A/n
Okay I have done revisions to this chapter, still is fairly similar, but I did some fixing and better descriptions here and there. Enjoy the story!
Chapter 1: "There and Back Again"
Greetings and Salutations to you. If you are here then I assume you wish to hear an amazing story? Mine is one that would accurately be described as such as it is a hard one to believe to be sure. Yet it really happened… To think this story involves saving the world, but I am getting ahead in the saga that I played a part in.
Before I start, I suppose I should introduce myself. Well my name is Kai, Kai Bateson. I am to all of appearances a human being. I will explain why I say that later in this story. Anyway, my height is at five foot ten and I am… well fit from the things I do for a living. I have silver colored hair that is in spikes that go random directions from my head. Then I also have a long length of hair that comes out from the back that I tie and goes from the back down to my waist. My eyes are a teal color, a rather rare color as I am told by many of those I have met, but that is how it is. I have smooth and handsome facial features or at least others say so. Because of that, when I go into towns I have to be careful; women swoon over me! I can't smile as the ladies literally faint. I have no idea why they do, but that's my lot in life it seems.
My usually outfit that I wear for when I travel to do missions and jobs I put together with two basic goals in mind; those being survival and functionality! So, my clothing/outfit I go with is practical so that it is more functional; I just see no reason for my appearance to be more important than getting a job done and living afterwards as well. I need no look of greatness as my past escapades speak of that subject far more than anything else. So much to that point that when someone who knows of my reputation from a mission or job I have done; they have a hard time believing I'm the same person when they meet me in person. Especially with a few particular things I have done and gotten into that are well known events in history; even if I went by different names during those times. But, back to my outfit before I got sidetracked; it consisted of a medium thick leather coat over my cotton shirt and medium leather pants over my light leather shorts. There was a steel breastplate over the coat along with shoulder guards. As for my right arm, it was equipped with a steel gauntlet, vambrace and rerebrace; therefore, encasing my whole right arm in armored steel. My left arm wasn't as armored as my right; I just had a steel gauntlet and vambrace, and then there was only the medium thick leather of my coat on my upper arm.
I have three durable and outright well-made belts; two at my waist and on diagonal from my left shoulder to my right hip. They're mostly for carrying my equipment, one piece each. There was interconnecting light steel plating on the outfacing side and the front of my upper right leg and went to right about my knee. On my left leg there was also interconnecting plates, but instead of it being on the outfacing side and the front like it is on my right; the guard was made up of two half layered plating; half on the front of my leg and the other half on the back of my leg. For my legs I had knee length boots that were steel plated on the front and also covered my knees with armor as well. To finish off my attire, I had a light black cloak with a hood that covered my head and most of my face. For the part of my face it doesn't cover I have cloth I can put over to serve that purpose. There are times I don't want to attract attention and with my face that can be difficult. So overall, meant for a good defense and keeping me alive which is the goal and outcome in mind.
Now for my chosen arsenal; it's made up of four weapons along with the other things I carried work with one of those four. The first weapon in the lineup and… admittedly, my personal preference and choice to use for most situations; my great blade sword. The long, wide blade; measured five feet in length plus the foot that the hilt added and a foot and a half wide. The sword was made of an extremely rare metal that was… extremely strong. I would say anyone or anything would be hard pressed to dent, scratch or damage in any way… or at least I haven't found a way that can be done and I put it through serious beatings over the years. This weapon's weight is one of the reasons I am as fit as I am; it weighs sixty-five pounds. Being that heavy does have its advantages as you can get some serious force in a swing with that weight!
The blade itself was straight on one side, yet the last three fourths of a foot curved upward. The other side was straight for two thirds of the blade then curved up slightly the made a circular arc down to meet at the point of the blade. The hilt was a cylindrical tube shape, along with the inch-thick metal guard between the hilt and the actual blade made up the handle to this sword. The guard was an oval plate that had the design that made it look kind of like an eye. The sheath of this blade has an open slot on the left side to be able to sheath my great sword or draw it. I couldn't do so without the slot as that would require me to draw straight out and with the blade's length; that is impossible without removing the sheath and that's just too time consuming. This large sword when it was in its sheath was attached to the belt that went diagonally over my chest from left to right.
My next weapon was a thirty-three-inch blade that curved upward slightly at the last three inches to a point, no guard and the hilt was a simple one. This weapon wasn't made for heavy fighting; no it was forged for speed and precision striking. The sword was light easy to handle and was efficient for quick accurate strikes. This sword was set on one of the two belts on my hips, so that the blade was on the back of my waist. The other belt that was askew from the other, tilting downward a bit over my right thigh. On my right hip where the diagonally situated belt was; a leather holster that held five sharp knives that I could throw or use in for close quarter combat.
My last weapon that I carried, was stored on the outside of my left thigh where there wasn't armor plate; that being my small but handy custom crossbow. It could fold and be smaller for when I didn't need it and fitted into a holster I had on my left hip right between the armor plates. The two metal half bows that formed the 'bow' of the crossbow folded inward on either side, with springs on the inside parts for bringing the bow back to full use when drawn. The back of the crossbow was metal and hollow so that it could fold upward then went forward for storage. Then the coolest part of this crossbow was that it loaded and reloaded bolts without me having to do anything for a few shots, six to be exact. The six bolts are in a small compartment that is below the place the bolts are positioned to be shot. I got this custom crossbow some years ago while I was in Gruntz doing a job; was one of the rewards. It was made by a friend who is a smith, but his real passion is making odd machines.
