"I'll make sure I'll turn you into bacon, you little shits!", the dock worker's voice echoed in the distance.

"You'll do no such thing! Those pigs were rented, I want them back!", the merchant yelled.

"You two! Stop bickering and help me find the third one!", a dock guard joined in the choir of yelling and oinking.

Hidden behind crated in the cargo area of a ferry on dock seven, Han and Astrid listened to the exchange, amused. Han suddenly reached into his sleeve and took out his deck of cards, starting to shuffle it.

"Wanna play a game of cards?", he asked. "Makes the time go by faster"

"Sure, why not"

"If you lose, would you give me that ring?", he asked, and Syndell's smile turned into a cold scowl.

"Oh, so that's what you're after?"

An awkward silence fell upon them for a few seconds. Han started shuffling again.

"Nah... how about a coffee, in the next port? Loser buys the winner coffee"

"You just want free coffee, but fine. If it kills time..."

"You're already sure you'll lose, Syndell?"

"You're a swindler, Han. A crook. I've seen people like you before, I know that you'll cheat"

"Right...". Han hid that the statement hurt him a bit, which felt strange to him since he usually took pride in his 'profession'. "You like poker?"

"Poker's fine", she said, taking the deck to cut it, then placing it back on Han's palm.

Ten minutes later, they were deep in the second game, Syndell having won the first.

"They're still at it, huh?", Syndell asked, looking at her cards.

"Obviously. They can't even keep the piglets that they already have caught, let alone find the one that doesn't exist. No one stays behind to guard them, they just tie their legs and go back to searching. Piglets' feet are sleek with grease, so they just slip free. That's human stupidity for you"

"Hmm...". Syndell drew an ace, completing a royal flush. "You know, I met a priest once, he told me that heaven and hell are the exact same way: endless tables lined with soup bowls and spoons that are very long, as long as six feet. The only difference is the people at the table: in hell, they try to eat by themselves, but can't reach their mouths with the spoons and starve, while in heaven they feed each other. I guess he meant to say that it's through helping someone else that you help yourself"

"You don't seem very convinced", Han told her, looking at his crap hand.

"It sounds very endearing and warm, but after you live long enough, you start to see through the bullshit. All the atrocities people commit, the stupid shit they use to justify them, thinking they are on the right side of history... All the mistakes they keep repeating, all the new problems that appear to replace the old ones that just got solved... You can't keep a soft heart like that. You tune it out after a while. There are only so many firsts you can have, and you care about the firsts most. Everything becomes white noise once you saw it all"

Han sighed.

"Fold"

He took Syndell's cards without taking a look at them and put them at the bottom of the pack.

"You gave me that hand on purpose?", Syndell asked.

"What hand?", Han asked, cracking a smile.

A loud horn announced the ferry's departure, and the cargo door slammed shut with a loud thud, engulfing the cargo area in complete darkness. A jolt and the feeling of motion were the only indications that they were separating from the mainland.

"Say...", Han's voice broke the silence. "I know I acted like I wasn't interested, but what happened to you? When you walked into that store, wearing that bloodied dress?". Silence. "Syndell?"

“You act like you couldn’t care less about everything”, Syndell’s voice replied. “But you care a lot, don’t you? To you, it’s not white noise. Tell me, how often have you thought about it before you asked me?”

“Every second, from that moment up until now”

Silence.

“Oh, boy”, Syndell suddenly complained. “You’re starting to lose me. I can’t stand people that care. I figured you were different, Han”

“Whatever, forget I ever asked! I’m not sticking my nose into people’s shit, I won’t start with you”

“That’s more like it! Keep it fun. More interesting!”

*

A young woman with long white hair braided in a tail was standing at the edge of a pier, reading a letter. After finishing reading it, she ripped it to pieces and threw it in the water below, letting the pieces float with the waves. She took a second look at the envelope: stained with blood, it had Astos stamps and 'Your friend that you stood up' as the sender. A smile appeared on the woman's face. She had a red left pupil; an albino. The right eye was missing, hidden by an eye patch, with a long scar running from her forehead down her cheek.

"Friend, huh?", she said to herself, ripping the envelope too. "Like a piece of shit can make friends"

The sun was rising over the horizon, turning the sea into orange and black horizontal lines. Under the water's rippling surface, a hand and a foot were slowly sinking to the dark bottom, leaving a trail of dark red, almost purple-looking blood. When they reached the bottom and stirred up two clouds of slowly moving dirt, the hand and the foot were finally reunited with other body parts that have been chopped up.

