Natalie

Hardly a minute had passed since Natalie left the village hospital to tail the two hunters and she already wanted to shout at one and deck the other. Without even a second to spear, they’d begun talking about the events that transpired in the reception room. That of course led to talks about her in particular and each slanderous word that came out of their mouth just made Natalie want to break out from the shadows and set the record straight.

They don’t know what’s coming, they are ignorant of everything. Memories of Minda’s conversation came to mind. Since then her words have been running loops in her mind without her consent which made her more agitated than she’d normally be.

The sky gave a very distant rumble making her and the hunters pause at the crossroad. That rumble of thunder came from her Natalie realised, she’d let her mind wander and emotions stir unbidden once again. Kosumi and Emmitt both looked up at the sky for a moment in silence. Natalie was in the midst of cursing her lack of control over her feelings until she noticed that along with them standing still to watch the sky they stopped talking and thus shut their mouths about her.

“Maybe it will rain come tomorrow,” Emmitt said. “That could prove useful for keeping the forest safe,”

“It is already tomorrow, all things considered. But maybe you're right, still… could have done with the rain yesterday,” Kosumi sighed. Emmitt, not saying anything, carried on walking as Kosumi followed. Convinced that they were far enough to not hear her move, Natalie sneaked out from around the corner and walked up the street they just left. As she crossed the road in a steady jog Natalie stuck close to the house walls as she watched the two of them move deeper into the village. Walking past a small pile of bins stacked by a dark alley they continued talking.

"Are you mad at me?" Kosumi asked. Sighing, Emmitt shook his head.

"I'm not frustrated with you Kosumi, I'm just left flawed at how you guessed," Emmitt said.

"Ah, you're talking about what happened just now," Kosumi said in amusement.

"I just do not understand your dramatic leaps in logic," Emmitt said, they'd taken a left around a corner that held an oil lamp at the edge of the walkway, this corner led them to a more open part of the street, having just passed the pile of bins by the alley she had to hold off from following them just yet less they spot her.

"In other words, you cannot contain my awesome genuineness with your rigid mind and that frustrates you," Kosumi said. They walked on in silence, Kosumi must have taken this as an assent to speak on because he perked up and said: "Common, just admit that I was right?"

"I did admit it," Emmitt said.

"You did so reluctantly, I want to hear you tell me straight and plain for once that I made the right call."

"And why should it matter what I think of you?"

"Because you're quick to dismiss me in front of the captain and the others," Kosumi huffed.

“Other than some decent deductions. I've concluded that you just had a lucky guess,” Emmitt said. As they continued talking however Natalie noticed something off with Kosumi's actions.

"So why does it bother you?" Kosumi said. Emmitt took note of this friend's strange action and soon after gestured something back to him by hand. They took another left which was identical to the last with its lamp on the very corner of the walkway. Following carefully Natalie frowned.

Two lefts in a row? They had been taking a direct path towards the village's centre with no wasted turns until now. Now all of a sudden they make strange hand gestures and begin walking in circles, this put Natalie on edge.

"I never said that it bothered me," Emmitt replied to Kosumi. Meanwhile, he slowly pulled his spear out from its holder on his back. Kosumi also pulled out his weapons, his two double-sided battle axes.

“You're just jealous that you didn’t figure it out yourself.” Kosumi nodded all the while. Their walking pace was the same as ever, if Natalie only had her sense of hearing to go by then she wouldn't have suspected anything. Confused, Natalie watched them through the wall until Kosumi jabbed a thumb to the back of them.

“This doesn't change my view on you among the Willows,” Emmitt said, in response to the gesture he gave a nod. They highly suspected that someone was following them. This made Natalie's chest thump with worry but even so, she was confident in her speed. There were roughly about sixty or so metres between her and the two corners they turned. If they were to suddenly backtrack her then she could do a whole host of things to be out of sight before they reached her.

“Come on Emmitt, at least give me some credit!!" Kosumi became a blur of flame and fury as he blasted off at blinding speeds. As if launched out of the barrel of a gun he raced along the walkway and back by the last corner they turned in barely a blink. At the speed he was going, it should have been impossible to turn the corner but hooking one of his axes around the lamp pole he pulled off the manoeuvre without losing speed. With half a second before he came bursting around the corner, with no time to think Natalie ran back and jumped into the alley. Her back crashed into the pile with rubbish as she heard the clinging of another pole being hooked by an axe along with the whoosh of flames blasting through thin funnels. Barely able to jump into the shadows, Natalie stilled herself on the ground and held her breath as she watched Kosumi glided a lap around the block with eyes scanning. He’d slowed down tremendously to a jogging pace now as he took the last lap around the buildings to meet back up with Emmitt on the other end of the street. Once beside his companion, Kosumi stopped casually and fell back to his feet as he looked over his shoulder in puzzlement.

“I don't get it… you sensed it too didn't you?” Kosumi said, scratching his nose.

“I felt a little something before you even signalled to me,” Emmitt said, putting his weapons away and folding his arms.

“Really!? Why didn't you say something then!?” Kosumi said.