Nevertheless, enough with the descriptions of my attire and equipment; on with this tale; I was on my way back to Newhaven where the ranger guild was. I had finished fulfilling the contract that was given to me from a client of the guild. When I had been handed this assignment, it had sounded simple when I had read the contract and agreed to do the job. I was to go and 'deal with a pest that the client was having problems with' was the exact wording of the contract. It was a kind of job I have done before and they were normally straight forward. A simple task that should have taken a maximum of two weeks, one week being for traveling distance both ways and the other for handling the said pest. This one however, had ended up taking two weeks to handle a 'pest' problem they had as there were… unforeseen complications.
What the client forgot to put in the contract or hadn't mentioned was the 'pest' was actually a tyorkin. A tyorkin is an insect that looks like a fly, but is a hundred times larger than its tiny cousin the house fly. Its size is just the beginning, the strength that a tyorkin has is high and dangerous for those who aren't prepared. Then the exoskeleton they have, is hard as reinforced steel and there are few places that there isn't that exoskeleton, but you need to aim pretty good to hit those spots. Tyorkins also have very sharp talon like claws on each of their six legs as well; can cut high quality iron like a hot knife through butter. Oh yeah, and tyorkins are also freaking fast! Not creatures you really want to be around on a regular basis; that's if you don't know how to deal with them and value your wellbeing and life.
Thankfully, I'm no stranger to big dangerous creatures and how to deal with them. So, it just so happens, that I know how to deal with tyorkins as I have on occasion. My great blade can cut through their exoskeleton along with their inside, problem solved by me for others. I shouldn't have had any difficulty in completing such a task, yet fate always likes to make things harder for me; ever since I was young. So this wasn't different from a lot of the jobs I get and take, or at least that's what I thought until I arrived at the client's place. Apparently, the tyorkin I was hired to get rid of, had friends and relatives living with it. Found that out after my first trek for observation on the nest. When I went back to the client, he had no idea that the pest that was giving him trouble wasn't the same one every time. So a mission that was to take care of a pest turned into exterminating what was equal to a colony of tyorkin; which is around thirty of them. So I took another two weeks to finish that job; though the client did pay me quite a bit more than he had originally agreed to pay in exchange for the extra work. Not all the people I'm hired to help do that so I'm happy when I have a client that pays extra.
*sigh* I couldn't wait to get a bath and get some time to relax. Jobs like this last one are just the pits and drain you like little else for Landon's sakes! It will take a lot of work to get all the blood from the tyorkin that I killed out. Although, the staff the client had observing me do the work were in awe of how I could slice through the bugs with relative ease. Anyways, I got to the top of the hill I was climbing and had the sight of Newhaven down below. I was almost there; bath and the comforts of home, here I come! I headed down the hill and shortly was at the front gate which had a guard as always.
"Halt! Who goes there?!" called a gruff voice.
I smiled, "Hey George, it's me, Kai. I'm just getting back from a job." I replied.
"Oh sorry; just been seeing some strange kinds of people around lately. Go on in." said the guardsman.
Nodding before continuing through the entranceway into the city that I for the time being call home, Haven. Reached the first main street and turned left to head towards the ranger's guild to report the successful completion of the contract I was assigned and to drop off the payment I received. Made my way down the stairway to the guild, to see that it was business as usual at the times I was at the guild itself as it tends to be. "Ah Kai, you're back!" said a female voice.
I looked over to the front desk of the guild and saw the secretary who manages the contracts and the writing of. Her name is Sylvia; nice lady, bright and chipper most of the time and able to keep the records of the guild, which there were a great deal. "Yes, so I am. The job took longer than I thought it would originally; complications came up. You know how that goes sometimes." I answered.
Closed the distance and reaching the desk, dropped my bag of supplies to the floor and began to rummage around in it for the income I had gotten from the client that hired me. Once I found the bag that I had received I brought out the sizable bag of coins and set it on the desk, with a gratifying clunk from its weight. "Here is the payment from the client. As I did more than the contract bound me to he thought he should pay me some more coin than he agreed to. He was a very grateful and understanding guy; one of the nicer clients I have had. So there any standing missions or request for me?" I said leaving the question open, hoping that the answer of no.
Sylvia shook her head. That was a mercy! I needed a break from being sent out on jobs. I haven't had more than a day for the last four months to between missions to be at my place and wind down. I leaned in close to Silva, "By the way… you know how Ryu and Bow are doing these days? I don't get to see them lately, being called from one job to another for the last four months. I worry about them at times." I remarked.
"They are getting their first mission right now I believe." Silva returned to me.
I smiled, "How nice for them."
Heard the sound quiet laughter from behind me, I turned to see some of the other rangers who were newer. At least, I didn't know the rangers in the group that was snickering at Sylvia and myself. Sighing at their actions, I spoke up, "There something funny boys, or did I miss a joke?"
The trio of rangers that had been snickering, quit laughing at hearing my question. I'm well respected in the guild as I take on the more difficult missions and so… well some of the other rangers are a little afraid of me. One of them spoke up, "Bow and Ryu getting a mission? They're just going to find a pet for someone!"
The group of rangers began laughing again, though it had more a tone of nervousness than before since it was clear that they knew who I was. Shaking my head at their actions again, as it was silly as they were just being mean and stupid. "Yeah, it still is a mission. One of the easier ones granted, but we all have done them. As I recall your first mission was to be a bodyguard at some small party, Fred wasn't it?" I stated flatly, recalling the name of one of the trio as he had joined the guild about a year ago.
The group of rangers went quiet, "Don't make fun of others for getting the easy and simple jobs." Said another voice from the stairway up to the street above.
We all looked to the stairway to see another ranger coming down them. I smirked a bit, "Hello John, sensible as ever I see. You getting back from a job I assume?"
