Brand woke up feeling bright. Him and the rest had been up that night feasting and celebrating, getting to know one another. It was a good way to ease the fears of Lily, who had grown more comfortable with the idea of Rosie leaving with the two boys as she’d become more acquainted with Tommen, so now it was Brand’s turn to assuage her feelings.
Besides, he liked meeting new people. It was a rare thing back in Cabletown and most of the time when a discussion was had it seemed to be more of a probing inquiry into one's affirmations on what was best for the town. Here the people seemed genuinely interested in him. It was quite refreshing.
They had all talked of their motivations and their goals. Brand talked for a little too long about Kelvin and Ember. Lily opened up about Rosie’s father, who had been an avid adventurer before he died. Later, when they were back to merriment, Ravena walked in looking dirty.
This was the adventurer Tommen had been raving about, so they invited her to the table and she wolfed down a meal. She had not stayed long, but told them of her adventures in the forest.
She reaffirmed what Tommen had said earlier that day that they were welcome to go out hunting with her. It couldn’t be tomorrow though, as she had found a lead on a ruin and she wanted to go quick and alone.
That was alright, they figured, as they needed to finally collect the silverstars tomorrow. Now that they had cleared out the Anugent, they figured that they’d be able to collect them easily. Tommen hadn’t been down the mine yet, so Brand was eager to show him the scenes of their battles.
There wasn’t much to show, but when Brand thought about it, it really was a life and death battle against the Anugent and its mind-controlled minions. The first of many, he hoped, although it was a little disconcerting to think about. Draining.
He had felt so tired after yesterday. The thought of doing that again made him feel exhausted, but weirdly energised. Like a second wind came through him whenever he was hit by the tiredness caused by thinking about the arduous battle with the Anugent.
He had overcome the silver Databeast. He had proved that he could take on an Emergent level Databeast with Rosie. That was no joke. They had got lucky that it was mostly a Tech-based Databeast with weak physical stats, else it could have just steamrolled them with sheer strength, as most Emergent level Databeasts could.
But still, it was only through grit and endless determination that he and Rosie had managed to overcome the waves of Databeasts. It was a miracle they weren't more badly injured.
Furthermore they’d both levelled up. It had taken them both some time to realise it, but they’d felt stronger and had more control over their element stones. Brand had noticed first. With his mid grade element stone he could almost manifest the element itself and he’d felt almost able to do that now, which meant he was a level closer to being able to. Using rocks to create sparks and start a fire might soon be a thing of the past for him once he could summon flames with just a thought and some MP.
Furthermore both he and Rosie had noticed that they’d felt a burst of energy after the Anugent was defeated. They’d thought it was just pleasure and relief at defeating a strong enemy, but with the greater control of their element stones that settled it - they had both levelled up to 5.
Now all three of the fledgeling adventurers could attune their element stones, they only needed to get to a lab to do so. Unfortunately the one here in Quartz Creek was still unused, else they’d do it here. As it was, Shingle City was probably their best bet.
Brand couldn’t wait to attune his element stone. One because it allowed him to get a bonded Databeast if he could find an egg. Two because his mid grade stone would be completely absorbed into his body and he wouldn’t have to worry about losing it. Then he could feel like he’d really done right by his friend Kelvin for the gift. And three because he’d be able to see his stat sheet whenever he wanted. It was a silly thing, but he’d only ever seen it when he’d gone to the lab back in Cabletown for a quick check-up. He wanted to be able to see his HP, MP, and all his stats whenever he liked. That was another adventuring milestone.
All in all, defeating the Anugent had been well worth the suffering from that point of view.
Tommen cursed that he hadn’t been there himself. He knew that they were up against a fairly powerful foe, but he hadn’t realised that they’d either be in that much danger or gain so much EXP that they’d rocket up to his level. He’d probably have hit level 6 with the energy from that Anugent and Brand and Rosie would have been far safer.
It was whilst showing Tommen these scenes of battle that they’d noticed something rather strange that they hadn’t noticed the day previously. The earth that the mole had burst out of was very disturbed, to the point that it looked quite strange. It was basically an indent in the ground with a loose covering of mud that seemed more like a pit trap than anything. Tommen and Brand took a few swings each at the rock-filled dirt and soon uncovered something they hadn’t expected. A second tunnel.
It was very small, only a little bigger than the large mole-like Databeast that had no doubt carved it out of the rock under the instruction of the Anugent.
It went down diagonally, so they could crawl down the pathway if they dared - and certainly they did. Brand had just thought the mole was lying in wait merely to ambush them with the Anugent in a pincer attack and that that’s why the silver Databeast had gone down this way, but he realised now that maybe the Anugent’s mind control Tech had a certain range, and it had called the mole from down the very tunnel they’d just unearthed.
It didn’t take them long to crawl until they’d found themselves in a completely new tunnel, one where they could stand easily and even swing their arms around if they wanted to. No doubt this was once one of the mining tunnels, a lower level that the trio wasn’t supposed to have access to. But then again, the Anugent wasn’t supposed to either.
Brand wondered what the Anugent had been up to, and led the way down the tunnel while encouraging the other two on.
