Secrets need a Home - Nayato

[Vest]

Fall 30th, 522AV

Early mornings were something that Vest found comfort in when she was living in Tent City. It was quite and somewhat peaceful when she would roll up her tent and bedroll. Placing the rolls on top of her bag and securing it tightly, Vest made her way into the city to look for a more suitable housing. Now that she had been given a job, she felt like she was in a position to have a safer and warmer place to stay. Vest took a few days beforehand to look around Sunberth for a place, most of the areas were taverns and perfect for her to get into temporarily. Vest was still debating on how she wanted to permanently settle down, it was a dream and now with this new job it could become a goal.

The cooling air of the changing seasons started to flutter away as Vest entered into the city near the Slag Heaps. The streets were like vents for the heat coming off the heaps and it seemed like it would disperse the heat throughout. But this was all just an assumption for Vest as she exited an alley to cross the street, just to go into another alleyway. Then again, living in Tent City was a free experience, despite the dangers from the citizens. But for the most part, everything there wasn't too difficult for her. Vest had a system as well, she would pack up her belongings, wander about the city, then return to pitch her tent in the evening.

A soft chirping brokes Vest’s line of thoughts and a small finch landed on her shoulder. It fluffed its feathers as a greeting and Vest chuckled and nudged its chest with her finger. The bird chirped in response and Vest shuffled in her pocket for some seeds before giving a few to the tiny thing. It ate the seeds without hesitation and Vest chuckled before focusing on the path in front of her.

WC: 329



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[Nayato]

30th Day of Fall, 523 AV

It had been twenty-nine, no… exactly thirty days, since Nayato was accepted into the ranks of the Sun’s Birth; and though he wore their brand on his inner right bicep the lingering pain that came with its application was nothing compared to how tired he felt from training at the Proving Grounds and being the first bodies thrown at any issues the gang needed raiders to deal with at the drop of a hat since the start of the season. The role of a loyal soldiers was one that Nayato had played for his whole life, the only difference now was that he put himself first.

Nayato was not a young man, although he wore the lines of all forty-one years of his life well on his rugged bearded face. His chest intensely heaved as the heavy footfalls of his boots trampled against the ground as he sprinted forward. “Anyone see him?!” The Chaktawe shouted back to the other Dragoon raiders he was on patrol with for the day. He hardly knew the others beyond training with them in group sessions held by Iztel the Swift at the Proving Grounds.

“No, petch! Where did old Cricket go?” A young woman with blonde hair named Lilly called out from the back of the running group.

“Petching shyke that drunken old man can run!” Exclaimed another human Dragoon with fish tattoos along the sides of his side-shaved head.

“No shyke, it’s your fault for spooking him you fish-headed dumbass. We had to chase his ass from the Refuge and now look for him all over the gods damned Heaps! All we had to do was break his legs for dumping his trash all over the streets and not paying his dues for it.” The retort was launched from an older human with a distinct potbelly while struggling to talk between gasps of air.

A fourth Svefra Dragoon came running up while holding a bottle of ale who looked like they were hardly older than eighteen, "What happened? Why are we running?"

The Chaktawe’s obsidian eyes scanned for any hint of his target as he paused to catch his breath. The loud bark of a dog sounded from behind the group as Nayato’s deerstalker dog Osawa came running up behind him to circle around his legs.

Nayato had the look of a man who was ready to fight while dressed in a set of well worn leather armor. He held a shortbow in his left hand with a buckler shield strapped to his forearm. A khopesh remained sheathed on his left hip with a hatchet tucked into his belt on his right hip. A quiver of arrows hung strapped from the back of his waist. Under all of it he wore a set of well worn leather armor. A random bundle of leather was tucked into the back of his belt, which was where he simply carried Osawa's leash.

Nayato placed a hand on Osawa’s head to calm the dog down from moving around too much as he looked around. The intent in his eyes were devoid of evil, but his logic was as cold as the waters of Baroque Bay at midnight. The person he was looking for needed their legs broken because that was his job for the day. The man brought this on himself.

"Which one of you wants to be the one to tell Captain Eleuia that we couldn't even deal with an old drunken man with a hangover in the morning?" It was a simple question that made all of the raiders go quiet. "Look, If we can't find him then I'll tell her the bad news. So lets spread out. Fish, go with Fats. Lilly, go with Pirate. I have my dog, so find Cricket and deal with him. Lets meet up at the slag heap in a bell or two and hope that someone has good news to share by then." Nayato's offer to deliver any bad news to the Captain himself made the others more inclined towards getting back to work and not get in trouble.

