Chapter Text
Nya Jiang didn’t know who she had been before the merge, or what she had done, all she knew now was her name, that wierd people in suits had tried to kidnap her, that she could control water, and that bounty hunting wasn’t cutting it for a job. Well, it had been, but recently she had lost half of her clients, with seemingly no explanation.
She sighed, blowing some of her soaked hair out of her face, whatever, she just had to get working so she could eventually afford a small apartment in The Crossroads. Countless days of waking up in mud or with all her supplies stolen had made her finally start saving for it. It wasn’t honorable work, but Nya didn’t care, it gave her enough money to live, and let her slowly save up, so that was all that mattered.
After stashing her blanket and few other supplies into the black and purple tree (which she had carved a hole into) she had been sleeping under, Nya grabbed her toothy mask and put it on- when your job was hunting down people and stealing things, anonymity was key- heading for one of the many entrances to The Crossroads. The only way to make her life better as of now was to keep working.
“This could be good.” Nya muttered, reading the flier pinned to the board. The Crossroads had many large bulletin boards stationed in allies and town squares, allowing people to advertise their supplies, offer themselves for hire (which Nya did), and most importantly for her, request jobs. She was currently checking one of the South boards for any available jobs. She had spotted on that seemed worth her time, it read,
Attention!
Looking for ancient relics, trinkets, treasures, or anything of the sort! Anything you bring will be accepted and you will be payed handsomely! Artifacts linked to magic are worth extra! Technology crafted by providers is also accepted, provided it functions well and has a useful purpose. Will be compensated in money, prizes, and recommendations to high paying clients! Come by the shop in 72 hours, address on the back.
Further instructions on other side of page.
“Yes, you’ll do just fine.” She said to herself, money and prizes were very good, but recommendations would be great for Nya’s name and helping her to have a more steady income. “I’ll be taking y-“
“Move, lady.” A garbled voice grunted, shoving Nya to the side and snatching the paper that she had been examining closely.
“Hey, asshole!” Nya exclaimed, turning towards the person who had taken the parchment. “I was about to grab that!”
“Ah, but I got it first.” He responded, she could tell the voice was male, even though he had something filtering it. Looking him up and down, Nya noted that he stood slightly taller than her, with a slim frame that was mostly obscured by his clothing. He wore a dark hat, a blue uniform covered in golden clouds, and mask of some sort that covered his whole face and had red goggles attached to it. Many accessories cluttered up his attire, Nya thought it was too flashy and not very practical. She could tell he was giving her a smug look through the disguise, his voice had that annoying, full-of-himself drawl to it that made her instantly want to punch him.
“Give it back!” She grabbed for the flier, which he held just barely out of her reach.
“Sorry, lady,” His tone made it clear that he wasn’t sorry at all, in fact, quite the opposite. “You were too slow. You know, if you want to be a successful bounty hunter, you have to be able to handle competition.”
“I know how to handle competition just fine.”
“You sure about that?” He replied, “I’ve seen you wandering around The Crossroads, looking for work. If my estimations are correct, you’re down about half of your clients because of me.”
“That’s you?!” She put her hand on her hips, “I’ve been doing this for years, you can’t just waltz on in and steal my jobs!”
“Cry about it.” He said unsympathetically. Turning around and strolling into the crowd of early morning residents, with his back turned he gave one last remark, “You’ll need to up your game in order to compete with me, lady.”
“Morning Mister Frohicky.”
“Good morning miss,” The green frog replied timedly, “Is there anything I can help you with?”
“Yes, actually.” Nya replied, leaning against the booth he was in (probably running some sort of competition like he always did), “You’re in charge of a lot of important things around The Crossroads and know pretty much everyone. What can you tell me about the new mercenary?” He gave her a confused look and she said, “About this tall,” she motioned slightly above her head, “Wears a blue uniform with a bunch of accessories and has a stupid, cocky attitude.”
“Oh, are you talking about Rogue?”
“I guess,” Nya tapped her chin, “So that his name? It’s stupid, but he probably thinks it sounds cool and intimidating.”
“Do you know him?”
“Ugh,” Groaning Nya clenched her fist, “All I know is that he’s stealing my clients and he’s an asshole. Is there any way you can get him kicked out of The Crossroads?”
