Lords and ladies, I have returned! After my absence, and the subsequent death of the last tale, I come bearing this offering for your enjoyment. With that having been said, I would like to introduce the fruits of my efforts. So, with only the legal work to get out of the way, let it be said that I own only the character Talon and his equipment. Everything else is owned by Square Enix or Bethesda.
Now, let the story… Begin.
Prelude: Fragile Notes
Pain lashed at his body as he lay there, being jerked from side to side and moving to the motions of the gurney.
"Floor it! If we don't make it, he'll-"
Flashes of voices mixed in his mind, along with colors and emotions. Sensations of pleasure, terror, joy and hatred flared through him as his mind was wiped clean as a slate.
"Damn it, we're losing him!"
"Doctor, what's going on? Why isn't my son moving?"
"Bloody Hell, someone get him out of here!"
Pain stabbed again as it felt like something was being torn out of his leg. Vaguely, he knew it was metal from the bike he crashed into before another stab jerked his mind back to the present. His eyes opened and he started thrashing on the emergency room table as the pain came to him a hundred fold in spite of the drugs.
"Holy shit-!"
"Don't just stand there, restrain him!"
"At this rate, he'll-"
Something popped and jerked from his arms. Almost instantly, he froze, eyes going wide. Jolts of electricity surged through him, but he just lay there, unmoving. The light slowly faded from his eyes until they reflected only the lamps.
"There's nothing else we can do. I'm sorry, Doctor."
"God Almighty, why this one? Why did you take him from us?"
"Doctor…?"
"Why, damn it? Why my fucking nephew!"
His eyes stared at the ceiling above him as a white sheet drew over his face. He could hear weeping next to him and outside when the door opened. One by one, the lights went out, leaving him in darkness. What was left slowly faded away as he sank deeper into the darkness…
"… Time of death, 1:20 AM."
He heard a scream of anguish before he dropped away.
IX IX IX IX IX IX IX IX IX
It felt like something was crawling over him, leaving strands of something wherever they touched. He couldn't move as they worked; eventually, he was wrapped tight in a cocoon of darkness. For what felt like an eternity he floated in the woven abyss, slowly changing through time. His arm felt heavier, stronger... His legs were more durable...
When he finally broke free of his cocoon, he felt different from before. He felt whole again after he'd been destroyed so thoroughly by the accident. As he stretched his new body and got used to its' feel, arms wrapped around him from behind, followed by great, leathery wings.
"It's about time, sleepyhead. I thought you would never awaken," a voice hissed.
When he was let loose and turned around, he saw what he would have called an angel. Floating before him in the void, surrounded by a nimbus of pale blue light, was a human. His skin beneath his toga was pale white, almost blinding in the abyss around them, a scaled sash running across his waist and chest, finally draping across his shoulders was a frosty blue. A thick, silky fall of hair fell like around his face, each strand bleached bone white. The talons on his feet, the claws on his hands and the small spikes that decorated the 'fingers' of both black wings were the same shade as his hair. The man's most stunning features were his eyes, though: One was solid mercury, with no pupil to show, while the other was a startling shade of green, almost as if someone had carved it from a chunk of perfect emerald.
The being chuckled at the scrutiny. "Careful, young one; you might make me blush if you keep this up," he hissed. The boy looked away shyly, and opened his mouth to reply; when he tried to speak, however, no sound came out. He looked startled, and tried again, with the same result. At his distress, the man grabbed his shoulder, causing him to look up into his eyes. "Young one, don't be worried; your voice was destroyed in the rebirth. In time, it will repair itself, but for now, you cannot speak."
The boy nodded, a mixture of fear and uncertainty showing in his eyes. He still couldn't move in the void; not even shiver when the stranger ran his sharpened claws across his face gently, the tips cutting lightly through a few layers of his skin. "So perfect… You know, the others didn't think you should have this second chance," he said. His eyes glittered with a strange, almost malevolent light. "But I was able to persuade them otherwise; I can be quite… Convincing, when I want to." He chuckled, and the boy found the sound terrifying and devoid of any warmth; instead, it was filled with the promise of dark plans. "But where are my manners? I haven't even introduced myself."
