Incline 40: Vigilante Nin

"Should... Be safe..." I weakly comment as I start to push away the ice that had sealed me in. However, I couldn't tell if it was colder inside the cave or out of it. Not that it really mattered. I'd freeze to death if I spent any longer in this snow-belt.

A more embarrassing end to my life then anything Jhurack could do... I would have died out here nowhere near my goal. At least, up there, I could die trying to save her! Larishazza...

"Just a bit more..." I say in an effort to keep myself awake. Whatever drove me to climb through this place before, it must have not been here. Or I had simply lost the strength... In retrospect, neither reality made sense.

The woman I loved, the one who meant the world to me was being held hostage. A blade was held above her and it could end her life at any moment. So why could I not draw on my fury as I did before? I know I had to hype myself up for this!

"DAMMIT! MOVE! MOVE!" I started to roar at myself as my claws smashed into the ice again and again. To my growing, fearful disappointment, however... I was losing my way. Every attempt felt harder and harder until ice just could not be pierced.

I did not cry, though, I just stared at how cold even my breath had become. Flinching often as bits of sharp snow shot about my eyes. But, as I went motionless, moving only in my mind. I started to feel for my magic.

And I slowly moved one chilling arm behind and under. Desperately, I thought of something that could just shoot me out of this ice. And, with a boom, something came out. I rolled along the grass soon after but nearly rolled off again.

"No... No!" I said to myself as I panted underneath the warm light. Rubbing and rolling across all the grass I could to brush off the snow before I slowly got up. At first, I held onto a tree, gently squeezing it as my blood flowed once again. Then, I started to walk once more.

I stopped initially once I saw Suhurlodst, but I shook my head and turned to the other place. I stared at that city for a good few moments before I started move again. I hobbled at first, still shivering from the cold. Yet, finally, my body started to loosen up and I began to run.

Stumbling and falling often as my weakened body was forced to endure this leech-like city. To my surprise as well, the patrol craft that caught me and Rose before... They ignored me, they just flew on by. Not even to just watch me...

That was fine by me and welcomed wholeheartedly. The less things and people that got in my way the better. Lari needed saving... I needed to save her...

Now that I was done surviving, my strength could go towards her. I would be her hero and pay her back... The debt that she was too kind to call in... I would have it resolved and I would have her back!

"Wait for me..." I gasp as I started to feel tired and more importantly, hungry. There was nothing but grass, though, so what would I eat? I was too weak to hunt and that fishing spot was nowhere in sight... My eyes did catch something better, though.

There was a small gate into the city, the guard who was near it just ran off elsewhere. I could get in through there! Steal some money or a snack and try to plan it out! I personally preferred that some food was sighted quickly...

Yet, where guards did not see me come through, others did...

"Hey! Hey!" someone called out before I stumbled into an alleyway. Eating was all that I could think about. I was desperate for food... Enough to even steal it from a child...

Somehow, I withheld the urge to steal a sandwich from a child. I just watched pathetically as others walked about with their snacks. And, like a helpless child myself, I stared into what seemed to be a restaurant with a familiar man inside...? But, seeing no opportunity to eat, I walked away.

"You look hungry." that familiar man said as the bell by the door ringed.

"I couldn't pay anyway..." I tell him as I continued to stumble away. Yet, before I fell again, he caught me and set me down on a table.

"I think I can spare something for you." he kindly tells me as he knocks some fingers against my various bloody marks.

"Thank you..." I struggle to get out as I started to take off my hat and mask. I didn't care if anyone could see my face. All I cared for was that messy compilation that was suddenly put before me. Bits here and there from other meals.

Meat that was shredded instantly off the bone. Some of which were crushed in my jaw while vegetables were lapped up. Any bread or dry stuff I had cleaned the plate completely of sauce too. And, by the end, I was gnawing on the few stubborn bits of meat.

The man laughed and then held up his hand, "That'll be twenty slabs, please."

"What...?" I angrily asked back as the bone in my mouth started to crack.

"Easy there, just playing around." he tells me as he sits down and wipes his hands with a towel. With this detail in mind, I just go back to gnawing. Throwing it down on the plate when I felt full enough.

"Hey, Abbspri, come on in!" a bearded man said as he leaned out the door. And for some reason, he sang the last three words.

