"Is…is that a komodo rhino?" The girl asked with a surprised look as she and Toji walked over the small hill that hid Iron from the camp and Toji nodded as he scratched the rhino's ears, rolling his eyes at the blissful look Iron had as the beast snorted.
"Yep, this is Iron and I got him after killing a Fire Nation sergeant that burned down my village. Iron, this is…what did you say your name was again?"
"I didn't. The name's June and this is my sweet Nyla. Now, who are you?"
"Toji. Toji Fushiguro." Toji introduced with a smirk and June looked at him before he frowned as she snorted.
"Okay then, Mr. Fushiguro. Hop onto your rhino and I'll take you to the Oasis."
"I don't ride my rhino. I ride the sled that comes with him." Toji spoke with a smirk as he sat down on his sand-sailer, June finally noticing it as she raised an eyebrow at Toji relaxing under the shade while his rhino began to lumber forward.
"First a komodo rhino from a Fire Nation officer and now a sand-sailer. Do you just go about stealing other people's stuff?"
"Their owners were dead and I only stole both because they pissed me off first."
"Remind me not to irritate you too much, then. Anyway, you want to become a bounty hunter, yeah?"
"Yeah, I have some experience with catching targets." Toji answered cryptically and June simply rose an eyebrow as she and Nyla followed after them, the girl injecting a dose of her shirshu's venom into the man tied to her beast's back just to make sure he stayed paralyzed.
"Is that so? You do understand that this is much more than just hunting down a wild deer-pig or boar-q-pine, right?"
"You're talking to the guy that can shoot a bullseye on a moving target that's over a hundred yards away from me." Toji spoke with a raised eyebrow and June simply hummed even as Toji detected the slight hints of doubt.
"Sure you can. Anyway, the Oasis is about another two days away so…you got anything to eat?"
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"One apple…you do realize that I'm a growing lady, right?" June spoke with a frown as the two humans and two beasts walked over the final hill to their destination, Toji snorting at her words before shifting his gaze to the town in the far background.
"I did give you more food after that, didn't I?"
"Only after I paid triple the price that they usually are! You understand that apples do not cost five copper coins an apple."
"Eh, not my problem. Anyway, is that the spot?" Toji asked and June frowned at him before rolling her eyes as she crossed her arms and looked forward.
"Yeah, that's the spot. All you need to do is go to the bar near the spring, walk in and talk to the bartender."
"…That's it?" Toji asked with a raised eyebrow and June rolled her eyes as she nodded.
"Yep, that's it."
"I'm starting to see why even a kid like you was able to become a bounty hunter even if you did have some help with that weird shirshu thing."
"Firstly, I'm about seven years older than you and I would kick your ass if we fought. Secondly, there's a list of dead men that would disagree with you calling me a weak girl." June spoke with a smirk as she and Toji looked at her with a raised eyebrow before finally scanning her build.
"From what I can see, you're more of an agile-based fighter that keeps her distance while attacking with your whip. That and you seem to depend more on your shirshu's venom as well as the poisonous darts you have on your left pouch. That all means that if you fought against someone that is resistant to poison as well as being too fast for you to hit with your whip, you would lose nine out of ten times. The tenth time is only for when they would feel bad about winning so many times and want to give you at least a draw to feel more happy about yourself."
"…You got all that just from watching me?" She asked with a raised eyebrow and Toji smirked as he shrugged while relaxing back on his sand-sailer.
"Like I said, I'm pretty good at hunting targets."
"Uh-huh, you sure you're not already a bounty hunter that just wants to trick me?" June asked with a raised eyebrow and Toji snorted as he shook his head.
Mentally though, he couldn't help but laugh at her words as she was not far from the mark, remembering his days as the Sorcerer Killer before and after Hina's death up until he got killed by the Gojo brat.
'Ah, it was good to know that he did follow up on making sure that Megumi was at least taking good care of. However, I have to forget about the past and just focus on the present and the future.'
"Not at all. I just really liked hunting." He answered out loud though and June hummed as they walked into the city, Toji keeping the stoic look on his face as he saw the numerous bandits and/ or bounty hunters looking at them.
"Don't worry about them. They may look tough, but the number one rule all bounty hunters follow is that we don't target any other hunters if they're bringing in a target." June explained as she caught sight of Toji's face and he simply hummed as he sat up.
"I'm not worried about them. I'm worried for them."
