our affairs?" the assassin shot back.

"We got there first, probably!" the cavalier replied.

Suddenly, there were more shouts from both sides. Members of the Bloodroot gang, combing the Columns after finding the Plinth empty, had found their enemies on both sides and, in typical Bloodroot fashion, had immediately started a fight. The Axe and the Lotus members turned to return the favor, leaving Bedlam stuck in the middle with no way out.

Anzo knocked on the door of the nearest Column, but there was no answer. He looked around at the fighting. "Whoever wins this, it means we're going to be next!" he said. "We've got to find a way out!"

Hudtan moved up to the house and started picking the lock. Robin heard a faint gasp and crying from inside. She felt her stomach sink as she grabbed Hudtan's arm and pulled her away from the door. Hudtan looked at Robin with a furrowed brow and a frown, but Robin shook her head. "We can't do that to whoever's inside. They don't deserve to be dragged into this."

Hudtan blinked, then her shoulders sagged. Gwynt stepped up and started climbing the ladder that was connected to the Column. "If we can't go through it," he said. "Then we'll have to go over it."

Anzo grunted but grappled the ladder and started climbing behind Gwynt. Hudtan followed, shooting up with ease. Robin looked up at the building. The tip was so far up it seemed pointed, and it appeared to be swaying in the wind. Whether that was a result of the faulty architecture or Robin's vertigo from looking straight up, she couldn't tell. She put one foot on the bottom rung, then heard a shout from one of the gangsters behind her. "Hey! Don't let them get away!" Robin started putting rungs below her as fast as she could.

Gwynt swung from the ladder above them, confident he wouldn't fall. He looked around at the layout of the slum. Shorter stacks of houses created longer alleys that the taller columns overlooked. "If we go down the other side, we should be able to lose them!" he shouted down to the others.

Robin looked down to see what he meant, and immediately regretted the decision. They had climbed much higher than she had noticed, and although her grip tightened around the ladder, her vision swayed and her stomach fluttered. They had to be at least seven stories above the ground, much higher than the two-floor drop she risked back at the orphanage. She then noticed that members of the Axe of Justice (or maybe it was the Bloodroots, it was hard to tell when they looked so small) were starting to climb up after them.

"We're expecting company!" she squeaked to her comrades above her. "Maybe you shouldn't shout our plans for them to hear!" She tried to catch up to the others, but couldn't climb as fast as before now that she had seen the lack of ground near her feet. She had to double check with each step that one of her hands was holding on.

Gwynt reached a platform that marked another separate house on the pillar. A window snapped shut by whatever brave soul managed to live at this height. Careful to keep close to the wall, Gwynt began shuffling around the side of the building.

"Gotcha!" a voice shouted, and Robin felt a hand tug on her leg. Her arm wrapped around the side of the ladder, catching on the rung and keeping her secure, but her other foot slipped. She dangled by her arm while the gangster below, a burly wood elf with several missing teeth, tried to pull her down. She yelped and kicked with her free foot, bludgeoning the elf in the nose. His hand flew from her foot to his face, and Robin fled from the ladder to the nearest platform. Hudtan joined the other two on the floor above her while the elf that had grabbed her started fighting with a rival gang member on the ladder below. If she returned to the ladder, they might try to pull her off again, and while Robin loved being on the ground, she didn't want to return to it very quickly.

Suddenly, the window next to her snapped open. “What's all this ruckus?” a voice said.

“Old Man Scruthers!” Robin said. She hadn't noticed which column they had climbed.

His eyes widened as he saw the raggedy woman on his doorstep. “You!” he screeched. “You’ve come to take over my house! I knew it!”

“We’ve got a problem!” Gwynt shouted from above. He had his hand on the ladder as if he were about to proceed down. “They’ve surrounded us.”

Robin instinctively looked down again and wished she had learned her lesson the first time. She took enough of a glance to notice that the gang violence had found its way to the other side of the column. She then steadied herself by grabbing onto the ladder. The others on the next floor up were discussing their plan.

“We can make it to another column in this row, and maybe they’ll be distracted enough with each other that they’ll lose sight of us and we can climb down…” Anzo was saying.

“Assassins are already closing in on us!” Hudtan said. “They’ll catch us in no time. We have to get to another row.”

“That’s twenty feet away!” Gwynt said. “Even I can’t jump that far.”

As if to support Hudtan’s argument, a hand latched onto the platform Robin stood on, and a girthy human started to pull himself up. He then grunted in pain and was flung backwards by a sword from a rival gangster just below him. Robin tried to will herself to keep climbing, but she was frozen to the ladder in fear.

She felt something jab into her side, and turned to see that Old Man Scruthers was reaching his cane out of the window to push her away. She moved to the other side of the ladder so that his cane only thudded harmlessly into the wood. The geezer was stronger than she expected, making the ramshackle ladder lurch and shake with each jab. Robin was horrified to realize that the 25-foot ladder was only secured by being set into grooves in the wooden platform and tied with a single rope two floors above her.

“GIT!” Scruthers howled. “SCRAM! Get off my house!”

Robin looked again at the gangsters climbing up after her, then back at Old Man Scruthers.

“Make me,” she said.

Scruthers shouted incoherently, and Robin summoned her courage to climb the ladder to the top. She passed Anzo, Gwynt, and Hudtan as they tried to figure out what to do. She took out her dagger and cut the rope securing the ladder. Meanwhile, Scruthers was still using his cane to shove the ladder with all his strength. Without the rope, the ladder began to tilt backwards. Robin clutched to the handle for dear life as she fell backwards off the column.

Anzo shouted and reached out, but his fingers fell short of the rung. Robin closed her eyes.

She felt the wind rushing past her suddenly stop as she was jerked to a halt. The ladder bounced, then settled back down. She slowly opened her eyes to see that her insane plan had worked; the ladder was now spanning the gap between the two columns, and she was within arms reach of the platform.

