Chapter Text
The middle of the night had a way of flattening the world into shades of slate and shadow. High above the silent streets, Jae was cutting a slow, effortless arc through the cool air on his air skimmer sphere, the machinery humming a low, familiar tune beneath his boots.
He leaned into a gentle turn, scanning the sprawling, dim landscape below where nothing stirred except the occasional flicker of automated lights.
"Peace and quiet," he muttered, shaking his head slightly as the emptiness of the sector settled over him. "So boring."
He eased his weight onto the side of the sphere, banking into a wide, sweeping turn that carried him past the skeletal silhouette of an abandoned observation tower. The metallic hum of the engine shifted slightly with the angle.
"I wonder what Datu's up to tonight," Jae said, his voice dropping low against the rush of the night wind. He smiled to himself, the image of Datu's usual restless energy flashing in his mind. "He would've made patrol more fun."
He let out a light chuckle, the sound carried away almost instantly by the breeze. "Even Daemin would as well."
Jae leveled out the skimmer sphere, letting the machine glide along the steady line of the perimeter wall. He kept his hands loose on the controls, his eyes lazily tracking the quiet outlines of the lower district.
Then, at the far end of the deserted thoroughfare, a shape interrupted the moonlight.
Jae pulled back on the steering assembly, the air skimmer slowing to a gentle, hovering halt. The low hum of the engine dropped an octave into a steady idle. Down near the shadow of a collapsed archway, a solitary figure stood motionless, right in the center of the path.
No movement. No sound. Just a dark silhouette watching him from the gloom.
"The heck?" Jae muttered, squinting through the gloom as he adjusted his grip on the skimmer's controls.
He leaned forward, raising his voice so it carried over the low hum of the sphere. "Hey! What are you doing out here this late?"
The moment his voice echoed across the open space, the silhouette snapped around and bolted, vanishing into a dark alleyway between two looming structures.
"Hey—wait! Stop!" Jae yelled, throwing his weight forward. He hit the throttle, the air skimmer sphere surging ahead with a sharp whine as he sped off in pursuit of the fleeing figure.
The figure slowly turned around to face him.
As the faint moonlight caught the front of their head, Jae’s breath hitched. Smooth, completely blank, and lacking any feature or expression, the cold mask gleamed in the dark.
"A Faceless ..." Jae gasped, his heart slamming against his ribs.
He moved to leap back onto the skimmer, but before he could react, a sharp CRACK echoed off the alley walls. Solid stone surged up from the ground like a vice, snapping tight around his ankles and locking his feet firmly into place.
Jae yanked hard, grunting with effort, but he couldn't budge an inch. "What the—?!"
From the shadows behind him, a quiet set of footsteps glided over the concrete. Another Faceless stepped out from the corner, moving in complete, eerie silence right toward Jae's exposed back.
The first Faceless walked calmly toward Jae, while the second grabbed Jae's hands, twisting them behind his back.
"Hey! What are you—" Jae yelled, struggling against the tight grip.
The first Faceless reached out, pressing a single finger against the cold, featureless mask over where his lips would be. "Don't make a sound," the bandit warned, his voice low and hollow.
Before Jae could say another word, the second bandit gagged him with a cloth, muffling his sudden cries for help into useless, muffled grunts against the fabric.
The second Faceless then bent down, using earthbending to break open the stone trapping Jae's feet. Releasing his lower legs, the bandit hoisted Jae up in one swift motion, tossing him squarely over his heavy shoulder.
Jae let out a muffled, surprised yelp, his eyes wide as the ground suddenly rushed away beneath him. He squirmed, thrashing against the Faceless's grip, but the hold on him was solid and uncompromising.
"Let's move!" the first Faceless commanded sharply, his muffled voice echoing coldly behind the featureless mask.
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Meanwhile, Datu was slowly making his way through the quiet streets of the lower sector, searching for any sign of his friend. He paused in the middle of a wide, empty street, looking around at the silent buildings.
"Weird," Datu muttered, brow furrowing in confusion. "He would normally call out..."
He shook his head and kept walking, taking long strides down the cold pavement as he continued calling Jae's name into the darkness. "Jae! Hey! Stop messing around, where are you?"
