"Hey, kid, we got here first!" The bearded man says.
The figure thrusts towards the bearded man, "Frozen heart." The figure then tries to stab the man in the stomach. The man slips to the side and waves his axe. The figure gets pushed a couple of steps back as the wind picks up. The man then charges at the figure with his axe. The figure cross-steps to the right and makes a quick swing to the man's temple area. Suddenly, the man pauses and puts his other hand up to his right ear.
The orange-haired man then takes out his sword and swings it at the figure. The figure steps to the left, making him miss, or wait, did he?
A small part of the figure's cloak gets lit up, and the fire quickly begins to spread. Sh*t, they'll become a roasted turkey soon. They're Anra's only chance at surviving this mess as of right now!
The figure stumbles backwards a bit until they use their left hand to untie their cloak. They then toss the cloak right off their back, revealing their face. The figure's a girl, a girl with purple hair trailing behind her. Is purple hair even a thing? I mean, it has to be, unless my eyes are deceiving me, which would actually make sense.
The orange-haired man then takes another big swing at the girl. The girl then grabs the sword with her left hand as well and brings it up to the man's sword, playing a loud clang!
But the girl isn't attacking back, and the man isn't pulling back his sword. Instead, the man's eyes widen.
"Winter's Oath!" She yells out. The man's blade is then engulfed with ice in an instant! The girl then pulls back her weapon, along with the enemy's. The man is now completely unarmed! She has an open shot now!
Dammit, I didn't even notice the bearded man throwing his weapon! The girl ducks, and the axe flies right above her. Wait a minute…
"Look out, behind you!" I scream.
The girl does what I told her to do. Her purple hair swings around as she looks behind her. The axe is coming back! The girl doesn't step out of the way, nor does she duck like the first time the axe came for her. But instead, she blocks with her sword. The axe doesn't stop, no, she has to step backwards a bit. The axe is actively pushing her backwards, and all she can do is keep blocking.
"Boomerang." The man silently utters.
But the axe isn't the problem here; the problem is that she's now completely open. The man chuckles as the purple-haired girl grunts. The man slowly walks over to the orange-haired brat's sword.
"You know, at first you seemed pretty dangerous. But in reality," The man walks towards the girl and gets ready to strike, "you're just another brat."
The man pauses and gasps. He then looks at the blade stuck in his stomach, my blade. Then, he opens his mouth and barfs. But he's not vomiting. He's barfing, fire.
I step back and instantly withdraw my blade, "The f*ck?" I say slowly.
The axe then drops onto the floor, freeing the girl. She then ignores the bearded man completely and instead walks towards the orange-haired man. I almost forgot he's here, as he's stayed silent the whole time. Say, why didn't he just pick up his weapon earlier?
"P-please! We're just bounty hun-" The man utters before the girl slices his right leg. The man then falls onto the ground with his right left bonded to the ground via ice. "I'll never attack you guys again, please!" The man says as the girl raises her sword, and the man raises his right arm.
Isn't this too much?
The girl drops the sword onto the man, almost killing him. Another sword collides with hers, making a loud screech.
"That's enough, Serrax." The man holding the blade says. He's much older than the girl, by twenty-five years at least! The man has blue eyes and is wearing a cloak, just like the girl. "He's unarmed; you must learn to show mercy to those who don't oppose any harm! It's a miracle I was able to deal with his friend before you killed the man."
"But dad," The girl inserts her sword into her belt, "the man tried to kill me, dammit!"
"Is he trying to kill you anymore?"
The girl looks downward, "No, but he's still a dirty criminal."
"I've already told you, I'm just a bounty hunter! Not a criminal!" The orange-haired man spits out.
The father of the girl looks at the orange-haired man with confusion, "Why would a bounty hunter be after a child?" he says while touching his frozen leg with his sword. "Just go for adults who are actually criminals."
The sword makes a sizzling noise, and the man is now able to move his leg. "Ye-yes, sir!" he says after standing up. The man then ineptly runs off.
"Wonder what scared the dude so much anyway." The girl says as she watches the orange-haired man run away.
"Are you ok?" The father asks while looking at me.
"I-I don't know." I look at my blade, "Wh-what did I just do?"
"Well, what did you just do?"
"I-I sta-" I say before remembering something, Anra. I drop my sword and run over to the boy. As expected, he's still unconscious, but he isn't hurt, I think.
As I pick him up, the man says, "Is that-"
"My brother? Yes, he's not well."
The man begins walking towards us, "Well, where are your parents?" he asks.
I look down and stay silent. Bounty hunters have turned my life upside down. I know that I was thinking that the girl was in the wrong earlier when she was attempting to kill the orange-haired man, but the fact that bounty hunters aren't considered criminals disgusts me.
The man heavily exhales and turns around to check on his daughter. She's still watching into the distance. As the wind begins to pick up, a bird flies by, chirping. The man looks back at me after and says, "I'm Juxt Heizen, and this…" the man turns his shoulders to the right and puts his right hand towards the girl, "is my daughter, Serax Heizen."
"I'm Erax Inzei, and this is my brother Anza, who is under a curse that leaves him in a coma-like state." I told the man. I'm not sure if I can give them my real names, so I tried to, in a way, Keyminify them.
The man takes a couple more steps towards me, "The hostage curse…"
How does he know about that? Is it just common knowledge here? Now that I think about it, it probably is common knowledge in Keyminea. Speaking of Keyminea, I really haven't been conscious about where I am.
Keyminea is a place I've heard of many times in my life. I've heard stories of brave men fighting beasts with magical bows, but I've also heard of the many criminals that live here. Now, I'm actually in the land I've heard many times in stories; A land where magic is as common knowledge as tying a shoe. If these people have any knowledge about the curse, I might as well ask them for more information. "Mr. Heizen, do you know how to cure it?" I ask the man. He stays silent, "Please, our parents have been murdered, he's all I have left!" I tell him. Yes, I've resorted to guilt tripping.
"The Jezawkx, it's an object that bounty hunters possess. They use it to undo the curse once they regain possession of the person they're after." Mr. Heizen replies.
"But it's basically impossible to get, as the bounty hunters that have them can instantly kill you if you try to steal it." Serax blurts out to me.
"Serax, what's up with you all of a sudden?" Mr. Heizen asks.
"What? I'm just telling the truth! Also, you know exactly why I'm acting like this." She says. Mr. Heizen sighs and wipes some dirt off his right sleeve.
I have one more question, "Why did you guys save us?"
Serax beats the man to a response, "Well, we saw a bunch of low lives ganging up on a kid and decided it's a good opportunity to practice fighting."
"We wanted to help you guys, isn't that right, Serax?" The man says to the girl. He then turns over to me, "Also, when did you guys leave Azraba?"
…
He knows?