The Sneaky Birds halt beside a flat, moss-covered rock near a rushing stream.

  Moon Black collapses onto the stone with a heavy, exhausted sigh.

  “Oh—my feet are killing me,” she groans.

  The water roars through the silence. The adrenaline from the escape drains away, leaving everyone with bone-deep fatigue.

  Uddin scans the treeline.

  “We should keep moving,” Uddin says. “We don’t know if they followed us.”

  “We need to rest,” Moon Black shoots back.

  Uddin snaps. "No.. we move."

  Moon Black's breath came uneven. “Drag me..”

  Uddin pauses. “Fine. But not for long.”

  They settle into the shadows. The veteran's wife—Helma Herra, sits by herself. She keeps her distance, her eyes carefully avoiding him.

  Daisy watches the rushing water.

  “You hurt?” Uddin asks her quietly.

  “I’m fine. You?”

  “Still breathing.”

  Daisy exhales. “You babysit me too much, Uddin.”

  Uddin’s eyes flash. “Shut it. We’re sisters now. Blood till the end. I’d take a bullet for you.”

  “That’s… weird,” Daisy murmurs.

  “What is?”

  “It’s only been a few days since we met.”

  Uddin shakes her head. “Time doesn’t matter. Shared fire does.”

  “…Thanks,” Daisy says softly.

  Across the clearing, the Veteran Professional approaches Helma.

  He has a jagged scar running down his cheek—a mark from a life of violence. Because of it, the group calls him Scarface, but his real name is David.

  “Hey,” he says.

  “What do you want?” Helma’s voice is flat and cold.

  “I just—”

  “Leave me alone,” she cuts in.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “Helma, please.”

  Her eyes harden like stone. “Don’t.”

  The moment stretches, painful and quiet.

  He backs away, returning to the group. He drops onto the dirt, his fingers nervously plucking at a leaf. He tears it into tiny pieces.

  Uddin watches him. “Scarface. Talk.”

  “I was part of the Blue Whale,” he says. “The Cleaner division.”

  “Cleaners?” Daisy asks.

  “Assassins,” he replies, his voice low. “Knives. Close-range work. Final jobs.”

  Uddin exhales. “So that’s what she meant.”

  “I was fine with it,” Scarface continues, staring at the ground. “Until I wasn’t.”

  “You married her. That was the problem, right?” Daisy asks.

  “No.” His jaw tightens. “We had a child.”

  The group goes silent. Even the sound of the stream seems to fade.

  “We hid him. We paid a nurse to keep him safe, but she sold us out.”

  Uddin’s voice drops. “Where is the child?”

  Scarface doesn’t look up. “Dead.”

  Daisy stiffens.

  “We ran,” Scarface says, his voice shaking. “Helma couldn’t keep up while carrying him. I took the boy… and I threw him down so she could run faster.”

  Someone in the group gasps.

  “She stopped for him,” Scarface continues. “They caught her. She screamed my name as they took her.”

  Uddin’s voice is sharp as a razor. “And you ran.”

  “Yes.”

  “You left her to die.”

  “I thought she would,” he says. “I didn’t think she’d survive.”

  Moon Black mutters from her rock, “But he lived.”

  Uddin snaps instantly. Her eyes flashing. “No one asked for your opinion!”

  Moon Black smiles thinly. “You think survival is evil? He's alive, isn't he?”

  Machi Kuli—The martial arts expert in the feathered hat—lowers her head. “Would you really do the same, Moon?”

  “Hell yes,” Moon Black says. “Dead people don’t tell stories.”

  Justice—the boy tactician—nods. “She's right.”

  “You’re both insane,” Daisy whispers.

  Helma finally turns her head. Her voice sounds hollow, like it's coming from a deep cave. “You weren’t afraid of the Whales, David. You were afraid of being a father.”

  Moon Black’s smile fades. The air turns heavy.

  Suddenly, gravel crunches nearby. Moon Black rises instantly, her blade flashing in the dim light. “Someone’s coming.”

  A figure steps out from the mist.

  “Oh,” Moon Black says, relaxing slightly. “It’s you. Lewa—the sniper.”

  The woman lifts her hand in a lazy peace sign. “Yo.”

  “Why are you here?” Justice asks, his eyes narrowing.

  “Checking on you. You’re alive. That’s my report,” Lewa says.

  Moon Black blocks her path. “Don’t walk away. You’re hiding something.”

  She smirks. “Big eyes. Tiger energy.”

  The Sneaky Birds close in on her.

  “Were you the veiled woman in the tower?” Moon Black asks.

  “No.”

  “Then why are you following us?”

  “I don’t owe you an explanation,” Lewa says.

  Moon Black presses the edge of her blade against Lewa’s neck. “Try again.”

  “Council law!” Lewa snaps. “Ganging up on a teammate gets you killed.”

  Moon Black drags the blade closer. “Talk.”

  “Fine!” Lewa shouts. “The Council leader wanted eyes on you. That’s all.”

  Moon Black sheathes her blade. “Watching me? Why?”

  Lewa nods. “Yeah. I promised her I wouldn't let you know you were being followed.”

  Moon Black's eyes flicker with doubt. “We’re leaving."

  As they begin to walk, Lewa glances at Helma. “New recruit?”

  “Scarface’s ex-wife,” Moon Black scoffs.

  Lewa whistles. “She's pretty.”

  “She’s good,” Uddin adds.

  “Hey,” Lewa taps Moon Black on the shoulder. “Hope you won't tell the Council leader I talked.”

  “I’m no snitch,” Moon Black replies.

  “So… the Chuppah?” Lewa asks.

  “It broke,” Moon Black says.

  Lewa freezes. “It broke? Then it might be a fake. Precious treasures don’t just shatter like glass.”

  Moon Black exhales. “I suspected as much.”

  “The Council won’t like that.”

  “The Sneaky Birds don’t fail,” Moon Black says, her voice regaining its edge. “We adapt.”

  The stream roars beside them as they disappear into the trees.