Fantasy Project Anima

[From Darkness]

Now that he was in complete darkness, he could survey the surrounding in better state. The bandits weren't alone, and so they would've needed some place to gather. A camp. And when they made camp, there should be bonfire. Thus it should be the first point of investigation for them. He caught sight of two lights; one behind him, which was clearly the one he had started and was getting smaller as the bandits tried to extinguish it, and another one in the distant, although looked more faint. Perhaps it was because of distance. All in all, there's a good chance that it was either their camp's fire or a torch held by other bandits. He decided to rush to that distant light.


Just when he got nearer to the light, however, a shadow suddenly struck him from above. Thinking that it was a bandit, he swung his rapier up, not caring about the slight hint of light, possibly from dagger blade, aiming at his neck. Before he went down he would drag this fucker as well.


When the figure suddenly chimed the familiar voice, however, he stopped his blade. Crimson?


"What...what happened?" Gills blinked a few times as well, confirming that it really was the assassin. "I thought they got you? There were people. Bandits, I presume? They ransacked our horses. And Arty was missing. I think they took her. I'm trying to find their camp," he explained hastily, in part from his urge to find his sister as soon as possible, the other one from the tense of the dagger on his neck.

 

[Srion Receno]

"how did that happen you were suppose to watch her they were just bandits" she said with a hint of irritation as she leaned to him slightly. then moved her dagger from his neck as she slowly stood up."why would it matter if they got me or not" she muttered as she moved away from him. "they have a camp a bit away from here you can see there camp fire, if she is there then the boss is"

 

[From Darkness]

Gills grumbled a bit. It was true that her disappearance was his fault, and he was irritated by that as well. He just wanted to get her back as quickly as possible before they did something bad to her. Or...


"We need to get there pronto. This is not just for her safety. She's constantly battling the Dragon's influence in her mind, and if she lost her determination even for a little bit, the Dragon might get loose again," Gills gripped his rapier. "And this time it might not end with just fighting the upper torso. Let's go!"


He got up to his feet and started toward the camp fire, determined to either find his sister, or get her whereabouts from those responsible.

 

[Srion Receno]

"well if they took her she is there you get the men ill get Arty "Crimson mumbled she didnt want to be in the light of the fire and scare her with the way she looked.


The five men had heard noises in the woods and figuring it was there comrades they ignored it. "I dont think that someone who would buy her mind her a little used" one of them chuckled as they walked up to the girl tied to the tree. the boss just shrugged as he looked into the fire. the man approaching the girl started to reach out for her chest.

 

[From Darkness]

Arty had been struggling to release her bindings...not really the ropes on her body, but the cloth on her mouth. Her fervor seemed different than most people, her teeth gnawing on the clothes while she kept on rubbing the back of her head to slide the gag down. The men didn't seem to care much, since they only wanted to prevent her from running away. A scream or two won't do much in the middle of a thick forest, right?


She felt the men approaching, but her mind didn't process it clearly. When one of them started to touch her, she looked up at him. Her eyes were vacant, light replaced by a distant darkness within. At that time, she successfully rubbed the gag down and the cloth fell to her neck. The cloth showed sign of tears from contact with her teeth, and would've broke anyway if given more time.


She opened her mouth. What came out was neither scream nor whimper. It was...


"Stop it!"


Gills had rushed out from the bushes, deliberately exposing him to the enemies. They shouldn't be able to react that fast from his sudden appearance, which gave him enough time to run past them and tackled down the man near Arty. He knocked him out with a loud headbang.


The light on Arty's eyes flickered a bit. She stopped moving her mouth.


"I'm here, do not fear anymore! It'll be okay!" He drew out his rapier. Four remains...one of them looked different, perhaps their leader. Crimson had better get Arty quickly and help him, else he would be dead meat.

 

[Srion Receno]

The four were surprised, but the man being tackled was even more when he hit the ground and everything went black.


