**There will be some mild-ish violence, blood, gore, and such in this chapter so be mindful if you continue.**
*Scuffle* The loose dirt and rocks crunched softly under the 2 men's feet as they walked through the port, their long brown cloaks swaying with each step. As they were walking, they noticed children giggling and running through the maze of closely placed booths; being chased by a small, tan dog. Although it was a small port, it was crowded with bustling people and cheerful faces. "Hey Fian, why did boss send up to this random little port? I don't really see anything interesting here." The taller of the 2 men addressed the other in a relaxed tone, while the shorter man slowly turned his head and glared at him; narrowing his fierce grey eyes. "Do you ever pay attention at the briefings Norin? Boss explained the whole thing." Fian turned away from Norin with a disgusted look; Norin sighed and quickly pulled his hood over his long, braided, pale blonde hair to hide his face. Some of the people at the ports were looking towards the cloaked strangers and began quietly whispering among themselves.
Fian sighed dramatically, "All you need to do is stand there and be imposing, you dunce. It seems your freakish height and your... interesting choice in hair style is drawing their attention. I mean, why shave the sides if...nevermind." They both looked around and noticed more of the people around talking in hushed tones, looking in their direction. "Well, our trip to this port is coming to an end quicker than I thought. Boss' plan is working just as he would have hoped," Fian muttered with a sigh as they continued walking through the port. As they were walking Norin suddenly felt the air around him getting colder; so much so, that he was able to see his own breath. "Hey Fian what do you think would cause-" Norin turned over to look at Fian, but stopped in his tracks. Fian was standing in place at the entrance of the port and had his arms lifted into the air. His cloak twisted and fluttered around his narrow body along with dirt and small rocks. "You might want to wait near the boat. I don't know if you can stomach what is about to happen," Fian warner with a smirk. '...I have a bad feeling about this..' Norin thought as he walked back towards their boat with his hand covering his ears; attempting to drown out the sounds from the port...
*Later* "Daliah stop pressuring the new recruits so much. You know how hard it is to keep the new ones after they work with, *ahem* you know,"the man quickly motioned his head towards a cloaked figure at the front of their group and sighed as he adjusted the blue sash around his waist. The woman he referred to as Daliah, just looked at him and rolled her eyes. 'Why are you acting like I'm a child Calian? I've been here longer than you. I know the consequences of loosing them...and what happens if we anger Leader,' Daliah signed to Calian with quick hand motions. Then not waiting for him to respond, Daliah walked away from the small group and made her way to the cloaked leader; her light lilac colored hair, tied in a ponytail swishing dramatically with every step. Calian squinted his eyes and shook his head, his smokey taupe colored hair falling slightly over the side of his face. "She is so exhausting..."
The other 2 members of their group, one woman and one man, looked at eachother and chuckled slightly. The woman had an anxious smile on her face, "I don't intend to cause trouble. I am already grateful to have such a special welcoming into the guild. I never thought I would be able to travel with the 'fruitful 3' so early on," Calian had a mild look of disgust on his face; his light charcoal colored eyes narrowed once more. "They really call us the fruitful 3? Oof...that hurts." He shivered then picked a small pebble off the ground and tossed it towards Daliah's back to get her attention. Soon after tossing the pebble, their cloaked leader reached their hand out and caught it before it made contact with Daliah. Without ever turning around, their leader tossed the pebble aside and whispered something to Daliah who was happily walking alongside them. The other 3 wore a shocked expression on their faces. "...I can never win when these 2 are together.." Calian trailed off as they continued forward in the dimly lit forest.
"So fruitful 3 huh? That...that hurts...Do people really say that about us?" Calian asked the young woman. "W-well I though it was a lovely name. You are all such..." The young woman trailed off and "casually" looked Calian up and down; stopping at the top of his chest that was slightly exposed between his shirt and leather vest. "Sheesh! Could you be a little MORE obvious Thalia? You're making the guy-hell you're making me uncomfortable! Stop swooning over them and remember, me, your cousin is the reason you are here in the first place. We have a mission to complete," the other man in the group grumbled; causing Calian to laugh and nervously scratch the back of his head. Thalia rolled her eyes at her cousin and flipped her chocolate colored shoulder length hair, in a dismissing manner. The man grumbled even more, "Look Thalia, I'm your older cou-" "Roman, Thalia, that's enough...As for you, Calian, I expect more from you. We need to get to Harabi's Port soon. This is a time sensitive mission, we do not need your bickering to drain the last of our energy," their cloaked leader bellowed. Their sudden statement caused the other 4 to immediately stop what they were doing and continue walking quietly towards the port.