“It’s not wise to put all your trust on instincts. Besides, I followed through when you gave me the sign that you felt someone was following as well and now look at what’s happened.” Kosumi shook his head at what his partner said.

“Oh please nobody is going to check the lamp posts and connect the damage to us,” Kosumi shrugged.

“Unless the one who startled us was a witness at a window, In any case, this will come out of our funding,” Emmitt said. Kosumi grimaced a moment before recovering and shook his head.

“So you're telling on me!” Koson said.

“I'm telling on us, we overreacted,” Emmett said.

“No, I’m sure it was the one at the hospital. She either backed off our tail before we made our move or somehow managed to hide before I even got there.” Kosumi, putting his weapons away, looked down at his feet in silence.

“That’s impossible,”

“I wouldn't call my god-given talents impossible to escape from like that but-”

“I’m not talking about you I'm talking about the girl.”

“And why would it be impossible?”

“I gave her a stern warning, it’ll be foolish to invite oneself into a meeting that you have specifically been told you are not welcome to,” Emmitt said as he folded his arms, hearing this only made Kosumi chuckle to himself before walking onwards. "What?"

“Had I not known how stiff minded you can be Emmitt, I’d have almost thought that you have gotten half-decent at telling jokes,” Crossing the road they continued heading deeper into the village. Still taken aback by how close they were from catching her, Natalie remained another ten seconds in the alley even after hearing their voices fade from into the distance before she dared move. These hunters were nothing to sniff at. They had very keen instincts, it’s said that only the most disciplined were able to sharpen their senses to such a razor's edge. Natalie did not fancy herself too versed in the rankings of knights but she knew that these two were at least a few steps above your average hunter.

Slipping out of the alley she wiped the outside of her cloke. There was a putrid slime emanating off her now that forced her to bring her hand up to her nose. She'd apparently fallen into rotten bananas, vinegar and a hundred kinds of rotten fish. In short, she smelled like crap. With her face scrunched she tried to ignore the stench and instead relocate Kosumi and Emmitt. She stayed about two hundred metres from them now. They came out as white miniature silhouettes of men through her angel sight. The land an almost black space, buildings filled the void like a world made of purple-tinted glass. Natalie switched between this sight and her normal eyes as followed them over thatched roofs and cobblestoned streets. Her wings of night were briefly summoned to cover the wider gaps between houses. Whenever she reached the apex of her flight or jump Natalie could just about make out the large river that ran right alongside the village sparkling under the moonlit sky.

The river Thow. It got her thinking about the battle Kosumi said had apparently taken place along it. Was it really as dramatic as he made it sound? Eventually, they came upon a large building at the centre of the village. Within Natalie could a hivemind of activity on all floors as people (most likely tavern staff) busied themselves cooking and catering to guests in what must be the main hall. Natalie thought this because of how much space the room took up within the centre of the building itself, three floors made up this pentagon-shaped building and all thereof with its floors having a view over the main hall from a balcony railing making for a kind of spectators stand for onlookers. On the ground floor in the main hall, Natalie saw a number of silhouettes sitting around a circular table whilst a crowd of people observed them as such from the balcony of each floor. They were discussing something and given the sheer density of people there was present so early in the morning it must have been of great import.

It was too dark to see the name of the tavern from where she hid and although the other sight cut through the darkness like a blade Natalie could not read what was written on its surface. Thanks to using her angel sight Natalie's world was simply a wash of whites, purples and blacks. Inanimate objects and flat surfaces not only came to her as bearly visible thin layers of stained glass but with it all being seen only in one colour unless the writing was indented onto the surface of the said object itself then reading it as she was now was impossible.

Thankfully Natalie did not need to read any sign to know that this was the village's main tavern. She had seen gatherings like this back in her own home village. Taverns were often used as a public address or discord since it’s where most of the hunters went to look for jobs and traders stayed to do business. The guild members would often make residence close to their main tavern in order to reach it conveniently if the need arises. It was possible that most of the people gathered here now were local guildsmen and this was a public address on how they were to approach their current problem. That should mean that anyone old enough to fight was allowed inside to listen in but regardless, this was the place.

Emmitt and Kosumi pushed through its big double doors under the watchful eyes of two guards. Just as Kosumi was about to enter the tavern, however, he turned back and said something to the guards. They both proceeded to nod as Kosumi, who took one last look out at the street opposite, entered the building. Unlike before, the two of them looked primed and ready to give the next person who tried to pass them a hard time. No… not just anyone… It was more likely that Kosumi told them to keep her out specifically.

What to do? She needed a way inside that would not alert the guards. Preferably one that was not violent if possible. If they could just ignore her then…

Ignore... something stirred within her at that word. 'Ignore,' it was what everyone did to any incident that involved kidnapping. Ignore was the thing done when no clues were found from the missing, no answers were discovered for the loved ones, no closure was found in their fractured lives. And when the hunters who investigated started going missing without an uproar others simply said: ‘It comes with the territory, they knew the risks,’ it was the common excuse of the ones willing to leave well enough alone. Ignore, was what the families who simply did not have the power or money to pay the insane demands these so-called hunters began to offer had to endure. For anyone that was even remotely a victim of a kidnapping. Ignore is what the whole hunter system-no the whole world had adopted when the expensive demands for missing persons were not being met. Eventually, the loved ones' victims stopped asking for help from the hunters and they in turn simply wiped any case that resembled a kidnapping clean from their records. Like an embarrassing trip on an otherwise perfect pleasant stroll, they picked themselves up, dusted themselves off and kept on walking like the event was forgotten. With her head throbbing with these thoughts Natalie dropped down from the building she hid behind and landed down an alley alongside it. She was spotted instantly by the two guards as she stepped out from the alley and so taking a deep breath she approached.

