The begining of a massacre

[Emoir]

(First off I would like to note this is a ledgend of zelda storey, just an FYI for anyone who may be, or become confused. )
WARNING: DEEP READ!


Brather watched the cloaked rito with quiet curiousity. He certainly had an edge over most of the people here... but if making fireworks was all he was good at she would make him leave on a boat too. She didn't like to be pushed around, and most of these smelly people were nothing better than toothpicks to the monsters. There were a few acceptable people, but other than that she wouldn't be surprised to see all but about ten leave.

She was in the second line. She didn't care if she wasn't picked... she would stay no matter what. Besides... if that boat was leaving anytime too soon with that leak she would be surprised. She had seen the hole. Then again these people were sailors. They weren't people put on a flimsy boat and made to drift out to sea with no sailing knowledge whatsoever.

After the cloaked rito had passed her and gone far enough down some men in front of Brather started to talk. They were argueing about what would happen if they weren't picked. One said he would attack the cloaked rito, the other said he wouldn't try, and that man gave him "The shivers." Brather stayed quiet. The fools didn't realize what they were in for. Another man poked her in the back of her head. She turned around.

"Hello pretty... want to have some fun later?"

There was a loud crash and people turned to look at the source. The man was lying on his back with a stupid grin on his face. The ground around him was cracked. People ran over to see if he was okay.

Brather kept her eyes turned forward to the front of the line. Her dark eyes were set in an even darker glare than earlier. The back of her left hand was glowing just slighlty, but she had covered her symbols with skin-like clay, making her less of a threat in people's eyes.

The man was really dazed. He mumbled something that sounded like "mommy" and he fainted. It served him right...

"Bloody hell! Who does he think he is, telling us what to do!? I swear, someone should teach him a lesson." One of the rejected mercenaries said.

"Then go out there and teach him, tough guy." A second voice said.

"Hey! Shut up wise guy, or I'll give you fist for your face!" The first one threatened.

"No thanks. I already have two fists! Wanna see how they work!?"

Piuma sighed and rolled her eyes. It seemed impossible to get any sleep on a boat. Always going back, and forth, up and down with the waves. And when it finally stays still, the people start getting loud.

Piuma peeked around the crate she was sleeping behind. The two men were yelling at eachother. Finally, one of them took a swing at the other, smashing him right across the jaw.

The commotion the small scuffle caused was enough to let the little Rito sneak passed everyone without being noticed. She crept up the stairs of the ship, and came out onto the deck, were the light of day temporarily blinded her.

Piuma let her eyes adjust to the light, and brushed a few strands of dark brown hair out of her face, so she could see better. She saw many groups of people, all lined up, while a cloaked figure scanned each line individually, and selected certain people.

"What's this we have here!?" A gruff voice said, causing Piuma to jump in fright and turn around. "I don't remember giving you a ticket little one."

Piuma looked the sailor right in the eyes. "Maybe you have some sort of memory disability that's preventing you from recovering the necessary information required to sucessfully and adequatly prosecute me or prove my innocence."

The sailor blinked stupidly, and Piuma frowned. In her head, she knew exactly what she was doing. A simple sailor wouldn't understand half the words she was saying.

"Perhaps you're accusing a noble and paying customer such as myself of some petty crime like being a stowaway aboard a ship? If that's the case, I'd be very insulted. In fact, this is a terrible inconvenience, and I'd like to speak to your supervisor! I'll have your job for this!" Piuma threatened.

It was a comical sight, watching the duck billed little Rito boss the large burly sailor around. He had a look of horror on his face. "No please! Not me job! I understand, I understand, please forgive me, Miss!"

Piuma hated having to lie, but being caught for stowing away would have worse consequences. She gave the sailor a warm smile. "Don't worry about it Mister!"

Without another word, Piuma casually walked off the deck, and down to the beach below, to watch the people being sorted, for whatever purpose. Piuma watched in awe, as the cloaked person sent back a whole group of twenty men, all of whom were expressing their outrage.

"Unbelieveable! Such a waste of time coming here!" One said.

"Now what'll I do?" Another asked.

Piuma backed away from the group, whom were heading back to the ferry. One of the men was positively livid.

"I'm going to be rich!" He declared. "You're all just after my money, aren't you!? AREN'T YOU!?"

He unsheathed a small sword. The blade glinted in the light. "If I can't have them Rupees, then nobody can!"

The man in the cloak sorting people wasn't paying attention, since all the denied mercenaries made threats. But this man was on a mission to kill! Sword held high, he ran for the cloaked half-bred.

Piuma had no clue what she was getting herself into. She reached for her grappling hook, swung it around a few times, and let it fly. The hook wrapped itself around the man's boots, tripping him to the sandy floor, right at the cloaked person's feet. The spikes that had been added into the Grappling Hook when Piuma modified it tore into the man's leg, spilling crimson liquid.

The cloaked man looked down at the tripped farmer, and sighed to himself. Some people just didn't take no for an answer. He looked up at the Rito.

"You, in line, over there." He said, pointing to a line that hadn't been judged yet.

Dakko stood in line pondering. I didn’t come here as a mercenary, I came here to fish! He continued to think of all his options. If I get sent back, I’ll have my fishing license revoked, and I really want to fish. Dakko tried to figure out what to do. He looked around and noticed a lot of farmers. He wondered how a farmer would become a mercenary.

If I say that I’m not here as a mercenary, I’ll probably be sent back, but what are the chances of me making it in anyway. He continued to look around. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw the rest of the line, which looked the same size as the front. That meant he was near the middle. While he was looking back, he noticed his harpoon on his back, which was still bloodstained from before he left. He smiled, figuring that his harpoon would make up for his looks as a fighter. Then he remembered his fishing pole. He looked at it, and noticed he had the medium sized hook on, and it was also stained in blood. Now when did that... oh yeah, I remember. He remembered that when he first went fishing, he pulled the pole the moment he felt a tug, he ended up ripping a piece of the fish’s mouth off and stained his hook. He was now glad that he never washed his hooks or harpoon.

Now, the only problem he saw was that if he didn’t get sent back, he would probably be expected to fight. He didn’t know anything about combat, aside from combating fish, though he knew that that would not count. But he had come too far to back down now. He was not going back, he would stay, at least until he caught a few good fish. I wonder if I’ll have time to fish, with all this going on.

He looked over at Ketu, and noticed that most of the people the cloaked man looked at were, indeed, nothing but foolish farmers. Dakko was in the middle of the last line, which meant it would be a while before Ketu got to him. Dakko pulled two hooks out of his pocket. The largest will look more like a weapon than the other two. He removed the medium sized hook from his fishing pole and put the large hook on. Now all I have to do is wait, just like when I fish. Patiently and quietly waiting.

"This is too easy," he mumbled.

"A lot of people have already been sent back, don't act like your stay is guaranteed," some man behind him said.

"All too easy," Dakko continued, ignoring the man behind him.

Ketu walked down my line, I was in the back of the line just before the last one. I could see his dissapointment as he passed many farmers. I looked down and examined myself, just realizing I myself had no experience as a mercenary, I was here out of a lie. I had no idea I'd be sent here having to battle for my life. To be honest I had no idea what that letter meant. Until now.

Now I stood here in line, being picked to go home, or stay and fight. Most of me wanted to go home. Most of me thought "What the hell, I didn't even want to do this in the first place."
But for some disturbed reason I always favor for the minority, and in this case that minority in me said to stay, and fight.


"You." the cloaked Rito said. I pointed to myself and looked around.
"Yes. You. Ever used that bow before." he asked. Glaring down at my Lunar Solar bow. "Aye sir. Many times." I said.
"Any good at it." he asked, and I nodded. I took out the bow and placed an arrow down. I pulled back the horse hairs of the weapon and after a moment of aiming, shot a fruit off a tree about two hundred or so feet away.
"Decent." he said, still eyeing me. I put my bow back and leaned my head forward, so that my hair would fall in front of my face.

He continued up the same line, re-evaluating his decisions. I just stood there.
"I, guess I'm in."

Jess stood in the last line, waiting for the mysterious cloaked figure to pass her and decide whether she should stay or go. She realized that she didn't much look the part of a mercenary. A pretty and fairly young blonde-haired girl isn't exactly the image called to mind when one thinks of monster hunters. "Then again", she thought, fingering one of the daggers in her belt, "I am one of the few people here with actual armor and weapons, even if my weapons aren't very large. I need this money." she thought to herself. "And I'm not going to let myself be sent back." Her eyes got a hard and determined look to them as she thought this, and she stood straight and tall. She never would've imagined herself playing the part of a mercenary, but here she was, and she intended to stay.
The cloaked figure had started on her line now, and would soon be passing by her. Tiny strands of doubt gnawed at her thoughts, but she firmly pushed them away. As the cloaked figure passed her she looked him straight in the eyes. Well, she thought she did at least, his cloak was pulled to far down for her to be sure. He did seem to pause a moment though, before moving on down the line. She wasn't too sure, but it seemed that she had passed the initial test.

Ebony stood at the back of the third line. Nearly everyone in front of her was grumbling, with the exception of a few. She was unfamiliar with the whole ‘mercenary’ thing, having heard all she did know from bits of conversations she had overheard, she had assumed at first that this was how it always worked. She had soon realized that this was an unusual situation. Still, it was interesting to watch the complainers as the cloaked rito went up to them one at a time. The bulk of the exchanges were completely silent, the rito’s presence seemed to make any whiner unable to back up anything that they had been rudely mumbling only a few seconds earlier. It was vaguely amusing to listen to then resume their complaining the second the rito had moved on. Only vaguely amusing, mostly pathetic.

She had found the fire trick impressive. Magic wasn’t desperately rare, but skill with it and control over it certainly was. Her chain of thought disappeared as a man soared past her to land with a crash further back. Not bothering to turn, Ebony raised one eyebrow and tried to work out just what had happened. Her first guess was that someone had dared to challenge the cloaked rito to what could be seen of his face and that was the result, but someone closer to the front was screeching that ‘that girl’ had done it. Ebony made a metal note to avoid upsetting anyone who went by the name of ‘that girl’.

Soon, the shock cleared off and people resumed their complaining. After a while, Ebony leant to the side in an attempt to pick out ‘that girl’. She wasn’t hard to notice, people on either side were giving her a lot more room than anyone else, and she just looked different. She also wasn’t complaining. Ebony noted ‘that girl’ as having at least a shred of sense, possibly two shreds.

As the cloaked rito approached the end of the line, the man in front of Ebony quickly shut up. What Ebony found particularly amusing was the fact that the rito hadn’t been out of earshot before, and could probably hear the man’s complaining perfectly well. And sure enough, the second the rito turned his attention away from the man and onto Ebony, he started complaining again.

Ebony, unaffected by the rito’s presence, continued staring forward, glaring at the back of the neck of the idiot in front of her.

Djavan stroked his dark oily hair all the while the cloaked Rito inspected the farmers. He had arrived before everyone and was eating in a local pub when he heard a commotion outside. It turned out to be that the rest of the 'mercenaries' had arrived. Djavan knew he wasn't a mercenary but he thought he would fare well, he was an excellent fighter after all. Although he was a good fighter, he has never led the life of a mercenary before.

He now stood calmly in place as the Rito send almost everyone home. There was few commotion or agression as people were clearly afraid of the cloaked Rito. Most of the 'mercenaries' accepted the Rito's decision and whined all the way to the ferry.

The Rito now stood besides a red-haired girl and inspected her. Djavan thought that she should have been sent home, but he questioned whether the Rito would do what he was thinking. He clearly did not understand how the Rito was judging people, because he had picked some people Djavan thought clearly deserved to be sent home. The Rito gave Djavan a quick glance in which Djavan was able to see his face for a split second.

When Djavan tried to look more deeply into the Rito's face, he had looked away. Something struck him as odd, and he had a feeling that he was next. Well, he would be next, as he was standing in line after the red-haired girl.

Lyra somehow got stuck in line with a bunch of mercenaries, or, at least, people who were attempting to be mercenaries. Many of them looked as though they were farmers that simply came for the money. Lyra could hear many of the people murmuring about how if they weren’t picked, they would start a fight. “Idiots,” Lyra muttered. “How did I even get in this line?” she asked herself quietly. “I didn’t come here to be a mercenary.” She looked around at the people besides her. The person to her right caught her eye. He was a tall man, at least a foot taller than her, and had greasy dark hair. Lyra got the feeling this man thought that she shouldn’t be here. ‘I’ll show him that appearances can be deceiving,’ she thought.

Lyra heard what seemed to be a fight. However, since many tall people were in front of her, she could not see what was going on. She suddenly heard someone yell, “That girl! She did it!” Lyra rolled her eyes. ‘Well, they haven’t been on the island for an hour, and they’ve already started fighting.’ Lyra continued to keep her head facing forwards, ignoring what was going on.

Lyra noticed the Rito that was in charge was about to inspect her to see if she was good enough to stay. Standing up tall (or, at least, as tall as she could appear), she kept a serious look on her face. She knew from experience that people always notice the way you face looks when inspecting. If your face looks goofy, nobody will give you a chance. But if you appear to be serious, people will think that you will do your job. The Rito, now inspecting her, looked her up and down. Lyra tried to get a good look at the face of the inspector, but all she could see was the tip of a Rito beak- the rest of the face was in shadow. Lyra noticed that he was staring at Lyra’s long ears. She glared at the Rito, who then quickly glanced over at the man next to Lyra. When the Rito looked back at Lyra, he looked at her sword, which was hanging at her waist. She smirked: it was a finely-crafted sword, sure to catch anyone’s attention. The Rito looked over Lyra one last time before continuing on with the inspection. It didn’t matter to her whether she was good enough or not. She was going to stay on the island, and explore it.

The man before me was complaining silently. I could understand him, but i knew that it was the best for him and all the other farmers. They probaly never used a sword before and did this only for the money.

Fools.

They were never going to be selected, even if they tried to look strong, a trained eye could see if an untrained man carried a sword. So far to that problem, but there was one more left: Would i be chosen? I knew i had an disadvantage, my age. Even if i wasn't chosen by that Rito, i would make money here, lots of money.

The Rito was now inspecting the line i was in. I took a quick look at that Rito. Although the cloack hided his face, it was clearly he was looking at every detail on the man/woman he was inspecting.

Then the Rito came at me, he looked at me. A bit longer then everybody else. You couldn't see his face, but i felt that he questioned something. I think it was my lenght and my age, but it was also the mask, the leather armor, the sword behind my back, my well hidden dagger in my boot (i knew he had seen that one) and my eyes. Although i set my eyes normally, they stood cold, very cold.

[Rayken/Hk-62]

Whoa. Sweet so far. ill read it thourogly tommorow or later in the afternoon

[Emoir]

Then the Rito walked futher, inspecting the people next to me. I hope my appearence was enough for him. I wouldn't let so much rupee's escape easily.

When the Rito left the line, he pointed at three people, including me. Complaines were throwed, but i didn't care. I looked at the Rito and the Rito looked back at me. I felt like he was saying that this was only the first test.

Damn. I knew that this was just to easy.

Brian stood in the last line, standing straight and tall as the hooded man surveyed the assembled would-be monster hunters. some looked capable of the job, others like simple townspeople. they were follish to come here, Brian thought. they would die within the first day of combat.
the man in the hood stood in front of Brian. He glanced at the sword on Brian's back. "You any good with that?" he asked.
"Yes sir," Brian replied."
"We'll see," the hodded man said, moving down the line.
Brian exhaled a sigh of relief. He was confident now that he was in.

Piuma looked around. Suddenly, she found herself standing in line, after tripping the crazy guy who held the knife. Up close, most of the people looked like your average Joe or Jane, with a sword or knife or bow. Some of the people stood out to Piuma, with fancy swords or armor. She even saw a man with a fishing rod.

A cool breeze swept across the beach, bringing with it the smell of the salty sea. Aside from the mumbling of a few people, the beach was otherwise silent. Piuma was curious to know what was going on. She tugged at the sleeve of the man in front of her.

"Hey Mister!" Piuma whispered. "Why are you here?"

"Why am I here?" The man asked in a whisper. "Same reason why everyone's here. The guy in the cloak told us to wait in lines."

