Slayers ETERNAL
EPISODE ONE:
DASH! When Dragons Come, Everything Begins!
The sky was dark with storm clouds, the wind harsh and thunder rumbling in the distance, lightning flashing across the sky and illuminating the forest below for a second. Three figures moved quickly through the forest, their current leader being the ebony haired man with a golden dragon's tail protruding from the seat of his pants. The two behind him, one a blonde haired girl with a sword and the other a tall man with flame red hair, followed closely, the latter grumbling all the while as he plucked twigs and thorns from his shirt and hair with a displeased look on his face.
"Zach!" The redhead snapped, irritated. The black haired dragon glanced over his shoulder at the other male and gave him a bored look as if he knew what was about to be asked. "Are you sure you're reading that map right?" Zach glanced at his hands and blinked a bit before turning his gaze once more to his friend's irritated eyes. "Well?" the other male inquired, stopping and crossing his arms, tapping his foot impatiently
"..." A curious look crossed Zach's face as he asked, tilting his head to the side slightly as if stating something completely obvious to even a rock, "What map?" the blonde blinked and looked up as her brother's, the redhead, annoyed expression changed to a stunned one. "You mean the one I threw away two hours ago, Quinn?" Quinn's jaw dropped in horror while the blonde merely looked around, confused, as Quinn near screamed, his voice cracking. The last thing he wanted was to die in a forest with his sister and a gay dragon and seeing as their navigator had simply discarded their map, things weren't looking up. Zach stuck his fingers in his ears as he mumbled to the blonde, "Lee, he's about to rant again..." In response to that, Lee plugged her ears as well as she watched her brother with an unenthused look on her face.
"You did what with the map?!" the redhead near-screamed, having been lost the second they had stepped into the forest. "You threw it away?! Why?!"
"Because it was a map of Atlas City?" Zach stated bluntly to shut the redhead up before he got into his ranting too much. Quinn froze and blinked as the two lowered their hands and the dragon continued, crossing his arms. "Yeah. I grabbed the wrong map...so...uh...Oops?" Quinn groaned and slapped his forehead, unsure if he should just sit and pout or rant and fireball the dragon for being so careless. Before he could say anything, a throwing knife shot past his head and embedded itself in the tree behind him. Quinn yelped and looked up, his friends following his gaze as Lee drew her sword and Zach drew his crossbow.
A figure leapt from the trees, landing on the ground in front of the three, the blue haired girl standing from her kneeling position, her amethyst eyes narrowed in concentration while a smug smirk played on her lips, a single blue scar on her left cheek as she stated, standing with her heels together, "Hey! Spike!" She pointed at Quinn, who twitched slightly. "You Quinn Gabriev and is the blonde Lee Gabriev?"
Lee frowned. "And if we are?!" Quinn groaned.
Why couldn't she have just stayed quiet for a change? He asked himself mentally, rubbing his forehead. The blue haired girl smirked and vanished, reappearing in front of Quinn and grinning at the redhead's startled expression.
She waved and giggled, her expression cheerful as she stated, standing on the tips of her toes to at least have a somewhat eye-to-eye contact, seeing as she was at a disadvantage height wise, "My name's Rutee!" Zach put the crossbow to the girl's back, Lee sliding into a fighting stance as Quinn stepped away from her and glared, getting into a ready stance as lee asked sharply what she wanted. With all weapons trained on her, Rutee smirked. "Look, the Gabriev twins have a nice price on their heads an' I'm just collecting it...Now, Dragoon!" She jumped into a tree at the same time a torrent of water shot from the foliage.
"Right on, Rutee!" A male voice sounded, a young man with long blue hair running from the forest and roaring, throwing water spells at the three, who all jumped to different sides as Rutee landed at her friend's side and laughing as if this were a game she was playing. Dragoon gave Rutee a thumb up and the girl nodded, running at Quinn and drawing her short sword from its sheath.
Lee growled and got behind Dragoon, slashing at him with her sword with a shout. The young man dodged forward, the blade barely missing him as Zach fired a crossbow bolt from his spot beside a large oak. The arrow struck true, then exploded, the dragon crying out in pain as he hit the ground. It was obvious he was physically weak, but his spells, as demonstrated on the trees, were devastating.
