Ink and Blood

Chapter 1: Meeting

By: Asnee

AN: You have no idea how much trouble the title gave me. So I decided on something stereotypical. At first it was just a romance, but it turned into something more epic (as usual). Oh well. My second RO fic, as ITTE is almost done. (shameless plug XD) I also wrote that before the transcendent classes were out…and I really was always fascinated with SinX. So yeah, Assasin Cross x Sage. Slightly fluffy, but with more action that my other stories. I need to satisfy everone's need for violence. Also less…raunchy? XD I can't help it, I'm a pervert. Reviews make me write…and I don't own RO. If I did, maybe it wouldn't lag and suck as much.

"I am Unwritten,

Can't read my mind,

I'm undefined".

-Natasha Beddinfield, "Unwritten"

Books with a purple tab go...where? The new clerk paused carefully, the heavy tan volume in her hand. Attempting to balance her purse and many books in her arms was no easy feat. A tiny gold cylinder fell to the floor, though she didn't notice. Tired and hungry, she haphazardly threw it on a shelf. Ah well, someone will get it. Time to go home to her boyfriend and her cat. She closed The Sage's Smile bookshop, locking the door behind her casually and whistling. Like it would cause any issues.

Right, none at all.

Ryxam was angry. This was a fairly rare thing, mind you. It happened every once in a great while, but when it did - Oh boy.

Several people were backed up against walls, trembling a bit. Angry assassins were scary. But angry Assassins of the Cross were terrifying. His good eye, blood red, darted between frightened customers. They were ordinary people, less talented members of their society. They didn't dare attempt to cast or move – and he knew it. He folded his arms.

"So...pre tell...WHO took the last copy of the book I pre-ordered?"

A clerk gulped hesitantly. "W-we think it was an employee, sir," the old man mumbled, "She may have done it on accident. She's a bit of a ditz, that Seda."

"Oh, Seda?"

"Y-yes sir. Sort of short, bit on the stocky side, kind of a klutz."

"What does she look like?"

"A-ah she's a sage, sir."

"...So I see. What else?"

"..."

"Know where she lives?"

"Ah, sir. I'm an employer, and I need to respect the rights of--"

SLAM. Ryxam pinned the old man against a wall. "While I am one for justice," he said harshly, "I am also very, very short on nerves. You will tell me where she lives, or I'll kill you then look it up in your records anyway."

He trembled. "But Se-Seda is a kind child..."

Ryx's expression softened. "Who said I was going to hurt her? You assume because I am an assassin I mean to kill her. No, it will be as simple as 'Please return my book'".

He nodded slowly. "C-Come then, I'll write it down for you."

The old man teetered towards the desk, and several shoppers slumped to the floor in relief.

Shuffling through some neatly stacked parchments, he pulled a file out. Sure enough, there was a small drawing of a rather geeky looking girl, and several notes on her- including her address. The clerk copied it down.

"Her last name is Alumani. Seda Alumani. She's a gentle child, so please be kind."

Ryx nodded, and took the scrap from the old man. He strode out the door, and into the sunlight - then vanished completely. The clerk sighed. "Bit scary, eh everyone?"

One shopper spoke up. "Best damn visit to a book store I ever had"!

Another person chuckled. "Never thought I'd see one of THEM and live to tell about it..."

More chuckling. The owner sighed yet again, taking off his glasses and rubbing his temples. Ahh, youth.

"Annnddddd, this one! Onnn," a young girl of maybe seveteen squinted down at a book in her hands, pulling it out of a pile of many more, "Deadly Poisons. Neat!"

Her brother, Byrin, sighed deeply. "More books?"

Seda Ellia Alumani nodded eagerly, anime sparkles flashing around her head. Her glasses shined with glee. "Books books books! I love BOOOKS!"

"I'm quite aware of that," the knight said, plopping down on the couch beside her. The added weight on one side of the couch sent the petite sage sliding right into him. She landed with a good OOMF. Well, the saving grace was he wasn't wearing his armor. "But what about your practical training as a sage? Have you mastered anything yet?"

