The question took Lolly and John aback, not for the reason that they were facing the Escottian Hunter himself, but because he sounded suspiciously calm for someone with his reputation.
“AYE! I ASKED YE’ A QUESTION!! WHAT DO YE’ BAIRNS WANT WITH ME?!”
And just like that, they were corrected. But now they were too afraid to talk. An angry Escottian accent strikes fear to even the most cold-blooded people, you know.
“Uhm, Napalm–”
“Callin’ me by me’ first name? Yer aff yer heid.”
“Sorry, Fehìonas. We’ve come here for a certain reason. This’ll be hard to explain, especially with these knaves around us, why don’t you just bust out with your Element?”
“Arr ye’ insane, lad? Do ye’ not see these shackles o’round me’ arms and legs?”
“So? I’m sure someone with powers could bust out.”
“Slow it down, lad. In case ye’ haven’t noticed, this be revanite. And it be so convenient that these shackles be o’round the vital spots where Elemental energy comes from.”
“Well, I’m a Stone Elemental, I’m pretty sure I could–”
“Yer arse and parsley. Revanite disables all Elements and isn't affected a bit by them. Yer stone not doing a thing to these shackles.”
“Hmph, we’ll find a way to get you out of here, come on, Lolly, let’s–”
“Haud yer wheesht! I be perfectly fine, where I am right now.”
“Huh? Wouldn’t you want to escape from this prison?”
“Tch, t’who’s gonna keep those criminals in their place?” Napalmic laughed, it was strange seeing someone like him smile.
“You seem pretty glad to be locked up here, any reason why?”
“I did what I wanted to do. No regrets, aye.”
“And, what was it that you did?”
“Why should I? We ain’t laddy-lads, are we?”
“...Is there any way to convince you to talk to us?”
“Well, I s’ppose there is one method, aye.”
“Tell us, then.”
“Ye’ probably saw that big grey building over there, aye? On th’first floor is a storage room where they keep t’confiscated crap o’ the scum that comes here, if ye’ could, pick up a sword that be in that room. It’ll have a Flame Orb on its cross guard. If ye can, pick up a red suit of armor, too.”
“Hey, John, ya’ don’t think dat’ place is guarded, right?”
“Of course it’s guarded, but if it’s the only way to get this guy to join us, so be it. Let’s head out before some watchmen come in here.”
Lolly nodded her head. They ran off back from where they came from, and outside. Napalmic sighed.
“Who am I foolin’ here? Those spineless pints will just run away and leave me here, just like that cursed Balandian witch…”
John and Lolly got out of the building, they were now staring up at the gray tower that loomed over them. They scanned the big open wooden gates, checking for any guards. To their surprise, there actually weren't any guardsmen watching over the place.
“Ok, this place really needs to improve their security.”
With no hesitation, they made a dash over to the gates, and stepped inside.
What they saw within was seemingly a labyrinth of gray corridors, doors, rooms, and desks. They also heard the rapid pacing of multiple sets of footprints of guardsmen. Their first instinct was to hide under one of the desks, waiting for whatever was walking by to quiet down. They could hear the chattering of multiple watchmen.
“How’s Razz doing?”
“He’s alright, though it’s pretty frustrating when I’m trying to give him a present and he just swats it away like he’s above me.”
“Anyone watched the big Ellitch* game tonight?”
“Oh yeah! D’Bron Layne went crazy with the ball and his Element.”
“You know, I don’t think the Escottian being sent here was good news.”
“Eh, if they sent him to us, then we’re obviously up to the task.”
DONG, DONG, DONG
“All staff of Rubiang Prison, please report to floor 3 for an urgent meeting. I repeat; All staff of Rubiang Prison, please report to floor 3 for an urgent meeting.”
“Ugh, another mandatory meeting?!”
“Let’s get this over with…”
The footsteps soon faded into obscurity as all the watchmen shuffled upstairs, for whatever meeting they were about to hold. I know the writer wants to progress the story faster, but this is just lazy. John glanced behind to see Lolly, she nodded. They both stood up, and began walking around the massive floor.
