"It's like we're running from the daylight."
-Heard by targets on number 1502.
Green woke up in the cave near town. They had managed to get him straw from a nearby farmer for comfort, and Green was thankful for it.
They had decided it was best for Green to stay outside the city for the next while. And normally he wouldn't go back until they were ready to leave town. But he had some business he needed to attend to.
He reached over and picked up the metal card he'd used to compete. It had a metal chip with instructions to return it to the geezer.
He stood up and stretched, avoiding hurting his shoulder. Even after a week, it hadn't finished healing. The skin had closed, but the muscle beneath still ached, a deep soreness that flared whenever he moved the wrong way..
After checking on his sister he would return the card, then head out to the hunter's guild to find any quick jobs for the next train ticket.
So he got dressed in more mundane clothing, hoping to avoid attention. He stopped by at the inn, only to run into Careless in the halls.
"Oh!" She said in surprise. "You're here."
"I am," he responded. "I assume Mark and Grace are fine?"
"Yeah, um… well I haven't seen them yet this morning. That's where I was going."
"I see."
If she was fine, the other two would likely be as well. Green turned to leave but was stopped by Careless tugging on the end of his shirt. He turned back.
Careless started blushing, then scratched behind her long ears. They poked out of her hair by at least four inches.
Green squinted his eyes, she's nervous, he concluded. He started tensing up. Getting in a fight now wouldn't be ideal with his shoulder still healing.
"Hey Green?" Careless asked.
"Hm?" Green replied.
"Thank you for what you did." Careless said
Green paused, was there no threat then?
"What did I do?" he asked.
"You let that man win."
"I don't follow."
Careless smiled, "the others might not have seen, but you could have won that fight." She continued. "I heard him ask you to let him win. He wanted the money to help him buy a ring for his betrothed. I thought that was very sweet. So thank you."
Green looked down at her fingers pinching the bottom of his shirt, raising an eyebrow. She took it away when she noticed.
"Sorry," Careless said.
Green didn't speak for a moment, "Elves live for centuries," Green finally said, Careless looking up at him. "Know that you will deal with what you have done for equally as long."
Careless looked at him confused.
"Is that all?" Green asked.
"Ah, no." Careless quickly replied. "Um, do you have any plans today?"
"Yes," Green said.
He walked around her, and started back down the hall.
"W-what are they?" Careless asked, following him.
"I'm picking up a bounty," Green said.
Careless nodded, "Can I come?"
Green stopped dead, then turned his head to stare.
But when he looked, he noticed Careless was wearing the gun belt and pistol he'd given her. She had on a basic gray shirt and pants, the kind common people wore for work.
She also wore a simple necklace with a bullet hanging at the end.
She must've seen him looking at it, for she held it up. "Grace made me this," she said, "it didn't fit in the things that hold them. She thought it would be better if I had it on hand anyway. In case of emergencies."
"You understand that in the case of gunfire, being a bounty hunter means shooting other people." Green said. "In many cases, it even leads to the deaths of others."
Careless nodded, "I know, but I want to see what it's like. I don't plan on shooting anyone, and I know I won't be much use, but can you let me go with you? If only to watch."
Green shook his head, "I think you're forgetting you yourself are a bounty. If someone recognizes you they wouldn't hesitate to attack. But even with that aside, you're too visually pleasing, and your ears are poking out like sticks. I'd rather not have to deter everyone that looks in your direction."
Green paused in confusion when he saw a grin form on Careless's face. Her eyes beamed, then she gave him a small bow in thanks, and walked away.
Green raised an eyebrow, she's a strange one, Green thought. Good that she gave up easily though.
Some time later Green walked into the geezers stone shop. The old man poked his head out, then smiled.
"You gave my grandson one flamin good fight young man," the geezer said.
Green didn't reply and put the card on the counter, then turned to walk out.
"Hey wait," the geezer said. "You forgot your ammunition," the man took out a box of nine millimeter rounds.
"I didn't win," Green said.
"Yeah but my grandson insisted on giving you them," the man replied. "He told me to tell you thanks for letting him win."
"Where is he now?" Green asked.
The geezer took out a shotgun from a box on the floor and set it up, "he's on vacation with his fiancé."
Green nodded and took the box—at least he got something from the festival. He walked out of the shop and found his way to the Hunters guild next.
The moment he stepped in he saw the glares pile up, and they whispered amongst themselves when he walked by. Even the employee behind the counter didn't seem to like him much.
He was responsible for a man's death, but the same could be said for almost everyone in the building. Green supposed he was an outlaw because they had an emotional connection with the person he killed. That and the bounty.
He found them to be hypocrites however. The people they killed probably had others who cared for them. Why should they be upset with him?
"I'm looking for a quick job." Green said.
