StR: This is an RpRena9b and I do on Gaia. I have turned it into a story. Enjoy.
Chapter 1: Meeting of the strict mercenary, impulsive fighter, and playful magic-user
The streets of the small town were silent in the morning light. The buildings stood crowded against one another watching over the main street. The pale blue skies were growing brighter as the sun clawed its way to overcome the horizon and shine upon the cold valley.
A young woman was the only sign of life on the main road, since it was so early. She walked through the desolate streets silently, her black boots sending up small puffs of dust as she walked. Her eyes flicked from building to building warily her hand lowering itself onto the polished hilt of her sword.
Risa walked up the set of neat wooden steps to the door of the town's tavern and inn. She reached for the door handle expecting it to be locked because of the building's dark windows. To her slight surprise Risa found that the door to the building swung open rather easily and without even a creak. As she stepped into the room she took note of how tidy everything seemed to be and how empty it all was. The only person who Risa could see was the woman who was working the bar. A look of suspicion flickered across Risa's face.
The woman wiping down the bar heard the floor squeak as Risa moved across it towards a table. Risa watched as the look of shock and fear registered in the woman's eyes when she saw the sight of Risa's sword on her hip. Risa nodded to the woman, the amount of her suspicion increasing. It wasn't uncommon to have a sword nowadays, especially for someone who was traveling alone.
Risa pulled on a chair at her table listening to the scraping sound of wood on wood as it dragged across the floor. Risa lowered herself into the chair with a silent sigh of gratitude. It had been a long night of non-stop travel and this was the first town she had come to. Risa's fingers brushed against the hilt of her sword again, she could defend herself if there was some sort of trap being laid here. Risa leaned again the table and drummed her fingers against the thick wood. She had gotten a message a week ago stating that there was work to be found over in this valley so she had come. There was obviously something going on in this town and Risa wanted to know what, and if possible she would help. For a price of course.
Rikku slowly walks down the streets of a small town. It was too early, well for her anyway. Rikku yawned loudly not caring who heard her. There weren't many people out anyway. Just famers heading to nearby fields and street vendors getting ready for the day. All Rikku wanted to do was sleep for she hasn't gotten any in two days. Why? Well one she didn't have enough money for an inn and two, whenever she tried to hunt for food the prey would get upset and chase after her all night. She really didn't have any luck with hunting...or finding a job. Every time she entered a village their problems were already taken care of. Her poor savings. She cried at the thought of it. That reminded her of something. She hasn't had anything to eat in three days. She quickly looked around trying to find something to eat. Anything would do. Her eyes lit up when she saw a man selling apples. She ran over to the man asking how much it was to buy an apple.
"5 copper pieces," said the man with a smile. Rikku squealed in delight.
"I actually have that much!" she yelled. She reached to her side and opened the pouch of money she had...or thought she had. Rikku began to cry. Turns out there was a hole in the bottom of it and there was no money to be found. The smiling man began to twitch in anger. Even though he was still smiling you could see the vein pulsing on his forehead.
She gasped and dramatically pointed behind the man. "Is that a black dragon?!"
The man's eyes widened as he quickly turned around. Rikku quickly grabbed an apple and ran for it. The vendor turned back around when he saw no black dragon. He blinked when he saw no girl. His eyes narrowed as he ran after the girl. Rikku looked behind her to see the big muscular man running after her. She quickly turned a corner and went into a nearby tavern. The red head quietly watched though a window as the man ran by. She smirked and took a bite of her apple. Rikku looked around the tidy tavern only to see two people. A woman behind the bar and a blacked hair girl at a table nearby. Rikku stared at the girl a little longer then shrugged. The red head walked over to the bar and ordered some apple juice. The women looked at her with a strange face. Really, who ordered apple juice at a bar?
Risa didn't move when she felt the gust of wind from the open door. The door closed quickly after it had opened and she heard the person's quick breathing. They must have been running from something, or someone. The person let out a small sigh then the sound of an apple being crunched was heard. The floor let out a squeak as she; Risa judged by the sounds that the person was too light to be a male, moved across the room. Risa heard the young girl order apple juice and looked over her shoulder slightly to see who it was.
An average sized girl with shaggy reddish hair was leaning against the bar eating an apple with a pleased smile on her face. Risa blinked her dark eyes as she took note of the sword and bow strapped across the girl's back.
