Opening the door to his living quarters with an intense feeling of worry, Dante’s eyes scurried around the interior, surprised to see no commotion nor anyone missing. Rorburn was ying on his bed, Pryderi was eating a couple of fruits from a bowl, and Ireishil was sharpening her axe. Heaving a sigh of relief, the 3 of them turn to him as a result of the noise, Pryderi cocking his head as Dante walked in. “Everything alright?” Pryderi asked, Dante nodding while he stood at the front of his bed, putting away his weapons. “Yes. I was only a little, well… only a little worried that everyone would be sullen over what happened.” Shrugging in response, Pryderi leaned back along the window as he put away the bowl, a couple of cores and stems ying inside of it. “What happened back there was anything but pretty, but it could’ve been a lot worse.” “It definitely could have. I’m gd nobody got seriously hurt.” Dante said, Rorburn speaking up, frowning while he gave his input. “Asshole.” Dante turned to him, resting his tome at the end of the bed as he answered. “What?” Dante prodded. Rorburn answered by unsheathing his left arm bde, it still cut down to the same length it was earlier, showing no signs of restoration. “Does that, er…” “No. It doesn’t grow back.” Dante walked towards him, raising his hands defensively as he crouched down a bit to get more eye level with the Nitlie. “I can try to heal it, if you want.” “No. If you try healing this it’ll be like healing a broken toenail. All the skin grows over it, then it gets all filled with pus and dead skin and shit. I’m good.” Wincing from his description of it, Dante walked back over to his bed, sitting at the foot of it and falling down on his back. A feeling of exhaustion came over him while he id down, his legs hanging off of the foot of the bed while he stared up at the ceiling. After snuffing his candle, Dante turned over onto his side, rest coming to him shortly afterwards.

  While the night was young, those who crept under its darkness did their business, walking along a paved path deep into the woods. It was here that there was a small, wood cabin, obscured from the sight of the many nearby cities as some shady, armed individuals entered it. There were a couple nterns lighting up the inside of it, revealing the roughly dozen or so people gathered within. The one at the center was the royal Tatezaki guard from the st underbelly discussion, present again with the cowled individual now known as Jilu just then leaving the room, a leather sack full of thrones in their arms while the door was closed behind them. The Tatezaki guardsmen stood up straight, looking around at the others present. They came under the idea they would be put to work, being organized into a group of bandits that would terrorize a city down south. They were correct, the guardsman giving them their signifying clothing pieces as well as some thrones to hold them over. The room was eerily quiet as the newfound hired bdes started to process what they were about to start doing to innocent people, some even looking hesitant while they looked around between one another. “If you’ve any reservations against this…” The guardsman began, the others immediately looking over towards him. “...then leave, and do not come back.” “No, no, ‘s not like that boss. It’s just we really gotta, y’know, get in character ‘n all.” “Do not call me that. You are aware that you must refer to me as ‘Vind’, correct? You are not to even hint that there is a mastermind.” The korr bandit who spoke up ughed, sliding his tattered, green armband over his shoulder while he responded. “Yeah, yeah, I call ya Vind when we’re out doing business. But ain’t nobody here but us, right?” Vind shook his head, sticking his arms on the table as he leaned over towards them. “You never know who is listening. Now begone, I want this done as soon as possible. Jilu may have lowered our timeframe by making themself so announced.” The bandits all leave after one another, complete with armor and various weapons as they leave to go do their duty.

