To A Thief - Chapter 17: A Turn of Events

A Chapter by Jobyn

What could possibly be happening in the interrogation room between Okina and Vincent? Helpless to do anything else, Stiff waits impatient for the answer. The rest of his team is soon to arrive.

It felt like forever that I was waiting in the common room for Vincent to emmerge out of the interrogation room. I was hoping that Okina would come out unharmed as well..

After he was done with Okina, he would surely deal with me for my disobeying actions..

Looking at the clock on the wall, Stiff saw that it had been little over an hour since Vincent took Okina into the interrogation room. He sat there impatiently tapping his heel on the floor and his hands clutched together on his lap.

"It's already 1:20PM.. what could he be doing in there? The interrogation room must be entirely sound proof.. I haven't heard neither a squeak or a murmur coming from in there." He thought aloud as he looked around the room.

The door that led towards the exit of the headquarters suddenly burst open with a loud crash, causing Stiff to throw his head up in surprise. The all-too-familiar rattling greaves and irritated grunts of Veronaut grew louder until he turned the corner, briefly scanning the common room until he saw Stiff.

On any normal day, Stiff would probably run away from that death glare, but he had much scarier thoughts to worry about than Veronaut making a thiefkabob out of him.

"That's a look you shoot your enemy.." Stiff muttered as he sat up, smirking lightly at the enraged elvaan warrior.

"You.." Veronaut growled, glaring at him through silver strands of hair that had fallen over his eyes. "YOU!"

Surprisingly, he chucked his axe aside and went straight for Stiff with his bare hands, ready to strangle him. He shoved and pushed away at any members that happened to be standing around aimlessly and continued his romp towards the young, smug thief.

"Tch.." Stiff snickered, standing up off the chair and holding up his fists. "I don't sweat you! Come on."

I guess it was about time me and Veronaut crossed fists. We were no monks, so naturally our fighting was a bit clumsy and mainly consisted of using the furniture against one another.

Of course, he was winning.. not only was he older and bigger, but he had the strength of a fricken' warmachine!

Still, I was smaller and faster.. so I got my own hits in as well. Hardly seemed to hurt him though.

Stiff felt the force of what seemed like a galka shoulder thrusting him in his nose. Obviously, it was Veronaut's fist.. but it was hard to tell which one was worse. Falling back onto his rear, Stiff clutched his blood-gushing nose and looked up angrily at his attacker who now waved his own fingers in the air after punching such a hard head.

Many of the linkshell members had started quite the commotion around the room, cheering on the fight and provoking their actions. It was nothing but entertainment to those that had already been here. Some were even betting gil.

"Come on Stiff, knock his top off!" Flint threw his fist in the air as he cheered the young thief on. He had gotten his share of bullshit from Veronaut, so he felt the elvaan had it coming.

Nanaa simply sighed and watched the fight atop a stool over the counter of the bar that stood at the other end of the room. "Men.. even with my experience, I'll never understand."

Stiff received a kick to the gut that sent him stumbling back towards Draven, who brought him to a halt by pressing his hands against Stiff's shoulders. With a disgruntled frown, he sighed and pulled on his friend's shoulder. "Just pull back, moron. Veronaut's way too strong for you."

"No way..!" Stiff grunted, shoving off Draven's grip. "I'm gonna teach this punk just what kinda 'kid' he's messing with."

Draven sighed and pursed his lips crookedly as Stiff charged forward once more, throwing his fist at the elvaan's jaw. He wanted to stop the fight, but no one else was looking to do so at this point. Now it seemed everyone was in it for the amusement. No one ever stood up to Veronaut, yet here was this young small-framed thief, crossing punches with the beast of a warrior.

As Stiff swung his fist at him, he felt Veronaut latch his hands onto his forearm and swing him off to the side hard, shifting his body and sending Stiff crashing through the coffee table.

