A few months have passed since the incident at the university of an illegal slave traction being held within. The main guard Ashton was unfortunately not found yet but has been confirmed to have fled from Sarydia as his home in the town was ransacked and cleared out of many valuables, most notably the paperwork regarding of where his works was located at. The guards who were captured were imprisoned and sentenced to lifelong charges for both slave exchange and the auformity of assualting minors.

The twins Shade and Kitsuno, alongside with the young mage Liam, had a field day explaining what had happened. Shade and Kitsuno were worried that they were going to be fired from more reckless behavior, and on Shade's end of public indecency, but with Liam and Professor Gordan backing them up on their story, they were let go of all charges. Zhutto, while still a bit crossed for Shade losing her temper again, he let this one slide due to slave trade being a serious offense in Sarydia.

Liam was appraised from Wilhelm for managing to stick to his ground and help the twin kitsunes and added this on as a bonus for his next exam. Though this did not come without a price as he needed to study harder as he stated that there will come a time where Liam will need to give it his all for graduation to expert ranks. The young mage was breaming with excitement and told his master he will do everything he could in his studies to become a powerful wizard he aimed to be.

Word quickly spread around Sarydia about Shade and Kitsuno on their recent actions from Jinto Bay and the university, but this favored in a good way as some grew to appreciate and respect the young girls. While some were unsure to their authority due to their age, there was plenty who wore a warm face around the two when they went out and about to patrol. Zhutto still had the two on light duty, mostly due to safety reasons. Another task that he had the two do was guard duty at the university.

Because of what had happened, the headmaster had inspected each and every guard that was left when he returned two days after the incident. Though, this was of ones who had stayed. Two other guards had "mysteriously" dissappeared. But those two failed to realized their names were on record and were tracked down by Maurice quickly and found fleeing on the eastern side of the city. After that, until a thorough screening has been done, the headmaster requested that Shade and Kitsuno were to act as reserve guards for the university.

In exchange for being guards at the university, Shade bartered with the headmaster in allowing the two to patrol the entire building on off hours to make sure nothing else was going on. He obliged should the duo find anything out of place. Little was he aware that this was a ploy for the twins to get a free learning experience in for the future, most notably for Kitsuno as she showed more interest in the studies over her elder sister Shade.

The two did find the observatory tower they missed out on last time, but with no one able to show them how to opperate it, they had to leave it alone. If anyone they knew had any indication to use it without getting someone from the main staff to stay after hours, it was their mage friend Liam. But he had been swamped with a lot of tasks with Wilhelm after passing his exams, so the trio didn't get to meet up as much as they wanted to.

But even so, Shade and Kitsuno were happy. They had a job, a place to stay, and felt free. Sure there may be some spiteful moments during the job here and there, with some not giving them the respect they deserved, to the moments where Shade had to control herself to not go ballistic on certain people that push one too many buttons. Both of them were living a steady life.

The day was still young and patrol duty was nearing the end. Shade had her spear resting against the edge of the rail on the bridge as she looked over the horizon towards the park. "Man, things have really been great so far. Hard work maybe, but damn would I not give it all up now." Kitsuno nods as she sways her legs back and forth as she was resting comfortable on the railing. "I know sis, we really made a mark here in Sarydia." She closes her eyes and lets out a breath of air before leaping down onto her feet and stretched her arms out. "So, what do you want to do Shade? Patrol time is almost up and I'm feeling eager today." Shade cocks an eyebrow as she looks at her sister. "Eager today eh? Something got you excited sis, cause usually that's my thing."

Kitsuno sticks her tongue out at her sister before brushing the backside of her leather tunic and adjusting it around her tail. "What, am I not allowed to be excited for something?" Shade reaches over with one hand and boops her little sister on the nose with one finger, "Ack- Hey!" The elder sibling giggles before grabbing her spear and starts walking to the other edge of the bridge. "I'm just teasing sis, you can be excited all you want. We both got things we wanna do after all." Kitsuno smiles before she started walking to catch up with her sister.

As they got off the bridge and walked away from the small reservoir, this was when the two spotted people rushing out of the way.

"Clear a path! MOVE! MOVE!!!"

This immediately caught their attention as many civilians saw the incoming medical escort team and rushed to the sides. Following behind them were and assorted color of mages who were actively taking turns using their magic to heal someone who was covered in sheets that was stained heavily with blood. Shade caught sight of this and looked around the crowd before catching one of the other mages that was rushing towards the hospital. "Hey, what the hell happened? What's going on?"

