It was good. This Rhus Lancia would fight. Rose's opinion of the man grew just a little for his bravery.

"Orders are orders. We must not leave the cart."

Since this was an ambush, it was not likely they would be engaged close up. Most of the enemies would have ranged weapons. Rose had no ranged weapons on her, and it seemed as though her partner didn't either.

"Enemies in the shadows. Watch out for bullets and arrows... the rest is up to our strength."

Rose whipped around to the other side of the cart, trusting Rhus to direct the cart from the front. He would know the city better than she, after all.

Rhus grunted gruffly. He didn’t like their position. Too exposed, and to be caught off guard defending a stupid little cart was a little over rated. Rhus looked back at the small girl, giving her a look. He shrugged and walked to the front of the cart, gently taking the reigns of the chesnut mare. “Ghit.” She whinnied, and started moving forwards. 

“You seem to be pretty smart. Got lots of tactics up in that head of yours, eh?” He waved the dagger still in his hands. He was about to tell her something about the broad headed bandits he’d encountered in this town, but an ear-wrenching scream pierced his head, making him flinch. The horses started whinnying even more, stopping straight in their tracks. He hoped it wasn’t a demon.

The otherworldly wail was the signal to start running. Rose did not know the origin of the sound, and it frightened her, but it would serve as a great distraction.

Rhus slapped a hand on the rear end of both horses, starting them onto a quick trot. It was a bit difficult to keep up, but he could manage. He kept an eye on the girl who also ran. They needed to catch up to Simeon, maybe offer him some assistance. Of course, their progress was quickly stunted. A whizzing noise erupted and he ducked behind the cart, wooden bolts flying towards their position. Another horrible scream, this one equally as horrifying, but came from the horse in front of him.

A bolt had pierced its neck, blood gushing out of the newly created hole as the horses stopped. It floundered about, eyes full of panic and quickly going out. He uttered a quick curse, thinking the death of such a beautiful horse a waste. He peered around the cart, spotting the glint of a metal firearm. “Rose, get down under the cart! I’ll handle the ruffians!”

He grabbed one of the potted jugs, three of the cowards approached them from the shadows. He threw the jug as one of them aimed to fire. It smashed, sending shards and water everywhere. The rifle let out a crack as it fired, however, its new target was directly above them. The wielder gasped and dropped the firearm, tearing a sharp looking longsword out of his sheath as the others did so as well. Seems they wanted a fair fight.

Rhus wasn’t going to decline their invitation.

Three men with swords closed in on the pair. Rose thought that it was good. Hopefully it meant that the shooters would stop firing from the sidelines for a bit. They had lost a horse, but if they could still keep the cart moving, it would be a successful mission.

[i]"The same as usual?"[/i] Her silent partner suggested.

"No choice. We must fight. Three opponents... one too many." Thoughts were rushing in her head rapidly. Louder than before, she called to Rhus. "You must kill one of them!"

[i]"Not showing much faith in your partner's abilities, are you?"[/i]

"...Only what needs to be done."

As Rose slowly circled around to where the men were closing in on them, she let her thoughts go blank, focusing on the gnawing, aching pain that was always present in her abdomen. She hopped up and down very slightly, flexing and stretching her muscles, before tightening her fists and rushing at one of the men.

She must have been faster than he expected, because he swung his sword down far too late, giving her access to his arm. With a sharp exhale, she targeted his sword arm mercilessly, grabbing his elbow and driving her thumb into the crook of his arm, where she knew an important blood vessel ran. Circulation was tied to the flow of chakra, so the major points of both usually coincided. And unfortunately for this man, she had a hold of him in the right spot. A flash of red light consumed her vision, though it would not be visible to anyone else, and she felt his energy rush into her body through her hand. [i]A successful hit, thankfully.[/i] She had not siphoned much, since she had used a point so far from his core, but it was enough to throw her opponent off guard for just a split second more, allowing Rose to land one more solid hit against his solar plexus. There was no better point than this, and as the light flashed in her eyes once more, she knew she had landed a great hit.

The man staggered back and fell to the ground. His body weight had changed, and his balance was affected as a result. Still, he must have been warned to expect magic, because he regained his composure as quick as a trained soldier, and once again had his sword pointed at her.

The second man had his sword out as well, and moved around to Rose's side to flank her. He was not aware of what happened to his comrade, but he would not be surprised in the same way. With a pang of regret for her impulsiveness, Rose realized she had lost track of the third man. If he was behind her, it would mean trouble... She would need to rely on Rhus, whom she had also lost track of.

~~

Ignoring his suggestions, Rose did the opposite of what he wanted. “Son of a…” No time to reprimand her for getting in his way. Two of the men seemed to veer towards the easier target, as Rose yelled out for him to at least kill one. He bit his lip. Why would she be giving him orders? The first man approached him, the one he had thrown the pot at. 

