BBB: Moooo! (hello again)
Heath: Yet another chapter written during school... why am I not surprised?
Legault: ... I thought that was MY line!
BBB: -=rolls eyes=- Moooooooooooo. (review response time)
Kitty Merow: -=holds up waffle iron=- Don't worry, writer's block will be in pain for quite some time. Oh, and Inali loses 50 gold. )
elven-girl10: Yay! Thanks!
Ivanfanatic: (x2) Creepy = good, that it does! -=throws a BBB at Ian=- Hmmm... -=resisting temptation to put something about Limmy and her cauldron in later=-
gentleness28: Eh, don't worry about the POV switch thing. I've done that before too.
darkstarred: That little explanation thing just popped into my head while I was writing, but I'm glad you liked it!
Bethany: Aww, thanks!
Legault: You know, it gets rather annoying when you write your stories by hand, and have to type them up later.
It's also annoying when you complain about stuff like that. -=holds up a waffle iron threateningly=-
Legault: ... I'll be quiet now.
-=puts waffle iron away=- Good boy.
Legault: /
Kill.
A funny term, that one, and yet not so amusing at the same time. As a member of the Black Fang rather than Nergal's forces, it wasn't my first priority. Instead, I was the theif, the snoop, the spy... whatever you'd like to call it.
Blah, blah, enough about that. I wasn't much before I joined the Black Fang, before I met Lloyd, Linus, Brendan and Jan. No need to learn about my earlier years. It's what happened later that actually matters.
Shortly after the Black Fang was formed, we met Nergal for the first time. Naturally, he tried to teach me that instinct that HE holds as highest priority. Also naturally, I ignored him. That will come into play a bit later.
Back to the Black Fang. In those times, Lloyd and Linus were both young, and thus easily swayable. Thankfully, Brendan was able to keep them away from Nergal and the morphs most of the time, training them himself.
I helped Brendan keep the boys away, and as a result, my second instinct developed. I would sometimes run an insanely difficult obstacle course to keep Nergal distracted, and to prevent his eyes from lighting upon Brendan's sons. My body memorized the patterns of the course, dodging various dangers effortlessly and mechanically. Soon, I received a name due to my speed and ability to learn things quickly.
Hurricane. If that's what you want to call this thief-turned- assassin, then so be it.
Black Fang and Nergal's forces wouldn't always be in contact; less than a month of each year. Only once has it dragged out for longer than that, and it was due to torrential rains. Still, whenever the two forces WERE in contact, it would be a rather strained time.
Once or twice while running the courses, I'd see a boy with reddish- brown hair, tanned skin and an emotionless expression. Hell, he would run the same course once I was done. Better than I could, even.
They say that time flies when you're having fun. Time also behaves oddly when you're afraid; it speeds up further, or slows to a snail's pace. Either way, years passed, and I quickly lost track of time. It wasn't until much later, as I caught a glimpse of myself in a lake as I passed by, that I realized just how MUCH time had passed.
Later that week, Brendan announced that we were going to meet with Nergal again. The Fang's numbers had swelled, and we were not five, but rather 62. All of us nodded, and gathered our things together in preparation for the long trek. None of us ever questioned this mysterious link that the Black Fang maintained with Nergal.
Once again, we departed from our hideout near the Bern-Lycia border, though this time, our journey took us through land that I didn't recognize. Nergal must have driven another remote noble family from their manor and have taken it for himself.
Upon arrival, Nergal did what he usually would; he ushered me into an underground room with an obstacle course set up in it. At times, such attention from Nergal was more than a little frightening. Especially because this time, something was different, and drastically so.
There were live targets.
It seemed as though Nergal wanted us to compete in a killing spree, and that the loser would lose FAR more than just this little game. I was shocked, having never run the course even with the mindless husks the boy used. I ran it for speed and to increase my dodging ability, never to kill. Still, I ran it this time around.
Oddly enough, I managed to hold my own against the boy. Well, no longer a boy, clearly in his earlier teens, though perhaps it was an illusion due to the harshness of his life. I wouldn't know. Anyway, he fell behind, and I actually managed to defeat him. Though sickened, I managed to hold my bile down long enough for a furious Nergal to roughly shove my opponent into another room. I was shocked when Jan informed me that he was only nine at the time.
