Fire Emblem: The Last Scion

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An axe.

Came out of nowhere.

And almost squished the leaders of this little pack.

The innocent child was gone, replaced with a focused obidient dancer who immediatly clasped her bracelets on tightly, the ribbons falling to the sand, light sparkles emmiting around the girl as she did so. Twirling once, to make sure everything was in order, she tottered after Stephen-taichou, her hands clasped tightly behind her, "Taichou-sama? Where do you want me to put myself? With the cleric or with Emma-onee-sama?" Her ring sparkled softly and her feet were already moving in the beginnings of a dance, one that would raise moral and, if her mother's ring was added, prehaps cause a sudden burst of strength or a sudden flair of mystic armour to appear around around the cast-ee. Her position was constantly changed, she'd been told by Karn-shishou to ask either Emma-onee-sama or Steph-taichou-sama for directions. And this is exactly waht she was doing.

She'd shaken off the shaman's words, along with Emma's, and was focused, completely focused. No, that wasn't a tremor in her hands, it wasn't a tremor at all. There wasn't an inch of fear, there couldn't be. That could cause her to lose focus and when she lost focus, her dances could backfire and injure the frail girl and she'd be more of a burden than she already was. If she used her mother's ring more than four times, she'd have to be carried or put on a horse, unable to really function until her spiritual energy recharged. Tapping her toes lightly, trying to establish a rhythem in them, she waited for orders, her eyes darting around wildly for signs of other trouble.
 
[[ Really nervous about move-in day at college tomorrow. Can't sleep. Finally found inspiration for a post. ^.^;; ]]

"Stay--with Emma and Clementina. Lucine and Aila, stay with them as well. And Lucine, you are free to wreak havoc on whoever you wish, as long as they're a bandit. We can't afford anyone dying right now. Not to this scum," Anton said, rubbing his chest plate. That axe had dented his perfect blue armor, but for now, he had more pressing matters to attend to. He began to search the dunes of the desert, attempting to spot the bandits hidden in the sand. But the impact from the axe had put him in a dank stupor. He couldn't lose focus though. Too many lives were reliant on his command. "Kayle, come with me. We take the front lines. Pirates, do what you wish. But please, be caref--Jesus, watch what you're doing with that sword," Anton said, motioning to the pirate with the large sword. He turned and began to trudge forward, his heavy armor causing him to sink further into the sand. But in his two years here in the desert, he had grown accustomed to it and adjusted his fighting style accordingly.

As he walked forward, he heard the murmuring of the approaching bandits. His grip on his lance tightened. From what he could tell, they had encroached onto the territory of the bandits under the control of the man Elzen. They weren't the most terrible or powerful of the bandits in Haaj, but they're highly aggressive. They were out to kill and pillage. And they often resorted to cowardly techniques in battle, such as throwing axes from hidden positions. Most of them used axes however, so both Kayle and him were at a disadvantage. But they were unruly and disheveled in their fighting style, so using his military training, Anton could outmanuever and outwit them in the batt--

"CHARGE!" Anton heard a female voice scream. He looked and saw Jun rushing forward, her umbrella leading the way and her sword raised above her head. So much for civilized strategy. He watched as she leapt on the nearest unsuspecting bandit, and with one fluid motion, slash his chest. The bandit recoiled and fell backwards, his blood splattering the desert sand. The bandits grew into a frenzy and began to scream obsenities. They charged forward, their axes brandished and ready. "You bastards!" Jun screamed, again rushing towards the enemy.

"I told you to watch Aila and Lucine, Emma!" Anton screamed. She was never one to obey orders, but he had hoped that for once she had listened. Two burlesque bandits were now making their way towards him however, so he would attend to their ugly, scarred faces first. Anton anchored his left foot behind him, holding his lance straight out in front of him in a defensive position. As the first bandit approached him, he shifted his weight to his right and thrusted his lance forward. The lance made its way past the bandit's axe and plunged into the man's stomach. He yelled in pain. The other bandit took the opportunity to launch an assault on Anton, but using his heavily-armored arm, the Knight smashed the bandit across the skull, knocking the man unconscious. He pulled the lance from the bandit's body and looked to Jun, who was fileting a group of bandits that had surrounded her. He hoped Meilin had stayed with Adalynn, Aila, and Lucine. He knew Jun could handle herself, but those three were unaccustomed to desert battle. Anton could not stand to see a woman hurt or even worse, killed.


Edit: Fixed some weird errors I found proofreading again and that I missed before. Don't know HOW I missed them. O.o;;;
 
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OOC: I kind of over dramatized some stuff, but I'm tired and i wanted to show some character development for Lucine, soo... XD

"This is rather unsettling." Kayle muttered to nobody in particular as he removed his lance from the second axeman he had slain. Being a lance user, he was aware of the disadvantage he had against these axeman, and this disadvantage was multiplied rather foolishly by the fact that Azure could not hold a proper footing on the sand. "Dammit!" He narrowly blocked a vertical axe attack from his left with the lance, and pierced the large man's chest quickly and effectively before turning to the sound of half of Aila's guard charging into battle. "I can only wonder what's going through that girl's mind..." Technically, the man should have been worried sick about the safety of his client, but his personality prevented him from letting his emotions get the better of him. Clementina was still with them, after all, and getting too concerned would just detract from his fighting capabilities.

"You think they're going to be okay?" Ailia asked the group she was now stuck with, consisting of Clementina, Lucine, and the strange dancer girl. "I mean, what if they run out of Vulneraries, and I can't get to them in time?!" Lucine just sighed in response as she followed after the sound of the girl's voice. The majority of the fighting seemed to be taking place away from them, which left the girl with a feeling of anxiety. She longed for the feeling of battle, the sounds of people crying in pain. She had all this, yet she was unable to fight just yet. Suddenly, the air seemed to grow more humid, moist, as if some unknown power begged for a thunderstorm. The shaman's lifeless eyes shot open before she leapt towards Aila, whom of which seemed to be the most likely target of an attack.

