They never learn (solo)

[black shadow]

Black Shadow was out for a walk on this cool spring morning. The trees were just starting to get their leaves, and the ground was still wet from the morning dew. The air was thin and easy to breath. A very nice day to relax, as he had not gotten the chance to do so for quite some time. A very nice day indeed. He walked along the trail, taking note of what kind of wildlife he saw. A black bear, a few deer, and a cardinal feeding its young. Black shadow was enjoying himself. He liked it out here, in fact most of his time was spent outside as a child. He wanted to just lay down and take a nap. But something coughs his attention. It was a man who jumped out in front of him. This man had a leather hood over his head, and a black mask hiding his face. He wore leather armour, and wielded an iron shortsword. They stood apart from eachother for as few second before the man spoke.

"Give me your money" he said, motioning his sword towards Black Shadow as if trying to intimadate him.

Ugh, a common thug, trying to steal what is not his. Black Shadow thought as he shook his head no.

"I'm not going to ask again, give me your money, or I'll have to take it off your cold, dead body."

Black Shadow pulled out his steel sword, and got into his fighting stance. He placed his left foot infront of his right, about shoulder width apart. He took his sword with a two handed grip and straightene his arms infront of his chest, his hands just above his crotch.

"So that's how you want to play it, huh?" The bandit said. "Ok then, this won't end well for you."

[black shadow]

The bandit lunged his sword for Black Shadows chest. He easily dodged the strike, as it was not a very fast, nor accurate blow. This man is an amateur! Has he ever even used a sword? Black Shadow thought to himself as he bashed his hands against the mans back. The man re positioned himself, ready to strike again.

"Tricky one aren't you? I'm not going to let you do that again" the man said, slashing his sword down towards Black Shadows head. Black shadow threw his own sword up, blocking the blow, and causing the two to engage In A sword lock.

The man showed a bit if anger in his eyes. "You won't win this fight. I will take your gold, and you can't do anything about it." The man said as he kicked his foot up towards Black Shadows right knee. Black Shadow released his sword for the lock, and jumped back. The man lunged his sword for Black Shadows chest once more.

[black shadow]

Black Shadow blocked the stab, and punched him in the stomach, trying to give the man a chance to walk away without the consequence of death. The man fell to one knee, clutching his stomach in pain.

"You're b-better than I expected." the man said gasping for air. Black Shadow placed his sword along the mans neck. "Okay, okay, you win, I give up. just go." The man said dropping his sword. Black Shadow took his sword from the mans neck and allowed him to get up. "You don't know what it's like to have nothing. If you did, you would've given me a coin or two." He said putting his head down. I do know what it's like, but you just demanded it instead of asking like a beggar in a town. Black Shadow thought as he turned around to walk away.

As Black Shadow's back was fully turned, the man kicked him, causing him to fall to the ground, and his sword flying a few feet in front of him.

"You may have been able to beat me with a sword, but you wont best me with hand to hand." The man said.

[black shadow]

Okay, so he wants to die today. Black Shadow thought to himself as he kicked his legs around, tripping his opponent. The man fell back first to the ground, and Black Shadow used his momentum to get up. the man threw his feet to get up quickly.

"Fast, smart, and tricky. What else are you?" the man thought as he threw a barrage of punches at Black Shadow. Black Shadow was able to block most, but soon found that the man was much faster than him with his hands. Black Shadow took the last few punches to the gut, causing pain to course through his body.

"I guess you aren't as good as you first thought now are you?" The man said, trying to intimidate Black Shadow.

Okay, so that's how you want to be Black Shadow thought, throwing three punches, missing the first and landing the third. The man then grew even more mad than he already was.

"I have had enough of this! you are dead!" the man said throwing another punch towards Black shadow, who caught the punch. He began twisting the mans arm. The man began to scream in pain, and threw his foot up, kicking Black Shadow in the leg. The pain from the mans kick caused him to drop the mans arm. This fight was starting to annoy Black Shadow.

[black shadow]

Black Shadow jumped back as he saw the mans foot getting swung at his face a split second later. I've had enough of this. he thought to himself as he grabbed his bow from his back and readied an arrow.

"Woa woa woa man, don't shoot! I'll seriously leave you alone this time!" The man said putting his hands up with a frightened look appearing on his face. Black Shadow motioned the man to step back, not letting any slack on the string of his bow. The man stepped back and let Black Shadow pick up his sword. Jut as he was about to leave, Black Shadow heard the man yell out "get him boys!" Black Shadow turned around an shot the man, knowing that he must've called in some sort of reinforcements. Seconds later he could hear the sound of dogs barking while running towards his position, and people behind them yelling "over there" and "I found him!"

There were 5 men with 2 dogs each that were surrounding him within seconds, not enough time for Bkack Shadow to react. One man, who was more built and heavily armoyred than the others, stepped forward. Black Shadow could tell this was their leader.

"So, you managed to kill Gorn? He was terrible anyways. You could be a useful addition to our group. What do you say? Will you join us?" The man said, putting his hand out.

Black Shadow shook his head 'no'

"Then you will die. Release the dogs!"

[black shadow]

Black shadow pulled out his word again as two of the men released their dogs, allowing them to attack without haste. The 4 dogs circled around Him, waiting for the best opportunity to strike! The men around him cheered and yelled as if it was a game. One dog, a white one with a scratch over his eye and was built stronger than the others, watched carefully from the side of his owner. As soon as Black Shadow made eye contact, this dog barked a deep tones bark. One of the four dogs jumped at Black Shadow's front, and another at his back. He took a step to the side, slicing the throat of the dog at his front, which allowed the other dog to jump on his back.

