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The door slammed open, a huge form stalked into the bar, his face shadowed by the bright light behind him. A single visitor to the bar cowered behind his beer, afraid of the hulking figure. The door swung shut, the light cut off, bringing darkness back to the bar. The huge frame stomped to the bar, a furry cloak billowing out behind him, a few people saying hello as he passed. He sat down at the bar, just as vision returned to those around him. Holding up two fingers, a huge smile on his face, the man simply said "Two of the usual Sam!"

"Hello Serk. Always good to see you," the bartender said, getting out two mugs. He began to fill it up when the door burst open yet again. A familiar face stumbled into the bar. "Hello William. Something the matter?" Sam asked, worried. For a few second, all that could be heard was William gasping for air.

"Ban... Bandits!" he shouted, having caught his breath enough to speak. Serk rose from his seat at the bar, grabbed the ax on his back, and quickly made his way to the door.

"Looks like I'll have to come back for those drinks Sam!" he said, a hint of laughter in his voice. And with that, he was off, making his way towards the edge of town to fight off some bandits.

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Ninazu sat down, stretching his wings out a bit, leaning against a tree. He pulled out an amulet, gazing upon it for a bit. "[I... I want to go back...]" he said, shaking his head. "[I can't... Not until Nergal is sealed... For good this time...]" The amulet began to glow a bit. A keidran was close. Putting the amulet away, Ninazu got up and lumbered off into the trees of the forest around him.

Lillian watch the beast of a man leave the bar and head off to face the bandits from her own table in the corner. She sat, with her hood draped over head covering her face in shadow. It was a familur feeling for her now, living in shadows.

Ever since the event in the town, she had felt nothing but sorrow. Only her and the keidran Foxen, that sat across from her (also heavily hidden behind a hood) remained from the group. Well, her and Nihil a shadow once linked to Marrik.

It had been months since they had heard from Marrik and Ninazu. At least they fared better then Jonah. Lillian shuddered at the memory of having to bury his body. To many people had died in this mission, but they still had to complete it. Though she doubted they could with just to two of them.

What had been worse was Luna, Foxen's sister, had vanished. All that was left was a note written to Marrik demanding he came to 'the elven home' or the fox would die. was signed Bane. It had trouble Foxen greatly, and despite thier best effort Foxen and Lillian had been unable to pick up Banes trail.

Lillian looked across the table at Foxen. "Bandit... what should we do? Wait it out in here?" Lillian asked the fox assassin.

Glacies sat at the edge of town, sucking on ice cubes and reading "Taran's Conundrum" which he'd picked up from a local book seller. He was five twenty pages from the end of the book when an arrow whistled through the air, and would have struck in the face had the book not been there. As it was, the book stopped the arrow, becoming torn and destroyed in the process. "That was one of my favorite books" he said coldly, reaching for his twin ice picks. He felt a cold fury towards whoever shot that arrow, and it didn't take long to guess that the incoming bandits had something to do with it. Seeing one who was reloading a bow, Glacies threw one of the ice picks, which stuck the bandit in his shoulder. Tugging on the chain, Glacies pulled the bandit towards him, and right before bringing his other pick down on the bandit, he whispered "hell has frozen over, and is all the more deadly for it."

Paul looked at his mug. It had been a few years since the group broke up under templar pressure, and he hadn't been able to hold down a job since. Most people freaked out when they saw what he could do, and fired him.

Paul had been watching the two hooded strangers for quite a while. Something seemed..off about them. So when one said" what do we do" to it's companion, Paul walked over to them and said "Well, I'm going to go fight them, and I hope you guys come along." before leaving the bar and drawing his daggers. a few arrows whizzed past his head, and he lazily moved out of the way, then began walking towards the archers. "Right then, leave this town and don't come back. You have ten seconds to get running."