Rhus could see the small fragments of hardened clay sticking out of several spots on the man, and the fierce glare he was giving him. Good. He’d take advantage of the man's’ anger. 

Rhus stayed back, keeping a bit of distance between the two as they circled. The man suddenly started, running towards Rhus. A big mistake, the long sword swung down towards Rhus, but he sidestepped, the sword slicing through air and not flesh and bone. The man however noticed this and quickly recovered, swinging back up at Rhus, who brought up his dagger.

A flash of steel and a numbed arm gave Rhus an opportunity. He quickly swung the dagger inwards, keeping a good grip on the blade. It pierced the mans’ chain mail, cutting into the soldiers’ side fairly deep. The soldier gasped in pain and pulled back, cursing like a sailor as he recovered. Rhus ducked under a swing of the sword, his hair getting ruffled by the close proximity of air. He rushed forwards again, this time stabbing the soldier right in the heart, managing to pierce the cuirass covering his chest. He got his face close as he twisted the dagger, grinning slightly as he pulled out, dropping the body onto the ground. He grabbed the sword out of the tight death grip of the soldier and turned back to his comrade. 

She had both of them surrounding her, a flanking maneuver set up to overpower her. Rhus, being a gentleman, wouldn’t stand for such a tragesty. He swung the longword with a powerful overhead blow, but the soldier heard him approaching and blocked the swing easily. Rhus however had an off handed weapon, and stabbed the crook of the mans’ arm, severing the muscles of his sword hand. 

“Trying to gang up on a woman, aren’t you? Think again, devilish fiends!” 

Rhus beheaded the man, though it was clumsy and rough with the sword. He preferred daggers a helluva lot more than swords. With a thud, the head dropped onto the ground, rolling away. His comrade would be able to clean up the last one.

With a rough sound, Rose turned quickly to see the second man meet his violent end, leaving only the one that she had already siphoned energy from. 

[i]"More reliable than you thought, isn't he?"[/i]

"No... just more reliable than I needed." She had actually had high hopes, and was happy that Rhus was able to deliver on them. For a human, he really wasn't bad.

"We must hurry. We are expected."

Rather than wait to be attacked, she once again slid up to the man at top speed, slamming her now heavier weight into his gut. He reeled backwards, but was able to grab one of her arms as he fell, pulling her off balance. As they both veered to the side, the larger man recovered more quickly, and drove his sword towards her, still with a hold on her arm. He obviously knew what he was doing. The way he slashed left little room for her to use his momentum against him like she usually would.

[i]"This will not be pretty, but you must end it here."[/i]

"...I know." The course of battle was already plotted out inside her head.

The sword that threatened to pierce her chest slid just short of its target. Rose had been able to writhe just enough that it glanced off of her ribcage, and she immediately snapped her free arm down firmly against her chest, holding the sword in place against her body. She twisted, and felt the edge dig into her side, but this action threw her attacker just off balance enough that she could wrench her other arm free. He would not think to let go of his sword, so now it was Rose that had a hold on him. Just as she wanted.

Focusing her energy away from her wound and into her fist, she landed three punches against his chest at full strength, each one taking away a portion of his mass, and making each subsequent punch stronger than the last. Finally, she let go of the sword and planted a roundhouse kick directly against his gut, sending him sprawling backwards across the ground. He would not be getting up. Only then did she allow other thoughts to flow into her brain. Manos' influence ended and her own thoughts darted quickly around in her head.

"Rhus Lancia! Move now! Drive! Pull! Anything!" She rushed to where she was before, behind the cart. Her new mass added greatly to the amount of force she could use to push things, and hopefully her efforts would help balance out the carriage which now had lost its horse.

Rhus watched as the girl apprehended the final combatant. Rather odd way of fighting, just using her fists. Something seemed rather odd. Magic? The man seemed to grow weaker and… smaller, maybe? He couldn’t tell, but ignored it. 

Still, she wasn’t too much of a great fighter. She took a deep cut to deliver the final blow. It wasn’t wise to throw your dice onto a move like that. Rhus stammered for a moment as she finished the man off, eager to get moving. He rolled his eyes and did so. After a few moments, he retied the ropes the lone horse left to the cart, but using up precious time. 

He ducked as the harsh retort of rifles sounded. He slapped the horse again, getting it to go forwards. Thankfully, all of the shots went wide, the balls fired out of the miniature cannons bouncing off the cobbled streets underneath his feet. The cart urged forwards, slower now that there was only one horse pulling, but it seemed the girl was extremely helpful. She seemed much heavier, by her foot falls, and the way she had a some control over the carriage.

Rhus managed to wisen up, and grabbed one of the rifles before they were too far away. Still, he had no idea where the shots were coming from. The roof tops?

A shadow moved across one of them. Yes, they were there.

Of course. It was still a long way to the pier.