The employee being the counter—a young blond woman looked at him up and down. Then riffled through papers they had in the cabinets. Most bounties Green had taken were out in the open on a board.
Those however, were all the larger jobs. Jobs that took several days, weeks, months, and in some cases, years.
Daily jobs however, were filed away for the pinch hunters—people like the man Green had killed. Those jobs were simple: cutting firewood, digging or filling in a hole, and on rare occasions, helping law enforcement.
The entire list was basically the city asking for help with menial tasks.
The jobs never paid well. A few sixteenths here and there, and maybe some eighths on rare occasions.
The jobs were mostly taken by the wounded or the desperate, which most meant poor performance. It would be very difficult for a man to survive on pinch hunting.
"I've got manure removal for five sixteenths," the girl said.
"I need to leave town later today," Green replied, "you got anything cleaner for a few hours?"
The employee shuffled through a few pages, "I got a job for gathering horses, the old farmer's fence broke again." The girl smiled for a moment before looking up and frowning. "Anyway, that's paying four sixteenths, you want it?" Green shrugged, so the girls stamped the paper and gave it to him.
Green took it, then nodded in thanks. When he left he spotted a few men following. It could have been a coincidence, but Green didn't want to chance it.
He bolted, running into an alleyway, then jumped from wall to wall onto a roof. He slipped, barely managing to catch himself. You never know how much you rely on something until it's gone I suppose, he thought to himself.
Even without his snipper, he had used his shoulder to balance and maneuver his way through obstacles. Now he couldn't even turn without getting a complaint.
He spotted two men running by in the alley, then looked down at his job sheet.
Had he known it would be this bad, he never would have taken the job. He should have gauged others' reactions more carefully. Too late now, Green thought.
Abandoning the task wasn't an option—not only would that mean no reward, but skipping town before completion could damage his rank.
He turned, then hesitated. A man stood on the adjacent rooftop. No, Green thought, a Paipite. Green reacted instantly, leaping from one rooftop to the next. He dropped into an alleyway, sliding against the wall and rolling to absorb the impact before sprinting off in a random direction.
He shoulder complained of course, but he barely felt it anymore. The pain was still there, his mind just ignored it. He ran relentlessly however, scanning for any smaller figures and following his mental map toward the stables.
Mark woke up next to Grace, he smiled, then got out of bed. He dipped his hand in cold water—they had been bruised last night. Those hunters had been particularly tough.
We should probably leave today, Mark thought. Guess I should pick up Green before too soon.
He whipped off his hands, grimacing at the pain. This was nothing compared to what he'd dealt with. But it seems that even small pains could be just as strong as large ones when given the right attention.
Grace isn't going to like this. Stones, I don't like this.
"Mark?" Grace asked.
"Hm?" Mark replied.
Grace didn't reply, so Mark turned around. He smiled when he saw she was feeling around for him on the bed. She was still half asleep. He looked back into the mirror to find stubble all over his face.
Mark sighed, then grabbed his razor. A knock suddenly sounded at the door, Mark jumped slightly, causing him to nick himself.
"Enter." Mark said, waking up Grace.
The door opened to find Carrie looking in at the dark room with only a small crack in the window for light. The light reflected off the mirror Mark was using, which shown on only a part of Mark's face.
"Sorry to wake you," Carrie said with a bow.
"It's alright," Grace said with a yawn.
She joined Mark at the sink, grabbing her tooth brush and some paste.
"You're awake awfully early," Grace commented with the brush in her mouth.
"I thought that Green would and wanted to catch him," Carrie replied. "But now I can't go back to sleep."
"You saw him?" Mark asked. "Suppose we wont have to grab him then. But I'm not surprised he's already up."
"He likes the sunrise," Grace added, "says it gives him energy. Why did you want to catch him?"
"I wanted to see if he could take me on a bounty hunt." Carrie said.
"Ah," Mark said in pain, nicking himself again. He glanced over at Carrie in surprise. "You asked him to take you on a hunt?"
"Yeah," Carrie replied, "is that bad?"
"Green doesn't like when people go with him on bounties," Grace remarked. "Especially if it's you."
"You guys go on bounties with him, why would he care?" Carrie asked.
"Green only goes with me," Mark said. "He doesn't like when people slow him down." Mark scoffed, "sometimes he doesn't even like when I tag along. But Grace rarely comes with." Mark turned back to shaving. "Regardless of that though, if Green goes on a bounty early, it means he's dealing with something."
"Dealing with something?" Carrie asked.
Mark looked at Grace, then gestured to Carrie. Grace nodded, inviting Carrie inside, and leaving Mark to shave. Though he could still hear their conversation.
"Whenever Green is going through a particular mood, he tries to be on the move." Grace said. "And he usually likes to be alone. So don't feel bad."
"I don't, I understand." Carrie replied. "What do you think he's thinking about?" Carrie asked.