Paul heard a scream behind him, followed by a thump. Serk raised his ax from the puddle of blood the freshly slain bandit was now creating. "Hey there Little Man. You gotta watch your back. Bandits ain't above stabbing you in the back," he said, holding his ax broad ways to block an arrow whizzing for his skull. He continued, a smile on his face, "Unless you got the skill to back up those daggers, I suggest you get back into the bar." Then he ran off, deflecting a few arrows before splitting an archer like a piece of wood, then swung his ax around, striking the two next to him.

Nicholas sat in the corner of the bar fiddling with a piece of stone. This was no ordinary stone. It was pure black with a red engraving displaying a symbol that Nick has not see or heard off. Nick continued to ponder about the stone until he heard a man shout "Bandits".

"Bloody hell" were the first words that came into Nicks' mind, "Just when i thought i could relax." Nick was constantly attacked by Mysterious assassins ever since he he was dragged out of the sea. However this day he manged to elude them...for a while and allowed Nick for regroup and think about his next move.

"Oh well, at least its not those guys" Nick thought to himself referring to the black hooded assassins.

Nick quickly walked out of town to see two people already engaged with the bandits "This should be quick, the more the merrier..." Nick saw a bandit trying to attack Paul from behind. Nick quickly reached for one of his knives on his belt and threw at the bandit hitting him dead center in the neck. Nick drew out his sword and gave a shout "You mind if join I the party?"

Mushka had been traveling early that morning, and yawned loudly. He rubbed his eyes and said to no one particular, "That last town wasn't so bad. It's really hard for a Keidran to walk the streets without having being caught." He continued walking down the path to next town.

The bandit archer lat dead at his feet, and several of his companions had taken notice. One with a jagged knife, another with an axe. The one with an axe was giant, muscles akin to the Hulk's. As with most cases, the brawn did not come with brains, and the axe-weilder charged Glacies. When the axe was within range of Glacies, the dumb bandit slahed downward with his weapon. The charge over to him had given Glacies plenty of time to prepare, and he held each ice pick in the hand opposite the arm each chain was attached to, so that the chains formed an X shape which deflected the axe. Jumping upward, Glacies flipped over the bandit, slicing at the moron's head with each pick, and when his feet hit the ground the now-decapitated bandit fell forward. His ally seemed to lack the muscle of the axe-weilder, but what he lacked in strength he more than made up for with the air of intelligence that surrounded him.

The bandit had only one knife, and so to make the fight fair Glacies put one of his ice picks away. Both opponents knew that neither would be stupid enough to charge forward, and so they both inched toward each other, their eyes cold and calculating. Finally they were in range of each other, and their blades crossed. Blow after blow was deflected, both fighters skilled with their weapon of choice. Then when their blades were once again locked, the bandit drew another knife with his other hand and rushed the blade toward Glacies head. Quickly taking out his other ice pick, he managed to knock the knife away, and pushed his second weapon into the chest of the bandit. Watching him fall to the ground, Glacies said "it's a shame. That was a thrilling fight before you decided to cheat." Looking around, Glacies could see others fighting the bandits. Great... even more people... he thought sourly.

"Right then, time's up."

Paul fell into a lopsided run and ended up near three of the bandits. They all raised swords to strike at him. He went inside the blows of the first two and sliced open there necks, then parried the third one and stabbed him in the throat.
"Name's Paul. You are...?"

An all too familiar form jumped effortlessly thought the trees around Ninazu always just out of sight, and just when the dragon though whatever it was had gone a smooth and suave voice chimed from above him.

"Why hello there my dragon friend." Clad in pure white his crimson eyes gleaming was Malic, sitting, peached on a branch right above Ninazu. The elf chuckled at the look on the dragon's face.

"Having a bit of trouble are we, something to do with a shadow perhaps."
Malic chuckled again, and hopped down from the tree and stood all cool and calm while he walked around Ninazu. "I could help you, you know, for a price..." The elf grinned awaiting an answer

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After Marrik had returned to the destroyed town where he had left his friends he searched frantically for them over several weeks. Unable to come up with much other than that two people had left the town he had nothing to go on.

