Run Around

Once that awful scream and its accompanying crash had finally stopped ringing, Salute managed to get ahold of himself. The Zweilous jumped up to the front door and roughly tried to pull it open. As expected, he only received the rattling of locks for his efforts.

“W-what are you doing, man?” Pyrite stuttered.

“Isn’t it obvious?!” One of Salute’s heads whipped around to address the Lycanroc. “I have to get in there! Something bad happened! An injustice!”

“Look, maybe Zazel’s had a kid this whole time, and they just…” Pyrite desperately searched for anything that could explain what they’d just heard. “…I dunno, stubbed their toe super bad!”

Salute leaped off the porch’s side, breaking into a sprint around the house’s perimeter. If someone had broken in, they might not have used the front door. The house didn’t have a back entrance, but perhaps a window could’ve worked.

“If he does have a kid,” Salute grunted, checking a locked window. “Then that could’ve been them getting pinned under something! Or attacked! They could be in trouble!”

Come on, one of these stupid things had to have been unlocked! Salute had almost completely circled around back to the front door, failing to find a single window able to be opened, until….

Huh? Salute thought. Why’s that window got it’s drapes down?

It was weird to have them drawn so early in the afternoon, even if Zazel himself wasn’t home. In fact, it was even weirder to only cover exactly one of the many windows he had. Hooking his jaws under the thing, Salute pushed up, and sure enough, the window noisily opened, wood scraping and giving a ton of resistance. Even with the 2-headed dragon’s strength, it only went up halfway on his first try. He supposed it was an older house, and that Zazel didn’t bother to maintain these things.

“Hey,” Pyrite pleaded as Salute was forcing his makeshift entrance all the way open. “No one’s calling for help, right? So it’s probably no big deal. Let’s just wait here for Zazel to come back, and he’ll confirm that everything’s totally okay and—”

“What’s with you?!” Salute growled, already squeezing his front half through the window. “Do you seriously think letting this go is responsible? What are you, sc—”

Salute paused, realizing the truth of what he was about to say. After pouring in and landing in an undignified heap on the ground, he popped back up, staring at his jittery, uncharacteristically anxious co-worker on the other side of the window.

“Arceus…” he continued. “You’re scared, aren’t you? You’re scared of going in here and finding something!”

“I-“ Pyrite momentarily stumbled over his words. “I’m not used to this! This isn’t how all of this is supposed to go.” He paused, bringing a paw to his forehead. “Guard work’s usually kinda low-key, y’know? Make the people feel safe, break up a couple of disputes or small-time thefts, not… this.”

Salute stood proud and tall. “Well, I am used to this. This is what I’m prepared for. I’m going in. You can stay there.”

“No way.” After taking a deep breath, Pyrite dove through the window, landing into a roll and smoothly transitioning to his feet at the end of it. “I’m not letting you go in without me.” He gave an uneasy smirk. “If you do, you’ll mess up everything.”

“Hey!” Salute puffed. So much for being scared. That annoying canine bounced back like it was nothing. Totally showed me up on the entrance, too….

Salute took a glance at the room they’d both stumbled into. Given the pantry, utensils and pans hanging off the walls, and washbasin, it wasn’t hard to nail this down as the kitchen. Looking back to the window they’d jumped through, it was situated over a large, brick stove. If the 2 of them had entered just a bit to the side, they would have knocked over a pot that was still lying on top of it.

Now then, to find whatever went wrong… this kitchen didn’t exactly seem like a good place to look. For one thing, it didn’t show any real signs of tampering, apart from a single chair being slightly ajar. It was also totally utilitarian, without a single decoration to be seen in the entire room. The cabinets and table were simple wood, no engravings or flourishes. The place didn’t seem cheap, though. Far from it, in fact. The furniture was all new, of good make, and perfectly clean, free from wear and tear. And he even had a couple of those Preservation Pots you could only find in Mystery Dungeons. But despite the clear expense, the soul of the room was just… missing. This was a kitchen for one, nothing more.

“Not sure where to start?” Pyrite asked, moving on ahead.

