"Finally awake?" I hear Cay hum, before taking a large gulp of something that my eyes aren't open to see.
My lips feel super chapped and dry. Jesus Christ, how long was I out?
"Stop groaning, sheesh," Ruby yawns, and she's to the left of me. "You're already at our main base. Not like we're fighting anyone anymore."
The first words that come out of my mouth blurt out before I even know I'm saying them, "You guys are okay, right?"
My eyes widen, the events of however long ago flashing through my mind. I sit up, though a sharp pain bursts through my head.
"Crap, what happened while I was out?" I moan quietly, the sudden soreness setting in. I look over my arms, which feel like jelly, and see that there are a few new marks on there. Bruises, mainly.
"Cay accidentally hit your head on a pole we were walking by," Jae explains calmly. The cute boy—
Cute?!
Whatever...whatever...
Anyways, Cay puts his hands up in defense as I shoot him a glare as I rub my head to emphasize my point, "Hey, that's not completely my fault."
"Sure it is," Ruby snorts. "Anyways, you know we're at our main base already, so we'll show you a look around or something."
I slowly get up, gracing Cay's shoulder for support while my legs slowly wake up.
"Where'd you put my dress?" I squeak out, realizing what must've happened for me to see more skin and bandages rather than, you know, my clothes.
"You look as red as my hair," Ruby snickers, before pounding her chest. "Anyways, I was the one who changed you into the bandages that you're wearing now. Jae didn't want to, and I'm not letting Cay touch your clothes."
"You make it sound like he's into me," I mumble, blushing a little heavier.
"Oh, I am," Cay casually answers.
I flush heavily.
"U-Uh—" I stutter, not sure what words are trying to make their way out. "I-Is that w-why y-you call m-me Princess?"
"Nope," Ruby interrupts. "What, never had anyone think of you romantically?"
Jae hums, a light chuckle at his lips, "Maybe the Pure Soul's more pure than we thought."
"N-Nobody ever r-really thought of me as p-pretty, l-let alone attractive as...a-a girlfriend..." I admit shyly, glancing away. I feel my cheeks burn intensely, and I can't bring myself to look at Cay.
To my surprise, he hums, "I mean, if you don't want to, I'm not going to force you. I'll just have to worm my way into your heart, or whatever lovey-dovey crap's in those books."
My gaze snaps to him, "Huh?"
Ruby clicks her tongue, simpering, "Who knows, maybe you already have and she doesn't even know it."
My chest pounds, and I feel a sudden urge to cover my body a little more with the blanket.
"I-I h-haven't even had a f-friend around my age, though!" I squeak. "W-What about me would you be so interested in?!" There's incredulity in my voice, and for good reason.
He shrugs, "I dunno. You just seem pretty cool." He takes another swig of his drink, and I get a strong whiff of it.
It's apple juice.
I blush a little more as my stomach grumbles, "I'm not cool..." My voice is soft, and I don't even know where that came from.
"Says Ms. Barrier," Ruby scoffs. "How did you do that, anyways?"
I still shrug, "I...still don't know...Cay saw it when I was at the watchtower, but I still don't know how to control it..."
"Maybe it has something to do with him?" Jae hums. "Since he was there during both instances, it doesn't sound impossible."
Ruby points out, "Yeah, but she still kept it up after Cay left. We only saw it go down when she fell unconscious."
"Then it's probably something with her emotions," Cay hypothesizes, and I can't help but partially agree.
I don't need to tell them about the...blue phase where I saw all of their souls closely, do I?
"Oh!" Cay clicks his tongue. "That reminds me! Since you're at our actual base, we should probably show you around, right?"
I blink, "Don't you guys have a leader or something? I thought I'd meet like the face of some really...scary dude or something."
"Oh, we're the leaders," Ruby chuckles. "Guess we never properly introduced ourselves, did we?"
I gawk, "So why would you guys put yourself at danger for that stuff?!"
Jae huffs, "We're the Vultures. What are we supposed to do?" His hair covers his eyes, but I can tell there's a hint of mischievousness in his tone.
Cay smirks, "Leave nothing behind. We're scavengers, not birds meant to be locked in a cage."
Ruby continues, as if a mantra, "Let the light consume, and the dark loot the waste."
Jae finishes, "Truth is an illusion, hope is a fantasy; reality is that no stone goes untouched. We are that reality."
I blink, "Is that your sort of...creed mantra or something?"
Cay shrugs, "Just a code that we live by. Had to make it sound cool, though, so that people would get behind our cause."
"You said that 80 people are in the Vultures?" I recall, causing him to nod in pride. "How did you meet all of them?"
"Mm," Ruby shrugs. "Most of them came from the three of us just finding some schmucks on the street and then training them up."
"Honestly, we just became well-known for being looters and stealers, so a bunch of people don't like us. You know, since we don't just take it upfront. That's not our style," Cay hums. "Turns out, there were a bunch of people who were already doing that solo."
I cough, sniffling a little, "So...if this is your main base, is everyone else here?"
"Yep," Jae puts his knife back in its sheath. "Now, I don't know how you already forgot that Cay wants you, but that doesn't matter right now, anyways. Think about it, I guess."
