It had been two days since Touya and Damea had been released. In that time, Touya had done what he could with his broken mechanics on his arms. Damea was no doctor, Touya had learned from experience then, but he'd done what he could. The Therian's forearm was patched up finally and the gears working again, though it was far from perfect. The blades had a hard time being deployed, but they came out none-the-less and that was all that mattered. The dent in his hand was fixed as well, and though he could draw his claws, he couldn't extend them out to their maximum length like his other hand. Again, they worked again and that was what he needed.
They were called upon on the second day for a meeting that Reginald was holding. At first Touya had had half a mind to just leave the place and go on his own to investigate the area, but he knew nothing about the place and he knew that Damea would have declined vehemently. So, the Therian stayed there to respect Damea's wishes as well as get as much information as he could about the place. Besides that, he was just a little more curious about Miles than before. He still wanted to know why the man hadn't dumped him the moment he had the chance to. Touya figured he would ask Miles later on when they had the chance.
“Oh, why if it isn’t the little pacifist therian. Where’s your woman today?”
Touya frowned at the man as he was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, his long silver hair braided and falling over his shoulder.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t goad our guest Lieutenant, especially when he’ll be responsible for facilitating your entrance. Welcome all. As promised, we have devised a method of infiltrating the compound, but I’ll be short. We need someone on the inside to open the backdoor. The perimeter is heavily defended by squadrons of city guard, but once inside that shouldn’t be a problem. That falls onto you faceless.”
Again, the Therian's frown deepened as his icy pale blue eyes watched Reginald throughout his entire description of the plan. As the man said 'faceless' Touya bared his teeth, his hands tightening over his arms, "Therian," he growled in correction. Reginald ignored him and continued, running his finger over the designs of the place where they were to infiltrate.
“I figured opening that access way would be a good use for your shape shifting abilities. The rest of the team will wait for you behind that door. After that, you have as long as you want to investigate, so long as you avoid detection. My office is in the north wing, ground floor. Shouldn’t be hard to miss, I imagine there’s still a bloody patch there where twelve Jaeger Guard died.”
Touya's gaze studied the plans intently, burning them into his memory before he lifted his eyes to look about at the group of men that were going to go with him. Uncrossing his arms, he turned and left the room without a word. Damea followed right behind him. The mercenaries demeanor had grown solemn in the past few days, he was no longer as talkative as before. Touya figured the poor man had seen more than enough for one man. He didn't say anything though, leaving the fire mage to his own devices. However if he ever wished to talk, Touya would listen.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Yes," Touya answered Damea shortly.
"Then all I have to say is be very careful. No matter what we find there, Touya-"
"I know."
Damea didn't say anything more but watched Touya intently before nodding his head.
The trip was spent in silence as they traversed across the city to where Reginald's old office had been. It took about an hour to get across town as Touya was moving rather quickly. He spotted the building that the doctor had described easily enough and pressed his body against the wall of the alley that opened up to a wide street right before the building. His eyes flicked from one end of the building to another. No one was visible from where they were standing and Touya leaned back with a sigh.
"I can't shape shift unless I know what to shift into," Touya said, mostly to Damea, but his voice was loud enough for all to hear. The fire mage smiled at him mischievously and patted his shoulder.
"Leave that to me, my friend," and Damea slipped passed him into the wide street. There was a long pause of complete silence. After that Damea's voice could be heard as he yelled loudly for someone to help him. Touya tensed, wondering what it was that the man was thinking. He glowered at the street before him and forced himself to wait, no matter how apprehensive he was at that moment. A few seconds later and Damea reappeared next to Touya, his eyes wide with fear as he looked at someone down the street. Waving his arm, he called out again.
"Over here! My friend! Please, he's hurt!" Then Damea ducked passed Touya and the tall Therian waited patiently as he heard the hurried footsteps of a disgruntled soldier. The mercenary had done well, that much he could commend the man on as a tall man about the same size of Touya came and stood right next to the Therian. Reaching out like a snake, Touya gripped the mans arm and pulled him into the alleyway. A hard crack to the side of his head put the man into darkness right after and the human soldier lay limply in Touya's arms.
Touya's gaze studied the man for a few minutes more and then his body shivered and his features transformed to match that of the soldier he held. Looking to Damea, whose jaw had dropped in awe at the display, he handed the unconscious man over. The fire mage took him and pulled him a little ways down the alley and behind some boxes so that he was out of the way. Touya turned and exited the alleyway going back down the way he'd heard the footsteps. There were several other soldiers down there as well, watching as Touya returned to them.
"What was it, Byres?" One of the men asked as they all walked together back to their station at the left wing of the building. He knew that Damea and the others were already making their way over to the 'back' door that he needed to get to.
"Nothing, just a delusional man," Touya answered.
"He didn't look delusional to me," another replied, eyeing Touya.
The Therian didn't answer only glowered at the man before him, hoping that they would not notice a difference in demeanor or voice. The soldiers stared back at him with suspicion, but one of them shook his head and sighed heavily. Almost as one, they disregarded Touya and the Therian made his way behind them. Slowly he worked his way backwards to the door that the men were stationed at.
"Whatever. Next time don't just go running around to follow some random person. You're lucky you didn't get killed," the first one commented but never turned around and silence soon fell among the four soldiers. Touya's hand reached out behind him and his fingers soon hit the doorknob. Quietly turning it, he backed into the building, keeping a steady eye on the four men outside. Once he was inside the building, he closed the door and lifted his hand. With a bit of magic, he locked the door and for good measure, turned the energy towards the metal on the side and warped it to the point of jamming the door.
Touya turned on his heel and looked around. He shed his shape shifted appearance, his hair returning to its normal length and color as did his eyes and pale skin. No one was in the hallway as far as he could tell and the door he needed to open was on the other side for the men. Moving quickly and quietly he made his way there, nothing hindering him as he went. It was almost too smooth for an operation. So much so that Touya was growing rather apprehensive. He reached the designated door and pushed it open slightly to let the men know he was inside.
Turning around, he eyed the hall and started back down it. He was now looking for Reginald's office. There had been destruction throughout the building, evidence that something had definitely happened there. Touya turned down right hallway, he worked his way through thrown furniture, papers and destroyed walls. It was amazing the destruction that littered the area. When he reached the office that Reginald had told him of, there was indeed a lot of blood left over. Touya walked around the room, looking at papers scattered around the desk and floor.
There was a window as well that opened up into another room, this one looking no worse for wear as Reginald's office. Beyond the window where several metal tables with leather bindings on them. All of which were empty. Touya felt his chest growing tighter as he eyed the area. There was no sign of April at all, the only thing that was left behind was blood.