If there was one unavoidable truth in the world it was that city life just was not for her. They were crowded and overpopulated dens of human misery that the cowardly consisted as the best option for humanity and the smart tried to leave as quickly as they could.
Even the city she was currently in "Veridian" was a peak perfect example of this little theory of hers. Considered one of the "Five Great City-States", well four soon because everyone knew that Dragonspire was about to become outerspawn food in the next few months, it housed more than a third of the world's entire population of intelligent beings.
It was also a total crapshoot with the typical city building structure of the closer you are to the center the better your life will be and the further from it you live....well then better luck in the next life for you. Because it really was bad there. It was so bad that one might ask what would any sane person want to be there? The answer was simple. Contraband.
The girl stood in what seemed like a very dodgy looking marketplace full of stalls whose contents alone could land a person with a few years of prison time. It was everything a person could imagine if they were seriously into tech. From stolen or illegally made thunder shooters from the East to random pieces of tubes or other gear from the North. For a weapon enthusiast, this was practically candy land. Though the real "sweets" were sold a few roads further and frankly they might be too addictive for safe consumption.
But back at the topic, the young lady was waiting for a fat man in a greasy camo shirt to wrap something up that could only be described as "a thing" by most people. Finally, the vendor finished and handed her the item.
"Can you please tell me why a sweet thing like yourself needs a pumping unit this strong?" The man asked while the person in question was inspecting the item.
"Oh, there's no need to know." She explained while giving him a big grin.
The guy visibly sweatdropped. He had seen a bunch of crazies during his years including some Jagger with a custom flame thrower some years back, however, this young lady somewhat took the cake. Most likely because she didn't resemble someone that would willingly come near this place with a mile long pole.
The girl was dressed in a blue cardigan over which she also wore a loose, long-sleeved white coat that ended with two small fingerless gloves. Below the cardigan, the person had a blue long skirt that was followed by a pair of black stockings that went inside two small brown boots with silver clips attached to them. She also had long blue hair that fell over her back like a waterfall and a doll like face with two large, dark blue eyes that shined like gems.
Item vise, the girl was carrying a white carry case that was as big as her and a cotton shoulder bag in which she placed the aforementioned pumping unit. Overall, there was something weird about her.
"Thank you!" She suddenly said with a big smile to the man interrupting the guy from his thoughts.
"Oh, no sweat," he said out of habit while also wanting to add "come again". Only to stop himself because for the girl's own safety he rather wished she wouldn't.
"Take care of yourself!" The vendor quickly added seeing that she was going away.
"Of course." The small thing shouted back that only made him even more worried, especially since some of the punks around here were checking her as easy prey.
The guy could only muse what sort of thinking led her to this part of town.
Boredom. Insufferable, unbearable boredom. The type when all days feel the same and nothing you eat seems to have taste anymore. That was what plagued the young girl's mind and led her to visit Veridian's local black market to find something that would help her pass the time.
Eight days had gone since her mentor went off, one the job that he described as too dangerous for her to tag along. Instead, she was given the helpless princess treatment and left in a cozy hotel room. And there were only enough times she could read "The Rise of Men" before the "overdramatic the world is only black and white" story elements became too cringey to bear, even for her! Well, at least now she had something to pass the time.
The blue head seemed to be so lost in thoughts and seemingly didn't notice the bunch of thuggish looking men in leather vests that were tailing her for quite some time. They seemed to maybe originate from one of the local bands however it was hard to say which. Those were formed and later fell more often than did the frontier settlements.
Anyway, they had finally tracked her to a lone street whereas to the surprise of these men she suddenly stopped and turned around with a look of dismay.
"Can I help you, fellas," the girl asked while accidentally speaking in that dreadful accent that she had been trying to get rid of for years only because of uncute it sounded.
The men looked surprised and one of them even swore.
"Bad word." The young lady instantly replied in the way she was already used to.
The middle one of them who seemed to be the boss and had a haircut like something fluffy had died on his bold head spoke first.
"Okay, kid if you don't want anything bad happening to you, then cough up the goods, or else..."
"And what if I want something bad to happen to me?" She suddenly asked surprising all of them.
There was a moment of silence until one of the side goons interjected.
