Unsettling Events II

A few days had passed since Amber got her job. It was not much, but it meant she could stay at the Wanderer's Inn for the foreseeable future. Sil had continued to keep his distance but both her and Edward could tell it was forced and that he was conflicted about doing so. And then there was that woman… Amber really had no idea what to make of her.

"I'm half tempted to ask her to leave," Amber muttered as she ate breakfast with Edward.

"She's just sitting there. Whatever reason she has doesn't concern us," Edward shrugged as he gulped down the last of his coffee.

"It concerns us. She immediately sits at whatever table is next to us every day. It's disturbing and annoying."

"You would hate Nathan then," Edward commented.

"Hmm? You say something?"

"Just someone I know back home."

"Friend?"

"Acquaintance."

"Like we are?"

"Not quite. He works for my sister."

"Oh."

Both sat in awkward silence as they ate. Unsure on what to do, they turned their gazes away from one another. This continued for a few seconds until Edward let out a hiccup and broke the tension.

"I'm off to work," Amber said as she shoved the last bite into her mouth and got up.

"Same," Edward got up and nearly ran into Sil, "Whoop, excuse me."

"Sorry," Sil said as he weaved around Edward and nearly flew out the door.

"That's it… Tonight I'm figuring out what's going on with him," Amber growled.

Edward shrugged and kept walking. Upon exiting, he blinked and realized he had forgotten his helmet on the table. Amber let out a chuckle as he patted his head before rushing back inside before adjusting her hat to keep the sun out of her eyes.

"Here you go. Remember to keep it stable. These things aren't built to be knocked about," Amber said as she handed a computer over to a customer.

"Thanks. You've saved me a lot of work by restoring this thing," the customer handed over a few pieces of stamped silver.

Amber put the money away and let out a professional smile as the customer walked out. While most of her work was centered around the computers in the back, the few times she interacted with a customer and received praise for her work was satisfying. True, assembling computers was not the same as recovering lost technologies but it was much safer and somewhat rewarding.

"Excuse me," a voice said as she turned to head for the workshop.

"Yes? May I help you?" Amber turned back around.

"How much for the tablet?"

Amber looked at the new customer and felt on edge. On the surface, the customer was a man who looked like he came from the same place Edward did. But something felt wrong about the man and Amber could swear she saw something in his eyes. Her hand twitched and it took a significant amount of willpower to not reach for her weapons sitting on the other end of the counter.

"Which tablet? There's quite a few to choose from," she said, keeping her voice pleasant even if her fur started to stand on edge.

"The one right there," the man pointed, "How much?"

Amber glanced and realized her bag was open with the tablet poking out. At first she was tempted to simply accept the offer of selling it off but she hesitated in doing so. She had no idea why this man was so unnerving, but she felt as if she were staring at one of the monsters back in Central Town.

"Sorry, not for sale," Amber closed the bag and put it on the floor.

"You sure?"

"What's going on here?" the store owner walked out from the workshop.

The man seemed taken aback by the sudden interruption and for a brief moment Amber thought his face had changed.

"Nothing," the man said evenly, "Sorry to disturb you. Good day."

The man turned and left. Amber felt her heart slow and a tense breath ease its way out of her after the door closed. She had seen and fought against a lot of monstrosities in Central Town: dirks, crystal wolves, biomechanical entities, mutated plants, Necrophages, and the occasional mad man. But whatever that "man" was...it made every survival instinct inside of her scream to either fight or run like hell as fast as possible.

"You all right?" the owner asked her.

"I'm fine," Amber huffed, pinching the bridge of her nose, "Just on edge for some reason."

"You looked like you were about to pick up the nearest thing and throw it at him."

"I don't know… Maybe I'm not cut out for a quiet work like this."

"Tell you what," the owner said as turned back for the workshop, "I'll let you out early this afternoon. You've done a lot over these few days and you just need to adjust to city life."

Amber gave a look back towards the door and let out a frustrated huff. Whatever feelings she had were replaced with frustration. She knew she was better than this when it came to meeting people in safe environments so why did she feel like was about to fight for her life?

Maybe I'm too much of a drifter, she thought as she looked away from the door and glared at her bag, Or maybe that damn thing is still messing with my head. Probably should have sold it and been done with it.

Later that afternoon, Amber was strolling through the marketplace. Normally, she would have continued working until the early evening but her employer insisted she take the time off. So, instead of working on circuit boards and monitors she was looking at the goods on display.