Piuma sighed and rolled her eyes. "No...you don't understand!" Piuma brushed a few strands of hair away from her eyes. "I meant, why are we waiting in line?"

The man looked at Piuma curiously. Piuma had a feeling it was a stupid question to ask. "Because we're mercenaries, and we're getting payed to hunt."

"Hunt!?" Piuma exclaimed loudly. Her voice echoed across the silent beach. A few heads turned in her direction, but Ketu didn't even look up. He continued scanning the people in line.

"Shush crazy kid!" The man said. "You'll make me look bad! I need to go on this trip and get them rupies!"

Piuma's cheeks turned pink. "Sorry." She whispered, and resumed watching the cloaked Ketu, who had just sent home a group of people for looking at Piuma when she yelled. After all, a short attention span meant certain death when you were a mercenary.

Ketu scanned Piuma's line next. His steps were silenced by the beach sand, as he paced along the line, looking each person up and down before moving on. Occasionally, he would stop at a person and ask them a question.

"Are you any good with that?" Ketu would say.

"Yes sir!" The mercenary would reply.

"We'll see." And without another word, the cloaked Ketu would move on. He skipped some people, obviously amateurs, and reached Piuma.

No sword, no armor, short, light, young. Piuma only had her modified grappling hook "The Spiney Feather" with her. Ketu knew she was no mercenary, but her earlier performance proved she was somehow diffrent from the other random people looking for Rupies.

"You any good with that?" The cloaked Ketu asked of Piuma.

Piuma stared up into the face of the cloaked person, (although she couldn't see the face) and replied. "We'll see."

Piuma thought he nodded, but it may have been the wind on his hood. Without another word, Ketu walked farther down the line, inspecting what remained of the hopeful candidates.

After sending the bulk of the first line back to the ferry Ketu walked over to the second line. "You're all just after my money, aren't you!? AREN'T YOU!?" A man screamed, swinging his sword. Ketu was surprised; no one had displayed any insanity during the trip and was amazed this one had slipped by. A metal claw attached to a rope wrapped around the mans leg and he stumbled. The half-breed sighed, turning to see who’d done it. To his surprise, it was a young female Rito. Her accuracy was impressive, but she didn’t look familiar…

“You, get in a line over there,” Ketu demanded. The girl nodded and pulled her grappling hook back then shuffled off to the back of a line. The man who had been tripped had hit his head and was no longer conscious; a couple sailors were called over to take him back to the ferry. Rubbing his forehead lightly Ketu prepared to inspect the second line, again the line began with inexperienced, probably first time, mercenaries. A little into the second line someone stood out like a sore thumb. A dark aura pulsated from a short odd looking black haired girl who glared angrily at him. What the, how come I didn’t notice her before?? Without stopping to show he’d been caught off guard Ketu continued walking, but not without evaluating the dark aura while he inspected the next couple farmers.

The cloaked figure suddenly felt a spike as an amount of magical energy was accumulated quickly. Before he could turn around there was a loud crash, the man behind the girl who had the dark aura was lying flat on his back and had passed out. The girl stared at the front of the line. Ketu’s eyes narrowed. She doesn’t have any patience, or control over how she uses her powers… I’ll have to keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn’t step out of line… He stopped at the next one that stood out, a short girl with reddish brown hair. She kept a straight, serious face and stared directly at the cloaked figure, trying to see under the hood. She had long ears and a sword that was ain a proper sheath. It looked to be of decent quality, which compared to the farmers weapons made it look quite fine. Ketu continued for a bit only to realize he had already reached the back of the second line, again there was a short girl. He stared at her, it was the girl with the grappling hook from earlier. She had already proven her worth, and would probably prove to be quite valuable.


“You,” He muttered point to her, “And you,” he added as he pointed to the girl with the dark aura. “And you,” he said to the girl with the long ears. “Go over there, the rest of you, go home,”

There was a much larger outcry this time.
“What the hell?!” “You picked a bunch of little girls!!” “What is this?!”
Ketu sighed, knowing full well that was the reaction he would get. The three girls walked over to where the two he had picked from the first line were.
“I don’t need to explain myself, get out of here,” he snapped, pointing towards the docks. The sent home men all growled angrily, stepping towards the cloaked half-breed. There was another spike of magical energy.

A crack ran along the ground from the girl towards the men. Ketu whirled around quickly, letting loose a pulse of magical energy from his body and into the ground. The crack stopped, the magical energy that had been causing it being cancelled out. Ketu turned towards the crowd, thinking quickly.
“This.. Island is unstable; the rock formation supporting it is giving away. You should get out of here before it gets worse,” He said. The people who were being sent home looked puzzled, but nodded awkwardly and left without anymore trouble. Ketu looked behind him at the black haired girl, his eyes narrowed.
“Don’t try anything like that again,” He hissed, walking off towards the third line.

The third line looked a little better, but was still filled with amateurs. Sighing, Ketu began to walk down the third row. This should be interesting… He thought to himself, stopping at the very first person in the line. He was dressed completely in black and had a black wooden mask on. Ketu’s eyes wandered, checking his weapons and how well the black outfit and armour fitted. Tight, armour looks like it was made especially for stealth, mask might be over doing it a little though… After dwelling next to the boy in black the half-breed decided to take another step forward. However, the rest of the line wasn’t so lucky.

Man after man passed, Ketu swore under his breath. What the hell is this? Did Marcos go and sign up a bunch of drunkards and farmers? Gah.. I’m going to have is head on a platter when… If I get back… The end of the line came with a young male Rito and the girl who’d slain the last Kargaroc on the boat. He stopped at the Rito first. The Rito wasn’t very tall, his clothing suggested he was laid back, and the light colour of his skin made him look feminine. Not being too sure about this one, the half-breed nodded towards the bow on the Rito’s back.

“You, yeah, you. Ever use that bow?” Ketu asked. The Rito nodded happily.
“Aye sir, many times,” he replied. Ketu’s eyes narrowed, confident in your ability eh? That’ll be your downfall, lets try an on the spot test you little whelp…
“All right, hit a piece of fruit off that tree,” Ketu said, pointing to a tree over 200 feet away and up a hill side. Several of the mercenaries snickered as the boy blinked.
“Yeah, sure…” The Rito said, loading the bow and firing. He pegged an apple through the middle. The half-breed paused. What the… how the hell can just a kid achieve the upper body strength to fire an arrow that far AND with that much accuracy?? I’ll have to keep an eye on him…
“Decent” Ketu muttered, moving on to the last person in the line. It was the red headed girl who had killed the last Kargaroc

Ketu stopped by her for a moment, he had wanted to get a closer look ever since he saw her for the first time on the ferry. He circled around her, she had a demonic aura for some reason, she also looked… Cold, emotionless, hard… Ketu nodded to himself, there was definitely something special about her. “All right then, you,” he began with the redhead, then turned to the Rito “you” then finally back to the beginning of the line, “And you, the one in black,”

This time the outcry wasn’t nearly as large.

They didn’t fight, they just left quietly. Thanking his stars, the half-breed moved on to the final line. This time he started at the back walking towards the front. He knew what to look for now, and would make this line’s evaluations the fastest. The first one he came across was a man with a harpoon on his back and a large fishing rod. The man had a very laid back look in his eyes, as if he didn’t care what happened. His looked like he had developed a good arm from struggling with powerful fish, also hitting a target underwater with a harpoon took a lot of skill and accuracy, and Ketu had no doubt in his mind that this man possessed those skills.

Moving down the line the half-breed came across a young man standing straight and tall. His stance wasn’t tense, but it wasn’t relaxed either. Ketu’s first assumption was that he had some form of discipline in martial arts. The man was of a good build, and Ketu didn’t know why, but he felt he’d be a valuable fighter. Heading to the end of the last line Ketu decided that was it, and that there wasn’t another worthwhile mercenary here. He would’ve liked to pick at least one more though, to make an 11 man team. Then, to his surprise he saw one more person at the end of the line. It was another teenage girl, she had decent armour as well as pair of daggers at her side. She had a look of determination on her face that looked like she was ready to go through hell and bac.
“All right, you,” Ketu said pointing to the man with the harpoon, “You,” he added to the young man who caught his eye, “And…” he hesitated at the young girl… “… you” he said finally.

The rest of the people dispersed, grumbling. Ketu sent the three from that line over to join the group. He looked at the collected mass that was the group and frowned. Not exactly what I’d call an efficient attack force… he paused and sighed again. It’ll have to do..

Hank Smith finally freed his foot from the lugage, he heard all the comotion and he knew he had to be picked. "Hold up!" he yelled, "Your picking me too or you all are gunna die!" He pulled out a bomb and held it in the air, "I have a really good offer on these bombs and I'm gunna deliver em!"

The half-breed rolled his eyes, "What the hell, come."

Smith was surprised. That was easy he thought to himself. He jumped onto the shore and grabbed some pebbles off the ground and popped them in his mouth and chewed. A farmer looked at him oddly. "What are you looking at?" Hank shouted in his face. He continued down the beach and stared at the rest of the selected persons. There was a wide variaty of humans, ritus etcetera. There was a long silence. "Sooo, what were we selected for anyway?" Hank said at last.

Serval emotions stirred in Jess as she was picked to join the other 10 people. The largest among them was relief, that she had made the cut, and proven herself worthy enough to not be sent home. However, the threads of doubt she had been pushing back struggled to make themselves known. The familiar thought "What have I got myself into?" echoed in her mind.

As she was standing in the group with the others a large man wearing a pair of overalls and no shirt came running from the boat. He would have been a rather amusing sight, except,

"You're picking me too or you're all going to die!" he yelled, pulling out a bomb, making himself much less amusing. However, a good deal of that returned with his next sentence. "I have a really good offer on these bombs and I'm gonna deliver 'em!"

Jess sighed to herself. A bumbling bomb shop owner. She was surprised to hear the cloaked figure say, after a very audible sigh, "What the hell, come." Even the man with the bomb looked surprised to hear this. With a smug expression on his face, he strode off the boat, and then leaned down and picked up some gravel and rocks and proceeded to eat it! Jess looked at him in wonder, as did many other people standing on the shore. "What are you looking at!" the man yelled at a farmer.

"Sooo..." he said as he got up to the group. "What were we selected for anyway?" Jess sighed and wondered what had caused the cloaked figure to allow him to join. Then again, not a lot of people would let her join a group of mercenaries either. Perhaps this man would be a useful contribution to the team, although at the moment this didn't appear to be the case.

Jess looked around her at her fellow mercenaries. There were all sorts of different people assembled. From the young Rito girl with her strange spiky grappling hook, to a boy about her age in all black armour and clothes, with a strange black wooden mask covering his face. Jess looked at them all, her life might depend on one of them soon.

[Emoir]

Brian stood in the crowd, anxious for some action. He paced among the assembled mercenaries. Then, there was the sound of a man shouting. Brian looked over to a man tangled in a pile of luggage. The man insisted he should be picked, and held up a as if to say "or else." The figure in the cloak waved him over to the group.
"Sooo..." said the newcommer, "What were we selected for anyway?"
"Monster hunting,"Brian replied. Held out a hand. "Name's Brian."
"Hank Smith," said the man, shaking Brian's hand. "So when's the action start?"
Brian grinned. "That's exactly what i'm wondering."

Piuma kept her eyes on the cloaked Ketu, who was soundlessly watching the group, evidently trying to make an assumption of their combined skill. Piuma didn't know what to think of the cloaked person. He seemed to take great care in selecting his group of mercenaries, meaning that he didn't want everyone dead, which was good. On the other hand, however, his dark cloak gave him a cold, evil look with frightened Piuma slightly.

The other mercenaries who were selected were also standing around, waiting for Ketu's judgement. Some of them were getting to know eachother better, while others were just listening, making a mental note of how the diffrent people acted. Piuma, however, took in the scenery for the moment.

The sailors were working away at the ferry, and the rejected mercenaries were now on board to help. Piuma saw bits and pieces of the attacked town littered across the beach, sticking out of the sand. The wind brought with it the smell of the salty sea, mingled with burning wood.

"Wow..." Piuma said sadly. "This place sure would be beautiful if it wasn't such a mess."

It was true. The sand would normally be sparkling with beauty, but was now covered in a shallow coat of ash, making it dull. The rocks on the coastline would normally look powerful and sturdy as they blocked the waves from reaching the shore. They were now covered with bits and pieces of charred wood.

"That's one of the reasons that we're here, I guess." One of the mercenaries said. "My name's Jess." She said, extending a hand, which Piuma shook.

"My name's Piuma." Piuma said. "So that's why you're here then? To help fight monsters?"

"That's what we all signed up for." Jess replied. "Besides, the pay's really good."

Piuma was a bit confused. "That's not right though... You can't make plans to have an adventure. They just happen! If you plan them, they're not adventures, they're chores!"

"I guess you could say that, but they still pay very well." Jess explained. "So I guess you aren't really a mercenary then?"

Piuma gave a nod. "I hope that's not a problem?"

Jess shrugged. "I would guess not, since there's a guy with a fishing rod over there. Besides, you can use that rope thing pretty well for someone who isn't a mercenary."

Piuma winked. "Took alot of practice. And when I made a mistake, something usually ended up broken. I was using it one time in a library, and it ended up pulling downa bookshelf. I..."

Piuma cut off when she heard Ketu clear his throat. The others became silent as well, and listened to what the cloaked one had to say.

A guy was shouting that he also would be chosen or he would blow us all up. I couldn't believe my eyes. That guy didn't looked like a fighter, so why would he want to join? Or maybe he didn't knew. But what was more suprising was that that Rito let him the join the group. Now i was convinced that there was another test.

Indeed, the man didn't knew what this was all about. I could hear him asking this one, stupid question : "What were we selected for anyways?". I've almost slapped my forehead then, but i didn't do it, i would make a stupid impression to the mercenaries. But some smirked, even laughed quietly.

"Okay, now we go test all of your skills", The cloacked Rito said. Many -actully, all- of the mercenaries were suprised. Before complaines (Why do have to do that? Aren't we good enough already?, etc.) were heared. But then the Rito said angered: "Appearance isn't everything! I want to see if you have atleast decent skills to join this mission!"

Then there was a long silence untill i said : "May i ask what this, test, is?"

I could feel that the Rito grinned. "Good that you asked, the test is..."

"You each have different skills. So one basic test obviously will not do." Ketu said, marching back and forth, examining us. "We have a fisherman, we have an archer, we have a girl with a grappling hook for heaven's sake, what are we going to test you all on?"
"Why can't we just have miniature individual tests?" I muttered, loud enough for the cloaked half-breed to hear.
"Fair enough." he said. He again cleared his throat and said, "Line up, I don't care in what order, I just want a line horizontal to me." he said. We all lined up, after some groaning and pushing and shoving.
He went to the far left end of the line, were I stood. He looked down at me for a moment.
"You're an archer, I've seen you hit that fruit, but how good are you with a moving target?" he asked.
"My father only dabbled in the topic of moving targets, I suppose I'd be pretty good at it." I said. He shook as head, surely he doubted me. Hell, I'd doubt me too.

"Ok, Wait here in line." He said. He ran over to the tree where I shot the apple off of. He grabbed a few apples off the tree, then jogged back.
"I'm going to throw these apple up into the air. You are too hit them with best speed and accuracy you can, understand?" he asked. "Aye sir." I nodded.
He nodded back, and toss one up into the air. A moment or two past, and soon the small noise of a whistle flew through the air. I missed.
"That's alright, just, don't suck so much next time." he said. I couldn't tell if he was serious, or if he was trying to be funny. Whatever the case, he was right. I had to do better.

He tossed another one up, but with a slightly great force. I pulled the hairs on my bow back, and let go. The arrow hit the apple, but it hit the side and flew past it.
"Better. But if you plan to fight you have to be better. You have to be the best you can be. Sometimes that isn't enough." he said, throwing another one up. I flipped my head back, finally showing me true appearance. My blue eyes glowed in the sunlight. I let go of the arrow and it hit the apple. The apple and the arrow flew onto a building a ways away.
"Good. You're done." he said. I set my bow down and rested my arm.