It felt like Stiff was getting nowhere, but he wouldn't give up until he felt his fists punish that arrogant face until it would hurt for him to glare as per usual. He gritted his teeth and looked up at Veronaut, clenching his fists as he sat up.

Veronaut looked back down a Stiff with a black ring around his left glaring eye; the cause of Stiff's own knuckles having landed a hit. "Get the f**k up.." He breathed. "We're not done yet."

"Wasn't.. planning on.. sitting here!" Stiff wheezed in exasperation, shoving himself off the floor. Looking up at Veronaut with his own version of the death glare despite the swollen lip, crooked nose and blackened eye.

Just as Stiff got up and the two went for each other once more, a long and slender blade zipped past between them, stopping right in front of their faces. The commotion suddenly died down as everyone turned to the young feminine figure that stood before Stiff and Veronaut.

Her long locks of golden-blonde hair fell gracefully back onto her shoulders, having flowed forward upon her sudden movement towards the two that had been fighting. Cocking her blade and looking at both of them in the eyes through a pair of jaded ones, she narrowed them and spoke out in a smooth yet intimidating tone. "That's enough, boys."

Veronaut furrowed his brows and gritted his teeth. "Annie..?"

The young hume woman named Annie suddenly brought her blade towards Veronaut's neck and pressed it gently against his skin, looking up at him; the glint of her great katana shining over her smooth lightly-tanned skin.

"You are far too loud. I am exhausted after my previous mission." She stated in her direct, mature tone of voice. "I can't sleep with the two of you making such a loud ruckus. If you don't.. I'll cut out your tongue like I did Wert's and force your silence."

Veronaut had his head arched back a bit, feeling the blade's edge tickling at his throat. He grunted in response, clenching his fist. "But I.."

Annie suddenly shut her eyes tight, then reopened them to reveal a pair of crystal-blue eyes, the serious and intimidating look on her face suddenly beaming over with a bright smile. "So please keep it down, okay? Thank you, Vero!" She lowered her katana at her side and turned to the young thief. "So, this is the new member? Nice to meet ya!"

Stiff's eyebrows twitched at her sudden shift in personality. Just seconds ago she seemed so scary and intimidating.. yet now she was full of smiles and ditzy eyes. "U-Um.. nice to meet you too.. uh, Annie?"

She smiled happily and nodded. "Yup! My name is Annie. I'm one of the Brigade's samurai! It's a plea~sure."

Her eyes suddenly shut tightly again before twitching back open. Once again they were green and her face became that emotionless, intimidating death glare as before. She brought the edge of her katana so fast towards Stiff's neck that he almost thought she had sliced his head clean off. But instead, she held it at his throat much like she had done to Veronaut.

She forced him to take a few steps back against the wall with his chin raised, looking at her nervously. "Now you may be a new member, and you may be young and hopeless.. but I'm not going to tell you this again. Do not disturb me while I'm sleeping, or when I'm busy.. or you'll regret it. That's your first and final warning. Both of you. That goes for the rest of you, as well." She said, rotating the end of her blade towards the other members.

"Point taken.." Stiff muttered, holding his hands up in defeat.

Her eyelids twitched and eyes turned blue. Once again, she was the ditzy Annie. "Great! Now both of you should apologize for such senseless violence towards one another! That's not how team mates work~" She cooed. "We're all supposed to be one big happy family."

She giggled, looking at them both. Both Veronaut and Stiff just rose their brows in response.

No way I was going to apologize to this prick. I'm sure he was thinking the same thing.

After getting no response from either of them, Annie brought her fist down hard on the coffee table with a loud bang, glaring at them through jaded eyes.

.. On second thought.

"Sorry." Veronaut grumbled.

"My bad.." Stiff quickly replied.

"Good!" Annie smiled in her ditzy state, strutting back through the other members and towards the dormitory hall, turning back once with a playful wink and the wave of her fingers once she was at the doorway. "Ta-ta!"

