Chapter 8: Chapter 8- The Job

The sun hung low in the sky as Ash walked out of the alchemy shop. 'Fuck, I really need a shower now.' Ash thought as he stretched out his sore back. Ash was about to head back to the public showers but stopped when he locked eyes with Alex, who was walking toward him. The redhead had a wide smile as he carried a basket full of fruits.

"Oh, if it isn't, little Ash, I was about to head up to the tents to look for you." Alex held out the basket and handed it to Ash. "The Boss wanted me to give this to you as a thank you for the snake. It's already eaten three big rats."

"You should be careful then. Monsters grow fast. It might eat you next," Ash said as he started to walk away, basket in hand. Alex followed behind, unbothered by his words. 

"Aww, are you worried about little ole me? How cute, but you know there is another reason I'm here. The Boss wanted me to bring you on a job I have to do tomorrow." 

Ash turned to look at Alex's smiling face. "Why me? I'm the new guy. I'm sure you have other, more trusted people to take." 

"That I do, more trusted and more fun. But the Boss isn't an idiot. She knows potential when she sees it. The Boss can tell you're strong, a former Mayan warrior. But the Boss said it's not enough to be strong. She wants to see how useful you are at following orders. So you'll join me tomorrow, what do you say?" 

"Do I have a choice?"

"Nope, meet me in front of Carter's garage tomorrow morning at sunrise." Alex quickly said before waving and skipping away.

"He didn't even tell me what the job is," Ash mumbled. 'And where the hell is Carter's garage? Great, now I'm going to have to find that before I shower. Well, at least I got some fresh fruit.' Ash thought as he pulled an apple out of the basket. 

~R~o~a~O~

'Damn, that mushroom really fucked me up.' Ash thought as he lay in his tent. His night was full of restless sleep and dreams about the past. He groaned as he sat up. 'I wonder if Pixie is awake right now. I should still have time before sunrise.' With that thought in mind, Ash stood up, grabbed his still nearly full fruit basket, and left his tent. 

~R~o~a~O~

Alex hummed as he happily moved down the streets of the bandit base. 'Hmm, I'm about two hours late.' Alex thought as the sun shined down on him. 'But I'm sure Ash won't mind. He would want me to look my best after all.' Alex ran his fingers through his long hair. He spent all morning fixing it up. 

Alex's pleasant walk stopped once she locked eyes with a pale naked woman. "Well, look at the thing that finally crawled out of its hole." Alex crossed his arms as the naked Pixie walked toward him.

Pixie stopped in front of Alex and crossed her own arms. "Oh, Alex, seeing you out so early is a surprise. Shouldn't you be putting on the rest of your disguise?"

"Do you mean my perfectly done make-up? My beautifully painted nails? How about my cute outfit? You know nothing about these things, but if you want some advice, I'd be happy to teach you. But then again, a pig in a dress still stinks."

"Hmm, I appreciate the offer, but I don't need to become a fake doll. I stay all natural 'cause I have nothing to hide." Pixie took a step back and held out her arms to show off her body. "I'm just Pixie, and those that know me love me, but what about you? Do they love you? Your make-up? Painted nails? Outfit?" 

Alex's eye started to twitch as Pixie spoke. "You disgust me. Go take a bath." Alex walked passed Pixie, bumping the woman's shoulder and ignoring Pixie's taunting goodbye. 'Stupid dirty bitch, what the hell was she even doing out here.' Alex thought as he walked away.

~R~o~a~O~

'Wow, just wow.' Alex thought as he stared at Ash, sleeping on the ground in front of Carter's garage, lying next to a half-empty fruit basket. Walking over to Ash, Alex placed a foot on his chest and shook him. Ash released a snore and tried to bat away Alex's foot with weak slaps as he slept. With a sigh, Alex stepped off Ash and walked to the large garage door he was lying next to. Alex gave the metal garage door a few knocks, stepping back as it opened up a moment later.

"You're late." Carter's deep voice scolded Alex as the door opened. "Where's the new guy?" 

