Wing Bind
For what reason do people fight?
To prove a point? To protect their pride? To ensure the greater good? To fulfill their greed?
Ninny had always asked herself this every time she would come across a random bully while walking through the halls of Wing Bind. Normally it would be some stuck-up kid who thinks that he's the center of the universe.
Not only this, but she was also a celebrity, so she knew more about selfish people than others.
Her career relies on selfish people fulfilling their greed, so she would say that her opinions on such things had more merit.
But that brings it back to her question.
Why do people fight?
She couldn't answer, for she does her best to avoid confronting other people, she truly couldn't care less about the affairs of most others.
Putting it that way, perhaps she was no better than the very people she criticizes.
Being a celebrity herself, she knew about the stigma behind them. She's heard stories about the infamy that Hollywood has produced over the decades. She knew of the public opinion on her. The very moment she signed the contract, she was no longer a "person" in the eyes of others. An idol, that's what she is now.
But to be honest, it doesn't concern her in the least.
This entire facade is just something to pass the time.
Her goal has always remained true ever since she first entered Reverse London.
To make a name for herself.
To become a Sabre.
Dragons have been a plague all across the United Kingdom, ask any official and they'll say the same thing.
Everyone that has seen the dragons know of the story.
Dragons have been around since the beginning of mankind, however humans have not been able to see dragons for the longest time. 72% of deaths in the UK alone can be explained because of dragons.
Thus, sometime during the 5th and 6th century, an organization made solely to deal with dragons was formed. The name given to this organization was Wing Bind.
There hasn't always been a Wing Bind, historians (the ones in Reverse London) have been having a hard time pinpointing exactly when the organization was formed. They believe that the concept of "Reverse London" as well as the formation of Wing Bind occurred sometime before the 6th century.
Though many in Reverse London know of the Soul Society to the East, not many can personally say they visited it throughout Reverse London's history. That is simply because of how Hollows/Dragons are treated.
The Shinigami dealt with Hollows by "destroying" (purifying) them, while the Wizards/Witches dealt with Dragons by capturing and domesticating them.
That was what everyone in the Western Soul Society knew.
The concept of Dragons being the souls of past humans has long since been forgotten by the populace of Reverse London.
Wing Bind, and by extension, Reverse London, are not the same as their counterparts in the East.
Far… Far from it.
"So annoying…"
Ninny whispered. Her blonde hair tied into twin-tails, flowing through the wind while she rode on her broombuggy. She wore her Wing Bind attire.
Broombuggy are useful dragons that have been domesticated and modified into a broom-like appearance.
Ninny knows exactly how cliche the image looks, a witch riding upon a broom.
"Hey!" She called out, although not to a person. Rather, she called out to an animal that had started flying away.
An average sized horse with large eagle wings, its back legs were also the legs of an eagle.
These horse-like dragons are called Griffiths, mostly just because they are a species evolved from the mythical griffin, or so they say. Ninny found the story to be bullshit, they looked nothing like the Griffins are supposed to look like.
Ninny kicked at the back of her broombuggy. Her broombuggy proceeded to fly at a faster speed to catch up to the horse-like dragon.
"Magic Number 43!" She yelled, taking out her handgun– her Witch Kit– and aiming to the area in front of the Griffith. In front of her silly-looking handgun the air started to vibrate just slightly.
Magic gathered up at the nozzle, and she released it with one command. "Hefty Netting!
A long strand of yellow light traveled from her handgun and moved to the front of the moving horse-dragon. It released a monstrous neigh as a large glowing net appeared in front of it, covering itself around it and then tightening. It began to fall as its wings were restricted by the magical net.
The distance of fall to the ground gave Ninny enough time to cast another spell. She aimed the handgun towards the ground, more magic gathered up at the tip.
"Magic Number 44: Flash Bumper!"
A large yellow ball shot towards the ground, stopping only a meter above it to spread itself. A large solid yellow net appeared facing upwards, catching the falling dragon.
"Phew." Ninny wiped a single drop of sweat from off her forehead. "That should do it."
Why did we have to deal with this? She complained to herself. It wasn't as though she had anything particularly important to do today, but she would rather be anywhere but here.
