Highway Robbery...ish...

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Sun had shed it’s rays down upon the earth in a warming glow, the soft spring time air seeming to echo the noises of children playing in the parks, dogs barking as they fetched balls and Frisbees, laughing as women and men played volleyball off over a knoll of the resplendent Radansanthian park. The wind was gentle and warming, enough to make the weather tolerable without causing a sweat or becoming too cold. Serenity it seemed had breathed a blissful sigh of peace over the land, and all were enraptured by the tranquility of the moment.

Save for one rather grouchy immortal…

Jensen looked out upon the grassy plains before his new home, rubbing his belly as he felt an itch he couldn’t scratch in the back of his mind. Irritably he tried to rub the back of his head, not gaining much successes as he sighed deeply out loud. His thoughts as of late kept circulating around two things: Kyla Orlouge, and a new weapon to add to his repertoire.

The knight couldn’t get the image of the new toy he wanted out of his head. It was the most violent prize he could conjure in his mind, and the fact that Letho Ruben Ravenheart had one made him want one even more. Jensen Ambrose was in dire need of a gunblade. A depression had befallen the warrior as he continued to think of a way to gather the components he needed so he could get somebody to forge him his new weapon. Revolver’s were so out of taste these days.

He angrily kicked off the rock turning back to the caverns where he stayed, Sei Orlouge’s personal home and base of operations for the Ixian Knights. The immortal watched as the new recruits walked in and out, Sei’s legion softly growing in number under the principles of trust, fair play, and other equally annoying concepts. Two figures stepped out from the cave mouth, scanning the area when a woman with long red hair pointed to the immortal and smiled as the man next to her nodded. Both moved forward and Jensen walked to meet them.

“Stephanie,” he said to the woman. “Adolph,” he said back as Jensen placed his hands in his coat pocket. They were both comrades from his order, the Knights of Apocalypse. In this land so far from home they were the only people Jensen could count on, and that notion didn’t make him pleased. “What does the fairy king want now?” he sassed, thinking to the mute mystic who currently had employed the gathered three. Sei Orlouge had made note to higher many people to aid him in his quest to save the world, and Jensen had wound up being volunteered for the task when his order summoned him to help the mystic.

“Your Lord,” Adolph said stressing the point that Sei was in charge. “Would like to see you at your earliest convenience.” Jensen gave his warrior brother a sour look, chewing the bottom of his lip. The image of his gun blade flashed into the mind of the knight, and he closed his eyes smiling as he envisioned himself cutting down Adolph.

“Day dreaming again…” Stephanie muttered, crossing her arms as she shook her head disapprovingly. “Is it Kyla naked again, or the stupid gunblade?” Jensen turned his mind off its current track, smiling even wider.

“I think he just started thinking about both.” Adolph adjusted himself, his heavy Claymore upon his back moving with him. “Come on, dreamer, let’s go.” Jensen felt Adolph’s hand grip his arm and he pushed the warrior away with a snarl.

“UGH,” Jensen threw his hands up in the air. “I can’t stop thinking about it! I need that damn weapon!”

“Do you know how stupid that sounds?” Stephanie asked, cocking her head to the side. “It’s a lousy sword with a gun attached. Retarded.” she stuck her tongue out thinking of the weapon. “You can live without it, you survived this long so far.”

“No,” Jensen whispered. “I’m doing it guys. I’m taking my vacation time and heading to Alerar.”

“Jensen, we don’t get vacation time.” Stephanie groaned. “Nor sick time, and you can’t fake it, cause Sei will just read your thoughts.”

“Well then fuck him!” Jensen said, nodding his head after a moment as he saw his idea taking grander shape. “Yeah, fuck the fairy king! He can’t read my mind unless he sees me, right?” They both shrugged for neither knew the abilities of Sei. “Then adios!” Jensen waved crudly to them as he turned and began walking away.

“Aside from how dumb you are for this spur of the moment stupidity, what shall we tell Lord Orlouge?” Adolph asked. “Jensen gives you the finger and wishes you the best?” Jensen thought about as he turned to them, still walking off.

“Yeah, that will work!” he said smugly.

Stephanie held Adolph back as she smiled devilishly. “Your girl friend, Kyla, will be disappointed you didn’t answer the fairy kings summons.”

Jensen stopped, turned, and moved back towards the cave in one fluid motion. He hooked arms with his fellow knights and walked off with them towards the cave. Stephanie laughed as she turned, linking her arms with his grasping his fingers as the immortal grinned. Adolph tried his best to pull himself away, but Jensen held him tightly.

“I should probably pack first, huh?” Jensen asked to Stephanie who laughed, nodding her head. “Fine, I’ll see what the hell the idiot fairy king wants.” Jensen muttered.

[Silence Sei]

"We're going to Alerar," Sei said as the knights entered the main room of his tomb. Anita stood beside him with a checklist, making sure to write everything they needed down. "My brother Niche needs me to procure a special item for someone." Sei looked down to his daughter with a grin. The truth was, Niche and Sei had been planning to get Kyla something special for a while now, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so.

Of course, Sei would need his trusty guard for this mission. The mute had taken to the three Apocalypse Knights as his own little bodyguards. Though the telepath didn't actually need protection, it was nice to have such a variety of people in one area around Sei. It was as if he was in Corone even when he wasn't. Jensen's quips, Stephanie’s counter-quips, and Adolph's silence until some sort of insubordination arose always amused the mute to no end.

"Also, we'll be taking Taka with us," Anita added, "I figured if Sei and Kyla could have their protectors here, so could I. He's already been informed of the situation and is packing now. Your mission will be to protect us as we try to find the perfect gift for Ky---for our friend. During the evening hours when the shops are closing, you are all welcome to do whatever with your free time. During the day, however, you belong to us, is that understood?"

Adolph stood proper as he nodded his resolve to his masters. Stephanie followed suit and Jensen just rolled his eyes. Anita and Stephanie both shot knife-stabbing glances at the immortal as he tried to go about this business. Anita could never understand why her father trusted these knights, especially Jensen Ambrose above the other two, with the most important duties. What was he trying to prove? Besides the fact that he could give a headache to the rest of the group.

As the girl began to speak again, she heard the sound of a door opening down the hall. Anita grew a bit giddy with excitement at the prospect of the ronin warrior Taka gracing the party with his presence.

[Tainted Bushido]

Taka opened the door slinging he silken bag over his shoulder as he had often when traveling. His jingasa was set upon his head, even as he looked back at the room sighing. His kimono was cleaner than normal, a side effect f having steady employ, and a steady supply of food and water. He was perhaps the healthiest he had ever been since leaving Yanbo Port, and it was satisfying to see that he wasn't starving. His hair for now was loose about his shoulders, even if the leather thong hung about a wrist idly, ready should the occasion seem to get more serious.

Torches lined the hallway a soft crackling showing them as true fire, even as they gently flickered about the air. He stood a moment studying them briefly before he moved on. Moving down the hallway he entered into the briefing room and set his pack down as he looked about the area. He then bowed simply and spoke, "Many Apologies for the delay, I appear to have accrued a bit more stuff than intended in staying here. I had to decide what to bring and what to keep, it won't happen again."

He then rose back up and steadied the jingasa on his head as he carefully pushed it back so as to see what was going on. He could see Anita smiling, Sei with the ever impenetrable smirk of amusement he held around the three others in the room. Stephanie seemed to tense up with the Ronin's presence, but Taka already knew she would not act. Anita had ordered the woman to back down, and she was a woman of her word, even if a creature of peculiar habits. Apparently she had a rather caustic hostility towards Taka's country, as a whole rather than any true individual. This hatred of course transferred as easily as a wind could pass through the girl's hands. She was trouble brewing, for Taka was certain she would stay true to the word of her orders, if not the spirit to get at the Ronin.

The larger man, Adolph was more of a concern to the Ronin, who knew little of him. He seemed a student of the sword much like Taka, but he was silent. Perhaps a counterpart to Taka on the team, he was as inscrutable as ever as they briefly sized each other up. While there was no posturing, Taka could tell that in the briefest of moments their eyes had met, they had sized each other up fully. This was more of a measure of respect than anything, mutual warriors admiring and respecting the others skill enough to be on guard against it. Adolph hadn't sparred with Taka yet, but he had been trained under Hoturi, Taka's new sensei. The day when they would test eastern and western philosophy was on the horizon, but a day that Taka would enjoy, rather than regret.

The last man, was one that had shown Taka's glaring flaws to everyone in the room except for Sei, who had the luxury of finding out about it after the match. Taka had taken steps to make such weaknesses harder to strike, but the man had already struck once, and Taka was sure that if sufficiently bored, the man would strike again. Looking upon Jensen Ambros, he measured the man, more in case of attack than any true measure of respect. Jensen was a deranged individual, a caustic agent in the center of the Ixian Knights if ever there was one. The appointed bodyguard of the mute, Jensen took liberties with the freedom such a detail entailed, including the mental degradation of all who would listen to his tireless rants.

Of the three, he knew for a fact Jensen was the most dangerous. A single slip and the Knight of the Apocalypse would have torn him to shreds. The fight between the two had ended fatally, and yet in the aftermath, Jensen seemed uninterested in Taka. The Ronin knew that even being in Jensen's presence meant he should be on guard, for a fight would break out, whether involving him, or the enigmatic immortal none could tell. It was only the certainty of the chaos that would ensue that was the only constant in any equation involving Jensen Ambrose.

Looking at Anita Orlouge Taka gave her a simple smile out of politeness, even as he felt all eyes on him. Sighing he gestured for Sei or Anita to continue the briefing as he spoke, "Please, do not allow me to interrupt these proceedings. Continue on…"

[Amber Eyes]

Kyla stood with her back against the cold wall of the cave. She pressed herself against the deep brown cavern and tried to hold her breath. Something was going on in there, and she couldn't imagine why she hadn't been asked to join the group. She had stopped herself from sneaking into Jensen's room thus far, though it was true the thought had crossed her mind at least a thousand times. She had been careful not to think of Jensen in front of Sei, or the other men--just in case. Parts of the conversation reached her ears, but it was hard to make words out of the murmurs. Just when Kyla thought she would get nothing from her eavesdropping, the loudest person in the room spoke up.

"Your mission will be to protect us as we try to find the perfect gift for Ky---for our friend."

A present? What on earth could they be getting me? Maybe I'm getting a gunblade!

The truth was Kyla had little idea what a gunblade even was, but if Jensen wanted one; Kyla did too.

"You might as well join us Kylana."

Shit, Sei knew she was here.

"And no, you will never have a gunblade"

Shit, Sei knew she wanted a gunblade.

Kyla entered the room with all eyes glancing at her suspiciously.

"What the heck did I do? I just wanted some popcorn!" Kyla said innocently as she helped herself to the bag sitting on a table behind the group.

"So, what's up guys?" She sat on the couch and began munching loudly.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

“WHOA, WE HAD POPCORN?” Jensen cried out as he ran towards the couch. In return the immortal felt an elbow in his gut as Stephanie coughed loudly, pointing towards Sei politely. On the ground he looked up to Kyla, winked softly, and stood back up crossing his hands over his chest as he glared out to those in the room, save Kyla.

“Thank you.” Sei smiled softly to the female knight. “Anita if you would continue?” The girl flipped through her clipboard as she leaned against the back of a coffee table, sighing out loud as she mumbled over one thing, then other.

“I guess it’s time to organize troop placement before we all pack up to go.” Anita looked up to Taka with a roguish grin, biting the tip of her pen as she giggled. “Taka-Sama will be my escort. Jensen and Stepahnie will be Sei’s bodyguard,” Jensen immediate moaned out loud, knowing that the third man in the rooms troop spot. “And Adolph will be Kyla’s guardian!” she stuck her tongue out to Jensen as both he and Kyla pouted.

“Why that ass hat?” Jensen said pointing to his fellow knight. This in turn made Adolph snort in laughter as he looked to the enigmatic immortal. “He’s not being utilized correctly!” he said, forcing his words through as he silenced those around him by being louder and more obnoxious.

“And just how,” he laughed, taking in a breath. “How the hell am I not being utilized correctly?” Jensen shrugged.

