Shadows: A Six of Crows Fan fic

Chapter four: Wylan

A/N Sorry I didn't post earlier this week but I was away from internet access for awhile. Anyways, enjoy this next chapter.

Wylan was having a wonderful dream about performing experiments on food to get extra large portions, when suddenly he was woken up by a frantic Jesper ranting about 'white assassin ladies' and 'shiny pointy stars' trying to kill him. At first, Wylan had just thought that Jesper had had another bad dream until he had been shown the throwing star. He didn't know what to think about it, what it meant for them to be threatened yet again so soon, but he knew he had to calm Jesper down first.

"Jes!" He called over the worried soliloquy Jesper was giving whilst pacing back and forth in front of his bed. Jesper's constant movement froze at the sound of his voice, and his expression made him look like he was about ready to offer anything to make sure Wylan was okay. Wylan gave a soft smile and shook his head at the lanky oaf. "Calm down, we don't know for sure that this has anything to do with the lady Inej fought. I mean, she's dead right? We'll go talk to Kaz about it once it gets to be a reasonable time of day to be up. But, until then, go to your room and get some sleep so I can get back to my dream."

Jesper looked at him with astonishment on his face. "How can you just go back to sleep like that? I was just almost killed!"

Wylan rolled his eyes. Jesper had seen more violence and life-threatening scenarios than he had, and yet Wylan was being the calm one now. Maybe Kaz had rubbed off on him a bit too much. "The key word there is almost. And I'm guessing if it was the assassin or someone like her you would be dead already if they'd truly wanted you to be. Clearly they were just trying to send you a message not actually harm you, so I figure I'm good to get a few more hours of sleep in."

Jesper raised a hand to his chest, "Don't you care at all about me?"

"Of course I do, but I also care about seeing how my dream ends. Now, goodnight Jesper." Wylan sunk back under his sheets and turned out the lamp beside his bed. Jesper stood in the door, now backlit by the light from the hallway. Jesper crossed his arms.

"You know, I don't know whether to be prouder of how composed your acting right now, or more horrified at how quickly you've taken up acting like the rest of us." Jesper shook his head and let his arms drop back to his sides as he reached for the doorknob. "Fine, get your beauty sleep. But I hope you rest poorly as you think about how I won't be getting a wink in." With that he huffed a final time and closed the door behind him.

Wylan did consider the change in demeanor slightly concerning, but it was for the best. He glanced over at the strange star shaped blade that glinted in the small amount of morning light that snuck through the curtains. Apparently, no matter what he wanted, they would never be free of the chaos that surrounded Ketterdam like a heavy fog. People thought the smog that was ever present in this city was from pollution. In truth, it was the physical presence of this place's greed and evil that lurked in every corner. Saints, he was starting to sound like Matthias.

Every time he thought of the brooding Fjerdan he was caught off guard by the memory of his loss. It was hard to think that out of all of them, he was the one to die. He'd always seemed so strong and stubborn; he was the only one of them who was truly good. Matthias had morals, and standards, and noble ideals; All the rest of them had simply been trying to survive their battles no matter what. They'd seen little point in keeping up with ethics when no one else they were fighting appeared to be holding to any. Yes, by the end there they had corrupted him a little, but he'd still been holding on to those seemingly old fashioned, Fjerdan beliefs.

In part, Wylan envied Matthias' old ways. He wished that he could have a normal life where he could run his father's empire in peace. With Jesper and his mother. He wanted a safe place where she could get better. A stable enviroment where he could always be there for her. Just minutes before, Wylan had started believing that he could have that life here. Believed that things had finally calmed down and that the outside world would leave them alone. But then Jesper had come in wailing about attempted murder and he'd realized how naïve he was being. The world would never leave them be while they still lived in this city, they had to get out of here as soon as possible. They would figure out what this next problem was, try to beat it without dying, and then he would pack their bags by himself if he had to, and take his mother and Jesper far away. Maybe to some small country town outside of the city. Somewhere peaceful and calm. Somewhere he would be able to make music instead of bombs, and Jesper would be able to grow his abilities as a Fabrikator instead of a gambling sharpshooter.