Post by Lady Hammer on Apr 8, 2007 15:00:10 GMT -5
VI. The ARC Contract
The pouring rain had fallen to a gentle sprinkle, and the rainbirds were gathering in groups on rooftops, happily preening themselves. The sky had turned pitch black with the night, and clouds were finally dispersing. Moonlight gazed upon Vaskio.
As the city came to life, so did Kedo, waking up in the prickly berry bushes of Olraedir’s yard. The cut the pulley carriage had made on her thigh was deep, and still just barely bleeding. She turned over to catch a glance, and yelped as her body exploded in pain. From the plummet she took, she ended with a sprained wrist, and a menagerie of bruises. Never would she do that again, she told herself. Straining to get up and wincing in discomfort, she pushed the oncoming nausea to the back of her head. There was only one thing on her mind.
“It’s dark?” She was caught underneath the light of a street lantern, which was almost swallowed up by the blackness around her. “Oh no…! What if they’ve already broken into ARC?” She breathed heavily, bit her lip, and limped into Town Square, where the ARC building stood just as tall as it had before.
Suddenly, Kedo thought of Aeslyn. The older sister might still be in the building. Was she okay? Was she harmed by the three that were breaking in? Kedo could hear her heart pounding.
“She’s probably doing her routine right now!” she told herself. “Yeah! That’s it! Everyone loves her fire at night, and it’s barely sprinkling right now!” The reassurance she was trying to give herself was fading fast. ARC was in danger, and she had fallen unconscious. For all she knew, it was already over. As she hobbled to ARC’s door, she blinked back painful tears. She wouldn’t ever jump out of someone’s window again.
Socialites making up for lost interaction during the day crowded the streets, tossing their gold coins in grimy hats, instrument cases, or the jars carried by dressed up monkeys. The watchwoman rushed past them all, huffing and puffing in cold sweat. Shoving aside beggars, she came to ARC’s front door, only to find she was too late. The lock was busted off, lying in the lawn. Tentatively, she pushed the door open, and snuck inside.
Kedo had only taken a few steps before she leapt halfway across the entryway. Two giant statues of a bull and a ram guarded the entrance, looming ominously over her. Stone snakes lined the tops of the walls, their mouths holding a lantern or votive holder. Chilling goosebumps ran down her flesh.
“I never realized how much junk Centa and Heywood had…” she said to herself, eyeing the dusty piles of weaponry and damaged leather armor resting in the corners. Suddenly, her violet eyes found a pile of disturbed swords.
“They’re either already here, or those two are just connecting with old memories.” Rustling through the remnants, fresh blood touched her hands. Stained rags were piled around what seemed to be a large bed sheet. She held it up. One side white, and one side black, and soaked in blood. Fresh blood. For once, the instinct to steal came upon her, but she liked to think of it as “borrowing without possible return”. She picked up an old discarded sling bag, and stuffed the sheet inside.
The entry room made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end, and she rushed to the next room. From there on, it was hallway after hallway. Something was going on. Something wasn’t right. The building was usually quiet anyway, but something just wasn’t right. More goosebumps crawled onto her skin. At last, the hallways gave way to a large gunpowder storage, and that was where she found Olraedir’s accomplices.
“Freeze!” Kedo shouted, quickly unsheathing her sword. In response, Maravandril was the first to pull out her weapon, and aimed it for the watchwoman’s throat.
“You freeze,” she said, narrowing her emerald eyes. She stood tall and stiff as iron, scowling. Anna came up behind her with her dagger, and Bootmann stationed himself behind a barrel of gunpowder, prying it open.
“I am Kedo Eirstar of the Watchmen’s Association! This is an order to drop your weapons, now!”
Anna smirked, running her thumb the hilt of her dagger. “I think you’d better put your weapon down, Kedo,” she said. “You’re a little outnumbered, wouldn’t you say?”
“It is my duty to protect the city! You are under direct violation of breaking and entering a private home!”
“Private home?” Maravandril shouted, taken aback. “I thought their doors were open all the time. Aren’t their services open to anyone?”
