Frozen Memories

by Xeir Zith

"It used to be when people spoke about magic we laughed them off, or locked them up, sometimes both, but we never took them seriously. Maybe we should have. But I am getting ahead of myself, let me start at the beginning, with Elsa. The Templars have the upper hand. Who will protect the Heart of the Mountain, it all boils down to them, Elsa & Mark, they have brought us to the end"

44. Seqeunce 11 Memory 1

Jellicle's Creed

Frozen Memories

Seqeunce 11

Memory 1: Icefire

1 June 2055

Arendelle Castle

Queen Idun's private library

Three days after Arko destruction

Dawn

"What the fuck man ? Here I go out of my way to compliment you, and all you can think about is your woman!"

-The Wolf Queen

A key slid into a lock. Elsa had some of the Brotherhood rebuild the trigger system in her mothers private library to include a key that only she had hidden away in the room. Turning the key the fireplace slid down to the flor, allowing an open self lit passage to be seen. She locked the door behind her. Elsa picked up the last statue, her mothers face upon it. And went down the steps. There were eight pedistals.

Elsa set the statue on the pedistal, it clicked into place. The last puzzle piece was in place, and that meant two things, to open the door and find what was within, or to wait for Mark ? Or find Mark at the very least then go inside. She knew in her heart Mark would have wanted to see what was inside the vault, after all, how earnestly they searched the kingdom for the statues, her grandmothers statue Serena had found by chance alone after tripping on a loose rock in the Noah District.

Elsa glanced briefly to the door of the vault, she knew she was deep under the castle, even further below than the hidden dock underneath the castle as well. She shook her head and turned to return up the stairs. Once back in her mothers library she locked the fireplace back up and unlocked the door, a woman knocked when she unlocked the thing, upon opening it she saw someone unexpected. "Georgina ? Where have you been, you left so suddenly we thought you kidnapped or something, none of the Assassins could find you anywhere in the kingdom three years ago! Where were you ?" Elsa said as Georgina arrived, known offically as Princess Georgina or Princess Yei Jia Jia, with her was a young man with feathers seemingly growing off his ears like small fans. The young man had long black hair tinted with white and gray and he held himself as a masterful yong man, a gentleman. When Elsa saw him she asked "And who is this ? Someone from home ?"

The Chinese Princess smiled when Elsa noticed her son, the twenty three year old black haired young man streaked in places with silver and white stood stall and rather intimidated by his surroundings, it was nothing like the Courts he was used to for the last twenty three years "You could say that, Elsa. He is my son. He was born here three years ago, But where I rased him time moved swiftly, whereas only three years went by here, it has been twenty three years for us. Tell me, where is Mark ?" Georgina said

Elsa's face fell, she hadnt seen Mark since the fighting in Arko, infact since Georgina told her of the night the two had, but rather then be mad at the time Elsa was overjoyed for her friends. If Mark had a child out of wedlock, so what, big deal, if it was this very handsome young man, then it made more sense because somehow Elsa could see the young man caring for a young girl he called his Sister thanks to a vision in her dreams. "He's gone, I dont know where, but, I feel he's alive somewhere, Blackmane said he died on a contract, I dont believe her"

"I was hoping Auji could meet his father, he is ready, preferably before we return to China, Arendelle is nearly liberated, that leaves only China, with both our kingdoms strong in the Brotherhood we can have strong ties between us" Georgina said, she then formally introduced her son, Prince Auji, to Elsa. The boy's deep brown eyes had a inner impish look to them as he gently bowed in greeting before getting shocked slightly when Elsa just up and hugged him tightly.

If only Mark were there to see his son. But then he was a Prince ? Wait where was he raised ? and why did he have feathers growing from his ears ? Or were those earrings ? Elsa nodded "Arendelle has I think eleven districts left to liberate. Auji was it ?" The young man turned to her, a nod was given. his almond brown eyes took all of Elsas attention. Yep, he was marks kid alright. the child Mark didnt know about, at all

Georgina nodded "Yes, we saw the ruins of Arko District, we wondered what happened when we walked through it"

"Templars happened" Elsa said, she said nothing of the two dragons she had faced off against and barely beat back before retrreating her forces to the core den wherein all of the weird shadows started fighting with everything that moved. Ten minutes later and Georgina had sent off her son on some tasks before he let the kingdom as quickly as he came with a few extra friends. they had a flight to catch

Arendelle

Daodojo District

At that same moment

The door slid open from a gust of wind, the only woman seated within the room on the wood floor upon a pillow had her back to the door. As the massive black bird landed Marion spoke "You are late"

"Air travel isnt easy when pretty much everything is a hazard when it used to be just other birds and the occasional helicopter" Came the breathless reply as the door slid closed

"Its been too long. I was hoping you were there three days ago during the fighting" Marion said simply

"Had I known there was fighting I would have taken a portal." Sazhori replied with a simply ruffle of her shoulder feathers to get rid of frosting ice

"No matter. I have an assignment for you, I am sure Emperor Tilr would agree to it." Marion said, reaching into the pearlwhite sleeve she took out a envelope written in both Draconic and Eagle texts. "I want you to follow my brother, protect and help him. Where he went is in here... His last known location is in I believe a country to the south, Spain."

Sazhori took the envelope and read through its contents "Mark Wolfe... the Scorpion... Eagle, Tigris, human, Dragon, this mans a mess." The Raven said, her hematite eyes glowed as Marion stood up. though with the white hair of Diamond at the time Marion was, well, her normal human height.

"Protect my brother any way you can, your job is to protect and work for me, This is the mission I want you to do. Can you do it" Marion asked

Sazhori took a brief moment to fold the letter, "Yes. Your brother will be safe with me, I saw the ruins of the zone. I wont ask what happened, it reminded me too much of the shadow leak in the City of Talons back home"

Marion smiled "Good, Have you eaten ?"

"If I am to catch up to your brother I will have to take a portal, eating before hand isnt recommended." Sazhori said, Diamond nodded within Marions mind, portals and food never really did get along that much.

"Good, now how did Diamond do... oh" Marion using Diamonds memories to make a portal activated one, the steam floated a few meters off from where they stood "OK, from what I remember of the Barcelona Airport this should deposit you in the ladies restroom on the third terminal by Gate Ctwenty two."

"And if it doesnt ?" Sazhori asked

"Consider yourself retired" Marion smirked "Seriously Diamond says it'll lead directly to where I was thinking of, you'll be fine" Sazhori nodded and after a brief hug, disappeared into the portal. Marion watched the Raven leave. That job was done, she only hoped her brother wasnt going to kill himself, She'd hate to explain to her mother what happened.

2 June

Arendelle Castle

Library

"I was hoping I would find you here" came Blackmane's calm voice, the woman was, like normal, dressed in black, a beautiful black gown hugged the Tigris womans form nicely.

"Have you news of Mark ?" Came Elsas question as Blackmane stepped to the desk within the library Elsa had been going through all sorts of files, trying to find where Mark had gone. Blackmane had sent him on a contract to clear his head at the loss and destruction of Arko four days before. And she just had her contact saying Mark had let Madrid, effectively losing Mark, yet he wasnt dead. But how to explain the difference to Elsa without getting turned to ice.

"I have yes" Blackmane said "But it is not good news that you would enjoy."

Elsa gave her a dirty look "Tell it" She said after a long dangerous moment as the temperture in the library dropped a good fifty degrees and frost started covering the walls but not harming the books

"His contract was to a country to the south and east, Madrid Span. According to our contacts in Madrid, he arrived as expected, but we soon lost track of him, as of yesterday we dont know what happened or where he went" Blackmane said simply. "I thought to tell you now rather than worry later."

"So Mark is dead ?" Elsa asked

"No, if he was I'd be with a pinebox telling you this. There is a difference between lost contact and dead, until confirmed he is considered simply lost and out of contact, Mark is stubborn, he's my nephew and my sisters and I trained him. For all I know, he is alive, taking the war to the Templars as we speak" Blackmane said

For a long moment the temperture in the rtoom slowly returned to normal. "Thank you for telling me this Blackmane, I am sure you have other issues to attend to within thekingdom, but i need time to myself. Also, Anna told me what you did for me after Mark disappeared and Arko was destroyed. I wanted to apologise to you for how I acted, you were right in knocking me out. it had been taxing, and... I am in your debt" Elsa said to Blackmane

Blackmane simply nodded "If I hear more of my nephew I will ensure that it is sent to your desk. In the meantime, the kingdom is in mourning for the lives lost at Arko, we should mourn and honor them as soon as we can" She said Elsa agreed and sent Blackmane to the understaker and bishop to begin preparations for the memorial services to be had shortly

8 June

Kingdom of Arendelle

Kreen District

Sunrise

The two girls stood outside the Spider Temple. Dozens of people milled around the street of the district. The most industry focused district of the kingdom. It had five majestic temples dedicated to apparently a Spider god or goddess. None could assume however that withyn those temples were many thousands of breeding zones

"You think Dad's shadowlings were right, what we need is here ?" Taris asked

"Should be" her elder sibling, Sutri, replied simply, Nasty and Jr were still recovering from their injuries in bed, "Soon as Nasty and Jr are on their feet after father is done healing and caring for them, we can get our full strength back, but until then we need whats in here to help us gain leverage againist the queen." By that Sutri meant something she and Nasty had been working on, Now that they didnt have the gold anymore they had to improvise, so they had to do things another, much older way.

Food control.

