Chapter Text
When she saw him there by the mailbox her heart gave her a painful stab. ‘Unsuur…’
He froze, letter in hand, then hid it behind his back. ‘I was… I was about to go home for something very important, yep!’ Then he ran off.
Saya clenched her jaw and ran after him. This had to be settled, now.
She knew where he lived and found the door was unlocked. She marched into his house, standing in a neat, organized living space. ‘Unsuur?’
‘Oh, hello Saya,’ came the somewhat muffled reply, ‘fancy seeing you here. I’m just having some quality closet time on my own. I’d ask for you to join me, but this is a one person spaced closet.’ There was a wooden closet, next to a stack of carefully balanced rocks.
Saya suddenly felt a heaviness settle on her shoulders and it was difficult to breathe. ‘Where is that letter, Unsuur.’
‘You’re still wondering about that, hm?’
She nodded, then added. ‘I know it was you that has been sending them to me.’
They’re a problem, she thought, because… tears welled up in her eyes and the heaviness pressed down harder. He almost left me. Please, don’t leave me. I’d have nothing left. Nothing. Because I am nothing.
‘Are you crying?’
She wiped at her eyes, hard. ‘No.’
‘That is the last thing I ever wanted, making you cry. It’s the opposite of anything I could ever think of wanting to do with my time.’
‘I’m not Crying,’ she said with emphasis.
An envelope was pushed through a crack in the closet door and fell out onto the floor boards. ‘Ta-daa, the letter is here. No need to not be crying anymore.’
She snatched it and opened it, reading without a sound, then she hung her arms and looked at the closet. ‘You want to be my best friend?’ She sniffed, then smiled. ‘Unsuur, that’s it?’
‘I was actually very worried at first, but I asked Justice if you could have two best friends and it’s possible.’
She let out a laugh of relief. ‘Come out of the closet!’
He did so and she hugged him. ‘Of course I want to be best friends!’
He stood there for a moment in her embrace, then hugged her back. ‘This just became the best day ever.’
‘Agreed!’
He let out a breath. ‘Much better than that day where I thought I was going to become the deputy and it turned out it was going to be Captain, the cat.’
Saya stepped back, shaking her head. ‘I made a hat and everything! I even thought it could have been me, that day. Justice really had us going, didn’t he?’
‘He must have his reasons.’
‘Yeah.’ She gave him another smile. ‘You want to go and get breakfast at the saloon, best buddy?’
‘Sounds great!’
After breakfast, in which Saya found herself unusually talkative and Unsuur was more silent than usual, she had a job to do.
Qi had her build a neat-looking vacuum cleaner and air purifier, and with those she set about cleaning up the last green gunk and vapors out of the valley of whispers. She was still upset to see Mi-an’s handiwork on the pipes. She had to admit, however; it was nice to have back-up whenever she got herself in the clinic again. The poison had no lasting effect on her. She only felt some soreness in her side, when she leaned a certain way.
Andy had been weirdly polite to her, which kind of made her sad. It wasn’t a big deal, anyone would have fought that monster to save them. She’d told him that, but it hadn’t worked. He did take the candy she offered him, so some things didn’t change after all.
After she was done clearing the polluted areas, fighting some weird mutant monsters on the way, the air purifier did its job and cleared the air.
She was surprised to see Trudy and mister Musa on the edge of the valley when she returned.
‘A job well done, Saya,’ the mayor said.
Mister Musa also looked impressed. ‘Do I smell starberries?’
There was a minty-sweetness to the air, suddenly.
Qi turned up to see his designs in action and confirmed it was indeed starberries, he just liked them, so he added their fragrance. A small crisis had to be averted afterwards, where Burgess called them over to the train station: Dan-bi and Rian were leaving. Fortunately Trudy was able to convince them to stay, at least for a little while longer, after which Musa said it felt like the perfect ending to another day in Sandrock.
Saya didn’t feel the same way, not until she’d seen Pen.
