Hey Minna! How's it going!? I have been very busy with College thus this
chapter took a while. Sorry. Please be patient Minna.
Well then here is the new chappie.
Chapter 5: Insomnia and swords. Dear journal,
I guess this is going to be my next favorite thing now, because I need something to keep me sane. I need something that I can pour my heart into and this is the only way I can think of. There are things that I need to tell someone! Though if I tell THEM..if I tell the others I will end up ruining the trust that I have with them already! I can't do that to them! Who are the others? Lina-san, the red headed sorceress, Goury, the blonde haired brainless baka, Amelia, the go for justice princess, Zelgadis, mister personality, Philia, Miss Golden dragon and care taker of Val, Val, the dragon who tried to destroy the world, and Xellos, the smiling freak of nature...The others who have given me their trust, and already I have had to lie to them. I really don't know why I couldn't tell them, I just couldn't! What am I talking about? I am talking about my encounter a week ago with "Nari." The girl who is a walking contradiction? Insane lunatic who threatened my only friends on this world? That morning as I stared at the brightly colored horizon, I couldn't believe my eyes. After a bit of colorful language that I think could have peeled paint off walls, I told the others a lie that I had fallen and hit my head. Everyone bought it. Well....not everyone I think. Lina-san, Zelgadis-san, and Xellos-san looked at me a bit strangely as I told the story. My story? That is easy. I told them that I fell off some rocks and had not noticed any time difference, so I started to head back. As to why I wanted to leave so badly, I said I had felt something out in the forest that, and I quote, "scared the living shit out of me!" Well as to why it took me so long to record this is because this is the first inn we have stayed in for the last week. Everyone is asleep and I have some free time to write. *** *** *** *** *** Karen looked up from her journal, contemplating what she was going to write next. Her thoughts strayed to the night the she had met with Nari, and she shuddered. *** *** *** *** *** Nari is one thing that scares me right now. My meeting with her was not something that I want to repeat any time soon. That night when I met her, she acted as if she knew who I was. She knew about Kira...and that Kira was dead. At least she sounded very sure. She sounded like there was no mistaking it as fact. She kept on saying that I was supposed to go with her so that she could "make us happy." (I shiver in dread.) Anyways, back to scary girl. Nari kept it up for some time, but I remember very distinctly that I could not have been there for more than fifteen minutes. She was creeping me out! The one thing that scares me most is how in the hell she affected time like she did, and how the HELL she got out of there without me feeling her leave! *** *** *** *** *** Karen leaned back in her chair, trying to stretch; trying to get her thoughts out on paper was harder than she realized. She glanced at her roommates, Lina and Amelia, Karen could only smile. *** *** *** *** *** Well I can officially say I hate insomnia! I have been up for two nights strait with only an hour of sleep between them. Before this I did rather well with at least a couple hours sleep per night. Now I can't even close my eyes for half an hour! I can feel the need to rest there, but it is not giving in! I HATE LIFE!!!!!!!! We'll be staying in this town for a while, so Philia can look around. Did I tell you that the whole reason that this group is traveling is to they can find a new home for Philia and Val? He he! It seem that the town Philia and Val had been living in didn't want a dragon in their midst so they threw them out. JERKS! Life doesn't seem fair here, but when I think about it, that is what is fair. Nothings fair. Life isn't supposed to be fair for humans because they were created for Chaos. At least according to my dream. Whoever I was in that dream, her name was Dom....Now that I think about it that is what that voice in my room called me Dom... Maybe I should try to research that stuff. Like the creation of humans, and someone over Shabranigdu and Cepheid. That will fill some of my time here. I know I have a lot to learn but this will be a good start. Oh! As a side note that everyone probably didn't know! Silphiel left two days ago to go back home. She said she had been spending to much time away from her duties. ...... Hum *** *** *** *** *** Karen stared at the page blankly, and sighed. "I guess this the end to my first entry." Karen signed the bottom of her entry and put the book in her bag that was at her feet. "This is great. That took up all of twenty minutes of my time," she growled as she got up and began to pace the room looking for something to do. As her feet started their way back to the table she saw her sword and dagger lying across her things. "Well might as well practice." She gathered her blades and headed out of the room towards the practice ring behind the inn. Karen didn't bother to put on her boots for they would have made too much noise as she made her way down the stairs. As she neared the ring Karen felt like she was being watched but could not find a source for her worry. After a few moments she just shrugged her shoulders and began to take off her vest. She folded