A/N: Agh.. I finished this chapter the other night, then the comp suddenly restarted. Bangs head... and it didn't auto save. TT All my inspiration flew away. OO

feathertop : snickers... XD I like to think Kira's handsome. oO

Arethusa Fellini : Yeah. Charming assassins are the best. =3 /gg

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Chronicles of an Acolyte

Part Two

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It's me again... maybe you're getting sick of me, but I don't really mind. Anyway, my first day on my own was frightening... but I was also very relieved.

You see, I grew up with my mother hating assassins. And so I, in return, grew up thinking they were just vile criminals who liked to kill and steal from people. That was, until I met Kira.

I don't know him too well... all I know is that he's a seventeen year old assassin. The bartender was telling me about it this morning. Kira's an orphan, and he grew up as a kid stealing from the streets of Midguard to survive... until he gained enough skill to turn into an assassin. I really don't know why he decided to become an assassin... and assassins assassinate.

Obviously.

Assassination is sort of an art. People, mostly mafias, pay these assassins to kill a certain person. And most people get it wrong: Murdered is different from assassinated. Assassination is much more complicated, you're not supposed to leave a single clue behind, and most assassinations are meant to look like the person died in an accident.

They're supposed to live in shadows, and seeing one can cost you your life. But during the day, they walk around like normal people, and you can't tell the difference.

It's so stupid.

Why'd my father have to become an assassin..?

Ever since he joined the guild, he left me and mom.

I hate to admit it, and I'm sure mom feels the same way... but I miss him.

This Kira guy-- he might know my father, and that's just one reason why I'm so fond of him.

"He went ahead...?" Rumi blinked, as she tied up her messy mass of hair into a her usual French braid.

The bartender nodded. "Yeah, he said he has some business to attend to."

Rumi frowned. Assassin business...?

That morning, Rumi had woken up, and the bartender had given her some free breakfast. The old man seemed so fond of her. Kira later joined them, and they got into talking. After that, Kira had dragged Rumi to the tool shop and bought her around fifty red potions... in order for her to stay alive as a novice. It was really heavy on her backpack and it slowed her down, but she couldn't tell him that.

Then they returned, Rumi took a bath in the inn, and when she came out, the bartender said Kira had already left.

"Thanks." Rumi smiled. "By the way... what's your name?"

The bartender laughed. "That's right. Just call me Manong Buddy."

Rumi nodded. "Manong Buddy, where's the Prontera Church?"

"Just head north west... take care, Rumi-Chan."

She smiled again in reply before running out the inn.

"Such a sweet girl..." Manong Buddy chuckled before going back to his work. "Kira's so lucky..."

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"North west, north west..." Rumi fumbled around Prontera. This girl had absolutely no sense of direction.

She approached a familiar looking guy... "Excuse me--"

The guy blinked at her.

Silence.

It was the thief from the previous night.

"You!" They both exclaimed in unison.

"You stole my zeny from last night!" Rumi pointed at him accusingly. Several heads from around turned to them.

"Shh!" The thief replied in frustration. "Don't make such a scene!"

"But you took it!"

"And gave it back!"

"Did not... you just got scared of Ki--"

The thief clamped his hand over her mouth. "Don't say his name..."

She nodded, and he let go.

"Hmph. Don't even know why they told you his name..." The thief muttered, as he started to walk away.

"Hey."

"What!?" The thief yelled back at her.

"Where's the Prontera Church?"

The thief sweat dropped and pointed to a road. "Turn right."

"Thanks!" Rumi laughed and ran towards the said direction.

"Idiot..." The thief shook his head in frustration.

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Meanwhile...

"Poison spore, poison spooore!!!!!" Mint shrieked as she ran around in circles.

From a distance, her brother, Chent sweat dropped and took his sword from it's sheath and attacked the poison spore...

With no more than a flick of his wrist.

It died.

"You have a long way to go, sis." Chent commented. His sister in return stomped her feet in aggravation.

