Not Quite a Homecoming (Edge/Ito/Open)

[Edgewind]

Hours of riding through the countryside of Caelin and still not one friendly face in sight in the city either. Shane had always intended on returning here someday. It was home long ago, in a different life. Like so many foolish youths before him, and after him as well, the rogue had left home to make his mark on the world. To claim his fortune and return home to rescue his family from humdrum of ordinary life. He’d been away far too long – nothing remained that resembled the city he had left behind. Suspicious eyes followed him with each person he passed. Shane Edgewind, a stranger in the streets of his own hometown. Loosing an indifferent sigh as he passed through the forlorn city, he paused before a seemingly ordinary shop, eyes transfixed on a damaged sign that read ‘Carrack’s Arms’. This wasn’t a homecoming. That wasn’t the goal of this trip. This was business, and this was his stop.

Tying off the reins of the horse to a post in front of the shop, Shane gave a sweeping glance of the surrounding area before taking a wrapped parcel tied with rope from a saddle bag. The heavy shop door swung open with a loud creak, Mudo Carrack turning his shrewd gaze on the newcomer. Aside from the alert shopkeep, a burly man was seated nearby as well. The thug seemed out of place, dressed in scraps of leather and metal plates strapped together into a mishmash of armor. Doubtlessly shop security, but it seemed just as likely that he’d plunder the shop as protect it. It matched up with reports of the current situation in Caelin though. Eyeing the bruiser and the axe leaning against the wall beside him, Shane approached the counter and abruptly cleared his throat.

“So.. I have this.. package.. for the Bull,” the rogue began, his eyes locking onto those of Mudo as he placed the parcel flat on the counter, turning his stance askew to give both men watching him a glimpse of the blade sheathed at his side.

“Ah, hm, yes. Well, I believe you’ll find a thousand gold to be a fair payment,” Mudo replied with a condescending tone, reaching to take the proffered item on the counter.

“Not so fast, my friend.” Shane clamped a hand down over the parcel. “The agreement was 1,200. No less.” In the corner of his peripheral vision Shane caught sight of the thug grabbing the axe. Still standing firm, he calmly spoke further. “I trust we won’t have any trouble doing business here. I’d just hate to be the one to explain to the Bull how his property turned up in the hands of one of the Harguses.”

Mudo straightened his posture, a nervous tic in his eye twitching at the swordsman’s threat. The man serving as his muscle stood, brandishing the axe menacingly. “I th-think you misunderstood. The p-payment is 1,000.”

“No. It’s not.” Shane removed the package from the counter and stepped away, studying the approaching axeman briefly. Without missing a beat the rogue tossed the parcel at the bruiser’s face and as the man reacted to catch it Shane darted towards him, unsheathing the killing edge and thrusting it into his midsection in one swift motion. The axe head dropped to the floor with a weighted thud, and the swordsman effortlessly withdrew the sword from the bandit’s torso, a gasp of pain accompanying the movement. As the man wobbled on his now rubbery legs, the rogue reclaimed the package and turned back to the stunned shopkeep. “Now.. As you were saying.”

“I.. I..”

“Yes? I don’t have all day.” Shane flicked a quick swing of the sword to remove excess blood and sheathed the blade. However, instead of answering further, Mudo Carrack’s eyes turned to the side. Taking a cue from this, the rogue tucked and rolled to his right, stopping in a kneel. As a loud grunt filled the silence the wooden floor splintered where the swordsman had been standing just the moment before and with the last of the bruiser’s strength spent, the man fell to his knees, barely supported by his axe. Shane’s patience now pushed to its limit, he walked around the shop counter briskly and seized the portly man by the throat, shoving him into the wall. “You heard me, 1,200! Now, or deal’s off!”

“Okay, okay! You got a deal, 1,200!” Receiving a harsh shove, Mudo stumbled back to the counter and began rummaging around clumsily.

