As the day wore on Hawx Kestrel found himself at the outskirts of vale, in the shady side of town. 'the spit n sawdust.' Was exactly what Hawx was looking for. The bar didn't have many locals, mostly attracting the attention of the local small-time gangs and occasional ageing huntsmen with nothing better to do then drown themselves in their own pity. This early in the morning the bars occupants were limited to just a couple of shady figures sitting in opposing corners of the room. Hawx instinctively kept his aura active at most times of the day, if for no other reason then to sense the auras of those around him. The occupant to his left didn't strike Hawx as much, he was young and by the feel of things untrained.

The man opposite him however was enough for Hawx to take notice. He wore a long heavy brown leather duster that covered most of his body, he also wore a large hat that he had pulled down over his face to hide it from any prying eyes. His aura was immense, its presence enough to fill the entire bar, Hawx theorised he had some kind of area of effect semblance. Beside the man sat his weapon, a huge buster style sword at least five feet in length and a foot wide at its base. Hawx thought he could make out the barrel and chamber of some kind of a revolver as well, but looked away when the mans head lifted up, giving Hawx a quick glimpse of white hair over tired eyes.

Hawx made a note of where the man was sitting before moving toward the bar. There was a girl sitting further down the bar nursing a fancy colourful beverage, behind the bar another young woman polished a small glass, She shot Hawx a smile when she saw him coming. The serving girl wore a short brown skirt and white shirt. Her hair was brown and tied into a short pony tail revealing two green eyes.

"What can I get you handsome?" she asked in a low seductive tone. The girl put down the glass and leant forward onto the bar top with one arm.

"a double of the strongest from the bottom shelf." Hawx replied as he pulled up a stool at the bar.

"any ice sugar?"

"no."

The girl nodded before turning around and reaching for a bottle on top of the shelf, she dropped a glass in front of him. Hawx pulled up a stool and took a seat. The girl filled the glass with three shots before giving him a quick wink and disappearing behind the bar through a door Hawx hadn't noticed.

"Getting sloppy." Hawx groaned.

He felt the man behind him look up after registering that comment.

"wow you didn't even have to say a word to get her attention, what's your secret?"

another voice caught his attention, there was a girl sitting a few feet down the bar from him that he had also failed to notice. The girl was young, almost too young to have been in the bar, she wore a long brown overcoat that stopped at her knees revealing her bare legs. Her feet were covered by a pair of heavy gothic boots, her hair was long and autumn brown, a long cat like tail waved through the air behind her.

"I have my ways. You here for the festival?"

The girl slid her glass over towards him and moved seats.

"not really, I'd much rather see a fight between real huntsmen."

Hawx took a quick swig of his drink and leant back in his seat, both he and the man behind him registered a hidden meaning behind that comment. Hawx moved to question that further but was interrupted by the door of the bar swinging open violently. Eight men dressed in black suits with red ties walked in, all holding a mixture of red swords and dust pistols.

Hawx shot the girl a quick glace only to find her looking at him and smiling.

"can I help you?" Hawx asked nonchalantly.

"not you." The leader grunted. He turning his head slightly to face the girl.

"Miss I'm going to need you to come with us."

"eight guys to take away one girl, I don't even want to know what you're going to be doing." Hawx stated.

He dropped down from his stool and stepped forward. The men were dressed in the uniforms of Junior's club but something about them didn't seem right.

"nice disguises by the way, may have actually fooled someone less attentive."

The leader turned his attention to the young huntsmen, Hawx still had his drink in hand but hadn't taken much more then a sip, he swirled the liquid slowly beaconing a response.

"step aside Talon."

Hawx grinned.

"now there's a name I haven't been called by in a while."

'interesting development.' Hawx thought.

"hey these guys aren't messing around you should go." The girl said with a hint of worry in her tone.

Hawx ran his eyes over her and then the gang once before shrugging. He moved towards the door, the gang separated to let him pass. The frightened young man in the corner looked up to him for a second, while the quiet man put his head back down, perhaps anticipating what came next.

One of the gang members turned around as Hawx put one hand on the door.

"You filthy faunas should know better then to show your face in this neighbourhood."

A few of the gang members turned back to chuckle with each other for a second. They soon moved forward towards the girl, then a loud metallic clank echoed through the bar. All eight men turned back to the door. Hawx had twisted the nob in turn locking the door.

"you ever hear the one about the eight assholes who got themselves beat down by a faunas in a bar fight?"

The men looked to each other impatiently. The leader nodded to one of the swords men, who advanced on Hawx.

"I'll take that as a no."

Hawx swirled the glass around in his hand for a moment.

"Hey big guy!" he called to the man in the corner. "you want in on this?"

The man looked up from his table, groaned for a moment then looked away again. Hawx shrugged once, finished the drink he was still holding in his hand as the swordsman raised his blade. As the blade came down Hawx launched the glass into the mans face. Just before it connected Hawx pushed the glass into the mans face with a roundhouse kick, knocking his bloodied body to the ground. The man rolled around in pain with his hands over his face.

Hawx punched his right fist into his left hand and grinned towards the gang.

"who's next?"

Two swordsmen ran forward Hawx slipped past the first one and kicked the second in the back of the head with a spinning kick. He leant back almost touching the floor under a sword swing from another attacker. Hawx flipped up and to the side in a spin as one of the gunmen fired two shots. As he finished the move he grabbed a chair and hurtled it towards the gunmen. The gunman recoiled from the impact as Hawx jump kicked him into the man behind. Two more swordsmen attacked, Hawx effortlessly ducked and weaved past the onslaught of attacks before moving between the tow men and finishing each of them with a series of kicks. The leader advanced while the last gunman took aim. The leader pulled two long silver knives from his blazer and began his assault. Hawx parried a series of strikes with open hands before the gunman put a shot into his chest. Hawx grunted from the impact as the dust round shattered off his body.

"Oh shit he's a huntsmen!"

The leader attacked again. Hawx grabbed and snapped his right arm, he spun the leader around launching over his body as he spun into the air, in the process Hawx grabbed one of the leaders knifes and sent it into the gut of the gunman. One of the recovered swordsmen launched a screaming attack. Hawx finished him with a powerful kick that sent the swordsmen through the locked door, breaking it off its hinges. The unconscious swordsman was soon followed by the rest of the gang as they beat a hasty retreat out of the bar. The barmaid came out of the store room slowly to survey the chaos. Hawx through ten thousand lien onto the bar top.

"thanks for the drink. That should cover the cost of repairs."

He waved to the girl at the bar briefly before stepping outside into the sunshine. His train of thought changed, he turned back looking to where the girl at the bar had been but there was no sign of her. the quiet man with the strong aura looked up to him for a few lingering seconds. Suddenly Hawx wasn't feeling like this was going to be the quiet get away he had hoped for.