Chapter 19: [19 - Mudtown]
[Southside]
The woman lay on the ground silently, staring up at the cavern's ceiling overhead. She massaged the stump where her left arm had been, a determined glint shining in her eyes.
Losing an arm wasn't so bad, a chemtech prosthetic would probably be a useful addition anyway, given her penchant for tinkering. Hell, it would mean she wouldn't have to carry around a blast torch anymore, just adding on onto her new arm would do the trick.
But, in order to do that, she needed to get up. She needed to walk. Walk to Northside.
The woman tried to sit up, however at a much slower pace this time around.
She winced as an uncomfortable burning sensation shot up her spine. It was bearable, for now.
The woman bent forward, leaning on her remaining hand as she curled her legs around into a sitting position. "C'mon Powder." She muttered. "Just get up. UP."
She grabbed onto the wall behind her, pushing up off the floor and onto unsteady legs.
"There we go."
Surprisingly enough, the more she put pressure on her injury, the better it felt.
Despite the dire circumstances, a small smile broke across her grime-covered face.
"Can't be all bad. Now, walk." Powder sucked in a breath, clenching her teeth and walking forwards. "Ow."
Now that hurt. A lot.
But it was doable.
The woman chuckled self-deprecatingly, her ocean-blue eyes burning with a silent resolve.
Powder brought up her remaining hand and pulled what remained of the cloak she had been wearing around her tightly; no need for anyone to notice the result of her newest shortcoming.
She hobbled forward, draping her hood forward over her head to obscure her face.
"One step at a time." She hummed decisively, continuing onward at a slow and steady pace. "Wait for me. I will find you, no matter what."
—
[Mudtown]
The light mist obscuring the company's vision of Mudtown thinned out, becoming less prominent the closer the galleon got to the famous port town.
Callian's enhanced hearing caught a few unhappy mutterings in relation to this, with a few of the deckhands complaining about how hard it was to land in this kind of weather.
Zeri tugged on the side of his cloak, making the man tilt his head around to see her. Her eyes flickered up to the crow's nest before returning to his own questioningly.
Callian beckoned the girl to follow him, darting back up the lattice of rigging and returning to the privacy of the lookout, where they could not be eavesdropped upon.
Camille's attuned senses locked onto their sudden movement, causing her to glance up sharply; watching as the pair of them scaled the ropework before losing interest and turning back to face the land ahead.
Callian jumped through the hole he had made in the railing with his earlier outburst, his metal boots clinking quietly onto the wooden planks underfoot; his apprentice quickly joining him there.
"Cal, what happened earlier?" Said Zeri, looking up at him apprehensively. "I've never seen you like that before, I mean shit - that lookout could've died."
Callian stayed silent, deciding upon how much he should reveal to his younger companion.
He grasped what was left of the railing, watching on as the galleon reached the Mudtown port and came to a halt beside one of the many piers that stretched out into the sea.
The man chose his next words carefully, weaving in just enough truth to his statement so that it couldn't be considered a lie. "Just now, my… Aspect reacted to something. I am not exactly sure what it was - but it was wrong. Something so fundamentally wrong that it triggered my Salgi, purely out of my own shock at how it felt."
Zeri frowned "Salgi? What's that?" She asked, her yellow eyes flicking towards the port ahead of them.
Of course he had an aspect too, how else could he move so fast?
Callian turned to face her before replying. "To put it simply, Salgi is an extension of one's will; or more specifically, their intent to kill. Most human's senses are too dull to pick up on it, with only Beastmen and Yordles able to truly feel it in its entirety."
"But then how did it affect Arthur?" She probed, the sliver of accusation that was previously contained within her tone now replaced with simple curiosity. "He's human isn't he?"
Callian gave her a nod. "Have you heard the term 'The eyes are the window to the soul'?"
Zeri shook her head, a glint of understanding entering her eyes.
"I accidentally made eye contact with the boy, and he took the full brunt of my Salgi. As you saw, it had a crippling effect on someone as young as him."
"But I felt it too." His apprentice countered. "It wasn't that bad, it just gave me a slight shock."
Callian just tapped the area below his eyes, his devastatingly sharp armoured forefinger hitting the runically fortified mask and bouncing off. "You are still human, aspect or not. I admit you are spades more aware than your fellows, but you did not feel even close to its full effect, or your reaction would have been far more severe."
The blue-haired man felt Zeri's heart contract unhappily, it seemed she didn't like being underestimated.
