6 months after the raid of Heffet, in the land of ?rlagateppi, in the Capital city of Stamen Fatorum. A man in a heavy, black hooded cloak, walks into a pub by the outer wall of the city, called the White Wall pub, as the man approached the bar, he called for the bartender. "Bartender."
as he approached the strange man. "What can i get for you, sir?" The bartender spoke politely. "I'll take an ale, something cheap." The man spoke silently, but knew he was heard. "Alright." The bartender pulled out a tall wooden mug, but before he could could move to grab the spirits, the man stops him. "Smaller." He says in a flat voice, the bartender unquestioningly removes the tall mug and replaces it with a smaller one. "Will that do sir?" He once again asked the patron politely, the man gently nods, and the bartender walks towards the end of the bar, pausing for a moment. "I'm sorry sir, i should mention that i'll have to head to the back for the ale you want, will that be okay?" The man waited a moment as if pondering the bartenders question then asked. "You got anything cheap upfront?" For a moment they both remained silent, until. "BARTENDER! quit taking so long with that Fateless sap, and get me another beer." an older man, shouted from the opposite end of the bar, he had been there since before the man in the cloak arrived, and would still be there when he left. "Actually, i'm not that thirsty, i apologize for wasting your time." The man in the cloak spoke apologetically, before standing, giving a slight bow then leaving.
As the cloaked man exited the pub, he pulls the hood off his head, to get a better view of his surroundings. "I can't even get a drink in this city without people being suspicious of me." The man thought to himself. "I guess i'll head to where Roftvi mentioned." The man turned to head up the road, deeper into the city, until he was stopped. "Hey you, in the black cloak!" the man turned to see 4 guards walking towards him. "Yes?!" The man responded. "Your under arrest." the leading guard said as they reached the cloaked man. "For what reason?" The man asked. "Under any reason i decide, now if you resist i'll be forced to kill you, so i suggest being cooperative." The guard spoke sternly, the cloaked man didn't speak, just nodded, as a guard cuffed him in wooden stocks, with a long chain attached to it. "Is this really necessary?" The man asked, in response one of the guards punched him square in the jaw. "Stop asking so many questions, criminal." The man was leaned over holding his chin to his shoulder to ease the pain, Until suddenly he was tugged forward, he stumbled trying to catch himself, but landed into the back of the guard who pulled his chain. "You...!" The guard began to speak, as he turned to look at the man, before quickly saluting, the cloaked man who'd caught his balance at this point, looked at each of the guards who were all saluting, confused he turned around, and saw another person he assumed to be a guard. "Hello there, could you tell your friends here to lay off the yanking, it hurts my wrists." He said as he raised his hands, to show the stocks binding his hands, she didn't speak only looked him up and down for some time. "Release this man from his bindings." She spoke sternly. "Yes sir." The other guards responded without hesitation and quickly removed the stocks from his wrists.
surprised the man asked. "Why are you releasing me? that guard over there said i'm a criminal." The man pointed at the guard, she didn't respond with words but began to draw her sword. "Woah, calm down." the man said shakily, once fully drawn the women dashed towards the guard he had pointed out, sword ready to be thrusted towards him, instantly a blinding light flashed, all the guards shielded there eyes. once the light was gone they looked over to there captain who was previously thrusting her sword toward there comrade, only to see a broken blade inches from the mans chest. "I said calm down." the cloaked man said sternly, hand held flat merely an inch from the captains head, she lowered her broken blade, then sheathed it back into it's scabbard. "Leave us." the captain commanded the other guards, they saluted and headed off further into the city.
"Your name." She demanded. "And why should i..." *Oof* before finishing his sentence, she punched him in the gut. "Your. Name." She said more adamant then before, the man chuckled. "Haha, okay i'll tell you." As he looked at her. "My name is..." *Slap* She slapped him before he could finish. "Not out loud you idiot." she said astounded by his stupidity. "Then how." He said, while rubbing his cheek. "Use your powers, to speak into my mind." The man stood there for a moment before answering. "That's an advanced skill i can't perform." The man replied, the women's face showed obvious disappointment. "Fine, then whisper your name into my ear." The man nodded, then leaned in and cupped his hands around his mouth before answering. "huri." The man whispered, she nodded. "So you are the one Roftvi sent." She said. "Your a sharp one." The man spoke sarcastically, she ignored his remark. "Good, i thought i would have to kill you." She said plainly. "Like you could." He responded. "I mean with your reactions i'm surprised your still alive." She spoke genuinely, the man looked at her concerned. "You know i'm blind right?" Her eyes went wide for a moment then asked. "y... Your blind?!" She exclaimed loudly. "Shh, you want the whole city to know." He hushed her, waving his hands gesturing to be quiet. "You have to be joking, there's no way your actually blind. otherwise how did you stop my attack earlier?" She said hopeful he was lying. "I'm not joking, i'm actually blind." He said firmly, she saw the seriousness in his face. "I guess it doesn't matter, you proved to me who you are."
