Saiyan

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Amidst the volume of noise, he thought he heard his name. It was so hard now he was mid-fall with the wind in his ears. However, what was easy to notice, was the sudden lightness of his body. So accustomed to managing his own weight in the air, it was unmistakable.

A spell. It had to be.

Lucas landed on the back of the griffin with both a comfortable accuracy and a comfortable impact. The heavier Sir Fleuri landed a split-second earlier. The two had earned a moment of surprise in their aerial ambush - a moment to steady themselves for a wild ride ahead. The griffin began bucking and thrashing around, trying to dislodge them. It's massive wings flapping might've been doing more to thwart Fleuri, who was in front, but for Lucas they were only a huge distraction. With his excellent balance, Lucas adjusted his weight this way and that, riding the storm, until it finally calmed.

The calming was so instantaneous, there must've been a reason. But Lucas didn't think on it overlong. He only sensed his chance to rise up onto his feet and started gathering up the length of the chain, until it was only just long enough to go around the griffin's mid-section. Then it started moving again, just as Lucas began to start swinging, whirling the chain above his head, like a lasso. Whirling such a steel chain was hardly easy, and it's first rotation was close whacking Fleuri in the head. Fortunately it was high enough to clear him.

One step, the griffin took. Lucas maintained his balance, looked over the shoulders of Fleuri at the head of the griffin, and followed it's focus to it's new target. It was Sir Lein - the Hundi archer was not the most difficult to recognize. The chain picked up speed on as it progressed it's 2nd rotation.

Two steps, the griffin took. Wobbling but righting himself again, Lucas realised he had to act quickly. With a roar, he lashed the chain down. It whipped down... around, under... and back up...

The griffin leapt into the air just as Lucas caught the chain's end. Had he not caught it, he would've been thrown off the griffin's back, but now he had makeshift reigns to hold him fast in position as the griffin sailed up into the air. For a brief moment, Lucas had a view of the slowly burning campsite. The height the griffin had leapt, lowered the volume of battle just a little. At the zenith of the beast's arc, Lucas used the drop in g-force to snap a set of manacles from the end of the chain onto the length of it. As he let go of the end, the chain pulled tight to create a noose, tight around the griffin's body, the pulling force keeping it firmly locked in place.

Here we go, was the single thought as the griffin began to fall just as quickly as it had risen.

With just one single, steel strand to hold him in place, Lucas knew whatever happened, the landing was going to be rough. One hand held the chain fast as he plummeted to the ground, feet firmly on the broad back of the beast. Knees bent slightly, muscles coiled like springs, ready for the perfect moment to explode. His free hand threw off the bandoleer of steel around him, and just as the mythical beast hit the ground, Lucas dove off to it's left side.

His grip loosened, the chain ran through his hand fast and furiously. He flew off the griffin's back and hit the ground - feet first taking a painful portion of the impact - rolling several yards across the dirt before crashing into the steel cages nearby. "Ugh!!!"

He didn't know what hurt more. Was it his shoulders? His back? His legs? All muscles and bones felt like they were pounding with pain. His skull felt like a church bell that'd just been rang. All he could he hear was a constant single-tone buzz through his head. All he could feel was a broken body's agony.

Lucas lay hurt, a little away from the griffin, Fleuri and Lein. Out of sight and out of mind, hopefully. Fortunately, the chain had lashed through the air, the right way to land near him. He reached out groggily toward it - eyes rolling to the back of his head a moment - but it wasn't close enough. He'd have to move. But he couldn't.

Move!

One limb willed to movement at a time, Lucas got on all fours. He was not so out of it that he didn't know what he'd crashed against. Steel. Heavy steel. There was a perfect tether point right behind him. He crawled to the chain, his shoulder in so much pain that he face-planted into the dirt as he grabbed the chain. Another burst of willpower and he pressed up from the floor, then struggled to his feet, almost keeling over as he swayed back towards the steel cages with his griffin leash. In agonizing wrenching motions, he pulled the chain through the steel bars.

Wrap. Pull. Wrap. Under. Over...

He tied the special knot he'd been taught for when it was his turn to help put up the circus tent pavilion. He'd done it a fair few times. Enough that he could manage it under such duress. Reon, it wasn't even six months ago that he'd last done it. If the griffin had stayed close enough, for long enough, he would manage it.

As his vision slowly sharpened and the loud buzz in his head quietened, his surroundings became clear.

"Help us!"

"You there, let us out of here!"

Lucas blinked a few times, trying to fully regain himself, and saw that the cages he'd tethered the griffin to, were full of prisoners. He stumbled backwards a couple of steps to view them - their pleading eyes, their crying voices. Then the awareness of the griffin behind him became his reality. The rising temperature, the burning tents in the background. More fire than before. And more still to come, no doubt. He had to get them out of here. There was no waiting for the battle to be over. It had to be now!