the long garment neatly and laid it on a nearby bench where she could see it easily. Placing her sword and dagger on top of it she left them there for a while, so she could warm up and stretch. For the next hour and a half, Karen did a stretching exercise that looked more like a gymnast routine than stretches. She bounced, and flipped from one point in the arena to another as if she were dancing. She looked beautiful in the early morning light. She stopped and went to her blades, getting them out of the sheaths. After a few moments of rest, and walking about the ring, swinging her blades, Karen began another dance. This dance far too dangerous for others to join in with her. The blades caught the light of the rising sun, making it look like she had captured light and made it into a physical force. Her movements were fluid and true, her body graceful. Yet, as all of this happened, she was becoming faster. If any one who knew about sword skill had been watching, they would have noticed she was doing the same sword routine over and over again. Each time she started over, she got faster. After an hour she had her weapons going so fast, that they were nothing but silvery blurs of light. When she ended she was going to walk about the ring but stopped. "Uh...hi?" There around the ring, were people from the inn, staring at her in awe. Everyone laughed at her obvious discomfort of being stared at. They had been watching her since the beginning of her sword dance. The worse thing amongst this all was that Karen could see Zelgadis, Goury, and Xellos standing with the crowd watching her. How did I not notice this large of a crowd before this? Karen thought in confusion as she made her way slowly to her fellow traveling companions. "What are you three staring at?" she snapped at the three males. Xellos smiled at her and held up a single finger. "Sore wa, himitsu desu!" Karen just rolled her eyes and looked to the others for the answer, since she knew by now it was impossible to get any information from the Mazoku when he was in this mood. "We woke up and heard the commotion outside. We thought to take a look, since breakfast wasn't going to be ready for another half hour or so." Zelgadis explained, his hood and mask up. Karen nodded and began to gather her vest when Goury stopped her. "Would you like to practice against me?" he asked in his usual innocent tone, though he sounded very excited. Why do I always want to say yes when ever he asks me to do something? Karen thought with a sigh and nodded. "Take off the armor though; I don't want to ruin my sword if I 'hit' you." The crowd gathered again, waiting for another chance to see a spectacle. Goury nodded and took off the ever present armor, and got ready. Karen looked at Zelgadis. "You want to practice also?" she asked. Zelgadis looked surprised, but nodded. "Good then it can be both of you against me," Karen said with a smile. "Take off the cloak Zel-san. I don't want you to have to buy a new one if we get carried away." As Zelgadis did as she asked, with a small smile on his face, he thought about what he saw in her practice. She is fast and agile, he thought. Her movements are strong and her foot work stable..when she is on the ground. When all three were ready they took positions to start the bout. "Go!" Xellos yelled but no one moved. This caused some confusion amongst the crowd, why were they not attacking each other? "I won't attack first you two," Karen said to the other fighters across from her. "Well Gee Karen-san, I really can't attack a lady first you know," Goury said dropping his guard to scratch his head in confusion. The next thing happened so fast that Karen wasn't sure she could understand what was done at all. Karen rolled her eyes in frustration at Goury's idiocy; next Zelgadis was locked with her sword to sword. Okay, so they are a little faster than I thought they would be, Karen thought as she broke free of the lock. Goury came next; his usually open, happy face was closed and determined. Karen blocked his thrust, and parried away trying to get some open ground. The two men knew what she was after and closed in so to give her less room to maneuver in. Karen chuckled. "You two really think you have me cornered?" Neither of them spoke, they only kept their attack up. There! Karen mind and instincts screamed when she saw a big enough opening for her to slip through. Karen ran forward unexpectedly, driving the two warriors apart giving her room to run past them. Neither male skipped a beat from her trick. They both attacked her simultaneously, trying to limit her defense, but came up with a nasty surprise. Karen chose this time to switch her style of fighting to Fencing. The quick, lightening fast moves of Fencing caught them off guard and Karen nearly got a couple of points. "You know more than one style of fighting Karen-san?" Xellos asked from the side lines. Karen only nodded as she dodged the two other fighters. That's how it went for the next hour in the practice. The two males would corner Karen, then she would either charge through their defense, or switch her style to suit the moment of time. All three fighters were sweating heavily now and there was nothing given one way or another. Everyone that watched the display "oh-ed" and "ah-ed." None of them had seen such a thing in their entire lives, especially from a woman. The sounds of the fight brought down Lina, Amelia, and Philia. They