Sikes's Story

Imperial City, the second largest city within the land of Elendia. Being close to the capital, it is home to the largest arena for the Power Wielder Tournaments. With so much attention, it's also become one of the main central trading areas in the land, many coming from all over to sell their wares to those that travel to take part in the tournaments. But with so much attention, even with the Holy Knights so close by, it still has one of the worst cases of crime in a majority of the areas. Many coming from the very combatants that take part in the tournaments, believing that high ranking gives them the right to look down on others. But in this central city, is where it all finally begins. Where those marked and gifted by the Dragon Souls finally begin to take their paths to their fates.
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A bit far from the city, looking down from a cliff side, a single women stands on her own. Her jet black long hair blown by the wind as she suddenly gives an almost evil smirk. "So..you've finally arrived...little brother. Keep on moving and we'll soon meet again. So be ready." As the gust of wind suddenly grew stronger, a nearby tree's leaves all begin to wither off and blow around her, leaving not a single trace as she vanishes from the cliff side.
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The streets were filled with people looking at the wares that others bring from all over and sell. It was getting close to the next Tournament as everyone was either getting gifts or buying equipment for their matches. A single young man with dark hair tries to move his way through the crowds, seeking a way out of the mob of people as he spots his exit. Pushing to the side, he manages to enter a tavern that was a much better place then the crowded streets. But none the less, the tavern still had a bit of noise as the majority of the people in there were combatants. The sign ups were going to end tonight, so a number of them were in a rush seeking strong Power Wielders to team up with and sign up before night fell. Trying his best to not draw any attention to himself, he walks up to the counter.

"Just get me some water please, I came a long way." He tells the bartender as he brings him a glass.
"So, you here for the Tournament?" The bartender asks, starting a bit of small talk.
"...No...I have no interest in it.. just passing through." He simply replies, drinking his glass. The small talk ending in a failure due to his lack of social skills. None the less, there was plenty of people in that tavern, making it so that one of them to try and bother him to join one of those teams to be pretty slim, plus he wasn't really dressed like a fighter, adding to his attempt to not get drawn into one of those events. Sikes' mind wanders as he keeps drinking his glass. He had traveled for a long time, years even, not having anywhere to really go as he wondered if anyone managed to survive that slaughter back at his home those years ago. "Sis...why would you do that?.." He thinks to himself, unable to really understand why his sister would do such a terrible thing to her own tribe and family.

Suddenly broken from his train of thought by a hand on his shoulder, he looks up to see a strongly built man grinning at him. "Hey buddy, you in a team yet for the preliminaries? I'm looking for one more guy to sign up. We're going to plow through this thing!" Two other guys behind him give a cheer in reply to his words as Sikes remains silent still. Looking back to his glass as he keeps drinking his water.
"Hey! Are you death?!" The brute man yells now, finding it insulting how Sikes seemed to have ignored him like that. Yanking on his shoulder as he makes him drop his glass of water from the jolt. It shatters on the ground as the tavern grows a bit silent from the sound. Sikes looks down and gives a sigh, "I have no interest being part of something as pointless as a fight for glory. Even if I was, I wouldn't join someone with such a high level of negativity as you." He says in reply as the brute man begins to enrage.

"Negativity? Who the hell is negative here?!" He yells, not understanding what Sikes meant by "negativity". The fact was that he could feel the negativity that has been corrupting everywhere, and this man, obsessed with pride and and glory, was giving off a high amount of that corrupting negativity. But not understanding Sikes and the fact he didn't reply once again only angered the brute man as he glares him down. "What? You think your better then us or something is that it? You giving stupid excuses about being "negative" cause you looking down at us? Or are you fucking scared you wimp!?" The situation was getting worse as other guys started to back away, from Sikes and the man as the air grew tense between them now.

Sikes sighed, further agreeing with himself that there was no way to avoid such a situation now. "This idiot is so far lost that he can't think straight. It's the people like this why I choose to stay on my own. No one can be trusted or depended on." He thinks to himself as he stands up off his chair. "Fine...I'll entertain you then" He replies, only enraging the man as he charges in for an attack. As the brute began to swing his fists at him, Sikes easily dodged them, keeping a blank look on his face as he watched the brute struggle to try and land a hit on him. As Sikes' back suddenly came up against a wall, the man took this chance to try and land a strong blow to his head. But Sikes simply slide to the side and countered by using his momentum and shoving his face against the wall in his place by elbowing the back of his head. Everyone stood silent as the brute's face slide down against the wall, knocked out from the hit.

Sikes walks to the bartender, "Can I have some containers of water to go? I wish to leave as soon as I can." He says, now wanting to get out as he knew what was going to happen. Just as he feared men started to flock around him all of them trying to convince him to join with them in a team for the tournament. Doing his best to drown out everyone, he simply got his containers, paid the bartender, and walked out, escaping from the mass of people.

Once out, he gives off a sigh. "I should leave this place before I get more unneeded attention." he mutters as he begins to walk down the street again, with a container of water strapped over his shoulder.

“I’m tellin’ ya Anise, we’re gonna go all the way this time! Right boys?!!” On cue, several men behind her lifted their fists up into the air with excited roars of approval. This was the fifth group she had led to the Imperial City that week, and she was certain to make this the last. Not only was she tired of the constant travels back and forth between the cities, she was rather tired of the repetitive conversation she had with each trip.

Giving the men a well-practised smile she replied, “I’m sure you’ll do well. Good luck.”

She had always thought that participants of the Power Wielder Tournaments would travel on their own, but quickly discovered that this was not the case. Along with the usual patron of merchants and wanderers that wanted protection from wild animals, more and more fighters joined her travel routes as the date of the tournament drew close. Why they would want to join a slow-moving group surrounded by sheep was beyond her understanding, but she was beginning to think it was because they wanted an audience to boast to before their ‘big day’.

