02-16-2018, 02:17 AM
The bounty hunter walked out into the middle of a field, holding a silenced pistol in hand. It looked suspicious, but it was truly more innocent than it seemed. He needed to clear his head. And what better way to do that than getting in some target practice before anyone else woke up? He set up a target absent-mindedly and stood back about five metres. He fired six shots quickly, focusing intently on the target. All bulls-eyes, except one deviant. More practice. He should be able to get all bulls-eyes. He loaded his gun again, ready to repeat the routine.
*
Gaston put the finishing touches on his new outfit. He had to fool the Doomcleavers into thinking he was just a newcomer to the town, and they'd probably recognise his clothing. So he had changed clothes, and was now wearing armour, primarily fur and leather but with bits of metal. He-with some reluctance-ruffled his hair and stuck out his bottom jaw. Gaston began to walk, slightly lopsided. The look was completed. He left the tall Sylran headquarters and headed toward the Doomcleavers base of operations.
*
The bounty hunter reloaded his gun as he prepared to head back into town. It had been decent practice. He had managed all bulls-eyes standing still and moving. He checked his Dataverse device, moving quickly and efficiently to reach down and grab it out of his pocket. A new bounty from the Doomcleavers. Find the people who had been responsible for the sabotage of the funeral last night. He checked the message and saw a blurry picture of a burly man in red and several elves. It was too blurry to properly pick out facial features, but he could somewhat recognise the person. He put his Dataverse device away and began a sweep across the town to see if he could find them.
*
Gaston arrived at a short stone building. Apparently this was where he could go to join the Doomcleavers. He walked in, and was greeted by a lean elf sharpening a spear.
"Hey. You 'ere to join the Doomcleavers?"
"Of course! My services will be incredibly valuable to you, I'm sure!"
"Ha! We'll see about that. Follow me." The elf lead Gaston down a series of winding corridors, each one going slightly downhill. After several minutes, they finally arrived in a room where an orc was waiting. "Hey boss. We got ourselves a new recruit 'ere." The orc scanned him with his eyes and grunted.
"You're here for combat, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I love killing things." Gaston spoke slowly, trying to fit the role of "stupid brute" he had set up for himself.
"Ha! Well, we like to test our recruits before we let them in. If they're here to help build, we'll have them build something. Here for blacksmithing, they smith something. So, even you should be able to figure out the next step. Only one way to join if you're gonna be a soldier: trial by combat!"
"Huh. I can do that. Who are you? I wanna know your name."
"I'm Taugh Doomcleaver. Sylran might be too much of a coward to meet his recruits himself, but fortunately I'm not."
"Good. I like meeting the people I work for."
"Enough with talk! Come on, newbie." Doomcleaver lead him through a doorway nearby to a room, weapons adorning the walls. "Pick your weapon, and then you'll face off against one of my champions." Gaston walked slowly to the wall and looked around. He picked up a mace and shield, and inspected them. They'd do. When Taugh wasn't paying attention, he imbued them with Omnilium, strengthening them to the level of all his other weapons. "You ready?"
"Yeah. I'll beat your champion!"
"Ha! I like your enthusiasm. Stay here." Doomcleaver walked out, and Gaston swung the mace around out of boredom. Eventually, the door in front of him opened and a voice boomed.
"COME OUT, CONTESTANTS!" Gaston strutted out, then corrected himself and hunched over. He couldn't blow his cover by acting like himself-no matter how much torture it was to act like a fool. He looked around, seeing a large room with dust on the ground and seats all around. Taugh Doomcleaver sat in one, and there were several groups of other people who had come to watch. Opposite him was a thin elf with a wry grin, clacking two stones together in his hand. Gaston looked up at Doomcleaver, and he gave a large thumbs up.
Gaston charged at the elf and lunged, tackling him onto the ground. He slammed his mace into the elf's shoulder, feeling a squish as he pierced skin. The elf's grin never faded, though, and he pushed him off with unexpected strength. Gaston was flung across the room, steadying himself as he slid across the floor. The elf threw one of the stones straight at Gaston's face, and it soared through the air. Gaston was confused for a second, when it seemingly randomly transformed into a tiger, suddenly lunging at him. He bashed out with his shield, intercepting the tiger's bared teeth with his slab of metal and wood. It growled at him as it landed, and lunged again. Gaston smacked it with his mace, but it managed to bite down on one arm. His shield slid off his arm as the tiger's teeth sunk down deeper and deeper. Gaston kneed it in the stomach, causing it to yelp and loosen its grip. Invigorated, Gaston reached down and lifted it up, heaving it across the room straight at the still-grinning elf. The elf was undisturbed, and he flipped a coin into the air. Mid-air, it turned into a falcon, diving at Gaston. Gaston jumped up as high as he could, then tried to weigh himself down. The falcon was below him, and on the way down he squeezed its wings and grasped it. It pecked at his face, but he ignored it. He viciously slammed its head against the ground, tossing its body aside.