She looked up at her brother from her rather awkward position in his lap, half upside down. "Well, I got the endows down better. Not sure about calling fire or wind to the ground though," she turned red. "Still good with water though"!

"Deluge will only get you so far."

"Ah," she said a bit miserably, rising to a proper position. Seda was a young sage, just recently having achieved her rank a couple months back. Her brother, Byran, or Big Byri, was already a Lord Knight, and quite pleased with himself for it.

"Well, if it helps you to become a professor, I'm sure it's all for the best."

She sighed. "Well, I know I need to work on my magic. But knowledge is a major part of the exam!"

He nodded. "Indeed it is."

She shuffled. "I hope I can do it."

He laid a brotherly hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure you will, Seda."

There was a knock on the door, and she and her brother turned in the same instant. "I'll get it"! She padded through there small house, bare-footed, still carrying the book. She swung the door open. She looked up--

Only in time to get licked by an enormous peco tongue.

"Hello there, Yuli! And hi Ozi"! The sage greeted, petting the peco. The knight on the peco bent to wave an armored hand at her.

"Hey, sorry about Yuli. She gets restless when she knows we're at your house."

"S'all right," Seda said, patting the peco's beak. "Need Byri?"

"If he's in and not busy, it'd be cool."

"Byrrriiiiiiiii!"

"Sedddaaaaa"!

"Some knight and his sexy bird are here"!

"Coming Ozi!"

The dark haired man laughed, stepping off his peco and walking her away from the doorway. Seda followed out onto the little patio, keeping Yuli calm. She let out a frustrated squawk when Seda got to far away.

"Hmm, I need to talk to your brother for a minute. Wanna sit on Yuli so she doesn't take off?"

Seda gulped. "Umm--WHOA," she said, as she was suddenly picked up and put on Yuli's back. Yuli shuffled a bit, flapped her wings, and then cooed happily.

"Yeah that's right sweetie. No big armored butt. You take good care of that sage, right?"

The knight gave his bird an affectionate whack, and walked to talk the blonde knight that was standing the doorway, looking a bit dark now. Seda entertained herself for a bit by petting the top of Yuli's head, and dropped her book in the saddlebag for safekeeping.

Eventually, Ozi came over. Seda prepared to get off. "No no, we need to talk a bit longer. Something's come up."

"Oh, like what?" Seda said, a bit worried. She looked to her brother, whose handsome face was looking a bit pale suddenly, his blonde hair moving slightly in the afternoon breeze.

"Nothin' for you to worry your pretty little head about," he said jovially, though the girl knew he was hiding something, "In fact, why don't you go take Yuli out for a run? Nothing will go near you on her."

Seda gulped, but caught her brother's blue gaze. "Go," he said softly, "Enough books. Go run around a bit. You're sittin' on a good peco. She ain't a mean bastard like Gyri," he said, referring to his own sometimes problematic mount that liked to chew on Seda's hair. "You'll like it."

She looked a bit worried still. Her brother sighed, went into the house, and came back with a book. "In case you get bored, Seddy," he said using his nick name for her and dropping it in Yuli's saddle bag.

Seda nodded, having the distinct feeling she was being kicked out of her own house. Uncertainly, she lightly pulled on the reigns. Yuli responded the way she figured. They trotted lightly out of the patio, and into the streets of Juno. Her ancestral home for all her seventeen years, she knew the city like the back of her hand.

"So Yuli, the fields are cold and filled with nasty monsters. Why don't we run around the empty districts?"

The bird seemed to agree, and shuffled excitedly from one foot to another. "Let's try up north first!"

The peco and the sage wandered the city for a good hour, switching in-between a happy trot to a full gallop that had Seda screaming. By the time she had finished, both girl and bird were exhausted. The bird was quite happy though, and as soon as Seda slid off her back she sat down happily. Seda kept her hand on the reign just in case. Yuli didn't seem intent on going anywhere.

