From Cinders (1)

It was but another snowy night, yet, bustling as always.

A city within the Light Crest Empire, although not as crowded as their capital, was practically a crown jewel for both mercenaries and merchants. In the eyes of others, this place might not seem like anything extraordinary. After all, it was just another city among others, albeit slightly better.

"However, to money for hire like you and me... Hiccup!... hehe, it's essentially heaven" A man held his hand over to his shoulder, randomly arguing with a hooded passerby. His mouth, stinking of cheap cheese and malt.

"Stick your nose somewhere else, sonny" The hooded passerby warned the man, his voice, deeper than anything he's ever heard of. A chilly air could be felt around the man. It was as though it was advising him, to stay away. This had sent shivers down his spine. Then, the passerby pulled his shoulder, nearly slipping the drunk fellow.

Slip! Slip! Crash!

"Whoah..." With the drunken man, almost tripping his feet upon the frosty floors, his bottle of malt was dropped instead. Seeing his unfinished malt go to waste, the man felt both humiliated and offended. He was just trying to make friends. What was so wrong about that?

Quickly, the man's head turned to meet the passerby, wanting to teach him a lesson, only to find that he was gone. The man just disappeared. The aforementioned, for a while, confused the drunk. Wasn't he just here a while ago?

Then, for some reason, the drunk's face turned into a horrified one. Regretful, he was. The whole situation, seemed as though he had nearly stepped on a tiger's tail. Had he done so, undoubtedly, the man would be ripped to pieces. His existence could very well be abolished by that man.

Other than the mercenaries such as he, unquestionably, a city would have its fair share of lurking dragons and prowling tigers. Especially for a paradiso amongst cities, these monsters you would obviously see more often.

This was Slumbering Snow City, with its ever cold blanketing the inhabitants, the city was home to many seekers of power, wealth, riches, treasures, but most importantly, adventures.

△▼△

Inside a seemingly ordinary alleyway, next to that of a tavern.

Knock! Knock!

"Leave me alone, will you?!? I'm just an old crone, waiting to die!!!" The voice of something twisted came upon knocking the wooden door twice. Something, resembling an elderly dame, yet also similar to a goblin's as it was hoarse and crooked.

"As you are, and we all shall be. Age is the answer, old crone" The knocker responded in a poet. Both his identity and appearance are covered by a shady leathery cloak. The only known, was his seemingly light youthful voice. However, just by looking at his cloak, one would immediately be able to tell, that this man surely had the coins. Whether he had the strength to protect it though, was a different topic.

"Then sin, for you shall not..." The voice no longer resembled an old crone's, nor did it resemble a goblin's. Instead, it revealed a feminine, female-ish voice.

Zip! Clack!

The wooden door opened, revealing a dark room. The plaster on the walls was shedding, broken pieces of furniture occupied the space, and even the floor, the ceiling, had its share of broken. Clearly, the place was worn down, but he didn't care.

Center of the room, lied a clumsy table. Most likely the only furniture left standing. Around the table, were four humanoid figures, just sitting around the broken chairs, doing their own respective things. Indeed, they were around the table, but there was this sort-of distance separating them, unseen to the naked eye.

"You four, come with. It's time to work..." The hooded man told the four, before reaching inside his cloak, grabbing four scrolled pieces of paper. Then, skillfully, he threw all four in one fair swing. With his other hand, grabbing another one for himself.

Upon seeing the man, the four stopped their actions, and immediately, they caught a paper for their own. One-by-one, they opened their scrolls, and one-by-one, they disappeared.

Zing! Zing! Zing!

Zing! Zing!

△▼△

Drip! Drip!

Far below underground, within a rather strange cave, and barely inside Slumbering Snow City's northeast's reach, five figures standing in the dark came about. With them, sticks of dead wood were sparked.

Shick! Shick! Zoosh!

The result of said ignition, the usual yellow flame reappeared. Other than the rather, static drippings, the cavern was filled with echoes of steps and a twine of, odd conversations.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

"Whoah... so this is a #######... its so #########. Hey, ### ####, have you ever wondered how ~####~##~####~ accomplished this? It's simply too ####~####! And I'm not kidding when I say its #########!" The young woman asked the Beeman beside her, brimming with playful excitement.

"ZZZ... zzzz... ZZzzZZ... Buzz!... #~#... ~#... #... ~~~... ~~#... #... #~... ~#... zZzZzZ... Buzz!... z... zzzZzZz... Buzz!... zz... Buzz!... Zzz... ZZZ... Buzz!... ZzZZZ... Z... Buzz!... ZzZ... Zz... ZZZ... zZZ... Buzz! Zzzzz... z... Buzz!... zZ... Zz... zzz... zZZ... z... zZz... Buzz!... Z... ZZZ... Buzz!... zzz... zzZ... ZzZz... zzzz... Buzz!... ZZzZ... zzZ... z... zzzz... Buzz!... ZZzZ... zzZ... z... zzz... Z... zz... ZZZ... Zz... zzz... zZzZzZ... Cough! Cough!" The yellow insect, in response, had actually buzzed to the woman as though it knew she could understand.

"Would you stop that!!! We are here to work, not to play around!!!" But before she could even react, the cloaked man in front turned to face, his brows wrinkled, and his expression grimaced. "...and for crying out loud, would you please stop toying around with distortion?!? You know we aren't here to create defections, you imbecile"

"Hmph, whatever you say!!! Zeiss..." She harrumphed at the man, mocking him. Going as far as to imitate the man, copying the cloaked man's attitude patterns and even his tone of voice, it was a deep one.

"zzz... zZZz... zzzz... ZzZZ... zZzz... ZZzzZZ... Buzz!... zzzz... ZZZ... zZZ... Buzz!... zZ... zZz... z... Buzz!... zzz... Z... zZz... zzZ... ZzZz... Z... zzZ... zZz... z... zzz... Buzz!... zzZz... zZ... zZz... zz... Zz... ZZz... zzZZzz..." The yellow insect, on the other hand, didn't care much if his colleague was a tad bit annoying. So instead of teasing the man like he always did, he decided to ask around.

"Hmm, I would personally say that it's been fine so far, Yamato. However, I cannot say for sure. Unless we traverse through and thoroughly, my answer to you will not reveal itself yet..." The elf ranger at the front advised, but before he could say anything else, he stopped all of the sudden.

"Slyph, why did you stop..." The young woman asked, still imitating the man's voice, but curious to why her companion stopped all of the sudden. However, just as she was about to say anymore, the elf interrupted her,

"Hush!!!" he hushed her, retrieving the bow from his back, while simultaneously plucking a single arrow from his quiver.

Stretch! Ziung!