“Well for starters you’re a better ass kisser than I am…” he mumbled. Adolph lifted himself to full height, immediately glaring towards the immortal as he felt his pride being poked fun at. Stephanie groaned loudly as she slammed her fist into the back of Jensen’s head, pushing him onto the table where Adolph took the moment and jumped him, screaming about how Jensen’s pushed him over the edge. They fought like jackasses, poking and tumbling on the floor as Anita sighed loudly, Kyla cheered silently for Jensen, and Sei seemed to be chuckling.

It should be noted, Taka remained stoic standing before Anita.

“I’ll show you how to kiss ass, you immortal jerk! Come ere and pucker up!”

“Adolph, I don’t swing that way you fruit basket!”

“I’ll make you my bitch!”

“I’ll shove my foot up your ass so high you’ll be using my bootstraps for a tongue!”

On and on they tumbled, Sei having to take a large step back as his bodyguards rolled around the floor, snarling and cursing the other. Anita had to cover her face in shame, every now and then coming out of her hiding place to glare towards her father and point to them, a clear example of what she meant by them being untrustworthy. Stephanie was in the middle of an apology for their childish behavior when they rolled back to where they started their fight.

Whoosh! She screamed in surprise, her body tumbling onto the ground as they fought over, still poking each other, still calling the other names. Stephanie let out a blood curdling cry of rage as she punched Jensen square in the nose and elbowed Adolph in the mouth. Both warrior’s fell out of place and quickly she got to her feet, grabbing both men by their ears and yanking down as hard as she could.

Jensen punched Adolph one quick time in the stomach, knocking the wind out of the warrior.

Stephanie twisted her fingers on their ears, both whining out loud as she held them in a vice grip. She flashed her teeth to her employer and took in a few heavy breaths. “You were saying, my lords?”

[Silence Sei]

"How come Anita gets to have Taka guard her?!" Kyla nearly shouted in outrage. Sei shifted his gaze over to Anita, and then back to Kyla. The mute smirked a bit as he turned to the frustrated daughter.

"Anita never gave Taka a lap dance, for starters." The mute sent the message only into the teenagers head. He then turned back around to his big and tough knights. Jensen and Adolph’s measuring contests never ceased to keep the telepath smiling. He stepped forward as he began to address his bodyguards once more.

"Right. We're packing for Alerar. We leave immediately. Taka seems prepared, Anita has already packed our things. That leaves you guys and Kyla.." Sei's eyes shifted back to a squeal that came from his side. Kyla seemed to not realize that she was actually going to come with them. Sei looked to Jensen as he caught a slight glimpse of a gunblade entering into his head.

"Like I said, anything you want to do when the sun goes down is up to you. I will even help if you need it. As long as you help us find the gift for our 'friend'." Sei looked to Anita. The girl nodded and reached into her backpack, pulling out several sheets of paper and handing them to each member of the group. The individual's name would be highlighted in bold text at the top. Below was a list of stores in Alerar that would have good gifts for females, mystics, and female mystics.

"Are there any questions?" Anita asked

[Tainted Bushido]

They had gathered their things quickly, and with a few gold passing between hands had managed to get safe passage into Alerar. The boat they were on rocked slowly, each passing day was merely a silent reminder to Taka of the home he once had. Anita seemed to pick up on it as she would often interrupt his musings to talk to him during these nostalgic bouts. She would pick up a thing or two there, learn a bit more about the tainted Ronin, and then walk off, leaving him to the sea.

His soul seemed at ease on the water. He never could explain it, but even a whiff of the ocean's salty air was enough to relax the troubled ronin. To be out on the open ocean was like a homecoming of sorts to the man who could never return home. He merely watched the waves, no matter how dangerous they got, and listened to them crash against the sides of the ship as it continued to sail towards the Dark Elf homeland. His mind drifting away at times, to the point he would be embarrassedly caught off guard by some of the other travelers in their band.

When it was Anita, it was alright, he could accept that. Even Sei only made him feel minor guilt, but when it was Jensen, he felt foolish for so easily giving into the succor of the sea. When it was Stephanie he cursed his inability to stay alert on the oceans. When it was Adolph he felt like he had betrayed his master. Even Kyla would cause a pang of guilt, after the incident that saw him almost kill the poor girl in reflex. He still didn't understand quite what had happened, but he always felt ill at ease around the girl.

Rengoku and his wakizashi sat on their daisho stand wrapped in oily clothes to preserve their edge. This was the first lesson of those who went to sea in Yanbo Port. If one couldn't properly care for their daisho, they were punished, severely. Such foolishness was not harbored in the guard, and even to this day Taka took the precautionary measures he should when going out on the waters. The Oil was easy enough to acquire coming from the mystical boundaries of his young charges pack. Even Taka was unsure of what the girl squirreled away in that pack. It seemed to house everything and any attempt to look inside was quickly stopped cold.

Understandably, a girl's private things shouldn't be view upon except by her husband.

Not that Taka could get married, but that was a thought for another time. Tonight he would find himself lost among the stars. Quietly meditating on bow of the ship he listened to everything that was going on. The carousing of the sailors, the footsteps of people moving about ship, everything was carefully catalogued and filed away for further investigation. Nothing too pressing could be heard upon the ship, and so he continued his quiet contemplation, waiting for the next crisis to arrive.

And glad that it was taking so long…

[Amber Eyes]

Boats suck! The boat rocked back and forth underneath the thousands of stars lighting up the blackened sky. The waves crashed upon the edge of the ship creating a calming effect. A light breeze cooled the warm evening and the faint smell of salt soothed all aboard the ship. That is, all except Kyla.

"I'm dying!" The girl screamed as she wiped vomit from her mouth with the back of her hand! "I'm going to die!" Again she wretched, leaning over the ship so far that her companion grabbed her to ensure she remained firmly on the deck. "The world is coming to a end! Save me!" Kyla tossed her arms into the air.

"Stop being a drama queen, your seasick is all" Anita said plainly as she wrestled Kyla from the edge of the ship and onto the deck with one arm.

Kyla looked up at her 'sister', "If you don't put that darn book down right now...!"

Anita quickly tucked her book, How to Tell if Someone is Seasick back into her backpack. She pulled out a vial of holy water and handed it to Kyla.

Kyla drank the water quickly, her throat on fire from her half hour of vomiting. She looked up to see Jensen walking towards her, "Oh Jensen, how lovely to see you!" She quickly pulled herself to her feet and wiped her mouth trying to get any remaining throw-up off her face. She smoothed her skirt and tried to look as though she hadn't been bawling her eyes out moments before.

"Kyla." Anita said softly.

Kyla ignored her sister as she walked towards Jensen, smiling as though nothing could go wrong. She looked into his eyes for a brief moment before vomiting all over the immortal.

"I just thought you might like to know that the residual effects will last at least another hour...Too late for that tidbit I guess." Anita grabbed Kyla by the arm and drug her towards her bed. Anita placed a cool washcloth on her head and Kyla slept the rest of the journey.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen looked down upon the puke covered shirt he wore, stunned silence filling his body as he glanced back to Kyla. Before he had a chance to comfort the seasick woman Anita had given him a quick scowl and walked away with sister in arm, leaving him on the deck alone. Or so he thought.

“BWAH HA HA HA!” Adolph was rolling on the side of the boat, his knees quivering with excitement as he slapped the side of his knee hard. Stephanie was similarly looking up to Jensen, her mischievous eyes alight with glee as she pointed to Jensen, laughing wildly at the events that took place.

“I…I think,” Stephanie tried to speak, but just kept laughing. “That was…the worst…attempt…to ever ask out…ANYONE!” both knights fell upon the other, supporting the others weight as they laughed. “So worth coming. So worth it.” she wiped tears from her eyes as Jensen just rolled his hand, waving them off with a ‘yeah yeah’ mentality.

“Oh come on, sport!” Adolph took in a deep breath, before letting it out in a laugh as he spoke. “She only turned you down by puking on you!”

“Yeah, she’s already sick of you!” Stephanie added in, much to the immortal’s ire. Letting them have their fun he decided he would just sleep the rest of the evening away. Alerar was coming up, and he already came up with a grand plan to achieve his goals. He just needed to arrive first.

~*~*~

A few days later the group had reached Alerar, the boat taking up its position upon the majestic dark elven docks. The wood was a blacken oak, supported by thin cables of wires that belied the strength they held within them. A large boarding plank was dropped down and the seafarers all calmly left the boat, Anita helping Kyla down the plank as Taka and Adolph flanked behind them like sentinel guardians. Next walked Stephanie, her eyes watching over the pier for signs of trouble as she shuffled down the plank, followed by Sei.

The only one who had yet to disembark was Jensen who looked out over the city from the top of the plank, his eyes wide and full of wonder as he took in every large sky scraper that seemed to be built with impossible mechanics and mathematic equations. Perfect hour glass shaped towers, long silken banners draping in the wind, the city was just one tiny bucket in the sea of beauty that Alerar was.

Yet the immortal didn’t give two shits about that, for what he felt was his boiling hatred for the elven race build up within his chest. Fingers curled upon themselves, teeth clenched tightly, the knight looked down to see the port hand talking with the captain of the boat, working out details and costs for docking for a few days. A sly devilish smile crossed his features as glared downwards.

The party looked up to Jensen, waiting for him to come down, but it was Stephanie who quickly realized what the immortal was about to do. With all the haste she could muster her hand reached out, pounding her boots against the wet plank as she jumped towards him.

“Hey, you scrawny leaf lic-” Stepahnie’s hand clasped around his mouth, both of them tumbling backwards back upon the boat as he wrestled with her to get his mouth free. She elbowed him in the gut, he kneed her in the thigh. She bit his neck, he pulled her hair, but never once could he manage to free his mouth long enough to speak. At last the woman found the upper hand as she lifted up on his collar and slammed his head hard against the wooden floor of the boat. His eyes bugged out he looked slightly dazed as she mounted on top of him, ending all his resistance.

“Behave,” she warned.

“Fumph Uppff,” he mumbled behind her hand.

“I don’t care if you’re a racist bigot, it’s day time and we do what Sei says, got it?”

“Nomph,”

“I’m not hearing a yes,” she taunted, pulling out one of her knives.

“Fyme.” She gave him one last serious look, but he didn’t seem to object any further. With a soft nod she pocketed the dagger and offered her hand to him, which he took. When he stood up he looked to see Sei standing there, eyes looking quizzically at his body guards.

“Fuck my life,” Jensen mumbled. “I’m in the land of the bush fuckers escorting the fairy king.”

[Silence Sei]

"Correction," Anita said, "You're taking order from the Fairy King. I guess that makes you a fairy peon." The girl smiled as she shifted her gaze to Kyla. Her 'sister' seemed a bit surprised with the playfulness between Stephanie and Jensen. Anita had been on so many adventures with the two to know that the wrestling was harmless. However, Kyla had not journeyed with both knights at the same time yet, so she didn't know what to expect.

Anita went to go talk to the girl as Sei looked to Stephanie and Jensen. "I don't want any of your intolerance while you're with me, Jensen. Do what you want at any other time, but for now keep your opinions to yourself." It was one of the rare times that Sei told Jensen to shut up. Most of the time, the mute would let the knight talk the ears off of everyone else until they outright left, but Jensen never could get to Sei that way.

Not even with taunts of what he was going to do to Kyla if given a few minutes alone with her...

Sei knew Jensen had a good heart. In truth, he didn't so much mind the knight dating his daughter, if he so wished. He was more so disappointed in the way Kyla carried herself around the immortal. If she would have just acted like a lady should, like Anita did with Taka, Sei would have given the two his blessing. Of course, Anita and Taka weren't actually a couple, so it was easy for the telepath to think such things.

Looking at the shocked glances he was getting from the town, Sei sighed. This was the reason he had moved from Alerar to Radasanth in the first place. While in the charge of Thoracis Rakarth, Sei had become the Chief Strategist for the Alerar Armed Forces. It was during his stint as Thoracis' primary advisor that Sei originally gained notoriety. Naturally, the mute had implemented several strategies used to win several campaigns in the name of his lord. Even once he left the country, he had made a list of backup plans should the general ever require them.

It was because of things like this that Sei Orlouge was almost worshipped as if he were a Lesser Thayne. Whispers began to formulate through the crowd as Sei's eyes shifted from one pointy-eared resident to the next. Sei could feel the eyes of his entire team upon him, as if they were expecting some sort of story from him. The only person who didn't seem to be shooting eye-lasers at the mute was Adolph. The older knight had probably heard tales of the mystic warrior in his years with the AK. Sei was grateful at least one person understood why he wanted to keep his privacy.

