OK, this chapter comes with me updating my last ones. I'm still
working on refining my dialogue, I only hope that it's gotten better but I
think it's probably remained about the same, quality wise. I hope I've
kept
you guessing as to what's going to happen next. I think that you think,
that
what I did was cliché, and I think that your thinking, isn't unfounded.
Ignore some of the words being misspelled because that's probably dealing
with the dialect.
Chapter Three: That Sounds Like a Good Identity
A small waterfall created an almost musical crash as it fell into the
river below it. The beach was covered in small rocks with the occasional boulder jutting out from the ground. A forest surrounded the waterfall, quartering off the noise it made and created a secluded clearing that seemed to exemplify the serenity of nature. But all of that serenity came to a shattering close.
A large amount of rustling could be heard coming through the forest.
A large creature was barreling through, snapping branches and tearing through the underbrush. A moment later a frightened human in a billowing green cloak burst out of the forest and into the clearing. The man was fairly tall, reaching about six feet, he was unarmed and breathing heavily. He kept his hood up as he hurriedly shot glances back into the forest behind him. His shoulders rose and fell as he kept on breathing deeply and walked slowly towards the water. He pulled a waterskin out of his belt and dipped it into the stream before bringing it up to his lips and swallowing in huge gulps.
He turned around to look at the forest again, the clearing was quiet except for the waterfall crashing in the background. The man turned around
again and was halfway bent over to fill the waterskin again when he noticed
a dead body that had just floated up onto shore. The body was covered in expensive looking armor that had great rents torn in it, the man had an arrow protruding from his neck and looked like he had been dead for quite some time. "Hmm, I think I know this guy." The hooded man commented squatting down to inspect the body more closely. His voice had a sort of innate arrogance to it but also an air of nonchalance.
The cloaked man pulled the man out of the water and held the face a mere inches before his before recognition set in. "It's that gladiator, Fenror, Fenras, Fenris! Yeah, that's the ticket." The cloaked man snapped his fingers at the revelation, that snap however was followed by a much louder snap from behind him. The body was dropped and the man sprang to his feet. His right hand went straight to his left side as if he expected there to be a sword.
"You there! What are you doing?" Another cloaked man was standing at the edge of the forest holding a longbow in his hands. He had blond hair going down to his shoulder and had a vine covered sword insignia
on his left shoulder, the sign of a Ranger.
"Oh, I was just getting something to drink when I saw this dead body floating down the river." The hooded man answered in a deep voice, trying to mask his real voice. He had raised his hands in the air slightly and to the side. The blond haired ranger started to walk forward, he had put up his bow and was now unarmed though his left hand hovered near his sword.
"I'm looking for a deadly mercenary. He was last spotted in this area and I was wondering if you had seen him recently. He happens to have blue hair." The Ranger's voice was of a clarion tone and rang sweetly in the ears of many a person, but the hooded fellow, for a visible shudder coursed through his body.
"Blue hair you say? This fellow happens to have blue hair." The cloaked man nudged the body with his foot and stepped over slightly to obscure the view of the head. The ranger threw any signs of caution to the
winds and rushed forward, shoving the cloaked figure to the side.
"This man doesn't have blue hair!" He shouted out indignantly as he tried to turn around and face the hooded man. Two strong hands grasped the
man's head in mid turn.
"I do believe your right, it's more of a black color." The arrogant voice was back in place.
"Gods above its-" CRACK! The hooded man had twisted the rangers head violently to the right, effectively breaking his neck, the hooded man
was pretty strong for a relatively thin frame. The body was left to fall on top of the other. The hooded man bent over and unbuckled the sword belt around the Ranger's waist.
"Poor, predictable Aleric, you never were one to think things through." The hooded man was laughing slightly at the dead body. He pushed his hood back and revealed his own dark blue hair. It looked like might once have been long but had recently been cut very short with what was most likely a knife. A scraggly version of a goatee was beginning to cover his chin but this outcropping of hair was black with only a slight hint of blue. His green eyes surveyed the rest of the clearing as a smirk played out among his face.
The blue haired man now assumed a more confident air and began to stride back into the forest now that he was armed. He began to backtrack along his own beaten path and the one made by Aleric. The Rangers always hunted in packs and the others should have been around somewhere.
