As Things Were

[T3h_SyN]

Hey, Kitone here.Totally stopped working on the Apoliner game, it's dead T_T

Before I continue I'd like to state that I'm taking applications for people to use in my story. If you want in I'll need: your name, class, preferred weapon (not necessarily a Fiesta weapon but it must correspond to your class) and some basic notes about you (what makes you you?). Oh, and a physical description would be nice too.

As Things Were

Chapter List:
Prologue
Chapter One (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2519719&postcount=2)
Chapter Two (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2520412&postcount=4)
Chapter Three (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2566004&postcount=11)
Chapter Four (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2572548&postcount=16)
Chapter Five (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2605940&postcount=21)
Chapter Six (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2616425&postcount=29)
Chapter Seven (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2626890&postcount=34)
Chapter Eight (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2641116&postcount=41)
Chapter Nine (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2650362&postcount=44)
Chapter Ten (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2654674&postcount=52)
Chapter Eleven (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2678288&postcount=71)
Chapter Twelve (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2709494&postcount=76)
Chapter Thirteen (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2720176&postcount=86)
Chapter Fourteen (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2740627&postcount=92)
Chapter Fifteen (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2755420&postcount=100)
Chapter Sixteen (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2773731&postcount=102)
Chapter Seventeen (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2788033&postcount=127)
Chapter Eighteen (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2802097&postcount=135)
Chapter Nineteen (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2818557&postcount=143)
Chapter Twenty (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2827052&postcount=145)
Chapter Twenty-One (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2835851&postcount=154)
Chapter Twenty-Two (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2837032&postcount=156)
Chapter Twenty-Three (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2845128&postcount=164)
Chapter Twenty-Four (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2845136&postcount=165)
Chapter Twenty-Five (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2845142&postcount=166)
Chapter Twenty-Six (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2853382&postcount=175)
Chapter Twenty-Seven (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2863117&postcount=177)
Chapter Twenty-Eight (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2863125&postcount=178)
Chapter Twenty-Nine Part 1 (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2868068&postcount=187) Part 2 (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2868069&postcount=188)
Chapter Thirty (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2882732&postcount=197)
Chapter Thirty-One (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2908930&postcount=200)
Chapter Thirty-Two (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2922482&postcount=208)
Chapter Thirty-Three (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2951703&postcount=211)
Chapter Thirty-Four Part 1 (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2962880&postcount=227) Part 2 (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2962881&postcount=228)
Chapter Thirty-Five (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2998971&postcount=232)
Chapter Thirty-Six (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3018415&postcount=236)
Chapter Thirty-Seven (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3033463&postcount=239)
Chapter Thirty-Eight (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3070346&postcount=241)
Chapter Thirty-Nine (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3093809&postcount=243)

Finale
Act One: Part One (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3096870&postcount=249) Part Two (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3096872&postcount=250)
Act Two: Part One (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3100768&postcount=255) Part Two (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3100771&postcount=256)
Act Three: Part One (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3218275&postcount=263) Part Two (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3218277&postcount=264)
Final Act: Part One (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3218286&postcount=265) Part Two (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3218287&postcount=266)

Epilogue (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3218290&postcount=267)

Extra Content 1 (http://www.outspark.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2828657&postcount=150)

Prologue

"Isya, a land we all know and love. Filled with many people just living from day to day trying to make ends meet.The grand majority of them are just mercenaries, taking up quests that people offer from time to time but that's not the path for everyone. Inn-keepers, blacksmiths, doctors, paid fighters and paid killers exist too, among the hundreds of other jobs out there. There's a Senate, a group of people that sit around and make sure everything is running smoothly. Not well, just smoothly. They keep the masses in check. They make sure that the world's money keeps flowing, they say what defines order. The Senate has its fingers everywhere, there's a Senate member in every powerful mercenary house, every mercantile guild, anything with any sort of power has a few of them at its core. The Senate came into being years ago, and the strange thing is... No one knows how. There's no history before the Senate sans the ruins that they couldn't destroy. Looking through the libraries of Elderine you'll find no book detailing their rise to power. All you ever hear is that 'They are in charge, and don't cross them or question their rule.'

This simply boils down to the fact that there are two groups of Isyan society looked down upon: Those who break the rules and those who question them. And this, ladies and gentlemen, brings us to the two World Lists. The Senate, with its urge to keep 'balance' created a profession of 'necessity', the Bounty Hunters. These people hunt down those who's names appear on the two lists, the 'Whitelist' for petty offenders and the 'Blacklist' for those who are described as 'threats to Isya itself'. Each head has a bounty on it, the higher the bounty the more of a threat the person is said to be. Anyone, with the right paperwork, can be a Hunter and go after Whitelist bounties, but only one group can go after a Blacklist bounty, the Isyan Hunters. They're a group selected by the Senate them self, a veritable creme de la creme of Hunters. They receive direct orders from the Senate and even act as a regular police force to keep the peace among the denizens of the land.

Sometimes I wonder how much wool they pulled over our eyes..."

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter One - Stones Best Left Unturned

"I should really stop talking to myself..." a lone fighter thought to herself, lying in the grass atop a hill. She lay there a while longer, watching the fluffy white clouds float across the pristine blue sky. She got up slowly, taking a map out of her pocket and stared at it intently for a few seconds. "Good," She thought, "Roumen's only a little way off. I can sell my things there."

About an hour later she came upon the gates of Roumen, a pleasant wave to the people standing guard got her in with no problems. Her first order of business was to get a room for the night because the sun was already dipping low in the sky. As she walked into the first floor of the inn she was surprised to see it rather empty. "Good evening," she muttered to the innkeeper, a fairly young cleric, "Business looks a lil slow."

"Yea, it is," the innkeeper replied, "but it is the off-season. The seas are too rough for the tourists this time of year. So, how can I help you?"

"I'd like a room for the night, preferably one upstairs, in a corner of the building if that's not too much trouble." the fighter said reaching into her pocket for her coin purse.

"No problem at all ma'am, that'll be three silver for a nights lodging" The innkeeper said turning to the key rack behind her. The fighter took the three coins out of her purse and placed them on the counter, returning the purse to her pocket. "Ah, wonderful. Right this way ma'am. Need any help with your things?" the Innkeeper said pointing to the bag at the fighter's feet.

"Ah, no thanks." the fighter said, hurriedly throwing the bag over her shoulder.

"Suit yourself," the cleric said shrugging her shoulders and making her way to the staircase beside the counter, "Follow me please."

The walk to the room was fairly quiet, aside from the footsteps there wasn't any conversation made between the two. When they got to the room the cleric opened the room door and motioned for the fighter to enter. As the fighter entered the cleric noticed something about her. "Hey, how come you walk with two swords? Not many people do that. In fact..."

Before she could finish she was interrupted by the fighter's hearty laughter. "Don't worry, I'm only carrying one to sell. It's part of the reason I'm here."

"Oh, I see... I apologize for jumping to conclusions." The innkeeper said, blushing slightly, "Well, if you need anything, don't be afraid to ask, 'kay?"

"Hehe, no problem." The fighter said with a grin as she closed the door.

*~*~*~*

Night had fallen when the fighter finally came out of the room. This time she wasn't wearing her armor but instead opted for more casual clothes. with her bag slung over her shoulder and the two swords at her side she flashed a smile to the innkeeper and walked across the inn's small lobby. As she walked out the doorway she passed by a rather grumpy looking man, a man who stormed past her without even acknowledging that she was there. She wasn't going to make a big deal of it, at least not before she heard the blow land. It was short and hard. The fighter spun around to see the cleric cowering in fear, her hand the side of her face. Obviously the man had slapped her.

"You stupid [censored]! Do you know what your bad information cost me?! My bounty GOT AWAY because of it!" The man shouted at her. "Do you know how much he was worth? 300 silver... I'll teach you to lie to me [censored]!" He raised his hand to strike her again, she closed her eyes awaiting the inevitable blow. All she heard was footsteps followed by a single grunt. When she reopened her eyes she saw that the fighter had the man's hand pinned behind his back.

The man groaned in pain as the fighter pulled his hand further down his back. "Do you know who I am? I'm a bounty hunter. Right now I could arrest you for obstructing justice."

The fighter snickered, "You call beating a helpless girl justice? You sicken me."

"Listen 'girl'," The man said, saying it like it was an insult, "I swear, when I get free, I'm going to tear you a new one. Bounty or no bounty."

The fighter looked over at the cleric, "You okay? He didn't hurt you too bad did he?"

"Y-yea.. I'll be fine. It just stings a bit."

"Good, good. You care to watch my things for me while I calm down 'Mr. Friendly' here?" The fighter said putting her bag on the counter with her free hand. The cleric nodded and pulled the bag behind the counter. With this the fighter spun the man around and kicked him out the door. He tumbled out into the street, colliding with some crates on the other side of the road.

Down the road from the inn is a street cafe, usually empty this time of night, but underneath the soft glow of a streetlamp sat a fighter and a cleric. The duo was engaged in a heated discussion when the man came flying into the road. The cleric was obviously more startled than the fighter was, she span around in her chair, her hand gripped the handle of her hammer that rested on the side of the chair.The fighter simply glanced over at the man before returning to his cup of tea. The female fighter proceeded to walk over to the man, blissfully unaware of the two eyes watching her cross the street, she then started beating the living daylight out of him. The cleric at the cafe leapt to her feet, only to be stopped the fighter leaning across the table and grabbing her hand.

"Sit back down, Lenore." The fighter said sternly, releasing the grip he had on her hand.

"But Neo, we can't just let her beat him senseless. We've got to do something." The cleric said slowly making her way from the table. The fighter laughed at the words, running a hand through his red bangs.

"Lenore, do you know exactly who it is you're about to confront? Look closely at her." The fighter said, getting up from his chair. "If she really wanted him dead he'd be dead already. She's a Blacklist target."The last sentence hit the cleric like a punch to her face, but the fighter continued, "She's the third most wanted person in all of Iysa."

"W-what?!" The cleric said, stumbling backwards in shock.

"Darling, if you challenged her now, the backup from Elderine wouldn't be coming to help you. They'd be coming to put out the fires... I'll handle this" The fighter said, placing his sword on the table.

The female fighter had stopped her assault on the man's face and stood above his limp body. "That's what you get for attacking a harmless person." she said. She heard someone approaching and looked to the source to the sound and saw the red-haired fighter.

"Hey, what's going on here?" the fighter asked.

"Nothing, just teaching this guy here not to attack harmless women." the female fighter replied between breaths.

"Okay, we'll take it from here." the male fighter retorted, motioning to the cleric by the cafe to come and help him.

The female fighter clenched her fist at this, "How can I know you're not with him?"

"He's a card-carrying Bounty Hunter. I'm an Iysan Hunter." He replied pointing to the badge on his chest, "If he did attack an innocent civilian that makes him a criminal and it's my duty to take him into custody. I will thank you for performing such a civic duty, but I must kindly ask that you refrain from such activities in the future."

With a chortle the female fighter waked back into the inn and gathered her bag and came back out to the duo, who were now helping them man to his feet and cuffing him. "Take care now, officers." she said as she walked along a path to the beach.

*~*~*~*

"Hmm... she's running late." The female fighter said, staring up into the moonlight. The waves of the beach in Forest of Tides lapped loudly at the shore, mere feet away from the woman lay, her head propped up on the bag she brought with her.

"Well, I never expected to see you in Roumen again so soon Kitone..." a voice said behind her.

Without looking at the speaker she said, "It's nice to see you too Neo." The red-headed Hunter sat down beside her. watching the moonlight reflecting on the waves.

"For your information, it's Captain Neo now. And Mara won't be coming, our naval fleets intercepted her at off-shore at Sand Beach. So... Can I have that bag of weapons that you stole for her please."

"Fine," Kitone said, sitting up and throwing the bag in front of Neo, "So the Senate finally promoted you. That's good to hear, if you ask me it was about time." Kitone stood up, brushing the sand of her back and started making her way towards Roumen.

"Kitone." Neo said still watching the waves.

"Hmm..." Kitone said as she stopped walking.

"Why did you leave the Iysan Hunters? For this, I mean." Neo said motioning to the bag at his feet, "Someone of your caliber could've become a captain in no time at all."

"Neo, I left because I was curious and they Senate doesn't like curious minds. Now unless you plan on arresting me, which I strongly suggest you not try, I'll be leaving."

"No I'm not gonna try that but remember Kit, some stones are best left unturned."

[Dragonfly77]

Nicely written. ^^ Can't wait to read more.

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Two - One Good Turn (Part One)

The morning sun filtered through the window of Kitone's room in the inn, but she was already awake. She lay in the bed staring at the ceiling of her room, a bit angry at the fact that not only was Mara, one of her best contacts, in jail, but also that the Hunter's knew she was in Roumen. She knew that Mara was the more pressing concern, the Isyan Hunters knew better than to attack her here, too much possibility for collateral damage. "Great, with Mara in jail and my loot seized I don't have any way of making some traveling cash," she thought to herself, "and I doubt that I can just walk into the guild hall and ask for a legitimate quest..." She put on her armor and grabbed her swords and headed out the door.

Downstairs she was greeted with a smile by the innkeeper, a small bruise on her cheek from where she had been slapped, "Morning ma'am, you're up early."

"Yea, I guess I am. How much a night is it? I may be here longer than I expected." Kitone said motioning to the sword she was going to 'sell'.

"Ah, because you stopped that guy from attacking me you can stay as long as you want. Free of charge."

Kitone was startled by her kindness, "Aw, it was nothing. I just hate to see people picking on the weak" she said. "I'm going down to the market to see if I can find any buyers, I'll be back in a few." The innkeeper nodded as Kitone turned to walk out of the door.

The streets were pretty empty at this early hour, most of the people up and about at this time were the guards making their rounds, the fishermen bringing in their night's catch and the merchants prepping their stores for the day. Kitone stood on the bridge to Roumen's open air market, taking in the smell of the sea on the breeze. Roumen's market was situated on a special man-made island just off the main wharf. This was so that the countless fishermen who plied the docks daily wouldn't clog up the wharf, a shipping lane typically reserved for large shipping vessels. Most of the stalls were empty because most of the stalls were run by people who only sold things from time to time, but Kitone smiled when she saw the long-haired woman prepping the stall for the day's business. Most people knew the raven-haired mage as Claire, a kind and modest woman who sold fish, less knew her as Claire, head of one of the most ruthless underground mercenary houses in Roumen. Her house, known as 'Shadow's Shadow' were known to be elite spies and possessed almost ninja-like abilities. Roumen was her hometown and her base of operations, if you wanted something done right, in town, you went to her. The Roumen authorities always suspected there was something fishy about her, besides what her stall sold but no one could ever prove a thing. Kitone walked up to the stall while Claire was busy freezing water with her arcane abilities.

"Morning." Kitone said.

Without looking up from the block of ice she was now chipping to put around the fish Claire responded, "You'll have to come back later, I'm not open for business yet."

"I'm sure you'll be willing to hear me out, Madame Shadow."

With this Claire dropped the pick and spun around, her hands glowing with magical energies. When she saw who was speaking to her she sighed a sigh of relief. "In Teva's name Kitone, at least identify yourself before you start hurling around names." Clair said, sitting on a stool nearby.

Kitone laughed at this, saying "You couldn't pay me to say my name in public Claire... Even with your wealth."

"What's your bounty now anyway? Three... four gems?" Clair questioned sarcastically.

"Fifteen." Kitone answered sharply.

"Wow... I am impressed," Claire said, slightly taken aback, "So what can I do for you?"

"You've heard that Mara is in jail right. I need her out."

Claire was silent for a few seconds as she took in what Kitone wanted from her. "Lemme get this straight. You want lil ol' me to get Mara out of jail. The same Mara, captain of the Mara Pirates, who has had a bounty on her head for all her mortal life. You want her freed." Claire said the sarcasm quite obvious.

"Yea, will there be a problem?" Kitone said, crossing her arms in front of her. She wasn't in the mood for this this morning.

"Nah, not a one. There will, however, be a cost." Claire said, dropping all her humor and staring deep into Kitone's eyes. "I need some beast dogtooth..."

"Sure, I'll just go rip out a few from a boar in Forest of Mist." Kitone interrupted.

"Ah! If only it were that simple. I need some teeth for a client of mine, he's a picky fellow. He says he wants the teeth from the mouth of a Mist Boar." Claire finished with a smile.

"You've got to be kidding me. You want me to find a freaking mythical creature?! You'd be better off asking me to find a dragon, at least I know where to find that." Kitone said disdainfully.

"Trust me, they're real. If you want Mara freed, you'll want to hurry up and get that tooth. A criminal like her will only be held in this towns lovely prison for a few days before they ship her off to the High Jail in Uruga and once she gets there she'll be out of your reach, unless you want to walk in there and..." Claire said.

"I'll get that tooth. Somehow..." Kitone said as she started towards the exit of the market.

*~*~*~*

The sun was high in the sky by time Kitone got to the grove called the Forest of Mist. The Forest of Mist got its name from the mist-filled valleys that surrounded the hills upon which the forest grew. The mist in the valleys was so thick and so permanent The bottom had never been seen from above. Coupled with the steepness of the valley sides not many people were in a hurry to find out how deep down the actually went. Kitone wasn't one of those people. Kitone had been down there many times before, below the 'mist line' so to speak. She called it the mist line because once you passed down through the at least sixty foot cloud of vision impairing mist there wasn't anymore to be seen, creating a so-called 'false sky' when you were below. Below the mist line was the flat valley floor, with a forest growing there untouched by Isyan hands in millennia. The forest was fed by the stream that cascaded down from the forest above, once it fell into the valley it wound its way through all the curves creating an endlessly circulating pool that meandered amongst the trees. Now one would think that a contained pool like that would eventually fill the valley but that wasn't the case thanks to the trees that grew down there. Mistwood was what they were known as, at least before the Senate came into being. It was knowledge like this Kitone craved but it was also knowledge like this that was part of the reason she was such a wanted criminal. She knew that the Mistwood absorbed water endlessly, secreting a mist from it's leaves to get rid of excess water. This mist rose until it got high enough to evaporate, eventually creating the cloud that gave the forest its name.

Kitone stood by a secluded valley edge, far away from the paths that the Senate carved through the forest for travel and commerce. She looked over the edge, judging the slope of the hill. A bit steeper than she wanted but still workable. She drew her knife and lowered herself over the edge, sliding down the hill using the knife as a brake. As she slid into the mist line her vision became naught, she couldn't even see the belt that held her swords at her side. With time her vision began to get better, the mist was fading. Suddenly below her feet a world of green exploded into view, she had slid down into the true Forest of Mist. When her feet finally touched ground again it was with a small splash as she had landed in a shallow part of the giant pool. She made her way to the shore and paused to wipe the muck off of her boots. It was then she heard the growl.

Kitone leapt up and looked around but saw no movement, the creature still growling in the bushes but she couldn't pinpoint exactly where it was. Her hand grasped the hilt of her top sword. "Come on you mangy beast. I'm ready for ya." Kitone said a gleeful smile on her face. Suddenly something pounced out of the bushes behind her, she spun and came face-to-snout with an aerial boar. It was a massive boar, but Kitone was quicker. She drew the sword and rolled to the side, the draw slashing the boar in its stomach. "Damn," she thought, "Only a glancing blow." The boar howled in pain, clutching at it's gut with its claws. For you see Kitone's swords had magical abilities. The one she had drawn was called 'Pyrae', the sword forged from the flames of Teva's anger, it was known as the 'Sword That Burns'. The blade of Pyrae was permanently dull, because it could never be sharpened, the latent magics on it caused anything the blade came in contact with was seared by all the fury of the goddess. The boar gathered its nerve and slashed at Kitone again, this time though she was ready. She ducked under the slash and countered with one of her own, flowing upwards along his shank. The boar however was a bit more resilient than Kitone expected, and grabbed her shoulder, flinging her into the bushes.

Kitone hit the tree hard, disorienting her completely. She fell to the ground and could barely bring herself to sit up. She looked over and saw the boar rampaging towards her. She readied herself to draw her other sword and lop its head off when it came to finish the deal. Then she heard a sound like a hurricane gust and glimpsed something flash over her head. She heard the boar grunt and watched as he cartwheeled through the air. When it finally landed it crashed into the same water Kitone landed in, a crossbow bolt all but penetrated it's chest. Kitone walked over to the corpse to inspect it when she heard a female voice call out, "Oy! Girl! What are you doing in such deep woods?"

Kitone turned and looked at the purple haired archer with a crossbow about two-thirds her own height holding out Pyrae to her. "Same thing you are Athemis, I'm down here to hunt."

[Dragonfly77]

Wewt! I'm in!! XD Keep it going ^^

[ShonenHero]

Good, good! It sweats your name, Kit, this is you. I like it, go on, go on~

[Orchids_Mantis]

This is quite a good story.

[oyaccount]

Very nice! Can't wait for the next chapter :)

[autarchaurzel]

heheh epicness kit, keep it up cant wait for the next one

[Daevor]

Wow! Great writing skills, and a very entertaining story so far.

Is Neo NeoShaman? And Lenore, is that LenoreLurks? And you have the legendary Athemis! An all-star cast, hey? :cool:

Well, next chapter plox! :D

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Three - One Good Turn (Part Two)

The cold night air washed around the two women, who were huddled around a fairly large fire waiting for the days catch to cook. Athemis prodded at the meat with hunting knife judging if it was edible yet, a enthusiastic sigh signified to Kitone that it was cooked enough. Athemis took the spit off the fire and cut off a piece of the meat for herself handing Kitone the rest.

"Here, this is yours." she said. Kitone nodded and took what used to be a boars thigh from her, promptly biting off a large piece.

"You sure you don't want any more?" Kitone said between mouthfuls of meat.

"Yea," Athemis said pulling some berries out of a pouch at her waist, "Unlike you, I'm not a 100% carnivore. You should try some of these, they're good for ya."

Kitone shook her head at that offer, "No thanks, I'll stick to the meat."

"Suit yourself." Athemis said, popping a few berries into her mouth. "I won't exalt the benefits of a balanced diet, I'm not your mother. So what exactly was it you were looking for again, Mist Boars?"

"Yea," Kitone said swallowing the last bit of meat. "Can't believe I'm down here looking for a mythical creature..."

"They aren't." Athemis responded wiping some berry juice from the corner of her mouth, "I've seen them."

"Your also the same person who claims there's a water dragon in Sand Hill."

"This is different!" Athemis retorted angrily, "I've been following this one down here for a few days now. It's nest isn't too far from here. I plan to bag it and take the corpse to Elderine to be documented by the reserchers there."

"Heh, you do that. I just want one of its teeth."

"You want a tooth? Why?" Athemis asked.

"Personal matters." Kitone responded, taking out her knife to see how it fared after her descent.

"Ah, I see... I won't pry into a criminal's business."

"Jeez Ath, you've known me from we were kids, am I really the criminal type?" Kitone countered, sarcasm heavy in her tone.

"I won't answer that." Athemis responded with a smile, receiving a gentle punch in her shoulder from Kitone, "We should try and get some rest tonight cause tomorrow will be a long day."

*~*~*~*

Kitone awoke to the sound of metal scrapping against metal, unconsciously she grabbed at Pyrae waiting for any other movements.

"Morning sunshine. It's just me doing a lil maintenance on Thanatos, don't get all psycho on me now." Athemis said. Kitone opened her eyes, blinking them a few times to get used to the light that filtered down from the mist. She looked over at Athemis who sat cross-legged in front of a blanket opening up the casing of her large crossbow. Her crossbow was vastly different from the regular crossbow, it was an engineering marvel. All her years out in the field had given Athemis more than textbook knowledge on how to make a crossbow. Her monstrosity of a crossbow was sleek, almost rifle-like. The lacking of any real bow on it didn't even begin to hint at the complexity of its innards. Inside the bow was a massive system of gears, springs, wires and counterweights that provided enough power with a three inch draw to match the shot of three regular crossbows. Kitone remembered the times she spent in Echo Cave with Athemis mining copper to manufacture the gears and such. When it was finally finished being tweaked by Athemis she named it Thanatos because according to her, "Nothing it's ever hit has survived.", but that's not entirely true. It did take three shots to bring down a dragon that almost escaped.

Kitone worked the kinks out of her neck cause by sleeping upright and called out, "Hey Ath, I see you got a new weapon there."

"Oh this," Athemis said pointing to a miniature crossbow she had at her side, "I won this off a guy at the tavern in Elderine, it fills in the blind spot that Thanatos leaves. Got it some pretty potent poison bolts too." Kitone nodded at her words. Athemis put the crossbow back together and peered down its length to make sure everything fitted correctly and pulled the trigger a few times, testing the tension in the wires.

"You quite ready?" Kitone asked as she tightened the straps of her armor.

"Yep, lets go" Athemis said, getting up.

Kitone motioned ahead of her with her hands. "Lead the way" she said.

*~*~*~*

A few hours later and the duo were in the deep of the Mistwood forest, making their way slowly towards a yet unknown location.

"How much farther do you think it is Athemis?" Kitone asked, hacking away at some hanging vines with her sword.

"Not much farther," Athemis replied, "You see these markings on the trees?" Kitone nodded as she looked at the scratch marks in the Mistwood. "Those are 'privacy markers' boars use to indicate to other boars where their nesting ground is," Athemis continued, "We've been passing more and more of them, obviously we're getting closer to the nest."

Shortly after Athemis pointed out the marks on the trees the two of them came upon a clearing in front of a cave in the almost vertical valley wall. "See, this must be it." Athemis said nonchalantly.

"Thank you Captain Obvious," Kitone said sarcastically, "so... Is it in there?"

"I'm not sure, you'll have to go in and check."

"Me?! Why me?" Kitone said, slightly confused, "You're the hunter aren't you?"

"Yea, but my crossbow will be useless in such a confined space. If it's in there all you have to do is lure it out." Athemis retorted. Kitone wanted to argue with that logic, but she couldn't find the words to say against it. Sighing, she turned and headed into the cave. "That's it Kit, just bring it out if you find it, I'll be ready."

"I swear, I'm gonna kick her soo hard when this is done..." Kitone thought to herself as she stepped into the dark cave. The cave wasn't as dark as it had appeared to be, the light flowing in from the entrance illuminated all the way to the back with a dim light. As Kitone's eye's adjusted to the dim light she noticed that the innards of the cave was extremely quiet. She looked to the back of the cave and noticed a bedding of grasses and leaves surrounded with bits and pieces of bone. "Hey Ath" she shouted out.

"Yea, what's the problem?"

"The cave is empty. Looks like something just left it." Kitone replied, picking up a tuft of fur that lay amongst the plant debris.

"Damn, well then co-" Athemis began, her sentence cut short by a loud roar. Kitone spun around, drawing Pyrae, and ran to the entrance of the cave. When she got out of the cave she saw Athemis crouched, Thanatos drawn, aiming at a boar that was at least eighteen feet tall.

"By Teva, I take it that's the mist boar Ath." Kitone said, stunned by the size of the thing.

"Yea, that's him." Athemis said, firing a bolt at the boar. The bolt sped towards its target at blinding speed but somehow the gigantic boar managed to evade the shot. It rushed at Athemis, growling fiercely. Athemis rolled out of the way leaving the boar to continue its rampage. The boar continued charging towards the mouth of the cave and Kitone, who raised her sword to defend herself. "No Kit, don't do it! If you cut it up it'll be no good to the researchers."

"Tch... Damn it!" Kitone said rolling to the side, kicking the boar in the side of its face. The kick itself didn't damage to boar too much, it was what happened after the kick that hurt it. The kick had thrown the boar's charge off balance and that caused it to ram into the side of the cave's entrance. The boar turned to Kitone, it's face bloodied and bruised and snarled at her. It made its way over to her slowly, clearly shaken from the impact, and bent over so it's face was level to hers.

"My... Face..." it growled, its voice deep and guttural, "You... Die!" With that exclamation it slashed its claw at her. Kitone barely moved as she stopped the attack with her bare hand, staring coldly into the now frightened eyes of the boar.

"You're a million years too early to pose a threat to me, besides there's a line of people ahead of you who want my head." Kitone said emotionlessly. She delivered a swift uppercut to his jaw which sent him careening through the air, landing in a shrub at the end of the clearing. "Athemis, lets end this." Kitone said while flexing her wrist.

"Right!" Athemis said, crouching and aiming her crossbow. The boar stood up and raised its head to the heavens and howled. Athemis drew the loading mechanism back all the way, pointing the bow directly at the beast. Then she pulled the trigger. In a fraction of a second the bolt left the barrel causing the pressure vents on the sides of the barrel to open, releasing gale-force gusts of air. The sound it made was deafening and the recoil was just as powerful, sending Athemis sliding a few feet back. The bolt pierced cleanly through the boar leaving an inch-wide hole in his chest. The creature placed a paw to the bloody wound and released its final howl before collapsing to the floor. Kitone walked over to the corpse and wrenched one of the canines out of its mouth, placing it into her pocket.

"Well Athemis, I'll be seeing you." Kitone said walking off into the bushes.

"Wha?!" Athemis began, "Aren't you gonna help me get this thing out of here? It's freaking huge!"

"Heh, aren't you at the helm of one of the largest huntsman houses in Iysa?" Kitone said, "I'm pretty sure you can get someone down here to lug it out for you. Plus, if I'm seen helping you get this thing out of here you'll be labeled as a criminal too. We wouldn't want that, now would we?"

Athemis was silent as Kitone began walking again, when Kitone was out of sight she pulled out her whisphone and started making a call.

*~*~*~*

Back in Roumen, Kitone was walking through the marketplace towards Claire's shop. She spotted the mage wrapping up a fish for a cleric. Kitone hated to be out in the hustle of midday shopping but she didn't have time to waste. She stepped up to the stall once the cleric had left and placed the tooth on the counter. Claire scooped it up as if it was nothing, looking it over one before pocketing it and nodding to Kitone who began to make her way back to the inn.

Later that evening Kitone decided to go stretch her legs, sitting around all afternoon in a stuffy room in an inn wasn't exactly her idea of fun. As she opened the door she came face to face with the innkeeper.

"Oh, I'm sorry," The cleric began, slightly blushing, "I didn't expect you to be in the room. Umm, here this came for you a few minutes ago." The cleric handed her a folded piece of paper. Kitone took it and read it.

'It's done, you can go.' was all it read. Kitone smiled to herself. "Hmm... That woman moves fast." she thought as she turned back into the room to gather her things. "Hey," She said to the innkeep, "I'll be checking out now, gonna go visit a friend and see how she's doing. Thanks for the room."

"Ah... Leaving so soon? Well, I won't be one to question what that paper said, it's none of my business." The innkeeper began. There was a slight pause, the only sounds heard were the plates of Kitone's armor clanging together as she put them on. "I never got your name, I should at least know the name of the person who saved my life." Kitone stopped adjusting the straps to her armor and laughed at this. She turned and walked past the cleric out the door, stopping in the hallway with her back to the girl.

"My name... My name is Kitone."

[captaingammer]

Way to end it off on a badass note. ^_^ You've got a great grasp of pacing and the fights are only as long as they need to be. Great chapter.

[ccasarow]

ah love it love it love it.. so busy with schoolwork o.e got detention for not finishing it on time xDD

[Dragonfly77]

Lovely kit. I love the writing, and it's a great piece of work.

And there is a water dragon at Sand Hill!! It's cousin to the Desert Snake!!

[T3h_SyN]

Way to end it off on a badass note. ^_^ You've got a great grasp of pacing and the fights are only as long as they need to be. Great chapter.

Personally I wanted the fight to be a little longer but I was worried about the length of the chapter so I killed it early.

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Four - Let Me Tell You A Story
Away from the prying eyes of the regular passerbys in the Forest of Tides is a headland that juts out into the ocean. Usually the path to the headland is covered in monsters but if you go at certain times of the day you can walk right out to the point without a single encounter. It's exactly how a small red-headed boy made his way to the point. He was kneeling among a patch of flowers, watching the butterflies flutter about. He was so focused on the butterflies he didn't even notice what had snuck up behind him.

"Boo!" A small red-haired girl said leaping out from a thicket of bamboo. The boy leaped to his feet and spun around, his fear disappearing when he saw who was there.

"Aww, Kit... You made me scare the butterflies off." the boy said angrily, looking around for the butterflies.

"I'll never understand your fascination with those things Neo, aren't they a lil girly for a guy to like?" she said.

"Heck no, They're really really cool and awesome!" Neo retorted, a tinge of depression in his voice because he couldn't find any butterflies, "So what you doing up here?"

"I was bored in town and was looking for someone to play with, but the other kids don't wanna play with me.." Kitone said, sitting down on the grass.

"Well... Maybe it's because you are weird. I mean you aren't exactly girly for a girl, if you get what I'm saying." Neo said while taking a seat beside Kitone.

"Tch... Excuse me for wanting to explore the woods. You never know, you might find something cool. In fact that's what I want to do when I get older, I wanna explore the world and Know all there is." Kitone said, smiling at Neo.

"I don't know Kit, that's a lot to learn," Neo said jokingly, "I wanna become an Iysan Hunter, so I can catch bad guys and fight for Justice!" With that last sentence Neo stood up and struck a superhero-esque pose, his fist extended into the air.

"That sounds like fun," Kitone said, laughing at Neo's pose, "Maybe I'll join too, only if you're gonna join."

"Trust me, even if I have to fight Robo, I'll become an Iysan Hunter."

"Is that so..." Kitone said, lying down in the grass closing her eye's for a second, "Well... I'll see you there!"

When she reopened them she lay alone on a hill overlooking the Sea of Greed, the sunlight filtering down from the trees she was laying under. She sat up, moving the hair out of her eyes. She looked at the morning sun glistening off the cresting waves and sighed to herself. In the distance she could make out the plumes of smoke that surrounded Mara's encampment. She stood up and started making her way down the hill.

*~*~*~*

It was about fifteen minutes later when she got to the tents. The place was bustling with pirates of varying caliber. They all eyed Kitone suspiciously but they knew better than to attack her, many learnt from the mistakes of others. Kitone made a beeline to the largest tent, ignoring all the attention she was getting. She was almost at her destination when a single pirate blocked her path.

"Oy, where do ya think you're going girly?" the pirate said brandishing a small knife. The rest of the pirates were silent now, you could hear a pin drop into the sand.

"Hmph, you must be a new guy," Kitone said, rubbing her chin, "cause obviously you don't know who I am."

"It don't matter who you are, you ain't gettin' in this tent!" the pirate said angrily, making a few stabbing motions with his knife.

"And you're gonna stop me..." Kitone said as she made her way to the tent, "Let's see you try."

The pirate rushed forward, thrusting at Kitone with his small blade. Kitone grabbed his hand and stopped the thrust, staring coldly into his eyes. She followed up with a knee to his chest, knocking the air out of him. As he stood there gasping for air Kitone swept his feet out from under him causing him to fall flat on his back, dropping his knife. Kitone grabbed it up and sat on his chest, holding the knife to his neck. "Bad choice... You should've just let me in." Kitone said, readying the knife to end his life.

"Enough Kitone. You've frightened him enough already." A voice said from within the tent. With this Kitone allowed the knife to fall to the sand and she got off the pirate, who promptly ran off. Inside the tent was Mara, Queen of the Pirates, sitting on a pile of satiny cushions. Kitone walked in and flopped down on a cushion across from Mara.

"Comfy stuff, where'd you get 'em?"

"Looted them from a Iysan Hunter's flagship. I think they suit me." Mara said.

"I agree, you look quite regal." Kitone said. An awkward pause followed.

"Why are you here?" Mara asked.

"Isn't it obvious, You know something I want to know, and I believe you owe me." Kitone replied, smiling devilishly.

"I guess I do," Mara said, staring out the entrance to the tent, "Well..."

As Mara began to talk she was silenced by an explosion, and the air filled with the scent of smoke. Kitone and Mara rushed outside into the sunlight to see one of the tents on the periphery of the encampment ablaze, the other pirates scrambling to put it out and to assist those who were caught in the blast.

"What in my mother's name is going on here?!" Mara shouted at her nearest captain.

"Ma'am, it's a mage, he's pretty powerful. We don't stand much of a chance without the ships guns." the captain replied.

"Damn. It's probably that warden from Roumen's prison. He said he'd catch me again no matter what," Mara said to herself, "How long do you think it would take to get everyone who isn't dead to the ships?"

"Five minutes at most ma'am" the pirate replied, looking around for the attacker.

"Good, start loading the troops onto the ships. Kitone, I need you to hold him off while I make my escape. Now listen, my brother informed me that the Grand Library in Elderine has obtained one of those Arcanum Codexi you've been looking for. That's all the info I have for you, now we're even." Mara said, running towards her flagship.

"Hehe... Don't worry, I'll keep your pillows safe." Kitone said while walking back into the tent.

*~*~*~*

A lone mage knelt over the body of a pirate, electricity dancing around the tips of the hand he held inches from his face. "Where is she!?" he demanded.

"O-o-over there." The pirate said, feebly pointing a finger at the largest tent before losing consciousness.

"Hmph," the mage said as he arose from the limp body, "well Mara, I guess you can only run so far before I catch you again." He stood before the entrance to the tent, which had been drawn shut, plotting his plan of action. He grabbed at the cloth and tore it free from the rest of the tent, revealing only a red-headed fighter seated calmly among some pillows. He stared dumfoundedly as she poured herself a glass of water from a jug in the room.

"You want some?" She asked as if he was a guest in her house.

"Mara! Where is she?" The mage asked, his hands becoming engulfed in crimson flames.

"Mara... Mara, Mara? Oh... Mara! She just left. You just missed her." the fighter said whilst taking a sip of her drink.

"Don't joke with me." The mage said. He flicked a small fireball onto the carpet that covered the floor of the tent, lighting a patch of it ablaze.

The fighter nudged over the jug of water, outing the fire. "Sheesh, A little bad news and you want to burn the place down. Get a grip on your emotions missy." The fighter said, still sipping at the water. This enraged the already angry mage, he promptly threw a fireball at her. The fighter reacted quickly, throwing the contents of her glass into the path of the fireball. The collision resulted in a thick cloud of steam that dissipated the fireball. The mage raised his other hand, which now had a frosty mist circling the fingers, and prepared to release another spell at the impudent fighter. That was when she threw the cup at his face. He leaned out of the way to dodge the projectile but that caused him to lose focus on the spell he was casting. The fighter jumped up and rushed at him in the split second he was distracted. By time he regained focus her fist was inches away from his face.

The blow knocked down onto the sand outside the tent. He brought his hand up to his mouth and rubbed the edge of his lip. He was most definitely bleeding. He picked himself up off the ground and glared angrily at the fighter who stood in the entrance of the tent. "You stupid [Censored]!" he yelled at her, "You're protecting one of Iysa's biggest criminals."

"Think of it as honor among thieves." she retorted brushing her bangs out of her eyes, "My name is Kitone. I'm a bigger 'threat' to the 'Iysan way of life' than she is. So why don't you focus on the problem at hand, hmm?" The mage stood his ground, Kitone could feel the energy he was channeling in the air around her. "Take your time with that spell, you'll only get one shot anyway."

"I'll only need one." the man retorted, his ego clearly evident in his intonation.

"Fine, but first let me tell you a story about my sword here." Kitone said motioning to the second sword at her waist, the one that rested below Pyrae. She continued, "There once was a swordsman, he was said to be the best swordsman in Iysa."

"Ut gelu ventus verbera infinitas..." The mage began, a blue magic circle appeared at his feet.

"This swordsman commissioned the best swordsmith in all of Iysa to build him a sword. The sword was to be a magical blade. When the time came for the sword to be given to the swordsman, the smith brought forward half a blade." Kitone continued, taking no note of the circle that appeared at his feet.

"...Quod incendia mos edo panton..." the mage continued, a red magic circle surrounded the blue one at his feet.

"At first the swordsman was angry with the smith. 'How could you be the best smith in Iysa when you can't even make a whole sword?' he said. He was ready to strike him down when the smith spoke. He was a soft-spoken man. He said to the swordsman, 'I made the best sword Teva herself had ever seen. But the magics I put on the sword for you were so powerful that they destroyed the top half of my beautiful blade.' The swordsman smiled, he knew that this sword would be able to..." Kitone said, before being interrupted by the mage.

"...Ut levitas offendo per suus ira" the mage finished, a yellow magic circle engulfed the other two. The mage channeled all the arcane energies he had mustered and released them. It was the trifecta of the Arcane energies, a bolt of Ice with a fireball and lightning bolt encircling it. Kitone drew her sword swiftly, even though it was but half a blade it connected with the arcane bolt, which immediately disappeared. The mage began to shake visibly, falling to his knees. "How... that was a forbidden art. It should be unstoppable." He began to stutter.

"...he knew that this sword would be able to destroy any magic it came in contact with. The spell on it was so strong that the blade destroyed a part of itself. Like a snake that bites its own tail to show the world that it's poisonous. This blade is called Aphonia, 'The Silencer'." Kitone said as she walked towards the mage.

He looked into her eye's as she uttered the final words he'd ever hear, "Relax, it will be over soon..."

[Dragonfly77]

Wow, you really do hate mages. ^^ Don't deny it.

[T3h_SyN]

Hate is such a strong word. I dislike them. Very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very much.

[Dragonfly77]

You hate them.

[ccasarow]

she dislikes them...very very much...
(just off topic - wat r we actually talking about? xD)

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Five : Burn After Reading

Elderine, one of the busiest places in all of Isya. Home to the most active market, the Iysan Hunter's headquarters and main barracks and also the Grand Library. The Grand Library was the crown jewel of Elderine, open to all Iysans, but also heavily guarded because it also housed some forbidden books. The Senate was a strange group, instead of destroying the books on the spot they kept them hidden from the prying eyes continuously studying them to unlock the potential of the forgotten people. No one knew it but majority of the old books that were deemed safe for public knowledge were translated and reintroduced into the mainstream under new names. Today the city of Elderine was bustling with activity, the townsfolk were so preoccupied with their daily routines that they payed no attention to the cloaked fighter making her way through the shops in the square. Kitone walked up the steps, averting her eyes from the furtive glances of Shuitian, quickly making her way to the less crowded courtyard beside the library.

She shed her armor and weapons, sans her knife, wrapping them in her cloak and hiding them in the thick bush in the corner of the courtyard. She scaled the wall easily, arriving at the same window where she 'handed in her resignation' from the Iysan Hunters. From there she stealthily made her way to the room she once knew so well.

The lock gave way easily under the pressure of her knife. She made her way in and closed the door behind her, making sure not to make any sound. The room was well lit from the lanterns that hung from the wall. On the desk lay a scattering of books and papers. On first glance Kitone found the book she had come to Elderine for. Its aged leather cover lacked words but it had a certain air about it. She looked at its spine, remarking to herself, "Seventy-six... Good good."

She opened the book revealing the pages upon pages of poetry, a book written to conceal its true meaning. She was so engrossed in her reading she didn't hear the door opening, she did however hear the soft whoosh of the mace as it moved through the air. Kitone flipped over the table barely evading the blow, which splintered the edge of the table just shy of the book. Kitone landed upright in the large leather chair on the other side of the room.

"Hey, hey, HEY!" Kitone said, pulling the ancient book closer to her, "Watch it, you almost destroyed this priceless relic." The cleric stepped forward and swung again. Kitone slid down in the chair, the mace tearing through the padding above her head. She slid back out and seated herself properly again, opening the book to the poem she was at before, nodding approvingly when she found it. The cleric began breathing deeply, resting her mace on the table, glaring at Kitone but not uttering a word. Kitone looked at the papers on the desk taking note of an official looking one. "Let me guess Kokoro, you've been having trouble deciphering this one haven't you?"

The cleric leaned on the desk and looked into Kitone's eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for the same reason you are," she replied, holding you're book up to make her point, "This one is a doozy, but I'm sure I can crack it."

"And why shouldn't I go and call the Hunters barracks to come and get you?" Kokoro asked, pulling her whisphone out of her pocket.

"I have three reasons; Firstly, you know that if you start that call I'll be halfway to the wilderness with this book. Secondly, You'd be putting the whole of Elderine in danger if you did that. Thirdly, the only reason your the head researcher now is because I left and you were the second in command." Kitone said putting the book flat on the desk. She flipped to the poem and turned it to Kokoro, "Have you seen this mark before?"

Kokoro studied a watermark that was barely visible to the right of the poem Kitone was reading, "No I've never seen it before..."

"I may have come upon it before, but I'd need my notes to make sure."

"Your notes? 'The' notes? The single document that contains translations of majority of the old symbols?! The one's that have been lost ever since you left?"

"Yea those notes," Kitone said whilst running her hands through her hair and reading the poem again, "They aren't exactly lost, in fact they've been in Elderine all this time. In the general storage, under a different name."

"Well go get them!" Kokoro said, the enthusiasm evident in her tone.

"Have you forgotten how I work, Koko?" Kitone said, not tearing her eyes from the book. Kokoro thought back to the time when she was Kitone's assistant in the Isyan Hunter's research division. Kitone would take the texts that gave the division the most trouble and lock herself in her office for days at a time, emerging only to head to the archives and get some reference material. It was an unorthodox method but the Senate put up with it because she'd return with the most complete and thorough reports that anyone in the division's history had ever seen. Kokoro pondered at what exactly she should do. "Tell you what Koko, you go get the notes and I'll stay here and try to figure this out," Kitone began, Kokoro began to voice her concern but Kitone continued, "I know you probably don't trust me right now, but if you go I give you my word that I'll tell you everything I find out and then I'll leave, In fact I'll even return the five books I stole when I left."

Kokoro was dumbfounded, not only did Kitone promise her that she'd decipher the book but that she'd also return the five Codexi she stole when she left. Those books are the reason she started out as a criminal with a five gem bounty on her head. She formulated a plan rapidly in her head. "Okay, I'll go get the notes. You just stay here and work on the book."

