Branded by the Mage

OLD A/N : A long amount of time has passed since he had become a rogue. He will be very different to what you all expect him to be, and his memories as a rogue will be revealed in flashbacks as a bandit.

Also, don't review to tell me that BBTM and MapleStory don't fit together. I just tweaked the circumstances in this story a little bit to suit my needs.

NEW A/N : Sup, back for chap 2. Again, it wasn't heavily edited and not beta-ed so it's crap etcetc. Anyhoo, ignore that stuff up there ^ 'cause I'm gonna be changing storyline around... Actually, I have no freakin' idea. I'm just writing this on the fly. Haha. It'll turn out good, hopefully.

Chapter 2 // Hey, wait a-

There was only one thing that filtered through Sindit's consciousness when he woke up: Pain. It was bloody agony trying to open his heavy eyes, but training required him to take in his unknown surroundings immediately. Ouch... okay, I seem to be in my tent. Whew, safe. He gratefully closed his eyes and almost drifted back to blissful sleep before a thought sparked in his mind. Wait a second, didn't I go to sleep on that tree branch in Perion? Why am I in my tent? He shot up, trying to ignore the ache the gigantic bump on his head generated. How did I- holy shit! This isn't even my tent! Where the fuck am I?

He panicked and reached for his weapons, but he already knew they wouldn't be there as his hands only met empty air. Shitshitshit I'm gonna get raped! No! Sindit closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind in an effort to calm down. Come on, let's chill... Nothing bad's gonna happen, don't worry Sindit... Who the fuck am I kidding, you do not just get knocked out and kidnapped for no reason, damn it. I've gotta get out of here!

He stood up shakily and stared at the quivering tent-flap. Who knew what was out there? But, he reasoned, if he didn't get out, they were going to come in eventually. He geared himself up for a charge and slipped into Dark Sight as he reached for the zip that held the tent flap shut. Okay, I'll take a quick look to see what's there then run straight out to-

"HOLY FUCK THAT HURT!" Sindit screamed as he bounced onto his ass, holding his scorched right hand. "OWWWWWWCH! BULLSHIT! THIS IS SO NOT HAPPENING TO ME! WHAT KIND OF PARANOID FUCKER MAKES HIS GODDAMN TENT CONDUCT ELECTRICITY!" He held his smoking hand gingerly by the wrist; the electric shock had burnt through his nerves so that he couldn't even feel his tender arm up to his elbow. A frown marred his features. He wouldn't be any good for fighting without his weapons and much less so with a dead arm. And now that someone had probably heard him venting his rage, it was only a matter of seconds before they came. Fear immediately trickled down his spine.

He flexed his arm while channeling mana through it; he'd found that injuries healed quicker if he concentrated his mana around the damaged area. Damn it! My arm probably won't be good for another hour. His ears pricked as he heard a rustling from the entry of the tent. He jumped backwards, his remaining good arm already reaching for his absent daggers. With dread, he realised for a second time he had no weapon, but this time, the defenselessness fully impacted him; making him almost wish for the enemy to appear to just end the breathless period of waiting. But the prolonged silence stretched on, seconds becoming minutes until Sindit stopped hyperventilating. Maybe nobody heard me? Regardless, he still stood facing the door for a long time, until he was sure nothing was suddenly going to blow up. Then, with nothing happening for the moment, Sindit sat, crossing his arms and legs. He returned to thinking about his predicament.

Okay, so... Last thing I remember is going to sleep in Perion. Before that, I was at the Free Market trying to buy that Reef Claw. Sindit scowled. Seriously, what was up with that prick, thirty thousand was more than enough. As if he's going to get a better deal from anyone else. Grrr... Anyway, onto my current dilemma... I don't think I've pissed anyone off recently, or at least I don't remember it- ah shit. That granny. But there's no way she could pull something like this off. He was getting aggravated just imagining what could have merit him into being randomly kidnapped. So, why is this happening to me..?

He angrily felt for the bumpy piece of rock that was seriously pissing his sore behind off. It felt a bit off; grainy and woodish. Taking a quick look, he realised he was sitting on a massive tree root. Huh? But they only have massive plants like this in Ellinia! There's no way I was taken there in one night from Perion. His thoughts turned to a darker route. But, who says I've only been unconscious for one night... Fuck. I can't just sit here waiting.

Sindit began to pace around in front of the harmless looking tent-flap again. Now that he was aware of the enchantment, he could practically see the mana dripping off it. A mage must have done this. Lightning element. Controlling his anger, he found a clump of dirt and mud and threw it at the door. As he predicted, the cluster of dirt blew apart in a vivid flash the moment it brushed against the surface of the tent. Some of the particles flew straight into his eyes.