He stumbled over to the cage doors, saw the padlocks, then looked around for something heavy. To add to his luck, there were corpses nearby - dead bandits with arrows sticking out of their faces (compliments of Cecil and Lein, no doubt.) Lucas raked up a dead bandit's longsword, went over to his chain knot, then planted the sword right through it, to create a final lock that would keep the griffin here, in place, to be killed. He took up the next dead bandit's weapon next: A battle axe.

Lucas brought the two handed axe around, up and down on the first padlock. And then again. The padlock smashed apart. He moved to the next cage door and attacked it's lock... "Argh!!!" ...until he'd managed to smash that too. The slide-bolt doors were opened and all of the prisoners came out, some rushing, some tottering, others limping.

"Stay together!" Lucas shouted to be heard above the din. He did his best to corral them as he looked about for the safest passage through the camp - through the fiery battlefield. They were practically in the centre of it all, and there was no shorter route to choose. East was certainly out of the question, for the giant tree trunk, ever burned and ever barred the way. "This way!"

And so Lucas, with all the prisoners from the cages, tried to move west-ish, through the burning camp and to freedom. The young knight put himself between the prisoners and the griffin. The beast was busy dealing with Sir Fleuri and Sir Lein, but Lucas would rather be the first to take a hit, if the creature managed to turn about and see them.

The path was not clear, but it was there. Past the griffin, over the corpse-strewn, ember-strewn ground, past Paladin Tyaethe's team and out to safety.............

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

"Watch your damned flanks, boy!" "!!!" "Next time, I'll let you die if the griffin doesn't have you first!"

Lucas had turned about to see Renar fighting one of Jeremiah's elites. The reprimands and the view, together, told the story that he'd just had his ass saved. Again. In the back of his mind, he took on board the criticism and warning, but at the forefront of his thoughts was helping the orc-slayer in return. His legs charged back along the route of the trailing steel chain, it's clinking sounds minute amidst the chaotic cacophony of violence, until he was past the steel's end and the snake-like trail began to take form once more. It wasn't that Renar needed the help, exactly. The man was as accomplished as they come - beyond these lawless rebels, for sure. But it was something to have his comrade quickly back in the battle elsewhere, wherever he might be needed (who knew in this chaos, not Lucas.) And then there was the feeling that he absolutely had to at least attempt to repay the favour. First Fleuri had saved his life in the previous skirmish, and now Ren-

Speaking of Fleuri...

When the darkness of night contrasts with raging fires of hearths, trees and magic, a person's visual perception may not be at it's highest. This goes especially for young men who lack experience of the madness of battle, on top of all that. And thus, fleet-footed knights dressed head to toe in black armour, tend to come seemingly out of nowhere.

Lucas skidded to a halt - sword still raised and poised to strike - his heart jolting in his surprise as the massive sword of Sir Fleuri swept into vision (followed by the knight himself) and damn-near cut the elite bandit's legs off. "Reon," Lucas swore under his breath, feeling like if he'd not been slowed down by the weight of the chain, he might've lost his own bloody leg!

"Judging by that chain, I take it you have a plan to deal with the griffin."

"I... well..." Lucas turned briefly back to toward the position of the griffin. It was still engaged with Serenity. Then his eyes went to the tower, before his attention was brought back to Sir Fleuri, who's tone and demeanour suggested that he didn't have time for the stuttering young knight. And who could blame him.

"I have an plan of my own. If I can get on its back and cover its eyes, that ought to greatly hinder its ability to fight or fly."

"Yes," was the response of approval. With the watchtower in mind, his own mental cogs were turning. Pity that they were the cogs of an inexperienced maniac. "Yes. And I can lash this chain around it's body so we might tether it the ground and prevent it's escape." He looked about Fleuri's person to see the knight had nothing yet to cover it's eyes with. "I'll get into position, to be ready to mount it, when you are. The watchtower," he said, pointing behind himself. "I'll drop from there. As soon as you make your move, I'll make mine. Hopefully we should ambush it in unison."

He forgot to even wait for an affirmative, nor assuring the knight that he was quite capable of sticking such a landing without hurting him. In his excitement, he just rushed off, chain trailing behind him.

The heat seemed to intensify as Lucas approached his target. Perhaps it was Katerina's spells magical residue. Maybe running with the heavy chain was just taking it's toll. Either way, the boy was sweating. He ran through a scorched battlefield, avoiding the many pocket's of fighting. It seemed that the Iron Rose knights were winning the overall battle. Still no sign of Captain Fanilly. Smoke plumed and tiny embers danced through the air. Bloody but not beaten, Lucas ran on.

He gave the griffin a decently wide berth as he closed in on the adjacent watchtower. Within sight of the ladder, he was suddenly jerked to a complete halt by the chain. He fell over, then felt the chain being pulled on. Looking back, he saw a half dead bandit staring at him, helmetless, burns and boils covering every inch of his face. A survivor from the destructive magic earlier. The sorry state of a man had managed to grasp the trailing chain and tried to use it to pull himself free of some burned and collapsed supply crates. Lucas was in a rush, he didn't know how long he'd have before Fleuri was ready to go, so he scrambled to his feet, and wrenched the chain from the dying man's grasp. Once it was free and clear, he hit the ladder and started climbing.

