Blood and Gold: Chapter 2

[jiminee]

 A short chapter, but here it is!
Chapter list

Vechs opens his eyes late at night. He looks at his clock, an intricate piece he stole a long time ago. It’s three AM. He strikes a match and studies the opposite side of the room. Two purple lights reflect the small flame back to Vechs. He grins. Making a motion in front of the flame with his hands, he extinguishes the match and slowly sits up in his hammock. Grabbing his helmet and goggles he makes sure not to make any noise at all, and creeps out of the bedroom into the main room. He waits several seconds as the sound of Nebris’ less-stealthy footsteps pad into the room. Vechs sits down on one of the pushed-back stools from earlier and lights a candle.  Nebris sits down beside him, confused.

“We can talk out here,” Vechs whispers. “But we have to be quiet. I didn’t want the others waking up.”
“Why?” Nebris hisses.
“You have guts, asking Zisteau about his blyxed up face. Most wait at least a few weeks.”
Nebris lets out a small snort. “I had to ask. I have so many things I want to know about.”
“You want to know about the Feretan incident, don’t you?” Vechs whispers. His voice stings Nebris’ ears.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that you keep mentioning it, and…”
“I wish they didn’t,” Vechs says. “I don’t want to talk about it for many reasons, but particularly because a new guy like you doesn’t need to hear about that sort of thing. It’d scare you off.”
Nebris cocks an eyebrow at Vechs. “So why are we talking? What don’t you want Zisteau and Aurey to know?”
“I just wanted to say… Zisteau’s a great guy. Don’t piss him off. But he’s a good leader. The Grax are a good race, they just don’t like mainlanders all that much. Aurey’s lovely. She’s very stealthy too, as you’ll have noticed. But I’d advise you against asking ­anything about where she came from. Anything.”

“What about you, then?” Nebris asks. “What’s your mysterious past?”
Vechs snorts. “I’m the least mysterious of them all. I was born in Kyfez, if you must know.”
“Kyfez is hundreds of miles away!”
“Thousands,” Vechs corrects. “I hated it there. Zisteau picked me up and told me I was going to become a bandit, and I had no objections. We met Aurey in Fallor, but that’s not where she was born. She was selling handmade clothes at a market for a living, but when Zisteau saw her stealthily take money from the neighbouring stallholder’s safe, he immediately wanted her in the band. We recruited her, and that’s how we formed Naziv.”
“Wow,” Nebris breathes.
“I assumed Zisteau would have told you that when he picked you up, but obviously not.”
“He didn’t.” Nebris hesitates before his next question. “I thought there were more of you. Before.”
“There were.” Vechs says. He stops. “Anyways, what about you?”
“You know my story. Homeless kid stealing food from shops to live. I always lived in Lyren, right from the time I was born. My parents died of disease and I had no home. When you caught me I had decided to run away from Lyren. I’d heard that Corax was a wonderful city, so I headed north-west. Zisteau found me as I was pickpocketing from customers in a small shop on the road towards Corax.”
Vechs nods. “I remember.”

“I’ve got one!” Zisteau bursts into the Lyren hideout dragging a man by the wrist. Aurey and Vechs look up from their card game. Vechs stares, and Aurey tosses a coin from her pile at his face.
“Quit staring. He’s the newest member of Naziv.”
“He has a name,” Zisteau says. “This is Nebris. Caught him stealing from shops outside Lyren.”
“Hi Nebris.” Vechs stands up, dropping his cards. “You look kinda roughed up.”
“He’s homeless, you dolt,” Zisteau says. “That’s what makes him a perfect bandit.”
“Can I speak for myself?” Nebris wrenches his arm from Zisteau’s hand. “I’m Nebris. Apparently I’m a part of this… group now.”
“You are,” Aurey says. “If Zisteau says you are, you are. As long as you want to be, of course.”
“Of course I do! He said you’re going to Corax. I was just about to leave to go there.”
“What are his skills then?” Vechs asks.
“He’s not the most silent but he’s very good at pickpocketing in crowds.”
Aurey nods approvingly. “Welcome to Naziv.”
“Thanks.” He smirks at Vechs, who is staring at him.
“Nebris,” Zisteau says. “Sit down. We’re about to leave for Corax, and we need to plan.”

