With the fight over and the crowd dispersing, Cali continued her search for information about Adam Briar. Tahar remained silent but her face told the tale. “What’s wrong?” Cali asked again. Tahar had been in a dour mood ever since Ren completed his first fight. This time Tahar decided to answer.
“Disrespectful,” Tahar declared, “Nothing like man Tahar saw in Versia.”
“Disrespectful?”
“To hold back in battle. To allow another to misunderstand weakness.”
So that was it. Tahar was angry that Ren had fixed the fight.
Cali was irritated to say the least. Tahar hadn’t listened to her back there on the shores of Versia, she hadn’t given any credence to the idea that Ren was anything less than perfect. Now she saw the raw truth as it was. Life on Sull was a lot more complicated than living in a small village as a hunter. Those intertwined hierarchies and structures that congealed over – they paralyzed everyone who was caught in them and forced them to take actions that, from an objective perspective, were less than rational.
Cali had warned her about this on multiple occasions. Tahar wanted to believe so earnestly that Ren Kageyama, lifelong criminal and survivor – was a purely virtuous person. She was willing to ignore those issues until they stared her in the face. Still, Cali knew Ren enough to make a more accurate statement.
He was lonely, isolated, and covered in wounds that couldn’t be seen by the naked eye. He had become beaten down and broken by those systems, and believed that he didn’t deserve better than what he had. He pushed people like herself away because he didn’t want to drag them into his ‘world.’
Ren’s agreement to accompany Cali was perhaps nothing more than a moment of madness. An anomalous decision that flew in the face of his reasoning. But Ren wasn’t a machine, and no matter how hard he tried to portray himself as someone who didn’t need or want the company of others, he couldn’t stop himself from letting her join him.
On top of all that, Ren was an unusually moralistic person. He didn’t kill unless he had to, he tried to treat most people with respect and understanding, and even after their rocky first days on the road together he stuck with her. Cali liked Ren, she understood that much. She liked him because they were alike in many ways, and because he was one of the few people that had endeavoured to know her.
How could she put those feelings into words that Tahar would understand?
“I never said Ren was perfect. He is a man who strives to survive first, but that doesn’t mean he debases himself.”
“But!”
Cali cut her off, “But nothing. Life here is different to Versia. Communities are weak, people’s worst natures come to light easily, and those in positions of power will do anything to preserve that power. Ren is not a noble warrior – he is not a saviour. He is a man, nothing more and nothing less. If your faith is so shaken by something like this, then I fear for what you will think in the future.”
Tahar didn’t know what to think. Was this some kind of jealous outburst? Was Ren really as she said? Was she the fool for believing so blindly in his virtues? Yet, the decision had been made. Her honour and life as a member of the tribe demanded that she continue on this path, so that one day she may give birth to a new generation of incredible warriors.
Cali had second thoughts, “Apologies. That was very harsh of me. Ren is a good person, but what ‘good people’ are depends on our perspective. This is a society that rewards the cruel and punishes the law-abiding. If you wish to understand, you should observe Ren more and try to think like he thinks.” She noted that this was the type of feeling-oriented consideration that she never handed out to others before then. She was changing in some ways, but she did not have any fear of it.
“I will,” Tahar agreed, “It is clear I have much to learn.”
The discussion was left there. Cali was sure that it would come up again in the future, by then she hoped to have a simpler, more digestible answer. She needed to refocus on the job and leave the soul-searching for later. Ren had taken a big upset win versus Miller, and now the crowd was starting to get upset. Accurate accusations of fight fixing abound, yet people continued to bet on the fights anyway.
Idiots.
Adam Briar wasn’t around the ring. Cali scanned a sea of faces, the image on the poster looming in her mind’s eye. This wasn’t working and she knew it. She changed strategies. If he was the head of the gang – that meant he’d be surrounded by a lot of guards. They needed to find the largest concentration of those gang members, if they did, they might find him.
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Cali and Tahar slipped away from the main area and onto a nearby hill. Nobody suspected much of them thanks to the copious amounts of beer being handed out. From the elevated vantage point, the picturesque fields were there for all to see. In the day, it would be a feast for the eyes. At this time of night, the torches weren’t enough to illuminate the endless rows of trees and crops.
Amongst the throng, Cali finally found something of interest. At one of the gazebos stood several of the gang’s number. “That seems like the place,” Cali said out loud, “The security there is heavier than anywhere else.”