He heard the tower guard, shouting his head off, well before he'd gotten to the top. The bandit was trying to call reinforcements to the relevant quarters of the field, while firing a few crossbow bolts off too. In his loudness, he failed to hear his doom rising up behind him. He only knew it had come when a blade burst from his chest.

Lucas surveyed the battlefield, not daring to spare a moment to look over the felled tree and search out Captain Fanilly and her team. He could only hope that they were doing okay. He didn't want to miss his queue on the plan, he'd never forgive himself if his failure to live up to his half, here, got a better knight killed. The griffin was right below him, but the black-armoured knight was much more difficult to track down. It took some time but when Fleuri became visible, it seemed he was ready to go. Lucas carefully lowered the end of the chain down the side of the tower, then climbed over the edge and attempted to climb down the side, as slowly as required to stop the chain from making noise. Once he was as low to the griffin as possible, he hung there, easily, from one hand, feet planted against the tower supports, as if he was simply stuck to the side of the thing. He would attempt to spring from the tower and land on the griffin, right beside Fleuri, as the older knight mounted. A more-than risky manoeuvre but he'd done similar things with horses, back in his circus days, before he was a full-time main eventer. It wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility, even if the circumstances (and the bloody beast in question!) were different.

He was primed, waiting for Sir Fleuri to make his move.

And when he did, Lucas let go and swooped down on the griffin, as if giving it a taste of it's own medicine.

The firelight flashed across the face of the young knight, as he fell through the air, to light up wide eyes and a teethy open-mouth grin.

The Second Falling of the Big Brother Government - (A Tale by KrystalKleo & Saiyan)

Isaac jolted awake, looking up at the sun. It was pretty high in the sky, and a little more west than he would've liked. "Shit, what time is it?" he asked himself as he twisted his wristwatch back the correct way around and read it. "Shit."

He'd meant to nap for an hour or two of the morning, just to get his head right. It had been a long and tiring night. Unfortunately the alarm clock on his watch hadn't been loud enough, and somehow his instincts had told him that he'd been asleep too long.

His instincts were right. It was 3pm.

He climbed down the tower of the broken bridge, where he'd decided to take his nap, jumping down the last 12 feet and landing cleanly. He stretched, feeling a little refreshed and started heading in the direction of Grasscroft.

***

Outside the town, there were a few bodies - a merchant and his bodyguards, a town shopkeeper and the gate guards. Isaac asked the guards about Zara, but they told him that they hadn't seen anyone come in as they'd just got on their shift. He'd have to inquire at the barracks if he needed more information. Inside the town, he headed to the barracks, but ended up passing by the gun store to grab some ammunition.

"50 caliber rounds ain't cheap, young fella," the shopkeep said, eyeing Isaac suspiciously. "You got the caps?"

Isaac was scanning the shelves behind the man, looking at the guns on display. He didn't look at the old man, but he smiled. "Probably not," was his reply. "How much for two cartons...? and that .38 snub nose, right there?"

The old man turned around to spy his product, then turned back to look at Isaac, a little confused. "Well, if you ain't got the caps, what's the point of all this? I ain't taking scrap or goods for trade, right now. Caps only."

Isaac pulled out a fat roll of pre-war money, held it up next to his smiling face. The shopkeeper's eyes lit up, which made Isaac smile turn into a full, teethy grin. "Two cartons of 50 cal. And the 38."

Isaac left the store with replenished ammo for his gun, aswell as his new .38 pistol complete with its own ammo and holster. He;d put it all in his rucksack, for now. If he found Zara, then it would be better if she had a gun on her, but even if he couldn't find her, having a backup weapon was always nice. Against Tasha and her crew, he ended the chase low on ammo. If things had gone another way and he'd ran empty, things could've got very ugly.

At the barracks, a man not much older than Isaac himself, named Paul, told him that a girl had come through just this morning. Apparently she'd gotten some work at a local tavern. When Isaac asked for a description and got 'skinny, brown hair, green eyes,' Isaac was overjoyed, thanked Paul for his time and headed to The Three Legged Dog.

Pushing through the batwing doors, Isaac strolled into the tavern...

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

When The Flower of the North appeared, Lucas was filled with even more confidence. He was now looking at two of the most skilled knights the Iron Roses had to offer, and the young lad - even with his average abilities - was ready to prove himself alongside them. Knight-Captain Fanilly or Paladin Tyaethe might even thank him for his impetuous adherence to their commands. Such desires burned like embers within him, even in the chaotic intensity of the action.

"I say we do as much damage as possible before he appears," Fleuri interjected. "If you need someone to cover you on your way to to cage, Lucas, I'm with you."