"Let's go," Sei said as he walked through his own people, proceeding into the city. As he walked, people would literally drop what they had to make way for him. Every three or so seconds Sei would catch either his first or last name on the lips of the citizens. He had never expected any kind of recognition for what he had done for Thoracis, much like he didn't expect recognition for what he did for Radasanth.

So was the 'curse' of the great Sei Orlouge...

[Tainted Bushido]

Taka and Anita were soon underway looking through the area for any sign of the shops on the list. They had quickly separated from the leader of the Ixian knights in an effort to find the gift quickly. Small talk would be made now and again, and while Taka tried not to be simplistically blunt in his replies, it was a difficulty that at times did frustrate Anita. These bouts would always begin with her giving him a pointed look, saying "Is that all."

Taka would promptly apologize.

From there the conversation could go anywhere. Once it ended with Taka apologizing for apologizing. Yet another had her wondering aloud why she even bothered with the simplest questions she already knew he would be blunt in answering. Obviously Anita was trying to continue their growing interest in each other, but Taka was first and foremost a warrior. It lead to odd situations where he now was in over his head.

In Akashima he would have been assigned a wife, for the good of his family. Perhaps he would marry a courtier or noble, perhaps a samurai-ko. The point was that he had never entertained a romantic relationship, because such things were secondary to the point of marriage in his mind. Being a ronin had given him a bit more freedom in this category, but finding out he was tainted, only brought him back to square one. Even so innocent an event as a kiss could spread his taint.

So, when she continued to pester him with simple questions, he would often return with a simple answer. She of course would grumble and gripe, and Taka would feel guilty about keeping her at arms length. Certainly he could feel a stirring of romantic love in his chest, but he couldn't afford to embrace it, so he didn't. In the end, blind loyalty to his "employer" was what would kill this relationship, if it could be called such. Still she was polite, and she was at least happy for the unsupervised time away from her father.

That was perhaps the blessing of this pseudo-relationship. Because Sei knew Taka would never willingly hurt his daughter, he afforded her a bit more freedom than previously. Further, because she had Taka for her bodyguard, he knew she would be safe so long as Taka drew breath. The fact that his death didn't end his service also helped to shape his growing confidence in Taka's abilities. He knew that when Taka and Anita went off into the Radasanth nights alone, that she would be safe and Taka wouldn't abuse his position to force her into something she didn't want to do.

Quite the opposite, he had to worry about her one day breaking his barriers down.

They were currently in a small shop of magical trinkets. A few items glowed softly in the reduced lighting, and a few others seemed to react to the presence of Taka or Anita coming near them, springing to life to show of their single trick, before going inert once more. Each item was a small wonder to the Akashiman, for whom magic was a rather rare thing. Perhaps only one in every two hundred people had the capacity for magic, and of them, only one in ten actually were strong enough to wield it without succumbing to its corrupting influence. Because of this, being seen as a tsukai, or witch, was a bad thing, and often such people were hunted by Tsukai-sugasu, or witch hunters.

He gave Anita a rare smile as he looked about the area and said, "This is truly an interesting place you have brought me Anita-sama…"

Anita seemed to grin at the naïveté of the ronin before she began to explain a few of the items, and just what they did.

[Amber Eyes]

They stood in the center of a large square, complete with carts pushed by short people and wonderful smelling foods sitting at table manned by even shorter people. Kyla had learned a bit about the land from Anita, mostly stuff of books hidden deep within her backpack. These people had very little magic. The elves drew in Kyla's attention, they were funny looking little things, not much shorter than Kyla herself, but enough so to make her feel quite powerful. She looked around enjoying the sites, and noticed that everyone was staring at Sei.

Kyla wasn't quite used to not being the center of attention. She smiled at Sei curiously and thought Who are you here? She waited for an answer that never came. Okay, don't want to talk? I hope you don't mind if I take a bit of the spotlight...

Kyla jumped up on a small bench in the middle of the square and created four tennis balls of light which she proceeded to begin to juggle. A small group of children gathered around to watch. She looked to Sei who was smiling slightly, and the rest of the group whom watched with serious expressions. Jensen wasn't looking at her, and Kyla assumed he was plotting the death of one of the vendors deep within his mind somewhere. She did a few little skips before she realized that aside from the kids who were quickly becoming bored with her juggling and dance routine, no one was paying attention. The adults within the square were all still staring a Sei.

Fine, guess they don't want to see my show. Kyla thought to herself as she plotted her next move. She held all four balls in her right hand and aimed them at a nearby cart.

"Kyla NO!" The voice reached her mind too late. Kyla watched the balls travel across the square in a perfect arc. They smashed into the cart which burst into flames. Now everyone's eyes were on her.

"What the hell did it do that for?" Kyla stared at Sei. "In Castus Malum they bounced off the walls!"

"Those walls were magic resistant, these people have no protection against spells. They don't usually need them, although apparently I should have warned them I was about to let you loose here!" Sei grabbed the girl by the arm and dropped some coins into the woman who stood near the now destroyed carts hands.

"You never tell me anything!" Kyla whined nearly silent as she awaited the rest of her lecture.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen watched as Kyla performed her little street parade, smiling in the corner of his mouth as she craved for the attention, yet for whatever reason these leaf lickers just seemed to be fascinated in the faggot fairy king. He surmised that it had to do with kindred spirits, both frolicking fools and what not. When Kyla blew up one of their carts he praised her for her greatness, clapping wildly with an enthusiasm of a participant at a symphony. He even whistled to her, but more in a hey-look-at-that-ass kind of way, grinning before Stephanie decked him with a right cross hook.

“Jeeze, what the hell is your problem?” Jensen muttered rubbing his sore jaw.

“Sorry, tolerance for jackasses right now is very, very limited,” she muttered as she bore holes into the back of Kyla’s head. Jensen looked to Kyla, then to Stephanie, then back before he began to cackle with a maddening laughter. He pointed to his fellow knight, who merely gave him a confused look.

“Getting jealous aren’t we?” Stephanie’s eyes went wide at Jensen’s accusation, her fist tightening into a ball as she prepared to let it fly into his mouth. “Oh knock it off, she’s never going to replace my Stephie Wephie!” Her fist connected with his nose, and he felt the drizzle of blood as he cursed loudly falling backwards.

“Moron,” she muttered.

The rest of the trip was awkward, every three steps Sei stopping to say hello to one of his numerous adoring fans. Jensen continually tried to step next to Kyla, just to spend even a fraction of silence near her, but every attempt was interrupted as an elf ran between them, or Adolph blocking his path, or Stephanie venting whatever frustrations she had on the immortal physically preventing him from moving. He concluded he would just have to wait until the night if he wanted to be with the girl, and he winced thinking of what he was going to do in the whee hours of the evening.

“This is soooo lame,” Jensen whined. “Faggot fairy king is taking forever! We’ll never even hit the inn tonight at this point!” Sei merely shrugged.

“Should you ever do anything of notable fame, I’ll be sure to spend an entire day following you through the throng of people.”

“Heh, I’ll get my fame when I get five minutes alone with Ky-” Stephanie’s fist went right upside his head. Jensen shook his head, sighing loudly as he walked towards the inn when suddenly he caught something out of the corner of his eyes. He stopped walking, letting the group get ahead of him as he felt drawn to a particular shop window, his face glued to one item in a display case at the forefront. Just stepping forwards and he could feel the magical enchantments that prevented someone from breaking the glass and taking what he saw.

A pristine six barrel revolver with extended nozzle, perfect for modification. His pants tightened as he ouued audibly, feeling a bit of drool come out the side of his mouth. The pistol’s grip was brilliantly slanted outwards, easily usable for one hand operations up to and including twirling it around his hand. The trigger system had an extended finger loop, great for rolling around his finger, and the barrel was sleek and well shined. The chamber was smooth, the clip attached to a speed loader with six golden bullets all set neatly upon a velvet pillow made of the finest satin. He felt his fingers press up against the glass as he debated on whether or not to hump the building in homage to owning such a wonderful toy.

“Jensen, come on!” Stephanie ordered fiercely, but when she came to collect him she too saw what he was searching for. With a heavy sigh she reached a hand up grabbing Jensen by the collar and forcibly dragging him away. “Sorry buddy,” She whispered to him. “We still are on duty, but I’ll promise to take you back tonight if you behave, okay?” She smiled to him, a sweet and caring smile, but Jensen’s eyes still remained stuck on the gun.

“That’s it, that’s the revolver for my gunblade! It’s perfect! The shear trigger, the balance, it’s perfect for a short sword! It won’t nearly be as clunky as Letho Ravenheart’s Law Maker, it’ll be retractable and usable to parry blows and riposte!”

“You don’t even know how to fence or use a sword,” Stephanie countered.

“It’s just an extension of your will made manifest, isn’t it? And if not at least the blade is easily handy to rotate with me as I do my Caeiporiea! It’s the one I want!” Stephanie sighed again, a more gentle, heartfelt sigh as she smiled to him again.

“And you know how much it is?” Stephanie asked. Jensen merely turned into her, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and bringing her in as he put on a devilish smile. She felt something boil inside him and her mood dramatically changed as she felt giddy just to be near his proximity.

“Free if I steal it…” he let that linger while he looked to his current group. All he needed was right in his hands. Stephanie would be on board with a little convincing. Adolph was useless. Sei was a faggot. Taka was a stern dumbass. Anita was a bitch. Then there was his ace in the hole.

If Kyla wanted attention, he knew the perfect way to give it to her.

[Silence Sei]

Sei went to various shops that day, being rewarded with nothing but praise and gratitude for what he did for the people of Alerar. There was a reason the telepath had gained his prestigious nickname in this land. Sei quickly began to resign himself to defeat for today when he noticed the sun was setting rather quickly. Jensen was mumbling something about a gunblade, Kyla wanted Jensen's attention, Anita and Taka were still out, Stephanie was fuming over Jensen and Adolph was finding amusement in the whole situation.

As the last shimmers of light began to fade from the sky, the group finally reached the inn. It was a very ritzy and expensive looking place that the elves had insisted Sei stay at for all of his troubles. When he had walked in, he noticed the lavish gold and silver markings on the walls. They were written in elfish, naturally, and they lined the entire place. Looking ahead to the livol desk stood an elf in a tuxedo, his ears bent downward to give him a human-like appearance.

"Welcome, Lord Orlouge," the elf said in a snobby tone, as if he carried himself better than most of the Orlouge party, "I have been expecting you. Your dinner is already in your room. 305. I have also arranged a room for your daughters across the hall in 304. Your bodyguards will stay in 303, 306, 302 and 301." Anita looked furious at the fact that each bodyguard got their own room, but she and Kyla were roomies like usual.

Anita mumbled about how life was no fair while Sei approached Kyla. The girl was close enough to Jensen that the pair would both be able to understand that he was talking to them. The mute had began to think he was coming down too hard on his daughter, and she needed a reward for sticking with him through all the stuff he put her through. Placing a hand on her shoulder, Sei looked at the girl with a smile.

"Jensen, take care of her and enjoy date night." The mute had not even realized that the words he spoke would throw a wrench into the immortals entire nightly plans.

[Tainted Bushido]

With the night free, Anita had insisted that they spend more time together. Of course Taka saw no point in this, but relented only because he was to protect her. The trip into the magical item shop was of course uneventful other than the tour of mystical artifacts Anita had given him. He of course understood this was entirely because of the budding relationship between them. He had yet to explain the problems with his condition for those who would share a relationship with him

Moving down the street Taka once again feigned ignorance of the looks he was getting from Anita. Further, when the sounds of boot steps approaching reached Taka’s ears, he spun in place firmly placing himself between Anita and the source of the noise. The steps were not the lackluster shuffle of someone moving through the area. They held purpose and confidence. Ever since the fight in Concordia against Shiryko, Taka had grown a sixth sense of danger.

What he saw, not only explained why his danger sense was triggered, but the nature of the threat. Moving swiftly down the street was Stephanie of the nights. A woman who had taken umbrage at Taka’s appearance in the Tomb’s, she was the reason Jensen had pushed Taka to the brink of breaking. When she had lost her little bet, and taka had kept his cool façade, she had tried once more, only to be rebuffed by Anita and told to stop her pointless grudge.

