Vind stood before two rough-looking individuals, a brown-scaled arterian and a green-hued, rge-stomached margi kechi, stood across from the pnner of an eborate operation happening without the Helm’s knowledge. The mastermind cdded in royal guard armor kept his identity hidden behind his horned helmet, standing before the both of them without moving a muscle. The arterian and kechi were both sat down, looking up at Vind while waiting for him to say something. A minute passed before the arterian was the first to speak up, his voice somewhat raspy, as if he were a frequent herb smoker. “Uh… so like… what’s up?” He asked, Vind looking down at him. “I don’t quite remember who you two are.” Vind responded, the kechi giggling slightly while the arterian made their introductions. “Well, I’m Chappel, and my friend here’s name is Baxter. And your name’s Wind or something.” “Vind. And yes, now I remember. You two want a mission to do together. What experiences in this… particur field of ours, do you two have?” Baxter coughed out before he spoke, sitting up straight and resting his hands on his knees. “We’re thorta new, figured you have some bay-thic entry level shit for usth.” Vind looked around for a moment, pulling up a sheet of parchment from his table, some lines drawn between what looked like an underground dungeon and riverbank. “Hmm. We’ve reason to believe that the Taikonai resistance is making movements within the prison complexes of a stronghold close to Tatezaki. We cannot afford such a loud operation from them right now.” Chappel shrugged, resting his arm alongside the back of his chair. “Sooo… what do you want us to do?” “Simply do anything to slow them down, or outright stop them. You will be compensated on how beneficial you are.” “How ‘compensated’ we talking?” Chappel asked, Vind turning his head as he grabbed a pouch from his satchel. He tossed the small bag in between the both of them, it containing roughly 50 thrones or so. “That will start you off. Think a few more of those if you actually do something significant.” The both of them stood up, waving off Vind as Baxter tucked the pouch into his belt. Not another word was exchanged as the upcoming duo made their ways towards that rebellion camp they saw earlier. Apparently the Taikonai were desperate for manpower, and that they were able to provide.

  That was about a couple of weeks ago. Chappel and Baxter now sat in a cell alongside Yaren, the screams of some apparently hollowed onasmen being heard down the halls from another room. Not that the guards knew they were actually hollowed, though. Somehow the hollow witch managed to make them act in a way that seemed like they were madly in love with her. Chappel himself figured it to be rather narcissistic of her to do, him huddled up next to Baxter while they sat on the ground, whispering to each other. Their consensus was that Yaren was likely mad, and that she had to be disposed of before they could properly finish their escape. While the hollow witch slept, Chappel and Baxter began to discuss a pn with this in mind. “Okay, so, what’s the sequence we want?” Chappel asked, Baxter turning his head at the word. “Thequence? What?” “Like, the order of shit to happen. Do we wait until feeding time or something? Do we just, like, shank her right now?” Chappel looked over at her, her snoring as she sprawled out over the damp, stone floor. “Sheesh.” He thought out loud, Baxter putting a finger up. “Wait, I got it! We justh take her food and she compins to the guardsth. Then when the guards come in, we like…” Baxter spaced out for a moment, Chappel gently spping against his chest and stirring him. “We like..?” “Fuck, I dunno. I’m juth hungry.” They both failed to come with anything afterwards, instead agreeing to scrap together a pn after some rest. Chappel leaned up against the wall while Baxter id on his stomach, rest being hard to find within the damp cold atmosphere of the room. They managed to get roughly half an hour of rest before they were awoken by banging on the door. The hollowed onasmen from earlier succeeded in their plight against the guardsman, them smming their bodies against the door as a group of guards came to stop them. Chappel immediately got up, peeking through the grates in the door and seeing the scene. The armored guards were shouting at the two onasmen, one of the hollows holding a guard in one of their arms with a sword to their throat. They demanded the guard open the door, and after a tense minute, the guards complied, the onasman backing up while the guard walked towards the door. Chappel kneeled