Once Chester got the truck up and running again with brand new tires and the windshield removed, the convoy escort continued to Jinto Bay. They had little to no troubles from after the midway point between destinations and they made it intact. Once the cargo was left to the shipping section, Ivan and Shade were immediately admitted into medical care from their wounds. Both of them were going to be okay, they just needed to not use the damaged limbs often and it will recover fine.
With the mission completed, the group waited until the supplies were unloaded and payment was received. The day was coming close to an end so Ivan arranged a stay at a hotel in the port town. There was no point in traveling when night comes, especially with the group wounded and exhausted from the attack. Not to mention the direwolves that pose a threat still. While the wolf bandits were something planned, the direwolves appeared to have tangled with something else as they had gashes on their bodies. Nothing an axe from the bandits could do, no. Either someone with plenty of skill took them on and let them live as a warning, or something bigger attacked them for encroaching in its territory.
When morning rose, everyone gathered at the drop off point after getting breakfast and saw that the truck has been loaded with a couple supplies. It was what was being sent back to Sarydia as part of the trade. Ivan did a count on the items requested before giving Hanna the okay for her to get ready for take off.
The group split off into two pairs. Ivan with Hanna in the main truck so he can offer assistance, and the twins paired with Chester in the rebranded car. Shade had to take it easy because her shoulder was killing her, so she had to take some pain killers. Chester made her relax in the back of the car for the ride back, much to her discomfort as the car seats weren't exactly comfy to lay on when being bounced around.
In the end, the return was fine as nothing came out to attack the group. The bandits were nowhere in sight and the direwolves had vanished from their location. The only proof of their existence on the road was the blood that pooled and dried up where they were resting.
When they arrived back at the shipping depot in Sarydia, Kitsuno looked into the back seat to let Shade know that they have arrived. There was no response so she climbed over to see her sister laying in an uncomfortable position on the floor. "Shade... that can't be good for your spine." She pokes a finger in her side but resolved in no movement. Chester got out from the drivers side to open the door behind him to poke and prod at Shade's legs. "Come on Shade, we're back at Sarydia." She still did not move. Chester sighs, "I guess the painkillers took it out of her."
Chester then reaches in over her waist to lift her up and over the lip of the floor to pull her unconcious body out. As he works on getting her in a comfortable position in his arms, Kitsuno gets out with her bow and grabbed her sister's spear. The shield was beyond repair from the fight so it was left behind. Ivan walks up to the three and taps on Chester's shoulder. "You did well Chester, once you drop the girl off in her room, come to mine and I got something for you. I figured your earned it after yesterday." Chester smiles, "You don't have to Ivan. Besides, it's the usual in this business."
The group heads back to the mercenaries guild, with some odd looks as Chester carried one of the kitsunes. Ivan checked up on Shade's pulse and breathing before they got to the guild entrance. Maurice was in the main foyer with Mally as they noticed their return. His eyes immediately lock onto Shade and Ivan's wounded limbs before walking over to Chester. "We got informed about the distress call you gave out Chester. You never said anything about injuries." Chester gives off a meek look to the boar as he looks down at Shade. "Sorry Maurice, but that was before we abandoned the truck to search for the others. The girls and Ivan got into a fight with the bandits and managed to chase them away, but not unscathed."
Ivan waves his good wing out, "The medics said we needed to stay on light duty for now for better recovery." Mally had walked out from her desk and was amongst the group with a hand on Shade's head. "Don't worry about her Mally. The ride was long for her and the painkillers knocked her out." She sighs before looking up at Chester. "Shade's room is on the very end of the hallway next to Kitsuno's. She can show you which one it is." She goes back to her desk and Maurice looks at Ivan, "When Zhutto gets back with his meeting with the mayor, he needs a word with you Ivan." The avian nods before heading upstairs to head to his room.
Kitsuno leads the rabbit to Shade's room to lay her in her bed. "There we go. Safe and sound in bed." Kitsuno sighs as she sits next to her sister in the bed, "Thank you Chester. I appreciate the help." He reached down with a hand, "No worries kid. All part of the job." She looks at his hand before grabbing it with one of hers and shaking it.
Once he let's go, Chester walks out of the room before stopping at the door. "Hey Kitsuno." She looks up at him in the doorway, "Don't let this one mission get you both down. Things happen and you don't need to have one single thing ruin your chances. I don't know your reasoning in joining the mercenary life, but I am sure you both know it is a rough one. Just don't give up. I've seen a fair share of those who, once they get a real slap to the face on reality, they up and quit." He then turns around to fully face them both, "However, if you ever doubt this path that you took. Remember that this city has many other opportunities to choose from."