Before Quinn could even think of a counter attack, the blue haired girl quickly changed targets (much to Quinn's relief), dropping her sword and running over to her fallen friend and kneeling at his side. "Dragoon! Dragoon, are you alright?!" The young man groaned, holding his shoulder tenderly as he coughed, glaring at Zach and Lee as he stood and began to chant a spell. Rutee stood as well and shouted, holding her hand out, "Sword! Come!" her discarded sword appeared in her hands and she took up a fighting stance. "Bring it!"
Quinn stood beside his two friends, summoning an orb of flame to his hands as his sister and Zach began to attack the two assassins, Dragoon being the easiest to hit since he would have to stop to cast a spell, but Rutee was a pain in the rear to hit. Spell fully charged, Quinn shouted, running to Rutee and slapping her on the forehead with the spell, "Now lets get her!" For a moment, the girl was stunned, but she recovered quickly, only for Zach to shoot a crossbow bolt into her sword arm and Lee to kick her to the ground.
Dragoon was at Rutee's side in an instant, the girl glaring at them as if she had never lost a fight before while her companion merely looked concerned as he said softly, attempting to help her stand, "C'mon, Rutee...! If we don't go now, they might kill us!"
Before the grill could protest, the sharp snap of a bullwhip was heard and Rutee felt the thick leather tighten around her neck, Quinn holding the other end and not looking at all happy. "You're not going anywhere until you answer some questions, kiddo," Zach stated, his crossbow trained on them while Lee apologized to Dragoon, who merely sighed in defeat.
Later, a tent was set up and a light spell was cast when it began to rain. Zach, lee and Quinn sat in the doorway of the tent, Dragoon sitting inside quietly because he hadn't tried chewing through the ropes that Lee had removed because he was behaving. Rutee, on the other hand, was tied to a tree outside in the rain, glaring daggers at Quinn while struggling in the ropes. "Lemme go, already!!!" She shouted. Quinn merely grinned smugly and poked her nose with a stick.
"Not until you talk up, short-stuff," he stated, blinking when Rutee bit the stick and refused to let go, continuing to glare at him as he tugged on the stick. "Leggo!" She just glared and said nothing, doing her best to keep the stick from poking her again. Zach merely sweat dropped before going back to admiring Dragoon, who merely shook his head at Rutee's antics and rubbed his forehead in what appeared to be exasperation. Lee grinned and pointed at Rutee as she popped up beside her brother.
"I think she's hungry!" the blonde stated innocently, ignoring her brother's death glare, as if to say he didn't really care if the blue haired girl was hungry or not. Which, of course, he didn't. he waved her off and went back to trying to retrieve the stick from the girl tied to the tree.
Rutee sweat dropped as she thought, watching Quinn and Lee argue about how hungry she was at the moment, I actually am kinda hungry...Finally, when her stomach growled for the twentieth time and the stick was beginning to taste horrible, she let it go and watched as the redhead yelped and fell backwards from her releasing the stick so abruptly as she spoke, her tone annoyed as she ceased her struggles and grinned at Quinn as if to silently say, 'you clumsy buffoon'. "Fine, fine..." All eyes turned to her. "I'll talk, but only if you guys untie me and let me have some food..." Quinn protested, as did Lee (though Lee was only protesting because Rutee wanted food in return for talking) while Zach turned to Dragoon to inquire about trusting the girl.
"She may be a bit of an idiot," this earned Dragoon a dark glare and a one fingered salute from the blue haired assassin. "And brash, but she does have a sense of honor...just make sure you make her promise not to run away..." Zach nodded and asked the girl if she would escape, the teen grumbling darkly for a moment before sighing and shook her head, swearing sourly that she wouldn't run away or hurt them.
Moments later, she was sitting in front of the three, the blue haired young man at her side as they both ate as quickly as they could, though Dragoon was a bit more polite about stuffing his face then his friend was. When their given food was gone, Rutee spoke, laying on her back and closing her eyes as she talked, her hands behind her head. "Okay, so, first question was...what again?" Quinn rolled his eyes and whipped out a paper fan, smacking the girl upside the head with it. "Oh yeah..." she didn't appear to notice the hit as she yawned. "I was sent by a guy named 'Yamato' to find and kill you two. Offered us a butt load of cash, so how could we refuse?"
Dragoon poked his friend between the eyes and muttered, "Don't you mean, 'You' couldn't refuse?" She grinned sheepishly and nodded, the blue haired man rolling his eyes.
