Nara's jumpship journey was mostly boring. Except for the standout moment when she met a Rellian that knew her dialect. He was fun to chat with, and seemed very welcoming. He was traveling with his daughter.
Her mind drifted back to the daughter, when one of the kids had pushed her, and she had ended up looking down at the woman. The daughter had blushed and Nara would be lying if she said it hadn't caused a flicker of something in her. But other than that the daughter honestly seemed very strange, skittish even. She wouldn't make eye contact, and didn't seem to be able to speak her language, it was possible that she was scared of jumpships, she seemed to be having a panic attack the entire time she was there.
Nara put it out of her mind. It was busy in the Jumpship when she left, but not so busy that she missed the fact that the father of the family in her cabin, followed her.
Without his family.
The wolves must have found her fast.
She ducked into a stall, and swapped out her hat quietly. Trying her best to lose the man. She continued on her journey, following the directions of the Jackal. She never noticed the wolf again. But that didn't mean he wasn't still following.
The road was long from that point on. Two more jumpship rides, until they eventually ended up on the arid world of Esras. Then she ended up hiking for a while.
"When is this journey going to end?" She asked the Jackal.
"End? We haven't even reached the start yet." It replied.
"What do you mean? I haven't got much food left, you know. And I don't exactly speak the language here."
"It's okay. Make camp here. Food will come to you." The Jackal smirked.
Nara did what the Jackal asked, making a small camp fire to heat up what little remaining food she had left.
The Jackal pawed its way around the campfire. "This is where your journey begins." It said.
"But I'm in the middle of nowhere?"
"You are exactly where you are meant to be. I want you to find the Witch, once you do we will talk again." It looked her in the eye. "But before you do I will leave you with a parting gift, brace yourself, this is going to give you a hell of a headache."
The pain was immediate. Her head felt like it was on fire, a blinding burning pain as synapses grew and neurons rearranged themselves. The pain reached excruciating heights, before finally, blissfully, disappearing into a dull ache.
She was now alone by the campfire. She knew the Jackal was watching. But it would not respond to her again. No matter how many times she called it.
"Fucking arsehole." She said, finally. She heard what could be a soft chuckle, but it could have also been the wind.
The day grew long, and as she was about to bed down for the night she noticed a couple of men riding up to her on horseback. They spoke to her in a local language and then after in a crude version of Rellian. Nara understood both clearly as day. The Jackal's gift she assumed.
"You lost girl?"
She replied in Rellian, not wanting to seem too local. "I seem to be."
"I ain't seen you around here before?" Said the first man on horseback. A look of concern on his face. The man behind him, younger, maybe a brother? Had a very different look on his, the look that the boy back home had given Esme.
"No, I'm not from around here." She kept it vague, mostly because she didn't know what else to say.
"Why are you here?" Said the first man, starting to get a little cagey.
Nara, held the archeotech weapon in her long jacket pocket, and threw caution to the wind. "I'm looking for the Witch."
The first man rolled his eyes. "Looks like we got ourselves another treasure hunter." he said laughing to the second man. "You even got the curse?" He already didn't think she did. Anyone with the curse was either rich or taken.
"No." Nara lied. "Just desperate." Well, that bit was true.
"Come on, Girl. I'll give you a ride to town. These parts are quiet, but it's not best for a girl to be out here alone at night." The first man offered.
"She can ride with me." The second younger man piped up.
"No, I think that will be quite alright." Said the first man, giving him a disapproving look.
"Thank you." Nara said and swung herself up on the first man's horse with ease.
"A rider then?" Said the first man, impressed.
"I have been."
The man left that alone.
The ride to town was short. The man took her to a public house, and said she could ask about the Witch there. The house was a dingy affair, and as she entered the owner eyed her up, appraisingly.
Damn.
She knew it was going too easy.
"These guys here." pointing to the two men that were now blocking the only exit. "Said you knew about where I could find the Witch?" She asked, hoping this wasn't what it seemed.
"What's a pretty girl like you doing looking for the Witch?" The owner asked, killing her hope that any of this was going to be easy.
She held the archeotech weapon tightly in her pocket. "I would like for you to tell me what you know about the Witch, and to buy some ale and supplies. Then I can leave and we are all happy." Her face now a resigned grimace.
"I can do something that will make you happy." Said the first man behind her. The other man gave a low threatening laugh.
Nara paused, a cold expression ran across her face. She had some taccy combat training, all of the children of the East Wing did, and she had fought day in and day out with her siblings. But she had never used a weapon in anger before.
The owner piped up. "It's okay girl, you can say here, We have some good rooms, you stay here and you can earn all the money you will ever need. Minus room and board of course."
"Are you sure there is no other way? I don't want trouble." She asked, coldly. This was their last chance.
"You won't be no trouble girl, we'll look after you good and proper." The owner said, money in her eyes.
Nara heard some movement behind her, so she pulled the strange looking weapon from her pocket and aimed over her shoulder without looking, and pulled the trigger.
Two small metal insects detached from the weapon and with blinding speed, punched holes in the necks of the men behind her. She didn't turn around, she didn't want to see. The sounds of the men gurgling on their own blood was enough.
She maintained eye contact with the owner, who now had a very different look on her face.
"L-Look, I'm just the f-face. It was those men, they f-forced me!" The owner was sweating now.
"Tell me about the Witch."
"It's just a legend, I'll call my girls, maybe one of them can help you! Some of them came looking for the witch, like you!"
"There are more here." Nara asked, putting a greedy look on her face. "You got any young boys?"
"Yes, yes! I have whatever you like!"
Nara hoped she was telling the truth. It made it easier when she aimed the weapon at the owner and killed her in cold blood.
Well this was a fucking mess already.
"I hope I gave you a good show you fucking arsehole." She said to the empty room. There was no response. The vision of the hole in the owner's neck opening up and her falling and gurgling, was going to be burned into her mind forever.