Cross Conviction

The newly christened "Third Hunter Team" sat around a circular wooden table outside a restaurant overlooking the Spree River. Magnolia tapped her heel on the cobblestone beneath them and sighed impatiently. As Gustavo quietly panned over a pamphlet with his finger, the frog on his shoulder seemed to follow its movement. Looking down at his watch, Sturm once again let his mind wander. Where was his father right now? What did his mission entail? Would he be home soon? Clearing his throat to break the silence, Gustavo placed the pamphlet flat on the table.

"So…" Gustavo started, "It was nice of Captain Scharf to treat us to lunch."

Magnolia shot him a glare, her eyes reflecting the burning rage in her heart. "Oh yes, it's so nice of the captain to take us out for lunch after he made us miss breakfast this morning." she hissed.

Sturm avoided eye contact with either of them, instead glancing off toward the river. Magnolia wasn't totally wrong. Scharf had dragged the group out of bed at five in the morning just to have them wait around the local park for six hours. The teenagers had expected their captain to initiate some sort of test or assignment, but when he finally showed up, he simply informed them that it was time for lunch. That is, after he was finished smoking a cigarette in silence. The whole affair seemed to be designed simply to inconvenience them. Perhaps there was some hidden motive. Perhaps the captain was just ignorant.

Magnolia growled, tapping her nails on the countertop, "Can they take any longer? You'd think these uniforms would command more respect, no?"

"Maybe it's the uniform that stops them from recognizing the prestige of the lovely Magnolia von Wald," Gustavo chuckled. 

"Maybe I should toss you into the river…" replied Magnolia as a wicked grin crept across her face. 

Sturm looked over to see Scharf leaning against the nearby railing overlooking the river bank. His face was mostly hidden by the shadow of his visor cap, save for the slight glow produced by his lit cigarette. Arms folded and ankles crossed, paid the group no mind.

After some time, the waitress arrived with their food; shrimp cocktail for Magnolia, a grilled steak for Gustavo, and baked salmon for Sturm. The woman then distributed glasses of lemonade to each of them before promptly taking her leave. Sturm glanced back and forth at his allies, taking note of their peculiar eating habits. Magnolia ate her shrimp with a fork and knife, taking small bites in an overbearing attempt to emphasize her high-society status. Gustavo, naturally, began his meal by cutting the tiniest sliver of beef for his tiny companion atop his shoulder. Sturm couldn't help but smirk when he saw the little orange frog devour the piece of meat, nearly as wide as its mouth, in one gulp. 

Gustavo raised an eyebrow at Magnolia, who was still painstakingly cutting each shrimp into tiny segments before indulging. "Everyone knows you're starving, Magnolia. You don't need to do that to yourself," he stated plainly.

She shot him another glare. "Mind your own business, foreigner," she growled before patting her lips with a napkin. 

Gustavo threw up his hands, conveying his belief that it didn't matter enough for him to start an argument over, then returned to his lunch. After a half hour, the three were finished eating. The waitress arrived with the bill and placed it on the table before bowing and walking off once more. 

Sturm picked up the slip and looked over the price. "I didn't realize it was so expensive here…" he said quietly.

"Come now, let me see!" exclaimed Magnolia, snatching the paper from his hand, "This? Expensive? That's quite cute, turkey."

Just then, Scharf stepped beside the table and looked down at the group. "If you're done, hurry up and pay. We have work to do," he said impatiently. 

The group exchanged surprised looks. They had assumed that the captain was covering the tab for this outing, as it was his choice of location and he pressed them to order whatever they'd like when they arrived. 

"Now hold on a second!" Magnolia protested, rising to her feet, "You said you were taking us out to lunch!"

"And I did. I took you here," he spoke, expressionless, "I didn't think that Magnolia von Wald needed charity."

Face flushing red with embarrassment, she sat back down. Gustavo reached into his coat pocket and placed his portion of the charge on the table. 

"Sorry guys, I only have enough to cover my own. I'd help out, otherwise. I didn't expect to need much money today," he explained.

