Protector Of The Homeless

Wearing a black shirt and khaki cargo shorts with white tennis shoes, Victoria concealed her baton and took to the streets of Rose Garden. In her pocket was the official letter from the guild detailing her mission. She took it with her in case the town guard questioned her. With what was about to happen, chances were high that she would be taken in for questioning.

The task assigned to her was to apprehend a rumored slaver terrorizing the homeless of Rose Garden. The order was to take them to the town guard alive. Victoria was not happy with that condition, but she would do as she was told. Slavers were a natural enemy of hers, so the guild need not worry about her slacking off on this job. The brunette was giving it her undivided attention.

She walked under the light of streetlamps, yellow lights shining upon her like halos. She was not worried about hiding. She wanted the slaver to see that justice was coming. She was looking for signs of trouble, but trouble came to her. A bearded man wearing ragged-looking clothing was being chased by a clean-shaven burly man wearing a black shirt and black pants and wielding a wooden club.

"Help me!" The first man pleaded.

"Get outta the way! I've got business with that bum!" The black-clad man ordered.

"He's working with a slaver! They took my brothers and are gonna sell them!" The homeless man informed her.

"Step aside, girly! This doesn't concern you!" The second man ordered again. Victoria refused to budge. Not for this trash. Not now. Not ever.

"Actually, it does concern me. I don't like it when goons like you threaten the homeless." Victoria firmly stated. The black-clad man scoffed and brandished his club.

"I'm sure we'll have a use for you. You're kinda small, but there's some people who will pay real good money for young girls. They'll teach you how to properly use that mouth of-" He started before a loud blast interrupted him. The man screamed as his right kneecap went numb from Victoria's Pistol spell shot and he toppled to the ground. He frantically reached for his club, but a white tennis shoe casually kicked it away. He looked up and got a face full of tennis shoe.

"Lights out, asshole." Victoria snarked over the unconscious thug. She kicked him again for the vile remark he had made. The homeless man approached her. His eyes were aglow with gratitude.

"Thank you so much! If he had caught me, I'd have been done for! I'm Tony. He took my brothers Greg and Tom already, but if we hurry we can catch up!" He urged her.

"Take me there, then go get the town guard." Victoria told him. Tony nodded and started running. Victoria kept up.

-Back Alley, Rose Garden-

"Where's that dimwit Harry? He shoulda been back by now!" A portly man wearing black robes and a ring with a key emblem on it said. Behind him were two homeless men chained together.

"Maybe the town guard got him." Another clean-shaven burly man replied. He was wearing a knit black cap on his head.

"It sounds like that dimwit. I told him to chase down one homeless man. ONE! He had ONE job!" The portly man fumed. Time was money. He had a deadline to meet.

"Good thing we put Fred out on watch. He won't let us down!" The other man said encouragingly. Suddenly a muffled noise was heard, followed by a grunt. Suddenly Fred came into view.

"Hey Fred, did you see anything?" The burly man asked. Fred slowly shook his head no. Something was not right.

"Hey Fred, why aren't cha saying anything?" The cap-wearing man asked. Suddenly Fred slumped to his knees. Victoria hit him on the back of the head with her baton.

"What the-?" The cap-wearing man asked just before being knocked out by a Pistol spell shot to the head. Suddenly the portly man started sweating. Was it the town guard? No. The town guard would have already announced themselves.

"Who are you?" The man asked a person pointing what looked to be a gun at her. The two homeless men looked at each other with concern. Were they going to die?

"WHO ARE YOU?" The slaver asked again, this time with fear on his voice.

"I-I'm sure we can come to an arrangement. Tell ya what. I'll cut you in on the deal. We sell these bums for 500 Jewels each. I'll give you 300 Jewels." He said before another shot rang out and his left knee gave way.

"That's not enough? OK, OK! I'll pay you 400! 400 JEWELS!" He shouted. Now he was getting scared. His right knee gave out.

"500! I'LL GIVE YOU 500! NO, 800! JUST STOP SHOOTING ME!" He pleaded with a hand raised in surrender. His other hand fished out a bag of Jewels but accidentally sent a folded piece of paper floating to the alley floor. Victoria kept silent as she stepped into the light... or what passed for it. She was in a dimly lit back alley.

"What? A girl? Who are you? What do you want with me?!" The man asked before a Heavy Pistol shot knocked him out. Victoria casually sauntered over to the unconscious man and looked him over. He was out cold.

"Hold it right there!" A voice ordered. Victoria spotted six town guard officers streaming towards her. She stayed in place as the uniformed officers rushed up to her.

"I'm with the Legal Guild Black Rose. I've got a letter authorizing me to perform this mission. It's in my left pocket." Victoria declared while raising her hands in the air. An officer searched her left pocket and shined a flashlight onto the letter. He looked it over, then showed it to a colleague. A tense minute passed as he swiped a hand over the letter and it glowed solid gold. Were they bought off by the slaver and was she about to go missing?

"She's right. This letter's no forgery. The letter's straight from the Guild Master. Let her go." The officer declared. Victoria slowly lowered her hands and was given back the letter. She then pointed to the unconscious man in black robes.

"He's a slaver. So are the other men in black. Check that piece of paper on the ground. I think it's a list of tonight's take." Victoria suggested. The officer scooped up the piece of paper and unfolded it. His eyes narrowed as he mumbled to himself. He looked straight at the brunette.

"You're right. It IS a list of tonight's take. But it only lists two people. I take it they are the chained men in the corner?" The officer inquired.

"Yes, Officer. They're my brothers Greg and Tom." Tony answered for Victoria.

"We'll need you and your brothers to come down to the station. We'll need your statements. These men are going away for a long time." The officer said as his colleagues began scooping up the unconscious men in black. Tony nodded to the officer. He then took Victoria's hands into his own.

"Thank you, mage! Me and my brothers can't thank you enough!" He said to her. Greg and Tom were soon freed from their chains. They walked over to her.

"No problem, Tony. Glad I could help." Victoria said calmly. Tony and his brothers then followed the officers out of the alley. She was glad she had been able to rescue them before it was too late. Even without killing the slaver and his minions, she believed that she had sent a message to any slavers still operating in Rose Garden. Their kind would never be welcome here. This was Black Rose territory and slavery had no place in it.

[Word Count: 1305] [Total Word Count: 1,305/500]