Ruby snorts, grabbing onto her significantly taller boyfriend's shoulder, "Says the guy who waited four months to ask me out."
"At least I did it with actual effort," he humorously chuckles. "Not just said that I'm interested in you right to your face out of nowhere."
"And that's why I'm a better thief than you. Efficient," Cay snickers, before holding his hand out to me. "Well, Princess? You gonna meet our crew or just rot here?"
I gaze at his hand, and then him. I gulp.
I'm bad at this stuff. I know I am. I'm probably the worst person to make any sort of decision like this.
But either way, I make the gut decision to take his hand, and not grab his wrist.
~~~
"Uh...where are we?" I squeak as we enter a pretty large hall, with a sort of flame at the end.
"Huh?" Ruby hums, before clicking her tongue. "Oh, the initiation hall."
"Initiation?" I repeat. "Is there something that I have to do?"
"I mean, yeah," Jae hums, holding up his wrist. He moves it towards me, and I see a sharp scar on there. "All three of us drew blood in a similar area, so we just made it a tradition."
I gulp, before realizing something.
I don't really...know Jae. I've learned a bit about who Cay and Ruby are, but Jae? Not a thing.
And here I was, thinking that I was good at reading people.
"So, should I draw some blood?" I offer, walking up to this weird...bowl they have. "You just keep all the blood that's drawn in here?"
"Where else do we put it?"
I roll my eyes, clicking my tongue, "I dunno, maybe throw it out?"
"Smells."
"It smells here, too, idiot," Ruby snorts, nodding her head at a few of the people that she passes by. "So, we got a rusty knife. You wanna use that?"
I gulp, practically smelling the blade from where I'm standing. It's serrated, with a very intricate engraving. I reach for it, before my wrist pulls my arm back towards me.
"Is there...any alternative?" I grimace at the sight of the blade, practically taunting me.
"Nope," Cay yawns. "I got my knife, but right now, Princess, I don't wanna stain it with your blood."
I take a deep breath, my vision going blurry. I slowly reach for the knife.
It's light. Far lighter than I thought it'd be. It's a bit...too light. There's a little clink that I feel, and I realize that there's a chain connecting the knife to the bowl.
I glance inside the bowl. The blood that's inside it is mostly dried, but there's still a little bit in there that's still a liquid. How, I don't know.
I lift the knife up, glancing between it and my wrist.
I feel their eyes on me.
Cay expectantly looks at my eyes.
Ruby narrows her eyes, wary. It's like she's doubtful; she has good reason to, though.
Jae? He seems to accept it, like the result won't change anything.
Would Cay let me stay here if I didn't do this?
Would Ruby?
I take a sharp breath, closing my eyes. My heart is pounding, head whirling around in circles, and I feel the adrenaline rush within me.
A prick.
"Ho...ly...fuck!" I hiss, the pain scorching within me. I stare at the blood that spills from my wrist, and I see that I cut far, far deeper than I had to. Tears prick at my eyes, and I grab my wrist, dropping the knife in a panic. It lands on the table, thudding a little bit, but I couldn't care less.
"Yo, Princess, don't get it on your hair!" Cay frantically instructs, grabbing bunches of it and pulling it back. "Why'd you cut so deep?!"
"I don't know!" I stupidly hiss, not focusing on him enough. "Do you have like, anything that could work with this?!"
"I'll stitch you up," Ruby sighs, almost fed up. "Well, welcome to the Vultures, Mel. Anything you gotta say?"
"That was the most idiotic thing I've ever seen," Cay snorts. "You did not have to slash at yourself like a butcher."
"What was I supposed to do?!" I whimper, the energy leaving me. Instantly, the amusement leaves his voice.
"Sorry, sorry," he clicks his tongue. "C'mon, now. We gotta find a way for you to talk with the people up there, or something like that."
My eyes widen, my heart almost screaming out "No!" in a flash.
I can't go back up, not after all that!
I haven't even seen the world out here...
I don't know if it's safe. If it's safe for me to be here. For me to live here. I don't know if the others down here have heard the news about me falling down. About who I am.
And where I am.
I bite my lip, almost hard enough to draw blood again. Well, definitely not as much blood as my wrist is pouring out right now.
"You're going to fill up the bowl, Princess," Jae calmly informs. "We've gotta wrap that up."
I mouth to Jay, "Please don't take me back up there right now." My throat feels dry right now, but I couldn't care less.
His eyes narrow a little bit, and I don't get what was so wrong with what I said.
As the three of them walk me to another room, Cay grabs a few strands on my hair.
"Yo, does blood wash out of hair easily?"
Ruby snorts, "What, do you think it's impossible? We have all the stuff we need."
I blink. Is it really that bad?
"Y-You don't have to..." I mutter quietly, only loud enough to catch Ruby's attention.
She snorts, "Yeah, I've already got red hair. We can give you some sort of highlights, but you're not taking red from me."
The first words after that just fall out of my mouth, "Would...purple be okay?"
Cay warmly smiles, a sincere one without some sort of humor in it, "Yeah, of course, Princess. We'll get you whatever."
"Yep," Jae hums. "You're a Vulture now."