“Since school’s ending early today, Jenny should be back at the orphanage if nothing happened. So, that’s the first place to pass by. The kids there should also be able to tell us if she and her friends had any other plans for today.”

“Got it~!” Myra saluted determined, slurping up her noodles.

After her promise to help him out, the sound of growling stomachs had echoed through the air. Eating and planning had been the play and with the last of the noodles devoured, they were ready to go.

“No, Vex, no…” Jak deadpanned as he plucked the excitedly bouncing Numeryuu out of his backpack, setting him back down on the table, and lead the way out through the pipes.

“Uhm, sorry you can’t come…?” Myra called back at the small slime with a confused but friendly smile before following right after him.

Sadly the small slime drooped on the table before cheerfully perking up again, ready to join the other Numeryuus in their hunt for rusty piping. Neither he nor Myra or Jak had noticed the pair of sharp eyes watching them out of the shadows ever since last night. And out of them slipped a sleek she-wolf, her body clad in a deep purple bodysuit that hugged her body, leaving little to the imagination. Her hair had been dyed as well, though it was starting to wash out already, revealing spots of her normal, emerald green.

“Hm~ I think I can leave the rest up to Crya, then.” Lyca smiled, stretching herself wide, and then giggled as Vex bumped into her face first. He hadn’t noticed her at all until that moment.

“Sorry, little one. Here, have this as an apology.”

Squatting down, she petted the small rust slime and reached into the small pouch her side, giving him a rusty marble she had found a while ago. Eagerly Vex accepted it with sparkling eyes, nomming it down immediately. Lyca giggled again and then yawned widely, the sleepless night finally taking vengeance.

“Uah~! I can’t wait to take a quick nap as soon as I’m back at HQ…” She smiled at Vex playfully. “How about it? Want to join me since Jak left you here…?”

Lightly she tickled his underside and after a moment he had cheerfully bounced onto her shoulder, still enjoying what was basically a rusty bonbon.

Taking this as a yes, Lyca followed Jak and Myra through the pipes and soon enough flitted unseen through the alleyways. She saw the duo reach the roofs just as she left the old pipe and their paths aligned for a short while as she moved onwards. Lyca was barely any slower moving through the tight alleyways compared to their straight rush across the rooftops. The she-wolf curiously noted Myra’s use of a grappling hook before splitting off of them, moving deeper into the slums instead. She had looked over them for long enough now and she doubted even one of the rasher Demons would risk attacking them in broad daylight. Honestly, they were probably safer out here than they had been in Jak’s hideout.

“Hm, wonder what James had to say to this…” Lyca mumbled, trying to distract herself from the tiredness making itself wide within her bones, and nearly missed a step as she sped across the piping and other footholds lining the sides of the alleyways, startling Vex wide eyed. Wait, wasn’t that…?

“Yeah, definitely getting tired now.”

She shook her head with a nervous chuckle and sweatdropped as it had taken her tried mind an entire double take to recognise a familiar figure wandering through the streets of the Vent Slums. A playful impulse following, Lyca slipped back to ground level, ready for a perfectly silent ambush.

And then she pounced!

“Heya, Graam~!” Lyca called out with a wide grin, tackling the bulky frame of the shark from behind. Hanging onto his neck, she whirled around him until she swung before him like some kind of oversized pendant. Amused eyes gleaming up at him as the startled guy didn’t even budge from her weight.

“Ach! Verdammt! Jag mir doch nicht so’n Schreck ein, Lyca!” Graam exclaimed before pulling her promptly into a tight hug with a laugh. “But it’s good to see you! Heard you’d been keeping an eye on Jak?”

He set her gently down. It took all his focus to not immediately lose track of her. Even when you knew she was there, the mind just wanted to slide right off of her. Only the Rust Slime she had clinging to her shoulders for some reason allowed him to keep his eyes from staring right through her.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Oh, did Crya or James come by?”

Lyca bopped her head head curiously to the side and he nodded, quickly getting her caught up on speed.

“Well, I think you should be able to catch them if you get to the orphanage sometimes soon.” She mused before freezing wide eyed, grinding her teeth as she knocked against her head annoyed. All the while Vex bounced from side to side atop her shoulder. “Damnit! I really am tired if I didn’t think that’s important!”

“Huh? What is?” Graam’s eyes narrowed as they continued through the alleys.

“That Demon was there because of a newish recruit, Haggard was his name I think. Probably been under them for a few years now. Make sure there isn’t anything going on at the orphanage, there’s enough chaos brewing already.” Lyca stated, her eyes turned hard. Then another wide yawn escaped her.

“Ugh, damnit…” She whined. “Well, good luck to you. I’m getting back to HQ and hopefully I’m just being paranoid. I really need some sleep…” Mumbling under a barely suppressed yawn she slipped back into the shadows, vanishing from Graam’s awareness near instantly.