"Eh?" her nose twitched as she caught a whiff of something.

Following the smell, she came across a stall that had two shoppers in front of it. One wore a bright red cloak while the other was a Floran with wings (a Leafwing if she remembered correctly).

"I'm sorry but I'm afraid I can't simply give you anything unless you pay me now. I need to make a living," someone said in front of the two customers.

"Come on. We're running late as it is," the Floran insisted.

"Oh all right. Sorry to bother you," the cloaked figure, a woman, sighed before turning around and nearly bumping into Amber, "Oh! Excuse me."

"No it's fine," Amber turned to the side to let them pass before the smell assaulted her nose again.

Looking at the stall, she saw a few baked pastries with a white creamy frosting on top of them. Her nose twitched and her mouth started to water.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to pay if you want one of my cinnamon rolls," the baker behind the stall said bluntly as Amber continued staring at the rolls.

"Huh? Oh right! Sorry," Amber reached into her pocket to fish out some money, "Never had one before but those smell amazing."

"Cinnamon straight from Cherrystone. You won't find a better quality anywhere else in the world."

Amber hesitated in handing the money over before glancing at the two travelers from before. They looked tired and worn as well as in desperate need of a good meal.

"How much for three of them?" she asked as she reached back into her pocket.

"Well this is just fantastic. We've been here over a month ago and have accomplished nothing in reporting back home."

"We've been through worse Susan."

"Wraith, this is serious. We have no leads on who massacred our expedition, no money, no supplies, and no reliable means of getting back to Cherrystone. We're lucky the hospital accepted what we had and let you stay while I dealt with that damn sickness."

"Uh, excuse me! You two look like you could use a bite to eat," a voice interrupted the two friends.

The mage and Leafwing spun around and saw the Racoon girl from earlier offering them cinnamon rolls.

"Thank you," the mage said as she grabbed a roll and took a bite out of it.

"You didn't have to do this," the Leafwing said as he grabbed a roll for himself.

"I know," the girl shrugged as she bit into her own roll, "But I know what it's like to be in need of help."

"You should be careful, many would take advantage of that generosity," the mage said.

"True. But I've been rather fortunate these days and you two look like you could use some of that luck."

"Well we are in need of it," the Leafwing said, "I don't suppose you could offer anything more than a few cinnamon rolls?"

"There's the Wanderer's Inn on the other side of the marketplace. First night is free and there's a board filled with work."

"As good a place as any to start then," the mage said as she finished her roll, "Thank you for the help. You've saved us and several others a great amount of trouble. I'm afraid I have nothing to repay you with however."

"Heh, I know that feeling. Just tell me someplace to go see after I'm done with Crossroad and I'll consider all debts paid."

"Well I can think of a lot of places to expl-"

"Cherrystone," the Leafwing offered.

"Huh?" the mage turned to her companion.

"What? The Kingdom is beautiful, has many things to see, and offers plenty of work for a drifter straight out of Central Town," the Leafwing shrugged.

"The hat and duster are that obvious huh? Well at least I should have plenty of work if I ever go there," the girl chuckled, "Well, that handles that then. Thank you for the suggestion. May your travels bring you good fortune."

With that the girl had tipped her hat in farewell, popped the remains of her cinnamon roll into her mouth, and headed off into the marketplace. The mage and Leafwing looked at one another in amused confusion.

"Well she's something," the Leafwing said as he finished his own roll.

"That she is Wraith. Always amazes me how bright eyed drifters are when they leave Central Town."

"Considering that most the region is ruins and savage wilderness that few Florans would dare to be in, I'm more surprised they stay there more often than not," Wraith said, "Now, shall we find this 'Wanderer's Inn' Susan or are we going to stand here all day?"

Susan smirked before adjusting her cloak and walking off. Wraith let out an amused sigh and followed after her before hesitating and looking over his shoulder. A chill ran through him as he saw a few figures standing next to a trinket stall. One of them caught sight of the girl from earlier who was trying on a different hat. The other figures took notice as well and Wraith felt a familiar sense of unease as they scattered.

Oh muffins, he thought before he ran to catch up with Susan.

Amber returned to the Wanderer's Inn and sat down at a table with a huff. She could have sworn all afternoon after leaving the two strangers that someone was staring at her. Admittedly, she did stick out somewhat but compared to everyone else in the marketplace alone she was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Maybe I'm just overthinking things," she muttered as Hammond floated over, "What's for dinner Hammond?"