Narrowing his eyes, Taka waited silently keeping muscles taut incase of an attack before Stephanie stopped short of Taka and held up Jensen’s coat. A look of confusion crossed Taka’s face only a mere moment, before it returned back to the focused calm Taka always held when he was ready to fight. Her words broke through the silence as she spoke, “Jensen wants you to wear this.”

The coat was easily caught by Taka when it was tossed to him before he looked back upon the woman. His voice was cautious before he spoke, never taking his eyes off the woman, “<And why should I do this?>”

Stephanie let a soft snort cross her lips before she answered back in Akashiman, <”I don’t honestly care, its leather incase you’re wondering. I’m sure your gods will have a laugh over that…>”

Taka fought the urge to drop the coat before he looked back to Anita. The girl only softly nodded her head and said, “<Just do it Taka, we’ll eat and you can take it off on the way home. I promise you I won’t tell anyone…>”

Taka looked back at Stephanie before his voice held a quavering note of anger in it, “<Your friend owes me for this one. I will collect in due time.>” Stephanie only laughed at him, and had to lean against a wall to stay supported before she walked off. Her laughter trailed through the area letting Taka know she found the situation hilarious. Taka closed his eyes, feeling the shame of wearing dead skin, before he turned to Anita, “<If we could eat quickly so I might shed this blasphemy?>

A gentle hand rested on his arm before she said softly, “<We’ll make sure to get you to an Akishiman shrine to cleanse you soon. Thank you for taking the order…>”

He looked down at her before he shook his head, “<It is my duty to follow your orders Lady Orlouge, and I would not hesitate to follow them, so long as you are not placed in harm’s way.>”


~*~

The small café they were dining in was a far cry from the tea houses he had become accustomed to in recent years. It was a small place, meant more for a quick dine before running off to do other things scheduled with the day. Of course Taka felt the places purpose would be well served. He still was concerned with that look in Anita's eyes. Ever since his resurrection in the Tombs, she had been uncomfortably close, and while Taka would have at one time invited such propositions, he couldn't afford to either. Still he figured this would be the place to break the news to her.

Looking up at the dwindling night of the sky, he noticed an older woman moving about lighting lanterns and candles upon the table. She did so for their table swiftly, obviously prioritizing the tables that were occupied as they continued to eat. One of the odd things that had occurred early in the relationship was the fact that Taka was unused to western utensils. However, instead of learning to use such implements, he used his chopsticks with every meal. This had lead to more than a few ludicrous situations, where they seemingly attempted to make meals, just to see if Taka could eat them with his chopsticks.

He of course, would find a way to amaze them with his dexterity and the two small bits of wood, so when he pulled them out Anita couldn't help the giggle that escaped. Taka let a soft grin light his features before he said, "<Do they truly entertain you Anita-sama?>"

Anita laughed out loud before she covered her mouth then spoke delicately, "<I should have known better than to assume you would go without them.>"

Taka let the grin widen to a smile before he said, "<Tell me Anita-sama, what do you know of my homeland?>"

She seemed to straighten up at those words. It was as if it were a challenge to the daughter of Sei Orlouge, and she would tackle such a challenge head on, "<I know that your staple food is rice. I also know that Akashima is ruled over by Empress Akashima, and that the country is split into four fiefdoms. Each fiefdom is controlled by a Duke, of which the western Duke or, Duchess as the case were, has finally claimed their position. I know that the Samurai Caste dwindles with each generation, with the job of the protector going to the peasantry. This of course makes Samurai more valuable, but less necessary nowadays.>"

Taka raised an eyebrow looking at Anita before she seemed to blush and spoke quickly, "<Not that you are ever unnecessary, merely that the position Samurai hold is slowly being given to the people, and that the need for such specialized warriors dwindles with each year that goes by.>"

He nodded softly before he spoke, "<And of those who are Tainted?>"

"<Until I met you, I didn't know such a condition existed,>" Anita replied softly.

Taka looked down, letting out a long sigh before he carefully set his chopsticks down. The food was not present yet, and he had a lot of ground to cover, "<You know how a person becomes tainted, but I have glossed over what happens to those who bear the mark of Jigoku in our country. This is mainly because of the stigma attached to bearing Oni Blood in the first place…>" He looked at Anita who seemed to give him a look of concern before he finally spoke once more, "<We are kill on sight Anita-sama. Once a person is found bearing the taint, they are to be killed and the body burned immediately. Not even the Eta, lowliest of the peasants, are allowed to deal with tainted bodies. Where they fall is to be the location of their pyre. There is, a few reasons for this, one of which I am sure you remember…>"

"<When you attacked Papa,>" She said firmly, remembering the fight on the edge of the Concordia Forest.

"<That is the main reason, mainly because that is a possibility every day that goes by. Akashima has no use for a trained dog that might turn on its master some day, and as ill as it makes me to create such a comparison, it is crudely apt. The second reason is, the taint spreads, subtly but it can…>" Taka said softly as he finally looked Anita in the eyes.

"<And how?>" Anita finally asked.

"<We are not sure what level of intimacy does it, but it is suggested that any intimate contact with one who is touched by Jigoku could spread the taint. This can be as simple as a handshake, or as complex as matters that are suitable only for a married couple,>" Taka replied firmly. He then looked down as he placed his hand on his face, "<That is perhaps my biggest fear in protecting you Anita-sama, I fear marking you with this curse.>"

He felt a slender hand gently pull his arm down before he saw her giving him a brave smile. She nodded softly before she said, "<Thank you for telling me this, before it becomes an issue later. I'm sure Papa can find some way to cure you, so you aren't so afraid to be around me!>"

He raised an eyebrow hearing those words before he said softly, "<It does not deter you Anita-sama?>"

"<Why should it, I know you're a good man Taka, I don't need to fear you losing control. I know you would do everything in your power to protect me.>"

Taka smiled looking at Sei's adopted child before he shook his head slowly, "<It seems I am to give you my deepest apologies, for underestimating your courage Anita-sama.>"

[Amber Eyes]

""PIZZA?" Kyla squealed as she tried to force her boobs into a dress that just happened to fit perfectly everywhere but there. "We finally get the chance to go somewhere and he chooses pizza? Are all men idiots or just the ones I happen to like?" She pushed down on her chest as Stephanie pulled up on the dress and it finally was forced into place.

Her dress was sky blue, almost the exact color of her eyes. It had small straps that hung lightly on her shoulders leading down to a low yet modest neckline. The fabric reached just below her knees with small slits coming up to the middle of her thigh. It fit her just right, not hugging her figure too tightly but accentuating it none the less. She looked herself over in the mirror, taking in the blush on her cheeks, the light brown eye makeup, the ringlets Stephanie had put in her hair. Her hair was pulled back and curled, with two ringlets left loose to frame her face, and each feature was perfect. Stephanie had truly outdone herself.

Most of her life she'd spent being one of the guys, with the occasional day that she dressed sexy. This was something else though, when she saw her reflection, Kyla felt beautiful.

"What do you think?"

Kyla couldn't help but notice the pain in Stephanie's eyes as she responded, "You look great."

The moment became quite awkward as Kyla realized the hurt Stephanie must feel. Kyla was aware that Stephanie had some sort of feelings for the immortal, but she also knew that Jensen wasn't even fully aware that Stephanie was female. Still it must hurt to help me get ready to go with him.

"Why do you do it?" Kyla asked as she stood in the doorway. She didn't expect a reply, but the knowing look Stephanie gave her said it all.

She's stronger than me Kyla thought as she made her way down the steps.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

“Seriously,” Adolph mumbled. “Pizza?”

“Shove it,” Jensen warned to the taller man. “I have my reasons,” Jensen mumbled as he fixed his tie. Though the immortal hated dressing up, when he caught wind that Kyla would be he supposed he should at least clean up and present himself well. He bought a new pair of pants, had his shirt cleaned and purchased a vest to go over it. The tie was just a hand me down from Adolph, who watched with amusement as the immortal failed to tie the knot.

“What are you going to do?” Adolph said, a sly smile on his face. Jensen dropped his hands, giving Adolph the most pathetic look of disappointment.

“What do you think I’m going to do?” Jensen mumbled. “I’m going to wine her, dine her, and then…well, if you haven’t caught up on my hint by now I got a few books you should check out from the local library. Will do wonders for you adult education.”

Adolph chuckled as he approached the mirror, fixing his hair. Jensen looked to the man before something dawned on him. His eyes went wide and the look of joy on Adolph’s face spoke volumes of the heresy at hand.

“You better not be thinking you are coming…” Jensen breathed, his tone dark and sinister.

“You seem to forget that I had orders to protect Kyla. I fully plan on being part of this dinner date.” Jensen tunred into the man, looking up as his chest bumped into Adolph’s. The knight squared his shoulders, toughening up as he bumped his chest into Jensen’s, pushing the immortal back.

“It’s night time, ass kisser. Obey your orders and stand down,” Jensen said heatedly.

“I get to do whatever I want at night. I want to protect Kyla from scum like you,” Adolph replied darkly.

“You’re just asking for it,” Jensen mumbled, his fist curling tight into a fist.

“I love asking questions,” Adolph replied, his tone getting even as he brought up one hand and clenched it. “Great way to find the answers your looking for.”

“Ever heard the answer to how to entertain a dumbass?” Adolph grinned in response. “YOU SHORYUKEN HIS ASS!” Jensen cried out angrily, lifting his fist up to Adolph’s jaw. He jumped in time with his attack, slamming his body into the taller warrior’s knowing full well he got the jump on him.

So it was Jensen’s world crashing down when he felt a tight hold on his extended fist, another hand reaching out and gripping the immortal by the neck. Adolph held him there, his eyes wide with glee as he held the sly smile of a hunter who snared a difficult to catch prey.

“Did you really think that would work on me twice?” Adolph asked. Jensen shrugged as best he could.

“Well, if the Shoryuken fails, there is always the final method,” Jensen said weakly. Adolph looked to him curiously. With one deft move his foot slammed hard into Adolph’s crotch. The knight crumbled, releasing his grip as Jensen let out a whoop of laughter running towards the door. “So long sucker!”

When he was about to grab the knob the door opened into his face, knocking him over as Stephanie walked in with tears in her eyes. Jensen and Adolph both looked up to her, their faces full of confusion as she looked at Jensen. She saw his half tied tie, his clean shirt and nice clothing. With a whimper she turned her head and ran to the bathroom, slamming the door shut.

“What’s up with her?” Jensen asked getting up and heading towards the bathroom door. Adolph pulle himself together as he got up, standing next to the door as he softly rapped his knuckles on the wood.

“I’m fine, just go away!” she cried. Jensen tested the door knob, but found she had locked herself in.

“Hey, Steph, come on, let us talk to you,” Jensen said.

“Don’t you have some date,” she oozed venomously. “To go on?” Jensen looked to the clock and sure enough she was right. It was time for him to go to his date. He looked to Adolph, who shrugged leaning against the wall.

“I’ll stick behind and see what’s up.” Adolph whispered. Jensen touched his elbow softly and ran out to his date.

Women, Jensen thought irritably.

~*~*~

Dinner at the restaurant was what he expected from lousy leaf lickers. Incredibly delicious, and full of extra snobbish behavior. The waiters were all rude to him, but extremely polite to Kyla, who seemed to be happy with the attention. Jensen had spent nearly five minutes talking about how gorgeous she looked, and she seemed to glow something special on this night.

When he saw the dress he realized a pizza shack just wasn’t going to cut it. She wanted the ritzy treatment, which was fine with him. She deserved to be treated well once in a while, but even though he talked to her, giving his attention solely to her, it was secretly being divided.

The gun blade took shape in his mind, the custom pistol he saw in the window focusing itself into place along the blade. He saw himself swinging it in battle, laughing like a hyena, screaming for all comers. Then a hand took his gun blade away, and he followed that hand to see Kyla grip the handle with a fondness of one who had met an old friend before she too wielded it expertly.

She was also naked in his fantasy.

“Jensen, I just want to know that I really am grateful you changed the dinner arrangements.” Kyla said politely. Jensen just nodded.

“Yep, nothing.” He passed off.

“You in there, your eyes kinda glossed over,” Kyla chuckled. Jensen laughed to.

“Ya, that’s funny…” he said in a daze, his attentions shifting more and more to his weapon and the naked Kyla in his dream.

“I’m thinking tonight can be extra special,” Kyla said with a hinting tone, her tongue licking the edge of her wine glass.