***

The others began to comb the area for their target as Nayato walked with Osawa down a near alleyway. He reached back to pull an arrow from his quiver to nock it in place on his shortbow. As he walked down the alley, he looked around random barrels and kicked at any random objects that looked capable of hiding a full grown man. He stomped on a pile of old lumber, and jumped backwards when a horribly squealing Sunberthan Rat erupted from it. Osawa ran at it, but the rat jammed its way into a hole that it must have made at the base of a decrepit wooden building.

"Come, Osawa." He said while trying to calm himself from the sudden surprise.

As Nayato continued onward, he turned down another alleyway only to find a woman who looked like she called a random bird out of the sky.

"By Eywaat's handsome feathers." He called out to the young red-headed woman, Vest, in greeting. "I did not expect to see someone calling birds out of the sky today. Do you mind if I ask you some questions?" He said while holding his bow in a relaxed grip with the arrow pointed towards the ground. His large dog standing at his side with its ears backwards, clearly still wanting to hunt for rats.

WC: 903

[Vest]

She jumped a bit at the surprise, starling the bird as it fluttered around her head before resting itself on the back of her bag. She wasn't expecting someone to see her tend to her bird, so she was taken aback. However, she soon regained herself as she examined the man in front of her. He had his bow drawn and hitched and a dog who was clearly on guard. Were they hunting something in town? Vest felt like they weren't going to hurt her, however, she still stayed on guard to answer his question.

“I don’t mind, but information comes with a price. Are you willing to pay the price?”

She wasn't actually going to charge the man anything if he decided not to pay, but she had seen others on the street bartering around for information before. Maybe she would get lucky and get a tiny bit of money out of this, or maybe a favor? He looked skilled in the bow, maybe she could learn something from him. She was deep in thought when her birdy companion gave a chirpy trill that brought her back to reality. If the man decided to deny giving her any sort of payment, she would simply ask for a favor instead. She felt that was fair if she was going to suddenly be questioned by someone. Actually, why did he suddenly stop and ask her questions?

“Actually, before you start, why are you wanting to ask me questions? It is kind of suspicious for someone to suddenly approach a stranger with their bow drawn requesting questions to be answered.”

WC: 268



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[Nayato]

“Really?” Was the only word he said in response to her questions. Nay was not visibly surprised at the woman's audacity; Sunberth was a city of bold people in the face of danger. He just stared at her with those obsidian voids that were his eyes. “What is the name of your bird?” he asked as he returned the nocked arrow back into his quiver. He kept the shortbow in his left hand as he used his right to pat Osawa on the head.

The pat did little to calm the large dog down. That forced Nayato to take drastic action…. the Raider was forced to make a clicking sound with his teeth!

Nayato up to this point had owned Osawa for a few years.

In that span of time Osawa understood the clicking sound as a serious noise that meant for the hunting dog to stay or return to Nay's side. The noise and head pats in tandem caused the dog to become less hostile towards the new woman.

“This is Osawa. He is helping me hunt down a man who could not follow rules. So, have you seen a panicked old man running for his life around here in the past five or so ticks? He is about this tall, smelling of old ale, and can't seem to keep city streets free of his trash. ”

Nayato raised a hand to just above Vest's height to show her how tall the man was. “Why are you in this alley?"

WC: 251

[Vest]

He wanted to know the name of her bird? After all the stuff she just said? Well, then again it seemed her attempt to act like a tough Sunberthian failed, so she easily gave up that idea and just went along with whatever the man was needing. She took a glance at her bird then at the man as she watched the man put away his arrow and calmed his pet, who seemed to want to take a bite out of her.

“His name is Tsikwa, it means sparrow. He has been with me for several years and is very bossy and independent.”A soft chuckle escaped her as the bird chirped in protest, she just made a few hissing like noises before offering him a seed or two. It didn't calm down the pouting bird, but he took them.

She then listened to him explain a common drunkard in a hurried panic who liked to litter. Vest could think of many people like that in the Tent City, however, she probably couldn't just pick a random innocent and send this man after them. But then again, the thought of this man simply littering also made her upset as she had seen many animals suffer from the result of littering, even though it was common in Sunberth. After careful thought, and sifting through her memories, she could vaguely remember someone similar she had run into not long ago.

