Two stand in the center, one yearns for the power to not be a burden, the other wishes for the power to lift any hardship, yet both walk together, the strings of many emotions tying them together. As they stand together in me, they stood together outside of me. Mayhaps they, together, might stay here intertwined for a lifetime. Even now, though, a force pushes against my walls like the swelling tide of a raging sea, fully intent on shattering my fortifications, but I shall not let it. I will not let him steal my family.
The sun flows through the tattered drapes, motes of dust filling the air with light speckles, enveloping the room in a dingy haze. Star awakes with beads of sweat dripping lightly from her forehead, the nightmare of the night prior drifting quickly out of her mind, leaving her with an empty discomfort.
She clutches her head gently, running her hands up her face to peel back the blonde locks resting in front of her eyes. She sits up, her back cracking painfully with a pop, her face twisting into a pained scowl before settling back into a more neutral expression.
Marco snored softly above her, chest slowly heaving up and down with long, deep breaths. She watched him sleep for a moment, a bit of guilt welling up inside her before looking away. She had to focus right now, try and find a way out of the mess she's gotten them both into, a task without good prospects. She rests her head on the foot board of the poorly made bed, considering her predicament.
She groans in frustration, resisting the urge to put her fist through the splintered bed frame, or at least try to. "I shouldn't have been so stupid," she mumbles under her breath, trying to mind Marco's slumber. Her hands instinctively guild the wand to her mouth as she begins to idly chew on it, molars grinding along the artifact. Her mind turns and turns, like an engine trying desperately to start, but outside of a miracle there was no way she was finding those scissors.
She turns to face the bed, watching Marco with a pitiful look on her face. "I'm sorry Marco," she whispers, "but I think I really Stared it up this time." She bites her lower lip, her mind wandering a bit. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, staying here. She was certain they would be able to fend for themselves. She would be free of the responsibilities of her title, her face furrows into a frown, but that also meant she wouldn't see her family again. Marco wouldn't either.
She turns away, could he forgive her for something like that? Her eyes well up slightly, she wouldn't know what to do if she was stuck here alone, with absolutely nobody. Marco helped keep her straight, kept her company, was her friend. She breaths in a deep, ragged breath, calming the welling despair building inside her gut, sitting and thinking was only making things worse.
She stands, wiping away the tears that had rolled down her face and rubbing the sorrow from her eyes. The door swings open and Star steps through it, taking caution to keep the old wood quiet.
From the upper balcony of the inn she could see a few people sitting about the various tables, all picking away at a rather meager looking breakfast of bread and ale. The denizens of the pub are a rough looking lot, many of whom seem either to be in poverty (given by their dress) or in some sort of gang, or, most likely, both. Though one of the many patrons stood out, a rather straggly looking old woman wrapped in a dingy purple shawl. Strains of white hair scatter about her face as she slowly fiddles with a deck of cards. Her eyes wander to look directly to Star's, the cold blue orbs piercing through her, sending an unsettling chill down her spins. The crone smiles, tapping the desk against the table and motioning towards an empty chair.
Star moves down the way, the stair creaking even under her light step. She watches the woman as she approaches, the woman's wrinkled features oddly unsettling, yet, despite this, she continued until she found herself in the seat.
"Morning young woman," she says with a toothy smile, her hands continuing to constantly shuffle the faded deck. "I should thank you for coming to see such a disgruntled old woman." Looks up to her eyes, "not many give an old widow the attention they need." She bridges the deck with a cascading sound, "will you indulge a woman of her superstitions as well?"
Star watches the old hands nimbly handle the cards, "I, uh, what do you mean?"
She chuckles, "I want to read your fortune, well, a fortune of a sort. I don't see the future, I read the past and the present." Her hands still placing the deck onto the table face down, "the cards can tell me about anyone, where they have been and where they are."
"But they can't see the future," she says with a weak chuckle, "I find the only mystic who can't read the future."
The old hag gives a small laugh, "there isn't a mystic in the land who can read the future, oh believe me all of them claim they can, but they're all quite wrong." She brushes her silver hair back, "so what do you say young lady, at worst you learn what you already know."
Star nods, "I suppose it couldn't hurt."
The hag grins, "well then, draw three cards from the deck and place them in one pile, then three more and put them in a second pile, then do that just one more time all face down."
Star does so, slowly drawing from the old deck of cards. The hag takes the first pile and places it directly between them, "now let's see the roads you have walked." She flips the top card of the pile, revealing the ace of cups. "You came from fortune, of great station or of wealth," she smiles, "I can see it in your dress as well. What brings a noble to the outer ring to speak with me? No matter, all roads lead to their ends."
