They all woke up, bright and early. "What are we supposed to do in the two days or so that we have nothing to do?" Asked Sin and Kyren shrugged. "I dunno, but I would advise against any more dining encounters. That was incredibly careless. You're lucky you acted properly, or the Ereans wouldve gained wind of the new mass murderer of Alsterea." He said, and Sin chuckled. "You have to admit, all the people in town love me now!" He said, and Kyren nodded , slowly. "Yes, but don't do it again." And Sin laughed.
"Well, what will we do?" Lysalia asked, and Kyren shrugged. "Well, we could always check on what the hell that was that attacked Hiyo." Keith said. Jaquelin walked into camp, dragging Glen. Kyren turned, surprised. He had forgotten about them two! How could he be so stupid? He mentally slapped himself for his error. "Where have you two been...?" He didn't worry about them both, though, because they were incredibly dependable. "Well, Glen fell asleep on the march, and refused to wake up for about... three days, so I've been dragging him, while you guys forgot about us. Good thing the hooftracks from your two horses are so easily visible." She said, and eventually threw Glen aside the fire.
"Well, that was a workout." Jaquelin said, stretching her arms. "So, what have I missed in all the travelling? Any inspirational group speeches? It seems like Sin's grown up while I was gone, looky! He wear dainty armor now... I bet my axe could put a hole in that stuff." She said with a laugh, which Sin returned. "Not if you can't touch me, you can't." And she laughed as she drew her hefty axe. "Wanna bet?" She asked, and Sin smiled. "I won't even use my hands." He said, and Kyren rolled his eyes. It was obvious, a fighter bearing an axe against an assassin who used swords... the assassin would dodge with ease.
She swung the axe at him, which he flipped over, but suddenly, Jaqelin did something he didn't expect. She stopped the blade where he had backflipped over, cutting off his space to land on his feet. Gah! What should I do? Sin thought frantically, and he curled up into a ball, and rolled, hoping that he'd land on the flat side of the axe.
"You're a sly little bastard, but I give you credit. You're a good fighter." She said, as she saw Sin perched upon her axe head. "But, magic isn't like a weapon, and it's far harder to dodge. Watch out for that." She said, and Sin nodded. Faith looked bored, she hadn't been doing anything lately, and fell into obscurity within the group, and began throwing pinecones from trees nearby into the air, and shooting them out of the sky, one by one. She had been training herself to become a sniper, and was becoming awefully close to it. Suddenly, as she threw one up, it was shot down before she drew her arrow to her string.
Siham laughed. "Sorry, couldn't resist... I had been watching you shoot those things for a while now, and it looked like fun. How bout we take turns throwing them up, and shooting them?" And Faith agreed, and as they shot down the pinecones, they became fast rivals in archery. "Twenty-eight in a row! Not a single miss! I've almost won, winning score being thirty." Siham said, and Faith was under her score by two shots, and decided to show off. She gathered a handful of pinecones, about five of them, and threw them as high as she could, and jumped back, taking aim.
One feathered, two feathered, three feathered, the fourth pinecone feathered as well... and the last pinecone fell close to the ground and... she nailed it head one, and the arrow led the pinecone to Siham's feet. "What was that? Winning score of thirty? I believe that I just scored a thirty-one." She said, triumphantly, walking away. "Good shooting." Lysalia commented, and Faith beamed. It was one of her few talents, archery, and she prided herself on it.
Kyren looked to Faith. "Faith, I admit I have been overlooking you lately... but, would you like to post these posters around town? It's advertisement for the warriors that Sartis said linger around town, waiting for a mercenary group to be built. He said, as held out a bundle of papers. "You don't need to, but it would be appreciated." Kyren added, and she smiled wide. "I'd be glad too commander!" She said, as she took the bundle of papers and ran off to town.
