Fantasy Assassin's Pledge: Whispers Of Myth

[GojiBean]

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The Red-Eyed Demon & Lorraine Xe' Almna

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Almost as soon as Inka and Lorraine arrived on the rooftop, Kyero stood up and walked over to the South face of the roof. There was a gap between the clinic roof and the roof of the next building over that was only about 4 feet wide. Kyero simply stepped over it and glanced over his shoulder with a jerk of his head. Lorraine walked up to the edge and looked down nervously.

"Just jump. You'll make it."

Lorraine looked up at him with puffed out cheeks and huffed through her nose at him. Gathering her courage, she stepped back and then dashed forward with a long hop that saw her land on the very edge of the next roof. She started tilting backward and waved her arms around a bit, and Kyero reached out and gripped her lapel and gave her a tiny tug in his direction to steady her and get her feet flat and settled. And Lorraine, taking a moment to breathe from the sudden heart thumper moment she just experienced, noticed then that she'd gripped his arm which was still latched onto her lapel just above her breasts. Her cheeks turned pink and she glanced up at him with pursed lips.

"Thanks, but... Mind letting go now?"

Kyero's hand opened and she fixed the fabric of her shirt before checking to see if Inka was with them. Chances were high the girl had more confidence in her athleticism than Lorraine did, even if she was thinner than Lorraine which... No, nevermind. She was a doctor first, and athlete... Maybe last.

Kyero led them across the connected rooftops of the city, occasionally helping them with jumping wider gaps or helping ferry them across very thin walkways on his back if they weren't comfortable going it alone, and eventually they came to the city walls with the gate some 100 meters away off to the West.

"Inka and I can pass through the gates easily enough. You should hop over and find the girl from before. What was her name again?"

"Mayumi."

"Right... Mayumi. I need to remember that... Okay. Inka, let's find a way down. When we get to the gates, I'll do the talking." She urged.

Kyero wasted no time and leapt over to the wall, hoisted himself up, and dropped down outside the city limits and dashed for the trees. Meanwhile, Lorraine found a stairwell nearby for them to get down and led Inka to the gate where a pair of guards were waiting. Thankfully, they weren't the same guards as before. So, Lorraine took a deep breath and put on her best smile as they approached.

"Greetings gentlemen." She started with a wave.

"Ah, Doctor Almna. What brings you out to this side of town?" Asked one of the guards.

"Actually, I have some urgent business to attend to. Um, one moment please." She said as she began rifling through her bag which she'd managed to grab and fill while Inka was washing herself earlier. "Here we are."

Lorraine presented her pass for the gates. And after a brief exam of the paperwork it was handed back to her.

"You're clear, Doctor. Take care on the road. Word is that there's been a lot of bad activity going on along these Southern roads of late."

"So I've heard. Thank you. You take care as well, gentlemen." She said with a happy wave, which they happily returned.

She and Inka made their way down the South road towards the tree line. And as they approached the first trees Lorraine glanced back to Inka with a semi-sad smile.

"Those other guards from earlier might still come looking for you at my Clinic. But I'm sure my mother can handle them for us. So don't worry about it too much. She has a lot of pull with their ranks given that she was the Royal Physician some years back."

No sooner had she finished saying this than Kyero dropped down in front of them from the trees, landing with a soft "thud" on the dirt road.

"EEP!!" Lorraine squeaked with both hands over her mouth.

"Holy Mother above, Kyero! Don't DO that!!" She barked with a stomp of her foot.

Kyero huffed.

"No trouble?"

Lorraine's cheeks puffed slightly. "No... Thank you."

He nodded. "Let's go then."

"Where, exactly?"

"We're going the long way around and start heading North once we reach the Thurma Crossroads."

"What's up North?"

"A safe place."

Lorraine sighed. "And Mayumi?"

"She's already following us."

"How do you know?"

Kyero glanced at her over his shoulder.

kakemha NemuiTeru

 

[NemuiTeru]

​

It was some time after she arrived that she saw their beings appear outside the city gates. Kyero leaping over the city walls as she did, the other two ladies going through the city gates like normal beings.

Not even a second after they entered the treeline of the forest, the older woman was already making noise, startled by Kyero’s sudden appearance. At least the journey won’t be boring since they’d be attracting all sorts of danger to themselves, Mayumi thought with indifference to the lives at stake. Glancing at the younger girl in their party, she noted her change of clothes. Good thing one of them had common sense.

With a single hand signal from the small framed archer, the golden eagle lifted off into the air flying ahead of the party to scout among the treetops. She waited for the dawdling party to move further beyond the treeline before following suit behind them as their tail, weaving through the trees keeping herself hidden from the average eyes’ sight.

