The plan to Tsurugane: Part one

The amber portal snapped shut behind them, leaving behind a crackle of mana and burnt earth that hung in the air like bad static. The portal certainly left its mark on the ground leaving, on the outskirts of Kurokaido after Yachiru's portal did its job of getting them away from those mutts.

As the dust settled around them, and the air cooled, the trio of mercs took a moment to catch their breaths and reorganize themselves after an eventful evening. 

Yachiru dusted the road-grit away from his tattered off-red duster coat and blew away a few strands of his ashen white strands from his golden colored eyes.

Seraphine straightened with a scoff, flicking off dust from the collar of her tailored dragon cropped leather jacket. Doing so as if it personally offended her, while trying to pretend that her stomach wasn't the one grumbling.

R.E.I simply pushed back any metal plates that may have jutted out during their landing through the portal as they stood next to Yachiru. 

After a failed job, none of the three expected a Black Shuck to snag their target after an hour-long battle with a demented Fae back in Kurokaido City. Those mutts have a bad track record in Kurokaido, so it should've been expected by them honestly. Alas, the trio found themselves at a tavern in Tetsukane, which was in the east of Kurokaido-well Seraphine couldn’t handle the stench of dog any longer. 

The trio stepped into a tavern named "The Flying Pigs," a building of swell music played by bards-a kind of tune you’ll tune when you’re two days away from being fired. And. of course… The place was littered with orcs, you’ll always tell you’re in the presence of an orc from the smell of wet steel and bad ale.

Once the trio entered the tavern, Seraphine leaned back on one hip and snickered shamelessly as she took a look around, 

"Oh the sign was right alright, lots of 'pigs' 'round here, but none of them are flying anytime soon of course!" Seraphine said as her dark violet eyes looked at all those orcs, on the other hand her grip on Yachiru’s hand tightened. Most of the orcs either grumble or share a laugh or two as they eye the group of mercs that entered the tavern. 

 As they walked, Seraphine stayed close to Yachiru, crushing his hand as if she was trying to crack concrete. 

"Must you always try to crush my bones, isn't my body weary enough?" Yachiru said, his voice calm yet carrying a hint of sarcasm as the trio made their way towards the bar's counter. Behind them Rei followed silently, her internal core levels were almost empty for the night, she silently hoped Yachiru could get a room for the night at this establishment. 

A bony orc swayed outward from their chair, obviously drunk off ale-honestly when aren’t they?-his hand moved and slapped Rei's nonexistent ass-causing a sound of metal being hit throughout the air

 “Oi, girlbot! Another round please~.” An orc tall, bony, and greener than most plants said with hints of laughter in their voice. they didn’t see her. Not as a person. Just something shaped like one. Obviously, why would an Android be here if they weren't a service bot? 

Rei's voice box mimics a hitch, she's been getting better at those even though she doesn't breathe air, her synthetic pair of Coral colored eyes look back at the bony orc and she hesitates.

She looked at the drink. at herself. Then back at the orc.

 Rei sputters “I am… not affiliated with this... establishme-” she couldn’t finish her words as she was caught off guard when Seraphine blew past her. The orc was still waiting for Rei to follow his order, chuckling as their eyes went from off Rei and towards the other orcs around the round table. Once they looked back at Rei a fist cracked across the orc's jaw; Seraphine’s fist collided giving them a left hook that is banned in most cities. 

"She's not a damn service bot, you damn pig" Seraphine barked at the Orc who was now laying flat on the ground. She knew what it was like to be touched and ordered around by those around her, well she wasn’t going to let it happen to R.E.I. Not again. Not ever.

The tavern paused, even the group of bard's lute let out a final twang as their fingers stuttered on the strings.  Silence stretched throughout the tavern as all eyes were on Seraphine, as she stood over the bony orc as they laid flat. Limbs splayed out like a puppet that just got its strings cut.

Then a sudden uproar of laughter broke out between the orcs and other beings in the tavern. a chorus of barking guffaws rang out from the nearby tables. Tankards were slammed against the tables. The bards began playing a more upbeat tone.

"HA, that bony bastard's been mouthing off for weeks!"

"Lady got an arm on her!"