"But one moment my fine chap! A man out here is in need of charity! Charity to that will invigorate him with strength!" Abbspri sang back as he shot to his feet. And even with me about, some onlookers did clap at that voice of his... A very deep, passionate one. But I had something else to listen out for.

That cruel laughter...

"Is he not coming inside?" the man at the door asked.

"I am not-" I answer on his behalf before Abbspri stops me.

"Oh, yes you are!" he sang in my face before he started gesturing at my plate. Which, reluctantly, made me follow through with his insistence. I could not pay so he'd be able to call the guards on me... This thief that stole his food as he might put it...

The reaction I saw upon entering was about as much as I expected it to be. There was a fearful reaction and a clear change in the atmosphere. At least, until a wordless song began to fill the place again. Powerful yet pleasant screams bellowed out of the men on stage.

"What do you want?" I ask him as I start to make sure that my hideous face was covered up. Yet, by his insistence, the mask stayed off. A tankard full of something strong was slammed before me and he encouraged me to drink it up. I was hesitant, but, as it was somehow making me feel warm, I drowned myself with it.

Blinking a few times before shaking some of the droplets off. Wiping them off with an offered towel shortly after. I then tried to leave, but, he kept me here. He then went around to the other end of the bar and set himself up behind it.

"What's on your mind, lad?" he asks me as I start to sneer a little.

"The same stuff as the last time I was here..." I tell him as I recall that trip with Seigunfrei. The one that preceded the ultimatum I am now experiencing the consequences of.

"So, you did it then? You went out to try and save your bird?" I was asked, his eyes nodding at all my wounds and the bloodstains that covered me.

"I went out and achieved nothing..." I spit angrily.

"Don't let it get you down, then, you're here to give it another go."

"Another go..." I repeat as that was indeed my intention. I was going to find Jhurack and tear him limb from limb... I've seen how he fights... I can go back into this better than ever.

"Do not be so hasty, lad. Take a moment to think on how it went down."

"Every moment I waste is time that the one I am doing this all for is left in danger!" I tell him as I suddenly slam a fist on his bar.

"No, lad, listen. Calm. You need focus, this anger needs to be your drive, but it cannot carry you through this."

"That makes no sense..." I mutter as it really did not. How, in the names of all that was divine, could I be driven just by anger... But not let it be there fully...?

"Then let me put it another way, take some time to learn the city. Use what you can. He's been around for thirty years, probably more. Birds of all types have never seen the sky again all over this place."

"I will never learn the city as he knows it..." I point out to him. If that was really how long he has been around, then there was no way I could match his knowledge.

"But you can, there's a whole city you can just listen to and experience." he tells me before he briefly disappears to fill some drinks for the singers. And, when he comes back to me, he enjoys a drink of his own.

"Alright, then..." I start off sarcastically, rolling my eyes at the idea, "Where should I start?"

"The public squares. And, if you can, a certain musician whose is cursed to be involved with all this." he answers, a sorrowful tone coming about towards the end.

"Who...?" I ask, curious as to who this was. If they were involved in this...?

"The one you were listening to that same night." he tells me before he gestures outside. Towards that building where I watch Lari disappear into the dark night...

"Jhurghdak?" I repeat as I read the name on the display. Was that it...? The man was accused because of a similar-sounding name...?

"Indeed, but I would suggest going somewhere with a quieter mood first. One where you are less likely to blow up in their faces." Abbspri tells me.

"If they're going to get in my way..."

"That's what I am talking about, so, I suggest you head on down to one of the Chambers of Legal and Ethical Debate. Large, round buildings made of white stone. Cloud of smoke rising from the top of them."

"What will I find there...?"

"A soothing environment for you to ask your questions in peace. And also a free place to have your attire cleaned and fixed up at." he explains, seemingly joking at the end. Admittedly, however, that would be a very nice thing for me to receive. Einervaene could no longer be trusted, so I would not need her help with my attire.

"Is there anything else I clearly need to know?" I impatiently demand as he was still insisting I stayed here.

"Yes, now, I have no problems with charity. But, news travels fast here regarding you. You no longer have the protection of that there Academy. So you'll need work to keep your pouches and pockets full."

"I can't be working when I have to save her..."

"I'm not on about bricklaying or gardening, Witch, guild work. Monster hunts. Things that you can hone your craft in. Without the Academy you need something to keep you sharp. Besides, you won't always be able to find Smiling Jhurack." he explains further.

