"There is no way I'm going home until I find a quest or a quest lead," Sali lightly kicked a can by her foot toward one of the buildings that was nearby as she cut through an alley between two brick buildings. It launched at an earsplitting pace and lodged into the wall with a crunch. A homeless person that was laying beside a dumpster with a cart and tarp acting a tent sat ramrod straight and nearly screamed as he saw what happened. His eyes nearly bulged out of his head.
Sali's head snapped toward the old man that had holes all over his clothing and threatened, "If you say anything, I'll find and kill you." The old man barely understood the broken polish but he did get the vibes that she was putting out and pulled down the tarp to hide himself behind it. She harrumphed and blended into the passerby that walked by the alley. Some people gave her looks but not more than a handful since she was in a residential area
'Where am I now? I hope Briggs hasn't found out that I'm missing yet," Sali had spent the better half of an hour getting to this location with the old homeless guy and was not about to turn back as she took a random left across the street the moment that it was available to her. She had a moment of retrospection as she waited for the crosswalk sign to turn into the little figure that almost always promised safe passage.
'I have changed way too fast for my liking since coming to this world. I definitely did not have to threaten that old man, he would not have said anything and even if he did, who would he tell without sounding like a mental case,' she had known that she had a quick fuse, she always did, but after melding with Jack and training with Briggs, it felt like anything would just set her off. The worst part is that she knew it was going to happen years ago. It was the side effect of how her memories decided to fuse with Jack's, the original hero that would become Salimon.
For clarity: Aaradhya consumed and then absorbed the soul memories of his character. That process involved a hostile takeover that would come with a very serious shift in behavior that would mellow out as time went by. In Aaradhya's case, it was thanatophobia and hemophobia that he had gotten over in his original life but regained upon fusing with his counterpart. This meant that his soul would return to being himself while sporting a few changes here and there as a result of growth. Salimoon the champion, however, existed as a separate entity from Jacqueline and Jack the Hero since they were both too dominant to take over like. William did with Wilfred. This second process removed any qualities of the two that couldn't mix and guided the two personalities into one cohesive unit.
'Actually, now that I think about it, I probably shouldn't have left the house without Briggs to back me up. What if I get a quest that I cannot handle? Worse, what If I get an easy quest that I can solve quickly but I need another person to cover my back or do something at the same time, like press a button while I pull a lever,' she knew it was a mistake to leave the former Ghost but couldn't stop herself. She also knew that controlling her strength was still on the list of things to do but how could she care when she spent years, then months, waiting to get a quest and some points. It was the exact same mindset of a smart but rebellious teenager.
"It should be fine. Hm, I'm starving though, I haven't seen a single restaurant or store anywhere," Sali spoke to herself as she glanced around. There were large buildings with many trees interspersed throughout the lots. She found herself walking on a street that did not have a lot of people walking by. At most, people walked from their cars into their apartment building, quickly and while looking over their shoulders. It was as if they were looking for something, or someone.
'This city is really nice. I don't understand why we couldn't just look around for a little bit the first time that we came here. It was boring staying home nearly every day,' Sali frowned a bit then stopped walking because of what she heard and saw. A car stopped right beside her on the packed street.
"Little boy, where are your parents? This area is too dangerous for you to be alone," the driver yelled.
"Do I look like a little boy," Sali raised her voice.
"Um, yes?"
'Oh. Well, I guess its how I'm dressed,' Sali looked down at her white tee, cashmere sweater, and black jeans. She spared a glance to look down at her $750 imported, limited edition boots.
"Look lady, how do you know I'm not with my parents," Sali crossed her arms.
"I don't but are you," the lady pursed her lips for a moment, taken aback by how quick the child was.
"I'm actually going to their car right now lady. Don't you think that its a bit weird to stop a kid like me in the middle of the street? Don't you have somewhere to be or are you the dangerous person on these streets," Sali made a show of stepping away from the woman only for her to blush and stumble over herself in apology.
"I'm sorry for troubling you little lady," the woman cleared her throat and frowned. She was about to drive off when she suddenly put her car in park and yelled out the window once again.
"My previous statement still stands. Get to your parents car quick, you don't want to be out here too late by yourself," the driver put on her hazards on as a car turned the corner toward the street that they were on.
"Why is that lady, what makes this area so dangerous," Sali gauged her chances of beating the woman in a contest of physical strength and got closer to the car as she asked her questions. She didn't feel like yelling anymore.
Sali looked like any other weirdly muscular ten year old despite only being around 4 years of age. Her physical appearance had been ramping up in the last few months along with her consumption of food and drink to the point that it was as if she were ravenous. She could turn off the feeling when she wanted to due to having it for such a long time but it never truly went away. It was a constant reminder, the hunger and growth, that the body she possessed was granted by the machinations and magical bullshit of Life personified.'
"I... don't know," the woman's pause was not short as she tried to control her emotions and come up with a story. If Sali got even closer, the champion would have noticed that the woman had a briefcase in her passenger seat. If she had the means to open the case, she would have been greeted by paperwork, files and photos, concerning a recent string of missing children and detailed reports about a nameless dark cabal that had recently set up shop right out of Hajnowka. The woman contained her expression and worry and felt that it was right to call out the child in front of her just in case.
"Listen kid, based on your accent, I can tell that you aren't a native. Are your parents really in a car behind me. You can tell me if you are lost or if you have been taken. I know people that can help," the woman felt worried enough to check her mirrors.
"Actually, I can drive you to them since I can't see which car they are in, I would just have to go around the block because of the car behind me," The woman smiled gently.
"I don't actually live in this area and my parents aren't in any car behind you," Sali chuckled at the woman's falling complexation.
"I live...", Sali stopped laughing and groaned.
