All’s Fair...
Luna had woken earlier, but decided not to move. Starstep was still laying on her side in a deep slumber, and she didn’t want to disturb him. After learning about his history, she thought he deserved an easy life.
Using her magic, she gently lifted him up and removed her foreleg from underneath him. She flew up silently and got over to the floor. Looking back, she got a good look at Starstep’s face. She giggled. “You look ridiculous.” she said. His jaw was slack with drool pooling under his face, his legs were in a strange mess that on one could do when awake, and he looked like he had bedhead everywhere.
She began to make her way toward the balcony to lower the moon. As she exited her door, she looked around. No one was to be seen. Content not to have to talk to anyone, she trotted to the balcony. The whole way, she was thinking about everything of late. Starstep’s being a war hero, Ryan going after the bad guys... it was a lot. “Ryan has a big journey ahead of him.” she thought. “He and Harris are going to be fighting a small army at least. And that man, Narendra... something is off about him.” She had sensed it when she first saw him. “I have a feeling that he isn’t what he seems.” Deciding it was too early, she started thinking about Starstep. “I wonder where he keeps that Crest?” she wondered. “I never see him where it, and he doesn’t have a home to live in...” That last thought gave her pause. “Wow. He doesn’t live anywhere.” she realized. “He just keeps on duty all the time.” He must keep all his stuff in storage. Luna thought for a moment. “I know! I’ll let him keep his stuff in my chambers!” She was proud of herself for thinking of him. “He practically lives there anyway.” she thought.
She was approaching the balcony, where she saw her sister. “Good morn, sister.” she said. Celestia yawned.
“Morning.” she said. Luna looked at her closely; she was in the same state as Starstep.
“You look...” Luna giggled. “good, this morning, sister.” Celestia looked over with one eye half lidded.
“Yes...” Something had tired her immensely. Luna began to lower the moon.
“What has made you this way?” she asked. Celestia sighed, a long, exaggerated sigh.
“The leader of the Southern Griffon Colonies came last night. He wouldn’t accept speaking to you, so I had to show up.” Luna nearly faltered with the moon.
“What?” she nearly yelled. Celestia flinched, so Luna lowered her voice. “Why?” Celestia sighed again.
“The old soldiers, of the previous government? They are causing trouble. Taking prisoners, ransoming them, ransacking villages... Being trouble.” Luna frowned. She finished the moon lowering.
“Why would they tell us this?”
Celestia began concentrating heavily on the sun, but she still spoke. “They believe it to be our fault. We deposed the old government, who seems to make up this insurgency. Therefore, it seems,” Celestia added a mocking voice. “that ‘we created the dangerous group in their territory, so we have to deal with it.’ Ugh.” She was finished.
“And what did you tell him?” Luna asked, anxious to hear her sister’s words.
“I told him,” she began. “that he should get off his lazy rump and stop depending on us for everything.”
Luna smiled and yelled out, “Ha!” Her sister once again flinched.
Seeing her trouble, Luna aided her sister with the sun. “Thank you. For the help and the support.” Celestia said. “I am just so tired of them, coming to us with all their problems. They’re their own nation, they can solve their own problems.” Luna nodded. After finishing the sun, Celestia turned to face her little sister. “I’m going to tell you something. But you cannot, CANNOT, tell Starstep.” Luna frowned, but nodded. “I believe that these insurgents may have some of Starstep’s old team.” Luna gasped loudly, then held her own mouth shut.
“Really?” she asked. Celestia nodded. “We must go and rescue them!” she blurted.
Celestia shook her head. “We can’t. These griffons are far too strong for any conventional soldiers, and...” Luna saw hesitation. She grew impatient quickly.
“And..?” she asked.
Celestia continued. “We have no soldiers to carry out these missions any more.”
Luna’s jaw practically hit the ground. “Why would we not have any?” she almost yelled, barely controlling herself. Celestia shook her head. “After the battle, when news of Starstep’s team got out, no one would sign up. Too dangerous. So, once most of the members retired, the rest were put back into conventional forces. Now, all of them are retired, as they clearly didn’t enjoy the life of conventional troops.” Luna looked down in disappointment.
