A/n

Here is the next chapter, again the story in general overall has not change, but details have, so enjoy the story!

Chapter 14: A Lousy Start

-Neutral pov-

The truth of the matter is, we all face hardships of different kinds, and one can never know the struggles of another person is going through. And yet, behind every expression worn at hard times is a story of a personal struggle. A truth that Saber is a testament for time and time again though he will unlikely admit such to most. Going through hardship is rarely enjoyable for most and Saber is by no means an exception to the idea. And to say Saber has gone through great deal situations and experiences that can be put in the category of hardships is an understatement.

And yet, Saber chooses to go into the situations that he does a portion of the time, at least the major ones. The journey that he, Seth and Cyra was a choice and Saber predicted that it would come with its challenges, none tend to. Nonetheless, he didn't know just what that would entail in the area of the Dragon Realm named Pyria. Not only was the ruins of the place known as the Concurrent Skies which had been warped from what it had been before Malefor. But also, the influence of the apes hadn't helped the area, just made it more dangerous to be around.

-Saber's pov-

On the outset, the three of us headed to the northeast after leaving Warfang towards the part of the dragon realm knew as Pyria. According to Seth, we would need to go around what was known as the Igneous Basin before we could go north heading for the mountains that were our destination. By the sound of it, this journey would be a couple day trip there and the same amount of time coming back. Once again, going to be putting my survivalist skillset to practical use, good thing I keep them polished.

I'm not saying that things would be fine going forward, nothing like that actually as there will be many factors that would come into play. Of that plethora of mixed feelings which I was having with this trip and the many ways, it could possibly run, allow me to elaborate upon a few of the main points of argument from me. Point numero uno, what we know about the countryside my two companions and I are traveling into is little if any useful information other than those who have gone before us haven't come back. That isn't comforting in my mind as with how things stand, there isn't a great deal to keep the same being said of the three of us. Other than that, the stuff we do know of the land comes from the previously stated fact, those who are in charge of Pyria have a serious tendency to be rather unfriendly to dragons. If that doesn't scream trouble, then dragon ignorance is worse than I had originally calculated, and my estimations weren't nice, to begin with.

Then, the second part of this was… well, I just had to glance behind me to see the other factor that told me this journey would be problematic! What I was referring to was Cyra and her attitude, which in my view would contribute to my headaches and other ailments I could have soon. I'm not saying Cyra is a bad companion or anything like that exactly, she doesn't have what I would call the ability to read the mood. Case and point, the blue dragoness hadn't ceased bouncing with excitement and was doing so without any restraint. I'm left to wonder, could this be the result of something she drank recently?! If that's the case, then I want to be as blissfully ignorant as she is to help relieve the stress that's been building up in me. So, I'll have whatever she having bartender, and make it a double if you please!

"We're going on an adventure! We're going on an adventure yeaaaah," Cyra cried in a happy tone.

That snapped me back to the present and I stared at Cyra in disbelief at her blatant disregard for the dangers that were ahead. I couldn't help but smack my face with a hand and then slide it down with annoyance. Is she really going to do this the whole freaking time?! Please, for the love of goodness and sanity that still exists, don't let that be so! Why must I get torment like this regularly, the lightbulb with wings was horrible enough to have to tolerate! All I need to get down to the second lowest tier of hell would be someone saying in a whiny drawl, 'Are we there yet?' repeatedly over and over! At that thought, I felt a shudder run through me at that thought for it was a horrible and torturous idea! I have had enough crap to deal with without having to be forced to view what purgatory would be like!

When I glanced over at Seth he was rolling his eyes at Cyra's actions, "Ancestors help us," he groaned.

I silently agreed with Seth wholeheartedly for Cyra was acting like a five-year-old or slightly less aged kid! So then, what does this make me now, some kind of dragon baby sitter or something along those lines? I can understand that Cyra can get excited at times however, this is going over the freaking top! She's disproving my argument to Spectra of her being old enough to make decisions for herself and I'm not fond of being proven wrong. Cyra is like a child on the day of going to the amusement park which isn't wrong, but we certainly aren't going to an amusement park of any sort.