“I saw you!” Kedo yelled, her hands shaking. “I saw you all at that man’s house! He told you to infiltrate!” Maravandril sighed.
“Listen kid, calm down. Put your weapon down and let me fill you in a little bit,” the elf said. Anna raised an eyebrow.
“Wait a minute - what are you talking about? I didn’t agree to any of this!”
“I said calm down! You’d better listen up, too. If not, go watch him,” Maravandril said, pointing to Bootmann. “He’s playing in the gunpowder like it’s a sandbox!”
“Tell me what the hell is going on!” Anna said, sheathing her dagger and crossing her arms.
“I’ll pay you better than he would, I swear!”
“What?! We don’t even know how much he was going to pay!”
“He’s dead by now, Anna!”
Kedo stood there and watched the two bicker, resting the grip she held on her sword. At last, the elf had won a word with Anna, and turned back to the watchwoman.
“I’m working for ARC to do this.”
“You’re lying!” Kedo shouted, readying her sword again. Then, Maravandril pulled out a tiny slip of paper from her sling bag.
“Read it.”
Maravandril of Azukas
Hello. We’ve heard well about you, and we’d be quite appreciative to have you complete your trial in our city. Vaskio has more than enough things to be tended to. We’ll be assigning you to investigate under cover at a suspected crime lord’s residence on Alhmshire Street. It’ll most definitely be a lead into further investigation. Please retrieve Frederich Bootmann from the S. Vaskio Asylum to assist you.
Centa Jinzaburou
Phiothilus Heywood
-ARC
“I don’t believe it!” Anna said, pursing her lips. “You’re a rat.”
“Excuse me? You’re the thief, not me!”
“Okay, I get it!” Kedo shouted, sheathing her sword. “But why are you here? You broke into ARC! What am I to wholesomely believe?” she asked with a shrug.
“The door was like that when we got here,” Maravandril answered, pocketing her note. Anna nodded.
“That’s true. It was.” Kedo froze. For a few moments, there was nothing, and suddenly, a crash. A loud crash.
“See what I mean? Olraedir must’ve known and hired someone to come before us!”
“Mar, you’d better pay me good, I mean it!” Anna said, viciously poking the elf in her chest. “I’m only in it for the money!”
Then, there was another crash. This time, Bootmann stopped what he was doing.
“That was loud.”
And then, the unlit fireplaces in the room’s corners shot with flames, the embers glowing a malicious red. Pensively, Anna ran her finger down her dagger again, as heels prodded down the hallway, getting closer and closer. Kedo chewed her lip, and saw, with jealousy, how well Maravandril kept her cool. The elf stood just as tall as she had before, holding her knife in front of her.
“We’ve got to get out of here, Mar! I didn’t plan on any encounters!” Anna whispered, glaring. Maravandril perused the gunpowder room for a different way out. Her eyes found a slightly discolored wall, but otherwise nothing.
“It’s a hidden door,” she said. “Something’s got to open it!” She ransacked through barrels and drawers, tipping things over, until the thief came up with a better idea.
“Bootmann - wall!” she commanded, pointing to the single odd wall panel. Wincing, Kedo watched as the brute raised his club-like fists and smashed the panel down.
It wasn’t the only thing smashed. Splinters went flying as a large mace tore down the main door. A slender figure with blood-red hair stepped through the wooden carnage, careful to keep her skin-tight peach gown from snagging on any edges. She laughed, and swung her mace. Leaping out of the way just in time, Kedo scrambled to safety as the mace’s head dove into a gunpowder barrel. Her mouth hung agape.
“What the hell?” she shouted, “What the hell is going on?”
The redhead yanked her mace free, and narrowed her sea-colored eyes. “Don’t worry! Your men will be okay, so long as they stay out of my--”
For the first time, Anna’s nail made a sickening crack as she threw her fist into the woman’s side. Howling, the redhead slumped over.
“Dammit!” the thief said, examining her chipped pinky nail. “Is this some kind of race, Mar?”
“Ugh…”
“Quick, get in that secret room!” Kedo suddenly shouted, shoving Anna through the broken wall. “You too, Mar! And Bootmann!”
