Word prompt - replica

"A Replica has escaped again."

  "Another?"

  Kyo kept his head down, quickening his pace as he headed downtown to where he was supposed to meet Ruiki and her twin, Erika. He frowned as his phone dinged with a new alert, vibrating in his hand – the list of wanted Replicas had just been updated.

  Replicas. Clones, copies of people that had been born since the 2300s, taken away the instance they were cloned at birth, to be raised in facilities built just for them till the age of eighteen. Nowadays, they were the ones who did all the nasty, grueling work. They were the soldiers used to fight wars, the guinea pigs in experiments and the ones who did all the risky, dangerous jobs. They were expendable.

  And more were disappearing every single day.

  The gradual increase in outbreaks had started thirteen months ago, or more accurately, the knowledge had been leaked. Kyo had a sneaking suspicion that it had been going on for much longer than eight months.

  It's just that the Empire hadn't wanted anyone to know.

  But now that the cat was out of the bag, there was a public list of wanted Replicas who had escaped. The Empire had deployed a new group of people, called Trackers, to hunt the Replicas down and bring them back, dead or alive. The Trackers were everywhere now, patrolling the streets, setting up road blocks, scrutinizing every single person who ever came in or out of the city entrances. They didn't even bother to disguise themselves anymore, sending a clear message to the Replicas: We are everywhere, and we will not rest until we have hunted every single one of you down.

  Kyo swiped the notification away, not even bothering to look at it anymore – the list of wanted Replicas had grown so long by now that it would probably take a few hours just to read through the descriptions of every single one.

  But at the rate Replicas were disappearing... Kyo bit his lip worriedly. Security would be tightened even further, especially at the city perimeter. And if so...

  It would get harder and harder to sneak out of the city into the Wastelands beyond.

  That wouldn't be much of a problem for regular citizens, of course, considering the Wastelands were, well – exactly that. The nearest city was miles away from their own, and anyone planning on heading there would take the bullet train or a hover.

  Usually, those various train and hover stations were where the Trackers focused on as well. But if they started to get paranoid and decided to patrol the entire border...

  Someone might spot Kyo, Ruiki and Erika sneaking out of the various rips in the wire fence that made up the city border. And if they were followed...

  Kyo swallowed instinctively at the thought.

  But no – they had to go, and they had to go today. They had already waited too long, and if security was tightened even further, they might not be able to sneak out again for another few weeks, maybe even months.

  They would just have to risk it and hope that the Trackers hadn't yet decided to patrol the entire border.

  A day and a half's trip to their destination, and another day and a half's trip back, even with the rusty hoverbikes they had managed to fix up. And if someone saw them sneaking back into the city from the other side of the border, it would be just as bad as if someone saw them sneaking out.

  We better hurry, Kyo thought. As if on cue, his phone vibrated with a message. He checked it – three words, made to sound as short, concise and to the point as possible:

  Something's come up.

  Ruiki.

  Had she seen the alert too? Or was it something else?

  "Better hurry regardless of the situation," Kyo muttered under his breath.

  He walked faster.

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  "What's going on?" Kyo asked the instance he rushed into their meeting spot, a mostly empty room on the third floor of an abandoned building.

  Ruiki was pacing back and forth, shoulders tense as she muttered under her breath, long black hair flying out behind her. She stopped as she saw him. "A lot of things. Too many things for me to even keep track of," she said, waving her arms around vaguely as if to indicate the mess they were in.

  She took a deep breath, and continued: "Long story short, my dad called when I was on the way here, told me and Erika to be careful because apparently a string of murders has been popping up recently, but the weird thing is this: all of the evidence found at the murder sites have the victims' own DNA and no one else's."

  "You mean..."

  "Yeah," Ruiki nodded. "Replicas. Maybe they're ones that have gone cuckoo, or they think it's the only way they'll ever be real."

  "By killing the original," Erika spoke up for the first time from where she was standing by the window, peering out through white blinds that had long since turned yellow from unidentifiable stains.

  "Exactly," Ruiki said, pointing at Erika. "Messed up, I know. But now our dad is super worried, and if I know him, he might send someone to check on us or even go himself. Which would be – well, not good, obviously. He'd find out we were lying this whole time about sleeping over at Laura's house, or he might freak and think we were kidnapped by our Replicas or something. And if he decides to investigate on us... well, I can just about see the headlines: 'Chief of police's daughters caught helping Replicas', or, 'Criminals right under the police's noses the whole time'." She paused, blowing out a breath. "Knowing him, he would be devastated."

  Despite how light her voice sounded, her face told a different story.

  "Then – you and Erika should head home," Kyo said. "I can handle it myself. That way you won't be putting yourself at risk."

  "You don't know the complete routes yet. You need a guide," she said. "Plus... well – here's the thing," Ruiki winced, like she was preparing herself to break another horrible piece of news. "There's... another issue."

  "I'm... guessing it concerns me."

  "Yeah – well... I don't know how to put this gently, but..."

  "The alert from today," Erika interrupted, cutting to the chase. "I'm guessing you saw it?"

  "Yes, but I –"

  "Didn't check it, I know. While you were on the way here, Ruiki and I looked through the list, and, well–" Erika pulled her phone out, tapping at it several times before turning it to face Kyo. "See for yourself."

  He sucked in a sharp breath.

  His own face stared back at him from the screen.

  Or rather, the face of his Replica.

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  There was no mistaking it. Their appearances were identical, almost down to the letter, except that the boy in the photo staring back at him lacked the scar that Kyo had under his left eye, stretching across his cheek. And where Kyo's own ash-blond hair was shaggy and wild, his copy had a neat buzz cut.

  "Well," he said quietly. "We knew it was going to happen at one point or another."

  Ruiki raised an eyebrow. "You're being surprisingly calm about this. You do know that at some point, if we run into him, we'll need to –"

  "– guide him? Yeah, I know."

  "And that if he's one of the gone cuckoo ones, we might have to..."

  "Fight him," Kyo swallowed.

  Ruiki nodded.

  "Still, we need to go," he said, shoving his doubts down. "This doesn't really change anything, not with so much already at stake."

  "It's true that their supplies are dwindling, and that they can't hold out much longer," Erika agreed. "Especially the injured. Plus – "she hesitated.

  "What?" Ruiki asked.

  Erika took a deep breath before relenting. "I didn't want to worry you, but a new transmission came in today. From Riox."

  "What did he say?" Kyo asked.

  She bit her lip. "He only said one word – 'Hurry'."

  There was a moment of silence as the three of them looked at each other.

