Artamus

---

April Rosevolt

---

April escorted the survivors out of the cage with Touya’s assistance. She lingered a moment longer to ensure that their tracks were adequately covered. On the way back to rejoin the therians behind the carriage, she was immediately throttled.

Faster than her eye could follow, Touya’s hands snapped out at throat, weaning the air from her lungs. His claws followed and impaled the area behind her, issuing the sound of blades biting into wood. There had been barely any indication that he had broken his metal bindings, and hence, very little warning to prepare herself for the violent assault. Lifted from her feet by his iron grip, April’s eyes widened in a state of bewildered shock. Suffocating, she gasped repeatedly, spitting wordless profanities as she kicked and punched in a desperate attempt to free herself.

Glowering at her struggles, Touya bent over just close enough to hiss in her face, "The only reason I did not tear this camp down was because of you. Understand that. If you value your life and those of the people here, prove to me that my next decision will not be the wrong one. You've a long way to go to win my trust again. You better get started.”

With a salient lack of oxygen reaching her brain, April’s vision diminished, along with her strength. It was fortunate that it occurred then for she would had not liked to beheld the therian’s murderous expression. After dancing on the edge consciousness for what felt like an age, he finally let go of her neck, dropping her thoughtlessly. April fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, sucking in deep breaths of air to alleviate her saturated lungs. Red rings bruised the underside of her chin, leaving a lasting impression of Touya’s attack.

“Screw you,” she wheezed out, no longer caring if he lashed out at her further. Her arms trembled as she struggled to rise and face the man she had once considered a comrade. The saddest part was she sympathized with his anger, but at the same time his aggression was foolish and unwarranted. They were still in the middle of the camp, did he not even have the good sense to realize the risk he was exposing his people to by causing a ruckus?

“Don’t think you can threaten me. You probably just recklessly waltzed in here like you did at Glendale,” April choked, wiping the water from her eyes. “I don’t need your permission to do anything! If you think killing hundreds of soldiers is so easy for you than you’re not better than Val!”

Finding the strength to lift herself finally, April glared up at Touya. “You want to fight in the middle of camp and get all of your people killed? Fine, but the next time you assault me will be the last,” she spat.

Dusting her clothes off, she ran a finger over the tender skin on her neck and winced the moment she came in contact. “I smuggled laxatives into all of the soldier’s food,” she coughed, “Nobody is going to be on patrol for the next few minutes.”

If one were to glance around, a strange phenomenon had indeed taken hold of the camp. Most notably, the sentry posts surrounding them were empty, abandoned by the busting guardsmen. April sighed after a long moment of silence, “I suggest you take a horse and stay of the roads, convoys travelling between the camp and city may spot you. Once you get your people to safety, it’d be in your best interests to head back to Altheim. The other half of the tribe was sent back to the HQ. If you’re fast enough, you may be able to catch up and free them.”

---

William Benedict

---

"Sir!" Cantus shouted, bursting through his tent flaps.

"Sir! Don't take another bite out of that bowl there of food!" Jerry followed, immediately materializing after his subordinate.

Quite unperturbed by guardsmen's interruption, William paused like statue frozen in motion. The captain's open mouth hovered over the spoon full of gruel he was about to bite into.

"What's wrong with the food?"

"It seems we're experiencing a virulent outbreak of food poisoning, sir!" Jerry informed.

William dumped the spoon, discarding it like some infected device. It would be one of the rare occasions he could be thankful for the mountains of tedious paper work. "How bad is it?" William frowned, leveling his eyebrows.

"Just about everyone's infected, sir!" Cantus informed.

"But, more importantly sir! We've come to inform ya about our suspicions on that silver-haired faceless we caught two days ago," Jerry continued, "Back in Altheim, Miss Rosevolt was meant to deliver that one to HQ, yet he was reported dead. Then! two days ago he appears out of nowhere and requests to meet her! Coincidence? I think not!"

Standing up with sudden alarm, William opened the window flap of his command tent and glanced over at the cages. "Get the guards to go check the prisoners! Get them now!"

“Screw you. Don’t think you can threaten me. You probably just recklessly waltzed in here like you did at Glendale. I don’t need your permission to do anything! If you think killing hundreds of soldiers is so easy for you than you’re not better than Val!”

He glowered at her at first, partially amazed that the woman still had the gall to keep him enraged. Didn't she realize who it was she was dealing with? A Therian who could just as well break her as destroy everything if he so wished. However, his eyes softened as she continued. Yes, he had just walked in without thought really. He had been to caught up in his own anger to rationalize anything. Her comparison to Val was probably what brought him down from his rampage. Thinking it over right then, she was completely right. He had to get a hold of himself, or lose to it all and he would be another Val.

“You want to fight in the middle of camp and get all of your people killed? Fine, but the next time you assault me will be the last," she continued. Touya frowned again at her and crossed his arms as he watched her. What about the time she assaulted him when he was injured and near death? He didn't voice it though, figuring to bring something like that up right then was probably a bad idea.

“I smuggled laxatives into all of the soldier’s food. Nobody is going to be on patrol for the next few minutes.”

This warranted Touya's gaze to look around them briefly and take in the fact that there was indeed no one around. His question to why the two guards had left so quickly was answered then and he raised an eyebrow at her as he turned to regard April once again. Still he hadn't said anything to her and in the silence he only stared at her. After a moment she sighed and spoke again, softer than before.

“I suggest you take a horse and stay of the roads, convoys travelling between the camp and city may spot you. Once you get your people to safety, it’d be in your best interests to head back to Altheim. The other half of the tribe was sent back to the HQ. If you’re fast enough, you may be able to catch up and free them.”

His eyes narrowed slightly at her as she sat there on the ground, unmoving. What was she thinking, he wondered. Was it possible that she intended to stay there? Did she think he was going to let her just walk away from him that easily? Touya dropped down to the ground in front of her and watched her for a while longer. After a moment he reached out and lifted her chin so that she was looking at him and not away.

"You're going to stay aren't you? What will that accomplish? Are you not going after Val anymore?" He asked her. Tilting his head off to the side he gazed at her before continuing, "You can't take him on your own you know. Or did you forget that he almost killed you several times the other day. Had I not been there you wouldn't be here right now. If you wish to fight a Therian, you must learn to be one. Your fighting as of right now will do you no good at all. I can train you to be better, far better than any soldier here," he told her. If she really wished to take Val down, she would need all the help she could get. Even with being trained, she would still need Touya and Damea. Val was one of their best warriors, it wouldn't be so easy to take him down.

A sound in the camp caught his attention and he glanced over her shoulder into the firelight. A soft growl issued from his lips and he leaned forward, closing the distance between him and April. She wasn't going to like what he was about to do, but he would be damned if he was just going to leave her there. There were too many possibilities, too many things could go wrong and something could happen to her that he would regret later.

"If you think I'll just leave you here, you're wrong. You're not going to like this, but try to behave for once," he told her and abruptly lifted her into his arms. Had he wanted to leave on his own, he wouldn't have taken a horse, but to run with a human in his grip was an entirely different issue. Turning, he maneuvered in the darkness easily enough and soon found a horse, though he was cutting it close. The sounds of searching were growing closer and the alarms had already been run as the soldiers found an empty carriage with no Therian's.

"My people can get through the darkness well enough. We will catch up to them soon," he told her as he hoisted her up onto the horse whether she struggled or not, he got her up and followed her. Securing the woman between his arms, he took hold of the reign's and kicked the horse into a run. He didn't go the same direction as his people did, he went another way, staying close to the camp to draw attention. As he went, he withdrew his sword and snapped it open. Passing by tethered horses he cut their reigns and with a bit of power scared them so that they begun running around rampantly. Once that was done, Touya sheathed his weapon and took off into the darkness.

---

April Rosevolt

---

April shrunk away from his approaching hand, anticipating another act of aggression. Surprisingly, he redirected her focus, emphasizing the importance of his next words.

"You're going to stay aren't you? What will that accomplish? Are you not going after Val anymore? You can't take him on your own you know. Or did you forget that he almost killed you several times the other day. Had I not been there you wouldn't be here right now. If you wish to fight a Therian, you must learn to be one. Your fighting as of right now will do you no good at all. I can train you to be better, far better than any soldier here," Touya offered, growing abruptly compassionate. His cold, blue eyes softened their gaze but April was still shaken by all that had transpired. Unequivocally, she stared up at him, a small snarl displacing her pink lips.

“Are you suggesting that my training and experience insofar is inadequate?” she asked, sounding mildly offended. April was far from a stubborn old fool, but the sole suggestion that her decade long service was somehow inferior to whatever Touya had to offer infuriated her. From what she had witnessed so far, the therian lack tactical and strategic acuity. For him, a battle won now could result in a loss in the grand scheme of things, and he would never realize it. What did he have to offer her other than facilitating a means to an end? “Why do you still wish to keep me around? What possible use am I to you if you feel the need to train me? Because you’ve made it abundantly clear that my presence is abominable to you.”

In a fit of rage, she slapped his hand away, unable to bear his humanity. This was hardly the time and place to talk, but at that moment April felt like she would explode if she did not get the expanding guilt out of her chest, “I’ve let my emotions undermine myself for long enough. I was scared Touya, scared of death. So I ditched you in the fields, don’t you understand that?”

The chilling noise of encroaching guards brought her senses back to reality. The former soldier’s body froze along with the breath in her lungs like a rat caught in the act of stealing. This was too soon, far too soon; most of the camp should have been afflicted by the laxatives now. How was it that they had recovered so quickly?

"If you think I'll just leave you here, you're wrong. You're not going to like this, but try to behave for once."

Touya’s sentence was all the warning she got before he bundled her up between his arms. Eyes widening in a state of disbelief, April show stunned amazement at how effortlessly he was able to carry her. She was a soldier of moderate height and well toned muscle, a solid one-hundred and ten pounds, yet he still managed to somehow run with her within his grasps. Any other praise she may have had for him was instantly suspended as the encampment burst into life behind them.

"My people can get through the darkness well enough. We will catch up to them soon," Touya remarked. Noticing they had reached the stables, she prepared herself to be dropped only to be thrown up on the saddle of the closest horse. Before she could give voice to her protest, Touya leapt up behind her and kicked the horse into motion.

They burst out from the stables at a galloping pace, but Touya had a diversionary plan of his own. Forced into the role of a bystander, she watched as he circled around, drawing the guards attention, and then released the horses. Gun fire echoed into the night as guards hurried forwards in the wake of the alarm. Thankfully, it would take precious minutes to calm the terrified stallions, and by that time April and Touya had already melted into the darkness.

Touya directed the horse through the night with ease. He hadn't said a word to April since her out burst before his taking her up in his arms and hoisting her upon the stead they now rode. They'd gone some distance from the camp and with the distraction he'd created, the soldiers were sure to be busy for some time. Not wishing to speak over the rushing air from the racing horse, he pulled the reigns gently and slowed the beast to a walk. Leaning forward, Touya spoke to April. He was grateful for their positions for he wasn't sure he could speak while looking her in the eye.

"I'm sorry," he started, "For losing my temper with you. At the time... things looked... different. I understand being scared of death. Everyone is, believe it or not, so am I."

He sighed softly before continuing, "I should have realized then what it was you were running from. I thought you'd abandoned me completely," he let that train of thought fade away, not wishing to relive his earlier emotions at such a loss. It was still too much to think about. Even so, he was hesitant to trust her completely in everything.

"As for your training," he flicked his gaze down at the back of her head. Her hair tickled his nose as it was being windswept at him from the moving horse and the night breeze, "You are probably one of the finest warriors of your people, but that doesn't mean you can take on a Therian head on and by yourself. You may out do you own people, but Val is one of our finest warriors. I can barely take him by myself, doesn't that tell you something? None of your training is going to help you against one of our warriors who has many years more experience than yourself April. I'm offering you a chance to learn how to better yourself. I never said that what you have right now was not worth all of your training. It just makes it easier for me to train you seeing as you already know how to fight. What you need is to refine what you already have."

"As for keeping you around. I never once thought you abominable. Do you remember what Invashi said to us? The night before we left? It took me some time to remember it myself, but I think I know now what she meant when she said not to let 'petty things get between us'," Touya took a deep breath before exhaling it as he attempted to gather his next words properly, "You're human, and you're fragile compared to us. I cannot leave you to your own devices now. We've come to far for that. You may irritate me as well as do things I will never understand, but if I were to leave you now... I fear the worst would happen."



He'd been travelling for two days, stopping only when he couldn't walk any more and sleeping only as much as he possibly needed. Damea could feel the anxiety and fear driving him to continue moving forward as fast as he could. The city was still two days out and he didn't think he could make it there in time before something terrible happened to Touya, or April even. He didn't honestly think that she betrayed them like Touya did, but without much evidence, he couldn't really pass that off onto the stubborn Therian. Of course he'd never seen Touya so angry before so he really feared for April.

He had to get to Reginald as quickly as he could and warn the doctor so that they may start back and get the two of them on better terms with each other. If that was ever going to be possible after what had just transpired. He felt a tightening in his throat and he swallowed the hard lump that had formed there. Damea couldn't afford to think that everything was now an utter impossibility. There had to be a way to fix things, there was always a way. If only there were a faster way to get word to Reginald... It was taking him way to long to reach the city.

Damea panted as he moved across the dark field of nothing. It was pitch black and getting darker by the second. He was coming up on day three and he'd yet to reach the road. How far out had they gone?! He was tired, hungry and most of all, thirsty. The fire mage wasn't sure how much longer he could keep going. Soon, all Damea could think about were three words, Reginald, Touya and April. He'd even begun muttering the names under his breath as he walked.

Several hours later Damea finally stumbled upon the road, but he was too far gone in delirium to realize it. His gaze was dim as he stared ahead of him and tumbled forward. His body finally gave out completely and he crumpled to the dirt. Collapsed on the ground he shuddered from the cold night air that was slowly turning to day. The fire mage shifted his body and tried to get back up, one thing on his mind now. Find Reginald. The man's name was being uttered beneath Damea's breath as he got back to his feet, took several steps and then fell again. This time he stayed on the ground, unable to move. Slowly his eyes closed and he lay there, passed out in the middle of the main road.

