Survival Of The Fittest

Kaede just released her breath, as well as the pressure in her midsection, as Kitty up and left. They were safe, but ...

"Fitz, did you really have to sell out Matthew and Shawn? It might have gotten her away from us, but ..." She left that last part hanging.

Fitz watched Kitty go, raising a hand to wave at her while keeping his face in a careful, pleasant smile.

He waited until a few seconds after Kitty was out of sight, then slumped and let out a “Hooooooohhhhhmygod.” It felt like his bones had turned to jelly out of relief. “I need to fucking sit down...”

He slithered to the floor before flopping onto his back, although he was still aware enough to keep the gun pointed away from Kaede.

“EhhhhhhehhHHHHH--” He tailed off in an indecisive and progressively more high-pitched noise before he concluded with, “HHHhhhprobably not. But at least Matthew wants the fight with Kitty. Best way to survive is to just let them get out their grudges and keep out of it.”

He tilted his head further back so he could stare down Kaede from his position on the icy bank.

“You can try to run ahead and warn them, if you want. But I didn’t come this far and lose the people I actually liked just to die protecting some random gun-toting asshole. You missed the Mexican stand-off this morning. I think it’s 2-to-1 that they would have shot me once she was out of the picture, anyway.”

Kaede stepped forward as she listened to Fitz stated his idea for how he wanted things to go. He talked about how Matthew and Shawn were likely to shoot him anyway, so if Matthew and Shawn got the fight they wanted, so be it.

Kaede ... didn't know. She didn't think she would be able to warn them in time, but it still felt like a dick move.

She just settled for kneeling down, and picking up the ration bar that Kitty had dropped. It felt like her own method of rebellion. Maybe a bit small, but still. Baby steps ... again.

Kaede didn’t run off, or keep arguing the point. Fitz watched her scoop up the dropped ration, before pushing himself to his feet with a faint ‘didn’t think so’ smile.

The feeling had come back into his limbs after Kitty’s departure. He climbed to his feet, did a few little jumps, then peeked through his rifle at the mountain. He saw a glimpse of what was possibly still Matthew and Shawn, then lowered the rifle and unloaded it once more before placing the clip in his pocket.

“I’m heading to town.”

He took a few steps in that direction, then stopped and turned around.

“And so you know, once I get there I’m doing impromptu surgery on a corpse. That’s why I wanted the machete.” Fitz tapped his bag, then said, “And I don’t want any lectures about it, because I gotta fill the time somehow and I might as well do it by ruining Alex’s ghost. You don’t like it, pick a direction.”

With that, he turned back around and started to walk off.

((Russell ‘Fitz’ Fitzroy continued elsewhere.))

That was ... gruesome. Surgery on a corpse. Well, Kaede didn't feel like she had much of a choice. FItz might be standoffish and flinty, but he was there. He had the weapons, and he wasn't turning them on her.

So, with that in mind, Kaede just followed Fitz into the town.

It can't be that bad, right?

((Kaede Tsurumi continued in The Sound of Bugles))