"Then let's do this," the junior knight replied, a cheeky one-sided grin on his face.

And with that, he moved.

It was strange a thing: Fear was completely absent. Fear of death, at least. Fear of failure, perhaps. He wanted so badly to grasp this opportunity life had presented him. To make his parents proud, if they were watching over him. But even that fear - fear of failure - was barely present. He simply wanted to be successful. Wanted it more than anything. But he didn't worry about failure. He didn't worry that everyone around him, friend and foe alike, was a superior combatant. He didn't worry about anything. He'd been that way his whole life. It was this strange quirk that allowed him to be so successful so quickly as a trapeze artist. To fly through the air at dizzying heights, swinging from one trapeze bar into the grasp of a fellow artist... fear was an obstacle that most human beings would have to conquer in order to execute. Usually by extensive practice over safety nets. But fear was never something Lucas had to conquer. And here, in the midst of battle, it was the same. The righteousness, the prospect of glory, the ideals that the Order of the Iron Rose stood for... it was these things that filled his mind and glowed under his battle-rage of nerves and emotion.

Lucas swayed left to slip a swordsman's attack, then swiped at the back of his knees as the bandit went past him into the capable attack range of Sir Fleuri's greatsword.

The cage was in sight, but Lucas' vision was soon blocked by more bandits advancing on them. "Come and pay the price for your crimes!" Lucas' advance did not falter. He didn't care about his mortality and thus felt invincible. He was a sword of justice. He was not a boy but the law itself. Righteous indignation and conviction in human form.

In the loudness of shouting, screaming and steel clashing with steel, it was almost too difficult to hear the charging footsteps of a flanking bandit. Lucas looked right, just in time to throw up a parry and sidestep. It was now at least a quartet of bandits on the three knights, Lucas, Fleuri and Renar. Lucas struggled with one, but with enough space on the battlefield to move around, he managed to draw his opponent into overreaching and countered with a savage charge, running his sword right through the bandits neck and following through until he'd run the bandit into the ground.

They were close, but then...

The dead tree at one side of the camp was suddenly engulfed in roaring flames... "By Reon." ...before it tilted, looming, creaking and finally plummeting to the ground. Its immense trunk slammed down across the camp's center, cutting the battlefield in two. The reverberating blast on impact forced Lucas to turn away from the heat and pressure - his free arm up and covering his head.

Captain Fanilly, was his first thought as everyone recovered from the impact. He was sure her team had come from the east side, across the camp where the flaming, fallen tree trunk now barred. The flames distorted all vision. Lucas didn't have time to look for a way around when the cage finally broke open and out emerged a beast that Lucas had only read about in books. But he knew it as soon as he saw it. That massive eagle-like head was unmistakable. It spread it's wings majestically and some bandits were knocked away, but Lucas' focus was not on the bandits, but the beautiful, mythical creature in his sights.

"Wow," he whispered, right before it shrieked so loudly, it drowned out even the din of battle.

And then he was back in reality, the sequence of events from tree falling to beast unveiling lasting mere moments. So this was the trump card of King Jeremiah. A griffin. How in the world could they deal with that!? The felled tree must have been part of the bandits' plan too. An elaborate trap was expected, but it's execution was successful and now the Knight-Captain was nowhere to be seen.

And to add to the difficulty, an altogether different squad of bandits set upon Paladin Tyaethe's team. No mere brigands but finely armoured warriors - the difference measurable, even by sight. And Lucas would quickly find out that they were far superior in skill too.

A halberdier engaged him. Lucas backpedalled as he parried away the strikes, then tried to advance and strike back, but couldn't get close. The halberdier countered easily, and Lucas might've been dealt a mortal blow had he not disengaged with quickness. And yet he didn't get away without feeling the sharp slice of metal cut through cuirass and graze his skin. "Ha! An amateur," the rebel realised. "You're in trouble boy. I'm gonna gut you like a fish." Lucas was outclassed. He did his best to fend off blows but his armour kept getting nicked and his body taking lacerations. It was only credit to his agility that he wasn't yet bleeding to death.

"Ha!" The rebel thrust his blade to sever the boy's leg and cut out all the dancing, but Lucas jumped (an awful habit) one foot gently but firmly pushing off the end of the halberd, propelling him toward his opponent, inside his guard!

"Arrgh!"

His progress was stopped easily by a quick push-kick to the chest. The mid-air collision with a steel toe-capped boot knocked the wind out of Lucas and he was sent tumbling and crumbling to the ground. He'd lost his bearings. He didn't know where his allies were, at this point. All he knew was that the halberdier was walking up to finish him off and the young knight was in arms reach of long, heavy steel chain with manacle attachments. His enemy got within reach and Lucas let go of his sword to grasp the chain in his two hands, got to his knees and spun with all his might.

"Arrgh!"

