Repede and the others were traveling with each other for a few hours since they left the town before they arrived at a weird cart with two people in front of it. Before they arrived there however the dog made some first judgments upon the two newcomers: Estelle, the girl with the pink hair, was what the humans would call naive and inexperienced. She was mumbling all over her nickname the moment they left town and thus wasted their time. Another annoying thing about this girl was the fact that she always tried to pat him, which he of course flat out refused. She had to earn his respect and she didn't had it yet, since her sword play was solely defensive and not honed.
The other person was the teenager Ray and he didn't like his smell at all. Not that his personality was terrible or something, it was quite likeable how playful he can be at times, but also serious at other times. The teenager was pretty fast for a young man too, even if his stamina his pitiful. He could hear his owner Yuri mention something about him being faster and more focused than before. Nevertheless, his instincts told the dog to avoid Ray and Repede didn't knew why except of the smell, which he could only define as weird. Deciding to keep his distance at first and growling every time he got close to him, he listened to the conversation with the other two humans in front of them, a male and a female. After a little misunderstanding, in which Yuri and Estelle were mistaken as mating partners, they decided to rest inside they traveling inn. With they only his owner and the girl were meant, since the dog liked it more when he had more room. In this case it was outside. What he didn't expected however was that Ray also stayed outside and seemed to concentrate on something while sitting in a cross-legged position. When Repede approached him the teenager immediately broke his concentration and looked at the animal. Repede was surprised that a kid like him could notice him that fast, but nevertheless he got closer to him. The dog wasn't really tired yet and therefore bored, so he silently sat a few meters away from the boy because of the smell.
"Hey, Repede. Can't sleep either?" The dog barked as a response, which meant yes, full knowing that nobody than Flynn and Yuri could actually understand him.
"I see...you know, I like it to be outside, in the nature. You feel truly free when you're outside...well, not that I'm complaining to our pairing in the cart for not being outside", he said with a smile and Repede snorted to his last comment. As if his master would mate at all.
"Oh come on, he's a guy too." Repede raised his head in surprise: Did the teenager understand him? He barked an insult to see how he would react. However the teenager looked a bit confused and said unsure:
"Uhm...I guess you asked me if I can understand you? Well, not really. I try to read what you mean from the context and your body language, so no, I can't understand you like Yuri does." The dog snorted in amusement and observed the boy for a while.
"Your instincts probably tell you to stay away from me. Maybe they're right..." He seemed relaxed, but there was the hint of loneliness and fear in his eyes. The question was: Before what was he afraid? His words didn't made sense with his loneliness. Repede decided to observe him longer to get his answer.
/
"Deidon Hold, people!", Ray exclaimed and held his arms for a demonstration. The team arrived at the town during midday and they all noticed the knights walking around and Estelle asked worried:
"Do you think they followed us all the way here?"
"That wouldn't make any sense since then they should be behind us. They might have heard about the outbreak though", Ray remarked as a suggestion and Yuri shrugged to it and said:
"Whatever the case is, let's try not to stand out. Wonder if we can just walk through here. Come...on. Where is she now?"
"Over there, at the shop, reading", the teenager said to his asking face and he sighed when he saw the girl being absorbed in a book. Ray on the other hand found it cute how much she valued knowledge and hoped that Yuri would put his nose into some in near time. As they walk up to her, the shopkeeper smiled at them (or more at Yuri) and began his advertisement as he showed a sword from his assortment:
"This blade was forged by none other than Assam the blademaster. It even comes equipped with weapon skills. No traveler should be without them. Feel free to give it a try." Knowing what he meant with weapon skills, Ray kept his silence, but the long haired adult on the other hand raised his eyebrow:
"What do you mean?" The noble girl looked up as if on cue and recited "The history of creation, Band 2 - Forging":
"The special techniques contained in weapons. 'These techniques were originally passed down from master to pupil but the blademaster Assam used a special process to seal them within the weapons themselves. Bodhi blastia can acquire techniques from weapons imbued with this power. With continued use, weapon artes can eventually be learned by the person using the weapon.'"
"My, that sums it up pretty much. This young lady knows her stuff." After the merchant complimented her, she smiled and gave them more information:
"I read in a book that the Kritya gave this knowledge to humans long ago."
"Huh, I thought bodhi blastia only let you use magic and strike artes. Did you know about that stuff, Mister Blacksmith?" Ray snorted in annoyance as Yuri asked him this and said frowning:
"Of course I do. Doesn't mean I like it though. People rely too much on blastia and all that fancy stuff nowadays. But if you want to, I can make or reforge weapons to be like the ones from Assam." To others it would seem strange to see somebody rejecting blastia that much, but the teenager knew one could survive without one, since he's a living proof in his opinion. Yuri looked at him for a moment with a neutral expression before he turned back to the merchant:
"This place doesn't look like the best place for business."
