Rikimaru was not always a skilled assassin, making quick work of his opponents by blending into the the darkness around him and using the advantage of silence to finish his enemies one by one. He was not always a man of murder, inflicting the jagged steel of his two shining blades into his oppositions neck.

This is the tale, of Riki the Stealth Assassin.

Rikimaru was once a child, born to the wealthy and royal family of Tahlin, who ruled over their land with honour and pride. His parents, King and Queen gave birth to three, as such, Riki was the middle child. While the older brother was groomed, pampered and fit to become the new leader of the land, and the youngest was spoiled, coddled, and spoonfed everything in his life to him, Rikimaru was often overlooked. For being the smallest and quietest, everyone would rather pay attention to his other brothers than to himself, but this didn't bother him. Rikimaru had always known that silence was his ally, honing his skills in blending in with his surroundings whenever he had the chance, he would often take to the streets to practice his ability, his invisibility.

At home he was often ignored, even his own parents didn't pay much attention to him. The parents would often question why he was so silent, the Tahlin Dynasty was always so proud, and eager to rule the land with smiling grace, Rikimaru didn't possess any of the necessary skills of being a prince.

"Why don't you enjoy the world you were raised in, instead of slinking around in your own?" His mother would say.
"You're a Tahlin boy, Rikimaru. You're destined for royalty, not stealth and knives." His father would say.

"Stealth is an art." The prince would finally reply, "Invisibility is my tool of choice."

After that short, but nonetheless meaningful conversation, the King and Queen of the land left their middle son to do as he pleased. He'd continue to blend in with the lower society, who looked upon the Tahlin Palace as if it were a god, sent down to protect them from each other. Although none of the citizens noticed, a prince would walk in silence among them, all night and day.

Until one cold evening...

Rikimaru, staring down on his fathers city, noticed an eery orange smoke draw in from the town gates. He stared in curiosity as the smoke passed the few that roamed the streets at dusk, bringing them to the ground and moving on, it peered through the palace doors. Rikimaru pounced to the living room, where his brothers were speaking of royal matters he had no care for. He told them of the smoke, he told them of its dangers.

"Bah! Your jokes aren't funny Rikimaru, go back to playing with knives." The older brother would insult, gazing upon the middle son as if he were a mere line of dust compared to himself.

Riki knew there was no way to convince his brothers of the dangers lurking ever so closely, so he warned his parents, whom didn't believe him either. Scared for his family, Riki ran back into the living room, mouth wide in utter disbelief.

His two brothers lay face first in the ground, empty and pale, showing no signs of immediate life. Just then, masked men stormed the room with swords and shields, Rikimaru closed his eyes, his body blended into the pillars and paintings that surrounded the room.

Invisible, silent, deadly...

The doors behind him clashed open, his parents in shock. They called their childrens names, but no response was heard. A tear fell from his mothers eye. As the water melted into the tiled floor underfoot, the men marched closer and closer to his parents, Riki knew there was nothing he could do for them now, if he were to escape he needed to do it quietly. As much as it hurt him to think about it, he needed his parents out of the way.

Almost instantly, one of the men's blades impaled the Queen's stomach, she let out a sigh that Riki heard as a cry for vengeance. His father then started to fight back, his large fist impacting one of the many masked men, before another blade cuts into his neck, his head rolling to the floor.

Rikimaru's parents were dead, killed right in front of him. The line of Tahlin almost decimated.

Almost.

"Find the remaining son, and kill him." An order was given, the masked men then split off to search for the lone survivor

Now was Rikimaru's act of Salvation.

One by one, men in masks fell to the floor, jab marks in their necks and blood spilled. He had no idea who these men were, or why they would even think of killing the Tahlin family, but he knew that because of this they had to pay. Every last one of them. As Riki landed the last puncture into the chest of the remaining masked man, he uttered a single, but vastly intimidating phrase.

"If you can see me..." He began. "You're already dead."

He removed the dagger, pushing the man to the floor.

"We will find you... Rikimaru." The man uttered, as his eyes slowly began to drift into the back of his head.

"Not unless I fade away." Riki said, pocketing his daggers.

He looked towards the doors, more men were on their way. Riki wasn't a good one on one fighter, even though he heard more than one pair of footsteps storming the front entrance. He began to sprint toward the balcony as the masked men screamed and shouted at him, cursing him with death threats and words of no proper meaning. He pounced onto the barrier holding the balcony together, then leaping off it and into a pile of leaves below.

The men didn't follow him, instead Riki escaped with his life, and his family in his heart.

After the incident, he began to take up contract work as an Assassin in many other towns across the world, leaving his royal life behind, he became known as Riki the Stealth Assassin, for his skill in silent contracting. After almost three years in the Assassin business, he took on the biggest job he was yet to face. The Radiant Army, smaller than it is now, approached him led by Ursa Warrior, Ulfsaar. Explaining that the war against the Dire was bigger than it had ever been, Riki signed on to not only rid the the world of the evil that was fast approaching, but also find the men responsible for the death of his family.

This has been the tale, of Riki the Stealth Assassin

Authors Note: Thanks for reading this! This is my first Fanfic on this site, I know it's kind of rough, but if you liked it feel free to leave a review and maybe a suggestion for the next tale if you'd like one.

Again, thanks.

-Lockius