They began to walk further into the city, discussing why Huri was sent to the capital. "I presume you know why your here." She spoke plainly. "Yes. people have been going missing for over a month, and you need help finding the one who's behind it." "Good, your well informed." They turned down an alley way after a few minutes of walking up the road. "Do you have any potential suspects?" "2 potential suspects, but no evidence to pin anything on them." She paused a moment before continuing. "One is a local Count, and the other is a Cardinal of the Church." "Tell me about the Cardinal." They stopped as he said this, facing a door she steps forward, and opens the door ushering Huri in, he followed her in waiting for her to continue. "The Cardinal is around 60 years of age, and has been in the church for as long as anyone can remember, around 7 months ago he was appointed the position of Cardinal by the head of the Church, at that time he seemed normal if anything he was incredibly kind, shortly after becoming a Cardinal he established an orphanage in his name, and made sure all the children were well taken care of, the children were always so happy every time they saw him, that was until..." They were now sat at a table by a window, in the corner of the front room. "Until, what?" Huri spoke firmly. "When a strange man came into the city 4 months ago, children started going missing specifically children from the Cardinals orphanage, with every disappearance a light seemed to dim more and more within him." She spoke somberly. "And what of this strange man, was he arrested?" "Yes, all entry into the city is recorded, so when we saw the dates lined up for when the children began disappearing, and the man arriving, we believed it was a cut and dry case. we began interrogating him the same day we arrested him, something felt off about him though, he... he felt lifeless when speaking to him, as if there was nothing left, just a shell, devoid of anything. I demanded he tell me were he was hiding the children, but he insisted he didn't kidnap any children, that he was simply here for an old friend, i persisted for nearly an hour but his answer never changed, then one of the city guards came into the interrogation room, he said there was an incident, and that i was needed in the royal gardens...." "I apologize, i don't mean to interrupt but could you describe the strange man for me." Huri cut in. "Um, sure. though with your... condition, i don't understand how it will help." She continued. "He was maybe 3 sticks tall, he had short messy red hair, he had stubble, and his eyes were green, he had soft features, he was somewhat muscular but not terribly so, his shoulders weren't very broad, and his hands were horribly scarred. is that enough?" "What kind of scars were they?" Huri spoke firmly. "They looked to be burn scars, why is that important?" "Thank you, that helps me greatly, anyway back to the Cardinal." Huri gestured for her to continue. "Yes, i left with the guard and headed straight for the royal garden, it took us around 20 minutes to reach it but when we got there..." She retched but controlled herself. "In the garden we found the children, all dead with there insides removed, strewn on the trellis's, and a Nun hanging from one of the trees by one of the children's insides, hands bloody." She winced when she finished.
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"Still suspicious of the man i headed straight back to where i left him, when entering the interrogation room though, he was gone, i had the guards search for him but after 3 days, we never found him... if only i had killed him, maybe then this wouldn't be happening." "Understand this the moment he entered the city, this became unavoidable. don't blame yourself for something you couldn't avoid." He spoke calmly. "Don't try and comfort me, children are dead and people are missing, i do not deserve sympathy." Her brows furrowed in anger. "I don't need to hear anymore for now, take me to the orphanage." Huri spoke as he began to stand up. "Fine, but i doubt you'll find anything, we already scoured the place, and found nothing." Huri remained silent, as he stood waiting for her to lead the way.
10 minutes later they arrived at the orphanage. "Hulda." A nun called out to the captain, running over. "What are you doing here Hulda?" "I have someone here to help us discover what's happening to all the missing people." The nun looked over to Huri, he waved at her smiling, she waved back politely. "He's blind so he can't see you waving." The nun surprised. "I'm so sorry sir." "Hahaha, don't worry about it, i take no offense." Hulda pulled the nun close then whispered into her ear. "i question his intelligence, but he seems to have a good heart." The nun whispers back. "if he's blind how is he supposed to help?" "You know i'm blind, not deaf." The nun covered her mouth embarrassed. "Hahaha, i understand your concern sister, don't worry, i had a friend who taught me a lot, learning the identity of the villain kidnapping people won't take me long." He smiled. "Thank you, sir. i hope in doing so the cardinal, can have hope return to his heart." Huri's expression turned serious. "Actually, if you could please come closer sister, i need to check something." "Of course." She stepped to him, he then reached forward, and cradled her face in his hands, than closed his eyes, and turned his head slightly. "Huri what are you..." "SHH." Huri hushed Hulda quickly, a moment of silence passed, then Huri let his hands drop, and opened his eyes, looking back to the nun, and smiled. "I apologize if i startled you sister. Haha" Hulda gave a confused look. "What was that about?" Huri looked over to Hulda. "I really wanted to feel her face. she's quite pretty." He said matter of factly, Hulda pulled the sister away from Huri. *Slap* "You idiot, are you even taking this seriously!" Huri held his hand to his face. "As seriously as i can." His face was blank, Hulda angered grabbed him by the arm and dragged him towards the entrance of the orphanage, Huri looked over to the nun while Hulda pulled him along and waved to the sister kindly, she reciprocated, quickly she caught herself, and blushed in embarrassment.