“So, there’s no one to save those stallions?” she asked. Celestia shook her head.
“No. And I lost all my sleep last night to this.” She turned to go back to her chambers. “I’m sorry for all of them. I can’t help but think it’s my fault...” She walked back inside, leaving Luna sitting on the balcony.
Luna made her way back to her chambers, only to find an awake Starstep at her door. “Morning, your highness.” he said tiredly. Everyone was tired this morning, it seemed, even if it was early.
“Good morning.” Luna replied. She remembered what she thought about earlier. “Please, come inside.” Saluting, Starstep followed Luna inside.
Luna sat down by the fireplace. “Please, sit.” Starstep sat across from her. The fire lit up suddenly by magic, causing their shadows to dance behind them. “Do you have anywhere that you live, away from the palace?” she asked. She pulled over a tea set from the corner, using her magic to heat it up. Pouring two cups, she floated one over to her guard.
“No, ma’am.” he replied, almost proudly with a bit of shame, if that’s possible. “I just stay on duty.” Luna nodded and sipped her tea.
“Where do you keep your things?” she asked. Starstep took a sip.
“I don’t have much,” he said. “but I keep what I do have in Canterlot Storage.” Luna took all this in.
“Does this cost you much?” she asked. Starstep shrugged and took another sip.
“A decent amount, but I get a discount for being a Royal Guard. It’s not too much.”
Luna set down her cup. “Well, since you basically live here, why don’t you just keep your things in my quarters?” she offered. Starstep’s eyes opened suddenly. This was unexpected for him.
“Umm, alright.” he said, setting down his tea. “That sounds nice.” Luna stood and smiled.
“Well, then. Let’s go get your things and bring them here.”
Starstep stood up with her. “Okay.” he said, still a little surprised.
They left the palace and made their way through town to the storage facility. Occasionally, they would get strange looks, but by-and-by, no one seemed to care that much. “You know, ponies used to bow whenever royalty passed.” Starstep commented. “Nowadays, there are so many snobs up here.” Luna nodded.
“I understand this well. Remember when I kicked them out of my court?” Starstep chuckled.
“Yep.” They continued walking to the facility, making small talk all the while.
After some time walking, they found themselves at the base of a massive building. “Here it is.” Starstep announced. The front doors were moderately sized, and there were dozens of windows. There seemed to be at least eight floors.
“Let’s get in there and retrieve your stuff.” Luna replied. They entered.
As they approached the front desk, the pony did not look up. “Can I help you?” she asked rudely.
“We would like to retrieve Starstep’s things.” Luna replied. The desk clerk scrambled at hearing Luna’s voice.
“Y-yes ma’am!” she said. hurriedly. She rushed over to a door and unlocked it with a key around her neck.
“Starstep can show you the way.” she said. Luna and Starstep walked past her, giving “Thank you”s as they passed.
“What do you suppose that was about?” Luna asked. Starstep laughed.
“She was there when you told off those snobs in court!” he yelled. Luna found herself laughing as well. “What are the odds?” Starstep calmed himself.
After something like ten minutes of walking, they finally got to Starstep’s locker. It had a very small door compared to some of the others around it; its doors were sized normally, whereas others had huge double doors. “Here it is.” Starstep said nonchalantly, sticking his key in the door and pushing it open. Luna walked in first, eager to see what was inside.
There was very little. The room itself went maybe ten feet back, and was six feet wide. Luna stopped. “You don’t keep much, do you?” she commented. Starstep came in from behind her.
“Naw, no reason to. I rarely come here, anyway. It’s all just old stuff.” Starstep went to the back and pressed a button on the wall. “A carriage should arrive soon. We’ll put the stuff in it, and I’ll bring it out.” Luna nodded and started to rummage around, neatly organizing things that she found.