"Good, you'll need these." Kitone said, pulling a key and a sheet of paper out of her top and handed them to Kokoro, "Just hand these to Kyle, he'll know what to do."

*~*~*~*

Once outside the Library and safely out of view of her office Kokoro pulled out her whisphone and called the Hunter's headquarters. "Nothing personal Kit, it's just that I can't trust you anymore." she said as she waited on an answer from hq. The crowd at the storage was large, but a flash of her Hunter's Badge got Kokoro to the front in no time.

"What can I do for you today Miss Kokoro?" Kyle asked in his usual demeanor.

"I need you to deal with this for me." Kokoro responded as she handed him the key and the paper. She was unaware of his changing expression as he looked at the symbol on the paper, she was too busy talking to the rookie who was handling the calls at hq that morning. "I don't have time to argue with someone in a lower position right now. I need to speak to the commander on duty. Yes I'll hold..." While Kokoro was waiting for her call to be transferred Kyle came back with a box and placed it on the counter in front of her. "Yea," Kokoro began, "Captain, this is Head Researcher Kokoro, I need you to send a small force to my office to arrest Kitone. Yes, that Kitone. She's in my office deciphering a text, she'll be too occupied to put up much a resistance plus she's unarmed. I'm in the storage, collecting her notes. Yea, hurry up before she tries anything funny." Kokoro hurredly tore open the box, revealing five worn and weathered books, a sealed envelope and another gilded key. The envelope lay on top of the neatly arranged pile of books and it was addressed to 'The Hunter I've Sent Here'. Intrigued, she tore open the envelope and read the enclosed letter:

To Whoever actually left me in my old office,

If you're reading this chances are I've been caught in my old office reading a Codexi. I knew that one day I'd have to return to the library to get to a book that I couldn't intercept in the field. I've sent you here under the guise that I'll be giving you back the five books and my notes, a key that would make the translation of any ancient text quick and easy for even the most untrained researcher. In return you've probably left me alone with the book, with or without guards at the door, so I could decipher it for you. Don't worry I won't steal it, and I will leave it's deciphering for you but I won't be caught by any of your ploys. Sadly, I won't be able to uphold all of my side of the deal. In this box you have the five books and a key to yet another storage box but before you bother Kyle again, read on. If I sent you here, I gave you a key to this box and a slip of paper, that paper is an important Guild of Storage message. On that paper is a symbol that means nothing to those who aren't affiliated with the Grand Storage House, but to it's members it's one of the five important 'unsaid actions'. The key in the box leads to the storage box with all my notes. Unfortunately, if you gave Kyle that paper along with this key like I was hoping you would, you Iysan Hunters really are an impatient lot, those have become impossible to get.

With Kind regards, Kitone :3

P.S. I never forget what I've written in my notes. I'll be gone by time you get back.

Kokoro could hardly contain her anger. "What exactly does she mean by impossible to get?!" Before she could get the Key to Kyle her whisphone rang.

"Lady Kokoro, this is the Hunter in charge of the team sent to capture Kitone..." a man's voice said on the other side of the line.

"So what's the situation." Kokoro interrupted.

"Well ma'am, the rooms empty. Apart from some books and your notes the only thing out of the ordinary as a piece of paper that simple said, 'I told you so...' It's like no one was ever there." the man said.

Kokoro stood silently, staring ahead of her. She hung up the phone and placed it back in her pocket. It was then she saw Kyle come from the back room of the storage. She ran over and asked, "Kyle, that paper I gave earlier. What did it mean?"

"It was an incineration order," Kyle replied, shaking slightly from the tone in Kokoro's voice, "It was instructions to incinerate some notebooks and scroll, nothing important."

"Please," Kokoro said, her eyes welling up with tears, "tell me you haven't burnt them yet." Kyle's silence was enough to answer her question. She stepped out of the storage, tears streaming down her cheeks, the bustling crowds of Elderine indifferent to her suffering. She made her way back to the library, books and key in hand, to see what Kitone had left in her wake.

Elsewhere, among the catacombs of Moonlight Tomb, Kitone was adjusting the straps on her armor and making sure her swords hung at the right height. She turned towards Elderine and smiled to herself, Kokoro should have found her translation and notes on her desk by now. That should give her a few days to get to Luminous Stone and find the hidden room, using the map she drew from the directions in the poem. "The Senate will take a while to grant them permission to excavate the ruins. Seeing as they use that as an advanced training ground for academies throughout Isya they need to come up with an unassuming reason to close it to the public." she thought to herself as she stepped into the night.

[Dragonfly77]

Epic as always kit. ^^ Nicely done.

[captaingammer]

Diabolical. .-. I could just hear the Ocean's 11 music playing as Kokoro was reading that note. You know, that moment in the heist movie where it all comes together and you have to pick yourself off the floor 'cause it was so brilliant?

You've really built up a lot of intrigue with this story here.

[allan-armageddon]

Hate is such a strong word. I dislike them. Very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very much.

MY WORDS EXACTLY, Hate IS a strong word. Which is why I use dislike.
Great work!! Brilliant, and Kitone is so awesome @_@ "The Silencer"...Oooh..chills o.o The Smith story reminded me alot of those fantasy books I read. Eragon or some stuff. ._. If I were Kokoro, I wouldn't trust Kitone either >.> No offense lol.

Application:
Name: AllanWolfheart, my archer :D (I prefer Wolfie-Chan)
Class: Archer
Weapon: A bow with Phoenix Hairs :3 Yeah yeah, and some paint stuff, and maybe some glitter..no wait I just want a bow..
Basic Notes: I'm sarcastic most of the time, really talkative, I enjoy walking around elderine every now and then. Talking to my guild, Slacking off, avoid training at all costs. Yeah your average couch potato :D (I'm not really one >.>)

[Orchids_Mantis]

I only wish there were more to read here more often...

[captaingammer]

*Whistles innocently and drop in some copypasta*

Name: Cora Gammer
Class: Mage
Weapon of choice: Staff, though she'll use a wand if it's more enhanced.
Description: A cute young woman who was born with poor health. As such, she never got the urge to be better than anybody. She spend most of her time at home but will occasionally go out to practice her magic. She's very kind and sweet, and as such has never seen Forest Perimeter, much less Abyss.
Picture: She's the mage in the lower left corner of characters in my signature. You can't see, but she has dark green layered hair and a premium 4 face.

-

Name: Colonel Rayne
Nickname: Cora Gammer
Class: Fighter
Weapon of choice: When using a 1-handed/shield, she's an epic tanker. Solos with a 2-handed. I'd tell you how she utilizes a technique called "sword juggling" to use all three weapon options, but I know it'll sound infeasible and Mary-Sue-ish since I don't know anybody to back me up. TwT
Description: The heir to the throne of a foreign country which emphasizes male supremacy, Colonel is hesitant to emphasize the fact that she is a woman. Her personality is very princely and chivalric, including a great sense of justice. After joining the Gammer family, she took on the name "Cora" after the before said mage offered to share her name since "Colonel" didn't sound like a girl's name. She was also given the cat ears by a good friend to help loosen up her stiff personality.
Picture: The fighter in the top left of my signature. The only difference is that she should be wearing the male Nightmare suit. *Spends $5 for a single screenshot*

-

Name: Cons Gammer
Class: Cleric
Weapon of choice: Normally uses a hammer, switches to mace if the situation calls for it. She's a tanker/healer anyway.
Description: Cons was found in Uruga during a big fire, wearing robes and a slime helmet. Since then, she has never been seen without fully covering body armor, gloves, boots, and her signature slime helmet. She has a boyish charm about her, but can get vicious when anybody threatens Cora the Mage. She is extremely protective of her and isn't above throwing herself in front of any strike to protect her.
Description: The cleric in the upper right corner of my signature. I edited the picture to include her gloves. .-.

-

Name: Cap Gammer
Class: Archer
Weapon of Choice: Uses a Crossbow for her training, item gathering, and skill spam. Switches to bow to stack hits or get a quick one off.
Description: I won't sugarcoat it... Cap may seem a bit mentally off when you first meet her. She's got mild schizophrenia, meaning she'll talk to herself when she thinks nobody's around. To make it worse, she's infamous for having killed an up-an-coming PvP star for cheating on her. Currently she lives in the Gammer family instead of being exiled. When you get to know her, you'll see that she isn't crazy at all. She's warm and witty, if not spacey.
Description: The archer in the lower right corner of my signature. The Cosmo suit is now officially part of her design. ^^

[T3h_SyN]

Alright, more pawns... err, I mean willing applicants.

Wolfie-chan and the Gammer ladies, quite a selection of applicants there. I'll try and fit as many of you in as I can, but as with all other applicants it may be some time before I get to your character. So as long as you don't mind waiting, you'll more than likely show up.

[Daevor]

Wow, great stuff, Kitone! Keep up the good work :D

I only wish I could read the poem from which the map was drawn.. :-/

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Six: Ruins, Escorts and a Criminal

It took Kitone the better part of the day to arrive at the entrance to Luminous Stone, the evening sun hung low in the sky. She let her hands brush against the wall as she made her way down the steps, she'd traversed these hallways many times before as a researcher. Luminous Stone, as the Senate had named it, was said to be the ruins of an ancient temple that had sunk into the ground. Its upper floors were open to the public, mostly as a training ground for younger members of Iysan society. The entrance to the lower levels were well hidden by years of covering up. In fact the first two floors, the one's open to the public, were devoid of the ancient writings that were set into the stone, lest some fool-hardy person try to find the truth out. As Kitone came to the bottom of the stairwell she saw handfuls of other people, most of them were preoccupied with the monsters that swarmed the floor. She saw many grave robbers lurking about the room, brandishing their pick-axes at anyone who came too close, as well as the different types of Kebing. Silently she made her way to the back of the main chamber, but instead of taking the marked path to the lower level she instead walked to a less visited side of the floor. This was the perks of researching the temple, you knew the secret paths that dotted the place.

Kitone stood in front of a dead end, the monsters wondering about her as if she wasn't there. They knew when they were outmatched, and plus she wasn't being the least bit hostile towards them so why chance it. Kitone felt up and down the wall, searching for the loose brick. "Aha," she said when she felt a brick move slightly under her grasp, "Here it is!"

The brick slid back a few inches until it stopped, then there was a low rumbling as the magical mechanisms that kept this entryway hidden began to move once again. The bricks of the wall began to slide back and disappear in a seemingly random fashion. When they were done all that was left was a short wall that was easily stepped over. As Kitone stepped into the room beyond the entryway she felt the floor lower slightly under her weight, there was a great gust as the bricks magically reappeared and reformed the wall. The hallway was dimly lit by the paint on the roof of the walkway. Magical analysis had shown that the paint was enchanted to glow when not in direct sunlight and had been part of the reason this hallway was named 'The Glowing Sky'.

The hallway, seemingly level to those in it, led downstairs to secret alcove just below the second floor's main chamber. Once Kitone had removed the loose tile that marked the exit of the hallway she found herself in the main chamber. She had hoped it would've been empty like it usually was, unfortunately...

"Stick together guys, no wandering off. This place is full of monsters that would take out groups of you in no time flat. Even though the Iysan Hunters have given us a small escort, try not to cause too much work for them." Warrior Master Marty said to a group of young adventurers-to-be. A small outfit of Hunters stood at his side, a group barely large enough to guarantee the protection of the young'uns.

"Look's like the academies are having a little trip down here." Kitone fumed, cursing her luck.

"Now," Marty continued, "We're here to learn about the stronger monsters that you may encounter on your adventures. Firstly we're going to observe some Archmage books, if you'll follow me this way..." Marty began to walk down the hallway Kitone intended to take, a pair of Hunters following behind him followed closely by the group of apprentices and the back was guarded by another pair of Hunters. Kitone followed them down the hallway, at a safe distance so she wouldn't be noticed by the rear Hunters. She'd only be following them for a bit anyway before theirpaths diverged...

*~*~*~*

"I don't believe it, I train to be a Special Operations Defense Force and I finally qualify for field duty and my first job is to guard a bunch of brats!" One of the Hunters, a fighter wielding a one-handed sword and shield, said to his comrade walking beside him.

"Hey, it's not everyday things get out of hand in the cities my friend." The other hunter, a hammer wielding cleric, said.

"I know... but you know, all that training only to be placed here. I know I'm guarding the next generation of Iysa from harm here but it's not like anything exciting is gonna happen..." the fighter replied with a sigh.

"Cheer up Lukasz. We'll only be down here for about an hour or two. Then we an return to Elderine, I'll buy you a drink when we get back." the cleric said.

"Heh, thanks. I appreciate it." the fighter said, a little pep returning to his step.

"Don't mention it."

The walk to the Archmage books went on pretty much without incident. Lukasz had a strange feeling, like something bad was soon to befall him but he couldn't really figure out why. When the group reached the fork in the path he swore he heard some footsteps running down the other fork. He spun around and caught a glimpse of a red ponytail going around the corner, out of sight.

"Hey!" he exclaimed.

"What is it?" the cleric asked, trying not to attract the attention of the group or the monsters nearby her.

"I thought I saw someone head that way." Lukasz replied pointing down the other path.

"Well go check it out, it may be a student. Our pay gets docked if any harm befalls them," the cleric replied, "I can handle back here by myself, don't worry about these guys. Just hurry up and go."

Lukasz took off after the pony-tailed person, weapons drawn just in case he rounded the bend and someone needed saving. He turned the corner and saw a female fighter at the far end of the corridor, she was ignoring the monsters, dodging all their attacks with what appeared to be relative ease. "HEY!" he shouted at the fighter, who peered over her shoulder and sped up. Lukasz sighed angrily as he charged after her. She had snaked her way around the room dodging the monsters in her way but he wasn't as agile. With a quick swipe of his shield he smashed a skeleton to pieces on the wall of the hallway. He knew he had seen the girls face somewhere before but he thought to himself that maybe she was a student, he had been studying their faces while Marty was talking to them. As he came round the second corner in the hallway he saw the girl standing still on the far end of the hallway, clinging to the wall as if her life depended on it. "Poor girl," he thought, "She must be scared."

As he began to walk down the hallway he could've sworn he heard a soft creaking but when he stopped moving the hallway was silent, sans the other fighter's breathing, so he started moving. That's when the fighter spun around.

"Hunter. Stop moving, back away... Slowly..." she said, a quivering in her voice.

Lukasz looked at the girl's face, suddenly realizing where he had seen it. "You're that wanted crim-" he began, his words cut short as he felt the world give way at his feet.

*~*~*~*

When Lukasz reopened his eyes the room he lay in was dimly lit, the only source of light appeared to come from behind him. He sat up, rubbing a sore spot on his back. Nothing appeared to be broken. He felt around himself in the dim light, his fingers brushing against cold metal. He pulled it closer to him, it was his shield. "Good," he said to himself, rising to his feet, "now only if i could find-"

"Your sword?" a female voice finished from behind him. He spun around and stared directly into the eyes of the same woman he trailed in the hallway.

"Kitone!" He said stepping back, taking up a defensive posture.

"Standard issue Iron Sword, reinforced with gold and silver to keep the blade strong yet flexible. Mold number 85-A, indicating that the sword is no more than a year old. The designs on your shield shows it's been enhanced quite a bit. It too is standard issue. You're in Special Ops, right boy?" Kitone asked, throwing his sword to his feet.

Lukasz quickly grabbed up his weapon and resumed his defensive stance. "Yea, I'm Special Ops." he said.

"You can sheath that weapon, I have no intention of killing you boy. Name and rank?" Kitone said, not moving from her seat atop the rubble.

"Huh?" Lukasz said, weapons still drawn.

"Your name and rank. If I'm gonna get you out of here I'm going to need you to call you something, unless you want to be called 'Boy' all the time." Kitone said walking past Lukasz, taking the light with her.

"My name is Lukasz, Special Ops Private rank. My friends call me Lucky."

"Well Lucky, it appears you aren't as your name implies. Because of you, we ended up down here."

"Where exactly are we anyway?" Lukasz said, sheathing his weapon and pulling out his map.

"We're currently in the third floor of Luminous Stone," Kitone began, turning to look at what was keeping Lucky from coming with her, "Put that away, it's not gonna help you here. C'mon we gotta start moving if you want to find the way out."

"Third floor?! Luminous stone only has two floors! What the heck, my maps not working..." Lukasz said.

"I told you, it won't work down here. This place is uncharted, the magics of the map and your whisphone won't work down here." Kitone said matter-of-factly.

"You seem to know a lot about this place, criminal."

"Of course I know a lot about this place, I'm here to look for something. Unfortunately someone had to go and set off a disappearing floor trap and get us stuck here instead." Kitone said.

"Well, I'm sorry okay," Lukasz said, a bit disgruntled by Kitone's attitude, "I take it you know a way out?"

"I do, but are you sure you can trust my word? After all, I am a criminal." Kitone said sarcastically as she started walking down the path again.

*~*~*~*

The rest of the walk was pretty quiet, mostly because Lukasz was afraid of angering Kitone anymore than he already had. The stories he had heard about her ruthlessness in combat were only made more frightening by the fact that the Hunter headquarters listed her as 'a threat that should be handled by no less than an full battalion of novice Hunters or a half Battalion of expert Hunters.'

"Uhh, do you know where you're going?" Lukasz asked apprehensively.

"Sorta," Kitone replied, "The poem didn't exactly give me exact measurements of this place."

"Wait," Luckasz said while stopping completely, "You mean that we're walking blindly?"

Kitone stopped walking as well and for a while there was silence. Then she spoke, "Do you know the 'Kebing Waltz'?"

"The nursery rhyme? Yea, I think most of Iysa grew up knowing that song."

"Well, congrats. You know the layout of the top floor of Luminous Stone by heart." Kitone said, starting down the hallway again. Lucky stood in the darkness for a while as he recited the rhyme in his head, all the while his eyes grew wider from the revelation.

It wasn't long before they came upon a large wooden door. Kitone held the light up to it, admiring the carvings before turning to Lukasz and saying, "Lucky. Welcome to the Garden of Time." Kitone pushed the doors open revealing a vast chamber, the floor of which was covered in tall grasses. The entire chamber appeared to be in a dome, the walls of which were painted in the enchanted paints, causing the room to be well lit. One half of the room was painted as if it were the sky in the daylight, bathing the grasses and flowers under it in an artificial sunlight. The other half was painted in to represent the dark of night, the plants under it seemed to glow in the light of the painted moon. At the meeting points of the two phases of the day the skies seemed to meld into the shades of dusk and dawn respectively. In the middle of the room grew a tree, it's branches appeared to reach to the very top of the chamber.

Lukasz stepped into the room, in sheer awe of the paintings. "A-are we outside?!"

"Nope, the walls are painted in a magic paint, it glows with whatever color it's painted in and judging from the fact that the plants in the night side are still alive, I'd be willing to bet that the sky moves too." Kitone said making her way from to the tree. Lucky followed her, but he was focusing more on what was in the room. He watched as an artificial river, teeming with fish and water-plants, flow from under a painting of a stream flowing down a hill on the wall. He practically walked into a low-hanging branch because he wasn't paying attention to where he was walking. "This place is beautiful." he said, rubbing the sore spot on his cheek.

"Don't get too attached to this place, we'll be leaving quickly. To get out and return to the chamber in the second floor climb to the top of this tree. It should lead to a secret passage that should take you back to the top floor. It's one-way only so I'll still have time to search this place out for what I'm looking for." Kitone said pointing up at a small hole in the ceiling.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Lukasz said, drawing his weapons, "You're coming with me, whether you like it or not."

Kitone turned to face her aggressor. "You know, I could've left you for dead after we fell."

"I thank you kindly but you're a criminal and being an Iysan Hunter I have to take you in." Lukasz said, closing the space between them slowly.

"So be it, this won't last long. But you already knew that, didn't you?" Kitone said, drawing her two swords.

"No matter the outcome, I have to try." Lukasz said.

"Well then... Let's see what Special Ops is made of." Kitone said dryly.

And with those words their battle began.

[captaingammer]

Grah, what an epic cliffhanger. D< I mean, I hardly think that Lucky is close to a match, but obviously something's going to happen that required them being down there and engaging in combat, possibly knocking a few things down or over to reveal something unexpected! O:

... I read/watch/play too much fiction. :3 Well written as always!

[roxca]

Can't wait for more! :D

>.> *pops in application*

Name: Roxca

Class: Cleric

Weapon of choice: Hammer, sometimes mace for fast kills.

About Me: I love to help others whenever I feel like it. I'm usually kind and polite around others, but to my close friends, I don't mind showing my more violent side. I dislike people who lie to me and waiting. I love a good fight and usually forget my originally role to heal my fellow party members. Pretty much a fighter at heart, but with a hammer!

[Dragonfly77]

Aw..have to wait for the next chapter for a fight scene. >.o

[allan-armageddon]

Heh, this would totally be my chance to come in for some comedic relief ._. or pwn both y'all OOOOOH D:

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Seven: Things That Go Bump In The Night

"Ugh!" Lukasz grunted as he found himself on the floor again, he'd lost count at how many times she parried him to the floor. He'd been fighting with all his strength but Kitone was barely breaking a sweat.

"Come now Lucky. You can do better," Kitone said mockingly, sheathing Pyrae, "There. Now we're even." Lukasz sighed a sigh of relief, the sword that cut through his shield as if it were paper was gone. He stood back up, raising his chipped and tattered shield to its regular position and charged at the fighter. Kitone braced herself for his attack, gripping her sword with both hands. She didn't expect what came next tho. Lukasz never swung his sword, instead he charged with the shield, deflecting Kitone's blade upwards. Following the motion of his shield he brought his sword up, aimed directly at her gut.

"Yes!" Lukasz thought, "This is it! I win!" His euphoria didn't last long though. Kitone brought her left leg up, pushing the blade away from the weaker armor around her gut. It glanced off her breastplate without causing her any harm. Quickly she planted her foot and spun, delivering a back kick to his exposed flank. He tumbled over, his weapons clattering to a stop a distance away. Kitone ran over to him and grabbed at the top of his breastplate easing his upper body off the floor, he tried to reach his sword but it lay just out of his reach.

"You lose Lucky, but... I'll spare you. Because you see," Kitone said, before hitting Lukasz on his temple with the hilt of Aphonia, "I can't bring myself to slay you in such a pristine room." She let his unconscious body fall to the floor. He was a strong one, he'd be awake soon. She made her way to the side of the room that was painted with a dark sea, the stream from the hill crossed and emptied into a pool that flowed 'into' the bay. She bent and looked into the pitch black pool, she couldn't make out the bottom.

"As I traversed the plains, I came upon a bay. The bay was bathed in an ever changing glow, the moon and sun both owned the sky. I stepped into the waters and became enlightened." Kitone said, reciting the words of the poem she had committed to memory. Then she stepped into the pool, allowing the weight of her armor to pull her down.

*~*~*~*

The young mage ran through the hallways of the castle, his robes brushing along the ground kicking up little clouds of dust with each step. He practically ran into the large oak doors of the master bedroom, it took all his strength to push them open. He stepped into the room breathing heavily. "Senator Allenby sir, you rang?"

Senator Allenby, a greying cleric, stood on the balcony that overlooked the courtyard where his two young daughters frolicked happily. He didn't turn to the young squire. "On the bedside table you'll find a document to be delivered to the High Prison in Uruga. I need not say what you must do, do I?"

"N-no sir!" The mage said grabbing up the scroll on the table and hurrying out the room. His pattering footsteps were heard until the door closed, blocking out all the sounds. All he could hear from his position on the balcony was his daughters' laughter.

"Are you happy? I expect you to live up to your side of the deal" Allenby said. He spun around and looked into the dark green eyes of a woman clothed in black leather. Her bright green hair hung below her shoulders and made a stark contrast to the black leather.

"Quite," she said pushing off the wall she was leaning on, "I'll leave this with you then." She reached into her cloak and produced a vial filled with a clear liquid. "This should counteract the poison in their systems. I'd like to hope our arrangement won't fall through at the last minute. I'd rather not come back her, and I can assure you that you won't like it either if I do." With this she handed him the vial and turned around, with a wave of her hand a dark vortex opened. She stepped into the abyss causing the portal to close. Allenby looked down at the potion in his hand, praying to Teva that it would work.

*~*~*~*

Kitone's lungs ached for air, she could see the surface a few feet ahead of her. She kicked as fast as she could, the weight of her armor was an impediment this time around. She felt as the world started to go black around her very eyes. Slowly she felt the life fading from her, she heard her heart begin to slow. Then she broke the surface. Her sharp intake of air echoed in the cavernous room. She gasped at the air like she hadn't breathed in for the last decade. Over her heartbeats in her ear and the echoing of her breathing she heard the voices, two to be precise.

"Hello? Is someone there?" one of them said, obviously female.

"I think it came from over here." The other voice said, also female. Kitone heard their footsteps approaching and ducked under the surface of the water again. Beneath the water she could hear the voices at the edge of the pool.

"All that's here is this fountain. We must be hearing things again." the first voice said, muffled slightly by the water.

"Are you sure? I think I see something in there..." the other voice said. Kitone could see her silhouette on the surface of the water. With a swift pair of kicks she leapt out of the water and grabbed the person's head, pulling her into the water. The other person leapt to grab her partner but Kitone grabbed at her outstretched hand and pulled her in as well. With both of them in the water she climbed out quickly and readied herself for the ensuing battle. But it never came. Instead only one of them came up, she was dressed in the armor of an apprentice cleric but her head was covered in what appeared to be a slime mask, a traditional plaything. Kitone sheathed her swords, this girl was no threat to her, she was about to say something when the slime head 'spoke'.

"Where's my sister?!" the voice said, the fear resonating in her tone, which completely countered the smiling face of her mask. It didn't take Kitone long to start moving, she was underwater in a heartbeat. She didn't have to swim far to catch the other girl, a mage who was probably around the same age as the cleric. Kitone pulled her back to the surface, causing a repeat of the intake of air she herself just had.

With the three of them standing on dry land, the water slowly draining off of them, Kitone sized them up. It was pretty clear to her that they were both apprentices that should be with the rest of them on the trip through the temple. "I'm sorry I attacked you two," she said, "I just didn't expect to find anyone else down here. My name's Kitone and you are?"

The mage spoke first, "My name's Cora Gammer, and this is my sister Cons."

"Where exactly are we?" Cons asked. Kitone looked around the room, it was fairly expansive. She couldn't make out the far walls of the room, the light from the lamps in the room didn't reach that far.

"I'm not exactly sure, but I do know you two shouldn't be here. How did the two of you end up here?" Kitone asked.

Cora hung her head and glanced over at Cons who replied, "Well, we were following the group when Cora thought she saw a friend walk down one of the side hallways. She snuck away from the group and I followed her. The next thing we know we fell down a hole and ended up here."

"You saw a friend?" Kitone asked.

"Yea," Cora replied, "She ran down the hallway but when we got there no one was there."

"I see. Did, did either of you hear anything strange before you fell down here?" Kitone asked again, her brow furrowing. After a short silence Cons answered.

"Umm, I recall hearing something, after the creak that is. It sounded sort of musical, like-"

"Wind chimes?" Kitone said. Both girls nodded in agreement. "Damn! There's nothing else it could be."

"What are you talking about?" Cora asked.

"What you saw wasn't your friend it was a monster. A type of Kebing-" Kitone began.

"Tch, we can handle a Kebing ourselves," Cora began, and she was followed by Cons saying, "Yea, it's nothing to get all worked up about."

"You don't understand. This isn't your regular Kebing. This is a Heartweaver Kebing. These are creatures of myth." Kitone said, sitting down and pulling her wet hair out of her eyes. "You've learnt that Kebings survive by absorbing parts or all of someone's soul right? Well unlike the regular Kebing, Heartweaver's take a more passive approach to hunting. They tend to lure the weaker off and torment them until they've lost the will to fight back. It's probably hunting you." Kitone said pointing to the frail-looking mage.

"Me?! But I chased after my friend!" Cora retorted.

"That's exactly it, a Heartweaver has the ability to-" Kitone began.She was cut off by someone's shout, a shout that could only come from Weapon Master Marty.

"Cons! Cora! Are you two in here?!" he said.

"Master Marty!" the girls said in unison, running towards the source of the voice. Kitone barely caught them by the cuffs of their tops.

"As I was saying. Heartweaver's have the ability to read your memories and project images and sounds to trick you. It works on groups of people by projecting a shared memory. In this case it picked Marty because I know him as well. I want you to listen carefully. If you want to stay alive you need to stick close to me at all times." Kitone said. The Gammer sisters nodded in unison and took up positions to Kitone's sides.

"Hahaha," a voice said from the shadows, it carried a sinister air to it, "I see that you know much about me woman. We'll see who has the last laugh when I devour your soul."

"I'm not afraid. I know of your treachery." Kitone replied.

"Are you entirely sure about that?" a different voice replied, one that sounded eerily familiar. The voice was feminine, and so was the person that stepped out of the shadows. She was a fighter armed with two swords, her red hair was arranged in a ponytail with water still dripping out of it.

"You're.... You're..." Kitone began to ask.

"Me?" Kitone replied, "Yes, yes I am."

[badfury]

OOOOO can i be on your story kit? and I think you know my name/class/most use wep/

[captaingammer]

Silly Kitone and her condescending inner monologue. >_O *Sniffles at the use of my wonderful characters as PK-bait* 9~9

Seriously though, you've got some great build-up here. This certainly isn't Kitone's day, is it? First Lucky, now a mythical creature. Next thing you know she's going to end up in Black Mesa. O-O

*Holds back Cons from bashing the thread* Nuuu! D: Let's see where this goes! ... In more ways than one. :3

[T3h_SyN]

OOOOO can i be on your story kit? and I think you know my name/class/most use wep/

Fury, fighter, the power of fail? hehe just kidding. I'll try to let you cut something in half. No promises tho...

Silly Kitone and her condescending inner monologue. >_O *Sniffles at the use of my wonderful characters as PK-bait* 9~9

>_>
Don't blink or you'll miss the awsm, 'kay?

Seriously though, you've got some great build-up here. This certainly isn't Kitone's day, is it? First Lucky, now a mythical creature. Next thing you know she's going to end up in Black Mesa. O-O

Shh... you're spoiling it... Now I have to move it to Apeture Labs >_< The cake better not be a lie this time around.

[Dragonfly77]

Nice kit. I especially like the description of the temple. Imaginative.

Ohhhh....can I beat up Fury?? *puppy dog eyes*

[badfury]

.-. NO casue i have a awsome mega super cool...................................... A AWSOME NOTEBOOK THAT CAN KILL ANYONE IF THEIR NAME ON THE NOTEBOOK!

Oh yea like that you soo didnt see that coming.

[Dragonfly77]

*gasp* No wai

*feigns fear*

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Eight: The Deduction

Kitone punched at her enemy, a splitting image of herself. The two of her fought in the periphery of the light in the room. The magic of the Heartweaver is a strong one, the imagery it produces is such a strong imagery that your body perceives it as real. Kitone didn't know how strong the mimicry magic of the Heartweaver was, but it had a good argument going for it. She was fighting on even footing with it, but neither of them drew swords. Kitone didn't know why the Kebing didn't draw its blades but she didn't want to find out if it could mimic the magic of either sword. She'd rather not find out the outcome of two Pyrae clashing, or two Aphonia meeting. For now her best bet was to just keep up the unarmed combat until something could be done about this threat.

In the middle of the lit part of the room the two Gammer ladies sat, well Cora sat, Cons was too busy watching the fight that darted in and out of the light. "Ooh! That was a wicked kick! Ouch, that was a wicked counter that Kitone made! Cora you should watch this, she's a really good fighter." the cleric said, the smile on her slime mask hardly befitting of the enjoyment she was experiencing. Cora however was a bit more reserved.

"Cons..." Cora said, resting her forehead on her hand.

"Yea?" Cons replied, turning to face her sister.

"You do realize that if the real Kitone loses we'll be at the mercy of the Kebing right?"

"Oh. I never thought it that way." Cons replied, stroking the chin of her mask, it's smile still wide. She turned to watch her sister, who was deep in thought. Cons turned her head, making the slime appear curious, a reflexive action for her. Cora sat there, muttering something to herself. "What's buggin' you sis? You only mutter to yourself when somethings on your mind."

"I've been trying to figure out a way to help Kitone. There has to be something about it's mimicry that we can use against it. I'm just trying to figure out what that is." Cora said. She furrowed her brow for a few seconds as she regained her train of thought. Suddenly she sat up, starling Cons, and said "Cons, when we ran of you saw her too right?"

"Your mage friend? Yea, I did. It's why I followed you. Two mages in a strange place with strong monsters, eventually someones going to need healing." Cons said, turning her attention back to the fight.

"But it was hunting me, so how could you see her?" Cora said, getting up off the floor.

"I'm not sure but I think it's because I know her too, we share a memory of her and like Kitone said, the real one anyway, that's how it hunts groups of people." Cons said, bobbing and weaving like the Kitone who was on the defensive. "Man, look at that footwork. She's so good."

Cora sighed, her sister had totally disregarded the situation they were in, again, "But Cons, that time it was only after me. It wasn't like when it was trying to get us separated from Kitone by imitating Master Marty. Unless... It can't stop other people who share a memory of this thing from seeing it's imitation as well, but could it stop that?"

Cons answered, "I don't know," before turning to the two Kitone who had made their way into the light and were now wrestling on the ground, "Hey, do either of you know if the Kebing can control who sees its illusion?"

"I don't think so but," one Kitone began before she was taken down by the other Kitone who finished with, "I'm not sure, the ancient bestiaries never had that kind of information on it."

"There you go," Cons said turning back to Cora, who had returned to sitting, "Anything else you want to know?"

"Nope, that's enough for now. I may have a plan. Gimme a few minutes to work out the kinks in it." Cora said, focusing her attention back on her thoughts.

"Sure thing." Cons said, watching the two women fight again.

*~*~*~*

About five minutes later Cora stood up and looked around for the two fighters. It didn't take her long to find the two of them, practically exchanging blows slowly. If this fight didn't stop soon they were both going to collapse from exhaustion. She stood beside her sister who remarked "It's been getting pretty slow. They both look pretty worn out."

"Yea, looks that way. Cons," Cora asked, eliciting a 'hmm' from her sister, "Which one looks more beat up to you?"

Cons looked back and forth between her sisters and the two fighters wondering what sort of question that was. "Neither," she said, "The both look pretty beat up. I'd put them on about the same level though."

"So neither looks worse?"

"Nope, they're pretty much the same."

"Good, here's the plan..."

*~*~*~*

Kitone was tired but her opponent was tired too, and she knew it. She wasn't going to go down to a cheap imitation of herself, she threw a hard right. Her fist was slow, her body was too tired to maintain the high speed she had at the start of the fight, the other Kitone easily caught it and placed her in an elbow lock. The other Kitone raised the locked arm up into the air, putting pressure on her shoulder joint as well, causing the real Kitone to fall to her knees. Kitone closed her eyes, waiting for a kick or some other attack to come, but was instead greeted by the sound of metal connecting with flesh. She felt the grip on her arm release and took the opportunity to roll to the side. When she looked over at her opponent she saw her gripping the side of her face, blood streaming from her nose. The slime-headed cleric had taken the opportunity to smack her in the face with her hammer.

"What the heck are you doing?!" both of the Kitones exclaimed in unison.

"Don't worry," Cons said, closing the space between her and the battered fighter, "Cora figured it out." Suddenly a bolt of ice hit the other Kitone square in the chest, knocking her to the ground.

"Yea, it was pretty simple when I thought about it. I'm just glad it worked." the mage said, channeling the energy for another spell. "It was because the Kebing can only spread it;s influence so far. When it's taking on a group it mimics something all the group has shared in it's memory but it's still hunting a single target at any given time." Kitone stood up and gingerly reached into her pocket for a small vial of healing potion she kept on her at all times. She pulled out the stopper and drank it all in one go, it was revitalizing to say the least. "You see," Cora said, "I sat for a while changing my memory of you, since we all know that it want me. I thought that if Cons could see it like how we both saw when it took the guise of my friend earlier cause we both know her maybe if I changed my memory of how you looked we could both tell the difference between you two."

"Unfortunately," Cons said, smacking the other Kitone in the gut with her hammer while deflecting a punch off her shield, "It didn't go as planned, I saw no change between the two of you."

Kitone turned to Cora and said, "But you did. Didn't you?"

"Yep, when I was confident I had changed how I remembered you I asked Cons to confirm it for me. That was when I realized that it can only project a change in memory on the illusion it sends to a single person. Cons, who was unaware of the plan till just now, still saw her the way you did. However she had gotten a set of unique cuts in my eyes." Cora replied, casting a thunder bolt at the downed fighter.

"That's... That's actually pretty smart thinking for someone your age. You'll make a great mage, if you put the same amount of effort into your training," Kitone said to Cora before turning to face Cons, "And you should stop before it stops toying with you. It's still stronger than you are now. Your heart is in the right place though." Cons hopped back a bit, letting her hammer fall at her side, its small strap hung on a small holster on her side. The three of them watched as the body of the fallen Kitone began to warp and dissipate. After a few seconds all that was left was a dark purple Kebing, its bonnet and toga were a lighter shade of purple. It's eyes were a menacing red, devoid of any pupils.

It pushed itself upright and began floating again, because that's what Kebings do. Float. It's one of the overt signs that implied that they were magical beings. What most people didn't know was that unlike most other magical beings Kebings were purely composed of magic. They lack a physical body. Normal attacks hurt them by dispersing the collective magic that makes them up, like waving your hand in a cloud of smoke to disperse it. Magical attacks disrupt it wholly, making them particularly effective, but not as effective as a single sword was. Kitone walked over to the Kebing and drew Aphonia.

With one thrust, it was gone.

[captaingammer]

I just love how your sequences really make us think. It's not just "Boom! Pow! WOWZA!" you really get cerebral and make everything mean something.

Fear the wrath of Cora Gammer's intellect. >:3 Great chapter as always, Kitone. ^^

[Dragonfly77]

Nice kit. ^^ That's a pretty interesting kebing. You do a good job of this. ^^

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Nine: The Whole Truth

It had been no more than fifteen minutes since the trio of women had slain the Heartweaver Kebing that they came upon a large stone door. A set of glyphs glowed in the phosphorescent light of the magic paint.

"Oh, that is cool," Cons exclaimed at the sight of the glowing text, "if only I knew what it was saying."

"It looks like Elvish, but I don't know some of those symbols." Cora said, obviously trying to decipher them.

Kitone snickered at them, patting the mage on her head, "You're pretty close Cora, it's an ancient, forgotten form of Elvish called Elunic. It's a more complex form of Elvish but their roots are the same. It says 'Here lies the Tome of The Stone. May the Guards of the Ages protect you on the path of enlightenment.' Help me push this open you two." The room echoed with the groans of the three of them and resonated with the scraping of the door on the ground. "It's times like these I wish I had a research team."

"I've been meaning to ask about that. How come you're all alone?" Cons asked, the slime head's smile contradicting the underlying assumptions of her tone.

"A few years back I went 'freelance'. There's less red tape that way, especially if you have credentials like mine." Kitone said, pasting a seal on the wall with the words 'Searched - Kitone' embossed on it.

The room was a well lit hall, it was another large round room, similar to the Garden of Time but it was far less green. The walls were adorned with lanterns that cast their glow to all corners of the room. In the middle of the room was an altar, upon which rested an ancient book. To either side of the altar there stood a statue, on the right appeared to be a human cleric and the left had a elven mage. Kitone walked up to the alter leaving the Gammer sisters staring dumbfounded. She blew the dust of the tome and placed it into her bag before turning her attention to the rest of the room. The two sisters managed to shake of most of their awe and noticed Kitone standing on top of the altar, trying to pry a hammer from the grasp of the right statue.

"Wow, aren't we lucky Cons. We'll get to see an archeologist in work." Cora said, with Cons nodding in agreement. The two of them watched silently as Kitone wiggled the hammer about in the stone making little progress. The watched as Kitone stepped back, observing the way the statue held the hammer. Time seemed to slow when Kitone drew Pyrae and deftly cut the fingers that were holding the hammer off, catching the hammer before it fell to the floor and smiling at her achievement. The two girls were even more shocked when she got the book down in a similar fashion.

"Here you go," Kitone said, handing Cora the spell book, "That's your reward for stopping the Heartweaver, I'm gonna have to teach you how to read Elunic though, which shouldn't take long seeing as you appear fairly fluent in elvish." Cora's face was radiating joy, she just got a new gimoire that only she could read, eventually. Cons however didn't let the reality of what was happening escape her.

"What are you doing!?" she shouted, "First you desecrate the statues and then you hand us some treasure as if it's nothing! From we found you by the fountain and I watched you fight I thought something was up, but now I'm completely sure of it. Who are you? What are you really doing here?"

With a sigh Kitone began to tell her tale. She started from the day she was recruited to join the Iysa Hunters, how she rose and became a renowned explorer and researcher eventually landing the top spot on the Senate's research division. How she traveled the land of Iysa, learning about the prehistoric period. How she confronted a Senate group about the non-release of one of her findings. How they told her that she should never talk of such heresy again. How she stole and hid a plethora of ancient texts that were to be destroyed because they would 'endanger the thinking of society, creating a mass disruption in society'. How they caught her and interrogated her for those books. How they beat her for her information, how they degraded her as a person. How she 'resigned' from her post on the day she escaped from Uruga High Prison. How she hid in the wilderness for a couple years, training her body so she'd never have to go through that again. How she found her weapons and learnt about the Codexi, how they were only path markers to the Sacred texts of the ancient people. How she found other magical weapons and kept them from being destroyed by the Senate by hiding them in plain sight, by giving them to people she trusted and knew would never be questioned. How she ended up where she was, what she knew. All of it.

The ensuing silence was uncomfortable for all involved. Cons took the initiative to break it, "So you're giving us these because otherwise they'd be destroyed?" Kitone nodded slowly. "You really want to trust us with these? You don't really kn-" she said before being stopped by Kitone, who had placed her hand on the 'lips' of the slime head.

"From how the two of you acted earlier I believe I can trust you, and given my track record I haven't been wrong yet. It may take a bit of teaching from me for you to truly wield them properly, more in her case than yours." Kitone said, motioning to Cora who clutched the book to her chest. "But first we have to get you two out of here. C'mon lets go."

*~*~*~*

"What do you mean you can't find the two of them?!" Marty bellowed, his echoes filling the entire floor. The Iysan Hunter he was shouting at shivered slightly as he tried to word his response.

"W-Well s-sir, you s-see we l-looked everywhere on t-the floor. W-we just can't find them." he said, raising his shield instinctively.

"This is not good. Wishis isn't going to let me hear the end of this..." Marty said. Suddenly his eyes went wide, "Oh Teva, what is Ruby gonna do when she hears this." He reached out and grabbed the nearest Hunter by her collar and began barking orders at her.

"Hey, are you looking for these two?" a female voice said, Marty whirled around and saw a red-haired swordswoman walking with the two missing girls in close tow. Her hair hang down freely at just below shoulder-length. She wore a cloak and carried a single sword at her side, no visible shield anywhere. The two girls ran over to Marty, who was more overjoyed that they were back safe than angry that they had disappeared in the first place. "I found them being chased by a couple of Spiders. It seems that they snuck off for fun but were attacked. It's a good thing I came along when I did. Now if you'll excuse me I do need to get back to Elderine, business and such." With that the fighter made her way to the stairs to the surface.

*~*~*~*

That evening, Kitone sat on the headland in Forest of Tides, watching the clouds make their way across the sky when she heard the patter of footsteps behind her.

"I can't believe that simple disguise worked." Cora said, Cons close behind her.

"Yea, I expected Marty to have cause a ruckus when he noticed you were missing, making it easy for me to appear different. Have you brought your things?" Kitone said standing and facing them. The two took their respective treasures out of their bags and stood eager to learn. Kitone took a small scroll out of her pocket, it's edges tattered and worn from use, and handed it to Cora "This should teach you all the characters unique to Elunic, now Cons pass your hammer."

Cons handed her the hammer, Kitone gave it a quick once over and handed it back to her. "That's a Resonance hammer," she began, "You see the gem on the broad side? That's pure Xirite, it absorbs a fraction of any impact that the broad side is subjected to, making its blows weaker than a regular hammer in that respect. But the gem on the small side, that's Elrunium. It channels impact energy from the Xirite into an unblockable burst of energy when it hits something. Since the Xirite can contain an infinite amount of impact energy and the Elunium releases all the energy channeled to it by the Xirite when struck..."

Cons got the unspoken bit, "So if I keep hitting something with the broad side I can release a large attack every once in a while?"

"Yea, but you're going to have to train hard to be able to control the hammer when you release that much power. It could be dangerous to you if it goes flying at the point of impact. I'll train you two for a few days and then you'll be on your own. Remember you can't tell anyone the truth behind those weapons."

And for a week she trained them.

[captaingammer]

This calls for a MONTAGE~! In no time Kitone will have a team of pawns- er, friends at her side in case it all hits the fan.

That hammer should exist in the game, with its 35% critical rate. XD; As for the magic... O-O Cora will be unstoopable. >:3 UNSTOOPABLE <3

Great filler, Master Kitone. ^_^

[Dragonfly77]

Hehe...more stuff is being revealed..

Ancient Elvish...sounds extremely familiar... ~.^

[T3h_SyN]

Ancient Elvish...sounds extremely familiar... ~.^

I... I have no idea what you're talking about *hides medallion I picked from your pocket*

[Dragonfly77]

*gasp* I knew I was missing one!

[T3h_SyN]

No... No you weren't. It was in your back pocket. *quickly stuffs it into your back pocket*

[Dragonfly77]

Wha-? *checks back pocket* I call hax.

