The World We Live In: Chapter 44 (Start of Arc V)
Imported from SF2 with no description.
The Trap
“It all started when you two had left for two days,” started Raine. “Things had been pretty calm and proper. People greeted each other as friends, planning for some events or things like that. I didn’t know much about it. Since Karkas was supposed to be the one handling the Wanderer business at the walled port town, I ended up doing most of the job. Of course, I’m not gonna lie. It’s a fucking disaster.
“I love money, and I won’t deny it, but managing a mercenary business, however, is another thing. I was certain that I could manage the branch and the headquarters, but I was quickly convinced that doing so was a mistake. I had no idea who to dispatch in the event of a crisis, or even public relations with the people in need. I was so certain that it needed a fighting skill. I was wrong, and as you can imagine, we lost a lot of respect with the people. Most of them did not think that the ‘change of management’ could do the whole Wanderers justice, but the most common criticism was about taking the wrong guy to a wrong set of work, and caused things to become worse.
“Of course, I quickly got away from that part while reasoning that Karkas was gone in a job, and they understood. Just how the hell did you do it, anyway?”
“Maybe I’m a better manager than you are, Mr. Leader,” said Karkas, which started a laugh in the whole room.
“Maybe so, but things went on smoothly with one of your assistants taking over for the period of two months. I should’ve known you had a replacement in case you were gone, but he did not even say anything about it. Knowing that I wasn’t needed, I went home.”
“The next day after, I went out to find a job posted on the board about missing people in the nearby village called Valhast. With so many people busy then, and no other Wanderers were present except me and Alter, we went there ourselves. Now, I don’t imply that it became a disaster, too, and to be honest with you, it went smoothly. The missing people turned out to be victims of a group of raiders operating near the Spider Forest, one that wasn’t within Arachne’s territory.
“Naturally, we tried to find more people, but then I realized how shorthanded we were, so we stayed with the two of us. But, now here’s the fun part. But, Alter got a plan, and that was to slice their throats without them knowing it. And besides, he somehow knew the forest, so he set up an ambush, and with some distractions, using his nimble fox body, he did his job. That was one fucking bloodbath back then, and all I could do was watch.”
“She’s a stealthy gal, isn’t she?” said Karkas. Then, however, he noticed them giggle. “What?” he said, confused.
“Oh, my...I do look like a girl, am I?” said Alter.
“That’s why don’t cross-dress. You look feminine enough.”
“Wait…are you trying to tell me that this dress-wearing fox…is a guy?” Narati laughed. “You’re funny, you know! That is a vixen, alright! I mean…”
Alter was suddenly beside Narati and, with a giggle, took his hand to Alter’s dress, which surprised him, making him pull out after feeling something that wasn’t supposed to be there.”
“Oh my god,” said Narati, surprised. “You’re a two-in-one!”
“Just how dense are you?! You don’t strike me as innocent! I’m a guy, through and through! And what the hell is a two-in-one anyway?!”
Raine whispered in Alter’s ears. He suddenly perked his ears in surprise and embarrassment.
“By the spirits of my ancestors, I am a freaking guy! Crossdressing is a hobby, alright. Besides, it’s cool down there, so why not!”
“But how do you know he’s not what he is?”
“Well…it happened just after the massacre. His dress was blood-soaked and his knives were red. I wanted to congratulate him about the whole affair, but then, he tripped.”
“Tripped?”
“Yeah,” said Alter, rubbing his head. “Apparently, a pool of blood in front of me was slippery, and I fell. The dress went up, and…you know the rest. But unlike you, Nara, he’s not as dense. He instantly knew how flat my chest were and how if he looked closely, I looked like a boy not done in puberty. Well, I haven’t done with it yet, so bear with it!”
“Don’t blame me! I’m still 17!”
“People are getting laid your age, you know!” teased Alter. “Or, are you waiting a certain someone?”
“Uh…I guess so?”
“Well, Arachne’s his…”
“We are not a couple, if you’re asking. She’s…uh, a friend with benefit.”