In particular, she was looking for the Crest of Valor. In regard to Starstep’s history as a soldier, she found lots of other stuff. One thing was an unaltered photo of him and his team, the same one that was in the book. No faces were crossed off on this one. It didn’t really matter, though, as they were mostly wearing some form of cover on their faces. Starstep, or Mustang, in the photo, was one of the three that didn’t. The other two were labeled as Blazer and Warlander. The three of them were sitting together, smiling devilishly at the camerapony. After setting that into a special area, she found his old armor. It was badly damaged, completely unusable. There were multiple severe dents, and even several holes in the sides. Luna swallowed hard thinking about what that might have been. After that, she found several uninteresting items that he likely got more recently.
Then, something struck her eyes. It was a small piece of paper, neatly tucked away in a shelf. Luna looked over at Starstep, who was doing something else at the other wall. Unable to resist, Luna picked up the paper, unfolded it, and read it.
It was a letter.
Dear Mama,
Hey! I just thought I’d send you a letter, tell you I’m doing fine. I just finished my training- I’m a Nighthawk! I managed to complete the training, and I’m only twenty, one of the youngest ever! I hope you’re proud of me.
Unfortunately, I won’t get a chance to head home. The Griffons of the South are attacking, and we have to go down and help push them back. Don’t worry; I’ll be fine. I’ve been trained by the best to be the best. And the salary is pretty good, too. I can finally take us on one of those vacations those snobby higher-ups in Canterlot always talk about. Won’t Blueblood be surprised when a servant and her son show up on a float in the Royal Parade?
I wish I could write more, I’ve missed you a lot for the last year. Can you believe it’s only been a little over a year since we last saw each other? It feels like so much longer. It’ll be so nice to see you when we go home. Anyway, I can’t wait to see you. My teammate, Starstep, said he would deliver this to you. He’s a good STallion; with him by my side, nothing can go wrong!
I can’t wait to see you again for the first time!
Love,
Dusty
AKA: Blazer
After reading the letter, Luna thought for a moment. “Wait... this says that Starstep was to deliver this...” It settled in, and Luna muffled a gasp. “He still has it...”
Still looking down at it, she was startled out of her trance by a hoof poking her side. “Ahh!” she shouted. She looked to her left, laying her eyes on a very sad looking Starstep.
“That goes with the other old things.” he said. Luna looked into his eyes. They were growing wet, and a single tear streamed down his left cheek. He turned around and picked up some other things.
Luna set the letter on top of everything else. She wasn’t about to ask him why he still had the letter. It looked too painful.
A few minutes later, the small carriage arrived. They must have known what Starstep had, because they only sent a little cart for him. Silently, the two loaded everything onto the cart and went off down the hall. It had become somewhat awkward between them. Starstep clearly did not want Luna to read that letter. He said nothing though, only acted like it never happened. By the time they reached the front desk, Starstep had regained his composure. “I won’t be needing your services any more.” he said to the desk clerk. She looked up indignantly, but quickly changed her countenance when she saw Luna. “Cancel my payments, remove my name from everything, and tell the other users to buck themselves.” he said with authority. The desk clerk stepped backwards, obvious offense having been committed. Not seeming to care, Starstep turned around and practically stomped out.
Not wanting to stick around, Luna trotted out after him. “What was that?” she asked perplexed. Starstep did not turn.
“These ponies treat me like dirt. I get shoved aside and they always disrespect me, like I’m some grime that they want cleaned up. Well, buck them til’ their backs break, cuz’ I won’t give them my time to do it myself. I’d rather be doing my job, even if it gets me this.” Luna was fine until his last statement.
“Your job gets you this?” she asked incredulously.
“They think I enjoy hurting others, that I like fighting. They don’t KNOW this, yet this is what they believe.” Luna felt terrible for him. He must have been putting up with this for years, ever since the battle.
Then, she realized something. “I never found the Crest!” she thought. He wasn’t keeping it in storage. So where was it?
Luna kept thinking about this as she and her guard walked in silence back to the palace. Nothing she could think of came even close to making any sense. “Where would he possibly be able to keep it?” she wondered.