"Hmmmm...." A small smile grew on Risa's lips as she watched the terrified look of the barmaid as she scrambled to get the girl's apple juice. It was odd how high strung the people here were... Or was it just the barmaid? In any case there was someone else in this town that was capable of wielding a weapon. Risa looked away from the girl and continued to drum her fingers lightly against the table. "I wonder what they have to eat here...."
Rikku said her thanks when the bar lady gave her the apple juice. As she took a sip of the liquid her face scrunched up at the displeasing taste. This was some of the worst tasting apple juice that she ever had! She was not going to pay for this...not that she could.
"I'm not paying for this," Rikku said to the lady.
"W-what? Why?" stuttered the lady.
"It's horrible. It's not worth the money."
"Then I'll take it back." Rikku held the mug close to her body in a protective way.
"No." she said.
"W-what?"
"I still want it. I'm just not paying for it."
"You can't do that!"
"It's not like I have money for it anyway" Rikku clapped her hand over her mouth. "Oops..." A little bulb went off in her head. A man in one of the other villages said a black almost blue haired girl helped them. Rikku quickly turned around, causing apple juice to go everywhere, and jabbed a finger in the other girl's direction. "YOU!"
Risa twitched slightly when the girl's loud voice yelled for her and her fingers stopped moving. She turned her head slowly to see the red haired girl's blue/green gaze fixed directly on her and a finger pointing her way. The barmaid was huddled behind the counter, her lip trembling and a nervous look in her eyes. The apple juice had been spilled and it trickled down over the edge of the bar and stains were visible on the girl's shirt.
Rise ran her thumb along her lower lip and look at the girl evenly. Her cat-like eyes looked at her, analyzed her for a moment more, then she finally said. "What?"
"YOU! YOU! YOU! YOUYOUYOUYOU!" Rikku gasped for breath. "You're the one that took all the jobs in other villages. You're the reason I have no money!!!" Rikku started taking short rapid breaths. Rikku calmed down after a few minutes of glaring at the girl in front of her. Suddenly a smirk appeared on her face as she glided over to the table. The red head pulled out one of the chairs and sat down. "It's okay you can make it up to me by buying me that apple juice and a whole bag of apples," she said evilly.
Risa placed her elbow on the table and leaned her chin on top of her open palm, her fingers curling around her jaw bone. "Hnn...." the corner of her mouth twisted up in a small peculiar small and her eyes scanned the girl sitting in front of her once again."I think not... You see I'm not in the habit of paying money to strangers."
Rikku's eyes narrowed but she still kept the smile on her face. "Name's Rikku. I'm 17 1/2. Nice to meet you. See now I'm not a stranger. I suggest you pay," she said holding out a hand.
Risa stayed silent for another moment then slowly lifted her head off of its resting place. "I remember now. You must be thatRikku." Risa's eyes flicked up off the table to meet Rikku's again. "The half-elf who was trying to get work back in that last town."
With a scraping sound Risa rose out of her seat, her right hand fingering the hilt of her sword. She drew her hand away from the sword quickly and Rikku could see the almost amused look on her face. "Sorry, but getting something from me, no matter how small, comes with a price."
Rikku smirk and had an evil glint in her eyes. She put a hand on her sword. She was in a bad mood and this girl wasn't making it better. "And what kind of price are you asking for? A fight? I wouldn't suggest that. I'm stronger than I look."
Risa brushed her hair over the shoulder and looked over to find that the barmaid had disappeared. A quick glance around the room showed that she was nowhere to be seen. Risa rolled her shoulders around and looked back to Rikku's face, the hot-headed girl had probably not even noticed the barmaid's absence. Risa sighed and crossed her arms over her chest and frowned slightly, she had wanted to get a room for the night, but the only person who would know how to get her a room was gone.
Rikku blinked, waiting for a response from the girl. Nope, nothing...She was completely ignoring the half-elf. Rikku was about to say something when her stomach started growling, very loudly I might add. Rikku started to laugh nervously while rubbing the back of her head. "I guess I'm still hungry. Hey bar lady, get me some food and put it on my new friends tab here!" Rikku looked around to see the bar lady gone. "Well, that's weird..."
