End of an Era

Cino emerged again to confront the girl at the pond once again.

"Soldiers you say? Appears to be more than just that." He chuckled.

She quickly hid the book.

"I knew as much as i said. How was i suppose to know a chi master was here."

She stood infront of the book hiding it as best as she could.

"What do you want with us?"

"Well, I was originally going to, hmmm. How should I put this. Carrry out my contract. I still might, however you and your group of travelers intrigues me as to what your goals are." Cino eyed the girl as she was shifting her hands as if to hide something, however Cino dismissed it for the moment.

"Look," She said trying to slide the book into her bookbag without him noticing, "I don't know who you are or what you are but I suggest you just leave us be. Contract or no contract."

"Ha! A threat coming from just you? You really don't know me do you? I'm a Class S assasain around here. I'm here to find exactly what you're up to and whether its it my best interest to let you and your friends live even though I'm under contract." Cino made a step forward and gripped his blade softly with a smile.

"Its your choice."

"and apparently you don't know me. I come from a strong line of witches and warlocks and i'm also royalty. You kill me there will surly be thousands on you. You shouldn't even..............." She trailed off and dropped the book. She had just realized what she had just said. "Look here you, you have no right to be spying on us. An assasain that's hunting a group and then admits to one of the memembers isn't so wise." She tripped over the book as she stepped backwords and fell into the pond. "Just Leave..."

Cino couldn't help but laugh a little.

"You people are quite interesting, it just doesn't seem right for me to kill any of you...yet. " Cino took two steps forward with his hand on the hilt of his sword. In a matter of moments he had appeared behind the girl in the pond. He removed his hand from the hilt and extended his hand down to her.

She wasn't sure on what to do. She was quite confused.

"No," She said while getting up, "I don't need any help." She backed out of the pond and went to the book and opened it again peering through it quickly before closing it.

"Why.....Why do you threaten and then come to help?"

Cino retracted his hand.

"Perhaps I would like to learn more as to why I'm supposed to kill any of you? Perhaps if I learn more about you and your friends, killing any of you would be against my better judgement or morales." Cino looked at the reflection of the moon in the pond for a moment.

"At least I know a bit more about you whether it was intentional or not." He smiled a bit.

"Then again you can neglect me and I wouldn't have a choice to the matter about learning more about any of you." Cino graced his blade with his gloved hand for a second.

Kenji bursted towards the origin of the foot flying at Xarubbi, kicking his foot away.

"I can sense and follow chi when used old man!" Kenji said, "Come out and face me!"

Kenji punched the ground beneath him creating a crater, lifting the earth from underneath him. He waited for the old man

he didnt care anymore. he bit his finger again, and added annother symbol around the other, and gripped his blade with his right hand again. he jumped into the air, and pointing his blade to the ground. he fell, and slammed his blade down, full force. the ground around him crumbled, and expanded outward, taking down the trees around him, leveling everything around him. when it was all over, 20 feet around him, all there was was debris and peices of trees. he snarled loudly, gripping his blades tightly.

"Look Your an assasain. Why would you care to figure out more about us especially when you were hired to kill us in the first place." She looked at him

"I odn't care if you tell everyone about me being the princess. Why do you keep challenging. You're playing mind games and now i'm going back to the fight with the chi master." She turned away and started back slowly.

The man swayed back and forth as Xarubbi unleashed his devastation on the clearing, arms windmilling in broad, sweeping strokes, as if he was culling the air about him with his hands.

The air seemed to harden and thicken, the debris rolling out from Xarubbi slowed and repulsed once it entered a certain radius, as if the air had become solid, like milk into butter.

"Bastard..... he can't.... keep this up... much longer...."

The old man was encapsulated in a shell of debris, dirt, and hardened air. With a grunt, the chi master heaved the mass of improbable matter forth, straight at Kenji. However, it clipped past him narrowly. The chi master had caught his foot on a root as he heaved it. He quickly extracted it, but the damage was done.

he quickly looked up, madness and bloodlust in his eyes. he gripped his swords more tightly, clenching them. he jumped to where he had seen the large mass of debris come from, and again brought his sword down, where he thought the mass had come from. the whole area around him turned to rubble, and he jumped, bringing his swords again into their scissor like position, aiming straight at the top of the mans legs, where the waist met the thigh. he was trying to immobilize him. permanantely. he yelled.

DIE!!!!!!

A quick spike of rock jutted from the ground, between the scissoring blades and slowing the cutter for a second, just enough to back away and avoid losing his lower extremity. The old man's left hook took him in the chin.

"I'll ask you again. Leave now. Aside from having to cope with me.... doubtless the militia you're fleeing is on their way here now, alerted by the forward scouts of the presence and your preoccupation. I doubt you can take them and me at once. So take the easy way out and leave."

"Have you ever come to think thats how I judge those who I am designated to track and kill? Even though I am a professional, that doesn't mean I don't have certain rules as to assasinations. I clearly tell my employer if I find that my target or targets are not credible for their objectives, I simply will end the contract upon seeing it myself." Cino twirled his hand in the water for a moment before looking back up to the girl.

"So are you going to tell all of your other friends that I'm here to kill all of you or what? I grow impatient."

So it seems they still fight on, guess they do want to get caught by the soilders after all. Well it is their own stupidity that will get them in that situation afterall I am not about to interfer with people I don't even give a damn about Kyo said still trudging on through the forest, getting away from the miltia was now the primary thing on his mind.

Kenji summoned his chi into his fists, preparing for an attack.

he dropped his left blade, and his hand shot out, grabbing the old man's hand as he tried to back away. he clenched it, making sure not to let go. he stared at the old man, bloodlust still in his eyes.

after you attack us you try and talk your way out. your more of a coward then I first believed. you dont deserve a life, and I sure as HELL am not going to let you get away with attacking me and trying to hide. for that, I'm going to CUT YOU TO PEICES!!!!

he made his left blade fly into the air by smashing the right blade onto it, and he grabbed it in his mouth. he roareed, it slightly muffled by the hilt in his mouth.

he pulled on the mans hand, and jumped forward, slicing out with his right blade, and the one with in his mouth, aiming at anything he could hit. he didnt care. he would cut him until he died. he was going to make sure it was slow.

She clenched her fist in her own impatience. She rose her hands very slowly and clenched them shut again. The water around the man surrounded him and encased him in ice.

"I'm done talking to you..."

Kenji forced his palms forward, launching the ball of energy at Xarubbi and the old man. the ball of energy was large and strong enough to consume both

She quickly ran through the trees back to the fight and saw the ball of energy heading toward Xarubbi and the chi master. She quickly ran and tackled Xarubbi out of the way before came too close, and got up.

"I missed way to much"

Kyo walked to where he felt a huge amount of chi energy. When he got there he saw a man encased in ice. So it seems raven was here, only other person I know that has a large amount of chi power Kyo thought to himself and pulled out his bo. he then jabbed it quickly to the center, cause the ice to shatter.

She remembered something at the last moment possible. She left the book back near the man she had trapped. She thought just in case he had escaped, cause she didn't expect him to stay encased very long, she would jump the along the tree branches. Once again she was off through the forest back to the book.

Cino gritted his teeth as he struggled in the prison of ice.

"Why that good for nothing..." He began to mutter before unsheathing his sword and muttering a few words. Sparks of fire ignited from the tip of the blade and melted away the ice. Cino looked around for a moment before noticing the witch's book.

"I wonder..." He murmured as he bent down and picked it up. He opened the pages and skimmed through it noticing various recordings of creatures as well as spells.

"Interesting...." He muttered.