Quinn crossed his arms and looked up at the tent ceiling, listening to the rain pound against the tarp of the large seven-person tent (they needed the room since Lee rolls around and kicks in her sleep) with a thoughtful look on his face. He was snapped to reality by Dragoon's horrified, 'what' being shouted. Upon inspection, the red haired sorcerer could only groan as he watched Zach flirt with the younger dragon, who simply looked horrified by whatever Zach was whispering in his ear.
Rutee, on the other hand, was laughing so hard tears were rolling down her cheeks as she pointed and laughed some more at Dragoon's expression. Her laughter paused when her friend fainted from shock of being flirted with by a guy before her laughter continued. Lee sat beside Zach and poked at the unconscious blue haired teen, who merely mumbled incoherent words along the lines of, 'I am a rock, I am an island'.
Finally, silence reigned, Quinn's friends sound asleep along with Dragoon and Rutee, the two assassins, keeping mostly to themselves and sleeping back-to-back. Quinn, on the other hand, remained awake, a book in hand and stylish wire-rimmed reading glasses resting on his nose as he read the thick book quietly, glancing up at the two blue haired teenagers every now and again, both remaining asleep.
Later the next day, the five entered a small nameless village, Quinn watching the two newcomers carefully, though not keeping his eyes on where he was going made things a little harder since Rutee would laugh at him every chance she got. Of course, this usually earned her a fist to the top of the head, but that didn't mean she couldn't make fun of him even if it meant extreme pain. Lee dragged Zach off while proclaiming that she was hungry, Zach half-dragging poor Dragoon with him while stating that if he had to suffer, he wasn't suffering alone at least.
Rutee scratched the side of her head and blinked a bit, unsure if she should follow them or continue getting dragged by Quinn, who refused to let her go two feet away from him for fear of her stabbing him in the back or running off. The redhead shook his head as he watched his sister drag off one of the two assassins and the gold dragon, the girl singing about how hungry she was. He started to turn to walk away, but froze when he realized Rutee was gone.
Cursing silently, he looked around the streets for any sign of her, freezing when he saw her talking to an older man and pointing at him. Panic shot through his stomach and he looked around, hoping to find someplace to hide before an army of bounty hunters or something came out to kill him.
Rutee returned and thrust something in the sorcerer's face, the male yelping and jumping back, pausing when he realized it was a fruit of some kind. She gave him a weird look and threw the fruit at him as she stated, Quinn catching it and looking at it curiously, having never seen a fruit like it before, "We never did have breakfast, seeing as the blonde –Lee was it? – ate all of it..." she bit into her own fruit and looked around as if trying to decide where to go next.
The red haired sorcerer bit into his fruit, blinking at the taste that filled his mouth upon taking his fist bite. While it looked something like a small pineapple without the hard outside coating, it tasted more like an apple and orange put together with a hint of lemon sourness. He glanced over at the girl, frowning as if he were suspicious, but said nothing, following her as she began to wander off.
She looked at him from over her shoulder and snapped, glaring, "Go away!" he snorted and crossed his arms, stating bluntly 'no' and adding a stabbing, 'boy' after her name. Her eyebrow twitched and she growled, turning and glaring at him dangerously. "What did you call me?!" Everyone around them frozen as a blue tail suddenly appeared from the seat of the girl's pants, trashing angrily, her fists clutched tightly at her side. Quinn's eyes nearly took over his face as he stared at Rutee's sudden tail and began to put the pieces together.
"You....you're a dragon too?" he asked, feeling quiet stupid for asking such and obvious 'yes' question.
Rutee calmed down slightly, her tail vanishing and shorts mending instantly. She started to reply, but was cut short by a scream from a shop near the edge of town. The two looked up and at the source of the scream, spotting a young woman point and screaming, "They're coming! The bandits are back!" The people around them screamed and ran, seeking shelter at the inn or their homes, whichever was closest to them. Within moments, the street was empty, save for Quinn and Rutee. Both exchanged glances and looked at the forest at the edge of the town and saw what the people found so terrifying. Several human and troll bandits limbered into town, the leader, a burly man with some obvious troll-like features, walking briskly toward the two remaining people in the street.
