Post by Crow on May 3, 2012 19:59:16 GMT -5
Chapter One: The Bounty Hunter.
The day was coming to a close. A dry Wind swept through the dusty town, while the sun hit the sky at just the right angle, causing it to light up, a fiery orange color. The streets were nearly empty and almost dead quiet. With exception for a few stragglers who were quickly trying to find there way out of town, and ear-splitting loud cheers coming from the local tavern. As the wind and dust settled a single traveler was left walking along the road, cloaked from head to toe in a duster. He was moving directly towards the loud tavern, apparently with a purpose. He stopped at the door and listened in, shouts, jeers, breaking glass and then some laughter, this had to be the place. With a push, the door opened and He entered widely unnoticed by all but the bartender, who moved out of the bar and towards him almost immediately.
“S-S-Sir. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I don't think you want to drink here tonight..” He stammered, his lip was puffy and he had a deep cut on his forehead. This man had been attacked by something recently. He began taking steps back to match the figure wearing the duster, who continued walking into the bar regardless of the warnings he had just received and took a seat as far away from the people already inside as possible..
“Don't worry, I won't cause any trouble. Just need something to pick me up... If you don’t mind..” The Guy in the duster set out a handful of papers on the table, spreading them so the Bartender could very clearly see what they were. After the bartender caught sight of them he went stark white and quickly moved away from him, going back behind the counter to fill a glass for this new guy. With a sad look, he made his way back to him, carrying the glass over to him and setting it on the table, with the same quick movements he made his was back behind the counter and picked up a single glass.
The bar got loud with cheers and shouts again. The fellow in the duster looked over to see exactly what was causing this kind of noise. Under the hood, you could hear a sigh as he looked them over. The other side of the bar was full of larger than average men drinking and slapping each other on the back. The bartender looked up nervously every so often at the sound of breaking glass, but always stared back down, and dutifully shined whatever glass he was holding.
“Guwahahahaha!! Did you see the look on those maggots faces?!” One of the bigger, burlier men shouted, practically at the top of his lungs. Smacking the biggest guy on the back. Who proceeded to choke down what he was drinking and started laughing too as he recalled what the other was talking about.
One of the smaller, runtier ones chimed in. “They were cowards boss. They might have tried to resist at first, but we show em our axes and shout YARR!” This word is loudly met with equally loud shouts from all around. “And they practically hand over there food and gold! Yar har har!”
“Barkeep! Another round for me boys!” This demand was met with an even more so thunderous applause from the already drunk band of brigands. Very carefully the bartender sets his overly shined glass down, and began to fill more goblets to pass around. Quicker than he could fill them, the goblets started disappearing into the crowd and shouts to hurry resounded in the room. Several cups overflowed, spilling down onto the floor.
“You gotta hurry Barkeep! My boys are thirsty!” The largest one stood up, knocking the table that was under him over. Slowly, and very deliberately he made his way towards the shaking bartender, who was visibly trying to stay rotted to his current spot and fill the cups.
“S-S-S-Sorry S-Sir! I am but one person, I can only F-....” His voice seemed caught in the bartender's throat. Almost as if his own fear of this massive man had actually poisoned the words themselves.
“Wusss that!? Speak up Barkeep!” A big burly hand slammed down on the barkeeps back, who wasn't expecting it and flew forward, up and over the counter. With a crash, all of the glasses the bartender had tied filling smashed against the floor, this noise was enough to get the attention of the only other customer in the bar. The one wearing the duster looked up from his papers for a second, then went back to reading them. “See here, you're gonna start filling the glasses faster, aintcha..?”
Rattled, and visibly injured from the face plant, the bartender stood up from behind the counter. “Y-Yes Sir, Right away...” very quickly he began picking up the non breakable glasses and started filling them all together as fast as he could.
“Therrrrs a good man...” The Bandit slurred, and swayed as he turned to go back to his seat. Out of the corner of his eye caught that of the only patron that wasn't from his crew. Across the room, still sitting in his dark corner the guy sat with his still untouched glass. “and who's this 'ere? 'E sleeping while me an maaa boys arghhh Parryin..?” He changed directions, now heading directly towards him at a stumble.
He glanced up from his papers for a second time as the Biger man got closer. “Not really. Just reading up on some of these bounties. I need to make sure I have the right set of papers here.” He looked away again, not bothering with the bandit again.
“Bountiesss! Bountiesss says' he! Whutcha some kinda Hunter kiddo..?” The big man moved closer to the darker corner, trying to get a good look at the man under the hood.
