Problems And Solutions

When I finally finished explaining my situation to Posy she simply gave a blank stare back as her response. She slowly opened her mouth, then closed it again, repeating the action several times before she said a single word. "Ok…" She finally muttered, her face and voice completely lacking in emotion. If anything, she looked uncomfortable, as much as when she was being yelled at.

"Right… So… Any advice? Or, maybe you know someone…"

Her eyes began darting around the room faster than I could follow. "I…" She groaned softly. "I… Have a plan." She suddenly left and moments later reappeared with the other young apprentice, Pieta.

Holding her friend's arm she pointed at me. "Tell her about the thing, with the guards…"

She blankly looked back and forth between the two of us, clearly confused until Posey pinched her and she straightened up in an instant. "S-sorry! Right, the guards… The… Oh. When we first got here one of the guards was wounded so my master treated her. She said that she got hurt roughhousing with some of the guys, but my master told me she was lying, they were wounds from a minotaur, most likely a large one. What was weirder was that we later overheard some of the other guards joking about how they were going to hunt their first minotaur, and that it would be easy. I'm not a fighter, but I thought they were tough weren't they?"

Posy nodded, turning back to me. "You said that's the quest you took right? To kill a minitour?"

I nodded. "So… You think I stole someone's kill, and now I'm being targeted?"

She shook her head with another groan. "No… Erhm…"

Pieta clung closely to her friend's side. "Hey, posy calm down, what's going on?"

I let out a long sigh. 'It almost looks like she's the one being framed…' "It's… Complicated." I said, explaining everything once again. "We're trying to figure out how I can get out of this bogus fine and preferably take down a corrupt official, you want in?"

She chuckled nervously. "Yeah… That would do it."

Posy shook her head again with another groan. "I'm fine, just… Need to think… Hard to explain."

Pieta sighed as she turned back to me. "As you can see she gets really anxious about other people's problems… She's not going to let this go till things turn out alright so, try to keep her out of trouble, will you? It's easier for her to tutor me when her brain isn't hyperfocused on unfinished business that she can't let go of…"

Pieta left, and once again I was waiting for Posy to form her thoughts into words, once again she left instead of doing so. This time though, who she brought back really surprised me… Almost as much as it surprised him.

"Finn?"

He squinted, recognizing my armor but not my face, when he put the two together he suddenly turned pale. "Yes… That's my name, uh… ehrm… So… Guess killing the minitour wasn't the only thing that you weren't hiding… Well, ok then miss Posy, what is it that you require?"

She pointed at me again. "You're a spy right?"

"No, I told you. I'm not a spy I'm a Rougue, a thief, a detective, and a teller of tall tales."

She pinched him, growling. 

"Ow ow ow, geez… Your hands may be human-sized but you sure have the grip of a dwarf…" 

She scowled even more as she let go. I almost expected her to hit him, but she simply waited instead, staring at him intently.

When he finally straightened himself back out and looked at her face he almost turned to putty. "I… also spy on people when necessary, yes…"

Every time our eyes met, his seemed to drift away. Before I knew it mine were doing the same… It felt stupid, but the only reason I was embarrassed was because he seemed to be too.

"Tell her about the nets," Posy said bluntly, poking him over and over again in the side.

He paused for a moment, clearing his throat. "Right, the chains in the castle, what about them?"

She furrowed her brow. "How many were there?"

"Two sets, but why does that matter?" He grinned.

"It… It doesn't… Sorry…"

'This is way too complicated.' "Posy, I'm having a hard time understanding, can you just try and tell me what you're trying to say?"

Finn jumped up to a nearby stack of crates, casually sitting down and finally looking at me without any tension in his eyes. "Yeah, Posey doesn't really do that."

She quickly whacked him in the shin, making him flinch and nearly fall off the crate as he curled over.

"I can talk just fine… It's just… Easier… When it's about things that are simple, like math, or numbers, or how to reverse goo someone's insides… Not people… People are hard…"

After taking a deep breath Finn let out a groan as he slowly relaxed again. "What she's trying to say is that she understands the world better than anyone else because she's stupid smart, but has a hard time explaining what she understands to the people around her."

She went to punch him again but stopped, only making him flinch. "Calling someone stupid smart makes no sense, why would you say it like that? Seriously, you're so annoying."

He just smiled, pulling his feet underneath him so she couldn't reach anymore as he stuck his tongue out at her before turning back to me. "So here's the deal right, In the castle there are two sets of chains designed to transport beasts, the kind you would use to take them alive and put them in the arena. Only it makes no sense for them to be here, not those ones anyway."

