Chapter 126 - Interlude 3 - Ash, The Bounty Hunter, Part 4

Keiko

They had spent almost a full day walking at this point, mostly in silence. 

As angry as this situation made her, more than anything else Keiko felt sad and anxious. From going on a trip to Jade to being attacked by a necromancer on her way back, to then being taken by this unpleasant and rude bounty hunter, Keiko was not exactly enjoying herself. When she wasn't being frightened by the possibility of encountering any monsters, she was having to deal with the rudeness of the woman in front of her. 

Ugh, everything is so mushy,  she said, her toes digging into the soil as she walked.  Gross. 

Ahead, that bounty hunter walked silently, keeping her eyes peeled. She was noticeably taller than Keiko, and although she was fully clothed, Keiko could tell she had a soldier-like body, with strong arms and wide shoulders. She carried herself like one as well, always keeping her posture straight and her chin raised. 

There were too many things about this situation, and the woman leading her through it, that brought up questions. So, she decided to try to have at least one or two of them be answered. 

"What is your name?" Keiko asked. 

Ahead, the bounty hunter stopped. 

"I think I heard it when you spoke with the man from before, but I do not remember it." 

"..." She did not respond for a while. Then, she looked away and said, "Ash." 

Hm. Ash. Her hair does resemble ashes, with its pale grey color. I suppose it is appropriate. 

Keiko continued. 

"... Have you ever been in the Mist Realm before?" Keiko asked. Ash sighed. 

"I'm guessing you have no intention of being quiet, huh?" Ash looked back and Keiko shrugged. 

Even if your company is so unagreeable,  she thought,  I'd rather focus on it than focus on this dark place. 

Ash looked to the front once more and responded:

"No. I haven't." 

"Hm?" Keiko was slightly surprised. "You seem so confident though." 

"I'm not," Ash quickly clarified. "If I'm being honest, I think the likelihood that we're going to get fucked out here is pretty high. But what use is it to get panicked?" 

Ash continued as she walked through a few trees into a land that held a narrow river. Its water glowed with white and rose-colored sparkles, the same tints as Keiko's own hair. She thought that was curious, but Ash continued and Keiko focused on what she said. 

"Something I learned pretty quickly, there's no point in letting yourself get- AGH FUCK!" 

Ash cursed as she was tripped up by something. She unsheathed a dagger as she fell to the ground and looked back only to find an overgrown root. Keiko saw her and couldn't help but laugh a little. 

"You were saying~?" 

"Fuck you, princess," Ash said, standing up and turning away quickly.

Keiko tucked away this little moment in a mental pocket, just to use if Ash's ego got too inflated anytime soon. 

There was something very surreal about this whole experience though, something that cut through all of the fear in Keiko's heart. As she paced behind the bounty hunter, she tried to narrow them down. For one, it didn't seem Ash cared much about the fact that she was the Arcane's daughter. Well, besides for the reward she'd get for bringing her back to Amber. However, in terms of her status, her title, Ash didn't care about those at all. 

That was entirely new. All throughout Keiko's life, she'd either been pampered, avoided, or held in awe thanks to her birthright. Ash though, looked at her with complete indifference. 

As much as she disliked her, that was one aspect of all of this that she did appreciate.

"Ash," Keiko said. 

"Mhm?" 

"How long have you been a bounty hunter for?" Keiko asked. 

"Hm?" Ash turned around, raising a brow at her. "What does that matter?" 

"I am simply curious." 

Hearing that, Ash took a deep breath and muttered:

"Since I was 13." 

"... What?" Keiko asked, stunned. "Are you... Are you being serious?" 

"Yeah," Ash replied. 

"Wh-, how does one even complete missions at that age? Were you fighting grown adult criminals at 13?" 

"Basically. I think, it was a while ago, so I barely remember but, I think I started with thieves. I'd hear about them on the streets and I'd ambush them in their sleep. Couple of years later, I started going out and hunting to get my levels up so I could take on bigger targets." Ash's tone changed. Keiko could feel her going through her memories as she spoke. "I started going after murderers when I was 15." 

"... Was it dangerous?" Keiko asked. 

"No shit," Ash replied. "But, I still did it." Ash stopped. "There was this one guy who nearly killed me. He was this noble who killed his wife and tried to run away to the north. I found him in a camp and we started fighting." 

Ash raised her shirt and showed several things to Keiko at once. A toned body, more slender than Keiko had expected but she supposed the outfit made her seem thicker, covered in scars. 

"See this?" She pointed at one brown line in particular that ran across her waist. "The motherfucker stabbed me. I think that was the first time I used my Demon Form," Ash continued. Keiko had no idea what that was, but it didn't seem like Ash was going to explain. 

