Private Tales Finding old friends?

[Shiera]

Shiera had gotten out of the shop about half an hour ago, being tired of just standing there, surrounded by the multitude of items that Willis had deemed important enough to have stopped at this part of the kingdom for. Of course, observing the items was interesting, but her being prohibited from touching them for fear of the owner that she might break some? Yeah, that was disrespectful enough. And so, she had left the store, not before telling Willis that she wouldn't go far, yet at this point... she kinda had. Not on purpose though, but all the different colors and people had made her wanting to go further on. Shiera wasn't worried though, she remembered her way back perfectly thanks to her strong memory.

At this moment, Shiera was walking down a stone-made bridge, being distracted by the sounds of a plaza that wasn't far. The sunlight washed all over the houses and the empty streets, willing her to hum a happy melody she had learned when she was little.

 

[Smiling One]

"Look there she is!"

The big man pointed his stubby finger towards the young woman who was walking on the stone bridge. It was the bridge which connected the Outer and Inner areas of Allriia. The big man rubbed his rotund belly chewing a piece of Garlic in his mouth his lips smacking against one another. "We've said that five minutes ago Bartholomew!" The small, scrawny man spat on the ground while glaring at him. "Did you bloody pay attention?!"

"I'm sorry Lewis," Bartholomew put his head down eating the piece of Garlic. Lewis scrunched up his hooked nose and frowned. "Damn it man!" He growled. "Could you at least close your fucking mouth while you chew your food?! Your making so much fucking noise!"

"Quiet you two!" A man of average size held his finger to his lips. "Do you want the bitch to slip away while you two bicker like a couple of lovers?!"

"Piss off Sam!" Lewis snorted. "We're far away from the cunt! The harlot owes us coin after ripping us off like that!"

"No!" Sam said. "We're going to have to take her to the boss first!" Lewis sighed. "Then what are we waiting for?!" He said. "Let's go!"

The three men approached Sheira surrounding her and leaving unable to escape. "Shiera Rosewood!" Lewis smiled twirling her hair. "It's been a year since we've last saw each other."

 

[Shiera]

Shiera widened her eyes at being surrounded, especially by these familiar faces. She had to wrack her brain to remember who these people where, and once she did, she smiled, a bit of a mischievous glint behind her eyes.

"Ah! You guys! How have you all been?" she asked, looking at the men surrounding her, a wide smile on her lips.

Once Lewis started to twirl her hair, she looked at him with a raised brow, pulling back her head and taking a few steps back "A year already? My, I was starting to miss y'all! Specially you, Lewis." she smiled at him, making her smile seem quite fake on purpose.

Shiera looked around as she talked, observing as some people looked at what was happening and only walked on by, maybe pulling their children closer and avoiding them, but not much else. And Shiera didn't really expect much else, in any case, any civilian would look at her as the villain and the guards as the heroes, wearing their armour and swords.

 

[Smiling One]

"You ripped me off you bitch!" Lewis spat. "You cheated when we were dicing! You were carrying loaded die!" Samuel noticed the glint in Shiera's eyes and got closer to the Raven Haired girl. "Wipe that disgusting grin off your face you whore," he growled. "Or I'll slap you silly."

"Shouldn't we take her to the boss?" Bartholomew said raising an eyebrow. "We shouldn't hurt Shiera,"

Lewis shook his head. "Well the blockhead has got a point," he said. "Come with us quietly Shiera otherwise we'll force you to come!"

 

[Shiera]

Shiera sighed "Was I really carrying a loaded dice or are you just a bad player?" Shiera asked, raising her brow "I mean, c'mon! Me? A liar and a thief? Do you really think that a pretty, little, innocent lady like me could do such despisable, such horrid acts?" she asked, intertwining her hands and putting them besides her head, acting like a lost lamb "Mmm and specially to man in armour! Never have I heard such awful accusations!" she concluded with another sigh.

However, she complied with the guards orders, walking calmly and letting herself be escorted through the city, looking around as she observed the scenery. However, as they walked, she couldn't stop thinking about Willis. Well, he would probably find out about her predicament soon, after all, the guards did tend to like gossip, which spread like wildfire across small regions. Shiera shook her head 'This is the time where you should be focusing on yourself, you idiot' she thought with another sigh.

"So... my man Sam! How are things going in your life? Everything alright, I suppose?" she asked, wanting to at least have a little fun and chatter before they got to the big bad boss.

