A group of people, numbering nine, stood in formation around a single figure who was seated on a folded-up chair. Sarah Morningstar, seated with her slender legs crossed, rested her head on the back of her palm as she stared down at the two people who were on their knees in front of her.
The look in her fiery eyes was actually cold as she studied them. These two people, of course, are Courage and Wally—caught by Sarah trying to run away earlier. Once the party surrounded Courage and Wally, they forced them to surrender, making them unsummon their beasts, and were now holding them both for interrogation.
Courage was cursing up a storm in his head: "Let's investigate, I said. They won't find us, I said... Oh, me and my big mouth. How did I let us end up like this? Why didn't I just ignore the noise and mind my own business? God, that's how I got in trouble the last time. When will I learn? FUCK!" A bitter expression twisted Courage's face. He wasn't mad because he dragged himself into trouble, but because he dragged Wally with him. The poor lad already had the Black Hyde Gang to worry about; he certainly doesn't need any trouble with the Band of Dawn either. And he'd promised he'd help him. Courage was so mad at himself right now.
Turning his head, he looked at Wally, who was kneeling beside him. Even though Wally seemed quiet and calm, he could see the worry and fear in his eyes.
"I will get us out of this ditch, no matter what it takes, Wally. I promise," Courage whispered to his friend, intending to comfort him. Wally's eyes shone for a second—Courage's words indeed giving some comfort. But just as Wally was about to reply and comfort him back, the voice of Sarah cut through.
"Now, whatever shall I do with you?" Sarah asked, her gaze still frigid.
The pair shriveled under the weight of her words, as if her very voice was pressing down on them. But Courage eventually gathered his spirit and tried to talk back.
"Listen uh... Miss Morningstar, I know how bad this looks, but if you give me a chance to explain, I can clear this misunderstanding."
"Bullshit!" one of the party members standing next to Sarah—a red-haired guy—interrupted. "What is your excuse, huh? You two were minding your own business until you heard a noise and decided to investigate, then you stumbled upon us?"
"W-well, that's exactly what happened, actually," Courage answered hesitantly. That man had just given the explanation he was about to use himself, putting him in an awkward position.
"Huh, of course your excuse is that cheap. If that really was the case, then why did you try to run away when my lady found you? That doesn't sound like something someone with honest intentions would do," the man continued, interrupting.
Courage clenched his teeth in anger, thinking, Why is this asshole determined to convict us? The excuse Courage gave was the honest truth, and to be honest, he did admit that their attempt to escape earlier did make them seem guilty. But Courage couldn't help it—he panicked and made a rash decision. If he had stayed cool and complied earlier, maybe their situation might have been better. Still, this guy was downplaying their excuse and trying his hardest to incriminate them.
"My lady," the red-haired guy said, turning to Sarah, "don't bother hearing their excuses. It was clear that they were spying on us. I say we—"
"That's enough, Kilo," Sarah stopped him.
"My lady?!"
"Even if they seem guilty, we shouldn't jump to conclusions," Sarah continued. "We'll ask them a couple of questions, and depending on their answers, I'll know their real intentions."
"But my lady, what's stopping them from just lying straight out of their teeth?"
"Kilo, don't underestimate our leader. She has her ways," a woman standing behind Sarah said.
"Enid... I don't doubt my lady's capability. It just seems like a waste of time," Kilo tried to interject.
"Enough," Sarah said. "I will decide if it's a waste of time or not," finally silencing Kilo.
Sarah got up from her chair and walked up to Courage, all the while summoning her totem beast. With a flash of light, Sarah—with her owl once again perched on her shoulder—stood before Courage, looming over him like both a judge and an executioner
Courage didn't know why, but he felt that whatever he said next had better be the truth—for his sake, or else. For some reason, he had an instinctive feeling that Sarah's totem beast would somehow be able to reveal his lies if he dared say any. After all, why would she summon it if not? There was no guarantee it didn't have that kind of power. Besides, maybe the owl was what helped Sarah detect them earlier in the first place. And if it could detect presence, who's to say it couldn't detect lies?
"Your names?" Sarah asked.
Courage and Wally took a second before they replied:
"Courage Petacos."
"Wally Rain."
Sarah memorized their names before continuing to question them: "Your explanation from earlier—is it the truth?"
"Yes," Courage kept it short and snappy.
"So you had no previous knowledge of our location and only found us by accident?"
"Yes."
Sarah turned her head to look at her beast. The small owl's eyes shone faintly in response, as if sending a silent answer to an already asked question.
Sarah turned her head slightly and muttered, "Well, they don't seem to be lying."