“Uh,” Mr. Frohicky looked nervous, “I don’t really interfere with the residents. Especially the ones that could very easily hurt me.” His eyes dropped to Nya’s clawed hand, flexing instinctively, “But um… I’ll see what I can do.”
“Relax, it was just a joke. I wouldn’t expect you too do anything. And don’t worry, I don’t have any reason to hurt you anyways. As of now.”
He didn’t look comforted by the implications, if you do something to get on my bad side, I have no problem with attacking you. Gulping, he nodded quickly and excused himself, muttering something about checking on contestants.
“Rogue…” Nya tested the name out on her tongue, it obviously wasn’t his real name, but that made sense, Nya went under an alias as aswell. “Stupid name for a stupid person.”
“Before I take up this job, I just have one question for you, Fedulian.” Jay said to the black and green snake, still holding the flier he had grabbed before the woman had been able to get it.
“What issss it?”
“The other bounty hunter, the one whose been here for a while, what’s her name?” He asked.
“Are you talking about Sssiyokoy?” Fedulian flicked his tongue, “Did sshhe have a masssk with a bunch of teeth and metal clawssss on her handss?”
“Yes, that’s her,” Jay snapped his fingers. “How long has she been here for? What’s her specialty?”
“Ssshhe’s been advertisssing hersssself for atleast three yearssss, sshhe’s quite talented.” He responded, “And her ssspecialty issss kidnapping and killing. Very, very ssstrong, sshe issss. You wouldn’t want to get in her way. When sshe makesss enemiesss, it never goesss well for them.”
“Hmm,” A flicker of lightning cracked between Jay’s fingertips, “Well, she has some new competition in town, and I’m not afraid to challenge her.
“You really ssshould be,” The serpentine repeated, looking skeptical, “Ssshe’ss built up a reputation for a reasson.”
“We’ll see, we’ll see.”
On the roof, Nya crouched, observing the conversation. Clearly this guy really was an asshole. Cocky, bold, and annoying, Nya would have no problem with taking him out, he deserved it anyways. She’d only just met him and she already hated him.
Nya trailed behind Rogue, following him quietly as he returned to his home. When he finally stopped in front of a building which was seperated into a bunch of small squares, each for rent, she pounced. Dropping from the roof of a house behind him, she stalked up to him without almost no sound. He realized too late that she was behind him, and spun around to see her conjuring a swirling mass of water which she hurled towards him.
“Woah!” He exclaimed as the water hit him and made him fall onto the gravelly ground
“Hello, Rogue.” Nya growled,
“Ooo, you know my name, I’m famous!” He cooed while he began to slowly in backwards. As his back hit the stone wall, he let out a nervous laugh, and his voice had a note of worry in it when he spoke again, “What can I do for you?”
“I want nothing from you,” She replied. “I just heard you saying you’re not afraid to challenge me. You should know that you’re going to regret that.”
“Have you been stalking me? Am I interesting to you? Are you a fan of mine?” He cooed.
He can’t shut up. Thought Nya. Even though he was clearly nervous, he was still trying to make jokes.
“Cut the bullshit,” Crouching down, she shot her hand forward and grabbed his neck, “Stay out of my way and I’ll have no reason to hurt you.” She tightened her grip, raising him up by his neck, “But if you take anymore of my jobs I’ll make sure you regret it, and that’s not an empty threat.”
Rogue desperately clawed at her hand, trying to make her loose her grip, she could just barely see his eyes through the thick red glass of his goggles, but they looked frantic. Once his hands dropped and Nya felt him starting to go limp, she released her hold on his neck, leaving small lines of ripped, blood stained fabric. After she’d let go and he’d fallen to the ground, she leaned forward and whispered next to his ear, “Got it?”
He didn’t reply, save for a few coughs as he clutched his throat.
Nya slid back into the shadows, watching him.
Once he had regained his strength, he shakily stood up and pulled his hat back over his ponytail, breathing quickly. Rogue turned to stare out of the alley, close to where Nya was standing and let out one last quiet cough. He turned around and headed for the door, muttering something about psychos.
Since Jay has a cool outfit as Rogue, I also wanted to give Nya one, I think it would be kinda wierd to just not give a visual of her appearance throughout the whole story, so here’s a quick design of Siyokoy:
her design is inspired a lot by Filipino culture, as is her name, but also by the Lowland Tenakth from Horizon: Forbidden West