As they strolled along, Mayumi pondered her next move should that creature turn up before her again. She faced their encounter with fierce hatred every time, this time would be no different. However, if she wasn’t careful, it might end nastily for her this time.

Her name being called broke off her train of thoughts. Grey eyes slid to the left meeting red tinged eyes. A nod of affirmation was all she gave before returning to her self-assigned duties.

GojiBean kakemha

 

[GojiBean]

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The Red-Eyed Demon & Lorraine Xe' Almna

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​

Kyero nodded back to Mayumi after confirming she was with them and paying attention, and returned his gaze forward.

Following several hours of walking where Lorraine had enjoyed some pleasant conversation with Inka about the herbs and plants they passed along the way and about what kinds of recipes they both enjoyed using them for, they arrived at the crossroads Kyero had mentioned and turned North. The journey so far had been quiet. But that didn't stop Kyero from maintaining an almost mechanical walking style.

Most people who walked with their arms loose at their sides would swing their arms to some degree or another with every step. A natural walking motion. Kyero's arms didn't move. Or at least, they moved so subtly that most would think they weren't moving. Another interesting thing about his gait was that his head almost never moved. Normally, a person's head would bob up and down slightly as its distance to the ground was raised and lowered by the width of the legs during the gait. Kyero had a fairly long gait, but his body adjusted through the step to keep his head level the entire time. Couple that with the slow turn left and right of his head as his eyes scanned the world around him, and for Lorraine it was almost frightening.

But, that was Kyero.

"How about that one, Inka?" Lorraine asked, pointing to a plant known as Firun Mint. "I use it for a pain killing ointment. Ground one leaf into a pasty extract and combine it with a spoon of honey and a cup of water, and you have a mild pain killer that'll last about two hours. It's a good one for little cuts and bruises. Do you use it for anything?"

kakemha NemuiTeru

 

[kakemha]

Inka Ve' Lie​

Date: Year 754, 14th Day, 1st Laetal Moon

They made it up to the roof and they saw Kyero standing on another rooftop, about 4 feet away. The jump wasn't so bad, she was sure that she had made jumps farther before, so the distance didn't really scare her. Kyero had told Lorraine to jump first, so Inka stepped back and gave her all the space she needed to make the jump. She watched as Lorraine barely made the jump, Kyero needing to save her. Inka saw the scene play before her eyes, she chuckled slightly. After that whole affair, Inka made the jump fairly easily. Actually for the whole way there, she was able to make every jump with relative ease. She always loved that feeling, she actually missed it. Jumping across rooftops and feeling the wind when you run or jump across them, she used to do it all the time when she was younger, if anyone could see her, they could see a slight smile on her face.

They were finally on the ground again, she fixed up her hair and clothes slightly, since they looked a bit messed up by the wind. She listened to the plan and went along with it. She followed Lorraine to the gate, as just stayed silent as she spoke with the guards, she didn't wanna mess anything up. She heard Lorraine say that her mother could probably handle them. "Well, I guess I owe for mother a thank you." She said in response as they walked. They hadn't even walked that far from the gate when they heard a thud. She turned and saw Kyero, it didn't really startle her, but she did take a sharp inhale from the surprise. Lorraine, on the other had, shrieked. It will be hard to keep her under the radar if she got scared that easily and was that loud. But they started to walk North, towards a 'safe place' as Kyero called it.

It was a relatively nice walk. It was a nice day out, it was getting a bit breezy so her hair was flowing in the wind, since she didn't have a hood to shield it from the wind. When they got into the town where they were staying, she would see if she was able to sew a hood onto it, it would look really nice and it would serve a purpose. She was talking with Lorraine about recipes and such, but Kyero kept catching her eye. The way he walked, was just so, unnatural. How a person could walk like that, she didn't know, but it was hilarious to watch, she had to stop herself from laughing out loud. But a question Lorraine asked her brought her back. "Hmm, I think I do. I negated the pain killing effect and it works quite well for me." she replied to her question about the herb.

GojiBean NemuiTeru

 

[GojiBean]

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The Red-Eyed Demon & Lorraine Xe' Almna

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"Oh? Did you add something to negate the effect? The Firun Mint is a natural pain killer. But-... Hmm... I suppose if you added some Nel Ivy extract, that might work. It's a natural sensation enhancer. So, any pain you were feeling would only get worse if you tried using it." She mused.

This type of conversation continued into the day, alongside other casual and playful banter from Lorraine as they went so as not to be accompanied only by Kyero's stoic silence. By nightfall they had decided to stop for the night a half-mile off the main road and down under the crest of a hill to better hide their camp fire light, and Kyero's eyes, from any other travelers or nefarious prowlers.

