*Early afternoon*
*Jin was riding in the back of a black car with Dust at the wheel and Ryuuji in the passenger’s seat. As they were driving on the roads through the kingdom, Jin looked out the window and began to reminisce about the mission he had been given for today*
*Flashback*
(Morrison): For your first day on the job I’ll have you out in the field working with Dust and Ryuuji on their case.
*Rika hands Jin a case file which talks about the abduction of merfolk within the kingdom*
(Morrison): There’s been a string of merfolk abductions as of late happening in the kingdom. We believe that slave traders are responsible for the abduction and plan to sell the merfolk into slavery soon. The merfolk who were kidnapped were all young females around the ages of 16-21. As of right now the White Tiger Order has found no leads on where the slave traders are keeping the merfolk. The kidnappings have happened all over the kingdom instead of one area and eyewitnesses have not been able to identify the captors. This case is very important in keeping up our relationship with the merfolk. They only just recently started migrating to our kingdom and this disturbance has them scared for their lives. It is imperative that we show them that while they’re within our kingdom they’re safe. Your mission is to find the merfolk, save them, and capture the slave traders*
*Flashback Ends*
(Dust): So tell me rookie, what are your thoughts about this case?
*Dust’s question got the attention of Jin and snapped him out of his flashback*
(Jin): Personally, I find it disgusting that such a case as this is happening in the kingdom. Whoever these guys are they’ve done a good job covering their tracks and staying hidden. Also, are you sure it’s slave traders and not just supremacists?
(Ryuuji): That’s what we thought at first too, but the pattern doesn’t follow their M.O. Why kidnap the merfolk instead of killing them right then and there to make their statement? Further evidence that points to slave traders is that eyewitnesses report that the kidnappers didn’t use any weapons to harm them which means they wanted to sell the merfolk without damaging them.
(Jin): Yeah, that makes sense. If a product is damaged, they have to sell it for less.
(Dust): Exactly. The good news is we know the traders won’t hurt the girls, the bad news is we don’t know where they’re keeping them. Since you’re joining this case late it’s important that you get caught up on what we know, so look over the case and see if you can find any clues.
(Jin): Right!
*Jin picks up the file case and begins to look at the eight locations where the kidnappings took place hoping to find a clue anyone might have missed. He was skeptical seeing as how he was with two veteran knights and doubt that he could find anything they wouldn’t have noticed*
(Jin): Uh by the way, where are we going?
(Dust): To talk to a witness.
(Jin): But the knights talked to them already. They all said the traders kidnapped the merfolk and ran off with them.
(Ryuuj): True. However, the witness we’re going to see happens to be an expert in the field of trading.
*Dust pulls up outside of a warehouse at the pier where a bunch of merfolk are performing maintenance on some boats inside. Dust, Ryuuji, and Jin exit the car*
(Dust): Alright rookie. Remain calm, stick close to us and avoid eye contact. The merfolk here are known sailors who don’t take too kindly to strangers so try to make them like you.
*Dust, Ryuuji, and Jin enter the warehouse where they hear tropical music playing and the sounds of various equipment such as electric saws, hammers, and torch blowers. The merfolk take notice of their arrival where a few of them smile and wave at them. One large merfolk with a muscular build, light green hair that was short, yellow eyes and walking around shirtless with blue pants and a yellow bandana tied to his left arm walks to them with a smile*
(Merfolk #1): Hey Dust and Ryuuji! How you guys been?
(Ryuuji): Hello, Trex.
(Trex): I haven’t seen you guys around here for some time. Who’s the new guy?
(Ryuuji): Trex, this is Jin. Jin, this is Trex. He’s a new member of the order.
(Jin): Nice to meet you.
*Jin and Trex shake hands with Trex squeezing Jin’s hand tight and flexing his muscles for Jin and the others to see*
(Dust): Come on Trex, it’s his first day on the job, don’t scare the kid. That’s my job.
(Trex): *Chuckles* Always the tough guy, Dust.
*Trex lets go of Jin’s hand*
(Trex): So, what can I do for you guys?
(Ryuuji): We’re here to see Cloud. Is he here?
(Trex): The boss? Yeah, he’s in the office. I’ll get him for you. Wait here.