“Right,” said Raine. “Rachne, eh?”
“Stop that!”
“But anyway, things went pretty normal back then. Alter’s got a nasty idea in collecting the bounty, and that was cutting their heads off. Of course, we forgot one of them. The leader, an imposing brute, was behind us all the time. He was not like his lackeys, though. He’s tough, a literal bear, with fast claw swings and animalistic fights. Raine was the one who used his enchanting to stop the bear from causing harm, but even then, it wasn’t enough. He caught up on me with an impossible speed. I was smaller than him so logically I could outrun him, right?
“Then something happened. When I tried to protect myself, out of desperation, I unleashed blue fire out of me, which blinded him and burned him. The fire wasn’t very hot, but it’s freaking bright! It blinded him to the point he said ‘I’m blind! I’m blind!’ many times. I thought it’s temporary, only for us to realize that he lost his eye color and could not even see us anymore.”
“So, in desperation, you used flash fire?” said Akandi. “But flash fire is not blue burning fire. What did you use, exactly?”
“I don’t know, and I didn’t know much back then, either. Well, except some fox apparition coming out from my body, talking with some foreign language I had never heard of before, but somehow understood. They told me to ‘go where the sun rises’, so it’ east, naturally. I told Raine about this, but he didn’t understand either, and though that I’m hallucinating.
“We didn’t go to confirm if those words were true for two weeks before I got a dream of a beautiful nine-tailed fox lady talking to me in my sleep. She asked me to go east and find answers of my heritage, which woke me up, since it felt so real. I wanted to talk to a spirit medium living near Raine, but then Raine woke up first, and apparently, we shared the same dream! How cool was that!”
“Well, yeah, but my reason to go was different,” said Raine. “I had a fling with a twin. They were vixens. Literal vixens, as in foxes. They were the only beast races I had ever had a liking, and seeing a mythical nine-tailed fox lady with human face begging me to go east? I damn well wanted to go.”
“And you two went to find that fox lady…because you suddenly fell in love?”
“No, not that! I mean, yeah, but no! Fuck it! Yeah, I have a thing with fox ladies! You have a problem with that?!”
“It’s nothing to be so worked up with, you know,” said Narati. “Rachne’s a black widow…literally.”
“Do you even know what black widow means?” Raine sighed. “Ah, but well, we’ll continue this next time, alright? It’s late, and I need to sleep. We all need to sleep, and you two have just been back from a travel. I might’ve drank a lot to ramble like that.”
“You’re completely sober to me.”
“Yeah, well…have a good night. I don’t think we have any jobs that requires us, so I’ll tell the story later.” Raine suddenly realized something. “Oh! How about this. I write it down, and you read it. How’s that sound?”
“You write?”
“As a pastime. I still have ink and paper to start. But not tonight. I’m beat.”
The group then say good night to each other, going back to their houses. Some enjoyed the story that Raine told, but that was it. They did not attempt to pursue it, like Karkas and Narati, who had their share of story to tell. Raine and Alter walked back to Raine’s home, a modest home with quite a lawn. As Alter had no place to stay, he stayed in one of Raine’s spare room. Raine planned to make a second living space on top of his own, something like an apartment, but not quite go through with that until he met Alter, who was his roommate for a while and helped with sowing seeds for the lawn, with his unique brand of ‘spirit magic’ that called the power of the spirit.
They both walked into their own rooms, with Raine sleeping immediately due to the alcohol and Alter drinking some milk before bed. Despite of already 16, he was still childish and girlish, which made his crossdressing worked.
He ‘undressed’ down to his undies and sleep on the straw bed, hugging his fluffy dark-colored tail as bed pillow. He had his own share of adventure, and now he was very excited to know that it was written down properly as a story.
He just hoped Raine was a good writer as he claimed, or the story would become dull. He wanted it to be colorful, like the land he hailed from, and his inheritance. He went to sleep, dreaming about his nine-tailed fox mother and his werefox father looking at him with smiles on their faces.
He wanted to see them again, after they finished their business.