"Want some water?"

"Squawk?"

She understood that. "I'm going to find some, come along then!"

"Squaaaa," said the bird, exasperated and sitting down. Mumbling about her laziness, an idea suddenly struck the girl.

"Hey, watch this Yuli"!

"Squa?"

Drawing a gem out of her pocket and holding it in-between her hands, she closed her eyes. A soft blue light emanated. Yuli watched in wonder. This wasn't the mean magic. This was the good kind, she was sure, in her tiny bird brain.

Pulling on the invisible threads around her, Seda tried to her best to visualize the water flowing and pooling around her. And sure enough, there was a trickling sensation at her ankles as a self-sustaining pool of water formed. Over ankle deep, it stuck magically to one area.

"There you go Yuli, fresh water"!

The bird gulped gratefully, and Seda thanked nature under her breath. Plopping down gratefully, she didn't stop to worry about her butt getting wet.

Sloshing a few handfuls into her mouth, her senses tingled. Yuli's head shot up to, alarmed.

"Seda Alumani, is it?"

Her head shot up, looking in all directions. "P-pardon?" Her shyness took over.

"Hmf. Well, I seem to have found you. You weren't at your house, and then I saw a knight without a peco - and I thought to myself, 'Well, there you go. The girls giggling about a sage on a peco charging through Juno were right.'"

Seda blushed, embarrassed. People were talking about her?

"A-ah yes. I'm Seda Alumani. C-can I help you?"

"Perhaps."

"I can't see you, that's quite rude."

"Oh, is it?"

Seda took a deep breath, standing up. Then, pulling a small force, she let an orange spark start on her finger, and then swept her arm in front of her and to her side. It began to circle her body.

"That...won't help you find me."

She sweatdropped.

She sat back down in the water, an idea striking her. She looked for reflections. None, and then - it rippled. The water rippled from behind, and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Seda turned, ready to cast - her glowing hand was caught deftly, and no matter the force she exerted against it, it would not budge. She looked at the hand. A black leather glove over a large hand, steel claws over the top of it. The sage then saw the emblem on the inside of the glove, her heart dropping out of her stomach.

Assassin of the Cross. She looked up, her eyes wide behind her glasses.

One red eye met hers. "You have something I want."

She gulped, gasping again when he pulled her easily to her feet. Yuli looked ready to charge.

"No no Yuli! Be a g-good girl, run away...," she said softly. The bird cooed again.

"Mmm, I wouldn't recommend telling your pigeon to move. I'll kill it."

She took a deep breath. "Stay Yuli, stay still." The bird obeyed, looking leery.

"I want something returned, simple as that."

"Ah, and what is that?" The sage asked, expecting a dramatic answer of sorts.

"A book."

She sweatdropped.

"W-what? A book?" She was honestly perplexed. "What's the title?"

"Deadly Poisons," he said casually, sending shivers down her spine. "I had it reserved, and you seemed to have taken it home."

"...Ohh! But...it was on the shelf," she sweatdropped.

There was silence, and some mumblings about old men and beatings. "A-ah! Mister Assassin, please don't hurt Mr. Greenlif, he's a good person!"

"That sounds guilty to me, miss," he said softly in her ear, making her flush.

"H-honestly, I can s-show you where I found it"!

He must have been calculating. "Very well," he said at last, "This is turning into a much bigger deal than it should be."

"Then why not just let me give it back to you?"

"Because I hate liars."

She blanched. "Let's go to the book store, I can look it up on the records and prove it to you. Does tomorrow sound good?"

"No, but now does."

She yelped. "U-uh it's closed..."

"What am I, little sage?"

"...An assassin."

"Wrong," he hissed into her ear, tightening his grip on her wrist untill it was painful, "Assassin of the Cross. I am no lowly sand-eating filth."

