Tosh's Pledge
Dargul was literally inches away from becoming a very powerful man.
Raised in Gislem, Dargul had a particularly vile lot in life. Ever since the Great Disaster, Gislem had been a town of despair. Refuse and Rubble littered the cracked and broken streets, the buildings crumbled and sagged on their foundations, everything was coated in filth and grime, and the whole place stank of rot and decay. People struggled just to survive.
The people in Gislem were the worst of all. They had long ago lost the will to live.
They slunk about the streets, dirty and disheveled, they preyed upon each other, Robbing, beating, murdering. No one was trusted in Gislem. Everyone was taken to be a thief or a murderer, a crook or a con artist. The infamous Danger Dome forced them to kill one another over scraps. People who let their guard down for even an instant were never heard from again. Everything they had was lost in the Disaster. Family, friends, wealth and homes were obliterated in an instant. They had nothing left to lose.
Dargul was born into a cruel and unjust life, to survive he became cruel and unjust himself. Dargul stalked the weak. He hunted them, stole what they had, and then he killed them. He and his brothers prowled among the Ruined City and Galeki Falls. Whenever a beggar happened by they would allow them to pick over the broken remains and, when they had taken al they could, Dargul descended upon them swiftly and without mercy. For nearly all his life this was how he lived. Thieving to prolong his worthless life.
Until the man in white came to see him.
He was drinking at the local pub, or pretending to drink. The real reason he was there was to scout for prospective marks. He was a cunning bandit. That's why the Hunters hadn't caught up with him yet. The man walked in and looked the place over. Apparently he didn't like what he saw, because his face turned from curiosity into an expression of supreme disgust. Scanning the pub one more time he found what he was looking for.
He was looking for Dargul.
Bold as can be he walked right up to him.
"I need your help, "he declared
Dargul had to work very hard to keep from laughing in whitecoat's face.
"In case you haven't noticed," he drawled, "This ain't exactly no humanitarian summit."
"I know what you are, "whitecoat said, "You're a bandit."
This proved too much, Dargul lost his composure. He laughed long and hard, right in the man's face.
"You've got me there shorty, and I'll tell you a secret, "he leaned closer to whisper in the man's ear. Much to his discomfiture, "all these fine gentlemen here, well believe it or not, they're bandits too. "
The man angrily waved him aside. "I know that you pompous buffoon! I have a job for a man of your…talents."
"Well, I don't work for free. What're you offerin?"
"What I'm off-er-ing," He stressed the word, "Is to pay you for your services."
"Well why didn't you say so in the first place, "he cried, "What do you want?"
"I need you to procure for me a rare artifact."
"Hey buddy. Just what kinda work are we talkin about here?"
"No you incompetent fool! I need you to steal something for me!"
"Oh. Well why didn't you say so?"
The white coat was positively shaking with anger now.
"I did!"
Dargul shrugged, "Not in English."
Whitecoat decided to forfeit this losing battle.
"Look just forget it alright! "he spat, "Let's just get down to business." he made a show of looking around and leaned forward, lowering his voice, "Have you ever heard of the Water Sphere?"
Dargul frowned, searching his meager memory.
"Can't say that I have, "He said after a few moments' profound thought.
"I didn't expect you to. It's a magical artifact located in South Sultaro. This particular orb draws water up from the ground in the city if Testa."
Dargul looked at the whitecoat as if he'd sprouted two heads.
"You're yankin my chain," he said skeptically.
"I assure you that I am not," the whitecoat looked directly at him as he spoke.
"Well, what do you want me to do?" he asked.
A vein began to pulse in whitecoat's temple. He took several deep breaths in an effort to control himself before he could continue. When he did he spoke through clenched teeth.
"I want you to steal it you oafish buffoon,"
"Oh. Alright, but this kinda thing will cost you."
"Money is of no concern," he began to massage his temples. He wrote a figure on a piece of paper and slid it toward the bandit.
"I don't care how long it takes, just get me that orb."
His eyes lit up when he caught part of the sum written down, it was easily twice as much as he made in any one of his best years of thievery.
He rose and extended his hand, "Mister, you've got yourself a deal."
Whitecoat waved him off, "Fine, fine." He got up and with one last disdainful look at the bar around him, left.
Then and there he decided the water Sphere would soon belong to him. Taking his brothers through the Crash Site and past the burning desert he made his way to Testa, already thinking of wealth beyond his wildest dreams. Two days later he arrived.
They made their way along the dusty streets and came upon the fountain upon which the wondrous sphere rested. The shimmering blue sphere was nearly a foot in diameter and pulled water from the seemingly lifeless earth. The life-giving liquid was cool and flowed to all parts of the town through the fountain. It was calling to him, tantalizing him with visions of power. He had just begun to reach for it when an ignorant peasant accosted him.
"Hail there friends," he called "I see you are new to the town. Let me be the first to welcome you to Testa."