Not that his comment had been anything close to an underestimation. Her reaction to his Salgi would have been the same as Arthur's, with or without her aspect.
"But whatever shocked you… I didn't feel anything like that." The girl muttered frustratedly, her fists clenching tightly.
"I wouldn't have expected you to. It's a matter that even the most sensitive of magical would overlook." He said, patting her on the shoulder reassuringly. "Now, let us return to the deck. I have a feeling Camille will want to inform us of our next course of action."
The masked duo blitzed back to the deck, where Davros was conversing with Camille about her imminent return to Piltover.
The tall woman gestured toward the two of them, wordlessly ordering the captain to fill them in on what they had been talking about.
Davros stared down at Zeri, the fostering dislike behind his gaze lessening as it flickered onto the masked man opposite him. The blue-haired man had just saved his lookout after all, that action deserved a modicum of respect at the very least.
"Our shop will be docking at Mudtown for no less than six hours and will depart shortly after nightfall. You may leave the ship to explore the town but if you don't make it back then I'm afraid you will be left behind. Clear?"
"Yes captain," Callian replied smoothly, noticing the hint of approval that flashed across the captain's impassive face at his deference. Some men were so easy to please.
"Good. Then you are free to leave at your leisure."
"Madam." Callian inclined his head toward Camille respectfully, watching as the corner of her lip curled into an amused smirk. She knew exactly what he was doing.
The deckhands dropped the gangway, connecting the galleon to the pier where a Mudtown official stood waiting for them to disembark from the vessel.
Camille strode down the gangway powerfully, with Davros attempting to keep up with her lengthy strides while doing his best to retain his dignity.
"Lady Ferros?" Said the official, his crude charcoal pencil running down the clipboard he was carrying, stopping just below halfway. "Six-hour docking?" He asked, glancing up at her briefly.
"Correct." She replied, her ice-blue eyes scanning the man disinterestedly. She couldn't glimpse a speck of physical prowess in the official. Yet another man even worth a hint of her attention.
"Then please enjoy your stay." The official said, ticking a box before tapping his forehead thoughtfully; trying to remember the second agenda that was linked to the woman before him. "Ah - also, Lord Damien Ascover has been waiting for your arrival in the Redhouse. Would you like me to arrange to guide you there?"
Camille's usually detached expression crinkled in disgust at this new information.
"That won't be necessary." Cut in Davros, quickly noticing his Liege-Lady's adverse reaction to the official's words.
"Very well then. I will send a runner to inform the Lord of your arrival."
Callian didn't stop to listen to the rest of their inane conversation, instead darting toward the bow of the ship and jumping onto the pier, landing a few yards behind the unaware man who had been gatekeeping their crew's entry.
As always, Zeri was following closely behind him.
Callian felt her heartbeat quicken unnaturally as they walked up the pier.
"Cal, can you… Can you teach me how to use Salgi?" She asked tentatively, quickly tacking on a, "If that's even possible," afterwards.
"I can try." The blue-haired man replied. "But this ability is borne of hardship and experience; something you lack, and something we are on this expedition to fix."
"So I'll learn it as I go?"
"If you have the aptitude for it." Callian finished, dodging a crowd of drunken sailors that likely were heading back to their ship.
The pair walked on in silence, leaving the busy dock far behind them and travelling toward the heart of Mudtown.
It had a rambunctious, chaotic feel; somewhat similar to the Northside marketplaces, only far more innocently energetic. Men and Vastayan alike mingled together within the bustling crowds that lined the main street, with not a hint of racial discrimination in sight.
A rare smile crossed Callian's face as he observed the rowdy hubbub surrounding them.
Many of the stall owners that lined the main street called out to the masked duo loudly, offering heavily discounted prices to the newcomers in their town.
They were naturally lying through their teeth, but it was certainly a breath of fresh air from the oppressive nature of Silco's new regime.
The people of the Undercity rarely talked in public anymore, the 'Midnight Slaughter' still fresh on their minds.
Callian noticed Zeri slit a fat, well-dressed man's purse as he walked past them, overtly catching its contents and stuffing them inside of her deep pockets.
The victim felt his purse lightening immediately and whipped around, but the two of them were already lost within the bustling crowd.
"Was that necessary?" Asked Callian, eyeing the girl next to him critically.