"Shura got floored, he had it coming"

Shura laid flat against the ground with an almost fist indent pressed against his mouth, he wasn't waking up anytime soon. Seraphine stood over Shura, her fury not completely gone but her triumphant smile only seemed to grow. 

Yachiru exhaled slowly behind Seraphine, still ten steps away from the counter. His golden colored eyes seemed to say exhaustion, more than his expression ever could.

"And here I thought we'd make it ten minutes without violence," Yachiru said, his tone a bit softer as he looked away from Seraphine and the orc she blasted.

"Oh, spare me, Yachiru, I ain't going to let him talk that way to R.E.I" Seraphine barked back at Yachiru as she leaned slightly towards his direction, already reaching for his hand as the adrenaline was wearing off.

Behind Yachiru, R.E.I seemed to be contemplative, his head was looking down at the brown floorboard of the tavern before looking at Yachiru's back.

"I... don't have to...get drinks for them, right?" R.E.I spoke to Yachiru's back, her voice a bit softer than usual. She felt a little crestfallen about what the Bony orc ordered her to do.  

"'course not Rei, do whatever the hell you want." Yachiru replied back to R.E.I, as he turned his head over his shoulder to look at  her. Before R.E.I could respond back, she felt the hand of Seraphine ruffling her dark brown greasy "wig".

"don't be so crass Yach, she's fragile," Seraphine said, her voice a bit teasing as she walked away from Shura the orc and back to Yachiru's side only to hold his hand in a bone crushing grip. 

Now back on track after Seraphine’s little “distraction,” they were finally able to do what they were supposed to do, get a room for the night. It was definitely a must, especially after a botched job with that demented fae and not getting paid. The tanks is almost empty, and Seraphine is already starting to complain again, but Yachiru can’t magically summon bread-they've been over that.

Stepping up to the counter of The Flying Pigs—where the sad dwarves drown in their mushroom soup and the elves sing their sorrows away over a glass of cheap cola. But behind the counter stood a tall woman, with the posture of an old general and the apron of a retired one.

Her wings, gray and tucked resting behind her back were unmoving, but present like folded storm clouds. Pearl-white hair hung just above her shoulders, bisected by blunt bangs that didn’t quite hide the tired defiance in her bluish-violet eyes.

A soft, dim, halo hovered above her head cementing who she was, a Fallen Valkyrie, part of twelve sisters that used to be the powerful servants of the gods, but heaven fell many centuries ago. Not due to destructive and forceful forces, but due to a lack of pure souls that seemed to not exist nowadays. Unwilling to stay dormant like the gods they once served, they fell to earth to serve humanity once more, just not in the ways of the past. 

As the trio stepped up to the counter the tavern keeper, identified as "Hlonhylde" as could be seen clipped on to her slender breastplate above her pale brown chemise.

She'd just finished serving up a meal of fried streak and mushrooms from the wall to a short and stubby elf—who kept muttering about a "Zilyana"—Then she looked up at them.

She looked at them with those bluish-violet eyes, ones that have seen generations past by, and ultimately disappear into nothingness. Ones so uplifting yet tells a story the longer you stare into them. 

"What can I do for you folks?" Hlonhylde said in a slow yet deliberate way, not rushing her words as if time bends for her. She had her hands on the counter as she looked at Yachiru. 

"We'd like a room...Hlonhylde," Yachiru said with his usual calmness, his golden colored eyes reading off the name clipped on her slender breastplate, before his eyes flicked back up to hers.

"Room?" Hlonhylde asked from behind the counter, "you'll want the one farthest from the chimney. The boiler ghosts like to moan on cold nights, and you already look—"

She was cut off by a gasp that bordered on amusement and the sound someone makes when they see something they want.

"Yachiru, look!" Seraphine's unapologetic voice came ringing beside his ear as she pointed at the spear mounted on the wall behind the counter.

A long, sleek, gray-tinted spear hung horizontally on the wall behind the bar, like a threat no one speaks of. A weapon that looked like it could take on even the mightiest of dragons, or maybe even... a God.

Hlonhylde's eyes flicked to the spear, then back to Seraphine. No pride. No warning. Just a faint recognition, like a soldier watching another examine their blade.

