Hello again. This one took longer to publish than I would have liked it. Sorry about that. I kept editing this chapter even after I had finished it and actually took some content out. Hopefully it is worth the wait for all of you. Don't want to hold you up anymore so here you folks go.
Strikes could be good for business or bring an unnecessary amount of attention, you had to ride the line carefully to make a good profit while staying under the law's nose. Nowadays random folks would come down to support a bunch of some workers they didn't know just because there was a strike, not to mention the scabs as well. More traffic meant more of a chance of getting a bigger hit for Jose. He had told his cousin who needed the money and decided to let him join on his little excursions to the Industrial District. So far it had proven good for them the last few nights as had enough to buy himself and his mom some new scrolls. John was supposedly saving up for a car but had blown the money the first time by taking his family out to eat and later his girl.
"Looks like the news is finally leaving man," his cousin who was sitting next to him got his attention. They had been waiting till it got dark in the coffee shop, scouting who looked like they had the most money and weren't part of the union. No one touched the union boys here unless they wanted to get intimately familiar with the pikes' hospitality.
"I'm thinking the twig with the smartwatch and shades," said Jose as the crowd in front of the factory had started to disperse. The majority had left in batches but the stragglers who stayed behind tended to leave individually, and they were his pool of charity donators for the night.
"If he brought a car with him- "the younger cousin had started before his brother waved him off.
"Cars are too much trouble," Jose said with a tone that brokered no argument.
"I was only going to say that he might have more in his car." John sounded despondent.
"Too out in the open," said the older family member as he stood up, "last thing I want is you getting something on your record before your interview." His cousin had applied for security at a warehouse not too long ago.
"I think you'll have to change person," his cousin gesturing towards the man he had elected for them to take who was leaving in a group. Of 5 people. Fuck. They had agreed to their only going after two people at most.
"There are those two girls," said John as he motioned towards the two blondes that were leaving in the opposite direction from their target. They seemed to be college students if the sweater the one on the left was wearing was any indication, so maybe not a lot of money. The one on the right though seemed to have one of the newest scrolls available. More importantly, they didn't have any visible weapons.
"Sure," let out Jose with a breath as he pulled up his cousin's hoodie, "Remember you check all their pockets, and for girls take their purse as well." He gripped the pistol in his waistband as he and John walked down the sidewalk parallel to their target. His cousin had wanted to carry the weapon, but he had drawn the line at carrying the gun, the minimum sentence for carrying a gun without a license was 3 years.
"Just a few more nights," Jose thought to himself as they crossed the street as the girls turned a corner to a bus stop. "Just a few more hits here and then we can be done for a while." The boys had come up to a few feet of the girls when they had started.
"Hey, do I know you girls!" Jose had called out and when the girls had turned around, he had come up to the one in the sweater with one arm around her and the holding the gun to her stomach in view of her partner. The girl could only let out small whimpers as her friend only stared wide-eyed. "Shut up and follow," said John as he walked ahead of the group past the stop.
"You heard my friend, follow," Jose said to the girls as he pressed the gun deeper into the stomach of the girl next to her causing her to start letting out tears. After a few seconds, the girls slowly started to walk towards the nearest alley that John had led them to. As they went in the girl with the gun to her stomach started to let out louder whimpers causing Jose to repeatedly tell her to shut up.
When his cousin turned around to face them his face shifted into a surprised expression, "Jose-"he had started before he felt something press against his back and a voice.
"Put that thing away before I kill you,"
Fuck.
FUCK!
They had been caught. Wait. By who? It wasn't a cop as they wouldn't have said they would kill him. Maybe he still had a change. "They don't pay the pikes." Whispered Jose.
"That don't matter to me. Let them go." Fuck. It was a pike.
"We can split it." Jose let out quickly before the barrel pressed more forcefully against his back. He finally put his hand up and dropped the pistol.
"Jose- "his cousin had started before he quickly interrupted,
"Shut up and go home." He said before turning to the person behind him. It seemed to be a guy around the same age as John with brown hair and eyes, "I paid the kid to help me, he didn't know what we were doing."
Everyone was quiet for a second before the man responded, "Everybody out."
The girl who'd had the gun to her fell onto her knees and wept before her friend came to her. For a few minutes, no one moved much, and the only things heard were the girl calming her friend and Jose telling his cousin to go. John only kept a conflicted look on his face as he kept glancing at the girls and his brother.
