"What is this?!"

Matthias was mad. No, beyond that. He was irate. He had come by that morning to collect Matthew. That wasn't the problem; Matthew was awake eating a small breakfast when he knocked on the door. No, the problem was Alfred. He had tagged along as he'd promised, but he had also brought along the book. He'd stolen it last night, slipping quietly past the guards around the trader's camp and finding the woman's trunk of goods. As Matthias was leading them away from town to find a secluded space to practice, he'd brought it out of the bag he was carrying and shown Matthias. Matthias had taken one look at it, before somehow exploding and imploding with rage at the same time.

"I don't know!" shouted Alfred, "I just figured it might be important. Mattie wanted to ask about this too, didn't you Mattie?"

"Don't drag me into this! I didn't ask you to steal it! In fact, I told you not to!"

Matthias watched as the two brothers dissolved into a loud argument. It got louder and louder, and he was glad they were nowhere near other people. Suddenly the wind around them, which had been a gentle breeze, stilled. A glance at Mattie showed the irritation he felt, and how close to the end of his tether he was.

"ENOUGH!" he shouted. Both looked at him, irritation evident in both their faces. "I offered to help train you, not be your babysitter. Give me the book, and if you do well today I'll tell you what it is."

"So you do know what's in the book!"

"Shut up Alfred. If you keep talking I'll kick you out and you'll have to go back to farming."

Alfred's face wrinkled in distaste, but he was quiet. Matthew let out a soft breath, and the breeze began again.

"Alright. Before we try anything you have to learn basic weapons skills. To do that, you first have to pick your weapon."

Ignoring the confusion evident on both of their faces, he pulled out a bundle of sticks, in a variety of lengths and shapes.

"It is much harder to fight with a weapon you aren't comfortable with, and each person is comfortable with something else. Your weapons should be a reflection of yourself, an extension of yourself."

Hesitantly Mattie reached into the pile and drew out a long stick. He waved it around a little before Matthias pulled it out of his hand and gestured to pick another. Slowly Alfred and Mattie went through the whole pile, some they discarded themselves, others Matthias discarded for them. Eventually, Mattie ended up with a medium length stick that was slightly curved. Alfred had nothing.

"Ok, Alfred since you don't have anything I'll just give you a shillelagh, that's that club looking stick. I'm sure we'll find you something. And Mattie, what you have is a wooden form of a long Albian hunting knife. These are strong and graceful if you know how to wield them right. Very deadly in the hands of masters."

The day wore on faster than either anticipated, as Matthias taught them different stances and basic forms. Soon the sun was setting.

"That's enough for today." sighed Matthias, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "You both did very well."

"Matthias. If you don't mind me asking. What is your weapon of choice? You've been demonstrating with ours, but nothing else."

In response to Matthew's question he gave a feral grin. "My weapon is the battle ax."

They walked home in silence, Alfred and Matthew sore from their effort, and Matthias enjoying the soft sounds of night. As they neared the village it became brighter. All three of them frowned, and Alfred rushed forward to see what was really going on. When the others caught up with him they gasped in shock. The village was on fire.

Blindly Alfred raced forward in a desperate attempt to do something, Mattie hot on his heels. After a brief pause to further evaluate the situation, Matthias ran in after them but split away from them quickly, skirting around the edge of town.


Lovino stalked the narrow hallways of The Shooting Star. He was royally pissed off, though that was not unusual. He paused briefly at the door to the cockpit, before slamming the door open and storming inside.

"Look, bastard," he snarled. "if you even think I'm going to go through with this-"

"My God. Do you even hear yourself Lovi?" a sardonic voice interrupted him. "I thought you ran on money. Are you telling me now that you have morals?"

"That's not it! Goddamnit Arthur -Captain, whatever. Does it sound like I give a fuck?- I want the money, but do you really think it'll be all the way out here?! This is literally the fucking end of the galaxy. No civilized person would be caught dead here. It's a literal fucking wasteland, for fuck's sake!"

"Yes," Arthur snapped, not once bothering to look at him. "I am perfectly aware of where I'm sailing."

When Lovino didn't leave he waved his hand toward the door, "You are dismissed."

Still, Lovino didn't move. He glowered at the back of the head of the captain. Sighing, Arthur turned away from the control panel to finally give attention to the intruder.

Lovino took him in. He was sitting in the worn chair in the worn room and yet looked like nobility. His clothes were neat: skin tight black leather pants with a cream shirt tucked in, a wide leather belt that held an array of knives and guns cinched around his waist, as well as a second belt across his chest that held even more weapons. Dark boots went about halfway up his calves, and a knife was hidden in each. Over all of this he wore a long red jacket. His face was sharp and refined, spiky blond hair framing slightly pointed ears which were pierced with a large variety of hoops and studs. Despite this, the main feature of his face was his eye. It was a sharp acidic green, almost absinthe colored. Only his left eye was visible though. A thin black rag was tied around his had to hide his right eye, so that no one would see his failure.

"What do you want?" his sharp voice brought Lovino back to the present.

"You know goddamn well what I want, you bastard-"

Arthur sighed, "I really wish you wouldn't make your lover's spats with Toni my problem. Deal with it. We'll be landing soon enough, and you can have your fun then. Until then, piss the fuck off and leave me alone."