“Hey!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll handle this! Just stay in there!” the watchwoman ordered, staring at Anna’s appalled face. As the redhead began propping herself up, Maravandril sighed and pulled Bootmann to safety in the hidden compartment with Anna.
“Alright… if you’re offering help, I suppose we might as well take it…”
Kedo gulped as the others left her. She shouldn’t have played hero. Because there was probably a good reason why ARC had never noticed her.
“Ow! Damn, that hurt!” the woman growled, spitting in disgust. “Why are you still here? You aren’t going to go run off in cowardice with the rest of them?”
“No,” Kedo replied, letting the woman get to her feet before readying her sword. “It is my sworn duty to protect Vaskio and its people, and you are in a direct violation of this city’s code!”
The woman’s long fingers suddenly wrapped around Kedo’s neck. Clang. Clang, as the sword fell. Gritting her teeth, the redhead tightened her grip.
“Listen, little Miss Do-Right! I also have a job to do, and you’re getting in my way!”
Choking. Gasping. Reaching.
“Eryndale! Hurry up!”
“I’m almost done, Emilio!” the redhead said to the voice down the hall. “Wouldn’t you say so, Miss Do-Right?”
Reaching. Reaching. Nothing. Nothing’s there. So, she did the only thing she had strength left for. She spat. Eryndale screamed and released the watchwoman to rub her eyes.
“You’re a filthy little wh--”
A solid kick to the face, doubled back, and another kick to the stomach. Finally, Kedo picked up her sword, and stabbed it through Eryndale’s chest. She didn’t get back up. Blood pooled beneath the redhead’s body, and Kedo cared little to avoid trailing through it. Slowly, she realized she had no other option than to trust Maravandril and Anna. Breaking apart the rest of the fake wall, she found nothing but a stairway leading to a musty basement. Light from above caught the gleam from Anna’s blonde locks below.
“What took you so long?” she asked, smirking. “Did you struggle or something?”
“No, not at all!” Kedo leapt down to the others, to find a single lantern lighting a sea of crates and barrels. She turned up her nose.
“Dead end?” she asked. Just as Maravandril was about to agree, there was a faint moan from the corner.
The pouring rain had fallen to a gentle sprinkle, and the rainbirds were gathering in groups on rooftops, happily preening themselves. The sky had turned pitch black with the night, and clouds were finally dispersing. Moonlight gazed upon Vaskio.
As the city came to life, so did Kedo, waking up in the prickly berry bushes of Olraedir’s yard. The cut the pulley carriage had made on her thigh was deep, and still just barely bleeding. She turned over to catch a glance, and yelped as her body exploded in pain. From the plummet she took, she ended with a sprained wrist, and a menagerie of bruises. Never would she do that again, she told herself. Straining to get up and wincing in discomfort, she pushed the oncoming nausea to the back of her head. There was only one thing on her mind.
“It’s dark?” She was caught underneath the light of a street lantern, which was almost swallowed up by the blackness around her. “Oh no…! What if they’ve already broken into ARC?” She breathed heavily, bit her lip, and limped into Town Square, where the ARC building stood just as tall as it had before.
Suddenly, Kedo thought of Aeslyn. The older sister might still be in the building. Was she okay? Was she harmed by the three that were breaking in? Kedo could hear her heart pounding.
“She’s probably doing her routine right now!” she told herself. “Yeah! That’s it! Everyone loves her fire at night, and it’s barely sprinkling right now!” The reassurance she was trying to give herself was fading fast. ARC was in danger, and she had fallen unconscious. For all she knew, it was already over. As she hobbled to ARC’s door, she blinked back painful tears. She wouldn’t ever jump out of someone’s window again.
Socialites making up for lost interaction during the day crowded the streets, tossing their gold coins in grimy hats, instrument cases, or the jars carried by dressed up monkeys. The watchwoman rushed past them all, huffing and puffing in cold sweat. Shoving aside beggars, she came to ARC’s front door, only to find she was too late. The lock was busted off, lying in the lawn. Tentatively, she pushed the door open, and snuck inside.