Mumbling filled the common room as the linkshell members went back to whatever it was they were doing.

"What's up with her..?" Stiff asked aloud, referring to Annie's random shifts in personality.

Flint went over to Stiff with a grin and placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking him a bit. "That, my friend, is our little two-faced samurai.. Annie. Nobody really knows why she does that, but we don't really care because she's one of our finest swordsman. I would take her warning to heart."

Draven joined the two and leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed in front of his chest, taking a look at Stiff. "You look like s**t. It's your second day in the Brigade, and you've already managed to get in a fight with one of the other members. Why couldn't you just follow orders?" He grumbled.

Stiff watched Veronaut from the other side of the room who now sat at the bar with an annoyed look on his face, nagging at Bear and Nanaa. He turned to Draven after hearing his words and frowned at him.

"Would you have been able to, Draven? The only thing that classifies Okina as an experiment is the power that she hasn't even nurtured yet. She could care less about that stuff. She just wants to be a part of Vana'diel.. not against it. I know it." He stated, clenching his fist.

"Don't you remember what it was like to be alone in the world..?"

Draven just stared at him for a long moment before shifting his head back forward, giving a helpless sigh. "Damn you.."

Even without Stiff having put it that way, he would probably find it troublesome within himself to have to dispose of Okina, were it up to him.

Flint grinned and patted them both on the shoulders. "Yeah, besides.. she's too cute to get rid of! I mean, cute for you guys.. a little too young for me." He cleared his throat. He was nineteen after all.

Stiff snorted, shoving Flint away. "Shut up. It's not like that.. I just feel like I know what she's going through. I think I know why Moku took me under his wing now last month.. where is he, anyway?" He asked, turning to Draven.

Draven had been lost in his own mind until he heard Stiff call his name. "What?"

Before Stiff could open his mouth to ask again, he heard a familiar voice speak over their conversation.

"Um.. Now what happened to you?" Claire asked in astonishment as she examined Stiff's beaten face. She had just walked into the headquarters moments ago; having missed the earlier brawl.

Stiff looked off to the side in defeat, completely forgetting about the various swollen parts of his face. "I.."

Flint chuckled and pushed himself off the wall, crossing his arms behind his head. "Stiff here ended up throwing punches with Vero. About time somebody stood up to the b*****d if you ask me."

Claire's eyes were filled with disbelief. She turned her head and looked across the room to Veronaut who was at the bar, seemingly unbothered now. The dark ring around his eye was clearly visible, as well as a slight bruising on his cheek.

"Stiff and Veronaut? You two went on one mission together.. how did this happen so suddenly?" She grumbled, going over to Stiff and examining his face properly as she held her hand up with a blue hue, attempting to heal his wounds with her white magicks. "I'd better heal these before Vincent sees them and gives you hell.."

Stiff felt a light blush creep over his face as Claire turned his face in her direction. The way she held her hand against his bruises and healed them reminded him a lot of Sister Eri. Quickly shaking the thought out of his head, he replied to her question.

"Well.. I disobeyed Vincent's orders - but it was for a good cause - and ran away from Veronaut with the experiment. Look, the experiment isn't what you guys think.. she's just.."

Draven continued on after him. "She's just a girl. Her name is Okina. Isn't even aware of her own powers. She has to be no older than Stiff. Simple as that."

Claire had stopped her healing because of the bewilderment she found in their answers. "Brought the experiment? Disobeyed Vincent's orders? Turned your back on your team and attacked a fellow Brigade member? I have to ask.. do you have a death wish?"

Stiff felt his shoulders slump with each question. "I don't regret it. You have to see her to know what I mean. Besides, she's in no way against us. In fact, she fought off these two guys in black who I'm sure were the shady characters that Vincent spoke of.. they wanted to take her with them!"

Flint and Draven suddenly shot glances at each other before turning their gaze back to Stiff in surprise.

"Hold on, Stiff.." Flint stopped him. "Did you say two guys in black armor? What did they look like?"

