The Horseman of Calamity

Chapter 21 - The Gathering

Hung ran through the crowded midday streets, running as fast as he could to the steps of the capitol. He was already late but he knew with every passing minute that the chances of everyone else berating him for being late would increase. It had been a full day since they had all arrived at Lugnvar and now it was about to strike noon exactly. He and his friends had made the plan to regroup at the capitol at this time after all. At the steps of the capitol was a statue, erected in honor of the late Lady Grefena, for her contributions to the country's energy development. He was sure he could see his friends all gathered up ahead. Yes, he was sure of it, there was a sizable group of people up ahead by the statue. Yesterday was certainly a memorable one for him though, and he hoped today would be just as great.

The previous day, he and Avery had fallen asleep on the same bed during the late afternoon while Shitou was gone. In fact, it was something that had bugged him a little since yesterday.

"Hey, kids, wake up! Guess who won the apple eating contest?!" Shitou shouted.

Avery was the first to awake and immediately shoved Hung off of him who had rolled over a bit close to him in their sleep. Hung got knocked off of the bed and quickly stood up, confused as to why Avery shoved him before looking at Shitou. On the man's dirty white shirt was a small little badge.

Hung looked at Avery and then back at Shitou, "Uh... congrats?"

"Finally, you got back here! I'm getting back to work." Avery scoffed and left the shack.

"Huh? What's gotten into him? Oh well!" Shitou dismissively laughed and sat down on the bed.

Hung too sat back down on the bed, "So I was wondering why you brought me here?"

"Ah, right, sorry about that, it's just people always want me to do stuff around here." Shitou then cleared his throat, "You are one special kid, I can just tell! So tell ya what? I'll offer you a job here at my shipyard."

"Why's that? What do you want from me in return? My sword?"

"Ya know, not everything in life has to be a give and take. I'm just trying to help you out here, kid."

"I know, but most people aren't like that, so how do I know you're any different?"

"You've got a point there, words can't mean anything until they meet up with actions, no? I like the way you think! So tell ya what, I'll make you trust me."

Shitou then hopped off the bed and started walking back to the shipyard.

"If you've got anywhere to be then go ahead, I'm not making you stay here. But if you run into any trouble, just throw my name out there, it'll be more than enough to keep everyone's hands off of you."

Hung followed after him, "Well, I think I'll stay for the night. I don't have any other plans until tomorrow. That's when I'm supposed to be meeting up with my friends."

Shitou's eyebrow raised, "Tomorrow eh? Well, that's perfect, you can help me with my ship in the meantime."

"Shipbuilding? I know nothing about shipbuilding."

"No problem! Avery or one of the guys can catch you up to speed, and you can start out with all of the easy stuff!"

When they stepped outside, a familiar-looking girl was standing near the entrance of the yard, seemingly waiting for Shitou. At first, Hung wasn't sure if his eyes were deceiving him due to his poor vision, but as he got closer, his eyes widened when he saw the girl.

"What the hell is she doing here?" Hung thought to himself.

Avery waved Shitou over to her saying, "She's asking to see you, old man." before returning back to giving orders.