The mage moves aside after grabbing the end of her white robe from Shade and quickly made her footing towards the hospital without saying much of a word. "Shit... this can't be good." Kitsuno nudges a hand on Shade's back, "Well we won't figure out standing around sis, let's go!" Shade couldn't have agreed more and the duo took off after the escort team to the hospital.

The scene was looking grim as people had to make their way put of the path towards the hospital. Whatever had happened had the twins in utter confusion due to the importance of the escort. As they reached the hospital and the escort team made their way inside, the two followed them inside but were stopped immediately by hospital security. "Sorry girls, but no one else is allowed to enter in. Too many people will get in the way at this rate." Shade looks off through the small window on the door to see if she could see anything. Kitsuno looks at the bovine in the blue hospital security outfit, "Any idea what happened? Why were the mages rushing in like that?"

He sighs before looking back at the doors. "The mages don't normally come out to heal the person out of nowhere unless they have high importance. And in this case I am not allowed to say due to controversy." Shade and Kitsuno look at each other with worry. Given how it looked, both of them wipe the worried look of their faces and nod as Shade looks at the guard. "With any assistance, may we stand guard outside the hospital? Odds are this will reach ear of our boss Zhutto and he will be on his way shortly." The bovine nods before gesturing out the door. "By all means, go ahead."

The two thank him and head out the door to stand guard near it. Some civilians who saw the scene came up to them and asked what had happened. Both of them gave the answer of it being, "We're unsure at the moment. Please await until Zhutto comes around to ask questions himself."

This made some of the civilians walk away, though some in distress due to what it sounded like. Shade did immediately have to counter a news crew from attempting to enter the hospital. Much to them disliking her for doing so, but was assisted with the fact that now was not a time or place for news with such a dire situation.

A few hours pass by before Zhutto made an appearance and saw the twins guarding the entrance to the hospital. He approached the two and they let their guard down a little bit. "Shade, Kitsuno. What are you two... you know what? Nevermind." Shade settles the polearm of her spear flat on the ground, "Standing guard because of what we saw. Didn't want us to head in so we decided to help keep any nosy people out." Zhutto nods before moving forward and opening the doors. "Well while not necessarily needed, let's go." Kitsuno and Shade nod and follow the minotaur into the hospital and once again get stopped by security at the emergency door. "Guild Master Zhutto, are those two cleared?"

Zhutto looks down at the bovine before nodding. "Permission granted as they are with me. Let the girls pass. They're going to need to see who it is." The bovine nods before opening the doors himself. "He's inside the third room on the left. Do not disrupt the mages that are actively healing."

A worried feeling washes over on the twins as they walked in through the emergency section of the hospital. A few other rooms had someone in there that were currently being treated of their injuries and such, but they paid no attention to them as they made their way into Ward-B3. The mages were still adamantly casting spells on the severely injured person. Kitsuno's eyes shot open as she recognized who was on the table.

It was Wilhelm. His breathing was faint and his body was littered with open wounds, a few with the remains of arrows sticking out of them. The biggest wound is the gash on his left side. If not for the mages constantly pooling magic into his body, he more than likely would not survive.

Kitsuno felt her heart skip a beat as she staggers back a bit from shock. Shade quickly grabbed her by the arms and held her up on her feet. "Come on sis, stay with us." Shade turns her gaze to Wilhelm's body, "What happened to Wilhelm?" Zhutto looks at one of the mages as they looked up from Wilhelm's body. "Well, the girl asked a question. Mind filling in the details how Master Wilhelm came to be in this condition?"

The female mage from earlier walks up to the minotaur before looking down to the floor. "One of the citizens came rushing to the nearest mage and said that Master Wilhelm was assaulted. A group of bandits appeared and attacked on sight." Shade's eyes twitch at the mention of bandits. Zhutto looks back at her before waving a hand to tell her to watch it. "Any description of these bandits?"

One of the mages wearing purple robes who was healing nods as he increased the potency of his spell against the open gash. "The citizen who saw the attack said the bandits were wolves. From what happened at the pincer strike you guys dealt with two months ago, it appears that these are the same ones."

Shade shakes her head as Kitsuno regains herself and lets go of her. Kitsuno rubs the temples of her head, "What the hell is with these wolves? Why are they so persistent in attacking Sarydia?" Shade scowls and closes her eyes, "Giving a reason to find them and make them regret it potentially. They are starting to become a real nuisance and wearing down my patience."