There was a noticeable lack of Databeasts down there, and all of the branching tunnels had been collapsed, seemingly intentionally by the frequency of the closed caverns.
Brand was tempted to surmise that he and Tommen could excavate the tunnels and the trio could head down into the deeper layers of the mine if they felt brave enough, but first he wanted to see what the Anugent had done all this creation for.
There was some sort of design down here, but why? Had the Anugent simply defeated all the Databeasts in its area and then fortified the surroundings? Or was there something else going on?
Either way, it betrayed a strange intelligence that Brand had merely glimpsed during the battle. Commanding Databeasts with mind control Techs was one thing, and could even be considered instinctive for the Databeast, constructing a home was something entirely different from the young man's perspective.
The trio continued walking down the long, single tunnel. It was leading them somewhere. They hadn’t seen a single Databeast so far, which was also extremely curious. That is, until they reached the end of the tunnel they were walking down.
In the darkness of the cavern it was hard to see exactly what it was until they’d shone the light directly on it. Before that it had just seemed like the wall at the end was shifting. The ground shook. Something was moving - or trying to. And it was so big that it filled up the entirety of the tunnel. Two large arms like long spindly tree branches grasped at dirt, whilst a fleshy body undulated up and down. It took Brand a long second to realise that the Databeast was trying to free itself.
The tunnel itself was about two and a half metres. The Databeast must have been far taller, since it seemed to be completely buried in the ground, and its body was cramped and crowded even within the tunnel. It was a freakish and terrible thing to Brand’s view, he has never seen one anything like this.
It had no proper face or head to speak of, but was covered in large crystal gems about the size of a fist that swivelled around like eyes, and strange holes that seemed to open and close like a sponge in some version of breathing. Its colours were psychedelic with swirling pinks and greens and blues, except for its long arms. Its main body was fatty and bulbous, but those arms resembled nothing so much as bone with their yellowish off white colouring and freakishly long and distended appearance. There was no weight around them at all, and Brand could see a great many joints going down those disturbing arms.
It let out a shrill scream from holes all over its body as they approached with weapons drawn, the arms scrabbling to get it out of the dirt it was buried in but to no avail. The Databeast reached out for the trio with extended arms, trying to grasp them. When it found it couldn’t, all the gems swivelled across its body to face Rosie, who stood in the middle of the group.
A red flash occurred, and Rosie jumped back just in time to dodge the laser it had fired at her. The Tech was easy to predict, but quick. Brand would have to watch out for that.
“Nice moves.” Tommen told her. “Let's get this big thing.”
“It's strange. What's it doing down here?” Brand asked.
The Databeast readied another laser, firing at Rosie again. With another rapid step she dodged it.
“It's a Flungeon! It can do this for hours! Defeat it quickly.” Rosie yelled, moving in on the Databeast and swinging her axe.
The Flungeon, strange as that name seemed to Brand, immediately reacted by trying to grasp her with its nightmarishly long bone fingers.
To her credit Rosie seemed ready for this and ducked under one arm and buried the axe head into one of the many opening and closing holes on the weird body. The Flungeon screamed out of the many holes once more as the remaining arm grasped Rosie and lifted her slightly in the air.
The hand had grabbed her by the waist and the many segmented arm had wrapped around her like a boa constrictor, many little bones locking into places once it had her.
“Brand!” Tommen yelled as the gems swivelled to face Rosie once more, but he was already moving. Both he and Tommen had shot off as soon as Rosie had started moving, and Brand was already swinging to try and hack at the arm holding Rosie. Tommen had seen what he was going for and rushed the other arm with his staff, holding it vertically to pin the hand against the wall. It tried to wriggle out, but he'd found a joint near the wrist of the hand that he could press into easily and it wouldn't be able to slip out.
Rosie screamed as the laser attack shot out for her, but Brand had found his attacks with his sword mostly ineffectual against the hard bone and had instead jumped and raised his bronze buckler in front of Rosie. It deflected the laser attack but knocked his hand aside into her.
The hand that Tommen was pinning had stopped trying to wriggle free, and instead the many segmented arm had extended upwards and looped once around Tommen's neck. The Flungeon whistled with pleasure as Tommen was forced to drop his staff to try and fight against the arm slinking around his windpipe.
Brand wasted no more time and dropped his short sword to grab his pickaxe. With expert precision he smashed it into the long spindly bone arm that held Rosie and the arm split horribly. Its gems immediately swivelled to Brand and shot lasers at him but he dodged and swung the pickaxe upward in a wide loop, shattering the rest of the arm in two and freeing Rosie.
She immediately moved into action and grabbed her own axe from the Databeast’s mouth hole that she'd embedded it in.
“I'll focus on defence!” Brand yelled, raising his buckler. “You free Tommen!”
Rosie started raining down blows on the arm, chaining attack into attack.
For Brand's part he dropped his weapon and held the buckler by the strap on the back with both hands.
The job defending was hard. Because the lasers all focused on a central point, if he got that central point with his buckler he'd defend the laser cleanly.
However if he failed to predict it accurately, as he did a couple of times, he'd get struck by a couple of the lasers.
They were weak when they were from a single gem, not the concentrated beam of many, but they still caused little burns to form along his arms that stung rightly.