“Aah reckon there’s aaht least a sign for dat’ storage room.”
“Maybe it’s in the back.”
“Oh, you’re probably right.”
Lolly blitzed over to the far back of the first floor. John was worried the loud noise of her running would attract suspecting guardsmen.
“Hey!” He called out to Lolly, she turned to see John with a nervous face, putting one finger over his mouth.
“Ah, mah’ bad!”
John shook his head. He followed Lolly, looking around the gray interior of the building. He couldn’t help but feel cold inside. The place had a sleek design, yes, but it felt all too unfamiliar.
“Hey, John! Aah found the room!”
John’s eyes opened wide, he saw Lolly, who was pointing to a large door, there was a sign above it, reading “Confiscated Goods”. John tried to open up the door, but it was locked. So they do care about their security after all! John looked up. The only way they could gain access would be to smash down the door, but that would make a lot of noise. He bit his lip. After thinking for a moment, he realized there really wasn’t any better option than to do it loudly.
“Here goes nothing…”
He began to form the gauntlet of stone around his arm, constantly taking glances at the ceiling above him as he was doing so. If he was caught, it would be over, joeover, even. The rock arm finished forming itself. John shook it a few times to get any dust off of it. He readied himself, he was silently praying the noise wouldn’t attract the watchmen. With intense force, he swung his fist.
WHAM!
A large hole was made in the wall, bits and pieces of wood flew around the place. This mess was going to be difficult to clean up.
----------------------------------------
“Hey, did you guys hear something?”
“That? That was probably just some wyvern birds.”
“Ah, you’re probably right.”
----------------------------------------
“Huh? They didn’t hear that?”
“Aah guess they got some tiny little ears, c’mon, let’s get in aahlready!”
John and Lolly paced through the hole. It was a dark room, hard to see anything. To John, it reminded him of that dream he had last night. He could almost imagine those terrifying black arms, reaching out to him. He almost wanted to just break down and panic on the spot, but he couldn’t just show such weakness this early into the journey, right? To him, that would be absurd.
He then noticed a shine from the corner of his eye, an eye-catching shine. John and Lolly turned round to see two glass cases of different sizes, they stood next to each other, both with a prestige aura. In one case, was an insanely long, sharp looking blade.
The blade looked a deep gray, almost matching the gray of the walls of the main building they were held in. The hilt of the claymore was a strange design. Its cross-guard looked like a pair of pillars, the way they stretched out and curved inwards. At the pommel, was a hollow red circle with a clear glass within. It held a small, yet bright crystal. It seemed all too mesmerizing. What was probably the most noticeable object on the sword was the flame orb placed on the base center of the cross-guard. It was a red ball, about the size of John’s palm. There was a flame pattern along the bottom of the orb.
“Whaaht’s a flame orb do aahgain? Napalmic did mention it.”
“From what I heard, they allow whatever item it’s attached to link with its user’s Element. In other words, that sword is like a part of Napalmic now.”
“Oh, dat’ makes sense. Ya’ think people use otha’ orbs like these?”
“Considering this is our first time seeing an orb, no.”
As if the big claymore wasn’t eye-catching enough, the larger case standing proudly held a treasure of its own: A large suit of armor. The red chest piece was big and bulky, with a flame pattern running down the sides, forming a fiery outline, fit for a Fire Elemental. It had large, black pauldrons on the shoulders. There was a short pitch-black paludamentum with a red underbelly on the left pauldron. Around the waist area was some kind of fur belt, most likely belonging to a wolf. From there it connected to the red steel leggings. Interestingly, on the front and back of the leggings were small, yet noticeable holes poked into the armor, a very peculiar choice. Wrapping around the red armor was a brown leather sheath, large enough to hold something like… A claymore.
“This… This has to be the sword that Napalmic uses!”
“Aahnd the armor, too!”
John and Lolly looked at each other, they both cracked a big smile.
“Jackpot!★” They both exclaimed.
“Wait, but how aare we gonna get these outta the cases?”
“I could just smash it…”
“Nah, you’ll break the sword and arma’, too.”
