I really wish she would give us a warning before doing something insane.
It was difficult to breathe—the murderous glares were suffocating. Sweat climbed down the side of her neck. Suisei averted her eyes, trying to avoid making eye contact with the angry patrons inside the tavern.
She shot a glance at Marine. The pirate was admiring the interior with a radiant smile, completely undaunted by the bloodthirsty gazes.
Never mind, I forgot that her common sense is completely warped.
Suisei had an inkling that Marine was up to something unusual when they stepped into the slums of Kalinga. The decrepit buildings and foul stench in the air evoked an odd sense of nostalgia. It was familiar, reminiscent of her childhood before she ascended to stardom as Suisei Hoshimachi. Still, no amount of poor childhood upbringing could prepare her to face an entire den of thugs.
The entirety of the tavern was occupied by menacing men that likely had no shortage of experience with murder and banditry. They all looked rugged, with dark skin tones marred by the sun and vicious-looking scars maimed across their face and arms. Whereas regular people would have tried to hide their deformations and imperfections, these folks wore them like medals of honor.
Scars, left by knives and blades, were traced with war paint. Tattoos were drawn around the skin disfigured by burns and wounds—not to cover them, but to exaggerate and draw attention.
Whatever laws governed the civilized world clearly didn't apply here. Suisei winced as Marine suddenly stepped into the lawless zone.
The tavern was silent, except for the rhythmic click of Marine's heels. She strutted across the dirty wooden floor, tarnished by rot and mould, somehow undeterred by the vicious glares following her back. Suisei froze at the entrance with Vesper, unsure what to do.
I don't want to be here.
Her common sense begged her to run and get as far away as possible from this place, but her legs refused to obey. She had to stay by Marine. It was the only way she had made it this way in this insane adventure—by desperately clinging onto her back. Also, while her pirate companion was chronically insane, she had never intentionally brought them into danger, right? R-right?!
Marine suddenly spun around. She wore a fiendish smile. Her crimson eyes glimmered with anticipation, like a hunter awaiting her next prey. Suisei shrank under the suspicious gaze. Marine suddenly tilted her head as if confounded by Suisei and Vesper's hesitance.
"Come, you two," she said sweetly, waving them over.
Suisei's body moved like a mechanical doll, compelled to obey. Her legs nearly wobbled as she moved stiffly across the tavern, trying to ignore the fact that her and Vesper had now become the center of attention.
"Suisei, help me with this. Get it on the wall, please," Marine said, handing her a scroll.
It's infuriating how calm she is!
Suisei received the scroll with shaky hands. She slowly unravelled it, revealing a cruelly drawn poster of rugged warrior cladded in blemished armour. Below the drawing was a few sets of simple words that read:
Looking for fearless warriors.
Low pay.
Tough conditions.
Lots of glory and honor.
It was a recruitment poster.
Who in their right mind would respond to this?!
YOU ARE READING
A Distant Reverie
Fanfiction"Careful now. Try not to move too suddenly, alright?" Vesper Noir wakes up one day in a foreign land with gaps in his memories...and a sharp blade pressed against his throat. His assailant? A beautiful, self-proclaimed female pirate with a sweet voi...
