Setting Sail
"Hup hup hup hup" the knights sound out as they march down the street as they patrol the area for any suspicious activity. Once they pass by an alleyway, two cloaked figures emerge from it before they start running away. "Looks like they didn't notice us. Which way do we go now" the cloaked figure asks which is revealed to be Tetsuga. "The next turn should be right up ahead." The other cloaked figure replies which is also revealed to be Derrick as he lowers down the map to see where he was going better. They turned the corner and kept making their way down the street. They did get some weird stares as they passed by but luckily no one seemed to call them out meaning their identities were still safe. Though one particular guy seemed to keep their eye on them for a lot longer than everyone else. "The marina...." The guy muttered as it turned out to be the hunter himself, walking among the people as a lowly 'worker' of sorts. Soon after, he descends into a crowd of people before disappearing from sight.
"Uh oh." Derrick sounded out which got the attention of Tetsuga who looked over at him curiously. "What's up kid?" He asks before they both start hearing a lot of metal footsteps. He looks back forward and sees a bunch of knights marching it down towards them in the distance. "The path leads straight through them! There's a high risk we get caught if we run it through!" Derrick informs as they still keep running. Tetsuga thinks up something on the fly and notices the buildings around the two. "I got an idea! Get on my back!" Tetsuga tells the boy as he makes a hard left as Derrick jumps onto his back as he did so. He enters another alleyway and starts to look up to the roof. "Hold on tight kid." He warns as Derricks' grip around him tightens. His hands then start to glow a blue hue before magic telepathic lines shoot out from it and latch onto the roof. He then reels himself down and flings himself and Derrick up over to the roof as he catches the ledge with his hands.
He climbs up and starts to run across the roof. "Haven't done this in a long while! So I'm a bit!-" Tetsuga says before he proceeds to jump the gap between roofs and lands it on the other side. "Rusty!" Tetsuga says as he glances back behind him to relish the first jump. "Haha! Still got it!" Tetsuga says before continuing to run and jump from roof to roof. "How much time we still got?" Tetsuga asked as he jumped and landed onto another roof and passed the marching guards undetected. "We still have time! I'm starting to see the marina in the distance a bit so we're getting closer!" Derrick says as he looks to the horizon. "Alright! Just gotta keep this up until we get there. He kept it going for a few more jumps but then suddenly something strikes the roof tile from below which trips him up in the process. "Oh fudge biscuits!!" Tetsuga yelled as he and Derrick started plummeting down towards the wall of the house In front of them. "Wall!" Derrick shouts but Tetsuga acted quickly and maneuvered Derrick to his front then forced his back to hit the wall. Preventing the boy from smacking straight into it.
"Ough!" Tetsuga grunts as they fell some more. They then hit a door shade on the way down which Tetsuga took the hit for again before finally smacking onto the ground. "Ough!!" The two grunt from the impact as they are both sprawled across the floor after it. "You alright kid?..." Tetsuga asks as he slowly gets back up. "I'm fine. Nothing seems to be broken fortunately. He says as he inspected the sack full of his equipment which was tied around his neck. "That's good. Man, that loose roof tile almost killed us. Though I swear it almost looked like something..." Tetsuga was about to explain but then his eyes slowly noticed something from across the street from them. It was a man in normal clothes but had cloth wrapping around his head. "Hit... It." He says as he stared at the man from across the street with a strange look.
"Do you see something mr Tetsuga?" Derrick asked before also noticing the man across the street as well. "That guy..." Derrick tried to speak but Tetsuga finished it for him "it's the hunter." Tetsuga said. Derrick quickly looked over at him in worry. "The hunter? Are you sure? Maybe it's just a coincidence." Derrick tried to deny the suspicion of it being the hunter but Tetsuga seemed adamant about it since as soon as the man started walking away into the alley and disappeared, Tetsuga immediately wanted to give chase. "C'mon Derrick! We gotta catch that guy!" Tetsuga says as he quickly helps Derrick up and drags him with him. "But the marina!" Derrick tried to remind him but Tetsuga wasn't budging from this decision. "Don't worry about it! We can still make it there after we deal with this persistent asshole!" Tetsuga says as he follows the man through the alley before losing sight of him after rounding a corner. "Hey! Get back here!" Tetsuga shouted as he and Derrick picked up the pace. He rounds the corner and finds himself at the city square as crowds of people were seen loitering and buying from vendors that had set up shop in it.