"I think so," She replied, turning the foreign currency over in her hand and examining it. "I mean look at it." Zeri indicated the brickwork background that was stamped into the coin's metallic surface. "I've never seen money look like this before."
"We can adjust our route then, now that we aren't headed for the currency conversion centre."
His apprentice had the decency to look a little sheepish at this, pocketing the one-hundred Mude coin and starting to count the rest of it.
"Er, Four-hundred-and-thirty-six Mude." She said after a minute of mental addition. "How much is that in Marks?"
Callian did some mental math of his own. "With the current rates; you are holding around one-thousand-five hundred Piltovian Marks."
Zeri's eyes widened, quickly stuffing the money back into her pockets. "What?" She said, "Who in their right mind carries that much around with them?!"
Callian smiled at her bewilderment. This place did indeed have quite a cultural gap from Zaun, simply being a more wealthy environment than the Undercity.
"Some people are here to make money, and you can't enter the Redhouse without a sizeable deposit."
"So the Redhouse is just a large casino? - Wait, isn't that where Camille was headed to?"
"It isn't just a casino, it also couples as an expensive whorehouse too." The masked man's lip curled in amusement. "This is where the upper classes from most of the stricter countries come to play; to fuck or gamble - among other things," Callian replied, recounting word-for-word what Camille had told him of the place.
It was an establishment for those who wished to avoid prying eyes, and as such; not only did it cost a staggering amount to enjoy, but wearing masks while inside was a requirement for entry. Anonymity was its key selling point.
"And yes." He continued, answering her later question. "Camille is going there to meet with her business partner - a fact I would bet that she isn't too keen on."
The man idly noted that Zeri's heartbeat didn't spike in reaction to such an explicit topic. Most kids her age would have, whether they grew up in the Undercity or not.
"I see." She said, but there was something about the way the girl said it that made Callian get a creeping feeling she didn't 'see it' at all.
The blue-haired man brought up a hand to his masked forehead, kneading it in exasperation.
Surely not right?
"Zeri, did your parents educate you on your maturity, and what comes with it?" He asked, glancing down at her sceptically.
The girl blushed, her half-mask unable to conceal the slow reddening of her face. Her yellow eyes hit the ground self-consciously. "No." She muttered shamefully. "They said I was too young for that kind of thing when I asked about it."
Why did it always fall to him to explain these things?
Fuck this overprotective Undercity parenting. He was not going to be the one to sit down and explain this topic again.
He had been ordered to educate Jinx on the matters of adulthood too, as Sevika had pawned off the little girl to him after point-blank refusing to be the one to teach her about it.
Silco wasn't happy, but it hadn't exactly been in the woman's job description either, and there was at least a replacement for her absence.
Him.
Maybe the man had wanted him to foster a positive relationship with his heir, but Callian doubted it. The girl had utterly hated him for quite a while after having to sit through that awkward conversation.
To top it off, that had been their first interaction ever.
"Then it seems we have a pit stop to make." Said Callian, turning right back around and scanning the signs above the street. "To the Redhouse then."
The girl's eyes widened, the faintest arc of green electricity sparking down her armoured shin. "What - why?"
The man eyed her shin nonchalantly. "Your aspect is leaking." He commented dryly, speeding up his pace to carve a path through the oncoming crowd.
Zeri looked at her shin mutely, reaching down to pat away the stray electricity with a hand before hurrying forward after his disappearing figure.
"Why?" She hissed, her query seeming more like a plead for help than anything else.
"To educate you on said maturity. Young heirs are often taken to places like this too, as their parents can't stomach talking about such an uncomfortable topic with them. It also has the benefit of making them experience their first time in a safe environment, rather than happening with a stray off of the streets."
Callian wisely omitted the fact that both reasons were exactly why he was doing it too.
The green-haired girl looked scandalized, staring up at him with what looked like betrayal.
"Is there a problem?" He pressed, coming to a stop and turning to face her, his head tilting to the side owlishly.
"I- No, no problem." She muttered, casting her eyes downward in surrender.
This was going to happen at some point, delaying would only make it worse later on.
"Good." Said the man beside her, turning into a small alleyway and jumping up onto the curved roofing above street level. "Then let's speed up our approach - six hours will fly by in no time."
—
Despite my busy schedule, I somehow made the time to write this - hope you enjoyed.
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* I'm giving Mudtown a traditional Japanese-esque look, so when I say stylised roofing, so think of a Kyo-machiya townhouse when I describe the architecture.
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(Total word count: 2652)
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