"EVERYONE DOWN!" The girl shouted as she tried to pull the cleric down, but was too late. A bolt of lightning struck the two girls from above, sending sand high into the air, they're cries filling the air along with a larged rush of hot, humid air. When the cloud of sand began to clear, Aila appeared first, on the ground, and apparently unconscious. As more of the sand cleared, Lucine appeared, back towards the group, with a ball of dark energy gathered in the air before her. The rest of the group couldn't see, but she was holding her tome in her left hand, the pages turning rapidly on their own, and her eyes were closed. She threw her right hand forward, and the dark energy seeped into the ground. The sand finally settled in time to see the silhouette of a mage in the distance be consumed by a dark energy that shot from the ground. "You people are a pain..." The shaman remarked as she turned to look at the cleric, despite her inability to really see her, before falling forward.

Aila finally snapped to once more, and got to her feet, dusting herself off in the process. She quickly noticed her fallen comrade, and ran over to her side. She rose her Heal staff into the air, and a ball of white light consumed Lucine. As it cleared, Lucine was revealed in perfect condition, all of the burn marks on her body gone. Lucine awoke afterwards, and delivered a painful blow to Aila's head, which in turn made the girl hold her cranium in pain. "Stupid! Pay more attention to your surroundings!"

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry everyone! I'm such a burden!"
 
The pirates roared in approval when the man in charge gave them leeway to do whatever they pleased. Gruesome as they were, they had no issues with pausing in the middle of the fight to pillage anything that was on the dead corpses. Zen, uninterested in material things, used his very unique style of wielding an axe by spinning and whipping it about like a baton. The red axe turned even redder as Zen mercilessly beheaded the other bandits. It was kill for kill, steal for steal, when land lubbers faced greedy pirates. D'ernjay essentially did nothing except for crush every other mongrel that came too close to him with the tip of his claymore. Zen swung his axe violently into a bandit who wielded a pathetic dagger in comparsion, and as soon as Zen pulled his axe free of the flesh, Sykes used the axe as a step before he drove his dagger into the face of a bandit and his foot into the face of another. Landing with his entire weight crushing down on that bandit, he twisted his foot, and swept his heel into the bandit's neck with great force. Ignoring the distinct crunch and retrieving his dagger from the face of one of the many dead men, he was just about to head toward D'ernjay to report his news, but his eyes widening, Sykes ducked his head down and pulled his scarf over his face as sand was whipped into the air.

"WHO'S PLAYIN' DIRTY?!!?" Zen shouted angrily as he frantically tried to brush sand away from his face. He shook his head and waved it away, but the shaman soon settled the sand, and he grasped his axe again, looking for any targets in sight.

"Sykes!" Zen said in surprise as the thief stumbled forward, a bandit pulling on his scarf and tangling it ever more around his face. The bandit, accustomed to desert sands, could see perfectly fine right after the dust settled, and seized the opportunity to kill. Unable to see in which direction his enemy was, and not wanting to lunge stupidly and land in a promising position for his enemy, Sykes gripped his dagger in his right hand, which he held behind his back, while trying to wrench off the tangled scarf without pulling his own head off. The bandit drove his dagger into the thief's shoulder, Sykes moving just in time for his foe to miss his vitals.

But now Sykes knew where his enemy was. Pulling out his dagger he drove it into the flesh of the bandit, who was at a sharp left, holding out the scarf so it seemed he stood in front of Sykes. After deciding the bandit was out of sorts enough, when the pressure pushing the dagger down on his flesh was lightened, Sykes dropped his dagger and pulled off his scarf, unknotting the cloth with some difficulty as he heard Zen yelling at the bandit and the squelch of blood, flesh, and a heavy axe becoming essentially one.

After successfully removing the scarf, Sykes wrenched up his dagger, but Zen mercilessly kicked him toward D'ernjay, telling his old friend to report any news while he followed to keep the bandits out of Sykes' way. Ignoring the sharp pain of having a dagger in your shoulder, Sykes kept it there, deciding to bear the double pain of removing it later.

"There's more up ahead." Sykes said, when he finally reached D'ernjay, who looked lightly at Sykes arm and laughed as he pushed his claymore into the body of an attacking man.

"Yew gaw't yerself purdy torn up Si'kez m'boy!" He said cheerfully, "But there's more you say? That's good to know! Means we'll have to get your arm fixed up before we move out again! Go find that cleric why don'tcha?"

"That's hardly a necessit-"

"RIDICULOUS!" D'ernjay roared, felling a few more bandits, "I'm shurr we're all in'terez'ded in how a cleric does 'is work! We'll all watch aft'er'urds."

After all, all the clerics that D'ernjay had ever met got seasick, so he'd never been able to see them heal something. Like a curious child, he'd always been interested. Besides, it'd be faster and more efficient if a cleric healed Sykes, as it would be instantaneous. Or at least, so D'ernjay had heard...
 
Meilin groaned. While she hadn't been struck by the bolt, the impact had thrown her into the air, and thrown her several feet from where she was standing. Meilin coughed and rubbed her eyes as she was temporarily blinded from the sand. She shook her head and looked back to see the young Shaman fall to the ground. Meilin stood. She listened as her armor crushed the small sand particles that had gotten caught in the joints of her armor. She groped her Ji, which had managed to stay on her back despite the impact. Then Meilin walked over to the two magic-users, who had awakened from the blow. The Cleric Aila was grabbing the back of her head, in obvious pain. Lucine was, well, "looking" at the cleric with contempt. She sighed, happy to know that the two were alright. Meilin ran her hand threw her black hair, shaking a few loose sand particles from it. She reached into her pouch and pulled a Vulnerary from it. She pulled the stopper out of it and slowly gulped the contents. She felt the healing effects almost immediately, and the pain from the slight wound on the side of her face dissipated. She dropped the empty container to the ground and buried it in the sand with her foot.

