A woman walks toward a young Zeke. She screams and throws a bottle of wine to his face.
“WHY ZEKE? WHY DID YOU DO IT?” she screams.
Rue runs to Zeke’s door. She tries to open it, but it’s locked. She yells and bangs on his door.
“Zeke!!!”
She continues to bang on his door. Zeke wakes up in a sweat. He hyperventilates and puts his hand on his chest. He grips his shirt tightly and takes one final deep breath. Zeke hears the banging and goes to open the door. The time is 7:27 am, June 23rd.
“Red? What are you doing?” Zeke asks very tiredly and clearly dripping sweat.
“What am I doing? Are you okay? I heard yelling.” she asks worryingly. Zeke opens his door wide and sits in his chair by the desk.
“I’m fine. It was nothing,” he attempts to convince her he’s okay.
“Well, whatever it was, it sounded scary,” she says, walking back to her room, hoping Zeke is okay. He finishes up the potion from a couple of nights ago. Rue passes his room and walks downstairs.
“Hey, Red?”
She stops and turns to Zeke.
“Yeah?”
Zeke hands her a potion.
“When you see Dr. Olive, can you give that potion to him?” He asks politely.
“Doctor Olive?” She says, confused.
Zeke walks away and heads downstairs to search for mission requests.
“Does he mean Nash? What’s up with him and nicknames?” she says, walking to the medical center.
Zeke walks to the mission board and reads out different commissions.
“Lost Dog, Walking Dogs, Help Mining Crystals, Monster On The Loose. These are either too advanced or too easy.” He continues to look through the requests. “Investigate Suspicious Plant Growth in the Town Rosepass 2-3 Stars. Not bad, I’ll keep it on the side,” he puts the flyer in his pocket. “Rescue Daughter, Cow on the Run, is interesting. It’s from the town of Goldcross. The person’s name is Dexter Locke. I can save this for Red.”
Zeke takes the two flyers and walks to the main hall. He sits down at one of the tables, and Amina takes a seat next to him.
“Hey Zeke, whatcha up to?” she asks, wanting to join in. Zeke’s focused on the mission details and doesn’t hear Amina. She pinches his cheeks to get his attention.
“Ouch, what the hell’s your problem?” he asks, annoyed.
“You were ignoring me again. What was I supposed to do?” she says, acting innocent.
“Maybe a poke but not a pinch, damn.”
Amina distracts Zeke more from his objective, and Zeke gets upset.
“I just wanted your attention. You’re giving it all to that ‘Ruin’ girl. She doesn’t even deserve it. She’s just a leech sucking you off. If you ask me, she should get lost.”
Amina has an attitude and crosses her legs and arms. Zeke thinks about Shura and how he abused Rue by calling her the same name, Ruin. He gets up and leans close to Amina’s face.
“Hey, Amina?”.
Amina blushes because Zeke is close to her face.
“Yes, Zekey?” She says with butterflies.
Zeke grabs Amina's face and squeezes it tightly. He pulls her close to him with one hand. Rue walks into the main hall with Nash, where Zeke and Amina are.
“If you ever call her that again or bad mouth her in any way, you’ll have hell as your new home,” he coldly glares at her. Elliot sees Zeke hurting Amina and rushes over.
“I-i’m sorr-ry I d-didn’t mean i-it Z-Zeke.”
She starts sobbing. Zeke throws her down to the chair. Elliot runs and goes in for a punch. Zeke blocks Elliot. He glares at him and says,
“Maybe you should mind your own business, Princess.”
“What the hell is wrong with you? Why did you hurt Amina!” He charges at Zeke. Rue runs in between them.
“Stop!” she separates them and turns to Zeke, “Why did you-” she wants to ask but is afraid of the answer. Nora, sitting across Zeke and Amina, heard the entire scene unfold.
“Everyone calm down. It’s not a big deal. Amina here was bullying a rookie, and Zeke was standing up for her, that’s all,” Nora says, hoping they calm down.
“That's bullshit,” Elliot says.
“I was here the whole time. Why would I lie?” Nora sighs.
“Nash, help me out here,” Elliot calls out. Nash runs over and helps Elliot bring Amina to the medical center. Rue stares at Zeke, not knowing what to say.
“Here,” Nora gives Zeke some water to cool him down. Zeke takes a sip and sits back down.
“Rue, why not join us?” Nora asks.
“Um, Sure,” Rue sits and sees two flyers before Zeke.
“What are these?”
She picks them up.
“They’re missions I picked out,” Zeke says, still annoyed.
Rue attempts to read the names but pronounces them oddly.
“In-vesti-gat-e Sus-pici-ous Plant Growth in the Town Rosepass 2-3 Stars, and Cow on the Run Rookie. Are these for you?”
