Summary: When Tira is shipwrecked onto the island of the infamous Money Pit, she wants nothing better than to escape the place and the lunatic guardian Voldo. But as time passes, it becomes clear that the two are more similar than she ever thought - and when a threat approaches, Tira must decide once and for all where her loyalties lie. Set before SCII.

Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Calibur, blah blah blah. If I did, I'd probably pair Tira up with loads of characters. Nightmare, Siegfried, Voldo, Raphael, Kilik, Sophitia... and Siegfried/Kilik would be a canon couple. XD

I'll just say one thing, it would be a good idea to look up Tira's history and early life on the Soul Calibur Wiki before reading this in case you don't know about it already, otherwise this chapter may not make much sense. Or I may be wrong and you might understand it. Either way, all is explained in the later chapters anyway.

Anyway, enough rambling, I present my first multi-chapter Soul fanfic, enjoy!

'Eiserne Drossel.'

The sky was black and the wind was harsh and unforgiving as it battered against Eiserne's face, wrapping itself around her like a boa constrictor, threatening to squeeze the life out of her small frame. Gripping her trusty ring blade in her freezing fingers, she stepped forwards, away from the crowd of the hundred or so assassins, feeling her vibrant, teal hair whip against her porcelain skin. She knelt down, half-closing her eyes as she turned her gaze towards the muddy ground.

'Yes?'

She felt heavy drops of water attack her like bullets from above. It had started to rain heavily. Yet still she knelt, unmoving, waiting her command.

'Orders from our leader Albrecht have come through. A pirate. His name is Maxi.'

That was all the information she was given. And all she needed to go by.

The Iron Thrush stood up unquestioningly, an excited smile dancing across her green lips. A pirate? This would be fun. She had never assassinated a pirate before. She had better do it brilliantly the first time round, then; her leader would be proud of her for sure!

'Of course,' she giggled, bowing, before letting her purple eyes meet the lieutenant's cold, grey ones. Why did he always look so pained all the time? He was only in his thirties, yet he had lines across his face and he rarely smiled. How unhappy he must be.

'You may go.'

That was it. No other information, not even a word to say 'get it over with quickly and then come back for your next assignment'. Nothing.

Eiserne was free as a bird. She was a bird. So she was free to take however long she liked, right?

She walked away grinning, her boots making a sickly squelching noise as they sank into the mud. Her bouncy walk turned into a skip as she thought about what this Maxi might look like. Was he a handsome pirate? What was his hair like – straight, curly, black, blonde – maybe even blue like hers? And his eyes? Were they an unusual colour, too? Maybe he might be a fan of bright colours like her, so she wouldn't feel like the only one.

Not that she cared what the others thought of her. They were all boring, dressed in the traditional dull brown Bird of Passage colours. Why be boring when you could have colour? And anyway, it didn't matter what colours Maxi wore, for Eiserne would kill him nevertheless. That way, even if he did wear boring colours like grey and brown and black, he would end up being painted in the most beautiful colour of all – the sinister, sexy shade of crimson.

She giggled excitedly, swinging her weapon around her slim body as her skip turned into a dance. This was what she loved about her fighting style – it was no ordinary fighting style. No, it was designed to mesmerise opponents and lure them into its web with its beauty.

Eiserne and her blade would dance together – a graceful waltz, yet a deadly tango at the same time. It was a fantastic performance for her opponent, one that would no doubt entertain them right up to their death, which served as a grand finale, involving the audience themselves. How fun it was to perform! How happy and alive she felt when she –

Eiserne was jolted out of her thoughts when a blinding flash of light lit up the sky. The rain stopped as suddenly as it had begun and the wind dropped. She stopped in her tracks, as did the other assassins around her, and focused her gaze on the light, which, she noticed, had shot upwards from somewhere in the distance. She squinted a little as the light seemed to be about to reach for her and gouge her eyes out of their sockets, it was so bright. After a few seconds it disappeared again, and everyone, everything, was completely still. Unmoving. Like statues.

Until a manic scream from behind her broke the deathly silence.

Eiserne's eyes were drawn to the leader of the Bird of Passage, staggering towards her from his tent, laughing madly.

Finally, someone who was as happy as her and wasn't afraid to show it!

Wait…

Albrecht's grey slacks were covered in mud and one of his shoes had fallen off, his feet sinking further and further into the ground which seemed to be swallowing him up as he fell to his knees, giggling manically, his green eyes wide as he shook with laughter. He raised a sweaty, trembling hand as he wiped tears of mirth from his gaunt cheeks.

He was so happy he was crying? Eiserne didn't understand…

He was almost too happy… what had started it?

The other assassins were slowly edging away from him, wide eyed. What had caused his sudden change of attitude? He was usually such a calm, emotionless, stoic man – why had he changed? Yes, he was laughing, but… it wasn't real.

The man had lost his mind.

Eiserne suddenly walked calmly towards her leader. She did not know why she was doing it. Why was she? He had gone completely insane! Yet she felt strangely… attracted to him.