Footsteps...

"You two, watch out!" Meilin turned, and found three axe wielders charging towards her. The young Princess ripped the Ji from its holder, and gripped it with both hands. With one quick swing she decapitated the first bandit, whose head fell to the sand with a thud. The other bandit took a wild swing at Meilin, who deflected the blow with the handle of her Ji. She knocked the bandit to the ground and with one blow, she slammed the blade of her axe into the man's chest, who let out a large yelp. The other bandit took advantage of her focus on the screaming bandit, and lodged his axe into her back. Most of the blow had been absorbed by Meilin's armor but it had managed to knock her off balance. She fell to the ground once again, the air knocked out of her lungs. The bandit was relentless, and once again took another swing at Meilin, this time aiming for her head.

"Bastard!" A woman's voice rang, and with a motion of her blade, sliced the man's right arm clean from his body. His axe fell to the ground, and the man gripped what remained off his arm, screaming in agony. Jun then drove her blade through the man's throat, releasing his soul from his body. She then repeated the same motion with the other screaming bandit, relieving him from his pain. She then walked to her sister, who was still sitting on the ground, attempting to regain her breath. "You okay Meilin?"

"I'm okay Jun. How are you?" Meilin said, gripped her breastplate.

"Fine. Haven't take a hit yet. A few arrows came close, but these archer's aim is terrible. A three year-old could dodge them. I'm sorry I kind of ran off on you though. Maybe if I had stuck around, you wouldn't have bee--"

"It's okay Jun. I can handle myself. You just have an advantage using a sword against these axe wielders. I can't believe they have magic users with them. If that thunderbolt had hit me directly, I could of died," Meilin said. Using her Ji for balance, she managed to stand up. Meilin was two inches taller than her sister, standing at a height of 5'10". "Better get back to the girls. Can't leave them there alone. I want to conserve Vulneraries, so I'm going to ask Aila to heal me. You coming?..."

"I'll catch you in a bit. A few more bandits to take care of.." Jun said. With that, she bounded off towards another group of bandits, her umbrella in its shield positioning.

EDITED: Because I'm an idiot who apparently can't read.
 
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"They aren't particularly skilled, but their numbers are sheer ludicrous." Kayle commented in Stephen's direction after he fought his way into the same general area. He had witnessed the little episode with the cleric and shaman, and was a little bit relieved when Lucine took out the foe, even with her condition. If those two stuck together, they'd probably form some sort of bond. A bond? What good was one of those? Bonds had only caused him grief in the past, so Kayle never allowed himself to become particularly attached to someone. Snapping out of his train of though, the lance knight sent his spear plummeting through the chest of a mage, before the mage could possibly attack him. Kayle wasn't particularly fond of looking at the face of people he killed. The expression on one's face as their life ends was never pretty, and Kayle found it easier to fight that way. For example, the mage had been a young girl, no older than eighteen. Had he looked at her directly, he would have seen her as a girl, not an opponent, and would have held back. "It's almost as if they wanted us eliminated at all costs. Say, Stephen, what kind of reputation follows your lot, anyways? This isn't exactly your run of the mill bandit attack."

WHACK

"Did you get him?"

"You can hear well enough to dodge the guy's sword attacks with ease, but you can't hear a staff to his skull?"

"...I was only making sure..." Lucine murmured to herself as she paid careful attention to the sound of the wind. She could hear arrows off in the distance, but it never hurt to be cautious of them anyways, just in case. The sound of quickly approaching feet from nearby put the shaman on guard again. In the end, it turned out to be Sykes, whom of which Aila ran up to, and despite the dagger lodged in his shoulder, swung her staff vertically downwards at the thief's skull.

"Oh look, Mr. Let's-charge-in-all-by-ourselves got hurt! BIG surprise." The cleric scolded the wounded sneak, wagging her finger back and forth, despite the fact that she hadn't charged in, and was previously even more wounded than he was. "But I guess I better help you anyways..." The girl, without a second thought, ripped the dagger from the boy's shoulder in one quick motion, before holding her staff up to the wound. It began to glow, just like things had with Lucine, and the hole in Sykes' arm spewing blood disappeared. "There. Now next time, use your head before acting like an idiot!" The red haired girl turned her back to the brown haired boy, her head raised in a 'you know nothing' gesture. Lucine just listened in, completely confused as to how this girl could have such a conversation in the midst of a battle.
 
OoC// Wow, this post sucks pretty bad. xD

IC// Sykes was silent as he took the blow to the head and then took the pain of getting a dagger lodged in your shoulder ripped out (quite brutally,) and was even silent when she healed it. Without a single word of thanks, Sykes reached out and grabbed a fistful of Aila's hair, pulling her backwards and stepping between her and Lucine, mashing his foot into the face of one bandit and stabbing the face of the other with his dagger. Through all this, he didn't even glance at Aila. Not for her reaction of getting pulled out of the way by her hair when he could've easily grabbed her shoulder, not for her reaction to getting saved when she probably could've handled herself with these weak bandits just as well. Most of the pirates however, were getting tired of the long battle. All games get old. Thus, their looting diminished, and massive killing replaced it, each method of killing more brutal then the next. Sykes, with his tendency to disfigure his opponent's face before he could see it, Zen with his tendency to slice off a few limbs, and D'ernjay, with his tendency to crush the enemy's heads right into their shoulders.

"You know, little girl," Sykes said staring with distaste at Aila, "I do things a little differently then you. I didn't even have parents and I know when to keep my mouth shut about other people's customs. Think, cleric. I'm a pirate. That's my occupation, even if it's not my class."