Risa glared at Rikku from the corner of her eye and walked over to the bar. There was nobody around so she went behind it and tried the door, however it was locked tight. Somehow being around Rikku had caused her to lose her appetite and all she wanted to do was get a room and sleep. Risa moved towards the staircase leading up to the second floor, maybe there was someone upstairs who could tell her where to get a room.
When Risa reached the foot of the steps she looked over her shoulder at Rikku who was still looking about for the barmaid. Risa rolled her eyes and started up the steps, but suddenly there was a sound of running feet above her. Risa tensed as the sound came closer and closer, a figure stopped at the top of the dark steps for a moment then kept running down the hallway.
Rikku cautiously watched as Risa went up the steps and sighed. There was something weird about this town. Rikku put her hands in her pocket and followed Risa up the stairs. She stopped at the first step when she saw a figure at the top of the steps. "So is it just me or is something not right about this town?" Rikku called out to Risa after the figure ran down the hall.
Risa continued to thump up the steps shaking her head at how oblivious Rikku was. "Really? I hadn't noticed..." With a sigh Risa reached the top of the steps and looked left and right. It was a hallway, nothing more, nothing less. There had to be no less than eight rooms coming off the hall, four on the left and four on the right. Risa bit her lip slightly and looked around, she would go into a room and make it her own without permission, but she hated to cause unnecessary trouble in a place as strange as this.
'Man, what's her problem?' thought Rikku. Rikku turned around and headed down back stairs. She was about to exit the tavern but a figure outside the window stopped her. It was that stupid apple guy. Was he still looking for her? What an idiot. Rikku turned back around yet again and headed back up the stairs. 'I guess I'll just stay here for awhile.'
As Rikku headed back down the steps Risa turned into one of the bedrooms and shut the door behind her sliding the heavy bolt into place with a soft thunk.
A pair of sensitive ears pricked when they heard Rikku climbing the steps back up to the second floor. Quickly and silently the person leaped to their feet and slipped out of their door and towards the top of the steps. Upon seeing Rikku climbing the steps the blonde haired girl leaped off the top of the steps throwing all of her 110 pounds into Rikku. Rikku was about half-way when she felt herself falling. The two girls fell down the steps, a confused tangle of arms and legs.
Rikku wasn't able to see who it was for her head kept hitting the floor. Groaning she looked to see who her attacker was after they hit the ground. Rikku blinked at the blonde girl who was currently laying on top of her. Using her really cool strength, Rikku tossed the girl off of her and leapt on to her feet. For precaution, she grabbed her bow and an arrow, and pointed at the blonde. "What was that for!" she yelled.
With a slight moan Lili rolled over and blinked her eyes trying to clear her dizzy head. When she looked up she saw Rikku standing above her with an arrow pointed towards the throat. Lili's eyes widened and she scrambled behind the bar quickly taking cover. In the safety behind the bar Lili found a good supply of spoons, forks, cups, and plates. With a delighted squeal she began to gather the tableware and put it into a big pile on top of the bar.
Rikku blinked and sweat dropped at the blonde before her. She decides that this girl was not a threat and lowers her bow and arrow. "What are you doing?" she asks the strange girl.
Lili pokes her head up and rests her chin on the bar, staring at Rikku with bright blue eyes. "I'm waiting here, obviously." Lili poked her head a little higher and slapped one of her hands on the table. "And what are you doing here?"
"What am Idoing here? You're asking what I'm doing here? I'll tell you what I'm doing here! I'm...I'm..." Rikku pauses to think. "Well...what am I doing here...It wasn't really like I wanted to come here...it just happened. I'm running from this guy who sells apples...and I'm trying to get the money that, that girl took from me."
"Girl?!" Lili jumps up and slams her hands against the bar looking at Rikku frantically. "There's someone else here!? No wait-" Lili jumped over the bar swiftly and moved closer to Rikku. "Was there a guy with her? About this tall..." Lili jabbed the air a little above Rikku's head with her finger. "And have a hat pulled really low?"
Rikku stared at the girl's sudden outburst then smirk. "Maybe there was and maybe there wasn't. That kind of information is going to cost you," she said with a happy grin. Lili blinked at Rikku's proposal then starts to giggle.
"You're funny." Lili pats Rikku's shoulder then suddenly notices someone standing at the entrance to the tavern.