But write another chapter!!

[captaingammer]

Geez Kit, you just can't keep your hands out of Ath's pants pockets, can you? X3 Really looking forward to what you can come up with next considering she's finally out of there. OwO

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Ten: Coincidence

The sun dipped below the horizon on the last day of Kitone's training with the Gammer sisters. Cora seemed to have a clear grasp of the ancient language while Cons had gotten hand of controlling the Resonance Hammer, the cracks in nearby rocks marked her progress over the days. They had just left for home and she could still hear their footsteps in the distance. She sat with her feet dangling over the edge of the headland watching the stars appear in the sky. She was beginning to enter a meditative state when she felt her whisphone vibrate in her pocket.

"Hello?" She answered, disguising her voice just in case.

"Kito!" The voice on the other end said, "Its been too long since we last spoke."

It didn't take long for Kitone to match the voice with a name, "That it has Ewoyn, what can I do for you on this fine night?" Ewoyn was a friend of Kitone's from her days as a novice Hunter. He was a pretty jovial archer, unless you angered him. He was one of the few friends she made as a Hunter, along with Neo he was one of the few people she could still put a little trust in.

"Ah, well..." he began, "I'm calling to beg you a favor. It's a bit personal and I won't be able to get any help from the fine group I work with."

"I see." Kitone said, pondering the favor in question. It wasn't often Ewoyn asked for her to do something for him, but she did owe him for the help he gave in her escape from Uruga's Prison so she was in no position to decline. "And what, pray tell, do you want me to do for you?"

"Right, right. I have a friend, he deals in 'exotic goods' and he was bringing a piece I had requested a few days back. However he was attacked by something in the forests outside of Uruga, since he escaped pretty much unscathed I can't get a formal investigation into it, and he won't leave his safehouse until he's sure it's gone..."

"And you want me to check this out?" Kitone said, finishing his sentence.

"Exactly. Here's where he said he saw the thing..." he said. All Kitone could do now is draw her map out and find out where she was going.

*~*~*~*

Elsewhere, in a clearing in the woods just outside Uruga a convoy of troops were leading a few shackled prisoners. Suddenly the commanding officer of the troops raised his hand, bringing the marching to a halt. Each prisoner had an escort of five guards, four of which held halberds to their throats as the fifth undid their restraints. A few minutes later the prisoners were free.

"I'm not sure why you five are free, given the charges against you, but the Senator saw it fit to pardon all of you and I'm not one to argue with the Senate. Goodbye 'citizens'..." he said, walking back towards the city of Uruga. The five looked at each other silently. The black haired man, obviously a fighter based on his muscular build and all the scars on his body, eyed the graying man in the robes, who was more concerned with the flora at his feet than the fighter's piercing glares. There were the two other men, both tall and lanky elves, one had a fairly toned bod while the other was covered in tattoos. The odd one out of this group was a girl who looked more at home in a playroom filled with toys than in the presence of such hardened criminals, who frolicked among the flowers to the dismay of the graying man. No one spoke to each other and when the fighter opened his mouth to speak the cold of the blade that appeared at his neck made him shut it.

The attackers came swiftly and silently, each moving with pin-point accuracy. In the blink of an eye they had all of them restrained, unable to move without forcing the knives at their necks to dig deeper into the skin.

"What do we have here? A couple of travelers ripe for the picking 'eh boys?" A female voice said from behind them. The men who were holding the group didn't respond but the muscular elf did.

"Do you know who the hell we are?!" he exclaimed, a thin line of blood trickled from the knife as he spoke.

"As a matter of fact, I do. Who do you think brought you here?" the voice said. Again there was silence, the only thing that broke it was the sound of grass crumpling underfoot. The woman stepped into everyone's view, her green hair hung lightly on the dark black clothes she wore. "I'm putting together a team to assist me on a mission of sorts, I chose you five because you're best suited to my specific needs. All I'll ask is that you agree to help me..."

"Like hell I would. I just got let out of that hell hole and you want me to he-" the muscular elf said, interrupting the woman. He was cut short because his head had fallen to the ground. The people holding him dissipated in a cloud of smoke, causing his body to collapse to the floor.

"As I was saying," the green haired woman said, completely unfazed by what had just unfolded, "If you don't wish to help me... Lets just say I don't handle rejection well. So what do you four think?"

*~*~*~*

The day had just began when Kitone got to the area that Ewoyn had asked her to investigate. All she had seen on her way there was forest and forest and more forest. Nothing out of the ordinary, until she came upon the house. House wasn't the proper word to describe the place, mansion would be more fitting. It was two stories but it was fairly wide, it's wooden walls were painted with a deep blue, with black accents. It appeared to be in a slight state of disrepair, the place was a fixer-upper to say the least. Kitone made her way to the door, hopefully this place would offer her some shelter so she could sleep of the fatigue of her nocturnal journey. She tried the door, but it seemed to be locked. Peering through a nearby window she was surprised to see the inside was well furnished and taken care of. She paused for a minute, wondering if... "It is possible." she thought as she reached for the knocker. A few raps later she heard a voice from inside exclaim 'Coming, Coming...'

The man who opened the door surprised Kitone, he was hunched over using a cane to support himself. His bald head shone in the early morning sunlight, his purple robe dragged behind him complimenting his fuzzy slippers. "Ah, another visitor. And one coming quite early in the morning too. Please come in." Kitone did as she was told and stepped into the foyer. The place was well kept, even though it needed a bit of dusting done. "Would you like a drink, I just put on a kettle of water."

"Ah, yes thank you." Kitone said following the man into the dining room, who motioned for her to sit at the table. "You're very kind to strangers sir, which isn't very common in this day and age."

"Why thank you kind lass," the man said returning with a tea set and placing it on the table in front of her, "it's not unusual for me. People turn up on my doorstep and it would be a sin to be unkind to them all the way out here." He quickly disappeared into the adjoining kitchen to check on the water.

"I see. Well in that case I hope it wouldn't be too much of a problem if I could just rest here for a bit then? I'm very tired from my travels through the night."

"Not at all miss, so long as you don't mind sharing a room. I'm afraid only one of the guest rooms are prepared now and I currently have another person staying in there." the man said, bringing back a teapot with steam rising from it. "She came just yesterday afternoon, she's hunting some beast in the woods around here. I wonder how come she hasn't come down ye-"

"Old man, you down here?" A female voice said, coming from the foyer.

"Aye, I'm in the dining room. We have another guest, she'll be staying in the room with you if that's not too much of a problem."

"That's no problem," the woman said, walking into the room. Her short purple hair hung just above her shoulders. Her archer armor held the insignia of a prestigious hunting guild. Her expression changed when she saw the other guest. "Kit?!"

"Ath?!" Kitone said just as surprised. Athemis took a seat at the table across from Kitone.

"Ah, it appears you two know each other. Good, let me just get some bread and we can have a quick snack before you head out Miss Hunter.

As the man left the room Athemis leaned over the table. "Kit, what the heck are you doing here?" she whispered.

"The same as you are apparently, looking for something in the woods around here." Kitone whispered back.

"Hmph," Athemis said, "Quite a coincidence if you ask me."

"Quite." Kitone said, as the old man came back into the room with a tray laden with bread.

[badfury]

Hmmm i wonder who the Black hair fighter is... *Hint hint*

[Dragonfly77]

Hmm...very very interesting...*want's to read more* o.o

[captaingammer]

Yay, more Athemis. :3 The dynamic duo can once again wreak havoc on the forces of opposing... forces. o_o Though it certainly is worrisome that a group of killers is being rounded up. The suspense behind the final plan of this green haired woman will kill us all far before she does! I think.

Great chapter as always. Have a moofin. =D

[badfury]

Hint: he was from the battleship apoliner!

[T3h_SyN]

Hmmm i wonder who the Black hair fighter is... *Hint hint*

Hint: he was from the battleship apoliner!

Hmm... OH, I know who... he's that guy... the fail one...

J/k

I won't confirm or *opposite of confirm goes here, it's 2am where i am I stopped thinking half an hour ago* any facts, you'll have to wait until the story reaches said point.

[Dragonfly77]

Kit...Gammar scares me...*hides behind Kit*

[badfury]

*Get out keyblade* Don't worry! Nothing bad will happen when i have the KEYBLADE.

[T3h_SyN]

I think there's a reason she hid behind me Fury, just saying.

[allan-armageddon]

A Resonance wep sounds sexy! You're really putting some good stuff in this story Kit!
"Exotic Goods" sounds kinda suspicious o.o..

[badfury]

Hey! Just becasue you use a 3ft key as a weapon doesnt make you unawsome!

[T3h_SyN]

No comment Fury, noo comment.

[badfury]

Oh so when sora use it,he cool but when i use it, it lame?!

[Dragonfly77]

No comment Fury, noo comment.

[badfury]

*Bang your head on a chair and blood coming out everywhere* I hate you!!!

[T3h_SyN]

*grabs fury by the collar* OY! What are ya doin'?! Remember I'm in control here, and unless I'm the person doing it that sort of behavior shan't be tolerated. *grabs Fury by the hair and pulls his head back, looking into his eyes* GOT IT? *lets him go and he falls to the ground*

[badfury]

One of these day i will become a CL!

[Dragonfly77]

And pigs will fly.

[T3h_SyN]

And I'll become a GM.

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Eleven: Does Not Want!

"I don't get it," Athemis said, wiping the mid-morning sweat off her brow, "nothing's out here." She released the trigger mechanism on the last of her traps causing it to snap shut with a clank. She picked up the cage and put it in her hunting sack, a large version of the usual magically enhanced bag most Iysans carried before making her way back to the mansion. It perturbed her to no end that she caught nothing in any of the dozen or so traps she had brought with her. In the distance she could hear the cries of birds and the chirps of insects but nothing larger, which was strange for this type of forest. The forest was thick but it was not overgrown, there was ample space between each tree. This usually lead to a forest populated with large herbivores and the larger predators that fed on them. But there was nothing except...

The rustling beneath Athemis's leather boots which prompted her to move her foot. And there it was, another one. The small clump of what appeared to be grass, but it's dark hue and overly thick leaves made it stand out from the actual grass around it. "Another clump of Une..." Athemis sighed, uprooting the plant which withered as soon as its roots left the soil.

*~*~*~*

"So this is all that you've found out there Ath?" Kitone asked within the confines of their room.

"Yea, and this stuff is growing like wildfire out there. Small clumps, large clumps... I'm surprised we haven't seen any bodies yet."

A nod of agreement was all Kitone could do as she studied the Une. Une or, as it's more commonly known throughout Iysa as, Demon Grass is a plant of legend. Une are fairly rare plants, not because they wither so easily but because of the conditions required to start it's growth. For an Une plant to start growing the soil must be saturated with blood, typically a human's or an elf's. Une are more animal than plant, instead of deriving most of its nutrients from the Sun like most plants it thrives off blood. The plant rustles its leaves when something comes in contact with it and each leaf has a very sharp serrated edge, capable of cutting through soft leather.

"What I want to know is how so much of that stuff could've bloomed out here." Athemis said.

"I'm not sure... Do you think this could be behind the attacks in the area?" Kitone replied.

"Doubt it, unless your guy and my hunters were rolling around naked in the stuff." Athemis said with a slight chuckle. "Maybe the old man would know, let's see if he knows anything."

*~*~*~*

"Old man, you in here?" Athemis said, poking her head into the library. The room was fairly large, its walls covered in bookshelves. Behind a single oak desk sat the old man, polishing his golden pocket watch.

"I do have a name you know..." He replied without even looking up. "How can I help you?" Athemis walked over to the desk and began re-telling the story of the empty woods and the Une while Kitone had a better look around. She looked at the shelves, they were piled high with the classics. Not the classics in her way of describing books, actual classics. A first edition Arkane Grimoire, the training book for starting mages still had some luster about it. She was about to take down a book that caught her eye when she was brought back to Iysa.

"Hey Kit, come here. You gotta hear this." Athemis said, waving her to come over.

"Right, right. As I was saying," the old man started, "Many years ago, well before I was even on this world, there lived two clans in this area. One day the leaders of the two clans came together and planted a rare flower in the back of a sacred cave in the nearby forest. They then said to their clansmen, 'When this blooms, whichever clan can pick the flower shall be made to rule the other.' And for a decade they lived in peace, until the day the flower bloomed. A sweet scent wafted from the cave to the clans and instantly they sprang to arms. For you see both clans wanted to rule the other. And throughout the forest and the cave they fought each other. When the sun set on that fated day neither clan had survived. All the men, women and children had died in the fray. The next dawn the Une started growing, feeding on the many carcasses that were strewn across the land..."

"Well, that answers the Une question." Kitone said, interrupting the man.

The man shot Kitone a glare that shut her up quickly, "It has been said that all the greed and bloodshed on that day angered the guardian deity of the cave and she exacted her revenge by cursing the flower bush that was the root of all this trouble, turning it into a monster. But that's just a story me grandmum used to tell us to keep us from running out into the woods and getting hurt by the Une."

"So, the cave isn't real?" Kitone and Athemis asked in unison, making no effort to hide their intentions.

"Oh no, it's very, very real. It's about half a day's walk from the back of this house. If you leave now you'll probably reach about nightfall, so you may want to take a lamp."

*~*~*~*

The old man couldn't have been more accurate with his timing without telling them in hours and minutes, as soon as the cave came into view the sun began to dip behind the horizon. When they finally got to its maw the sun had just finished disappearing. The cave was an opening into a large rise in the ground, as if someone had made a hill and then started digging downwards in one of the sides.

"Like freaking clockwork..." Athemis said in awe.

"Yea, makes you wish he had said, 'it'll probably be noon', doesn't it?" Kitone asked as she bent to light the lantern they took with them from the kitchen. She handed it to Athemis with, "Here, since you're using the ranged weapons you can hold this. Keep it high and cover me." With that she stepped into the cave.

At first the path sloped gently downwards but after a couple dozen yards of this it became steep and rugged. When that finally broke the two women found themselves in a large cavern strewn with large rocks, outcroppings of glowing crystals that provided a faint glow to the room and...

"Are those corpses?!" Athemis practically shouted out as she pointed at a few. Kitone nodded as she made her way towards the nearest one, an almost skeletal soldier garbed in ancient armor. It gripped its sword in a death grip, its killer obviously the proliferation of arrows in its chest. Kitone stooped to get a better look at the armor and remained in that position as she looked around the room. In the distance she saw another soldier from the same army as the one at her feet, this one however had its spear plunged through the gut of another. His deathblow obviously came from whatever it was that removed half of his face. Kitone didn't even hear the rustling at her feet. "KITONE!" Athemis screamed out.

Kitone jumped up just in time to dodge the spindly hand that grabbed after her ankle. The corpse that lay at her feet was moving. "Great," she said, "Zombies..." She turned to face Athemis who started shaking and was as white as a sheet. Kitone knew that zombies weren't her friends cup of tea. She also knew that Athemis's 'plan A' in these situations was to turn foot and run. "Ath! Focus, remember the rules of fighting a zombie!"

"R-right..." she replied, unable to hide the fear she was feeling. She took a kneeling position and took aim with Thanatos. As soon as the creature was standing upright she had a bead on its head. She pulled the trigger, the bolt flew down the chamber, the exhaust vents sprang open releasing the high pressure gasses that had built up in the bow, the bolt took less than a second to clear the paltry ten or so feet between her and her target. Even though she was scared out of her wits she still hit her target on the first shot. The zombie's head fragmented into dust. However, this seemed to have no adverse effect on the zombie, which now gave up on chasing Kitone and started towards Athemis.

Surprisingly it was Kitone who acted first, shouting "DOES NOT WANT! ZOMBIE IMMUNE TO HEADSHOT!" She turned and began running towards Athemis.

Athemis started running up the path that brought them down shouting, "HOLY FREAKING TEVA! LETS GET THE HECK OUTTA HERE!"

It didn't take them long to get back to ground level and up into the nearest tree that would support their combined weight. Breathing deeply Athemis asked "Kit, What now?"

Kit sat on the limb silently for a bit before scratching her chin a bit and saying, "I think... I think we might have a problem here..."

[captaingammer]

Hulk no like headshot resistant zombies! D< Kitone SMAAAAAASH! *Athemis became tame*

o_O What an obscure reference.

Sometimes, short chapters work better than dragging it out. The establishing information was VERY interesting... The allure of rule and supremacy causing war and death... What's THAT like? >=D

Many, many other things.

How will the dynamic duo of d-words solve THIS conundrum? Stay tunes. Same Kit-time, same Kit-channel!

[Dragonfly77]

Nice Kit. XD Ugh...zombies...*involuntarily shivers* I hate those things...


Hulk no like headshot resistant zombies! D< Kitone SMAAAAAASH! *Athemis became tame*

o_O What an obscure reference.

Wut? Nothing can 'tame' me in the face of a zombie XD

[captaingammer]

Wut? Nothing can 'tame' me in the face of a zombie XD

o-o C'mon, Ath... Where would you hear SMAAAAAASH!!! followed by "_____ became tame!"

Don't make me feel old. D:

Edit: Post 100! I guess I really AM old! :3

[Orchids_Mantis]

*chains Syn to computer desk with unbreakable lock/chain*

I'll let you go when you have written more to the story...one chapter a week is not fair

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Twelve: The Flower in the Cave (Part 1)

Kitone was the first out of the tree, Athemis followed her down soon after. Kitone placed the lantern at her feet and sat in it's warm glow, stroking her chin, seemingly lost in thought. Athemis sat across from her and began to tinker with her crossbow, a nervous habit. Ever since she wandered into Moonlight Tomb as a young girl Atemis has been afraid of the Undead and secretly was hoping for Kitone to provide a bit of support. "Okay," Kitone said, turning to face the cave mouth, "I may have overreacted there."

"B-but Kit, I took its head clean off and it kept coming. In fact it didn't even hesitate to come after me when it lost its head." Athemis said, practically shouting at Kitone.

"Exactly! That just shows we're not dealing with zombies but something else. A zombie is typically defeated when their heads are 'removed' because then they can't locate their prey and even if they do kill something they can't feast on their remains like they usually do." Kitone retorted. "The problem now is what exactly is behind all this. C'mon Ath, we're going back in..."

"We're doing what?! You can't expect me of all people to go back down there after what just happened? You know I don't like zombies and you want to..."

"Ath," Kitone interrupted, "I'm going to be blunt, they aren't zombies. No zombie exists that can survive what you gave it. That means that something else is down there, something we don't know about if you catch my drift. Imagine what that would do to a hunter's influence if they could capture an new creature?"

Ath caught on quickly and was on her feet in a blink of an eye. Scooping up the lantern she said, "Well in that case let's go!"

Kitone smiled and followed Athemis as she made her way into the cave.

*~*~*~*

The closer they came to the main chamber of the cave the less enthusiastic Athemis became until eventually she was a few paces behind Kitone. When they got into the chamber the headless corpse lay near to it's original position except this time it was seated upright, its back on a rock.

"Sly bugger." Kitone said pointing at it. Athemis simply nodded as Kitone began to make her way over to it. When she got close it sprung up and tried to grab her again but this time Kitone was ready. She grabbed the decaying hand and threw a kick into the shoulder which, because of the state of decay of the body, promptly broke free of the rest of the creature. This didn't even cause it to flinch, it followed up by swinging it's sword. A loud gust reverberated in the chamber as Athemis pulled the trigger of her crossbow, the bolt shattering the ancient blade into nonexistence. Kitone drew Aphonia and smiled because if this was a zombie Aphonia should absorb the ancient magics that were animating the corpse. She plunged the sword deep into its gut with no effect, thereby eliminating zombie from the list of whatever this was. She pulled the sharp blade upwards, tearing through bone and rotting flesh, almost tearing the thing in half. The force of the blow caused it to stagger back, the upper half of its torso falling separately from each other.

"That's... disgusting. To say the least." Athemis said watching the things aged innards falling to the floor below. Suddenly a network of what appeared to be tendrils shot from either half, pulling them back together. Kitone and Athemis stared on amazed as the tendrils 'stitched' the wound shut. "Kit, I'm beginning to think that isn't a zombie..." Athemis said, crouching and taking aim, her fear apparently gone.

"You get that feeling too Ath?" Kitone said drawing Pyrae, "I'm not entirely sure which confirmed it more for me, the fact that it didn't die when I stabbed it with Aphonia or the fact that it just pulled itself together... I'm ready whenever you are." A second loud gust tore the remaining arm off the corpse, signaling to Kitone that Athemis was ready. Kitone rushed in and cleaved off the top half of the chest, the wounds glowing amber as the dried flesh began to burn. Another gust and the knee of the left leg was destroyed causing the remaining parts to topple over.

Satisfied the thing was incapacitated Athemis walked over and held the light over the corpse which Kitone had taken the liberty to splay open with Aphonia. Inside they learnt that the tendrils that had pulled the thing back together was in fact a network of vines that grew from two large ones that ran up the inside of the corpse. Further investigation of the detached limbs showed that the vines went down the arms and legs of the the corpse, allowing it full control of it's movement. The lack of vines in the feet and the holes in the ground nearby where they originally found the corpse indicated that the vines came from the ground.

"Well, at least we know what we're up against. Sorta." Athemis said, sitting on the rock that the body was up against when they entered.

"Yea, but what do you think it really is? You're the hunter, have you ever seen anything like this before?" Kitone said, looking across the chamber at the dozens of bodies that littered the room.

"Nope, I've never heard of anything, plant or animal, that would use dead bodies like puppets like that. Do you think it's safe to assume that all the bodies in here are like this?" She said looking at the bodies as well.

"I don't know, but it wouldn't kill us to think of them as such. I think we should head to that statue over there." Kitone said, pointing to a statue of a winged woman pouring water from a jar she carried. It was on the far end of the chamber on a rise in the floor, both of them could see the large flower at its feet. The flower was closed and it's petals were easily ten feet tall and were an almost radiant white.

"You sure about this Kit?" Athemis asked, getting up from her perch.

"Not really, but I'm beginning to think that the story the old man was telling us was a little more than true..."

[Dragonfly77]

Loved reading it, especially knowing that you owe me a plvl~ XD

Hmm..considering they're not really zombies...I guess I can stand it...but I'd still keep a good distance...*takes up natural archer position behind the fighter*

[T3h_SyN]

Loved reading it, especially knowing that you owe me a plvl~ XD

*not amused* I swear, I'm gonna get you killed at least once, like what I did to Fury...

[Dragonfly77]

You do that, and I cut down the amount of minions you get to torture in AG...

[T3h_SyN]

You do that, and I cut down the amount of minions you get to torture in AG...

Nuuuuu! I need to torture minions! That's the source of my superpowars!

[badfury]

*shoot ath* HEADSHOT!

[Dragonfly77]

*turns around and sees the statue behind me crumble to dust* You missed me by a mile.

[roxca]

When are you going to put me in Kit? :x Oh and Fury.... *Smacks head with hammer* Back Off! =w=

[T3h_SyN]

*shoot ath* HEADSHOT!

Note to self: Fury dies a horrible and painful death. Might be by Ath's hands, not sure yet.

*turns around and sees the statue behind me crumble to dust* You missed me by a mile.

He is a fighter...

When are you going to put me in Kit? :x Oh and Fury.... *Smacks head with hammer* Back Off! =w=

Umm... Anyone who isn't in yet goes in after this story arc, it should be done in one or two chapters (at most three).

[Daevor]

Wewt! You've got quite an interesting story going here. I love the suspense. :cool:

The only problem I have with this is that I read that pseudo-zombie part while I was eating :-/

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Thirteen: The Flower In The Cave (Part 2)

"C'mon Ath, we can't afford to be surrounded." Kitone said dodging the thrust of a decrepit spear, cleaving from the shoulder to the side of its neck.

"I know, I know." Athemis replied, firing Thanatos with reckless abandon, destroying zombies everywhere. One managed to sneak up behind her and when it touched her shoulder she let out a shrill cry and spun and smacked its upper body clean off with the butt of her crossbow.

Kitone quickly surveyed their immediate surroundings, they were being overrun fairly quickly. It was as if whatever was controlling the zombies had placed them strategically to make it hard, obscenely so, to get to the altar with the flower on it. Her eyes caught an outcropping of rock that shot out of the ground. One thing they learned quickly was that because the zombies were controlled by vines that rose out of the ground they were incapable of jumping. Kitone ran over to the rock, jumped and stabbed Pyrae into it, holding her up off the ground. "Ath, over here!" she shouted.

Athemis spun around and looked at Kitone hanging from the rock and started over to her, parrying off zombies with her weapon. When she got close enough to the rock she shot out the knee of a nearby zombie. She jumped on its shoulders, using it as a springboard, and grabbed at Kitone's outstretched hand. Kitone grabbed Athemis and swung her to the top of the rock. Once Athemis was securely on top of the rock Kitone began swinging, at the peak of her swing she flipped and Athemis caught her feet, allowing her to pull her sword from the rock. Athemis then swung Kitone as close as she could get her to the top of the rock, it was close enough for Kitone to reach out and grab the edge and pull herself up.

From their perch on top of the rock the watched as the corpses made their way back to the ir initial positions, the vines withdrawing back into the ground. Between her ragged breaths Athemis asked, "How much farther do we have to go to get to the statue?"

Kitone looked over her shoulder, saying amongst her breaths, "About fifty feet, but look at what we'd be dealing with..." Athemis lowered her gaze and sighed disappointedly. The floor around the base of the altar was more or less layered with corpses, making the actual floor barely visible. "I'm beginning to have an idea of what we're up against but I doubt you'll believe it..."

"Kit, we've been fighting zombie puppet's controlled by what appears to be a plant in a cave at least forty feet below ground. What's not to believe?"

"Fine, just let me confirm it. Would you be so kind as to shoot at the flower for me please."

Athemis looked perplexed but took aim anyway. She pulled the trigger on her crossbow and they watched as her arrow flew true. As it neared the giant bud a flurry of vines shot out of the ground, whipping about in a frenzy. The vines decimated the arrow in mid-flight, causing no visible damage to anything. "What the heck is that Kit?!" Athemis asked, startled by it's power.

"That, dearest friend, is our puppeteer..." Kitone said, jumping off the rock with her swords drawn.

*~*~*~*

The small room was silent. The sheer depth and cunning of the plan the group of four had just heard had stunned them completely. The green-haired woman, who had made it quite clear she wasn't going to put up with any failures on their part. The tattooed elf broke the silence, "I don't believe this. This plan, it's... it's..."

"Brilliant." The older man finished. "This plan is fool proof, no one would ever expect anything. It would undermine everything the government has set in place..."

"Providing we don't fail at our respective parts." The black haired fighter said, eyeing the woman, the distrust visible in his eyes.

"Ah, but you have such simple parts. I doubt you'd fail me Fury, you're so good at what you do and that's all I'm asking that you do." she replied smiling at him, "That's all I'm asking from each of you. Now I need you to go prepare for your part, the troops are waiting." Fury muttered something to himself as he got up and walked out of the room. The green haired woman glared silently at the back of his head, her magical talents allowed her to hear what he said. "You two," she said pointing at the girl and the tattooed elf, "Go with him, keep a close eye on him. Have a little fun."

The girl shot up first, exclaiming happily. "As you wish mistr-" the elf began being cut off suddenly as the girl grabbed his arm and sprinted out of the room to catch up with Fury.

"Now, Doctor, lets get down to what I need you to do..."

*~*~*~*

"Almost there!" Athemis shouted over the din of the battle. She was practically emptying shot after shot into the endless stream of zombies that swarmed upon them.

"Yea, I can see the steps! Just keep moving!" Kitone replied, slashing with brutal precision, incapacitating the undead with as few blows as possible. Over the chaotic sounds of battle the two of them noticed a sound growing larger the closer they got to the altar. Initially it was a low rumbling sound but now that they were at the base of the altar it had become a pronounced rustling.

Athemis got to the stairs first, laying down suppressive fire so Kitone could scramble up the stairs beside her. Now that they were high enough off the ground the zombies were unable to challenge them anymore and they began the trek back to their resting places. Eventually the only sound that was left was the rustling noise.

"That sounds eerily familiar..." Athemis said, making her way to the top.

"If I'm right it should." Kitone said.

"It sounds like something I know but on a larger scale..."

"Again, if I'm right, it should."

"What aren't you telling me Kitone..." Athemis asked, the top of the altar coming into view. She finally got a good look at the flower, and the leaves it rested on. They looked like grass, but on a massively larger scale, and their edges were serrated so that it looked almost saw-like. The blossom rose out of the middle of the pile of leaves, dwarfing them underneath it's girth.Athemis could only stare on as she connected the dots in her head.

"Is that an Une?"

[Dragonfly77]

Epic. And the suspense builds...the plot thickens....this is getting good....

One managed to sneak up behind her and when it touched her shoulder she let out a shrill cry and spun and smacked its upper body clean off with the butt of her crossbow.

That is so me XD

Zombie at a distance: *runs like heck*
Zombie nearby: *freaks and start smashing everything I see*

[Orchids_Mantis]

Nice chapter


Oh right, as promised
*hands over chocolates*
Cherries covered in German chocolate and Russian vodka filling. Enjoy.



...should have thought of that earlier, much simpler than trying to tie her up and make her write

[Orchids_Mantis]

What? No new stuff yet? I'm cursed to have nothing to read!

*looks around*
*shuffles*

.....

*looks around*
*fidgets*

.....dang

[Dragonfly77]

*waits with Orchid*

Taking your time huh, Kit?

[T3h_SyN]

Yes. Yes I am...

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Fourteen: The Flower In The Cave (Finale)

"An Une?!" Athemis exclaimed stepping up onto the top floor of the altar.

"Yep, An Alura Une. An une that has feasted on so much blood it began to blossom, Or at least, that's what the legends say." Kitone said watching the tendrils dart about on the floor. She stepped wide of one as it tried to wrap itself around her foot. Athemis watched as the blossom of the plant moved up and down at a steady rate, as if it was breathing.

Turning to Kitone she said, "But Kit, you know I know all the creatures of Iysa, even the legendary ones and I've never heard of this creature." Kitone nodded, she did know just how much Athemis knew. She herself had translated and given Athemis copies of ancient bestiaries, filled with creatures that didn't roam the plains of Iysa anymore.

"That's because it's never been mentioned as an actual creature. I've come across mentions of it in stories. Children's stories. Nowhere near the status of other creatures of lore, most of we both know actually do or did exist." Kitone replied inching closer to the plant, making her way to a corpse just shy of the base of it.

Athemis opened her mouth to speak but was cut off buy the sounds of the plants rustling. The crimson blossom began to open, revealing sapphire blue innards. The inside of the petals glistened moistly in the light of the cavern. Most surprisingly wasn't the change in color of the petals but was what they were hiding, standing in the center of the now-open flower was a woman. She had long hair that was a sparkling blue, just like the petals she was standing upon. She stood there naked, making little attempt to cover her more private regions. Kitone stood up and stepped back, a bit shaken by all this, Athemis turned her head slightly, the redness on her cheeks made her face feel warm.

"So, you two are my new offerings? I'd expected there'd be more of you since you made it this far." the woman in the plant said, her voice sounded as if three different women were talking in perfect sync. The woman looked them over for a few seconds, her eyes lacked irises and were the same blue color as her hair. "Hmm... Neither of you are men. A shame, it's so much easier to seduce my prey. Men are such fickle creatures." Kitone snickered softly at this. The woman leaned back and the petal behind her rose up slightly and became a chair for her. She sat and crossed her legs, placed her hands on them and rested her head in her hands. "Now listen, ladies, right now I'm not in the mood to play. So I'm giving you the chance to leave here alive."

"Not a chance," Athemis said, pulling her crossbow up to shoulder height and taking aim at the woman, "Not after you attacked my guild mates."

"Yea, like she said we can't leave here until we've dealt with you." Kitone said, drawing both her swords.

The woman was most surprised. She stood up, floating slightly above the ground due to the vines that connected her body to the plant, and said, "So be it." With that the entire cavern seemed to shake, throwing both warriors off balance. Suddenly a barrage of vines shot from the behind the plant, directly at the duo.

"Ath! Watch out!" Kitone said as she dove to the ground. Athemis wasn't as lucky. Her foot was caught by one of the vines as she dove and it hoisted her into the air while it coiled down her foot. Athemis yelped in pain as it began to constrict around her leg, Kitone could only watch on from the ground below. Athemis raised her crossbow up and placed it parallel to her foot, bit her lip and pulled the trigger. The shot tore up the vines and barely missed her foot. AS she fell she flipped over and landed softly, much to the Une's dismay.

"The two of you are more skilled than I give you credit for. No matter, I'm not a one trick pony..." she said, a flower forming in her hand. She threw the flower, it's stalk long and sharp like a javelin, at Kitone. The cutting missed her completely, embedding itself into the stone at her feet but it exploded into a frenzy of growing thrashing vines. Vines that latched themselves around Kitone's feet, holding her boot to the floor.

"Grr... Damn!" Kitone said trying to free her foot. The Une laughed, making a rising motion with her hands. Sharp spires of wood began shooting out of the ground in a line, headed directly at Kitone. Kitone pulled harder on the plant, making no leeway, so she quickly slashed at it and successfully cut her boot free just in time to dodge the spike. Meanwhile Athemis had crouched to take aim at the woman's exposed flank while she was busy attacking Kitone. She was muttering to herself in Elvish, an incantation her brother, a mage, had taught her. Thanatos began to glow and an almost melodic hum could be heard. When Athemis pulled the trigger a burst of energy exploded from the tip of the weapon, expelling the arrow at a phenomenal speed. It flew true, headed directly towards the woman's head but was intercepted by a cadre of vines holding a large piece of the floor. The stone shattered on impact and from behind it shot a thick vine, that grabbed Athemis by her waist. It wrapped around her tightly, not crushing her but it wasn't a comfortable grip. The end of the vine hovered in front of Athemis's face and slowly a face began to appear in it. Athemis looked on in fear as the woman's upper body rose out of the vine.

"You should wait your turn little archer." She said, a sinister undertone in her voice. The vine began tightening slowly. "Just looking at you makes me crave your blood..." it began, rubbing her hand on Athemis's cheek. Athemis winced in pain as she felt the nail break the skin, she felt even more creeped out when she felt the woman's tongue on the wound. The woman whispered in her ear, "You're better than I expected, so sweet and smooth... I must have more." It was about to sink its teeth into Athemis's neck when it reeled back and wailed in pain. It spun around and saw that Kitone had plunged Aphonia into the vine.

"Release her." Kitone said angrily, twisting the sword in the wound and getting another wail from the plant-woman.

"NEVER!" It hissed, turning back towards Athemis.

"Fine." Kitone said, gripping Pyrae with both hands. She swung the sword downwards with all the force she could muster, cutting cleanly through the vine. The cavern was filled with the wailing's of the woman, the flower snapped shut and began rustling. Kitone helped Athemis to her feet and made sure she wasn't too hurt.

"You... YOU... LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO MY BEAUTIFUL BODY!" A female voice shrieked into the cavern. The flower reopened and the woman stood there, a smoldering scar glistened on her chest. "I'LL DESTROY YOU!" Her eyes seemed to burn with rage. Suddenly a plethora of vines burst from the ground and started lashing at the two of them. Athemis rolled backwards off the edge of the altar but somehow managed to land on a gigantic vine that protruded out of the wall of the altar. Kitone wasn't as lucky, the vines whipped all about her, slashing into her skin and creating a cage around her. "NOW YOU DIE!" she exclaimed.

"Can't let you do that..." a voice said followed by a loud bang. The woman turned around to catch a glimpse of the arrow Athemis fired as it penetrated her chest. It embedded itself into the petal, having gone completely threw the woman's body. A thick syrup oozed from the wound. She clenched her chest and turned to face Athemis, who had climbed the vine she landed on till she was well above the plant.

"YOU BOTHERSOME FLY!" The woman said, sending dozens of tendrils up at Athemis. With her recent injuries to her leg and chest she was in no condition to jump down from her high perch. She closed her eyes as they got closer, waiting for the imminent pain. Instead she heard a shriek. She parted on eye slowly and saw Kitone crouched, bruised and bloodied, behind the woman, Pyrae deep in the part of the flower that the vines that were holding the woman up came from.

"Hurts doesn't it. Having something stab you in the heart." Kitone said, plunging the sword deeper. The woman fell to her knees, throwing her head back, wailing one final time. Then, slowly at first, she started to wither. From the top of her head down to her toes then into the plant itself, she was dying. Kitone twisted Pyrae in the wound. Just to make sure. She looked over to Athemis and smiled weakly, then she slumped over and fainted.

[T3h_SyN]

Okay... now that that arc is good and done (the conclusion part is the start of the next chapter) I can start putting the new people into the story. If you applied for a part and have yet to see your character please just repost your application (to save me the trouble of looking).

[badfury]

@To everyone http://rlv.zcache.com/dont_hate_me_because_im_beautiful_3_tshirt-p235669855517897971qzlr_400.jpg

[roxca]

@Kit Yay finally! :D

*ignores fury* >.>

[Dragonfly77]

Holy crud that Une creeps me out. *bashes Une's lifeless body*

[Orchids_Mantis]

I'm starting to wish some of these guys were actually in the game...they sound like they'd be fun to fight :D

[roxca]

Holy crud that Une creeps me out. *bashes Une's lifeless body*

I agree with you, Ath. >.>; *Helps bash Une corpse*

I'm starting to wish some of these guys were actually in the game...they sound like they'd be fun to fight :D

You're right. >:3

[Orchids_Mantis]

Okay...how much chocolate do I have to buy for the next chapter?

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Fifteen: The Start Of A New Day

"Alright. I want you to buy at least 3 cases of the stuff, no more than five pieces of copper per unit higher than the market price. If you can get them for two silver a case that would be perfect. Lemme get back to you on the selling price for the Swords, I have to call production and see what the enhancement costs are." The archer said into the phone, going though the many sheets of papers on his desk. He sat behind the mahogany desk, in his tux, his usual work attire ever since he got promoted to the desk job. His green hair hung messily about his face. He just began to dial another number on the phone when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in." He said, hanging the phone up.

A woman with deep red hair that fell in layers about her shoulders walked into the room. She wore a short black and red dress instead of the regular armor of the cleric class, but this was the norm for someone with a high position in a guild like Carm Mercantile. "Allan, there's been an incident in the abyss..." was all she said before taking a seat.

Allan Wolfheart knew something dire had happened for his head of resource management to call him by his name instead of by his nickname, 'Wolfie-chan'. His brow furrowed slightly, "An incident? Roxca what aren't you telling me?"

"One of the harvesting groups in the abyss was attacked, they were in Abyssmal Caves"

"Roxca, you know that place is used as a training ground for up and coming arena fighters," Wolfheart interrupted, passing a hand through the front of his green hair. "That sort of stuff happens from time to time."

"I know Allan but this is different, they're dead." Roxca said, breaking the eye contact between them to look down into her lap. "They were killed in cold blood. A few of them were cut into pieces. All of the group that was in there gathering materials for the Mercantile are dead. The Hunters say that the killings were acts of murder, and the motive wasn't robbery because they left all the money and things they found." The ensuing silence was deafening.

"What..." Allan began, "What are you saying we should do about this then?"

"I don't know, but one things for sure we're going to need to invest in some form of protection. Because we're a mercantile guild a lot of our members aren't really trained in the ways of war like we are" she replied, pointing to the bow and loaded quiver that hung on the wall behind his desk. Another round of silence ensued before Roxca eventually got up and left the room.

Wolfheart sat in silence for a bit longer before he took up the phone and made the call. He swallowed hard as he waited for the call to connect. There was a secret about the guild that few knew about, contrary to what the rest of the guild knew, he wasn't the master of the guild. He was merely a figurehead placed there by the true owner of the guild to manage the day to day workings of it, popping in whenever they needed to see the books.

The ringing by his ears stopped. "Hello Wolfie-chan, what can I do for you?"

*~*~*~*

"C'mon Luke... This isn't funny anymore. You know we shouldn't be in here." The novice mage said, clutching her staff to her chest. She was shaking slightly and looked around constantly. She knew she wasn't supposed to be here, younger members of the Iysan Academy weren't allowed into any of the 'Abysses' without a member of staff being present. It was mostly for their own safety, the people who wandered the abyss were either members of a merchant guild harvesting resources from the native fauna or brawlers in training.

"Jen, you really should relax s'more..." Luke, a young fighter, said, walking valiantly. He swung his sword about with gusto. "I mean," he said turning around to face her, walking backwards, "It's not like we're in any real danger he-" His sentence was cut short as he bumped into something. He spun around to see a fighter standing there, his armor covered in splotches of blood. Jen seized up in fear as Luke began to back away from him slowly, stuttering an apology.

The fighter smiled at the two children his twisted smile and raised his jagged sword. With one swift motion he skewered the boy on his sword, lifting him up off the ground. When Luke fell to the floor writhing in pain, the fighter turned his attention to the mage, who was breathing in short gasps, the tears streaming down her eyes as she watched her best friend on the ground dying slowly as a pool of blood formed around him. The fighter slowly began walking over to the mage when he was slapped across the face by another fighter who walked from behind the girl.

"What in Legel's name are you doing?!" The black haired fighter said, walking over to the boy on the ground, who's breathing had started slowing. "Oh Teva... He's not part of any guild you idiot! He's an academy student. We're supposed to attack only standard guild members. Take the time and look for a guild insignia before you attack?" The fighter walked off leaving the girl, the black haired fighter and the boy bleeding out on the floor. "Hey girl, don't worry about your friend here, I'll have him patched up in a few seconds. I just need for the two of you to promise never to speak of this moment ever again. Or else we'll be meeting again in 'less than friendly situations'. Understood?" Jen could only nod her head slowly as she watched the fighter take out his phone. "Yea, it's Fury. I'm gonna need a cleric over here stat, some idiot attacked a kid. Freaking blood-thirsty killers she has me working with..."

*~*~*~*

Kitone stood up suddenly, a sharp pain jostled her from her sleep. A quick survey of her room revealed that she wasn't in the cave anymore. She was sitting up in a bed, wrapped all over in bandages, most of her armor was hanging over a chair on the other side of the room. Laying on a cot on the other side of the room was Athemis, wearing normal clothes her hunting gear folded neatly at the foot of it. Kitone tried to turn but a series of sharp pains shot up her side and around her back causing her to yelp slightly.

Athemis stirred from her sleep and sat up, wiping the sleep from her eyes. "Kit, you up?" she said, her eyes still foggy from sleep.

"Yea," Kitone said, her voice a bit hoarse, "What happened down there after I blacked out?"

"Well," Athemis began, getting out of the bed and heading over to Kitone, "By time I got down you had lost a lot of blood. I bandaged you up the best I could and brought you back here. You're lucky the old man used to be a healer. He patched you up pretty good."

"I see." Kitone said as she began to peel off her bandages revealing red areas where her wounds were.

"He applied some sort of ointment, there won't be any scars. I know how much you wanted them" Athemis said with mocking sarcasm.

"Ha ha Ath, really funny... How long was I out?"

"About a week. You want me to ge-" Athemis said, cut off as Kitone's whisphone began ringing. Kitone slowly got out of the bed and answered the phone.

"Hey Kitone. I need a favor, can you come to Roumen." was all the woman on the other end said before she hung up the phone.

[roxca]

Woot new chapter, with me in it! =D

Allan Wolfheart knew something dire had happened for his head of resource management to call him by his name instead of by his nickname, 'Wolfie-chan'.

I'm....head of resource..... *squeals* Can't wait the new chapter! :D

P.S. @Orchid I recommend you get Kit lots of chocolate. o.o;

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Sixteen: Production

Kitone walked into Roumen alone, Athemis had returned to her guilds headquarters in Elderine to return to her daily duties as it's master. Hunting season was set to start soon and without her guidance she knew that the guild would probably be a ball of chaos. Kitone could see the tops of the mast of a Iysan Hunter flagship in the harbor from the gates to the forest and she could certainly see the increased numbers of Hunters patrolling the town. She pulled her cloak tighter and walked into town, passing a familiar face sitting at the street-side cafe, but business was calling.

She stepped into an inn off the path and saw that the lobby was bustling with activity. When she finally made her way to the counter she said, "Look's like this place is busy, Tourist season's started?"

"Yep," replied the woman behind the counter, who was busy writing up the guest list, "The warm currents are drifting in, making the seas the perf-" The woman stopped talking when she looked up and recognized who she was talking to. "Kitone..." She whispered so the other guests wouldn't hear her, "What are you doing here? The place is swarming with Hunters. You'll be arrested if they catch you!"

"Don't worry, if there out in force like this they're on a mission. Even if they recognize me whatever they're doing comes first." Kitone replied, with a flair of confidence.

"I see," the cleric replied, leaning up off the counter, "So what can I do for you ma'am?"

"I need a room, don't know how long I'm staying." Kitone replied.

"Okay," The cleric replied, turning and taking a key from the rack behind her, "This is the same room as last time, you remember where it is?"

"Yea and thanks again." Kitone said, taking the key and walking up the stairs beside the counter.

*~*~*~*

Kitone locked and bolted the door behind her, throwing her cloak off onto the bed in the room. She opened the window and leaned on the sill, watching the people making their way about when her whisphone rang.

"Hello?" she said.

"Kitone, glad you could make it. I see that you've gotten here safely."

"Yea, no help from you Claire." Kitone said, watching the mage at her stall in the marketplace, faced away from Kitone. "You could have told me that this place was overrun with Hunters. What exactly is going on here?"

"I can't tell you here, can I come and meet you later tonight?"

"Sure, just ask the girl at the front desk for me."

"What?!"

"It's okay, she's cool. You can trust her."

"If you say so, but I must say that you trust a lot of people for a criminal. Even if the people can actually be trusted."

"Feh," Kitone said, "I'll see you later then."