  Dante awoke to this day somewhat simir to st time, though instead of their room being immediately filled with servants, there was only a messenger in the hallways prociming that the dining hall was open and currently supplied with food. He appreciated Arrios taking his request to be treated more seriously, filling him with a newfound energy while he rose from his bed and put on his equipment. He walked down the hall back towards the dining hall, the pce where he was crying to his grandfather only a night ago. It was embarrassing to think about, but that day was over, far behind him as he ventured throughout the impressively rge castle. The interior of it felt like a miniature city of itself, much like how Arrios had described it to him when he was younger. At the time, Dante thought Arrios was exaggerating, trying to mystify the much younger tovron for entertainment. To take it all in person was a completely different feeling, though, one of awe and wonder. He passed by a couple of guards while he walked into the dining hall, seeing it bustling with servants and soldiers of the castle, all either making food or eating it. Walking over to help himself to some eggs frying upon a contained fire, Dante took little notice of the happenings around him while he prepared his meal. The overwhelming feeling of Mauyonne was not present here, it felt much more like he was a part of everything that was happening here, a sort of sense of belonging overcoming him. While he thought on such, Dante sat down by his lonesome along the wall, eating the cooked yolk of a couple of eggs and drinking some formici honey. The smooth, slightly transparent yellow liquid gave a sweet taste while Dante drank it, sking his thirst and reinvigorating his energy. He found this time of soce and quiet to be fairly replenishing, his fears and worries distant while he silently ate. Once he finished his meal, he left the dining area back out in the hallway, standing outside while awaiting for the others of his party to arrive. First was Pryderi, followed by Ireishil, then Rorburn, who was carrying some bread and meat while accompanying the others. Walking over to the guild building to yet again be carted away, Dante couldn’t help but shake a feeling that everyone was feeling exasperated. No one had spoken a word to each other since st night, at least to Dante’s knowledge. Everyone stopped once they arrived towards the entrance, the rge wooden doors transferring dozens of mercenaries. Dante was the first to speak, the others looking at him while the words left him. “I… I know everyone’s feeling a little down, but, I think that mission was nothing more than a hiccup. On this mission, we should give it our best. Right?” Ireishil shrugged, looking back towards the door as Pryderi responded. “Eh. It’s just kinda hard to get in the mood for all that after we got bested like that. But… Dante’s right, we shouldn’t let that get us down.” Rorburn looked over towards Pryderi, swallowing a piece of bread as he dusted off his clothing. “Huh? Were you saying something important?” Rorburn asked, Pryderi chuckling as they soon be signaled into the building. There they stood along the walls, watching as the other mercenaries were given their proper parchment detailing their quest and journey. It was only a brief moment before they soon be called to the front, a vinnan woman taking their names and their task. They were handed a piece of parchment that circled a road connecting Tatezaki and a nearby vilge, the words ASAP written along its shape. The vinnan then went on to expin what their task was, detailing the specifics as Ireishil held the paper for everyone to see. “Your party is to stay hidden within a supply caravan we are sending to a nearby vilge. It is believed that it will be intercepted by a nearby group of vagrants connected to a growing Taikonai force. Simply capture the vagrants in a condition where they can be interrogated. If by any chance you cannot find them…” She stopped for a second, resting her elbows on the table while she finished her scribbling on the next piece of parchment. “Well, you’ll just need to keep looking.” Ireishil nodded, the others following behind her as they walked out of the building. Dante wasn’t entirely sure what they meant by staying hidden in a caravan until they saw their given transportation; a rge wagon connected to 2 gefyls, 2 individuals sat at the front of it looking as if they were humanoids made from leaves and petals, with leafy, multi-colored hair on their head and petals along their neck. Dante looked at the both of them rather bewildered for a second, before he recalled the people that occasionally came to assist his family’s farm. They were a race of floral people known as the Onasmen, easily recognized by their pnt-like humanoid appearance. Like other Onasmen Dante had seen before, these two were unarmed and wore only basic clothing instead of anything armored, reflecting the pacifism commonly encouraged in their culture. Climbing on top of the wagon, the onasman drivers readied the gefyls to begin a steady stroll, Dante feeling the wagon jerk around while the others dived into the piles of hay that surrounded him. It didn’t completely