Bounty's Perspective
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The lizard dropped the corpse and collapsed to the ground behind it. He proceeded to vomit a mix of gore, bile, leather, and broken metal. I've seen some serious grotesque shit in my time, but gods damn... this is in the top five. The smell and noise is gut wrenching. He begins to shutter and shrink. The extra eyes vanishing into his skull, the razor teeth pulling back into his gums, and his claws retracting into their natural shape. He's back to normal. Well... not normal... but our normal. I walk over and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You alright, mate?"
"Unhand me, Ta'felin. I was fine before you, and I'll be fine after." He spoke his usual monotone, but with a hint of anger. It's not often I get to hear my race's proper name nowadays. Most don't even remember that we had a proper name.
"What was that?" I ask him as he stands from his knees. I can hear his bones clinking and scraping together underneath his skin as he rises.
"A mistake." He walks back to the wagon.
What?
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A few hours and a terrible wagon ride later.
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I know I joked about team ManEATER earlier, but I didn't think I'd be having human for dinner tonight. Correction, THEY are having human for dinner tonight. I'M having my travel rations. Like a civilized beastfolk.
Honestly, after what I saw today I can completely understand the lizard eating campfire cooked human leg, but the gnoll girl, Yoona, she was more of a surprise. She acts so cute and child-like, you forget she's nearly 8 feet of pure savage blood. I've not once encountered a civilized gnoll. I was hoping she was the first with how passive she was, but as usual, book covers and whatnot.
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Yoona's Perspective
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Today has been really fun. Yoona got to see and smell a whole new forest, and ride in a wagon! Then we stopped and Yoona got to practice a bunch of her magic. Big lizard brother was kind of rude about it, but all the magic still made teacher happy. Then Yoona got to take a nap in the wagon. There was a lot of noise for a moment but died down pretty quickly. Then Yoona woke up and now we're having dinner by the campfire. I don't know what we hunted, but it doesn't taste very good.
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Back to Bounty
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"Hey Lizard. I never caught your name." I ask as I start cleaning my rifle. He stops chewing to swallow. Does he actually have manners?
"That's not a normal staff you have." He avoided my question. Fuck it, I'll humor him.
"It's not a staff. It's a Lightning Rifle. It's a wonder of sigilcraft and mode --"
"I don't care. It makes too much noise. Get rid of it." He takes another bite as if to mock me. Something about him has changed today after that whole ordeal. I can't put my finger on it.
"Unfortunately for you that's not going to happen. I created this when I was just a kitten. I could never part ways with it."
"You saw the monster." His statement caught me off-guard.
"Yeah, what of it?"
"Do you want to see it again?" He's had the same voice this entire conversation, but this feels like a threat. His silver eyes piercing me with a cold glare. Is it his eyes that are different?
"Depends. You're the monster. Do I want to see it again?" That whole transformation honestly scared me, but if it can be utilized, I don't see why we wouldn't use it.
"No. You don't." His voice is surprisingly somber for once. "It has a sensitivity to sound. If I can't focus out the noise, or if there's too much to be focused out; it comes alive." He uses a stick to adjust the campfire and rekindle the flame.
"So my rifle woke it up?"
"Yes. Sometimes I can control it. Sometimes I cannot." He sits for a moment staring into the fire. There is absolutely something different about him and it's driving me crazy.
"Were you in control this time?" I can hear fear in my own voice. Am I really that afraid? Do I actually want the answer?
"Not this time." My heart sinks in my chest. He wasn't the one who made the choice to rip my rifle out of my hands rather than outright kill me. I think the thought of it purposely leaving me alive in more frightening then the alternative. "I tire of questions. No more."
I didn't have anymore for now anywa--... THAT'S IT! IT'S THE ANKH TATTOO ON HIS FOREHEAD! It looks like it got another crack in it somehow. That's no ordinary tattoo then. They either persist or fade depending on how they're made. They don't 'crack'.
This lizard is an enigma. Monster transformation, god magic, that bloody tattoo... Oh, he's walking over to me.
"It's Ave."
"What?"
"You asked my name earlier. It is Ave. Your's?"
So he heard me after all. I give a smile and hold my hand out for a shake. "Bounty. I look forward to working with you."
He doesn't shake my hand and instead turns around to lie down and sleep.
Rude.
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Roughly 20 hours and more gods awful wagon travel later.
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The team had finally arrived at their destination, Bena'da. Bounty picked up bits of info about the place from some travelers they encountered on the way.
It's a big trade town. Just about anyone heading north to the capital or south on their way out have to pass through here. Entire streets were taken up by taverns and inns. Even then there would be no vacancy signs.
The main attraction however was the old colosseum. It use to be heavily frequented by nobles, soldiers, and mercenaries who wanted to train or win the finalist prizes during the tournaments. It wasn't used anymore with all it's usual contestants having to go to war, so it's fallen into disrepair over that time.
After a very tense moment at the town gate the party could finally make some real progress towards their goal. Bounty issued everyone out of the wagon. "Alright I've got to go get these horses and wagon in a stable. You two... DO NOT wander off."
Almost immediately after Bounty is out of sight both Ave and Yoona wander off in opposite directions.