Kedo had only taken a few steps before she leapt halfway across the entryway. Two giant statues of a bull and a ram guarded the entrance, looming ominously over her. Stone snakes lined the tops of the walls, their mouths holding a lantern or votive holder. Chilling goosebumps ran down her flesh.
“I never realized how much junk Centa and Heywood had…” she said to herself, eyeing the dusty piles of weaponry and damaged leather armor resting in the corners. Suddenly, her violet eyes found a pile of disturbed swords.
“They’re either already here, or those two are just connecting with old memories.” Rustling through the remnants, fresh blood touched her hands. Stained rags were piled around what seemed to be a large bed sheet. She held it up. One side white, and one side black, and soaked in blood. Fresh blood. For once, the instinct to steal came upon her, but she liked to think of it as “borrowing without possible return”. She picked up an old discarded sling bag, and stuffed the sheet inside.
The entry room made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end, and she rushed to the next room. From there on, it was hallway after hallway. Something was going on. Something wasn’t right. The building was usually quiet anyway, but something just wasn’t right. More goosebumps crawled onto her skin. At last, the hallways gave way to a large gunpowder storage, and that was where she found Olraedir’s accomplices.
“Freeze!” Kedo shouted, quickly unsheathing her sword. In response, Maravandril was the first to pull out her weapon, and aimed it for the watchwoman’s throat.
“You freeze,” she said, narrowing her emerald eyes. She stood tall and stiff as iron, scowling. Anna came up behind her with her dagger, and Bootmann stationed himself behind a barrel of gunpowder, prying it open.
“I am Kedo Eirstar of the Watchmen’s Association! This is an order to drop your weapons, now!”
Anna smirked, running her thumb the hilt of her dagger. “I think you’d better put your weapon down, Kedo,” she said. “You’re a little outnumbered, wouldn’t you say?”
“It is my duty to protect the city! You are under direct violation of breaking and entering a private home!”
“Private home?” Maravandril shouted, taken aback. “I thought their doors were open all the time. Aren’t their services open to anyone?”
“I saw you!” Kedo yelled, her hands shaking. “I saw you all at that man’s house! He told you to infiltrate!” Maravandril sighed.
“Listen kid, calm down. Put your weapon down and let me fill you in a little bit,” the elf said. Anna raised an eyebrow.
“Wait a minute - what are you talking about? I didn’t agree to any of this!”
“I said calm down! You’d better listen up, too. If not, go watch him,” Maravandril said, pointing to Bootmann. “He’s playing in the gunpowder like it’s a sandbox!”
“Tell me what the hell is going on!” Anna said, sheathing her dagger and crossing her arms.
“I’ll pay you better than he would, I swear!”
“What?! We don’t even know how much he was going to pay!”
“He’s dead by now, Anna!”
Kedo stood there and watched the two bicker, resting the grip she held on her sword. At last, the elf had won a word with Anna, and turned back to the watchwoman.
“I’m working for ARC to do this.”
“You’re lying!” Kedo shouted, readying her sword again. Then, Maravandril pulled out a tiny slip of paper from her sling bag.
“Read it.”
Maravandril of Azukas
Hello. We’ve heard well about you, and we’d be quite appreciative to have you complete your trial in our city. Vaskio has more than enough things to be tended to. We’ll be assigning you to investigate under cover at a suspected crime lord’s residence on Alhmshire Street. It’ll most definitely be a lead into further investigation. Please retrieve Frederich Bootmann from the S. Vaskio Asylum to assist you.
Centa Jinzaburou
Phiothilus Heywood
-ARC
“I don’t believe it!” Anna said, pursing her lips. “You’re a rat.”
“Excuse me? You’re the thief, not me!”
“Okay, I get it!” Kedo shouted, sheathing her sword. “But why are you here? You broke into ARC! What am I to wholesomely believe?” she asked with a shrug.
“The door was like that when we got here,” Maravandril answered, pocketing her note. Anna nodded.
“That’s true. It was.” Kedo froze. For a few moments, there was nothing, and suddenly, a crash. A loud crash.
“See what I mean? Olraedir must’ve known and hired someone to come before us!”
“Mar, you’d better pay me good, I mean it!” Anna said, viciously poking the elf in her chest. “I’m only in it for the money!”