She takes the second card of the pile, revealing the fool. "A free spirit," she flips the final card, revealing the nine of swords, but upside down, "but caged. What caged you young lady?"
Star stifles in her seat, becoming suddenly rather uncomfortable, "I was," she stops, searching for the words she needed. "The pressures of my station. I'm not meant for court life."
The woman gives a small smile, "this isn't the first time I've heard of a restless noble going wayward for the freedom of the poor, though few last long." She looks back to the cards, "though I have a feeling about you."
The next pile is brought to the center, the last three cards brushed to the side unceremoniously. She flips all three cards at once, the world, the lovers and a reversed eight of swords. "My, there have been many a event of recent date for you. You left, I can only assume from nobility, and went somewhere else. In doing so you found love, affection." She grins, watching Star face turn into a blush, " I wonder where he is, or she, young maidens often find such 'affections'."
Star begins to speak, her words coming out as flustered denials. "Shush now, I was young once, ages ago." The woman's smile fades out as she takes the last card. "This change was not without hardships, one from an unexpected source. I can tell, it was not from the person you met, but from somewhere else entirely." She brushes the cards aside.
She flips the final three cards, the tower, the devil, and the moon. The woman raises a hand to her mouth, "this is," she starts. "This is quite the reading. Your world is on fire." She quickly collects all the cards, "it isn't my place to ask details, but I hope whatever comes of this will be something of a comfort."
Star gives a half hearted smile, her eyes looking away, "yeah." She looks at the woman, "can I ask for a bit of help? Is there any way I would be able to track down a specific item, it's small and I think it was stolen."
The woman nods, "you could go the guilds and contract just about any of them, though some might be better for finding something than others." Her hands start to idly shuffle the tarot deck, "if you have the money I would suggest you talk to the merchant's guild in the middle ring. They have a knack for finding anything, for a price, of course."
Star nods slightly, "thank you, for the reading as well." Star moves to stand, the chair scooting out from under her, "take care." She walks off, feeling the pounding in her chest, her recent anxieties brought back to the forefront of her mind, but along with it was a glimmer of hope.
She made her way back up to her room, opening up the door slowly to check on Marco, who still slumbers with heavy snores. He lies face down into the pillow, his hair mussed and jagged from turning in the night. He's adorable. Star's face becomes flush a bit at the thought and moves to sit at his side, looking down at him before sighing gently. "Wake up Marco," she says, shaking his body gently, "I think I know what to do."
Marco groans and turns onto his back, arm moving to rest across his eyes. "Ten more minutes," he mumbles in a groggy tone.
Star moves and tugs on his ear quickly, startling Marco. "Come on, I think I know how we can get ourselves out of this mess," she hopes, at least.
Marco jumps at the sudden, if light, pain in his ear, sitting up with a start. He looks at Star with a sigh, "you do? Well that's good to hear." He stretches, apparently having striped out of everything but his pants and button up during the night, his coat and vest hanging off the bed post.
Star nods, stepping off the bed, "apparently there is a merchant's guild in this city that has the ability to track down more specific items. If it was stolen it will probably end up within their reach."
Marco begins to pull on his vest, fiddling with his buttons slowly. "Right, then I suppose we should head out and try to find the building, though I doubt they'll be willing to find the scissors for free." He slings the jacket behind his back and stands, running a hand through his hair in a vain attempt to fix the mussed locks.
The pair of them make their way from the inn into the almost deserted street. The early summer wind blows against them, sending a slight shiver down Star's body. "If I had to hazard a guess," Marco says, looking about the dejected slum, "I would think that a merchant's guild would be in the nicer part of the city." He looks around slowly, eventually pointing towards a mason-works wall further into the city. The grey cobble rose high above most of the shabby buildings, casting a foreboding shadow in the low sun's light. "I would guess it's beyond that wall."
"The woman said that it was in the middle ring," Star adds, looking towards the monolithic structure. She frowns, "She also said we would probably need money if we wanted to get anything done."
Marco sighs, "so you mean we still have nothing?"
Star ponders this for a moment, "no, we have a goal, and a goal is better than nothing." She starts to grin, "I think we can find a way to make some money somewhere," she looks back to the in with a knowing smirk, "and it tends to be that pubs and inns are where odd jobs are put up. Public bounties as well." She takes Marco and drags him back into the inn with a renewed sense of vigor, "come on Marco, let's become bounty hunters!"
It didn't take long for the excited girl to find the job board along the far wall, parchment tacked to it, haphazardly advertising everything from the most mundane job (patching an old man's roof) to things much more adventurous (spelunking through a cave in search of an ancient relic). Wasting no time, Star makes her way to the board and starts grazing over the notices quickly as Marco steps up behind her.
