Close Encounter
Hunter sat back in the cheap booth with a grateful sigh. The Tipping Wench was a prime example of Tymaera's older, more corrupt cities - a dive saturated with murders, thieves, and wyrds by the dozen. No one looked twice at the brothers when they entered, at least, no longer then to assess the value of their purses versus the danger in taking them on.
It was good to be back on clear ground. So long as he looked intimidating, only a drunken fool would take him on. Much better than the company he'd been keeping lately.
A scowl crept across Hunter's snout. Ever since Vixette had taken them in, he'd been caught in a constant power struggle with the others in the band. He didn't mind being middle man on the totem pole, but no one seemed to believe him. They were all looking for his edge, the secret goal he honestly didn't have. That old witch in particular, the unicorn wyrd Blood - she gave him a severe case of the shivers.
The food - such as it was - arrived, and he shook the thoughts away. Vixette had sent him and Tanix into town to find information on the other Seekers, led by some biff called Exile. He'd jumped on the chance to get some R&R, even if it was only for an hour or two.
The brothers had gotten about halfway through their food when a new commotion started at the front of the bar. A wyrd, looking like an unholy cross between giant lizard and jungle cat with a dash of rabid goat thrown in for fun, swaggered in and demanded a drink. Rather than avoiding attention as everyone else did, the newcomer seemed to relish it.
Hunter kept a wary eye on the new arrival while chewing down his soup. Unfortunately, he seemed to take that as an invitation and swaggered over. "I couldn't help but noticing you were staring at me. Lemme guess, it was my good looks that got your attention, right?"
"No, it was the walk screaming 'kill me'," Hunter growled.
"My you're a cheery one." The green wyrd turned to Tanix. "Is he always this polite? And aren't you a little young to be in here?" He shot a glance at Hunter. "And the watch doesn't approve of this sort of thing."
By now the dolphin wyrd was nearly growling. "He's my brother," he snarled.
"Oh! Silly me. I didn't notice the family resembl-" The newcomer abruptly stopped, and a resigned scowl crossed his face. He twitched and his tail came around to dangle in front of his nose. It happened to hold a young Peryton wyrd. "Hey!" she yelped. "Lemme go, gutter runner!"
"Seer, what are you doing here?"
Even dangling upside down, she managed to look highly offended. "I just wanted to get out of the woods for awhile! I can do that!"
Now he just looked annoyed. "But Ex-" he stopped and visibly rearranged his train of thought. "You were told to stay in the camp."
She crossed her arms and stuck out her bottom jaw. "It's dirty, cold, and icky there." She stopped as if that was all the reason in the world to come into the dingy, rough, and filthy tavern.
"Where's the rat?"
"Ecu is NOT a rat!"
"But you knew who I was talkin' about, didn't ya?"
She pouted, but when that got no response, she sighed. "I left him there. Now can you pleeeease let me down?"
"Fine," he sighed, then let her go next to Tannix. "Have a seat, and here's a new friend for ya. Kid, this is Seer. Seer, this is - uh..."
"Tanix," the hamster wyrd filled in, to Hunter's surprise. Little brother was never forward with strangers!
"But he's a kid!" Seer protested in a near wail.
Hunter winced as Tanix's eyes narrowed, turning an icy blue. The damn voices were back, and when they took over, it was usually not a good thing to be around!
Instead of the fireball or something equally nasty, Tanix just spouted something guttural off in some strange language. Seer stiffened as if she'd been electrified, then turned and began to babble back in what might have been the same tongue.
The green wyrd edged over to Hunter. "Is this normal?" he quietly asked.
"Yeah," he returned coolly. Damned if he was gonna tell this stranger this happened once in a blood moon. "By the way, I don't think I caught your name."
"Maybe because I never threw it," the man returned in an equally chilly voice.
Seer and Tanix were completely unaware of the power play across the table. Tanix had returned her insult in the mage tongue, and the conversation flowed from there. The two quickly found themselves on common ground; growing up alone most of the time with human parents and books as the only major friends. Tanix was impressed with Seer's stories of her magical powers and training, while she enjoyed his tales of researching the obscure knowledge he claimed to have. He made no mention of his voices.
"So how old are you?" Seer asked out of the blue.
"Fourteen," he lied with only a slight hesitation. It was almost true. In another month he would be. It wasn't that long. "You?"
"Seventeen."
Damn. Figures. "Anyway, what brings you here?"
"Well...." She paused and studied the table. "I can't say. Exile doesn't want me to babble about it."
Exile?!? His ears twitched, an unconscious reaction to the name. He'd heard a lot of tales about what the other band of wyrds would do once they found Uth Teleros, and none of it was pleasant. "That's okay, I understand." She's with Exile? But - but she's a nice person! Why...?
Perhaps she is not the one seeking the destruction of Uth Teleros, a spidery voice whispered in his mind.
The young wyrd paused for a second, reworking the suspicion into his knowledge. Then we are in deep trouble. Hunter....
The voices were silent. They didn't like Hunter at all.
A soft gasp at his side instantly had his attention. Seer was sitting rigidly, face blank as she seemed to stare off at the wall. Then she shook her head and cursed softly under her breath. "Hybrid!"
The green wyrd broke off whatever he was saying to Hunter. "What?" Seer leaned over and whispered frantically into his ear. Then he started cursing, more creatively and strongly than she had. He finally broke off to give the brothers a mocking bow. "Sorry folks, we have to run," he said, then scuttled out.
"Sorry," Seer mumbled, then waved and sprinted after him.
"What on earth...?" Hunter asked.
Tanix shrugged.
"So what'd you two talk about?"
"Oh, nothing much. You?"
His brother scowled. "Pretty much the same. We tried to pump each other for information. Not much luck, other'n he's an annoying peacock that doesn't want to talk much about what he's doing."
"And speaking of which, what are you doing?" a new voice snarled.
Hunter didn't react. "If you know a better place to gather information, Vixette, I'll be happy to hear it," he replied calmly.
Their leader moved to loom over the table. "Everyone else is back. This isn't a pleasure trip for you."
Hunter finally looked up, eyes glittering dangerously. "So you mean I should come in and just hold up a sack of money for information on Exile's band?" he asked in a surprisingly mild voice. "I'll remember that next time. This time, nobody knows nothing."
She glared at him, but finally sighed in disgust and walked off. "Come on," she growled. Thankfully, Hunter quietly obeyed. Tanix followed with a thoughtful frown and twitch of his ears.
"What's wrong?"
Hybrid's question broke through Seer's thoughts. "Huh?"
He gave her a quick grin. "You haven't complained once since you got that vision of Vixette. What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she sniffed. "I'm just busy thinking."
"I didn't know you had that problem."
She made a face at him. "Just because you don't."
He laughed. "Good comeback! We'll make a gutter runner out of you yet."
She made another face then ignored him, turning back to her thoughts. Despite her first reaction, she found herself liking Tanix. He was fun to talk to, and he treated her like an equal. There was something she didn't find much lately. He'd probably even like Ecu. Seer was surprised to find she was eager to meet him again.
And she could feel it in her bones. They would meet again.
Disclaimer: Hunter, Tanix, and Blood belongs to Norcumi. Vixette, Hybrid, Seer, Exile, the Seekers of the Lost City, and pretty much everything else belongs to Drakhen.