Out of the Ashes/Chapter 2

Chapter 2
Quake snapped awake and leaped to his feet in a blur of motion. His heart-light flashed rapidly, his body tensed, and his audio receptors strained. All he heard was deep laughter coming from downstairs, where the dining area and lobby were.

After waiting several seconds, his body slackened and Quake sighed at himself, sheathing his knife. He always kept it within arms reach, just in case. A glance at the light peaking through the window shutters informed him it was well past dawn. A quick glance out the window confirmed that he was, in fact, up late. He reached for his swords to strap them on, but then paused. Walking in cloaked and with a pair of swords strapped to himself last night had caused a bit of a commotion. With a slight frown, Quake set them back down and walked out the door, locking it before closing it.

Upon entering the dining room, the source of noise became extremely obvious. It was the four men that he had previously designated as trouble. Quake decided he would approach them after getting his breakfast.

As he walked towards the table, his mind quickly ran through all the facts he knew about the four. One, they were all Varen, a powerless, Toa like species that were the everyday workers and thugs of the world. As a Toa, Quake figured he might be able to pass off as a Varen, even with his armor being the ebony color it was. Two, they all had the same scratched out marking on the left shoulder, meaning they were former employers for either a rich person or a powerful gang, and had recently left their former occupation. Three, none were armed or appeared particularly hostile. With a fake smile, Quake sat down at the one empty chair at the table. "G'morning. You four seem like an interesting group."

The mouth of the Varen directly across from Quake hung open for a few seconds before snapping shut. "You have got to be kidding me," The Varen said, a statement at which Quake frowned. "Yesterday you walk in acting all secretive and cool, and today you just walk up and say hi?" Quake's frown deepened. He obviously hadn't thought this out very well. The Varen to the left of Quake continued the first's statement. "Well let us tell ya this: If you're some Earth Toa peacekeepin' Sheriff, we ain't gonna talk with ya." Quake looked at each Varen, and then just took a bite out of fruit and winced at the intensely sweet flavor. His taste buds eventually adjusted, and Quake chuckled inwardly as the four Varen now stared at him, confounded.

Quake's plate was empty, and the Varen were finishing their meals now. For fifteen minutes, they'd stared at him and ate in puzzled silence. Now that they seemed about ready to ignore them, he decided to speak. "I may be a Toa of earth, but I am only one by species, not by ethics." "Whoa, now hold on." It was the Varen who had first spoke previously. "Since when do Toa not follow their oh-so-special code? I mean, no Toa ever does that!" Quake shrugged. "Oh, I imagine there was a time when I followed the code. But you see, I don't remember any of that."

The group was incredulous about that idea. "So, what do you remember?" The apparent spokesman asked. Quake paused. He actually wanted information from them, not the other way around. But maybe he could still get what he wanted. "Nothing." A long pause. "Nothing?" "Not one thing. People call me Quake, because I don't know my real name." An even longer pause. "Well. . .'Quake', good to meet you, I suppose. I'm Renua, these three hooligans are my work partners. Well, we aren't really working anymore. . ." "Actually," Quake said, "I wanted to ask you about where you worked. I want to get away from these islands, and I don't care how much work I have to do to get away." Renua frowned. "We all want to leave. But. . .you do seem capable of actually doing it."

"Actually, Renua, the rest of us don't enjoy talking to strange people." Said the Varen to Quake's right. "And we still have plans for today." Renua shrugged. "Alright, you guys go on ahead, then."

Renua seemed to be slightly more comfortable without his friends. Quake surmised that he didn't have the same boisterous nature they had, and found them irritating after a while.

"My former boss is a Steltian named Juhhar. He runs a legal renovation business on the island Droschan. We worked as security guards for him and his customers."

"Sounds pretty good. Why'd you quit?"

Renua grimaced. He obviously didn't want that question asked. "Let's just say I didn't quite agree with all of Juhhar's methods. He's working to restore the Kerris Island Cluster to its former glory, if not well beyond that. The problem is, he's been moving people out of their homes, restoring buildings when not asked, and charging for said buildings." "Hm, sounds real fair." Quake said, his voice filled with sarcasm. "I think he's just eccentric, honestly," Renua said. "He's going to do his job of restoring the land no matter what, and he expects all those wardens from the Order of Altronia to take care of the people." "In other words, clear out the bad and shut up the good, in order to bring more people in. Sounds like he's trying to make some sort of reform." "It's extort-" Renua cut himself short. Apparently he hadn't wanted to say anything negative about the Juhhar and his company. Was he afraid that if he did Juhhar would cause him trouble? "Extortion? Come on, he may be charging some unfairly, but it sounds like he's leading the way to fix up this rotten place." Renua didn't comment, and after it was clear that Quake had no more questions, he said 'good luck to ya', and departed.

Quake stayed, running the information through his head. Maybe Renua wasn't annoyed with his friends. Maybe he was worried they'd say the wrong thing. Still, Quake had gotten what he had wanted. His next objective would be to investigate this Juhhar. And hope he's a good guy.