Encounters

The sound of boots clashing against the floor woke Von up, the time spent in the frontline had taught him and the others to always be light sleepers, you wanted to always be awake enough to expect anything. He grabbed his gear and belongings and left the barracks, while leaving he crossed paths with soldiers of the 26th regiment heading to no man's land, the area which like the name implied no kingdom possesed. he made a fast salute to the soldiers standing next to the entrance pillars and went outside to the streets of the Capital. He made his way to the northern district, where Jochen and his fiance resided.

As he walked through the streets, he took the main avenue through the public market. Being daytime it was filled with people from all parts of the city, both vendors and people were talking to each other and making bargains for products. The vending stalls had a color that represented what they sold, green was for vegetables and plants, blue for jewelry, red for all kinds of animal products,etc.

Von pushed through the crowd of people while tightly holding and keeping an eye to his backpack with his belongings, the market was known for having a lot of pickpockets. The sound of spices and raw products mixed with the sweat of people and the natural odor of the city made a foul yet not completely annoying smell, something one would get used to after a while, and Von having been to combat and smelled the stench of dead and rotting bodies wasn't fazed at all.

As he looked around the different buildings, almost all of them were similar with straight shapes, pillars went all the way to the top above them the rooftop went just a little farther allowing for rain to fall directly down instead of the building façade and allowed for windows to be open at almost any weather. The polished stone was now dirtier than when first built but still maintained its general whiteness. Water soulbinders that worked for the government would be called on rainy days to do a cleaning of buildings and streets allowing for the city to be generally clean.

A sudden shout brought Von back to his senses, further ahead two men were fighting, one of them the taller one had had his shirt ripped of by the other and had now a tattoo displayed on his right shoulder, the tattoo in question was like a box within a box within a box, a square was the outer layer, within it, it contained a circle which itself contained a triangle which in turn contained a inverted triangle. Von knew this tattoo very well, he had it in his right forearm himself, it was the soulbinder tattoo. The taller man didn't wait any longer and suddenly the ink started to glow blue, specifically the circle, and the water in a nearby vendor store launched towards him, but before he could do anything else he was tackled by two soldiers who shackled him with a metal collar and as fast as it had glowed, the color faded back to black. The soldiers picked him up and took him in, the other man was now on the ground with a hand above his head as if it would have protected him from the blow, he took a second to realize that the threat was now gone and Von walked towards him and offered a hand.

He took it and stood up, "you should be more careful next time" Von said calmly

"Goddamn soulbinders, thinking they own this city" The man grumbled

"They haven't owned it for a long time" Von replied

"Yet they still think they do, I swear every soulbinder I have met is either a lunatic or a egotistical bastard" He said back with anger

"Am I either?" Von said as he looked at him with a neutral face

The man stepped back and widened his eyes as he looked Von over, realizing his military clothes and backpack "I.. Guess not all of them" The man stummered "Sorry" he finished in a more hushed tone

"No worries, I know what you mean, but I would advise to not say it in public" Von advised with a hand to the man's shoulder and left, he turned back for a second "Not everyone is what we think or expect"

Von finally arrived in the northern district, the more residential area of the Capital, the buildings here were taller allowing for more housing, however on the farthest part of it some houses were present mostly of nobles, great mercaders or politicians. There was a roundabout ahead with five different streets all heading to different directions, Jochen had told him to take the middle one and to find the building that said Golden sun Inn, it was a popular one among soulbinders, specially soldiers thanks to the fact that the owner was one as well. He walked through the middle street till he reached said inn and entered, asking the owner for Jochen.

"Von, right?" The owner asked, Von was shocked to see that the he, he expected, was actually a she. The woman looked like she was in her early thirties, long black hair now tied in a bun, simple white wool shirt with linen pants. However what captivated him the most was her face, she had deep blue eyes, and a small scar in her upper lip, her cheeks were slightly round and her nose was small. Von had seen true beauty, his face betrayed him for she started chuckling, "Gone away for too long huh?" She asked between chuckles

"You could say" Von said as he blushed and looked away

"So you are Von, Jochen said you were an interesting man, I'm Lena" She said now smiling and extending her hand towards him.

"Von, and apparently he talked more than he should have" Von said smiling back and taking the hand

"Well, he told me how you saved him and your other friend, so I'm impressed" Lena said comfortingly

"Yea, I'd rather not talk about that" Von said now frowning a bit

"I won't bother you anymore then" Lena replied

"I didn't mean.." Von began but was quickly interrupted by Lena "I didn't take it badly, sometimes you don't want to talk about something and it's fine, your friend is in the third room to the right 2nd floor"

"Thanks Lena" Von said smiling once again and went to take the stairs, "if you ever come back, you can come here, I'll give you a discount" Von heard Lena shouting from behind

"Sure thing" he replied as he started reaching the second floor.

Von walked the hallway till the third room and knocked on the door, Jochen's half body appeared, his chest bare, Von started laughing and looking away

"Did I come at the wrong time?" Von laughed

"No, we were about to change" Jochen said blushing slightly "You know how it is after such a long time"

"I'll be waiting downstairs," Von said as he lightly slapped his friend's shoulder, laughing while going down.

Shortly after Jochen and his fiance walked down the stairs, he was apologizing while she slapped his shoulder, "I forgot" Jochen tried saying before he got slapped again and he just surrendered to the myriad of small hits and fumes of his partner "We are ready" He said to Von

"Then lead the way," Von replied.

The three parted ways after thanking Lena, and Jochen paying for the stay, Von looked back towards Lena one last time before he left.