Robin looked back at the other three, who were all staring at her with open mouths. She tried to tell them to cross the ladder and escape, but all that came out was a sound like a goat bleating. Still, they got the message, and once the shock of seeing their newest teammate almost fall to her death wore off, they scrambled down to the base of the ladder. Anzo was the first one down, by way of gripping the ledge and swinging himself onto the lower platform. He kicked an Axe of Justice on the way down, sending him into Old Man Scruthers's wall. Scruthers yelped and snapped his window shut. Gwynt and Hudtan lowered themselves down more slowly as Anzo walked up to the Axe member.

“We’re gonna punish you for-” the Axe started. Anzo punched him in the face.

Gwynt and Hudtan started crawling across the ladder. A small skirmish had broken out between the Bloodroots and the Night Lotuses on the platform below, allowing Anzo to start following when there was room. The three bodies moving across the wooden ladder caused it to buckle and shake, so Robin quickly latched onto the new column and pulled herself up. She crawled over to the other edge and peered over. Nobody was in the street below, and it was inaccessible from the one where the fight raged.

Gwynt was then next to her, urging her to follow him down to the ground. Robin gladly obliged, Hudtan and Anzo right behind her, happy to start getting closer to a nonlethal falling distance.

***

The Night Lotus agent dispatched the filthy Axe of Justice, pushing his limp body off the column. She and her cohort then climbed up to the next platform, where the base of the ladder was still balanced to create a bridge spanning the space above the street.

“Here now, we can still catch them!” the other assassin said, but the first agent put a hand against his chest.

“No, fool! If we go across now, they will reach the other side before we do. Then they will be free to toss the ladder off balance, sending us to our deaths!”

The other assassin blanched. “Of course. Good thinking.”

“Out of the way!” They were shoved aside by two Bloodroot brutes, who started rushing across the ladder towards their targets.

The Night Lotus grinned. “I suppose we could employ the same tactics I just mentioned.”

Her cohort chuckled. “Good thinking.”

***

Robin turned the corner where Anzo had just run and was suddenly grabbed and pulled up against the back alley wall of a small shop. They were out of the Columns, and the sounds of the fighting had given way to the busy din of the town marketplace just around the corner. Robin scrabbled against the grip at first, but then saw that she was being held by Anzo, who was listening for their pursuers. She quieted down, even though her heart was still racing a mile a minute.

“It seems we have lost-” Anzo began, but suddenly ducked as a dagger embedded itself into the wall where his head had just been.

“Consider that a warning shot,” Rivka said, standing up from behind a chimney on the roof above. “The next one won’t kill you either. But you’ll wish it had.”

“We did what the Night Lotus asked of us!” Hudtan said.

Rivka’s eyes narrowed. “Yes. And the Bloodroots. And the Axe of Justice. Both groups our dread rivals, and you dare to assist them in their schemes.”

“But if he hadn’t, they would have killed us!” Gwynt complained.

“That’s the plan!” came the voice of Broos Bellinger. He was standing in the alley in the direction of the Columns, walking quickly towards Bedlam. Rivka jumped down to block his path.

“We got to them first, so back off.”

“Actually…” Hudtan said, but was interrupted by a guttural roar. Robin couldn’t see down the alley it came from, but she knew that Tasgall, the leader of the Axe of Justice, was on his way to kill first and ask questions never. Rivka’s eyes darted to the side when she heard his shout, and Broos took the opportunity to attempt to shove past her towards the four cowering against the wall. Robin was the first to take off in the other direction, and the rest of Bedlam followed towards the town center.

Robin burst out into the marketplace and was immediately shoved aside by the bustle of several people shopping the stalls and looking for deals. Vendors shouted their prices and voices responded asking for better deals. Robin pressed on. She felt someone grab her hand and started until she realized it was Gwynt. He tugged her forward and she quickly followed.

She heard Tasgall yell again, coming from right behind her. Gwynt yanked her off to the right, diving into a group of chatting farmers. They huffed but couldn’t say much before the two were gone again. Gwynt jumped to get a quick vantage of the crowd, then changed direction again. “Rivka and Broos split up and are encircling us!” he said.

They skidded to a halt at the center of the marketplace, where the Well of Luck stood. The smiling statue of the goddess on the roof over the well seemed to be looking down directly at Robin, even though its eyes were closed. It seemed to say, “You’ve run far, but you’ve run out of me.”

Anzo and Hudtan ran in from the opposite direction. Anzo blinked. “Wait! If you’re there, and they were chasing us from behind here, then…”

“We’re surrounded!” Hudtan growled, and pounded her fist on the threshold of the well.

Gwynt looked through the crowd for a way out, spinning around on the spot. Anzo mumbled to himself, trying to think up an escape plan. Robin just stared at the statue, then looked at the bucket hanging over the entrance to the well. The rope hung over a pulley and was attached to a crank so that the bucket could be raised and lowered.

Robin grabbed the crank. “Get in,” she said.

Hudtan peered down the well, listening to the rush of water below. “It’s a long way down. The underground river likely is not that deep.”

“Grab the rope! It will slow our fall,” Robin said.

Anzo nodded. “Sudden impact with rock is preferable to whatever the Night Lotus and others have in store for us.” He held out his hand. “After you."

Gwynt grabbed the rope and nodded to Robin, who turned the crank so that the rope would lower the bucket and make room for Hudtan, then Anzo. By the time Anzo grabbed on, she could barely hold back the crank any longer. She released it, letting the bucket fall the rest of the way. She looked around as she heard shouting; their pursuers were closing in. Stuck threw one foot over the wall of the well, then the other. She gave one last look at the statue, said a little prayer to Luck, and slid down the rope into the darkness.