"Then we'll be happy to oblige, miss." The guy said with a grin that revealed some missing teeth.
Their leader seemed (inspired?) by his friend's words so all three of them pulled out something from their waists that could only be described as sharpened junk and began to menacingly walk closer to her.
The girl rolled her eyes.
"Well, at least I didn't land the first punch this time," she murmured to herself and began to concentrate.
Suddenly blue sparkling energy started to form around her palms and the three guys stopped with fear in their eyes. That however was not the worst part as water molecules started to converge in her palms before they formed a liquid orb the size of a baseball. Without further fanfare, the bluenete outstretched her hands and fired the ball.
The small thing with great speed flew past the main guy's head and hit the ground where it shattered some of the age old brickwork.
The effect of that was instantaneous.
"Resonance!"
"Oh shit, she's one of them."
"Bail!"
Those were the separate man-screams that came out of the trio before they ran away.
The girl made an exhale with her nose.
'Miscreants', she thought.
"Well, that sure was impressive," commented a voice from one of the seemingly abandoned houses.
With lightning-quick reflexes, the girl turned towards the voice reaching for the case on her back. She hadn't detected anyone near her which meant that this person was a problem.
"Wait, wait, you don't need to do that. I don't bite....actually, you know what. Scratch that last part it sounded very slimy." Said the stranger.
He was a young man who seemed some years older than her. The guy was tall and somewhat buff, but not unreasonably so. He had dark red hair with even darker roots that looked unkempt, but that could just be a natural state of them since they looked pretty healthy.
The stranger wore a black padded west with metal shoulder pads that went over a purple shirt. He also had two purple gloves with metal bits around the knuckle area that were definitely meant to be used against someone. The guy's pants seemed to be made of some kind of leather and there were a few straps attached to them that held something resembling throwing knives. They ended in a pair of boots that looked to be made from a similar material as the pants.
There were also some other details that didn't slip past her. Like the metal canisters attached to his belt next to a black satchel. Or the sheeted thunder shooter next to his hip. It was obvious that this dude was in a different league from those chumps.
However, what unnerved her off the most was his eyes. They seemed normal or even honest and yet there was something behind them that she didn't just like. Though that wasn't the young lady's greatest concern.
'God damn it, why is he so pretty.' She thought to herself, because, priorities.
The stranger was now putting his hands in front of himself to not seem like a threat while harboring an apologetic smile.
The girl lowered her hand however she was far from trusting. The young lady's mentor had thought her better after all.
"So how did you do that water trick?" The guy asked, probably trying to break the ice.
"Trade secret," she quickly replied.
"Fair enough." The dude said.
There was a moment of silence during which the young lady frowned while the guy had a smirk with those incredibly thin lips of his.
'Why the hell, did everything about him have to be so attractive,' the girl internally thought.
Finally, she couldn't take the silence anymore.
"Ok, why the heck were you sneaking up on me?" The bluenette asked quite loudly.
The guy's smile turned into a cooky one and the girl suddenly regretted giving him attention.
"Well, you see," the stranger began while walking circles around her with raised hands, "I was just minding my own business when I suddenly noticed this small little thing being followed by three unsavory individuals. And being the gallant, kind hearted gentleman I was, I immediately sprung to save the damsel."
He then stopped in front of her.
"Then imagine my disappointment when she was able to deal with them herself." The dude ended with a sad voice.
"Oh, how unfortunate," replied the young lady with the biggest deadpan she could muster.
"I know right!" Said the guy and leaned closer to her with a shocked face.
She really started to consider vaporizing his head as a valuable option at this point.
Meanwhile, the guy only ranted further.
"It used to be so easy back day. Find some thugs. Save the babe. Get some reward." The dude finished with a smile that made her skin crawl.
"I'm fifteen." She shouted back, hoping to stop whatever gross thought process that he was having.
"Cool, because I'm not into little kids." The stranger replied with the most serious expression he had shown thus far.
Somehow learning that she wasn't in the striking range for the potential predator didn't feel as relieving as it should. In fact, being compared to a child somehow pissed her off. Don't ask how the girl's brain worked because frankly, she wouldn't be able to give the answer herself.
"But you just called me a damsel." The bluenette angrily said.
