She gonna do it.
It was loud. Drunken exploits and gratuitous cheers were flung across the arena. Each bone shattering crash invigorated the crowd, sending them into a wild frenzy. Each announcement was their excuse to engage in more merriment. She found herself weaving through the bodies that reeked of stale sweat, intermingled with old mead. The vapor of cheap odors was thick, coating her tongue and throat upon inhalation with a sickly sweetness that would linger until nightfall. Wrinkling her nose in distaste, it often did not pay to have a sensitive nose. The coppery tinge of blood and the smell of acrid dragon root was much more to her liking, and the huntress was acutely aware of the fact.
There were eyes that purposefully picked her out amongst the crowd. Despite her sticking out like a sore thumb, vanishing in and out of sight was one of her many talents. Even some of the rowdy patrons had recognized her, resigning hurriedly from her walking path. Aquaria had been raised to dirty her hands and she did so with relatively no hesitation. Most people would have been unnerved, and to be completely fair, the ones that were aware of what she did in the comfort of the shadows were typically intimidated, if not utterly horrified, of the very mention of her name. It wasn't hard to build up a reputation when brutality was a customary hobby in her line of work, after all.
"If it isn't my brother's favorite lap-yak." Almond shaped eyes closed for a moment, initiating a calming measure for her. While Ryker didn't hold her in deep contempt, relinquishing some credit to her abilities, they were far from being nightly drinking buddies at a tavern. If it were up to him, she would have been disposed of long ago, but as his brothers' plans went, she had proved her usefulness a redeeming amount of times. Keeping her on his belt like a veiled weapon was an advantage. His dual swords glinted in the light as he finally turned to face her.
Purely in the spirit of ceremony, she bowed lightly and handed him the sack that had been in her care. The weight and tiny clinking from within painted a satisfactory expression on his visage. Were there one thing she appreciated about Ryker, it was that he was a man of few words, much less preachy and verbose than his younger brother. As long as his wealth and empire expanded at a satisfactory rate, he wasn't one to complain.
"Demoted back to errand duty, eh?" Aqua withdrew any hint of recommendation from prior. With all the training in the universe, it was still easy to read her. The dragon hunter laughed tauntingly, thick mustache curving with his smirk, thoroughly entertained by her poorly concealed disgruntlement. "And what exactly did y' do to rightly piss my little brother off?" Last she'd checked, Aqua did not take orders from the second-in-command, therefore not obligated to grace that jab with a response.
Her glassy eyes, hued blue at the rims averted. She knew better than to cross the hunter that could crush her skull unflinchingly with his bare hands. Combat was a prized talent she possessed, but another bout of arrogance would get her head slammed into the mud within moments. Needless to say, she had never bested the large man before her in a match of strength, but she strived for the future possibility.
"Take a wild guess." Aqua had sorted the many ways to vex the Chief dragon hunter, organized them by caliber and arranged them in a pyramid shape. Frankly, she could write a book. Disobedience ranked rather high, depending on the circumstance, it could have tied right into betrayal. A bored grunt acted as the reply, which was enough for her to end the conversation and take her leave. What was Ryker even doing over in the arena?
The answer presented itself in a far more dramatic way than she cared to spectate. Aqua glanced over, seeing a new challenger rolling aggressively in its cage. Literally, the dragon balled itself up and sheared full speed at the dragon root enforced cages.
"Meet the newest arena competitor. The Triple Stryke." This newest addition would bring in a mountain of gold for this venture of dragon fighting. She already disliked the idea of using dragons for this sort of impractical entertainment, and yet she lingered, eyes glued to the creature's pincers prying frenziedly at its confines. Its thick braided tail held her attention for a bit longer, seeing it slam against the cage like a whip.
"Enjoy yourselves." Waving a hand dismissively, the girl pivoted away. Alas, there were still surprises up the beast's sleeve that would keep her stuck on this island beyond her anticipation.
The distinct sound of a latch creaking, and hunters yelling in fruitless efforts to restrain the large dragon, forced her to turn. Her stance widened in an offensive preparation. Green, dragon root crafted weapons swung at the escaped beast. Apparently, its central nervous system expelled dragon root faster than normal. With ease, it untwisted its special tail into three and swatted away the swords like carelessly swung playthings. Aqua dipped and rolled to avoid a stray swipe of its, decidedly poisonous, appendage.
"Don't let it get away!" The crowd's notice had begun shifting away from the arena fight, and to the free show unfolding nearby. Bouncing agilely out of her roll, the woman snatched a bow and arrow. Setting her jaw and furrowing her brow, Aqua steadied her stance, firmly rooting herself in the dirt. A slow breath exhaled from her lips. In three practiced movements, she positioned the projectile, pulled the drawstring, and let the arrow soar.
"Oh… oops." She'd missed…. almost poorly enough for both parties of dragon and dragon hunters to freeze in their skirmish and frame a picture of her embarrassment. "Don't stop on my account…"
As if catching wind of her goals, the Triple Stryke began beating its powerful, dark mauve wings. None of the men toting heavy chains could get anywhere in proximity to shackle it down. It hopped to speed its ascent. Another arrow was let loose, striking its quarry in the wing. The attack grazed the tough scales, but was enough to disrupt the takeoff. Aqua didn't verbalize where she had been aiming. Instead, she seized the opportunity of disorienting it to race at it head-on.