"I don't know," Grace replied, "that boy doesn't like to talk. You'd think that a twenty-one year old would be better at communication."
Mark finished his shave, then grabbed a towel and walked out. The girls were sitting on the bed when Mark walked in.
"It's not that he's bad at communicating," Mark said. "I mean, he is. But it's less about that and more that he feels he shouldn't put the weight on someone else."
"That doesn't make sense." Grace argued.
"Does for use," Mark said.
"Who's us?" Grace asked.
"Guys," Mark answered. "We don't really have the luxury to express our worries. And even if we could, it's not the sort of thing that makes us comfortable. Ultimately, we couldn't care less."
"That seems counterintuitive," Carrie said.
Mark shrugged, "he is bad at communicating. Though given what he did, I'm not really surprised." The two looked at him questioningly, and Mark could tell Carrie was going to ask a question. "Just make sure you don't pick up on his habits when you get older, ok," Mark quickly said.
"Older?" Carrie asked, "I'm older than Green."
Both Mark and Grace paused, "you are?" Grace finally asked.
"Mhm," Carrie responded. "I turned thirty-two three months ago."
Mark's jaw hung slightly open, "You're older than me?" Mark asked, surprised.
"How old are you?" Carrie asked.
"I'm twenty-six," Mark responded, "and Grace is twenty-two."
They all sat in silence for a moment, before Mark eventually just smiled.
"Well, I suppose that's an elf for ya," he said sarcastically. "And here I thought you were thirteen or something.
"Thirteen?" Grace asked, "I thought you were nine."
Carrie shook her head, "nope, I'm thirty-two. Why did you think I was younger?"
"Well you do kind of act like a child," Mark said.
"I do?" Carrie said, embarrassed, Mark nodded. "Well, I mean, If we looked at it from an elf's standards, I'm only like one and a half. I'm practically an infant with more of a sense of self."
"An infant you say?" Grace said. "Then how old would Green be?"
"At twenty-one he would be just a bit older than a one year old."
"So every decade for a human is a half year for Elves?" Mark asked.
Carrie shrugged, "Huh," Grace said, "well then maybe you and Green could work."
"W-what?" Carrie said flustered.
"Well I thought you were just a child crushing on an older and more mature man," Grace admitted, "but this could actually work. Hm, I can't wait till Green gets a load of this."
"Uh, can we please not tell him?" Carrie asked. "I'd rather we keep this a secret?"
"Why?" Mark asked, "he already sees you as a child, if we want to put you two together, it would be better that he sees you as an adult."
"Put us together?" Carrie asked with a blush. "I don't know, he might be younger but he's a lot more mature for an elf his age. Most of what I've seen from others his age, they're all just getting in trouble. Most seem to thrive on chaos.
"But Green's calm, and he seems like he knows more than Elves in their fifth century. I'd love to hear where he came from, those Elves probably spend a lot of time with their kids."
Mark and Grace looked at one another.
"What?" Carrie asked.
"I'm not sure where he came from," Grace answered.
"Me neither," Mark added, "the first time we met he just showed up out of nowhere, literally. Even the people I used to work for had no idea who he was or who his parents were."
"I met him a little over two years ago," Grace added. "Whenever I asked where he came from—he would either ignore the question or tell me where I found him. "The alley," he would say."
Carrie looked down in disappointment. Mark set down the towel and sat on the bed next to Grace.
"I think it's safe to say we don't know where he came from," Mark said. "But I doubt that matters. If he wanted us to know he'd tell us. Besides, he's one flaming good guy."
Carrie smiled, "yeah, he's strong too."
"Oh yeah he is," Mark replied, rubbing a shoulder. "He outmatched me so soundly the first time we fought I couldn't even move." Mark said with a smile. "Anyways, we should probably get ready to go, I'm betting Green will be waiting for us at the train station.
Green waited for Mark, Grace, and Careless at the train station. It's shipping out in five minutes, Green thought, where are they?
"Sorry," a voice said. Green turned to find the three jogging over, Carrie wearing a cap to hide the top part of her ears. "I see where on time though," Mark said.
"On time is ten minutes early," Green argued, "whatever, let's just board. I saw a Paipite earlier today and I don't want to spend a week walking out of a forest this time."
Carrie sat beside Green once more, hoping their group wouldn't have another clash on the train. Their last ride hadn't been ideal, but she hadn't found it all that terrible either.
She stole a glance at Green. As always, his expression remained cold and calculative—though his eyes weren't visible. That didn't trouble her, though. His aura did that.
It's darker than before, she thought. It shimmered with a reddish-grey glow—a mix of his usual silver and a deep, unsettling crimson. The sight intrigued her, but the wisps of miasma leaking from it made her stomach churn slightly.