watched the fight in interest. Karen looked at the two boys across from her, and smirked. These two don't know what I've been saving for last. When Karen had a small lull in the fight she prepared herself for her final attack. "Ja!" she whispered as she saluted both of the men with her sword. This confused them both, but not as much as when she disappeared right in front of their eyes. "Huh!" they both exclaimed as they stared at where she once stood. "Where is she?" Zelgadis asked as her looked about the ring for her. "She just disappeared! Just like what Xellos does!" Goury said. He glanced over at Xellos only to find him looking above him. Zelgadis and Goury looked up to see an interesting sight. Karen was up in the air, her legs folded close to her body and her arms crossed over her chest. As she came down from her leap her sword began to swing out, and down..onto Goury. Goury's sword came up just in time as her sword descended upon him. There was a soft sound as the swords hit, but Karen's sword only bent out of the way. Karen landed in a crouched position. As Goury looked on in confusion, for the strike she had done should have broken his sword in two, she used her dagger to get under his guard and marked a killing blow on his heart. "Ha! Got one of you!" Karen exclaimed with joy. "Yes, but I have you," Zelgadis said from behind her, his sword at the base of her neck. Karen got up from her position and smiled. "Well at least I got rid of one of you," Karen stated with a smile. "Indeed," Zelgadis said with a tired smile. Goury was just confused. He knew he lost, but how Karen had brought it about was still eluding him. Just like everything else. "Don't worry Goury-san," Karen stated with a chuckle. "You just ended up the easier target in that attack." "I don't get it," Goury said. A certain red headed sorceress, that stood behind them, was about to kill him when Karen laughed. "Don't you worry your simple little mind over it Goury-san. The point is I was able to beat you, but you lasted longer than any other man to date." "Oh! That's good!" Goury stated happily. Karen, Lina, Philia, and Zelgadis all sweat dropped. "Yeah right," Karen said with a shake of her head. She turned and went to put her blades back in their sheaths. "That was an interesting fight Karen-san," Xellos said with his usual smile. Before the girl could answer him she tripped and fell face first into the dirt. She lifted her dirt covered face, and coughed. "That was graceful," she muttered as the others laughed. "Karen," Lina tried to say through her laughing. "Go take a bath and then come and get your breakfast," she said as Karen got up and placed her sword and dagger in her sheaths. Karen nodded as she grabbed her belt and long vest. "Right." She headed for the Inn, her things over her arm. Karen had not realized the potential of having a hot bath could be so good. "That felt great!" she exclaimed as she finished getting dressed. Her hair was going to be wet for the rest of the day so she decided to put it in to a braid for the time being. Her blades were around her waist where they should be, and her bag slung onto her back. "Life is good when one is clean and you don't stink!" she stated as she began to leave her room. When she turned, Karen found a young woman dressed like any other commoner in the town, except the girl had something funny about her. The girl had blonde hair and green eyes, with a sort of sad look about her. "What is it you wish my Lady?" she asked formally with a bow. The girl jerked in surprise. "You know?" she asked in shock. "Sort of hard to miss, since you're the only one with a gold necklace and diamond studs in your ears in the entire town." The girl bit her lip, "Please miss." "Karen." The girl nodded, and then bowed to Karen, "Please Karen-san," she started, "my village has been under attack for the last few months by a group of bandits. As you most likely have noticed, We do not know Witchcraft, but our attackers do. They even have a Mazoku working with them and an unbeatable swordsman. I saw you and your traveling companions fighting this morning and I knew that you were the ones sent to help us." "Quite a sob story," Karen drawled. "Help you with what?" "I, Lady Alexia Downkirt, ask you to get rid of these villains. I shall pay you handsomely," Alexia said. "Really?" Karen said with a raised eyebrow. "How much and what exactly did you mean by 'get rid of'?" "Do what ever you want to them but do not destroy the surrounding forest. You will get nothing if you do that," the Lady said with a little bit of backbone. So..this girl has been affected personally, Karen thought. A bag fell at Karen's feet, the sound of coins permeated from it as it hit the ground. "That is your down payment. You shall get the rest when you bring proof that you and your friends have succeeded," Alexia stated. "My friends won't be that easy to persuade lady," Karen said as she reached for the bag. She paused momentarily at the weight of it. "How much is our down payment?" "2,000 golds," Lady Downkirt said. "The rest will be another 8,000 golds." Karen lifted an eyebrow. She's desperate... or very rich, can't tell which. She placed the bag of gold in her pack on her back. "Well you'll have me none the less," Karen said with a bow. She turned to leave, "I'll take care of it after breakfast." The young Lady watched her leave. "Good luck. You're going to need it."
