[RP]Obake Blade

[JasraLantill]

As Jonas readied his bow and searched for more attackers, something struck Aya as strange about him. His stance, his calm, quick reactions, the way he searched for movement... it all looked so familar.

 

She was still trying to catch her breath, her panicked state of mind not helping matters any, and it all reminded her of a time not long ago. When she and her father were attacked in a caravan as they returned home. Masked bandits had attacked them then, too, and if it hadn't been for a nearby troop of soliders n patrol, they would have most likely killed all of the travellers that day. Aya and Bob and a few others had been spared. Aya's father had made a valiant effort to protect her and the rest of the caravan, but had fallen just as the soldiers arrived. She remember seeing an archer in the distance, standing calmly, confidently, but loosing arrows in quick succession, felling bandits near her and the others as the armoured soldiers had approached the skirmish. She hadn't thought about him since... until now.

 

"It was you," she said hoarsely, not sure if Jonas could hear her or not.

[ForceFightWMe12]

One of the bandits gave a sharp whistle, and those that were left looked up. The one that had whistled was running away.

 

Kyo frowned and grabbed the flail, flinging one end towards the feet of a running bandit, he yanked it taught and tripped the man. The other end he chucked at the back of a second, cracking hard into his spine. Retriving his sword and jumping to his feet, he dispatched the one he had tripped, and saw that the other one he needn't bother with. The blow had shattered his spine.

 

In the end, only a single bandit got away. The rest of the group lay scattered across the path, either dead or dying. Kyo stood among the darkly-clad bodies, breathing heavily, a small cut dripping blood from his forehead.

 

This didn't have to happen.

[Jason Skywalker]

Akira looked around as he saw a bleeding Carwyn.

 

"Blast it, this just keeps getting better!" He shouted, running at the wounded Ranger. He saw the dagger stuck deep onto his thigh.

 

"Kyo! Bora Cho! Anyone, come quick!" He shouted out.

[JasraLantill]

Aya struggled to her feet, untangling the cord around her neck and tossing it to the ground. As she wavered for a moment, Bob trotted over to her, offering himself for her to steady herself against.

 

As she and the pony walked over to where Carwyn was, she surveyed the carnage around her. She felt sick at the sight of so many dead, but swallowed back the bile. She was just thankful that Katsuro and the other friends she had met weren't hurt badly. Or so she thought.

 

Her eyes visibly widened in shock as she saw the hilt of a knife sticking out of Carwyn's thigh, and the dark red wetness that was oozing down his leg. She felt her own legs grow weak.

 

"Does it hurt?" she said stupidly, as she knelt down beside the ranger, more to save herself from fainting than to examine his wound.

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo moved over to where Carwyn sat wounded, drawn by Akira's shouts. He knelt next to the ranger, his hand reaching for the dagger.

 

"Look away, Aya." he ordered her. Giving Carwyn a warning look, he tugged the blade from his leg.

[Jason Skywalker]

"God, that's disgusting," He said as he looked around with many black-clad assassins. He thought who they where, until it struck him.

 

"Kyo. Are these people the Black Moon Bandits?"

[Rogue Nine]

Carwyn steeled himself as Kyo reached for the blade imbedded in his thigh. He was about to protest, but thought better of it and shut his eyes instead. He opened them again as he felt something cold and soft grab his hand. It was Aya, who was looking away, her eyes tightly shut, but squeezing his hand as if her life depended on it. Carwyn was touched at her gesture, but all thought left his mind as Kyo pulled the blade from his thigh.

 

The ranger gritted his teeth, biting back several choice expletives that he did not utter verbally, but rather heard them exploding in his head. Gasping for air, he felt the wound ooze painfully, then a new, sharp and stinging pain as someone staunched it with a piece of cloth.

 

Looking down at it, he sighed heavily. "Well, that's just going to bitch my dancing moves to all hell."

[Jason Skywalker]

"Dude, you're lucky you didn't get killed," Akira muttered, looking at him with a worried face.

 

"Are you alright enough to walk Carwyn?" He asked him.

[Rogue Nine]

"Not from the looks of things, Akira," Carwyn replied, wincing. The warrior had acquitted himself well in the fight and Carwyn was grateful for his concern.

[Jason Skywalker]

"Well, we should get the heck out of here and onto Ryuu-Tokai first. I think Bob can carry you around or something like that." Akira said.

[ForceFightWMe12]

"Aya, get into the city." Kyo told her as he moved to tie the peice of cloth to Carwyn's leg. Forming a temporary tourniqute with the bandage, the swordsman pulled one end with his teeth, using his free hand to hold it in place as he knotted it off. "We'll follow you in a moment. Akira, mind going with her?"

[JasraLantill]

Aya squinted one eye open, expecting to see the worst. But as Kyo was bandaging Carwyn's wound with a cloth, obscuring most of the blood, she gradually opened both of them up.