Now, with me, it's not that I exactly have a problem with kids or those younger than me… it's just I don't do well at dealing with those who act younger and stupider than they actually are. For example, in the case of children, they make simple things sound like something much bigger than it actually is and that has a knack of irking me! One should keep a proper perspective of the people and environment around them period. This came, as a result, I think from little good interaction with kids my own age when I was in the developmental years and beyond, which I had so little good and so many bad experiences to fall back on! I am getting the feeling that this is going to be a very long journey and not just physically speaking, but also mentally taxing as well I'll bet! There's a need to get this under control and have Cyra to tone it down for all of our sakes, "CYRA FOR THE LOVE OF THE EGG THAT YOU HATCHED FROM CALM DOWN," I shouted loud enough to make myself heard.

Cyra looked at me and… did she just stick her tongue out at ME?! Deep breath, exhale, repeat the motions, I am calm and not upset, this isn't anything to get mad over, she IS NOT Sparx AFTER aLL! Cyra had ceased paying attention to me not too long after sticking her tongue out at me. I had started forward towards Cyra fully planning to give her a lecture about acting her age yet, my bad luck decided to make its first appearance on this trek. That came as I had taken a couple of steps towards Cyra, then I tripped on a rock that I swear appeared out of thin air and did an amazing, but graceful face plant. And YES, such a thing is possible, you can do a face plant in a way that looks amazing and graceful! If that wasn't enough, then it was better as it seemed to happen in what seemed like slow motion, and by better, I mean more painful and embarrassing. The next thought that came to mind was, 'so the field day that my bad luck is going to have has begun'. WHOOTY STINKING DOO for me!

I believe Seth came up next to me as the black scales I saw suggested, I assume looking me over with the fall I had just done. My ears told me that he began to ask if I was okay, to which my response was to hold up one finger in the attempt to ask them to hold on for a minute. I didn't move for a moment waiting for the burning pain of my face slamming into the ground to pass. When the pain started lessening, I rose slowly but smoothly to a sitting position and spat out the small amount of dirt that had gotten into my mouth. I shook my head and finished getting to my feet before replying to Seth, "I'm just fine Seth, just not looking forward to the encroaching bad luck, which this is just a preview for." I dusted myself off, then continued, "All righty then let's get going, and Cyra, ENOUGH WITH THE 'WE'RE GOING ON AN ADVENTURE'! Give it a rest and give us guys some peace of mind for a bit please," I pleaded to the blue dragoness, some yelling intermixed in the plea.

Cyra jerked back ever so slightly, then gave a slight sad nod, "Okay sorry," she returned.

A sigh escaped me as I didn't want to scare her, "Look, I was not meaning to scare you and I am sorry if I did. All I am trying to say is that being excited is not bad, just do so in moderation and within reason." I explained, to try to perk up her mood that I had punctured.

Cyra's head tilted to the side and she gained a confused look, "Maw-der-rea-shun? I understand what you kind of mean when you say 'within reason', Uncle Cyril says that to me from time to time, but that word you said does not make sense to me," the blue dragoness said.

So, the Ice Guardian tells his niece to rein things in, but apparently, he doesn't do it in a way that gets consistent results, at least that's what I see. Then, I keep forgetting that I needed to keep my word simple for everyone else I'm around for the dragon race doesn't have the same vocabulary. And the more I learn about the language of the Dragon Realm, the more I am irked that inference is close to non-existent and sarcasm is rare. "Moderation means to not overdo things or to reign in actions and not go overboard," I explained, enunciating the word moderation. And then, with that said we began walking forward as we kept talking as the journey really started.

The day went by at a fairly decent pace even if it was rather uneventful with the three of us have gotten a decent distance behind us from Warfang to show the effort that we had made. We didn't make it to the mountains we were aiming for on the west of Pyria by the time we had to stop. But we got around the Igneous Basin which was pretty much a giant bowl-like depression by what glimpses I saw. The mountains we were heading for were in the distance, so likely a day or more to reach them from where we camped for the night. The good-looking spot we chose for the night to sleep though camp may not be the best term for the point, it sure beats being out here alone in my opinion! To be technical, what made up 'camp' was the three of us being in a short distance of one another as it was getting darker.