“I always thought you were special,” Jensen mumbled. Kyla’s entire face dropped as she gently placed her face onto her hand.

“Yep, I was thinking of letting you take me right up the ass over this table. Screw the people my father helped save. Let’s just have sex right now.” She said in a neutral tone, a smile crossing her features as she watched Jensen’s eyes completely gloss over. “Just tell me you want me.”

“It’s nice to be wanted.”

Kyla merely smiled to him, sipping her wine then after swishing the taste in her mouth, she politely spit it back into the cup before splashing it in Jensen’s face. The immortal’s world vanished and he shook his head multiple times.

He looked to her, a little angry, but then realized he had just made the biggest mistake in all of dating: Ignoring the woman. He sighed to her, realizing he wasn’t going to repair that blunder as her arms crossed just under her breasts.

“Look, I’m sorry. I know I’ve been really getting blurry in the lines,” he admitted. “Especially since Aislinn and Felicity stepped in.” The names of Kyla’s niece’s only seemed to anger her more, but Jensen lifted his hand to hers. “But trust me, I was thinking of you! I was very much thinking of you.”

“Oh, and just what were you thinking?” She asked, trying to be intimidating, but the sly smile in the corner of her lips belied the girl’s happiness to be in the man’s thoughts.

“Well, it’s a little,” Jensen tried to say something along the lines of, crass, rude, dishonorable, but looked to her and just blurted it out. “You were holding a gun blade, naked.” he said honestly. Her eyes looked to him, and then she just shook her head.

“What? It’s what you were doing!” Jensen argued. Kyla looked up to him, a smile on her face and Jensen just relaxed in the back of his chair. “I swear to god, I gotta do something about getting me a gun blade…” Jensen mumbled. Kyla’s hand reached to his, gripping his fingers in hers gently.

“Maybe I can help,” she said earnestly. Jensen at first was about to blow her off, but then thought about it. After a moment of thinking he realized she would be very helpful indeed.

“Maybe you can…” he whispered to her, hunching in and explaining his plans to the girl.

[Silence Sei]

Pizza....really?! Sei was stunned at Jensen's lack of social graces. The couple was not some pre-pubescent one-in-a-million shot crazy kids with love in their eyes. They were both adults, and adults did not do pizza dates. When Sei came to spy on the couple after getting an address from Adolph, he fully expected a moonlit walk on the beach, a cruise ship under the night stars, a blanket and a picnic, but not pizza. I guess I'm still a hopeless romantic.

Sei's disguise was sub-par to say the least. In his haste to make sure that Kyla was going to be okay with Jensen, the telepath only had time to grab a top hat and a fake mustache. Unfortunately, the ensemble made him look like more of an old-time villain than anything feasible in the pizza place. As he sat at his wooden table, he listened intently to the thoughts of Kyla and Jensen. It appeared as though Kyla was just trying to get the man's attention, but all Jensen could focus on was that stupid gunblade.

He's on a date with a beautiful girl and all he's thinking about is that weapon? I'm going to kill him. As Sei stewed in anger about Jensen's lack of focus, a waitress approached the red table that the mute was sitting at. Her bunned up blonde hair only brought out her pointy-eared features more. Her white apron was clean and well-pressed or the occasion. She even had three gold stars tacked on above her right breast, indicating she had been working at this pizza restaurant for three years.

"Can I get you so---wait a minute....you're Sei Orlouge!" Sei's eyes widened t the girl as she began to wave frantically to her friends. "Everybody, get over here! It’s Sei Orlouge, THE Sei Orlouge!" Sei watched the heads of Kyla and Jensen turn towards him once the immortal finished whispering. Sei couldn't tell what feelings hid behind Kyla's piercing blue eyes, but he knew that they were burying themselves into his very soul.

As a group gathered around Sei's table, his vision from his daughter was cut off. Sei sighed a breath of relief, only to b caught off guard moments later when Kyla stormed over to his table, knocking over several elves in the process. "Sei, were you spying on me?!" The girl demanded an answer from her father, who merely fumbled around with a fork while dodging his little girl's eyes.

"I am just a common street vendor trying to enjoy pizza, I do not know who this 'Sei' is." The mute failed to realize that his telepathy was a dead give away to his person. "You were! You were spying on me! ....I like that." Sei's eyes widened more than the mute thought possible at Kyla's words. What the hell did she mean by that? Furthermore, where the hell was Jensen?

[Tainted Bushido]

“<So, I know that touching dead skin is taboo, but why?>”

Anita was now walking down the streets of the city. Taka had carefully removed the jacket after dinner and carefully used the saya of his nodachi to hold the end of the coat, before slinging the weapon over a shoulder. The situation looked a bit odd, but helped keep the burning sensation that plagued Taka’s mind since he had donned the blasphemous coat.

“<It is an ancient tradition of Shinto. We venerate life in all its forms, and to be dead is to lose meaning. While eating meat is expressly allowed, the handling of the dead is left to those so unworthy that their very presence can be seen as an insult to those of higher station,> Taka explained. He looked down to Anita before he gestured back to the jacket.

“<So its more for religious reasons than for any practical reason?>” Anita tried to phrase it well, and Taka could tell she was definitely trying not to insult him. Because of this he let the comment slide, but perhaps it would be of use to explain the Eastern Guard and why it was far more pragmatic than its western and souther brethren, who by far were the more traditionalists.

“<In Akashima, our entire religion is the core of our society. The Caste system was seen as Celestial Mandate, brought forth by the Guardians themselves. It was a means of brining order to a land steeped in chaos. While we all are practitioners of the religion, especially the samurai caste, we all are of varying levels of adherence. The only reason I wore the coat was because I knew there was probably a reason for doing so, and you had ordered me to. In the Eastern Guard we are taught that the most important tenant of Bushido is Duty.>”

Anita stopped causing the Ronin to stop and turn back to look at her. Her face was furrowed in a frown of concentration before she looked up at him and cocked an eyebrow, “<If you aren’t a strict adherent why are you still so revolted by the act?>”

“<The Eastern Guard is superstitious. While we do not believe that strict adherence to Shinto and Bushido is always necessary, we know we still must adhere to it. It is not for the reason that the religion is dead. Everyday I see the act of the Kami, and every year we hear rumors of the guardians still blessing Akashima. If we were to break from the traditions set forth by Bushido and Shinto, we would be breaking our loyalty to the forces who sought to place Lady Akashima in her rightful spot. We are to be loyal to the Empress in all she does, and therefore we would not dare spit upon the deal made with the Spirits, even now when such traditions are seen as archaic constructs of a traditionalist mind too frail to adapt and change with the times.>”

Anita looked up at Taka before she said, “<So you’re saying that you follow Shinto, and it’s more the instilled fear of touching dead flesh than any actual rational fear?>”

He nodded softly before he turned and continued to walk forward, “<Essentially, yes. Perhaps it is me jumping at Shadows, but even now I cling to the traditions of my people. It might confuse someone unused to such things, but I would not be the person I am if I could not. In essence, if I give up my traditions and beliefs, I would cease to be one of the nine, and further, the ronin who you seem to be enamored with.>”

She blushed at those words before she looked forward and said softly, “<Taka, do you remember the…truth you gave me in Concordia?>”

He looked down upon the girl for a moment before her nodded softly, “<I do, no matter what, so long as I draw breathe, I shall come to your aid. All you need do, is but to ask for it.>”

She nodded softly before she said firmly, “I…” She turned her head and blushed furiously. Taka paused looking at her before his arm gently wrapped about her shoulders. The sudden intimate act caught the girl off guard as she squealed in delight. Looking up at Taka she saw it in his eyes, the pain of knowing what she desired, and being unable to act upon it. The conversation in the bistro rang through her mind before she nodded softly.

“<Thank you, Anita-chan…>” Taka said softly. Her eyes widened as she heard those words, looking up at her yojimbo for awhile. A small smile crossed her lips as she leaned into the embrace.

“<Taka-kun, say it again…>”

The ronin let a soft smile grace his face before he spoke softly, “Anita-chan, arigato.”

[Amber Eyes]

Kyla smiled to herself. Her adopted father was actually worried about her….this could be fun. Jensen needed a distraction, fine. Kyla was more than willing to do her part and take one for the team.

“I think it’s kinda cool that you’re looking out for me. I could get used to this overprotective father thing.” The young mystic turned to Jensen, “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d actually like to talk to Papa about something rather personal.”

A quick wink from Kyla sent Jensen off to get to work. Kyla turned toward Sei and gestured toward the chair the immortal had recently vacated. The moment they were seated Kyla looked Sei directly in the eye.

“I’ve wanted to talk to you about something….well, perhaps a bit embarrassing actually. We’re both adults here right?” Kyla’s voice was slightly menacing, and Sei was beginning to show signs of discomfort.

”I suppose…though you know you’ll always be my little girl.’

“You didn’t even know me as a little girl uncle Sei.” Kyla retorted with a laugh.

”And…..? I still think of you as a little girl.”

“Well, you see…there comes a time in every little girl’s life where she has to grow up and…”

“NOW IS NOT THAT TIME!” Sei’s ‘scream’ filled the girls mind, and almost made her faint. Kyla was sure she’d never get used to that feeling. Sei stood from the table, his face a bright red, and started towards the door. Kyla stood immediately after Sei and screamed at the top of her lungs.

“BUT I JUST WANTED TO KNOW HOW TO USE A CONDOM!”

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen moved swiftly and silently down the walkways of the town, eying something behind him and nodding to himself. The plan so far was going far better than he expected, and Kyla’s role was a part he was sad not to be able to witness. Still, things had to go according to a strict time table, and he eyed the giant clock in the town square. On time… He thought with a grin turning and leaning against a wall.

“They say in these lands the roosters crow at midnight…” Jensen spoke to the person passing by. Waiting for the answer to his top secret code, he grinned lowering his head. What he saw coming made his eyes grow wide and his vision turn white then black.

“Grow up moron!” Stephanie said rubbing her knuckles. “What the hell is up with you lately. You have me get Kyla all dressed up for some stupid date, then you ask me to do all these stupid errands for you that you left in a note in the bathroom! It’s like you knew I’d be crying in there!”

Jensen feigned a shrug rubbing the back of his head. “Actually, Steph, the note was left in there because it was the only safe place I could leave it without it being missed.” She rolled her eyes at how dense the immortal was sometimes. “And I knew Adolph wouldn’t touch anything that didn’t belong to him. It’s the perfect start to my master plan!” Stephanie looked to him and she couldn’t help but smile as she saw the knight grinning excitedly.

“I guess I should feel honored you ruined a date with Kyla and asked for me.” ’

“I trust nobody more with this mission. Did you do what I ask?” Stephanie nodded once.

“Yep, gave your trench coat for Taka to wear. Then I asked Adolph if he would do me an errand that took him out of the public eye for a while. I dressed in evening attire and made sure my boots were ready for running. Strange these orders are, but I have done them. Now what are we going to do?” Jensen observed the street and saw a minimal number of frolicking leaf lickers. He looked back to Stephanie and pointed to her hair. She shrugged lifting up a hood to her cloak. Her face was all but recognizable.

With a sinister smile he pointed to the gun shop ready to enact his plans.

“No way…” Stephanie whispered. “You were serious? You’re going to steal it?” As much as she was pretending to be shocked and disappointed, she was actually thrilled. She relished spending these insane moments with the immortal. Jensen answered her questions by moving towards the door, opening it and stepping in. She quickly followed suit and the two walked towards the gun.

“Yes, may I help you?” a shopkeeper asked. Jensen smiled wide as he lifted his arm up and linked it with Stephanie’s, she instinctively leaning on him for support like lovers. She made sure her face was cast downwards, like she were slightly drunk.

“My good friend, I am interested in only the finest works! I direct your attentions to this piece here, may I please have your take on it?” The shopkeeper smiled bowing politely stepping next to the case.

“Well this sir is a fine revolver series, the Bolverk NU13 pattern. It’s capable of firing off six shots in under four seconds. See the mechanisms are of a new design, where you don’t need to hit the hammer after the initial load. Keeps the barrel spinning on its own until your dry. Shear trigger for those itchy fingers, and an extended loop for quick draw. Beauty is also highly customizable as well. Usually sought after by many, many enthusiasts.” He spoke as if reciting from a book, and his smile was all the more sleaze like. Yet it didn’t stop the information from being true. An elf usually didn’t lie about weapons, Jensen had learned.