"Go boy," spoke up the man, "go to your family and stay out of nasty business like this."
By this point, the girls had gotten up and walked past Jose and the armed man, the man apologizing to the girls that they had been caught up in this.
John kept his gaze on his cousin before he slowly started walking toward the two. "No John," thought Jose as he saw John's hand shaking as started to walk aggressively towards them. John pleaded with eyes that his brother would just let this go. "Don't get caught up with this," He felt the man behind him tense and some of the pressure relief from his back as his brother continued, his eyes tearing up now as he clenched his fist.
"John please," thought John as he whispered, "please."
John stopped in front of his cousin and looked Jose in the eyes before looking at the man behind him. Jose felt the barrel move up his back while staying out of sight. "John," whimpered Jose as his voice cracked trying to get his brother to look at him. His brother stayed still. The barrel came up to right behind his left shoulder. "Please."
His cousin looked up at him with tearful eyes as he gritted his teeth. "Please."
His cousin let out small noise as he looked down again and walked past Jose. For a minute the only thing that could be heard in the alleyway was sobbing before a question was asked,
"Tell me everything you know about Decroix and the Pikes?"
It was 6 in the morning when Azul finally returned to his apartment, almost falling asleep going up the elevator. He had found an apartment in which the landlord took the money with little questioning and little concern for his current unemployment. Having a roof and protection from the cold was nice but it was weird having his bed and kitchen in the same room. Calling the assortment of blankets on the ground was generous though. And the screen door kept opening in the middle of the night because of the wind. And the thin walls. But he had a house, a place to call home.
A very worn down home but a home nonetheless. He even had some neighbors, though they weren't the friendliest, not that they had to be. They minded their business for the most part so that was good. He still remembered the surprised look old man's look when he said he would gladly take the keys, he wasn't sure what kind of landlord expects someone to not want to live in their on their property but he wasn't going to question the man just as he didn't question his source of income.
He really wanted to get some sleep but he had to meet with the owner of a diner about a job in an hour. The interview was also across town so it would take him a while to walk there. He would just have to substitute that rest with some caffeine. He hadn't drank that much coffee back home, his mother was more worried about him drinking coffee than whiskey for some reason, he had no idea, but it was quickly becoming a necessity for his daily functions at this point.
He went to put some water in the kettle and put it to boil while he took a shower. That was the other big bonus having a place to call his own, Azul having to recognize how much of a luxury a shower was in the last few weeks. His own shower was nice to have, it gave him a sense of privacy that a gym shower didn't have. He just wished the hot water lasted longer, but the hot coffee could make up for it.
He also needed to get some of his gear in order as he was running low on munitions and maybe some specific gear for when he went out. He didn't think it would be good for him if someone from his nightly activities recognized him at where ever he picked up work. Having some specific gear as well could be useful, but that also sounded expensive was the problem. He could probably afford to get started probably, upgrade to better gear once he had the opportunity. His main concern was ammo and having something to wear, not so much new weapons as he felt that he could get along with what he had for now.
Azul heard one of his neighbors start moving around and decided to take that cue to get dressed for the day. A job that could allow him to explore the city would be nice, but he would have to take what he could get. Money was the main concern. It wasn't like he was going to find a job that would pay him for his investigation of a secret cult controlling Vale. Wait a minute... No, he didn't think becoming a police officer would be that easy, not to mention the hours would probably get in the way.
Azul went to shave and tried to at least not look like he was destitute. He might also want to get a haircut soon. He put on some not-so-worn jeans and his cleanest shirt which was a brown plaid button up and rolled the sleeves. He was pretty sure he had worn this same shirt when he had taken the photo for his ID a few days after coming to the city. Some boots along with his satchel and weapons and he were ready to go for the most part.
He had only taken a step out when he heard one of his neighbors yell at him when his door slammed shut.
"Sorry," groaned out Azul as went out into the city to hopefully be a productive member of society.
Apparently, you need some kind of license to be a server, which was the job that was highly recommended to him, so there goes that plan. He was on his way to the weapons store were had previously bought some ammo when he saw a bunch of photographers standing outside of a hotel. He wondered what they were doing until he realized that almost no one did anything in this city without being paid. "I have a camera too." Thought Azul with a smile on his face.