 

[Smiling One]

"Come on Shiera!" Lewis said resisting the urge to punch her pretty face in. "We all know that you're a damn thief! Lay off the innocent banter!" The three of them worked with Shiera in the past, when they wanted to do some heists from rich merchants they called upon the orphan girl: Shiera who had a reputation of stealing items without getting caught once. Lewis, Bartholmew and Sam would act as the muscle threatening the people to stay down when ever they burst in while Shiera worked her magic. They would be in and out before the Allirian guards would notice.

"Sheira we're not here for idle chit chat!" Sam said. "You owe us a debt and the boss has taken a special interest in you. Perhaps you'll be his replacement whore after the one he sent away to Cerak At Thul!" Bartholomew continued to eat his Garlic as he walked. "You're very pretty Sheira," he said. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

 

[Shiera]

Shiera looked at Lewis, biting back a smile. He was always fun to mess with, him being the first to snap. Course though, she didn't want to drive him way out of line, for she would surely end up hurt in the process... but maybe it was worth it as long as he was entertaining. Shiera smiled to herself, shaking her head to clear those thoughts.

"Aw c'mon Sam! You were always the fun one around here! Well, apart from Bart over there" she turned to Bartholomew and winked at him playfully "And a special interest you say? Well, I'm quite flattered, but I don't think that's what I want in life right now, you see? I'm more of a..." she hummed for a moment, faking a thought as she looked at the sky "hit and run kinda thing?" she chuckled. Then, she looked at Bartholomew "Thanks, big B. And nope, not at all" she replied, her mind immediately going to Willis.

Sure, she could say that she did and he'd come for her, but was that really such a good strategy with these guys? They would obviously be interested in reward money and not only that, but they could be quite sadical at times. Plus, given that she had maybe pissed them off a bit, telling them about loved ones they could surely hurt to get to her, probably wasn't the wisest of ideas.

 

[Smiling One]

Sam glared at Shiera motioning the young woman to move. "Now hurry will ya?!" he growled. "Or I'll chop off your feet and carry you myself!" Lewis sighed Shiera always love to tease and mock them whenever she can. Sometimes she gets beat up for it, sometimes they left her alone as long as they get paid.

"You have a boyfriend?" Bartholomew said looking sad, the fat man always wanted to date Shiera but she always liked to play hard to get. "Why would you want to go out with this whore?" Lewis said. "You're too good for him Bartholomew."

 

[Shiera]

Shiera looked down, letting the men bicker. Now that they were distracted doing that, it was the perfect time to make a run for it. If she managed to escape, she knew only Sam would be able to keep up with her, and that would only be for a while since was way quicker and way agile than he was.

And so, without further warning, Shiera attempted to make a run for it, quickly turning around. But what she hadn't seen was that Bartholomew had moved a few feet to the right, where she originally thought she would ran off to. This, of course, wasn't much, but due to his wide body, it was enough to make her bump into him, taking a few steps back as she did so, rubbing her head. She looked up at Bart, smiling sheepishly "Um no, I have no boyfriend" she said, letting out some nervous chuckles.

 

[Smiling One]

Sam and Lewis quickly turned around and saw Shiera try to run from them only to run face first in to Bartholomew's rotund body. Like a ball bouncing off a wall, Shiera ricocheted off of Bartholomew rubbing her head in the process. "Oh!" Bartholomew said clapping his hands with glee. "So you want you're single!" The fat man hurled his fist in the air. "Yes!"

"You're so fucking drab Bart!" Sam said quickly going to Shiera and grabbing her by the hair dragging her towards him. "We tried playing nice with you!" He growled at the young woman. "But you're wearing out our patience you bitch! Just like old times you find ways to try to piss us off!" It was then that Sam began yanking Shiera by the hair while Lewis laughed.

"Oy Sam!" Lewis called out. "Let me yank at the bitches hair!"

 

[Shiera]

Shiera laughed at Bart's antics, but then she was yanked by the hair by Sam, which made her yelp in pain and grab his hands out of reflex. Once he started yanking at her hair though, she became irritated "Fuck off!" She hissed as she kicked him in the knee, making him topple over in pain "Didn't your boss order not to hurt me? Do you really wanna piss the man off?" She asked, passing her fingers through her hair as a relaxation method.

 

[Smiling One]

Sam landed back first hard onto the ground clutching his knee screaming out profanities at Shiera. Lewis glared at Shiera rushing over to the woman and glaring at her light blue eyes. “I’m sure he’ll understand,” he growled “when you’re bought to the boss bound and gagged.”