“A fine model indeed! Now I have a peculiar obsessive disorder. I like my guns to spin around my body with ease. Like I were twirling them as small swords or daggers. I do shows you see, and I need a gun that can fire as fast as you claim. I was taking my darling girl out tonight when I saw that beauty in the window and I thought to myself, ‘well damn if that ain’t a pretty gun. I should test run it’, and now I’m here.” The elf nodded to him.

“Well for obvious reasons we do not let the guns out of the case until purchase. Not even for demonstration, but there are ways to make…things happen without my superiors knowing.” Jensen nodded to the elf and smiled, knowing what he wanted. He squeezed Stephanie’s hand, and she nodded once as she took in a deep breath. Jensen pulled out the bag of coins he had and let the elf gaze at its size. He jingled a few coins in his hand, before dropping them in the bag. The elf all but licked his chops. Jensen smiled to him, before his smile faded to a demented grin.

Fast as a snake strike, Jensen’s coin bag lurched out and slapped the elf on the side of the head. Stumbling forward in a daze Stephanie lifted her hands up and placed one on the lithe creatures chest and the other on the back of his head. She brought him over to the case and slammed his face upon the glass, blood splattering everywhere as the elf’s nose broke. He whimpered in pain, groaning, but the glass didn’t budge. She shrugged to the immortal, who lifted his hand up to his neck and ran one finger along the length of his throat. She nodded once and turned running out the door.

Jensen leaned over the elf, frisking his body for something, anything and at last he whooped in triumph, finding a key. He put it into the lock, and with a click the little case was opened. He could feel the magic surrounding the window and the gun, knowing it was under some heavy enchantments, but it all meant little when opened with the key. He took the gun, and ripped it off the pillow raising it in triumph.

He ran out the door, cackling maniacally as he ran, his laughter echoing down the hallways. Stephanie was screaming for help, help from a madman with a gun. Jensen couldn’t help but laugh louder, feeling his sides ache. Sometimes he just loved the woman and her innate ability to cause trouble. He turned, running down the alleyways and through the back door to the pizzeria with several armed guards coming after him.

He belted through the kitchen, knocking the filthy bush fuckers onto the ground, dragging trays and carts onto the floor to block the guards passage. “Stop that man!” They cried, but whoever tried was bull dozed as he hollered in blissful, insane mirth. When he reached the main dining room the immortal jumped upon the first table he saw and moved, interrupting the people’s dinner. He caught Kyla in the corner of his eye, pushing Sei with a playful hand while her eyes were begging something. Sei looked as uncomfortable as all hell, and it made the immortal beam with exuberant joy. He felt like a kid who just got his first bike.

“STOP THE CRAZY MAN WITH THE GUN!” Stephanie shouted like a guard, running along the edge of the building, her own mirth showing as she opened the door for the immortal as he lept off the final table and out the door. She chased after him, feeling her own laughter as he ran.

“Run run!” Jensen joked. Stephanie at last gave into her elation as she smiled, laughing with him. They passed through a small gathering of people, interrupting a fire eaters performance. Jensen hooked one arm out, linking with the fire eater and turning him so his flames blew out the way the immortal had arrived. The few guards that were chasing Stephanie were forced to break off or be burned, and Jensen felt a quip in his head, but chose not to say it.

“Onwards!” Stephanie cheered, pointing to the top of a set of stairs.

“Upwards!” Jensen replied, sprinting ahead and laughing insanely.

“Wherever the wind may take us!” Stephanie continued.

“So long as you are there!” Jensen finished lifting his hand out to the girl taking her hand and helping her up the stairs. The guards chased after them, the elven agility coming to the fore as they easily gained on them. It wasn’t going to be that easy, he figured, but he still felt the beat in his head and with a twirl he got Stephanie to feel his groove as both adopted fighting stances.

“TEST DRIVE!” Jensen shouted twirling the weapon around one finger and slamming the hilt into a guards face, kicking up his leg to boot another down the stairs. Stephanie lifted one foot up and kicked a warrior in the jaw, rotating and landing a roundhouse to send the elf sprawling. The immortal took a step back, moving to the beat in his head rolling his shoulders as he kept the gun rotating in his hand.

He stopped the swirling metal gun and dropped it onto a guards head, fracturing his nose. With a twirl the weapon was on the other hand and slamming into his temple knocking him out like a light. Stephanie punched another coming in the gut, twisting so her back was to his stomach, grabbing his head hip tossing the taller elf over her shoulder. Both looked to each other with grins, breathing heavy before they both shouted at the same time.

“RUN RUN!” And off they went, laughing wildly as guards groaned while others stopped to help them to their feet. They jumped over hedges, lept past tables and pushed people aside as they scampered off together, laughing into the night. At last they rounded a corner, and Jensen looked to the clock in the central square. Right on time… He smiled.

Taka and Anita were both seeming to be enjoying the most intimate moment of their lives, and the immortal felt bad to be such a cock block, but he had to make sure this part was flawless. He collided with Taka, apologized, grabbed Stephanie’s hand as she said a quick apology to Anita, and they were off again.

They turned a corner and headed right for the fire escape ladder, Stephanie taking the lead as she sprinted forwards, jumping up and resting her hands on the third rung. She lifted her feet up, draped them over the first rung, and fell backwards hooking herself as the ladder creaked down. She lifted her arms up straight, the cloak falling off her body and right onto Jensen’s outstretched hand, the immortal thanking her. The knight’s body was rushing down the alley and whipping the cloak onto his shoulders he lifted the hood and turned on a dime resting his weary feet next to four hobo’s who merely glanced at him, shrugged, and offered him a shot of whiskey.

Stephanie pulled herself up, climbed the ladder, pulled it back up and jumped into the window to a room that happened to be open, laughing as she loudly apologized for interrupting and heading for her room. The guards ran down the alley, most moving onwards while one or two stopped and looked to the hobo’s.

“You see two people run by here?” A guard asked angrily and panting heavily. Jensen looked to the hobo’s, flashed his coin purse and grinned under the hood.

“Nope.”

“Never.”

“Spare some change for a man down on his luck?” They all began pestering the guard and irritably he waved them off. Jensen smiled to the three hobo’s, dropping the coins on the ground as they greedily snatched it up. Then, with all the guards gone, they began drinking in earnest.

[Tainted Bushido]

The two youths had moved down the alleyway, heading back for the inn where they were residing when the ‘event’ had occurred. One second Taka and Anita were walking in an amicable silence, and the next, Taka was left spinning in place with the force that Jensen Ambrose had slammed into him. Not only that, but the man hadn’t even grabbed his coat, merely continued forward unfazed by the sudden interruption. He had muttered something that the Akishiman could not translate as he was too flustered to even catch it before he was gone and down another alleyway.

Hot anger boiled under Taka’s skin, and for a moment, a frown of anger graced his face. It was only for a moment, but Anita had seen it, and she raised an eyebrow before he shook his head, and it was returned to its neutral position. Finally he muttered softly under his breathe, “Teme…”

“<Calm down. I’m sure he didn’t mean to, and he did apologize…>” Anita explained for the immortal. Taka himself let out a brief sigh, pushing the anger out with the exhale before he nodded softly. He hadn’t meant to curse in front of the woman, but he had in a moment of rare anger. It had been a long time since Jensen’s antics had angered him this much. Perhaps it was the indignation at wearing his dead skin coat, and then being bowled into by the man without so much as a thank you.

“<My apologies Anita-chan. He certainly brings out the worst in me,>” Taka replied. Checking himself over to make sure nothing was missing he let out a sigh before he frowned, noticing something. Before, the jacket had been a steady weight, now it seemed to move about and sway heavily. Something had happened in the moment the Immortal and the Samurai had made contact.

He stopped bringing the jacket closer before he peered into the blasphemous piece of clothing. His disgust was clearly evident before he saw something, in the interior pocket. It was at that time the guards came through and stopped the couple before asking in hurried pants, “Where did they go?”

Taka merely pointed down the street, before a hurried thanks saw the men rush off to find them. Anita merely looked at Taka for a moment before she shrugged uncertain of what to make of the situation, and so Taka spoke, “<I will not lie for that man. If he’s going to get himself in trouble with the law, let him. I will not protect him from it.>”

“<Very well. I suppose we can’t help him if he’s going to act that dumb,>” Anita replied looking over at Taka who was still standing there jacket in hand. He seemed overly interested in the pocket he had found. He then looked at Anita before he carefully brought the jacket to her and showed it off. Her eyes widened before she muttered softly, “Perhaps he is that stupid..."

Sitting clearly in the pocket of the jacket was a gun, with the following inscription along the barrel;

Bolverk NU13

[Silence Sei]

((This post is on behalf of myself and Amber Eyes))

Sei froze at Kyla's words as she screamed them at the telepath. Was she really going to do this to him, here of all places? Sei was revered as damn near a demigod in Alerar, so Kyla's words were beyond embarrassing to the mute. That's when the realization hit Sei like a ton of bricks to the face. The Mystic had been embarrassing his 'daughter' for several weeks now by preventing her from going out with Jensen. Sei slapped his forehead as he thought about how thick he had been.

Sei turned around a nodded a knowing nod to Kyla. The girl blinked for a minute, dragged out of her shouting by the unexpected nod. Once Kyla realized what the gesture was for, her eyes seemed to light up. Had her 'father' really come to terms that she was a grown up, capable of her own decisions?

Of course he had. He was 'Silence' Sei Orlouge, after all.

Kyla ran up to her adoptive father, shoving several elves out of the way as she did so. The girl quickly wrapped her arms around the telepath and planted a loving kiss square on his forehead. She leaned into the ear of the telepath and giggled. "Thanks, 'dad'," she said as she turned around, expecting Jensen to be at the table when she did so.

A firm hand stopped her from looking, however. Sei smiled to her and nodded once more. "I imagine he couldn't take any more family feuding right now. It would be safe to assume he's back at the hotel." The girl nodded and released herself from the now awkward embrace she had with the Avatar of Alerar. The crowd seemed to be cooing over the emotional scene, unsure of everything that had happened but satisfied with the happy ending.

"Come on Kyla, lets go back. Jensen's waiting," Sei offered his hand to the girl, who nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah..." she said as she took the older Mystic's hand. The two walked out of the pizza restaurant with the cheers of their makeshift audience clapping in their ears....

...And without paying the bill.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen lifted himself groggily from his sleep, stepping out into the communal greeting area of his room finding Stephanie and Adolph both talking in high spirits. The woman seemed to glow from last nights festivities, and she smiled to Jensen waving happily. The immortal waved back, hoped in the shower stall, and let the water splash down on him as he got ready for the new day.

Like last night he had a set of things that had to be accomplished. With a careful twist of the knob he turned the water off, grabbed his towel and wiped himself off, then got dressed and ready. He walked back into his room, slowly began to pack his bags and went to his coat last, where he took in a deep breath. With all the grace he could muster he touched the pocket he dropped the gun in, and with the biggest sigh of relief he smiled haphazardly. He opened the pocket and peered inside, seeing the shine of the Bolverk Nu13 gun. His heart raced and he shut the pocket to stop himself from lifting the stolen weapon up out of its hiding place. He turned to his clothing he wore last night, shoved the pants and the shirt in the bag, but left the vest out.

“Hey, Adolph, you got a second?” Jensen called out. The warrior excused himself, walked over, and Jensen tossed him the vest. “It was to big for me and we don’t have time to go out and return it. Twenty gold and its yours.” Adolph looked at it, before shaking his head.

“Nah, I don’t want to pay that much for this,” He was about to offer it back, but Jensen ushered his hands away.

“Fine, pay me whatever the hell you think its worth. Seriously, I’d rather get something back for it rather than dump it in the closet never to be used.” Adolph looked to the vest again, this time taking a keen stock of the quality and the make. It cost Jensen fifty gold coins, and he thought that was a decent deal, but the twenty gold was a bit of a loss he thought he would make back. Still, there was no time to whine about profit losses and the trade economy. Adolph nodded as he lifted it up and put the vest on, clipping it shut. He pulled out a few gold coins and dropped the on the dresser.