The dog bit into Black Shadow's left arm. Black shadow threw the dog off and stabbed it as the other two dogs jumped at him. He took a step back, which made the two dogs collide, giving him the chance to kill them both. The other 5 Of 6 dogs were then released. Black Shadow took a deep breath, and remembered what he was trained to do in this situation. He started to spin his sword around his hands and back, causing his entire body to be surrounded by his sword at some point within 4 every four seconds. The dogs leaped for Black Shadow, causing 2 to get sliced in their necks, and one to get sliced in its foot. The other two made it out with no injuries and kept circling Black Shadow. He stopped the spinning of his sword and got back in his fighting stance. The dogs had slowly began to creep towards him, and the one bit at his ankles. Black Shadow kicked the dog in the nose, and stabbed the other one in the head. The first dog jumped back, looking for a moment to strike. The dog attacked after a few seconds, and grabbed black Shadows left arm. He bashed the dog against the ground and stabbed it in the chest.

only one dog left, then I have to deal with these five idiots. he thought as he turned to face the last dog.

[black shadow]

The owner of the final dog let him go. Black Shadow prepared for the dog to leap at him like the others. Instead, the dog waited, observing every movement of Black Shadow, an waiting do ra perfect time to strike. The dog waited for a few minutes, in which felt almost like four hours, before noticing Black Shadow look towards one on the men who was along the border. As he did this the dog instead of leaping, ran towards black Shadow, and bit his leg. Black Shadow fell to one knee as the dog backed released and backed away again. He then leaped on His back, trying to bite his neck, but instead latching onto his shoulder. Black Shadow threw the dog off, and stabbed it in the chest. well that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. he thought to himself as he looked up at the leader again.

"Impressive. Taking down all our dogs. I'll ask you one more time, will you join us?" The man asked. Black Shadow again shook his head 'no.'

"Fine then, die here. Men, kill him." He said, pointing at Black Shadow. Three men pulled out their swords and charged at Black Shadow. He ducked as one man threw a slash, missing Black Shadow by a hair, an cutting the throat of his own teammate. Black Shadow stepped back and blocked the sword of the third man. Tthe fourth of the five men there had then stepped forward, and grabbed Black Shadow by the neck.

[black shadow]

The third man placed his sword in its sheath and walked over to Black Shadow.

"You should've joined us when you had the chance." He said as he punched Black Shadow I the gut. "How did that feel? Too soft for ya? Okay then, how about this?" He said, punching him in the gut again. Black shadow gasped for air, as he tried to throw the man over his shoulder.

"Not this time cupcake." The man choking him said. Black Shadow then kicked his foot up, hitting the man in the crotch, and causing hims to drop his neck. Black Shadow quickly grabbed his sword and stabbed the man in the back. The other two readied their swords again. One man swung his sword high and the other low. Black Shadow blocked the low sword while ducking just barely dodging the slash of the man. He grabbed an arrow from his quiver and then it at the man to rid right who swung low, getting him in his neck. The man fell lifelessly to the ground.

ok, one more, than the leader. This shouldn't take too long. Black Shadow thought as he prepared for the last bandit to attack.

[black shadow]

The man starred at Black Shadow with a confident smirk. "What's the matter, afraid I'll hurt you? Come on, come get me!" He said taunting Him.

you have no idea what you're getting yourself into. Balck Shadow thought to himself as he readied himself for another attack from his opponent. When his foe realized Black Shadow would not move, he reached into his pocket, and pulled out two pellets. Black Shadow had obtained a look of concern when he realized why they were.

"Oh, afraid of a little smoke are you? Well then, that works out well for me" the man said as he thew them into the ground, causing smoke to build up around them. Black Shadow began his sword spin, hoping the man would run into it. Instead, a steel, black, four pointed star struck his sword. He continued with his spin until the smoke cleared, when he saw the man on his knees, and a cut along his throat.

"Very good. You have managed to beat my entire team." The leader said clapping. "Now if you don't mind. I believe you have a death sentence." As the leader said this, he took a step forward, and pulled out his sword. "It's just too bad that your life has to end this way."

[black shadow]

Black Shadow noticed the man out most of his weight on his left foot. He hoped this would come in handy during this fight. The man slashed his sword, his swing with more accuracy, speed, and power of the others. Black Shadow had barely dodged the attack, and found himself trying to avoid a volley of attacks within seconds. He had not had a chance to attack himself. The leader slashed down and fought himself in a sword lock with Black Shadow.

"Huh, you're not as good as my men made you look." He said backing out if the lock. Black shade grabbed an arrow and thew it at the mans chest. The leader swiped his hand up and bought the arrow.

"Uh, uh, uh, not this time. That trick won't work on me." He Said as he began to throw attacks again. Black Shapdw backed up into a tree, trying to restrain from being cut in half. "Hahaha, looks like you're out if luck." The man said as he pulled his sword up and began slashing down to kill him. As the man reached mid swing, Black Shadow heard the sound of a crossbow go off, and saw the man drop to his knees.

what the heck? Black Shadow thought to himself as he heard a familiar voice.

"And this is why I always tell you to let me go with you. You almost you yourself killed... Again." He heard Marius say, as he walks over to Black Shadow and grabbed his shoulder. "Come on, lets go home." He said as they began walking out of the woods, back to their home.

[Skie and Avery]

Basic Judgement Requested - If you have any questions on the scores, feel free to PM me.

Plot - 4/30
Character - 2/30
Prose - 4/30
Wild Card - 1/10

Total - 11/100

black shadow earns 78exp and 22gp

[Mordelain]

Experience and gold added.