A chapter focusing on the Twelfth Unit of the Southern Frontier Defense Force. You can see the first installment for all disclaimers/warnings if you need to…
~ * Heading South * ~
He would not cry.
He was a Karayan warrior, and warriors never cry. Not even when they see their village go up in flames.
Even if they did cry, it definitely wouldn't be in front of a bunch of strangers. Not even when one of those strangers saved his life and led him out to safety.
(But, then, a real warrior wouldn't have needed any help at all. They woulda just wiped out that stupid ironhead and all his friends, no problem. And a real warrior woulda been able to save…)
Biting the inside of his lip, Lulu shook his head violently, as though the movement would help him shrug off the gravity of the previous night's events. But there was no changing the facts: he wasn't a great Karayan fighter. Most of them had been called away to the treatise meeting, which obviously hadn't gone so well considering what happened.
No, he was just a frightened little boy who couldn't do anything to keep his mother from being cut down by an ironhead monster. Still…
"Kid, you okay back there?"
The sai-wielder, the ruffian, was looking back in his direction.
(You saw Karaya burn. Do you think I'm okay?!)
An older boy probably would have also known some colorful terms to further elaborate on what exactly he thought of the rogue's question. As it was, Lulu could only glare, narrowing his eyes to further express his displeasure. The recipient of his stare quailed backward and held up his hands in a calming gesture.
"Okay, okay, never mind! Jeez…"
As Ace shrugged and turned away, Queen turned her face forward again, rolling her dark brown eyes as she tuned out the predictable sound of Joker making some whispered snipe at his partner and Ace's outraged reaction.
(Really, what is he thinking…? Wait… Maybe 'thinking' is giving him too much credit.)
After it had become clear that what remained of the native village was evacuated for the most part, Geddoe had determined that the best course of action they could take for now was to return to Caleria and make their report. With the Karayan kid in tow, they couldn't exactly return to Vinay de Zexay or Brass Castle. The Lizard Clan homeland might have been a workable option, except nobody in their group wanted to risk getting caught in the middle of another attack.
So the five mercenaries had turned to the mountain trail, and were currently picking their way through the familiar twists and turns of the rocky pathway.
At their leader's command, they had paired off, traversing the terrain in teams of two. She was on point with Geddoe, sticking close to his side. Ace and Joker were paired together as well -- an arrangement that both complained about, despite the fact they ended up working side by side more often than not. Jacques and his oversized bow-gun took up the rear, the boy tagging alongside him.
Queen could see two obvious reasons for this. Firstly, Lulu, the Karayan youth, was hardly adjusted to mountain travel. Allowing him to remain near the back of the group gave him time to catch up without slowing everyone down nearly as much.
Then, of course, was the fact that Lulu seemed a bit more comfortable with the taciturn marksman than with any of the other mercenaries. Queen could understand that: between the way Ace and Joker bickered all the time, and Geddoe's stony demeanor, it was hardly surprising that Lulu chose to stay close to the man who'd apparently saved his life instead of trying to approach any of the others.
(He'll come around sooner or later. He has to. He'll likely be stuck with us until we can find a safe place for him. Wherever that is…)
Caleria wasn't a good option. Even if they could find someplace to drop off the boy, there was no accounting for his safety once they left. After all, his heritage was obvious, and those dirty leathers weren't exactly helping in any way. He might as well have had a sign proclaiming 'Karayan Refugee' hanging around his neck.
The trail wound through some waterfalls, the crystal clear rapids cascading down over the rocky overhang and directly past the path, coating everything in a faint mist. Queen was unashamed to admit to herself that she found this the best part of the trip through the mountains. No matter how many times they passed through this area, it still seemed to hold a certain aura of natural beauty.
She spared an over-the-shoulder glance and was not surprised to see awe etched on Lulu's face as he took in the cliffs for the first time. The wide-eyed wonder he showed while passing the liquid curtains was much more pleasing than the stubborn scowl he'd been screwing up his face into for most of the journey.
As they passed that area and rounded the curve in the path, Lulu stared back the way they'd come for a long moment before snapping his head forward and catching the female looking back at him. Queen smiled, a gentle turning upward of the corners of her lips, then sighed when Lulu abruptly broke eye contact. He glared steadfastly to one side, looking away from her and the rest of their companions.
Unfortunately, this wasn't missed by Ace. The self-proclaimed charmer smirked broadly, the perfect snide little comment coming to mind. He opened his mouth, ready to put Queen in her place… and was cut off by Geddoe's left arm snapping upward suddenly, signaling for silence.