  "We're sneaking out today," Ruiki decided. "All three of us." She turned to Erika. "What's the best time to sneak out? And how likely is it that we'll run into any Replicas?"

  "Especially Kyo's" was left unsaid.

  "The best time?" Erika pursed her lips. "The middle of the day, probably. That's when they'll least expect it."

  Kyo glanced down at his watch. "That's in... an hour and a half. Noon, right?"

  Erika nodded. "As for how likely we'll run into Replicas... the smart ones all know that fleeing from city to city won't do them any good. The Trackers will pursue them no matter how many times they move," she said.

  "So... there are really only two options for the Replicas." She held up two fingers. "One – hide out in the Wastelands and try to sustain themselves on their own, or, two – try to make it to one of the countries who ban Replicas, where they'll either be pitied and granted a safe haven to stay, or executed for being freaks."

  She frowned, thinking, her eyes darting from place to place as if reading an invisible plan that only she could see, before continuing: "The second option relies wildly on luck and a lot of money, and you only get one shot. The first option is safer, but you can't stay in the Wastelands forever either. However, while it may be a temporary fix, it's still the best place they can hope for to stay and plan out their next move. That'll be their train of thought. So, the probability?" She shrugged. "If you're asking me about that, it depends on the Replicas themselves. It could range anywhere from 'very likely' to 'improbable'. All depends on luck. Though if we're talking about luck..."

  Two pairs of eyes turned to Kyo. "Right," he sighed. "Almost forgot – I have crap for luck."

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  "If you're asking me, though, it seems like a fair trade," Ruiki said. "On the subject of your crappy luck, I mean. Considering your... you know, other abilities."

  "...huh," Kyo said. "I've never thought about it that way before."

  The two were crouched in an alleyway that exited into Caelum Avenue, heavy backpacks stuffed with as many supplies as they could carry slung over their shoulders, peering around the corner of the brick wall to where the street twisted and turned out of sight. A little bit beyond there would be where the border was. Where the city ended and Wastelands began.

  For a street right at the edge of the border, though, it sure was busy.

  Then again, that was specifically why they had picked this street. More people meant that they were less likely to get noticed. Besides, if anyone saw them peeling away from the crowds to go to the border, they'd probably think they were just some teenagers messing around. Lots of people went there anyway, some just for the privacy, or some to slip out into the Wastelands for just a moment on a stupid dare.

  Most of the time, they never got in trouble. For the most part, the Trackers just ignored them, maybe let them off with a warning or two.

  Of course, they never went more than a few feet. Unlike what Kyo, Ruiki and Erika were planning to do.

  She patted his shoulder. "Just think about it as 'Whatever that can go wrong, will go wrong'. But since you're so good at what you do, it doesn't leave much space for anything to go wrong anyway."

  "...normally."

  "Right," she agreed. "Normally. But in situations that rely on luck like these... well, you catch my drift."

  "... I really do have horrible luck, don't I?"

  "Absolutely!" Ruiki confirmed. "If this was a game, your luck stat would be in the negatives."

  He glanced at her, turning away from the street. "Is that even possible?"

  She shrugged. "For you, yeah." She paused, peering into the distance, a hand shaded over her grey-blue eyes.

  Briefly, Kyo wondered if that actually gave her better eyesight or if that was just something people did. Not like it was sunny out today anyway. He craned his neck back to stare into the sky. It was the same watery gray it always was on the days autumn had just ended and winter was nearing, but still not quite here.

  "Oh, look, she's coming back," Ruiki commented.

  Kyo squinted into the crowd and spotted Erika making her way towards them.

  "I was right," she said as she neared them. "They're already setting up more blockades. Luckily the one I found was upstreet." She nodded in the direction opposite of where they were planning to go. "But good news – most of them are on lunch break right now, which means less people likely to notice us. Plus, those that aren't have just finished, which also means that they'll probably be less alert, maybe even a little sleepy. We should go now."

  "Are we taking the main street or a more roundabout route?" Ruiki asked, standing up from her crouch with a grunt. Kyo stood up too, a hand on the brick wall to steady himself. "Man, these backpacks are heavy," she muttered.

  Erika frowned. "They might've sent some people to patrol the back alleys, or at least set up some cameras. While it'll be easier to notice us if we peel away from the crowd on the main street, especially when it starts thinning out near the border, they'll also think that no Replica would be dumb enough to be out in broad daylight, right where everyone can see them.

  "So you're saying that basically, if someone spots us, it's more likely that they'll think we're some dumb kids just messing around," Ruiki said.

  Erika nodded. "Right. So... I'd say main street, but it would be still better if we slip into the alleyways, or even the rooftops once we get near the border. I still don't want to draw too much attention, so we better not risk it, because if a Tracker gets curious..."

  "Kay, then," Ruiki said. "We'll go with that. Let's roll."

  Kyo hefted his backpack, and the three of them stepped out into the street.

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  As a cold wind blew and gray clouds gathered in the skies above, two hoverbikes zoomed across the barren land, past the skeletal trees and shells of buildings that had been destroyed in the war years ago, kicking up trails of dust as they went.

  "We might have to take shelter soon," Erika noted, looking up into the sky for a brief moment before looking back down at the hoverbike controls before her. "Seems like a storms' coming."

  "But won't that set us back for a few hours?" Ruiki asked from where she was seated in front of Kyo, maneuvering the bike the two of them sat on with ease as the wind whipped her hair out behind her.

  Kyo looked over his shoulder, his bow and quiver of arrows a comforting weight slung over his back (vaguely, he wondered when it had become his, but then again no one had ever asked for them back). The city was gradually receding to a dot behind them.

  Somehow, miraculously, they had managed to sneak out of the city without much of a hitch. They had trekked all the way to their storage room, a well-hidden bunker that stored most of their supplies, which had been slowly snuck out of the city over months of preparation, as well as their hoverbikes. Then they had taken as much as they could carry without the bikes breaking down, and set off.

  "Yes," Erika answered, and Kyo glanced at her, seated on the second hoverbike with a ton of supplies strapped down behind her, her eyes fixated straight ahead, as if on a destination only she could see. "But we don't really have a choice. The hoverbikes might break down if we ride them in a storm."

  Kyo bit his lip. "If we stop now, what time will we arrive? We're heading straight to Haven, right? How much farther is that from our original meeting spot?"

  "Maybe tomorrow night," Erika answered.

  The three of them fell silent.

  By then, it might already be too late.

  Too late for her.

  He shook his head, a bitter laugh nearly escaping.

  If he let her die... it would almost be like failing her twice.

  Or rather, failing them.

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  If you had asked Kyo what he had felt about Replicas a year and a half ago, he would have told you he felt indifference.

