Vayne Of Newslater, Pt 2, Chapter 15

 Lonely had felt Vayne flinch when he had put an arm around the boy's shoulder. Lonely stepped back to give him space, and before he could apologize, Eos spoke up.

"The ship is gone.", she was staring off at something in the distance. 

"What." Pandora and Lonely spoke in unison. 

Vayne's eyes grew wide. "They already know you're here."

The three looked at the fox, waiting for his instructions. Face turning pink, Vayne looked down at the floor, opening and closing his hands as he thought. He was fighting something inside of him, Lonely could tell, and people staring at him probably didn't help. 

Without meeting their eyes, he spoke quietly as if whispering a secret that hurt someone he had trusted, "The handle of the key is in the Boss's office, on the tip of his pen. There's a vent down the hall that leads there, but it'll be hard to get in without a distraction out here." 

Eos started to pace, her fingers pulling on her sleeve, her limp now more apparent to Lonely. They waited for her to say something since she was clearly forming a plan. She accidentally kept bumping into stacks of paper, too focused on her thoughts to notice her surroundings. She stopped and looked directly at Lonely. 

"We need to split up." 

He frowned at her. They'd already split up once before and were only alive because of Pandora.

"Explain, please, what your plan is," Pandora asked, sitting crisscross on the floor, eager to hear the plan.

Eos took a deep breath, "They took the ship, we need it back to escape. It would help create a distraction for two of us to slip into the office and grab the key handle." She glanced at Vayne, "Would that work?"

"In theory," he hesitated. 

Smiling Pandora stood up, "That's good enough for me. I can fly almost anything, so I should be on the team to get the ship back." 

"I can give you a map to the office; it should help you find your ship quicker." Vayne offered.

Lonely looked at Eos. She had the gun and felt more comfortable using it. Even was quick to point it at Vayne. She needed to go to the office; she'd be a much better help than he would.

"I'll go with Pandora then, I can use the ship's blasters to create some chaos." He nodded confidently. 

Vayne stood up straight. "This won't be easy," he said, talking directly to Eos. 

She smiled, an insane kind of smile, "Believe me, I'm well aware." 

He went off to retrieve a map for Pandora, and Lonely pulled Eos to the side.

"Can we trust-"

She cut him off, "No, we can't trust anyone. Not yet anyway. Pandora might have saved our lives from the jester, but she was also saving herself. Keep an eye on her, I'll keep an eye on Vayne."

He nodded, the corners of his mouth tightening. Eos put a hand on his shoulder, "Try not to die, okay." 

"If I die, it doesn't matter. If you die, I'm left alone in a large universe beyond my knowledge. How about you try not to die?" he studied her face as he said this. It wasn't pity or annoyance; she looked sorrowful. 

It startled Lonely when Eos suddenly gave him a hug, "It does matter if you die, you're my friend."

Stunned, he couldn't get words out of his throat or move his arms to return the hug; all he could do was nod as she let go.

They watched Vayne dig through papers, trying to find the map. Pandora was reading a piece of paper in her hands. 

"Thank you." Were the only words Lonely was able to say.

"Anytime." Eos gave a small smile as Vayne held up the map in a triumphant manner. 

The two came running over, "Alright, we found the map, we're good to go!" Pandora cheered, maybe a bit too excited for the situation they were in. 

Then the four walked to the entrance to the cubicle, waving goodbyes as Lonely and Pandora went left, and Eos and Vayne went right. 

As they walked, Lonely glanced behind him. He watched Vayne put the kitsune mask over his face and slowly transform into a black fox.