Red Hawk

Chapter Sixteen: Recovered

Ezna had finally been released from the hospital's care, fully recovered and ready to go. As thanks for helping save the town, the mayor gifted her with a metal arm to replace the one she lost. Even though her body was back to perfect health, she knew she wasn't ready to start taking on missions again. So for the last few days she had been traveling from town to town. Dealing with lowly bandits and the like, getting back into shape. While traveling, she stopped by an apparent world famous pizzeria.

It had been a while since she had eaten pizza, so she took the time to grab a slice. Within the first bite, she was disappoint. Not because it was bad, no but because she had eaten better before. Or at least remembered eating better. I miss Kyle's cooking she thought to herself taking the second bite too bad he wasn't reincarnated. Ezna had memories of the other world, of the events that lead to the creation of this one.

She wasn't sure why, but her memories stopped at a strange point. She could recall the face of someone she trusted looking down at her, a spear in her gut. Then, nothing. It pained her to believe it, but this had to have been the moment the other her died. Since she could remember, these memories had haunted her. But when she met Kai, it seemed he couldn't recall their past life together. Though it was short, she hoped he had remembered some of it. Especially her. It made her heart sink thinking about how they had fallen in love in a past life. Only for the new Kai to not remember any of it.

So, she did her best to remind herself he wasn't her Kai. And he probably never would be again. In thinking about the old world, she remembered her group traveling up a mountain to reach the birthplace of Kai's ancestors. Maybe there's something there that can help stop Hibiki. She made it her goal to find her way there again, if it even existed.

Her journey there was postponed though, the station at the town she was in being closed down temporarily. Bandits had set up camp along the tracks, making it too dangerous to travel. This held up a lot of people. And it seemed none of the other travelers in town were guild members. That or they would rather not do a job without getting paid for it.

She considered taking the bandits on herself, but was hesitant. Not sure how many there were, or what the bandits were capable of. But it also wasn't in her nature to give up. So she took the job, the station renting her a hand cart to ride the tracks on. If she could stop the bandits, they were going to wave her travel fee for this trip. Letting her go anywhere she wanted to no matter how far, all for free. Food included.

It was an offer that was hard to beat. But she wanted to make sure the bandits knew who took them down without a doubt. So before heading out, she had a tailor in town embroider a cloak with the Red Hawk emblem. Not only would this allow the bandits to know where she came from, but it would hide her identity should any of Hibiki's henchmen be involved.

She rode on the rails for a few miles with no hiccups. Either the bandits were still further down, or just that good at hiding. One thing that was good about her metal arm, it never got tired from pumping the cart. But that didn't stop her from getting bored of doing so. So she decided to take a break. That's when they attacked. Assuming she was tired, they took this moment to strike.

Only seven of them. An easy number to deal with. They came at her at once, trying to rush her down as fast as possible. "Amateurs," she grinned, gathering lightning around her body. Stretching her arms out, she released the energy out in a ring. Striking all seven at once. Three of them were knocked down on impact, but the remaining four were only pushed back.

Pulling out swords, they rushed her once more. Her eye caught the edge of the blades, causing her to freeze momentarily, remembering her arm being cut off. Sparks flew as one blade cut against her metal arm, Ezna dodging the others at just the right time. She gathered lightning in her palm before charging them individually, slamming her palm into their body wherever she could. Having divided the energy amongst multiple targets reduced the effectiveness of each blow, but stunned them just long enough to deliver a physical blow to knock them down.

This is when the other three attacked again. One of them managed to graze the flesh of her back. Before the wound could get too deep, she reached back and elbowed him in the face. This seemed to worry them. Once person was taking them out with ease. Then one spoke up, "That symbol, she's in a guild."

"So now they're paying to get rid of us?" another replied. She was unsure whether they were fearful or excited. But they seemed to fight harder now. The fight was still going in her favor, but she had to be more careful. More of their attacks landing. But in the end, Ezna managed to strike them all down with her lightning.

With them defeated, all she needed to do was head to where the orange eyes originated. She only hoped to find answers there. Answers, or Kai.

She returned to town with the bandits in tow, turning them in to the proper authorities. As promised, she was awarded free travel to her next destination. "And where would you like a tick to ma'am?" the station manager asked with a smile

"I'm off to Amadite," Ezna smiled back. The manager gave her a faint smile mixed in with confusion. "Is something wrong?"

"No," he shook his head with a hand waving gesture. "It's just, people usually don't go out that far. It's a rather barren area with nothing but old mountains. Surely there's somewhere else you'd rather go."

"Nope," Ezna replied as she reached out her hand for the free pass. With hesitation, he handed her a pass to ride free. The next train leaving the station in that direction was scheduled to leave in half an hour. Until then she would need to wait.

She didn't mind the waiting. After all, it was better than when she had been stuck in a hospital bed unable to do anything. While waiting for her train, she decided to buy a newspaper to give her something to do.

On the front page was an article about Leon having been attacked. She found it strange to read only his eye had been stolen. It sent chills down her spine. Thinking how someone could be weird enough to want another person's eye.

Shehoped to find any bit of lighter news mixed it. Flipping through the paper onlygreeted her with tragedy after tragedy. And a few nutcase stories of an islandmysteriously appearing and vanishing around the world. Seems they'll printanything she chuckled as she reached the crossword section. Maybe apuzzle or two will help pass the time.