"And you are," the dude began quite seriously until his face changed back to that insufferable smirk, "but damsels come in many different sizes and many types of "nope"".
Faster than a hummingbird could flap his wings the girl's hand was holding the case, ready to show why no one who didn't want to get their torso rearranged should ever describe her as a "nope".
And just as quickly the guy's hands went in front of his face.
"It was a joke. A joke, okay? No hard feelings and no attempts of murdering me, alright?" He pleaded, though the smirk never left his face.
The brunette started to suspect that maybe he got some rush from being threatened. As gross as it sounded. Nevertheless, she lowered her arm again.
"So. What. Do. You. Want?" The asked while emphasizing each word.
The guy leaned against the nearest wall with his arms crossed.
"You know those guys that are part of a gang known as the " Four Pillars. They have become a serious problem in this side of town and are targeting everyone. A lot of friends of mine have been harassed by them and I've decided to finally put the curtain on their operation." He casually explained.
The bluenette raised an eyebrow.
"Kaaay? And why are you telling me this?" She inquired.
The dude shrugged.
"Well, I hoped that they've pissed you off enough with this mugging attempt that you'd be willing to tag along on my little purge."
The young lady was flabbergasted.
"And what makes you think that someone would come along on your "purge" after you've only met them?"
"What can I say. I'm an opportunist." He answered.
"Plus you just seem like the type to agree."
"And why do you think so?" She asked half annoyed, half intrigued.
"Oh please!" The guy exclaimed before doing something unthinkable.
Sparkling purple energy started to build up around his feet and with ease, he jumped and landed on the roof of the building that the guy had been leaning against. The house hadn't been too big, however, that was a masterful use of resonance, and the young lady had to admit that even she wouldn't be able to do it so quickly.
He sat and then looked down on her.
"You came to one of the worst parts of Veridian looking like this." The guy gestured at her outfit.
"Maybe I just like to look cute wherever I go." Was her quick reply.
"Suure. That also includes when buying illegal contraband?" He replied with a question.
The girl immediately looked startled.
"How did you know that?" She demanded.
"Dunno a birdy told me." The stranger cheekily replied.
"But anyhow my bet here is that you came here for some thrill, didn't you?" He asked with a grin that almost looked intimidating.
"Even if I did, how can I know that you aren't working together with those punks!" The girl asked again.
The dude suddenly stood up while looking offended.
"Pleeaase! Why would anyone with my swagger would want to hang out with those goons?" He questioned.
"I don't know." She replied. "Maybe having people around that look worser than you gives you some sort of ego boost."
The guy snorted.
"I get a big enough ego boost when I Iook at the mirror every morning." He casually replied.
The young lady still didn't look convinced.
"Alright, you don't work with them but maybe you are just trying to do something scummy on your own agenda."
"Ah, yes what a smart thing to do for me, especially after disclosing my presence to you even though you had no idea that I was tailing you. Truly, my intellect knows no bounds." He loudly monologued while gazing at the stars.
"Okay, I get it," she said with a frown before adding.
"Than can you please stop being such a but and come down here?"
The guy smirked and elegantly dropped down from ledge and on the ground.
"Is there something else you wish from me, Mam?" He asked with a deep bow.
The girl didn't like him. The stranger seemed like trouble with a capital 'T' and everything thought by her mentor seemed to say the same thing. However, there was just something that made her ignore common sense.
Maybe it was the fact that she felt in this city. Or maybe that her only entertainment back at that safe hotel room would be to mess around with her weapon while dreaming when it will be possible to use the thing. Or maybe it was just because the girl had been left and considered unfit for that job.
"He thinks that I'll be safe if I'm tucked in some dollhouse. Well, it time to prove dear old master wrong."
With those thoughts, the she stretched had hand in order to shake hands.
"Just promise that there won't be no needless killing." The girl said with a stern face.
He looked surprised before his face softened for the first time.
"I promise that after this your hands will be clean." The guy said with a smile.
To her universal shock, the young lady had to admit that he looked kind of cute.
"I'm Lukas by the way," he said interrupting the bluenette from her daydream.
She looked surprised before giving a cheerful smile.
"The name's Sapphire." The young lady also introduced herself.
Little did the girl know, but she wouldn't have the opportunity to complain about boredom for a long time.