With that, he turned and addressed the shaman, "I'm not exactly an expert when it comes to magic. Is there no spell you can do to just... get rid of them?"
 
"Our leader Karn isn't the biggest fan of bandits and he's taken it upon him and his mercenaries to cleanse Haaj of them. I personally have led several expeditions in their camps where we wiped them out completely. And by the sheer amount of bandits nearby, I'm guessing this is the group of bandits belonging to Aesello, a local bandit leader. He's despicable scum whose plagued this desert since Clementina, Emma, and I arrived here two years ago," Anton said in response to Kayle's question. He turned and pierced the chest of an oncoming Myrmidon, who yelped in pain before falling to the ground. Their numbers were starting to dwindle. As of yet, the group had yet to experience any casualities, which was exemplary. Usually, with the intensity of the combat being so great, they would of suffered greater casualities.

"Just a few more and I think we'll be in the clear..."

Meanwhile, in Holsten's capital Toliono...

"Queen, we stand little chance against both Ascanth AND Koga-Na. And with Yunai, for the lack of a better word, forsaking us, we're left with few options. It appears this war will mainly take place on the mainland, so our navy is of little help. To add to our woes, it appears that a great number of mercenary bands are on the move towards Koga-Na. In all honesty my Queen, there is little we can do to remedy our current situation," the man said. His hands were nervously fidgeting, and he barely made eye contact with the woman he was speaking with. This woman, better known as Queen Juno, Empress of Holsten and Protectorate of the Eastern Isles, was not your typical fair queen. She was short, stout, and possessed more muscle than a typical woman. Her face, however, possessed an unusual beauty to it. Her hair was a thin, but beautiful chestnut color. Her eyes were a bland brown but they were also full of energy. Her outfit was simply a black leather tunic, grey slacks, and thick cow hide boots. A large ax was hanging from her back, held together by a leather strap. All in all, she was Queen befitting of a nation of pirates, thieves, and other lowlife.

"So you're telling me Gregarius, that my country is to simply step aside and let these other countries decide our fate. Lest you forget, though we are a nation of seamen, we are also a nation of fighters. With a simple call, I would have the pirates of the world at my command. Though we would be out of our element, we wouldn't go down without a struggle. And those bastards on the Yunain council rely for too heavily on ships and other 'services' to completely abandon us. They are a bunch of filthy landlubbers, much like you Gregarius," the queen said followed by a hearty laugh. "What we'll do is send one of our more loyal and powerful captains to Haaj and eliminate the bands before they can get to Koga-Na. But whom... From what I can remember, D'ernjay and his band left on some personal business, so he's out of the question. Albacore is dead. Oh, let's send Hakren. He's vicious, maniacal, and intelligent enough to go into the desert and slaughter some of the greatest mercenaries. As long as he gets women and money of course. Gregarius, be a good boy and send a messenger as quickly as possible."

"Yes m'lady," Gregarius said, before quickly slipping out of the room and into the halls of the castle. Juno sighed and walked to the window of her quarters. Only a few hundred feet away sat the ocean. It beckoned her name. But she had to stay for now. Her nation needed her and though she was tough as nails, her country came first...

Back in the deserts of Haaj...

"Hiyah!" Jun said, bringing the blade of her sword into the shoulder of a nearby male Mage. The magic-user fell to the ground in a bloody heap, his tome falling into the sand opened and tattered. Jun looked around and saw numerous bandit corpses littering the desert sands. It appeared they had killed most of them and the few that remained had disappeared. But it was strange that they hadn't seen a squad leader or anything. Though they were highly organized, the bandits still required someone to direct them towards the ones they were going to kill.

"Ahh.. a pretty young woman. And she can handle a sword to boot. How perfect," a sadistic sounding voice slowly said behind Jun. She turned and found a brutish man, standing around 6'06" and completely made of muscle. He held an unbelievably large ax in his left hand and a simple Iron Bow was slung on his back. He had a disgusting smile on his face. Scars were scattered across his body. He wore nothing but woolen, green pants and thick, black boots. The upper half of his body was exposed to the elements but he appeared to be someone who had lived in the desert his entire life. "It's a shame I'll have to cut your pretty little body into pretty pieces."

"Aesello, so you decided to lead your men into battle. Pathetic. They didn't even leave a scratch. The winds have done more damage to me then your men could even do. Must be poor leadership," Jun said. Her eyes darted around her. None of her companions were nearby, so she would either have to run and find them or battle this guy on her own. But he had that bow with him and he was undoubtedly much more skilled with it than the petty archers in his band. It seemed she would have to go with option two.

"You little tramp," he said, twirling the handle of his ax in between his fingers. He had a deadly sneer on his face, showing a growing anger and rage within him. "When I'm done with you, you can join that Karn buddy of your's in hell..."

"What?" Jun said. Her heart sank. "What do you mean?"

"Before we found your little group, we found that unusually large group of men. We instantly recognized Karn and attacked. For being such a legendary Mercenary, he was incredibly easy to filet. But it seems his little group of favorites proved to be a greater challenge..."

"I'll kill you!" Jun said, charging toward Aesello, her blade pointed forward, aimed for the man's heart. Aesello simply smirked and grabbed the girl's blade and swung her to the ground. He then raised the butt of his ax's handle and smacked her in the head. She let out a loud yelp before falling unconscious.
 
"If that's true, why is the main group of your company heading to Koga-Na. If I may as so assume, have you been hired to fight in the eminent war?" Kayle responded in an oh-so-serious manner. "If that's the truth, then you can expect us quickly gone when and if we get to town. I need help Aila locate someone, someone that can help her family, and helping with the war won't give us that."