A few hunters voluntarily stepped back in wonderment at the idea of the girl headbutting the dragon right between its crimson eyes. Inches away from collision, her body seemed to fluidly arch back, sliding underneath the Triple Stryke in a crouch. Deadly pincers snapping at the intrusion, the dragon retreated on its hind limbs, unsettled by not being able to keep the small huntress in its sights.
Springing up from her stooped position, Aqua slammed her fist against the underside of the massive dragon's jaw. Screeching at the devastating blow delivered to such a tender spot, the Triple Stryke could feel the arrow's toxin spreading throughout his system, exposing him to more vulnerability. Jumping off the floor and fully extending her arm fully added to the power of her physical strike.
The dragon's head snapped back, long ear appendages pointing downward in the sharp tilt. A clang sounded once the hunters clasped irons around its legs. Aqua grabbed one of its horns, using it to hoist herself up onto its back. Its focus split, enraged that the huntress had attached to him like a parasite, but distraught at the restraints successfully fastening him to the ground. Without foresight, the Triple Stryke slashed its telsons on the ends of its tails to at least knock her off or inflict a lasting injury— anything that would haunt her of his lethalness.
Aqua had slid off the dragon's back, eliciting a cacophonous roar as its own tail hook jabbed into its back. She retreated slowly as the hunter's metal and venom began to weigh it down. The narrow slits of its pupils followed her, placing every ounce of blame for its bleak destiny on her. It clicked its tongue reproachfully and she spun away.
"Guess y'aren't completely useless after all, lap-yak." Ryker's comment echoed numbly in her head, obscured by an unpleasant knot in her gut. Aqua suppressed the budding emotion.
A huntress did not feel guilt.
0_0_0
Sour bile rose in her throat. It wouldn't have been a surprise if that lump stuck in her trachea were her spleen. Peering at her assailant through a lank curtain of snowy blonde hair, the child held her stomach and choked back a sob.
"Oi. Maybe we should get rid o' her." From his voice, it was obvious that not all of his teeth weren't present, "Hasn't said anythin' useful. Prolly doesn't even know where the gold is." Two years she had been under the employment of dragon hunters and their chief, working as a messenger for shadier business dealings. Her sloppiness had gotten her caught by a marauding gang of bandits in control of this stretch of land.
She couldn't speak for the blood in her mouth. It gleamed red on the bandit leader's knuckles as he turned his hand over in the moonlight. The little girl drew her knees up to her chest, pressing against her worn, dirty cream tunic. Why hadn't they come to that conclusion a week ago when they wrung her for information on the hunter clan's gold stash?
Truthfully, she was granted access to that information by default due to some of her errands spanning to that location. She knew exactly where the wealth was hidden. But it would take more than this to make the little bird sing.
"Ye. Waste of time." A few more brutes chimed in on the decree. "Whelp almost took my whole finger off." When not starving to death, the girl had been a force to be reckoned with. "It's a simple enough question." The men chortled at her suffering, speaking indistinctly just out of earshot. Half of her face stained with mud from the cage floor. She strained to pick up on the conversation, not sure why it mattered.
"But first a drink!" At least, that's what it sounded like. Celebrating her demise was not unprecedented, to be sure. If anything, their festive attitudes delayed her fate. A chorus of forceful gagging soon rose from her captors. Either that or she was having auditory hallucinations on a severe level. Fighting valiantly against the agony overwhelming her tiny frame, the child pushed herself up to figure out her surroundings.
The bandits collapsed, one by one, gurgling deep in their throats. Some clawed madly at their collarbones, leaving thin pink marks on their broad chests. Falling like pieces on a game board, a few still scrambled in the grime, crawling forth a measly distance before planting their faces into the dirt.
A round wooden serving tray fell to the floor and a deceptively soft voice spoke near her ear, "Did you deliver the box as you were told?" Flinching at the close proximity, the girl nodded, imagining that the hooded figure was sent to tie up the hunter's loose end—namely, her. There was no way the bandits would develop such a ruse to get her to spill information. The cloaked hunter regarded her decrepit status and must have considered killing her to be a meaningless effort.
"I didn't tell them where the gold was." She blurted to make her case, pawing at the scale holding her life in the balance. "I didn't say anything." Her voice was nothing more than a pathetic squeak.
"Oh?" The voice was calm and collected, a façade that masked a most chilling demeanor. She'd been in captivity for a week yet sustained the willpower to withstand torture. As rudimentary as the torture probably was, one couldn't deny the damage, "You couldn't have, even if you wanted to." Indeed, the information she withheld with all her might was false. It was a pity, but intriguing nonetheless. Divulging the location to a loose lipped juvenile would backfire no matter how one looked at it.
"Are you here to kill me?" The child had pondered asking the opposite out of optimism. She'd seen how high ranking members of the hunters dealt with failure from their subordinates. Rather dismayed that the secret she fought to hide was untrue to begin with, she wilted like a drowning flower.
Hovering close by, he knelt, further convinced of her potential. He pushed back his cowl to grant her the minimal reprieve of seeing a familiar face.
"Not today."
Thanks for reading!