Chapter 3
Sorren’s eyes flittered open as the sunlight streamed through the window. Yawning and stretching, he pulled himself from the couch, leaving a tired and mildly disgruntled Muzu to settle back down on the seat he had just vacated.
Sorren crossed over to the window on the adjacent wall and was surprised to see a flurry of activity on the cobblestone street below. Vendors with small wooden carts containing a variety of items - from food, to jewelry, to clothing to creatures – lined the narrow streets.
“Will. Wake up.” Sorren ordered, turning his attention to the lump of a man who had not stirred.
Willy shifted ever so slightly. “Jus’ a few more minutes...” he mumbled groggily.
Sorren sighed. “Muzu, if you’d be so kind.”
The ever-faithful crow stirred with a light caw. Hopping over to Willy, Muzu gave him a none-to-gentle peck on the nose.
“Gah!” Willy lurched forward, blindly swatting at Muzu, though the crow easily avoided the half-conscious man. “‘The hell Sorren? I thought I asked ‘ya to say something before relyin' on Muzu to wake me up!”
“I did. You didn’t wake up,” Sorren responded bluntly. “There’s quite a bit of activity outside, so we’re going to investigate.”
“Why does it have to be ‘we’?” Willy mumbled, laying back down on the couch. “I’ll just be here for a while longer and catch up to ‘ya later.”
“If I leave you here alone, you’ll wander around whenever you wake up and inevitably find trouble,” Sorren replied in the same matter-of-fact tone.
“Do ‘ya really trust me that little? ‘Asides I have Fiore here, so I won’t be alone.”
“That’s even more reason for concern. You know as well as I do that you find more trouble with Fiore than without her. Now come on.”
With a lot of exaggerated, groggy, grumbling Willy hauled himself up and followed behind Sorren as he led the way out of the inn and down to the street.
In just the few short minutes that the two of them had been squabbling, the already busy street had filled with at least double the amount of people and creatures Sorren had seen before.
Willy’s eyes lit up immediately as he laid his eyes on the various amounts of food and trinkets. There were several booths set up for games and prizes, some of which included an Eldemore creature as a prize.
“This is impressive!” Willy said, as he gazed open-mouthed at the festivities around him. “What stand should we start at?”
“We’re not here for games Will. Need I remind you that I’m here for work and you’re to avoid creating a ruckus at all costs?”
“That one looks really –”
“Will!” Sorren interrupted, turning his stern eyes on his friend.
“Now look here Sorren,” Willy said, shaking his pointer finger at Sorren as if he was scolding a dire. “The best way to investigate anything is to mingle with the people right? Well, all of the people are right here on this street. And really, would it kill you to have a little fun every now and again?”
Sorren gave a long sigh. “If I allow myself to be carried away with this ‘fun’ then I could lose track of the surroundings and...”
While Sorren was busy giving a full-on lecture, Willy once again gazed at the stands, deciding which one he wanted to visit first. A loud growling from his stomach made up his mind for him. “Great,” he interjected, stopping Sorren in the middle of his sentence. “But before we do anything, let’s give that food stand a try.”
“You weren’t listening to a thing I said were you?”
“ ‘A course I was listenin’ but I’m too hungry to focus and we all know how ‘ya value focus. So food first.” Before Willy could give him a chance to complain, he shoved Sorren forward toward a little dumpling stand.
Sorren moved at Willy's insistence, though he couldn’t say he was particularly happy with this turn of events. Still, he was a bit hungry himself and a small breakfast would do them all some good. Once at the stand, Sorren tossed a couple of baubles at the merchant and took a stick that had several dumplings on it.
“It’s still kinda weird,” Willy said as they walked down the street with their breakfast. “Payin’ for things I mean.”
“Strange perhaps, but much easier,” Sorren stated as he held out a crumb of the dumpling for Muzu to try. So many years the two of them had stolen from shops and street vendors who were not too different than those on the street today. Clever distraction tactics and fast reflexes gave them enough food to get through the day, but by no means was it an easy way to live. Sorren much preferred the legal way of obtaining food.
“For old times’ sake we could –”
“Don’t you dare even think about it,” Sorren cut him off, knowing exactly where Willy’s thoughts were going. “How many times do I have to tell you to stay out of trouble?”
“If you didn’t say it so much, maybe I would listen more.”
Sorren gave a frustrated roll of his eyes but said nothing in response.
The two spent the majority of the morning and afternoon (at Willy’s insistence) travelling the streets and observing the people around them, or at least, Sorren was. Willy, meanwhile, jumped from stand to stand, participating in whatever activities he could find. By the time they reached the end of the long street, he had so many bags full of prizes and trinkets that he could scarcely carry it all. Even Fiore had a little bag in her mouth.
“I guess this is the end of the road huh?” Willy said, craning his head around the packages in his arms. The cobblestone road went no further, although there was a small dirt path that continued onward to a group of cherry trees in the distance. “Sorren! Are you really going to keep going?” Willy demanded as his friend moved off toward the little path.
“Yes. There may be something of interest this way,” Sorren stated, without turning back to address Willy.
With a bit of grumbling about heavy bags and tired feet, Willy followed after Sorren.
It was clear that the trail had once been greatly traveled, though now it was overgrown with tall grass and vines that threatened to send Willy toppling with all of his goodies if he wasn’t careful. He was so focused on the ground that he failed to notice Sorren stopping in front of him until he ran into the back of his friend.
“For the love of Eldemore,” Sorren said exasperatedly, “give me that before you seriously injure yourself.” He snatched the topmost bag, which gave Willy a clear field of vision.
“Thank ‘ya Sorren,” Willy replied, flashing him a wide grin. “What’d ‘ya stop for anyway.”
Using his free hand, Sorren pointed to the small little shrine carved from rocks. It was worn from weather and had a couple patches of moss growing on it, but was still beautiful nonetheless.
“Welcome to my shrine,” a soft voice said. Slowly, a white woman with long black hair and a kind face, materialized in front of them.
“Hey there,” Willy greeted cheerfully while Sorren gave a short, respectful, dip of his head. After the things they had seen in the past, a woman materializing out of nowhere didn’t seem all that strange.
“I see...” she said as she gazed at them. “You have come to the Oriental Isles from the mainland in search of those who wish this land harm.”
“Do you have any information on the matter?” Sorren asked.
She gave a small shake of her head. “Not much I’m afraid. I do know that as of late, the Oriental Isles have been flooded with individuals from the mainland, and I fear that these people are aiming to overthrow the Emperor of this land and take this kingdom for themselves.
"Unlike the other human kingdoms, the Orients have always been the peaceful sort, only fighting to defend what is rightfully theirs. But the times have changed the people. I do not know if the Orients still have the strength to defend against this threat.
"I ask of you, Watch Crow members, please protect this land and the people in it.”
Sorren and Willy exchanged a glance. There was much more to this mission than they originally thought. Willy couldn’t help but wonder just what he was doing, assigning just Sorren to complete such a large task alone. Good thing Willy was here to help.
“Of course, we will do everything in our power to ensure the mission is properly completed,” Sorren vowed.
A/N~ This was a really hard chapter for me to get through, and I'm not exactly sure why. I do hope the end result is not too terrible. >.< I re-wrote the whole beginning because it just didn't feel right. And here's hoping I kinda sorta captured the Shrine Maiden (Yin's?) personality alright and didn't go too far off-course with the little bit I said about the Orient people.