"Now kid!" he shouted out of nowhere, and he threw up three apples.
"Oh shi-" I started, but didn't have enough time to finish. I pulled back two arrows at the same time, and let them fly. One of the arrows missed, the other hit one apple directly. I did the same, both arrows missing this time.
I grabbed two more arrows.
"This is it." I muttered, and let these two arrows fly. One hit the apple directly, and so did the other. I made it.
"Impressive. Ok now it's really done. Set your weapon down." Ketu said. I nodded at him.
The next in line was the fisherman. Ketu walked up to him and looked him in the eyes.
"Now how should I test you..."

Ebony raised one eyebrow as the young rito shot with great accuracy. It was quite impressive. In truth, the ability to use a bow was something she envied very much. She really didn’t have the upper body strength to pull back the stupid string thing, otherwise, she would really have preferred to fight from a distance. The cloaked Rito acknowledged the archer’s talent and was about to move on to test the fisherman when there was a sound, like a branch creaking and the following rustle of leaves. A few sets of eyes turned toward the sparse remains of the forest to the right. The closest tree had an impaled apple near its roots, a victim of the archer’s first test.

Suddenly and without warning, a creature leapt from the tree. It snarled, brandishing an unfriendly-looking blade in one blue hand, and ran for the group. An arrow lodged itself in the monster’s chest, but failed to kill it. The archer rito fumbled about getting another arrow in place on the bow as the creature decided that it would attack the one who attacked it, but it soon found a harpoon following the arrow’s path, this time doing its job. The creature fell limp, falling backward. The fisherman tore the harpoon out of the lone bokoblin’s chest. By now, everyone carrying weapons had readied them, but a few relaxed once the monster was slain.

“Those cowards don’t attack alone, don’t drop your guard.” The cloaked Rito warned calmly but firmly. As if on cue, more of the blue monsters ran out , some from the forest, others from other places. Some of the rejected people who hadn’t yet got onto the returning ferry boarded rather quickly. The ferry left before monsters could board, meaning there was no way out.

There were about two bokoblins to each person, give or take. The group was pretty much surrounded, but the bokoblins weren’t doing a very good job at blocking people from getting out, there were huge gaps in the deformed circle they were forming. Ebony tightened her grip on the sword.

Ketu whirled around, quickly scanning the number of Bokoblin. They were short, goblin like creatures, that all carried swords although a few also had rotten wooden shields. They had blue leathery skin and some even wore shreds of torn clothing. Magical energy swirled inside Ketu as it always did, but now he focused a portion of it into his palms, willing it to manifest. Two swirling balls of fire slowly formed in his hands, and he prepared to hurl each one at a Bokoblin on opposite ends of the circle, when he suddenly noticed the group of mercenaries arming themselves. Hunh, I’m not used to fighting in a group, I almost ruined a perfectly good situation. The flaming orbs quickly dissipated now that their creator wasn’t focusing on keeping them manifested.

Perfect timing, Ketu thought to himself. Once again he focused the magical energy in his body, although this time rather than manifesting it he pulled it away from the energy in the ground. The cloaked half-breed flew back in the air, landing on top of a half destroyed building. The dust from the debris swirled around his feet as he landed.

The group all backed up into a circle as the Bokoblin advanced. This should be interesting to see how they handle themselves in an actual combat situation. Especially the ones relying on ranged weaponry. I think this will be more than suitable for the final test. Ketu thought to himself with a grin. He folded his arms and watched the fight unfold, carefully measuring everyone’s abilities as well as keeping on edge in case he was needed to enter the fight.

[Emoir]

Bokoblins starting attacking the group. And there were atleast two for one. "Oh, crap ." I said. These, small versions of the moblins were maybe less powerfull, but they had an advantage in numbers.

All the mercenaries armed theirselfs against these bokoblins. But i could see that that cloacked Rito only watched.

"Or he's to affraid, or he wants to use this situation as the test." I mumbled. Then i quickly drew my sword and waited.

A bokoblin with a sword slashed at me. I rolled not only to dodge that blow, but to get behind that creature.

My lefthand took the chin of the bokoblin while my righthand came close to his troath. The bokoblin spartled, as if he knew what was coming, or maybe because didn't liked to be taken by his chin...

Anyways, my blade met the throath of that monster, and with one good slash, was his troath cut in two, although it was still hanging to the body. The bokobling sparteled again, with his hands to his troath. Blood came out of his troath, a lot of blood. If he could screem, the bokoblin had, but his voice pipe (or whatever you call it) was cut in two, so...

Another bokoblin tought to take advantage of this situation and attacked me from the back. I noticed it, and turned around, using the still living bokoblin as a shield. The blade went through the bokoblin (with his cutted throath) and killed him.

The other one was suprised by this, and ofcourse, i took advantage of this. I held my sword in my side. And i actuelly "dived" towards that foul creature, and hitted the bokoblin in his right arm.

The bokoblin screemed, with the pain in his right arm, he dropped the sword. Meanwhile i heard many similar screems. I looked around and saw that the battle was getting in our advantage. And it seemed like that none of the mercenaries fell, to bad. No extra rupees for me.

I noticed that the bokoblin now stood up, with his sword in his left arm. He looked angered at me. Quickly, he attacked me. But the attack was more of a clumsly, desperate attack, and he missed me while i only took a step to the left.

"If there's another creature dumber then you, then i think it's a bug", I said. My sword was still in my right hand, so i held it above my head, and stabbed the bokoblin through his head. Dead.

The battle was still proceeding around me. I could only hope that there weren't anymore of these bokoblin's nearby.

Brather looked at the two bokoblins that were coming closer to her. She started to use her power over earth, but then she remembered that the cloaked rito had said... what was it again? Oh yes... "Don’t try anything like that again."

Sure, he didn't mean it to the point where she shouldn't do it to kill an enemy, but she decided to take these creatures the old fashioned way. Sure, she could fry em, drown em, even dehydrate them to the point of death, but sometimes she just prefered to use her staff.

The first Bokoblin slashed at her with its sword. She blocked it with her staff and jumped to avoid the second Bokoblin, who had slashed at her feet. She was now standing on the second Bokoblin's sword. Before the first Bokoblin could react she smashed it over its head with her staff. She jumped again before the second Bokoblin could move its sword. One down...

She tried to hit the second Bokoblin, but it blocked her with its shield. It tried to slsh her again, but she blocked it with her staff. She grabbed its shoulders and did a small flip, landing behind it. She hit it in the head with her staff in the same manner that she did the first one. Two down... or not.

The two Bokoblins got back up rubbing their heads. They had thicker skulls than she had thought!

"This could be a problem," Brather murmured as she got ready for round two.

Before she went back to fighting she looked around. The people seemed to be holding their own...

Brian gripped his sword with both hands. The bokoblins were snarling at the group, inching their way closer. A couple of people had already engaged in combat with the monsters, and Brian thought he should do the same.

Holding his sword in an attack stance, he ran at the nearest bokoblin. The startled monster held up a rotting shield, but the force of Brian’s blow shattered the feeble defense, knocking the bokoblin to the ground. Brian dealt the monster a powerful finishing blow to the heart. The monster screamed in pain as the life rushed out of it.

Brian ripped his sword from the creature’s flesh and turned just in time to see a second monster leap up and collide with him full force. The two rolled around in the sand until the bokoblin was bent over Brian, slashing at him with his clawed hands. Brian cried out in pain, but regained the upper hand, stabbing the monster in the stomach. It opened its mouth to scream, but the noise never left its throat. The bokoblin fell lifeless on Brian’s chest, dark fluid gushing from its gaping wound.

Heaving the creature off of his body, Brian stood up, breathing heavily from the struggle. He glanced at the other mercenaries. They seemed to be fairing well, from what he could see. He took a deep breath and then engaged again in combat...

Dakko faced off against two bokoblins, which were two more than he wanted. Sighing, he grabbed his harpoon, and charged at them. The bokoblins just stepped out of the way. Dakko stopped, turned around, and saw both of them at mid-slash. Dakko tried to think quickly, and managed to block both swords with his fishing rod. With a small bit of struggle, he managed to push them both back. Dakko stood ready, with a harpoon in one hand, and a fishing rod in the other. He was trying to think of something he could do to fight these things, or at least separate them from their weapons.

Dakko put his harpoon on his back, and held his fishing rod with both hands. The two bokoblins ran at him with their swords raised. He used his fishing rod to block again, and pushed them off. This time, he let the hook drop, and he managed to catch one of the bokoblins swords. He reeled it in, though the bokoblin had a tight grip. He was able to snatch the sword in the end though. He threw the sword far behind him, and readied for the next. The one bokoblin, witch had lost its sword, ran to get it.

“And he takes the bait,” Dakko said under his breath. He cast his fishing rod and caught that bokoblin’s shoulder. He quickly reeled it in, just in time to use it as a shield for the other bokoblin’s attack. The shield got its arm caught off, and the other one became angrier. Dakko finished the first one with a harpoon through its torso. He threw it off and resumed attention to the second one. It had quickly slashed down at Dakko. He didn’t have time to block, so he tried his best to dodge. His shoulder still got cut though, and was now bleeding.

I haven’t felt so much pain; I suppose this is what a shark bite would feel like. Dakko held his shoulder, but then grabbed his fishing rod again. Dakko now hoped he would be able to fight the other one with his injury. The bokoblin ran at him and slashed downwards. Dakko managed to block, but found he was struggling to hold his rod up against the bokoblin. He looked around at everyone else; to see if anybody else was having much trouble. Though, the bokoblin reminded him where his focus should be.

The bokoblin had encircled the small group of mercenaries. Jess saw the rest of the mercenaries pulling out their weapons to fight, and gather together in the middle of the circle of blue monsters. She unsheathed her two daggers, and held them in front of her.
She, unlike many of the others, did not have a large weapon she could use to block the heavy swords the bokoblins carried, and needed another tactic. She stepped out from the circle of mercenaries to face the bokoblins, with her daggers held defensively in front of her.
One of the blue creatures approched, and made a clumsy strike at her with it's sword, she easily avoided the blow, dodging to the right. The monster struck out at her again and again, and she simply continued to weave and bob, hoping to wear the thing out and force it to give her an opportunity to attack. Jess was doing fairly well against it, especially for someone with no formal training. She slashed out with one of her daggers when an opening presented itself, managing to cut the thing's arm. She focused so intently on attempting to read the monster's next move though, that she forgot about it's fellow monsters entirely.
Another monster leapt out at her, taking her by surprise. She just barely managed to step back and avoid the brunt of the blow, but it still slashed her arm. She bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain. She had never actually been attacked by another creature before. Sure, she had practiced some sparring, but she had never felt the pain of having another's weapon cut her flesh.
She turned so that both the bokoblins were facing her. She now had to move doubly fast, so as to avoid both of them at once, and she still needed to try and find an opening, or she would succeed in nothing against the two monsters. She ducked and bobbed, dodged and weaved, always searching for some slip, something to allow room for a dagger.
It took awhile, but eventually the first bokoblin that had come let out a blow of pure fury. When she dodged it, and the sword failed to come into contact with anything, it made the bokoblin lose some of it's balance, providing just the opportunity she'd been waiting for. She slashed hard at it's throat, and then kicked it as hard as she could in the stomach for good measure.
She managed to eliminate the creature, but paid the price. While preoccupied with it, the other monster managed to get another slash just below her shoulder, this one even more painful than the last. Her eyes watered a little, but she turned back to it, and once again started her ducking and weaving game with it. She could see it starting to work on it, but had to wonder just how long it would take.
Jess wondered how the others were fairing, but knew that if she spared the time to look, the monster would punish her with another slash hitting home, and she wasn't quite certain how many she could take, and certainly didn't want to have to find out. So she continued dodging blows, waiting for her chance to strike.

In hindsight, Ebony thought, it was pretty silly of her to assume that monsters would fight fairly one on one. She glanced quickly between the bokobins on each side of her, holding the sword with both hands despite the fact that it was supposed to be a one-handed sword because she really didn’t want to drop it, and she was very good at dropping things when she needed them. The poison removed fear, not self preservation, Ebony was not, and had no plans to be in the near future, a fool.

Her first, and only, actual experience of a fight had been the overblown seagull from on the ferry. To say Ebony was weak and inexperienced would be giving her too much credit by far. Both bokoblins ran for her. Without the slightest idea what to do, Ebony raised the sword above her head and attempted to stab at the closer one, which easily dodged to one side, then let herself fall backward to avoid the second’s attempt at taking a slice out of her chest. The blade swung over her head. In an attempt to regain at least a little dignity, or at least as much dignity as one can regain while struggling to get up off the ground and facing two bokoblins, she took the sword in her right hand and slashed wildly to the side while pushing herself up with her left. The sword found flesh this time, and the bokoblin that had previously tried to slash at her had its day ruined by a sword in its arm. Wasting no time, she pulled the sword back, grabbed it with both hands and stabbed at its chest. And there was one less bokoblin in the world.

A feeling of victory passed all too quickly. The second bokoblin hadn’t, of course, been waiting patiently like a good like monster. Ebony could have hit herself for expecting it to, but the bokoblin hit her first.

Well, to be totally truthful, it was more of a ‘slash’ than a ‘hit’.

Biting her lip, Ebony spun around a little too quickly, almost overbalancing. She gingerly touched the cut, just under the right side of her ribcage, in an attempt to work out how deep it was. Changing her mind and deciding that the bokoblin in front of her was probably worthy or first priority, she swung at it angrily, but it leapt back out of the way.

“Vile thing…” She hissed quietly, wiping the blood from her fingers onto her skirt and then grasping the sword in both hands again.

[Emoir]

"I really wish you were an apple." I sighed. I placed my bow away for the moment, and unsheathed my dagger. "Tis on." I said, with a smirk. I jumped back, and fell on top of one of the bokoblins. The monster rolled on the ground and got up, I was still on the ground fumbling to get up. I quickly stood up, and was met by the monster's shield. It smacked me in the face and I stumbled backwards. "You know, you could have used your sword and killed me, smart one." I said with a grin. I lunged forward and tried to stab the bokoblin that didn't smack me with the shield. I, of course, missed. I got back up and was again met by one of their shields. "Ok now you're just toying with me." I said, miffed.

I sheathed my dagger, seeing as I was getting nowhere with that, and pulled my bow out. I kicked one of the mosnters in the face and knocked him back. The other one slashed his sword striaght down at me. I spread my wings and flew up, so the bokoblin's attack hit my shin. It still hurt, but it was nothing fatal in the least, nothing a bandage couldn't fix up. I flew up next to the cloaked leader. I pulled the hairs on my bow back and hit one of the monster's shields. "Dammit!" I cried. I almost hit that one, too. The cloaked one looked over at me. Up close I realized he wasn't just rito, his eyes were...
"What the hell are you doing kid?" he asked, pushing me off the roof.

I quickly flapped my wings and landed. I pushed my head forward and hid behind my hair again, a bit embarrassed as to what just happened. None of the bokoblin's noticed me just yet, so I took advantage of this and popped off some shots at 'my' two bokoblin's. They finally realized I was there, and they ran at me. I managed to kill one of them, after a few shots in the throat I must have hit an artery.

The remaining one ran at me with a sick determination in his eyes. I put my bow away and equipped myself with the dagger. "You aren't any worse than my father, I can take you." I said, glaring at him. I stopped glaring, realizing I was hiding behind my hair, so he probably couldn't see me anyways. He shouted some sort of war cry, and ran at me. I stood ready. He raised his blade above his noggin, and threw it down at me. It grazed my ear a bit, causing blood to fall into my hair. I punched the bokoblin and threw his sword a few feet away. He, foolishly, went after the sword. With the time I had I grabbed some black ribbon from my pocket and tied my hair back in a ponytail.
The bokoblin ran back at me, armed this time.

He started wildly slashing at me, throwing his blade around, trying to just kill me and get it over with. He knocked my dagger from my hand, and [realizing he had the upper hand] he held his blade to my throat. I looked at him, in his eyes...there was nothing there. "Bye..." I sighed. All of a sudden, right when I thought I was going to die, a ball of fire hit the monster.
"Kid, dammit, pick up that dagger and kill him!" the cloaked one up on the roof shouted. I nodded at him, and grabbed my dagger. I got up, walked over ot the monster, and stabbed him in the head. "Die." I muttered, still a bit shocked and embarrassed by what happened. I took the dagger and cut the ribbon holding my hair up. My hair fell back in front of my face, and I looked up at everyone else still battling.
"Here we go..."