Their story was always the same. They boasted about all the people they had defeated in the past, talked about how they were the strongest in their hometowns, and sometimes made arm gestures to indicate how large the biggest beast they hunted had been. It didn’t help that the number of people they had fought and the size of their prized game always grew proportionally to the number of times they talked about it during the trip. And it seemed that she wasn’t the only one tired of their constant boasting either, several of her other customers were beginning to stare blankly ahead with glazed looks when the testosterone-filled men rambled on in their wild tales.

The female shepherd would have liked to politely ask them to leave if not for two things. First, people like these were often heavy tippers that ‘expected to earn several times more from winning the tournament and didn’t care about small change like the ones they gave her’. And secondly, she was worried that they would find such a request to be insulting and eventually take their anger out on her, the other travellers, and her precious flock. That was certainly a risk she could do without.

After a few more dreary moments, Anise’s face brightened as the city’s gates came into sight. “We’re here everyone!” A few of them even cheered and clapped at the announcement, eager to break away from the group and get on with their business. After collecting her fees and exchanging quick farewells, she continued into the city with only her sheep left as company. With the streets being far more crowded than usual, she had to repeat several apologies whenever she or her sheep bumped into someone.

“Oh dear…” She wanted to stop and ask for directions, but there were no ideal candidates around for such help. It was unlikely that the visiting fighters would be able to help her, and she was hesitant to ask a merchant any questions in case they tricked her into buying something she did not need as compensation for their help. “Ah..!” She managed to spot someone that seemed to be neither of the above. At the very least, the black-haired young man was not peddling any wares and didn’t seem like the other fighters she’d seen so far.

Pushing through the crowds as fast as she dared without losing track of her flock she called out, “Um, excuse me! Sorry, can I just take a minute or two of your time?” Catching up to him she took a small moment to catch her breath before continuing, “D-do you by any chance know where I could rent a covered wagon? Or any place I could keep a flock of sheep for a night or two?”

At the sound someone calling out at his direction, his eyes widened in surprise as he felt a sensation from the mark on the back of his neck. Placing his hand on it to feel and make sure it was the dragon mark on him that was feeling something, he turned to see a girl about his age catching her breath as she tries to speak again. “D-do you by any chance know where I could rent a covered wagon? Or any place I could keep a flock of sheep for a night or two?” Sikes remained silent for a bit, slightly analyzing the situation. The girl had a flock of sheep, realizing that she was most likely a simple shepard. With that conclusion, he believed that the sensation he felt must have not come from her, but from something else. Once having done that conclusion while examining her and her flock, he finally spoke out in reply.

"I'm sorry, I've only just arrived at this city myself." He replies to her and already begins to walk along once again. He didn't want any trouble again and if that sensation wasn't form her then it must have been from someone else around. Taking a few steps, he begins to look around as he turns his head away from her. That turn would give the girl a view of the dragon mark on the back of his neck just before he began to walk in the direction he looked at.

"I know I felt something. My mark reacted to another. Is it another Dragon Soul Wielder nearby?..or..is it her?" He thinks to himself, starting to get lost in thought as he begins to walk away from the girl.

Silvia stirred and woke up, blinking at the rays of sunlight beating down on her...and her guardian friend. She rolled over, pushing away a large bushy tail that had been her blanket for the previous night, taking a look to her side to find Fernis sound asleep, pink tongue hanging out. She threw her arms around the wolf's head and squeezed gently, rubbing her cheek against it.

"Fernis~Wake up~I'm thirsty. " she cooed to the big guy, who eventually whimpered good-naturedly and got up, shaking off dust from itself, while Silvia got up from her comfortable, mobile 'bed' and assisted in getting rid of the dust on Fernis. "Thanks for being a great place to sleep on."

Fernis proceeded to lick Silvia's face and she giggled, pushing it's snout away.

"Alright, alright, stinky breath! I got the message. We go now. A city's nearby and we're going to get water and a good scrubbing for your mouth. " she told Fernis, as she mounted the wolf. Fernis grunted and shook its head, apparently displeased with the 'scrubbing' part. She laughed and patted its neck, rubbing gently. The gigantic wolf slowly padded toward the direction of the city, gaining faster pace and eventually coming into a full-fledged gallop. Silvia rejoiced in the feeling of the wind upon her face, and it seemed Fernis did as well. They came to a halt in front of the city gates, two of the gates men pointing their swords at Fernis threateningly, Fernis growling before Silvia leapt down from her trusty steed and stood in front of the swords.

"He's mine. And he's harmless as long as no one hurts him or me. " she told the men, patting Fernis's snout, calming the wolf down into staring at the gates with yellow eyes that seemed far more intelligent that any other wolf. The men looked at each other, shrugged and stepped back.

"Thank you. I assure you, if Fernis hurts anybody without any reason, you may bring us both to custody and hang us from the gallows. " she held a fist, palm facing down, towards the men opened it, palm facing outwards towards the men, an Ancient Bear gesture to signify a promise. She kept a hand on Fernis's side as they both walked through the gates, leaving the men bewildered with what the gesture the white haired girl had done was.

Silvia and Fernis earned many stares from passerbys, her disinterested stare and Fernis's regal form seemed to repel the people and wherever they walked, people stayed out of her way. There was no doubting that this young lady was a warrior, Broken Oath was wrapped in a brown cloth and hung from her waist, her arms firm from wielding the greatsword around, yet not muscular, her tattered clothing that seemed as if she had been wearing them for long periods of time in the wilderness and the fact that a gigantic wolf listened to each and every one of her commands. To risk a fight with this girl would be mere suicide.

