Don't Forget

#17 A Night at the Inn

     Max flinches back when Ty comes flying into the room. The only problem is that the swords on his back hit the window frame. Max reacts in time to lunge forward and keep Ty from falling to the ground.
     "Oh god that sucked", Ty spits out, a little fear showing through his eyes. Sky jumps in after and lands on the window sill. He made barley any sound when he hit the wood. It could of been mistaken for someone stepping on a creaky floor board.
     The inn keeper didn't think much of five dirty guys walking in a couple hours before midnight. Just another group of boys coming from a failed camping trip. Mitch paid for only one room with two beds because it'd be safer for them all to be in the same room.
Sky pulls off all the extra weapons almost immediately, but keeps his own on. Ty takes off his two more slowly and adds them to the pile. Vikk throws a blanket on top of the pointy hill.
     "Room service is gonna have quite the surprise if we forget that in the morning", Max tries to joke. The joke never reaches his eyes.
"We'll be long gone by then", Mitch walks over to one of the beds, "So who wants to share?".
"Floor", Max and Ty say at the same time. Neither of them are too keen to share a bed with anyone they barely know.
"Wouldn't be the first time getting shoved off in the middle of the night", Vikk smiles. When the six unit members were little, they often slept at each other's house. Vikk has always been small enough to accidentally roll on top of. Him and Mitch have no problem sleeping in the same bed.
Barney awkwardly glances at Sub, but the mute doesn't seem bothered by something as silly as sleeping arrangements. Besides, Barney would make a good hostage if things go south for Sub.
"I'm sleeping on the wall", Sky says without an explanation. He walks over between the two beds and eyes up the posts.
"The wall? I'm not the only one who's confused, right?", Ty asks in confusion. Max watches the assassin pull a long length of rope seemingly from nowhere. This guy is basically a walking arsenal! Pockets of all sorts line his pants and other clothing. Sky makes two loops with the rope and hooks them on either bed post. With more knots and loops, there's a small hammock strung between the beds.
     "I could never really get the hang of that, but it is kinda cool", Vikk says as Sky climbs up into his bed. Pretty soon, everyone is settling down for bed. Max and Ty both make beds on the floor with blankets that Mitch had requested from the inn keeper. They're all tired after the day's event, and Max isn't really looking forwards to the ride home tomorrow.
     Max lays awake for a few hours. After he's sure that everyone else is asleep, he quietly sits up. The soldier had swiped a few sheets of paper and a pen from his saddlebag earlier in the day. It's been a while since Max had anything like this to write about. He's always taking notes and watching everything unfold.
     Pretty soon, his thoughts start drifting off to other things. His brother, to be specific. Max believes with all his heart that Ross is alive somewhere. It's the only option to him. All this is going to be worth it because Ross will get to live in a better place. They'll find each other no matter how long it takes.
     Despite the late night, Max wakes up before dawn. He gets up just in time to see Sky slipping out of the hammock. He sees Max awake, and goes over to wake Ty instead. The soldier stuffs the folded pieces of paper deeper into his pocket while standing up.
    "No........", Ty groans when Sky shakes him, "Take Ajax with you and go away". He's still mostly asleep, mumbling more incoherent details.
     "This is what I have to work with?", Sky looks over at Max with an annoyed look, "Shouldn't you be having me train your strongest and bravest?". He's a little sarcastic with the last part.
     "Ah, give him a chance. Ty might surprise you yet", Max defends the street rat. Sky turns back to Ty, finally jut slapping him. Ty squeaks and flinches back to the side with the slap. Sky has to hide his flash of surprise when Ty is able to quickly grab his hand.
     Max is waking up Mitch and Vikk with just a few shakes. Both had been sleeping well for the first time in a long while. Barney was already awake with all the commotion, but Sub is still out cold.
     "Sub's still asleep? Why didn't you wake him up first?", Ty grumbles while sitting up. To Max, he seems like a bear coming out of hibernation.
    "Good luck with that", Sky chuckles as he takes down the hammock, "Sub's a pretty hard sleeper. Damn weirdo wakes up at the exact same time every day".
     "How can that work? Surely he can't sleep through everything", Mitch argues. He goes over the bed and shakes Sub a few times, surprised when the assassin doesn't react.
     "Sub isn't from around here, Mitch. It's got something to do with how he was raised", Vikk tries to explain. Him and Sky both know that Sub is from Liblicen because of the sign language, but nothing else.
     "He really won't wake up?", Ty says with a creeping smile. He walks over to Sub's unconscious form and pulls him off the bed by his arms. He's all dead weight that almost makes Ty fall over.