"Pixie got her filthy hands on him." Alex pointed to the sleeping Ash. Carter let out a grunt once he saw Ash. "Do you have a bucket of water?"

~R~o~a~O~

A sudden rush of cold wetness caused Ash's eyes to snap open and forced him to sit up. The cold liquid went up his nose and caused him to choke and cough.

"Oh good, you're awake."

Ash groaned as he stared at a blurry redhead. "Am I dead?" 

"Not yet, get up. It's time for us to go." Alex threw a second smaller bucket of water in Ash's face before walking away.

"Hey, don't get my fruit wet," Ash mumbled after spitting out a mouthful of water. He wiped his face and stood on shaky legs. After stretching out his back and picking up his fruit basket, Ash made his way into the garage.

~R~o~a~O~

A custom-built jeep reinforced with steel doors, and metal mesh-covered windows traveled down a dirt road. "So, are you going to tell me what we're doing?" Ash asked as he drove the jeep. The only thing Alex told him was to drive.

"Well, I suppose there is no harm in telling you. We're going to Bramblethorn. I have a meeting to attend. I normally go alone, but with everything going on, the Boss told me to bring you along as my bodyguard."

"Your bodyguard? Well, you should have let me bring a weapon when I told you mine was missing." 

"It's not my fault you probably lost yours in that dirty bitches bush. Besides, this is just a routine meeting, we'll be in and out in no time, and you won't need a weapon."

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Ash let out a sigh as he drove down the road. "Things are never that simple." He groaned, but as he drove, he noticed something strange. "This road has been empty for miles, no Explorers Union patrols, no bandits, no monsters. Why is it so empty out here?" He asked. The roads that connected the Unity Kingdom to smaller towns and villages were heavily patrolled by Explorers Union balloons in the sky and hired guards that escorted travelers. But this rocky desert road in the middle of nowhere was utterly empty. 

"Hmm? After nearly eighty years of being slaughtered by the Desert Hounds, the monsters around here learned to stay off the road. But we still send teams to kill monsters around here every week. We have kept monsters back at least two miles on both sides of the road. It's a vital job for us." 

"It's a bandit clan's job to keep the road safe?" Ash gave Alex a blank look as he asked.

"Only the Explorers Union calls us bandits. The Desert Hounds were founded over eighty years ago to protect Bramblethorn. From what I understand, after Bramblethorn was founded, the Explorers Union started to pull away support once they realized there was nothing of value to be found here. So a few of the Explorers Union members who had family here stayed and formed the Desert Hounds to protect the city. Protect it from the hordes of powerful monsters and against bands of actual bandits. We are only called bandits because the Explorers Union demand we disband and join their ranks, but we have always refused."

'Well, you're going to wish you joined the Union once I kill you and your leader.' Ash thought as he eyed Alex. But his attention quickly turned to the large gate he could see in the distance. "So, that's Bramblethorn."

"The one and only."

"It looks like a beehive." Ash couldn't help but say as he saw the city. The city of Bramblethorn was built on top of, inside, and around a small mesa. A large wall surrounded the base of the tightly constructed city. As Ash pulled up to the city gate, he saw the city guards patrolling the top of the wall with pistols and rifles.

"Pull up next to that guy." Following Alex's order, Ash pulled the jeep to a man holding a clipboard.

~R~o~a~O~

"I'm guessing you knew that guy?" Ash asked as he drove past the gate. After a brief conversation between Alex and the gate guard, the pair were allowed to enter the city.

"Make a right here, and yes. That guy is one of many people who help us from time to time. He'll probably betray us one day, and we'll have to kill him, but that's just the price of business." 

"I guess you can't trust anyone these days. So where are we going anyway?" 

"Just keep following this road. We're going to go to a saloon built into the side of the wall there."

Ash followed Alex's directions, studying Bramblethorn as he drove by. He was expecting to see a run-down dusty town. But after passing by houses, shops, a school, and a playground, he was impressed by the smiles he witnessed. "You know, this place isn't bad for a city in the ass end of nowhere. Much better than some villages I've seen outside of the Unity Kingdom."