Salute wasn’t sure how to respond, let alone start. The answer to that question was definitely yes, but at the same time, this kitchen felt too strange to leave. There was something off about this whole place, but he wasn’t sure what.

Never mind. It didn’t matter. Salute wasn’t the investigative type. If he was going to find something, it’d be directly.

“Hear me out,” Pyrite continued, peering back around a corner. “I’ll check out the bedroom. You take a look at the living room.”

“Don’t order me—!” Salute began, only to realize that Pyrite was already off. “…around.” He sighed and headed off to his new assignment.

The living room was as eerily lifeless as the kitchen, once again with no decorations and exclusively functional furnishings. There weren’t any portraits nor keepsakes to imply any sort of familial connections or important events, and the windows had darkened glass that kept the entire room shaded. Even Salute had a more homely house than this, with plaques dedicated to concepts of justice (and a nice shrine he’d made for the awards he was definitely going to receive someday). Did Zazel just move in or something?

At the very least, the furniture itself was a bit more interesting. Immediately notable was the pool taking up nearly a third of the room. It had the shape of an H, with the columns being pressed up right against the walls, and a small, wooden bridge situated over the center. The pool could’ve given the room the appearance of a home spa were it not for the muddy, swampy looking floor at the bottom. Zazel was an amphibious Pokémon, so he must have preferred to submerge himself from time to time. The seats, table, and desk that he likely relaxed in when dry all were only saved from being completely unremarkable thanks to their metal-plated edges. Even the reclining chair had its armrests covered in copper. Was that even comfortable? Giving it a touch sent a weak shock through Salute. He gave the chair a hiss in response.

So, other than being the room of an aquatic Electric-Type, this place had nothing going for it. Seriously, he could’ve at least kept plants around or something. They’d make good decoration, or maybe snacks. The closest thing to either of those was a bookshelf filled with neatly organized documents of some kind.

Salute sighed. That really would be the place to look, wouldn’t it? He sifted through a few of the folders with a claw. No books, of course. That might imply a personality…. Settling on a few at random, Salute grabbed the bunch with his left head and read with his right. Totally useless. He shoved them back in and grabbed another couple from a different shelf, only to find them equally as dull. Third time, fourth time, fifth time, it all went the same.

How were none of these helpful?! Salute was hoping to find some information about Zazel and who he was, and maybe prove or disprove Pyrite’s secret kid theory. All these documents were just financial records and bills. They weren’t even Zazel’s! All of them were for other folks, and basically everybody was in the red. Sure, that was rough for them and all, but who cares?! Salute was trying to find, help, or maybe arrest a potential trespasser who’d probably broken into Zazel’s house, despite the fact that it sucked!

Snarling at how much time he’d wasted on worthless documents, Salute kicked the side of the shelf, shoving it a couple feet and grinding the floorboards as it did. The realization that he may have just caused unwarranted property damage snapped Salute out of his anger. He checked the exposed ground, desperately hoping it wouldn’t be too ripped up.

The sight made Salute stop in his tracks. Not the floor, though it was absolutely ruined. No, that vanished from the dragon’s mind the moment he saw there was an entire stairway lying behind the bookshelf, leading down into the dark. A hidden basement. Had he been considering it, the presence of this pathway would have implied the damaged floor wasn’t actually his fault, but Salute was too busy moving the shelf the rest of the way and descending down to think about that.

The basement was unlike anything else in the house. The old, wooden steps down flexed under Salute’s weight, and the dimness had evolved into full on shadow. An aged smell flooded his nostrils: not necessarily foul, but definitely one that could never be attained without decades of wear. Further agitating Salute’s noses was the ever-present cloud of dust floating throughout, never seeming to be able to settle.

Finally at the bottom, Salute was left with only one path: forward. Wall to wall, the whole basement was filled with objects, with an extremely narrow path carved out through the middle. Wires crossed overhead, having pictures and papers pinned to them unevenly. Many were portraits, but others seemed to be amateur sketches and even children’s drawings, all of which clearly depicted an Eelektross front and center. Eel-shaped mannequins guarded the path, each having a different colorful suit to wear. The coattails on each were especially long, and the bowties were glossy enough to always catch the eye. As Salute walked the road to the other end, he was bordered by storied furniture, most covered by tarps, but a chair, what looked to be some sort of ticket booth, and a few display cases stuffed to the brim with props lay out in the open.