The first order of business for me was to get a fire going and so I did with the use of the fire element and wood, which I found along the way and around the site. Once there was a good fire going and we cooked an amount of meat for dinner that we shared. After dinner, I sat near the fire thinking to myself, an opportunity that I'd been finding myself getting more frequent as of late. The reason I realize this would be my life had changed so dramatically in the last… let's see, a little more than a week now if I calculate correctly. I mean, looking at my two traveling companions just about says the long and short of it, I'm with creatures that are supposed to be a myth after all.

And yet, I didn't get that far into my thoughts as I took note that Seth was sitting not all far from me and he looked like he was having an internal conflict with himself. At least, that's what I assumed all the grimaces and worried looks he was making meant, I could be completely off though I rarely am when reading the body language of others. So, I rose and went over to him thinking he might want someone to talk to, it does help me… close to half the time even if I don't like to admit that. So, I will lend a listening ear to those who need one in this, it's not like I have much else to do right now.

So, I rose up moved over and plopped myself down next to Seth waiting for him to acknowledge my presence next to him. I didn't have to wait long as he glanced over at me for a second and then looked away. I just sat silently hoping Seth would be the one to start the conversation yet, he just sighed heavily and stayed silent. I figure that it would be up to me to 'break the ice' so to speak, I hope Seth is good with me using an 'industrial strength sledgehammer' to break said ice that's developed for I'm naturally blunt and to the point with others. "So Seth, tell me what is troubling you," I asked.

Seth gained an expression of shock before he put on a 'straight face' and his straight face wasn't very convincing to me. It was less so when he responded, "Nothing," he said.

I couldn't help the but heavily sigh as I could tell he was lying without looking at him. It wasn't just a single thing that told me he was lying, but many things that Seth unlikely knew he was doing that told me so. Taking a quick glance over him to get a view of his body language for a more accurate view. Five different bodily responses were apparent instantly, confirming my assumption of the fact that Seth was lying to me. "Seth, I can tell you are lying. I speak from experience… some less nice than others when I say it helps to talk about what is troubling you," I said flatly.

Seth didn't meet my gaze, yet another action that implies deceit. It's certainly not that dragons and dragonesses are prone to lie, seen more the contrary "Like I said nothing is troubling me and I am not lying," he said back.

Okay then, would appear that Seth needs a lesson that lying to me is no easy task for I'm good at knowing when another is hiding something from me. "Seth, out of all those you are around, I am one of the last, if not the last one you can successfully lie to," I stated. I paused for a moment remembering that it was best if I keep my explanation simple. "I can read others in ways that as far as I have been able to understand the average dragon cannot, no offense intended. That said, I can tell you are lying when you tell me that nothing is wrong," I iterated.

"If you don't believe me," I posed, "then let me prove it by telling how I know that you are lying, let me count the ways." I brought up a hand and began ticking off one finger at a time, "First, you are not making eye contact with me, a natural action that most do when they not telling the truth. Sign number two, your breathing has become a tad faster and irregular another common sign of lying. Point three, you are shifting your weight much more than normal for movement and to alleviate the discomfort of baring your weight for long periods. So logically, the other reason for shifting your weight tends to happen when you trying to cover something up as in not saying the truth, also known as lying. Reason and sign number four, your vocal tone in your voice are off from the normal, yet another red flag that signals lying. Last, but not least, did you know your tail waves slightly from side to side when you trying to hide something? I just thought you might want to know that you do that without thinking. And now that I think about it, Spyro does the same thing, and I doubt he knows either."

Seth frowned at me in response to me calling him out and grunted, "Okay yes, I am lying that nothing is troubling me. By the shards of the first egg, do you have to be able to tell that much from just looking," he demanded of me.

