Force2reckon

  Karje paced back and forth with frantic, pent up energy. She never liked sitting still, even to sleep, and now she'd done so all night. On top of breaking contract, which was gonna be a whole other issue. But it would be alright. Everything was gonna work out, she could just feel it, there was something special about Him.

  And He was getting closer by the second.

  Coming home.

  Karje ran her hand along the strange short bde her new... Boss had given her. Boss seemed a fitting term for someone she'd essentially quit her old job to work for. The fact she wanted him to do things to her she'd never really wanted from someone else, and that she had to remind herself to call him "Boss" and not "Master", was totally not indicative of anything. Karje shook her head to clear her head and focused on her [Hunting Ground].

  Still nothing.

  Her ears flicked towards the external hall as her [Prowler's Sense] picked up approaching sounds. The building had been mostly silent since the early morning exodus of those who lived here. Off to whatever job they worked that allowed them to afford a space here. Probably conning some poor sods out of their hard earned coin.

  This sound though. Her ear twitched as her tail began to shake before she got it under control. It was Ma- her Boss! And his mate, the hot one with the fire for hair, so much brighter than Karje's matted, softer orange. Plus one- No, two others. One moved like a fighter, was harder to track because of the care of her steps. Skilled.

  The other was... Loud.

  "-And they just... fly through the air? No infusion? --- And made of metal?! Your world sounds fascinating~"

  Your world? Karje heard stories of course, Divine's all came from other worlds for instance, but they were unbelievably powerful from the moment they arrived. She heard about Hero's from some of the others on the... carrier. But there was only one of them, and the current hero was some woman in Rityni.

  Did it matter? What did "another world" really even mean? Wasn't another contin-

  Knock, knock knock knock knock. Knock knock.

  Karje's ears flicked toward the door at the strange, rhythmic knocking.

  "Karje, we're back! We brought guests!" Mate's voice announced as he opened the door. Karje was already running to greet them and leapt onto his chest to press her face and body into him. Her [Pack Bond] sensed nothing wrong, but her [Prowler's Sense]s picked up so many different smells on his body. Then she realized he was wearing a different shirt from the night before. Same material, simir in texture and style, but it had a fresh knit smell.

  And Toni's clothes were much more casual. A tighter outfit with a white, adjustable sleeve top and tight, high wasted bck shorts. It was honestly quite pretty and so much more casual then the devastatingly hot outfit she'd been in the night before but...

  "Did you go shopping?" She asked. "B-before coming home?" She hated that her voice quivered a little bit there.

  "I'm sorry Karje." Mate said as he pnted a hand on her head and ruffled her hair. "But-"

  "I owed him a shirt at least~" The blue scaled satveak woman behind him said. "Apologies, I may have destroyed the st one!~" She ughed and spoke with a softness and breathiness that set Karje's hairs on end.

  "Ow. Karje down." Mate commanded. She felt the command slide off of her mind, but remembering the night before, she obeyed regardless. "We're gonna go do some more shopping here in a bit, plus we have a job." Mate told her.

  "Yes, you go get your armor Daddy, I'll fill Karje in." Toni said with a gentle hand on Karje's head. It should have been embarrassing since she was basically the same height and size as Toni, but for some reason...

  "Fill me in?" Karje asked as a distraction from nothing in particur.

  "Right, you two do that, Beithe!~" The satveak woman said.

  A white, willowy woman shifted from outside into the door frame with a salute. "Yes."

  "We'll go ahead and meet you at the pza alright?~ I must talk some more with my security.~" The satveak breathed and waved as she practically floated out of the room. A gust of wind followed her and the door closed as she left.

  Not long after Karje found herself sitting down at the low table by the window and looking at a list of a dozen names with a wrinkled nose. So many disappearances, and no one in the Network had told her? She had a standing order for this kind of intel!

  "So from what I can deduce just on paperwork it seems twelve people, primarily children, have just vanished in Undertown over two weeks." Toni's expnation made Karje scrunch her face up even further.

  "Children? How can you tell?" Karje asked.

  "Here and here, see the times and locations of disappearances? All marked as 'residential' or 'recreational' sites. Pygrounds, friends houses." Toni pointed to a few of the names on the list and Karje's eyes narrowed. "The only thing I can't figure out is... why kids?" Toni muttered.

  "Money." Karje said with a hiss.

  "But if it was for money, surely they would have asked for ransom or something right? Or aimed for wealthier families, these family associations are all like... moss farmers and stuff." Toni cocked her head at reading that. "Farming moss? Why?"

  "Money too. Moss absorbs native power at an incredibly high rate. Can squeeze the stuff out for infusion work to help alleviate a craftsmans job. But also used in some meal stuffs." Karje expined absentmindedly. That was basic intel for any decent Network operative.

  "Huh. Wonder why..." Toni muttered.

  "Alright, we ready?" Mate said as he stepped back into the room with a rge sack that rattled and cttered slightly. Karje knew what it was, she'd found it the night before neatly tucked away so even she'd missed it on her first pass. It looked very valuable and radiated power to her trained senses. If he'd been wearing that...