"Eh, I've seen better. But this place has done well with almost no support from the UFNA or the Explorers Union. That's why most people around here are pissed about that dungeon being found. They don't want the Explorers Union to come here and try to control everything." Alex leaned forward and pointed through the windshield to a tower being built on top of the mesa. "See that, once that balloonport is built, those Union bastards will start rolling in, and things will definitely change around here." 

'We should just blow it up then.' Ash thought but didn't speak as he kept driving. 

"Take a left up here. It's not much further. When we get there, don't speak, just stand around and look tough." Alex turned to Ash and eyed his face while scratching his chin. "Maybe you should have put on that Mayan face paint like Roxy does." 

"Roxy is already annoying enough, but if she found out I put the paint back on, she would try to kill me in my sleep. I'm an exile, you know."

"Right, well, I won't pretend to know bout Mayan problems. Just pull into that parking lot."

~R~o~a~O~

"Did you really have to bring the fruit with you?" Alex groaned as he and Ash walked across the parking lot. Ash was walking beside him, fruit basket in one hand, while eating an apple.

"I'm hungry, and these would go bad if I left them in the jeep in this heat." Giving the basket a shake, Ash still had plenty of fruit left. Alex shook his head and let out a sigh. He ignored Ash as he opened the door to the saloon. The pair walked in without a word.

Walking into the saloon behind Alex, Ash took in his surroundings. Empty tables and chairs, with only a burly gray-haired man standing behind a fully stocked bar. 

"Just take a seat while I take to Jasper." Alex waved Ash away as he walked toward the man behind the bar. Ash was quick to follow the order. He was still feeling sluggish after a morning of taking in nature's gifts with Pixie.

As Alex started talking to the man behind the bar, Ash turned to a set of stairs leading to the saloon's second floor. Ash eyed the stairs as he picked up an orange. 'I really should have brought a weapon.' He thought as he gripped the fruit and kept his eyes on the darkness at the top of the stairs.

Minutes passed as Alex spoke to the man behind the bar, and Ash kept his eyes on a dark shadow at the top of the stairs. "Are you serious?!" Alex raised his voice in surprise. Alex's sudden shout broke the tension, and the darkness Ash was watching sprung into action.

"Ambush!" Ash shouted as six men wielding axes and swords rushed down the stairs. As soon as he saw these men, Ash jumped to his feet and threw the orange he was holding with his full Mist-enhanced strength. 'Damn it, there's too many of them!' Ash shouted in his mind as the orange slammed into the leading ambusher's side. The orange exploded on impact and caused the man to stumble and trip up the rest of the group. This stumble gave Ash enough time to grab a table and ram it against the group. Pinning the first man in line down against the stairs and keeping the rest back. With the group blocked at the stairs, Ash started hitting anyone he could with Mist-enhanced punches.

"You fucking set me up?!" Alex grabbed Jasper by the shirt, yanking him over the bar and driving him to the ground. "No, wait, please!" The man started to beg, but Alex ignored the cries. The Desert Hound member pulled out a thin gemstone cover rod. The rod was no bigger than two fingers, and the translucent Mist blade it projected was just as short. "This is what happens when you betray the Hounds!" Alex sliced through Jasper's neck with a flick of his wrist, giving the man a second smile. Jasper started desperately trying to grip his throat as Alex stood up. 

"You killed an old man. Good for you. Now give me a hand here, will ya!" Ash called out. The men he was holding back started breaking the table, forcing Ash to create a Mist shield to keep the group in place. 

"Just hold them down! I got something for those bastards!" Alex jumped over the bar and started pulling liquor bottles off the wall. 

"Oh, sure! Take your time!" Ash gritted his teeth and focused on his shield. The ambushers were now slamming their axes and swords against his Mist. The strain from keeping his shield strong was starting to make his arms shake. 'Fuck I'm out of shape, when's the last time I trained?' Ash groaned in his mind. Until Alex was done, all Ash could do was hold the men down. 

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