Traveler

When they arrived at the entrance of the drawbridge, they were welcomed to the long stretches of the paved cobblestones. Roll shook her head, drawing her mount whistle out for her unicorn. “If I knew we were traveling far, I’d have brought Markarov. He needs to run off his excess weight.”

Azlyn chuckled, summoning her usual palanquin. Kida brought forth her magitek bike.

“It’s like the good old days! Except we’re in Vylbrand instead of the Twelveswood!” Kida cheered them on before she roared her bike to life.

Roll let her eyes roll. “If this revolves into a long series of fetch quests and killing things for a week straight…” The sigh on her lips was felt between all of them. 

Azlyn wanted to avoid that as well. 

Kida revved her bike. “Let’s get going! We’re burning daylight worrying about it!” She peeled out from their group, heading northeast to where she recalled Grey Fleet mill had been located.

Azlyn gestured for her grenade balloons to follow behind, and Roll kept pace with her mount. They traveled through, under the overpasses of mountainous terrains and large spanning farmland. They could see patches of miscellaneous fruits, veggies, and produce being grown. 

After the long stretches of farmland came the over abundant verdant pastures, overgrown green passes with winding roads. The faint smell of the salt in the air, and the crashing waves of the ocean in the far distance. The travel didn’t take much time, a little under an hour before the three arrived at the wooden fences of the Grey Fleet mill.

There were a few people out this late. Azlyn motioned to one of the villagers passing by. He was carrying a sack of millets to one of the larger barn’s due south of Grey Fleet mill. “Good evening! Could we ask of your assistance?”

He seemed surprised that three Auri were asking him for help. “What’s that? Sure, ‘ow can I ‘elp ye lasses?” He slung the large sack on his shoulder with ease.

Kida punched her hand into her open palm. “We’re looking for a mercenary, someone from the Company of Hero’s. We heard tale that one of them worked here!”

The guy gave the three of them bewildered looks, before pointing to the tavern. “’Fraid the bloke’s prob’bly singin’ and drownin’ in ‘is ale. He’s a Roegabyn, wearing a straw hat and some strange colored attire. ‘E’s kinda weird, to be ‘onest.”

Azlyn seemed surprised. “Huh.”

Roll walked past the man, now having a destination in mind. Azlyn bid farewell and thanked him for his time. The man carried on his way, the last of his errands for the night, more like. Azlyn raced to catch up with her cousin, and Kida sprinted on ahead to grab the tavern door.

“I wonder if this is a bust.” Azlyn thought aloud, crossing her arms when she finally reached her cousin. “That guy seemed confused we were even looking for him.”

Roll sighed. “If it’s a dud, we should just call Ozwin to see what he did in his time.”

Kida propped the door open with her foot, “All I know is I’m excited to be traveling together again. It’s been stuffy work and lonnnnnng reports with the Twin Adder. It’s nice to just ride with the wind in your hair!”

“Like you did those reports.” Roll teased.

Azlyn thanked Kida as they passed, and inside they could already smell the strong stench of alcohol and smoke. There were only several patrons to peruse through, and as the one guy mentioned there was a Roegabyn swigging his tankard back, smacking his lips. A straw hat covered his straggly, uncombed hair—his clothes, very vibrant in color and festive. The pants; no, they were shorts, cut offs from the knee down. High ankle socks that were worn with straw sandals.

When Kida joined them, the three looked between each other—whispering.

“Dude, he looks like a mess.” Kida pointed to his sandals. “Roll, don’t look—you might pass out.”

Roll was already ahead of her, her face aghast. “By the Twelve… he’s wearing socks with sandals.”

Azlyn gave her cousin a surprised glance. “You look offended.”

“Because I am.” Roll gave a disgusted look.

They broke up their huddle, Roll pushing Azlyn to be the spearhead of their group. She slowly led them forward, his incoherent boisterous singing had become slightly better as they approached.

“Lay down yer burdens, son—Come drain a pint with me—We’ll have a grand ol’ time—Find ye a lass or three…”

Azlyn stood in front of his table, smiling as best she could. He stopped his singing before staring at the three of them.

“One…two…three… Well, what do you know! Three young, beautiful Auri lasses for me!” He grinned, widening his arms out wide. “Enough of you to keep me warm at night!”