Once inside Hulda threw Huri into a pew. "Give me one good reason i shouldn't start beating you, until you beg for mercy." "Cause i was lying." Hulda confused. "Lied about what?" "I wasn't just touching her face..." Huri looked around then gestured for Hulda to come closer. "Oh no, you either tell me out loud or i punch you." Suddenly, Huri reached up grabbed Hulda by the hair, and yanked her close, than whispered. "it's listening to our every word." After he finished speaking he let go, Hulda pulled away, and gave a concerned look. "What do you mean?" "We'll speak later after we've gotten back to your place." Huri winked, Hulda wasn't sure whether she should trust Huri, or not.
After a couple hours of investigating, and interrogating the rest of the nuns. "Are we done Huri?" He nodded, then they left heading back to the safe house, after 10 minutes of walking in silence, Hulda began to turn to enter the alley leading to the safe house, when she noticed Huri wasn't turning. "Where are you going?" She asked frustrated. "Follow me." His voice was stern, she reluctantly followed him, after half an hour they had reached the gates, as the sun was beginning to set. "Huri if we keep going we'll be leaving the city." Huri didn't respond he just gestured for her to continue following him, she frustrated continued to follow him.
After walking for about a mile out of the city, the sunlight had dimmed heavily. "We can speak now." Huri finally broke the silence. "What the hell Huri why did we have to come all the way out here?! i thought we were going to speak at the safehouse." Hulda half yelled. "The safehouse is compromised." Huri responded calmly. "What! that's not possible, i know every square inch of that place there wouldn't be a spy in there without me already knowing." "Captain, i need you to bind your name to me." Huri said Harshly, Hulda even more frustrated. "I will do no such thing, i will not be a slave to some low life idiot, who can't even take people dying seriously!" Hulda Yelled more violent then before. "Captain, i can't explain anything to you if i can't trust you." Huri stood firm. "Why! just tell me why?!" She said withholding her anger, Huri stood there in silence clearly waiting for her relent. "That's it i'm done, i should've never trusted Roftvi, i'll find the monster committing these heinous acts on my own." "If you go back into that city you'll die within an hour." Huri spoke sternly. "What did you just say?" Hulda turned to look at Huri. "The thing, that's causing all this to happen, won't know if i told you the truth or not, so to be safe it's better it got rid of you." Huri's face was blank when speaking. "You know what's causing all this?" Hulda spoke audible frustration rising. "And you'll know as well if you bind your name to me." Hulda looked at him clenching her jaw tightly. "Captain what can i do to prove to you, i won't take advantage of the binding." Huri stared at Hulda with honest eyes. "Make an equal binding, that way neither of us can take advantage of the other." Hulda calmer answered Huri, Huri in visible thought, waited a moment. "Alright i accept your proposition." It was now night when they settled on there agreement.
"By the Spirit of Fate, two Fates have come together in acceptance of one another, seeking to bind there Fates in the grand scape of the Great Tapestry." Huri chanted, then Gestured to Hulda. "I Hulda Styrk bind myself to Huri." "And i Huri bind myself to Hulda Styrk." Then in unison they spoke. "Till the Great Tapestry claims our Fates, may we remain in unison with one another." Instantly sparks of light came from in between them rising into the sky.
"Alright we're now bound to one another, so who is the person kidnapping people?" Huri held his hands together for a moment before answering. "Captain, as you know i have "Special" powers only possessed by a small few." "Yes." "Well my powers are granted to me by the Spirit of Fate, but in recent time's a being of opposite force, was birthed to destroy all the Great Tapestry has created." Hulda was visibly shaken. "Captain, what's been kidnapping the citizens of this city is a part of that force, it's called the Omnipotent Flame, and it's only desire is destruction and chaos." Huri's words were sharp. "I can't defeat this thing not with how deeply it's rooted itself in the city." "Wha.. How can you be certain of this... maybe your mistaken." Hulda had audible fear in her voice, Huri shook his head. "I'm not, although i am blind in this reality, i was gifted the eyes of Fate, they allow me to see another's Fate, but when walking through the city, everyone i came across, i couldn't see there Fates... except for yours." Hulda confused. "Why only mine?" "I'm not sure, i've been studying this thing for months, but i've learned so little about it, and how it affects others." Hulda fell to her knees. "Are you saying there's nothing we can do?" A moment of silence followed, before. "No. there's one thing that might work." Hulda looked up at Huri longing for hope. "If you can learn to weave 2 threads of Fate, and i mix in mine, we might be able to weave together a Fate powerful enough to destroy it's influence." Hulda stood and grabbed Huri by his shoulders. "Let's do it, please i can't bear my people to suffer another day." "2 problems, i have no idea how long it will take for you to learn to even weave with 1 Thread let alone 2, and the second problem we cannot remain in the city for as long as you are training." Without hesitation. "I don't care. if i remain here i won't be able to help them anyway, so i'll learn to weave these Threads of Fate and defeat the evil that oppresses my people."