* * *
Mezzryn looked forward, deep into the jungle displayed before him. He could make out Aleric's path but his friend had been gone for over in hour in the foolish pursuit of an old enemy. "I'm going to go look for him, stay here and watch for the Kuriks." Mezzryn shouted back to his third partner. Mezzryn shifted his chain shirt on his large frame and set off into the woods at a feverish pace. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and every ranger knew that gut feelings had an ugly habit of coming to fruition.
Mezzryn had hustled through the forest for possibly ten minutes when he heard the sound of someone whistling. It was a drinking song Mezzryn remembered from his days at the siege of Chorden. He could only think of one other person who would know a song like that. "Ryu." He whispered out the name like some would whisper a foul curse that was never meant to be spoken by any living man.
Mezzryn ducked behind a tree and peered out into the semi-dense foliage looking for his quarry. After a few tense seconds Ryu came into view. He had cut his hair and grown a goatee to throw off most hunters. But that swagger, that air of bombast, the very aura around him made him immediately identifiable to Mezzryn. His memory jumped straight to the moment when he first met this pathetic excuse for a human. It was during the Urgothian Civil War. Chorden was a stepping stone to the capitol, an easy fight with the Rangers and the mercenaries procured by the rebel forces. Ryu was just a hotshot swordsman at the time. He and Mezzryn had immediately gotten along, they had both fought at the bridge into the city and held it together. Mezzryn thought that Ryu would have been among the best Rangers and had told him as much. Unfortunately, a mercenary's loyalty is to money.
They had just taken the walls of the city, most of the enemy forces had been driven back and were holed up inside of the castle. Mezzryn had been looking for Ryu, wanting to congratulate him and offer him a job in the Rangers, but when he found him, he also found the Ranger Guildmaster and his advisors dead. Ryu was leaning against the crenellations, whistling the same tune he is now, and just smiling at the carnage that was about to ensue. Mezzryn had tried to kill Ryu but had just gotten thrown off the wall for his efforts, it was a miracle he had survived, but now, he lived for the sole purpose of killing the oath breaker.
Ryu must have spotted him in the bushes for he soon called out to him. "By jings! If it ain't Mezzryn, I haven't seen you in what must be a
year by now." Ryu said moving over to the bush where Mezzryn was still crouched behind.
Mezzryn snarled in anger and stood straight up with his sword pulled out in one fluid motion. The clear ring of the steel being freed from its trappings hung about them for one agonizing second. Ryu's surprised smile reverted back into a bemused grin at his old ally. "Still mad about Chorden eh?" He asked, rocking onto his heels and then forward again.
"Is that all you can say for yourself? You, who single handedly, caused our defeat, you who placed that despot back on the throne, you who broke your word to me and my friends. Is that all you can say!" Mezzryn was shouting at him by now. Flecks of spit rained out of his mouth as he yelled at the one man he had wanted dead like no other. Ryu had raised an eyebrow questioningly but still stood still with his hands clasped behind his back.
Mezzryn's face twisted in rage as he beheld that arrogant bastard smirking at him, his green eyes alight with merriment. Mezzryn charged forward letting out a fierce warcry and swung at Ryu. In an almost blurred
movement Ryu's sword was brought up to block Mezzryn's charge. Mezzryn pushed with all his strength to try and force the mercenary back. Ryu simply held his ground, and smiled down at the shorter ranger. "You should have known better than to have attacked me." He admonished, his words reeking of bombast.
Mezzryn shoved the man backwards and brought his sword up into defense. Ryu stood in the same spot and kept his sword at his side. "C'mon Mezzryn, there's no need for us to be enemies. We're the best swordsmen in the area, we should go into business together, and it'd be like old times." Ryu said jovially. Mezzryn spat at those words and rushed forward again, coming in low. "Have it your way." Ryu sighed. He seemed almost reluctant to kill him.
Ryu intercepted the sword with his own blade, still held in one hand.
