"Why do I... Keep helping him?" Koyuki asked herself. Soon, an angel came over to her.
"The Lord calls upon you." He said. Koyuki nodded.
'The last one, huh... I think I might actually miss him once he's gone, that crazy guy.' Koyuki thought as she walked out of her realm, a small cabin covered in snow.
...
'Let's see... What to do...' Alphonse thought to himself. 'I guess I should figure out where we are going, but... I don't really know if I can do that currently. The most I will be able to do is wait. For now, at least.' He continued.
He looked around and saw only woods and the animal trail which they were currently on. "So, why does the boss want the kid?" One of the men asked.
"Beats me, but if it means I can restore the honor I lost during our raid, then I will do what I can." Xiao Li said.
"Didn't the boss say that there were two survivors from the chief's family?" The other guy asked.
"I think so." The first responded.
"Will you two shut up!? Do you have no sense of informational importance and secrecy!?" Xiao Li asked with anger.
'Well, I guess I know why I was their target now...' Alphonse thought. Alphonse decided to remain silent during the remainder of the ride. Eventually, they reached a campsite with roughly ten people including the group that took Alphonse.
"Prepare the cage!" Xiao Li said as she entered the camp. The individuals quickly went to work. "We will be talking about how long it has taken you to do a five-minute task later, you insubordinate idiots!" She yelled. A few people flinched and a couple seemed to get nervous as they did their tasks.
A few minutes later, a metal cage similar in shape to a birdcage was presented in front of Xiao Li. The cage is around eight feet tall and six feet in diameter. Xiao Li put Alphonse in the cage.
"Bring me a message flame." Xiao Li said as she walked over to the fire pit and sat down. After a few moments, she was handed a piece of paper. She wrote something on it, then rolled it up and threw it in the air, where it unrolled itself and caught fire and burned from bottom to top with a light blue flame.
'Intriguing. I assume it is some form of teleportating message scroll.' Alphonse thought. 'I assume they're messaging this supposed boss of theirs.' He thought as he looked around.
"Kill the fire, we don't want any pursuers to find us because of the light or smoke!" Xiao Li said loudly.
"That is if they don't find us because of your voice." One of the men mumbled.
"Would you prefer they found us because of yours?" She asked with an annoyed tone as she cracked her whip.
"N-no..." He said. After a couple of minutes, the fire was gone and they had set up a watch cycle.
"So, just us and the prisoner. It'd be nice if it was a cute girl instead of this snotty brat." The man on Alphonse's left said.
"Oh shut it, do you have anything other than your non-existent love life on your mind?" The other asked.
"Point taken..." The first said.
"So..." Alphonse said. "Either of you two know why I'm here?" He asked hesitantly.
"Ever feel like the wind is talkin' to ya?" The second guy asked.
"Yeah, it's creepy." The first responded.
'I think it's safe to assume they were told to ignore me.' Alphonse thought to himself as he looked at the two men. "Will you two at least tell me what this boss of yours is like?" He asked.
"She's great, y'know? A bit brutal at times, bu- Agh!" The first guy exclaimed as his buddy elbowed him.
"Don't talk to him, he's trying to get information from you, ya idiot." His buddy said.
"Ah, r-right." He said awkwardly as he drifted into his thoughts.
...
"Min Li, hide your energy, they can likely sense it." Xiao Shi said as they moved around the site where Alphonse had been taken from.
"Right!" Min Li exclaimed quietly as she searched around for any hint as to where the kidnappers may have taken Alphonse. After a few moments, a patch of flattened grass caught her eye. "Leader Xiao Shi, I think I found an animal trail, they may have used it for traveling." She said.
Xiao Sh walked over and took a look. "You're right. It seems they sent amateurs, they aren't even hiding their energy signatures, then again, with Alphonse there, it'd be hard to hide." Xiao Shi said. "Let's go." He stated simply as he began speed-walking down the trail silently. Min Li nodded and followed him.
After several hours, the sun began to rise and Alphonse watched as the current watch went to the main tent. Within a second of them entering, screaming could be heard and soon the sound of dropping bodies. After a few moments, Xiao Shi walked out and began walking toward Alphonse.
"When did you...?" Alphonse began to ask in confusion.
"I entered from the back of the tent. The people inside have been tied up and will be brought back to the sect." Xiao Shi said. After another moment, he looked at Alphonse. "I should apologize." He said. "I was thinking about abandoning you since we had so few people at the sect. I apologize." Xiao Shi said sheepishly.
"N-no need to apologize... I probably would have done the same." Alphonse said. Xiao Shi nodded.
"Well, I should open this. Stand away from the door." Xiao Shi said. Alphons looked down at his ropes. "Right... I'll just break the lock then..." He said.