I walked through the entrance of Darkrai town with my two companions, Damon and Eira. Damon kept a stoic-calm façade about him while Eira seemed fidgety. "Act like you know what you are doing and no one will bother you." I whispered to her. Their pokemon weren't with them as they were staying on the outskirts of town. Anyone, at this place, would try to snatch them and sell them on the black market. Not that they would be able to but they didn't want to attract any attention.
She merely nodded as stealthily as she could before following us two through the ransacked town.
"Hey Wolf," Damon muttered while keeping an eye on any nearby person. He knew how the town was. A town that was full of criminals and gangs would never be a good place to lower your guard. "Let's head to the tavern. The barkeep owes me a favor so we'll be able to stay for free."
I nodded. "It wouldn't do us any good staying out here." We started heading toward the 'center' of the poor town while keeping an eye on all the people that watched us with equal guard.
Soon enough we reached the tavern which was relatively clear of criminal looking people. They entered and the place was quiet, something usually not expected from a public place. There a dozen or so armored or hooded figures that were strewn about the place. Some looked up from what they were doing taking in a quick glance before returning to what they were doing. "You two get a seat. I'll go talk the guy."
Eira and I walked to a nearby booth before sitting down on that was near a window and had a perfect view of the entire room. A good place if you want to be able to watch your surroundings.
"So what are we doing here?" Eira whispered. "I have a bad feeling about this place."
"I don't know, I just had this feeling that I needed to be here. Like something important is going to happen." I whispered back while keeping an eye on the other patrons. "We are also going to pick up a few friends."
"Why are you watching these guys? They don't seem to care that we are here." She said to him in a little louder voice. "And friends?"
"They are mercenaries." I replied. "Thugs and the common foot soldier are very predictable. They back down easily and are usually there until the head honcho gets taken out. Mercs, though, are a whole different league."
"You sound like you've known them your whole life."
"Well, in the past I may or may not have dealt in some paid work." I smirked slightly recalling the memory.
She didn't say anything for a moment. "You sure are different from the boy I grew up with."
"We all change or rather some of us do."
She gave a playful shove and I chuckled. "How are you two love birds doing?" Damon said before sliding into the booth next to me. Eira went red while I also felt my face heat up. "Anyways I got some good news and bad news."
"Why do I always get the feeling that there is no good news?" I sarcastically said and earned a few glances my way from the patrons. "When does anything good happen here in the first place?"
"I'll tell you what happens that's good." A female voice said. We looked towards the source to find a tall, around five foot seven, female standing at the door. The patron, like always, threw her a glance before returning to business. She looked very tomboyish with a very beat up baggy shirt with a pair of worn out pants. Her hair is a dark brown and up in a braided bun. "Remember me, Wolf?"
"Of course."I muttered. "How can I not forget about the person who taught me how properly use a sword?" She smirked before popping herself down on the opposite bench. "Eira this is Elena. She taught me how to 'properly' use a sword." I said while using air quotes. "Mind that I was already pretty good when we met but she could kick my ass until I surpassed her in technique."
"Whatever. That was a dirty move and you know it." She countered with a small pout.
"Nothing is ever fair." I responded with a smirk. Elena shook her head as she knew she wasn't going to win. The two girls nodded to each other before speaking. I turned to Damon. "So what's the news?"
"Tavern's rooms are full so we are going to have to sleep outside. And it looks like we have a renewed bounty out for us put out by the Empire, dead or alive, preferably alive. Luckily, our reputations are still intact so only the higher guys in The Black Book are going to come for us."
I nodded and turned to Elena who was in the middle of a conversation with Eira. "Elena think we can crash at your place tonight?"
"Sorry but dad's home and you know how he is about people staying over." She answered in a somewhat small tone.
"Damn." I muttered. "Looks like we are going to hit up Terra Town and see if Monessa is there."
"Wait, wait time out. What's The Black Book?" Eira asked while holding her hands up.
Damon answered. "The Black Book is a book that ranks the assassins and mercs from most deadly to least deadly. Only the top five hundred mercenaries and assassins are in it. Even though there are hundreds more these guys you usually don't want to kill alone as they are extremely skilled."
"And how high are we talking about on who's going to after you two?"
"Top twenty maybe thirty."
She went wide-eyed. "What kind of reputation do you have?!" She exclaimed but immediately put a hand over her mouth as she noticed multiple patrons who were mercenaries looking in their direction.
"Two things. This tavern is a safe zone. Barkeep has made it so if you don't listen his bouncers will come get ya and they are in the top hundred. Its just wise to keep to yourself. Reputation? Well, let's just say that we used to number in the thirties until I decided that I need to give that up." I answered kind of proudly. Getting that high in the rankings was hard. But not one that a mercenary pays attention to.
"Mercenaries don't really care where they rank though. I've encountered my fair share where the some skillful ones aren't even in the book when they should be." Damon added to which I agreed as did Elena. "Being ranked though gives other people an idea about who they are going to want to hire by how deadly they are." Damon continued. "For example, the number one guy would be paid more than a number ten guy."
"And so on and so forth." Elena finished. "I heard the top ten are under the Empire's thumb though."
"I wouldn't be surprised if they were." I said.
Damon nodded. "Well anyways. I think its best that we get going."
"It's that late?" I asked while looking out the window to see a sunset. "How long have we been talking?"
"A few hours. We didn't get here till around three." Eira responded.
"If we leave now and get some rest we'll be at Terra Town in two days."Elena said.
"We?" I asked somewhat sarcastically. "Who invited you?"
"I did!" She said enthusiastically. "I'm going to go get my stuff and then I'll meet you guys sometime tomorrow."
"What about your dad?" I asked quickly while Damon smirked in the background.
"Ah he won't mind. Besides he's always telling me to get out more. Less tournaments. Blah. Blah. Blah. You can get yourself killed! Blah. Blah. Blah. If I go with you guys I t will be killing two pigdy with two stones." She explained excitedly.
"Well, like I always say! 'The more the merrier!" Damon stated proudly while clapping me on the back.
"When was the last time you said that?" I sarcastically asked with a sort of dread.
"To Terra Town!" Damon exclaimed, avoiding the question.
Aha! Hello! A-P T here! (I like that!) Uh not much to say but I'm excited to be taking over this awesome story and hopefully meeting all your expectations!
Wolf is still main character and keeping to the first person!
Also I don't know who's character is whose so if you recognize yours let me know and I'll give credit! I just get the character profile and plug them into the plot!
Chapter is short due to it just being a filler in my eyes and my quick introduction to this stor, however as more of my time frees up (as it is always constantly being taken over by things other than fanfiction) the chapters will most likely get progressively longer.
Let me know how I did!
Until Next Time!