     "When will he wake up?", Barney turns to Sky. The assassin never took off his hood or swords during the night.
     "Not for another half hour. I'll tie him down like yesterday", Sky replies. He easily takes Sub from Ty and slings him onto his back. Max is surprised by Sky's strength. Him and Sub are pretty much the same size.
     "What about the pile  of suspicious weapons?", Ty looks at Sky. For how much the two seem to already resent each other, there does seem to be some other bond below the surface. Max finds it kinda funny.
     "I could carry Sub down while you and Ty take the swords", Max offers. Sky's face is instantly doubtful. He's weary of trusting anyone with Sub while he's defenseless. And they don't even know each other that well. Something shifts in Sky's face in that moment. Assassin are selfish and don't care about anyone.
"Just don't drop him. Sub's always been a liability like that", the assassin gives Sub to Max like he's hanging over a bag vegetables.
"It's not like he can help it! Why are you so rude all of a sudden?", Vikk is instantly annoyed with Sky's treatment of his friend.
"No reason at all. It just is", he replies, strapping on weapons, "Come on Ty, same rout as yesterday. The street rat uneasily follows his example. They both jump from the window sill with Sky pulling Ty up.
     "Is he always like that?", Mitch raises an eyebrow. Max awkwardly shifts Sub around in his arm. It's like he's been knocked unconscious.
     "Sky keeps to himself. Everyone has secrets, right?", Vikk rubs the back of his neck. No one says much of anything until they're out of the lobby. The inn keeper, someone different from the night before, actually thought that Max was sweet for carrying Sub out.
As with most inns, there's an attached stable where travelers can rest their horses. Their five horses were groomed down and watered last night. They'll be able to ride at a walk till noon.
     Max has no idea what to do with Sub. There's no rope or anything to tie him down with. He ends up sitting on the horse with Sub in front of him. Why does he volunteer for the most awkward situations? Hopefully they'll meet back with Sky before Sub wakes up.
The sun hasn't even risen yet, only the first lights of dawn visible on the horizon. The only sound in the village are the horses' hooves. That's the most likely reason that the squid guards patrolling the town quickly found them near the edge of the buildings.
     "Name? Purpose? What are you doing up before dawn", one of the Piscus barks at them when they round the corner. There's only two of them, but both armed.
Barney is caught off guard with meeting the two squids so close to the town's edge. The four of them might be able to subdue them even without weapons, but dead squids would draw the enemies' attention.
"I'm so sorry, sir. Our mother sent us two to come get our younger siblings", Max picks up. Him and Barney are older then the others by a good few years at least. Sub also looks much younger and harmless when passed out against Max's chest.
"Dad was suppose to be working in this town, I'm really sorry", Vikk hunches down a little, his voice edged with sincere sounding fear and sorrow. Mitch makes a quick show of comforting his younger 'sibling' about their absent 'father'. The squid who has spoken seems a little skeptical, but the second clearly bought it.
"Come on, they haven't done any harm. It'll be hotter if they travel later in the day", they try to pull their partner away, thankfully seceding.
"You just make sure to stay out of trouble. Lots of groups go through here trying to prove something by getting killed", the first frowns before moving on.
"Of course. Mom's probably waiting for us by now", Max adds the last statement to sell the lie. If there were more then two, the situation would of probably escalated further.
Barney and Max ride at the front away from the village. Mitch and Vikk are on separate horses with the spare one following. For all the guards know, it could be for Sub if he was awake.
"Took you all long enough", Sky's disembodied voice huffs from somewhere in the trees. They had already planned the rout to the camp the night before.
"Just had to trick some guards with a few daddy issues", Mitch grimaces. His dad was always there, but Mitch's mother never cared for him much. The lie hits home pretty hard for him.
      Max flinches back when Ty suddenly falls out of a tree right beside the trail. The street rat nearly impales himself on multiple swords. He groans and rolls over with a sour expression, glaring up into the tree canopy.
    "You expect me to climb from tree to tree when I've never climbed a tree before in my life!?", Ty spits out, "What happened to the training part, huh? Did Red give you a knife and let you have at?".
     "Actually, I was trained by someone else. Ian gave me a fork and left me in the middle of the forest for a few days", Sky muses, dropping down to stand above Ty. He's enjoying this way more then he thought possible.
     As if some lever had been switched on, Sub suddenly sits bolt upright. Max immediately slips off the horse to avoid at least some of the embarrassment. His arms had to be around Sub in order to hold the reins. Both of them make mental notes to never speak of the situation ever again.