Separate Ways

Corvus ran back into the locker room and stopped. His mind raced with a million thoughts at once searching for any ideas on wha to do. Under attack he thought to himself. That could mean many different things, but after what he’d seen in the front of the shop he had an idea, but with that came the shocking realization of what it really meant to him.

Sasha.

Suddenly, he heard shots fire from within the service shop and screaming. He wasted no time and kicked the back door open to the hallway and ran as fast as he could. Hearing the gunfire behind him he eventually looked over his shoulder to the door he exited and could see a group of men pushing their way through the door armed with blaster rifles.

He shoulder checked the back door and hit the ground as more short bursts of energy whizzed passed him. He scurried up to run but was stopped by the sight of his town in the midst of chaos. Looking up above him he could see starships and battle cruisers that made the freighters he was used to look like toys. Like a chorus of birds flying in unison, they left their collective shadow on the town below like dark storm clouds.

One starship suddenly burst into flames and began spinning out of control and Corvus couldn’t help but take notice that it was headed right toward him. His body froze in horror as it spun and barrelled toward him at a rapid speed, making a loud whizzing noise that he knew no ship should ever make. Like instinct had kicked in, Corvus took a few steps and leapt toward a rusted air speeder and dove under it scraping his face on the pavement.

Seemingly at the same time his body hit the floor the starship crashed into the roof of the service shop making a ear shattering roar. Pieces of debris landed all around Corvus and on the back of his legs and he could immediately feel the heat from the explosion which felt like he was burning for a moment. He rolled over quickly and looked up at the flaming inferno that used to be his place of employment. He blinked stupidly for a moment, unsure of how to process what had just happened.

Picking himself up from the ground he stumbled over to an air speeder which was shaped like an arch with two large cylindrical engines at the back. He looked at speeder and quickly argued with himself about whether or not he should steal it, but looking down at the chaos below and knowing Sasha could be out there made the decision an easy one. He hopped in the air speeder and ripped the panel out from under the steering rods. Quickly rewiring it he eventually got the engines to start which then caused it to rise up and levitate above the ground.

“Come on.” He said as he fiddled with the stick shift which was stuck. At least he knew what it was at the shop for now. He reefed back on it as hard as possible and it locked into drive, but he now knew that it wasn’t going to shift again. He would cross that bridge when he got to it. He put the speeder into full throttle which pushed his back against the seat from the g-force. He descended the hill and quickly began to circle back toward their home. He could be there in a few minutes if he didn’t run into trouble, which seemed unlikely.

Speeding through the streets he could see people running in fear for their lives and trying to hide in buildings that would not protect them from what they feared. Corvus knew all of these people, most of them by name and to see the looks of terror and dismay on their faces rattled him more than he wanted to admit. Buildings collapsed all around him and the sounds of his heavy breathing were muffled by loud explosions, screeching steel and the loud roar of starships passing over the town at an immeasurable pace, followed by ion and plasma bolts that sounded like crackles of lightning.

Keeping his head low and his eyes plastered on the road ahead of him, he remained vigilant of is surroundings. As he approached an intersection a group of soldiers stepped out from an alleyway and took aim at Corvus. Corvus ducked under the dashboard keeping his hands on the steering rods and foot on the gas as ion bolts whizzed over his head and a few plowing into the front of the speeder.

Where the bolts had hit were singed but not enough to damage the internals of the engine. He looked back up quickly and kept moving. He shot a quick glance behind him at the soldiers watching him speed away from them having missed their target. Corvus wiped sweat from his forehead and blood from his scraped cheek and made a hard right turn onto the street that the large complex they lived in was.

He could see the seven story tower where he and his sister lived and a large portion of the north facing side was a black hole of smoke and fire. He kept his wits about him and pulled up to the main door of the building praying that his sister would come running out into his arms but all he could see was a long, empty hallway. Luckily, their apartment was on the south side of the tower so there was a chance that she was still okay.

He reached into the back seat and found a long steel pole that looked as if it came from one of the systems under the speeder and he wedged it between the seat and the break pedal hoping it would hold. He quickly jumped out and ran into the complex to the stairs which led to the fifth floor. He raced up the stairs as the smoke from the upper floors was pouring into the stairwell. Even if he did find his sister, it was far from over. This was his realization that it was now or never to get off world. Money didn’t matter anymore. It was now their lives at stake.

