This is not the way he imagined he'd be spending the day.
Wandering through some kind of woods. Ducking through bushes and trees. Fighting people with strange powers with his own weird abilities.
"Heyyyyy, Kichi!" A young adult is in front of him. A bow rests on his shoulder. Glasses. Dark hair covering one eye. A black t-shirt and trousers. The boy looks up at the adult's username.
[𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗼]
"Yes...?"
"Look alive, man. We're getting close to the place marked on the map."
Kichi nods, trying his best to keep up. Twigs and leaves adorn his shoulder-length wavy hair like a crown. Unlike Taro, he looks prepared to be in bed. He is supposed to be in bed. Unless this is some really immersive dream he's having-
[𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗬!]
"Huh-?"
[𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗧 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗞𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝟬𝗖 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗡𝗜𝗣 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗥𝗘𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗫𝗣!]
He stares at the notification in disbelief. HAV0C and Catnip are caught in this, too? And they have a bounty on their heads? How are they going to-?
"Ooooo, that's not a bad offer." Taro looks at the notification as he scratches his non-existent beard.
𝘏-𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵, 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦!?
"U-um, Taro. HAV0C and Catnip are our friends-"
"I know, Kichi. I know...." He doesn't stop looking at the notification though.
"......." 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴.
________________________________________________________________________________
[𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 [𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹:𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗹𝘂𝘀𝘁!] 𝗮𝗻𝗱 [𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹:𝗦𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗼𝗿!]]
"New skills, huh...." 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵.
HAV0C sits on the floor, staring at his new skills. Eclipse is leaning against the wall, while Catnip is practicing his knife swings. He's.....improving.
"How long do you think the bounty will last for?" Catnip pants, his arms already beginning to ache.
HAV0C shrugs. "How do we know for sure the bounty will even go? We could have this permanently."
"Permanently!?" Catnip stops and flings his knife to the ground. "That's just bullshit!" He quickly picks the knife up to assess any damage to the blade.
𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘦..
HAV0C glances at the blood-stained bat in Eclipse's grasp.
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘵.
𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴.
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵.
He looks at Eclipse, noting the exhaustion written all over her face. His hands subconsciously drift to the scar rippling across his abdomen. Eclipse had managed to bring him from near-death. And it looks like it's taken its toll on her.
𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢. 𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?
𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵. 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺.
Catnip seems to be having the same thoughts as HAV0C, glancing back at Eclipse often with concern. HAV0C gets up and taps Eclipse on the shoulder.
"Hey."
She jumps, eyes refocusing on him. "Yeah?"
"Sit down for a bit. You need to rest."
"What? I'm fine. I'm just a little tired." She glances at his torn shirt. "What about you? You were wounded, you should sit down-"
"I'm fine, Mom. You healed me, remember? It doesn't even ache anymore." He takes her gently by the shoulders, momentarily surprised by her weight, and sets her down on the floor, supporting her back with the wall. "Rest, okay? You used up most of your strength."
A small smile appears on her face. "Heh..."
HAV0C raises an eyebrow. "What?"
"You called me Mom...."
He blinks, then laughs. "Well, I see you as one." He bends down and picks up the bat. "Just relax, okay? Me and Catnip will keep watch."
She nods, too tired to resist.
HAV0C straightens up and goes to the window. From here he can see what can only be described as an urban jungle. Houses slowly being overtaken by nature. Large green vines crawling up the sides of the walls. Grass sprouting from cracks in the road.
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦?
𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴....𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘦𝘯𝘶.
The menu appears in front of him and he grins. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥.
He glances back at his skills. [𝘋𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵], 𝘩𝘶𝘩? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘐....?
"Use skill. [Detect Bloodlust]."
[𝙐𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡! 𝘿𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙩!]
A shiver runs down his spine. Goosebumps cover his arms.
"HAV0C?"
He turns to look at Catnip, the sensation dimming. He glances at Eclipse, the feeling dimming even more.
𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴?
He glances at the door. And he jumps, the goosebumps and shivers coming back in full force. His vision almost seems to ripple, the door releasing what can only be described as waves, crashing down on him. His hair stands on end.
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳-?
𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵. 𝘖𝘏 𝘚𝘏𝘐𝘛-
He runs forward, slamming his body into it just as it begins to creak open. He hears curses from the other side, and grunts as the door shudders as something thuds into it outside.
𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯. He presses his ear against the door, listening, hearing the scuffle of feet. 𝘕𝘰, 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘈 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱?
He glances over at Catnip, who's poised and clutching the knife handle till his knuckles turn white. They meet eyes and Catnip nods. He knows what to do.
He runs forward and slams the knife into the door. The wood hits the hilt and they hear a grunt, then the sound of dead weight falling to the ground. Blood begins to seep in from underneath.
[𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀! 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗻𝗶𝗽 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗽! 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗔𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱: 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁!]
Catnip and HAV0C stare at the notification, then at the floor as blood begins to pool around their shoes. Catnip gags, cold sweat running down his face. HAV0C rests a hand on his shoulder, he himself trembling.
"I just killed someone-"
"I-keep calm, okay? We did what we had to do-"
"[𝘜𝘴𝘦 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭.]"
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘚𝘏𝘐𝘛-!
"MOVE-!"
[𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙩-𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩!]
The door is blown off of its hinges and the two boys fly back, a wave of heat slamming into them. They hit the floor and the world spins. HAV0C groans, clutching his ears. His arms are still laced with goosebumps and he shakes, the invisible waves smothering him.
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵....!
"These are the guys, right? The ones with the bounty." Four people crowd into the room, wielding bats and bits of wood. The leader, a man with a burnt piece of wood for a mask, lowers his hand, which glows red with heat. "Rewards and xp....who can resist such an offer?"
HAV0C and Catnip lie on the floor, coughing to expel the ash from their lungs. Eclipse lies to the side, so still she might as well be dead.
"Ready up, boys."
"𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦."