Heading To Canant

The night flies by as the village goes quiet. Kassius and Arnold fall asleep along with everybody else. Even Kaizen gets some rest with his bags packed near his bed. Daybreak arrives. Kassius, Arnold and Bonnie get ready. Bonnie is already dressed, wearing baggy brown trousers, a white t-shirt with a white button shirt tied around her waist, and a white scarf, with a red checkered design. Arnold is also dressed, wearing green cargo shorts, a white half button shirt and the same scarf as Bonnie. Kassius, finally walks out of the bathroom. He's wearing blue trousers, a white long sleeve t-shirt and the same scarf as the other two.

Kassius: "Thanks for letting me borrow this. I didn't think the suit would still be wet."

Arnold: "It's fine. Do you like it?"

Kassius: "Yeah, it fits well."

Arnold: "Hmm? Is that a rubber band on your wrist?"

Kassius: "Oh, yeah. I pu-"

Somebody knocks on the door.

Bonnie: "Who is it?"

Kaizen: "It's Kaizen."

Kassius goes and opens the door and Kaizen is standing there with his bag on his back.

Kaizen: "Space for one more?!"

Kassius: "You're coming?! That's amazing. How did you convince your mom?"

Kaizen: "The thing is, I didn't. I just walked up to her and said I'm leaving. I took control this time, and I didn't bargain. I just said it how it was. You were right, I just had to steal it back like you said. Is this how it feels to be a thief?"

Kassius: "Well, welcome to the team. You met these two already."

Kaizen: "Arnold, right?"

Arnold nods his head.

Kaizen: "And you are... Bonnie?"

Bonnie: "Yep."

Palu climbs out of Kaizen's bag and climbs on his shoulder.

Kaizen: "And where are my manners? This, is Palu."

Bonnie runs up to him.

Bonnie: "Awww. He's so cute. Can I hold him?"

Kaizen: "Sure. Palu..."

Palu jumps onto her and she holds him.

Kaizen: "So, when are we heading out?"

Arnold: "Right now, actually."

Kassius: "Let's get going then."

They gather their belongings and walk towards the village exit. As they head closer to it, they notice a crowd, that notices them back. Cheering starts as they approach closer and closer. As they reach the end of the crowd path, ahead of them is the Mistress, her two advisors, the village elders, Valeria in a wheelchair and Ulqora. She walks up to the group.

Arnold: "Ulqora..."

Kassius notices the struggle in Arnold's face and steps in.

Kassius: "We have to tell you someth-"

Ulqora: "I'm not coming with you."

Both of them get shocked by her quick response.

Ulqora: "I'm small. It's too dangerous for me. I will only make it hard for you."

Ulqora pulls out something from her pocket.

Arnold: "Bracelets?"

Ulqora holds out two bead bracelets. Both bracelets have three letter beads that spell 'KUA'. She hands one to Kassius and one to Arnold. They both put them on.

Ulqora: "I know I've caused you trouble. And you can't come back. So... if we don't see each other again..."

She starts tearing up.

Ulqora: "Thank you for saving me!"

Arnold: "Ulqora... let's make a promise."

Ulqora: "A promise?"

Arnold: "Yes. A promise is made between people and has to be kept. So let's promise now, to always wear these."

Ulqora stares at Arnold in surprise.

Arnold: "We may not see each other again, but the memory is still just as valuable. It'll be like you never left if I wear this. So I promise to never lose it."

Kassius: "Yeah, same here. I promise to never lost it too."

Ulqora trying to hold them back, breaks and the tears pour down her face. She rushes in and hugs both of them as she cries. They hug her back. After a little bit, Ulqora finally lets go.

Ulqora: "I'll help around the village with Valeria."

Kassius: "Oh? That's great to hear. Make sure to have fun too. Make some friends."

Ulqora: "Mhm."

She smiles in complete joy, as Kassius and Arnold smile back at her.

Mistress: "Now that the goodbyes have been made, it is time to deal with an urgent matter. Kaizen, has decided to leave the village, on unofficial business."

The crowd murmurs in surprise at this news.

Person 1: "He's leaving?"

Person 2: "Isn't it dangerous out there?"

Mistress: "As you all know, it is forbidden to leave on unofficial business as it serves no purpose in the benefit of our village. As such, a verdict has been reached amongst the village elders and myself. To our guests first, may you please exit the village first."