'It's a bit strange I guess… Trapping wouldn't be a gaol during a crisis, and I haven't seen anyone out looking to take monsters alive.' "Is it THAT strange though? Do they not put wargs and spiders in the arena? I haven't been there in a while, but aren't hoard battles a thing? Like, one person against a ton of lower-level monsters."

He nodded. "No they do, and you're right, but the chains were way too big to use on wargs, and they wouldn't have used normal steal to catch spiders, the spiders would either cut through it or melt it. Here's the thing. The chains were enchanted with protection against tearing and striking, not cutting, and not acid. There's only one thing in this whole forest they could be used for."

"Catching a minotaur…"

We both paused and I looked back at Posy again. "Ok, so they wanted to take it alive, and I killed it, but I can't change that now, how does that help me?"

She just let out another growl, rolling her eyes at Finn and waiting as if he could read her mind.

"See, that's the thing…" he continued. "Those chains have been here since before the first minotaur sighting."

Instantly it all clicked. "Sparks…"

Finn grimaced as he jumped down from the box. "You were right about pissing them off, but you have no idea just how much." 

"No, I get it… At least I think I do…" I slowly rubbed my hand down my face. "So the working theory is that these jerk wads captured the minotaur and brought them here. That's why one of the guards was hurt by one, even though they should have never been far enough out to see them. That explains the chains too. They likely placed the minotaur inside the saxifrage cave to then skyrocket the demand, then when it hit its peak, they would kill the minitour, gather the herbs, and have a complete monopoly over the antidote for a while… That also explains the massive reward…" I let out a heavy sigh, shifting my weight and moving my leg around a bit more. "Right… So what's the plan then?"

Posy smirked smugly as Finn simply stood there dumbfounded. "Uh… Yeah, well, that's a good theory at least. I've been trying to dig up some dirt, but it's a bit hard. We need more than circumstantial evidence."

I slowly rolled my shoulder, feeling my bruised skin stretch with every movement. It was sore but manageable. "Like?" I asked, starting to tie up my hair.

"Any incriminating documents, an eye witness, or any evidence that points to the minotaur being moved forcibly. We need an actual crime before we have suspects."

I finished tying up my hair and put my helmet back on. "Ok, let's go."

"Go… Where…"

I grabbed my jerkin, thinking about just throwing it on over my hoody, but deciding I didn't want to wear out my new clothes, besides… I didn't want any more of my clothes to stink from gore. Instead I just awkwardly held it, taking a moment to appreciate how thoroughly it was stained. "First to the saxifrage cave where I killed it. You can't move something that big without a trail, then after the sunsets, we'll break into the castle and snoop around some there."

He blankly stared at me for a moment before turning to Posy, whose eyes were as wide as an owl staring down its next meal.

After a short moment, he smirked. "I like her." He said bluntly, crossing his arms.

She punched him in the stomach with another groan. "Breaking the law is bad."

"After coughing he just smiled back, walking over and placing a hand on my shoulder. "Right, right. Sorry. Tip of the trade for you Chika, don't talk about breaking the law in front of a priest. Let's go talk about this outside instead."

Posy just tilted her head with a sigh. "Can you two just… Ugh… Finn!" She whined. With an ever-widening grin, he spun around like a dancer, light on his feet, and tousled her hair a bit on his way out.

"Theive's guild?" I asked, quickly changing now that he was gone.

"Circle of smoke…" She mumbled looking down. "HE!... Sorry, I didn't mean to shout. He's…" She cleared her throat. "He's really bad at fighting, so please don't let him be too stupid."

'He can't be that bad if he's in one of the 10 great guilds…' As I walked past her I caught myself just before I rubbed her head too, pulling my hand away before embarrassing myself. After seeing Finn do it, it almost felt a little too natural. "Yeah, I'll watch his back."

She groaned, suddenly hugging me. "You make me just as anxious!" She yelled, quickly letting go before I could even figure out what was happening.

"Uh… Sorry?" I slowly inched away until I made it to the exit. "Bye then…" before she could respond I ducked out, afraid it would get even more awkward if I waited too long.

"First stops the cave right?" Finn asked. He was leaning against the tint with a fist lifted out to me. "You ready partner?"

'The easygoing type then.' Lifting my fist against his I pulled my sword from storage and tied it to my side. "Sorry if I slow you down… It's been a long week."

He laughed. "Don't say that, It'll just make me feel bad if you get ahead of me."

'Pretty humble for a storyteller from a thieves guild…'