“Some kind, I suppose. Actually, I'm a mercenary more than a bounty hunter.” He said, sorting the papers out. “People pay me to do jobs.. and I do them, not my fault if those jobs have another Government bounty attatched to them...” With a small glance up, the guy in the corner made obvious note of the other bandits looking wearily at him. He talked very slowly, and deliberately.
“Thasss an interesting tale yerr be spinnin small fry!” The leader bandit took a few more steps towards the darkened corner and the man in it. Now he was close enough that he could see what it was that was written on the papers this guy seemed so interested in. “Who ya got there anyway..?” He craned his neck in an attempt to read the papers upside down, but the position made him woozy from the drinks and he stumbled back a little.
“These are just some of the bounties in the area. Maybe you know some of them... a.. man of your caliber..” He looked up at the stumbling giant of a man. He had caught himself on the edge of the table, and it almost capsized like the other table. “Just trying to figure out which ones I was going to get is all...” He tossed a few of the pages towards the other end of the table, right side up for the bandit to read. The page on the top showed a very large man, who bore an uncanny resemblance to the man in front of him. On the paper, it said WANTED: Gerik of the Rivet Mountain Bandits. The Big guy looked at it long and hard, like he trying to figure something out.
“That's my bounty paper small fry... Hutcha don with my paper..?” He stumbled back a little, still holding the handful of papers. They littered the floor next to where he stood. The others in the room, who were just admiring there bosses threatening atmosphere had all started to gather around the little darkened corner, visibly starting to get a little uneasy.
“Gerik, of the Rivet Mountain Bandits.. You and your cronies are going to make me quite a bit of gold. All in all, there are Eight of you with a bounty..” The bandits take this in for a second, and all slowly go white for a split second, and in an attempt to ease the tension one starts to chuckle. All of them join in nearly seconds later.
Gerik looks around, and understands. Though it takes him a second to stand, the idea of this “would be threat” seemed to sober him almost completely. “Little man, you're likely to get yourself killed spouting off a line like that! I don't like it! You say your a mercenary? Who ya' think ya' are? One of those do-good-er mercs? Sieghart, perhaps!?” At the mention of the last name, all the jeering and laughter from the room stops flat. Like a hammer hit everyone of them, this time it's harder for the laughter to start up again, but it does somehow.
“Sieghart? Is he famous? Can't say I've ever heard of him..” The figure in the corner merely shakes his head at the name in a mocking gesture, taking no notice of it.
“Oi! Tell me you've heard the stories about the infamous bounty hunter Sieghart? You fool, I bet you're a rookie!” The smaller one from earlier shouts. “He's supposed to be a monster of a man! Carries around a great big sword and beheads all his bounties!” The man being surrounded chuckles a small chuckle as all the bandits go pale as this little rat of a man describes the 'infamous' Sieghart's methods.
“Sounds like an interesting guy. A real go getter..” The figure egged them on.
“Ratt, that's not what I heard! I hear he's actually a demon race, with horns and everything! They say he rips the bounties heads off, with his bare hands!” One of the other bandits leaned over, half drunk to try and look the hunter in the eye, and all at once the entire place was in an uproar about a single person.
“Me cousin was done in by Sieghart, I was there! He's a small guy who carries a real sharp sword!” One of the bigger ones said. This was met with a mass of laughter, and shouts of denial.
“Rubbish Jargen! No small fry could get his name so famous! He'd really have to be a demon race!” One shouted. And all of them were beginning to put their own two-cents about this man.
“that's odd. None of our rumors seem to match up..” Ratt said, after everything had settled down mostly.
Gerik, who was trying to get a sense of an enemy he was fearing to run into, was waiting patiently leaned up against a stool. He was still looking from the Bounty papers to this small Bounty hunter.
The man in the corner chuckled, audibly this time. “Here, I'll put some of your rumors to rest. No, he's not a monster, nor is he a member of the Demon race. He doesn't cut off his bounties heads... unless there's more than one, or they don't want to come quietly..” The bandits all get real quiet as this hunter starts talking. Some were starting to grow paler as he spoke. He looks over at Gerik, who was paying close attention to what he was saying. The bartender seemed to be more at ease, apparently he had heard something about these rumors as well. The figure removed the duster's cloak, revealing a younger guy, of about twenty or so. Long black hair fell across his face. “and as for you, Jargen was it? I know the names and faces of every bounty I've collected... what was your cousin's name again?”
Jargen began to shudder, fear seemed to overwhelm him as he tried to talk. He took several steps back. “C-C-Caleb, The P-Poi-Poi U-u-u-u-.....” His speech seemed to fail him as the hunter tried not to chuckle.
