The setting sun caused long shadows over the meadow. Each olive blade of grass caused a shadow triple its size. The mountains that bordered the meadow plunged whatever land that fell beneath their shadows into darkness.
The forests beyond these mountains were just as black. Towns that were beyond those forests were silent as their citizens prepared to end the long day, each going to bed with something in the back of their minds, fear.
In the meadow, however, things couldn't have been more different. A tavern stood in the center of the grassy meadow. Lights filled the surrounding land with light. The warmth from the fire inside caused the rowdy people to feel safe.
This was truly a place of goodness in Hope Reich, which was still recovering from the great war caused by other, larger nations like Atlas and Vale. Hope Reich fought bravely against the mighty nations, but in the end, Atlas and its ally, Mistral were victorious.
A form of slavery was forced onto the citizens of Hope Reich, heavy taxes from Atlas and Misteral were just one of the many burdens caused by the war. The worst punishment was that Atlas forced Hope Reich's military forces into their own ranks.
Atlas now held Guardians, masters of the elements, whose power rivaled armies. A Guardian who honed their skills could be equivalent to ten huntsmen.
Military law was forced onto the people of Hope Reich, soldiers patrolling the streets became an everyday occurence, those who spoke out against this new government were silenced.
Faunus mistreatment came back, with Atlas promoting laws that stopped Faunus from getting better jobs or moving up into higher classes.
Propaganda began to spread like wildfire, it turned children from their parents and even snatched the younger Guardians from their loyalty. Soon there was no one to fight back against this dictatorship, but that was only what Atlas and Misteral thought.
Five people, these were orphans and loners, made their mark on this new government. They slaughtered hundreds of Guardians in a single minute and then, just as quickly as they committed this crime, they faded away, never to be seen again.
Back in the meadow, the last place untouched by the war, the tavern was about to experience its own problem.
In the tavern, where drunks congregated and those who wanted to escape gathered, stood a woman in the doorway. Her dirty blonde hair, tied neatly in a ponytail, reflected little light. This woman was younger, about her early twenties.
She had white pants on and a grey tank top on. Her silver and black boots caused a thud every time she took a step. She felt her stomach growl from hunger and each step hurt to take, due to a wound on her leg.
She walked into a noisy and crowded place, where she could barely hear herself think. Men shouted and slammed their mugs together. The only person she saw who wasn't yelling or making some other fuss, was a man in the corner.
The man had an old, penny brown cowboy hat covering his face. His legs were propped up on the wooden table in front of him, showing his mocha brown leather cowboy boots.
The woman walked over to the counter and sat down. The bartender looked at her and smiled, she smiled back. The bartender was a handsome young man, whose blonde hair reflected all the light, his green eyes were covered by a pair of glasses.
The bartender walked over to the woman. "Evening, what can I get for you?"
"Water please," The woman responded, much to the bartender's surprise.
He cocked an eyebrow, but he shrugged and laughed. "Sure thing miss."
She watched as the young man reached under the counter and grabbed a glass bottle of water. He spun around and snatched a glass from a counter behind him. Spinning back around, he quickly poured the water into the glass and handed it to the woman.
A man, who sat next to the woman, spoke to the bartender with slurred words. "Hey! Hear anything in the news?"
The bartender put his finger up to his chin in thought. "I heard that they almost caught that one criminal up north."
"One of the Five?" The drunk man asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, the one who Atlas dubbed the 'Dragon', but I doubt he is actually real."
Another man, on the other side of the woman, scoffed. "Of course those four ain't real, who could kill that many guardians?"
Another man chimed in from a table near the counter. "I heard the Dragon was picked by the fire goddess."
Soon all the men in the tavern joined. They all started shouting about what they thought happened or didn't happen the day when all those bodies were found.
"They are a myth, started by rebellion forces to inspire hope!" One shouted.
The woman watched the men then start shouting at the man who had just spoke. She rolled her eyes, which landed on the man in the corner. He was still asleep, which amazed her the most, she had no idea how anyone could sleep through all that noise.
"You know, Atlas put out a bounty on their heads!"
"So they must be real!"
"A bounty eh?" The man to the woman's right asked. He turned to the bartender. "You say that one was spotted up north?"
The bartender nodded. "Yeah, but why bother?"