All three of them looked revolted by the notion.

“Uh—no.” Azlyn rolled her eyes.

“Nuh uh.” Kida signaled with both her arms a giant ‘X’ in front of her chest.

“No.” Roll glared.

Azlyn decided to jump right into the swing of it. “Are you a mercenary from the previously known Company of Heroes? We’d like to know about some of your previous battle experience.”

He slammed his tankard down on the table, laughing loudly. “Ye want to know about the Company of Heroes? Ahhhh hells, price of bleedin’ fame. S’pose it could be worse—like the rumored Bloody Princess of the Sea… Now she’s someone I could get down with! This ol’ Miller had scores o’ nights with that lass; couldn’t make it past one pump—”

Azlyn knocked over the chair with a swift low kick—the wood splintered in the leg as it dropped to the floor. Kida covered her mouth to stop her laughter while her cousin shook her head. The Au Ra with purple eyes feigned innocence at the fallen chair. “Oh my! The chair must have broken. You were saying about the Company of Heroes?” 

He blinked slowly, registering that the chair had fallen and then was brought back to the initial conversation. Drunkenly, he chuckled. “I s’pose it wouldn’t hurt to oblige ye. Consider yerself lucky—beautiful lasses—ol’ Trachtoum was the Company’s best axeman. Now, what was it ye wanted to know?” He reached over, his hand started to caress Azlyn’s arm. She pulled her arm away, obviously irritated. 

Kida seemed a bit perturbed by the open sexual harassment, “Could you tell us lucky gals how you bested the Lord of Crags?”

Azlyn forced her smile, as she crossed both her arms against her chest. “Yes, we’d love to hear how you handled yourself.”

Roll remained silent, watching the scene unfold from behind. She did her best to be indifferent.

He tipped his straw hat up as he bellowed in laughter once more, they wondered if the bartender in Grey Fleet mill hated the sound of his voice as they were starting to. “So, ye want to hear the tale of how the Company of Heroes bested a primal, do ye? Let me guess, ye mean that bastard Tidus, aye? Oh, if only ye’d been there to see it!”

Roll leaned forward to both of Azlyn’s and Kida’s direction, her voice low enough so that he wouldn’t overhear. “Did he just say Tidus?”

Azlyn’s smile wavered. “I think he did.”

Roll sighed. “Waste of time, let’s go.”

Kida lifted a hand up to cover her lips, as she was doing her best not to laugh. “No, no let’s see what this moron has to say. Twelve above, you can’t pay enough for this type of shite.”

He blustered along in his storytelling, his raucous voice bellowed. “’Twas a mighty struggle, like the legends of old! Me an’ the boys fought him for three days and nights, we did! The ground trembled with every step Tidus took, an’ when he hit ye, lasses, it felt like a cannonball to the gut.” He mimicked the visual of what he imagined was a cannonball to the gut. “Just like that!”

All three of them nodded slowly. Their expressions were each unique and different. Azlyn’s had a mix of bewilderment. Kida’s looked ready to bust a gut laughing. And then there was Roll, if looks could kill, her golden irises would have cut this man to ribbons by this point. He noticed their strange looks before he crossed his arms. His facial expression darkened.

“Oi, what’s that look for? I’m a godsdamned hero, I’ll have you know! The people ‘round here sing me praises! Even the Bloody Princess of the Sea sings ‘er praises! Don’t tell me ye only care about learnin’ the secret tactics we used to beat ol’ Tidus!”

Azlyn didn’t even know what she should correct in his statement—however Kida pointed to him with a mirthful expression. “We’d love to hear how you bested Tidus!” She emphasized the wrong name on purpose.

The Roegabyn huffed in annoyance, turning his head away from them. “Too bad! ‘Cause now I’m not feelin’ charitable. If yer so damn desperate, then why don’t ye do me a favor an’ kill those rats that’ve made a nest by the windmill just south of here? Aye, do that, then we’ll talk!”

Roll rolled her eyes, “Oh—that’s too bad.” She robotically responded. Her voice monotonous. She whispered to her cousin and Kida. “Can we leave this clown already? This is clearly a bust.” She was already pushing them to the outside, clearly wanting to leave before they got sucked into more trouble.