 

"No, we've got to get Carwyn to the inn," she said to Kyo. "He needs someone to tend to that wound before it gets poisoned." It was then she realised that she was holding Carwyn's hand rather tightly. She bit her lip and gently released it from her grasp.

 

She looked up at Bob and her pack, then at Kyo and Akira. "Can you two lift him up onto Bob? The Smoking Dragon's too far for him to walk." She smiled weakly at Carwyn. "Or hop, or limp, as the case may be."

 

She rose then, still a bit wobbly herself, and began to adjust the pack to make a place where Carwyn could straddle the pony's withers. "Just a little extra weight, Bob," she said to him. "And only for a little while. You can manage it." She gave him a reassuring pat on the neck. "Right, boy?"

 

Bob snorted, and Aya looked to Kyo to help Carwyn mount up.

[Jason Skywalker]

"Well, alright," Akira said as he put Carwyn's arm over his shoulder and with Kyo's help, lifted him onto Bob's back.

 

"Let's get going."

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo sighed. Aya was right...but there was no way that Bob would be able to handle the entire load. He didn't appear to be the strongest of horses.

 

Pulling Carwyn's arm over his shoulders, he helped the ranger to his feet and awkwardly helped him up onto Bob. As Carwyn settled into position, he began to pull off one of Bob's packs and tossing them over his shoulder, walking a ways away and picking up his own pack.

 

"Shall we?" he asked, looking back at the others.

[JasraLantill]

Aya nodded. She turned to Katsuro, who was still standing nearby, his slingshot ready. "Tell your mother we went to the Smoking Dragon Inn. I'm sure Xan knows where it is. I'll make sure to get a room for you both."

 

Holding onto Bob's bridle for support, she started leading him to the city gates. "Jonas?" she called over to the archer, who was still standing ready and watchful for any more bandits. "We're going to the Smoking Dragon." She somehow knew that he would watch their backs as they moved through the city.

 

As they approached the city gates, the guard houses on either side were suspiciously empty. Aya didn't even want to look inside. She could smell the blood from within, and by Bob's flaring nostrils, she knew he could, too.

 

The Smoking Dragon was in the heart of the market district, which was pretty much in the middle of the city. Walking through the cobbled streets, they passed rows of houses, most of them two or more stories with glass windows lit from within from oil lamps and cozy fires. But something was strange to Aya.

 

"It's quiet," she remarked. "Too quiet. There's not even a royal guard in sight." She turned to Kyo and Akira. "Something's wrong."

 

Finally they turned the corner, and the Smoking Dragon Inn came into view. Its windows were lit, and Bob's ears pricked up as the muffled sounds of music and jovial drinkers drifted through the air. Aya breathed a sigh of relief. Where there were people, there was safety in her mind.

 

"There it is," she said. "And it looks... normal. Even if the rest of the city doesn't."

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo turned to face the others. "Hang on a minute, guys." he said, "I'm going to check this place out."

 

He continued inside.

 

The bandits - ninjas, assassins, whatever the hell they were - had been exceedingly thourough. Not only had they taken out the guards out the door, but the entire military presence in this quarter of the city. That wasn't something accomplished through fighting alone. It would have created a bigger stir. These were definately not the normal brand of criminals.

 

The inside of the inn was normal enough. There were people at tables, conversing in low tones and drinking from various mugs. A man in the corner was playing softly on a fiddle.

 

He took this all in at a glance. There didn't seem to be any threats...most seemed unarmed, and no one seemed overly interested at his arrival. After a moment, he propped the door open and nodded at the others.

[JasraLantill]

Aya nodded at Kyo. "If you and Akira can help Carwyn down, I'll go and secure a room or two."

 

Aya tied Bob to the hitching post. "Stay," she told him, as if he were a pet dog. "I'll be right back."

 

She went inside the inn.

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo moved over to Bob, gripping Carwyn's upper arm. "Alright...c'mon, on three."

[Rogue Nine]

Carwyn noted the relative quietness as their little group made its way into the heart of the town. Normally he would have been more alert, searching around for clues as to the mysterious lack of security, but the throbbing wound in his thigh preoccupied most of his thoughts as they plodded along. Bob was being very gentle, as if he knew Carwyn was injured and was trying to make the ride as easy as possible. The ranger smiled and rubbed Bob's shaggy mane.

 

They soon made it to the Smoking Dragon Inn that Aya had spoken of. Unlike the rest of the town, the inn seemed to be alive with the sounds and smells of people laughing and drinking. They stopped outside the door and Kyo went in for a few moments, then came back out and nodded.

 

"If you and Akira can help Carwyn down, I'll go and secure a room or two," Aya said.