"I'll be there around nightfall." Claire said, hanging up the phone.

*~*~*~*

Deep in the forests surrounding Roumen a green haired woman and an old man were standing in a small clearing, a slime hopping around them curiously. The woman hung up her whisphone and turned to the man, "Part one is complete, Fury's group has gotten the attention of enough guilds and fighting houses to have them clamoring for protection. It's time for us to move into 'production'. So I hope you don't disappoint doctor."

The old man glared angrily at her and said, "I've told you girl, I am no doctor. I am simply a herbologist, a man who made potions that crafted life." He scooped a handful of dirt up in his hand and produced a bottle of sky blue liquid out of the tresses of his cloak, pouring a few drops into the mud. As the first drops touched the mud it began to glow and pulsate, eventually taking the form of a slime. Slowly the mud turned into the gelatinous form of a lowly Slime, which the man placed on the ground. The slime hopped around as slimes do, chirping happily to itself, blissfully unaware of the significance of it's coming into being.

"Tch, is that all your potions can do? I'm hardly impressed." The green haired woman replied scooping up a handful of dirt herself and suspended it in the air with her magic. The dirt began to glow as multicolored tendrils of pure magical energy began to slither around and through the dirt, molding the shape of the slime. In about the same time it took the potion to make its slime the woman had crafted her own. It joined its comrade on the ground and the two of them began to chirp in unison, obviously delighted to have companionship.

"Heh, you sound like the people who locked me in that prison in the first place." The old man said, producing another vial from his pocket, this one filled with a smokey red liquid. "This my dear, is what became know as the Potion of Legel. For years, my team and I scoured the land and cataloged all the herbs in the land, a feat that has never been attempted before. We mixed potions endlessly from the samples we got, creating lists upon lists of healing and harming mixtures. This one I kept secret from the Senate. This was my personal project, the most superior of potions ever seen. Unlike all the other potions in Iysa, this one works on both man and creature. Care for a demonstration?" The woman simply folded her arms, saying nothing to him. He bent and poured a single drop onto the slime. The woman watched as the slime began to writhe in pain, twisting and turning it's body as if trying to move away from whatever it was that was causing it the pain.

They watched as it began to change color. Then shape.

*~*~*~*

Night had fallen in the city of Roumen was quieting down, a woman wearing a long black dress stepped into the inn, her raven hair glistened in the lamplight. The innkeeper simply pointed her upstairs with a smile and said, "Second right, end of the hall. She's waiting on you." The woman simply nodded and made her way up the stairs to the room. She pushed open the door with little resistance, it was left unlocked. She stepped into the room only to hear the door creak closed. She spun around and struck at the person behind her with an electrically charged palm strike. Her upwards movement was caught just short of contact with the chin of her attacker by an arm that reached over her hand to place a knife to her throat. In the dim glow of the electricity arcing about her fingers, Claire recognized the amber eyes that she stared into.

"Kitone... Must we continuously meet like this?" Claire said, withdrawing her hand.

"I don't know, I rather like meeting for this." Kitone said putting her knife on the end-table by the bed. "So, what did you need me for so drastically?"

"Well you see, it has come to my attention that a few of my more 'public' organizations are being targeted by whichever group is attacking guilds in the Abysses..."

"So why don't you take care of it yourself? You are the head of the strongest illegal guild in Iysa." Kitone replied.

"It's not that simple, the guilds that are being targeted are guilds that are very prominent in the public eye. They garner the funds I need to run my organization. They employ a large part of the Roumen population, and it would be in my organization's best interest if we had an 'outside agent' deal with this problem..."

"... so that the sleeping giant stays sleeping and its regular sized brothers stay unrelated?"

"Exactly," Claire said, "that's where you come in. I want you do to a bit of 'reconnaissance duty' for me and I'll decide what you do from there."

"Fine, I'll head down there first thing tomorrow morning."

"Good good," Clair said, heading out the door, stopping in the doorway, "Oh, Kitone be careful down there. My men say 'The Butterfly Knight' is on patrol in the abyss. Apparently the other guilds that have been attacked have all asked the Senate for help."

"Hmm... This complicates things."

*~*~*~*

The days first sunrise caught a young fighter suiting up for his daily round of questing, he styled his deep blue hair into it's usual style, donned his leather armor and set out the door of his house. He gathered his quest leafs from his guild's academy master, told Grandpa Robin good morning and set out into the woods. He made his way along the path to the Forest of Tides when a strange sound caught his attention. He stepped of the path and into the thicket of trees to find the sound.

On the other side of the trees he found himself in a clearing with a bunch of slimes but one of them stood out from the others. The slime was red, much like a Hero Slime, but it's shape was different. Instead of the typical dew drop shape a slime had this slime had what appeared to be horns on top of it's head. Its eyes were a deep red, with spiral pupils, and it didn't hop about like the other slimes, instead it simply slithered about. The most startling difference was in its chirp. Unlike the other normal slimes in the area which chirped in high-pitched happy sounding cries, that slime cried out in guttural moans. Cries that pierced deep into the soul of the fighter.

Slowly making his way over to the different slime the fighter said to it, "Hey little fella, I've never seen a slime that looked like you before." He held out his hand to it, he figured that since the slimes in this area were fairly peaceful and docile creatures at most it would shy away. As his hand got closer the slime began to make a sound that was eerily similar to a boar's growl. He hesitated, was this slime growling at him he thought. Suddenly the slime lunged forward and bit into his hand but he didn't feel much pain, slimes had teeth made of more or less the same stuff they were made of. He could feel the pressure on the glove on his hand but he didn't quickly pull his hand back, he was stunned that a slime bit instead of pounced like they normally did. Slowly he began to notice the burning sensation on his hand. Peering into the translucent body of the slime he saw the leather glove slowly fading away, until all that was left was his hand. As the glove was dissolving the pain increased until it was like he had shoved his hand into the fires of the kiln at the blacksmith. He tried valiantly to pull his hand out of the mouth of the slime but it held fast. Quickly he drew his blade and swung at it, cleaving the slime enough to free his hand. The slime fell to the ground, damaged but not defeated. The slime hissed as him as he looked at his hand, it was red and seemed to throb in tune with the pain. He looked on the slime with horror in his eyes, no slime he had ever hear of could cause such wounds like that. He raised his sword once more and slashed at it, fatally.

He turned and ran back into town, holding his hand close to his chest, it still burned him. He hoped that Julia's place would be open now. He never saw the insides of the slime spill out onto the ground, scorching the soil, turning the once fertile forest floor into a black patch.

[Orchids_Mantis]

P.S. @Orchid I recommend you get Kit lots of chocolate. o.o;

You know...you could bribe her too. Two people bribing could increase her incentive -or make her go into a chocolate coma...

[roxca]

You know...you could bribe her too. Two people bribing could increase her incentive -or make her go into a chocolate coma...

o.o No! MY CANDY! *hides Halloween candy*

[T3h_SyN]

Chocolate coma's are good :3

and... *sniffs* do I smell candy? *sniffs again* smells like a pretty sizable haul. Like Halloween loot...

[roxca]

No it's mine!!!!!!!!! DX *grabs a handful of candy and stuffs in mouth, then puts the rest in a vault* MY CANDY!!!!! o.o;

[T3h_SyN]

*stares at Roxca emotionlessly* Hand some over... Or I will resort to eating your hand.

[roxca]

Then eat your own hand. *Backs away*

[T3h_SyN]

*lunges and grabs Roxca's hand* I'm giving you... one last chance... there is... chocolate... on your fingers...

[roxca]

*Bites your arm* NO!!!!!!!! *Runs away while in sugar rush mode*

[T3h_SyN]

*ignores the pain, starts chasing you down* You can't run forever! I JUST WANTZ YOUR CANDIES!

[roxca]

Then next time you go trick-or-treating yourself! D:

[T3h_SyN]

Fine... It's not worth it anyway... I have words to write... and sentences to form... paragraphs to create... characters to killchapters to write...

[roxca]

>.> Fine I'll take pity on you. *Gives lollipop*

Fine... It's not worth it anyway... I have words to write... and sentences to form... paragraphs to create... characters to killchapters to write...

o.o *Fears for my character*

[T3h_SyN]

*unwraps the lollipop and sticks it in my mouth* Thanksies, your character will be spared

when Roumen burns...

[roxca]

*unwraps the lollipop and sticks it in my mouth* Thanksies, your character will be spared

when Roumen burns...


Gasp, now me wants chapter now. x.x

[T3h_SyN]

Well... If all goes well, chapter 17 should be up tomorrow.

Because I deliver :3 (unlike some other writers around here... no offense to you guys, you all rock, except those who don't but they know who they are)

[Orchids_Mantis]

If I weren't a C student I would have thought of that 3 chapters ago

[roxca]

If I weren't a C student I would have thought of that 3 chapters ago

o.o; Lol, at least now you know.

[T3h_SyN]

Yep, the scenic town of Roumen is going to get turned on it's head pretty soon. And that's just the first of things to come...

[Orchids_Mantis]

*unwraps the lollipop and sticks it in my mouth* Thanksies, your character will be spared

when Roumen burns...


*puts away matches*

What? I don't have a problem...

<<

>>

*lights paper airplane on fire then throws *

cool

[roxca]

._. No comment.

[T3h_SyN]

Well, I'm off. Atw 17 should be up within 12 hours (depending on if I can get internet at school tomoro). And now I'm off to bed!

[roxca]

Well, I'm off. Atw 17 should be up within 12 hours (depending on if I can get internet at school tomoro). And now I'm off to bed!

*Been about 24 hours later* >.>;

[T3h_SyN]

*Been about 24 hours later* >.>;

Yep... I wonder what's taking me so long?

[roxca]

Yep... I wonder what's taking me so long?

o.o;;;;;;;;;;; -sarcastic- Gee I wonder what?

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Seventeen: Way Of The Hunters

Kitone looked at the pieces of her armor laid out on the bed of the small room in the inn. Most of them had seen better days, deep scratches marred the surface of her breastplate, but there was little she could do than wear them until they provided little defense. She picked up her breastplate and put it on, putting her cloak on over it. She stood in front of the mirror in the room and undid her ponytail. She smiled as her hair fell about her shoulders, it was a simple yet effective disguise. No one would know it was her unless they were to scrutinize her closely. Just to be safe she hung only Pyrae at her side, choosing to let Aphonia hide from view behind her cloak on her back. She stepped out the door of her room and made her way outside.

*~*~*~*

The city of Roumen was it's usual morning hustle and bustle, people were heading out to the markets to buy their supplies for the day, others were hurrying about to try and get to some appointment they had, even more were headed out the gate to go questing. Few noticed the eyes peering out to them from the treeline. The blazing red eyes with their spiral pupils. Many of the adventurers were simply in town on guild duties and were hurrying back to Elderine and Uruga, many of them were the next generation of adventurers heading out to make a name for themselves in the world. Isis was one of them.

Isis was a young mage, her long, straight, purple hair hung down to the middle of her back. She stepped into the woods and sighed as the shade dimmed the bright morning sun. She took a scroll out her pocket and looked at the incantation written on it, a simple fireball spell. When she was sure she could cast it from memory she pocketed the paper and turned to find an appropriate target. She looked about but the only thing she could see was a strange looking slime. "Meh," she thought to herself, "You'll have to do Mr. Slime." A few seconds later she had crafted a fireball and hurled it at the slime, which splattered from the impact. "Yes!" she said, congratulating herself on a perfect cast, when she noticed the slime re-forming itself. "What the heck?!" Isis exclaimed, watching the slime charge at her at full speed.

She wasn't waiting to find out if she had made a bad decision in choosing a target, she turned and took off in the opposite direction but it was too late. The slime had gotten right behind her. It opened its mouth and its head split into three parts, creating a sort of gelatinous claw. It wrapped itself around the mage and held fast.

"What the- OWOWOW" Isis said as the slime began to burn her flesh. Her cries attracted the attention of a nearby cleric.

"What in Teva's name is that?!" He said when he saw the slime wrapping itself around the poor mage, who was crying out in obvious pain. He tried to cast a healing magic on her but it appeared to have no effect.

"Please... help me..." the mage cried out to him, tears streaming down her cheeks.

The cleric ran over and tried to pull her free from the slime, only to have his metal gauntlets sizzle when he held the innards of the slime. He jumped back, looking at the wisps of smoke rising from his hands and then at the mage, who's eyes were beginning to close.

"He... lp... me..." she said feebly, her eyes closing fully. The cleric panicked, she was dying, fast. He drew his mace and swung at the base of the slime, splattering it. His armor sizzled where the slime landed on it. He grabbed the mage up out of the pool of burning goo and hastily poured some healing potion down her throat. She sputtered a bit, which was good, it showed that she was alive. He quickly turned and ran towards town. A set of loud growls behind him made him stop and look back...

*~*~*~*

Town Chief Roumenus stood by the fountain, his usual perch. It allowed him to watch the people of his city go about their lives while keeping him readily accessible to the public, not something easily done behind a desk in a building. A commotion behind him caught his attention and when he turned he saw the blue haired Iysan hunter sprinting down the stairs toward him.

"Roumenus," she said between breaths, "We have a problem. Slimes are attacking the North gate!"

"What?! What could King Slime be thinking attacking Roumen like thi-" he said.

"It's not King Slime, it's something much, much worse." the cleric said, regaining her composure and standing straight, "Some new slimes have appeared, they're vicious lil buggers. We've never seen anything like them. It's like they're made of some sort of acid. Anything touching their insides starts dissolving instantly: Leather, wood, metal, it doesn't matter."

"I see..." Roumenus replied, scratching hs chin.

"My men are at the gate holding the front, we don't know how long we'll be able to hold them off without backup."

"Where is your Captain?"

"He's in the Abyss, along with the main attack force" the cleric said, turning to face the stairs.

"I see, well you return to you're group Vice-Captain Lenore, I'll take care of things here" Roumenus said, picking up a megaphone by his feet. The cleric ran off leaving Roumenus to relay his message to his people.

*~*~*~*

Kitone stepped out of the inn and onto the main street of Roumen, a quick look around revealed no nearby Hunters, which struck her as strange because the street was crawling with them when she peered out her window that morning. Soon enough she had her explanation.

"Citizens of Roumen, please do not panic. We are under attack by an unknown enemy. The north gate is being attacked by what appears to be slimes but they are remarkably dangerous, do not engage with the slimes if you don't have to. Please, all untrained or non-combat guild personnel, seek shelter. The Iysan Hunters are defending the main gate. I repeat, please do not panic..." Roumenus's voice came booming across the city, he was obviously using that megaphone of his.

Kitone paused and turned to face the north gate, she could see the flashes of light of magical attacks. She pondered whether she should go and check it out when she felt her whisphone vibrating in her pocket. "Hello?" she answered.

"Don't even think about it." Claire said before hanging up the phone.

"Fine..." Kitone said, leaving the escalating combat behind her as she left through the path on the southern side of Roumen, that took her along the beaches.

Meanwhile at the gate the cleric had returned to the front lines, her hammer and shield drawn. Her fighters were at the front, holding the wave of creatures off with their shields, a second line of fighters behind them to cut down any creature that got over the front line. Directly behind the fighters were the small group of support clerics, the battle clerics were patrolling the abyss with the Captain, the clerics were constantly watching their comrades in the front lines, rejuvenating those that looked tired with a wave of healing magic. Next up were the artillery, mages and archers lobbing spells and arrows over the defending soldiers, flaying slimes left and right. The cleric ran up to an archer who stood on a crudely erected platform just behind the troops, so he could see over them and issue proper orders. "Status Rennas." she said in an authoritative tone.

"Well Vice-Captain, they haven't let up in their attempts to enter Roumen. We've had to rush two fighters to Healer Julia after they were exposed to more of the slime's acid than they could handle." Rennas said, not taking his eye's off the fray.

"I see, what have we learnt about our new slime friends?" the cleric said said, tightening the straps on her armor.

"Well Vice-Captain Lenore, when they die they go out in a small, contained explosion. It's really only dangerous if you're right on top of it. Only their innards are acidic, non-bladed weapons don't get burnt unless they break the membrane of the slime. Metal seems to hold up the longest to the slime's acid. Poison and Ice effects seem to neutralize the effectiveness of the acid." Rennas replied, bringing his bow to the ready.

"Is that all?" Lenore said, looking straight out into the battlefield.

"One last thing, if you get caught by a slime you won't be able to be healed by a cleric. You'll have to be healed by a trained healer." Rennas said, this time he looked down at his commanding officer.

"Minor problems then, can I rely on you for support from here?" she replied stepping into the throng of troops.

"Yes ma'am!" he replied, drawing his bowstring back, weapon loaded.

Lenore walked up behind her troops and shouted, "Alright men, assume the spearhead formation, we're pushing them back!"

Without turning to see their commander the troops replied, almost in unison, "Yes ma'am!" They acted immediately, the front row of fighters drew their swords and started to push outwards. The middle moved first, followed slowly by the fighter next to them until the line became an arrow out into the wave of slimes. The secondary fighters filled in the gaps between the troops and the gate as they pressed forward. This continued until the clerics had to move in to fill the position left by the secondary fighters moving forward. Lenore watched as the slimes were split into two groups, each being flayed by the swinging swords, axes, maces and hammers.

"Archers, Take primary support positions. Barrage them with poison to stop them from causing too much harm to our front line. Mages, take up secondary positions and freeze any hostiles that are still moving. I don't want to see anyth-" Lenore said taking her position in the center of the formation. She was interrupted by a haunting wail. The remaining slimes had started howling. Lenore paused, she wasn't sure what to do next, nothing in her years of training prepared her for anything like this. The slimes continued their haunting cries, which slowly became melodic. All the troops stopped attacking.

"What the heck is going on?" Lenore asked herself. As if on cue a loud rumbling was heard in the distance. Slowly, it began to get louder, and the ground beneath their feet began to quake. As the rumblings got louder, it became more and more apparent to everyone what they were.

Footsteps.

[T3h_SyN]

And thus you can see why it took so long...

[roxca]

Yes, yes I'm just impatient. o3o By the way, Roumen ain't burning, it's being invaded by mutant slimes! O_O

[Orchids_Mantis]

she even picks on tiny newby mages...sheesh

[roxca]

Well of course, it's Kitone! >.>;

[T3h_SyN]

Yes, yes I'm just impatient. o3o By the way, Roumen ain't burning, it's being invaded by mutant slimes! O_O

It's not burning... yet.

she even picks on tiny newby mages...sheesh

Well of course, it's Kitone! >.>;

Well said Roxca. Actually, I did the scene with all the classes and with various weapons. But the mage's looked like the best when i visualized em all.

[Dragonfly77]

Well said Roxca. Actually, I did the scene with all the classes and with various weapons. But the mage's looked like the best when i visualized em all.

It's just because you despise mages so much, huh?

[Orchids_Mantis]

Actually, I did the scene with all the classes and with various weapons. But the mage's looked like the best when i visualized em all.

Kit's thought process for that scene:

"Cleric shouting in pain....nah. Fighter shouting in pain...uh-uh. Arch -forget it. Hm...a mage shouting in pain as they are being slowly and torturously dissolved in an acid beast's mouth....I think we have a winner!"

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Eighteen: Destruction Incarnate.

The ground shookd with every footstep the creature took, even though it was hidden by the thick foliage surrounding Roumen. The slimes had closed their eyes and their wailing became muffled by the thunderous footsteps. The Hunters stood their ground, but they made no movements to attack anything, at least not until they were given the order. Lenore looked around at the slimes, an inner conflict was brewing, should she attack now or wait for whatever it was that was coming to arrive. She never got to answer that question.

The treeline directly in front of them splintered revealing a large creature, it had the general shape of a dog but it was much, much larger. It stood on four legs like a dog and had a very canine-looking head, with the exception that it lacked any sort of features. It had no eyes, ears or even any mouth to speak of. The creature seemed to be made of the same substance the slimes were made of. The Hunter blockade started to break rank, none of them had ever seen a creature like that before. Even the species of dragon that attacked from time to time were dwarfed by this thing. "Hold fast!" Lenore said to her troops, "We don't know what that 'things' capable of." The creature turned and looked in the general direction of the gate and started to growl. Lines began to appear on the creatures face, two went around the side of the face like a normal mouth but a third went from the tip of the snout over the top of the head. Suddenly the three pieces of the creature's mouth opened, revealing a gaping maw of razor sharp teeth, and it released a blood-curling cry. The slimes on the ground began to shake violently, then one by one they began to explode, coating the area around them in their potent acid. The troops, under Lenore's swift orders fell back to the gate and took up their original defensive positions. The creature stepped towards the gate slowly, paying no attention to the pools of corrosive acid on the floor.

Lenore motioned to a group of Hunters, who ran up to engage the creature in recon combat. The group's fighter stepped up and taunted the creature, which lowered it's head to his height and appeared to be 'eyeing' him inquisitively. The nearby archer took this as an opportunity to launch a surprise attack at the creature and launched an arrow at its face. The creature absorbed the blow, taking little damage but it turned and faced the archer and opened its mouth again. Lenore shouted retreat orders but it was too late, the creature dove down and grabbed the archer in its jaws. Through the transparent body the Hunters looked on in fear as they watched the archer being torn limb from limb inside the creatures mouth. It chewed him without moving its mouth and its acidic inside made for quick digestion. The creature looked down upon the frightened defenders and growled at them, acidic drool dripping from its fangs.

"Rennas! Tag him now!" Lenore shouted to the archer on the platform. Rennas grabbed a special arrow from his pack, this one had a pulsating yellow crystal on the end of the shaft instead of an arrowhead. He pulled the arrow back as far as his bow would let him and let it fly. It hit the beast in its side, penetrating deep into it. The wooden shaft of the arrow dissolved in the creature, leaving the magic crystal in it. Lenore whipped out her whisphone and called the bridge of Elune, a Dragon-class frigate of the Iysan Hunter Naval fleet, and ordered an artillery strike. She pulled out her map and smiled to herself as a yellow dot appeared on it, marking the position of the monster. "The co-ordinates are D1, sub co-ords are 15,41. Friendly's are in target area. Fire as soon as possible!" she barked as the creature began to get uncomfortably close to the gate of Roumen.

On the boat a large cannon swiveled into position, it took three fighters to load the cannonball into it. To either side of it stood six mages, channeling energy into it, two for each element. Four clerics knelt in prayer, imbuing the weapon with as much divine protection as they could muster. Two archers stood at the controls, aiming the weapon with precision only the gods could hope to emulate with a weapon that big. A steady humming was heard as the weapon prepared to fire. An arcane circle appeared about the mouth of the cannon, forming a tunnel that reached down into the chamber. An explosion ripped through the peace of the harbor as the canon discharged. The boat rocked violently with the recoil and the mages fell to their knees drained of majority of their magical energy. The cannonball flew through the air at an astounding speed and sparkled in the light as different types of magical energy swirled around it. The ball flew effortlessly through the trees, coming with a resounding crash into the side of the creature. It howled in pain as the ball shocked, burnt and froze him simultaneously. The fighters cheered as the creature teetered towards the treeline, only Lenore was truly watching it properly. She wasn't cheering, instead she gripped her weapons tighter. It wasn't falling over because it was defeated, but because the blow had knocked it off balance.

The beast stumbled into the trees which bent slightly to support its weight. Acid was pouring profusely from the wound, the cannonball, thanks to the cleric's protection, was slow to be attacked by its effects. The creature howled once more and pounced onto the atop of the gate, giving it a clear view of the ship. The Hunters ran into the town and looked up at it, the archers and mages peppering it with shots and spells hoping to draw its attention, with no avail. It ignored the attacks, most of which bounced harmlessly off its side, and opened it's mouth to the ship. Slowly faint outlines of an arcane circle appeared around it's mouth... then another... and another, the process repeated until there were five different circles around the creature's mouth. The amount of magical energy in the air was stifling, even the fighters with their limited ability to feel the ebb and flow of magic could feel it. The mages needed help to stand, their own energies were affected by this unleashing of power.

For a second there was silence. Nothing but the sounds of their breathing filled the Hunter's ears. It was if the whole world watched silently to see what this dense magic would amount to.

Then it fired.

A magical beam shot from the mouth of the creature, destroying whatever stood between it and the ship. It fired with a sound so loud everyone nearby was thrown to the ground, it was if the heavens themselves had been ripped violently apart. The tops of a few buildings exploded into flames as the beam cut through them like a white hot knife through half-melted butter. It hit the ship in less than a second destroying it completely, pieces of it flew high enough into the air for the group by the gate to see them in the sky. Lenore turned her eyes away form the direction of the harbor, she could almost feel as their lives disappeared from the world. Satisfied with the vengeance it had wrought the creature leapt down from the top of the archway and turned its attention to the pests that were troubling him.

A nearby cleric scrambled to his feet, trying to run. The monster growled what seemed to be a laugh as it swatted the cleric into a building down the road, killing him instantly. The creature pounced over the troop cutting off their retreat, squashing a few of them underfoot as it landed. It opened its mouth, a single arcane circle formed around it, magical flames becoming visible. The troops turned foot as fast as they could but the monster was faster, a smaller beam shot out into the road, burning a path up the street. Fighters, Clerics, Archer and Mages succumbed to the blast, being incinerated to the bone almost immediately. What had originally been a group of forty troops was now reduced to three, excluding Lenore and Rennas.

"Vice-Captain, what are your orders?" A fighter asked as he held his right shoulder, the arm was covered in burns he sustained form barely evading the beam.

Lenore looked on at the monster, which had turned its attention to razing nearby buildings, and replied with great sadness, "Gather as many people as you can and head for Elderine. We... We will tell them..." Tears began to well in her eyes.

Rennas stepped up and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We will tell them Roumen has fallen..."

[Dragonfly77]

WTH?!?!? O_O

Seriously. >.o

[roxca]

Omg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! O_O

[Orchids_Mantis]

Seriously...Kit needs to tell OOS her ideas for enemies...these things are cool!

[roxca]

Seriously...Kit needs to tell OOS her ideas for enemies...these things are cool!

You're right! Hey Kitone! Enter the Crystal Castle Secret Boss MVP, you'd totally win! X3

[T3h_SyN]

You're right! Hey Kitone! Enter the Crystal Castle Secret Boss MVP, you'd totally win! X3

Hmm... I might just do that... Maybe I'll finally win one >_>

[Orchids_Mantis]

Rereading this chapter I have come to the conclusion that you killed the archer in that one scene just so we would stop accusing you of hating mages so much...

[T3h_SyN]

Rereading this chapter I have come to the conclusion that you killed the archer in that one scene just so we would stop accusing you of hating mages so much...

Yep. I won't lie, originally it was a mage and then i was reading it again to check for errors i realized that I've been killing mostly mages... I apologize to any mages I may or may not have inadvertently insulted through my actions. Except Conjy, this was aimed at you :3

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Nineteen: Clarity

Kitone stood at the entrance of the abyss, pondering how exactly she was going to go about finding the people who were troubling Claire's 'investments'. She looked at the guild insignia Claire had given her, it read Carm Mercantile. She stick it onto her cloak, right up by the shoulder so it'd be easy to spot. Kit stuck out her finger and said in Claire's voice, "Just stick it on and wander around, they'll find you. No need to attract attention... Bah, there's no fun to be had in that."

"There's also no way to attract the attention of the Hunter's if you do it my way..." Claire said walking up the path behind her, her hair no longer in its regular black shoulder length cut but was instead short and lime green.

"C-Claire?!" Kitone said giving the mage a once over. Besides the change of hairstyle she was wearing armor, not full plate mail but pieces in important areas, much like Kitone herself wore. Unlike Kitone who wore metal gauntlets, greaves and breastplate Claire only wore metal guards on her upper arm and lower legs, the rest was a pretty sturdy leather armor.

"Yea, it's me. Did you really think I was going to let you have all the fun down here, running around in disguise, beating on punks who step out of line?" Claire said, checking her guards to make sure they were fastened properly. "It's bad enough I can't do anything to help those idiots save Roumen..."

"Hmm? What's going on in Roumen?" Kitone asked, unaware of the carnage.

"You saw the slimes right, the ones that the Hunter's stopped at the gate?" Claire said with Kitone nodding in unison, "Well, apparently they were just a precursor of something much more destructive. It took out a Hunter frigate in one blow. It's astounding..."

"So why aren't we there defending the town?" Kitone said turning back to Roumen, only to be grabbed by Claire.

Claire shook her head, "It's not that simple Kitone. I can't be seen in combat, and if I mobilized my troops that would put my organization in danger from the other shadow houses in Iysa who've been waiting all these years for me to falter. We will have to trust in them for now..."

*~*~*~*

"V-vice-captain... You can't be serious?! We can't just abandon the town like that!" The fighter said, rage and pain in his voice.

"Hey..." Rennas said raising a hand, "Watch your tone when speaking to a superior officer."

"With all due respect sir," the fighter said, stressing the sir, "I personally think this is a bad plan. Think about how it will make the name of the Isyan Hunters look?"

"That is true, but at the same time, we weren't sent here to fight a creature of this caliber. We were just a small squadron sent in to investigate the incidents in the Abyss." Rennas said, looking the fighter square in the eye.

"But... There has to be a way! Can't we call the Captain to return back? Or even HQ to send more troops?"

Rennas opened his mouth to answer but Lenore stepped up and began speaking, "Even if we were to call both of them it would still take too much time for either of them to reach." The fighter refused to accept reasoning and continued debating his point with Rennas as Lenore ran over to what left of the fleet to see who she could help.

From atop one of the towers by the gate stood five people, four muscular men decked in ninja garb and a lone woman, her emerald green hair tied into a ponytail and her face covered in a mask. She drew a rapier from her waist and pointed straight at the monster, "Lets go men, it's time to make friends..."

*~*~*~*

Kitone and Claire stood in the main chamber of the Abyssmal Caves, watching as members of various mercantile guilds gathering resources with little or no regard to their presence. They watched as groups of people fought each other, training for the arena battles. A group of people ran down the hall, fear apparent in their eyes, and scrambled past the two of them. "Claire..." Kitone said looking at the tunnel the group ran from.

"Yea, those were members of Carm. Let's go." Claire said running towards the tunnel.

They rounded the tunnel to see a group of thugs surrounding a cleric that tripped and fell when they were making the escape. The one nearest to her had an archers build, his toned bod accented with his elven ears. He knelt above her holding a blade to he neck and was whispering something to the cleric. Closer inspection of the blade revealed it to be a dagger used by the Mara Pirates. "Those clever buggers," Claire said to Kitone as they closed in on the group who were unaware of their entry, "If they have to resort to force the weapons will lead the authorities to Mara instead."

"Yea, it's a common strategy," Kitone said, her small knife that she lifted from a Pirate herself felt like it was going to burn a hole in her greaves, "but these guys don't appear to be the homicidal types, look at the two fighters behind the archer." Sure enough even behind their menacing looks they were shaking slightly as they watched their comrade on the cleric. "Those two look like they've been talked into this, they're probably robbing the weaker members of mercantile guilds when they're leaving the Abyss with their loot and selling it in town."

"You're probably right... Let's teach them a lesson and move on to bigger fish." Claire said walking up to the trio. "Oy! What are you doing to that girl?"

The two swordsmen jumped and faced the two women, the archer simply looked over his shoulder. He looked at the two guild crests on the women's chest and laughed to himself, "It's about time this foolish guild got some backbone..." He got off the cleric who quickly got up and ran to the exit and turned to face the two women, folding his arms he said, "Well, what are you two waiting for, eliminate them."

The fighters rushed Kitone and Claire, Kitone drew Pyrae and mockingly dodged her opponent's attacks, laughing all the time. "You first partner." said to the mage who had taken a fighting stance and parried her opponent's attack off the metal gaurd on her arm. She quickly slid in before he could retract his blade and hit him twice on his breastplate with her palm. Typically this wouldn't do any harm to an armored foe but Claire's fighting style combined the grace and dexterity of elven martial arts with the explosive and powerful magics in which she was taught. On the inside of the fighter's armor small arcane circles appeared and the resulting magical explosion caused more than a slight pinch. The fighter slid back at the impact, clutching at his side. Claire smiled and motioned for him to attack again, he looked back towards his leader who motioned for him to attack again. He rushed in and this time he stabbed at her instead of slashing. Claire spiraled around the sword, just dodging the sharp blade, and ended the spin by slamming the back of her wrist into the back of his head. As he teetered off balance she planted her forward foot and span in the other direction connecting with his gut at the folds of his armor. He fell forward gasping, her kick was swift and powerful for a woman with such a small body. He slowly stood up, and looked into her eyes. While he was down she had closed the gap between them. She chopped the side of his neck and his body went rigid as the electricity she created around her hand shot through his nervous system. She took a step back and drew a single deep breath and brought her hands together as if in prayer.

Then the flames appeared on her fingertips.

She pierced into his armor with the fiery magic about her fingers and even in his paralyzed state the fighter grimaced as the flames burnt his flesh. Eventually a pattern could be noticed about the attacks, the points formed a circle. Then slowly another appeared within that one. Once she was finished with the circles she drew both her hands back behind her, the flames that danced about her fingertips turned into clouds of frost. She struck dead-center of the circles and instantly they were ablaze in a luminous glow. She had created a two-tiered arcane circle directly on his chest. Suddenly the glow became as bright as the sun as a loud explosion echoed through the Abyss, a concussive force equivalent to being hit by a dozen battle-clerics hammers exploded into his chest, contained by his armor. He fell to the floor, alive but defeated. When Kitone saw that Claire had finally won over her opponent she stopped dodging. The lone fighter took this as an opportunity to strike, raising his two-handed sword high over his head.

"Too slow!" Kitone said as she punched him square between the eyes, breaking his nose and knocking him out. The duo turned to the archer who had unfolded his arms and had lost all his prior confidence. "So partner," Kitone said to Clair, not taking her eyes off the elf, "What shall we do with this one? You wanna get him?"

"Sure, gimme a sec to catch my breath..." Claire said as she started channeling energy. The archer didn't wait to find out what the two women had in mind for him and turned to run. That was when the flurry of knives landed about his feet. He looked at the blades and realized they were shards of ice. Turning he saw Claire, her hands each holding a fan of ice knives. "Now mister archer, if you will, hand over everything you got today."

[badfury]

I want more furyess!

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Twenty: Crossroads

In a small office at the Iysan Academy of Magic, the 'further education' for magic after completing basic wizardry training in the general Academy in Elderine, a lone mage sat at his desk among unfurled scrolls and open spell books. He held a hand to his furrowed brow as he sat with eyes shut, seemingly meditating. His whisphone on the far end of the table stared vibrating silently, without opening his eyes he held out an outstretched hand and it flew into his grasp. "Hello?" he said into the receiver.

"Hey lil bro," a female voice on the other end said.

"Hey Ath," the mage said, sitting back into his chair, "What's up? You don't usually call me out of the blue like this."

"Yea, I know, I was just calling to find out if you have any free time to spend with your sister, I'm on a hunt in the woods around Uruga so I decided that I'd pop in and pay you a little visit, Conjy." Athemis said.

"Ath, you know a person in my position works when they want to. Of course I'll be able to meet with you." Conjurator said. He wasn't joking about it either, Conjurator was a mage under direct employment of the Senate to train the Iysan Hunter's top mage division, known as "Hunter Magicka". He was also a tutor at the Iysan Academy of Magic, a private one, meaning he held no formal classes, only when it was a good time for his students to meet.

"Wonderful, I'll be in town tomorrow." Athemis said, her tone became more solemn, "Hey Conjy, you feeling alright? You don't sound too good..."

"Yea, I'm fine Ath." Conjurator said.

"No, your not. I've know my lil brother and I know when something is bothering him. What's wrong?"

With a sigh Conjurator began, "Well there's been a couple happenings that've been bothering me. I have a feeling something horrible is going to happen soon... And then there was the vision I had..." It wasn't much of a secret to his friends, family and students but Conjurator had magical abilities outside of the realm of what could be taught. He had a handful of psychic abilities at his disposal, the ability to move things with his mind, the ability to read minds, and on rare occasion, he had visions of the future.

"What? What happened in the vision?" Athemis said, Conjurator could hear her stop walking though the brush to give him all her attention.

"I saw her, beaten and bruised again. She was tortured again.."

"Who was tortured again Conjy?" Athemis asked in shock.

"Kitone..."

*~*~*~*

"So are you telling me that you can stop this thing?" Lenore said to the green-haired woman who had leapt down from the rooftops, completely stopping the argument between her and her comrades.

"Yes, we should be able to stop the beast," the woman said looking over he shoulder at the creature that was digging into the side of a house with its snout, trying to get at the food in the kitchen pantry, "providing we get permission to try from Iysa's finest."

Without hesitation Lenore replied, "Do what you want, but I won't be held responsible for you if you fail."

"Don't worry," the woman said breaking into a run down the stairs by the gate, "we won't."

The quintet ran towards the monster, the four men breaking off from the woman, who kept running straight at the monster, and ran up the side of the buildings onto the rooftops. Soon they had the beast surrounded on four sides with the woman right in front of it. Without a word the woman looked around once to make sure her troops were in position and then back at the creature, who was blissfully unaware of the situation he was in. The green-haired woman threw a ball of dark blue, almost black, flames at it. The ball exploded on contact, doing little damage to the monster but it sufficed at getting its attention. The creature turned and snarled at the woman, lowering it's head right to her level and opening it's gaping maw at her. The woman stood unflinching, her only movements were to raise her hand and snap her fingers.

Like a well trained militia force the men jumped from hiding and threw a golden rope over the back of the creature, a magical sealing spell, which embedded itself into the ground at the other side. When they landed they pulled the lines hard, and somehow managed to bring the creature to its knees. The creature thrashed and pulled at its bindings to no avail, the men held it firm. The woman walked up to it and stroked its snout, saying, "Such a majestic thing. I'll have to commend the good doctor on his creation later. Thank you noble beast, you have served your purpose, however brief it was." With that she took a step back and held her arm out straight, palm outstretched. A five teir magic circle appeared around her hand and with a dazzling white flash and deafening explosion the creature was no more.

*~*~*~*

Deep in the Abyss Kitone and Claire were sitting on the ground catching their breath, around them lay twenty men all of them thoroughly beaten and knocked out. "It's a shame." Kitone said between breaths.

"What is?" Claire said, equally as tired.

"That after all of this you're no closer to finding out why they've been attacking, And from the look of it they definitely aren't robbers. The didn't even make an attempt to steal anything, they went straight for the kill."

"Yea, it's a real pity none of them had anything to say besides 'Die!' and 'We'll kill ya!'. Anyway, I suggest we get outta here before anyone comes snooping." Claire said getting up.

"Quite right, let's go before we come upon any Hunters." Kitone said pulling herself to her feet. "After you Madam Shadow." The duo began making their way to the more populated side of the Abyss when Kitone noticed something out of the side of her eye. "Hey Claire, you go on ahead. There's something I wanna check out by myself."

The mage eyed Kitone suspiciously for a few seconds before shrugging her shoulders and saying, "Whatever, I have things to do in Roumen anyway." Kitone watched as the mage made her way to the mouth of the cave before heading down the small side tunnel, tearing off the guild crest and pocketing it. Waiting at the end of the tunnel was a fighter, his short cropped hair was a light faded purple and he stood staring at her as if he expected her to follow her down the path.

"Tian Long... What do you want?" Kitone said, a bit gruffly.

"I'd like your help." He said, leaning back against the tunnel wall.

"Considering my past relationship with your family what makes you think I would?" Kitone said.

"Because I know what I'm after is something you'd be interested in as well." Tian said with a smirk.

"And that is?"

"The Book of Karas." Tian replied.

Kitone paused for a bit before speaking, "What about it?"

"I know where it is, and I need it..." Tian said with a surreal calmness.

"If you know where it is, why call me? Why don't you get it yourself then?" Kitone said, a hint of anger evident in her voice.

"Because I believe you are one of the few people that can get it. I’ll tell you where it is, but I need you to bring me back thirty of its pages. I don’t care about the rest, you can read them, keep them, destroy them, whatever you like; but I need those thirty pages." He said with the same calmness. It unnerved her slightly because unbeknownst to him she knew the cipher to the book.

"Which ones do you need?" Kitone said, crossing her arms defensively.

Tian replied, "They are toward the center and back of the book, scattered a bit; but each one of them possesses a specific watermark in the top outside corner that looks like a snake when held up to the light. So... are you interested?"

"Fine, where is it then?" Tian's silence spoke volumes to Kitone. Without saying a single word he told her the one place in all of Iysa she didn't want to hear. "You're kidding me..."

Tian shook his head and said, "Not at all, it's why I chose you specifically. I have faith in your abilities..."

After a brief silence Kitone turned and started towards the exit of the cave saying, "I have no idea what's so important about this damn book but I swear you'll owe me for this..."

[Dragonfly77]

Conjy is in it!! I seriously wish I could move things with my mind...

And what is this place with the Book of Karas...? Is it connected to Con's visions? Questions, questions...

[Orchids_Mantis]

that was quite interesting, Kit..though I have to say, the beast's death felt a bit anticlimactic (though that usually means something better coming)




side-thought: why is stuff always coming out when my internet is down?

[T3h_SyN]

that was quite interesting, Kit..though I have to say, the beast's death felt a bit anticlimactic (though that usually means something better coming)

side-thought: why is stuff always coming out when my internet is down?

1. There's always something better.
2. Because that's the way the internet works...

[roxca]

Ugh, more suspense and questions. Nice job Ktione. >.<

[T3h_SyN]

Extra Content: Weapons 1

Kitone's Weapons:

Pyrae: This one-handed katana is actually one of the two surviving swords from the set of blades known as the 'Goddess Emotion' set. Each blade was supposed to represent an emotion, ancient texts say there were seven in all. Pyrae is known as 'The Sword of Undying Anger', a sword that cuts not with a blade but with the raw flames of hatred. The edge of Pyrae is magically enchanted to burn with a heat that can cut through anything, but it only does it if the wielder strikes with intent to harm whatever they are attacking. This means if the user of the sword doesn't want to harm their opponent Pyrae is simply a dull blade. Strangely if any attempt is made to sharpen the edge of the sword it causes the magic to activate and it cuts through whatever is sharpening it. This is attributed to the hidden intent of sharpening the sword, which typically is to prepare it for battle. Pyrae is Kitone's current main weapon.

Aphonia: The name Aphonia comes from the sickness of similar name, a sickness which causes an inability to speak, and is fitting for a sword that can stop magical abilities in their track. Not even Kitone is sure which set of spells and seals allows Aphonia to repel magic so easily, she's not even sure how it does it. It's unclear if it dissipates magic or if it absorbs it but it is clear that if any magical energy comes in contact with any part of the blade it ceases to exist. Contrary to the story Kitone gave about Aphonia's beginnings she actually found the sword whole but it broke when a novice researcher was handling it in the Library and it's ability prevented it from being reforged. Kitone has noted that Aphonia is incapable of draining the energy of the 'Goddess Emotion' weapons, it does however nullify their abilities so long as the blades contact each other. Aphonia, being the shorter blade, is used in her off-hand.

Athemis's Weapons:

Thanatos: As a young elven girl Athemis was trained in the ways of the hunter, she learnt her tracking and archery well. She excelled at all aspects of hunting but one of her lesser known skills was her bow making abilities. As a rookie she was taught the basics of making a bow or a crossbow, she took it to heart making weapons of the finest quality. Most of her weapons were made for herself and close friends, Kitone herself has a fine bow she made in her Roumen storage box. Thanatos was her crowning achievement, a crossbow whose power is on par with nothing crafted before. She had a spark of inspiration one night while preparing for a hunt and took three days to craft the parts for it. She made everything herself, from scratch. The innards of Thanatos are so complex and convoluted that only Athemis herself can maintain it. Most crossbows take a three inch draw and convert it into a foot or two of actual draw force, Thanatos takes the same draw and translate it into 12.13 miles of draw force. Safety mechanisms that she added after weeks of testing and tweaking reduce the recoil of the shot to not much more than a traditional crossbow, at the loss of it's covert ability. After the first shot, if anything is left it knows where you are.

Nyx: Athemis won this pistol-sized crossbow off a freelance hunter who was passing through Roumen, she fooled him into believing she was a rookie shot and defeated him in an archery contest. Athemis carries it at her waist when she goes hunting, always loaded and ready to fire. It's small size only allows it three shots before it has to be reloaded. To compensate for this Athemis loaded it with bolts covered in the most potent poison mixture she could manufacture. The poison mixture is so potent it eats through the thickest of leather, it could easily kill a rampaging creature that got too close for comfort.

Cons's Weapon:

Resonance Hammer: The combination of crystals in a resonance hammer isn't an unknown thing, it was used within the historic time frame of Senate rule as a construction tool, the use of said crystals in weapons of war is a different matter however. Naturally Elrunium and Xirite are small crystals, ir takes two or three to fill the palm of a normal sized hand. The Ancient peoples had a method of smelting the crystals together that was last in the transfer of power when the Senate came into play, allowing large, shaped gems of either ore to be made. Resonance Hammers are very effective blunt weapons, dealing the minimum amount of external injuries but their destructive prowess comes from the life threatening internal injuries they cause, as such they're very effective against heavily armored foes. It is also important to note that both gems are just as hard as diamond.

[roxca]

Con's hammer looks nice~ @.@

[Dragonfly77]

I wonder how much power Thanatos would be at +10...

x3

[T3h_SyN]

I think it would be so overpowered it'd be nerfed in a future patch >_>

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Twenty-One: Future Sight

The fighter scrambled around the corners of the Abyss, blood dripping steadily off his armor. He had fought valiantly to buy some time so his guild-mates and, more importantly, the woman he loved could escape from the clutches of these killers. He managed to slay the three men who attacked them with little injury to himself, he was a skilled arena fighter in his spare time, he thought he was in the clear.