Kida shook her head, clearly enjoying every bit of this. “No please, please let’s make this guy look more stupid. I haven’t had this much fun with an idiot in a long time!” The blue haired Au Ra then elbowed Azlyn. “You can’t just let him get away with saying that about the Bloody Princess of the Sea! Come on, just for the night, and then in the morning we can bust his balls.”

Azlyn sighed. “Fine, but Kida you’re taking care of the rat’s nest.”

The girl saluted. “Follow me!” 

It was simple work, Azlyn and Roll sat by on the fence posts while Kida started to prep for the attack on the rats’ nests by the windmill. She was crafting several different arrow bombs that would detonate on impact—using a variety of different poisons and aetheric energy. She was humming to herself while doing so.

“The guy’s probably a night owl—drinks all night and sleeps all day.” Roll guessed. “He probably does work out here, but he isn’t part of the mercenaries of the past. He’s just using the title.”

Azlyn had to agree with her cousin there. “But Kida seems to be enjoying herself.”

Roll nodded. “Ah—I guess you’re right.”

A few explosions rocked the quiet night of Grey Fleet mill, as Kida marched triumphantly back with a huge smirk on her face. “Awww ya! Did you see that!”

Roll chuckled. “You could have used more black powder.”

Kida shrugged. “I wasn’t trying to blow up the whole windmill.”

Azlyn waved them over to follow her back to the tavern. “Let’s go tell Trachtoum we finished his chore.”

“So, we know this is supposed to be his work, yeah?” Roll added, hoping they all understood what just happened. “We were manipulated into doing someone else’s work. I hope you’re happy with that.”

Azlyn smiled, cracking her knuckles. “Manipulation requires brain cells. He doesn’t have any.” 

Kida chuckled. “Then what would you call this then Azlyn?”

The girl stopped in her tracks, the smile on her smile growing a bit more devious. “Strategic Maneuvering.”

Roll now seemed intrigued. “Oh?”

“You’ll see tomorrow morning.” Azlyn reached for the tavern door and allowed them to enter before her. “Let’s see how this plays out.”

Trachtoum and a few of the patrons were gathered by a window to the side, they were trying to see what caused the explosions a bit ago when they walked in. Their arrival signaled to the patrons to stop huddling by the windowsill and return to their drink.

The Roegabyn, however, beelined straight for them. “The beasties are dead, are they? Nice work! Saved me the hassle of—” He suddenly, rather timed a moment to clear his throat so that he wouldn’t reveal his true intentions. They did catch it but decided to let it go.

“Since we defeated the Rats’ nest by the windmill, could you partake in your knowledge about the primal?” Kida clasped her hands together, she sounded like she was pleading but they all knew she was acting. Azlyn had to give her friend a pat on the back for that. “Pretty please?”

Trachtoum scratched behind his head, worry marred his expression. “I dunno, it was a pretty risky strategy, the kind only a veteran of ten score battles could rely upon.”

Kida unclasped her hands, she played up the rejection. “O-oh…but you promised…”

The man went to appease them, seeing each of them looking downcast. “I want to teach ye, I truly do! But unless ye prove ye have what it takes to face that fat bastard, I can’t in good conscience tell you a damn thing!”

Azlyn batted her eyes, she did her best to sound disappointed and not irritated. “Isn’t there something we can do to prove ourselves?”

He thought for a moment, before snapping his fingers. “At the very least, ye’d need to be capable of slayin’, say, a goobbue…”

Roll leaned over to Azlyn’s horn, speaking softly to her. “Are we really comparing a primal’s strength to a goobbue?”

Kida snickered, “Shhh...”

Azlyn tried not to break her character in that moment.

He didn’t seem to hear their quiet conversation, as he nodded to himself. “Come to think of it, that ain’t a bad idea. Them creatures have a taste for the flour milled here, so ye ought to have no trouble findin’ one in the vicinity. Course, I ain’t askin’ ye to cut one down quick as a skilled axeman like meself!” He boisterously laughed. “Anyroad, why don’t ye try headin’ due west an’ standin’ lookout ‘case a goobbue comes callin’? Slay it, an’ I might consider tellin’ ye more about ol’ Tidus.”