He swept back, the great leathery wings spread behind him to give him added size as he bowed. "I am the Keeper of the Tapestry, Lord Benediction. And you, my little viper, are my pet to send forth. I send you to Gaia, to act as my agent. You will introduce yourself as Tyranos when you awaken from your slumber there. Go now, and leave the void," he said. With those final words, cracks appeared in the world, and light began shine through. The boy was blinded by the white radiance, and knew no more as he lost consciousness again.
IX IX IX IX IX IX IX IX IX
His first cognitive glimpses into reality came in flashes; a glimpse of color here, a fragmented sentence there. Mostly, he felt pain. It spread across his lower body and burned at his chest; throbbing in his arm and boiling in his eye. It seemed to last an eternity before the sensations faded away, slowly at first, but more as he regained his mind. Thought was fragmented, but slowly became clearer as time went on. Slowly, he opened his eyes and hissed at the bright light before it was shut off after a flurry of rushing feet. He opened his eyes again in the blessedly darker room, though the lamp was still a bit bright for his tastes. It was soon blocked, however, by a plump little woman dressed in a light blue shirt, a light brown skirt that went to her ankles and a white apron over it all. There were a few little patches and stitched up holes on the apron, showing it was well used in the kitchen. In its' pocket was an old wooden spoon next to a series of little pouches sewn into the fabric and lined with leather. She had red hair that faded into gray at some areas, and a pair of brilliant green eyes filled with wisdom. The light wrinkles on her face spoke of a lot of laughter in her life, and the wicked looking dagger with the worn hilt on her hip spoke of a lot of practice.
"Well, lad, I was afraid you'd never wake up," she said. Her voice was a pleasant, lilting alto that possessed a faint musical tone. It seemed to echo like an old violin played by a master. "When they found you outside of the gates, the guards feared you were dead or close to. Luckily, the captain is one of the boys I looked after when he was growing up; he sent for me immediately, though I have to say, you have to be the most unique case I've worked on. I don't often get the chance to patch up a half-breed, and never one like you before." She bustled off and came back a few minutes later carrying a steaming bowl of dark brown liquid and a metal spoon. After she set it down and wiped her hands off on her apron, she sat in a comfortable chair next to his bed. "My name's Hecate Lefay, retired adventurer, potions mistress, and current town busybody," she laughed. Her eyes danced with mischief and mirth. "Since I've given you my name, why don't you tell me yours'?" Hecate asked.
He opened his mouth to speak, but a hissing rasp came out in place of words. He blinked and tried again, with the same result, and he clenched his hands in useless rage. Looking around, he finally mimed writing with something, and Hecate nodded. After a moment of searching, she produced a quill, inkwell, paper and a piece of wood to write on. He started writing, but froze as he came to his name. 'You will introduce yourself as Tyranos,' a voice whispered in his mind. It was a cultured baritone, but instead of a kindness that radiated from Hecate, he heard malice and a lust for power that made him shiver. It was a voice that was better left in the Void. He glared at the page and growled low in his throat as he scratched out the first set of words and rewrote them. He turned and let her see the words he wrote:
'I am Talon DeTonare. A pleasure, Miss Lefay.'
Deep in the back of his mind, he heard an echo of an echo of a scream of rage.
IX IX IX IX IX IX IX IX IX
One year later
Hecate sighed as she finished her pie and slid it into the oven; she'd heard a loud shout from one of her many guest rooms. Specifically, the one her newest guest was in. As she used a towel to clean her hands off, she grabbed her sturdiest rolling pin and started for the stairs. When she heard another shout, this one for her in particular, she sped up, thinking of all the worst things that could have happened. When you were a witch of her caliber, it was easy to make enemies.