The rest of the party were surprised by this result—especially Kilo, who said: "Ok, fine. Even if that's the truth, that doesn't eliminate the fact that they were spying on us and then tried to run away when we caught them. Explain that, then."
Sarah questioned him about that, and Courage answered honestly: he knew that spying on others was wrong, but he was too curious—especially towards a member of a great clan—so he did what he did. When they got caught, he tried to run away out of a panicked response. He swore they didn't have any ill intentions behind them.
Sarah turned to her beast one more time and concluded that he was still telling the truth.
Learning this fact, the atmosphere around the party seemed to relax a bit.
"Maybe this was a coincidence encounter after all…"
"Well, if they weren't plotting anything or had ulterior motives…"
Some members began to discuss amongst themselves, increasing the possibility of Courage and Wally not getting into any trouble—much to that guy Kilo's dejection.
Just as Courage was starting to relax, thinking that they might actually get out of this predicament, Sarah then proceeded to ask them another question: "You two wouldn't happen to belong to another faction, would you?"
Hearing this sent a shiver down his spine. Answering this question was no problem for Courage—but for Wally…
A sweat drop streaked down Courage's forehead. Wally, on the other hand, was watering. Out of all the things she could have asked, just why did she have to ask them that?
Courage looked at Wally, swallowed hard, and answered: "We're not." He said it in a slightly high tone, hoping the answer would pass as truth if he answered for both of them.
But as Sarah consulted her owl once more, her gaze shifted.
"The first lie," her expression basically said. "What you just said seems to be half-true and half-false," Sarah confronted him immediately.
Courage tried to interfere quickly: "I am not part of any faction, I swear!"
Sarah detected that as truth. But it seemed hearing that truth wasn't enough to erase her suspicions. She continued to question them.
"And what about him?" she asked, turning to Wally.
Courage hesitated, then answered: "He… he is part of one."
"Which one?" Sarah demanded.
Courage, seeing no other way around it, could only mutter helplessly: "The Black Hyde Gang."
The moment that name was uttered, Sarah's gaze turned sharp, and her party behind her went into an uproar. The atmosphere turned heavy once more.
"The Black Hyde Gang!"
"So there was a hidden side to this story after all!"
"Bastards! Were you sent by the gang?"
Each member shouted, throwing knives at Wally with their eyes.
Courage quickly rose to Wally's defense, explaining that even though he was a member of the Black Hyde Gang, he didn't have any plots against them. And even though they knew he was saying the truth thanks to Sarah, that didn't seem to appease them at all. If it was a member of any other faction, they could make some leeway for forgiveness—but to a member of the Black Hyde Gang, their direct enemy—they couldn't show such tolerance
Sarah lifted her hand, signaling her party to be quiet. Her gaze slowly shifted towards Wally, then back to Courage, as if she was contemplating something.
Then she asked: "Alright. Even if you're not part of the Black Hyde Gang and you're not here by their order, what's stopping you two from telling them about what you saw here today? You'll surely get a hefty price for selling information about me to my enemy."
"We can't work with the Black Hyde Gang even if we want to," Courage squarely answered.
"Really? And why is that?" Sarah asked intrigued
Courage then proceeded to tell Sarah the long story: Wally's circumstances and his awkward position in the gang, their encounter with Jack Fangwood, and how they'd basically made enemies with the Black Hyde Gang anyway—thus eliminating their desire or even ability to cooperate with the gang in the first place.
One of Sarah's subordinates—that woman named Enid—also added to this story, confirming that they had received a report from one of their parties matching Courage's story a day ago, thus adding to the legitimacy of his explanation.
"And that was that," Courage finished.
Sarah was contemplating for a moment before saying: "I see... If that's the case, you can go then."
The party was shocked—especially Kilo.
"Really?" Courage asked, he too surprised by her response.
"Under some conditions, of course," Sarah added. Of course she wasn't going to let them off that easy.
"Which are?" Courage asked.
"First: full disclosure about everything you've witnessed here today. You can't tell anyone."
"Ok," Courage responded. This condition was logical, and he couldn't argue with it. "And?"
"You two will have to cooperate with my organization to make up for your transgression."
"You're saying we would have to become Band of Dawn grunts?" Courage asked. This second condition was less acceptable.
"No, not precisely. I am not asking you to join my gang. Just don't be hostile with my faction and help us out when we ask. Don't worry—we won't ask for anything unreasonable."
Courage thought: So she's not going to force us to work under her, then?
"Alright. In that case, how much do we have to contribute to your gang, and for how long do we have to do it 'til we're even?"