The chain: Long enough to negate the halberdiers reach advantage. Heavy enough to do some damage - whipped around with force and Jeremiah's elite warrior - thinking his victory was assured - turned his face just in time to get slapped with the force of a battering ram across his jaw. The halberdier spun 180 as he fell to the ground, his finely crafted helmet just-about managing to allow him his consciousness. His jaw was broken, his disposition groggy and furious and he tried shakily to get up, much like a downed pugilist. Lucas, wide eyed, was surprised his resourcefulness had turned out so well, but he quickly snapped out of it, grabbed his sword and went to take advantage.

The sword of the Storm pierced the back of the halberdier's neck. The superior fighter's life ended for naught more than overconfidence. Lucas drove it downward, then poured his weight on top to drive him further into the ground. The young knight ignored his lacerations, his bloody nose, his maybe-broken ribs. But for a second he caught his breath, looked up and saw Griffin engaged with Serenity. The way it could just fly around whenever it suited itself, had to be negated. Lucas looked back at the chain on the floor.

Without even knowing what his plan was, he hauled up the chain and threw it over his shoulder, then wrapped it like bandoleer around his chest and threw it once more over the shoulder. And then he ran towards the biggest threat on the battlefield without a clue of what he was doing............

Heir to the Maou

Dante's eyebrow quirked, one eye squinting as he mentally fought off the whispers. The air felt ominous and he was concerned about what would happen next. When Talia went past him and closer to the light, the level of concern rose. The whispers grew, feeling like they were all around them, so much so that Dante looked around around with suspicion. Then Talia lifted a hand to the light.

"Talia, wait!" he called urgently.

But she'd already done it. The light practically exploded, prompting Dante to burst forward, diving in front of Talia and into a fighting stance. He wasn't sure what use fists would be against this thing, but he wasn't willing to let his friend be hurt without going down testing the prospect first. Right after Dante's rapid reactions, Gunthar jumped in front of him, ready to protect both of them. The presence of the big ogre gave Dante confidence and he gritted his teeth, sidestepping to get a better view, his hands up ready to fight.

“Kalinia!”

The gale of energy was intense, the whispers loud and getting louder still. Dante didn't falter, his knuckles white on his fists. But his eyes were almost closed from the blinding light. His muscles were tense, coiled like springs, ready to explode him into action, the moment he saw a threat. But what he finally saw was not a threat. It was another demon. A female - a satir like his friend. He wanted to lower his guard but for the glowing weapons in the unidentified demon's hands. Her eyes locked onto Talia behind them and the glow left her axes as she stepped forward.

"Stay back!" Dante commanded, ready to strike her.

“Kali! Good, you’re safe. We need… to… get… …”

Dante was left as speechless as Gunthar, unable to react quick enough when the stranger lost consciousness and fell to the ground - he only managed a step. What the hell was going on? It seemed Talia was just as flabbergasted as him, Dante turning about to look at her shocked face when she finally spoke. Gunthar went over and hauled the stranger into his arms and brought her over.

"Take care."

Dante suddenly burst into a chuckle. "Lilith, Gunther, don't you just have the most interesting job," he joked, running a hand through his hair. "This an everyday thing for you, big guy? Then Dante said to Talia. "I think she thought she knew you. What do you make of that?"

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

When Knight-Captain Fanilly ordered everyone into three groups, Lucas Storm did what he usually did these last few months... try to see what Sir Gerard was doing. As the young man looked about for his hero, knights crissing and crossing his gaze, he finally put eyes on Gerard who was lining up with the Captain herself. Heading that way, a turn of the shoulder here, a gentle push there, he suddenly found himself in close proximity to Paladin Tyaethe. In fact, he'd stumbled right in front of her, and whether she was looking directly at him or not, he didn't want to chance disrespecting her. He had already heard a few grumblings from other knights who questioned his presence in the Order of the Iron Roses. If he angered any of the senior knights and was kicked out, he would have nowhere to go. His boyhood fantasy (the fantasy of most-all boys who'd read books or been told stories) that'd now turned into an actually achievable goal within the blink of an eye, would turn to dust. And he would be on the streets with no family or purpose. And so he quarter-turned towards her, using the exposed tunic on his bicep to wipe the worst of the blood from his face before standing to attention.

The orders were clear and concise, (Lucas repeated them a few times to himself to burn them into his mind,) but it was hard not to be distracted by the Paladin who was giving them. There was something very different about looking into the eyes of a vampire, Lucas couldn't place it. His mind flashed him a wild image of his parents as zombies when he considered if it was because he was looking at what was essentially a dead girl. Or maybe it was the idea that his commanding officer had witnessed more than two centuries of time. He'd never had much interaction with Tyaethe and her demeanour didn't exactly invite random questions, but by Reon did he have a list for her.

And that to add to that long list of inquries, the Paladin - just moments before it was time to advance into camp - transformed into a full grown person dressed head to toe in the finest armour.

