After breakfast, the group held a meeting in their new hideout. This time, Aok asked Tian to keep an eye on the streets. He needed the air serpent to not stray too far and provide sufficient intel on what was happening. As the man had suspected, the streets were mostly empty. The denizens of the faction territory might not know the details of what happened the previous night but they were smart enough to notice the atmosphere in the streets. Except for a few running quick errands, most chose to stay indoors. Meanwhile, the patrols on the streets had more than tripled since the previous night. This meant the group members couldn’t walk the streets without raising the guards’ suspicion.

“So there are more guards patrolling the streets?” asked Aok.

Ali relayed the information to Tian who replied that was the case. The streets had so many guards that a criminal would be foolish to attempt anything. From time to time, the guards performed random searches on any passersby to see what was on them. In the ten minutes of observing the streets, the air serpent already saw two arrests. Both arrests began with a bit of resistance followed by a full beatdown. Once the person was softened up, the guards dragged the individual to a location, likely the prison. Everyone in the group agreed that they should lay low for the time being. Everyone except for Miniya.

“If we can just get to my residence, we’ll not only be safe but we can also plan our next move better.”

Aok shook his head before asking the girl a simple question.

“How do you know there aren’t any traitors amidst your family who wouldn’t rat us out?” The man waited for a response but Miniya didn’t have one. “If we go in without any caution, we will be handing our heads on a silver platter. We cannot afford to be sloppy right now.”

Lorn took this opportunity to take Miniya aside. It was clear that the young girl was getting emotional on the matter which was made worse when she wasn’t having her way. With Lorn and Miniya in an adjacent room, Aok continued sharing his plan of staying low until the whole situation quieted down. He specifically picked food as the main supplies to be brought with them to the faction territory. As long as their food supply lasted long enough, they didn’t need to leave their temporary base. Rationing was needed but everyone except for Miniya had experience with it.

“Tell Tian and Mika to keep a lookout for anyone entering and leaving our alleyway. Watching the street is fine as long as they don’t venture too far. We don’t want to raise any suspicion right now.”

Thus, the air serpent and lightning mink were assigned the very boring task of keeping watch. They couldn’t venture far and had to report everything they could. The streets were already mostly deserted so there was even less activity in the alleyway. The residents of the buildings lining the alleyway also kept mostly to themselves. They appeared to be poor folks who preferred the cover of darkness at night when they headed out for their errands.

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“Who are these people?” Ali asked Aok on one occasion when curiosity getting the better of him.

Ali didn't think Aok picked the alleyway randomly. The man must have done his homework, deciding that this alleyway was the safest place for their hideout.

“They are mere wanderers who move between the faction territory. They are mostly merchants who sell certain black market goods by using their secret tunnels to get around.”

“Why don’t we use the tunnels?”

“We are outsiders. They’ll kill us upon spotting us.” The man paused to study Ali. “In case you’re wondering, all of them are dangerous. They wouldn’t survive long if they weren’t. Their presence also ensure that the local guards think twice before entering the alleyway.”

As tempted as it was to discover the secret tunnels, the teenager knew better than making more enemies. If these individuals made guards think twice, then it was clear that his group shouldn't give the people a reason to attack them. For the time being, they were safe so they should stick with the status quo.

With nothing in the streets or alleyway, Ali had to find something else to keep himself busy. The price for carrying more food was less of other supplies, including items like books that could help pass the time. As the teenager soon learned, boredom was their biggest foe while staying concealed from the guards. The other teenagers weren’t doing much better as they were all accustomed to wandering the streets with some objective. Sitting around wasn’t something they were accustomed to. Even Ali, with his time in a classroom, still needed something to get his attention while he sat in a chair all day.

“Can we ask Tian to look from above so we can map out this faction territory?” Kurata asked Aok on the fifth day they were stuck inside.

Aok took a moment to ponder the idea before giving them permission. Ali immediately relayed the idea to Tian who was all too happy to take to the skies. The air serpent flew up top until he had a bird’s eye view of the faction territory. He then memorized a section before descending down and relaying it back to Ali. Bit by bit after Tian repeatedly ascended and descended, the group of teenagers got a better picture of the faction territory. The activity ended too quickly but the group felt satisfied they were busy during those moments.

“How do we know we got it right?” asked Kamis as he held up the piece of paper with their findings.

“Compare yours to this.” Aok handed over a map of the faction territory. “Mine is a bit outdated but there should be enough similarities. If we see differences, Tian can double check as we need to know this territory like the back of our hands.”

Eager to have more to do, the group descended upon the task like a group of vultures on a carcass and went to work.