  He had been like the majority. Didn't want to know, didn't want to care. After all, they were just empty copies. So why would he?

  Until one night, there had been a knock on his door. He didn't remember this part well, really – just snippets of things. His mom had answered it, and he remembered people in uniforms, flashing red and blue lights, and that cold, dreadful feeling that had settled in the bottom of his stomach, telling him that something was very, very wrong.

  And then the police had told them.

  Lisa Akagi, age 14. Reason of death:

  Shot and killed by her Replica.

  He remembered his mom breaking down. His dad coming to the door. Sickness. Shock. Grief.

  Rage.

  Strangely enough, he had not shed a single tear. He had wondered if that was possible. To be hit with so much sudden pain that he felt hollow.

  Almost as if fate was laughing at him, that day a week later, during the funeral, he spotted her, watching from afar.

  It was impossible. A phantom. A ghost, a memory of his newly dead sister.

  And then he had realized – it wasn't Lisa at all. No, it was her Replica.

  Maybe it had been foolish, in that instance, to approach her, but at that moment, he had been feeling so much fury that it hadn't even occurred to him to call the authorities.

  "Why are you here?"

  His voice had shaken while he spoke. She turned to him, and he could clearly see her eyes, rimmed with red.

  "I'm sorry."

  "You killed her."

  "I'm sorry," she apologized again, her voice cracking in a barely whisper.

  And she apologized. She had apologized, and had kept on apologizing, and even Kyo had known at that point that something was wrong. Why would she be here, watching Lisa's funeral from afar, crying and breaking down if she had killed her?

  "I'm sorry," she said again. "It should've been me. I'm the copy. I'm the expendable one. I should've been the one who died."

  "What do you mean?" he asked, tone wavering.

  "She saved me," the ghost of his dead sister said. "I was going to be shot, I was going to die, and your sister – she –"

  The Replica swallowed, stared down at the ground and didn't try to hide the tears sliding down her cheeks.

  "She took the bullet for me."

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  He didn't know how or why, but in that instance, he could tell she was telling the truth.

  Maybe it was because he had always been good at telling when someone was lying.

  Or maybe because it had sounded exactly like what Lisa would have done.

  His sister had been the kindest person he had ever known, and he knew that she would not have hesitated to save anyone right in front of her, Replica or not. He supposed, that day, the situation could have gone either way.

  But he had chosen to help the Replica, no, the person his sister had given her life for.

  Shion.

  In the weeks following, he tried to get her out of the city. He had followed every lead he could find and thought through possibility after possibility, hiding her and keeping her a secret from his parents all the while, until finally, he snagged upon the rumor of a place called Haven. A safe place for the Replicas, hidden somewhere out in the Wastelands, where the Empire couldn't find them.

  And somehow, he had managed to get her there.

  Or rather, contact someone who could.

  That was how he had met Ruiki and Erika.

  The Replicas from Haven didn't trust him, of course. He doubted they trusted Ruiki and Erika that much either. But they were desperate, and running low on supplies. They needed allies, people who could get them what they needed without raising too much suspicion.

  And so, he joined Ruiki and Erika on their missions. They agreed to meet up with a small team of Replicas from Haven every few months, in one of the abandoned buildings out in the Wastelands that had not been too heavily damaged by the war.

  The first few times, everything had been smooth sailing. They met up, passed the supplies to them, and then each went their separate ways home. Most of the time Shion would be there, as well as a boy with blond hair named Riox, a short-haired girl with exceptional hearing named Jiyuu, and a few others.

  Sometimes, Kyo, Ruiki and Erika would find Replicas who had tracked them down or were attempting to make their way out of the city, and they would offer to help them get to Haven.

  Then, by the fourth time, they let their guard down, just a little.

  They got careless.

  And everything went wrong.

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  That night, there hadn't been even the smallest indication that anything would go wrong. Everything had been normal, right up to the point Jiyuu, leaning against the door, had suddenly tensed and straightened up, onyx eyes darting and alert before her face drained of all color. "No. Impossible," she whispered.

  "What is it?" Riox asked, and Kyo had had a feeling that he already knew the answer.

  That they all did.

  Trackers. Here.

  They had been found.

  She turned to them, mouth open to respond, but instead what came out was a yelled warning:

  "GET DOWN!"

  In that moment and the next, all hell broke loose.

  And a rain of bullets came down upon them.

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  The entire room had lit up with sparks and the sound of gunfire as everyone dropped to the ground just in time. Out of the corner of his eye, Kyo could see Jiyuu as she tucked and rolled away from the door, and Riox shoving Shion to the ground. Beside him, Ruiki let loose a string of curses, barely audible over the din of gunfire as crouched down with her hands over her ears.

  "GO GO GO GO GO!!" Jiyuu screamed, as everyone scrambled toward the opposite door, plaster and dust raining down on the room, picking up whatever weapons they could along the way.

  Ruiki had tossed a bow and quiver of arrows his way, skidding across the uneven floor. "I heard you say you're good at archery, right?" she yelled, and Kyo nodded, picking up the weapons and slinging them over his back. It would have to do.

  They ran out through the door and headed down a corridor, away from the Trackers who, Kyo then realized, had not entered the room they were in before they started shooting.

  They're wary of us, he had realized, before remembering that Replicas were, in fact, specially trained to handle combat, considering how they made up 80% of the Empire's army.

  "There's a fire escape up ahead!" Jiyuu had yelled over her shoulder as they hooked a left, then a right and another left. "The Trackers haven't made it there yet!"

  "How many are there?" Riox asked as he pulled Shion along.

  "Only about a dozen. We might be able to take them in a fair fight, but..." she trailed off.

  Kyo did a quick head count as they tore through the winding halls. There were only about a dozen of them, too.

  And most of them were still teenagers.

  It makes sense, he had reasoned. After all, you're in the facilities till you're twenty-one. But if so...

  That meant they were going up against trained adults. No matter how much training the Replicas had gotten, they were still young, and they didn't have experience out in the field.

  Erika had skidded to a sudden stop in front of him, as, up front, Jiyuu gave a shout of surprise, stumbling back from the crumbling floor. He heard Riox swear. "A large section of floor has crumbled away."

  "The framework is still here, and pieces of floor are still solid," Shion said. "We can cross. We just need to be careful about where we step. And besides..." she spared a glance over her shoulder. "...we don't have any other choice. I can go first," she volunteered.

  Riox shook his head. "I'll go. We're about the same weight anyway, and my reflexes are faster than yours. I'll be able to get myself to solid ground even if the floor crumbles under my feet. And if it does... well, at least you'll know where to step."

