Ayla walked into the rowdy pub without much thought or reservation. She manoeuvred around standing patrons and found a spot where she could lift her head above the crowd and get her bearings. When she finally saw her target she hopped down and made her way across the floor in the direction of a large bald man sitting at a booth with many other men. Most of the men inside of the pub were his. They were the Blood Eagles, a prestigious mercenary group within the Empire. Mercenary groups tended to become a dumping ground for failed Knights, and other fighters and soldiers that never had a shot. The reality was, as much as people looked down on the job, it was easily a lot of gid if one was able to join up with the right people. Ayla approached the table. As she forced her way through a few more guys Becker started to notice her. He smirked.

“Who’s kid is this!?” Ayla ignored the jab and stood beside the table, staring at him. He leaned away from her. As a girl Ayla was odd. She barely played and barely spoke to anyone except her own people. In fact, where she was from in Shanaine Ayla’s appearance was something of an omen, because the girl was vicious and only really showed up where she needed to be. This was without mentioning her striking silver eyes that brought about imagery of a full moon.

“You’re creeping me out. Whaddaya ya want?”

“I wanna join the Blood Eagles.”

He stared at her for a moment, then slowly drew a long smile across his lips and cackled along with the crew he had with him. “Sure!”

“Really?” She did not expect it to be that easy.

“Sure, sure.” Becker rested a hand on her shoulder and handed her a knife from his belt. She took it in her hands, turning it over. It was nicer than anything she owned. He pointed.

“See that guy over there by the bar with his head shaved all around the sides?”

Ayla scanned the bar, eyes resting on the man. “Long on top?”

“That’s right.” He was holding in laughter, but she did not pick on that cue and nodded along. “He’s my second in command and he’s a pain in my ass. You go kill him with that knife and I’ll let you join.” He let go of her shoulder and patted her on the back. The at most eight year-old girl was an amusing sight to the seasoned veterans. There were a lot of kids that came up trying to join. All of them were filled with bravado but none of them really knew what they wanted and would often be sent home crying.

Ayla looked down at the knife, trying to find a comfortable way to grip the big handle in her hands. It was as big as a sword to her. She looked up at Becker curiously and asked him with a serious expression:

“Really?”

“Not getting cold feet, are you?”

“Not really.” Ayle hid the knife behind her back, took in a deep breath and walked into the crowd towards the bar. As soon as she was gone Becker started snickering with his close crew.

“That’s not nice.” One of the men complained.

“That poor girl’s gonna cry…” He paused.

Becker filled the pause. “Relax. Just a little fun. These kids are all the same.” He leaned back and took a long quaff from his tankard.

“She’ll come back all embarrassed and shaking and apologise. I’ll flip her a gid for livening my night and-” There were a collection of panicked shouts from the bar. Becker stood up suddenly, nearly knocking the table over as he did, eyes widening as he saw his man Hugo. The pain in the ass was holding Ayla in a headlock with one arm while his other held the wrist that had the hand with the knife. She was kicking back at him with her small feet desperately to no effect.

Becker pushed through his men and boomed. “Hey hey! What’s going on!? Put her down!”

“The little assassin!?” Hugo screeched.

“It’s a girl.” Becker reasoned.

“It was a joke. A little chick with a knife was never even gonna muster the courage to stab a big guy like you.”

“Bullshit!” Hugo argued, keeping Ayla restrained.

“This little bitch had killing intent!” Around him, it was not just Hugo, but all of the mercenaries that stood as witnesses nodded along, looking at the girl like she was an oddity, or a creature.

Becker blinked. “She’s twelve you-” He finally rested his trained gaze on Ayla’s expression and saw it in her eyes. The will to do what he asked to the note. It was a look that needed to be trained into most men, and even then it was hard to actually develop that type of coldness in someone.

“Looks like I’m the idiot…” He muttered, walking over to grab the knife, and Ayla.

He sat alone with her in the booth. He ordered her something to eat. Things quieted down quite a bit. It seemed like a few people wanted to listen in on the conversation.

“You ever killed anyone before, kid?” He asked, watching her devour a sandwich.

“Animals count?” She asked.

Becker cocked his head to one side. “Nah. They don’t count. Call that hunting.”

“Not yet, then.” She said with her mouth full.

“But I will! He caught me…” She offered, blushing.

“Haaaah.” Becker lowered his head, scratching the back of his skull vigorously.

“Why do you wanna be a mercenary?”

