1879

Hiding is not the best solution when there is war in your vicinity. But, what could I do? I am only fourteen and I do not even know how to handle a gun. My muscles are not quite capable of carrying my entire body and my belongings through this messy area.

It is day 57 in hiding and I am doing a bit better than before. The army forces have temporarily left this place; I can now easily go and hunt for food. I have met quite a few people, like me, on the way and needless to say, I had a wonderful chat with them.

I met Conny, Bastien and Quin among them. Ever since I first met them, they have been accompanying me for hunt every day. We have become fast friends, and I believe none of us would ever try and break this unique bond we hold.

______________

Quin folds the page with his long and calloused fingers, so gentle as if he was caressing his lover. Kissing it lightly, the man put it in a pouch and zip it shut.

Gripping the reigns, he led his horse farther into the broken town, his subordinates following him with caution. They had no clue what they were searching for; a week since the great war has passed and General Quin had asked them to accompany him to an investigation. Being soldiers and true to their duty, they agreed and galloped around continuously with minimum breaks.

Despite their long struggle, all they found was a yellow crinkled page hidden between two books of an almost ruined bookshelf. The men were baffled as to why the paper was important - it raised curiosity within them.

"General Quin, why is that we venture in this broken town for a week and leave with only a mere sheet of paper?" A soldier, brave enough, dared to ask.

Quin closed his eyes for a moment and inhaled lightly. "It is no 'mere' sheet of paper. This may be a likely path to an underground concentration camp."

"Underground concentration camp?" The soldier was baffled. "What is written as such in the paper?"

"A victim has left a trail for us to follow."

"A trail? How could they predict that they were about to be abducted and leave clues accordingly?"

The general smiled fondly. "They were coy enough to make it possible."

"What if it's a trap?"

"Rest assured, the victim is someone from my knowledge." And from his heart.

"If you trust them general, we will always await for your orders. Anything to destroy the ones who brought our homeland to ruins."

"I am quite relieved to be having reliable soldiers like you by my side. I will not let your efforts go in vain." He replied solemnly.

The troop saluted their general and began following Quin to their next destination. It was quite absurd to blindly follow a bunch of papers laid as if it were a game of treasure hunt, but if it was something of utmost importance to their leader, they would follow it blindly too.

1879

Guess what? Today we found a small stream flowing in the forest. The four of us were absolutely thrilled at the sight of fishes in water. Finally, we could have something that did not involve stale oatmeal or moldy bread. It may sound disgusting but, as a person in hiding, you did not have much choice, did you?

Conny was awfully excited. She narrated stories of the vast seas and valor of sea crooks; she even sang something known as a 'sea shanty'. It was so unique and upbeat! The lot of us sang along with her, but we all were very off-key. It was funny and ridiculous so, me, Bastien and Quin decided to accompany a few beats to her songs.

What really surprised me, was that, Conny is an expert in fishing. The way she caught a fish with just a twig and a string was a sight to behold. But her smile was the star of the show.

By the time it was evening, all of us had collected eleven fishes - enough to last for a few days! Now I don't have to risk my life every day to hunt for food. We could always collect fishes one day and then, come back after a few days when the stock was over!

Not only that, these fishes tasted heavenly when roasted over the fire. At times, I got them overcooked, and the meat would get chewy but, I'm sure I'll master the technique one day.

PS: Bastien burnt his fish.

________________________

It took almost no time for the General to figure out where the next page was. It made him think if he was making a mistake here; Adi wasn't the type to make anything easy for him.

Quin alighted his horse when he arrived at the forest. The stream that previously flowed here, was all dried up, leaving a trail of dried mud. The forest was untouched by many and hence, he could locate their bonfire in an instant. Changes did not seem to place an effect in this area; the little camp and empty coconut shells were still there where they were last placed.

All of his memories regarding him were very vivid because of how hazy and short they were. Many would still raise their eyebrows and ask how twelve years were short for him. When things are happier, one may not realize how fast the time goes, and all these joyful moments just imprint themselves in the brain.