Lorraine had conked out not long after the moon rose to about the 9pm mark on the clock. Lacking any tents or sleeping bags, since they didn't have proper time to prepare such luxuries, Lorraine had only a single blanket to keep her warm which she'd managed to grab during Inka's wash.

Meanwhile, Kyero stood tall and silent like a guardian statue at the edge of their little camp space. His eyes glowed softly illuminating the flesh around his eyes, cheeks, and part of his eyebrows and nose. And his head occasionally turned slowly and robotically as he kept a silent vigil on the area around them. Sora, per Mayumi's command, was also keeping an eye from high above whilst being hidden in the darkness of the night sky.

Come morning, they were off. Lorraine, with her long hair, had quite the unpleasant rousing when Kyero tapped her shoulder with his boot and simply said "We're leaving. Get up." Her hair was a mess, but she didn't have time to fix it before Kyero and Mayumi were already off and walking back towards the main road. Despite her protests, they didn't listen to her. She had to grab her brush and fix up her long flowing hair as they walked on. And more than once she sleepily yawned and mis-brushed causing some of her hair to tangle which required yet more brushing to fix the knots which formed.

Following several hours of walking and occasional casual banter between Lorraine and Inka, Kyero spotted a caravan ahead and to the left of the group. It was still on the horizon. But that long dark line of ant-looking objects moving along where he knew the road to be was unmistakable. He stopped dead in his tracks and Lorraine almost ran into him, but managed to halt at the last second and take a few steps back.

"Problem?"

Kyero's eyes narrowed.

"Mayumi." He said while pointing to Sora.

kakemha NemuiTeru

 

[NemuiTeru]

​

Before Kyero could utter her given name, Mayumi had already sent Sora ahead to scan the suspicious movement in the middle of nowhere.

“Stay low.” She warned the group silently from behind a tree.

The moment she was given the clear signal, she secured the ground perimeters before heading up the trees for a high vantage point of the suspicious movement.

A young group of hippies were moving heavy crates in pairs from the vehicle to a group of figures whose faces were hidden by cowls on the other side of the road. Soon it appeared the hippies were done moving the last of the crates and were asking for payment when the figures began to move for the first time since she started observing them.

Within moments, the young hippies’ guts spilled from their torsos, one of the girl’s chest was even sliced cleanly off while a guy’s head rolled to the ground. Mayumi tilted her head at the scene.
Who were they trying to impress? It wasn’t the first time she was witnessing a scene as needlessly ruthless as this one, but what were they trying to prove?

It was simply reckless and messy like trained assassins gone mad barbarians.

She glanced at Kyero and shook her head.

‘Danger’ She relayed through sharp grey eyes.

 

[kakemha]

Inka Ve' Lie​

Date: Year 754, 15th Day, 1st Laetal Moon

The rest of the walk was nice. Luckily is wasn't spent in awkward silence since Lorraine kept up the conversation she had with Inka about herbs, plants, recipes, poisons, and medicine. But soon night fall came and the group camped out under a crest of a hill. Inka was fine without tents or sleeping bags, she honestly could fall asleep almost anywhere. She found a tree to lean up against and slept like that. Sure it was a bit uncomfortable but it as all Inka needed to fall asleep. She drifted off to sleep pretty soon after, but she was awoken the next morning but Kyero. They were leaving already. She wasn't the least but surprised, she had traveled before and she knew time was gold for travelers. She quickly got up and fixed her hair while walking over to Kyero. "C'mon, you don't want to get left behind, do you?" Inka said playfully at Lorraine. She missed the fun of being on the road, it was always nice, maybe she should've been a traveller instead of settling down in the city. But regardless of that she continued walking, hearing and obeying Mayumi's warning. But they soon came to a halt, thanks to Kyero. She assumed he got a signal from Mayumi, since she had a high vantage point. Inka wondered what she could see up there, it must be trouble, that would be the only reason Kyero would stop but she also saw the look Mayumi gave Kyero.

She walked up beside Kyero and whispered, but it was loud enough to him to hear. "Give me orders. I can help." Was all she told him, and it was true, she could help them, and if he gave her orders, she would most likely follow. She quickly checked her satchel for which poisons she had, she had enough of her essentials or the ones she always carries around with her, but she knew she would need to make more soon if she wanted to be of use to them later on. But she would wait for what Kyero would say to her, if she ordered her to stay she would, but she very much was coming to love the thrill of the fight and the thrill of the kill, so who knows if she would follow his orders to stay behind.

GojiBean NemuiTeru

 

[GojiBean]

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The Red-Eyed Demon & Lorraine Xe' Almna

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Kyero kept his eyes glued on Mayumi until she looked back down at him with an expression he knew all too well. His eyes trailed to the caravan and the red coloration within his eyes began darkening as the light being emitted began to dim. And it was then that he heard Inka whisper to him asking about what to do and about giving her orders.