Control the food, and you control the people, control the people and you have leverage against your enemies. In the short term it was a doable idea, but soon people without the right elements of that control could start smaller empires and mini wars for territory. But with the right leverage to keep said workers in line to keep from breaking into their own mini empires there was the backing level of things, the exact plan of which Sutri had planned out long in advance with her sister Nasty, but with Nasty still bedridden some of the tasks that Nasty hadplanned to do had fallen to Taris to finish, and once Taris learned of the plan and with their fathers favor, the two went on ahead with it

Stepping to the open doors of the temple the two sisters found themsevls in the entry foyer, four different typoes of clergy it looked like stood around doing basic tasks, another four knelt apparently in the center before a strange looking metallic altar. Each was dressed in black robes edged in gold or leather

The two Shadowblacks were planning on blackmailing one of the demons within the temple to do their bidding. They needed someone, anyone really could do the job just fine. But what they were not expecting to see was a older looking man with long dirty black hair, and with him a young woman of what had to be around sixteen ior seventeen or so. The man was dressed in various shades of black and red robes, Samurai like. In Arendelle there were more norse designs when it came to soldiers, their armor and weapons. Nothing oriental in appearance whatsoever.

The girl however was dressed similar to her father, her dress was of a cdeep green of various shades and layers, yet it revealed her back quite a bit. a very well shaped girl to be sure, someone perfect for corruption. Her long dark brown hair went to her knees and was kept quite clean and was braided in a few areas, a few hair pieces adorned her hair to keep it out of her face, Lumicent green eyes stared at the world while the man had dark brown eyes.

Both man and woman looked related. They were speaking to someone, Sutri hid a snarl seeing that their intended target was speaking with the two others. Something about the two, man and the girl, screamed skill and power unlike anything the two young dragons knew or experienced. But the one thing both dragons didnt know was that the girl unlike her father, mother and her brothers, was actually entirely human, Which was odd stroke of luck quite honestly for the girl to be a human being over a Tigris. Sure she had Tigress blood flowing in her viens, but it wasnt enough to trigger the tigris side.

Unless magically influenced... For a brief moment Sutri thought of converting a human to her thrall but it was the mission and Taris poking at her before pointing out their target had broken off from the two others as the two had gone towards the center of the room and dropped to their knees before a golden statue of the Buddha it looked like. But the two humans, at least they appeared humans, werent their target. Their target had broken from them and had gone to her duties outside the temple

The two dragons went to the woman dressed in a black robelike dress which also had a leather corset of a sort. The lnog black bright brown hair of the woman betrayed what she really was, a demoness of some form. Seeing the two women approching the young woman waved off another and stepped closer "Are you two lost ?"

"No actually we're looking for someone" Taris replied before Sutri could retort on the being lost comment

"Well, you found someone, who are you looking for ?" The woman replied

"You" Sutri finally said

"Me ?" The woman asked "What do you want a Spider Demon for ?"

"Easy, we need help preserving food that we're storing and we were told that Spider Demons were best way to do it." Sutri replied

"Is there pay involved ?"

"Not as much as you are hoping but yes"

"What's the catch ?"

"You do it, and this temple remains standing with everyone in it unharmed. You dont do it, everyone in here dies with you watching"

The woman crossed her arms, well, this kinda sucked. "And if I dont want either of those or to take part in either ?"

"We kill you and find another willing to help us"

"Sounds like I do not have a choice" The spider said, her arms still crossed over her chest as she regarded both women carefully.

"You never did. You gonna help us or is my sister gonna get to play with your innards ?" Taris said giving the spider demon a very dirty look.

Spyder gave the young dragon woman a raised eyebrow, "Fine, I'll help you, if it means keeping my family and this temple safe, what do I have to do ?"

"First thing is first. We need a list of empty houses to use as food storage. Once we have those, you will webwrap the food to store within those locations to keep the food fresh" Sutri said

"I do hope this is the plan" Said a calm cultured voice, clearly an unhappy calm voice as well. well, as unhappy as one could get considering that an entire district had been destroyed by way of the shadow soldiers and cannonade fire. "The end result of the battle in the district a week or so ago was a disaster, Tell me we have a backup plan thatwill work this time and wont require planning on the fly" To say that Prince Hans was unhappy was an understatement. The man was a planner, and had planned the attack of Arko to cut the castle off from the rest of the kingdom, to lay proper siege to the kingdom one had to isolate certain people

"Hiding and controlling food, yes, that is the plan" Sutri replied simply as Taris just snarked at Hans seeing the guy

Hans crossed his arms "Controlling food, good, we do not know how long the Master Assassin of Arendelle, Mark Wolfe, will be gone. So, have men keep watch for his return, when it happens I need to know."

"And the Queen ?" Taris asked, Elsa had Hans banned from Arendelle, why was he there that day ?

"The queen wont know I am here. She does not even know my ship arrived. When Mark Wolfe returns... If he returns to Arendelle, I and my men hidden here will leave, but you will continue the plan, agreed ?" Hans said to the two sisters, both Shadowblack dragons traded looks before Sutri nodded

"Agreed"

"Good, now, if you will excuse me, I have work to attend to here in the city. Farewell" Hans took his leave. Both shadowblacks had their job ahead of them and it wasnt going to be easy to store all that food rather quickly

Of course over the next twelve weeks the two dragons managed to hoard and control food in many districts across the kingdom, soon spreading out through the districts rapidly, starving out many people and skimming on what they could, thanks to the Spiders of the Kreen District the food was kept fresh for long periods. To make matters worse however, well, the starved districts, when liberated, were fed by their near cousins and side districts along their edges. Sadly however, the starved districts when shared the food of non starved districts, soon spread the starvation to thoer districts

And such was the control of food. Dracos children had the deck stacked in their favor, with the right leverage they managed two things. And one of them was coming along quite well, the other relied on a man placed within the ranks of the Sword Corps by Prince Hans doing

19 August 2055

Arendelle

Talz District

Brothel Grounds

Heavy boots hit the Cobblestone of one of Arendelle's many courtyards. It was good to see the Kingdom thriving as it was, the Templars influence mostly gone. A puff of vapor escaped his nose as he breathed out, and looked up at the Arendellian Courtesan headquarters. Mark Wolfe had returned, but he looked very different from the last time anyone saw him. For one, his Cloak was now fur-lined, rather than simply thick material that used before-hand. He now had a cape as well, one with Arendelle's colors adorning it, and the Emerald of his Cloak complimented it, the Assassin Buckle on his belt gleamed silver in the light of the mid-morning sun.

Despite the lack of Templar Presence there was a somber tone in Arendelle. He could sense it from the people as he passed them by. They were unable to recognize him. He carried himself differently, his Beard was neatly trimmed, and his hair was shorter than they remembered. His Armor glittered, darker in color than the beautiful Amber-Bronze it was when the Kingdom first saw it with his dance with Elsa all that time ago, and his cape fluttered in the wind. His and Kalda's shared sword rested in its usual spot upon his back, and the Sword Hilt Yaeko gave him was in its sheath on the samll of his back for him to grab when he needed. His Desert Eagle holstered on his thigh, and as expected numerous throwing knives tucked around his body.

The sound of Anna's familiar voice caught his attention, and he turned his hooded head towards her just as she caught site of him, pausing. He began to walk towards her, and she finished her conversation with the Courtesan before sending her off, and walking towards Mark in return, a look of discerning on her face as she tried to remember him. Anna and Mark had had little interaction when he was in Arendelle outside of training drills or the occasional small-talk. They didn't know each other very well, hense why she didn't recognize him.

"So good to see you again, Princess Anna. How is the Wolfe Manor?"

"It's... fine." She looked him up and down raising an eyebrow. She had grown a bit stronger since their last meeting, and while she wasn't overtly muscular, she was a little more toned, particularly her arms and shoulders. She was a fist-fighter after all. She retained her slender frame, however. Her eyes widened in recognition - Only one man would wonder about the Wolfe Manor over anything else. "Mark?!"

Mark nodded, smiling gently. "You're the first one to recognize me since my return. How have things been while I was gone ?"

"Well... Elsa shut herself off for about a month after you left... but then she doubled down on ridding the Kingdom of Templar Influence and expanding the Assassins. There are still some small pockets of resistance here and there... Arko was liberated and rebuilt a few weeks ago. There are memorial stones in the streets for everyone who fell during the battle, there's still about seven or eight districts left to remove the Templars entirely." She explained. "Elsa will want to see you! Come on! Come on let's go!" She reached to grab Mark's arm and drag him away, but he stepped back, causing her to stop and stare at him.

"I'll see her... I have something to take care of first." Mark's smile faded a tad, and he nodded. "You can tease her that "Someone" is coming to see her. Just don't drop my name." he smirked again, playful. Anna's lips had a giddy grin on them as he vanished into the crowd.

Arena District

Arena Majoris

Noon

WHAM

The stonework rattled with the force of the collision. Briefly stunned the girl blinked and looked around her she saw men and women, cheering and screaming as the fight progressed, She shook her head to clear it out, her ears were briefly ringing until her senses came to, she turned around, ibWHAM/b/i Again she hit the stonework low wall and slid to the dirtpacked floor of the arena

The crowd cheered crazily, some cheering, others booing, most indifferent. Her opponent jeered at her "?Come on you dumb bitch, get up!" The man was clearly from out of town, nobody could really get away with such language, yet the girl didnt bother to correct the visitor as she pulled herself to her feet. Dragging herself to where her belt was laid over the rail she stood up. As she turned around leaning against the low wall she caught sight of a man she hadnt seen since, well... since.. since he kissed the Queen really.