"Now where did you go..." Tetsuga mutters as he scans the area for any masked men. luckily, Derrick was able to see him as he points it out. "Over there!" Derrick said as he directs Tetsuga sights over to a group of people crowded around a performer which the masked man slowly enters inside of. Disappearing from view once again. "Gotcha!" Tetsuga says as he and Derrick make their way over while also being careful to not make their identities known. "Excuse me, pardon me, just coming through to see the show he he." Tetsuga says as he weaved through the crowd of people with Derrick trialing behind him. "You see him anywhere kid?" Tetsuga asked as he searched through the sea of people to find no masked individual. "I don't see him anywhere either. He must've escaped." Derrick proposes which Tetsuga responded with a click of his tongue. "Crap." He curses. But then something odd happened as from out of nowhere, his side began to hurt like something had stabbed it. "Agh! What the...' Tetsuga yelped in pain as he touched his side and felt something.... Wet. He brings his hand back to look at it and sure enough, there was blood on it. "Shit!" He curses again as he begins frantically looking around to try and find him in the sea of people.
"Mr. Tetsuga, are you alright?" Derrick asked concerned for a little bit. "Hes still in the crowd. He got me on my side whole I wasn't looking." Tetsuga whispered to Derrick as to not raise any suspicion among the crowd as the two stood by. Things were looking dire. The hunter had supposedly lured them into a trap essentially as the crowd prevents them from going all out on the hunter since they would risk getting their identities revealed as well as giving him the ability to hide in plain sight as he plans to slowly and methodically attack them while still being hidden. Derrick would soon realize this and had a risky idea that could help them in this matter. But that would also mean that they would have a lot of trouble getting to the marina. "Mr Tetsuga. I have a plan to try and snuff him out for you. But you have to trust me." Derrick informed him. "Kid, I said we're brothers in crime. Which means I trust you with my life. So what's your plan." He replies which made Derrick smile a little bit. But now was not the time for that as Derrick proceeds to explain. "I'm gonna go and make a distraction and have everyone come over to me. We'll assume that he has a grudge on you for what you did before so he'll be focused on you. Which means he'll be the only one looking at you." Tetsuga understood the plan and nodded in agreement.
So with that, Derrick moved out of the crowd to create a distraction while Tetsuga stayed behind to keep the hunter in the crowd. "Alright punk... Get a piece of me why don't you..." He mutters as he braces himself for any attacks. Then a moment of nothing ensues as the sounds of crowd chatter and the performer were the only things heard. Tetsuga looked to the left, the right, behind. But nothing had happened yet. The anticipation was slightly killing him in the inside as all danger senses he has are flaring up. Then, with that moment of nothingness, a whisper came. "You thought you've won..." The hunter says before slicing his calf open as Tetsuga winces. He quickly turns around only to see just a normal guy standing behind him. "You okay there?" The man asked. Oddly wierded out by him from suddenly turning around. "No no. I'm good. Sorry bout that." Tetsuga apologized as he turns back around. "You're running out of time..." The hunter whispers again before slicing his right shoulder. "Gah!" Tetsuga yelps again as he clutches it in pain. He looks around again, but sees him nowhere. "You're planning to escape on that cruise ship... But I won't let you. " the hunter whispered before slicing the back of his hand this time.
"I'm gonna let you bleed out in this crowd and after I'm done with you... I'll hang that alchemist by his neck at the highest point in this city for all to see..." the hunter whispered as Tetsuga braced for another slice but nothing came. "Your running out of time... Soon that cruise ship will set sail without you and you'll be stranded here destined to die... Let's see how long you'll last... The next strike will be your neck." The hunter said. Leaving Tetsuga with a feeling of dread and anticipation. "Derrick... It's your cue." Tetsuga muttered which was a lucky coincidence as once he says it, Derrick proceeds to create a commotion as he stopped up on a pile of crates. "People!!, look over here!! Witness Alchemy!!" Derrick shouts which gains everyone's attention including the people in the crowd that Tetsuga was in. They all look over to him as Derrick raised two vials of different liquids before smashing it all together and creating a white blast that produced snowflakes that rained upon the people. The people looked in awe and approached Derrick to see more. As they did, the scene got more clearer for Derrick as he sees Tetsuga about to get attacked by the hunter.