“Ten gold, thanks Jensen,” He said turning and styling it out for Stephanie. Jensen nodded, though nobody could have seen it, and walked forwards towards his bed where he looked at the lump wrapped up in sheets. There before his eyes was Kyla in all her beauty, sleeping peacefully. The opportunity to spend that time with her, rock her world, was lost. He had come home late that night, four in the morning or so, to find her asleep. He gently tucked her in, wrapped the blankets around her tightly, and made sure her head was resting on the pillow instead of beneath it. She woke up for a moment, just enough time to whisper how pissed he made her sometimes, but his reply was a soft kiss on the forehead and shut up and sleep threat.

Stephanie walked into his room and gave him a soft rub on his shoulder. “The gun worth it?” She teased. Jensen shrugged.

“You are thinking I have some preconceived notion of emotional attachment, if you mean I chose the gun over the girl. Immaterial things fascinate me, Steph,” Jensen said as he looked to his trench and smiled. “They aren’t going to break your heart, die on you, and they always do what you want them to.” The immortal turned back to her. She shook her head but smiled still as she draped one hand on his shoulder leaning heavily on him.

“Yep, but which one will listen to you bitch?” Jensen laughed at her remark, patting her on the back.

“I always got you, Steph,” Jensen replied grabbing his bags feeling her teasingly slap his back. “Besides, if that doesn’t work out I suppose I got hookers. Just pay them the coin and they can listen to me all I want.”

“Uh huh…” Stephanie rolled her eyes and left him alone as Jensen began poking Kyla awake. She stirred in her sleep, opened her eyes with a flutter, and she smiled to see Jensen.

“I can see how you make Stephanie so upset,” She whispered to him. Jensen gave her a confused look, but before he could say anything else she shoved her pillow in his face making them both laugh as Jensen ripped it from her hands and hit her back.

“Get up sleepy bones, its time to go!” Jensen walked to his dresser and pulled it open, lifting out a small box wrapped up with a bow. “Oh and Happy Birthday,” Jensen said softly tossing it into her arms. He then proceeded to get back to his works as he heard her excitedly rip the paper off. When she was done she lifted up a small book, a romance novel from the Fallien deserts. She glanced at it, read a few passages and felt her cheeks go rosy at the dirty details, but when she flipped it open to the very first page she saw in a teenagers scribble words that made the present make the most sense. This book is property of Chenelle Kim-Hotep. If you aren’t me, I’ll god damn rip your head off.

“Take good care of it,” Jensen whispered leaving her to get ready on her own.

He exited with the two knights and met in the hotel’s meeting area. They all talked merrily as Taka and Anita showed up next. They both seemed to be in spirited moods, Taka moving to the side and hiding in the wings away from the crowd of attention. As he tried to hide, Anita would force him over, until eventually he gave in to her demands. Kyla showed up eventually, awake and ready for a new day as Sei trailed behind her, a wide goofy smile on her face.

“Let’s get out of here,” Jensen muttered. “I can’t stand the land of fairies much longer.” They stepped forward as one group, but they didn’t get far before Jensen looked to his watch with a cruel smile only Stephanie could see.

“Hold it right there, thief!” The party froze and Jensen looked on in shock as the guards blitzed right by Sei and Kyla, pushing Taka aside gently as they surrounded Adolph.

“Whoa, what?” Adolph asked, his tone raising high in defense.

“You are under arrest for stealing a weapon from a gun store, sir.” The elf spoke, the others moving in on him. “Your height, your description, yes…I would think you would have changed your outfits to try and avoid detection. You humans don’t think things out to well, I suppose.”

“Oh yeah, filthy leaf lickers got such a big-” Stephanie elbowed him hard in the gut as they all watched the scene. Adolph continued to protest his accusations, but he knew the smart thing to do was not bother resisting arrest. Jensen fought back every ounce of his blood that demanded he laugh. Stephanie stood by next to him, gripping his hand tightly and squeezing it to get him to shut up. She had known all along that Adolph was the fall guy. This would allow them to get to the boat, and to safety. As Adolph was being dragged away Taka stepped forward, and Jensen saw that innocent look in his eyes, that demand to right a wrong.

OH SHIT! Jensen gripped his hair tightly. He had to think fast. Before he could say or move Stephanie grabbed Anita and pulled her towards the exit.

“Come on, I saw an ice cream shop down the road I want to try out before we go.”

“But, ugh, can it wait, your friend just got arrested!”

“Eh, I doubt Adolph would do anything that broke the law. He’ll be out in time before we leave. Now come on, I’ll buy you a stuffed meerkat too, I know I owe you one.” Anita looked like she wanted to protest, but suddenly her eyes softened and she looked to Stephanie as if she were a goddess.

“Okay,” She said happily. Meerkats, Anita’s weakness. Jensen took his queue and stepped forwards blocking Taka.

“You are supposed to protect Anita, aren’t you?” Taka looked to see Anita almost out the door, and quickly he nodded turning to chase after her. What he had to say wasn’t as important as his job.

Sei turned to look at Jensen. The immortal quickly turned around and started to toe off before he lifted a hand and stopped him. Jensen sheepishly turned around with a guilty smile. “You really like to test the limits, don’t you?” Sei said to him, but he smiled pushing him off near Kyla. He then spoke to both of them. “While I go get Adolph out of the prison, I’ll have you watch my daughter, Jensen. Make sure you are at the docks in forty minutes.” Sei turned and ran to catch up with the guards, asking if they remember the time Sei discovered the mystery of the elephant in the bathroom.

Jensen looked to Kyla, and then with a shrug and a bow he offered to take her wherever she wanted to go. So long, of course, that they get to the boat quickly.

[Amber Eyes]

Kyla held the book close to her chest as she sat on the bed. He really likes me! Her heart fluttered at the thought. All this time I thought I was just another fling...I'm going to marry that man one day. Kyla looked at herself in the mirror and rather liked what stared back at her. Yes, for once, Kyla had everything she could have asked for.

She dressed quickly, putting on the new dress Sei bought her the evening before as they walked back to the hotel. It was a bright blue, and her eyes stood out between that and the blush that refused to leave her cheeks since she'd been given the wonderful gift from Jensen. The mystic placed her treasure inside her bag carefully. She pulled on her shoes and rushed to the meeting area where everyone was waiting for her.

She kept looking in her bag to make sure the gift was safe. Kyla knew it was silly, what could happen to it there? And yet, she couldn't stop herself from checking. Questions filled Kyla's mind as Adolph was arrested, but one look at Jensen told her he had things under control. She studied the faces of everyone in the group. Anita looked shaken, Taka as well. Sei looked calm as ever. Then she saw it, Jensen and Stephanie looking as though they had a secret. Jensen's eyes lit up a bit brighter when he looked at Stephanie, and Kyla knew the feelings were not as one-sided as she'd originally assumed.

She placed her hand inside her bag, He gave this to me, not her. Me! Maybe they do love each other, but he chose me. The frail hope was enough for the girl and by the time Jensen extended his hand all former doubt was crushed. Kyla would have her knight in a leather jacket. She grabbed his hand and led the way towards the door.

"Jensen?" She asked quietly, not more than a whisper as she leaned into him.

The immortal looked at her his eyebrows raised as he opened the door.

"Nevermind...it's not important." As she walked out she whispered too quiet for anyone to hear, "I love you Jensen Ambrose."

[Silence Sei]

It had taken Sei a half an hour to convince the guards of Adolph's innocence. The group quickly made it back to the docks as they awaited Jensen and Kyla to join them. As with anything involving Kyla Orlouge, the couple was a good fifteen minutes late past their deadline. Sei rolled his eyes as the two casually strolled up to the rest of their party as if nothing had happened. Luckily, the Mystic still held enough sway in Alerar to convince the Captain of the ship to wait for Jensen.

"Are we quite done here?" Sei asked, raising an eyebrow at the two. There was a hint of sarcasm to the telepath's 'tone'. Taka gave a solemn nod, Anita a hyperactive one, and Adolph threw up his arms in resignation, shouting "Oh Thaynes yes!"

Having the confirmation from the rest of the group, Sei turned and made his way onto the ship. The rest of the warriors followed suit, Jensen and Kyla rounding them out. Almost as soon as they had set foot on the wooden boards of their transport, Sei made his way to the cabin. It had been an exhausting couple of days, he needed his rest. Kyla got her present, and Adolph was not forced to sacrifice an arm for stealing.

As Sei drifted off into a slumber he thought about the items Adolph had 'swiped'. Though the telepath knew full well that Jensen Ambrose was the true culprit, he would never probe his mind to get the answer straight from his primary bodyguard.

Besides, he had a little present for the immortal when they got home anyways. And with that thought, Sei Orlouge rested with a smile on his lips.

[Tainted Bushido]

“How could he do that?” Taka hissed, even as he bit down on the anger inside him. Anita looked to the Samurai before she shrugged. He shook his head before he continued on, “TO sacrifice your friend like that? Unforgivable, in fact, I would go so far as to say I would have been mad on Adolph’s behalf.”

“Calm down Taka, you know your taint flares when you get angry,” Anita soothed her bodyguard, even as they walked with Stephanie. She seemed to have a Cheshire cat grin on her face, even as they moved in silence. He turned on the Knight of the apocalypse before his questioning gaze interrupted her otherwise happy demeanor.

“What’s wrong Ronin? I thought you guys sacrificed each other for missions all the time,” Stephanie sassed, even as she brushed past Taka, purposefully making sure to make contact with the man. He shuddered in disgust at the impromptu contact, the taboo feeling of the touch washing through him as he spun in pace and spat;

“Even that was nothing like what just occurred! There is sacrifice to accomplish your goals, and there is needless sacrifice to fulfill petty whims!” Taka was furious at the carefree attitude of the jester, even while Anita looked between the two worriedly. Though she had ordered Stephanie to stop harassing Taka, it meant nothing if Taka fell for her baited comments.

“Listen Ronin boy, just because you box yourself up inside the biggest batch of hypocrisy and contradictions ever conceived, doesn’t mean the rest of us have to play by your fantasy rules. I mean your rules make RazeRed look easy to play by far!”

“That’s enough!” Anita said, stepping in before Taka drew Steel. She had been around the man long enough to know that so long as Stephanie kept her insults vague and personal, Taka couldn’t act, but the second she generalized and insulted him in any way he could perceived as an insult to his former family, he would have cut her down without a second thought. As she turned to the Ronin she had seen the hand dropping back to his side, possibly from hovering over the sheath. She let out an exasperated sigh before she said firmly, “besides, Papa has this under control, there is no need to get in an argument over it. What’s done is done, and in a week or two it won’t even matter anyways!”

Stephanie gave Anita a funny look before the girl turned to Taka who nodded softly. His eyes were still clouded with a bit of rage, but he had recovered enough to keep that cool composure he required at all times. He merely turned back to Anita before he said softly, “Lets get that ice cream now…”

[Enigmatic Immortal]

“WHEEE HA HA HA!” Jensen couldn’t contain his mirth as he lifted his shiny new toy up in the air and held it out, pulling the trigger rapidly six times. It clicked loudly in the dojo, Ta’gaz and Stephanie both looking to him with confused faces as Jensen twirled on his feet, practicing the motions of reloading in the middle of a flip and becoming one with the gun in his hand. The Bolvurk Nu13 was indeed the weapon the elf had claimed it to be. There was no trouble in the mechanisms even with the intense stress he put on the weapon’s accuracy.

Oreo Jones had happened to have a few boxes of rubber bullets that he had lent to the immortal, and with a bit of work they all filled the chambers rapidly. The blind gunslinger stood off in the corner of the room, a chuckle escaping his lips as he listened to Jensen whoop like a small child.

“Prepare yourself!” Jensen shouted to Stephanie, and immediately the woman took a defensive stance, shouting foul curses at the immortal as he lifted the gun to her chest. He fired twice and the woman screamed in shock that the her friend had actually shot at her, her legs bending backwards and her hands touching down upon the mat as she rolled to her feet. Jensen turned his body towards Ta’gaz, and the legendary warrior snarled at the immortal, but raising his body in a defensive stance.

“I consider this new toy of yours a stain upon the honor of a warrior,” Ta’gaz grunted. “But as it is you, Jensen, come at me! I’ll show you even those bullets cannot stop a true fighter!” Jensen grinned as he laughed wildly, bullets flying out at the ox like man. He easily darted and rolled, running and rolling as Jensen kept his sights aimed upon the man. Stephanie was charging at him with lethal intent, her eyes filled with uncontained rage as she screamed his name.