He approached the group to try and see if he could talk to them but most of the responses he got were to buzz off. Though more unpleasantly put. Most of them were keen on staying where they were and even pushed each other. There were a few moments where it seemed like a fight might break out and the security of the hotel didn't seem very hospitable.
And just as that thought had crossed his mind Azul felt someone grab the back of his collar as they pulled him back.
"We told you all to scram!" said the person pulling on him
"You better- "Azul had started as he was reaching for his firearm when someone put a hand on over it and spoke for him.
"We heard you buddy," said the stick figure of a man with his black hair in a bun, "No need to get hands-on with us." By this point, the cameraman had grabbed Azul and surprisingly pulled him away from the guard behind him. "We'll be on our way now."
Azul just stared at the man in confusion as he put his around him and guided him away from the hotel. The bespectacled man just grinned at the security as they walked away.
"Uh, thanks mister?" Said Azul when they crossed the street as he stepped away from the man dressed in an orange vest with a white shirt and brown pants.
"No problem cowpoke," the man answered as he gave a toothy grin, "could have been messy if I didn't step in. Plus, I wanted to know what you wanted; you seemed pretty persistent in talking to one of us. Are you a fan yearning to white knight for their little celebrity crush? The invincible girl does have some crazy fans but most of them aren't the fighting type." The man continues to speculate about Azul's identity before,
"White knight?" questioned Azul, "No. I wanted to know what if your job was taking photos and how much that might pay?"
The man gave Azul a face with a raised eyebrow as he just stared at him for a few seconds, "Are you being serious?"
"Yes," replied Azul with a confused face.
"You don't know what paparazzi is kid?" the man laughed out loud, "What you never left your house till today? Or are you from the sticks?"
"I'm new to the city and sorta need some money,"
"Ah, got it. And you don't have a job I'm guessing." The man looked towards Azul for confirmation as they started walking down the sidewalk, "Well I guess there isn't much of a requirement for this part of the job." The man scratched the back of his head when his stomach audibly grumbled.
"You at least have a camera kid?" the man stopped and faced a surprised Azul.
"I do."
"How about I teach you a thing or two about the fine art of photography over some lunch? You obviously look like you need a pick me up, and I could go for a bite. Sound good?" Azul was left surprised at the generosity before he tentatively responded.
"Sure."
"What type of Camera do you have?" asked Robert once the teen had finished his sandwich. Kid seemed nice enough-he got the cheapest item on the menu-though he wasn't sure whether to feel thankful or slighted.
"A digital one. I can't really tell you much beyond that." So at least it wasn't a film, could help cut down the cost. He couldn't really say much for the quality of the picture or storage, but he figured the kid didn't care too much about that. Next question.
"You have a laptop or PC?" The answer was one he expected for the teen who barely looked like he had slept in days. The kid was more than likely roughing it out there if the state of his clothing and looking for a job were any other indication. He was clean at least so he had some access to a shower.
It was more common than he liked, kids aging out of the system, and for one reason or another, they couldn't stay at the orphanage. Clark had written a story about it a few months back and had asked for his help. Really sucked what was happening and he was more than happy to bring it to light.
How a kid obviously from outside the city ended up in the same position he couldn't tell. Might have run away from home with no plan or might have been moved to the orphanage in the city before aging out. He hoped it was the former and not the latter.
"I probably have enough to buy a laptop," and probably miss out on other necessities. He knew the type, and the kid seemed like it.
"You only really need it if you are going to edit pictures and you don't have to do that. You can probably use the computers in the public library to email the pictures you take for now."
"Email my pictures?" The teen across from him looked befuddled at what the man meant, and for a second it took the kid to question what emailing was before he realized that hadn't told the kid.
"Yeah, I'd be willing to help you get paid for some pictures you take," the man smiled at the kid's disbelieving look, reminding him of when he helped set some of those kids Clark and him had interviewed with a home. "Garbage won't sell though; I can tell you that much."
"Really? You'll pay me for pictures." The teen's confusion had turned to suspicion as he raised an eyebrow at Robert.
"As I said, I will help you get paid for pictures, but they have to be good pictures." Robert clarified as he hoped to convince the teen of his goodwill, "I can put in a word with my boss at the Daily Inquire about you being able to take pictures, but I need some proof as well you know."
The teen seemed to finally understand what the man was offering, "What pictures will get me paid?"
