Edolas: Thieves Guild Sabertooth

25

Sting couldn't bring himself to let Rogue go, not even for them to unfurl the couch into a bed, so they just curled up on the couch together and went to sleep. The next morning, he woke up, early as usual, and Rogue didn't stir. Sting sat back down, watching the way his shoulders rose and fell until he went back to sleep.

Eventually, he was re-awoken by Rufus, who had come down to check on them.

"Oh, hey Rufus. You're back to normal." Rogue, who had miraculously awoken alongside Sting, remarked sleepily. Rufus blinked, coming to a realization.

"I don't want to hear that from you." He chided, smiling with relief. He went back upstairs.

"How have you been?" Rogue asked. "Hope you didn't do anything stupid without inviting me."

"I've been... fine. Nothing stupid." Sting lied.

"Sound like something a liar would say." Rogue noted.

"It's something a truther would say too!" Sting defended himself.

"Okay, what did you do?"

"I went on a mission. A guard grazed me with her crossbow." Sting admitted. Rogue would find out eventually anyway, now that he was suspicious. "It's fine, it's practically healed already."

"Let me see it." Rogue ordered. Sting let him check the wound until he was satisfied.

They spent the rest of the day catching up on what had happened during the switch, since neither had any urgent work to do.

"Alright. Back to business." Rogue stated in the late afternoon. "When do we do the heist?"

"Damn it, Rogue you just came back. Orga has the harnesses, Yukino is in position. We can do it anytime. But you came back less than a day ago!" Sting said.

"Yeah. But I told you already, I have a lead on Yukino's sister, so the sooner we get our heist done, the sooner she can go look for her." Rogue insisted. Sting sighed.

"I understand. But I need to talk to you about something first." Rogue looked at him expectantly. "When we finish this job, I'm thinking of disbanding the guild. We'll be set for life, the way we're going. We'll have everything we were looking for."

"Even you?" Rogue asked softly.

"Yeah. I have you, don't I? Besides, I've been told I'd make a great author, and what's better than immortality?" Sting smiled.

"Okay. All the more reasons to finish this job. Let's get the team back together!" Rogue proclaimed.

-

It took a while to make arrangements for Cereus, longer than Rogue was willing to wait to see Wisp again. That was why he and Sting were racing cross-country on horseback, while the other three would join them once their schedules cleared.

They reached Cereus by nightfall, not bound by the roads. Together, they went to the safe house. Rogue knocked on the door before opening it without waiting for a response.

"I'm back and better! Come bask in my glory!" He called out.

"Rogue?" Yukino asked. "Rogue! You're back. Wisp! HE'S BACK! Oh, hi Sting, you're here too."

"Rogue!" A caw resounded throughout the room as Wisp came flying towards him. Rogue opened his arms and she flew into them, feeling a surge of joy.

"There's my girl! How have you been? Did you miss me? I sure as hell missed you, sweetheart." He cooed as he cradled the raven. "Hey Yuki. You been okay? How's the job going?"

"It's going great. No one suspects a thing. The people are pretty friendly once you get to know them. And don't worry about Wisp. She missed you a lot, but she's okay, especially since you're back. What about you? Orga said you went to another world." Yukino asked him.

"Oh, yeah. They have magic and stuff. The exceeds all went there. There was one called Frosh. She was sweet, but not quite as much as Wisp. Oh! Much more importantly, I have something to tell you. Earthland has its own Sabertooth, and apparently another guild called Fairy Tail has an Earthland copy as well."

"Yeah, I've heard of them. They were last mage guild on Edolas." Yukino noted.

"Really? Well, either way, that suggests that people tend towards the same groupings across worlds, and that's where my hunch comes in. I met Earthland's Sorano, and I asked her about her life. Since our Earthland copies are pretty different, most of it probably won't be helpful, but she was part of Earthland's Crime Sorciere. That might be a lead on finding Edolas' Sorano." Rogue explained. Yukino stared at him as the news sank in. Her sister might be part of an elite military group, but she had a lead, without having to pay a ridiculous amount for an investigator.

"Wow. That's something. Thank you." Yukino breathed out.

"Hey! Birdboy! Boss! You're both here. ...Am I interrupting something?" Orga asked.

"Not really. We're doing the heist when the rest of the guild shows up. Should be a couple of days." Sting informed him."