"Is that all? Fight me yourself, coward!" Gaston picked his shield back up and he noticed that, just for a moment, the elf's grin flickered to fear. The burly man held his shield up, charging at him. The elf reached into his pockets, finding nothing. His grin flickered again, as he found nothing. Gaston slammed into him, knocking him onto the ground. He kicked him, throwing him through the air until he hit a wall. A crack could be heard as he slammed against it, and flopped limply onto the ground.
"That qualify, Doomcleaver?" Gaston looked up at him as he yelled. Thaugh was watching with a slight smile, somewhere between being surprised and being impressed.
"I have a feeling you were right, barbarian! You'll be perfect for the Doomcleavers!"
*
The bounty hunter walked into the Doomcleavers headquarters. His search had been mostly unsuccessful. He had found one elf who resembled one in the picture, but after some interrogation he determined they weren't involved. He hoped he could find more detail by asking the Doomcleavers. When he arrived, he saw a new person, a human. They were clad in leather and metal armour and had unkempt, jet black hair. The bounty hunter approached Taugh.
"This a new member?"
"Yeah. Managed to kill one of my best damn champions. He'll be useful."
"Good." The bounty hunter walked past, glancing over. His eyes lingered on the man's face-surely, he knew him somehow. He passed it off as just the same body type as somebody he knew, but couldn't shake the suspicion.
*
Gaston watched as a new person came in. He was clad completely in cloth, showing nothing of his body. He approached him shortly after he walked in.
"Hey. You're Doomcleaver?"
"Hired help."
"You hunt bounties? Alright. I'm," Gaston racked his brain for a name, pausing for a moment. "Grognar! I'm Grognar." He offered his hand for a handshake.
"Good to meet you." The new man said nothing, just taking his hand and shaking it firmly. Taugh interrupted their meeting by approaching Gaston.
"Hey, Grognar. Got a mission, you ready to really prove you're a Doomcleaver?"
"Yes! I love to fight on missions." Gaston, again, spoke slowly to sound stupid.
"Alright, you'll be going with Hassa to hunt down someone. He's been known to provide weapons to the Sylrans, and has refused our requests. Get rid of him, and bring us the arms."
"I won't get time to heal?"
"Seems you're already doing that well." Doomcleaver gestured toward Gaston's wounds, which were already nearly closed up.
"Alright." Just then, a short, dark-skinned elf came in with a bow around her torso.
"Hey, I'm Hassa. You ready to go destroy this punk?"
"Yeah. I'll kill him good."
"Ha! I like you, big guy." She led him out and they began a walk through the town to find the arms dealer.
*
The bounty hunter exited the Doomcleaver HQ. Nobody knew anything. Still, he felt like he knew Grognar from something. He headed to the tavern in the center of town, and approached the bartender. He pulled up an image of his targets on his Dataverse Device and showed it to her.
"You seen any of these people?"
"That one in the red shirt came here a few days ago, got a room and stayed. Last I heard he was joining the Sylrans."
"You seen anything about him after he joined?" She shrugged.
"Not my business to know that." The bounty hunter sighed and began to leave, when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He turned and saw one of the elves who he had been told to kill. He sprinted over with a sudden burst of speed and slammed him against the wall, squeezing his hand around his throat. He began to struggle, until the bounty hunter lifted him into the air, and he could do nothing but kick his legs. The bounty hunter walked up to the counter.
"How much for a room?" The barkeep chuckled.
"20 coins a night." The bounty hunter slid over a pouch, then walked up the steps to the rooms and found a vacant one. Once inside, he pulled rope out of a sack and slammed the elf onto a chair before tying him up. The elf gasped, and began to heave his breaths.
*
Gaston and Hassa crept on a building top, next to a large storage building.
"This is where he keeps his weapons?" Gaston tried to put ignorance into his voice.
"I'm sure of it." Hassa clutched her bow. "You have any ranged weapons?" Gaston thought for a moment. What could he use that wouldn't make them suspect he was a Sylran? He summoned the purple pistol he had gotten from the Sylrans, and explained:
"I nicked this from a Sylran I killed on the way here." She nodded.
