Raven

Chapter Four - Complicated

As my father drops to the ground and I lower the taser, Acrobolt looks at me, clearly surprised from behind his black eye mask, and makes a comment.

"Didn't think you had it in you, Tweety." Once again, the American accent is pronounced, and I raise an eyebrow at the sudden and unfamiliar nickname. But I don't call him out on it yet; I like nicknames, and this one fits in with the whole bird theme I seem to have going on lately.

"Should I be taking that as a compliment, Acrobolt?" I reply, a small but satisfied smile appearing on my face, and I roll my shoulders in an gesture of uncertainty. "Regardless, I wasn't very sure I could do it, either." Looking very pleased with himself, Harley nods to answer my first question, and answers my second statement with a shrug of his own.

"Either you can or you can't. You apparantly can." He doesn't clarify whether that comment was about the taser or my half-serious question, but I imagine that it was the former.

"Anyway." I change the subject halfheartedly with a wave of my left hand, before I remember that my weapon is in that hand and waving it around is a terrible idea. I put the taser away. "What now? Where do we go?"

Acrobolt shrugs. "With me, probably. You were next on the list anyway, and I guess MadMex will be happy that we got two things in one go."

I shrug as well, matching Acrobolt's action with a slightly amused look on my face. But the mention of a "list" makes my thoughts - and apparently expression - troubled. "I suppose I'll have to take the chance, unless I want to be thrown in jail. Lead the way, Bolts."

I wave a hand again, without incident due to there being no weapon now, and let him take the lead. He does, kicking open the door with ease before  running out of the factory and into the night. Pfft, show-off.

Rolling my eyes once more in an exasperated way, I follow him into the night.

After about ten minutes of moving in a light jog, I begin to tire. By this time, Harley and I have entered what seems to be a bushland park. Where the hell are we going? Panting slightly from all of the running but yet keeping my pace, I call quietly ahead of me in a breathless voice, "Ha- er, Acrobolt? Where are we going?"

Even by just watching his back (and also from the non-immediate answer), I can tell that my friend is thinking hard about something. At the sound of my voice, he seems to jump. "Right, sorry. Thinking." Bingo. "We're headed for the base."

"The base?" I echo, but before I can question him further, a massive tree comes into view. It reminds me of Yggrasil, the Norse world tree, for a moment, before I see the tree house. Said tree house is sprawled out across the branches of both the main tree and those of the surrounding ones, and leaves me wondering how the hell they got all of the materials needed to make the house up there. Without a moment's hesitation when we near the roots, Harley jumps up and begins to climb, swinging from branch to branch like a monkey.

I, on the other hand, stop at the tree's base, watching the leaves rustle back into their places after he swings by them, and wring my hands in an irritated manner. What, does he expect me to go after him that way? I'm not a freaking acrobat.

That is about when I notice the horizontal pieces of timber hammered into the tree trunk, making a ladder up to the treehouse. Poor tree. Frowning as I place one hand on the first plank, I let my gaze follow the wooden path up the tree, and see an open trapdoor. A reddish-haired girl pokes her head out, and waves at me from upside down. From first glance, she looks quite young.

"Hurry up," she calls out in an easily audible (yet not rude) voice, and I begin to scale the tree without any further encouragement. I begin to freak out again, but keep it under control this time.