“Quickly! Before I change my mind anyway.” Shane scanned the shop briefly, selecting a short iron blade from the wall and testing the weight of it. “I think this will be suitable compensation for the trouble and for my time you wasted.”

Mudo tossed two coin pouches onto the counter and shot a glare in Shane’s direction. “Just take your blasted money and leave.”

“Nice doing business with you,” the swordsman replied, his tone suddenly lighthearted and carefree. He gave the shopkeep a couple claps on the back and picked up the two pouches, testing the weight of each of them before tucking them into a hidden pocket inside his coat. “You uhh.. might wanna take care of that.” No sooner than he said the words, the ruffian collapsed forward face down, and Shane indifferently exited the shop, stopping in the doorway to toss the parcel back to Mudo. “Take care, now.”

“...Please leave..”

As the door shut behind him, Shane rolled his eyes. These bandit-backed shops were indeed as bad as he had been warned of. Well, whatever. The job was done. He was paid, 800 in advance and the other 1,200 on arrival. That was all that mattered. Now it was off to whatever tavern he could find. It was still rather early, but hell it was 5 o’clock somewhere.

[Ito]

What a walk it was, that journey from Bern back to Lycia. So much time he'd spent away, wandering from place to place with no certain destination. The first bout in Etruria, his plunge in the Ilian tundra, and his escapades in Bern all surmounting to nothing. No progress to liberating his home. The situation was rather depressed in the swordsman's mind, his aimless vagabonding only increasing his skill by a small portion, or so he thought. Of course, there was no real way to measure his skill. He'd either won whatever fights he encountered because of clear inexperience on his opponent's part, or lost because he lacked experience himself. So, he wandered, hopeless in his quest to save home. That wandering brought him back home this time, for what reason he knew not.

Even in such a short absence from the place, Caelin was in worse shape than when he left it. Several individuals had risen to power over the rest of the banditry, fighting was everywhere, it was bad. He'd wished his old set of armour hadn't be so trashed in his last bit of time in Bern. Fortunately, the stroll through Sacae on his return granted him an outfit that supported his style much better. It was amazing to him how the traditional Sacaean swordsman garb could work so well in armed combat. He'd even been able to pick up a lancereaver, adding to his equipment pool for more versatility in a fight. At this point, I'll need everything I can get to save this place.

His home village was out of reach for the day, despite Caelin's small size. A foreign-looking swordsman would attract all sorts of unwanted attention during a day trip into the heart of the Lycian territory. So, as he strode into town, he decided to settle for the afternoon. Perhaps food and shelter could be found here. Most of the common folk he'd encountered thus far in his return to Caelin seemed decent enough, so the swordsman asked for and as such received direction to the nearest inn from a kindlier woman in the main marketplace of this city.

As luck would have it, the inn had a tavern.

[Edgewind]

The tavern wasn’t altogether too lively, though it wasn’t empty either. Nevertheless, Shane had hardly settled at his table when the lithe frame of a young lady glided across the floor to serve him. The lively feminine gait immediately put behind him the earlier events of the day and a subtle grin masked any sourness remaining from the stingy shop keep. Before he had a chance to suggest she might be a bit too young to be working in a place like this, her voice – a pleasing dulcet tone with a local dialect – brought his eyes to meet hers.

“Hi there, honey, what’ll you be having?” the serving girl smiled sweetly at Shane. Her nose was slightly crooked, she had a slight gap between her front teeth, and her face was framed by dusky brown bangs with a ponytail carelessly tossed over her shoulder.

“Huh.. Don’t s’pose it’d be too much trouble to bother you for some rum? The good stuff. Not sure how easy it is for you to stock it this far inland, but I've developed a soft spot for it” The waitress arched an eyebrow and tilted her head ever so slightly to the side. “Ah, well.. you see, I’ve just traveled here after a spell in Badon. Filthy mess of pirates, but the rum is on point.” With a brief chuckle, the rogue gave the girl a crooked smirk and winked.

