North-Western Palamir

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.

kairi fle like the heat was eating her alive. likea turkey in the oven only she felt well done.

'this is it...game over...no more kairi...' she thought and blinked

she coughed and black smoke came out but all she inahuled was the same smoke

she looked to see the fire spreading towards her slowly yet surely

Mikael awoke, ignoring the sheering pain coming from his head. He rolled around to extinguish the flames that covered him. As he looked around he spotted his ally, beating the living daylights out of Fredrik, but he could not see the girl who was also in the building when the fire spread.

“Damn that girl, suppose we need her alive.”

Mikael ran back in to the building, searching through the thick smoke and flames. Right next to his feet were his daggers, which were extremely heated from the fire. Mikael picked them up with what was left of his cloak and sheathed them. He heard a cough coming from underneath a table near by. Mikael reached under and grabbed an arm, dragging Kairi out from underneath.

“Consider this payment for healing me earlier on.”

As the two came rushing out of the building, the infrastructure started to collapse. Big piles of burning wood lay where the two had just come out of. Mikael ditched Kairi near the burning wreck and joined back in with the fight.

Asuma and Fredrik were fighting on the ground, with Asuma clearly having the advantage. Mikael came and grappled Fredrik in a headlock from behind, allowing Asuma enough time to get back on his feet and start to lay in to Fredrik’s stomach.

"thanks" she coughed and smoke came out

"geez a bunk of rough people. they almost burn alive and all they can do is keep fighting" she grumbled and touched her back were her katana was

it was blisteringly warm and she let go imediatly and coughed again

she walked over to a horse trough filled with water and splashed her face

there was a sizzling noise as it hit her skin and it felt good to her

she dunked her entire head under the water and then pulled her head into the cool air

she coughed a few times and pushed her hair back and sat down leaning against the trough watching the fight

she didnt care anymore. they were going to fight weither she said anything or not. plus using her energy on the healing and then being weakened by the smoke she felt like she was going to pass out and couldnt take getting up again

she watched them brawl hoping they would stop soon. she didnt have the energy to watch this let alone try and break it up

(hey james, if you can catch me up, I'm ready to give this story a shot.)

((since no one will post...))

kairi sighed and looked down at her hand

the scarred part was hurting her quit badly from the little stir up and she had had earlier.

"maybe the water will help. it does increase my healing" she mumbled to herself sticking her hand in the water and then sticking the regular one in the water and tried to heal it again but it just increased the pain

she pulled her hands out of the water falling back wincing at the pain

now the black splotches were nearly covering her palm on her left hand and it was spreading up her arm

she held onto her left arm crying in pain as she lay on the ground

((Sorry, was really tired last night and forgot to post. Won't be able to post today, but I can definately get one in tomorrow afternoon))

((This is very tough to get Shinu back in after a long hiatus, but I MUST advance this story. Sorry for the godmodding.))

Shinu watched ever so patiently as the three men continued to brawl. It was as if he was stuck in a trance, unsure of what to do and even unable to move. He stared down at the elder man who had been passed out, and the younger man who helped him save Kairi, who seemed to need a lot of saving lately. He had one bottle of healing potion left, and he had to choose who to use it on. Kairi seemed as if she needed some special method of healing, and the elder man's body far too advanced for any basic human treatment as well. The decision was made by process of elimination.

You better hope this works, I needed this for later.

He kneeled down on the ground next to Lins and poured the potion little by little down his throat to make sure he was drinking it. Without having enough time to watch the results, Shinu was out of his trance and walked over to the three men grappling.

We need to get recovered, there isn't time for fights.

Those were the only words he spoke as he pulled out his magnificent blade Nuraki and looked at it as it shone brightly in the light from the nearby fire. With one quick vertical slash dropping the tip of the blade down through the heart of Fredrik, the fight had ended, and so too had his life. Shinu ended it, warranting stares from Asuma and Mikael.

Sorry I didn't end it sooner, someone had to tend to our injured companions. Let's make the fights shorter next time huh? Thanks for holding him down for me, that was an easy kill. Maybe you two have seen that working together isn't so bad after all. If either of you care to be successful on this mission, you will do well to learn that.

Disengaging themselves from the corpse, the two men stood. Glancing down at Fredrik's body, Mikael remarked, "Well, that's over at least... and now we take his boat, I suppose."

(And James can take care of all that hullabaloo.)