Actually, why did I have to deal with this? It was at this moment when she started to look around she realized that she couldn't find her partner, who was supposed to be here. She looked around more, but she still couldn't find her. She called out to the woman who was supposed to be there with her.
"Niihashi!"
"Right here." A monotone voice called back. Traveling only a few meters behind her on her own broombuggy came a young woman with long waist-length black-haired. At least a year younger than Ninny but looks almost slightly older due to… certain elements regarding her body.
This girl's name was Noel Niihashi. She scrolled through her phone, only sparing Ninny a single glance.
"What the hell were you doing?" Ninny's agitated voice would have made anyone else flinch, however her partner didn't even glance up from her phone.
"Checking something." Noel continued to scroll through her phone..
"Seriously, you couldn't have waited until after we captured that thing?" Ninny tilted her broombuggy, moving closer to Noel. She held out her hand, planning on swiping it from Noel's hands, but her junior quickly moved right as Ninny reached out to her.
"Maybe." Noel said with a shrug, her fingers kept swiping at her phone's screen. "Now hold on, I've almost found it."
"What could–" Ninny tried lunging at the phone again, but Noel dodged that time as well. "-Be so important–" She tried taking the phone again, but inevitably failed. "-that you stop working!"
"Found it." Noel held out a hand, leading Ninny to almost smack her face right into her partner's palm. The twin tailed blonde pulled back on her broombuggy, coming to a direct stop right next to Noel.
Noel turned the screen towards Ninny. Who saw an image of shiny brown feathers, ones that are similar to the feathers on the Griffith.
Ninny moved to get a closer look, seeing a number right under the image.
"Seriously? Couldn't you have looked this up afterwards?" Ninny realized immediately what Noel was searching for. Noel was definitely going to pluck off a feather or two and sell it. "If it weren't for me then that thing would have escaped!" Ninny loudly berated her partner.
Who only gave a shrug in return. "I know. I had faith that you were going to catch it."
"You–!" Ninny wanted to just strangle and shake Noel right then and there. "You know what, no. I'm not going to let you pluck any of the feathers. I was the one who did all the work."
"Hey, isn't that a bit mean?" Noel asked, her deadpan expression did not change. "I did some work too, you know."
"You threw two stunballs! Literally anyone could have done that."
"It was still something."
"You–" Both girls were the stubborn type, if they truly wanted to then they could probably keep arguing until nightfall, however Ninny wanted to just get all of this over with. "Fine, go pluck one, I'll call in and say that we're done." She relented with a sigh.
Noel only smiled before moving towards the trapped dragon, intent on plucking out a single feather. She would have plucked out more but she knew that was a bad idea, and someone would definitely notice.
Ninny packed her Witch Kit before pulling out her phone. She dialed the number for her commanding officer with a scowl on her face.
It ringed only for a second before he picked up.
"Hellooo? Ninny?"
"We finished the job, it's been secured." Ninny said, looking back at the horse-dragon that was trapped within a magical net.
"Already? Wow! That was fast!" The voice on the other end sounded enthusiastic, "Alright, just wait there, I'll notify them that you're finished, they'll be there in a few minutes probably."
"Why us anyways? Couldn't they have sent someone else?" She finally decided to give her complaints.
If her commanding officer were here then she would have definitely seen him shrugging. "No idea, we were just available at the right time. Anyways, I got some important news for you two, so come right back here once they arrive."
"Alright." She tried to sound indifferent, but normally when their commanding officer had "important news" it normally turns out to not be important at all or extremely important. She hung up right after.
Shocking, something that's said to be important should be important.
She shook her head, that sarcasm was meant for other people who annoyed her, not herself.
"What did he say?" Noel had moved towards Ninny, having already plucked out a feather while her senior was on the phone. Ninny looked towards her dress, inside a pocket she could see a single strand of the feather.
"Wait here until the officials arrive. He said to go back right after because he had 'important news'". Ninny couldn't help but say the last bit with air quotes.
"How long until they get here?" Noel asked.
Ninny responded with a shrug. "He said that it would take a few minutes, but knowing him that either means they're either a minute away or it'll take half an hour."
"Probably…"
Luckily for both of them it didn't take any more than three minutes for other people to arrive. The two left with a wave, leaving the others to carry the trapped dragon.
