"Mom was right. Nothing good ever comes out of a big city," Richard says, grabbing his things and throwing them into a trunk. He was scared and rushing, putting what things he could to get out of the city as fast as he could. Though, he becomes curious for a few seconds and turns on the TV, hoping someone somewhere can explain stuff. But only news of the company shutting down is being reported. Possibly with the thought of all the employees being fired at once. Someone was bound to talk at one point or another.

Richard was upset he couldn't fit the TV in, but now was time for essentials. He wishes he had at least a gun as well, but no. He thought it was too much of a hassle. That he would be fine without a gun. Richard turned off his TV and started heading down to the garage where his car was.

The boxes in his arms clatter around as he walks down the stairs. He had no direction for the beginning of his drive, but he had a destination. His old home out in the rural areas far beyond the city. He hasn't been out there for so long ever since he left for the town. So it would be a perfect place to stay and hide until all of this blows over.

Richard reaches the ground floor and steps into the apartment garage. He walks over to his car, which is densely packed with his things and packs the last of his things inside. He takes one last look around to make sure nothing else appears out of nowhere like last time before getting in and driving off. As he drives out of the garage, he almost hits someone as they step in front of him — Richard grunts when he brakes hard and glares towards the offender. But then his expression falls apart when he notices who the person is. 'Ah…shit.'

Herleva raises an eyebrow as she notices Richard inside this…metal carriage without a horse? Before taking out her sword. Richard, seeing what she is grabbing, hits the pedal and screeches ahead. Herleva jumps back from the car speeding away that would have hit her and frowns as it moves away. Her eyes then changes from a green hue to a yellow one. She grabs the side of the building before launching herself forward, sliding across the ground as quick as she can.

Richard groans as he speeds off, trying to swerve in and out around the cars and people. 'Yep. Worst day of my life. First laid off and now a crazy chick with a big ass sword after me. How can it…I jinxed myself, didn't?' he thinks and looks in the side mirror to see said crazy girl running after him at an inhuman speed. A speed that she is using to catch up to him. Not even traffic or people were able to slow her down as she merely hops over them like she is skipping over rocks. 'What is with this crazy chick?!' Richard yells in his mind as he heads onto the highway.

Herleva grunts when she jumps onto the raised roadway, having another metal carriage slide to a stop behind her. She then runs off again, jumping on the roof of the carriages to try and catch. But she stops with a crash, sinking into one of them as she watches Richard disappear into the distance. Herleva yells in frustration and puts her sword away before starting to walk in his direction once again. But then hears something roaring behind her and sighs.

"I really don't want to fight right now," she mutters as she turns and sees a sizable four-legged elephant tossing the carriages away with its long nose and tusks. Its eyes lock on the armored girl before it and scratch a foot against the ground threateningly. Herleva grips her sword again and sighs while sliding it out. "But, I want to hurry this as quickly as possible to find the artifact."

The elephant roars and trumpets again towards her before charging. Herleva frowns heavily before swinging her sword at it.


Richard drove and kept driving late into the night. It was nearly four when he got to where he was going. He had also put about a thousand miles between himself and that crazy place he figured. He was so tired, he just locked up the house and crashed on the couch.

Richard sighs as he slowly awoke the next morning. In fact, it was the thin stream of sunlight hitting his face that woke him up. He does not bother moving for a little while before sitting up and rubbing his head. "Why the hell was that girl after me anyway?" he mutters as he gets up and stretches.

His eyes traced around the room and shake his head at the sight. Every inch of this building is covered in dust and cobwebs. Cleaning this place would take ages on his own. And even then, he doubts he would have the energy to do anything else if he is attacked. So no cleaning for now and more on setting up if he's going to live here for a while.

Richard hums as he walks to the front door and then stops. He slowly turns his heads and looks into an old mirror. He hums, wiping the dust off the glass to see better. Richard slowly leans closer and peers at his left eye. It doesn't look right to him at all. When he should have light blue eyes, his left eye instead was a deep shade of red while his right eye looked as healthy as ever.

"Fuck…this…noise," he groans and hangs his head. "Relax, Richard. Take a breath, man," he breathes softly and moves toward the door. "You just escaped a possible homicide girl with a big ass sword. You ran from a possible real-life monster. And now you got a red eye…I wonder if the meds here are still good?" he asks himself as he looks in the direction of the medicine cabinet. "I need to unpack anyway," he says to himself and walks outside towards the car. "Man, I suck at parking," he notes dryly when he spots his car a few feet from the patio stairs and a dirt tire trail behind it.

"I'll say you are the owner, and this is possibly your place and parking job then?" he heard and then slowly turns his head to see something he did not want to deal with right now. He looked to see a woman in a police uniform. She was blond with her hair in a ponytail and slightly scuffed, but he can guess it was because of the countryside. Though, something about her was very familiar.

"Yeah…been a long trip for me, and I just ended up crashing on the couch without a second thought," Richard tries to explain away as he holds a hand over his left eye like it was hurting him. His mind is working on overdrive in an attempt to not sound crazy with what he has seen.