'Oh shit. I never did get the address. Maybe I should head back the way I came,' Sali froze and realized that she hadn't been paying attention to the directions that she walked in.
"Actually, you know what lady, thank you but I'll find my way back home on my own. I'm not too far," Sali waved the woman away and tried to step away from the car only for the woman to bite her own lip and breath heavily as she saw a group of young men exit a building. Her arm snaked beyond the lowered window and wrapped around Sali's wrist.
'Maybe I shouldn't have gotten so close to a stranger,' Sali raised an eyebrow and wondered what this woman was trying to do. She could have ripped her arm away but was afraid of harming the handsy woman by using too much strength. She also didn't act too hastily because she noticed that the woman only reacted this way because she saw a group of young men.
'She knows something is up in this area. I smell a quest," Sali waited for the woman to say her piece. She quickly let go of her arm and sat back down in her seat.
"Listen kid. Just get in my car and I'll take you home. I really don't feel comfortable with leaving you in this neighborhood," the woman looked panicked.
"I'm okay, lady. Really. Thank you for the worry but…", Sali backed up.
"I can handle myself. Besides, there's been a car behind you for a while. That driver has been patient enough," she left the woman to her own devices and continued down the street.
'I wonder why those guys freaked her out so much that she started acting like a kidnapper,' Sali rubbed her wrist and frowned as she thought to herself. She could tell that the woman acted out of worry and used her full strength to stop her from moving but it felt like cotton had wrapped around her wrist. The woman in the car didn't say or do anything more and drove off slowly even though the entire time she kept her eye on the boys that were dressed like hooligans or gangsters. She profiled them with impunity, that, or she knew something about them that she didn't want to say because she actually lived in the area, that or, within the briefcase, there existed some dossiers with the photos and details of those three youths.
'Maybe I can get a quest if I follow this feeling in my gut,' Sali looked back at the group of young men and turned on her heel after some thought. She walked past them as they yammered on about playing basketball with a group that they called the suits, in front of their building.
'Ah. and here I thought that something would happen…', Sali was so disappointed that it showed on her face but the next instant, a smile spread from one ear to the next,
Objectives:
1) Cleanse the city of its filth. In other words, clear out or control the underworld of Hajnowka
REWARD: To be determined based on contribution.
Sali's smile didn't last long as she immediately saw a golden line in her vision that pointed to the trio that she just walked by and the car that held the woman.
"Hey kid where are you going," one of the three young men, a guy with piercings all over his face, spoke and played with a butterfly knife with his back against a wall as he addressed her. Sali was concerned about the guy with the knife until she noted that the edge was dulled. How she noticed that was simple, as the guy tried to flourish, he hit his own hand with the blade and there was no blood that splashed.
"How are you guys related to the underworld of Europe? You're all young enough to be my kid if I was still with her," Sali spun on her heel and approached the trio with a smile.
"What are you talking about? Kid, you haven't even grown any hair on your balls and you're talking like that to us," the piercing guy pointed the knife at Sali while the other two guys snickered.
"I'm not a boy you bozo also, your breath stinks and is that smell, you? You should really take better care of your hygiene," Sali covered her nose, exaggerating a bit to really hammer in the point that she was trying to make. The guy blushed out of embarrassment then lunged with his knife out. The other guys jumped on him and pulled his arms back. Apparently, the guy with the piercings got the knife recently since the other two didn't know that it was just a toy.
"Thrasher, it's not worth it. It's just a little girl acting like a bitch," another guy with a bad haircut and dye job spoke. He whispered something else after that but Salimoon's hearing was much too sharp to not pick it up…
"We can just hand her over to you know who. We could even get extra pay if the girl is from some good family. Her clothes and shoes look expensive," the guy with the bad haircut said only after he pulled Trasher back with his other friend. Sali, trying to be organic, rolled her eyes, scoffed, and turned on her heel to walk away.
"Cut is right. We should just take the kid. She doesn't sound like she's even from the area," the third guy, pockmarked due to bad acne, who wore a leather jacket whispered next.
"Fine Mark. I just thought we should try it in a civilized way," Thrasher, the leader of the group with his relatively good looks and piercings nodded to his group as he whispered back and placed the butterfly knife in his back pocket.
"BOYS. GRAB HER," all three of the guys lunged toward Salimoon. She smiled like the Cheshire cat and ducked through the arms that surrounded her. Nearly lying flat against the floor, she kicked out toward the shins of the young men and with her exceptional strength, knocked them all to the ground as their legs flew back.
"What the fuck," Thrasher fell forward as his leg blew back and knocked heads with Cuts and Mark. He immediately focused on the piercings that had fallen off of his face and picked them up so he could put them back on.
"That was crazy," Cuts immediately went to touch his hair and fix it. Neither of the other two young men noticed that he was wearing a wig. Mark didn't say anything and instead turned away from his friends. He took out a compact mirror and made sure that his face was still on. By the time the three stumbled over each other for a moment and looked over toward the kid that they tried kidnapping, she was already down the streets. They did not give chase, afraid that they would attract more attention than they usually did.
Sali laughed to herself and turned forward after looking back at the three and crashed into a steel pole. At least, that's what it felt like as she bumped into a body.
"Who?"
"That was very good control over yourself," before she could gather herself, a familiar voice rang out in her ears.
"Briggs, you found me, that took you longer than usual," Salimoon scratched the back of her head and laughed.
"I was actually following you from the very start of your journey. Its a good thing too because, do you even remember where we live?"
"About that...", Sali stood up and patted her butt off.
"No, you don't, because we never went over it," Briggs shook his head and turned to lead the way back home.
"Sorry. But guess what I got...", Sali told him all about the new quest that she received and all about the golden light that showed her where to go.