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He clicked his tongue, resting his weapon of choice back on his shoulder. His partner in crime took off running before he joined him just behind.
“You won’t get away like thaaaat~!!! Hahahaha!!!!” Placer laughed as he darted through the 12th District alleys with ease. The home field advantage.
The victim of unfortunate luck continued to push his entire body to the limit, running from the demons of the Ground and fleeing as his life depended on it. He knew. He knew it did. The hunted looked back to see men with light blue and pink hair gaining on him by the half-seconds. He shrieked, feeling his windpipe give up where he couldn’t. He couldn’t breathe as he pushed himself further and further, the weight of his wallets heavy in his pockets.
“Please,” he pleaded breathlessly, “I just want to go ho--!”
“NOPE!” Placer yelled, slicing the back of his target with a swing of his sickle. A tint of blood covered his blade’s edge, the red substance flying everywhere as Kokujohyako’s latest victim choked and stumbled. With uneven footing, the man had yet to fully suffer his wound and continued to make a break for freedom.
He found himself in a cross-section of three alleys, making an unfortunate stop to choose his direction. He hissed and whimpered in pain; adrenaline fading fast; unable to ignore it any longer. He tried to turn around and feel the gigantic gash across his back, and was met with the damp feeling of his shirt wet with blood, absorbing it to no avail.
The pink-haired demon sat back, watching what came next from a distance for now and making sure that both the north and south were blocked with Placer’s help.
“You don’t get to go home to your new house and new family that you bought with all of your hoarded money!” Placer clung to his weapon tighter, smiling all the while as he taunted his prey. “It’s not fair~. You took all that money by lying, when we’re starving and dying~. We need it! We need it more than you~.”
“I-... I just made some investments--!”
Excuses. All it took from the leader of the pack was one swipe of his axe and the man’s stomach was open and bleeding. Blood coated the alleyway as the ‘investor’ choked on his words.
“Ghhaa--!! S--... So strong… You-... You’re a monster…!” The injured meekly spoke as he held his middle, forced to stare up at his attacker as part of his face remained hidden.
His brows were pinched downward and a dark tint lingered in his eyes. His target knew he would be looking down upon him even if he could stand upright.
“Oh, yeah,” Vida’s voice dripped with confidence. “I tend to leave some damn good marks.”
Placer chuckled as he flashed a crooked grin, turning and tightening his hands on the staff of his makeshift scythe. Vida lowered his head as he curled his fingers around the shaft of his weapon that sat on his shoulder. The two of them could smell fear mixed with a faint metallic taste. With two routes blocked, the victim did the only thing he could…
With a high-pitched shriek, their target took off, clutching his stomach with his blood-soaked arms. He moved as fast as possible; half the speed from before as he ran down the alleyway that remained.
“You won’t get awaayyy!!” Placer shouted enthusiastically, taking off with a start. His weapon was clenched tight in his hands as he longed to use it -- only to have a red jacket and a hand covered with a fingerless glove block him.
“No.”
“Wh--?! Viiida! What’re you doing?! He’s gonna get away!!”
Vida’s gaze found Placer’s as he scoffed, a peak of a smirk visible.
“Really? You’d think I’d let walkin’ money get away? Please.”
With his wallets in his jacket pockets, the investor made his escape, breathing with all his might as he huffed and puffed. He made his way to the end of the alleyway -- to have his heart fall into his stomach. He yelped as he skidded against the decayed land he kicked up, trying to stop.
“Once you enter this place, we’ll take everything.” Vida spoke lowly. “There’s no escape.”
Red jacket, dusty red hair, a smirk on his face as he held his sword behind his back. The paths filled with Horca’s shout as he brought his sword down.
A satisfying thud could be heard between the rotted out buildings as the body of a dead man fell to the ground. Placer stood with his jaw hanging open before Vida pulled his hand back. The younger man behind him grinned and ran towards his brethren.
“Horcaaa!! Nice kill!!” The two met in the middle and exchanged a high five.
“Well. I’m just doing as the leader asked.” Horca spoke earnestly as said leader walked up. Before Horca could investigate their latest kill, Vida gave his nod of approval.
“Good one, Horca. Knew I could rely on you to stop the bastard.”
“Yep. You can always count on me.” Horca agreed proudly before allowing himself to dig into blood-soaked clothes, tainting his hands even more red. Despite the morbid stickiness, he dug through the remains to find the money the victim died and cheated for, holding it up as Kokujohyako’s prize with a toothy grin. Horca chuckled and, with a slight tilt downward of his leader’s head, knew Vida was smirking underneath his turtleneck.
“And how much we got,” he asked bluntly as Horca flipped through what was there, a smirk on his face that seemed to twitch at the edges. The accountant for the team held the money up with pride.
“‘Bout a years’ worth right here, if we play it carefully. Enough to feed us and get some more support if we need it.”
“Only that much? Tch, whatever. There’s plenty of other bastards to take from. Well, we’ll deal with that when we get there.” Vida’s sneakers scratched up the dead ground beneath him as he turned around with his axe over his shoulder. “Time to head back and rela--.”