Zhutto sighs, not for the fact that Shade's rage was stirring, but that she was right. With how often these wolf bandits have attacked lately, they would have to be dealt with permanently. He then turns his gaze to the female mage, "Which direction was the attack at? We will be needing all the intel we can afford if we are going to stop them for good." The female mage nods her head again before looking up at Zhutto. "Master Wilhelm was out on an expedition out towards the east. Where he was found was not far from the city borders."

Zhutto nods his head as he takes mental notes on this, "Right outside the city borders... they have been inching closer and closer as of late." Shade interjects into the conversation, "Was it just Wilhelm or was he accompanied by others?" The room grew quiet for a moment before one of the mages in blue traded places with the green robbed mage. He looked away from the group before speaking, "Master Wilhelm... was accompanied by the younger group of mages." He moved away from the group before placing a clawed hand on the wall, his nerves were wracked as his hand was shaking. "Dead... what was found were dead."

Gears ticked in their heads as a young group of mages were with Wilhelm during the attack. That's where it clicked and Kitsuno felt her heart drop. "Liam..." Shade's eyes flared with rage before she walked over towards the green mage and placed a hand on him. "They can't all be dead. I refuse to believe--" Zhutto pipes in quiclly before Shade got out of hand, "Shade, control yourself now."

"She's not wrong." Zhutto turns his gaze to the blue mage as he focused his magic on the healing process. "I did a quick survey on the carnage. There are two bodies unaccounted for." Shade and Kitsuno both immediately turn to the mage, "Liam is one of them. Along with my daughter Phoebe..."

Before anything else could be said, Shade storms out of the ward and makes her way outside. Kitsuno follows quickly behind her in utter distress and concern for what her sister was going to do next. She stops shortly outside the main door of the building and had a hand on her head as her breathing was getting ragged. "Fucking... bandit ass..." Kitsuno places a hand on her back, "Shade stop. Blind rage right now isn't going to help here."

The elder twin was shaking due to the fact that Liam was missing. Kitsuno didn't like that he was gone as well but there was no point in forcing their hands right now if they do not know where to start. "Look, we know they came from the east, but if it is the same bandits from before they could be anywhere. But even so, we don't know of the missing mages are with them or not." Shade puffs out air through her nose like an angry bull and her moved away from Kitsuno to place her hands on the wall of the hospital. "Fucking.... we need to get out there and find them. I swear if those bandits have turned them into slaves I'll rip them apart."

Kitsuno sighs before moving closer to her sister again and pats her again on the back. Zhutto shortly came out of the hospital with Shade's spear and Kitsuno's bow in hand. "Girls, we are going back to the guild for a meeting. On the double, now!" Shade raises a fist and slams it against the wall before sighing and standing tall before looking her sister in the eyes and they take off with their boss back to the mercenaries guild.

Once the trio had made their way back to the guild, everyone else was present as Mally had sent out word for any available mercenaries to return to the guild for an emergency meeting. Bernice was the first to look up from their table, "Mally, Zhutto and the kitsunes are here." The fox girl walked out from the library to look at the trio before they all gathered into the main conference room. Ivan was the first to ask Zhutto questions. "I heard word about mages rushing to the hospital, care to explain who it was?"

Kitsuno looks down at the table. "Master Wilhelm. He's the one that is in urgent care right now. His body... was mangled." Shade growls a bit as she grips against her own armor, "Fucking bandits got to him..." Zhutto chimes in before Shade said anymore, "It was an assault to the grand mage and his party outside the eastern border of the city. From what was reported by the mages is that the bandits are the same ones who attacked the convoy a few months ago." Ivan grimaced at the fact that these wolves were still at large. "Figures that they are getting more ambitious. You would think Shade here would have scared them off."

The elves look over at each other before looking at Zhutto and the male elf Kleau speaks up, "Shall we begin reconnaissance? We'll get a jump on searching for their whereabouts." Before Zhutto could answer, Shade slammed a hand down on the table. "If they're going out to find them, we want in."

Zhutto turns his gaze to her, "Out of the question. We are going to have Beatrice and Kleau handle the searching. You two are going to aid in--" Shade immediately cuta Zhutto off, "Like hell we are. We are going out there to find those bandits, kill them, and get Liam and Phoebe back. I don't care what it takes, they are going to regret every single thing they have done!"

Mally stares in shock at the elder kitsune from her own words, "Shade, are you even listening to what you are saying!? There will be more than you think. What if you get captured yourselves?" Kitsuno shakes her head before standing beside her sister in agreement. "No, Shade's right."

"Kitsuno!? You too?" She lets out a heavy breath before looking at Mally, "Look, I may not be doing a bunch of reckless stuff my sister has done, but that isn't the point of this. Liam is our friend and Wilhelm's apprentice. This is a rescue mission that needs to be taken seriously and I agree with Shade that we need to get out there and help search."