---

April Rosevolt

---

They stopped running after what felt like an age, when they could no longer hear the shrieking gunfire chasing them. Even now April checked behind them with regularity, keeping a vigilant eye out for pursuers. Neither of them had spoken since their hasty escape, though even that was tenuous at best. She felt their change of pace as the wind stopped whipping her hair about and Touya brought the galloping horse to a trot. On the verge on inquiring if they had reach their destination, she paused upon feeling the therian lean against her back.

"I'm sorry, for losing my temper with you. At the time... things looked... different. I understand being scared of death. Everyone is, believe it or not, so am I,” the therian apologized. April turned her neck ever so slightly, just enough so that she could look at him. It was obvious that both of them felt awkward about the nature of their situation. For April, it was a matter of guilt. The former soldier could not tell which was worse, the therian’s compassion, or his anger.

“I appreciate that,” she replied, but Touya was far from finished. His sigh brushed over her cheeks as he formulated the desired words.

"I should have realized then what it was you were running from. I thought you'd abandoned me completely," he murmured, sadness in his tone. Memories reared their ugly head, still fresh in both of them minds. April was quietly stunned at his understanding.

"As for your training. You are probably one of the finest warriors of your people, but that doesn't mean you can take on a Therian head on and by yourself. You may out do you own people, but Val is one of our finest warriors. I can barely take him by myself, doesn't that tell you something? None of your training is going to help you against one of our warriors who has many years more experience than yourself April. I'm offering you a chance to learn how to better yourself. I never said that what you have right now was not worth all of your training. It just makes it easier for me to train you seeing as you already know how to fight. What you need is to refine what you already have."

“I’m a woman, Touya,” April stated without reservation. It was a proud fact that she had even made it this far into the ranks, especially given comparisons to her late mother, a famous general. April on the other hand had to contend with a mediocre education and her father’s debt. Neither was she particularly passionate about war, the prospect of killing was not her chosen path, not at first in any case. “Certainly I’ve trained diligently, but I’m far from being the finest warrior humanity has to offer. That title already belongs to people such as Miles Riverbend. The discrepancy between a therian and human’s power is something no amount of training you offer can amend, Touya. Instead of trying to knock down the stone wall, it’s better to go around it.”

April looked him dead in the eye, “I don’t need raw prowess to defeat Val. There are plenty of other ways to approach a game. Why do you think humans have been successful thus far Touya? We’re not the fastest, the strongest nor the most magically attuned race, yet we thrive.”

Uncertain how the therian would take this, April left a moment of silence for him to respond.

"As for keeping you around. I never once thought you abominable. Do you remember what Invashi said to us? The night before we left? It took me some time to remember it myself, but I think I know now what she meant when she said not to let 'petty things get between us. You're human, and you're fragile compared to us. I cannot leave you to your own devices now. We've come to far for that. You may irritate me as well as do things I will never understand, but if I were to leave you now... I fear the worst would happen."

Reminding of Invashi’s death once again, April averted her gaze of his. Doubts entered her mind, questioning whether she could have averted the outcome somewhere along the line. It was the same question she asked herself whenever one of her kin died. Sometimes she felt as though the weight of their deaths would never be lifted, that one day they would come crashing down like a hammer of justice. The best response she could think of was just not to think about it.

“This from the melodramatic therian who has been closer to death over the last few weeks that I have in my entire lifetime? I’m flattered by your concern,” she responded, sarcasm icing her voice, “But at the same time. Thank you, for believing in me.”

---

Miles Riverbend

---

After having successfully delivered the scientist to his facilities in Altheim, Miles was immediately set upon by a new assignment. Much to his chagrin, this time he had been sent to meet up with some of the scientist’s precious ‘cargo’ and ensure that it reached Altheim punctually and safely. Granted command of a small task force of Jaeger Guard, Miles’ suspicions were immediately raised. The Jaeger Guard where the elite of the elite. Each man was a hand-picked veteran who had served in over three campaigns, with some serving as many as twenty. Individually they were tall, many were even taller than him. The most impressive aspect of their being however was their training. They would never use cowardly tactics, such habits having long since been erased during their intensive training. This presented an intimidating sight on any battlefield, one which could strike fear in the hearts of friends and foes alike.

The problem then was what sort of cargo warranted such security? It was bad enough that he was being sent into the godforsaken countryside, but to contend with whatever equaled these men was a disquieting prospect indeed. Miles was in the midst of these musings when they happened upon a curious spectacle.

“What’s this, a stray?” Miles queried his men with a raised eyebrow. “Wake him up.”

Issuing a series of grunts, two Jaeger Guards stepped forwards and manhandled vagrat by the arms until he was standing. One of them produced a flask and twisted the cap before pouring its contents on top of Damea’s head. They waited until he was fully aroused, standing on either side of him to ensure that the delirious man would not waver. Now afforded a perfect view of the mercenary, Miles measured the man up and down from his saddle.

The sell sword looked like he was once in the good graces of fortune. Miles said ‘once’ because of the faded colors that marked the dusty attire of his jacket. As well as a whole trout of collected grime, the man was travelling light, suggesting that the journey was either not by choice, or an emergency of some kind. Further down were two blades sheathed at the leather belt securing his waist. A dual wielder. It had been a while since he last fought a dual wielder, three months if he remembered correctly.

“Hmmmm,” Miles pondered, putting a frown on. “Give the man some water, and food. He looks absolutely famished.”

A third Jaeger Guard followed his command with trained discipline. Promptly, he approached the mercenary and force fed him some water before offering some food.

“This is a dangerous road to pass out on. Never know when a horse could just trample over you,” Miles remarked after watching the Jaeger step back, “What’s your name?”

“This from the melodramatic therian who has been closer to death over the last few weeks that I have in my entire lifetime? I’m flattered by your concern. But at the same time. Thank you, for believing in me,” Her voice held hints of sarcasm, yet at the end it was more sincere. Touya frowned at her for a moment but didn't comment on her calling him 'melodramatic' and having nearly died several times already. Though he had to admit, she had a point there. How many times had he come so close to death and just barely escaped its clutches? Too many, and all within the short amount of time that he'd known her.

"Of course I believe in you. It is as you said, you human's have learned to thrive despite the many odds against you. You're race is... strange, yet oddly alluring to me. I do not understand half of the things you do or don't do. I don't think I ever will, but none-the-less your people have a way of surviving no matter what it is that is thrown at them. I'm intrigued to see what you will be like in another forty years or so," Touya mused, the last part was mainly to himself though he figured that she could hear him.

After that, he did not engage in conversation with her for some time. He was lost in thought rather, and let the horse take them towards his people. He could feel them in the distance, just over another couple of hills and still moving. They were not heading towards the human cities, but they were getting rather close. He figured that they would change course soon enough, though. As they rode, Touya remembered his order to Damea and wondered how the fire mage was faring in the two days -now three as the sun was being to peek it's golden rays over the mountains- days that he'd left him.

"I sent Damea to find Reginald," Touya said aloud, informing April of the decision and the reason as to why the man was not with them right then, "He should reach the city soon. I did not know who else to inform..." Touya was lost in thought once again, wondering if he'd done the right thing by sending the human on his own to seek out a single man.



He felt arms around his and in a matter of moments he was standing up right, held between two people. He hadn't even heard the groups approach, nor could he really comprehend that he was being addressed. Cold water poured over his head, drenching his hair and clothes. some of the dirt washed away to reveal the bright colors of his mercenary clothing and pale features. His white hair clung to the sides of his face and got in his eyes as it dripped from the water. The men holding him released him and Damea took in the people around him. Guards, maybe... he wasn't quite sure. His vision wavered slightly and it took quite a bit of strength to stay standing.

“Hmmmm. Give the man some water, and food. He looks absolutely famished,” a man up on a horse ordered and Damea found himself almost drowning in water as it was forced down his throat. He winced as it burned going down his throat and coughed harshly as whoever held the flask to his mouth pulled it back. He was released again and he stumbled from the rough treatment. Water poured from his mouth, at least what little that hadn't gone down his throat. Wiping his lips he coughed again and looked up to the man seated on the horse.

“This is a dangerous road to pass out on. Never know when a horse could just trample over you. What’s your name?”

Damea hardly comprehended the words spoken to him, however the water had been refreshing and seemingly woke him a bit from his daze.

"Reginald..." Damea answered softly, his mind still trying to connect two and two with what the man asked him. After a moment his eyes widened slightly as he realized that since the past couple of hours he'd been whispering Reginald's name to himself to remind himself why he was wandering the wilds. Curses... Though the men around him had given him water and bread, their brutish looks and armor set him off. He didn't like their aura at all and didn't think they needed to know where and why he was traveling.

"I'm... Damea, the names Damea," he tried again, hoping that the word that had slipped passed his tongue had not been caught by the intimidating man up on the horse. Everything could be ruined if he said the wrong thing now.

---

April Rosevolt

---

"Of course I believe in you. It is as you said, you human's have learned to thrive despite the many odds against you. You're race is... strange, yet oddly alluring to me. I do not understand half of the things you do or don't do. I don't think I ever will, but none-the-less your people have a way of surviving no matter what it is that is thrown at them. I'm intrigued to see what you will be like in another forty years or so," Touya reflected.

“Oddly alluring? Should I take that as a compliment? A confession perhaps?” April scoffed, laughing coyly at his indirect observations, “Don’t worry about the confusion, us humans can’t even tell why most of us do what we do.”

Neither of them talked much after that point. Completely lost, April confided her trust in Touya’s detecting abilities, believing that the therian would lead them in the correct direction. The pacing had evolved to a comfortable jog, and without the constant hailstorm of gunfire to chase them, it was relatively enjoyable. Beyond, sunrise was slowly dawning, awaking from its night long slumber. It shifted into place, divulging its tantalizing rays of luminescence over the mountain’s snowy peak. April shielded her eyes in an effort to adapt herself to the changing light.

Breaking the intimate silence, Touya spoke up again, though she got the impression this time he was making a passing comment. "I sent Damea to find Reginald," Touya hesitated, as if uncertain how to best broach the topic.

“You what?!” April burst out. Whipping her head around at him, April’s hand quivered at some barely restrained impulse to slap Touya. Despite being mystified at the complete lack of colloquial banter, she was hardly eager to re-experience Damea’s badgering anytime soon. Thus, the matter seemed trivial and April had gladly assumed the mercenary to be in hiding as a part of some plan. How naïve of her. Never could she imagine that he had been sent in search of Reginald, but she should have suspected something. Baffling as the choice was, she resigned herself to simply glaring at Touya, knowing that nothing could be done to amend his decision at present.

“Even despite knowing why I tricked him in the first place?” she accused, stressing his negligence. Shaking her head, her gaze drifted back to the rolling scenery, too cross to stare at him. Reconciliation was going to have to wait again it seemed.

"He should reach the city soon. I did not know who else to inform..." the therian trailed off.

“Val and a lot of his tribe are still missing,” April said. Touya probably knew of the fact given his offer to train her, but she needed a diversion from the growing tension. “They killed dozens and escaped despite our numbers. I’m not sure how Altheim will respond now. Nothing is guaranteed. You may have to prepare yourself for a battle on three fronts, Touya.”

A pragmatic woman at heart, April was well aware of the potential repercussions awaiting them. She also felt it was her responsibility to warn Touya, audacious as the therian was. “More to the point, we should hurry to catch-up with the first convoy. It’s already the third day and I estimate that they’re two day’s worth travel from reaching Altheim. After they reach the city, all bets are off,” she reminded him, keenly aware of what dangers existed within the city. “Fortunately, they should stop mid-way for supplies. This should afford us a little more time, as well as a brief window of opportunity.”

---

Miles Riverbend

---

Waiting patiently for an answer, Miles inspected the stray’s features while the man recollected his bearings. The mercenary’s focus was a disordered mess, wavering from one spot to the next without rhyme. His circumstances were a shrouded enigma, though it was obvious he had not been recently engaged in conflict due to the lack of wounds. To the man’s credit, he managed to maintain a semblance of calm. Most people would have fled or simply pissed their pants upon meeting a unit of Jaeger Guard, not to mention one led by the infamous Beast Slayer.

"Reginald..." he murmured.

“Reginald?” Miles queried, leaning in closer as if he was unable to hear the vagrant.

"I'm... Damea, the names Damea," the man stammered, correcting himself quickly.

Raising an eyebrow, Miles kicked his horse forwards and brought it right up before Damea. His closing proximity was ever also slightly intimidating, an effect that was amplified by fact that a squadron of Altheim’s best fighters rallied behind him. Stopping just several feet away, Miles glanced down before erupting into a fit of laughter.

“Relax man, no need to be so tense,” he chided, “Rest assured, we’re just passing through on business.”

The Beast Slayer’s assistance may have resembled an act of charity on the surface, but more honestly, Miles was simply attempting to kill time. Desperate to escape the formal conversations he associated with the Jaeger Guard, Miles was willing to settle for even this minor inconvenience.

“Damea, pleasure to meet you. I’m Miles Riverbend, though I’m sure you’re already aware of that,” Miles returned with a smirk that bordered on the verge of egotistical. “It sounds like you’re trying to meet someone. But, word of advice, I’d stop by a tavern or the city to look after yourself first. You’re no used to anyone dead.”

At that, Miles kicked the sides of his horse, compelling his stead to trot past Damea. The Jaeger Guard followed without word, abandoning the mercenary to his devices.

Than man on the horse reigned his stead closer to Damea. The sell sword was well practiced at keeping his calm, even so with the man's intimidating presence his tension was high and it was all he could do to not reach for his swords. The water had refreshed him and brought him some semblance of balance and control. His mismatched gaze watched the man far above him wearily. Even as the man spoke, he wasn't sure he trusted him at all.

“Relax man, no need to be so tense. Rest assured, we’re just passing through on business.”

Damea lifted an eyebrow but didn't say anything more to the man that leaned forward in his saddle. As he watched him, the well dressed man on the horse smiled at him as he continued speaking.

“Damea, pleasure to meet you. I’m Miles Riverbend, though I’m sure you’re already aware of that. It sounds like you’re trying to meet someone. But, word of advice, I’d stop by a tavern or the city to look after yourself first. You’re no used to anyone dead.”

