Red Hawk

Chapter Nine: New Hawk

Some time had passed since Loki had joined the guild, and in that time many others had joined the ranks of Red Hawk. The guild now found itself fifteen strong. Kai was in his room, having just gotten ready for the day. There was a knock at his door. Opening it, he saw one of the newer members standing there. A young woman with navy hair and crimson eyes, Ezna Stromborn. She was the newest member to join the guild, having only arrived the day before.

"Can I help you?" Kai asked with a tired voice. He hadn't even had the time to fully wake up, having had a rough time sleeping in general. But here was this person disturbing him, fully awake.

"I was hoping the two of us could work together today," she smiled brightly. Kai was shocked over this, wondering why she would want to work with him. In all honesty, he hadn't even been thinking about taking request as often as he used to. Ever since learning of Hide's death, Kai had been more focused on training. Since it had been a while since he did request, he decided to go with her.

A few hours later, the two of them met up to look through the request on file. With the growth of members, the guild was becoming even more popular. Thus, more request were coming in than ever. Sabrina saw the two of them walk in together, "Doing a group job today? Well, that's unusual for you Kai."

He rubbed his hand through his hair, "Well, thought it was time for a change of pace."

Ezna jumped into the conversation, "Well since he inspired me to join, I figured I'd want my first job for Red Hawk to be with him."

"Oh?" Sabrina said in a suspicious tone, "Do tell."

"Near the start of the year, Kai saved my town from a pack of wild wolves," Ezna smiled. Kai looked at her, a look of confusion on his face. He couldn't recall doing such a job.

But Sabrina pulled it up, "Oh yes, the Meronae incident." It seemed to have really happened, so he must have just forgotten about it. Sabrina handed them the binder, and the two of them started to look through the options. Request were coming in from all over the country. A lot of them were dangerous, but most were simple task. But no matter how dangerous or simple, Ezna seemed to want to do them all. She was reminding Kai of himself when he first joined.

Then, something caught Kai's eye. A request from a small town up north. A swordsman had recently appeared in town, each day challenging someone from town to a death match. A picture had even been attached to the request form. A picture he recognized.

"Elryn?!" Kai nearly shouted. It was the swordsman that Hibiki had forced to fight him before. "But, he wouldn't...," It seemed as if Hibiki was still controlling him somehow.

Ezna could see how invested Kai was, "We'll do this one." Before Kai could protest, Sabrina went ahead and entered the information. It seemed the two of them would be taking this on together. Last time Kai fought Elryn, he was fighting for his kidnapped friends. But he was not killing innocent townsfolk while doing so.

What has Hibiki done to you Kai questioned as he grit his teeth.

As they stood there, Odin came in to see Kai, "Please come with me for a moment. There is something I must talk with you about."

"Can't we talk about it here?" questioned Kai.

"I am afraid not," smiled Odin, "this is of the utmost importance, and must be spoken in secrecy." With a shrug, Kai followed Odin. Promising Ezna that he would be back before she knew it.

The two of them started to head towards the station, Kai remaining as quiet as they made their way.

Ezna on the other hand, she was trying her best to keep the conversation going, "So you've seen this swordsman before? Was it a failed mission?" She received no answer. Taking that as him not liking the subject, she quickly changed the topic, "So Risolden, I wonder what they do up there? I don't even remember seeing it on a map before."