Nyx breathed in deeply, inhaling the delightful scent buried in the bedsheets she held. She could hear her brother talking with the temple cleric behind her.

“So you say he was having trouble breathing?” Lux asked the life cleric, writing notes into a small leatherbound book, his white-colored plate armor clinking slightly with the movements. His prominent white Light mark above his right eye matched his armor, with a much smaller red Fire mark opposite it. His bright blue eyes went back and forth from the cleric and his notebook as they spoke.

“Yes, it was the strangest thing. I’ve seen it before in very small children that don’t have the best control over their Air Blessing but this was a fully grown man, he’s had years to get that under control.” She continued, blabbering on and on about Aster and his companions. Lux continued writing any useful bits down.

Nyx didn’t care about information gathering though, that was her brother’s job, so she ignored it. They may have been twins but they had very different priorities and personalities, much like their appearance and affinities, most would never guess they were even related. She inhaled Aster’s scent again trying to identify its components. It smelled of wind blowing through trees, a campfire’s embers, a touch of morning dew, and something… more. She wanted to find the source as soon as possible. This sample was already a few days old and probably contaminated with that annoying cleric’s scent.

She tossed the sheet into her spacial bag, ignoring the protest of the cleric, and tapped her twin’s arm with her leather clad hand. “We need to move, Lux, if we want to catch him.” She was dressed in black leather armor with some dark blue trim that hugged her form and matched her largely detailed Dark marking above her left eye and the smaller Water marking across from it.

Lux looked up sternly into her matching blue eyes, which was the only thing they did have in common, and nodded, saying decisively, “I believe we have enough to go off of now between all these witness accounts. I’ll send a few members to backtrack where they came from and we’ll continue pursuing forward.”

Nyx gave a sly smile and tossed her long black hair over her shoulder “Excellent.” She drew her silver dagger in an instant and held it to the cleric’s throat, “If you are lying about any of the information you gave, I will find you and cut you till you beg me to stop and then I’ll keep cutting.” Her voice was like ice as she glared at the cleric and their eyes widened with fear. “Do. You. Understand?” She enunciated every word. The cleric nodded and Nyx gave a friendly smile, showing off sharp canine teeth, as she sheathed her dagger again. “Good.” She took Lux’s hand then and led him out of the room saying excitedly to him over her shoulder, “I’ve never tasted a Spirit Blessed before, this is so exciting!”

Lux glowered at his sister, “Please remember what we’re doing this for.”

Nyx waved a hand nonchalantly at him, “right, right, money-”

“-to purge evils from this world.” He interjected.

“Sure, but I can have some fun while I do it at least. That last snack wasn’t very filling.” she complained.

“If these reports are true, we have a potentially dangerous Deviant on the loose. If they can destroy an entire gryphon with a single touch, who knows how much havoc they can wield. The Spirit Blessed are never to be underestimated” he ranted in an annoyed tone before muttering, “and preferably never allowed.”

“But did you smell him, Lux? I believe we’ll be in for a real treat once we catch him.” She said happily, still pulling him along.

“Sister, we are the Shadows, it is our duty to cleanse the sickness from this land. Be they murderer, thief, Cursed, or Deviant, we purge Selesola of their blight.” He tugged Nyx back to make her pause and look at him as he said seriously, “You may take pleasure from this but know that our goal is expulsion of the abominable, not your desires.”

She rolled her eyes dramatically, used to the lecture, as she replied, “Yes, yes.. I know... I don’t get to keep them forever to play with,” She ruffled his short blonde hair before turning to take the lead again as she scoffed, “Your righteousness is so stifling sometimes, Brother.”

As they made it back to the street and regrouped with the other members of the Shadow Fangs, Lux rubbed at his ears absently as he disseminated the information he had gathered before sending some groups to gather more specifics about where their new target had originated from. He checked his notes once more, hating this part of his job, and said in a commanding tone, “The Half-Elf’s name is Aster according to the auctioneer’s combat logs. He is a level 20 Soul Tamer, whatever that is, though we suspect it has something to do with his deviant nature. They entered from the Northeast gate so group 1 is heading to Borderton. He was travelling with a Winter Elf and a Summer Elf. Find out everything about them to try and figure out their destination and report back with your findings via the normal Communication Spheres. Group 2 will be taking the Southeast road through Kaeland. Group 3 will be taking the Southwest road through Rudná Ríša. I’m stopping by the Townhall to register the wanted request, the rest of you depart immediately, time is of the essence as usual. Once someone sends word as to their destination we will pursue with the remaining forces. Dismissed.” The group, which was made of all sorts of races and combat classes, quickly dispersed into the crowd and began their hunt.

Nyx was looking at her map while her brother had been giving instructions and as he turned back to her she pointed at a town marker. “If we borrow some Wind steeds we could probably catch them on the road before they reach Chiplewich”

“-assuming they stay on the road.” Lux interjected as he was putting his notes away into his own spacial pack.

“Of course, but that is the most likely choice, though depending on their actual destination they could attempt to go cross country. No point in going to Chiplewich if they’re aiming for Dundal.” she continued on, thinking aloud.

“We need to wait for more information,” the knight said, ignoring her groan as he pressed, “We will be chasing our tails without knowing their goal. We’ll stay put until we hear from the other Shadows. It’s the most efficient way for us to find them and return here for the bounty.” Nyx was about to interrupt when Lux said over her, “Before we make the more political move of returning him to the Enclave for Analysis and Judgement.” Nyx looked slightly more mollified but crossed her arms as though waiting for him to continue. He gave a heavy sigh and said, “And we can forgo the Gates there so you get plenty of time to play with your temporary new toy.”