And then there were the posters, hung in the few spaces on the wall not covered by everything else shoved into the room. It felt like the entrance to a theatre, this walkway of advertisements. Some were fading and ripped, others were maintained well, and some were kept in glass classes and looked like they could have been made just minutes prior. But all were for the same thing.

The Incredible Zazel!

The greatest prestidigitator you’ve ever seen!

Electrifying! Dizzying! Utterly Limitless!

Your world will never be the same!

He really was a stage magician…. And by the looks of it, wildly successful. Salute’s investigation had suddenly started to feel much more like a tour, slowly wandering through and gawking at all the memorabilia on display. But that came to an end when he came to the end.

Below the far wall, an ornate display cabinet lay toppled over on the ground, resting on its own shattered glass. Salute jogged on over, catching a worrying scent in the air as he did. Carefully lifting the thing back up confirmed his suspicions. Blood. It always seemed much darker than Salute expected, whenever he saw it. Like ink plagued with a reddish tint. It was splattered all over the display cabinet.

No, not just all over… it was inside of it as well. The lower shelf, mysteriously empty otherwise, was half painted red at this point.

Salute’s foot tapped something. Something other than a shard of glass, that is. Both heads looked down simultaneously, finding a metal lock lying on the ground, broken open, clearly by force.

I knew it, Salute thought. This wasn’t just an incident; it was a break-in! A burglary! I knew we should have arrested that Sandile! After a taste of crime, they got hooked, and became a corrupted, raging kleptomaniac! Every time!

Still, didn’t explain why they got hurt or what they stole. Salute looked back to the low shelf, and curiously pulled the cabinet open. Click!

Wait, click? That wasn’t the right sound for—

Two blades jabbed out from an unseen compartment of the cabinet, crossing over right where Salute’s claw would have been were it not for him bringing it back to his chest in a display of thought.

“Arceus!” he cried, stumbling backwards and nearly causing the cabinet to topple all over again. By the gods, those blades were dripping with blood. And they were nearly a foot long, each! This was clearly to prevent stealing and all, but such a gruesome trap even made Salute feel uneasy.

At the very least, this gave him answers. The thief infiltrated the basement, broke open the lock to the case, but triggered the trap and made it fall over in their pain. Now they were… now they were—

Wait! They might still be here! Nobody had exited the basement the entire time since Salute had arrived! The dragon turned heel and rushed through the cluttered path back towards the stairs, ducking under low hanging wires and bumping into jutting furniture the whole way.

There! His vision was obscured by all the junk in the room, but in the middle of climbing the stairs back up, there was somebody! The thief!

“Stop!” Salute shouted, bursting out from the tunnel of Zazel’s keepsakes, only for the thief to zip up and out of the basement, too fast to even be properly identified.

Salute’s whole body tensed. Go time. He leapt up onto the stairs, ignoring the feeling of old wood straining to its breaking point, and took them 5 at a time. Jumping back out into the living room blinded him for a moment, but he didn’t stop. By memory, he ran back to the kitchen, just in time to see a flash of gray slip out the window.

The dragon stomped the floor in frustration, using it to spring back into a dash. The thief was roughly half his size. Going through the window would slow him down too much to catch up. Instead, Salute came to the front door.

He slammed into it, only to be bounced back. Still locked. Salute snarled and ripped open the door’s several locks as fast as he could.

“Hey!” Pyrite had just come from the bedroom. “What’s going on?”

Salute whirled around. “Thief! We need to catch them!” And then he erupted back outside.

The street was painfully silent, and stupidly empty. That utter lack of inhabitants and objects now felt far, far more frustrating. When it came to finding criminals, perfect cleanliness was just about the worst thing in the world. Salute gnashed his teeth, trying to spot something—anything—that could point to where the thief had escaped to.