“I believe I have seen someone like that while I was walking. I could tell you if you’d like.”

She answered quickly as the man also said something else to her, questioning why she was in this alley. She wanted to tell him it was because she was looking for a new place to stay because she had acquired a new home, but another idea just came to mind.

“Well, I was also looking for that drunk. I was out running errands when he ran into me before acting like it was my fault. Ran off before I could give him a lesson in hospitality.” Vest grumbled and pursed her lips before looking at the man. “Say, why don't I go with you? I have some mediocre tracking skills that may help. And I know some places where drunks may hide.”

Tsikwa chirped in what sounded like disappointment before it fluttered atop Vest’s head. She giggled at his reaction and looked at the man with a smile.

“And I have Tsikwa, he is also great at finding stuff too if you give him a reward.”

WC: 423



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[Nayato]

Nayato continued to stare at her. He was not the smartest man in the world, but he could at least tell when he was being blatantly lied to. The Raiders had just chased the drunken man from the Sun’s Refuge only moments before. If a drunk had run into her then he assumed she would be more perturbed at the moment. His eyes searched over Vest’s body for signs of disheveled clothing from any collisions with a full-grown man. But instead, all he found was a woman who appeared to be visibly pristinely while playing with a pet bird.

“You want to help me?" He held back a small laugh which pulled his lips into a sly smirk.

Nayato asked as he shifted his body to stand in a bladed stance with the lead shoulder of his bow arm pointed towards Vest. He reached back around his waist with his freehand to retrieve an arrow from his quiver.

“The best liar I ever met happened to be a man named Sparrow. For some reason, Sparrow would always hide other peoples shoes then lie about hiding them. One hot summer day he fell into a well as he was tossing boots in it. He panicked until he noticed that he could gather his feet down under him. It suprise him considering how deep the well was. The ground should have been far bellow the waters surface...

Nayato said while shrugging his shoulders backwards to stand up to his full height.

"Sparrow found that he could stand with his head slightly above the water. He was only saved from drowning by standing on the countless other boots he had thrown into the well in the past. In the end, he never shouted for help because others would find out about his secret. Whenever people sent buckets down the well to gather water he would secretly remove the stolen boots from their buckets.”


Nayato nocked the arrow in his bow to point as he pinched the rear of the arrow behind the feather fletching. "I don't care if you lie about anything else in your life, but I do want an honest answer right now to this question; that is if you wish to help me."

He paused for emphasis while drawing back on the string of his shortbow in preparation to fire as a sly smirk remained set on his lips.

"Daggers in Hand? Eyes in the Night? Born with the Sun? Or nothing but slag?"

If he was going to trust her then he needed to know who she was allied to if there was anyone at all beyond Tsikwa.

WC: 439

[Vest]

Vest watched the man's demeanor begin to change and she knew that he didn't believe her. He then began to tell her a tale and it made her brow furrow. She didn't understand what he was saying, but felt she got the jist of it referring to her lying. As he notched his arrow, she felt her body wanting to spring into action and fight back. Instead, she remained calm, raised her hands slowly, and grew serious to try and counter her urges. Tsikwa also felt his changes and took to the sky to chirp angrily around the area

“Now, I wasn’t trying to be malicious with my little lie, so there is no reason to start acting so hostile yet.”

She spoke as he drew back on his bow and pointed it at her. Shit, he was definitely a serious man when it came to this situation. He then asked her about daggers and suns and eyes of night and thoroughly confused her for a moment before she picked up on what he was saying. Could he not talk without speaking in such a poetic form? Maybe she should do the same, but then again, it could cause him to let loose that arrow if she kept joking around.

“None, I affiliate with no gang here in Sunberth. I am just trying to pick myself back up after a tragedy happened.” She wiggles her fingers. “I apologize if me trying to test out some skills rubbed you the wrong way when you are trying to be serious. I will try to do better with reading the room.” She then gestured to the man to lower his bow and forced a smile. “Come now, lower your bow now. You are wasting time interrogating me when we could go find the littering drunkard before he litters again.”

WC: 290



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[Nayato]

Nayato would have fired at her if she had given the wrong answer.

The idea that the other gangs were a plague on the city rang true with the part of his heart that wished to do good in the world; whatever 'doing good' could possibly mean in this city. It all ultimately came down to fighting for a better future. Sunberth had the odd habit of erasing or resisting anything good that the Sun's tried to accomplish, yet pushed every bad action they committed front and center into Syna's light. Or rather, that's what he was always told by the other members of the Sun's that he trained with.