Bartholomew then grabbed Shiera by the waist and tossed her to Lewis who grabbed her hair. “Sorry Shiera,” Bart said with sadness in his voice. “I’m just doing my job.”

“Good man!” Lewis said yanking Shiera. “Now let’s go!”

 

[Shiera]

Shiera grunted at being pushed around "Don't worry, Bart" she said between grunts looking at the man, smiling at him "I can't understand why you're with these assholes anyways" she said, glaring at Lewis who was yanking at her hair as they walked.

However, as they were walking, Shiera made sure to drop a ring she had, which she had shown to Willis before. She hoped that that would maybe help him into finding her.

Shiera grunted once more at a particularly harsh pull "Damn, what's with y'all and the yanking of the hair? You would be more compassionate if you knew what it fucking felt like" she hissed.

 

[Smiling One]

“Like the compassion that you’ve showed us?!” Sam said slowly getting up and rubbing his injured knee. “How you left us stranded and penniless?! Poor Bartholomew couldn’t eat for three fucking days since you cheated us out of our coin!”

Bartholomew whimpered remembering the time he was starving. Lewis continued to pull on Sheiras hair as they began to force her to walk with the three men. “Come on!” Lewis said. “Let’s go!”

 

[Shiera]

Shiera frowned "Well, quite fortunate that y'all are forgetting when you gave me the worst half of what we got with the red merchant! Even though I did all the work there and saved your asses!" she exclaimed with a huff "Plus, you could've gone with your boss and ask him for money or food or whatever!"

She was getting tired of this ordeal, and she wanted to get back to Willis or to exploring the place. She had no intention of meeting their boss, especially after the comments of the whore or whatever. "Anyways, I'm sure your boss is as lovely as always, but I have no intention of meeting him, maybe another time though" and just as she finished this sentence, she took a deep breath and just like that let out a shriek "Help!" she screamed, struggling against Lewis's grip "Help me!" she screamed again, wanting to make everyone around her pay attention to her and what was going on.

 

[Smiling One]

Willis Reede sighed looking at the Dwarf who was struggling with creating the potion. It was a long morning, as soon as Shiera woke up, she hugged Willis who was sleeping on the floor whispering that she wanted to see a Monster Hunter going to work. Dazed and surprised and that was the first thing Shiera told him when she woke up. After the two had breakfast consisting of Bass and Mashed Potatoes with a side of Gingerale, Willis wanted to prepare some before heading to the notice board and getting a contract.

"A Monster Hunter must always come prepared," Willis told Shiera before he went to the Dwarf and asked for some stone potions. Though he had low tolerance for Potions, Willis needed them for some Monsters who like hit hard. He didn't like to wear armor because it was expensive and that it slowed him down so Willis had to rely on his speed and wit and if that failed sometimes a potion was necessary.

"Can you hurry up?" Willis said noticing that Shiera walked away bored of the ordeal. "You can't rush art!" the Dwarf said taking his shaking stubby fingers attempting to drop Wolfsbane on the potion. Willis sighed trying to clear his mind until he heard a scream from a far. The voice sounded familiar.....

"Shiera!" Willis ran to the direction of the scream while Dwarf looked at him bewildered. "Do you still want your potion?!" he asked.

"Yeah!" Willis yelled sprinting. "I'll come back for it later!"

"No one will care!" Lewis said tugging Shiera's hair painfully forcing her to go. "You think someone is going come to your rescue?!"

Bartholomew looked around for anyone who could come and saw Willis heading towards them. "Hey Lewis," he said. "There's a man in a red vest coming at us."

 

[Shiera]

Shiera snapped her head upwards once she heard Bartholomew, smiling wide once she saw Willis

"Well actually, yeah!" she said. She kicked him in the knee just as she had with Sam, making him let go of her. She quickly ran over to Willis, or at least attempted to, but Bart and Sam blocked her way.

"Listen, it's been great, but you know, my life is kinda busy at the moment" she smiled at them, in an obviously fake way. "Do tell your boss that I said hi and that I appreciate the interest though!" she attempted to walk around them, standing on her tiptoes to try and see Willis more clearly.

 

[Smiling One]

Lewis lay on the ground clutching his knee. "You're going to pay for that you fucking cunt!" He said staring at Shiera his eyes covered in tears. Willis saw Shiera surrounded by three armored men, what did she get into this time. "Shiera!" Willis shouted. "Are you okay?!"