Chapter 5: Insomnia and swords. Dear journal,
I guess this is going to be my next favorite thing now, because I need something to keep me sane. I need something that I can pour my heart into and this is the only way I can think of. There are things that I need to tell someone! Though if I tell THEM..if I tell the others I will end up ruining the trust that I have with them already! I can't do that to them! Who are the others? Lina-san, the red headed sorceress, Goury, the blonde haired brainless baka, Amelia, the go for justice princess, Zelgadis, mister personality, Philia, Miss Golden dragon and care taker of Val, Val, the dragon who tried to destroy the world, and Xellos, the smiling freak of nature...The others who have given me their trust, and already I have had to lie to them. I really don't know why I couldn't tell them, I just couldn't! What am I talking about? I am talking about my encounter a week ago with "Nari." The girl who is a walking contradiction? Insane lunatic who threatened my only friends on this world? That morning as I stared at the brightly colored horizon, I couldn't believe my eyes. After a bit of colorful language that I think could have peeled paint off walls, I told the others a lie that I had fallen and hit my head. Everyone bought it. Well....not everyone I think. Lina-san, Zelgadis-san, and Xellos-san looked at me a bit strangely as I told the story. My story? That is easy. I told them that I fell off some rocks and had not noticed any time difference, so I started to head back. As to why I wanted to leave so badly, I said I had felt something out in the forest that, and I quote, "scared the living shit out of me!" Well as to why it took me so long to record this is because this is the first inn we have stayed in for the last week. Everyone is asleep and I have some free time to write. *** *** *** *** *** Karen looked up from her journal, contemplating what she was going to write next. Her thoughts strayed to the night the she had met with Nari, and she shuddered. *** *** *** *** *** Nari is one thing that scares me right now. My meeting with her was not something that I want to repeat any time soon. That night when I met her, she acted as if she knew who I was. She knew about Kira...and that Kira was dead. At least she sounded very sure. She sounded like there was no mistaking it as fact. She kept on saying that I was supposed to go with her so that she could "make us happy." (I shiver in dread.) Anyways, back to scary girl. Nari kept it up for some time, but I remember very distinctly that I could not have been there for more than fifteen minutes. She was creeping me out! The one thing that scares me most is how in the hell she affected time like she did, and how the HELL she got out of there without me feeling her leave! *** *** *** *** *** Karen leaned back in her chair, trying to stretch; trying to get her thoughts out on paper was harder than she realized. She glanced at her roommates, Lina and Amelia, Karen could only smile. *** *** *** *** *** Well I can officially say I hate insomnia! I have been up for two nights strait with only an hour of sleep between them. Before this I did rather well with at least a couple hours sleep per night. Now I can't even close my eyes for half an hour! I can feel the need to rest there, but it is not giving in! I HATE LIFE!!!!!!!! We'll be staying in this town for a while, so Philia can look around. Did I tell you that the whole reason that this group is traveling is to they can find a new home for Philia and Val? He he! It seem that the town Philia and Val had been living in didn't want a dragon in their midst so they threw them out. JERKS! Life doesn't seem fair here, but when I think about it, that is what is fair. Nothings fair. Life isn't supposed to be fair for humans because they were created for Chaos. At least according to my dream. Whoever I was in that dream, her name was Dom....Now that I think about it that is what that voice in my room called me Dom... Maybe I should try to research that stuff. Like the creation of humans, and someone over Shabranigdu and Cepheid. That will fill some of my time here. I know I have a lot to learn but this will be a good start. Oh! As a side note that everyone probably didn't know! Silphiel left two days ago to go back home. She said she had been spending to much time away from her duties. ...... Hum *** *** *** *** *** Karen stared at the page blankly, and sighed. "I guess this the end to my first entry." Karen signed the bottom of her entry and put the book in her bag that was at her feet. "This is great. That took up all of twenty minutes of my time," she growled as she got up and began to pace the room looking for something to do. As her feet started their way back to the table she saw her sword and dagger lying across her things. "Well might as well practice." She gathered her blades and headed out of the room towards the practice ring behind the inn. Karen didn't bother to put on her boots for they would have made too much noise as she made her way down the stairs. As she neared the ring Karen felt like she was being watched but could not find a source for her worry. After a few moments she just shrugged her shoulders and began to take off her vest. She folded the long garment neatly and laid it on a nearby bench where she could see it easily. Placing her sword and