They were going to try and run.

Is it run? Or in this case is it fly?

They were going to try to escape. Wyn was sure of it. Any experienced fighter would know that even with the two of them, and even with him being disarmed, they’d have to really fight to win, and their advantage of speed wouldn’t matter if they fought him head on in the clustered maze of boxes and goods. The man had a satchel strapped over his shoulder, laden with the weight of whatever he’d stolen, Wyn hoped it would slow him down a bit.

“Ready Kori?” The thief asked, eliciting a caw from his partner. He tilted his head for a moment, a look of realization dawning on his face. “You’re right, that would be easier.”

I have to grab one when they run away.

They charged him, aiming to attack.

“Oh come on!” Apparently no, they weren’t experienced enough to realize the real difference in skill. Still, a coin-toss of a fight wasn’t his style, if he had a weapon, he could take them both on without threat. Spirit fire burned continuously within him, merging his body and mind into one. Before he even processed the thought, he was already rolling to the side. The dodge wasn’t random either, his body had taken him in the direction that he needed to go.

There, his wooden sword–dropped earlier–had fallen to the ground only a few yards away. He sprinted towards it as they closed in again, and his hands wrapped around the wooden hilt just in time to swing it around, slapping the both of them with a single blow.

The thief quickly steadied himself and attacked again, but Wyn sidestepped the dagger and kicked him backwards. The man was still completely outskilled, but the bird joining in made things a bit more difficult. With a flap of its wings, it lifted several feet into the air, striking at him with its clawed leg. He blocked with the sword, but was driven back a step. Its kicks were powerful. He could manage though. But if they were going to fight, he’d oblige. There were a variety of ways to approach a battle when outnumbered, but defense wouldn’t serve him well here, if he stalled too long, they’d just run.

Option 2 then.

Wyn lunged forward, unleashing a barrage of attacks against the thief, who stumbled back and desperately deflected the onslaught. The bird screeched and attacked hastily from the side, just as planned. Wyn stepped to the right and spun backwards, dodging its outstretched leg. Then, like a whirlwind he brought his sword across its body, a dull thump sounded out followed by a screech of pain as the bird fell to the ground.

The thief had recovered enough to strike back, but Wyn turned on him with an even greater speed, knocking a clumsy strike away before driving the wooden sword into his chest, launching him backwards. Were it a real sword, the fight would already be over, but his blade wasn’t meant to kill here anyways. That would be enough to restrain the–

As he flew through the air, surely dazed, and likely with some bruised or broken ribs, the man spun, reaching out a hand towards the stone floor. With the briefest push against it, he righted himself and was able to flip backwards, landing on his feet. Once again, Wyn found himself astonished by the man’s freakish agility. He had to be using mana in order to achieve that kind of dexterity, but his strikes were so weak, so how?

Without a moment to spare, the man turned and ran, shooting towards the dim sunlight streaming in through the main entrance of the building. When Wyn turned his head, the bird was gone.

Wyn shouted in frustration before taking off after the man. The entrance would be covered by the exterior guards and those who hadn’t fallen asleep. The thief must know this, and he didn’t strike Wyn as the type to risk such a confrontation.

He must be bluffing. He’ll take a different way out at the last minute, but where?

The holes in the ceiling. With that freakish agility, he could almost certainly clear the tallest boxes stacked up by the entrance in a single leap, something Wyn wasn’t sure he could do. Wyn veered off of the path, leaping up onto a smaller box nearby and running across it before leaping to the next row, traveling diagonally upwards towards the hole he thought the thief would use.

Realizing his trick wouldn’t work, the man leapt up, shooting a good fifteen feet into the air. He raced for the hole as well, but the split second advantage allowed Wyn to close a good portion of the gap. The thief shot up through the hole, with Wyn following a second later. His feet found purchase on the roof as his eyes quickly scanned to see where the thief had gone, adjusting to the light of the morning sun, which was much brighter than it had been inside the building.

He found the man quickly, he had jumped to the next building and was running across it. Wyn took a few steps and launched himself, landing on the adjacent roof with a loud thump as he took off again. A moment later, he jumped to the next one as the chase began to stretch over the city. Below them, the streets were packed with people starting their days, and many of the onlookers stopped to point and stare at the two figures dashing across the roofs above.