"He intends to toy with me... I will be able to find him..." I growl in frustration as I hear him call me that name again. His 'Dance Partner' as he put it... He intended to draw this out for mere fun!

"Which is all the more reason you need to learn." he points out.

But I scoff and get up out of my seat, "I don't need money and that arrogance of his will give me my moment."

"I'll make sure to keep the doors open for longer." he remarks as I leave. And, with a sneer, I walk away from the place as it grows louder and louder with revelry. However, after a few minutes of walking, I came to realise how right he was. I needed to learn this city...

He suggested a place that discussed ethics and law. But I had no idea how that would help. It might've just been the name of the place. But how was discussing the morality of hunting Smiling Jhurack helpful?

Was I supposed to make a case for why my vengeance was just? Was I meant to seek encouragement from those who have fallen victim to Jhurack? I did not need the encouragement to do this... Everything has fallen into place to make me only want to do this...

Those I thought I could count on had turned their backs not only on me... But on Lari, too. She needed our help and I was the only one who came to her aid. They all backed away because they feared these men with guns...

And, I just couldn't help but glare intently at the nearest one as I thought about that. I had more reason than any to be scared of these men and their weapons. I was the one tormented by them for so long... Yet, in doing this, I noticed something that was off.

Back when they were first leaving Suhurlodst, another kind of soldier was keeping them in check. Those same soldiers were scattered very thinly about the city from what I had seen. Unlike the ones in brass and copper armour, however, they paid no mind to me. Their black, abyss-like features did not even turn towards me.

"Why are there soldiers from the Union of Seven-Peaks here? They should be out there!" one young man asked another as I walked by. And I suppose that question answered that somewhat. They were foreign troops. How they were meant to keep the peace, I did not know.

They had a very useful trait, though. They kept the ones who hated me away for some reason. It was as if they were looking out for me. But they were probably just making sure the law was upheld.

And, as much as I wished to scorn them all and distance myself from them. They all had a point in telling me about the illegal nature of my actions. These soldiers would become a problem once I found Jhurack again. But I needed to find a trail that lead to Jhurack...

"Jhurghdak." I repeat slowly as I stared at that building I saw him in. Yet, despite him being a lead I could work with in theory. I did not move, because what kind of musician lived in the place they worked...?

"BY THE GODS, IT'S HIM! IT'S JHURGHDAK!" a woman screamed before an excited crowd seemed to form around the building's rear. And, with that in mind, I began to head there myself. Moving what I could aside until I finally reached a perimeter. The guards did not let me closer, but I saw him.

I saw a well-dressed man with an ornamental cane and ornate mask that covered his face... The decor on that mask, however, enraged me. It was so alike Jhurack's smile... As if it was cast from a mould of it.

"Out of my way." I told the people in the crowd as I started to move out of it. This Jhurghdak had moved into an airship and he was quickly departing. Then, with as much strength as I could muster, I started to climb a small building. And I stared out at the departing aircraft.

For some reason, however, my vision started to go funny and the city seemingly grew. I started to feel nauseous and moved to clutch my head. Yet, this peculiar feeling disappeared soon. So, after making sure I was alright, I started to run.

I leapt the gaps between buildings and grappled onto the ledges. Throwing myself over low-hanging roofs before I rolled along them. Sometimes, I went down onto signs but I always went back up. There was still a lot I had to learn from Larishazza, but she had taught me enough for now.

I could only smile in anticipation for that wake-up, tearful hug from her. To have her smile so brightly as I told her how what she had taught me let me save her... I know she probably didn't need to see it or know it. But the idea of it alone made me happy!

And it once again reminded me of how I needed to do this. I could not overstate how important she was to me... And I had to learn how to make that clear to others. If I could tell others about why I was doing this...

"Of course..." I found myself commenting as I came to realise why Abbspri told me about those halls. If the law was to get in my way, I could argue passionately about why this needed to be done. I could reference how their soldiers have failed year after year against this man. I could appeal to those who have also lost loved ones to this madman!

For now, however, I intended to focus on the man whose home I seemed to have arrived at. Or, rather, the grand hotel he was staying at. In a way, the decadence of it reminded me of my first time on the upper floors of Tobaballe. But the size of this building created an issue, how was I meant to get up there...?

Its walls were smooth and fine. My magic was being sucked away at and I was weak from the cold. I suppose the best I could do was work my way up from within the building... Thankfully, this building had a few lesser ones next to it.