The ranger named John Glen, he looked over at me before nodding. John and I had worked together from time to time. We weren't best friends or anything like that, but we got along well and tended to take the harder jobs then the majority of the rangers in the guild. "Rather a boring job that wasn't worth the price paid in my opinion, just guarding a noble that was scared of being attacked." John finished.
I snorted, he had it easy this time, "Well can't say I had that boring of a job; though I rarely do now days." I commented.
"… Take care of a pest as I remember the contract saying." Came the voice of Silvia
Glanced back at Silvia with a bit of surprise. How she remembers all the missions and the contracts attached to them, I'll never know! Still, she somehow does and that, is likely why Elder Allen keeps her as the secretary here. A wise decision on his part, I must say, "Yes that's what it said, but the client didn't mention that the said pest was a tyorkin." I said as if I was commenting on the weather.
Everyone went dead silent at my statement. "Why is it you get the interesting missions lately?" Pose John to the room at large.
Looking back to John, I put a finger to my chin. John and a very few other rangers can honestly say what John had about the missions I take. "Interesting huh? … Well I guess I shouldn't mention that the tyorkin had friends and relatives living with it and so I ended up having to take down a colony worth, but well that's how a job can go sometimes." I went on further.
John just kept looking at me and said, "Like I said, you seem to get the interesting missions lately."
Gave a smile and a nod to John and then I turned back to Sylvia, "Sylvia if you could just deposit the usual percentage into my account at the bank, I would appreciate it. I really need to clean up from this last job." I said, to which she nodded her head.
Picked up my things and left the guild after that and headed to the place I had. It wasn't anything huge or amazing, though I had the money for it. Just a small house on the outside against the left wall of town to get a modicum of peace for myself. There was a heavy metal gate the size of a normal door that was behind and next to my house. The place had four rooms, since it was just me. I really needed no more than that to live comfortably and don't want extra to have to take care of. To give a bit of an idea and tour, I'll start at the door! The front door that led into the house opened into a small sitting room, mostly for the rare times I have company. Now, let me state in my defense and for the record, should someone be keeping one, I'm not some kind of hermit! No, I like my privacy and the peace that comes with it, that's all and nothing else. Neither the House size I have, nor its location, in anyway reflects that I'm trying to discourage or shoo away company. Some may imply that it does, but they don't know what they're talking about!
Anyway back to the front room, it had two chairs and a small sofa hence a sitting room to entertain company when I do have visitors. The one of the two chairs was one I had made myself and so it was sturdy… more than it was good looking. The other I had gotten a carpenter to make for me, taking into account the results of the first chair. I had learned I'm no good with carpentry. Could do it, but no way would I be able to sell it for a good amount of money in return. The sofa I had received from a grateful client who was very wealthy. It was comfortable so that's what counts for me. There was the doorway opposite of the front door, that opened into the hallway and also another door on the left wall as you're coming in the front door that led to the kitchen.
The hallway that was behind the sitting room gave access to the rest of the place. Were you to turn left and go to the end of the hallway you would find an essential room that every house needs, the bedroom one uses for sleeping. I may pride myself that I can sleep almost anywhere, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't take a bed when it's available. The bedroom was in the back left corner of the house position wise. In the room, there was a bed large in size, yet not special or unusual, just fairly good quality as I had the money when I bought the piece of furniture. It was comfortable and it worked for my needs and preferences, that's what counted in my mind.
Next room would be the kitchen in the front left corner of my place. It's somewhat small, but met my needs more than a large kitchen would have. I may not be an outstanding cook however, I can make food that is good to eat and most importantly, edible. As such, I have an array of tools to make and prepare meals… okay, I have a rather sizable collection of knives, cleavers, blades and other kitchen cutlery that I tend to keep in the kitchen when I'm not using or sharpening them. I'm an enthusiast when it comes to blades… some call me a blade nut, but to each our own I say to them. We all have our different interests and blades are one of mine, enough said. The kitchen was positioned in front of the bedroom with the main central hallway in between them. It could be entered from the hallway or from the sitting room next to it.
Finally, the fourth room in the place I call home, behind the sitting room across the main central hallway, was a fair size custom bathroom that had been the reason I had this house built like it was. The reason it was a fair size, was the custom pieces I had acquired and put in. First it has a sliding door instead of one that is on hinges. It was a style I had seen on my travels and had quickly taken a strong liking to the idea, so I had taken some time to study how they were made so that those who built my house would do it right. The next piece was the medium size tub built on a raise stone brick platform that was built into the room's floor directly. The tub was three feet deep and was three feet wide by six feet long and was made out of a material called paralem stone, which is durable and smooth to the touch. In other words, the tub itself was big enough for me to comfortably recline in it. My justification, was so I could soak away the weariness and stress from the missions I went on. There's nothing else that can compare to a nice warm bath to soak troubles away!
The other nice part of the tub that those who have seen the beauty are green with envy; was on the outside is an oven-like construct that is used to heat the water in the tub to a nice warm temperature. It's an invention from an acquaintance of mine… I suppose you could call him a friend, who is a bit of crazy guy, but his stuff does work half the time. He works in a town named Gruntz and is the same friend I got my crossbow from. The room had a water basin next to the tub for ease of access. The room itself was slightly slanted inward towards the middle, where there was a drain so I could be rid of the water that has been used. I also had a cabinet in the bathroom on the middle of the right wall to store stuff to help clean myself up as well as the room itself. Then I had a second cabinet that was next to the door had towels and other supplies. Cleanliness is close to healthiness in my way of thinking!
I had also built a small extension next to my bedroom at the end of the hallway a couple of years ago, so that I could have a work space for keeping my weapons and other equipment in good working order. With some of the types of missions and jobs I end out doing on a fairly regular basis, I have to keep my weapons and other equipment at a certain standard of durability and usability. It's just cheaper to do most of it myself than have someone else do it. Plus, most smiths haven't the faintest clue how to handle my equipment, so it falls to me to do it myself. So in the end I do a better job at maintaining my things than others, everyone is happy that matters, right?
