Smoke in the Air

The sun was rising on the mountains of Crocus, casting shadows that blackened the surrounding terrain. As it rose, there was still a visible mist in the cold air, helping to enhance the camouflage of a nearby building resting at the base of the mountains, covered in shadows and darkness. This was the dark guild Abyss Fang, and its members were just beginning to stir. Two of these members were standing in the main hall. The first was a tall man in his late forties, the guildmaster Nero Darius. The second was a younger, shirtless man, in his early twenties, wearing a cowboy hat ￼and jeans, this was Idris Himura.

"I'm surprised you wanted to take this mission, it doesn't seem like something you would enjoy. Being a fire mage and all." Said Nero with a deep yet soothing voice.

"I realize that but I'd like to take it anyway, its been boring around here." Said the young Fire Mage. "Besides, maybe something interesting will happen."

Nero thought about his response for a moment before speaking. "Well, since you find the guild so boring why don't you take young Mia with you. She's seventeen now. I think it would be best for her to get out more, make a few kills to put our guilds name out there."

"If you think she's ready then, yes of course," said Idris in an almost tired tone as he turned and walked over to the young lady in question.

Nero mused quietly to himself, "I'm sure you'll find her to be more than that."

Mia Nayavinsky had her head leaning against her hand, elbow on the top of a raised table, a cup of coffee (skim milk, one sugar) laid next to an open newspaper. Her eyes scanned the page, unaware of the man approaching her from behind. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned quickly, grabbing his hand.

"What do you need?" She asked cooly, the hint of an Isbergan accent gracing her consonants.

"Careful there kiddo... Don't want to get burned..." said Idris with a smirk as he held his other hand up and let some smoke appear from it. "Master Nero told me to take you on my mission. It's a simple one￼; Stealing an important gem from some bank." As he spoke he let the girl grip his hand, letting her know he wasn't going to hurt her.

Mia broke her hand away, glancing at the smoke rising from his palm. Show off. She considered the offer. It would be the first legitimate job she had, probably with quite the payoff. He didn't seem to be too irritating. Mia came to the conclusion that the event would be worthwhile.

"Where is the bank?"

"In a small town off the border of Bosco. I wouldn't have taken this mission if the payout wasn't amazing. Though I'm slightly worried as to what exactly this gem is...it doesn't specify." As he spoke he took a step back letting her stand up. "I doubt there will be much resistance, so it should be easy. But we leave immediately so I hope you are ready to go kid."

With that, he looked over to Nero and nodded to the watchful man who had grown to view the young girl as a daughter. When Nero nodded back Idris turned his attention back to his charge waiting patiently for her to stand up.

Mia rose, taking a final sip of her now lukewarm coffee before pulling her sheathed katana up from its position on the ground next to her, sliding the strap over her shoulder.

"Let's go then. And please, don't call me kid, Nayavinsky works fine."

"Alright, Ms. Mia. We can catch a train part of the way. But we will have to walk at least the last two and a half miles." As he spoke he turned and began to walk toward the guild doors. As he opened them the sunlight filtered into the one dark guild, illuminating its interior with golden light.

"This should be fun." He said to no one in particular.

Mia followed him out, squinting in the bright light for a moment, "I don't believe we have a close enough relationship for you to call me by my first name. Like I said, Nayavinsky works fine."

The two wizards walked through the cool dark forest in silence. Although Idris made some comments on the weather, Mia ignored him in favor of observing the forest. Mist hung in the air, clinging to the bare skin of her shoulders. The rays of morning light were unable to penetrate through the dark canopy, causing the path to be shrouded in shadow.

They arrived at the Crocus train station. The tickets were inexpensive and once the pair got on the train, they settled into a row near the back of the car. Mia took the window seat, leaning an elbow against the window.

Taking the seat opposite her, Idris relaxed and put his hands behind his head, letting his hat slide down his face a bit, just covering his eyes from view. "Well, Mrs. Nayavinsky. With the time we have why don't we get a better grasp of what kind of people we are." As he spoke he could hear people bustling behind him, seeming to enjoy their day.

"You mean our cover?"

"Actually I had meant improving our relationship. We don't need a cover due to the secluded nature of the village and the size of the bank itself. As long as we don't name ourselves we should be fine."

"What makes you assume I want to improve our relationship?" Mia said, her voice cutting sharp. It was only one job after all.

Idris ignored her cutting tone. He never really cared about what people said or the way they said it, it had been that way for a while now and that had just become his personality. Her sentence also helped him pick up on another personality trait of hers that he had never really noticed. "It might help us better on the mission if we now how the other acts."