"FERNIS!"

The wolf quickly bowed its head and whimpered softly. Silvia sighed before patting the wolf's snout. Her friend must've been hungry if it tried to take a snip at a piece of fresh meat from the roadside stalls without having her pay for it.

"We'll try and get food for the both of us. I just hope you don't eat everything up..." she told it, the wolf prodding it's snout on her back affectionately. "Alright~Alright~ I'll hurry up!"

There was no doubt the lady who was in charge of water was in shock when Silvia ordered for a large container of water, and Fernis poked his head through the door and gulped down the clear liquid, as did Silvia. At the butchers, Silvia just about bought every piece of meat from the store, not even spending up all the coins she got from raiding bandits. She had plenty. She sat on the stairs of the butcher's store and watched Fernis devour everything with gusto. When it was done, it licked Silvia's cheek, sending a large streak of red on it.

"Fernis~ " she whined playfully, wiping her cheek. "Full?" Fernis shoke its head. "But good enough?" Fernis bowed its head. "Good. Let's go. "

As she started to take a step forward, she felt a sharp jolt coming from within her, and a light stinging sensation from her left shoulder. What was going on? It was as if she could feel a presence, similar to how she felt the presence of a tree or forest animal... but this was different...it felt more...intelligent...and somehow ancient yet young... She looked around trying to spot anyone that might have caused her such a reaction.

She saw a black haired man, a shepherdess and a man with long brown, chesnut coloured hair conversing with each other and another man with brown hair who seemed to be tending to a somewhat limp looking sheep which must've wandered off from its shepherdess. She ran over to the fallen animal as well, but as she passed by the other 3 people, she felt the stinging sensation grow stronger and she eventually had to bring her right hand up to grip her armor covered left shoulder. As she neared the sheep and the man, she felt another tugging jolt and she lurched forward, landing on her knees. What was going on?!

"Sheep? " she called out softly as Fernis followed shortly, a large animal that wouldn't go unnoticed. Silvia leaned in towards the sheep. It was starting to stir a little. She leaned closer and repeated her call again. The sheep stirred several times before staying still and Silvia thought it was dead...when it suddenly it bleated out loudly, surprising Silvia's poor heart as well as Fernis's. The sheep rolled over to an upright position and licked Silvia's cheek with its little tongue and bleated repeatedly. She smiled and patted the sheep for a few moments, cooing at it gently.

"There~Nothing's wrong I hope? " she asked, before a series of bleats took place as if telling her something and she turned towards the man beside her in realization. Her voice dangerously low. "You...? You kicked the sheep? " Deep growls started to emanate from Fernis's throat, directed at the man.

But before Silvia could continue, Fernis's attention shifted from the man and stared off somewhere, a deeper growl emanating from its throat before diminishing. Fernis yipped at Silvia before charging off in that direction. Silvia stood up, forgetting about the man who had kicked the sheep, caring only about Fernis's sudden reaction.

"FERNIS!!" she gave chase and finally found Fernis, towering over 4 boys who were cowering in fear, one was crying his eyes out. She strode over, placing a hand on Fernis's side.

"Alright. Spill it. What did you guys do? Fernis doesn't just run off after someone unless they mean alot to him or unless they did something bad. " she spoke out to them, staring at them with sharp, yellow-green eyes intended for intimidation, to add effect to her statement, Fernis growled. The boys shrunk back even more, as if trying to become a part of the ground and pointed at a nearby alley. Silvia walked over to the alley, the boys taking the opportunity to take off running. She hissed in annoyance, but when Fernis gave chase.

"Heel. Let them go Fernis. " and Fernis stopped, trotting back to Silvia's side as she looked into the alley to find a dead guy, seemingly burnt to a crisp, a girl curled up on the ground and a nearby mangled puppy. It pained her knowing fully well that the puppy was beyond saving...She felt the jolt again, and the stinging sensation on her left shoulder, but she walked towards the girl.

"Hey...you okay? " she asked with a rare gentle voice that she reserved only for trees, animals or people she was close with. She placed a hand on the pink haired girl's shoulder while Fernis whimpered softly as it prodded the dead puppy with its snout.

Anise felt something strange from her abnormal birthmark. She couldn’t quite describe what it was; stronger than just a simple ‘feeling’ yet not something definite like a regular ‘itch’. However, she had bigger problems than the strange sensation she felt from her birthmark. More than anything else, she had to find a place to leave her flock before she lost any in the crowd. In smaller town she would have been able to borrow space from a nearby farmer or fellow shepherd if she had been lucky enough, but it was always difficult to find proper accommodations in the city.

"I'm sorry, I've only just arrived at this city myself."

“I see… Thank you for your help.” Sighing in disappointment, she gave him a small bow in appreciation for his time when a very peculiar sight caught her eyes. For a split second she was unsure of why the strange marking bothered her so much, but she quickly realized the reason why. She had hardly been able to believe, even after all these years, that her own bizarre marking was something she had since birth and not some sort of brand that had been placed on her without her knowledge. It was almost unthinkable to see the exact same mark on someone else, yet there it was on the back of a stranger’s neck. “You-”

A new voice interrupted her before she could stop the lad’s exit. "You needed help with something? I can do that...for a price." Turning around, she was surprised to see that the male voice had come from a rather feminine-looking young man. Or was she supposed to be surprised for hearing such a masculine voice coming from a young girl..? Anise didn’t think it would be a good idea to inquire about a person’s gender during their first conversation. “Um… I do need help but, I just need directions somewhere. Would I still need to pay money for it..?”