"Give it back to me..." I demanded from the city as I prepared to jump once I got into position. Yet, my initial jump left me stumbling backwards once I realised how little I could muster. Within this city, I could not jump like I did in the valleys below. I had to go about this smarter...

So I tore a flag pole down and looked for an opening. A feeling of nervousness began to overtake me, yet, I still leapt with that pole. And, I just barely reached an open window in this building. Fear filled me slightly at first.

But, I was able to grab onto the ledge with my other claw before I pulled myself up. Then, from within the safety of this room, I groaned in pain. I quickly dashed out when someone was making noises in another room. Sighing in relief once I had turned a nearby corner.

And, like before, I was reminded of my first visit to the Crown with Iishar. Unlike then, however, I paid no mind to the art and extravagance. I just kept on going up to the highest floor as that is where he must've been. And it was all the more believable once I saw soldiers guarding a single door.

Looking outside the window, I could see that even more floors existed. However, that door must've been the only way up. Yet, with those guards there, I could never get past. So I smashed some glass.

Jogging around the corner as they left to investigate. Yet, when I reached the door, there was no handle at all. There was just a set of buttons!? And they were clearly coming back after arguing about something...

"Dammit..." I growled before the door suddenly opened. Before me as well, was that man... The one I chased to this building...

"Going up?" he asked me softly even though it was distorted by that mask.

"Yes, please." I tell him as I walked into the lift. Thankfully, the door closed before the guards came back. And, I waited for the time being. I was going to be better off asking him in his room.

"So what have you come to see me about?" he asks with a tired tone.

My response was as quick as it was violent, "How did you!?" I asked him. Keeping my claws at the ready as he grew uncomfortable.

"This is not new to me, unfortunately." he answers before he gestures for me to follow.

"What isn't new!?" I demand to know.

"Vengeful men coming to me for answers about that killer." he tells me, disdain all over his words.

"Then we can skip most of the legwork." I comment.

"Indeed, and the answer is no, I do not know where you can find him. No, I am not the murderer. No, I am not associated with him... No, I'm not guilty! No, I will not come with you again to be interrogated for no gain!" he said with growing anger before he reclined himself into a soft chair. His cane was between his legs while he stared at a vial of liquid.

I could only assume it was alcohol. And, I made sure it never made it to him. This may have been run-of-the-mill for him, but it wasn't for me. I wanted answers, proper ones...

Not dismissive, frustrated rambling!

"If all of that is the case, then why do they come after you!" I demand to know as I shoot up to my feet. If one word he said was true, if this frustration was genuine. Then why did the killer lead back to him!?

"Because this madman likes to toy with people. As he is probably doing with you and all the other hundreds of vigilantes who threaten me for information! He runs circles around the security forces of this city and he only comes out during my tours here!" he angrily answers with violent taps of his cane.

"And how would I know that you aren't toying with me right now, Jhurack?" I accuse to see if any signs of a facade would drop.

"My name is Jhurghdak! Jhurghdak!" he angrily repeats before he rises and takes off his mask. And, to my shock, I see a horribly mutilated face that was warped and bulged unnaturally. It was grotesque in all manner of speaking. Most importantly, however, this man had no capacity to smile like Jhurack did...

"I see..." I mutter as this lead I had dries up in but an instant. There was no way this man was the killer with features like that. Smiling Jhurack wore no mask... His smile was iconic in how vile it was.

"I'm sorry... You didn't need to see that." he sighs as he stumbles over to pour himself a drink. A particularly strong one going by the smell. Curiously as well, this mist rising from it blew unnaturally towards the giant gnomon. He even made a point of offering me some.

"No, thank you." I say as that would mean revealing my face. He may have been a hideous man, but I was osibindah. If he saw my face...

"I showed you my face, you can at least be a man and show me yours." he tells me before his cane briefly flicks up towards my beak.

"I have no reason to show it..." I say before I turn towards the great glass wall this room had. Right at the very peak of this hotel. An uninterrupted view of all the city. Even Suhurlodst to some extent...

And I looked away after seeing that place.

"You're the osibindah student, aren't you?" he guesses correctly, much to my shock.

"Ok, how'd you!?" I angrily ask him before I aggressively approached him. Only stopping when his cane interrupted me. He then tapped my hands and legs before he gestured back at that damned school.

"Travelling as much as I do, you tend to see a lot of things about this land. I know what your kind looks like, and who couldn't know about the osibindah student that called itself Nin?" he explains as I start to get nervous.