"YOU!" The apple man shouted as he pointed at Rikku. "THEIF! Ohhh.... you and your gang think that you can get away with anything in these parts, but you can't!" The man strode towards Rikku angrily. "Pay me back for the apple you stole from me! The cops are just outside if you try and pull any funny stuff!"
Quietly Lili slips away from Rikku and over to the window. She pulled back the shade to reveal two police officers standing in front of the shop and Lili could spot two more armed with bows standing on a nearby roof. Nervously Lili bit her lip, and then she turned to the man and smiled. A faint glow appeared on her skin enveloping the man and she walked over to him smiling sweetly. "Did she steal something from you sir?"
"U-uh yes..." The man looked at Lili surprised. "Sh- She stole an apple from me... one of my best..."
"On no..." Lili cast Rikku a disapproving look and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I'm fairly certain that you gave that apple to her sir."
"Bu- But I didn't..." The man looked at Lili then Rikku uncertainly. "Did I?"
"I'm just sad that you didn't give me one as well..." Lili let her hand fall off the man's shoulder and she looked away sadly.
"Oh! I-I'm so sorry! Here you go!" The man pulled out a large red apple from one of his pockets and handed it to Lili.
"Thank you so much Sir!" Lili smiled brightly and took the apple. "But we couldn't possibly keep you away from your stand, so would you mind telling the police outside that the issue has been resolved?"
"O-of course!" The man nodded and hurried out the door. "Thank you so much miss!"
"Of course~!" Lili laughed and waved as he shut the door.
Rikku stood there with her mouth wide open. How did she do that? If Rikku knew it was that easy she would have done that earlier. She didn't do anything but flirt and she still got a bigger apple then what she stole. As the door clicked shut Lili turned slowly to glare at Rikku.
"You stole something?! HERE?" Lili waved a hand in front of her own face and then took a large bite out of the apple. "Never mind. But was that enough? Can you tell me if a man was with her or not?"
"Wait, what's wrong with stealing something here? Tell me that and I'll tell you if there was one or not."
A child-like smile grew across Lili's face and walked over to one of the tables and sat down on top of it. "Ah~! You really don't know do you?" Lili shook her head and waggled a finger at Rikku. "You need to keep up on the news more. You followed this main road after you left the last city right? When you came from that town to this town you entered the province of Xaranth. New government, new problems." Lili licked her lips and poked her apple, a slightly concerned look on her face. "You see the capital city of Xaranth, Harraspor, isn't too far from here and in the main city is where the court of Rouge is." Lili scratched her head and looked at Rikku. "This is going to take too long to explain, and you look confused already." Lili jumped off the table and padded over to Rikku. "PLEASE tell me if a man was with her or not!"
'I am confused but I want to know...' Rikku thought sadly. Sighing Rikku sits on one of the tables. Yes, a table, not a chair, a table. "There was no man with the girl. Why? Did this guy break your heart or something?"
Lili stared at Rikku then doubled over laughing. She gasped frantically for breath and clutched her stomach. After a minute the laughter subsided and Lili straightened herself, swiping the tears of laughter out of her eyes. "Of course not. And now..." Lili sat down on the table next to Rikku. "I have more time to talk to you." Lili grinned, "You're funny. But if you lied to me about him being there..." Lili's hand twitched slightly but the happy smile stayed. "You'll regret it 'kay?"
Rikku smirk. She was beginning to like this girl. "So tell me more about this Xarith...no that's not right...Xamaths....uhhh...thing..." Rikku was never good at remembering names...that reminded her. "So what's your name?"
"Xaranth." Lili pointed at Rikku. "And my name is Lili." Lili squirmed further up on the table and put her feet up on a chair. "Okay so I'll try and explain this realslow for you." Lili flashed Rikku a smile. "You understand that there are different Provinces, like separate countries, that each have their own type of government and head city right?"
Rikku nodded. She had that much. She hoped everything was this simple to understand
Lili continued. "When you came to this town you entered a new province, one called Xaranth. The head city of Xaranth is called Harraspor and the king and queen live in Harraspor." Lili placed her apple core on the floor beneath them. "Now there are two types of government in Harraspor. The royal court which runs trade and upholds the law and stuff. And the court of the rouge who help to keep assassins and thieves from getting out of hand."
Rikku nodded. "I see I see....um why are there two?