When she burst into the room, she lowered the pin with a sigh; she wasn't going to need her magic after all. Draped in the bed was a massive black and white furred form. Poking out from under it, she could see a long, black scaled tail with thin spines all along its length. It was lashing back and forth, whipping the furry hide in the process, with little effect. If anything, the being just grunted a little and caught the offending appendage.
"Miss Hecate, help me! There's something crushing me!"
"No, lad, it's just a housecat that had too much milk last night," she said as she walked forward and grabbed the feline by the lazily flicking tail. Putting a fair bit of strength into it, she jerked the furry length towards her and heard a loud roar in reply. "Up you get, ya lazy furball! Yer makin' a bad first impression," she growled out, giving it another firm jerk. This time, the large tiger gave a whimper; whenever you could hear Hecate Lefay's accent clearly, it wasn't a good sign. When she let go, he got out of the bed and looked at her with a hurt expression. "Ma, why'd you pull on my tail? You know that hurts," he whimpered as he stroked the wounded length.
"Because ye were crushin' me newest house guest, ya big fool!" she said, but before she could whack him with her rolling pin, a silvery metal fist shot out from under the blankets and struck the large feline in the jaw with a heavy uppercut. The cat fell back onto his ass, rubbing his jaw as he popped it back into place. He glared at the mound of blankets as the limb slipped back underneath them, followed soon after by the reptilian tail. Hecate started rubbing at her eyes as she prayed to the gods for patience before she walked over to the bed and gently rubbed where a shoulder would be. "There now, lad, was that necessary?" she asked.
"If I didn't think so, I wouldn't have struck," hissed the mound. She just rubbed the shoulder again and started to pull the blankets back. There was a moment of resistance before they finally came free and slowly withdrew to reveal her latest guest as a pale skinned teen. Half of his face was obscured by a thick fall of heavy black hair, and the other half was still buried in the pillow. His right arm was covered in the glimmering metal that had landed the heavy blow to the felines' jaw; random patches and streaks at first up around his shoulder that turned to one solid piece when it hit his elbow. The teen slowly rolled over off his stomach and onto his side, brushing his hair off his face and revealing four thin scars on the left side that cut through his eyebrow on their way down his face. Miraculously, in spite of the old injury, his left eye was still there, but instead of a regular human eye, it was venom green and reptilian. His other eye, however, was emerald green, human, and joining its' cousin in giving the cat the coldest glare the boy could muster.
"Who in Ifrits' name are you, hairball?" he growled. That snapped the feline out of his stupor and caused him to glare back. It was rather intimidating to see a 6'3", four hundred pound slab of muscle and fur glaring at you, especially if it was a pissed off looking tigerkin. The beast stood up and glared down his muzzle at the youth laying in what he considered his bed, in his house. "Who I am, boy, is Virosa Arrowcatcher of the Midgar Plains tribe, and best hunter in Lindblum. And you, reptile, are sleeping in my bed."
"The name is Talon; not 'boy', asshole. And this is the room Miss Hecate gave me when I first got here," he snarled back. For a few minutes, the two started arguing, getting progressively louder until they were screaming. In their fury, they didn't even notice the little old lady tapping her foot on the hardwood floors.
That is, they didn't notice until a slight whistling in the air heralded something aimed at them.
Thwack!
Thump!
Both half-breeds yelped in pain as they clutched their heads. They turned to look at the woman who was tapping the rolling pin against her hand, and giving the two of them a glare worthy of a Grand Dragon. "Ifin' th' two of ye be done wit' ya foolish caterwallin', I'd say it be best fer ya ta start gettin' along," she growled. Both Talon and Virosa looked properly chastised as she stormed back to her kitchen. They looked at each other and winced as the younger extended his metal shod hand. "Truce?" he asked tentatively. When the massive tiger wrapped his comparatively larger hand around his with surprising gentleness and shook it, nodding in agreement, some of the tension left the room.
"Truce. Now, let's go make sure Ma doesn't poison our food for being idiots."
IX IX IX IX IX IX IX IX IX
Two years later
"Come on, little bro, you can do better than that!"