He slammed his elbow into the face of his opponent, he could feel bone crunching underneath the blow. Mezzryn staggered backwards as blood started to course out of his nose. Ryu followed through his bone shattering elbow with a strong kick into Mezzryn's stomach. Mezzryn doubled over in pain before Ryu nudged him slightly and he fell back onto the ground, his supine form looking up into the face of his most hated enemy. He could see
Aleric's sword clenched in his gauntleted hand. Ryu noticed his gaze and nodded. "Yeah, I killed him. He was always too rash." Ryu commented on the departed Ranger. Ryu planted his boot firmly on Mezzryn's chest and pressed down. Mezzryn could begin to feel himself being crushed and started to labor for his breath.
"Why did you do it?" He panted out, each word felt like it was being
pushed through a crack in a wall.
"What kill Aleric?" Ryu looked perplexedly down at his opponent. "Oh, you mean: 'Why did I kill your leaders back at Chorden?' Well to be perfectly honest, it wasn't really about money. I got paid for doing it and its not like the money hurt my motives, but that wasn't the reason I killed them." Ryu leaned in very close to the still laboring Mezzryn. "The actual reason I killed them was for the sheer joy of it all. Knowing that I single handedly ruined someone's chance at victory as well as knowing that I was better than any of the Rangers. That was the real pay off for me." Ryu was a mere inch away from the bloody and battered Mezzryn. Ryu pulled back and was preparing his sword for the final thrust when he dealt the final blow to Mezzryn.
"It's a shame about your partners. The girl was a real beauty." Ryu
taunted his fallen opponent. The words cause Mezzryn to make one last rage filled attempt at his life but the sword that had been thrust into his chest forced him to stay where he was. Ryu slid the weapon out of his now dead adversary. He hadn't the slightest idea of whether or not Mezzryn's partner were good looking or not, it just seemed like the kind of thing that would ruin someone's last moments in this realm. Ryu wiped the sword clean on the corpse's cloak before he sheathed it and began strolling leisurely through the woods, whistling as if he didn't have a care in the world.
Ryu continued moving in such a fashion until his own music began to mingle with that of another's. He couldn't quite place the tune but it didn't sound like it was a man whistling it. *Must be Mezzryn's third partner.* Ryu thought stopping his own whistling as he began to walk stealthily over towards the music. He eventually neared the music, it was near another clearing in the woods. Ryu slunk over to a tree and peered out from its trunk to get a lay of the land.
His optical orbs were treated with the sight of a very comely lass, she was facing him though her head was looking off in another direction. *You lucked out Mezzryn, well I guess it balances out now that your dead.* She was a sight to behold, wavy blond hair at about shoulder length framed a very pretty face. Her forehead was crinkled as she was frowning off at a distant object, her blue eyes seemed angry but maybe it was something else.
*A pretty face is all well and good, but the torso is where the action is at.* Ryu thought as his eyes wandered down onto her more southern regions.
She was wearing a leather cuirass that covered up a moderate bust. *Not bad, certainly pert enough.* His eyes went a little farther down, she was a
petite specimen, her cuirass tapered off in a skirt, kilt, whatchamakalit. Ryu didn't know the right word for it, Ryu didn't need to know the right word for it, all that he needed to know was that it looked good. His eyes went down
further to examine her tanned legs that were semi covered with a pair of boots.
Ryu's eyes were going up her body again for one last examination when, as he reached the top, he locked eyes with the Ranger whom he had been ogling. She was glowering at him with a look that would have rivaled Mezzryn's hate-filled eyes. She was leveling a crossbow at him so Ryu figured now was the time to step out from behind the tree. He raised his hands in a general symbol of surrender. In the girl's haste she let her bolt fire. THUNK! Ryu's eyes flashed straight to the projectile implanted a mere inch from his face. "I certainly hope that was good aim." Ryu said bemusedly. He looked back to the girl and flashed a winning smile, he was hoping to charm her off her feat, get in a quick lay, and then continue with his travels.
"I don't miss twice, whoever the hell you are, I want you to explain why you were spying on me and where the hell my partners are!" She had reloaded her crossbow and was aiming at him.
Ryu started to walk forward as he explained, he didn't get closer than ten feet, he kept pacing as he went along fabricating a suitable story. "Well, I am a Ranger from the town of. . . Bellavurn. We had just formed a Guild
there and I was coming over here to send a message to your Guild about us."
Ryu said as he paced, he made sure not to look her in the eye but glance pointedly at her crossbow. She seemed to be mulling over his explanation while he continued to pace his eyes going from the crossbow to her chest.