Still, it wasn't long before Rosie smashed through the spindly white arm of the Flungeon and freed Tommen, who ripped the bony segments from around his neck and gasped for air.
Brand stayed on target for defending the lasers whilst Tommen took a second to recover, and Rosie attacked the gem eyes. Once she'd managed to remove one with her axe, Tommen grasped his pick and started hacking at the gems too. When only a couple remained, Brand also joined in on their offence, taking his short sword and stabbing up the gigantic Databeast that was blocking the entire tunnel. The Flungeon whined and screamed horribly through the whistling holes all over its body as the trio swung their weapons. In the last it fired off a reverberating sonic attack through those dreadful holes that made them all clamp their hands over their ears, but it only gave the Flungeon temporary respite and prolonged its suffering as the three soon picked back up their weapons and continued butchering the Databeast.
Before long it had faded into aether, and each one received a huge amount in BITs, EXP and element. Brand had thought Silverstar Mine would be a quiet place to farm weak Databeasts, and he certainly hadn’t expected to be facing down dangerous Databeasts daily in there. As the Flungeon disappeared, they got to see what it had been guarding, and what the Anugent had done all this for. The trio gasped.
Behind the faded body of the Databeast they saw silverstars in abundance, piled high in stacks around the central chamber, surrounding an indent carved into the floor. And in that indent was something they’d never expected. A Databeast egg. The three stared gobsmacked.
“Is that what it was protecting?” Brand asked.
“That’s weird behaviour, right? Databeasts don’t normally protect eggs like that. Or stack silverstars around them. Is that why we couldn’t see any before? They’d all been taken here?” Rosie asked genuinely. Brand looked into the ground before them. There was a big dip where much of the Flungeon’s body had been buried beneath the earth. He didn’t think it had made that on its own, or trapped itself in there voluntarily.
“I think the Anugent did this.” Brand told them. “Look at the claw marks in this pit. I think the mole dug the Flungeon into here, under the command of the Anugent. The Flungeon was probably under its control too, at the time. But since we defeated the Anugent, it’s been trying to escape.”
“But why do this? Why would the Anugent want this egg so badly? Databeasts spawn from them all the time. Why this one?” Tommen pondered.
“You’re gonna have to let me sound a bit crazy here, but I think I might know.” Brand replied. “I think the Anugent was trying to create another Anugent. That’s why there’s silverstars stacked to the ceiling. It was silver itself, maybe it thought that it could use the silverstars to create another one. People try similar things all the time. We know that the environment affects the spawning a little bit. So I think it was trying to create a second Anugent. Or maybe it was just trying to spawn a strong Databeast that it could control. Who knows the mind of a Databeast?”
“Well I’m glad we finally found those silverstars.” Said Rosie as she stared at the Databeast egg. “Maybe you guys can take those and I’ll take the egg.”
“Right. The Databeast egg. What do we do now?” Said Tommen. “How on earth do we decide what to do with it?”
Brand looked uneasily at Rosie and Tommen. Would they want it for themselves? Why should they want to share it? Certainly he wanted it for himself. But he wouldn’t want to fight them for it. If there was a way to do this without bloodshed he’d take that route. But it had to be fair to him. He almost chuckled at that. If the Anugent had just shown them this egg when they were under the influence of its rage-inducing mind control, he and Rosie would surely have cut each other apart. Right now the other two looked towards him, as if for guidance. Brand was surprised at that.
He didn’t know what to say. “We could sell it and split the money… but that would just be unsatisfying.” Rosie and Tommen nodded.
“One of us should take it.” Said Rosie.
“You two were the ones who defeated the Anugent. It would feel wrong for me to have it.” Tommen told them. “You two should take it. But I’d want to know that I’d get something out of it.”
“Something out of it? Like what?” Asked Brand.
“Coming with me to the Fool’s Mountains. Helping me to get a Databeast of my own.” Said Tommen.
“To get you your wyvern?” Brand chuckled. It almost seemed like a crazy thing to say. There was a Databeast egg, a real one right in front of them. And Tommen was still thinking about his fantastical goal. Brand was actually impressed. He was also overcome with emotion that Tommen would just let him have this one. Even if Tommen didn’t want the Databeast himself, the kind of money he could get for selling it was no joke.
Tommen nodded seriously.
“Rosie?” Asked Brand.
“Yes?” She replied.
“What do you want to do?” Brand asked, eyes still on the Databeast egg as if any minute it would transform into a Databeast and his hopes of having his own Databeast would disappear with it.
“Gosh, I don’t know. You can have it, I guess. Up until yesterday I never even thought I’d leave this town. Now you’re saying I can be an adventurer with my own Databeast? I don’t even know. Maybe I do want it. But only one of us can have it, right? Have either of you two attuned your element stones?” She asked. They both shook their heads. She cursed. “If only Quartz Creek still had its own lab we could do that here. Marius should have a void capsule. Maybe we take it back to him. The void capsule will stop it absorbing any more element and transforming.”
“Marius? The man is like a father to you. Maybe he’d just take it from us and give it to you.” Brand said.
“Don’t be like that. Marius is a fair man. He wouldn’t do that.” Rosie said, feeling unfairly accused.