Smiling apologetically, I gave my answer, "Sorry Seth, my ability and talent of reading others is not something that I can just turn on and off on command or demand. It is such a deeply ingrained skill and admittedly, a defense mechanism for me, I just cannot help when or if it comes into effect for my use." Catching Seth's gaze, I continued, "Have you ever had something or a feeling you haven't been able to help, it just happened on its own," I asked.

Seth thought about what I had just said and he started to laugh, "You mean like getting annoyed by Sparx?"

Snickering a bit, I nodded with a smile. Oh, how right Seth could be on that subject, "Indeed that is a good example. Now look at yourself, laughing has done you some good in cheering you up. So come on, you should know by now that you can talk to me about anything," I commented.

"Well I… *sigh*, I am glad to be on this journey with the both you and Cyra. Yet, I am still afraid that when the fighting comes, I will freeze up and not be able to help anyone, not even myself. There I said it, I am afraid," spouted out Seth in a bit of a rush.

With the speed that the admittance, all I can say is thank goodness I've such good hearing. So, now the reason he was so miserable made a little more sense and it was understandable. Simply put Seth was afraid he would fail at the critical moment. I can't say I blame him for such thoughts, who hasn't had the fear of failure at some point in life. However, I think a pep talk will be more helpful in this case. Seth was still down in the dumps as I spoke, "Say Seth, it might surprise you to know that even with all the years I have studied fighting arts, never once have I beaten my master, or really gotten very close to doing so." I said.

Seth looked up at me shocked, "You have never beaten your teacher, but you practice every morning?" He questioned.

I nodded, "Yes, I do practice every morning and do so for several reasons, but no, have never once won against my teacher. As I have challenged my master two or three times a month at the very least, that is saying something. Since I have studied the fight arts for thirteen years, which is no small amount of time or number of matches that I have lost against him. I admit, I do not get whooped as I did in my early years, though I still get beat fairly badly should I not be focused and concentrate." I elaborated.

Seth kept looking at me with an expression that said, 'and what does this have to do with me?'. In fact, Seth voiced the same question, "Well what does that have to do with anything?"

"My point is Seth; failure is a part of life… sorry that is how it is. Failure happens to everyone period, normally quiet often I would imagine to most people. It is a fact that you are going to fail at things, it is how we learn." I replied.

A worried look came across the black dragon's face and he started babbling, "But what if that gets someone hurt? What if you or Cyra get injured because of a mistake I make? What if ..."

… I very much dislike hearing possibilities of things that could happen, gives my bad luck material to work with and bets to not give it any. So, I clamped my hands over Seth's maw to stop his talking, "Seth! That is the last time I want to hear you go off on a 'what if' rant and worrying about the possibilities that can occur. Those rants are unhealthy and unhelpful, they only end up getting you into trouble, more so for someone like me. Life is going to throw problems and trails your way whether you want them or not… you have got to deal with it. Look at my life or rather what my luck does to me! All we can do is prepare for that the best we can." I shot back at Seth.

Seth shied away from his gaze, "I am still scared," he mumbled.

Rolling my eyes before I gave my piece, "I would worry if you were not scared, Seth. Every single living creature experiences fear, to be afraid is a natural thing. Rest assured, fear is a feeling that we all feel from time to time, just to different things. And yes, I get afraid of things just like everyone else, just of different things than most."

Seth looked at me, "You afraid? I cannot see you being afraid of anything. You are fearless," He stated as fact.

I snorted, "I will be the first to tell you I have fears just like anyone else. I fear to lose my friends, I am scared of having to watch those I care about suffer. Then not being able to do anything to help them; just to name a few examples. Then there is my bad luck, it can do some things that can be as scary as they can be life-threatening." I said this in all seriousness.

I told the truth about being scared of such things happening, for those scared me to my very core. I've so few that I can consider 'friends', I defend them to the best of my capabilities! Here in the dragon realm, the job of defending is much more a physical task rather than a social or vocal one like it had been on Earth. Nonetheless, I was brought out of my thought tangent by Seth asking me a question, "How do you conquer those fears?"

