The party stood upon a slope, leading downward from the hill where the entrance to the catacombs was hidden among boulders and crevices within the flesh of the hill. Below them stood a small village, it's buildings clustered around the river like lice to a wound. The river was unlovely to look upon, little more than a dusty collection of hovels, arrayed as if toys strewn together upon the dusty ground by some mountainous child. Fields stood further upstream from the village, their meager crops new, and stunted.

The sun had not yet climbed into the firmament, it's light little more than a soft glow peeking over the eastern horizon, a mere rumor of the brilliance of morning. Dawn's nearness was belied by the soft mantle of purple and blue that still blanketed the hills and hollows. The earth slumbered still, and the party walked through it as if strangers in a house of sleepers.

To the west, the party could behold a vast lake, across the village's river and several leagues past, its expanse glimmering in the half-light that pre-dates the crow of the cock. The forms of water-fowl, kingfishers and their like, swooping through the clear air and dropping to the water could be spied, fishing for their breakfast. Stands of reeds clustered about the banks.

In all other directions but north was naught but hills, in like manner to the one that the party had climbed from the bowels of. The vast distance to the east was a vast expanse of rolling hillocks, their green raiment rippling in the dying breeze. To the south, however, the hills broke, and great pastures dotted with fallow fields appeared. Already, the forms of those who lived their lives upon the bounty of the earth toiled upon them.

In the north, however, if any of the party had thought to turn their faces that way, they would have beheld the Lowlands of Clete. Great marshes and bogs covered that land, and no people held houses there, nor any king claim rule. It was a bad, noxious land. Clouds of insects and poisonous creatures the likes of which are not seen in the south abide there, and men travel it's roadless expanse at risk of succumbing to disease, or becoming lost within it's mire forever. It is just as well that little of that land could be espied from their hillock, no more than a blotch of dark green upon the horizon. Those from the city recognized it not.

But at last, even as the companions descended the hillside, the infant sun broke the horizon at last, and the cry of the rooster rang through the village.

(Sorry guys, but bear with me. Because of the technical difficulties, I suppose I'll have to summarize the events so far.)

As Mikael descended into the village, and entered the darkness of a run-down tavern, he met someone that he did not expect. From his former brotherhood of hired killers, an initiate by the name of Fredrik. Consumed with envy for the skill and the gall of his senior, he sought out the accomplished assassin. Fredrik sought, once and for all, to prove himself the superior, and so he challenged Mikael to a duel. The prize? His own boat, (conveniently enough). However, the price of defeat would be Mikael's twin blades, the tools of his trade.

(Luckily I had backed up my post before I actually posted it )

Mikael was the first of the group to enter the village. He soon blended in with what ever crowd there was, but since this village was very small, he still stood out more than usual. He looked back to see if anyone from that group was following him. Mikael noticed that one of the men was probably an assassin like him.

Villagers did look at Mikael every now and then, as none had ever seen one dressed like him. Mikael did his best to ignore the people staring at him. As he looked around, there wasn’t much activity. Little amount of people selling on the streets and very few people preforming on the streets for money.

As Mikael wandered around looking for a place to have a rest, he stumbled upon a small tavern. He decided to go in and have a drink, he thought to himself, "if that man who helped him wanted his assistance, he would definitely come to this place to find me. Either that or one of his companions will find me here."

Mikael walked in and sat down at the bar. He ordered a drink and started to drink it. A familiar voice came from behind him.

“Well, look at what the cat dragged in. A notorious killer who is not worth his weight in gold.”

Mikael turned around to face the person who insulted him. The person was shorter than him, but more built. He too was apart of the Brotherhood of the Adramyttium, but he was of a lesser rank and he was engulfed with jealousy that Mikael was better than him, even after Mikael was banished from the brotherhood.

“I see you haven’t changed a bit, Fredrik. Are you killing kings yet? Or are you still a low ranked assassin?”

Each assassin stared each other down, ready to pull out their blade. Civilians were the only thing that stopped these two from brawling around the place.

