(RE) Chapter 2: Well Known Strangers

Chapter 2:

Well Known Strangers

Within his room, Deki snuffed out the oil lamp next to his bed.  The forest outside seemed suspiciously quiet. He peered out the sole window in his room but saw nothing of interest. As he made his way back to his bed he heard a noise like leaves shuffling ever so softly. The sound made its way from the forest behind Deki’s room and disappeared around the side of the cabin. Deki tensed up and began to move to the living room without making a sound. He crept all the way to the front window while never taking his eyes off the deck. Out of nowhere appeared this woman wearing dark clothes. The glow of her red eyes was the only notable thing Deki could recognize about her.

As Deki stood ready he noticed the woman shuffle her attention to another part of the cabin. Suddenly, Biff kicked his bedroom door open and flew out into the hallway.

” You saw her too?” Biff said softly but anxiously.

Deki didn't realize Biff had been watching her from his room the entire time and almost with surprise, answered,

“Yeah. What do we do?”

“I have no f*****g idea. Grab Polan.” He instructed.

“What if it's a trap? She's cursed and possibly armed.” Suggested Deki.

“That isn't the point, she knows where we are and I can't have that.”

Biff instinctively grabbed his bow from the doorframe and charged out the front door. A few moments later Deki and Polan came running down the porch.

“What’s going on now?! I thought we were safe out here!?”  Shouted Polan.

“Polan shut up for a second.” Whispered Biff.

At first the woman did nothing, her and Biff locked glares. Her eyes glowed an overwhelming bright blood red color, lighting the area around her face. There was a moment of tense and uncomfortable silence that lingered over the four. With a specific and ominous request, the woman asked,

“I’m hoping one of you is Biff, because if not then the only thing I wanna know is, where I can find him?”

Biff kept his bow on her, ready to shoot. His focus on her intensified after hearing her call his name. Before he tried doing anything stupid, he answered,

“That depends on who's asking. There was an attack tonight if you weren't aware and that attack was done by the cursed.”

Her glowered expression seemed only visible by the shape of her eyes. She then inched slowly inward but not enough to set Biff off, asserting,  

“I had nothing to do with what happened in Ethalis tonight. Let’s make that a point now. What I’m doing, is looking for this Biff guy. Nothing else.”

Biff carefully examined her. She wore what looked like black fatigues, a purple sweater and a red ribbon that tied her dark hair in a ponytail. However the porcelain beauty that stared back at him was unfamiliar. How did she know him? Biff asked,

“Okay, then... I’m Biff. Now, who the f**k are you?”

 

“...That’s not important right now. There's a group of cursed coming this way from Ethalis and if we don't get them now more are gonna come.” She told him.

“Woah, woah, hold on. You come to this exact location, looking for me and I'm not supposed to think knowing who you are is important? Are you dumb?” Biff spat back.

She shifted her stance and crossed her arms impatiently all while rolling her eyes and finally saying,

“Okay, my name is Meath. Happy now?”

Deki interjected briefly, asking Meath,
“How are we to know for certain there's no foul play at hand here?”

Meath reached around her hip and tightly gripped the hilt that extended from behind her. As she began to unsheathe the blade, Deki and Biff looked to each other in a wild bewilderment. Meath smirked and slammed the blade into the ground just in front of her and said,

“I thought you might react as such. Listen, can we get through the introductions after we take care of this little interruption.”

Polan and Deki both looked to Biff. He continued to stare down Meath as she collected her weapon and walked off into the forest just beyond the house.

“Are we really going to follow her?” Polan asked.

Biff stood still for a bit, still confused as to how she knew where to find him or for that matter who he was. He lowered his bow and replied,

“Yeah, we are. I wanna know what the f**k is going on here.”

Biff immediately made his way towards the treeline that was a few yards in front of the house. Keeping his bow drawn, he scouted the area ahead and noticed all seemed calm yet. Back on the deck, Polan looked to Deki with uncertainty and asked,

“We’re really doing this?”

 

Deki inhaled deeply and nodded back to Polan before rushing off the deck towards Biff. At first Polan stood not knowing what to do but then she remembered back to the kitchen incident.

“I guess a knife was through my chest, so I’m not sure why I'm worried so much.” She told herself.

They quickly followed over to Biff and soon thereafter the three began creeping through the forest northeast towards Alberth. Not a single sound was heard and that Meath was nowhere in sight. Biff noted,

“How are we supposed to know where she just went? All she said was to Alberth, not which side or what general direction.”