‘He just wanted to be my best friend,’ she said with a smile. They were on a walk at the border of town, near the cave where they’d had their first real kiss.
Pen just smirked but didn’t say anything. Saya was a little taken aback, she’d pictured him being happy to have the mix-up resolved. He gave her a look.
‘What?’
He then took her in his arms and spun her around. ‘You’re just so precious, did I tell you that?’
Her eyes softened when she looked at his face. ‘You do, a lot.’
‘It’s because you are.’
They kissed and the first stars appeared in the sky, Saya pointed them out to him and he smiled. Now this was a perfect ending to another day in Sandrock.
There was an announcement to be shared at city hall the next day, and Saya joined the crowd in front of the stage.
Mi-an stood next to her, keeping her fingers crossed. ‘This is it,’ she said, ‘yes or no.’
Saya bit her lip, then crossed her fingers too.
Trudy and mister Musa stood together on the stage, and Trudy addressed the crowd. ‘Hello everyone, thanks for coming. You’re all probably wondering what mister Musa’s decision is going to be. Well, without wasting anyone’s time, let’s hear it from the man himself.’
He stepped forward and thanked her. ‘As a businessperson I strike directly at the heart of the matter, do not mistake my directness for rudeness.’
Saya held her breath.
‘I have decided to finance the building of a tunnel directly to Portia through the Eufaula range.’
This met with wild applause and Trudy had to bring down the noise afterwards.
He talked about advantages to be found here, and how he admired their spirit, then concluded with; ‘I believe in Sandrock.’
More applause, along with people repeating the phrase, Saya among them. They brought someone new onto the stage, a handsome man named Albert, who was going to help with the planning of the tunnel. He was a citizen of Portia and looked a little aloof. He explained how they would be working on both sides to connect in the middle, then pave a road between Portia and Sandrock.
There were three key parts to consider; two tunnels and a durable kind of pavement. All builders were told to be on stand-by, as there would be a lot of work coming their way.
Saya made a fist. She’d be ready.
She was about to head over to the saloon, when mister Musa and Heidi approached her. They had some extra work for her; reinforce the bridge that led up the rock-wall area where the tunnel was going to be built. Mister Musa specifically requested she’d be one of the main leaders of the project. ‘Mi-an is an excellent builder as well,’ she said, a little embarrassed.
‘I’ve no doubt,’ he said, ‘she held her own while you were recovering from your injuries. But I’ve seen you do the most work around here and I only work with the best. I know I can count on you. You give it your all. ’
Saya blushed then just nodded, there seemed no way to convince him of anything else.
‘Could you also clear away those big boulders on the bridge pass,’ Heidi asked. ‘That would help a lot. Let me know when you’re finished. Here’s the diagram for the reinforcements.’
Glad for the extra work, Saya went home immediately. Her pickhammer needed an upgrade and the final result looked absolutely badass; more like a scythe, the chromium metal it was made of gave the thing a reddish sheen that glinted in the dying light.
There was no Mi-an to come with her this time, but she felt stronger. She’d been training more recently, taking on missions from the civil crops to fight some extra monsters. Saya still looked over her shoulder a lot, while clearing the boulders. It would be easier to place the reinforcements, if she got a head start today. Standing alone on the bridge she thought about her mother. Somehow her words had wormed their way into her brain and she found herself repeating them throughout the day. What was it with people sending her letters? Maybe she should send one back. …but whenever she thought of sitting down to do it, she quickly found something else to do.
The next day was no different, another letter addressed to her. It had a bunch of incomprehensible code on it. From Bronco, no doubt. She shook her head. There was no chance someone like him could find Logan. He was just too ridiculous.
She went to check on Mabel, mainly to talk about her absent daughter, then set to work on the bridge. Once she’d reinforced it, things moved quickly. Too quickly for some people. There was a minor protest, led by Dan-bi and Burgess, to spare the mountain from the planned explosives to be used. However Matilda put an end to it, and a large hole was blasted into the rock.