"Fucking blimey," was the breathless reaction of the young man. Lucas, in spite of being raised around some of the foulest mouthed circus folk, had never actually cursed so hard in his life. But then, he'd never actually taken a life ere tonight either. Yes, there were plenty of 'firsts' for the boy this night. He only hoped he didn't have his first death too.

Just as he'd imagined earlier; the fort would indeed be a significantly harder beast to contend with, in comparison to the skirmish with ambushers. Under command of Paladin Tyaethe, the group charged the patchwork palisade walls and a mass of glinting metal was right there to meet them. That same rush of emotion accosted him as noise level began to rise. He roared alongside his comrades as they neared, and instead of letting the rushing river of nerves and emotion take him away, he stood in the riverbed, feet planted, and let those currents rise around him into a spinning helix of power that reached the clouds. Yes it would be bloody! Yes it would be downright savage! But such was the retribution that these lawless, dishonourable vagabonds deserved!

"JUSTIIIICE!"

As the line crashed against the defenders, Lucas whacked away a spear thrusting towards him, spinning within his enemy's guard and two-hand crashing his blade where neck meets shoulder. He withdrew immediately to fend off other threats, taking two steps back as he did, then closed the space vehemently when the enemy weapons drew back for another strike. His poorly placed strikes did nought but glance off sturdy armour but he stayed determined as he backpedalled to block and parry more blows. An unidentified knight next to him took advantage of the bandit in front of Lucas, smashing his huge mace into the bandits head and crushing his helmet along with half of his skull. Lucas pressed forward again in the rhythmic back-n-forth waves of the fight, copying his comrade and taking advantage of the bandit in front of him, stabbing the waist and turning the momentum of pulling out into an overhand strike to the neck, then quickly moving on from the payback to engage another.

With so many capable knights around him, Lucas was not in any danger of being overwhelmed. His comrades more than held their own, making the young man's life much easier. In fact, the man to his right was none other than Sir Renar - easily recognisable with the distinct fur mantle he wore on top of his armour - was making mince meat of the enemy. Perhaps it was the attention (and fear) the older knight was garnering from the bandits that was giving Lucas the easy looks he was getting. Another bandit fell to the sword of the Storm.

In his short time with the Order, Lucas had gotten the impression that Renar didn't like him. It wasn't anything overt, just a feeling. But right now, as comrades in arms, in the heat of battle, he didn't let that stop him from replying to the man's observation.

"It's gotta be another trap," Lucas answered, a quick pause as his eyes darted left and right to decide his next move. That's when he saw a little ways down the line, the shining knight that was Paladin Tyaethe causing absolute chaos, a teethy grin spread across his face. "He better do something soon, or they be no anvil left to smash his hammer against." A bandit came at him and he sidestepped the attack and hacked at his enemy's knee, before spinning into a slash that wasn't strong enough to take the head clean off, but killed his adversary all the same. "Carve a path to the cage?" he offered to Sir Renar. He wouldn't be confident enough to do it alone, but having the man who'd famously killed an orc warlord at his side, in addition to his raging adrenaline, would be another matter entirely.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

As if it wasn't embarrassing enough that Lucas had briefly found himself appraising the physical appearance of his comrade, whilst on the battlefield of all places, Cecilia made it ten times worse by calling him out.

"!"

How on earth she'd noticed his inappropriacy in the darkened forest was beyond him, but if what before was a blush, then what was now was a face as red as a tomato. It was a good job he was caked in drying blood, not that that made the situation any less embarrassing for the young knight. Elite scouts indeed, he thought exasperatedly. He almost missed the information the bandit had spilled.

"...there's palisades set up around the camp, but it's not a complete wall... a watch tower, too... hehe... I've never seen anyone as beautiful as you, y'know..."

The pre-death flirtations along with Sir Gerard's quip at Dame Morianne just made things worse and Lucas couldn't have been more happy when Paladin Tyaethe ordered him to join in gathering the bodies.

"Err, at once, Paladin Tyaethe," was the response, and he quickly wiped his sword clean on the tattered threads of a bandit corpse, then sheathed it before getting to work.

Dead weight was ridiculously heavy, and Lucas found himself struggling with his orders. The smell was back in the forefront of his mind too. He tried and failed his first approach before finding some success by sitting the corpses up, before wrapping his arms around the torsos and dragging from there. It was slightly disheartening to see a little girl making light work of it all, even if that little girl was in fact a centuries-old veteran warrior with likely double the strength of even Sir Fionn MacKerracher. As he hauled his second body onto the pile, he glanced at Sir Gerard, who was casually getting on with his job, as if piling up firewood on a quaint evening. He took no note of his talking with Sir Renard, only wondering that this was the life of a hero knight. It was all such a rude awakening.

He leaned over to get a good grip over another dead bandit, trying his best to ignore the corpse's stomach was falling out of it's bloody stomach.