In the back of his mind, Wyn realized that the two of them actually weren’t entirely alone on the roofs. Across the main street–above which stretched a rope bridge connecting the two sides–another figure was casually walking along, and he stopped to look at them. He wasn’t the only one either. Though rare, people dotted the roofs of the buildings here and there, but Wyn didn’t have time to think about it. Soon, they reached a break in the clustered buildings, and with nowhere else to go, the thief dropped off the last one and into the crowd below.

Wyn didn’t hesitate to jump as well, picking the escaping figure out of the crowd as he fell. He came out of his descent, landing into a roll on the cobbled streets as he continued the chase.

“Eia! Are you there?” Wyn shouted, hoping to reach her ears over the voices of the crowd..

Yes, I’m flying above you.

“Good, keep an eye on him from above!”

He kept running, trying to force his way past the crowd; the flow of people was inexorable, a constant force pushing him back.

Take a left! Eia called out.

He didn’t hesitate, shooting off into a small alley which led towards the cliffside, the crowds thinned as he got further from the main street and his speed picked back up into a full sprint.

Right!

Wyn broke onto the edge of the cliff, taking a hard right and running along it. This wasn’t a real road, but rather a relatively narrow divider between the city and the cliff, to protect the buildings from any natural erosion or structural issues, as well as to keep the people from wandering off unexpectedly.

Further down the path, the thief was accelerating, and the distance was growing wider. Wyn grit his teeth and pumped his legs even faster, approaching a balcony on the edge where people had been eating a moment before. The thief leapt onto the balcony and crossed it in an instant, starting an uproar as he knocked over a table and disturbed the restaurant.

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Wyn hopped over the railing of the terrace, yelling a quick “Sorry!” as he jumped a table, knocking over a bottle of wine before vaulting off the other side, leaving the sound of breaking glass and commotion behind him.

After looking back, the thief began climbing up the drainage pipes of the nearest building, trying to get back out of the streets and up above. Wyn wasn’t sure what good that would do him, but he couldn’t let him escape. A few seconds after the man began scrambling up the side of the building, Wyn reached the bottom. The man was fast in a dead run, but Wyn had been climbing the trees around Straetum for almost his whole life now. He leapt halfway up the pipes and began climbing, quickly closing the gap, and by the time they had reached the top, he was only four steps behind.

As the pursuit returned to the rooftops Wyn looked ahead where another gap in the buildings lay. It was perfect, just as they’d predicted, the guards stationed by Udyr at the river would cut the man off as he had to cross the bridges. Wyn didn’t even need to catch him, he was running right into a trap.

Wyn, behind you! Eia yelled a warning, but it was already too late.

A screech echoed out in the air, and a blur of color shot past Wyn’s peripheral vision. The bird slowed as it arrived on the same plane as them, its trajectory headed straight for–

“Shit!” Wyn threw his sword, but even though the man stumbled as it hit him in the back, he managed to keep his footing, reaching the end of the rooftops and leaping out into the open air. The bird flew in from the side, slightly above their height and the man grabbed its leg. Its flight drooped for a second, but as it furiously flapped its wings they began to level out.

Wyn jumped a moment later, stretching his arm out to grab onto the man’s ankle, just a few more inches… His fingers grasped at the air desperately, but they caught hold of nothing.

As he fell, he only had time for one thought, he had to protect Kei’s magic stone. He’d promised he would. He wrapped his hands around his pocket so he didn’t lose it, and turned in air so he’d absorb the brunt of the impact. The river came rushing up to meet him, and Wyn crashed into the water painfully, though it was still much better than the ground. If he’d landed with his feet first it may not have hurt at all.

Wyn kicked his way upwards and surfaced, gasping for air. His first instinct was to look up, but the thief and his partner were already out of sight. His next thought was to get out of the water. The current wasn’t too strong, and he was a confident swimmer, but he was still very close to the edge of the city. Best not to take after Corrin and fall off any cliffs. He kicked his way to the side of the channel and his hand grabbed the top of the rough stone wall. With one last effort, Wyn dragged his soaked body out of the river and back onto dry land, breathing heavily.

Are you okay Wyn? Eia asked.

In response, he groaned. That had sucked.

***

He ran into Kei on his way back to the warehouse. She was running in his direction when she saw him walking back, soaked from head to toe and notably not dragging the thief behind him.

“Kings, what happened to you?” She asked.

Wyn pulled the magic stone out of his pocket, holding it out to her. “I took a swim.”

“Looks like it.” She took it from him gingerly, some tension leaving her shoulders. “He got away?”

“He was a lot quicker than I expected.” Wyn grimaced. “Also, he had backup.”