Enough with giving the layout of my home, as I went through the iron gate on the path to my way to my home, I started a fire in the 'bath heating contraption' on the side of my house; I wanted a good warm bath to help ease the muscles from the job I had just completed. It takes about ten minutes to be ready, so start it up and then go get the equipment off. I then proceeded to the front of the house, unlocked the front door and stepped inside. I have to admit it is nice to have a place you can call your own; to come back to after a hard job is completed. I immediately went to the bathroom and filled the tub with water so that it could heat up for the bath I was looking forward to getting.
Took the next ten minutes to remove my weapons, armor and other equipment. My weapons I placed by the door that led to the shop so that I could give my weapons a once over to make sure they were still good for use. I didn't know when I would get a mission next; so best be prepared! I stored my leather and steel armor, along with my breastplate in my bedroom so that I could clean them later. I took my boots of noting I would have to patch up a couple spots tonight or tomorrow… more likely tomorrow as I was tired and it was early evening. I decided that I would decide whether or not to do anything more today after I got to soak in a bath and something to eat.
Went to the bathroom seeing a barely visible mist of steam from the tub, signaling that it was now warm. I took a towel placed it on top of the other cabinet before I headed for the tub and the inviting water. I stripped down, entered the tub and sunk into the tub with a grateful sigh of relief at the feel of the warm water. It did wonders at soothing the aches I had gotten taking care of those tyorkin! I mean come on, thirty of them to one of me… clearly unfair… for those tyorkin. But still; it takes it out of you I can tell you! There is nothing like a nice warm bath to soak in to wash away your troubles!
"Ah, it is times like this, the extra I paid for the house being built, specifically the custom bathroom job, was well worth it!" I remarked to myself.
Had been soaking for I would suspect was about ten minutes, when I heard the creek of the iron gate followed by voices approaching my house. Wasn't expecting visitors, so I listened a little harder, though I didn't move as I didn't wish to do so. I hoped they would just pass by; I wanted to keep soaking right now. I couldn't hear specifically what was being said or who was talking, but that I wasn't really listening that hard. I just am able to tell that whoever was talking was getting closer to my place. I continued to listen and was surprised to pick up the sound of the front door being opened. I sighed at this development. I know I should have locked the front door, but I so rarely get visitors that I don't see the need to do that.
Well, someone has entered my home without an invitation from me and didn't even have the courtesy to knock first! How rude of them! That's a mistake in my book! That would mean they are likely intruders and I'm not fond of those! … Actually now that I think about it, the last intruder I had… as long ago as it was, ran out screaming something along the lines of 'bloody murder' to my recollection. Guess that isn't as far off as one might imagine though. After all, I was chasing them with a bloody butcher cleaver in one hand and a foot and a half crimson soaked serrated carving blade in the other. … I use them for big game I bring home. That could have been the likely reason, but it could have been something else, who's to say? It wasn't my fault he picks my place to try to break into and I certainly bare no guilt that he did so while I was preparing a deer I was going cook and so had quick access to my kitchen cutlery collection, two blades in hand as it happened. Comes with me being a blade enthusiast, nothing wrong with the hobby!
Anyway, back to the current… intruder problem I have now. I reluctantly got out of the tub; but noticed that I forgot to bring any clothes with me to change into… Landon's sakes! I won't put dirty clothes back on unless I absolutely have to! And uninvited interlopers don't fall under the 'have to', I can deal with them when I am close to being naked! I grabbed the towel wrapped it around my waist; seeing it fell to my mid thighs. Well, it's not perfect, still it will do for the moment! I went over to the cabinet on the right wall opened it and began to rummaged around until I was able to find and pull out a razor blade. I don't need to shave, for whatever reason I don't grow facial hair, yet I have a razor blade in case I'm, like in this instance caught while I'm in the tub. Hey it may be only a thin eight-inch blade; but in my hands that is enough to disable; temporarily or permanently, when I'm put to it! A simple slit of the throat and I can be done with an issue! I rarely need to go to that point, but it always pays to be prepared! It wouldn't be able to fend off a weapon, yet an unarmed opponent would have problems with me!
Now if I could make my way to the kitchen without being noticed, then I can handle the housebreaker issue with ease! I'll introduce them to my cutlery collection… up close and personal! I take pride in that collection and my knowledge of how to use them! I'LL show those intruders why that is the case! Slid open the door to the bathroom quietly, peeking out to see if the intruders had come this way yet. I saw no one, that came to my ears was breathing and grunting from the sitting room. I stealthily crept along the hallway towards the kitchen, glimpsing into the sitting room as I passed. However, at the time the burglars were not in the room but just outside the front door.
When I got to the kitchen from the hallway, I went to the cabinet that was personally crafted to the specifications I gave to a craftsman I know from a job I did in the past, for knives and cutlery storage. The said storage was on the floor for a particular feature of this crafted piece. I opened the cabinet and pulled out a three foot by three-foot knife holding rack. It brought a smile to my face when I pulled out the rack where the three rows gleamed with the silver shine of sharp blades ready to be used for whatever need I had! Knives lined the rows; the blades alternated the side they slotted into every knife so that there was space between each blade handle. Was that all I had? … Not in the slightest! Pulled out a second three-foot rack that had half the width of the first that was on the side of the cabinet without the hinges. The rack held half the number of cutlery than the first. There were knives hanging on the door to the storage cabinet. In total I had at least thirty different knives… more like forty now that I see them in their place. Now comes the difficult decision, which knife or knives do I use for the current dilemma? I took the time to glance over my selection of… persuasion tools.