Blood. His eyes were useless here, but Salute’s noses caught the scent, and it led directly to one of the alleys, where enough blood had been spilled to form a small puddle.

“Wait!” Pyrite called. “Are you even sure? This might just be your—”

“Look!” Salute pointed to the blood. “They’re hurt! We still might be able to catch up!”

Pyrite stared for a moment, before his eyes narrowed. “Right.”

Salute didn’t wait for any further words before running once more. He let his noses guide him through the cramped alleyways, taking each turn without a moment’s hesitation, no matter how sudden. Left here. Right here. Forward. Left again. Occasional splatterings of blood proved his path right.

The scent grew stronger, which only hastened Salute’s pace. He was stuck in a particularly cramped alley between two restaurants. Did they have some sort of rivalry? Whatever.

Salute stayed the course, trampling thrown out food and broken plates that littered the already limited ground. A filthy body was a small price to pay for a clean soul.

Right in front of him, a door slowly began to open outwards. It would block the whole path and force him to stop. He couldn’t have that.

He was rushing headlong into a door for the second time now. But this time, prepared. Bracing his body and angling his shoulders, Salute turned his sprint into a full-on charge.

The boom of wood slamming into brick filled the alley the same way a dull impact rocked Salute’s body. He didn’t stop. He didn’t even slow, even though he had taken the door clean off its hinges. Whoever the owner was, they were cursing. But this was for justice.

“Sorry!” Pyrite called back. “We’ll make it up to you later!”

Salute didn’t notice. Right when he tackled the door, he saw them. The thief. Just for a moment, something small and gray was at the end of the alley, before ducking out and to the right.

Salute leaped out into the open, only having a second to process that he was in some sort of plaza before having to change course to follow the culprit. The ground almost burned his feet as he skidded to a stop before shifting all his momentum to the side, rocketing off back to full speed near instantly.

The plaza was unfortunately busy. Seemingly everybody was out on some kind of business; on walks, having talks, eating food, playing games at tables—

—and setting up cloths to dry. Right in front of where that thief went, too. They must be crafty. A whole rack with clothes, blankets, and towels stood in Salute’s way, hanging low to the ground.

Well, if there was one thing a Zweilous could do, it was flatten. Turning his run into a slide, Salute ducked his heads and wings down as close to the ground as he could get and spread his legs in all directions. He practically flew under the obstacle while beginning to spin out, becoming a dragon-shaped buzzsaw of justice until he was forced to stumble back into a sprint.

The dizziness was hard to run through. Salute’s path became unfocused, and his pace finally slowed a bit. But he was rewarded for his efforts with another glimpse of his evildoer. Just enough to see that they had some red on them, more than just the blood.

It was just what he needed to shake off the migraine, and prepare for the crowd that stood in front of him.

“Make way, everybody!” Pyrite yelled from behind. Really, it was impressive that he was able to keep up. “This is important guard business!”

Immediately, the crowd parted for the pair. Salute mentally noted that perhaps Pyrite’s methods had some merit to them in the long run. He’d have to thank him later. Regardless, it was enough to see which street the thief had gone down.

It was a familiar one, the street the guards were now running through. They’d been on it countless times today. Sure enough, at the end of the road stood the construction site they’d delivered a back-breaking number of supplies to, currently sporting just a wooden frame and half-built wall.

Locris, as well as the other workers she had, were all looking confused, and not at Salute. That was all the evidence he needed to be certain of his path.

Salute jumped, giving one large beat with his wings to propel him as high as he could go in a single bound. He barely made it to the top of the incomplete wall, his hind feet scraping against the top. He used the opportunity for another jump, sailing over the rest of the workers, straight through the upper half of the wooden frame.

At the top of his leap, Salute was just high enough to see the thief again in the distance, fleeing into another set of alleyways. They were quadrupedal.

Salute landed back onto the ground with a thud, chipping a few of the cobbles he’d hit.

“What in the world is—?” Locris began.

“No time!” Salute shouted, already off.

“He’s right. Good luck with your stuff!” Pyrite yelled while circling around, now a bit behind his co-worker.