"Hmm, good question," Sarah said as she tapped her lips. "Why don't we borrow a page from the Black Hyde Gang's playbook? One favour. You two would have to do me one favour once every month."
"One favour a month, and no asking for unreasonable things? That seems... oddly simple," Courage thought to himself. Maybe they were going to get off easy, he asked optimistically: "And for how long 'til it's enough?"
"'Til I say so," Sarah said, her gaze landing heavily on Courage, causing him to lose that brief optimism.
"So it's going to be a hassle and a half after all," Courage thought helplessly.
Still, Courage agreed anyway. He didn't see any room to negotiate here, and he was certain he didn't want to know what they were going to do to them if they dared refuse. And so, with a final consultation with Wally, the two agreed to these conditions.
Finally allowed to get off their knees, the two groaned as they stood up. Courage turned his head to Sarah and her party and said, "We'll be leaving then."
"Not yet," Sarah said flatly.
"What, why?" Courage asked.
"This month's favour—I'm going to ask for it now."
"Oh." Courage was surprised, thinking, " This quickly? " But what could he do? He had agreed to her terms.
"What is it, then?"
"Your beast... It has the Jade Bone trait, doesn't it?"
The party was surprised hearing this. It seemed they were all aware of what kind of trait it was. Even Wally turned his head in surprise toward Courage, muttering to himself, "Wait, isn't that the same one as…"
Courage hesitated for a second but then answered, "So what if it does?"
"For my favour, I want you to tell me where you found the catalyst for it."
It was no surprise that Sarah was able to recognize the signs of the Jade Bone trait with a brief glance at his beast. The scions of the great clans are well knowngable and educated about everything related to beast taming and cultivation. And so it was even less surprising that she would want to acquire such a catalyst—it was a rare and potent catalyst, after all. And even if it was of no use to her, it could definitely benefit many members of her organisation. A catalyst like this could be a valuable asset to any faction.
Courage thought it over for a bit and, seeing that he had nothing to gain or lose from giving or withholding this information, decided to tell her where it was. Mister Jafar had told him that he had already surrendered claim rights to the Bastion, putting the catalyst under official control, so there was no problem if Courage leaked the location at this point. Mister Jafar had already made the hefty profit he wanted from the catalyst anyway, and Courage had no advantage in holding the information anymore. So he told Sarah everything—except the fact that the catalyst was already claimed. Still feeling bitter, Courage did that to give the Band of Dawn a bad surprise as a pity payback.
"There, can we go now?" Courage asked once he finished giving Sarah the coordinates.
"Yes, you may," Sarah replied.
Without another word being said, Courage grabbed Wally and finally left, hurriedly leaving Sarah and her party behind and not stopping until they left the Flatlands Valley completely.
As they made their way back home, the two didn't talk much, both still contemplating their new circumstances.
"Fuck, why did this happen?" Courage grumbled. So much for staying away from both the Black Hyde and the Band of Dawn, he thought. He originally planned to stay clear from both, but here he was now, somehow squeezed directly between the two. Even if Sarah said she let them go now, she was definitely going to keep an eye on them. And with the favors they would owe her, it was safe to say that they were firmly leashed to her. So there was no hope of staying neutral anymore.
In Courage's eyes, that was bad enough for many reasons—but it wasn't nearly as bad as Wally's situation. On top of the Band of Dawn's watch, Wally still had his problems in the Black Hyde Gang to worry about, and with Jack still sniping for him… If Wally's involvement with the Band of Dawn was revealed by anyone, there was no telling what the Black Hyde Gang would do to him.
And now, being indebted to both of the largest factions in the bastion, Wally's luck was once again amazing Courage by showing him new lows he didn't think were possible.
Feeling extremely guilty, Courage apologized to Wally. After promising to help him, Wally's situation had somehow gotten even more complicated and difficult.
Wally appreciated Courage's feelings and assured him that he didn't blame him. How could he have known something like that would happen? Besides, Courage had already helped plenty in these last two days alone.
"We'll get through it somehow... I know we will," Wally said.
Courage was happy, noticing that Wally wasn't disheartened. His determination motivated Courage and lifted his spirit, too.
"Yeah... we'll get through it. We'll get through it," Courage said, a faint hope igniting in his heart
Back in the Flatlands Valley, Sarah and her party didn't leave. Instead, they set up camp around a large bonfire—it seemed they were spending the night in the wilds, a bold decision that only people confident in their strength could make.
Sarah sat alone on a stool, watching the bonfire from a distance. The flames seemed even larger and brighter, reflecting off her amber eyes. Sarah's solitude was cut short when a person approached her.