"That still doesn't fully explain why you were spying on me." She said after several moments of consideration, her finger inched nearer the trigger and Ryu began to work on some more lies.
"Well, the thing about that is, um..." Ryu was saved from having to make up another fallacy because at that precise moment, the Ranger's real reason for being in the area reared its ugly head. A series of war trumpets started sounding in the forest around them. Ryu quickly turned to spot a cluster of Kuriks barreling out of the forest. Kuriks are a cross between orcs and humans, they were better warriors than most orcs but they made lousier troops than most mercenaries. *Saved by the freaks of nature.* Ryu thought
letting out an explosive sigh. He pulled out Aleric's sword and leveled it at his opponents.
They rushed without any real sense of strategy, they were going to try and overwhelm him and the Ranger. The girl fired off her bolt into the chest of the prominent Kurik and it stumbled to the ground whimpering in pain. The remaining eight Kuriks split up and attacked both Ryu and the girl at the same time. Ryu wasted no time in cutting through the axe haft of a defending Kurik before following through with an upwards stroke clove through the beasts head. Ryu spun to his left coming in low, cutting deep into the stomach of his second opponent. His third opponent brought its axe up, ready for an overhead stroke. Ryu's sword was presently entertaining the fourth creature so Ryu had no choice but to punch out with his left hand. The punch went straight for the throat, effectively crushing the wind pipe beneath the force.
Ryu brought the same fist to bear in a left hook, knocking the Kurik down. Ryu stabbed the falling beast before spinning around and charging off towards the Kuriks surrounding the girl. Only two were left as she was
strafing the two left. Ryu simply charged and impaled one of them from
behind, he ripped his sword out of its flesh sheath and brought it down in a crushing blow on the Kurik's skull. Bits of grey matter and blood spattered onto the face of Ryu as he pulled his sword away from what was once the skull of a Kurik. Ryu cast a glance over at the Ranger chick to see if she
was doing anything that would affect him when he noticed three more Kuriks moving into the clearing. These were different, they were better armed for one thing and the one in the center looked more humanoid than most of his race.
The girl had her back to Ryu and he could see two stubby little bird wings coming out of her back. *Holy shit! She's a Windian! That should make things more interesting.* Ryu started to move forward towards the three Kuriks that had just entered the arena. Just as he was about to move closer he was knocked back by full blown realization. The one in the middle had been a partner of his, years back but still a partner. *I can't let him figure out who I am.* Ryu thought desperately. The Windian however had taken matters into her own hands. Her eyes were closed in concentration and one of her hands was raised. Just as the lead Kurik was about to say Ryu's name a ball of lightning issued forth from the Windian's out stretched hand, it engulfed the beasts and the resultant crash of thunder almost drowned out their screams of agony.
Ryu walked quickly over to the three bodies, the one who he knew was still alive, barely, but alive enough to ruin everything. He turned his head slightly to look at Ryu. "You..." His final words were muffled by the sword piercing his throat.
"Speak up, I couldn't quit hear you." Ryu admonished quietly. "I don't have time for your lies you wretched beast!" Ryu said loudly enough for his words to carry over to the girl. He looked over at her as she began to walk cautiously over towards the four of them. Ryu wiped his sword and face off on one of the cloaks of the dead Kuriks. She was finally right next to him and Ryu got his first really good look at her, she was short, probably not much taller than five feet. Her features were only more accentuated this close to him. Her crossbow was no longer pointing at him but was down at her side, she was still capable of blasting him with magic, but it was a small victory.
Her eyes went slowly from the bodies to Ryu, "I guess introductions are in order. My name is Nina, and you are?" She asked, extending her hand for him to shake. Ryu took it in his own, after he had removed his glove. It was nice with a supple kind of way about it. She had calluses showing the signs of hard work, but was still soft.
"The name's Fenris."
* * *
There it is. Sorry about it being late and all. I just had so much to do and not enough inspiration or motive to write this. I just want to say that I created this Ryu because I was tired of all the kind and compassionate ones
running about. I wanted one that was unique, and a bastard. His views don't necessarily reflect mine in case you're wondering. It would be nice if you reviewed. A brief suggestion, the band The Darkness has got a catchy song known as 'I Believe in a Thing Called Love.' Its catchy, the music video is cool, and I like it.