That is until he came.

There was obviously something different about him. Unlike the goons he had taken down before, who were overly thick and muscular, he was thin yet toned. But the thing about the man that truly made him worried was the aura he gave off, it stank of hatred and evil. There was no escaping the fact that he was there to kill him. The match between them was over before it began, the man decimated him completely. Bloody and beaten the fighter turned and ran towards the exit, trampling his pride underfoot.

"Don't run." The man said calmly, barely audible to the fighter as his heartbeat throbbed in his head. He knew if he stopped he would be killed, so he couldn't stop. He had to escape, even if just to see her one last time before his injuries did him in. He did tell her it would be okay. "Fine. Don't stop. Just. Keep. RUNNING!" the man said, with a loud grunt. Suddenly there was a sharp pain that tore through the fighter's chest, it lasted only an instant. It was as if all his pain was gone, all the cuts and bruises he got protecting his friends stopped hurting. He noticed it became harder to take each step closer, harder to draw each new breath. Time seemed to slow to him as he came to a halt and looked down. Sticking out from his chest was the top foot of the man's blade. As he looked down at it all he could feel was the warmth of his blood as it flowed on his skin, but even that feeling was fleeting.

"Is this... Is this really it..." he said as he fell to his knees, tears beginning to stream down his face. The man walked up behind him slowly, his footsteps echoing in the now silent cavern. With one push of his wrist he pushed the curved blade to it's hilt through the man, pulling it back out quickly, leaving the man slumped backwards.

"Do not worry," the man said, flicking the blood off his scythe, "The will know you died in valor, at the hand of a great swordsman."

"Come on Fury," said the young girl who walked up behind him, blood splatter on her dress and dragging a very sizable and very bloody axe behind her, "We should get back to the base before 'they' show up."

*~*~*~*

The courtyard of the Iysan Academy of Magic was lay behind the main buildings of the academy and it was where Conjurator held his private classes. The small walled-in garden was lush with green plants, stumps scattered throughout the garden for makeshift seats. At the far end of the garden was a wall where no plants grew, the scorched targets just in front of it explained why. "No no no... You need to focus more on the movements of the incantation and less on the words of the spell in order to cast them without giving away what you're casting to the enemy. Like this." With that Conjurator extended his hand and drew a circle in the air, striking the center of it with his palm, causing a sizable fireball to shoot at the target. It hit the target dead center, the magical shield on the scarecrow stopped it from bursting into flames.

"Wow!" the young mage exclaimed, "but why don't you say the incantation? Isn't it how the spell works?"

"Nope, the incantation is just a way of-" Conjurator began.

"-channeling the flow of magic within your body, if you recite it mentally it has the same effect. It's the motions that can't be skipped." A voice said from the archway to the class. Everyone turned to look at the archer who stood in the light of the setting sun through the archway.

"Wha? How did you know that? You're just an archer." Tristana said in mock anger.

"Because," Conjurator said as the archer stepped out of the light and into the courtyard, "that archer happens to be my older sister. Hey Ath."

"Hey bro, I'm not interrupting class am I?" she said while looking around at the mages, most of which had returned their eyes to the scrolls in their laps.

"Not at all, we were just wrapping up." he replied turning to his class, "Okay guys, just practice the spells we went over today and we'll meet again in two days." The mages streamed out slowly, saying their goodbye's to their tutor and his sister, leaving them alone in the courtyard. Conjurator wrapped his arms around his sister, "Ath, it's so good to see you alive and well."

"Jeez Conjy," she replied, embracing him in her own hug, "you make it sound like I'm a fail archer..."

"But you are." he replied playfully, getting a punch to his shoulder in return. Athemis took a seat on a nearby stump while Conjy sat on the grass in front of her.

"So bro," Athemis said, her tone becoming more serious, "why don't you tell me about that vision..."

*~*~*~*

A few days had passed since the monster's attack on Roumen and things were returning to normal, the usual sounds of people chattering was replaced with hammering and barked orders from carpenters to their apprentices. The Iysan Hunters had stepped up their presence in the port town, two more frigates of troops arrived the next day to maintain order and defend in case another monster appeared. Kitone sat in her room, pondering the next step to take. Claire hadn't called her since the day they went into the abyss together, she had changed her hair back to the raven locks as well, and she needed to get the book for Tian. She shuddered at the place she'd have to go.

Down the road at the headquarter for Carm Mercantile a special meeting was going on in the main meeting room, Allan and Roxca sat behind a long wooden desk along with other high ranking members of the guild. In front of them stood the green-haired woman, the 'Savior of Roumen', they were seeking her aid.

"Well," Allan began, "I doubt that there is no member of this guild that doubt's your house's ability to fight. At the same time you yourself single-handedly showed this town that you can be trusted to take on even the worst problem, so we're willing to overlook your guilds umm... 'short' lifespan."

The green haired woman chuckled at this fact, "Thank you for that vow of trust, even though my guild is only a few weeks old I can assure you that we only provide the highest quality for our services."

"As you have shown." Allan continued, "Now, as you are also probably aware of, there is a slight problem for guilds like mine in the Abyss. As a mercantile guild we lack a sizable group of people trained to fight, and in recent times that has proven most disadvantageous."

"Yes, I've heard of the eight members you've had killed recently. But shouldn't the safety and protection of the innocent be left to the Iysan Hunters?" the woman asked.

"They did say that, but we'd like to have another form of protection just in case." Roxca said before Allan could respond.

"Well, in that case I'd be honored to protect such a fine guild," the woman said taking out a sealed envelope and throwing it onto the table in front of Allan, "Inside are my fees."

Allan opened the letter and scanned the pages within before speaking, "Well, I'll just have to run this by our accounts department and I'll get back to you Miss..."

"Eluna, Sylvia Eluna." the woman replied.

"Well Miss Eluna, I'll get back to you as soon as a decision is made." Allan said.

"In that case, I bid you all adieu." The woman said before leaving the room.

Roxca leaned over to Allan, "Wolfie-chan..."

"Yea, I noticed" he whispered back, "She knew how many people we've lost even though only you and I know the true amount..."

*~*~*~*

"...And that's what happened." Conjurator said, sadness evident in his voice.

"By Teva..." Athemis said in surprise.

"Wha-what?" Conjurator asked.

"Conjy, haven't you heard any news from Roumen recently?!" Athemis asked.

"No, why? What happened?" he replied.

"It was attacked by a large monster, from what I heard it did a pretty god job at messing the place up." Athemis said.

"T-that means..." Conjurator said, unable to finish his sentence.

"Your vision is happening now..."

[Dragonfly77]

Holy snapafrillious....

Was listening to the Gladiator soundtrack...as I said 'Vision is happening now,' it hit an epic chorus...

It's a sign...

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Twenty-Two: Feelings

"So... Let me get this straight, you two think that the woman who saved Roumen knows more about what's going on in the Abyss than she's letting on?" Claire's voice said through the whisphone.

"Yea, that's right. She knew exactly how much people we had lost in the Abyss, we haven't even released the data to the Senate yet..." Allan said into the whisphone, Roxca sitting across from him in his office. Being the leader of the guild made him able to veto any action of the rest of the guild council so long as it was in the best interest of the guild, and the best interest of those affiliated to the guild. "So Claire, what should we do?"

"Hmm..." Claire said with a pause, "Hire her."

"What?!" Allan exclaimed in surprise, "We should hire her? But she may be directly involved with what's happening in the abyss!"

"That is exactly why we're going to hire her. For starters we can keep a close eye on her activities then, and if she is associated with the abyss wouldn't it be smart not to anger her?" Claire said.

After a brief pause Allan responded, motioning for Roxca to leave the room, "You're right."

"As usual..."

*~*~*~*

Kitone walked up the main road through Roumen, her red hair hung at her shoulders and her swords lay on the bed in her room. The townsfolk walked past her, a few of them saying a polite hello to her, as she made her way to the street-side cafe. The place was packed with people, but she spotted the person she wanted to see sitting at a table by himself, sipping at a cup of coffee. She walked over and sat down across from him, he didn't even notice her sitting down, he was too busy watching the butterflies flutter about some roadside flowers. Or at least he didn't let on that he noticed her.

"Hello Kitone," he said, turning to face her, "I haven't seen you with your hair down since we were children."

"Well, some things change..." she said.

"Like you becoming a criminal?" he said with a smile.

"You know I didn't do anything to get what happened to me Neo." Kitone said looking aside sadly, the memories of her time there pierced into her being. "You know I've only done what I've done to survive."

"Which is why I haven't slapped my cuffs on you. What brings you to Roumen?" Neo said, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Business" Kitone replied. Neo stared at her intently over his raised cup. "Nothing like last time, I'm just helping a friend with a problem in the Abyss. I heard you were down there."

"Yea, I was. Unfortunately we haven't been able to get any leads." The ensuing silence was a bit uncomfortable, punctuated by Neo sipping at his cup.

Kitone stood up and started to walk away, saying, "Well, thanks for the information Neo. I'll be seeing you then I guess" Neo simply nodded as he watched her walk off

"That girl is playing with fire, and I'm sure she knows it. Eventually her luck will run out."

*~*~*~*

Deep in the forests of Northern Iysa, near Uruga, a lone woman walked a well trodden path through the forest. The creatures of the wood, ones that would attack the regular traveler without hesitation, ignored her completely, some of them moving out of her way. She walked along, her red hair hung about halfway down her back, playing a wooden flute. Her white kimono hung neatly about her ankles, the edges brushing the ground slightly as she walked. At her side hung a single sword, a wooden katana. She walked through the forest, her eyes closed, as she played a somber song on the flute. The deep and haunting notes of the requiem she played reverberated in the silent forest, and in the ears of the bandits that lay in wait. As she came upon a narrowing in the path, two men leapt from the bushes.

"Alright missy," the tougher looking one began, waving his knife about menacingly, "hand over your things and we'll let you go without a fight" The way his eyes scanned her female frame implied that he'd prefer if she resisted. The woman played a few more notes before lowering the flute from her lips and opening her eyes. She stood there silent, glancing at both men once before returning her gaze to the path between them. "Didn't you hear me girl, give us your stuff or we'll kill ya!"

"Among other things..." the other man added with a perverted laugh. The woman placed the flute into the top of her kimono and looked at both of the men once before she began laughing. At first it was just a small giggle but eventually it cascaded into full blown laughter.

"Hmph, you two couldn't even pose a threat to me if I both my hands were tied behind my back and both my feet were cut off." she said, after a few seconds of laughter. "Now get out of my way before I decide to attack you."

"With what? That flimsy wooden sword?" The knife-wielding fighter said mockingly. The woman stood her ground, unwavering. "Whatever... We'll just rob you and then have our w-" With a flurry of steps the woman stood behind them, her wooden sword drawn at her side. He wanted to speak, but the words wouldn't leave his lips. His body couldn't move either, he could only see as far as his eyes would turn in his head. His partner stood the same way behind him. The woman slowly sheathed her sword and took her flute out again from the folds of her top. She closed her eyes and started playing the sad tune again, and as she started to play blood practically exploded out of the wounds that suddenly opened all over their bodies. The woman just walked.

*~*~*~*

Sitting on the hill surrounding the entrance to Luminous Stone sat Cora and Cons, the two of them were taking a break from their quests. "Cora..." Cons said, looking at the gem inlaid on the broad face of her hammer, "Do you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Cora said not paying much attention, she was busy reading some of the latter spells in the spell book.

"That feeling you get before something goes horribly wrong?" Cons said, tracing the edge of the gem on her hammer's face.

"Yea..." Cora said, looking at the pages but not reading the words on it, "Now that you mention it..."

"You don't think that something's happened to Kitone?"

"I doubt it, she's a strong one."

"But," Cons said, standing up and twirling the hammer, "I just can't shake this foreboding feeling."

"Yea, but think about it Cons, If something happened to her don't you think we would know?"

[Orchids_Mantis]

Anyone else feel like they are reading an anime saga?

[T3h_SyN]

It comes from how I write and what I use to inspire me to write, this time around it's ur story. I'm at the start of book 2.

[Orchids_Mantis]

which book 2? The prequel/sequel (I have no idea what to call Tianxia's tale since it takes place after the Four Brother's tale but describes what happened before it) or Liu's story?


Oh right, I forgot, I had some questions to ask -I'll PM those in a bit

[T3h_SyN]

which book 2? The prequel/sequel (I have no idea what to call Tianxia's tale since it takes place after the Four Brother's tale but describes what happened before it) or Liu's story?

The original Tale of The Four Brothers. I just finished An Ning's story.

[Dragonfly77]

You know what? We should totally have a fanfic writer's party...

[T3h_SyN]

I agree... *takes Ath aside and whispers* Wasn't this supposed to go in the Cafe?

[Dragonfly77]

*whispers back* um..maybe..

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Twenty-Three: Live By The Blade

Kitone sat on the windowsill of her room in the inn with one foot hanging out the window, her hair hung about her shoulder dancing on the breeze. She had sat there most of the night, contemplating her next plan. She twirled her finger in the drink she held, lazily spinning the ice about the cup. With a heaving sigh she drank down the rest of the contents of the glass in one swift motion and stared out at the morning sun reflecting on the water. The vibrating of the whisphone in her lap brought her focus back to reality, she let it ring a few times before answering it with a drawn out, "Hello?"

"Kitone," said Claire, an air of triumph in her tone, "I think I may have found a lead I can use."

"Issat so?" Kitone said with a slight slur, reaching for the bottle on the floor by the window.

"Yea- Kitone... Have you been drinking?" Claire asked.

"A lil," Kitone replied, pouring herself another glass, "If only I were a mage... I'm running out of ice."

Claire laughed a bit before talking again, "What happened Kitone?" Claire could hear as Kitone took a large gulp of whatever it was she was drinking.

"I've been hired for another job, and I'm gonna need a bit of extra 'courage' to go where I'm needed, it you know what I mean." Kitone said, taking a smaller sip from the glass.

"Kitone, I've known you from we were small, and I trust your sense of judgment, but please don't do anything too rash..." Claire said. "Since the lead I've gotten looks pretty promising I don't really need you here now, so you go and do whatever it is you need to do."

*~*~*~*

The afternoon sun made the foam of the waves that crashed gently on the side of the Apoliner sparkle like jewels in the sun. Even in the breeze there was a stagnant heat that loomed over everything. Even the red-haired fighter who was sweating profusely as he looked on at Roumen Harbor. A blue haired cleric walked across the deck, a certain purpose to her stride, and stopped a few paces behind the fighter and stood to attention.

"Captain Neo, we've just received reports from the patrol teams in the Abyss." Lenore said.

"Let me guess, someone is attacking people in there? What's new Lenore, it's the Abyss..." Neo said, still looking at the town.

"Neo..." Lenore said, a bit more authority in her tone.

With a sigh Neo turned to face Lenore, "I'm just sayin' we used to be a lot less 'formal' before we got promoted. what's the problem?"

"There's someone in the Abyss attacking people, reports say that it's a lone female attacking civilians." Lenore began. Neo looked on silently, it was clear from his expression he knew who it was and that he was hoping it wasn't. Lenore continued, "Reports indicate she'd attacked about a dozen people, most severely. Nothing lethal yet. She was discovered when a patrol team didn't report in and the second team found them at her feet. They described her as..."

"Red-haired and slender?" Neo asked. Lenore simply nodded. Neo sighed and turned towards Roumen and stood quietly for a few seconds. "Lenore," he said, "Gather my team..."

*~*~*~*

The rays of the setting sun found Neo and his small group at the entrance of the Abyss. "Men," he said turning towards the small gathering of troops, "The woman we're going after tonight is dangerous. She's been trained the same way all of you have, but she's had the good luck of having her spirit broken. If she does put up a fight expect no mercy from her. Do I make myself clear?"

The nods of the troop were accompanied by a 'Yessir!'

"Good, lets move in..."

*~*~*~*

It didn't take them long to find Kitone, she was in a chamber at the far end of the cave. She stood among the bodies of those she had fought, most of them were lying on the ground writhing and moaning in pain. The only people who were dead were in the Hunter patrol that had stopped her fun. Neo and his troops walked in and blocked the only exit to the chamber. Kitone ignored them, instead her attention was turned to the large two-handed sword she was sharpening. The top foot of the blade was embedded into the rock of the cave floor and she stood at its side running the sharpening stone up and down its side, humming a happy little song for it. Neo motioned silently to the three clerics to check the bodies. The moved silently, stopping only to kneel and give the people a once over. After each check-up they turned to Neo and signaled the extent of the injuries, most of them reported that they had no cuts but mostly broken bones and internal injuries. They kept circling the floor, checking the injured without alerting Kitone to their presence until one of them neared the body of an Iysan Hunter. Kitone whirled and threw a long knife which embedded itself in the ground by the Clerics foot. The room echoed with the sounds of weapons being drawn as fighters drew their swords, archers readied their bows and mages began channeling for their spells.

"Leave the Hunters," Kitone said dryly, "They belong to me now."

"Kitone!" Neo said, stepping towards her, placing his hand on his yet-to-be-drawn sword, "I'm going to have to place you under arrest for the assault of all these civilians, and the murder of three Iysan Hunters. Step away from the sword and come quietly."

"Step away from the sword..." Kitone repeated mockingly as she placed her hands on the hilt. "Neo, you know I'm not going to do that."

"Standard procedure Kitone, I have to say it." Neo said drawing his sword and pointing it at her. "Well you heard her. Get to it." With that the Hunters ran in, the fighters got to her first, five of them attacking with a fury. Kitone stepped around the sword, using it as a barrier between her and her opponents. Suddenly she pulled her sword downwards and tore it free of the rock, the tip flying up and glancing off the chest piece of an axe wielding fighter. He stumbled back, tracing the deep groove the sword made in the thick metal. Kitone turned her attention to a nearby fighter, swinging her sword overhead. The fighter managed to block it with his shield but the force had caused him slide back a bit. Kitone reared back and swung repeatedly, each time driving the fighter down to the floor. Suddenly she span around, bringing the sword into the side of a two-handed swordsman's leg, blood splaying from the deep gash she had made into her thigh and the Hunter fell to the ground screaming in pain. Kitone looked down at her opponent with a smile, she heard the other three fighters trying to sneak at her from behind. She gripped her sword till her knuckles turned bone white, then she felt the chill.

With a subtle glance upwards the saw the bottom of spires of ice forming in the air above her head. A glance to her side revealed the two mages who were channeling their powers to create the ice. With a quick set of movements Kitone drew a throwing knife from her waist and threw it at the closer mage, hitting him square above the knee. The pain caused him to break his concentration as he fell over. The other mage couldn't keep the ice suspended without help from the other mage, but she tried, her face reflected it. She closed her eyes and tried to keep it in the air, but as her spirit energies were drained she began to feel weaker. The giant shards of ice began to teeter perilously in the air, then suddenly the mage couldn't take anymore strain on her spirit. She fainted. Kitone dived forward, just shy of the impact zone of the falling ice. The same could not be said for the other fighters, the ice landed on them, shattering as it hit the floor. The shards of ice bounced harmlessly off the flat side of Kitone's sword as she took cover behind it, the shard were much less forgiving to the other fighters, slicing through flesh leaving gruesome wounds.

Kitone slowly stood and drew her sword, she turned to a nearby archer whose bow was shaking from the tension in the drawn string when Neo shouted, "Enough of this. It is clear we've lost this fight. I'd like to see more of my men survive." Turning to Kitone he added, "You and I will settle this by ourselves."

Kitone smiled widely as she drew her sword, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Twenty-Four: Die By The Blade

Kitone stepped back, allowing the remaining Hunters to take their allies outside. "Neo, this is rather rude of you..." Kitone said.

"What's rude of me?" Neo said in return.

"Stealing my trophies..." Kitone said, taking a few practice swings with her sword.

"Those trophies are my loyal troops." Neo said disdainfully.

"Minor details," Kitone said, "Ready?"

Neo said nothing, simply nodding. Kitone charged in, swinging her sword with reckless abandon. Neo dodge and blocked with his two-handed sword elegantly. With a quick movement he parried Kitone's blade into the ground and hopped back, standing at the ready. "This brings back memories doesn't it Kitone..." There was a lull as both of them remembered back to the days of them sparring in the Forest of Tides as children.

It always started the same way, they would stand ten paces away from the other and Kitone, always Kitone, would ask if Neo was ready. After a nod she would charge in, swinging her stick like a bat out of hell. Neo would dodge and block with his stick, moving around to keep her from pushing him onto the ground with her assault. Eventually there would be a break in her attack and he would parry her, usually ending in the same position they stood in now.

"Heh," Kitone said, pulling her sword out of the rock, "In more ways than one Neo." Kitone rushed in and began attacking again, slower than before but with the same amount of force behind each blow. Neo kept up his counterattack until Kitone feinted to side, Neo stepped in the opposite direction. The twinkling in Kitone's eyes instantly told him that was a bad move. Kitone brought the sword around from behind her, clipping Neo's ankle causing him to fall on his side. Kitone stepped back, holding her sword above her head, waiting for him to get up.

"Why didn't you strike me?" Neo asked as he pushed himself off the floor, "You couldn't do it last time either." He remembered that night on the roof of the High Prison in Uruga. The lightning arced between the storm clouds as thunder played the beat of the war drums. Kitone stood above Neo, her sword above her head, tears streaming down her face. Neo looked up at her, her eyes reflected the state of her torn spirit, the torture she had been through had taken her to the ends of her sanity. For the first time in all their years of fighting each other Kitone finally gained the upper hand. Her tattered prisoner's clothes swayed violently in the swirling gale. He closed his eyes, waiting for the final blow, but what came was the clanking of metal on stone as she dropped the sword beside his head. He felt a drop hit his forehead, then another, and another. The rain had stared. Kitone stood above him still, her hands at her face as she wept openly into them. Neo closed his eyes and sighed a sigh of relief. He opened his eyes in time to see Kitone turn towards the edge of the rooftop, her footsteps making soft splashes in the shallow puddles that were forming on the roof. He sat up, wondering what she was going to do. Then she stepped onto the edge of the rooftop and looked back at him, an inhuman sadness filled her eyes. Neo knew she was crying, even as the rain streamed off her face. He jumped to his feet and ran. But it was too late.

"Neo," Kitone began, "You were the only person in the world who believed I was jailed for nothing. No matter what would've happened, I couldn't bring myself to kill you. Even if you were the only thing standing between me and my freedom."

Neo chuckled at this while he stood up, "When I had heard you escaped I ran to the prison, I didn't know what to think. I was so glad to see you alive when I found you on the roof but then I realized what had to be done..."

"As a Hunter," Kitone finished, "You had to attempt to arrest me again, lest you be charged with assisting a criminal escape. I was ready to kill you. At first I thought my best friend had betrayed me, I was devastated. But when I was about to kill you, I just couldn't do it." Kitone lowered her sword, letting it hang at her side. Neo understood what she wanted to do.

He remembered back the pact they made on the beach one day. Kitone had put her hair in a ponytail for the first time that day. They sparred and neither side was giving up victory to the other. Kitone said, "Neo, wait a sec." Breathing heavily Neo stepped back and let his stick hang by his side. Between breaths Kitone said, "This is getting us nowhere..." Neo nodded in agreement. "All that's happening is that we're getting hot and sweaty and no one wins, so here's my idea..." She went on to explain that if either one realized that they were heading into a stalemate when they were sparring that they would settle it with one strike. They would hold their swords at their side and charge each other, swinging once. The winner would be decided in that strike. "My big sis says its the only way for true warriors to settle a fight." So they did it, Kitone won. She also won every other one after that.

Neo pulled his sword up to his side, and pushed off. Kitone ran at full speed to meet him. It didn't matter to Neo that Kitone always won at this. Times had changed and this time, they were playing for keeps. The two of them met in the middle of the room, their swords scraped against each other in the draw. Both fighter stood on opposite ends of the room from where they started, breathing heavily. Neither made a move, each was waiting for the other to do so first. Suddenly a thud echoed in the room, Kitone fell to her knees and coughed, blood trickled from her lips. Neo raised a hand to his chest plate, his fingers traced the thick groove that Kitone's sword carved through his armor. He felt the shallow cut the tip had left in his chest. "Still couldn't do it Kitone..." He said sadly as he turned to face Kitone. Kitone had a gaping wound, Neo's sword had cut cleanly through her breastplate, from shoulder down to the other side of her chest, blood trickled steadily from the wound. Kitone moved slowly, grimacing as she did so, and got to her feet with the help of her sword. She looked back at Neo over her shoulder with a weak smile. She hefted her sword up and onto her shoulders, stumbling slightly under the weight, and began to walk away. Her steps were unsure and unsteady, like a newborn calf's. With each step a few drops of blood fell to the floor, and after three steps she finally fell forward.

The silence was deafening, but even Neo himself had to laugh when he heard Kitone's faint voice say, "Damn."

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter 25: Chain Reaction

The morning sun filtered in through the small window in Conjurator's small office, just enough light for the mage to see the book he was reading. He thought to himself, "Just a bit more research and I'll be finished creating a new spell." He sat in the relative silence of the early morning. The birds were chirping outside the window, he kept a plate with some seeds on the windowsill especially for them. He heard the sounds of footsteps outside his office as people made their way to classes. He heard the secretary from the front desk shouting...

"Ma'am, you can't go down there if you're not a student!"

"What the..." Conjurator said as he got up from his desk to investigate the commotion. He could hear someone's footsteps running down the hall. As he reached to open the door it flew open, hitting him in the chest and knocking him down.

"Conjy! Conjy, where are you?!" Athemis said, looking around the office for her younger brother.

"Down here Ath..." Conjy said sitting up.

"Oh geez Conjy, I'm sorry," Athemis said as she bent to help her brother up. That was when Conjy noticed that Athemis was crying.

"Ath, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" he asked, offering her a handkerchief.

She took it and in turn handed him that morning's newspaper from her bag. The headline on the front of the newspaper said it all, 'Kitone Captured At Last'

*~*~*~*

In the Forest of Mist a red-haired woman sat on a tree stump, playing her flute for those nearby to hear. Her audience consisted of the smaller creatures of the forest, a few academy students who stopped on their way to complete that day's quests to listen to the beautiful music for a bit before getting back to work and a single cleric who stopped and listened. The cleric wore a slime mask and sat with her legs folded, cradling a jewel-encrusted hammer in her lap. As the woman finished the final few notes of her song the cleric started clapping. The woman took the flute from her lips, opened her eyes and said, "Thank you, do you have any requests?"

The cleric thought for a few seconds before answering, "Nothing comes to mind, can you just play something else?"

With a chuckle the woman replied with, "Sure, this next one was my sister's favorite song when she was a girl." She put her flute to her mouth and began to play again. She started playing a jovial tune, Cons couldn't help but rock to the beat. In the distance she could hear her sister call her name.

"Cons! Cons!" Cora said.

"I'm over here," Cons shouted. A few seconds later the mage ran into the clearing, stopping when she heard the beautiful music. She too was enraptured by the upbeat tune and started tapping her foot. After a few minutes she remembered why she was looking for Cons.

"Oh, right!" she exclaimed, "Cons have you seen today's news?"

"No, why what's wrong?" Cons said, turning to face her sister.

"Here read this..." Cora said handing her a newspaper clipping she took from her pocket.

Cons read the clipping and jumped to her feet exclaiming, "What?! Kitone's been arrested!" At this the woman played a sour, off-key note.

Swallowing hard she asked if she could see the clipping and Cons obliged and handed her the paper. She read the paper, her hands shaking slightly. When she was done she handed the paper back to the cleric and stood up.

"I-I'm sorry, but I must be going." the woman said, walking into the woods. As she stepped into the thicket of trees the two girls could hear the sad and melancholy notes wavering on the breeze.

*~*~*~*

Three days had passed since Athemis left Uruga for her Guild's headquarters in Elderine. Conjurator was teaching his class in the Academy courtyard when the High Prison's messenger walked in and handed him the letter, he was being summoned by the Guard Captain to help with some investigation. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence, thanks to his 'abilities' he was very useful help in investigations. From he was a young boy Conjurator could move things with his mind and as he grew so did his psychic powers. Now not only could he move things with his mind fairly easily he could also read minds, projecting himself into their memories to see things for himself, and he was just learning he could also imprint suggestions in people's mind, a mild form of psychic hypnosis or as he called it 'mind control'. After class he hurried across Uruga's square and through the main gates of the prison.

A short walk later and he was heading into the depths of the dungeons with the Guard Captain. He'd been down in the dungeons before but never this far. As they walked down the hallway Conurator asked, "Umm... Excuse me, how far down are we going?"

With a jolly chortle he replied, "All da way down, wha'? ya scared 'r summen?"

"Not really..." Conjurator said, lying through his teeth. He knew only the most dangerous criminals were kept down in the depths of the dungeon. The deeper they went the more worried he became.

"Dontcha worry l'il mage, your' perfectleh safe. We keep 'em chained tight down 'ere," The Guard Captain said as they stepped down the stairs onto the bottom-most floor of the dungeon. There were three cells, one on the left and right sides of the hallway and one at the far end. Only the one at the end had a light flickering in it. "We needed your 'elp wid dis one 'ere. Apparntleh, da Senate wants ta know a few things but this one ain't tellin' no one anythin'. Dey spent two days wid da fines' tortures in all a' Iysa, and dey didn' squeak a peep. I 'erd that all dey did was stare straight ahead while dey was doing dere work." Conjurator walked ahead hesitantly, he himself had heard stories of the tortures abilities to garner information from their clients, and if this person had spent two days being tortured and didn't even utter a sound they were not a normal person. The Guard Captain waved his hand over the lock, which magically unlocked, and pushed the door open for Conjurator. "Dere ya go." He said motioning him into the room.

Conjurator stepped inside and heard the door look behind him, the dim lighting of the room took a while to get used to. "When your' don' doin' whateva it is ya' do just knock, ya' hear?" the Guard Captain said from behind the thick door. Conjurator just looked around the room, his eyes finally adjusting to the light. There was a small cot, blood stains marred the sheet on it. A small toilet in the opposite corner that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in weeks. On the wall was a window painted in the glowing magic paint, it looked like a window looking at the night sky, clearly just a tool to help the prisoner keep some of their sanity all the way down here in this dark place. Then he looked down and saw the ring that was bolted to the floor, it was a three inch wide ring of iron with a padlock on it. Attached to the padlock was two chains, both had the lock threaded through a link about midway along the chain. One set of chains gave the prisoner about six feet of freedom to move with, enough for them to walk freely about the small room. The other was about twice that distance, to allow the person to move each hand without constraint. These chains were attached to the hands and feet of a prisoner who knelt facing the window, her unblinking amber eyes watched the painted stars on the wall flicker. Her red hair hung freely and Conjurator could see the thin red lines on her prison clothes, each marking the location of a torturers work. They all paled in comparison to the thick red one than ran across her chest. That one was paler than the rest, the stains of which looked like they had just started scabbing over. Conjurator stepped closer to her and brushed some loose chain on the floor. Turning to look at the source of the noise Conjurator finally got a good look at her face, it seemed to give of an air of hopelessness and melancholy. She opened her mouth but no words came out.

"K-Kitone..." He said.

All she did was nod.

[Dragonfly77]

Holy.....this is seriously getting good...

Hurry! Go!! Write more!!!

[Orchids_Mantis]

very nice...very nice

@ Dragonfly: hehehe, maybe you should offer that prize more often?

[Dragonfly77]

?

What prize?

[Orchids_Mantis]

Well...most bets (as you mentioned in the cafe) have some form of prize...clearly it is one she wants

[Dragonfly77]

Oh yes....you should join us to watch the outcome. I don't think she'll win..

[Orchids_Mantis]

If it's in Bijou, sure...in Apoline...well I think level 1 Ao_Shun or An_Ning would be too much of a temptation for you guys to 1-hit...



edit: or we can all meet with level 1 characters in legel and fight it out newby style

[Dragonfly77]

That would be seriously fun! 8D

[T3h_SyN]

Kit with 1 str ftw!

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Twenty-Six: Confessions

"Kitone," Conjurator said, lowering his voice to a whisper so the guard couldn't hear him, "what have then done to you." Kitone opened her mouth somberly, Conjurator could see she was trying to speak but no words came. She raised her hands to her throat and then shook her head. "So you've lost your voice eh?" Kitone nodded. Conjurator sat on the floor in front of her, taking her hands in his. He closed his eyes and focused on her, when he opened his eyes he was in a white corridor that seemed to stretch endlessly in both directions. To his left the hallway had doors spaced apart evenly, to his right there was only wall.

"The hallways of the mind, each door a gateway into a persons memory." Conjurator said as he mad his way to the nearest door, he had been through this countless times. Enter someone's memories, open the nearest door, the most recent memories, and look around. Depending on what he needed to find out he might have had to open a few doors befor getting to his objective. "Now to see what got you here, since the Senate is being awful mum on the matter." Conjurator said as he turned the doorknob. He pushed on the door, nothing, he pulled, nothing. He stepped back, a bit surprised by the fact the door didn't budge. "How?" he said, trying the door again, "Is she blocking me from looking into her memories?" He quickly tried a nearby door only to be rewarded by a locked door. He tried doors down the hall until...

Click.

The door creaked open and Conjurator stepped into what looked like a bedroom in an inn. The early morning breeze carried the scent of the sea, they were in Roumen. A quick scan of the room located Kitone, sitting on the windowsill, glass in hand. Kitone looked at the inside of the room, straight at Conjurator, but he didn't flinch. He knew that she was just looking around the room, she couldn't see him in her memories. He leaned against the dresser in the room and watched her for a bit. "What's so special about this place that she blocked me off from her other memories?" Conjurator asked himself.

Suddenly Kitone swiveled herself and sat on the windowsill facing the inside of the room and drank the rest of her drink down. "Hey Conjy." she said to the room. Conjurator gasped audibly as he stiffened up, this was a new experience for him. "I figure if I go through with this plan I'll be seeing you." Kitone said as she walked across the room directly towards Conjy, "I figure it should be about two or three days worth of torture before they call you in..." With that Kitone placed the cup down on the top of the dresser, directly on his hand, the cup phasing through it. Conjurator withdrew his hand and watched as Kitone filled her cup with ice. "Don't worry, I can't see you," she said, Conjurator actually questioned that since she was more or less looking him in the eye, "I heard from your sister about your abilities, and that the Senate uses you to find out things that torture doesn't get out of their prisoners." She headed back to the window and poured herself a drink from the bottle on the ground, "I hope I can trust you with this Conjy... You're the key to my escape."

*~*~*~*

It was ten minutes before Conjurator opened his eyes and saw Kitone's smile, he was sweating slightly. The truth scared him, she actually let herself get arrested as a means to an end. Everything up to that moment had been planned: her 'rampage' in the Abyss, losing to Neo in a fight, getting sent to prison as a result, keeping quiet while they tortured her. "Kitone," he said while placing his hand on her cheek, "what's so important about this book that it warrants you coming back here?" Kitone simply shrugged her shoulders. "That's not all you're here for is it..." he said. Kitone leaned forward, putting her face on his shoulder while embracing him in a soft hug.

"Just do what I asked Conjy." she whispered into his ear.

*~*~*~*

Athemis sat at her desk in the headquarters of Raime, her hunting house, going over the requests that had come in while she was with her brother. She always picked her hunts first and placed the rest on the guild's notice board for the others to decide what to take. Her whisphone started vibrating on the desk, it was a few seconds later that she found it under her pile of 'rejects'. She answered with a quick "Hello."

"Hey Ath," her brother's voice said, "You're not going to believe what happened today."

"What? You finally finished your spell?" Athemis said, looking back at the remaining quests on her desk.

"No, sadly. I was called to the prison to use my powers on an inmate again." Conjurator said.

"Really, what's so hard to believe about that? It happens to you from time to time." Athemis replied.

"Yea, but today I saw Kitone." Conjurator said. Athemis was silent, her attention was now focused on the call, forgetting completely about the quests. "You're not going to believe me when I tell you this but Kitone actually planned to get captured."

"She what?!" Athemis exclaimed.

"Yep, apparantly there's a book inside the prison that she needs, along with something else. I'll just say it was well planned..." Conjurator said.

"So she has an escape planned?" Athemis asked out of curiosity.

"About that..." Conjurator began.

*~*~*~*

"I wonder who could want to meet us?" Cora asked her armor-clad sister.

"I don't know, but that guy from the hunting guild... what was it called again?" Cons asked, the slime mask's smile hiding her true curiosity.

"I think he was from Raime." Cora said, looking around the woods for any sign of movement.

"Yea, he seemed to be in an awful hurry." Cons said, taking a seat in the grass. She started remembering the events of the afternoon. She and Cora were at home, enjoying a day off from the training of the Academy when he came knocking at the door. He was a slim elf, his bow hung at his back, and he was panting. He had to catch his breath before he could speak to the two of them.

"Are you Cora and Cons Gammer?" he said as he wiped the sweat from his brow. They nodded, both a bit curious as to where this would lead. He handed them a letter and with a tip of his hat he was off again. Cora looked the envelope over, it bore the seal of the hunting guild Raime, but the envelope was sealed with wax, imprinted in it was an image of a dragonfly perched on a flower. The letter within simply read 'Please meet me in the Forest of Mist, by the entrance to Luminous Stone. As soon as possible.'

"It's been an hour Cons, can we head home? Mom's probably waiting for us." Cora asked, obviously becoming bored of sitting around and waiting for the mystery writer.

"Sure, let's go." Cons said getting up when suddenly an archer walked into the clearing.

"You too Cora and Cons?" she said, the two girls heard her mutter under her breath, "They're just kids, what is she thinking?"

"Yea, we are. Who are you?" Cons said, stepping instinctively between the stranger and Cora.

"My name is Athemis. I'm a friend of Kitone's." the archer said.

"How can we trust you?" Cora asked over Cons's shoulder.

"Because Kitone is going to break out of prison and asked for my brother and I to help her escape. Then she recommended that I seek you two out, she said you two would be more than willing to help." Athemis said. The silence that followed was so quiet Athemis swore she could hear the two of them make up their minds.

*~*~*~*

It was three days since Conjurator saw Kitone before she saw another person. The door to her cell opened and two guards stepped in, undoing her chains and cuffing her hands behind her. "Alright mute. You've been given enough healing time, time for another round with our interrogation team." one of them said, putting a cuff around her neck. The cuff was attached to a chain, making it a leash of sorts. With one rough jerk they yanked Kitone onto her feet and out of her cell.

As they walked up the hallways to the torture chamber one guard turned to the other and said "Hey, have you seen the lights out back?"

"What the heck are you talking about Bob?" the guard with the chain asked.

"I'm not sure, I just felt like I had to ask that..." he replied. Unknown to them Kitone was smiling widely, her plan was set in motion.

[Orchids_Mantis]

"Bob"? You named "guard #3" "Bob"? :p

...and I thought I was bad with names....:D


okay, joking aside, this was once again very interesting....and I wish you'd upodate more often

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Discord

The back of the High Prison had a path known as Fantasia Requiem, it was the path from the back gate of the prison to the executioner's block deep in the forest. It got it's musical name from the songs the wood sprites sang when a prisoner took the last walk of his life. The song was the saddest song in all of Iysa, neither instrument nor human or elven voice could wrench and twist and pull at one's emotion like the song of the sprites. As they took their walk tears flowed from the eyes of even the most hardened prisoner. It was among this thick brush that the three rescuers hid. "So let me get this straight," Cons asked, "We, the three of us-"

"And my brother..." Athemis interrupted.

"-The four of us, are breaking into the most secure prison in all of Iysa to rescue the most wanted criminal in all the land-" Cons continued before being interrupted by her sister.

"Second most wanted, she's still a couple dozen gems away from the top spot."

Cons shot her sister a non-existent glare, the slime mask hiding the anger, and said, "-the second most wanted criminal in all of the land. Am I missing anything?"

"No I think you've got it all. What, having second thoughts?" Athemis asked, doing a quick check of how many potions she had on her just in case the worst case scenario happened.

"Not a one, I was just wondering if anyone else felt as crazy as I feel now" Cons said, getting a quick snicker from Cora.

"Hehe," Athemis chuckled before saying, "Lets go over the plan one more time. Right now we're at the back door, the least guarded opening to the prison that makes for an easy escape. Right now there are four sharpshooters in the two towers facing the door" She pointed at the towers, the archers were clearly visible in the torchlight in the towers. "I've seen their training myself, those guys could shoot a fly in the dark from a hundred and fifty yards, so we won't be hasty. Behind the doors is the main antechamber, it's where the prisoner's have their last meal and get their last blessing from the resident priests. Right now there's at least a dozen armed guards protecting the entrance..."

"So how are we gonna get in?" Cora asked, beating Cons to the get-go.

"In about..." Athemis began, checking her pocket-watch,"half an hour the guards will be changing shifts. For two minutes the back will be completely empty, but what the prison staff don't know is that the other shift won't be reaching down here for another hour and a half."

"How are you so sure about this?" Cora asked.

"I trust in Conjy's abilities as much as Kitone trusts in yours." Athemis replied.

*~*~*~*

The two guards walked down the corridors, chatting among themselves heartily, pulling Kitone slowly behind them. "I tell ya Bob, we have it easy compared to the town guards. I mean we get paid pretty well to drag the filth of society about a building."

"I hear what you're sayin' Jeff, most of the time they don't even try nothin'..." the other guard said, looking back over his shoulder at Kitone, "like this one, goddamn mute gets sent straight to torture with the gaping wound on her chest and she hasn't said a word since she got into that room. They really think that sending her back will get her to say anything else? Man I think something snapped in her head last time beca-" He was cut off because Kitone suddenly stopped walking.

The first guard span around and gave the chain a hard yank, shouting at Kitone, "Hey, who told you to stop walking?!"

"Uhh, Jeff... somethings not right here..." The second guard said, looking at Kitone closely but unable to pinpoint exactly what.

"I'll tell ya what's wrong here Bob," the first guard said, still yanking an unmoving Kitone, "This broad isn't movin'."

"No, that's not it. I think..." The second guard said, and with a snap of his fingers he exclaimed, "Didn't we cuff her hands behind her?!" The first guard stopped his relentless yanking and looked closely, Bob was right, somehow her hands were in front of her. Kitone looked up and smiled widely.

"So... you two think you have the easy job?" she said, dropping the cuffs, letting them hit the floor. Before either guard could react Kitone yanked on one end of the chain and sent Jeff careening through the air. Her swift punch to his face connected with a loud crunch, his broken jaw hung open awkwardly, and it propelled him straight to the ground. His face impacted with a sickening crunch. Kitone heard the tell-tale sound of a sword being drawn and turned her attention to Bob. Bob had just started to draw his sword, he had about three inces of sword out. Kitone spun a loop down the chain, wrapping it around his hand. With a swift draw it tightened and yanked him towards her. Fortunately for him, Bob had good reflexes and a better sense of balance, unfortunately this caused him to stumble directly into Kitone. As he stumbled towards her Kitone side-stepped and looped a length of chain around his neck. A swift kick to his back put him on his knees, choking against the pull of the chain. He thrashed wildly at first but slowly his movements began to slow. Kitone let some slack into the loop before he died, leaving him unconscious on the ground with his partner. With a smile she relieved him of his sword and ran down the hall.

*~*~*~*

"There!" Athemis said, pointing towards the guard towers. Inside each of the towers the trio could see the archers leave their posts, almost simultaneously. After allowing a minute or two to pass Athemis motioned for them to move up. They sprinted out of the bushes and charged the door. Standing in the faint torchlight of the doorway Athemis smiled and said, "Okay ladies, lets get in out of the cold." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of lock picks, a throwback to her wilder 'rogue' days, and set to work on the lock. After a few minutes of twisting and turning the picks in the lock one broke with a soft snapping sound, followed by a disgruntled sigh from Athemis herself. "Damn lock's made of pretty sturdy stuff, these normal lock picks won't cut it. If I had known this was gonna happen..."

"Lemme take a whack at it." Cons said, giving the Resonance Hammer a few twirls. Athemis stepped to the side, giving Cons enough room to swing fully. She swung once, twice, three times, each hit produced a resounding clang.

"Girl, you're gonna have to hit it harder than that if you want to make an impression on that lock. It's made of a pretty hard alloy." Athemis said. Cons smiled to herself and spun the hammer in her hands and slammed on the door with the small head. For the three days since she and Cora agreed to help in Kitone's rescue she hadn't hit anything with the smaller head. Three days worth of attacks came in one blow. The thick oak doors creaked and groaned from the blow, but they didn't budge. The lock was dented in, making it impossible to open with a key from the outside, but it held fast. Athemis was about to ask how she did that when she heard it. Her naturally keen elven hearing combined with her innate abilities as a hunter picked up the music immediately. She turned and looked down Forest Requiem, trying to see where the music was coming from. The two girls turned because Athemis span around so quickly and they wondered what she was looking for then they heard the music.

The sad notes that carried through the forests could only come from one person. The red-haired woman came walking down the path, playing her flute. "What? The flute lady?!" Cons asked, "What is she doing here?" Everyone was silent as she walked up, stopping just short of the door as her song ended. She opened her eyes and looked around.

"Athemis, and the two girls from the forest. Fancy meeting you here." she said, putting the flute into her top.

"Synna... What are you doing here?" Athemis asked. Synna didn't answer but instead turned to investigate the lock.

"It appears you three are having trouble with the lock, and since it appears to be the only hinderance left..." Synna said, gripping the handle of her wooden sword tightly. In a slow fluid motion she drew her sword, revealing that it actually was a proper sword inside a very well made wooden scabbard. In a slow sweeping arc she scraped the tip of the blade down across the lock and a small area of door around it. As her sword moved slowly down the lock a flurry of deep gouges appeared all around the tip of the sword, as if some unseen force was cutting away at the lock. When she was finished a clear cut had been carved through the lock and part of the door. With a simple nudge she pushed open the door and walked in.

