The minute they touch down on the main street, the guards are behind them.
They crawled from who knows where, one giant group chasing closely behind.
In fact, Rubio thinks he hears…no, it couldn’t be.
“Do they have dogs!?” Thalia screeches.
“Dead, dead, dead, we’re so dead!” Astra squawks, the two of them beginning to freak out.
“Just keep running!” Rubio warns them.
“Like we’d stop!” Thalia yells sarcastically.
But as they continue, it becomes increasingly obvious that the guards and their dogs are catching up.
They’re exhausted from all the fighting, and they have to be careful not to trip down the hill and risk getting even more hurt.
His injured leg is starting to ache, not having been given the time it needed to heal.
His eyes roam, searching for anything that could guarantee success, when they came to rest on something.
It was a bit ahead of them, a group of them sitting next to a shop.
But his face pulled into a frown as soon as the idea crossed his mind.
It was more likely to get them killed than anything else, but it wasn’t like rotting in prison forever was a good alternative.
Screw it, it wasn’t like there was a better option.
“This way!” He motioned for the others to follow him.
They were desperate enough that they didn’t ask any questions until they arrived at the barrels.
“What are we doing with these?” It was a question, but the low panic in her voice made it clear Thalia knew exactly what they were going to do with the barrels.
Rubio grabbed one and popped the lid off, turning it upside down to clear out whatever junk was in there.
Luckily, his barrel was empty.
“This is a horrible idea.
Why do you people only have horrible ideas?” Astra laments, but he grabs a barrel of his own and begins tearing off the lid.
“Argh!
Fine, fine!
This is fine!” Thalia wails as she pries her lid off.
Astra’s was empty as well, but hers had a ton of fish in it, leaving her to turn it over with a disdainful look.
The fish hit the ground with a wet, sloppy sound, and Rubio frowned in distaste.
The smell was already horrible enough; he didn’t even want to imagine how bad it’d be inside the barrel.
“Get them!” The guards called out, right on their tail.
As soon as they got close enough to reach for them, they were already in the barrels and kicked off.
What followed was one of the most painful and disorienting experiences of his life.
The barrel didn’t break, which was one of his worries, but it did gain a startling amount of velocity.
He was spun round and round, the barrel bumped across the ground, giving him all manner of bruises, and the sound was deafening.
Honestly, he was lucky he didn’t throw up inside the barrel before it came to a halting stop, smashing against something and sending him hurtling out.
“Oh Seas, I’m gonna-!” Propping himself up onto his elbows, he vomited the contents of his stomach out on the street, the contents splashing against the ground as he heaved himself away with a groan, barely avoiding getting any of it in his long hair.
Thalia was also leaning out of her barrel, which hadn’t broken, and spitting up clear acidic bile.
The only one who wasn’t emptying their stomach was Astra, but his face was green, and when he tried to stand, he promptly fell backward.
“Whyyyyyy.” Thalia’s pained groan could be heard, half of her body still hanging out of the barrel.
Taking stock of his surroundings, Rubio saw that they had crashed into a small fishing shop right on the docks.
Looking back at the hill, the guards were only halfway down it, giving them plenty of time to find a boat.
“Come on, let’s…hrk!
Get going.” He pants, struggling to bring his body to a standing position.
His head was still spinning, and every part of his body hurt.
He prayed to the Seas that he wouldn’t throw up again.
He felt a hand grasp his shoulder; it was Astra, dragging a half-passed-out Thalia behind him.
While he still looked worse for wear, he was clearly doing much better than they were.
Resigning himself, he let Astra place his arm around his shoulder, helping him walk.
He could barely move and wouldn’t have made it halfway to where they needed to be.
A small beam of light peeked over the horizon, the sky turning vibrant with pinks, purples, and light blues all smeared together.
A faint mist curled up over the water, and Rubio could smell the sea and hear the waves.
He took comfort in the sight, inhaling the familiar salty smell.
Astra’s talons clicked on the wooden dock, and Rubio’s eyes focused on the boat.
That’s right.
The boat.
Because there was exactly one singular boat, a small skiff, with a fisherman already holding onto the oars, ready to set out for the morning.
“Are you kidding me?” Thalia deadpans.
She had shaken Astra off, more than capable of standing on her own feet once she shook off the vertigo.
“…Guess we’re stuck with each other.” Rubio jokes.
Nobody laughs.
“Yippee.” He adds for good measure.
Astra sighs and walks up to the skiff.
“We’re borrowing this,” He demands, his voice rough and gravelly with exhaustion.
“What?” The fisherman questions.
“Out,” Thalia orders, and then she grabs the man and tosses him, settling herself neatly into the skiff.
“Wait, please!
This is all I have!” The man begs.
Thalia at least has the decency to look guilty.
“Urgh, fine, here.” She grunts, digging into her pocket and tossing a handful of coins at the man.
He catches a few, and bends down to scoop up the rest from the floor.
“Where’d you even get those from?” Rubio questions as Astra lowers him into the skiff.
“She stole a wallet from a guard.” Astra answers, jumping into the skiff and slicing the rope tying it to the dock with his talons.
He then kicked off from the dock, getting the skiff moving.
The skiff drifted slowly away from the dock, and Thalia shifted over to grab the oars.
“I’ll take first rowing shift.” She states.
“Right, I think I’m gonna pass out for a bit.” He’s so tired, he doesn’t even stay awake long enough to hear a response.