Briefly the man, Mark nodded in her direction, she fought well, could make a very good assassin actually now that he was back, they still had a few districts left to free from Templar control. The girl wiped her mouth to get rid of the trail of blood before picking up her body and walking around the otrher fighter. As she walked past him she spoke "That should be enough for one day, you won, congratulations"

"We aint done yet! Get over here!" The man spat at her

The girl halted as the spit splattered at the back of her head, in her hair. She watched as Mark handed a man a few sheets of paper, what looked like a few hundred credits actually. "This mustn't register on an emotional level." The girl thought before envisioning the fight before her.

" First, distract target..." She flung her cloth belt at the mans face to distract the opponent as he swung at her blindly

"Then block his blind jab" She then moved her fist at the mans face "Counter with cross to left cheek" The man jerked back as her hands came up fast at his ears, easily cracking into them "Discombobulate..."

"Dazed he will employ a wild haymaker, employ elbow block, and body shot" The girl easily blocked the mans wild swing and shot him dead inbthe lower chest above the stomach

The man swung wild with his left fist "Block furrow left" Her right elbow smashed into his jaw "Weaken right jaw" Her fist went in for the kill "Now fracture".

The man jerked backwards "break cracked ribs" The girls right fist did a solid hook, breaking bone with the hit, she repeated the hit with her left fist "Tramatise solar plexus"

The man jerked back again as her right fist aimed for his jaw "Dislocate jaw entirely" The man staggered backwards close to the gate as the girl brought up a foot "Heel to the diaphram" The man flung backwards

"In summary, ears ringing, jaw fractured, three ribs cracked, four broken, diaphram hemoragging. Physical recovery, six weeks." The girl smirked "Full pyschological recovery, six months."

Then she smiled "Ability to spit at the back of my head. Entirely neutralised"

The girl looked at the bookie, Mark wasnt there but she knew that he was nearby. Possibly quite close now that she really thought on it. She turned and went to her cloth belt and used it to wipe the back of her head before simply standing before her opponent seemingly distracted. For a long moment the jeering and cheering crowd seemed to distract her.

But in truth she was simply waiting. Out of nowhere she flung up her hand, her clothbelt flew at the opponent the man was distracted and swung wide, she blocked, and rapidly fought the man down before finally kicking him hard. The man slammed into the stonewall gate, breaking it open as the girl took a deep breath and stood back a second before smiling thinly and picking up her clothbelt, a flick of the wirst and it was cleaned of dirt She easily slipped it on and went through the now deathly quiet crowd to the Bookie.

Opening the mans jacket she withdrew a good seven hundred credits from his pocket and put down a two credit note for a beer on the counter, walking by it she took one, uncorked it and headed out with nobody trying to stop her. Some men were happy their bets paid off, others not so much.

She stepped out of the arena office front to the street, not expecting the man who kissed the queen to be waiting for her, with a strange hovering muledeerless carriage, what those in the other parts of the world called, a Hovertruck. The girl lowered the beer bottle and looked at Mark as she recognized him. "Mark Wolfe... the man who kissed the Queen then disappeared six months later. What can I do for you ?" She knocked back the bottle again

"You can start with sharing a drink." he answered. His voice and expression held an eerie sternness to them that was absent before he left Arendelle. Something that he'd gained over his time abroad. After snatching the bottle from the woman and downing a quarter of it like it was water, and then leaned back against his hover-truck.

"You fight good. Pit fighting in general requires you to do so. I have an arrangement for you, if you're interested, anyway." he said, finally offering the bottle back, as a symbol of his agreement. Otherwise he'd merely down the rest of it.

The woman spat what she'd already had in her mouth when he took the bottle. iWell, isnt he grabby gimmie./i She thought darkly before he offered the bottle back to her. Eyeing him carefully she took it, her grip was just as strong as his own. "I am listening." She said before knocking back the bottle once again. For a heavy drinker she stayed on her feet well. She snickered though at his mention of arena fighting.

"Sometimes it's the only thing to do when you grow up in the streets and your mother a courtesan. I never liked that place." The girl said simply. She herself had a body any guy would outright kill for. For a brief moment Mark thought he was looking at a teenage version of his aunt Vaeyuko before guessing the girls age at six years younger than himself. "So, Missing persons finally found you ? Or did you turn yourself in ?" That was basically her way of saying "I'm listening"

Then she realiased just what he said "Just what kind of 'arrangement' are we speaking ? Living arrangement ? Everyone knows how the queen is around you" The girl glared at him.

Mark smiled thinly, seeing someone this distrusting when he knew he could trust her based on the style of her clothing alone, Arendelle Sword Corps, and a high ranking member at that. In this case The girl before him was a Lt at best, possibly a captain but Mark couldnt tell. He jerked a thumb at the open door of the hovertruck "Climb in, it'll be easier to talk without prying ears or eyes" He said to her

The woman gave him a careful once over, then nodded and got in after he did, As she sat down she tossed into the trashcan within the hovertruck, her empty beer bottle "You owe me a beer" She said nochalantly as she made hersdelf comfortable, Mark then saw clearly the hilt of a sword on her left leg.

Mark grunted in response to owing her a beer, and meerly pointed to a mini-fridge full of them in the back of the hover-truck with his thumb. "My Arrangement is thus: Take your place as Elsa's personal Guard, reconnect with your mother, and I will reveal myself to the Kingdom again." he said, leaning back in his seat and sighing.

"You bear the clothing of the Sword Corps. iMy/i Sword Corps. And you bear the name Wolfe." Mark's tone gained an edge to it - he knew what he was saying, and he wouldn't be persuaded otherwise. "As a Wolfe, you will stand at your Queen's side in defense. When I'm not there, anyway." he stated. "As for your mother... well, she may be a courtesan, but she's still your mother. At least you can go back to her. Use that opportunity."

At the words of "Wolfe" Her eyes locked on him directly "You have my attention." She said simply. Once told her new set of orders she stared at him, a smirk on her face. "There's the kicker. Reconnecting with mom, Kinda hard to do that when your mother sells herself nightly, for all I know the girls might mistake me for a client. Last thing I want is to go near a brothel. Even if I am in dire straits, which I am not."

She raised a hand when he told her her exact orders, at Elsas side, "You'll have to take it up with my CO, he gave the job to Riey, Said I had no place inside or near castle grounds if I knew what was good for me, even insulted my mother." The look on her face, and tone in her voice betrayed the fact that she had sacked said officer dead on for such an act. "General Taekito has placedme on battlefield medical leave until such time as I return to the barracks cleared of wrongdoing by the Arendelle Court for striking a suporior officer."

She remembered that brief moment with the guy "No" He said, Taekito was insistant to break tradition. "You are not fit to be the Queens personal bodyguard. Lt Jackson, Captain Jackson is more fit and ready in place of mind to do the job just fine. Not some girl from a brothel maid" his face held a rather mean sneer upon it

Sapphire had to smirk at the guy, "There are two problems here, but I can only fix just one." She then slugged him, dead in the face, with brass knuckles, breaking the mans nose.

Taekito reeled backwards screaming, two other officers grabbed Sapphire as she easily shrugged them off and as Taekito was on the ground Sapphire crouched "Two things General Taekito, the first is, Its not Jackson, Its Wolfe, and second, Do not insult my mother."

Taekito growled something and got to his feet as they both stood he stared her in the eye "Indefinite leave until military court is established to finalise your place. You are dismissed."

As her brief story came to an end she spotted Riey through a window and stood and went for the door "Whoop, this is my stop" She said. Ok so, she had struck a commanding officer placed there by Mark himself, but the guy broke tradition and insulted a Wolfe, two of them actually when one thought on it, well the whole family now that Mark really thought about it. As she reached for the door handle it was Marks calm voice that stopped her in her tracks, that and his strong ass grip on her wrist

Before Sapphire could leave the Truck, Mark grabbed her arm. "Two things. I'm your Commanding Officer, and I say you're to report to Elsa's side. And Two: Tell her that the "Master of the House" will meet her in the library later. She'll know when." He said. After getting a nod and a smirk, Mark released her arm, and let her leave before driving off - it was time to pay a visit to General Taekito, and give him the good news.

Sapphire raised an eyebrow when he grabbed her and looked briefly to her arm then to him. A smile on her face. "I still want another crack at Taekito, he doesnt leave the castle or barracks since our... last meetup ten weeks ago. If you see him before I do... Give him my regards." She slid something into his hand as she removed his hand from her arm, a pair of white and jade green brass knuckles "Mother said these belonged to my father, be sure to give Taekito my regards... with these"

She halted as the door opened, a half mneter off the pavement she looked back to Mark "You still owe me a beer... sir" She then jumped out and briefly rolled before getting to her feet, She had her proper job it seemed. It was time for some fun to be had

Of course Taekito was already at the castle as it was.

As Taekito entered his office after a bathroom break, the site of Mark sitting in his chair, boots up on the desk froze him in place. "Hello, General Taekito. I heard you let my Sword Corps go to shit while I was gone." Mark was cleaning his finger-nails with a set of nail clippers, not looking to the man. The Brass Knuckles were sitting on the desk within reach of Mark's arm.

"I also heard that you disrespected inot only/i tradition, but a ibWolfe/b/i at the same time?" Mark's heavy boots thudded on the ground as he leaned forward, setting the nail clippers down, and grabbing the brass knuckles in the same motion - Taekito never noticed him put them on his hand.

"Is this true?"