He gave the story of what had happened while she'd been out, ending with his fall into the river. When he was done, Kei pursed her lips.

“That's frustrating. The plan worked and everything.”

“I know. This one is on me.”

“No, you couldn't have known things would go the way they did. Let alone that he'd be able to just fly away. If it hadn't been for that, you would've caught him.” She took a deep breath. “We underestimated him.”

“Agreed.” Wyn nodded before stretching. “That’s a lesson learned I guess. Not much we can do about it now though.”

Kei tilted her head. “Are you giving up?”

“Well we’re out of time right?” Wyn said. “If he keeps up his usual pattern he won’t hit another warehouse until we’re gone. And after that one, I’d bet he waits even longer. I’ll admit he got the better of me, but now that I know what I’m up against, it won’t happen again. He won’t risk it.”

Kei made a face, turned around, and started walking. “Follow me.”

“Where are you–”

“Just follow me.”

Wyn followed, walking back the way they’d come from. She was moving at a quick pace, but being a whole head taller than her, he was able to keep up without issue. Thinking about it, he’d been cooped up in the warehouse for the majority of his time in the city so far, it was a real shame. He took the time to take a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air and the feel of the sun on his skin. It was warm, feeling great as it dried his soaked clothes, but there was no doubt that summer had long passed, and winter was steadily approaching in its stead.

There was a clattering of footsteps above him and he looked up to see someone walking across a rope bridge hanging over the street. He thought back on the people he’d noticed earlier, and began to pay more attention to the city. It hadn’t been the case by the guild, and he’d been busy thinking on his way to the warehouse the first time, but now that he was paying attention, it was shocking how much activity there was above his head.

Most of the buildings were at least two-stories, with many being three or even four, with large open windows, exterior ladders, and wind vanes too numerous to count. Stretched over the top of the street were clotheslines, rope bridges, and in one odd case, a lone rope stretched between two buildings. It was connected on both ends by pulleys, which were set into a track so they could be raised or lowered. Strange.

He found himself wondering how the city had ended up the way it had in the first place. Why had it been built on the side of the cliff? Surely it would’ve been easier to construct it atop the plateau, so there had to be a reason that hadn’t been done. It was weird to think about how the majority of the city was off the side, dug into and jutting out from the cliff. Even the main road above made Straetum feel tiny in comparison, so it was hard to actually imagine. That thought led immediately into the realization that he hadn’t really ventured down into the city proper since arriving. Wasn’t this supposed to be a fun sight-seeing stop?

Damn it. I’m jealous of Corrin…

“Can you check inside for– Why do you look like you’re sulking?” Kei said. Wyn belatedly realized they’d stopped.

“Sorry what? Wait, sulking? I wasn’t sulking.” He said.

A smile, small and mixed with realization stretched across Kei’s face. “Wait, you really were! I didn’t know you could actually make a face like that.”

“I wasn’t making a face.” He countered.

She gasped, eyes getting wider as she let out a single laugh. “You totally were!”

Wyn started to protest, but the smile on her face convinced him to admit defeat. “Okay so maybe I was a little.”

She seems more confident. He noted. He’d felt it during their two days in the warehouse too, she’d seemed so much more natural when they talked. Did that conversation really change so much? What did I even do?

He’d expected it to take much longer to get through to her, but he was glad he’d been able to break through at least the first layer of whatever she was holding back. He felt like he could actually talk to her comfortably now, which made a world of difference. But he had a role to play in the conversation, so he sighed as if exasperated. “You were asking me something?”

“Don’t worry Wyn,” she said with a reassuring tone. “This wasn’t a complete failure, so don’t hang your head just yet. We can still win this.”

“What do you mean?”

“The source of the poison, the weapons he threw, what he stole… It's all evidence left behind. Combined with the fact we now actually know what we’re looking for, we can actually try to find the thief! So can you go in and make sure the poison is gone? I’ll check the inventory while you find the physical evidence.”

What are we, detectives? This sounds like a lot more work. Wyn didn’t usually mind working hard, but he shot a glance behind the warehouse, looking at the open sky and Grass Sea on the other side. He stared at them for a long moment, then he turned his gaze back to Kei’s face. Why did she have to look so happy about it?

Damn it. He groaned internally. Ten extra gold. Ten extra gold. Why did I agree to this?

He shot Kei a dry look. “You’re as bad as Corrin, you know that?” Then, he walked inside.