Clearing

"You are good. But..." said Shawn, standing still at the end of the tunnel. Despite the man remaining aside from the fight, his presence itself, quietly staring while the others try to kill each other, puts a lot of pressure on Ryu.

However, when Shawn began to talk, Ryu's attention turned to him, and he noticed a shade moving at the end of the tunnel, something small and fast.

"Bucky!" Ryu exclaimed.

In that single moment of distraction that Ryu took to identify the ferret, the sly old slave moved to his side with his fingers sticking forward to poke Ryu's throat.

"STOP!" Shawn yelled at the end of the tunnel. Instantly all the three men stopped moving while the old one had his fingers close to Ryu's throat while the others were encircling him.

"We can take him, Shawn. There is no need to stop right now." Ian protested, visibly frustrated.

"Open space. I want to ask something to him." Shawn said, and the three engaged in a fight with Ryu stepped back. A command which Ryu found strange since he expected that Ian to be the leader.

"You." Shawn stepped aside, getting out of the lantern's path, pointing to Ryu and saying, "said something. Repeat it.".

"I said Bucky. That's the ferret that gave the jewel and brought me to talk to Ian." Ryu said, keeping his staff right to protect himself against a sneak attack, then he added, "It is right there, on your back.".

As Ryu finished his explanation, Bucky the Ferret exited from a hole on the wall and walked between the five men, sniffing the ground until it reached Ryu's feet. Then the ferret looked up and jumped on Ryu's tight and climbed all the way to his shoulder.

So, the four men widened their eyes in a mix of confusion and disbelief, and relief, but Ryu still did not let his guard down. And one sudden thought surged in his mind, 'would the Vanishing Raindrop Steps work on Bucky too, if it is on my shoulder?'.

"Are you really the one Bucky brought here?" Shawn asked.

"Didn't I say that already?" replied Ryu.

"Yes. But why did you say you talked with Ian when it was supposed to be me?" Shawn asked.

"No. It was... Awww." Ryu started to say when realization stuck, "I see the misunderstanding. From the outside, I could barely understand what you said, so I confused your name by Ian. Probably because of the name of the owner of the inn I stayed at the city.".

"How is my father doing? And what about my mother?" Ian asked in agitation.

"Calm down, Ian. Let's solve this thing here first." Shawn reprimanded the young man.

"So, you are the leader here?" Ryu asked for confirmation.

"You can say that, but the truth is that there is nothing to lead. But let me apologize first." Shawn, making the other three dismantle their fighting stance and bow their heads in apology.

"Why did you come here? And why are you using the highvale outfit?" asked Shawn.

"About that. I took the clothes from one of the soldiers that went out to the forest, and the reason I came here I already told you. I came to make a plan to destroy the highvale base." Ryu said in the simplest way he could.

"You must be crazy." the old man said straightly.

"This is George." Shawn said, "And that one is Seoul." he added, pointing to the short man at the side. "Let's calm down for a while. Do you really think that we can fight against them? Look at us. We can barely stand on our feet.".

"Yes. But I will steal food from the sheds, and I saw some qi crystal at one of the buildings. Even if I give you this, will you not be able to fight?" Ryu asked.

"It is okay if you say no. That why I came here to talk with you because I need to have a clear position on your side." Ryu said when Shawn made a thoughtful expression.

"We can do it, Shawn. That's the best chance we have, maybe the only one." Seoul began to argue, and Ian joined him.

"You know, as clear as I do that the problem is another one." George said, bringing depression to the other two.

"What are you talking about?" asked Ryu, not understanding why the atmosphere turned sad suddenly.

"You should know too. It's chief Irons. We can fight him, and I think you can't either. As a matter of fact, I don't even know how you slip by his attention." Shawn said.

"AHH. I heard that he is strong, indeed. But he is not at the base." Ryu said naturally.

"Are you for real?" Shawn asked, looking excited, just like the other three.

"There is something happening in the town. Apparently, someone is attacking the highvale there, and the whole city is closed. I am not sure what it is, but I have to go in and see if my friend is safe." said Ryu.

"This kinda changes everything." Shawn said, and at the side, Ian and Seoul signaled with their heads in agreement.

"If you agree with this plan, I will join. But I ask you to consider the repercussion of this action." George said.

George's words fell like a bomb at the circle of five, and the constant shift of emotion began to make Ryu frustrated and angry. Because Ryu went to the tunnel and put himself in danger to save these people, and yet they were looking for an excuse not to act.

"What is it now?" Ryu asked harshly.

"If it were just for us, we would have run away a long time ago. But just like Ian, here." Shawn said, pointing his finger to Ian, "We all have families in the city.".

"I got it. You are hostages. Or better said, they are hostages to make you submit." Ryu expressed his strike of realization.

"It's basically so. I have a daughter in town. If we do something here, they will certainly go after her." George said.

"I understand your point. But I will attack the base anyway. You can come with me or not." Ryu said, turning his back to the exit and walking out.

Then, he looked back and said his final words, "After here, I will go to the town attack there too. You can come with me and rescue your family.".

So Ryu left without giving time for an answer, because he knew the slaves needed time to talk amongst themselves and make a decision, and also because Ryu was frustrated with the slaves' lack of initiative.

"Or you can continue to be a slave for the rest of your lives." Ryu yelled to the end of the tunnel, where he could no longer see the four men.

With his flickering lantern in hand, Ryu walked back to the gallery, where he was met by dozens of eyes staring at him with hostility. But Ryu went straight through, not even caring about the possibility of being attacked as he understood that the slaves would not attack him.

Thus, without asking for direction, Ryu took the tunnel back to outside the mine.