User:Nextoy/Rookchester/4

About a week had passed since Rowan left Hazara Nevasa, and he had come to a fairly large city. It was rundown and had a dark atmosphere, but it was the only place he could stay and refill his supplies for miles. He had used up much more then planned, and had to stop there to gain his barrings anyways. Who knows what kinds of twists and turns he had made in the forest? For all he knew he could be back near Survira. As he entered the city he saw that it was no ordinary place, but rather a stronghold. He had stopped a man wandering the streets to ask where he was.

“The place is called Kura.” The man replied. “Why?”

“Well I got lost in a forest about a couple day’s journey from here, and I was wondering which way I go to get to Gigaza.” Rowan answered, his voice nervous and unsteady.

“Gigaza? Hahaha!” The man asked mockingly, his laugh bellowing in Rowan’s face. “That old seaport, huh? Well you got a long day’s journey ahead of you, cause it’s on the other side of that forest you came from.” The man told him, a slightly disfigured grin on his face. “Tell ya what though, I reckon that you could probably find someone who could get ya there quick in this here town. Watch your back though, thieves and swindlers be everywhere!” And with that the man left Rowan to his own wits.

Now I should inform you, before going on further, that airships had turned into contraband about a month before Rowan’s journey started, but he didn’t know of this. He clicked that an airship would be fast transport, but was clueless that you had to be a member of either the military or the Chastiel Transportation Services to pilot one. Neither of which, little does he know, know about the city of Kura. He had also forgotten about how he was supposed to get there on foot, but this would be a minor detail compared to the trouble he’d get into.

He wandered around town a little, making his way to the market. First thing to do, he realized, ''is to refresh my supplies. I don’t have much cash left, so I had better buy only what I need.'' Of course, this didn’t last long. He found another trinket shop, inside being a rare catalyst gem he had heard about in his Alchemy books. Koliva, as it’s called, is a gem that naturally enhances the power of fire when used in a magical state.

“How much is that?” Rowan asked, pointing towards the gem.

“How much? I trade artifact for artifact, cash is meaningless to me.” The woman running the stall informed him, her voice sounding more like rough breathing then actual speak. “Do you have anything worth trading for it?”

“Um... well I’m not too sure...” Rowan answered, looking through his backpack.

“Ehehe, then you can’t have it.” The woman told him. “Now scram!” Rowan jumped at that and scrambled off, going to find the tavern to get a good meal and hopefully find someone with a good ship.

On his way he saw a few more shops, one of which had something else he thought interesting. An ivory dagger, as it would be called in your world, with ancient writing across the blade. Rowan could decipher it at a glace, due to his studies in the runic language. “With the light of Heaven,” the blade read. Rowan could tell it was enchanted, but the magics used was foreign to him. Pure solar energy was odd to find, and he knew best then to buy it. Unknown magics are better left in the hands of people who can’t use them. The tavern was just ahead, so he entered.

When he stepped inside the tavern Rowan started to realize that this town might not be the place he had hoped. On some tables people were playing poker, on others they were just talking, but on very few were they just eating. Not to mention almost every table had at least one hard drink. This made Rowan nervous, but not enough to make him leave. He marched to the bar and looked up at the order menu. The prices were steep, and it took all the money he had for a single meal.

“What will ya order?” The barkeeper asked, looking over to him while cleaning a glass.

“Um... I’ll take...” Rowan started, very slow.

“Hey, you.” A larger man next to Rowan got his attention. “You aint from here, and look kinda broke. Am I right?”

“Oh, yeah. Why?” Rowan naively asked.

“Well both of us have problems. I have a ship that needs maintenance, but half mah crew left. Work hard, and I’ll pay for both your meals and your bed.” The man offered, holding out his hand. “Take the deal, and after a month I’ll drop you off wherever you need to be. We’ll be staying here for a few days though.” He added on.