down, shaking Baxter awake while Yaren got up, waiting beside the door. A couple seconds of them fidgeting with the lock led to the door swinging open, the hollow witch immediately dashing out of it as the guards chased after her. Followed by Baxter, Chappel walked out as well, seeing that the guards seemed to have all their focus on the fleeing witch. Shrugging, they walked down where the guards came from, seeing only one that was standing by the entrance of the hallway. The horn helmet-wearing spearman immediately pointed their weapon into Chappel’s chest, the arterian backing up into the wall while Baxter snuck around. “Woah, hey, just calm down - ” “How unfortunate. Our men are after the bsted witch, and you take what you think to be an easy escape.” Before Chappel could respond, Baxter pulled the guard into a headlock, smming them onto the floor and ying on top of them. Chappel immediately went and grabbed their spear, stabbing the bde into the guard’s neck while Baxter stood up from them. The guard was now ying in a growing pool of their own blood, Chappel and Baxter looking down at the gruesome scene with an indifferent look on their faces. Chappel holstered the spear along his shoulder, pointing it upwards as he looked around their body. “Do they have any important shit on them?” Chappel asked, Baxter bending down and lifting up their body. “Yeah.” He responded, lifting up an iron key. Nodding, the both of them casually walked back down the other end of the hallway, the cnking of the guards chasing after an escaping Yaren growing louder as they walked down it. Some of the cells had people in them, with Chappel and Baxter stopping and looking between them. “Should we, like, let thome of them out?” Baxter asked, Chappel sucking his teeth at the question. “No, dumbass! The whole point of what we’re doing is so there isn’t a prison break.” “It’d be eathier if we let like, one out, though.” Chappel scratched at the side of his neck, him and Baxter walking along the cells and looking at its inhabitants. Chappel was initially opposed to stirring chaos for an easier escape, but the intense, painful feelings of withdrawal started to gnaw at his mind, the thought of getting his next fix overwhelming his reason for a moment. “Fuck, man, I’m craving ambrosia bad. We gotta get outta here.” Chappel muttered to himself, Baxter shrugging. Something then caught Chappel’s eye, Chappel stopping in front of a cell. There was a tovron that still had some royal guard armor on, him resting his helmet on his p while he bnkly stared at the wall to his left. Chappel unlocked the door, the tovron looking up to him as he stood up. “Hmm? Are you one of Vind’s?” He asked, Chappel nodding. “Ya guessed it. You still got any weapons or shit on you?” The tovron shook his head, walking out into the hallway. “No, but I know the safest way out of here. Follow me.” And follow him they did, Chappel and Baxter walking at a faster pace behind him as the scuffle upstairs became louder. Opening a hatch below the stairs, the tovron leapt down from it, Chappel and Baxter slipping down the slope leading down from the entrance. The group of 3 walked through the strangely wet tunnel, the sounds of dripping water echoing throughout its interior. “What is happening with the others, anyways? Is there a riot?” The tovron asked, Chappel shaking his head as he answered. “Nah, just some shit with the Taikonai. Something about - ” Chappel was cut off as he suddenly fell into a rather steep puddle, Baxter giggling while he helped the arterian back up onto his feet. “Fuck, where are we?” “A cave underneath the prison. There is an unguarded passageway to a nearby river from here.” “Damn, could’ve at least told us we’re gonna get wet on the way there.” Chappel compined. They climbed through the running water, it only being about a few minutes or so before they fell out of the tunnel and into a shallow river. Baxter looked back to see the tunnel they came out of, it dug into the midst of the mountain which the prison sat upon. While the three climbed onto dry nd, the tovron turned to them, the group stopping for a second to wipe themselves off. “I’ll make sure to tell Vind you managed to free me. What are your names?” “I’m Chappel.” The arterian stated, Baxter following with a simple “Baxter.” “Right. I’m Isaac Bengorn, but you already knew that.” “Uh… we didn’t.” Isaac tilted his head, squinting his eyes as he pushed the hair aside from them. “...what? Wasn’t that your mission? To free me?” “Nah. We were supposed to kill that hollow witch… I think? I kinda forgot what we were doing. But