*Trex walks off to get Cloud where the office is in the back part of the warehouse leaving Dust, Ryuuji, and Jin behind. Jin begins to look around the warehouse admiring the different boats the merfolk were working on. What also surprised him was the fact that all of the employees working were merfolk*
(Dust): Pretty cool huh? The first and only merfolk-owned company in the kingdom.
(Jin): I’ve never seen so many merfolk gathered in one place.
(Ryuuji): Yes. Most merfolk couldn’t find jobs when they first arrived in the kingdom, so we decided to help them establish their own company and get them jobs.
(Jin): They couldn’t find jobs? That’s crazy. The kingdom is always looking for workers.
(Dust): They are, but they never said anything about looking for the minority to work.
*Dust’s remark hit Jin hard as he remembered all throughout his life how humans would often look down on demihumans, merfolk, and elves. One example that came to Jin’s mind was when he was in elementary school, he pulled a prank on one of his demihuman classmates who was a dog by taking his chips at lunch. It was a harmless prank that the boys would pull on each other. When his demihuman friend went to retrieve his chips, the teacher stopped him and accused him of trying to steal Jin’s lunch. Jin remembers how the demihuman explained to the teacher that they were his chips, but the teacher wasn’t listening and forced the demihuman to get up and sit in the corner alone without finishing his meal. As if that wasn’t bad, he had to stay after lunch and clean the tables while the rest of the students went out to play. Jin remembers feeling awful about this and went to the teacher to explain to them how he stole the chips as a prank. Once again, the teacher didn’t care, didn’t punish Jin, and didn’t even apologize to the demihuman for the mistake they made. Despite great effort being made to make all races equal, there were still some out there who felt superior and wanted to make the other races feel inferior no matter what. Trex soon came back with Cloud, a short merfolk with wavy orange hair and light blue eyes. His appearance was more business oriented when compared to Trex as he had on a long sleeve black striped orange shirt along with black pants and a matching black vest*
(Cloud): Well this is a surprise. I wasn’t expecting to see you guys around. What can I do for you?
(Dust): We wanted to ask you questions about the recent merfolk kidnappings.
*Dust’s statement made Cloud’s face go pale*
(Cloud): Walk with me, gentlemen.
*Cloud begins to lead Dust, Ryuuji, and Jin to the back of the warehouse where Dust stops Jin*
(Dust): Stick around here, rookie. Cloud tends to get spooked around new faces.
(Jin): What should I do until then?
(Dust): Follow my advice from earlier.
*Dust walks off leaving Jin to stand there and think about what Dust told him to do earlier. A light bulb goes off in Jin’s head*
(Jin): Hey Trex, mind if I take a closer look at your boats? As a young craftsman I’m always interested to see the work of others.
(Trex): Sure. Just don’t disturb the workers.
*Trex leads Jin over to a boat they’re working on. Meanwhile, outside of the warehouse, Dust and Ryuuji are talking to Cloud*
(Cloud): Look, I don’t know what you guys heard but I have nothing to do with them.
(Dust): Really, if I recall that’s what you said when we busted you for being a part of that slave trading ring for humans.
(Cloud): That life’s behind me now. I’ve gone straight. I would never sell out my own brethren.
(Ryuuji): You must know something, Cloud. The situation is a lot more dire than what the papers make it out to be. It’s not three merfolk it’s eight and all of them were young females.
*Ryuuji’s statement made Cloud’s eyes bulge as he was shocked to hear it was eight instead of three. What’s worse is that they were all young females. Cloud bangs a nearby crate out of sadness and anger*
(Cloud): *Sigh* My sister just turned 17. I don’t want bastards like them on the streets. Okay, here’s what I know. A couple of weeks ago a few of the gondolas we used to run our taxi service went missing without a trace.
(Dust): Missing gondolas? Hmm~, I get it now. They kidnap the merfolk on foot and stash them away in a gondola to cover their tracks.
(Ryuuji): Since the gondolas are used quite frequently around the kingdom, no one would take a second look at them. Cloud, the first three kidnappings occurred near the school district. Do your men run the taxi service in that area?
(Cloud): No, another gondola service beat us to the punch. My men primarily run the ravine district. Every now and then we’ll be asked to help out in other districts, but the ravine district is our home. Any of my gondolas in other districts would be out of place.
(Dust): Is there a way to tell them apart from other gondolas?
(Cloud): Yes. My gondolas have the face of a dragon at the helm.