  "Better hurry," Jiyuu warned as Riox got down into a half-crouch, stepping onto the floor tentatively. "They're coming, and they're coming fast."

  The floor creaked as a strong wind came blowing in through the shattered remnants of windows and the many cracks in the building. "The ground is solid here," Riox announced. "Step where I step, and keep close to the steel structures. But be careful. Too much weigh and the floor might buckle."

  One by one, they made it across: Jiyuu with a careful hand on the wall, Shion clearing it with a few light hops, Ruiki wobbling dangerously across it, barely keeping her balance, and Erika making it with several swift, precise steps. Kyo himself had come dangerously close to losing his balance several times, teetering on the edge of a crumbling path that gave way to empty air and a 7-stories drop.

  But make it they did, and once everyone was safely gathered on the opposite side, they took off again.

  Just in time too, as behind them, Kyo heard the sound of gunfire again, and shouts of "Hey, they're getting away!" right as they turned another corner, leaving the Trackers behind.

  Behind him, he heard the sound of a match being struck, and he turned just in time to see Ruiki lob a bottle in the direction of the crumbling floor, and what seemed like a small explosion sounded, accompanied by the crackle of flames and the smell of burning alcohol.

  "Molotov cocktail," Ruiki shrugged at the alarmed look Kyo sent in her direction. "What can I say? I'm always prepared."

  "Here!" Jiyuu said, pulling open a rusted metal door and poking her head out before turning to them. "The fire escape is still secure," she announced. "But like the rest of the building, it didn't age well," she grimaced. "It won't be pretty if it breaks halfway down."

  "We'll risk it," Riox said. "Better than getting peppered full of holes, at any rate."

  "We'll need to be fast," Shion said, following as Riox started down the fire escape. "If they head one floor down and enter the fire escape from there, it's over."

  "Right," Ruiki muttered to herself. "Risk it. Just like we always do. Though I'd rather not end up as a grease spot on the ground. Or get shot full of holes."

  She blew out a breath, before turning to Kyo. "How confident are you about your climbing skills?"

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  They were four floors above the ground when the fire escape broke away. Riox cursed, stepping away from the edge. "No use going this route now. We'll have to go back into the building, unless any one of us here wants to jump from this height and break all of their bones."

  Jiyuu stepped up to the door, putting her ear up against it cautiously. "They're still in there. Maybe a floor above us, I'm not sure. But –"

  It's almost certain that we'll run into them.

  Kyo swallowed as she gently pushed on the door.

  It fell on the floor with a bang.

  "Crap," Jiyuu hissed. "They most definitely heard that."

  "No time for hesitation," Riox snapped, shoving her forward. "Run!"

  For the second time that night, they tore through the corridors at full speed, skidding around corners and clearing several steps of stairs in a single leap, going as fast as their already run-ragged bodies could allowed.

  And they nearly made it.

  Nearly.

  But their luck didn't hold, and when they stepped onto the ground floor, the group of Trackers were there, waiting.

  "Well, what do we have here?" a woman's voice, someone Kyo presumed to be their leader said. "Seems to me like a group of traitors."

  His breathing hitched as he reached for the bow he had hastily slung over his shoulder. Damnit.

  "Go the other way," Jiyuu whispered to him. "They haven't seen you yet, and if we lose our allies, then we're doomed. Take Ruiki and Erika with you. Cover your faces as well. We'll handle this."

  Kyo realized she was right. He, Ruiki and Erika had brought up the tail end of the group, meaning they were still hidden in the shadow of the stairwell. They could escape, even if it meant running back up to the first floor and jumping out of a window from there.

  "We're not just leaving you here," Ruiki snapped.

  "We'll be fine," Shion said, unsheathing a small dagger she had hooked on a belt around her waist. "We're trained soldiers, remember?"

  "Cut to the chase. What do you want?" Riox said.

  "You must have a hideout. Where is the location? Tell us, and we'll let you live."

  "No." Shion was quick to answer.

  "So you do have one," Kyo heard the person muse.

  Jiyuu mumbled a curse under her breath, before turning to him. "What are you waiting for? Go!" she whispered, shoving them back up the stairs. "While they're focused on Riox and Shion."

  "I'm not lying, you know," the voice said. "We'll let you live if you tell us."

  "Let me guess, rotting away in one of your facilities?" Riox retorted.

  "Better than death."

  Silently, Kyo started to back up the stairwell, step by careful step, Ruiki and Erika right behind him.

  "Because if you don't..."

  There was a single "click".

  He froze.

  "We'll kill you."

  The gun went off, a single, loud "BANG!" that echoed in the empty building, followed by a barely muffled scream.

  "Shion!" Riox yelled, and without even realizing it, Kyo had taken a few steps back down the stairs, gripping his bow so tightly his knuckles turned white.

  "I'm – "a sharp hiss of pain. "– fine, I'm fine."

  "That was just a warning shot," the woman warned. "The next one will be much more fatal. The girl is important to you, is she not? Judging by your reaction. If so, I suggest you start talking."

  "Don't you even dare," Riox snarled. "If you shoot her again – if you shoot any of them – "

  Beside him, Kyo heard the sound of another match being struck. He glanced toward Ruiki, who mouthed "Molotov cocktail" at him, before holding up three fingers.

  He nodded, as she mouthed "In three..."

  He crept further down the stairwell, pulling his mask up and hood down as he went.

  Two...

  He nocked an arrow, taking careful aim from the shadows of the stairwell, ignoring Jiyuu's hisses of "What are you doing?"

  One...

  He took a deep breath, pulling the bowstring taut.

  And he let go.

  Zero.

  "EVERYONE DUCK!" Kyo shouted as the arrow struck the gap between two Trackers accurately while they scrambled back in surprise.

  They were too late to notice as a flaming glass bottle sailed over the Replicas' heads and across the room to where they were standing.

  And for the second time that night, all hell broke loose.

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  They barely managed to make it out alive.

  At first, among the smoke and flames and sparks and the smell of burning alcohol, as Kyo frantically shot arrow after arrow, they had the upper hand.

  But all their group had were knives and makeshift bows.

  The Trackers had guns.

  And they weren't afraid to use them.

  "We need to go!" Erika yelled. "We can't win this!"

  Ruiki nodded. "Kyo!" she called, tossing something that looked like a pouch up into the air.

  He nocked another arrow and let go, and an explosion of blue dust rained down upon the Trackers, momentarily blinding them.

  Then they turned and ran as fast as they could.

°•▪︎¤○●□■□●○¤▪︎•°

  "This is your fault," Riox had said as he paced around the small room. He turned to them. "You led them there."