Damea's lips frowned as Miles turn his horse around and canter off into the direction opposite direction he was heading. The group of armed forces followed him, their armor and weapons chinking together softly as they went. It was definitely an elite group that he'd just run into and one that he didn't wish to run into again.

"Yeah, no clue who the hell you are," Damea whispered to himself and turned to look back down the road. He was a day from the city, if he hurried he could get to Reginald quite quickly. Refreshed with the bit of water he'd had and the food shoved at him, Damea started forward again at a quick pace. He finished the food given to him in a matter of minutes not wishing to carry any of it for too long. What a fool he'd been to leave Touya without thinking, mostly because he'd left without having any water or anything else packed on him. Their source of food and water had come from the Therian who had lived off the lands before.

Shaking his head slightly, Damea focused on getting to where he needed to be. At the back of his mind he wondered what kind of business required the attention of such intimidating people. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know the answer to that question though.



“You what?!”

Touya winced as her sharp voice reached him. He leaned back away from her, half startled as she whirled around on him. Her eyes were glittering with rage once again and he couldn't figure out why she was so angry. What had he done now? Was it something he said? The Therian couldn't put two and two together and sat in the saddle dumb founded, staring at her with confusion.

“Even despite knowing why I tricked him in the first place?” With a shake of her head, she turned away from him, grumbling. So that was the reason. He'd sent Damea to go get Reginald and she didn't wish for the man to be there at all. Sure Touya agreed with her not wanting to lose more men, but he hadn't planned on her releasing him and the other Therian's like she'd done. So, he'd sent Damea to get Reginald so that the two of them could figure out a plan to help release Touya and bring April back to her senses... or rather, that had been somewhat along the lines of what Touya had been thinking at the time.

“Val and a lot of his tribe are still missing. They killed dozens and escaped despite our numbers. I’m not sure how Altheim will respond now. Nothing is guaranteed. You may have to prepare yourself for a battle on three fronts, Touya.”

She took a breath hardly waiting for him to respond to her before she spoke again. All the while, Touya was more than prepared to do battle with many different factions of people, “More to the point, we should hurry to catch-up with the first convoy. It’s already the third day and I estimate that they’re two day’s worth travel from reaching Altheim. After they reach the city, all bets are off. Fortunately, they should stop mid-way for supplies. This should afford us a little more time, as well as a brief window of opportunity.”

Touya, in the midst of listening to her, pulled the reigns and began redirecting their steed. He would heed her words this time. Instead of going after the group of Therian's she'd released, he would take to the road and head for the city of Altheim. It wouldn't take him long to get back on the track of his kin. With a flick of his wrist he snapped the reigns and the horse moved accordingly, moving forward faster and slowly picking up speed. They were soon racing across the wilds heading towards the main road where they'd branched off from days ago. On horseback they would reach the road in a few hours. Touya hoped that before the end of the day they would reach the caravan that held his kin prisoner.



The caves had exited someways away from the battle front and that was where Val lead his people. Out in the open, he was grateful for the distance between him and the human army. Behind him, women, children and the elderly followed him in a soft commotion of noise. The forest of Creeid was no longer of any use to them and they would have to re-establish their settlement. Fortunately, the men he'd sent ahead of him to help the others leave had done a good job and gathering as much technology as they could to take with them. Mostly it was tools and metal scraps, some devices that the human's had either discarded or were experimenting on, or something that had once been of use to them.

Looking out across the expanse of open fields, the hills cut his vision of where the army lay, but he knew they were too far to be of any concern right then. In the meantime, he would have to find a new forest for them to settle in. Turning, he set his gaze to the south and eyed the horizon. The yellow light of the sun illuminated the hills making them look like gold. The days of summer were quickly turning to cold winter. A couple more months and he was sure they would see snow upon the earth.

"What do you have in mind, Val?"

"We head south. Find a forest or a good place with enough cover to re-fortify and settle our people. You'll lead them, Kaeo," Val said, turning and putting his hand on the other Therian's shoulder. The man named Kaeo nodded his head to Val, his eyes holding his determination steadily.

"I'll send word to you as soon as we find a place."

"Good. I'll be taking a group of fighters with me. I wish to see what those humans are up to."

"Don't engage in a fight with them. They're too many."

"You don't need to remind me of that. I'm simply curious as to what it is they were doing there and how easily they found us. I fear the worst though. To think that Touya might have unwittingly led that woman to us. It's possible she betrayed him and if she has... well we might just win another Therian to our side."

"And what of Ahmeil?"

"She's smart enough to figure out what happened. She won't blunder around into the forest when she see's the army. Besides, she is still busy with her own mission. I don't expect to hear from her for a little while longer. It is also half the reason to go back, I wish to make sure she makes it to us safely."

Kaeo looked off into the distance as Val did and nodded slowly, "Then we'll see you in a few days."

"Be careful and take care of yourselves until I return."

"We will, and you do the same, Val. We would be lost without you."

Val gave a soft grunt of a laugh and called out to a group of armed Therian's. With a slight beckon of his hand, he was surrounded by them and they set off back to the north to spy upon the human encampment that had attacked them. It would be a couple of days, but that didn't matter much. Val was sure the camp would be moving soon and he wished to know where they'd come from and tailing them was one thing the Therian's were very good at.

---

April Rosevolt

---

They rode hard and fast for an entire day before reaching their quarry, only pausing to manage the barest of necessities. Stops to hunt, rest and find water compounded the delay, but frankly, April believed they would need all the strength they could get. Murky clouds sat overcast, blotting out the sky and enhancing her sense of foreboding. When they finally caught wind of the convoy it was from a passing local. April had spent much of that time attempting to design an appropriate ambush, a task which eluded her insofar. Without knowing the terrain and composition of the caravan’s forces, she was clueless. It was safe to assume that the convoy consisted of men from the 33rd Legion, and likely no more than fifteen of them.

The convoy was parked along the roadside of the path ahead. Hard to miss, April nonetheless felt the need to direct Touya.

“There!” April indicated helpfully with her pointed finger, “Ease in and fall of the track here in the forests. We don’t want to alert them to our presence yet.”

Touya was a step ahead of her in that regard and guided their horse into the murky folds of the forest edge. The Jouran Road ran flat, wide and through the bountiful lowlands and rainforests east of Altheim. Composed of irrigated crop fields, the lowlands depended on a winding river for their year round water. A fresh, damp smell hung in the air, and the road followed the river for most of the way.

The convoy had their backs to the river. It was a natural response to the tree-lined road and suggested whoever was leading them had a sound, tactical mind. Clambering from their horse, she helped Touya secure it to a tree trunk and then touched his wrist with precaution written into her expression.

“No rushing in this time,” she stated, looking up at his eyes, “We go in and analyze. Keep the noise level to a minimum.”

With her intentions clarified, April led the way, navigating her way through columns of forest hardwood. Above them it was beginning to rain, dousing the duo in droplets of chilling water. Globules peppered the ground, creating the indistinct rhythm of rainfall. April felt strands of her hair cling to her face as they slunk closer enough to observe, but far enough to evade detection.

“Good,” April murmured, taking mental notes of the caravan’s distribution. Normally she would sign language to communicate, but she very much doubted that Touya was capable of understanding that. “Four non-combatants, thirteen guards.”

Close to her estimations, the question remained though, how would they tackle such overwhelming numbers with only two people? Abruptly, April’s crouched figure perked up, growing tense in the wilderness. Picking up the sounds of an approaching horse, April’s blue eyes fell down the road to Altheim. Appearing over the ridge came less than a dozen men. In the gathering mist, it was hard to discern their features from such a distance, prompting her to shift locations laterally.

She rounded another brush to get a better look, only to immediately feel her heart drop. April dropped away, falling onto her back as if she had been rammed by a bull. Her gaze went up to Touya, wide with a mixture of fear and despair.

“Riverbend…” she stammered, “And the Jaeger Guard…”

---

William Benedict

---

Over a day had passed. William was reluctant to believe it, but given the accumulated evidence, he had few options. April was a therian sympathizer. The reality begged disbelief, but it also inserted those perilous seeds of doubt. Did she miss hitting the therian on purpose? Did she let the soldier bleed out? Did she free the prisoners? Why only use laxatives then? The situation seemed more complex then he imagined.

“Sir, orders from HQ,” Cob interjected, appearing through the flaps of his command tent. A white dove rested on top of his adjudicates wrist, implying the message was recent. Awoken from his musings, William glanced up from his papers and smiled slightly.

“What is it now?” he frowned, standing up to receive the letter.

“No clue, sir,” Cob responded.

William picked up his letter opener and cut through the red seal of head office. Flipping the top open, he rummaged around and retrieved the awaiting piece of paper.

“I guessed as much,” William said, half-sighing. He looked up from the letter at his awaiting adjudicate and then dropped back to his desk. “We’re being sent back to Altheim.”

“Any word on the lost prisoners?” Cob inquired, curious.

“Nay, they escaped in the night,” William shrugged, “HQ won’t be happy, but at least they should receive half of the batch. Head brass seems awfully eager to get their greasy hands on some live faceless these days.”

“You could inform them of the dangers…” Cob hazarded.

William gave a slight smirk implying he had, “Don’t concern yourself with it Cob. Spread the word to get packing. We head back to Altheim!”

“No rushing in this time. We go in and analyze. Keep the noise level to a minimum.”

A soft touch on his wrist caught his attention. He glanced down to the woman who was gazing up at him. Was she... concerned? Probably, well it made sense. He wasn't one to really think things through entirely. To him it made more sense to strike fast and hard whenever you could. Touya took a look at the caravan that they'd caught up to. He counted several men and was assured to his count by April's voice softly reaching his ears.

“Good. Four non-combatants, thirteen guards.”

Non-combatants? What kind of term was that? Well, he didn't have time to reflect on it really as April moved away from him. He wondered where she went and then realized that something must have caught her attention. Even so, it was difficult for him to simply sit there and do nothing. They were only thirteen humans and with his power he could easily take them all out in one strike. Even if he didn't wish to do so, fighting them hand to hand was easy enough as well. To make things even better, he could get to the cage that held the other Therian's and free them. He knew that once freed, they would willingly help him in the fight.

From the corner of his eye he caught April falling backwards. The rain was hard and he thought that she might have slipped in the mud beneath them. However, that didn't seem to be the case as she looked up at him from her spot on the ground. Having fallen, Touya had lunged forward quickly to assess if she was alright or not, worry in his gaze. That was replaced with confusion as she spoke to him, fear in her eyes.

“Riverbend… And the Jaeger Guard…”

"Jaeger Guard?" He asked in response to her words. Looking up from her prone figure he searched through the haze of rain and slowly gathering fog. A group of men were coming towards the camp and they didn't look to be any normal men either. Touya's heart clenched in his chest and he wondered just how easily he was going to win this fight, if at all. His original idea was starting to sound more and more appealing as he sat there. If he could take out the majority of regular soldiers, than taking on these... 'elite' ones would be easier without the pesky little runts in his way.

Once that was done, he would then free the people in the cage giving him five good warriors. Touya was sure the only reason they did not attack the humans was because they were trying to prove that they were not like Val and his men. He also wished to prove that, so how was he going to do that? If he killed them all it wouldn't sit well with April. However, if he didn't kill them they would most assuredly kill him. His eyes narrowed as he watched the camp intently. Finally, after devising a semi-plan he allowed his claws to extend and the blades on his arms to come out.

Reaching to his back he pulled out both his folded blades, but did not engage them. Turning he looked at April for a moment before he said anything to her. He was going to try to keep the casualties to a minimum. After all, they were only there for the Therian's and then they would leave.

"Stay here," he told her simply and started forward through the haze. His power hummed around him as he slowly let it build. The glow was ominous in the rain and as he approached the back of the carriage, he kept low and silent. Once he reached the cage that held his brethren, he reached up with his clawed fingers and easily snapped the flimsy metal lock off. He opened the door of the carriage quickly, knowing that the sound of the metal breaking had probably alerted someone. Looking to his kin he called to them in their own language.

"Hurry, into the trees and don't stop," they stood quickly then and Touya rounded the carriage, making himself seen and becoming the target to the humans. Only then did he snap open the blades of his weapons and attacked the first of several men that came at him. Touya's aim wasn't to kill them, however so his fighting style changed. Still fluent in every move, he was mostly on the defensive and knocked the blades and axes that came at him. His only other concern were the men's newest weapon, the guns that were hastily being loaded and aimed at him. He charged his body and expelled the magic outwards, intending only to knock the men off their feet. Any injuries they sustained upon falling wasn't going to be all that life threatening.

Touya fought carefully, aiming his hits to either cripple or knock out his opponents, but not to kill. Mostly he wanted to show April that he was not Val and that he was capable of being compassionate despite the fact that the men before him were trying to kill him. He worked his way forwards through the mass of thirteen guards and finally set his eyes upon the man seated on top of the horse with his 'elite' guard with him. At that moment, Touya wondered if his decision had been the right one.



The moment he'd set eyes upon the city, Damea had started running. Something was making him anxious and he didn't like the feeling that had followed him since leaving the man named Miles. It was as if fate were telling him to hurry, to go faster than what he was. A bitter taste sat at the back of his mouth and he couldn't get rid of it. The fire mage made the city in the next hour, just as the rain clouds began stretching from behind him. It was an interesting sight to see a sheet of rain following after him as the clouds dispersed from the south.

Damea entered the city, with his chest heaving and the air seeming like it couldn't get into his lungs fast enough. He doubled over as he reached a guardsmen and reached out for him. At this point it didn't really matter who knew whom Damea was looking for so he gripped the man by the sleeve and stopped him from walking away. The guard, unsure as to what to do stood there like a statue. Once the mercenary had gotten enough breath in his lungs to speak, he looked up at the man and huffed out a few words.

"Reginald... I... need... Reginald," then he dropped to the ground on his hands and knees, panting for air and feeling sick as well as dizzy with weariness and fatigue. He could only hope that the guard would get his point and hurry off to get the doctor. Damea needed the man right then.

---

April Rosevolt

---

"Jaeger Guard?" Touya questioned her cluelssly.