"Just take a couple of pictures and send me the ones that you think look the best. Though I need you to try and make them look nice, that way you have a portfolio I can present to the big boss." Robert explained. "Hopefully by next week we should have you taking some pictures for the paper, they'll probably start you off at the tabloids with all the celebrities."
"I'm guessing you trying to get a picture of a celebrity back at the hotel?" the teen asked as Robert remembered he had rushed out once he heard the news of the invincible girl arriving two weeks before the tournament. The yearly bout was always big on the news as people got to see many hopeful hunters compete, even representatives from every academy came to see potential applicants who at times became minor celebrities during their showcase and beyond. Though no minor celebrity would make Robert Parker rush out of the office as if Peterson's was giving out free mango ice cream.
The champion from Mistral, on the other hand, would get the attention of the whole Kingdom. Though she had only competed in tournaments in Mistral and Atlas, there was no one here who didn't know her name. Her coming to compete with Vale's bests would be in the headlines for days. At least it would be if they could back it up with proof.
"Yeah, though not successfully as you were able to tell." Still, though, it wasn't a complete waste of time. Because of his failure, he got to help a lost country boy.
"Anyhow, you got any experience in photography." A little to be asking this question but it had skipped his mind once he figured out that the kid was looking for money. Live and learn, he already said he was going to help the kid out anyway.
"Not much, I've taken a few photos and now the very basics of the camera." The kid leaned back as he looked away from the photographer. "My brother was more into photography when he was younger, and I went out with him a few times to take photos. I was a brute with it but all the same, he wanted me to try it with him."
"Sounds like a good brother." Responded the older man as he saw the teen take on a wistful look. There was a peaceful silence as the teen seemed to loosen up a bit before turning back to Robert.
"So, what more can you tell me about this potential work mister," Azul looked expectantly back at him.
Well, the kid was a go-getter at least, it would serve him well
Azul still couldn't believe his luck as he walked to the weapons store, Valean Steel was the name if he remembered correctly. He had found an extremely kind stranger who was willing to help a random person out, in a city filled with many looking out for themselves the value of such a person couldn't be stated enough. Though he wasn't sure if would easily find that type of kindness back home.
"Good afternoon," the old lady behind the counter in the back of the store greeted. The store wasn't too big but it did hold many guns on the wall behind the counter with the rest being divided into an assortment of blades in the back half and clothing in the front half. He hadn't really bought much here except for some buckshots, and it didn't seem like the women recognized him.
"Ma'am," responded Azul as he entered the store. He needed a grip on his tomahawk since the fire had burnt the previous one off though the blue paint had stayed on somehow. The paint traced around the hollowed-out cheek of the tomahawk which only had small protrusions inwards before coming to the edge of the weapon. The spike on the other side of the tomahawk was also hollowed out a bit with a small paint outline. He should probably get a whetstone as well.
"Do you need anything in specific son?" the woman asked.
"Do you sell any dust slugs?" Azul wondered as he continued to browse the store finding something that caught his interest.
"We do, but unfortunately we only have some ice and electric slugs right now." The store owner answered, "We do have some dust buckshots if you need and the whole selection of dust is available for them." They were wildly more expensive though.
"I don't think I can afford much right now, but I'll keep that in mind ma'am," said as walked up to the counter with a whetstone, a navy gator mask, dark grey hunting pants, and some black boots.
"We have two cases of 15 slugs for ice dust and one for electric dust." The lady had brought up one case each as she started to check out his items, "What do you carry if you don't mind me asking?"
"I'll take one case of electric slugs, please ma'am," Azul answered and pulled his firearm out, "Had this thing as a present from my mother, was my grandfather's before it was mine." Azul handed the firearm to the woman for her to inspect.
"I believe you," said the woman as she inspected the shotgun with wood furniture, "Tame both Grimm and Faunas, was how they advertised it at the time. Was pretty popular back then as it was one of the favorites during the faunas' revolutions. Though of course, the ones from then had a stock and longer barrel. How many rounds does this one hold?"
"Huh, didn't know that." Azul nodded at that little piece of history, "and it can hold six rounds."
"Not bad. I could buy off you if are looking for something better." The lady offered.
"No thanks, ma'am. As I said it was a family heirloom."
"I figured but I had to try as most of these are no longer around." The woman said as she handed Azul his firearm back and a bag with his goods.
