Cam honestly dreaded this trip more than anything, but she hid it from Ariana to be as supportive as she can be. It wasn't the fact that she hated the idea of Ariana risking everything to help the poor, if anything she wanted to encourage this naive rabbit more; or even the fact that she was in danger, because if Cam wasn't strong enough to protect her, why would she be her assistant. No, she was more than confident that Ariana would bring much change to this corrupt Kingdom, and in her own strength to protect her along her campaign….The problem was the boss.
Around 5 years ago when Cam was taken in by Ariana's family as their assistant, she had previously lived in Uru, and to say the incident and memories she had their were traumatizing…..would be a massive understatement.
"How would I even face them after what happened, Noa, Iron, Andre, Stephanie, and worst of all….Boss….I don't think I can even fathom their faces if they see me, would they even forgive me…no chance" she thought as they rode to Uru. Ariana clearly had noticed something was troubling Cam as they drew closer to Uru, but decided not to ask, which Cam thought was sweet. They had long become friends since they first met five years ago, and the thought of their relationship changing if Ariana knew what happened frightened her.
After the long trip, about a day and a half of flying on BirdShit, they had finally arrived at Uru's airport, some would say. Gently landing and nestling on the hard obsidian dock, BirdShit cawed in loud screeches, the origin of which his name was based upon. Ariana slowly woke up yawning as she groggily looked around "oh…did we finally make it?" Cam nodded as she unloaded the luggage and snapped twice, summoning a giant door in which she tossed everything into "yep, our sleeping beauty didn't notice, but we actually flew for a day straight, and I don't think me being a pilot was part of the contract." Ariana chuckled as she grabbed her small and trusty pouch "please, air travel is very common these days you know, I thought it would be helpful for you to learn a thing or two about it." Cam scoffed as she finished unpacking, waiting on whoever the escort would be "please, I have more than enough experience you know, y'all hired me from this town after all." Ariana looked at her curiously "oh so then why are you complaining, that was on your resume after all?" Cam looked at her offended before sighing as she smiled "Cheeky brat."
A few minutes later, a petite man shaped almost like a perfect sphere, trotted toward them in hefty steps and loud hoarse breaths. "I'm so sorry Ms. Mayella, I was trying to get everything ready for you arrival, please forgive my rudeness, my name is Percy and I will be your escort for you and….wait…Camella?" Cam sighed as she palmed her face, seeing Ariana look at her with a dubious expression "God damn it Percy, you are still a fucking dunce, can you think for two seconds before blabbering about recognizing me, no actually can't you just at least act like you don't recognize me, I know I look way different from before, heck actually a lot sexier to" she thought as she straightened herself. Percy looked at her a bit astonished, curling up his beard as he chuckled "my my Camella, look at how you've grown, and serving the dukes daughter as well, Uru would be proud of you work." A vein seemed to almost burst out of her head as she grinned devilishly, looking down at the petite swine below her, she leaned down "If you don't shut the fuck up right now, I swear I will punt you so hard that not even Aerial will be able to catch you" she said in a kind whisper as she smiled looking to Ariana.
Ariana and Percy gulped as they both nodded, Percy sweating to the bone, he forced a wide smile "well then off we go, why don't I show you around the place?"
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Percy took them down through the charred mountain, well the smoothest he knew how to, it took about half an hour to get down the whole mountain. Along the way Ariana had seen how the airport worked in Uru, going through observations and witnesses that fascinated her. The roads were filled through the brim with shaggy shops, and rusted down infrastructure, that many brittle workers were taking down. About when they were almost finished climbing down, A practical skeleton for a child seemed to have passed away, which terrifyingly only received a few glances, and cries from a mother holding him. Ariana felt heartbroken but could only move on and perceive from a distance. Everything wanted her to come and give a graceful hand to help these poor civilians, but she had to be clear, if she wanted to be successful in her mission, she couldn't be too attached, a harsh lesson she learned at a very early age.
As they crossed the gates, Ariana could see they were barely protected, if any army was coming to invade them, the guards would just be bystanders, nothing more than ants. They quickly woke up from their duty in their leather armor, looking down at Percy with a very lax and dry expression "name, registration number, and why you are entering." Percy looked at them glaring "YOU IDIOTS, DO YOU NOT SEE WHO'S BEHIND ME, GET BACK TO WORK AND LET US BACK IN, THAT'S DUKE MAYELLA'S DAUGHTER YOU MORONS!" The moment the duke's name reached their ears, they attentively stood up and saluted, looking at Ariana with nothing but pure admiration, in which Cam almost exploded of laughter. Ariana could only sigh as she smiles "please at ease, I'm only here for a couple of days and then will be taking a boat to the capital, I just simply wanted to see what life was like for the boys I hired." The guards look at her confused, but nod as they let them through.