The three whisked themselves away from the tavern, heading west and standing lookout on the path. They waited for ten minutes before the rumble of the ground alerted them of the Goobbue’s presence. It sauntered up the path to the mill, hoping to get a late-night snack—and found the three Auri waiting. 

Azlyn brought out her lance and charged it. Kida had already started to hit it with a barrage of arrows. Roll scattered her offensive spells against it when Azlyn had stepped out of melee—and finally it dropped. All it took was ten seconds of continuous assaults from their weapons and magic to bring it down. 

Kida procured a trophy from the corpse, just in case they needed proof, and packed it in the bag.

Azlyn rolled her shoulder, letting her lance disappear into the aether pocket. “Let’s report back.”

Roll stowed her astronometer, and Kida whistled a tune as they slowly returned to the bar. Trachtoum looked very surprised when they returned, with a trophy to prove they killed it. “You all again? Then that goobbue that was harassin’ the millers is dead? Didn’t think ye foreign, small folks had it in ye. Still, you took forever an’ a day to get the job done. I’m still not sure if I should tell you our secrets….” He yawned, the loud boisterous noise disrupted his chatting. “Oof, look at the time—I was so tired waiting for ye, that I near done passed out. We’ll talk more in the mornin’.”

The trio watched him escape the front of the tavern. When the door closed behind him, the girls all shook their head. “Okay, tomorrow morning is when we’ll pay it forward.” Azlyn gestured for them to follow her. “Come on, I know the innkeep.” With their beds secured, the girls called it a night. 

As Azlyn laid down in the bed, she could tell her group had gone to sleep with relative ease. She tossed and turned, before closing her eyes to meditate. She just couldn’t sleep. Her right hand ached, shots of pain traveled up into her arm and through her shoulder. 

When Roll and Kida awoke the next morning, they checked out from the room and walked out from the inn. As they were making their way to the tavern, they were welcomed with a pretty glorious scene unfolding in the main thoroughfare. Trachtoum and some miller from Grey Fleet mill were arguing about who killed the Goobbue last night. Kida elbowed Azlyn as they slowly made their approach.

“—Cleaved the beast’s skull in two with me trusty axe, I did!” The Roegabyn blustered to the man.

The three of them stopped behind him, and they all crossed their arms over their chests. They were giving Trachtoum quite the stare. The miller didn’t miss their entrance, as he pointed over to them.

“Is that a fact? And what will your friends here say if I ask them?”

Roll lifted a hand to her face. “If you examine the Goobbue’s body, you’d find piercing blows all adorned over the body. Not to mention several arrowheads.” Except her soft voice had been yelled over by a frantic Trachtoum.

Trachtoum pointed to Azlyn, ignoring Roll completely. “Sh-she’ll vouch for me, of course! Ain’t that right—friend?” His tone at the end of his question wasn’t friendly, and on the verge of threatening. She raised an eyebrow to him, wondering what he hoped to accomplish with that. If this was how he treated most women, then she feared that he needed a bit of a lesson. 

The Grey Fleet Miller shook his head, “Tell me true: was it Trachtoum who slew that goobbue, or was it you three?”

Trachtoum couldn’t believe his ears, as he pleaded with him. It almost sounded like this was his employer or something. “Chief! Wh-what are ye sayin’!? It’s me, Trachtoum, the finest axeman ever to serve in the Company of Heroes, the legendary mercenaries who slew that bastard Tidus!”

Kida clenched a fist in joy, pumping it to her side as if this couldn’t get any better.

The Grey Fleet Miller gave the Roegabyn the most perplexed and honest-to-the-Twelve disbelief at what he was hearing. For a Lominsan, this Roegabyn was incredibly stupid. “…Tidus? Tidus?” The Miller cried the name out in agony. “Who in the seven hells is Tidus!? Some primal you fought in a drink-sodden dream? The Company of Heroes slew Titan—you bloody half-wit!”

At this point all three of them burst out in laughter. Kida curled over, holding her stomach. Azlyn was shaking her head at the whole debacle. Roll fanned her face from all the blood that flowed to her face.

“Worth it.” Roll said to Azlyn, lifting a fist up to bump to her cousin. Azlyn met it with a growing smile.

“Definitely worth it.”