Slowly, Kyero's head turned towards her and tilted down slightly as his eyes locked onto hers.

"..."

Lorraine kept her eyes on Kyero throughout the whole silent exchange and stiffened when she saw the color of his eyes darken even further to an almost brown-red hue.

"Kyero... Don't you dare."

His eyes slid up towards Lorraine for a moment who did her best to hide the swallowing of a lump in her throat behind a subtle shift of her body weight.

"..."

He looked back down to Inka for a long moment before the coloration of his eyes began returning to normal, and his gaze rose to meet Mayumi's. With a jerk of his head, he recalled her from the tree.

"Mayumi, take up a perch on that hill and keep them from getting behind me." He ordered while pointing to a hill on the left overlooking the caravan site.

He glanced over his shoulder at Inka.

"Poison girl, throw whatever you have at anyone who comes too close to you."

Lorraine's cheeks immediately puffed.

"Heavenly Mother's patience be tried... Her name is Inka! And don't drag her into this!" She barked while stomping towards him.

Kyero's eyes darkened, and the light emitted by his eyes flared as his gaze met hers. And although Lorraine didn't back down, she try to hide the swallowing of a small lump in her throat with an adjustment of her body weight.

"Their slaughter ends here, Lorraine. A few lives lost to spare the many in times ahead."

Lorraine's cheeks turned pink as she puffed them out.

"... Who taught you to use someone's words against them?" She grumbled.

He looked back to the Caravan as the coloration within his eyes began churning with greater intensity.

"You."

Lorraine's cheeks went from pink to red as she glanced down and away.

"I'll... Keep my distance and help if needed when it's over." She said softly.

Kyero nodded and drew his daggers. And with that, he led Inka directly down the road at a jog while trusting Mayumi to be already be taking up her position. She was always a bit faster than he was. Now especially since he wasn't fully recovered yet.

As they neared the caravan Kyero observed that all of the hippies had already been killed. The caravan was theirs for the taking which made it that much easier for him since he didn't have to worry about anyone getting caught up in it except for Inka. But with all the crap she carried with her, and him fighting in front of her to keep them occupied, he was confident this wouldn't be anything less than a fair fight.

The figures with cowls noticed his approach and immediately took up a formation in front of the caravan.

Kyero skidded to a halt with both daggers out and held low by his waist as he looked at the one in the center.

"So... The Red-Eyed Demon himself comes for us? What an honor." He said in a low voice.

"Te'i Sai must be getting desperate to send you." Said another.

"Didn't know we were already getting that infamous." Said yet another.

Kyero's eyes scanned from left to right... 8 of them in total. If he could keep them in front of himself, he'd be all right. Most of them didn't have the look of a seasoned warrior. More like scrappy brawlers playing at being seasoned warriors. It was just that one in the middle who had Kyero on edge. His posture. His build... It was too much like them.

"Well, no sense delaying the inevitable. Spread out and put this "nightmare" to rest, gentlemen!" He said as he drew his own dual daggers.

The men all fanned out, and Kyero's stance lowered. His left dagger came up in front of him and the right dagger sat near his waist.

The first attack came from the left, the side nearest Mayumi. The man was just outside of Kyero's peripherals, but he could hear him coming. But he paid him no mind. He'd be dead in a moment. A second attack came at the same time from the right on the opposing side. Again, he was outside of Kyero's peripherals. And again, he paid that one no mind either. Inka could handle him as she did the man at the clinic.

Two came from Kyero's front and immediately he engaged them, one arm each stopping their weapons and following with a a swift low leg sweep to send them sprawling to the ground. Spinning to his feet, he lunged forward and thrust his daggers down through the base of their throats until he felt the daggers slice their spinal cords and dig into the dirt beneath.

kakemha NemuiTeru

 

[kakemha]

Inka Ve' Lie​

Date: Year 754, 15th Day, 1st Laetal Moon

Since her was looking at him, Inka immediately locked eyes with Kyero, and she noticed his eyes change color. It was unusual, there must've been something that cause it to do that, but she could deal with that thought later. She heard Lorraine shout to Kyero when is eyes changed color, maybe she knew something about it. She made a mental note of asking her later, but for now she was still keeping her gaze with Kyero. But after a long moment, she received and order from Kyero, throw poison at anyone who comes near. 'That isn't exactly how all poisons work' She thought, but brushed off the comment, he would come to find out eventually and Inka was sure she could find a way around that dilemma. But poison girl made her smile a bit, looks like he is just going to come up with nicknames for her. She honestly didn't mind, but Lorraine thought otherwise, as she heard her tell Kyero her real name.