“Alright, sure.” Rowan told him, shaking his hand. The man’s grip was almost crushing, but this was to be expected from his larger stature. “Name’s Rowan, what’s yours?”

“Norris!” The man answered. “Norris Airstreck.” The name sounded familiar in Rowan’s mind, but he had only head it offhandedly. “Barkeep, put his meal on mah tab! And get me another drink while your at it!”

The barkeeper rolled his eyes and filled the man’s drink, Rowan ordering whatever sounded good at the time. The meal was good, although it did taste a little odd. He didn’t know what the odd taste was, only that it was odd. After the meal the two, Rowan and Norris, went to left, only to be blocked by another larger man.

“So you’ve gone soft, Norris.” The man remarked, a look of anger in his eyes.

“Any work is better then no work.” Norris replied with a fairly playful grin.

“But with a boy like that who knows what you could get into.” The man told him

“Um, guys... I’m right here...” Rowan told them, the man going to punch him. Norris back fisted the man’s arm so the punch missed, however.

“Nuh-uh-uh! No hittin’ the new guy.” Norris playfully told him. The man, out of frustration, went to punch Norris with his other hand. Norris responded to this with a spartan kick that forced the man out of the door and back several feet. Rowan was a little scared, but was thankful that Norris was on his side. “Alright, kid. Whatcha good at?” Norris asked, turning to him. “Also, walk and talk.”

“Well... I’m a rune master.” Rowan told him, thinking a little.

“Runes, eh? Well you might be pretty useful then!” Norris nearly shouted, giving a bellowing laugh. “We got a few magical items in there that you can fix up for us. First though, we need money to pay off the repair fee. Course it’s evening now, so we’d do best to just tour around the ship for tonight.” Rowan looked up at him with an excited look.

As they entered the ship Rowan noticed that it was actually not too awfully big. Actually more of an enchanted blimp then anything else. They walked around inside and Norris shows Rowan everything from the sleeping quarters to the bridge. From the kitchen to the “mess room,” which you might call a bathroom or restroom. Even the breakroom and hanger. Not that there was anything in the hanger besides a single escort plane. Norris explained it’s existence on the blimp as “An essential to all good ships.” Rowan was a little confused, but thought it was neat so he went along with it.

By the time they were finished the sun had set and Rowan grew tired. They went back to the tavern for a meal and then slept in the upstairs rooms for the night, each one happy to meet the other. Although, for much different reasons. Little did Rowan know Norris just hired him for the man power, and wasn’t sure if he even wants to send him to Gigaza. After all, magic users WERE hard to come by here. No matter, Rowan’s new job would start the moment he woke.

“‘Ey! Wake up!” Norris bellowed, nearly jolting Rowan out of bed. “‘Ah don’t want any laziness on our first day, so let’s get a move on.” He added, now seeing Rowan awake.

“Ung... what time is it...?” Rowan asked groggily, slowly working his way out of bed.

“Time for ya first day workin’ for me.” He answered. “Now Ah can tell that you aint used to gettin’ up so early, so I’ll give you this first week in town to get used to it, a’right?” Rowan nodded and got himself ready, with a few pointers from his new companion.

After about an hour they found themselves, well Norris knew where he was going anyways, inside a small workshop. Not quite a blacksmith’s kinda place, but definitely not a toyshop either. A man came out from the back to welcome them, and then lead the two back with him. Inside they were asked to do all kinds of things, but for the most part Rowan was merely enchanting things though. Bracelet’s, necklaces, daggers, even the occasional rune or two. Course Rowan was aware that they were making contraband, so he purposely made the enchantments weaker.

Norris, on the other hand, was in charge of crafting them. Well, one of the people crafting them anyways. He mainly worked with the weapons. His body was built to be a blacksmith, but it was obvious that it’s seen more weapons being used them made. Several scars were on his body from what could be seen, but his shirt covered most of them.

