The sand shifted and turned as turbulent gusts blew by, the endless expanse of desert and sand blowing into the seedy little bar.
The door creaked, and some heads turned to see. A newcomer has come, cloaked in a long brown robe and a wide hat on his head, yet even underneath that it is possible to see the telltale pale skin of a Greenlander and his powerful frame.
He sat roughly on a stool in the bar. The barmaid came close and he grumbled out to her. "Water, dried meat, and a bowl of rice." She nodded.
Conversations returned to the usual, wanderers and squatters are nothing new to this world, and this man is but one among many.
The food arrives quickly. Not much, but it is enough for a hungry traveler to feast upon, although judging by the man's size he's gonna need several portions.
He dug in quickly yet not in a messy way, he ate every morsel of food that there is to be eaten.
As he ate and the bar clamored to speak, the doors once again opened, yet this time much more violently as a whole group of men entered.
Conversation stilled and many people tensed their hands automatically reaching for their tools of conflict; knives, clubs, swords, and even spears.
Yet they stilled as one of the men shouted. "As the protectors of this land and true owners we, the samurai of The Empire, have come to collect the noble tax for this bar! Compliance is mandatory, and the inability to pay is met by punishment!" He yelled out, the people relaxing somewhat, although the bartender tensed up more. He knows he must pay, the fate which will befall him otherwise is not a kind one.
"Yes, yes. I have it all here, no need to raise a fuss kind sirs." The man says with an exasperated sigh. He reaches under the table and pulls out a bag of coins which clink and clank as they hit the table, then roll off and fall all around.
The leading thug smiles. "Your obedience is greatly appreciated." Despite his words, several complaints rang out from the group at seeing no blood spill.
Three men stepped forward, all of them grabbing the sack and the scattered coins which fell out, some such coins coincidentally coming near the stranger at the table.
The men collected the coins and the man paid them no heed until one of the men peeked under his wide-brim hat at his face.
"Now where da hell have I seen your ugly mug before?" The man blurted out the first thing that came to mind, and they all looked at him for that.
The mysterious stranger just pulled his cloak tighter. "Sorry, must have confused me for someone else, I have never met you." He tried to deflect.
"Naw, Nah. I've seen you somewhere before for sure. Stand up and take that damn hat off, I wanna get a good look at ya." The man says, this time more threateningly as his hand reaches for the saber at his side.
"Sir, sir. I am quite sure there is no need for that, I am only-" The stranger's words are cut off by another shout.
"Oi, Pinkeye, what's the hold-up?!" The leading man shouted out to the pondering goon.
"Ey, boss, we got a fishy man over here. Something about him doesn't smell right." He tells the man, and suddenly, if they weren't already, all the eyes turn to the two men.
The boss approaches, a larger guy with a nasty scar on his eye. He wears armor and a sword on his hip, yet despite being a samurai looks more like a thug than anything else.
"Get up peasant, and take the hat off..." The man gruffly says. "...or face the justice of The Empire." His fingers played with the handle of his sword, the intent behind it clear.
The mysterious man looks at them all before sighing. "I always did dislike fighting." He told them as he got up. "But if you try anything I will not show mercy."
His cloak billowed to the side, revealing a nasty chopper in his hand, and as he fully stood up and the hat fell they could all finally look at him.
He is a large man indeed, the samurai himself is not small yet this man stood almost a head taller. His arm is muscular, and the sword looks nasty to chop with.
Blonde long hair is revealed, his eyes a piercing blue, skin lightly tanned from the sun. He is somewhat handsome, but more in rugged sort of way.
The bar died, and people looked at him, some in confusion, others in recognizing shock, the samurai among the later bunch.
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"Hoh damn, we got ourselves quite somebody here." He exclaimed with a bit of shock, and a grin on his face. "If it ain't The Breaker, notorious bandit leader of the desert. Thought you'd be taller, y'know?" He broke out into a laugh, one not shared by anyone else in the room.
"Damn it, I knew this would happen." The man, Breaker apparently, muttered under his breath. "Look, I know you ain't the boss of this bunch, so how about you take me to the real leader, that way I don't have to repeat myself." He said, a mix of resignation and familiarity in his tone.
The samurai didn't hear it as that though.
"The hell did you say to me you little shit!?" A vein throbbed on his forehead as he yelled that out. "How about I care to serve your head up as a decoration for my promotion!?" He said with a dangerous glint as his hand went for the sword.
Before things could turn to violence however a hand came onto his shoulder.
"What's the holdup Samurai Zete? The collection has taken more than the allowed and expected time." A voice called out, and they all turned to see a rather small man standing behind the thug samurai.