"Because!" Lili smacked Rikku on the back of the head lightly. "The rouge court isn't recognized as an official government. It's made up of skilled thieves and assassins most of them are wanted by the law. Their job is to regulate the amount thieves steal and they prevent mass murders from happening."
Rikku rubbed the back of her head. "Okay, okay. Geez. Go on."
"Well recently there has been a string of kidnappings and the royal court is blaming the rouge court for them." Lili shrugged. "Nothing unusual, but anyone who is caught stealing can get in bigtrouble for it." Lili nodded to herself. "Anyone who may be associated with the rouge court can get in trouble if they're caught" Lili looked at Rikku out of the corner of her eye. "And you were stealing apples. Dummy."
"Neee. I can take them."
Lili rolled her eyes and leaped off the table. "Well you suck as a thief, that's for sure. And if they catch you next time and put you on the rack don't expect meto come save your butt. It's far too big." Lili grabbed her apple core off the ground and walked over to the bar. "So what's your name?"
"Name's Rikku, coolest person you will ever meet," she said with a big grin.
With a sigh Lili threw her apple core into a wastebasket behind that bar. "This stinks. I'm bored."
"Me too..." Rikku brought her knees to her chest.
~*~MEANWHILE~*~
Risa listened to the two girl's conversation from the top of the stairs. Her face lacked any kind of emotion, she had been right; Rikku wasn't a big threat after all. In fact, she seemed almost too clueless. Risa turned away from the stairs and headed back into her room, locking it tight behind her. The room was located on the second floor and Risa opened her window wide open and poked her head out into the small side street it looked out onto. In order to get out of here without those two buffoons from noticing she would have to climb out. Thankfully the ground wasn't too far and Risa was certain she could make it, but she wouldn't be able to bring her sword, armor, or bow with her. Cursing the thought Risa jumped out the window smoothly and landed on the ground easily. She began to jog down the street; she was going to be meeting a new client soon.
Rikku's ears twitched as she heard a noise from upstairs. Was it that girl from before? Was she listening the whole time? That would suck if she was. Rikku was going to extort money from her with the information that she got from Lili. Rikku sighed in defeat. I guess she was going to be broke forever. Rikku turned her attention towards Lilli. "Hey, did you hear something?"
Lili looked at Rikku in disbelief and rolled her eyes. "For that type of information you're going to have to pay."
"Eh?" 'Did she read my mind?' thought the half-elf.
Lili gave a little snort. "Not really. Of course I heard it. Female, around 17-19, not wearing armor. Why?"
"I think it was that girl from earlier! Let's go see!" Rikku grabbed Lilli's arm and started to drag her towards the stairs. It wasn't that hard. Lilli was light and Rikku was strong. Lili hissed as Rikku grabbed her arm. Well what did she expect?! It was uncomfortable. Lili began to squirm furiously in Rikku's grip, Rikku was surprisingly strong but Lili was more flexible and she wasn't caring large weapons or pack like Rikku was. Rikku noticed Lili's struggling and let go. Rikku smiled.
"Hehe sorry. I guess I don't know my own strength." They finally reached the Risa's door. Rikku knocked but when there was no answer she tried to open it but it was locked. Lili shot Rikku a cold glare and stood up straight. With a small 'humph' she turned her back on Rikku and the door and turned towards the room next to Risa's. She pushed open the door easily and walked inside without even knocking, leaving Rikku alone in the hall.
"Hey it's locked," wined Rikku. "Hey Lili, do you-you're not here." Rikku sat down on the ground and puffed her cheeks out. Rikku let out a sigh as she leaned against the locked door and tried to come up with a plan.
Lili stood in the empty room and walked over to the window whistling softly to herself. Happily she flipped the lock on the window and slid it open. "Rikku~~~!" Lili said in a sing-song voice. "Come here~~~!" Lili sat down on the windowsill and swung her legs out of the window. "Hurry!" She looked over towards the bedroom door expectantly waiting for Rikku to come in.
Rikku didn't answer Lili's calls. She wanted to but there was a heavy weight that made her able to move. Her eye lids felt heavy as she went into a deep sleep. That's right she hadn't slept in a while nor had a decent meal. No wonder she was falling asleep.
StR: Please Review! If you have read my other two stories....I'M SORRY! I'm almost done with the next Curse of the half-breed chapter then I'll work on All that I'm Living for! IM SOOOOOO SORRY!!!!