Quin's right-hand man, Colonel Wright, stood beside him, watching the dense jungle in awe. "Well, I have not ever seen such flora in this area. How did you acquire the location of this place?"

"It was a place I used to visit quite often in my youthful days."

"Quite odd for you to mention 'youthful days' when you are still young."

"By 'youthful days', I mean the happy and worry free days of my life."

Wright nodded. "Touché."

Quin ruffled his own hair in force of habit and observed his troops. All of them were standing straight and in neatly formed rows; their gaze didn't falter even for a moment. Satisfied with their competence, the brunet turned around and raised his hand to gain their attention.

"Search this place thoroughly for an old sheet of paper. Once found, do not read the contents, immediately hand it over to me. Understood?"

"Yes Sir!"

With that, the soldiers began their search in different corners. The Colonel stood beside the General, observing the army as well as the latter. Ever since the war concluded, he noticed Quin acting more impatient and spontaneous than before. His request, for a troop of fifteen soldiers for an expedition to hunt for underground concentration camps, was heroic but strange nonetheless. Wright has been working with the man for five years straight, but never in his line of work did Quin, himself, request for a search mission. Rather, the brunet was more than thrilled to visit home, however, ever since his last trip, Quin has not been the same.

His fighting and strategy both had taken a violent and colder turn; the enemy was destroyed to shreds when their commander followed Quin's ideas. And of course, the commander was exceptionally pleased with the results as well as with the brunet's active participation and recklessness. Quin used be more cautious and apathetic before, but now?

He moves as if he had nothing to lose anymore.

"General Quin! We found a stray page near a torn tent." A soldier bowed down as he handed the item to the said man.

Inspecting the sheet, Quin nodded lightly, seeming quite pleased. "All of you have done an excellent job. Please proceed for lunch before we move ahead to our next destination."

The soldier nodded enthusiastically before he headed to his comrades to inform of their lunch break.

Colonel Wright glanced at the crinkly sheet. "Apologies if I intrude, General Quin, but are those pages from someone you know?"

Quin hesitated for a while before he answered. "Yes, yes they are."

"...Were they captured by one of the concentration camps?"

Wright heard a slight crumple and noticed the way Quin's jaw clenched in raw anger. "Yes,"

"Were they someone precious-"

"Enough."

"Yes sir," The Colonel instantly kept his mouth shut not wanting to anger Quin any further.

1879

It's getting colder day by day. Bastien and Conny were fighting over the unlit bonfire, something about which was a better way to light a fire. Bastien had a few sticks in his hands while Conny had stones; their fight would have been humorous enough if it was not for the shivering autumn winds that were catching up.

My white, thin as can be, cloth, was of no use to provide me any sense of warmth to my body - which was unfortunate for the most part. If it had not been Quin stealing woolen scarves for us, I would have met my fate from hypothermia. I was a bit upset that we had to be dishonest to survive, but instead of scolding Quin like I used to, I asked him where he got them from.

He said it was from 'The Mister and Mistress' store which was a little further from my temporary shelter in town. I should have been surprised that he had managed to steal from a high-end store, but, I was mesmerized by the floral designs on the cloth. The colors were beautiful - turquoise, amber, maroon and light green all splattered!

Bastien was salty that he received the pink one while Quinn and Conny had royal red and black respectively. Of course that resulted into another fight, but I thankfully interrupted before anything could escalate further.

It was quite an eventful day!

PS: My scarf was very fluffy and warm.

__________________________

Quin chuckled lightly at what his lover wrote. His heart fluttered at the fact that his love had adored the scarf he had stolen for him. He never knew Adi would actually hide the next clue in the clothing store he often stole from because the latter loved colors.

The chimes of a bell resonated within the store when Quin entered along with Wright. The place had been through a renovation since his sneaky visits here. The insides were coated in a light pastel pink shade while black lace decorations adorned the few edges and corners of different furniture and walls. Mannequins were neatly standing on platforms which wore beautiful and elegant attires. Wooden shelves held colorful stacks of neatly folded clothes, accessories were on display under the golden hues of fancy light bulbs above and shoes were primly kept on glass platforms.