Before she knew it, they were back at the door to her chambers. With the cart still on him, Starstep went to open the door. “No, I’ll get it.” Luna said. Starstep said something incoherent with the cart being pulled with his mouth. Using her magic, Luna opened the doors and led Starstep in. “Put it anywhere for now. We’ll sort it out later.” Starstep dropped his stuff.
“Sure thing, your highness.” He turned around. “I’ll be right outside, as always.” He left and closed the door.
Luna looked at his pile of stuff. Should she go through it, see if he may have gotten the crest? Sure. She trotted over and quickly glanced around the cart. Still no crest. “Where could he have it?” she wondered. Making a face, she turned around and thought about what she would do for the rest of the day.
Ryan! She had completely forgotten him!
Luna sprinted to her library and down her staircase. Once down there, she immediately went to the pool. Looking in, she saw an image of Ryan, twirling a big knife in his hands.
*************************************************************************earlier*******
Ryan and Harris had managed to find a guy who actually spoke some english shortly after leaving the restaurant. There are more of those people than one would think. After, they got him to help them charter a boat to take them to Malaysia. Only with the offer of some money did the two men agree to do it and be quiet about it.
So, here they were now, sitting inside an old, motor-powered fishing boat, heading off to Malaysia The boat ride was said to take roughly two hours with the boat they were in, so Harris felt like getting some extra sleep that Ryan “stole from him”, he had said. Ryan couldn’t sleep; the people just came right back at him. How many had he killed? Thirteen, or so? They all haunted him. Even if they were bad, Ryan couldn’t make them go away.
Discord was quite similar. No matter what Ryan said to him, Discord would just laugh and say, “What fun is there in making sense?” At times, saying that didn’t even make sense. Maybe that was the point?
He sat on the floor, trying to think about anything that would help him ignore Discord. He thought about home, about his friends and family. They probably missed him. “Do they even know I’m missing?” he wondered. Avoiding that path, Ryan took out his weapons and took a look at them. His P22 and M1911 were fine. But something seemed to be missing. Thinking back, Ryan thought about other weapons he had gotten his hands on. He used the fork to fight that one guy who had the knife...
“The knife!” Ryan exclaimed. Harris stirred. “The knife! Where is it?” Ryan wondered. After taking it off the guy, he forgot where he left it. For all he knew, it could have landed on the ground somewhere.
Ryan cursed at himself. He liked that knife; it looked like it could serve him well. While he cursed himself, Discord came back around. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked, almost smugly.
“I lost the knife that I took off that guy from the basement. Must have fallen out of my pocket.” Ryan sighed heavily and drooped his head between his knees. Discord chuckled.
“Well, do I have a surprise for you?” he said. Ryan looked up. In his hand, Discord held the KaBar knife.
“You have it!” he yelled. Harris stirred some more. Ryan lowered his voice. “When did you get it?” he asked. Discord puffed his chest pridefully.
“I took it from you before you and Harris got into the van with the other prisoners. I figured you might lose it, so I took it. Now, I’m giving it back, since you remember it.” Actually, he just forgot that he had it. Ryan took it from Discord’s hand.
“Thanks.” Ryan said gratefully.
Discord had taken a good look at the knife while he had it. It wasn’t exactly a kitchen knife; one side was a complete blade, the other had a sharp edge on the last two inches. It was a weapon used for fighting. “So, do you have any idea how to use that thing?” Discord asked. He had never seen a knife that big used for fighting. Ryan nodded.
“Yeah. My Karate teacher’s sensei was a Marine in Vietnam. He learned Isshinryu while he was stationed in Okinawa, and learned knife fighting while he grew up in the Philippines. Everything I learned has come from his, directly or indirectly.” Discord didn’t know where these places were, but figured that a Marine had to be some kind of warrior. Rather than ask any questions, Discord accepted Ryan’s saying that he knew how to fight with the knife. “I learned knife fighting from his personally.” This kid seemed to have quite a battle oriented skill set. This would be most useful.