"Bean soup or roasted chicken," Hammond answered as he served another patron.

"Give me the soup and add some pepper to it. I need something with a kick to it," she took her hat off and rubbed her head.

"Usually that's a strong drink," he replied as he floated off towards the kitchen.

Amber drummed her fingers on the table as she waited. Briefly entertaining herself, she mentally counted down the time it would take for Edward, Sil, and the mystery woman to arrive. After a short amount of time, they arrived roughly when she expected them to.

And Hammond should arrive...now, she thought as her soup was delivered.

"So… Anything to discuss tonight?" Edward asked as he unstrapped his helmet and placed it on the table.

"Cinnamon rolls taste amazing," Amber shrugged as she took a sip of her soup and nearly gagged, "Damn it Hammond! I said some pepper, not drown the soup with it!"

Edward let out a rare chuckle and cracked his knuckles as he waited for Hammond to come floating by again. A few tables away, Sil had perked up and looked towards the sudden shout before shrinking back into himself. As far as anyone could tell, it was a typical evening.

Until the door opened and a group walked in. Amber felt every warning instinct inside of her flare to life and a quick glance to Edward told her he felt the same. It grew even worse as more walked in and started to fan out. Soon enough, they were everywhere and even Hammond looked uneasy as he floated around.

"Am I the only one uneasy about this?" Amber whispered with her eyes darting towards the new arrivals.

"Something is off about them," he agreed as he opened his coat to reveal his stun baton.

Amber nodded and discreetly slipped her hand to her hip for her pistol. The tavern seemed to fade into silence as a group encircled the table. Looking up, Amber recognized one of them to be the man she had denied earlier.

"Can we help you?" she asked, her voice calm but having an edge to it.

"You have something we want," was her response.

"Gentleman we can work something out without resorting to unnecessary action," Edward said, voice filled with steel.

"That we can," one of the others said, "Give it to us and we'll go."

"Excuse me but you are disturbing my patrons," Hammond floated over.

"Back off Haunt. This doesn't concern you," one of the men drew a pistol and leveled it at Hammond.

"How about me?" a different voice asked before one of the men found a battle ax digging into them.

It took everyone a brief moment to realize the mystery woman had intervened before the room erupted into chaos. Edward swung his baton out and hit one of the thugs in the face with it before slamming another straight into the table. Amber threw her soup at the specific man who had bothered her earlier before whipping out her pistol and firing. Patrons all came to arms, either with eating utensils or actual weapons, as the fight ensued. Despite the chaos, there was a clear distinction between friend and foe as the patrons battled the unnerving group.

"Amber, move!" Edward warned as he pulled out his revolver.

Amber dashed out of the way. Zipping through the room, she nearly bowled into Sil and the mystery woman.

"I knew being around you two would be interesting," the woman said as she blocked a sword with her ax before countering with a wide sweep, "Toth."

"Amber," a jerk to the side to avoid a knife and a point blank shot ended that particular matter, "What I would like to know is who these bastards are."

"Servants of Decay," Sil said before summoning a mace and smashing the kneecap of an attacker followed by an overhead blow.

"Enough! Out of my tavern! Agents of evil are not welcomed here!" Hammond shrieked and lightning began surging through the attackers.

Amber stepped back in shock as the lightning coursed through the room. The overwhelming sense of anxiety that had been spurred by the intruders had been replaced by genuine fear over the display Hammond showed. Others around the room showed similar signs of unease as the lightning cleared, leaving smoke and ozone in the air while bodies piled on the floor. Outside sirens were heard and commotion came from upstairs.

"Fantastic," Hammond sighed, "Everyone is to stay here and cooperate with the police. Meals are on the house after this."

"Well...that happened," Toth said as she cocked her head slightly, "I really hope this song changes soon."

"Huh?" Sil asked.

"You have some explaining to do," Amber glared at Toth before groaning as the headache kicked in.

"Uh pardon me, but you wouldn't happen to have something of ancient value would you?" a voice to the side asked.

Amber turned and saw the Leafwing and the woman from earlier standing there, "What's it to you?"

"Oh muffins, this just got even more complicated," the woman groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Amber...whose business did you poke your nose into this time?" Edward asked, face and tone blunt and annoyed.

"Everyone put your weapons on the ground now!" a group of police officers armed with a dizzying array of weapons bursted through the door.

What the hell did I just walk into? You really did it this time Amber…