She followed Kyero down a path as she kept up with him, making sure her dagger was within reach and her poison were easily accessible. She saw the opponents emerge from the shadows and she readied herself, she never knew what could happen. As they fanned out and came to attack, two got passed Kyero, and she assumed that one was one she had to deal with since the other was near Mayumi. As the oppponent came at her, with all her strength, she kicked sideways at his knee. He fell down on his knee. Inka quickly took her dagger and slashed diagonally across his stomach. And to make sure the man was dead, she slit his throat. She kicked him to the ground, if he wasn't dead now, he would die eventually from blood loss and he shouldn't be able to move since he was also weak from the blood that was already lost. She was saving her poison for anything that she couldn't deal with without the poisons.

GojiBean NemuiTeru

 

[NemuiTeru]

​

When Kyero made his move, the archer dropped and rolled onto the soft earth to break her momentum. She crouched behind a bush took a quick survey of the scene and sneaked up behind one of the cowl heads’ aiming for the only male in their entourage. With quick hands from behind, she twisted his head and let him slump to the ground motionless. Her eyes were already on her next target, this time dark brown eyes stared back at her. He had a lean figure and face looked to be in his late 30s.

A small smirk graced her lips when she saw him smiling confidently. With a sword in each hand, he rushed towards her. Mayumi shrugged off her cloak and threw it in his face when he was near enough. This startled him and he sliced wildly at the cloak in mid-air as if it were a ticking bomb. When he made to move towards where she was last seen, she was gone from his line of sight. He warily looked around him, moving quietly to try and sense where had hidden herself. All of a sudden, the small framed woman leaped at him out of a nearby bush, and sliced his cheek with a dagger. It would have been his neck had he been a second slower in moving away from her. He gave her a crazed smile and rushed towards her recklessly, dropping to the ground in front of her with his swords like extensions of his arms. If she were a civilian maybe this would have worked as no one would expect someone to drop to the ground all of a sudden but to her who was trained as an assassin as well as an archer, his movements were much too slow and sloppy. She merely watched, curious as to what he was trying to do. He tried to hug her ankles with his swords, aiming to disable her so she could not move with her feet.

Before his sword could even touch her skin, Mayumi kneed the guy in the head and sent him tumbling across their mini clearing with a hard kick to his throat. He stopped at the base of a tree and tried to get back up but failed. With her opponent down, she walked towards him as she drew an arrow from her quiver. The man seeing her stalk towards him tried to scramble backwards but there was nowhere for him to go. Mayumi crouched down, observed the horror in the man’s eyes before thrusting the arrow through his throat and pulling it back out without so much as a blink of an eye. The man started to gurgle and choke on his own blood.

GojiBean kakemha

 

[GojiBean]

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The Red-Eyed Demon & Lorraine Xe' Almna

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Pulling his daggers free of the bodies beneath their hilts, Kyero's eyes locked on the one in charge who kept his daggers drawn. A smile graced his lips as he lowered his stance and inched towards Kyero who slowly stood up and brushed aside another one charging in from the right. With a simple lean to the side followed by an elbow to the man's back between the shoulder blades, he was sent tumbling towards Inka.

Meanwhile, Kyero's daggers came up glistening with blood which dripped slowly from each tip.

Drip... Drip... Drip...

The dirt turned a deep, rich rusty brown with hints of red creeping through as both men drew closer to one another. Had Kyero wanted to, he could lunge forward and kick the man in the stomach right this very moment. The same was true for his opponent, however. Both were within striking range of the other. Both unwilling to make the first move. Or so it seemed.

Both men bladed their bodies in a mirror image of the other and slid closer. Closer. Closer. The tips of their boots nearly touched on their forward legs. A single lunge and thrust down and a blade would pierce the meat of the thigh, sever the femoral artery, and potentially shear away a massive chunk of flesh, muscle, and other soft tissues protected and held together by the outer layers of skin.

So close. So unbearably close. Yet his heart remained steady. His eyes remained calm. His face betrayed nothing as his enemy smiled with unyielding confidence. And their leading hand blades inched closer to one another.

"So, there were other successful deserters."

"Hmph. Did you really believe you were the only one?"

Their blades gently scraped together...

This would be decided by a single movement.

"I believe nothing Te'i Sai ever tried to 'teach' me."

"It's not about what you were taught. It's about what you weren't taught, Demon."

"And that would be?"

"I've given you more than enough already. Or haven't you paid attention?"

"..."

One movement.

Not yet...

The tension between their blades increased as they pressed them together.

... Almost.

His enemy remained confident. Yet he seemed to have missed something important...

SHING!!

The enemy's blade was thrust forward with great speed towards Kyero's neck. But Kyero refused to move. The blade arced past his throat with a whiff of air, and a tiny hint of blood began gathering near the base of Kyero's neck and seeped into his clothing.

