Desert Mercenary

The unidentified individual who found Timothy and Elliott escorted them to a village in the rainforest.

The village seemed encircled by a great amount of water, with one structure in the middle. It was constructed from bricks and had loads of nature around it.

The village had extensive walls built around it to keep out undesirable visitors, with security on various towers, "Hywel, I found and brought him as promised." The individual stopped before the iron gates and called upon the village's chief.

Timothy and Elliott halted in their course, staring at the barricades, perplexed, and instantly the iron bars raised, and Hywel trekked from behind in their sight.

"Ah, it's good to see you, Shanya. Once again, you didn't let us down." Hywel greeted the cloaked individual, drawing Timothy's and Elliott's attention to them, "I'm doing this for payment, nothing else." Shanya replied with a modulated voice, "Shanya?" Timothy inquired, scratching his cheek.

"Correct, Shanya, the 'Flame Dame,' a warden from Armagh Jungle." In order to display her long, dark brown hair with blonde streaks and her icy blue, cat-like eyes, Shanya reached for her cloak and pulled it back.

She had a fair complexion and seemed dressed in a red and black crop top, black jeans shorts, and a silver belt around her hips; a triangular-shaped charm in gold and silver hung from her top, just short of brushing her exposed belly button.

Timothy peeked at her hair, pointing at her cat-like ears, "Are those real?" he wondered, hearing Shanya sigh in disappointment, "Everyone asks the same thing," she turned around to trade eyes with him, "It's only hair vents." Timothy declined his sight to her right arm and became keen, "Is that an actual claw?!" he couldn't hold back the enthusiasm and admired the armband.

Shanya looked at her claw, moving her fingers, "It's an attachment to strengthen the grip on my blade, now... enough questions," she swirled around, "I brought him, so I'll expect payment shortly." Shanya prepared to enter the village, but Hywel stopped her, "Shanya, you'll receive your income *after* you escort these two inside." Hywel stated, "One of their friends is already waiting for them."

Shanya grabbed her forehead and took a deep and long breath, "Okay, you two dunces. Follow me..." she claimed, "...again."

They entered the village without realizing that someone was observing them from afar, behind a tree. "Found them..." the woman sounded, with a sabertooth tiger beside her. It growled in a perching position, but the woman reached for his head, "Calm down, Ferris. We are not attacking them without backup." She placed the spear on her back, turned around, and stood up, "Let's return to the others."

While in the village, Shanya escorted them through a hallway. The indoors seemed lit up with lanterns leading up to the door at the end of the corridor.

"You don't look like someone from a foresty area, Shanya. Your uniform doesn't appear to be from here." Timothy noted as Shanya closed her eyes momentarily, "You're right. I got raised in the Armagh desert. I'm a mercenary." She announced, remaining composed, "It's an island divided into two regions; the desert and the jungle. I come from the desert but quickly became a bodyguard in Armagh City to a woman named Keeshana."

Elliott stayed silent, listening to her exposition with Timothy. "So, why are you here in Sanctum Islands?" Timothy inquired, intrigued about her, "Shouldn't you be there to guard Keeshana?"

He understood that something bothered Shanya from her hesitating answers and head rotations. "Hah, you don't know a damn thing. I'm only here for payment. And that's why I teamed up with these Seraphs." Timothy had it clear; something about Shanya's reasons didn't make sense.

"I see..." he responded, but despite comprehending some of her unclear motives, Timothy became quiet and waited for her to open the door.

She touched the door and pushed it open. They got greeted with a giant room with a stretchy dining table in the middle. Once their eyes got dazed by the light, Timothy uncovered his view and spotted Chiaki sitting on the chair.

She returned looks immediately.

"Whoa, Tim *and* Shanya? It's nice to see you back." Chiaki claimed and making Elliott pause in his tracks. He became speechless and threw looks at Chiaki, "Who is she?" he acted dumb, pointing his finger at Chiaki.

Timothy turned unimpressed, folding his arms on his chest, and pouted, "It's Chiaki. It wasn't *that* long since you last saw her." Timothy yawned. However, Elliott freaked out, "What are you talking about?! It's been more than two years! The last time I saw her was in Harventona Park. And let me tell you, she did *not* look *this* mature."

Chiaki giggled and shared an adorable smile, "I didn't think I'd see you again, Elliott. It's nice to see you, really." Elliott peeked at her from the corner of his eyes and awkwardly smiled. He clutched the back of his dome and rubbed it, "Yeah... Yeah, me too."

Timothy appeared astounded and grinned, "Would you look at that? You're not going crazy over a stunning girl. I guess that time away from us truly changed you, Elliott." Chiaki blushed momentarily, "Stop saying stuff like that!" she said, leaning her jaw on the table, "Sometimes I wish my body didn't change so rapidly."

Timothy stroked his cheek, gradually sweating, and soon snapped back to realization, "Wait, hold up! Chiaki, what are you doing here anyway?" Timothy queried, looking at her, "I found her in the forest." Shanya claimed, walking toward the table, sitting on the chair, and clasping the glass of juice. "Yeah, I got lost in the fog and didn't know where to go. Shanya came in the nick of time and brought me to the village. I spoke to Hywel and told him about you. He requested Shanya to go find you." Chiaki chuckled, concluding the story.

Timothy blinked in befuddlement, "Wow, thanks, Shanya. You're *very* helpful." Shanya didn't have much care and resumed slurping the liquid, "No problem." She went silent.

"Anyway, hear me out, Tim. Kyora and the others reached the Sanctum Islands. Hywel sent a cluster of forest scouts to look for them. They'll bring them back to the village once they locate them." Chiaki informed them as Timothy and Elliott strode forward and prepared to sit on the chair, "That's great. Let's hope everything goes well."

To be continued...