Grief stricken by the thought of the woman he loved dying again he became almost completely numb. As the thieves guilds gathered their forces and planned the assault Marrik continued his search for Foxen and his friends. He did have a tiny bit of hope, whoever had survived had buried a man, and by the items on the grave he thought it to be Jonah the unstable man he had barely known.

Eventually Marrik had come to a town after a long days searching for some rest and a meal. Coming up over a hill he saw a rather large battle in front of him, a dozen or two bandits and a handful of would be defenders all in a huge fight. Unfortunately for Marrik what he was wearing sort of matched the bandits' uniforms, except for the cloak. Which made him look like some sort of leader or commander. Even worse he was plainly visible to the men defending the small town.

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In Lillian's shadow Nihil perked up and whispered something to her, just two words.

"He's close..."

Kanda's journey had brought him to a quiet peacefull town. He was painting the landscape infront of him as two men suddenly approuched him. "Good day gentlemen, can I assist you?" He asked without looking away from his painting.


"Shut up and give us all your valuables kid,!" One of the bandits shouted. Kanda laughed. "I'm very poor sirs so please. piss off..," he said coldly. The bandits weren't too happy with that comment and charged at him.
Kanda stood up and lifted his foot, throwing Zenbushin, which was at his feet, in the air. He took it's handle and drew it perfectly, and with great accuracy cut the arteries of the bandits without flaw.


Kanda smiled as he sheated Zenbushin and looked back at his painting. "Ohh no! It's covered in blood! Damnit ! My masterpiece!" He fell on his knees in dissapointment. "They'll pay, they'll pay,!" Kanda said furiously as he took Zenbushin and left his equipment behind.

He ran towards the sound of battle and charged the first bandits he saw. "This is for my masterpiece," Kanda yelled out as he charged. The bandits seemed startles by the sudden appearance and tried to defend themselves. Kanda exchanged a few blows with the first bandits before felling them, then a stronger one seemed to appear, he wielded a scimitar and had a golden tooth that shined brightly. "You ain't bad boy! But let's see if you can handle this,!" the stronger bandit laughed as he started attacking Kanda, the blows were accurate, forcing Kanda to block the attacks. "You ain't bad either old man," Kanda muttered before dodging one of his strikes, "But there's one rule in kenjutsu, never show your neck!" Kanda swung accurate and made a deep cut in the man's neck, the man seemed to regret his actions before dying.

Kanda looked around at the others fighting, 'These people look weird, or better to say, they look weird even to me.' He stood there and waved at the others who were fighting, looking rather innocent.

Blaze, having traveled for five days throught the woods, came acroos a quite little town. "Seems safe enough." he said with a yawn. "I'll start gathering what I need at sunset."

Blaze jumped in a tree to get a better view of the small town. "Even though I wear the crest of a templar I still may be captured for being what I am. No sence in taking a risk that..." Blaze's mind wandered off as he cuaght the faint scent of ale.

"Ok maybe one trip to to the pub won't hurt." he said as he leaped towards the town."Halt Keidran." he heard suddently and he strolled into town. A guard was standing at ready with his hand on his sword. "Where did you get that crest you are wearing? Most likely killed a templar for it eh?" the guard drew closer hand still on his sword. "No, this crest was given to me by my mentor. An old templar by the name of Kazuro."

"Kazuro eh?" the guard stopped and took his hand off the sword. "Kazuro was always kind hearted. He saved me and my family from an assassin once." Blaze breathed a sigh of relief. "you are free to pass" the guard said as he walked off. "Oh by the way i'll tell the other guards you have clearance to be here just don't start any trouble ok?" Blaze nodded in agreement and walked to the pub.