This person was a woman with purple hair and tan skin. Her eyes were also purple, matching her hair, and her outfit seemed lighter compared to the armor the other members of the party wore. As the woman approached Sarah, she stopped and said,
"My lady."
"Enid? Is something the matter?"
"No, nothing at all. I just... wish to talk to you about something."
"Is it about those two from before?"
Enid paused for a second, then answered, "Yes."
"Sure, we can talk. What about them?" Sarah said, flashing a faint smile to make her subordinate feel more comfortable.
"Well, I just can't understand your decision about these two."
"Elaborate."
"Well, firstly, aren't you putting us at a big risk by letting them leave that easily? There's no guarantee they won't spill any information. No offense, my lady, but aren't you being too lax in dealing with that threat? I know you have many methods that can ensure their silence. So why didn't you use any of them?"
Sarah remained quiet for a heartbeat before answering: "My senses told me that none of that would be necessary. Those two seem like upright people—especially that one named Courage. If he dares to stand up to the Black Hyde Gang to protect a person he only just met and then continues helping him afterwards, then he can't be a bad person. Besides, judging by how he handled himself earlier, he seems smart enough to know that we'll keep watching him, so he'd know not to cross us."
"I see," Enid muttered, now understanding. Still, she had another question: "Okay, now I understand why you did that. But what about the other thing..."
"What other thing, exactly?" Sarah asked nonchalantly.
"That favors thing. I agree that these two should pay for their transgression, but isn't the way you chose kinda redundant? I mean, how much help to our Band could these two possibly be, for us to want to ask a favor of them once every month? They're only a pair of Level 1 catalysers, after all."
"Yes, you're right. They're only a pair of weaklings as of right now, so they can't contribute anything worthwhile to us. But that's alright. I didn't choose these terms hoping to get any material value out of them, but simply to rope them to us and make sure they stay close."
Enid was left even more confused by this reply. "And why do you want to keep them close?"
Sarah scoffed and replied: "That boy from the Black Hyde Gang... Wally. His position within his faction is awkward indeed. He has been part of the enemy faction long enough to be easily recognized as one of them, yet he hasn't developed any loyalty, attachment, or reliance on them yet—making his position within the gang loose. Like a seed that has been in the soil for a while yet hasn't sprouted any roots. That means it's still possible for him to be manipulated by outside forces."
Enid's eyebrows rose. "You want to use him to infiltrate the Black Hyde Gang's inner circle?"
"That's right. If I can get that seed onto my side, then help it grow once it sprouts roots strong enough within my enemy's soil, that would be equivalent to having infiltrated the Black Hyde Gang's command structure. From there, we could not only have preemptive knowledge of every move our enemy would make in the future, but we would also be able to influence them from within. But we'll have to be smart and subtle about it, of course."
"I see. So it's like this, then," Enid muttered as she came to realize her leader's true. "Okay, I see the value that guy Wally could have for us. But in that case, what about the other one? What value is there in roping him to us?"
"As for that other guy named Courage—alone, he doesn't have any value. But since he's close to Wally, he has his use."
"Please enlighten me."
"As we learned from their story, Wally's position within the gang is quite... difficult, to say the least. And if we want Wally to infiltrate the enemy faction for us, we need him to not only overcome those difficulties but also rise within the gang to a significant enough position so he can have access to the information and influence that can help us. Sadly, we can't support Wally in overcoming these obstacles ourselves , not directly—any significant interaction between us could ruin this entire plan.
But that's where that guy Courage comes into play. He will protect Wally and help him overcome his difficulties and rise within the gang for us , it seems that his original attention anyway. And since Courage is a neutral player, interacting with him wouldn't put our plans at the same risk of exposure as interacting with Wally would. Having Courage gives us the ability to support and influence Wally through him."
Finally seeing the full picture, Enid was amazed by her leader's ability to scheme. Through one unexpected encounter, she had managed to derive such a devious plan—and not only that, but she made sure to capitalize on all known variables. This was the skill of a member of a great clan. Their abilities were on whole other level than everyone else .
Enid nodded her head in understanding, promising to do her best to support this plan for the benefit of their faction. Sarah appreciated her dedication but warned against trying too hard—especially toward Courage. As stated before, Sarah believed Courage was smart, and to avoid the risk of him uncovering their plans to manipulate them, she insisted on subtlety when pulling them to their side—at least until they were deep enough to no longer be able escape their grasp.
Enid was surprised by the attention Sarah was giving to Courage. In response, Sarah giggled and said the reason for that was that she had an intuition that Courage would be of even greater use to them in the future.
Sarah finished speaking , as she continued to stare into the bonfire, the flames now had a malevolent shine to them as they reflected in her eyes.