Is this destiny?

~ Romania, the Ceresc Solutions ~

Thursday

September 10

10:34 AM

In the two-bedroom suite of the Castel…

Note: \'Castel\' is \'castle\' in Romanian, so Sarah and Aiden decided to call the main castle where living quarters are \'Castel\'

, just how the castle in France is called \'Chateau\'.

Sarah is in one of the bedrooms which she and Aiden are currently using as an office. She ended the video chat with JoAnna. Sarah called to wish her sister a happy birthday.

JoAnna was not happy to be woken up (it\'s 1:30 AM in Los Angeles), but she was happy that her sister remembered, and she understood why Sarah could not call later because they are heading out to meet with Master Hollow.

Aiden was there for the beginning of the call, wished JoAnna a happy birthday and then he went back to pack.

Aiden is excited about this mission.

They plan to reach the location where Master Hollow and his three disciples are staying by late afternoon (that is the local time, after the 3-hour journey and a 3-hour time difference), they will stay for dinner and overnight and the next day, Sarah and Aiden will head with Kitty to the location of the poachers.

Based on the current information the poachers have two smaller bases and one main one. Sarah and Aiden will shut down all of them, and they estimate that it will take about a day of traveling one way (not including time to fight and release captured animals). The two of them want to take this journey on foot so that they can disable and destroy any traps and cages that they see on the way.

Of course, poachers in the field are one thing, while their support and the financial network are another.

Mishi accepted the task to cut off the finances and support. He will hack in order to transfer money to a ghost account that will be backup finances for the Ceresc Solutions. He is expecting that Sarah and Aiden will signal him when he should start, probably on the afternoon of the next day. They want to act at the same time.

Sarah and Aiden also found people who are supporting the network of poachers: corrupt politicians and businesspeople, and they compiled files on each of them. When Mishi completes his attacks on finances, he will release the information on misdeeds of the big-shots online. The information they have is enough to ruin their reputation and to kill off their business. No one will want to associate with those people anymore. In short, they will be unable to continue their support of the poaching.

Back to the present…

Sarah went to find Aiden, and she saw that he is with Haru and Nala in the living room with Kitty.

"Were you waiting for me to finish the call?", Sarah guessed.

"Yes. Everything is ready.", Aiden confirmed.

"Oh… let me just follow up with Aaron quickly." Sarah dashed out of the living room without giving anyone a chance to respond.

Aiden wanted to tell her that she can do it in flight, but then he remembered that they will be flying over the Black Sea, and the Caspian Sea and numerous forests, and there is a chance for a bad signal. Well, a few more minutes won\'t make much of a difference for their schedule, and it will make her happy.

He is pleased that Sarah is smiling and energetic considering that she slept only a few hours.

On the previous night, they had dinner on the top of the old castle which was owned by the Vlad the Impaler (aka Dracula). They made love and enjoyed the sight of stars above them before heading down the castle to explore the ancient structure. The two of them avoided approaching the main hallways, because of the guards; the castle is a tourist attraction and it\'s open during the daytime. Of course, Sarah and Aiden were venturing through the areas which are off-limits for tourists.

Sarah and Aiden didn\'t find any secret rooms or passages, but they had fun chasing each other through dark hallways (with Eve-lens providing them with night vision) and by the time they returned to the castel, it was dawn.

Aiden\'s mind drifted off three months in the future, because he wants to make their every 3-monthiversary special.

Aiden said that he will take care of everything and he wanted to do it every month. However, Sarah rejected the frequency of celebration, saying that it will be overkill, and that anniversary is fine. Aiden insisted that once a year is not enough and they compromised: every three months.

His goal is that they celebrate their 3-monthiversaries by doing something unique. Together.

In three months, it will be December, so something winter-ish will be appropriate. Probably with snow. His face lit up. They can go for a weeklong escape to their villa in Grindelwald for skiing and on December 9, the special thing will be to go to the Himalayas and search for Yeti. Aiden is confident that Sarah will love it! They will hike, ski, and explore icy caves. And they can make an igloo and spend the night in the mountain. The more he thought about it, the clearer images were in his mind, and he saw himself shape the snow into cubes, and then melt the outside layer slightly which will freeze into ice to provide better insulation from the cold winds…

"Aiden? How long should we wait?"

Haru\'s question pulled Aiden out of his thoughts.

Aiden realized that it\'s more than twenty minutes since Sarah left. He was consumed in his plans to search for Yeti and spend the night with Sarah in an igloo, and he spaced out.

"Let\'s go there. Sarah is in the warehouse with Aaron and that is next to the garage. We can tell them to hurry up and it\'s on the way…"

~ Close to the border of China with Kazakhstan ~

5:37 PM

Haru landed the helicopter at the edge of the clearing which hosts several cottage-like houses where Master Hollow and his disciples (aka Haru\'s non-blood-related brothers) live.

Master Hollow and his three disciples had concerned expressions while observing a strange aircraft descending close to their home, and when Haru waved at them they looked confused.

Haru leaped out of the helicopter first and bowed right away. "Master…"

"Haru?" Master Hollow could not hide his surprise.

Master Hollow and his three disciples finished with their training and then they felt the wind change and a few seconds later they realized it\'s not a wind but a helicopter. And the helicopter is unusually silent and there is Haru, and two other familiar faces as well... and one new face.

Haru went swiftly to the other side and opened the door for Nala. "Don\'t be nervous."

"I can\'t help it.", Nala whispered. She knows that Haru grew up with Master Hollow and she wants to leave a good impression, alright?

"Master, this is Nala. She is my woman.", Haru introduced Nala who bowed stiffly.

"Oh…", the sound which escaped Master Hollow didn\'t match his stern expression.

Sarah and Aiden bowed as well, but Master Hollow and his other three disciples were more interested in the black panther which came out of the helicopter and was sniffing the surrounding.

"That is Kitty. We found her when we visited you last time, on our way back home. She is staying with us since then.", Sarah explained. "Kitty is well behaved, and she will not hurt you…"

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