The Thieves Guild ch.08

     Fit-Town, a bustling town with many dojo training in all sorts of fighting styles, kick-boxing, martial arts, boxing, energy manipulators, magic mixed martial arts, weight lifting, strong-man fighting clubs, and many, many sports oriented areas. The town has no shortage of adventurer supply stores for the party to store up on food and basic needs. On top of all this, it’s a very wealthy town filled with many large homes on large properties, most of which are these same dojo and stadiums.

    That night as they rest in their rooms one does not sleep soundly, Scrags. He thinks over the previous day, Pillage and Plunder, Pirate King, why would they come after him? No matter how many times he plays it over it doesn’t make sense. Betty called them pawns not thieves, she knew something he was missing, has this world threat that the oracle talked about infiltrated the thieves’ guild? No, impossible, at least he would like to believe so, besides they looked to be confused by the same weird note they were reading. Something else pulling their strings.

   “Just like someone else is pulling mine.” He whispers, “I’m no thief now, I’m a spy, an adventurer? *humph*”

    He thinks back to when he met Hollia and Rhulan, he had raided so many vaults in Stratalia, raided private collections, even projects from students, gathering many mystical stones his contractor would pay greatly for, but Rhulan…in a flash she destroyed them all.

    “Damn it.” He whispers, “They really don’t intend to go back do they? Hell bent world saving bull shit. Of all the people I would get stuck with…maybe…”

   He remembers that at the start it was just Rhulan and Hollia heading out to ask the golden oracle a question, that was the quest, get what they needed to know and report back to Stratalia. This worked well with-in Scrags’ own plans. But then…

   He flashes forward to Cata and Betty showing up. He was around just to act as a spy for Rhulan and Hollia, or at least that’s what he believed, now he feels it’s more likely Rhulan is keeping him around to keep an eye on him.

   “damn it.” He exclaims between his teeth at this revelation, “Can’t under-estimate that one, too damn clever, not like I fooled myself into thinking she was someone else. Figured it out right away Scrags ole boy? Still kinda a bother really.”

    Betty and Cata showed up, fought each other, but were quick enough to join forces when those white slime creatures showed up, “what did Rhulan call them?” murmurs Scrags sitting up from bed still fully clothed looking at his gear on the room desk. He shakes his head unable to remember, “she talks too much,” he mumbles while wiping some sleep from his eyes that somehow managed to form despite a total lack of sleeping.

     “School teacher of ultimate evil.” he laughs a little at his own joke whole standing.

    He gathers up his gear strapping it too his body, straps on his jacket, and opens the window peering into the night.

    “I am a thief,” he says, “I have a contract, I will fulfill it.”

   He looks off into the distance at the large house that connects to a magic mixed martial arts dojo.

   “They wouldn’t know,” he says, “the difference between rare stones from Stratalia and the very rare multi-function fighting-chi and magic duel compatible weapons and stones of this place. Hell both are valuable after all, and rare is rare.”

   He shakes his head knowing that nothing here is likely to be as rare as duel phasing and cloaking stones, life essence disguising, or any such thing.

   “but then again,” he thinks, “A place like this might surprise me.”

   He thinks back to Magistrate O’Bish, some trade port pit-stop town magistrate surrounded by super-powerful golems.

   He leaps from the window into the night.

    ******


    “too easy,” he thinks as he crosses the roof of the manner house. It should be no surprise, a town whose citizens are obsessed with honorable combat, large homes with high walls and anti-monster and even spirit wards; that they wouldn’t think to have anything able to keep out a seasoned thief like Scrags.

   He sits down on tile roof inspecting his haul, not what he would have hoped, but he did find some rare weapon enhancement crystals that the dojo had been using as badges to award its students clearly either not knowing or not caring about the ancient application of these gems.

   “Who would have thought,” he says to himself, “gems that enhance any weapons to have elemental properties and…” he looks around, “who am I talking to? Damn, starting to pick up some bad habits from that Rhulan woman.”

    “Speaking of which,” comes the voice of Pillage as she appears across from on the roof.

    “With out your buddies you’re not so tough,” comes the voice of Plunder
as he too arrives next to Pillage.

    “Enough of this bull-shit!” exclaims Scrags, “What the hell do you two want? Why in hell fire’s name would you be after me huh? Unless you’ve lost your minds I’m still under my contract, what you think just because I’m traveling with some adventurers that I backed out of? I mean seriously I’m traveling in the direction of the contract, yeah sure I lost the jewels from Stratalia, but I found…something…hold on.”

   He sets down his bag, “There is no way you would even know I didn’t have the jewels, or care for that matter. Guild law wouldn’t have you come after me even if I did, it would just be a commission deduction if the client is un-satisfied. Hell it’s even encouraged to keep really good loot for the guild and substitute it for something else that will still please the client but not be as valuable.”

