"I just can not believe you!" The disgruntled goblin woman said baffled.
"How is this my fault?! Y'all said that ya wanted to go public with our business. It isn't my fault that no one wants to hire us!" The balding orc retorted.
"Well, it kinda is yer fault leader. You were the one that insisted that we keep quiet for years because of some weird childhood fantasy you have about phantom thief." The lizardman interjected earning him a angered stare from the orc.
These three were none other than the ever unknown now trying to become known, Djinns. They were currently in what could be considered their hideout in this massive city, Pesinwok. And that hideout...well...
"Our notoriety has nothing to do with the fact that you've got us set up in this disgusting ass shithole!" Joana shouted at Karic. She was utterly disgusted with their current living situation. Karic sighed apologetically.
"Actually notoriety is what makes the underworld go round. Without it we don't have any credibility so our clients don't know if we actually know what we're doing. Even the simplest task of keeping out of sight may prove difficult so the client can put us wherever they deem most fit. Including places like this."
"Which I feel the need to iterate is not directly the sewer. We're in a side tunnel that was never finished and thus abandoned so we are merely sewer adjacent!" Joana crossed her arms and rolled her eyes but stayed silent seeing as Karic was right.
"That doesn't mean that I have to like this nasty place." She mumbled under her breath.
"He isn't saying that you have to like it. Just that you have to live with it until we get famous. This job starts all of that." Leroy approached Joana and ruffled her hair earning him a punch in the gut from the goblin.
"I told you to stop doing that! Do you have any idea how difficult goblin hair is to actually style! Oh wait, I'm sorry you wear your own excrement on your head so you wouldn't know." Leroy twitched from the goblin's words.
"We both know that it isn't excrement. It's dead scales that I shed and then style into a headdress. Unlike that dried mop you got up there." Joana and Leroy glared at each other in silence. Meanwhile, Karic stood to the side doing his best to ignore the petty argument of the two.
'I sure hope Narie and Edmund get back soon.' Almost as if they were summoned by his thoughts a fairy and a black haired elf came strutting into the tunnel.
"We got the info boss." Edmund held up a piece of paper with an image and some scribblings on it. Karic marched over, making a point to walk between Leroy and Joana in the process.
"Let me see it." Karic took the paper from Edmund's hand and began to scan it.
"How was it up there?" Leroy asked Narie who was currently in her original small form and sitting on Edmund's shoulder.
"It was so bright. It was like walking on a rainbow at the dock. It was very unsettling." Narie said while rubbing her eyes that had teared up from the light and the sewer fumes.
"That sounds a whole lot better than being cooped up in the cities waste dump. Hey, why'd you two get to go meet the client anyway? Me and Leroy could have done the job just fine." Narie looked at Joana doubtfully.
"Really? You think that you two could walk around topside without getting distracted or acting unprofessionally in front of the client?" Narie looked between the two waiting for them to say something idiotic but that never came.
Leroy and Joana just turned away from their companion and pretended that they hadn't started this conversation. 'At least they're self-aware.'
"Yes!!!" The group of four jumped when Karic suddenly cheered aloud.
"What is it? Does the job pay a lot?" Joana asked with greed in her eyes.
"Are we stealing something for someone?" Leroy asked curiously. Karic shook his head.
"No and sort of!" He said still very excited. The two frowned and asked simultaneously.
"Then why're you so happy?" Karic presented the paper to the two of them with a shit eating grin on his face.
"This job calls for Absolute Discretion. Which means, no notoriety earned from it." Their eyes widened as the two turned to Edmund and Narie who simply shook their heads dejected.
"This has to be some sort of sick joke!"
"What kind of job are we doing that makes the client not even want the Den to know about it?" Karic calmed his excitement before speaking again.
"They want us find some sort of monster for them."
"Monster retrieval? That's adventurer shit, though! Why do we have to do it?" Leroy narrowed his eyes slightly feel more uncertain about this job than when they first took it. Karic glared at his followers.