A year later, (my, I'm recounting this story quickly) I saw that teen again, and shivered. More than just his expression was dead this time around. His eyes were far colder than ice could ever be, and his motions, masked. I couldn't even read his thoughts by judging how he moved, which was something I had become quite skilled at.
This time, Nergal made me fight him.
Clearly, his mind was elsewhere, as I again held up to and defeated him, though by a slighter margin this time around. Nergal was livid, and I took the opportunity to limp away before the Dark magic user could start lashing out every which way with his Ereshkigal book. The boy's knife had slammed into my ankle as we fought, so I wasn't able to escape quite as quickly as I may have liked. It wasn't broken, or even sprained, but it sure hurt like fluxing bloody hell.
I limped over to where Jan was in hopes of getting him to patch me up again. 62 people in the Black Fang, and not a healer in sight. What a disorganized group we were back then, eh?
Anyway, a young green-haired girl was with Jan at the time. She seemed a little... hyper, giver her situation. Even so, Jan seemed happy to have her there. Though not a particularly good fighter, Jan's trustworthy appearance made it possible for him to acquire plenty of information from various people. It helped greatly as we tried to decide who our next target would be, which evil lord we should overthrow next. In my opinion, it should have been Nergal, but there was no chance of that happening at the time. Getting rid of wicked and cruel lords was our mission before Brendan Reed married Sonia, but I'll save that story for later.
Jan agreed to take a look at my ankle, and the young girl watched, chatting with me as she did so. I don't remember our exact conversation, but I do know that she started calling me, "uncle Legault" right about then. I wonder if she remembers that as well.
The next two days were spent with me avoiding Nergal and the morphs at all costs, and occasionally talking to another Black Fang member. I grew worried as those days passed without my catching a glimpse of Nino, as she was usually trotting around at someone's heels, be it Jan or Sonia. Sonia never looked very pleased when that happened.
Hurricane prowled the halls that night.
Morphs patrolled, golden eyes searching every corner in an effort to seek out and destroy all those they found lurking there. I had to draw on all of my experience as a thief, and even then, I only just managed to get through unscathed. "Through" meaning actually finding the room. Rather than imprisoning his victims in one specific place, Nergal would lock them up all over the castle, so it would take forever to find someone.
I'm still not entirely sure how I managed to find the right room. Again new, that castle was the largest yet. When I DID find it, I used one of my old lock picks on the door, but it snapped. Cursing, I got out another and inserted it into the lock.
However much Elimine may have liked me, allowing me to get through those hoards of morphs, even her abilities have limits.
Two bolts of lightning arched out from the enchanted lock, (wish I'd realized that earlier) and two strips of burning pain appeared on either side of my left eye. Cursing vividly, I snapped the pick off and removed the lock. I prayed that the door's hinges weren't rusty as I slowly pushed it open.
I guess my cursing had ANGERED Elimine now. Hoo, boy.
Nino rushed out, shoving the door open as she passed. Old, rusted hinges creaked loudly in protest. Morphs began flooding into the area, and I fled, ducking into another empty room which (bless Elimine) had a window. I dove out with no hesitation, relying on my reflexes to allow me to land safely and uninjured.
A few years passed again, I believe it was three until I next saw them. I was always off doing another cleanup job and the like when the visiting time came around. Yes, I know that I recount things rather quickly, as I mentioned above.
All of us were almost at Nergal's current castle, having been delayed slightly by an enormous storm. We were tired, stumbling as we trekked through the night, and occasionally tripping over the unseen tree root.
Moments later, the roots were all too clear.
An enourmous blaze erupted to our left, and several of the others cried out in fear. The rest of the Black Fang picked up the pace, intent on getting away from the fire before it could spread. I, however, went towards the fire, intent of discovering its source.
While I never found out what caused it, I could have sworn I saw a purple cloth disappearing through the trees on the other side of the flames, and a flash of green hair. I thought it was Nino for a moment, but there's no way that she could have had so much power at such a young age.
Could she?
Ah, well. It's not something that Hurricane, a thief-turned-assassin should worry about.
Nothing at all.
Legault: Wow... that was rather long.
That better not be a complaint. Hmm, which POV to do the next chapter from...
Jaffar: ... let the reviewers decide.
-=points=- What he said.