"Bart grab her!" Sam said as the big man picked up Shiera and carried her over his shoulder. "Let's go Lewis!" he yelled. "We don't want any trouble!"

 

[Shiera]

Shiera panicked once Bart picked her up, screaming a bit as he did so.

"Willis! Help me!" she yelled at the running man, struggling in Bart's grip. "Bart, sweetie, let go of me, pretty please!" she yelled the last part, squirming in his hold.

Shiera didn't want to hurt Bart, for she truly considered him the most noble out of the three of her attackers, however, she would if she had to.

The group started to run, much to Shiera's and Lewis's dismay, as he was still struggling with his knee. She looked back at Willis, whimpering a bit when noticing they were managing to get away, which only made her struggle more in Bart's hold, squirming and kicking.

 

[Smiling One]

"Shit hold on Shiera!" Willis shouted drawing his Cutlass out. Bartholomew began to cry when Shiera yelled at him. "You made my head hurt!" he said his tone filling with anger. He tightened his grip around Shiera as Sam and Lewis began to limp away. "Who the fuck is that joker!" Sam said rubbing his knee.

"According to this cunt!" Lewis limped as well glaring at Shiera. "His name is Willis! Who the fuck is this Willis Shiera?!"

 

[Shiera]

Shiera gasped when Bartholomew tightened his grip, cutting her breath for a moment "If you don't want me to yell," she screamed angrily at him "then let me go!" she went back to kicking, now also trying to push herself off of his shoulder using her hands on his back.

She glared at Lewis when he asked the question, staring at him for a few moments. She didn't want to answer the question, so she just screamed, knowing that would both annoy Lewis, and distract them from that question. She wanted to be as vague as possible about Willis, not wanting to give them any advantage or any ideas on what they could possibly do to them. Sure, these guys were three, but these three belonged to a larger, powerful, much much bigger group.

 

[Smiling One]

Willis caught up with the three with his Cutlass out. "Why don't you leave the woman alone?" he growled. "Her screams are just going to get louder the farther you're away from me!"

"Listen here Willis!" Lewis spat. "This bitch owes us a lot of coin and we need to send her to Shallows to meet our boss." The young man looked at Shiera and smiled taking out the 10 coin pouches that she gave him last night. "Take them," he said throwing them at their feet.

"Well that solves our debt problem," Sam said.

"More than that," Bartholomew added.

"But we're still taking her to the boss!" Lewis shouted. "Bart! Get her out of here!" Lewis said drawing his sword. "We'll catch up as soon as we're done killing him."

The fat man nodded as he turned around and ran carrying Shiera with him.

 

[Shiera]

Shiera frowned when Willis threw the gold pouches 'As if I hadn't worked hard for those!' she thought, the tiniest bit offended that they were gonna end up at the hands of this lot.

However, once she heard what Lewis said, which was accompanied by Bartholomew running faster, she screamed again, now very mad.

"Fuck off, you assholes! You fucking jerks! Meeehhh, we want you because you owe us money! Bullshit!" she screamed, saying the "meh" with a mocking voice. "I have no interest in meeting your boss anytime soon, thanks a bunch! Fuck off!" she continued to yell, kicking and punching Bart in his broad back, letting out screeches from time to time.

 

[Smiling One]

Bartholomew did his absolute best to ignore Shiera's screaming and shouting. He could hardly feel the constant punching on to his back but it was the constant screaming that he hated. It reminded him of his drunk father when Bart was a boy. Always yelling at him and his mother for the littlelest of reasons. Bartholomew felt tempted to throw Shiera onto the river to stop her from screaming but he had to do a job.
"You owe us money," Bartholomew said. "And we need to take you to the boss."

 

[Shiera]

Shiera took a deep breath in, noticing that screaming wasn't doing her any favour. She was, however, still struggling.

"Well, Bart." she said in a sickly sweet voice "I don't owe you money anymore, do I?" she asked "I'm sure your boss won't want me anymore now that my debt has been payed and doubled at that" she mumbled the last part with resentment.

Shiera looked at the river besides them, observing the water flowing and listening to its sound for a few moments, wondering if Willis was okay. He had to be. He was no match for those jerks he stayed with anyways, or at least that's what Shiera thought, considering his mastery at hand to hand combat or well... sword to sword combat. She just hoped he would be ready for the dirty tricks they would surely use against him.

She sighed "So, how long until we get to your boss anyways?" she asked, getting impatient and wanting to get this over with.