I know we weren’t freeing anyone.” Looking a little offended that Vind didn’t go out of his way to rescue him, Isaac sat down, rubbing along his arm as he pouted for a minute, not moving alongside Chappel and Baxter and instead being left behind them. Choosing not to pay any attention to it, Chappel walk along the swamp, trekking some mud as Baxter marched behind him. “You think there’s, like, a good pce to thtop and cook up thomething here?” “Nah, prolly not.” The both of them chatted in a simir fashion as they made their way towards the road visible in the distance, Chappel pying with the spear he looted while they made their trip on foot. Hoping that the guards actually get a hold on that hollow witch so they didn’t have to, Baxter still occasionally looked back at the exit from the tunnel while they walked. “Damn, fucking sucks they jacked my book, though. I’m gonna have to go buy another one, and that shit’ll be a month’s worth of food.” Baxter lightly punched his shoulder, spitting while they walked towards the paved dirt road. “You don’t need that book, dumbasth. You just need to memorithe the wordsth…. right?” Chappel looked towards him for a moment, a straight look on his face for a moment. “Yeah, uh,” Stumbling over his words for a second, Chappel kept his straight face with Baxter, before they both broke into ughter. Isaac looked back at the both of them, turning his head from side to side while they all slowed down before the road, standing alongside it. “Vind will really hire anyone these days…” He muttered to himself, looking up and down it as he waited for something to happen. Chappel and Baxter stood by his side, the former resting his hands in his pockets while he bobbed back and forth in a state of boredom. “Are we…” Isaac started, looking between the both of them. “Waiting for someone?” Chappel shook his head, sitting down while he holstered the spear around his back. “No. I figured you were gonna, like, whistle for a strider or whatever.” “What? That’s not how that works, we don’t have… damned, on-demand gefyls. You’re telling me you broke out in a way you didn’t originally pn, lost track of your objective, and now have no way of getting back to Vind in a timely manner?” Chappel shrugged, Baxter raising his finger as he went to correct him. “Well, no… we didn’t really have a pn on ethkaping, you just kinda showed up and helped usth with that.” Isaac sighed, plopping down on the ground as he rested his face in his hands.

  The hollow onasman leaned up against the stable door while Yaren worked the lock around one of the carriages, the rust on her pick and hook grinding against its metal as her steady fingers moved them, despite the growing commotion and unrest behind her. The guards pounded against the stable door, some breaking off to enter through another entrance. Some holes were broken through the rge wooden doors, spears and swords being thrusted through them. One of these bdes managed to fully pierce through and skewer a hollow, the creature falling to the ground and ying in a puddle of growing Darkness. The lock on the chain finally fell off, untying the chariot from the metal ring built into the stone floor. Yaren immediately climbed on top of it, sending forth the rust-colored gefyl driving it as they plowed through what remained of the stable door, the gefyl stopping for a moment to shake some of the splinters off. One of the guards managed to catch up with her in such a span of time, immediately grabbing onto the back of the chariot to climb himself onto her level. She turned and noticed the pted glove gripped on the board behind her, her taking out a shiv and driving it into their fingers while the vehicle sped forward. A guard threw themself in the way of the gefyl, only to be trampled under the speed of the now panicking creature. This trampled guard collided with the fingerless guard as they both fell to the ground, the tter holding their gauntlet up, staring at it while it trickled with blood. Looking back with a grin, the hollow witch gave an obscene gesture to the guards behind as she quickly cleared the vilge, driving the chariot down the road as those chasing her eventually gave up. Cackling loudly, she turned alongside a nearby river, the rough terrain giving quite a bumpy ride, only managing to stay on by gripping the ropes. Stopping by a gathering of trees to rest, Yaren leaned back against the barrier of the wagon while she kicked her feet up. The gefyl pierced the bark of a nearby tree with its mandibles, tearing off pieces and swallowing them while Yaren slept on the wagon tied to it.