Quinn stood his ground while Rutee appeared somewhat confused on if she should escape now and let the flame-haired sorcerer die, or if she should stay and help him fight, therefore earning his trust. The army of bandits stopped before the two and the leader of the bandits sneered at them. He said nothing as he strode up to Quinn and got in the sorcerer's face, forcing the young man to take a step back as he wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Looks like some kids deciding to play with the Troll Moon 32 Gang!"
"You're breath stinks," he stated bluntly, waving a hand in front of his face to show his point. Rutee's eyes nearly took over her face at this, having heard of the gang that she prayed they weren't staring at. He then added, "Your numbers are piddly, and your name sucks." The bandit leader twitched and glared, an anger vein forming on his forehead as he watched the smug smirk cross Quinn's face, the young man crossing his arms as if awaiting a retort.
Upon coming up with nothing, the bandit leader roared, pointing at the two teens, "Bandits! ATTACK!!" Quinn stood static, his expression smug amusement while Rutee drew her sword and stood at his side, looking as if she wanted to run, but she had promised not to run away, so she stayed, a water spell appearing in her hands as she threw the Freeze Arrow at the first wave of bandits. Fortunately, the trolls weren't strong enough to break the ice, forcing the other bandits to circle their comrades and charge.
Quinn raised a hand, palm facing the oncoming bandits as he shouted, a glowing sphere of flame appearing in his hands, "Idiots. Rune Flare!" several spheres of flame shot from the single one in his hand and streaked towards the first fifteen bandits. When each shot struck, the bandits finding it impossible to dodge them, a small explosion erupted from each fireball and sent the first fifteen sprawling. He pointed at Rutee as the spell faded and stated, "Lets see what you got, short-stuff!"
Rutee flipped him off before turning and holding her sword in front of her, closing her eyes and mumbling words in Draconian. Blue flame surrounded the blade of her sword as she shouted, "Ice Blade!" She opened her eyes and ran forward, slashing at the bandits and freezing them instantly with each slash. The flame lasted through ten more out of her already frozen three and while she hadn't wiped out as many as Quinn had, she still had to fight her way back to him to keep from being overpowered. She managed to return to his side, not even out of breath as she said, "How's that, Mr. Fancy Spells?"
He stuck his tongue out at her and turned his attention back to the bandits as he muttered, "Damn, there's a lot of them..." he adjusted his trench coat and cracked his knuckles, and for a moment Rutee thought he was about to charge into battle. Instead, he cupped his hands in front of him and closed his eyes, a small orb of red energy appearing between his hands as he chanted softly, the girl at his side having to struggle to hear his words, "Darkness beyond Twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows, buried in the stream of time is where your power grows..."
Rutee turned about ten shades of white and turned and ran as quickly as she could, not wanting to be caught up in the spell when it went off. The bandits simply figured she got scared and continued to charge. A water spell came from nowhere and blasted them back away from Quinn, Rutee having stopped running a good ten feet away. She knew she'd get hit, but she had to at least try to help him.
"I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand against this mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hands..." His eyes snapped open as he shouted, the energy shooting out of his hands and striking the bandits, "Dragon Slave!" The wave of energy swept throughout the town, destroying everything and leaving only a crater as a sign that a town had stood there moments before. The bandits were nowhere to be seen, having been buried in ruble and dirt from the blast, the same with the townspeople and his friends. Quinn dusted off his hands and grinned smugly as he turned and looked around for Rutee. The girl scrambled from under a building and glared at him, coughing slightly as she batted dirt from her hair.
Zach, Lee and Dragoon emerged in a similar fashion, though it took Lee a good number of minutes to realize she was in pain. The three limped over to their friend, Rutee still sitting on the ground and brushing dirt from her hair and cloths, while Lee asked her brother what had happened to make him cast Dragon Slave. The redhead merely shrugged and explained that some bandits 'threatened the town's safety'. Before anyone could say anything else, the townspeople emerged and glared at the only one unharmed. Quinn.
The five adventurers exchanged glances and, without a word, Quinn took off like a shot, his friends at his heels and angry villagers at their heels. The first words out of Rutee's mouth as she caught up to him and was running at his side, "You owe me!" Quinn gave her an annoyed look and retorted.
"I don't owe a little bastard dragon like you the time of day!" he snapped as they continued to run. Rutee twitched and was now beginning to chase him, shouting that he owed her lunch at least while their friends merely shouted that the villagers were gaining on them, Dragoon in near- tears and Lee sobbing about how the food was gone. Zach merely shouted at them to speed up.