“Hmm…”
But then, they noticed the very obvious lever to open the cases. They felt like idiots for taking that long to notice. John facepalmed before walking up to the sword case, and opening it. The glass swung open, revealing the sword for John’s taking. He lifted it up, but something about the sword surprised him.
“Oh geez, this is pretty heavy…” John muttered. Lolly wanted to call John out on what he said. Of course it was heavy, it wasn’t a small dagger, after all. She kept it to herself, however, snickering with her hands covering her mouth.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothin’, nothin’.”
“Hm. That armor is probably super heavy. You think my stone arms can lift these things up?”
Lolly shrugged. John took it as a sign to do it. He quickly set down the sword, and raised up his arms. He quickly generated the rocky gauntlets. He reached in again in an attempt to lift up the sword. Lo and behold, he was able to pick it up with minor difficulty. He smiled.
“Yeah, there we go.”
Holding the sword, John generated another gauntlet in his other arm. He opened up the case to retrieve the crimson armor, slowly picking each item of the suit off the stand it was held in, and holding it in his arms. John realized that juggling all these heavy pieces of armor and a sword without making noise was going to be difficult. He thought of some kind of option, before looking at Lolly. An idea sparked in his head.
“Do you think you can create a vacuum of pudding around this equipment? I think that’ll cancel out the sound made from me running around with this.”
“Yeah, but it’ll be real sticky. Won’t the fire guy be mad?”
“Nah, what’s the worst that could happen?”
The worst is going to happen.
“Well, whateva’ ya’ say.”
Opening up her palms to the armor and sword, Lolly began to create an outline of white pudding around the armor and sword. John could already feel the stickiness of the gelatin, but it was so tight that it hardly made any noise when John moved around with it. He nodded and Lolly and ran out the hole they made in the wall. Lolly followed quickly, they ran out of the building as quickly as they could, they hoped that the staff in their meeting wouldn’t notice two people running suspiciously with gear and weapons.
----------------------------------------
A worker looked out the window to see the birds.
“What’re you looking at?”
“Eh, just the birds.”
“It’s awfully quiet here, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, you’re right… Hey, wait…”
“What is it?”
“I swear I saw two kids run around with two confiscated goods… Can I be excused?”
“Sure.”
“Thanks, I’ll be back soon.”
----------------------------------------
Re-entering Building H, John and Lolly made a break for Napalmic’s cell. The condemned in the cells stared at John and Lolly confusingly, both for the reason they dared to return to this rowdy and loud building, and for the fact that they came back with that large sword and the imposing cherry colored armor. They reached the end of the corridor, seeing Napalmic in his cell. His black eyes widened at the sight of their return, especially with them holding his weapons and armor.
“Eh?! Ye bairns actually brought back me’ sword?! And the armor, too? I-”
“Huh? Didn’t you ask us to bring us your sword? We thought your armor would be appreciated, too.”
“Haud yer wheesht. I wasn’t expecting the lot o’ you bairns t’actually bring back me gear… Foine! A promise is a promise! I’ll tell ye bairns why I’m stuck ere’.”
John and Lolly leaned in, anticipating Napalmic's story.
“Hey, what are you two doing here?”
John and Lolly turned. It was a tall man, he wore some kind of blue uniform and a hat. It was a guardsman.
“Shoot! They found us! We gotta go, John!”
“No! I’m not leaving Napalmic to rot here!”
That singular phrase echoed into Napalmic. It drilled in his head like a catchy song. “I’m not leaving Napalmic to rot here!”... He cocked his head at John, squinting.
“Aye, could ye’ repeat what ye’ said?”
“Step away from the prisoner, you two! He’s dangerous!”
Ignoring the call from the watchman, John turned to look at Napalmic, Lolly still kept a nervous eye on the watchman. Is John trying to get caught?!
“I said I’m not leaving you here, why?”
At that exact moment, Napalmic smiled. This wasn’t the kind of smile you’d expect out of a mad swordsman, no… This was the smile of someone who had just found hope, the kind of hope you’d think would be impossible to obtain after digging yourself so low… The sort of hope that would set a fire ablaze in your heart. That was the variant of hope that Napalmic found.