Talon hissed low in his throat, the sound reminiscent of a large, very angry serpent. His hands tightened around the heavy broadsword he was wielding as he glared daggers at the massive tiger. Said feline torturer was wielding an old, well cared for broadsword. After getting attacked by a local street gang, the reptile had taken to carrying an oak walking staff. When Virosa returned from one of his assignments from the Hunter's Guild and learned what happened, he'd taken it upon himself to teach his 'little lizard brother' how to fight properly. That had been several months ago, and the larger being didn't seem to be getting the fact that Talon severely hated the weapon he was being forced to use.
"Virosa, I'm telling you, this isn't working!"
"Oh, cut it out, Talon. You're just not practicing enough. Let's go again; I'm sure you'll get it this time," he said, trying to soothe the obvious irritation. For the last three months, the oversized tiger had been trying his adopted little brother on various weapons, from heavy crossbows to double bladed axes. He'd even had the slighter male try using a Zweihander once; that had been a disaster that ended with Talon almost losing the tip of his tail. The broadsword was the smallest, lightest blade Virosa actually kept on the walls of his room. Talon understood the concern his brother had; the bastards had put his arm in a sling, wrapped his chest in bandages, and put a hard cast on the base of his tail. When the tiger had found out what happened, he'd gotten pissed and went for a 'walk' down the same streets his little brother had gone down.
Then again, his version of a 'walk' included two large war hammers and all the pieces of a dark steel plate he could wear.
Talon hissed again and lunged, thrusting the heavy blade at Virosa's stomach. The tiger just batted it away with his own blade, adding a smack to the back of the younger's head with his tail. When the lizard spun and slashed up at him, he blocked again, this time adding a powerful kick to his stomach that sent him back a few feet. Talon hissed as he clutched his gut, letting the tip touch the ground for a moment; that was all Virosa needed to batter him even more with a flurry of kicks, punches, and smacks with the flat of the blade before putting the tip at his throat. When the tiger helped him to his feet, Talon threw the blade on the ground and glared at him. "I told you, damn it! I told you this isn't the weapon I should use!" he shouted before he stormed off.
"Ok, I get it! We'll try a long sword next!" Virosa called after him. His only reply was a scream of rage. He sighed, rubbing his free hand across his hair and pulling it from the warrior's knot he'd kept it in, letting it fall loosely around his head. "I don't know what's wrong with him," he muttered.
"That's because you're clueless, tiger."
He turned around, blade half raised before he sighed and lowered it; leaning against the wall of the little dojo was a woman in a black corset with fur around the top and a skirt with belts crisscrossing in the open front. "Lu, you know it's not a great idea to sneak up on me."
"That may be so," she replied. The black mage pushed herself off the wall and started toward him, a small black cat doll in the crook of her left arm. "But you weren't paying attention. If you were, you would have realized that Talon has been sneaking out at night and learning a few things without you," she finished.
"Huh? Why would he do that?"
"Because you aren't listening to him, Virosa. For the past three months, he's been learning the art of the blade from Noah and his crew."
"What! Why in Shiva's name would he go and learn from that… Assassin?"
"Probably because I actually listened, instead of trying to make him fight with heavy blades."
Virosa turned again, this time seeing a man dressed in heavy steel armor with a blue cloak and a masked helm hiding his face from view. "Then again, after seeing what just transpired, I can understand his current rage at you."
"What would you know about my brother, Gabranth?" the tiger growled. He didn't like the knight before him; something… Sinister seemed to exude from him just standing there. The knight sighed as he removed his helm, revealing the thirty-something blonde man. "And I'm pretty sure I know what's best for him!"
"Wow, Arrowcatcher, and here I thought you were intelligent. Think for a moment; the body difference between the two of you is incredible, all things considering. Where you are built like a boulder, all strength and power, DeTonare is closer to a willow; he has power, yes, but he bends and moves. He's designed for speed, designed to dart around as he strikes."
