The Thieves of Otar

Unexpected

They rested in the Fox Den for the remainder of the day. The only reason Jay allowed them to do so was because they could keep moving through the storm and the Skilae army could not. They all agreed that the more space they got between themselves and the army, the better.

Jay did point out one problem with the Fox Dens, however. There were no charted maps of all the Fox Dens, and they were made to confuse any who didn't have one, so the chances that they would get lost were great. There were false tunnels, booby traps, and who knew what else down there.

"It's not a big deal," Heath told him. "We can always pop out and look around to get an idea of where we are."

Jay looked at him oddly. "Then why was it such a big deal when I told you we would most likely get lost without a map from my mother's?"

"Simple," Heath said in reply. "Down here there are only a few tunnels that give you limited places to go or get lost in. Up there, there is every place to lose our way."

"Fair enough," Jay conceded. 

Zia was surprised. Whatever problems Jay and Heath had had in the past seemed to have vanished. Perhaps they had talked out whatever they needed to in order to move on and get along.

Zia mentally laughed at herself. Heath and Jay were men, and men didn't talk anything over. If Zia had learned one thing from living amongst the foreign race that was men, it was that they didn't have the same problems as women. Men didn't hold petty grudges, something that Zia had tried to incorporate into her own life, despite being a female. The only grudge she did hold was against Daxtor and his treacherous daughter, but that was anything but petty.

So Ike, Heath, Jay, and Zia stayed in the Fox Den and rested for the remainder of the day. The next day, they decided, they would travel down a south-west tunnel, or one of the Links, as Jay called them, and continue their journey to the capital.

Zia spent the evening playing a game of toss with Heath, using a small balled up piece of cloth filled with rice from the provisions stacked in the Den. Every once in a while, Ike would jump in and swipe the sack out of mid air before chucking it at Heath's head, and had Zia not been wounded, she had no doubt she would have been receiving the same. 

Jay sat by himself on the pile of sacked food. Zia glanced over at him from time to time. She nearly missed Heath's pass on one of these occasions, and she was just able to catch it before it hit her head. 

"Are you alright?" Heath asked her once she had thrown the sack back. "You seem distracted."

Zia tilted her head toward Jay in answer, and Heath nodded. He easily caught Zia's next throw, and instead of tossing it back, he threw it straight at Jay's chest.

Years of honing his reflexes saved Jay. His hand seemed to snatch the sack out of the air of its own volition. Even Jay seemed surprised when he looked in his hand to find the sack there. 

"Excuse me, Sir Doom and Gloom," Heath called to him. "It's time to play a game of catch!" He held his hand up and easily caught Jay's return.

Jay's lips twitched with a smile. "Sir Doom and Gloom?"

"Well, I toyed with the idea of Lord Doom and Gloom, but that title is currently taken."

Jay's lips twitched again. "By whom, might I ask?"

"Percival."

Zia snickered. Jay tried to hold back his smile.

Heath chuckled and tossed the sack to Jay once more.

Ike snorted. "I must agree with you there, Heath. Percival could learn to smile every once in a while. It wouldn't kill him." He turned to Jay. "You've known Percival for a long time. Have you ever truly seen him smile?"