Saya had also made a commissioned drilling arm for the mobile suit, and the tunneling started right away. For once, things seemed to go according to plan. Was Logan planning something big? Saya couldn’t help but be nervous. To her surprise she got a summons to the Blue moon saloon, in the form of another Bronco letter. There was no way he’d actually gotten somewhere, right?
She was asked the password in front of a closed door, but she could hear Pen inside, forcing the man to open up. She smiled when she saw him and Justice there, no more pet detective. This could be it. Oh please, be it.
‘You might be wondering why I gathered you here today,’ Bronco said across steepled fingers.
‘Can we hurry this up,’ Justice said. ‘Unsuur and I need to be on patrol.’
‘Indeed! Indeed, I’ll make this quick. I bet you’re all wondering why I—’
‘Fascinating,’ Pen interrupted him, ‘I hate to do this in front of everyone but it’s spaghetti breakfast at the saloon, so, Bronco, you’re fired.’
‘I have discovered the location of Logan’s hideout!’ Bronco yelled triumphantly.’
‘You are on fire! Is what I meant to say,’ Pen said quickly. ‘I knew we could count on you! Good job, you!’
Saya stared. This Was it. She suddenly didn’t feel ready at all.
There was a short delay, where Pen wolfed down a plate of spaghetti, then they were on their way. All on horseback, Unsuur, Pen, Justice and Saya all followed Bronco past the valley of whispers and into the wilderness of the badlands.
‘I can’t wait to reunite my fist with that outlaw’s face,’ Pen said. ‘By the way, how did you accomplish this feat, Bronco?’
Bronco sat back with an air of accomplishment. ‘I got an informant! A mole that’s been tracking Logan for some time now. Today will be about meeting with said mole, and then we’re off to the hide-out. So you better believe I need back-up.’
‘We got your back,’ Justice said.
They made it to a remote cave system, where they went inside. Immediately the area was swarmed by rats; large upright walking warriors with various weapons. They seemed familiar with Pen and the others and they got into a fight almost immediately.
Saya was glad to find herself keeping up with everyone, her training hours had been well spent.
It was then that they came upon the tracks.
‘Odd,’ Bronco said, ‘he should be here. These are his tracks, I’d recognize his paw prints anywhere.’
‘Paw… prints?’ Pen crossed his arms. ‘No. Absolutely not. Your mole is an actual mole?’ He held up his hands, ‘and you are an actual kid, buddy. Like I said, you’re fired and I’m out.’
Saya frowned. ‘Can’t we look around a little? This could still lead us to something.’
‘Have fun, Skinny. I won’t be wasting my time.’ With that he turned around and marched out of the cave.
Saya looked at his retreating back. He just went and left them there. In the middle of an investigation. She was going to say something about this later, she promised herself.
Bronco held out his hand to him. ‘I… wha- what? Wait!’
‘Don’t take it too hard,’ Justice said. ‘You tried.
It was then that they heard someone yelling up ahead in the cave.
‘That’s him!’ And with that Bronco dashed out ahead of them.
They ended up in a large room where their mole was fighting a mirror robot. Saya had seen some crazy AI’s in her battles but this one felt different. It was completely focused on beauty and even complimented her on her looks. Then it gave them a good fight, but its batteries were drained halfway through and it shut itself off.
Saya wiped her brow, but she wasn’t out of breath yet. Progress.
The mole was indeed an actual mole, and he told them he needed their help first, before he would give them the information they needed. So they got roped into an ongoing feud between the rat queen and rat princess.
Saya didn’t care who she was fighting, they had to get to Logan.
They found the princess in a room adorned with Logan wanted posters and Saya shook her head at it. How could anyone be so obsessed with someone like that? It was also obvious their mole had a thing for this princess, too. Princess Lumi introduced herself and began to explain her situation when their conversation was cut short. The rat queen had arrived.