Heath: Yet another chapter written during school... why am I not surprised?
Legault: ... I thought that was MY line!
BBB: -=rolls eyes=- Moooooooooooo. (review response time)
Kitty Merow: -=holds up waffle iron=- Don't worry, writer's block will be in pain for quite some time. Oh, and Inali loses 50 gold. )
elven-girl10: Yay! Thanks!
Ivanfanatic: (x2) Creepy = good, that it does! -=throws a BBB at Ian=- Hmmm... -=resisting temptation to put something about Limmy and her cauldron in later=-
gentleness28: Eh, don't worry about the POV switch thing. I've done that before too.
darkstarred: That little explanation thing just popped into my head while I was writing, but I'm glad you liked it!
Bethany: Aww, thanks!
Legault: You know, it gets rather annoying when you write your stories by hand, and have to type them up later.
It's also annoying when you complain about stuff like that. -=holds up a waffle iron threateningly=-
Legault: ... I'll be quiet now.
-=puts waffle iron away=- Good boy.
Legault: /
............................................................................
....................................................................
Kill.
A funny term, that one, and yet not so amusing at the same time. As a member of the Black Fang rather than Nergal's forces, it wasn't my first priority. Instead, I was the theif, the snoop, the spy... whatever you'd like to call it.
Blah, blah, enough about that. I wasn't much before I joined the Black Fang, before I met Lloyd, Linus, Brendan and Jan. No need to learn about my earlier years. It's what happened later that actually matters.
Shortly after the Black Fang was formed, we met Nergal for the first time. Naturally, he tried to teach me that instinct that HE holds as highest priority. Also naturally, I ignored him. That will come into play a bit later.
Back to the Black Fang. In those times, Lloyd and Linus were both young, and thus easily swayable. Thankfully, Brendan was able to keep them away from Nergal and the morphs most of the time, training them himself.
I helped Brendan keep the boys away, and as a result, my second instinct developed. I would sometimes run an insanely difficult obstacle course to keep Nergal distracted, and to prevent his eyes from lighting upon Brendan's sons. My body memorized the patterns of the course, dodging various dangers effortlessly and mechanically. Soon, I received a name due to my speed and ability to learn things quickly.
Hurricane. If that's what you want to call this thief-turned- assassin, then so be it.
Black Fang and Nergal's forces wouldn't always be in contact; less than a month of each year. Only once has it dragged out for longer than that, and it was due to torrential rains. Still, whenever the two forces WERE in contact, it would be a rather strained time.
Once or twice while running the courses, I'd see a boy with reddish- brown hair, tanned skin and an emotionless expression. Hell, he would run the same course once I was done. Better than I could, even.
They say that time flies when you're having fun. Time also behaves oddly when you're afraid; it speeds up further, or slows to a snail's pace. Either way, years passed, and I quickly lost track of time. It wasn't until much later, as I caught a glimpse of myself in a lake as I passed by, that I realized just how MUCH time had passed.
Later that week, Brendan announced that we were going to meet with Nergal again. The Fang's numbers had swelled, and we were not five, but rather 62. All of us nodded, and gathered our things together in preparation for the long trek. None of us ever questioned this mysterious link that the Black Fang maintained with Nergal.
Once again, we departed from our hideout near the Bern-Lycia border, though this time, our journey took us through land that I didn't recognize. Nergal must have driven another remote noble family from their manor and have taken it for himself.
Upon arrival, Nergal did what he usually would; he ushered me into an underground room with an obstacle course set up in it. At times, such attention from Nergal was more than a little frightening. Especially because this time, something was different, and drastically so.
There were live targets.
It seemed as though Nergal wanted us to compete in a killing spree, and that the loser would lose FAR more than just this little game. I was shocked, having never run the course even with the mindless husks the boy used. I ran it for speed and to increase my dodging ability, never to kill. Still, I ran it this time around.
Oddly enough, I managed to hold my own against the boy. Well, no longer a boy, clearly in his earlier teens, though perhaps it was an illusion due to the harshness of his life. I wouldn't know. Anyway, he fell behind, and I actually managed to defeat him. Though sickened, I managed to hold my bile down long enough for a furious Nergal to roughly shove my opponent into another room. I was shocked when Jan informed me that he was only nine at the time.