 

Carwyn grabbed his rucksack and bows and slung them over his shoulder. Kyo moved to help Carwyn as the ranger tried to shift his weight without aggravating his injury. Holding onto Kyo's arm, he counted down "One... two... three!" and slid off the pony, absorbing the landing on his left leg. "Thanks Kyo," Carwyn said gratefully as the swordsman threw the ranger's arm over his broad shoulders and helped him limp into the inn.

[Rexraptor2000]

Earlier Toa had seen practically everyone get in a group, and wished he could join them, but they were not going in the direction he was heading. He was heading for the library following a map he had bought earlier. Now, he was lost with a false map in a place that was too quiet for a cultural center.

 

Figures. Probably some bandits that are going to pop out at any moment or a rouge Hydormacer or- His thoughts were interrupted when a woman, probably around his age, walked out in front of him wearing, not so surprisingly, Hydromacer robes with a hood that concealed her face and asked "Are you lost?"

 

Toa wasn't sure how to react, but decided to reply anyway. "Yes, I am. Do you know the way to the-" He was cut off when he was forced to doge an ice spear thrown by her.

 

Okay, so much for that he thought to himself as he threw his own fireball in retaliation, with she dodged with lightning speed. She's fast

 

Then he felt his legs get colder and suddenly they were frozen in place. Then a spear came at him, but he was able to melt it. She was difficult to keep track of, and that was furthered when she landed a kick to the chest. He fell backwards, which was painful since his feet were frozen to the ground, and he felt the edge of an extremely cold ice blade at his neck. He saw the outline of her face this close, although it was difficult since it was dark out.

 

"All I was going to ask for were directions. While getting my butt handed to me is generally enjoyable, I don't think that was part of the point." Toa said cracking a smile, hoping to lower the chances of his decapitation.

 

She actually smiled at the pun for a split millisecond before going cold again and asking "What brings a Pyromacer to Hydromacer territory?"

 

"Hydromacer? This is Aeromacer territory on the Elemental map if you haven't noticed. North is Hydromacer territory."

 

"That's not the answer to my question." She said with venom in her voice, the blade getting into a more fatal position.

 

"Well, I'm here looking for spells and possibly a job. Happy?"

 

She just gave him a disbelieving look and said "You're coming with me."

 

"To the library?"

 

"To where I say you're going."

 

"Yup. You're defiantly a Hydromacer."

[JasraLantill]

Aya had known the grizzled innkeeper, Renn Loki, for years. She and her father had spent many a night in this place, either coming or going on their route.

 

“Hi, Renn,” she greeted him as he stood behind the bar.

 

Renn flashed her a gap-toothed smile. “Aya!” he greeted her. “Nice to see you again.” His grin faded. “Sorry to hear about your ‘ol man,” he said in a sombre tone. “We’ll all miss him.”

 

Aya nodded. “Me, too,” she said sadly.

 

“So, you needing a room?”

 

“Erm….” Aya mentally calculated what she would need. “Four, actually.”

 

“Four?!” Renn gave her a curious look.

 

“I’ve got friends outside,” she explained. “One wounded.”

 

Renn shook his head sadly. “Lot of trouble going on these days. Problem is, I’ve only got three rooms left, darlin’. But there’s more rooms available at the Wavering Wind across the street.”

 

Aya shook her head and sighed. “I don’t want to stay there. That’s Wolf’s territory,” she added, frowning slightly at the name of her father’s main competitor. Renn nodded in silent agreement. “Well, suppose three rooms’ll have to do,” Aya said to Renn. “Same rates as before?”

 

“For you?” Renn smiled gently at her. “Always.” He handed her the keys, but motioned her closer as she went to take them. “Erm… you don’t happen to have any of that ‘special’ cream that your father used to carry. You know the one that takes care of….” He shifted uncomfortably, flicking his eyes down towards his backside. “Those little problems,” he whispered.

 

Aya frowned with confusion for a second, then she brightened. “Oh…,” she said knowingly. “That cream. Yeah, I’ve got some.” She heard the door open behind her, and saw Carwyn limping supported by Kyo, while Akira held the door open for them. She patted the innkeeper’s hand. “Thanks. I’ll bring you the cream as soon as my friend is taken care of.”

 

She looked at the stairs leading upwards, then at the keys in her hands. “This way,” she said to Kyo. “Think a ground floor room is best for Carwyn at the moment.”

 

She led the way through the main room of the inn, and down the familiar corridor to the room that she and her father had normally occupied during their stays.

 

Aya turned up the wick on the oil lamp on the table by the window. The room was plain but adequate, and large enough to have a large double-sized feather bed and its own fireplace, with wood and kindling piled inside, ready to light.

