Down with the man! (Aro and Iwa)

The job that Iwa and Aro had received was indeed a special one. A single reading of the poster would have warranted only a few base details. These were the things Iwamichi had told Aro about the job. The fine print on the contract held a great deal more information about the assignment. Of all the details that were written in the fine print, a single one stood out. This assignment was to burn down a village by the name of Greenhill. Some background information was included about this village. It was located right in the middle of Fiore's southeastern desert. It was at the narrowest point of the desert; one could reach grasslands in only a day's walk from Greenhill. The village had gotten its name from the fact that it was one of the only oases in all the desert, and it sat up on a large hill.

If the terrain was all gentle, it would only be around a four day walk for the members of Blackmist. Unfortunately, their progress through the desert would be much slower than desired. This would increase the time it would take them to reach Greenhill by another day, bringing the total to five days. Even more irritating would be the lack of vegitation and water in the desert. Aro and Iwa would not be able to forage successfully in such unforgiving terrain, and their wilderness skills meant they knew that in advance. If they wanted to arrive at Greenhill in peak condition, they would need to pack two days worth of food and drink. Foraging in the grasslands on the way would be easy enough. When they were done with the job, they were to light the contract itself aflame, and the client would appear with their reward.

The last piece of information offered by the contract was a diagram of Greenhill. The layout of the town was definitely worth mentioning, so it's a good thing that the contract had these details. The village's housing was constructed in a circle around the top of the hill. Most of the houses were made of mud-bricks, but some were wooden. While the wooden houses would be easier to destroy, the mud-brick huts would turn into ovens if lit aflame, burning anyone inside beyond recognition. The hills were covered in fields of clover, which made good feed for the livestock. Further down, once the hill flattened out, there were grains grown all the way out to the edge of the grass. There were a few huts down there as well, but they were marked as storage. Most telling about this diagram was that there were no areas marked for a Rune Knight Garrison. That piece of information would be of vital importance.

It took longer than Iwamichi had wanted to get started on their journey, but it had to be done. Because they could not rely on their foraging skills to get all the water and food they needed for the upcoming trip, they had to prepare extra meals and extra containers of water ahead of time. If only the terrain was easier and more hospitable. It couldn't be changed though, so she just had to deal with it. Both Iwa and the other guy had looked over the map they had received very carefully. Apparently, there were no Rune Knight outposts, but this did not lower her guard. These days, the lack of a Rune Knight outpost was rare and practically unheard of. They always found a way to stick their noses into every village and every country like cockroaches (and like cockroaches, they never completely die). She knew she had to be extra cautious during this mission and prepare for the worst. She didn't want to be put on any Rune Knight's radar; she already had a close call with one before, and if she had another one, it could be a lot worse if she became too infamous.

Well, since both Iwamichi and her companion had only one water skin each and a couple of already made meals, they decided to stop by a nearby village and purchase supplies for their long journey ahead. Coincidentally, it seemed that they chose the same village that they completed their first D-rank mission in to be their stopping place. The people welcomed them enthusiastically. Iwa barely gave most of them a passing glance. They had to find their local general store and get supplies, nothing more. It was important to keep their focus on the task ahead. When they stopped in front of the general store, it took her by surprise. It was incredibly large for such a small and shabby village, not to mention neat and well-built. Her surprise quickly turned to suspicion; however, they needed supplies and apparently, this was their only choice.

After they strolled inside the out-of-place store, they were confronted by an equally interesting shopkeeper. He really did not look like one of the villagers. So, who was he? And what was his shop? It definitely had not been here on their first journey... On another disturbing note, he suddenly knew what it was that they wanted and about their journey. It COULD be just a guess or because they probably looked like travellers with a specific purpose or journey, but she didn't think so. His presence troubled her immensely. Then, there was also a tugging feeling on her mind, literally. She wasn't going to believe that this "headache" was just a coincidence either. What could she do about it though? If they left, they might miss something extremely important. Or, she could totally be overthinking the whole situation and the shopkeeper was just guessing. Either way, Iwa was feeling very annoyed and didn’t bother to say anything when they purchased the items they needed. She made a mental note that if she ever saw this guy again she was certainly going to kill him. Not out of anger or anything, but because she didn’t believe in coincidences, and she wasn’t going to take any chances with a man as mysterious as he.

((I’m assuming these are total amounts of purchases between the two of you since it wasn’t specified. Waterskins are 100 a pop, and granola is another 100 a pop. If you can clear up whether you were specifying total numbers, or numbers per person, I can go ahead and charge you for it.))

The clerk was humble and apologetic regarding the rudeness of his methods. “Please, please, forgive my intrusion. It’s the fastest way to know whether or not people so scary plan me any harm. Your stay overnight is free as my way of apologizing for the less than comfortable technique.” Both Aro and Iwa were aware their minds had been invaded, and they were absolutely correct. Even if they hadn’t figured it out before, the man had just confessed. However, they did not realize the full extent of the mental attack. At first, they had thought all that was taken from them was knowledge of what they wanted to purchase, but soon afterwards they would realize much more had happened.

The two mages ventured upstairs to the room that had been offered to them and eventually drifted off to bed. Once asleep, they both entered into the same dream. It was easily the most vivid dream they had ever experienced. All of their senses worked normally, and there were none of the usual signs they were in a dream. The laws of physics still applied, books still had content, and their memory functioned normally. The only way that it became obvious they were dreaming was that this dreamworld had returned them to Blackmist’s guild hall. At first glance, everything there was perfectly normal, but one key difference stuck out: the Blackmist mages were not alone.

Everywhere their eyes could see, Rune Knights battled with their guildmates. What’s more, they were losing. Badly. They could fight if they wished, but the situation was clearly hopeless. The Rune Knight foot soldiers appeared to be infinite, and there were clearly some more powerful Rune Knights out in force. Most of these mages were mere blurs, for neither Iwa or Aro knew their faces, yet there was one whose face was perfectly clear. It was none other than the shopkeeper who they had met only moments ago. He smiled at them, and with a voice a thousand times calmer and more malevolent than before he spoke but two simple words that sent a chill down the spines of the dreamers. “We’re coming.”

As soon as those words left this man’s mouth, the dream faded into nothingness. The two mages awoke, and several things immediately seemed wrong. First of all, the content of that dream couldn’t be taken lightly, especially after they were aware their minds had been probed. Secondly, that dream had lasted only moments, yet the sun was already rising. Lastly, the building that Aro and Iwa had rested in was simply gone. They had awoken lying in the mud where the building had once been. All their possessions were intact; nothing but the building was missing. At this point, they could either attempt to investigate what had just happened, or they could simply continue on to their job of burning down Greenhill.