Once they entered, Ariana could already smell the intoxicating smog from the mines and factories, it was a stench all too hideous, yet all too familiar. She had been to plenty of polluted ransacked towns and cities as a child when her father did tours, and this would be no different, well at least she thought it would be.
The truth was the no matter how hard she tried, she cared for these people deeply. Seeing them struggle as they toll away at the cargo, seeing the families who lived in shackled and roofs with holes above their heads. The towns people only knew of the smog, in the blazing heat or the torturous winters, they only could depend on their work and their faith.
As Ariana passed by the corner with Cam and Percy, she only grew more sympathetic. The staggering towers could all be seen with fire users blasting arduously into metals, forging nonstop in shady conditions. The streets were filled with starving people as they slugged through the roads. Lines of slaves poured in from the entrances, treated even more harshly than the simple civilians. Although one thing was common, in their faces as Ariana passed by, they seemed to look at her with nothing but reverence, as if she was a goddess. She wishes she was, but sadly, she couldn't answer their prayers…not now at least.
They finally got to the main building as Percy smiled looking back at them "I will talk to the president of the factory really quick; you just get accommodated the boys will be here soon. Ariana nodded as she turned to Cam, who seemed a bit more…tense than usual. Cam had always been the alert type, after all she was her assistant, if the smallest type of disturbance were to happen, she had to be ready, btu…this was more then just alertness, this was fear.
"Cam, are you alright, you seem to really not like here, I get it's your home, but you didn't have to come if it bothered you so much." Cam looked at her startled as she sighed "no please don't apologize Ms. Mayella, it isn't like that, its rather…. I just have a few bad memories about this place." Before she could explain further however, footsteps could be heard drawing closer, and as they looked to see who approached the, Ariana squinted, as a young beastman, a wolf to be exact with bright violet eyes and deep grey fur patented like steel, in front of a giant lizard and a short boy with jet back hair and icy blue eyes, who immediately upon seeing him…found him kind of cute.
There presence conveyed a sense of serenity, and the guy before Ariana, seemingly the leader, smiled as he saw Cam. "It's been a while cam…you still look as shitty as usual" he said with a slight chuckle. Cam immediately rushed Infront of the confused Ariana, looking towards the leader "bo-….Luke, I'm not trying to start any trouble, Im ju-" before she could finish however, Luke laughed as he walked closer, immediately embracing her. "Hey I'm just fucking with ya, don't worry about it to much the past is the past" he said patted her back. He then looked to Ariana with an utterly stunned expression "uhm….Cam, what the fuck is she doing here." The Lizard and the short boy also looked a bit surprised as the lizard immediately bowed "I'm so sorry, forgive that brat for his rudeness he's our boss" he then would walk up and slap Luke across the head "such vulgar language is insolent in front of the Duke's daughter as well." Luke gritted his teeth, before sighing "fine I get it, don't gotta hit so damn hard though, anyways please excuse us madam, we have a bti of business to take care of, probably will be dealing with taking care of you, so we'll be back shortly." They then left calmly, leaving Ariana with way more questions than answers. "Who are they? How do they know Cam? Wait no it makes sense she lived here, but…why did she seem like, afraid, as if she did something? What did she do?...and why is that shortie so freaking cute?"
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It had been a long time since Luke had last seen Cam, and to be honest, he actually quite liked she was back. While the past was difficult to come to terms with, it had been a long time ago, and they would have the time to discuss about the matters later, for now though, they had to meet the old man, or president some people called him.
They passed through the large iron doors as they entered the tower, many women in seductive clothing, officers and guards, as well as the very few upper classes that lived here seemed to be having a chillaxing time in the bar. Luke seemed to glance though in hiss, as he noticed the subtle stares and mocking whispers as they entered the bar. Iron hid his face, as Noa was as indifferent as ever. They had been through many runs going through the office like this only to get scolded by the head or assigned impossible jobs, and today would be no different.
As they ascended the stairs, each step feeling heavier than the one before, they finally made it to the entrance of the top floor. There stood a Block obsidian door, with the head of a stone dragon with bright red eyes as gems in the corner. Dragons used to be a very powerful species, but now after their extinction, they are more relative to gods than anything, and it is why the president was so feared, second only to the Archbishop of the Uru. His gift from the dragons made him feared, a powerful force to be reckoned with.
As Luke sighed, he entered with hefty steps, and there sat a man with lock back long silver hair, and red eyes, with a chin and body chiseled by artists, he looked to Luke and his trio with disgust "I see…you finally made it here…"