Fact of the Chapter: Did you know that the average handshake exerts about 90 pounds of pressure? Fascinating, don't you think?
Chapter Three: That Sounds Like a Good Identity
A small waterfall created an almost musical crash as it fell into the
river below it. The beach was covered in small rocks with the occasional boulder jutting out from the ground. A forest surrounded the waterfall, quartering off the noise it made and created a secluded clearing that seemed to exemplify the serenity of nature. But all of that serenity came to a shattering close.
A large amount of rustling could be heard coming through the forest.
A large creature was barreling through, snapping branches and tearing through the underbrush. A moment later a frightened human in a billowing green cloak burst out of the forest and into the clearing. The man was fairly tall, reaching about six feet, he was unarmed and breathing heavily. He kept his hood up as he hurriedly shot glances back into the forest behind him. His shoulders rose and fell as he kept on breathing deeply and walked slowly towards the water. He pulled a waterskin out of his belt and dipped it into the stream before bringing it up to his lips and swallowing in huge gulps.
He turned around to look at the forest again, the clearing was quiet except for the waterfall crashing in the background. The man turned around
again and was halfway bent over to fill the waterskin again when he noticed
a dead body that had just floated up onto shore. The body was covered in expensive looking armor that had great rents torn in it, the man had an arrow protruding from his neck and looked like he had been dead for quite some time. "Hmm, I think I know this guy." The hooded man commented squatting down to inspect the body more closely. His voice had a sort of innate arrogance to it but also an air of nonchalance.
The cloaked man pulled the man out of the water and held the face a mere inches before his before recognition set in. "It's that gladiator, Fenror, Fenras, Fenris! Yeah, that's the ticket." The cloaked man snapped his fingers at the revelation, that snap however was followed by a much louder snap from behind him. The body was dropped and the man sprang to his feet. His right hand went straight to his left side as if he expected there to be a sword.
"You there! What are you doing?" Another cloaked man was standing at the edge of the forest holding a longbow in his hands. He had blond hair going down to his shoulder and had a vine covered sword insignia
on his left shoulder, the sign of a Ranger.
"Oh, I was just getting something to drink when I saw this dead body floating down the river." The hooded man answered in a deep voice, trying to mask his real voice. He had raised his hands in the air slightly and to the side. The blond haired ranger started to walk forward, he had put up his bow and was now unarmed though his left hand hovered near his sword.
"I'm looking for a deadly mercenary. He was last spotted in this area and I was wondering if you had seen him recently. He happens to have blue hair." The Ranger's voice was of a clarion tone and rang sweetly in the ears of many a person, but the hooded fellow, for a visible shudder coursed through his body.
"Blue hair you say? This fellow happens to have blue hair." The cloaked man nudged the body with his foot and stepped over slightly to obscure the view of the head. The ranger threw any signs of caution to the
winds and rushed forward, shoving the cloaked figure to the side.
"This man doesn't have blue hair!" He shouted out indignantly as he tried to turn around and face the hooded man. Two strong hands grasped the
man's head in mid turn.
"I do believe your right, it's more of a black color." The arrogant voice was back in place.
"Gods above its-" CRACK! The hooded man had twisted the rangers head violently to the right, effectively breaking his neck, the hooded man
was pretty strong for a relatively thin frame. The body was left to fall on top of the other. The hooded man bent over and unbuckled the sword belt around the Ranger's waist.
"Poor, predictable Aleric, you never were one to think things through." The hooded man was laughing slightly at the dead body. He pushed his hood back and revealed his own dark blue hair. It looked like might once have been long but had recently been cut very short with what was most likely a knife. A scraggly version of a goatee was beginning to cover his chin but this outcropping of hair was black with only a slight hint of blue. His green eyes surveyed the rest of the clearing as a smirk played out among his face.
The blue haired man now assumed a more confident air and began to stride back into the forest now that he was armed. He began to backtrack along his own beaten path and the one made by Aleric. The Rangers always hunted in packs and the others should have been around somewhere.