Star turns suddenly, foisting it into Marco's face. "Here, we can totally do this one." She is nearly jumping, making it hard for Marco to read the yellow paper.
The bounty depicted a hastily drawn image of a shadowy looking figure looming over a hillside. It simply says 'Wraith Attacks Along the Southern Farmlands' and was commissioned by a small community in that area called Bulwark. It had a reasonable reward (at least so far as Marco could make out based on the other contracts on the board); Marco gave a small nod of agreement, "well we have to start somewhere."
Star folds the paper quickly, "this is going to be so much fun. I would do stuff like this all the time on Mewni, though never for money." She shrugs, "guess I didn't need it then." She grins, "but now I get to have fun and work on getting us home."
Marco grinned a little, Star's infectious spirit helping chase away some of the gloom. "Alright, it seems like something we can handle, all things considered we've dealt with some pretty serious trouble in the past."
The pair check how far they would need to go and manage to pester the bar owner to give them old water skins and light traveling food on the grounds that they would pay him back with the reward money (with generous interest).
The pair had made their way out of the city's front gates without much issue, the guards either not needing to or simply not wanting to vet every person exiting the city. The farm lands directly outside the walls were already rather busy with work, wives tending to small animal houses and the men and children starting to work the fields.
Signs along the dirt roadways gave direction towards the small community they were heading to. Bulwark lies thirty miles to the south, probably a nine hour walk if they keep a brisk pace, thirteen if they dally along the way. The field is a combination of farmland and swaths of flowers, all a melancholy blue in the early morning sun.
As the pair inch out away from the gothic city walls the path they follow becomes increasingly il-used. Barely ten minutes into their journey, just after the first crossroads, the path starts to fade slightly, grass and flowers encroaching on it inch by inch. Thankfully, however, the path is never completely lost, making finding the town a relatively easy task.
"Marco," Star starts, her excitement beginning to dim as they walked on. "I'm sorry, for this I mean." She gave a glance at the back of Marco's head, stepping quickly to reach his side. "I never wanted this to turn out so badly."
Marco gave a small sigh, pushing down the bits of resentment he felt. "We're in this situation together," he said, looking back with a kindly smile, "we'll get through it just like everything else." His mind wandered to Ludo's castle, "besides, we've definitely been through worse." He straightens his gaze, "any how, it's a long walk to Bulwark."
Bulwark seemed to mostly be a small fort surrounded by a six foot wooden stockade. At each corner of the walls stood a small watch town that looked over the surrounding pastureland, which was full of what appeared to be blue wooled rams. A guard minding the northern wall gave a call downward as the pair approached the encampment, signaling for the wooden gates to open.
The enter inside, the full court yard coming into view. The main building was a plain structure with little in the way of fancy trappings. In front of it was a set of target dummies where a rather young officer shot bolts with inconstant grouping. To the left was a second, larger building running along the entire east side of the fort.
A guard rushes down from the gate, his light plate clattering as he moves. "Aye, you there. What the 'ell are you doing on the southern border?" The man speaks in a thick accent that was absent inside the city.
Star speaks first, "We're responding to a job request."
The guard chuckles at this, "and what is it you actually plan on doing? No matter, if you die we 'aven't got ta pay ya'." He waves the forward, wasting no time in leading them to the main building, "Captain's guna to bust ta blood vessel when he sees you lot."
The man leads them through the main building before pointing to an old wooden door, wishing the pair of them luck with a cheeky snicker.
Star gives Marco a look and shrugs, "Better make a good first impression." She opens the door, stepping inside slowly.
A man paces within the room, his black leather boots clattering against the creaking wood over and over again. He was deeply tan, his skin an olive hue, and his head was topped with a messy mop of grey hair. His face was chiseled and angular, but not untouched by the wrinkles of age. His chin had rough stubble running as a five-o'clock shadow. Across his left eye ran an old scar, coming from the top left and ending at the start of his nose. His other eye was a deep blue, intently looking towards the worn paint on the floor boards. He was adorned in a light leather vest, metal studs patterned across it to accommodate chainmail, if the need arose for it, and to his side was a thin sword, the hilt finely crafted with a intricate, geometric design stretching across the scratched and scuffed cage. He stands tall, easily clearing six feet, his upper body broad and well kept. He stops dead as he hears the old door creak, turning his one good eye to the new visitors with a deathly glare. "Who are you?"
His voice, firm and commanding, froze Marco dead in place. "We're here to answer your job," Star says quickly.
