[Mkguild] Life As We Know It VIII

[Jack Moore]

Life As We Know It - VIII

Metamor Keep

March 31st

707
'I could be promoted.  But would that take time away from finding that
bull.' I turned down an alley.  I wasn’t sure where I was, that didn’t
matter. 'And if I found the bull would I have time to train him?  Even if I
did, would I have time to train him?'
I bumped into someone I think.  I don’t know, I didn’t pay attention if
they didn’t step on my tail. 'Suppose I do both. Then what?  I’ve forgotten
I have a son.  I have to devote time to him. But if I become a Sergeant it
means fewer weekends and more times.  All this good if I get promoted…'
I think that’s an accurate window into my mental state.  All of my thoughts
flowed into each other.  I could get promoted, which meant more time.  I
could train the bull, which meant less time.
The bull had to be trained, so I needed more time.  But my son needs his
mother so I needed even more time.
I wonder why Eli didn’t give us twenty-six hour days.  It was rather
inconsiderate of him not to do so.
'Eli I don’t mean that. I just am so tired.' I yawned. 'I need more sleep.
Too many patrols that all look the same.' My legs were aching, had been
since I woke up.  I kept walking.  A member of the Watch does not rest, not
while there is work still to be done.
I was supposed to be paying attention while on patrol but I couldn’t. No
petty crimes in progress, not even a drunk or a thief. In fact it was one
of the quietest mornings I had had in a long time.  All the better to think
on my own issuses.
'I need to get promoted.  I need to find that bull.  I need…'I rubbed my
eyes. 'I need to quit focusing on this.' A cold wind whistling through the
buildings snapped me out of my self-pity.  I looked up. 'How on Earth did I
end up in the Market?'
As usual the Market was abuzz with people trying to hock overpriced goods
to customers who didn’t know better.  Finding a criminal here was a simple
as stopping at someone’s cart.  Still I was not allowed to just arrest
merchants for selling overpriced junk.
I tried that once.  Much like my attempts to arrest Andwyn it didn’t work.
I will never understand people and their fixation with things.  I paused by
the okapi woman from a few days ago with her apple cart.  I gave her a
smile and a wave, which she returned. 'At least I’ve made some people
happy.  And if I become a Sergeant I can do more for them and on a greater
scale.'
“Why are you a man!?” My head snapped around to the yell of a very confused
merchant.
“Why are you an asshole!?” This yell came from a reptile woman in a dress
apparently made of dishrags.  I didn’t recognize the woman, but I did
recognize the person she was yelling at.
She yelled at a tahr, shorter than me and with his right horn snapped off.
What do you mean you don’t know what a tahr is?  A tahr looks like a cross
between a goat and a lion, with an oversized mane.  This one I recognized
from one of Srgt. Tibble’s reports.
“Tobias Shatterbock?” I called out.  The tahr froze in place.  I could see
him swallow as he turned towards me.  “I need to speak to you about some
stolen goods.”  That was as far as I got before the tahr spun on his hooves
and sprinted away.  “Why do they always run?”
I rushed after, moving so fast my tail streamed in the air behind me.  I
smacked into the woman, leaving her yelling something about being a man.  I
didn’t pay attention, I had a criminal to catch.
The tahr looked back at me as we ran through the crowded streets.  From the
pocket of his coat he pulled a radish, which missed my head by a wide
margin.  Who on Earth carries a radish with them?  Much less throws it as a
weapon?
“I didn’t do anything wrong!” Tobias shoved an age regressed man at me.  I
spun past him and kept running.
“If you didn’t, then just talk to me!” I yelled.  The tahr just ran faster
and so did I.  Our feet splashed mud and our footsteps thudded in unison.
Tobias threw everything he could get his hands on at me.  Stolen goods he
carried, a basket from a wash woman walking by and a lose stone.  I dodged
each one.
One thing you learn on the Watch is how to avoid things.  You will get them
thrown at your head.
There is something liberating about running full speed after a criminal.
The day was cloudy and cool, but my body felt like it was on fire.  The
tahr seemed to light up like a star as I ran after him.  He threw a wooden
chain from inside of his coat at me and I flowed out of the way like water.
Soon I was almost within arm’s reach.  Unfortunately that was the moment
Tobias scooped up another stone.  This time instead he flung it at a ground
iguana emerging from a building.
'Damn it.' The iguana was carrying three ledgers and a stack of papers.
The rock smacked him right between the eyes, sending the papers flying.
Tobias took off while the iguana collapsed, blood flowing from between his
eyes. 'Justice requires…I can’t.'
When you serve justice, you protect the innocent and arrest the guilty.
The most important thing you learn is you always do it in that order.
I sat down beside the iguana and tried stopping the blood with my tabard.
 “I am sorry about this.”
“Is the world spinning?” The iguana asked before giggling.  I smiled.
 “What hit me?”
“A rock thrown by someone soon doing time for assault.” I said.  “Don’t
worry though, the bleeding is stopping.  Can you walk?”  The iguana nodded.