It was a long day’s work, but it got them quite a large sum of money. However the other enchanter was giving Rowan odd looks through out the whole thing. After work he was approached by this other man.

“Hey cheapskate, what was that back there?” The man asked, hostility clear in his voice.

“What?” Rowan asked back, a little confused.

“The spells. You made them weak.” The man specified.

“Well yeah, now they’re legal.” Rowan cheerfully answered, a smile on his face.

“We don’t want legal, we want powerful.” The man scolded.

“Is there a problem ‘ere?” Norris asked, stepping near them.

“Yeah, your kid here keeps dampenin’ our spells.” The man yells at him, Norris getting an odd look.

“Ya must be mistaken, nobodies’ dumb enough to do that.” Norris jokes, his amusement equal to his disbelief.

“Well of course I would.” Rowan corrects him, his face and voice extremely confused. “Why would I make it illegal magic? The last thing I want is to get myself and twenty or so others arrested.” At this Norris starts laughing.

“Bahaha! You must be new here!” Norris calls to him, still laughing. “This place aint called the Outlaw’s Citadel for nothin’ ya know!” Of which something snapped in Rowan’s head. He had heard stories of this place for a few years, but he hadn't thought it was real. Now that he was standing in it, however, everything clicked. The odd insignias, the poor condition, even the odd selection of food and drink at the tavern, everything makes sense now.

“O-Outlaw’s C-Citadel? H-here? You must b-be joking!” Rowan asked, freaking out. “That c-can’t be right! They said it was f-full of m-m-murderer’s and rapists! How c-could a-a-anyone l-live in this environment!?” At this point his entire body shaking, fear and panic in his voice.

“Bahahaha!” Norris gave off a bellowing laugh at that. “You know who invented those rumors? Us. We don’t WANT other people coming in here. Not the military, not the Chastiel. Hell, even them Hunters shouldn’t step foot into this place. Glad you believe them though! That means it’s working!” He explained, giving off another laugh.

“You WHAT?” Rowan ask, his voice a cross between fury and panic. “Why would you invent something like THAT?”

“Because then the only people who’d wanna come here would be us!” Norris answered cheerfully, oblivious to Rowan’s anger. “Now stop being such a puss and remember to do the full charge next time alright?” At this Rowan calmed down a little and just nodded. Norris then apologized to the rouge enchanter and they left.

It was evening by now, and they still had a few things to do. They wandered into one of the back allies and were soon in what looked like a residential district, with a cloaked man leaning against one of the buildings. Him and Norris locked eyes, and then they approached each other.

“Norris Airstreck... what brings you here?” The man asks, his voice slow and raspy.

“I needed repairs on me ship and some of the crew up and left me. Why, you got any ideas?” Norris asked, giving the man a slight glare.

“If I didn’t would I really had called for you?” The man asks, glaring back.

“Nah, I guess not. ‘Eh, I found something you might be interested in though.”

“That being?” The man asks, soon looking over to Rowan as Norris motions to him. “What’s this child have to do with anything?” He asks, his hand coming out from the cloak. It was almost pure black in coloration with light blue lines and symbols racing up it. Rowan recognized the symbols instantly. They were seals and curse marks, almost as if he was just a vessel for a being of extreme power.

“Runemaster Rowan Rookchester.” Rowan hastily introduced.

“Runemaster? Hmm... that is an interesting title.” The man remarked, Rowan noticing a second, wispy voice doubling the raspy one. “Tell me, what brings you to Kura?”

“Got lost in the forest a mile out from here while heading to Gigaza.” Rowan answered.

“Damn, when did you turn into such a soldier?” Norris asked, not giving Rowan time to answer. “Lighten up a little, mate, he’s an old friend of mine. Wouldn’t hurt a fly with no reason to.” At this the cloaked man rolled his eyes, although even under the hood one could tell that he was at least slightly amused by this.