"Nice. Listen, you go over there and start attacking. He's neutral, cause the Sylran's won't take ownership of him, so if they give backup it'll look suspicious. We should be good to take him out." Gaston nodded, then leapt over to the other building, slamming down and breaking the ceiling. He quickly shot a man he saw right in front of him, a burly elf brandishing a great sword. Up ahead were a scrappy looking goblin and an elf holding a rifle. The elf panicked, and began firing rapidly at Gaston. His shots were ruined by a quick arrow from Hassa, directly into his chest. The goblin tried to jump at Gaston, but Gaston managed to slam his mace into its head first, making a metallic clang and then a cracking sound, before the goblin fell to the ground. Gaston headed another room over, hunting for the arms dealer.
*
"Listen to me, you punk. I'll kill you. You should know I will. So, where the hell are the other people in the picture?" The bounty hunter was still grilling the elf.
"I told you everything, man! The other elves are at Sylran HQ. That burly guy-Gaston, I think-he just went missing! Nobody knows where he went!" The bounty hunter kicked his leg.
"You think I'm joking? Where is he?!" The elf shook his head.
"Look, if you don't believe me, shoot me then. Least I'll get out of this shitfest." The bounty hunter wasted no time in complying, placing the barrel of his pistol against his forehead and firing, causing a splatter on the floor. More work for the barkeep, the bounty hunter noticed. He should probably include something extra.
*
Gaston finally found the right room, opening the door and seeing the weapons dealer hunched in a corner with a pistol. Hassa had been trailing him, but they had long since split up, so it was up to Gaston. He raised his shield and ran in. The man let out a guttural sound, then began firing, but the bullets were blocked by Gaston's shield. The arms dealer threw his hands up and tears formed in his eyes.
"Fuck it man, kill me!"
"What?"
"Kill me. You've got me here already, this was a dumb fuckin' idea. I shoulda never come here, now I gotta die for it. Now shoot me, dammit!" Gaston, somewhat surprised by his request, didn't respond. "What the fuck ever man. Can't rely on anyone for fuckin' anything in this shithole." The man sat there, sobbing. Gaston picked up the gun he had dropped and left him there, allowing him to be left in the room. Gaston walked out, seeing Hassa.
"Hey, you got him?"
"Yes. He's, uh, taken care of." She smiled.
"Good."
"So how we gonna get these weapons back?"
"Simple. Watch this." She walked over to each crate full of weapons and placed a small gem on top, causing them to teleport back to the Doomcleaver HQ. She picked up her Dataverse device just as they were done, then spoke.
"Hey, news. Boss says burn the place now that we're done." She pulled out a match and threw it in, making sure it ignited against a support pole before leaving with Gaston. They headed back to Doomcleaver HQ, content with a days work.
*
Gaston put the finishing touches on his new outfit. He had to fool the Doomcleavers into thinking he was just a newcomer to the town, and they'd probably recognise his clothing. So he had changed clothes, and was now wearing armour, primarily fur and leather but with bits of metal. He-with some reluctance-ruffled his hair and stuck out his bottom jaw. Gaston began to walk, slightly lopsided. The look was completed. He left the tall Sylran headquarters and headed toward the Doomcleavers base of operations.
*
The bounty hunter reloaded his gun as he prepared to head back into town. It had been decent practice. He had managed all bulls-eyes standing still and moving. He checked his Dataverse device, moving quickly and efficiently to reach down and grab it out of his pocket. A new bounty from the Doomcleavers. Find the people who had been responsible for the sabotage of the funeral last night. He checked the message and saw a blurry picture of a burly man in red and several elves. It was too blurry to properly pick out facial features, but he could somewhat recognise the person. He put his Dataverse device away and began a sweep across the town to see if he could find them.
*
Gaston arrived at a short stone building. Apparently this was where he could go to join the Doomcleavers. He walked in, and was greeted by a lean elf sharpening a spear.
"Hey. You 'ere to join the Doomcleavers?"
"Of course! My services will be incredibly valuable to you, I'm sure!"
"Ha! We'll see about that. Follow me." The elf lead Gaston down a series of winding corridors, each one going slightly downhill. After several minutes, they finally arrived in a room where an orc was waiting. "Hey boss. We got ourselves a new recruit 'ere." The orc scanned him with his eyes and grunted.
"You're here for combat, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I love killing things." Gaston spoke slowly, trying to fit the role of "stupid brute" he had set up for himself.
"Ha! Well, we like to test our recruits before we let them in. If they're here to help build, we'll have them build something. Here for blacksmithing, they smith something. So, even you should be able to figure out the next step. Only one way to join if you're gonna be a soldier: trial by combat!"
"Huh. I can do that. Who are you? I wanna know your name."
"I'm Taugh Doomcleaver. Sylran might be too much of a coward to meet his recruits himself, but fortunately I'm not."