“You couldn’t stop looking at me,” Nebris says. Vechs looks up.
“I wasn’t used to having a fourth member. We hadn’t had one… for a long time.”
“I was so scared the first time Zisteau accosted me. I thought he was the police or something.”
“Pshh, Zisteau’s not scary. He puts it on. He’s just as easy to get to as all of them, really.”
“What do you mean?” Nebris asks. He looks at Vechs again. Despite what he says, he is the most mysterious of the three, Nebris has decided. He’s never seen him without the pair of green, reflective goggles over his eyes, and rarely does he take the red helmet off. Nebris supposes he must, as it would become recognisable if he went into cities often. He would have to be patient.
“I’m just saying that everyone has a soft spot. It’s blyxing easy to get to them, if you know how.” Vechs stands up and pats Nebris on the back. “Anyway, good talk. Sleep tight.” He extinguishes the candle with a gloved hand, and tiptoes back into the bedroom where Aurey and Zisteau still sleep.

“There are new ones in the area. I can feel it.” The man nods, as if to affirm himself. “Definitely. We should find their hideout as soon as possible.”
“Come on man, we don’t want trouble. They’ll leave as soon as they’ve tried to crack Corax a few times.” The blond man shifts uncomfortably.
“Or get caught at the palace. They always do.” The other man is sure of this. He leans against a nearby tree. “Blyxin’ idiots.” Crickets chirp in the distance.
“We haven’t had new ones in a while,” the blond man comments.
“Good.”
“Come on, Bdubs, they’re harmless. Probably just kids from Lyren thinking they can crack the golden egg that is Corax.”
“If I’m followin’ your weird metaphor correctly, it’s not the egg that’s difficult to crack. It’s the yolk.”
“I don’t even know,” the blonde man admits. “I just thought it sounded cool.”
“Well, in any case, if they’re smart and found the tree branch, they’ve cracked it. I just want to be there when they try to raid the palace and get thrown in the prison.”
The blonde man laughs. “You can go watch then. We should still find their hideout first. Maybe say hi, introduce ourselves.”
“You need to stop being so damn kind, Guude. We don’t owe them anythin’.”
Guude shrugs. “It’s the least we can do.”

“So what were you doing up so late last night?” Zisteau asks, leaning back on his stool. Damn his perception.
Vechs sighs. “Just wanted to go out and sit in the main room. The bedroom’s too small.”
“I heard you talking to Nebris. I’m not stupid, you know.”
Nebris looks down sheepishly and his head throbs.
“How’s that hangover treating you guys, anyways?” Zisteau asks. Aurey, Vechs and Nebris all groan. Nebris wonders how Zisteau avoided any side effects.
“Can we stay in today?” Vechs asks.
“Wow,” Zisteau says, “That’s really not like you. I thought you’d be itching to get into the city. And no. Today I’m going to see if there are any other groups around. I’d like you three to help.”
“Oh please,” Nebris says. “I feel awful. “Why don’t you scout around for other groups and we’ll stay here and… plan.”
“Who’s the leader?” Zisteau asks. His voice is level.
“You,” Nebris sighs. “Sorry.”
Zisteau looks at him. “Alright, just this once. You three stay here. But make yourselves useful. Study that map, look at all the streets and alleyways. And don’t go outside.”
“Thank you,” Aurey says.