“You’re probably right, but it’s hard to know that.” Brand replied.
“You really think I’m just trying to take it?” Said Rosie, defensively.
“I just wanna know where your head is at.” Brand replied.
“Well how badly do you want it?” She asked.
“Pretty badly.” He told her. “Well - I don’t know. I didn’t think I’d be faced with this so soon. It’ll probably get me a fire and earth Databeast right? Like a Flintimp. I always assumed I’d be happy with any Databeast I got, but now I’m not so sure. A Flintimp would be a useful partner, for sure. It just doesn’t feel like me.”
“You don’t know you’ll get a Flintimp. There’s lots of other fire Databeasts you find in caves. Besides, just because it came from here doesn’t mean you can only get Databeasts you find down here.” Rosie countered.
“I know that. I just - I don’t know what to think. I want it. I want you and Tommen to have it, too. I don’t want to scam you two.” He turned to Tommen now. “And. I can’t promise I’ll go to the Fool’s Mountains with you. I have to find Kelvin and Ember and I don’t know where that’ll take me.” The two had occupied his thoughts often recently.
“Then maybe I do want it.” Tommen told him.
“Me too.” Said Rosie. “I’ll go with you to the mountains, if Brand agrees that I can have it. If I can do something for you too, Brand. Maybe help find your friends?”
“I’m not sure you can do both.” Brand told her. “How about this? Whoever gets the Databeast helps the other two to get Databeasts of their own.”
“Maybe I should be the one to take the Databeast egg then? By the time I help you two get Databeasts, I might have hit level 15 and be eligible to attune another element stone and get another Databeast. Then I can go to the Fool’s Mountains alone and neither of you have to come with me.”
“I thought you only wanted a wyvern?” Asked Rosie.
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“You never know, this could be one.” Tommen replied.
“Let's decide this later.” Said Brand. “But we’ll make a pact now that whoever gets the first Databeast has to help the other two get Databeasts of their own. Then we bring this back to Marius and get it in a void capsule, then head to Shingle City and get our element stones attuned.” The other two agreed. Brand spat on his hand, Rosie and Tommen spat on theirs. He then shook hands with the both of them, who shook hands with each other. They had a brief debate on who should carry the Databeast egg, but concluded Tommen should as he was the less injured of the trio. He put it in his bag.
“Don’t forget your silverstars!” Said Rosie as they got ready to leave. Brand quickly filled his pack up with the rucks of silverstars that had been placed around the egg and they got going.
They got out of the tunnel, and quickly, then got out of Silverstar Mine and headed down the road. They were only walking down the road for a few minutes towards MacGill’s Item Emporium when Brand stopped in his tracks. Tommen froze similarly and Rosie bumped into the back of them.
“What?” She asked, before following their gazes. She saw an irate looking older man and a limping youngster around their age with a large exoskeleton on one of his legs.
_______
That Very Same Day
Harlow and Captain Rizzo approached Quartz Creek with weary legs and minds. Ash Baths had been quite terrible. It had started off perfectly well, as although they hadn’t found Brand and Tommen, they had stopped to recover in the invigorating spas that the town was named for. That was all going well, until Harlow got to talking with a burly man tattooed from head to toe in Databeasts, who was relaxing in the volcanic water beside them.
When Harlow had told them they were from Cabletown, the burly man had had opinions about the way Cabletown was handling its population. And they were not very approving ones.
Captain Rizzo had opinions too. Very strong ones. They’d argued hotly, which seemed to Harlow at odds with the sweltering temperature they found themselves in. It had all gotten a bit dramatic from thereon.
To the Captain’s credit, when the man in the baths had swung for him, he handled him pretty easily and quickly. A devastating one-two followed by an elbow was all it took to put the big man down. Unfortunately for Harlow and Rizzo, it turned out Ash Baths had a rather unique system of rule in comparison to many of the towns around them.
That is, gang rule. Not the cronyism of petty politics that Harlow’s parents like to engage in, but the brutal violence of raids, theft, extortion and beatings. All that is to say that Ash Baths was a rather young town, and no dominant force had properly established itself. Different gangs had the run of different areas and different volcanic baths, so when the burly man’s cronies and goons came for Harlow and Rizzo and they had fled, they found that they were surrounded by another gang whose territory they’d run into. When that gang had realised Rizzo had dropped a rival gang’s boss unconscious, they welcomed him with other arms.
The previous gang they’d been fleeing from and fighting off had then associated them with the rival gang, and used it to gin up support from their members to attack this rival gang, and Harlow and Rizzo who were currently enjoying their temporary protection.
Needless to say, they’d had other priorities than getting involved in violent inter-town conflict, namely the capture of two traitors of their own town. But when they’d tried to leave, the gang who had been protecting them took it as a personal insult that they wouldn’t help them out against their rival, especially as they had been so kind as to protect Rizzo from the thugs he was fleeing from.
Things were looking ugly until the mobster that Rizzo had dropped in the baths led a raid on the gang that was protecting them, turning the scene into absolute chaos and carnage.
