The cafeteria tent was crowded when the twins arrived, but they managed to snag an open seat just as another pair was leaving. Lunch was the same as usual. A dry bread roll, mushy carrots, and some sort of mystery meat: What it was was anyone's guess really. Sometimes it was… crunchier than others and sure, those days it probably came from some sort of bug, but that didn’t make it any more appetizing. Cabre sat, poking his fork into the pile of meat, thankful to not find any of the flakes that meant it was a crunchy meat day.

“Anything exciting happen during your assignment?” Yvonne asked, stirring her carrot mush haphazardly into her meat.

Cabre grumbled, stabbing a chunk of his meat onto his fork before shoving it into his mouth.

“What do you think?” He started chewing.

Yvonne gave a chuckle and lightly punched him in the shoulder.

“Oh cheer up!” She smiled. “After today you’ll be done with all that Celestial nonsense, right?”

Cabre gave a smile and tore a bite out of his bread roll, looking up at his sister.

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“Maybe we’ll get to do a mission together again, finally.” Yvonne took a scoop of her meat and carrot concoction.

Cabre nodded in agreement. There was a moment of silence as they dug into their meals before Cabre spoke.

“What about you? What was your assignment again?” Cabre raised a brow.

Yvonne groaned and rolled her eyes, letting her hand fall to the table with a thud. 

“Oh, it can’t have been that bad.” Cabre chuckled.

Yvonne raised a brow and pulled a chunk out of her roll, popping it into her mouth.

“Oh, it was.” She started. “It was ridiculous. They sent me all the way out to Harrowfall to stop a gang leader who’d been hoarding the town’s resources.”

Cabre’s eyes widened with surprise.

“And I thought I’d had to travel a long way back.” He added.

“I know right!” Yvonne raised her hands in disbelief before leaning an elbow on the table. “Apparently the guy had also been withholding shipments from the Legion. That’s the main reason they sent me out there, I guess.”

Cabre shrugged, shoving a mouthful of carrot mush into his mouth, hoping it was better than the meat. It wasn’t. Then he looked back up at Yvonne.

“I feel like they could’ve easily sent someone else to go do that.” 

“I have to agree.” Yvonne rolled her eyes.

Not much further into their meal did Yvonne stop chewing and look just past the top of Cabre’s head. He furrowed his brows and jumped as he turned to look behind him just as an officer stopped behind him, moving a hand to tap the Raptor on the shoulder.

“Apologies for interrupting your meal, Raptor Three.” The woman said.

Cabre let out a breath, calming himself from the unexpected jumpscare. Then he waved a dismissing hand.

“Don’t worry about it.” He put his fork down before turning all the way around in his chair to look at her. “What did you want?”

She closed her eyes and raised a hand, shaking her head. Her dark brown ponytail wagged loosely behind her head like a pendulum.

“It's not what I want.” She started, looking back down at Cabre. “The Patron would like to speak with you.”

Cabre glanced back at Yvonne who was hunched over her tray, finishing up the last of her meat-carrot mush. She looked up at him, her eyes wide as if she’d been caught stealing or something. She lifted a hand to wipe away a dribble of sauce that was making its way down the corner of her mouth before she sat back up and shrugged.

“Maybe he just wants to tell you what a good job you’ve done catching the Celestial.” She suggested.

Cabre looked back at the officer, who just shrugged.

“Oooooor…” Yvonne started, drawing out the beginning of her sentence just enough for Cabre to look back at her. “Maybe he’s demoting you to Raptor 4. Just furthering the gap between us.”

Yvonne crossed her arms, a smug smile on her face.

“You’ll never be able to catch up after that.” She taunted.

Cabre rolled his eyes as he stood. As he reached for his food tray, Yvonne stopped him, grabbing the metal square with one hand, reaching her fork towards his carrots with the other. Before she could get her hands on it, he yoinked the rest of his bread roll from it and playfully stuck his tongue out at her. Yvonne chuckled and just wrinkled her nose at him, pulling Cabre’s tray over next to her own.

“Go on. You’ve got a fancy meeting to get to.” She waved him off with her fork.

Cabre sighed and turned to the officer, who still stood there, waiting. With that, she turned and led the way out of the cafeteria tent and towards the middle of camp. He didn’t feel all that sad about missing out on the rest of his lunch. The meat was soggy today anyway.

