[Forta is outside. She has her bow around her with her arrows in a bag made of leather strapped to her back. It is just sunrise as she walks up and down the streets of The City. She looks up at the tall buildings, reading the large colorful signs all around. One building says "Padaratha's Fancy Goods", another reads "Nikan's beauty salon" and another says "Safrete's Food Emporium". Suddenly Forta walks into a girl.]

Forta: "Oh gosh! Sorry. I wasn't paying attention."

[She looks at the girl. She is wearing a black dress with black leather covering her chest and hands. Under her dress are leggings made of black leather leggings with long black leather boots. The bottom half of her face is covered in a black mask. She has long bright orange hair and vibrant green eyes.]

Girl: "Don't move."

[The girl pulls from her belt a crossbow and loads it. She points it just to the left of Forta. Forta turns around to see a man. He was buff, with caramel skin. He wore nothing but khaki shorts and held a long spear]

Man: "Ahahaha! Do it Qatil! I dare you."

Qatil: "Go fuck yourself."

Man: "Aww are you mad?"

Qatil: "Th-that was ours!"

[Qatil fires the bow but misses as the man runs off.]

Qatil: "Fuck!"

Forta: "What the hell was that?"

[Qatil aims the bow at Forta's neck.]

Qatil: "Shut up...uh F-fernice?"

Forta: "Fernice?"

Qatil: "No no, it's something else with an F. Either way, I know where you live!"

Forta: "Woah! Calm down!"

Qatil: "200 north 30 south."

Forta: "I uh-"

[Qatil puts her crossbow back in her belt and runs past her, around the corner and out of Forta's sight.]

Forta: "What the shit?!"

Scene 2:

[Steve frowns in the lobby of their apartment building. He looks out the window and back at his friends. Golden, Shiko, Kiki and Nevin all are also waiting in the lobby. Along with them is a girl, about 18 years old. She has indigo hair down to her armpits. She has brown eyes and is wearing the same uniform as Aaron was, leather armor and a wooden sword.]

Girl: "When is your friend going to get here?"

Steve: "Forta, and I am unsure. She said she was going for a walk."

Golden: "You shouldn't have let her, it's unsafe to walk the streets when it is dark."

Steve: "Why wou-"

[Just then Forta walks back into the building.]

Steve: "Forta! You're ok."

Forta: "Barely, I ran into some girl with orange hair and a crossbow almost shot my brains out! She was fighting some muscular guy in shorts."

Girl: "Qatil The Swift and Snayu The Strong?"

Forta: "Wait what? Who are you?"

Girl: "My name is Scarlett. I was assigned by Mayor to bring you all to wherever you would like to go."

Forta: "Oh...well I think we are all a bit hungry."

Scarlett: "Ah, what kind of food are you hungry for?"

Forta: "Hungry for? Kind of food?"

Shiko: "Can you all shut up?"

[Forta looks at Shiko, he has bags under his eyes and looks sick.]

Forta: "You ok?"

Golden: "He's fine, just a side effect of beer."

Shiko: "Everyone please talk lower."

Kiki: "I want pork!"

Scarlett: "Ah, a pork place. Follow me."

Scene 3:

[Everyone including Scarlett are sitting around a table at a restaurant as Steve eats the last bite of a cooked porkchop.]

Forta: "There's so much food here!"

Scarlett: "I guess."

Steve: "I have never been so full in my entire life!"

Nevin: "Yummy!"

Scarlett: "Where would you like to go next? Don't worry, Mayor is paying for everything."

Steve: "What else is there?"

Scarlett: "May I recommend a hair cut for the lovely lady?"

Forta: "Hair cut?"

Scarlett: "Yeah your hair is a bit long."

Forta: "I don't care about my hair. We should be talking about the fact I almost got fucking shot with an crossbow!"

Scarlett: "Ah yes, Mayor has told me about Qatil and Snayu. They are gang bosses."

Forta: "Gangs?"

Scarlett: "Yes there are five gangs in The City. In the North there is the Morderes, the south the Kisas, the east the Ingqondos, south west the Taktikas and the north west the Uang Lapors. I work in a division of The Hall that is working on tracking them down and taking down the leaders. Those two were leaders. Qatil is the leader of the Kisas and Snayu the leader of the Ingqondos. They must have been in a fight. Did you notice any dead bodies around?"

Forta: "Uh, maybe one or two. I don't remember."

[Scarlett nods slowly.]

Scarlett: "I should tell my division."

Golden: "I thought Fraus took down the Kisas."

Scarlett: "We thought so too, turns out Qatil escaped."

Steve: "Well we have to do something about this. DO they kill people?"

Scarlett: "They are responsible for the death of 100 citizens not affiliated with the gangs."

Shiko: "Fuck man. That's over 100 people mourning the death of someone they loved."

[The table is quiet for a moment.]

Scarlett: "I am sorry, but I must return to The Hall to report this. Forta come with me, we could use a witness."

Golden: "I'll take everyone out to the book store. It's a nice quiet place so it won't bother Shiko too much."

[Forta nods.]

Steve: "Ok, be careful sweetie."

[Steve kisses Forta's cheek, and everyone gets up and leaves the restaurant.]

Scene 5:

[Forta and Scarlett stand in front of Fraus on his throne. He sits reclined and comfortable.]

Forta: "...and then she ran off past me and around the corner."

Fraus: "Hmmm...I see. So the Kisas and the Ingqondos were engaged in battle. I will send a group to identify the bodies immediately. I am sorry you had to witness that Forta."

Forta: "It's ok. How long have the gangs been around?"

Fraus: "Quite a while. I would say once our population peaked at 450."

Scarlett: "Then because of the gangs, our population went down to 250, and now it is at a stable 300."