The siblings were on their way to Payon from Alberta... and poison spores attacked from every direction. Mint, a novice, wouldn't stand a chance, and so, her brother the Knight, showed chivalry (and amusement) in saving his sister from the oh-so-weak poison spores.

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"You want to become an acolyte...?" The priest inquired, adjusting his glasses to get a better look at Rumi.

Rumi nodded in reply. "If... if I may."

"You're only fourteen." The priest smiled. "That's a pretty young age."

"Ah! Well, my mom is kinda forcing me to 'choose my path'..." Rumi's mouth twitched as she emphasized that phrase. "And I always did plan to be an acolyte. I just didn't think it had to be so soon.."

The old priest gave out a chuckle. "I understand if you don't want to become one right now. But there's a really long line behind you, so you'd better decide now."

Rumi blushed. "Gomen! I... I want to become an acolyte now. What am I supposed to do?"

"Let's see..." The priest thought to himself and looked over a couple of papers on his desk. "I'll go easy on you... find Mother Mathilda, and she'll decide. Once you find her, come back here and we'll see if you can become and acolyte."

"Where's Mother Mathilda...?"

The priest smiled at her. "I can't tell you. The only clue I can give is that she stays in a very warm place, and helps out sick people who come visit her in her oasis."

"Eh..?"

He nodded and beckoned at the long line behind her.

Geez... lots of people sure want to become acolytes. She mused to herself, before exiting the place. Now what...?

She sat down on the sidewalk and reached into her backpack, taking out a Midguard Map which Chent had given to her the other week, when he was training her with Rockers. A warm place with an oasis...? Obviously, a desert place. The only desert on the map was Morroc.

Rumi gaped. What a huge place!! The town itself was fairly as big as Prontera... but the desert! It was huge.

"What's this? Hey, you shouldn't do stuff like that in a place where people can step on you. Get a table, idiot."

Frowning, Rumi looked up to see a person she dreaded to see. The thief from before... the thief who stole her money and was frightened of Kira... and the thief whom she had also met earlier that day.

"You again...?" Rumi said with an irritated tone.

"Yo." He said, with the same unpleased tone. "See you..."

"Ei.. uhm... wait."

"What?"

"How do I get to Morroc...?"

The thief raised an eyebrow. "Use your map."

"Err..." Rumi laughed nervously. "Do you know anyone who can escort me from desert wolves...?"

"They don't attack you if you leave them alone." He started to walk away again.

"Geez, fine." Rumi said under her breath. "I was just trying to be friends."

The thief stopped in his tracks and laughed. "Right."

"Right."

"I'm going to Morroc." He said, turning around to look at her. "It's my hometown. You can tag along if you want, but don't annoy me, or I'll feed you to desert wolves."

Rumi stood up, the map crumpled in her hand. "Thanks!"

"Five hundred zeny..."

"Wha...?"

He grinned. "It's the fee for my escorting. A guy's gotta earn money, you know."

"Ugh!" Rumi screamed in irritation. "You--... you just wanted money!"

"Yes. So?"

Rumi stomped her foot. "Let's just go."

"Cliff..." He muttered.

"What!? You're going to push my corpse of a cliff...? You don't think the wolves would have devoured it completely?"

He snorted in amusement. "Idiot. My name's Cliff."

"Ah... sorry. I'm Ru--"

"Stop. 'Idiot's fine enough."

"Agh! You-- you...!"

"Are you coming or not!?"

Rumi blinked... Cliff was far away, stomping towards the Prontera exit. She shook her head furiously and ran after him.

Beggars can't be choosers.

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"You were caught, Kira?" A husky voice inquired. It was a dark and damp place, enclosed in rock walls. The only light visible was from the dim lamps that were hung on the walls.

"Sorry.." Kira replied, his eyes set on the floor.

"Look up." Another guy beside him ordered. Kira made a face and looked at the one with the husky voice, the Guild Leader, in the eye.