The question got me to blink and pause, even with it being a simple yet complex question, "Seth, fear like any other emotion, can be overcome by facing it and standing firm. It is not easy but that is how it is done." I answered with confidence to Seth.

Said black dragon merely sighed again, "You make it sound so simple."

...Well, I've always found it so, the idea is easy to me, probably would be those who might argue the contrary. Perhaps, I could explain this in a different way? "Seth perhaps you remember what I said about being a hero," I asked.

He nodded, "Yes, you said that being a hero is doing what is right."

He nodded again before I continued, "Correct, that is what being a hero is. It is doing what is right even when it is hard. It is showing courage even at the hard times."

Seth looked down in the ground, "What if I can't find the courage to do that," he sighed out.

Good Golly, I swear Seth is such a worry wart, more than Spyro has shown himself to be and I thought he worried too much. I smiled at him, "Seth try being positive please, and without fear, there cannot be courage. But when you stand together with friends, it is those who stand against you that should fear. When you are with your friends, you need not fear for they will always stand with you no matter what comes," I stated firmly. Seth had a look of awe on his face almost to the point of worshipfulness to what I said to him. He nodded slightly at my statement, to which I chuckled slightly, "Seth do you really think that humans and dragons are so different that we do not experience the same feeling and worries? The same fears and the same hardships," I posed.

Seth thought for a moment, "I guess I never really thought about it," he commented.

I put a hand on his left shoulder, "Trust me we are more alike than you really might guess, definitely much more so than I am like those apes, I can state that as fact. And the ways that we are not… it is a good thing for you that is the case, but it is hard to explain why that is," I said.

The last line that I gave was true for a number of reasons and some I don't want to admit. For example, from what I've seen dragons get along better than people do on average, and the difference ain't a small margin. I'm a type of living proof of how that can result, social isolationism and societal disdain. However, I don't know in what way I could explain to dragons or anyone else in this realm how humans can be like with one another. It was clear to me that dragons and the other races of the Dragon Realm, don't have the same issues that humans have or anything all that similar. Seth just kept looking at me as if he wanted to ask me something else, and I felt my eyebrow rise, "What is there something on my face," I asked.

"Saber, how do you know so much? You come from a different world, yet you know so much about the dragon realm," Seth inquire.

To say that I was surprised at the question would be untrue as it wasn't a question I had had seriously considered until now. For whatever reason, I somehow did know things about the Dragon Realm when I shouldn't, and I'd thought it was my intuition doing its duty and diligence at helping me. Nevertheless, now that I consider the inquiry posed, I'm left to wonder if it was my intuition or something else that I'm not aware of fully. Then there were the odd dreams that had been coming more frequently as of late and even ones that I'd not seen before and I don't know where to begin with those. And it hadn't just been the frequency either, the dreams had been getting freakier too and I don't know why that was happening. So then, how can I answer the question that I couldn't come up with a solid answer to it myself?

Could I trust Seth if I were to tell him the truth when so many would give me the time of day and don't believe a thing I say before now? I mean, I haven't told Spyro any of the odd dreams or visions yet and he would probably be the one I would think would believe me. There had always been times I didn't know how I had knowledge of what I did, whether it came from the voices I heard in my mind or something else, but they had come up more since I'd arrived in the Dragon Realm. It's like recalling a distant memory that I couldn't fully remember, at least the feeling of déjà vu definitely qualifies in this. Such tends to be accompanied with some pain to my heart… Kind of like there should be things I should know but can't remember. How does one explain that to another? So, I hesitated before answering him, "Seth, tell me do you believe that everything happens for a reason," I asked.

Seth nodded in response, "I think everything has a purpose yes even if is hard to understand," he said.

I took a deep breath and began, "Well, I do not know where to exactly start, but not too long after I met Spyro I had, I guess you could call it a vision of sorts or maybe it was a dream," I started.

And so, I dove into the tale of my first encounter with the being Azreyel and that had been unlike anything I have experienced. I described the city, or the ruins are more what I had found and the place to had been creepy. I spoke on how Asreyel implied that we knew one another, yet I could not recall ever meeting him. Yet, with the kind of person that Azreyel had shown himself to be, I find it hard to believe that I would forget one like Azreyel. I didn't go into too much detail about the subject matter of the vision, there wasn't a reason to that which came to mind.