The leader looked at the man that just arrived and growled "hurry and get him!" he yelled pushing one of the men foreword. shaking his head the man went to attack the traveler with a sword slashing at his side. as soon as the other two got over what had happened they lunged for him with there blades.


wile this was going on Crimson touched Arty's hand "ready to be free again?" she whispered from behind the tree then started to cut the ropes. once she was free she grabbed Arty's hand and dragged her into the dark of the trees. "stay here so I can help your brother alright?" she asked moving away from her.

 

[From Darkness]

Arty was surprised upon feeling someone's touch on her hand. Realizing that it was Crimson, she started to sob, tears dropping on her cheek. As she was dragged into the dark, she clutched on Crimson's sleeves, not wanting to let go. Only when she mentioned about her brother did she let go, showing a teary but determined eyes. She gave her a nod before hiding into the bushes.


Meanwhile, Gills were trying his hardest to evade the blades. The ones coming too near was deflected by his rapier, and little by little the yellowish hue on his blade grew brighter. As long as those people didn't attack at once, he was at an advantage. When the men lost their strength, he used their sudden disbalance to kick them on the stomach, sending them away. Three men fell to two, then to one, then to nothing. The last one was the leader. Yet he didn't rush forward and kept his distance, not wanting to risk the men coming back to their feet and surround him.


"You chose the mess with the wrong person, buddy," Gills said while glaring at the boss. "Leave this place and we MIGHT consider to spare your life."

 

[Srion Receno]

The leader looked at the men on the ground groaning in pain then at the traveler and started to laughed. "I only see you no one else and unfortunately for you im a lot stronger then them" He had taken out two strange daggers that wrapped to the blade was on the out side of his arms wile he still held the handle. "come traveler lest dance!" he yelled as he rushed at him.


Crimson had walked out in front of the prince at that moment with a smirk holding her dagger out she only moved slightly and held her blade a strange way blocked both of his blades. he looked at her confused mixed with fear seeing the blood covered women.

 

[From Darkness]

Gills stood confidently with the rapier on his side, not even bothering to lift it up. Lo and behold came Crimson, personification of Death herself, bathed in the blood of the fallen. He could only imagine what the bandit leader was thinking about right now. Probably trying his hardest not to piss on his pants.


"Weeeeell...from what I see here, I'm not alone," Gills said mockingly, this time readying his rapier in front of his face. "I'll happily take your 'dance' offer anytime, good sir, but I'm sure that you would prefer the company of this lady over here."


"So," he glared dagger at the leader, "Which do you think is better? Giving us all of your valuables, or die like a dog? Your choice. I'm okay with either."

 

[Srion Receno]

It was almost as if her glare and just the look of her covered in blood and smiling about it, stopped him dead in his tracks. he barley heard the mans words as he looked eyes with the demon before him. shaking he took a step back "we..will have that dance one day when you choose not to bring her with" he said then ran off into the woods. the other three had fallowed taking the blacked out man with them.


Crimson shook her head and turned and smiled at the prince the fire dancing light on her face. "its never fun when cowards think there tough" as she said this she wiped the blade on her shirt then put it into its sheath.

 

[From Darkness]

Gills made a crooked smile on his face as he watched the guys ran away like whipped dogs. Cowards. He haven't even used the power stored in his rapier. Well, it might be useful later. He carefully sheathed the weapon back. "Agreed," he glanced at Crimson. Covered in dried blood, the assassin looked as menacing as the reaper. Yet that reason also gave her a strong attraction. A wild, yet graceful, attraction.


She is no lady. There is no way this woman can be called a lady, yet..."This kind of look...suits you best," he murmured, before realizing he was talking out of his mind. Quickly clamping up, he ran toward the pouches left by the bandits instead.


"W-well, they had lots huh. Coins...damn, this is more coins than I'd brought. Whelp, might come in handy," He took all of the pouches and tied it on his sash. He also threw around half of them toward Crimson, practically giving it to her. "Your share. I think it's rather moot to talk about morality right now. We won this so this is ours, fair and square."