"It's okay…" said Sturm, removing some cash from his wallet, "I'll cover Magnolia and myself." 

Magnolia peered across the table at Gustavo with an annoyed look. "That's how you treat a lady, Alvarez. No matter how wealthy she is, a woman never pays for her meal in the presence of a proper man."

"Noted," Gustavo replied with an abrupt nod, "Next time I only have enough for one person's meal, I'll pay for yours so someone else has to pick up my tab instead."

After the group finished paying, they followed their captain down the cobblestone walkway toward the bridge that ran across the river Spree. As they began to cross the river, Scharf finally spoke up. 

"Sturm, how much money is left in your wallet?" he asked hastily. 

"Well, my dad gave me enough to get through to our first pay, captain," Sturm replied.

"No, the exact amount," Scharf snapped back.

Sturm was unprepared to answer such a question. He removed his wallet from his breast pocket and shuffled through the cash, counting it out. Just as he came to the last paper bill, the wallet was snatched from his hand with lightning-fast speed. Stunned, Sturm looked up to see a young man in a long, tan coat with messy, spiked brown hair darting away with his property. 

"What the hell are you waiting for?!" shouted Scharf, "Get after the bastard!"

His focus quickly returned, Sturm took off after the thief with Gustavo and Magnolia close behind him. The chase crossed to the other side of the river before taking a hard right and continuing along the opposite riverbank. 

"Don't wait up, Sturm! This guy is way faster than us!" hollered Gustavo, realizing that the distance between them and the thief was growing wider.

Sturm nodded and picked up the pace, gaining ground in the perpetrator. The boy looked back over his shoulder and was shocked to see Sturm close behind him.

With a nervous smile, he shouted, "You don't give up easy, do you?!"

Unresponsive, Sturm charged forward, hand ready on the hilt of his sheathed saber. Realizing that Sturm was now little more than a meter behind him, the pickpocket spun around with a swift thrust of his foot toward his pursuer. Reacting quickly, Sturm ducked, causing the boy's foot to crash into the railing that overlooked the river. The impact damaged the railing significantly, denting it inward with a loud, metallic clang. Sturm, momentarily caught off guard by the strength of his target's blow, hurriedly regained his resolve and drew his blade before lashing out with it in an arc. The thief narrowly avoided the swipe with a hasty backflip into a reverse handspring, tumbling back several times before landing on his feet on top of a large metal trash can. A wide, excited grin came over the mysterious boy's face.

Sturm spoke with a restrained menace, "You're no normal thief…"

Suddenly, two large, shovel-like claws tore from the pickpocket's sleeves- one from each wrist. They were tan in color and roughly thirty centimeters long.

"Guess not," the boy chuckled before lunging down toward Sturm, kicking the trash can back and over as he leaped.

With a swift, downward swipe of his wrist, he forced Sturm to black the calcified blade with his own weapon. For a moment, the two were stuck in a deadlock.

The brown-haired thief grunted through the gritted teeth of a strained smile. "What's in your wallet, anyway? Thirty marks?"

"Principle," Sturm snapped back abruptly before slamming the boy back with his shoulder, breaking their stalemate. 

After stumbling back, the thief raised his sleeve to his face, wiping a trickle of striking azure blood from his lip with a smirk. "So, 'knight', you've decided that a few marks are worth my life, huh?" he prodded.

"No…" Sturm said matter-of-factly, "You did when you stole it from me."

The boy laughed in response. "Alright, you got me there."

Without sparing another second, the two dashed toward each other once more. Sturm swiped his blade high, the boy ducking and driving his right claw forward in retaliation. The young knight leaned back, narrowly avoiding the jab before kicking upward. This attack also failed, Sturm's foot being caught beneath the thief's two, crossed weapons. 

Sturm then jumped back and observed his opponent once more. "I'm certain of it now. You're an exceptional."

"Might be," the boy replied, panting slightly through his persistent grin, "What's it to you?"