Trachtoum say them laughing and tried his best to remedy the situation—however nothing he could do or say could salvage the situation. “Ah…well—see, Tidus was what me an’ the lads used to call him…”

The Grey Fleet Miller snapped at the Roegabyn. “That’s the biggest load of Sahagin shite I’ve ever heard! Trachtoum, if you didn’t slay that goobbue, you may consider your contract revoked!”

The Roegabyn looked horrified, and then he glared angrily at the three girls still laughing. He bellowed to them, some spittle spraying from his lips. “I’ll prove I was the one who slayed the goobbue! By crushing these three in a match! I’ll shut your stupid mouths up once and for all!”

They stopped their laughter, sensing that he was serious of his word. Azlyn looked over to Kida. “Kida, can you find me a branch—let’s say, this long and this thick in diameter?” She gestured a three by four thick stick. “The heavier the better?”

Kida saluted. Roll gave her cousin a tilt of the head, as she spoke calmly. “No need to make this a contest of three-against-one. I’ll gladly take you on by myself, big guy.” She smiled deviously. “I won’t even use my axe.”

Roll took several large steps back, and Kida returned with Azlyn’s requested item. However it wasn’t a branch but an actual piece of furnished lumber. Azlyn held up the wood, running her fingers along the sharp corners. She nodded in approval. “This is better than what I had in mind. Now, enjoy the show!” She winked to Kida and Roll.

Trachtoum roared, brandishing his axe forward and he spat to the side. The whole hamlet stepped back as the two drew to the center of the road. The people were whispering how unfair it seemed for him to be using an axe against someone using a piece of lumber. And someone so small at that. The whispers continued as Azlyn examined her choice of weapon.

“All right ye foreign-bitch, the first one to drop their opponent to their knees will be judged the goobbue slayer!” He glowered to her, and then he spoke just loud enough for her to hear. “I hear Auri are excellent at giving head—When I win, I’ll have you do as I please!”

Azlyn narrowed her eyes, but she kept practicing her swing. The rectangular lumber had been a bit heavy than anticipated, but she getting used to the weight. Given his disgusting behavior, she hoped no one blamed her for what was to come. She then stretched her back out using her arms. She looked to the Miller, “Could you count us down sir?”

He nodded. “Three—two—one!!!!?”

As soon as he spoke the word one, Azlyn already sprinted to her adversary. She easily entered melee with Trachtoum, her small form bypassed his haphazard swing of his axe as she maneuvered in step. She smiled sweetly, and then with all the strength she could muster, she thought of the butcher’s block she learned from Wyrnzoen.

Then swung the three by four hard; right up into his groin.

The watchers all groaned, the discordant moans of pain spread through the community. Many were still wincing at the resounding crack that had echoed. Azlyn pulled back the lumber piece, lofting it up to her shoulder with ease.

Kida and Roll gaped in mid-shock horror and humor as the Roegabyn’s eyes faltered. His irises looked ready to roll back into his skull as he dropped his axe and clenched his nether regions. His knees buckled, dropping hard onto the ground, and his whimpering began.

Azlyn moved in front of him, since both of his hands were currently busy protecting his manhood, and she slowly brought the wood from over her shoulder, to under his chin. She delicately lifted his head up so that he was staring right at her. Her eyes flashed a crimson red as she spoke down to him.

“This Bloody Princess of the Sea has rendered her justice—if I so hear a whisper that you’re sexually harassing any poor woman in town, or anywhere for that matter, I will personally see to it that you never have the opportunity to breed. Are. We. Clear?” 

“Me balls…me bleedin’ balls…” He gaped in horror, the air barely gasping from his lips. His pain must have taken the breath away from him. She dropped the piece of lumber in front of him and made her way slowly back to Roll and Kida.

Roll’s golden eyes were wide with horror, humor, and honest-to-the-Twelve shock. “When Kida said we’d bust his balls in the morning, I think she meant it figuratively.”

Kida shook her head, laughing. “No—no—this is everything I dreamed it would turn out to be.”

Azlyn reached up to swipe her bangs out from her eyes. She knew they hadn’t heard what he said to her before the match, so she left it be. If Kida caught wind of what had actually been said, she’d probably castrate him herself. 