The two entered a building that held two large letters right on top of the entrance. A large and bright "WB" stood over the entranceway.
Many eyes turned towards them as they entered, and it's not like you can truly blame them. Two attractive young women, and one of them happens to be a celebrity.
"I swear, this better have been worth it." Ninny grumbled to herself. Impatiently walking to the pay machine.
Unlike the grumpy Ninny, Noel walked patiently behind her, both of them taking their phones out of their pockets as they stood in front of the machine.
Ninny held her phone screen towards a small bulb on it, opening up an app that calculated her Pay and her Points.
Pay is self-explanatory, it's the money earned from completing jobs.
The title of "wizard" or "witch" was honestly just for aesthetics. Though while they did use magic, no one in Wing Bind is like the stereotypical wizard. They aren't in their own basements studying magic nor are they going out in the world to showcase their power (...for the most part).
Ninny thinks that it would be better to call most of them zookeepers. Or even commissioners.
In the end, it's nothing so grandiose. Wizards and witches do this for the money and the prestige– at least, the ones in the Pipers division, which is where Noel and Ninny reside.
A ding echoed from the machine, so Ninny pulled her phone away to check her screen.
She checked her pay.
Twenty-five pounds. Although she necessarily didn't care much for the money, she earned more than enough from her side job.
It was the Achievement Points that she was interested in.
She swiped up, the screen changing to white. A line split the screen in the middle, with the number ten underneath. Above that line was the number six.
In the top left, about half of the size of the six, a small text appeared.
+3
The number changed from a six to a nine.
"I'm sooo clooose!" She whined. Achievement Points aren't exactly the hardest to come by but it's difficult to earn more than one every couple of days.
The weekly amount of points earn caps at 10, and when a witch/wizard hits that mark they are awarded a raise.
If a person earns a certain amount of Achievement Points, they are earned a promotion.
And that's where Ninny's interest lies.
It would take a while, but there is a possibility that if she acclaimed enough achievement points then she would get promoted to a higher-ranked Piper.
And at that point, all she needs to do left is accomplish something that catches the Eyes of the Top Of Horns.
Then… and only then… can she be promoted to the Sabre squad.
Noel had already placed her phone in front of the screen, moving away from it once she heard the beep.
"Only five pounds?" She asked no one in particular, however someone answered her anyway.
"Because you didn't even do anything, I was the one who did all the work." Ninny said, glancing at the black-haired girl from the side.
The frown on Noel's face was not genuine. "Not true, I did help– a little." Ninny has been with Noel long enough to know that there was a smug tone in her voice.
"I suppose it doesn't matter. I already got my pay." Noel said lightly, plucking the feather from out of her pocket, which was still somehow in mint condition.
"Was it really worth it?" Ninny asked, placing a hand on her hip and glaring slightly at her partner.
Noel raised an eyebrow towards Ninny. "Of course, didn't you see the pricing when I showed you my screen earlier?"
"No, why would I? Stuff like that goes around for maybe a few pence, and that's being generous."
"Not for this person." Noel held the feather in one hand and her phone in the other. She pulled up the mobile browser, switching to the tab that had the pricing for the feather. She turned her phone around, giving Ninny a better look.
The blonde twin tailed girl leaned forward, observing the screen. Right under an image of the feather, there was a price set.
"What?! Sixty pounds?! " Ninny's outburst gained the attention of everyone around them, with it suddenly going quiet. "Why?!"
"I think it might be because of this." Noel held out the item, using one of her fingers to point at a single spot on the brown-feather.
A single white dot.
"While I was checking for feathers, I found that every one of them had this weird white dot. I don't know what the point of it is but no other Griffith has something similar."
Ninny squinted at the spot, taking only a small amount of effort until she was able to see it clearly, and when she did she got even more confused.
"I still don't understand why someone is willing to pay that much for a single feather."
Noel shrugged at her partner's confusion. "I don't get it either, I assume that one is a rare breed. Can't be too sure though."
Ninny released a hefty sigh while shaking her head.
"Doesn't matter, let's just get going." She said, pocketing her phone and walking forward, away from the entire crowd that whispered while staring at the two.
Noel carefully placed the feather in her pocket, the one that didn't hold her phone. She gave her partner a questioning glance. "Go where?"