obscure their bodies, but he figured the illusion was enough for people not looking directly inside of the wagon. He climbed into a portion of the hay away from the others, accidentally hitting heels with who felt like Rorburn while he tried to wriggle deeper inside of the feed. A feeling of custrophobia came over Dante when he felt the hay continue to move, him eventually feeling the breath of someone on the back of his leg. “Ah, sorry, I’m not - ” Dante was cut off by Ireishil shushing him. Apparently the vilge was only a few miles away, but being huddled under a bunch of itchy hay rubbing against his face made the passing minutes feel like days. Dante huffed while he tried not to let the petty inconveniences get to him, covering his face with his hands and pulling some more hay over his body. There he and the rest of his party id, staying mostly silent until they heard the words of some strange voices stopping the cart, ordering the onasmen to stop and answer some questions. Dante peeked over the cart for a split second to see who the perpetrators were. One was a brown-scaled Arterian who, unlike Ireishil, had no tail, and another who was a Kechi, though unlike the purple-skinned, lean ones he was accustomed to, this one had a body built like a gourd, his stomach peeking below his ragged metal armor slightly, his skin shaded a light green. Supposedly Kechi was an umbrel term for three different races influenced by 3 ancient sins, but there was little time for Dante to think of such, as the onasmen driving the cart yelled for their help. Ireishil and Rorburn threw themselves out of the cart, trailing some hay behind them as Dante and Pryderi closely followed. The two vagrants backed up, the kechi ughing as he wiped at his mouth. “You’re coming with us.” Pryderi ordered, drawing his bow while the bandits raised their hands, the kechi dropping their mace and the arterian dropping what looked like a tome, it made from a reddish wood and gems with silver backing built into it. Dante’s eyes lit up as he stepped forward, stopping the arterian as he pced his boot on his tome. “Stop. What magic do you know?” He prodded, the arterian snickering at the cleric, looking down at the considerably shorter fellow. “Just some fire shit. Rex, kid.” Dante looked back at Ireishil, walking away from the arterian as he walked towards her some more. “You may want to gag him, he might try something funny while we’re not paying attention.” “Aww, c’mon. Don’t be like that, I can’t even cast any of that shit without that book.” Ireishil shrugged, taking out a small coil of rope as she tied it on top of a rag into his mouth, the Arterian surprisingly not struggling whatsoever as he and the Kechi were hauled onto the wagon, both now with their hands and feet bound. Laying the both of them against the interior, the hay was pushed away from them while the party sat on top of it, each staring down at them. The result was a somewhat lopsided pile of hay on one half of the wagon, it bobbing back and forth while it sat up against the left end of the wagon. Dante looked spooked while the wagon turned back around towards the city, the pile unsteadily shaking while the vehicle moved forward. “Well… good job, everyone.” Dante stated, smiling as the rest turned towards him. “Eh, we’re not quite done yet.” Pryderi responded, narrowing his eyes for a second as he readjusted his seat, continuing to speak. “Kinda strange, actually. Figured these guys would’ve at least struggled a little. But they came in pretty easy.” The kechi began to speak up, hacking and coughing as his notable lisp crept the words out of him, almost sounding like his tongue was too big for his mouth. “There’s 4 of you and 2 of usth, and we don’t wanna get killed over sthome hay…” He remarked, turning his body as he leaned up against the wooden barrier of the wagon. Choosing not to prod any further for an answer, the party went back to rexing on the hay, taking in the rge wilderness that fnked both sides of the road. It was strangely calm for Dante, that such a difficult mission from before was followed by something that seemed so effortless. However, his train of thought was stopped when Pryderi suddenly stood up, readying his bow as he turned towards the trees. There was some rustling being heard from them, one of the onasman drivers yelling out as an arrow was fired from the forest. It nded into the side of the wagon, shaking it considerably as the caravan began to drive less steadily. They slowed down as a now rge group of armored individuals, all bearing the Taikonai colors of red, bck, and white stopped in front of the gefyls. The party was forced to stop once the Taikonai soldiers unsheathed their various weapons, a couple even readying their tomes to cast a spell. A rge korr walked over to the party, ordering them out as the rebels retrieved the captured bandits and cut them from their bonds. “You are coming with us, now.” The korr spoke, a heiande walking over and readying their tome, a bellowing of bck smog leaving from their other hand and enveloping Dante and his party. What was Dante being made unconscious for hours felt only like a few seconds to him, the change in pce happening in the blink of an eye.

