Brothers In Crime

Heavy footsteps crunch the lush green grass as someone walks through the emerald green forest. On them was a big sack full of items that jingled with every step he took as he traversed the greenery. He eventually finds a dirt path which he follows back to the Viridian kingdom city gate before getting stopped by two knights that guarded the said gate. "Halt. State your business?" One of the knights asks which the person responds. "Bartender of the city tavern. Just bringing in some stuff for my business." The person was then revealed to be the bartender that Tetsuga frequents to every chance he had. Getting a much better look, the bartender was seen with his usual bartending attire but with one thing out of the ordinary for him which was his now missing arm that was wrapped up in bandages. "Right. Sorry the kingdom is in high alert after the attack over at the castle so we were told to question anyone who exits and enters. You may proceed." The knight revealed before letting them through.

The bartender gave them a thankful nod and walked past them as he continued on into the city. The city was very much the same as it used to be. The only thing now was the multiple posters of Tetsuga and Derrick posted all over the place. Usually posters like those were reserved for the adventurers guild bounty board but since the two had officially made enemies of the entire kingdom after assaulting and permanently injuring the royal adviser, the kingdom personally made it so that everyone sees it and is made aware of their apparent threat. But the bartender didn't bat much of an eye. It had been 2 days since the incident and I had gotten used to the scenery. He continues to walk through, passing by multiple people who went about their days, he eventually finds himself back at his tavern as he enters it. Usually this time of the day, the tavern would have been full of people by now. Especially Tetsuga who would've been the first one. But the place was empty. Nothing but chairs and tables with no one to serve. The bartender sighs before walking inside and shutting the doors behind him.

Once he was in, he made his way over to a door, way at the back as he opened it to enter. He was then greeted by a storage room filled with rum, bread, and other ingredients that are used for dishes that his place serves. But there was also one more thing there apart from those things. A hatch. He walks over to it and opens to reveal a ladder leading straight down to a cellar. He carefully feeds the sack full of stuff first before climbing down into it as he makes his way down to the cellar. After a moment of climbing down the ladder, he makes at the bottom as he greets the two people inside. "Hey, you two. I got what you asked for." The bartender says as he turns around and presents the sack of stuff to none other than Tetsuga and Derrick who had been hiding down in the tavern cellar for 2 whole days after their escapade at the castle. "Ha! Ha! Thank you so much." Derrick spoke before taking the sack off of the man before retreating back over to his little spot in the cellar which was at a big table in the corner.

"Did you experience any trouble while you were out?" Tetsuga then came forward and chatted up with the bartender. "Not really. The kingdom is still on high alert so you two can't come out yet." The bartender tells them as Tetsuga sighs in disappointment. "Figures... Well, thanks for letting us crash here. I'm surprised that they didn't bring this place down after you guys fought those knights for me." Tetsuga points out. Surprised and kinda relieved that the tavern hadn't been brought to ruins because of him. "No worries. You can stay as long as you like. Not like we're getting any business right now. Everyone that fought back the knights were either arrested or injured for the time being." The bartender says as he takes a seat to rest his legs a bit. "Yeah... Sorry bout the arm... Guess you guys fought them back hard for me." Tetsuga says, feeling guilty about the bartenders missing arm. Tetsuga was usually the one to take hits for people and not the other way around. "Don't worry about it. I'll manage. Besides, they messed with my best customer. Wasn't gonna let them get away with it." The bartender says, both sharing a small chuckle over it.

"Anyways, I gotta go do some more errands. You two stay here and don't make too much of a fuss. People might get suspicious... Or think that my place is haunted by ghosts." The bartender tells them and jokes a bit as he heads up the ladder once again. "Yeah.... so It isn't haunted by ghosts, right?" Tetsuga spoke, before trying to get confirmation from the bartender but was left with no reply as the bartender was already gone. "... It probably isn't." Tetsuga mutters before looking around the room. His eyes eventually landed over to Derrick who was inspecting the items inside the sack which was seen to be his glass beakers, vials, burners and other alchemist essentials. Since there was nothing else for him to do at the moment, he approaches Derrick to check up on him. "Hey kid. You holding up okay?" Tetsuga starts as he leans over the boy's shoulder. "Hey Mr Tetsuga. Yeah, it's nothing I'm not familiar with." Derrick says as he continues to inspect. "Again. Gotta say it, not a good thing still." Tetsuga tells him as he takes a seat on the table and continues to talk.