"And why is that?" She asked before rolling her eyes as Toji smirked while gripping his dagger.
"Because if they attack, they might not leave with their lives."
"Sure, they won't~ Anyway, that's the spot." June said while nodding at the building they were approaching and Toji looked beyond the frozen fountain in the middle of the small town to see a bar that already had numerous people gathered around it.
"You not coming with?" Toji asked, wanting a bit more eye-candy after being reborn in this world before shaking his head as June snorted and turned to the western side of the town.
"Nope, I'm going to that building over there. After that, I'm heading out on another bounty."
"Huh…well, thanks for the help." She seemed like a cool chick to hang around with, but Toji was more of the type that liked working alone instead of having to protect others so that was cool with him.
"Think of it as payment for helping me finish my bounty earlier!" June called out as she rode away and Toji just watched her leave before shaking his head as he spoke up to Iron.
"Alright, Iron. Head over to that place there."
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The moment Toji stepped into the bar, he could feel the tension in the room spiking as everyone turned to look at him, the eight year old boy simply raising an eyebrow back at the frowns and nasty stares he got as he turned to the left and walked over to a table.
"You want something, ki-!" The guy at the table he was walking to went to ask, but Toji cut him off by leaping up and slamming an axe-kick into the back of the guy's head, shocking everyone as they watched the boy land while the man fell to the floor with blood leaking from his forehead.
"Anyone else got a problem with me?" Toji asked as he took the man's butterfly sword, attaching it horizontally around his waist to where the hilt of it poked out from his right hip before looking up right as everyone looked away.
'Rule one of the Underworld: Beat the shit out of someone and if someone challenges you after that, beat the shit out of them too.' The boy thought with a smirk as he walked closer to the counter, where the bartender was waiting with a frown.
"You going to keep fighting every time you come in?" He asked and smirked as Toji snorted while placing fifty copper coins on the table.
"That's for the damages and that was only to make sure no one underestimated me every time I walk in."
"Hmm, that guy is a member of Gow's group so you better get out of here before the rest of their group comes."
"…Who the hell is that?" Toji asked with a raised eyebrow as he dropped another copper coin whilst taking an apple from the counter, the bartender simply taking the coin as he crossed his arms and hummed.
"You're not from here, are you? Where you from?"
"Tu Zin, though it's nothing but rubble now after the Fire Nation attacked."
"Those the same guys that came looking for information on a deserter a few days ago?" He asked and Toji raised an eyebrow at that as he paused on eating his apple.
"Yeah…you the guy who gave them the information?"
"They paid good gold for it." The man answered with a shrug and Toji looked at him with a long while before nodding as he took another bite of his apple.
"The guy they killed was my dad, but I can't blame someone for trying to make some quick cash."
"Ah, that flash of bloodlust makes sense now. So, you going to swear revenge or something like that?"
"Nah, you seem like a cool guy and I'm here for a bounty actually. Specifically, I want the biggest and hardest one you got."
"While I would like to do that, I can't send a kid out to his death."
"Urgh, then what's the next best one you got?" Toji asked and the bartender hummed before smirking as the doors opened.
"Good for you that an opportunity just walked in. That's Gow behind you along with three of his four men." Toji simply turned to the side and stared at the men that had entered, focusing more on the man at the front that quickly walked over to the guy Toji knocked out.
The guy looked rather average other than his light grey eyes, his hairline receding somewhat as the man only had a small goatee on his chin.
"Who the hell did this?!"
"Kid at the bar." One of the bounty hunters called out and Toji memorized the voice as he focused more on Gow and his men looking at him, raising an eyebrow as the man walked closer with his group.
"You the little shit that did this?"
"That depends. This the guy you talked of?" Toji asked as he turned back around to look at the bartender, who smirked and nodded as Gow gritted his teeth.
"Yep, that's the guy. Most of the idiots in here are scared of their earthbending, but he does have a good bounty on his head, with each of the men having a fifth of his bounty."
"Oi, the boss is talking to y-!" One of Gow's men went to grab Toji's shoulder before he frowned at the cold sensation coming from his hand, lifting his right arm only to be bewildered and confused by the blood spurting from his missing hand.
Before the man could catch his senses, Toji was already standing on his seat with his new butterfly sword stabbed into the side of the man's head.
Using the blade as support, Toji leapt from his chair with a spin while unsheathing his other dagger and pulling the sword free, landing behind the other three fighters right as two of them fell with blood spurting from the gaping cuts in their neck.