* * *
Mezzryn looked forward, deep into the jungle displayed before him. He could make out Aleric's path but his friend had been gone for over in hour in the foolish pursuit of an old enemy. "I'm going to go look for him, stay here and watch for the Kuriks." Mezzryn shouted back to his third partner. Mezzryn shifted his chain shirt on his large frame and set off into the woods at a feverish pace. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and every ranger knew that gut feelings had an ugly habit of coming to fruition.
Mezzryn had hustled through the forest for possibly ten minutes when he heard the sound of someone whistling. It was a drinking song Mezzryn remembered from his days at the siege of Chorden. He could only think of one other person who would know a song like that. "Ryu." He whispered out the name like some would whisper a foul curse that was never meant to be spoken by any living man.
Mezzryn ducked behind a tree and peered out into the semi-dense foliage looking for his quarry. After a few tense seconds Ryu came into view. He had cut his hair and grown a goatee to throw off most hunters. But that swagger, that air of bombast, the very aura around him made him immediately identifiable to Mezzryn. His memory jumped straight to the moment when he first met this pathetic excuse for a human. It was during the Urgothian Civil War. Chorden was a stepping stone to the capitol, an easy fight with the Rangers and the mercenaries procured by the rebel forces. Ryu was just a hotshot swordsman at the time. He and Mezzryn had immediately gotten along, they had both fought at the bridge into the city and held it together. Mezzryn thought that Ryu would have been among the best Rangers and had told him as much. Unfortunately, a mercenary's loyalty is to money.
They had just taken the walls of the city, most of the enemy forces had been driven back and were holed up inside of the castle. Mezzryn had been looking for Ryu, wanting to congratulate him and offer him a job in the Rangers, but when he found him, he also found the Ranger Guildmaster and his advisors dead. Ryu was leaning against the crenellations, whistling the same tune he is now, and just smiling at the carnage that was about to ensue. Mezzryn had tried to kill Ryu but had just gotten thrown off the wall for his efforts, it was a miracle he had survived, but now, he lived for the sole purpose of killing the oath breaker.
Ryu must have spotted him in the bushes for he soon called out to him. "By jings! If it ain't Mezzryn, I haven't seen you in what must be a
year by now." Ryu said moving over to the bush where Mezzryn was still crouched behind.
Mezzryn snarled in anger and stood straight up with his sword pulled out in one fluid motion. The clear ring of the steel being freed from its trappings hung about them for one agonizing second. Ryu's surprised smile reverted back into a bemused grin at his old ally. "Still mad about Chorden eh?" He asked, rocking onto his heels and then forward again.
"Is that all you can say for yourself? You, who single handedly, caused our defeat, you who placed that despot back on the throne, you who broke your word to me and my friends. Is that all you can say!" Mezzryn was shouting at him by now. Flecks of spit rained out of his mouth as he yelled at the one man he had wanted dead like no other. Ryu had raised an eyebrow questioningly but still stood still with his hands clasped behind his back.
Mezzryn's face twisted in rage as he beheld that arrogant bastard smirking at him, his green eyes alight with merriment. Mezzryn charged forward letting out a fierce warcry and swung at Ryu. In an almost blurred
movement Ryu's sword was brought up to block Mezzryn's charge. Mezzryn pushed with all his strength to try and force the mercenary back. Ryu simply held his ground, and smiled down at the shorter ranger. "You should have known better than to have attacked me." He admonished, his words reeking of bombast.
Mezzryn shoved the man backwards and brought his sword up into defense. Ryu stood in the same spot and kept his sword at his side. "C'mon Mezzryn, there's no need for us to be enemies. We're the best swordsmen in the area, we should go into business together, and it'd be like old times." Ryu said jovially. Mezzryn spat at those words and rushed forward again, coming in low. "Have it your way." Ryu sighed. He seemed almost reluctant to kill him.
Ryu intercepted the sword with his own blade, still held in one hand.
He slammed his elbow into the face of his opponent, he could feel bone crunching underneath the blow. Mezzryn staggered backwards as blood started to course out of his nose. Ryu followed through his bone shattering elbow with a strong kick into Mezzryn's stomach. Mezzryn doubled over in pain before Ryu nudged him slightly and he fell back onto the ground, his supine form looking up into the face of his most hated enemy. He could see
Aleric's sword clenched in his gauntleted hand. Ryu noticed his gaze and nodded. "Yeah, I killed him. He was always too rash." Ryu commented on the departed Ranger. Ryu planted his boot firmly on Mezzryn's chest and pressed down. Mezzryn could begin to feel himself being crushed and started to labor for his breath.