April’s gaze shot to the approaching the party in growing alarm. Her heart was a nervous wreck as fear pumped through her veins, inspired by the stories she had heard. Few career soldiers did not know of the Jaeger Guard. They were the best of the best, each one a veteran of numerous conflicts. Disciplined, strong and effective were three words often associated with them. Their unit won the battle of Red River, culling the beastmen hordes. It was them who led the charge against the Shrouded Rebels and took the head of their leader. April looked at them now, each one as tall and intimidating as Touya.

Furnished with the finest weapons Altheim had to offer, they carried an embroidered version of the standard rifles. April was more concerned about one particularly lethal looking weapon, a multi-barreled rifle of some sort. It was so large that it required the service of two men, one to feed a belt of brass bullets into an ammo box, another to aim. Their presence once inspired her with courage and hope, but at present, that could not be farther from the truth.

“This is bad,” she said, sucking the air through her teeth. There was no time to explain. “I suggest we retreat.”

April’s alarm only increased as she watched Touya reach to the blades hanging across his back. "Stay here," he said before bounding towards the caravan.

“Dammit Touya! What did I say about not rushing in?!” she hissed after him.

April had gotten up in a frugal attempt to restrain the therian, but he was out of her reach instantly, covering the distance between them at the convoy in seconds. Watching with abated breath, she saw the therian work his way over to the lock containing his people. Reaching up, Touya snapped the metal shank like a twig. The loud cracked which ensued from the raid made her wince involuntarily, so did the guards.

Cries of panic were issued immediately. Roused from their recreational break, the guards stood up and unsheathed their weapons with a synchronous wisp.

“The faceless are escaping! Ambush!” screamed one. Collectively they charged towards Touya, weapons raised in an act of aggression. Others combed the surroundings, suspicious of additional collaborators.

Touya met them head on, drawing their attentions away from the fleeing therians. Some of the guards hesitated, reluctant to chase their prisoners when a six foot tall therian was charging directly towards them. If the choice existed, Touya eradicated the notion with a simple flick of his wrists. The loud snap of his blades drawing out caught their awareness and they gathered to address the immediate threat.

“Kill him!” roared another soldier.

Touya danced around them, deflecting blades and axe heads with astonishing grace. His skill was almost unnerving. April cursed and withdrew her crossbow. This was hardly the time to admire his capabilities. Several of the soldiers were in the process of aiming their rifles, meaning Touya was moments away from being riddled by gunfire. Swiveling her aim, April loaded an air bursting cross bolt and blew the closest man off his feet. She loaded again within seconds, but the therian had a similar plan and expelled a wave of magic, knocking the rest to the ground.

She noticed then that the therian was avoiding fatal blows. Every man that fell to the ground was either knocked out or merely crippled. April could hardly believe what she was witnessing. Such excellent self control was unheard of, nay it was impossible. The therian was up against thirteen trained men and he was still beating them. What a monster…no, he was much more than that.

---

Miles Riverbend

---

Miles watched the unfolding spectacle with unsettling calm. He waited until the therian was finished disposing of the original guards and then spoke with a smile.

“Wow, it’s a pleasure to make your company therian,” Miles whistled, admiring the man’s handiwork.

Still perched on the top of his saddle, he looked down at the therian with his arms crossed. Seventeen men, all knocked out or crippled, but no dead. It was an impressive show; even he had to acknowledge that. Killing a man in armed combat was far easier than not killing him. Such sentiment spoke mountains of the therian's skill. Miles nodded off to the Jaeger Guard who had so far remained still on his orders. Heeding some silent command, two of them disappeared into the forest, melting in the shadows. The other four remained beside him, utterly obedient.

"So, who gets the honors?" One of the Jaeger Guard, a burlesque ocher man, asked his compatriots.

Each of them looked to each other, drawing mental straws. Eventually they all locked eyes upon Miles who snorted derisively, "Looks like they want me to go first. Sorry therian, no hard feelings."

“You’re rather close to human territory. You’re very brave to venture out here in order to save your kin,” Miles complimented, uncrossing his arms and then scaling down from his horse. “I respect that you avoided killing blows also.”

Miles strode closer, matching the therian’s height and composure. Unbothered by the rain, he stopped a dozen feet away and discarded his soaking jacket.

“But I have a job to do, and a reputation to upkeep,” Miles continued, unsheathing his own sword.

Outstretching his left hand forwards, Miles position his blade parallel to the arm, aiming the blade at Touya. Breath, remember your training. Narrowing his eyes at the silver haired therian, Miles leapt forwards in a vicious lunge.

---

Dean ‘Havoc’ Reginald

---

“Corporal Reginald!”

Startled by his name, Reginald looked up from his work desk at the colleague behind him.

“Penelope, how can help?” he smiled amicably. Recognising her heart shaped face, the former medic swiveling around in his seat to address the woman properly.

“You have a message, someone was requesting your aid? Some delirious mercenary?” Penelope frowned as she read the contents of the note.

“Mind if I have a look?” he asked, gazing at the note. Penelope nodded and passed over the dispatch. Humming, Reginald mused over the contents of the message.

“They just requested Reginald?” he remarked, reading off the words. “That’s rather vague. Could be anybody. There’s more than one Reginald in the city, probably best to ignore it.”

Penelope shrugged her tiny shoulders in a helpless fashion. “The dispatch is from a guard by East gate. Says he found a delirious mercenary? Colorful clothes, mismatched eyes?”

“Mismatched eyes? What color? Green and red?” Reginald asked, growing cautious.

“I guess…I dunno,” Penelope said, shaking her head.

“Penelope…do you mind telling Felicia that I’m heading home early? I may have an emergency to tend to.”

---

Catching the tram, it still took Reginald an hour to venture from the west to eastern suburbs. Reginald rather enjoyed the public service, though much of the population had yet to grow use to this new form of mechanized transport. The foundations for the tram system had only recently been introduced a few months ago. Power lines snaked over the streetlamps, forming a grid work of cables that floated about sixteen feet high. If he remembered correctly, the city guard had a precinct along Collins Street, just right of the Eastern gates.

When he finally located the department, Reginald strode through the double doors and approached the administrative desk. To his utter dismay, there was a long cue of people already present. Reginald let out a sort off strangled moan, cursing the convoluted bureaucracy of city life.

Instead of taking his place in the line, a stomped straight towards the front desk. A guard on duty took notice of the medic and immediately moved to intercept him.

"Excuse me sir, all inquiries are processed at that line over ther-"

Reginald flashed a badge of some kind that instantly shut the man up. "You're hold a mercenary wearing a yellow jacket and red trimmings. Where?"

"Uh, allow me go ask the key keeper," the guard responded.

Confirming his suspicions, the guardsman returned a few minutes later to guide Reginald to the temporary holding cells. Most of the people brought here where just waiting to be transferred to Glendale prison. Damea was in the fourth cell block, though the man was out cold.

"He was brought in for being armed and haggling a guard," the lawman informed him, "What do you want me to do?"

"Open the door, I want to speak with him. Moreover as a medic, its my duty to help."

“Wow, it’s a pleasure to make your company therian,” the man on the horse offered as Touya dispatched the last of the soldiers that had attempted to kill him. He turned his attention to the man who was still seated on his horse. Touya lifted an eyebrow as the man commented to him, hardly interested in knowing why this human was inclined to address him at all.

Touya noted that two of the six men disappeared into the haze of the rain, going back into the treeline on the other side of the road. His heart clenched tightly as his thoughts went to April immediately. He did his best to hide any sign that he'd realized that the man was sending his soldiers to look for others, the only thing that might have tipped the man before him was the Therian's slight narrowing of his eyes.

The human looked around before one of his soldiers spoke up, looking to the men that had kept out of the fight the entire time, "So, who gets the honors?"

"Looks like they want me to go first. Sorry therian, no hard feelings. You’re rather close to human territory. You’re very brave to venture out here in order to save your kin. I respect that you avoided killing blows also.”

Touya watched as the man on the horse, apparently their leader thus making him the Miles Riverbend that April had mentioned earlier, dismount. He still did not answer the human as he slipped off the saddle and hit the mud beneath him. As Miles approached him, Touya let his body slid into a defensive stance, keeping up his original plan of not killing any of them.

Miles was just as tall as the Therian as he walked up to him and discarded his jacket in the heavy rain. Touya flicked his gaze to the dark cloth that crumpled into the mud, soaked. His gaze returned to Miles when the man spoke again.

“But I have a job to do, and a reputation to upkeep,” the leader of the 'elite' soldiers withdrew his sword and pointed the blade directly at Touya. The Therian had a dreadful feeling that this man was not like any other he'd faced before. He also knew that Miles was not going to be compassionate, rather he would be the opposite and kill Touya as soon as the chance presented itself.

Touya's eyes darkened as he watched the human before him. A second later and Miles lunged at him. Touya moved quickly, darting around the man to avoid the deadly swing of his sword. Steel scrapped as the Therian deflected the attack with one of his blades. As he came around on the human's side he sent his second weapon downwards towards Miles in an arc, keeping his first blade horizontal and out in front of him in case an attack came at Touya.

Another dual wielder. Just like that mercenary earlier, Miles thought with amusement. The therian's response was anticipated but well executed. A flash of braided hair followed as the man rounded his swing and delved into his flank. One of his swords was up in a defensive position, guarding against potential retaliation as the therian directed his other arm in swift slash.

His mistake was defending. Instead of defending, he should have pressed his advantage and attacked without respite. With only one sword to concentrate on, Miles could maneuver freely. Shifting his sword hand, Miles deflected the the first strike with a grunt, angling his blade to ensure that the parried edges would not gouge into each other.

"Why don't you use your hidden blades?" he quipped, struggling to resist the therian's ferocious strength.

In his left hand, a ball of water and mud congregated before he thrust it in the eyes of the therian. The distraction was an effort to disable his opponents vision, but Miles' true struck had yet to be dealt. "Your head comes next!" Miles hissed.

He span away suddenly, becoming a blur of movement as he shuffled out of the range of the therian's flanking blade. In another moment the butt of his sword came crashing downwards, not aimed at the therian's face though, but at his bracers instead.

Miles whirled around and caught his blade as it descended onto what Touya had thought to be the man's unprotected side. He was highly mistaken and the human's speed was astonishing. The blades clashed together and the human pushed upwards, fighting the Therian's strength commendably. Miles asked him then why he did not use his hidden blades, the answer being that Touya did not wish to kill the man. However, he did not say anything to the human and concentrated on the fight instead.

Water splashed into his face suddenly and his eyes burned immediately after. There had been something in the water and Touya gave a shout of surprise and anger. He stumbled backwards, one hand reaching up with to try to wipe his eyes clear. He heard Miles' growl right after, but it was far too late for him to react. He thought for sure the man was going to strike at his neck, so he twisted his hand that was already up at his face to block with the sword.

It was a terrible mistake and he felt blinding pain rushing through his arm as the man slammed his swords pommel into his forearm. The metal dented and Touya lost all feeling in his fingers. His blade dropped and the Therian stumbled even further away from his attacker. Finally able to see a bit better, he glared at Miles, grinding his teeth in fury. His eyes still burned and it was hard to keep them open, but he did what he could.

The weaponry along his forearm was now useless on his right hand, leaving only his left to fight and defend with. The mechanism's in his arm whirled and he allowed the blades to come forward, the claws to elongate along his fingers that held his sword. He lunged forward, bringing his sword to the left across his body to slice at Miles' chest. This human... he'd underestimated him.

A civilized fighter was in certain respects easier to deal with than a savage one. Miles had dueled with all sorts during his time, the berserker, the over confident, the coward. In doing so he discovered that handling each one often deserved a unique approach all of its own. Though he refused to talk, the therian obviously had a firm grasp on the common tongue. The way his hand shot up in instinctive defense of his neck was evidence enough of that. More than that, Miles could distinguish the subtle nuances each time he addressed the therian directly.

His cunning ploy was rewarded with a resounding crack of bent metal. Experience told him to watch out for the therian’s limbs, a theory that was proven correct as claws burst from the therian’s left bracer. It was also the reason he targeted it first. Had the therian engaged with both arms originally, even Miles would have been uncertain of his victory. Fortune was on his side today for it seemed that the therian wished to avoid human fatalities, Miles just needed to finish him before the therian realized he was being driven within a corner.

“Its offensive to the warrior you’re fighting if you hold back, you know?” Miles remarked as the therian came at him.

The therian’s leap positioned him precisely in front of Miles. Although his right blade had been dropped, Miles’ guard was raised higher than ever. This was a therian, a shapeshifter, a mechanized humanoid, a warrior of no doubt countless campaigns. He could not afford to underestimate him. A sharp pain ripped over his chest as the therian’s sword cut through the fabric of his shirt, edge shining under head. Tendrils of blood followed, but Miles had only reared back intentionally, keeping his sword free for the counter attack.

Few opponents ever suspected that the same trick would be used again, especially amidst the fighting, and Miles was counting on that negligence to facilitate his victory. Precluding his counter slash, another goblet of muddy water flew towards the therian’s face again. Whether or not it hit, Miles committed everything into his next thrust. In an instant, Miles’ blade flashed forwards, going for the therian’s heart before his adversary recovered.

Touya felt his blade cut across Miles' chest and he came forward to move his blade back the other way. However, the human was already moving and his own weapon cut across Touya's upper abdomen. He hissed in pain but ignored it, still intent on driving Miles' to his knees. Another ball of murky water was conjured, but Touya saw it this time before it could do too much damage to his already impaired eyesight. Lifting his injured arm, he blocked the ball of water, some of it still splashing across his face. The move cost him and he caught the flash of steel just before it struck him. Unable to move his sword, he sacrificed the weapon to save his life.

He shoved his arm in the way of the incoming blade, taking the weapon with his forearm instead and angling the weapon away from his heart. However, the sword still drove forward, across the top of his arm with blinding pain as the mechanisms were destroyed and then deep into his chest, but thankfully far from his heart. Touya dropped to his knees then, at the complete mercy of his advesary. His breathing was labored as he knelt there, the pouring ran running red with his blood.

He gave the image that he'd been defeated while just beneath the skin he was gathering his power. He only needed a little while longer before he could expel the pure energy and knock back Miles. It depended on how quickly this human wished to kill him, though. Reaching over with his other hand he gripped the sword entirely and held onto it, making sure that the man couldn't disengage from him.