Foxen picked up her cup of tea and took a sip before putting the cup back down on the table. She sat there staring at her hand Marrik's ring still gleamed in the light remembering when they first met. Foxen's handed seem older and more fail, she looked up at Lillian when Lillian asked her question, "why should we concern our selves with bandits, that would only delay us” she sighed, “but then again I’m getting old again, so I could go for a drink" she smiled looking at her hand. when the man walked over and said he was going to fight Foxen smiled a bit "native young people" she said standing up and stretching, "bandits taste a bit salty for me but blood is blood and I hate being this old, so lets go" Foxen said walking towards the door slowly.

Vince sat at a table in the far corner of the bar, listening intently to everything that was said by the others in the bar.
Assassin training came in useful when you wanted to gather information without having to ask, not to mention finding out what people's names were.
Vince heard the shout of "Bandits" and decided to wait a little before leaving the bar, he had a drink to finish off after all and he wasn't going to just leave it after paying for it.
Vince picked up his mug and drained the rest of his drink. Placing the mug back on the table he stood up and made his way to the door.

When Vince got outside he noticed that some people were already engaged with the bandits and decided to leave them for now. Instead he made his way towards a group of bandits that nobody else had bothered to stop from destroying houses.
One of the bandits noticed Vince and told the other 5, who all turned around. Vince ran at the group unarmed for now.
One of the bandits stepped forward and took a swing at Vince's head, missing when Vince ducked the blade and in the same motion broke one of the bandit's knees with a powerful kick.
The bandit hit the ground at the same time that Vince drew his sword.
Vince looked around at the 5 bandits that were left. "Pitiful bandits." he said loud enough for the bandits to hear him.
Two of the bandits rushed at him with their swords. Vince deftly side stepped one and sliced the muscles in the back of his leg, sending him to the ground.
The other bandit's strike was blocked by the flat of Vince's blade before the bandit was put down with a devastating kick to his floating ribs.
Vince looked at the other 2 bandits who both decided that it wasn't smart to fight him and ran off.
Vince turned around and walked past the bandits on the floor and made his way towards the others fighting the bandits.

Lillian nodded in agreement, she didn't like seeing Foxen so frail either. As she rose from her chair and made her way to the door Nihil spoke to Lillian, though it sound like nothing more then a whisper.

"He's close...? who is close... do you mean...?" Lillian asked, obviously caught out by Nihil’s choice to suddenly speak up. Lillian grabbed Foxen by the wrist and keeping her voice down lest someone was listening, for new enemies were quick to find when speaking his name, she whispered. "Marrik..." to Foxen.

The two of them burst out of the bar and into the musty sunlight. The sounds of battle filled the air and Lillian hand to shield her eyes from the sunlight untill they adjusted from the darkness of the bar.

"If he's near bye we have to find him" Lillian said looking on into the mass of bandits and town defenders as they fought one another. "Remember you are not of full strength... just be careful, ok?" she said before readying herself for battle.

Although not skill in the art of combat, Lillian had her abilities on her side at least. She removed her knife from her boot and in the blink of an eye was no long by Foxen side but instead amongst the bandits.

She appeared just ahead of Paul and Serk. The impact of her arrival knocking Serk over and throwing the two bandits he was fighting to the ground as well. She stood motionless as the two bandits returned to their feet and charge towards her. She just stood there as the aftermath of her shadow jump rippled her cloak and hood like a soft morning breeze.

As the tow bandits drew close she moved her head slightly to get a look at their movement. As one of them swung his sword at her She vanished in a wisp of shadowy smoke. The bandit off balance from his swing ended up on the blade of Paul’s knife.

His friend couldn't believe what happen, but it was only a thought for a split second before Lillian appeared next to him. Another shockwave, and the man was thrown backwards once again this time colliding with the wall of a nearby building. The force of the shockwave this time blowing Lillian's hood off her face. Her Bright red hair waved in the aftermath of her movement and 3 scars on her neck were clearly visible.

"How many are attacking?" She asked not caring to look over her shoulder to the strangers that choose to fight.