EPISODE ONE:
DASH! When Dragons Come, Everything Begins!
The sky was dark with storm clouds, the wind harsh and thunder rumbling in the distance, lightning flashing across the sky and illuminating the forest below for a second. Three figures moved quickly through the forest, their current leader being the ebony haired man with a golden dragon's tail protruding from the seat of his pants. The two behind him, one a blonde haired girl with a sword and the other a tall man with flame red hair, followed closely, the latter grumbling all the while as he plucked twigs and thorns from his shirt and hair with a displeased look on his face.
"Zach!" The redhead snapped, irritated. The black haired dragon glanced over his shoulder at the other male and gave him a bored look as if he knew what was about to be asked. "Are you sure you're reading that map right?" Zach glanced at his hands and blinked a bit before turning his gaze once more to his friend's irritated eyes. "Well?" the other male inquired, stopping and crossing his arms, tapping his foot impatiently
"..." A curious look crossed Zach's face as he asked, tilting his head to the side slightly as if stating something completely obvious to even a rock, "What map?" the blonde blinked and looked up as her brother's, the redhead, annoyed expression changed to a stunned one. "You mean the one I threw away two hours ago, Quinn?" Quinn's jaw dropped in horror while the blonde merely looked around, confused, as Quinn near screamed, his voice cracking. The last thing he wanted was to die in a forest with his sister and a gay dragon and seeing as their navigator had simply discarded their map, things weren't looking up. Zach stuck his fingers in his ears as he mumbled to the blonde, "Lee, he's about to rant again..." In response to that, Lee plugged her ears as well as she watched her brother with an unenthused look on her face.
"You did what with the map?!" the redhead near-screamed, having been lost the second they had stepped into the forest. "You threw it away?! Why?!"
"Because it was a map of Atlas City?" Zach stated bluntly to shut the redhead up before he got into his ranting too much. Quinn froze and blinked as the two lowered their hands and the dragon continued, crossing his arms. "Yeah. I grabbed the wrong map...so...uh...Oops?" Quinn groaned and slapped his forehead, unsure if he should just sit and pout or rant and fireball the dragon for being so careless. Before he could say anything, a throwing knife shot past his head and embedded itself in the tree behind him. Quinn yelped and looked up, his friends following his gaze as Lee drew her sword and Zach drew his crossbow.
A figure leapt from the trees, landing on the ground in front of the three, the blue haired girl standing from her kneeling position, her amethyst eyes narrowed in concentration while a smug smirk played on her lips, a single blue scar on her left cheek as she stated, standing with her heels together, "Hey! Spike!" She pointed at Quinn, who twitched slightly. "You Quinn Gabriev and is the blonde Lee Gabriev?"
Lee frowned. "And if we are?!" Quinn groaned.
Why couldn't she have just stayed quiet for a change? He asked himself mentally, rubbing his forehead. The blue haired girl smirked and vanished, reappearing in front of Quinn and grinning at the redhead's startled expression.
She waved and giggled, her expression cheerful as she stated, standing on the tips of her toes to at least have a somewhat eye-to-eye contact, seeing as she was at a disadvantage height wise, "My name's Rutee!" Zach put the crossbow to the girl's back, Lee sliding into a fighting stance as Quinn stepped away from her and glared, getting into a ready stance as lee asked sharply what she wanted. With all weapons trained on her, Rutee smirked. "Look, the Gabriev twins have a nice price on their heads an' I'm just collecting it...Now, Dragoon!" She jumped into a tree at the same time a torrent of water shot from the foliage.
"Right on, Rutee!" A male voice sounded, a young man with long blue hair running from the forest and roaring, throwing water spells at the three, who all jumped to different sides as Rutee landed at her friend's side and laughing as if this were a game she was playing. Dragoon gave Rutee a thumb up and the girl nodded, running at Quinn and drawing her short sword from its sheath.
Lee growled and got behind Dragoon, slashing at him with her sword with a shout. The young man dodged forward, the blade barely missing him as Zach fired a crossbow bolt from his spot beside a large oak. The arrow struck true, then exploded, the dragon crying out in pain as he hit the ground. It was obvious he was physically weak, but his spells, as demonstrated on the trees, were devastating.