“Caleb, The Poison User. A bounty of Four-hundred gold pieces and Thirty-five silver. As I recall, I caught him.... in Fora City... He was causing trouble for a very rich family, and they agreed to pay me handsomely for his... capture.”
A very cold sweat began trickling down the faces of everyone in the room. All but the hunter, and the barkeep Who seemed rather content to watch everyone who had tormented him shake.
“B-b-b-Boss.... He's....” Ratt tried to speak, but the truth that was apparent to all of them was just to much to say.
“I am Sieghart, and as I said earlier, someone paid me for a job so your bounties are mine...” With a thud, an oddly shaped cloth dropped down on the table
Gerik looked back and forth between Sieghart and his bandits and the ghost of a smile slowly worked it's way onto his face. “Sieghart.. so you're the famous Shadow Mercenary, right? You don't look like much, I bet you're lying. But hey, Sieghart Greeve, taken down by Gerik of the Rivet Mountains... I like the sound of that!”
Without a seconds hesitation, Gerik threw himself at Sieghart. Faster than humanly possible, Sieghart kicked the table out from under him, blocking Gerik's path and confusing him for a split second. That was all it took.
In that second that Gerik took to knock the table out of the way, Sieg had already moved. With as equally inhuman speed as earlier, he withdrew a knife from the small cloth that thudded at his side, and brought the blade down on Gerik's neck. In a fraction of a second, a thump sounded and Gerik of the Rivet Mountain Bandits was no more. Sieghart looked up at the other bandits, all had a deranged look of fear and disbelief in here eyes.
“That's one.” Sieghart glared back at the bandits who all moved to pick up there weapons. “The ones with bounties are to lay down there arms and stay. The rest of you are to leave, and never return..” With a clean motion he wiped the blood off his sword, and put it back in the makeshift scabbard at his side. “I'll kill any and all who don't comply...”
Ratt moved to pick up a weapon, but the rest of the bandits sat and watched, to see how it would play out. “You killed the boss! Now we'll have to take revenge!” Ratt jumped at Sieghart just as Gerik did, removing a hidden blade from beneath his shirt. No thoughts other than that of revenge. Ratt fell just as quickly.
“You're all really going to make my job that much easier by dying? Don't be foolish... Leave. Now!” One by one the bandits resolve faltered, and they began to hastily step backwards towards the exit. “Jargen. don't even think about it.” Sieghart glared at the bandit who spoke earlier as he tried to sneak off with the others that were leaving.
“Please, I don't want to die! Please let me go...!” He pleaded, practically down on his knees.
“Your bounty isn't high enough to kill you. You will be brought to the nearest jail, and given to the Knights there. Same goes for you...” He gestured at several other bandits who given in to his fate, though this news seemed to give him a spark of hope.
“Oh, thank the goddess.. You came just in time! We were afraid you hadn't gotten our request!” The bartender shouted after the last of the bandits had left. He rushed over to Sieg and shook his hand wildly.
With some effort, he managed to pull his hand away from the over zealous bartender. “Sorry. I had other matters to attend before coming here. All is well that ends well though. This problem's been solved easily enough...” He looked over at the door as it swung open, several large men with handcuffs, and a smaller man who walked with some real kind of authority walked through the door.
“We're from the bounty Office from the next few towns over. We are here to apprehend the criminals...” The smaller man walked over to Sieghart and the bartender. “You are the one who caught these men, Sieghart the Shadow Hunter? The bounties of each one of them is yours.. and the Town's council asked us to give this to you. It's your... 'fee'” He held a large bag, heavy with the clinking of Gold coins. He tossed it at Sieg with obvious contempt. “If you're done here, Sell Sword. I suggest you move along...”
“Glad you people know how to get things done... other towns just expect me to haul these guys around until I find a bounty office..” He chuckled, tying the bag of coins onto his belt. He looked over at the corpses or Gerik and Ratt. Foolishness. His ears picked up something he liked to hear, rumors.
“They say there's something going on at the Holy City?, they say the Empress and the Senate are having a falling out..” One of the Knights said in a whispered voice.
“Yeah, there's a rumor going around like that everywhere! I just transferred here from the Forest Border, its there too” The other answered in a hushed tone.
Sieghart chuckled, as he pulled the Duster over his head once again, leaving the bounty papers where they were. “It's been awhile since I last spent some time on Vacation..” With a smile He walked out, heading West. “I'm thinking maybe the Holy city sounds like a nice place about now...”