It wasn't so uncomfortable that she didn't want to be near however. In fact—she felt more comfortable with him than without.
I think it's safe to say we don't know where he came from, Mark's words hung in her mind. She glanced to the next seat over—where Mark and Grace sat. Mark was sleeping against the wall and Grace was asleep against him. Carrie smiled, and glanced at Green.
He wasn't sleeping of course, at times it seemed like he didn't even need sleep. She rested her head against his shoulder, but he flinched and jerked away. Carrie frowned.
Did I do something wrong? She questioned. Is this because I asked if I could go on a bounty with him? No—that was too recent..
It had only been just under two weeks since they'd gotten out of Septaroth Forest. That had been when Green had started acting differently. More specifically, Carrie thought, it was when he came back with Vicky's husband. What happened in there?
He had acted dismissive for a time after that, then seemed to warm up. Only for him to act cold again right after the Target Fest's first round. Was he just moody after a fight?
When she'd asked Grace the question, Grace told her he was always moody. But he felt different this time.
"Green?" Carrie asked.
"Hm?" Green replied.
"Where did you come from?" Carrie asked. She couldn't tell if he was looking at her or not, his glasses obscured his eyes. Even to her own.
"Why do you ask?" Green questioned.
Carrie shrugged, "I don't know."
"If you have no reason, I don't see the need for the knowledge." Green said.
"Isn't curiosity enough of a reason?" Carrie asked.
"No," Green replied.
Carrie sat back in a pout. Then she smiled, "I would like to know who the people protecting me are." Carrie said mischievously. "A background check is common, isn't it?" Green didn't reply. "Oh come on, please. I gave you a good reason."
Green nodded, "I came from the city of Orlar," Green answered. "My sister found me there and took me in. I've been working as a bounty hunter since then. If you must know, my official record is clean.
I've carried out every bounty with precision, and have completed each task as perfectly as I can manage. If you fear for your safety, I would advise you keep that fear close. Fear is the mind's way of keeping you alive."
"What did you do before being a bounty hunter?" Carrie asked.
"My previous endeavors do not relate to this job nor bounty hunting as a whole." Green said smoothly.
"Can you tell me anyways?" Carrie asked, trying to get him to look her in the eyes.
Green shook his head, and Carrie scowled. Then, feeling rebellious for one reason or another—she took off her cap and pulled her hair back, revealing long Elven ears.
Green must've glanced over, for he quickly took her cap and slapped it back on her head.
"What are you thinking!?" Green whispered.
"It makes me hot," Carrie thought, "and it hurts my ears."
"It'll be more painful if I have to shove you against the wall!" Green whispered in frustration. Carrie paused, and Green raised his eyebrows. "I meant I would have to keep others from taking you." He signed. "You're a fifty-six full raches bounty. Do you have any idea what people would do to get their hands on you!?"
"What if I wanted to go with someone else?" Carrie asked, feeling a thrill in getting a rise out of him.
Green paused, which made Carrie smile.
"If that's your wish then I'll respect it." Green said out loud.
He got up, then sat down on a different seat. Carrie's thrill turned to concern almost instantly. She glanced back and forth from Green to Mark and Grace. Mark and Grace were asleep and couldn't help.
She suddenly felt exposed, like a lone animal abandoned. She looked around herself, watching to make sure no one was looking. She scooted over to where Green had been sitting and bundled up, trying to hide her face with her cap.
Carrie felt a vibration on her seat, and looked up, thinking it was Green. Someone else sat next to her, the man was unshaven, and his aura was pulsing. A sign he was nervous. Is he worried about being on a train? Carrie thought.
The man looked at her, then smiled. She smiled back, sitting upright. "What's your name?" Carrie asked.
"Phil," the man replied, "What's yours?"
"My name is Carrie," She said out loud, glancing over to see if Green was watching. He would be able to hear their conversation. "Say, do you know any bounty hunters?" she asked, stealing another glance at Green.
"Bounty hunters?" Phil replied, "Why is a child your age looking for bounty hunters?"
"Well, I'm not exactly a child," Carrie replied. "For a human anyway," she took off her cap. Letting her elongated ears flop down slightly. "I'm an elf you see and I can't find my way back home. All's I know is that there is a large bounty to bring me safely home. Would you happen to know anyone with means to help me?"
Phil grinned, then put an arm around her shoulder. "Dear, I myself am a bounty hunter, where is this home you speak of?"
Carrie moved away to get his arm off her. "Sorry but I'd rather not be touched, it's not really appropriate for Elves. My home is Lindhael. The Elven city in the west."
"I see, well I'm meeting my friends in the next town," Phil said. "If you like we can stop there and me and my friends can escort you back home. And per your request, we won't lay a finger on you."
Carrie smiled, then looked over to Green, who was still facing forward.
"I'd like that, thank you." Carrie replied.