I flipped my hat back onto my head and leaned from back in the chair I was sitting in. I had found an open air cafe and was sitting sitting, with a strong bitter tea in one hand. It wasn't the pitch black coffee thick enough to stand my spoon up in that I would have preferred - but out here in the reaches of Salvar I was going to take what I could get. This damn country was frigid and cold, and I was beginning to despise it. But - I had to be here. Because she was here, and she had asked for my help. One of the few people I had formed a connection with - against my will, almost, at first, but now I cherished her and desperately wanted to help her.

So when dawn girl - Scarlet to most people - had asked for my help, having managed to get a regular message to me through normal means. Well. I had packed up from the hunting patrols I was doing in Corone, and headed to the cold wastes of this mountainous hell. And I was now sitting here, in this Cafe, drinking tea that I tolerated for a reason that actually escaped me right now, because of what she had asked me to do.

It seemed that there was a man who had managed to run afoul of the Crimson Hand. And she had been tasked with hunting him down and eliminating him. But, according to her message, she was- occupied. So she asked me to do it, to find the man. To entice me further - not that I needed much more than her asking for it - she informed me that he was in charge of an underground zoo, filled with extremely dangerous animals. And worse.

He fed them with slaves, and captives. It was apparently something of a show he would put on - throwing poor men and women in with wild hungry animals, and watching as they scrambled and screamed for their lives. That was all she knew about the man - because as soon as he had crossed the Hand, the bastard had gone to ground.

Which might be why she had asked for my help - dawn girl was an assassin, not a tracker of targets. Others found her targets and she dealt with them. Which was what she wanted me to do. Find the bastard, and let her know as soon as I did.

Which finally led me back to the café that I was sitting in. I had been slowly narrowing down where the bastard had gone. Tracking the trail that he had left. He wasn't particularly a smart man - in fact, he was kind of stupid. While trying to hide, he hadn't been able to give up his ply toys. He had apparently kept a one or two of the most dangerous animals with him, and this had left a trail. At first this trail had been kept quiet.

Until the bodies turned up. The bodies of - well. His former servants. That had put me back on his trail, as well as letting me know what he had done. He had emptied his house when he went into hiding - not even leaving any of his employees behind. And now we, I, knew why. Because he was using them as food for his pets. It had bought him time as he fled from the lands that the Hand controlled. But then, well, even his ‘ready’ meat supply had run out. And people had begun to disappear, which narrowed things down for me. Following the trail of disappearances had led me here.

I set my tea down. It was still hot, fresh and spicy, bitter and strong. I was ignoring it though - because there, walking down the street, was the bastard target. I grinned beneath my mask. Excellent. The hunt was nearly done. I dropped a hand down to my lap and let my fingers brush against my inner thigh. Energy flowed, and a connection was established.

Hey dawn girl, you currently free?

What? I -

I found him.
I heard, felt the inhalation of breath. I could almost see the winding of her eyes. I stood up and strode to a secluded corner of the café, blocking it from sight.

I'm summoning you.

Hunter WAI-FUCK YOU IDIOT
Her form shivered into view and my own eyes went wide as I drank in the sight. Whoops. At least I had preemptively blocked the summoning from sight - thought that was to keep people from seeing the magic, not from - well. Seeing her, naked, hurriedly trying to pull on panties. I swallowed, as she glared at me. “Fuck. You.” Wordlessly, I pulled out a change of clothes that I'd taken to keeping in my bag, and held it out to her. Nope. Couldn't take my eyes off of her.