Zisteau gives a short nod. He grabs his bag, then goes to the ladder leading up to the surface. Nebris hears his feet creak on each rung until he gets to the top. Nebris knows that the entrance is a trapdoor hidden under a bed of moss on top of which a large rock lies, a rock with an iron handle bolted to the bottom – one that only Zisteau and Vechs can move. He had helped the three others construct this hideout in the dead of night. He shivers, remembering that. It was nasty work. Zisteau said they usually constructed smaller, less permanent homes, but since they were staying here for longer, they’d made this one bigger and lined it with a few wooden boards.
The sound of the rock slamming over the trapdoor rings dully in the small room.

“Right, we should look at that map,” Aurey says. She sits down at the table and studies it. Her eyes glaze over at she looks at the multitude of streets. They blur and shift like snakes.
“So there is a big, main road leading into the city from the gate,” Vechs points out. “It goes up to the palace, then there are more smaller roads radiating out like the spokes on a wheel. Then there are these alleys and laneways between houses, between the spokes.” Vechs sees a square with the word marketplace printed on it. Perfect.
“Right. So we stick to the laneways.” Aurey leans back. “Done.”
“You seem a little… not into this. What’s up?” Vechs asks. Nebris sits down.
“I have things on my mind, and not just this headache.” She sighs. “It’s just that…” Aurey stops, and glances at Nebris. “Nevermind.”
Nebris doesn’t miss this. He stares at Aurey, watching her eyes turn downward.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Vechs says. Nebris turns his attention to the man, watching his face.
“What am I thinking, Vechs?” Aurey asks. She turns around on her chair to look at Vechs.
He hesitates before saying, “Not now, Aurey. Let’s focus on the map and making a proper plan for the city.”
She sighs. “Fine. Talk to me later.”

Comments

[ruddiestbubbles]

O.O I'm really enjoying this story!!!

[clashofdemonesense]

:D this is very good! <3 good luck with the rest of the series writing, Jimmy!

[(Anonymous)]

I'm really liking this story.
- Sierra Winters (@) (@) (@) (@) (@) (@) (@) (@)

[the_mysterious_m]

Loving this story. Is it wierd that I imagined BDubs and Guude with Boston accents in that scene? Must be the wierd metaphor.

[(Anonymous)]

Luv eet .3.
-Random Anon

[tdscott8]

V. Nice

[r7]

Hai, I'm back - and, as always, nitpicking.

Firstly, with the clock - that makes no sense. Not only would it make no sense to have a clock, it also wouldn't matter or mean anything (before the advent of the train, the particular time of day really didn't mean anything, knowing the current hour or minute of the day wasn't really useful firstly because no one used it, and secondly because no one but you knew. Also, for a clock to be that accurate (or, well, I guess you didn't give the minute, but whatever) it would probably have to be a water clock - which is too big and complex to really move effectively, much less steal, and forget having the time be anywhere near right once you've done it.

Secondly, if you're going to add new words to the language/vocabulary of your story, it's normally a good idea to give an exact description, or something close to one, immediately after it's introduced - basically, what you did with the not-a-real-swear last chapter. Otherwise it leaves your reader confused, lost, and sometimes somewhat annoyed.

Also, is there a reason for the sudden font (or size? I'm not sure if it's one or both) change? It was a bit jarring for me, and a definitely find the larger print more relaxed to read.

Other than those, interesting chapter!

[jiminee]

Hope you don't mind but I'm going for a Lemony Snicket-esque vague time setting.... obviously it's heavily medieval, but there are probably going to be anachronisms. This is an AU anyway so it's not like I can't do that.
Anyway the clock is going to come in handy later.
I knew I was taking a risk with the language thing but anyway the only non-English words in this aside from proper nouns are swear words and it's pretty easy to figure out what they're stand-ins for. And idek what's up with the font, I find formatting on this site just does its thing and I never really know how to fix it ^^;;

[r7]

Ah, okay. And very true with the clock thing - I'm just a bit nitpicky XP. Also, if that's the case with the new words, could you make that clear? I wasn't sure if the one used to describe Z's face was a swear, or a new kind of adjective you had added.