Night's Hold and The Black Strings

He scanned the street that was filled with strange people. Most hid their identity while some brandished a smile and showed their identity proudly... though Drew didn't know who they were anyways.

Drew found that the boy was nowhere to be found even after searching the market twice over.

'This boy couldn't have disappeared... And he doesn't seem like the person who would go into the hidden tunnel without a real reason,'

The thought that the boy might have tried to escape through another tunnel had crossed Drew's mind but he scratched it off as he felt that the kid wouldn't have come here without good reason... especially since he now had Drew's Scythes that seemed to be of high quality and could probably be sold off for a good chunk of change.

After searching the street once more Drew decided that he best move on to the buildings that lined the street.

These buildings were of a higher quality than the stalls outside and were of a higher quality than even the buildings in the stone district of Nickten.

Most of the buildings had signs that labeled their names as well as what type of store they were so it was easy for Drew to narrow down his search to only a few stores that were the most likely to buy weapons.

'Hmm...'

'Pinch Forge... seems to be some sort of blacksmith that specializes in custom orders. There is a chance that this place might buy blades,' Drew said as he read the sign intently.

He moved on and shortly after found a shop that could fit his description and examined it with a strong intent to find any hints to the kid's location.

'Jarrard's General Store...' Drew read the sign that hung from the building with scrutiny.

The words that were on the sign seemed mismatched and made out of scrap parts but they could still be read easily.

'Buy all, Sell all,' The sign said in smaller letters.

Many people were surrounding the shop with a lackluster look in their eyes.

'It kind of feels like a pawn shop from earth...' Drew thought as he thought this was a likely place for the kid to sell his scythes at.

However, Drew still decided to continue forwards and look for any other places that could hit the mark.

After reaching the end of the street he noticed that there was a building that had a closed door despite the 'Open' sign that was clearly placed on the wall above the steel door.

The building was the biggest building on the street yet held a sense of being missable due to its unassuming nature. The sign on the building wasn't embellished or even unique for that matter. It was fairly plain and no one seemed to be around the building or entering.

'Black's Hold...'

'Quality Weapons for Sale,'

Nothing seemed to really captivate Drew as he stared at the sign but something deep in his mind whispered to him that this was the right place.

'I guess it wouldn't hurt to check,' Drew thought as he opened the door to the shop and entered slowly.

The first thing he noticed about Black's Hold was that it was cleaner than any place he had seen in Lune so far. There wasn't a single speck of dirt on the ground or any muddy prints from customers. It had a few long black tables that held various weapons and tools that were placed delicately with a clear purpose in their placement.

It was small despite the size of the building but something about this simple place piqued Drew's curiosity.

He moved a little further into the shop and he noticed a small counter where a short and well-built man was inspecting a set of familiar items before him.

The man was incredibly well kept and had a trim beard that was without any stray hairs. He had smaller ears than most and his hair was straight and ruffled, though not messy. His clothes were slightly more refined than the typical citizen of Nickten. They were not close to being 'fancy' but they still looked far better than the coarse clothing Drew wore at the moment.

He had long trousers that were well fitted to his form. They were held by a black leather belt that also tucked his long grey shirt within. His eyes stared intently at what was laid down before him and his thin glasses that were placed delicately upon his nose reflected his grey eyes.

"Quality work, kid. Where did you get this?" The man said in a rough voice that sounded more like rumbling stones compared to gravel.

After the man spoke Drew noticed that the red-haired boy stood on the other side of the counter and was smiling brilliantly while presenting Drew's two silver scythes.

"Fucking Bastard! I finally found you," Drew said in frustration as he began to walk towards the counter, and the boy with anger evident in his disposition.

The short man raised his hand in a motion for Drew to stop and settle down.

"There will be no roughhousing in my shop Sir," He said in the same gruff voice as before.

Drew stopped in his place as he realized that if he were to do anything right here it would be blatant disrespect towards the unique man in front of him as well as his shop.

He took a deep breath before calming down slightly.

"I just want my Scythes back, I don't mean to start trouble in your shop,"

The man tilted his head back in thought with a calculated look in his eyes.

"Smith, did you steal these scythes from this good man?" The short man asked with a stern and unyielding tone.

The boy, who was apparently named Smith, looked between the two adults that had him effectively cornered and sighed deeply before deciding to give up.

"Yeah... But in my defense, he was clearly loaded from these beauties at his side! I thought he was some noble that wouldn't miss losing them. I didn't even steal the gold coins he had," Smith said while fidgeting slightly.

"And his rough clothing didn't give you the hint that he might be just as down in the slums as you are?" The man said while gesturing to Drew's rough attire and his dirty and used hunter's jacket.

Smith looked at Drew and frowned as he observed him a little closer.

"But he could have been one of those 'fancy' nobles who were trying to act as a commoner! I've seen it before!" He said defensively.

"He has at least 5 gold on him, I was gonna go for his coin pouch but after seeing it was such a fortune I switched my target," Smith said, openly admitting to pickpocketing Drew.

The short man looked at Drew quizzically and seemed to be appraising him.

"No... there is no way that this man is a noble, apologies if that is offensive though I doubt it is, sir. He is quite dirty and reeks of the forest,"

Smith seemed at a loss for words before looking at the short man pleadingly.

"Gill, please just help me out this one time. It really was an honest mistake!"

Drew looked at the exchange that was happening in front of him and felt at a loss for words. The boy was admitting that he stole from Drew right in front of him and was making excuses that didn't make sense.

'How does me being a Noble or not make this any better?' Drew thought exasperatedly. His face was tense as he felt disrespected by the two individuals.

Gill sighed deeply and nodded slowly before looking at Drew appraisingly.

"I'm sorry what this lad has done to you, though I can't say the same for him,"

"He's looking to impress me and is failing sorely,"

"I get the boy has wronged you but is there any way I could talk you into letting him off the hook this one time?" Gill asked shortly.

Drew looked at Gill with a distraught look in response.

"I just want my Scythes back and don't want to have to deal with being stolen from again," Drew said after a moment of silence.

Gill nodded as a sign of acknowledgment before thinking for a moment.

"Could I ask your name, sir? And if possible where your place of residence is?"

Drew felt a little tenser at the thought of revealing who he was but decided that if this man was in this Black Market-Like area then there should be no harm in telling him something like that.

"My name is Drew Pence,"

"I live on an abandoned farm somewhere on the outskirts of town," he said quietly.

Gill's eyes glinted with interest at the mention of his name and he leaned forwards on the clean counter, setting his elbows on it while doing so.

"Your the man who stole from the church, Aren't you?"

Drew felt his stomach sink a little but nodded slowly.

Smith seemed to seem shocked at this revelation and looked at Drew with reverence.

"Ha ha ha!" The man belted out a loud laugh that boomed through the store and didn't fit his tidy manners or appearance up to now.

"Then I'm sure I can do much more than keeping you safe from thieves, I can offer you quite a bit more," Gill said in between light chuckles.

"I got to ask... have you heard of The Black Strings?" Gill said as he regained a bit of his manners back from the outbreak that he had just had.

Smith looked dumbfounded at Gill's words for some reason.

Drew stared at Gill and Smith confusedly and tilted his head slightly.

"Not really, I'm new here so I don't know much about even common knowledge,"

Gill smiled brightly at Drew's words and leaned forwards a little closer to him.

"Then let me be the one to enlighten you,"