And yet... His enemy felt a sharp pain in his chest.

Looking down, he saw Kyero's blade pressed into his chest between his ribs all the way to the hilt. He looked to Kyero in shock as he felt the strength leaving his body as a river drains when a dam is broken. His face lost its color as he slumped down. Kyero's blade was withdrawn and sheathed, along with the other as he stood up straight. And his enemy leaned against his forward leg as it was all that held him upright.

"... How?"

"Orichalcum."

The man's eyes slid to the right as a shimmer of light caught his attention. And in his fading moments he saw the bulk of his own blade lying on the ground nearby... Sheared free and clean. A small smile graced his lips once again as he slumped forward and struck the ground with the last light fading from his eyes but moments later.

Kyero, meanwhile, brushed his neck with his thumb as he glanced around and saw that the mess was all but taken care of. And Lorraine could be seen jogging towards them, having also observed that the threat had all but passed.

NemuiTeru kakemha

 

[kakemha]

Inka Ve' Lie​

Date: Year 754, 15th Day, 1st Laetal Moon

As she stood up, she saw Kyero throw another man her way. She stood there ready to strike. Once the man came close, he looked a lot stronger than the other one to herm she probably can't use her strength to her advantage here, cause she would be very weak compared to the man running at her. But she knew enough about human anatomy to know that men have one weak spot that will bring them to their knees every time. The man was coming closer to her, the time to act was now or never. As he was at arm's length, she kicked him. She kicked him right where the sun don't shine. And to her expectations, the man dropped his weapon and was on his knees. Inka took this opportunity, she rushed towards him, kicked away his weapon, and stuck her dagger right in the chest.

He fell down once the dagger was in his chest, but Inka was on a weird high. She removed the dagger and plunged it into his chest once again. Repeating that motion multiple times, Inka finally stopped. She grabbed her dagger from the man's chest and held the blood covered dagger in her hands. She laughed, and she ran up to Kyero. "That was really fun! Did you see that, I was able to take them down." She called out to him while running towards him. Blood slightly splattered on her face and blood covering her hands, she was beside him now, smiling up at him

GojiBean NemuiTeru

 

[GojiBean]

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The Red-Eyed Demon & Lorraine Xe' Almna

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Kyero stared down at Inka.

Meanwhile, Lorraine had stopped in her tracks with all the color drained from her face as she watched Inka stab the corpse and jog jubilantly over to Kyero announcing how fun it was and and that she seemed proud to have taken them down.

With the danger having passed almost as soon as it had appeared, Kyero sheathed his dagger and set his sights on Mayumi who was nearby and had cleanly taken care of her own targets... As expected.

"I-Inka?" Lorraine said weakly as she approached with wide eyes, a subtle unsteadiness to her step, and her mouth slightly agape.

Kyero's eyes landed on Lorraine, and he blinked with a subtle tilt of his head.

Lorraine glanced to him, face unchanged, and then back to Inka as her grip on the handle of her bag became white-knuckled.

kakemha NemuiTeru

 

[GojiBean]

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The Red-Eyed Demon & Lorraine Xe' Almna

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Kyero huffed.

"See why I called her 'Killer Girl'?"

Lorraine swallowed a lump in her throat and glanced between them.

"I wish I didn't."

"Let's move. If we stay here we're going to run into trouble."

Kyero's head snapped up.

"Mayumi! Send Sora to scout ahead. I want a clear path North without anymore interruptions."

Lorraine, meanwhile, hung back a little ways still with a white-knuckle grip on her bag.

NemuiTeru kakemha

 

[kakemha]

Inka Ve' Lie​

Date: Year 754, 15th Day, 1st Laetal Moon

Inka heard Lorraine call her name with a stutter. "Hm?" She said turning around to face her. She immediately noticed the tight grip she had on the handle of her bag, but she also noticed that she was a bit unsteady when she walked. "Are you alright?" She asked, she thought it was because she was scared about the incident that just happened ir maybe she was tired from walking around. At the time, she wasn't aware of all the blood splattered on her face as it was still fresh and had not dried up yet, she only thought it was on her hands so she could easily wash it off. The high she was on was slightly coming off, the adrenaline she was feeling was starting to ware off, so she wouldn't be as jumpy as before.

Hearing Kyero's joke, Inka tried to stifle her laughter, but a small smile still appeared on her face. "Is there a river up North, I'd like to rinse off some of the blood." She asked him. A little girl walking around with blood on her hands, clothes, and face, was going to look very suspicious. And if Kyero didn't want anymore interruptions, it was best they look as normal and possible. Once the group started walking once more, following the path that Sora had cleared out. She hung back with Lorraine, still concerned about her. She noticed that the grip on her handle was still very tight, being able to see the white of her knuckles. "Are you sure you are alright? I'm sure Kyero would let you take a break if you were." She said, still confused on why she was a bit on edge.

