There was a saying for times like these.
Well, not specifically times like these. I doubted there was a saying that encompassed having your last two friends die, facing off against their otherworldly killer, having your ass handed to you, waking up in an unfamiliar alley and being assaulted by wolf-men.
If there was, it’d probably sound stupid and cheesy anyway.
No, the saying I thought of was more along the lines of ‘out of the frying pan, and into the fire’.
The six wolf-men acted exactly the way I’d expect their cousins to, circling wounded prey and waiting for an opening. I was in no state to be fighting them, and they both knew it and were taking advantage of it.
Rather, I used to be in no state to fight them. Since I’d woken up, all my wounds were gone. The sources of all the blood staining my clothes had completely disappeared. It was a good thing they didn’t know that.
One of them looked like he was ready to jump in, so I reached to my sheathed sword. He got the message, and kept circling instead of trying his luck. Nevertheless, he circled a bit closer than he had before.
Once one of them got close enough, that was when I was going to act. I like letting my enemies build up confidence before I tear it all down.
The following seconds felt like hours, until finally the next wolf-man got gutsy enough to inch closer. The wait was wearing me down more than the wolf-men were, and boredom was starting to outweigh the fun of possible terrorizing.
I didn’t really want to play with them anymore.
I took a deep breath, got out of my drawing stance into something more relaxed, and just as I spotted some of the wolf-men move in the corner of my eye I shouted. I shouted hard, loud and unforgiving, and all six of the wolf-men recoiled at the sound. Some even fell backward, but all of them started running, struck by massive, incomprehensible fear.
All but one, one wolf-man who thought he was tough, who had been hiding behind his brethren the entire time like some sort of chief. He stepped out of the shadows, and I noticed one of his eyes was gouged out.
The alpha male, I figured. What an idiot, biting off more than he could chew.
Men.
“You really don’t want to fight me right now,” I warned it, just as I returned to my drawing stance. It growled in response and crouched, ready to jump on me.
He hadn’t even fully moved off of the ground and my sword was unsheathed, my strike finished. His body, propelled by the incomplete jump he’d attempted, went past me and towards the wall.
His head landed in the opposite direction.
I sheathed my blade and started moving. Experience had warned me against staying in one place for too long, mostly when predators were involved.
I exited the unfamiliar alley into a large street. Once again I looked around and up, trying to get my bearings. This place was… bizarre. Rather like Lost Shinjuku, but at the same time not on the same scale, nor with the same overgrown vegetation.
I shook myself out of it and started a jog down the street, keeping my eyes peeled for threats of all and any kind.
Midway through the street, I felt something huge, not unlike the huge threatening presences we used to feel in the labyrinth. Somehow, the feeling was more distant, yet at the same time more oppressive.
I figured if its range was so huge, I could easily navigate away from it. Just like F.O.E.s back home.
I kept running down the street, and passersby became an occurrence. They gave me odd looks because of my clothes, and I reciprocated. Their clothing was… well, it was different, weird and strange, just like this entire place so far.
I’d been running for a solid while, so I ducked into an alley to catch my breath. I leaned on the wall for support, and just as I did I noticed a skull with a key on its forehead painted on the wall in front of me. The owner must have had really bad taste when he got it commissioned.
I walked back to the street to see the building itself, and I saw a large sign saying ‘pawn shop’ on it. An idea sprung to mind, and I pushed the door and walked in.
See, people on the street don’t care about you. If you ask them, they just make excuses and leave. I understand, I’d want to leave too if some idiot stopped me on the street. But shopkeepers? They’re stationary. They have less of an excuse pool to draw from, and if you buy anything they’re practically forced to humor you.
At least, that’s how it had been in every town I’d been in. I was just hoping this place was the same, because I’d really like to have a grip on the situation I was in, starting with where the hell I was.
I walked into a cluttered mess of a place, and the counter was unoccupied. I cursed under my breath, and started looking around. The shop itself, despite its clutter, was filled with interesting and alien items, at least to me. And if I wanted to make sure to get something out of the shopkeeper, I needed to buy something.
My eyes stopped on a big green coat, with tons of pockets and extra space, lying down on a chair. I didn’t like ‘flappy’ clothing, but something like that would help me blend in with the people outside. The massive pockets would help too, since the team leader used to carry everyone’s stuff in his bag.
The very thought of the obnoxious medic caused me to make my right hand into a tightly-clenched fist. I hadn’t managed to avenge his death, hadn’t managed to kill the Yggdrasil Core. I’d failed to set things right, and now I was running around a city blind while he was rotting. I ripped the coat off of the chair, walked to the counter and leaned on it, impatiently waiting for the shopkeeper to come out of his hiding space.
I hated waiting around. There was always something better to do, some treasure to get, some monsters to kill, and I could really use some monsters to kill.
