-A day later-
[The running of footsteps echoes throughout the calm night]
[The cracking of shingles reverberates through the silence]
'Capture one alive'
That's all Egan had running through his head. He needed to find someone who actually knew anything about this slavery business. From what he heard from the Guildmaster and Liz, he wanted to stop them more than anything. If Liz hadn't been there when Sarah's room got broken into, who knows what horrible things would have happened to her.
It frightened him. But that fear motivated his drive for this new mission.
{Capture a Fire Emblem -Alive-}
Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, he scours the town from above. After a while of circling the town, he perches on top of the clock tower from before, looking out over the quiet night sky. The view from here never gets old. A full 360 degrees of pure beauty. The rowdy town bustling with people, filled with joy and happiness—and the eerie quiet forest, filled with elegance and grace, deep and rich.
His cloak flew in the wind, each wave of air gently brushing Egan's face. The cool crisp of the night air was eccentric. You could almost forget what was at stake here.
With Egan's 'Innate talent' for sensing essence concentration, he can easily depict if a person is lying about their strength, or if they're trying to conceal it for stealth. He can very easily tell where people of even the slightest essence are. It is almost like a 6th sense for the things around him that feel just a little bit off. That is how he can find the hooded figures' presence so precisely. Because of that, he can also tell when something isn't suspicious.
He looks down at a few wagons, all with guards and goods being hauled in and out of the town. The town was in short supply of goods ever since the festival ended, so merchants carrying goods were incredibly common now. The perfect cover.
The only thing illuminating the road below him was the dim flickering of small torches and lanterns. He didn't need a light to see well in the pitch black, though his eyes were keened on fixating even the smallest amount of light from any given source. From Egan's point of view, it's like watching the world with a orange filter plastered over it, anything that exudes essence gives of a sort of infared hue. The denser it is, the more essence is radiating off of them.
Low light levels meant nothing. He can turn the orange filter on and off, however. Kinda like a toggle switch, he can activate with his mind. So, scanning for anybody suspicious is very easy for this young dragon.
***
[A faint presence can be felt to the left]
Egan looks down towards the road, focusing on his vision.
Nothing.
He looks to his left to where the presence felt the strongest, and for a split second.
He saw someone jump down from a rooftop.
'Jackpot'
Covering his face with his hood and his eyes now glowing with a ferocious intensity, he dashes off the clocktower, soaring through the air, before delicately landing on the town's wall.
He had to be quick, the presence is fading and fading fast.
[The charging of essence consumes the body]
Egan, thinking back to how feeble his form was when splattered against a rock and a few small trees, tries to enhance his body with flow. He knows the fundamentals when it comes to 'Battle factor', but not the intricate details. Flow comes naturally to him, almost like breathing, so using that just seemed like the better option for him. But it doesn't work, if he were to do that, his body would start heating the surround air, giving away his presence.
He was smarter than that.
So, he tried to use 'Increase'
Taking the essence, he was naturally exuding and plastering it to his body, disregarding the elemental factor of it.
'More!'
'I need more!'
His eyes begin glowing even brighter.
A stomp of his foot shatters the immediate ground beneath him, launching him at the speed of lightning. He quickly jumps from the wall, soaring through the sky as though carried by the wind, before delicately landing on another rooftop.
The presence is closer now. He is gaining on it.
Out of the corner of his peripheral, he spots a quick blur running away from him.
'There!'
Fast and silent, he blitzes through the night, eager to finish this quest once and for all. Ricocheting from house to house in an attempt to gain on this figure.
The figure was fast, very fast. But Egan was faster.
In no time Egan could single out the body of the figure, it was adorned with the same cloak as before, bearing the same emblem.
A red flame.
He needs to capture him. Even getting his cloak back to Liz and Ser would be a massive leap forward in progress.
***
[The presence gets stronger]
'Huh?'
Something is off about the cloaked man. He doesn't seem to be running from Egan; no, he seems to be focusing on something else. His presence gained in intensity, but his animosity wasn't focused on him. Instead of foolishly charging in with no plan, Egan waited, slowly circling him from the town wall as the figure jumped from the rooftops. He hasn't seemed to notice Egan yet.
