Chrono Night

[Makenshi]

”Lets go women!”

I grabbed the girl Schala and began to run through the forest using my dagger to cut any plants that interfered.

”Why couldn’t my magic work?

”Now is not the time to think, Gary will soon be behind our trail if we don’t move fast.”

”Who is Gary?”

”We both started the same time in the Hunter’s Guild it was just that I left to seek my own fortune. Usually my guild members travel together, however I think for some reason Gary is acting alone. Let us get rid of this godforsaken place.”

We both didn’t waste a moment as we left the forest. I kept a close watch on our back and as we walked made attempts to hide our footprints to mislead Gary. Though I know I was just poking him with these tricks it still gave us enough time to move ahead.

After a few minutes we decided to slow our pace. I realized that we had covered a lot of ground and my companion was getting tired. She was not usto running long distance.

”We are in Sloth,” I looked up and noticed an Owl flying overhead as I looked back to Schala, ”Keep heading that way and you will soon arrive at a town, I need to check something out.”

”But what about me.”

”Do not worry these roads will lead to a town, go to the inn and get two beds ready I will be there.”

The girl looked at me with surprise, I quickly assured here as I tossed a sack of gold in her hands. Her expression didn’t change as she slowly left. As she was nowhere to be seen I looked back and thought to myself, ”Gary you bastard!”

I grabbed my arrow and let my arrow fly killing the owl immediately.

”Scout, there must be other hunters nearby. I wonder what they are after.”

I grabbed the remains of the owl and tossed it into my sack and headed towards town.

[Zerathos986]

~ஐ†Schala Zeal†ஐ~

”Do not worry these roads will lead to a town, go to the inn and get two beds ready I will be there.”

And so I was left there, in the middle of an inn filled with strangers and strange devices, each moment silently screaming at the emptiness because there was nothing more I could do. Triath had left to do something, but could have easily abandoned me. My companion lay dead elsewhere, his comforting voice breaking my heart as it thumped inside me, the echoes pounding away at my mind so loudly I couldn’t bear it. The people in this domain were terrible to me now. None lifted a finger as I stood at the counter with Triath’s sack of gold in my hands. No one bothered to notice anything out of place. No one. There was no one. I had no one.

”Didn’t I tell you to get us a room with two beds?”

Turning to face the voice, I saw Triath’s frown as he stared at me. Under normal circumstances, I would have apologised for my behaviour, but he had returned for me. I had someone. Immediately and unabashed, I buried my face into his chest, sobbing tremendously while my arms were still burdened by the gold. I didn’t want to be crying or feeling as helpless and useless as I was, but I found I hadn’t the ability to stop. I knew my companion didn’t want me to be this way and I felt shame in causing his duress, but there was no more I could do. Everything I had known about my world was gone. This new one was awful and the only companion I had here that saved me when I was lost died in my arms and I was powerless to do anything. What sort of queen was I? What sort of chosen? If I couldn’t save a single life, what chance did I have to save this entire plane of existence? How could I have been so pompous to even consider it? I kept telling myself I was the one true Schala, but what really made it so? If I couldn’t do anything, what gave me the right to claim such a title?

”Hey, what’s wrong with you? I tell you to get a room and you waterlog my earnings?”

With that said, he pushed me away and retrieved his gold, throwing a small block onto the counter before pushing one of the people off his bunk.

”Get over here. I’m going through a lot for you and I expect to be paid well. That’s not going to happen if you die en route.”

“I’m s-sorry…” I finally whimpered, walking over to one of the empty beds to sit.

”Look, this place is Sloth for a reason. You can’t expect anybody here to be hospitable to you... ever. They like lounging and minding their own business, which is usually nothing. I know you’re still shaken by that guy’s death, but get over it. Whatever you’re after, you’ll only end up spliting the bounty with him anyway. Call it a delightful incident and move on.” He said in such a tactless tone.

Looking at my hands coated in the dry remains of my first companion’s blood, tears welled up in my eyes again. However, I felt as though I could understand Triath’s mind frame better after hearing about Sloth’s conditions. Since Triath was from Greed, he was afflicted by an unquenchable greed just as these of Sloth were unutterably inactive. What I deemed callous, Triath intended to be comforting and I needed to adapt myself to it until I could reclaim Kid and become whole again.

“Thank you. I know I’ve been quite a burden for you.”

“Don’t worry about it. I trusted you with my treasures, didn’t I? We’re together in this for now and I’m not going to regret my decision.”

After that, he turned in his bed and waved me off to sleep. Nodding, I lied down, but my mind was hopelessly awake for the duration of the night. I chose to review my course of actions and what steps I’d need to take to collect my scattered pieces. First and foremost was information. This new landscape was abominably foreign to me and I’d need to know what it is I was actually going to adapt to. Greed and Sloth weren’t merely names allotted to their given locations, but also a summary of the afflictions its citizens suffered. I’d need to know about any others like them. Also, the figments that slipped from the cracks of the old realm into this current one, I also needed explanation on. I decided that I’d enquire the information from Triath in the morning.