*As Dust and Ryuuji continued to talk to Cloud, back in the warehouse, Jin was watching the work of the merfolk admiring their craftsmanship*
(Jin): So you guys mark all of your gondolas with a dragon?
(Trex): Yep. The dragon is the symbol of the water god Azure. It was said that he himself could turn into a dragon to fight his foes.
*As Trex and Jin walk around inspecting the gondolas, Trex spots a gondola where the dragon’s face is wrong*
(Trex): Oy, Leo! What’s up with the dragon’s face? Are you trying to incur the wrath of Azure?
*Trex got the attention of Leo who was a muscular man with an orange bandana covering his bald head, red eyes as well as wore a black tank top and black pants*
(Leo): Sorry! The blades on the electric saw are too worn out. It’s not cutting the way I want it to.
*This was it. The moment Jin was waiting for*
(Jin): Mind if I have a look at the saw?
*Jin walks to Leo who hands the electric saw to him not sure what he would do and not expecting much from him. Jin takes a quick second to see how the saw’s blades are dull before placing his hand on the blades and concentrating to gather magical particles. Silver magic particles gather along the blade and a flash of light shoots up getting the attention of all the merfolk nearby. When the flash of light dies down, Jin presents the saw to Leo where the blade is no longer dull and good as new*
(Leo): Woah! Amazing! The blades aren’t dull anymore. It looks brand new.
*All of the merfolk stood there amazed at what they just saw*
(Jin): You guys got any other tools that could use some maintenance? I’d be happy to take a look at them for you.
*Not wasting any time, Trex, Leo, and other merfolk quickly gathered their tools and bought them to Jin to inspect and perform maintenance on them. The tools of the merfolk were all quite dull and worn out from excessive use. They wanted to buy new tools but had save up their money for food and other necessitates. Jin was also happy to help repair their tools as he could tell that despite the wear and tear on them, they were still handled with care. Being a blacksmith, he understood the importance of maintaining one’s tools and treating them with respect. As Jin kept repairing their tools, they all cheered with excitement and joy at his amazing work. As Ryuuji, Dust, and Jin walk back into the warehouse, they see all the merfolk huddled around in one area cheering. This confused the three men who ran over to inspect what was going on. Ryuuji and Cloud were shocked to see Jin repairing the tools of the warehouse while Dust stood there smirking proudly*
(Dust): He took my advice.
(Trex): Cloud! You have to see this! This kid has repaired all of our tools!
*Trex shows Cloud the table of all the tools Jin repaired making Cloud smile in amazement*
(Cloud): Incredible! This is gonna save us so much money.
(Ryuuji): Impressive work Jin, but it’s time for us to go.
(Jin): But they still have tools that need to be fixed.
(Dust): We’ll let you come back later to fix them. For now, we have a lead on the case.
(Jin): Alright. Sorry guys, I gotta go, but I’ll come visit again.
*As Jin gets up to leave with Ryuuji and Dust, the merfolk say goodbye to Jin thanking him for all his help. Once the three are outside of the warehouse they see the sun beginning to set as they walk to the car*
(Dust): Good work in there.
(Jin): Well you said to make them like me, so I did the only thing I knew how to make them like me. Did you guys find out anything?
(Ryuuji): A little. We know that they’re using Cloud’s gondolas to throw the knights off their trail, but where are they going with the gondolas?
*Jin thought about what Ryuuji said and got an idea in his head*
(Jin): I’ve got it!
*Jin rushes to the car and pulls out the case file to look at all the locations where the kidnappings happened. He then takes out his smartphone and pulls up a map of the kingdom, marking the places where each kidnapping took place at. Once he marks all the places, he scans the map*
(Jin): I knew it! Guys, take a look at this!
*Jin hands his phone to Ryuuji who looks at the map along with Dust*
(Jin): All of the kidnappings took place near canals allowing for the kidnappers to escape unnoticed and blend in with the crowds. These locations may seem random, but they all connect to one area, the Venice residential area.
(Ryuuji): That place is a riverfront where gondolas come and go as they please.
(Dust): And the ground floor has a lot of old abandoned buildings that lead underground which would be the perfect place to hide the merfolk while making sure they still get the water they need. Good job rookie, you might have just solved the case.