"I don't remember much. Whenever I use my Demon Form, I black out a little, but after it triggered, his neck was all torn up, the sand under his body was covered in blood and I was standing over him." Keiko gagged at the mental image and Ash chuckled. "Weren't you curious? I thought you'd want the details." 

Keiko ignored that and instead, asked:

"But, how come you have scars? Did you not use healing magic?" 

"Didn't know any spells back then," Ash explained. "So, all my wounds healed naturally. Okay," Ash said, "enough. Let's just keep moving." 

"Right." 

Keiko said that, but something caught her eye to the right. By the river, she swore she heard a voice. 

"Did you hear that?" She asked. 

"Hm? No," Ash responded. 

"..." 

Keiko stared at the water as Ash turned back around and kept going. However, Keiko remained standing. Her eyes were fixed on the white and rose-colored waters. She saw steam of the same color rise up from it, even though she didn't feel any heat at all coming from the river. 

So curious... 

She got closer. 

That was when one voice became multiple, and as she got close enough, she started seeing images.  Oh. Oh my goodness...  Keiko's lips parted as she looked in, careful not to touch it though in case there was anything inside, under the surface. She saw images of people.  What magic is this?  There were bodies and faces she didn't recognize. One featured a woman with golden eyes and raven hair, being accompanied by another girl that appeared to be made of water. Another showed a woman whose face resembled Keiko's own, but she had black hair and a blindfold over her eyes. She thought she saw Ash, but far skinnier and crouched in between two buildings, wearing dirty clothes as an old man walked up to her. 

A hand fell on Keiko's shoulder and she was startled. It was just the bounty hunter though. 

"What are you doing?" Ash asked. 

"D-Do you not see?" Keiko pointed at the water. "There are things in there!" 

"Yeah... I had heard about something like this," Ash replied. "Not a river, but that the Mist Realm could alter reality itself. Or show you different realities," Ash shrugged. "It's not important though. Come on, we have to keep going." 

"... Right." 

With that, the pair continued moving through the ethereal fog. 

Something happened eventually though that, admittedly, Keiko should have seen coming. However, with everything around them being so strange, she had forgotten about certain things that were more on the normal side. Mainly, that nighttime would eventually come. 

They kept walking until things got so dark that the river, and Keiko's hair, became the only sources of light. Finally, Ash stopped and Keiko nearly collapsed. 

My legs!  She thought, crouching.  I have not walked like this in... Ever, actually! 

"We should make a camp," Ash said. "It's dangerous enough out here, no point in walking in the dark." 

Have we not been doing exactly that though? 

"So... What do we do?" Keiko asked. She'd never had to "make a camp" before.

"Well, if we were somewhere else we'd make a fire, find something we could sleep on but..." Ash looked around. "I think here, it basically comes down to laying down and going to sleep." 

"..." Keiko looked down. "On this?" 

"Mhm," Ash replied, and then, nonchalantly, she lied down and took her mask off, placing it over her eyes. 

"Wait, just like that?" Keiko asked. 

Ash removed the mask to look at her. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Will you not say a prayer or, even a 'goodnight'? Are you just going to sleep?" 

Ash stared at her for a bit and groaned. 

"Goodnight, princess," she started, "I hope the next day will treat you just as kindly as the last." 

"But, this day was awful." 

"Exactly." 

Keiko scowled. 

What an unpleasant person. 

Still, without something else to do, Keiko laid down and tried her hardest to do what Ash was doing. She closed her eyes, hating how she knew mud was getting into her hair which she went through great lengths to keep in pristine condition. However, she quickly ran into the next problem. 

Ash was dressed in so many layers, she likely wasn't experiencing this. As for Keiko though, she only had on a white dress and nothing else underneath. 

... It is far too cold,  she thought, as she felt shivers. 

"Ash," she said. 

The bounty hunter groaned again. 

"Princess, please," Ash said but Keiko continued. 

"I am cold." 

"What a tragedy." 

"I am serious," Keiko muttered. "I cannot sleep like this." 

Ash turned towards her and glared. She didn't say anything for a while and Keiko took that as a hint that she simply did not care. So, she huffed and turned away. 

She was complaining about the bounty hunter in her mind again when she heard Ash stand up. 

"Hm?" 

And then, Ash laid down next to her. 

"W-W-What are you...!?"

Ash wrapped an arm around her and said:

"Don't make it weird. You're cold, right?" 

Although Keiko could feel her heart pounding against her chest, she looked away and took a deep breath. 

Right, right. This is... Just for warmth. 

And, indeed, her entire body felt like it was on fire now.