She didn’t like the idea but, tired as she was, she was almost willing to part with a few coins to learn of a place to leave her flock before something happened to her sheep. However, a sudden, sharp bleat (“Baaah!!!”) told her that she may have already been too late.

Not even caring who had actually caused the accident, she looked around for the poor animal that had cried out in pain. “Please be a minor injury..!” If it was anything serious, it was sad to say that it would never worth it for a shepherd to actually nurse the poor sheep back to health and often resulted in the animal being sold to for its meat. She cared for woolly animals deeply, but there was a clear line drawn between sentiment and work.

Finally locating it amongst the crowd, still fairly close by, she was faintly surprised to see someone else already there to inspect the sheep. Running over to them, Anise was about to sigh in relief when she saw it that it seemed to be alright when another person joined the growing crowd around them. Grabbing hold of the shaken animal in his large hands, a burly man with a shaven head and short, curly beard brought the sheep up to his face as if to inspect it. “Hm… Not bad. Coulda been heavier, but not bad.”

Seeing the man tuck the sheep under a muscular arm she cried out, “Wait! What are you doing?!” The next thing she knew the ground suddenly disappeared under her and she found herself looking up at the clear sky overhead. She couldn’t understand what had just happened. She had been vaguely aware of the fact that the man had pushed against her shoulder but… “I… Was knocked over?” Anise had never been knocked over before, and couldn’t even remember the last time she had ever tripped. The strange distribution of her abnormal weight had always prevented such things. So even if she now understood in her head that the man had just pushed her over, she couldn’t understand how it was possible.

At least… Not if he was a normal person.

Looking down at her, the man smirked at her confused expression. “Don’t get your hair in a knot missy. I’m just takin’ a few, you’ve got lots to spare don’t you?”

As the bald man holding onto the sheep peered over where the shepard was now laying below, a voice spoke to him from behind. "Are you really so weak that you have to bully a girl and a flock a sheep to feel proud of yourself?" Behind him was Sikes walking up to the man as the man turned around to face him.
"Weak? Watch your tongue, boy! I'm a regular at the tournaments here!" He points at himself proudly as he gives a grin at Sikes.

"A regular? That's a surprise, I mistook you as a petty thug and nothing more." Those words started to boil at the thug as he lifted his free hand above himself, a chuck of the ground between him and the fallen girl suddenly lifting off the ground as it hovers over his head. "Can a thug do this?! I'm an Earth Power Wielder, pal! But if you get on your knees and beg forgiveness I might let you go unscratched." The cocky man grins as he saw himself with victory, but looked confused as Sikes showed no reaction to what he saw. "Get on my knees to you? If I wouldn't do that to this King you all have then why would I do it to a thug?" Those words set him off as the thug swung his arm at Sikes, launching the chunk of earth at him.

From the view of everyone around, it didn't look like there was any way for him to avoid the rock hurled at him as it closes in. That is, until the chunk of earth suddenly got sliced in half, gaping apart as Sikes stood in the middle of the two halves. As the dust clears from the impact, he steps out of the gap unharmed as he just looks at the thug. "That's it? I guess you were just a simple thug after all."

The man stands there, mouth gaping open as his arm loosens dropping the sheep he was holding as it scrambles away from him. "Who the hell are you?" He mutters, as Sikes lifts his arm in his direction. "I'm just someone that hates bullies." He replies as he suddenly releases a dark pulse of energy from his palm, blasting the thug back and to the ground before he runs off. "You'll pay for this!" He yells as he vanishes off.

Turning his attention to the fallen girl, ignoring the man or women that was by her, he knelt down close to her. "Are you alright?" He asked, wondering if that thug did any harm to her. While he may be difficult to socialize with, he still could be concerned about others.

“I-I’m fine. Thank you...” Out of habit, Anise smiled to show that she really was alright. She could have gotten up immediately if she wanted to, nothing hurt and she was not even bruised by the sudden fall she had. If anything, she was just shocked by how easily she’d been pushed over and surprised by how much that seemed to bother her. Somewhere over the years she seemed to have developed some sort of pride from always being so steady on her feet and became aware of it for the first time now.

Shaking her head clear of such pointless thoughts, she slowly got back onto her feet and brushed the dirt off her clothes as she tried not to feel conscious of the stares they were getting. Luckily, the crowd quickly few bored of the fact the fight was already over and began to move on. Even the sheep seemed to have already forgotten about the sudden surprises they had as they attempted to roam away into the unknown. A quick tap of her shepherd’s axe and whistle with two fingers quickly stopped them, however, and called them back over to her side.

Giving the dark-haired boy another bow she repeated, “Thank you. Um...” She hesitated slightly. She was curious about the mark she’d seen on his neck, but she was not sure what she wanted to know exactly. Did she want to know where he got it? No, she certainly had no interest in finding that out. Perhaps what she really wanted to know was what the meaning behind it was, why two strangers such as themselves happened to have the exact same mark on themselves. The only problem was, she had no idea why and it was entirely possible that he did not know either.

“That mark, on the back of your neck...” Unconsciously touching her own birthmark hidden by her clothes she gathered up the courage to continue. It had been obvious that she wanted to ask him something after her thanks, and it only seemed rude to suddenly cut the conversation off with such timing. Unfortunately, she ended up chickening out at the last minute. “It’s quite unusual. Does it mean something?” Mentally she kicked herself.

"I'll be you ally for today, 'cause of that imbecile, but only for today."

She wasn’t quite what to make of such a statement, but recognized an offer of help when she saw one. Returning his odd smile with a friendly one of her own she replied, “I’m used to fleeting friends, even a single day would help me greatly. Thank you.” Another bow was made.