"Would you like me to cook you a meal and wash your clothes while I'm using a spell to 'just get rid of them?'" Lucine replied sarcastically as she brought her right hand to her forehead in disbelief at such a stupid question. "If I could use a tome that powerful, I'd be a druid or a summoner, not a shaman. Apparently someone needs a lesson in magic. You could at least bother to learn the strengths and weaknesses of different classes, you know, pirate or not. For example, thief is considered one of the weaker classes. Not exactly a powerful opponent on the battlefield, and basically ONLY good for petty theft." Aila, now free of the thief's grip, and hiding behind Lucine, sighed. She couldn't help but think that those two were kind of alike for some reason. She assumed it was their blunt and insulting attitudes, but it could be something more.

Lucine, though used to it, had excellent hearing. Those rumors about your other senses becoming sharper with the loss of one sense was entirely true, since whether they were deaf, blind, or whatever, they were forced to rely on those senses more. While it was a talent, it was also a burden. Loud, close noises were painful to her, and one of the things that drove her up the wall if she was unprepared for it. With it, she could keep track of a majority of what was taking place around her, and it was useful for spying, or listening to enemy strategy. For some time, she had been hearing everyone, but hearing what appeared to be something along the lines of 'I'll kill you!", Emma fell silent, and the sound of clashing metal was not to be heard. Despite the fact that the female shaman had no actually caring feelings for this lot, she figured bailing out some more people could very well gain her some more trust so that she could spy more efficiently. And, if what she had overheard Stephen say was true, she had a description of the role of this mercenary company to share with her superiors. "Aila, we're going." The girl replied as she grabbed the cleric's right wrist, dragging her away in the direction of where she had heard the girl's cry. "Oi, thief, tell the others Emma is in danger, and make it snappy!"

After a few moments of running, the two eventually came across the scene. Explaining the speed, magic users can inexplicably travel faster over sandy terrain than normal units that lack wings. Some say it's due to their abilities, but in reality nobody knows the TRUE reason. Thankfully, the two girls were able to spy from behind a sand dune. If that had just charged in, they would have easily been shot down by the bow of the huge warrior. "Warrior, a fighter that has exceeded in axeman-ship and picked up the use of a bow. I'm going to cause a distraction, you get to Emma. Hopefully your staff can snap her out of it, because if it doesn't, and nobody comes before then, we're deader than dead meat." Aila couldn't help but utter a giggle at this. It just was so... not Lucine, to say something like 'deader than dead meat'. Following this, Aila nodded as she brought her staff up in ready position, and Lucine stood halfway down the dune and raised her arm outwards as the pages of her tome turned rapidly in the other, just like earlier. As the dark energy began gathering, sand began problematically flying upwards into the air at a rapid rate. If the foe were to catch sight of this, it could be too late. Either way, the darkness seeped into the sand, and the shaman nodded at the cleric as the sound of the energy shooting up and hitting something which was hopefully it's target. If it did or not, there would be enough sand in the air for Aila to get in and heal before the bandit could see again. Then again, this was no run of the mill bandit.

Sand noticeably blasted up into the sky around the scene, and Aila made a dash for Emma's body, tripping over it due to her clouded vision from the sand with an "Oof." Turning to face the unconscious young woman, and raising her staff, the soft light covering the girls body as healing occurred.
 
Sykes sighed and tapped his chin while dodging various attacks and letting a newly arrived Zen hack away at the bandits attacking them. She got him there. Stealing was what thieves did, even if she'd worded it in a rude way. But either way, he couldn't exactly let his pride get eaten by someone who technically wasn't an enemy. That, was more disgraceful then getting his pride eaten by someone who was his enemy. Shrugging, Sykes said, ducking as Zen's axe, dripping red, sliced cleanly in the spot where his head was a split second earlier, beheading another bandit.

"My apologies for assuming you could do something useful." He said with an edge to his voice as he ducked again, Zen crashing his axe into the ground on the other side of Sykes and hopping over to kill some more bandits on the other side. They never seemed to end! But Sykes noticed that Lucine had not snapped a wise retort back at him, and knowing in all good god that she wouldn't let such an insult go, he looked about, wondering what had happened, just in time to see her and Aila running off toward an unconscious mercenary. There was no reason to engage in any further ceaseless banter, as D'ernjay was shouting orders.

"THIS 'ERE BATT'LEZZ GETTIN' OLD." He yelled in his rough bark, "LEZ W'RAP IT UP BOYS!"

And after this order, the only thing that slowed the pirates from killing everything in sight was the fact that if they killed anyone that wasn't a bandit, they'd get their heads handed to them on a silver platter by D'ernjay, who killed attackers and people with money. And looking at the mercenaries at one glance told D'ernjay that they didn't have nearly enough money on them to be worth anything with their wallets snug in his pockets and their corpses left to rot.

"Zen, go watch Aila and Lucine." Sykes said, and Zen wrenched his axe out of a dead body.

"Ehhh?!" He groaned, "I don't want to be a babysitter! Besides," He pointed at the cloud of sand with a pout, "They're doing fine!"

"Just do it!" Sykes snapped as he disappeared in the action again, Zen grumbling in annoyance as he hacked a path toward the two girls.

"WOAH THERE BUBBA." Zen yelled at the top of his lungs as an arrow narrowly grazed the tip of his ear, "THAT STINGS." The stupid exclamation was highly ignored by the fighting crowds around him, but the pirate stared into the cloud of sand with great interest now. Another arrow soared his way, and he yelped, bending back more then his spine would normally allow, and promptly falling head first into the sand. And as many axe-wielder's knew, swinging an axe on the ground was not an easy feat.

Scrambling to his feet ungracefully before slugging a bandit who'd caught sight of his bumble, Zen clumsily groped for the handle of his axe while two pirates attacked the approaching bandits.

Zen narrowed his eyes and peered into the cloud of sand again after he'd gotten a good grip on his axe, standing without a care as most of the other pirates slaughtered the bandits.