“I picked out the cow one for you. Sounds simple enough, Red,” he calms down a little.
“It looks easy. I'll give it a try,” she smiles.
“Well, I got my own mission to do. COME ON, KAI!” Nora yells. Kai appears from the ceiling and falls onto the table.
“I’ve been waiting for you, Nora!” Kai says, pouting.
“We’ll see you later. Safe travels,” Nora waves.
“See ya! So Zeke, about earlier-”
Rue attempts to ask but gets interrupted.
“Forget it. It’s not important.”
Rue changes the subject and asks,
“Okay then, how do we accept this mission?”
“For higher ranked missions or ones located outside the city, we let them know a few days in advance to form a plan, but for small ones like this, we can head out whenever,” he answers.
“Alright, what time do you wanna head out?”
“We leave now.” He gets up and walks to the door.
“Oh, like right now!” She gets up excited to start her new mission.
The time is now 6:00 pm in the town of Goldcross. The two are at Mr. Dexter's farm, where Rue is chasing down all the lost cows. Zeke sits on the porch sipping a drink and watching Rue struggle.
“COME BACK HERE, OR YOU’LL BE GROUND BEEF!” she yells, chasing a cow.
“You sure you don’t wanna help? She looks like she needs it,” Dexter says, worried for Rue.
“Don’t worry. This is the best way for her to learn,” Zeke smirks.
“Pant! Pant! Ok, where’s the last one?”
She climbs up a tree and looks around. She spots the last one and jumps out of the tree.
“Gotcha!”
She lands on top of the cow and rides him back to the stables with the other cows. Meanwhile, Zeke goes inside to help the elderly man's wife.
“I am grateful to you, young man, thank-” Zeke cuts off Dexter.
“Don’t thank me.” Zeke grabs a potion from his bag and hands it to Dexter. “Give her a drop of this potion once a day throughout the month, and she should start feeling young again.” Rue walks in, all sweaty.
“Hello, young lady. Here's your reward. Thank you so much for gathering up my cows.” Dexter says, gratefully smiling big. He hands Rue 65,000 Gems.
“Thank you, Sir, but um, this is more than what the flyer said?”
“Some extra for the trouble you went through.”
Rue thanks Dexter for the Gems and hospitality. The two say their goodbyes and leave to head back to Lost Haven. The time is now 9:00 pm. While walking on the road back, Rue talks about her mission with Zeke.
“Wow, that took all day! What a rush.”
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“How was it? Do you think you can do a 2-star, or do you want to do more rookie missions?”
“It was fun but not challenging enough,” Rue says confidently.
“I figured you’d say that.” Zeke takes a turn, not leading back to Lost Haven.
“Where are you going? I thought Lost Haven was that way,” she points in the other direction.
“You’re right, but our next mission is this way.”
“Wait, is it the In-vesti-nation of Plant thingy Growth thing? Isn't that a 2-3 Stars?” She asks nervously.
“It is but don’t worry. Investigations are simple. We’ll be in and out just like today's mission.”
“More walking,” she complains. “How far is it?”
“There’s a place up ahead where we can rent a carriage.” They arrive at the little carriage shop.
“We’d like to rent one for three days,” Zeke says.
“That’ll be 25,500 Gems,” the store clerk responds. Zeke looks at Rue, who has the money.
“What, no! That's basically half of our Gems!” She says, holding the money tightly.
“Nevermind, sir, I guess she wants to walk,” Zeke shrugs.
“Ugh! Fine. Here!”
Rue gives the money to the clerk. With that, the two get ready for an even longer journey.
“Why three days, you said in and out,” she pouts.
“Missions can take longer. I expect a maximum of two days for this mission, and the last day is for us to head back.” Zeke says, driving the carriage.
“Carriages are operated with heka crystals that form underneath bodies of water. These heka crystals give off different types of energy that can be turned into light bulbs or flavor enhancers. They can even be farmed and become somewhat of what we know as engines or a battery for certain vehicles.”
- Momo.
“I’m going to sleep then. Will you be ok?” she lays back.
“I'll be fine. Get some rest. Red. You’re gonna need it.”
“Goodnight, Zeke.” She smiles and falls asleep.
Zeke drives the carriage all night to the town of Rosepass. It’s now June 24th, 8:00 am. Zeke slows the carriage down and turns to Rue. She’s mumbling and begins to sweat in her sleep.
“Red, it’s just a dream. Wake up.”
he shakes her, and she wakes up in fear.
“AH,” she screams, putting her fist up, ready to fight.
“Calm down, we're here now,” he steps out of the carriage. Rue sits up to see the beautiful scenery. Magical flowers, and gorgeous animals roaming around, coming up to them.