“And thank you for looking after my sheep.” Not knowing that she was actually thanking the one that had kicked it in the first place, Anise turned to the third young man that had been by the sheep’s side when she found it.

The city was so busy today it could easily be considered a living creature in it's own right. Even in the wee hours of the morn that any self respectable man would be fast asleep. Scents of all kinds, pleasant and otherwise permeated the air with such vigor and strength it was nearly palpable, making a person think you could reach out and touch it. All the while a myriad of sounds assaulted the ear from every direction, causing head's to spin in an attempt to nail down any one specific noise or it's origin. It was the exact kind of cluttered chaos a refined man such as Tyrinarr would avoid at all costs as a rule. But every rule had an exception, including the rule of the day. That exception was the horrible plight of the war-ready Ogres just outside of the city. A perfect acceptable goal to break one's own creed for sure. Except for one little error..

Ogres didn't actually exist. Unless your name was Tyrin The Mad at least.

You see, in his broken little world everything was coming to a crisis point. The Ogres were mounting a full out assault for the first night of winter, they planned to have an agent sneak into every single house and ruthlessly devour EVERYONE'S precious bed sheets and leave them to the harsh colds as a massive prank called the 'Willumping'. To top off such a nasty affair they'd been audacious enough to set up camp right outside of the city gates! This was simply an offensive gesture that couldn't be allowed to stand, and normally an intelligent race like Man would raise and army and crush the bastard to protect all that is comfortable sleeping and a lack of frostbite!...The only glaring issue however was Tyrin was obviously the only one that could see the nasty beasts because no matter who he told they merely walked away. No average person could possibly understand the severity of such an earth-breaking situation. So Tyrin knew exactly what he had to do. If being un-average was what allowed him to see the Ogres he had to find the second most un-average person in all the land. Next to himself of course, and who's more un-average than a king? He thought. After all, there's only one of those and there's only one of him as far as he knew.

And as the only un-average, and brave soul in all the land currently aware of the crisis it was his job, and his job alone to seek out the aid of the good king himself.

So after spending a little time sobering himself up from a night of rough drinking and tavern wenches he set about his noble task. Starting at dawn he'd fought and pushed and even directly threatened the large crowds of merchants and gawkers and wielders and the like to find the king. Which went about as well as you'd expect a hungover crazy person's quest to go in a crowded city. He got lost several times, once ending up in a clothing store run by a funny man who dressed like a woman, and once by 'accident' in a brothel of sorts. It took about four good hours to finally get to the city square and another two to the actually tournament grounds. And that's where things went a lot worse. After stealing an apple and walking up to the first guard he saw demanding to be taken to the king at once due to an issue of national security, only to be turned away, he sort of lost his temper. Which is so say he punched the guard in the mouth with three solid inches of hard ice on his knuckles, drawing a rather beautiful whip-like stream of blood that glinted ever-so-perfectly in the sunlight to show off the tooth he'd banged clean out of the old chap's mouth.

This sat about as well as you'd imagine.

A chase broke out as four armed guards bolted after the giggling blonde, who took off and started zig-zagging through crowds. The chase only lasted a half an hour, of which Tyrin's time was spent ducking in and out of alleys and shops and even pushing over a watermelon cart to slow his pursuers. Hell, he even took up singing the classic, "Lips of a fine barmaid" during it. Much to the general public, and namely the guard's, dismay. They chased him all through town and even out of it for a little while, but he waltzed back in. If you can call rushing headfirst through a wooden door waltzing. The guards gave up on it, being out of breath and throughout tired of chasing some loon who'd probably show up in a jail cell for debauchery that night anyway. The only kicker was that Tyrin hadn't noticed this, which meant he hadn't stopped running for another half hour solid until he ran directly into something interest enough to make him forget about Ogres.


Sheep, to be exact. And entire sodding flock it seemed.

With no regard for the other's in the area he came to a dead stop in front of a small group, some young brown haired girl was speaking but it didn't really register with him. The sheep were a far more pressing matter, as he was about to make known.

"Sheep!" He shouted, his horrible accent starting to drip into his voice as wonder and splendor, marred by a bit of hunger clouded his eyes. "By tha grace 'o dem gods' I bow fer onn'a Monday, sheep! So man'a sheep...I 'ould sheer 'em all right 'ere I could! Oh tha socks I could make 'o a batch'a sheep! And tha meat..Cann'e ferget tha meats.."

"You...? You kicked the sheep? "

When the sheep had bleated, Kabal had jumped just like the girl and the giant wolf did. However before he could answer her, she and the wolf were up and gone.

Then, just as quickly, another girl joined him. His eye began to burn painfully, as if white-hot needles were stabbing him in his right eye. What was the meaning for the pain? Kabal couldn't help but hold his eye, completely distracted for a moment. He didn't even notice that another man had joined them, not until the sheep was already gone from his arms and the man had already knocked the girl over.

As the next turn of events unfolded, Kabal watched silently. He would have tried to help first, but someone already beat him to it. Kabal found that the man who was an Earth Power Wielder had been exceedingly merciful- Kabal, had he not have been distracted by the pain, most likely would have killed him on the spot, simply from trained instinct. It is not easy for one who has just come from the battlefield to adjust to city life, after all...on the battlefield, you kill or be killed, and that is all there is.

When it was over, the Earth Wielder had a few words with the shepardess, then the girl went and turned back to Kabal.

“And thank you for looking after my sheep.”