I set down the razor blade I had from the bathroom on the counter and got better tools to work with. Grabbed my ever reliable twelve-inch steel butcher cleaver, a personal favorite of mine in this collection. Have had this cleaver for years and have never found another quite like it… and oh I have given it a lot of love! The other blade I brought out was a fourteen inch carving knife. This carving knife was a tad different due to the fact that it had a Wharncliffe edge as I believe the smith called it. The cutting edge was straight extremely sharp… not enough to cut falling hair, but it slices through flesh pretty smoothly. The other side of the knife was curved in an oval shape. There was still a point at the end of the knife that could puncture meat nicely. It is a nice knife and one of my more recent acquisitions!
Now I was better armed for ousting or getting rid of intruders I went to the door that went from the kitchen to the sitting room. I listened hard attempting to predict where my uninvited visitors were. I could hear that there was one in the sitting room as they sat down in the chair closest to the kitchen. That was their second mistake tonight! I slowly and silently open the door enough to let me through and slipped out creeping over to the chair. Once I was behind the chair and waited a moment to make sure the intruder had no idea I was there; I sprung up into action. In what seemed an instant, I had brought the carving knife resting at the intruder's neck so that I only had to pull back my left hand and slide the knife in a pulling motion. Then, whoever this was would be draining their jugular vein to the floor in front of them. My right hand had the cleaver left of the center of the right shoulder; one hard downward thrust and they would be missing an arm. Some may say this is an extreme way to discourage unwelcome company, but I say it is a fair way of warning off those that might try stealing from me! There's only one major downside to this method… blood stains are so hard to clean out of the furniture as well as the floor, but sacrifices must be made sometimes, unfortunate but true.
"You know; you really chose the wrong place to break into tonight bub!"
Suddenly the door opened. I reflexively tightened the hold I had on the knives and pressed them ever so slightly harder to the intruder in the chair. It wasn't enough to break the skin and draw blood, but anymore pressure and I would get that result. I glanced up to see… what the?! There was no way I could mistake the person standing in my front doorway. Green eyes, the unusual blue hair; though I'm not one to talk with my silver hair. Yes, standing there, shock written on his face was Ryu Bateson, my little 'brother'. Technically we aren't brothers by blood, but we are in every other way. I glanced down to get a closer look at the occupant in the chair. It would appear I failed to notice that it was someone I knew. For I found Bochè Doggy or Bow for ease of memory; Ryu's best friend sitting there. Oh dear… this is a… rather incriminating position to be seen in, or just awkward… I'll go with awkward for now for my benefit.
"Kai…? Wh-what are you doing…? Why are you holding knives against Bow?"
I retracted both knives from their cutting positions and took a couple of steps back.
"Oh… um… I thought someone was breaking in to my house… my mistake… ha ha ha."
Bow took umbrage to my reply.
"Break in?! You had two sharp knives in your hands! One at my neck and the other at my shoulder and you call that a mistake!"
I my apologetic expression shifted to a deadpanned look, directed at Bow.
"You have a keen eye, that's a tad unusual for you, Bow. Yet, so that you know, I find sharpening knives to be a good way to relieve stress so; I sharpened them before I left on my last job, and glad you noticed. Your fault that you didn't knock and announce yourself coming in; now isn't it? I have told you to knock and announce yourself for your safety a few times as I recall. This is why; you can easily find yourself with knives at your vitals."
I sighed before I turned to Ryu.
"So… what reason do you two have for this evening visit… and it better not be because of something Bow ate?! If it is, I'm chucking him out with a kick to his rear right now and locking the door without further discussion! I will not let HIM stink up my place ever again!"
I could never forget that evening when Bow had stunk up my house! I don't let Bow eat here because of that one night alone. It had taken three days to get rid of the foul stench that Bow produced! I had to buy all new furnishings and sheets for my bed and Landon know it I hate doing such. How he changes good, wholesome food to such sickening and poisonous gases; I will never know! Ryu waved his hands to placate me.
"No! No! Silvia said you had just gotten back and I wanted to come and say hi. Then Bow insisted on coming along."
I nodded slowly in understanding. It was then that Bow spoke up.
"So, is there a reason you are just in a towel?"
I glared at him, like he had asked a very dumb question.
"I was soaking in a nice warm bath before you entered without permission!"
I sighed at this whole situation.
"Look, give me five minutes to get some clothes on. Not to say I don't have an impressive build and have any problem showing it, but it is getting a tad cold."
I turned around threw my knives at the doorframe of the door to the kitchen. I threw my cleaver to the right side of the frame and the carving knife to the left side. Both stuck in the wood of the doorframe with a thunk and hung there. I would put them away later. With that done I strode off to my bedroom for some clothes. I grabbed a simple white shirt and brown pants. I quickly put them on and went back to the sitting room. I sat in the unoccupied chair, since Bow was in the second chair and Ryu was on the sofa.
"So I hear you two have your first mission tomorrow. That true?"
Ryu nodded in answer, whereas Bow snorted.
"Yeah, but it is just finding some pet! Granted it is Mina's, but still!"
I shook my head at this.
"Bow… that's how all rangers start out. … Wait, Mina… as in the princess of Windia?!"
Bow nodded, before he got a look of shock.
"You know Mina?!"
I sighed; Bow always forgets that I travel the world on jobs.
"Know of her, yes. I have never actually met the Windian princess in person. But yes, I have heard about her on the two jobs I have done for one I know from Windia."
There was silence for a minute, before I continued speaking.
"Odd though, for the princess to come out this way for a pet… I would expect a servant or guard to come in her stead. Anyways you two like every ranger; begin with the easy jobs and then work your way up. The elder wouldn't even think for a second, of giving you any of the requests I get; you have little experience right now. That would be like signing up for your death. You need to gain some practical knowhow before you get to doing bigger stuff."