Lulu looked up, oblivious to what the sign meant. He saw Geddoe slide his sword from its sheath and start forward at a much slower pace than before. The rest of the mercenaries followed their commander's example, Queen placing one hand on the hilt of her own sword while Ace fingered his sais and Jacques cocked his bow-gun. Instinctively the lad gripped his dagger tightly, easing it out of its holder as he followed the rest of the group forward.
Once they rounded the corner, Lulu understood what was going on.
There was a fork in the pathway just ahead, the trail they were on widening into a flat plateau and breaking off into two separate roads at the far side. More immediately concerning, however, was the huge beast sitting right in the center of the clearing.
Lulu swallowed hard as he took in the sight of the towering creature. Two draconian heads rested on serpentine necks, while a third appeared to jut directly from its squat body. Four stubby legs held it upright: at least it seemed it wouldn't be capable of quickly pursuing anyone or anything.
Not that it needed to do much chasing, considering it was seated directly in their path.
"…Another damn monster," muttered Joker under his breath, narrowed black eyes scanning up and down the behemoth. "You would think somebody would find a more permanent solution to this problem…"
The Karayan child gaped at the old man, wondering just how bad the monster population got in the mountains. True, they'd run into a few fights along the way, with overgrown salamanders and the like, but this thing pretty much topped everything else.
"Concentrate on taking out one of the heads first," Geddoe instructed. His single eye was a mere slit in his stern face as he pointed with his raised blade at the red-skinned dragon-snake head. "…That one."
"O…okay." Lulu heard himself choke out the words, and winced: he hadn't meant to sound so frightened. Never mind that he was pretty freaked out, that didn't mean he wanted these guys to know!
His five companions looked at him; Jacques was the only one who didn't raise any eyebrows at his statement.
"Uh, no offense, kid, but why don't you hang back here while we take care of this?" Ace said with a crooked smile that was supposed to be comforting but came off more condescending. "No sense in risking you getting hurt…"
Queen resisted the urge to slap her forehead at that remark. Of all the wrong things to say in this situation, that was about the worst of them. She wasn't at all surprised to see Lulu's bottom lip jut out into a dangerous pout, his green eyes harden, and his chest puff out as he assumed what he no doubt thought was a threatening pose.
"I'm a proud Karayan warrior, and I will fight!" he declared. "You just worry about yourself, old man!"
"What?!" Ace spluttered.
"Heh." Joker smirked at hearing the same term that he got called so often directed to the same person that usually used it.
"………" Geddoe gave the stubborn little boy an inscrutable look. After a moment, he turned away, facing the monster while commenting, "If you think you can help, then do as I said and watch out for yourself."
"But Boss…" whined Ace, giving his commander an incredulous look.
His protest fell on deaf ears, for Geddoe was already approaching the behemoth, Queen and Joker close on his heels. Ace sighed heavily, then hurried after them, fumbling with his sais. Lulu stayed close to Jacques and tried not to look too scared as they joined the rest of the group in challenging the creature.
The beast greeted its opponents with a horrible shriek that tore from three throats. The mercenaries replied with a united charge -- which consisted of only Ace and Queen. The shock of seeing them dash toward the red-scaled head alone was enough to throw Lulu off balance for a moment, and he cast a wide-eyed stare at the other three.
As soon as he laid eyes upon them, however, he was hit by sudden recognition. Wisps of energy flickered around Geddoe and Joker -- green around the former, red around the latter. Both were calling upon the runes they carried, clearly planning to use magical might to back up their comrades' physical attacks. As for Jacques, he was taking aim, and released a bolt that whizzed through the air and buried itself in crimson hide.
(Wind Spirit, lead my blade your speed!)
Lulu felt the rush of a rapid current flowing from the Sword of Cyclone rune in his hand and surging up into his upraised dagger. The curved steel shimmered, wisps of pale blue-green weaving round it.
Then, with a deep breath and without really considering what else he might do, Lulu charged forward. Nearing the monster, he sprang and swiped, and felt a definite rush of pride as he felt his strike connect, tearing a small piece of scarlet scales free. Landing hard, he stumbled backward until a hand grasped his shoulders. Looking up, Lulu saw Ace smirking down at him.
"Not bad, kid," he commented.
Lulu started to smile, then remembered abruptly he was still peeved at Ace for his earlier comment and settled for a glare. The ruffian looked a bit vexed by this, but before he could say anything, Queen was in front of them.
"Come on, boys, keep it up!" she commanded. "This thing isn't going to drop dead on its own!"