"Have a nice day-uff," Azul was saying his goodbyes when he bumped into someone in a green hoodie. The person didn't even give him the time to apologize as they started to increase the pace at which they were walking, and Azul just stared at them in disbelief. A person speaking behind got his attention though,
"Hey dude, I think that person just took your wallet." The blonde man in a muscle shirt with a green backpack said. Azul quickly checked his pocket finding that both his scroll and wallet were gone.
"Hey! Get back here you!" Azul yelled at the figure who only turned back to look at him pointing at them and took off running. "Dammit," Azul had barely gotten that scroll and he still had a good amount of money.
"Stop," yelled the teen as he started to take off after the figure though they seemed intent on evading him as they ran a red cross light and went into a crowd of people going the opposite direction.
The teen had barely started to pick up speed when jumped back as a car almost swerved into him, he didn't have much time to pay attention to what might have happened afterward as he immediately jumped over the hood of the car keeping his eye on the green sweater.
"Sorry," he shoulder-checked a man in the crowd.
The hoodie disappeared behind a group of teens.
"Careful," he almost ran into a child and her mother.
The crowd opened a bit.
Two suits. An old man.
A gods-damn stroller.
The teens.
There.
A green hoodie had cut into an alley.
Azul went wide on the corner as he saw the figure turning right at the cross-section. He only saw it through a small gap as a dumpster had been moved to block the alley in the middle. He used his running start to jump onto it.
"It ain't worth it!" yelled Azul right before the plastic lid of the dumpster bent under him causing him to lose his balance and fall forward onto the ground. He heard some rustling of his cargo as he stood up but decided to ignore it and continued his pursuit coming up onto a small wall. Climbing the wall Azul saw a small parking lot with apartments hanging over the lots. At the end of the small road in the middle, he saw a pair of onlookers on the sidewalk staring left.
The jump wasn't too bad though Azul almost fall on his face again as he tried to take off sprinting once landed. He came up to the sidewalk to look left and sure enough, green hoodie was still booking it down the road.
Azul took a deep breath before he took off again and started to speed up quickly.
A suit was in the way, and he almost crashed into a mountain of a man, and Azul saw that his time on the crosswalk that green had just crossed was down to ten seconds.
"Keep it up," Azul thought as he controlled his breathing and leaned forward. "Right there."
The crosswalk was at seven seconds when Azul crossed as it and green hoodie kept running a straight line. They crossed to the sidewalk on the right side when the road was empty, Azul doing the same as he started to gain some significant ground on them. They took another right.
Azul coming round saw them heading towards a park. He could make it. "C'mon." They were right there and slowing down. Confident now that he would be able to catch them, Azul dropped his bag as they crossed the street to park. The figure significantly slowed down when they entered the park and turned to look back.
Seizing the opportunity Azul had come up and launched himself, seeing some emerald eyes widen in surprise before he successfully took down his target. They let out a small gasp as they fell on their face. Azul looked up but before he could do anything else he received a swift elbow to the side of the head. More followed it up but Azul only noted the wallop of a punch to the face shortly afterward and then he was flying back till he hit his head against something. He could have sworn he heard an apology as well before he blacked out.
"Sorry!" yelled out Pyrrha wincing as he hit his head against the bench. They were stalking her but… And they had also tackled her as well so… But they didn't have Aura and…and…Ugh!
She was going to be raked over the coals on this one. The guy might have a head injury as well. Why? Why did she decide to leave the hotel? The paparazzi waiting outside for her should have been her clue to stay in. Gods. Wait, was he breathing? Oh, Gods.
Pyrrha approached the teen and just as she squatted down next to them, they started to stir causing her to let out a small chuckle. She hadn't killed someone. That was a small victory. But the person who had attacked her and she knocked unconscious had just woken up as well. So, it was a very small victory.
"Give me my money back," said the freshly awoken aggressor groggily. He reached out for a sawed-off shotgun on his left side. She hadn't noticed it till right now. Or the tomahawk as well for that matter. She grabbed his hand and she gave him a small rigid smile.
Really. This was what everything had been about. Money. She was pretty sure she felt an eyebrow twitch in her disbelief. Some jerk had gambled his money away on some of her matches and suddenly decides to harass her over his mistake. She squeezed his wrist as she moved to put another hand on his shoulder. At least he was quiet now, though he was probably just nervous from having a tournament fighter put hands on him.