  A very brief rest it was. She was quickly awoken by two familiar faces and one not as familiar, the margi kechi waving his hand in her face, earning a scowl from Yaren while she opened her eyes. “What?” She spat, sitting up straight as the other two sat on the back, Baxter sitting next to her. “So… we going back to camp?” Baxter asked, putting his hands together with an unsuspecting smile. She nodded, sighing while she stirred the gefyl back up. “Yes. I just wanted to catch some quick sleep. Unlike you two who just fuckin’ ran off, I had to actually… y’know, put in the effort.” Baxter gave a toothy smile, leaning back as Chappel and Isaac awkwardly shuffled around, their “seats” behind the overarching decorative backside of the chariot. “Yeah, uh, sthorry about that, bit of a threthful situation ‘n all.” The hollow witch rolled her eyes, leaning back while she pulled her hood over her head. “Who’s that, anyways?” She asked, pointing a finger at Isaac, him raising his hand while he answered. “I’m… Isaac. And I’m being held captive.” “Yeah, whatever. Gonna let Llorva know you two pussied out and brought a shitty hostage. We’ll see if you get a job like this again.” Baxter nodded his head towards Chappel, him nodding his head back as he readied his spear. “Yeah, uh, ab - ” Before Baxter could finish his sentence, Chappel prematurely stabbed the spear through the witch's chest, her screaming out as her body went deadweight against the chariot. Chappel pulled the speartip out of her body, Yaren flipping back towards him while gripping her hand on the chariot, the hollow witch using her other hand to wildly swing her shiv towards the others. “You turncoats! A hundred curses! I’ll fu - ” She choked out, Chappel narrowly avoiding getting shivved while Yaren continued. “I’ll fucking - ” Coughing out her st bit of blood, she colpsed over the chariot, Baxter awkwardly shoving her body off the vehicle, leaving a smear of blood where her ragdolled body filed. “Damnit, Chappel, that would’ve been a lot cooler if you let me finish.” Chappel shrugged. Isaac was fbbergasted while he looked between them. “You…” Chappel and Baxter looked up at Isaac when he spoke. “You two just killed someone in cold blood, and your concern is that it didn’t look ‘cool’? To whom would it have looked ‘cool’ to, anyhow?” Baxter gave a gallic shrug in response, kicking his legs up over the chariot while Chappel rested his elbow over Isaac’s shoulders, leaning towards Isaac as he began to expin. “Well, she killed like, probably a lot of people since she was a hollow witch or hollowmancer or whatever the fuck it’s called. It’s not like we’re the cold murderers for offing her… right?” Chappel looked over at Baxter, who nodded his head in agreement. “Regardless of that, it’s unsettling how both incompetent and now seemingly bloodthirsty you two are. How exactly did you find Vind, and how were you even let into our operation?” The two of them looked at each other for a moment, the both of them pointing a finger at one another and staring silently, before they both broke into a ughing fit. Isaac sighed while he waited for them to finish, Chappel being the first to speak after such. “Fuck, man, I don’t even really remember. We were just goin’ around Tatezaki asking people for work. We talked to a guard and he all hurriedly brought us somewhere. Was that where we met Vind?” Baxter shook his head, sitting up straight as he brought his legs back down. “Nah, that wasth when they like, blindfolded usth. Then we went to him.” Isaac looked between them, waiting for any further expnation, before his patience wore thin and he asked. “And then..?” “And then what?” Chappel asked, meeting Isaac’s gaze with a raised eyebrow. “And then what happened? How did Vind examine you? How long did you wait for his response?” Chappel looked over at Baxter, pointing his thumb over at Isaac while chuckling. “This fucking guy.” Chappel said, Baxter ughing out and banging his hand against the chariot. “Mate, we just went there and got the job. What are you even talking about?” Chappel questioned, Isaac visibly befuddled from the response. “Excuse me? You just walked in there and Vind entrusted you into our several decades old operation?” “Shit, it’s a decade old?” Chappel asked, Baxter nodding his head, crossing his arms with a surprised look on his face. “I almost can’t believe you two. It took me years in the guard for Vind to even hint its existence to me. Then he had me go and find the operation on my own. It was months before I was trusted with my first mission. And you two… got in instantly?” “I guesth.” Baxter answered. Giving up any hope of getting any further information, Isaac rested his head on his hand, staring forward while the three of them rode along the dirt road.