Kicking open the door to the fifth floor hallway, he was met with a thick cloud of black smoke that nearly blinded him and caused him to cough as he dropped to the floor. Holding his shirt over his mouth with one hand and scurrying with his knees and other hand he made his way toward their apartment which wasn’t too far down the hallway. He reached up through the smoke and opened the door to see his sister lying on the ground. He quickly ran over and grabbed her head trying to wake her but she was already conscious. She had likely been knocked down by the explosion in their building. She had a small amount of blood trickling down from her forehead which was probably the result of hitting her head off of something on her way to the ground.

“Can you walk? Are you okay?” asked Corvus, desperately. She took a moment to realize where she was and gave him a reassuring nod. Grabbing a shirt on the floor he handed it to her and put it to her mouth.

“We’re getting out of here, get ready to run!” he yelled. She nodded and before they could get up to run something hit the apartment complex again causing it to shake violently. Corvus grabbed his sister, holding her tight and waited for the vibrations to stop. They needed to get out of there quickly. He grabbed her hand and they launched into a half sprint while staying as low to the ground as they could to avoid the smoke, which was now so thick that there was zero visibility.

Corvus shoulder checked the door to the staircase swinging it open into the wall and slammed it behind them stopping some of the smoke from pouring out. It gave them a moment to catch their breath and cough out whatever smoke got into their lungs. They descended the staircase into the main hallway of the apartment building and could now hear the muffled rumbles of explosions and starships passing over. The speeder was still outside, so they ran toward it and got in.

“What do we do?” Sasha asked as she shook from the cold air as she only had a tank top and cargo pants on. She was in the midst of cleaning the apartment when the war hit and before she even realized what was going on a starship slammed into the building and knocked her off her feet; her head hit a dresser on the way down to the floor. Corvus turned to her and looked at his little sister; her bright blue eyes filled with terror and confusion. He finally embraced her and held her tight as if it were the last time he was going to hold her. He calmed her down enough to not shake to profusely but she was still shaken up from the explosion.

“There’s a spaceport in the city where mum used to work; I bet if we get there we could steal a starship to get us out of here.” He said. She took a moment to think about it and her face read of disagreement.

“Shouldn’t we wait for the soldiers to come down? If the Federation finds us they’ll help us right?!” she asked naively.

“And if the IRP touch down first we’re dead.” He said quickly, smashing her idea to pieces. There had been a feud growing between the Galactic Federation, which was the ruling government over Delirium and its moons and the Imperial Republic of Perasai, a much more lethal government further into the system. It had clearly reached its breaking point.

She accepted the idea and sat down beside her brother. He removed the pipe fro the break and reversed the speeder away from the wall and spun it around. He hit the throttle once again and began to race through the small town. There was a small pathway through the forest that connected both cities and they would be safe travelling through there as they wouldn’t be seen from the sky.

They made their way toward the edge of the city and the battle above was far from over. A massive radio tower that was on the outskirts of the town was swaying as it had been likely hit with ion bolts from the ships. As they made their way down the battle torn streets, dodging wrecked vehicles and bodies of fellow citizens he could feel the intensity and horror emanating off of Sasha.

Suddenly, a missile from one of the battleships smashed into the radio tower and it began to fall right towards them. Sasha screamed and Corvus made a tight turn down an alleyway. The alleyway was narrow and it was a feat for him to miss the random bins of garbage & railings. He exited the alley and looked up to see the tower falling above them, or so it looked. He pushed the old speeder as hard as he could and the tower slammed down behind them crashing into the buildings behind them and closing the alleyway with rubble. The phantom feeling of being chased left his chest as the tower struck down, barely missing them and he exited the outskirts of the city.

He now began to follow the beacons toward Daverra, the capital city of the region they lived in and hoped that the large city was in better shape than their hometown. They both looked over their shoulders at the ruins of their hometown which looked like a smouldering campfire emitting a black billowing cloud with metal flies buzzing around it. As much as they hated their home it was an awful sight to see it reduced to nothing but debris. They both turned away for what they knew was the last time and continued through the forest along the beacons to reach the spaceport.

They emerged from the forest and Corvus brought the speeder to a stop. They were met with a sight they were half expecting; the city was in ruins. The majority of the battle looked like it had passed but a few star fighters were chasing each other around in the sky. In the distance they could see more battleships advancing so they knew they didn’t have much time to escape before another battle broke out; or even worse, a full invasion. Corvus put the speeder into full throttle again and made his way into the ruined city.

