→ [Fic] Black Ice 9.0
Black Ice
-9-
“You mean she left?”
Jak was watching Vin scramble back and forth, something like an ottsel scared shitless. When he nodded, the younger elf looked over his shoulder to Torn, who was less than amused. In fact, he looked downright pissed. No joke. Missing Ashelin was going to be a small blow to the Underground. Their main contact had picked up and gone elsewhere. That didn’t leave them with much of another option.
“Seems like she jumped ship,” Jak commented.
And went where exactly? Torn pushed him aside roughly, gave Daxter a bit of a pointed glare, and went straight to the source, “What do you mean, Vin? Where’d she wander off to? A patrol?”
Vin hesitated. She had explicitly stated that it was a personal matter. Basically it meant Torn and the others needed to butt out and stay out. Then he considered the other half to everything. What else had she said? Oh, right. Tess.
“Uh… S-she actually said you could go ask Tess. She knows about what’s going on, I g-guess? She didn’t say much before she left.”
“Well,” Torn began, folding his arms over his chest. He gave Vin a very cross look, “What did she say?”
“Oh, I-I don’t know. Some stuff about the Brink and a place called A-Aeropa. That’s pretty much it. A-asked me about reception for the communicators. I lost contact with her some time ago.”
Vin scratched at his chin nervously. Torn and people like him always put the older Havenite on edge. Even Jak did and he wasn’t anything like the members of the Krimzon Guard-or former members as the case was.
“You mean you had contact with her before. Next time someone goes missin’, say something!” Torn growled.
Looking back to the computer, Vin shrugged, “To be fair, she’s not actually m-missing. I just d-don’t think any of us know where the Brink is. It’s n-not like she can’t take care of herself.”
“Ashelin will be fine,” Torn replied through gritted teeth. “So we either wait for her ass to get back here or we do somethin’ while we wait.” He eyed Jak closely, “Guess it’s up to you fer now.” Which was clearly something he didn’t want to say.
Daxter was all broad grins, “Hey, leave it all to us! Jak and I can handle anything coming our way! Even somethin’ like the Baron.”
Jak gave him a brief look and sighed in disbelief. Daxter and his big mouth. Seriously.
“I don’t really have a choice,” Torn gave them each a furrow of the brow, or what should have been. Instead it just looked like a weird contortion of the face. “The moment she comes back, you’re both demoted back to dirt. If I hear anything about you guys screwin’ shit up, I’ll gut you both myself. The Baron’s already breathin’ down our necks. Another slip up and we’re history. Got it?”
Jak and Daxter exchanged looks with one another, and then nodded to Torn, figuring it was best to avoid his fury.
“I’m leavin’,” Torn said as he turned his back onto the other three, “Gonna go talk to Tess.”
Vin waited until the echo of Torn’s boots vanished before giving off that shaky laughter, “I-I totally knew he was going to do that. Hope A-Ashe doesn’t kill me or anything.”
Haven had no fury like an Ashelin scorned. Obviously.
-☼-
Tess was humming to herself as she leaned against the counter, a smile drawn across her face. She wondered idly if her conversation with Ashelin had done any good. She had to admit that sometimes she wanted to leave Haven too. She just didn’t know where she would go. Ashelin, however, was going to the Brink, a place so very far away. No one else would be able to get it, but girls had that intuition. Tess knew it had been for a good reason, whether the definition of “good” was the same for both women or not.
Therefore it came as no surprise when Torn emerged through the door. One look at him and she was already making a drink. If there was one thing she was really good at, it was the whole being hospitable thing. No one else was really like that, after all.
“Oooh,” Tess began, filling a glass with a dark liquid, whatever they really had to pass off as booze. It didn’t smell very good and like almost everything else, it wasn’t good quality. It’d get the job done either way.
“You know,” he started as he pulled up a stool. “Why t’hell do others know about this and not me? Why wouldn’t she say somethin’, huh?”