His current goal of beating up an old man for littering was one such highlight of the day, but an order was an order. Even the city of Sunberth had its unspoken rules like 'gangs who ruled over their territories made the rules within them' and it was up to the gangs to enforce them if they could.

Nayato, a newfound enforcer of the law in a city of anarchy, lowered his bow while softly whistling to Osawa. The sound caused the large dog to follow alongside its owner as Nayato slowly approached Vest.

"Let's fly high, Red Sparrow." He said as he walked past her towards the other end of the alleyway. "If Cricket tries to circle back then he'll run into the other Dragoons looking for him. That means he's gone this way... "

Nayato stood at the exit of the alleyway to observer the passing citizens traversing the wide city street of the overpopulated Heaps.


His eyes fell onto two older humans who looked to be in their late fifties: a caramel-skinned man with a bandaged head guiding a pack mule and a stout sunkissed woman with a shortsword who wore leather armor who looked to be guarding the man.

After a long assessing stare, he shifted his attention to the opposite side of the street from him to a gathering of about five people arguing with each other in front of a closed door.

The area was a cesspit of ramshackle shacks that looked to be one rough winter away from falling apart. The shacks across the street looked like they might one day graduate into being considered proper buildings; albeit condemned ones which had a second story. It was a saving grace to many that Morwen had gone missing for as long as the goddess did to keep the heavy snow away.

"Sparrow, go ask them if they've seen Cricket." He said while gesturing his head to the old couple with a mule.

"I'll see if they've seen him." He said while walking across the street over to the crowd of people.

[Vest]

Vest felt relieved when the man lowered his bow and let out a sigh, ruffling her hair to release the stress. Upon hearing the other whistle to call their companion, Vest also patted her shoulder for her bird to land as well. He still chirped angrily in her ear, but Vest only clicked her tongue in response and waved her hand. The tantrum will end when Vest offers him some treats, but first she was with this man who just approached and called her red sparrow. He talked about the old man running into others looking for him and the suggested direction that he would have gone. Vest followed him and tried scanning the streets with him, looking around until she spotted the older couple with their worn out mule.

“Sparrow, hm. Well, alright sir, leave it to me!”

Vest gave a sarcastic salute before skipping out of the alleyway and into the bustling street. She kept her eyes trained on the back of the woman so she would loose them by accident. However, it was proving difficult and she figured that losing them was going to be easier than she anticipated. Giving a little bit of a signal to her bird to take to the skies, she kept her eyes on the woman and pushed her way around the people.

“Hey, you there! Lady with the sword!” Vest called for the woman when she was in earshot and waved her arms, jumping a bit so she could be seen. The lady noticed her and raised a bow, her hand falling on her sword when she addressed the strange red head.

“How can I help ya miss? If ya couldn't tell, I’m kinda busy.” Her voice was rough, showcasing her years of battle cries, and her eyes were wary and filled with caution. She made it clear to show that she was a veteran and not to mess with her while working when Vest approached.

“Ah, sorry about stopping you out of the blue, but you looked like someone who wouldn’t miss any details while working. I am helping out a guy who is looking for someone. An older gent, looks drunk and is probably frantically running away. About yay high and scrawny in ragged cloth clothes.”

Vest finished her explanation and the woman looks at the man she was escorting, relaying the message to him. They talked a bit before the woman turned back to Vest and gave a nod.

“Yeah I seem em, but that information ain't free. How bout an exchange of information and I’ll point ya where ya need to go?” Vest gave a grumble and looked around, running a hand through her hair and sighing.

“Really? That’s all I gotta do? Fine, whatcha wanna know?” Vest figured it would be an easy question, like where to go, but the woman asked about the local foods and it threw Vest off by the strange question. It must have shown on her fact because the woman chuckled at her confusion and waved her hand, claiming that it was a joke.

“Sorry, its been a long journey and we needed a chuckle. I seemed to have seen a frantic man stumble into that tiny building over yonder. The one with the faded red door. I sure hope you find him, but now we must go.”

The pair waved off vest and quickly made their way back into the flow of the busy streets, leaving Vest there to find Nayato and relay the information. She pushed her way through the streets until she came across Nayato and a group of people he was chatting with. Gliding up into the scene quietly, she listened and watched him work

WC: 618



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