"Good. I like meeting the people I work for."
"Enough with talk! Come on, newbie." Doomcleaver lead him through a doorway nearby to a room, weapons adorning the walls. "Pick your weapon, and then you'll face off against one of my champions." Gaston walked slowly to the wall and looked around. He picked up a mace and shield, and inspected them. They'd do. When Taugh wasn't paying attention, he imbued them with Omnilium, strengthening them to the level of all his other weapons. "You ready?"
"Yeah. I'll beat your champion!"
"Ha! I like your enthusiasm. Stay here." Doomcleaver walked out, and Gaston swung the mace around out of boredom. Eventually, the door in front of him opened and a voice boomed.
"COME OUT, CONTESTANTS!" Gaston strutted out, then corrected himself and hunched over. He couldn't blow his cover by acting like himself-no matter how much torture it was to act like a fool. He looked around, seeing a large room with dust on the ground and seats all around. Taugh Doomcleaver sat in one, and there were several groups of other people who had come to watch. Opposite him was a thin elf with a wry grin, clacking two stones together in his hand. Gaston looked up at Doomcleaver, and he gave a large thumbs up.
Gaston charged at the elf and lunged, tackling him onto the ground. He slammed his mace into the elf's shoulder, feeling a squish as he pierced skin. The elf's grin never faded, though, and he pushed him off with unexpected strength. Gaston was flung across the room, steadying himself as he slid across the floor. The elf threw one of the stones straight at Gaston's face, and it soared through the air. Gaston was confused for a second, when it seemingly randomly transformed into a tiger, suddenly lunging at him. He bashed out with his shield, intercepting the tiger's bared teeth with his slab of metal and wood. It growled at him as it landed, and lunged again. Gaston smacked it with his mace, but it managed to bite down on one arm. His shield slid off his arm as the tiger's teeth sunk down deeper and deeper. Gaston kneed it in the stomach, causing it to yelp and loosen its grip. Invigorated, Gaston reached down and lifted it up, heaving it across the room straight at the still-grinning elf. The elf was undisturbed, and he flipped a coin into the air. Mid-air, it turned into a falcon, diving at Gaston. Gaston jumped up as high as he could, then tried to weigh himself down. The falcon was below him, and on the way down he squeezed its wings and grasped it. It pecked at his face, but he ignored it. He viciously slammed its head against the ground, tossing its body aside.
"Is that all? Fight me yourself, coward!" Gaston picked his shield back up and he noticed that, just for a moment, the elf's grin flickered to fear. The burly man held his shield up, charging at him. The elf reached into his pockets, finding nothing. His grin flickered again, as he found nothing. Gaston slammed into him, knocking him onto the ground. He kicked him, throwing him through the air until he hit a wall. A crack could be heard as he slammed against it, and flopped limply onto the ground.
"That qualify, Doomcleaver?" Gaston looked up at him as he yelled. Thaugh was watching with a slight smile, somewhere between being surprised and being impressed.
"I have a feeling you were right, barbarian! You'll be perfect for the Doomcleavers!"
*
The bounty hunter walked into the Doomcleavers headquarters. His search had been mostly unsuccessful. He had found one elf who resembled one in the picture, but after some interrogation he determined they weren't involved. He hoped he could find more detail by asking the Doomcleavers. When he arrived, he saw a new person, a human. They were clad in leather and metal armour and had unkempt, jet black hair. The bounty hunter approached Taugh.
"This a new member?"
"Yeah. Managed to kill one of my best damn champions. He'll be useful."
"Good." The bounty hunter walked past, glancing over. His eyes lingered on the man's face-surely, he knew him somehow. He passed it off as just the same body type as somebody he knew, but couldn't shake the suspicion.
*
Gaston watched as a new person came in. He was clad completely in cloth, showing nothing of his body. He approached him shortly after he walked in.
"Hey. You're Doomcleaver?"
"Hired help."
"You hunt bounties? Alright. I'm," Gaston racked his brain for a name, pausing for a moment. "Grognar! I'm Grognar." He offered his hand for a handshake.
"Good to meet you." The new man said nothing, just taking his hand and shaking it firmly. Taugh interrupted their meeting by approaching Gaston.
"Hey, Grognar. Got a mission, you ready to really prove you're a Doomcleaver?"
"Yes! I love to fight on missions." Gaston, again, spoke slowly to sound stupid.
"Alright, you'll be going with Hassa to hunt down someone. He's been known to provide weapons to the Sylrans, and has refused our requests. Get rid of him, and bring us the arms."
"I won't get time to heal?"