A year later, (my, I'm recounting this story quickly) I saw that teen again, and shivered. More than just his expression was dead this time around. His eyes were far colder than ice could ever be, and his motions, masked. I couldn't even read his thoughts by judging how he moved, which was something I had become quite skilled at.
This time, Nergal made me fight him.
Clearly, his mind was elsewhere, as I again held up to and defeated him, though by a slighter margin this time around. Nergal was livid, and I took the opportunity to limp away before the Dark magic user could start lashing out every which way with his Ereshkigal book. The boy's knife had slammed into my ankle as we fought, so I wasn't able to escape quite as quickly as I may have liked. It wasn't broken, or even sprained, but it sure hurt like fluxing bloody hell.
I limped over to where Jan was in hopes of getting him to patch me up again. 62 people in the Black Fang, and not a healer in sight. What a disorganized group we were back then, eh?
Anyway, a young green-haired girl was with Jan at the time. She seemed a little... hyper, giver her situation. Even so, Jan seemed happy to have her there. Though not a particularly good fighter, Jan's trustworthy appearance made it possible for him to acquire plenty of information from various people. It helped greatly as we tried to decide who our next target would be, which evil lord we should overthrow next. In my opinion, it should have been Nergal, but there was no chance of that happening at the time. Getting rid of wicked and cruel lords was our mission before Brendan Reed married Sonia, but I'll save that story for later.
Jan agreed to take a look at my ankle, and the young girl watched, chatting with me as she did so. I don't remember our exact conversation, but I do know that she started calling me, "uncle Legault" right about then. I wonder if she remembers that as well.
The next two days were spent with me avoiding Nergal and the morphs at all costs, and occasionally talking to another Black Fang member. I grew worried as those days passed without my catching a glimpse of Nino, as she was usually trotting around at someone's heels, be it Jan or Sonia. Sonia never looked very pleased when that happened.
Hurricane prowled the halls that night.
Morphs patrolled, golden eyes searching every corner in an effort to seek out and destroy all those they found lurking there. I had to draw on all of my experience as a thief, and even then, I only just managed to get through unscathed. "Through" meaning actually finding the room. Rather than imprisoning his victims in one specific place, Nergal would lock them up all over the castle, so it would take forever to find someone.
I'm still not entirely sure how I managed to find the right room. Again new, that castle was the largest yet. When I DID find it, I used one of my old lock picks on the door, but it snapped. Cursing, I got out another and inserted it into the lock.
However much Elimine may have liked me, allowing me to get through those hoards of morphs, even her abilities have limits.
Two bolts of lightning arched out from the enchanted lock, (wish I'd realized that earlier) and two strips of burning pain appeared on either side of my left eye. Cursing vividly, I snapped the pick off and removed the lock. I prayed that the door's hinges weren't rusty as I slowly pushed it open.
I guess my cursing had ANGERED Elimine now. Hoo, boy.
Nino rushed out, shoving the door open as she passed. Old, rusted hinges creaked loudly in protest. Morphs began flooding into the area, and I fled, ducking into another empty room which (bless Elimine) had a window. I dove out with no hesitation, relying on my reflexes to allow me to land safely and uninjured.
A few years passed again, I believe it was three until I next saw them. I was always off doing another cleanup job and the like when the visiting time came around. Yes, I know that I recount things rather quickly, as I mentioned above.
All of us were almost at Nergal's current castle, having been delayed slightly by an enormous storm. We were tired, stumbling as we trekked through the night, and occasionally tripping over the unseen tree root.
Moments later, the roots were all too clear.
An enourmous blaze erupted to our left, and several of the others cried out in fear. The rest of the Black Fang picked up the pace, intent on getting away from the fire before it could spread. I, however, went towards the fire, intent of discovering its source.
While I never found out what caused it, I could have sworn I saw a purple cloth disappearing through the trees on the other side of the flames, and a flash of green hair. I thought it was Nino for a moment, but there's no way that she could have had so much power at such a young age.
Could she?
Ah, well. It's not something that Hurricane, a thief-turned-assassin should worry about.
Nothing at all.
............................................................................
....................................................................
Legault: Wow... that was rather long.
That better not be a complaint. Hmm, which POV to do the next chapter from...
Jaffar: ... let the reviewers decide.
-=points=- What he said.