"Sorry...? Is that all you have to say? Our guild was caught, and now it's quite obvious that it was us who tried to assassinate the king, and there were witnesses who saw you... now everyone is looking for a guy with crimson hair and a wound in the neck."

Kira twitched. Obviously, it would be us who'd try to assassinate the king... assassins. Assassinate. Use your brain, idiot.

"Don't make rude faces!" They guy beside him yelled, giving Kira a powerful punch on the right cheek.

"Ow..." Kira glared at the old man and massaged his cheek.

"That's enough!" The Guild Leader yelled. "Kira, do you regret becoming an assassin?"

"Yup."

This nonchalant way of answering, and the answer itself, resulted in the old man giving him a hard kick in the stomach. Kira was sent flying across the room, and his back hit the rock wall in a strong impact.

"Idiot! He asked, didn't he!?" Kira yelled, massaging his painful back, but not making an effort get up.

"I said that's enough!" The guild leader roared. The old man sneered and glared at Kira. "I'll give you your chance later. Kira!"

Kira forced himself to look at the Guild Leader.

"I know it wasn't your choice to become an assassin, but you're one now. You've killed befo--"

"I didn't want to!"

"But you did." He took a pause. "You know what will happen if you want to quit being an assassin, am I right?"

"...you're going to kill me."

"That's right. You know too much about this guild... like where our hideout is and such. In the outside world, you may be a powerful person. But in this guild, you're merely a weak kid, and the people here won't make any second thoughts on killing you if you make a mistake."

"Okay..." He muttered.

"Old man." The guild leader faced the man who was beating up Kira earlier. "You may punish him now."

"Argh, you mean that wasn't it yet!?" Kira yelled, looking up. The guild leader didn't reply to this as he left the room, the old man approached Kira with his weapon in his hand.

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Rumi, blinking, looked around. They were in Morroc after two hours of leaving Prontera. It should have been around five hours, but halfway to Morroc, a couple of Knights on PecoPecos offered them rides.

"Cliff... do you know where I can find Mother Mathilda?" Rumi asked her companion.

"Yeah. No. Maybe. See you, idiot." Cliff said, waving his hand sarcastically.

"Rumi! R-U-M-I! Not IDIOT!" She yelled, resulting in a smirk from Cliff.

Their argument was cut short when a little boy's screaming for help was heard. Rumi and Cliff both looked towards the entrance and saw a boy being chased by wolves. A pack of about five angry wolves.

"That idiot." Cliff hissed. "He must've annoyed them again."

The young boy cried out in fear as he stumbled on the brick steps of Morroc headfirst. People around them were backing away, frightened.

"Big brother!" A girl from behind Rumi shrieked. This girl pushed Rumi forward by accident.

"Ahh!" Rumi screamed, waving her arms. She reached out her hand to catch the first thing she could by instinct.

She grabbed the fur of one of the wolves. The wolf howled in pain and bit Rumi's wrist, throwing her aside.

"Rumi! Crap..." Cliff groaned. Rumi gave another cry of panic as she backed away from the wolves, who had then ignored the little boy and reverted their attention to Rumi.

"Cliff! I'm so sorry!" The little boy cried, as he ran towards Cliff.

Cliff ignored him and yelled at Rumi. "Hey! Idiot! Make a run for it!"

"Don't call me idiot!!"

"This isn't the time to be talking about names!" Cliff yelled in frustration.

The wolves pounced into the air, and shrieks from the people around them were heard. Rumi shut her eyes, still clutching her wounded wrist as she waited for the pain to come.

But none came. All she heard were wolves howling in pain and the sounds of punching and kicking.

She opened her eyes slowly to see that familiar crimson haired assassin.

"Kira...!" She said in surprise. What is he doing here...?

As soon as the wolves were gone, the people surrounding them gave a sigh of relief and started walking away. They were still chattering about the frightening event that just took place.

"Oi, Cliff!" Kira yelled as he helped Rumi up. "What the hell happened?"