“Lad, pass that sword through the cell bars.”
“Hey! Don’t listen to him!”
“Your sword?”
“Aye.”
Without hesitation, John put down the armor and slided the sword through the openings of the cell. Napalmic gripped onto the claymore, looking at his blade and the hilt. A smirk cracked on his face.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Aye, it’s t’real Mccoy, aalright. T’anks, lad.”
SLASH
John and Lolly were astonished by the sheer power that went into that swing. They didn’t even see it. One second, Napalmic was calmly holding his blade, the next, boom. Cell gone.
“What the- I thought the revanite disabled your powers!”
“Crivvens! Ye’ t’ot that was my element? T’at was all just strength!”
“Escottian! Stay right where you are! I got a flintlock, and I’m not afraid to use it!”
“A flint? T’ose shoddy lil ball shooters? You can take a shot if ye’ wish, but yer in for pain if you do.”
The man pushed a button to his side, John could notice a small amount of electricity leaving his fingers and entering the button, a few moments after he had pressed it…
DONG DONG… DONG DONG
“Aye, looks like I can’t sneak out anymore.”
“Prisoner, if you don’t stay in your cell–”
“Take yer best shot, lad, I’d like to see it.”
The man’s hand shook. Lolly looked at Napalmic as if he were a mad man.
“Aare ya’ serious?! No one can beat a flintlock user like dat’!”
BANG!
The shot fired. Lolly and John covered their eyes in fear of seeing Napalmic being shot, but to their surprise, when they peeked out, Napalmic wasn’t standing in the same place. In fact, he was actually standing directly over the watchman’s body, looking down at him with a smug grin.
“Told ye’ so.”
“H-Holy…! You killed him!”
“What? Are ye’ bloody blind, lad? I only hit him with the flat side of me’ blade.”
John and Lolly took another look at the guard, Napalmic wasn’t lying. There was no sign of a wound or blood anywhere on his body. In fact, his chest kept rising up and down, signifying breathing.
The fear left the bodies of John and Lolly as they gazed back to Napalmic, who had a smug grin written all over his fiery face.
“Aye. He’ll get up, but only his mam’ is gonna recognize his face. C’mon, let’s go, before they swarm us!” Napalmic chuckled. Okay, I can’t be the only one annoyed by Napalmic here. This man is supposed to be the big guy for crying out loud, and he’s acting like he's the main character! The writer better make him learn his role somewhere down the line, or I’m gonna blow something up.
Lolly and John nodded without question, and ran over to Napalmic, the bell was still ringing loudly, it wouldn’t be long before the other watchmen would reach John, Lolly, and Napalmic. The tension was so high that it could reach the deepest depths of the universe.
Little did John know, he would soon have to face off against someone he thought he’d never see again…
----------------------------------------
Proxus awoke from his slumber, or at least, he thought he had. He couldn’t see anything. There was something over his head which blocked his vision. He also felt that his arms, legs and his hands were tied up and bound. And judging from how he felt, he assumed he was strapped down to a chair. He could hear mumbling and chattering coming from all around him. He tried to speak out, but it seems as if something was keeping his mouth shut, too.
“Ya’ think he’s a real one?”
“Of course he’s the real Mccoy! You think the boss was blotto when he spotted him?”
“Speaking of the boss, where is big A?”
“The big cheese is getting someone to sense if he’s a real Balandian, ya’ boob!”
“Huh? Lady J?”
“Not ‘Lady’, she thinks that title is too fancy.”
“Oh right. Big Sis J.”
“How many times do I have to tell you bums?! It’s Mister A, not big A!”
Fwip
The object was removed from Proxus’ head, he looked down to see that it was a burlap sack, acting as a mask. Proxus looked around the room, it was a dimly lit room, with only a singular candle hanging from the ceiling. It looked messy. To his side was a huge doorway. Just who in the heck needs a doorway that huge? There were many men surrounding him, all wearing some kind of uniform; An open white trench coat with a white undershirt. They were all wearing short turquoise scarves around their necks. It seemed that they were all armed, too. All of their ugly mugs were staring at Proxus, some with interest, others with disgust, and some with a menacing grin. One of the men walked up to Proxus, and ripped off whatever was covering Proxus’ mouth.