And Oreo? He just kept laughing.

Jensen moved to the beat in his head, letting the blood in his veins enslave his muscles as he ducked under her high jump kick. As he turned he slammed his hand on the wheel, popping it open and with a practiced motion Oreo taught the immortal, emptied the clip. He pirouetted on his toes so he moved in front of Stephanie, hand slamming another moon clip into the chamber and rolling it shut with a wild laugh. Before his hand could pull the trigger he felt a pair of hands grip the back of his head and lift him off the ground.

“Ouuu boy, I heard that man coming a mile away!” Oreo slapped his knee as he laughed. “You in it deep now, I tell ya!” Jensen felt his wrist sting, the bones feeling as if they were breaking and he whimpered in pain as the gun dropped to the floor helplessly. Stephanie charged Jensen, kicking high and upwards and Ta’gaz’s eyes widened as she struck the royal charm of Jensen Ambrose.

The yelp he elicited from his lips made Oreo fall and roll in on himself.

“Stephanie,” Ta’gaz said sternly, dropping Jensen like he were a wet towel. The immortal closed into the fetal position, whining as his hands moved to the offended area. “We do not hit below the belt unless it is absolutely necessary.”

“It was! There was no other option, I swear!” Stephanie didn’t sound terribly convincing. “He’s been acting like a jackass anyways,” She added as she stepped away from the immortal to her training doll. “Stupid jerk won’t stop talking about how he got his dumb gun.”

“That is a story I have yet to hear,” Ta’gaz mumbled looking down upon the immortal.

“Neither have I, officially.” The people in the dojo lifted their heads to see Sei and Adolph enter the room, Tobias right behind her with Anita in tow. Ta’gaz and Stephanie bowed to their lord, and Oreo stood to attention quickly. Jensen just giggled stupidly as he rolled to his knees before rolling and sitting on his butt, reaching for his gun and empting the clip letting the spinner roll. With a sharp slap the weapon closed, and Jensen smiled.

“Yes, I heard a bit of the truth from Taka,” Adolph said sternly to Jensen, as if the immortal should be ashamed of his actions. This made Jensen snicker to the man. Kyla quickly peeked her head out behind Sei, smiled and waved to Jensen, who waved back to her as they both smiled. Stephanie turned to her doll, punched it hard in the face cracking the wood, and cursed to herself under her breath before sitting down, nursing her wounded knuckles.

“Jensen, would you please be so kind as to explain what exactly happened?” Jensen looked to them all and with a shrug he lifted himself up and twirled the gun in his hands. It flawlessly rolled along his finger, up and down, until he lost control and it shifted up and onto the ground. Tobias was there before he could grab it, and she already was twirling the thing around her body, just out of Jensen’s outstretched hands as she teased him, doing a small show. She opened the clip, checked the contents, played with the trigger, and ran her finger down the length with an admiring eye, all while keeping the weapon in motion so Jensen couldn’t grab it.

At last the elf tossed it high so it landed on Jensen’s head, bounced into his hands where he looked stupidly at it, and with a gentle caressing pat on the head she turned to go sit with Stephanie muttering about how nice the gun was. Jensen glared to her, but looked to his audience. He pocketed the weapon and looked to them all with a mischievous grin.

“I started thinking up the plan the second I saw the gun. I was inspired by the world’s most charming woman, and of course, I refer only to Kyla Orlouge,” Jensen blew her a kiss, and Sei lifted his hand to indicate he was interrupting it. Still, the girl’s cheeks flushed red.

“When she torched those faggot elves carts I realized something,” Jensen hit himself in the head as if this news was something he should have known all along. “Elves are fucking stupid!”

“Bite me Ambrose!” Tobias challenged. Jensen flipped her off.

“Anyway, realizing that the elven mind was a small, ‘special’ type of brain, I easily came up with a plan. First off, I needed to make sure certain events were set into motion. I, during the off hours while getting ready for my date with Kyla, wrote a simple message for Stephanie, my most beautiful partner in crime!” Jensen gestured to the female knight, and she blushed wiggling her fingers. Adolph gave her a confused look of betrayal, but she merely shrugged.

“The message was a set of a few orders. When to meet me, where to do so, and one instruction that had to be set up well in advance!” Jensen looked to Anita and smiled. “Taka-Sana-wana-ding-dong had to wear my jacket. Why did he need to where my jacket? Well, two reasons mostly: First, I had to have a place to drop off my new booty. If I had been caught I could claim wrong guy, and without the weapon on hand I would be untouchable. Second, for similar reasons, I can claim I was with Anita that night. I didn‘t make much eye contact with the elves, and Taka and I have the same build. On his date, Anita and Taka went everywhere a convenient alibi would say I would be.”

“The next part of this event was to actually steal the weapon. This is where my inspiration kicked in. But first, I needed to get Sei off my case. Turns out Kyla played ball, and she did a marvelous performance masterpiece for me!” He clapped for Kyla, bowing to her as Sei looked upon his daughter and raised a single eyebrow before returning his gaze to Jensen. “Now, that wasn’t the only distraction I needed. Stephanie aided me in robbing the store. Then, once I was given a head start she would alert all the guards.”

“Why bother doing that?” Adolph asked. “Why not just get a clean getaway instead of being chased like a moron?” Jensen lifted his finger and wagged it.

“What would that have done? If the town guards weren’t hot on my trail they would have covered the entire town and set up checkpoints to make sure that gun didn’t leave the their area.” Jensen chuckled. “No, I needed to make sure they had a great view of their perpetrator. A man dressed in a vest, dark pants, white shirt. Why, does this remind me of anyone?” Jensen looked to Adolph, who suddenly got very hot headed as he made a move to Jensen to strangle him by the throat.

“That’s right!” Jensen said whopping as he darted behind Ta’gaz and ran towards Stephanie, sitting next to her and wrapping his arm around her neck. He even kissed her on the cheek before ruffling her hair and pulling away to return to his brilliant plan. “Thanks to Steph, those guards chased us for quite a while, so they had a good impression of what we looked like, but I made sure to do this during the night. No identifying facial features. Just a basic description. Stephanie ran ahead of me, I found Taka and Anita at exactly the right time, and dropped off my weapon. We split for the alley and she leaves me her jacket. I don the cloak, turn to some hobo’s and break some hard drinks with them.”

“So in the morning,” Sei said with a grin piecing together the events. Jensen snapped his fingers pointing to Adolph, who in a very angry tone finished the thought.

“You sold me the vest, so that when we left the guards would nab me instead of you! Thinking they found their culprit they would obviously loosen security, and thus you would be able to slip out of the town, onto the docks, and onto the boat where their jurisdiction wouldn’t touch you!” Adolph fumed, but he took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. “Admittedly, that was actually a brilliant idea.” He glared at Jensen. “But I’m still going to kick you ass, immortal.” Jensen shrugged.

“Everyone had a part to play. Taka was the drop box, Kyla the distraction, Stephanie the wingman, and Adolph the fall guy,” Jensen said smiling to Sei. Anita poked her head up when she noticed her name wasn’t mentioned in his scheme.

“Oh, and Anita was there to. She had a point and a task to do, I think…I dunno, probably something faggoty,” Jensen mumbled. Anita was about to go off on him but he lifted a hand with a wide grin. “Of course you had your part, lap dog. With Taka, there is the very real possibility he would have turned the gun in and ratted me out. Ya know, that slant eyed honor mumbo jumbo. But his mission was to protect you. So wherever Anita-chan went, the Taka was sure to go!” He said it like a child’s rhyme as he thwacked her on the nose gently. Anita glared to him, but then turned to her father.

“Out on the seas I got what I wanted. A brand new gun! The perfect heist! So that, oh mighty faggot fairy king,” Jensen bowed low to Sei. “Is the story of highway robbery…ish…” Jensen grinned looking up to the Mystic. It was at that moment he saw everyone’s faces look to him, all with a small smile. Stephanie walked up behind him, leaning on his shoulder and lifting up an apple taking a bite out of it and offering some to her friend.

Adolph’s demeanor had completely changed, for now he was relaxed and even looking like he might laugh. Tobias looked excited, as did Anita and Jensen noticed Taka stepping into the room with Hotouri. The immortal’s eyes narrowed in suspicion as he turned all his focus to Kyla, who shrugged, just as confused as he, and both looked to Sei who was smiling devilishly.

“Well…not the whole story…”

[Silence Sei]

"What the fuck do you mean? I just told you everything!" Jensen exclaimed towards Sei, causing the mute's grin to widen.

"Jensen, let me ask you. What country did we just finish visiting?"

"Alerar."

"And what country is known for its rather advance technology?"

"Alerar."

"And aside from Corone, what other country am I the Hero of?"

".....Alerar?"

Sei nodded with a smile, the smiles of everyone else instantly broadening. Sei brought his hand up to his mouth and 'cleared his throat'. Jensen had been so arrogant in his tale of the gunblade, it was time he learned the truth.

"You see Jensen, you would not keep quiet about your wanton need to own a gunblade. Feeling that there would be no other alternative to keep you shut up about the whole ordeal; I decided to get you a present for your hard work and dedication." Anita snickered while Kyla had a dumbfounded look on her face, as if Sei had hurt her with the revelation.

"You mean we didn't go to Alerar for Kyla?"

"A simple ruse. I knew you would not accept a gift of generosity from me. I am, after all, the 'faggot fairy king' as you like to express so often. I thus gave the impression that we were going for my daughter, rather than you. I knew you would grow suspicious if I went to various gun shops and nothing more suited to Kylana. So I split up the teams, with Stephanie informing me of which gun shop you seemed to have your eye on the most."

Jensen's eyes shifted to Stephanie, who was simply giggling over the event.

"I made sure to split us up again that night. I needed to talk to the shop keeper about allowing you to run your little scam. Did you not think I wouldn't think about you being underhanded? I did, and I informed the guard of your would-be trickery as well. They were a bit hostile at first, but after some negotiating by the Avatar of Alerar, they were more than willing to play along. I knew you couldn't resist taking Kyla out, so I arranged for you to do so while I had my conversations."

"You mean the whole time I was talking with Kyla..."

"I was getting you a free gunblade. Stephanie played her part extremely well. Taka and Anita did as well. Adolph wouldn't have just willingly accepted your coat without a slew of questions, so he was in on it to. You thought you had stolen the gunblade, and even got to have a fun little chase around the city. The truth is, while you were performing a physical highway robbery, I was doing it mentally/i]."

Sei tapped the side of his head. Jensen's jaw dropped as the whole room now joined Oreo Jones in his hysterics. Sei brought one of his battle fans out and opened it in front of his face, covering it. "[i]That is why my mind will always be the greatest weapon against your simple and primitive methods." Sei turned his back and left the room. Kyla looked to her father with the same dumb look left on Jensen's face.

And that was why Sei Orlouge was one of the greatest strategists Althanas had ever seen.

[Taskmienster]

Story 17/30

Character 13/30

:: ““Ever heard the answer to how to entertain a dumbass?” Adolph grinned in response. “YOU SHORYUKEN HIS ASS!”” :: This… this is a perfect example of the kind of dialogue that people that have never written before should avoid. It’s unoriginal, uninspired, and bland. It’s not funny; it’s just mostly cussing in place of actual ability to write dialogue.

Writing Style 18/30

Lots of little mistakes, such as not using the correct form of a word at times. Jensen post “higher” instead of “hire” in the first post for example.

Wild Card 6/10

:: All in all, not a bad thread… just not interesting enough to warrant much more than what I went with.


Score 54

Rewards
Enigmatic Immortal :: 1800 exp | 100 gold
((Does NOT receive the gun. The score was not good enough, neither was the thread, and the money required to compensate is quite large, and though covered by the other people… I will not reward it.))

Silence Sei :: 2250 exp | 100 gold
((Gets The official title of "Dine and Dasher!"- Sei's renown has been marred a bit, as he didn't pay the tab and now the Aleraran people are a bit wary of him when he's at a restaurant.))

Tainted Bushido :: 1075 exp | 125 gold

Amber Eyes :: 1150 exp | 100 gold
((Receives a steamy romance novel hat once Belonged to Chanelle Kim-Hotep. It offers nothing but the bliss of seduction on a blustery night.))

[Taskmienster]

Exp and Gp added.

Sei is now level 12.

EI is now level 8.