 “I’m going to take you to get healed then.  First let’s gather up your
papers.”
Papers reassembled I helped the struggling iguana to his feet.  We started
to walk when a piercing shriek rang out.
“Murderer!”  I closed my eyes.  “Murderer!  She was at the Yule Assault!”
 The iguana pat me on the shoulder.
“I’ll be okay.” He said.  “You sound like you’ve got something big to deal
with.”  I simled.
“Thank you good sir.”  I left him and made my was to the source of the
screaming. I’m used to screaming in Metamor and stupid fights, but not
this. Nothing prepared me though for what I was about to see.
A crowd of people, anthro and otherwise had formed in a mob in the very
cramped alley.  At the center someone was yelling “Murderer!  Kill her!”
 Or was it “killer”?  I tried to push through, only to get elbowed in the
chest by a very buff man.
“I am a member of the Watch!” I snarled, “Get out of my way!”  The burly
man shoved me back. I responded by clubbing him on the arm.
“Owe! You’ll pay for--”  I shoved past him and his meaningless threats  I
dodged a bear who was shoved into me, only for my face to make contact with
a very bony fist.  Son of a—  Now bleeding I forced my way to the center of
the crowd.
“Oh Eli what has happened here?” I whispered.  In the center of the crowd
was a bleeding woman.  Her nose looked broken and her right eye had a cut
over it.  In front of the woman was a Clydesdale stallion.  He held a
struggling figure in his arms.
“Hello Warden.” He said.  The struggling figure was a giant bush rat.
Blood dripped off her claws.  Her eyes were focused on the bleeding woman.
I didn’t need to read her mind to feel her rage.  The bleeding woman in
contrast looked relieved.
“What is going on here?” I yelled.  “I am Corporal Janelle of the Metamor
Watch, someone tell me now.”  The giant bush rat finally turned to me.
“Thi-this-this woman” She swallowed and pointed at the bleeding woman.
 “I-I recognized her!  She was at the Yule assault!  She was with Nasoj!”
 Those words were the words I least needed to hear.
“Okay.” I said through gritted teeth.  “And you, Clydesdale.  You have been
holding this rat woman?”
“She just started attacking.” He said.  The rat didn’t deny it.  “I don’t
really know what’s happening here, I just wanted people to stop screaming.”
“I’ll stop when I’ve sliced her up!” The rat screamed, squirming to escape.
“Yeah!” Someone in the small crowd yelled.
“Kill her” Another voice shoted.
“We’re not killing anyone!” I snarled.  “You will all calm down right now!”
 I wish it worked like that.  Sadly no one listens to the Watch.  When a
man in the crowd went for the bloody woman, I responded with a club upside
the head.
They do generally listen to clubs.
As the crowd began to sulk back slightly I walked over to the bleeding
woman.  I helped her to her feet.  “What is your name?”  She looked away
from me.  “What is your name?” I asked again, this time with a firmer tone.
“Cha-Chamomile.”  The crowd had gone silent now.  I could hear the woman’s
heart beat and the sound of blood dripping on the ground.  I looked her up
and down, trying to see anything about this woman that would reveal why she
was here.
Her hair was a worn out shade of brown, done in a single long braid that
ended in a tangle.  Her skin alternated between off white and splotches.
Her brown eyes were rimmed in black and bloodshot.
She wore a white tunic and black ankle length skirt, both torn and dirty.
She held herself tight while talking to me, which is when I noticed her
nails looked ragged.  The woman looked like she had been through the
ringer, and most surprisingly, happy at having been beaten.
“Chamomile, this…” I turned to the rat, “Your name Miss?”
“Mrs, and my name is Lacie.  And that woman was with Nasoj’s army.  She
attacked the Keep and she is a murderer.”  Can’t I ever go on a patrol
without having everything go insane around me?  Probably not.  I rubbed my
aching head and nodded.
“Okay, Chamomile I’m going to have to bring you in for questioning.  Mrs.
Lacie, I will need you to come with me, I will have some questions for you
as well.”  The cloud rat scoffed at this.
“I am a very busy wash woman and I have washing to do.” She said.  “I’m
afraid—
“I’m afraid I don’t care.” I interrupted.  “Clothing will wait, you are
coming with me.”  Lacie growled something I couldn’t understand but could
tell she wasn’t going to win this fight.  The crowd parted as I lead the
two women towards the Watch house.  My eyes were focused on Chamomile.
'Did you actually work for Nasoj?  I wonder…just what are you thinking?' I
extended my spirit and Tapped her mind.
Sometimes when you Tap someone, you can hear their thoughts, if they’re
really close to the surface.  If you push hard enough, you can probe their
mind and see what they’re hiding.  Sometimes though, all you can feel on
the surface is an emotion.
And that’s what I felt right now.  No thoughts or feelings of anger.  No
shock at being arrested, like you might expect for a captured spy.  What I
instead felt was an intense sensation of relief.  I almost stumbled when I
felt this.
'Who feels relief at being arrested?  What is this woman’s end game?' As I
lead them off a new feeling of dread rose up in me.  If this woman is a spy
for Nasoj that means she’s a security risk.  Anything to do with spies
means…Oh Eli, it means Andwyn.
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