Corvus advanced through the war torn streets while trying not to look down at the bodies that lined the streets with debris and ash. Inside the city was much warmer than the air on the outskirts and in the forest from the blazing fires in most of the buildings. Suddenly, before Corvus realized it a large group of IRP soldiers were standing at the next intersection dressed in their black uniforms.

“Get down!” he yelled as they ducked their heads and the soldiers opened fire. After only a moment Corvus could hear the engine die as bolts pelted the front of the speeder which eventually led to the speeder losing power. Corvus steered it hard to the right and crashed it on the far adjacent corner of the intersection. Upon landing, Sasha and Corvus were both thrown from the speeder and hit the pavement.

Corvus quickly pulled Sasha behind the toppled air speeder as bolts landed all around them making short bursts of lightning cracks. He noticed a dead soldier leaned against the wall of the building on the corner, so he scurried over an grabbed the rifle. He had seen blaster rifles before but it was nothing like this; it was very advanced and sleek. He toyed with it for a moment until it lit up and a small screen on top of the barrel lit up. He turned to Sasha and gripped her shoulder tightly.

“Sasha, listen to me, you need to run as hard and as fast as you can.” Corvus began to explain. Immediately Sasha began to beg him not to stay behind.

“No, No, Corvus I’m not leaving you - I can’t do it!” she pleaded. Corvus grabbed her other arm aggressively and shook her relentlessly.

“We don’t have time! Follow this street to the spaceport; do you remember what it looks like?” he asked her. She looked back at him in shock trying to find the answer.

“Do you?!” he yelled again, and she finally let out a quick nod.

“So when I tell you, you run like hell. Do not stop, do not look back. I will be right behind you. I promise.” He said to her reassuringly. She wanted to believe him but their chance for survival at this moment was slim. He pulled her close and they tightly embraced for a short moment. Sasha was vibrating with fear and held on to Corvus as if it were the last time she would ever embrace him. Tears slid down her cheek onto Corvus’ shoulder and she hesitantly let go of her brother. She had never seen this level of intensity on her brother’s face, and it made her tremble.

“I’m right behind you. Now, run!” He yelled as he activated the blaster rifle and began firing shots at the soldiers. Sasha at that moment got up and did exactly what her brother told her; she ran as fast as she could, not looking back for a moment.

Corvus managed to hit one of the soldiers while the other four hid behind downed vehicles & rubble. They began firing back with much greater accuracy which forced Corvus to retreat back behind the vehicle. He checked the rifle and noticed it didn’t have to be loaded but worked as a cool down system. If the gun were to overheat he could possibly burn his hand or damage the weapon, so he had to pick his shots. That was as much as he knew about any weapon.

These men were trained soldiers and were hard pressed to miss. At this point it was kill or be killed, and the odds were not in his favour. He felt his grip on the gun get weak for a moment and he became lightheaded. Shutting his eyes he focused as hard as he could to stay alive and alert and all he could think of was Sasha. He prayed her luck was better than his and she could make it to the spaceport. It wasn’t far from where they were, but at this point there was no chance for him. He channeled the anger of impending defeat and stood up to fire.

An ion bolt whizzed by his head and plastered the wall behind him and the sheer force & heat from the bullet nearly burned the side of his face and he plopped back down behind the speeder holding his face. Thinking he was shot he went into shock for a moment but then realized that he was still conscious and the heat eventually subsided. He went back up to continue firing when he heard a loud humming sound coming from his left. He slowly turned his head to see a massive armoured tank heading toward him with a mounted cannon on top.

Time slowed down and his heart paced rapidly in his chest as the steel mammoth headed toward him. Running would make no difference as the massive tank could miss and still obliterate him. He felt like shooting at the tank would be an honourable, but stupid way to die and as he raised his gun, the tank stopped and the cannon turned toward the IRP soldiers and let out an ear piercing electrical sigh followed by a thunderous boom as a giant red ball of energy crashed into the ground between the soldiers, completely disintegrating them. The dust settled and nothing remained but a crater full of what used to be four IRP soldiers. Corvus turned and looked at the tank in dismay.