"Yeah, I'm not here because I want to. The monsters on the other side of the Hold are active again, so I'm stuck for the meanwhile", the man said and shook his head. Ray groaned and mumbled to himself:
"Great, then we have to use the other path..."
"Other path?", Yuri asked and the teenager elaborated what he meant:
"Well, not really sure if that is a path at all. I noticed a forest in the west from here. In the worst case scenario, we gotta go through that." The ex-knight made a thoughtful face for a while before deciding what to do next:
"Let's keep this in mind and search for alternatives, shall we? Estelle?" However the girl didn't make a noise when her name was called due to the fact that she was engulfed in the book. When Ray cleared he throat she looked up in recognition and Yuri repeated himself:
"I said I'll go search for information with Ray while you stay here."
"Oh, I'll come too." She wanted to put the book back, but the shopkeeper shook his head and
gave it to her for free. As Yuri took some glances in the book, Ray looked around to see if he can see a few familiar faces and he did: On the walls was the leader of Fortune Market, Kaufman in all her glory with her red long hair and glasses. Ray asked himself if she ever wore something different in her life besides the white shirt, the brown gloves and the orange-white vest. Another notable person was a man, standing on the same wall with long white hair, who had a mysterious aura around him (at least he thought it was a man) and was dressed mostly in different shades of red besides the golden shoulder guards. The person looked familiar to him, therefore his theory him being a male, but he wasn't so sure about that. Before he could look around more, a bell rang loudly through the area and Ray spat to the ground out of frustration as he felt and heard the rumbling getting louder and louder: Monsters. People gathered at the gates and it was quite hectic as the knights were trying to close the gates. The group got closer to get a better view and they saw the giant wave of monsters closing in, with the Lord of Plains right behind them. Estelle gasped in astonishment and muttered:
"Are those... monsters?"
"The moment I leave the capital, something like this happens! That's it, I'm cursed! I know it!", Yuri complained and Ray couldn't help and said quietly to himself while looking down:
"Maybe I'm the one who's cursed..." As Kaufman yelled that there are still other people out there, the ex-knight said with a hurrying tone:
"What was that?"
"Nothing! So, what are we...doing...now...Guys?" As the blacksmith looked up, the human duo already went ahead to get the rest into the hold, while the dog stopped the knight from closing the gates. He groaned at this situation and ran forward to help. The dust cloud in the horizon created by the monsters was intimidating and Ray wanted to get the hell back into the hold. Seeing that Estelle healed up a man, he decided to see if Yuri needed any support. He walked up to him, who just picked up a little girl and ran towards the gate, followed by Estelle, and completely ignoring him. Since there was no other person in demise, he picked up the doll lying on the ground and moved back.
"Mommy's doll!", the little girl Yuri picked up cried as they were inside the Hold and Estelle wanted to rush back as the gate was beginning to move again and was reaching Yuri's head, but Ray threw the doll, which was caught by the ex-knight before sliding through the gap. Heavenly breathing the kid asked:
"Why did I just went out with you?" The long haired sword fighter shrugged and said while catching his breath:
"Dunno, you could've stayed back, you know? Anyways, so much for keeping a low profile..." While the trio was praised and thanked for their actions, Ray could see how knights tried to hold back a certain guild's group. The teenager grinned as he said:
"Hey guys, if you can excuse me for a moment...you go...buy some stuff or something." Closing in, Ray could see three familiar persons: A gigantic man with an equally gigantic sword strapped on his back, observed the gate with a pissed expression. His brown hair, which were banded in two pigtails in the front and spiky to the sides added to his demonic looks, fitting his black short sleeved shirt. Behind him was a green hooded male with white hair and a young girl with a gigantic boomerang and brown hair, which was bound to a little ponytail on the left upper side. She wore a brown and pinkish short sleeved coat, which was bound together with a yellow sash. A black leggings were town up at some parts and she wore a black shirt underneath her coat. Ray raised his hand and said happily:
"If it isn't the Hunting Blades! What's up?" The trio looked at him, the girl in shock and surprise, the one with the hood smirked and the giant remained stoic while saying:
"...Ray. You're already done with your shopping trip to Zaphias?"
"Yup, got into prison, broke out with somebody and that somebody is now my bodyguard!", Ray exclaimed cheerfully as always, but the hooded one spat to the ground in annoyance:
"Tch, we all know you don't even need one. Still question why you even went with us."
