Blood Money

Mission:

Haruto sat outside the old frontier igloo, drinking water out of an old water skin he had found inside the old woman's house he had raided the other day. He still felt terrible about it, really he did. However, that old woman was likely dead somewhere out in the snow, and who was he to pass up free stuff? After all, the living had to push on.

Haruto took another deep swing out of the water skin, his eyes combing the snowy afternoon horizon for any sign of his quarry. After his last job, Haruto had to skip town, find a new place that'd be willing to hire him so he could save up money for a ticket out of this frozen hellscape. Luckily for him, he'd found it. There was a little place some number of miles west from where he'd been previous, a little place called Icecube Valley. Fitting, considering it was a tiny little hamlet nestled between two massive mountain sides. Truth be told, Haruto had almost missed it the first time he was walking through. He was glad he didn't however, especially considering what he had found.

Turns out there was a tiny gang running there. A little operation calling themselves the Snow Leopards. They'd pretty much supplanted the local police force, but considering they did the job well, seemed as though the town residents weren't particularly keen on complaining, especially when doing so tends to cost you a finger or two. Haruto had barely been there more than a couple hours before he'd been offered a job.

Haruto remembered the scene clearly. He'd been two drinks down and three drinks into a game of poker when a weaselly little runt had wandered over to his table. He was a short, balding, aged man, clad head to toe in black furs. He had a couple of displeasing scars about his face, and an eyepatch over his right eye. When he opened his mouth to speak, he was clearly missing quite a few of his teeth, and those he had left were discolored brown or black. There was a sour note to his breath as he leaned on the table Haruto had been playing at, and a slimy look in his eye that made the rogue want to punch out what little teeth he had remaining.

"Hey friend. You seem to be the dishonest sort. You want to make some easy money?"

Haruto scowled and lifted his most recent mug of ale to his lips, polishing his third drink off with one solid gulp.

"Piss off baldy. I don't want whatever it is you're selling."

The man gave a small chuckle, and leaned in even closer to Haruto. Greasy black wisps of hair hung down from the top of his head and hung over his fat face, and his close proximity made him all the more repulsive. Haruto began drumming his fingers on the table in front of him, preparing himself to slam the mug in his hand down this little creature's throat if he didn't get the hell out of his face.

"Look here friend, you're new here, so I'll just let you off with a warning. You don't speak to a member of the Snow Leopards like that unless you want to end up six feet below the ice. Besides! I'm trying to help you out. I've got a little job for you if you're interested. Good pay too if you can complete it."

Now he had Haruto's attention. He didn't trust the slimy little runt, and wouldn't put it past him to stab Haruto in the back if he got the chance, but he needed the cash. Haruto held up his hand to the bartender, silently asking for another drink. The bartender nodded, and Haruto turned his attention back towards the criminal before him.

"Pretty bold of you to threaten a stranger like that out in the open. Especially when he's in the middle of a game. And what makes you think I'm the sort who'd want any sort of job you have to offer?"

The little man grinned even wider, something unsettling even to the hardened Haruto. As he began to speak, the bartender arrived with Haruto's drink, though the little man's disgusting nature was enough to where he barely wanted to drink it.

"Your game can wait a little bit, can't it? Everybody knows about the Snow Leopards here my friend, it's just how things operate. As for why I think you'd be up for it, I can tell you're a bit of a newbie in town, and so far nobody's here's been able to do it yet. Might as well let a newbie try. No skin off our nose if you fail. Plus, you got the look about you. Now, I'm running a bit thin on patience buddy. Are you in or out?"

Haruto looked around the table, and nobody seemed willing to meet his eyes. Probably cowed by their visitor here.

"Depends on the job. AND the pay."

The greasy man pulled up another chair to Haruto's table, and motioned to the bartender for a drink of his own.

"Figured you'd be interested. Gig's a simple one. Get this, there's a guy round here who hired us for help on a little hunting expedition of his. Fella named Jerome Milton. He was real keen on taking our help, not so keen on paying up. We've tried cornering him before, but he's a real slippery fellow you see. Nobody in town's been able to find him, which is where you come in. He ain't really a bad man, but we want that money he owes us, and we want it now. We just want you to get his debt to us, don't matter how you do it. two thousand ryo, half of which goes to you if you get it done."

The bartender came over with his drink, and the man drank it in one hearty gulp. As he did, he gave a great exhale of satisfaction, and gave Haruto a wink.

"Heh, who knows? If you do a good enough job, we might be willing to give you a part in some future operations of ours. What do ya say?"

Haruto stood up from his seat. He reached into his pocket and fished out a couple of ryo and placed it on the table, payment for his drinks and the games.

"Deal. You better not double cross me either."

Haruto began walking out of the bar, and the pudgy man behind him began to chuckle.

"Good luck friend! Better hurry, cause you're not the only one on this job! I'll be waiting right here if you get the money!"

Haruto didn't look back. He walked out of the bar and into the streets, determined to take a bit of a... different approach. He had to do some searching himself, but eventually he found the nearest hunter's lodge. They weren't particularly keen on a stranger walking into their place of respite, but that was the least of Haruto's concerns. It only took a small little amount of poking and prodding to find someone close to Jerome Milton. Miserable drunk it seemed, also an old man. Though it seemed he loved the bottle a bit more than he loved his friend, as all it took was a single drink and a small chat to make him squeal his friend's house.