"Cleric?" Zen twitched his head to the side as he made his way forward, toward the lump on the ground, about as cautiously as a pirate could manage with bandits on his tail, though the number in general diminishing as each one died.
 
Illet stood bewildered among the new arrival of what seemed to be enemies. The battlefield was a new experience for her, and now was not the time to deal with such things. Her objective stayed simple, yet...was she to leave these newly aquired aquantances that she had just met up with? A few feet away, the giant grey wyvern pounded his wings against the desert sand with a startling growl of fury. Illet and the dragon both knew that they weren't yet up the this challenge, as parched and maxed out as they were. Illet 's expression grew into a scowl; she wanted to help out these people, but doing so in this condition would mean sudden death for both her and Dalmaskoth. Wing pulsating and tail lashed out as a deadly pike, the wyvern's goal was set to get none other than the girl he was supposed to protect out of the area.

"Dalmaskoth? Hmm, I guess so." As the wyvern neared, lifted up by one of his wings, Illet climbed onto the back of the grey figure and steadily rose into the air. Upon ascending, Illet blinked. There definitely were more people there than she had earlier taken notice of. Peering over the neck of the lizard, Illet looked down and grabbed her spear. Knowing her intentions of now wanting to fight, Dalmaskoth snorted and ascended even higher and out of javelin range. Illet sighed, but then again grabbed the wyvern by his horns in the direction of the people she had just met who seemed to be engaged in battle now. She's at least have to tell them her intentions. Dalmaskoth seemed to comply as he lowered ahead of the pirate and the theif. One hand around the neck of the wyver and the other used to amplify her voice, Illet shouted the best she could: "SORRY PIRATE AND SYKES. MAYBE WE WILL MEET AGAIN SOMEDAY." With the last syllabyle, she grabbed back onto the wyvern which sped off towards the other direction. She these people were definitely curious, and the didn't seem to come to the desert just for sightseeing like herself. Pressed against the dragon's back, the white haired girl reflected. She'd see them again, she was sure of it.
 
Meilin felt it. She was too far to hear her sister scream, but she felt something was wrong. Since the two of them were little girls they had an unusual mental connection to each other. When Jun fell down the stairs many years ago, Jun knew she was hurt, even though she was miles away. She pulled the blade of her ax from the neck of an unlucky bandit and turned, trying to look for where her sister could be. The battlefield was scattered with the numerous corpses of bandits, but she couldn't see her sister. She began to walk back towards the group from whom she had wandered away from while the cleric was healing the thief. Where'd the cleric, shaman, and thief go? She looked to her right and saw the cloud of sand created by the dark magic. Behind that cloud Meilin could see the deadly warrior Aesello wincing in pain from the sand in his eyes. There was also movement within the cloud. WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY DOING THERE!? The cleric was leaning over a crumpled figure in a pink dres--

"JUN!" Meilin screamed and began charging towards her sister. Aesello turned his head, and smiled. He still hadn't noticed the two newcomers near his feet. The loud clanking of Meilin's armor had caught his full attention. He latched his ax to his belt and pulled his bow from his back. Reaching into the container that held his arrows, he pulled a sole quiver and placed it against his bow. He pulled the string back and with one awkward motion, released the arrow. Meilin had no time to react as the arrow lodged itself between her thigh and pelvis bone. Meilin winced in pain but continued to run forward. Aesello pulled another arrow from its container and fired it at Meilin. She raised her Ji into the air and used it as a shield to block the arrow. "You bastard!" Now close enough, she leaped into the air and brought her Ji into Aesello. The Warrior was defenseless with his bow, who found his weapon smashed by her ax. It came down into his chest, and immediately blood began to burst from his wound. She quickly pulled it from his chest and brought it over her head. The Warrior reached for his ax, but the pain from his wound made it hard to concentrate. Meilin, full of rage, brought the Ji down into the top of skull, fracturing it and instantly killing the warrior. The blood splattered, striking the princess in the face and all over her gray armor. The man's carcass fell to the ground, lifeless and bleeding.

Meilin turned to her sister, who could now be more easily seen now that sand had cleared. The cleric's magic had managed to heal her and she was beginning to regain her composure. She leaned forward and coughed. "Meilin.. he's dead.. he's dea..." Tears began to flow down her cheeks.

"Jun, whose dead?" Meilin said.

"Karn.. Aesello said.. said he massacred.. the others," Jun managed to blurt out between powerful sobs. Meilin immediately began to cry. Normally she would of cared that Jun had used their real names, but now it didn't matter. The man who had come to be like a father to them was killed.

"Are you sure?" Meilin said sadly. "Are you sure we can trust the word of a bandit?"

"He seemed sure.. of it..."

"Well, we have to check. We'll find Karn and prove this scum wrong!"
 
-OoC-

> >; Bij, Arch, I'll have a post in Alarayne up tomorow.

< <; Yeah so I officially hate these suprise trips to Illinois to see ailing relatives who don't even own VCR players (much less a computer) for three days... It makes me go twitchy twitchy...

-IC-

Death, it wasn't something she wasn't used to. Since she'd been little, a certian prophecy, told to children when a beloved one died, had been ground into her mind, one that had allowed her hear to become semi cold and at the very least immune to showing such dreadful feelings like sorrow and despair. It was simple. The Wheel of Time turns, and ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legends fade to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. People died and time continued to spin its cruel wheel around and around, never ceasing no matter how much people begged. Nothing was different in this situation, nothing. There were no words, no pleas, no chants to bring back the dead. Ada, having been standing and watching the entire ordeal through silent watching speechless eyes, was not doubting the words of the bandit king. She wasn't doubting them at all. Karn-shishou... was probably dead. They had left him alone, leaving him prone to a group assult.