  "We didn't know," Ruiki said. "I swear, we didn't see anyone tailing us."

  They had managed to ride the hoverbikes for a good 35 miles before they finally had to stop inside the shell of another half-destroyed building to assess the damage their entire group had taken. But while most of the injuries were superficial, Shion had gotten shot in the leg.

  And they couldn't take the bullet out.

  "Really, guys, I'm fine," Shion managed, speaking up from where she was seated leaning against the wall, her leg tightly bandaged. "It's not fatal. I'll live."

  "We can't take the bullet out right now or we might risk her bleeding out," Jiyuu said. "None of us here have any medical expertise beyond basic first aid, and if it gets infected..."

  "We don't have the medicine to treat her," Riox said, face crumpling. He made a frustrated noise. "Should've paid more attention. I should've been faster."

  "You need medicine, right?" Kyo asked. "Then... we'll get it for you. We'll head back to the city, gather all the supplies we need and bring them to you."

  "We can find basic wound-sealers and stuff without too much problem, I think," Ruiki agreed. "But... we'll need to be careful. If people notice and start asking questions..."

  "We don't have a lot of time," Jiyuu warned. "Maybe a month or so with whatever we have right now. If we're being optimistic."

  "Then we'll hurry," Kyo cut in. "We need to at least try, right?"

  Riox hesitated, then nodded. "Okay. Go straight to Haven. Erika will know the way."

  "No time to waste," Erika said, standing up from where she was sitting. "We'll need to head back to the city now if we want to arrive by sundown."

  Kyo took a deep breath. "Right."

  No time to waste.

°•▪︎¤○●□■□●○¤▪︎•°

  They made it inside of a building just as it began to rain heavily, the sky outside pitch-black, lightning flashing among thick, heavy clouds.

  Erika leaned against a wall, watching the raindrops pound into the dirt just outside the entrance, the water swirling and turning muddy. "How long will this go one for?" Ruiki asked, and she shrugged.

  "Could be a few minutes or a few hours. You never know," she said, straightening and walking over to where they had, after much struggling, set the hoverbikes down. She frowned as she examined the supplies, then looked at the sky outside again. "We might as well get a fire going and eat an early dinner now. We'll waste less time that way."

  "We'll need to go further in the building," Kyo noted. "The wind's too strong here, and rain will be blown in through all of the cracks and shattered windows."

  "Yeah. You go find us a place to set up," Ruiki said, waving in the general direction of the doorway that led into the rest of the building. "Erika and I will bring the supplies."

  "Got it," he said, walking off.

  He entered the doorway and moved further into the interior of the building. It had surprisingly aged well. There weren't all that many cracks, and he could still spot some remnants of what must have been especially sturdy furniture left behind.

  He brushed a hand against his bow for reassurance as he glanced around.

  Strangely, something about this place made him uneasy.

  It was probably nothing – maybe all the stress of the past weeks was catching up to him.

  It's fine, he told himself, taking a deep breath.

  That was when he smelled it – the smell of smoke.

  And it wasn't coming from where Ruiki and Erika were.

  Without even realising it, he had drawn his bow, gripping it so tightly his knuckles turned white. He shook his head, trying to shake off the paranoia.

  Nonetheless, he kept his grip as he ventured into the next doorway, and that was when he spotted it – a pile of wood on the ground, still smouldering, red embers still flickering.

  This was put out in a hurry.

 Someone was here recently. Very recently.

  Had they heard the hoverbikes and ran? Or...

  Were they still here?

  Kyo opened his mouth to call for Ruiki and Erika –

  -and barely dodged the knife that seemingly flew out of the darkness, aimed at his face, before he was tackled to the ground with a grunt.

  Somewhere in the back of his head, he could almost hear Ruiki pointing out his crappy luck. Or maybe that was the universe laughing at him.

  For the second time that day, the face of his Replica stared back at him.

°•▪︎¤○●□■□●○¤▪︎•°

  There had been a less than zero chance of Kyo running into his Replica out in the Wastelands of all places, he was sure of that much.

  Then again, when it came to Kyo, probability generally didn't matter.

  Like what Ruiki had said: When it came to him, whatever that could go wrong, would go wrong.

  Right, he thought, maybe a tad hysterically as he revised his opinion of what could go wrong from "really, really bad" to "absolute nigh impossible but still somehow will happen disaster".

  Calm down, he told himself, his bow in both hands, arms straining with the effort of pushing back against his opponent who was a) on top of him, and b) holding a knife.

  Great. Just great.

  Gravity wasn't helping much either.

  "Why are you here?" his opponent demanded, before realization dawned on his face. "You're with the Trackers, aren't you?"

  Kyo gritted his teeth and with a burst of effort, shoved his opponent off of him and backed off.

  "It's okay," he tried to reassure the person in front of him. "I'm not with the Trackers."

  He squeezed his eyes shut briefly before opening them again, trying to see his opponent as just another Replica who had nothing to do with himself.

  Defensive stance. Dark bags under his wild, panicked eyes. Disheveled hair. Bruised, cut up, scraped, smudged with dirt and dust.

  He's afraid, he's wary, he probably just escaped and is running on adrenaline. Maybe he lost someone.

  Right, Kyo thought, blowing out a steady breath. Just another normal Replica who needs help.

  So guide him.

  "Yeah, right," the boy in front of him laughed. "As if I would ever believe that. How many of your buddies are here?"

  "Like I said, I'm not with the Trackers," Kyo swallowed, briefly wondering if he should give Ruiki and Erika's positions away, wondering which option was safer, before deciding to risk it. "There are two other people with me. They're near the building entrance."

  "I'm not falling for that. Cut to the chase. What do you want with me?"

  "I don't want anything. Like I said, I'm not a Tracker. I wouldn't have given up the positions of my allies otherwise. Nor would I be using a weapon such as this." Kyo lowered his bow, just slightly.

  "Regardless, you aren't a normal civilian. No one would be running around in the Wastelands with a flimsy bow and a rusty hoverbike without reason. But you're not a Replica either."

  "I'm not," Kyo agreed.

  "So what. Do. You. Want?"

  "You're injured," Kyo pointed out, noting the bandages wrapped around the Replicas arm and the slight limp to which he walked. "I have medicine."

  "Your people killed mine. What reason do I have to trust you? In fact, what's keeping me from killing you right now?"

  "Nothing. You don't have any reason to trust me. But I'm not your enemy. You can only take my word for it and nothing else. But if you do attack me, I'll have to defend myself."

  He was really hoping that he wouldn't have to resort to that.

