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((Yes, ok, not the BEST of titles but still... sweatdrop Also, please point out any spelling errors/typos, my Word Processing software ain't exactly the best when it comes to spell checking, just like me))
"Ah, Lord Malcolm! Just the man I wanted to see!" The bald man shouted, flicking his moustache with one hand. "I've been needed to talk to you about this whole 'war' thing..."
Lord Malcolm turned slowly, using his right hand to push his glasses slightly further up his nose. "Ah, Lord Maxus, what can I do for you?" Lord Malcolm smiled, his young and soft face in stark comparison to the over-sized, wrinkled, and otherwise ugly face of Lord Maxus. Both men had elegant robes on, a sign of nobility, alongside the 'Lord' title.
Lord Malcolm had a small pair of glasses perched on his nose, deep green eyes, a disarming smile, and a voice, not too deep, not too light. Most women fell at his feet, a mix between his looks, his money, and the fact he was looking for a wife.
Lord Maxus, on the other hand, was a fat, old and rather horrible man. While he seemed kind, he was, in fact, rather cruel, his 'servants' feeling it the most. He was married, but that didn't stop him partaking in certain acts, that even he would be ashamed to admit.
Maxus twirled his greying moustache once again, before smiling. "I would be most happy to contribute funds to this... crusade of yours. After all, a holy artifact like the Staff of Mantryias cannot be left in the hands of... of... barbarians!"
Malcolm smiled. "Indeed, but this time, I shall wipe them out once and for all. No more fear."
Maxus grinned. "Ah yes, a most excellent cause.... Stelle, come here for a moment!" He shouted behind him, his voice ringing out into the giant hall, where all the lords of the land had gathered to talk about the state of the economy, how their subjects were doing, but mostly to get so drunk they wonder why the hell they were waking up in a stable.
Out of the crowd, a young girl walked quickly towards Maxus, a small book in her hands. She kept her head down, her bright green hair covering her face, and her rather small body made it easy to slip past the many, many drunk men and women. "My Lord..." Stelle still had her head down as she stopped, holding the book to her chest with both hands.
Malcolm raised an eyebrow. "She seems a little... young, Maxus."
"Ah ha ha, she's actually 16. she just looks young is all." Maxus smiled, looking towards Stelle. "Now then Stelle, note down that funds needed to be given to Lord Malcolm here..."
"Of course, your Lordship." Stelle opened the book, pulling a rather strange looking pen that was was resting on her ear, and starting writing, all the time her eyes on Malcolm. She wouldn't get another chance like this, she had to act now.
As the two lords continued to talk, Stelle placed the pen back on her ear, closed the book, then pulling something very small from her pocket.
"Lord Malcolm...." Stelle stepped forward, blushing slightly. "I... I'm sorry if this is out of place, but it is an honour to meet you..." She held out her right hand, a beautiful silver ring on her middle finger.
Maxus' eye widened, shocked at the forwardness of his servant, but Malcolm smiled. "Out of place? Of course not. It is my pleasure." He took Stelle's hand, before bending forward slightly and kissing it. He pulled back, standing straight and began talking to Maxus again, as Stelle disappeared into the crowd. She looked up, scanning the windows for that tell tale sign... and she found it. Almost running, she made her way to the window and stood with her back against the wall underneath it.
It was quite a bit off of the ground, at least 8 or 9 foot. Stelle was uneasy, the window was open, yet nothing was happening.
"Where are you...?"
Suddenly, there was a shout, and Stelle swore. It had happened faster than she had thought. "Lord Malcolm!? Lord Malcolm!? My god... he's dead!"
"Come on... come on..." Stelle licked her lips, she was starting to panic now.
Maxus burst from the crowd, a dagger in hand. "Stelle! You.... you killed Lord Malcolm."
Oh crap Stelle frowned. "Sir... whatever do you mean?"
"Don't lie girl! I know it was you that kil-" Maxus was cut off, a number of what appeared to be needles, now lodged in his head and throat. A rope fell from the window, causing Stelle to smile. Just like he had said, he was right on time.
She grabbed the rope, and was pulled from the floor, everyone becoming rather small. Then she felt an arm around her waist, before the silver roof of the hall, became the stars in the night sky, as she fell backwards, the wind lashing at her dress.
She smiled, as she felt the arm tighten, Stelle knew she was safe, nothing bad could happen. Suddenly, her direction changed and she was swinging away from the stone wall, out over the town.
As she flew over the house, the ground slowly coming closer, Stelle closed her eyes and fell asleep, safe in knowing that the man that was carrying her would keep her safe.
Stelle opened her eyes, yawning quietly and moving around slightly, trying to get comfy. Her head was against something warm, and rather soft, and she had something black covering her from the cold night air. She wrapped her arms around her 'pillow' and closed her eyes, mumbling something as she felt something metal touch her hair and rest against her head.
"You've had a hard day Stelle... enjoy your sleep." A man spoke, his hand, or at least Stelle thought it was hand, running through her hair. She tried to say something, but was too sleepy, instead just falling asleep again.