“You should listen to Norris, he speaks the truth.” The man explains, a white gleam coming from what Rowan assumed to be his teeth. This lightened Rowan’s nerves a little, but his sister’s vanishing still hung over him. “Is something a miss?” The man asked, as if reading Rowan’s mind.

“What? Uh...” Rowan shook his head no, but he was bad at lying.

“I believe otherwise.” The man told him.

“It’s just... my sister’s been missing for some time now...” Rowan answered.

“Gwen? Funny you mention her.” The man told him, although at no point did Rowan remember speaking her name to the man. “I know what city she’s in, but not the exact location.”

“Tell me! Please!” Rowan shouted, but Norris grabbed onto him.

“Hey now, no need to get all rambunctious.” Norris told him, looking over to his cloaked friend.

“Gigaza.” The man answered. “When Norris’s ship is prepared we’re dropping you off there, understood?” Norris then looked over to him, but it seemed like they had an entire conversation by gazing at each other for a few seconds.

“Understood.” Rowan told him.

“Good, now the sun is almost set. I’d suggest you get a little rest, boy.” The man told him before walking off. The rest of the night was spent drinking and sleeping in the tavern. Well Rowan avoided the alcohol, but that’s not to say Norris didn’t.

Now the second and third days were around the same thing: getting up early, not getting much to eat, and then Rowan working his ass off enchanting objects. However on the fourth one things got switched up a bit. A, armored man from out of town came through the gates, his eyes watching around in a paranoid fashion, and then shouted out to the crowd.

“I am here looking for a man named Rowan Rookchester. Have any of you thugs seen him?” He asked, nobody even paying attention to him. Saying he rode on a high horse would be fairly literal, but it was clear in his tone that the metaphorical reason was also well in place.

“Fine, here’s a little incentive for you worms. First man to find him will earn five gold if brought to me alive, and two if dead.” The man announced, one of the bystanders walking up to him.

“I’ll find your guy, but if this is a con then I’ll take ALL of your gold from your corpse.” The man threatened, snagging a picture from the newcomer.

Meanwhile Rowan was already working on his enchantments. It was getting dull, but practicing his magic was something that he had always needed to do. Not that it would make a terribly large difference that he could see, but later on he’d be thankful for all the training he had.

That’s when a scrawny, almost deathly man walked into the building. “Is there a Rowan in the house?” He asked, snaking around. “A gold piece for the man who brings him to me and another when we hand him over.” He added, his words almost hissing out.

Norris didn’t like that, though. He had just hired the guy, so why would he give him up. However, that didn’t mean he had to hide him, either.

“Oi! Ah now where he is.” Norris announced, walking up to the bony man. Rowan’s heart raced as he looked over, unsure of what would happen.

“That being...?” The man asked impatiently.

“In your pant, mate.” Norris told him, doing poorly on his poker face.

“Where!?” The man hissed, offended.

“Here,” Norris uttered before punching the bounty collector right in his pelvis. Whines and whimpers of pain spewed out of him like he was dying, crumpling into a ball. “Now go take yer bounty somewhere else!” Norris added before kicking him strait in the chest and out the door. Everyone looked in shock, Rowan especially, at this event. “What? You guys want someone yellin’ at ya when yer tryin’ to work? Now get back to it!” He shouted, acting like a slave driver to distract them.

Nobody went against this order, however, but a few hours later the deathly man returned with the knight who’d rode in.

“Rowan Rookchester, come here!” The knight ordered, Norris groaning at this.

“I though ah told ya to stay outta here?” Norris barked, Rowan looking over and seeing the Chastiel insignia.

“Oh, well one of the knights are here.” He remarked, walking up to him. “Hello Sir, are you here to escort me to-” He asked, but got caught off by a punch to the sternum.

“Your coming with me!” The knight told him, grabbing onto his shirt and pulling it. However Norris did not let him get away. A good, solid punch to the back of the head and the knight was out cold on the floor. This is when the deathly man stepped forward.

