"Yahoo John, do you ever take a day off?" Mom called out in a teasing tone.

"No. last time... Ayla... chased me through the forest." John said with a haunted look in his eye. 

"Oh- Uh- anyway we were successful! Two dead brothers!" Nice transition mom. Lifting up two severed lumps of skin with matching tattoo's in the shape of 'I<3mom'.

"Excellent, please throw that away, I'll come back with your reward." John said with disgust, I guess even pros can have weak stomachs.

The skinny man scuttled off before returning with a pouch filled with- eight gold coins? EIGHT? Eight hundred silver? Eight thousand bronze? Are we rich? Two gold coins each and all we had to do was take down two notorious bastards? Glancing at the others I see Koko frothing at the mouth, repeatedly muttering 'so much cake.' Ignoring that issue for now, Asty didn't seem to be particularly phased by the sum. Mom suggested we go pay Ayla back and buy some better gear. 

Before we made any moves mom dragged us all close to the desk in a whisper, "John is there somewhere private we can speak to you, or someone higher up?" John gazed suspiciously for a moment, relenting with a sigh.

"Unfortunately the guild master is out of town at the moment but I'll grab someone to cover the front desk, please follow me."

Leading us into an enclosed room at the back, we all seated ourselves around a small table.

"John. Our hunt for the bandits lead us to witness some 'man' colluding with them. A burly giant, looks kind of like a barbarian wielding two large axes, we saw him yesterday following around some pompous rich asshole." mom spoke sternly.

John pondered for a moment, lost in thought. "That... Is troublesome. Unless I'm mistaken, the man you refer to is known as 'Brick'. A somewhat... wild mercenary in these parts, with that in mind I wouldn't put anything past him. Now the 'rich asshole' you mentioned, would he be covered in gold adornments from head to toe?" John questioned, his tone fluctuating for once.

"Thats the one." Koko claimed.

"Then I believe you mean an individual by the name of 'Chance Quill' although he himself claims it's 'la Quill', I can assure you however he is not a nobleman. Theres rumours he works in illegal trade, including slavery but no one has proven anything."

"So what do we do?" I asked.

"Nothing, not until the guild master returns at any rate. While he might not be a noble, he's not far off with his rich backing and even some 'actual' nobles are quite fond of him." John said flatly.

"Tsk" I clicked my tongue.

"For now say nothing, do nothing and just go about your business, I'm going back to my desk now so I bid you all a good day." John brushed us off, ushering us out the room.

Sighing, we all accepted fate for what it is and made our way outside the guild.

Koko seeing fit to change the mood, immediately suggests celebrating a job well done at a particualr tavern but Astrid said she needed some time to collect herself and tend to some business. Giving her some needed space, we agreed to meet tomorrow for a nice, full day out. Not before reminding her to be careful and look after herself.

We made our way back to the tavern and bumped into Ayla who kept trying to refuse any money, only relenting when Koko gave her a tear filled rant about being good friends. Even Ayla can't fight that one, gotta try that one on John some time.

                                                                                                                       ***

After a good nights rest, it dawns on me that there was no dream last night, shrugging that thought off because 'hey, I really needed that sleep anyway.' Making our way to the guild to meet up with Asty we decide to wait on a nearby bench and enjoy the morning sun. Something wasn't right. We've been waiting for a couple hours now and Astys always shown up early enough.

"Wait here guys, I'm gonna go check her the inn shes staying at." I rushed outside, hastily walking down the street.

...

"Oh you're Ava? Yes Astrid mentioned you yesterday. She never turned up last night however." the old clerk lady told me.

Thanking the clerk for her time, I rush back to my group, something's fishy here.

"Mom, Koko, Asty is missing. We need to search for her! I bet that barbarian has something to do with it. come on lets go find him!" I declare with agitation. 

"Hold up Ava! Don't rush, we don't know for sure she's even missing not to mention going near Brick is dangerous right now." Koko comforted.

"Right lets just split up, head around town and ask if anyones seen her, okay Ava?" Mom said with a tone of warmth. I blew out some air and accept what they said. 

Heading off in different directions, I immediately head to the bars and taverns. That bastard barbarian is definitely around somewhere. 

I know what I said but I trust my instincts~

What do you know, the very first bar I find is adorned with a husky drunken giant with two dangling axes on his back. What are the odds? I take a seat across the street and stake the place out. Before long barby exits the dank establishment and makes his way through the alleys. Following behind as quietly as I could, he unknowingly led me to a large manor on the outskirts of the town, does this belong to that rich dude? Climbing a tree nearby, I found an open window, jackpot. 

I never made it inside however as a scrawny asshole's voice echoed out nearby. Peering through the leaves of the tree I could see him and Brick facing each other. 

"Well? How did it go last night- Are you drunk again? You useless oath, get drunk on your own damn time NOT ON MINE!" Chance ranted.

"You don't haff teh worry about me, I can 'old my drink betta than anyone else in 'ese parts." Brick eloquently explained.

"Brick youu- Nevermind that, answer me! How did it go? Did you get her?!" Chance bounced out. Her?

"Aye I got her, one bunny to go, 'ocked her up downstairs." Brick chirped making a salute.

I'd heard enough already, swiftly making my exit from my treehold. Those fucking bastards, I knew it. I should've jumped them right then and there. But even a drunk Brick is probably too much for me to handle. 

Sighh~

Time to get help. I sprinted down the street to mom & Koko.