"Mr. Tetsuga!!" Derrick shouts to him which alerts him to the hunter. The hunter tries to finish the job but Tetsuga quickly turned around and enhanced his fist with magic which blows the hunter away before crashing through the fountain where the performer was performing on. "Hey do another trick!" One of the people in the crowd says to Derrick as they wanted to see more of what he just did. "Oh, the trick isn't over yet." Derrick tells them which leaves them confused. "What do you mean it's not o-" as soon as they questioned, they were then suddenly hit by an intense drowsiness before they pass out on the floor. This then happened to everyone who had been hot by the snowflake blast that Derrick had made. "Sorry everyone!" He apologizes before climbing down the crates and making his way over to Tetsuga. "Why can't you just stay down!" Tetsuga yells as he watches the hunter get back onto his feet. Ready to fight him one on one. "I was bred to hunt. I am the hunter. And I will not stop until my target has been hunted down and killed." They says as they ready up a stance.
"Well we ain't your prey anymore! So back off!" Tetsuga runs at him to which he does the same. They meet in the middle and proceed to start brawling as Tetsuga blocks two hits with his forearms but get hit in the side on his wound with a kick. "Argh!" Tetsuga yells in pain. The hunter goes to kick him in the side of his head but he stops it again with his forearm. He pushes it away before using his magic to latch onto his other leg and pulls on it, tripping up their stance. He then sends a mean gut punch which sends the Hunter straight into the floor. The hunter then kicks back up before rushing at him again. The hits were lightning quick this time around as Tetsuga could only block one strike before receiving the rest of the bombardment before getting judo thrown into a vedors stall. The stall falls apart with Tetsuga in the middle of it all, on the ground. "Look! It's the wanted man on the poster!" The hunter shouts as he held the cloak that Tetsuga was wearing to conceal his identity. The city folk then began to panic as they all started shouting for the knights to come and arrest them. "It's over." The hunter said as feint metal footsteps started to get louder as the knights began to swarm the area.
"Tetsuga!!" Derrick screamed as he ran full speed towards the middle. The hunter sees this futile attempt and braced for the Alchemist knowing full well he would subdue him even more easily than he did Tetsuga. But Derrick was smart and knew that already. So he takes another vial from his side before smashing it onto the ground which creates an explosion of smoke. "This trick again." The hunter expressed as he saw Derrick do the same trick on him the first time he met with the boy face to face. "Get up Mr.Tetsuga! We need to get to the Marina! The cruise ship will leave without us!" Derrick says in a hurry as he helped up Tetsuga and drags him out of the smoke as they continue running for it to the marina. "Find the criminals!! Don't let them escape!!" The knights says as they start to search for them while the smoke cleared. Once it had, the hunter had disappeared yet again. Presumably now after the two like always.
"You're bleeding a lot right now, are you sure you're okay?" Derrick asked as they ran together towards the marina. "I'll be fine once we get on the cruise ship and out of this place! We just gotta get there!" Tetsuga tells him as he continues to run despite him leaving a trail of blood which the knights had followed and we're now slowly catching up on them. "The marina is just up ahead!" Derrick points out as the place was now within reach for them. "Crap! The boat is already setting off!" Tetsuga points out as well as the cruise ship was slowly exiting the docks and was slowly getting farther away. "The knights are gaining on us!" Derrick shouts as he glances behind them to see the knights catching up. "No choice then! We have to jump it!" He says as he and Derrick picked up the pace. Once they reached the edge, Tetsuga assumed position to give Derrick a boost. "Now!" Tetsuga yells as Derrick runs at full speed before Tetsuga magically enhances his hand once again and shoots the boy up onto the deck as he lands with a clumsy wobble. "Mr Tetsuga!" Derrick goes over to the edge and shouts for him as the boat was slowly getting farther and farther away. Making the jump harder for Tetsuga to do.