dagger on top of it she left them there for a while, so she could warm up and stretch. For the next hour and a half, Karen did a stretching exercise that looked more like a gymnast routine than stretches. She bounced, and flipped from one point in the arena to another as if she were dancing. She looked beautiful in the early morning light. She stopped and went to her blades, getting them out of the sheaths. After a few moments of rest, and walking about the ring, swinging her blades, Karen began another dance. This dance far too dangerous for others to join in with her. The blades caught the light of the rising sun, making it look like she had captured light and made it into a physical force. Her movements were fluid and true, her body graceful. Yet, as all of this happened, she was becoming faster. If any one who knew about sword skill had been watching, they would have noticed she was doing the same sword routine over and over again. Each time she started over, she got faster. After an hour she had her weapons going so fast, that they were nothing but silvery blurs of light. When she ended she was going to walk about the ring but stopped. "Uh...hi?" There around the ring, were people from the inn, staring at her in awe. Everyone laughed at her obvious discomfort of being stared at. They had been watching her since the beginning of her sword dance. The worse thing amongst this all was that Karen could see Zelgadis, Goury, and Xellos standing with the crowd watching her. How did I not notice this large of a crowd before this? Karen thought in confusion as she made her way slowly to her fellow traveling companions. "What are you three staring at?" she snapped at the three males. Xellos smiled at her and held up a single finger. "Sore wa, himitsu desu!" Karen just rolled her eyes and looked to the others for the answer, since she knew by now it was impossible to get any information from the Mazoku when he was in this mood. "We woke up and heard the commotion outside. We thought to take a look, since breakfast wasn't going to be ready for another half hour or so." Zelgadis explained, his hood and mask up. Karen nodded and began to gather her vest when Goury stopped her. "Would you like to practice against me?" he asked in his usual innocent tone, though he sounded very excited. Why do I always want to say yes when ever he asks me to do something? Karen thought with a sigh and nodded. "Take off the armor though; I don't want to ruin my sword if I 'hit' you." The crowd gathered again, waiting for another chance to see a spectacle. Goury nodded and took off the ever present armor, and got ready. Karen looked at Zelgadis. "You want to practice also?" she asked. Zelgadis looked surprised, but nodded. "Good then it can be both of you against me," Karen said with a smile. "Take off the cloak Zel-san. I don't want you to have to buy a new one if we get carried away." As Zelgadis did as she asked, with a small smile on his face, he thought about what he saw in her practice. She is fast and agile, he thought. Her movements are strong and her foot work stable..when she is on the ground. When all three were ready they took positions to start the bout. "Go!" Xellos yelled but no one moved. This caused some confusion amongst the crowd, why were they not attacking each other? "I won't attack first you two," Karen said to the other fighters across from her. "Well Gee Karen-san, I really can't attack a lady first you know," Goury said dropping his guard to scratch his head in confusion. The next thing happened so fast that Karen wasn't sure she could understand what was done at all. Karen rolled her eyes in frustration at Goury's idiocy; next Zelgadis was locked with her sword to sword. Okay, so they are a little faster than I thought they would be, Karen thought as she broke free of the lock. Goury came next; his usually open, happy face was closed and determined. Karen blocked his thrust, and parried away trying to get some open ground. The two men knew what she was after and closed in so to give her less room to maneuver in. Karen chuckled. "You two really think you have me cornered?" Neither of them spoke, they only kept their attack up. There! Karen mind and instincts screamed when she saw a big enough opening for her to slip through. Karen ran forward unexpectedly, driving the two warriors apart giving her room to run past them. Neither male skipped a beat from her trick. They both attacked her simultaneously, trying to limit her defense, but came up with a nasty surprise. Karen chose this time to switch her style of fighting to Fencing. The quick, lightening fast moves of Fencing caught them off guard and Karen nearly got a couple of points. "You know more than one style of fighting Karen-san?" Xellos asked from the side lines. Karen only nodded as she dodged the two other fighters. That's how it went for the next hour in the practice. The two males would corner Karen, then she would either charge through their defense, or switch her style to suit the moment of time. All three fighters were sweating heavily now and there was nothing given one way or another. Everyone that watched the display "oh-ed" and "ah-ed." None of them had seen such a thing in their entire lives, especially from a woman. The sounds of the fight brought down Lina, Amelia, and Philia. They watched the fight in interest. Karen looked at