Far From Home [Nymara]

A man dressed in simple clothes and a pair of round sunglasses stepped from a train car down to the Aurelia City Train Station platform. It would be an understatement to say he was far from home, and dressed in a style he was not used to. It was, unfortunately, for a mission, so his personal comfort was secondary. The only consolation was the pair of fold up blades strapped secretly to his back. They were far from the top of the line equipment a Paladin like him might use otherwise, but it would suffice.

Several days ago a dark mage drug runner had slipped out of the Pergrande Empire and made his way through Iceberg to Bosco. At least, he thought he had slipped away from the Empire. Akio had been tracking this fugitive across country lines hoping the man would lead him back to his guild, the source of the recent drug problems within the Ironheart Pact. Now the trail had brought the Imperial Paladin to this country’s capital city. This kind of undercover work was not what he was best at, it was only because of his heritage that he had ultimately been chosen. With his appearance and Midian accent, few would think he was from Pergrande.

One thing that he had not foreseen though was just how busy this capital would be. Population wise, it was a drop in the bucket compared to the Empire. It was small even for his birth nation of Midi. Either trade was doing exceptionally well within Aurelia, or there was some kind of festival going on. Regardless of the reason, Akio lost his target in the sea of people. There were other Pergrande agents in the city already as part of the mission, but he had been the point man. Losing sight of him was incredibly frustrating.

Moving away from the train, he slipped through the thong of people as if threading a needle. His steps were light and his movements fluid, allowing him to make it through fairly quickly. Not in time to catch the criminal before he left the station it seemed though. By the time he arrived outside the station, the fugitive was gone. Using his communication device, he let the other agents know the man had slipped the net. Hopefully they would locate him, in the meantime Akio would have to do some leg work.

Nearby to the station was a series of stalls selling street food. Walking up to one, he presented a drawing of the man he had received from Intelligence prior to the mission. “Have you seen this man pass by?”

“No I haven’t,” the vendor replied, though given his hard stare it was difficult to tell if he was being honest or if he did not trust Akio enough to say anything. Did the locals have a problem with their own police? His deployment had been so sudden, he had not received as detailed a briefing as he would have liked. Trying again at the next few stalls, he again was turned away without learning anything. Not one person seeing the target seemed exceedingly strange. Either he had vanished into thin air, or he was being covered for. Letting out a sigh, he started walking toward the next vendor to repeat his questioning.

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Just as Akio was running out of street vendors to question, he heard a young woman yell out to him. Keeping his guard up in case this person was a threat, the paladin turned only to suddenly stop as his eyes opened slightly in a mixture of surprise and confusion. The woman did not stick out too much, well besides her bright red hair. What had caused him to stop was the strange cat-like creature next to her. Neither during his time growing up in Midi or working in Pergrande had he ever seen such a creature. It had to be magical in nature, and his instincts caused his hand to twitch once as he felt a desire to unsheathe his hidden swords.

Staying his hand lest he blow his cover, Akio managed to regain his composure before responding to the woman properly. As he walked over she had a short conversation with the cat… thing, but he was too far away to hear it. Once he was close enough to speak without yelling back, he offered the drawing to her. “You’ve seen this man?” he asked her. While it was unclear if she really knew anything or would be willing to help, she was still the first person to actually speak with him. She also did not give off the air of someone who would lie. Keeping in mind that she could just be a really good actor, he decided to trust her for now anyway.

Obviously he could not simply come out and reveal why he was after the man, that he was an Imperial Paladin hunting a fugitive. It still seemed like a good idea to give her some excuse so as to assure her assistance even if it was just to point him in the right direction. Nothing about the woman made her seem like she would be particularly helpful in the actual hunt, he doubted she was an undercover detective or the like. Her cat thing companion being of magical origin hinted at the possibility of her being a mage though. That meant she could potentially be more useful in combat than she appeared, but also that she was his natural enemy.

He came to a decision quickly: for now he would take whatever help she would offer. His mission was to hunt down the dark mage, not to kill random mages in a foreign country. Better he use her to his advantage. Using fire to fight fire, as it were.

“This man has been spreading drugs,” Akio continued, his inner thoughts having taken only a moment. “I have seen the damage his drugs have done, and am attempting to stop him. I also believe he is part of a mage guild, he had a strange tattoo I did not recognize.”

As he spoke, he was careful to keep his voice low enough so not to be overheard by the vendors. He already expected at least a few of them to be involved in whatever shady business this dark guild was a part of, as not a single one had spotted the man. It was entirely possible he was wrong, but that seemed unlikely. Best to be careful.

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