Morning came early to this town, which was called LeHarla. It was a decent-sized town still, with many technological advances. Hardly considered a "town" with all its buildings and skyscrapers that occupied the place. But regardless of this fact, it was still only a fractional quarter compared to the Valley Kingdom itself. Thus, it was considered a town in its own respect.
We stayed the night. The cool air brushed my bare chest, and I let out a yawn. I was covered in tattoos, but my neck, which bore the half-wolf symbol, had what looked like small bruises around it—made by what seemed to be a mouth from someone else…
Head beating as I lay there, hungover from the night before… or I should say from this morning, as we were at the noodle house until 0300, then a random inn by 0345. It was 0630 now. It was time to get up.
A slender female hand with black painted nails traced over my chest, turning me over to her as I was just about to rise.
"Five more minutes…" Ophelia said groggily.
She was obviously hungover, and she probably drank more than the rest of us combined.
If alcohol were a woman, it'd be her.
"Crew's expecting us back by 0800 today. We gotta get up." I replied to her, brushing her short black layered hair aside, revealing her eyepatch. The blonde part flowed out of the sheets and over the covers of the bed. Noticeably nude. She groaned, then slipped her hand under the sheets below me.
My head jerked back. Her eyes were still closed, but she wore a smile as she stroked me from under the covers.
"Fine. Five more minutes," I said tightly.
She giggled, then moved her head under the sheets where her hand was. The sensation rippled through me, wet and constant… the feeling—amazing…
I let myself enjoy this for a few more minutes until I heard her gag.
"Serious? Thought you could handle more than that." I joked.
Another gag. And then another until I realized…
"Oh fuck!" was all I could say, but it was too late as I tossed the sheets off and bore witness as Ophelia hurled last night's dinner all over my lower half…
The birds chirping in the background with the morning sun almost seemed like they were laughing at us as we struggled to function. It appeared to be another beautiful day here in LeHarla.
***
We met up with Havoc, who was outside the inn we were staying at, leaning against a wall, toothpick in mouth. His blind left eye showed no signs of remission, completely white, its sole purpose to reflect sunlight.
His Black Wolves jacket had the sleeves torn off and looked more like a hooded gilet than a jacket. Unlike me and Ophelia, he preferred not to wear a shirt underneath. He told me it's just easier when he uses his magic.
The inn was above a bar, and the front door, almost like batwing swing doors, was the front of the place. The first one outside to meet him was me. Hands in my pockets, slightly hunched over, baring my teeth—which I've been told resembled shark teeth—hung over as fuck.
"Well, you two had fun as usual," Havoc teased.
I merely grunted in response to him.
He sniffed once. "Oh, don't tell me…" He leaned in, sniffed again. "Oh no, bro! She tossed her cookies on you!" he snorted out a laugh at the end.
"I hate that hypersensitive sense of smell of yours. I even showered, by the fucking Keeper," I calmly barked at him. And I swore I could now smell the vomit on me again, even though I knew it was all in my head.
"Well, at least you got the 'cookie' at the same time!" he added, laughing again, but more in a congratulatory way.
I grunted once more and side-eyed him.
We paused a bit, then I closed my eyes and smirked out a laugh. Our fists bumped, and right there, Ophelia finally joined us through the swing doors.
"Good morning, boys! Whatcha talking about?" she said cheerily, obviously knowing already.
Her tolerance for alcohol exceeded ours both, surprisingly. All it took was one vomit, and she was back to her normal self, regardless of how hungover she was prior. I didn't quite understand it myself.
"Last night was so fun! Thanks for taking us along with you, Greedy!" she said coquettishly.
I faced away from her when she said that and simply waved a disregarding hand.
"Oh yeah. The funds… Last night, we had gotten a little carried away with the food and especially the beverages—"
Fifty eterna still available. As shown on a magical screen, I pulled through the scroll.
"Huh," I said out loud. "Did we forget to pay last night?"
Havoc interjected, "Nah, Ryo fronted it. He even paid for our rooms. Such a stand-up guy."
"Keeper." I face-palmed. "Well, where is he now?"
"He already took off. Said 'I'll see you all back at the Kingdom!' then went on his way… that was about an hour ago."
"Of course he did."
Ryo had taken care of me and my crew since we met him. Well, I actually didn't like him at first because he was way too positive, and I thought he was fake, but he grew on me and never changed the way he was. Our friendship began there, along with a few other guys who were now in other Guilds. All Vice Captains now. Except me… I was now an Acting Captain for the remarkable original Captain of the Black Wolves. But I still felt undeserving of the role.
It was an unspoken rule for us to help each other out up till now because we all started off as rookies together. But it only stopped there, with us individually. Ryo always took it upon himself to help not just me but my crew as well. I truly didn't deserve a friend like him.
I started walking off, hands still in my pockets, eyes closed in thought.
"Alright, well, let's head back already, you fuckin' losers," I said to the two of them following behind.
As we strolled through the town, we stopped by some stores toward the outer parts of it and hopped in the vehicle we rented from the Valley, parked just outside the town.
***
There, in the distance atop a hill outside the town of LeHarla, three figures stood. Watching us as we drove away from the large town.
"He handled that well," the first of them said. Male, and with a slithering voice.
"Do you think he knows?" the second one added. Female, mature and seductive.
The third, also female, was silent but bore a sinister smile. When her teeth showed, they were jagged like a shark's and salivated at the sight of us in the distance.
The first concluded, answering the second who spoke, again with that slithering voice of his, "No, he doesn't. But he will. Sit back and watch for now. The Lord does not wish for us to intervene just yet."