A deep horn in the distance announced the arrival of a ferry, sending the seagulls into a frenzy. The albino woman rose up, her weathered black leather trench flailing and revealing a sword strapped to her hip, along with various knives and sharp objects lined up on her belt.

When the cargo door opened and light flooded the space, Han and Syndell seized the chance and sneaked out while the dock workers were busy unloading the first crates. They were quickly met with the more level, borderline dilapidated landscape of Saladin, an old industrial port town of Arcadia that was reduced to a crumbling ruin. In the background, the furnaces where once the finest iron in that part of the world was made were turned into lonely shapes that blew their last bit of smoke years ago.

"Are there even coffee shops in this shithole?", Han asked, looking around at the shabbily dressed people walking around with sour expressions.

"I'd be surprised if there's even that much coffee", Syndell replied. "Haven't been in Saladin in years"

"How old are you anyway?"

"Rude!"

"Fair enough... But coffee they must have, this is a port town"

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"So? There isn't a guy with two crown in his pocket in this entire rinky-dink town"

"You must not know how these places operate", Han said, pointing to the abandoned smelting plant. "That was their source of income for years. Now that it's closed, you think they could survive off the port alone? An entire town can't work at the port, and I don't see any other businesses around. No, you can bet your ass that a quarter of the cargo that passes through here gets 'misplaced' every day"

"Why ship through here, then?", Syndell asked, confused.

"Heh, you think the people who ship goods can't afford the losses they have here?"

Syndell smiled, then looked around. She noticed that Han was also scanning the area, but with more focus than her.

"Looking for someone?", she asked.

"Yeah... It's the second time I'm getting stood up if he's not here"

"Who?"

Han turned his gaze to her and cracked a smile.

"Come on, keep it fun, right?", he shot back.

"So... what should we do now?"

"I don't know... I'll kill some time, you can do the same. There's an inn that serves good food, for what's worth. We'll meet here at midnight, then sail straight to the capital"

"Yeah...", Syndell said, catching a glimpse of a silhouette standing on a rooftop for a split second, before the sun blinded her. "Yeah... sounds like a plan"

*

A chunk of lard landed in a charred cast iron skillet, slowly melting away into a bubbly, semi-translucent coating. A pair of hands scooped out two eggs from a crate, and with a bump to each other and a cracking open movement for each, the contents landed in the pan within seconds. The egg whites started to turn opaque, light brown around the edges, while the yolks remained dark orange and jiggly, covered by a thin translucent film. A thin slice of ham joined them in the pan, shriveling in seconds and turning from meaty red to brown.

"You know what the biggest plot of land in Saladin is, baby?", asked the cook, an old woman of dark complexion called Betsy.

"No, ma'am", Han answered, watching hungrily from the small table set right next to the counter.

"Take a guess"

"The smelting plant?"

"The cemetery, baby. The cemetery"

The eggs and ham got transferred on a chipped plate. Betsy scooped various pickled veggies and put them on the plate without measuring. She then sprinkled some salt and pepper, then brought the plate to Han's table.

"And a fork?", he asked.

"You got two attached to your wrists, don't you?", Betsy answered, smiling so wide that her gums showed. "All the utensils were smelted years ago when the iron mine dried up and we stopped receiving transports"

"Couldn't you folk buy ore from somewhere else?"

"Was more expensive than what they got from selling iron. Besides... Saladin upper folk were never too bright"

Han looked at his plate and sighed, then grabbed one of the eggs and started munching, runny yolk pouring down his fingers.

*

Syndell followed the mysterious silhouette to the Saladin cemetery, a large, flat plot of grassy land lined with thousands of tombstones, cracked and covered in stone algae. In an open field like that, it was hard to hide. A draft of wind blew past her, visible as a line in the grass that swept from right to left. Syndell flipped the ring on her finger, her body tensing.

Suddenly, a tiny shadow appeared on the back of her head, growing larger and larger with each second. Sensing something, Syndell turned and, with a roundhouse kick, smashed to pieces a tombstone that was being hurled toward her. Raising her fists in a defensive position, she started slowly pacing around, scanning the area with her eyes.

"Word of advice...", Syndell started yelling, looking around. "You throw shit, you don't do it with your back against the Sun. The shadow gives it away"

Silence.

"It was meant to be a warning shot", a woman's voice echoed.

"Warning shot? What kind of warning shot could take your head's clean off?"

"Oh, please...", the voice continued. "I know who you are. That bitch with the ring. All bounty hunters know who you are"

Syndell smirked.

"Bounty hunter? You got a death wish or something?", she asked.

Silence.

"On a good day, maybe... But I'm not after you. I'm after that boy toy you drag around"

That piqued Syndell's interest.

