Chapter 3 - Earn it then

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭, Gordon thought as he stepped off his broom, Nalé in tow.

The sun is slowly setting behind him as he walks to the base, enveloping the sky with an orange hue, and encasing the towering asymmetrical building in front of him with warmth .

He made it back in the nick of time, he didn't want to have to camp out another night in that forest.

He stops for a bit, looking at his base.

"Phh" He breathes out.

"I've missed you.'' he murmurs.

Then, he resumes his pace.

He started to think about how he'd introduce her to the crew.

Gordon had no doubt that they'd be welcoming , but also curious.

Before long, he had reached the entrance of the Black Bulls' base.

The door creaked slowly as he opened it.

He put his head in first to look around before entering, making sure no one was there.

𝘐'𝘮 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘐'𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺one 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. He thought.

He tiptoes across the living room with her on his back , quietly escaping in the direction of his room.

𝘈𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦! He thinks.

Just as he's about to reach the staircase-

"Who's that?" asks the man on the couch.

The newspaper he's reading crinkles as another page is turned.

Smoke wafts through the air.

He had failed to notice him before.

𝘐 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘠𝘢𝘮𝘪, 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 , 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩. Gordon thinks.

"A friend." He whispers, as he turns around to see his captain staring at him, eyebrow raised at the stranger on his back.

"Hmm" The man grunts and goes back to his newspaper.

Gordon continues up the stairs.

The man puts his newspaper down on the table facing him and gruffly says "I have no idea what he just said."

__________________________________________________________________

After a bit of searching Gordon finds his room.

He opens the door to the vacant room next to his, and gently lays Nalé down, after dusting off any potential dust or forest creatures that might've decided to hang on to her outfit during the ride.

"Sleep well" he murmurs to her, before closing the door , and retiring to his own room.

He then promptly passes out on his bed.

The journey here took a lot out of him.

He's glad to be home.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Boom! A giant explosion tears the front door of the Bulls' base off of it's hinges.

"Magnaaaa look what I can do!" says an oddly cheery looking guy as he forms a ball of lighting and swings it into the door with his makeshift lightning bat.

"Ehhhhhh?!!!" "STOP COPYING MY MOVES, YOU BRAT!!"

A fiery man with a scar near his hairline screams, as he pulls out his own fire bat and balls, swinging them right to the lightning guy.

Explosion after explosion occurs as they go all out , furthering the destruction of the property.

Back in the base, the man on the couch tries his hardest to focus on his newspaper.

He was at the part where something interesting had happened.

Apparently one of the nobles had slept with two other nobles, and they had been caught in the act, which led to the heads of all three of the houses involved fighting in the forest.

The townsfolk contemplated not calling the police until they realized the nobles had been fighting naked. The one that found them dragged the other two out of bed, not giving them any choice in the matter. And then he proceeded to take off all his clothes as an intimidation factor.

They were all arrested, thankfully empty potato sacks were used to cover their extremities. But there was a fourth one involved in this . He was, in fact, the one who planned it all out by spreading rumors! The police from headquarters went to investigate but he suddenly vanished-

The man on the couch was about to get to the good part of the story when his brats came crashing through the door, and now his immersion is ruined!

He grinds his teeth, eyes twitching trying to ignore them, but to no avail.

He explodes, smashing his hand against a nearby wall, destroying it completely. "Oii you brats! Shut the fuck up! I'm trying to read my newspaper, they're about to announce whether they caught the guy or not, you're ruining the moment!"

The two near the door stop their commotion and look back at the man.

"Captain Yami!"

"We're back!" they yell as they run towards the man, excited to tell him about their adventure.

Yami's heart melted at the sight of his two brats being so excited to tell him about their mission

His anger subsided and he thought 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵, 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦.

He pats both of their heads and makes himself comfortable on the couch.

The other two take their seat on on the chairs nearby and begin to speak, enthusiasm coating their voice.

Laughter rings around the living room as they recall all of the silly things that occurred on their mission.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

On the staircase to their right sat a woman, chin on top of her folded knees, smiling at the familial warmth she felt from the trio in the living room.

