Breathing slowly with his head down, Orion heard her steps sound across the floorboards – he knew it was Kora without looking up. His self-guided tour had come to an end in the night before, him trudging back to the inn, miserable as could be. He hadn't seen her then, nor in the morning after, but he knew had to face her now. Controlling his breath, he faced up, only to see her walk past.
His expression grew strained as she began to peer around with her palm against her brow, her mouth spreading to an o as she finally spotted him.
"Oh, I didn't see you there," she said, continuing the joke.
His lips curled into a lopsided worm, too strained to be a smile.
"Well, where were you? Running off without me? No note even,"
"I was walking," he said, "Looking around the city… the damage,"
"Ok," she said. Contrary to his expectations, she didn't go on or question him further, instead, kicking back in her seat.
He felt his excuses wash out of his mind as he realised she didn't care. Honestly, her giving him space was the best outcome and yet one he hadn't even considered. Although once he thought about it, whenever anything sensitive happened, her usual response was to close up and stay silent - she was just lucky it was the right response this time. Blowing another deep breath out, he leaned back and tried to brush the matter from his mind.
They were both in the Seeker's building, on the first floor by the contract board. As he waited, Orion saw Lilith walking up the unused staircase on the other side of the hall. She wore casual clothes today, her creamy low-cut blouse contrasting with her chestnut-brown hair that lay past her shoulders. Lilith had a curvaceous figure and a sensuous aura around her, something he was certain she put to good use.
"Come on," she called, beckoning them, "Smith's waiting,"
Following her down, they reached the basement, a wide room lit by Glubber's candles. The room was filled by several cabinets and chests, a few armour-pieces and weapons cluttered over the closest ones. The remaining area was occupied by a large board with several chairs in front.
Smith wore a bright-red eyepatch today and stood by the board, nodding as he saw them. A woman with short hair sat on one of the chairs.
Once they had all sat down, he began. "I'm sure you all know what this is about. You two," he pointed at Lilith and the short hair lady, "are both 5-stars, so ready to go through the Awakening. And you two," he pointed at Orion and Kora," are ready to go through it as well. Usually, I wouldn't be able to do this as your rankings aren't quite there yet, but times are changing,"
He stopped and paused, his audience waiting with bated breath.
"Basically, the Awakening is you guys training hard, drinking a lot of nasty shit, and training more. It's terrible, believe me. I went through it two decades ago and the memories are still strong – it's the sort of stuff you don't forget. So, stop grinning so hard before I slap them off your faces," he said, breaking into a chuckle.
"They'll expand on the process itself over there: I don't know if they've changed anything. Anyway, look at this," he continued, pointing at one of the pictures on the board, this one a poorly drawn beaker with green liquid in, "This is an Elixir. I'm sure you've heard the rumours: yes, they make you stronger, yes, they give you powers, and yes, they're from monsters. You'll love them afterwards but when you're going through the process, you'll see them as your enemies – trust."
He moved on and jabbed at another picture, this one resembling a crudely drawn map. "This is where the magic happens, Kajan. Filled with monsters and guarded by top Seekers, you won't be able to get in without a rigorous identity check, though it won't seem like that," he said, breaking into another bout of laughter. "Ah, you don't get it now, but you will get it by the end. Anyway, this is why I want you guys to go together as a group. It makes the whole process easier and makes it less likely one of you will die on the way,"
He moved onto the last picture, this time a silhouette of a figure holding a sword, the Seeker's logo. "And this is where the talk ends. Look, I know all of you have different allegiances and that, but after this you will be a Seeker first and foremost. If that's not the case, you will be killed at Kajan so don't bother thinking you can trick the people there."
Smith paused a while, before ending. "Alright, that's it. Take any of the stuff on those tables if you like them and meet here tomorrow morning to set off together – I'll give you my letter then. Jax, Lilith, Cyae, Kora, I wish you all the best and hope you'll be sharing the Seeker's cause soon," he said, saluting at them in a change of tone.
Cyae nodded, and promptly left, while Lilith stayed behind to chat with Smith. Orion and Kora scanned over the equipment, fully aware they wouldn't be able to buy anything from the market. Orion picked up a new black jacket, contrasting with his light skin, and a longsword and bow with a quiver of arrows. While his strongest weapons were inside him, there was no chance he would be able to use Szu when surrounded by Seekers at Kajan. Kora picked up a yellow jacket, going back to her roots, and a greatsword that ranged almost her height. Even though she couldn't transform at Kajan, she still retained most of her strength meaning she could use this greatsword like a shortsword
They left shortly after and attracted a lot of attention on the streets due to her comically sized sword. It was while walking back to the inn that Orion realised he had forgotten about the dark-skinned foreigner. He had planned to keep him with Thimble for a while but considering the underworld had just undergone massive changes, the Sticky Fingers would soon be destroyed or start rising the ranks, meaning they wouldn't be able to keep a dead weight around no matter what.
After saying this to Kora, she agreed with him, although reluctantly as she didn't share his massive interest in the man. Sure, he had dark skin and red eyes that made him unique in the Empire, and sure, Skitters had almost certainly joined the attack on the Saltrock's ship for the man, but that didn't change the fact he would continue to be dead weight if they took him in.
Either way, they made their way to the slums, quickly noticing how quiet the area had become. The whole city had lost its spirit after the riots but the effect was most pronounced here.
Kora spotted the watchers and waved at them as the Seekers entered the Sticky Fingers's base. None of the people they encountered challenged them, and Orion was relieved to see there was still life in the base.
They arrived at Thimble's house, opening the door to realise it was dark inside. Going in, Orion searched around, finding no one until Kora nudged him and pointed into the darkness. Focusing, he made out the shape of a small man sitting with his head down, a blanket over his head. Orion clapped his hands together and the man turned to the sound, staring at them with red eyes which lightly glowed in the dark.
"Are you ok?" Orion asked.
The man didn't reply, instead, peering at Orion's expression for a moment, then at Kora's.
Orion turned to her. "I don't think he still understands what we're saying. What do we do?"
"Are you sure you want to bring him? He can't understand the common tongue, and look at his body, he can't even fight, he'll just be useless," she replied.
He stopped for a moment, pondering on what she had said, before deeply nodding.
"Alright then," she said," let's get him out of here first," She walked to the foreigner and placed her hands on his elbow and wrist, guiding him up and out. It seemed he got the idea as he weakly shook her off, following Orion of his own accord.
Leaving the building, the trio entered the sunlight, spotting Thimble running towards them in the distance, his maroon clump of hair bobbing up and down.
"Lord Jax, Lord Jax!" he called.
They waited for him.
"I was told yer were 'ere. Are yer 'ere to talk 'im?" Thimble asked.
"Yeah. Why was he left in dark?" Orion said.
"I tried to take him out, but he didn't wanna. I left the curtains open for 'im but he'd just close it when I left. I dunno about yer but he seems loony in the 'ead,"
Kora nodded.
"Hmm," Orion said, "But yeah, we're taking him away on a trip we're going on. What happened to your brother? We didn't see him anywhere,"
"Ginger's dead, we think. Maybe we'll disband soon, we've lost too many people, put at the front of the raid for Fatso." Thimble said, flashing a nervous smile, his eyes teary. "Come back and visit when you're done, right?"
Orion moved forward and patted him on the back. "We will. Just make sure you're not dead by then,"
"Yes, Lord Jax!"