  "Why not wear it there?" Karje asked.

  "It's... a bit damaged." Mate replied with a grimace. "So part of this trip is to take it to someone who can do some leatherwork to fix up the straps and bits so it stays on. Since someone had to cut it off in a rush."

  "Oh. I know a guy." Karje said.

  "Really? Helps, I was gonna ask Chei if she knew someone." Mate replied as he hefted the bag. "Come on let's go."

  "I can carry it for you." Karje offered, turning her head away when Mate looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I'm strong, and you're the boss so you should let me handle it instead of doing it yourself. You know, delegate." Karje said with a sniff.

  "Hmmm..." Mate looked her up and down and she shivered while desperately keeping her tail in check. It was like he could see right through her. "Well, if you wouldn't mind." He held the sack out to her and she carefully took it and slung it over her shoulder. It wasn't so bad, a little awkward but she could-

  A hand pressed to her ear and started scratching behind it right in that sensitive spot. The immediate rush of blood to her face shocked her and she batted it away immediately.

  "W-what was that for!" Karje growled. Mate simply smiled at her and slowly reached up to continue the petting. This time she didn't resist but she did stop herself from purring or flicking her tail.

  "For being a good girl of course." Mate murmured softly.

  "I-it's just common sense, the Boss shouldn't do his own bor!" Karje barked back with less bite then she'd intended.

  "Right." Mate smiled at her and she looked away because it was such a soft smile. Not to hide the ever increasing blush on her cheek. "Let's head out, where's this pce you recommend?" Mate asked.

  Immediately Karje focused. "Tetha's Leatha's. It's not really a 'proper' shop, they mostly do work for Network people, but if you need quality repairs and quick, they're the best. Cheap too." She answered as she followed them out the room.

  Toni locked up behind them as she asked. "If they're cheap, fast, and high quality, why does no one use them?"

  "You'll... It's better if you see for yourself." Karje said as they descended the stairs in the hall.

  "It's not dangerous is it?" Mate asked as he held the front door of the building open for them.

  "No no no, it's not dangerous. Most of my other Network contacts will be burned but she works for anyone." Karje answered.

  "Most of your other contacts will be burned?" Toni asked with a tilt of her head.

  "Mmm, Network will make sure none of my contacts will work with me once they learn I broke contract." Karje stated.

  "Ah. Not killing me." Mate said.

  "That, but more the whole..." Karje gestured her open hand back and forth between them. "Working for you thing." She finished.

  "Ahhhh, contracts a pretty big deal?" Mate asked as they turned down the road toward a pza. Karje stopped and looked at him, stared into his eyes as he stopped to look back at her.

  "The Network has very few rules, and almost all of them are malleable except one. The most important one." Karje held up a finger for emphasis.

  "The Contract is Final." She hissed. "If you take a Contract, you either do it, or you fail. Doesn't necessarily mean death, but betraying a Contract so thoroughly? I might as well have gone and shat on any of the Figure's beds. They'll be out for both our bloods now."

  Mate grimaced as she said that. "So... They're not gonna stop trying to kill me, and now they're gonna try harder because you're with me?"

  "Either of you. Two Contracts, one for each of you. Yours was higher risk because of the command [Power] you have. Also keep that information as close to the chest as possible cause the Network is offering a pretty penny for it." Karje said as she shifted a pointing finger to Toni. "For you, the contract is petty, most people probably won't cim it realistically because of the reason for making it."

  "Which was?" Toni practically breathed the question out with how hard she sighed. Karje figured she knew the answer but decided to tell her anyway.

  "Basically just refusing to get duped into fucking an asshole." Karje said with a shrug. "Some people might take it cause Phlu's family are pretty noteworthy amongst Network individuals, so it'd be good pull but..." Karje's eyes narrowed. "Anyone who'd take that Contract deserves to be gutted." She fingered the small bde at her hip and frowned. "I just wish I had a proper bde to do it with."

  "That's part of today's shopping, Chei wants to make sure we're properly equipped." Mate said as he continued moving everyone forward. "I believe she said 'for people with such high potential, I'll consider it an investment!' or something along those lines." He finished.

  "You know exactly what she said, I know your memory." Toni teased with a poke to Mate's ribs.

  "Ow! For quotes and movies you brat." He replied with a chuckle as he ran a hand along her head.

  Finally they arrived at the pza and began looking for 'Chei' which Karje presumed to be the satveak woman. Name and description told her it was Chei Merino Tra Gouda, big name. One of the rich types, but from what little Karje could dig up, one of the good ones. Attacked trafficker carriages at sea with impunity so she'd made note of their lineage.

  "Where is she? Why couldn't she give us better-" Toni began to compin. Karje perked up her [Prowler's Sense] of smell to pick out the womans scent in the crowd. After all, it had a unique twinkle to it. Which was the best way she could think to describe the smells strangeness. It was the smell of inherent power, the kind Divine's had.

  "There." Karje pointed off to where she sensed Chei.

  "Really? Good girl!" Toni said with a pat to Karje's head. Karje sniffed and started leading them through the crowd, mumbling to herself.