Discord had some other questions now that he wanted answered. Not sure of how to approach his questions, he just went with a direct approach. “Why do you seek these skills?” he asked. Ryan looked up. “What reason did you have initially for wanting to be capable of these things?”
Ryan shrugged. “I’ve been a martial artist since I was less than four years old. Started in November, ‘99. Still a practicing student. I started because it looked like fun.” He shrugged again and looked at the knife in his hands.
“But why continue, when you eventually understood exactly what you were learning?” Discord asked.
Ryan looked back up. “I have always had fun at my Karate classes. But it’s more than that. I owe everything that I can be and am, mostly, now, to martial arts. It gave me discipline, patience, and control. If I hadn’t studied Karate for so long, I would have already made a reckless decision that would have gotten me killed. My entire life is from Isshinryu; it is part of what defines me.” Discord barely understood him.
“So, learning to fight and even kill is part of you?” he asked disapprovingly. Ryan looked contemplative, then shrugged yet again. He put the knife in a compartment on the vest.
“No. The discipline and control is a part of me. As for the skills, I learn them for self defense. I want to be able to protect myself and those around me.” He crossed his arms. “Isn’t that why we’re doing what we’re doing, Discord?” Discord frowned. Ryan had him cornered in this argument, as far as he could see.
“I suppose it is.” he replied.
Discord grew bored soon after and left the boat without a word. Ryan just sat in his place, twirling the knife in his hands.
“Good afternoon, Ryan.” came a feminine voice from off to the side.
“Took your sweet time, eh?” Ryan replied. He came off as annoyed, but wasn’t really.
“Sorry. Problems at home and friends needing some help kept me today.” Luna explained.
“Ah-eet.” Ryan said dismissively. Luna figured it meant something like ‘alright’, and chose that as the meaning.
“I see you have a new tool.” she commented.
Ryan held up the knife for her to see. “Yeah. KaBar knife. Useful for all sorts of things.” He put it back down. Luna walked over to him and sat.
“Well, you are on a boat, now.” she observed unnecessarily. “I guess you’re off to Malaysia?” she asked. Ryan nodded.
“Should be there pretty soon.” As if on cue, the boat driver used his boat whistle to signify that he could see land. “Very soon.”
Ryan stood up and walked past Luna onto the deck of the boat. He wasn’t worried about being stopped; with so many fishing vessels; one could see dozens on the water; no one would care about this one. Luna joined him. “So, here we are.” she said. “From here on, there will be no more boat travel. All by land.” she turned to him. “It isn’t going to be easy.” she said. Ryan shook his head.
“Doesn’t matter. As long as my goal is attained, nothing else matters.” He said this with such resoluteness that it made Luna uneasy.
“Yes,” she replied, looking at him sideways. “Nothing else.” Her voice was trailing away as she spoke.
Ryan was about to go back into the boat to get Harris when another boat honked its horn and came right at them. Ryan looked at it, alarmed, worried that they were the men he was looking for. If so, he was screwed. “No, no, no, no, no...” They approached.
There were three men on the front of the boat, all armed with what looked like Spectre M4 submachine guns. Odds are, they were some sort of customs guys. “Crap.” Ryan thought. Luna looked panicked. “Relax, they’re not gonna kill us.” Ryan said, heading straight for Harris to wake him. Once inside, he shook Harris into consciousness. “Harris!” he shouted. Harris’ eyes shot open. “C’mon, get up! We have customs guys coming to check us!” Harris looked scared.
“Oh, no...” he said. Ryan turned and ran back onto the small deck. The other boat was right there.
“Hentikan bot anda dan tinggal di mana anda berada!” he shouted. Ryan threw his hands up.
“Please, we’re just tourists! We mean no harm!” One of the agents seemed to know english.
“Just stay there! We are coming to you!” He seemed like he was trying to reassure Ryan, but something was off about how he said that.