“Where am I? Who are you people? And why are all your outfits so… Fashionably challenged?” Barked Proxus.
“Ey’! Don’t insult our uniform!” One of the men leaned in closer to whisper in Proxus’ ear. “He came up with this outfit, y’know… You’ll really hurt his feelings…”
Proxus scoffed, but that's when he noticed a man standing in the middle of all the other goons. Something about him gave off a different vibe. He wore the white trench coat and white shirt that the others wore, but his scarf was red, and he was wearing a red hat with a white feather sticking out from it. He had a scar across his cheek. He grinned at Proxus.
“I’m guessing you’re the head honcho of these newbs?” Snapped Proxus. He turned his head to his side, defiantly looking away from the boss of the thugs.
“Ya’ catch on quickly, eh? You can just call me Mister A. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” As Mister A said this, he took out a cigar from his pocket, and ordered a henchman to light it with his Fire Element.
“Tch, tied up to a chair surrounded by gangsters, real friendly.”
“So you’re a joker, yeah? I bet Fox would get along with ya’. Heh, but having tea time isn’t why you’re here.”
“Just get on with it, I’m kind of busy, you see.”
“Oh, we can tell. My crooks noticed how you ran out of that cave with the acreage in hand. We did you a favor and took it off ya’.”
Now that Mister A mentioned it, Proxus didn’t feel the gem he had obtained in the cavern. He was now considerably angry. He tried to get up from the chair, but the bonds holding him down were too tight from him to even budge.
“Where the f–”
“Ey, watch your tone,” "Interrupted Mister A. “Kids could be watching, you see? Don’t worry, it’s in good hands.”
A crook approached behind Mister A and tapped on his shoulder.
“Um, Mister A…”
“What is it, buster?”
“I don’t mean to sound impatient or anything, but can we please get it on with the check already? Standing here all day is killing my feet.”
Mister A turned his attention from the crook that approached him back to Proxus.
“Alright, listen here… What’s your face?”
“Proxus Kókk–”
“Don’t care about the last name. How about I just call you Proxy? So, Proxy, the thing is, we wanna find out if you’re a real Balandian or not.”
“Huh? What kind of stupid question is that?! I’m obviously a Balandian!”
“Well, my boys here still don’t believe me, no matter how many times I try to tell em’. People are so ignorant these days, amiright? So, I wanna introduce ya’ to someone who can really tell the difference between the real deal and a quack.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“Come on out, Big Sis J!”
Proxus heard loud, heavy footsteps, and they were coming in fast. He turned to his left, and saw some sort of figure from within the large doorway. When the vaguely humanoid shape came closer, he could make out some of the details; Red skin, long, barbaric white hair, leafy green, narrow eyes, and… Horns. Proxus was confused by the appearance, just what kind of Element could produce a body type like that?
And then, the figure came out through the doorway, her full body now visible.
“What’s up, Mister A? Is it my time to shine now?”
She bellowed in a low, harsh voice. Of course, the first thing Proxus noticed was just how tall she was, it was unbelievable. It was like she could carry at least 5 or 6 of the men in her arms if she wanted to. Proxus also noted just how muscular her body was compared to everyone else’s.
“Hey, big girl,” Said Proxus. “Tell me, just what is your workout routine, I really need it…”
“That?” Started Mister A. “Heh, that’s her Eleme–”
“For the last damn time, it’s NOT a dumb element. It’s just how I am.” Snapped the statuesque woman.
“Wait,” Said Proxus. “If you’re not an Elemental… Then what the heck are you?!”
“The one and Oni, little boy.”
“O-Oni…?”
Proxus thought about it for a second… Where did he hear that name before? Oh! Yes! The history books! He remembered skimming through the books Judas gave to him a while back. Proxus was never a bookworm, but to humor him, he looked through a few pages of one of the books. There was one page amongst them that struck primal fear into Proxus. The page that described a certain race… A race the book described as the natural predators to Balandians.