Harlow barely remembered what had happened after that. It was a whirlwind of weapons, and with his impaired mobility he’d faced down serious damage at the end of some blades. Luckily he’d managed to avoid any serious cuts by swinging his staff like a madman. Frankly he was amazed that he hadn’t been more seriously hurt. He’d attributed that partly to Rizzo though, who was fighting like a man possessed.
The Captain was a real force to be reckoned with, Harlow realised. Many of these men must be a similar level to Rizzo, Harlow guessed, but the guard was dropping them left and right with his staff with no issue. It was quite a sight to witness.
Halfway through the bombastic brawl Rizzo had grabbed Harlow and dragged him off. It had been a half-sprint that was agony to Harlow’s knee despite the exoskeleton and they’d managed to get out of Ash Baths with no more trouble.
They hadn’t had a chance to rest since then. Rizzo had once again decided that Harlow wasn’t up to scratch, and forced him to battle every Databeast they saw, no matter how weak or strong, whilst yelling criticism at him. Harlow had even managed to level up to 5, a great milestone, but Rizzo just took that as an opportunity to double down on the training. Harlow knew his parents would be very proud when he told them, and would likely throw a big party and invite all their friends. That would be nice, but as for right now he was stuck grinding over and over again.
But right now even the energy boost that levelling up gave him did little to alleviate his exhaustion. He was weary of the pain in his leg and the endless trudging and the fighting someone else’s battles. He’d tried to make this last point to Rizzo in an effort to discover what Brand and Tommen had actually done, but Rizzo had just looked down his nose at him and told him that Cabletown’s battles were his battles too.
Harlow privately wondered if the Mayor’s battles were indeed Cabletown’s battles, but decided the smart option would not be to say it out loud. He didn’t want to end up like that mobster in Ash Baths. Unlike him, Harlow had no-one to come running and help him out. It is what it is, he decided.
All in all, the walk to Quartz Creek had been long. Harlow didn’t expect to find anything there, but he would be glad for a stop at whatever inn they had and a short respite with nobody hunting for his head. The incident at Ash Baths had seriously affected him. All the danger he’d been in recently, from both human and Databeast, had been really wearing on him.
So it was that thoughts of rest and respite occupied his mind as he walked the streets of Quartz Creek, heading towards the town centre. He certainly wasn’t prepared, physically or mentally, to finally find the people he’d been looking for.
Harlow stopped mid-step when he saw a flash of dirty blond hair attached to a tall, lanky body. Wrath blossomed in his heart. Tommen. His mind went back to that anger filled face in the dark of the night! How different that was. How that expression had haunted him when he lay awake at night.
It felt strange to get a proper look at the lad. Now Tommen looked like a deer in headlights. This was the man who’d taken his leg from him, and yet it wasn’t at all! Tommen seemed completely different when taken by surprise in the daylight. And by the looks of things he’d been using Harlow’s staff! The cheek of it!
Harlow’s blood ran cold when he saw the boy next to him. He hadn’t expected that. Brand. Unruly black hair with blue eyes shining out beneath dark strands. A bronze shortsword at his side, gleaming in the sun. The same blade that had threatened to take his life, if he’d moved.
The brute and the killer. But who was the girl with them? Harlow imagined her as some similarly criminal character. Ideally she’d just step aside and let Cabletown handle Cabletown business in bringing back some traitors, but somehow he knew it wouldn’t be quite that simple.
“That’s them.” Harlow said, loudly, his brows forming into a deep crosshatch as he glared at the two young men who had abused him just days before. Rizzo whirled to see where he was looking. The two had stopped stock-still. The girl was looking between them, surprised, and then peered at Harlow and the Captain.
“You there!” Yelled Rizzo. “You’re coming back with us!”
“Not on your life!” Tommen yelled back.
“What exactly is your problem?” Brand asked loudly, seemingly perplexed.
“You’re a couple of traitors.” Rizzo told him. By now a couple of people were watching the ruckus on the street. There obviously weren’t many civilians in Quartz Creek, but the altercation was bound to attract some attention.
“Traitors! As if!” Brand replied hotly. “You can’t change the law on a whim. We haven’t done anything wrong.”
Harlow could have screamed at him. He was sure his voice came out a higher pitch than it should have when he replied. “Nothing!? What about my leg!? What about how you were going to kill me, Brand! And now we’re going to take you back to Cabletown to get the punishment you deserve.”
Brand’s expression softened at Harlow’s outburst, but Tommen simply laughed out loud when he saw Harlow’s rage-filled face. “They sent you? I expected some sort of crack squad! I almost don’t believe it.” He managed to get out in between laughs.
Anger bubbled out of Harlow and he started walking towards Tommen with dangerous intent. Tommen saw the limp and began to laugh once more. Then Rizzo began to walk with him and Tommen’s face got a little darker.
The blond boy was clearly ready to rise to the challenge, before the smaller boy, Brand, put a hand on his shoulder. Brand walked in front of Tommen and the other girl joined him. Were they protecting Tommen? Surely he didn’t need it? Tommen seemed likewise confused, until realisation dawned on his face.
Harlow was mad as anything, but he noticed that. He’d always been one for details. Details meant something. But what did these ones mean? He couldn’t discern.
No matter. They’d find out once they’d captured the boys, he was sure.
