Chapter Text
The sky is different. Smaller, if that’s possible. Though still blue. Familiar. CJ cranes her neck looking up at it, then looks down again. The path seems to go on forever.
New Neveah has to be around her somewhere…
Her feet are sore and she’s already eaten through most of her provisions.
At least my pack is light. Though it’s juuuuust possible that I’m a little… lost.
She sighs.
Shit.
Not the first time she’s let her feet get away from her. Her family would say it’s because she spends too much time looking up, her eyes on the open blue of the sky. But they’re hardly in a position to judge. She likes to think that getting lost easy is just part of her body trying to lead her to adventure. Some would say you have to look at the ground or you run the risk of tripping. But you’ll also never be surprised with where you end up.
“H-help!”
The voice cuts through her reverie, and CJ rushes forward in the direction it came from. A person in need meant the possibility for adventure, for reward… and maybe also meant that she could ask someone where she was and how far to New Neveah.
The path clears ahead, revealing a pair of suspiciously-dressed people harassing some sort of crocodile in a hat.
“Help!” the crocodile shouts upon seeing her.
The two other turn to face her as well, weapons already drawn.
“They’re bandits! Please help!”
CJ cocks her head to the side. “Can’t you… bite them or something?”
It’s not like she’d mess with someone with teeth like his. Even across the distance, though, she can see his eyes narrow.
“I’m a trader, not a fighter!” he shouts.
“Okay okay,” CJ says, holding up her hands. “Didn’t mean to make a whole… thing about it.”
The bandits approach menacingly, and CJ lets herself forget about the crocodile dude. There’ll be time for him after. Instead she lets the bandits take all of her attention. She smiles, and they pause at that, share a glance with each other. And in that moment her weapons slide into her hands, so that when they look back she’s armed, blades spinning lazily in front of her.
“Probably should just clear off now,” she says. If she can get them to flee without a fight, so much the better. Half of getting what you want is acting like you’ll get it, after all. A little bravado can go a long way.
The bandits charge, and CJ flinches back a step, catching her heel on a root and falling backwards in a heap.
Shit!
The bandits are almost on her. Cursing more under her breath, she rolls sideways to her feet, orienting herself just in time for the bandits to raise their knives. She tenses, and in a rush she blurs past them both. The steel of their blades glints as they move through open air, the bandits stumbling forward under the weight of their attack. Leaving them wide open.
She doesn’t press the attack. Now between them and the trader, she lets them retreat bloodied into the forest.
“Well good thing you recovered when you did,” the trader says, picking up some of his wares that must have been knocked to the ground. “I thought they had you there.”
CJ scowls. “All part of my strategy,” she says, and forces a laugh. “To lull them into a false sense of security.”
“Uh… huh,” the trader says.
CJ fumes. “Well it’s not like you were doing much against them!”
“And I don’t mean to sound ungrateful,” he says. “I’m Hogan, by the way. A trader in these parts.”
“CJ,” CJ says, thumbing her sternum. “I’m an honorable treasure hunter.”
Hogan hums, eyebrows furrowing. “That something like a thief?”
“Not at all!” CJ says. “Thieves take from the living. Treasure hunters only ever take from the long dead. A noble and victimless act.”
“And a profitable one,” Hogan adds.
“Should adventurers not be rewarded for their troubles?” Though it is true that the promise of riches is what drew her to New Neveah. Some sort of recent discovery where a treasure hunter can strike rich. Rich enough to help her family. Rich enough to keep them all free.
She shakes her head. She can’t think of that now. Though it weighs on her, she keeps herself in the moment. She looks up at the sky, at the rolling clouds between the branches of the trees. Smaller than home, but no less beautiful in its own way.
“Ah, well, you have me there. And anyway, that’s how I make my living as well. I have a shop—or, well, I will have a shop to help supply travelers and adventurers. Should be able to turn a tidy profit, though the acting mayor doesn’t exactly make it easy.”
“Oh?” CJ asks.
Hogan smiles. “But I can tell you all about it on the way back to town. I assume you are headed for New Neveah?”
“Yup!”
“Then let me guide you there as thanks for saving me.”
CJ doesn’t argue, though it seems like a somewhat lackluster payment for saving his good, if not also his life. Though… seeing as how she might have been a little lost…
“Lead on!” she says.