"Well, you know how fast I go out of breath, Tison, so no harm in numbers. Where is Carolina?", the teenager asked while looking around and the girl from the Hunting Blades replied neutrally, but with a hint of worry, which made him smirk even more:
"He's hunting down an egg bear to proof himself for the guild. And why are you calling him with girl's names?"
"Because it's fun, Nanny. I sure hope you don't do that to get rid off him." As he replied with a casual tone, which however was paired with a little threatening look, the female shouted agitated:
"Don't call my Nanny!"
"Why? It's just a nickname fitting to Nan and you are his nanny, Mahahaha!" After Ray is done with his trademark laugh and mocking Nan a bit, Clint (the giant) went back into business:
"Anyways, you may have put your word for the brat, but until now we didn't see anything worth mentioning and you know it. He's a coward." Laughing awkwardly he had to admit that this problem was there and scratched his head a bit:
"...Yeah, still working on it. Maybe I need to approach this differently than yelling his name...Anyways, gotta go. Don't kill too many monsters. Maybe I hire you again once you learn to not completely annihilate them into a meat pile." As he was scolding them, Nan yelled offended, probably because he doubted their capabilities:
"That was only once!
"Yeah, yeah. See ya in Dahngrest. Maybe...oh wait, there is something in case you get to the Don sooner than me." He made a hand sign for them to get closer so that nobody would overhear them and whispered with a serious tone:"Leviathan's Claw broke into the Capital and one ESPECIALLY crazy guy tried to kill me and two others because he thought on of them was a knight. Uncle might want to know about that." The Hunting Blades looked surprised at how Ray got that information and the girl in the group asked in a quiet tone, since this was Union business:
"Are you sure about that? I mean, Yeager is kinda shady with his guild, but would he actually risk that?" The blacksmith shrugged to her question and replied:
"Hey, I just tell you what I saw. Army of Red Eyes broke in with an elite maniac." Nodding to him, Clint said in a low, but still powerful tone:
"Noted. But as far as I can see, we won't get out in near time."
"What about that forest in the west?" Ray already knew the answer, but decided to ask to be sure. Like he expected, the most ferocious one in the team, speak Tison, said with a diabolical smirk:
"We're not in a hurry. Besides, the normal way has more monsters and even a Giganto Monster!"
"...Sure. Well then, bye! And don't bully my buddy too much! Especially you, Nanny! He doesn't have that kind of fetish as far as I know!" After saying this, he immediately ran away before the girl could finish processing what he just said. Out of sight he could hear a satisfying loud "WHAT?!" and he could imagine how embarrassed she was right now. Objective reached! This day is getting better at least! Not seeing not one of his three companions, he decided to go on the wall to have a better view on the Hold. After he climbed up, the white haired man was about to leave. He suddenly stopped however and his red eyes were fixated on him. Now Ray was sure who this person was, but kept his poker face like the man did. When the blacksmith could detect his companions, the man walked past him and Ray looked after him. Turning around, the kid put up his innocent face and asked with confusion:
"Did I miss something?"
"Nope, just a guy who was talking nonsense. Do you know why he was staring at you just now when he walked by?" Ray had to admit, this man in front of him was unnaturally sharp. Not that he would mind, since this showed life experience. Yuri would be a good influence on Estelle, as long as he doesn't have to do something dirty. Nevertheless, the teenager had no intention of telling him the truth, so he did the only thing to stop him from asking: Disgusting him.
"Probably because I'm so cute, tehee!" Silence occurred after he made a poor attempt to look like a little girl when he showed his tongue and hit his head lightly.
"...Never do that again. It's creepy." Laughing heartily they walked through the Hold, asking people for an alternative way to Halure. As they reached a parking lot of carts, as familiar female voice spoke to them:
"You there, how about coming to work for me? You'll be paid, of course." Everyone except of Yuri turned around and saw Kaufman with one of her people. The glint in her eyes signalized to Ray, that she wanted to do business. Because the ex-knight ignored them, the man next to Kaufman yelled angrily:
"Hey, watch your manners before the president!"
"So it's not bad manners to try and buy someone without even introducing yourself?", Yuri countered, making clear he isn't interested in whatever Kaufman wanted, which made Ray happy, since he still needed him.
"Watch your mouth!", the unimportant man demanded and stepped forward to prove a point, but the female leader of Fortune's Market raised her hand to stop him.