Kitsuno nods, "Yes sir." Chester laughs a bit, "Ha, no need to call me sir. Now go ahead and get some rest yourself." He then walks away from the room and Kitsuno sighs before getting up off the bed to walk towards the door and shut it. With it closed, she strips off the armor she was wearing and placed them against the wall with her bow and quiver before walking up to her sister. She places a hand on her side to shake her a bit. "Shade? Come on sis, it's time to wake up."
Surprisingly, Shade opens her eyes slowly. Her vision was blurry as she tried to figure out where she was. Kitsuno noticed her eyes open and smiled as she was finally awake. "Slept well I take it sis?" Shade rises up slowly before rubbing her shoulder. "Not really. My stomach feels rough right now and my mouth is dry feeling..." Kitsuno places a hand on her sister's stomach and rubbed it a bit. "Well, we found you unconcious on the floor in the car. You were kinda laying on the bend on the center."
She groans a bit before grabbing her sister's hand and pulling it away from her stomach. "I guess I owe Chester then." Kitsuno shakes her head before raising her hand to rub her sister's head next. "He was fine carrying you. He said he's use to this kind of stuff because of the job." Shade closes her eyes for a bit before swinging her legs out of bed and standing up. Kitsuno looks at her sister before grabbing her arm to help her out of bed. "Let's get you out of your armor and get you something to drink." Her sister nods, "That's the idea. I can go for some nice cold water."
Later into the night, Zhutto and Ivan were in the main office. The minotaur was listening to the avian warrior as he explained what had happen during the attack. With them however, was also Hanna from the escort group. The lynx had her armor off this time and was in some casual clothes consisting of a red collared shirt and black jeans over her spotted brown and black fur.
Once Ivan finished his report, he relaxed in his chair as Zhutto marked down in his notes. "This is exactly what I should have thought about more before sending those two out there with you guys. I apologize for what those two did." Hanna shakes her head as she waves a hand about. "Same old same old Zhutto. You do have this bad habit of acting before fully thinking of the consequences." She then slams both her hands on the desk. "But care to explain why we have two kitsune spellblades working here? You do realize how much trouble they are going to be, right?"
Zhutto raises a hand, "Settle yourself Hanna. I am fully aware that Shade and Kitsuno are something else. They just--" Hanna wasn't done though as she interrupts him. "Zhutto, had I not known better, I would have shot one of them for confusing them that they are from the empire. We all know they are trying to encourage a war and over half of their military are spellblades. People are going to get concerned if these two don't keep themselves in line. Especially Shade." She then leans back in her chair as she shudders, "The look in her eyes when she told me she would help get back Larissa and Hale... it was more foreboding than helpful."
Zhutto sighs as he had a feeling Shade's temper is what's going to scare people off. "Hanna, Shade was more than likely still in the heat of the moment. But, if it makes you feel better I will have a talk with her in the morning about her temper. They are both still young so they are learning." Ivan leans in from his seat to add on, "Zhutto, I respect you and all. But I have to agree with Hanna. There is something off about Shade to where it is a concern for the city, rather than her own personal safety. I saw her using her magic and it felt more unnatural than what a normal mage would use."
Hanna then looks at Ivan with question, "What do you mean Ivan? I thought most magic was the same aside from some of the forbidden stuff that was banned? She looked like she was casting normal fire spells to me." The avian shakes his head before getting up from his seat to stretch his legs out. "Be that as it may, I have been to the mages guild and have seen some of them practice. A certain... aura is felt around them." He then looks over at Zhutto, "But it will take the rest of the night to explain exactly what I am talking about. I suggest that both of you head to the mage's guild and talk with Wilhelm. He knows a lot more on this than I do."
Ivan then rubs his wing before walking towards the door. "I think this meeting is now at an end. It's late and we all have thing to do in the morning." Before Zhutto could stop him, Ivan opens the door and walks out. Hanna gets up from her seat and looks at the time. "Damn. Eleven already? The bird has a point as I think we covered most of what was needed. Just keep those two girls under control, got it?"
"I'll see to it in the morning. Have a good night Hanna." She walks towards the door and takes ahold of the handle, "Likewise Zhutto." And then she closes the door. The minotaur sighs as this has gone in a completely different direction than what he had thought.
