Jacky, The Blossoming Lotus

The day was shaping up to be rather nice, with its fair share of surprises. I allowed the Bo'sun to pass, since he was a good man down to his core. It was impressive how he managed to keep that kindness of his, despite the Underground constantly eating those morals up. On some level, I truly did respect him for having the courage to follow his desire and leave us like that. Letting out a small sigh, I lowered my ears, not looking forward to telling Cheshire.

I felt the wind shift beside me, as Cheshire appeared. The man was worse than a devil sometimes, just appearing at the mere thought of his name. I quickly looked ahead, while Cheshire, tapped my forearm, letting me know his side was clear. I kept my voice low, so only he could hear it, "It appears the new gang managed to tempt Bo'sun into their ranks. They intend on healing his wounds, and putting him to use."

Cheshire let out a slight huff, "Yeah, I figured. I was there when the Bobo fought that man five years ago. They are brothers, and have more history."

I lowered my head, contemplating what he meant by that. It really was annoying to be kept in the dark on such matters, but Cheshire was our leader in a loose sense. I sighed a little, as the illusion to hide Cheshire was in place. I began walking forward again, my magic concealing our conversation and keeping him hidden. "How is Ron exactly?"

Cheshire grinned, "Just fine actually, he's in the room where they are taking dead bodies for some reason. He's undead and a bit upset, but there is definitely something going on here. Either some Bishop is dipping their toes into the Underground with how willing they are to repair lost limbs, or Mal was a fucking Bishop the entire time."

I walked into the cell room with all the weapons, sitting on the bench. "It wouldn't surprise me if that was the case. A lot of bugs have been moving around lately, with some people being assassinated. Mal's carving out a territory, but it might not be too far of a stretch to say a pope might be involved."

Cheshire rubbed his chin, "Yeah, a quick attempt to secure themselves in the dead-zones to avoid the king. It would also explain why the Princess is with Kobe, since she isn't protected anymore."

"Exactly, but that doesn't mean we should even try messing with that. On one side you have Mal, and the Golden Circle. On the other you have The Minotaur. If they go to war, everyone between them is fucked." I balled my fists, knowing my tribe might be crushed or forced to pick a side if conflict broke out. They might start a large gang war, forcing people to pick sides and becoming fodder to prove their loyalty. I gritted my teeth, just thinking of the other tribes that might be forced into a dead-zone they aren't even prepared to handle.

Cheshire sat back with a sigh, "I can see this gang here being a group of outcasts, sent to do dirty work and cause a distraction. The real question is why. Let's say I had to move down here, and start a gang from scratch. Giving arms to people, and curing their disease is a good place to start. Now I have a disposible rag tag gang, likely enjoying a bit of fervor since they have a second chance. My next move is to send them to a big event, and have everyone focus on them. That means these guys are just pawns, and something big is happening."

"Then what about the dead bodies in the room with Ron?" I already figured they were potentially going to be revived, perhaps for some kind of second wave.

Cheshire shook his head with a tut, "That's a fake out, why revive no bodies? We have Ron there, so he's going to have to keep himself hidden. I don't think Kobe is going to do anything with the golden circle, unless they promise him the king's head on a silver platter. He probably allowed it, as a small token to Ron to potentially tempt him into joining his gang." Cheshire pulled out a small map with two locations marked near my tribe.

I tilted my head, "What's this?" From what I understood, they should be warehouses controlled by small local gangs.

Cheshire snapped his fingers and it vanished, "If shit goes down, I need to protect my assets. If conflict comes about, I want you to guide your tribe and the others to those two spots. They are hidden teleporters that lead outside the city, to the Raven's new town."

I raised a brow, "The Raven is still a player in this?"

Cheshire smiled, "Only so long as he needs people to keep his town running. He did something not even Kobe could manage, so I made a deal to build a couple teleporters for him. The catch is that of the four I built, two come in and two go out. He doesn't know where the ones going out are, and it's sort of like a gamble. If we use it first, I will owe him. If he uses his first, then he owes me. Neither of us expect to use it, but between a church and a Minotaur with stiffies for the king. I would rather go for the guy who'll swoop in while the gangs are weak, and take them over to prevent more violence."

I laughed a little, "Let's hope we won't have to use them, but truly, thank you."

Cheshire smiled, "Like I said, I'm just protecting my assets. The Raven is actually doing pretty good, before you ask. They had a bit of a hard time for the first month, but his fiendling put in a lot of work before hand. They just need to get their farms going, and I think they'll be able to stay where they are for a long time."

I relaxed a bit myself, "That's good to hear, is there anything you want or need from me for this information?" His grin told me that he was waiting just for that question, but I couldn't mind when he already secured a way for my people to live.