"Who... who is she?" Cora asked as she looked at the destroyed lock.

"That is the most wanted criminal in all of Iysa."

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Out Of The Fire

Kitone tore through the hallways of the Prison, not much had been changed since her escape a few years before. As she had hoped the routines of the prison differed little from the last time she was there as well. The guards changed shifts the same way at the same time. The same exact security loophole she used to escape the first time was the loophole she was using now, the large blind spot created during shift changes. The first time she escaped there was a very small window to move around in, but it seemed that Conjurator's 'influence' had taken the inch and turned it into a mile. She paused for a bit to catch her breath, putting a hand to the wet spot on her shirt, the wound Neo had given her had reopened slightly and had started bleeding again. "Damn," she said as she started down the last flight of stairs. "I hope he told her every part of the plan." Kitone pushed open the door at the bottom of the stairs and looked straight down the barrel of a crossbow.

"Wait Athemis!" Cora shouted while lowering her hand, the fireball in her grasp dissipated, "It's Kitone."

"So it is. Can we please get the heck out of here before the guards come? I rather like my non-criminal status." Athemis said.

Kitone shook her head and said, "No, not yet. I haven't retrieved what I came here for yet." There was a slight pause before she spoke again, "Did you bring the things I asked?"

"Oh, yea, I did. They're in that bag over there." Athemis said pointing to a sack on the table. Kitone ran over and emptied the contents onto the nearby table. A few small potion vials clattered to a stop beside the pieces of leather armor. Kitone drank down the potions in a hurry, before the wounds had passed the point of artificial healing. All the cuts from her recent torturing faded away as she drank them down and all that remained of Neo's attack was a faint scar across her chest. Kitone hurriedly changed into the leather armor, not exactly what she wanted but at least it would offer her more protection than the tatters they called clothes in the prison. She took the sword and started towards the door adjacent to the one she came through when Athemis called out, "Kit, wait..."

Kitone stopped and looked back, "What is it Ath?"

"Your sister is here..."

Kitone looked at her in disbelief, "Synna... She's here?" Athemis simply nodded. "Oh Teva... I did NOT plan for this... I keep telling her that I don't need her to look out for me anymore, I'm not a kid anymore. I need to find her before she gets into any trouble and alerts the guards. Which way did she go?" Cons pointed to a door across the room and Kitone ran up the stairs.

"So..." Cons said after Kitone was out of earshot, "her sister is the most wanted criminal in Iysa? Heh, that explains a lot."

"Yea, she is. And you are now both part of the five people in the entire world who now that."

*~*~*~*

Unfortunately for Kitone her elder sister had found trouble, trouble in the form of a massive guard. He was at least two times Synna's size. He held a monstrous sword across his shoulders. He looked down as the small woman that barely passed his waist and said, "Did you just threaten me little girl?"

"I simply asked you to tell me where a prisoner was or get out of the way lest I kill you. Now are you going to tell me what I need to know?" Synna said without emotion.

"Listen girl, I don't know who you are or how you got here but if you think you can just stroll up in here and threaten me, Naxis, Guard Captain for the upper cell block... Well, I'm afraid I just can't have that. I'm gonna hafta teach you a lesson." He said, his tone getting angrier each second. Synna said nothing, which infuriated him even more. With a loud grunt he swung his behemoth blade. Synna moved in a flash, stopping the blade just above her head with her sword. Naxis groaned as he pressed his weight onto his sword but Synna didn't even falter. With tilt of her sword she parried his attack into the ground, causing the sword to embed itself a few feet into the stone floor.

"I see... so you don't wish to tell me. Fine." Synna said. She jumped up past him, the sound of her sword scraping up his echoed sharply down the corridor. When she landed behind him he coughed up a little blood and started breathing heavily.

"Who... who are you?" He asked, his sword began to get tear apart from the ground up, falling into small shards of metal. The destruction continued up his arm, cleaving small cuts into his muscular arm.

Synna stood up and sheathed her sword, the cuts getting deeper the higher up his arm they went, and said, "My name is Synna, but they call me 'The Queen of the Endless Slash'. It is a pity you didn't move, I really hadn't planned on killing you." As she walked off down the hall the cuts finally got to his neck, where the final cut decapitated him.

*~*~*~*

"Damndamndamndamn..." Kitone muttered under her breath as she sprinted through the hallways looking for her sister. She turned sharply, following an invisible path in her mind, "Knowing sis she'd look for important guards and 'coerce' my location out of them." Rounding one corner she saw the hem of a white dress rounding the far bend. She coaxed a bit more speed out of her legs. There was a flash as the light reflected off the honed edge of the sword that bore down upon her neck as she rounded the corner, Kitone's reflexes were sharp though. She spun around, falling to the floor and sliding just shy of the blade of the sword.

"Kitone?" Synna said perplexedly, as she looked down at the woman who managed to dodge her attack.

"Yea... Who else could dodge your attacks sis?" Kitone said as she stood up. Before she could brush the dust from her clothes she was embraced in a tight hug.

"Thank Teva," Synna said, her head resting on her sister's shoulder, "It's so good to see you're alright. I was just-"

"Crushing... Ribs..." Kitone gasped from the pressure of her sister's hug.

"Oh, sorry!" Synna exclaimed, releasing Kitone from her death grip. "I'm just glad that you're alright."

"Yea, I am... And this whole thing was planned. Except... For you." Kitone said, poking her sister roughly in her shoulder to make her point.

"Well excuse me for wanting to help the only family I have in this world. I mean if you heard I was in here-"

"I'd laugh because obviously you were bored and needed something to do." Kitone said with a chuckle.

"Yea, probably. What are you here for anyway?" Synna asked.

"Just here to pick up a few books." Kitone said, pushing open a nearby door, "And somehow you managed to find the place."

With a small chuckle of her own Synna replied, "You've always been a bookworm, I figured if I found the books you'd turn up eventually."

*~*~*~*

The table landed on it's side with a loud thud. Athemis took cover behind it, aiming her crossbow at the door, shouted to the two girls, "Make sure that door is secure! We can't have them getting in here before Kitone returns." Cons was busy wedging wood into the floor beneath the other door way using her Resonance hammer. Cora tended to the poison of the guards that came into the room to looking for the prisoner that escaped her guards on the way to torture. They came upon the three of them and were about to raise an alarm when Athemis fired her mini-crossbow at both of them. They slumped to the ground immediately, but before his consciousness faded away one of them shouted for help.

"I don't wanna go to jail! I don't wanna go to jail!" Cora said as she poured the antidote down the unconscious men's throat.

"Relax. No ones going to jail." Athemis said, but even she herself was unsure of the outcome. Her sharp hearing could make out the platoon of guards that were closing in on the room. They were going to reach the door Cons was bracing in a matter of seconds. "Cora, How good is your magic?"

Cora's fingers grazed the tip of the spell book Kitone gave her that hung at her side, "Good enough."

"Wonderful, go help you're sister with that side. They'll be here in-" Athemis began. The sudden impact on the door came faster than Athemis even expected. She twirled and braced against the heavy table. "Come on, come on... I'm ready for ya..."

In the last seconds of silence before the hinges of the door gave way the three of them readied themselves for the most hectic battle any of them had ever faced.

[T3h_SyN]

Right. I mentioned earlier in the Fanfic Cafe that I needed a character to fill a special role in the story. It's really a simple role, that is sorta important to the story.

I'm looking for some one to be:
1) Good that becomes Evil.
2) Living but becomes Dead.

I'm gonna need your character's name, a screenie, character class, some background information on your character (what makes him/her such an outstanding citizen, like, they saved a million billion baby orphan puppies from a fire in the poverty striken orphanage that was run by an evil shoemaker... but I drone on...), and their preferred weapon.

Another thing I wanted to point out is the preferred weapons. For both this special role and the normal registration I ask for a preferred weapon it doesn't have to be the standard 'play-it-safe' weapons the classes are limited to in-game. I have no problem with people using their in-game weapons but I don't want to limit your characters in this story, personally, I like for people to have over-the-top weapons and outlandish fighting styles. I mean just look at some of the characters in the story: Kit herself uses two one-handed swords, Athemis practically has a sniper rifle and a small sidearm, Fury has his scythe (which I'm totally surprised he hasn't commented on considering I told him I was gonna give him a wooden spoon...) and Claire has her magical martial arts. I'll take anything into consideration, asking you to explain your weapons combat ability privately if I don't see how you could use it. But again, I rant.

Looking forward to the applications, and if you apply and I don't choose you I'll still try to use you in the story. I will also pm you to tell you if you got the role or if i changed your story and gave you another role.

[Dragonfly77]

During my years as a thief, I was never caught. Now my record will be tarnished...

[T3h_SyN]

Yep, I'll come and visit you in your cell... Maybe I'll bust you out too...

[Dragonfly77]

*mumbles something incoherent*

[T3h_SyN]

What was that? Don't swoop in and rescue you from imminent arrest?

[Dragonfly77]

I can't believe the nerve of you!! Getting caught up in the prison and expecting Con and I to risk our necks and sweep in and save you! You could have at least told us what was going on before you dragged us into this!!

You better post a chapter. This. Instant.

[Orchids_Mantis]

hehe...bad guys know what the goody-goody tendencies of "good guys" will make them do...even good bad guys

[Dragonfly77]

.................................................. ...............

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Past, Presently. - Part 1

Kitone closed the book and sighed, she must have looked through half the books on the shelf and she still hadn't found what she was looking for. She reached for a folder on a high shelf when Synna called out to her. "What was the watermark you said the pages had?" she said, holding a page up to the torchlight.

"Like a snake. Why, have you found something?" Kitone said looking at the title page of the papers in the folder with a smile.

"I think I found the book you're looking for." Synna said, holding the book so Kitone could see the watermark in the light. In the top corner of the page was a watermark of a serpent coiled around a skull. Kitone ran over and jumped on her sister.

"We did it!" Kitone said, regaining her composure. "Lets get out of here, I hate this freaking place..."

Kitone tucked the book and the folder under her arm and sprinted out the door, her sister in close pursuit.

*~*~*~*

Thwick-Tang!

The last poison bolt sped from Athemis's mini-crossbow, piercing through the armor of the guard that jumped over the table. His body collapsed limply to the floor, it would've landed on Athemis had she not rolled out of the way "Damn!" she shouted as she pressed the trigger again, "I'm out of ammo!" She threw the crossbow at the guard she was aiming at, hitting him square in the nose. He cupped his face and fell over the upturned table shouting in pain, blood trickling from between his fingers. She stood up and took aim with Thanatos.

On the other side of the room Cora and Cons were having similar luck. The two off them had been separated by a small group of guards, each was barely managing to hold their own. Cons defended gracefully, swords glanced off her shield as she struck in one or two counter blows. Cora peppered the oncoming troops with her spells, but she was quickly being overpowered by the sheer number of troops that stormed into the room. They had her surrounded just by the doorway, for every man she took down three filled the gap. "Take this!" she shouted, channeling magic into her hand, "Chro-OOF!" As she was channeling her spell a guard tackled her from behind. The guards dove in to 'restrain' the fallen mage.

"Cora?" Cons said, looking over for her sister. All she saw were guards, her sister was nowhere to be seen. She turned her attention away from the guard she was fighting and looked over where he sister was, but she still couldn't make out her sister among the throes of guards. "Cora!" she shouted, sounding almost like an animal.

"Pay. Attention!" the guard she was fighting said, bringing his sword down upon her. Without looking Cons raised her shield, buckling slightly under the blow. She turned and looked at the guard, he could feel the hatred of her stare behind the playful eyes of the slime mask. In one movement she was up on her feet and pushed his sword upward. The guard wasn't expecting this and brought his shield to his front in a reflexive panic. It did little against Con's hammer, which dented it under the force of her blow, sending him flying into the guards behind him, knocking them all over. She dropped her shield, held her hammer with both hands and turned to face the guards between her and Cora. The nearest guards, turning to see what was causing the ruckus behind them, looked upon the single most horrifying slime any of them ever had the misfortune to see. The once jovial eyes and smile of the child's toy became the crazed stare and maniacal, twisted smile of an impending painful death. With another haunting cry Cons charged into the fray, swinging her hammer with reckless abandon. Guards raised their shields to block only to have them cave in, breaking the bones underneath. A few turned to get out of the way of the hammer but Cons spared no quarter, her deadly swings connected with the side of one's ribs and resulted in a sickening cracking crunch. His lifeless body skittered across the ground, tripping a group of guards in the doorway, stopping more troops from coming in. Cons raised her hammer to bash a guards face in when suddenly from under the pile of guards came a magical explosion. Cons raised her hands to shield her eyes from the dust and debris. When the smoke cleared, in the middle of a circle of defeated guards stood Cora, breathing deeply.

"Heh. I thought I was gonna lose..." Cora said, a triumphant smile on her face.

"Glad to see you can handle yourself in here" Cons said, patting her on the head and casting a healing magic on her.

"We can be mushy later guys, INCOMING!" Athemis shouted as a second wave of soldiers charged the doorways. She fired repeatedly, dropping men as they charged her doorway, the other doorway was still blocked from by the troops that were knocked over. Athemis was slowly being overpowered by the sheer numbers that came and eventually...

"Damn it, one got past me!" Athemis said as she spun around the thrust of a sword, slamming the butt of her crossbow into his face. Cora and Cons looked back and forth between the blocked doorway and the charging guard then back at each other.

"You thinking-" Cons began.

"-what I'm thinking?" Cora finished. With a nod to each other they turned to face the guard. Cons swiveled the hammer so it's small head was primed for battle. Cora raised her hand and channeled her spell again, this time undisturbed, "Chronomagika - Impede!" A clock face glowed under the guard and he was bathed in light. When the light receded he was moving at a fraction of his speed, apparently unaware of his change in velocity. Cora brought her hands in front of her, a clock appearing in front of her, and shouted "Chronomagika - Detonate!" A bright ball shot from the center of the clock, hit the guard in his chest, seemingly doing nothing to him besides leaving a magical seal on his armor. The seal was a clock, with a single red hand ticking down the seconds. "You're up Cons"

"Right!" Cons said, closing the distance and swinging her hammer. When the small head connected with the guard's armor it rippled from the shock wave of her last bit of fighting, the room echoed with the clang it made. The man sailed through the air towards the other doorway, barreling into the troops that were climbing over the fallen guards. From the pile of bodies the seal whined as the timer ticked to nothing. There was a sharp whine when the timer reached zero, as if a massive pump was sucking air from the room through a straw. Then it went silent, the armor glowed a brilliant white before exploding in a massive explosion that was funneled up the hallway, knocking over everyone in it's path. Cora cheered as Cons looked on with a smile.

Athemis whirled and looked back for the source of the large explosion and saw the opposite hallway empty and cheered silently. A loud series of grunts behind her reminded her that there was a line of soldiers waiting to arrest the three of them. She turned back to see a guard rolling down the staircase, taking everyone with him, a pair of women in hot pursuit. Kitone and Synna jumped over the guards the roller had knocked over and landed in the room.

"Good job holding the door guys!" Kitone said, book and folder cradled under her arm, "Now lets get the heck out of here!" The five women sprinted out the door, Kitone and Synna stopping just short of the doorway. "You should run ahead so you won't be part of this escape..." Kitone said to her sister.

"And what, let you get top spot on the list? I don't think so. Plus, you'll need something to explain how there's so much damage."

"True..." Kitone said. "Well Conjy, whenever you're ready..." She thought out loud.

Sitting on the roof of the prison in a meditative state was Conjurator, his psychic abilities operating at maximum. He was walking the mental hallways of every guard in the prison waiting for his cue. He heard Kitone from many different places, through the ears of the guards and from her own psyche. Immediately he made tweaks to the memories of every guard in the prison. What had been a break-in by four women to rescue Kitone turned to Synna breaking Kitone out. There was no magical explosion, the broken bones were caused by Synna's attacks coupled with Kitone's unarmed tactics. The arrows embedded into the guards was a result of friendly fire from the tower snipers. When he was done the only thing that was true about the what happened was that Kitone escaped into the night with her sister.

*~*~*~*

"...and that's what happened." Kitone said, handing Tian the Book of Karas.

"That was quite the commotion you caused, you made front page news twice in one week." Tian said.

"Well, the security there hasn't really been updated since I last visited. Here you are. Won’t do you any good, though..." Kitone said, allowing Tian to take the book from her grasp.

Tian, begins to tear the watermarked pages out of the book, "Let me guess, you couldn’t read them, could you? Just a bunch of gibberish when you use the Karasian cipher?"

"How do you…"

"You can’t read those pages because you used Karas’ cipher key; but those pages were not written by only Karas. You see I found a notebook a while ago; and in that notebook I read something interesting." Tian said with a large smirk on his face.

"And that would be?" Kitone asked, her frown showed her disapproval by being played like a pansy.

"You know the name Iyzel, no doubt?" Tian said.

Kitone replied, "Who doesn’t? That tower of his full of monsters is hard to miss."

"He was an alchemist and an herbologist..." Tian began.

"Everyone knows that..." Kitone said irritatedly.

Tian continued, "What everyone doesn’t know, is that for a time, he worked with Karas..." Kitone was speechless as she waited for him to continue. "You see he and Karas originally shared a goal; to understand and uncover everything in Isya -all the secrets, all the origins, all the little lies and cover-ups. Those pages you hold were written in Karas’ journal, but not by Karas."

"Because they were written by Iyzel." Kitone said.

"And encrypted by him as well. Using Karas’ cipher only allowed you to see gibberish because you did not have Iyzel’s cipher; the key to which is in Iyzels field notes." Tian said, an air of confidence in his voice.

Kitone said with a smirk of her own, "So then it’s useless to you as well; Iyzel’s field notes are in an even more restricted area of the prison, no one could get in."

Tian smiled and pulled a folder from his bag, "Unless perhaps, someone were to cause a large enough distraction, drawing security away from the other area..."

Kitone stood speechlessly for a few seconds before she spoke again, "You knew?"

Tian returned the folder to the bag, "About the security? Yes. I didn’t tell you because one, you wouldn’t have listened to my cautions, two, I knew you would be able to get away, and three…I needed those guards gone so I could get in."

Kitone glared at Tian, "I don’t like being used like that."

Tian replied, "Sorry, but it was the only way; and if I had told you, you might not have accepted the job."

"At least tell me why you want those pages" Kitone said with a sigh.

Tian draws his axe, "You see this axe? It's highly enhanced. One of the best pieces of craftsmanship I've seen in ages, the man the forged it was a true genius." With this he draws another axe and started again, "This axe is also enhanced, but is far from perfect; it would benefit a mage due to increasing its holder’s concentration to such a high degree but to an fighter it would seem useless..."

Kitone asked inquisitively, “Would seem?”

Tian nodded, "The second axe was forged by the Zombie King; it is able to deal much greater damage than mine."

Kitone nodded out of understanding, "I see, this has what to do with the notes?"

"Did you ever wonder why those large monsters make these? I mean, Zombie King doesn’t use an axe, or bow, or hammer; yet he will forge them when time for it is given." Tian said. Kitone stood speechless again, waiting for him to answer that rhetorical question. "Then there is another question: Each one of these “boss” weapons is stronger than normal weapons…but how is that done? How do these monsters make their weapons so strong?"

Kitone looked towards the sky, the stars sparkling like jewels, "I never thought about it."

Tian said, "Karas and Iyzel did. The answer is somewhere in these thirty pages. I’ll tell you what I find out as partial payment; you can consider the Book of Karas as the remainder of the payment for this job." With this Tian turned and walked off into the night, leaving Kitone with the remainder of the Book.

[T3h_SyN]

*~*~*~*

The stone walls of the dungeon gave off a grimy sheen in the torchlight. Fury sat at the table, his head resting on one of his hands. Suddenly he slams his fist on the table. Sylvia looks at him from the far end of the table, leaning back in her chair. "Fury, is something bothering you?"

"Yea, this whole plan is... It smells something fishy... Personally, I don't trust you. There's just something about this whole affair that's a bit unsettling to me."

"Fury, you know I have the best interests of all of us at heart" Sylvia said, moving her bangs out of her eyes so she could get a good look at the black-haired fighter. "You know I have the best interests of the world at heart. Tell me, Fury, have I ever told you the legend of my family?"

Fury sat up and looked her straight in her eyes, "All you've told us is your name and the plan..."

"Good," Sylvia said, sitting up in her seat, "in the time before this one, millenia ago, before the Senate existed there was peace. The people lived full and wholesome lives in comfort. They were ruled by a just king, a man who stemmed from what was known as the pure-blood race. Humans and Elves were said to be half-blooded offspring of this race. They were a race that was strong, agile, smart and they also held a deep connection with the spiritual world. Whereas today one dreams on mastering one of the four arts: The art of swordplay, the art of healing, the art of the hunt and the art of magic, the royal family of that time was expected to master all of them before their eighteenth birthday. As the years passed under their rule a group of people came about who fought the rule of the royal family. They said that the 'perfect race' were nothing more than practitioners of the dark arts, forbidden and evil magics, and began to bring about an uprising of the people. What was once harmony and peace became tyranny and war. When the war finally reached the King's chamber he simply looked at his people and said, 'Your envy has brought about a dark time in our world. Though my kingdom may fall we shall not be defeated. We will rise again and bring about ruin to your new empire. It won't happen in my son's time, nor in the time of my son's son, no... It will happen when the first pure-blooded daughter wakes and takes my mantle upon herself. She will be unstoppable, she will ride with her five allies and tear you apart from within. You may not live to see it, but your offspring's offspring will surely feel her wrath.' With that they killed him."

"Rubbish..." Fury said, glaring at the woman, "You expect me to believe some prehistoric story?"

With a smirk Sylvia said, "Fury, do you know the history of this world? Since you used to be a Hunter I'd expect you would, it was part of your training. You may remember the 'Chosen War', the fifty year long campaign of death the first Senate took upon the land."

"The war that killed no more than a hundred people throughout Iysa? What does that have to with anything?"

"That war was to eradicate all the remaining pure-blooded left in Iysa. They slaughtered every single one. All the Elunic arts, spells and technology was destroyed and written out of the history of the world, all the Eluna family were slain, all except my ancestor. He was the youngest son of the royal family, he lived a hermits life in the forest, near what became Uruga. When the Chosen War started the world had completely forgotten about his existence. But he knew what had to be done. The prophesy of his father was passed down my family from generation to generation, a meaningless story until I was born. A girl with the traits of a pure-blood, the traits of a true Eluna. I was trained to do what had to be done."

"But..." Fury began, "You only have four allies, you can't fulfill your prophesy with four..."

"There were five. One was just a bit... unwilling. Not to worry, there is a person I've chosen to replace the fallen knight."

[Orchids_Mantis]

Very nice, as always

[Dragonfly77]

And the war begins...

[Orchids_Mantis]

Demand another chapter, Ath...it seems to work when you do it

[Dragonfly77]

If I do, she's going to demand chapters from me as well.

I suppose I could challenge her to another bet...

[Orchids_Mantis]

If I do, she's going to demand chapters from me as well.



<--- fails to see the problem with that

[Orchids_Mantis]

On the first day of Christmas Kitone did give to me...a new chapter of As Thing Were



*looks around*


...please?

[Dragonfly77]

On the second day of Christmas Kitone was given~

Two anxious readers,

So she posted one new chapter of As Things Were.

Right?

[T3h_SyN]

No...

Yea I'm totally kidding *points down*

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Thirty: Of Fang and Fire

Kitone sat back from the table, her face illuminated eerily from the hanging lantern in the small room. Claire leaned forward, taking the folder, and said "So you're saying that the attacks are being lead by an ex-prisoner?"

"That's right," Kitone said, "to lead an organized team like that in such a public place without being caught would take elite training, and only a few people come to mind when I think about it: You, a few Hunters and a single ex-Hunter..."

"This guy?" Claire asked, pointing to a name on the page.

"Yea, ex-Special Ops Captain Fury. He was arrested for deviating from given orders on a special ops mission in Elderine that lead to the deaths of more than two dozen civilians. He was given an indefinite sentence, he was supposed to rot in that cell of his but-" Kitone began.

"-he was released on senate order." Claire said, reading from the release roster Kitone had taken from the prison. "This Senator Allenby was pretty busy that day..."

"He certainly was, releasing five high threat prisoners, and with his position on the Senate not many people have authority to question him."

"It's a good thing I'm not on the Senate. I'll send the Twins to 'speak' to Senator Allenby..." Claire said. Kitone winced for the poor man, the Twins were two of Claire's elite information gathering team. The twins were splitting images of each other, as expected of a pair of twins, except for their hair and eye color.

Kitone had only seen the Twins once, when she was at the Shadow's Shadow main base. One twin had long red hair, a single braid hung down the right side of her face, and wore a long black dress. She had an air of a saleswoman about her, and handcuffed to her right hand was a black attache case. The contents of this case was how she got her codename: Greed. Greed would walk into your house, business or even right up to you on the street among your friends and start talking to you, and Greed was very, very straight-forward. She just asked you what she wanted to know outright, with little regard to who heard. If you gave the wrong answer, she turned and left, but tell her what she wanted to hear and her handcuff was undone and her case became your case. The contents of that case were never disappointing, even the richest of men smiled when they saw the contents.

Her sister on the other hand had deep blue hair, it too was long but her braid hung to the left side of her face. She wore 'slightly' less clothes. Her attire left nothing to one's imagination. Coupled with her voluptuous figure earned her the nickname Lust. Unlike her sister, Lust preferred to do her work in private. A man would open his bedroom door and find Lust lying in his bed. She'd toy with them at first, flirting with them and flaunting her curves. No man, single or otherwise, could focus on anything but her once she got started. Then she moved into the 'hook-em' part of her routine, she began to unbutton her top from the waist up. The last button, it was the clincher. It wouldn't become undone until she was happy with what she was hearing, and by this time most guys would've spilled every secret they knew, every fact, every rumor.

Claire had three other 'Shadows of Persuasion', the man donned in black known as Sadness. No-one has ever seen him in action because he's extremely good at what he does. Sadness never harms his targets directly, it's not how he works. Instead he starts eliminating those close to the target: friends, lovers, family... Hopefully they target sees the picture he's painting and spills the beans.

The second was actually a group of people, alone they were just mages but together they were known as Discord. Discord pulled the strings from the shadows and made the target's life torture. They were like childish deviants with the training of elite soldiers. They fought from a purely psychological front, wearing down their victim until they broke. The worst part is they loved every second of it.

The last Shadow was the most brutal. If you ever had the misfortune of meeting Force you can rest assured that Claire had some sort of personal hatred against you. It starts innocently enough, a few things go missing here and there, you get a few unexplainable cuts, then you wake up in intense pain in a small dark, dank room tied to a chair. And that's the best part. Force was an animal, he was a cleric who had fallen from the path of light. He knew how to keep a man alive, he also knew every possible way to inflict inhuman amounts of pain on a person and if the target didn't want to talk he was more than willing to show them all of his techniques...

*~*~*~*

In an equally small room in another part of Iysa another meeting was going on. One between the green haired woman and the doctor. "Doctor, it's about time we began the next step of my plan. How are preparations coming along?"

"Things are going as right as rain, I've sent the mage to gather some of the harder to get materials for the potion." the doctor replied, fixing his glasses on his nose.

"How many things are left for your potion? Because he needs to strike while the iron is hot..." Claire said, shooting an angry glare at the old man.

"Not much, in fact just one item is remaining. Just a tooth..."

*~*~*~*

"Ugh..." Aidan said, sliding back in the mud from the force of the blow, "Just one tooth... Damn you, old man... you could have told me where you wanted the tooth from earlier, I'd have gotten the girl to get this."

Robo only chuckled throatily at his remarks. "Silly little man thinks he can take me down... Ha! Should I tear you apart with my claws? Or should I crush your head between the teeth you want so badly?"

"Try whichever you want mutt, I'm still gonna tear your freaking jaw off." the mage said with a smirk.

Robo stood straight, he looked at the mage he towered over in shock for a few seconds, then he hunched over again, looking more muscular and angrier than before, and spoke through bared teeth, "A mutt?! A mutt! How dare you. You ARROGANT little [censored]. You are flesh and bone to fill my gullet, even the dimmest of prey knows to tread humbly lest they be devoured and you wander into my territory like a rabid sow. You walk among gods and monsters little mortal, you would do well to learn some manners..." Robo snarled viciously at Aidan before lowering himself to all four feet. "Allow me to instruct you!" With that he pounced, clearing the dozen or so feet in the blink of an eye, Aidan reacted fast enough to raise his staff to stop the brunt of the impact. It still knocked him clean onto his back. Robo rolled swiftly as he landed and stood hunched over, waiting for his prey to stand. Aidan lay there in the mud for a few seconds, listening to Robo growl incessantly, his staff had splintered in the impact. He got up slowly, throwing the splintered wood aside, and turned to face Robo, who was pawing at the dirt like a bull waiting to charge.

"Oh... You shouldn't have done that, that was my favorite staff mutt..." Aidan said readying himself for another attack. Robo's nostrils flared at the word 'mutt', he snarled and pounced again, aiming for the mage's fragile throat. This time though Aidan was ready, he shifted his weight to the side and barely dodged the attack. He raised his hand and struck at Robo causing a large flame to ripple through the air and punch a hole straight through Robo's chest. The beast fell to the floor with a loud whimper. The nearby Procks and Spiders who were waiting to scavenge a meal off a foolish mage disappeared behind the rocks and plants of Vine Tomb.

Aidan walked up to Robo, who was bleeding profusely from the holes in his chest and began to shake from the blood loss, and said with a smirk "You see mutt, I am stronger. I am Aidan Fyrecrest, the greatest fire-element mage ever. My flames destroy everything, the rocks of the mountain, the trees of the forest... the flesh and bones of minor creatures..." Robo's breath became more ragged, the intervals between breaths became larger. "Now if you will..." Aidan bent and wrenched a canine out of Robo's lifeless jaw. "Now to get you home lil fella." He said putting the large tooth into his pocket and pulling out a strange warp scroll.

*~*~*~*

It was late at night before Kitone returned to her room in the inn. She pulled the key out of her pocket and inserted it into the lock then paused. Something didn't feel right to her. She looked up and down the hall quietly, no one was there and the place was as silent as a tomb. She turned the key in the lock and it clicked open as usual, but something still felt off. Kitone stepped into the dark room and locked the door behind her, she threw her swords onto the chair near the window along with her cloak. As the blades hit the chair the candle on the dresser beside her lit with a soft whoosh. "It's nice to finally meet you Kitone." a female voice said behind her. Kitone span around and looked in the corner behind the door. There stood the 'Savior of Roumen', the Eluna of Prophesy, Sylvia.

"You must be Sylvia Eluna..." Kitone said dryly.

"That I am, and if you know who I am you also know the significance of this meeting. Being the premier researcher of this era of civilization I would expect no less." Sylvia said.

"I'd guess you're looking for an ally to help you fulfill your prophesy. But don't you already have five people?" Kitone asked mockingly.

"I would've had five, had one of them not decided against it. Since I have one space open and the rite needs five people..." Sylvia began.

"Rite? What rite?" Kitone asked.

"Well, I can't tell you that Kitone. After all I haven't even offered you your seat at the table yet. That is, if you're interested in joining my little group..." Sylvia said, a menacing smile on her face. Kitone that was when Kitone felt the cold feeling of a knife at her throat.

"Wha?! What's going on?" Kitone asked.

Sylvia laughed, "Oh that, that's my insurance policy. It's why the original fifth isn't here with us anymore." Sylvia motioned over her shoulder at her shadow. The candlelight had cast both of their shadows on the wall behind her, but her shadow didn't mimic her stance. Instead her shadow held a knife to the neck of Kitone's shadow. Shadow magics were an ancient and forbidden art. "Don't believe it's real? Here, let me show you..." Sylvia's shadow reached up and slashed Kitone's shadow's cheek, causing a shallow gash to appear on Kitone's face. Sylvia's shadow then raised her hand and Kitone could feel something wiping the blood from the cut even though nothing was there.

"So... Shadow magics. That's how you plan on making me agree?" Kitone said with a smile of her own, her research had shown her the fatal flaw with shadow magic. Kitone swiftly kicked the leg of the dresser with the side of her foot, causing it to shake roughly. The candle fell over, Kitone could feel the blade beginning to cut into her neck, the candle landed on the wick outing the flame instantly. It took a few seconds for Kitone's eyes to adjust to the darkness that had swallowed the room. She stood alone in the small room, a small trickle of blood streamed from the small cut on the neck and cheek.

"So... You don't want to join me?" Sylvia's disembodied voice said, "No matter, I have other candidates lined up. You will be killed Kitone, I will make sure of it..."

*~*~*~*

"I hope the stupid potion is worth it doc, it cost me one of my favorite staffs to get you that damned tooth." Aidan said grumpily as he watched the old man ground the tooth into a fine powder in a mortar. When the tooth was nothing but a white powder he poured it into a nearby flask. It turned the thick red bile in the flask into a transparent blue liquid that filled the room with it's musky scent.

The doctor took the vial and turned to Aidan, "Drink this. Try and do it in one go, this potion works fast and doesn't taste half as good as it looks..." Aidan looked at the doctor quizzically for a few seconds. "Or I could ask our fair lady to administer it for you..."

Taking the flask from the man Aidan replied, "Fine, I'll drink your silly little drink." With that he put the flask to his lips and drank it down in three large gulps. He exhaled loudly, contorting his facial muscles at the taste, "You right doc this thing tastes hor-" His words were cut short as he suddenly found himself unable to breathe. He grabbed at his throat, which began to feel like a hot coal was shoved down it. He felt the strength leaving his legs, as he fell to the floor of the doctor's lab the world went black.

The last thing he remembered before everything went silent was the doctor looking over him and saying, "Good, good. Just as planned."

[Orchids_Mantis]

Okay...someone come up with another verse of the song....

[Dragonfly77]

On the third day of Christmas you can see:

Three posts between my
Two posts on the last page
Of one fanfic of Fiesta

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Thirty-One: The Beast Of Moonlight

The morning sun caught the Elderine Guard protecting a group of Mages as the went over the crime scene. In the back of an alleyway a young woman lay dead, she was identified as the head of a small group of restaurants, a novice Senate member with a seat in the Finance and Commerce section. The cause of death was the loss of blood from the multitude of large injuries that were gouged into her body. "Bite marks and claw marks is what the clerics say these wounds are." One of the mages who looked at the body that lay in the alleyway, one of it's arms barely attached to its body.

Stepping over a large pool of blood another mage looked up at the claw marks in the wall, deep gouges in the hard stone of the building. "Whatever's doing this must be at least twelve feet tall, and pretty strong to be able to claw into stone like this let alone rip someone limb from limb." He said.

"And whatever it is it appears to be hunting Senate members. This is the third one in two nights. How do you not see something this big?! I mean there's no doubt in my mind that this was about as quiet as an group of boars mating... But yet we have no eye witnesses."

"All I know is I'd hate to have a seat on the Senate right about now..."

*~*~*~*

In the hills of Moonlight Tomb were home to a variety of creatures; large, monstrous ones. Among them was a species of wolf known as a Grave Wolf because of its fascination with digging up the graves that dotted the landscape. One had just taken down a bat and was gorging itself on the fresh meat when suddenly it's ears perked up and it wrenched its head back, looking around the surrounding area for something. A scent it had never smelled before wafted through his nostrils on a passing breeze, it smelled like a rival and he was in no mood to give up his food. He growled menacingly in an effort to scare of whatever it was he smelled but was instead met with an equally as menacing growl. The wolf began to second guess himself, maybe the food wasn't worth it, when a large beast leapt from the shadows and tackled him to the ground. It was at least twice his size, its bared fangs glistened moistly in the moonlight that bathed the area. With a swift swipe of its claw it killed the wolf, tearing through its head like it was nothing. The beast began to feed on its fresh kill when the air was filled with the sweet scent of a woman's perfume. The beast ignored it and continued eating, it knew it was the top of the food chain. That is, until the woman spoke.

"Aidan, you've done well... The Senate is quivering in fear," Sylvia said, "everything is going as planned. Mostly." The beast stood erect, a full height of fourteen feet, its long reddish black fur accentuated the large musculature it had. The tattered and torn rags that used to be a mage's robes held about his shoulders and waist, giving him a very foreboding look. There was no doubt about it, Aidan was now a werewolf.

He turned to her and snarled menacingly, blood dripping from his jawline. "You... You planned this!" He said with a snarl, "You had the doctor turn me into this beast! I can't even use my magic anymore. All I feel is this insatiable hunger, and no matter how much flesh I eat I yearn for more."

With a smirk Sylvia replied, "Relax, you're much more useful to the plan in this form anyway..." She took out a handkerchief and threw it to him, the dainty white fabric looked out of place in his fearsome claws. The cloth was stained a brownish red from blood. "Take that scent and kill that woman. She needs to be eliminated, as a contingency plan of sorts." Aidan took a large whiff of the scent on the handkerchief and looked menacingly at Sylvia who said, "When this is all done and the world has been saved, I'll make sure you get put back to normal."

*~*~*~*

The night sky bathed the Forest of Mist in a dim glow, the insects of the forest chirped noisily about. Kitone was making her way to Elderine to meet up with Athemis, who had called her, saying it was important she came. Under the cover of night she was making her way along the lonely paths in the forest. She stopped walking to listen to the woods, something was wrong, it became eerily quiet. She placed her hand on Pyrae's hilt when she heard the soft thud behind her. She spun around, drawing the sword, when her hand was caught just below her wrist, preventing her from attacking. Kitone looked up into the firey red eyes of a werewolf. It lifted her into the air, holding her in line with its head, and took a big whiff of her smell. With a throaty laugh it spoke, "Yep, you're the one. Didn't expect you to be so fiesty... or so quick."

"I get that a lot." Kitone said mockingly, reaching slowly for Aphonia. Unfortunately Aidan saw her motions and ripped the sword from her side, throwing it into a nearby set of bushes. With a firm pull he wrenched Pyrae from his grasp and threw it at a nearby tree, embedding it into the hard wood about twenty feet up from the forest floor. He turned and threw Kitone with all his might into a tree behind him. Her back hit the tree hard, splintering the wood into a little crater. She coughed up blood when she hit, and gasped for air and writhed in pain when she landed on the ground.

Aidan began to make his way over to Kitone, "I don't know what you did girl, but whatever you did really pissed off Sylvia. So I'm gonna make this quick, so I can savor your flesh." He bent to pick up Kitone when she rolled over and slashed his shin with her knife. The serrated blade made a jagged wound, which bled profusely. Aidan stepped back in shock as Kitone got back onto her feet and spat the remaining blood from her mouth.

"So... She sent you to oust me? She keeps her word, pity she underestimated me." Kitone said taking a fighting stance, trying to hide the flaring pain of her broken ribs, holding her knife high, blood dripping from the tip. "You may be bigger than me, but really... You throw like a girl."

[captaingammer]

My money's on the vicious, animalistic, indiscriminate killing machine.

Poor Aidan.

[Dragonfly77]

Ditto to above.

Victim 1: Mage
Victim 2: Mage
Victim 3: Archer (or the mage cousin)
Victim 4: Mage

...I ought to avenge my kin...


-Con

[d11945]

Ditto to above.

Victim 1: Mage
Victim 2: Mage
Victim 3: Archer (or the mage cousin)
Victim 4: Mage

...I ought to avenge my kin...


-Con

Lol yeah, us mages eem to get targetted for bad things all the time....
First getting almost digested by a slime, then getting transformed into a werewolf....
sheesh
-Dracice

[T3h_SyN]

You know, you mages sure do complain a lot...

[d11945]

It's cuz we get killed so much :(

[darkpaper]

-walks in-
Erm.....Hey :3
I'd like to apply to be another victim character in your story - which is singlehandedly the best piece of writing I have ever read from a non-professional author.

Here's my application:

Name: Dinyth
Class:Fighter
Weapon:A katana [worn in a leather sheath on her back like this (http://anime-wallpapers.com/images/800x600/espada-2.jpg) but full katana size and at waist height]
Notes: Dinyth is an easily excitable warrior however not one to be trifled with when it comes to battle. She can be serious when she needs to and has a strange tendency to find trouble wherever she goes.
Background: Dinyth began a strict training regime in a land far away from Isya. Her master -an now unknown woman that has since been forgotten by most- was killed when Dinyth was 10. Dinyth filled with rage at the death of her master took up her blade and slew the creature that had terrorized the surrounding lands and killed her beloved master.
She vowed to slay evil from that day forth and has since made the journey to Isya where she now resides fighting against the dark forces that threaten to overwhelm the land.
Physical Profile: Dinyth has dark brown eyes and a long platinum blonde ponytail that reaches her waist. She usually wears armor made of a material so old that the secrets of its creation have been long forgotten [It looks like leather - Just to make this a bit easier c:]

Sorry if that's too detailed or a bit confusing but I'm thinking of starting to write some fan-fiction of my own and I kinda let my imagination run wild :P

[T3h_SyN]

-walks in-
Erm.....Hey :3
I'd like to apply to be another victim character in your story - which is singlehandedly the best piece of writing I have ever read from a non-professional author.

Here's my application:

Name:Dinyth
Class:Fighter
Weapon:A katana [worn in a leather sheath on her back like this (http://anime-wallpapers.com/images/800x600/espada-2.jpg) but full katana size and at waist height]
Notes: Dinyth is an easily excitable warrior however not one to be trifled with when it comes to battle. She can be serious when she needs to and has a strange tendency to find trouble wherever she goes.
Background: Dinyth began a strict training regime in a land far away from Isya. Her master -an now unknown woman that has since been forgotten by most- was killed when Dinyth was 10. Dinyth filled with rage at the death of her master took up her blade and slew the creature that had terrorized the surrounding lands and killed her beloved master.
She vowed to slay evil from that day forth and has since made the journey to Isya where she now resides fighting against the dark forces that threaten to overwhelm the land.
Physical Profile: Dinyth has dark brown eyes and a long platinum blonde ponytail that reaches her waist. She usually wears armor made of a material so old that the secrets of its creation have been long forgotten [It looks like leather - Just to make this a bit easier c:]

Sorry if that's too detailed or a bit confusing but I'm thinking of starting to write some fan-fiction of my own and I kinda let my imagination run wild :P

Noted, welcome aboard the fun-time-happy train ;3 Next chapter is en route.

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Thirty-Two: Wolf's Bane

Kitone stood her ground, each deep and ragged breath sent a pain up her left side. "Definitely, definitely one or two are broken... I need to get to a Healer now..." she thought to herself.

Aidan made his way over to her slowly, chuckling a throaty laugh, "It hurts doesn't it? Your broken ribs. I can smell the blood on each breath you take, you're a wounded animal... You should just give up the fight."

Kitone managed to crack a sly smile, "What? And take away the fun of the hunt from you?"

Aidan stopped in his tracks, "You really are an interesting person. Now I wonder, which side is broken?" With that Aidan closed in and swung his claw at her right side. Kitone quickly dropped her guard to block the attack, the blow slid her back a few inches. She knew it, he was playing with her. He was looking for her injuries to torture her to her last breath. "Oh... not that side, oh well the odds I've found it now are pretty good." he said while attacking at her left side. Kitone stepped towards Aidan and span to her right, slicing up Aidan's chest with her knife. The she stepped on his bent knee, span and kicked him square in the chest, using him as a platform to jump back and put some distance between her and Aidan. Aidan stumbled back from the series of blows, this girl was putting up more of a fight than all the others combined. He placed a claw to his chest, it became covered in the warm stickiness of his blood. He snarled and rushed Kitone, slashing at her chest. Kitone kept dodging as sliding backwards, thinking she had the upper hand in speed until she noticed something. On one of his attacks she stumbled slightly on a patch of mushrooms that fell apart under her feet, causing her to lose balance for a split second, but his attack didn't hit her, instead it fell just short. He was pulling his attacks, leading her where he wanted her to go. Through the haze of her pain and the fear she had felt of increasing the damage on her side she had forgotten the most basic of fighting rules: move around, never in one direction constantly. Sadly this euphoria came too late, she stepped back once more into the thick trunk of a large tree. "Haha, this ends now!" Aidan said, slashing at her for the final time. Kitone fell to her knees, dodging the slash, and quickly lunged at his neck with her knife.

That was when she realized she had been played right into his trap. As the knife barreled towards his heart a twisted smile broke on his face, he knew she was going to do that. At Kitone's full thrust the tip of the knife barely spread the hairs on his chest. She had judged her strike distance on his earlier attacks. Attacks where he bent his arm. Now that he was attacking from full arm's length he was out of her reach. "Tch, damn." was all she could mutter before Aidan grabbed her hand and pulled her into the air again.

"Now the wounded beast has no claw..." Aidan simply said as he forced Kitone's hand open with his claw, the knife hitting the grass with a dull thud followed by the steady patter of blood drops falling from the wounds his nails had left on her hand. "Now... Now I'll beat the life out of you." Kitone wriggled in his firm grasp but he held fast. In one swift motion he yanked her up and over his shoulder, her boots scraping lines into the tree as he did so. With the same speed and force as the initial motion he pulled her back around his side, and slammed her into the tree. Even though her chest piece absorbed most of the attack she still hit it hard. She heard the crack as another rib broke, the pain was so intense now it was deafening. She looked at Aidan, he was speaking but she heard no words, the only thing her body could process was the pain. Then she felt him pulling her back again. She panicked and kicked at hit arm, with little effect. When she reached the peak of the arc over his shoulder she felt her hand move. It was slight, but she had slipped in his grasp. The blood from her wound had flowed down her hand and was acting as a lubricant. She wriggled her wrist, and was rewarded with another few millimeters of movement. As the reached the end of the arc Aidan was pulling her through she smiled. It was her turn to do something unexpected.