“Money.”

“That’s… reasonable.” He admitted with a shrug. He thought about what to say next and decided on:

“So you were really trying to kill him, huh?”

“Yeah. He’s faster than me. If you give me someone I can-”

“Listen.” He interjected. Ayla stopped and listened.

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“A mercenary isn’t an assassin.”

She stared at him. “You guys kill people for money right? When you go to wars.”

“It’s different.”

“Seems like it’s the same.” Ayla observed.

“It’s not!” He argued back, choosing the approach that had him become louder than his opponent, because he was not tactful enough to argue any other way.

Ayla rolled her eyes at the approach, like she was used to it. “Okay.”

“Don’t just say ‘okay’ because I yelled at you!” He yelled. She looked up and stared into his bronze eyes. He felt a bit ashamed and covered his face.

“Sorry.” He lowered his tone quite a bit.

“You get yelled at a lot?”

“It’s not a big deal.” Ayla shrugged.

Becker inspected her more closely. Bruises, dirt over her face. Oddly, what she had in her eyes behind the mercury silver wasn’t desperation. She wasn’t a dog going for any piece of meat she could find. She found something she wanted, went after it and got given a way to get it, which she followed. It was methodical. It was dangerous.

“You ever hurt anyone before?”

Ayla nodded. “All the time.”

“Seriously? How?” She leaned back in the booth and looked a little bored as he asked asked that.

“I’ll order you something else.”

Ayla sat back up. “What do you wanna know?”

“What do you do?”

She thought about how to explain. When she found the words she leaned forward fully to tell him about what she did. “In my neighbourhood there’s kids that rob people, since it’s close to the main road. They can slip back into the district and hide and it’s pretty safe.”

Becker nodded. “You do that?”

She shook her head. “Sometimes it isn’t safe. Sometimes they get chased so I come around and ambush the people that come in and beat them. Then I take a bit of whatever they stole. Or else.”

“Or… else.” Becker repeated, staring at the girl like he was staring at an alien creature. A few of the mercenaries around the table were pretending not to listen, but were rapt.

“That’s right.” She paused.

“I’m feeding you, remember.” He coaxed, adding.

“Also, you wanna work for me, right?”

“Okay, boss. I’d beat the kids that didn’t share. I only had to do that a few times, because now everyone in the area knows me so they won't mess around. The older kids don’t come around anymore to pick on my kids. I can take whatever I want from them whenever. They can’t say or do anything because I’m stronger than them.”

The seasoned mercenary muttered under his breath. “Holy shit…” He shook off his awe and asked her.

“You beat up adults?”

“With a stick.”

“Of course…” Becker rubbed his eyes.

“You got anyone at home? Dad and mom?”

“I have a dad and a brother. They don’t want me around though. It’s fine if I leave and join you guys.”

“Why don’t they want you around?”

“Tch.” She turned her nose up.

“I just did to my brother what dad does to me sometimes. Discipline.”

Becker leaned over the table, resting his chin on his palm. “You’re not sad about any of this, kid?” Becker thought long and hard while looking at her. She stared back without a hint of any emotion except annoyance. But it didn’t change the things that were going on. He nodded to himself, thinking he would definitely regret his decision.

“Alright, trainee. You’re in, but there are conditions.”

“Really?” Ayla’s eyes widened excitedly. She bounced in her seat as the next round of food arrived. She dug in right away as if someone was going to take it. It was another sandwich with some gravy on the side.

“Hey hey.” He snapped his fingers. Ayla put the food down guiltily.

“Good. Looks like you can listen pretty well for a kid. Your name’s Ayla?” She nodded.

“Alright, Ayla, Blood Eagles aren’t like other Companies. We got rules for our members. You can't go around beating up kids or adults and you gotta report to me every day. The job comes with a salary and daily meals, but you’re gonna get paid and fed like a trainee, not a full member, got it?”

Ayla nodded attentively. “Yeah boss. That makes sense.”

Becker grinned widely at the response. “Alright! Good answer. Eat up. We start training tomorrow.”

“You’ll train me?” She asked curiously.

“That’s what a trainee is, right?”

“Right.” She filled her mouth, then swallowed and asked:

“Where should I sleep? Do I go home every night?”

Becker blinked. “Uhh… I guess we’ll have to accommodate you at the HQ.” He offered nervously. Anyone around him had to be aware that he was making a lot of unreasonable accommodations for a kid.