When she was within reach of him, however, he suddenly grabbed her collar, causing her to flinch and wrench away from his grasp, leaving him with a fistful of spiky green feathers which he threw impatiently onto the ground.

Her leader suddenly jumped to his feet and sprinted towards the lieutenant that had just given the orders. Seizing him by his thin shoulders, he shook him whilst mumbling something incoherent into his ear, half falling onto him as he struggled to keep his balance.

After a minute he sank to his knees again, hissing with laughter, almost pulling the lieutenant down with him. The lieutenant's eyes were wide with a mixture of shock and… concentration? Puzzlement? Fear? Eiserne did not know, for it was a while since he had shown any kind of emotion.

'Cancel… he says cancel the assignments…'

Whispers of confusion were heard around the leader and his lieutenant. Cancel the assignments? That couldn't be right…

'Yes – yes, I – no – no, that wasn't what I said you fool!' screeched Albrecht, smiling madly, 'Wait, in fact, you're right, how clever! I –'

He suddenly stopped and slowly stood up again, his eyes raking across the scene around him, before hurtling forwards, screaming loudly, arms flailing about, into a gaggle of young female assassins who had not moved from the edge of the crowd in front of Eiserne. The six or so girls screamed and ran backwards into the crowd, knocking the other assassins into each other. Albrecht pushed further and further into the mass of people, creating more and more chaos until eventually they moving started moving backwards, getting increasingly louder as they did so. Slowly at first, but soon they were jogging, then running away from the leader who had gone mad, heading straight for Eiserne. Screams and shouts of panic and confusion shot out from various places throughout the swarm of people as they hurtled closer and closer to the Iron Thrush.

'He's gone crazy!'

'The assignments – what do we –'

'What happened to him? I don't understand –'

Eiserne could just make out the lieutenant on the other side of the crowd, attempting to regain control, before she was enveloped by the huge stampede of people. It felt as though she were being swallowed up by a giant, raging beast, she couldn't breathe – everyone was pressing closer and closer to her as they ran as far and as fast as they could, seemingly determined to escape their lunatic leader. She had no choice but to keep up with the mass of panicking people and their shining blades to avoid losing her footing and being trampled on, but it was difficult. Weapons were being dropped, people were tripping over each other in an effort to run to – to – where exactly were they heading?

It didn't matter, she didn't care, there was no time to dwell on such trivial questions, for now Eiserne felt the number of people around her get larger, and it was evident that the assassins who hadn't witnessed the events that had just taken place had come out from their quarters to join the stampede. All Eiserne could focus on was staying alive among the rush of people. She was going to suffocate if they didn't stop soon, why weren't they stopping?

Faint calls could still be heard from far behind them, trying to keep order. Eiserne heard something about the missions, but could not make it out among the screams of the terror-stricken group.

Why – why weren't they stopping? Where were they heading?

Eiserne ran as fast as she could, half-tempted to cut down the panicking assassins closest to her just so she could get some air. She would do it soon, if this carried on. She was starting to get annoyed.

The air was closing in, like a cobra, strangling her – she struggled to breathe –

She had no choice.

Gripping her ring blade in her sweaty palm, she proceeded to swing it at the nearest screaming assassin. Taking a deep breath, she counted. Three – two – one –

No.

What?

You can't.

Who said –

Not after last time.

But last time – last time – last time was different!

Was it? Was it really?

Yes – yes – she was forced to do it last time; at least this time she was choosing herself –

Choosing to cut down your friends?

It hadn't stopped her before.

Those whom you call family?

No – no – not –

Yes, Eiserne, do you remember now? Remember what they made you do to her? How can you even bear to think about killing again after what happened?

Don't – what was –

After what happened to you?

No – stop –

To that twisted, broken mind of yours?

No –

Do you remember?

The crowd was starting to disperse now, and Eiserne felt the ground get softer beneath her feet.

Do you?

Her hand holding the blade hadn't moved. Those around her were still alive.

Do you…?

As the assassins moved away, Eiserne realised that they had travelled to the forest outside the Bird of Passage hideout. She could breathe again and welcomed the fresh air as it danced around her, half-closing her eyes as she headed for the nearest tree to stop and rest against it.

Eiserne leaned one arm against the hard, musky bark of a grand oak tree, running her fingers over the wood. She let her ring blade slip from her hand and fall to the soft, leafy ground with a dull thud as she sank to her knees, tiredness starting to consume her. She wearily raised her head and, looking around, she saw that she had ended up deep in the heart of the cold, dark forest. The other assassins were slowly disappearing from view among the trees, slipping away like liquid. Her eyelids slid shut and she felt herself fall sideways onto the strangely comforting ground.

Maybe she should just forget about her assignment. That had been her leader's last order, anyway.

There was no point in going back.

It was obvious.

The Bird of Passage had fallen.

How was that? All reviews and critiques welcomed! :D