"Sorry, Kira!" The boy from earlier exclaimed, stepping forward. "It was my fault! I should've listened when you and Cliff told me not to tease them."

"I'm sorry too!" The girl who pushed Rumi said right after, taking a step forward too. "I pushed that girl by accident!"

Kira sweat dropped. "Why are you apologizing to me...?"

"We're sorry, lady!" The two of them yelled in unison as they faced Rumi, who sweat dropped.

"I-it's okay..." Rumi stammered. She then looked at Kira, and her eyes widened. His face and arms were full of bruises and cuts.

"Let's go." Cliff told the two kids and grabbed them by the collar. "I'm going to make sure you two don't get soup tonight."

"Aww, Cliff!" The boy whined.

"Kira." Rumi called out, frowning.

"Yes?" Kira blinked as he faced Rumi.

"Oi, Kira." Cliff's voice cut in. Kira and Rumi both looked at Cliff, who was in a fairly far distance. He was still holding the two kids by the collar. "She's looking for Mother Mathilda. Don't help the idiot, okay? She didn't pay me for escorting her here to Morroc."

"Eh?" Kira stared. "Are you two angry at each other or something?"

"RUMI!" Rumi yelled for the last time. "And here's your damn money!" She threw him some pennies.

Cliff raised his eyebrows. "That's it?"

"Cut it out, Cliff." Kira said.

Cliff laughed. "I was kidding. See you guys." Then he left, the two kids still whining for soup.

"C'mon, I'll take you to Mother Mathilda." Kira told Rumi as soon as they were gone. "She lives in an oasis north of Morroc. Not many people know about that place, though. She's a nun who heals the injured and sick people of Morroc."

"Thanks." Rumi smiled at him and followed him out of Morroc. Then, she remembered the question which she was supposed to ask in the first place. "Kira?"

Kira muttered something about PecoPeco drops before answering. "What is it?"

"Why do you have bruises and cuts?"

"Eh?" Kira blinked. After a pause, he grinned at her, at the same time winking, and went back to complaining about the unhygienic manners of PecoPecos.

Obviously, he had stepped on some 'dirt' that a PecoPeco had dropped. Too bad PecoPecos don't have bathrooms.

"Hey! Answer me, why do you have bruises and cuts?"

He ignored her question for the second time, but he stopped when it caught to his attention that Rumi had stopped walking and her fists were trembling.

"What's wrong?" Kira asked, tilting his head.

"I had my eyes shut..."

"What?"

"When the wolves attacked me, I didn't see anything when you drove them away. Did they hurt you?"

Kira chuckled. "Measly wolves can't hurt an assassin, Rumi."

"Then what did!?"

"Why do you want to know, anyway..?"

Rumi made a face of disbelief. "Why wouldn't I want to know?"

Kira blinked. "Are we going to stand around asking questions all day?"

"Maybe." Rumi giggled.

"Damn, I hate the hot weather of Morroc." Kira muttered, taking out his huge shirt.

"What...? What are you doing!?" Rumi panicked. Why the hell is he getting naked?!

Kira sweat dropped, and Rumi realized he had a black undershirt under his huge shirt. "What were you thinking?" Kira asked, still sweat dropping.

"N-nothing." Rumi replied, hiding her blush. She started to panic again when Kira tore the sleeve of the shirt he had taken off.

Kira tied the torn piece of cloth around Rumi's wrist. The wrist which was bitten by the wolf earlier. "That'll stop the bleeding for now. You know, when something hurts, you should just say it."

Apparently, Kira had noticed earlier that Rumi was clutching her bleeding wrist and was wincing from the pain.

"You're one to talk." Rumi muttered. Kira gave another chuckle.

"Let's head for Mother Mathilda!" Kira told her, pointing to the direction in front of them.

Rumi nodded. "Thanks, Kira."

He grinned at her for the nth time and they started walking of to the direction Kira had pointed out.

To Be Continued