"You have to be fucking with me," he seethes under his breath. "A pair of teenagers is all I can pick up after two months of waiting!" He places his fingers to the arch of his nose sighing, "out in the ass end of no wear with half as many men as I should have to guard this pile of ram dung and a requisition budget so small that I only manage to attract two brats." He looks up, giving a defeated sigh, "whatever. The blood will be on your own hands if you fuck this up."
He makes his way to his desk, sitting back with a thunk, "I am Brigadier General Hannibal Lee. I am the military leader of the southern border district and commander of the Bulwark military base. If you take this job you answer to me and only me, you will sleep in the barracks, you will eat in my mess, you will respect me or be discharged so fast that you'll reach the capital in ten minutes and your ass will be aflame. You will not fraternize with my soldiers, male or female. I have made it clear to them that if they fraternize with any commissionaires there will be sever reproductions. If you harm any civilian, any civilians property or livestock I will personally send you back to the capital in irons, and I will do it with the largest grudge you can wrap your minds around fueled by an intense hatred of incident reports." He bends down, his good eye staring directly at Star, "Do I make myself perfectly clear?"
Star nods, suddenly reminded of her castle guard's captain. "Crystal," she says without so much as a flinch.
Hannibal pulls back and steps behind his battered deck, motioning to seats to the side of the room. "Pull those over, I need to fill out some paperwork and debrief you on the specifics of the job."
Star grabs chairs for the both of them, Marco, still looking a bit shaken, sits down and tentatively raises a hand.
Hannibal barely looks up as Star tries to hold in a snicker. "Does this look like a school house son? Spit it out if you have a question."
Marco drops his hand, a nervous look on his face. "I, un, was just wondering why a one star general commands a small military base. Shouldn't you be at Miasma?"
Hannibal's grip tightens around the quill he uses to scratch out the details of the pair's arrival, looking up slowly. "The short answer is that I'm far enough away that I won't be able to embarrass the rest of senate, but close enough that they can call on me when they inevitably need me. The longer story amounts to the fact that everyone in Miasma's senate is petty." He looks back down, "age, name, years experience in this line of work."
Star answers for the both of them, "My name is Star Butterfly, fourteen years old with about seven years experience." Hannibal looks up, raising an eyebrow, "and this is Marco Diaz, also fourteen, but with only one year of experience."
Hannibal gives a short chuckle, "it's good to know at least one of you knows what you're doing." He slips the paper to the side and looks up at them both, silently judging them for a moment. "Things are normally calm here along the southern border, given the lack of any foreign powers to our south at least, but we do suffer from erratic monster attacks. Mostly wraiths and the occasional mimic." He clears his throat, digging through his desk draw before pulling out a small satchel. "However, in recent months those attacks have been steadily coming more frequently and with greater ferocity. The wraiths attack nearly every night and I need hands to see if I can track down what's riled them." He sighs, "my soldiers are exhausted and I can't get reinforcements for another month at the earliest. That's where you come in. I can't so flagrantly risk the lives of my men on an expedition to the forest, but what I can risk is the lives of two mercenaries. If you come back alive then my problem is solved, if you don't I might be able to use your deaths as justification for the severity of the situation."
Marco gives Star a worried glance, then looks back to Hannibal. "I see," she says. "Well you won't be needing any reinforcements. Just point me in the right direction and I'll get it done."
Hannibal gives a hearty laugh, "well it's good to know you're confident in yourselves. You should rest now, I'll need your hands defending in the evening. After which you should set off into the forest. I doubt you'll find anything of value during the day." He stands, "so, unless there are any outstanding questions you should see yourselves out. The mess and the bunks are open to you, I suggest you make use of them."
Star shakes her head, standing up to leave. Marco follows suit, stepping behind Star as she makes her way out of the room. Once outside, she turns to her, "Star, this might be too much."
She shushes him, "come on, we've dealt with worse things than a scary forest. I mean, you have dealt with exactly a scary forest before with nothing but a fanny pack."
Beginning to protest in vain Marco agrees, "I suppose you're right, but I'm still uncomfortable with the way he phrased our usefulness. He didn't have all that much confidence in us, which seems to make this mission out as rather dangerous."
Star starts bounding ahead, turning to talk while walking backwards. "Come on Marco you're missing the point. Now we get to show him wrong." She stops as her eyes fall onto a figure both familiar and alien. His skin is that of ivory, his hair a bleached white. The eyes gliding across the page are red, like blood, his face thin and long with a large, birdish nose. He wears a robe black as pitch, and that blackness spread. Like lightning it shot to Star.
Then, a thud resounds through the wooden hall.
Author's Note - I am sorry this took so long, but life happened rather unexpectedly, making me either too busy or too tired to write. Beyond that there was a week where I had absolutely no idea where to go with this chapter. I knew what I wanted to do, but I wasn't certain how to frame it well.