“I’ll… see what I can do. Want us to cook somethin’ up for you while I’m looking?” She placed a hand on her hip and leaned forward, accentuating her ‘features’ to appeal to the older man’s baser urges.

“I’ll consider it later, but for now the rum is all I need. But! I’ll take the whole bottle if you’ve got the goods.” Shane replied, seemingly unfazed by the server’s display, offered a neutral smile in response.

“Alright hon, I’ll see what the old man has and be right back.” Just as gracefully as before, the waitress deftly maneuvered through the tables and no sooner had she left, the door swung open. What appeared to be blond Sacaean stepped inside. He didn’t seem to be a typical bandit, or any kind of bandit for that matter. Interesting.

[Ito]

Sheesh, were things really this bad before I'd left? The whole trip to the inn had his attention split, from thugly looking groups of all sorts to the desperation that seemed to inhabit the eyes of the normal folk of this town. Bandits really did run the place, he guessed. Only rumours had reached him since he'd left at the beginning of it all, but the escalation in such a short period of time was astounding. Of course, his perception may have been skewed. Not much news of what was going on in the rest of the territory had ever reached his small hometown, and even what news did had rarely reached his ears. Ito never really pursued news, information and happenings like that had never really crossed his mind as a priority in his quest to learn things. Maybe it had always been that way, and he'd never cared to realize it. He simply shrugged at his own assessment of the predicament, entering the tavern through its main door.

As he entered the mildly occupied establishment, he realized his appearance stood out worse in here than just in the streets. Heading straight for who he assumed was the barkeep, he inquired of available rooms in the inn portion. Receiving an affirmative answer to his query, Ito booked a room with the staff member he was directed to and turned to find a table. Noting an empty one, the swordsman took a seat, quietly observing the other patrons. One in particular caught his eye, a roguish man by himself who seemed relatively clean compared to the rest of the customers here.

[Edgewind]

One thing was a constant, no matter the tavern. When someone that stood out entered, all eyes would immediately be upon them. This had held true when he had entered, and showed even more strongly when the new swordsman entered and made his way to a table. As a rule, and a very good rule mind you, the rogue kept attentive in establishments such as this for any signs that someone might be sizing him up. Almost right away after the blond man took a seat, Shane took notice of the man glancing his direction. The older rogue offered a subtle nod in acknowledgment when they made brief eye contact, but shifted his gaze back to the counter. The barmaid emerged from the next room and spoke – inaudibly from this distance – to the innkeeper before disappearing once more through the doorway. Shane sighed and drummed his fingers on the table in idle boredom. ‘ Any time now,’ he thought to himself, his eyes wandering as he waited for the alcohol to arrive. The trip to Caelin, much like any other trip through Lycia in these dark times, had been stressful. With the living dead and ..worse.. roaming the countryside and, to top it all off, seeing what the lands of his birth had been reduced to. Yeah. He needed a drink.

Shane’s patience, if you could call it that, was soon rewarded as the young brunette returned brandishing a dusty corked bottle filled with a lightly murky amber liquid. “Aye, you’re in luck. We was holdin’ on to a bottle all special for one of the reg’lars, but he uhh..” the girl cleared her throat uncomfortably, “ran afoul of the wrong end of a sword.. twice. Shame to let it go to waste.”

“Here’s hoping it brings me more luck than it did him.” The rogue took the bottle and unplugged the cork with the familiar pop. After pouring a bit more than what qualified as a shot, he raised the flagon. “Cheers..” And with that, he downed the rum in one gulp, wincing for just an instant. Sighing slowly in repose, he began pouring more rum. “Strong stuff.”

Smiling broadly, the barmaid collected modest payment from the rogue. “If ya get hungry, don’t forget to give me a holler, now.” With that, she sauntered briskly to the blond swordsman seated at a nearby table. “Welcome to the Beard ‘n Buckle, hon. What can I getcha?”