Snippet #2426820

The town centre was absolutely infested with bodies, every villager, passing wanderer, adventurer, mercenary and travelling bard packed in like sardines. Fortunately, they were all blissfully silent, not a whisper emerging from the mass of flesh-- whispers that would have been overpowered anyway by the tolling of the bells. On a wooden platform in the heart of the centre stood some bureaucrat-- presumably the aforementioned mayor. He stood by trepidatiously, awaiting the demise of the bells-- and when at last they fell silent, condemning the town to an absolute silence, he stepped forth.

"The town of Poyo is under attack," he declared. "At the twentieth hour... I received a report from the farthest northern outpost, saying an army of bandits was approaching... at least three hundred."

Gasps of horror emanated throughout the crowd. Amanhã raised an eyebrow just slightly. Three hundred? A band of three hundred marauders, and this little pit was the most they were willing to tackle? Amanhã was already sceptical-- she'd fought much, much smaller bandit gangs who'd assailed, often successfully, cities that dwarfed Poyo in scale, affluence, and population. Either these were the most modest bandits in the land, or something wasn't right-- and she was betting on the latter.

She watched the farce unfold in silence-- how some human in flashy golden armour, a picture of confidence and swagger in contrast to the bumbling, pitiful mayor, stepped up onto the stage, and began making his own case for a plan to fight these supposed bandits. The human spoke less like a warrior with a plan, however, and more like a salesman making a pitch-- with overwrought flair and drama, speaking of heroism and fortune. And who responded first but the very stranger Amanhã had earlier been approached by-- her quiet voice, unusual enough to linger in Amanhã's memory for the ten or so minutes it'd been since their encounter, emerged from the silence of the crowd. She was accusing the human-- this 'Yuwen Fortune', as he'd branded himself-- of jest. It was not an entirely inappropriate sentiment, Amanhã figured.

Others also pledged their support for this human's plan; it was beginning to become an entire spectacle, but Amanhã kept quiet. If they did indeed decide they were off to war, she would indicate her participation simply by going along when the time came-- three hundred gold for each bandit's head? To hell with the other's-- Amanhã was planning to make this a goddamn jackpot. But if, on the other hand, her suspicions proved accurate-- and they usually did-- if it came about that there were no bandits and she'd wasted her time... oh, there would be a reckoning. Namely, there would be the head of one 'Yuwen Fortune' on a pike, shoved into the soil of the ground he'd said the bandits were camping on.

Unfortunately, she wasn't going to have that chance. The human was already beginning to incite the crowd into a frenzy when a voice hurtled through the din. "Wait!" Another joined the mayor and Fortune on the platform-- another bureaucrat, by the looks of it: his sword was drawn and at the ready, and Amanhã immediately leapt to the conclusion she'd been correct, which the prefect verified not a second later. "This man is a fraud! This man has lied and has ruined this festival for his own greedy needs..." He tore the report from the mayor's hands and held it before the crowd like some damning bit of evidence. "This is a fabricated report! One of my men just got back from the north-outpost. It's fine; the guard there was tied up by some thugs who wrote it in his place. We scouted the marsh, we scouted the fields - there is no threat!"

Amanhã did not linger to hear the fraud attempt to defend his idiotic attempt to attract attention; she was already leaving, scowling harshly behind the faceplate of her helmet at having had her time wasted by a moron. Will that bumbling jackass of a mayor pay me three hundred gold to dismember the fraud with my bare hands? she pondered briefly, before deciding against making a point of finding out. No more delays: it was time to leave this shithole behind and make her way to the capital. Poyo was very clearly offering nothing in the way of action...

And, because the universe had a perverse sense of humour, no sooner had she thought that than an explosion suddenly rocked the entirety of the town centre.

Chaos immediately took reign over the town. Smoke began to pollute the sky above as it billowed copiously from the source of the explosion, up at one of the guard towers at the wall. From the thick columns of smog, a fleet of winged figures descended onto the town-- Tengu. Armed, and very clearly hostile.

Amanhã almost grinned. What do you know-- that fraud wasn't as full of shit as I thought.

As discord took hold and the civilians began to flee in a frenzy, Amanhã charged into the nascent fray of the battle the Tengus had provoked, her hand reaching back once again for the hilt of her sword. She hadn't drawn it before she was already fighting: one of the Tengus swept in from the side, and she batted them down to the ground with a powerful blow from her armour-clad fist. They hit the ground face-down, and were already scrambling back to their feet before the bounty hunter planted a foot on the Tengu's back and pushed down hard, her six hundred and fifty pounds pinning them to the ground just before the blade of her greatsword plunged through their body; it emerged slicked with sanguine.

And just like that, with the initial taste of violence fresh on her tongue, Amanhã was overtaken with bloodthirst.