"Y'know... Throughout all of this, we never really talked much about each other to... Well, each other." Tetsuga says. "Yeah. I guess we haven't. I kinda assumed that you weren't too approving of me prying so I didn't ask you about it." Derrick replies. Which was true in retrospect. During their partnering up after their time in that quaint village, they didn't really talk much about their personal lives. They would talk but most of their conversations were about current events. And those usually end with Derrick heading back to his lab and Tetsuga drinking up a storm over at the tavern. But considering they have all this time to themselves- albeit with no choice on the matter. Tetsuga wanted to know more about the kid outside his persona that he gave off for himself. "So. You mind me asking some things about you? you can ask some things about me if you want." Tetsuga proposes which Derrick thought about for a moment. "Sure. I'm open to it." Derrick responds as he shifts himself in place to face Tetsuga properly while they begin asking each other things.

"Alright... Where do I start...." Tetsuga awkwardly mutters to himself as he thinks about what to ask first. "... How well did you grow up?" He asks. Derrick thinks for a moment before responding. "Well, I grew up fine I guess. Back when I was little, I lived with my mom and dad here in the city. My mom was a really great alchemist which is the reason why I pursued it in the first place. And my dad generally helped my mom with whatever they needed. It was a great time back then." Derrick recounts and explains to Tetsuga. A faint smile on his face while he spoke. "One day, My mom and dad decided to go on an expedition for something that she needed. I assume it was for her life long project so she and my dad left to go and find it while I sat at home to wait for them." Derrick says. "And what happened then?" Tetsuga asks. wanting him to continue. "... They never came back." Derrick revealed. A somber tone in his voice but still held a small smile despite it.

"Days turned to weeks, then to months. And by then I had accepted they weren't gonna come back. So I took all the books my mom had stored up throughout her years as an alchemist and read every single one." Derrick said. "You read every single one?" Tetsuga inquired. Finding it as a very impressive feat for the young man. "That's right. From the first one to the 2nd last. I got it all in my head so when I was forced to move out of the house since no one was there to pay for me to live there anymore. I'd still have it with me... Forever." Derrick says as he reminisced about his time sitting around and reading every single page of every single book his mom wrote. "Wow... Kicked out of your own house at that age.... Wait, you said 2nd to the last right? What's that about?" Tetsuga asked since that was an oddly specific detail that stuck out to him. "Well that's because my mom had the last notebook with her when she went on the expedition with my dad." Derrick explains which cleared things up for Tetsuga.

"Man, I'm sorry to hear all that, kid. All those years, you had to live in the woods and live off of whatever you had. That's kinda Like.... what I... did..." Tetsuga responded before slowly realizing the similarities of their experiences. This did catch Derricks' attention as he asked him a question this time. "How about you Mr Tetsuga., how did you grow up?" Derrick asks. Tetsuga knew that this is where the conversation was heading so with a sigh, he shares it with the kid. "I know I'm being unfair about this, but I don't wanna explain it in full detail. You okay with that?" Tetsuga asks Derrick who gently nodded a yes. Understanding his reluctance. With another sigh, he begins to explain. "Well... As a kid. I was very... Stupid. And dumb." He starts. "But I always had this dream of becoming more than what I was back then. Back when I was little. And because of that, I did something stupid and basically ended up experiencing what you did. Had to live off the streets. Trying to perform for people in order to make some money to get by..." he explained. His head drooped a little as he spoke.

"Luckily, I met some really good people that helped me get off the ground and become a somewhat better man than I was previously... But I also did something stupid again and ended up back to being alone... Then I roamed for a bit. Kingdom to kingdom, trying to find a place for me... Then I came to this place. And I met you. You on the ground getting pelted with pebbles by little kids." Tetsuga finishes as he looks over at Derrick with a small smile who also shares the same expression with him. "What an unusual coincidence that is." Derrick says with a slight chuckle. "That's also not a good thing." Tetsuga replies with a chuckle too before ruffling Derricks' hair. "Y'know kid... We're gonna have to get out of her and find ourselves a place to stay." Tetsuga said as he laid his hand on the Derricks' shoulder. "So when we do. I'm gonna try and fill that missing time with your parents. That's a promise." He tells Derrick as he holds out a fist for him to bump.

"Then if that's the case. I'll fill in your missing time when you travelled around all alone. That's also a promise." Derrick says as he bumps Tetsuga's fist with his own. "So... What does this make us?" Derrick asks as he looks up at him. "Easy kid. That means we're brothers in crime now. Metaphorically... And literally." Tetsuga says with a smirk. "And for our first order of business as brothers in crime, we wait for Barty to come back from his errands and plan ourselves a way out of this kingdom!" Tetsuga says after he brings Derrick closer by wrapping his arm around his head. "What do you say, kid?" Tetsuga asks as he looks down to see him. "Ha! Ha! Let's do it!"