The woman hums and looks him over. His clothes did fit the part. Wrinkled, but not broken and stripped apart like any of the homeless people she has seen. And he seemed too clean to be living out here regularly, so maybe from the city. "Guess I can let this slide. Though, you can understand my suspicions of seeing a car hasty parked in front of a house with the amount of stuff inside like that."

"Well, didn't really have much choice but to come back here. The place I worked suddenly closed. They didn't even give us a notice. They basically threw all of us out the door," Richard explains, deciding to only tell about the believable stuff.

The woman scoffs. "Well, most of us around here say it. It's hit or miss over there. Mostly miss. So…staying permanently here now?" she inquires. She does wonder if he would be able to work in this town somehow.

"Maybe, it depends on what happens and if I can find work," Richard says.

The woman smirks. "A lad like you, yeah. You got the muscles. Maybe you can work the market shop as a stock boy at least?" she suggests. She is taking too much pity on a city slicker like him, and it's somewhat annoying her she is doing this without thinking.

"At least people around here haven't changed," Richard comments, getting her thinking.

The woman hums. "Grew up around here?" she asks, looking to his car and spies the various things he has brought over.

"Yeah, this was where I grew up," Richard says, smiling a little at the memory.

The woman hums, smiling. "Well, great to have you back. Maybe you can go around town and see if any remembers you."

"Oh…you're Rachel, aren't you?" Richard asks, finally remembering who the girl reminded him of. Though it had been hard, he had only met said the girl in passing. They never met enough even to be called friends.

Rachel smiles and points to her badge on her chest. "You aren't asking because of my nametag, are you?"

Richard chuckles. "Nah. Memory and a guess. So…did I guess correctly?"

Rachel nods. "Yep. Got it in one. Not bad. And you?"

"Richard, but I doubt you will remember me. We only met in passing a few times," Richard says.

Rachel hums and taps her chin teasingly. "Shy kid in the corner, no one gave a shit about?"

Richard sighs out. "Am I that easy to read?"

Rachel chuckles. "Yeah. Tough luck. Anyway, I just wanted to check what was happening around here, and it clears out. So have a good day and good luck living here. Lord knows you need it," she says the last part to herself as she walks back to her police cruiser and drives off with a wave.

Richard smiles as he waves back before sighing and looking to his car. "Oh yeah…shit." He then looks to where Rachel drove off and sighs. "Could have helped a little woman."


Richard has been unpacking for almost a week now. There is always something that he needs, and he tends to find it deep in a box somewhere, so he removes the stuff in the tied box when that happens. Eventually, he finds that his limited food supply was getting to him, and he needed something fast. So he started to wander around the little farm town. Richard sees the general store, small clinic, mechanic shop, and a diner all on the same street with everything next to each other. He expected more honestly from such a town near a bustling city. Richard guesses it doesn't matter now. That place is gone now.

'What can I do?' Richard thinks to himself as he looks into a store and spots a hunting rifle. He sighs and views the line of rifles propped up in gun cases. Richard then takes one out and looks it over before aiming down to the floor. 'Maybe could help. I doubt that damn armor can take a bullet,' he thinks, frowning before looking to see what kind of bullets it can take.

"Interested in hunting, I guess? Or too many coyotes?" someone asks, walking up to him, and Richard notices a guy about his age and build wearing rougher sturdy clothing.

"And for self-defense," Richard confirms.

The man nods and smiles at the gun he is holding. "Well, for a city guy like you, this is a great starter. Maybe down the line, you can get something bigger," he laughs before smirking. "So…going to take it? Or you want something smaller or bigger?"

"Not a city guy. I was only working there. Was a local, though, so I guess that applies again as I moved back in. Give me something in between," Richard says, thinking it over.

The man walks off towards the rest of the cases and looks through them before getting one-off, which is a similar rifle, but a slightly smaller barrel length. "This should do. You picked a good one. But for your arm length and all, you need this for more control cause these things kick like a mare in heat. Takes any good 30.06 type bullets, and it can handle up to thirty shots before having to let it cool down. Yeah, older ones tend to heat more. Blame their factory," the man shrugs, and they exchange the rifles for Richard to look over the new one.

"I will take it," Richard says after giving it a good once over and testing it.

The man nods before grabbing some boxes of bullets from the cabinets below. "Fill out paperwork, pay up, and it's all yours," he says, taking the rifle from Richard's hands and leads him to a nearby counter. "Must be one bad infestation back at your place," he notes, filling out the paperwork the shop owner must do.

"Let me put it this way. The city has a lot of psychos as well. One came to me dressed up like some female knight with a freaking sword when I left," Richard informs signing.

The owner smirks. "Well, one thing we don't have out here is a bunch of assholes, freaks, psychos, murders…most of the time, and haunting legends. In fact…it's pretty dull out here. The biggest excitement we get is the farming festival that happens once a year. You might as well go yourself next week, meet everyone…and show off your shooting skills at the range," he laughs at the last one.

'Let's hope I can find a job before that,' Richard thinks as he takes the rifle and leaves with it, heading home.

The owner hums as he watches Richard leave. "Too green," he mutters while going to clean up.