We made some small talk, but as it was getting late, Ryu and Bow left. I decided that as I had no pressing jobs, I should be able to take it easy and have the night off. I could clean and do the maintenance on my equipment tomorrow. Having that decision made I went to my bedroom and got into bed. I exhaled in contentment in being able to sleep in my own bed for a change!
-Scene Change-
-Next day-
I woke up the next morning and enjoyed not having to start out at sun up. I got out of my bed and got dressed and had a leisurely breakfast before I started my day. I planned out my day as I took a walk through my place, seeing what needed work and what I need to get to make this place a home and not just a house again.
I left the house and headed into town. Obtaining the needed supplies was a simple task for me; I had to do this after every job or mission I came back from. It just depended on how long I have been away on how much shopping I had to get done. Of course there was the essentials; like food and things like that; but I had found last night that I also needed to get some things for cleaning and servicing my equipment and weapons.
-Time skip-
I was settling down for the night; it had been a long day of catching up and getting things back to good working order. I was just about to drop off to sleep, when I heard a cry of alarm from in town. I sat up in my bed, blinking to get the sleep out of them. After a few minutes, I started to get a little ticked off as the commotion in town got louder. Whatever is going on is depriving me of much needed sleep! I got out of bed and got dressed. I grabbed a long blade from my equipment before I exited my bedroom. I went through the kitchen as I headed to the door, though I grabbed my cleaver as I went. I locked the front door and briskly walked over to the iron gate. I strode into town; thoroughly annoyed at whatever was going on to cause all the noise that was keeping me up. Even though I wasn't fully equipped with my stuff; I had a long blade along with my trusty cleaver holstered in my belt, that's all I needed to get things in order. It didn't take me long to hone in on the crowd that had gathered in town. I saw Ryu standing amidst the crowd of people gathering to whatever was going on. I tapped him on the shoulder as not to scare him but still to get Ryu's attention.
"Hey… little brother, what's with the gathering in the dead of night? Is there a party I didn't hear about or get an invitation to? Probably better I don't get an invite to such a party; I'm not the partying type often. I would be more tempted and inclined to crash it. Those kinds of parties rob me of sleep I like to get!"
Ryu turned to me.
"Kai what are you doing here?"
I gave him a deadpanned look.
"You expect me to be able to sleep with all this ruckus going on?! Ain't going to happen! Now why don't you tell me who or what is keeping me up at this late hour, before I go further into town and show the townsfolk how cranky I am currently!"
I waited for Ryu to tell me what was happening.
"By what I have heard thus far; someone robbed Trout."
I stared at my brother.
"Trout? That rich fat a**? I guess that isn't exactly a surprise; with how he treats people… he has been kind of asking for it, was only a matter of time before someone tried. Hmm… I wonder who did it. I actually want to kind of shake their hand for a job well done; it is about time that overweight idiot got some bad fortune coming his way."
It was then a man with white hair came up to Ryu and bowed.
"I am terribly sorry for all of this!"
Ryu was confused as was I; what this guy was saying didn't make sense. I spotted a soldier coming in our direction and in a hurry. Perhaps we could get some answers from him. I shot an arm out and grabbed him by the collar bringing him to a halt in his journey.
"Okay guard… what is going on to keep so many people up at this hour in the dead of night?! Then who is responsible for it? I have a bone to pick with them!"
The guard was about to talk back to me, but his face pale at my look of on my face. For those who know me or have heard of me, know when I look unhappy that you better hope that you weren't the cause of my unhappiness! I was giving the guard an icy glare that was mixed with a look of extreme annoyance and unhappy displeasure. I do not like being kept up late at night! I am an early riser, so late nights are bad for me. It is unwise for anyone to keep me from getting the sleep I require, period!
"W-w-well m-mister; T-t-trout was r-r-robbed and th-the commander sa-aid that B-b-bow did i-it."
The guard managed to whimper this out to me. I was taken aback by, not the action as I already knew, but by the suspected culprit by the commander of the town guard. Bow? Rob Trout? I'll admit that Bow has the set of skills that most thieves have, but he has more common sense in his head than to rob someone like Trout. It's just not worth the time nor the effort or trouble that would result with doing such a thing. Something doesn't feel right about this… I smell a rat! And that rat is an extremely fat one who stands to lose little by all of this and stands to gain a great deal with the results of this situation! I let go of the guard; who promptly continued on his way. I turned to the guy that was still apologizing to Ryu.
"What do you know of all of this and how is Bow involved?"
The man, whose name was Kilgore; explained that he had hired Bow to retrieve an item that Trout had 'acquired' or more truthfully stolen, back from him and return it to Mr. Kilgore. However, obviously something had gone wrong in this. After the explanation I walked with Ryu back to his place. We were discussing the possible whereabouts and state of Bow. Obviously Bow had yet to be caught as the town guard was still looking for him. However, our question was answered for us when we entered their room and found Bow waiting. Ryu was the first to speak.
"Bow what has happened?"
I nodded in agreement.
"Yes Bow; what have you gotten yourself into this time?"
Bow explained how Kilgore had asked him to slip into Trout's house and steal back the 'magic hood', which originally belonged to Kilgore in the first place. Apparently when Bow entered Trout's house and was about to go into the vault; a woman with blue hair and bat wings came out and ran passed. Bow checked the vault and found it empty and ran before he could be caught.
"So let me see if I have this straight; you go to steal a hood and find out someone with bat wings beat you to it. So you then ran?!"
Bow nodded and nearly broke down into tears as he begged Ryu for help.
"Come on Ryu you got to help me; I'm innocent!"