“AH!!” Placer suddenly shouted, bouncing up before pointing excitedly towards the edge of the hill that was their vast deserted home. Down to the valley below. A body of water made itself home against the sand, glistening in the sunlight. Foliage that managed to grow into a small grouping of trees with some other greens sat along the water’s edges.
“There!! I told you it was real~” Placer teased, looking at his teammates with a childish grin.
“Hoh?” Vida responded fast, a brow raised. “Did we say we saw it, Placer?”
“It’s not one of those mirage things!! There!! There!! ”
Horca rested a hand over his sweatband, squinting against the sunlight to indeed see a sparkling pool of water with greenery over yonder. “No, Vida, I’m seeing it, too. Are we all dying of thirst, maybe?”
Vida shrugged in his red coat that was just a bit too big for him.
“Could be. But we can take care of that with our new prize. Let's go. Horca. Placer.”
The leader pivoted with his ankle, heading back deeper into the 12th District. He heard the rubble in the dirt crumble under his feet… and other footsteps, before an arm was around his shoulder.
“Hate to do this to you, Leader, but I’m vetoing your decision.” Horca spoke, facing him with a grin on his face.
“Haah? You’re what now? ”
Placer’s snickering could be heard behind him.
“Well, Placer did say that if he saw that oasis again and got to prove it was real that he wanted to check it out, so.”
Vida wasn’t given time to retort. Placer threw his arm around himself and Horca, knocking their bodies forward and threatening them to lose their balance. Vida kept the idiots upright, brows furrowed as he looked up between them both, sharp eyes blinking.
“Yeah, yeah! I wanna go, I wanna go~.”
It was two against one, and Vida suddenly felt pinned down. Wrapped up with smiles and pleading eyes on his left and his right. They had things to do at home, yet he still found himself lowering his head and sighing.
“... Fine. You guys can play in the water, if you want.”
Chuckling as Horca and Placer grinned down at him could be heard; along with whispers in the back of his mind hissing at the idea of leaving the 12th District.
With Placer eagerly jumping over every few steps the valley was cleared easily. The sun began to descend in the afternoon sky. They found shade from it thanks to the many palm trees that paid the oasis company. The trees bore fruit, so their empty and longing stomachs were filled with the delightful taste of ripe, juicy citrus.
Horca grunted and broke his meal in two easily with a satisfying squish of juices and skin. He helped himself to the first bite of something sweet and substantial after three months without. It was nice to not have to eat a rat after so long, as he savored the flavor and sat next to his blue-haired brethren.
He left Vida to his devices, as he leaned against the tree and ate his fruit whole. With a crunch, the fruit was skinned and he allowed the fluids to cover his mouth and slide down his chin, munching on it in solitude. But he was with them. That’s what mattered in Horca’s eyes.
“Nice, isn’t it?” Horca spoke, a smile on his face as Placer eyed the glittering water. “All this green, the sparkling water...”
“Kinda like stars, but in the daytime,” Placer answered, pulling his eyes away from the water to grin at his brother-in-arms. “Right, Horca?”
“You’re right on that,” the older one laughed, before taking a bite of his food. He humored Placer’s words as he let the crisp, fresh breeze blow around his jacket and hair. “Man, if only more days could be like this one. Do a bit of work, get good food in return.”
“Could we have days like this?” Placer asked almost innocently, Vida’s interest piqued as he turned his head their way. “Where we work, come down here…. maybe eat and sleep by the grass and the water. Under the stars!”
Vida humored it, for a moment. If they used the money for building materials, they could probably build a tiny place here. It wouldn’t be too far from--
His head was suddenly full of screaming. Shouts of abandonment. Yelling of betrayal and disrespect to his kind. His family. Their home.
An enthusiastic laugh escaped Horca, background noise. Horca beamed bright at Placer with shared hope. “You bet we--!”
Vida bit harshly into the center of his fruit. The juice squelched against his fanged maw as it dirtied his turtleneck and squished in the ears of his brothers. They could hear how his fruit was left as a husk of skin, and all conversation about a life alongside the oasis was stopped.
“... will come back more often.” Horca reassured Placer, patting his back in understanding. “It’s close by. We could easily do food runs here so we don’t have to rely on that paste from Ark making us sick when we find it.”
“That paste is sweet.” Placer mumbled before biting into his fruit again. “Thi’th f’uit’s bet’ur, tho’.”
“And we’ll have it whenever we come back from jobs this way. Gotta focus on the people back home, right?”
“Yeah,” Placer agreed, giving his brother a tired, but loving smile. “With you and Vida, we’ll always be okay.”
“That’s the spirit.”
Vida bid farewell to the idea of a water-side home. His brothers were static as all he heard were the loud whispers of the inescapable finality, circling in his head.
That place is your home. You live and you die there.
You will not abandon us.
He wouldn’t. As long as he breathed, he wouldn’t dare leave his family behind.