The duo squeezed into the alley, finding that it was cluttered with forgotten, rotting furniture. The stench of it began to mask the blood, which already seemed to be lightening up. This was bad. If they didn’t catch up soon, the thief could get away for good!

Salute hacked through planks of wood like they were overgrown weeds, unable to keep the speed he needed. The feeling of injustice slipping away made him pant, nearly to the point of hyperventilation.

And then the alley ended, unceremoniously spitting the guards out into the middle of another street. Which way, which way?! No matter how he tried, Salute’s noses could no longer find the blood trail. No, no, no! We can’t fail now!

He desperately looked around, vision pulsing. They could turn left and follow the street, do the same for right, or head forward into another alleyway. What were they supposed to do…. What were they supposed to do?!

“Dammit!” Salute shouted, charging forward. They were a criminal! That meant they’d pick the shadiest, least noble option! The alley had to be it!

A hundred-meter dash later left Salute’s spirit broken, as he was proven wrong. There wasn’t a trace of evil in this alley.

Wait! No, there was! But it wasn’t what he’d expected. Salute scrambled over to a makeshift fort of the other alley’s thrown out furniture—seemingly the best picks of the bunch, as none of it was rotting yet. He confronted the individual inside: the Sandile from earlier, frozen while taking a bite from one of their ill-gotten (or according to Pyrite, totally legitimately gotten) fruits. They stared at Salute, with eyes wider than their snacks, as if he was some kind of aggressive, two-headed dragon that had just burst into their safe place.

“Where…” Salute wheezed, voice coming out far more gravely than he intended.

“Sorry, sorry!” Pyrite shoved Salute out of the way, sending the dragon crashing into (and through) an old table. The Lycanroc winced for his co-worker before crouching down to address the kid. “Sorry about that. Hey there. This is really important. Did you see someone run through here with a hurt paw?”

The Sandile slowly nodded.

“Do you think you could tell us where they went?”

With a trembling claw, they pointed down a nearby turn.

Pyrite smiled warmly. “Thank you! That’s a big help. Enjoy your lunch, okay?” He ran down the turn, and motioned for Salute to follow. “C’mon, man!”

Salute groaned, picking himself off the broken wood. He would have been fuming about the splinters, but the shove had been so unexpected and felt so strange that he forgot about it, simply shook his heads, and rushed after Pyrite. They had a lead, and justice wasn’t something that could wait.

The end of the path led somewhere else familiar: the entrance to the marketplace. It was still all hustle and bustle, though slightly less than a few hours ago. Salute scanned to the best of his ability, but couldn’t locate the thief. Had they been too late? Or had that Sandile lied? There was honor among thieves, right? They’d definitely cover for their fellow crook!

A strange motion in the corner of his vision snapped Salute back to reality. Was that…? It happened again, the top of a marketplace tent suddenly bounced. Then one right next to it did the same. The culprit was on top of them!

“They did it!” Salute celebrated. “That Sandile just saved us!” He’d have to find some way to pay them back, he’d been totally wrong about them! “I didn’t think they’d tell us the truth!”

“Honestly, neither did I…!” Pyrite murmured in wonder.

The two cut across the marketplace, managing to see the gray creature graduate from tents to the nearby buildings, dashing away on the rooftops.

“You take the streets!” Pyrite called.

Salute was already way ahead of him, following the buildings as close as he could, but what was Pyrite going to—

Salute glanced back just in time to see Pyrite soar up, easily clearing half a story with one jump. He managed to hook a foot onto a ledge before bouncing off, propelling himself back and further upward. He twisted his body around as he approached a lamp pole, legs compressing before springing back out, impacting the unlit lantern with a metallic pang and sending him up to the top of the building. The series of jumps took no more than a few seconds. Just how acrobatic was this guy?!

In spite of his stupor, Salute had continued the chase, running down on the street to the side of the buildings. They’d actually left the zone that Pyrite was assigned to, but that didn’t matter anymore. They had a thief to catch, and Salute had nearly caught up to their position. He couldn’t see them, but he could hear them, their feet pattering against the roof’s tiles as they ran. They clearly were still giving it their all, despite the injury and likely exhaustion, managing to stay just ahead of the guards from up above. When they ran out of room on one building, they simply jumped to the next.