"I want you to win your fights, and yield to me at the end. I also want you to drag this one out, while I do a little searching. Bo'sun held in there for ten minutes, but he's not an endurance fighter. I need you to last a good thirty, even if you can just crush your opponent."

I nodded, "That's fine, what can you tell me about my opponent?"

Cheshire grinned, "An Entomancer named Douglas, used to live along the dead-zones. Not sure what happened, but was probably a part of some cult worshiping bugs or something. Should be easy for you."

"Yeah, depending on how smart the bugs he summons might be. Still, I'll give you thirty minutes. I can't promise any more than that. Just make sure you don't get caught. It'd be sad if you had to skip your fight and miss out on the prize." We grinned at each other, before he teleported away. I got up, doing some light stretches, and cracking my shoulders. There was a lot going on, and the elders of my tribe were likely keeping tabs on anything important. All I had to do was focus on this fight.

My door opened, and I walked out into the arena. I needed to make this thing last thirty minutes, and it went without saying that these guys could join us if they left the golden circle. No real harm was done with Ron dying, and since they are disposable it means they'll need somewhere to go after. Cheshire probably knew this, but wanted to make certain before telling the others not to kill their opponents if it could be helped. I could see the others in our stand, watching me. I gave Levi a little smirk since she was the newest member. She really did need to work on her nerves though.

The announcer howled out his words to get the audience pumped. "HAILING FROM THE TRIBE OF FOX MEN, ONE THAT MANY OF YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH! THE BLOSSOMING LOTUS HIMSELF! JACKY!" People cheered for me, since I was much more active than the rest. I was something of an enforcer to them, a protector if I needed to be. They knew me, and I knew them by their faces. I raised my staff into the air, as the crowd roared and chanted my name.

The announcer laughed, as I saw my opponent walking into the arena. Truly this was a bad match up for him, since we were in the arena. I could see his tattered robes, with the marking of his cult scratched out. The dark brown thing with its sleeves torn, and the bottom sliced. This man was an outcast to one of the entomancer cults that lived along the dead-zones. They were accepted, since the dead-zones needed a buffer and most creatures didn't want to deal with a swarm of bugs. Too little food for too much effort. "HIS CHALLENGER, AN ENTOMANCER FROM THE DEAD-ZONE! AN OUTCAST FROM HIS PEOPLE BY THE LOOKS OF IT! I KNOW WHO I'M BETTING ON THIS TIME!"

Douglas was a tall man, with short cut hair, and a pronounced beard. His eyes were sharp, while his hair was completely black. He brought no weapon with him, but balled his fists. I could see from the way he walked, that he was just more comfortable with them. His body lean and toned, making him a scrappy fighter. I held my staff out in front of me, doing a small bow. Douglas himself put a fist and palm together before returning it. The gong sounded, and I didn't feel anything moving beneath my feet. My eyes glowed, while I spread out illusions of myself.

Douglas smiled gently, his voice low and calm. "We may talk, or fight if you wish, master Jacky. I will allow you to make a spectacle regardless."

I raised a brow, hiding myself and him. The illusion I placed over him catching the fake staffs, while bugs began to skitter from the ground. "This really isn't the best place for a talk, but sure. Why do you want to talk exactly?"

He slowly approached with his hands raised, while I continued to fuel the illusion of the battle going on around us. "Before the battle started, I was told that you were to make it last. This coincides with our interests, and so there is no reason for me not to agree. Only a fool would seek a fight, when other options are more appealing."

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I nodded a little, not missing the fact that they overheard me talking to Cheshire. They might have a watcher in their group, or some kind of clairvoyance. "Putting aside how you might know that, I doubt this conversation will be a pleasant one going forward." I narrowed my eyes, watching his every movement.

He kept his hands up, "I do not know the details of your conversation, or why you seek to keep this battle going on. I have been given express permission to explain a few things. Answers that you likely crave due to the uncertainty of the future."

"You mean to tell me, that you're going to just sit here answering questions for roughly thirty minutes?" I sat my down, staff over my legs. The illusion fight becoming less intense as it became clear I was toying with the man.

He followed my lead, in sitting down. "More or less, our gang was forced into this fight." I caught his gaze as he looked towards Kobe for a second. I looked to see the Princess was missing, which meant she wasn't fooled by my illusions. If anything she's making her own moves now.

I lowered my voice, "You're telling me that your gang doesn't want to fight? Fifty gold coins is nothing to sneeze at."

Douglas softly shook his head, "We're much more interested in the monsters tomorrow. With that in mind, we're going into these fights without the intent to kill. I do apologize for Greg and the Bo'sun however. As for Ron... well he scared our creature."