"Sir, I'm sorry to hear about your loss but I am not responsible for the betting practices of the matches, and…" Pyrrha had started to give him the practiced answered but stopped due to the utterly befuddled face he was giving her.
"Gambling? I ain't gambled nothing." Said the teen. So, this wasn't about the money. Also, Pyrrha had barely noticed the accent. But also, why?
"Why were you chasing me?" Pyrrha was pretty sure she had the same face she had seen on him earlier by this point. Was he a rabid fan? Please no. No. Why had he asked for money? Had he lent her money before? Had she ever borrowed money from someone else?
Pyrrha was shaken from her thoughts when Azul took her hands off him and pushed himself to sit against the bench, "You took my wallet and scroll. Didn't you?"
"What!" Pyrrha said in shock. She had never been accused of stealing. Well only in the metaphorical sense. But never like this. Also, she wasn't comfortable with the way she was being looked at. He still had that confused look on his face but also this… softness? There wasn't any maliciousness in it, there was this softness in his gaze that made her uncomfortable for some reason. It was like how some of her fans looked at her but different. Less expectation almost. Wait. Focus. She had just been accused of a crime.
"I didn't steal anything," Pyrrha answered after recentering herself.
"Then why did you run miss?" was the question fired back at her,
"I uh-," 'thought you one of my rabid fans who wanted an autograph and would not respect boundaries" was definitely not the answer to give here. It sounded conceited and while true could be put more tactfully. His shouting at her didn't help. But what he had shouted hadn't sounded like something a fan would say thinking back on it. She was just afraid of the sudden attention and panicked. Though, "Why did you shout at me suddenly? You even chased me."
"You bumped into me coming out of the store. Right after someone said you robbed me a wallet and scroll." Where was he from? No. Thoughts for later. He continued, "Now though, seems like I have been made of fool of."
He stuck out his hand, "I apologise miss uh…" he stopped as if waiting on something. A took a few seconds before it hit her. He was asking her for her name. Her name. He didn't know her name! He didn't know her name!
"Pyrrha. Pyrrha Nikos," she responded as enthusiastically shaking his hands as she mentally did backflips in celebration in her mind. This could probably go under the rug for the most part. She stood up in joy pulling Azul with her as well before she realized what she did. She quickly pulled her hand back to hug herself, "I'm sorry about that. I'm just happy that you weren't after me to attack me. At least not without reason."
"Azul Pofero, and I just need a proper reason?" questioned the now-named teen with a smirk.
"Well- "Pyrrha started before Azul started chuckling. It was a hearty chuckle, not one filled with nerves or giddiness that she had been so used to hearing.
"I'm just messing with you," he turned to look back at the street they had crossed not too long ago before he let out a curse, "That was all I had left."
Pyrrha looked back not seeing anything that could warrant his attention and discontent, "Is everything alright?" Well besides the pickpocketed items. And the possible concussion. She was only responsible for one but couldn't really do anything to help him with either.
"Well, I had bought some goods and was carrying them with me till I dropped them before the park," Azul pointed back to the empty sidewalk by the park. Vale certainly kept a clean city. Oh. "Now it's gone." He explained despondently before he sat down on the bench that might have given him a concussion.
Another thing to add to the list of misfortune she had brought down on the poor soul. This was really turning out to be a bad day for both of them apparently. Though she was not one to compare misfortune as it would do one better to focus on more positive things. He won though. If she were to compare.
"I'm afraid I've gone and caused you unnecessary trouble miss. To my own detriment as well." He ran his hand through his short hair as he looked away from her.
Again, she noted his accent. He probably wasn't from the city from the sound of it, so that might be why he didn't recognize her. But she shouldn't be thinking about herself right now. It wasn't like he was. Well, he was based on his apologizing, but he wasn't thinking of her like she was used to. He seemed to have a pretty rough go at it. She wasn't sure what she could do to help him. But she did know what she has wanted in the past whenever she was going through a tough time.
"Sounds like you've had a rough time," Pyrrha sat down next to Azul, "want to talk about it?"
Azul looked over at the redhead who had offered their ear to his lamentations. It was funny. He had harassed this random stranger-Pyrrha was her name-and now they were offering him a kindness. If anything, it made him feel worse. He had been shocked when he had seen his supposed thief, not that a woman wouldn't commit a crime but… Well, she didn't look like a criminal.