She charged the beast again, her blade singing through the air and leaving another gash in the scarlet neck. Ace and Lulu followed close on her heels, dodging the furious snaps of the behemoth's multiple jaws. Occasionally Lulu caught sight of crossbolts striking the serpentine neck, and he took some heart in knowing the archer wasn't standing idle.
"MOVE!" Joker's deep-throated roar echoed through the canyon.
It startled Lulu enough that he hesitated, looking back at the old man curiously. Then he gagged when a hand clamped down on the back of his collar and yanked, hard. He was pulled backwards, away from the monster, and he would have turned and protested this rough treatment immediately if it hadn't been for one minor detail.
That detail being that a ring of flame pillars suddenly shot up from the soil, forming a rough circle around the roaring beast. The inferno swiftly contracted, the towering blaze engulfing the three-headed demon. Its twin necks snapped backward as an unholy shriek ripped from the thrashing creature.
Barely had the fire started to subside than a spear of electricity impaled the middle head. Currents of green-tinted lightning surged outward through the twitching body, and for an instant Lulu could have almost sworn he caught sight of the beast's misshapen skeleton.
"Just a quick tip, kid," a dry voice said close to his ear, and Lulu raised his huge eyes from the grisly sight to see Ace smiling down at him, one hand still gripping his collar. "When Joker tells you to move, you move. Okay?"
He grinned, one corner of his mouth rising a bit higher than the other. Lulu grimaced and wiggled free of his grasp. In one angry, jerky motion he sheathed his dagger, then hurried back over to where Jacques was standing close to Geddoe and Joker.
"Hey, you're welcome!" Ace shouted after him.
"Don't be so sensitive," chided Queen, clapping her hand over one of his shoulders briefly while striding past. Approaching Lulu, she smiled at the young Karayan and commented, "Hey, good job back there, Lulu."
"Psssh… Yeah, for a kid," muttered Ace.
Queen slapped Ace lightly on the back of the head, shooting him a dirty look. (Does he want to bond with the kid or not? Real great start he's off to here… Jeez…)
Geddoe stood regarding the corpse of the behemoth for a moment. His single onyx eye glittered as he silently studied the beast, ensuring it was really and truly dead. Then, apparently satisfied, he turned sharply on his heel and strode toward the lower of the two paths before them.
"Let's go," he instructed, not even glancing back at the rest of his team.
They followed their commander without question, though Lulu looked back at the monster's remains for far longer than the rest did. There were plenty of things on his mind, but one thought stood out above all others.
(Man… Maybe I should train in magic too… I mean, I love my Sword of Cyclone rune and all, but still… wow…)
~ * ~
"Well, here we are, kid," announced Ace, sweeping one hand before him in a grand arc. "Welcome to Caleria."
Lulu looked around, a childish sense of awe temporarily overshadowing everything else. Having never visited any village other than his own, his concept of what 'Caleria' would look like was colored largely by what he'd heard of Zexen settlements.
But this, however, was far from anything he'd pictured.
There was a wall around the city, constructed of bricks the same color of the surrounding sand, but there was no set of looming doors, just an open archway towering high overhead. Once they passed underneath, Lulu found himself staring at a scene unlike any he'd imagined.
It was crowded, but not with buildings and weapon-toting ironheads, but with open-air stands. Colorful urns flanked wooden booths, brightly dyed fabrics and furs stretched taut over poles to supply needed shade to dealers and customers. There were a few buildings, but all were low and squat, looking more like natural extensions of the walls flanking the area than anything else.
And the people…! Most of the citizens he saw milling about were darker in skin tone than even Karayans like himself, though they were also clad in so much light-colored fabric. Faces were partly obscured by the white turbans and veils that almost everyone seemed to be wearing, yet the protective headgear was not nearly as confining as the thick metal helmets from which the ironheads got their nickname…
"Well, I'm off to the office," Ace declared, stretching out his arms over his head and heaving a sigh. Turning to face the rest of the group, he added, "I take it I'll meet you guys at the usual place?"
Geddoe nodded once, a simple, swift inclination of his head. That seemed to be all the answer that the ruffian needed. Lulu, for his part, was completely clueless about what they meant.
"All right then!" Ace narrowed his eyes at Joker suddenly, trading his jovial expression for a stern one. "Just ease up on the booze, will you? If I come back and find you raging drunk…"
"It'll be just like every other time you've gone to handle the paperwork," interjected Queen with a smirk.
"Don't worry, I'll save some for you," Joker assured, brushing past his partner and heading off toward the closest building.
"We'll leave a light on for you," Queen added. Grasping Lulu's shoulder, she smiled down at the clueless kid and said, "Come on, Lulu, let me introduce you to some of the Calerian shopping…"
"Um…" Lulu cast a 'help me' look toward the ever-silent Jacques; something about the woman's tone tipped him off that this wasn't going to be a fun experience.
