((Closed.))



...is another person’s gain. That was how the saying went. She had heard it many times in her life. Never had she bothered applying it to any situation she’d ever been in, but never had Kyo truly fancied herself a thief. An assassin yes, a ninja of course, and perhaps sometimes she was a murderer depending on the person’s perspective. But never quite a thief. Yet now she found herself the leader of a small band of them hiding in the swamps of Fiorair and trying to make their way in the world. Perhaps even leave their mark upon it as well. It was not exactly an easy feat to accomplish either considering all the other Clans that were trying to come into power around the same time. It would be a never-ending struggle to stay afloat until they had some kind of backing, until they had once again truly revived the name of The Bandit Brotherhood, something far harder than she had initially thought.

Considering how well known the Clan had been in its high time, Kyosku had assumed that rallying people to join would have been relatively easy. However that did not appear to be the case. Perhaps there were fewer thieves willing to risk their lives and join such a cause nowadays, or perhaps people were just being cautious. They wanted to see the Clan stay alive for a time, they wanted to see it struggle through the beginning and fight tooth and nail to stay alive, to stay afloat. That was fine for her. She was willing to show the world that she was capable of leading this Clan and these people and truly turning The Brotherhood into the most powerful group in Althanas. And one day, she wouldn’t have to listen to the petty orders of Daroch, the Ceann Cath, the leader of the Draconians. She had nothing against the people and the region, just the man at the other end of the strings thinking he had himself a new puppet to play with. There would come a time when their strength would shake the foundation beneath that man.

Right now, in this very instance was a chance for them to begin to amass that strength. As one Empire was beginning to fall and crumble under the weight of something far more powerful, Kyosku Tetsoma, co-leader of The Bandit Brotherhood decided to make her first move. Raiaera was weak and falling apart at the seams. The region was slowly becoming overrun with the undead in the control of some mad magician by the name of Xem’Zund. She knew little of the plight and cared even less to bother helping with it. The only thing she really cared about was what she could gain from it.

The elves were fleeing their previous and beautiful cities. They were taking only what they needed with them to survive and leaving the rest behind, which meant there was potential for many a fine artefact to be found in the most unlikely of places. With that in mind and sadly no clear objective for them to find, the ninja had begun to plan their raid upon the city of Anebrilith, which was still being evacuated while the armies of the undead knocked on their doors. It gave them the perfect opportunity to slip inside with barely a thought given to their presence. After all, who would question a group of helpful warriors coming in as reinforcements?

Apparently no one, for that was how they’d gotten on board this ship. It was bound for Raiaera and hailing from Corone. Thankfully the boat trip from Radasanth to Anebrilith was not very long, just two days. Though Kyo did not have too much of a problem with boats, she did prefer to keep dry land in her line of sight. It always made her feel more comfortable. And being cooped up in small quarters with a simple, uncomfortable bed, a night stand and a wash stand was not exactly her idea of fun. In small areas the ninja felt like a caged animal and she was doing her damndest to hide her irritation and frustration, for it wouldn’t do if she lost her face in front of any of her subordinates. Especially for no discernable reason.

Sighing, Kyo grabbed her rucksack off of her bed. They were supposed to be landing sometime today, or so she had heard, and as such she had packed all of her belongings. There hadn’t been much for her to throw in the bag to begin with, a change of clothes, some rations and a first aid kit. That was it. There was no need to pack more in her mind when they needed to pack light. Not even bothering to take one last look at her cramped quarters, the ninja turned and left the closet of space she had called her room for the past two nights.

The halls along the inside of the ship were narrow and smelled of wood and water, stale air and too many people too close together. Lanterns hung from hooks in the walls, making light spill across the light coloured wood and give the darkened corridors some kind of illumination. Every time someone happened to pass by her, Kyo had to keep close to the wall, dragging her side and shoulder along the rough surface as they walked by each others. Two days and she was sick of this ship already.

Turning right once and then left twice, Kyo made her way down the halls until she came upon a set of stairs. Light poured into the darkened space from above, illuminating the grain in the wood and the knots and imperfections lining it.

Out on dock, Kyo’s senses were immediately bombarded. The bright light of the sun was reflecting off the deep blue ocean and blinding her dark adjusted eyes. She was forced to squint until they were nearly closed as they quickly tried to adjust to the light. Sound and smell hit her next as the wind gently slapped against her face and clothes. It felt cool against her as the rising sun beat on her black clothing, turning them into a furnace. The smell of salt saturated the wind, making the ninja feel thirsty simply for breathing it in and high above the sails of the boat the calls of gulls rang out. They followed the ships. Stalking them from the moment they left port until they moment they made port once more. Their cries a constant call in the wind, the last reminder of dry land when all one was surrounded by was light blue in the sky and deep blue beneath of the sea.

Surprisingly the deck was not very busy. With the white sails, taunt and already flying high against their masts, few people were milling about. As she made her way across the deck she watched the last of the night crew as they tied off ropes and mopped the deck and carried out a variety of other tasks that she knew nothing about. They barely interested her, but when her eyes glanced towards the sea before them they practically disappeared. She could already see it. It was a mass of grey and green and brown that was slowly growing bigger and into greater detail to her eyes. Kyo had been on few ships in her life and wanted to be on even less. And every time she found herself approaching land, something about it just took her breath away as the relief washed through her. A gentle waved that relieved her heart and knocked away the worry from her mind. But she knew that once they landed, things could become far more dangerous than any trip she had experience across the seas.

Resting her forearms against the wooden rail, Kyo drew in a deep breath, filling her lungs with the salty air as she slowly watched the spot of land grow larger. To the right of the ship she could see another of these large sailing vessels only this one seemed to be heading away from the port city of Anebrilith. Beyond that, she could barely make out the spec of another against the horizon, in which direction it travelled she didn’t know. They were the last desperate attempt to save as many lives as possible before the undead overran the city.