I held up a hand myself, "I appreciate that you're apologizing over it, but Ron will be fine. What is the deal with that monster anyway?"

Douglas smiled, "Our vice found it in the Underneath. It's not my story to share, but do feel free to ask them."

I narrowed my eyes, knowing what he said was a lie. Though I wasn't sure what parts of it might be. Why call the master of that creature a vice? It would suggest that their leader is out and about, and also likely stronger and more capable. He could be lying to make them look stronger, but any leader of a gang with a scrap of pride wouldn't accept being called a vice. Especially by a subordinate. Perhaps it wasn't found in the Underneath, and there are more of them out there? I scratched my head, considering that. Which might be possible, since the vice had one their leader might have five. "I might have to ask them later, but how strong is it? The creature? What is it exactly?"

Douglas beamed a smile at me, "She's an answer to many questions. If our vice, or she herself dies, our gang will go to war with whoever did such."

The illusionary fight continued with the bugs catching on fire, and passing out because of my talent. The man I was fighting, exclaiming his surprise. "I see, I'll make sure others know not to kill them. What about yourself and the others?"

Douglas nodded slowly, "We don't expect to die, but if that happens we only have ourselves to blame. We were told not to enter, that our vice would be enough. Of course, we couldn't sit by and let him do all of the work. We want to be reliable, useful in a sense."

I let out a soft sigh, "You respect your vice that much?"

"Of course, he was the one that talked our leader into letting us come along for this. To turn this entire mess into an opportunity." The way he smiled to himself told me that he wasn't lying.

I tilted my head back, contemplating what to ask next. "What do you mean by opportunity exactly? What are your goals here? Are you associated with the golden circle?"

Douglas considered my questions, "Those answers will reveal themselves soon enough. We'll have to come to an agreement on certain answers however, a trade if you would. I also need to say that torture will not work on any of us, because even we don't know all of the plans our leader has thought up. It is a victory as long as some of them advance, even if others fail or outright fall apart."

I crossed my arms, while the illusionary battle went up, with my illusion being surprised by bugs crawling on my legs, before I kicked them off and squished them. "I see, so your boss thinks like Cheshire then. What do you want, in order for you to tell me if you are associated with the Golden Circle or not?"

Douglas tilted his head back, "A promise that those you are associated with, will not enter the dead-zones to the West. Our gang would prefer to remain hidden and safe in that area. We are not looking for more members at the moment, and we do not wish to save anyone foolish enough to come looking for us."

I knew that area had Fukuma, Burrow Worms, and likely a few nests of nastier creatures there. The place really fell apart when the Raven left, since his gang was more or less keeping it under control. It was land that no body really wanted to deal with, if anything it was something the local tribes would willing give. I slowly nodded, "That promise can be kept, so long as you keep the dead-zone itself from creeping in to the populated areas."

Douglas grinned, "We're not associated with the Golden Circle, nor is Mal." The implication was that they were an offshoot of Mal's gang, or at least protected in some way by them. Despite the fact that Mal's gang let the Princess do as she pleased, they were generally well received since they did their best to clean up the messes she left behind. It was likely they were expanding in that case, if they were no longer safe guarding the princess.

Judging by the man's face, he was willing to share more information, I let out a soft sigh. "What is your goal here at the arena exactly? Especially since you were forced to fight? How is this an opportunity?"

Douglas nodded gently, "We're going to want a couple warehouses protected by your tribe for that one. We will protect your tribe, even using our bugs to allow your escape if need be."

I frowned, "What about the other tribes in that area? I cannot speak for them, but I have a good deal of pull. You're offering protection for space, and a place to store your wares. What do you plan on keeping in those places exactly?"

"Mainly food, and a lot of bugs. We don't have a lot of storage space, and keeping a large supply of food is currently impossible for us." He put his hands in his lap.

"I see, the dead-zone creatures would be attracted to the smell of rotting meat, or whatever else. So to keep yourselves safer, you're moving the food where it won't be that big an issue. While keeping all the more expensive goods that won't attract monsters or creatures in your dead-zone. I'll have a warehouse prepared in my tribe, and will talk to others. How strong are these bugs you're putting in our tribe's land? How much time can they be expected to buy if something happens?" This was essentially Mal's gang offering to protect our tribes in the absence of the Raven. Likely talking to me about this was one of their goals from the start, but it was beneficial for all groups involved.