Lyra pulled out her sword as she saw all of the monsters. “Damn, there are a lot of monsters,” she muttered. She ran at one of the monsters, trying to figure out its weakness. The monster made a gurgling sound when it saw her, and lunged at me. Lyra blocked the attack, noting that it did not seem to think about what it was doing: it just attacked. Lyra blacked countless attacks from the monster. The monster growled angrily, baring its teeth. Lyra glared back at it, and went to stab at it. The monster ran out of the way, and Lyra tripped it. It fell on the ground, and Lyra stuck her sword through its back, killing it. She pulled her sword out of its back and wiped the blood off on the grass. Lyra wiped the sweat off of her head, and pushed some of her hair behind her ears. ‘Those things are tougher than I thought they would be,’ Lyra thought, rubbing her arm. Blocking all of those attacks made her arm sore. ‘I can’t give up yet though.’ She reluctantly looked around for another enemy to fight.

She saw one of the monsters by one of the houses. Running towards it, she ignored her tired arm. She lunged at it, slashing her sword at it. The monster screamed out in pain, and turned around, angry. Lyra braced herself for the monster’s attack. The monster ran at her, swiping its sword randomly in front of it. Lyra tried to block it, but when the monster’s sword came in contact with her own sword, her arm just gave out. Her sword went flying, and Lyra knew that she would need to use her wits to get to her sword without getting killed. The monster slashed at Lyra. Lyra moved quickly, though the monster’s sword cut her left arm. She yelled out in pain, despite herself, and punched the monster in the face. The monster growled angrily, and Lyra knew she had made a mistake. The monster started to stab its sword at Lyra. Luckily for Lyra, its accuracy wasn’t too good, so Lyra was able to dodge the attacks. The monster ran at Lyra, showing its sharp teeth. Doing as she did with the last monster, she tripped it. When it fell on the ground, Lyra ran quickly to get her sword. Grabbing it, she held it tightly in her hand: she wasn’t going to lose it again. Lyra saw the monster getting up. Running to it before it got up, She stepped on its back, forcing it back on the ground. “No one messes with me,” she said angrily as stabbed it.

Breathing in deeply, Lyra pulled up her bloodstained sleeve and examined the cut on her arm. It was a long one, reaching from her shoulder to her a few inches past her elbow. It wasn’t a deep cut, and would probably heal in a few days. Lyra wiped at the blood that had dripped from the wound, and wiped it on her sleeve.

Carefully wiping off my sword before putting it back in its sheath, Lyra looked around at the scene around her. There were many dead monsters, but luckily, no dead mercenaries, scattered on the ground. Lyra walked over to the others, and looked around, in case there were any stray monsters, or if anyone needed help. “It’s hard to believe that just this morning, I was focusing on exploring this island,” she muttered to herself, looking around. “And now, I’m a mercenary. Funny how things turn out.”

The Bokoblins were odd creatures, Piuma decided. Short little things with blue skin and angry sneers on their faces. Piuma could only descripe them as little monsters with big swords. Clearly, they weren't the noblest or bravest of creatures either. One Bokoblin spotted Piuma, smallest amongst the group, and headed straight for her, with a sword in both hands.

Piuma had her grappling hook, "The Spiney Feather" in hand, and swung it around in her hand, allowing it to build up momentum for the throw, and allowing Piuma to analyze her surroundings, and possible advantages for fighting the enemy.

The Bokoblin, however, was eager to begin the killing, and ran for Piuma, taking a horizontal swing with it's sword. Piuma ducked under the swing, and heard the sword whistle above her head. She got up as the Bokoblin struggled to regain balance after swinging the large sword. Piuma took advantage of the loss of balance and swung her grappling hook horizontally. The weapon connected with the Bokoblin's cheek, and the various spikey hooks dug into the blue skin, and lodged in tight.

Each "spine" punctured the face, creating a new river of dark crimson that stained the face of the Bokoblin, who was yelling in pain. Piuma shut her eyes and tugged hard on the robe.

RSHHH! Like the sound of paper beaing torn, the cheek of the Bokoblin was removed. He gave a sadistic war cry and cluthed his face in agony! Unfortunately for Piuma, the cry alerted another Bokoblin, who was searching for a target. Spotting Piuma, he rushed forwards.

This Bokoblin wielded a shorter sword than the first, but had a mouldy looking shield, and it moved much faster, jumping to and fro, quickly closing the distance between itself and Piuma, who pulled the "Spiney Feather" back in place, and started to spin it around again, to build up momentum.

The Bokoblin jumped forwards witha vertical slash, which Piuma hastily sidestepped. The sand on the ground didn't help much for traction, and Piuma lost her balance slightly. The Bokoblin took advantage with a horizontal swing right for Piuma's neck.

Piuma did the only thing she could in her current postion, and tripped to the floor (unintentionally). The Bokoblin expected this however, and was ready for such a maneuver. As Piuma rolled onto her back and looked up at her attacker, the Bokoblin placed a foot on her chest, holding her down in place.

"Hey!" Piuma struggled to get free. "Get off of me you jerk!"

The Bokoblin ignored her and raised it's sword. Piuma jerked violently to the left, and the Bokoblin lost balance, but held Piuma still. Piuma was starting to have trouble breathing with the Bokoblin's foot on her chest. The Bokoblin may not have been very large, but it was much heavier than the little Rito.

Piuma needed to do something fast...but what? She saw the Bokoblin from before, still clutching it's face and whining. Piuma chucked her grappling hook in it's direction, but it wouldn't make it in time. Piuma knew she'd need a little of her magic...

"Buh...Breeze!" Piuma managed to choke out under the Bokoblin's pressure. A small wind picked up the hook and threw it a bit farther into the air. The "Spiney Feather" fell down on top of the injured Bokoblin, lodging it's spikes right into the back of the creature's neck.

Piuma thanked the wind for letting the hook land, and yanked on the rope again. The Bokoblin, already preoccupied with it's face, could stop itself from being violently jerked towards it's ally Bokoblin, whom raised it's sword for the second time.

Piuma gave the rope a final hard and desperate tug, and the Bokoblin was hurtled into it's friend. The two of them went flying, and Piuma finally got to her feet again. Her chest hurt with every breath she took, but she ignored it. The two Bokoblins were already on their feet, the Bokoblin with the shield had dropped his sword, and was eager to find it.

"Breeze!" Piuma managed to say. Heck, even just speaking hurt. The wind picked up the sand, and hurtled it into the faces of the Bokoblins. The howled and screeched in pain, clawing at their eyes to remove the gritty sand, which had also burrowed itself in the open wound of the deformed at the face, Bokoblin.

As the two thrashed, Piuma bent down and picked up the sword. The hilt was slippery with Bokoblin sweat, and the blade was heavier than it looked. Piuma akwardly walked over to the two struggling Bokoblins, and swung the sword with all her strength. The blade cut through the legs of the Bokoblins, making them much shorter. Piuma shut her eyes again, and slammed the sword down with a vertical slice.

There was a sickening "chunk!" sound, and the yells of anguish were silenced once and for all. Piuma let go of the hilt and turned away from the bodies before opening her eyes.

Piuma had always thought that adventures would be fun and exciting, and she had dreamt of going on great adventures her entire life, so she could feel the fun and excitement. Right now, however, all she felt was fear and danger...

Crossing his arms and inserting them in their opposite sleeves, Ketu watched the battle beneath him unfold. He closed his eyes for a second, quite frankly, he was unimpressed. For a trained mercenary it shouldn’t be hard to take down a dozen or so single handily, the group now however was struggling with the two on one disadvantage. If they had trouble dealing with this now, then he feared what would come about once they began their first actual mission in the woods. It was better than if he had picked some of the people who had been sent home, he supposed.

The first to enter combat was the young assassin from the third line. He rolled behind a Bokoblin that attacked and slit his throat, he had been careless however and left his back exposed for another Bokoblin to attack him. Whirling around he used the Bokoblin whose throat he had slashed as a shield. I shook my head, he used the body to block a thrust, and was damn lucky the sword hadn’t gone all the way through the live shield and into him. A sharper sword or more powerful opponent than a Bokoblin would have killed him right then and there.

It did create an opening however, and the assassin dived forward, lunging and missing his target completely, only severing the live Bokoblin’s arm. He had missed a chance to kill his opponent, another mistake. The assassin then dropped the shield and turned around to look at the rest of the group! Ketu clutched his forehead. You didn’t kill your opponent, and yet you relax and check out the scenery?! The Bokoblin with the cut arm picked up his sword in the other and attacked the assassin with a heavy downward swing, the target side stepped and stabbed the Bokoblin through the top of his head. The assassin whipped his sword, casting the blood off and surveyed how the others were doing again. Ketu groaned, 4 mistakes, all of which would’ve lead to death against an opponent with half a brain cell.

Hoping to find redemption in the others acts, the cloaked figure turned to look at the next group member. It was the girl with the symbols on her body and horrid temper. She began to cause the ground to crack around her, preparing to use what Ketu could only guess was the same attack she’d used earlier on the man standing behind her in the lines. Suddenly she stopped though, and prepared to fight with her staff. This caused the half-breed to blink in confusion, with the heavy blades that the Bokoblin were using; it would snap a staff like hers like a twig.

The Bokoblin attacked her in a pair as they did to most people. The girl blocked a strike and then jumped over the other ones low slash, landing on the ground but with the sword pinned under her feet. Foolish, Bokoblin are weak but have enough upper body strength to yank the blade out from underneath a light weight like herself, which in turn would throw her off balance and set her up for a kill. Pulling her staff back she literally used it like a club and clunked the Bokoblin whose sword she’d blocked over the head, then hopped off the sword she was standing on just before the Bokoblin tore it out from under her feet. The Bokoblin became unbalanced, since it pulled back with too much force. She swung the staff widely again, the Bokoblin blocked it easily with its shield and slashed; the girl held her staff up vertically and blocked it.

Then came the kicker, she took a two step run and grabbed the creatures shoulder with one hand, attempting to flip over its shoulders while still holding the staff. Needless to say, it failed. She landed on the other side on an awkward angle and yelped as she twisted her ankle. What the hell was she thinking?! Why would you even try a move like that while holding a two handed weapon? In the same manner as she did the first one she clonked the second Bokoblin on the head. Both the Bokoblin stood up, rubbing their heads for a moment and snarling. The girl looked shocked and surprised to see that her little skull taps hadn’t killed them.

Ketu shook his head sadly, until he saw another one of the mercenaries. The man with the fishing rod and harpoon also faced two Bokoblin. He looked dismayed and took out his harpoon, then to the half-breeds surprise, charged the enemy rather than waiting for them to make the first move. The Bokoblins side stepped him, and both turned around with raised swords.

Pulling the large steel fishing rod off his back the man blocked both of the strikes with it. Not only that, be he was able to push the two Bokoblin back. Again, Ketu was surprised, the man was physically powerful. After pushing tem back, the man surprised the half breed by putting the harpoon on his back, holding only the fishing rod. Ketu thought of himself as a good judge of ability and technique, but even he couldn’t tell what the man below was planning on doing. The Bokoblin attacked simultaneously again, and were easily blocked by the fishing rod as before, but this time the fisherman released the line and let the hook drop onto the swords hilt before pushing them back. After pushing them back the experienced fisherman easily pulled the sword free from the Bokoblin, leaving it unarmed.

Ketu stood and nodded, simply amazed at the intelligence and ingenious fighting ability of the man as the battle went on. I have to admit, I’m really impressed. When I picked him I thought he’d be one of the slouches but it looks like he’s at the other end of the spectrum… He had spent too much time absorbed watching that fight however, and turned his attention to another. This time it was one of the young girls in the group, the blonde one with the armour and blue tunic. The cloaked figure watched, slightly confused, as the girl dodged and ducked all over the place, desperately moving as if being afraid of getting cut and making any counter attacks whatsoever, missing a multitude of openings and chances to make openings. Finally when a Bokoblin left a horribly obvious opening she poked its arm.

After which she made her second mistake; she didn’t know how to follow up after a strike. After stabbing one arm the creature lifted its arm in pain before jumping backwards, leaving its entire side open to a fatal wound from the second dagger before it jumped. The girl hadn’t even noticed it however. Also, she focussed so much on finding an opening on the one she’d just stricken that she completely forgot about the other Bokoblin, her third mistake. The other Bokoblin leapt at her causing Ketu to bring his hand up sharply ready to intervene, when the girl noticed at the last second and leapt back. Not without having her arm nicked however.

Although it was really only a scratch the girl gripped the cut tightly and winced. The two Bokoblin decided to work it together, and attacked the girl in synchronization. The girl continued dodging all over the place, which continued for quite some time. Waiting for an opening isn’t such a bad idea, but she’s exhausting far too much energy in the process… Eventually one of the Bokoblin took too long a swipe and lost it’s balance, which created another incredibly wide opening. The girl stepped forward and slashed it across the throat, then to eliminate the threat of a desperate swipe with dying she brought up her rear leg and kicked the creature in the stomach.

Ketu watched as she was again nicked by the other Bokoblin, she winced worse than before and began her dodging again. This time, the effects were obvious. Her dodging become much much more poorly calculated and her breathing came out in deep gasps. Yeah, just as I thought. She used up all of her energy. The girl flopped over onto her back, gasping for breath. She sat up and attempted to push herself back away from the Bokoblin. The creature snarled and lifted it’s sword above its head.

Yeah… As to be expected Ketu thought while raising his palm, he focussed the magical energy into it and fired off a thing stream of fire. The stream hit the Bokoblin in the chest and it wailed as it flew back in the air from the force of the impact. It spun in the air wailing until crashing into the ground and skidding for several meters. It lay motionless and burned, already dead. The girl blinked, taking her hands away from her face in amazement. She’s definitely got a lot of potential. Her speed is above average… Although her fighters eye and pain tolerance are both lacking quite a bit, those will come with training and experience however. She could be great…

While fighting, the girl had dodged her way a good distance from the group, so there wasn’t much worry about another Bokoblin attacking her while she was down. Glad to see the girl had the potential Ketu originally suspected, he switched to watching another fight. The Rito who had the bow was standing with a Bokoblin on either side of him, they laughed as one would smack him upside the head with their shield, and he’d stagger to the other. The other one would thwack him across the face with his shield, and sending him staggering back to the other. The process continued for a bit, it was unusual for Bokoblin to toy with an opponent in the middle of a battle, but amusing none the less.

Then the Rito, for some unknown reason, took out his bow and lashed out with a wild unwieldy kick which caught a Bokoblin under the chin. It staggered slightly; the other Bokoblin raised its sword and brought it down sharply. The Rito jumped away and tried to fly, completely forgetting that it was holding a bow in one hand. It stumbled and crashed from its one winged flight, then got up and tried again. Ketu shook his head, either the Rito was delirious from the blows it had taken to the head or it was some new strategy to make the Bokoblin die laughing.

Coming to a slight mount of sense, the Rito put the bow away and flapped up towards were the cloaked figure was standing. He landed beside him Ketu stood, slightly confused. Why the hell did that boy come up here? The Rito took his bow off his back and fired a shot into a Bokoblins shield.
“Damn it!” He shouted. Ketu stared at him in bewilderment. Well when you aim for the shield.. His train of though was interrupted as the Rito suddenly leaned close to him, trying to peer under his hood. What the?! What does he think he’s trying to do?!
“Get the hell away from me!” The half-breed said quickly, planting his palm on the boys face. He forced the energy in the boys’ body away from his own and the boy went hurtling off the roof top. The Rito tumbled downwards, flapping with one arm since he till had the bow in the other. He landed head first with a loud crash, but nothing seemed to be broken.

[Emoir]

Staggering to his feet he pulled out his bow. The blow to his head must’ve affected his aim since the two shots went horribly off target. The two Bokoblin took notice of him, but shortly after one of the boys shots struck a Bokoblin in the neck. The other Bokoblin ran at the Rito waving his sword back and forth. The two of tem fought for a bit, the Rito should have been able to take on a single Bokoblin on his own but he was having a lot of trouble. Eventually he was cornered with a blade to his throat. Sighing, Ketu tossed a fireball at the Bokoblin, igniting it. The Rito retrieved his dagger and finished the monster.

