"Easy, easy there we don't want any trouble." The M.A.-Sonic spoke calmly with a nervous smile, while being surrounded by three female bounty hunters - one yellow Rabbit and two green Pronghorns.
Flash Back ( Boars Forge )
Swift and Calasear sat quietly Inside of the Dimauck's living room. They were pondering over a certain piece of information that came to light, Thomas isn't a servant to Beak's family, the Ohuseas. Why would the young snow leopard lie about where he came from? Did he think by revealing where he came from they wouldn't help him? Or was it something else entirely? These were the duo's thoughts.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" The Hedgehog and living sword simultaneously asked each other. "What, really?" once more they talked in unison, now looking at one another.
The sound of doors opening caught the duos attention. Anna came walking into the room while carrying a tray with two cups. "I thought I'd bring something for you to drink, considering everything that has been going on, I mean." The female Boar replied as she put the tray down on a small wooden table.
"Actually, I think I do need one, thank you Anna." Swift gratefully clasped a cup, he looked into it and saw it was water, yet the cup felt warm. The blue Hedgehog raised a brow at the drink, he didn't expected this.
Anna saw the face Swift was making and so she elaborated. "We don't have the means to make juice or tea, only water and warm it up."
"Oh..." was the M.A.-Sonic's response. In a way, it made sense to him with the limited things to eat and drink. This water must have come from melted ice so the Boars could get something to fill their thirsts.
While the mammals were having their hot water in relaxing silence, Calasear was still mentally on the subject of Thomas. No matter how much he thought about it, he can't see the young snow Leopard having a malicious motive to not tell the truth. But one thing was true beyond a shadow of a doubt... Thomas was desperately trying to get away from something.
"Soooo, what were you two discussing?" Anna broke the silence, gaining their attention.
"We just recently found something that concerns an acquaintance of ours. We're trying to 'fill in' the holes, so to speak." Calasear spoke up for them, thus coming out of his own thoughts.
"Well, why don't you just ask them directly for the answers?"
What Anna suggested made Swift and Calasear go quiet. The solution was so simple they never considered it before, especially since the blue Hedgehog could run like the wind to the Prowler's home and back to the Forge. It would also give Swift a chance to eat something other than mushrooms.
Unknown Forest
"It's a good thing we kept this cloak around or else bounty hunters would recognize me easily." Said the M.A.-Sonic dashing through the unnamed forest.
"I second that notion."
Before the duo left, they informed the Dimaucks and Mari of where they were headed. When the young wizard heard of their destination and the person they spoke of, she wanted to come as well. But sadly for Mari, she was instructed to remain with the Boars until Swift and Calasear returned. Mari knew their reasons for not allowing her to come and so she stayed. Swift tried to reassure the Racoon that next time would be different.
"I feel kind of bad for not bringing Mari along." The M.A.-Sonic sadly spoke.
The living sword heard what his apprentice said, and as the Hedgehog's mentor he tried to comfort Swift. "You have nothing to feel bad about - we only left Mari for her own protection. If she came with, then we would unintentionally turn her into a target."
"I know..." started Swift.
"And we won't be at the Prowlers for too long." Calasear continued, the information about Thomas still fresh in his mind.
"I kno- haaaaa!!" The swordhog started again but then suddenly fell into a hole, which was hidden by a leaf covering. And now they were at rock bottom of this trap.
Swift just laid in his position for a few moments while blinking out of confusion. He slowly rose back to his feet as he rolled his right shoulder. "Who puts a pit trap in the middle of the forest?"
"Someone who lives here." Calasear wisely pointed out the obvious.
Any normal person couldn't climb the slippery walls of the this pit. But Swift wasn't like regular people, thanks to his incredible leg strength this would be an easy task for him to scramble out. The blue Hedgehog jumped from wall to wall while stepping higher with each jump and eventually landed at the top opening right in front of someone.
The individual in question was a green female pronghorn with yellow eyes. She wore black long pants and a black short sleeve shirt. What caught the duos attention was the purple gauntlets the deer was wearing. Confusion was clearly written all over the pronghorn's face.
"Sorry about that, didn't mean to scare you like that." Swift said with a smile trying to calm the startled lady down.