She whimpered a bit. He sighed. "We shall go now, and you will present to me evidence that you are indeed innocent. If you are innocent, then I am in your debt for disturbing you."

She nodded. The snow-haired boy released his grip on her at last. She plopped back down into the water, again noticing his reflection didn't show. "If you look in the saddle bag...," she said softly, "the book should be in there."

There was the splash of footsteps, and she heard him say an air "Thank you".

"You can look at me, you know," he said with a chuckle, pleased with his book. She looked up, and then shrieked chibi style, because he had managed to kneel right next to her. His hair hid his left eye, and his right was bright red under a veil of dark silvery lashes. "If you are as innocent as you say you are, you have nothing to fear." She nodded slowly. Most of his face was concealed by his hair, and a silver mask that covered the bottom half. Pointed ears with a few clips and earrings protruded from under silver hair.

He looked to her, then the earrings. "Oh, like them?"

She nodded slowly, pieces of her own long brown hair getting in her face. "Wouldn't they flash and stuff on your...missions...though?"

He must have smiled, because his eye turned upwards slightly. "You're sure you're a sage?"

She nodded vigorously. "Oh yes! It's the thing I've always wanted to do, you know..." She realized she had begun to ramble, and stopped. "Err, sorry. I get kind of...excited...bout...that sort of thing...," she trailed off yet again flushing, and pushed her glasses back up.

"Shall we?" He held out a clawed hand. Carefully, she placed her own small one in his. She stood a bit shakily, and realized the man was a good inch or two taller than her. Not really large, but strongly built. He turned his back to her, one red eye gazing over his shoulder, and leaned slightly. Leather and metal made a peculiar sound. For a millisecond, the sage almost giggled. A chibi assassin appeared in her mind, waving his fanny at her and making "Yooohooooo"! sounds.

"It would be faster if I carried you on my back," he said. She gulped, and hesitantly put her hands on his shoulders. From between where armor and metal met, a thin knife slipped. He didn't seem to have noticed. His hands came up right under her butt, and she yelped and flushed. "Pardon me," he said softly with a chuckle. Seda mumbled something, then turned to Yuli.

"C'mere girl," she cooed. The bird warbled softly, looking at her confused. She carefully slipped the knife in the saddle bag, praying the assassin hadn't noticed. "Tell brother I'm all right. Ozi to. Now Yuli, back to your master." The bird looked undecided, before finally squawking and trotting off towards the sage's home.

"All set then?"

"Yes sir," she said, carefully putting her hands on his shoulders.

"Miss, you're gonna wanna hold on tighter than that."

"Eh? Why's th--ACK"! He had leapt suddenly onto the pillar ahead of them, running along it and leaping to the next one. She clung to the back of his neck, burying her head there. She felt his chest rumble in a laugh, and blushed again. Bastard.

Meanwhile...

Yuli squawked as she came back to the Alumani residence. Byri noticed his lack of sister immediately, needless to say.

"Dumb bird!" He roared, "What did you do with Seddy! YOU ATE HER, DIDN'T YOU!"

The bird warbled and sweatdropped - and then squawked, pointing its' shiny beak towards the saddle bag. Puzzled, Ozi opened it up.

"Lesse, nothing out of the ordina--ow...," he said suddenly, his mouth becoming a tight line as he studied the little dagger he had pulled out. Thin as a blade of grass and as long as his index finger, it was shaped like a dragon. On the bottom of the hilt, there was the insignia of the Assassins of the Cross. "Shit...Byri...," he said softly.

"What? What!" He said frantically, and froze when he saw the dagger. He took it carefully from his friend, his eyes going soft.

The image of his little sister reflected cleanly in the silver, and he felt his blood go icy. "One of those bastards...Seddy?"

Ozi climbed on top of Yuli. "I'm going to go where she was and check it out; you stay here in case she comes back." Byri nodded numbly, still fingering the dagger. An Assassin of the Cross...versus Seda? No chance...no chance at all.

End Chapter 1