“Come on, we’re staying at this Inn,” Zeke grabs his stuff and walks inside the Inn. Rue takes a moment to look around and then heads inside.
“I’m sorry, sir, we only have single beds with-” the Inn owner pauses. “Oh? Is this your wife? And you don’t wanna sleep next to her. Shame on you.”
“She's not my wife!” Zeke gets aggravated and clenches his fist as if he will punch him.
“Um, it’s okay, sir, we’ll take it!”
Rue snatches the keys and pulls Zeke away. They go and search for the room.
“There’s no need to get that angry he’s just doing his job,” Rue tells Zeke, but he stays silent and ignores her.
“Are you pouting?” she laughs. “Okay, where is our room?” She looks at the key number.
“Room #0521,” Zeke says, knowing she’ll get the numbers wrong.
“Room #0521 ah, here it is.”
She uses the key and unlocks the door. The room is tiny, with one twin bed and a bathroom with no shower.
“Um, this is ok, right?” She turns to Zeke.
“What kind of place doesn't have showers?” he says disappointingly.
“That’s why you were upset?” Rue laughs.
“Forget it. Let's go over the mission while we’re here,” he lays the flyer on the table. “It says plants started to grow rapidly around two months ago. And the Mayor said they didn't go away even when they burned them. That’s all the info we have.”
“Huh? Did you already see the mayor? Without me?”
“No, I called him when you were asleep. Why?”
“No reason.” I thought this was a team effort, but okay.
“Okay. Well, we’ll go to this town's water supply first.”
“Sounds like a plan,” she says, unpacking her bag.
“Before we head out, let me see your staff?” He commands.
“Not like I have a choice. You just took it.”
“CRYSTALLIZE BALL” Zeke makes a crystal ball at the end of Rue’s staff. “There, that’ll be more useful to you now,” he hands her the staff.
“Woah, okay, hold on, Recall!” she says excitedly. A memory of her and Zeke buying the staff shows up on the crystal ball. “That’s so COOL! Thank-” she gets cut off by Zeke.
“Alright, let’s head out,” he says, trying to ignore her thank you. They head over to the water supply.
The time is 2:00 pm.
“It’s a lake?” Rue questions
“Majority of water supplies are lakes or oceans. But this one looks like a man-made lake,” Zeke answers.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means a man made it.”
“Duh! I know that. I mean, what does that have to do with it?”
“That means there can be more than just rainwater filling this lake. It’s possible they confused water crystals with plant crystals and threw them in the lake to make the water taste better.”
“That’s a big assumption.” she thinks out loud.
“It’s better to assume than be oblivious,” he says, walking down to the lake.
“I have no idea what you said, but I’ll agree.” Rue smiles innocently and follows him. Zeke lifts his hand out. “CRYSTAL PULL,” he pulls out multiple crystals from the lake.
“Red, grab a bucket!” Zeke demands. She agrees and runs to their carriage. While looking for the bucket, a couple of Daunts walk by and notice her.
“She's pretty,” Daunt One says, licking his lips.
“I bet we can sell that red hair of hers for a high price,” Daunt Two says ominously.
“What are we waiting for, boys?” Daunt Three says, running towards Rue. The other two run with him and tackle Rue to the ground. Rue attempts to scream, but the Daunt puts his hand over her mouth.
“You can’t start screaming yet. The fun hasn't started,” Daunt One says. Daunt Two starts tying her arms behind her back and ties her legs. Daunt Three picks her up, and they start running, carrying her.
“CRYSTAL WALL!” Zeke yells, putting up a wall to stop the Daunts. “What do you think you're doing?” He questions, ready to kill.
“How bout none of your business,” Daunt Three says mockingly. “Get him, boys!”
Daunt Two runs towards Zeke with a mallet. He swings, but Zeke jumps over him and kicks the Daunt in his face knocking him down.
“Wait a minute, guys, you see that?” Daunt One points to Zeke’s coat. “That's the Lost Haven emblem! He’s part of a Dauntless Association!” He says, scared of Zeke.
“Don’t back down!” Daunt Three throws Daunt One a Sage gun.
“Use that. The boss said it can take down any heka user!” Daunt One catches the gun and aims at Zeke, but before he can shoot, Zeke knocks him out. Daunt Three runs, and Zeke puts a crystal wall between Rue and him. Rue flies up, and Zeke catches her. He cuts her ropes off.
“Zeke, I’m so sorry. I didn’t see them coming,” Rue says, disappointed in herself. She begins to tear up.
“If you cry now, you’ll never be a part of Lost Haven,” Zeke says seriously, glaring at the Daunts. Rue sucks in her tears and attempts to be brave.
“You have heka, too, don’t you?” he continues, “Then use it!”