The sound of a door opening woke him from his sleep. The moment he'd been brought into holding he'd crashed out onto the cot that was in the tiny cell. He never heard the door slamming closed behind him, so when it opened he was slightly confused as to where he was. Damea twisted around slowly to see who it was, his vision blurry for several moments. All he could make out was a blurred shape of a man coming to kneel down next to him. Slowly his vision cleared and he made out Reginald's features. The fire mage felt a smile crawl across his lips. He'd made it.

"Reginald," his voice cracked, "Touya... April... they fought. Then there was... an army, and they... killed the Therians," Damea's eyes watered as he recalled the horrid event of the small tribe being wiped out. He didn't know what else to say then, but tried to convey the urgency to Reginald, "April... left us... betrayed us.... Touya's captured..."

Damea shifted his body and attempted to get up. He began pushing himself upwards with both hands as they were cuffed together. The room shifted suddenly and he fell over, "Have to leave... have to help him..."

---

Miles Riverbend

---

Miles released a small huff of approval as his sword dug satisfyingly deep into the therian’s chest. Not enough to be an instant kill, but the therian had completely lost function of his right arm in the process. Sacrificing it was a desperate ploy to alter the trajectory of his blade, and a well calculated one given the limb was already damaged, but not for much longer. The two of them stood still in the drenching rain for a moment, breaths steaming. Staring down at his opponent, Miles pulled his blade back and prepared for the finishing blow, but therian intercepted and took hold of it. Crimson liquid welled between the cutting edge and where his fingers had taken their grip, but Miles could not retrieve his sword. Screw the scientist’s orders to take in therians alive, he was going to do this the quick and efficient way. The right way. Miles reached down to his belt to purposefully withdraw his combat knife.

Abruptly, boot steps splashed in the mud behind him. Miles kept his attention on the therian, but realized one of Jaeger Guard had returned from the forests. Something heavier splurged against the dirt, followed by the soft groan of a woman.

“Where’s the other one of you?” Miles asked.

The Jaeger Guard stood to attention, like a hound presenting its prize. In front of him lay April, down on her knees and severely injured. The most telling factors were the giant bruise coating her left cheek and a miniscule bullet wound in her left thigh. A second hole bore into her waist. Trickles of blood ran from her wounds only to be diluted then washed away by persistent drizzle. Though mostly covered by a slick film of hair, April’s face was a mask of barely contained agony and shame.

“We caught this one sir! She killed Sanchez before I could subdue her,” the man reported.

“A fighter, eh? Well that’s not too surprising, you’re average therian is far better equipped than your average huma-”

“She’s human, sir,” the Jaeger Guard interjected. “Ex-military.”

The correction managed to turn Miles’ gaze ever so slightly as he allowed the surprise to show on his features. Humans travelling with therians were essentially unheard of in Altheim. The social backlash alone of assisting the aliens was often enough to dissuade even the kindest of Samaritans. Why then was a former military soldier associating themselves with this therian?

“Proof?” Miles queried, raising an eyebrow as he turned around briefly, even as his sword was held in the grasps of the therian.

The Jaeger Guard held up a crossbow before chucking it to Miles. Snatching it from the air with his free arm, Miles turned back to the therian as he switched between inspecting the weapon and watching Touya. The crossbow was of a standard issue army design, even despite a few personal modifications. An army seal was the missing component, but Miles could see evidence in the metal work that the insignia had been scratched off recently.

“A sympathizer,” he frowned as he tossed the crossbow away casually. The question now was how many of these spies currently resided within their own ranks? How far up the ranks had they infiltrated the chain of command? “Take her to Glendale prison.”

At that point the knife came forwards, a flash of steel aiming for the therian’s jugular.

---

Dean ‘Havoc’ Reginald

---

It was Damea alright. Recognizing the man from his clothes, Reginald stepped into the jail cell and walked forwards to the lethargic mercenary wearing a frown. His disheveled appearance conjured a multitude of questions, but Reginald reminded himself to focus on the immediate dangers. Unfortunately he did not possess his med pack with him, having hastily raced down to the guard precinct from work.

“Do you have a medkit available, and water?” he asked the key keeper quickly before crouching besides Damea. The man nodded and hollered to an adjudicate to go fetch the requested materials.

"Reginald…Touya... April... they fought. Then there was... an army, and they... killed the Therians," Damea smiled stupidly, as if he had been blessed by an angel. The words, a cracked shadow of his former enthusiasm was the most concerning aspect of Damea’s delirious condition.

"April... left us... betrayed us.... Touya's captured..."

Reginald was barely listening to his deranged ramblings but the last sentence gave cause to a slight show of astonishment. His hands hovered in suspense above Damea before commencing their routine check-ups.

“You need to rest first,” Reginald stated.

"Have to leave... have to help him..." Damea mumbled, trying weakly to rise. Trembling hands struggled to support his build, but his body was too exhausted for any standard form of movement. Damea looked malnourished, dehydrated and debilitated. The best solution then was to sleep. Reginald caught the sell sword as he fell back before re-positioning him carefully.

“Rest first, you can tell me everything later.”

“Where’s the other one of you?” Miles asked one of the men that walked out of the forest. A sound caught Touya's attention and he turned ever so slightly to look at what it was. Before him was April and he felt his heart clench. It was now more imperative for him to win this fight than to lose. She was wounded, two bullet wounds, one in her thigh and the other in her waist. He winced inwardly for her.

“We caught this one sir! She killed Sanchez before I could subdue her,” the guard replied.

“A fighter, eh? Well that’s not too surprising, you’re average therian is far better equipped than your average huma-”

“She’s human, sir,” the Jaeger Guard interjected. “Ex-military.”

Touya barely contained his smirk and a short laugh at the man's ignorance about April. He knew that she was a fiery warrior and not one to underestimate as he'd done plenty of times before. Miles' turned his gaze over to eye the woman before asking the guard for proof of her being ex-military. The guard threw her crossbow at the man and Miles' caught it deftly. The slight movement made Touya wince momentarily as the sword shifted in his chest. Just a little longer and he'd have enough energy to blast Miles' backwards, though it wouldn't be nearly as much as he'd originally wanted.

The correction managed to turn Miles’ gaze ever so slightly as he allowed the surprise to show on his features. Humans travelling with therians were essentially unheard of in Altheim. The social backlash alone of assisting the aliens was often enough to dissuade even the kindest of Samaritans. Why then was a former military soldier associating themselves with this therian?

“A sympathizer. Take her to Glendale prison.”

Miles threw her crossbow away and returned his attention to Touya. Had the Therian not been paying attention he would have never seen the knife coming at his throat. Right then, Touya would have lost his life to the human before him. Even so, it was hard to see the movement at all. He dislodged his other arm that had been stuck with the sword in his chest, pulling it down hard and fast. The pain was dizzying and he nearly lost the strength to continue, but her forced himself to do so. He snatched the knife just as it grazed his throat. Touya barely kept it from digging deep enough to kill him. His hands shook as they held each weapon that was threatening to kill him.

"Don't think... you can kill me... that easily," Touya growled at the man. His body glowed brightly as he'd been hiding the fact that he was gathering the energy around him. In the next instant he expelled the magic at Miles', it was meant to simply throw the man away from him, though he'd hoped to kill him. Unfortunately he didn't have nearly enough magic to do that, but shoving the man backwards was more than enough. The magic expelled outwards, throwing the man before him away. The blade in his shoulder pulled free from the attack and he gasped, falling forward as he could feel the blood pouring from his wound.

Touya caught himself barely in the mud, a cough welled up in his chest and expelled a pool of blood onto the ground, mixing with the mud. His power had also reached the guards that stood over April and he slowly made his way over to her. Reaching out he touched her wounds and allowed his magic to heal her. He worked as quickly as he could, knowing that he didn't have much time. Taking her chin in his fingers, her looked at her as he spoke firmly, "Run. Do not argue. Run," he commanded, "You have to get to Reginald and Damea. Go," he released her and reached up to heal what he could of his deep wound in his chest.

Touya stood then and retrieved his sword in the hand that he could still use. The forearm was damaged completely, but the pain was dull. Even so, he could still wield a blade. He faced Miles and leveled his blade, his body still humming in power and glowing slightly around his form. He would keep Miles attention for as long as he could, to give April time to escape. Flipping his weapon once in his hand, he crouched over and lunged at Miles, slicing through the air as he closed the distance between them.



“Rest first, you can tell me everything later.”

"Don't... worry about me, Reginald. You have to help him," Damea reached out and took hold of the doctors sleeve in his grip. His strength was fading as his body was slowly shutting down to sleep once more, "Just go... you have to hurry..."

Slowly his head slipped down onto the cot and his eyes grew heavy. The fire mage's grip on the doctors arm began to loosen as well and in a matter of minutes he was asleep once more, though the look of urgency still plagued his features.

---

Miles Riverbend

---

Miles’ eyes widened as he cursed his naivety. Assuming the therian was too weak to forcefully resist his final slash was a childish mistake. The Beast Slayer’s balance tapered, caught unaware by the sudden pressure opposing his knife. Snarling at the therian’s stubborn refusal to die easy, Miles’ hand quivered with the effort of trying to finish the blow. Just a couple more inches…

"Don't think... you can kill me... that easily."

“Oh, you have no idea how easy it is,” Miles hissed through gritted teeth.

Abruptly, an unearthly glow consumed the body of the therian. Miles staggered, indecision penetrating his composure as the man was caught between fleeing or finishing off his opponent. A few more jolts confirmed his suspicions as the therian’s hand refused to budge.

“Empire damn you’re hide!” howled the Beast Slayer as the energy erupted in an expanding shell around Touya.

Miles barely had enough time to relinquish his weapons as the explosion threw him across the road.

---

April Rosevolt

---

She could hear voices beyond the field of pain, vague implications of dark foreshadowing. Somewhere beyond there she hoped that Touya had escaped along with his people. After the arrival of Miles and the Jaeger Guard, April had been too focused on defending herself to keep tabs on the therian. Strangely, the thought of escaping had yet to occur, most likely due to the lingering guilt of prior events.

The first Jaeger Guard that came after her died to an enchanted cross bolt, a remarkably lucky shot considering the damp conditions and hazy fog. The magically imbued quarrel, designed to puncture plate armor, went through the man’s head like wet paper and he crumbled instantly. Reacting with extreme precision, the second Jaeger Guard bore down on her instantly, knowing that at best April could reload her crossbow in fifteen seconds.

With any notion of stealth forgotten, April withdrew her sword, but a bullet round instantly bit into her thigh. It was all over after that. Even as the rain saturated her leather clothing, April was dragged through the mud and displayed like a trophy. Pain screeched through her nerves every time she received a hard shove or reprimanding kick, so much so she cried for an end to it.

“A sympathizer. Take her to Glendale prison.”

Lifting her head at whomever addressed her; April could scarcely contain her horror as the infamous institution’s name penetrated the feverish haze of agony. Whatever reaction awaited was stalled the moment Touya’s shock wave hit her, though the former soldier had not the slightest inclination of the therian’s intentions. The resultant blast whipped her hair back, sending a gushing wave of cold air and stale water into her clenched eyelids. Wounding flat in the dirt, April bemoaned her harsh treatment, wondering what in the world had just occurred.

Wincing, she rolled to her back, greeting the mottled sky and pattering rain. With her arms limited by the restraining cuffs, April was reduced to blinking her eyes of any irritating particles. Touya’s head appeared over hers, his hair, though soaked, was held fast by a hair ring and cascaded over his shoulder as he crouched over her. For the briefest of seconds, she dared hoped he had emerged victorious.

"Run. Do not argue. Run."

She noticed his wounds, still raw and oozing red liquid in places. “What are you doing?” she stammered as Touya leaned in closer, examining her.

Magic seeped into her wounds, replacing the pain with a warm, fuzzy sense of relief. April gasped aloud like a weight had been lifted from her chest. Alert once again, she directed her narrowed gaze at Touya and clambered upright briskly, still conscious of their precious position. Did he intend to fight with those injuries?

"You have to get to Reginald and Damea. Go,” Touya directed, leaving her to go fetch a weapon.

Standing up behind him, April glanced around as the Jaeger Guard and Miles recovered from whatever it was Touya had done to distract them. Stretching her limbs to test the extent of the therian’s healing, her face held a measure of defiance.

“I know you think I’m a coward, but I’m not stupid. Even if I wanted to run, there’s not much point in it at this stage,” April murmured, standing besides Touya. The chains tying her wrists together jingled imperceptibly as April pointed her arms in the direction of the four Jaeger Guard who remained as passive observers. A particularly daunting sight given the hefty chain gun held between two men. Standing well over a dozen meters away, they were unaffected by the concussive blast. “They could have finished us at any point. The only reason they don’t is because they still believe the situation is under their control. The moment we test that…”

Miles clawed his way up from the road and glared at them with a face half frosted in mud. Reaching over, he located his dagger, though the sword was lost to the forests. “You risked an awful lot to assist your woman,” he said, spitting dirt, "I had no idea a human and therian could have that kind of relationship."

“He’d do it for anyone he cares about,” April responded staunchly.

“Yes, what a boy scout,” Miles said, giving her a withering smile before shifting his gaze to the Jaeger Guard who shot April. “You, aim at the therian.”

The man frowned, but picked up his rifle and aimed down the barrel nonetheless. “Sir?”

“Here’s the deal therian. Kill her, and I’ll let you walk free,” Miles said, ignoring the Jaeger Guard’s question. The soldier’s eyes widened ever so slightly at the Beast Slayer’s proposal.

“Sir! This is not the honorable way!”

“Shut it Sergeant Erin! I don't give a crap about your Jaeger Guard morals! Keep aiming, that’s an order!” Miles snapped and then looked back towards Touya, “Both or you, or one of you, which is it going to be therian?”

“I know you think I’m a coward, but I’m not stupid. Even if I wanted to run, there’s not much point in it at this stage. They could have finished us at any point. The only reason they don’t is because they still believe the situation is under their control. The moment we test that…”

Touya halted in his assault, back stepping to put himself in front of April once more. She was standing then, right behind him and pointed off to the other four guards who had not done anything the entire time. Touya's eyes narrowed as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He didn't like the odds now that they had been pointed out to him.

“You risked an awful lot to assist your woman, I had no idea a human and therian could have that kind of relationship."