Lovino turned with a snarl and stormed back out into the narrow halls.

A few hours later Arthur walked into the cargo bay. Antonio and Lovino looked up from opposite sides of the large room. Toni was idly running a rag over the blade of his cutlass, and Lovino was twirling his stiletto knives.

"Is it time to go boss?" asked Antonio, standing up and shoving the sword through a loop in his belt.

"Yes. We'll be landing shortly." Arthur gave a feral grin before turning and leaving the room. Both Lovino and Antonio wore matching smiles as they followed him toward the doors.

The ship landed in a field right on the outskirts of town. Almost as soon as they landed, a cry of alarm went up from a large encampment. Toni gave a delighted laugh and threw some firebombs into windows. Soon screams joined the shouts, and people streamed out to try and fight them. Arthur had his pistols ready and was shooting into the crowds of people. They scattered and fell around him. The fires spread, causing more people to try and flee. Romano slipped through the crowds and smoke. He ignored the chaos that Arthur and Toni enjoyed creating with a small sneer of disgust. He knew what he had to do, and he didn't need explosions to get it done.

He walked into the encampment, quickly slitting the throat of the guard who tried to stop him. Casting a glance around, he immediately dismissed the wagons that were full of leather and grass and wood items. They weren't what he was looking for. He was looking for something from off-planet. He saw a woman cowering in the corner of the wagon and grabbed her by her hair, pushing a blade against her throat.

"Tell me, are there any new people here?"

"I-I don't. I don't know-"

"Don't lie" he snarled, pushing the blade further against her throat. "If you don't lie I'll make this quick and painless. Now tell me. Are. There. Any. Foreigners. Here?"

"Yes, yes." she sobbed, "In the wagon near the center. With the red flag tied to the yoke."

"Grazie Signora." He smiled. She let out a choked gasp as he quickly slit her throat.

The way to the wagon was uneventful. People had seen what he'd done and avoided him, or they were busy trying to stop the fires from spreading. As he neared the wagon, he saw an old woman watching him.

"You are the one, si?"

"If by 'the one' you mean a person for whom you have needlessly slaughtered many people, then yes." she snapped back with snark, "What do you want?"

"You have a gem that belongs to the Kingdoms. That and a book. Both of which the Kingdoms don't want to fall into the wrong hands."

She smiled lightly, "You know, you aren't what I expected from a Kingdoms soldier."

"Good. I'm not."

"Then why are you here?"

"The profit. The Kingdom is desperate to get them back. And if you give them to me, I'll make this quick and painless."

She smiled again, but there was a bitter tint to it, "I'm afraid you will find me sorely lacking in that regard, then. I do not have them anymore. I passed them on to their true owners."

"Bitch!" Romano grabbed her roughly and punched her. "Who did you give them to?!"

"Someone you'll never find." She smiled victoriously.

"Fine then. It's to be pain." He grabbed her hand and slowly, deliberately, broke her pinky finger. She yelped but said nothing. Romano broke her ring finger.

He would have continued until all her fingers were broken, but he was tackled to the ground. The body that had tackled him proceeded to punch and kick at him. Unfortunately for his assailant he recovered quickly. Soon the boy was trapped in a headlock with his arm twisted and a knife at his throat.

"And just who might you be?" Romano gave a predatory grin.

The boy didn't say anything, looking at Romano in confusion. Roman pressed his knife up against his throat before noticing the cord he wore.

"What's this, hmm?" Roman shifted the knife to draw the cord up. The pendant hung between them, resting on the knife's edge. The boy looked terrified suddenly. Just as Romano was about to kill him and be done with it, another boy, almost identical, ran into the small smoke filled clearing. He looked as if he were about to rush at Romano, but Toni grabbed him from the back. After a brief struggle, he too was restrained. Arthur caught up with them then, taking a brief look at the tableau before him he smiled.

"Good. Kill the boys and take the gem. One of them's bound to have the book as well. Then we can finish torching this place and head back."

"WAIT!" another voice rang out. A tall man strode through the smoke, a battle ax glinting menacingly in his hands. "Are you fools?! You can't kill them."

Arthur snarled, rounding toward the new figure, "And why might that be, pray tell."

"If you kill them you lose the affinity. I'd've thought you knew that." The man gave a small grin, "Besides. I thought you wanted the book as well." He held up the book before tucking it back into his long jacket.

"Fine." Arthur ground out, "You know what to do, boys."

Romano and Toni both knocked out their captives, and began to drag them toward the ship. The stranger made a move to get them, but was stopped by Arthur.

"They are ours. And you'll leave us be if you know what's good for you."

He grinned, "Then I suppose it's a good thing that I habitually act against that instinct. I'm Matthias."

Arthur took a half pace back at this, and Matthias walked past him to the ship. Cursing his luck and his life, Arthur followed, making sure to shoot the old woman in the head and set more fires on his way.


A/N

So yay new characters i guess? umm, if you've gotten this far thanks :D it really means a lot if i know people are enjoying this. so like, reviews and favorites mean a lot to me. Thanks again, and have a wonderful day.