    “This isn’t about that.” says Plunder, “we’re going to kick your ass….because…” he stops and furrows his brow looking at Pillage, “Yeah, what is his crime anyway…I mean he’s right about what he just said…I mean,” he starts to scratch his head.

   “Is this about beating you to that sword?” asks Scrags narrowing his eyes preparing to fight.

   “No, no,” says Pillage waving her hands, “We we’re after you before that. I was just getting that thing to even the odds against those over-powered crazies your traveling with….and…” she looks at Plunder, “Okay, mission is don’t ask, but this does feel like an assassin guild job doesn’t it…huh.”

   “Are you two serious?” asks Scrags, “You’re not really after me are you?”

   “Yeah,” says Plunder, “I like kicking ass as much as the next brawler, but I’ve been outa the mood for this since we had to read that stupid note.”

   Pillage shrugs, “Yeah, come to think of it Impchin did make it sound like
we were after that sorceress and that orange pirate didn’t he?”

   Scrags pinches the space between his eyes, “un-believable, didn’t you think that maybe commander Impchin was up to something? What about calling Drache? You know protocol for when orders contradict normal operations for the guild.”

   They look at each, “Okay!” says Pillage pointing at Scrags, “We WILL call Drache and see what trouble you’re really in, and when we get that confirmation consider your ass good as kicked…aaaah, haaaa, haaaa, haaaa!”

   “Shhhh!” says Scrags and Plunder together.

   “Idiots!” comes a deep voice from no where, “Yes, this has nothing to do with the thieves guild. A massive hot wind blows Pillage and Plunder into the air throwing them into the tree line beyond the town walls.”

    *gak*

   Scrags finds a large red hand with long black claw like finger nails wrapped around his neck. The red thick face with its wide nose, coal black mustache and chin-strap beard, his glowing red eyes not and skin off set by a silver-metal helmet like plate on his head in place of hair, reflecting back Scrags’ own choked red image. Above his pointed ears the back ends of his odd armored head form into two small conical horns, making it look like he has an exaggerated metal horseshoe crab on his head.

     Not that any of this is anything new to Scrags, he knows all too well who this man is, a high ranking member of the Ravashira branch of the thieves guild, commander Impchin, a man said to be a demon, although most think he either came across some bad magic or is one of those rare mutated types one hears about being born in every few thousand.

    Impchin pulls Scrags’ face uncomfortably close to his own, “tell your friends,” he says, “to meet me for a battle outside of town come noon. If you don’t I will burn this entire town to the ground and smoke them out.”

    He drops Scrags on the roof and vanishes into thin air.

    *cough, cough, cough*

   “shit,” exclaims Scrags, “not good, Impchin, what the hell man?”

   Hanging by his gut over a branch Plunder says, “Okay, what the hell?”

   On the ground below sitting against the tree Pillage says, “You know, I really, really, wasn’t sure before…okay I didn’t care…but you know I’m thinking we really should call Drache.”

   “You were just going to pretend to call and then blast Scrags in the back huh?”

   “yep,” she smiles back up while pulling out what is obviously a cell phone.

   After a few rings she sets in on the ground where it projects the image of a smooth skinned draconian head with a pair of spiral type conical horns. The large almost toad like yellow slit eyes eye them as a clawed hand with only three fingers and a thumb scratches the side of a nostril.

   “Why do you disturb me?” hisses the dragon like creature.

   “Lord Drache,” says Pillage, “Per guild law protocol regulations I Pillage, partner of Plunder, and one half of Pirate King,”

   “Oh…Pirate King,” he hisses, “I didn’t recognize you sssplit like that.”

   The image zooms out to show the short man with his oversized head wearing odd plastic looking armor with oversized half oval shoulder guards.

   “Sssssooo, what issss the problem?”

    “Lord Drache,” she continues, “We were ordered by commander Impchin to attack another local thief, Scrags, we were not given sufficient reason and have reason to expect that he had other motives such as attacking another in the adventurer party he is traveling with.”

   “Ssscragsss?” hisses Drache while pulling out a tablet device and typing on its keypad, “Ssscragss…no, there are no ordersss to attack thisss man, no requessst wasss made, no complaintsss from any clientsss, hisss current job isss lisssted asss ssstill in progressss. You are not to engage them, I will order an invessstigation into commander Impchin’sss motivesss.”

   With another click the hologram vanishes.

   “So what now?” says Plunder leaping to the ground.

   “We go home and get back to work,” says Pillage, “…and stay clear of Impchin. We don’t know, we don’t care, got it?”

   Plunder makes the “okay” sign with his hand, “Same as always, got it.”

   The two laugh, nod, and leap through the branches heading back north.