Chilly gusts of sea breeze entered Nahida’s nostrils. She exhaled and a puff of white smoke came from her mouth. She leaned against the railing overlooking a vast sea of stars. The twin moons beamed in unison, both equally full. A few feet away, a junky telescope Mera had built for Isen sat. It was covered with dirt and grime from months of negligence and misuse.
Another gust of wind sent a shiver down Nahida’s spine. The weather was never like this in Miko. She thought. It was only ever humid and hot. With a sickly smell always hanging in the air.
The nights were hot, and the days–those were even hotter. But there was one particular night that was cold, just like this one. It was the night she stood by the sea, clasping her bleeding hand in Isen’s. “We’re free.” She had smiled. Mud smeared across her dark features. She had looked down at Isen. Whose eyes were streaming with tears, “Yeah.” He had said. “We are, aren’t we?”
Isen’s footsteps caught Nahida out of her memories before they had a chance to resurface. She took a deep breath and let it all out. “Why are you here?”
“Sorry,” Isen mumbled, “I just wanted to talk to you.” He clutched his jacket closer to his body. “It’s so cold here. I don’t know how you’re surviving without a jacket right now.”
Nahida shrugged and looked towards the city once more. “The temperature here is a thousand times better than Miko.”
Isen caught up and stood by her. “Do you miss Miko?”
“Never.”
“I do,” Isen said, choking up a little, “Every day.”
“Why?”
“I was at our home, Nahida, of course. I miss it.”
“Just because you are born somewhere doesn’t make it a ‘home’. A home is somewhere you can be safe.”
Isen laughed coldly, “Yeah because we are so much safer here.”
“At least I’m not treated like a dog, and you’re not treated like a useless son,” Nahida remarked.
A moment of silence passed between them.
“What I want to say is that at least we’re free here. Free to live out our lives, free to do what we care about. And free to die from our own choices.”
“I guess you’re right,” Isen whispered. He walked away, leaving Nahida to withstand the chilly gusts on her own.
She watched as Isen left and Kaiser promptly came out. He jogged next to Nahida and stood in silence as she watched the city. “Any idea why Isen is mad?”
“Nope,” Nahida answered.
Kaiser nodded, obviously not wanting to poke her any further.
“What did you want to talk about?”
Kaiser hesitated, but decided to tell her anyway, “I’ve been thinking, maybe Orion’s powers aren’t what I think they are.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s able to do anything perfectly. That’s his power. But it doesn’t make sense. Why would The Hunters let him join just because of that? When you think about it–he is just a regular human who can do a lot of things well. Another thing is if we assume that Orion somehow knew that Saran and Eri attacked the ship. How would he know that I survived? The most logical thing is to assume that the Kitsune killed me.”
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“You’re going off on a tangent. What’s your point?”
“I think he has additional powers.”
“That’s impossible.”
“It’s the only thing that makes sense. And maybe his powers aren’t what we thought they were. Maybe he can copy others’ powers to some extent.”
Nahida gave it some thought. “If that’s the case, why didn’t he just copy Ajax’s powers and rush here to kill us himself?”
“Maybe he can only copy powers that he understands perfectly, or he can copy powers of other Jubilee he knows well.”
Nahida sighed, “If you’re right you’re a genius–”
“And if I’m wrong about this, I might be the biggest idiot in the world.” Kaiser completed.
Nahida laughed, “You catch on quick.”
>>>>>
Nahida woke up feeling refreshed after a brief nap. There was a gentle breeze coming in from her window, carrying the familiar scent of Shareen - a strange mix of rotten fish and fresh flowers.
In fact, neither would win but would succeed in making everything smell. She walked down and took the list and a thick wad of cash Varun handed her. “Your turn for groceries this week. Don’t be late.”
“Damn, this is a lot of biznea.”
“The good fruits are expensive as hell, but if you have any leftover cash, bring it back. I swear if you steal any more of my money—”
“Aye, Aye captain. I know.” She casually saluted and sauntered out the door. The streets were bustling despite the recent attacks. She sighed. Capria had taken over Shareen just three years ago. She had seen it before. The streets were colorful and alive. She missed it, she missed the calm.
Nahida looked down into the canal. Even the water seemed to know that this wasn’t right. Sango was strong. It’s still strong. I’ll fight for its freedom even if it kills me. She thought, with a determined look on her face.
A few turns and a juice box later, she was at her last vendor, picking up some mint and lemon for Varun. The old vendor selling handed a fat man next to her a bag of lemons.
He looked at it disapprovingly and picked a lemon from the bag. “What. is. This?” He growled, dragging out each syllable like he was verbally spitting on the vendor’s face.
The old man scrambled to put his words together. “S-sorry sir!” He said, quickly snatching the lemon and replacing it with a fresh one, “I-it won’t happen again! P-please, don’t report me to the police!”
“These types of fruits are supposed to be given to Sangoians. Do I look one at you?” The man said, pointing to his posh watch and clothes.
“N-no, sir.” The vendor said uneasily.
“Is this the way you treat a Caprian? With so much dis-”
“Enough.” Nahida intervened. “The man said he was sorry, right? He even gave you another one.” She towered over the man, but somehow he still held a higher air of authority.
The posh man looked Nahida up and down, surveying her whole body. “I didn’t know they let Mikoen servants shop. I thought that your people were only good for hard labor.”
Nahida clenched her fists. I could kill you where you stand. She thought angrily. But she laughed a dry, humorless laugh, “You would know a lot more things if you weren’t up your own a–”
Before she concluded, nearby guards rushed to them. “Hey! We heard a commotion.” One of them said. He looked at the fat man and bowed slightly. “Sir, what has this?” he looked at Nahida with disdain. “Woman. Done with you?”
“I’ll tell you what? These Mikoen are all the same, just a bunch of black brut–”
“Finish that sentence. I dare you.” Nahida's death stared at him.
He looked slightly taken aback, clearly afraid of Nahida. All he managed to say was, “Sh-she was attacking me! Take her away!” He squeaked.
Nahida took a step back, but even the vendor who she was defending looked scared of her.
The leader of their group, possibly the chief, commanded, “You are under arrest for the attempted assault of a Caprian. Put your hands where I can see them!”
Nahida slowly lifted her hands. She didn’t have her polearm and knew it was a desperate fight. The only good thing about this situation was that they did not immediately kill her. Meaning that they had no idea she was part of the Kitsune. She took a deep breath. Sorry, Varun, I’m not going to be on time today. Nahida thought as she allowed herself to be handcuffed and carried off.