"Why did you do it?" He panted out, each word felt like it was being
pushed through a crack in a wall.
"What kill Aleric?" Ryu looked perplexedly down at his opponent. "Oh, you mean: 'Why did I kill your leaders back at Chorden?' Well to be perfectly honest, it wasn't really about money. I got paid for doing it and its not like the money hurt my motives, but that wasn't the reason I killed them." Ryu leaned in very close to the still laboring Mezzryn. "The actual reason I killed them was for the sheer joy of it all. Knowing that I single handedly ruined someone's chance at victory as well as knowing that I was better than any of the Rangers. That was the real pay off for me." Ryu was a mere inch away from the bloody and battered Mezzryn. Ryu pulled back and was preparing his sword for the final thrust when he dealt the final blow to Mezzryn.
"It's a shame about your partners. The girl was a real beauty." Ryu
taunted his fallen opponent. The words cause Mezzryn to make one last rage filled attempt at his life but the sword that had been thrust into his chest forced him to stay where he was. Ryu slid the weapon out of his now dead adversary. He hadn't the slightest idea of whether or not Mezzryn's partner were good looking or not, it just seemed like the kind of thing that would ruin someone's last moments in this realm. Ryu wiped the sword clean on the corpse's cloak before he sheathed it and began strolling leisurely through the woods, whistling as if he didn't have a care in the world.
Ryu continued moving in such a fashion until his own music began to mingle with that of another's. He couldn't quite place the tune but it didn't sound like it was a man whistling it. *Must be Mezzryn's third partner.* Ryu thought stopping his own whistling as he began to walk stealthily over towards the music. He eventually neared the music, it was near another clearing in the woods. Ryu slunk over to a tree and peered out from its trunk to get a lay of the land.
His optical orbs were treated with the sight of a very comely lass, she was facing him though her head was looking off in another direction. *You lucked out Mezzryn, well I guess it balances out now that your dead.* She was a sight to behold, wavy blond hair at about shoulder length framed a very pretty face. Her forehead was crinkled as she was frowning off at a distant object, her blue eyes seemed angry but maybe it was something else.
*A pretty face is all well and good, but the torso is where the action is at.* Ryu thought as his eyes wandered down onto her more southern regions.
She was wearing a leather cuirass that covered up a moderate bust. *Not bad, certainly pert enough.* His eyes went a little farther down, she was a
petite specimen, her cuirass tapered off in a skirt, kilt, whatchamakalit. Ryu didn't know the right word for it, Ryu didn't need to know the right word for it, all that he needed to know was that it looked good. His eyes went down
further to examine her tanned legs that were semi covered with a pair of boots.
Ryu's eyes were going up her body again for one last examination when, as he reached the top, he locked eyes with the Ranger whom he had been ogling. She was glowering at him with a look that would have rivaled Mezzryn's hate-filled eyes. She was leveling a crossbow at him so Ryu figured now was the time to step out from behind the tree. He raised his hands in a general symbol of surrender. In the girl's haste she let her bolt fire. THUNK! Ryu's eyes flashed straight to the projectile implanted a mere inch from his face. "I certainly hope that was good aim." Ryu said bemusedly. He looked back to the girl and flashed a winning smile, he was hoping to charm her off her feat, get in a quick lay, and then continue with his travels.
"I don't miss twice, whoever the hell you are, I want you to explain why you were spying on me and where the hell my partners are!" She had reloaded her crossbow and was aiming at him.
Ryu started to walk forward as he explained, he didn't get closer than ten feet, he kept pacing as he went along fabricating a suitable story. "Well, I am a Ranger from the town of. . . Bellavurn. We had just formed a Guild
there and I was coming over here to send a message to your Guild about us."
Ryu said as he paced, he made sure not to look her in the eye but glance pointedly at her crossbow. She seemed to be mulling over his explanation while he continued to pace his eyes going from the crossbow to her chest.
"That still doesn't fully explain why you were spying on me." She said after several moments of consideration, her finger inched nearer the trigger and Ryu began to work on some more lies.