[A gleam reflects from the eyes of the cloaked figure]
Something flashed before Egan, a bright light.
It was strange. For it wasn't an attack, or a defensive move. No concentration of essence was coalesced there—not even a little bit.
Upon closer inspection of his hands, Egan notices something there, glowing. It was small, too small to recognize or get a good idea of, but it was there. As fast as they were running around Western Vanitinova, it was a shock that he even saw it to begin with given the motion blur, but it's lucky that he did.
Within an instant, the cloaked figure stopped, A cloud of dust following behind him, pushing his cloak in the wind. Egan, doing the same, sneaks up closer, being sure to hide his presence as much as possible to avoid detection, just in case the cloaked man possessed the same ability he did.
Gazing upon him from behind, the cloaked figures' emblem danced in the wind. It looked as though an actual flame raged upon his back.
[Another flash blinded Egan for a split second]
'There it was again!' Egan thought to himself, still staring at the man standing a little way in front of him.
After that short flash, the cloaked figure jumped down into the street before him.
Surprised, Egan shortly followed, curious as to what he was doing. After peering down at the street in front of him, he notices the cloaked man, device still in hand, creeping in an alley across from where Egan was. He was looking at someone. A woman.
A look of disgust and hatred washed over Egan's face. Just thinking about what this guy might be planning filled him with an indescribable anger.
Still looking at the cloaked figure, not wanting to assume anything just yet and act rashly, still looked down towards the scene, the same look of disgust on his face.
The woman was fairly attractive with long, flowing black hair. She was carrying a basket filled to the brim with scrolls. She was adorned with a long sleeve shirt, and a long skirt attached by a belt.
She looked like she was in a hurry.
The cloaked figure dashed from inside the alleyway, launching himself out from the shadows and in front of the girl. As though the girl was familiar with this cloaked figure, she immediately ran in the opposite direction, as fast as she could.
Egan could tell she had been running for a while now. It was incredibly likely that this abhorrent cloaked figure has been perusing her for some time now.
After a short chase, the woman was cornered in an alley towards the end of the street. She was cornered.
Helpless.
Afraid.
The cloaked figure slowly walked toward her, confident in his skills as a predator, finally catching his prey. With an armed raised and knife drawn, he brings it down, aiming it directly for the woman.
She closed her eyes, a scream emanating from her breath, and tears flowing down her face.
[The flowing of a large cloak silenced the scream]
[The catching of a wrist clapped throughout the quiet alleyway]
Within a flash, Egan swooped down from atop the alley, catching the hand of the cloaked man, stopping it from moving any further. Egan's cloak still covered his face. The only thing visible was his two piercing draconic eyes staring down at this disgusting excuse for a human.
Egan's grip tightened, cracking the wrist of the perpetrator, his knife falling to the ground. Egan's other hand rested upon the poor woman's shoulder, defending her.
"Augh!" The cloaked man screamed, "You bastard, I'm gonna kill you!"
His cracked hand, dangling from his forearm, flailed in the wind as he grabbed a second dagger with his left hand. With a quick swipe from Egan, he grabs the cloaked figures other wrist with his right hand. As the criminal struggled trying to release his other hand from Egan's grip, Egan in return pulled him in closer, followed by a powerful punch straight into the solar plexus, knocking him out cold, a shockwave following through and beyond the cloaked mans body.
The woman, scared, looks up at the tall figure before her.
Egan grabs the cloaked man by his head, his eyes rolled back, and foam frothing from his mouth. He was comatose.
He looks behind at the woman he was protecting, a large smile plastered on his face. One of pride and relief that she was okay. Her tear's stopped flowing, thankful for this mysterious savior.
With closed eyes, Egan, still looking back at the woman, only says one thing.
"Glad I got here in time!"
His smile was still radiating in the quiet alleyway.
{Capture a Fire Emblem -Alive- Successful}