Ketu surveyed the fight in total, the Bokoblins numbers were diminishing and, so far, none of the mercenaries had fallen to them. Still, the cloaked half-breed was grossly disappointed with the overall fighting ability of the group. Many of them would forget they were holding weapons or just make stupid mistakes that would get them killed against an experienced enemy. Shaking his head Ketu watched another mercenaries’ fight.

This time it was the young girl with long ears and reddish brown hair, she had an old sword with her that she pulled out when she ran at a Bokoblin recklessly. The Bokoblin turned and saw her, swinging its oversized sword around with tremendous force. It clanked against the girls sword loudly. The Bokoblin raised his sword and brought it down, again, and again, and again. The girl just stood there, blocking. What’s she doing? Her sword wont be able to withstand that much of a beating… The Bokoblin continued to bang the crap out of the sword, swinging with tremendous force, and his plan became clear after a crack suddenly appeared in the girls sword amongst the numerous chips and scratches.

The girl finally counter attacked, but missed completely. She stumbled from the miss and knocked the Bokoblin over. Scrambling to her feet she stabbed the Bokoblin through the back before it got up. Wiping the sweat from her forehead she stood idle, fixed her hair and wiped her sword on the ground while the battle continued on around her. Her arm with the sword in it hung limply now. Hmpf, Probably overtaxed from standing there and blocking all those hits. She ran at a Bokoblin that had its back turned to her and slashed at it. It yelped and turned around. If she attacked it from behind then why didn’t she go for a instant kill rather then grabbing its attention…

The monster turned around and swung its sword, the girl held up hers to block but her arm gave out. As predicted, Ketu thought. The monster then swiped at her and the girl moved away, still getting her arm cut. She yelled, and with her tired arm through a punch haphazardly. It dully smacked the Bokoblins face and the creature snarled; the girl gulped.

What did she expect? The Bokoblin started swinging and the girl frantically began to dodge. They eventually wound up being a slight distance away from each other, the Bokoblin charged and the girl tripped. The creatures swing then began horribly off and it tumbled over the girl, going flying and doing a face planter into the ground. It landed awkwardly as its body came forward while the head was too low, and there was a sickening crack as the creatures neck broke. Ketu winced, what an embarrassing way to die... Scrambling to her feet the girl ran off to get her sword, once retrieved she ran back and stabbed the already dead Bokoblin. She then shouted “No one messes with me!” She… needs a lot of work, and has quite a superior attitude. She’s not too bad though, needs to work on her swordsman ship… Ketu thought to himself.

There weren’t very many Bokoblin left, Ketu watched the other fights. The girl who had the demonic aura struggled with her two opponents, she clearly hadn’t handled a sword before, but managed to kill them nonetheless. A full grown man bashed around a couple Bokoblin, he wasn’t too special… Something after that caught the half-breeds eye however. It was the Rito girl with the grappling hook, she spun it round and round as a Bokoblin advanced on her. Ducking under a swung she tossed the weapon into the creatures face, pulling back and tearing out a chunk. The Bokoblin wailed and stood there clutching it’s face. She’s missing an opportunity to kill it… Also she’s too squeamish…

Another Bokoblin attacked her after being alerted by the screaming one. It attacked her and the girl leapt to the side, slipping on the sandy ground. The creature took another swipe while her footing was loose but she fell under the swing. The Rito rolled over onto her back to look at the Bokoblin before getting up, which was a mistake since it gave the Bokoblin an opportunity it didn’t waste. It brought its foot down on the girls’ chest. The Bokoblin lifted its sword and Ketu brought his arm forward sharply, preparing to hurl a blast of fire. The Rito twisted, throwing the Bokoblin off balance but not off of her. It didn’t do as much as she’d hoped and the creature raised its sword again. Then, in an interesting move she tossed the grappling hook at the Bokoblin with the torn face. From her angle though it wouldn’t do much good since she was on the ground. However, to Ketu’s amazement a magical energy swirled around in the girl as if she was preparing to use a spell. A gust of wind blew the grappling hook, lodging it into the Bokoblin with the wounded face.

Yanking back on the rope the wounded Bokoblin stumbled backwards and crashed into the one standing on the Rito. The girl stood up, coughing and holding her chest with one hand. The Bokoblin also got up, but one had dropped its sword and looked down. Using the same spell again the Rito blew a gust of wind through the ground, picking up the sand and spraying it into the eyes and wounds of the two Bokoblin. They wailed and clutched their faces. Not wasting any time the girl picked up the sword of the Bokoblin who dropped its sword, and finished off the two creatures. She shuddered, again. Ketu stood, watching. Squeamish at the sight of blood, and feeling compassion for the enemy. Both of those flaws could get her killed. However, I have to admit. I’m impressed, she fought far beyond my expectations of her. It will be interesting to see how that one grows along the way…

There were about 7 Bokoblin left. Ketus’ attention turned to the two mercenaries he had picked from the first line. The man in the silver armour pulled the sword off his back slowly and the one in green with the rapier unsheathed his sword. The one with the rapier dashed off while the large man brought the sword over his head. With tremendous force he swung horizontally. Three Bokoblin stood in front of him and all of them raised their swords to block. The mans’ blade cut through their swords and torsos as well. They wailed and fell over backwards. The man leapt backwards and whirled around to meet another Bokoblin. He grabbed it by the head, lifting it high into the air before smashing it into the ground. He was skilled, definitely.

Ketu turned and watched the other one that had ran off. He moved quickly. A Bokoblin brought up its blade and slashed at him. This should be interesting, his duelling sword will be abut as effective as a thread if he tries to block that meat cleaver… The man in green stepped to the side easily avoiding the attack and stabbed. The tip of the sword touched the creatures chest and entered easily. The blade was thin, but its wielder had the skill to know how to use it properly. He pulled the blade back and the creatures eyes bulged, its heart punctured. Whirling around the man brought his leg up high into the air and brought it down. A Bokoblin had come up behind him and the man performed an axe kick by dropping his heel straight down onto the creatures head. There was a crack as the force of the blow broke its neck, and the Bokoblin flopped over backwards.

Finally the last Bokoblin stood with its shield in front of it. It quivered, it was the last of the mass of creatures that had attacked. The man in green brushed his blonde hair out of his face and walked forward, grinning. The creature held it’s shield up and the man placed the tip of his blade on the wooden shield. Because he was focusing a thin point on a wide surface area with a simple push the tip of the thin blade passed through the shield and into the creatures throat.

The man pulled his sword back and walked off. The creature gargled, blood spilling from its punctured neck and collapsed in a heap. Hunh… those two are way too skilled… How come they didn’t get sent earlier? I’ll have to watch them…

Ketu leapt down from the roof, slowing his descent by pushing the energy in his body away from the ground.
“All right, everyone, get over here… now”

"Get over here, now." The hooded one said, landing on the ground and walking over to us. He pointed to me and continued walking over to the group. "You." he said. "Me?" I asked, a bit unsure. "Yes. You. Do not pull something like that again, two arms turn into two wings, you should know that. You can't carry something with your wings as you fly, not a bow." he said glaring at me. "You have potential, but until you get battle-smart you're still just a kid with a talent." he said.
He then pointed to some others, the assassin, the girl with blond hair and blue tunic, the fishermen. He scolded and congratulated them where needed to be scolded and congratulated, and then he pointed to the one with the rapier in the green, and the one wearing shiny armor.
"You people watch them. They can fight, they have smarts, they're fast to respond. You need to be aware out there. Many of you had plenty of oppurtunities to kill the opponent, but never took them or didn't see them. I had to even save some of you." he ranted, glaring especially at me on the last part.
"There are things out there that are smarter and more powerful than bokoblins, and I can't always be there to save you." He finished.

The mercenaries then just lingered about. Cleaned their blades off, put things away, drank water, had snacks, whatever they did, all I really was paying attention to was my whittling.
"What's your name." the rito leader asked me, looking down at my work.
"Lunar, sir." I said, looking up at him.
"Lunar. Don't look any deeper in my hood than necesarry ever again, is that clear?" He asked. I nodded, and he nodded back. He walked away and chatted with some other members and prepared to go.
"Ooh, I made a mushroom!" I said gleefully, looking down at the result of my whittling.

[Emoir]

Piuma, along with the rest of the group, approached Ketu, who had descended from his lookout point now. From the look of Ketu, with his arms crossed, Piuma could tell he was not that impressed with the fighting skills of the group. Piuma didn't know what the others had done in the fight, and hoped that Ketu hadn't noticed her being stepped on by the Bokoblin.

The group watched Ketu, who in turn, surveyed the group. Some were breathing deeply, or holding shallow wounds which were gently leaking blood. Torn clothing flapped in the wind, which carried the smell of death upon it. Ketu let the silence envelope the group for a moment, before speaking finally.

He began to yell at some of the Mercenaries, scolding or congratulating them on their performances. He said nothing to Piuma however. Maybe she was too short for him to see. He seemed too be busy scolding another mercenary. When he was done, he took another look at the group.

Without a word to Piuma, Ketu strolled passed the group, his cloak billowing through the air behind him. The group was silent for a moment, as they watched him head for the village, but then a few started to speak.

"Oh... I hope he wasn't talking about me screwing up." Piuma heard someone say behind her.

"I'm not worried. I know I really beat those monsters to a pulp, without a flaw, so wether or not he thinks I did good, I know I did good." Someone else boasted.

Piuma walked away from the group, heading over to where she left her backpack on the sand, and picking it up. She slung it over her shoulder and headed towards the village at a jog.

The village wasn't much of a sight. Small walls bordered it, probably for protection against the creatures of the forest. Yet, Piuma could have flown over the small wall even with her meager flying skills.

There weren't that many people out in the open in the village. No children running around outside, no gossiping housewives, or lumberjacks returning to their families after a hard days work. In fact, the only people outdoors were some surviving villagers, whom were part of a town watch, and the new arrival of mercenaries, walking around and taking in the environment.

Piuma saw a building that looked like it was a hospital of some sort, but passed by it, assuring herself that the pain in her chest would go away on it's own. There were small houses that she passed as well, with broken windows, and heavy bolts on the doors.

The farther Piuma got into the village however, the better the conditions of the houses were. No more broken windows, less scratch marks in the wood. Piuma guessed that the frequent monster attacks hadn't made it close to the center of the village yet. She continued walking, and saw a building with a sign that said "The Blue Rupee" on it, with a painting of a blue Rupee under it.

Piuma pushed the door open and walked in. The room she entered was filled with tables and chairs, as well as a bar with various barstools as well. There were a few people eating or drinking, but all eyes turned to the door when Piuma opened it. When they saw it was no threat, they returned to their meals or drinks.

Piuma cautiously walked up to the counter, and the clerk gave her a small smile.

"Hello little one, welcome to the Blue Rupee Restaurant and Inn, how may I help you?" He asked.

"Ummm... How much for a room?" Piuma asked, hoping to herself that she'd have enough money.

"A room will cost you a blue rupee. No more, no less, little one." The man said. "Your meals are seperate however, so if you're hungry, than you can just take a look at the menu, ok?"

Piuma gave a nod, and handed the man a blue rupee. The man took the money and handed Piuma a key. "Room 3, upstairs and on your right." He explained. "Enjoy your stay!"

Piuma thanked the man, and headed upstairs to her room. It was a small room, with a single bed, a shelf, and bathroom in the next room. Piuma sat on the lump bed, and placed her bag on the floor, her thoughts on Ketu's reaction about the test.

Piuma didn't know if he was genuinely angry, or if it was all a trick to get the mercenaries to try harder. Either way, she was still a little frightened about Ketu. He was so mysterious and shrouded in questions. And the other mercenaries were so strong!

Piuma counted her Rupees. Two purple rupees, four red and three blue rupees. That was 195 Rupees left. Piuma took a Blue and Red Rupee, and left the rest in her bag. She then left the Inn to search for Ketu. Despite her small fear of the mysterious cloaked leader, Piuma was intrigued by the mystery of him, and wanted to know more.

Brather limped over to the cloaked rito. She lingered in the back of the group, not wanting to hear what the dark figure had to say to her. When the others had walked off he turned to her.

"If you ever do that again I'll make sure that never fight again, mercenary or otherwise!" The cloaked rito shouted, "Why didn't you even use your powers? You were willing to do it to an innocent farmer, but you couldn't do it to an ugly, evil creature? What kind of person are you?"

Brather stayed quiet during the whole speach. Now was not a good time to fight. She wouldn't mind, but her twisted ankle was giving her a grinding, unforgiving pain. The symbol on her right hand twitched. All she had to do was think about... just think about it... and he would never bother her again.

No! As much as she hated it she needed these people's help to reach her goals. She would go along with these riddiculous rules for now. As soon as she didn't need their help she would leave them alone.

The cloaked rito stopped talking and just walked off. Brather assumed he was done with her.

She really had to find a way to fight without her staff getting in the way the whole time. Usually it didn't bother her, but that was because she had only had to battle with a single opponent and she always used her powers. She had known during those battles that she wouldn't need her powers for a while afterwards. More battles with multiple creatures would really tax her powers.

She needed to fight better with her staff, and she needed to use it without moving around too much. She must hold her own. Darn it! She hated it when the insults she recieved were right.

Her right hand twitched again. Annoyed she took the clay off the symbols on her hands and her forehead. She hadn't bothered with putting clay on the symbols on her feet, seeing that she had worn shoes. She stuffed the clay into a small pouch that had been inside a concealed pocket of her clothes. She would be using it again tomorrow.

She was about to walk towards the town but then she staggered, remembering her twisted ankle. Brather took off one of her shirts. She actually had around four shirts on, not having any baggage to carry. She tore off part of it and wrapped it like a bandage around her ankle, making the pain slightly better. You learn a lot in the woods for two years...

She could walk now, but with a slight limp. In the morning she'd try to find a doctor to see if she did it right, but for now it was dark out, and she was sure she'd be fine.

She walked into town without the slightest clue of what to do. She decided to find a room for the night. When she walked into the big housing area with the sign "Inn" above it the owner looked delighted to see her. Why he was delighted was a mystery to her.

"One room please," Brather said.

"Sorry! We just rented our last room to the gentlemen over there," said the owner, pointing to the cloaked rito, who was walking down the hallway.

Brather groaned out loud. This was a horrible day. Kargarocs, Bokoblins, people, and now she even had a headache!

She walked off into the forest. Before spending a night on the forest floor like she had done so many years ago, Brather had an idea. Finding a small and hollowed out rotten branch, Brather tore off a spare piece of clothing from one of her shirts. Attaching it to the rotten branch, Brather stopped up one end with a slightly smaller piece of branch.

It may not have made a perfect staff sheath, but at least it would hold for a while. Now she would have something to put her staff in instead of letting it get in her way all the time.

Having finished with her small project, Brather pulled bark from a recently fallen tree and used it as a blanket.

It may not be pefect, but as long as she got some sleep she didn't care.

Brather drifted off with troubled dreams and even more troubled thoughts...

[Emoir]

After the fight was over, the cloacked Rito called us. When we where there, the Rito scolded, or congratulate some of the mercenaries. Then he came to me.

"What where you thinking back there?!" Yelled the Rito at me, defently displeased, "I saw four mistakes back there, but the biggest was that you relaxed to early! If those two weren't bokoblins but far more intelligent and powerfull creatures, you would be gone by now!"

I only nodded. He had to scold me, but fighting those bokoblins was to easy, if they were indeed more powerfull and intelligent creatures, i would have fought better. But when he turned, and went to a girl next to me, i had to grinn. Seeing how suprised he was when another Rito tried to see under that hood, hilarious.

Even if that Rito was displeased, my rupee pouch felt a lot heavier now.

But at the other end, that Rito only watched, and did nothing. If he was going to do the same at another fight, HE was the one that was going to be killed.

Right after he scolded and congratulated the other mercenaries, everyone left to town.

I went back to that inn where i eated. The innkeaper looked up. "Ah, so there you are? let me guess, a room for the night?" The innkeeper asked.

"Yes," Was my awnser. "I figured, let me see, a blue rupee or five green rupees for a room."