His hair is combed and slicked back, a silver mane, and his glowing bright eyes give a little guess as to where he is from. The polished shining armor, sword at the waist, and taunt, sinewy physique however give away who he works for.
'He's strong.' The thought ran thru Breaker's head as he gripped his cutter, now more unsure of himself than before. 'A true samurai.'
Luckily it doesn't seem to be developing into a fight.
"Oh, uh, sir Miio! I meant no disrespect to the noblest one, yet an unexpected situation has come along!" The samurai thug sputtered when he noticed his superior, all the anger vanishing in a moment, replaced by submissive greed in his eyes. "See that man over there is none other than the infamous bandit, The Breaker!" And he said that while pointing at Breaker.
Miio looked at the man opposite of him, a fine eyebrow raised in curiosity before he spoke. "I see, well then that is certainly a development worth notifying The Head over. Good job, if it truly is how you claim and this is The Breaker you will be well rewarded Samurai Zete." At that, the thug almost jumped in glee.
"As for you, come with me." He said, not once turning his gaze from Breaker before he made an almost mechanical 180° turn, waltzing out of the bar, expecting Breaker to follow him.
With a sigh at his lips, he began to follow, the people giving him a wide berth as he passed by, no one dared to associate with such a known criminal.
Once outside the sun glared down on him, and suddenly he began to miss his hat and curse himself for his stupidity.
Camped at the front door must be at least another two dozen people, front and center of which is a large palanquin with a pack of animals and a cart attached, and surrounded by another five polished samurai guards.
How the hell he missed such a large procession of people when they were but minutes from him is unknown, although he is willing to chalk it up to hunger.
They walked for a moment before they stopped in front of the palanquin with red curtains. At that, the samurai known as Miio got to one knee before speaking.
"Head, the delay of the collection has been brought before you. According to Samurai Zete while performing the routine collection one of his men noticed a suspicious figure and after some probing it turned out to be The Breaker, the notorious bandit leader of the desert." He said it all in mostly one breath, yet in a monotone voice as he kept his head down, expecting a response.
Breaker waited, behind the curtain he could barely see, yet he did notice a shadow moving, and after some time the shadow, the shape, spoke.
"Good job Miio." The words came out smooth, honeyed almost, yet ended with a sharp, dangerous barb, it promised pain. The femininity in it is unquestioned, yet so is the deadliness. "As for you, is it true that you are The Breaker? Bandit leader of the desert?" Her perception shifted to him.
For a moment he didn't know what to say, stunned or frozen stiff really. The voice, sounded so good, one could lose himself while hearing this person talk. Yet his daze lasted for just a moment or so, his mind snapping back with little grace.
"Oh, great Noble one." Better start strong and bootlick from the very beginning. "While it is true that I bear resemblance to the bandit known as The Breaker, it is of little to do with deeds of my own. I am naught but a farmer and wanderer, I bear but blood and resemblance to the bandit leader." He said, all in one breath as he lowered his head and body in submission.
Silence fell for a moment before the voice picked up again. "Hmmm, blood and resemblance? You better elaborate quickly on that one, burning is such an awful way to die after all." The threat in her words was clear, the mysterious man quickly went to work wagging his tongue.
"My name is Kon, great noble. A farmer from the marshes, my great resemblance comes from the fact that I am the older brother of the bandit The Breaker, although we are similar only in blood and face." He spat out, before taking another breath and continuing. "His deeds are not mine, and long ago have we parted ways with me unable to stomach his dark path."
Silence came over again, and Kon, formerly Breaker, begins to sweat profusely.
His gamble at exposing his connection to the bandit was a necessary one. If they had taken him as the bandit he probably would be killed on the spot or sent back to the cities for execution, a fate he is unlikely to avoid unless his brother decided to attack at a very lucky time. No way were they letting such an infamous criminal go.
Besides, it often worked. Bandits upon hearing this usually flee, as do minor nobles, both for similar reasons.
Yet judging from what he has seen this is no bandit he is talking to, no minor noble either. She could still very well execute him on the spot, and he would be powerless to stop her.
"His brother you say? Well, well, well. How interesting." Something akin to a laugh is heard from behind the curtain, he doesn't need to see to know that she is smiling now. "I do wonder how much brotherly love you two have." At that Kon's stomach dropped.
"Take him, and let the whole desert know we have Kon, The breaker's brother with us. Make it so that The Breaker hears of it, let's see how much of a brother he is." It seems that the worst possible scenario has come, even worse than if he was executed on the spot. Shit.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
So if it isn't obvious the world is the world of Kenshi, a truly great game. I chose it mostly because it has no story yet an interesting setting and lore. I also love the game.
The death scene in the last chapter was inspired by one of my favorite anime, Akame ga kill. You can imagine it going the same as Esdeath's death.