the two boys across from her, and smirked. These two don't know what I've been saving for last. When Karen had a small lull in the fight she prepared herself for her final attack. "Ja!" she whispered as she saluted both of the men with her sword. This confused them both, but not as much as when she disappeared right in front of their eyes. "Huh!" they both exclaimed as they stared at where she once stood. "Where is she?" Zelgadis asked as her looked about the ring for her. "She just disappeared! Just like what Xellos does!" Goury said. He glanced over at Xellos only to find him looking above him. Zelgadis and Goury looked up to see an interesting sight. Karen was up in the air, her legs folded close to her body and her arms crossed over her chest. As she came down from her leap her sword began to swing out, and down..onto Goury. Goury's sword came up just in time as her sword descended upon him. There was a soft sound as the swords hit, but Karen's sword only bent out of the way. Karen landed in a crouched position. As Goury looked on in confusion, for the strike she had done should have broken his sword in two, she used her dagger to get under his guard and marked a killing blow on his heart. "Ha! Got one of you!" Karen exclaimed with joy. "Yes, but I have you," Zelgadis said from behind her, his sword at the base of her neck. Karen got up from her position and smiled. "Well at least I got rid of one of you," Karen stated with a smile. "Indeed," Zelgadis said with a tired smile. Goury was just confused. He knew he lost, but how Karen had brought it about was still eluding him. Just like everything else. "Don't worry Goury-san," Karen stated with a chuckle. "You just ended up the easier target in that attack." "I don't get it," Goury said. A certain red headed sorceress, that stood behind them, was about to kill him when Karen laughed. "Don't you worry your simple little mind over it Goury-san. The point is I was able to beat you, but you lasted longer than any other man to date." "Oh! That's good!" Goury stated happily. Karen, Lina, Philia, and Zelgadis all sweat dropped. "Yeah right," Karen said with a shake of her head. She turned and went to put her blades back in their sheaths. "That was an interesting fight Karen-san," Xellos said with his usual smile. Before the girl could answer him she tripped and fell face first into the dirt. She lifted her dirt covered face, and coughed. "That was graceful," she muttered as the others laughed. "Karen," Lina tried to say through her laughing. "Go take a bath and then come and get your breakfast," she said as Karen got up and placed her sword and dagger in her sheaths. Karen nodded as she grabbed her belt and long vest. "Right." She headed for the Inn, her things over her arm. Karen had not realized the potential of having a hot bath could be so good. "That felt great!" she exclaimed as she finished getting dressed. Her hair was going to be wet for the rest of the day so she decided to put it in to a braid for the time being. Her blades were around her waist where they should be, and her bag slung onto her back. "Life is good when one is clean and you don't stink!" she stated as she began to leave her room. When she turned, Karen found a young woman dressed like any other commoner in the town, except the girl had something funny about her. The girl had blonde hair and green eyes, with a sort of sad look about her. "What is it you wish my Lady?" she asked formally with a bow. The girl jerked in surprise. "You know?" she asked in shock. "Sort of hard to miss, since you're the only one with a gold necklace and diamond studs in your ears in the entire town." The girl bit her lip, "Please miss." "Karen." The girl nodded, and then bowed to Karen, "Please Karen-san," she started, "my village has been under attack for the last few months by a group of bandits. As you most likely have noticed, We do not know Witchcraft, but our attackers do. They even have a Mazoku working with them and an unbeatable swordsman. I saw you and your traveling companions fighting this morning and I knew that you were the ones sent to help us." "Quite a sob story," Karen drawled. "Help you with what?" "I, Lady Alexia Downkirt, ask you to get rid of these villains. I shall pay you handsomely," Alexia said. "Really?" Karen said with a raised eyebrow. "How much and what exactly did you mean by 'get rid of'?" "Do what ever you want to them but do not destroy the surrounding forest. You will get nothing if you do that," the Lady said with a little bit of backbone. So..this girl has been affected personally, Karen thought. A bag fell at Karen's feet, the sound of coins permeated from it as it hit the ground. "That is your down payment. You shall get the rest when you bring proof that you and your friends have succeeded," Alexia stated. "My friends won't be that easy to persuade lady," Karen said as she reached for the bag. She paused momentarily at the weight of it. "How much is our down payment?" "2,000 golds," Lady Downkirt said. "The rest will be another 8,000 golds." Karen lifted an eyebrow. She's desperate... or very rich, can't tell which. She placed the bag of gold in her pack on her back. "Well you'll have me none the less," Karen said with a bow. She turned to leave, "I'll take care of it after breakfast." The young Lady watched her leave. "Good luck. You're going to need it."