The ship flag was that of the Republic of Free People, a small country consisting of some islands, an archipelago you could say. A place of beauty, tranquility, and music, with bards flocking the streets and performers attracting huge crowds towards them, of fine drinks and delicate food, a place that almost knew no peril.
That was one of the biggest ironies of it all since the flag had this beautiful flag of a singing bird of liberty, but the cargo was a fresh load of slaves. Every criminal of those islands, be it a petty theft, or something more violent, was just disposed as a Slave to this backwater port, to not be seen ever again, an amusing way to maintain the order and beauty of their homeland. Raven watched from afar as the pirates flocked like evil birds around the scared poor devils unlucky enough to be send to this place.
"Untasteful" Raven said contemplating the situation from away.
But then something caught her attention, her eyes widened, it was those bastards, the same guys back at the dungeon city, weirdos wearing black robes, cloaked and using masks... the same masks as the ones back at the city.
'What the hell?' She asked herself, her idea to move away to not be part of all the stirring troubles seemed to have backfired.
They didn't seem to carry strange stuff on them this time, but they were waiting on the side while the slavers started to auction the criminals to the crowd, soon from the ship other cargo was being unloaded, strange urns and boxes with some symbol, a bird resting on top of a rose. This perked Raven's curiosity.
'If these guys are here... then I wouldn't be surprised if they are at the mountains too' She thought and remembered the guy who defeated her was supposed to be in that place 'Being the kind of person who likes to meddle in other people business I hope he doesn't kick the bucket before I get my rematch'
Then she noticed people coming down from that ship as well, they seemed like normal passengers, after all some people also came here to reach the dungeon city, or because they were running from something, or because they were idiots like her and got into the wrong cart or ship. But they seemed fancy, they had fine clothes, probably they caught the charming eyes of every criminal nearby... among them a girl that seemed her age, or maybe one year younger, that immediately caught her attention.
She was near a pretty girl with golden hair and fancy clothes, but she resalted more in Raven's eyes, she was wearing padded armor, a full body set, with some belts and straps to tie it all together, a long red scarf covered her neck. Her deep blue hair was tied up by two red ribbons twin tails and fierce red eyes were charming, but she seemed troubled for some reason, probably because of the slaves. They stopped near the deck and separated ways with the rest of the fancy people who returned to the ship.
'Hooo' Raven said smelling a chance, she was a nice excuse to get near the masked bastards and hit some gold in the process.
As she jumped from her high position she moved dashing through the crowd, she had it all planned up, nothing could go bad in her mind, but of course, being lucky is her favored trait, just as the girl who arrived at the port was starting to look around a little confused maybe wondering what to do next, the mischievous cat crashed against her. The plan was to drop her to the ground and then pretend to be friendly and win her trust, and in the process hear something from the mysterious people.
Of course, she is Raven, the level 2 amazing bandit cat. Thus the plan backfired terrible.
She reached the girl who was looking behind at the people weaving at her, but when she impacted her Raven felt as if she had hit a brick wall.
"Whaaaa!?" Raven couldn't finish her words, the girl turned around at first in a defensive posture but then tried to grab her hand as she stumbled backward 'Aaaah... she is such a nice girl' she thought and fell.
"Who are you bastard!?" Said an angry figure wearing a skull mask.
Raven crashed on top of a cargo breaking one of the boxes, inside the boxes there were many herbs, Raven grabbed one without anyone noticing and took a kick from one of the criminals which send her flying a small distance. She had never seen them up close, all their masks had death shapes, by it skulls, or faces of people suffocating or terrorized, they were sick, also Raven noticed the kick wasn't something to be taken lightly, even if it didn't have real effort under it, she noticed that the person who kicked her at least had to be level 2.
"Get her!" Exclaimed one of the dark figures.
"Fuwa are you okay!?" Asked one of the people on board of the boat.
The people who were bidding on the slaves slowly turned their attention to the fuss, it wasn't like violence was something to be surprised here, but what turned their attention was the sound of a coin hitting the ground, the green coin that Raven had received a couple of minutes ago fell from the fishmonger fell from her pocket, and she caught it immediately.
"Oh fuck..." Said one of the masked men.
"Those bastards are messing with the crew of Captain Blood Claw!" Said a furious sailor.
"Kill them!"
"To arms to arms!"
'What the hell is happening here!?' Raven thought, but then someone grabbed her by the arm and pulled her, the grip was strong, and had no trouble carrying her, it was the girl with the blue hair.
"Secure the cargo!" Said one of the masked figures who seemed to be in charge while looking at his companion who caused this with poison, one of those glares that could kill a person.
As Raven was pulled away, the chaos erupted on the docks as masked figures clashed with the enraged sailors and criminals, turning the port into a violent gang fight. The masked men moved with deadly precision, their sinister masks glowing faintly in the shadows, while the sailors fought back with raw fury, drawing cutlasses and maces to fight off the strange group, but, the man who was in charge of the supposedly hollow brotherhood forces if Raven was right moved a hand and many of the buccaneers were sent flying across. That was bad news, that person must be level 3 or higher to achieve something like that. Even so, the fight continued.
'Why do things rarely go as I plan them!?' Raven tried to think about it.
"This place is even worse than what they had told me" The girl said looking at the fight, both sides had reinforcements, and some slaves tried to fight too to earn their freedom, it was a good chance to escape.
They darted between stacks of crates and barrels, narrowly avoiding a throwing knife that splintered the wood next to Raven's head. She hissed in frustration, her ears flattening as she realized just how out of her depth she was. This wasn't some petty street fight; these masked figures were clearly organized, and their presence here meant something bigger was at play.
The girl led them behind a stack of crates, temporarily shielded from the main skirmish. She released Raven's arm and turned, her expression shifting from fierce determination to genuine concern "Are you alright?" she asked, her voice softer now, though still tinged with the adrenaline of the fight.
'Ahhh... so she is a good girl' she thought, while she rubbed her shoulder, where the grip had been tight "I've been worse" she grumbled, feeling both embarrassed and relieved. She glanced back at the chaos, watching as the masked men tried to regain control of their precious cargo "What the hell is going on? Who are those freaks for real?"
The blue-haired girl glanced back at the brawl, her brow furrowing "I'm not sure, but people hiding their faces ain't trustworthy" She looked Raven up and down, her expression guarded but curious "And you, you just happened to run into them?"
Raven shrugged, trying to play it cool despite the nerves still thrumming through her "I'm just a wandering cat with bad luck, apparently. But thanks for the save… uh, what's your name?"
The girl hesitated for a moment before answering. "Fuwa," she said, her tone lightening just a bit. "And you?"
"People call me Raven" She said hearing some screams.
Someone used a goddamn fire spell, both Fuwa and Raven fell to the ground by the sheer force of the explosion, some ships even were caught on fire, this thing was quickly escalating, with a quick glance Fuwa sighted alleviated while watching the ship she had come from leaving the port, the people on deck worried but they made visual contact and rushed to their stations. Raven was just amazed about how a small sparkle was all that was needed to start a massive fire, the masked people used the fire curtain to cover their retreat while the residents of the city were trying to control the fire.
'Well this ain't worth it, I'm leaving' Thought Raven, but a hand on her shoulder and a kind smile on the face of Fuwa told her she wasn't leaving alone.
"Where are we going now? Wherever is better than here" Said the blue-haired girl keeping her smile on her face.
"Huuuh... let's... just find a tavern or something shall we?" Said Raven.
Little did Raven know, she had inadvertently caused the first block of a huge chain reaction to fall with huge repercussions.