Firstly she needed to survive the swing. Kitone gritted her teeth as Aidan swung her at the tree again, and pulled her lower body towards his arm and wrapped her legs around it. Searing pain shot across her chest as her broken ribs made themselves known again but she couldn't afford to hit the tree again, her armor was already dented onto her side, there would be nothing to cushion the impact this time around. Aidan looked at his arm when he didn't get the resounding crunch of wood he was hoping for and saw Kitone wrapped firmly around his arm. With a growl he did exactly what she wanted, her swung his arm back. As she passed over his shoulder she gave one hard pull on her hand and wrenched it free of his grip. Her momentum caused her to soar through the air, into the top of the tree where Pyrae had been embedded.

Aidan spun around and saw Kitone perched in the tree, using the blade to keep her aloft. Aidan dropped to all four limbs and ran like an animal, jumping to lunge at the fighter. When he leapt so did Kitone, she pushed off the tree, Pyrae splintered the wood as it tore through the bark of the tree, leaving charred splinters in it's wake. The edge of the sword seemed to glow red in the dim light of the moon. Kitone met his outstretched claw with her attack, cleaving cleanly through his arm. She landed and rolled behind him, stopping in a kneeling position coughing up blood. She moved a little too fast with that attack and her body was letting her know. Aidan looked at the lump of arm that Kitone left, she cut just above the elbow, and it took a second for the shock of the attack to wear off and the pain to set in.

Aidain howled in pain, a cry that sounded like a wounded animal and a men screamin in harmony. He flailed and fell to the ground, writhing in pain. He slowly got to his feet, screaming out with every breath he took. He grabbed at the wound and growled before howling. There was a sizzling sound and the air became filled with the smell of burning meat. Kitone raised her head and looked at Aidan, his remaining hand had a red aura around it. Both of them looked at the aura silently until Aidan broke the silence with his laugh, "Hahaha! I must thank you girl. You've somehow awoke my magic. Even though it cost me my arm I'm happy. For this I'll Kill you quickly."

Aidan walked over to Kitone, the crimson flames licking harmlessly at his fur. Kitone couldn't move, she was at her end, she could barely breath in. Painfully she got to her feet and held the sword in front of her. "One strike. That's all I have left..." she said to Aidan.

"A warrior to the end." Aidan said as he conjured a fireball and threw it at her. Kitone didn't move, the fireball hit her on her gauntlet, flaring harmlessly against the metal. He was still toying with her. She became used to his methods: Feint an attack and then charge into the opening they make. Aidan threw another fireball, then another, and another. Each fireball glanced harmlessly off her armor. Aidan growled and hurled a large fireball at her, dead center on her chest. Kitone shifted her weight, causing Pyrae to slice the fireball down the middle. It dissipated mere inches from her, the heat singeing the leather straps of the armor. Aidan growled furiously as Kitone laughed at his attempts. He rushed in, the flames around his claw were white, and struck at Kitone, a thrust for her head. Kitone looked him in the eyes and smiled.

"One strike."

She stepped into the attack, putting Pyrae between her and the claw. The blade cut easily into the flesh, powering through bone and sinew. The sword continued it's motion, going down his hand and into his forearm, propelled by Kitone's forward motion and his attack's motion. The sword shattered his elbow, splaying blood around Kitone, and kept moving upwards. There was nothing Aidan could do to stop it. Kitone pulled the blade towards her side, slashing through his shoulder and neck, exiting just under his jaw.

With Aidan defeated Kitone fell forward in exhaustion. Her eyelids felt heavy, but she couldn't rest, not in the middle of nowhere with such dangerous injuries. She pulled herself onto her feet and retrieved Aphonia from the bushes it had been tossed into, and started towards Elderine.

*~*~*~*

Athemis came downstairs from her room in her home, someone was knocking on her door, "I'm coming, I'm coming! Jeez... who could be knocking this late at night." With a click she unlocked the door and pulled it open, to see Kitone standing there, covered in blood and clutching her side. "Kit! What are you- are you alright?"

"Hey Ath..." Was all Kitone could muster before collapsing into the doorway. She was unconsious before she even hit the floor. Ath stared at her lifeless body for a while in shock when she noticed the blood trickling from her mouth.

"Oh Teva... Tempy, I need your help!"

[Dragonfly77]

For a minute there, I thought Aidan would win...

[d11945]

Ouch....one epic fight....but reading this made me wince a few times <.<

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Thirty-Three: Ties That Bind

The moon shone brightly on the dead beast, glistening his blood in a bluish light, the two pieces of it lay separated. A lone cloud drifted across the sky blocking out the moonlight, sending the forest into darkness. Aidan's corpse lay still among the chirping of the nighttime insects, until the sounds of grass crushing underfoot scared them off. Sylvia walked into the clearing, over to Aidan's body and bent, stroking his lifeless muzzle. Without a word she reached into her coat and pulled out a small jar, the clear glass was covered in scratches, runic markings to be precise, and placed it on the ground. With a sigh she spoke, "Aidan, I'm glad I got to work with you. You followed my orders to the end. As I promised, I'll return you to your true form." She stood and waved her hands over the corpse, reciting an incantation. The corpse slowly began to burn in a dark blue flame and with a wave of her hands the flames leapt from the corpse and became one in midair. "Here you are Aidan, the truest form you ever can hope to achieve. I've returned you to the form of your soul." She said with a smile. Suddenly the jar lit up and the flame was sucked into it. Inside the jar the flame balled up and became a pitch black pearl the floated above the bottom of the glass.

"And so it begins..."

*~*~*~*

Kitone opened her eyes and was greeted by a bright white light. She blinked her eyes a few times then realized there was no light, there was just nothing but white. Kitone sat up and placed a hand to her chest, there was no pain. Her memory was hazy, she remembered the fight with the werewolf in the Forest of Mist, she remembered her injuries, the painful trek to Athemis's house in Elderine but after seeing Athemis in the doorway it goes hazy. "Where am I?" Kitone said to herself.

"The world between worlds." a voice said, seemingly coming from inside Kitone's head. Kitone looked around bewildered and then saw her. She floated in the air before Kitone, her robes and jet black hair seemed to seemed to flow in a wind that didn't blow, and wore a mask over her face. The mask had no features whatsoever, it was just a flat white surface. Kitone realized who she was from the ancient texts, she was Ayrmid, the deity that presided over the passing of souls. She was said to be the one who decided if you lived to see another day or moved into the other world.

Kitone got to her feet, "You're Ayrmid! That would mean..." Kitone looked up to the goddess who simply returned a solemn nod. "N-no... It... It can't be... I can't be-"

"You can't be what? Dead?" came a voice from behind Kitone. It didn't sound menacing at all, but it sent every fiber of her being into fear. She turned around slowly and saw her shadow on the 'ground' lengthen away from her. From the pitch black shadow an equally black hand rose and placed itself on the ground to one side. Another soon found it's way out to the other side, both of the hands pushed as something rose from her shadow. The thing was at least three times Kitone's height and resembled nothing Kitone had ever seen. It seemed to lack depth, as if it was a sheet of paper. This was a being composed of pure darkness, a Shade. These were the underlings of Ayrmid, the swift hands of death that carried a dark soul into the netherworld. Kitone stepped back in fear, stumbling and falling to the floor. "Little mortals never learn." it said, moving towards her slowly. "You think you're so high and mighty, you put up a good show but that's all it is. When the facade crumbles you show your true colors. You. Are. Nothing."

"Enough!" Ayrmid said waving her hand to the side, the Shade seemed to blow away like dust in the wind. The Shade's words echoed in her ears, "Do not let him dishearten you child." Kitone looked up at the masked face of Ayrmid and felt a resonating calmness, as if all her worries had been wiped away. "Yes, your injuries were fatal. It was thanks to your endurance you managed to make it to the archer girl's house. You should have died in the forest along with that beast. Unfortunately there have been influences to the things that be..."

"How so?" Kitone asked.

"It matters not to you, it reaches far beyond the realm of your comprehension. Let me just say that you're injuries should be fatal, but you will be spared." With that Ayrmid lowered herself to the floor, landing with a soft patter, "Let us meet again in the distant future Kitone..." With this she placed her hand on Kitone's face and Kitone suddenly felt unbearably tired, her next blink slid her into a deep sleep.

*~*~*~*

Templana stepped out of the guest bedroom where she and Athemis had carried Kitone, she held a bowl with some bloody rags and bandages and handed them to Athemis, who was waiting in the hallway to give her cousin the space to maneuver in the small room. "How is she? Is she alright?" Athemis asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

Templana looked at Athemis sadly and shook her head, "Her injuries were truly severe, I'm amazed she even made it to the door. What ever did that to her obviously wanted to make her dead. She had broken ribs, many of them punctured organs. I tried Ath, really I did. I healed her as best I could but I couldn't revive her, it was as if something was stopping her from returning to her body." Athemis couldn't bring herself to articulate her sadness, she dropped the bowl and cried into Templana's shoulder. Templana hugged Athemis, comforting her as she mourned when suddenly the was a sound from the room she just left. It sounded like...

"Someone just took a deep breath!" Athemis said, running into the room. There on the bed lay Kitone, her chest arched, gasping air into her lungs. She collapsed back onto the bed, breathing rapidly, her eyes opened slightly and she looked around the room. She turned her head and saw Athemis standing in the doorway and feebly said, "I'm not dead yet, why are you crying?"

*~*~*~*

It was five days before Kitone was back on her feet without pain, all thanks to Templana's healing skills. She sat in Athemis's small kitchen enjoying a small breakfast with Athemis. "So Ath, why'd you call me here?" Kitone asked while she spread strawberry jam on a slice of bread.

"Well you know how Raime takes recruits from anywhere provided they have qualifications right?" Athemis said before taking a sip of her tea. Kitone nodded, her mouth full of bread. "Well, you wouldn't believe who turned up at my door the other day..."

Kitone swallowed her bread noisily, washing it down with some milk. "Who did?" she asked.

"You'll see, we're heading there after we finish." Athemis replied with a smirk.

*~*~*~*

The barracks of Raime were located towards the back of the guild's building, past the main desk. Athemis built the barracks to hold members of the guild that were either just coming out of the Academy and had no place of their own or people that were under special training from the guild itself. The green haired archer sitting cross-legged on her bunk was one of the latter set of people. Her crossbow lay in front of her in pieces, she had taken it apart to see it's inner workings, and was apparently having trouble putting it back together. Her green hair was in a long braid that reached down her back and onto the bed as she sat hunched over trying to figure out where the gear she had in her hand went on the crossbow.

"That's the tension gear, it controls the amount of power in the draw, it goes right here." Athemis said, pointing to a small notch near the firing mechanisms.

"Oh! Thanks Lady Athemis!" the girl said, slowly but surely putting the bow back together now that she had gotten over that hurdle. A second set of footsteps walked into the room, ignored by the younger archer until they heard someone speaking.

"A crossbow Ath? Really? She's barely comfortable with a regular bow." A female voice joked. The archer's ears seemed to perk up at the sound of the voice.

"Sis!" The younger archer said turning and leaping out of her bunk at the sound of the voice. Kitone watched as her younger sister careened through the air at her and took a step to the side at the last second, causing the girl to fall to the floor with a thud.

Kitone burst into laughter at this, "Man... That never gets old." She stooped and helped her younger sister onto her feet and asked, "Sienna, what are you doing here?"

"Mama said I was old enough to lead a life of my own, and that I should continue my training elsewhere." Sienna said, hugging her sister tightly.

"It's true she even wrote her a letter of recommendation." Athemis said, sitting on the bed and finishing the reconstruction of the crossbow. Kitone broke off the hug and stepped back to take a good look at her little sister. She certainly had grown in the years since Kitone left home. She was no longer the waist-high runt that used to chase her around the house, she had grown into a beautiful young woman. She was the splitting image of their mother, green hair and elven features, nothing like Synna and her, who took after their human father.

"So runt, you're learning how to use a crossbow now?" Kitone asked.

"I'm no runt anymore!" Sienna began, crossing her arms angrily, "And yes, I'm learning the crossbow... She's teaching me." Sienna unfurled an arm and pointed at an archer that had just entered the room. Kitone turned and looked at her sister's tutor and gasped slightly.

"Cap... Cap Gammer is your tutor?" Kitone said to her sister as she watched the blond haired archer approach. She could feel the heat from her blushing cheeks.

"Yea, she is. Why, do you know her?" Sienna asked, blissfully unaware of the relationship the two of them had.

Cap closed the gap between them and nodded to her apprentice, "Yea, I know her quite well actually. Go help Athemis put your bow back together, maybe you'll be able to do it next time." Sienna nodded and ran back to her bunk leaving Kitone and Cap to themselves.

"Cap..." Kitone said, "You look good."

"As do you." Cap said, looking away uneasily.

"Cap, I just want to say-" Kitone began before Cap interrupted.

"Kitone, it's okay. What happened, happened. It's in the past and there's nothing we can do about it now. I'll admit that it was a hard and lonely time, but I got through it," Cap said with a faint and awkward smile, then she pointed towards Sienna, "She helped me get over it. I decided that spending my life at the bottom of a bottle wasn't doing me any good so I took an apprentice. Fate would have to give my the sister of the woman I loved." Cap giggled at that and Kitone laughed with her.

"I'm glad to hear you're doing better Cap and thanks for taking care of my runt of a sister. At least I know she's in capab-" Kitone said, cut off by a shout form behind them. Both Kitone and Cap looked at the bunk. Sienna was standing now, her whisphone in hand.

"What?! What do you mean their caravan was attacked?! Are they okay?" Sienna shouted into the phone, scarcely waiting for an answer before she rattled off the next question. "Oh Teva... I'm on my way." She pocketed the whisphone and scooped up her crossbow, that Athemis had just finished reassembling, and started for the exit of the barracks.

"Sienna!" Kitone shouted, running and grabbing her sister's arm, "What's wrong? What happened?"

Sienna whirled around, tears welling up in her green eyes, "A caravan was attacked, and Mama and Papa were with it! I just got called by Avon, Mama's been injured..." Kitone stepped back, letting her sisters hand fall from her grasp, and stood in silence. Within seconds Sienna was out the door and into the streets of Elderine. Kitone swallowed hard and reached up and undid the ribbon in her hair, letting it fall loosely around her face and ran out the door after her.

*~*~*~*

Sienna nimbly moved through the crowd, her height and natural elven dexterity made her slip through the crowd like a river amongst the rocks. Kitone was a bit more brash, only a few paces behind Sienna, she pushed her way through the crowd to keep up with her faster sister. Eventually they reached the door of her childhood home. Kitone was the second child of a pair of wealthy merchants. Her mother was an elven hunter who married a human swordsman, both of them had a passion for the mercantile arts and very soon they had turned their simple hunt-and-sell stall into a thriving merchant guild known as Wolfhead. They entered the house, their boots resounded noisily on the marble tiles as they ran to the master bedroom.

Sienna pushed open the doors and saw their mother lying in bed, looking out the window. Sienna could see a large bandage across her chest through the opening of her robe, and ran over to her with tears streaming down her face. "Mama!" she said, wrapping her arms around the older elf gently, "How bad is it?"

Her mother looked down at her daughter's face and cracked a feeble smile, "It's not that bad, I've had closer brushes with death before." Sienna looked at her mother closely, she could see it in her eyes that her mother was only trying to comfort her. "A group of bandits attacked the caravan as we moved through Goblin Camp. We tried to defend it, but we were overwhelmed. Maybe if I was a few years younger I wouldn't have gotten hit by that sword."

"Maybe this'll act as wake-up call to remind you hpw old you two are..." Kitone said from the doorway. She watched as her mother's faint smile warped into a twisted scowl.

"You..." she said, raising her hand and pointing her finger at her, wincing from the pain of moving too fast, "Why are you in this house? I thought your father and I told you never to set foot in here again!"

"Mama..." Sienna began, trying to get her mother to calm down.

"No Sienna, it's alright... I only came because I heard you were injured, since you're fine I'll leave. Just answer me this one question."

"What is it?" her mother asked, obviously agitated.

"Where's Dad?"

[Orchids_Mantis]

Kitone has another sister...interesting

[Dragonfly77]

Epic. Just epic. Sweet job kit!!

[Orchids_Mantis]

wait a sec...which Gammer is Kit married to again?

[Dragonfly77]

She's married to Cons, but she had a crush on Cap.

[Orchids_Mantis]

that must make for awkward family reunions

[T3h_SyN]

It's not as bad as you think, we worked it out ;3

[Orchids_Mantis]

we worked it out ;3






bow-chicka-bow-wow


Tukker...aren't you in the wrong game?


I'm like Superman, I go wherever I'm needed

[Dragonfly77]

*lost*
10char

[Orchids_Mantis]

Tukker is a character from RedVsBlue (video game comedy series made from Halo games)

Whenever someone makes a comment that he can spin off as an innuendo he goes, "Bow-chicka-bow-wow".

[Dragonfly77]

..Get on Meebo!! I need to talk to you about the fanfics!

[Orchids_Mantis]

I can't, I keep getting a "cannot display webpage" warning when I try to sign in...

[Dragonfly77]

I can't, I keep getting a "cannot display webpage" warning when I try to sign in...

If that happens, go to your profile. It signs you in there.

[Orchids_Mantis]

I'm on my profile now...still can't sign in


...if Meebo has anything to do with google...then that may explain the problem (China and google are having a bit of a dispute right now)

[Dragonfly77]

i don't know then >.o

[d11945]

That was an interesting chapter o.o....
@ Orchids
I didn't know you lived in China :O

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Thirty-Four: A Shot In The Dark

The sun set behind the far hill, plunging Goblin Camp into darkness. Goblin Camp lay nestled between a ring of steep hills. It was an undulating valley, pockmarked by perilous ravines. Kitone watched as the sun dipped behind the mountains, the shadows creeping further and further along the valley floor. Kitone sat on a nearby rock and took a piece of jerky from her bag and took a bite, chewing the tough meat as she watched the various goblin encampments become bathed in light. A scuttling of rocks behind her reminded her why she hadn't reached the bandit camp yet.

*~*~*~*

She was walking through Vine Tomb, the overgrown section of graveyards that were once a part of the graveyards of Moonlight Tomb, when she heard a branch snap underfoot behind her. She slowed her walking but didn't look behind her, she didn't want to let on to her pursuer she was aware of their presence. She stepped quietly, listening to the almost silent footsteps a few paces behind her. "Hmm... They're keeping pace with me. Single person, fairly agile. Probably a rookie bounty hunter biting off more than they can chew... Isyan Hunter's wouldn't come after me alone, or make sloppy mistakes like that." Kitone stepped past a large shrub and quickly stepped behind it. The tracker took the bait, Kitone heard her footsteps run to the edge of the tree and stop, obviously wary to peek around the shrub in case Kitone was laying in wait. Kitone peered around the far side of the shrub and saw the leggings of an hunter's gear on the edge of the bush. "Heh, a tracker eh..." Kitone thought, stooping to pick up a small stone from the ground. Under a nearby tree a Tomb Fox stood, unaware of the two people nearby; at least until Kitone threw the stone near its foot. The Fox's disembodied head swiveled around leaving its body facing the tree, and spotted the person waiting by the shrub.

"Aha! I see you!" it shouted in its shrill yet throaty voice, its body turning and started running towards the person. Kitone heard her tracker shout out as it heard the beast charging and when it started running. Kitone was ready for them, and grabbed the archer as she stepped past the edge of the tree and threw her to the ground. The Tomb Fox was right behind the archer and Kitone knew that the creatures of Isya would track their prey for a while before giving up the chase, unless something happened to them to 'persuade' them to stop chasing. As the Fox rounded the shrub Kitone swung as sheathed Pyrae, the blade holder hit it square on the side of its head. The force was larger than the magics that kept the head attached to the body could handle and it went flying, screaming as it soared into the distance. Almost comically the body stopped, patted the spot its head was just occupying and was seemingly surprised when it didn't find anything. The Fox's body ran off to search for its head. Kitone was about to laugh when she heard the tell-tale click of a crossbow being readied to fire. The archer was apparently more nimble than Kitone had given her credit for.

"Drop the sword. Now!" The archer said with authority. Kitone smiled, she knew that voice.

"Looks like you got me Sienna." she said, turning to face her sister. Sienna rose from her crouched position and disengaged her crossbow, slinging it over her shoulder. Kitone walked over and placed her hand on Sienna's shoulder and asked, "What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to stay with Mom?"

Sienna nodded and spoke, "Yea, but Mama insisted she was fine and sent me back to Raime but Mistress Cap gave me permission to follow you. She said it was good field training for me and she asked me to give this to you." Sienna pulled a rolled-up scroll and handed it to Kitone. Kitone removed the ribbon that held it tied and unfurled the scroll and read it.

Kit,

Your sister told me what happened to your parents, and that you told her to stay behind. Kitone, you have a knack for thinking you're invincible and getting into trouble way over your head. Just trust me, I have a feeling that this time you're really getting in over your head, to take on a clan of bandits that could attack a large caravan by yourself is just suicide.

But I know that my pleas for help are falling on deaf ears so I gave Sienna permission as her Master to follow you and provide assistance, she's trained in stealth and sniping. Plus she needs the field training more than anything now, and since I know you'll come out victorious, like you always do, she'll be in good hands.

Yours Truly
Cap

Kitone stood and looked at her sister, who had since taken out her map and was apparently studying the terrain of Goblin Camp, and shrugged her shoulders. "If Cap says you're good enough to provide back-up then I guess you can come..." Kitone said as she turned towards the path to Goblin Camp.

*~*~*~*

"Why didn't we take the gate to Goblin Camp sis?" Sienna whined as she trudged down to Kitone, sweat beading on her brow.

"Three simple reasons," Kitone said, pointing to the valley floor below, "Firstly, you can't survey the entire Camp easily from where the gate puts you. Secondly, majority of your hunts, if you stay in Raime, will take place in the land that gates bypass so it's a wake-up call for a novice like you. Lastly, in case you didn't know this, the gates can only be used by people under the Henneath Alliance and prisoners are stripped of that right as a means of dissuading escape." Sienna sat silently, unsure of what to say. In her eyes she had just stepped on her sister's toes, so to speak. So she sat beside her sister and brought her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them. Kitone watched as her sister sat and remembered her as a young girl, sitting like that when she thought that she had done something wrong. "Relax sis, you wouldn't have known about that last one, and it's okay. Really. I've become used to my outlaw status," Kitone said, "plus, the exercise is good."

Sienna couldn't help but laugh as she relaxed a bit, taking the time to look down below. "So where do you think these bandits are?" she said.

Kitone replied, "It's easy really, look at the camps down there. You see how some of them have a big fire in the middle, and cast long shadows away from it?" The archer nodded a few times. "Those," Kitone continued, "are actual Goblin camps, the stuff that give this place its name. You se the others that have a few fires surrounding a single pillar? Those are some sort of religious monument to the Goblins here. But you see that one, in the far corner of the valley, the one with the many little fires..."

"Those are the campfires of the bandits?" Sienna asked, looking up at her sister, who had taken out a old map.

"Bingo." Kitone said, the map in her hands changing colors as it redrew itself.

"What's that?" Sienna asked.

"This is a Researcher's Map, it's a specialized map, it displays information that normal maps don't display, like the topography of the land. Look, right here," Kitone said, pointing to an spot on the red hills nearby the location of the bandit camp, "You see this orange spot in the middle of the red? That's a plateau, you can set up a defensive position there. It'll keep you out of the fray and it'll provide me with somewhere to get in and out." Sienna nodded in understanding as Kitone drew a path through the hills around the valley. "We'll take this path, lets go."

*~*~*~*

Bandits were no uncommon occurrence in Isya, Mara's brother Marlone headed a large group of rowdy ones. There were also more secretive groups, like Claire's organization; 'Shadow's Shadow'; and then there were the remaining few. These were the guys were were the lowest of the low. The type of people who'd like to see the world burn, knowing that they threw some gas on the flames. These bandits robbed merchant caravans, stealing weapons and foodstuffs, selling them to groups of monsters. It was people like these guys, who were in Goblin Camp to sell their latest batch of goods to the Goblins, that kept the beasts armed with swords, staves and other weapons. They traveled in nomadic groups, finding out what various monsters and other nefarious groups wanted and then stalked the caravan paths until they were sure they had enough to appease their buyers. They set up camp at night wherever they were and set guards to areas surrounding the camp.

"Look at them stars..." one bandit guard said to the other, leaning back against a large rock. The two of them had been stationed to the plateau to prevent anyone from sneaking over the hill and into their camp. Both were armed with a short sword and a bow, but both were busy watching the stars in the sky to notice that their footsteps in the dirt were louder than usual.

"Yea, you don't see em like that in the to-" the second guard said, interrupted by a loud click behind him. He spun around to see a green haired archer crouched on top of the rock, her crossbow trained at him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a red haired fighter slide over the rock beside his comrade, grabbing him and placing a knife to his neck.

"Evening 'gentlemen'," the archer said, "Nice night isn't it?" The two bandits nodded nervously.

"You were right," the fighter said to the first bandit, "The stars are nice." With that she slit his throat, letting his limp body fall to the floor. The remaining bandit opened his mouth to raise an alarm when the archer fired. Once, twice, three times, he was dead before he hit the ground.

Wiping the blood off her knife Kitone spoke, "You stay here and provide cover, think you can shoot this far?"

Sienna looked down at the camp below and smiled, "Eighty-three feet to the farthest wall, fifty-four to the nearest. Good lighting, no wind. I can do this easy."

*~*~*~*

Sienna was always a good shot, her mother noticed that as she learnt the ways of a bow. "Sienna always wants to push the target back." their mother used to say to her father. "She'll be reaching into territory I can't show her soon." Their mother had instilled the basics of archery into her: how to shoot, how to correct her shot because of the environment, how to make minor poisons. To teach her how to be a sniper, that was not something she knew. Their mother was a master poison maker, coupled with her natural dexterity made her excel in hunting in the close range. Her poisons were always potent, bringing down large beasts in seconds. That was not to be the same of her daughter. Sienna was just as agile as she was but she was extremely accurate, even at increased range.

She sent her to Raime, the best hunting guild she could think of, one of the perks was that she knew the Guild Master personally. Her second daughter was good friends with the girl that grew to become the great huntress it took to head such a large and efficient guild. Athemis took in Kitone's younger sister with open arms and took her straight into her training range. In her years as Raime's leader she had devised a set of tests that told her what sort of archer her recruits were, so she could tailor their training routines to help maximize their potential. As soon as Sienna stepped into the range she started aiming for the long range targets, hitting them with a bit of work with her bow. Athemis smiled, "This girl's definitely going to be a great sniper one day. But she's gonna be hampered by that bow..." She left Sienna shooting at the targets and went to the guild's storage and returned with a crossbow. Handing it to Sienna she quickly went over the basics of crossbow shooting and maintenance and told her to try the long range targets again. Sienna crouched instinctively to steady her aim and shot, the first few times was off target but eventually she got the hang of it and was nailing the targets with ease.

Then she was placed under Cap's tutelage and her abilities flourished. Cap taught her how a crossbow worked, how to maintain it and most importantly how to snipe. Cap herself saw the potential in her apprentice and waited patiently for an oppourtunity to send her out into the field.

[T3h_SyN]

Chatper 34: A Shot In The Dark (ctd)

Kitone slid gently to a stop near the palisade wall that the bandits had erected. She hid in the darkness its shadow created and snuck to the rear gate of the camp. From her perch on the hill Sienna lay between the rocks, her crossbow trained at the gate, watching the two gate guards talking. "These guys have no discipline..." Sienna said, readying her crossbow. She watched as Kitone moved towards the edge of the shadows and tapped on the wood. The guards drew their weapons and stepped into the night to investigate the sound. She squeezed her finger once, the arrow flew into the night. Almost gracefully it traveled on an expert arc, ending embedded in the neck of the bandit in the rear. "Kill confirmed." Sienna said as the bandit fell over into a lifeless heap. A second squeeze of the trigger caught the other bandit in his neck as her turned to see what had happened to his partner. "Two for two." She said with a smile as she let the tip of the crossbow lower.

Kitone checked the bandits with an astonished smile on her face, her sister was surprisingly effective. Kitone peered up to the hill and could barely make out the archer among the shadows cast by the rocks. She turned her attention back to the camp, peering around the gate. There were a couple tents, with small fires in front of them. In the opposite corner of the camp there was a large steel cage with what appeared to be people in it. "Those must be the captured merchants... They were probably planning to sell them as slaves..." Kitone said to her self. She made her way around the camp, darting from shadow to shadow until she got to the cage.

Kitone pressed herself up against the cage and peered in. There were about ten people in the cage, majority of them wore the Wolfhead guild seal, a few of them had some injuries from their capture. A few of them glanced over to her, including the old fighter who sat in the middle of the cage. His short red hair had faded with age but his amber eyes sparkled with a certain youthful exuberance. He stood up when he recognized Kitone, running towards the bars. He spoke in a hushed tone, "Kitone, what are you doing here?! Get out of here before they find you!"

"Dad..." Kitone said, pausing to embrace her father, "I'm here to get you guys out of here. You know I don't let those close to me come into harm if I can help it."

"And you come into this camp alone?" Her father asked perplexedly.

"You know I can handle myself in a fight Dad." Kitone replied, "And I'm not alone, Sienna's here too."

Her father was flabbergasted. "You brought your youngest sister with you on a reckless rescue mission!" He said angrily, gripping the bars of the cage tightly.

Kitone shook her head and responded, "No sir, she decided to come on her own accord. She followed me out here. But she took down two guards from her perch on that hill." Kitone pointed to the rocks Sienna was hiding in.

"She hit... Two guards... From there?" her father said, sounding thoroughly impressed, "That must be at least fifty feet..."

"Fifty-four to be precise." Kitone said, stepping to the front of the cage to look for the door.

"Hey," a nearby merchant said, "the doors over here!" Kitone nodded and ran over to the door and looked at the lock. A large sturdy iron lock hung from the door, a formidable looking thing by any means. Kitone made short work of it with Pyrae though. When she opened the door, a spark shot into the air.

"Damn!" Kitone cursed under her breath. She had been careless and neglected to check for traps on the door itself. She watched as the spark soared into the sky silently, placing a hand on the hilts of her swords.

"What the heck is that?" Sienna asked when the spark shot from the cage into the sky. She prepped her crossbow for the worst, aiming in the general direction of the cage.

When the spark hit the pinnacle of its flight it exploded in a blinding white light, bathing the encampment in a sun-like glow. The entire camp came alive and bandits sprung from the tents with their weapons drawn. They circled the cage, surrounding it completely. Kitone drew her swords the moment the spark exploded and pressed her back to the cage. "D-Damn... That's a lot more than I expected. Can anyone in here fight?" she said into the cage. Her father sighed, his sword arm had been wounded in the initial attack and majority of the people were merchants, untrained in the art of fighting.

"I can fight." came a voice from the back of the cage. She had dark brown eyes that seemed to sparkle in the light, and her hair was in a platinum blonde ponytail the hung below her waist. She wore a dark brown, almost black, suit of what looked like leather armor. Stepping out of the cage she repeated herself, "I can fight, I just need my sword."

[captaingammer]

Undeveloped and immature minds do not deserve the punishment of knowing pain before they can comprehend it...

I feel sorry for those bandits.

[Dragonfly77]

Yep, poor bandits. They didn't even know what hit them.

[Orchids_Mantis]

Offhand...I have to agree with Cap's sentiment in the note

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Thirty-Five: Under The Midnight Sun

"One-hundred and seventeen." Seinna said, focusing on Kitone, "Your move Kit."

Kitone turned to the woman and asked her, "Hey, what's your name?"

"Does it matter?" the woman replied.

"Yea, it does," Kitone responded, with a smile, "I want to know just in case I need to write it on a grave marker."

The woman laughed and crossed her arms. "My name's Dinyth," she said, "Now do you want my help or not?" Kitone took a quick look around the encampment, sure there were plenty of them but she could take them easy. The archers that were loading their bows would be the biggest problem.

Kitone shrugged, "Sure why not, less work for me hopefully. Where's your sword now?"

"That, I don't know. One of these fools have it." Dinyth said letting her hands fall to the sheath that hung sideways behind her, her fingers curling at there the hilt should be, "They took it when they ambushed me while I was sleeping..."

"I see..." Kitone said, "So I'll just have to find it then. Wanna describe it to me?"

"It's a katana, you'll know it when you see it." Dinyth said.

Suddenly a deep voice bellowed from the rear of the crowd. "Kill them all!" is shouted. The nearby bandits rushed in, three headed to each fighter.

"Tch." Kitone grunted, stepping back out of the range of a slash. She drew Pyrae and slashed, cutting through his blade just below the hilt. He looked at what remained of his sword and stumbled back in fear, his allies simply pushed him out of the way and attacked. Kitone dispatched them quickly, watching the other bandits as the considered their offensive actions. Kitone heard a battle cry from behind her and spun to see a blade stopped inches from her face.

Dinyth held the bandit's arm fast. "You fools really have no honor..." she said, pulling him and twisting her body. The leverage caused him to be pulled up and over her shoulder and slammed into the ground. His limp form lay prostrate as she brushed the dust off her hands. Another bandit charged her and slashed at her face. She bent to her knees and raised her arm in an attempt to block and the sword connected to her arm with a dull thud. Kitone looked on amazed, her 'leather' armor was as strong as good platemail. Dinyth grabbed the blade with her free hand and clenched her fist causing the blade to shatter in her grip. "You idiots have no idea what you've gotten yourselves into. When I get my sword back I'm going to tear you to pieces for interrupting my training!" With that she pulled her hand back and balled her fist.

Sienna looked away as Dinyth punched the bandit in his face, reducing it to a bloody pulp. "She's a scary one, I'm glad she's fighting for our team..." Sienna noticed a set of movements from the far corner of the camp and turned to look over in the direction of the movement. In the corner of the camp a few of the bandits had drawn their bows and were taking aim at the two fighters and the prisoners. "I don't think so." Sienna said, aiming at them. She pulled the trigger of her crossbow three times, the arrows hitting their mark one after the other. Sienna cheered silently to herself as she did a sweep of the encampment, picking of anyone that even looked like they were considering drawing their bow.

Their father watched from the relative safety of the steel cage as his daughter fought the seemingly endless waves of bandits with expert swordsmanship as the other fighter seemed to be fighting like she was fighting unarmed foes; and Sienna's shooting rivaled that of the expert marksmen he had worked with in his years as an adventurer. But the main reason he watched was because he knew he had seen Dinyth's sword when they brought her into the camp, bound like a captured Werebear. It was a fine weapon, he had seen the blade when they removed the sword from her hilt. The blade was a solid steel, the light reflected off the edge of the blade. Near the hilt there was a mark he had seen once before, as a boy, it was the mark of a master swordsmith. He scanned the crowd with a steely calm about him, quite unlike the gaze of the other merchants who were watching the bloody carnage unfold in front of them. Suddenly he shouted, "Kitone! Over there!"

Kitone blocked an attack to her face and looked where her father was pointing. Sure enough there was a bandit with a katana running towards her, the blade held high overhead. Kitone delivered a swift kick to the bandit she was facing and turned to engage the katana-wielding one. "Look at him," Kitone thought to herself as she sheathed Pyrae, "A total novice with a sword. His stance is too open." He pulled the sword back even farther over his head, to Kitone it was as if he was moving in slow motion. "His grip on the sword is too loose..." Kitone thought, stepping into his strike. By time the attack came down she had step-turned out of the way, the blade glancing harmlessly off the front of her breastplate. She looked him in the eyes and saw his fear, he had seen what she did to the other bandits. She reached and grabbed the guard of the sword, pulling it free of his grasp easily. "Dinyth, catch!" Kitone said, throwing it into the air. Dinyth looked up at the soaring blade glistening in the light of the midnight sun and jumped into the air to meet it.

She landed with a loud thud, her katana sheathed at her side. She knelt there for a few seconds before standing up, laughing and with a flick of her head slung her braid behind her. She looked around and sighed happily, saying, "Haha... You guys... I'm going to make you regret being born." She drew her katana and spoke to it, "Are you alright? Don't worry, I'm here now. We're going to punish these foolish bandits."

Kitone ran up to her, drawing her swords, "Ready?"

"I am now." With that they began their true counterattack.

*~*~*~*

Claire was sitting at her desk her hands crossed in front of her. She hated waiting. There was a soft pair of knocks that seemed to echo. "Enter." she said. The door opened and the Twins walked in, Greed came in first followed swiftly by Lust. Lust locked the door and walked over to the chair Greed had sat in and sat beside her. Claire couldn't help but smile as she watched the two sister wedge themselves into the chair, sitting so that their respective braid was on the outside. "Well..."

"We're sorry Mistress..." Greed began.

"...We had a bit of a problem leaving his home." Lust finished.

"I understand. What do you have to report?" Claire said, leaning forward in her chair.

"Either he's comfortable in his fortune..." Greed said, looking angrily at her sister.

"...Or he's just an old pervert." Lust said with a smirk to her sister. "He did say that he had met with someone who was the splitting image of Sylvia, that she had poisoned his grandchildren so he would use his powers to release a handful of prisoners..."

"...But he doesn't know what her plan is with them. He never saw again her since and the five prisoners disappeared, well until Roumen was saved." Greed finished.

Claire sat silently for a bit before she spoke again, "That confirms it, Roumen didn't get a savior. She's a wolf in sheep's clothing. This definitely shows that she has some connection to the people in the abyss, and if Kitone is right then we need to act swiftly and eliminate the threat."

"Are you saying..." Greed said.

"...We should attack Sylvia?" Lust finished, looking just as perplexed as her sister.

"No, not yet. We can't risk attacking her in her current position. I think I've been passive for far too long. No, this time, I'm settling this." Claire said, getting up from her desk. The Twins jumped up in protest but Claire kept them quiet with a wave of her hand. "I know you two are worried about me but I'll be fine, I didn't get the position I have today by just delegating responsibilities."

Lust and Greed looked silently at each other, as much as they wanted to come with her or at least send some of their underlings with her they knew she would have none of it. They also knew that the woman they came to regard as their mother would be fine, she always was.

But then again she was always gifted...

*~*~*~*

The sword hit the ground after cleaving through the last standing bandit, leaving a deep impact crater in its wake. Dinyth was a very strong woman, her attacks left scars upon the land of the encampment. She shattered swords like they were dried wood, nothing was safe from her attacks. She turned to Kitone and said, "Thirty-five, what's yours?"

"Forty-one." Kitone said with a smile, turning towards the archer walking into the back gate, "How much did you get sis?"

"Sixty-seven, I guess I win." Sienna said with a smirk, running over to the cage. The small archer opened the door to the cage and embraced her father. "Papa," she said, "I'm so glad to see you're alive and well."

Her father held her close, rubbing the back of her head as the magical flare began to fade away. "I'm so proud of you Sienna, you've really improved as an archer in the few weeks you've been away from home."

Kitone looked over and said, "Can we get out of here before some actual goblins come and investigate the flare?"

"Right right," their father said, "c'mon men, lets salvage what we can and take it back to Elderine with us."

Kitone turned back to Dinyth, who had since walked to the gate at the opposite side of the camp, and placed her hand on her shoulder. Dinyth turned around and smiled slightly when she saw Kitone. "You are an amazing fighter, it was a pleasure to fight along side you and your sister," Dinyth said, extending a hand towards Kitone, who took it and shook it a few times, "I never got your name. I think since you know mine I should at least know yours."

Kitone stood silent for a few seconds before answering, "My name's Kitone." Dinyth stood silently, her expression changing from jubilation to confusion. She released Kitone's hand limply, stepping back a bit.

"Kitone... As in 'the' Kitone? The 'evil, psychotic and dangerous' Kitone?" Dinyth said.

"The same, although some of that is mostly exaggeration." Kitone said, folding her arms, letting her hand fall casually on Pyrae's hilt.

"Hmm..." Dinyth said, walking past Kitone and staring at the freed merchants, "My master said once; Do not judge someone by what is said about them, judge them by what they do." She paused and looked back at Kitone. "I decided early on that I would devote my life to cleansing the world of evil." She drew her sword and looked at it in the moonlight, saying, "I have traveled the world training and doing just that. Most people I have set my sights on proved to me by their actions, but you," Dinyth pulled a sheet of paper out of her pocket, Kitone's wanted poster, and looked at it, "but you, you have shown me otherwise." With that she threw the poster into the air, slicing it to pieces with a few quick slashes.

"Well I'm really glad to hear th-" Kitone began, being interrupted by Dinyth's raised hand.

"I'll stop hunting you for now, but I'll be back again, this time to fight you as a fellow swordsman. I've seen your fighting style, a bit more training and I'll beat you easily. I'll get right to training, I hope that you survive long enough for us to fight again." Dinyth said with a smile, sheathing her sword.

Kitone stood silently as she watched Dinyth walk off into the night, disappearing into the darkness. "I'll try and survive Dinyth! I'll gladly fight you whenever you're ready!" Kitone shouted into the darkness with a smile.

[T3h_SyN]

Oh and btw if you wanted to put your character in this you missed your chances, everyone who isn't already on my list gets the door now. Sorry. Kkbai.

:3

[captaingammer]

Nyawww. Kitone has a new friend. You know, in that special way that Kitone makes friends.

[Dragonfly77]

Aww, so sweet. I love it. ^^

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Thirty-Six: Waking Giants

It had been a few days since Kitone had rescued her father from the bandits but she had arrived at the inn in Roumen once again, right now it was the closest thing to a home she had in a long time. As she stepped into the doorway she caught an airborne set of keys, a single room key attached to a pair of miniature model swords. She looked up at the inn-keeper who returned a smile while she dealt with other patrons. Kitone nodded to her as she headed up the stairs to her room. She flopped onto the bed, laying there idly for a while, letting the calm of the room just soak into her weary frame. She rolled onto her side and was about to fall asleep when she noticed the strange flower on the dresser.

Kitone got up and looked at the flower, a single black rose, that stood in a thin vase. At the base of the vase was a note card that read, in vibrant gold lettering, "Paid for by your Shadow." Kitone picked up the rose and went back to the bed and held it to her nose, an earthy and sweet scent wafting into her nostrils. "I guess I owe you again don't I Claire..." And then she slept.

*~*~*~*

Kitone awoke early in the next morning, a cold air gently blowing in from the window bringing the scent of the sea with it. Kitone lay in the bed, cradling the pillow while she watched the sun crest over the horizon. She sat up in the bed, her hair hanging about her shoulders in an unkempt mass, wiping the sleep from her eyes. She made her way over to the windowsill and looked out to the harbor, from her vantage point she spotted a lone merchant in the marketplace, but her radiant blonde hair made it clear she wasn't Claire. Kitone got out of her bed and went downstairs and was about to head through the inn's doors when she heard someone call out from behind her.

"Hey! Wait!" the inn-keeper said. Kitone spun around to see her put the finishing touches on arranging the furniture of the lobby area. "You like it, I figure since we're under new management I'd take some time and give this place a bit of renovation. And maybe do some upgrading of the services we offer with some of our new funds."

"So she bought your inn?" Kitone asked, already sure of the answer.

"Yep, left me in charge of it too. She gave me some funds to maintain your room for you until further notice and I have so much left over I'm upgrading the kitchen and adding a few rooms." the woman said with a warm smile, "If you see her tell her I said thanks."

Kitone nodded as she turned and headed out the door.

*~*~*~*

Down by the wharf the only sounds were the waves crashing against the stone of the marketplace's support, the sound of the pick chipping away at the ice and the woman's cheerful whistling. "Morning." Kitone said, her words drowned out by the sounds of the world, "Excuse me? HEY!" The woman looked up with a smile, brushing the loose strands of hair out of her eyes. "Hi," Kitone began again, "I'm looking for Claire..."

"Claire? She's taking break, a bit of a vacation from selling fish I suppose. She asked me to watch over the stall for her until she gets back. If you can wait a few minutes I'll be ready to sell you some fish. My name's Crys by the way." the woman said, returning to chipping ice for the fish.

"A vacation, I see... It's okay, I actually just came to see Claire, and since she's not here I guess I'll go. Ah, one last question though, how long is the shadow you cast on this world?" Kitone said, watching Crys closely.

Almost reflexively Crys tensed and recited under her breath, "Mine is as long as it needs to be to stand in the light, and yours?"

"Mine is the shadow cast by the battle-worn blade. Is Crys your real name?" Kitone responded. Crys turned to her and nodded. "Good, now that the facade is out of the way, where's Claire?"

"I don't know," Crys said apprehensively, rubbing the back of her head, "Rookies like me don't get that kind of information, I was only given the order to watch the stall for the Mistress and not to arouse suspicion from the authorities. A simple enough job I suppose."

"Quite..." Kitone said pausing to contemplate on the situation, "Well when she gets back I want to talk to her, right now I don't have any leads to work on so I think I'll enjoy a bit of a break..." And with that Kitone headed back to the inn.

*~*~*~*

Elderine square was alive with people as the sun hung in the mid-morning sky, but unlike most days where people were busy hustling around, going about their business, today everyone was gathered around a platform that had been erected overnight. On the platform stood a pair of Senate members, surrounded by their Isyan Hunter body guards. They were preaching to the populous of the town the new mercantile regulations, much to the dismay of the crowd.

"That's just stupid!" one fighter shouted, red from anger. A large murmur from those around him signaled the general thoughts of the crowd that was gathering.

"You can't just increase the cost of things like that!" an archer said, rallying the crowd even more.

