Chapter 7: Insight i

The citizens of Viscor wandered around the streets doing what they needed. The mothers brought their children to the market, purchasing from a vast variety of fruits and meats freshly prepared for the day’s sale. Craftsman sat within their respective buildings, creating and innovating their craft. On this bustling day occurred a strange sight.

A blur of white and red streaked past them followed by the outline of men bearing the crest of the Watch. The two opposing streaks moved aligned, the red blur outpacing the Watch, but could not evade them. Every now and then, the red streak changed course, heading into the many lanes and alleys within Viscor. Despite all the detours, the red streak had a clear goal in mind, to escape.

She knew she was followed and she disliked every moment of it. She could tell that they were stronger, and even if they weren’t, she’d likely not want to kill them either. The memories of that horrible bloody world was etched into her. She was afraid of it.

She ran as fast as she could, her pace only fast enough for the normal average eye to see a blur. But she knew it wasn’t enough and that the watch were only testing her. She ran and ran, diving through corners and delving through shadows, but even after all of her running, she still felt those eyes on her back.

She kept running, only stopping when she realized she reached a dead end. She stopped and so did they, they stood behind her, watching her as she turned around to face them. She saw three men wearing leather armor. Not the crude ones but refined, the leather covered enough to protect and didn’t impair the wearer’s movement in any way. On the right shoulder portion of the armor was the Watch’s crest, a golden eagle caught midflight. Each of them had a weirdly shaped short sword sheathed on their hips. Though, that didn’t mean it was their only weapon.

One of the men stepped forward, his right arm outstretched in front of him gesturing to the girl.

“Come with us.”

The girl stood there, trapped in a dead end by the three men. She replied calmly though her eyes which darted around looking for any means for escape betrayed her intentions.

“No.”

The cold voice resounded through the still atmosphere, the tension soon dissolved by the laugh of the man.

“Perfect. We needed someone like you.”

The man stepped forward, closing in on the girl. He had seen her run, though her speed was below the standard for the Watch, but how she had seamlessly moved between the buildings and people without making a single sound. That was the talent that he had been looking for, and judging by how she was dressed, she was probably an orphan as well. He held his arms outstretched to the girl, planning to offer her the best he could offer, at least, until she died that is.

The girl stared at the hand unsure of what to do. Nobody had wanted her before. But the man could not be trusted. His hands were abnormally still. The stillness she herself was familiar with. The hands of someone who took lives as if it were inconsequential. The queasiness in her stomach worsened as she thought of how similar they were. The two behind the lead man stood as they had before. Silent, watching. Every time she moved her finger, she could feel a flicker of attention drawn towards it. She couldn’t escape. She could only bide her time and wait for an opportunity, no matter how narrow it was.

“Who are you?”

Conversation was the best way to bide time. Those who think they are in absolute control tend to drop their guards, leading to situations where a slight weakness can mean the downfall of them. But the man wasn’t one of them. He was cautious, befitting of the title of a Watch Captain. He knew the girl’s intentions the moment she uttered those words, another point in favor of having her join them. Though, he didn’t have time for the child’s silly games.

“Come with us.”

This time, the words he uttered bore a pressure of their own. A command. That was what it was. The words directed towards the girl caused her to freeze. An unnatural thought appeared in her head to oblige to the man, but her free will wasn’t something that can easily be influenced. She lashed out at the man, her claws aiming for the man’s heart. But she had stopped. Her claws only a distance away from the man’s chest.

Two curved blades had blurred together near her neck, crossing to form a cross. The blades drew blood, had she continued in her movement, she would have had her neck cut clean off.

“Nice instincts. Though you lack the ability to follow orders so I’ll have to discipline you afterwards. But it’s not an issue that can’t be fixed with time.”

The man turned around, his back was exposed but he didn’t care. The girl couldn’t reach him without first being killed by his subordinates. He waited for a few minutes before a panting sound could be heard right outside of the alley.

The source of this breathing was Isbeth, she had ran across the entire city looking for the little girl. She only heard from the witnesses later that they had seen her come this way, and lo and behold, there she was, surrounded by the men from the Golden Eagle squadron. She held the papers in her hand, thrusting them in front of her and yelling at the men.

“Back off! I’ve already completed the paperwork to become her guardian! She’s already protected by the law. None of you bastards can touch her!”

The red-faced Halfling exclaimed, waving the documents about as she walked forward. The Watch were a major part of Viscor law, but that doesn’t mean they were omnipotent. Due to an incident occurring years back, a new law was placed preventing the Watch from recruiting children into their ranks without the consent of their guardian. She had to sit in line for hours in order to accomplish this, but as seen by the annoyed expression the Captain had, it was worth it.

“Come on. Let’s go.”

The Captain of the Golden Eagles, Larc, had wanted to recruit the girl as their personal assassin, but if she was already protected, not even he could do anything about it. He gestured for his subordinates to follow him before disappearing down the alley somewhere.

This left the two alone in the alley. The girl saw this as the very opportunity she was looking before and tensed her muscle to jump, but she misjudged the ability the Halfling Alchemist had as Isbeth embraced her once again.

“I’m sorry I left you alone. Let’s go home together alright?”

Isbeth held the girl in her arms, thinking that she had been scared of the men chasing after her. She grasped the girl’s hand before realizing something that she might have done something bad.

“Let’s give you a proper name later, I can’t just keep calling you ‘you’ after all.”

A name. The girl never had one but she wanted one nonetheless. A name to call her own was one that cannot be taken from her. It was something that she yearned for but never actively sought. She followed Isbeth, guided through the streets of Viscor by the kind hands that held hers warmly.

Isbeth had tucked the papers regarding her guardianship of the girl in one of her pockets. The front-most bit of slightly wrinkled paper had words near the top, the intricate letters written in Isbeth's own handwriting spelling out the name Cerise.