Gow however had already unclipped his dual stone hammers from his waist, holding both in a tight grip with wide eyes as Toji spun his dagger into a reverse grip.
"So you got a choice right now. You can surrender peacefully and let me take you in…or you can fight and I can take you in with your head and body as separate pieces. Which do you choose?"
"…Fuck…you!" The man growled as he swung his left hammer down at the ground, making it crack before unleashing three pillars of stone at both sides and in front of him.
Toji however simply rose an eyebrow as he watched the man slam the first stone towards him, the ground under him shattering as he dashed forward and slid past the attack.
With a jump and a barrel roll, he dove over the second stone before rolling under the third, throwing his dagger around the fourth and barely slipping past the fifth before grinning when he heard the man grunting in pain.
With no wasted movements, the boy rushed forward right as he watched the man pulling out his dagger from his arm before throwing it back at him, Toji catching the knife with a corkscrew flip in between two slabs trying to crush him.
Leaping up to the roof while throwing his dagger, Toji spun through the air and leapt right at the man, who went to throw one of his hammer before his eyes widened when the dagger slipped in between his left side.
With a spun and a flourish, Toji landed on the man's chest whilst stabbing down with his sword, piercing through Gow's neck before slicing to the right side and tearing out a chunk of his neck with it.
'Oh, this takes me back…' Toji thought to himself with a smile as he stood up, taking his weapons out and wiping them clean on Gow's clothes before sheathing them once more.
Kicking up one of the hammers of the floor, Toji spun and threw it at the one that had pointed him out before anyone could move, watching as the hammer smashed into the man's skull with a loud crack before taking a deep breath and walking back to the shocked bartender.
"Hey, can you take these in for me? I'll give you a 10% cut if you do and if you try to cheat me, I will kill you."
"…Give me a few minutes."
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"Iron, we're eating good tonight!" Toji exclaimed with a happy smile as he walked out of the bar, one arm carrying a knapsack that had been tied off while he had a sack of coins thrown over his other soldiers.
Iron just looked up with a snort from where he was resting before its eyes went from bored to excited when Toji tied the sack of coins to the new saddle on its back and opened the other sack, revealing nice and big cantaloupes as well as an entire moo-pig leg for the rhino.
"I read that komodo rhinos are omnivores so I think this should be good." Toji muttered as he tipped the entire sack out, watching with a grin as the rhino scarfed down its meal with happy grunts and growls.
"Yeah, I guess you do like it, then." Reaching into his own pack on his waist, Toji took out the stack of grilled steaks he had the bartender make for him before sitting down besides the rhino and eating his meal as well.
"You try and take a bite and I will punch the shit out of you." The boy grunted as he looked up at the rhino, who just looked back before he sighed and threw half of a steak at the beast.
"Yeah, yeah, you big oaf." Toji muttered as the beast rubbed its head into his chest, letting it sit down to relax after its meal before hopping onto its back and lying down while taking out the new bounty papers he had taken to read while eating his meal.
'Most of these…are bad.' Toji thought as he sifted through four of the five papers in his grasp, wondering just how all four of them were each worth 15 gold pieces when Gow and his men together were only 10 gold pieces together.
'It does say that some of them have more political crimes than actual ones and they're wanted alive so perhaps they're nobles on the run and now their enemies want to take them out? That would make sense.'
"This one, though, is going to be a bit of a problem." Toji muttered softly to himself as he stared at the last of the five bounties, reading through the list of the crimes the person had done.
"High treason, mass genocide, theft of numerous royal documents, theft of numerous royal artifacts, murder of a commanding officer, destruction of public property and so many more. Yeah, this is definitely a big fish." Looking up at the smirking woman with a jagged scar on her right cheek, Toji realized that this woman was as mad as her crimes made her out to be.
"Kangana, Head Captain of the Crimson Sails Armada." Toji whispered with an excited smirk as he stared at his next target, a sense of anticipation filling him as he felt his body preparing itself for the battles ahead.
'Oh, this is about to be a fun hunt.'
A/N: And this chapter ends with Toji having taken out the guys that terrorized the village Zuko hung out in for a while.
However, with June now, he now gets the chance to go ahead and take out a group of pirates to make his name known.
Will he do so or will he be taken out by them? Let's find out in the next chapter.
And now, like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until next week...
Ba-Bye~!