"Is everything alright, Knives?" Noble asked, taking a sip of his drink. 

"It's- Eh- The-" Knives stammered out those and a few other noises as he attempted to formulate an actual response. 

"Dang, he's really got you all shaken up, doesn't he?" The girl said. "How the hell did he manage that?" 

"You talk as if you know him." Noble said. "Is he..."

"Yep. Pretty sure he's talkin' about my bro."

"Hm. Out of curiosity, why is it that you say 'bro' instead of 'brother?' It flows a little poorly, doesn't it?"

The girl shrugged. "Eh. It's all the same in the end." 

"Well, I suppose it's really that big of a deal, but it does sound a bit silly, doesn-"

"You're RELATED to that THING?" Knives interrupted, now that his brain as finally caught up. "'ssat mean y-you're also..!"

"Well, it's a complicated family situation. And 'monster's a bit of a stretc... Well, maybe... Anyways, I think you've got the wrong idea."

Noble let out a loud, seemingly forced laugh. "I can't believe this 'monster' you've been raving about turned out to be nothing more than a little boy! Hah! That's a new low, even for you." 

"I dunno what kinda spell that thing's got you under, girlie, but there ain't NOTHIN' normal about that thing. Don't act like you know SHIT, just 'cus you got similar eyes." Knives said, ignoring Noble's comment and getting in the girl's face as his hatred and fear overwhelmed him. 

"Chill out dude, that's not-

. . .

Actually... Well, maybe it is... For all I know, he's..."

It was at that point that Knives, as he looked down at the face of the girl, realized that though their eyes were similar,

this girl was no monster. 

"I take it back." Noble said, more quietly. "That's your new low." 

Knives just stepped back. 

There was silence in that small, broken house for just a brief moment.

"But that's not my job." The girl said to her feet. "That's not why I'm here. That's irrelevant. And soon enough... it wont matter, anyways." 

. . .

"Well, if we wait around any longer, we might just miss whatever it is the boss wants us to see. What say we get moving, yeah?" Noble suggested.

"Y-yeah. Let's do that. Ya comin', girlie?"

"Yeah. Let's get moving." 

And then the three of them got moving. Very nice.

"Alright, Knives, have you asked around town yet?" Noble asked as they walked.

"Nah. I headed straight here." 

"I see. Guess we still need to do that, then... Ah, this is going to be humiliating..."

"Just suck it up, quit actin' like a little girl."

"But what is it we're supposed to say, exactly? 'Why hello, sir or madam, would- yes, we're part of the group of people who attacked you earlier- no, we have no intention of doing anything to you under any circumstance. At any rate, would you like to, for literally no reason mind you, follow us into our camp in the middle of the forest? Oh, and I can assure you, this is not a trap of any kind, you have our word. Oh? You don't trust our word? Well, I suppose that makes sense, considering you have no incentive to, and we are also CAREER BLOODY CRIMINALS.' This might be the boss's most moronic plan yet." 

"Yeah. Sure seems that way. But the boss knows what he's doing. It all ties in, you'll see. Not that you'd know anything about that, ya friggin idiot."

"Oh, please." 

. . .

"Maybe we could try to trick them? They're probably rather unintelligent, after all." Noble suggested.

"How we gonna do that?" Knives asked.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe we pretend that we were staging a mutiny, and we try to rally up some particularly foolhardy troops to follow us into our camp, thinking we're on their side, only to... Do whatever it is the boss wants us to do with them."

"Well, that might work, but that might end up turning violent anyway. And if they get a little too brave, chances are they'll end up interrupting or interfering with whatever. Plus, that might count as 'pushin' too hard.' Boss'll prolly get mad. Let's just ask 'em like normal, get this over with as quick as possible."

"Hm. I suppose that's true enough. Well put" Noble said with a sip of his drink. "For a brute like you, anyway." 

Knives rolled his eyes.

Anyways, the three continued moving towards town. Almost as soon as they got close to the town proper, the trio was greeted by the twin guards, who were actually doing their job for once. 

"Halt." The guards said in unison, keeping a decent space between them and the trio, as well as standing apart and putting the tips of their spears against each other, as if they were blocking a narrow path. They weren't, but it would have probably been quite effective if they were. "State your" "names and business." 

"Let me handle this one." Noble whispered before clearing his throat. "First and foremost, no. Secondly, our boss, the man that sent the previous 2 people, as well as that beast to attack your town, which, upon closer inspection is looking rather un-attacked, actually."

"Tell that" "to Zramazos." 

"My condolences to whomever that is. At any rate, we're here on our boss's orders to kindly ask any townsfolk if they want to blindly follow us into the ruins in the forest, where we have been camping out."

The guards looked reasonably confused. "And why would" "anyone do that?"

"You have our word that it probably isn't a trap."

"Probably?"

"In truth, we don't know either." 

"That's sounds" "kinda dumb."

"That's what I said. More or less anyways. Well, in that case, we will now go and have this same conversation with everyone in town individually, before presumably leaving empty handed, if you don't mind."

"Wait, actually," "We should probably" "arrest you, actually." 

"Have we committed a crime?"  

"Well, technically no," "but you've admitted to being" "part of a group that has." "Plus, it looks like" "you've kidnapped a child."

"I'm here willingly, actually." The girl said. 

"We don't believe that." "Still gonna arrest them." "Also, we're above the law," "so shut up."

"Fair enough." Noble said as he raised his cup "In that case, we will be leaving posthaste. Knives, if you don't mind."

"Oh, we're doin' this?" Knives asked as he grabbed a blade from his jacket.

"May as well." Noble said, as with a flourish of his wrist, a large splash of his drink flew out of his cup, into the air.

With that, Knives threw his blade with great precision, causing the splash to explode and fly off wildly and almost unpredictably creating a short rain of malicious raindrops. 

The guards, recognizing this as a threat, backpedaled defensively, giving the trio plenty of time to make a hasty retreat. 

"Was that really necessary? Chances are we'd have been faster than them anyways, considering they're wearing armor and we're not." The girl asked as they retreated.

"That's probably true, but I think you'll forgive me wanting to relieve my boredom. I was stuck in those dirty floorboards for quite some time, after all."

"Yeah, but now I'm down another knife. I've barely got a dozen of 'em left!" Knives said. 

"Oh, you'll live."  

And, with that, the trio made their way back to the ruins. Or just to the ruins, in the girl's case. She hadn't been there yet. Nice.