One of the Senators began to talk to the crowd, trying to rationalize with them. To explain that the increase in costs and fees were justified. They were slowly winning the crowd over with their practiced charisma, all except for one person. He was a fighter, he stood there with his arms folded and a scowl on his face. He knew better than to believe the lies the Senate was spewing, the increases weren't needed. He knew that it was all just going to line the pocket of the higher ranked Senators. The three silver extra people would be paying on potions wouldn't be going to benefit the city, it was going towards the newest extension on their house, the chef to prepare their extravagant meals, the pay for their 'noble' escorts. Every word that they uttered from their mouth served to only infuriate him more.

"I take it that you're not buying into their drivel." A female voice said from behind him. The fighter turned to see the a green-haired woman wearing black leather stroking her chin in thought.

"Not at all, the Senate and it's fake nobility disgust me. To think that they can abuse their power to bolster their pockets. Pitiful." he said, looking back at the duo on the platform, who had begun taking questions from the crowd.

"I completely agree with you. Majority of them are nothing more than thieves who make the laws, and the people are powerless against them." the woman said, removing her hand from her chin.

With a chuckle the fighter said, "If only something could be done, I'd fight for that cause. To bring some order to that circus."

"There is something that can be done," the woman began, "but I'll need to know if I can trust you first..."

"Of course you can trust me, I'd gladly do anything it takes to write this deep-rooted wrong that exists." he replied.

"Will you follow me till the end? Regardless of what challenges may lay ahead?" the woman asked, a sly smile appearing on her lips.

"Yes. If it leads to change for the better I'll join with you." the fighter said.

"Good." The woman said, her smile spreading to a wide grin, "What's your name?"

"My name... People call me Cirrus." he said extending a hand to the woman.

"Pleasure to meet you Cirrus, I'm Sylvia." she said taking his hand.

*~*~*~*

A cold breeze floated about Claire as she walked the hallways of the Cave of Abyss, the sea breeze permeates the cave in the mornings. Her raven locks flowing softly in the breeze highlighted the serious expression on her face as she made her way about the corpses that littered the hallway. She gingerly stepped over the smoldering remains of what was a person and made her way into the large chamber near the back of the cave. Standing on the hill at the back were three men, two of which were loudly complaining to the third.

"Please boss, help us out!" the first one cried, turning and looking at the slowly approaching Claire with fear in his eyes.

"Yea boss, she should be no match for someone as strong as you!" The second one said with the same level of urgency.

The third man looked at their faces and then at the small woman that approached, putting his hand to his forehead and saying, "You mean to tell me that all of my men, EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU COWARDS, fell to that!" The two men stood silently as the third continued his rant, "She's one person. Nay, she's one mage! The weakest of all the fighting classes! She should be no problem to one of you, let alone ALL of you... Sylvia will be sure to hear about your weakness... Go deal with the problem and don't bring your weakness to me." With that he turned and began to walk into the farthest part of the cave.

The first man grabbed his shoulder and stopped him, "But sir-" He never got to finish his sentence, the third man spun around rapidly, cleaving the man in two at his midsection with one swing of a mammoth scythe.

"Never question an order, you weak piece of..." The third man said as the first breathed his last breath and then turned to face the second, who had started quivering on the spot, "Do I need to repeat myself?"

The remaining man looked back and forth between him and the mage, before swallowing hard and responding with a "Yessir." He drew his sword, a simple one-handed blade, and charged the mage while releasing a quivering battlecry. Claire stopped walking and stood her ground as he neared. He swung the sword, attempting to cleave through her vertically, resulting in her pivoting her body to the side, the blade missing her completely and embedded itself into the hard rock of the cave floor. The swift flurry of kicks she released upon him crackled with electricity, each blow that landed resulted in a spasm of muscle contractions, climaxing in a rising kick to the man's chin that filled the cave with the echo of a thunderclap. He fell to the ground, his muscles still twitching from the shocks but he was as lifeless as the first man was.

The noise caught the attention of the scythe-wielding fighter, who turned to see the mage stepping over the corpse of the last of his men. He stopped and raised a surprised eyebrow at Claire, who stopped a few paces away from him and said, "You must be the one known as Fury. I'm afraid I can't let you leave just yet."

"Really? And why would that be?" Fury asked, amusedly.

"Because I can't allow you to murder aimlessly in my territory, especially when you start killing my employees..." Claire said.

"Heh," Fury said with a smirk, "You must be Claire. I was warned about your group. I never thought that I'd be seeing you so soon, but this is a wonderful change of events. With you out of the way Roumen will fall easily to us." He held his scythe in front of him, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

"We'll just have to see about that." Claire said, rushing at Fury with a lunging punch, flames dancing around the fist. Fury pivoted his body and spun the scythe, the handle parrying Claire's punch off to his side, following up with a horizontal slash to her feet. Claire flipped backwards, the scythe just sliding below the bottom of her boots, delivering a flipping kick to his chin and a short handspring putting her a safe distance away. Claire's kick glanced off the bottom end of the scythe's handle, preventing it from making any real contact with the fighter.

Fury laughed to himself as Claire took her fighting stance again, "Claire... You may be the best fight I've had in quite a while. I sincerely hope you last long enough to be entertaining."

Claire snickered to herself, "I'm sorry to disappoint you but I don't plan on letting this go on much longer."

[Orchids_Mantis]

As always..nice


(Ath has the chocolate for this one, by the way)

[Dragonfly77]

Wait..I do? o.o

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Boiling Point

"And that's all we know..." Sylvia said, placing a stack of papers in front of Cirrus. He looked at her with wide eyes as he reached for the stack of papers.

"What you said is true?" He asked as he scanned the papers.

"Every word of it. It's all in these files." She said patting the remaining papers.

"If any of this information were to be leaked to the public the entire senate would fall apart, this is some serious evidence against them. Using public funds as their own spending money, controlling the markets from behind the scenes and extortion just to name a few. How do you plan on using this information anyway?" Cirrus said, looking up at Sylvia.

"Well, the parts of the plan that were put into motion already have jump started the people's questions." she replied.

"So you mean that the attacks in the Abysses, the murder of innocent civilians, that was you?" Cirrus said in amazement.

Sylvia nodded and said, "Not me but one of my men is in charge of that. Unfortunate as it was it was a necessary beginning..."

"A necessary beginning?! How is that a good start to anything?" Cirrus said, slamming his fist on the table, his rage evident in his eyes.

Sylvia silently handed him another sheet of paper, a propaganda flier, and said solemnly, "Imagine, if you will, that you are an Isyan commoner, a simple man living under the rules of the Senate. If this were to fall into your hands you'd question it's validity. After all, the Senate hasn't exactly been bad to you. But lets say that you heard about the Senate's response to the attacks in the Abyss, or rather, their sheer lack of a response and then got this paper. There needed to be a spark to ignite the fires of change." With that she pulled a clear gem from her pocket, its red glow pulsated in a steady rhythm, "And don't worry, that part of the plan is in its final stages as we speak."

*~*~*~*

Fury made the first move, sprinting towards Claire with the blade of his scythe pulled back behind his head. His swing was fast but Claire was faster, she stepped into the attack and caught the handle of the scythe. With a pivot she threw Fury into the air, launching a flurry of fireballs at him while he flew. Fury turned his body in midair and raised his hands to guard himself from the brunt of the magical attacks, landing with a skidding stop.

"I mist admit," Claire said, summoning an icicle spear in her hand, "I wholly underestimated you!" With a grunt she threw the spear at Fury. Fury readied his weapon and sliced at the last second, shattering the spear. He smiled triumphantly, but it was a short-lived victory. There came a set of noises from behind him and when Fury span to investigate he saw that the fragments of the spear had reformed into many smaller spears. The smaller spears shot towards Fury, propelled by an invisible magic. With a loud grunt Fury jumped into the air, the spears embedding themselves into the hard ground below him.

"Interesting." Fury remarked as he landed on one of the spears, "I've never seen magic used like this before, you really are a special one aren't you?" With that he leapt from his perch and threw his scythe at Claire. She stepped back, the flying weapon distracting her attention away from her opponent. The blade of the scythe penetrated the ground where she had been standing just a fraction of a second earlier. She quickly looked back at Fury, in time to see the bottom of his boot as it connected with her face. Claire fell back, hitting the ground roughly and sliding a few feet. Fury grabbed the handle of his scythe and ran towards the downed mage, tearing the weapon free of the rock. He swung underhanded, the blade of the scythe cut through the cave floor like it was made of paper, aiming to decapitate the mage.

Unbeknownst to Fury, he had walked into Claire's trap. When he got into attacking range she cast her spell, causing a pillar of rock to shoot out diagonally from the floor beside her. With all his forward momentum Fury couldn't even react fast enough to dodge the attack. The spire of rock hit him dead in the center of his chest, knocking him onto his back and caving in the front of his breastplate. Claire quickly jumped to her feet, ran along the rock and jumped into the air. Claire flipped and kicked at Fury, her foot glowing a pale blue. Fury flipped backwards causing Claire's foot to hit the ground instead. As Claire's foot hit the ground there was a flash as sharp crystals of ice grew rapidly out towards Fury.

Fury stood, breathing heavily, watching Claire as she caught her breath in the pause in the combat. He clenched his scythe till his knuckles burned and took a deep breath in and spoke. "Claire," he said, "You were a worthy opponent, but you're should have gotten a few more years of combat experience before you faced me..." He ran towards her, raising the scythe over his shoulder. She stood her ground, waiting to parry the attack. He swung the scythe downwards and she stepped into the attack to counter-throw him again. That's when she realized he was waiting for her to do that. Fury stopped the slash and brought his knee up into her chest, knocking the wind out of her. Almost reflexively she fell to her knees, gasping for breath. Fury smiled as he brought the scythe down one final time.

The cavern echoed with the sickening sound of a blade tearing through flesh and breaking bone. The blade of the scythe skewered Claire's chest through her heart, the tip becoming just embedded into the ground. The blood flowed down the blade and pooled around the tip, Claire's limp body slowly sliding down to the ground. With a slight pull Fury withdrew the sword from her body and hefted it across his shoulders and turned to exit the chamber. He hardly took a step when he felt something grab his leg and turned to see Claire's bloody hand holding his leg tight.

"A few years more experiences eh?" She said weakly, "How about five thousand?" Before Fury could react Claire released a powerful surge of magic energy into his leg, vaporizing everything in her grasp. Fury fell to the ground, the shock of the attack dulling the pain momentarily. Claire slowly got to her feet, feeling the hole on her chest gingerly. Fury began to cry out as the pain started to set in, grabbing at the remaining stump of leg that was left.

"That... That's impossible!" he said between staccato gasps for air, "You should be dead!"

Claire walked over to him and kicked his scythe out of his reach and smiled down at him. "I should be dead," she began, "but I'm afraid that's impossible for me. You see I'm cursed, cursed with immortality of sorts. I've lived for more than five thousand years." Fury stared up at her silently apart from the uncontrollable whimpers of pain. "You see, all those years back I was just a simple mage who loved another mage, but I didn't know that the man I loved was obsessed with the dark arts. When I found out I left him, partly in anger that he would do something so evil but mostly in the fear of what would come about from it. He however had become far too attached to me to let me go so easily. One night I fell into a deep sleep and awoke in the farthest reaches of the forests surrounding Roumen, my arms and feet bound by strong magic. He had poisoned my drink that night and kidnapped me off to perform the ritual he had spent his life working on. A very dark and very powerful curse. One that would bind your soul to this world, preventing you from dying and crossing over to the afterlife. He told me that if he couldn't have me he'd make it so that no one could. He planned to curse the two of us and he hoped that with both of us being immortals I'd come back to him to escape the pain of outliving everyone I tried to love. I tried to reason with him bit he was past that point." With a small wave of her hand the ground around Fury warped and moved, like the tendrils of a vine, wrapping around his legs and pinning him to the ground. "He began the ritual even with my constant pleas for him to stop. Once it began the pain was unbearable, as if someone was tearing me apart from the smallest possible level. When I awoke I was alone in the woods, all that was left of my former lover was a pile of ashes. When I sat up I felt the pain the curse had left for me when it marked me." With that she tore off the arm of her top revealing black arcane symbols that looked like they were burned into the skin. "These marks burned themselves into my flesh, all across my back. They are what keep me here in this world. For the first few years I devoted my research into finding out their meanings." She looked down at Fury, who's face had started losing color as the blood drained from it. "In the end I learnt that the curse wasn't supposed to grant two people immortality, like he had translated it originally, instead it takes one soul and uses it to forcibly bind the other to this world. Now I want you to send a message to your boss. Tell her if she ever tries to attack my town ever again, I'll personally come for her head."

*~*~*~*

Silence had overtaken the small room that Cirrus and Sylvia were meeting in as the blue haired fighter sat reading the wealth of information while Sylvia watched the gem in her hand slowly lose it's color until it was clear. The gem splintered down the middle with a loud crack, causing Cirrus to jump. Sylvia simply let the two halves fall to the floor shattering into small pieces, pieces that seemed to disappear slowly.

"If you'll excuse me, I have some personal business to attend to. When you are finished head downstairs and find the girl you met earlier and tell her we're moving into the next step of the plan, she'll inform you what to do next." Sylvia said, turning towards the door and leaving before Cirrus could question her. She walked calmly down the hallway, focusing her energies, the world around her slowly warping and becoming the dark cavern at the back of the Abyss. There on the ground lay Fury, his arms legs still bound by the rocks. His death came from the spire of ice that rose into the air, completely skewering his midsection. His lifeless eyes stared up at the roof of the cave as if trying to see the sky outside. Sylvia walked up to him and peered down into his eyes and said, "Congratulations Fury, you served your role well. I am truly happy that you could trust me so much. Your death will not go unforgiven." With that she placed her hand on his forehead, and as it was with Aidan dark blue flames rose from within him, floating to the surface to be collected in a single flame that floated just above her fingertips. She lifted her hand, the flame hovering above it like a candle, and placed it over another rune-covered jar which sucked the flame in and turned it into another floating pearl.

"It's only a matter of time before I'll be ready..." Sylvia said, looking at the dark orb in the jar. "And then the end will begin..."

[captaingammer]

Oh, dear. Dark art EVERYWHERE? I wonder how many pearls will be needed before whatever she has planned will take place? I'm still suspicious of that Sylvia. Generally, talking about 'the end' will do that.

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Poison In The Veins

"You do understand we can't just sit idly by while we let this happen!" said the purple-haired mage as he slammed his fist on the table. He reclined in his chair, a scowl on his face. The badge on his chest was the badge of an Iysan Hunter Captain, a mark of the four classes and a single number, his read '2'. Seated around the table were six other Captains, their badges all bearing a number as well, and exception of the grey-haired old man who was seated at the head of the table. His badge bore the mark of Teva instead of a number.

The old man raised his hand and spoke in a low and solemn tone, "Calm down Banum. I have not said that we will sit idly by-"

"But sir!" Banum began, only to be silenced by a glance from the old man.

"As I was saying, we aren't going to sit idly by while society crumbles into nothingness. There is a strange shadow group attempting to usurp the balance of power in the world. Their propaganda is inciting the people toward rebellion, we've got a handle on the situation right now but we're sitting on a powder keg. All this needs is one spark and we won't be able to control it." the old man said. A quick glance around the table pointed out the red-haired Captain staring at the grain of the wood that made the table. "Captain Neoshaman," the old man said, "Is there something bothering you?"

"Huh?" Neo said absentmindedly as he looked up at the old man, "Actually there is Sir. It just feels, to me at least, that there's too many things going on for them to be a coincidence. The problems in the Abyss we've been having recently, Roumen being attacked by an unstoppable monster, then being saved by five people after it completely decimated majority of my troops and a frigate. Then the propaganda starts circulating... Sir, I really think we aren't seeing the entire picture yet."

After a slight pause the old man nodded in agreement, saying, "Maybe you're right... Maybe-" The loud slam of the door being thrown open cut his sentence short. A Iysan Hunter ran into the room, a lone folder in hand, and ran to the side of the old man. With a quick salute she said, "I'm sorry to interrupt the meeting Admiral but this file just came in. Highest Priority, from the Vice-captain of the First Hunter Force, he says it's the explanation for why Captain Calira is late." The old man took the folder and nodded to the young Hunter, who promptly saluted and left the room. The Admiral scanned the report, his expression changing to shock rapidly.

"I don't believe it..." The Admiral said, rereading the document.

"Why? What is that bum Calira up to anyway?" Banum joked.

"Captain Calira," The Admiral said angrily, glaring at Banum, "Your superior officer, was found dead at her home. She was attacked, Vice-captain Yatari found her body when he went to check on her. Apparently he was trying to reach her by whisphone but she wasn't responding, something someone in her position cannot afford to do." The resulting silence was deafening, broken when Neo pushed his chair back and stormed towards the door. "Captain Neoshaman! This meeting is not over! Take your seat!"

Neo spun around and shouted angrily, "With all due respect Sir, I can't be expected to sit here when I hear that a comrade and friend has died..." With that he slammed the door shut behind him, leaving the rest of them flabbergasted.

The rest of the Captains looked back at the Admiral with shock on their faces, waiting for him to say something. Instead he simply smiled and laughed, saying to himself, "That one... He's a special one..."

*~*~*~*

Cirrus walked back into his room and collapsed into the chair, the day of dispersing the propaganda fliers was tiring now that the Iysan Hunters were given the order to arrest those who spread them on sight. He closed his eyes and let his muscles relax, letting the day's work seep from them. The sound of the door opening caused him to crack his eye open. Sylvia stepped into the room and shut the door behind her, turning to face her newest team member.

"You've done well Cirrus," Sylvia said, smiling at him, "The propaganda you've spread has started the ball fully in motion."

Cirrus sat up and exhaled deeply and said, "Sylvia, I don't fully understand what you expect to come from all this."

Sylvia leaned against the door. "Cirrus, do you know the plant Reginnia Syrax? Firegrass?" Cirrus nodded slowly. "Well the seeds of the plant can be processed into a strange poison. This poison causes the cells in the victim's body to 'go rogue', attacking neighbouring cells. In the long run it spreads throughout the body resulting in complete cellular breakdown. The thing is that the liver of a normal, healthy person, elf or human, can easily break down the poison into harmless substances. So in order for the poison to have a lasting and irreversible effect..."

"You need to weaken or remove the liver in the victim." Cirrus said, "but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything. Lets say, to rationalize the example, that each individual walking this planet is likened to a cell in a body. The distribution of the propaganda would be the administering of the poison, we've only spread it in Elderine but that's like injecting it into a main vein, it'll get around in no time. If you keep an ear to the street you'll see the effects of the poison already, people are beginning to become a bit rowdy towards the authority of the Senate. This however brings about the problem of the liver, or as it's called out here, the Iysan Hunters. They're the Senate's only way of neutralizing the poison of the propaganda, the only thing standing between us and being a good assassin. The next step of the plan is the surgery to remove that pesky organ." Sylvia said. "Any further questions?"

Cirrus shook his head and replied, "Not regarding this step, the only thing i want to know is what comes after the poison takes effect?"

Sylvia looked to the side, "It is said that the only way to truly kill the beast is to cut off it's head. After our poison takes full effect we'll do just that. But first we have to prepare a bit of outside help." With that she threw a whisphone into Cirrus's lap.

*~*~*~*

Kitone leaned against the side of Claire's stall, chatting with her as she prepared her wares for the day. "So, lemme get this straight, you took on all the people in the Abyss and not only killed them all but also got Fury as well? Tch. You always take the fun things Claire..." Claire laughed softly at this, placing a hand to her chest, feeling the beating of her heart.

"He did manage to get one attack in. I doubt even the mighty Kitone could have survived it." Claire joked, returning her attention to the fish. "So Kit, what now? You're more or less back at the start until some form of information is found. Since Roumen is more or less quiet again I'll keep an ear out for anything for you."

"Thanks Claire. I appreciate it. I'll probably go and check out the things going on in Elderine, they sound like they're connected to Sylvia in some way." Kitone said, reaching into her pocket to retrieve her vibrating whisphone. Placing it to her ear she said, "Hello... Who is this?!" There was a pause as the person on the other end spoke. "I understand." Kitone said, placing her whisphone back into her pocket, "Claire, looks like I just got my lead. I'm headed to Uruga."

"Who was that?" Claire asked.

"I'm not sure," Kitone said, "but he delivered Sylvia's message quite clearly. If I want to know more I'll need to head to the Land of Trials."

[captaingammer]

The suspense, she builds! You shouldn't make your story so good if it's not going to be updated immediately. D: Like right now immediately.

Nitpick: The Admiral sure was quick to chuckle at Neo's determination, especially after receiving devastating information. Coping mechanism?

[T3h_SyN]

Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Final Steps

Neo sat down on the bench and looked down at his hands, they were still shaking profusely. He brought his hands together and rested his head on them and took a deep breath in. He tried to clear the images from out of his head but he couldn't. When he got to her house in Elderine the surrounding area had been taped off by the Elderine Guard. He ducked under the tape and made his way into the house. The front door was intact and showed no signs that it had been forced open in any way, in fact the foyer was practically spotless, but once you got inside the house it quickly turned for the worse. The rest of the house looked like it had contained a small war: deep gouges were cut into the walls, furniture lay in splinters, blood splatter dotted the walls and floor. At the back of the house, among the broken pots of the private garden, lay the body of Calira. She had small cuts and scars all over her body and her dress was in tatters. The clerics who had arrived on the scene first and declared her dead said that the majority of her wounds weren't life threatening, the fatal wound was the hole in her gut from being impaled by a blade of sorts.

Neo squeezed his eyes shut as he remembered her lifeless body on the ground, a few tears being forced out as he did. Her sky blue dress was torn and cut all over, sullied with crimson dots and streaks of blood. Just from looking at the garden he could see her final moments clearly. She crashed through the glass door that separated the garden from the house, crashing into the terracotta pots in the garden. The force of her fall jostled her hammer from her grip and dazed her momentarily. It dazed her just long enough for her attacker to impale her on their weapon. He balled his fist tightly, his knuckles turning white. Along with the overwhelming sadness came an unstoppable rage. Calira was more than his superior, Neo looked up to her, she was his mentor. She was kind, understanding and charismatic. But that's not the only reason why Neo was angry, she was the person who recommended him to be promoted to Captain.

Neo wanted to just throw his head back and scream but decided against it. "It's no use Neo," he said to himself, "getting angry isn't going to bring her back. If only I knew who did this to her..." His whisphone vibrated in his pocket. He considered not answering it but as a Captain that was something wholly unacceptable. "Hello?" he said angrily into the phone.

"Aww Neo, you sound angry? Is something bothering you?" a female voice said.

"What?! Who is this!?" Neo said.

"Really 'Captain' Neo, I called you because you looked a bit sad sitting on that bench shaking like that." The woman said with a giggle. Neo looked around him quickly, trying to find the mysterious caller. "Neo, Neo, Neo... As if I'd stay where you can see me. Let's be honest with each other, m'kay? I think I know what's bugging you... It's Calira's death isn't it?" the voice asked. "Aww, were you two close? Lemme tell you Neo, that one went down with quite the fight. She didn't scream once. She-"

"Shut up." Neo barked into the phone.

"Pardon?" The voice said in a sing-song tone, a tone that only served to anger Neo some more.

"I said shut up. I won't sit here and let you say these things about Captain Calira like that..." Neo said angrily, trying to calm himself enough to keep control of what he was saying.

The high-pitched and almost childish laugh that came from the woman on the other end of the phone caught Neo by surprise. "You don't understand do you 'Captain' Neo..." she said, "I'm only telling you this because you're next. I was charged with disrupting the actions of the Iysan Hunters. The best way to do this is to 'attack the head of the beast' as the new guy put it. I hope you're just as fun as she was Neo~." With that there was a click as the call ended.

*~*~*~*

Kitone walked through Uruga square, making a beeline to the stairs out of town. She held her cloak and hood tight, practically blending in with the crowd on this particularly windy day. "What could she be planning?" Kitone asked herself as she stepped down the stairs and onto the path through the woods at the base of the mountain. "Land of Trials? I've explored every inch of that place, nothing much beside some old glyphs on the walls and a few hidden passages. It's not much more than an ancient religious ground, a place were warriors were tested. What could I find there?" She pondered on this thought as she approached the gate, paying it no mind, she couldn't use it anyway but as she approached the gate she heard a faint voice.

"Kitone..." the voice said, sounding like Sylvia's, "Over here." Kitone looked around at her surroundings, she was alone and quite sure of it. "Use the gate Kitone... It's special this time, just for you. Trust me." Kitone looked over at the gate, the once colorful archway seemed to become tainted. The gate started to lose it's color and the cloud that swirled between them seemed to become thick and hazy. Kitone looked on warily, she had never seen a gate act this way and really didn't want to find out that the gate's security features still worked. "Are you afraid?" The voice asked, coming from within the gate itself. Suddenly the gate started to pulsate and flash and slowly a hand appeared out of the thick cloud, beckoning Kitone to come closer. As Kitone approached the hand receded back into the cloud, completely disappearing when she stood mere inches from the cloud. Slowly she raised her hand, placing it into the cloud and watched as it disappeared harmlessly. She counted to five and then pulled her hand back and looked at it closely. Convinced that it wasn't a trap Kitone stepped into the gate, disappearing in a flash.

*~*~*~*

Athemis stepped into town a few minutes after Kitone stepped into the gate, followed by a small cadre of hunters that were carrying the carcasses of Achrons, the result of a commissioned hunt. Athemis stopped and raised her hand, signaling the rest of the hunters to stop, saying, "Wait here guys, I'll go collect our pay from Adrian." Athemis walked around the square, peering into a few street shops along the way, unable to shake the feeling that there was something odd. She kept looking around, expecting to see some sort of monster attack at any time. "Ugh... Why do I feel so paranoid?" Athemis asked herself as she looked around the town as she climbed the stairs to Adrian, "Today is a beautiful day, cloudy enough to be cool and still be a bright day. The hunt went extraordinarily well, we got some fine birds but... I still can't shake this forboding feeling."

Adrian spotted Athemis making her way up the stairs, her face reflecting her confused thoughts, and said, "Morning Athemis, is something bothering you?"

Athemis paused before answering the question, "Yea... Sorta. I feel something bothering me, but I don't know what it is. I'm sure it's just a passing thing, do you have the payment for the hunt?"

"Yea, it's right here." Adrian said, tossing Athemis a small bag, "Thirty gold pieces, like we agreed. As for the feelings you're having, I'm not sure if this is of any significance, but there have been strange pulses of magical energy. Nothing dangerous, it happens when the concentrations of latent magic in an area shifts, people susceptible to the flow feel it. Mages have been complaining all morning, especially since there's still a large concentration of magical energy in the area. I can't even think straight right now with the throbbing in my head."

Athemis nodded solemnly and waved her goodbye's as she left Adrian to her duties. "Is what I'm feeling the result of magical energy in the area?" she asked herself, "I wonder how Conjy is doing..." She took out her whisphone and leaned against the columns in the square. The entire town went about their lives unaware of the man floating in the air above them.

*~*~*~*

Kitone opened her eyes, blinking her eyes a few times to adjust them to the light, or more aptly, the lack of it. "Strange," She said, her voice echoing around the room, "Land of Trials is a sanctioned hunting ground, it should be well lit..." Kitone looked around the room, feeling the glyphs on the wall, trying to make out where she was. "Aer... Talek... Liwan..." Kitone read aloud with a sigh, "This doesn't make sense, these aren't the type of glyphs that appear in Land of Trials. These say that this place is..." Suddenly the room became bathed in a faint blue light. Kitone spun to find the source of it, which appeared to be a small orb. As Kitone stared at it, trying to make out what it was, she felt as if she was compelled to follow it. As if responding to her thoughts the orb turned and headed down the hallway. Kitone quickly followed it, muttering, "What's going on here..."

The orb darted down the hallway with Kitone in quick pursuit. At the end of the hallway was a large wooden door, one which the orb impacted with, bursting in a smokey flash and sending the hallway back into the darkness. Kitone pushed the door open warily, revealing a well lit library, in the middle of which stood...

"Sylvia!" Kitone shouted, drawing her swords and charging at her. Sylvia made no attempt to dodge, simply staring at Kitone with a coy smile that only served to enrage her. Kitone slashed and her blade went through Sylvia but had no effect at all. "What?!" Kitone exclaimed in surprise.

Sylvia burst into laughter, "Silly fighter, your futile efforts to hurt a magical projection are quite entertaining." The image of Sylvia walked to an nearby shelf, phasing through a table to get there, and said "Welcome to the Grand Library of the Gods." With that, the lanterns that lined the walls became lit, revealing rows of shelves of ancient books. "This place," Sylvia said, "is a collection of the grand majority of all the ancient texts of our world but don't get your hopes up. I brought you here for a reason. In a few minutes the end of the world will start and once it does start it will be unstoppable. Before then I'd like to have a word with you personally. I'll be waiting at the top of the stairs." Suddenly the doors on the far side of the room slammed open, revealing a well lit staircase."I do hope you get here before I get bored. I also hope you are as good as a fighter as I pegged you to be, after all, this time it's not just your survival that depends on those skills."

With that Sylvia dissipated in a blue cloud, leaving Kitone by herself. Kitone sheathed her swords and ran up the stairs without looking back.

[T3h_SyN]

I can officially say now that there will be 4 more chapters of As Things Were. I can also say it will be done by this time next week.

-Kitone

[Dragonfly77]

I'm gonna quote you on that.

I can officially say now that there will be 4 more chapters of As Things Were. I can also say it will be done by this time next week.

-Kitone

[captaingammer]

Keep an eye out for save points, Kit. That's when you use up all your healing items in preparation for the final showdown. Too epic. :3

[Orchids_Mantis]

I like it (sad to see the story ending, though)

[T3h_SyN]

I like it (sad to see the story ending, though)

I could say the same about yours. Working on the next chapter as we speak.

[T3h_SyN]

Finale, Act One: Powerful Butterfly Knight

Neo stood on the patio of his home in the hills surrounding Roumen, staring out at the sea. "Sir," came a voice from behind him, "The house is clear." Neo turned to face the group of Hunters that Headquarters sent to his house to make sure it was safe when he reported the call to the Admiral. Neo simply nodded and watched as the group started down the path back towards Roumen. Neo sighed and stepped into the house. With a loud click the door was locked, it was then Neo felt what could only be described as the feeling that he was being watched. Neo turned and looked around the foyer and found nothing. He placed his hand on the hilt of his two-handed sword and made his way deeper into the house. He turned and stepped into the living room and looked around, he couldn't see anyone but he could definitely hear them. It was a faint noise, the sound of someone trying to stifle the sound of their breathing.

"Come out. I hear your breathing." Neo said, looking at the 'empty' room. There came a snicker from the corner of the room, followed by the shuffling of paper. Suddenly a section of the wall appeared to fold like cloth and suddenly there was a young girl in the room, she looked no older than thirteen but she carried an massive axe across her back.

"Perceptive as ever, you Captains really are an amazing bunch." The girl said, stepping over the crumpled covering she had used to hide herself against the wall. Her short pink hair was arranged in a pair of ponytails and her white dress had matching pink trimming. The axe on her back was behemoth to say the least, it's black metal blade had an edge that shone in the light. From how she moved it was clear to Neo she wasn't hampered by it's weight at all.

"Who are you?" Neo asked as she hopped over the back of the couch in the room and sat on it, looking childishly around the room.

"My name is Alyss," she replied, turning to look at him, her glare becoming harsh and cold, "and I've come to kill you Captain Neo."

"Why?" Neo asked, staring at her just as coldly as she was towards him, "Why do you want to kill me so badly?"

"It's not just you Neo, stop think you're soooo special," Alyss answered with a childish grin, "I've been ordered to kill all the Captains. Once that's done I'll just start killing you Hunters whenever I want, that's what she said after all." Alyss paused and made up her face, and spoke in a pompous voice, "Alyss, I need you to kill the Iysan Hunter Captains... In fact kill them and then you can kill whoever you want." Then she smiled wickedly and looked back at Neo. "I couldn't wait to get started. Calira was the first, she was so fun." Neo squeezed the hilt of his sword until his knuckles went white at the mere mention of Calira's name. "You did the same thing as she did Neo, the two of you felt my presence and drew me out of hiding, not many people could do that. None have ever survived doing it either. I played with her for quite a while, she was the best toy I could ever have gotten to play with." Neo grunted angrily and drew his blade. "What's getting you so riled up Neo?" Alyss asked mockingly. "Could it be that you wish to avenge the woman who was your mentor? Or... Does it go deeper than that?"

That was the final straw for Neo, he spoke softly, the unending anger that lay within him could be felt in his tone, "I will kill you. For Calira."

Alyss smiled and clapped her hands happily, "Yay, we can start playing now. I hope that's your best weapon Neo, because I want to fight you at your strongest." Neo grunted as he shifted his weight to begin running towards her. Alyss's happy smile faded away instantly replaced with the serious and calm resolve of a hardened warrior. With a deft kick she sent the coffee table at her feet flying towards Neo.

With a grunt he swing his sword overhead, splitting the coffee table in half. As the pieces of the coffee table began to fall apart from each other Neo saw the blade of the axe coming down towards him. Alyss had leapt into the air, using the table as a distraction to open a hole in Neo's gaurd. The blade of the axe tore through the ceiling as it flew towards him. He knew he couldn't bring his sword up in time to block the attack so he rolled forward with his slash, narrowly dodging the axe.

The axe crashed into the floor, embedding itself into the wood and leaving a sizable impact crater. "You ARE good." Alyss said with a giggle. She turned slowly, dragging the blade through the floor until it was held in front of her. Neo stared on amazed at this small girls strength. "Unfortunately for you," she said, walking towards him, "I'm great." With that she dashed, so fast she was a blur, towards Neo. Neo quickly glanced over at the small sheathed blade on a nearby shelf before turning back at the charging Alyss. The blur stopped just shy of him, axe overhead, and in a split second it descended towards him. Neo reacted quickly and held the flat of his blade in front of him, stopping the axe from tearing into him. The force of the attack still caused him to slide back a few inches. Once again he gazed over at the smaller blade on the shelf. "You shouldn't look away from your opponent Captain..." came Alyss's voice from below him. Neo looked down to see Alyss ducking under his still raised sword, diving into his gut. With a loud grunt he stumbled back, his arms spread reflexively to catch his balance. "I guess this is the end Captain Neoshaman!" Alyss shouted, stopping instantly and swinging her axe underhand, the blade tearing through the floorboards as if they were paper. Neo twisted his wrist rapidly, wrenching his sword into the path of the attack. There was a loud clang as the two weapons connected. Neo flew upwards from the force of the attack, his back hitting the ceiling roughly, followed by him crashing onto the couch below, breaking it.

Neo cried out in pain as he writhed from the force of both impacts. Alyss walked over, holding her axe over her shoulder, and smiled. She raised the blade into the air and swung downwards at his neck. Neo quickly rolled out of range of the strike, the axe embedded itself so far into the floorboards that only the shaft of the axe could be seen. Alyss looked on surprised as Neo stood up and held what was left of his sword in front of him. The last blow he had managed to deflect had shattered his sword, leaving a jagged piece of metal on the hilt. "You really underestimate me!" Neo shouted as he thrust the 'sword' at her with on hand. Alyss smirked as she turned her body slightly, dodging the thrust completely before cradling his arm under her own. Neo grunted as he tried to pull his arm free as Alyss smiled her twisted childish smile at him, giggling at his fruitless attempts to pull his arm free. Neo struggled, wincing as she tightened her grip. He knew she was trying to break his arm, and she'd succeed if he didn't break free. He pulled back his free hand and punched her across her face in a desperate attempt to get her to let go. The blow connected squarely with her cheek, twisting her head away from Neo. She let his arm fall limply out of her grasp, a slight trickle of blood escaped the corner of her lips that Neo could see.

"Mmm... Yes!" She said, licking at the blood that escaped her lips, glancing at Neo from the corner of her eye, "There it is, the feeling I live for. THIS is what makes playing so fun! So exhilarating!" Neo stared at her, a slight fear beginning to creep in. "My father used to always tell me, 'Alyss, you have the potential to be a great fighter. One of these days you might just make your name as a warrior.' He was right, I am a great fighter. I'm fast, strong and fighting feels as second nature to me as breathing does. What he didn't expect was my love for the feelings of battle. He tried to stop me from fighting one day, so I killed him. It felt so good, so right, I just had to do it again. And so I did again and again and again. I learnt from every battle, and it has made me the best fighter ever."

"Tch..." Neo said, taking a fighting stance, "You're a cheeky little bugger aren't you?" He blinked, opening his eyes to see her small hand grabbing his face.

"It's not being cheeky if it's true!" Alyss shouted as she slammed Neo's head into the ground, splintering the wood beneath. She quickly lifted him up by his head and threw him into the far wall of the room. He bounced off the wall, sending cracks spider-webbing outwards from the point of impact. Neo gasped loudly as he drew a sharp breath in, only to have it pushed back out by the force of the girl's impacting fists. "I was having so much fun..." she said as she continued to pummel him with punches, pushing him deeper into the wall, "...until you stupid Iysan Hunters had to put an end to it!" Neo could feel the wall bend with every blow. Her punches were hard, but lacked rhythm and technique, her lack of proper training was showing. Through the fog of pain he looked at the sword on the shelf across the room and closed his eyes. He wasn't ready to use that just yet. He opened his eyes and looked down at Alyss, she was saying something but the pain was clouding his hearing. He punches became slower and harder. "...but now I'm free! And I'm going to kill every one of you stupid Hunters!" she said, rearing back and delivering a final blow to his gut. The wall behind him was unable to stand up to the force of her onslaught and gave way, sending Neo sliding into the next room and crashing into a bed.

Neo winced as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small red gem, crushing it in his palm. The mystical healing energies of the gym quickly went to work, sapping away most of the pain and closing some of the wounds that she had opened in her attacks. Neo got to his feet in time to see Alyss's axe splinter the door to the bed room. She ran in screaming angrily, swinging her axe in the doorway, crashing through the wall and towards Neo. Neo fell back onto the bed, the axe passing harmlessly inches from his face. Alyss continued the swing, spinning and maintaining the momentum as the blade traveled overhead. Neo rolled backwards, landing on the floor at the far side of the bed. He grabbed the bottom of the bed frame and threw it upwards into her slash. The axe passed effortlessly through the bedding and frame. "I can't just hang back and be defensive. She'll overpower me in no time." Neo thought as he rushed through the split in the bed and tackled Alyss.

The small fighter didn't expect Neo to use the same trick she had used on him and was tackled to the ground. Neo quickly threw in a few punches that connected painfully with her ribs before he jumped to his feet and stepped back. Alyss grunted angrily as she span on the ground and tripped Neo with a well placed kick to his ankle. As Neo fell she corkscrewed to her feet and readied another slash down at Neo. This time though he was prepared to counter. He planted a deft kick to her gut as she stepped in to swing and sat up, grabbing at the handle of the blade. Alyss gasped in surprise as she was pulled up and over Neo and sent flying towards the wall of the bedroom. She hit the wall hard, and slid down onto her feet, standing unsteadily. Neo rushed in and began to pummel her. "I hate to do this to you," Neo said as he threw one solid punch after the other, "but you're a monster!"

With every punch Alyss laughed happily, until the room was filled the sound of her raucous, maniacal laughter. She looked into his eyes, smiled her bloodied smile and said, "Yes! More! Give me more! All your anger and hatred, show me all of your delicious emotions!" She released her grip on her axe and put her arms around his neck, cooing softly into his ear. Neo kept punching, throwing his fists as hard as he could, and slowly her laughter quieted. He could hear her mumbling something in his ear but he couldn't make out what. He lowered the pace of his punches slightly and it became as clear as day.

"Not enough."

"Not enough." she repeated softly. "This isn't enough." she said again, her tone becoming louder and angrier, "I need more than this!" Neo felt her arms tighten around his neck, pulling him downwards into her rising knee. The blow sent him reeling back, he could feel the steady stream of blood trickling down from his face. "Come on Neo!" Alyss cried out, grabbing the back of his head, "GIVE ME MORE!" With that she bashed his head into the wall, releasing him and letting him slide down the wall leaving a bloody trail. She grabbed his limp body by the collar and dragged him out of the room, throwing him into the foyer and knocking over a flower vase. The cool water in the vase spilt onto Neo, jarring him awake. He looked around the foyer, dazed and a bit confused. As his eyes began to focus on the thing that approached him he quickly gathered himself. Alyss walked towards him slowly, clutching her side softly as she dragged the axe on the floor behind her, blood spots marring her pink dress.

"You really... really are a strong girl." Neo said through clenched teeth, the metallic taste of blood filling his mouth, "With the right training you might have been truly powerful."

"Sweet words will get you nowhere." Alyss said with a laugh, wincing as it hurt her side. "Especially not when you couple it with an insult like that. Open your eyes 'Captain' Neoshaman, I am truly powerful. I'm kicking your sorry hide aren't I?"

"You're mistaken Alyss, you aren't powerful, just destructive. Like a wild animal tearing at its bindings"

"Tch... Like I'll stand here and get lectured to by a pathetic old coot. Do us all a favor and stay still so I can end you." Alyss said, raising her axe with one hand. "You really were a fun toy, the funnest to date, but like all my other toys you'll just break in the end. Goodbye Captain Neo." With that she let her axe fall towards Neo. He closed his eyes, unable to gather the energy to do much more than that. He clenched his eyes tightly awaiting the end. He waited and waited. It seemed like an eternity to him. He opened his eyes warily and saw Alyss's smiling face inches from his. She laughed, "You should have seen the look on your face when I told you that. Did you really think I was finished? Of course not, not when my toy has so much life in it."

[T3h_SyN]

Finale, Act One (continued)

Alyss pulled Neo to his feet, only to kick him through the kitchen door. Neo stumbled back but kept his balance and watched as she rushed him again. He quickly glanced around the room for something to defend himself with, his hand reaching for anything within reach. Alyss closed the gap and swung at him with all the strength one hand could muster.

There was a loud clang as the axe connected with the pan Neo managed to grab at the last second. He smiled as she looked at the pot with a surprised look on her face. "You're not the only one who knows a few combat tricks." Neo said as he released his grip on the pan and turned his body. Alyss, who was still pressing her axe against the pan, stumbled forward when the resistance disappeared. As she tried to regain her balance she caught the glint of light reflecting off a shard of metal in his hand. Neo had grabbed a knife along with the pan and now as she stumbled forwards there was nothing she could do to dodge it. Neo grunted as he felt her body land on the blade. It had stabbed her just below the shoulder blade, painful but nowhere near the lethal blow he was hoping to get. He ran towards the door of the kitchen, looking back to see Alyss bracing herself against the counter. From the doorway he looked into the living room at the weapon on the shelf. "There are no other options. If I don't use that I'm going to die." Neo thought as he ran towards it, sidestepping and jumping over the wreckage.

Back in the kitchen Alyss stood straight, laughing softly as her shaky hand wrapped around the handle of the knife. As she started to pull the blade out of her chest her laughter was interjected by soft yelps of pain. When she pulled the blade out of her chest she looked at it and laught her loud manaical laugh. "This is it! This is what I want!" she shouted as she let the bloody blade fall to the ground, "Neo, you reeeaally didn't disappoint~ I should have started with you instead of that weakling Calira." Alyss bent to pick up her axe, blood flowing steadily down her arm. She picked it up and turned towards the door, practically screaming, "You've inspired me Neo. Now... NOW I CAN GIVE YOU MY ALL!"

Neo cringed at her crazed laughter as she slowly made her way from the kitchen to what remained of the living room. In his hand he held the scabbard of the small blade from the shelf. It was a black sheath with a painted carving of some orchid blossoms with a pair of red and black butterflies fluttering around them. He remembered when Kitone had given this to him as a present, a souvenir from one of her excursions. "Here," she said, handing him the small sword, "A butterfly blade for a butterfly knight. Be careful how you swing it though Mister Knight, it's powerful." He placed his hand on the handle and said to himself, "Kit, what were you thinking giving me this sword. You know it's too destructive for my liking..." Alyss stopped in the doorway her twisted and demented smile matched her crazed laughter and the blood-stained dress she wore. "Alyss, I wasn't fighting you with my best weapon. I really did hope I'd never have to use it in a real fight, but... here it is."

Alyss was beyond all logic and reason by time she had gotten to the doorway to the living room. She was engulfed in the pleasure she was getting from all the combat, the only thing she could focus on was that she was fighting Neo, and that he had to die. She raised her axe and rushed at him. Neo simply drew the sword and slashed, filling the house with a loud crackling sound. "It's over Alyss." Neo said solemnly as he sheathed the sword.

To Alyss that strike had slowed time down for her. She suddenly felt calm and serene. She wanted to look around the room, but only her eyes would move. She looked down and watched as the shaft of her axe split cleanly in two, the ends moving slowly towards her. To her sides she watched as a line appeared along the walls, paper thin at first but then it started expanding, sending spiderweb cracks up the wall, the walls warping and cracking as they spread through it. She heard what sounded like something being torn and felt a warm wetness creeping from her midsection, in line with where her axe had broken. As she puzzled the strange feeling she found herself unable to keep her eyes open. Between lengthening blinks she watched as the walls around her splinter and start moving backwards with her. "Is... Is this true power?" She asked herself softly before closing her eyes one final time.

Neo watched as all the house that was in front of the slash fragment and fly into the uninhabited hill behind his house. "Look at that, it destroyed everything..." he said with a faint smile, "Kitone... Sometimes... Sometimes I hate... your sense of humor..." With that he collapsed to the floor, overcome by exhaustion and pain. He took shallow, laboured but steady breaths as he lay unconscious. Within the scattered wreckage that had been blown onto the hill lay the remains of Alyss. Slowly dark flames engulfed her body, flowing along the grass from the separate parts till the all met in one flame in the middle. This flame curled around itself till all that was left was a smokey black pearl. The pearl rose slowly till it passed the tree line then shot towards a mountain in the distance whose peak was surrounded by thick clouds.