Bonnie starts walks to the exit and stands outside. Kassius and Arnold follow after and reach the exit too.

Elder 5: "Aim!"

Through the crowd, the hunters aim at Kaizen.

Kassius: "What the-"

Mistress: "Kaizen, you are officially an outsider of the village. Two decisions, with two different consequences have been placed in front of you. In the next twenty seconds, you will either decide to remain in the village and reclaim your membership, or walk out of the exit and be forever be an outsider of the village. If no decision is made, you will still be deemed an outsider and executed on the spot. So decide now."

The crowd gets shocked as Kaizen looks around at the hunters aiming at him.

Kaizen: "I guess this is it. Sent off with crossbows and guns. I always thought it would be more happy, but oh well."

Kaizen walks towards the exit and walks right by his mother, with no eye contact from the both of them. He flips off elder 5, which angers him but the others hold him back. Kaizen reaches the exit and takes the step outside.

Mistress: "Well then. The decision has been made. Kaizen, you are officially an outsider of this village. You may never return for as long as you live. May peace be with you."

Kaizen: "Enough of the leader talk. I want to hear the goodbye from my mother."

The mistress swallows deeply and finally looks Kaizen in the eye.

Mistress: "Then as your mother, if this is what you truly want, then I just hope you find what you are looking for. All I ask is one more thing... Live a life with no regret."

Kaizen: "... I will, mother."

Mistress: "And to you, our heroic guests. I ask you to take the role from me, and take care of my son."

Kassius: "Will do ma'am."

Arnold: "We'll do our best."

Mistress: "Then with that, you may depart from this village. Have a safe journey."

Everyone shouts goodbye and waves them off as they all walk away. They wave back as everyone waves at them and cheering erupts in the crowd. After they walk down the road for a while, they finally reach the savannah area.

Kaizen: "So where are we headed?"

Arnold: "We have no clue where the black sand bandits are. I tried to get it out of one of them during our fight but he refused to say. However, I was able to deduce that since they managed to find us in such a short span from when we left Umoja til this village, they must be within this nation. Other than that, I have no information on, so for now, we'll just head to Canant, a stop before we tread the desert."

Bonnie: "Whatever happened to those guys anyway?"

Arnold: "The leaders agreed on pushing them on a raft into the ocean."

Kassius: "So they're fish food?"

Arnold: "Pretty much."

Bonnie: "That's rough. Well, let's get moving. That diamond could be across the world for all we know."

Arnold and Bonnie continue walking as Kaizen stops to stare at the abandoned town, which Kassius notices.

Kassius: "You wanna say goodbye?"

Kaizen: "Nah. He already knows. Come on. Daytime passes quick."

Kaizen and Kassius catch up with the other two as they continue walking. In the abandoned town, on the top of the factory roof, the man lies, staring at the sky.

Man: "Four of them huh? I guess he finally did it. Guess it's just us two again, ay Karkabat?"

Back at the village, in the distant ocean, the raft with the bandits floats across.

Bamun: "Bamun is hungry."

Tamun: "And I'm out of booze. Help me untie my hands Bamun."

Jamun: "Dammit! How could we be shamed this much? Once we get out, we'll slaughter them all, slowly by slowly. And Valeria will-"

Jamun notices a short wave barrelling towards them. It strikes and tips the cage off the raft and into the water. As the three struggle to catch their breath, a group of Giant hook fish rush at their cage, tearing it apart. On that day, the serpent brothers were never heard from again. The day goes on as the group continues on to Canant. In the same nation of Thari, ACO official vehicles are at the border crossing. They are three large vans, each with groups of ACO officers in them. In one of the trucks, are Lieutenants Lucia and Michael, along with other lower ranked officers that fall under the wing of Captain John. The officers are having conversation while Lucia sits in the corner, silent. Michael notices and goes to sit next to her.

Lucia: "What do you want, Michael?"

Michael: "Relax. Can't two lieutenants just get along? Besides, you seemed-"

Lucia: "Why did you come on this mission?"

Michael: "What? I'm here to save Captain Tobias. Same as you. Right?"

Lucia: "The criminals in the capital the other day, I don't know why but I have a feeling we'll encounter them again."

Michael: "Stop right there. This is a mission to save Captain Tobias. We can't have you focused on side missions."

Lucia: "I understand that. But what if they do show up?"