Calasear immediately became worried, he and Swift were supposed to avoid any witnesses. And for all they knew this deer could be- wait a moment... A pit trap in an unknown forest with no inhabitants as far as Wise Steel knew, and this deer seemingly coming... out... of...
"Swift she's a-!" Calasear shouted, but his warning was cut short by the Pronghorn.
"Clover, Bell, the bounty is out!!" the green deer called out names while cupping her hands to her mouth.
And thus, two more figures jumped down from the trees.
The one on Swift's right was another Pronghorn just like the one in front of him. But the only difference was that this one had purple eyes, wielding a pole with two curved blades at both ends. A scythe if he remembered correctly. The other difference was that she wore a black cloak that covered her legs. This was Clover.
To Swift's left was a yellow Rabbit with green eyes, who wore a light purple counterpart to the first Pronghorn's black clothing. And she even had her own light grey gauntlets. This was Bell.
"-Bounty Hunter..." Calasear finished his sentence in his thoughts.
Flash Back ends
"Did that sword just speak or am I going insane?" The yellow eyed Pronghorn asked to no one specific, looking back and forth between the hedgehog and the sword.
"Cassa, please focus on the matter at hand." Clover reminded the gauntlet wielding Deer, as they tightened their circle around the bounty leaving no room to escape.
"But she does raise a good question. If the thing is magic-" Bell started but was cut off by the source of conversation.
"Thing!?" Calasear's voice shook with such volume it caught everybody off guard, that included Swift himself. It was clear that Calasear was ticked-off. "I may have the form of a sword but I still possess a name, a will and soul of my own!!"
"Uhhhhh." Was the shared response of Cassa and the gauntlet wielding Rabbit. Can one really blame them? Who would respond to a talking sword going on like that. As for the other Bounty Hunter, her reaction wasn't as vocal but she did stand as still as a deer spotted in lights.
Suddenly Swift casually threw his mentor over Cassa's head, causing the circle of the three Bounty Hunters to keep their sights on the Sacred Blade. Calasear landed right back into Swift's hand, who had now escaped from the ambush's reach with this distraction. The Hedgehog then gave a mocking bow to his kidnappers. "It was nice meeting you ladies but we have someone important to meet up with."
The swordhog turned his back to the Bounty Hunters and ran like the wind. As a result, he kicked up dust that temporarily blinded the Bounty Hunters. When the dust settled down the Hedgehog was gone.
"After him!!" Cassa pointed in the direction that their bounty ran off to.
A hand suddenly stopped Cassa from pursuing Swift. The one who stopped Cassa was her fellow Pronghorn. "There is no need for us to go after him." The purple eyed Bounty Hunter responded rather calmly.
"What are you saying Clover!? We have to go after him, didn't you see how fast that Hog was!? If we don't catch him-"
"Did you forget who's forest we're in?" Clover questioned. As she walked closer to a nearby bush, and sheathed her scythe. Clover turned her head towards her fellow Bounty Hunter Cassa who had a confused yet annoyed expression. The yellow Rabbit scratched behind her ears.
"Our forest obviously, but why would... Oh!" Cassa's confusion quickly changed to realization, like remembering something very obvious.
Bell came to the same conclusion as Cassa, as she stopped looking at the ground. "Our other traps."
"Correct." Clover simply said with a smile. The purple eyed Deer used her weapon to poke into the bush, and struck a wooden plank. When Clover gently pressed on it, it triggered a surprise for the unsuspecting Hedgehog.
With Swift & Calasear
"That was too easy." Said Swift while running with the wind blowing his quills.
"And that's what worries me." Responded the living sword. With all his knowledge, events like they had just witnessed wasn't usually so easily to deal with. It gave Calasear the impression that something was off.
Swift rolled his eyes at his mentor. "What could possibly-!" The blue Hedgehog was cut off, by a wall suddenly appearing and smashing into him. Swift was stopped right in his tracks, as he regained his footing and took in the sight. This wall had to be 10 or 14 feet tall.
"You were saying?"
The M.A.-Sonic could practically hear the smugness in Calasear's voice. Smugness was his thing. When he did it, it was funny but when his partner did it, for some reason it annoyed him.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah you were right. As usual, so what do you think brought this out of nowhere? Magic?" Swift quickly changed the subject while subtly stopping Caslasear from 'jabbing' him.