Touya scowled at him, his fist tightening over his blade as he stood there, but what surprised him the most was what April said right after. Her voice was sharp as she responded back to Miles. For a single moment he felt in awe of her and turned to glance down at her as she glowered at the enemy before them.

“He’d do it for anyone he cares about.”

“Yes, what a boy scout. You, aim at the therian.” Miles pointed at one of the guards standing nearby.

“Sir?” The guard asked as he leveled the weapon at Touya hesitantly.

“Here’s the deal therian. Kill her, and I’ll let you walk free."

“Sir! This is not the honorable way!”

Touya's eyebrow rose at this. So, some humans still had a bit of honor left in them. The human before him seemed hesitant and Touya was planning to play everything on that fact.

“Shut it Sergeant Erin! I don't give a crap about your Jaeger Guard morals! Keep aiming, that’s an order! Both or you, or one of you, which is it going to be therian?”

The Therian stretched his arm out, keeping April behind him. His frame was much larger than hers and he could easily shield her, which was what he was planning to do. He narrowed his eyes at Miles and frowned.

"You're a fool," he answered in return, anger creeping in his voice, "I've no reason to kill her, nor do I wish to," with his hand he began pushing April backwards slightly, getting her to move back so that he would have enough room to do what he wanted to. It was risky for what he was about to do, but he was betting on the soldiers hesitancy to grant him enough time to get away. He was still bleeding profusely from the wound that Miles had given him in his chest and he didn't have enough energy to continue fighting, much less against five opponents who had much more training than any normal human. These men were definitely worth being weary of.

Touya's body glowed brightly, the pale blue luminescence made him look unearthly. The power expanded outwards from his body and rushed across the ground. This time, he was aiming to throw all of them off balance. How quickly they recovered was something he was also betting on. His magic threw a wall of water at the men, brushing aside the rainfall and making it look like a curtain had been drawn over the water drops that fell. For a mere moment no water fell around Touya or April after his magic dispelled.

The moment his power had been released, he twisted around and shoved April back towards the forest area. He wanted to get to their horse and gain some distance between him and the elite guard. Touya dropped down for a second to retrieve his second sword and with a flick of his hands, the weapons collapsed and he sheathed them. Reaching out a second time, he pushed April to move faster. He knew they didn't have much time, seconds, maybe a minute at best. Already he could hear Miles cursing and the men trying to reform their group. If Touya had any luck, he would have knocked over the giant turret gun as well, but he doubted that very much.

They were just about to reach the ditch where they'd originally started when he heard the gun shot. Pain shot through his lower chest and he stumbled slightly. The next sound had his heart twisting in fear. The turret gun had indeed been spared from his attack and the men had recovered far faster than he expected. The turret activated and its loud sound startled the Therian. The ground peppered with gun shots and he stumbled forward, several of them grazing him. Touya allowed his body to fall forward, gathering up the woman before him so as not to hurt her upon falling down. They tumbled into the ditch together, Touya holding her closely against him. He had rolled head first and stopped at the bottom of the ditch with April on top of him.

Touya groaned, the burning all across his body due to the bullets that had rained on them. He'd never taken a bullet before so the feeling was new to him. It was almost as if his body was on fire, a most unpleasant feeling. His breath was heavy as he lay there in the mud. However, he couldn't afford the time to rest and forced his body to move. The Therian got to his feet, helping April up as well and continued on towards their horse. His hand reached up and covered the bullet hole in his chest, the warm blood spilling forth passed his fingers. He hardly had enough energy to heal the wound so ignored it as best he could.

Once they reached the horse, Touya weakly pushed April to the saddle. He would have picked her up and hoisted her onto the saddle, but he didn't have the strength to do so, besides he knew she could mount the beast well enough on her own. He pulled himself up behind her and rested against her back, breathing heavily and clutching the wound. His other hand wrapped around her waist loosely.

"I'm sorry... I should have listened," he apologized to her. He was beginning to think that he should really start listening more to her rather than not.

---

Miles Riverbend

---

"You're a fool. I've no reason to kill her, nor do I wish to," the therian snarled.

Releasing a sigh, Miles’ eyes glanced idly over Sergeant Erin before the Beast Slayer nodded his head, signalling to shoot. Erin grimaced, but too disciplined to disobey, he squeezed the trigger. To Jaeger Guard’s utter dismay however, his actions were rewarded with a wet click. Somewhere along the line, the rain had finally seeped through the leather cover, entering the rifle’s mechanisms to moisten the gun powder. Sergeant Erin might as well have been holding a elaborate club at that point.

Both men opened their mouths, initiating the start to a shared curse as the therian’s body began glowing a second time.

“This is precisely why I don’t use firearms!” Miles swore, baring his teeth as the therian’s rippling force tore out and smacked him over.

The world span around as his body twisted mid-air. Surreal as the reversed imagery was, Miles had no wish experience it for any length of time. Landing again in the mud, he tumbled away, rolling with the momentum to re-launch himself upright. In another second the Beast Slayer sprung back on his feet, maintain a crouched position as he glared at the therian and his wench as they fled from the scene.

“Stop them!” Miles screamed.

Not that the order was necessary. Gauging that the situation had devolved, the other four Jaeger Guard reacted with astonishing haste. With the stubble gun already setup in preparation, all they needed to do was crank the trigger. Lieutenant Bastionne, the ochre skinned man, handled the cannon with enthusiasm. Rotating his arm to spin the crank, a steady chattering began to fill the air as round after round was spat out at a terrifying rate. Obsidian balls bombarded the clearing, obliterating flora and gouging holes into the road way in an effort to seek out the duo.

Sergeant Erin was back on his feet also. Musket forgotten, he was actually the first to fire as he withdrew his flintlock pistol and hammered the therian in the chest. Just short of the heart, assuming therians had those. Before anything fatal could land, the couple disappeared beyond a ditch. Miles assumed they had tumbled down the incline and motioned the Jaeger Guard forwards with a flourish of his arm.

“Search and destroy! Don’t let them escape!” he roared. The stubble gun would take time to dismantle and move, but the others would be more than sufficient.

Sprinting forwards, Miles ran through the rain and glanced over the ditch. Unable to spot either the therian or woman, his fist slammed into a nearby tree trunk in rage.

“Follow their foot tracks! After them!”

“This is your fault Mr Riverbend, I’ll be informing my superiors of your failure,” Sergeant Eris levelled his gaze at Miles as the Jaeger Guard passed by.

“Just go do your job,” Miles responded.

Ironically it was him who had been fooled by the same trick twice.

---

April Rosevolt

---

Plunged into the trench, April winced from the acute pain that still haunted her limbs. She withstood it for Touya’s sake, knowing that whatever she felt was insignificant to the therian’s grievous wounds. Rolling around in the mud, she ended up on top of him in a sloppy heap, dirt soaking her hair and clothes.

Their chests heaved from the combined effort of escaping. For April, her heart pumped in her chest, beating against the extremities of her rib cage. Adrenaline poured through her veins in spontaneous response to danger, heightening her senses. Above them she could hear their cries of objection and the frightening salvo of gunfire.

“Your wounds,” she murmured anxiously, displaying real concern for his safety. Touya had taken multiple hits and April was certainly no healer. She had little idea what she could do for him. Would he bleed out like that other soldier?

Touya pushed up, pulling her back on her feet with clear intentions of running. Familiarizing herself with their surroundings, April pin pointed the location of their steed and assisted Touya in reaching in. She clambered up first, hoisting her weight up even with the cuffs in place. Flipping her leg over, she glanced down towards Touya, “Hold onto my waist.”

He complied with obediently and climbed up behind her. His warmth merged with her back as Touya slouched against her, his strength evading him.

"I'm sorry... I should have listened," he said.

April snapped the reigns, urging the horse to gallop.

“Don’t die on me yet Touya. Things were just about to get interesting,” she stated, heading straight towards Altheim.

---

Dean ‘Havoc’ Reginald

---

"Just go... you have to hurry..."

Reginald raised an incredulous eyebrow at the mercenary’s delirious ramblings.

“Go where exactly?” he sighed, “You haven’t even told me where they are.”

The key keepers adjudicate entered the room then with a med-kit and mug of water. Reginald smiled at him and offered a brief word of thanks before resuming his duties.

“Awful weather,” the adjudicate murmured.

“Hmmm, what?” Reginald said, not really listening.

“Oh, the rain. Looks absolutely dreadful,” the adjudicate remarked and then stepped out.

Frowning, Reginald glanced out the tiny window and confirmed that it was indeed raining. That was typical Altheim weather for you. Perfectly normal weather at one moment, raining the next. Glancing down at Damea, he fed the unconscious man some water, lifting his head slightly to prevent choking. After cleaning a few cuts and bruises, he finished of dressing them and then turned to the key keeper. The elderly man had returned to his desk and was currently residing over a crinkled newspaper.

“That should be it,” Reginald interjected. The key keeper looked up from the tabloid, drawn to his voice. “When he wakes up, leave him this note.”

The note held an address to Reginald’s house. Though he had authority to order the city guard to shift Damea, Reginald preferred not to.

“Are you certain it’s safe to release him?” the key keeper asked.

Reginald’s look left little room for debate. Repacking the med-kit, the former medic dropped the equipment on the man’s desk before seeking out the exit.

“Just make sure he gets the note.”

---

The tram ride back was agonizingly slow. After spending his time at the guard precinct, Reginald entered into what was grudgingly referred to as peak hour traffic.

By the time he reached his modest apartment, the sun was far below the horizon. Reginald strode up the steps to his doorway and fumbled to open the lock mechanism. The stubborn door received a final shove as it gave way, opening up to his simple lounge room. Blundering inside, he kicked of his shoes and flicked on the light switch.

“Reginald?”

Reginald’s eyes widened as he span around, jumping at sudden intrusion. Looking like she had escaped through hell, the former lieutenant was encrusted in filth and blood as she addressed him with a vacant expression. By far the most concerning sight however was the bloody mess laid out on his couch.

“April…what's going on? what happened?”

"Please, help him."

The sound of pouring rain was what woke him from his slumber. Damea opened his eyes to a dark room, a window with pouring rain against it and candle light flickering just on the edge of his vision. He was still in the holding cell, but hadn't been moved so that told him that Reginald must of somehow kept him out of jail. The fire mage had to seriously thank that man, without Reginald, he wouldn't have known what to do.

Slowly shifting his body, he felt a lot better than he had several hours ago. More of his energy had been restored from the much needed sleep. He could have slept more, and dearly wanted to, but he had to leave and see if Reginald had heeded his warning. He sat up and was greeted by a pounding headache. With a slight groan he reached up and pressed his hand against the side of his head, wincing slightly. A sound across the room caught his attention and he looked up. The bars to his cell were opened and the large key keeper walked in.

"Here, the doctor told me to give this to you as soon as you woke," the man said, his voice thick with boredom. Damea took the paper and glanced at it. An address was scribbled on it in what was most likely Reginald's handwriting. The key keeper left the room and did not close the bars to the cell that Damea occupied. Standing, the mercenary slowly peeked out and looked around. His eyes went to the key keeper and he cleared his throat. The man looked up from his paper and frowned.

"My... weapons... I'd like to have them back," Damea said slowly. He was answered by the guard flicking his gaze over to the wall where the fire mage's twin swords were already laid out and ready. Damea nodded to the man giving him a slight smile before quickly retrieving his weapons and leaving the building.

It didn't take Damea long to navigate through the city. He'd been there plenty of times before. Working his way through the streets, Damea made it to the address given and wiped away the rain that had soaked him through thoroughly. Looking around he made note that no one was around in the empty street and reached up for the door handle. Opening it and closing it softly, he entered the house and leaned against the door before calling out. He didn't wish for Reginald to think him a burglar and accidentally kill him.

"Reginald?" When it was safe, Damea came into the room where he found three people instead of just one. How Touya and April had come to be in the city he did not know, but what did give him cause for fear and worry was the fact that Touya was laid up on the couch bleeding profusely. Once again the Therian was walking with death far to closely. Damea moved quickly and was beside the three of them in no time.

"What happened!?"



At some point during the hard ride to the city, Touya had lost consciousness. He couldn't recall entering the city, nor being put up onto the couch in the house he now woke too. Slowly his eyes opened and the first sight he saw was the white ceiling overhead and then Reginald sitting right next to him. Well... this is certainly familiar, Touya thought to himself. With a quick glance around he saw April and also Damea. With that he concluded they were back in the city where he'd left several days ago with April to look for Val.

Turning his gaze to Reginald he gave the man a small grin, "We've got to stop meeting like this," he said softly, his voice a bit hoarse. He shifted around and started to push himself upwards, but a tight feeling across his chest accompanied by a painful burn brought him back down. His breath gasped into his lungs as he fell back and he reached over to grip the area tightly. Wincing he looked down to see what the doctor had accomplished. Once again nearly every inch of his lithe frame was wrapped in white cloth, some of it now staining red from his reckless move.

"You're the idiot who goes and does whatever the hell he pleases," Damea's voice countered. The fire mage was definitely angry with him, "Doesn't matter who tells you not to. Or that it's a bad idea. Damn it man, are you asking to be killed?! Could it bother you to think at least? We actually care about you, you know. What do you think we would do if you died? We're not friends by just the word, Touya," Damea continued, his voice rising and falling in his fit of anger. Touya shifted slightly so that he could look at the man who stood at his head. Damea's mismatched eyes were angry, filled with worry and relief.

"I'm sorry..."

"Yeah, well next time try giving our plans a thought," Damea muttered and turned away. The mercenary left the room then and Touya was left in an awkward silence.

What was he to say to that? Everything Damea had told him was true, the Therian was reckless and had no thought about the others feelings or anything like that. All he'd cared about was trying to mend things between the Therian's and the humans. Or was it completely different from that? Did he really care about that, or was he trying to get himself killed for all of his past failures? Touya didn't know for sure and his eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at the ceiling. All he'd done in the past several weeks was make sure that April, Damea and Reginald were safe and then tried to make sure his own people were safe. He wanted to make Val see where his errors lie, but then there were humans who had no heart, no compassion at all for Therian's. This made his thoughts go to Miles, a cold and deadly man who almost killed Touya, not because Touya deserved death, but simply because he was Therian.