"………" Jacques blinked slowly, then turned on his heel. "…I'll be… around."
With that, the marksman wandered off to who knew where, leaving a sweating Lulu in the hands of a smiling Queen. She guided him in a different direction, while Ace sighed heavily and stomped off, muttering under his breath something about 'of all the teammates in the world…'
Left alone standing under the gates, Geddoe shrugged, uncaring, before going to join Joker at the designated meeting place.
~ * ~
It wasn't until later that Lulu discovered that 'the usual place' apparently translated to 'the tavern closest to the gate'.
Quite a bit of the charm of being in a village so starkly different than his homeland had been worn away by the horror that was 'shopping with Queen'. The female mercenary might have meant well, but being forced to try on spirits only knew how many different sets of clothes -- most of them made of scratchy and itchy fabrics -- sapped a lot of his enthusiasm. They'd finally settled on an outfit that didn't squeeze or irritate him… but that didn't mean he planned on wearing it again before he absolutely had to.
It had taken a lot of yelling and whining and generally making a spectacle of himself before Lulu had gotten Queen to concede that he could stay in his old leathers for as long as they remained in Caleria. A small victory, but one he relished nonetheless.
He was uncomfortable enough as it was right now without having to wear unfamiliar clothing. Besides, he had a sinking feeling that winning arguments with these strange fellows would be rare occurrences from now on.
Lulu sulked. His posture was the classic picture of youthful defiance mixed with reluctant compliance. Both arms lay pressed flat against the surface of the wooden table, legs swinging back and forth beneath him. He hated this bench he was being forced to sit at with a passion; it was uncomfortable and unfamiliar.
Then, too, was the fact that Joker was acting very oddly…
The slam of a tankard and the splash of its contents sloshing about punctuated an incoherent shout. Lulu lifted his chin from the edge of the table and looked over. Joker was laughing, which he found pretty odd, because he hadn't heard any jokes.
The fire magician had already worked himself into this state by the time Queen brought him here. He seemed happy despite the fact most of his face was a bright red, and Lulu couldn't understand most of what the man babbled between slurps from his mug. He'd obviously had a lot of the stuff, if one could judge from the empty cups littering his corner of the table.
The strangest thing about it was that Queen and Geddoe seemed to be drinking the same stuff, but weren't acting half as out of sorts as Joker was.
(Maybe it has something to do with how they're drinking it?) Lulu wondered. After all, they were sipping from their own mugs slowly, with none of the vigor and intensity Joker was showing. Meanwhile, the old man seemed to be playing a game with himself: seeing how much he could down in one gulp.
Lulu turned his head to look questioningly back at Jacques. The marksman wasn't having whatever the rest of the mercenaries were. All that sat before him was a single, thin glass of orange juice, and Lulu wasn't even certain that Jacques had touched it yet.
Then he looked back at the cup sitting in front of him, eyeing its contents distrustfully. Nobody had even asked him what he wanted: Queen had simply plopped down a few potch in front of the waiter and asked him to bring something called a soda.
Nobody thought to tell him what a soda was, either. Lulu glared at the alien liquid, trying to decide whether or not to see if it tasted any good. Eventually, he sighed and brought the glass to his lips, tipping it just enough that the beverage touched his lips.
(…I guess… it's not bad…)
His hesitant sips soon turned to huge slurps, but just as Lulu was about to decide that maybe, just maybe, not everything about Caleria was so bad, the doors that separated the tavern from the inn burst open with a loud slam. Turning in his seat, Lulu beheld four tough-looking strangers standing there.
The apparent leader of the group had a rather large sword hanging off the back of his green jacket. A matching bandana was tied round his head, doing little to tame the shock of bright orange hair crowning his head. As he strode closer to their table, smirking nastily, Lulu noticed a scar running over the bridge of his nose. The odd thing about it was, the mark was almost perfectly vertical.
(How'd he manage that?) wondered Lulu. He knew plenty of Karayan warriors who gained marks of honor in battle, but none had ever gotten such a perfectly vertical scar running over any part of their body…
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Geddoe and his unit," the scarred man drawled, flopping into the seat next to the indifferent commander. "Didn't realize you were back in Caleria."
Lulu felt even more confused. If that was the case, then why had the guy strolled over so casually? He was certainly acting as if he'd expected to meet Geddoe here. He slurped his soda, eyeing the strange man and his posse suspiciously over the rim of his glass.