"Are you gonna stay over there staring at us like a creep or are you gonna join us?" says Yami.

She's snapped out of her daze, and stands up with the grace of a baby giraffe.

"Yea," she says, "I'm coming, give me a second."

She makes her way over to the three shakily and begins to greet them.

Her heart was pounding with the intensity of her previous escapade a few nights ago, but this time in nervousness.

"Hi!" she says, feigning confidence. "Gordon found me in a forest."

"I'm Nalé, it's nice to meet you all."

The three men stare at her, their eyes filled with curiosity and mild concern.

The lightning man is the first one to break the overwhelming silence after her greeting.

"I'm Luck, a lightning mage and I love to fight, and burn my enemies to a bloody crisp." "Why are you soaked in blood?" "Did you fight someone strong?!"

She frowned in concentration and thought about how she should answer his question.

𝘐𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩, She thought. 𝘐'𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘦. 𝘗𝘭𝘶𝘴, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳. 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺.

"It was more of an attack, rather than a fight."

"I was shot and I died.." She whispered, biting her lip in anguish.

"Oh" Luck whispered.

He turned from her and stared at the wall with a faraway look in his eyes.

"If something like that happened, I'd hear about it already." says Yami, pointing to his newspaper.

𝘎𝘰𝘴𝘩, 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨.

"It didn't happen here," She says "Not in the clover kingdom."

𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, she thinks.

Yami lifts his eyebrows, curious.

𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘒𝘪 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸.

He takes on a bemusing tone, lighting another cigarette. "I didn't know the dead could come back to life."

"Hmm" she hums "I didn't know either"

"I was mildly obsessed with death before I died, you know?" she says as she plops down on the floor, not wanting to dirty the couch.

"But then death happened, and it was so much more underwhelming than what I expected."

"Where are you from ?" asks Magna.

𝘏𝘮, 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘢.

"From far away, you wouldn't know it."

"I'm not sure it's even on any map."

𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳..𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘐 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵. 𝘔𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰.

"If it's so far away and you say you died, I'm assuming there, how did you get here?" ponders Luck , now back into the conversation.

"Any guess you have would be as good as mine." "I have absolutely any idea."

"Maybe God decided to punish me because I didn't believe in him? I wouldn't necessarily say that being here is a bad thing though, " she leans forward , putting her chin on the table.

"Oi, don't leave any blood on my table!"

"Huh? Oh, ok."

"Have any plans then?" Yami asks putting his feet on the table by her head.

"Totally!" "First I'm gonna learn all there is to learn about this kingdom's politics and laws!" "Then I'm gonna learn about the plants here, and-"

Something is thrown at her head, blocking her vision and effectively shutting her up.

𝘐𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩.

"What?" She whispers in shock as she stares, eyes wide at the black bulls logo.

She looks up at Yami and gestures to the cape "Why? I-I literally did nothing to deserve this!"

Yami inhales a long smoke from his cigarette then exhales the smoke out from his lungs.

"Then get to it," he says.

"What?," she asks, confused.

"Earn it." Yami says. "You owe me, now earn the right to wear the cape."

"Oh" she whispers in disbelief which quickly turns into glee.

𝘐 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴! 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵.

𝘏𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘩𝘦 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩. She cackles inside her head.

"Thank you. I'll make sure you don't regret your decision to make me a horse thingy?" she stares at the logo in mock confusion.

"IT'S A BLACK BULL!" Screams Magna.

"Ohhh, I see, I see."

"Welcome to the Black Bulls Nalé."

Yami sports a mischievous grin, thinking of what's coming next.

"Now onto your first mission."

"Ehhhh?!" "I have a mission already?!" She screams.

"Uhh yea."

"Now listen up, I've been having trouble taking proper shits lately.."

"They always get stuck and nothing wants to come out."

"So your first mission is to fix my constipation." Yami says droning on about the state of his colon and ass.

She looks at him, face slowly grimacing as she hears more and more about things that no one should utter.

"Seriously?" She asks.

"...Yeah."

Sigh "Ok.."

"You have a week."