King Make Believe

Chapter 25

Miyoko

I groaned as we trudged up the fourth hill in the past six hours of walking. After turning around and walking for four more hours by Hiro and Jae's side, then camping for the night, waking up and more walking. It was just getting old.

"There's a village not far from here, we could stop, get something to eat." I suggested. I could see the sub sinking lower into the ground. I didn't know exactly where we were going, but I knew that Hiro was on the Vaccine's wanted list, and they would kill to get to him.

Hiro looked at me and knew immediately that he was the only one who had mysterious walking abilities and could walk for miles without dying of hunger or thirst. He sighed and nodded. "Okay, but we're sleeping in the woods like last night. We don't know where their eyes could be at."

I nodded and looked past to see Jae, she was looking up at the sky like it might collapse any moment. "Are you okay?"

She looked over at me and blinked. "Yeah," She said casually. "I'm fine."

I raised an eyebrow. "You don't look fine." I said.

She sent me a look and then stared up at the sky. "When I was younger, my dad taught me how to read the skies—I think a storm's coming."

Hiro frowned. "How long."

"A a little less than a week at least."

"Then we'll need to find a secure place to rest when it comes." Hiro said, he looked up at the sky and then sent me a dubious look. I felt like nodding in agreement, I didn't know how she did that, but I didn't think Jae was lying.

I sighed loudly and stretched my arms above my head. "I feel like sparring."

Hiro sent me a look that was partially in agreement and confusion. "What did you do before...you know...?" He asked.

I grinned and leant back, feeling my muscles stretch as my hands locked together. "I was a Paladin for a Pongo Unit." I said. Hiro looked confusion. But Jae seems completely thrilled. She half scampered over to my side and started firing off questions at top speed, I did my best to answer them as we walked.

"Is Paladin the highest rank?"

"Yup?"

"How'd you get it?

"I killed a bunch of guys."

"Cool...What motivated you to join?"

"My dad."

"How is he?"

"He died in the attack."

I bit my lip as I watched Jae's face fall. She closed off a little and muttered an apology. I sighed.

"What did you do before all that tragic stuff happened?" I asked, trying to skirt around the topic like she did.

Jae stopped quietly freaking out and beamed. "I was the Captain of the Royal Guards." She said happily.

I looked at her, slightly confused. "How'd you get that rank?"

Jae sighed. "Well, it wasn't straight away. First I was just Hiro's friend in the palace because I wasn't afraid of him. Then his father died and I vowed to protect him and avenge his death. Not long afterwards I became his bodyguard and the Captain." I nodded, impressed. She didn't seem the type to completely devote herself to someone's safety. But I didn't want to comment any further than merely nodding.

I looked over at Hiro. He seemed a little out of it. He blinked slowly and stared off at the ground. The dirt clouds behind him reminding me of every time I watched dad come home from work. I cleared my throat and he looked up, blinking several times before looking directly at me. He grinned so hard his eyes half shut.

"Sorry, just...deep in thought—you know?" He said, his tone slightly sorrowful.

I walked out of the noodle shop and watched as Jae and Hiro conversed quietly. I frowned and walked over to their side. I blew a few loose strands of pink hair from my face and handed them their meals. "What's up?" I asked.

Jae looked up from her steaming dish of noodles and look at me, her gaze full of worry. "They've put up posters."

I scooped up a fair amount of noodles between my chopsticks and watched as Hiro looked up from sheet he was holding. His gaze was completely horrified. "How come we've been to three villages since we started travelling two days ago and we notice it now?" He asked this, his voice hysterical.

I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and grinned. "It's all good, you two just hide whenever we come across a village and I'll grab food for us." I said this so confidently that I realised people probably knew by now that I was working with the runaway king.

Hiro looked at me and saw the confidence hidden in my gaze. He let out a soft breath and scrunched up the paper. "Right, okay, of course—we'll be fine." He said, he continued to mutter away as we went around the back of the village. Where no one would see us. Just in case.