Rue gains some courage from Zeke’s words and shouts,
“PHANTOM EMERGE!” a 12 ft tall monster is created out of thin air. It has many eyes and rows of sharp teeth like a shark. It has no hair but scales like a snake. ROOAAR! The monster lets out a loud screech-like sound. Zeke is shocked and amazed at the same time.
“W-W-WHAT IS THAT THING?” Daunt three yells before fainting. Zeke is shaking with excitement, looking at the monster Rue created.
“Seriously, what is that?” Zeke asks, not being able to look away. Rue walks up to the monster and puts her hand on it. The monster slowly disappears.
“It’s an illusion. I can create them with memories I have,” she says, looking at the monster disappear entirely.
Does that mean she saw that monster in person? Zeke thinks to himself.
“That’s pretty awesome, Red. Nice job.”
He ties up the three Daunts and prepares to take them to the mayor. “Before we bring them in, do you think you can look into their memories?”
“I can do that, no problem. Memory Recall!”
She goes through the Daunts memories and displays them on her crystal ball for Zeke to see. One memory shows the Daunts talking to each other about crystals.
“Why do we need to dump these crystals?” Daunt One asks.
“Do you want to question the boss?” Daunt Three replies.
“But we’ve been doing this for weeks now. I want some real action.” Daunt Two says.
The memory ends, and Zeke says,
“I figured as much. Do you think you can find a memory with their boss?”
“I’ll try. Memory Recall!” She searches for the boss in their memories. “I think I found one.” She displays the memory on the crystal ball. It shows:
“If you run into someone who uses strong heka or just anyone you want to shoot. Use these guns. These guns are infused with sage. It can kill anything.” Unknown Boss says.
“Thank you, sir. We’ll put them to good use.” Daunt three says.
“Did he say SAGE!” Zeke becomes angry. He grabs Rue. “RED!! Why can't we see his face!”
“I’m sorry, but the Daunt didn’t look at him at all. That memory was the only one close to his face,” she answers.
Zeke lets go of Rue and thinks to himself,
Sage, that’s from the Raca Forest, and they’re infusing it in weapons now?! What if they do the same with Angels Trumpet?!
“ZEKE, HELLO!”
“WHAT IS IT!!!”
“What should we do with them?” She asks nicely. Zeke begins to calm down.
“We’ll take them to the mayor and report what the problem with plants rapidly growing was. The mayor will decide what to do with them,” Zeke puts the Daunts in the carriage.
“Grab the plant crystals, too.”
Rue listens, and they drive to the Mayor’s building. They walk into a small building full of maids and flowers.
“My lord is this way.” the butler Joris says, taking Zeke and Rue to the Mayor’s office.
“These are Daunts. They’re the ones that put the plant crystals in your water supply, causing multiple plant growth.”
“Wow, that was certainly quick! Great work, Zeke boy!” The Mayor says, walking over to Rue, “And who is this beauty?” he asks, touching her hair.
“She’s off-limits,” Zeke says, grabbing the mayor's hand and glaring at him. Rue gets creeped out and steps back behind Zeke.
“Haha, All fun and games, children. Here is your reward,” the Mayor puts a stack of Gems in Zeke’s hand.
“We’ll be on our way now. If I were you, I’d put some cameras up at that lake to keep stuff like this from happening.” Zeke instructs the Mayor. “Let’s go,” he tells Rue. As they walk out, the Mayor says,
“Have a good night, my dears. Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow,” he looks at them with a creepy smile.
“How is that guy the Mayor of this town? He’s so weird and a creep. And did you see his butler? They’re weird people.” Rue says as they walk back to the carriage.
“You got that right,” Zeke pauses, “We might as well head back to Ovidinia.”
“No! We should stay the night. You got no sleep last night, remember?”
Zeke begins to stumble over from the lack of sleep.
“Fine, but we leave at sunrise.” Zeke compromises.
The two head back to the Inn. Zeke slowly falls asleep while walking. Rue takes his arm and puts it over her shoulder. She tries to remember what room they were staying in.
“Room #0520? No #0421? No, that doesn’t sound right.”
“It’s #0521 Red,” Zeke says, almost entirely passed out.
“#0521! That’s it.” She yells and finds the room.
She puts Zeke on the bed, and he immediately falls asleep. Rue smiles at him and goes to the bathroom to change into pajama clothes. She decides to sleep on the floor with blankets and a pillow. The two soundly sleep throughout the night.
As the sun rises, time passes fast. It’s June 25th at 9:00 am, way later than Zeke wanted to leave. He wakes up and looks around the room. He sees the time and packs everything up quickly.
“We overslept. Hey Red?” Zeke looks around for her. He grabs their bags to put in the carriage. As he walks out, the carriage and Rue are missing.