"I get that, but-" the tiger started, but was interrupted when two screaming whistles cut Virosa off as two spinning circles flew through the air. He just managed to get his sword up in time to block the flying blades when another pair came sailing through the door, followed quickly by two more. He dodged and ducked those four, only to notice them turn like boomerangs and fly back towards the door. Standing there and catching them two at a time, was Talon. Instead of the training armor he'd been dressed in an hour ago, he wore torn trousers with armor plates covering his exposed scales and thighs, a blue tunic, and a black chainmesh trench coat with fur around the collar and missing the right sleeve in favor of a spiked pauldron in its' place. A steel-backed gauntlet covered his left hand, while a metallic snake skull and black mask covered his head. Once he'd clasped the four blades onto a harness on his back, he reached up and removed the mask portion. It went into his belt before he drew out a thin, vicious looking saber of pale white metal, forged in such a way that it looked like it'd been carved out of a bone. The shell was made from a series of ribs, while the hilt was a spine. A small grouping of bone shards created a pommel stone and a ring around the base of the blade.
"Talon? What are you-" Virosa asked, but was again interrupted, this time by the lizard himself darting forward and slashing at him. He blocked, but found that what his little brother lacked with a broadsword, he made up for with the lighter, much quicker weapon. Instead of a lack of skill, Talon was striking with precision and finesse that he couldn't with the heavy blade. "You're good, Talon, and I should have listened," Virosa said, as he blocked a few more strikes accompanied by punches, kicks, and lashings from the reptilian tail. Suddenly, however, he pressed his own attack, showing what years of practice had over months, and quickly put the reptile on the defensive. "But just because you were right and received training from a Black Paladin, doesn't mean you're a master." And with a final slash, he let go of his blade with one hand, wrapped it around Talon's right ankle, and jerked his feet out from under him.
"You still have much to learn," he finished, even as he reached down to pick up the two forgotten disks. "Nice choice with the chakrams, though. I wasn't expecting those." He examined the wheel made from four sharpened blades with a leather grip wrapped behind each raised portion. The steel was pitch black, and covered in small serrations to make the wound that much harder to heal. It was heavier than a shuriken, but light enough that, when hurled with enough force, it would sheer through muscle and sinew. "Considering what you seem to be aiming for, do you have anything for silent work?"
"Twenty throwing knives," Talon muttered back. Virosa nodded and held out the blades. When the lizard took them back and clicked them into his harness, he smiled a little. "So, does this mean I don't have to train with you anymore?"
The tiger laughed loudly, giving his little brother a grin. "No such luck. It just means that we have to refine what Gabranth taught you."
IX IX IX IX IX IX IX IX IX
One year later
Blades clashed again and again as the two warriors worked their way through the horde of goblins, felling monster after monster as they fought. Rings of steel, fire, ice and lightning tore swaths and furrows in the ground and across flesh in another part of the plains, while tongues of flame turned green skin to ash. When the owner of the chakrams caught all six in his hands, he took a moment to look around; things were still in a stalemate, and didn't look to be changing any time soon. With a hissing snarl, he started concentrating on the blades, causing them to drain ambient energy in the air and making them glow with their respective elements. Once they started vibrating in his hands, he grinned.
"Lulu, DOWN!" Talon screamed, even as he spun in a tight circle and released the six enchanted blades. Tails of flame, streaks of thunder, and gales of frost spun in a maelstrom around him as the chakrams hungrily searched for flesh to rend. Screams sounded from the goblins as they were shredded under the force of the attack, leaving bodies torn asunder When all was said and done, there was a ten foot ring of destruction around him as the blades came back to his hands. Talon looked around again, this time noting that the only goblins still alive were the ones running away, and Virosa was picking those off one at a time with Sophia, his oversized crossbow, a weapon known for shooting small ballista bolts. He chuckled lightly to himself and clipped the weapons to his harness again, while Lulu dusted off her little stuffed focus and Gabranth cleaned the blood and other scraps of flesh from his unique thief sword.
"Well, mission accomplished," Virosa said as he lowered his crossbow and collapsed it down to fit into its' harness on his back. He lifted his heavy broadsword from the ground and slid it home in the sheath at his hip, whistling tunelessly to himself while he looked around. "I'd say that's about sixty goblins, wouldn't you?"