The other boat got right up next to them, and the three armed men got onto the deck where Ryan was. Two of them pointed their guns at him. “Turunkan senjata anda.” the english-speaking one ordered. The two men lowered their weapons. “What brings you here, traveler?” he asked. “Do you have a passport?”
Ryan had several options here. He could lie in a number of ways, which could backfire terribly. In that case, they would probably be sent home, and the Haqqani Network would get to keep doing what they were doing for a while, before international intervention. That could take a long time, enough that a lot of people would suffer. Or, he could tell the truth, and he and Harris would be taken to a station in Malaysia, where they would await a chance to be sent home. But they would also have much less security that way. It would mean they could escape. But then, they would be thought to be liars, and would be wanted by the Malaysian government for questioning. This could go horribly awry. Or, he could fight these guys, and probably be shot, leaving Harris to fend for himself.
Ryan opted to risk the truth. “My friend and I,” he said, pointing to Harris, who was coming onto the deck. “we just escaped from some human traffickers. They kept us in Sumatra, so we figured the best option of escape was Malaysia.” The guy before him looked stunned; his jaw hung down and his hands dropped to his sides.
“Well.” he said. “This was unexpected.” He said something to his men, then yelled to the driver of Ryan’s boat, “Kami akan mengambil mereka sekarang!” The driver seemed quite happy.
Ryan and Harris were taken off their boat and loaded onto the Customs boat. Ryan just assumed it was customs, because that seemed appropriate. Luna followed close behind, and Discord just kept floating above them. The boat was pretty big, plenty of room. Harris sat down next to Ryan on a bench. “What’s going on?” he asked. Ryan leaned in and whispered.
“Listen to the whole thing; I told them the truth. Once we’re wherever they take us, we’ll run away. Steal a car, bike, or just run, I don’t know or care. We just have to get away from them. Then, we make our way north to Cambodia through Thailand.” Harris took it all in without any noise. Once Ryan finished, he spoke up.
“This is risky.” he said. Ryan shook his head.
“I know, but it’s the best option we have. Just stick together, like we promised. It’ll go fine.” Harris silently hoped that it would.
Luna seemed optimistic about the plan. “I think that this should work fine.” she said with a smile. “You’re skilled. You’ll get away.” Mostly, she just wanted to make sure that Ryan truthfully believed it would work.
“I hope my skills are enough.” He looked down at his vest. For whatever reason, these guys didn’t think they needed to take them. Two armed boys and they weren’t worried? It seemed off.
Once on land, it was a quick trip to the station where they would be staying. The Customs guys had a nice little office. A small living area, some desks, other things you would find in an office. On the way, Ryan had looked out the window of the car they were transported in. The places they passed weren’t the nicest of places. There were small craters all over. “What are those craters?” Ryan asked. The english speaking guy was driving. “Mines, left over from World War Two. They’re still active, and blow up randomly sometimes.” That anyone had to live in such dangerous conditions would have appalled Ryan. But that was before.
At the office, the english speaking guy led Ryan and Harris to another room, and left his men outside, almost like guards. Luna and Discord walked right past them, of course. They even stood next to each other. “Alright.” the Customs agent said. “I know that you’re lying to me.” Ryan swallowed hard.
“Sir-” he was cut off.
“You.” the man said to Harris. “Wait outside.” Harris quickly exited, glad to be out of there. Discord followed. “I know that you’re only telling me part of the truth.” He leaned back and put his feet on his desk. “Sir, please, I’m not-” he was cut off by a hand in the air. “You are going after these traffickers, no?” Ryan swallowed again. He had lots of cards to play, but chose to play the truth again.
“Yes.” The man nodded slowly.
“And where are you heading exactly?” he asked.
Ryan answered, “Cambodia, and possibly Vietnam.” The truth was getting riskier and riskier. The man nodded again.
“I think I know why.” He leaned forward and motioned with his finger for Ryan to lean it. Not wanting to miss out, Luna got close. “You’re American. You’re going after traffickers and terrorists. I know exactly what you are.” He leaned back again. “And I’m glad to have such men around.”