*Mini Flashback* "Boss, why are we going on this mission now; it's already dark out. Even if we leave now we will be lucky go get there by first light. These aren't our normal operating hours," Calian said in a concerned tone. The person he was talking to, wore a black cloak with a hood that covered most of their face as well concealing their clothes. "...It was part of the request that we arrive as soon as we can. The merchants are concerned for their safety. We only received this request moments ago, hence it feeling so rushed. The mission seems to be fairly straightforward," the cloaked person took off their hood, exposing crimson red hair, with some sapphire blue strands exposed near their ears; styled neatly into a braid. "But my gut says otherwise but I do not intend to alarm anyone. That is why I'm trusting you to go grab the 2 new recruits, and Daliah, then we can set off for this mission." Calian nodded, "I understand Revna, I will collect everyone now. Should I also get some additional weapons?" The woman he referred to as Revna shook her head slightly, causing her bangs to shift and expose a deep scar near her forest green colored eyes. Calian bowed slightly and exited her room, "...What I wouldn't do for some of Han's handy-work right now," she sighed and finished writing a letter before putting her hood back up and walking to the small armory at their secluded guild hall.* (mini flashback end)
Some time had passed as all 5 of the guild members were walking through the forest. There was a cool night breeze and the moon slighlty lit up their path. "E-excuse me..." Thalia nervously spoke up and went to touch the leader on the shoulder, but her hand was stopped by Daliah. 'I may not have good vision, especially at night, but I have more than enough sense to know you shouldn't just approach so casually.' Daliah signed after releasing Thalia's hand. "I-I'm sorry. I just wanted to let Leader know...the wind seemed to change direction suddenly but I don't think it's due to natural causes." The leader stopped and everyone else followed suite, almost bumping into one another. The leader looked over at Calian then Daliah, and without speaking, they split and began walking in different directions near the edge of the clearing.
"You two, stay near me and inform me if you feel any other changes." Both Roman and Thalia nodded, "...I can smell something...off?" Roman closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, "smells really organic; dirt, water, iron..." Roman trailed off and his face distorted to show concern. "This path was disturbed by 2 people recently, 2 men actually...They left a thin layer of dust and debris," Calian crouched to the ground and carefully picked up a handful of dirt; running it through his fingers. He focused on the dirt intently and closed his eyes to better focus. "U-uhm, I think I see a faint glow coming from the direction of the port," Thalia muttered nervously. "We need to get to Harabi's now; I fear there may be no one left alive," the leader said in a cold tone. Everyone had a solem look on their face then gathered and formed a small line on the edge of the forest. They looked down off the cliff where the direction of the port was and could now see the faint glow in the distance that resembled fire, coming from the otherwise dark port.
"Revna, can you get all of us there in one go? " Calian asked, to which she responded with a simple nod. "Link arms, take a deep breath, and don't let it out until you're sure of your footing." Roman and Thalia were confused as they saw the others begin to move near their leader, Revna. "Do as you're told or get left behind," She ordered. They then quickly shuffled over to the other three and almost as soon as they linked arms and took a breath in, there was a rush of wind past their ears, that's caused them to close their eyes tightly. Just as quick as it happened, they let out their breath and opened their eyes, and were on the trail for the port and not on the cliff high above. "W-wh-what?!" Roman muttered in disbelief; while Thalia stood in silence, "Now isn't the time, look." Calian pointed forward to the mass amount of rubble and debris that was once the buildings along the small port. There were small fires that had lit the port enough to draw their attention, along with many different objects strewn about at their feet. The sun had just began to come over the horizon, giving them a full picture of the massacre at Harabi's port.