Stiff blinked at the sudden urgency in Flint's voice and answered him. "Uh.. well, one was a Galka with a giant katana and the other was an Elvaan who appeared to be a monk. He used this glowing energy out of his hand to heal his wounds.."

Draven narrowed his eyes. "Those are the two that confronted us in the temple. The description seems to match.. and you said Okina fought both of them off on her own?"

Stiff could see why they were surprised. "Yeah.." He replied, leaving out the bit with him and his outbreak with the 'emptiness' that led the two attackers to retreat. "You should've seen it, they could hardly lay a hand on her."

Claire had fully healed Stiff's face by now and removed her hand, squinting her eyes in thought. "They definitely sound like the enemy. This dark armor of theirs must be some sort of trademark.. and the ability the elvaan male used must have been the Monk healing Chakra ability. A Samurai and a Monk.. did you happen to get their names?"

Stiff nodded as he felt his own face. All the pain and bruising had subsided. "Yeah.. the galkan samurai's name was 'Gazo'. He called the elvaan monk 'Daan'."

"'Gazo and Daan'.." Claire echoed thoughtfully. "I'm not familiar with their names.. I'll have to relay these words to Vincent. How could you not mention this to him before?"

"Yeah Stiff, this is a pretty hefty amount of intel.." Flint scratched the side of his head. "Looks like more good came than bad of you running into Okina."

Draven looked towards the door to the interrogation room. "You could've told us this before hand when we were still in the jungle.."

Stiff felt the embarrassment sink in. It wasn't until now that all of that crossed his mind, although there was a reason. He shifted his gaze between Draven and Flint with a frown. "Well, A: You guys were chasing me and Okina through the whole jungle before I even got a chance to explain.. and B: Since you had told Vincent before I got here, he got really edgy with me and forced me to sit down until he was done with Okina.."

Flint held his hands up towards Stiff. "Whoa, whoa.. to be honest with you, we were only chasing you on Veronaut's accord. I did call in to Vincent, but I told him your end of the story. The experiment was nothing like we thought it would be."

Stiff blinked at him for a moment. "Really? Then.." He was once again cut off, but this time by the sound of the interrogation room doors bursting open. What walked out shocked everyone in the common room.

It was Okina whom was donning not only a content smile on her face, but a Brigandine body piece that she now wore.

Vincent walked up beside her, standing the tip of his great sword on the floor and resting his hand on the hilt.

"Everyone. I would like you to meet our newest member: Okina. She will be a part of the Brigade's Monk division as of today. I have thoroughly tested her by my own behalf, and am hereby content with the results. Those of you who oppose against my decision can join me in the interrogation room and answer to my sword like she did."

"Ha! What do you know?" Flint grinned.

"No way.." Draven thought in disbelief.

"Way to go, Okina." Stiff smirked to himself.

Claire put a hand to her hip and looked on curiously. "Perhaps it was Vincent's plan all along since you all contacted him. If her combat skills are as Stiff put them, then I believe she will become a formidable asset."

From within the surprised reactions, one could hear the shattering of the shot glass in Veronaut's hand that he had crushed to his discontent at the announcement.

"In league with this announcement.." Vincent continued. "I would like to point out that there will be a surprise training regimen tomorrow morning. It has been a while since the linkshell held one, and I want to feel assured that you all remain on your toes."

"Wha? Surprise training regimen?" Stiff asked curiously.

"In other words; weeding out the weak." Draven answered.

"The one who will be leading this training regimen.. Hm, he should be walking in right about now." Vincent said, looking towards the door to the entrance.

The door flew open, and in wobbled a familiar friend that brought a grin to Stiff's face.

"You'd all better get a good night's rest.. because tomorrow I'm going to be separating the men from the boys, and the women from the girls. Let's see just how tough you 'Brigadiers' are." Moku boasted as he gave a rough smirk at them all.