Although, I recounted the second time I had seen Azreyel and how I had found out I could use electricity and that had been weird too. I continued about the strange dreams I had been having as of late of the rainy night and the fear I felt as that had come back to me a few times since the first time. I didn't tell Seth about the vision I had turned into a dragon, I was still trying to understand that experience. When I finished, Seth just sat gaping in wonder at what I had just said and I couldn't blame him, it was completely understandable his surprise, it's a lot to take in. Hell, I was still trying to make sense of it all myself honestly and I haven't come to any real conclusion. I couldn't help the sigh that came out of me, "I am well aware that everything I have told you sounds crazy even stupid, but it all happened. I am not lying, nor am I crazy or is my mind gone, it is in working order I assure you," I said in my defense.

Seth and I continued talking for a while longer as night fully fell and we went turned in for the night. Cyra had already fallen asleep not long after Seth and I had started talking as far as I could tell. Sleep was wise as none of us knew what would come tomorrow.

The next morning came and I woke with a start rather than waking up slowly as I tended to. It took me a couple of minutes to comprehend that the things that I had been seeing and experiencing had been dreams. When I say dreams that's not exactly what I mean, lately I've been having some of the weirdest dreams mixed with nightmares. Most of them didn't make much sense if any at all, and that's what I just had. Yet, there were some that were unlike any I had before now, of events I'd no idea about.

Anyways, I stretched letting out a yawned to get the remnants of sleep out of me before getting up and starting off on a walk to clear my head. I retrieved Yubashiri as an afterthought since you can never be too careful and headed a short distance away from my two traveling companions. As I jogged, the sounds of apes came from ahead of me and with the curiosity that gripped me, I slowed down a sizable margin and looked in the direction the sounds were coming from. I began moving more stealthily and made my way forward towards where the apes were. I hid in some thick foliage before peeking out and saw the group of apes, which consisted of twelve of them in a clearing ahead.

The question of what the apes were doing here crossed my mind, but as we were supposedly smack dab in the middle of Pyria, they do control this area as far as I understand. Maybe these apes were on some sort of patrol on the lookout for intruders or just looking for travelers to bully and attack. I can't say how things are run with the apes other than their king pretty much runs things according to what dragons knew. Although, the other races didn't seem to know much in the time since the stuff with Malefor went down about the apes. So, depending on whether this ape king is like the other apes I've come across or smarter, the info the other races have may not be right anymore.

And that brings me to wondering about the infamous leader of the apes once more as I had a few times since getting to the dragon realm. From the impressions I've gotten, the one that the apes listened to and followed wasn't anywhere near as stupid as the apes that followed them. And if that's true, then it stands to reason that there could also be others that aren't as dumb as the grunts I've crossed thus far. If apes are like humans, then that could be a real problem for others and we're supposed to be loose cousins according to science.

Yet, as I was thinking one of the apes, unfortunately, noticed me hiding in the bushes and screeched a cry of alarm at spotting me. At that point, any chance of me staying out of trouble was pretty much gone and as I wasn't really in the mood to fight at this time in the morning, so I stood up and came out of the greenery. I looked over the group of apes who were at this time making ready to fight and let out a sigh of mild annoyance. It's unlikely that they were going to give me the choice but to fight them and it would be bothersome. The biggest one of the bunch pointed at me, "It the ape killer," it yelled.

Ape killer, that's new, it would seem that I've become infamous enough among apes by the few escapades I had with them for they've given me a special name. I don't know if I should be flattered or insulted by the choice in the name they had pinned to me though. I sighed a second time at this development since I really don't want to do this right now… it's just too dang early and I haven't done my morning routine. The day goes harshly if I do things before it, it has happened enough times for me to know that. Forming both my hands into a T in a way to say a phrase and then vocally gave it, "Hold on, time out," I shouted.