"Well, maybe I'm getting married", she replied, then smashed her fist into another tombstone that came from the opposite direction. A cloud of dust slowly faded out around her while the stone pieces crumbled and fell to her feet. "Anything I should know about my dear future husband?"

"He's the lowest of the low. Would still anything that isn't nailed to the floor, and if he got a nail hammer, he'd steal those things too, and the nails". A beat. "But that's not why I'm after him"

"Then why are you after him?"

Silence. Syndell got jumpy when a crow's shadow wheezed past her, moving into a new position in a split second.

"He set me up, years ago", the voice yelled. "I trusted him, and I got the scars to pay for it. Little did he know, he was the creator of his own demise"

"That's nice and all, but I still don't get why you're throwing tombstones at me right now"

Suddenly, the steady sound of footsteps started to fade in from behind. Syndell turned around and saw the albino woman in the leather trench, closing in with her hands raised.

"Name's Astrid", she said.

"Syndell"

"I know. I take it it was you who did that nasty move on the clothing store saleswoman, back in Astos?"

Syndell remained silent. Astrid slowly put her gloved hands down, resting them on her hips. Syndell remarked the paraphernalia hanging from her belt.

"Relax. Like I said, I'm not after you", Astrid continued. "You can flip that ring around. I bet your body hurts like crazy right now because of it. Besides...". She noticed the Moon head. "I bet it's the other side that would do you more good"

"You're not impressing me with your knowledge of this. Everybody wants it... few even get to have a glimpse"

"Well, I don't want it, believe it or not. Once I get Han... I'm done with this life, for good"

"You're giving up bounty hunting, huh?", Syndell asked, but got a head tilt in return. "Oh, even better. You're one gloomy bitch, no one's gonna miss you"

"Just tell me where he is and I'll be out of your hair"

"Out of my hair?", Syndell repeated with a wide smile, visibly annoyed. "Oh, you'll leave me alone, will you? You got some nerve"

"Tell me, what good does that ring do if the hand it's on does not connect to your wrist?"

Silence. Syndell clenched her fists, while Astrid slowly reached for her belt.

"See, now you're just pissing me off", Syndell said through her teeth.

Suddenly, she lunged with a kick toward Astrid, but her opponent leaned back, her body bent ninety degrees, Syndell's heel passing an inch over Astrid's cheek before digging a ditch in the dirt behind her. She quickly reached for three throwing stars and threw them with a spin, the sharp objects lodging in Syndell's back before she got a chance to turn around.

"Ah! Motherf...", Syndell yelled.

Astrid ran toward her with great speed. Syndell swung her right leg like a scythe, but Astrid jumped, dodging the move while preparing to kick her opponent in the face. Syndell caught both of her feet with her fingertips, suspending Astrid's whole body in the air for a second before slamming her down on her back, taking the air out of her lungs. She jumped with the knees on Astrid's abdomen, ready to pound her face. Astrid brought her forearms up to her face for protection, but after three blows from Syndell, her right radius bone cracked, making her let out a quick groan. With a quick move, she rose her left hand to Syndell's face, a hidden blade extending from a mechanism concealed at her wrist. Without having much time to think, Syndell used her right palm to protect her face. The blade pierced through the hand, stopping half an inch shy of her face. She yelled, then rolled to the side.

Astrid and Syndell both got up slowly, panting, the first grabbing on her broken arm, the second all smeared with her own blood.

"You're a tough one, I give you that", Syndell said. "Problem is... I heal faster than you"

"Problem is, I can still crack your skull open while my arm heals", Astrid snapped back.

"What, you think I need to stop for these paper cuts?". She started laughing, then straightened her back.

"Wait!". Astrid calculated her chances, then rose her left hand to stop Syndell mid-dash. "You're right. I couldn't take you on as it is now... Let's just agree to disagree, and I'll look for Han myself"

"I think I'm owed an apology first. You know... on account of sparing your life?"

Astrid smiled. She made her left open hand a fist.

"Kiss my ass!", she said, opening her fist and letting a small black ball spring out.

The small ball hit the ground and a huge cloud of thick black smoke erupted around Syndell, making her cough. She left the cloud quickly, coughing and wheezing, eyes teary and red. She looked around; Astrid was long gone. Resting with her hands on her knees, she saw how blood started to pour down her right pant leg from the wound in her hand. Syndell twisted the ring, Sun side up, and her wound started to close. The throwing stars in her back popped out of her flesh too, landing in the grass. Syndell's breath started to slow down. She was taken aback; no one ever got so close really hurting her, not without special help anyway.