The other three, he noticed, hadn't taken seats at all. One of the men, a barrel-chested guy with what appeared to be a huge pot lid strapped to his back, was standing directly behind Geddoe, while a dog-faced man with short brown fur and an eyepatch just like the commander's was standing to his left. Lulu vaguely remembered being told that such people were called 'kobolds', but he'd developed a very different mental picture of what they looked like in mind from those tales. This one didn't look anything like a friendly, cheerful, overgrown puppy… pity.
The last of the newcomers was a female, and Lulu found himself staring at her even more than he did the dog-man. She was wearing a metal gauntlet on her left arm, and there was a sword strapped to her waist, but the rest of her attire didn't exactly look like that of a warrior. She had the oddest expression on her face, too; her eyes seemed to have pale blue shadows permanently over them, and she was glancing about from side to side while striding over to where Queen was sitting.
"Where has Ace gotten to?" she queried in a syrupy tone. "Did he get himself killed during your last mission, however long ago that was?"
The nonchalant fashion in which she asked this made Lulu shiver a little, though he fought to conceal it. He saw Queen bristle too, and the expression on the dark-haired woman's face made it clear she disapproved of the other woman as well.
"Nah, he's just off finishing some paperwork," Joker supplied.
"Oh." The blonde didn't so much as glance in the martial artist's direction to acknowledge his comment, her gaze remaining solidly fixed on Queen. "Well then, could you give him this message for me?" She leaned closer to the sitting woman, but didn't drop her voice, allowing it to carry clearly through the tavern as she said, "Tell him to stop writing me all those annoying little letters begging me to take him back. It really is pathetic."
"Ace…" Joker growled, shaking his head and glaring down at his ale before taking another deep gulp.
"You will be a dear and tell him that, won't you, Queen?" the other woman cajoled.
"Um, old lady?" piped Lulu suddenly. "Did you know that your top's too small? You look ready to fall out when you bend over like that."
"Hmm?" The blonde looked over at him though half-lidded eyes. Straightening up, she brushed a lock of hair out of her face and said haughtily, "Queen, since when did your group adopt this little urchin?"
"No, really, your shirt's too small." Lulu nodded decisively, wide green eyes never breaking contact with her disdainful gaze. "It's really gross. You need to get clothes that'll fit you, old lady."
"Old… lady?" One of the blonde's eyebrows twitched, and she exploded, "I'm only thirty-two, you brat!"
"So that's how you get a lady to admit her real age!" Joker observed loudly, then dissolved into hearty guffaws and took another long drink from his tankard.
The busty woman's eyebrow was developing a very nervous twitch, and she was glaring at Lulu in a very unfriendly manner. Lulu just blinked innocently up at her and sipped his soda,
"Let it go, Elaine," the man with the oversized pot lid on his back instructed. Both his expression and tone were decidedly neutral.
"Anyway, Geddoe, I take it you're here to try and cash in on the latest orders from Holy Harmonia," the orange-haired man continued. "Well, you're wasting your time. My unit and I are going to round up the Flame Champion and the Fire Bringer and bring them in ourselves."
"………"
Geddoe took another slow sip of his drink, appearing wholly bored by the other man's boast. However, Lulu thought for a moment that he saw the commander's eyebrow twitch slightly upward. That was the only sign that he might be remotely interested in something, and even Lulu wasn't certain he'd seen it correctly.
"The orders were just handed down. Apparently, this Flame Champion might have something that Holy Harmonia wants. Too bad for him and his little band, eh?" and a cruel chuckle curled Scar-nose's lips upward. "To be hunted down by the best mercenary unit around…"
"…We haven't accepted the job, yet, so how can that be true?" observed Geddoe in a dry, near monotone voice.
The man beside him bristled and got to his feet, finally vacating the seat next to Geddoe. He glared at the stoic commander for a few heartbeats, steely eyes flashing behind his ragged bangs. Then his cocky smirk returned, almost stronger for its momentary absence.
"More's the pity," he sneered. "But I guess you know when you're already beaten. Just don't start kicking yourself after we get the reward and you come up with nothing."
With that, he strode back out of the tavern, signaling the rest of his teammates to follow him with a snap of his fingers. The kobold followed close on his master's heels, and Lulu reconsidered his earlier assessment: he looked a great deal more like a war mastiff than anything else. Big-pot-lid man was next, and the busty blonde he assumed was named Elaine cast him one last dirty glance before strutting after her companions.
A few minutes after they departed, Ace pushed through the swinging doors, a wide smile on his face as he rejoined his companions.
"Hey, Boss!" he greeted Geddoe. "You'll never guess what big new assignment I heard all about at the office!"
"I think we can hazard a guess," Queen deadpanned.