---

Dean ‘Havoc’ Reginald

---

"What happened!?"

“I was wondering that myself,” Reginald muttered disapprovingly as Damea waltzed in.

Current residing within the comfy establishment of his unit, Reginald was attending to a critical patient. This seemed highly unlikely for a multitude of reasons. It was raining profusely outside, lightening the general traffic, particularly in the suburban portions of the city. Secondly, rarely anybody every visiting his household, unless they were dispatch officers bringing him the occasional emergency work.

Reginald had commenced treating the injured Touya promptly on April’s request. A split second decision. Most surprising was her desperate plea, a trembling tone that almost resembled a petty cry. Of course, April was too adapt at suppressing such blatant emotion, but to Reginald she conveyed a lot more than simple concern for the faceless’ wellbeing. Gauging the faceless’ wounds, Reginald was mildly surprised to discover gun shots. Firearms had only recently been introduced into the arms forces of Altheim’s military, and as such, Reginald actually had no experience with treating such injuries.

Instead, Reginald settled for treating them like a broken arrow heads, meaning surgical removal was necessary. Continuing his investigation, Reginald identified a disconcerting number of stabs and lacerations as well. Those require cleaning and stitching. Fetching his military grade med-pack, Reginald had most of his tools spread out over the table. A blood stained washcloth hung over the rim of a bucket, trading water for red liquid. The whole living room appeared much like a miniature war zone, or at least like a riot had passed through it. Behind the drawn curtains, chairs were strewn across the open space haphazardly without order or rhyme. Dirt and mud trails coated the floorboards, showcasing where April had dragged the faceless indoors. It was all such a disheveled mess.

Reginald sighed and sat back after a long moment to admire his handiwork, wiping his brow with the sleeve of his shirt. Searching and addressing every major wound had taken the better part of three hours, but both he and April remained stubbornly diligent. April remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout the entire process, leaving more than a few questions about the events that transpired.

He suggested to the former Lieutenant that she should go have a wash and rest. To be honest, Reginald was exhausted himself from mending both Touya and Damea after a day’s work and was set to keel over. The medic frowned as a puddle of water trailed behind Damea, compounding the general filth.

“Please dry yourself off befo-”

"We've got to stop meeting like this," Touya whispered voice clawed up to him.

Gazing down, Reginald offered the faceless a wide grin. The operation was largely complete so Reginald pulled off his surgeon’s gloves and stood up.

“Is it just me or do your injuries seem to be escalating faceless?” he chided. Picking up a silver bowl on the nearby table, Reginald showed Touya the number of shrapnel and bullets he had removed. “Ten pieces in total. I’m very surprised your weren’t torn apart, or that nothing vital was hit.”

“You’ll be glad to know that only one arm was severely injured this time however,” Reginald continued. “Food anyone? I’m famished.”

"You're the idiot who goes and does whatever the hell he pleases," Damea reprimanded, fury distorting his features. Reginald whistled and stepped out of the room.

“I guess that’s a no.”

---

April Rosevolt

---

The wash was a welcome relief to her adventure strained limbs, so good she had almost fallen asleep on several occasions, reminiscing on civilisation’s luxuries. April winced every time the hot water rinsed over her wounds. Touya’s healing had prevented them from becoming fatal, but there was little time between then and now to fully address them. Reflecting on the conflict involving Riverbend and the Jaeger Guard was painful. Not in the physical sense, but mentally she was keenly aware that Touya had taken more than a few bullets for her. Growing weary by the second, April forced herself upwards and drained the murky water. She had requisitioned a pair of Reginald’s clothes, a white shirt and brown pants, as her leather suit was too far gone to consider wearing.

They looked several sizes too large for her alluringly nimble frame, comical even, not that April cared for such trivial notions by that point. The one downside was having to constantly pull up the hem of her trousers to keep them from falling, though slipping into them was an extraordinarily easy endeavor.

Exiting into the hallway, April looked into the kitchen, spotting Reginald by a dining table. He noticed her likewise and proffered a bowl hot porridge.

“Seems like you had quite the journey,” he commented as April pulled up her pants again before settling down in her seat.

“Sorry for intruding…and thanks for helping,” April returned, meekly accepting the bowl.

“I’m guessing that things didn’t go down so well with Val?” Reginald remarked, biting into the gruel.

“No,” April frowned, knitting her brows together; “The army discovered his whereabouts and chased him away before we could get to him. I don’t know how they got the information.”

Reginald continued chewing for a few seconds, mouth full. Gulping down his morsel, he spoke up again, “Could have been any number of ways. They have been searching for those faceless terrorists for a long time now. The problem is, how do we track him now?”

“Indee-”

"Yeah, well next time try giving our plans a thought."

Reginald and April looked up as Damea stormed in. The mercenary was flustered with irritation and Reginald was the first to speak as he entered.

“Calm down mate,” he smiled, chucking his a towel, “Come, why don’t you sit down and have a bowl of food?”

April stood up from her seat then and piled some porridge into a fresh bowl using the serving spoon. Taking a second spoon, she retrieved her own bowl and nodded at both of them.

“I’ll go pass our mutual friend some food,” she stated, pulling the waistline of her pants a third time. Leaving them, April caught Touya in the midst of his brooding. The therian was positioned flat on his back, his blue gaze directed at the ceiling in silent meditation. An armada of bandaging and stitches saturated his muscular frame, so much so it astonished her. Remembering his prior inability to fully control his hand, she puckered down and held the bowl up, offering to feed him as thanks.

“You should eat. It’ll maintain your strength. Allow me,” she said, placing the bowl down temporarily to assist him in sitting upright. Scooping a spoonful, April blew on the gruel before nudging the chunk close to his face. “You’re arm must be still hurting right?”

“Is it just me or do your injuries seem to be escalating faceless? Ten pieces in total. I’m very surprised your weren’t torn apart, or that nothing vital was hit.”

Touya grimaced as he looked at the pieces of metal that had struck him, had he really taken that much? It was hard to recall. He lifted his gaze up to Reginald and smirked at him once more, closing his eyes he shook his head slightly, "Therian, Reginald, or Touya. Not 'faceless'."

“You’ll be glad to know that only one arm was severely injured this time however. Food anyone? I’m famished.”

---

A soft sound caught his attention after Damea had left the room in anger. April had left him just as Damea had entered the room and chided him. She looked washed and was wearing different clothes. The cloth over her body was obviously far to large for her to be wearing and he thought that despite it, the look complimented her very well. She lifted the bowl up as an offering to him and he gazed at the pile of mush in curiosity and also a bit of weariness. Did she intent for him to eat that?

“You should eat. It’ll maintain your strength. Allow me. You’re arm must be still hurting right?”

She leaned over him and helped him upwards so that his back was against the back of the couch he rested on. The movement pulled the wounds along his body but it didn't hurt half as bad as it would have had he done it on his own. She settled back down and held the bowl up, getting a spoonful of the white mush that steamed. He eyed her carefully as she blew on it and then brought it up to his face. On instinct, Touya drew away from it and flicked his gaze between the spoon and then to her.

"I can feed myself," he muttered and reached up to take hold of the spoon. Unfortunately, and to his utter dismay, his fingers would not comply and he could not close them properly due to the dent and the other arm was even worse he couldn't even move it without feeling pain. He glowered at the spoon that hovered before him defiantly and felt a faint blush upon his cheeks as he sat there. Slowly, he leaned forward and took the spoon into his mouth taking the food that was upon it.

Upon letting the spoon slid from his lips, he grimaced as he tried to eat whatever it was she'd given him. It was sticky and without taste, bland really to him at least. He forced himself to swallow it though and lifted his hand up to his lips as he gave her a disgusted look. Once his mouth was clear of food he spoke to her, "You're trying to poison me, yes? What is this?"



“Calm down mate. Come, why don’t you sit down and have a bowl of food?”

Damea uncrossed his arms and pulled out the chair next to the table. The mercenary plopped down but didn't take the bowl offered to him. Instead he sat there for a while, boiling in his anger but feeling relieved at the same time. He flicked his gaze over to Reginald after a moment and heaved a heavy sigh before giving in.

"Fine, I'll eat," he said and grabbed the bowl. He was starving after all, between mouthfuls he growled out his anger at the Therian, "I can't believe... he would try and get himself killed again... Really, how many times is it going to take for him to realize!" Damea chewed another bite and reached for a cup of water, "He's not going to keep getting lucky like this and he'll actually get himself killed. What's that going to do? I really wonder about him sometimes... that man has a serious deathwish...." he turned with another spoonful of porridge in his mouth to glower into the other room. What he saw though had his eyes widening and his thoughts turning abruptly from anger to astonishment and then mischief. Turning back around he swallowed the mouthful and grinned at Reginald.

"Although, if April sticks around I think he might just make a complete turnaround. I mean, she seems to have gotten closer to him recently. Last I remember she was about ready to rip his head off and now look at her. She's feeding him," Damea grinned and took another bite. He would have to make sure to mention this to her later, but perhaps when she was in a particularly good mood, the fire mage didn't exactly wish to die at such a young age.



"Seems the army was called back to their city," Val said as he leaned against a tree. The night had grown cold and the rain had done nothing to ease that. It had been three days of travel across the wilds, including three days of rain, and the only thing he'd set eyes upon besides the army was a small group of soldiers and an empty carriage on the road. It seemed something of interest had happened there, but Val hadn't gotten the details. Whoever was involved with the ordeal was long gone.

"Shall we return?"

"Not yet. I want to know more about these humans... we still need to learn more about their technological advances. I fear there is more to it than just their trying to re-create our species into their own."

"What do you want to do now, Val?"

"We get inside the city and infiltrate their ranks. Go as high as we can go and learn as much as we can. Then we leave, no traces, no killing, simply information gathering."

"What of the others that went to get information?"

"They should be on their way back to the caves now. Once they get there, they'll realize that we were discovered. Everyone knew that if we were ever discovered we were to head further south. Don't worry about them, we'll get what we need here and meet up with them afterwards."

"That sounds like a mighty fine idea, Val," a feminine voice cut in. Val startled a bit and turned to look at who had addressed him. Standing with her arms crossed was a fairly short Therian woman with long brown hair and deep set green eyes. She once had a beautiful smile and softer eyes, but hard times had changed that and she now wore a scowl most times and those green gems were ice cold.

"Ahmeil. It's very good to see you again," Val said, smiling at her the moment he saw her. Reaching out he hugged her, just barely feeling her own arms wrap around him for a mere moment before she released him.

"I'm just fine. Every errand you send me on is easier than the last," she scowled.

"Because I care about you, Ahmeil, just as I care for everyone here."

She scoffed at him, "I can take care of myself."

"I realize that. Do you have anything to report to me?"

"A few things of interest," she reached behind her back and pulled forward a satchel that was bulging outwards in an awkward shape. Dropping it to the ground, she untied it and let the bag fall away from the device that she'd procured. Val knelt down next to it and examined it carefully before looking up to her.

"What is it?"

"One of the human's new toys. It does something to our magic, keeps us from using it. It's very... unpleasant... to fight against it," Ahmeil grimaced as she crossed her arms and glowered at the device.

"Intriguing," Val murmured to himself as he continued to examine the device. After a moment longer he pulled the bag back over it and motioned for one of the men to take it. He looked back to Ahmeil as he stood, "I'm sure I can find a few uses for it," he grinned at her, "Good work, Ahmeil. Would you like to join us as we infiltrate their city?"

"I thought you would never ask," she answered and her body shivered as she shifted her form into that of a human soldiers. The rest of the group followed suit that were to go inside the city. Val was last to shift his form and when that was done, the only thing that was left was to walk into the city gates as the sun peeked through the gray clouds of the fifth day. They were unhindered as they entered, just a group of soldiers that moved into the city. A few seconds later, when no one was looking, the soldiers shifted forms again and were simple citizens. It was like this that the group of Therian's moved through the wash of people. With no one the wiser, the group of rebel Therian's had inserted themselves into the deepest parts of civilization and worked their way up the ladder to where the information was.

---

Dean ‘Havoc’ Reginald

---

Reginald kept on a smile as the mercenary dropped down on his chair, brooding over his source of irritation. Occupied with the process of filling his belly, Reginald said nothing at first as he reached over the table, taking the salt shaker. Adding a pinch of salt to his meal, he waited until Damea was comfortable with speaking again.

"Fine, I'll eat," sighed the mercenary with some reluctance. Damea took the bowl and quickly began shoveling spoonfuls of porridge into his watering mouth. Reginald could tell the man had not eaten properly for days, without the need for an inspection. Damea was restless and easily frustrated, common symptoms of hunger. The mercenary’s righteous outburst at Touya was proof of that. Fortunately, the mercenary had managed to keep himself from dehydrating. "I can't believe... he would try and get himself killed again... Really, how many times is it going to take for him to realize! He's not going to keep getting lucky like this and he'll actually get himself killed. What's that going to do? I really wonder about him sometimes... that man has a serious deathwish...."

“We all have different ways of achieving our goals,” Reginald said, observing Damea, “Our faceless friend is simply doing what he thinks is best. It’s not always the most effective way…”

Reginald caught the impish look that had crept up on Damea’s face and glanced behind the sell sword, into the other room. Witnessing his former Lieutenant as she administered the faceless his food, the medic’s eyebrows raised in a gesture of mild amazement. The tender aura surrounding April and Touya was hard to miss and he inferred the meaning behind Damea’s look immediately. “But sometimes it doesn’t have to be,” he smirked, completing his sentence.

"Although, if April sticks around I think he might just make a complete turnaround. I mean, she seems to have gotten closer to him recently. Last I remember she was about ready to rip his head off and now look at her. She's feeding him," Damea grinned, his anger forgotten.

“Indeed, who would have ever imagined?” Reginald said, finishing the last of his gruel.

---

April Rosevolt

---

Wearing a sour expression, Touya’s eyes looked at the spoon and then April, acting like she had just sullied his pride. "I can feed myself," he stated distastefully.

His attempt to regain control ended in abysmal failure. April regarded his struggles with wry amusement as the therian hissed at the pain preventing him from lifting his arms properly. Surrendering the thought of independence, he glared at the wet slob of gruel before blushing faintly. Stifling the urge to chuckle at unintended helplessness, she held the spoon still as he anxiously stretched forwards and bit onto the cutlery.