  "I was just tryin to keep us movin."

  It didn't take long to track down the woman in this crowd. She stood out in her incredible white glittering dress that looked woven from pearlgem which... It might have been. Based on the way they glittered like sunrise dappled water and possessed a slight transparency to them. That made her an incredibly valuable target to anyone here who might want quick coin except...

  Karje's senses were honed for hunting, assassination and fighting, she wasn't good at picking out people with heavy purses like some. Yet even she could tell, with how tight Chei's dress was, that she carried no pieces on her. That raised an eyebrow, until Karje's senses picked up the figures in the crowd. The ones staying at perfect distances to ring her, and the one asp woman Beithe behind Chei.

  She almost seemed to fade into the world like she was drawn atop it, if you weren't trained to find hidden foes like Karje was.

  "Hi Chei, Beithe." Mate greeted them. Of course he saw her, he'd picked out one of Karje's allies and even if he'd been the weak link, he was still skilled and had [Power]s to help.

  "Impressive, spotted me so easily." Beithe said with a grin as the two csped arms firmly.

  "Yes well-" Mate tapped his head by his eyes. "Being able to see power makes your [Power] a little less effective since it bleeds it for it's effect."

  That statement made Karje nearly drop the sack of armor she was carrying for Mate. Which didn't go unnoticed by the gathered persons.

  "Sorry we weren't introduced earlier, I'm Beithe, do you need some assistance miss-" Beithe held a hand toward the armor.

  "Karje and no thank you. I have Boss's stuff just fine." She said as she took one step back.

  "Very well." Beithe said with a slight bow. Divine's, Karje hated noble bodyguards.

  "Anywaaaaaay~ What do you think of my new outfit Sir~" Chei practically whispered the words, yet Karje heard them as clearly as if she'd whispered them right in Karje's ear. That was... Admittedly very pleasant.

  "It goes nice with your colr." Mate said, pointing to a bone white colr around her neck.

  "I knooow~ I thought it would look good, plus it was easy for Beithe to run and grab this morning.~" Chei cpped her hands together and spun. "Now follow me! We have lots of shopping to do, and not much time to do it!~"

  The next hour was a whirlwind for Karje. Chei was like a hurricane, sometimes literally, as they travelled from pza to pza. Each stop they grabbed some new set of clothes for Toni or Mate, and even a couple of times for Karje herself. It was... uncomfortable, though she couldn't deny this soft gray vest and the orange pleated skirt added quite well to her appearance.

  It made her look less like a professional assassin too which... She technically wasn't anymore? Plus Mate and Toni both praised this look, so she figured it had to look good. Karje had never been great with clothes, but what she did understand was weapons.

  Like the sleek bdes on dispy in the incredibly expensive looking weaponsmith they were now entering. Karje did everything in her power to keep her body in check but she couldn't stop her eyes from drifting to every curved edge and piercing point. To the thick, weighted mallets and the vicious, alluring curves of the axes.

  But what really caught her eye? The polearms. She'd always wanted a big, hefty bde at the end of a length, and this pce had an array of incredible looking gives, voulge and her favorite, bardiche's. All the vicious power of an axe, the versatility and reach of a polearm, and weight of a warhammer. She wanted one so b-

  "We don't really need weapons, so spend what you would on us on Karje." She heard Mate say.

  "Really? Well then miss Karje, is there something here that catches your eye?~" She heard Chei say.

  After a minute of blinking and ear twitching she finally realized Chei was waiting for an answer. In fact they were all looking at her and waiting. She looked around confused for a second and saw Beithe by the door.

  "Go on, she's good for it." Beithe said as if reassuring her. Then Karje processed what she'd heard and she stiffened as she looked between Mate and Chei.

  "No... No no no- sorry, what?" Karje babbled.

  "Awwww, so cuuuuute!~" Chei said with a breathy ugh. "But seriously, anything you want, if it's too big or heavy we can have it refitted, it's really more about style in the end~" Chei gave Karje a smile.

  "I-That's- Weapons are about more than that! Styles not half as important as the heft! The weight, the bance!" Karje shouted. She pointed up toward the most expensive bardiche she could see hanging from the wall. "Look at that! The Lifante Brass is incredible for maintaining precise edging and resisting wear and use, but the patina'd interior isn't just to give it a gilded edge look!"

  Every head turned to look at Karje.

  "The patina is infused to add heft and weight to what's between it, making the entire bde sharp as a razorshell cm and heavy as a carriagecrab! It's not just style! The style has to have purpose!" Karje shouted.

  "YES!" Toni cheered. "You tell em girl!"

  Karje flushed and coughed as she realized she'd lost all control of her tail and it was filing behind her. She shook her head to clear her mind and focused back on Chei.

  "Sorry, I- styles nice but if you don't do something with it, you'll just die looking like a pompous noble bitch... No offense." Karje said firmly.

  "So... You want that one?~" Chei pointed toward the bardiche that Karje had pointed out.

  A few moments passed as everyone else had returned to their shopping. Then all at once they turned their heads and covered their ears once more at the piercing shriek that Karje emitted next.

  "WHAT?!"