Before Quinn could even think of a counter attack, the blue haired girl quickly changed targets (much to Quinn's relief), dropping her sword and running over to her fallen friend and kneeling at his side. "Dragoon! Dragoon, are you alright?!" The young man groaned, holding his shoulder tenderly as he coughed, glaring at Zach and Lee as he stood and began to chant a spell. Rutee stood as well and shouted, holding her hand out, "Sword! Come!" her discarded sword appeared in her hands and she took up a fighting stance. "Bring it!"
Quinn stood beside his two friends, summoning an orb of flame to his hands as his sister and Zach began to attack the two assassins, Dragoon being the easiest to hit since he would have to stop to cast a spell, but Rutee was a pain in the rear to hit. Spell fully charged, Quinn shouted, running to Rutee and slapping her on the forehead with the spell, "Now lets get her!" For a moment, the girl was stunned, but she recovered quickly, only for Zach to shoot a crossbow bolt into her sword arm and Lee to kick her to the ground.
Dragoon was at Rutee's side in an instant, the girl glaring at them as if she had never lost a fight before while her companion merely looked concerned as he said softly, attempting to help her stand, "C'mon, Rutee...! If we don't go now, they might kill us!"
Before the grill could protest, the sharp snap of a bullwhip was heard and Rutee felt the thick leather tighten around her neck, Quinn holding the other end and not looking at all happy. "You're not going anywhere until you answer some questions, kiddo," Zach stated, his crossbow trained on them while Lee apologized to Dragoon, who merely sighed in defeat.
Later, a tent was set up and a light spell was cast when it began to rain. Zach, lee and Quinn sat in the doorway of the tent, Dragoon sitting inside quietly because he hadn't tried chewing through the ropes that Lee had removed because he was behaving. Rutee, on the other hand, was tied to a tree outside in the rain, glaring daggers at Quinn while struggling in the ropes. "Lemme go, already!!!" She shouted. Quinn merely grinned smugly and poked her nose with a stick.
"Not until you talk up, short-stuff," he stated, blinking when Rutee bit the stick and refused to let go, continuing to glare at him as he tugged on the stick. "Leggo!" She just glared and said nothing, doing her best to keep the stick from poking her again. Zach merely sweat dropped before going back to admiring Dragoon, who merely shook his head at Rutee's antics and rubbed his forehead in what appeared to be exasperation. Lee grinned and pointed at Rutee as she popped up beside her brother.
"I think she's hungry!" the blonde stated innocently, ignoring her brother's death glare, as if to say he didn't really care if the blue haired girl was hungry or not. Which, of course, he didn't. he waved her off and went back to trying to retrieve the stick from the girl tied to the tree.
Rutee sweat dropped as she thought, watching Quinn and Lee argue about how hungry she was at the moment, I actually am kinda hungry...Finally, when her stomach growled for the twentieth time and the stick was beginning to taste horrible, she let it go and watched as the redhead yelped and fell backwards from her releasing the stick so abruptly as she spoke, her tone annoyed as she ceased her struggles and grinned at Quinn as if to silently say, 'you clumsy buffoon'. "Fine, fine..." All eyes turned to her. "I'll talk, but only if you guys untie me and let me have some food..." Quinn protested, as did Lee (though Lee was only protesting because Rutee wanted food in return for talking) while Zach turned to Dragoon to inquire about trusting the girl.
"She may be a bit of an idiot," this earned Dragoon a dark glare and a one fingered salute from the blue haired assassin. "And brash, but she does have a sense of honor...just make sure you make her promise not to run away..." Zach nodded and asked the girl if she would escape, the teen grumbling darkly for a moment before sighing and shook her head, swearing sourly that she wouldn't run away or hurt them.
Moments later, she was sitting in front of the three, the blue haired young man at her side as they both ate as quickly as they could, though Dragoon was a bit more polite about stuffing his face then his friend was. When their given food was gone, Rutee spoke, laying on her back and closing her eyes as she talked, her hands behind her head. "Okay, so, first question was...what again?" Quinn rolled his eyes and whipped out a paper fan, smacking the girl upside the head with it. "Oh yeah..." she didn't appear to notice the hit as she yawned. "I was sent by a guy named 'Yamato' to find and kill you two. Offered us a butt load of cash, so how could we refuse?"
Dragoon poked his friend between the eyes and muttered, "Don't you mean, 'You' couldn't refuse?" She grinned sheepishly and nodded, the blue haired man rolling his eyes.
