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Chapter 10 - Welcome to the Syndicate

The cool breeze on the Torillin River drifted through Giu's hair. His hand drifted through the river, a tune he couldn't remember learning humming as their boat ran along the dark green waters, the chirp of crickets mixing in with the occasional frog croak. Tea strummed a banjo she'd taken out of the seemingly limitless collection of items she had stored in that gem of theirs.

"Looks like we got us some company, Gi," the pixie said, peeking from under their straw hat.

He lifted up his head, spotting the waters parting and subsiding, ripples forming that steadily approached their boat. That was quick. He pulled his hand out of the water.

"Right," he said. "I got it."

He rose to his feet, Tea kicking him a length of rope. Though swimming wasn't his strong suit, he'd learned quickly enough he was semi-decent at the task. And it helped that Tea had brought along a few aqua potions. When he'd asked why they had them, their response was a simple "just in case" said with a smirk.

The ripples drew closer to the water. Giu tied one end of the rope to his waist and the other to the tip of the boat. Tea continued to strum away, leaning against the wooden frame while they propped their feet up.

"Break a leg, Gi," they sang.

He couldn't tell whether that was meant as good luck or a request. With the pixie, it could have gone either way.

After taking a few sips of his potion, Giu stepped off and splashed into the water.

His vision blurred, scores of green and brown appearing before him. He could see underwater rocks covered in algae. Tall leafy plants being nibbled at by tiny fish. A pair of yellow eyes moving towards him. Three pairs, in fact. All accompanied by long snouts and thick sandy bodies.

Crocodiles. One darted right past Giu, the other two flying and grabbing him long before he had time to react.

Huh. This is new.

They both squeezed him tight, one with an arm around his neck and the other biting his left leg. They immediately began to twirl, ripping them off Giu's torso.

Or they might have if he hadn't form changed.

The biter swam backward, holding a mouth full of cracked and broken teeth. The squeezer kept trying to maneuver Giu's neck to snap, the canine simply floating while the crocodile tired himself out. Ah. These are the Croc Brocs, aren't they? He smashed a fist against the squeezer. Wait, which one's the big Croc Bro?

He looked at the bitter, who charged him with a fist only to swim backward, cradling a broken hand seconds later. Hopefully not him. He looked to the grabber, who had sunk unconscious to the bottom of the river. Definitely not him. He glanced around. Wait, where's the third- His eyes grew. Crap! Tea!

He kicked upwards, breaking for the surface. The change from green to blue left him delirious for a few moments, but he quickly recovered, turning to the boat with fists ready to bludgeon a crocodile to death.

"Oh, there you are, Gi."

His shoulders fell.

The pixie was still strumming their banjo, the music drifting through the river while they sat atop the unconscious body of a crocodile. A few frogs had started croaking in beat with the song.

"Almost done in there?" Tea asked.

"Uh." He felt another impact, bubbles floating up as there was another pained scream. "Yeah, I think we're about done here."

Swimming towards the boat, he let Tea give him a helping hand. Pulling him along just in time for the last crocodile to come roaring out of the water like some river monster. They both turned in tandem, fist and foot meeting the assailant right in the snout.

He crumbled back into the water, the frogs continuing their singing unaffected.

***

After a quick dumping, Giu was finally able to take in the sight of his new temporary home. Tea said the job might take a few days, so they'd be staying in the city a while. Their contact was gracious enough to offer lodging.

Turning a corner in the water, Tea guided them from a longer section of the river to the waiting pier of Haywar City. The capital of the Syndicate and stationed directly across from the capital of the Villa. Many eyes were quickly drawn to their boat.

"Should I worry about getting tagged again?" Giu asked.

"They'd probably chop your head off before that, Gi," Tea said. "Word of advice. Don't look rabbits in the eye. They tend to take that as a threat."

"Pretty sure that ship sailed, T."

"Giu."

"Yeah yeah." He tried to keep his gaze no higher than neck level. It would be an adjustment, but he had promised the pixie he would try not to make trouble. He'd only finish a fight if someone else started it.

The minute their boat was parked, a group of rabbits were standing nearby with weapons ready. They were all as hulky and large as Giu expected, though he was a bit shocked when he understood what they were saying.

"State your business, outsiders," the one at the head demanded.

He had a heavy mace in hand, the other two brandishing axes that could crush trees. Tea pulled an identification card from their gem, Giu pulling out his license. Tea claimed the Ministry of Crystallization was a neutral party. His crystal license may as well have been a lifeline letting him get through any number of hostile territories. In theory.

"Keep the mutt leashed," one of the men said.

Giu's ears twitched, but he tried not to rise to the provocation. Tea leaned on his shoulder.

"The 'mutt' is my associate," they said. "He goes where he pleases."

The rabbits narrowed at the pixie. Though Tea was smiling, their eyes seemed to burn with intensity. A warning that all three soldiers seemed to take to heart, stepping back to allow them to pass. Tea gave Giu a wink, floating forward. For once, he didn't mind the assistance.

Haywar was a bit larger than Giu expected. The buildings were nearly twice the size of those he'd seen in the Villa, many sporting decorative skulls and roofing that looked to be made from bone. The people were mostly rabbits, but Giu spotted the occasional reptile here and there. The frogs he'd seen in the river weren't outliers. They seemed to make up the other majority, though they were still few in number. But among all that he saw, there was one group of people he noticed a distinct lack of.

"I take it paladins aren't a thing in these parts?" Giu asked.

"Don't be a dummy, dummy," Tea said. "The law of the land here is survival of the strongest. The only enforcers here are the chieftains."

They gestured ahead. Looming over all the other buildings in the city was a gray structure in the shape of a rabbit head. Its forehead was covered by six posters, each showcasing a figure glaring down at the populace. Giu stared at the fourth in line. The only non-rabbit.

"Do me a favor, Gi," Tea said. "Don't get us sent to that place, okay?"

He lingered on the picture. A white-haired deer.

"Y-yeah." He rubbed his head, trying to push the image from his mind.

After a short trek through the city, Tea finally stopped at one of the many towers of stone and bone. Pushing through the doors, they were greeted with even more stares, but Giu had since learned to ignore them, following his pixie guide as they turned the corner and ascended the steps.

It took a few flights, but Giu finally was able to collapse on the 30th floor of the complex, Tea flying freely up to the door marked with a red 37.

"C'mon, Gi," Tea called. "We don't have all day."

He groaned, dragging himself the four doors across and collapsing once again.

Tea straightened up, wrapping a paw against the wooden frame. There was a commotion on the other side. What sounded like pots crashing to the ground. Hurried footsteps.

"Hang on. Down, Fidget! Down!"

The door swung open.

Giu blinked in the sight of the rabbit before him. Or under him, as it was more accurate to say. They were somehow shorter than Tea despite sporting the same massive gray body as the rest of their people. The rabbit's joyous reaction flipped like a switch to anger when she spotted Giu. Tea flew in front of him.

"Hello there, Elly," they said.

The rabbit glared right past Tea.

"This is the associate?" she asked.

He tried to avoid eye contact. A difficult task when faced with a shorter foe, but one he was determined to accomplish. The rabbit woman had a tiny hatchet at her side that he knew she'd break over his head if he didn't.

"He is," Tea said. "That isn't an issue, right?"

Elly's attention lingered on the canine. He held his hands up in an attempt to appear less threatening. The rabbit finally nodded, stepping aside.

"Try anything funny, and you're getting the axe."

Giu offered a silent nod. Both he and Tea stepped inside, Elly continuing to watch before she shut the door behind them.