*The three men jump in the car and drive to the entrance of the Venice residential area. Since cars are prohibited in the area, they’re forced to go on foot where they enter the area on the sidewalks and begin looking for a gondola with a dragon face at the helm. After a few minutes of gondolas passing by Ryuuji spots a gondola with a dragon face at the helm and a man wearing a straw hat covering his face. The gondola steers right going down a dark canal with abandoned buildings. Dust, Ryuuji and Jin follow after the gondola staying far behind so as to not get spotted. The gondola eventually stops at an abandoned building knocking on a wooden planked wall which opens for him. As he enters to the other side, the wooden planks close behind him*
(Ryuuji): So this is where they’ve been hiding.
(Jin): Should we contact the knights?
(Dust): Already did, they’ll be here in ten minutes to raid the place.
(Ryuuji): That’s five more minutes than we need.
*Ryuuji slams his fist into his other hand releasing sparks of flames*
(Dust): Alright rookie, here’s the plan. We find the merfolk and you escort them to safety while me and Ryuuji take down the traders.
(Jin): Hey, I can fight too you know.
(Dust): I’m sure you can, but let me ask you this, have you ever fought against someone trying to kill you?
*Dust’s remark made Jin freeze up. Sure, Jin had fought against artificial Eclipses and other students at the knight academy, but this was the first time he had ever fought against real living creatures*
(Dust): Unlike the simulations you ran at school, a real person is unpredictable and won’t hesitate to kill you. I’ll give you points in solving where they’re hiding but you haven’t earned enough of my trust to leave my back to you.
*Dust walks away leaving Jin speechless as he had no rebuttal to Dust’s statement. Ryuuji walks up to Jin and puts his hand on Jin’s shoulder*
(Ryuuji): Don’t take Dust’s words too harshly. He may not show it, but deep down he’s worried about you and doesn’t want you to get hurt.
*Ryuuji’s statement brings Jin back to reality and relaxes him*
(Dust): Hey! You gonna help me with this raid or not?
*Ryuuji and Jin rush over to the door of the abandoned building next to the wooden plank wall where Ryuuji stands on the left side, Jin stands on the right side, and Dust stands a few feet away in front of the door. Dust nods to both of them to make sure they’re ready and they nod back letting him know they are. Taking out a sharp wire, Dust slices the door into multiple pieces. This gets the attention of two guards who were on the inside sitting at a table who jump up from the door collapsing. Ryuuji charges in first where he sends one of the guards flying into the wall back first with a flame fist and grabs the other guard to slam him through the table. Both guards were rendered unconscious as Dust and Jin enter the room to see that the room is clear. They see another door on the back wall and open it to see some stairs leading down into the sewers. As they head downstairs, they see water dripping from pipes as well as a few mice running away. When they reach the bottom, they come to a well-lit area with six rooms on both sides of the walls. They open the first doors on the walls only to find bunkbeds in each room. The rest of the rooms also had bunkbeds except for the last room on the right which had a lock on it. Dust uses his wire to slice the lock in half and opens the door where he and the others see the eight missing merfolk safe and sound, but visibly scared and shaking. Dust, Ryuuji and Jin enter the room with Ryuuji slowly walking toward the merfolk, bending down to be at eye level with them, and flashing a smile*
(Ryuuji): It’s okay, we’re knights. We’re going to get you out of here. Can you all stand?
*Hearing Ryuuji say this made the merfolk stop shaking and smile with two of them shedding tears of joy. The merfolk each got up and exit the room with Dust and Jin leading and Ryuuji taking up the rear. Once outside of the room, they begin to make their way to the stairs, but hear the slave traders coming from the passageways behind them*
(Ryuuji): Looks like they know we’re here.
(Dust): Rookie, take those ladies out of here. We’ll hold them back. Protect them at all costs!
(Jin): Roger!
*Jin begins to lead the girls up the stairs while Ryuuji and Dust get ready to fight the slave traders. Dust takes the left side which has six slave traders while Ryuuji takes the right side which also has six slave traders*
(Ryuuji): *Chuckles* You really do have a soft heart, Dust.
(Dust): Go burn in a forest.