“I don’t know who you are, girl, but you’re not from Cabletown. Leave Cabletown business to Cabletown guards, and we’ll leave you be also.” Rizzo said, with a fair measure of politeness.
“What are you going to do with them?” She asked defensively.
“Take them home.” Rizzo replied.
“They don’t want to go.”
“They’re going whether they want to or not. They’re young and don’t know what’s best for them. Neither do you, girl.”
“My name is Rosie, not girl.” She told him. “And you should leave before Marius gets here.”
“I intend to leave. But these two are coming with me.” The Captain told her, and readied his staff. Harlow did the same. Brand drew his shortsword, Tommen raised the staff from behind the other two, and Rosie hefted her axe. That was something Harlow didn’t want to get on the wrong side of.
Rizzo swung his staff in a Blitz, smacking Brand and Rosie to the side. Rosie defended with the middle of the axe handle and Brand with his shield, but the hit still sent them stumbling. Rizzo had aimed well towards areas they couldn’t defend well. Tommen backed up once more. Why is he doing that? Thought Harlow.
Rizzo pressed the attack a little before seeing Tommen didn’t want to engage, then he rapidly switched to Brand. Rosie swung her axe at Rizzo but Harlow jabbed his staff towards her face. She had to abort the attack immediately and dodge to prevent her own momentum crashing her into the end of the staff.
That was what Cabletown teamwork was all about. Protection through disruption of the enemy. He kept Rosie at bay through attacks, whilst Rizzo dealt with Brand. He was throwing attacks constantly. To Brand’s credit he was using his buckler and shortsword well to defend the overwhelming assault, but it wasn’t long before hits started getting through, heavy and hard. Brand was getting battered.
Rosie was swinging at Harlow, but she was highly aware that she was using an axe against a living person, and was trying to avoid any lethal damage. Harlow was aware that he was outside of his jurisdiction and she wasn’t a Cabletown citizen, so he was just trying to stop her attacks from getting through rather than hurting her. As such they were in a bit of a stalemate. Harlow watched Tommen take his bag off gently and place it a little away from the fighting before getting involved. Interesting.
Tommen attacked Rizzo from behind. The guard captain had expected it though and managed to turn and block before striking Tommen’s legs out from under him. Brand tried to capitalise on it and hit the Captain in the back of the head with a pommel, but Rizzo thrust his staff behind him under his arm and caught Brand in the chest, sending him down also and choking for air.
Harlow moved backwards, towards where Tommen had placed his bag. He saw Rosie’s eyes flash over to the bag and widen slightly, and suddenly she seemed to care far less that she could kill him. Her swinging strength and aim increased tremendously. Very interesting, Harlow thought, as he increased his own tempo.
Rizzo had drilled him well, and he fought Rosie back despite her sudden intensity, although he had to stop taking into consideration that she was an outside party. He had to fight properly or risk death.
Tommen and Brand tried getting up, each swinging like madmen at the Guard Captain, who was handling them both with some difficulty.
Harlow shoved Rosie back to give himself some space before sprinting at Tommen, swinging his staff with full force at the lanky boy’s knee. How he’d love to make it crack, he thought.
Tommen defended the strike, but it allowed Rizzo to smash him in the face. He grunted in pain as his nose broke and blood sprayed in a beautiful arc. Rosie yelled out and started a renewed attack on Harlow, but he managed to turn and go back to defending all her violent swings.
Rizzo however capitalised on the opportunity and managed to drop Tommen once again with his staff, before landing a brutal overhead hit onto the top of Brand’s head. Harlow was amazed he didn’t hear the sound of shattering bone. Rizzo then swept Brand’s legs with a low kick, and the boy landed hard on his back. He then shoved the end of his staff underneath Tommen’s chin so he wouldn’t move.
Rosie squealed in happiness, and Harlow turned a little to be able to see why. A man had appeared, wielding only an axe handle. He looked angry. A round purple Databeast bounded behind him. It was only in the Instar stage, Harlow surmised. Still, that wasn't good news. A small village like this shouldn't have anyone with a Databeast. Hopefully he wouldn't interfere with their business.
“Marius!” The girl yelled with excitement. Rizzo was still standing over Tommen and Brand, staff pointed towards the traitorous duo.
“Get away from her!” Snarled the man Marius towards Harlow. Harlow looked at Rizzo for confirmation who narrowed his eyes at the newcomer.
“This is Cabletown business, don't get involved.” Rizzo yelled.
Marius was locked in on Harlow though, and ignored Rizzo. In a flash the man was before Harlow, swinging his axe handle down. Harlow blocked it, but the force sent him stumbling back away from the girl.
He dropped his staff and raised his hands in submission. The newcomer pulled the girl to the side before turning on Rizzo.
Harlow didn't know how well Rizzo would do, but Marius was fast.
“The girl tried to interfere, so she was detained. We didn't hurt her. These two are coming back with us.” Rizzo spoke loudly.