  "I could attack you right now. I could kill you on the spot."

  "You're injured. I can't guarantee fighting will be in your favor."

  "Either way, if we fight, there'll only be one of us left, right? The better version of us comes out on top. Maybe it'll be you. Maybe I'll be the one to die. After all, you're the real one, right?" A sarcastic chuckle.

  Uh oh. "I really, really wouldn't like to resort to that."

  Crap, his hands were shaking.

  "Why? I'm just a copy, after all. And it's not like I care anymore. I deserve to die, anyway."

  "No one deserves to die."

  "Even after getting a few dozen people killed?" His face had suddenly turned much, much darker.

  "Whatever happened, it's not your fault –"

  "How do you know that?" he snapped. "They trusted me. They trusted me and I got them killed. Their blood on my hands." His voice cracked. "Not that anyone would care. After all, it's fine if disposable, replaceable copies die for the real ones, right?" He spread his arms wide. "So you can just go ahead. Shoot me. It isn't like I care anymore."

  Kyo took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. How had he even gotten himself here?

  "I'm not shooting you." To prove his point, he lowered his bow completely.

  The boy snorted. "So what, are you some kind of idealist? That won't do you any good, not out here. Not in this world."

  "I just don't want to see anyone else die."

  "Even Replicas?"

  "Even Replicas."

  "Why?"

  Kyo shrugged, slinging his bow over his shoulder. Before, it had been just for Lisa's sacrifice. Some part of it still was. But now... "I don't know."

  "I didn't want to see my friends die either," the boy in front of him said in a barely whisper, before he dropped the knife and just... sat down on the ground, pressing his head into his hands. "I'm so... tired. Just so, so tired. I'm out here on my own, running on fumes and chasing something that I'm not even sure exists. Everyone I know is dead. What's the point anymore?"

  They were at a stalemate now, neither of them wanting to attack each other but not yet trusting the other.

  Or maybe his Replica just didn't care anymore.

  "I don't know," Kyo said again, quietly. "What's your name?"

  He looked up at Kyo, let out a broken laugh. "Does it even matter?"

  "I'm Kyo. Kyo Akagi."

  "That's not really smart, you know. You just let a supposed 'criminal' know your name."

  "Yeah. Yeah, I know."

  The boy sighed. "Aspen."

  "I don't know anything about your situation, but my friends and I have medicine and food." Kyo offered. "You don't have to tell us anything. But..." he spared a glance towards the bandages wrapped around Aspen's arm.

  "Okay," Aspen relented. "Your win, I guess." He stood up, picking up his knife before sheathing it. "If you attack me, though..."

  "We won't."

  "Well," Aspen said, gesturing toward the front of the building, where Ruiki and Erika should still be waiting, probably just starting to wonder where he was. "Lead the way then, Kyo Akagi."

°•▪︎¤○●□■□●○¤▪︎•°

  "You took too long," Ruiki started to explain as Kyo happened upon her and Erika setting up in the room just before where the entrance was. "So we started without you – "she did a double take as she noticed the person behind Kyo, before grabbing the nearest object she could find – a frying pan, and pointing it at Aspen, who in turned pulled out his knife.

  "It's okay, it's fine!" Kyo said. "...please don't start attacking each other."

  Erika raised an eyebrow from where she was standing, a knife – something much more sensible to use in a fight – in hand. "Explain."

  "I – ran into him. Aspen. In the building. We... fought a little? And I'm not sure how, but I think we're at a stalemate now."

  "So you're telling me that long story short, your bad luck struck again," Ruiki said, before sighing and gently setting the pan down. "You seriously have crap luck, dude."

  "Right, Thanks for the reminder."

  "Well," she said, plopping down into a sitting position. "Dinner's ready. Eat first and worry later."

  Beside him, Aspen shrugged and went over to sit down. Erika sighed, muttering something under her breath before sitting down as well.

  "We've got tuna sandwiches," Ruiki offered. "And canned beans. And, uhh... custard?" She passed a sandwich and two opened tin cans to Aspen.

  Kyo blinked. Well, that resolved itself quickly.

  He went to join them, sitting down and watching as Aspen peered at the food cautiously before taking a bite, then another, and another. Ruiki scarfed hers down just as fast, while Erika ate more slowly, studying Aspen before she spoke up. "You're injured. How bad?"

  He hesitated. "Not very."

  "You're lying." She stood up and left the room, disappearing from view before coming back with an array of white bottles and a roll of gauze and tape. "Show me your arm."

  "Turns out I might not be as good of a liar as I am a lie detector," Aspen sighed before unwinding the bandages wrapped around his arm.

  "Crap," Ruiki said as she saw the wound. "You let it get this bad?"

  Aspen gave her a look. "Does it look like I have the medicine to treat it?"

  Erika, to her credit, didn't so much as flinch at the sight of the gaping wound, red and swollen from infection, leaking blood and pus and crusted with flaky dried blood. "This will hurt," she warned before pulling out a bottle of water and unceremoniously dumping it on his wound. She grabbed a white bottle, twisting off the cap before spraying the wound with disinfectant.

  Aspen hissed, before watching her pick up another bottle and open it, pouring a clear liquid onto his wound. "That's – "he said in surprise.

  "Yup," Ruiki agreed. "Wound sealers and stuff. You're lucky we had these on hand, though."

  "Who do you need them for?"

  "A friend," Kyo said. "Someone important."

  "We'll have to hurry if we want to save her, though," Erika said, swiping another, clear, gel-like substance over his wound before wrapping his arm with fresh bandages. "Don't unwrap it for an hour or two. Even rapid-healing medicine takes some time to work," she warned Aspen. "Now let me see your leg."

  "What friend would be out in the Wastelands, though?" he asked as he pulled up his pant leg, before realization hit him. "Your friend's a Replica."

  "Ding-ding! Correcto!" Ruiki said.

  "We're heading out soon," Erika said. "Rain's clearing up. Ruiki, Kyo – pack up and go check on the bikes."

  "Got it," Ruiki said, before gathering an armful of supplies and heading out of the room.

  "Where are you headed?" Aspen asked.

  "It's about a day's trip from here," Kyo answered. "You can come if you want to."

  "You're searching for Haven, aren't you?" Erika asked.

  Aspen frowned, a note of suspicion entered his tone again. "How did you know that?"

  Erika shrugged. "I guessed. But anyway, we can take you there. After all, that's where we're headed."

°•▪︎¤○●□■□●○¤▪︎•°

  After some rearranging of supplies, they traveled again, this time with an added passenger, still slightly wary but having decided that going with them was the best action he could currently take.