It was at moments like these that Tahar was thankful that she had a guide like Cali, even if she tended to scold her from time to time. She wouldn’t have known where to start if she was hunting the bounty herself. The idea of a ‘criminal’ still confounded her. Never once in her life had anyone in her village broken a rule more serious than pilfering someone’s food store; a crime which was rectified by the offender paying the victim back. In a village of one-hundred or so people the prospect of social isolation was real. Sull had millions and millions of residents spread out over dozens of Kingdoms. Thieves and murders could just pack up and go somewhere else with little consequence.
Cali’s heart stopped as Ren broke through the noise in front of her, beside a rat-like man with a cigarette in one hand. She grabbed Tahar’s shoulder and guided her out of the way before he could spot them. The two men were chatting up a storm – and headed towards the heavily guarded gazebo where she believed that Adam was located.
She couldn’t shadow them with a seven foot and a half monster next to her, “Tahar – stay out of sight. I’ll follow them and come get you.” If there was one thing Cali liked about Tahar, it was that she knew how to follow instructions. She meekly walked to a nearby tree and made herself scarce. Cali jogged after Ren and his new friend, catching some of the conversation as they went.
“Adam’s a great guy, really. I think you’ll like him.”
Ren’s tone was completely different to how it normally was, he was playing nice. “I’m not that unfriendly, even if I’m in an unfriendly business. You sure it’s okay for me to meet the big man after one fight?”
“It’s fine. Adam knows the score. When we’ve got a promising new associate on the books, he wants to meet ‘em right away and get a measure of them.”
Cali had hit the jackpot. Ren was integrating himself into the gang. She kept a safe distance from them and studied the security around the elevated platform. There were six men on the inside, and two standing at the bottom of the steps. She could sneak around the back and listen to their discussion. She walked the long way around and approached cautiously, settling into a small ditch that surrounded the construction. Ren and the other man were already meeting and greeting Adam.
“Hey Adam, this is the guy I told you about.”
Adam had a snivelling, nasally voice, “Oh yeah? And did he keep up his end of the deal?”
“In the first round he did. Followed my instructions to the letter.”
Boots met wood as the key players moved around on the decking. “My name’s Ren. Vincent told me there’s a lot of money in fights around here.”
Adam snickered, “That there is. But all of that cash runs through us. We were the ones who set this whole thing up. If you want a slice of the pie you need to keep playing by our rules.”
“You’ve had a few already, haven’t you Adam?” Vincent laughed, “You look well pissed.”
“Course I have! What kind of dick shows up to a party like this and doesn’t have a drink?”
“I can name a few…”
“Anyway! You keep showing Vincent that you’re on the level, and we might just put you up for some of the bigger fights. You can earn a lot of money if you get in with some of the top guys.”
“How tough are they?” Ren said.
“Tough enough. They think they’re hot shit because we put a bunch of our guys in with them. Some of them are too stupid to realize that they’re fixed. We’ve got legit fighters, and ants that are there just to get dropped. When we play both sides, we can’t lose. Which side you’re on depends on how you do.”
Cali had been listening closely, but also moving to get a better angle on Adam’s face. She could only hope to get a side profile, but that was enough for her to confirm the veracity of the flyer. When she was happy with her spot, she peered over the edge and watched for Adam turning his head. A large amount of alcohol and some boisterous company had put the man in a good mood – so he was full of energy. It didn’t take long for him to give up the view she wanted.
Short brown hair, stubby nose, large ears. It was a good sketch.
His security was tight. Cali needed to find a way to get to him without surrounding herself with guards. She had everything she needed from the endeavour, so she crept away and returned to Tahar by the tree. Several men had stopped and were gawking at her. Cali glared and sent them scampering.
“I got what I needed. I know what he looks like.”
“Why don’t we do it now?” Tahar suggested.
Cali would have liked to end the job then and there but the numbers were against them. Not only thanks to the gang members who were watching the ranch like hawks, but because the crowd would get in the way either through panic or by trying to interfere. Even worse, neither of them had their weapons. If they did somehow manage to grab Adam, there was nowhere to hide for miles around. She did not want to get lost in the orchards trying.
She needed to study the streets in the city and come up with an exfiltration plan. “This is not a good place to do so,” Cali explained, “Too many people, flat terrain. We’d be lucky to escape.” The pair headed back down the hill and to the front gate, much to Cali’s chagrin one of the men stopped her again.
“Back already?”
Cali scowled, “The list was full. We have signed up for the next meeting.”
“Only here to get your hands bloody huh? Can’t say we get any female competitors, but judging from the size of her it might not be a problem.”
The man guffawed at his base observation. Cali did not find it humorous.
“We will see you later.”
Yes, at the end of a blade perhaps.