Kabal stood up and stared at her for a moment, momentarily bearing with the burning pain in his right eye as he put his hand down. He shook his head slowly, then answered, "No. I'm sorry. I kicked it on accident." Then, he began to walk away. However, he didn't get far, when he noticed the crazy old man shouting. His eye began to burn again, and once more Kabal resisted the temptation to put a hand to his eye. It was really starting to irritate him. Could it be....the people around him making his eye burn?

As he pondered that thought, a group of men in armor entered the area, calling for commoners to move out of the way. By the way they were dressed and held themselves, it was blatantly obvious that they were Holy Knights.

"Outta the way, old man!" One of them pushed past the old geezer who seemed to be drooling over the sheep. The leader and his entourage stopped in front of Kabal. The leader smirked at him, while Kabal merely gazed at him and looked him over.

"Kabal of the Blazing Eyes. I've heard stories about you. They say you're the most ruthless on the battlefield, and that you charge in before everyone else like some kind of suicidal maniac." The leader of the group's tone was condescending as he spoke. Then, he leaned in, seemingly to look into Kabal's eyes. "The rumors about your eyes are true too. They do glow with a strange light."

Kabal said nothing, but stared back at the man and didn't avert his gaze. He forced himself not to blink either, despite the constant burning of his right eye. Kabal knew who this 'leader' was, or, at least in theory. Supposedly, the guy was the last winner of the previous tournament. He'd heard that from his father a few days ago. What was his name again? It was-

"Conroy Jenkins, and you'd do well to remember my name." Conroy, with that same smirk on his face, leaned back and stepped away from Kabal.

Finally, Kabal spoke, his deep voice resounding softly, "What do you want?" As usual, he was blunt and to the point. Conroy's mouth went from a smirk to a rather creepy smile.

"I heard from a certain someone that you weren't going to enter the Tournament. It's a shame, really. I was hoping to face against the beastly Kabal, a man they say uses a rather strange and beautiful weapon. I've heard that the weapon was a strange mix between a staff, a sword, and a whip." Suddenly, the man unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Kabal's neck. "But I suppose here will do just fine, too." Then, The man cocked his head to the side and spoke to his entourage. "Surround them."

As the entourage surrounded the group, putting them into a medium-sized circle, Kabal knocked the sword away nonchalantly. "Do not challenge me unless you are prepared to die." He said simply, acid practically leaking into his voice, "You know not what you do, fool."

At the insult, Conroy brought up his sword again, but this time to slash at Kabal. Without stepping away, Kabal merely brought up his arm to deflect the blow. For any normal person, this would have been very stupid, considering that a sword could easily cut through an arm. However, most people couldn't summon Lava Armor. "You begin to irk me, Conroy of the Holy Knights. Do not throw your life away." Ignoring Kabal's warning, Conroy slashed with his sword again and again. Each time, Kabal would simply block it, using his Lava Armor wherever he needed to deflect the blows. This happened for at least ten minutes, as they seemed to dance around the area, careful of their surroundings.

"Why aren't you attacking me back? Are you scared? Or is it....you don't think I'm a challenge?" Conroy yelled between slashes, then suddenly stopped. It was obvious that Kabal was stronger and more experienced, but the man didn't seem to care. "You think I'm a joke, do ya?"

Listen.

"Agh!" Suddenly, a sharp, burning pain erupted in his right eye. It was more painful than ever, as if something was trying to get his attention. It was so bad that Kabal couldn't help but hold his eye and kneel to the ground. He hissed in pain, gritting his teeth against it.

Taking his unforeseen opportunity, Conroy used the chance to kick Kabal in the head with the heel of his armored boot. This, coupled with his eye, caused Kabal to drop like a rock. He would have passed out if he were any weaker.

"We'll see whose the joke when you compete in the Tournament without your weapon." He walked up to Kabal, rolled him over with his foot, and took Naginata and it's sheath. "If you want it back, you better enter and fight me. I won't give it back otherwise....I'll make sure it's in a place you'll never find it. Or maybe I'll just sell it for a high price, it looks like it would go for a good amount of gold pieces." Laughing, Conroy made a hand signal. His lackeys broke the circle and went back to his side.

Kabal, holding his head, got up painfully onto one knee. Then, he hissed with thinly veiled murderous intent, "You have signed your own death warrant. I will hunt you..." Flames began to gather at his hands, licking the ground in his anger.

Conroy merely laughed once more and then left, waving away Kabal's words.

For a moment, Kabal just knelt there, half on the ground and half up on one knee. Then, he got up. As he lifted up his face, it revealed two things- one, his right eye was bleeding, seemingly crying tears of blood. Two, his eyes seemed to look almost golden in color, despite them normally being a light brown. He looked around him, not bothering to wipe his face. A black-haired boy, an old geezer, a random person, and a sheperdess. He would need one more person, but so far, so good. He didn't care who he took with him. He was going to the Tournament.

And so were they, whether they liked it or not.

"You four." He called out to them.

Easily able to tell what was going to happen, the second he heard the stranger that had his weapon taken point out him and the other 3 people that have somehow gotten involved into the same scene, Sikes spoke out, "I have no reason to get myself involved in your failure to keep a grip on your own weapon and I don't do well in "group effort".....but..there is one thing I wish to find out before I separate from this little "group"." He takes a moment to ponder before turning around and lower the part of his shirt that covered her neck, revealing the mark on the back of his neck of a Dragon Soul Wielder. "..do any of you have a mark as this? It's important for me to find out." Pushing himself to ask that since he knew it was important to seek others with the same mark, he then turns around to look at them to see their reply to his question. Part of him hoped none of them would have it so he can finally leave this crowd, but Dragon Soul within him was telling him it was important to find others like him. For what reason he wasn't fully sure yet, but he just felt it was important.

