"I'm just hoping when we all get together, Basil will explain the situation to us. It's obvious he knows something we don't."
"Oho, I see you're dropping the honorific now Florian. Still- you came here on his word without knowing anything." Khio jests and nudges Florian with her elbow.
"Look, I don't call him by his title aside from an official capacity. He's always been like that, he never really explains anything and expects you to figure everything out by yourself."
"Mhm, sure..." Khio retorts, enjoying Florian's disgruntled expressions.
"Basil hates wasting energy, there is always a reason for the things he does. So I will put my trust in his laziness alone."
"Still, it's difficult to trust someone hatching schemes when we don't know the outcome." Rhetta adds, Khio nods furiously in agreement and stares at Florian as if to imply the voice of reason had spoken.
Rhetta fiddles with her hands impatiently "Considering everything, you have proven that you want to help. I don't completely trust you but beggars can't be choosers. Besides, we can't really ignore the severity of the situation."
"So aside from the two of us, who's left?" Khio inquires looking at Florian.
"To find?"
"Yeah, with your list and all."
"Tayoshi, Rennier, Kramoris Drewitt, Behellagh Birdwhistle and Laila Belladonna." Florian recites each name from the list perfectly, while Rhetta listens to each name.
"You mentioned Tayoshi before, the guild master of Legacy. I assumed you were just going to use him to find people, not that he was one of the people we had to find." Rhetta comments, "We can kill two birds with one stone if we find Tayoshi first. So your original plan was actually a good one..." Rhetta praises Florian's line of thinking but is blatant in her surprise over the fact Florian had such a decent idea. Considering her impulsive actions thus far.
"Look, that's only counting on if we can actually convince him to join us." Khio cuts in, "Let's be honest, the only reason we ended up joining this questionable endeavour is because we literally have no choice."
The waitress returns and sets down three bowls of stew along with some fresh bread and butter. The three take a break from the heavy conversation to fill their hungry stomachs with some food.
Two figures enter the inn; cloaks covering their faces as they skulk inside. It was not uncommon for anyone to be seen wearing cloaks or even masks. Guests to the inn occasionally wanted to hide their identity, some found it more convenient for travel and others just did not want questions asked. They stroll in, with hushed voices they greet the innkeeper before taking a seat on the opposite end of the eatery and closest to the door.
The front door swings open, a group of sketchy men step inside and look around. Calling them sketchy in a place like Axe Baron could only be an insult. They were suspicious, the location of which dismissed that and no questions could or would be asked. The ruffian shoved the wanted poster into his pocket before walking.
The innkeeper looks at them, he picks up a melodic tune and whistles, eventually spiralling into singing a little song of his own creation "It's quite a busy day today~ More customers~ More coin~"
The men don't walk towards the counter, nor a table. They ask for neither a drink nor board. Instead they march directly to the three that sit in the corner who simply are enjoying their meal in silence. The mood weighs down with the feeling they bring, it's unsettling and unpleasant. The innkeeper gives them a stern look, with a friendly smile still plastered on his face, the cold look in his eyes betrays his smile.
Khio is relishing her food when two crumbled sheets of paper are dropped onto the table. Rhetta instantly spots the sketches of their faces, the words that condemn them as traitors and the word 'REWARD' in bold on the posters. "I truly thought nothing could be more unflattering than my marriage portrait."
He pulls a knife from his pocket and disturbingly caresses Khio's hair with the blade. He leans in close, right to her ear to whisper something. Khio shivers at the gross feeling of his hot, sticky breath tickling her ear. "Be good and come quietly and no one will get hurt."
She trembles, bolstering a look of sheer disgust and rage. She is ready to throw herself into a violent brawl. She is aware of their location and settles for a harsh grip on her tankard to contain herself, Florian reaches across the table. Florian shakes her head in warning, Khio can feel the shaking in Florian's hand and realizes she is holding back too. All of them look cold, angry at the situation. The entire inn turns with eyes of anticipation waiting for the first strike, silently holding their breaths for the pin to drop and break the fragile peace.
The cloaked men who sat close to the door stare in bewilderment, their mouths agape from what they are witnessing. "That's Khio! It's definitely Khio!" he excitedly whispers to his companion. There is no response from his companion.
"How dare he...How dare he touch her so vulgarly. I'm going to sever his hands!" He growls through clenched teeth.
The other man nods, he can understand the sentiment of anger. They stand and covertly make a slow approach to offer any help the moment the 'calm' atmosphere breaks.