Stelle slowly opened her eyes, the sun very high in the sky. She rubbed her eyes, rolled onto her back, and smiled, as she saw the sleeping face of her mentor, friend and partner in crime, Kazunari, or just Kazu to her.
He wasn't the most handsome of men, but after almost 12 years as an assassin he didn't look that bad, not too many scars, but enough to make him stand out in bars and such. She couldn't see them just now, but his eyes were a deep blue, they reminded her of the first time she had seen the sea. He had shoulder length black hair, which he had been growing for a while now. He had his hood pulled up, it matched the colour of his hair. He wore a leather chest piece, leather gloves, with metal plates in the fingers and knuckles for added punching power and was know on occasion to wear a face mask as well. The only heavy armour he wore, which was that heavy anyway, was a set of light metal leggings, causing Stelle to wonder why what she had her head on was soft and slightly warm, not cold and hard. She placed a hand under her head, and found that she had a makeshift pillow, made of some kind of cloth.
Stelle smiled again, reaching up and touching Kazu's chin, causing him to mumble and slowly open his eyes. "Well, not much of an assassin, are you Kazu? I've been awake for ages and you didn't notice.
Kazu yawned. "So you say... maybe I have been awake." He smirked, taking one metal finger and prodding her forehead, making Stelle giggle. "And maybe I've been watching you this whole time."
Stelle reached up and poked his nose in return. "Maybe, but I doubt that you, Mr Fujiwara Kazunari, are that good!" She grinned, even though she knew that it wasn't his real name. He had even told her that he had picked it after a trip to a far away country. The name was strange, it had his 'family' name first, then his 'given' name second, that what he had told her. While there, he also had learned to use many exotic weapons, like his throwing needles, or 'senbon', as Stelle had been told by the man that makes them for Kazu. Hit the right spots, you can stun, without serious damage to a person, cause serious damage to limbs and muscles, and kill. If fact, Stelle had seen Kazu take down ten armoured Knights, with just 10 senbon. Not even steel stood a chance against well aimed strikes.
"So... we should get moving. Our employer will want to hear the news." Kazu yawned. He didn't want to move, but he didn't want to stay in the same spot for too long either.
Stelle nodded. "Yeah... we should get going." She sat up, running her hand through her hair. As Kazu went to stand, he froze, head turned to the right. Stelle looked at him, knowing not to talk. She had heard it too.
Voices.
Stelle couldn't tell if Kazu had stopped breathing or not, she had anyway. Her hand was on the hilt of her dagger, thankfully it was still attached to her belt, while Kazu had silently pulled a single senbon from... somewhere, Stelle couldn't tell, and his belt, along with all his tools, was sitting behind her.
Nothing happened, for what felt like hours, until the two assassins heard a shout. "Come on you slackers! Search the surrounding area. Remember, we're looking for a man in a black hood..." Kazu stiffened, rolling the senbon in his right hand. "And a green haired girl! Both are armed and dangerous, so don't hesitate to kill them!" Stelle knew that there was no way out of a fight, and Kazu must have thought the same, as he got onto his feet and stood up lightly, looking out of the ditch they were in. Stelle moved forward, slowly, and looked over the edge as well. She growled at what she saw.
Ten guards, with an armoured commander on a horse. All of the guards had pikes, horrible weapons. The guards held a pole, and on the end of it was a cross between an axe, and a lance. It had a crescent moon blade, with a barbed tip, both of them looking very nasty. The commander had a long sword and a shield, along with what looked like the armour she had seen knights wearing. As the guards spread out, in groups of two, they started to stab their pikes into bushes, trees, anywhere that a person could hide. Stelle cringed. She had been on the wrong end of a pike once before. Thankfully, it was a wooden one. And she as fighting Kazu.
It still hurt though, she couldn't move her left arm for a week. And now she was facing the real thing. She was scared, every muscle was tense, and a single bead of sweat ran down her face.
She jumped when something touched her hand, but relaxed when she saw it was just Kazu, a soft smile on his face. He had his belt back, and every trace of them being in the ditch was gone, apart from them actually being there, which could be a rather big problem.
Two guards walked directly towards them, eyes scanning everywhere. Kazu tugged Stelle's hand, and they both moved off the left, out of the ditch and into cover behind some trees. The twos guards reached the ditch, and started violently thrusting their pikes through the bushes. One of them hit something, pulled his pike out, and on the end, was a rabbit, pierced through the chest. "Dammit, now I've gotta clean this thing when I get back."
Stelle gripped her dagger even tighter, and Kazu pulled more senbon from his belt. He was holding ten, and Stelle nodded at him.
"Right, so when do we get to go home? There's nothing here!" One of the guards shouted, sighing and resting against his pike.
"We go home when you shut the fu-" A second guard started, before a needle in his throat shut him up. All of the guards jumped into action, but it was too little too late.
Within a matter of seconds, all but two guards were lying dead, or dying. The two that weren't dead couldn't move however, the senbons striking a critical part of their spines. They were paralysed from the waist down, never to walk again.
The commander roared in anger, holding his shield in front of him and making his horse charge toward Kazu.