“What’s your deal?!”

Just before dawn, I had drifted into a half-sleep only to be woken by Triath’s dissatisfied growl. Getting up from the bed, I noticed that he was engaged in conversation with a tall and muscular man at the front counter.

“I won’t ask again: Give me back my bag.”

"But then I’d have to get up."

“If you don’t get up, I’ll move you and you don’t want that.” I could see him reaching for his bow.

"But then I’d have to get up."

Before there were any casualties, I quickly went to Triath’s side, bowing politely to the man and asking if he would do it as a favour, an act of good will. However, he simply noted that he didn’t want to take time and think about what the good will entailed so he’d just remain at his seat.

“You asked for it.” He said, pointing his bow.

Without a thought, the man grabbed him by the forearm and flipped him forward, effectively switching places with Triath while sending him into the chair that held his gold.

“That was exhausting.”

And with that, took a seat again... on me!

“Please, if you wouldn’t mind, I’m not a chair!”

“Aw, I don’t want to move.”

“Get off her.” Triath barked, making sure to retrieve his gold as soon as he got to his feet.

Thinking quickly, I noted that, “If you keep this up, you’ll have to move a lot more.”

Thinking on this... then yawning from thinking, he nodded to me and stood. He would note that he was Sion DeAngelis, the apparent owner of the establishment... at least he thought so because it wasn’t clear and he didn’t want to give the uncertainty any... thought.

“Perhaps we’ll be seeing one another in the future then.” I told him, wondering if I’d get any response before taking hold of Triath and heading for the door.

“Oh, I was supposed to tell that guy something.”

Of course, he didn’t say anything after that. “What is it?”

“There was a guy looking around town for him. He told me his name and robbed something somewhere, but I don’t want to go remember, but I don’t think it was important. Anyway, yeah.”

“It must be Gary.” Triath noted to me, alerting me to the dangers lurking outside.

“Yeah, Gary, that’s his name. Hey, next time you want to relax, you can go next door. That’s my place and it’s more comfortable to do nothing there.”

“We’ll make a note of that. Okay, we should go.”

Nodding to him, I readied Masa and Mune and, together, we headed deeper into Sloth to locate and eliminate Triath’s enemy, Gary.

[Makenshi]

"Follow me and dont get behind!" I shouted at the girl, Schala.

I looked back at her and noticed the frustration and yet concern. She had lost her companion in the shuffle with my guildman. And now things have gone 360 degrees.

I hid behind a tree and whispered to her, "There is a small cave nearby that I usto go to to train as a hunter we will go there and rest."

"We need to go back...."

"No! Don't you realize that the person I just knocked out has by now been found my the townspeople who if you forgot were after me. No doubt they sent him to assassinate me. Judas! Of all the people they sent him."

"Judas?"
"The hunter, he is vicious he once impaled a guilds man in the arm in practice and cared little. He merely just smiled saying how he was in the way and had to shoot through him. I dislocated his shoulder and cut his hand he wont be using a bow anytime soon"

I began to move our pace quickly making my way towards the cave we needed to replan where to go? Treasure? Or Safety? I had to think things through.

It wasn't long until we made the location of the cave as usual it was not occupied and luckily no bear was inside. I told the girl to sit in the cave as I started a fire for the two of us.

She was silent the entire time her thoughts also all over the place. I decided it would be best to leave her alone. I set the fire and left the cave, "I am going to get some food, you stay here."

She nodded at me as I left the cave, I headed down south and entered some wild bushes. Placing my arrow on my bow I let it fly as it hit a rabbit. It was odd being back in this location, my secret training spot hadn't changed. The same wild creatures still roamed about and the wind still blowed casually.

I returned back to the cave and quickly began to roast the meat, the girl watched as she finally spoke to me, "Triath, how long have you been a hunter?"

I looked at the fire for a moment and replied, "It has been over 15 or 18 years. I cannot remember but I do know my brother Trey who is older then me brought me here when I was small. My parents apprently died from a disease that broke out in our village and we had no place to go. It was when I met Ray at the orphanage that myself and my brother decided to join as hunters. I looked at the ground as I thought about my brother how long it has been without him, "What about you? Why are you trying to leave Greed? If you convince me I will join you if not I will leave you here and go my ways?

[Zerathos986]

~ஐ†Schala Zeal†ஐ~

I felt myself gasping for breath as we continued to run. We had been retreating for a while yet and our options were slowly limiting themselves. Since we were only in the process of escaping, my only action was to run. It left me quite a large space of time to let my mind wander and I began to ponder just how we managed this outcome.

We had just departed from Sion’s inn and were on mission to face the awaiting Gary who had informed the locals of Sloth of his demands. Given the propensity for the Sloth citizens to lean toward apathy, there would be no struggle against any of his actions so we had no choice but to face him.

“You really shouldn’t have come, Triath. You knew it wouldn’t be so simple.” Gary declared once he spotted our approach.