Sensing that the danger had left, Arty meekly walked out from the bushes, her eyes still red from the tears. Without saying anything, she hugged Crimson from behind, disregarding the blood staining her entire body and clothes. She sunk her face into Crimson's back. "Thank you, brother, miss Crimson..." she whispered.

 

[Srion Receno]

Hearing his words she looked down at her self then shrugged. "I only look like this when I have my fun" saying this as she caught the bags. she almost laughed at what he was saying but held it in as she tied then to her belt. she was about to say something about the road she was on until she felt Arty's arms around her making her jump slightly, this she was not use to at all. "you dont have to thank me im...just doing what comes with the job..." she mumbled as she lightly patted her arms. "come on we should go and get the horses before they do and Arty you should let go before any blood gets on you" she said then looked slightly back at her.

 

[From Darkness]

The girl rubbed her face, as if saying that she didn't mind all the blood, but let go regardless. Her face was slightly red from the dried blood, but at least the smile had returned. Gills had went into the bushes and returned with three horses instead of two. It wasn't theirs. The color was black, and the saddles looked a bit ragged but fancier. "Eh, I don't think our horses are still there, but I got something better." The new horses were stallions compared to their mares. They looked tamed enough to be ridden without any incident though.


"There's still those men who ambushed me earlier. But I don't think they'll pose much trouble now that their leader had gone. Let's take these horses and resume our journey instead," he hopped to one of them and motioned for Arty and Crimson to take one as well. His sister complied and took the one behind him. She wasn't too proficient with horses but do have the skill to at least follow the others.

 

[Srion Receno]

Seeing the blood on Arty's face Crimson took a cleanish cloth and after dabbing it on her tongue she took her face gently and wiped it off as the prince was gone. "you should not look like this you are to pretty for having blood on you" she gave Arty a small smile before moving away from her.


Seeing the horses that the prince brought up she smiled slightly as she moved twards the one she would ride. " they are handsome horses" she said quietly as she got up on it happily. "if you want we can go through the path that leads strait to the road or we can go through the woods...if we do that you wont have to see my mess" she smiled slightly embarrassed at Arty, it was strange if it was just the prince and her she would not care with Arty though it was almost like she was to pure for it. she loved the look of the mess she had made with the body's but they might not....why is she caring what they thought?


She looked down at the horse slightly comfused as she patted the horses neck waiting for what they wanted to do.

 

[From Darkness]

Gills personally didn't mind with any mess that she'd made...it's not like he hadn't seen it before. But taking the road through the woods might be better, now that they have faster horses, they could cut through a lot of time. "We'll go through the woods then. We can catch up with our lost time that way," he trotted the horse to the front, taking the lead this time. It's easier to know their direction due to the now rising sun. They just had to go the opposite direction, to the west. "Let's go. I doubt we'll find anymore distraction now that the night had passed."


The forest shared borders with Lapant, and by crossing it they would end up in that Kingdom's territory once they had came out of it. They should be near that point already, all they need to do is trekking the forest a bit further.

 

[Srion Receno]

Crimson nodded "alright then the woods it is" she turned her horse in that direction saying noting for a wile as they rode. coming to the edge of the woods she looked back at them. "ill need to clean up before anyone else sees me, so we need to find water or something..." she looked down at her self in the suns light and smiled a bit to her self as she looked foreword again, she did like this look though she was never able to keep it for long.

 

[From Darkness]

Gills slowed down his horse as well. "Yeah. Might be better if we clean up. I'm covered in dirt and so is Arty. Hmm...now is there any river nearby..."


"There is a river if we move a bit north," Arty chimed in. "It's not a big stream but there should be enough water for us."


"Hmm. Alright, north it is," he nodded and led them in a slight detour to the north. Soon what Arty said came true. A small stream was running through the forest, the source coming from an opening in the cliff, creating a small waterfall. Gills parked the horses at nearby trees and tied their reins to it.