  Dante awoke under the roof of a rge tent, tied to a wooden post that was driven into the ground. Alongside him were the others, each also either tied or chained. For some reason Dante couldn’t find, all of their belongings were simply tossed onto a nearby table. Both Rorburn and Pryderi were staring at where their weapons were, until the sounds of footsteps drew closer to their tent. A Kyvernite, his entire body armored in a thick bronze alloy, excluding his barren, muscur torso. On his chest was the tattoo of a red, cracked heart, with the letters “Heartbreakers” scribed under it, as well as some natural yellow kyvernite gems growing along his toned midriff. His face was obscured by a heavy-looking iron helmet, it being a cylindrical piece of metal with just a couple of holes slit into where his eyes looked through. “Howdy.” He spoke, his voice of an incredibly low pitch, sounding as if he was enunciating each individual letter with how steadily he spoke. Dante looked up at him, fidgeting with the bonds around his wrists, his legs tied together with a simir thread. Rorburn was the first to respond, spitting before he spoke. “If you’re here to interrogate us or whatever, you aren’t getting shit, dickwad.” The kyvernite ughed, taking out a knife while he walked over behind Dante. “Nah. You 4 are being let go.” A confused expression came on Dante’s face while he watched this individual free him, the kyvernite having made easy work of his binds, before going to cut Pryderi’s ropes. “...huh?” Dante let out. “One of our officers apparently recognized a couple of ya. Better thank her when you get out.” The kyvernite stopped himself, holding up a finger as the party got up, helping themselves to getting their gear back on. “Well, there’s one condition. You take those 2 guys of ours back to your pce. Alongside one of our mages.” “What? Why do you want your people to get interrogated?” Dante asked, the kyvernite shaking his head in response. “It’s probably better that you don’t ask any questions about it.” Walking out of the tent with a kyvernite following behind them, the party then stopped when Ireishil and Dante saw a familiar, red-skinned salisko, Dante the first to speak on such. “Are - are you - ” “Mhm.” She responded, Pryderi and Rorburn looking between the surprised Dante and Ireishil, the nitlie leaning over to Dante and whispering to him. “Uh… who’s this broad?” He asked, Dante turning his head towards him as he answered. “She’s from one of the missions me and Ireishil did, by ourselves.” The salisko nodded, smiling as she rested her hand on her hip. “Heh. I don’t think I got either of your names. You’re real lucky I remembered who you were. Our guys were gonna turn you bunch into hollows and drop you in Helm territory.” Dante ughed out, rubbing the back of his head. “Yes, haha, that probably… that wouldn’t have been good. I’m Dante, her name's Ireishil, and that’s Pryderi.” Rorburn sucked his teeth as Dante neglected to speak for him. “Rorburn. Apologies for our dickhead of a leader.” The salisko chuckled as Rorburn made his comment, stepping forward as she introduced herself. “Llorva Farm. My accomplice here, he goes by Lovely. We’re representing the Heiwan chapter of the Taikonai Resistance.” Lovely chuckled as she pointed at the tattoo on his chest. Rorburn walked forward, the others standing by his side while the nitlie spoke. “Well, we’ll probably have to get outta here and head back to base. Lovely there, he already told us about the arrangement, which we’re fine with.” Pryderi looked over at Rorburn, the vinnan cocking his head while he gave his input. “Hold on. ‘We’? They’re having us send a spy into a Helm prison. We might wanna think about the consequences.” Llorva narrowed her eyes, walking over towards Pryderi while smirking. “Well, if you don’t wanna do that, then we’ll just kill you lot. You got off the easiest than any Guild merc that came in this camp. I wouldn’t try pressing your luck any further.” She warned, pointing her finger into Pryderi’s chest while she spoke. “Pryderi, we should really just get going with what they offered us… I don’t think we have any other option.” Dante spoke, Pryderi sighing as he nodded his head. “Fine. Know that I don’t like any bit of this, though.” Lovely grinned, ughing to himself as he led the 4 of them back to their wagon. “Heh. It’s a shame I didn’t get to have any fun with you lot.” Lovely began, looking over at Pryderi and Ireishil. “Vinnan and the cold-blood aren’t very pretty, but…” Lovely’s grin widened, brushing his fingers along Dante’s cheek, the tovron wincing and stepping away from him. “Oh… if we meet again, Pildel, we’re gonna have a little… one-on-one, you and I.” Dante was a bit too shocked to respond, him raising his eyebrows while Pryderi gred at Lovely. Upon reaching the wagon, Dante saw that the two vagrants from earlier were now being followed by an olive-skinned vinnan, present in leather armor with a faint red light coming from one of her palms. Dante looked over the wagon to see the same 2 onasmen from before, them looking visually undisturbed as the party boarded the wagon with the spies.