Calasear knew what his student was doing but he still replied. "Mmmm, no not really look at it more closely."
Swift came closer to the wall, putting his free hand on it. After a few moments he realized something. "It's made of wood?"
"Correct."
"And that means what?" Swift said, not understanding the point Calasear was trying to get across.
The talking sword just sighed at his apprentice for not paying more attention in his lessons. If he had hands, the first thing he would do was a face palm. The second thing would be massaging the space between his brows to release the centuries of pent up tension. "It means the wall wasn't made by magic, instead by the work of regular people." Calasear exhaustedly answered the blue Hedgehog.
"Really? But who would-" Swift had a flashback of the three Bounty Hunters, and quickly put two and two together. "Oooohhhh, now it makes sense."
"Thank goodness." Wise Steel felt relieved that his teachings was helping in sharpening the Hedgehog's head. And that all that effort hadn't gone to waste.
"Well however they managed to set this thing up is a major mystery. But we can think about it some other time, right?" questioned The M.A.-Sonic, as he turned to his right side to run around the wall.
"Agreed, our destination is not far from here now."
The Hedgehog slightly bended his legs, and took off while leaving a trail of dust behind. What Swift nor Calasear knew was that the wall extended for miles around the whole forest, thus encircling any unsuspecting prey.
After three minutes, Swift came back to where he started his run. "Alright, so going around it won't work. Let's try going through." The M.A.-Sonic thoughtfully said about the obstacle in their way.
Just when Swift was going to unleash a Soaring Lance, a strange sound caught his attention stopping him from breaking through the wall.
"What is tha-?" Swift thought mid-way before Calasear urgently called out.
"Get out of the way!!"
The swordhog did just that, he side-stepped to his right as something black flew by him. The object was the scythe that belonged to Clover, if he correctly remembered the owner. It's blade was now lodged into the wooden wall, as the Hedgehog turned to the direction of where it came from.
And lone behold the three Bounty Hunters were closing in on the M.A.-Sonic. When they were just a few feet from him, Swift noticed that the ones with the gauntlets were huffing and puffing like they had just run across the whole of Galotum. The other one seemed to be doing a little better, though Swift could see she was taking longer and more controlled breaths.
Neither side spoke a word, with the three Bounty Hunters still collecting themselves from their jog. Swift just stood in the same place where the wall had stopped him, like the arrival of the hunters didn't pose any new danger. Swift decided to break the silence. "Are you three alright?"
"Just- 'inhale' give- 'exhale' us- 'inhale' a- 'exhale' moment." Replied Cassa hunched over with a raised left hand between her panting breaths.
"Why aren't you attacking us?" Bell continued for the green Deer while gaining control of her breathing. The question only made Swift raise a brow. "Situations like these are normally the part where the Bounty either escapes or take us out."
"And?"
"And... You're not doing either of those, are you surrendering or something? I'd figured with that much money on your head, you would've put up more of a fight." The yellow Rabbit snorted.
"Well, despite what you people may think- Yikes!" Started the swordhog but he was roughly interrupted by Cassa throwing a right hook at Swift's face, narrowly gracing his nose. But the Pronghorn followed it up with a barrage of punches. In return Swift avoided them thanks to his swiftness, and well we'll give his mentor's training some credit too.
"Good thinking there, Bell! Keep talking with the bounty so one of us could take the opening to attack!" exclaimed Cassa between attacks.
"I... I didn't-" Bell started but got cut off by her fellow Bounty Hunter again.
"By Galotum, just- stay- still already!!" The yellow eyed Pronghorn shouted, obviously becoming more frustrated with every miss.
"Behind you!!" Wise Steel called out to the M.A.-Sonic. Swift whipped his head around on instinct, and right behind him was Clover with her scythe ready to strike. He changed his sights back to Cassa and kicked her away while reverse jumping back over Clover, thus narrowly avoiding losing his head. All this happened in a split second for the Bounty Hunters.
"The rumours were true, he is as fast as the wind." were Clover's thoughts, as she prepared her best plan of attack.