”Leave us along, Gary. We don’t want any trouble. Besides, the treasure doesn’t belong to you.” The hunter said, aiming his bow.

“I wouldn’t, old buddy.” Another voice announced, the sound of a drawn bowstring alerting us to another danger.

”So you brought a ‘specialist’, did you?”

“The one and only. And we’re not alone either.” The new hunter answered.

As we looked on, several familiar faces entered the arena, each of them a member of the village in Greed that had been after Triath and each of them holding a citizen of Sloth at knife’s edge. Triath was impassive to this turn of events, but I began losing focus. If my purpose here was to return this world to its proper function, I could not do it while sacrificing innocent lives in the process. My concern was directed to Triath, but for the moment, he seemed more at odds about his guildsmen than ready to save himself.

I noted this about him and chose to utilise it to the Sloth people’s benefit, “Triath, we can’t fight them like this. They have the advantage.”

”I know.”

I nearly jumped for joy that he responded in that way, but that was only part of the goal. The next step was to convince our pursuers to release them in exchange for our compliance. It would be that fact that halted my reverie. As soon as Triath extended the offer to him, Gary nodded once and one of the villagers slit the throat of one of the hostages.

“You should know better than that. Triath, now I claim both your lives.”

However, the hunter only shook his head, firing his arrow upward and hitting something that sparked brightly, “No, Gary. Our lives belong to me.”

With that said, he grabbed me by the arm and made a dash for better ground. Despite his near turn away from his greed, Triath was caught by his guildman’s ploy, opting to protect what he deemed as his rather than chance them with compassion.

“We can’t just leave them like this!”

Unfortunately, my words would fall on deaf ears this time and he continued pulling me away from Sloth. It was a quick journey back into Greed, a confusing move in my mind, but it was the best option. Triath knew this dominion best and knew where to find cover.

”Follow me and dont get behind!” And that was that.

What proceeded next was an awkward moment of silence between us. Triath eventually decided he’d go hunt for something we could eat, but it felt more of a release from me so he could relax back into his usual routine. Still, when he returned with that dead rabbit, he began to explain to me his path in life, what lead him to becoming a hunter. It felt like we were building communication, but it only lasted until-

"What about you? Why are you trying to leave Greed? If you convince me I will join you if not I will leave you here and go my ways?”

“Greed wasn’t why I was sent here. I’m needed to do something else, something that I hope will be able to mend this world.” I told him, knowing my words would most likely be answered with a scoff.

“You say you’re here to fix all this? I think I might want a piece of that.”

It was safe to say I wasn’t quite expecting a reaction like that, but it was decidedly better than a scoff and worked to my favour. It was a selfish move for me, but a necessary loss of virtue with the task at hand. I explained to Triath why my companion was so crucial and his death so painful. That brought along the scoff I had prepared for earlier, but he continued to listen, no doubt calculating the benefits of helping me rather than abandoning me.

“I need to find out more about this world and return to the bluffs.” I stated, ending my story.

For a moment, he just blinked, making me wonder if he even cared about anything other than his gain, but then, “Starburst Bluffs? What are you on about?”

I was quite taken aback by his reply, considering the peaks weren’t that far from Greed and the summit should’ve been partially visible at the least. I decided to pull him out to the open and point the direction of the bluffs to him, but he refused, pulling me to him instead.

“What are you doing? I can show you what I mean. Perhaps you call it something else.”

“They’re on to us.”

He took my attention to the shadows alining our location moving about. Shifting Masa and Mune on my wrists, I moved closer to Triath, whispering to him about his plan of action. He directed me to follow one of the shadows in particular and told me to count breaths. As soon as I understood what he wanted of me, I nodded and we waited until the shadow got in place. The second I saw the point of the arrow gleam, Triath pulled up and threw a dagger, distracting the archer long enough to escape into the dark. The villagers surrounded us, but they weren’t nearly as trained as he was nor as resourceful as I could be with my gauntlets. However, before the hunter could take a life, though, I managed to use my chains to trip them and make a dash, forcing him to disengage, as well.

“C’mon! This way!”

Once he caught up, he took my hand and pulled me faster through the trees. Behind us, the villagers and Triath’s guildsmen followed, though I could see that the other hunters were slowing down.

“They’re slowing. Why aren’t they following us?”

“Because of where we’re going. They don’t want to go there.”

“Where? Where are we going?”

He didn’t answer me, but his grip on my hand tightened. As I saw that the others behind us were but figments, I thought to stop him and planted myself against the ground. The confused look on my face told him that I wasn’t about to be blindly led again, and so, after checking our surroundings to see that there was no one about, he agreed to tell me.

“This is Gluttony.”

“Gluttony?”

“Yes. The people of this city are-”

An axe came down between us and Triath managed to push me away just in time. The one who had attacked us appeared to be ravenous, his eyes bloodshot and his head twitching as he gazed at each of us. However, what really frightened me was his mouth, jagged teeth aligning blood-stained lips.

Then, before any warning, the craven man lunged for Triath, axe bearing down.

“Triath!”