"Yep. This is definitely him." Bounty said as he was crouched down in front of the General inspecting his face.
"But how does Bounty know?" Yoona asked sounding a little on edge. The smell was driving her crazy.
"I built my whole career on recognizing faces from poorly drawn sketches. I'm like... 95% sure. Ave! You figure anything out over there?" Bounty shouted to Ave who was looking over the many bodies of soldiers.
"It's strange. Some of them have shared tattoos on their fingers --"
"What!? Can you speak up? I can't hear you over there."
Ave grumbled refraining from speaking further.
"Bloody... whatever, mate. Yoona, got anything that can help?" Bounty stood up looking up to the wild eyed gnoll. "Hey, Shiela, you okay?"
"Yoona can't smell anything but blood. It's making her nervous. Like something can sneak up on Yoona."
"You still got some glyphs on you don't you?"
"No. Elf lady used them all up. Yoona hasn't had time to make more."
"Okay then. Well do you got anything that can help me out? I can tell this is the General, and how he died is pretty obvious... I just can't figure out why."
"Oh! Master knows something!" Yoona got an ecstatic smile as she pulled an old tome from her book satchel.
"Wait... You're Master is the book?"
"Yes! Master teaches Yoona all kinds of magic! This one is her favorite spell!" Yoona held her master open to a page covered in chicken scratch.
"Okay... That's nice... But does 'he' have something that can help me now?"
"Master will show Yoona how." Yoona then sat in front of the General gently pushing a body to the side so she has room. She focused her right hand forward while holding master in her left. A black rune started forming underneath the General. Over a minute the rune pulsed and the General's body began shifting and contorting trying to get comfortable with the sword stabbed through it.
"Eugh. I can never get use to seeing necromancy in action..." Bounty said covered his mouth.
"Okay! Yoona finished the ritual and we can ask the General three questions."
"Why just three?" Bounty asked. The General snapped his neck upward.
"I... Caaaan't... anssssswer... thaaaaaat..." The General spoke with a hollow, ghostly voice.
"Ah, Bounty! You just used one!" Yoona snapped her head up to look at Bounty with a grimace.
"Well, sorry! I don't know how the spell works." Bounty apologized then crouched down to speak more directly with the rotting corpse. "Alright, mate. Who killed you?"
"Bluuuuuue... Biiiiiiird..." The General cocked his head and shakily rose a hand to point in Ave's direction. Bounty looked over the see his lizard companion lying amongst the corpses. "Ave! What are you doing?" He yelled.
No response.
"You awake, mate?"
Still no response.
Bounty and Yoona stood up to go inspect their ally. They both stopped upon seeing the blue feather dart in his neck. "Ow!" Yoona yelped as she felt a sting on her neck. She then pulled out the strange sting and held it in her hands; another blue feather dart. Her vision fell blank as she collapsed.
"Fuck!" Bounty exclaimed pulling his rifle from his back, the stock taking the next dart for him. He followed the trajectory, and instantly knew the direction they were coming from as he aimed his rifle up to the stands. He caught a figure hiding behind a seat and sent a warning shot blasting the one next to them.
"These bullets can pierce just about anything! No amount of wood, stone, or metal will keep you safe! So why don't you come down and we have a civilized conversation!" Bounty yelled up.
The figure stepped out to reveal the feminine feline physique of a Caracal Catfolk. Her fur was a natural rust color. Her skin tight leathers that accent the best parts of her body distracted Bounty for but a moment. She dropped her blowpipe and mouthed the words "I guess I've been caught." She held her hands high as she stepped down from the stands.
The two were finally face to face. Even with the rifle pointed at her, the female cat still had a cocky smile.
"So what's your whole deal here, Blue Bird?" Bounty asked.
"Ha. That's a new one."
"What, so your name isn't Blue Bird?"
"Never has been, darling. But if you do need a name, you can call me Color."
"Not gonna say your full name?"
"I don't think it's necessary... yet."
"That's a fun word; yet. Sets up expectations. If I can't get your name, can you tell me why you're here and why you put my friends to sleep?"
"I thought you were part of the group that caused this mess in the first place. Figured you were some kind of clean up crew."
"Sorry to disappoint, we're just here to figure out what happened to the General."
"Then it seems we're on the same side. That's my job too."
"Then who do you work for?"
"I'm freelance. This is something personal."
Bounty lowered his rifle. "A truce then. We share what we know, figure out what we need to figure out, and if it turns out we really are enemies; we duel another day." He held out his hand for a shake.
"Sounds like a fair deal." She said as she shook Bounty's hand.
Suddenly Bounty experience a strange sensation as if he felt every single human emotion possible in the matter of an instant. A flashback from his memory of his distraught mother kept playing on repeat. He understood she was always sad, but something about this was different. Something new. As if he wasn't the one experiencing it. He finally regained his senses from Yoona shaking his shoulder.
"Why is Bounty crying?" She asked with concern on her face.
"What? I'm not --" He reached up to feel his facial fur matted by dry tears. He wiped his face in confusion. He looked around. It was now night time, but when they arrived it was early evening. "How long was I out? What did she do to me?" He thought.
He fumbled at his pockets making sure she didn't take anything, but instead he found a new folded slip of paper. He opened it and read.
"You shook my hand and froze up. I tried prodding you for 5 minutes but you didn't react. I found what I wanted to find, so if you ever want to see me again, go to the Moonlit Musician in the capital. Find Rusty and ask him for the Lixin Special. Maybe then I'll tell you my full name. xoxo."
"Good, he's out of his stupor. Did you know what happened to us?" Ave asked now approaching.
"You guys got sleep darted... and I... think I just got a date?" Bounty said even questioning himself. "Come on. I don't want to be in this town anymore."
The three left, leaving the General's body still waiting for his final question.