"Stop right there," one of the guards said when she'd crossed the road and made as if to climb the steps up to the establishment. Natalie stopped as the men studied her with uncertain glares.

"Who are you… And why do you stink of garbage?" The other man said. Colore came to Natalie's face in hearing that but it took only a moment for her to remind herself what she doing here and why it was so important, she had to find information and a boat before sunrise or else…

And just like that Natalie stood taller, eyes resolute.

"I'm a messenger," she pushed out. It was the truth to an extent. The men looked at each other for a moment.

"No. If you ask me, you're a beggar trying to pass off as a messenger to get your fill of the food inside."

“It’s a public gathering so what does it matter what I do?” she answered.

“You can say that out here is also public ground too. So why don’t you spill your ‘message’ here and run along? We can relay it to them if it's so important.”

"I've travelled too far and gone through too much crap to put up with this."

"Yeah I can smell that much," he put a hand over his nose as he recoiled. "You're not one of ours that's for sure. None of the Willows would go around smelling like the backside of a back end village." one of the men said, he took a look up and down at her clothes and cloak whilst scrunching his nose. He then turned to his partner and asked: "What do you think? Could be a scout, we've been waiting on them forever now and things have been moving rather fast."

Nerves and anger began to swirl in her gut as another distant rumble of thunder rolled on above them.

"One of the mayors then. She looks tacky enough. Let her pass." The other man said, with his eyes too fixed on the sky he backed off from blocking the door. She managed it, she was free to enter unimpeded. When she took two steps towards the door however the other man who was not looking up at the sky gripped her at the shoulder.

"Hang on… She’s that one Kosumi warned us about!" The other man pulled out from staring at the sky and pointed his weapon towards her neck in a blink.

"So Kosumi was being serious!?" The one with the spear out said.

"I thought it was another of his jokes to keep us on our toes. And even if true I did not think anyone would be bold enough to cause more commotion again so soon."

“Let me through,” Natalie said between gritted teeth. The winds around them began to pick up as cold spits of rain fell from up high.

“Not a chance in hell, I do not know what your obsession is for drama but we got enough issues going without you muddying the waters. Now if you turn around and go back to where you came from then we’ll pretend this never happened.”

They will Ignore this…

“You have no idea,” Natalie mumbled, she could not keep a grip on her emotions anymore. The sky rumbled sending ripples through the ground past Natalie's whole frame. One of the men began showing signs of hesitation as he looked at her. Natalie tried to take another step towards the door, she could practically hear the people inside talking now but she was stopped by the feel of cold steel at her neck.

“No funny moves,” one of the men said.

“If you planned to resist from the start then you really should have come armed.” said the other. Natalie closed her eyes for a moment, in the end, it came down to this.

“So you're not going to let me through?” Natalie asked.

“Sorry kid,” One of the guards said.

“Me too,” she mumbled. In one sudden step forward she’d parried aside the spear by her neck with one hand and like lightening palmed holders' centre with a pulse of electricity out the other. The guards who’d long prepared from an engagement had his knight's armour shrouding him and if this was any other person striking him any other affinity his steel knight’s armour would have made for a challenging wall to penetrate.

But Natalie’s electronic attacks were conducted through the affinity of a steel knight better than it does on any other element. none other making them perhaps the most vulnerable to her kind of power. The man gave a dismayed grunt as her strike landed and with a twitch, he fell ragdoll on the steps of the tavern. The other man thrust his spear at him off to her left but having already stepped within striking range with her hands the distance advantage weapons held were turned against him as he struggled to do a good thrust. Catching the spear’s tips in one hand Natalie yanked the man's weapon at the apex of his thrust, tipping him out of balance. As he struggled to right himself Natalie had sprung off the ground she tried counterclockwise thrusting out a flying back kick sending him flying through the double doors of the tavern, sliding across its oak flooring and crashing onto the rim of the roundtable. As he moned in pain a flicker of her electric discharge emanated off his person.

"I knew it!" Kosumi exclaimed. Emmitt was there also looking somewhat shocked. All eyes around the table fell on her then, them along with at least three hundred others upon the stands looked down at her like spectres analysing the flesh of a gutted lamb. Natalie felt her heart thrash against her chest. This was insane! People were already not her foray and with no real plan or means to explain herself ready, she knew that she was on borrowed time if she hoped to make this work.

Not hope, this need's to work! thinking back on the devastation she witnessed in Lucas, recalling the story Minda told her and remembering Andrew's desperate rush to get her in order to save his family from the same Natalie swallowed down her fear, looked around the table and locked eyes with the intimidating face she could find among them.

“I’m sorry about the entrance,"