All the apes stopped and stared at me after my command, which they surprisingly obeyed. Now with the looks on their faces, they both understood and followed my command or perhaps they were trying to figure out what I had said. Personally, I would have to go with the latter rather than the first, but I took a deep breath instead of thinking further, "Okay now, it is obvious that you apes hate me… probably as much as I dislike you lot. However, let me explain this point in a way you understand, 'Me no want fight you, so you go the way you came and I act like I not see you'. I hope you all understand that now be smart and go away unless you want today day to be your last," I said, ending in a flat unfeeling tone of voice, a hand moving to grip the hilt of Yubashiri.

The answer I got back to my generous offer of letting these apes leave was the leader of the said hairy brutes grunted his order to attack. It's times like this that I wonder is it worth trying diplomacy to be nice with some? Well anyway, I drew Yubashiri and the fight between me and the apes commenced. With Yubashiri in hand, I made two quick strikes with the flat of my blade on the lead dummy of an ape disabling him after shooting past a pair. That action incensed the other apes with anger and they all rushed towards me at the same time.

I shot left and dropped to my knees using the momentum I built with my quick movement and swatted one of the legs of the apes I slid under them between their legs. Said ape that I hit went forward and was the start and bottom of the ape pile that built as the others fell on top of him. It was actually kind of humorous to see the apes lack of coordination was really working against them and that was being nice. I didn't go forward and finish this fight as I could have, it would have felt wrong as these apes can't seem to help their stupidity. It was close to a minute before the apes began to get off one another and face me again.

The first pair up ran forward at me screeching in anger raising their weapons to strike me if I were to let them, which I won't. The biggest of the pair got in range of me first and swung his club at me, I evaded the club swing with my better agility. I used my evasion technique to also whip around behind the ape providing an awesome example of my superior footwork. I made three quick strikes, the first with the back of my blade to the middle of the lower spine, second with the hilt to the mid-spine and the last to the base of the neck on the spine with the flat of my blade. The ape I struck dropped just after the last strike landed as if his muscles turned to jelly with a grunt.

The ape who was the partner of the one I dropped, approached me with his sword raised, clearly enraged at seeing the other disabled. Like the first, I got out of the way of the swinging weapon by dropping to a crouch as the ape made a horizontal sweep with his sword. I then made a sweeping kick and knocked his legs out from under him before leaping back away from the falling primate. He crashed to the ground and did not get up since he most likely was knocked out with the fall. My gaze came up to settle on the remaining apes who were not happy that I was dealing with their fellows so efficiently.

The next few apes fell in much the same fashion which left just the three I already dealt with before them. I was technically avoiding killing them as I don't prefer to shed blood if I can avoid it and so I wasn't using the cutting edge of the blade against them. That didn't mean I was swing gently, I was hitting with a force that was heard with each smack, if not the blade making contact, then the grunts of pain from the ape. I would be making Master Kai proud though as I wasn't being touched by my opponents and I was showing the skills I've been practicing for years. It didn't take me all that long to finish dealing with the apes attacking me, a little over five minutes by my figuring. By the time I was done, the said leader was getting up and was enraged at my way of dealing with his subordinates. He rushed at me much like his horde did with his staff raised to strike me.

However, by this point, I'd had enough of this crap for one morning, so I flipped my blade to have the cutting edge facing out. I'd been using the flat and back of my blade however now I was using the actual blade now. I would most likely end up killing this ape, still, I could see no other choice at this time. Using the ape as a springboard, I leaped high above the leader ape and gripped Yubashiri's hilt with both hands and shouted, "Ryutsuisen!"

I swung Yubashiri vertically downward hard, cutting straight through the staff and continued down to the ground. I drew back Yubashiri and stepped back a few paces. The ape leader fell back and hit the ground in two parts as I had cut him in half with my strike. I swung Yubashiri down forcefully to get the majority of the blood off the blade as I do try to keep this blade clean as possible. I was about to put Yubashiri back in its sheath when I heard a rustling from my right, which got me to twist around to face whatever had made the sound. "Kee kee kee, very impressive to say the least. The stories about you are not lies by any means," said a female voice.