"Seems you're already doing that well." Doomcleaver gestured toward Gaston's wounds, which were already nearly closed up.
"Alright." Just then, a short, dark-skinned elf came in with a bow around her torso.
"Hey, I'm Hassa. You ready to go destroy this punk?"
"Yeah. I'll kill him good."
"Ha! I like you, big guy." She led him out and they began a walk through the town to find the arms dealer.
*
The bounty hunter exited the Doomcleaver HQ. Nobody knew anything. Still, he felt like he knew Grognar from something. He headed to the tavern in the center of town, and approached the bartender. He pulled up an image of his targets on his Dataverse Device and showed it to her.
"You seen any of these people?"
"That one in the red shirt came here a few days ago, got a room and stayed. Last I heard he was joining the Sylrans."
"You seen anything about him after he joined?" She shrugged.
"Not my business to know that." The bounty hunter sighed and began to leave, when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He turned and saw one of the elves who he had been told to kill. He sprinted over with a sudden burst of speed and slammed him against the wall, squeezing his hand around his throat. He began to struggle, until the bounty hunter lifted him into the air, and he could do nothing but kick his legs. The bounty hunter walked up to the counter.
"How much for a room?" The barkeep chuckled.
"20 coins a night." The bounty hunter slid over a pouch, then walked up the steps to the rooms and found a vacant one. Once inside, he pulled rope out of a sack and slammed the elf onto a chair before tying him up. The elf gasped, and began to heave his breaths.
*
Gaston and Hassa crept on a building top, next to a large storage building.
"This is where he keeps his weapons?" Gaston tried to put ignorance into his voice.
"I'm sure of it." Hassa clutched her bow. "You have any ranged weapons?" Gaston thought for a moment. What could he use that wouldn't make them suspect he was a Sylran? He summoned the purple pistol he had gotten from the Sylrans, and explained:
"I nicked this from a Sylran I killed on the way here." She nodded.
"Nice. Listen, you go over there and start attacking. He's neutral, cause the Sylran's won't take ownership of him, so if they give backup it'll look suspicious. We should be good to take him out." Gaston nodded, then leapt over to the other building, slamming down and breaking the ceiling. He quickly shot a man he saw right in front of him, a burly elf brandishing a great sword. Up ahead were a scrappy looking goblin and an elf holding a rifle. The elf panicked, and began firing rapidly at Gaston. His shots were ruined by a quick arrow from Hassa, directly into his chest. The goblin tried to jump at Gaston, but Gaston managed to slam his mace into its head first, making a metallic clang and then a cracking sound, before the goblin fell to the ground. Gaston headed another room over, hunting for the arms dealer.
*
"Listen to me, you punk. I'll kill you. You should know I will. So, where the hell are the other people in the picture?" The bounty hunter was still grilling the elf.
"I told you everything, man! The other elves are at Sylran HQ. That burly guy-Gaston, I think-he just went missing! Nobody knows where he went!" The bounty hunter kicked his leg.
"You think I'm joking? Where is he?!" The elf shook his head.
"Look, if you don't believe me, shoot me then. Least I'll get out of this shitfest." The bounty hunter wasted no time in complying, placing the barrel of his pistol against his forehead and firing, causing a splatter on the floor. More work for the barkeep, the bounty hunter noticed. He should probably include something extra.
*
Gaston finally found the right room, opening the door and seeing the weapons dealer hunched in a corner with a pistol. Hassa had been trailing him, but they had long since split up, so it was up to Gaston. He raised his shield and ran in. The man let out a guttural sound, then began firing, but the bullets were blocked by Gaston's shield. The arms dealer threw his hands up and tears formed in his eyes.
"Fuck it man, kill me!"
"What?"
"Kill me. You've got me here already, this was a dumb fuckin' idea. I shoulda never come here, now I gotta die for it. Now shoot me, dammit!" Gaston, somewhat surprised by his request, didn't respond. "What the fuck ever man. Can't rely on anyone for fuckin' anything in this shithole." The man sat there, sobbing. Gaston picked up the gun he had dropped and left him there, allowing him to be left in the room. Gaston walked out, seeing Hassa.
"Hey, you got him?"
"Yes. He's, uh, taken care of." She smiled.
"Good."
"So how we gonna get these weapons back?"
"Simple. Watch this." She walked over to each crate full of weapons and placed a small gem on top, causing them to teleport back to the Doomcleaver HQ. She picked up her Dataverse device just as they were done, then spoke.
"Hey, news. Boss says burn the place now that we're done." She pulled out a match and threw it in, making sure it ignited against a support pole before leaving with Gaston. They headed back to Doomcleaver HQ, content with a days work.