Marius scoffed. “Not a chance.” He said as he swung the axe handle down again once more. It smashed the staff in two as Rizzo brought it up to defend the strike. Rizzo seemed prepared for that eventuality though as he quickly recovered, swinging the two half-pieces like a couple of batons right at the man’s face. The man backhanded them away pretty effortlessly though. His stats were simply that much higher than Rizzo’s. He followed up with another slap that echoed out loudly as Rizzo
With nobody focussed on him, Harlow had an opportunity to take. It was pretty obvious he and Rizzo were coming out on the wrong side of this confrontation. He needed to do whatever he could to salvage that, and get something out of the loss. Tommen’s bag that he’d been so willing to defend was now lying on the ground, to the side.
It was a basic one, clearly bought at a general store. Harlow’s had been also. There was a slight difference in colour, only enough to be barely noticeable. The only thing Harlow had in there were rations.
Tommen however, clearly had something in there precious to him. It took just a second for Harlow to switch his bag with the one on the ground. He was sure nobody had seen.
Rizzo tried a strong kick towards the man but he batted it aside once more and shoved the bottom of the axe handle into Rizzo’s solar plexus. The guard captain bent over in pain, gasping for air, and the man pushed him back once more, causing him to fall on his back. Harlow rushed to his side and helped him up. Rizzo was scowling and angry.
“I’m telling you once more to leave.” Said Marius.
Rizzo glared at him. “You’re harbouring fugitives from Cabletown.”
“They’re no longer yours to worry about.” Marius told him.
“Quartz Creek will regret this.” Promised Rizzo, glaring. He dropped his weapons limply to his side though. “Come now Harlow.” He said as he began to walk away, fuming with anger. Harlow joined him, shooting a last look towards Brand and Tommen. Tommen’s expression was mocking. Brand’s was somewhere between confused and pitying. Harlow wanted neither mockery nor pity. The traitorous duo had got one over on him once again. He’d get both Tommen and Brand for this.
_________
Later That Day
Rizzo and Harlow were sitting in another cave, around a fire. They were becoming a staple of their campsites and Harlow knew it wasn’t long until he’d be told to clear the lower parts of the cave and ensure there were no Databeasts to bother them, but first Harlow wanted to check out his loot.
Harlow didn’t know why he’d taken Tommen’s bag. It had seemed like the young man was protecting it ferociously, and Harlow had just wanted to take something from Tommen, much like Tommen had taken from him when he’d stolen his staff and his ability to walk.
Perhaps Harlow had thought Tommen was keeping something precious in there. That guess turned out to be more than correct, and Harlow had to refrain from gasping when he saw the Databeast egg just sat in the bag, surrounded by strange metal stars. He didn’t want Rizzo to know, after all. It was a deep blue with what seemed to be metal on the very top and the very bottom in a crown-like jagged pattern, yet when Harlow touched it it was soft and spongy like the rest of the egg. It shimmered wonderfully to his eyes though, in the dying firelight. Each Databeast egg was slightly different, some suspected that this gave hints as to what Databeast would spawn.
Harlow had never expected to see one in the bag.
He tried to hide the bag between some rocks in the cave. It just about worked as a hiding place unless you walked right up to it. It was a poor spot nonetheless, but he didn't know what to do. He couldn't absorb the Databeast egg now, as he'd only just hit level 5 and hadn't had the chance to go to a lab and attune his element stone.
So he needed to get to a city with a lab. But it had to be soon. Who knew when the Databeast egg would accumulate enough element to fully form into a Databeast? He thought about it a little before he decided to broach the subject with Rizzo, who was sat with his back to Harlow, contemplating and licking his wounds.
“Captain… any chance we could go to the city soon? I want to attune my element stone. I want to get stronger.” It was the best excuse he had. Rizzo would let him out of his sight for a little bit. Then he could absorb the Databeast egg and Rizzo wouldn't be able to say anything about it.
He'd just have to count his blessings that Harlow now had a Databeast, and they could better get Tommen and Brand.
“No.” Rizzo told him. “You haven't collected enough BITs for a low grade earth stone yet. You're not attuning that cosmic one.”
That was bad. Every second Harlow waited was another second that the Databeast egg could absorb enough energy to just create a regular old Databeast, not a tamed one. He really couldn't wait.
“If you lend me some money we could afford it. Then I'd have been able to take on both Tommen and Brand. I know I need it.” Harlow pleaded.
“If you want to get stronger, focus on defeating Databeasts. Not begging for handouts.” Rizzo said.
“Well how long will it take?”
“Several months, I'd guess.”
“What? I've been defeating Databeasts every single day. Surely it'll be sooner than that.” Harlow was shocked. It would surely be sooner than that, else what was he risking his life for?
“I'm taking a cut of it. Partly for your training, partly for babysitting duty and saving your life, partly as tax for Cabletown.” Rizzo told him.
“What!? You can't be serious! You're robbing me?” Harlow exclaimed. “I need to attune my element stone and I need to do it now!”
“I'm doing what's best for the town. You would have died without me. You owe me the money for every fight you lost with a Databeast where I had to save you.”
“You forced me to take those fights!”
“If you hadn't let those traitors slip away this never would have happened. You have to take responsibility for your actions.”
“You're mad! I'm going to the city with or without you.” Harlow was flustered now.
“Is that right?” Rizzo laughed darkly. “You can't leave. You're a Cabletown guard now. You can leave when I dismiss you, else you're a traitor too. When did you get so uppity? You must think because you saw me lose earlier that you can walk all over me.” He stood up to look at Harlow.