C’mon, c’mon…. Being so close finally gave Salute an opportunity to subdue them, he just needed the right moment! Pyrite being up there with them was a great boon, limiting the paths they could take and practically forcing them along a straight route. Any second, now….

A wooden bang broke Salute’s concentration, forcing him to look forward. A massive mess of boxes and barrels were falling from the roof ahead! Was this the thief’s fault? How did they even do that? The shadow of the avalanche loomed over Salute, a threat of what was to come. If he didn’t stop right here, he’d be crushed!

But to stop would be to turn his back on justice.

Closing his eyes, Salute charged ahead and hoped for the best. And when the tell-tale crash of the impact came, his body was wracked by the bloody, splintering pain of…

…absolutely nothing. Salute’s eyes snapped open, and he looked back. A pile of broken wood was behind him, looking heavy and gnarly enough to kill somebody. He’d made it? Did he seriously outrun it? Awesome!

Now, it was time to deliver justice! Bolstered by his survival, Salute looked ahead. He wasn’t about to make the same mistake as before, so he surveyed the upcoming area. It was perfect. He gave one final push, catching up to the thief at last. Then he went even further, racing ahead of them as an indigo flame began to form in one of his mouths. It gave no heat, instead radiating a pulsating feeling of primal fury. Dragon Rage. It was a useful move for apprehending criminals, as it never did more damage than you expected.

Salute slid to a stop while turning to face the buildings. Or, in this case, the lack thereof. A major street passed through here, causing the gap between houses to be especially wide. There weren’t any easily reachable buildings to the sides either. There was just one path a crook on the run would have to take.

Sure enough, the thief leaped over the street, their form momentarily blocking out the sun. But Salute was prepared. He fired the Dragon Rage with perfect aim, timed to impact right at the apex of the thief’s jump. It burst as it hit them, showering the street with blue sparks and sending them flying—in an arc straight down to the ground.

Pyrite had leapt after them, but freaked out once Salute’s attack hit. His feet let off a lime-green flash as he bounced back to the roof with a shrill buzz, seemingly off of nothing.

“What is wrong with you?!” He yelled, peering over the side of the roof.

Salute rolled his eyes. “What are you complaining about? I wasn’t even close to hitting you!”

“That’s not the problem!” Pyrite looked back to where the thief had landed and cursed.

Salute finally was able to check the impact site, only to find no body and a heavy trail of blood.

“They were already injured!” Pyrite continued. “They could pass out from blood loss!”

“So? Then we can take them in! They’re a criminal! Isn’t that good for us? Besides, it’s not like I was gonna kill them!”

“Argh! Why are you like this?!” Pyrite groaned as he jumped down to the street, already following the path of blood. “Just stay back, okay? And don’t do that again!”

Salute grumbled as he moved to follow. And here he was, thinking the two of them actually worked kinda well together. Of course Pyrite had to suddenly get all weird about it.

The trail was not hard to follow, but whoever this thief was, they were fast and exceptionally determined. With just a few seconds of lead, they were able to shake the guards, leaving them once again running to keep up. But with such an obvious path, it was just about impossible for them to escape for good. Unlike before, each turn was made without any deliberation being necessary.

”Hold on,” Pyrite spoke quietly to Salute as they reached a fork in a road of townhouses. The blood was clearly leading down the left path.

“What? Why are we stopping?” Salute matched Pyrite’s volume, but spoke in more of a hushed yell.

“I know this road. There’s basically no alleys for the whole thing.” Pyrite pointed down both streets separately. “I’ll take the right path, you take the left. There’ll be a spot up ahead where I can cut them off. Standard pincer maneuver, right? Then we can take them in.”

“Fine,” Salute responded. As long as justice was served. “Just make sure you hurry.”

“Same to you.”

