The readiness of the ragtag rebels to follow the orders of an agent shocked Mercy. This group seemed particularly disbanded- ranging from young to old, as though they'd all been forced into fighting recently. The situation was steadily growing worse, and it made Mercy's heart ache. As a child, he'd never seen more than glimpses of the system's abuses and even when he was met face to face, an adult would push him back into his innocent world of childhood wonder. The children here were nothing at all like he had once been. They did not fuss and they were just as quick to obey Violet's commands as the adults had been. It was almost as though they weren't children, but miniature adults. They were just as caught in battles as their parents, if they even had parents to speak of.

Again, Mercy dug his hand into his pocket and wrapped his fingers around the red stone. It'd long ago become a nervous habit and soon evolved into something he did to relieve himself of anything too great for him to take. Holding the stone, he deeply breathed out, and with that, was again collected. Somehow, the practice never failed, as though the tiny object was capable of sucking out access emotion and storing it for when it was truly needed. Running his thumb over the smoothest side of it, Mercy turned to Violet, only nodding in response as she explained the plan. Matched with his expression, he almost seemed to be consulting the stone with the question that clearly ate away at him. Mercy's usually stern expression was replaced with a clear look of worry. His eyes glimmered with uncertainty in the light of the fires and he cautiously bit his cracked lip, with his teeth threatening to reopen the scar tissue that had worked so hard to stop earlier bleeding.

"I don't intend to keep my secrets forever," Mercy took the hand she offered. His large hands were covered in tough, calloused skin. "But... Is this a good idea? You have a name and I don't want to be the cause of its tainting." Mercy couldn't meet her eyes as he continued, so he cast his head down and focused on the dirt he'd dragged along with him. "If anything were to happen to you... It's really very dangerous... I couldn't take the weight of it. I would know that I would be to blame."

Violet frowned at him for a few moments. It was kind weird, that she had so much going on and somehow she met up with her childhood friend again and she was trying to get him away from the government she "worked for"... It was all beckwards. Than again, they'd been separated for who knows how long and she wasn't used to seeing him as a grown man... And than he was supposed to be her enemy as well.

But he was also her friend. Someone she trusted over anyone or anything else in the world.

"Some secrets you should keep locked tight away. Especially if those secrets end up getting you into the position you were in before...." she said, sighing. "A name is just a name. It can be spoken in many ways. For all you know it's already been tainted, to the point of ill repair." she said, and than threw her arms around him, hugging him tight, though her short frame only came to about under his chin.

"Nothing will happen to me. I'll be prefectly fine. I've done this before..." she said, trying to give him some comfort, and than nuzzled his cheek. "Come on... The faster we get to where we need to go, the sooner you'll get more rest and be able to clean yourself up." she said, giving him a teasing smile as she pretended to be waving away foul smelling odors, though in all honesty, he didn't smell as bad as some rebels she came in contact with, so it didn't really bother her.

It was hard for Mercy to think of her as more than the young girl he'd once shared laughter with and saw as the only rock to find comfort on in a lonely ocean, especially as she again threw her arms around him and her hair just barely tickled beneath his chin, where she came up to. Although in the past however many years, he couldn't even remember properly, she'd undergone the dramatic changes of passing into adulthood and pushed to further change by the injections she'd earlier spoken of, somewhere in the way she said his name and pulled him into tight hugs again and again, he found his young friend.

She could certainly take him down any day, but his silly reverie drove him to feel more protective than ever. Once again, he took on the mentality of the goofy boy he'd always been- the one that did all in his power to impress girls, especially the one he was closest too, but always too afraid to tell directly. Storing this idea away, Mercy, for the first time since their reunion, put on a large smile. He still oozed unease, but now did so with at least an attempt to be jolly. He was relying too much on irrational emotion, Mery reminded himself. What had happened was a stroke of luck of the highest degree.

"The offer is tempting. Even I can smell myself wreaking today," with each word, a tiny bit of Mercy's worry seemed to dissolve. In all honesty, he likely did smell terrible. It had become impossible to tell what blood had been shed by him and which spots had come from the pig he'd readied early in the morning. Sweat from a long day and water from running through the underground drainage pipes had decided to join the mix to make him especially unappealing.

"Let's go," Mercy finally seemed at peace with the idea as he reached for Violet's hand again and interlaced his fingers around hers, "You lead and I'll follow."

Violet smiled, knowing that she'd comforted her friend at least a little bit and that was enough to at least make her a little bit happy, and even more determined, to get him and everyone else to safety. It was her goal, and something she started doing about a couple months ago, when she found out some of the things her boss did that would be considered mass muder, had he ever been caught red-handed... But he never was, because he found ways and ways to get out of it, and therefore, remained in power.

Giggling, she simply hand his hand tight, and shook her head at him. "Smelly or not, you're still my best friend. Plus I've smelled worse so you hardly even put a dent on what I can tolerate... Just make my appetite a bit slimmer...." she said, and walked to the front of the line of rebels, getting a torch than handing one to MErcy, than taking one for herself, still holding his hand the whole time.

"It's funny... I used to say I'd follow you all the time and now you're following me." she teased playfully, than turning to the rest of the rebels who were still murmuring under their breaths and getting a few things put up. "Grab a torch. Anything left behind that isn't needed stays here. We're moving out. Now." She said, turning towards a dark mass in a wall, which just so happened to be a tunnel that was a day's walk to the mountain city that the rebels usually resided in, simply because the whole city was nothing but rebels.


Walking into the darkness with Mercy at her side, and the rebels behind her, she walked through the tunnels as if it was second nature to her. "It's getting dark outside. If there are no issues with the tunnel, we should be there before the sun is hidden behind the western mountain chain... If something is up, it may take all night." she said, only loud enough to Mercy could hear her.

Mercy carried the torch she’d handed to him high, to ensure even stragglers wouldn’t lose their way. He had followed her quietly, hand in hand, as she walked to the front and gave her commands. Only one man before had shown as much leadership as his friend now did. He had been an old man, frail and feeble in look, but with a booming, authoritative voice that shocked one to attention every time he spoke, even when all he said was light and playful. Mercy once remembered him telling a joke about men walking into bars. At the start of the joke, Mercy had been jolted by that voice. For a moment, Mercy’s composure had broken at the thought that the man he fondly remembered had very likely died in the raid. Although rich in mental and emotional strength, it was impossible to get by without the final component, physical strength.

People, in groups, are very much like dogs. He had been told. They tend to take on the emotional state and mentality of those that assert themselves as leaders. They will remain loyal as long as their leader is strong. If the leader shows weakness, they will feel fear and be driven past rational reasoning by it. Even if no other assures them he intends to take the place. Violet, Mercy figured, was perfectly suited for such a position. He still marveled at the very air of strength that floated around her. He squeezed her hand, as if to prove to himself that she still stood with him.

Mercy nodded in response to Violet’s soft warning, at first afraid his voice would carry if he dared speak. Finally, he began, “What do you think could be up within the tunnels? Is there a plan in case of such events?” There was a clear hint of worry in his voice that reminded him to keep poise and avert causing anymore worry amongst the lineup of rebels behind them. What he had managed to learn in the short time he knew the man he’d earlier thought of ran through his mind in a sort of checklist. “Surely no one could be after us.”