"What ?" Taekito looked at Mark, a fake shocked look on his face, he ignored the knuckles on the desk as Mark picked them up. "The daughter of a prostitute has no place guarding the Queen, what you think we're some kind of savages that dont go by a code of conduct ?"

He stepped to his desk and as Mark stood from the chair he took it and sat in it. "She lied about her name, Called herself Sapphire Jackson, and her apparent sister, older of course, Riey Jackson, were regarded carefully for the job. It was not until iafter/i I was struck by the girl that she told me her true name. So what if she is a Wolfe ? Huh ? So what! She's not fit for duty, much less even see the Queen. She's the daughter of a prostitute. And has no place in the court."

He gave Mark a haughty look, "So yes, I did break tradition, the girl is waiting on the military courts to go into session to hear her case in three weeks. Until then, I have placed her on minimum pay leave until the Court says otherwise." he picked up a cigar and lit it, after a few puffs of smoke, he looked back at Mark "What of it ? You think you can come in here and order me around ? Well I got news for you, you left, twelve weeks, things change. I get my ass handed to me by a daughter of a whore before the entire Sword Corps! So yes, It is true, all of it, But like I said, shes on minimum paid leave until three more weeks when the courts go into session."

Finally he calmed down and looked directly at Mark, "Why is it your concern of all things ? The daughter of a whore, and her current job, which is nothing ?"

Mark's fist slammed into the man's jaw, sending him out of his chair, the brass knuckles adding to Mark's already jaw-shattering power, leaving the right side of the man's face pretty much useless. "Few things. One.. I'm the Head of the Wolfe House, You are to remember that next time you speak to me. Two, whether or not her mother was a queen or a lowly orphaned street rat prostitute doing what she can to live is irrelevant, Sapphire is a Wolfe. Three, you seem to have forgotten the history of the Wolfe Clan that I believe I made mandatory reading for all members of the Sword Corps. You are in place of my ancestors right now. Tread lightly.

"Four. If your sorry ass got beaten by an underling in front of the rest of your underlings, then you are not fit to lead. Ironic... I initially chose you due to your wisdom. Yet over twelve months you have proven to be a snake in the grass with iquite/i the mouth on you." Mark then launched a kick to the left side of the man's face, leaving that side useless as well. If Taekito was ever going to talk again, it wouldn't be for at least a year.

"Five. I still have plenty of pent up anger and grief over Arko, so if you want to keep pushing my buttons and experience a little more of it, keep talking."

All Taekito could do was whine pitifully.

"I thought as much. Get out of my sight. Return when you've remembered your place."

"Rather uncharacteristic of you." Kalda's voice rumbled gently as he yawned in the back of Mark's mind.

"Is it though? After everything we went through in the last twelve weeks?" Mark answered.

"Fair enough, I suppose." Kalda replied before pausing. "Think he'll run into Sapphire on his way out?"

"I'm counting on it."

There came a call for a healer, Kaedrian was rushing past Sapphire as the woman was trying to get her original cloth belt, the one in Arendelle colors, back on. For some dumb reason it didnt fit like the original, then she realised the fucking supply officer gave her the wrong size, so she tied it to her arm.

She was so focused on retying her Sword Corps clothbelt to her arm she hit the brakes fast as Kaedrian came out with General Taekito in her arms, working on healing the mans face. Well, that sucked, a lot. The man stared at her directly. She stared right back at him, a smirk on her face. But his eyes drilled into her. Sheer evil and anger drilled into her.

Sapphire watched him go. But her mind suddenly taken by a new thought. Where had she seen eyes, that color gray before ?

With that thought on her mind she knocked twice on the frame of what had been Taekito's office door. "May I come in ?" She called to Mark. Adding a second later "he gonna be OK ?"

Mark turned and looked over his shoulder as he looked at Sapphire with a smirk, holding out her set of Brass Knuckles. "You can come in, yes. And No... I don't think he'll be okay. I did shatter both sides of his jaw entirely." Mark answered. Striding over to the desk, he scribbled something out on a piece of paper and then handed it to Sapphire. It was orders for a fresh Captain's uniform to be made for her by order of Mark Wolfe.

"Take this to the Tailor tomorrow morning. Before you do though, inform Elsa of my wanting to meet her in the library - phrase it as I did in the Hover Truck." he smiled and handed her the slip of paper before pulling her into a hug, patting her back. "It's good to be home... and with family." He said, gingerly kissing her cheek before stepping back and vanishing through a Transport Array.

"Kaedrian is a good healer, it might make her own jaw numb though" She couldnt get those gray eyes out of her mind however. She sighed then, not really caring and almost not accepting the paper Mark handed to her. She read it, in old runes he'd wrote that a new uniform be made for her. a iCaptain's/i uniform

"Those exact words too," he nodded. But when he pulled her into the hug she wasnt expecting THAT to happen. "So what do I ?Do I..." then he gently kissed her left cheek, then vanished. She stared at the paper again. Did she just get ipromoted/i "Oh Light this is heavy"

Wait, did that make Taekitos office... hers ? It didnt matter. She had a job to do and that was protect Elsa. And... inform Riey of her assignment as well, maybe they could share it ? No it didnt work out, Sapphire stepped from the office and closed the door, using Taekitos old key to lock it tight before heading to the Main Hall, it wasnt the throne room, but it could do for the time being at the very least

She had to see the Queen. So she headed in that direction, there were only two people, well three... no four {Actually five} people who knew that Mark was back, with friends. Many friends. And the two guards at the door didnt recognise Sapphire whatsoever. Well they did now that they thought carefully about it. One guard stopped her a few paces from the door "Sorry miss, but until you're cleared of wrongdoing by the Military Court next month, we cant let you see the Queen"

"Do I gotta deck the two of you when you dont recognise a commanding officer ?" She said pointing at her arm.

"Even so, Lt Wolfe, you are not permitted here by order of General Taekito and the Military Court"

Sapphire looked bewtween both men. Mark will understand, she thought. She swung twice, both soldiers flung backwards and busted open the doors. "I take my orders, from the Head of the House, if you feel I wronged you, take it up with him, he'll understand."

She looked into the Main hall, everything had halted and stared at her. For a moment there was not a word said, finally Sapphire smirked and said "Sorry about the mess. Had a little house cleaning to do and missed a few spaces"

"Lt. Wolfe? What are... your hearing isn't scheduled for another month! Leave at once!" one official said.

"We were talking about her anyway, we might as well hold it now." Another said. The council erupted with argument before the sound of Ulnaus screeching broke the cacophony of noise, and the Eagle passed by the window briefly.

"What the fuck?"

"About that, it's been cancelled. General Taekito and I reached an agreement. But if you wanna talk about it, go ahead" Sapphire said. She didnt bother to correct the councilmen there that she had been promoted by her cousin, not just yet. However Nadia gave the woman a steeely glare

"Well" Elsa sdpoke up after the clamor had calmed a bit at the sudden arrival of Lt Wolfe. "Since yoiu are here and currently the topic of debate, please come in..." Elsa briefly went silent as she heard a hauntingly familar screeching before speaking anew "Its been noted to this court that in three weeks time you are to be before it facing military trial for striking a suporior officer. We might as well move it to today"

"As I stated your highness, its been cancelled by my commanding officer. he insisted I take up my post as your personal guard as per tradition." Sapphire said. "According to him, that incident never occured and is to be struck from records entirely"

"I see..." Elsas gaze then went to the public doorway as a group of people entered, a woman with bright blond hair like her own, along with a silver haired woman and two men, one of whom she could have sworn was someone she knew.

As Auji walked in, he put his hands behind his back, and then spoke. Auji looked very similar to a young Mark, and even sounded similar. "Gotta say, it's good to be home, right?" he looked over his shoulder to Xeibo, his wife, and smiled, turning to look back at Elsa and her Council. "Why is everyone so serious all the time? Don't you know what time it is?" he asked. Truthfully it was getting close to lunch time, which for Auji was his favorite meal of the day - usually because it meant he could take an afternoon nap afterwards.

Xeibo smirked at her husbands antics, and raised an eyebroe when Elsa stared directly at her. She pointed at her husband, Auji "I'm with him" Briefly Elsa remembered the young man then, barely, he looked so much like Mark, even sounded like Mark, but was it really Mark ? No it couldnt be.

Seeing Sapphire, Fang didnt know either to salute or just nod in her direction. Which she did, only in this case the Princess called her "Captain, glad to to see you made it."

That statement alone threw the entire council into confusion as most of the councilmen who wanted to just up and drop Sapphire on the most lonely island possible now had her as a captain in the Sword Corps.

One councilmember went so far as to retort openly "The daughter of a whore, in our council chamber! Unheard of!"

Sapphire pointed at him, "I will ignore that... for the moment" She knew exactly where Mark was, watching thanks to some technology he'd given her in his hug, a little camera in her hairband allowed him to watch everything from inside his hovertruck. Ruthie was a very good person, her son, Big Tony and his Pit Crew had outfitted Mark and the returning Assassins to Arendelle with hovertrucks, and gear, and supplies for the techless country

It was after the insult to Sapphire that Ulnaus made another pass of the window, before landing in the doorway, and beginning to preen in plain view, but not before glaring daggers at the council member and screeching softly.

Auji smirked and chuckled. "I don't think he likes you very much." He pointed to the offending councilmember, nodding his head at Ulnaus. "Nor does he like you insulting a Wolfe." he added, crossing his arms. He was the son of a Wolfe, that made him as much a Wolfe as Sapphire or Mark, more so since his mother was Princess of China. Yes, Auji's words held weight to them.