Biff  was referring to a wall that surrounded the perimeter of the city. The border was shaped in a rectangle with its north and south walls being the longer sections. This made attacking from the east and west a lot easier and ultimately the reason that the cursed took Ethalis tonight, which is east of Alberth. Biff and the cabin however were to the southwest of Alberth. With no real idea of what direction she went, Biff continued straight to Alberth’s south wall. As the three made it a few more minutes in the forest they heard the rustling of leaves from ahead.

A few yards ahead stood Meath again, holding her hips and waiting for the three to follow. Biff took brisk, angry steps towards Meath and asked,

“One thing before I put our lives in danger. First and foremost, how do you have that sword?”

Meath slowly shook her head,

“Stop asking me things that can wait. There gonna be here about any second now.”

Meath stopped and looked at Biff. He still pointed at her sword awaiting an answer. Again he asked,

“How… are you holding… the sword?”

As Meath began to sigh, Deki looked to his left and noticed a group of people walking towards them in the distance. Immediately, he informed Biff,

“She's got a point, we’ll figure that out later. They're here.”

Biff gave Meath a hard stare before turning to his left and quickly arming his bow. With a smug “humpf” Meath too turned and raised up her sword. The crowd of cursed began make their way towards the four before suddenly stopping. A single person could be seen walking forward from the group. Meath too slowly inched her way forward but stopped just a few feet ahead. She then laughed aloud stating,

 “Oh look! It’s Nezo! The previous owner of this sword. Now’s your chance to ask him how it is that I am wielding this insignificant piece of s**t. Since you’re so concerned with that idea.”

Biff ignored Meath’s comment and looked to Deki,

“...Looks like he’s not dead afterall.”

Sure enough, the man out front of the group was none other than Nezo. The last time either Biff or Deki saw him, he was one of the four Albethian Royal Guards. In the blink of an eye the man named Nezo appeared feet from the four. He giggled to himself with glee and exclaimed,

“Wow! Deki, Biff and the girl who ended up getting my sword, all in one place! What’s up guys?!”

Biff impulsively fired a shot from his bow. The arrow, which was assimilated upon drawing back the bow, glowed a deep blue color. It flew and landed only inches shy of Nezo. He cackled in a psychotic sort of way, then yelled,

“Biff, relax, my god. What happened between us three years ago, was three years ago. Let it go bro! I fucked up too, we all did following that liar. Zoey even continues to f**k up to this day.”

“You still owe me one Nezo. weather it’s three years or one minute I still haven’t collected my end.” Biff calmly yelled back.

“...You’re end?! We HAD to kill her, this wasn't a deal I accepted. Why do you think I’m cursed now?”

“You could have denied the responsibility and peacefully declined Nezo. You knew damn well what you were doing back then. Instead, I heard you went on some murder spree in the middle of town. Was that supposed to be reconciliation for f*****g up?”  

Nezo launched forward at speeds comparable to Meath. However just before Nezo was about to strike Biff with his sword, Meath shoulder checked him and sent him flying into the forest. Nezo smacked off a nearby tree, breaking most of his ribs and leaving him temporarily incapacitated. Right after, the rest of his men charged towards the four. Biff ran over to Meath, who sustained a fair sized cut to her left shoulder from his sword. She gracefully picked herself off the ground and began patting herself off, casually stating,
“Go, do what you need to do with him. I’ll kill the other ones. Everyone goes home alive. ...Yay, thanks Meath...”

Biff was speechless at how she acted. Meath was so calm and so clear headed during complex situations. Sometimes she even fits in enough time to be sarcastic towards him. Biff was rather compelled to follow her lead and carefully made his way to Nezo.

Painfully leaning against a tree stood Nezo. He held his side and panted loudly for a few seconds before his internal wounds healed. In the time he stood recovering, he noticed something behind another tree in the distance. Red hair jetted out into the open and revealed a certain person’s hiding spot.

“Po-Po?! What could you be doing here?” He questioned innocently.

Polan quickly turned around and covered her mouth in shock. Nezo was the man that she had met in Ethalis. Until now, her only memory of him was a dark figure masked in the shadows of the night but when she heard his voice she knew instantly. Nezo now set his sights on Polan and left his men to deal with the other three. He walked over slowly as to not send Polan immediately running for any of the others.

“These people are dangerous Polan, leave and come back with me. Your sister said you would know to trust me if I called you by that name.” He said moving closer and closer to her.

Polan stumbled back and tripped over a tree root. When she fell to the ground, Nezo grabbed her arm and pulled her back up, explaining,

“We can go to her right now, we just have to hurry.”

