1 | Fun for the Fox
The noisy rustling of leaves and snapping of twigs disrupted the tranquil forest as the ruckus continued deeper into the undergrowth. A flock of ruchis scattered as a band of five bandits raced past the trees, laughing at the belief of a successful robbery. After all, there were no signs of anyone tailing them. Little did they know, the very breeze that whipped from behind them was a telltale sign the Asura was on their trail.
Covered by a dull traveler's cloak, Ara was silently riding the wind, running along it as if it was a marble road, while monitoring the bandits' movement below the tree leaves. If not for her stolen possession amongst all the things Ruben had to offer in their bags, the girl would have found less heed to do such a task. After all, her hidden identity was top priority.
Ara gracefully landed on yet another tree branch before running across thin air again, black locks escaping the hood to dance in the wind. Amber and scarlet eyes observed their route before confirming their destination, the base of the El tree.
Within the next fifteen or so minutes, the spearwielder arrived at the sacred tree just some minutes before the bandits, lightly landing on the curved branches of said tree in a crouched position. The thick foliage of iridescent green leaves hid her form well.
The five troubles makers settled in the clearing beside the grand tree, laughing at their success while the girl formed a knowing smile. Her right hand reached out to her right, manifesting her signature spear from the shadows. Raising her arm, Ara aimed the weapon at one certain bag of stolen goods, slung over a masked man's shoulder. With swiftness and precision, the spear pierced the air, tearing through the bag while pinning a loaf of bread to the ground. The items spilled out in a chaotic mess while the bandits were caught off guard.
Without wasting a second, the girl launched herself into the air, landed a handstand on the shaft of her spear, still stabbed into the earth at a 40 degree angle, before cartwheeling from her position to the ground, pulling the spear out with it. To finish off, she whipped the air with the weapon, sending the bread that once stuck to it flying at a bandit's face. The bandits hastily drew their weapons after realizing the situation, except for one cocky fellow who merely brushed off imaginary dust from his black shirt and smirked at the hooded figure. His shaggy brown hair, blue iris, dark skin, and the nasty scar over his other eye was enough for anyone to conclude this man was Banthus. You had to be very ignorant to not realize his face on wanted posters.
"Well, well, it looks like this little twerp made the mistake of messing with me," the male spoke.
"Let me teach you a lesson kid," Banthus continued, bringing forth his great sword.
In truth, the girl could have finished him off in the time he took monologuing, but his arrogance amused her. She sincerely wondered how the burly idiot named Banthus was still not captured. His fighting stance was enough to inform Ara he was an amateur, if not only slightly better.
Banthus charged at the girl who had not moved the slightest. He raised his sword and sent it crashing downwards as the female dodged with ease. Next came two consecutive horizontal slashes in which she backflipped away with the elegance of an gymnast, springing even further back to block the remaining runaway bandits from their path.
They shrunk in response, tentatively looking towards their leader like abandoned puppies, only not nearly as cute. Of course, the man ordered them to seize the stranger. All four readied their blades and two of them instantly charged. Again the girl questioned their title of thieves.
They were so slow.
Amusement glinted in her shadowed eyes as she evaded without effort. She moved like a fox—swift, relaxed, and with a coy superiority.
The action successfully taunted the two opponents, sending them in a fit of fury as they slashed recklessly at the ebonette. She moved aside without fail and eventually caused them to charge right into their allies. One being severely injured while the remaining three angrily assaulted the girl to no avail. They missed the cloaked figure no matter what.
Eventually, the girl halted, a little voice in her head calling attention to their lack of time. Grinning deviously, she took all four down with swift swipes of her spear, as if it was child's play.
While the four slumped to the ground, groaning in pain, the ebonette faced Banthus who simply stood there attempting to look smug. Ara only widened her oh-so-innocent grin as she ran at him, keeping her footsteps light and brisk.
As predictable as ever, Banthus swung his great sword horizontally, giving his opponent a lovely platform to land on before she delivered a harsh kick to his face. He stumbled backwards, arms flailing as his back hit against a tree, leaves rustling in his wake. The Asura made another dash towards the now unarmed man who clumsily threw a punch in which his opponent ducked under. Ara slid on her knees into a position and while doing so, sucked the mana from surrounding opponents, or in this case, just Banthus.
Mana drain.
Banthus flinched at the sudden loss of energy which gave the swift martial artist enough time to lift herself with a hand and send her legs spinning, crashing into Banthus's stomach. He grunted at the impact while Ara followed up with a quick, precise chop on the nape of his neck. The man collapsed to the ground as he lost conscious, his eyes taking in the playful glint within red and amber orbs before darkness swallowed his vision.
The girl stood, her spear dispersing into black particles as she readjusted the hood to shadow her eyes. She bounced over to the torn bag of possessions which spilled coins, colorful fruits, and the like. Sifting through, the girl retrieved an oriental tassel that she tucked under her cloak. After tying the bandits to a tree and stealing a sparse amount of the goods as reward, her form quickly retreated amongst the undergrowth.
A pair of mismatched eyes followed her but disappointingly enough, lost her behind a tree seconds later.
There was only a red fox, munching on a fresh red apple.
What am I doing, I have summer work to finish and I decide to procrastinate.
So I finally decided to release the first chapter of the rewrite for The Esper and the Fox which, as you can see, is now call Love of the Lawless. While I have not advance in writing, I think it's best for me to put something out in order to push myself along. As you can see, there are big (okay maybe not so big for now) changes. I'm currently trying to get other ideas down while trying to even get halfway through summer work. Ahaha...
Anyways, don't expect an update in a long, long, while. Have a nice day/afternoon/night! I should sleep now ahaha...