"So, we're actually becoming mercenaries, eh?" Glen said sitting up, shocking Jaquelin. "You're awake?" She asked, and he nodded. "Yup, been awake the entire time you were dragging me, I just didn't feel like walking." he said, and you could practically hear him smiling under all the plate armor. Jaquelin said nothing, but decided to take a large rock, and slam it against the side of Glen's helm, repeatedly, so that the echo from banging inside the helmet would make his ears bleed in payback. Glen sat there, and then fell back down, and Jaquelin frowned. "I'm not dragging him this time. Tie him up to your horse and drag him or something, or get Lysalia to use her wind to carry the fool." She said, and the two laughed weakly.
Michael approached Sin. "Sin, I got a question for you..." And SIn looked surprised. His rival was talking to him. What foul scheme had he in mind? But, curiousity got the best of him. "What?" He asked, and Michael sat against a tree, while Sin stared out over the river. "Do you care for Terra?" And SIn kept staring out over the river. "I care for her... like she's the only family I have left." He said, as he smiled, realizing the true emotions for Terra in his heart for once. "I don't like her that way... but she is probably one of the closest people I know, and I doubt she knows it either. I've protected her from numerous opponents, and I have killed all of them. And don't doubt if you hurt her, I won't kill you either. Any of my family who gets hurt... dies by my hand." He said, and Michael was thrown off.
"You knew her outside of the army?" And Sin nodded. "Actually, do me a favor, go get terra for me... it's about time I told her something." He said, and Michael nodded, as he stood up, and Terra came to where Sin was sitting after a while.
"You wanted me?" Terra asked, sitting next to Sin. "Michael told me you feel as though I'm family... is that what you began feeling towards me as you watched me through childhood?" And Sin laughed. "Yeah. I watched your family, and became envious of them all. See, what you didn't realize, is that your father, one day, caught me in a silent duel between an assassin and me." He said with a laugh.
"After that, your family took me in as one of their own. How I loved it, after not having a family myself. I was named the family Guardian, as I took down more and more assassins who broke in, trying to kill your family." And Terra stopped him. "Why were there assassins in my home?" And Sin scratched his chin. "Something in your blood. The assassins were of Erean blood. Something about your family, they didn't want rising to the surface. I realized that myself, and realized that... if your family didn't know about me, I'd be more able to protect you all." He said, and Terra looked at him.
"Is that why...?" And Sin nodded. "Yes, you only have dreams of shadows where I used to belong in your memories... a Sage made me a drought that if I fed to you guys, it would make you all forget about me. What if an assassin took me hold, and used me as a hostage in trade for you? I'd never forgive myself. So... I went through the pain again, of being lost, and without a family, so I could protect the ones I had. Once you all had forgot about me, I would be worthless as a bargaining chip, and my reward for being careless enough to be captured would be death." Sin said, and Terra was shocked. "So thats... how you've trained to become an assassin? Like your father?" and Sin nodded.
"Yes, something about rush of silence, and flash of steel in the night, it appealed to me, something in me desired it, it made my blood burn, and I felt alive... yes, I'm a horrible person... the rush of killing makes me feel like a person again. I have the bloof of Alcuin in me... the most feared assassin the ages had seen. He, I don't doubt had this same strange... problem with him." Sin said, and Terra held her head. "Well.. not that you're saying this... those shadows, that felt like dreams, that were where you were meant to be... are filling in again..." She said, and she looked at Sin. "Do you still have the..." And Sin fished out a small emblem. "Yes, I still have the emblem, your families keepsake." He said.
"Your father gave it to me, when I told him of my plans. I didn't trick any of your family into drinking it, besides you. Although the same age as me, you were incapable of the maturity to let go of your... big brother, as you used to call me." He said, and laughed. "We used to play such silly little games, and I'd sit there, the cold-blooded assassin with no heart, confused as you taught me childhood games I had never had the chance to play." he said, reminiscing. "But, as I was saying.. I told your father, and he didn't wish to forget me, and neither did any of the adults, but they understood my sentiments, and how my life had been devoted to protecting them, so they gave me this emblem as a keepsake, a reminder so I didn't forget them, like I had forgot my past, and my name. And after a while, I literally... faded away from your household, as the assassins stopped arriving, and I left that place for years... and then I met you again, on the way to the army." he said..