"Closer to seventy," the dark knight replied from behind his steel mask. The four of them had teamed up on the mission to get it done quicker, with the incentive that they'd split the pay evenly amongst them; sixty thousand for a horde of thirty goblins, an extra thousand for every five, and a counter enchanted to glow red if it was tampered with in any way to falsify the count. Talon was carrying the device for their group when they left, and he pulled it off his belt to check the result. He started jumping and crowing in joy at the number, waving the device in the air. "Eighty-five! Eighty-five goblins dead and we have proof! That gives us 77,000 gil when we get back to Lindblum!"
The others laughed at his antics, even as they started leading the way back to Dragon's Gate. It was a three day trip to get there, and the four of them were well prepared for it. After hiking until nightfall and covering a good six leagues, they set up for the night. Dinner that night was a thick stew made from some dried beef, vegetables, and seasoned enough to give the meal a touch on the spicy side. When they started to turn in, it was agreed that Virosa would have the first watch, Talon would have the mid, and Gabranth the watch 'til dawn.
When it was his turn, Talon withdrew a violin made of ironwood, and rosined his bow before he set himself to playing. Hecate had told him that learning an instrument would be good for him, no matter what Virosa had to say on the subject. However, it was finding the right one for him that had been a problem; they all knew he would travel, so they needed to take that into account, and that ruled out a full harp or a piano. When he tried to play a guitar or a similar string instrument, it sounded horrible. A flute, clarinet, or horn all sounded like a pair of cats fighting in a burlap sack that'd been dunked in a river. He found himself drawn to the violin, however, and no matter what they tried to tell him about it being too delicate an instrument for a warrior, he kept at it. Hecate herself had been proud of his choice, and set into teaching him all she knew about the way it worked; chords and notes, sonnets and country ditties, and ways to make it sound like multiple instruments were playing were just a few of the things she'd taught him. By the time she deemed his skill acceptable, he was talented enough to play in the theater as part of the orchestra.
When he asked the woman how much she knew, she'd proceeded to lead him to her room. There, she took out an oiled case and withdrew a beautifully crafted violin, and started to play better than most of the 'master' violinists he'd heard when his errands took him through the Theater District. She didn't stop there, however; when she finished with the violin, she opened a wardrobe and pulled out a large harp, and played that with the same skill. When asked how long she'd been playing, she just cackled and said she'd been playing longer than Talon had been drawing breath.
As he played, he started to sway back and forth, letting the music flow through him and moving to the soft melody. He went into full dancing as the tempo picked up, and he used his feet to keep time as he played. The world seemed to hold its' breath as he spun in tight circles, his eyes closed as he performed for an unseen audience.
Talon never saw what hit him, but he definitely felt the pain and saw the flash of white behind his eyelids before he lost consciousness. When Virosa, Gabranth and Lulu found him hours later, surrounded by a destroyed goblin encampment and covered in blood with the counter reading 185, he refused to answer any questions about what happened. He didn't say anything for the rest of the trip, and never told them what happened.
XI XI XI XI XI XI XI XI XI
One year later
"So, my liege, why exactly did you call in a mercenary to do this job, instead of assigning it to one of your Black Paladins? I know Gabranth is on leave, but you could have easily given the task to Valentine or Cecil," Talon said. He'd been summoned by Regent Cidolfus Lindblum IX, and told that he had a new job.
"Both Valentine and Cecil are out on missions, along with Genesis, Sephiroth and Angeal," the regent replied.
"Understandable. But why not send in Sergeants Dincht, Leonheart or Almasy?"
"Because, the one thing all those names have in common in the most obvious: They are all part of the Lindblum Royal Army and Navy in some way. No, what I need is someone who is an unknown, despite his past history. Someone who has the training of the black order, the skill of the castle guard, the intelligence of the mages, and the common sense of a thief. In other words, Mr. DeTonare, I need your unique skill set."
