C-6-367 and C-7-401 had both returned to Tom's place to report the success of their task. "A centikathropod huh, that must have been interesting for you two huh" Tom turned to the two Gladius who stood at attention, "*sigh* you guys are no fun, you know that".
Tom placed the report down before pulling out a file, "A few others stopped by so not many requests are left. This is for you". C-7-401 held the file in her hands and began to scan through it, "its a suppression type mission. With the loss of Jeor, the enforcers and knights have been making short work of the insurgents, but it seems the insurgents are starting to regain their spine. You'll be working with the enforcers on this one so do play nice."
Tom flashed a grin at C-7-401 who gave a nod to show she had accepted the mission. "I hope we meet again sometime" C-7-401 spoke to C-6-367 before leaning in to add a few words in a whisper, "hopefully next time, you'll give me your name".
The two watched her leave before Tom let out a wolf whistle caused C-6-367 to turn towards him, "what?"
"You two sure seem to get along for someone who 'likes to work alone'." Tom's words were met with C-6-367's silence. "Is this a budding work romance I smell in the air? Oh you can tell little ol Tom, don't worry I won't tell the higher ups, hm." Tom wiggled his eyebrows suggestively as he leaned forward.
"Is the horse ready" was C-6-367's response which caused Tom to grumble as he stood from his chair "why do I even try", and motioned for C-6-367 to follow after him. The two arrived at the back and made their way to the stables where five horses stood. "Here you go, the finest horses from region 14. Which one do you want?"
C-6-367 made his way from behind Tom and approached the stables to take a closer look at the creatures before himself. Admiring the beauty of the creatures.
.....
"Hey Darius, do the Star folk use horses" Darius who was preparing some broth over a camp fire turned to the child who had just asked the question, with a brow raised. "Why that question?"
"Erhm... well... there are trains everywhere right. I heard it was the star folk that made it, then they gave it to the crown regions who later passed it on to the other regions." The boy responded sheepishly.
"Yeah that's true"
"So, I mean, if... they could make those then they must have even more wonderous things right?!" The boys enthusiasm grew with each word he spoke and the twinkle in his eye grew to the point where Darius could not hold back his smile at the innocence the boy still clearly had.
Letting out a breath, Darius relaxed on a log and focused on the boy.
"Well in the crown lands, there are carriages that move without horses, no they are not carts for they do not require railways. Aside these there a huge ships that sail not the sea but the very skies."
"Whoa!" The boy's mouth widened as he tried and failed to imagine such contraptions.
"But in the lands of the Star folk, words do no justice to their modes of transportation, from carriages that move not just on the surface of the earth but on the sides of buildings so tall they reach the very heavens. They have crafts shaped like birds which soar the sky at speeds one could not dare imagine, with some producing sounds comparable to the roars of a dragon as well as many many more wonders".
The boy's joy and curiosity were now completely through the roof as he immersed himself in his fantasies wondering just how these contraptions truly looked.
"Which one was your favorite?"
Darius eyes widened seemingly stunned by the question, before responding. "Delores"
"Your horse?" Darius' response left the young boy confused as he failed to comprehend how a horse compared to the various wonders he had just heard about. He took another look at Delores who was munching on some grass without a care in the world.
It was just your everyday brown horse, no winged horse, nor was it one of the ones said to be able to run on and under water, it had no scales to denote any dragon blood or the likes either.
Darius could not help burst out laughing as he saw just how diligently the boy was observing the horse obviously searching for something. "She's just a horse."
"Then-"
"Why?" Darius interrupted the boy before he could speak causing the boy to nod his head. "I'm a Gladius. people fear me, they always do."
"Delores here however, she's not just my ride. She's my partner my loyal companion who has and will stick with me through thick and thin. So yeah she may not be fancy but she's the only one for me".
....
Looking through the stables, C-6-367 locked eyes with one horse which was pitch black from head to toe save for a white mark above its nose. C-6-367 stepped closer to the animal and began to run his armored fingers through the mane of the creature as he maintained eye contact with the horse.
"This one"
"Alright then, he's yours. I'll substract his price form your account so now, you have a new horse, good thing too cause you've got a mission." At the words mission the lax state C-6-367 found himself in whiles bonding with the horse disappeared as he turned to face Tom.
"This one is very important, coming straight from the crown regions. Apparently one of their children was kidnapped, the kidnappers managed to flee the crown regions and escape. There have been some clues however, they have reasons to believe the child is somewhere in region 12."
C-6-367 gave a nod to show he accepted the mission before Tom proceeded to transfer the image of the child, a boy into his helmet. "Do try to be quick with this mission. The clientele are very important after all".
"Affirmative".