And the night was young - there was plenty more to do. Plenty more killing. Plenty more corpses to pile up. This was a short battle, he knew that much. Not enough of a fight for such a large regiment of knights. The bandit camp would likely be a much more taxing affair. This was simply a warm up. Lucas steeled himself, gritting his teeth and forcing a burst of willpower from within. He would do what was asked of him. He had to. He had to live on, not just for himself but for his parents, for the rest of the people he once called family. And here was an opportunity to be a hero of the people - a sword of justice for the crown. Here, tonight, was the possibility of rescuing innocents from captivity - to be like Sir Gerard himself. He just had to keep his chin up, his jaw clenched and kill the criminals who opposed honour and righteousness. And of course... Follow orders. And don't die.

And so he followed his orders, ever-wary of vomiting and embarrassing himself further. He found his way over to Sir Fleuri and reached for a dead body near him.

"Sir Fleuri, you have my apologies," he started, wanting to be quiet enough that no one else would hear, but needing to be clear enough that the older knight would hear the sincerity of his words. "I don't know what came over me, rushing out from the flank like that, but I will do better in the future. Thank you for pulling me out of that mess."

The Second Falling of the Big Brother Government - (A Tale by KrystalKleo & Saiyan)

"Up you get, sleepy head," Pete said, gentle but firm. He took a step back waited for her to rise. "I've found you some work at the local tavern, The Three Legged Dog. The owner, Pinocchio, is a nice enough guy. I'm sure he won't work you too hard. There's a washroom through that door there." He pointed at the bathroom. "Get yourself cleaned up, I'll be waiting outside."

The veteran town guard watched the roads, down the hill, below. Grasscroft was steady bustling with lunchtime activity. He imagined circle merchants would be outside over the next few hours. Heading to and from places like New Brooklyn and Liberty Heights, Uptown and Sycamore Grove. There might even be some distant runners from the Commonwealth settlements. Grasscroft sat fairly close to the border of Boston, East New York and West New York, making it a sort of centre-point of commerce in the wasteland. Over the decades, it had grown from a small settlement, to about as big a city as one might see in New York. Only Liberty Heights could compare. And with that size, and good leadership over the generations, it was prosperous and safe, with well trained militia to withstand raider attacks and the weekly waves of feral ghouls.

When the young woman appeared, he flicked his head pointedly down the hill and then lead the way.

"Grasscroft is a nice enough place," he told her. "It's safe too, as you can probably tell." As if on queue, half a dozen guards armed with assault rifles went past them, heading up the hill. "Pinocchio will pay you decently - enough to get yourself some food and another bed. If he likes you, he might offer you more work. Who knows, maybe you'll settle down here."

They walked through the streets, having to watch themselves as crossed right through a soccer game. Dodging the children as he laughed, the ball came toward him.

"Pistol Pete! Pistol Pete, here!"

He kicked it towards the kid that called him.

"Hey that's not fair!" shouted another.

The got onto Main Street - the big road through the town, and from there they shortly found the tavern, The Three Legged Dog. Pete stopped in front of it and gave her a dry grin. "It used to have four legs, but umm... a few too many bar fights."

He went through the saloon-style batwing doors and raised a hand to Pinocchio, who was behind the bar. "You're back," he greeted with a smile. Pinocchio was tall, slender man. He had slick black hair, warm brown eyes and an equally warm smile. "And I suppose that this is my helper for today. My name is Pinocchio, how do you do?"

He held out his hand to shake.

Bloodlines (A tale by Love Dove & Saiyan)

"And he has cheek to tell me get off phone!?" Yusuf exclaimed wildly. Archer snorted. "I said, Ateeq... you no pay no bloodeh bills in this house..."

Archer liked Yusuf's rants. He barely listened to the details, but he enjoyed the man's foreign brand of extravagence. Yusuf was wagging his finger at the young agent - who was sat at a table in the kebab shop - as if it was Archer who was his son.

"...you no pay no bloodeh rent. You no pay no bloodeh water. Gas. Electricity. You no pay bloodeh phone bill!" This time, Archer laughed out loud. Yusuf went on. "His girlfriend laughing on the line. He embaress. I don't care."

For a long time now, Archer had been coming to this same kebab shop. It was hardly healthy, but there wasn't many places a creature of the night could get something hot to eat, and the young man never did much cooking. And Yusuf wasn't about to complain at the regular custom. At first, Archer was just another customer, but after regular visits, the chatty shop-keeper had begun to make conversation with him. Upon early inquiries, Archer had told him that he was a night-shift street-sweeper, which wasn't an outright lie, Archer thought. But Yusuf wasn't stupid. Luckily, he wasn't that intrusive or indiscreet either, so the two of them got along fine.

"Kick him out," Archer offered casually. Then, as an after-thought, "Why on earth have you still got a house phone, in this day and age? Doesn't he have a cell?"