“YOU’RE AN ONI?!” Proxus began thrashing violently in his chair. He was desperate to get out, struggling and failing to escape his containment. He tried extending his claws to cut the bonds that held him, but the Oni woman put her hand over his, which somehow stopped his claws from extending. It was as if her skin was so hard, even claws couldn’t penetrate it. Proxus felt as if he couldn’t move, he could only sit, frozen in fear. His breath was becoming uneven and heavy.
“Hey now. This isn’t the war anymore, right? I won’t hurt you… On purpose.”
Mister A laughed, glancing at the fuss Proxus was making. “Heh, I know that would make this bruno close his head. Big Sis, are your horns tingling?” He pointed his thumb to Proxus, a hand on his hip.
“Well, let’s have a looksie, yeah?” The Oni began to approach Proxus, she bent down to level her head with his. Proxus leaned back away as far as possible. His crescent eyes turned into full circles as he stared at the Oni in terror.
Proxus couldn’t believe it. Seriously?! An Oni? He was starting to reconsider his decision to attempt to jump John a second time. He looked up at her horns, the tips glowing brightly, then they stopped.
“My, my. This one here is most definitely the real deal, Mister A. No doubt about it!”
The entire room roared in celebration as Proxus continued to panic. Even though his mouth wasn’t being held tightly shut, he couldn’t manage to find any word to say, not one at all. Eventually, he found the courage to say something about his situation.
“Y-Y-You... Huh, that's actually impressive. What's your workout routine?.” Proxus had just noticed the kind of clothes the Oni was wearing. It was the open trench coat others had, but her undershirt was different, as it left the stomach open. The sleeves were torn off, as well, showing off her arms.
The Oni woman leaned in on Proxus with an angry expression. Any newfound bravery he may have found was now snuffed out.
“Wouldn't you like to know, little guy?”
“W-why the heck do you people want me anyways?! Why is needing to know if I’m a Balandian so important?!”
The boss cocked his head, he gestured to the Oni woman to step back, to which she obeyed.
“You see… If you’re a Balandian, that means you can help us with our little plan, capiche?”
“Hmph, don’t know what that plan is and I don’t care. There’s nothing in it for me.”
“That so? Tell us what you’re lookin’ for, we may be able to help… Come of think of it, you were running towards Rubiyang, weren’t cha’?”
“Maybe I was, what about it?”
“We were actually planning on breaking someone outta that place before you came along, is there someone you’re looking for, too?”
“Well… There is. It’s a guy I wanna slam into the ground.” Said Proxus, his speech was slowly starting to recover as he was getting used to the Oni in the room.
“Heh. We won’t ask for the specifics, but if we’re going to the same place, we might as well help each other, right?”
“I guess.” Scoffed Proxus. He continued to look to his side, avoiding eye contact with either Mister A or the Oni.
“Good! Consider yourself an honorary member of Omegum.” Mister A said in an ominous tone. He slowly reached out his hand to Proxus.
“Can we go now?! I’m tired of sitting around!” Growled Proxus. He really just wanted to get out of his miserable containment.
“So eager, huh? Big Sis! You wanna work with him?”
“With pleasure, Mister A.”
“N-n-no! Blast that! I wanna go on my own!” The fear re-planted itself into Proxus’ head as he began to shake sporadically in his seat.
“Hey now, little man, don’t you worry. If you’re an honorary member like Mister A said, then I’ll take good care of you.” Said the Oni in a teasing tone, she was squinting with one eye, grinning at the frightened Proxus.
“Busters! You can untie Proxy now.”
Two crooks approached Proxus’ chair , and released the ropes that were holding Proxus captive. Proxus slowly stood up, and shook his hands.
“Hm, aren’t Balandians supposed to love blipping people out? You’re not gonna go crazy on us?”
“If you know that, why the heck did you let your crooks untie me? Besides, It’s not like I can, or else that big girl is gonna tear me a new one.”
“Hahaha! That’s the line I wanted to hear, ya’ see?”