But she couldn't be sad, not when there were others to attend to, to refresh. She wasn't a cleric but she could still give the girls, her beloved 'nee-samas', a bit of a pick me up. Sighing, she regained her composer and tottered over to the girls, her hands clasping behind her back as she greeted them with as good of a smile as she could muster, "Do... you want me to dance for you? It would give you strength, to walk back to camp." but without warning and without real rhyme or reason, attached herselves to the waists of the two girls, her face burried in Jun's stomach for a moment or so before she pulled away, her face red, the older girl's dress damp, and her cheeks a-flame, "I... I'm sorry, I dunno what came over me." Laughing weakly, not fooling any but the greatest of fools, she turned and pointed towards camp, trying desperately to seem her normal self, "Leeeeeeeet's go! To... camp!"
 
OOC:
I'm so sorry, I forgot that I hadn't posted yet, school is already taking it's toll. I've been so busy, I'll still try to come and work as hard as I can.

IC:
"Hey Kata, look at all this gold I found. We're going to be rich!" Kaoru said with a bag full of coins. "Quiet! We could get caught." With a worried face, Kata picked up some gold as well. "Hey, do you hear something? Hide!" Kaoru panicked and dropped coins as she looked for a place to hide.

"Look at that, why are there coins on the floor?" One of the guards examined curiously. "Hey, it's a thief!" The guard grabbed Kaoru's wrist causing her to drop her scarf. "Let her go!" Kata stood up and attacked the guard with a wooden stick, but it was futile. He was knocked away like a fly. "Kata, run, there's nothing you can do, please!" The guard tightened his grip as she yelled. Kata quickly snatched the scarf Kaoru had dropped and ran with tears pouring down his face. "Get that kid!" More guards emerged and tailed Kata, but because of their bulky armor, they couldn't touch him.

"This can't be happening" Kata thought to himself as he moped back and forth in a dark alley. Looking into the streets, he notices many guards searching every house and store. He stares back at the castle, "I'm sorry Kaoru, I've failed as your brother..."

Kata quickly wakes up, with sweat running down his face and on to his drenched pillow. "That dream again...why?" Kata stares at Kaoru's scarf, "Where's all my stuff?! Why did this have to happen?" Anger building up inside, Kata leaves the inn and notices the entire village is strangely empty. It wasn't unusual that people didn't want to come out because he was there, but all the buildings seemed destroyed. Searching through the streets for his items, Kata comes across the innkeeper; he was a nice man who didn't hesitate to let him stay, for free too. But he looked different; he had a weapon with him.

"You!" The innkeeper said with a stunned face. "Why do you have an axe with you? And my sword?" Kata said calmly eyeing the Katenou at the innkeeper's side. The innkeeper suddenly swung his axe horizontally, aiming for Kata's neck. Kata ducked, "Do you have my locket too?" He swung his axe once more, but missed. "Hah, you're nothing against us without a weapon!" More men appeared from the other buildings, they were apparently bandits. Dodging the attack once more, Kata stole his sword back and stared into the eyes of the innkeeper. In an instant, he slashed the man repeatedly. "MY LOCKET! GIVE IT TO ME!" The other bandits charged with their axes, while some attacked from afar with a bow. Kata attacked relentlessly, taking every hit he couldn't dodge and killing many. Luckily, he had regained some vulnararies stolen from him; otherwise he would have serious injuries.

After awhile, he pursued what was left of the bandits, hoping to get his locket back. This chase led him to Haaj, the desert country. The dust in the midst of battle put Kata at a disadvantage, but he killed all except for one, which seemed like the boss. Blood dripping from his blade and his face, Kata continued the battle. "Don't be a fool, you saw what I did to your comrades, give me the locket." Kata glared at the brigand with the eyes of an assassin. "Heh, you're injured; you can't do anything, no vulnararies either" He brandished his axe and swung. Kata easily blocked, and countered. Unfortunately, this guy could block, unlike his idiotic allies. Kata then unleashed a series of slashes, though weak, the damage began to take it's toll. The brigand fell to his knees, "I'm not done yet," he let out a one more slash that put a deep wound in Kata's leg. As if with no emotion at all, Kata just stood as he wiped the blood off the blade of his Katenou and watched it shine in the sunlight. The brigand fell, and just lay on the floor, motionless. Kata picked up his locket, and trekked to the nearest town, Kor. "I won't let you go again, Kaoru..." Kata thought to himself as he entered the town.

Kata had left the town as quickly as he entered it, with no money, he could do nothing. He had some vulnaries left, but decided it would be better to save it for a desperate situation. And so, Kata began to traverse the desert until he stood before a what seemed like a battle. There were many there, bandits, pirates, a cleric, a knight, and two peculiar looking girls, one of which had just slain a warrior.
 
OOC: Gah, sorry! Between school and my connection being down for the past like... week. I almost completely forgot about this. ><;

During the commotion, whilst everyone was dealing with the repercussions involving the clash with Aesello, Lucine had snuck off a fair distance from the others. A raven had arrived, carrying a letter for the girl, asking about her current position and status. It was, of course, written in braille so that she could read it. Setting the new parchment aside, the raven on her right shoulder, she removed a new roll of parchment from within her outfit, along with a feather pen. While she was blind, she had learned to read and write before becoming as such, so she could write fluently based on keeping track of where she was writing. The reply read something like this:

"This letter is to be forwarded to the Ascanth head of intelligence.
I, Lucine Corona Crescentia, am currently located amidst the desert of Haaj. I have recently joined a peculiar mercenary group lead by a man named Karn, who is now presumed dead. I am left with a small fraction of the original mercenary's group, which I can imagine is aligned with Koga-Na based on earlier provided information. I have successfully infiltrated the group, and upon doing so have located a traitor who goes by the name of Aila Lianne Woodridge, apparently searching for a way to save her family from the grasp of our military." She also included descriptions of the entire group, but put emphasis on the descriptions for Stephen, Emma, and Clementina, indicating that she want a special background check on the three. "I await a reply with my orders." With that, she handed the raven the letter, and it flew off towards Ascanth. Content with her message, she returned to the group.