Swift landed soundlessly back on the ground as he established himself on guard once again. The Bounty Hunters had lost their chance to take the Hedgehog's head.
The two Pronghorns shared a small glance with each other, as they awkwardly circled around the blue Hedgehog. None of them said a word while keeping their eyes on the blue target. For a few moments, nothing happened... until the Deers charged at Swift with the intent to 'end' him.
The swordhog only used the surface of Calasear to block and push away his two assaulters. Despite being the ones that attacked him first, Swift didn't have any grouch or reason to harm them. If it was a Monster Knight then he would have finished them. But these three were living, breathing people and he had made a personal promise to himself to never take a life if he could help it.
As Swift and the two Pronghorns continued exchanging blows and slashes, the M.A.-Sonic noticed that something was off, like he forgot something important about this little work out. Then it hit him, it wasn't something it was-
"Now!" The Pronghorns loudly called out.
-Someone.
In an instant Cassa had Calasear between her gauntlets and Clover's scythe was inches from the Hedgehog's neck. Swift was shocked to say the least, he greatly underestimated these three Bounty -yes, now remembering there were three!
A shadow overcame Swift, causing him to look up out of reflex. Bell was above his head. The Rabbit pulled her right arm back, ready to deliver her haymaker right hook; and bathe in the pile of Swift's bounty.
To the Bounty Hunters things seemed like victory was theirs, oh if only they knew how wrong they were. A sudden gust of wind made both Cassa and Clover shut their eyes. This will be the starting point of their failure, as both Pronghorns felt pain while simultaneously being pushed back from Swift. They also heard a sort of clang.
The two Bounty Hunters were slowly regaining their bearings, with the first thing they saw being Bell on the ground, face first with their bounty sitting on her like some sort of over sized pillow. It was a truly an unusual sight in their line of work.
What came out of the Hedgehog's mouth left them both thrown off and voiceless for an extra few seconds. "You two can relax, I'm not going to hurt your friend." The swordhog said without hostility in his voice but instead calmness. He even lazily waved his free hand to calm them. In all their lives the trio of Bounty Hunters had never been in a situation like this, this was a first.
"Helllloooo! Are you people going to say something, or are you going to wait until spiders lay their eggs in your mouths?"
That brought the two back with Cassa giggling. "You... seriously want to 'talk' with us?" Clover being the first to speak
"Yes." Said Swift with a nod.
Clover's face shifted from speechless to suspicious of the Hedgehog. "Why? What could you possibly gain from conversing with us."
"That's what I was thinking." thought Wise Steel, wondering why would Swift wish to talk with the assaulters. So he decided to wait for his apprentice's answer.
"Well for starters, do you have 'anything' that isn't related to mushrooms to eat?" The blue Hedgehog shrugged his answer simply.
The reaction to Swift's reply varied. Clover looked at the M.A.-Sonic excruciatingly, Cassa held a hand over her mouth but her red cheeks exploded letting out a flood of giggles. Calasear was racking his brain why Swift would ask such a question. And Bell, who didn't say anything through the whole conversation turned her head to look at Swift and ask for clarity.
"Are you messing with us?"
Swift only gave a flat look as his stomach growled. Thus answering that he wasn't messing with them. "Is that answer enough?" replied the blue Hedgehog while maintaining his flat face.
"Did you skip breakfast knowing we'd be going to the Prowlers?" asked the talking sword, still boggled by Swift's simple question. Despite knowing him for over nine months, this Hedgehog managed to still throw him off. In a way it was both refreshing and frustrating to him.
But Calasear would never reveal this to Swift. Not unless he wanted to increase the size of the Hedgehog's arrogance, it was barely controllable as is.
"Wait... did that sword just speak!?" Cassa couldn't help to point this out, how can an inanimate object talk? It actually reminded her of the stories that her mother told her about.
"Yeah, he did, it's because he's Calasear." The M.A.-Sonic said simply with a shrug like it was nothing new to him.
"Calasear!?" Both Cassa and Bell exclaimed at the revelation of the sword's name. Clover on the other hand kept quiet but her mouth was wide open.
Calasear just sighed at the situation that his apprentice had put them in. He then turned his focus to the three Bounty Hunters and spoke, in a steely voice. "He speaks the truth, I am indeed Calasear."