“You little… Let’s just get it over with. And don’t think I’m staying in your posse for long, I don’t care enough about this group to stay in it.”
“Mhm, sure. The stairs are right behind me.”
Mister A stepped aside, revealing a staircase, Proxus could see the bright daylight coming out from the stairs. The Oni quickly grabbed the kanabō that was sitting on the wall. Excited and eager to use this opening where the Oni wasn’t looking, he sprinted to and fro the stairs. But alas, Proxus, you poor, poor, antagonist…
CLAMP
The Oni Woman came outside and snatched Proxus. She dragged him to her and lifted him over her shoulders. She began to run at intense speeds in the direction Proxus was running to. To Rubiyang Prison.
“He-Hey! Let me go!” Proxus kept smacking the Oni’s back with his fists in a pouting manner. He tried to squeeze out of her grasp, but there was no escape.
“Nah, it’s kinda my job to look out for the little guys like you.” Calmly said the Oni, it was as if she didn’t even feel the tantrum that Proxus unleashed on his back.
Proxus looked up to notice that… There was no base anywhere near the stairs they came out from.
“Uh, hey, where’s your guys’ base?” Questioned Proxus, his eyes squinted in confusion as he raised his hand above his eyes.
“What do you mean? We were just in our base! Our main base is underground, it allows for easy hiding from watchmen.” She explained. Her running didn’t slow down one bit as she gave her explanation.
“Hmph… This whole group is a load of lunatics… Well, if we’re gonna be working together, can I at least get your name?” Asked Proxus as he ran his fingers down his face in exhaustion.
“I don’t see why not. My name is Kreffica Cilven, Omegum Juliet. you?”
“Proxus Kókkino… It’s a displeasure to meet you.” Proxus snarked, he chuckled slightly under his breath.
“You know enough about the Oni to know what I can do to you, yeah?” Said Kreffica, her tone now threatening.
“So-sorry… It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Proxus’ voice converted to a witty, ill-tempered voice to a meek, quiet one. He grinded his teeth as he said this.
“Good boy.”
“Hmph. Hey, wait a second. How come I haven’t seen any Oni other than you, did you all go extinct, because if so…!” Exclaimed Proxus excitedly.
“Extinct? Nah, alive and thriving. It’s just that most of my kind just stay away from Elementals, up in the mountains. You won’t find a lot of us running around unless you’re specifically going to an Oni town.”
“Blast. And, what about you?” Said Proxus, he smacked his tongue before looking back at Kreffica.
“Me? Well, me personally, I sort of dislike the whole living in isolation thing.” Her voice started to sound more coarse than it already was as she mentioned her race’s culture of isolation.
“Why?”
“Don’t you think it’s stupid? We helped the Elementals win the second war–”
“Yeah, I know, you people were their crutch.” Barked Proxus flatly.
“Crutch or no crutch, we played a pivotal role in winning the war, and instead of embracing the alliance and living in harmony with the Elementals, we decide to distance ourselves?! Well, I’m sorry, but that’s idiotic.” Kreffica ranted. Despite Proxus’ initial indifference (and fear) of her, he couldn’t help but feel a little bad for Kreffica. He knows what it’s like, being hidden away from the public eyes and all.
Proxus sighed. “That so, huh? At least you people isolated yourselves by your own free choice… We had to be banished to another dimension entirely.” He narrowed his eyes as he said this.
“That just sounds like a difference in skill between us.” Kreffica looked back at Proxus with a joking smile.
“Whatever the case may be, it bugs me how we got kicked out from the world we originated from.”
“How did you even arrive here? Where’s your squad?”
“I don’t need to tell you that…” Snarled Proxus, he looked down with an angry look on his face.
“Playing hard to get, huh? It’ll be pretty hard to work with you if you’re so unwilling, you know.” Kreffica said in a teasing manner.
“I don’t care, I’m not used to cooperative missions with people I’ve never met before.”
“Oh? So this isn’t your first rodeo?”
“Nah. Before, me and my friend were assigned plenty of missions back in the Badlands. We’ve known each other since we met at the academy. We complete each other, I was the muscle needed to push through, and he was the brains needed to tell me how to push through.”