The cannon straightened out and from the top of the machine, a Federation soldier emerged. He was a younger man, not much older than Corvus but he had seen a lot more and had done a lot more than Corvus in the last few hours that would change him forever. The young soldier analyzed Corvus for a moment trying to figure out what team he was playing for and after analyzing both his clothing & his position in relation to the IRP soldiers he came to a sensible conclusion.

“Are you okay, kid?” asked the soldier. Corvus was shocked but raised his hand slightly and gave the man a single nod. Thanking a soldier for saving his life was not something Corvus ever thought he’d have to do, but it was more than warranted. They had undoubtedly saved him from certain death and although he disliked the soldiers and any man of authority, he couldn’t help but be thankful. Maybe he didn’t hate the soldiers; maybe he hated the war. After all, they were all being told what to do, how to do it and when to do it. They had made their choices as Corvus had made his.

The tank finally began to move again, rumbling passed him and the ground shook from the power of the massive machine. He had never seen a war machine this close to him before, let alone see it in action and although the situation was far from exciting he appreciated the magnitude of power it displayed. He knew that likely sometime in the future that young soldier would meet his demise at the hand of the IRP, or perhaps not. Either way, war had a way of shaping a man into a completely different person. Killing men and watching your friends die was no way to live.

Sasha wouldn’t have made it far from where he was, so he stood up and ran after her dropping the gun behind him.

Sasha could see the spaceport across the street as she remained hidden in the remains of an old shop. She wiped the tears from her face and looked each way down the street. Corvus was nowhere in sight and her fear grew inside of her. The spaceport was so close but her legs would not push her any further as they quivered beneath her as if it were her first time walking. If Corvus died she wouldn’t know what to do, she wouldn’t know where to go. She had to fight.

Taking in a deep breath she collected herself, caught her breath and jumped from the rubble into a full sprint across the road. It was only about twenty or thirty feet wide but it felt like a kilometre. She looked both ways again as she ran to only see no soldiers either way. The doors to the spaceport were glass and were blown out from explosions. She quickly hopped through the doors and looked around.

The hallway was barely lit as the power was still on but many of the lights were blown out as well. She creeped down the hallway cautiously and figured it’d be best to wait in the hallway for her brother so she sat down on a bench quietly. It was unusual for the spaceport to be empty like this, but under the circumstances it was understood. She tried to get comfortable but she could hear the sounds of a ship landing inside one of the docking bays that was closest to her.

Her heart jumped into her throat and before she panicked she needed to see who it was. Was it a rescue team? Was it her father finally coming back to help them? She had to find out and her curiosity and impatience got the best of her and she crept up to the docking bay, slithering behind a pillar. She saw a rather large ship that looked like something her father would have driven; a large dark brown freighter. It was almost a perfect square shape except for the longer front which more than likely held the cockpit of the large ship. Steam poured out from beneath it and the ramp began to lower onto the concrete floor of the docking bay.

The room was musty and smelled of ion discharges from the ship engines, a familiar smell that reminded her of Corvus. The walls were stained with years of smoke, steam & even some blaster fire and were dark brown but were most likely once much brighter. Most of the ships in the room were gone with the exception of two which were broken down as some hard parts strewn about the room and the other had a gaping hole in the front of it which was still smoking and slightly smouldering. The ground was made up of a thick, pale concrete floor with faded lines painted on it as landing markers for docking ships. The roof had a giant hole in it for ships to ascend and descend through.

She wanted to see her father emerge from the freighter, but instead it was a short, stalky man with a dark black handlebar goatee and a large black tricorne hat. His long black duster and thick black military boots made him appear larger than what he was. He looked very suspicious and she was wary about his presence and didn’t want to make herself known until she could figure out who he was and what he wanted. The man looked around breathing heavily as if he’d just went for an hour long run.

“Hello! Anybody here?” he yelled out. It echoed all around her and his booming voice made him sound like it was being projected through a loudspeaker. Sasha examined the ship and tried to take clues from its appearance but she knew nothing about spacecraft. There was a large white marking on the side which she did not recognize. Red or black would suggest pirates or mercenaries so she began to convince herself that he meant well. Sasha was young and naive when it came to aliens and visitors of the planet; she knew nothing of the galaxy beyond Fares and other than the few things her brother & mother had talked about before she was clueless.

After a few moments of considering her options she went with her gut which was churning from all of the horrific things she had seen earlier and stepped out into the open. She slowly waved at the man and greeted him.

