The carriage rolled into Aesice, and the world changed. The gentle rumble of wooden wheels on packed earth was swallowed by the shriek of metal, the hiss of steam from unseen pipes, and the low, constant thrum of a city that ran on gears and fire. Towers of brass and smoke-stained iron scraped at a sky hazed with the acrid tang of coal smoke.
Lion: "Ahh, come on. Let it go already! I was just kidding around. Got enough eyes on us as it is."
The Lion waved as they passed by knots of citizens whose weary faces broke into expressions of shock, then excitement, as they recognized the obsidian mask and the funereal opulence of his carriage.
Lion: "Just look at them, Pocna. The world may be turning to shit, but there is always some safe haven to be found...!"
Pocna: "Is that so? Well then, I suppose we ought to keep looking."
Pocna nudged the Lion, shifting his attention to a wide thoroughfare to their left. There, under the indifferent gaze of the brass-clocked spires, two hooded men were systematically beating another man into the gutter. The thud of a boot on ribs was a sickeningly dull sound, lost in the city's hum. They stripped the man of his belongings in the bold light of day, while the crowd simply flowed around the violence like a river around a stone.
Lion: "Shit. Spoke too soon..."
The Lion sank back in his seat, the grand spectacle of the city suddenly tarnished.
Pocna: "Not even the most advanced city in the world is free from the crime surge, it would seem."
Lion: "I think tonight I may just take a walk through town."
He perked up almost instantly, a dangerous energy returning to his posture.
Pocna: "Sir Vi --"
Lion: "Oh yes! That's exactly what I'll do. Should be a pretty good warmup for the Melee. Plus, it'll buy these poor people some peace, even if only for a few short days!"
Pocna: "Don't be foolish. You go out there in the middle of the night, beat down some random thugs. What if someone sees you? Worse, what if you get the attention of dangerous people...? The kind that are pulling the strings behind it all?"
Lion: "'The kind that are pulling the strings'! Listen to yourself, Pocna. Don't be so paranoid. This isn't some organized group aiming to take over the world. It's a bunch of street thugs that have realized the judicial system has grown lethargic and complacent. What the world needs is an iron fist of retribution!"
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He raised his cast-iron gauntlet, the black metal drinking the light.
Lion: "If the law won't curb the criminals, someone has to."
Pocna couldn't help but let out a dry, humourless laugh.
Pocna: "Yes, the masked lion! From tournament champion to crime fighter... Be they seasoned veteran or purse stealer, none are safe from his implacable and relentless jaws...!"
Lion: "Mock me all you want. These should be days of happiness and festivity; the tournament is a yearly event! If I can assuage this city's ruffian problem during it, maybe that'll light a fire under the people. Show them that peace can be returned -- they have but to get off their asses and reclaim it themselves."
Pocna shook his head, his expression grim.
Pocna: "Violence only ever begets violence, sir. What happens when the citizens try to fight back, and the Lunar Rend decides to make an example of them? Perhaps the reason we only see a beating is because no one has provoked them into showing us something far more gruesome."
Lion: "Just because we don't see it, doesn't mean it isn't happening."
He slammed his living fist on the carriage's wooden roof.
Lion: "My mind's made, Pocna. I'll be patrolling these streets myself after sundown."
Pocna took one long, deep breath, the air tasting of smoke and defeat.
Pocna: "I knew it was a mistake to come here... Would you at least take care not to be discovered? Whatever you do, it better not come back to haunt us later...!"
The Lion nodded.
Lion: "Good thing about always wearing a mask... No one knows what your actual face looks like. Don't worry."
Pocna: "Just don't forget your mask isn't the only way to identify you. There aren't so many towering, bulky men with missing forearms around..."
Lion: "No. But there are plenty of homeless, stooped, drunk amputees to be found in any city at nighttime. What's one more...?"
Pocna: "It's another too many, that's what."
He sighed deeply as the carriage continued its slow progress through the bustling streets.
Lion: "Pocna, over there!"
A restaurant with a facade of polished marble and stained glass caught the Lion's eye.
Lion: "What better place to have a good meal?!"
Pocna: "One that's closer to the arena. We still need to enlist you, remember...?"
Lion: "So? We can do that later...!"
Pocna: "Sure, we can do that later. After lunch, when people are no longer busy eating and all flock to the arena to sign up!"
He said, his voice dripping with irony.
Lion: "Don't be like that! Who's to say they are even admitting new contestants?! The arbiter and proctors are probably eating too!"
Pocna gave him a skeptical look.
Pocna: "Nice try. If there's something people enjoy when feasting, it's a good spectacle. No arena worth its salt will let an opportunity like that go to waste, certainly not one in this city."
The Lion grunted, defeated.
Pocna: "Look, we'll kill two birds with one stone. We're already late for lunch, what's a few more minutes? We'll get you your place in the tournament, then you have the whole damn afternoon to eat, or walk around, or do whatever else you'd like."
Lion: "Fiiine. Fine! Just hurry up already, then. Lest I grow so hungry I'll eat one of these horses."
Pocna glanced at the magnificent black destriers, his expression troubled.
Pocna: "There are worse fates to be had. I just hope they don't meet them during our stay here..."
Lion: "By the gods, would you stop being such a bird of ill omen? We're staying someplace nice. We'll be safe, alright? Stop worrying so much!"
Pocna: "It's not just them I'm worried about. It's especially about a certain masked vigilante to-be."
The Lion chuckled, the sound low and dark.
Lion: "Don't be ridiculous."
He patted Pocna twice on the back, a gesture that was meant to be reassuring but felt heavy with impending violence.
Lion: "We've already established I won't be wearing the mask."