The Patron’s tent wasn’t much bigger than the cafeteria, but it felt much smaller. Not only did it have a cloth splitting it in half but as soon as the tent flap closed behind Cabre, the darkness felt suffocating. It wasn’t pitch black but the little light that seeped through the dark yellow of the fabric covering painted the space an eerie green hue. Cabre waited, cautiously searching the other side of the tent for any sign of his boss. Nothing. He kept his feet close together, his arms at his side, too nervous to move from attention.

“I’m growing impatient with your lackluster performance, Raptor Three.” A deep and hollow voice filled the room.

Cabre could feel as every muscle in his body tensed and the hairs on his forearms and the back of his neck stood on end. He hesitated, not sure if the Patron would continue or not. As the silence continued, he swallowed the lump of fear in his throat before speaking up.

“My apologies sir, but I’m not sure how I’ve displeased you.” Cabre responded shakily.

There was a subtle shift in the air as though something had moved behind the curtain, but no figure revealed itself. There was no shift in the light from the other side. No shadow made its way across the fabric. The tent flap didn’t even so much as open to indicate someone’s entrance on Cabre’s side. There was no doubt about it though. There was another presence in the room. The voice alone was proof of that.

“I have sent you out time and time again, and yet the last Celestial continues to evade you.”

Cabre didn’t move but his expression shifted from a neutral one, to hide his fear, to one of confusion. He’d gotten the Celestial. The woman matched the description, surely he’d done his job right. Cabre opened his mouth to speak, but the voice spoke once again, leaving a lingering echo in his bones.

“The woman was not the Celestial.” The Patron responded, as if knowing what Cabre was going to say. “The last Celestial will be distinctly different from anyone you have met before.”

Cabre pondered the Patrons' words for a moment before his thoughts were interrupted.

“You will go to Foolshope, retrieve the Celestial, and bring them to me.” The voice commanded.

Cabre felt his shoulders relax as the room’s suffocating atmosphere seemed to lift, growing lighter. His eyes darted around the space again. There had still been no change to anything, but he could tell the Patron had gone. He stood in the tent a moment longer, his heart still pounding in his chest as he took a few calming breaths. Once it had settled and his hands stopped their shaking, he turned, leaving the tent and the lingering unease behind. Checking his assignment logs, he found it had already been updated with all the information he would need.

Approximate location.

Distance to get back from there.

Supplies suggestions.

Locations on the way back to stop at.

To his dismay, Foolshope was nearly a full week's worth of travel from Camp Primary. He certainly didn’t look forward to carrying his target back the entire way, but he knew he’d have to keep them conscious for part of the journey. He didn’t have nearly enough sedative to keep them unconscious for the entire journey. Besides, being knocked out for a week wouldn’t have great effects.

“Maybe a Celestial could handle it?” Cabre thought to himself as he waited in line to retrieve his hunting knife.

Cabre shrugged off the thought. It probably wouldn’t be worth the waste of supplies. There was always a chance the Celestial was straight-up immune to the sedative, something Cabre wasn’t too keen on finding out was true or not. A sharp punch to his shoulder blade pulled him from his thoughts. He rubbed at his shoulder and, with a glare, turned to find Yvonne standing behind him.

“Hey, knucklehead.” She glared back, hands on her hips. “I asked if you were headed out again.”

Cabre sighed and dropped his arms to his sides, cheeks red with embarrassment.

“Sorry. Yeah.” He replied.

The two took a step forward in line and Cabre looked away from her.

“What, you weren’t even gonna tell me?” she joked.

Cabre could tell that was a hint of genuine worry in her question.

“Of course I was.” He turned to look back at her. “I was just grabbing my stuff first.”

Yvonne’s expression softened and her shoulders relaxed. For a moment, she studied Cabre’s face before her lips pulled back in a tight smile.

“Still the Celestial, huh?” She seemed sympathetic.

Cabre shrugged. “Honestly, I should’ve expected it.”

Cabre surveyed the sharpened knives organized on the counter and picked out his, shoving it angrily into its sheath. With a huff, he turned and walked towards the inspection tents at the entrance of camp. Yvonne followed close behind. It didn’t take him long to pick out his bag; He always kept a bandana tied around one of the arms to make it easier.

“Hey.” Yvonne grabbed Cabre’s arm as he pulled his backpack over his shoulders. “Be safe out there.”

Cabre gave her a soft smile before he pulled her into a tight hug.

“I will.”