"I'll keep watch for now. You guys go get clean," he said to Crimson and Arty.

 

[Srion Receno]

After fallowing and stopping at the little river and jumped down. "alright" she said then started down to the water, she had to completely strip down so hoped he had turned his back already. hitting the edge of the water she took off her cloths then went into the water bringing her cloths with her as she left her dagger and pouches at the waters edge. she had her back turned to them as she started to clean her cloths.

 

[From Darkness]

Arty walked into the water as well, quietly undressed and went in slowly until she was half-submerged. The stream wasn't too strong and so she was able to stand without problem. She only had a few dirt, what needed cleaning was mostly his blood-smudged face, but enjoyed the feeling of water washing away the filth anyway.


Meanwhile, Gills sat with his back facing the river, playing staring game with the horses. If he looked back now would the girls kill him...the thought escaped his mind quickly as he felt the rapier on his hip. The swirling power was enticing him to break loose, to attack something...the Dragon...the Anima power behind him...he shook his head. He wasn't the type who can fall prey to the lure of power. His sister held against something far stronger than this. Compared to that, this is nothing.

 

[Srion Receno]

looking at her now cleaned cloths she tossed them up as hard as she could but they only landed behind the prince with a splat from the water. "hey can you hang them up on a few branch's to dry?" she asked then leaned back in the water to clean her hair and the rest of her body. glancing over at Arty and seeing her enjoying this she sighed, maybe she should as well. she leaned all the way in the water and floated at the top of it, looking up at the sky.

 

[From Darkness]

Gills was still deep in his thought when suddenly he felt a splat on his back. "Hey!" He was about to turn back when he remembered what was behind him. Hearing what she'd said, he felt around without turning back and finally got those clothes. This...this is really her clothes...he shook off any weird thoughts and just did what she told him to do.

 

[Srion Receno]

she smiled a bit at surprising him then looked back at the sky, it was quiet only the sound of nature and Arty washing her self. floating there she sighed it was a nice day she even got the need of killing someone out of her. they would have to get out soon but she didnt want to, thinking this she ran her hands through her hair then over her body to get the rest of the blood off. she stood up then after looking at Arty she smirked as she went all the way into the water.

 

[From Darkness]

Arty had finished cleaning her body and she started to get out from the water, drops trickling down from her wet hair. Her dress was still clean except for a few dirts caught when she was dragged through the forest, which he dusted off quickly after the affair. Gills noticed that she was up and threw a sheet of cloth her way. She caught it and then used it like a towel. He also gave her another one so she could give it to Crimson; if he was the one who did it, he imagined his eyes would be plucked out.


"Miss Crimson, you can use this sheet to dry yourself when you're done," Arty approached the edge of the stream and left the sheet on a pile of rock. She smiled seeing the assassin enjoying herself on the water.


"We'll need to move soon," Gills remarked, still having his back facing them. "Hasten it a bit."

 

[Srion Receno]

Crimson stood out of the water and slipped her hand down her body and hair to get some of the water off. she picked up the cloth and put it around her self as she walked up to them. "do one of you two know any thing about patching up wounds?" she really hatted to ask but she needed new wrappings on her back and she could not reach them. she stood behind the prince hoping Arty would and not the prince but she would have no choice if he did.

 

[From Darkness]

Gills was about to answer, but realized that he would've needed to look at her naked back if he said yes...which somehow made him uncomfortable all of the sudden. Upon seeing his brother trembling like a little kid, Arty giggled a bit and took some clean cloth from their supply pouch. "I'll do it, miss Crimson," she replied.


The princess had her to sat down and took off the earlier wrapping, looking at the wounds left by Magic. They were healing fast, with only a few persistent burn and cut marks still tarnishing her skin. Arty felt a pang of guilt in her heart for some reason. "Sorry..." she muttered it out of nowhere. After drying the wounds, she wrapped the new cloth over them, making sure that the cloth wasn't too tight on her skin. "There. I hope it doesn't feel uncomfortable."