Doing Battle

It turned out that finding a supposed menace who called himself Redman Frank and dressed in red from head to toe was harder than the group, Silent Voice had anticipated. They asked around the city, but they only got extremely vague reports if anything. 

"I don't know the name, but he sounds like a trouble maker."

"I'm pretty sure he is the one that did that thing one time."

"Nope, never heard of him."

One person, the owner of a local item shop, when asked about their target simply said, "Hmm, yes. I have indeed seen a person that wore red."

The group inquired further, hoping that they were finally onto a lead, but it turned out that the shopkeeper was referring to an isolated incident from a previous week where his own son had worn the color red. Russ and Ona had to carry Fitz out of the shop to keep her from attacking the poor shop keep who didn't seem like he was all there in the head. 

While the group wandered around, searching for any leads, Russ was lost in his own head thinking about the previous night. He kept on sneaking glances at Ona, making sure that Fitz didn't catch him staring. Whenever Ona would make eye contact with him, she would only give him a curious smile and look away. She seemed largely unchanged from the night they spent together. So bad he wanted to reach out and take her hand. He wanted to know what she was thinking; what she was feeling. He thought that she might have some insight to help them sort through this mess... or perhaps he only wanted an excuse to take her hand. 

"On-" He started to call out her name, but Fitz shrieked. 

"Fitz, are you-"

"SHHHH!" The girl put her hands to her lips, urging him to be quiet. "I see him. He's literally walking right towards us." She whispered. 

"Shouldn't we have come up with a plan before now?" Russ quickly tried to think of what they should do. 

"What would we use a plan for?" Fitz furrowed her brow. "Hey you!" She suddenly yelled at their target. He looked up, startled at the noise. "Yeah, that's right! You good for nothing punk! Get out of here." Fitz yelled and then started chasing after the man dressed in red. 

Russ and Ona were as surprised as their target at the sudden yelling and took a minute before they followed after their loud compatriot. 

"Why'd you tell me to shush if you were just going to yell at him anyway?" Russ complained as he ran.

His question was unable to pierce through Fitz's focus as she chased after the man in red. He took a sharp turn and bolted down an alley. Russ heard a sharp intake of breath from Ona and quickly glanced over. Suspicion was written all over her face and she quickly outstretched her hand to Fitz's back just before she turned down the alley in pursuit.

"Fitz! Stop!" Russ screamed out in Ona's place. Time slowed down as Fitz looked back with a smile when she heard her name. 

One side of her face lit up from the immense wave of light that poured out of the alley she was still turning down. Slowly, her face morphed into a frown when she noticed the pillar of flames that soared toward her body from the back of the alley. Russ was three steps away from her, willing his body to break it's limits. He dove, with every ounce of strength that he had, but still wasn't as fast as the flames. The flames hit her light skin, scattering around her body and enveloping her. Her mouth twitched, moving to scream as her hair bursted into flame. Russ slammed into her just seconds after the flames hit, tackling her to the ground. He frantically tried to put out the flames until he felt an impact on the back of his head. His ears started to ring, then everything went silent. 

When Russ woke up he was in the guild infirmary. Ona was standing over him and Fitz was on a bed next to him. 

"Wh- what happened?" He groggily tried to sit up, but Ona gently pushed him back down, holding her hand to her lips. Then she hesitantly placed her hand on top of his. He didn't get an explanation, but he was filled with warmth and comfort from her touch. He smiled up at her and his eyes drooped back closed, taking him to sleep once more. 

The next time he woke Ona was sitting in a chair between his and Fitz's bed. Fitz was awake and talking to Ona in a hushed tone. Before he could say a word, he was cut off. 

"That was quite the hit to the head you took there, kid." A young man, just a few years older than him, probably in his early twenties, stood at the foot of his bed. The man had a wave of light brown hair and strong blue eyes that commanded a relaxed sort of authority. "I can't believe that Frank was put in with the rank 1 quests. That is an oversight that will lead to someone losing there job." He said bitterly. "Anywho," The sparkle instantly returned to his eyes, "You're group really lived up to its name, Silent Voice. You lot didn't seem like a group that would ever make to rank two adventurers, much less one who could survive an encounter with the Redarius 'Man-eater' Franklin. You have potential."

Russ's head started to spin. He tried to focus on any one sentence that the man had spoken, but not a single one of them made sense. What had happened? He looked to Ona questioningly and she only gave him back a look of concern. Fitz's eyes were wide after she heard what the man said, shocked like Russ. 

"I have things to take care of, but here are your new guild cards." The man smiled, flicking a card to Russ and Fitz. "The names Pharon by the way." He said, walking out of the room.

'Weird name.' Russ thought before his jaw dropped. His card... it had changed.

Name: Russ Skiler

Rank: 1

Special Abilities: [Greed] [Apple of the Eye] [Return]

Party Members: Ona, Fitz Ne Rhynd

Threat Level: 2