He blinked as her presence even seemed to slip out of his memories, only the new info she gave him reminding him that she had been here.

“Räudige Rosen! Don’t just leave me with just that info!” Graam exclaimed annoyed.

Growling to himself, the massive shark whirled around and turned his search walk into a brisk jog. It was only about two alleys later that he realised that he had no idea where Jak’s orphanage was even located. He felt glad that he at least knew the name!

“Ach, verdammte Scheiße!” He cursed loudly, turning his race through the alleys into a search for anyone that may be able to help him.

“Hopefully she’s worrying about nothing…” Graam muttered under his breath, hissing as he just knew that luck was rarely on their side that way.

———

“You really need to show me how to make one of those grappling hooks.” Jak shook his head as they reached the rooftops above the Maisen Orphanage. The only reason Myra hadn’t completely left him in the dust was her unfamiliarity with the slums and even then she had to wait a lot of times for Jak to catch up with her.

Sadly, the grappling hook wasn’t made to carry two full persons at once. And it would have felt weird to him if he had to hold onto Myra all the time.

“Sure can do!”

Myra gave a giggling nod of agreement as he caught up with her at the edge of the rooftop. Owlishly she looked down into the alleyways below and the unassuming building housing the orphanage.

“So, this is where you lived before…?”

“Yeah.” Jak nodded before leaping ahead, down into the alleys. She followed immediately after.

At around midday the orphanage was mostly empty except for the younger orphans. There was a bit of a rotating shift between the caretakers as they took some of the kids to visit one of the nearby parks to play. Otherwise only a small number of the staff actually stayed at the orphanage, some weren’t even here for most of the week. Even the Head was only around for maybe three days. Jak breathed out a sigh of relief as he noted that the lights within his office were dark, he wasn’t there today.

During the day, the entrance to the orphanage was unlocked and the sound of children playing echoed through and around the entrance hall as the doors swung open. Immediately over a dozen pairs of big and curious eyes turned towards Jak and Myra as they entered. Feeling a bit embarrassed and overwhelmed by all that attention, Myra waved with awkward smile, cutely hiding behind Jak who confidently strode inside.

“Oh! It’s Jak!” “Heya, Jak!” “Hehe, I knew Haggard didn’t getchu!” “Bleh! Reven can eat shit!” “Got a job for us, Jak?!” “H-hey…” “Uh, who that girl?” “Is that your girlfriend, Jak?” “No way! I’m gonna be his girlfriend!” “Woah! What happened to his face?!” “His face’s completely bandaged up!” “Cool…!”

A barrage of chatter, greetings and questions bombarded the two, Myra’s eyes were swirling as she tried to keep up with everything. How was Jak not getting overwhelmed?! Blushing she hid further from their gazes, glancing cutely out from behind his back to watch the crowd of kids come running up to them.

Jak laughed brightly as he let them come.

“Now! Don’t just run us over!” He warned them playfully, smiling back at Myra with wave for her to get a bit more involved. She fidgeted nervously and only slowly moved out from behind him.

Jak regarded the children as they looked expectantly up at him. They had long since learned, either over time or been told by the older kids, that when Jak came by he often would pay them with cool stuff like sweets or toys to do some simple jobs to keep the caretakers distract from him and Jenny.

“So, first question. Anyone seen Jenny this morning? Do you know where she’s right now?” He called out.

“She got in a fight with Reven this morning!” “I saw her and her friends together!” “Uh, I don’t know where she is now…?” “Uhm, probably at school?” “Yeah, she should be at school!” “No! It’s that the Gee Club!” “It’s TC Gear Club, dummy…” “Don’t call me dummy!” “Helge saw them got the TC Gear Club, I swear on my honour!”

The answers came promptly and Jak skilfully parsed through them, already used to this type of chaotic chatter. A feeling of relief flowed through him, Jenny was fine for the moment. Or at least had been an hour or so ago. TC Gear Club…? Yeah, he had heard about that… and not just during his chat with Vee the day before.

Well then! Time to let Myra have some fun while he asked around for more info!

The bunny cat looked utterly lost, eyes shimmering wetly as she didn’t know how to deal with all of the kids crowding all around them and she had flitted back into her hiding spot. This was nothing like getting hunted by Guards or Goons! It was so much worse! She fidget nervously and then let out a cute squeak as Jak pulled her up before him. Like a deer caught in headlights she stared wide eyed at the young faces beaming curiously at her.

“This here is Myra, she’s helping me out right now, so be nice to her, okay?” Jak winked at the crowd of kids with a wide grin.

“““Okay!””” The cheerful call echoed back as one.