"Myth or not, that bounty must be pretty damn high!" The man leapt off the stool and grabbed a revolver from his pocket. "I'm going off to find me the Dragon."
Suddenly every man in the tavern was on their feet, now they didn't care whether the stories were true or not, they didn't want to risk it.
Everyone began to race out of the tavern, downing whatever was still in their mugs and dashing. The woman watched them all leave, she watched as one man stumbled around the tavern, trying to head for the door, but failed.
The drunk man stumbled over to the corner and collapsed on the cowboy's table, flipping the table. The man and the table crashed onto the ground. The cowboy stirred in his sleep as his feet crashed down onto the man's back.
"He still isn't awake?" The woman muttered to herself.
The drunk pushed the cowboy's feet off of him and stood up. He raised his fists and glared at the cowboy. "So you wanna to fight?"
It was clear to the woman that the man had a little too much to drink. But with no response from the sleeping cowboy, the drunk scoffed. "That's what I thought."
The drunk was about to walk away, but an idea popped into his mind. He snatched the hat from the sleeping cowboy. The drunk snickered and went to walk away, but the cowboy's hand shot up and grabbed his wrist.
The drunk turned to the cowboy, who was now standing. The cowboy was a lot bigger than the drunk thought, standing at six two. The drunk's liquid courage came back to him.
"So you do want to fight?" The drunk asked with slurred words. He swung at the cowboy.
The cowboy's fist shot off like a rocket, slamming into the drunk's chest, knocking the wind from his lungs. The drunk released the hat and the cowboy released the drunk, who then stumbled backwards and fell backwards onto the ground.
The cowboy bent down and picked up his hat. He settled it on his head and walked over to the counter. The cowboy sat down and looked at the bartender.
"What time is it?" He asked.
The bartender raised his wrist and looked at his watch. He looked back at the cowboy and smiled. "I have no idea, my watch is still broken."
The cowboy rolled his eyes. He looked over at the woman and looked at the counter. "What's up with the Atlas specialist?"
The woman's eyes widened. "I-I don't know what…"
"What, couldn't find a change of clothes?" He asked.
The woman sighed. "Yeah."
"So why did you leave?" The cowboy asked.
"That's my business!" She said, crossing her arms and looking away.
The cowboy stuck his hand out. "I'm Clay by the way."
The woman slowly looked back. She cautiously took his hand. "Marina."
The bartender stuck his head in and smiled at the two. "My name is Edward."
Clay and Marina looked at him with uninterest. He frowned and went back to work. Clay sighed and looked back at Marina. "So, where are you…"
Clay was interrupted by the sound of someone pounding on the door to the tavern. Clay and Edward both looked at the door with confusion.
"Atlesian officers, OPEN UP!" A rough and low voice shouted.
Marina looked around frantically. "I'm not in a condition to fight!"
Edward smiled. "I'll distract them, you two go out the back."
Clay nodded at Edward and offered Marina his hand. She took it and he helped her onto her feet.
Edward vaulted over the counter and landed on the hardwood floor of his tavern. He walked towards the heavy wooden door while Clay and Marina hurried for the back.
Edward reached it and waited a second, he grabbed the door handle and flung it open. Edward was now face to face with a large man, white futreistic armor was all over his body, except his face and two standard Atlesian robots.
"What can I do for you?" Edward innocently asked.
The large man spoke, "My name is Captain Ivan! I am looking for a deserter!"
"Well I can assure you, that I don't know of anyone…"
One of the robots interrupted Edward. "Two targets identified fleeing from the back!"
Edward's eyes widened. Ivan sighed and with blinding speed, drew his blade and slashed down onto Edward, sending him flying back into the tavern and causing the wind to form a blade, slicing the tavern into two.
Ivan turned to the fleeing Clay and Marina. Clay was carrying the wounded woman, he rushed through the meadow. Ivan grinned and sped after the two, using immense speed.
"Atlas does not tolerate desterters!" Ivan shouted. He slashed his blade again, sending a huge blade of air towards the two.
Clay leapt to the side, as the blade flew past them, tearing up the grass and eventually slamming into a bordering mountain. Part of the mountain was sliced clean off, it hurled down towards the meadow.
Clay sighed and put Marina down on the grass. He went to stand straight, but she grabbed him.
"He will kill you!" Marina said. "Just give me to him."