Holding the urge to look at the place in awe, the two men walked to the register where a beautiful young woman stood, who was holding a few papers in her hand. Wright almost stopped functioning when he laid eyes on her - how could one not? The lady had beautiful wavy ginger locks, ash gray eyes and a tall stature - taller than every other woman the Colonel had seen in his life.

"Ah, good morning, good sirs! My name is Adeline, and I would be assisting you today. Is there anything I can help you with?" She asked as she put the papers away.

Wright held his tongue to avoid saying something he would regret. Quin, unfortunately, noticed his odd behavior and immediately smirked lightly. Any other day, Wright would have been over the moon when the brunet showed any other emotion which did not include a frown or a cold expression. However, this was not any other day, and the olive haired man could not help but silently grunt in response.

"Greetings Adeline, I am Quin and this fellow beside me is Wright, we both are soldiers of our army. We are in need of information immediately." Quin spoke for the lieutenant as he knew the feeling all too well.

"Oh, are we in any sort of trouble?"

"No. Your store is not directly involved in the case we are investigating. There is no need to worry."

Adeline sighed in relief. "I suppose that is quite relieving. So, what is the information you require?"

Quin fished out his notepad and pen from a pocket. "Did a man, roughly about five feet and eight inches, visit your store two years ago and handed a sheet of paper in hopes to be given it to someone?"

Adeline pursed her lips. "Well, there have been numerous such strange customers who do that? Could you be more descriptive, if it is no problem?"

"That man had also purchased a colorful woolen scarf."

The ginger tap her foot on the floor for a while before she looked at the two. "Oh yes! That man was certainly suspicious at first. He was clad in a thin white shirt that draped over him like a dress and pants that looked like they were about to slip down his waist. Poor guy seemed like he didn't eat anything for ages."

Quin tried not to react to what she said and noted it down. "Do you still have that paper by any chance?"

"Well, about that. The manager gave it away to someone else, who asked for it like you two did. I am not sure who but, I suppose you can ask her if you like."

"I see, thank you for your cooperation. Is your manager available today?"

"Yes, she is in her office right by the corner." Adeline gestured to a polished wooden door, not that far away.

The brunet placed his notepad and pen back and nodded. "I see, many thanks."

"No problem!"

Wright quietly followed Quin to the office. He was embarrassed at himself when he found himself not contributing anything to the conversation back there. It was agonizingly difficult for him to say anything; his experiences with pretty women have never been pleasant. It was no wonder he still was a lonely bachelor with a single bedroom apartment and an almost empty fridge.

Wright sighed in annoyance when the General shot him another smug look at him. What days have been bestowed upon him that his cold-hearted boss would tease him about his non-existent love life?

Quin knocked on the shiny ebony door twice before entering. The manager was sitting on a chair smoking on her figurado cigar while glancing at the sheets of paper which had different dresses drawn on them. She merely shot a look at the two soldiers and returned her gaze at the documents while gesturing them to the neatly aligned chairs in front of her workspace.

Wright and Quin quietly sat on their seats and watched the lady puff a smoke out of her lips.

"If this is about the lawsuit, I have previously mentioned in the letter-"

"Ma'am, we are not here to address the alleged issue going on in your store." Wright cut to the chase, mainly due to the shame he felt a few moments ago.

The lady looked at them for a second. "Then what legal business would the army men serve here?"

Quin crossed his arms. "We are here to inquire about a note sent by a 'poorly dressed' man about five feet and eight inches high, two years ago."

"Give me a name."

The brunet let out a shaky breath. There was a reason as to why he didn't speak his name so often. If he did, he would never stop whispering his name under the dull night skies as he caressed the empty sheets beside him. He would not stop from quietly looking for him when he finds his bed cold in the early mornings he is awake.

"Adi." And yet, he says that with the same loving and soft tone as he did with him.