Ryan was caught completely off guard by this. Because he was American and fighting a group of terrorists, this guy was assuming that he was Special Forces. Just like the other guy from the restaurant.
“Thank you.” Now was the time to lie.
“So, what branch are you, exactly?” he asked. He still seemed to want proof of some sort. Ryan thought fast; SEAL Team Six would be too easy a choice.
“First Special Forces Operational Detatchment-Delta, US Army, JSOC.” he said. He needed a high up unit. The man looked impressed.
“Good.” he said. It didn’t seem like he entirely knew what it was. Maybe that was what he wanted?
Ryan breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He could hardly believe his luck. Karma worked nicely sometimes; it payed back its dues.
The man got up and walked over to a closet. “Is there anything you’ll need for your mission?” he asked. Fate was favoring Ryan today.
“We’ll need a car to head north. We have to go through Thailand. We’ll also need food and water.” The man nodded and opened the cabinet. It had plenty of supplies in it, and he pulled out some food and water. “Thanks.” Ryan said as the man handed it to him. This must have been why they didn’t take Ryan’s weapons away. This guy must have suspected this from early on.
The man handed him a pair of keys. “Take the van outside up to the border and leave it. I’ll need it back later.” Ryan nodded and took the keys. “Good luck.” the man said, extending his hand. Ryan took it and shook it firmly.
“Thank you.” he replied. With that, he left the room and retrieved Harris.
Harris shot up as Ryan approached. “Let’s go.” he ordered authoritatively. Without a word, Harris followed.
“So, what’s happening?” he asked.
Ryan held up the keys for him to see. “We’re getting their car.” he said smugly. Harris could hardly believe his ears.
“How did you do that?” he asked. Ryan chuckled a bit.
“I got them to thinking that we’re from Delta Force.” he said. Harris’ jaw fell. “They were very accomodating. Even gave us supplies.” he said, referencing the food and water in his arms. “Now let’s go.”
Luna came up behind as Ryan and Harris approached the van. “Ryan.” she said. Ryan looked back, then turned to Harris.
“Harris, get her started up. You have more driving experience than me.” He tossed Harris the keys and went behind the van, where no one could see him. “Yeah?” Ryan asked. Luna stepped forward.
“What are you going to do when you reach the border? You won’t exactly have transportation when you cross it.” Ryan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. “We aren’t going to leave it, Luna.” he said. “We’re keeping it.” Luna looked at him a moment.
“But, you said-” she was cut off.
“I lied. People have a tendency to do that here. Besides, I think that they can probably afford a new car, whereas the people we’re saving can’t exactly buy back their lives.” Luna couldn’t argue this point.
“So, you’re just going to steal from people until you accomplish your goal? Will you ever repay their kindness?” she asked. Harris smacked the side of the van.
“Yo, let’s go!” he shouted.
Ryan pushed himself off the side of the van. “All’s fair in love and war.” he said. Ryan went around the side of the car and hopped in.
Luna immediately jumped up onto the top of the van. She could hardly believe that Ryan would just use people like that. He had changed so much, and so quickly. “All’s fair in love and war.” It echoed in her head. She kept thinking about the statement, trying to wrap her head around it. Eventually, she understood. It meant that only the winner decides what is fair; whatever they did was fair, whatever their opponent did was not. So, indeed, all really was fair in love and war.
“I must leave now.” she quickly told Ryan. Before he could reply, she disappeared from his world once again, bringing one piece of wisdom with her that she did not have before; History is determined by the winner.
Discord was still floating above the boys, who were now driving north to Thailand. Discord heard Ryan talking to the nonexistent person before getting in the van. He wasn’t going to return the car, and he really didn’t seem to care. Discord couldn’t help but maybe feel slightly uneasy at Ryan’s actions. “This is the first time I’ve ever been uncomfortable with not knowing the future.” he thought. “But I guess I’ll just go with it and hope for the best.”
Deciding to play it by ear, Discord floated silently after the two boys as they drove into the unknown.