GojiBean NemuiTeru

 

[NemuiTeru]

​

The silver haired woman did not turn to acknowledge her old master. Whether Kyero trusted her to know what she was doing was of little matter to her. Instead, she glanced at the white-knuckled grip woman before leaving ahead of the group. She would never be able to understand a civilian’s point of view having lived her entire life as an assassin. In her world, only the strong survived. It was that or die trying.

Mayumi left the group behind as she moved ahead with Sora. Two of them were enough to deal with whatever ‘interruptions’ there were ahead of them. She was no longer the teen under Kyero but a grown woman capable of holding her own, no matter her smaller than average size. The old man, whether half dead or not, could take care of the back himself along with Killer girl. Whether the doctor was smart enough to stay out of the way was none of her business.

As they scouted ahead, the archer found a couple more ‘interruptions’ restlessly awaiting their next victims. Unfortunately for them, only death awaited.

Mayumi gave herself a couple of minutes for each ‘interruption’ before the trio would reach their vicinity. Some she sniped, some she signalled Sora to aid her in which the eagle would swoop down upon unaware targets and peck their eyes out leaving them for dead once done.

While they were distracted, Mayumi would lure the remaining targets away deeper into the forest where she would seemingly disappear before their eyes. They would then look around cautiously, preparing for her attack only to have her appear in the sky above them descending upon them at a frightening speed with bow and arrows in hand. With enough force from her arrows some heads would be pinned to trees with or without a body.

All the trio would hear of them would be the desperate cries of her victims and some gasping from the ones left to die. Occasionally spotting a corpse or soon to be corpse here and there.

GojiBean kakemha

 

[GojiBean]

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The Red-Eyed Demon & Lorraine Xe' Almna

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Try her best to ignore the screaming in the distance, Lorraine walked a few paces behind Kyero and Inka as the latter led them off the beaten path and into the open rolling grasslands outside Valkyom. Out here there was nowhere for anymore would-be threats to hide. The trade off was they couldn't hide either. But that suited him fine. They weren't hiding yet. Or, rather, Lorraine and Inka weren't hiding yet.

Leading them on for about an hour through the empty rolling plains he eventually found a stream which gave Inka time to bathe and get the blood stains out of her clothing. Or, most of them. With the amount she'd piled on and how long they'd gone without a wash some of the stains remained. They'd need better treatment later, if not a complete change. Either way, once she was finished Kyero led them towards the ruins of an old abandoned village which hadn't seen a soul live in it for almost sixty years since the last big war. Most of the homes were already either burned to the ground or half decimated by the elements and barely standing. But a few structures remained.

Kyero brought them through the wreckage to a simple shack near the Northeast end which was just in tact enough to serve as a makeshift hideaway for up to five people. The quarters weren't spacious. But they would do. He helped Lorraine set up a room for herself and Inka while he figured both himself and Mayumi would be more comfortable outdoors. And given that the sun was starting to go down Lorraine decided to call it a night and went to bed while Inka was left to her own devices.

Kyero, meanwhile, sat outside on the edge of the rooftop staring back at Valkyom which was quite small, but still visible, on the horizon line under the first light of the moon.

"Mayumi. Come here."

kakemha NemuiTeru

 

[NemuiTeru]

​

As they walked through the plains, Mayumi asked Sora to perch on her shoulder. When they stopped by the river, Mayumi made sure to refill her canteens upstream from where Inka was washing up. She made sure to let Sora drink from it as well before they continued on their way. Throughout their walk in the plains, Sora stayed on Mayumi’s shoulder, watching for possible predators by his owner’s side.

After a while of travelling, Kyero led them through the ruins of some kind of village.
This time, Mayumi trailed behind the trio at an almost lazy pace along with Sora flying above her freely. However should anyone try to attack, they would be ready.

They ended up at a decent enough shack for the two women. As they went in to settle down, Mayumi stayed outside taking watch position from a 2nd floor ruin opposite the shack with just enough space for her and Sora.
Once they were settled inside, Kyero emerged from the shack.

Kyero, meanwhile, sat outside on the edge of the rooftop staring back at Valkyom which was quite small, but still visible, on the horizon line under the first light of the moon.

"Mayumi. Come here."

She observed him from her spot before going to him, curious with subtle wariness.

 

[GojiBean]

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The Red-Eyed Demon & Lorraine Xe' Almna

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Inside, Lorraine had tucked herself in to bed to try and sleep. But sleep would not find her. She rolled onto her side. No luck. The other side. No luck. On her back. No luck. To the first side again. No luck.

"Oh, bother." She muttered as she sat upright in bed and leaned back against the headboard.

