Recompense for a Lost Soul

[v] An Artistic Encounter - |part 1|

Pitcher woke up late. Very late. He wasn't very good with mornings, preferring to work at night. And waking up was never his strong suit. No matter how hard he tried, even during his mercenary days, he could never get a proper sleep schedule, always needing someone else to wake him up. 

This time, Sylli woke him up. She ended up having to shake his entire body to get him to wake. 

"Wh-wha-what. . .?" he stammered groggily. 

"Wake up, Pitcher."

"What. . ."

It took a while for the grogginess to leave his mind, after which he got up and stretched, yawning loudly. 

"Rise and shine. Its morning time." Sylli appeared to have been awake for at least a few hours now. She had donned her vest and boots again, the edge of her boot was covered in snow, indicating that she probably went outdoors. She handed Pitcher a mug of water and tossed a half eaten apple at him. 

The mug he accepted and the apple he caught, partaking in both. This is my breakfast I guess. Sylli's attitude towards Pitcher had changed drastically from when they had first met. Sylli thought Pitcher was nine and Pitcher thought Sylli was twenty five. Since finding out each others actual age, interaction had progressed smoothly. 

"So what's your plan?" Sylli asked, opening the window to let in a freezing draft.

"First of all, what's the time?" 

"Its been seven strikes of the clock since midnight," Sylli said, counting on her fingers.

"I see."

"So will you be leaving now? or. . .?" Sylli inquired, crouching down in a corner to look for something.

"I'm not sure. . . I feel partially responsible for any of the surviving six's actions." Pitcher walked to the window and gazed out, staring at the crows, people and horses. He breathed in the calming morning scent. "I wonder. . ." he said, "could I kill him today if given the chance?"

"Forgive me if I'm wrong but Mallen is incredibly well-versed in the Magnus arts. While I'm sure you'd give him a good fight, It'd be better for us all if you didn't destroy the city with a large scale battle."

"I want to see it through. . . and besides, I came here for a reason, can't just leave it. I'll stay and provide backup." He looked to Sylli for her reaction. She seemed impassive, neither option bothered her. He remembered something he had been meaning to ask, "will you be joining in the capture. . . err -arrest?"

"No. I'll be watching from the sidelines. If I remember what they said, they were gonna identify Mallen's men from the people gathered in the museum and trail them to the art gallery and catch them red-handed if lucky. Its expected that Mallen himself will show up though there is obviously a possibility that he won't. . . either way, you'll be in danger if you show yourself."

"I'll keep watch in case the whole thing goes south and or if the bastards suddenly change plans. Also what time are they expected to attack?" 

"Somewhere around midday if I'm not mistaken. All in all they're expecting a calm and quiet arrest." Sylli said, amused.

"arrests are never calm and quiet." 

"Hey! we can all still hope." She chuckled and swept her eyes across the room, picking up her cloak and putting it on. "I'll be going now. . . We might never see each other again. Take your time and leave."

Pitcher was spacing out when it registered with him and he exclaimed, "Oh yeah, right. Well we'll see where this goes. See you later. . . or never." Pitcher waved unenthusiastically.