The stalemate makes the ruffian lose his patience, he grabs Khio by her arm and roughly pulls her out of the chair. Florian released Khio's arm. Khio grabs the tankard and with the full force of her strength, she smashes it against the ruffian's head. Leaving him in a pool of honey mead and broken pieces of the tankard. "Get them now!" He yells, holding his bleeding head.
The fragile peace is disrupted, and that was all it took for the entire inn to erupt into a fight. Most directed their anger towards the group of ruffians who stirred the trouble, but in the chaos, some of the uninvolved guests grew rowdy and took the chance to let loose.
"We have to help her!" The cloaked man yells above the noise. They try to navigate their way through the fight but cannot stop their involvement when chairs and fists come flying their way. They are held back by the current fight and unable to get to Khio. Some of the ruffians go to attack Khio. She screeches something of a war cry and picks up a chair threateningly, ready to smash it over the next person who comes into her vicinity.
Florian grabs Khio and tosses her over her shoulder, she grabs Rhetta's hand and pulls her along. Florian darts through the crowd, weaving through them with odd proficiency to the front door when it's kicked in and the knights pour in.
The sound of commotion coming from within the inn along with the dodgy men's information of Rhetta and Khio had them lying in wait. The cover of chaos is a good one, and the knights are unable to identify Rhetta or Khio immediately through the madness.
Khio wriggles and struggles against Florian's grip. Itching to get back into the fight when Florian dashes and dives behind the cover of the counter by the innkeeper. "Sorry mister!" Florian says through her panting.
He just calmly continued to polish his glasses even amidst the brawl and shows no qualm about the three hiding there.
"What do we do now?" Rhetta asks Florian, Khio continues to wriggle about and push against Florian's arm.
"For one let me go! I need to teach that damn bastard a lesson!"
Florian is unaffected despite Khio's relentless struggling, there was no use trying to calm and soothe her. When she was this angry she possessed a one track mind. The innkeeper taps his foot twice, beckoning their attention when he casually kicks a box towards the back door. A subtle hint that they were thankful for.
They stayed low, crouching and sneaking out of the back door while Khio is dragged out by Florian.
The two men who had been trying to get to Khio noticed her flailing and being dragged out, they noticed the door closing behind them and the defensive stance the innkeeper took to almost block the door. He exuded a dangerous feeling, and his eyes held warning that deterred the two men from following. They slipped along the wall and made their way to the front door, slipping out of the chaos quietly.
As the odd trio left followed by the suspicious duo, the innkeeper set his glass and cloth down. His smile faded and his eyes possessed a dark and annoyed look. A place like this is declared neutral, no matter how delicate the balance of peace may be; to those who break it...They will not escape punishment. The innkeeper smirked at the thought of the trio, they knew the rules well. That's why those two stopped their friend from throwing the first punch in spite of how she was being provoked. If Khio had thrown the first punch, she and her companions would have been the ones punished, not the ruffians.
"Such a mess honestly, I'll have to clean it myself." He sighs, pulling an axe out of its compartment under the counter.
The cloaked figures run from the inn and look around frantically, trying to catch any glimpse of Khio. They split up and ran around the back where she escaped from, running in different directions while trying to find her.
They meet back where they separated from, the setting sun providing something of a time limit to them. "Any luck on your side?"
"None...Where did she go?"
They pull their hoods down trying to better their line of vision without the cloaks obscuring them. The first man reveals a delicate and youthful looking face. An unusual set of sea-foam green eyes, and chin length, wavy brown hair. He was taller than Khio, seeing that she had inherited their mother's smaller frame. Deryn Ditka, the first son of the Ditka family and Khio's eldest brother.
The second man shares some similarities, an ashen purple hair colour from his father, and pleasant sapphire blue eyes. In contrast to his brother, he held a fierce, scowling look on his face that very much resembled Khio.
Haider Ditka, the second son of the Ditka family, Khio's older and very protective brother.
"I guess we can give father the good news that she is alright." Deryn says with relief and a small grin to match.
"You call that alright!? She was being dragged around by some strange kid!" Haider yells, not understanding why his brother is so complacent with the situation.
"Rhetta is not a strange kid."
"Not her! The other one!"
"I'm sure it's fine. Let's just go tell them that she is alright." Deryn says in an attempt to soothe his younger brother's temperament.
"Shouldn't we follow them? What if Khio needs our help?" Haider's anger dwindles and is replaced with his concern.
Deryn sighs "I have to look out for my little brother as well." He says warmly, patting the head of his slightly taller brother who swats his hand away and gripes. Resembling some kind of stray cat.
'Their temperaments are truly similar.' Deryn chuckles to himself when recalling how Khio reacted every time he patted her head.