Ulnaus chirped and hopped into the chamber. The big oaf had only gotten larger since Elsa saw him, perhaps now the size of a fully tricked out Jeep Wrangler, and about as smart as a tire. But hey, he was alive. But if Ulnaus was alive...

"What is that idiot bird doing..." Mark grumbled to himself from the hover-truck where he watched.

Sapphire stared, unsure of to activate her sword or not when the bird, so fucking MASSIVE of a bird, hopped into the room, her hand briefly went to her sword, but she knew Mark wouldnt approve, and took a half step backwards as the guards came to and busted through the door, placing their hands on her shoulders and wrists before also staring at the massive bird hopping in the room. The massive eagle seemed to be staring at a certain member of the council before screeching toewards another, a female member.

Sapphire had only see Nadia once or twice before being put on leave. For all she knew the woman was behind the whole reason for Taekito to keep her from her true job. the brightly clothed woman seemed unnerved at the sight of Ulnaus being so goshdamned massive before focusing her gaze on the youngman

Elsa too focused on Auji, and for a long moment thought he was Mark, because he looked, and sounded so much like him, his hair was longer than she remembered, plus it had streaks of white and light brown mixed with black and silver, and feathers ifeathers like a dove or the like/i poked out where his ears might have been

And the man looked towards another woman, the one with bright blonde hair similar to her own if only more white and much much longer.. Were they married ? The woman in silver and black, with the crest of a eagle in flight upon her breast had referred to Sapphire, Lt Sapphire Wolfe of the Sword Corps, as a Captain ?

Of course Ulnaus movements in the room allowed Mark to get a good look at some of the new councilmenbers, Lee was still there, and apparently posted closer to Elsa than before. Which meant that Lee had apparently been promoted to a upper council seat over where she once was, Nadia was still there, brightly dressed as ever and still in her seat. Ulnaus seemed more focused on her than the guy that insulted Sapphire, and in a way, Mark himself.

Sapphire still had to speak to her mother, she hadnt the chance to do so just yet

Just then, the clock chimed for noon, and that meant a lunch break for the council. Smiling, Auji spread his arms and gestured towards the door. "Council members, I'm to escort you to lunch today. Hope you all like Barbeque." he said, ushering them through the door, he held a hand out in front of Elsa, and stopped her. "Hold a moment, Your Highness. Captain Wolfe has something to say first."

Sapphire felt Elsas gaze turn to her, Ok, that was that, She waited until everyone was out of the room execept for Auji, herself, and Elsa, and also the huge oaf of a bird and the two guards that still held her between them. Sapphire held up a hand, well, sort of, a finger pointed up "just a second, sir" She said to Auji, starting to see the youngmans plan, at least, sort of.

She looked to the two guards and then to her arms "Do you boys mind letting your commanding officer free or are you waiting for the Queen to tell you to let me go ?" The two men looked to Elsa, who nodded and they let her go. "Thank you, Oh and you're gonna want to report to the healer for that bruise too"

The two men left, now it was just three people and a bird.

Getting the bloodflow back into her wrist, Sapphire waited a moment to speak, but she knew all eyes were on her for info. "I was requested to inform your Highness that the Master of the House wanted to see you, in the Castle Library, this evening, you'd know when and where. After that he promoted me and told me to come here to be your bodyguard as per tradition." of course tradition was set up that Queens lead the kingdom in everything, power and name, whereas their husband only had power in name only and nothing much beyond that. And so because of that, only a FEMALE member of the Wolfe Clan could be with the queen every waking hour to keep them safe.

Except for a few queens, some of them were battlemaidens in their own right and could handle themselves, and very briefly a member of the Wolfe Clan stood in hor the Queen when Elsas own ancestor, Queen Marissa was in command of the kingdom. But that's an entirely different story that we wont get into here.

"Thank you, Captain Wolfe,... Until offical papers are passed through your rank is still offically Lt, but Captain will go for a title in name only, no rank pulling behind it." Elsa said giving her a hard look, Sapphire just nodded. Elsa turned on Auji who by that point was trying to act as part of the scenery and wasnt doing a good job. "And I supppose you have a reason to return home... with another woman ?" Oh boy, Elsa sure got Mark and Auji mixed up. Sapphire, behind Elsa, was trying in vain to hide a smile and internal laughter was threatening to bubble to the surface.

Auji was smiling until Elsa turned to him, and he held up his hands, and chuckled. "Hey, hey hey... I'm not who you think I am... I'm his son, sure, but I'm not Mark. I have no clue where my father is... I have yet to meet him." Auji was a convincing actor. And in truth, he didn't know where Mark was. Really, no one did. "But.. I hope he's okay, wherever he is." he added before bowing and taking his leave to escort the council to lunch.

"So, your Highness, should we join them for lunch, or do you prefer someplace more private ?" Sapphire said

"You said the Master of the House wanted to see me, in my library, and I would know when ?" Elsa replied, now remembering Auji correctly as Georgina had introduced him on her return to the kingdom twelve weeks before

"Yes"

"I will have the cooks begin the noon meal. I want you to eat, then report to the Sword Corps commander." Elsa said

"Sadly I cant do that, he told me to be at your side, regardless until he says otherwise as I have already reported to him. Or rather the other way around as he contacted me in the Arena District about an hour ago" Sapphire replied

"So you are disobeying an order ?" Elsa looked at her

"Nope, I'm doing something different, I'm following orders. Now I hope you dont mind my mother coming here, she's a Wolfe after all. But she is in one of the brothels in the kingdom, with your approval I can send word to her and have her come here so I can finish my last set of orders, which is to speak withher one on one"

Elsa took a moment to think as Auji was gone, elaving her with Sapphire, she finally nodded "Alright, you have approval to send for your mother to bring her to the castle. I trust she will not be dressed as a courtesan in the process ?"

"No promises" Sapphire replied

Two hours later

Marketplace District

Elisar Den

It was rather a small miracle that Mark found the den to be deserted, only Blackmane was within it, everyone else had gone on contracts, after all, Mark had sent notice to her that he planned to return, but when was the question. Blackmane was replacing dataslates with crystals and scrolls of wood and cloth onto a shelf when Mark returned. Aside from her none else was awake within the den.

Well there was one other, but she was asleep in one of the bedrooms. Vaeyuko had been in Arendelle since the day after Mark had left twelve weeks before. Using loigic and puzzles against the Templars she managed a tight network of spies directly under her command and trained in puzzlekeeping

Her back to the door as her nephew stepped in she smirked. "You are earlier than expected." Blackmane said, dressed in a black dress similar to a black wedding gown, yet designed with her in mind, the dress was pretty much a part of Blackmanes own body, her long black hair was left loose for once, loose and for the moment wild as Mark let in a draft of wind

"Your aunt is upstairs, asleep thankfully, so dont be too loud" Blackmane said turning to face her nephew. She crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at him. "I am going to assume that you are the reason for the call of a top healer, a Dove Healer, at that. To attend to one of the Generals in the army ?" Blackmane had a dirty look, a look that clarly said she wasnt amused at her nephews antics.

"Care to explain it ?" Blackmane then asked the loaded question.

"Not really, but you'll likely punch me till I tell you anyway, so I'll tell you." he said, crossing his own arms. "He disrespected Tradition, and disrespected a Wolfe. He needed another history lesson." Mark answered finally, his voice a low rumble from keeping it low as to not wake his sleeping aunt upstairs.

After another moment, Mark approached closer, and hugged Blackmane tight - he was so happy to see her that he was shaking, and his breathing was slow and heavy, but he needed this hug. And about a million more from everyone else in his family... but this would do for now.

Hugging Mark tightly for a brief moment Blackmane saw, and felt that he was stronger, he didnt walk with a broken down spirit, but he did walk with renewed purpose. When they finally broke the hug Blackmane spoke "When you picked Taekito to lead the Sword Corps you were, at the time, leaving an able man in your stead. But the truth of the matter is he was trained for that post, but not by us. Vaeyuko and Shadowmane tried to find out who trained him, but they couldnt figure out the end of the puzzle together."

She motioned to the low desk and the two sat down on low chairs. "I have not seen Shadow in a month now, but Vaeyuko is upstairs asleep." She waved off any questions of what happened in his time away and said simply "Did you figure out the answer to your question ? Can you finish what you started here ? The kingdom is almost free of influence, but there is a small problem."

Mark nodded to her questions. "Yes... I've figured it out. I can finish what I've started. All of it." he said with a confident smile. He tilted his head at mentioning that there was a problem. "What sort of problem?" He asked, leaning back into his chair, and crossing his legs at the knee, steepling his hands gently.

"Someone in the kingdom is hoarding food. The last nine districts alone showed that the people are starving. But there's a problem, every district we free of the Templars we only find stronger resistence, and starving populace." Blackmane activated a map of the kingdom with a flick of her wrist, "Every district we liberate, the other districts around it share their food with those in the newly freed one. But. It is putting a strain on everyone" She moved through the map. "It is one of the puzzles Vaeyuko is trying to figure out. Never has she come across a puzzle like this, one so elusive."

The map faded. "Now. There is a new question I need to ask. You said that Taekito broke tradition, and insulted a Wolfe, Fine, butwho else knows you're home ? Have you presented yourself to the Queen yet ? I never told her you were dead. But I did say that your contract to Madrid was a failure, and not all contracts end in death. Maybe capture, alienation, isolation, or government hitmen after you."

"When you left, Elsa locked herself in the castle for a month. Then contacted me. I in turn called Vaeyuko and Shadowmane to help me out, Snowfeather and the girls are busy as it is. So, who else knows you are in the kingdom ?"