I was looking around for the source of the voice I had just heard and when I looked up and saw it. There was not an ape, it was smaller compared to them, so perhaps it's some kind of monkey. At any rate, there was some sort of creature that looked very much like a monkey sitting in a branch looking at me. Its fur was dark gray almost black, it also had a long tail along with rather dexterous looking hands with long fingers. The other two things that had stood out to me, first the voice indicated that the creature was female, the other and more important fact was she talked less like the apes and more like me. This female monkey worried me for some reason, "Great first apes and now monkeys I get to deal with. Thank you bad luck, your work is still unappreciated! So, just what have you hear about me then missy," I asked.

The next thing I know the monkey disappeared and as I was searching for her, I heard her speak, "You are very good at fighting one on one or one going against a group. The results of you coming out victorious either way are clearly documented and recently shown."

I whipped around in shock to find the female monkey stand a foot and a half behind me… what the hell?! How the hell did she get behind me without me noticing? The reservations I had before steeply increased with this action, I'm officially wary about this monkey in a serious way! For someone to be able to move without me being able to tell where they were hadn't happened for a long while, only Master Kai has been able to do such consistently. Easy to tell that this monkey was good at stealth even I can't debate that fact, "All right, you have my attention," I said in a serious tone. "You are obviously not like these stupid apes, so what is it you want?"

She giggled at my question or it sounded like giggling while at the same time, she made her way closer to me as she continued, "Kee kee kee, I can agree with the stupid part about them. Yet, that is how grunt labor is preferred and tends to be for it does make it much easier to get them to do things when they are dim. Also, they are expendable so no need for them to be able to do anything other than what they are ordered. As to what I want, I want nothing from you at the moment. I am simply getting a look at you and see what information is true and what is not."

The amounts of bad vibes I was getting was staggering and were shooting through the roof with this fur-ball! I get the impression I'll have a lot of troublesome time because of this one and others like her… fiddlesticks! "What is your name then or do you not give it out to those who you observe," I replied.

She stopped right next to me, this was making me nervous, "My name is Mara. I am one of those known as the silent killers who are at the command of the ape king. You happen to be on the list of those the king wants to go away. So then, will you give me your name," she posed.

…Not even a flipping week and already someone wants me dead, that's a new record for me, to get someone to hate me this quick! Lucky me… I met her eyes they were a golden yellow and seemed to be waiting for my answer. Mara had blatantly admitted she was an assassin and I'd the feeling she was extremely good at it as well. I would need to keep my guard up or I would end up dead because of this monkey! "I am Saber the human and if you plan to kill me do not think I will make it easy," I stated flatly.

Her reaction was to laugh again at least that is what I think it was, it's kind of hard to tell, "Kee kee kee there is no need to worry at this time. I am not here to kill you right now, rather study you for the moment. I must say, I look forward to doing such in the future. You 'humans' seem interesting indeed, quite the challenge I think."

She disappeared as soon as she finished speaking, and I had to exhale heavily and did some breathing exercises to calm myself. "I am going to have to watch out for the ones that look like monkeys," I muttered to myself.

I sheathed Yubashiri and put the new things I'd learned from this experience in the back of my mind for later study. Heading back to the campsite that Seth, Cyra and I had used and hoped they haven't woken up wondering where I was. I really didn't want to tell them of my meeting with 'Mara' for now for I've yet to hear anything from the dragons about these silent killers as Mara called the group she was a part of. I surmise that to mean that the dragons knew nothing of them as a group of assassins would prefer that. Although from some of the strange events especially the disappearances I'd heard about recently now made a great deal of sense. These silent killers were good and amazingly so by what I've learned at 'handling problems' the ape king had! They were most likely not even seen or noticed when they did a job, clearly making the Silent Killers dangerous. I would have to keep a strict watch and constant vigilance, or the Grim Reaper might actually hit me with his scythe!

A/n

And that's where chapter 14 will leave off, hope you're liking the rewrite please some of you take the time to write reviews, thank you for reading this.