  This time, there weren't any more detours – they only took brief stops, and took turns driving so the other could rest. All the while, they pushed their hoverbikes as fast as they could go, headed in a near straight line south.

  It was by the next day, near noon, that Ruiki and Erika had to, apologetically, blindfold both Aspen and Kyo. "Riox still doesn't trust you yet," Ruiki told Kyo. "He hasn't known you as long, and after Shion got shot..."

  "It's fine," Kyo replied. "As long – as long as we can get to her in time."

  "I know. Only a few more miles to go. We'll try to be as fast as possible."

  They clambered back up onto the hoverbikes and set off again, going at full speeds for almost an hour, wind whipping at their hair and the bikes humming steadily beneath them before finally stopping. "We're here," Erika announced. "We're here. At Haven."

  Kyo thought he could hear voices, echoing, before Ruiki pulled his blindfold off. "Cave system," she told him, as, beside him, Aspen pulled off his own blindfold. Erika had already started unloading the medicinal supplies, and they rushed to help her, even Aspen.

  Behind him, Kyo heard a shout: "They're here!"

  He turned to see Jiyuu, her short black hair streaked with bright bursts of purple and pink rushing up to them, followed by a boy with bright blond hair. "You made it," Jiyuu managed.

  "Is Shion – "Kyo began.

  "Not good," the boy beside Jiyuu frowned. "But she's still holding on."

  "I don't think you guys have ever met, but no time for long introductions," Jiyuu said. She nodded to the blond-haired boy. "This is Denji. Denji, meet Kyo, Ruiki and Erika – "Her eyes landed upon Aspen and she did a double-take. "What – "

  "We'll explain later," Erika interrupted, her arms piled full of supplies. "Right now, we need to – "

  "– hurry," Ruiki agreed.

  Jiyuu nodded and turned to start down a corridor at the other end of the cavern, made of rough rock like everything else. "Follow me, Shion is this way."

  Altogether and without even needing to agree on it, the six of them broke into a run.

°•▪︎¤○●□■□●○¤▪︎•°

  They raced down winding hallways lit up with the occasional lamp, past paths and doorways twisting and turning and branching off from each other, some of them covered with raggedy cloths and fabrics stitched together for privacy.

  And while the place seemed like an endless maze without any sort of consistency whatsoever, Jiyuu and Denji obviously knew the place like the back of their hands, never hesitating or stopping at forks or crossroads.

  Pushing past another curtain, they burst into a small room crammed with several people, including Riox, who jumped up as soon as he spotted them. "Did you get it?"

  Erika nodded, tilting her head in the direction of the supplies in her arms before starting to make her way to the front of the room.

  "Crap," Ruiki muttered once she saw the state Shion was in. Kyo sucked in a sharp breath.

  Her face was red and coated in a layer of glistening sweat, her breaths shallow, chest barely rising and the bandages on her leg coated with dried blood and pus. When Erika knelt down beside her and reached to pull them back, they saw that the wound looked ten times worse than Aspen's had been.

  "She's had a fever for a few days now," Denji grimaced. "We tried to keep her cool and stuff, but we had already run out of any medicine we had before trying to combat the infection, so..."

  "We can't seal this yet," Erika frowned. "I'm no medical expert, so I'm not sure if keeping the bullet in there will affect her. We need to take it out first." She glanced down at her hands, and Kyo noted how they trembled. "My hands aren't steady enough. Someone else needs to do this." She looked at Ruiki.

  "Oh," Ruiki swallowed, voice suddenly small.

  "I would prefer it to be you, since your hands are the steadiest, but..." Erika bit her lip, something like guilt flashing inside her eyes. "It's alright if you don't want to."

  "It's okay," Ruiki said, kneeling down beside her sister. She squeezed her eyes shut. Opened them again, took a deep breath. Stretched out her hand. "Give me the tweezers. I'll do it."

°•▪︎¤○●□■□●○¤▪︎•°

  "Steady... steady..." Ruiki breathed out as she poked the tweezers inside the gaping wound, prodding around for the bullet as gently as possible. Despite that, Shion winced in her half-sleep, making a pained-noise that caused Ruiki to freeze. She sucked in another deep breath. "Oh, god," she mumbled, grasping her right wrist with her left hand in an attempt to steady herself.

  Gently, Kyo squeezed her shoulder, trying to provide reassurance. "You okay?"

  "Yeah," she breathed out, closing her eyes. "Just – give me a sec." She opened her eyes, squinting down at the wound as tentatively prodded deeper into Shion's skin. "Wait – I think I've got it – "

  Grasping the tweezers firmly, trying to ignore how Shion let out a strangled noise of pain, she pulled something out, small and shiny and slick with blood.

  The instance she was clear of the wound, her hands started shaking. She dropped the bullet on the ground with a barely audible "clink" before moving aside for Erika to take over, who was already ready with disinfectant, spraying it back and forth over the wound.

  Ruiki stood up, backing away to stand beside Kyo and letting out a shaky laugh. "Remind me to never do that again."

  "So long as no one else gets shot," Riox muttered.

  "How likely is that?"

  "With us?" Jiyuu snorted. "Not very."

  "Well," Ruiki said. "That's optimistic."

  They watched as Erika worked, pouring a clear liquid onto Shion's wound and lightly smearing it with her fingertips before taking a white tube and squeezing a line of thick, clear, gel over it. She sprayed something in the air over Shion as well, watching carefully as she inhaled the mist before wrapping up her wound with bandages and tape.

  "Done." She got up, studying her handiwork before giving a satisfied nod. "She should be fine now. The fever should go down in an hour or two. The wound will seal around that time as well."

  There was an audible sigh of relief from everyone.

  "Well," Ruiki said, clapping her hands together. "Now that that problem's solved, we should go unload the supplies."

  "You've still got some explaining to do," Jiyuu said, eyes flicking over to Aspen, standing awkwardly in a corner of the room. "How did you even..."

  "Yeah, about that... "Ruiki scratched the back of her head. "We kind of just... ran into him in the Wastelands. "

  Denji raised a hand. "That... is that actually possible?"

  She shrugged. "Chance. And bad luck. Mostly Kyo's."

  Several pairs of slightly incredulous eyes darted towards Kyo. He shrugged helplessly. "I have crap for luck."

  "Okay then." Denji nodded like it was a perfectly reasonable explanation.

  "I should just..." Erika picked up her medicinal supplies before leaving the room. "I'm heading to unpack the supplies. Kyo, Ruiki, mind lending me a hand?"

  "Yup!" Ruiki skipped out of the room after her twin. "Guess you guys get to show Aspen around, then!"

  Kyo followed after her before things got any more awkward.

