Snippet #2428304

Sometimes, acting on impulse was not quite the wisest course of action.

It seemed a simple enough life lesson: think before you act. Even someone like Amanhã, who spurned needless hesitation and talk, valuing only immediate and prompt action, was aware of that. Unfortunately, she was by nature a creature of instinct, of impulse-- she had to deliberately make an effort to avoid simply... lashing out. It seemed to simply be in her nature to use violence as her primary means of interacting with the world, a trait so ingrained that sometimes it even unsettled Amanhã that she had such a powerful instinct towards destruction within herself. Sometimes, she was effective in reigning it in. Other times... other times it overtook reason and what little shred of morality she deigned to retain, and then she found herself in situations such as these.

As a lull in the brief spurt of violence came about, Amanhã was forced to consider her actions. She'd let herself lash out again. Lost control. Become overtaken with anger. And now, consequently, she... had been rash.

To put it simply.

It had seemed, however, the situation had been brought indelibly to violence, until the fraud from before all too conveniently reappeared. "This is all a bit violent, isn't it?" Amanhã turned her head sharply, her eyes falling upon the fraud-- somehow pristine despite the ruinous state of the town and the carnage it had seen in just the past hour, and toting along an apple from which he occasionally took bites. He strode on into the midst of the lot self-assuredly, glancing down at the fallen bureaucrat. "So these guys are criminals, huh?" he remarked, as if in passing.

"You're a criminal," Ro retorted bitterly.

"Can you prove that?" the fraud returned fire with a wide grin splitting his cocky features. "I said the village was in danger, and the village was in danger.

"Oh, please. You orchestrated a massive deception and by chance were interrupted by acts of planned terrorism."

"A bit harsh, these lies." The fraud spared no further thought to the subject as he turned to the collected warriors behind him. "Of course, what's not a lie is that these men and women have attacked members of the Prefecture, and thus the Empire. And you better believe they'll stick the Tengu attack on all of you too."

Amanhã raised an eyebrow. And what deceit have you in stock for this situation?

"Luckily for all of you," he indeed did declare grandiosely, as though this moment was destined to be some historic moment. "I have an escape. I am creating a guild!" And punctuating those words, the fraud revealed a leather-bound certificate that revealed scrolls of some kind. "A Great Guild Fortune!" he continued, sounding almost giddy. "And if you sign you will be exempt of the crimes you've committed or they claim you've committed to this village."

"Who's the noble who signed for that paper?" the bureaucrat pressed, shoving the ash-winged tengu as he clambered to his feet.

"I am," the fraud fired back. "And seeing as the mayor has yet to classify this as a national issue, it still remains a village issue, and if these people are in a noble-signed guild the only way for you to prosecute them in responce to these events is through the village judicial system. Now, who do you think will win there, Ro? The people who saved the village, or the man trying to arrest them?" And then he turned back to the motley assortment of mercenaries, and he cried, "What say all of you?! A three-month contract with the Great Guild Fortune! I promise you riches, adventure, battle, and of course, more riches."

Ah, the multifarious ways in which the world tested Amanhã's resolve. So she was to choose between unable to step foot in a Yune city again without a legion of soldiers chasing her down as a fugitive, or a three month commitment to this jackass and his asinine little Great Guild Fortune? Those were her two choices? I suppose it's only as much as I warrant, having acted to gratify my impulses, she mused morosely. He did bring up a good point-- it was a legal loophole Amanhã could exploit. And if she did... well, for three months, she'd be bound to these imbeciles (well, mostly imbeciles). But she'd also be able to eventually attend to that contract waiting for her in the capital, and she would be free of any inevitable legal ramifications stemming from her violence here.

And, as the Sudean human had pointed out... guilds also often embroiled themselves in very entertaining battles with deeply entertaining adversaries. Alright, maybe she was pushing it a little, but in this case, she was gonna have to look on the bright side, rare though the occasion was. It's the less tiresome of the two options, I suppose, she conceded. To hell with it. Amanhã Tiamat was going to throw her lot in with this guild business. Best case scenario, the lot of them would get killed off about a month into the contract and she'd be back on the free range.

The half-Ashuran stepped toward the fraud, and indicated her consent by more or less taking a contract and the quill from him. Having made up her mind, there was no hesitation: she signed it shortly and swiftly, before veritably thrusting it back at the fraud.

She was probably going to regret this, but at least she would almost certainly have regretted the other option more.