"Did you already forget? That old idiot has news for us."
Noel's eyes widened after remembering. "Ah, that's right."
"You were so focused on that stupid feather that you forgot?" Ninny said in exasperation, however she continued to walk forward.
Noel quickly caught up to her. "Can you blame me? I caught the chance of a lifetime."
Selling an overpriced item is not the "chance of a lifetime". Ninny thought to herself.
"Let's just get this over with, it's almost…" She quickly pulled out her phone to check the time. "9 PM, and I want to rest already." She quickly placed her phone away once again.
Noel nodded in agreement.
This better be important, the same thought that went through both of their heads.
"Ah, you girls are finally here!" The door to their commanding officer's office opened wide, an older man greeted the two with a smile. He was a middle-aged man with shaggy black hair and a thick horseshoe mustache
"Yeah yeah, let's just get this over with." Ninny said with a yawn, both her and Noel walked into the office, closing the door behind them.
A large stack of papers lay on their senior's desk.
Laying on the desk at the very front was a wooden plaque, the name "Billy Banx Jr" etched into it.
"What's the news?" Ninny asked, getting straight to the point.
"Right, well, since it's getting late…" Billy walked over to his desk, looking through a pile of papers on the other side. "Now where is it…"
"We don't have all day, old man." Ninny said, crossing her arms and tapping her foot.
"I know I know, hold on I almost…" It took a minute until Billy found what he was looking for. "Aha! Here it is!" He held out the paper, giving it a glance over just to confirm he picked the right paper.
He nodded to himself, then looked forward at the two girls in front of his desk– who truly looked like they didn't want to be there.
So just to get their intention, he decided to get straight to the point. "We'll be having a new member tomorrow."
The bored look on the two changed. Ninny's face froze for a few seconds, taking in what she just heard.
Noel's deadpan expression didn't change, however there was definitely curiosity in her eyes. "Hm." She only hummed in response.
Finally, Ninny gathered her bearings, giving Billy a confused look.
"We, as in us two?"
"Yup." Billy's lips popped at the "P". "Although he's… a special case, I suppose you can say."
"In what way?" This time, it was Noel who spoke up.
"Most of the information is above my jurisdiction to know, however I do know that he's definitely not from here. In fact, it was far from here."
Billy looked over the paper again, remembering his talk with Sullivan Squire just a day prior. Much of what she told him was only things that he was allowed to know.
So he passed on the information to the two in front of him.
"He lived in a desolate countryside, or so that's what they say. He himself doesn't know the name, however he has said that there was no access to technology." Billy placed his hand to his chin, remembering his first impression with the boy.
"Think of it like the Amish in America but somehow worse, that's where he came from." The older man chuckled. "I remember when I saw him, the look of awe he had when he first saw one of the billboard screens outside, only a person who's never seen a screen would look like that."
Both girls had different thoughts about the information, and both said their thoughts out loud.
"How much does he not know?" Ninny asked.
"That kind of stuff exist here?" Noel asked.
Billy sat down, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. "To answer both, he had zero access to modern technology until two days ago, and yes, those kinds of communities do in fact exist here, although they are far away from society."
There was one question that appeared in Ninny's mind, one that she felt was way too important to not ask. "So how did they find him? Or did he find them?"
Billy inhaled, and exhaled, releasing a puff of smoke. "That's the weird thing. That isn't in my jurisdiction to know."
The Director of the Sabres Division had only given subtle hints about that particular topic. He even asked her about it, however she only responded with "That's classified."
Billy smirked at the memory, that was one of the moments that reminded him of the truth behind the Top Of Horns.
However, that is something for another day, and definitely doesn't concern the two young ladies in front of him.
It was obvious that both of the girls wanted to ask more about it, however he silenced the two with a wave. "Well, that's just for you two to think about for now. He won't be here until tomorrow anyways, so go think about your welcome.
"You're dismissed for today."
Ninny wanted to ask more, however she didn't know if Billy even knew more. If he did, then he didn't seem like he would be talking about it anymore.
So she sighed again. "Alright, I'm out of here then."
She quickly walked out of the office room, Noel following right behind her.
Alone in the room, Billy exhaled a puff of smoke, staring at the paper in front of him.