Rubbing his temples with his hands, he got up and walked towards the door. The moment he opened it and trued to step out, he was immediately intercepted by Mally with a stone cold look on her face. "Mally... what are you doing up?"
She places a hand on his torso and pushes him back into the room. "What did I tell you the other day?" Sweat drops from his head as he knew where this was going. "Mally, we can talk about this tom--" she smacks his stomach and pushes him back towards his desk. "Don't try to run from this you dimwitted musclehead. If this is how we are going to treat new recruits, then perhaps it is time I gave you a lecture of my own." Zhutto swallowed hard as there was no escaping her wrath now as Mally stomped over to the door and closed it shut before locking it.
The next day when morning rose, Shade and Kitsuno did their daily routine of waking up and freshening up in the showers. The moment they got downstairs however is where Zhutto stopped them. "Shade, I need to have a word with you." The twins look at each other before Shade walks off with the minotaur to his office. The elder twin walks over to a seat as Zhutto went over to take his seat. Before he sat down, Shade noticed that he had some bandages on his back. "So... what's going on boss...and what's with the bandages on your back?"
He closes his eyes and thinks a bit to choose his words carefully. "I had a bit of a problem last night with my bed. Don't worry about it, I got a new one coming in to replace it. (Hopefully she doesn't pry further on that....)" Shade looks at the minotaur with confusion, but shrugged and decided to not ask.
He clears his throat before continuing, "Anyways, this is about what happened the other day. I may have gotten a little over the top thinking you two would adapt quickly since you flew by training like it was nothing." Shade leans on one of her hands as she rests her arms on the table. "I think it was a good thing we went, cause then Ivan would have gotten killed by the raiders." Zhutto nods before continuing, "While this is true, and the others are grateful for your actions. This is also what we need to talk about." Shade already did not like where this was going. "Your temper is what the issue is. I get you want to protect your sister and others, but you can't just fly off the handle because you get hurt in the process. You'll burn out of energy faster than you want."
He then gets up and walks towards Shade. She was staying quiet to not cause any other issues at this point. "Speaking of burning... about your magic. This is a concerning matter when you use it. As you are aware of the conflict going on here in Druisalle, there are others out there that tend to combine their magic with their weapons, or focus it enough to forge weapons of their own. We call them spellblades around here. It's not exactly a good thing due to.... a certain faction that specializes in this type of combat." Shade looks down at her own hands as her magic was brought attention to. "Don't get the wrong idea though, I'm not saying to never use your magic. Just that you need to control it more before you start setting things on fire."
He then kneels down to meet her on eye level. "It's just that, if you keep flying off the handle and just go berserk, I'm going to have to let you and your sister go. We may not have much, but everyone will be uneasy with those that are like a ticking time bomb. You understand?" She closes her eyes and nods slowly. "Good girl." The minotaur gets up and ushers the kitsune out of her seat to send her back out of the office. Once she was back together with Kitsuno, the duo stood in front of their boss. "Okay, so today we are doing lighter duty missions for you both due to Shade's injury. You are to undergo patrol in the city and watch out for anything suspicious. Try not to start a massive fight, okay. We don't need either of you getting hurt further now."
Shade kept quiet as she knew he was meaning more of her not accidentally harming a civilian instead of doing her job. Kitsuno nods before the two take off out into the city. The minotaur watches as the two leave before making his way out of the guild himself. "Mally, I'm going to be out for a while. I got something to discuss with Wilhelm." Before Mally could say anything, he left. "Wilhelm... has he even talked to him before?"
Maurice walks out from the library as soon as Zhutto left. "Might have to do something with Shade and Kitsuno." She then looks at the boar who had a full stack of books in his hands. "Care to elaborate further Maurice?" The boar walked over to the desk with the stack of books and placed it down. "Those two kitsunes are special in many ways. It's best to keep things on the low for now, just in case things get out of hand. The less who know, the better."
The fox girl looks at Maurice for a moment before getting ideas of what he means. "If you say so." Mally then reaches the top of the bookstack to pull down an old looking guidebook. "I swear, everytime we go through the library, we find something we miss from the last batch." Maurice chuckles as he grabs a book from the top. "I know, and yet the library still passes them along to each guild. Almost like it is a trading sequence between the areas."
Mally giggles at the thought, but then goes silent for a bit as she looks at the main entrance. "Do you think I was too rough on him last night?" The boar looks at her with a questioning gaze, "With the yelling... or the whipping?" Her face goes red on the second one, causing Maurice to laugh. "You two do realize this place isn't exactly soundproof."
