//------------------------------// // New opponents? // Story: Eclipse's Journey // by Eclipse_filer //------------------------------// While heading towards Blue Tiger, Rain asked me if I really believed in what Scarlet said about the Elements of Catastrophe. I said, “No, I don’t but there are other reasons why I want to take it.” Rain scuffed telling me we don’t need to take orders from a queen who would not stand with her subjects. I said “I want to take her quest because she is royalty. Think about it, if we’re going to pay back the money we owe. We’re going to need to take on a lot of high level or well-paying missions. Since we’re new to the adventurer’s lifestyle, no one is going to trust us with difficult missions. If we take her quest and succeed, our reputation well shoot up and clients everywhere is going to have take notice of us.” Rain fires back “Yeah, but it’s Scarlet were talking about here. Most beings don’t like her and wanted her kicked off her throne for years. If we get tangled up with her, our names are going to be dragged into the dirt. We will be lucky if we do not get mistaken for her lackeys. Why can’t we go help the donkey prince again and solve his problem?” I said “I wouldn’t mind working with him again, but looking for him would take a lot of time. The faster we can get money, the better.” While I was talking to Rain, some guy ran into me and he said “Hey! Watch where you're going!” The guy was a coyote with a silver coat and striking red eyes. I said, “Sorry about that, we're in a hurry to get to Blue Tiger.” The coyote seemed interested and asked If I was an adventurer. I thought about it for a second and told him, “yes I am new adventurer.” It's not lying, since I got to do this kind of work now. The coyote smiled and put out his right paw to me. Then said “Please to meet you, I’m Shin the wanderer. I was heading to that bar to meet up with my teammates.” I said, “I'm Eclipse Filer and my team are heading out on a mission.” He said, “good for you, what are you guys called?” I replied, “We're team...Umm...Team…Umm...Hmm…” Shin chuckled a little and said “Well that's a very original name, you should copyright it. Listen newbie, your team name is the least of your problems.” I tell him we can handle ourselves. Shin shakes his head and walks away. Why does it feel like I just loss? I look back to chat with Rain or Shadow but all three of them were gone. After few minutes, I caught up to them at the bar. There was a decent number of creatures inside. I guess most of them are here for quests and something to drink. I spotted Shadow and the rest of them entering a room next to the bar area. As I walk back there I started, hearing some of the conversations from different tables. Someone said “did you hear Lupin was attacked by Changelings. They took over the place in one day.” Well he’s not wrong, that did happen. As I walked by the other one said, “I heard they were led by a terrorist group”. I stopped and started to pay attention to what they were saying. The other creature said “the terrorist group was in charge that day. They took on the Queen’s royal guard and won. Next, they then murdered Queen Scarlet and fled the city under the police’s watch, from what the rumors say.” I instantly thought “what happened to Lupin when we left.” I took a breather thinking maybe they don't know the specifics and I should ask. I sat down at that table saying “excuse me, I was passing by and you mentioned a rumor about Lupin. I was thinking I might go there to take up some quests. Can you tell me more about it?” The first one said “Why? Lupin, is a death trap guys.” I stumbled a bit thinking of something “...I'm sure, it's not that bad. My friends said they had a great time.” They both looked at me with pity. One of them said “Okay, I'll tell you more about the rumor but for your own safety don't go. The rumor is from a few weeks ago. It turns out a secret terrorist organization staged a coup in Lupin. They somehow got some random Changeling hive to aid them. In a day, they took down the guards and killed the Queen. Scarlet was a horrendous monster but she didn't deserve death. After the Queen’s death, the terrorist group got out of the city under the police radar. While the changelings were forced out of the city a few hours later. They are still looking for any information on the terrorist. The group consists of two ponies, two wolves and a donkey. Only the leader was named. The leader’s name was Moonlight Folder.” I kept a very stoic face on the outside but on the inside, I was cheering. I have never been so happy for being a nobody. I told him thanks for the tip, got up and went to go find my team. I went to the back room to see a smaller room. There was a female dragon sitting at a desk. She had light orange scales while wearing a gray vest. She smiled and waved at me; I did the same then looked around for my team. They were sitting at a table deep in thought. Rain was tapping a hoof on the table and looking around at nothing. Shadow had a list in front of him with names crossed off. Next to the list of names, was a team registration form and it was almost finished. Saphyre was drinking lemonade with a straw. I walked over and asked them “Did you guys register yet?” Saphyre said “No, we can't do that yet. We need a team name first.”  I never even thought about a team name before. Rain chimed “I think we should be called Commander in Arms!” Shadow said, “That's a nice name but how about the Protection Rangers.” Rain shoots it down for sounding lame. Saphyre suggests “Candy Crusaders". I said “that sounds like the name of a food challenge. How about the holy knights of the round?” All three of my teammates denied it saying I wasn't original, sounds dumb and the name is too long. I thought “wait a minute that's not important, I need to tell them, we're almost wanted criminals.” I going to say something but I was suddenly interrupted by Shin. He hit his left paw on the table grabbing everyone in the room’s attention. He says “so this is your team, newbie. They look even greener than you". Rain gripped Shin asking him “who are you calling green, Mutt?” Shin is completely unfazed Rain and was looking at me. He said “Your mates seem really lively. Relax, I come in peace. I just want a little friendly competition between our teams.”  Shadow decided to say, “Why would you want to do that?” Shin said his team isn't that well known and most clients more look them for more difficult missions. Eclipse smile saying, “Alright I'm game, what about you guys”. They nod sure since this sounds like a solution where everyone benefits for both parties. All except Rain who got mad yelling “Don't ignore me you jerk!” She threw Shin at me so fast I couldn't dodge it. Shin knock me to the ground then he used the force and me as a stepping stone to flip on to the top of a table. “Hey, do you want to meet my team you're facing? It's only fair you do. Don't be rude, introduced yourself Nitro.” On cue, the dragon from earlier walked up next to Shin.  He waved and kept silence for some reason. Then a bat a came from under the table He was dark blue with bright green eyes. He said, “I’m on Shin’s team too, my name is Sky Pulse.” Shin looked to Sky asking why was he under our table. Sky said “Hmm…I wonder too.” Saphyre states that this is all well and good but we still need a team name. Sky said, “What about calling yourself the ‘Nobodies’.” No one on my team like the name. He continued “Well too bad, that's the name I submitted for your team.” I quickly went over to the kiosk and asked if it was true. She said yes, “after settling on a name, a team cannot change it for at least a week.” I walked back to my table very peeved, saying repeating what the kiosk lady said. Shin jumped down and hit Sky on the head saying, “How many times I got to tell you not do that to newbies.” Sky looked off like he was in deep thought at said with a mischievous grin “I say 3 times mores would do.” Shin sighed look back to us saying “I’m sorry about that, Sky can get out of hand if you don’t watch him. That aside there is a mission that was just announced. The small town called Choco, has been attacked by something. All the other teams that were here left a little while ago. Choco is 30 minutes north of here. We would have been there if I wasn’t looking for these guys.” Shin points to the bat and the dragon in a hoodie. They looked way from Shin like he was talking about some other guys. “Let’s go, see you there ‘Nobodies’”. Shin walked off with his team and we did the same. While heading there something was bugging me, like I had forgotten something important. Ugh, maybe it’s not that bad. I’m sure I’ll remember it.