I sighed at the fact that Bow had completely ignored me.
"What am I? Chopped liver? Seriously with all the times I have saved both your rears; it would be nice to get some recognition from you both…"
It was then a loud banging came from the door.
"Open up in there!"
Bow began to panic. I grumbled. Was I going to have to do everything for these two still?! I used to have to bail these two out of trouble when we were younger and it has continued to today; it is just not as frequent as it was when we were younger. Bow was normally the one of the pair that got them into trouble and I would be the one that would bail them both out. I looked around for options to work with and spotted the trashcan on one side of the room; it would do for now… and is kind of fitting for Bow. I quickly strode over grabbed Bow by the collar dragged him over to the trashcan in the room and without hesitation, stuffed him into the can. Before I put the lid back on I whispered to Bow.
"Bow you value your freedom in anyway; you will not utter a single sound until I say it is okay! No matter what you hear; understand?"
I put the lid over the can and walked back to where Ryu was and winked.
"Don't worry Ryu; play it cool and everything will work out fine. I have taught you enough acting skills that you can pull off acts on the spot."
The door burst open half a minute later, when the frame broke and 3 town guards rushed into the room. I spoke first as the guards locked onto Ryu and me.
"Evening gentlemen, hope you intend to fix the door frame you broke."
Ryu nodded.
"Yes, the landlady will notice it."
The guard in the middle glared at me; I glared right back at him showing I wasn't intimidated by him. The guard in the middle, who seemed to be the leader of the group, shook his head at my glare and then, shifted his gaze to Ryu.
"Ryu, where is Bow?! You better not be hiding him!"
I looked at the guard who was being rude and stupid at the moment. I did some quick thinking and had an idea that I immediately put into action.
"Excuse me Mr. …"
"Samson!"
I nodded curtly at him.
"Guard Samson… do you not see that Bow isn't here?"
The other two guards looked quickly around then stood back at attention. The guardsman Samson, who was in the middle pointed at Ryu and me accusingly.
"You could be hiding him!"
I let out a bark of laughter.
"Hide… Bow?! Have you ever been around him after an evening meal?! You can smell him long before you can see him! The gas HE passes is just terrible! And trust me when I say, don't even open the door on nights when dinner was 'seafood surprise'! Three words… Drop Dead FOUL! Bow reeks up the place unlike any other on those nights! Why, poor Ryu here; has to come spend those nights at my place if he wants to sleep without suffocating on the fumes Bow let off! Take a sniff; can you smell anything? If not, then Bow isn't here!"
One of the other guards spoke up then.
"He is right sir; that dog can stink to high heavens!"
I nodded in agreement with a slight smile while the leader Samson looked from the one who had spoken over at the trashcan; I noticed and spoke up before he had even taken a step.
"I wouldn't, were I you. Ryu told me that Bow had something for lunch that 'didn't agree' with him. That's more than enough to tell me that you don't want to know what's in that can! Not if you want to be on guard duty for the next day or more!"
He took a couple of steps back at my reply.
"I'll take your word for it!"
They all then quickly covered their mouths and ran out of the room. Ryu glance over at me with a slightly pained look.
"Did you have to say all of that?"
I glanced over at Ryu with a look of slight surprise.
"What? You know that most of it is true; especially the seafood surprise night piece… or have you forgotten how it was the last time, before you begged me to let you stay at my place for a night."
I turned to the green trashcan.
"But, now comes the problem of how we get Bow outside the city without being caught."
Both Ryu and I just stood there trying to think of a method or way to get Bow out of town without him being found out. There was silence for a long five minutes, and then it came to me! The trash can! We could get him out under the ruse of taking the trash out of town!
"Ryu, I have an idea…"
I explained the plan I had of getting Bow out of town with him being in the trashcan. Ryu seem a little skeptical of this idea working, but when I asked him to think of something else that would have a better chance of working; he couldn't come up with anything. So we went with my plan and set out with the trashcan between us towards the town entrance admittedly the can was heavy! It was when we were almost at the door of house when I could keep silent no longer.
"(pant) Bow… I think I have mentioned it before… (pant) you should seriously consider losing weight… (pant) for all of our sakes!"
I heard a grunt from within the can. We continued our way to the entrance and as expected were stopped by the guard. I had hoped it would be one of the guard members of the town watch I knew, but it wasn't. However, I could still make this work; just need to do some smooth talking and all will be well.
"Hold on you two. You know no one is allowed to leave right now, right? There is a search for a criminal going on as we speak."
I smiled before I replied.
"I completely understand that it is your duty to stop us sir. It is good to see members of the town watch being so dutiful. And we hate to be a bother you while you are doing your duty, but you see; we have this trashcan that needs to be empty really bad! You understand don't you?"
The guard glanced from me to the trashcan then back to Ryu and myself. He shook his head in the negative to my logic.
"Sorry, but can't allow that right now. You will have to wait until morning."
I adopted a worried expression and Ryu… to his credit and my pride in him, pulled the look of one that has just been condemned to the underworld, and did so beautifully. Oh… it is wonderful to see just how good Ryu's acting skills are that he learned from me! The guard began to sweat a little at seeing our expressions. I sighed sadly.
"Okay, we understand…"
I turned slowly to Ryu before I continued.
"Sorry Ryu, you heard the guard; you will have to tolerate it until morning. My condolences Ryu."
Ryu looked like he was about to break down in tears at hearing me. I have to say, I applaud my cousin's acting; it is amazing, even by my standards! And that's saying something as his teacher! The guard looked confused.
"What are you two talking about? Why is it so urgent you dump this trashcan right now?"