"Far out! Why is this day turning out so freakin' badly!" He narrowed his stinging eyes at the innocent looking tent entrance. "I'll just fucking blow through it!" He clenched his semi-healed right arm down at his side with his left, channeling as much raw mana to it as possible. Maybe he didn't know how to use elemental attacks like some other classes, but what he did know was that when raw mana mixed with mana that had been specialised, it reacted badly. As in, Alkalimetal-meets-water badly. Once Sindit thought he had enough mana compressed in his arm, he rushed at the door without thinking of any possible consequences in frustration.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.

Sindit skidded to a halt before the door, arm outstretched, but not quite touching the door frame. He jerked it back once he realised the blast hadn't come from him. Something was finally happening and- BOOOOOOOM! The explosion sounded again, but this time, it was closer and with it came accompanying screams and shouts. Sindit backed up to the opposite wall of the tent-flap, eyes wide and wondering what the fuck was happening.

Then a body blew through the side of the tent, collapsing it.

"Holy shit!"

Amongst the electric currents running freely through the mess of mana saturated air, Sindit managed to crawl out and away. He looked around him, his jaw dropping at the incredibly sudden occurence of full-out war.

There seemed to be a massive free-for-all fight going on amidst the mages, with blistering electric bolts, roaring explosions of fire, chaotic spikes of ice and blurred shuriken flying around- Shuriken? Sindit thought. He kept down to the ground, trying not to garner attention from any of the battle crazed mages and rogues punching it out all around him. While the furious battle raged on, he tried hard to work out what was happening. It was all too confusing for him. I go to sleep in Perion, I wake up in Ellinia, then after being stuck inside a tent for hours a battle suddenly erupts out of fucking nowhere with me in the middle of it! Said battle seemed to be favouring the rogues- they were smoothly blitzing through the mage's battle lines, leaving them scattered and pushing them back as the rogues advanced steadily.

Then, within a few moments it was finished; the remaining mage's turned and ran, haphazardly firing spells over their shoulders to cover their retreat. The rogues stayed to howl their victory to the sky.

"Come on, you idiots! Count the dead, take the ones alive and get ready to move! You know the drill! Get to it!"

Still quite shocked, Sindit stayed on the ground until a rough hand pulled him up by the scruff of his neck. The man scrutinised him. "You one of us or them?"

"Huh? Me? I- I don't even know any of you!"

The fierce looking man kept staring. Sindit's eyes were drawn to his long, curvy and sharp dagger in the bandit's other hand.

He gulped. "...Please don't ki-"

"Okay, okay," the man interrupted, "whatever. Follow me."

The man lead him to a large wagon that was being brought in. Its bulky wheels were creaking with strain as it transversed the densely woody Ellinia landscape. It was painted in grey and black, dark colours, but it seemed out of place in the bright Ellinia forest. The man shoved him towards the carriage. He dimly realised that various other people in poor conditions like him were gathering to it as well.

Feeling numb, he entered to be swallowed up by the shadowed maw of the wagon.

XxXxX

Soon, the forests of Ellinia were quiet and peaceful once again. The mottled green was prominent amongst the tall, large trees and drips of sunlight filtered through the leafy foliage to fall upon the grounds below. But there, the tranquil atmosphere ended. Congealed blood stained the dirt, and in every direction you could see, corpses lay.

The great trees of Ellinia rejoiced.

OLD A/N : This is going to be my last chapter for a few weeks. I have to revise for exams and stuff, even if I don't want to. But still, don't give up on this story. Check back.

Oh yeah, and if I get bored with revision, I might decide to update with chapter three, so check back often!

R&R please. I need much more inspiration and I get that from positive reviews.

EDIT: Chapter 3 is done.

NEW A/N : Okay, sorry, I thought about it whilst writing, and, not really surprisingly, I didn't want to write this chapter either. I originally thought that my reluctance to write would go away etcetc after the first chap but it stayed. Tbh, I didn't really like this story/chapter either. I really did want to write a lot more, and expected to, but I just couldn't churn out any more words after what I'd done so far. And, yer, I understand the "fight scene" in this chapter isn't even one. This is still supposed to be the build-up but srsly, I just don't think I'm up to it. I cba doing this.

But who knows, maybe I'll still be able to pump out chapter three or maybe I'll continue my other story (Angel of Death- yeah, shameless advertising here, CHECKITOUTANDLEAVEAREVIEW) or I might start a totally new story;

Or I'll just quit fics. Most likely imo. However, if I manage to attain a beta or some nice encouragement, I 100 percent guarantee chapter three but that'd probably be it.

GG WP, thanks to all the readers here so far!