"Only the other Wolfe, General Taekito, and Anna know I'm here. And you, now. I've ensured that Elsa won't know that it's me in specific that's here to see her later, but that someone wants to. Ulnaus likewise made his presence known. And he is usually tied to my own presence." He said calmly. Looking over the map, Mark quickly rememorized it, and then sighed softly, tapping his chin. "I will see Elsa later tonight." he added.

Bringing up the map again, he watched it carefully. "Our plan then, is to find the buildings where food is being hoarded before we liberate the districts, and then liberate those buildings in the districts already free. That is, until the perpetrator is found out and dealt with..." Mark turned his head head slightly, closing his eyes as if listening, or trying to sense something.

"There is dark magic at work in Arendelle... I'll figure it out..." he smiled.

"That much your aunt deduced, however if you think that it is her magic, think again, Shadowmane is smart, but not that smart." It was true, Shadowmane wasnt the type to hoard food then give it out at inflated prices. Blackmane smirked "For all we know, there is no food, unless it is moved before we find the empty buildings." Well that wasnt good in the slightest

"So, what other Wolfe knows you are here ? The one who was insulted..." It was then that Miao made her appearance, with a huge cup of coke. "And who is this ?" Blackmane looked from the black haired white dressed coke guzzling Tigris to her nephew "And you do know that your mother would kill you if she found out ?" And there went the mistaken conclusions of who Miao was. Wezaki was barely able to purge the other drugs from the poor girls system, everything but the caffiene, that would take a few months to a few years to wean the Tiger off of.

Mark held up a hand before Miao could speak and or Blackmane going to town on the poor girl recently off her drugs. Execept for the caffiene, which Miao held a large Pepsi in hand to drink "This is my cousin, Miao Hawkthorne. From my mothers side of the family, the last time I saw her was six months before the attack on our home. She was catnapped by some people, I rescued her by chance when in Sacremento" Mark explained to his aunt

An eyebrow raised slightly. "Sacremento ? You did not have a contract for Sacremento. As I recall, we have Assassin's placed there, no contracts were for you to go there" Blackmane said, giving her nephew a steely look as her arms once more crossed her chest as she gave him a pointed look to boot.

"The contract I took to Madrid in turn led me to Sacremento. The rest of the contract was done there." Mark explained

"So that explains where you have been the last twelve weeks. When we lost track of you in Madrid, I told Elsa you had been lost." Blackmane said

"So you did tell her I was dead"

"No I said we lost track of you, losing track of you and confirming you as dead are two different things"

"Either way I think Elsa knows I am somewhere near the kingdom, if my bird is any indication of that fact"

Arendelel Castle

Moments later

After getting permission and ensuring that an Assassin was watching Elsa's back. Sapphire took her leave of Elsa and the court directly and headed for the messengers place outside the castle at a fast walk. The news she had received troubled her, and would also trouble Mark. But how far she didnt know, nor for that matter at that moment, much care. General Taekito was a Templar plant. And to make matters worse, was trained directly to do work for Mark in such a manner that Mark wouldnt know the difference between Taekito's real bosses, and his motives.

But that was not the issue

No, the issue was that Taekito had left Arendelle, by ship. which meant that freeing Arendelle just got harder. Because the ship was last sighted using Templar colors. Sapphire was unable to get the name of the vessel, but she let that slide off her worries for the time being. Her primary concern was informing Mark of the fact that a high ranking Templar had just left his zone of control. Possibly with knowledge of how things worked, and that Mark was back in Arendelle

She found Mark however dressed as a common Assassin Recruit, but his stature alone told her that he was who she sought "I was about to send a Mercerio to find you. Its about General Taekito" Sapphire said to her cousin.

"He left, I know. Ulnaus is watching constantly." Mark's eyes glowed dimly, and the eagle screeched in the distance, circling over the port district high enough to look like a normal sized bird. Continuing on his way towards the Library, Mark shed the Recruit Assassin Cloak and paused, revealing that his shirt looked bulged, reaching into it, he pulled out his own coat, his newer one lined with fur, and donned it, hiding the recruit robes in a cabinet that was along the wall. It was stuffed full of things other Assassins had hidden over the years they'd been in Arendelle. Blades, guns, cloaks, extra sets of underwear for both genders if one needed. Everything practically, minus snacks. Those were always suspiciously missing.

Turning the corner to head for the library, Mark raised his hood and yawned. "After the beating I gave him though, I doubt he'll come back with anything less than a hit squad to take me out... or an army to invade Arendelle. Either way, I'll know if Templar Influence spreads further. Once I set up my own little spy network." he said softly. Mark had dozens of plans for the future of Arendelle, a Spy Network for the Assassins was one of them.

"How is the Queen?"

"The queen is safe" Sapphire said simply. It wasnt exactly what Mark asked, but it was in his question unasked, when he looked at her she said "I know it was not your question, but it was in there, I have a Mercerio with her to keep her watched over so I could find you. Last I saw Anna was looking for her" Sapphire passed the clock in the hall. It said it was past dinner.

"The problem is, yes, Taekito did leave Arendelle... on a Templar ship. Where he is going, I dont know, but I can find out if you wish." Sapphire said, she had means to do so, well, only so far, any crew on a ship who wherent Templar were tossed off the ship as it left harbor, some with injuries, others dead, but some just fine and left on the dock

"Spy network ?" Sapphire mused softly, she smirked, Vaeyuko already set that up for him. So he didnt have to worry too much of the set up phase of it. Just getting the men and women into said network was the hard part "I know someone who can help you with that" She said at long last as they entered the library castle library. Sapphire had never been in there and felt intimidated at how calm and nochalant Mark was upon entering and heading deeper into it

"But there is another problem, Prince Hans was sighted just before you arrived, yesterday afternoon in the Marketplace District" Sapphire said, it was nearly time to see Elsa, but she stayed close to Mark for the moment, informing him of everything she knew. "I mostly stayed in the Arena district because I was told to, that and nobody tried to fight me out when I wasnt fighting or in uniform like I am now" Sapphire still had tio see the tailor for her new uniform.

Mark paused at the news of Hans being in the kingdom, turning his head to look at her. "This is a problem indeed..." His voice was low, almost a growl, and he was eerily calm. Stroking his beard, Mark turned towards the window, and thought for a moment, eyes darting around various points of interest he could see from said window as he thought.

"Keep an eye on him... Let him feel as though he'd gotten in unnoticed. Only when he starts doing something... well, Hans-like do you give him a flash of being watched... He's a smart one, so he'll likely lay low for a while... but keep an eye on him regardless." Mark said calmly before turning back to face Sapphire again. "Can you do that for me?"

"I could, but. The issue now is, He's gone too. Just like Taekito" Sapphire said. They could see the ship from the window, tossing something off the vessel as they left the harbor as if nothing was amiss. "its possible they were in cahoots ?" Sapphire had no idea who or why Hans was so important to the Queen, aside from the fact he tried to kill both royals and then Anna knocking him sensless.

"Riey told me she was given orders to watch for anyone from the Southern Isles in the kingdom, so she asked me to do it since she was watching the queen. Hans mostly stuck to the Kreen District" That district actually kind of scared Sapphire when one really thought on it. Namely, it had spiders, lots of them, but humans too... whicvh was confusing, first tiger people, now spider people ? What next ? wolf people... answer, yes, maybe, who knew ?

"There's a lot of Spiders in Kreen. I sensed their Magic when we arrived." Kalda whispered to Mark, who nodded, leaning against the book-shelf nonchalantly in thought before taking a breath and looking up for a second, then back down to Sapphire.

"Scour the Kingdom for him, but don't expose yourself in doing so..If you can't find him, assume he was on that boat with Taekito, and therefore that they were working together. Don't pursue them - I don't need a war with the Southern Isles on my hands when I barely get back to Arendelle. Not the best way to make a reappearance." He said, smirking.

"Anything else I need to know?"

"Only that you've been missed" Sapphire said, it was true, the day after Mark had let Elsa went crazy trying tofind him, then a week later Blackmane had reported loosing track of him and Elsa feared the worse. Truth was, Mark had gone from madrid to Sacremento. Elsa thought him dead, but Blackmane had reported him lost, not dead, there was after all a difference.

A shadow flittered past, belonging to niether of them, yet having a haunting hint of familarity to Mark as it easily darted by both of them. Sapphire never noticed it and if Mark was indeed looking for it, he'd recognised it as his Second Aunt, but he didnt notice her movements either. Shadowmane was scary. Scarier than Blackmane herself, hell, Shadowmane scared Blackmane. And that in of itself was not an easy thing to do, but somehow, his Second Aunt did so.

So if she was there.

A paper settled upon the desk behind Mark. While she never saw the shadow, Sapphire noticed the paper, and opened it. It had a handprint with a name. Saopphire read it aloud "Taking down Taekito was a good move, yet ill timed, we know you are home." Sapphire looked for the signature, there was none

Mark shivered at the sight of the shadow, a single small shudder as he smiled, and as Sapphire read the note, so did he. Narrowing his eyes, Mark extended his arm just in time to catch his Aunt Shadowmane at the waist and pull her against him in a hug. "Hello Auntie. I'm guessing you didn't write this? Your handwriting was always neater... and usually makes me afraid. This is much too sloppy." He said cheerfully as he hugged the slender woman to his body for a brief moment longer before releasing her.