"This..."

"Have a drink, Nin, it will calm your nerves. Oh, wait, my apologies." he starts to say before he suddenly brushes himself down. His hand then appears before me.

"Right, nice to meet you..." I nearly squeak as I take this man's hand and shake it.

"You've been through a lot, haven't you?"

"I've been trying to find Smiling Jhurack..." I answer.

"You have fought him too, no? Failing just as the Worm Rider did?" he asks me before he groans in displeasure. I could understand why, if he was falsely strung together with Jhurack, then he'd be eager to see his demise.

"I will beat him..." I tell him. Not even confident about such a likelihood.

"Not with that attitude you won't." he says before his magic explodes about the room. Items all around us were being carried effortlessly by the wind and the whole room was rearranged. I watched it happen and I still struggled to understand it.

"Did you not like the view?" I ask him as he sits down on the recently moved chair.

"So why are you doing this? Putting yourself in so much danger?"

"Because the woman I love needs me..." I tell him as my fists tremble with rage. If I clenched any harder, I was sure to draw blood.

"Time and time again, like all those before..." he reminisces before I move to leave. I can't get anything useful out of this man. Unless I pushed further into the fact he was being toyed with too? We were both targets of Smiling Jhurack, so perhaps something could be done?

"Is there anything you know about Smiling Jhurack? Something the public out there wouldn't know?" I ask him, stopping my prior exit.

"How do you mean?"

"Just now, you brought up how the guards often came for you for questioning. Did they not connect any dots to you during these farces?" I elaborate for him. Watching with some curiosity as he smiled in his own strange way.

"Well, for starters, he only comes out at night. Gone with the wind at a moment's notice." he starts to explain before he clicks his fingers.

"So I do have time to do as Abbspri said." I remark under my breath as I recall what he told me about work and those debate places. However, it also meant another thing, I had to realign my sleep schedule somehow... As it was now, Smiling Jhurack would only ever catch me tired.

"You won't ever find him, he'll find you. Often when he takes another life to Undwote. But, if he is toying with you like this... You'll probably find him without someone dying."

"Their lives do not matter to me." I inform him, and why would they? I was doing this for Lari and her alone.

"This woman you are doing it for, she is still alive...?"

"She is..." I answer, glaring at this man for how intuitive he was. But, I assume he had to be good at noticing things when his performance was him alone. Dozens of instruments that all had to be played to perfection. He'd have to be able to tell all the minute differences between them to do that?

"A very special case, then. This is a first, even for him." he says with a frown.

"First time or not, he chose the wrong woman!" I declare with a growl.

"No... Painful as it might sound, he chose the right woman. Because how could he humiliate everyone more, but make it clear only an osibindah could save them?"

"Save them?" I scoff as it was such an absurd sentence. Why, in the name of all the gods and goddesses, would I save them? There were so few people who treated me like a person that it might as well have been all that damned me!

"Not something you have to do, just what he is likely thinking."

"So, is there anything else you might know about him?" I ask, desiring to switch the topic away from that delusion. Me, saving them? A cruel joke.

"Unfortunately, no. Smiling Jhurack has become such a terror precisely because of how little people know. The killer that suddenly appears along with the pack-calling screams."

"Does he have a preferred hunting ground? A family he made a point of hunting?" I ask him as everything started to dry up. If I was to have to wait for him, then so be it. But I needed to learn all I could!

"No, in this city of several hundred million. From the top of this mountain all the way down to the bottom of its hollowed-out core. He is there. This city is his hunting ground, all its families are ones he makes a predatory point about." he explains before his cane points at that second drink he poured.

"Fine." I admit in defeat before I drink it up. Coughing violently as the magic-dense liquid burned its way down my throat. However, I can see why he was so insistent on me drinking it. I did feel stronger because of it.

"Frustrating as this has been for me. I do wish I could be of more help. So, tell you what... If you survive this coming night, make our talks a habit. I've been involved with him for so long that I can probably think of something at the very least."

"I don't intend to come back."

"You will, Smiling Jhurack is beyond your reach right now."

"Then I will chase him until he has nowhere left to run!" I declare before I stop at the lift door. The security guards came back to my mind for a second...

"I'll come with you, get you out of here without an issue." he says as he gets up. But first, he makes sure his mask is on securely so I by instinct do the same.