It took a moment, but she forced herself to get out of bed and open the curtains covering the nearby window so she could see outside. The moonlight poured into the room making her squint just a tiny bit before her eyes adjusted. Opening the window a gentle breeze entered the room and blew against her hair which billowed quietly behind her.

Looking over towards Inka, the image flashed in her head again of Inka seemingly enjoying the carnage that ensued earlier today.

"Inka? It looked like you were enjoying yourself earlier when Kyero provoked those men at the caravan. Were you... Having fun?" She asked.

Meanwhile, outside...

"Not counting earlier in Valkyom, have you encountered them recently?"

kakemha NemuiTeru

 

[NemuiTeru]

MAYUMI​

Upon hearing his question Mayumi would have scoffed if she knew how, for the amount of times that she encountered them exceeded the amount of fingers on one hand.

“Define recent.” It was neither a statement nor a question, so it did not precede her principles.

Through the years, she had gone through a few different careers and the young archer found that being a snitch helped her gain the information she needed the fastest. Now she worked as a professional Snitch and an Assassin for hire, though she only took on select cases as money was not an issue for her.

Some interesting cases she took on came from Royalty. The amount of chaos between the royals was enough to make Mayumi stay far away from them, only venturing near them whenever she deemed necessary. There was enough information in her head to make the royals crumble, but her principles were to never snitch unless asked and unless the person asking had something she valued in exchange.

 

[GojiBean]

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The Red-Eyed Demon & Lorraine Xe' Almna

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Kyero's head slowly turned in her direction as his glowing crimson eyes locked onto hers.

"Since that day." He replied flatly.

The memories were almost as painful as the wounds themselves which burned beneath his clothing. The searing sensation of numerous blades tearing through his flesh over and over. The sensation of his muscles being shredded as his arms and torso were pushed and pulled in directions they shouldn't have been relative to each other. His body twisted and pulled and pushed in various directions to prevent his counter-attacks. It had been a near perfect assault to bring him down. Something none had ever accomplished before... Nor did he intend to ever let them accomplish it again.

"How often?"

NemuiTeru

 

[kakemha]

Inka Ve' Lie​

Date: Year 754, 16th Day, 1st Laetal Moon

Quickly washing up in the river, Inka soon got all the blood of and felt fresh once again. Luckily Kyero soon led them to a shack to rest in for the night. It wasn't the most luxurious but it was better than sleeping on muddy ground. There was a small but comfy looking chair in the corner that she immediately claimed. She removed her satchel and hung it on the corner of the chair. To pass them time, she grabbed her book that she was reading, and opened to the page where she last left off. While fetching the book, she checked her poison supply, she needed to make some more soon. Once the got on the road again, she would get some herbs and plants. She had made poisons on the road a few times, let's just hoped she still remembered how to.

Glancing over at Lorraine, she saw that she was opening the curtain and looking out the window, enjoying the view and the breeze. She then went back to her book, but then she heard Lorraine ask her a question. "Hm, well in a sense I suppose. Though my home was a terrible place, I can't help but feel homesick at times." She said, reminiscing a bit. "And having that adrenaline pump through your body gives me a rush I only had back home." Inka finished explaining. Flipping a pafe in her book, she said to Lorraine, "It's nice that you are feeling a bit better."

GojiBean

 

[NemuiTeru]

MAYUMI​

"Since that day." He replied flatly.

She met his distant gaze, witnessing the brief pain that flashed across his face before grey eyes stared off into the distance . .

Flashes of blood pooling around her, blinding pain, the horrid feeling of being vulnerable and exposed as they leered at her. Months of mental torture left her feeling helpless, until she forced herself through it. These were merely a small part of what she encountered during the past years.

At his question, her fingers went up to the left side of her neck where she felt the indents of letters carved into the skin there. Thanks to him, there were many new additions to her body, there were even some that had just barely healed from them.

“Every few months.”

GojiBean

 

[GojiBean]

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The Red-Eyed Demon & Lorraine Xe' Almna

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Lorraine sighed softly.

"Usually I do my best to stay out of other people's lives and business, but..." She walked over to the girl.

"Inka. Getting a rush of excitement from violence and death isn't healthy. If I may be so bold, it's wrong. Very wrong. No matter the circumstances, killing is robbing someone else of their life. And while I can understand that there are kill or be killed situations that arise, deriving pleasure from it... It's not right. Especially for one so young. Do you understand?"

Meanwhile...

"Mm."

Kyero looked at Mayumi, then out to the dark and empty horizon.

"If they keep to form they'll come for you soon. Right?"

kakemha NemuiTeru

 

[NemuiTeru]

MAYUMI​

"If they keep to form they'll come for you soon. Right?"

“I suppose.” Mayumi replied.

GojiBean