"Don't tell me all of the Elisar sisters are in Arendelle?" He furrowed his eyebrows. If all six were here and not Cairo, then the hostilities against the Assassins was a lot more complicated than Templars by themselves, or even any foreign government. Hell the presence of Vaeyuko herself was nothing to sniff at, but if all of them were here? Mark blinked slowly, and even Kalda shivered.

"I actually came with Vae on accident, she forgot I was asleep in her hovercar" Shadowmane replied as she faded into view, dressed in a slick almost tarlike bodysuit that hugged every curve of the slender black haired clearly feline woman in Marks arms she returned the hug. "As far as I am aware, someone wrote that letter, so no, not my work, my handwriting isnt that obvious either, I live with Vaeyuko remember ?" Her handwriting always changed to test her sisters when she sent letters. "It was left in my den in the Greensky district. When your hoverbus showed up I followed it." Sapphire stared as at first her cousin was hugging thin air, then the woman appeared.

Now; Sapphire might have been the daughter of a prostitute directly, but none of the girls had anything on the woman being hugged by her cousin whatsoever. Shadowmane had it all in the right place. Sapphire held out the letter. "No name, if any, just a handprint" She said. Well, someone knew the taking down of Taekito had occurred, the question was, who ?

But then how many more members of Marks adoptive family were in Arendelle ? Right now, just four, Redmane had yet to make her appearance and Shadowemane was in the library being hugged by Mark, and Vaeyuko was asleep in the den back in the Marketplace District, and then there was the mere fact that Snowfeather was depressed to the point of suicide at that exact moment...

Mark's hand came to rest on his aunt's hip gently as they spoke, and he looked over the letter once more before running his hand up his Aunt's back, patting her shoulder, and then moving to cross his arms, sighing softly. "After I see Elsa... I'll see my mother. Something tells me she'll want to see me soon." Mark said quietly, smiling at his aunt.

"That is partly why I am here too" Shadowmane said softly. Mere mention of Snowfeather, though not by name and her voice went oddly soft and extremely... worried, very unlike her. "it started two days ago, She wont eat, wont talk to anyone, Not even Blackie can get her out of her funk. Of course turning Redmane into a baby was fun for the day, but still. Nothing worked. I dont understand it. Its been three days, and Snowfeather is starting to worry me, well all of us. Even the girls." Little did Shadowmane know, it was Snowfeathers wedding anniversary that day, and Barry was not at the Cairo zoo anymore. Snowfeather always spent a week with him every year since having her daughters.

As much as it was funny to picture a very pissed off yet adorable as all fuck kitten known as his aunt Redmane, Shadowmane slightly changed the subject "You havent seen the queen yet ?"

It was Sapphire who answered her "Not yet, we're waiting on her I think right ?"

Mark nodded. Yes, they were waiting on Elsa, but the news of Snowfeather worried him greatly, and his face turned grim. Sighing softly, he nodded to himself. "I'll see her tonight after I've seen Elsa. Maybe I can get her to smile a bit." he smiled faintly before the clock tolled 4:00, and Mark nodded, his eyes flashing as he gave some new orders to Ulnaus: Lead Elsa to the Library. If Elsa was still a creature of habit as most humans were, she'd be walking the courtyard right about now, and would see Ulnaus fly overhead and land on the roof of the library, and stare at her until she recognized him - recognized iMark's/i gaze watching her through the eyes of the eagle.

But it was Anna who had grabbed her attention. And at the signal from Mark who saw it all through the massive eagle preening and being an idiot atop the library roof only madethings more fun on the outset. So as Anna snagged Elsa by the Arm and dragged her towards the main doors of the castle, it gave Sapphire and to an extent, Shadowmane, a chance to sneak out unseen.

"Will you just tell me who wants to see me?" Elsa asked as she and Anna walked through the corridors of the castle, headingtowards the Library but taking an over-intricate route that Anna figured out on the fly, keeping Elsa lost. "And why you'redragging me literally all over the castle to see them?" It was confusing, Sapphire had mentioned that someone wanted to see her that evening, she would know when.

"Just trust me, Elsa. You want to see this person too. Ah, here we are" Anna stopped at the door to the Main Library, which theyhad also passed at least four times. Anna had a smirk on her face and she crossed her arms after opening the door. "He's in 't worry, I'm told he doesn't bite."

Elsa furrowed her eyebrows and likewise crossed her arms in annoyance. She had a Kingdom to run and pockets of Templar resistance to snuff out. This had better good, she thought. Walking through the door, she initially found the Library empty, however after a few seconds moved towards the window where a chair had always been paired with a desk to read at. She found it empty, but turned sharply when the door closed behind her. Her Ice-Swords glittered into her hands as she stared at the man who closed the door, but narrowed her eyes as he wore the hood of an Assassin. "What is the meaning of thi-" her words caught in her throat, her eyes widened, and she dropped her swords as Mark removed his hood, and looked to Elsa.

"Hello, My Queen. I've missed you."

Elsa stared for a moment, her swords shattering, like glass, when they were made of ice, upon the floor at sight of a man she thought dead. "Mark ?" She stuttered briefly, it wasnt possible he was dead wasnt he ? "How are you here ? Blackmane said you were lost"

Mark nodded. "Lost, yes... but that doesn't necessarily mean dead." He smiled as he took a couple of steps towards her. "I thought you knew I was more stubborn than that? To die?" he teased her, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips as he spoke. "Besides, the Wolfe Clan won't die out. I can't let it." he added with a slight tilt of his head.

"After what happened at Arko, you blamed yourself, you... disappeared, Blackmane said tyou needed something to clear your mind, so she gave you a contract, when I asked her how you were on that contract she reported you lost. Then three days ago the Marketplace den seems to have died due to Snowfeather not in a good mood, and to make matters even worse, half the kingdom is starving when they shouldnt be." Elsa said simply, almost screaming but thankful that the man she trusted with her life, and the life of her sister, was back and alive

"When Sapphire came to the court this morning, she caused a stir" Elsa said simply. then she looked at him carefully, his hair was long sure, bnut not as long as it had oncebeen, Nor was it as long as Aujis hair. "And then... your lookalike showed up..." What, sorry what ?

Mark chuckled. "My son, Auji." he corrected, taking another few steps towards her. "I fired Taekito - I am the Sword Corps Commanding Officer after all." He smirked. It was then that he pulled Elsa into a long-needed hug, his strong arms surrounding her slender frame needingly, his face burrying into her neck as he gave her a loving squeeze, and then kissed her cheek. "It's great to see you again, Elsa... I've missed you." he whispered to her.

At the news of Snowfeather his face went grim again and he nodded. "I should go see her. She doesn't know I'm back yet either..." he mentioned.

Elsa hugged Mark tightly as he came close enough. "Taekito, he served you well as general of the Sword Corps. Why did you fire him ? No dont tell me..." She went quiet as he kissed her cheek She shivered slightly, "You have no idea" Finally she broke the hug and nodded. "Alright, its almost dinner, I think you should see to your mother. But" She held up a hand, pointing at him she said simply "Tomorrow morning, six am, sharp, you have birds to feed. It will be nice to wake up to the birds again. the last twelve weeks have been rather bleak without birds every morning"

Well that made sense. But she said nothing more of Auji, or the fact that Auji insisted on letting Sapphire say something important, Auji was a good actor sure, but had never met his own father yet. Boy was that to be a fun meeting for sure. "Go see your mother, I will see you at breakfast, and you had better be there or I will send Anna after you, and you know how she can be"

So as Mark turned to take his leave and see to Snowfeather Elsa then remembered something somwhat important "Oh and Diana was looking for you yesterday, Blackmane must have never told her of your contract and losing track of you. She said it was important concerning a certain bird" Of course Elsa meant Sazhori, though Diana never gave the ravens name to the Queen, only the words, 'a certain birdy told me he was in the area'

Upon returning to his home within Arendelle, he immediately went upstairs to see his mother, knocking twice on the door before opening, and entering, closing the door behind him.

"Mom... I'm back." he said, trying to sound cheerful in order to break the melancholy of the room and reach his mother. Lowering his hood, he stepped closer to his unresponsive mother, and reached out to gently touch her shoulder. "Mother..." he repeated, softer this time, a smile still on his face. Surely she'd lighten up just a little upon seeing him?

The curtains were closed, so even with his enhanced vision Mark could see that Snowfeather wasnt just unhappy and depressed, but messy too. The room was trashed, the walkls were shredded, deep long claw marks marred the wall around the door alone. But the only place there was no damage was the bed area. it was still well kept and oddly clean. Snowfeather laid on the bed, a thin layor of white and black striped fur covered her body, yet she was, aside from the fur, mostly human...ish

As Mark placed a gentle hand on her shoulder a somewhat larger than her normal human looking hand reached to it. Mark could feel that Snowfeather hadnt been eating, much less doing anything. Snowfeather just was not in a good state whatsoever. But there was only one person who, if not Mark, could bring her out of the state she was in. Softly Snowfeather spoke. "Welcome home" her voice was haggard, soft, almost dead. She hadnt eaten in three days as it was!

With a grunt, Mark picked his mother up and held her to his body, noting the loss of weight with a frown. "I come home and this is how you greet me..." he teased gently, hugging her gently. "Come now, Mother... wake up a bit, clean this place up a little, eh? Looks like I threw a party in here - I thought you didn't like my parties because of the after math?" he smirked, looking down at her after looking around the room once more.