Tess offered him a shrug, which was the best she could do on such short notice. Then she tapped her fingers against the countertop before pushing his glass forward, “She was worried. She didn’t say that, but I could see it. Like, she really wanted to go, but she was thinking about us and all.”
“Worried?”
Now why would that be? It was like a patrol, right? So she’d only be gone for a little unless she had plans of extending the trip.
“Just how far is this place, Tess?”
“Ashelin said it’s over the desert and the ocean. I’ve never heard of it. It’s silly to think the Baron would send anyone out there unless it’s an eco factory or something. Even then, though… It’s definitely not that.”
Torn took a long hard drink and regarded the blonde thoughtfully. Then he tipped his head at her, “What? It’s not something for the Baron? What’s she thinking?”
“She didn’t say why she was going. She just said she really needed to. It sounded important. She said she had to go do it. I told her I agreed.”
She was so sincere when she said it that it wasn’t hard for Torn to put the pieces together. Tess was being her usual supportive self, but it didn’t make the situation any better. They were still minus an Ashe and while Torn knew they didn’t need her, he didn’t like the idea of her not coming back. Once again, it was an issue where Ashelin was his, or he wanted her to be.
“Great,” he didn’t even hide his groan. “Well, I got Jak doing stuff until she comes back. Vin’s got communications up in case something goes wrong. Looks like there’s no other way except to wait.” And hope for the best, but he wasn’t about to say that.
He should have gone with her. He didn’t and this was clearly the consequence for it. But from the way the others talked about her, coupled with the strange behavior as of recent, she probably wouldn’t have let him come anyway. They trusted each other, right? So why didn’t she say anything to him? Was it so terrible that she had to hide it? He’d saved her from the Baron’s wrath. Didn’t that mean anything?
Maybe she didn’t know, because he hadn’t told her. Bragging about protecting her didn’t seem the right way to go. No. She would have just pushed him off and told him she didn’t need protection. All the same he wanted to, anyway.
“Tess, take a break an’ join me,” he finally said after she refilled his glass.
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-9-
“You mean she left?”
Jak was watching Vin scramble back and forth, something like an ottsel scared shitless. When he nodded, the younger elf looked over his shoulder to Torn, who was less than amused. In fact, he looked downright pissed. No joke. Missing Ashelin was going to be a small blow to the Underground. Their main contact had picked up and gone elsewhere. That didn’t leave them with much of another option.
“Seems like she jumped ship,” Jak commented.
And went where exactly? Torn pushed him aside roughly, gave Daxter a bit of a pointed glare, and went straight to the source, “What do you mean, Vin? Where’d she wander off to? A patrol?”
Vin hesitated. She had explicitly stated that it was a personal matter. Basically it meant Torn and the others needed to butt out and stay out. Then he considered the other half to everything. What else had she said? Oh, right. Tess.
“Uh… S-she actually said you could go ask Tess. She knows about what’s going on, I g-guess? She didn’t say much before she left.”
“Well,” Torn began, folding his arms over his chest. He gave Vin a very cross look, “What did she say?”
“Oh, I-I don’t know. Some stuff about the Brink and a place called A-Aeropa. That’s pretty much it. A-asked me about reception for the communicators. I lost contact with her some time ago.”
Vin scratched at his chin nervously. Torn and people like him always put the older Havenite on edge. Even Jak did and he wasn’t anything like the members of the Krimzon Guard-or former members as the case was.
“You mean you had contact with her before. Next time someone goes missin’, say something!” Torn growled.
Looking back to the computer, Vin shrugged, “To be fair, she’s not actually m-missing. I just d-don’t think any of us know where the Brink is. It’s n-not like she can’t take care of herself.”
“Ashelin will be fine,” Torn replied through gritted teeth. “So we either wait for her ass to get back here or we do somethin’ while we wait.” He eyed Jak closely, “Guess it’s up to you fer now.” Which was clearly something he didn’t want to say.