The now confirmed Calasear had left the Bounty Hunters speechless. Although they have heard the stories of King Leo and Calasear, only Cassa believed that they existed. But for the legend himself to confirm that they were real would hit the nail on head.
The living sword didn't just stop there as he spoke again. "Now I ask, what will you three do now?"
That certainly got them thinking. What would they do now with this knowledge? Being the most strategic of the three, Clover carefully thought this through. On one hand, if they continued to pursue him there would be no end and it'll stay as a stalemate. If they were to take the Hedgehog down, then they would have to leave a sedative in his food. But then a random thought passed her mind.
The Hedgehog was wielding Calasear.
A Sacred Blade that can only be used by the most truthful. And since the legends have been confirmed to be real, then getting an answer out of their target should be as easy as breathing.
"Blue Hedgehog." Clover spoke in a voice so serious, that it caught The M.A.-Sonic and her fellow Bounty Hunters attention.
"Yeah?" answered Swift crossing his legs still on top of Bell, and curiously raising a brow at the Pronghorn. "I'm blue and the only Hedgehog in eye sight so..."
"Tell me, why do you have a bounty your head?" Clover completely ignored Swift's attempt to lighten the mood. She was more focused on the criminal's answer to her hidden confusion.
Swift didn't say anything right away, he only locked gazes with Calasear, as if silently asking him for his opinion for this. Wise Steel only moved his eyes to Clover then back to Swift a few times.
"Well to put it simply, me and Calasear are going to over throw Lee-ana." Swift answered like it wasn't too hard to do.
The answer most certainly didn't fetch any reaction from the Bounty Hunters, until it finally clicked in their minds.
"WHAT!! Over throw Queen Lee-ana!?" Bell and Casa exclaimed in perfect sync. And their mouths where stretch so far it looked liked their jaws would fall off.
Clover didn't say anything though, just as slacked jawed as her comrades. In all her years as a Bounty Hunter, Clover had never heard such an absurd thing as to over throw Queen Lee-ana. To make it even more insane, the Hedgehog was telling the truth.
Does this 'criminal' even know how many people have tried to do the exact same thing? Although not many if her memory served her right, perhaps three or four rebellions. And they all failed their mission.
But those groups didn't have the aid of Leo's mentor. And since Calasear knew Queen Lee-ana, these two would have the best chance of accomplishing something as delusional as that.
With that thought Clover started her usual giggling, which then turned into full blown laughter.
Swift, Calasear and the other two Bounty Hunters were left dumfounded by the purple eyed Pronghorn. The girls being more confused than the Galotum's most wanted. Sure she giggled quite often, but in all their years of living with Clover they had never heard her laugh with such volume.
"Hahahaha-Normaly-Hahaha-If I-Hahaha-heard anybody said-Hahaha-What you just said-Hahaha-I would have thought they'd have a death wish!" Clover exploded in episodes while clutching her aching stomach.
"Thanks for having so much faith in me." The M.A.-Sonic rolled his eyes to the giggling Deer.
After four more minutes of Clover going through her laughing fit, she quickly regained her composure as she calmly talked to Swift, almost with her usual serious expression. "Can you kindly get off my friend?"
"Do you expect us to believe you?" Calasear responded as if she was mad. The bounty on Swift's head was too high to turn down for people in her line of work. Only if they were insane, buffoons or Bounty Hunters with already too much money to know what to do with.
As if Clover was reading Wise Steel's mind, she dropped her weapon in front of the duo's eyes leaving everyone shocked by her gesture, especially her comrades.
"Cassa, Bell... This one isn't criminal." Clover said to her fellow Bounty Hunters.
"Sister, are you... sure about them?" The yellow eyed Pronghorn asked while sluggishly standing back on her feet.
"I am." The Deer turned her head towards her sister with a small smile. "After all, the Hedgehog wields Wise Steel himself."
Cassa didn't get the 'queue' right away. But then her face lit up like a candle finally understanding the meaning. "Ooooooohhhhh, I get it now." She remembered that Calasear could only be wielded by very honest people. This meant this guy must be too honest to be a criminal.