Fraus: "Yes we have had a couple generations now. Grandparents and grandkids, it's remarkable to see them grow."

Scarlett: "My grandma was here when the city was first founded by Fraus."

[Forta lingers a but looking at Scarlett. The girl was almost a woman. She looked over at Fraus. He looked middle aged. How could her grandmother have been around when this man started this town? He looked too young for that.]

Fraus: "Ah yes, Luzhi. She was a great builder, and now she's a great cook."

Scarlett: "I lost my brother to a gang attack. It was by the Uang Lapors. His name was Unga. They killed him when he was coming home from buying food. Got caught in the crossfires, and they mistook him for a Kisa."

Forta: "I'm sorry to hear that."

Fraus: "Yes we have faced a lot of loss here in the city. The reason it's hard to get these people is that they are disguised as average people. Same as me or you. The leaders usually hide out, making it almost impossible to find them."

Forta: "Have you thought about setting up a patrol? And then when a gang attack starts, come in and bust them."

Scarlett: "It's too dangerous! We don't have crossbows or poison darts like the gangs do. We are defenseless."

Forta: "I don't know, I didn't feel like the weaker party when I was let in by diamond encrusted guards."

[Both Fraus and Scarlett are silent.]

Fraus: "Are you saying my guards were threatening to you?"

Forta: "What? No! I'm just saying that armor can go a long way."

Fraus: "They wear that armor to protect them from any creatures outside of the walls, not to scare you."

Forta: "I-I don't doubt that."

Scarlett: "We are off topic. Now that Qatil knows you Forta you are in danger."

Fraus: "You said she knew your address?"

Forta: "Yes, she said it exactly."

[Fraus rubs the brown stubbly beard on his face.]

Fraus: "I think you should move into The Hall. You and your friends are in grave danger. You all should come live in here a while until this dies down."

Forta: "Do they not attack in the day?"

Fraus: "No, never. Too many guards going around during the day, too many witnesses. For now Forta, stay here. Scarlett, go find her friends and bring them here."

[Scarlett bows to Fraus and then walks out of the throne room.]

Fraus: "Now, Forta is it?"

Forta: "Yes."

Fraus: "Your friends, what are they good at?"

Forta: "Well Shiko is a skilled navigator and a protective person. Golden as you know is also an amazing navigator, hunter and salesman. My friend Aina was amazing at caring for things, be it people or animals or plants, but she died. Kiki and Nevin are just kids, their talents are still unknown. And Steve, well Steve-"

Fraus: "You seem to be attracted to that boy."

Forta: "Oh yeah, we're a uh thing."

Fraus: "A couple. Here in The City, we call two people in love a couple. The two don't flirt or love anyone else. A couple."

Forta: "Oh well, a couple then."

Fraus: "Shiko told me about Aina. He told me the story of a man scared and hungry coming upon a camp with a man with black hair. Then the most beautiful girl showing up. He described her as having light, golden hair and bright blue eyes, the most gentle girl he knew."

[Forta could feel herself about to cry now. There is a lump in her throat and her eyes are burning.]

Forta: "Yeah."

Fraus: "What did you think of her?"

[Forta attempts to swallow the lump and takes a deep breath.]

Forta: "She made me feel small. Like every time I stood up to Kreten meant nothing because she was doing so much to help everyone. I wasn't good enough."

[Fraus nods sympathetically.]

Fraus: "I'm sure you were good enough."

Forta: "Sure."

Scene 6:

[Everyone is escorted into a room of The Hall that has 3 bunk beds in it. Everyone picks their beds and starts to get ready for bed. But as Forta is getting ready to sleep on the top bunk above Steve, she turns to him.]

Forta: "Steve?"

Steve: "Yeah hon?"

Forta: "Can I sleep with you tonight?"

[Steve stares at her a moment and then smiles.]

Steve: "Of course."

[Forta smiles back and they all go to sleep.]

Scene 7:

[It is the next day and Shiko and Golden are walking around the city. Golden is pointing things out to him.]

Golden: "...and that there is where I had my first kiss with a girl."

Shiko: "Can you not talk about kissing girls?"

Golden: "Oh. Sorry."

Shiko: "It's ok."

Golden: "Listen, I'm not gonna prevent you from being sad about Aina, you have every right. It's heartbreaking. But I am gonna prevent you from drinking yourself to the point of no return."

Shiko: "Just fucking try."

Golden: "Maybe what you need to do is open up about your feelings."

[Shiko looks around at the few people out on the sidewalk in the middle of the day.]

Shiko: "You really wanna know how I feel?"

Golden: "Yeah."

Shiko: "Horny."

Golden: "Seriously Shiko. This isn't a joke. It's Aina we are talking about."

Shiko: "Fine fine. I'm confused."

Golden: "Why?"

Shiko: "Why the fuck would a guy do such a terrible thing to such a sweet, beautiful girl? She had so much to live for. She… she was finally gonna get what she wanted."

Golden: "What do you mean?"

Shiko: "She was pregnant."

Golden: "Oh-oh my god."

Shiko: "Yeah."

Golden: "I'm so sorry."

Shiko: "Garam or Nogashita."

Golden: "Huh?"

Shiko: "If it was a boy it would have been Garam, if a girl then Nogashita."
Golden: "I-I don't know what to say."

Shiko: "Yeah. He killed my family, I killed him. Nothing else needs to be said. Nothing else needs to be done."

[Golden suddenly stop walking and puts his arms around Shiko, bringing him in for a bear hug.]

Golden: "Shut up. It's ok."
[Shiko tries not to show it, but he starts to cry.]

Golden is property of DragonCrusader, Scarlett is property of ZZefyre