"Look, it isn't our job to pick and prod at the information of the request. We just need to grant our client's wish and this one's wish it for us to find some weird bird for them. Y'all got that!" The Djinns nodded obediently bringing a smile to their leader's face.
"Good! Then let's go grant this wish for the client."
...
Alix stood staring at the bird uncertain about what she was feeling. On one hand, she had been searching for Nuka ever since she had gotten here filled with so much worry.
Worried about her old friend's condition and current situation. Worried that something bad may have happened or had been happening to her and that she desperately needed Alix's help!
So seeing Nuka now filled her with relief.
Alternatively, she felt confused as to why the bird showed up here. Did she know that Alix was going to be here today? Had she just been visiting the girl's old home none stop over the past decade waiting for her return so that they could reignite their friendship.
So seeing Nuka made Alix feel guilty.
None of that was important right now however as there was one emotion that Alix felt more clearly than any of the other ones. Alix set down Mo's fish bowl by the door and slowly walked over to Nuka falling to her knees just in front of the bird.
"N-Nuka..." Alix stammered trying her best to hold back her emotions. "...I-I'm so sorry for what I said back then. I've missed you so much." Alix spoke quietly and reserved. She was doing her best to not express emotions too intensely more for her own sake than for Nuka's.
"Awww, Allie! Has that been eating you up inside all of this time! You didn't need to worry about that. I forgave you a long time ago." Those words of forgiveness for Alix to lose control of her emotions as tears began to pour out of her eyes. She reached out and embraced Nuka, who was now much bigger than before. About the size of an adult falcon.
"Still, I shouldn't have said all of that to you. You were my best and only friend. I never should have treated you like a figment of my imagination. I shouldn't have let out my anger at you. I shouldn't have-" Alix felt her face get embraced by Nuka's soft and warm feathers.
"I said that I don't blame you, sis! What else am I supposed to say when you keep apologizing? You don't need to cry like this for me." Alix and Nuka stayed embracing for several minutes.
Mo was at the side watching the scene with a mix of fear and disgust. "Ya never said that yer friend was one of those high flying freaks." Mo said dismissively.
Alix and Nuka broke away from the hug and glared at Mo. "Allie? Who in my future lunchbox is that scaled nobody?" Alix chuckled at Nuka's insult.
Mo didn't like that.
"That would be Mo. He's the second friend I made after you." Nuka gasped horrified. "You befriend my food just to try and feel closer to me? Allie, you are so considerate. I shall reciprocate your feelings by eating it now." Nuka dashed toward Mo with her wings spread out. Mo immediately flew out of his bowl.
"AHHHH! STAY AWAY FROM ME YOU FOWL FREAK!" Nuka stared at the fish that was swimming through water floating in the air and gave an amused grunt.
"So, you thought being able to fly would make it more difficult for me to catch you? How cute." Nuka went to flap her wings to continue chasing Mo but suddenly hesitated. Alix frowned and noticed that there seemed to be some sort of scarring on Nuka's wings. She closed her wings back up and waddled back over to Alix.
"Nuka..." Alix said the bird's name with concern in her voice. "...What happened? Did someone hurt you?" Nuka's body jolted from Alix's question but she still had a smile on her beak.
"Nothing happened, Allie! Do you really think that I don't know how to take care of myself?" Alix hesitated for a second before slowly nodding her head to the bird's dismay.
"O-oh." Nuka looked at Alix saddened. "I-I guess you do know me the best after all." Trouler walked over to the bird and very lightly nuzzled into her clearly concerned as well, even though he didn't know her.
"Well, this kid's nice at least. Still no people friends, huh Allie?" Alix shook her head while smiling slightly.
"Monsters have always been the only things that I could connect with. Now, do you mind telling me how that happened?" Alix gestured to Nuka's wings. Specifically the scars on them. Nuka stood silently for a second, deep in thought, before giving her answer.
"Alright. You deserve to know a bit at least. You are my best friend after all."