  The gefyls immediately took off the second everyone was seated, the rebel camp now vanishing into the thick of the forest as the party rested on the wagon, much of its hay now in possession of the rebel camp. Dante looked down at the new “prisoner”, her tied by her Taikonai comrades. Dante’s eyes fixated on the red light coming from her hand, it reminding him of the identical sigil he had. His staring at the sigil on her palm eventually went noticed by her, the woman speaking up while he was taking in its shapes. “My eyes are up here, torro.” She spoke, Dante backing up as his words slipped out of his mouth. “Excuse me? I - I’m not… I just noticed the symbol on your hand. I don’t believe that warrants calling me an offensive term for my race.” She snickered in response, slipping her hand from her rope cuffs and holding up the sigil-bearing palm, Dante staring at it while she spoke. “What about it, huh? You got a problem?” “N - No, it’s,” Dante pulled his glove off his hand, the strange woman raising her eyebrows at the sight of him having the same sigil. “Huh. Didn’t expect a whelp like you to have the mark of Molvath. Bet you can’t control hollows with it like I can, though.” Dante cocked his head, the rest of the party turning towards her as she mentioned controlling hollows. “...controlling hollows? What?” She pointed towards the 2 onasmen steering the gefyls, their faces completely bnk and cking any response upon being given attention. “Those Onasmen are hollows. Made them that way myself.” Pryderi scooted away from them upon the revetion of them being hollows. An opposite reaction was Dante’s, him curiously crawling towards them to study their features. They were almost indistinguishable from a regur Onasman, their sclera a yellowish white instead of a Hollow’s empty bck, their vividly colored hair still hung from their scalp like leaves, and one even still had the flowering buds on their colrbone intact. “Then why are they not attacking us? Or showing any signs of being hollowed?” Dante asked, the hollowmancing vinnan grinning while she answered. “Hollows are hardly any different than beasts. Like a pack of wild dogs, they can be tamed, trained, and even made lovers, if that’s your interest. That is my specialty, and why the Helm has such a high bounty on me.” Rorburn leaned towards her slightly, pointing a finger towards her as he asked the next question. “High bounty? So us tossin’ you in is like, good for us, right?” She nodded. “Fifteen hundred thrones, st I checked. Consider it a courtesy to you, from our humble cause.” “Damn, okay. Well, good luck to whatever you’re tryna do in the pen, then.” Pryderi shot a scowl at Rorburn as he said such, the nitlie only giggling to himself as he met Pryderi’s gaze. She nodded towards Rorburn’s good wishes, slipping her hand back into her cuffs as the city of Tatezaki came back into view. While they got closer to the city, Pryderi looked more and more reluctant about their decision to cooperate with the Taikonai, resting his chin on his hand as he stared off into the distance. Soon, the wagon finally met the city’s entrance, a couple of guards stepping in front of the cart’s trajectory the hollowed onasmen sat at the front slowed the cart down to a stop. The wagon and its contents were then presented before the Helm guardsmen, Rorburn gently nding off of it, followed by the others as he was the first to bring the haul in. “I bring to you, good sirs…” He carried out the hollowmancing vinnan while Ireishil lifted out the other 2 vagrants over her shoulders. “The… hollow-controller chick! Forgot her name.” An officer cdded in armor walked over to him, Rorburn standing the hollow witch up on her feet as she stood straight before them. “My… it is Yaren, the Hollow Witch. You’ve excelled on this mission, d.” The officer stated, patting Rorburn on the back as he continue talking. “Right. Can we cim that bounty she’s got, then?” Nodding in response, the officer signaled the party to follow them, a couple of royal guards taking in the 3 captured prisoners. Dante wasn’t paying attention to the scene behind him, but he could’ve swore he heard something about the onasmen defending their love.