CHAPTER ELEVEN

THREE MONTHS LATER

The Warren is bustling as per usual with its less than honorable inhabitants scraping by to survive another day.  

Everyone in Ryoko knows if you want to find the worst of the worst dragons: The Warren is your place.

Unscrupulous traders, ladies of the night, and 

cutthroat thieves at every corner.

All paths in the Warren lead to trouble.

Down a less traveled alleyway a group of mixed dragons are loading up crates into a wagon. The older one, a male dragon with an eyepatch and a scar, growls at his other companions to move faster.

"We ain't got all day, you shit stains!!" He barked as he kept pacing back and forth. Worried someone will see them.

Not that the unfortunate soul would tattle to the towns guard but that they would tell other dragons of the Warren and have to share in the profits of their stolen gemstones. 

"Oi! B-boss! We're ready to go!" A tiny blue is dragon said meekly 

"FINALLY!" The older one shouted as he pushed past the other to get to the cart.

"Th-The warehouse is empty! W-we just need to burn it and get out of here!" A dull gray dragon said in excitement.

"Aye!" The older dragon grumbled "Now get the flames started! We're already behind schedule!" 

"R-right Boss!" The younger two exclaimed in unison.

The two ran in the building to kickstart a fire in the dilapidated warehouse in an attempt to cover up their little scheme.

The gray dragon made a small pile of old wood and paper while the other tried to click two red gems together. Sparks flew in the air as he tried to make a fire.

"W-why isn't it working!?!" He yelled confused as the two red gems weren't creating a large enough spark to light the pile. 

"Nngh-! Gimme that-!" The blue one shouted as he swiped the gems from the gray one's hands. 

He proceeds to repeat the process of clanking the two red gems together, with no luck of making a spark to set the warehouse aflame.

"Li! G-get the boss! It's not working-!" The blue dragon yelled in frustration.

"Why don't you do it Gi!?!" The gray dragon whined

"Because you're closer! Now go!!!" Li yelled

Gi huffed and stormed out the door of the warehouse only to be met by not his boss but someone else.

CRASH

Li heard something loud bang against the side of the warehouse, making him jump in fear.

"G-Gi!?!" 

"Nope! No Gi here!?! And who names their kid Gi!?! Your mom sure didn't like you!!" Another voice rang out.

Li looked around the dark warehouse but couldn't pinpoint where the voice came from. 

"D-don't mess with me!! I'm part of the Lang Mafia!!" Li shouted, panicking now without either Gi or his Boss to protect him. 

"Oh I know" the voice mocked "too bad we took care of your buddies already, so no one is coming to back you up" 

Li turned around and was met with the owner of the voice: Rank 5 Hunter Shiro Hanamura.

Li screamed in fear having now come face to face with the now infamous Hunter who was strong enough to blow a house down with one punch just three months ago. 

"I DON'T WANNA DIE!?!" He proclaimed as he fell and fainted from fright. 

Shiro stood there with his bō staff in hand.

"I was hoping for more dammit" He mumbled upset over the lack of promised excitement from his partner.

Shiro moved on quickly to grab the collar of the other dragon and effortlessly drag him outside.

The Towns Guard had finally arrived to see Kurosu holding down Gi with his sword pressed up against his neck. 

"Y-You…You caught them!?!" One of the town guards yelled in utter shock "we've been on their trail for months!!"

Kurosu moved to let the guards officially arrest the dragon. 

"Don't forget this guy! I think he's in need of dry pants though" Shiro commented as he gave his criminal to the guards as well.

The main town guard looked up at Kurosu, frightened at the size of the Black Dragon compared to him and his lower officers.

"Eh…O-On behalf of the R-Ryoko towns guard! We thank you for your service in a-apprehending these criminals!" He stammered.

"Well what can we say!?! It's worth the gold!" Shiro commented, trying to lighten the tension.

"Shall…we escort you back to the station to receive your reward? The Warren i-isn't always safe".

"...no" Kurosu finally said something, "we can walk on our own. Will see you there. Shiro, we're leaving" 

"Ook" 

Kurosu and Shiro walked past the five or so town guards. 

The main officer looked at them leave, in awe and jealousy.

"We've been having a run for our money with those two! This the 8th Lang member they've this month!" One guard grumbled.

"Those two are unstoppable. I heard the white haired one tore three houses down in one punch!"

"Well I don't like it! Two outsiders swooping in and doing our jobs!?!" 

The main officer silenced his men quickly "Be quiet and get back to work! Survey the area!" 

"Sir, we've received word that Lang has not been found yet" one of the younger guards reported.

"B-But we received Intel he was here!?!" another guard exclaimed.

The main officer stayed silent