“Hello?” she called out which sounded more like a whimper than a greeting. The man looked over at her and gave a big hearty grin.

“Young lady! You’ve picked the right place to be, we’re a rescue team sent from the Federation. I’m sure you’ve heard?” he asked her. She shook her head in response.

“Well, it makes no difference, here, come on over and we’ll get you to safety.” He offered. She hesitated and took a few steps toward him cautiously.

“We have to wait for my brother, he will be here shortly!” she exclaimed. The man nodded aggressively and beckoned her over.

“Yes, of course! Are you hurt? We can fix you up inside!” He explained. She held her head and remembered the fall she had at her apartment and nodded. She began to walk toward him cautiously but the man seemed helpful. He smiled at her as she approached and held his hand out to her.

Corvus stumbled into the spaceport and looked around for his sister. He walked down the hallway looking into the small rooms and entrances to the docking bays. Just before entering he had barely missed a convoy of IRP soldiers that were patrolling the area. He hoped and prayed that his sister got here safe and unharmed. He called out loudly enough for her to possibly hear, but enough to alert anyone outside.

“Sasha!” he called out. Sasha was now standing with the man and turned toward the entrance after hearing her brother’s voice. She called back out to him but her arms were suddenly grabbed from behind and her wrists were cuffed before she could even react. The man wrapped one arm around her and began to drag her toward the ship.

“No! What are you doing?! Let me go!” she screamed. Her heart raced as she now realized her mistake. She began to cry, kick and scream trying to break free from the man but it was no use; he was incredibly powerful.

“Shut up!” he said as he viciously smacked her across the back of the head and caused her to yelp, but she continued to scream. His voice became deeper and more gruff now that his intentions were revealed.

Corvus ran into the room and saw his sister being dragged away. Just as he began to run toward her a hand grabbed his mouth and another wrapped around his chest and pulled him into a small cubby by the doorway. He fought as hard as he could but the gloved hands were much more powerful than him and kept him still.

“Shut it.” Said a raspy voice from behind him into his ear. Corvus fought as hard as he could as he watched his younger sister be dragged away by a space pirate. He knew the markings on the ship was a white wing and knew it was the worst form of trouble. The man wasn’t just a pirate; he was a slave trader. If he didn’t break free of this man’s grip and get to his sister she would befall a fate far worse than death.

As the man dragged her into the ship she saw a very tall reptilian man waiting on the side of the entrance, staring into her eyes as she passed him. She locked eyes with him and began screaming more violently but her screams became less prominent and more hopeless. The reptilian man raised the ramp to the ship and made his way to the cockpit. The man threw Sasha down onto the ground and kicked her hard in the gut making her nearly hurl.

“Make one more noise and I’ll put you to sleep, girl.” He said with a psychotic glare in his eyes. Her lips quivered and her body shook with it and she immediately shut her mouth. The threat was real and she did not want to anger this guy more than he already seemed. She wanted to let everything out begin crying but she forced every sound she wanted to make deep inside of her; only tears welled up in her eyes and poured down her cheeks. Her head hurt and her gut was in all sorts of knots.

Just as the ship began to power up the man released his grip on Corvus and he ran toward the ship screaming his sister’s name. Before he could reach the freighter it pushed itself upward, blowing a bout of steam across the concrete floor wrapping around Corvus and ascended through the hole in the roof. He looked up in disbelief; his sister had been kidnapped right before his eyes and there was a new found rage within him making him tremble. Corvus could kill right now, and he knew it; he also knew who would deserve that fate as he spun around to see a tall man in a long brown duster, long brown boots, an old dusty white shirt that had seen better days, black fingerless gloves and a leather hood shaded the man’s eyes. He had no discernible facial hair other than scruff that had been grown in the last couple days.

Corvus approached the man with his fists clenched and ready for a fight. He cursed under his breath and before he could get close the man pulled out a large blaster pistol and readied it for firing which stopped Corvus in his tracks, as angry as he was. The sound of the blaster charging was like an electric camera shutter follow by a rising buzz.

“In case you didn’t know, I just saved your life. Don’t make me take it back.” The man said. Corvus gritted his teeth together and his cheeks puffed from his jaw and he felt the need to charge the man despite the blaster in his hand. Maybe he could miss or maybe he was bluffing.