She smiled finally and gave him a hug, “Thank you, brother. I’m sure you will enjoy playing with him too! Those few lingering traces of his scent were tantalizing on their own.”

He just nodded and patted her head before she released her embrace.

The twins made their way to the town hall where they met with the auctioneer that had reported the crime and demanded justice. After speaking with the town guard’s captain he made the wanted request official and updated the illusory posters around town with the information on Aster and the reward for his capture, as well as sending messages to the other towns throughout the nation and the neighboring realms.

That’s when Aster got a new brown-colored notification that appeared without prompting in front of him.

You are now Wanted in the realm of Kaelford.

A bounty has been placed upon your capture for 20 gold pieces.

Congratulations!

You gained a Title: “Wanted”

Looks like somebody official thinks you’ve been naughty.

Effect: When this title is equipped, -10% chance of successful social interactions, +10% chance of people noticing you. When in a land that you are wanted in, this title will be equipped automatically.

Aster glared at the notification a bit annoyed at this new information. He hadn’t done anything wrong, yet he was being painted as the bad guyI The only good news was that they weren’t in Kaelford anymore and the title wasn’t forcibly equipped. He mentioned the news to Saelak and Donoma, the former winced slightly while the later just shrugged and said, “It happens, we’ll just plan on not returnin’ and ye’ll be fine.” Saelak gave her a sidelong glance and a raised eyebrow. “What?” She asked in response to the odd look.

“What do you mean by ‘it happens’? Are you wanted somewhere?” He asked a bit incredulously.

She shrugged and shook her head as though it wasn’t a big deal, “I mentioned how me and me clan had a fallin’ out, they placed a bounty on me return, so now I can’t go back to Taiyohono without that bloody title appearin’.”

“So we probably shouldn’t head through the Summerlands then?” Aster said with a wry smile.

Donoma hestinated just a moment before saying, “We prolly should stay clear of Binland, Atford, and Harbot too.”

Saelak just gawked at her and Aster placed his face into his palm as he asked, “Do I want to know why you’re wanted in those places as well?”

“Prolly not.” She replied simply and Aster pinched the bridge of his nose slightly before nodding and continuing down the road.

“Wait, you’re just going to leave it at that?!” Saelak called after him, moving to catch up with him.

“Well, she hasn’t stabbed us in our sleep or robbed us blind yet and she’s had plenty of opportunity to, so for now I’ll trust her.” Aster answered matter-of-factly.

“But… but she’s a criminal!” Saelak said, wrestling with this new picture of Donoma that was forming against the one that had become something like a friend to him, he didn’t seem to have many of those and he didn’t like the idea of losing one.

Aster looked into Saelak’s eyes before saying simply, “So am I now.” Saelak wanted to argue that it was different but he held back his objection as Aster continued speaking, “Not all good actions are seen as right and not all evil actions are against the law. What some official or government or ruler decides doesn’t determine the worthiness or morality of a person.” He had seen plenty of unjust laws back on Earth and he knew governments were just people and could be as flawed as any one of them.

Saelak gritted his teeth slightly, “Are you saying criminals shouldn’t pay for their crimes? Why even have laws then?”

Aster gave a slight sigh, he had forgotten the woes and nuances of politics. He had always felt like he had a complicated relationship with the ideas and drama that came with politics as he had been forced to learn more about civics than he ever desired, just to argue with people that wanted to strip him of his rights. He had never been innately passionate about it though. He just wanted to be left alone and free to pursue what made him happy as long as it didn’t harm anyone. Others, however, either didn’t want that or disagreed about what “harm” meant, so he had to fight back. He was always exhausted after those arguments.

After a moment of collecting his runaway thoughts, he spoke carefully, “Laws are a social contract between the members of a society on what is and is not socially acceptable. Ideally those laws are agreed upon by every member within said society but, as you and I both know, that’s not usually the case. And I’m not saying criminals shouldn’t pay for their crimes, obviously if someone is wronged I would want to see just recompense. I’m just saying that you and I, in this moment, should judge Donoma for her present actions and not on past choices that others decided were wrong. Currently, her morals seem to align with ours and we should trust in that. Nobody wants to be haunted by the shadows of their past mistakes.”

Saelak fell silent, contemplating Aster’s words and Donoma said quietly, “Thanks, Aster.” They walked down the road a bit longer before she asked in a more casual tone, “So how old are ya really?”

Aster laughed and even Saelak chuckled at that. “If I said I was actually 118, would you believe me?” he asked playfully.

Saelak and Donoma both gave a thoughtful look as she replied, “That be an oddly specific number but Saelak was right when he said ya were an old man.”

Saelak spoke up, “Most elves live to be well over 700, it’s not like 118 is particularly old…”

“Ha, it be ta us, we’re lil babes compared ta most Elves.” Donoma said in a joking tone.

Saelak smiled back at her hesitantly trying to take Aster’s previous words to heart, “True. I guess it’s hard for us to tell what’s considered childish when we are probably considered children by most. All I know is that Aster doesn’t act or speak like other 20 year olds.”

Aster mocked indignation, placing a hand on his chest, as he said, “I am offended that you think me smarter and wiser than I actually am! I’ll have you know that I can behave just as childish as either of you!”

They both laughed at him this time, “Hahaha, I’d like ta see that!” Donoma goaded as they continued down the road joking back and forth, taking comfort in each other’s presence and letting the shadow of their moral uncertainty fade behind them.