"And, have you grown. You've become a beautiful woman, and a great fighter, as well. Even though my deeds bring me pain, it brought me happiness to see you doing well in life, and it brought warmth to my void of a heart, in the fact that something I had done had changed people, for the best." He said, and Terra thought. "So... that's the reason when you came with me, to the ruins of my home... that you were so offended, and vowed that you'd have revenge..." She said, and Sin nodded, with a half-hearted laugh.
"Yes, I was angry. It's the second family Erish and Xacaryus has taken from me. I don't remember how I survived the first time... and the second time, to boot. It seems someone has been protecting the protector." He said with a small chuckle.
"Sin, I got a question..." Terrs said. "Go ahead." Sin said, laying down on the grass. "People say... assassins are the blades that protects... and some people say that assassins are the blades that destroy..." She said, and Sin nodded. "There are two kinds of assassins... but I protect with my blades." He said, and Terra nodded feverishly. "Yes... I know... thats why I want you to teach me how to use the blades that protect people." She said, and Sin sat upright, and stared at her.
Michael was amazed, leaning up against a tree. "The roots of this troop go deeper than expected... if I want Terra I better do it right, or Sin will have my throat cut out, and served for dinner..." He said, stroking his chin. "You better believe it." Sin said, hanging upside down from a tree branch nearby. Michael, shocked, and surprised, drew his blade, and swung it instinctively, Sin flipping from the branch and landing on his feet.
"Well, go ahead, date her. But, you hurt her in any form, you die." Sin said, and Michael shook on it. "I won't." He said, and Sin smiled wickedly. "Ok, but I'll be borrowing her for a while. I'm teaching her to become an assassin." And Michael was shocked. "Whyyyy?" He exclaimed.
"Because I want to." Terra said from behind Michael, and Sin clapped. "Good work! Didn't even hear you coming. You've already got stealth skills." He said with a smile. Terra wrapped her arms around Michael. "Your not angry at me, are you?" She asked, and Michael shook his head. "N-no..." He said, not used to this sensation being give to him by a girl.
"Oh, and by the way... We're dating now. So I better not see you even look at another girl, if you want to live." Terra said, and Sin began laughing. "YES! She's already got the hang of an assassins personality!" Michael grinned. "It'll be worth it." he said to Terra, and Terra smiled. "Good, but, I gotta train with big brother for a bit. I mean, we're at war, and we've been given two days for lounging? I'm going to take the best of it." She said, and Terra and Sin walked off. Michael began thinking. "Should I become an assassin too...?" He asked himself, and he shook his head. "No, I'm becoming a swordmaster, thats what I vowed to do... since..." And He shook his head. "No, let's not think about those days. Michaels a happy man, the past isn't going to drag him down." He said, as he walked away.
Hiyo finally woke up, from his coma, without the help of August. "Keith, never EVER do what I just did. I scryed incorrectly, and I saw into the future of Death, and I saw my own." He said, and Keith looked curious. "What was it like-" And hiyo held a finger to Keiths lips. "No human being should ever be able to see their fate." He said, standing up weakly, looking fatigued, and aged from his encounter, and walked to the fire, and sat close to it, as if to warm his chilled soul. His skin had become incredibly pale, and his eyes darker than usual, the X marking on his forehead, a pale red color. "I know how I will die, and I accept it." He muttered.
The day was ending, and Kitch was scribbling madly, looking to the skies frantically. He hated the night... thats when he forgot everything the past day. Faith came running into camp. "Commander! Everyone's goign crazy about the new mercenary guild we're setting up! It's incredible! Townspeople crowding around wherever I post the posters, and warriors of all kinds swarming out of the woodworks when they got wind! I've seen even wyvern riders looking towards the posters. Townspeople and warriors have even been helping build the guild! It'll be done probably by tomorrow, at the pace everyone's working!" Faith said, and Kyren beamed. New beginnings were starting, and new tales had begun to write themselves...