He looked her deep in the eyes and smiled a crooked smile. Suddenly his smile turned to a canvas of agony and he let out an aching yell. Polan was again dropped to the ground and Nezo quickly spun around revealing one of Biff’s blue arrows protruding out of his back. The area around the arrow started a blue spider vein effect that crept across his body. He began to hunch over and reach for the shaft in order to remove it, but when his hand made contact, it began to burn away his skin. Black mist spewed from his back and hand as he quickly let go of the arrow.

Concurrently, Meath and Deki were charging head first into the swell of cursed ahead. The distance between the two sides narrowed, that's when Meath instructed,
“Deki, just wait here. Don’t risk it.”

Deki slowed down his pace to a jog and eventually stopped as Meath began to bolt off into the group. At first it seemed as if Meath’s head first charge was rather effective but to her and Deki’s shock, Meath became pinned to the ground. Deki began to rush over to aid her, however the tables soon turned and Meath began to work herself free from the two men holding her down. Even though it seemed as if Meath would be fine, Deki stood near to make sure everything went okay.

“Deki, I said stay back there. What are you doing?” She angrily questioned him.

“Help is better than no help.” He replied.

The group of men, now within a few feet of the two, began a formation. A line of three men stood in front a group of six others. Meath held up her sword again and rushed into the the line. She whipped her sword to the right, bisecting each of the three individuals. As their torn torsos began falling to the earth, mist spewed like a fountain. To ensure her kills, Meath split the remaining upper halves into halves again. Then, she jumped back and watched as the bodies turned into black nothingness. The six remaining cursed began to whisper amongst themselves. Five men suddenly began running for Meath and one slowly lagged behind. As Meath braced for the five she noticed the sixth man running towards Deki.

“Deki, run! There’s one coming for you!”

Deki’s lifelong training kicked in and easily evaded the incoming attack. Taking the opportunity given by a startled enemy, Deki threw his right fist out with all the force of his large frame. The skull-shattering blow left a concave dent in the man’s face rendering him useless for the time being.

The five remaining cursed swarmed Meath and tried with great effort to land a blow with their weapons but it was no use. After a few seconds of dodging incoming swings, Meath dropped real low to the ground and rolled forward into their group. Then once in perfect position, she swung her sword three times across the lower part of their bodies. Severed limbs were sent flying in random directions and mist poured all over Meath. As their screaming bodies began to tumble over to the ground, Meath began to slice them into even smaller pieces. Soon, only mist and the man Deki punched remained.

Meath walked over to Deki who held the remaining man in his arms and got her sword ready. Deki dropped the body and Meath began to cut it up as quick as she could, before any parts had a moment to assimilate.

“Nice punch.” She said, lightening the mood.

Deki began to chuckle but was interrupted by the sound of Nezo yelling in pain. Both Deki and Meath began to run back over to the treeline to see what the commotion was.

Biff had again laid another arrow into Nezo, this time in his right leg. He quickly fell to the ground clutching his leg in terrible pain. Thereafter, he sprawled out and began laughing hysterically. He was now covered in the blue spider veins, his breathing intensified and Nezo asked,

“Are you happy you’re getting your end now?”  

Biff mercilessly looked down at a crippled Nezo and chuckled. Then he stated,
“You took a life from me, and now I'm taking yours from you on their behalf. That’s all my end entails.”

Nezo painfully turned his head to look at Biff,
“Whatever you say. Just know no matter how many arrows you plan on feeding me, she isn't coming back.”

Biff had his weapon ready to fire again and did so into Nezo’s right eye. Nezo’s head clapped off the ground from the force of the shot. Biff continued to shoot arrows into him, once in his neck, once in his stomach and once in his chest. Blue light cracked through Nezo’s skin before he ultimately exploded into a cloud of black mist. From behind the mist Biff could see Polan watching in terror as Nezo evaporated before her very eyes. When the ordeal was said and done Biff couldn't help but feel like a savage based on Polan’s reaction.

Deki and Meath, who came running to help, stopped just shy of Biff. He tightly held his bow and while looking looking away from everyone, saying,
“We need to lay low, no more jumping into s**t. Tonight was more than enough for my personal taste.”

He stopped then quickly turned around to Meath. The sheer look in his eyes gave even seemingly tough Meath a slight chill as he said,

“Tomorrow, you tell me everything.”

Biff slung the bow across his back, then promptly started for the cabin. The rest of them would soon follow afterwards.