Michael: "Then we'll apprehend only if necessary. We can't waste this opportunity to save the Captain. If we get lost on other tasks, we may miss our only opportunity."

Lucia: "You're right..."

Over in a different truck, Captain John is talking with another officer.

Officer 1: "Sir! Thari HQ is offering to send extra reinforcements."

Captain John: "Tell them to hold off until necessary. We have plenty of time. What is time of arrival at Canant?"

Officer 2: "Sir. On estimate, we will arrive at 11 pm."

Officer 3: "Sir! We are all clear."

Captain John: "Then let's depart."

The vans drive through border patrol and out onto the other side, into Thari.

The day goes by, as the four continue traversing the landscape. As the sun nears setting,

Kassius: "Yo. Can you guys see that? All the way ahead."

Kaizen: "Yes I can. That must be it, right?"

Arnold: "Should be."

Kassius: "Race you there!"

Kaizen: "Hey! Wait up!"

Kassius and Kaizen run towards the site.

After walking closer, they arrive at Canant. Canant is an "oasis" rest stop. It has a food court, a bar, a petrol pump, a motel, a large parking lot and a small shop. The road that leads to it, ends at it. The group walk passed the petrol pump point.

Kassius: "Alright. What's the plan?"

Arnold: "Should we ask around about the bandits?"

Kaizen: "That's probably a good idea. The locals might have useful information."

Bonnie: "Can we eat first? We haven't eaten properly all day."

Kaizen: "Will we not need to pay?"

Bonnie: "No. We'll just steal the food."

Arnold: "Let's not do that. We're trying to not grab attention. Especially now that both Kassius and I are wanted criminals. We'll wait out here. You two can go in. And pay this time."

Bonnie: "Fine. Let's go Kai. You guys want anything?"

Kassius: "Just get me what you get."

Arnold: "The same."

As Kaizen starts walking away.

Kaissus: "Whoa. Stop. Give me your bat."

Kaizen: "Why?"

Kassius: "You'll scare the workers here. They might think you're a thug."

Kaizen: "Ahhh. Got it."

Kaizen hands Kassius the bat.

Kaizen: "Keep good care of it."

Bonnie and Kaizen walk into the restaurant. They see quite a few travelers inside.

Bonnie: "Which one should we try?"

Kaizen: "Maybe the bar. I heard somewhere bartenders always have a lot of knowle- what the-"

Kaizen looks in the distance and sees Bonnie already at the counter.

Kaizen: "Alright then."

Kaizen walks to the bar and sits at the counter. The bartender facing the other way, continues with what he's doing.

Bartender: "Slow day. Almost went the whole shift without a single customer. And... voila! A special."

Kaizen: "Oh. I don't have mo-"

Bartender: "Don't worry. This one is on the house."

Kaizen: "Really? Thank you."

Kaizen starts drinking it.

Bartender: "So what brings you to Canant? Sight seeing? Perhaps you wish to travel the desert? Truth be told, it's mostly silent around these parts."

Kaizen: "I actually want to ask about something. Have you heard of the black sand bandits?"

Bartenders: "I have."

Kaizen: "Could you tell me what you know about them."

Bartender: "Well, I know that they're a small criminal organisation. Small in numbers, I mean. Pretty well known around the continent."

Kaizen: "Do you know anything about where they are?"

Bartender: "That's an odd question. Who do you work for?"

Kaizen: "No, I'm um..."

Bartender: "Relax, I'm just teasing. The ACO says they're unaware of the base of operations."

Kaizen: "I see."

Bartender: "But... a while back, a group of travelers went in the desert. A few days later, only one had returned, screaming at the top of his lungs 'Bandits!' Unfortunately for us, he died on arrival from major dehydration. Makes you wonder what happened out there."

Kaizen: "You think it could've been the black sand bandits?"

Bartender: "What I think, is that you should avoid delving further into this for your own safety."

Kaizen: "Hmm..."

Bonnie: "Kai! Let's go. I got the food."

Kaizen: "Coming! Um, thank you for the drink."

Bartender: "No problem. Enjoy your journey."

Outside, Kassius and Arnold are seated outside on a bench next to the parking lot.

Arnold: "How long do you think they'll be in there for?"

Kassius: "A few more minutes hopefully. I'm starving. Hmm?"

Kassius turns and sees a man approaching slowly, limping from the edge of the parking lot.

Man: "Help..."

Kassius: "Is he-"

The man falls to the ground.