Maurice had a hand over his chin as he listened in to the girls as they stood their ground. "Ha... you two have gotten well accustomed to the job for sure. However, I am in agreement with Zhutto. You two need to stay out of this." This only infuriated both girls as they turned to look at the boar. "Don't look at me like that, both Zhutto and Mally will have strong arguments in why you two should not go out there."

Ivan stayed silent at the matter as he himself wanted as much aid as possible, but with heavy memory of what Shade did back during the escort, it could also be the reasoning that they are worried Shade may start a huge fire instead. He looks towards Zhutto as he had kneeled down to Shade to get into a stare off with her. "Listen here young lady, I get what you two want to do, but do remember that you need to learn to follow orders. And my orders for you two is to do border security. Are we clear?"

Shade continues to glare into the minotaur's piercing blue eyes before stepping back. "Fine." And without a word, she turns around and walks towards the training hall. Kitsuno looked over at everyone at the table before joining her sister. Zhutto sighs before furrowing his brows with his left hand. "God damn it." He then turns to the elves, "Alright you two, go ahead and get started. Sarydia is now on high alert until further notice. Ivan, are you able to fly yet?" The avian warrior nods as he stretches out his mended wing. "Gave myself a test flight a few days ago, wound is healed up enough for me to take flight for at least a hour." The minotaur nods before responding, "Just remembered to take it easy and if you have to retreat, do so."

Ivan salutes Zhutto before making his way out of the guild to take flight over the city. The elves make like the wind and vanish quickly out the door to head to the eastern side of the city. Maurice looks at Zhutto, "What shall Mally and I do Zhutto?" Zhutto looks at them, "Mally, I need you to help monitor Wilhelm's condition at the hospital. "The fox nods before moving over to her desk to start digging out paperwork and pens. Zhutto then looks at Maurice before looking towards the training hall entrance. "Maurice, please keep an eye on those two. I'm going to have to patrol the city myself to keep some things in order. No doubt this disturbance will cause an uproar amongst the citizens. I'm going to have to help keep things situated enough until either Ivan, Beatrice, or Kleau return with info on the bandits. Make sure that they do not leave the city at all."

Maurice nods and walks towards the training hall. As he approached the entrance closer, he could hear the frustrated grunting of Shade as she had started burning off some of her rage by attacking some of the training dummies. The boar sighs as he will have to order replacements at this rate. These dummies won't withstand much more repairs at this rate.

When the day finished and everyone at the guild has turned in for the night, Kitsuno was wide awake at night with concern for Liam's safety. The young kitsune laid in bed staring at the ceiling with her mind racing. Given the strict orders from Zhutto, she is reluctantly following orders. Though, given her sister's stance on the subject, there is one thing they both have in mind.

Quietly getting up from her bed, she slides out of it and moves over to her closet to slowly open it to not wake anyone else up. Once it was opened, she reached inside to grab some more casual clothes to wear, strips out of her nightwear clothing, and packed them away before grabbing her armor to get ready to take off. Orders or not, she cannot simply stand by and let this happen.

Over in the room next to hers was Shade's and she had the exact same idea and was already getting ready herself. She did not care how much trouble she would get in, these bandits struck a nerve since day one and she has a burning desire for revenge after getting shot by one of them. As the elder sibling finished getting ready, she carefully makes her way to the door and lifts it up before pushing it open. This was to prevent the door from making creaking noises to alert anyone else as she made her way out of her room.

She then moves of the Kitsuno's door and does the same, but to pull it open. The younger kitsune pops out of her room and nods before closing the door. The duo snuck their way past each room before climbing down the stairway. Shade leans over to her sister to point towards the training room and whispers, "Grab as much ammo you can carry. We're going to need whatever we can if we are going to get Liam back." Kitsuno nods and the two made their way into the empty training ground to loot two quivers full of arrows. Shade grabbed her spear that she had been using for her patrol duty. "Ugh... damnit. I'm going to need a new spear after this."

Kitsuno grabbed her bow and walked over to her sister before pointing over to a few other weapons hanging on the rack. "Maybe you should take another just in case?" Shade looks up at the rack and shakes her head a bit, "No, it'll slow us down. Let's just go with what we got now. We're wasting time." Not wanting to argue any further, Kitsuno agrees and the two made their way out of the guild and into the city. Carefully the two made their way through alleyways and dodged out of sight from other nighttime folks to make their way out on the east side of town.