“Don’t try it.” Said the man, reading Corvus’ face like an open book. He steadied his aim as the charger reached a full charge by letting out a short click and followed by a quiet, high pitched hum.

“Believe it or not, I want them dead as much as you do.” The man continued with his raspy and slightly monotonous voice.

“I want you dead.” Corvus replied quickly.

“I respect that, but that isn’t going to happen.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“Do you seriously think I won’t put a hole in your skull?” the man raised his voice and briskly walked over to Corvus pushing the barrel into his cheek. Corvus released his fists and went stiff, then immediately felt weak at the knees. It was different than being shot at from a distance than to have a gun pushed into his cheek.

“The only reason I haven’t is because someone you really care about was just dragged away by my target.” He explained to Corvus. He now knew who the man was and what he wanted but he had to be sure.

“You’re… a bounty hunter?” asked Corvus.

“Yes, and because that stupid girl decided to get herself caught I missed my only shot in weeks to finally kill him.” He replied through gritted teeth. Corvus winced at the comment about his sister being taken. It was her fault? He thought and the very idea of it made him wince and shake with anger but he kept his cool on a count of the hot barrel of a blaster pistol pressed up against his face. The man surely wouldn’t miss now but perhaps he wasn’t here to kill him.

There was an intense moment of silence between the two of them but the man finally lowered his pistol and disarmed the charge which sounded like a mechanical sigh as if the blaster pistol was unimpressed that it didn’t get to fulfill its duty. The man sheathed it under his coat which revealed an arsenal of knives and two smaller pistols.

Corvus needed to play this smart. The man had stopped him for a reason, otherwise he would’ve killed him the moment he got in his way. Bounty Hunter’s were notoriously known for killing whoever got in their way. There were so many questions in his head, but there was one sitting on the tip of his tongue.

“Why did you stop me?” Corvus asked. The man pondered for a moment and took off his hood revealing, short messy hair and piercing green eyes.

“Because they would’ve killed you.” He responded.

“They’re going to kill her!” Corvus retorted angrily.

“Would you think for a second? They’re slavers; they are not going to kill her. They’re going to sell her.” The man said and began to walk out of the hangar. Corvus ran up behind him and walked beside him looking up at him. The man eventually looked down at him.

“So, If you don’t mind, I’d like to get going so we can catch up to them.” He insisted.

“We?” asked Corvus. The fact that the man had used the term we in his statement indicated he truly meant no harm to Corvus, and was possibly planning this long before Corvus decided to make a run for his sister. In hindsight, he would’ve been shot without question before he even got to his sister and what would have happened even if he reached his sister? Would he have tackled the man who was twice his size and was likely armed, and even if he got the man down to the ground, he likely had others with him.

“Yes. You work on ships, correct?” asked the man. Corvus was surprised the man would know that information about him. Was he following or watching him?

“How did you-“ asked Corvus but was interrupted.

“Do I look blind? Your uniform.” He said. Corvus looked down at his attire and realized how stupid his question really was.

“My ship needs a necessary repair and I’m handicapped when it comes to fixing anything that doesn’t require a blaster.” He stated.

“What is wrong with it?” Corvus asked.

“The targeting system got fried in the battle when I made my way here.”

“That’s an easy fix, but I need parts.”

“I got plenty of parts; I’m a bit of a scavenger too.” The man finished. Corvus was already planning how he would need to repair it and needed confirmation.

“So, I’m assuming your offer is, if I fix your ship you’ll take me to my sister which will then lead you to your targets?” Corvus asked.

“Boy, you’re smart.” He replied condescendingly. Corvus ignored the sarcasm but thought it was strange for a mercenary to offer such a strenuous service for a small repair. He didn’t entirely trust the man but at this point he really had no other options; he needed to get to his sister and was willing to do anything for her. He couldn’t track the slavers, it could take him all day to find a working ship and even if he did, how would he navigate through the battle? He was out of options and if he hadn’t been killed by the man yet then he figured he was safe with him. He had to remain cautiously optimistic and keep this guy in his sights at all times.

“Then I guess we have a deal.” Corvus said as he held his hand out to the man, hoping to bind the agreement with a handshake. The man looked down at his hand and continued walking ignoring the punk.

“Rik.” He said after a long pause. Corvus walked at his side and decided to introduce himself since Rik didn’t bother asking.

“Corvus.” He finally blurted out. Rik only responded with a grunt.