Compared to Mark, her adopted son at that moment, Picking up Snowfeather was like picking up Sazhori, she was, as far as Mark could tell, lighter than the Raven at that very moment of all things. Snowfeather smirked at mention of Marks wild parties, sometimes yes she didnt like them, other times she didnt really give them a second thought. But the main concern was who he had the parties with

However it was his question of greeting him that she asked her own question. "What day is it ?" It was a question so simple, it was not easy to answer, other then being the 19th of August, Infact if it wasnt the day of the month that was the issue Mark could have easily dismissed it. however, he was trained by 8 women all related by adoption, and one of them loved puzzles, so he had to look at the question in an entirely new light.

What day was that day ? Oh right...

Upon realizing the meaning of the answer, he settled a bit, sinking a bit into the mattress. "Oh... I take it then that he..." at Snowfeather's shake of her head, Mark nodded subtly, and hugged her a bit tighter. "Think of it like this... if something ihad/i happened to him, you would have heard about it... Nothing happens to a Tiger in a zoo without it making some sort of headline anymore..." he said calmly, rubbing her shoulder gently.

After that, Mark spend most of the time with his mother trying to get her to come downstairs and eat something, only for the decievingly light woman to push him away every time.

It was a good hour before Mark returned to the front room on the lower level of the three floor home. He shook his head at the unasked question of his aunt, Blackmane looked dispondent as well similar to how Snowfeather was acting up stairs in their bedroom, flatout refusing to speak to anyone or do anything. Mark it was clear, was unable to even make her smile with his return. They were briefly at a loss when a simple sharp knock on the doorframe behind Mark caused the young man to turn around. A brown haired dark brown dressed rather regal looking man held a hat in his hand, one of the typical ronin traveling hats of a sort. "Excuse me" The man said, his voice regal and calm. "Does a woman named Snowfeather live here ?"

Mark nodded and started to speak but the man cut him off "It is alright, I know her, she knows me."

Then it was of all people, Shadowmane who spoke from her black pile of blankets on the sofa "Then that means... You must be Barry, Snowfeathers husband!" The man nodded

Barry raised a hand when Mark was about to speak anew "It is alright, I think I should see her myself, dont send word to her, just, where is she ? I was informed she is depressed"

"That's one way to put it, yeah..." Mark said, but he did give the room to look for on the top floor of the house.

Barry smiled softly, giving Mark a brief bow of greeting "Thank you. I advise that you remain here and... dont respond to any strange cries tonight." he said taking up his hat he went upstairs to Snowfeathers bedroom and stepped inside, his feline eyes adjusting quickly to the low light, It was clear Snowfeather, his beloved wife, was in destress.

Barry set his stuff on the side table and removed his outer robes before settling on the bed where Snowfeather laid curled in a ball. She was shaking with soft sobs, it was after all their anniversary and Barry was missing! Well no he wasnt, he was right there with her. Without a word he got into bed and Snowfeather felt a odd feeling of someone close to her. Almost thinking it was her sister She opened one eye at the smell.

Barry ? Her other eye snapped open and she sat up, hoping it wasnt just a dream and she'd wake up crying again she stared at the brown shirted man in the bed with her, soft green eyes she iknew/i. Barry smiled as Snowfeather collapsed into his arms, He hugged her close. "Barry ? Is it really you ?"

He hugged her close. Snowfeather was limp as a rag with both shock and dispair, but now that dispair was joy as he was there with her after so many years. "Yes, its me. Your sister, Redmane said you were up north, place called Arendelle, so I had to travel here after they retired me at the Zoo, they were going to ship me to a wildlife reserve, but I escaped and found my way to your house in Cairo"

"But, but the zoo..." Snowfeather began

"Oh shush. The zoo is the least of our worries now" Barry said hugging Snowfeather tight. he was home, Snowfeather's heart hammered as she realised the truth, Her husband was home with her! It was in that exact moment she shrieked with joy and hugged her husband, her true husband. Barry grabbed the blanket upon the bed and wrapped it around themselves. Snowfeather nested close to her beloved husband

That night was a rather active one too.

20 August 2055

Midnight

Somewhere on the Fjords

The gentle lapping of the water against the prow of the warship nearly lulled the former General of the Arendelle Sword Corps to sleep had it not bee nfor Hans to be in the cabin at the time, Taekito very well might have fallen asleep and woken up in the Southern Isles territory the next morning, a good two days of sailing sure. But even then. Hans wasnt happy, after Taekito hadbeen healed by Kaedrian at Arendelle before leaving and getting onto hans ship and healed further by the raven haired woman know simply as Sisco. The Raven a powerful mage mused magic to repair what damage she was able, but Taekito was without his nose at that point for the rest of his life

"So, the girl did this to you ?" Hans asked. He hadnt spoken to Taekito at all until that moment. Regarding the man he had trained carefully to take the job as Mark Wolfe's second in command of the Sword Corps, then Mark Wolfe, the one they should have slain twenty six years before, had come back.

Taekito shook his head "No. The Wolfe did it to me. The girl is a fighter yes, but she isnt strong enough to break my face apart as he did" Taekito explained how Mark had returned to Arendelle, apparently in secret, with him was a few others he'd never seen before, along with new technology. "I had dismissed the girl, Sapphire Wolfe, and isolated her to the Arena District, where she was to remain until summoned for the military tribunal in two weeks. But he returned, and reinstated her where she was to be. Where I put Riey Johnson in fact"

Hans grunted, and paced the boardroom of the ship. "The job was simple, you were to simply keep the queen unguarded by a Wolfe for as long as possible, and keep her busy. By isolating one Wolfe, you brought others to the fore. What of the Assassins ?" Hans asked simply wanting answers. "if the Asssassins continue to work with the queen, and protect the qwueen without her knowing it, then your job failed"

"I chose Riey Johnson because I know her past, she is not an Assassin, nor is she a Wolfe. But she is skilled as a swordswoman and I trusted her with the task of guarding the Queen at all times. Both to keep other Wolfes from the job, and to keep the queen out of our business" Taekito replied

It was then that the ship shook roughly, the room went black for a second as the lights went out. Upon coming back on, Draco was standing with hishands behind his back just outside the group. He did not look too happy either that Mark Wolfe had returned. But not only did Mark return to Arendelle after being gone for 12 weeks, but he had returned, with new weapons, new knowledge, and new ways to fight. Fact of the matter was, Taekito was a very valueable asset to the whole operation of taking over Arendelle. Too valueable to kill, or harm.

"Explain yourself." He growled, glaring at the group as a whole. They knew what he meant.

"Well this bonehead" Sisco spoke up first as Hans was too busy mentally frothing like he had rabies "Thought he could stop a bone knuckle from breaking his skull, instead he lost his nose." She indicated Taekito who simply galred daggers at the Raven."Look at me like that again and I'll make those gray eyes a dark bloodshot" She stared him down before Hans spoke up

"Taekito had our plan going as we had hoped, However, the return of the Wolfe Lord, had put a slight advance on eviction this morning the queen was unprotected or busy with other needs pertaining to her starving people" Hans said simply.

"I did as told, the Wolfe Girl still has two weeks, but Mark Wolfe reinstated her, there was nothing I could do" Taekito said

"You could have kept your face out of his reach" Sisco mumbled

"Enough." Draco snarled. "You..." he pointed at Hans "...Are going to be given more control over your efforts. I want total submission with the districts under our control still. Taekito you will assist as needed. Sisco, you are my eyes in the Eagle Kingdom, you keep doing as you have been." Draco lowered his pointing finger and hisface distorted as his power flared, the skin rippling and becoming scales of midnight Black before rippling back to being skin.

"If you continue to fail, I will take charge personally, and do it my way. Am I understood?"

"We only have six districts in Arendelle left under our control, the Spiders are helpful but only so far" Hans mused thoughtfully, Taektio wondered what he was on about but nodded when spoken to.

"Thankfully my children do not suspect that I am solely gaining prestige in the Council, Tilr recently named me head of his army medics. But there are a few holdout Doves that are upset with the move. My family does not suspect a thing." Sisco said simply, Keep doing as she had been doing, but this time getting word and information to Draco. Easy. The Parrots were most helpful

"Its not a lot to go on, but its something, Spyder said that there's only so much room in the warehouses we still control. Elsa, up to now, has been more concerned with feeding her people over liberating districts from our control" Hans said. "There is still a chance that things will go sideways, and I've been planning for it. Infact, with return of Mark I think one of my plans already went into effect"

"What, leaving Arendelle ?" Taekito asked him

"No, better, Mark doesnt know it, nor does the Queen or anyone else. Who really controls the food but you and your kids" Hans said nodding to Draco directly. "Your daughters were geniuses to dream up a food control plan, we sell what food we can, faking it of course at higher prices, those who afford to pay those prices are given a discount, the more money we make by gouging others in the food selling, come to our side by being in debt to us, your daughters." It was one of the plans Hans never really thought about, food control wasnt an easy thing to do, but once you controlled the food, you could easily begin to control the population

Draco nodded subtly in recognition of Hans' praise of his daughters and their plan to control the food. Nodding to himself, the Dragon let out an amused rumble from his throat. "Very well... ensure that this plan does not bite you in return. If I get involved directly, there will be blood on all fronts."

With that the lights fluttered off and then on again, and when they did, Draco was gone.

"That shit scares me..." Taekito mentioned, nodding to Draco's ability to come and go with the darkness.

"That wont be the only thing scaring you" Sisco snickered

"Whats that supposed to mean ?" Taekito asked her, almost ready to give a throw down right there in the captains cabin of the cruiser. Sisco just smiled as Hans facepalmed hard, this was gonna be a long trip home.