((ep sorry ^^ ill try and stop getting in trouble ^^))

it finally stopped and she looked down at her hand, "ugh ok not so bad" she said trying not to freak out

she didnt want to be a pain to everyone so she grabbed a cloth and wrapped it around her arm so no one could see it

"there we go" she said and moved her fingers to make sure she was still mobile

she smiled slightly and got up dustying her self off

she almost yelped when she saw the dead man on the ground then stopped herself and held her breath not to make a noise

'stop acting like this kairi! this is horrible of course there are going to be fights were on a mission!' she thought to herself

' i have to stop being so weak! i have to learn how to fight! maybe one of htem will teach me...' she thought and blinked touching her katana lightly

Looking down at another death, Shinu did wonder how many more lives they would need to take, but then again, it didn't matter, stopping now wouldn't eliminate the others already past. He would do what it took, and that also meant having Kairi along to heal. She was in bad shape though, so was the old man, and so was Lins. Hopefully the potion helped him, and hopefully they could get to the Land of the Elves in time.

Hey, are you alright? We have a way out of here now, so let's go.

He extended a hand out to Kairi to help her up. He'd done a poor job of protecting her, but she was alive, and that is what mattered at the moment. A few were already lost, and it was time to depart.

Ready?

"yea sure" she said and tried to smile brightly but something was stopping her so she looked away

"to the land of the elves then? i guess it is time i go back.." she mumbled and sighed looking down at her hand

"but ill only go if you teach me how to fight ok!" she said and looked at shinu

"please i fell so helpless! i cant help any of you if i cant fight!" she said and clentched her fists

"its not right that i keep getting into trouble that i cant get myself out of. its not fair that i depend on all of you to help me. i dont want to be the one holding all of us back." she said

"so if you would teach me i promise not to complain and i will work really really hard i promise!" she said looking back up at shinu

"please!" she said looking sad and on the verge of tears. she couldnt stand being the helpless one. it was so disgraceful.

Mikael searched Fredrik for anything of value while the others talked. He found some coins and a hidden dagger hiding in his boot. After hearing Shinu talk about a mission, he dropped Fredrik’s body to the ground, now interested in what he had heard Shinu say.

“You said something about a mission?… Who are you going after? Maybe I can be of assistance on your mission…”

As Mikael finished, the girl who he had saved came over and started pleading to learn to fight. Mikael felt a strange feeling that he had never had before, he felt pity for the girl, so he passed the dagger over to the girl.

“Here. When someone comes close and they are using their fists, try blocking their attack, then stab at them.”

Mikael showed how to pull off a proper defence attack.

“If they have a weapon, it is easier if you run around them before you try swiping at them.”

As Mikael finished showing the girl what to do, he saw that she looked confused about what to do. Mikael was not impressed by this, so he turned and started to walk towards the river.

“hmph! Better get Shinu to show you what to do. As for anyone else who wants to get upstream, I know own a fine boat. Come to the river if you want to hitch a ride.”

"ah thank you!" she said and bowed to him

"i will practice it i promise" she said standing up straight to see he was gone and she smiled and looked at the dagger

"ill try my best" she smiled and gripped the dagger and smiled

she fallowed them all practicing as she walked by swinging the dagger

she smiled and played the move on a tree but the dagger stuck in the thick bark and she had a hard time pulling it from the tree

she sighed and practiced some more until they came upon another tree and she ran at it pulling off the move perfectly

she smiled and looked down at the dagger

"ill keep trying" she smiled brightly and swung it around again in practice

' i guess in order to learn i must get help. im glad there are some willing to help. i will do my best not to let them down' she thought and smiled swinging the dagger from side to side and accidentally throwing it almost hitting shinu

"ahhh sorry!" she said running over and pulled the dagger out of the tree next to shinu

"ahhh heehee" she said smiling nervously

"good thing i missed" she smiled and tugged on the dagger that was stuck in the tree all the way to the hilt

"ehhhh good gravy!" she grumbled pulling with all her weight

Shinu laughed to himself and reached his arm over Kairi's and easily pulled the dagger out of the tree.

Here you go, we'll have more time to work on this later, but for now, just try not to get hit, and when you see an opening, swing your blade right at that opening, we'll get more in depth when we get the group in better health. For now, we need to get going.

Maikel, can you get the boat going towards the land of the elves? We need to get there as quickly as possible to continue our journey. Without a fully healthy group, I don't see you or any of us getting our just reward.

((I know it was just a spelling mistake, but I couldn’t resist ))

“To the elves it is then… Oh and by the way. My name is pronounced M-I-K-A-E-L, try to remember that”

Mikael started up the boat. It was old and creaky, but it still worked. The boat was moving in no time and they were going with the river, which made the journey more easy. Mikael steered the boat, while the others relaxed. This gave Mikael time to reflect on what had happened in the last two days. He wasn’t quite sure what was happening, or how he ended up in it. All he knew was that there was going to be a large reward waiting for him after he had killed who ever it was they were after. He also needed his wounds healed by the Elves, so he could fight at his strongest.