The brothers said nothing.
Not daunted the villager prattled on, "I see you admire our Water Sphere! Truly a magnificent artifact is it not?"
This got Dargul's attention, "Very much," he replied.
"It is the sole reason we are allowed to live here on this parched and barren land, because of it we have life."
"Truly admirable," he said with a gleam in his eyes, "its worth must truly be immense."
"Yes but we never plan on selling it as I'm sure you're aware."
Dargul turned to the man and smiled. In one swift motion he drew his sword and cut him down.
"Then I guess we'll have to take it," he said to his laughing brothers.
People began to scream. They panicked and fled before them. Anyone unlucky enough to try and stop them was killed. The guards fell before them and watched helplessly as Dargul reached out and plucked the orb from the fountain.
Water ceased to flow in Testa.
"We'll be takin' this pretty ball now," his brother, Ardul, sneered.
One of the villagers stepped forth, willing to throw his life away.
"Please, give it back, "he cried," If you take the sphere you'll kill us all!"
"That sphere means life itself to our village!" pleaded another.
Dargul's eyes lit up as a brilliant idea formed in his head. One that would make him even richer. Screw the whitecoat, he was in this for himself now. A malicious grin spread along his sallow features.
"Well, then you'll be anxious to pay for the water that we now control. Won't you?" His younger brother, Bardul, began to clap, expecting a rich reward.
The villagers were stricken. They could not afford to pay the bandits for the water, but if they didn't they would simply sell the precious orb. Either way they were dead.
"B-but, we..."
The brothers turned their backs upon them, sentencing them to death.
"We got what we came for," he told his siblings, "Let's get outta here." For barely ten minutes worth of work, they had become very powerful men. All at the price of a few measly peasants.
Ardul stopped, causing Dargul to barrel into him and nearly knocking them both to the ground.
"What the hell is your problem you idiot!" he roared.
"We have company."
Dargul looked over his brother's shoulder to find his way blocked by a swordsman.
He was clad in a dark silk kimono trimmed with red. The man's hair was a blazing orange and his eyes shone with the fire of a warrior. The man wore a sword at his hip and he obviously knew how to use it, judging by his stance. This man was no peasant, he was a warrior. He gaze was bold, his stride confident. He glared at the brothers and reduced them to nothing. The man had the look of a Hunter about him. A potential problem
"I don't like your attitude," he called to them," give them back their sphere."
Dargul was daunted, but not impressed.
"Says who," he drawled.
The man's gaze found him, pierced his soul.
"Your judge, jury, and executioner."
Dargul began to feel a trickle of fear. He shook it off, but not completely.
"Yeah?" Bardul asked, "Talk's cheap fella. You ain't got nothin on us."
The man smiled.
Dargul felt his temper boil over. This had gone on long enough.
"You arrogant bastard, " he screamed, "Get him!"
Before the words were even out of his mouth the man was upon them.
The man moved with the speed of a lightning strike and struck with the cold fury of an avalanche. Bardul had time to draw his sword from his sheath before he fell. Blood pouring from a ragged wound in his throat. Ardul tried to leap on the man's back. He froze and gave a strangled scream. Without turning around the swordsman slashed past his hip and through Ardul's stomach, he crumpled in a heap and lay still.
Dargul fell to his knees and begged for his life.
"Please I don't deserve this," he whimpered," I didn't want to go along with them but the threatened to kill me if I didn't. Please I don't kill me!"
A look of disgust fell across the warrior's face. All the while Dargul's hand casually slid toward his gun belt. His brothers may have died, but he would live to reap the full reward of the orb. He waited for his moment.
The swordsman lowered his blade. "You believe you deserve forgiveness?"
Dargul freed his pistol.
"Yes!" he blubbered, " There's no need for anyone else to--DIE!"
He aimed the pistol at the man. Before the words were even you of his mouth the weapon dropped from nerveless fingers. In one swift and fluid motion he had been decapitated.
The man wiped the blood off his sword with the corpse's shirt.
The villagers, daring to believe they'd been saved. Called to him.
"How can we ever repay you?" they asked.
"Don't worry about it" he assured them, "just take care."
Their savior turned to leave.
"Please wait," a woman called," I beg you! Please, stay here and protect our town. As long as we possess the sphere we have life. Without it we'll all die. This isn't the first time it's been threatened. "
The man paused. The people were truly in need. They cast anxious looks at the borders, as if seeing an army of bandits on their doorstep. He'd been traveling alone for so long. Maybe this would be good for him. A place to protect, to call home.
"If that is what you wish. Then I shall stay."
"Thank you!" You have no idea how much this means to all of us!"
"I, Tosh, pledge to take this town and the sphere under my watch. Anyone who dares to try and steal it will meet a swift and ignominious end!"
The people of Testa rejoiced and finally dared to dream of peace.