"Oh my god...." Mally then places the book on her head and sinks in her seat.
The twins began their new task immediately as soon as they walked out the door and started wandering around the southern portion of the city. Kitsuno waited til they were a good distance away from the guild to ask Shade what Zhutto wanted to talk to her about. "So, I'm going on a wild guess that he wanted to talk to you about what happened?" Shade nods as they make a turn around a storefront and weaved around a crowd of people lined up at a accessory stand. "Yeah. Apparently my magic ties in with something called spellblades." Kitsuno raises a hand up to her chin, "Spellblade... isn't that what the bandit leader shouted about?"
"Yeah. What I am being told is that it isn't exactly welcomed here in the area because of a faction that specializes in this type of combat or something. Says I'll scare people because of it." Shade sighs before stopping at an intersection and observes the surrounding area. Kitsuno stops right next to her before pointing over to the right for them to patrol next. "He also said I need to get my temper under control. I haven't been that aggressive, have I?
Kitsuno bit her lip as she gestures a hand to signify the answer. Shade facepalms before dragging her hand down, "Okay... maybe I have been a little unhinged." She then stops and looks down to the ground. "So much has happened though in such short time. It's like one thing after another to where it is driving me crazy." Kitsuno had stopped right in front of her and placed a hand gently on her shoulders. "Shade, I know you are worried and all that because of what happened a few months ago." She then places a hand under Shade's chin to raise her gaze up to her own. "But you got to remember that we have our chance here. Let's not blow it now." Shade stares at her sister a bit before taking a deep breath. "You're right. I need to slow down and evaluate things better."
Kitsuno smiles before letting go of her sister. "How about we go swing by the bakery and pick up a treat or two for patrol?" Shade's ears perk up at the mentioning of treats. "I wonder what specials they have today. The caramel vanilla swirl shortcake was delicious." Kitsuno giggles at her sister's appetite, "Shade, keep this up and all that bread is gonna go into your thighs." She sticks her tongue out before playfully poking Kitsuno. "You know what some people say. Thick thighs saves lives." The younger sister rolls her eyes. "Nobody has ever said that outside of the porn magazines you used."
The twins made there way through the streets to head towards the bakery. Once there, the two spent some time chatting with the owner Penelope for what was planned for the weekend. Shade's interest was immediately caught when the sheep mentioned blackberries and offered to help get her the supplies. Kitsuno was unfortunately outmatched when this came around as Shade was hard to convince when sweets were on her mind.
Once they had finished chatting and had arranged a side thing to do on the weekend, the duo bought a loaf of cherry chocolate marble swirl and some fresh bread right out of the oven. After waving goodbye and walking out of the bakery, Shade and Kitsuno resumed their duties on patrol and wandered westward in the city. So far, nothing appeared out of the ordinary in the area as the twins made their way around the less store heavy front of the city. One thing that caught their attention was the park that resided here.
The two explored the park together and saw that it had a few spots to relax and enjoy nature under the trees. Kitsuno even saw a small section filled with flowers. She had to be careful though as there was a sign posted that strictly said to not pick the flowers. Shade was a little bummed about it as she saw lavender in the mix of floral arrangements.
Shade's eyes glance up past the flowers a bit before she taps on Kitsuno's hand. "Hey, isn't that Liam?" Kitsuno looks up in time to see the fluffy ferret walking around the city. His outfit changed a little bit since the last time the two saw him as his collar was hoisted up to cover part of his face and hung down as a cape on his back, and he had different pants on that looked bulkier. "I believe it is him. Did he get promoted or something?"
Shade shrugs before walking away from the flowerbeds, "Beats me. Let's see what he's up to." Kitsuno follows behind her sister as she takes off to catch up with the mage as he followed down a pathway towards a different section of town. The two caught up with the ferret mage as soon as they came out of an intersection between stores and Shade tapped on his shoulders to get his attention. "Sir, state your name and business please."
This startled Liam as he accidentally flung his bag in the air and some of the contents come flying out. "Ah crap. Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you that badly..." Shade and Kitsuno rushed to grab the paperwork befire it all flew off elsewhere or landed in something wet. Liam catches his breath a bit before looking back up at the two. "Oh! It's you two." He then walks up to Kitsuno to take some of the papers from her to put back in his bag as he knelt down to grab it next. "I was wondering how you two were doing. Are things going well at the mercenaries guild?"
