Hidden eyes watched with peaked curiosity as Verena stabbed a long sword into the dirt several paces from the shoreline before walking calmly up to the swamp’s edge. She took a breath, eyes closed, head down, arms slightly out to her sides. A calm moment passed, then a low hum rose from deep below the water’s surface, sending wide ripples out in all directions. Slowly, a large, shelled creature with extended claws and spindly legs came in to view.
The beast’s eye snapped open and it let out a strangled cry. Verena turned and took off running back towards the treeline as it hastily followed, thrashing to find firmer ground. The anomaly found its footing and took a long leap just as Verena reached her beached blade. She released it from the ground and plunged it above her head, cleanly slicing through the soft, unprotected underbelly of the monster as it came down for its landing. Purple entrails spilled out over the sand.
Verena took a seat on a log to diligently clean her weapon. “Impressed?”
The voyeur realized he was being addressed and stepped from the foliage with an elegant snow fox at his side. “Very,” he confessed. “I didn’t mean to spy, but I thought it rude to interrupt, and I’m glad I didn’t.”
“Finally beat you to the punch, did I?”
“Finally?”
“Of course you don’t know who I am, but I know about you all too well. Seeing as you’ve been stealing my jobs for years now.” She looked up at him. “Well don’t look so surprised.” She rose and began searching through a patch of tall grass.
“How is it that a slayer of your talent has been aware of me for years, yet I’ve never heard of you? And how have I been stealing your jobs when you seem more than capable?”
“You always seem to reach a request destination just before I do, or just after I do, but before I’ve gotten to the job site, so they rescind my contract and give it to you.” She returned to the log with a fist full of plants.
The man looked taken aback. “I had no idea.”
“Of course you didn’t. No one cares about the one who didn’t kill the beast. Are you hungry?” Verena stood to reveal a large pot of water over a fire. She walked over to the slain creature and cracked open the larger of the two claws with relative ease.
“You can’t eat Scorpio meat,” the man warned. “Its tainted with poison.”
“Hundreds of cycles alive, several on this planet alone, and you don’t know you can eat Scorpio claw meat?” Verena plopped the chunk of flesh she had harvested into the pot, then cleaned and chopped the roots and leaves she had gathered.
When they sat down to enjoy their meal, the snow fox took a seat, leaning its large body against Verena. The man raised his eyebrows.
“We’ve met before,” Verena explained, “though I did not know he was yours.”
“Nanq doesn’t like anyone - not even me, really. I feel very betrayed,” the man said in mock offense.
“Perhaps you don’t appreciate what a wonderful machine you have.” Verena scratched behind Nanq’s ears.
“Perhaps that machine doesn’t appreciate being salvaged from the scrapyard.” Nanq snuffed in his direction. “This soup is delicious, though.”
“Such high praise from the infamous Death Stalker.”
“Ah, well I didn’t come up with that name, but unfortunately its the one that stuck.” He held out a hand. “You can call me Cahir.”
“Verena,” she reciprocated.
“You seem to know a fair bit about me. I feel at a disadvantage.”
“Are you familiar with the Silver Slayer?”
“Of course, he’s made quite the name for himself around here.”
“Then you have heard of me,” she said.
“You’re the Silver Slayer? I heard he was Arturian, with golden eyes and hands the size of dinner plates.”
“It’s not a moniker I chose either, however it’s allowed me to get paid for my work,” she shrugged.
“Do people doubt you after seeing you work?” he questioned.
“They doubt the retelling of the tale.”
“How old fashioned.”
“I suppose you would know, however this planet hasn’t exactly kept up with the times.”
“Are you truly from Arturia? I assume you’re not from here.”
“I was born on Edetan.”
He was surprised. “How is that possible? I thought Edetis couldn’t be off-world for very long.”
“I’m a hybrid.”
“That is even more surprising - I though hybridization was illegal there.”
“It is,” she said simply.
“I see… well, your secret is safe with me - Slayer’s Honour.” He bowed his head briefly.
“I doubt many would believe you anyway.”
He chuckled, “I suppose you’re right. You seem to live most of your life as a myth.”
“And you, a legend. What brings a Cellen to Washend?” she asked, nodding at the gills that poked out from his collar and the purple scales that trailed up to the sides of his face.
“Market saturation. Slayer is one of very few occupations available on Cellen due to our… specific build and skill set. I wasn’t exactly cut out for the life of a builder, diver, or merc, so I found a humid fringe world to carve my niche, though I didn’t realize I was stepping on any toes.”
“In fairness you did get here first, however my options are also limited, so I was hoping there was enough work to go around.”
“Which direction are you headed next?”
“Further west.”
“Then I shall go elsewhere, though if we do cross paths again I would not be disappointed.”
At the conclusion of the meal, Cahir thanked Verena and headed East with Nanq. Verena packed up her gear, stuffed her blue locks back under her hood, and took off South.
Verena lay on the mossy ground wrapped in her cloak and blanket, her breathing slow and even in her slumber. Without a sound, a cold blade pressed against her throat in the darkness.
“Losing your touch?” came a low voice.
“You wouldn’t think so if you realized where my knife is currently pointed,” she responded, slowly opening her eyes.
“Ah, quite right,” admitted the voice from the dark and the blade was retracted. “Did you know it was me?”
Verena sat up. “Of course I did. I could tell from a league away.”
“And you didn’t get up to greet me?” the voice scoffed.
“I was tired. Couldn’t you wait until morning?”
“Not when I thought I could get the drop on you for once.”
“And now we’re both disappointed,” she grumbled, setting up a fire.
Shadows danced across a smiling face. “It’s good to see you, V.”
“I thought you said you’d never come back to this ‘Tar Pit’, as you put it.” Verena stoked the flames.
“It’s for a job.”
“The target?”
“You.”
She sat back and crossed her arms, waiting for her companion to continue.
He sighed deeply. “Almeza’s looking for you. She’s getting close.”
“How close?”
“She knows there’s a slayer with blue hair on this planet.”
“That’s pretty close. Do I have time to jump?”
He shook his head. “I doubt it.”
Verena contemplated to herself for a moment.
“I took the job so I could help you,” the man in shadow continued. “It should keep anyone else out of it for now, but she might up the bounty if she thinks things are taking too long.”
“It was only a matter of time.”
“Maybe if you kept your head covered you could’ve lasted longer.” He stood and walked behind her. “You’ll have to take a stand now,” he said as he gently separated her hair into sections.
“And just as I was finally settling in here.”
“Did you really hope to call this swamp home?”
“It’s as good as any I’ve had.”
“That’s depressing,” he muttered as his fingers deftly braided her long locks.
Verena nodded her thanks when the man finished the plait.
“There’s not much to be done tonight, so I’ll take the remainder of my rest now.” She stood and doused the fire.
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