"Alright. Just gotta jump it!!" Tetsuga shouts before leaping off of the dock towards the boat. But once he did, something latches onto his leg and starts to bring him down. "No!" Derrick yelled as he saw the Hunter latching onto Tetsuga's leg as he leapt off. Luckily he was able to use his magic to latch onto the boat as he and the hunter were now dangling from the boat. "You can't escape the hunter! I'll hunt you both down to the ends of the world! No place is safe for you! Nowhere!!" The hunter shouts angrily as he stabs Tetsuga in the thigh. "ARGH!!" Tetsuga shouts as the pain surged throughout his body. "I'm not going... To ask... You again!!" Tetsuga, finally having enough of it all decided to unlatch from the boat and send both into free fall. He then lifts up his leg so the hunter would be level with him as he raises both his fists up over his head, clasped together. "BACK OFF!!!" he shouts with all his lungs before slamming his hands down onto the hunter's head as he gets sent down into the water, making a big splash as he is submerged. After finally getting rid of the hunter for good hopefully, Tetsuga latches back onto the boat right before he hits the water.
"Mr. Tetsuga! Are you okay!?" Derrick yelled from the boat to make sure Tetsuga hadn't joined the hunter in the water. "I'm good!" He says as he slowly reels himself up to the top of the boat before having Derrick help him get over onto the deck. "Augh!" Tetsuga groaned as he landed face first onto it. "You did great Mr. Tetsuga." Derrick praises him as he helps him back up onto his feet. "Thanks kid..." he says before they both took a look over at the marina to see the knights standing over at the edge of the dock, yelling for the boat to come back. But the boat was already too far away for their shouting to be heard. "... I guess that's it." Tetsuga says with a somber tone as they both watch the viridian kingdom become smaller and smaller in their view. "Yeah... I guess so..." Derrick added. Admiring the view now that they knew they were free. At least, for now.
....
"Mr. Tetsuga. I managed to snag some drinks. Do you want some?" Derrick says as he came bearing two champagne glasses. "Thanks kid. But I'm all good right now. Already got me one." He tells him as he flashes Derrick the flask the bartender gave him as a reminder of the tavern and of him. "Oh, then that's one more for me then. " Derrick says as he joins tetsuga on the sight seeing as they both leaned onto the edge. Their sights fixated on the ocean as the setting sun painted it all with a majestic orange hue. "Wow. Your wounds healed really quickly." Derrick painted out as Tetsuga had already been healed from his cuts. "Well, magic is one heck of a useful thing I'll tell ya kid. Though, after that, my magic is pretty much on the low right now." Tetsuga tells him before taking a swig of his flask. "... So.... This is it right? We're finally free?" Derrick says. Curious if this was already it for them. "Unlikely, kid. This kinda freedom and peace we got right now isn't gonna last too long. "Right. We are wanted criminals now after all. Won't be long until our faces get plastered everywhere in the world." Derrick says as he takes a sip of his champagne.
"I'm gonna miss everyone... The bartender, your bar mates... Ecrucio." Derrick lamented as he looked down upon his reflection on the champagne. Suddenly, Tetsuga places his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Look. I've been through this before. It hurts a lot when you gotta leave a place where you felt was home. Leaving behind everything to find a new place. But rest assured that those people you promise yourself to never forget... will also never forget you." Tetsuga reassures Derrick before looking back to the horizon. "And Ecrucio... He did what he always wanted. He faced his sins. Which is very hard for people to do..." Tetsuga says. "But I bet you that he's up in that sky looking at you proud. Cause you gave him the reason to try... To try and avenge the souls lost to his sword." He tells him which makes Derrick glance over at Tetsuga with a small smile. "... Thank you Mr. Tetsuga... For sticking with me through all this." Derrick says gratefully as the man flashed him with a smile. "No worries kid. Wherever you go. I'll stick with ya no matter what. That's what I promised ya right?" Tetsuga tells him as Derrick chuckles a bit. "Yeah. And I to you as well. Wherever you go, I'll be with you as well, Mr. Tetsuga." Derrick says.
"Heh... Right on... Cheers." Tetsuga spoke as he held his flask out to Derrick. ".... cheers" Derrick replies as he clinks the flask with his glass as the two share a drink while watching the sun fully set into the water. Replacing the orange sky with a sky full of twinkling stars. And thus ends their adventure in the Viridian kingdom as they set sail to embark on a new adventure. Whatever that may entail, they would both face the unknown together. Because wherever the land, sea, or wind takes them. They will always be brothers in crime. Now and forever. And as the boat floats away into the endless sea, a lone gravestone sits upon a clearing in the emerald green forest. And the words that were inscribed upon it says...
'Rest In peace, Ecrucio Dalfinger'