Clay scoffed. "No, I think I can handle him, although I did want to ask you something."
"What?"
"Back in the tavern, everyone was talking about the Dragon hero and if he was real or not."
"You were awake?"
"I wanted to ask what you thought about that?"
"I don't care, there are more important things going on!" She yelled.
Clay smirked, he looked at Ivan, who was fast approaching. "Well, I guess you are right."
Clay began to walk towards Ivan, he reached into two holsters that were under his arms and drew his revolvers. Clay pressed a button on both the handles and they transformed into two knives. Ivan slashed at Clay, but was shocked when Clay blocked the attack.
Clay leapt into the air and kicked Ivan in the cheek. Ivan staggered back and raised a hand, he unleashed a torrent of pressurized air.
Clay flicked his hand up and a wall of fire came from the ground. The air from Ivan's attack only made the fire larger and larger. Soon the wall of flames was twenty feet in the air.
Ivan began to back up. Clay smirked and raised his hands. He flung them down and the wall of fire hurled towards Ivan, who raised his sword.
"An impressive display, but I'm not that easy!" Ivan shouted, air flew from his sword's tip creating a sphere around him. The fire crashed into the sphere of air and did not break through.
Clay frowned as the flames dispersed into the air. Ivan sighed in relief and released the air. Ivan looked at Clay and smirked.
"How many Guardians have you killed?" Ivan's voice boomed, he began to walk towards Clay. "I've been specially trained to hunt down enemy Guardians and eliminate them, your cheap fire tricks are nothing."
Clay scoffed, fire began to encircle his body. "I don't keep track of the number."
Clay smirked and launched fire through his feet, exploding the ground beneath him and rocketing him towards Ivan. Clay slammed his boot into Ivan's face. The large man staggered back and Clay landed on his feet.
Clay began a barrage of stabs onto Ivan's gut. Each attack sent massive damage to Ivan's aura. Clay sent fire to his blades and kept up the barrage. He finally stopped, Ivan's black aura shimmering around his body, signaling that it had been depleted.
Ivan was panting heavily and struggled to stand. Clay placed his arms at his sides. "I don't keep track of the number… but now it is one more!"
Clay sent a knife into Ivan's gut, piercing his armor and digging into his skin. Clay yanked the knife out and Ivan collapsed onto his knees. Clay sighed and transformed the weapons back into their revolver forms. He placed the two guns into his holsters.
Clay reached into his pocket and grabbed a toothpick, he placed it in his mouth and began to chew on it, a nervous habit that had been with him for years.
Marina was left in amazement. She had never seen someone take a specialist out that quickly, especially a Guardian specialist. Clay could tell she was bewildered.
"About that Dragon hero tale," He said, turning around to face her. "I never did like that name."
Marina's eyes widened. "Y-your?"
"Yes, I am the Dragon Hero, Clay Feuer," Clay said, rolling his eyes. "I acted in self defense once and suddenly I am wanted by every town in Hope Reich!"
Clay looked at the ground and shook his head. He began walking away, leaving Marina.
"Hey!" She shouted after him. Clay turned around and cocked an eyebrow. "I could use more friends like you!"
Clay shrugged. "I'm not anything special lady, just a guy with some guns… and magical powers."
"And I'm not just some deserter from the Atlesian military," Marina said, smirking. "I've been questioning the Atlesian military for years, but I never could see anyway of stopping them, but now, with you and your four other friends…"
"Let me stop you there," Clay began walking back towards her. "I'm not going to start some revolution, I just want to be left alone."
"B-but.."
"And I don't even know where the others are, we got into one small fight… it's not like we were best friends." Clay spun around and started walking away. Marina frowned and looked at the ground, she knew Clay was her only hope.
Clay kept walking, he didn't have a doubt in his mind, except when he began to chew on his toothpick. Memories came back to him, ones that no matter how much beer, would always be there.
Clay sighed and stopped walking. He called back to Marina. "Alright, I'll help you."
Marina looked at him, her eyes seemed to sparkle, like the ocean. "R-really?"
"Come on!" Clay ordered, she got onto her feet and ran after him. The two began walking together. "I know where we could find the first two, but the rest will be hard to track down."
"Well we'll need them all if we want to secure Hope Reich's freedom," Marina stated.
"Let's do it," Clay said, grinning at Marina as the two walked off.
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