I looked in my pouch. Thanks to the bokoblins, i had now almost 300 rupees. I laid a blue rupee on the bar. "Good", said the innkeeper," Room four, second floor, and have a nice stay!"

I only nodded and went to my room. Maybe i should check the town for supplies. But that were things for later.

First i had to think about the latest battle. I saw that most of the mercenaries struggled with these bokoblins. But there were two who were exellent warriors. One guy with a rapier, and another one with a large sword. They looked like expert fighter, so maybe i should keep an eye on them?

Anyways, i knew i had make mistakes during that battle. But bokoblins were stupid and silly creatures, and i thought that the one were i had sliced in his right arm, would run.

But now, i know better. Monsters like the bokoblins were hardend, and stubborn creatures, only the coward among them would run. They don't act like humans do.

That cloacked Rito intrueged me. He was a skilled fighter, you could see that. But it seemed like he trusted his magic arts more, why was that?

While sitting on the only, and tiny bed, i managed to see what i couldn't see before in that battle. Did the hood of that Rito not a bit upwards where the ears had to be? Why would such two experts in combat, join an assingment, for mercenaries?

The awnsers to these questions would follow later, but for now , i'm going to store supplies.

When i went out of my room, i saw a Rito girl who was among the mercenaries, going in her room. Right next to mine.

When i returned, i had some potions and some food with me. Luckly that this town was cheap, so i had still most of "my" rupees left.

The night had fallen, and i went to sleep. But some questions still bothered me. Particular this one: Who were those three men?". When i closed my eyes, a wolf howled into the night.

After the battle, the cloaked Rito had called everyone over. Dakko assumed he was going to lecture them. Putting his equipment on his back, Dakko walked over. He was still holding his wound on his shoulder. He didn't pay much attention to what Ketu had said, though he could tell that the Rito was either scolding or congratulating the mercenaries. Dakko just stood nodding, pretending to pay attention.

When the group broke off, Dakko started to wander. He found a pharmacy. Dakko entered and bought some bandage to wrap his wound. He walked out and headed towards the shore. Dakko grabbed his fishing rod and got ready to cast it.

"Won't do you much good, casting it here," Dakko heard. He looked around, and saw a man standing near.

"What? Why not," Dakko asked.

"Ever since the monster attacks, these waters have had no fish," the man said.

Dakko walked over to the water and stuck his head in. With his head underwater, he looked around. He was right, no fish to be seen. Dakko held his fishing rod, and cast it anyway. It went far out in the sea. He sat there for an hour, and finally decided that there were no fish. He reeled in his line, and then went back to town.

Dakko was starting to tire. He decided he should get a room at an inn. In the inn, Dakko walked to the counter.

"How much for a room?" Dakko asked.

"A blue rupee," the innkeeper said. Dakko looked in his pouch, and found two blue rupees left. He placed one on the counter and was handed a room key. "Room 7, have a good stay."

Dakko walked up the steps, and into his room. He took off his harpoon and fishing rod and set them leaning on the bed. Then he fell into the bed.

"No fish around here to catch," he thought aloud. "I don't have enough money for a ferry ticket, so I can't get off the island, and there are no fish here. If there haven't been fish since the monster attacks, maybe getting rid of that problem will bring the fish back. Well, I guess I'll just have to go along with this mercenary gig, otherwise I may not have a chance to fish." After that, Dakko fell into a deep sleep.

“That” The cloaked rito began, addressing the whole group as Ebony pulled the sword from the second bokoblin’s torso “Was terrible. There is nothing weaker than the bokoblin on this island, except maybe all of you, so the fights aren’t about to get any easier. If the ferry hadn’t already left, a good number of you would be on it.”

Ebony was quite sure that she was one of the many who would be on the ferry, but really didn’t care.

“In case you hadn’t noticed,” The rito continued, “the bokoblin were in a group. That didn’t have to be and shouldn’t have been an advantage they had. You are in a group too, although none of you showed it very well then. The lack of teamwork is sickening, especially considering how horrible you all seem to be at fighting alone. That was pathetic, so don’t get cocky about winning.”

Satisfied, apparently, that he had made everyone feel like misbehaving six-year-olds, the rito began to yell at people individually. After being told what basically amounted to ‘You’re weak and can’t use a sword’, which she knew anyway, Ebony followed a few people who were headed toward the inn. Ebony paid attention to the duck-billed rito girl in front of her, so she didn’t have to ask how much a room for the night was for herself.

“A room.” She said once the duck-billed girl, now registered in Ebony’s mind as ‘Ducky’ until she learned her name, had gone. She placed a blue rupee on the counter, taking the key from the innkeeper and leaving before he told her which room she was in.

“12” She read allowed, finding the room and entering it.

Quietly, she sat and opened her bag, removing a roll of bandages, a small clay bottle and a cloth. She first cleaned her hands, then set about cleaning the cut on her side. It wasn’t deep, but cleaning even the shallowest cuts was a habit of the obsessive/compulsive variety that she picked up when being taught by Orath. Satisfied with it’s being clean, she held her shirt with her teeth to keep it out of the way as she wrapped a bandage around it.

That done, she put away her things, picked up her bag again, and left, locking the door after herself.

[Emoir]

"Oh my..." Piuma thought to herself, frowning up at the sky. "I sure hope it doesn't rain tomorrow. Being stuck in the forest all day sure would stink if we got all wet too!"

Piuma sighed, knowing that there wouldn't be anything she could do about the rain if it came, and she began her exploration of the village. Most of the village was silent. There were some mercenaries walking about, and a few townsfolk heading to shops and such. Piuma got frightened when a small wild pig ran by, nearly knocking her over.

Piuma checked around the village, but it seemed as if Ketu was nowhere to be found. He wasn't at the pharmacy, and Piuma didn't see him patrolling the village. Piuma guessed he was really angry with the group, and was probably somewhere cooling off at the moment.

Shrugging off the thought, she headed back to the Blue Rupee. Her stomach had started growling, and she was hungry. In fact, she was starving! She found a table and ordered the "Chef's Special". It cost her 20 rupees, but it was worth it; Piuma hadn't eaten since before she stowed away aboard the ferry.

As soon as the food arrived, a piece of cooked ham (Piuma remembered the running pig from earlier), Piuma dug into the meal, eating it quickly, oblivious to those around her.

When she took a second to breathe after devouring her meal, Piuma noticed someone was watching her. It was one of the mercenaries from before. Piuma's cheeks turned pink with embarassment. She must have looked silly eating so quickly.

Piuma decided to wave the mercenary over, knowing full well that she'd end up stuck with the person anyways, so they might as well get aquainted while stuck together on this crazy adventure.

Brather woke with a start. She must have slept for a long time, seeing that the tiniest bit of sun was peaking out over the horizon.

She let out a loud groan of pain as she got fully awake again. Her ankle was hurting her more than it had before she had bandaged it up! She grabbed her staff and put on her staff sheath.

Brushing the dirt from her clothes, Brather stood up, using her staff as a makeshift crutch until she could find some kind of doctor. She also decided to find someplace to eat, remembering that she hadn't eaten since the start of the day.

She walked (or whatever you call using a crutch to help you walk) towards the inn again, but she only stopped there to ask hopefully if there were any vacant rooms now. The owner had responded with a raised eyebrow, allowing Brather to make her own conclusions. She left with a glare so ferocious it could have taken the feathers off a rito. She stopped at a small tavern to eat and ask for any known doctors.

She ordered the steamed shrimp but was instantly forced to choose again, hearing how the sea creatures of the area hadn't been around since the monsters showed up. Instead she ordered a cooked cucco (or whatever those chicken things are called) and a glass of milk. Hearing that there were hardly any cows left she settled for a water. It came down to 8 rupees. She paid up and asked the waiter if there were any good places to get her ankle treated. The guy gave her a few directions and she gave him a generous tip of 10 rupees.

Following the man's instructions, Brather came to a small, clean house that seemed to be newer than the others. She wondered who had been crazy enough to move here since the monster attacks, but she didn't linger on it for long. The woman who treated her ankle asked questions about the band of mercenaries that had shown up, not realizing that Brather was one of them. She stayed quiet while she was treated, only talking when she deemed it worth doing.

When she was all set to go she asked how much. The lady said that it was twelve rupees... Brather gave her twenty.

Having finished with everything she felt like she needed to do, Brather walked back to where she had been sleeping in the forest. While she was still on the path, however, she saw one of the mercenaries. Her first idea was to ignore them... but then she sighed...

There was no reason not to get to know them better. Plus, friends who fight together work better than strangers who fight together.

She walked towards the mercenary, trying to hide her trademark glare

Lyra walked over to the Rito, who did not seem to be happy with the group. Standing there with her arms crossed, she waited for her constructive criticism. When the Rito came to Lyra, he said to her, “You need to get a new sword. Or fix that one that you have now. That one is too old, and will break soon. I suggest looking for a blacksmith on the island, or else get out of here on the next boat. Also, practice your sword techniques. They need work.” As the Rito moved along, Lyra clenched her fist. She knew he was right, but what right did he have criticizing them? He didn’t even fight.

Deciding to take the Rito’s advice about her sword, she walked around, looking for a blacksmith. When she finally saw where the blacksmith worked, she walked over to the building and entered. Walking up to the counted, she banged on it and said, “Where’s the blacksmith here?” A moment later, a man came in from the back room.

“What can I do for you?” he asked Lyra. Lyra showed him her sword. “Ah, needs to be fixed, eh?”

“Yeah. Will you fix it?” Lyra asked him.

The blacksmith looked at it. “This is a very old sword. Looks to be from a long time ago. I probably will be able to fix it… Wait,” the blacksmith looked at her, and saw her bloodied sleeve. “You’re a mercenary, aren’t you?” Lyra nodded. “Hmph, you’re a pretty pathetic looking mercenary.” He noticed Lyra clench her fists and get an angry look in her eyes. “Calm down, won’t you? I suppose you have to be good if you are still here. Well, I was going to charge you 180 rupees for it, but seeing as you’re protecting the island, I’ll charge you…130 rupees. Sound fair?” Lyra looked in her money pouch, and saw she had 166 rupees. Lyra nodded, pulling out the rupees needed. “Alright,” the blacksmith said, counting the rupees. “Come back tomorrow morning. It’ll be fixed by then.”

Her business done with the blacksmith, she walked out and headed towards the local inn, where she would get some food and find out where she could get something to heal her wound. Walking in, she saw some of the mercenaries eating. Walking up to the man who was working there, she asked, “Are there any rooms available?”

The owner shook his head. “Sorry, all the rooms are booked.”

Lyra rolled her eyes. ‘Well, that’s my luck,’ Lyra thought. ‘The one time I can sleep in a bed, all of the rooms are booked.’ Looking at the menu, and seeing that some soup with brad cost fifteen rupees, she said, “Well then, I guess I’ll have some soup.” The man nodded and went in the kitchen. Lyra sat down at one of the empty tables and pulled her book out of her bag. She was relieved to see that the ink didn’t smudge, despite the fact that it got wet. Lyra smiled. Reading was a simple pleasure that Lyra enjoyed. Even though she had read the book countless times and knew many of the word in it, she still enjoyed reading it. She loved to read about the many sea stories that were written in her book.

Lyra got do caught up with her reading, that she didn’t notice her food was in front of her: the man working at the in had to tap her to get her to pay him. She gave him the fifteen rupees and put down her book (she ignored the comment the worker made about stingy people who didn’t tip workers). She smelled the soup and smiled. She hadn’t had soup in ages. It was certainly better than fish. She ate the soup slowly, savoring the taste. She stuffed her bread in her bag: she figured that she would need food later.

Once she finished her food, she searched the island for someone who would treat her wounds, or, at least, sell something to treat her wounds. After about twenty minutes of wandering around the island, Lyra reluctantly asked for directions. Once she followed the directions, she saw a house that seemed to be new. Lyra entered the house and asked the woman to help her with her cut. The woman put some stuff on it that burned, but Lyra just shrugged the pain off. The woman then wrapped it in a bandage and told Lyra to change it daily until the wound healed. The woman charged Lyra 20 rupees. Pulling them out, Lyra noticed her money pouch was very light. Lyra hoped that she got paid soon.

Walking out of the house, Lyra headed towards the shore. Lyra found a comfortable place by the edge of the woods where she could view the sea clearly. Lyra closed her eyes and fell asleep.

When Lyra woke up, she was surprised to see that it was nearly dawn. Lyra heard footsteps heading her way. She turned to see one of the fellow mercenaries heading her way. ‘That’s the girl who can do magic,’ Lyra thought as she saw who it was. Standing up, Lyra forced a smile as the girl drew closer. “Erm, hello,” Lyra said uneasily. Lyra stuck out her hand stiffly. “I’m Lyra.”

[Emoir]

Groaning Ketu tightened his open palm into a clenched fist, sealing the magical energy around the last Bokoblin corpse. Pulling his arm back he whipped it forward and opened his palm, the corpse flew through the air as if an invisible string was attached to it. The Bokoblin landed a good 80 meters or so off shore and splashed into the water, sinking quickly. Ketu clapped his hands together, dusting them off.
“There, that’s the last of them. Lazy sod’s, walking off and leaving all the corpses here in the open. If that doesn’t attract either the monsters’ comrades or unwanted predators then I don’t know what will…” The cloaked figure sighed.

He looked over his shoulder, checking the suns position. It was still relatively high in the sky, so he estimated it was around 4 pm. All right… The group is off wandering about the town re equipping themselves and such, and I told them wed all be meeting back here tomorrow morning. I should probably get myself a room for the night, but before I do that I’ve got a few questions I’d like to ask the mayor.

Ketu headed off into the town, which was surrounded with burned and half demolished buildings. As he advanced deeper in the towns condition bettered however. Clearly the monsters attacks had been fended off multiple times, but not without consequences. While walking the half-breed took notice of the different areas, currently he was in rural parts, the streets were littered with houses and the occasional shop or restaurant. It was like a whole other island compared to the dock, which was filled with shops and open air stands of all kinds. Of course, that area had been hit the hardest, the rural area was a nice change of scenery since it hadn’t been attacked as often.

To Ketu’s surprise, a bookstore stood on the corner of the street he was on. Unable to fight off his curiosity, he pushed open the old wooden door and stepped in. The store was filled with wooden shelves stacked with books and an there was an old white haired man asleep at the counter. The cloaked figure walked amongst the shelves, muttering to himself as he passed a surprisingly odd, yet diverse, number of book sections.
“History…. Geology… Fiction…. Education… Demonology… Criminology… Biology… Archaeology… Ah, here we go, Alchemy…”

Ketu entered the isle of books and began tracing his finger along the rows of books, stopping on one he pulled it off the shelf. He leafed through it, it wasn’t anything new or that he hadn’t seen before… Sighing he placed it back on the shelf, it was the most recent book there. He guessed the town didn’t have many talented alchemists, which wasn’t surprising since it seemed to be a marketing town… Still the cloaked sorcerer had felt compelled to check. He left the store without waking its owner and headed on where he had initially intended on going.

Walking for a good 15 minutes or so, Ketu arrived at the centre of the town. As he had suspected there was a large building in which, judging by the sign in front, the Mayor resided. The building was white and the coat of paint seemed fresh. The cloaked figure walked in through the front door. The first room of the building was a large waiting room with a receptionist desk, a lady sat at it writing various notes on papers, she looked up when Ketu walked in.
“Is the Mayor in?” He asked.
“That depends, do you have an appointment?” the lady replied.
“Do I need one?” Ketu looked over to his right; there was a door with a plaque on it that said ‘Mayor Davidson’.
“Yes, yes you need an appointment, Mr. Davidson is extremely buisy with all these monster attacks and-” Before she could finish Ketu began walked towards the door. “Hey! You can’t just go in there!”

Turned slightly the cloaked figure glanced at the desk, noticing a seemingly large pile of paper. Without much more incentive the pile of papers collapsed all over the secretaries lap.
“AW! What the, I spent all morning sorting these!!” She wailed, ducking down to pick them up. As she did so the half-breed grasped the door handle and stepped into the Mayors office. A slightly plump man in a black suit sat at a large desk franticly scrawling notes on papers. He looked to be in his mid forties and didn’t bother looking up when the cloaked sorcerer entered the room.