The three of them threw themselves into the fight. Saya dodged a bout of fire from a fire breather rat, then cut its head off. The queen was giving speeches while her minions attacked them. Her words didn’t get through to Saya, she was reaching her limit and the adrenaline kicked in; shutting everything out that wasn’t about fighting for survival.
At the end, slashing her way through the rat army, she cut straight across the Queen’s face, making her scream. The mutant cowered after that, fleeing the cave. The fight was over. Saya stood in a puddle of blood, her face smeared with it, breathing hard.
‘You got through—to her,’ Justice said, his eye was swelling shut and he held his hand to his ribs from a kick he’d gotten there.
Unsuur had a limp, but together they met up with the princess and the mole.
‘You have my eternal gratitude,’ she told them. She said a lot more but the sound wouldn’t quite come through to Saya yet. Then the mole, who’s name was Ged, took them back outside. He wouldn’t tell them where the hide-out was exactly, the princess would hate him, but he did give them a means to get to him.
That’s how Saya ended up hunting for rutabaga after they’d gotten back. It turned out Logan’s goat had a weakness for roasted rutabaga, it would come right out to get it and then they could follow it back to the hide-out. It sounded like a weak plan, but it was all they had.
Pen came to her workshop when she got back without rutabaga, it wasn’t an easy thing to find, it turned out.
She sighed when she saw him and looked away.
‘Justice told me you got into quite the fight over there,’ he said.
They went behind the workshop to talk. ‘You’re covered in blood.’
‘Didn’t have time to shower yet,’ she told him.
‘Ah yes, the grilled rutabaga plan.’
‘Roasted,’ she corrected him.
‘That will surely make the difference.’
She crossed her arms and looked up at him. ‘You just left us there.’
‘It was rather petulant of me, I admit it. I just hate wasting my precious time. But…’ he reached for her and she let him touch her cheek. ‘My leaving got you hurt more than you should have been, so… that was bad.’
It was the closest thing to an apology she was going to get, so she sighed and placed her hand on his. ‘It’s okay.’
He looked around, then gave her a quick kiss. ‘Wash.’
She took a shower, then went back for another look around where rutabaga was supposed to grow. There! Saya was delighted to pull a roundish root vegetable out of the ground. This meant that tomorrow she could present it to Justice right away. No point in telling Pen, he didn’t believe in the plan and might even jinx it.
She got Justice and Unsuur, and roasted the rutabaga for them at her shop. It had a good, pungent odor.
Justice rubbed his hands. ‘Perfect.’
They hid out near where Ged had told them to go, near the valley of whispers, and placed the plate out on a rock.
They didn’t have to wait long. Unsuur nudged her in the side, ‘look! It’s his goat!’
An impressive looking animal had appeared from around the bend, black and horned, its coat shone in the early morning light.
Justice jumped up, and they went for their horses. ‘After it!’
The goat bolted, but they were right behind it.
They were almost on top of it, but some bombs dropped from its saddle, spooking Justice and Unsuur’s horses, making them fall off. Saya, who had brought up the rear, gained on them and surpassed them.
‘Follow it!’ Justice yelled after her, ‘don’t wait!’
She galloped after the animal, spurring her horse on to go even faster. Bring me to his hide-out! Let me find that snake! We have to stop him from terrorizing our town!
A cliff came up suddenly and the goat stopped, then dropped down and out of sight. Saya let out a yell as her horse skidded to a halt, throwing her out of the saddle and over the cliff.
She tumbled down some branches and onto the goat’s back, stopping her fall. The animal jumped down the cliff’s side with alarming speed, navigating the rocks with ease. Saya was about to call out, when the animal ran to a metal door, which opened, then slammed shut behind them.
It shook her off there, leaving her in the darkness of a cave.
The hide-out, it flashed through her mind, I’m inside his hide-out. She looked back at the door but there was no opening it from the inside. I’m on my own. She swallowed, then grabbed her sword tight.