*Drip...* The once lively port was now filled with rubble from the stalls, their products, and their bodies. There was am empty silence accompanied by an echoing sound of dripping. *Drop...* the 5 of them looked at the port, with anguish on their faces. *Drip...drop* Calian and the others looked around for the source of the dripping sounds. He noticed a small pier at the edge of the port and sighed after noticing the source of the dripping. The once clear, blue water was now being distorted with the dropping of fresh, bright red blood dripping directly into the water. A man was face down on the pier, his arms extended in both directions. He had a large cut around his face and his arm from what Calian noticed; the blood was dripping slowly from his body, into the water. "What happened here? " Thalia whispered sadly. It couldn't have happened that long ago."No one said a word..."Calian take a few moments here at the port with Thalia. I am going to see if I can find anyone alive enough to give us some information about the ones who did this." Revna stated before turning to talk away. "Yes Revna. Roman, go with Daliah and be her guide," Roman nodded and Daliah wrapped her arm around his for stability; causing his face to turn a light shade of red.
*Daliah's POV* As the 2 walked side by side to the far edge of Harabi's port, Daliah noticed that Roman was nervously shaking. "Are...you...o..k??" Daliah shakily spoke. Roman looked over to her; startled. "Oh, I-I didn't know you were able to speak, my apologies." Roman bowed his head slightly. Daliah shook her head and tapped his shoulder so he would stop and face her, "No...sign?" She asked and after he processed what she meant he responded, 'I know someone,' he signed to a confused Daliah. 'Do you maybe mean...' "Some...not ss-some...one?" She asked by first signing then speaking. "I'm sorry if I sign the wrong thing. I thought I knew at least that much. I know a little bit if you can hear me or read my lips then that should be okay right?? I think I can figure out what you are trying to sign me." Roman expressed with an embarrassed look on his face; to which Daliah just silently giggled then nodded. Roman let out a sigh of relief and they both continued walking forward.
"What exactly are we doing over here..shouldn't we help the-" Daliah stopped walking and put her hand to her mouth to shush him. 'Stay quiet and don't move,' she signed to which he nodded. Daliah then took a deep breath and closed her eyes, 'I need focus,' she signed slowly. She turned her head towards the sky and began sniffing in short bursts, turning her head slightly when she picked up a scent. Roman watched nervously, 'she is so different from the others,' he thought to himself. 'Her light lilac hair in a bouncy ponytail, her outfit with black shorts and a pink mesh top,' his cheeks began to show a soft shade of red, 'She's really attractive. There's something so soft about her features, I just want to...' he trailed off as he unknowingly reached his hand out to touch her hair. Just as he was going to make contact, Daliah whipped her head to where Roman was and in the same instance pushed his arm out of range with one hand and grabbed his throat, pushing upward with the other hand; then she opened her eyes and quickly released him when she realized who it was. "I...am...sorry..." 'I didn't realize you were the one close to me, I just sensed someone getting closer and reacted,' she frantically signed with rosy cheeks. Roman stood there with a crooked smile, "No, no, it's okay really. I shouldn't have approached you when you were busy. I'm sorry."
After both apologized to eachother a few more times, Daliah suddenly froze. 'I found it,' without waiting for Roman she ran forward towards the treeline and stopped when she came across a fallen tree; Roman quickly caught up to her location. "How are...y...with...blood?" She mumbled as she looked up at Roman with a concerned face; he gulped and nodded. Daliah sighed then crouched down to the tree, gently running her hands against the bark. She turned to look back at Roman, 'Someine tried to hide here. It wasn't too long ago. They should still be close...' she signed to him before standing up and lifting her heard to the air once more. She was walking faster then before, weaving through the different levels of branches. Roman was falling behind her, "Daliah wait!" He exclaimed as he tried his best to keep up. Without warning Daliah stopped and turned around to face the shore, then just as quickly as she stopped, she disappeared with a Lightening fast, burst of speed; Roman's mouth fell open in shock. "Rr...Rom..an!" He was snapped out of it when he heard her yell out his name and he immediately ran towards the shore, nervous for what was to come.