"You're just as charming as I expected. I'm-" Before she could finish her sentence, Ray interjected with a little frown to get faster to the point:"Kaufman of the merchants' guild, Fortune's Market. Sorry, but I already hired him." Now Kaufman finally noticed him and looked surprised, which changed to a smile:
"Oh, Mr. Verrier. Pleasure to see you again."
"Yeah, after one of your guys screwing up my delivery, it sure is." The little displeased face of Ray made her cough in a small amount of embarrassment:
"...Sorry about that again, you know, new people need still make mistakes."
"No biggie, but next time let an experienced guy to the work for me", the teenager said with his smile and a wave with his hand, but Yuri looked disbelieving at him and asked:
"Seriously kid, how many people do you know?"
"Well, Mr. Verrier is someone who rivals the entire Soul Smiths Guild with ease in terms of quality, so it is natural many people know about him. The only problem is his motivation and therefore his prices." When Kaufman was done with her explanation, Ray felt a bit uncomfortable by the whistling of Yuri and the sparkling eyes of Estelle. Wanting to avert the attention from himself, the blacksmith asked:
"Alright, enough about me. Know any routes out of town besides the one leading to the Lord of Plains?"
"Lord of the Plains?", Yuri asked and Kaufman elaborated what that was:
"The leader of the monsters out there. Anyways, I'm afraid you need to sit down and wait until the air is clear."
"Well, guess we have no other choice then", the ex-knight said with a hint of frustration and Estelle exclaimed with denial:
"But I can't afford this! I' ll look for a second opinion!" All of them watched her going off her own and then Yuri looked at Ray for a while. After a while the teenager realized what he wanted from him and said:
"...Yeah, I better go after her. Don't steal my bodyguard, Kaufman!"
/
Estelle POV
Estelle sat down on the ground after feeling exhausted. Not because she walked around that much, but more in desperation. Nobody seemed to know if there was a safe route they could take since the Hold was locked down. She sighed and tried to get optimistic thoughts. Even if she didn't travel that long with the others, she was fascinated by her first in another civilian place, even if it wasn't a town. She could picture the busy life which would fill the Hold if the monsters wouldn't be there. The wind wouldn't be so clear to hear as now and would be replaced by the loud chattering of people and the yelling of playing children. She knew this was only her imagination, but she was sure it would be the case. Suddenly somebody touched her shoulder and she yelped being startled from it and turned around. Seeing a grinning Ray in front of her she lets out a breath of relief and said pouting:
"At least say something..."
"I did. About three times. Busy with your imagination?" Blushing a bit after he sat down she stuttered embarrassed:
"Uhm...y-yes...sorry."
"Not a problem. But did you really had to run off like that?", he asked intrigued and she pouted remembering Yuri. She couldn't believe how he would give up so fast. It seemed she misunderstood him and therefore made her not so obvious anger clear:
"Since Yuri decided to sit around, I needed to do something!"
"Do you really think he would be like that?"
"Huh?" Estelle didn't know what he meant when he said this with a gentle smile and thankfully he explained:
"Sure, he said that, but this was clearly a joke. As if he would give a blastia thief more time to escape. Besides..."
"Besides?", the noble asked as she wanted to hear more reasons. Until now he had a point.
"He promised you to get to Flynn, didn't he? Does he look like someone breaking promises? Does he look like a bad guy?" Pondering about this for a while she looked to the ground. If he was a shallow person, would he made the extra effort to drag another person, with almost no real fighting experience, out of the capital in the wide world? He also protected her on several occasions already and Yuri also seemed sincere about promises. Realizing how childish she behaved she stood up and said with a resolved face:
"You're right! I should believe in him more! Even if he isn't really the escort I imagined who would accompany me to the outside."
"Let me guess, you rather thought about a shining, heroic knight? Well, Yuri is handsome for most women." The all knowing tone of Ray made her blush fiercely and she instantly denied his unspoken suggestion:
"I-i don't have that kind of interest! I-i-i need to focus on warning Flynn!"
"Sure. But in case you change your mind...I'm pretty sure he is single~", the teenager sang playfully and Estelle exclaimed even more embarrassed:
"Ray!"
"Mahahahaha!" As he was done with his laughing Yuri walked up to them, followed by Repede and he said with a smirk:
"Hey kid, seems like your idea with the forest is our only option now. Let's go." After that he immediately walked off, directly tailed by Ray and the dog, leaving Estelle dumbfounded for a few moments. When she gathered herself she ran after them while shouting:
"Wait for me!"
/
Author's Note:
I made up the book Estelle recited. As far as I know, this book doesn't exist in the game. I just did that to show that Ray knows about it too.