“Your not making me go off without pay, Pirate!” He hissed, lunging forward with his hand loose but strait. However Norris merely stepped to the side and let the man clothesline himself. With the two men on the floor Norris collected both their coin purses and looked over at the other workers.

“Well? You just gonna stand there? Come on, do what ya want with them. They can even work for free when they wake up, and that armor looks like it’d make a nice coin once ya remove that symbol.” Norris told them, taking Rowan’s arm and walking out the door. “Let’s go before they wake up.” He almost forcefully suggested. At this point they had the cash to get the part Norris needed for his ship, and payed for it right away. Once he got it installed onto the ship, which took quite some time due to a few technical difficulties, he took Rowan to what he called the ‘Wind Chamber.’

“Now then, this is what ya do. Since your a magic user all you gotta do is make sure my wind magic device keeps enough air in this blimp to keep it afloat.” Norris told him.

“Umm... but I’m an earth innate.” Rowan mentioned, a little embarrassed.

“What?” Norris asked, confused.

“That means I don’t do well with wind magic, so having me here is unsafe.”

“Well that shouldn’t be a problem, it’s simple. Fill it up when I need to go up, and empty it when I need to go down.” At this point Rowan realized that the man knew almost nothing about what kept his blimp in the air. However all he could do was shrug and draw his spell circle with his fingers.

Once Norris was on the bridge he opened up the intercom for them. “Alright, now fill ‘er up!” He ordered, Rowan making a small circle with his higher hand and raising the lower one. At first nothing happened. “Well? What’cha waitin’ for?” But right as he asked that the blimp started to fill with air. They started to take off, but at the same time the knight had caught up with them.

Nobody noticed him jump on board until the blimp was in the air, and this was a problem. About ten minutes after take off he stormed into the bridge, his sword drawn.

“Under order of the Holy Chastiel Knights I command you to bring me the rune mage!” The man ordered, Norris lazily walking across the room.

“Yeah, yeah, guess I was a little slow.” Norris mused, grabbing his rifle from the other side of the bridge and firing it at the knight. His armor was dented, but nothing got through. “Well damn, remind me to aim for that pretty face o’ yers next time.”

“I condemn you to death under crimes of assault, mass murder, attempted murder of a holy knight, possession of contraband, and theft.” The knight told him, charging with his raised near his head and yelling. As he came down to slash Norris grabbed his wrist and punched his elbow, forcing it into a locked position. The knight returned this with a grunt of pain and a knee to the gut, which Norris countered by throwing him by his arm across the bridge.

“Why wont you die, criminal?” The knight asked in a demanding tone.

“Cause I never like the concept of dying, really.” Norris answered, the man charging. “I guess it never suited my fancy.” He came in for a thrust, which Norris stepped away from. “Well I suppose it would be something I’d have to experience eventually, though.” He added on, the knight turning around for a slash only to get tripped and fall on his back from poor balance. “Though I certainly don’t want to see that anytime soon.”

“Are you even-” The knight was cut off from his question.

“Shut it, mate! I’m trying to talk, here. Now where was I?” Norris ordered, looking at the rifle he dropped. It was empty, though, and he didn’t have time to reload it.

“Fight me!” The knight ordered, getting up and charging again.

“Alright, fine.” Norris obeyed, slapping the man’s sword hand out of the way and headbutting him. The knight was dazed from this, and was then thrown down onto Norris’s knee. The armor saved him his spine, but he wasn’t doing well from it. A good slash got across his chest when the knight regained himself, but from the overly elongated motion this gave him enough of an opening for a strong jab to the jaw. A clean punch, and an unconscious knight.

Rowan was completely unaware of everything, however. The knight getting on board, the fight in the bridge, and even Norris picking his unconscious body of valuables before taking him outside the bridge and throwing him overboard. It wouldn’t be a pretty body when it landed, but he would never have to see it. All he knew is that the kid wanted to see Gigaza, and that was just on the horizon.