"Dragonclad huh…" He whispered to himself. He leaned back into his chair, and stared at the ceiling. "What a world."
The Very Next Day
Ninny walked through the entrance to the Pipers building (the same building they entered yesterday), wearing her Wing Bind uniform.
Her hair tied into twin tails like usual, and looked spikey as usual. However, her eyes looked more tired than usual.
She had received a phone call an hour earlier, apparently her commanding officer thought it would be a good idea to accept an assignment that takes place off work hours.
So she walked towards a coffee machine, placing a coin in and choosing a latte.
A white cup appeared, filled with caffeine goodness, or so she believed.
"Bastard didn't have to wake us up this early." She muttered to herself. She said "us" because she saw Noel walking past earlier.
"It's probably important, normally our jobs start at nine." Noel spoke, walking up from behind, her eyes as tired as Ninny's.
You wouldn't think that a three-hour difference wasn't too much, however neither of them weren't expecting it.
And also…
"It's Saturday!" Ninny growled. "It's supposed to be our day off! Damn that old bastard!"
"Careful," Noel sipped her own coffee, Ninny didn't even see her get one. "You'll crush that cup in your hands."
"Whatever." Ninny took a large gulp, finishing off the drink within a few minutes. She gasped, feeling slightly more awake. "Let's just get this over with." She threw the empty cup at the trash can next to the machines.
Noel still sipped from her own cup.
"What do you think it is?" Noel made conversation as they walked to Billy's office. Ninny was too agitated to say anything, but still decided to humor her.
"Don't know, don't care, I just want my day off." Ninny, at this moment, looked like the epiphany of tiredness. She walked with a lazy step, her back slouched forward, and her hands in her pockets.
Noel, on the other hand, walked casually like she usually does. She didn't give up on her conversation for some reason. "If it's on a weekend then it has to be important."
Ninny only gave a grunt in response, but Noel kept speaking.
"It's definitely about our new partner."
At that, Ninny's steps almost stopped. She faltered for a split second, before her walking seemed to increase in speed and intensity
She had entirely forgotten about that.
But now that Noel reminded her, she now has an outlet to get rid of her agitation. Would it make a good first impression? Definitely not. But she was too tired and too annoyed to think of anything else.
Noel noticed the change in the atmosphere a split second afterwards. It felt a lot more tense than it did a second ago.
"Hey, hold on," Noel grabbed onto Ninny's shoulders, causing both of them to slow down (but not completely stopping). "Don't go do anything rash."
Ninny growled in response. "Whoever this bastard is, they ruined my Saturday, I'm not going to let them off the hook."
"Hold on!"
Ninny started to speed-walk, with Noel trying to catch up to her from behind. They rounded the corner, only a few seconds away from the office door.
"Don't do anything rash!" For once there was a change in Noel's deadpan expression, instead, her eyes were wide and filled with alarm.
Luckily Ninny didn't do anything that would end violently, but it wasn't because of Noel.
Ninny snapped her body towards the office door, quickly grabbing the latch and twisting it downwards. She didn't give it time before she kicked the door wide open.
"Old bastard!"
"See, you swipe down on the screen if you want to scroll up, and you swipe up if you want to scroll down." Billy spoke, but not to Ninny.
"Oooh…" The person that Billy spoke to responded with awe.
The office looked the same as it did yesterday (and how it always looked) however there was a noticeable difference.
Sitting right next to Billy was a boy, who looked no older than the two girls. The two boys turned towards the two that entered. And when they did, they both got a better look at their new partner.
Dark spiky red hair, dark black eyes. He wore the signature Wing Bind uniform for males, combined with the checkered cape.
If Ninny had paid attention more, she could see a very noticeable silver collar on his neck.
"Ah, you're finally here." Billy stood up, patting the boy on the shoulder as he addressed the two.
"I would like you two to meet Arthur, your new coworker." He slightly moved the younger boy's shoulder, signaling him to get up.
"Ah– oh uh–" He placed the phone that he was tinkering with on the table in front of him, getting up and turning to face the two girls.
"I'm… Arthur." He hesitated, glancing at Billy from the side. The older man only nodded.
The red-haired boy held out his hand with an awkward smile on his face. "It's nice to meet you."