Quinn crossed his arms and looked up at the tent ceiling, listening to the rain pound against the tarp of the large seven-person tent (they needed the room since Lee rolls around and kicks in her sleep) with a thoughtful look on his face. He was snapped to reality by Dragoon's horrified, 'what' being shouted. Upon inspection, the red haired sorcerer could only groan as he watched Zach flirt with the younger dragon, who simply looked horrified by whatever Zach was whispering in his ear.
Rutee, on the other hand, was laughing so hard tears were rolling down her cheeks as she pointed and laughed some more at Dragoon's expression. Her laughter paused when her friend fainted from shock of being flirted with by a guy before her laughter continued. Lee sat beside Zach and poked at the unconscious blue haired teen, who merely mumbled incoherent words along the lines of, 'I am a rock, I am an island'.
Finally, silence reigned, Quinn's friends sound asleep along with Dragoon and Rutee, the two assassins, keeping mostly to themselves and sleeping back-to-back. Quinn, on the other hand, remained awake, a book in hand and stylish wire-rimmed reading glasses resting on his nose as he read the thick book quietly, glancing up at the two blue haired teenagers every now and again, both remaining asleep.
Later the next day, the five entered a small nameless village, Quinn watching the two newcomers carefully, though not keeping his eyes on where he was going made things a little harder since Rutee would laugh at him every chance she got. Of course, this usually earned her a fist to the top of the head, but that didn't mean she couldn't make fun of him even if it meant extreme pain. Lee dragged Zach off while proclaiming that she was hungry, Zach half-dragging poor Dragoon with him while stating that if he had to suffer, he wasn't suffering alone at least.
Rutee scratched the side of her head and blinked a bit, unsure if she should follow them or continue getting dragged by Quinn, who refused to let her go two feet away from him for fear of her stabbing him in the back or running off. The redhead shook his head as he watched his sister drag off one of the two assassins and the gold dragon, the girl singing about how hungry she was. He started to turn to walk away, but froze when he realized Rutee was gone.
Cursing silently, he looked around the streets for any sign of her, freezing when he saw her talking to an older man and pointing at him. Panic shot through his stomach and he looked around, hoping to find someplace to hide before an army of bounty hunters or something came out to kill him.
Rutee returned and thrust something in the sorcerer's face, the male yelping and jumping back, pausing when he realized it was a fruit of some kind. She gave him a weird look and threw the fruit at him as she stated, Quinn catching it and looking at it curiously, having never seen a fruit like it before, "We never did have breakfast, seeing as the blonde –Lee was it? – ate all of it..." she bit into her own fruit and looked around as if trying to decide where to go next.
The red haired sorcerer bit into his fruit, blinking at the taste that filled his mouth upon taking his fist bite. While it looked something like a small pineapple without the hard outside coating, it tasted more like an apple and orange put together with a hint of lemon sourness. He glanced over at the girl, frowning as if he were suspicious, but said nothing, following her as she began to wander off.
She looked at him from over her shoulder and snapped, glaring, "Go away!" he snorted and crossed his arms, stating bluntly 'no' and adding a stabbing, 'boy' after her name. Her eyebrow twitched and she growled, turning and glaring at him dangerously. "What did you call me?!" Everyone around them frozen as a blue tail suddenly appeared from the seat of the girl's pants, trashing angrily, her fists clutched tightly at her side. Quinn's eyes nearly took over his face as he stared at Rutee's sudden tail and began to put the pieces together.
"You....you're a dragon too?" he asked, feeling quiet stupid for asking such and obvious 'yes' question.
Rutee calmed down slightly, her tail vanishing and shorts mending instantly. She started to reply, but was cut short by a scream from a shop near the edge of town. The two looked up and at the source of the scream, spotting a young woman point and screaming, "They're coming! The bandits are back!" The people around them screamed and ran, seeking shelter at the inn or their homes, whichever was closest to them. Within moments, the street was empty, save for Quinn and Rutee. Both exchanged glances and looked at the forest at the edge of the town and saw what the people found so terrifying. Several human and troll bandits limbered into town, the leader, a burly man with some obvious troll-like features, walking briskly toward the two remaining people in the street.