Talon nodded; he'd figured that when he'd been given the information about the job. He was one of those people that could vanish in a crowded room, in spite of his more obvious features. "So, retrieval mission, eh? Who am I teamed with, since I doubt I'm the only one on this," he said. Cid chuckled and set out a series of folders on his desk, each bearing the emblem of a golden 'T' superimposed on a set of six feathers held together by a pair of aviator's goggles. He sighed as he flipped through the pages, skimming over the information as he did; Talon didn't need the files to know exactly who it was he was working with. After all, he'd worked with this crew on numerous occasions, though that was as their opening act or in the pits.
"Tantalus, huh? Having a well-known theatre troupe as my ride out, that's a new one."
"Actually, you have the roles reversed; Tantalus is the recovery team, and you're the transporter," the Regent said, grinning at the incredulous look on the man's face. "As I said, you're skill set is very much necessary for this to go off smoothly, but if you want to be technical, you're actual role is as added insurance to make sure it gets done." Cid stood up and walked around the desk, still grinning at the surprised merc. "Besides, you can't really say no, remember? You owe me a debt, and you're still working it off. You're getting paid, of course, but you might as well be part of the Guard."
As Talon started getting angrier, the regent lifted a placating hand and motioned the lizard hybrid down. "How about I make the job a bit more palatable? Just so it'll go down a bit easier for you," he said. When the warrior nodded, Cid gave him a smile. "If you do this job for me, your debt is paid in full. No more jobs you can't refuse; no more working for me unless I pay the same as anyone else. I'll be just another client for you instead of someone who can make you do any task without having to pay you. Does that sound reasonable to you, DeTonare?"
He sat there and gaped at the royal in front of him as he watched what he knew to be nothing more than bait was dangled blatantly in front of him. However, Talon knew he had no choice but to bite, so he sighed, stood, and took the Cid's right hand in his metallic one. "You have a deal, my liege," he said. When the man tried to remove his hand from the iron grip, however, he couldn't without shredding his hand in the razor sharp talons.
He had to take the job; that didn't mean he couldn't throw his own wrench in the gears.
"You have a deal, my liege, but I want it in writing, with your seal on it."
"Don't you trust your own regent? That's insulting, young man."
"Oh, I trust the throne; it's human nature I lost faith in," Talon hissed. He was wearing a smile that was all fang and no kindness. When he let Cid's hand go, the man quickly looked at the back of it; a thin gash decorated the, and four more covered the side. The regent waved at the walls, and the familiar, soft creak of crossbows easing tension rang in the mercenary's ears. While Cid wrote the contract, Talon pulled a thin black pen from his belt and waited. Once he'd read the contract, he clicked the pen, sending a thin needle into his thumb and drew some blood into the cartridge. With a flourish, he signed the contract and spun it back around. After Cid added his signature with a similar pen and added the Seal of Lindblum to the bottom. He gave the younger man a harsh glare as he withdrew a sheet of parchment from his belt and set it on top of the contract. Tapping it with a clean feather from his pouch caused the contract underneath to copy itself perfectly, down to the little imperfections in the paper.
The mercenary smiled as he turned to leave. When he reached the door, he looked back and gave a chuckle. "A pleasure doing business with you, my lord," he said, and laughed as he walked out to Regent Cidolfus Lindblum IX cursing like the sailor he was. He was almost sad that he couldn't stay around to listen to the more creative ones, but he had a schedule to keep, supplies to get, and go have a few words with a certain purple haired thief master about how they were going to work together to stay out of each other's way.
After all, they had a performance in a few weeks' time, and they needed to be at their best.
IX IX IX IX IX IX IX IX IX
Well, my friends, I hope this offering is good enough to mark my return. It took me forever to get the character right, his interaction with people good, and multiple other things to get this ready in my eyes for you, and even then, I still feel it isn't up to par with my past work. Please, I beg you to be gentle in your evaluation of this beginning, and remember that I'm still shaking the rust off my pen and the cobwebs from my mind.
-GC