Just then, a drunk couple wandered into the shop and Archer went back to looking through the Lightning Corp case file on the mysterious Aurora. Aside from the locations of the murder scenes, the file was complete garbage. Compared to the information that The Wizard doled out, most Lightning Corp case files were complete garbage. It made him wonder how other assassins did their jobs so effectively. I guess everyone has informants, he thought. A shadow came over his table and he looked up to see the woman eyeing his papers, and promptly covered them with his arm. If Daniels or anyone else found out that he was reading his case files out in public like this, all hell would break loose, but Archer didn't care much for the regulations of his workplace. As a general rule, he didn't care for much of anything. The woman took the hint and swayed back to her boyfriend's side at the counter. Archer watched her with a degree of contempt, but his face changed when he saw the shop television, and the headline that was scrolling across the CNN news segment.

As the couple took their kebabs and left, Archer pointed at the TV. "Yusuf, turn that up a bit, mate."

<"...and the wolf that escaped from the zoo in Central Park, Manhattan, is still on it's rampage. Police Authorities are asking citizens to stay indoors, after dark, until the beast is caught...">

"Crazy shit," Yusuf remarked.

"Yeah," Archer agreed. "Who the hell goes to the Zoo to see a wolf, anyway?"

Yusuf grunted. He started muttering to himself as he went into the back of the shop. Just then, Archer's phone started vibrating.

<"I won't deny it, am a straight rider, you don't wanna fuck with me...">

"What's up?" It was Titus Hart, from Field Support; one of the few people Archer considered a friend. He was looking for a 4th teammate for an online videogame tournament. "I'm busy with that one thing, but I'll let you know if I'm done early............ Alright."

"Your boss?" Yusuf asked as he came back to the front of the shop.

"Yeah," Archer lied. He shoved the last of his kebab in his mouth and licked all his fingers, then grabbed a napkin. Yusuf watched him curiously, as if he wanted to pry. Archer gathered up his papers and got up before shoving the case file back into his waistband, behind the gun-holsters at the small of his back. "I'm off, mate. I'll see you, yeah."

"Take care, Archer."

Archer blindly threw up a hand in leui of a wave as he walked to the door, and went out into the night, Yusuf watching him as he did.

Using some of the skills he'd accrued in his life back in England, Archer broke into the oldest looking car he could find, on the street, hotwired it and drove it home. When he got inside, he threw the case file in the bin and grabbed his police scanner. He double-checked his guns. Full clips of sliver hollow points, blessed with holy water for added zing. One already in each chamber, as he'd been taught.

Stay ready so you don't have to get ready.

Out on the streets again, driving around, scanner on the dash, he listened to the police calls coming through as he thought about the clues he'd managed to collect from The Wizard. It wasn't much, this time around - The Wizard had beaten him soundly in the chess match, before he could trade down all his pieces.

She was the head of powerful noble family.
She doesn't need the moon to transform.
She likes dogs.
She's learning the new world around her.
She likes to play act.
She feeds on both flesh and soul, gaining both sustanence and knowledge from meals.
She likes to be rocked to sleep. Underground.

Archer pulled up at some red lights. A few people crossed as he stared, one hand on the wheel. She likes to be rocked to sleep, he thought. Underground. That clue stood out to him. It wasn't for another hour, that he heard a police call on the scanner that would give him his lead.

<We got a 10-20 in Lafayette Subway, please respond.>

"The subway," he said aloud to himself.

The subway. Where else can you be rocked to sleep, underground. It kinda made sense. And it was the best answer he had. Pulling out his iPhone, he brought up a map of the local area and figured out the closest subway, then promptly executed a tire screeching U-turn and hit the gas.

Ninth Avenue Subway. It was a location burned into his memory - the place where he'd found himself being toyed with by a gang of vampire teens. He'd almost become food that night. But then MacKensie Trydant showed up.

After his life of petty crime in London, England had gone too far... After he'd messed with the wrong gang members and found himself, life in danger - a bounty on his head - his mother had put him on a plane to New York, to live with her brother, his Uncle Eric. His life of petty crime in England was over. While his Uncle Eric tried to sort out a work visa for the 19 yr old, Archer made some friends on the streets and managed to start a new life of petty crime in New York. But that life hadn't lasted long. He walked into Ninth Avenue subway station, that fated night, as a petty criminal and come out of the station with his true 'new life.' A career came shortly after. Hell; a US citizenship too. Everything had changed. His mother called him Bran. His friends in England called him 'A-Dog.' Now he was Archer; an assassin - agent of Lightning Corp. A prefect behind the veil. A keeper of the peace between humans and non-humans.

Archer parked in the carpark next to the station. He figured that if he went down into the subway and just checked all of the trains on the circular routes of the northbound and southbound lines, he might find his target. Homeless people had been known to try and steal a nap on trains before. Usually they'd be found by train inspectors and thrown off, but Archer guessed it would take a different kind of authority to make Aurora do anything she didn't want to do.

The car engine died, and Archer scanned the streets habitually, before getting out. It would likely be a long and boring night.

Heir to the Maou

@Horton

Hi mate, do you want me to wait for you, bro?