“Mrs Jennings I told you not to disturb me toda-” he began.
“I’m not your secretary,” Ketu interrupted. The Mayor paused and looked up.
“Who the hell are you?” He demanded looking rather, well, pissed.
“I’m the one leading the most recent group of mercenaries,” Ketu replied. The Mayors expression changed to a wide grin.
“Ah, come in come in, so good to see you! I hear your group successfully fended off this mornings attack?” He said. Ketu nodded. “Here, have a seat,” The mayor said waving his arm towards a chair. Ketu held up a single hand.
“I’ll stand,”
“Er, all right. So, what can I do for you Mr.. um…”
“My name’s not important, I just have a few questions,”
“Shoot,”
“When did the attacks first start?”

The Mayor looked a bit perplexed, as if it was an uncomfortable subject.
“About a month ago, when they became more than the towns guards could handle I sent word to the mercenary office for some extra muscle..”
“So you didn’t look into why the monsters had become aggressive so suddenly?”
”What?! No I just wanted them the F* ck out of my town! Heh, pardon my language but surly you can see where I’m coming from,”
“Sure… Although you never thought about WHY they were attacking? Like a man in a boat that sprung a leak, rather than finding the hole you just focused on bailing water,”
“Well, when you put it that way…’
“Anyways… I guess I’ll have to find that out on my own. How many teams of mercenaries have come to the island so far?”
“… Seven, you guys would be the Seventh…”

Ketu’s eyes widened. He knew there’d been a lot of lives lost on this island, but had no idea it was that many.
“WHAT?! Seven?! That’s almost the size of a small army!! What the hell happened to them?!” Ketu said too loudly.
“I-I don’t know they just went into the forest and never came back out!!”
“And you never looked into what happened to them?!”
“No! And why the hell should I? It’s their JOB to hunt monsters! If they’re not doing it right then it’s not my fault!”

Ketu clutched his face and closed his eyes tightly, swearing loudly.
“Sh *t, I had no idea things were this bad… I should’ve known by the newbie mercenaries that they were desperate for men… Damn it Marcos what the hell have you gotten me into…”

The cloaked figure turned towards the door.
“That’s it? You’re leaving?”
“Yeah.. thanks for your help…”
“Er, no problem… When can I expect the problem to be taken care of?”

Ketu stopped at the door.
“If we fail…” He cut himself off, and pushed through the door. The secretary spoke to the cloaked figure but he ignored her and left. An inn with a sign on the front that said “The blue rupee” wasn’t too far away, Ketu entered it and walked up to the main desk.
“How much per night?” He asked. The man smiled.
“5 rupees,”

Ketu pulled out a blue rupee and placed it on the counter, he had some money left over from other missions, but it was for food and shelter only. The rest all went to his masters’ medicinal treatment. He sighed, wondering how Dugrora was doing on his own…
“Yer lucky, got the last room, had lots of business today,” The innkeeper said. Ketu took the key that was soon handed to him.
“Yeah, I’m not surprised..” He replied simply.

As Ketu began walking down the hallway of the inn he heard a voice from behind him.
“Op, sorry, just sold out our last room to that gentleman over there,” Ketu turned slightly to look over his shoulder; it was the black haired girl with the symbols on her body. She groaned in annoyance. Ketu couldn’t help but grin to himself. He headed up to his so called room and quickly found out why it was so cheap. It was small and consisted of a bed and a desk with drawers and a chair.

Pulling out a few papers and a feather tipped pen from a compartment in his cloak Ketu began writing.

Marcos.
You two faced son of a b *tch, I can’t believe you sent me here. You either have a hell of a lot of confidence in me or just want to get rid of me once and for all. I don’t think I’ll be making it back this time, so if you don’t hear from me within a week send a special task force and have them torch the island. Also I sent back all the farmers and drunkards, they only would’ve gotten in the way, and I doubt you want any more blood on your hands. If I die I’ll haunt your * ss until you commit suicide,

See you in Hell,
Ketu Kikei

Ketu folded up the letter and sealed it. He then left the room, locking it and heading for the nearest post office. After dropping in the letter with a loud chunk Ketu sighed. He honestly didn’t think there was a good chance of the group surviving. It had gotten dark now and stars dotted the sky. Ketu lifted himself off of the ground by pushing his energy away from it and landed on the roof of the inn.

He sat down and looked up at the sky, remembering several years back when Dugrora taught him about constellations. With that, the cloaked figure was soon lost in thought and became completely oblivious to his surroundings.

After the battle with the bokoblins the cloaked figure called them all together. He paced furiously, and ranted on about the mercenaries lack of skill and how many stupid mistakes were made. Jess grimaced as he said, "I even had to save some of you!" After scolding the whole group, he walked among them individually, scolding and congradulating them. There were much more scoldings than congradulations.
He walked to her and said, "Firstly, you need to develop a lot more pain tolerance. You got a tiny scratch and acted as if it was a horrible war-wound. Also, you need to learn how to find openings. You missed several opportunities to attack and kill your monsters, and ended up wearing yourself out with your little dance. If you had paid more attention, and hadn't made some stupid mistakes, you would've been able to kill them both, even with your poor fighting skills."
He then walked on to the next mercenary, leaving feelings of shame and slight resentment in Jess. When he had finished with them she walked away. Her money pouch was slightly heavier after this first battle, but not much. And to be truthful, considering how disasterous the fight had turn out, she could see why.
She walked into the town. Her first stop was to a pharmacy. The cloaked leader could call her cuts "tiny scratches" if he wanted to, but she still intended to get some bandages for it. The bandages were five rupees. She wrapped a little around her two cuts, then put the rest away, for she was sure she'd need more later. She then walked around, looking for an inn.
Jess stopped in front of a sign that said, "The Blue Rupee". She walked in and saw a small dining room, with a door in the back that presumably led to the kitchen, and stairs of to the side that led upstairs to the rooms. She walked up to the innkeeper and asked how much it was for a room.
"5 rupees," he said. "But you're outta luck I'm afraid, we're all sold out."
"What?" Jess said, wondering if perhaps she should've waited on purchasing her bandages. "What am I supposed to do for lodging!"
"Well, much as I hate to say it, you could go to the other inn. It's more expensive than here, but it's a room. It's the strangest thing. We haven't been this busy since the monster attacks!"
"I'll bet," Jess muttered. She thanked the innkeeper, and was going to walk right out of the door, when she stopped. The innkeeper had said the other inn was more expensive than this one, so she figured it best to eat here and save some rupees. She sat down at a table and ordered a bowl of soup. As she was waiting for her soup to arrive, she looked around and saw the little Rito girl who had argued to her before the fight that "Adventures shouldn't be planned! Otherwise they're just chores aren't they?" she smiled to herself.
The Rito girl was apparently very hungry, for she was wolfing down her food as fast as she could. Jess, watched as she finished her ham in record time. She looked up, saw Jess, and flushed. Then, unexpectedly, waved her over. Jess picked up her barely started on bowl of soup and walked over to her.
"Your name's Jess right?" Piuma said, starting the conversation.
"Yeah," Jess replied. "And you said your name's Piuma."
"That's right." Piuma said. "You staying here tonight then?"
"No, as a matter of fact. The innkeeper said he's all booked up, so I have to go to another inn, which is apparently a good deal more expensive." Jess said.
"Oh." Piuma replied. "Bad luck."
"Yeah. But I suppose it doesn't really matter. A room for one night shouldn't be too terribly bad. After that we'll be spending our nights in the forest I'd guess."
"You think so?" Piuma asked, looking a little concerned.
"Well, I'm not sure, since I've never been a mercenary before, but that'd be my guess. I'd think if we wanted to get the most done we'd be spending very little time around the town." Jess said.
"Hmmm..." Piuma replied, not seeming to like the sound of this.
Jess saw the look on her comrade's face and said, "Then again, like I said, I've never been a mercenary before, so I don't really know how this stuff works. We might come back to the town at nights, at least for a while. I would expect us to be spending all of our days out there though, just so you know." As she said this she finished the last of her soup. "Well, I supposed I'd better get going. I've gotta find and book a room at that other inn, and then I still have a little shopping to do before retiring. See you tomorrow!"
"Bye!" Piuma said. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Jess walked out of the Blue Rupee and set off for the other inn, which, she had been told, was near the center of the town. "That would be one of the reason's it's more expensive then," Jess thought. "It's further away from the monster attacks. You've gotta pay to be safe."
After awhile she came across a sign that read "The Yellow Rupee". Jess rolled her eyes and groaned, guessing what this meant. She was suddenly very glad that she had eaten at the Blue Rupee, not wanting to think how much a bowl of soup that had cost her 15 rupees there would cost her here.
She walked into the inn, and saw that it was, at least, much cleaner and in better repair than the other. She walked up to a portly man with a red face who was clearly the innkeeper and said, "One room please, for one night."
"That's one yellow rupee please." he said, as Jess had expected. She dug in her money pouch and pulled out a yellow rupee. He handed her a key, saying, "Room four, second door on your right up the stairs."
She walked up the stairs and found her room. She unlocked it and stepped in. It had a bed, a desk, some chairs, and a little table where you could eat if you didn't want to in the dining room down stairs. She put down her bag with her few possessions, and, much as she would've liked to fall asleep right then and there, walked out, locking the door behind her.
Jess walked down the street, and found a small shop that sold food. She bought some loaves of bread, some cheese, some dried meat for on the trail, and some water. It all came up to 30 rupees, and after leaving she found herself once more with almost no more rupees, and her money pouch hanging limply off her belt. She sighed. At least she had some food, so she wouldn't have to spend so much money at inns.
Jess went straight back to the inn with her stuff, being to tired to want to explore the town. She put her bag of food inside her slightly large bag that was holding her other few possessions, and then climbed straight into bed.
When she got into her bed to discover that it was very cheap and uncomfortable, barely better than a straw pallet. Still, she hadn't had the luxery of getting to sleep at an inn, in a bed (albeit a lumpy one), since a few days after she had arrived out Windfall Island. She frowned a little at how little she had managed to make there, but didn't dwell on it. She soon fell into a light sleep.

Brather realized that the mercenary was the strange-colored hair girl. Lyra was it?

She took the girls hand and shook it for a short moment. She wasn't sure, but she thought she felt the girls hand shake a little... now why did she do that?

"Brather Tawn... Nice to meet you... I guess."

Lyra blinked. She had a look in her eyes that said to Brather "Okay, I said hi to you... now what?" She then got another look in her eyes... Brather couldn't quite make it out.

"Tawn... is that supposed to mean something?" The girl inquired.

Brather had to think about it before she talked, "Yes, it is supposed to honor a tawney owl that saved my great-great-great-great grandfather's life. It's a bit silly, I suppose, but we've kept the name since."

Lyra looked like she wanted to say something, but she stopped herself from doing so. They just stood there for a second and then...

"How did you get those marks?" Lyra asked.

Brather instantly changed the conversation, almost acting like she had not heard the girl at all, "So... why are you here?"

The girl looked at Brather for a second, and then answered, "I always liked adventure... so decided to come here for it. How about you?"

Brather looked up at the sun, which was now more than half over the horizon. She thought about it for a second... why was she here? "I suppose," Brather started, "you can say that I came here to see an old friend."

Things got quiet again... they didn't say anything for a bit...

The sun got to be three-fourths of the way above the horizon. This time it was Brather that broke the silence.

"Aren't you a little small to be a mercenary?"

She was answered with a sharp pain to her head. The girl had thrown a rock right at her head!

"Okay! I get it! Not a good question to ask!" She shouted. She looked at the little girl with an emotion she had not felt in a while... it was humor.

The girl had one more question to ask before they walked to the meeting place for the mercenaries going into the forest.

"How do you do your magic?" She asked finally.

"That..." Brather replied, "is something I'll tell you if we live through this mess."

Lyre smiled at Brather...

"What?" Brather asked angrily.

"You're smiling."

Brather stopped walking for a second. Lyra kept walking though.

"Huh!?"

[Emoir]

I put my dagger away, and admired my wooden mushroom for a moment. I giggled a bit and put it back in my pocket. I stood up and turned around, only to find everyone was gone. I raised my armpit and sniffed it, then said "Nope, I didn't scare them off. Actually I'm surprised no one's randomly clinged on to me and began kissing me yet, heh heh." I laughed at myself. Putting my arms behind my back and holding them there, I flipped my hair back and began strolling though the town. I looked up, realizing it was night. "Wow. That damn mushroom sure took some time up."

Not many of the shops were open, and only a few torches and the moon lit ip the town. I looked to the left and saw an Inn, "The Blue Rupee. Sounds kinda stupid." I muttered. I flipped my hair back down and kept my hands held behind me, walking into the Inn. "Oh, ello. I'm sorry but we don't have any rooms left, we're all filled up for the night." the man at the desk said, with a fake smile.
"Ah." I sighed, turning and leaving.

I was a bit dissapointed, I thought maybe I could actually sleep in a bed for once, after so long of sleeping in sand. "Even if they were vacant I probably couldn't pay for the room anyways" I said, trying to cheer myself up. I continued to stroll about the town, hoping to find some place to sleep. I'd sleep on a roof or something, but I saw dark clouds not to far away, and didn't want to awaken soaked.

After walking about for a few minutes I found an alley with a roof above it. "Perfect." I said, with fake enthusiasm. I reached into my pouch and pulled out a thing blanket. I walked deep into the alley and threw the blanket down. I took my shirt off and used it to hide my pouch in the corner of the alley. I laid down and dozed off...into slumber...

Lyra felt somewhat uncomfortable around the girl, who called herself Brather Tawn. They talked for a bit, and then there was an awkward silence. When Lyra asked about the marks Brather got, Brather instantly changed the subject and asked Lyra why she was here. Lyra answered the question, and asked Brather the same question. Brather mentioned an old friend, and then there was another awkward silence. Suddenly, Brather said to Lyra, “Aren't you a little small to be a mercenary?" Without thinking, Lyra grabbed a rock and threw it at Brather.

“Okay! I get it! Not a good question to ask!" Brather shouted. When Lyra asked Brather how she did her magic, Brather simply responded, “That is something I’ll tell you if we live through this mess.” Lyra smiled when she noticed that Brather had a smile on her face too. “What?” Brather asked angrily, noticing Lyra smiling.

“You’re smiling,” Lyra replied as she walked away. The other girl just stood there. Lyra wasn’t sure but she thought she had made her first friend in a long time.

Walking back into the town, Lyra decided to pick up her sword from the blacksmith. Entering the blacksmith’s workshop, she knocked on the counter much like she did the previous night. The blacksmith came out from his room, and said, “Do you know what time it is?”

“No, I didn’t notice the time. Can I have my sword back?” Lyra asked him impatiently. The blacksmith nodded and handed it back to her.

“That sword was really banged up. I suggest treating it better in the future.” Lyra nodded at him just to get him to shut up.

“Thank you!” Lyra said to him as she walked out of the blacksmith’s workshop. Once she was out of there, she figured that she should get some food. She found a small store that sold food that was on the “main street” of the town. Seeing as she only had 31 rupees, she bought as much bread, cheese, and water that she could get. When she was finished buying her provisions, she only had three rupees left. “Yikes,” Lyra muttered as she put most of the food in her bag (though she did keep out a loaf of bread for her breakfast). Munching on the loaf of bread, Lyra walked over to the inn called the Blue Rupee, where a majority of the mercenaries were staying. Figuring that they would be given directions there, she sat down at one of the tables and pulled out her book, reading it as she waited for the others to wake up.

After her conversation with Jess, Piuma sat there, wondering what to do next. She didn't have anything to read, she wasn't tired and she wasn't hungry.

"Aha!" She thought to herself. "But I will be hungry later on!"

Without another thought, she tore out of the Blue Rupee, and headed down the streets. Moments later, she realised she forgot her money, and ran back to the Inn.

After retrieving her money (2 Red Rupees, and the Blue one she already had, leaving her with 130 Rupees in her bag) she headed down the street, looking for someplace to buy food. She found a bakery, and spent 20 of her Rupees on bread. After leaving the bakery, she searched for something else she'd need for a big adventure. She found herself buying a torch for 10 rupees, and spent the last 5 rupees on a bar of soap, knowing that if it rained, things would get very muddy.