Clover changed her gaze to the still grounded Rabbit that Swift used as furniture. "Bell?"
Bell slowly raised a numb arm, still lingering with pins and needles from the bounty's booty. "Well, ever since the sword revealed himself, I've seen the picture of what handsome here really is like." The yellow Rabbit pointed with her thumb at Swift.
"Handsome?" The swordhog raised a brow at Bell's choice of words.
"Do you two believe me now?" Clover folded her arms behind her, asking once more without hostility or holding her weapon of choice.
Swift stood up as he offered his hand to Bell. She looked between the opened palm and Swift's smirking face. Bell drifted into his eyes, but shook her head and reached up to take his hand as he helped her up.
"No hard feelings?" Asked the M.A.-Sonic, a little worried of what the yellow Rabbit might say.
"None, except for your spiky butt. Unless you did something really nasty to my sisters." Bell casually replied with a thumb pointing at the two Pronghorns.
"Oh thank... wait." Swift stopped, and looked between Bell and the Pronghorns repeatedly as he asked. "Sisters?"
The yellow Rabbit giggled at Swift's confusion as she elaborated. "Not sisters by blood goofball, but we have been living with each other since we were born."
"Really?" Swift and Calasear asked simultaneously.
Casa strolled over to the two while overhearing the conversation her sister and the Hedgehog were having. The yellow eyed Deer filled in the last part for Bell though. "Indeed," Casa spread out her arms, "This forest is our home and a maze of traps for the Bounties."
"But sometimes one of us forgets where the switches and traps are." Bell replied with a teasing tone while slowly moving her eyes to Casa.
At first Swift didn't see it, but then he suddenly caught on, and gave the same teasing gaze as the yellow fist fighter. "Oh, I wonder which one of you is the forgetful one?"
"Hey! I'm not that forgetful! Right, Clover?"
Clover just shut her eyes and turned away, without continuing in the conversation. This made Casa become more and more nervous as her sister stayed silent. "Clover... why aren't you saying anything?" The Pronghorn was sweating bullets.
The purple eyed Deer shifted her gaze to the nervous Bounty Hunter. And then gave a smirk to Casa. The fist-fighting Pronghorn's nervousness turned into confusion. She still didn't understand what was going through Clover's head. Nor what the other two were doing to her.
Then Casa heard.. chuckling? The Bounty Hunter turned her focus to the source of it. And it was coming from Swift and Bell with crooked grins. Now their chuckling had changed into full on laughter as they keeled over.
Casa was still confused for a few seconds, until it she realized what was going. "You..." Casa's anger was raising, evident by the tone of her voice. "Guys were..." The fist-fighting Deer clenched her gauntlets until they were uncontrollably shaking. "Messing with me!!" She erupted finishing her sentence.
"We were!" Bell replied between her laughing with Swift.
"Har Har, make fun of the youngest. That's it! You're going to pay Bell!!" Casa roared like a lioness having their tail stepped on and chased the two jesters in a vengeful way.
Clover just watched the three running around the area, Swift and Bell easily managing to outpace the payback-seeking Pronghorn. Clover let all this transpire with a smile slowly edging along her face.
"This brings back memories." Thought the purple eyed Deer. With the sight of her younger sister still pursuing the Rabbit and Hedgehog. "We might get along just fine."
When Cassa finally stopped chasing the two jesters, including Calasear clutched along for the ride against his will, the three Bounty Hunters decided to bring Galotum's most wanted back to their home. As the group were making their way, Swift initiated a few conversations with the Bounty Hunters. He learned that Cassa was a pretty funny girl, which caused them to get along instantly. The two also made a few cracks at Calasear. Bell was also easy to get along with, however she was a little more respectful towards Calasear having grown up with the Old Lore instilled on her heart. Then there was Clover, who Swift knew from just one glance that she was the leader of the group. She had a serious, intelligent and also reliable 'older sister' feel too from how she carried herself.
While they were coming closer to the sisters' residence, Swift couldn't help but ask what had been on his mind. "I have to ask." Swift started, gaining the female Bounty Hunters half-attention. "Why are you three being so trusting of me?"
"I'm not grateful or anything, it's just that normally Bounty Hunters would jump at the chance of becoming rich with my bounty."