“I see, you two must be pretty loyal to each other, huh?”
“You could say that. I can’t ever imagine one of us turning our backs on each other. That would be ridiculous.”
Kreffica chuckled under her breath. Proxus stared at her confusingly, wondering why she suddenly cracked a laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Proxus had one eye widened and an eyebrow raised in confusion as he looked back at her.
“I’m sorry… It’s just, it’s a little cute, y’know? You acting like you weren’t gonna spill anything, then dropping an entire backstory of one of your friendships? It’s so funny!” It was so hard for Kreffica to speak, she couldn’t hold her laughter.
“Sh-shut up! If I wasn’t scared to death of you, I would’ve attacked you by now.” Proxus looked at the ground again, embarrassed.
“I’d like to see you try, there’s a reason we are the way we are.”
“Immense durability and strength to manhandle us, no Element to plunder, horns that act as sensors, yeah, yeah, I know.”
“Well, if it makes ya’ feel any safer, this is probably the longest time a Balandian has been held by an Oni without being torn apart.~” Kreffica teased. Proxus could feel his face becoming flustered as he put on an rageful expression
“Please, if we weren’t working together, you would’ve killed me already.”
“Really now? Because Mister A isn’t watching us, I could really do something horrible to you right now, and he wouldn’t know.” As Kreffica said this, Proxus felt a slight kick of fear, possibly from the menacing tone she chose to say her line.
“I bet you wanna do that, but you can’t because it’ll look obvious when you return without me.” Said Proxus, he attempted to rationalize a scenario where an Oni wouldn’t kill a Balandian.
“Silly boy, I thought you had friends? You should know what friendliness is. It’s what I’m showing right now.”
“...Fine, I guess. Even a predator and their prey can get along, huh?” Proxus crossed his arms, before letting go and looking back at Kreffica.
“Good boy! You’re catching on quick!”
“Don’t flatter me. Of course, we’re working together for our own benefit.”
“And what’re you gonna do when this mission is over, and I’m still nice to you, huh?”
“Tch… I don’t know…” Proxus was starting to get annoyed by Kreffica’s demeanor. She’s obviously in some sort of criminal group, so why in the world would she act so soft?
“Silly boy. You don’t have to be on edge all the time, you know that, right? Sometimes it’s alright to let your guard down.”
“Hey… That reminds me… How did you even join Omegum? This team seems a little secretive.”
“That, my friend, is a story for another day. Hey, we’re here!”
Kreffica set down Proxus, and turned him round to face what was in front; The wooden walls and barricades meant they reached their destination, Rubiyang prison. Proxus noticed a hole in the gates, as well as the blaring bell within.
“What the– Someone came here before us!”
“I guess this is a three way, huh? Stand back, cuz’ things are about to get a little messy.”
Kreffica raised the kanabō she was holding in her hands. She gripped it tightly, positioning it in a way a baseball player would. She took a deep breath, before suddenly swinging it at the wall.
THUD
The hole’s size increased dramatically as Proxus gazed in shock, and confusion.
“Why did you do that?! There’s already a hole!” Proxus angrily yelled.
“Ooh, then how’s a big girl like me supposed to get in?”
“Ugh… Fair…”
The duo charged directly to the source of the ringing bells. They stared confusingly as it donged and donged for seemingly no reason, that was, until, Proxus noticed a figure out of the corner of his eye. The brown hair, the eyes, he found what he was looking for. He turned and made a dash towards the figure. Kreffica was shocked by Proxus’ sudden movement.
“Hey! Where are you going?!” Exclaimed Kreffica.
“Settling some unfinished business.”
Does he know what he’s even doing? Thought Kreffica. Well, I guess someone has to protect the little ones, right?
“Ey! You!” He called out. A wide, menacing grin was plastered across his face.
The figure he saw turned his head, and glared at Proxus with a terrified face, two other people who were with him turned in confusion as well.
“Yeah! Remember me?”
The young boy stood frozen, before opening his mouth.
“You’re… That Balandian!”
“Yeah! You ready for round 2, snot?”