Silence hung heavy in the air, broken only by the faint whistle of the wind. Datu turned a corner near an overgrown alley, opening his mouth to call out once more—when a sudden sound stopped him dead in his tracks.
Patter-patter-patter.
It was the heavy, rapid crunch of footsteps sprinting toward him through the neighboring passage.
Suddenly, the heavy footsteps he heard came to a abrupt stop just around the bend.
Datu held his breath, his pulse racing against his ribs. Slowly, carefully, he peeking his head out from behind the wall to spy on them.
His eyes widened in shock. Standing in the dim moonlight were two figures wearing cold, featureless white masks. But what made Datu’s stomach drop was what one of them was holding—one of the bandits had a struggling, gagged person slung right over his shoulder.
Datu’s jaw tightened beneath his palm as he recognized the jacket and messy dark hair instantly.
It was Jae.
"Jae!" Datu shouted, his voice ringing sharply off the narrow alley walls as he abandoned all thought of stealth.
Screw staying hidden. Seeing his friend bound, gagged, and hauled like cargo set off an instant spark of heat in his chest. Datu burst out from behind the crumbling wall, throwing his full momentum forward into a sprint.
The two Faceless snapped their heads toward him in unison, their blank masks gleam cold in the moonlight. Upon spotting Datu charging straight at them, the lead bandit barked a quick signal, and both figures turned on their heels, bolting deeper into the dark, twisting passages of the lower sector.
"Get back here with him!" Datu yelled, his boots slamming hard against the cobblestones as he closed the gap.
Ahead of him, the bandit carrying Jae picked up the pace, Jae’s muffled grunts echoing back through the narrow corridor as he squirmed against the bandit's heavy shoulder.
The second Faceless shifted Jae's weight, his featureless mask turning back to check the distance on the rapidly closing footsteps before calling out over his shoulder. "We're near our ride!"
"Hand him to me!" the first bandit barked, sliding to a halt near the edge of a wide, shadowed loading bay.
The second bandit swung Jae over, transferring the struggling scout into the first bandit's grip. As the first bandit hoisted Jae securely over his own shoulder, he spared a cold glance back down the corridor where Datu was charging.
"Get rid of that oaf!" the first Faceless snapped.
Jae's eyes went wide behind the tight cloth gag. A frantic, muffled "No!" tore from his throat, his body thrashing desperately against the bandit's hold as he tried with all his might to warn Datu of the trap.
Without missing a beat, the second Faceless stepped forward, slamming his foot against the stone floor. A sharp CRUNCH split the air as jagged slabs of earth violently erupted right in Datu's path.
Datu’s instincts kicked in just in time. The moment the stone erupted from the ground, he hurled his weight sideways, tucking his shoulder and executing a hard roll across the cobblestones. The jagged slabs of rock slammed into the space where he had been standing a split second before, showering the alley in dirt and pulverized stone.
He sprang back to his feet without losing a beat, eyes locked on the bandit carrying Jae. "I said let him go—!"
"Focus on me," the second Faceless growled, his voice flat and detached.
Before Datu could push past, the earthbender slammed both palms flat onto the alley floor. A heavy shockwave rippled through the ground, cracking the stone beneath Datu's boots. Before Datu could regain his balance, the bandit yanked his hands upward—a sudden, dense pillar of rock shot up directly from under Datu’s feet, striking him squarely in the chest.
The impact hit like a battering ram, knocking the breath clean out of his lungs. Datu went airborne for a terrifying second before crashing heavily onto the hard pavement, skidding back several feet into a cloud of dust.
"Datu!" Jae’s muffled voice shrieked against the tight gag, his eyes wide with horror as he watched over the Faceless's shoulder. He squirmed violently, kicking his legs in a desperate bid to break free, but the first bandit tightened his grip like an iron vise.
"Too easy," the second bandit muttered, stepping back into the shadows beside his partner. "Move!"
Datu groaned, pushing himself up on shaking arms as his chest burned with every ragged breath. His vision swam for a brief moment, and by the time he forced his head up, the dark alleyway was completely empty.
The Faceless were gone—and so was Jae.