“So what will it be? Will you run off yet again like you did last time? Or will you stay and fight this time?”

Fredrik drew his dagger, as he screamed running towards Mikael. He had fought Mikael before, but was not successful at taking him out.

Mikael side-stepped the first attack and watched as his rival assassin ran straight into the bench , smashing glass and swiping more off the bench.

“Not even worth my time” exclaimed Mikael

A crowd gathered around as the two locked back into a death stare. Fredrik broke the silence, resiting a rule from the Brotherhood.

“Rule number 303. If assassins are to fight, a reward must be put on the line, winner takes all. What shall it be Mikael, I will give you my boat if you win.”

“If you win,” Mikael paused and drew out his daggers “then you shall have both my pride and my joy.”

kai fallowed behind the oterst to shinu and sighed thinking of everything then when she heard the yelling she ran in pulling shinu with her

she looked on and held her breath

"i hope no one gets hurt to badly" she said and sighed

"please be safe mikael" kair called out pushing her way through a hushed little crowd

"do your best" she yelled and everyone stared at her likes some kind of moron but she just smiled and laughed brightly

((hey im so sorry i havent bee on e forever! ive been so busy with school and finals coming up and all. ))

The two assassins stood a metre’s distance from each other, in their battle stances, Mikael holding his blades to his chest. Fredrik, holding his dagger towards the ground. The small crowd that had formed had turned into nearly the whole village, including some from the group who Mikael was with recently.

"please be safe Mikael"

Mikael heard the young girl’s voice and turned his head to see who it was exactly. As he did this, Fredrik came straight at him and slashed at Mikael’s throat. There was a slight pause as it had seemed that it was a direct hit, but as Fredrik pulled his sword away from Mikael’s throat, there was no stab wound. Only a small cut to the side of his throat appeared.

The two locked in to a furious battle. Mikael reacted straight away to another shot from Fredrik, bending backwards just in time for Fredrik’s blade to slide across his chest armour. Mikael swung his arm around trying to hack at his opponent’s leg, but narrowly missed as Fredrik’s gauntlet came down to meet his blade.

The battle only got more furious as the two started to speed up. Despite Mikael having two daggers, Fredrik had enough speed to keep the battle at bay. Mikael swung one dagger around Fredrik, and drove his other in to Fredrik’s stomach, he missed as his blade met Fredrik’s blade. Fredrik counterattacked Mikael’s stab with three punches to the face as he danced around Mikael to face his back. He grabbed hold of Mikael’s head and slammed it against the ground, but as Mikael hit the ground, he spun around hitting Fredrik in the legs causing him to fall as well.

“Looks like you’ve learnt some tricks since we last fought, but I still have the advantage”

Mikael jumped to his feet and threw one of his daggers at Fredrik, who narrowly missed the dagger as he rolled to the side.Mikael snarled as his blade missed Fredrik's throat. He then spat at Fredrik who was surprised by the sudden move ,giving Mikael just enough time to take his dagger back.

“Get to your feet, you’re a disgrace to the brotherhood”

Fredrik got up hastily and the fight began again, but this time it did not stay within the circle the crowd had formed. Two darted through the crowd still fighting. Each stab that Mikael delivered towards Fredrik was only countered or blocked. Out of frustration Mikael threw his dagger at Fredrik, but this time was successful at landing an attack.

The dagger sliced straight through Fredrik’s ear and careered straight in to the throat of an onlooker, killing him on the spot. The crowd of people panicked and started to run all over the place.

The two stood staring at each other amongst the running people. Mikael holding his arm from where he was cut deep. Fredrik, holding what was left of his ear trying to stop it blood from gushing out.
Fredrik grinned and threw his arms in to the air, letting the blood from his ear flow down his chest plate. He walked slowly towards Mikael, trying his hardest to intimidate Mikael.

“Well, looks like you’ve once again screwed up Mikael, how’s about you give up before I kill you?”