Douglas stroked his beard, "You'll see tomorrow how powerful our bugs are. We'll expect your answer within two weeks for that. In consideration for your original question. We're able to establish connections, show off our strength, and arrange deals with prominent figures within neutral lands. We will not ask you to take our side, but if you choose to aid us and align your tribe with our gang, we'll allow you to tap into our food stores."

My eyes widened at that, it was like he was suggesting they had a way to get more than enough food to just give our tribes and feed our people. I looked him over, trying to understand if this was a lie, but nothing about it seemed like such. "How much food can you possibly have?" The larger gangs usually hoarded the food that came from above, leaving neutral tribes and smaller gangs to fend for themselves. Which typically led to in fighting between us. Cheshire helped by stealing from the food stores of larger gangs, but it wasn't enough to keep everyone healthy.

Douglas grinned, "Our vice hunted a few burrow worms and that just went to the bugs coming in tomorrow. We have a reliable way for hunting them, but we need to secure more of their breeding grounds to make certain we don't hunt them all. After all they are one of the few creatures that can hunt and eat monsters without suffering."

"If you can bring a fresh Burrow Worm to my tribe in a week, I can promise you'll have the warehouses you want. I'll also see about asking my elder, if there are grounds that need to be exterminated. We'll also provide you with fair compensation, and aid if you are able to do that." I couldn't let this chance to make the tribes stronger slip past. Warehouses meant nothing, wealth was useless when your people were starving to the point other tribes might try attacking you for food. If Cheshire was a devil in my eyes, then this gang was a full blown demon dangling what we needed before us.

Douglas smiled, "That can be arranged, but this will no longer be an offer if we're at war. After all, I told you at the start if our Vice or his pet are killed we will go to war."

I swallowed hard, nodding. The battle for the crowd almost over. Cheshire was good enough to kill two of the burrow worms by himself, but doing so required a few of us helping him so others didn't attack. He also had to slowly slice them apart with his portals since they were too big for his focus to completely sever the head in one strike. The two worms we did get, were only enough to feed all the tribes for a couple weeks at most. Which was deemed too dangerous compared to stealing from other gangs. If it was just any tribe that allied with them, one worm would be more than enough to feed everyone and make other leaders contemplate the benefits of offering their own warehouses.

All of this was a stark contrast to the fight the crowd saw. Where it appeared I was toying with Douglas the entire time, letting him bring bugs from under us to attack. I was being toyed with for the offer they gave me. The confidence he displayed as he happily declared they could just find and kill Burrow Worms with ease. The weight of my people bearing down on my shoulders. Fifty gold coins was enough to keep us going for a month, as we bought all the food we could, yet Cheshire had his eyes on that. It meant it would go to all the tribes, to buy us another week while we waited for the harvest and the food prices to go down.

I stood up, gripping my staff. "I'm going to knock you out in one strike. I'll inform Cheshire of what you said, and your terms." My tails wiped the dust off my pants, while Douglas stood up himself with a nod.

I worked the illusion to make it seem as though Douglas finally figured out where I was, charging towards me. I did a quick spin, catching his jaw and knocking him to the ground while standing there with fake sweat dripping from me. The other illusions stopping as the crowd cheered. I pretended to pant, before a few slaves came in to drag the man away. I raised my staff to show my victory to the crowd. I had to use an illusion to hide my face with a smile. While I grimaced at everything offered, and how uncertain the future might look.

This was a gang that claimed to have been to the Underneath and back, offering hope. There was nothing about them, no knowledge or deeds to support their claims. Yet, I felt it in my bones that confidence was nothing to brush off. I needed to fight their vice to truly gauge how powerful they were. I needed substance before I could place my hopes on them. I returned to the cell, before walking about.

Cheshire showed up, with a light whistle, "Thirty minutes exactly, and you came out with a sour face. Something must have happened."

I nodded, "Yeah, and I'll tell you everything. What did you find on your end?"

Cheshire grinned, "I found lizardmen, and bugs that can do magic. The princess moving to watch where they were going. It seems they are positioning themselves around the territory of the Fiend's Eye. They are clean and efficient, picking off members of that gang slowly but surely. Something big is likely to happen tomorrow."

"Yeah, an army of bugs apparently. You said they can do magic?" I gripped my staff more, hoping I misheard him.

Cheshire let out a soft sigh, "I didn't believe it at first either. Beetles like the one that creature has, but slightly smaller. Mal themself might be their leader, and I wouldn't be surprised if he struck a deal with the king for this."

I gently explained what I was told by Douglas, and how that likely wasn't the case of Mal working with the King to do something to the Underground. How they wanted to claim the dead-zones to the West. We spent our time just talking and trying to figure out more of the puzzle. There still wasn't enough information, but Cheshire decided this next fight was worth watching personally.