°•▪︎¤○●□■□●○¤▪︎•°

  Things took a while to get sorted out, but by the time night had come around, the supplies had been unloaded and sorted, Aspen had been given a room to stay in, and Shion had woken up.

  They ended up gathering around a bonfire for dinner, in one of the larger chambers in the caves which opened up into the night sky, spattered with hundreds upon hundreds of stars that gleamed like diamonds.

  Kyo tilted his head back to glance up. He had never really noticed it before, since there were so many lights out in the cities. "It's nice out here, huh?" Riox asked, sitting down beside him.

  "Yeah. Strangely peaceful," Kyo agreed.

  "I wanted... to thank you. For helping us. I doubt Shion would've made it without you, so..."

  "Oh."

  "Yeah," Riox agreed, swallowing. "But... why are you really helping us? You have no reason to."

  "I don't really know. I think... it was for a promise, at first." He glanced across the fire to where Shion was seated, light orange hair spilling down her shoulders and bright green eyes gleaming, and was struck again by how similar she looked to Lisa.

  Riox followed his gaze. "She's not your sister, you know?"

  "Yeah. Yeah, I know."

  "I mean... none of us here are really real people," Riox said, looking down at his hands. "We're all just... clones."

  Kyo glanced over at him. "Do you really believe that?"

  Riox shrugged. "Does it really matter what I believe? Most people... even the Replicas themselves, think that. Even I thought that, at first. Shion was the one who convinced us to run."

  "You escaped together?"

  He nodded. "Me, Shion, Jiyuu, Denji, and – "he hesitated. "– a few others you haven't met yet."

  "What made you do it?"

  "I don't... really know," Riox admitted. "I think it was months of buildup. Mostly, it was Shion. She convinced us that... we're real. That we deserve to live too. In a way, she made us feel real. Still does."

  "She's right. You aren't copies."

  "Why would you think so?"

  "You bleed and laugh and mourn and rage. There are people important to you, people you want to protect, and you want to live and be free." Kyo shrugged. "Sounds pretty real to me."

  "Maybe you're right," Riox said. "You know, you kind of have a way with words. You might just be able to change people's thinking."

  "Nah. The one who's gonna change things isn't me. It's going to be Shion, and the rest of you. I'm sure of that much."

  "Then what about you?"

  "Me? I guess I'm just along for the ride."

°•▪︎¤○●□■□●○¤▪︎•°

  "Well you two seem to be getting along," Ruiki laughed as she plopped down next to Kyo after Riox left.

  "Yeah," Kyo agreed, a smile twitching at his lips. "Strangely enough."

  "What were you talking about?"

  He blinked, wondering if there was really any way to describe it, before shrugging. "Morals. Revolution."

  She burst into laughter again, shoving his arm. "Seriously?"

  "Ten billion percent."

  There was a comfortable pause between them before Ruiki continued. "So... about the bullet today, and how I got a little freaked out..."

  "You don't need to talk if you don't want to," Kyo reassured. He knew she wasn't the type to flinch that easily or get squeamish. That it wasn't really the wound or the action of having to take out the bullet that had shaken her, even if she had tried to cover it up.

  "It's... fine, really," she said, twisting her hands together in her lap. "It's just... you know why my hands are so steady? I've actually... shot someone before. With a gun. Not that it wasn't in self-defense, but..."

  "Bad memories?"

  She nodded and bit her lip. "And... Riox might get mad at me for telling you this, but... I think most everyone has agreed you can be trusted." She took a deep breath. "The thing is, Erika and I... we aren't..."

  "You aren't actually twins, are you?" Kyo asked.

  She looked surprised. "You knew?"

  Kyo shrugged. "I guessed it. Since they trusted the two of you so much more than me... I figured..."

  "Oh. Which one of us do you think..."

  "I... thought it was Erika."

  "Good guess, but no." She smiled, though it wavered and then dropped. "It's me. I'm the Replica, not the other way around. We... planned it, really. So that even if you suspected we weren't really twins, you'd still think I was the original."

  Kyo paused. "Why?"

  "To keep tabs on you, I guess. Cause Riox didn't trust you. Even though Shion did."

  "You were one of the ones who escaped with them, weren't you?"

  "Yeah. We got split up, which was why Shion met... you know, your sister."

  "And you met Erika."

  Ruiki nodded. "She actually is the daughter of the chief of police, you know? It's just that, well... they've kinda drifted apart. He's hardly at home anymore, and they don't really talk much. That's why she can sneak out so easily, even for days at a time. But that's – poking too much into her personal life, so... I won't talk about it."

  The two of them fell silent again, watching everyone else.

  "So?" she said.

  Kyo looked over at her. "So what?"

  "I dunno," she tilted her head back to look up at the sky. "What do you think of me now?"

  He shrugged again. "You're you."

  She laughed again, even though her voice was shaky. "Sounds like something you would say. I feel kinda silly now, though. For a moment, I thought that maybe the fact that I was lying to you would make you hate me."

  "I don't. You're Ruiki, the same person you've always been. Plus, you're my friend. Who cares if you're Erika's Other? In a way, you really are only twins. You're both still separate people."

  "Huh," she said. "Her Other," she mused, before grinning at him. "I like that. Maybe we should start using that from now on. Sounds a lot better than Replica, anyway."

  "Maybe we should," he said, and they lapsed into another bout of comfortable silence, watching everyone else, gathered around the fire. "Hey Ruiki?" he asked after a while.

  "Yeah?"

  "Thanks."

  She looked at him, surprise in her voice. "What for?"

  "I don't know. For being there, I guess."

  "Dude," she snorted, nudging him with her shoulder. "Don't suddenly get all mushy with me."

  "I know, I know," he laughed, before quieting. "But really. Thanks."

  "Yeah," she smiled.

  Their journey wasn't even close to ending, of course; in fact, it was just beginning. But somehow, as Kyo watched how Aspen let a tentative, hesitant smile onto his face as he talked with the scarlet-haired girl beside him, how Jiyuu laughed over something Denji had said while even Erika let a small grin break through, and how Shion, now completely healed and happy and healthy for the first time in a month offered a hand to Riox and pulled him into a sudden, impromptu dance as someone started playing a guitar...

  He had a feeling they would be alright.

(*cross-posted on Magic Legends: Short Stories and Writing Prompts on Magic_Legends )

So... here it is! My first ever short story. The flow wasn't as great as I wanted, and it was super long, so thanks to anyone who read this all the way to the end, and I hope you enjoyed it. If there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, please point them out, and feel free to offer constructive criticism.

Signing off, Serena_Nymph