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Stoking the Fire

Even if peace was something that people cherished, it wasn't the case for Diamondback's Nest resident crocodilian. After the Arachne situation done, Karkas had nothing to do in the past year except maintaining the Wanderer's guild in the neighboring town, which was the same town he went to in the Asterios job. He and Raine knew that their presence there was noticed when they took Asterios out of the ruins and grabbed the treasures within, one of which, a long two-handed sword, was sheathed on his otherwise naked back.

He was not that interested in living peacefully in a town he helped found, preferring to do the guild's jobs himself instead of recruits. While his relations with the others were still the same, if not improved, he was still fixated with the one reason why he was still alive: Asran.

Even after they had become a trading town with people coming from all eight directions of the wind trade, stay, and otherwise drink, he still had no luck about Asran's whereabouts. He seemed to disappear after tricking Karkas, with not much of him came out even after years of travel. Karkas suspected that he had died, but somehow, his guts told him that the elusive rat person was still alive and tricking people for his own gain. He felt so, but a year with the group made him felt like he wanted to leave everything behind and start anew, with Narati and Raine.

On Narati, Karkas wouldn't believe himself a year ago, but now, he felt comfortable around Fa'ars, and learned not to assume many Fa'ars to be his subject of vengeance. He looked at some Fa'ar children playing happily at the park while their mother looked at them nearby. One other problem that he had with them was his appearance, which was imposing and terrifying for some, but considered 'tiny' by other crocodilians. He somehow proved them that he had a swimmer's physique when he could swim upstream faster than them, though.

Despite of that, he still considered himself a heavy-hitter, apparent with his weapon of choice. He wanted action, yet at the same time tried not to get into trouble. It was a conflicting life, but he tried not to get stressed about it.

But then, as much as he tried to find Asran, a discovery and a rumor unexpectedly came to him, and it caught him unaware.

One night, after finishing his work for the day and handing it over to the night crew, he went back to Diamondback's Nest using a horse carriage, but before getting into it, he overheard a pair of humans stumbling into the bar, both were injured and somehow very angry. Karkas usually ignored people like them, but then, they talked.

"Ah, fucking hell! That fucking worm-tail really did it!" said one of them. "I should've known that little shit is trying to fuck me over!"

"Calm down. It's lucky that we survive that ambush. But seriously, though, a Fa'ar couldn't have called that much people or even cause them to trust him."

"That's why I'm gonna break that little thing's face when I meet him," said the angry one. "Just imagine! A Fa'ar, mocking me on a cliff like a fucking king!"

Karkas somehow wanted to believe something about the method, that it was his target's modus operandi in tricking people into believing them. But another part of him did not want to believe that it was Asran. Somehow, curiosity got the best of him, both because of that and his need to keep them quiet, before they caused trouble.

The croc approached them slowly and silently, without warning them. After he felt it was close enough, he said, "What are you two bickering about in the middle of the night? You don't want others to get the wrong idea, right?"

"Sorry, croc. My friend's a little drunk..."

"Drunk, my fucking ass!" the human turned towards the croc. "Hey, asshole. Stay out of our fucking business. I've been duped by a fucking worm-tail, and I don't want to be lectured, especially by someone who is clearly a fucking barbarian!"

"Hey, what the fuck, man," said his friend.

"Don't 'what the fuck' me! I'm gonna go to the bar and fucking drink my fill out and fuck some hookers while I'm at it!"

Karkas sighed, then stared at his friend. The other human just gestured towards his friend and shrugged. Karkas then balled his fist and said, "Hey, asshole. I'm not done with you."

"Huh? You want a go, croc? Come..."

Karkas could not find a way to control his own strength or even measure how a punch from a beast race like him could hurt or kill a human, but as he punched the human before he was aware, he realized that it was still too strong, and just one punch threw the human to the side and made him out cold after one punch. The human turned towards his friend, worried that it was a little bit too much. He sighed in relief when his friend was only unconscious and did not break anything.

"Better than getting into trouble with the rodent residents," said Karkas. "Even then, he has a right to be angry. You see...I somehow suspect that the Fa'ar you're talking about is the same one who almost killed me."

"When was that?"

"Years ago, and I guess he did the same thing again. Tell me, what's he looks like? Is he black-furred, with brownish red eyes?"

"That's one way to put it, but many Fa'ars look like that. Oh, I guess this might help. The tip of his tail was cut and he had a slight twitch on his head."

Karkas realized who the human had met, and, suppressing his own anger, he pulled out a pouch of muns, gave it to the human, and said, "Find somewhere to sleep and eat tonight. Don't drink."

"We won't." After looking at the mun pouch, he looked back to Karkas and said, "Hey, croc."

"Huh?"

"Do whatever you do to him, you understand. Hit him the hardest, and let him know that his debts are due."

"Hmph. I'll make sure of that."

As the human left the scene, Karkas walked to his horse carriage, his rage boiling. He pulled out his sword and walked to a nearby tree, where with a mighty roar, he cut the tree with one swing, cutting it clean off and made it fell to the ground. His face, full of rage, growled in anger. His pupils were basically a small line now. He looked more like a true beast than a sentient crocodile man.

"I've got you now, you motherfucker," said Karkas. "You cannot run from me forever, Asran, not when I'm still alive. You hear me, Asran! I'm going to hunt you down, even if I have to go around the Earth to do it!"

Another roar, loud enough to wake people up, convinced them that a fire had been relit.

Karkas, the crocodilian hunting for a Fa'ar, had found his target, and the debt was due.