But all Kazu did was smirk, as two throwing daggers shot out in front of the commander, with ropes attached to the end of them. The horse hit the rope and went flying forward, the commander hitting the ground with a very loud crack.
Stelle ran out of cover, her dagger in hand as she stopped next to Kazu. "So... we did it?"
Kazu sighed. "I think so..."
"Not yet kiddies..." The armoured form of the commander slowly pushed itself up, his head facing the complete wrong direction. "Hey... where are you guys?" The commander raised a hand and scratched his head, before realizing he had it on... backwards. "Oh... well, this is weird." He shrugged, grabbing his head with both hands and snapping it back around. "Ah, that's better. Now... where were we?" The commander laughed, picking up his sword. Now that they were closer, Stelle noticed that it wasn't a long sword, but a hand-and-a-half sword, or 'b*****d' sword. It was slightly shorter than a two-handed sword, making it a bit lighter as well, meaning you could swing it with one hand and still use a shield, but the handle was also big enough for a few fingers from a second hand as well, meaning you could swing it with more force, yet wasn't big enough for two hands.
The scary thing, however, was the fact that this armoured behemoth picked up and swung the sword like it was a dagger, where as most people have slight problems with holding such a heavy sword.
Kazu growled, his right hand going under his cape and pulling a short sword out. "Stelle... run. Now."
Stelle glance at Kazu. "What? I would never leave you Kazu!"
"That wasn't a request Stelle. I'm telling you to run... NOW!" Kazu roared, running forward and locking his curved short sword with the massive sword of the commander, a metallic clash echoing out.
Kazu was moving at an amazing pace, his short sword nothing but a blur, but the commander seemed to be taking no damage, or at least he didn't show any pain.
After a few minutes, the commander got bored and brought his sword down on Kazu, who just managed to block it, the force of the blow shattering his short sword and sending him flying. He grunted as he slammed into a tree, leaving a large crack in it.
The commander started to laugh. "You... are the great assassin I've heard about? I'm amazed you've survived this long..."
"Leave him alone!" Stelle shouted, wrapping her arms around the commander's neck from behind and driving her dagger up in-between the chest plate and the helmet, piercing his throat.
"Is that all you have... little girl?" The commander laughed, knocking Stelle off of his back, then grabbing her by the hair and lifted her off of the ground. "I hope you're ready to watch your girlfriend die..." He turned to Kazu. "Because no-one escapes from me."
"And no one beats me!" Kazu roared, holding his arms out to the side. "Now... you're about to see WHY they call me the best!" Everything seemed to darken, the colour just draining. Then, what seemed like lightning started to flicker around Kazu's body, and into the ground.
"What the hell..." The commander staggered back, dropping Stelle, who scurried away. She looked towards Kazu.
The lightning wasn't coming from him.
It was going into him.
"Now.... LIGHTNING SHOWER!" Kazu roared, bringing his hands together, before raising his right one into the air and slamming, palm first, into the ground.
There was a massive boom, much like thunder. A few seconds past, nothing happening.
Then, one after another, all in a line towards the commander, bolts of lightning struck the ground, leaving nothing but charred ground.
The commander screamed, the lightning hitting him. Then, bolt after bolt struck the same spot, constantly.
When the lightning stopped, there was nothing left of the commander, except his discarded shield, and a pile of ash. Colour seemed to return to the world, and Kazu was panting, a tiny bolt of lightning sometimes escaping his body. He lowered his head, slowly turning to Stelle.
"You..." Stelle held her hand to her mouth, eye wide in a mix of fear, and awe. "You're a mage?"
Kazu shook his head. "No... I can lightning, but I'm not a mage... I should have told you sooner..." He turned away, rubbing his eyes with his finger and thumb. "Im sorry Stelle."
Mages were despised by the world, their ability to manipulate nature, and un-natural powers to their own will was considered the greatest of crimes. Kazu was cursing himself for using it, but he had to save Stelle, he didn't have a choice.
"Stelle... I understand if you hate me... I just.... I couldn't let him hurt you."
Silence. Kazu decided it was best if he didn't stick around. "Look, Stelle... I... I'll just go..." He turned around slowly, pure sadness on his face. "I hate it that I can use this power... but... I didn't know what else to do. I just couldn't let him hurt you! I... I don't know what I would have done if he had hurt you... Stelle, I'm sorr-"
Kazu didn't get to finish, as Stelle had run at him, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her head into his chest.
"What have you go to be sorry about?" She looked up at him, a small smile on her face. "You saved me."
"So... you... don't hate me?"
"Of course not, silly Kazu!" She giggled, leaning up and kissing his cheek. "I just like you even more for it."
Stelle let Kazu go and turned to walk away, while Kazu just stood, dumbstruck, with his hand on his cheek.
He'd never been kissed before.
"Now come on, before more of those idiots show up!" Stelle turn to him, a grin on her face. "And you need to show me more of your magic when we get back to town!"
Kazu started to laugh, walking forward and nodding. "Alright Stelle... I will."
Stelle grinned, and wrapped her arms around Kazu's left arm as he passed her. "Home we go!"
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