Quinn stood his ground while Rutee appeared somewhat confused on if she should escape now and let the flame-haired sorcerer die, or if she should stay and help him fight, therefore earning his trust. The army of bandits stopped before the two and the leader of the bandits sneered at them. He said nothing as he strode up to Quinn and got in the sorcerer's face, forcing the young man to take a step back as he wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Looks like some kids deciding to play with the Troll Moon 32 Gang!"
"You're breath stinks," he stated bluntly, waving a hand in front of his face to show his point. Rutee's eyes nearly took over her face at this, having heard of the gang that she prayed they weren't staring at. He then added, "Your numbers are piddly, and your name sucks." The bandit leader twitched and glared, an anger vein forming on his forehead as he watched the smug smirk cross Quinn's face, the young man crossing his arms as if awaiting a retort.
Upon coming up with nothing, the bandit leader roared, pointing at the two teens, "Bandits! ATTACK!!" Quinn stood static, his expression smug amusement while Rutee drew her sword and stood at his side, looking as if she wanted to run, but she had promised not to run away, so she stayed, a water spell appearing in her hands as she threw the Freeze Arrow at the first wave of bandits. Fortunately, the trolls weren't strong enough to break the ice, forcing the other bandits to circle their comrades and charge.
Quinn raised a hand, palm facing the oncoming bandits as he shouted, a glowing sphere of flame appearing in his hands, "Idiots. Rune Flare!" several spheres of flame shot from the single one in his hand and streaked towards the first fifteen bandits. When each shot struck, the bandits finding it impossible to dodge them, a small explosion erupted from each fireball and sent the first fifteen sprawling. He pointed at Rutee as the spell faded and stated, "Lets see what you got, short-stuff!"
Rutee flipped him off before turning and holding her sword in front of her, closing her eyes and mumbling words in Draconian. Blue flame surrounded the blade of her sword as she shouted, "Ice Blade!" She opened her eyes and ran forward, slashing at the bandits and freezing them instantly with each slash. The flame lasted through ten more out of her already frozen three and while she hadn't wiped out as many as Quinn had, she still had to fight her way back to him to keep from being overpowered. She managed to return to his side, not even out of breath as she said, "How's that, Mr. Fancy Spells?"
He stuck his tongue out at her and turned his attention back to the bandits as he muttered, "Damn, there's a lot of them..." he adjusted his trench coat and cracked his knuckles, and for a moment Rutee thought he was about to charge into battle. Instead, he cupped his hands in front of him and closed his eyes, a small orb of red energy appearing between his hands as he chanted softly, the girl at his side having to struggle to hear his words, "Darkness beyond Twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows, buried in the stream of time is where your power grows..."
Rutee turned about ten shades of white and turned and ran as quickly as she could, not wanting to be caught up in the spell when it went off. The bandits simply figured she got scared and continued to charge. A water spell came from nowhere and blasted them back away from Quinn, Rutee having stopped running a good ten feet away. She knew she'd get hit, but she had to at least try to help him.
"I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand against this mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hands..." His eyes snapped open as he shouted, the energy shooting out of his hands and striking the bandits, "Dragon Slave!" The wave of energy swept throughout the town, destroying everything and leaving only a crater as a sign that a town had stood there moments before. The bandits were nowhere to be seen, having been buried in ruble and dirt from the blast, the same with the townspeople and his friends. Quinn dusted off his hands and grinned smugly as he turned and looked around for Rutee. The girl scrambled from under a building and glared at him, coughing slightly as she batted dirt from her hair.
Zach, Lee and Dragoon emerged in a similar fashion, though it took Lee a good number of minutes to realize she was in pain. The three limped over to their friend, Rutee still sitting on the ground and brushing dirt from her hair and cloths, while Lee asked her brother what had happened to make him cast Dragon Slave. The redhead merely shrugged and explained that some bandits 'threatened the town's safety'. Before anyone could say anything else, the townspeople emerged and glared at the only one unharmed. Quinn.
The five adventurers exchanged glances and, without a word, Quinn took off like a shot, his friends at his heels and angry villagers at their heels. The first words out of Rutee's mouth as she caught up to him and was running at his side, "You owe me!" Quinn gave her an annoyed look and retorted.
"I don't owe a little bastard dragon like you the time of day!" he snapped as they continued to run. Rutee twitched and was now beginning to chase him, shouting that he owed her lunch at least while their friends merely shouted that the villagers were gaining on them, Dragoon in near- tears and Lee sobbing about how the food was gone. Zach merely shouted at them to speed up.