“No no no, not at all, Captain.” Harlow tried to reassure him.
“What did you do with that bag anyway? I saw you skulking around with it earlier. You took it from the blond boy.” Rizzo asked.
Harlow froze. Should he just come clean? Rizzo would undoubtedly take the Databeast for himself, and Harlow was loath to give it up to the much disliked mentor he found himself stuck with.
But if he said he didn't know what happened to the bag and Rizzo found out he was lying, there'd be hell to pay later.
If he said he did know and explained that there was a Databeast egg in there, Rizzo would probably get it. Maybe that was for the best though, despite his gut reaction against it. In the long term, Rizzo getting a Databeast was probably the quickest way for Harlow to get his revenge.
The question was, did he really want Rizzo to have a Databeast? He was really growing to dislike the Captain, especially after finding out that the man had been syphoning off his BITs.
But he did want to be on the Captain's good side, being essentially trapped alone with him for the foreseeable future. And if there was no way to get himself a Databeast, wouldn't it be better than letting it go to waste?
Besides, it would be poetic justice to see Tommen brought back to Cabletown by what Harlow assumed would have been his Databeast. If Rizzo could master it and bring Tommen in, then not only would it be delightfully ironic, Harlow would have played a big part in getting him the Databeast that made it all possible.
There was one last option open to him. To plead his case to the Captain and see if the man would find it in his heart to give him the Databeast, given that Harlow was the one who took the bag.
“About that… I looked in it. That's why I wanted to go to the city. There's a Databeast egg in there, and I wanted it for myself, because I'm the one that found it.” Harlow confessed. After having decided that Rizzo having it was preferable to letting it transform into a regular untamed Databeast despite how much he disliked the man, this was really the best path for him.
Best case scenario: Rizzo said he could have it. Worst case he said no and took it for himself.
The Captain studied him for a few seconds. “Are you making fun of me?”
Harlow was starting to regret his words. Maybe he should have just tried to make off in the middle of the night with the egg despite his limp and hope for the best. Dodge the dangerous Databeasts, somehow avoid Rizzo… and be labelled a traitor and never be allowed home. Never see his parents or his comfy bed again. He mentally sighed.
“No, I'm not.” Harlow told him, and took the bag out from where he'd stashed it. He unzipped it, showing the Databeast egg. There it was, in all its pristine glory.
“You took this from Tommen?” Harlow nodded at the question and Rizzo started to laugh, and hard. “Traitors get what they deserve. You wanted this egg?” Harlow nodded again. “You can't have it. You know that.” Harlow's stomach dropped. “But I'll be fair. Cabletown needs me to have it, not you. But you will be compensated for your contribution.”
“Compensated?” Harlow laughed. Now that the cat was out of the bag he felt that he wasn't pleased about it at all. Maybe he should have just let the Databeast form and then farmed it for what little BITs and EXP it had. “What kind of compensation?”
“I'll get you that low grade element stone. No cost. And you keep all your BITs. And I give you a commendation when we get back. That'll get you on the fast track for a promotion.” Rizzo answered.
“That's it?” Harlow asked. “That's not worth the price of a Databeast egg. Not at all.” On the inside he didn't think it was too bad. His parents would absolutely love to show off the commendation to all their friends. They’d shower him in gifts for it. He thought he should get all his BITs and the stone anyway though. Still, he knew that the Databeast egg was worth far more and he wanted to push for more.
“The mayor owes me a couple of favours. I'll use one of them for you.” Rizzo told him. “And you'll get the best guard uniform and weapons. Full exoskeleton rather than just a leg.”
That was a little better, but it still didn't even put the cost. “I want a low grade cosmic element stone, not an earth one.” He told Rizzo.
Rizzo raised an eyebrow.“Not a chance. I'd be surprised if you could even find one. It’d be worth almost as much as the egg.”
“Wind then.” Said Harlow defiantly. Rizzo stared back at him, unimpressed. But Harlow was resolute. That was his petty resistance against the overbearing nature of what was good for Cabletown. His big rebellion was to go for a wind element stone instead of an earth one. It would be worth a lot more, but he still felt pathetic just saying it. It was barely a rebellion at all.
“Fine. Don’t get mad at me if you regret it later.” Said Rizzo through gritted teeth. He was getting tired of Harlow's games, and the boy’s greed in the face of the greater good. “Now give me the egg.”
Thanking Rizzo, Harlow obliged. It hurt to give away the egg, but he was fascinated to watch as Rizzo placed one hand on it and absorbed it directly into himself. He’d never seen a Databeast egg getting absorbed, but had always wanted to.
It was almost like watching a Databeast be destroyed, thought Harlow, as the egg broke down into its arterial components and was absorbed by the guard captain.
Seconds later in its place, something new began to form. Light dazzled Harlow as it coalesced into an Instar stage Databeast. It was round and white, with a metallic sheen, looking almost like platinum. It had big eyes and dog-like ears. Its mouth elongated forward like a snout with a black nose at the end of it. It bounced up and down on the spot.
Captain Rizzo had become a Databeast tamer.