I turned to the guard and my face pale in sorrow and the look that said he would regret asking what he just had come to me! I took in a drawn out breath before answering, "Well my good guard, it is a horrible tale that has befallen my younger brother here. You see, his roommate… he has unfortunately ended out with has been a blight upon my brother. But bless my brother's heart, he is nice enough to put up with him. The said roommate has stomach issues he doesn't take care of well if at all most of the time. And though he pays for such foolishness later; he isn't the only one, Ryu here suffers far worse than his roommate! The roommate happened to eat food that he said tasted good, but it came back to haunt him later, if you know what I mean."
The guard paled a little at hearing my almost rehearsed and wonderfully performed charades for the multiple times I have had to bail out Ryu and Bow.
"Wait, you mean…?"
The guard pointed at the trashcan in horror and disgust. I sadly nodded at him.
"I'm afraid that's correct. Could you find it in your heart, to let us dump the contents of this trashcan so my brother may be free of this suffering that has been thrust upon him?"
The guard looked to the left and then to the right. He then moved and waved us through.
"Hurry and go dump it, for all our sakes!"
We left Newhaven and disappeared into the night. Once we were a sizable distance away for town, we stopped and I knocked on the side of the can.
"Bow, it is safe to come out now."
The trashcan lid shot up with a good deal of force and Bow appeared out of the can, glaring at me. I just looked back at him with a slight smile.
"How could you say all of those things about me?!"
I couldn't help myself as I whisper.
"With ease I said all that…"
Thankfully, neither Bow or Ryu heard me mutter the line. I looked at Bow for a couple of seconds and seeing that he hadn't heard me; I paused thinking how to word my answer.
"Well first of all, the key to any ruse is to have more believable truth than lies. And most of the things I said were in fact, true and don't even try to deny them!"
Bow looked like he was about to start a fight with me, which for the record he would have lost as he has all the times before. Before that could begin, Ryu got between Bow and me.
"Come on you two; is this really the time for this?"
We both looked at Ryu then back each other. I sighed as I knew my brother was right. We didn't have a time to fight and argue. We needed to get Bow to wherever, just away from Newhaven for now.
"You are right Ryu, so where to hide Bow for a while?"
Bow sighed then.
"Well how about that old guy's 'house? It isn't much of a house, but it is better than nothing."
I stared at the pair not understanding what they were talking about. Both Bow and Ryu then told me about how on their first mission they had met a guy that lived on the other side of the Futabi mountain range south of Newhaven. It sounded like a good place to put Bow as it was out of the way and I doubt any would think to look for him there. While he was there; Ryu and I could be left to find the 'bat-winged thief'. … It might just be me, but this is sounding like a very long trek for this job and we haven't even started! So we started off again to the south to the mountains.
-Scene change-
It was dawn by the time that we reached the Futabi mountain range and we began our trek over the mountains. As we were going, I thought I heard voices.
"Ooo look at them! They look so good!"
I stopped, my right hand halfway to the hilt of the blade sitting at the back on my hip while I looked around trying to find the source of the voice. Bow turned around and looked at me.
"Kai what are you doing?"
"I thought… no, never mind."
We kept going along; I was still listening so that we wouldn't get jumped by anything or anyone. Shortly, once again I heard a voice.
"Indeed and not only that; two of them are handsome!"
I know I wasn't hearing things this time! I noticed that Ryu was also looking around like me; so then, I wasn't the only one. I had ahold of my blade, but hadn't drawn it, scanning for where the voices had come from. It was then I heard a clatter above us and as I looked up to see a group of what looked like women with feathers, wings and the legs of birds swooping downward; harpies! I was apparently the only one of us that had seen them, so I let out a shout.
"Incoming!"
I drew my blade and jumped clear of the three harpies that were attacking us. I glanced to both Ryu and Bow seeing that they had taken my shouted warning. We all assumed fighting stances as we faced three harpies. Well long battle short, we won and those birds ended up… otherwise. We reached the house that Ryu and Bow had mentioned. The owner, one by the name of Nero agreed to hide Bow as well as put him to work on… fixing the house. I don't know if house is the right term to call the place; honestly it was more a ruin than a house. I don't envy Bow and the large amount of work he will be doing!
Ryu and I made our way back through Mount Futabi and at the other end we stopped to plan out how we would go about finding this "bat winged thief" that framed Bow.
"So Ryu, where do we start looking to find this thief?"
Ryu looked at me like I was saying something crazy. I don't think I said anything out of the ordinary; I had just asked the simple question of where we start looking for the real criminal. Is that so odd or wrong?
"Wait, you mean that you plan to go with me?"
Is that what he was questioning? I nodded as if it had been obvious.
"Yeah… why wouldn't I?"
"But don't you have jobs to fulfill and such?!"
Thank goodness no! I finally have a break from job requests. Plus, it had been years since I had done a job with Ryu. I stared at my brother for a good minute.
"Not at the moment, and it has been a while since we have worked together like we used to in the old days. But if you don't want an experienced world traveler like me along; I understand. Being around a guy older than you must be hard so I can take a hint. Oh woe as me!"
Ryu gave me an annoyed look. I smiled slightly
"Was that a little over the top? I have a hard time telling some times."
Ryu nodded.
"More than a little. So where would you suggest we start looking?"
I thought for a moment.
"Well first, we should go back to Newhaven for supplies, and I would like to get my equipment as this is looking like it will be a trek looking ahead. From there… Colossea would be the place I would think to start as it is the closest town to here. We can see what information we can get there that would help up find this winged thief that Bow is taking the fall for."
So Ryu and I headed back to Newhaven got the needed supplies and in my case, my armor and equipment. Thankfully no one had questioned us or approached us at all while we were here about Bow. Yet there was still a search for him going. We met back up just outside of town and began on our journey towards Colossea, the city of the battle Coliseum.