*With one last chuckle from Ryuuji, Dust and him go to fight against the slave traders. Dust jumps over the first slave trader with a hatchet to hit the second slave trader with a high jump kick to the face to knock him out. Dust does a flip in the air to land on the ground safely and shoots out wires from his wrist to grab the club from a slave trader. Once the wires wrap securely around the club, Dust pulls his hand back which makes the slave trader lose his grip on the club which goes flying through air past Dust and hits the slave trader Dust jumped over earlier in the head to send him tumbling to the ground backwards and unconscious with blood slightly pouring from his head. Dust pulls his hand forward to send the club flying forward past Dust and collides with the cheek of the slave trader who originally had the club. The impact from the club causes the slave trader to do a 180 spin before he falls to the ground, face-first unconscious. Dust pulls his hand back where this time he catches the club and uses it to block the attack of a slave trader wielding a sword. Dust deflects the attack away and thrusts the club into the stomach of the slave trader who grunts out in pain all while bending over allowing Dust to hit his back with the club where he falls to the ground writhing in pain. A slave trader with another hatchet charges at Dust where he sweeps the legs of the slave trader using the club which sends the slave trader off the ground and Dust finishes him with a straight punch to the face before he hits the ground back first unconscious. The last remaining two slave traders with knives charge at Dust who dodges both of their attacks with sidesteps and touches both of their backs attaching wires to the back of their clothes and throwing the other ends of the wires to the back wall. Dust drops the club and taps the wires where the two slave traders get pulled backwards to the wall. They both scream before they both receive a lariat to the backs of their heads which knocks them out instantly. On Ryuuji’s side, the first slave trader with a machete slashes at Ryuuji who ducks out of the way and gathers magical fire particles in his fist which causes it to catch fire*
(Ryuuji): Fire Grid Form 30: Phoenix Ascending!
*Ryuuji hits the slave trader with a fiery uppercut. They both go flying upwards in the air with Ryuuji landing on his feet and the slave trader landing on his back unconscious. Ryuuji’s attack scared the remaining slave traders*
(Slave trader #2): It’s the Blazing Knight!
(Slaver trader #3): I’m out of here! There’s no way we stand a chance against him!
*The slave traders drop their weapons and begin to run away from Ryuuji*
(Ryuuji): Oh no you don’t. Fire Grid Form 98: Fist of the Blazing King!
*With his fist still coated in flames, it begins to glow brighter as Ryuuji lets out a punch which unleashes a giant flame attack in the form of Ryuuji’s fist which travels down the hall of where the slave traders ran off to attacking all of them where a mini-explosion occurs to knock them out. Their clothes are slightly burned from the attack but no major damage was done to their skin. While all of this was going on, Jin and the merfolk managed to reach the top of the stairs and make it out of the building they were in. As Jin leads them across a bridge back to the main streets, they get stopped by five slave traders who were on lookout in a building across from the building he and the others exited out of. All five slave traders were carrying rifles and were aiming at Jin and the merfolk. Jin held his arms out to keep the merfolk behind him safe, prepared to take a bullet if he had to. As Jin stared them down, one of the merfolk panicked and attempted to jump into the water. One of the slave traders fires at the merfolk attempting to escape where Jin dives in front of her and takes a bullet to the chest before collapsing on the ground unresponsive. As the slave traders are about to recapture the merfolk, one of them goes flying forward after receiving a bullet that shoots out yellow sparks of lightning to the back of the head. The other slave traders turn around to see who shot them where they see it was Raika perched on top of a building. Raika fires off three more shots nailing three of the slave traders in the head who fall to the ground unconscious and leaving only one standing. The last remaining slave trader attempts to shoot back at Raika, but before he can pull the trigger, he receives a brass knuckle punch to the face courtesy of Jin who survived the bullet shot shocking everyone, including Raika. The slave trader falls to the ground backwards barely conscious and with blood pouring from his nose*
(Slave trader): How. . .are you. . .still standing?
*Jin who was breathing heavily unzips his sweatshirt to reveal he’s wearing a heavily reinforced metal chest plate which protected him from the bullet*
(Jin): I was told to keep these merfolk safe and that’s what I’ll do even if it costs me my life.
*The slave trader falls unconscious as Raika sees the metal chest plate Jin had on through her sniper scope and smiles proudly*
(Raika): Well played, kid.
Author’s Notes: And there you have it. The first two chapters of Shadow Eye. Quite the exciting start don’t you think. I am so excited to finally start posting chapters for this series and hope you enjoyed it. If you don’t mind, please leave a comment down below and let me know what you think. More chapters will be coming out. You can expect to see a new chapter drop next Friday and the Friday after that so until then spread the word, enjoy some of the other reviews and have a nice day.