Crimson Flags & Razor Blades

Bremen Resistance

Millie fled. She fled as fast as she could, as if every second of wasted time could cost her life.

Behind her, the Red District shrunk into a tiny dot, disappearing in the distance. Its gloomy lights now are nothing more than embers on the horizon. Every thud of her heels against the ground was an excruciating pain, its rhythm serving as a constant metronome for her fear.

She travelled around at night, sleeping in abandoned barns and oppressing her groaning stomach with scavenged fruit and stale bread. She restlessly wanders around, wandering to the undecided destination. The only thing that brought her solace was her red cloak, which shielded her against the cruel, external world and the chilling reminder of the night which she became the Wolf Slayer.

Having been living in this desolate existence for several weeks, she eventually came across the town of Bremen. The place ought to have been a haven, known as a place of peace and tranquility.

However, the air oddly hung thick with despair. Millie noticed it in the boarded-up windows, in the deserted marketplace, and in the gloomy expressions of the townsfolk. It was clear that fear enveloped the whole town.

Millie overheard a low whisper in a tavern with dim lighting, which led to the discovery of the origin. Slumped over his ale, a grizzled man muttered stories about bands of ships with black sails that haunted their riverways. He was a man who had seen it all. The demands that they made were oppressive: they wanted gold, food, and most importantly, people.

Fearful prayers were chanted in the direction of the names of those who dared to protest, those who eventually disappeared. Pirates and brigands were robbing the citizens of Bremen of their wealth, and the Grim Society was lurking in the shadows behind them, casting a menacing presence.

Millie's chest tightened. Her heart pulsed and pumped her whole body with anger. This reminded her of her past, which she simply cannot ignore.

During that night, she crept deeper into Bremen, drawn to a commotion that was taking place in a shadowy corner. The moon above was cold and indifferent. An assemblage of sneering thugs surrounded four figures; their weapons shone brightly, reflecting the faint light in the darkness as they surrounded them. As far as Millie was concerned, she witnessed an unfair match.

Millie stood before a critical juncture, with the weight of dire consequences looming over her. One misstep, one erroneous move, and her life would be forfeit.

Despite this daunting reality, an ancient instinct rose from within her, accompanied by a defiant snarl honed through countless nights spent in the treacherous Red District.

With a ferocious roar, she unsheathed her knife and launched herself into the fray, ready to face the hordes of thugs that stood in her path.

In the heat of the battle, Millie wielded her steel blade with desperation and fury. She aimed for vital points, such as necks, hearts and eyeballs stabbing her opponents with precision. One by one, she felled her foes. At a critical moment, four figures joined the fray, determined to protect the lady in red. Their sudden intervention turned the tide of the battle.

As the dust settled, more than twenty of the thugs lay groaning on the ground, while the rest had scattered. Millie, catching her breath, turned around to face her unlikely saviors, a peculiar group of people.

After some time, she came to know him as Gunner. He was a tall, scarred dog with eyes that had seen too much military conflict. Beside him was a donkey with a defiant stance who had been burdened with responsibilities in the past but was now prepared to fight back; his name was simply Jack.

A sleek female black cat with short hair and gleaming eyes gave the impression that she had lived in concealment in a previous life, Luna the shadow assassin. Lastly, a rooster was seen preening himself atop a pile of crates, his feathers, which had been bright in the past, now covered in dust. Despite his unkempt appearance, Millie later knew him as Rusty because she found the air of royalty he exuded to be fascinating.

Stories were told with shattered words and wary glances from the audience. Gunner, the devoted military hound who was forced to suffer the consequences of a corrupt general, Jack, was a beast of burden whose master was defeated by cruel times.

The guild that Luna belonged to betrayed her, and she became a hunted black cat assassin. Rusty, the rooster, was a prize for the bounty hunter because of his flamboyant crowing in the morning. Outcasts, each and every one of them, broken and branded, were looking for sanctuary, which is the one thing that has been denied to them.

A plan materialized abruptly. Millie shared the tavern's rampant rumors, involving pirates and an enigmatic organization. The band erupted in righteous fury. Their lives had been marked by relentless pursuit and harassment. Bremen would be their decisive stand.

The war that they fought was fought in the shadows. With the aid of his keen perception, Gunner followed the pirates' route. Their supply lines were severely interrupted because Jack, who had been transformed into a mule, stubbornly refused to move.

Messages written in blood by Luna, who moved like a ghost, were terrifying. Crows that belonged to Rusty warned of impending danger. Millie, the Wolf Slayer, guided them, drawing on her experience of overcoming adversity.

Although the pirates were merciless, it was easy to anticipate their actions. Greed caused them to be careless, and desperation is what caused the citizens of the town to turn a blind eye.

At the time of the decisive conflict, they had prepared an ambush of their own. The heroes of Bremen struck like a vengeful gale, employing strategies similar to those of a soldier, feline ferocity that had been honed, and the unadulterated, defiant bray of liberation. 

When dawn arrived, the pirate ship was already on fire, and the citizens of the town stared in deafening disbelief. Their oppressors were shattered into pieces. The bandits, those who had survived, ran away, leaving behind a trail of terror. These were whispers of the improbable heroes who had risen from the ashes.

However, Bremen was not the final destination. Millie's name continued to be mentioned frequently by members of the Grim Society. In spite of this, a peculiar hope became apparent as they gathered their meagre possessions.

They were no longer alone. Their differences may have been the source of their strength, despite the fact that they were misfits and outcasts. Millie wouldn't be some kind of tragic beauty anymore.

The bards would sing a far different tune—a song of resistance, of fighting for the light, even when the world deemed you unworthy.