Daxter was all broad grins, “Hey, leave it all to us! Jak and I can handle anything coming our way! Even somethin’ like the Baron.”
Jak gave him a brief look and sighed in disbelief. Daxter and his big mouth. Seriously.
“I don’t really have a choice,” Torn gave them each a furrow of the brow, or what should have been. Instead it just looked like a weird contortion of the face. “The moment she comes back, you’re both demoted back to dirt. If I hear anything about you guys screwin’ shit up, I’ll gut you both myself. The Baron’s already breathin’ down our necks. Another slip up and we’re history. Got it?”
Jak and Daxter exchanged looks with one another, and then nodded to Torn, figuring it was best to avoid his fury.
“I’m leavin’,” Torn said as he turned his back onto the other three, “Gonna go talk to Tess.”
Vin waited until the echo of Torn’s boots vanished before giving off that shaky laughter, “I-I totally knew he was going to do that. Hope A-Ashe doesn’t kill me or anything.”
Haven had no fury like an Ashelin scorned. Obviously.
-☼-
Tess was humming to herself as she leaned against the counter, a smile drawn across her face. She wondered idly if her conversation with Ashelin had done any good. She had to admit that sometimes she wanted to leave Haven too. She just didn’t know where she would go. Ashelin, however, was going to the Brink, a place so very far away. No one else would be able to get it, but girls had that intuition. Tess knew it had been for a good reason, whether the definition of “good” was the same for both women or not.
Therefore it came as no surprise when Torn emerged through the door. One look at him and she was already making a drink. If there was one thing she was really good at, it was the whole being hospitable thing. No one else was really like that, after all.
“Oooh,” Tess began, filling a glass with a dark liquid, whatever they really had to pass off as booze. It didn’t smell very good and like almost everything else, it wasn’t good quality. It’d get the job done either way.
“You know,” he started as he pulled up a stool. “Why t’hell do others know about this and not me? Why wouldn’t she say somethin’, huh?”
Tess offered him a shrug, which was the best she could do on such short notice. Then she tapped her fingers against the countertop before pushing his glass forward, “She was worried. She didn’t say that, but I could see it. Like, she really wanted to go, but she was thinking about us and all.”
“Worried?”
Now why would that be? It was like a patrol, right? So she’d only be gone for a little unless she had plans of extending the trip.
“Just how far is this place, Tess?”
“Ashelin said it’s over the desert and the ocean. I’ve never heard of it. It’s silly to think the Baron would send anyone out there unless it’s an eco factory or something. Even then, though… It’s definitely not that.”
Torn took a long hard drink and regarded the blonde thoughtfully. Then he tipped his head at her, “What? It’s not something for the Baron? What’s she thinking?”
“She didn’t say why she was going. She just said she really needed to. It sounded important. She said she had to go do it. I told her I agreed.”
She was so sincere when she said it that it wasn’t hard for Torn to put the pieces together. Tess was being her usual supportive self, but it didn’t make the situation any better. They were still minus an Ashe and while Torn knew they didn’t need her, he didn’t like the idea of her not coming back. Once again, it was an issue where Ashelin was his, or he wanted her to be.
“Great,” he didn’t even hide his groan. “Well, I got Jak doing stuff until she comes back. Vin’s got communications up in case something goes wrong. Looks like there’s no other way except to wait.” And hope for the best, but he wasn’t about to say that.
He should have gone with her. He didn’t and this was clearly the consequence for it. But from the way the others talked about her, coupled with the strange behavior as of recent, she probably wouldn’t have let him come anyway. They trusted each other, right? So why didn’t she say anything to him? Was it so terrible that she had to hide it? He’d saved her from the Baron’s wrath. Didn’t that mean anything?
Maybe she didn’t know, because he hadn’t told her. Bragging about protecting her didn’t seem the right way to go. No. She would have just pushed him off and told him she didn’t need protection. All the same he wanted to, anyway.
“Tess, take a break an’ join me,” he finally said after she refilled his glass.
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