"I wouldn't want to waste any more of your time miss," Azul answered as he looked at her emerald eyes. "Besides I don't think I would feel comfortable unloading my burdens on a stranger." Besides he couldn't exactly explain to a stranger that he had been unsuccessfully trying to track a covert group that supposedly controlled the city.
She just gave a gentle smile, a smile that Azul would only begin to wonder about the many a man had made fools of themselves just to see it. He had no doubt that she had plenty of men willing to listen to her woes.
"I understand," she looked ahead to the empty park, "it can be hard to trust a stranger. But it may be that having your problems understood by someone else may offer some sort of comfort rather than keeping them to yourself."
The silence that ensued wasn't for long, but it did give Azul some time to sit on the words given to him. He hadn't talked about that day since explaining to the soldiers what happened, and he didn't think he would be telling anyone about it anytime soon, but he figured there was no harm in humoring her. She had been so nice to him despite all he had done so the least he could do was take her up on the offer.
"I-uh," Azul rubbed his chin as thought, "I'm new here. To the city I mean."
"So am I," the redhead responded as she brushed a piece of hair away from her eye, "I'm from Mistral actually. I'm in Vale looking at some educational opportunities."
"Really?" That's quite the travel." Azul chuckled as she nodded, "I didn't make the journey here quite as prepared as you probably did though. I've only had the clothes on my back and a few keepsakes." He gestured towards his weapons.
"I feel more than a little lost here and can't help but feel like I'm failing at what I am supposed to do here. I mean I did find an opportunity for a job, but besides that everything else feels like it has been a failure." Finished Azul with a heavy sigh. He had been coming up on dead ends with anything to do with the Templars and the only lead that he had was proving to be difficult to follow up on.
"What are you expecting to accomplish here?" asked Pyrrha she had kept her gaze straight ahead, but she still raised an eyebrow at his statement.
"Business." Replied Azul curtly as it was best if she didn't know he was here to kill folk.
"I'm guessing going back home isn't an option?"
"No."
"You feel frustrated at your inability to do what you believe you must," Pyrrha stated with a monotone voice, "I often feel the same, there are certain expectations of what I must do and how that I must meet, and if I don't, I feel like a failure. Not just to myself but to those around me as well."
Azul stayed silent but he did meet the pair of eyes that looked towards him as they were accompanied by that pleasant smile again. Plenty of fools alright.
"I sure things will turn around for you. I don't doubt that you are working hard to meet those duties so take pride in your work." She said with such genuine belief that Azul couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
"Thank you for this." Azul shook his head in disbelief as he actually felt a bit better. He wasn't sure how she had alleviated some of his frustration and negativity, but she did. Amazing this girl.
"I appreciate the talk and it was nice getting to know you miss Nikos," Azul said as he stood up and offered his hand to her. He felt some extra motivation to crack some skulls tonight.
"It was nothing I assure you." She blushed as he helped her up. She held onto his hand for a second as she followed up with a hushed comment, "It was actually quite nice to talk with you Azul." It seemed like she wanted to follow the comment up with more, but she bit her lip instead. She seemed disappointed at the prospect of the conversation ending. He wasn't quite sure why that would be though, as he was sure that were plenty of other boys would be willing to talk to her. He didn't quite get it.
"I did as well," responded Azul as she finally let go of his hand and hugged herself once more, "it was nice to make a friend in the city so thank you for that that I can talk to."
That comment seemed to have been the key as Pyrrha gave him a wider smile than before that even her eyes seemed to smile. Many a fool.
There you go folks. This was what was taking me forever to complete. Worth the wait? I'd say probably.
We got to see a calmer Azul trying to make his way on a normal day, starting off early with threatening thugs with death, followed up with the discovery of a potential job, and ending with him catching a wild Pyrrha. Also yes Parker and Clark are references to those reports you are thinking of. I'm a big fan of comics and had at one point thought of making a Spider-Man story. Maybe in the future. Also, with the introduction of one of a proper character here, I was scared at first and actually went back to the first three seasons in which Pyrrha as well to try and get an idea for how I wanted to write her. I think I stayed pretty true to character but kinda hard to say when you don't really see the character's thoughts in shows most of the time. Other than that though I don't think I have much to add other than the next Chapter will at the latest be out by Monday of next week but will more than likely be out earlier.
So like always what do you think? What could be better? What sucked? Always happy to hear an opinion. Thank you for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day/afternoon/evening/night. Till next time.