Kayle had returned to meet up with the others, her spear and armor doused with blood. He dismounted, and listened to a description of what had occurred from Aila. "I don't mean to ask this during such a moment, but what exactly is going on? That was far too organized to be any normal bandit attack, despite the lack of skill in opponents. I won't pry, but I have the feeling we're not being told everything." Kayle said firmly. "If you're involved in some sort of conflict we aren't aware of, we'll be taking our leave shortly. The safety of my clients comes first, after all." Kayle's eyes turned to glance at Aila, who was now busy healing the wounded. "That one, she's trying so hard to save her family. With nothing but the name Antonius Francis Haerbroussis III given to her by her father, she's so resolute to travel the country until she finds him, not knowing who he is or what he looks like."

Lucine cocked her head after hearing this. She had attended a military school in Ascanth once before, had she not heard that name there before? Ah well, she didn't want to get too involved, in fear of getting emotionally attached to these people.

OOC: If anything about this is bad, I'll edit it.
 
Anton gulped. He had just heard Kayle mention his name. Everything was happening so fast. Apparently Karn had been massacred, Jun had been struck unconscious, Aesello was dead, and now he hears that Aila was searching for him the whole time. His grip on his lance tightened. Should I reveal who I am and put us all in danger? He looked to Aila and sighed. Anything he says could upset the balance of the group. He had to word what he said carefully.

"Kayle, Aila, Lucine, everyone else. I must make a confession to you all. With most of our mercenary group reported dead, there is no point in keeping our facade any longer. My name isn't Stephen. My name is Antonius Francis Haerbroussis III, former graduate of the Ascanthian Military Finishing School and a General of the Koga-Nan Army. These two women here: there name's are not Clementina or Emma. They are the Crowned Princesses Jun and Meilin Kai-Ling, Jewels of the Kingdom. We escaped our kingdom two years ago at the urging of the Queen, which was her dying wish. So we left, traveled across the continent and ended up here in Haaj. We had little food left and we had sold our only horses. An elderly woman saved us and directed us to Karn, who took us in and fed us. We wanted to protect our identities: not so much to prevent harm to us but rather to prevent special treatment from the others. I tell you this now as I..." Anton stopped. He couldn't believe he was saying this. But somehow, he knew this is what was needed.

"I'm.. Jun. I beg of you all, please don't leave us. We've lost so many and you all... fought so brilliantly today. And I'm sure Steph--Anton will be more than happy to do whatever he can to help you Cleric," she said, her energy returning as the girl healed her. She looked to Anton and smiled. "Without you, I would be dead, just like Karn. But now we can't go back. We must go forward. It was the Goddess' intervention that brought us here together..."

OOC: Utter crap. But I see revival in this RP's future. ^.^!!!
 
Crap. Lucine thought to herself as the strings unraveled themselves. Why couldn't they have had this discussion BEFORE I sent my findings back to Ascanth? Though this was an important discovery. Those two girls were the rightful princesses of Koga-Na, which would get Lucine a handsome sum of money if she could successfully capture them. However, that would have to wait until she got another response from Ascanth. For now, all she could do is play along.

Kayle stood in thought, holding Azure's reigns in his right hand. This information would be shocking for almost anyone. "I'd like to believe you, but do you have any proof? You understand the claim you make is a hefty one. However, if you can prove it true, I'll gladly take up my arms for you. As for payment, we'll discuss that when our little adventure is all over." He glanced at Aila once more, who was basically staring at Steph- Anton, in awe. "Besides, I think she'll want to go along with you anyways."

"You... You're the one my brother told me to find..." Aila said in a solemn voice in Anton's direction. "My brother goes by the name of Rio Canval Woodridge, and according to his word, attended the Military Finishing School with you. He told me to find you, to help him. I don't understand why you of all people, but please, help me. Help my family before they get themselves killed! Ascanth took them away from me against their will, and I ran away, and..." She fell to the ground, crying, the end of her story finished. Lucine listened in to the entire pity story, shaking her head. She's so naive, thinking the aid of one person can save her family. I think I've been underestimating her though, no run of the mill village girl would be capable of escaping Ascanth, especially from the army...
 
Anton looked at Aila. She looked as if he was a God or something sent to save her from whatever was plaguing her. He shook his head and said, "You're brother sent you to look for ME? You said he went to school with me? Hmm... Rio Woodridge? Sounds familiar. Do you happen to have a picture to refresh my memory?"

"So, you want proof of our lineage..." Meilin said, stepping from her sister to Kayle. She reached into one of the small pouches on her belt and pulled a the framed picture she had taken from it earlier. It was only a painting, but the resemblance to the Queen was undeniable. And seated next to her were two young girls: one slightly taller with long black hair and a short, smiling one with curly blond hair. "This was the official portrait released eight years ago. If you look in any castle, you are sure to find it somewhere. And here, look," Meilin turned the picture around and scribbled on the back in pink ink it said 'To My Beautiful Gems -Your Mother Queen Hariet.'

"Our mother had two smaller versions of the painting made for Jun and I to carry with us. We were so excited with the final product we wanted one of our own. So she gave them to us. But, if you want further proof, if we ever reach Koga-Na as a group, I'll give you further proof," Meilin said.

"It was because of our mother we left. She told us we needed to leave before we could get hurt. Now I see why. She didn't want us involved in this war. But now it seems we're invol- wait, without Karn, do we actually have to get involved in this war. Couldn't we just..." Jun trailed off.

"Well Jun, I think we should return to Koga-Na. See what's happened to our country. I want to see if the rumors are true..."

OOC: Absolutely terrible. We really need to move this thing forward. O.o;;;
 
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