"Well, the thing about that is, um..." Ryu was saved from having to make up another fallacy because at that precise moment, the Ranger's real reason for being in the area reared its ugly head. A series of war trumpets started sounding in the forest around them. Ryu quickly turned to spot a cluster of Kuriks barreling out of the forest. Kuriks are a cross between orcs and humans, they were better warriors than most orcs but they made lousier troops than most mercenaries. *Saved by the freaks of nature.* Ryu thought
letting out an explosive sigh. He pulled out Aleric's sword and leveled it at his opponents.
They rushed without any real sense of strategy, they were going to try and overwhelm him and the Ranger. The girl fired off her bolt into the chest of the prominent Kurik and it stumbled to the ground whimpering in pain. The remaining eight Kuriks split up and attacked both Ryu and the girl at the same time. Ryu wasted no time in cutting through the axe haft of a defending Kurik before following through with an upwards stroke clove through the beasts head. Ryu spun to his left coming in low, cutting deep into the stomach of his second opponent. His third opponent brought its axe up, ready for an overhead stroke. Ryu's sword was presently entertaining the fourth creature so Ryu had no choice but to punch out with his left hand. The punch went straight for the throat, effectively crushing the wind pipe beneath the force.
Ryu brought the same fist to bear in a left hook, knocking the Kurik down. Ryu stabbed the falling beast before spinning around and charging off towards the Kuriks surrounding the girl. Only two were left as she was
strafing the two left. Ryu simply charged and impaled one of them from
behind, he ripped his sword out of its flesh sheath and brought it down in a crushing blow on the Kurik's skull. Bits of grey matter and blood spattered onto the face of Ryu as he pulled his sword away from what was once the skull of a Kurik. Ryu cast a glance over at the Ranger chick to see if she
was doing anything that would affect him when he noticed three more Kuriks moving into the clearing. These were different, they were better armed for one thing and the one in the center looked more humanoid than most of his race.
The girl had her back to Ryu and he could see two stubby little bird wings coming out of her back. *Holy shit! She's a Windian! That should make things more interesting.* Ryu started to move forward towards the three Kuriks that had just entered the arena. Just as he was about to move closer he was knocked back by full blown realization. The one in the middle had been a partner of his, years back but still a partner. *I can't let him figure out who I am.* Ryu thought desperately. The Windian however had taken matters into her own hands. Her eyes were closed in concentration and one of her hands was raised. Just as the lead Kurik was about to say Ryu's name a ball of lightning issued forth from the Windian's out stretched hand, it engulfed the beasts and the resultant crash of thunder almost drowned out their screams of agony.
Ryu walked quickly over to the three bodies, the one who he knew was still alive, barely, but alive enough to ruin everything. He turned his head slightly to look at Ryu. "You..." His final words were muffled by the sword piercing his throat.
"Speak up, I couldn't quit hear you." Ryu admonished quietly. "I don't have time for your lies you wretched beast!" Ryu said loudly enough for his words to carry over to the girl. He looked over at her as she began to walk cautiously over towards the four of them. Ryu wiped his sword and face off on one of the cloaks of the dead Kuriks. She was finally right next to him and Ryu got his first really good look at her, she was short, probably not much taller than five feet. Her features were only more accentuated this close to him. Her crossbow was no longer pointing at him but was down at her side, she was still capable of blasting him with magic, but it was a small victory.
Her eyes went slowly from the bodies to Ryu, "I guess introductions are in order. My name is Nina, and you are?" She asked, extending her hand for him to shake. Ryu took it in his own, after he had removed his glove. It was nice with a supple kind of way about it. She had calluses showing the signs of hard work, but was still soft.
"The name's Fenris."
* * *
There it is. Sorry about it being late and all. I just had so much to do and not enough inspiration or motive to write this. I just want to say that I created this Ryu because I was tired of all the kind and compassionate ones
running about. I wanted one that was unique, and a bastard. His views don't necessarily reflect mine in case you're wondering. It would be nice if you reviewed. A brief suggestion, the band The Darkness has got a catchy song known as 'I Believe in a Thing Called Love.' Its catchy, the music video is cool, and I like it.
Fact of the Chapter: Did you know that the average handshake exerts about 90 pounds of pressure? Fascinating, don't you think?