"The kingdoms teetered on an edge, but not one with a safe side to land on. They had two choices, struggle to stay balanced or become the thing that finally pushed them over the edge."
Stark looked to his left. The street turned and went straight for a while and then curved out of sight. It ran straight into the suburban area and then into the High Hills. His home was located in somewhere between the two. More than the common folk, but not quite High Hills material. Well, maybe some day.
Stark shook his head and turned right to follow Elic. He would go to his family later when this was all sorted. He was a soldier first and a father second. It wasn't a good system, but it was a strong one. Stark looked up at Elic who now wore a thick fur coat. It was black and dark green just like his armour had been, and his thick, bushy beard blended in perfectly the black fur of his coat.
"You have interesting friends, Elic." Stark prodded. Elic gave him a curious sideways glance.
"And what do you know about my friends?" Stark thought about it for a second.
"I know they think they can use what I saw in Mistral against me, and who knows maybe they can." Elic laughed.
"I wouldn't let them catch you saying that! They'll never let you go then!" Stark chuckled softly as Elic thought more about it. "So, what have my 'friends' ask you to do? I doubt they could make a man like you do anything he didn't want to." Stark nodded absently.
"There is a mission that would take me all the way to Vale. The Queen wants something retrieved from there. They want me to take the mission, but then report what it was they were transporting."
"Hm…" Elic stroked his beard. "They have asked me to do that once or twice. But enough about them! What about you? You a lieutenant now! You get to have a permanent squad and for your, heh, 'Grimm Control' missions." Stark rolled his eyes.
"Actually, I was wondering if you were interested in join my team." Elic stopped and turned to face Stark. He stared him down as he spoke.
"Stark, I take my orders very loosely. I do what I think is best for people and only that. There is a reason I am my own unit. I can not and will not fight for someone just obeying the order someone else was ordered to give." Stark met his gaze coolly.
"Elic, I wouldn't have agreed to do this mission for your 'friends' if I wasn't acting on what I thought was best for the kingdom." Elic glared at him suspiciously.
"That is not a sentiment often held by those ambitious enough to make officer, so forgive me if I don't quite believe you."
"I have become an officer for the sake of my sons, just as my wife does for my daughter. And trust me, if The Queen is in anyway thinking what Mistral is doing to its people is a good idea; it isn't going to make life better for my children." Elic glared at him for a minute longer then grumbled,
"I suppose I could give it a go. But the moment you ignored people for the sake of The Queen, I leaving." Stark frowned. Elic was odd, and not just because of his massive size. Everyone, particularly men, is taught The Queen and kingdom were the first things you believed in and fought for. And though most men ignore it and work every day of their lives fighting for themselves, Stark had never encountered someone that made a distinction between the two. Queen and kingdom. Stark guessed most thought The Queen fought for the kingdom on their behalf, but more likely they just didn't think about it.
"So, who else are you bringing on the team?" Elic asked as they rounded a corner together. Stark really didn't know where they were going now, he was just following the massive man in front of him.
"I hadn't really thought much of it. But I think I'll ask Black to join."
"That was the drunken sniper with us right?" Stark nodded.
"He is probably the best shot in all of Mantle, and his semblance makes him invaluable for our particular missions. Past that I really don't know."
"I wouldn't mind having that puny mechanic on our team. He is easy to make fun of." Stark shook his head.
"He has his hands full trying to order around the other mechanics from his new position."
"Ah, but if he signs on to your personal team he'll be relieved of those duties and his rank would be just another reason to salute." Stark rubbed his chin.
"Maybe, I'll consider it." Suddenly Elic stopped in front of a tall building. A hand-painted sign hung on the outside of it saying 'Granny's temporary home for children'. Stark raised an eyebrow at Elic, but he was already ducking down through the double doors.
The receptionist inside smiled at Elic and nodded towards a massive door, and Elic sized door. But even so, Elic still had to duck low to avoid hitting his head. Stark followed with an amused expression.
The moment Elic stepped through that door the air was filled with shrieks of joy and laughter from the other room. Elic chuckled deeply and fell to one knee as more than a dozen children and started to climb all over him like he was some sort of playground. Elic didn't stop laughing as he picked up a child between his thumb and finger and swung him on his shoulders. A little girl had climbed up by the fur of his coat and wrapped her arm around his neck, they didn't even manage to reach half way around.
"Do the thing Giant, do the thing!" The little girl giggled like mad as she hung on as tight as she could. Elic tickled her with one finger, causing her to fall backwards in laughter. She tumbled down the back of his coat like it was a slide. But then the other children started shouting at him to 'do the thing'.
"Alright, alright you little demons. Give me a moment." Elic said through a massive grin. He reached his hand out through the air towards an open window. Slowly, the rays of light streaming through the window became brighter, and then they began to move.
Elic arranged several beams of light in the centre of the room. At first, Stark didn't know what he was doing, it looked like all he had done was cross bright yellow bars. And then the kids started to climb in them.