 "Fyrsvétta caught your eye I see?" Hlonhylde said out to the trio in front of her, her tone didn't even lift, clearly used to the reaction. Seraphine wasn't one for casualness, if she liked something then everyone must know, or so it seems.

"Fyrsvétta?" Seraphine repeated, her dark violet eyes shimmered. not with reverence, but a hungry admiration. She preferred to be up close to her enemies, which her Katars were perfect for, but a spear like that? that can drop anything

"Since when did you care about spears, Sera?" Yachiru asked with a quiet sigh. Still, his eyes lingered briefly on the weapons, old, well made, and dangerous. He looked away from the spear, just another tool for killing is all it is to him.

Hlonhylde's tired eyes moved from Seraphine, then at Yachiru, as if none of this was surprising to her, in fact it was a common occurrence at her tavern.

"As I was saying... You'll want the room farthest from the chimney. Unless you enjoy ghost moaning and the occasional phantom draft up the spine," Hlonhylde said, reclaiming the scene from Seraphine's obvious excitement. Her voice didn't rise, as it didn't need to.

R.E.I finally spoke up from behind Seraphine and Yachiru, her internal core levels may be low, but his voice box remained active.

"This establishment has a higher-then-average ambient hostility rating. Do the rooms come with spectral dampeners?" She said, her voice was smooth and a bit lower than usual, her coral colored eyes focused on Hlonhylde.

"Can I hold it?" Seraphine's voice shot up over R.E.I's, her dark violet eyes didn't leave the spear. She was still fixated on the spear

Hlonhylde raised an eyebrow. Not a warning, just a flicker of ancient patience.

"No, you may not hold it." Hlonhylde responded as she turned slightly to dry a glass that an orc placed down, as they were done with it. "That thing has bitten gods, and i'm still the one it answers to." She added.

"She's serious, she'll sleep with it if you let her, But we're not here for that, the room remember?" Yachiru added, his voice cut softly over Seraphine as she was about to justify her reasoning. Seraphine simply groaned slightly, she squeezed Yachiru's hand in response, but Yachiru was used to her hand crushing fits.

Hlonhylde simply sighed as she placed the clean glass down and reached under the counter. She pulled out a tarnished iron key and slid it towards Yachiru.

"Second floor, end of the hall, and no I can't do anything about the goblin sobbing in room three," Hlonhylde remarked in a more casual manner. “You can pay in the morning” she added

Yachiru let out a soft sigh as he accepted the iron key, guess they were a little primitive, well at least they have a room now for the night. Before Seraphine could even utter a single word about the spear Yachiru began pulling her away.

"Thanks." Yachiru thanked Hlonhylde as he pulled Seraphine away from the counter and towards the other side of the tavern, with R.E.I following suit. Time for them to get some shuteye.

They had a helluva day. After a complete washout with their stolen target not to mention their rental car exploded since Yachiru's portals are simply "dumb" as Seraphine would put it. It's time to finally sleep somewhere that's not the underside of a bridge. The walk towards their room was lackluster, just simply stepping up some stone steps and going down to the end of the hall to reach the room labeled 24. 

There was a carved warning on the door, "No Necromancy Or Voodoo After Midnight."

Once they opened the door it revealed a room that was built with function then comfort. The room wasn't much wider than a storage unit—two twin beds squeezed up against opposite walls with barely enough walking room in between. The only lighting in the room was a candle that sat on a rusted iron sconce, its flame flickered greatly, obviously enhanced by a rune. 

"Guess they really are primitive, I mean I haven't seen a flame that small in ages," Seraphine muttered with a smirk once they entered the room.

Before Yachiru could even blink Seraphine stripped off her cropped jacket, kicked aside her ankle boots, and peeled off her wide-legged trousers and Katar holsters. Now down to a crimson compression shirt and boy shorts.

"You shed armor like a serpent" R.E.I remarked, her coral-colored eyes briefly glanced at Seraphine, already used to Seraphine's routine whenever they actually get a room.

"Can it Rei, I just like being comfy" Seraphine replied back to R.E.I, right before she reached over to flick R.E.I's pale synthetic forehead, Which caused a small ting to ring out in the room.

Even though she had it all along.