Calasear understood what his apprentice was trying to say. He wasn't rude, he was just being cautious. After all, he had only met these three mere moments ago.
"Like I explained before." Clover spoke, without looking at the M.A.-Sonic. "You being Calasear's wielder shows how honest you were about rebelling against Lee-ana, and it made me reconsider."
This was another thing he had noticed about Clover. Among everyone he had encountered in Galotum, Clover never addressed Lee-ana with Queen at the beginning. The living sword had also perceived this choice of speech.
"And..." Clover stopped walking as she spoke. "You are not the first bounty we have encountered that was falsely accused."
"Really?"
"Yeah, we only take in guys that deserve their bounties." Bell came in for Clover to further elaborate. "But we learned that the hard way with one of our first jobs." The Rabbit's voice sunk with a sad weight.
Swift and Calasear saw that Bell's sorrowful tone reflected her sisters' faces. What ever happened within their past, it must have been a rather unpleasant experience.
The blue Hedgehog had never liked an atmosphere filled with sorrow. So for his and everybody's sake, he decided to change the subject to something else.
"How much money do you three make anyway?"
Cassa rubbed the back of her neck at the awkward question. "Not enough, we mostly target small-time bounties and people rarely find themselves wandering into this forest. But it's better than nothing."
"It wouldn't help if the bad guys knew where us Bounty Hunters lived, so we decided that one of us would go to the nearest town market that sold supplies." Bell continued for Cassa, giving a description of their daily lives.
Calasear saw what Swift was doing so he followed his lead. "What of your living arrangements, surly it's a proper place to live in?"
That comment lifted the atmosphere, if the smiles on Bell and Cassa were anything to go by. And if Swift and Calasear had the chance, they would have seen a smile lighting up Clover's face.
"Our fathers and Bell's uncle built this house that we call home. They used the wood from the forest itself to make it possible." Clover fondly explained picturing their house with pride.
"And don't forget about the river we use for a water supply." Cassa reminded
Cassa and the two nodded in agreement.
"Mind if I ask what you three did for fun while growing up?" The M.A.-Sonic continued, wandering whether these three lived most of their lives with a close family member like he had with his Grandfather. He felt even more relatable to them, since this was the first time Swift met people with similar lifestyles to his.
None of them responded, instead they raised their chins in thought. Then Clover gave an answer. "Our fathers did carve these small animals from wood for us to play with when we were younger."
Bell rubbed her chin, "I believe we still have those somewhere in the attic."
"Those were good times." Cassa commented with bright smile.
Swift was happy that he could brighten their day a little, since the three of them couldn't recieve the bounty on his head now. It would have definitely left them set for life. But these three sisters were good people that fought the real criminals instead of just taking money anyway they could. And for that, Swift and Calasear were honoured to have met them.
"Ahhh, we're here." The scythe user said catching the groups attention. "Swift, Calasear, allow me to introduce our home."
One look at the house and you could tell it was made entirely of wood. No colours at all, the roof, the outside walls, heck Swift didn't have to see the inside to know. And no surprise, the front door was -wait who was that laying on the ground?
"Who's that sleeping on the ground?" Swift pointed out to Clover and her sisters. They followed his index finger and saw the black cloaked figure face down on the ground.
"Good question." replied the purple eyed Deer raising the alarm as she pulled out her humongous scythe from out of nowhere.
"Where was she hiding that?" The duo shared the same thought. How did Clover manage that? Swift turned his gaze to Cassa and Bell for an answer. They just gave the M.A.-Sonic and living sword a shrug of their shoulders.
As the group of four strolled closer to the unknown individual, they could make out the contours of the person's face, still keeping their gourds up in case of any unpleasant surprises.
The sleeper was a female white Tiger wearing a straw hat, covered in a cloak. And from closer inspection, the cloak was barely concealing a sword's handle. It appeared to be cross-wrapped in black cloth in such a way to show small ornate red squares within the wrapping.
And if the dirt on her bruise-covered face was anything to go by, she must have come out of some kind of really rough battle.
If Swift hadn't been only inches away from the she-Tiger, he wouldn't have caught what she stuttered under her breath.
"Lord... Genjouru."