Salute took the path, running next to the red stream on the street. The area was closed off, and currently free from pedestrians. He might’ve been weird about some things, but Pyrite could occasionally come up with a good idea or two. At the very least, this long chase was about to come to an end.

…Salute was unfortunately right about that. The chase did come to an end. Several blocks down the road, that trail of blood he was relying so heavily on to follow the thief simply stopped. The dragon once again began to panic as he searched for a single sign of the thief, only to come up short. No scents, no fur or claws, no overturned barrels or bottles, nothing. It was like they had reached a point, then disappeared.

No! They can’t have just gotten away! Did they know Teleport this whole time?!

Salute raced up and down the street, retracing his steps, trying to imagine the thief’s path, checking the later parts of the street to see if the blood started back up. He couldn’t find them, but after broadening his search to the surrounding roads, he did spot a familiar face. Zazel was walking by, on his way home.

“Hey!” Salute called out.

“Hm? Ah, Salute, was it?” The Eelektross gave his winning smile. “I assume Pyrite is still giving you trouble?”

“No, not now! Look!” Salute realized he had nothing to point to and settled for just leaning in closer. “Someone broke into your house and stole something from a display case in the basement! They were injured, and we followed them halfway across town, but they just vanished!”

Zazel said nothing, staring for a moment with his mouth slightly ajar. Then his body sparked, and he suddenly started swimming through the air at a far faster speed than he could walk.

Whoa! Salute mentally recoiled at Zazel’s electromagnetic levitation, though of course, he had no idea that was what it was called. I forgot Eelektross could do that….

The two rushed back to Zazel’s house in silence, only stopping to open the front door. Zazel checked the bookshelf for a moment, considering something, then continued down to the basement.

Salute was expecting him to investigate the case in the back, but instead, Zazel booked it straight to one of the mannequins, and fiddled around with something on its back. After a moment, he visibly relaxed, floating back down until his flipper-feet touched the ground.

“It would appear,” Zazel began. “That we have lucked out.”

“Sir?” Salute questioned.

Zazel turned to Salute, once again with a wide smile. “They did not steal from the right place. The worst-case scenario has not occurred.”

“Yes!” Salute cheered. Justice prevails once again!

“I will be informing Chief Hiketeria about this, however.”

Salute’s joy immediately ended.

Zazel continued. “Be sure to let Pyrite know that I’ll be gone for a few hours more as I tell her, and that my most valuable possession is still safe in the basement. You can handle that, yes?”

Salute saluted. “Of course, sir! I’ll let him know right away.” He set off without delay, and only partially to avoid thinking about how disappointed the Chief would be in him once she heard.

“Oh, and Salute?” Zazel called.

The dragon stopped halfway up the creaking steps back above.

“Make certain you bring anyone involved in this robbery to a swift justice.”

Salute nodded back with absolute conviction. “That’s what I’m here for.”

 

---

 

Salute made his way back to where he and Pyrite had split off. It was only during this return trip that he realized that in his earlier rush, he’d never checked if Pyrite had seen the thief. Not that it’d have mattered. There was no way onto his neighboring street without first heading a block forward or backward. Since the thief had pulled off their vanishing act in the middle, there wasn’t any way for them to jump ship to where Pyrite was.

The only problem now was that Salute didn’t know where Pyrite currently was. Well, knowing him… he probably decided to loiter around his street once the thief didn’t show up. It wasn’t very proactive, but at least he’d be easy to find… and they were going to get reprimanded anyway.

Speaking of things that were easy to find, the blood trail, now beginning to dry, made retracing the route of the chase far less cumbersome. He hated to admit it, but Salute still hadn’t memorized the entire town’s layout. He’d have to get on that… assuming he was still on the Guard tomorrow.

Finally at the fork once more, Salute took the right path.

No….

Salute whipped back around and took another look at the split. He did a double take. Then a triple. But it didn’t matter how many times he looked away, or how much he grinded his teeth, the sight before him was the same. It didn’t make any sense. It was so frustratingly baffling that it made the dragon want to scream.

That trail of blood, the one that’d told him which street the thief went down. It abruptly stopped. Before going down either path.

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