...

15 views

Pixel Shift part 3
~ Chapter 2 ~
Attentions drawn and Mysteries discovered

Zora was walking down Mainstreet, gazing around at the different people and shops set up along the way; he spun around to stare at someone who caught his eye; he ended up bumping into someone. He turned around to see a young girl in a brown cloak, the hood up over her head. She looked familiar, I know you, he thought. Her clothes were old and worn, a tad bit too small.
“I'm sorry, my bad.” Zora apologized for bumping into her, smiling good-heartedly.
“It's okay, but I was wondering if you would hire me to support you in the dungeon?” She asked, looking up at him. It was then that he realized he knew who she was, the girl he'd saved in the alley; Zora smiled and nodded.
"Are you sure you're capable, wouldn't want you to get hurt." Zora asked, leaning against the glass. She nodded, holding out her license, it ranked her quite high. Every adventurer had a license; it was both a legal thing and a safety concern.
“Wouldn’t mind at all, come on,” he replied humorously as he broke off in a run, heading towards the dungeon. The girl chased after him; the breeze ripped her hood from her head, letting her short brown hair flow in the wind.
Zora came to an abrupt stop in front of the dungeon entrance; looking back, she was slowly catching up, skidding to a halt beside him.
“Hey, what's yo-” he began.
“Lilly.” She replied before he finished his sentence.
“What?” He asked, a little confused.
“My name, it's Lilly.” She replied, clarifying herself; he nodded in response and entered the cave; Lilly eyed the blade he pulled from his belt, a hunger in her eyes that could only be described as the hunger of a thief.
Zora made his way through the dungeon, the first few creatures were no problem, and he cleared through them easily, but as he got deeper, they became more difficult. Zora sliced through several giant spiders before stepping into an open room; a slime squeezed through the cracks of the wall, it made awful squelching sounds as it maneuvered towards them. Zora vaporized it without a second thought, using firebolt, a spell he'd learned recently. But the sounds backfired, drawing a group of giant ants into the cave; these guys are annoying, he thought. But at least they have a chance of dropping money when they die. He sliced the head off the leader; its body disintegrated, a couple of items fell, some coins, an old dagger, and a gem. He swiped the legs from under an ant about to attack Lilly, killing it with a swift slice, cutting it in half.
“Hey! Lilly, Head in the game, eyes on your enemies.” Zora told her, tossing the dagger dropped by the ant. “I'd like to keep you alive, please.” He smiled after that last part, it was supposed to be a joke, but Lilly was too busy looking away to hide the guilt in her eyes that she forgot to laugh. The reason she almost died was that she had been eyeing his belt, trying to determine the best way to swipe his Blade. The bow on his back might get a bronze coin at best, but that knife he had would be quite the investment, two gold coins at most.
“Hey Lilly.” Zora interrupted her thoughts, looking concerned.
“Y-yeah?” She asked, wondering fearfully if he'd noticed her contemplating theft.
“Are you okay?” Zora asked, taking her hand. She looked down; her ears burned with resentment. No, I’m trying to steal from you! Stop paying so much attention to me. She thought as she pushed the predicament to the back of her mind...