There must have been some divine force among them that hated sheep. She had to travel and listen to the same pointless conversations for several hours due to her work as a shepherdess, got knocked over by a random stranger who wanted her sheep, followed by another older man who seemed to be drooling over them, and was about to be dragged into more trouble by the man who had accidentally kicked the animal. She wasn’t even sure why she would be called over in such a situation, hadn’t the previous ‘exchange’ with the bald man been proof enough of her lack of combat abilities?

Inwardly she had been cheering when the black-haired boy seemed to be about to leave. It had seemed like the perfect chance to blurt out a quick farewell of her own to slip away into the crowd (not an easy feat to accomplish when one needed to lead an entire flock of grazing animals). Her hopes were dashed, however, when he stopped to ask them a question about the exact same mark she’d been wanting to know about.

Biting her lower lip ever so slightly, Anise answered, “… I have one. Not in the same spot as your own though.” Right after the words left her mouth, a small warm feeling spread from her birthmark. It had been such a short, fleeting sensation that she could have imagined it, but it almost seemed to be praising her for doing something good. Whatever the feeling had been about, however, it was more important to leave quickly before any new troubles arose.

“I-it was really nice to meet you all but, I should probably be going now. It wouldn’t do to trouble you all any further, so… I really wish I could be of assistance, but I know nothing more about the mark and I’m sure you would prefer a stronger fighter than me.” Her eyes darted back and forth between the unfamiliar faces before she quickly replaced her own nervous expression with a faint smile. “All the best wishes for the future. Thank you all once again for your help.”

Pretending not to be aware of their presence anymore, Anise proceeded to take a few steps away from them while gesturing for her sheep to follow.

Not really replying to the shephardess' bow of thanks, he instead kind of began to roam, interacting with various members of the flock of fluffy white cloud animals here and there. Sheep were an interesting species, he thought to himself. It wasn't like Kira had never seen sheep before, it was just the speed of their forgetfulness that rather surprised him. They seemed to be very carefree animals...quite unlike the girl who led them. And was that an axe she carried? Perhaps she wasn't as helpless as she appeared...

The thing that did surprise him, for real though, was the black haired man's question about the mark. Kira's own mark was usually hidden by long side bangs, and something had been bothering him about it- the tingly feeling still hadn't gone away. When the shephardess girl said she had one as well, he stopped for a second to consider it. Ah, wait, she was attempting to get away. That would not do at all just yet.

"Hey, you need to repay us for our help, right? So stick around for a minute, that mark there...." He trailed off a bit at the end of the sentance, switching his blue gaze to the man.

Kira looked down, switching his gaze from the fiery fellow to the black haired guy every so often. It was hard for him to judge which of the two would be better as an ally in a fight, they both seemed quite capable. However the mark was something that made the whole matter much more important than it would have been normally to Kira.
Stepping forward, he seconded the fiery one's question. "Yes, what does this mean, hmm?" He flicked his side bangs out of his face for a second, revealing the exact same mark under his left eye. His brother, before vanishing had always told him it meant something special, so Kira had usually believed it- he had followed his brother in those days as these sheep followed their shephardess. A thought occurred to him at that moment, the fiery one had said something about the tournament earlier.

"Hey, fiery one, why should I join your team? I've done it before, sure, but not for free." He didn't care how corrupt or selfish or greedy it sounded; that was just the way Kira was.

As the two of them move in seriously as they demanded an explanation, he replied loud enough for the girl that was walking away to hear as well. "It's the Dragon Mark, those born with it are born holding a Soul of a Dragon within them." He shows no flinching or sign of stuttering at all, giving a sign that he wasn't at all joking are telling some kind of lie.

"These marks are proof that each of us hold within them a Dragon Soul, the remains of powerful dragons that saved this land long ago. You can believe me if you want, I don't really care. But because you all have one is the only reason I'm going to be party of your meaningless fight. If it wasn't for my dragon telling me to stay close to you then I wouldn't even bother talking to you all at this very moment."

He turns his gaze to the girl that was leaving Hoping to see a reaction that she will come back to the group to hear more of what he has to say. Most likely this all seems hard to believe, so he had to think of something to might get the attention of the "fighters" in front of him as well. "Like I said, you can believe me if you want to or not. It's your choice..walk away and live on as you are, or accept what you all hold and unlock your hidden potential."

Anise sighed, but the sound was lost in within the loud, bustling crowd. Her sheep looked up at their shepherdess, wondering why she stopped moving and where they were supposed to go. It was one thing to hold her ground or run against the occasional thug she came across on the roads, she could hardly imagine it being even remotely similar to trying to fight against a Power Wielder. She could already imagine the hits she would take, the jeers from the crowds, and laughter of her future opponent.

Turning around, she walked back to where the 3 young men were. She no longer had a smile on her face, but at the very least she made sure not to make a sour expression in front of them. “I don’t know much about dragons, and I’m not sure if I believe in such things but…” She looked up at the black-haired boy and made a small curtsey. “I owe you one. If… You want me to join the group for the tournament, I will.”

It had been her own suggestion, but Anise saw how ridiculous it probably sounded. She would help fill in the required number of people needed for a group entering the fight, and that was it. It didn’t seem like he particularly cared for the tournament himself, however, being nothing more than a burden of the party hardly sounded like a way to repay her debt. Looking around at their faces again, a small idea hit her.

Turning to the one with brown hair and the mark below his eye she asked, “You… Said you’ll be my ally for today, right? Would you be willing to be my ally for the date of the tournament instead? Not for free.” She glanced at the one with black hair again and added with a small nod in his direction, “I’ll pay you the price of the sheep this one saved, and if we win anything you can take my entire share of it.”