"DONT HURT HIM!" kairi yelled running inbetween them

"your both acting foolish and it caused a harmless inoccent person to be killed!" she yelled and looked at them both

"whats sad is i bet you two wouldmake a good pair of friends" she grumbled

"so stop it both of you!" she yelled and walked up to mikael and touched his arm with her good hand

his arm became blue and the wound healed as though it was never there

she felt weak and shook her head

"i can help you too...if you will let me" she said and turned to fredrik

"Fool of a girl!" Asuma's arm snaked about Kairi's waist, yanking her back into his arms as he quickly backed from the two combatants among the screaming crowd.

"Do you have a deathwish? Don't jump between two armed and dangerous me if you want to keep that head of yours on your shoulder. Leave this to the people who can handle themselves." Thrusting Kairi behind him with a sweep of his arm, he drew his blade forth, facing the new enemy.

“He has a quick reflex, it is best if one of us attacks from behind”

Mikael leapt forwards, holding his dagger to the side of him so he could get in a good stab. He grappled Fredrik and tore at his arm, leaving a huge gash down the side. This stunned Fredrik for a moment giving Mikael enough time to pick up his other dagger.

The fight was now an advantage for Mikael, His new friend attacked Fredrik as he was fighting Mikael. Each time Fredrik seemed to be gaining the upper hand, Asuma and Mikael would team up and force him back.

“Damn you two! Looks like I’ll have to change the surroundings”

Fredrik leapt backwards, grabbing the torch from the wall and pegging it at the shelf of alcohol. The shelf exploded and fire started to spread rapidly around the room.

“Lets see how you fare against me now!”

The three started to fight again, as the panicking crowd became more terrified. Mikael jumped into the air and tried to stab Fredrik from above, but this was countered as Mikael came falling back down. Fredrik kicked Mikael, causing him to roll in to the fire. The fight between Fredrik and Asuma continued on as the clashing of blades could be heard.

Mikael got to his feet as fast as he could and jumped out of the fire, half on fire and half bloody. He ran over to Fredrik and grabbed him from behind in a bear hug. He held him there until Fredrik was alight and writhing from the pain of the flames.

Fredrik elbowed Mikael in the face, causing him to let go. The two fell to the ground, dropping their weapons. Despite both being engulfed by the fire, they still continued to brawl. Fredrik went for a punch, but Mikael blocked it and countered with four quick jabs to Fredrik’s face.

The two of them brawled close to a window which had shattered from the explosion, each man using the window as a means to inflict more pain on to each other. Fredrik was successful at landing a hefty blow on Mikael, causing him to fall out of the window and landing on a pile of wood, sending him unconscious for a while.

"AAHHH!" she screamed and covered her face as the place went up in flames

she was terrified and stunned

she was trying to stop the fight. 'what is going on its getting worse...and hard to breath' she thought and backed herself hidden under the table her exits flammed iwth fire

she put her shirt over her nose but still coughed slightly she gripped her scaring hand. it was like the smoke was making it worse. it stung her eyes and made her hand burn as it did when she got the scar

she was pretty much invisible to everone in the room. she pulled her knees up barrying her face to try and stop the stinging in her eyes from the smoke and the light of the fire

Asuma's strokes cut shining paths through the flaming air, but to no avail. The rogue was too quick for his sluggish attacks; the smoke and and quickly vanishing air were making him dizzy. Kairi had vanished into the flames, and she couldn't hear his shouts through the roar of the flames. Asuma had one option left. He had to take the fight out of the building.

Fredrick's stab caught Asuma in the shin, sending a bolt of white-hot pain up his scorched flesh; however, this was the opening he had waited for. Quickly enveloping the assassin in a fierce bear-hug, Asuma leapt through the burning plank that the door of the inn had become. Landing in the mercifully cool morning air, the pair tumbled with limbs entangled through the dirt. Flaming clothing snuffed out by the rolling, Asuma righted himself, on top of his foe. Taking advantage of his momentary disorientation, Asuma raised his fist and, having lost his katana in the brawl, drove it with all his might at Fredrick's head.