Haruto's mind returned to the present as he began to see a black silhouette off in the distance. If he had to take a guess, that'd be Mr. Milton. Haruto gave a small smile to himself. He knew that this would be the place to capture him. Jerome might be a bit of a wily fellow, but Haruto knew something that the Snow Leopards didn't. Apparently, Mr. Milton had a family. One wife, one daughter, both preparing dinner in the old igloo behind him. The others had made a mistake cornering him where he could escape. Here? He wouldn't even try.

Haruto waited as Jerome made his way slowly towards the igloo, trudging along with the look of a man defeated, towing behind him a small sleigh lined with his most recent kills, seemingly three snow hares, though Haruto had no idea where you'd find those out here. Jerome himself was a young man, seemingly in his late thirties, early fourties, yet he looked as though he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. Deep frown lines were etched into his face, and his eyes had the look of someone who missed many nights of rest. Haruto knew the feeling. Still, Haruto couldn't afford to be soft here. A grin spread across Haruto's face, mostly there as an intimidation tactic, and he stood up from his spot by the igloo. He opened his arms wide as though greeting an old friend after a long time apart.

"Mr. Milton! So glad to finally see you!" Haruto took a step towards the man, pointing a finger gun towards him and shaking it up and down lightly. "You're a hard man to find Mr. Milton, I tell you what!"

A deep scowl grew across the man's face and he dropped the sleigh reigns, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What do you want?"

Haruto dropped the smile, and began walking closer. The man seemed to flinch, though he did not move as Haruto closed in until they were standing face to face with one another.

"Money, Mr. Milton. The money you owe my employers. I want all two thousand ryo of it, and I want it now before it gets ugly."

He winced, and his hand reached up to scratch the back of his neck.

"I told them before, I don't have it yet. I just need a bit more time. Besides, they practically destroyed the pelts and furs of all the animals we hunted. I barely made anything off that entire journey. Can't we work out some kind of discount or-"

Haruto didn't let him finish. Instead he delivered a mighty sucker punch to the man's gut, causing him to collapse to his knees with a great huff of air. Pain etched itself into his face, and he began to curl into a fetal position.

"You see, that's a problem Mr. Milton."

Haruto didn't let up though, grabbing him by the back up his hair and yanking his head back with it, preventing him from curling up on the ground and forcing him to look into the rogue's eyes.

"Cause I didn't say I wanted it in a week, or two, or three. I said I wanted it now, and god damn it you're going to deliver."

He began to cough.

"L-Look, just give me a couple days-"

Haruto brought a mighty knee into the bottom of his jaw, slamming his teeth into his tongue and cutting deeply into it. The force of the blow and the pain sent him reeling to the ground, where he began to writhe. Haruto walked over calmly, before raising his foot back and bringing it into a mighty kick to his ribs. He began a violent assault, kicking and stomping the man as he continued to roll around, delivering powerful blows to his side, his ribs, his legs, his groin, his face, wherever Haruto thought he could do the most damage. When he was satisfied, Haruto grabbed him by the lapel of his furred jacket, holding him so his drooped head could see into his eyes.

"Look at me Jerome! I want my money! You gonna give it to me?"

Jerome gave a bloody cough, and spit a bloody chunk into Haruto's face, which landed squarely on his cheek. The shinobi scowled, before dropping him to the ground. He quickly grabbed him once more by his hair, and began dragging him over to a nearby snowbank. Jerome began to kick and attempt to fight, though he was far too weak and injured to be any real threat. Once he was close enough, Haruto flipped Jerome and slammed his head into the snow, burying it deep into the landscape so he couldn't breathe.

"Where's my money Jerome?!"

He struggled and kicked, and Haruto would occasionally lift his head for a moment before slamming it back to the earth. Jerome's desperate hand quickly reached into a sheathe near his boot, where he pulled out a rudimentary hunting knife. He attempted to swing it back at Haruto, but the rogue's speed, combined with his sloppy backwards thrust made it easy to avoid. Haruto quickly raised his foot and stomped hard on his wrist. The man screamed in agony as the bone snapped cleanly, and Haruto calmly reached down to scoop the knife from his now open hand.

"Well well Mr. Jerome! I guess you got some fight in you! I can't say I approve of you trying to stab me, but at least you've given me a new toy to squeeze the money out of you with. I'll just carve you up until you tell me where the money is."

Jerome moaned in pain.

"Please... I don't have the money to spare. We're poor you see-"

"That's too damn bad! If you couldn't afford the service, you shouldn't have bought it. A little lesson for you next time, if there even is one. Now, which is your least favorite finger..."

"Wait!"

Haruto looked back. There was Jerome's wife, standing there with a wild look in her eyes and a hefty pouch of ryo in hand.

"You can take it, just leave us alone. This is all two thousand of it."

Jerome muttered out a soft no, though nobody but Haruto seemed to hear it. The rogue dropped the knife, and walked over towards his wife. He snatched the pouch from her hand and continued to walk off, assuming it was accurate based off the weight. She quickly ran to her husband, hoping he was alright and helping him to his feet. Haruto began to trudge back towards the village bar, hoping to complete his mission. Though as he left, he just so happened to catch a small glimpse of their igloo one last time. Standing there was their young daughter, a horrified look on her face as she watched Haruto go. Haruto met her gaze for a moment before turning away. He couldn't meet her eyes. Not after what he just did.

Word Count - 2403

Exit Claims:

approved