With her newfound supplies, she headed back to the Blue Rupee, and backed up all of her belongings for the next day. She even made sure to stuff a sheet and pillow in her bag too. She had a feeling the Inn Keepers wouldn't be too happy about that, but she WAS trying to save their island, so she was sure they'd forgive her.

After packing her provisions, she looked out the window. The clouds were congregating. With a sigh, she realised she forgot to buy an umbrella, or a hat, even. Despite the knowledge of the coming rain, Piuma made sure to fill her one empty bottle with water to drink, just in case they only came across mucky ponds...

Yawning and stretching, Piuma took one last look outside before jumping on the bed and going to sleep...

When morning rolled around, a weak light filtered through Piuma's window, shining on her face and waking her up. The sun had found a crack in the mass of dark clouds, but it was quickly snuffed by the giant clouds.

Rolling out of bed, she stretched and yawned again, threw her backpack over her shoulder, and headed downstairs. She returned her key to the Inn Keeper, gave him another Blue Rupee for breakfast (bringing her fortune down to 125 Rupees) and sat down with a bowl of oatmeal.

She noticed there was another one of the mercenaries sitting down, reading a book. She couldn't remember the person's name, but she knew it wasn't Jess. Piuma decided she'd just finish eating her breakfast, and then head for the beach, where they were supposed to meet Ketu.

After finishing the oatmeal (which tasted terrible without sugar), Piuma got to her feet, and headed towards the exit with her bag slung over her shoulder.

"Hey wait!" Someone called, causing Piuma to turn around and see who it was.

[Emoir]

I awakend, and jumped out of bed. First i checked if i didn't forgot anything: Food, potions, water, weapons,...

I had everything. I put the things that i bought for this mission in a small sac, black ofcourse. With a simple move, i put the sac on my back.

I looked out of the window. It was still early in the morning. Maybe if I looked around in the town...

Outside the inn, i noticed that not many of the shopkeepers oped there shops. But some of them where open, like that blacksmith. I wondered if my dagger and my sword where still sharp.

The blacksmith looked up when i came inn. "Well, hello there, what can i get for you?" He asked at a friendly tone. I showed him my sword and dagger, and asked him this question : "Can you have a quick look at these? I want to know if they are sharp enough."

"You are probably one of those mercenaries", He said," I had yesterday a girl with a pretty much wrecked sword. Okay, what have we here?" The blacksmith looked carefully at my sword and dagger. "These are well crafted, and razor sharp to", The blacksmith said when he looked at my weapons "I can't see something wrong with these."

"Okay", I said," How much do you ow me?". "Well, since i only had to look at it, one rupee", The blacksmith said. I said nothing, and put a rupee in the blacksmith's hand.

I returned to the inn, and sitted at one of the tables. The innkeeper was finally awake. "Some bread and a glass of water please!" I said. My stomach was in for breakfast.

When i had eaten, i returned to my room, taking a quick nap.

It was noon when i woke up again. Sitting down at one of the tables, i saw one of the mercenaries-a girl- reading a book.

Paying no attention to her, i sat down, bored. I would go later to the forest, but not now. Then, i saw that Rito girl that i had seen yesterday going out of her room. She'd just sat down, and ate her food.

Then, she quickly stood up, and headed towards the exit of the inn. I saw that she left something hanging over her chair. It was a strange grappling hook. Sighing, i took the grappling hook and shouted at the Rito girl.

"Hey,wait!"

The Rito girl turned around. "Yes?" She asked. "Here, you forgot this," I handed over the grappling hook.

"Thanks," She said when she took it. Before i controlled myself, i said :" Name's Garei, and yours?"

"Piuma",She said, "Say, are you going to the beach to?" "Yes, indeed." I said. "Well, mind to come along?" She asked. "Why not?" I responded.

When we went to the beach, I noticed my mistake. She asked about many things, like she was trying to make a conversation. I only replied, without asking any questions. When she noticed that, she turned silence. The beach came in sight. I saw that that Rito was there to, with some other mercenaries. Something inside me said that this was going to be a long day.

Jess woke up early in the morning. The room didn't have a window, so she couldn't tell just how early it was. She groaned and rolled over, wanting to go back to sleep. Downstairs however, she heard people preparing breakfast, and knew she really shouldn't just lay around. Reluctantly, Jess pulled herself out of bed and got ready for the day. She wasn't very hungry, but she ate a little bit of bread and cheese anyways.

Jess walked downstairs with her bag, and was tortured by lots of wonderful smells coming from the kitchen area. If this was a cheaper inn, she might have indulged in breakfast, but there was no telling how expensive the food here was, and she didn't want to use up her small supply of rupees right away. She handed her key to the innkeeper, and walked out with her few possessions.

If she hadn't been able to see the sun, Jess would've guessed that it was around 6:00. There weren't very many shopkeepers opening their shops, and very few people roamed the streets. This part of the town had a little more activity and life to it than the outskirts did, but it was still clear that the monster attacks had made people more cautious.

Soon the beach where they had fought last night was in sight. She saw that the cloaked rito was already there, as well as some of the mercenaries. Among the mercenaries she saw her new friend Piuma, standing next to the mercenary in black. She walked over and joined the group, standing next to Piuma.

Brather saw the group of mercenaries at the area where they had been fihgting. She noticed the bodies had been cleared away.

Then the thought of food hit her.

"Oh man!" Brather said, inwardly cursing herself. She ran back into town and came to the area where she had eaten, quickly bought some food, paid (a good thirty rupees too...), and ran back to the meeting area. Along the way she slipped the food into two areas. One being a secret pocket sewn into the back of one of her shirts, and the other being another secret pocket in the right leg of her pants. She didn't even think about water. She knew water wouldn't be a problem for her.

When she got back to the area she saw that the crowd had grown slightly, and that she was probably a little late.

When she got to the group she looked around. She stood slightly away from everyone else, and the cloaked rito stood in front of them. She saw Lyra at the same time the girl seemed to see her. They both nodded a silent hello and looked at the cloaked rito, who seemed to be glaring at Brather. She glared right back.

So what if she was a little late? It wasn't exactly like she knew what morning meant. She found a conveniently placed piece of rubble and sat on it. This was going to be a long day. She could just feel it. Only when she looked at her leg did she realize that her twisted ankle didn't feel bad at all. That doctor was top notch! She made a mental note to pay the woman thirty rupees if she ever left this place alive.

She noticed one more thing before giving her full attention to the cloaked rito. At her feet was a small pool of Bokoblin blood. That wasn't what interested her. Right next to the blood was a small card, like a card from a deck. She reached down and picked it up. It was a two of hearts...

It probably wouldn't have been relevant to anyone else, but Brather slipped the card in the same pocket with her skin-like clay, which she had remembered to apply before meeting the entire group of people. The only people who probably knew about the symbols were Lyra and the cloaked rito, who seemed to know things others didn't. She knew exactly what the card meant.

Why did he always play these games when she was near him? He could have placed the card at any time, maybe even before the attack. Just waiting for her to find it.

"Krid..."

[Emoir]

Ketu’s closed eyes clenched shut more tightly, slits appeared in his vision as he began to open them. They opened all the way suddenly and he bolted upright. The sun was up and shinning, casting it’s warmth on the rooftops and streets of the town. Groaning the cloaked figure stood up.

Sh* t, I didn’t… I can’t believe I fell asleep on the roof… He leapt off the side of the roof and landed on the street below. It was still relatively early in the morning and the town wasn’t buzzing to life yet. Ugh, that makes me mad… What a waste of money… He thought as he entered the Inn through the front door. Ascending to his room Ketu unlocked the door. The room was exactly as he had left it, the bed was still made and the desk was untouched.

Sighing, the half-breed picked up his pack of provisions that he’d left n the room and left. After tossing his key back on the desk he left the inn and headed towards the area where the group had fought the Bokoblin. It was at the edge of the town and the edge of the forest as well. The ground between the two had become sandy and bloodstained from the multiple battles to keep the advancing monsters at bay.

To Ketu’s surprise a couple of people were already waiting at the edge of the forest. They sat checking supplies, chatting idly, some even looking over their weapons and testing them. The half-breed decided that the others wouldn’t arrive for a little bit, they were probably doing last minute runs to stores and shops before they entered the forest. Ketu sighed, if that was the case then they might not even be here for a few hours, he wanted to leave into the forest early so they wouldn’t have to be traveling by night.

In the meantime however he pulled out a large map of the island.We’ll probably have to explore the Bokoblin camps to find out the source of the attacks, but until then we should find out what happened to all the other mercenaries… All though if we just take whichever path they took, then won’t we fall the same fate? We’ll just have to keep our wits about us I guess… Ketu looked down from the map, and to his surprise all of the group members had assembled around the area, waiting like the others were before.

Rolling up the map and raising his arm to his face the half-breed coughed into his fist and cleared his throat.
“All right, glad to see everyone’s here. Even with the knowledge that we probably won’t get out of this forest alive, you all showed up and no one stayed behind in the village to hide.”

Ketu paused to show the map, “Unless you’re an idiot, you’ll realize that we are here,” he said, pointing in-between small blocks that represented the town and the forest. “Since we have absolutely no leads whatsoever as to what’s causing the attacks, our best bet is to try heading for one of the Bokoblin encampments,”

The young female Rito piped up.
“Bokoblins live in communities???” She asked. Ketu rolled his eyes.
“Well what did you think? They have weaponry, clothing, and hunting strategies. They aren’t just mindless creatures, for the most part. Anyways hopefully after investigating one of their settlements we can find out a clue as to the recent attacks,”

A few people nodded in agreement as Ketu rolled up the map.
“All right then. We’ll be traveling by foot and it’ll probably take about 2 days to reach the smaller of the two settlements,” The girl with the long ears scoffed.
“2 days? According to the approximate distance on that map it’ll only take half a day if we go at a light jogging pace…” she said. The half-breed nodded.

“That’s true, but there’ several things. 1, the Bokoblin probably have traps set up all over the place to stop others from entering their territory, so running straight into them isn’t something I intend to do. We’re going to take it slow and watch every step. 2, we need at least an hour or two to properly prepare a camp each night. And by proper I mean set up a series of tents, cook meals, and a guard system which will rotate and continuously watch for any possible signs of a surprise attack. 3 we should be investigating anything out of place or strange along the way. Not to mention we need to think of a way to observe the camp without being spotted ourselves…”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Good, I don’t have to go into detail about all the experienced mercenaries that have been killed…
“But before we go anywhere, one more thing. This may sound childish, but I want each of you to state your name and tell the rest of the group a bit about yourself. As stupid as you think it is, the people around you are your comrades, comrades who will be holding your lives as well as their own in the near future. So it wouldn’t hurt you to at least learn each others names,”

Brather looked at the map. At first she wondered how anyone could accurately make a map of areas where Bokoblins lived. Then she almost slapped her head. Ritos, of course. There weren't many ritos that went to her village, and she never really talked to any of them. They could probably fly high enough to avoid any type of arrows, or even high enough not to be seen at all.

She sighed. Now to introduce herself. She was planning on doing it, but she always hated large groups of people. She had nothing against them, but it was just something she didn't like.

The people seemed hesitant to say anything, not wanting to talk first. Brather sighed again... how much more like school was this going to get?

She talked first, not caring if she was considered rude because she wasn't raising her hand.

"I'm Brather Tawn. I don't think I will get along with any of you, but lets just respect each other for now, and after this is done if any of you want to pick a fight with me I will be happy to do so. Also, I was in the forest last night, and I didn't hear or see anything suspicious. I didn't even see a single Bokoblin."

The cloaked rito stood up, "Of course you didn't see anything Brather... you were either covered well... or you were sleeping... or both. As for not hearing anything... I think it's safe to assume that the Bokoblins know about us now. They will use more stealth an less stupidity."

Brather sat back down and waited for another mercenary to speak up.

[Emoir]

"Lunar Allacar, I'm Lunar Allacar. I am fourteen years old. I am no professional mercenary, nor have I done anything like this before. I tell you this because there are no boats to take me away and because I will follow you all regardless of what any of you say. I also say this because I don't want any of you to falsely trust me. I am good with a bow, or at least decent, as you all have seen. I'm not very good at close combat with my dagger, but I do whittle." I said, taking out my mushroom from the previous night. After everyone saw it I put it away and flipped my hair back. "Please don't mistake me for just some kid. My whole life has been dedicated to archery." I finished. Then I paused and looked around. Everyone's eyes were on me, judging me. I flipped my hair back down and crossed my arms, glancing up at everyone.
"Well, after seeing you with a bow that will have to make up for your lack of experience." the group's leader said, "Though I cannot assure you that you will walk, or fly, out of this alive. If you aren't here in the morning, I'll understand." he finished. I nodded at him, and leaned against a tree.

And then the next person began to speak.
"My name is-"...

"My name is Dakko Gilis, I'm fifteen years old, and it's nice to meet you all," Dakko said, stepping forward with a smile on his face. He then decided to be more serious.

"I am... not actually a mercenary," he continued, he heard someone whisper something, but he didn't hear what was mumbled. "That fight yesterday was the first time I fought anything other than fish. I'm not a mercenary, but a fisherman, the best on Windfall Island, and I'll be the best in the world someday," he said, hearing someone quietly chuckle at the last part. He ignored it and continued, "I grew up learning to be a fisherman, I spent hours a day fishing. I worked as fisherman. But I'm no fighter. If we take care of these monster attacks, I heard from some townsfolk, the fish will come back. I will catch some fish before I leave this island. I'm not sure how much help I can be in any fights, I only have a harpoon, a fishing rod, a strong arm, many fishing skills, and little experience, but I'll do what I can."

Dakko stepped back, waiting for someone else to step up. I think that went well. He watched as the next mercenary stepped up.

"Ummm... hello there. My name's Piuma, and I'm a fourteen year old Rito from Dragon Roost." Piuma paused, wondering what else to say. "I'm not much of a flying person yet, and I can't swim, but I'm good with my grappling hook, and I can move fairly quickly on the ground."

A strand of brown hair fell in front of Piuma's eyes, and she brushed it away with a small smile. "I may not look very tough, and I may be smaller and younger than most of the people here, but that doesn't mean I'm not a person too! I'll treat you all the same way you treat me, okay?" Piuma concluded, with a shy smile and a wink.

The group stared at Piuma, and she was unsure if she should wait for someone else to go next, or continue speaking. After a moment of akward silence, Piuma decided to keep talking.

"I'm not much of a talker, but I do listen to people if they need a friendly ear. Ummm... I haven't really been on an adventure hunting monsters before, so this is all kind of new to me. I'm sure I have nothing to worry about though, with a group of people like you mercenaries around."

Ebony had been awake since just before sunrise, and had bought significantly less supplies than anyone else. She had her reasons for this – with the poison in her system, she couldn’t eat.

The poison stopped her from feeling hungry, but it wouldn’t stop her from collapsing from lack of energy. She would probably have to eat at point, and for that, she would have to remove the neckring and let herself recover from the poison. That meant, taking the poison again after. She had enough for about three doses. On the other hand, running out of food wasn’t too big a deal for her. She trusted her knowledge of botany enough to know that she could find plants that were edible.

After she and some others waited awhile at the meeting place, the cloaked rito arrived and gave then instructions. Ebony watched as everyone introduced themselves.

As ‘that girl’, more correctly known as Brather now, spoke, it occurred to Ebony that sleeping in a forest that you knew had a lot of bokoblins in was probably not the world’s smartest idea. However, she held her tounge. Ducky turned out to be called Piuma.

“My name” Ebony began, when it came to her turn. “Is Ebony Rosewood. I am a doctor.”

One of the mercenaries stood up. It was a pale looking girl. "My name is Ebony Rosewood." she said. "I'm a doctor." She then sat right back down. The other mercenaries didn't do anything for a moment, waiting for more. But Ebony just sat there, waiting for the next person to speak.

Feeling a little self-consious, Jess started talking. "My name is Jess, and I'm fourteen years old. Usually I travel to different islands, playing my flute and doing odd jobs to earn money. I've never really done this sort of thing before, but I'm good at moving stealthily, and while I may not be the best fighter, I'll stay and try to help win the fight."

Jess felt that she should say something more, but she didn't really know what else there was to say. She sat down on a large rock and waited for someone else to start talking.