She sighed, looking over to Trachtoum who had not yet budged from his spot. His entire body convulsed, muscles tensed as his grey-colored skin started to turn a shade purple. He looked like he was having a difficult time breathing, much less knowing how to move without causing himself pain. 

The Grey Fleet Miller, along with most of the folks in Grey Fleet were watching her with pale, ashen expressions.

Suddenly her linkpearl buzzed, she reached up to activate it and hoped it would be their ticket to leave. “Azlyn speaking.”

“Good morning! This amazing Master Fisher has collaborated a meeting with the Captain of the Company of Heroes himself. Please praise me.” Ozwin’s voice rung in her ear as she tapped on the device.

She spoke with a bit of pep. “Excellent work Ozwin! Where can we meet with them?”

Roll and Kida opened their linkpearl devices to tune into their conversation.

“Costa Del Sol—you’ll want to look for a grizzled marauder by the name of Wheiskaet. He’s a good pal of Nin-Nin, so don’t blow it. Oh—Nin-Nin bought you a present. It’s in the front yard.”

Roll seemed surprised. “Wait, what’s in the front yard?”

Kida excitedly spoke. “Oooooo, tell us, tell us, tell us!”

Ozwin tsked to them all. “You’ll see it later when you get home.”

Azlyn seemed very surprised by the strange gift but decided to leave it be. “I’ll have to tell Nin-Nin thank you once more. And thank you Ozwin. You deserve a long break.”

He hummed in the linkpearl. “A long break, and we better go on a two or three-day fishing trip. That’s my payment for all this.”

Roll chuckled. “Deal. We’ll plan it when we get back.”

They thought Ozwin was going to end the call, however he burst back onto the line. “Right! Nin-Nin heard you three were taking on Titan. He said that he was worried for the green horned kid taking on a primal.” He yawned. “Not sure where he’s gonna meet you all—but he said it’d be soon. Well I’m passing out on the couch. Good night!” It was then that the link pearl cut out, and the call was dropped.

Azlyn seemed really surprised by the news of Nin-Nin joining them. Although she didn’t have a time for when he would.

Kida jumped for joy. “Awesome! Roll, you’re going to like Nin-Nin, he’s like some suped-upped Ninja! He’s pretty strong too!”

Roll smiled, “I look forward to it as well. Oh. He’s getting up.” She pointed over to the center of the street where Trachtoum finally caught his breath. The Grey Fleet Miller was standing next to him with his hands firmly on his waist.

“I admit it…” Trachtoum painfully spoke. “I lied about bein’ in the Company of Heroes. But I’m beggin’ ye chief—please don’t dismiss me! I’ve learned me lesson, honest I have!” He was desperately trying to keep his job, even after all that nonsense had gone to his head.

The Miller sighed. “Save your blubbering Trachtoum. Gods, I should have known…” He shook his head.

Trachtoum slowly moved, he seemed to have noticeable pain with each move he made. The way his body tensed with each step almost made her feel bad. Almost. “Mercy, please. I didn’t want to deceive ye, I swear. It’s just that I kept gettin’ turned away by all the folk I asked for work, an’ I panicked!”

Finally, Azlyn stepped toward them. Trachtoum noticed her approaching, and immediately went to cover himself. She ignored him and looked to the Miller. “Hey, could you forgive the idiot? I think I punished him enough with a low blow to the groin. He might have to rest for a few days, maybe more. Lots of ice more like, but I like to think he’s learned his lesson.”

The Grey Fleet Miller looked up to Azlyn, being a Lalafellin made that the only way to look at someone. “If it’s the Bloody Princess of the Sea requesting it, I have no choice but to accept.”

She nodded. “Thank you sir. Oh—and if he’s giving you anymore trouble…” She cracked her knuckles menacingly.

The man nodded. “Loud and clear! I’m sure we won’t have too much issue after today’s painful lesson!”

The man in question whimpered, his eyes wide with horror. “N-nooo! I’ll do whatever I’m assigned—and I will be kinder to women!”

“Good. Have a good day.” She smiled, waving to everyone before returning to Kida and Roll’s side. She reached out to them, and activated a teleport to Costa Del Sol. “Costa Del Sol. Last one there is a rotten egg!” She winked at them before blinking out of existence.