 

She turned down the bed, and indicated with a nod for Kyo to help Carwyn to lie down on it. Then she handed Kyo the other two keys. “This one is for Takara and Katsuro when they arrive. The other is for you and Akira and Jonas… that is if you don’t mind sharing. Otherwise, there’s rooms available at the Wavering Wind across the street. It’s nice too, but… I can’t stay there.” She didn’t go into details why. “You two go and get settled. I’ll get Carwyn taken care of and I’ll meet you out in the main room. Tell Renn to get you a drink on my account,” she added. “He owes me one.” She grinned. “Or two.”

 

She turned to Carwyn, laying on the bed, then sighed. “Is it just me, or do you normally get yourself into this much trouble?” Without waiting for answer, she took the oil lamp over to the fire place, lit the fire, then set the lamp back down on the table. Then she pulled over a stool from by the fireplace over to the bed, and sat down next to him. She looked at Carwyn’s wounded leg, then at him, then swallowed hard.

 

“That wound will have to be cleaned,” she said, grimacing slightly. There was a water pitcher and a washing bowl on the table beside the bed, and she poured water into the bowl. She picked up the washing cloth--clean, white, and freshly bleached and put it in the water. "But..." She bit her lip an shifted uncomfortably. "You'll have to... erm...." She paused again, unsure how to continue. "Well, I can't clean it through your trousers," she said quickly as she felt her face begin to flush.

[Dark_Lady]

Hoshiko had dropped behind the others as they disembarked, and left with Ciaran down a different road. Finding a decent inn, the Wavering Wind, at least it looked decent anyway, she got a room for herself and had them take care of Ciaran. One thing about the job, she thought, it does pay well. Usually.

 

Leaving the place, she started wandering aimlessly around. Sure, it was getting dark outside, but that was really the best time to get to know a town. She heard a scuffle from one of the streets and decided to take a look. Slipping quietly through the shadows, she came up on the scene to see Toa lying on the ground, and a female Hydromancer standing above him.

 

"You're coming with me," said the Hydromancer.

 

"To the library?" Toa asked.

 

"To where I say you're going."

 

"Yup. You're defiantly a Hydromacer"

 

"So she is," Hoshiko remarked, stepping forward a little. Her eyes were glowing blue-white in the darkness, and she had a sparkling ball of electrical energy pulsing in her left hand. "So, you want to leave my friend alone, or do you feel like pushing your luck?"

[Rexraptor2000]

Toa glanced over at Hoshiko and a wide grin formed on his face. The Hydromacer press the icy sword closer into a fatal position on his neck and asked Hoshiko "Do you want to push yours?" Ice began to form at Hoshiko's feet and all along the street.

[Rogue Nine]

Carwyn saw Aya's face flush as she faced the embarrassing prospect of having to undress him. He felt his own face color up a bit as he tried to think of a way to let her tend to him without either of them dying of embarrassment. Then an idea hit him.

 

"Hey, do you know if anyone was able to pick my coat up?" he asked Aya.

 

The merchant woman furrowed her brow as she thought. "I did see it when I was coming to see how you were, but I didn't think to pick it up," she said, looking apologetic. "The next time I looked, it wasn't there. I asked Akira and Kyo if they'd seen it, but they both said they hadn't." She shook her head. "So I don't know where it is, Carwyn. I'm sorry."

 

The ranger sighed. "No, that's all right... maybe I can go back there later when I'm all patched up and look for it. It's a good coat too..." He suddenly remembered that the locket he carried was in it too. Drat, he thought. Now I'm definitely going to have to go back there and look for it. But first things first....

 

"Okay Aya, can you look away for a quick moment? This probably isn't going to be pretty," he cautioned the young merchant. She nodded and averted her gaze to the side. Carwyn sat up as best he could and pulled his tunic off carefully. Folding it neatly, he put it off to the side for the moment. Grimacing, he tugged at the knots holding the makeshift tourniquet in place around his leg and pulled it away slowly. It had staunched most of the bleeding, but the wound was starting to mottle up and was in definite need of cleaning. Carwyn gingerly pulled the right side of the waistband of his trousers down, exposing his hip and leg down to his buttock. The blade had cut a gash that ran slightly diagonal from the bottom of his right buttock to the front of his thigh. It was crusted with newly dried blood, but still oozing in places. Carwyn swallowed as he twisted his body to best present it to Aya while preserving what he could of his modesty. Grabbing his folded tunic, he positioned it strategically in his lap, hoping it would be enough.

 

Clearing his throat, he spoke to Aya again, a slight hitch in his voice. "All right, have at it, doc."

[Dark_Lady]

No, Hoshiko didn't mind pushing her own luck, but she didn't want anything to happen to Toa. Still, the situation wouldn't get any better if she just backed off. Raising her right hand palm towards the Hydromancer, she sent a blast of wind, attempting to knock her away from Toa.

 

"Why not?" The winds in the vicinity picked up, whipping through Hoshiko's hair and tossing it about her face.