Kira considered, the shephardess hadn't tried to bargain or anything. And...a sheep, for the price, was certainly interesting. He wouldn't mind that. Flicking his long chestnut bangs out of his face again, he accepted the offer with something akin to a genuine smile on his face. "You got it. I'm Kira Aqaia, by the way. You may have seen me before, I've done this tournament thing a few times..."

He couldn't quit catch the mutter of Kabal but that thought left his mind as rain began to fall. His expression finally changing from serious, to irritated as his head slouched down at the rain falling on him. "Great...rain..." He mutters as he clearly seemed to be bothered by it. "Ok, I'm not one to walk around in the rain. So someone do the signing up while I go where ever we're going to stay."

As he says that, he noticed something in the side of his view, spotting the pure white boy petting one of the girl's sheep. Seeing that, he turns to Anise, "Hey, you got someone touching your sheep over there." He tells her before her passes Kabal and Kira, "I'll handle some rooms, I want out of this rain as soon as I can. I guess you two can do the signing before it get's late." He says, not at all sounding like much of a "team player" as he just leaves them, heading to a nearby Inn.

Walking into the Inn, he places a bag of what he had left of money to pay for two rooms, one for the guys and one for the girl. It was something logical to do since he didn't really have that much left over. Once the payment was done, he walked into the guy's room and sets his bag down, laying on the bed as he simply listens to the rain falling outside.

“Hm?” Turning around to see what the black-haired one was talking about, she indeed saw a small white-haired boy petting her sheep. Or rather, he was quite difficult to miss being completely white from top to bottom. ’Kind of like my sheep.’ Anise thought. Before leaving the group she quickly told them, “My name’s Anise, A-N-I-S-E. Sorry, I would go to sign my name myself but I really need to get my sheep out of the rain.”

She had known about such behaviour for quite some time, but she wished that the woolly animals would at least make an attempt to stay away from strangers. They knew who to follow and to know enough to be scared of wild carnivores but... Apparently human beings, no matter how they looked, were not deemed to be dangerous. She had been thinking of getting a herding dog someday, and so far the day’s experiences were telling that she probably needed one soon.

Holding her hand over her head in a pitiful attempt to block the rain, she approached him with the intention of telling him that she and the sheep needed to be on their way. Her dragon mark, however, reacted to the boy sent her another strange sensation like the ones she felt around her new teammates. The shepherdess looked around to see if one of the young men had followed her over to where she was now, but with the crowd dispersing the escape the rain the only one near her was the strange boy in front of her.

Hesitantly, she gently tapped him on the shoulder and asked, “This… Is probably a strange question but do you have a birthmark like this one?” Finishing her question, she tugged at her collar to just barely reveal her mark on her left collar bone. Then looking around she added, “Are you here alone? Where are your friends or parents?”

Kabal watched as the 'group' began to leave one by one, starting with the black-haired man who hadn't even bothered to reveal his name, until all that was left was him and Kira. Unfortunately, very few had actually introduced themselves, leaving Kabal and Kira to guess most of the group's names.

Oh well. They'd have to think of something.

They left the area, Kabal leading the way as he took a shortcut through the back alleys. Since Imperial City was Kabal's hometown, he knew the city pretty well, so finding the registration for the tournament was child's play. As Kabal walked into the establishment where the registration was being held, Kabal could feel people staring at him

"You here to register?" The man asked as Kabal went up to the counter, "You need five people for a team." Kabal merely nodded. "All right." The man pushed a piece of paper and a quill, then added, "Once you're done signing everyone up, there's a registration fee."

Kabal stared at the paper for a moment. What should he put for the names he didn't know? In the spur of the moment, he put down:

Kabal
Kira
Anise
Loner
Mysterio

Then, without missing a beat, he paid the registration fee. He thought it was only right for him to do so, since he was the one dragging everyone into the tournament. Then, he and Kira left, Kabal leading the way once again.

~Several Hours Later~

Tracking the black-haired man down had been a pain, as Kabal had to go to nearly every inn in town just to see where he had gone. It took some time, but Kabal finally found the inn where the group was staying. After finding out what room he was in, Kabal went straight there, knocked on the door, then opened it and went inside.

"What's your name?" Kabal got straight to the point without any greeting. He wasn't trying to be rude, he simply wasn't the type of person for chit chat. "I had to give you an alias because I didn't know your name."

(Please let me know if I've got the number of people on a team wrong, or if I need to change/edit anything)

Sikes was deep in thought on his bed, thinking of the events that took place. His mind was silent until a voice spoke to him.

"You know what has to be done. Why is it that you still show resistant?"

Sikes remained silent for a little while longer until he finally replied. "I know what I have to do, and I know what will happen if I don't do it. But you can't expect me to forget the Darkness that rests in everyone. I can sense because of you. It's that darkness that brought that terrible day...and turned sis into whatever it is she now." The Dark Dragon within him let out a sigh, "You still have much to learn. Just because you can detect that darkness doesn't mean it will always sprout out like how it did with her." Sikes didn't reply, turning onto his side, "I'm tired, can you let me rest?" The Dragon's voice silently replies, "Very well..."

Sikes rested in silent, the talk with the Dark Dragon making him think of that event that forced him to leave his home. Going through those memories, a thought crosses through his mind. "I wonder if Pristine survived through that."

His train of thought was stopped as he heard the door open, moving to sit up on the bed as the one called Kabal and Kira from before walks in asking for his name bluntly. Showing his typical serious look, he replies, "It's Sikes. Besides it's not like I care much for what people call me so it doesn't matter what you might have put." Once replying, he just lays back on the bed with his hands behind his head. "Do you have anything else to ask? If not I wish to be left to my thoughts."