Shade stayed silent a bit as she focused on catching a few more pages before Kitsuno answered. "Training went by okay, we just had an issue with our last mission, so we are on light duty for now." Liam frowns a bit from hearing that. "I am sorry that happened to you two. Hopefully things get better and you two can get back to doing what you wanted to do."
Shade piles the papers up together in a steady pile before handing it back to Liam. "Just a slight injury is all that happened. I'll be fine after a while." Shade then looks at Liam's bag as he puts the pages back inside. "Heading somewhere Liam?" He nods before hoisting his bag back on his side and standing up. "I was heading to the university up north of town to deliver some documents to the professor that teaches there."
Kitsuno's eyes light up a bit, "A university? Oh! Do they have a big library inside? Or maybe one of those observatory towers?" Shade rolls her eyes as her sister starts to overthink things. "Kit, I highly doubt this place has such a thing like that." Liam cocks his head a bit at Shade. "Do... universities from where you guys are from not have an observatory?"
Shade stares in disbelief while Kitsuno gleams with excitement. "If we get permission, I can show you two the tower there. It's way bigger than the one I saw in my hometown." Shade rubs a hand on her head. "Man, things really are different here in the north. We don't got anything like that down south."
Liam smiles underneath his cloak collar, "Ah, that explains it then. I have heard that some other regions don't have certain things Druisalle does. I had no idea you two were from the south." He then continued on the pathway he was taking, "Follow me, I can show you where the university is." Kitsuno follows eagerly behind the ferret and Shade follows suit. Not as excited as her sister, but glad she found something to be thrilled about.
After a bit of walking, the trio reaches a huge building surrounded by a fenceline. Kitsuno was in awe when she saw the observatory tower. "And they use this during the day?" Liam nods, "Yep. They devised a special lens that allows students to observe some star patterns during the day. Fair warning though from what the professors warn, don't look into the lens immediately when opening it. Otherwise you'll burn your eyes out."
Shade blinks a bit from the warning, "I'm gonna go off on a limb here that, that happened more than enough times before warning labels had to be put out." Liam sighs at the truth of it, "Yes. It really says a lot about some students who think it's like instant coffee. Doesn't end well if you immediately use it without settling first."
Shaking her head, Shade could already see the similarities in her head. "Weird analogy to put it at, but I get what you mean." Kitsuno sticks her tongue out at the thought of coffee. "Bleh... coffee is gross." Liam looks at her, "Not a fan either huh?" Shade nods before patting her sister's back. "We tried it. It was awful." Kitsuno then looks at Shade with a dour look on her face. "And yet, we know a protogen that guzzles it down like nothing. A protogen! Of all things to do that, why that?"
Liam looked confused as he knew nothing of what they were talking about. "Uh... what's a protogen?" Shade looks at the mage before patting his head. "We'll talk about our buddy Onn later. We're here at the gates." The mage looks at where they were and had failed to realize they had stopped moving and were at the main entrance into the university grounds.
The trio walked up the the gate and got the attention of the feline security guard, who was deep in thought in a book he was reading. Of the three, he had to check Shade and Kitsuno over Liam as he did not have anything else but his bag. This was questionable to the teens as Liam could have had anything in there besides the papers needed for delivery. The guard let it go because he heard that someone from the mage's guild was arriving with important packaging. And with Liam being the mage present, he is let through with ease.
The girls on the other hand, had to turn in their weapons. Despite Shade handing over her spear, and Kitsuno giving up her bow and quiver, the guard was not fully convinced as he ask them to hold still as he pats them down. Shade brought up the fact to the guard that they were mercenaries of the town as she got pat down. He put it down as they were not part of the instructions given to him so he was doing his job.
Once the group got checked in after the guard patted down Kitsuno, the three of them headed towards the main doors of the school. Shade leaned into her sister once they were inside and out of earshot. "Make sure you keep away from him if he starts following us. I don't like the way he was eyeing us when taking our stuff." Kitsuno nods in agreement, "The same for you sis, he got real handsy on certain parts of me." Liam turns around to face the twins. A look of concern was on his face, "Should we report him to the headmaster?" Both girls looked at each other as they weighed the thought over before Kitsuno spoke out, "While it would be ideal, we have no proof of him going too far. The main argument that will be brought up is that Shade and I did have weapons."
Liam frowns a bit before opening his bag to pull out a small dagger. "And yet he didn't bother checking me. I know I told him I am here on request from one of the professors here, but that doesn't mean I have permission to walk in here without getting checked." The twins stared at the blade before Shade nods. "I'll figure something out later. He's not getting away with it that easily."