Then, there was another crash. This time, Bootmann stopped what he was doing.
“That was loud.”
And then, the unlit fireplaces in the room’s corners shot with flames, the embers glowing a malicious red. Pensively, Anna ran her finger down her dagger again, as heels prodded down the hallway, getting closer and closer. Kedo chewed her lip, and saw, with jealousy, how well Maravandril kept her cool. The elf stood just as tall as she had before, holding her knife in front of her.
“We’ve got to get out of here, Mar! I didn’t plan on any encounters!” Anna whispered, glaring. Maravandril perused the gunpowder room for a different way out. Her eyes found a slightly discolored wall, but otherwise nothing.
“It’s a hidden door,” she said. “Something’s got to open it!” She ransacked through barrels and drawers, tipping things over, until the thief came up with a better idea.
“Bootmann - wall!” she commanded, pointing to the single odd wall panel. Wincing, Kedo watched as the brute raised his club-like fists and smashed the panel down.
It wasn’t the only thing smashed. Splinters went flying as a large mace tore down the main door. A slender figure with blood-red hair stepped through the wooden carnage, careful to keep her skin-tight peach gown from snagging on any edges. She laughed, and swung her mace. Leaping out of the way just in time, Kedo scrambled to safety as the mace’s head dove into a gunpowder barrel. Her mouth hung agape.
“What the hell?” she shouted, “What the hell is going on?”
The redhead yanked her mace free, and narrowed her sea-colored eyes. “Don’t worry! Your men will be okay, so long as they stay out of my--”
For the first time, Anna’s nail made a sickening crack as she threw her fist into the woman’s side. Howling, the redhead slumped over.
“Dammit!” the thief said, examining her chipped pinky nail. “Is this some kind of race, Mar?”
“Ugh…”
“Quick, get in that secret room!” Kedo suddenly shouted, shoving Anna through the broken wall. “You too, Mar! And Bootmann!”
“Hey!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll handle this! Just stay in there!” the watchwoman ordered, staring at Anna’s appalled face. As the redhead began propping herself up, Maravandril sighed and pulled Bootmann to safety in the hidden compartment with Anna.
“Alright… if you’re offering help, I suppose we might as well take it…”
Kedo gulped as the others left her. She shouldn’t have played hero. Because there was probably a good reason why ARC had never noticed her.
“Ow! Damn, that hurt!” the woman growled, spitting in disgust. “Why are you still here? You aren’t going to go run off in cowardice with the rest of them?”
“No,” Kedo replied, letting the woman get to her feet before readying her sword. “It is my sworn duty to protect Vaskio and its people, and you are in a direct violation of this city’s code!”
The woman’s long fingers suddenly wrapped around Kedo’s neck. Clang. Clang, as the sword fell. Gritting her teeth, the redhead tightened her grip.
“Listen, little Miss Do-Right! I also have a job to do, and you’re getting in my way!”
Choking. Gasping. Reaching.
“Eryndale! Hurry up!”
“I’m almost done, Emilio!” the redhead said to the voice down the hall. “Wouldn’t you say so, Miss Do-Right?”
Reaching. Reaching. Nothing. Nothing’s there. So, she did the only thing she had strength left for. She spat. Eryndale screamed and released the watchwoman to rub her eyes.
“You’re a filthy little wh--”
A solid kick to the face, doubled back, and another kick to the stomach. Finally, Kedo picked up her sword, and stabbed it through Eryndale’s chest. She didn’t get back up. Blood pooled beneath the redhead’s body, and Kedo cared little to avoid trailing through it. Slowly, she realized she had no other option than to trust Maravandril and Anna. Breaking apart the rest of the fake wall, she found nothing but a stairway leading to a musty basement. Light from above caught the gleam from Anna’s blonde locks below.
“What took you so long?” she asked, smirking. “Did you struggle or something?”
“No, not at all!” Kedo leapt down to the others, to find a single lantern lighting a sea of crates and barrels. She turned up her nose.
“Dead end?” she asked. Just as Maravandril was about to agree, there was a faint moan from the corner.