The beams of light were just as strong as any steel as the kids climbed on the makeshift jungle gym. The little ones that had still been trying to climb up Elic's coat ran over to join the other who were now dangling upside down on the bars, their shirts falling open to reveal their tummy's to the children ready to tickle them the moment it happened.
"Elic dear, how good it is to see you." And elderly woman wrapped her arms around Elic the best she could. Elic patted her on the back with one hand, while he controlled the beams of harden light for the young kids.
"Granny Anne," Elic said. "As promised, I made a thousand Lein this month." Elic pressed the money into Granny's palm. The old lady nodded as vigorously as her neck would let her. "Thank you, dear, I simply don't know what we would do without you. Now, who is this handsome young man you brought in here with you today?"
"Granny!" Elic protested, but Stark smiled in amusement.
"You know, my daughter at the desk is single you know." Elic rolled his eyes. Stark held up the bracelet he had been issued for the celebration happening currently. Granny sighed. "All the good men have already been Picked, what is a woman to do." Granny then turned to Elic and began to tell him all about the new kids, the old ones, the ones that had left, and the ones that had come back. Allowing Stark the chance to slip away, but before he left he took one last look at the little gym the kids were playing on and smiled.
Stark entered the bar from the street and was immediately slammed by the smell of booze and smoke. People crowded the walkway as every seat had already been taken by couples enjoying Choosing Day. A thin layer of smoke hung loosely around the ceiling, only moved by the slow moving fan blades.
In the back, sitting at a dimly lit poker table, was Lucas shuffling the cards for the next game while a new glass of scotch was delivered to him by a waitress. He flicked the cards in an arc over his head with the satisfying clicking the cards made as they flew out of one hand and into the other. When all the cards had landed in his right hand he spread them out across the table, face down. With a flick of his wrist, the line of cards flipped over to show everyone their faces. Another flick of his hand and the cards flipped over towards him and he scooped them into one deck again. Suddenly he held his arms out wide and began fire the cards at the table rapidly. Even though the cards were coming out of each hand, they still landed in the same spot on the table roughly making a new deck. Lucas took this new deck and gave it a more mundane shuffle, bridged, and then deftly deal a hand to everyone at the table.
Including Stark.
"So, I take your good at this game?" Stark asked. Lucas stared at him evenly.
"I don't need to be good, I can read a face and hear a heartbeat across the room. People don't play against me to win, they play to prove they can bluff without me noticing." Stark smiled.
"Then how about a wager?" Lucas raised an eyebrow. "I'm putting together a team, and I want you on it." Lucas looked at him for a long moment, then took a sip of scotch.
"If you can put all these chips," Lucas pointed at the pile in front of him, "in front of you, then I go with you." Stark nodded and pulled out a one-hundred Lein card and handed it to the person handling the chips. Soon as Stark had his pile of chips in front of him he looked at Lucas and smiled. There was a glint in his silver eyes as all emotions ended and Lucas frowned.
"I hope you didn't come for your weapons," Tecaelis told him. "I told you I won't be able to finish them until tomorrow."
"No," Stark told him. "I actually came to see if you would be interested to join my permanent Grimm Control unit?" Tecaelis seemed amused at the thought.
"Is he on it." Tecaelis pointed at a very disgruntled Lucas standing behind him. "Because he doesn't seem very happy and I'd rather not get shot when I'm not looking."
"He is just upset that I cleared him out at the poker table." Tecaelis grinned at that, making Lucas scowl even harder.
"So you want me to give up the job I'm not prepared for, stressed out about, and am only beginning to figure out how things work for the same, similar job in the field? Only this time it's permanent, I only engineer weapons for you, and have access to resources I wouldn't otherwise? Hm, I'll have to think about it." Tecaelis stroked his non-existent beard sarcastically as he pretended to think about it. "Sounds great, now if you'll excuse me, I have a date." Stark and Lucas shared a look.
"A date with who?" Lucas asked.
"Oh, this young Royal, she just inherited two villages in the far east and took an interest when she saw me on the dance floor." Lucas and Stark just smiled and kept silent. Tecaelis frowned when they didn't press for details. "What? What are you smiling at." Lucas rolled his eyes and turned away. Stark chuckled and said,
"Schnee, no Royal ever goes for any man less than an officer. The fact she is talking to you means she is more likely into women anyway and is just trying to keep up appearances." Tecaelis' mouth fell open.
"T-That's not true! We were just talking about possible ways to get to the Dust in the west!" Lucas gestured into the restaurant they had pulled Tecaelis from.
"Then where is she, genius?"
"She's right-" Tecaelis frozen. "She left. She just… Left." Stark patted him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, you didn't have much of a chance anyway. Take my advice and wait to marry someone with a lower status than you, that way you get to keep your last name." Tecaelis just gaped at the empty seat as Stark and Lucas walked away, one of them snickering.