“No need to feel so ashamed,” April remarked, tilting her head side wards at him, “Or would you rather I called Damea or Reginald to feed you?”

Chewing onto the food, Touya put on a scowl as the muggy taste soaked into his mouth. For a second, April instinctively drew back, anticipating a wad of regurgitated porridge. Fortunately, Touya was able to retain his dignity and he gulped down the tasteless morsel.

"You're trying to poison me, yes? What is this?" Touya blanched, visibly disturbed by the flavor.

“Oh, look at you princess,” April responded, “And here I was thinking you therians were used to living it out tough in the wilderness.”

Scooping another portion up the moment he swallowed, April smiled at the question. “Crushed oats, water, milk and a bit of salt if I know Reginald,” she answered eventually, suggesting the savory experience was not her first encounter with it. Reginald’s emergency rations had been the source of many profanities in the past, though it was far from the worst military culinary had to offer. “A good source of fiber and some protein, both of which are stable nutrients for a human’s diet.”

Offering him the second round, April waited politely for the therian to finish. Methodically, she repeated each step as she fed him, blowing onto the steaming mush before stretching the spoon out. In between his cursing, April would take the time out to consume her own food. They continued on in this fashion, sitting beside each other, joking, until Touya indicated he was satisfied. Or perhaps he was on the verge of vomiting. Preferring not to press on the matter, April deposited the empty bowl on the table, stacking it onto her own. With the curtains closed, she looked to the grandfather clock in the corner of the room for a sense of time, discovering that an hour had elapsed since she had joined him.

“That’s it for now,” April concluded, standing up. Once again she was forced to pull up the hems of her disproportionate trousers. Taking the bowls within one hand, she started off in the direction of the kitchen, where Reginald and Damea still resided, before pausing behind him.

“I appreciate what you did back there by the way. You're a very interesting therian,” she stated abruptly, referencing their encounter with the Jaeger Guard. It would have been so much easier for him to kill her, as simple as it was when April abandoned him in the fields. Amazingly, Touya stuck by her despite everything, defended her even. “Thank you, Touya. Have a good night.”

---

Miles Riverbend

---

"This is most concerning news," Victor asserted as his eyes scanned down the report before him, "To think even a man of your...reputation would be unable to stop one therian..."

Miles stood to attention in the court room, his proud features impassive. Inwardly, he glowered at the old general, loathing his condescending tone.

"The therian was assisted by a human woman. Either ex-military or a looter," Miles informed, hoping to direct the discussion on a constructive path. Hushed murmurs were whispered among the audience and leaders alike as everyone divined the implications of his discovery.

"Fear not," Victor said, silencing the rumors before they could spread dissent, "We have strict security measures in place. Even if the therians were to shapeshift, we would be able to detect them."

"Oh? And how will you detect human sympathizers?" snapped Miles.

Victor's brown eyes lowered at the Beast Slayer and for a split second Miles was certain he said something. Fixing his classes, Victor lowered the report instead. The old general cleared his throat to attain everyone's attention.

"In light of recent activities, I feel now is the right time to introduce our guest."

The grand double doors opened on cue, like some grand reveal, and behind them came a single man. Miles' eyebrow raised ever so slightly as a robed figure entered the room, his signature wheezing instantly recognizable. Painted in red, the scientist was a picture of macabre machinery. The portions of skin which he deigned to show better resembled dissolved tissue paper and barely masked the disconcerting make-up of cables beneath. As ever, the man's face was hidden behind a mask. He stopped besides Miles and nodded as a form of greeting.

"Greetings," hissed the scientist with startling volume. Miles glared at the man, having never realized he was capable of synthetically amplifying his voice. Just what other secrets did he hide? The result was a slightly robotic tone, not that the scientist let that dissuade him, "You have all been made aware of recent incursions, yes?"

"It's hard not to know," Miles rolled his eyes, "People on the streets are on the verge of panic. If even our vast armies and firearms cannot eliminate a terrorist cell, what can?"

"Then I believe it is time to show you the culmination of my work," the scientist said, expertly incorporating Miles' sentence to suit his purposes. His arm swung out, gesturing to the doorway once more as something clanked towards the entrance.

"This, is the future of mankind!"

“Oh, look at you princess. And here I was thinking you therians were used to living it out tough in the wilderness,” April teased.

Touya frowned at her as he watched her scoop another spoonful and blow on it. She answered his question right after as she held the spoon out towards him. He was still uncomfortable with her feeding him and felt more than ashamed to have to let her do so. On the other hand, it was showing him a side of her he'd never seen and it was quite appealing.

“Crushed oats, water, milk and a bit of salt if I know Reginald. A good source of fiber and some protein, both of which are stable nutrients for a human’s diet.”

He eyed the mixture as she brought another spoonful up to his lips. He grudgingly bit into it, but grimaced once again. Forcing himself to swallow, he eyed her carefully before he spoke.

"Perhaps I should teach him how to cook. It is a wonder that you humans survived... at least what I eat in the wild is tasteful," he muttered in response frowning once more as she offered up the next bite.

He found himself relaxing more as they sat together and she continued to feed him, Touya of course offering up distaste for each bite taken and a few choice curse words both in his own language and the common one. Finally when he couldn't take anymore -and the bowl was thankfully empty- he shook his head at her when she offered the last spoonful. He leaned back away from the spoon and refused to eat it. The Therian wasn't sure if he could handle anymore of the 'gruel' as she called it.

“That’s it for now,” she said and stood with both bowls in one hand and the other hand reaching to adjust the pants that were far to big for her.

"Thank the God's," he muttered in reply and lay back against the sofa, adjusting his body for as much comfort as possible. The time had passed by quite quickly with her keeping him company.

“I appreciate what you did back there by the way. You're a very interesting therian. Thank you, Touya. Have a good night,” her voice filled the room suddenly and Touya twisted to see her. An eyebrow lifted as he watched her, the woman's frame illuminated by the firelight in the other room. It was getting darker in the room he was in, but maybe that was because they had not thought to turn on any of the steam powered lights that ran throughout the complex.

"You're very interesting as well," he offered softly and turned away, "I would have done it for any of you. Do not thank me yet, this is far from over and I've not done anything worth being thankful for," he replied and waited a while until he knew she was out of the room.

"For you especially... I think I would do anything," he muttered to himself as he lay back against the sofa's cushions.

---

---

A stray beam of sunlight through the window upon his face was what woke him. Touya peered out of slitted eyelids to see nothing but golden sun blinding him. The rain had long since passed and the smell of newly washed earth filled the room. Slowly he pushed himself upwards as best he could and looked down at his battered body. There were far too many wounds to heal in one sitting, especially since many of them were deep and would take a lot of his energy. Reaching up, his magic radiated from him and he healed the stab wound in his chest as well as the bullet wound just underneath it.

Closing his eyes he concentrated on the other area's that had been penetrated by the bullets and began closing them as best he could. Out of the ten gunshot wounds, he healed half of them. The rest would have to wait until he had more energy but for the most part many of them were just cuts or gashes left from the bullets that had been shot at him. He pulled his legs off he bed and stood up, stretching his body as best he could.

His long hair was still braided, but it was caked with mud and blood. He needed to wash, but he wasn't sure where he could do that in the home he found himself occupying. Usually Touya would have found a stream or a lake to wash his body with, but there were no such things here. He wondered briefly where, then, had April gone to wash the night before?

"I heard some interesting news this morning," Damea's voice filtered into the living room and Touya went to it. Leaning against the door frame he listened intently as the fire mage spoke to Reginald. Touya frowned as he realized that the doctor was probably going to cook again for them.

"Seems that a few soldiers died last night. No one is sure what happened exactly, but they were both killed. One died from multiple lacerations and the others head was lopped off," Damea said as he took a drink of something in a cup.

"This happened last night?" Touya asked and Damea choked on his drink. The fire mage leaned forward suddenly and coughed harshly. Touya stood still with an eyebrow raised at the man's reaction.

"Jeez! Can't you warn us when you enter a room?" Damea asked, flustered at having choked on his drink. When Touya did not answer him, the mercenary rolled his eyes and sighed. Then the man grinned at the Therian who was even more confused at what was happening, "You look better. A good nights sleep, before that a pretty woman to feed you... you sure had it good last night."

Touya watched the mercenary without moving, his eyes steady and unwavering as he tried to comprehend what it was that Damea was talking about. How had last night been 'good' to him? He wasn't entirely sure, "I slept fine," he answered eliciting a sputtering laugh from Damea. Why were human's so confusing?

"Of course you did, you had your belly full of hot food given to you by April..." Damea's face went pale then and he turned around quickly and continued to drink his coffee. The sudden silence was not what Touya had been expecting and so he stood there with his arms crossed, still trying to sort through what had been said. Unable to figure it out, he shook his head and looked to Reginald instead.

"Is there a place where I may wash?"



Their information gathering had gone according to plan and within the day they'd made it up into the ranks of the soldiers. However, something had gone wrong and all that Val had accomplished was learning that there was a scientist testing Therians. Unfortunately he did not learn where as he had to pull out of the operation and regroup with the rest of his men. Whatever happened, he didn't know but figured it was one of his people that had sparked the suspicions all across town.

Frowning, he now glared at the city from the outskirts, hiding amongst the trees that lined the outer edge of the city and the main road. Turning around he counted once again the people with him and indeed he was still one short. His eyes narrowed as he realized then who it was he was missing. She'd not been with them long, thus making his mistaking her for never being there in the first place. Ahmeil was not with them and that proved to be quite disconcerting. She wasn't one for subtlety at all times, but he'd thought that she would have at least heeded his orders to not killing anyone and being quiet.

Val turned around again and gazed at the city. There were two options he was presented with. Go back in and find her, or leave her to her own devices.

"Val," a voice called.

"What is it?"

"Should we not leave? It is getting dangerous just staying out here on the edge. They could send out search parties to see if any Therian's remain around the city."

"As correct as that is, I would like to wait a little while longer. Ahmeil knows how to take care of herself, but I would much rather see to it myself than not."

He didn't turn around to see the man nod in agreement and melt back into the shadows. With a deep frown he pulled away from the tree and followed his comrade into the shadows of the trees. He would give her three hours. Three hours only and if she was not with them, he would leave her.

---

April Rosevolt

---

"Is there a place where I may wash?"

Well groomed, April strode out of the corridor just as Touya completed asking his question. Her brisk pace earned her the attention of everyone present within the room as she waltzed over to the table where Reginald had prepared breakfast. With access to basic tools, the former soldier was back to her refined self, or so it seemed. Somehow the former soldier had also managed to acquire a more fitting set of clothes. April had woken up early to assist Reginald in cleaning his household. Most notably she spent a good hour mopping away the dirt and blood that had accompanied them the previous night. It was easy to think April would welcome the opportunity of having a roof over their heads, yet a cold tension still haunted her posture.

“You look better,” she commented, striding past Touya.

“Bathroom is down the corridor, to the immediate left,” Reginald smiled, answering the therian’s inquiry, “Inside is a wash basin, just turn the handle clock-wise and let the water build-up…”

The medic stood up, pulling his seat back abruptly. “On second thought, allow me to show you.” He strode over quickly to the therian and led Touya directly to the bathroom.

“We’ll be leaving soon,” April said once Reginald was out of earshot. She looked sternly towards Damea as the mercenary sipped at his beverage and sat down.

Claiming one of the empty bowls which had been courteously laid out, April opened the lid to the pot and began ladling white globs into her dish. “Remaining here is dangerous for Touya. We’ll leave the moment he’s done washing,” she continued, digging into her food. Gesturing to the bags of supplies by the side bench, she spoke again, “I’ve borrowed a jacket that should hide Touya’s more characteristic features, and enough food and water to sustain ourselves for a time. I have something important to discuss with both of you later.”

Reginald returned promptly after shouting once last time to the therian, causing his voice to echo into the kitchen. “I left a spare set of clothes on the side if you need them!”

“Well, I sent a dispatch to work informing them I’d be sick today,” Reginald said as he circled around April and Damea. Taking a seat again, he resumed to finish his breakfast. “So? When comes the time where you explain what happened?”

April lowered her spoon and smirked at the medic, “There’s not much to tell. You already know the most important detail. The terrorist cell is still out there, somewhere,” she shrugged despondently, stirring the mush in her bowl.

“You’ve been gone for a couple weeks April, is that really all you have to show for it?” Reginald huffed, lifting his eyebrow coyly, “I’m rather surprised that you’re so cozy with that faceless.”

She looked at him and laughed. It was attractive, hard and confident. “The fate of his people consumes him. Touya is in a precarious position, trying to mend the relationship between humans and therians. Unfortunately, its good people like him who get hurt the most.”

Left more than a little speechless at her bluntness, Reginald felt a smile grow over his face as he consumed the last spoonful of porridge. Adding a pill to his drink, he skulled down the water. “Those in between are the first to receive the cross fire? Or something along those lines,” he mused, “In any case, allow me to drop by the groceries. You can tell me about everything that happened later.”

Reginald stood up and dumped his bowl into the sink before moving in the direction of his bedroom. Materializing with a jacket and boots, he waved to Damea and April then left through the front door. Following his departure, April calmly stood up and crossed over to the bathroom door. Knocking politely, she called out to Touya, “Touya, we’re leaving before Reginald gets back. Don’t ask any questions, just finish washing quickly.”

Walking back to Damea, April hefted one of the backpacks. “I’m afraid we may be in immediate danger, get ready to leave. We’ll head for the western gates. It’s the closet exit to Reginald’s house.”

---

The Scientist

---

“That went…worse than expected,” Victor remarked, sipping his glass of red wine.

The two of them sat within the general’s office. A grand collection of books surrounded them, lining the shelves on either side of the room. They rose up to the ceiling and where connected via a ladder that travelled across rails. The scientist admired the insurmountable value of the collection beside him. Many of the books were first editions or original copies, priceless artifacts. Victor leveled his gaze at the man and offered him a drink out of courtesy, curious to see if the mask would be removed. Disappointingly, the scientist refused the offer.

“This is an impressive collection General Hawthorn,” the scientist said, gesturing to the tomes, “Are you an avid reader?”

Victor flashed a smile and lay his wine glass to rest. “Hmph, if only,” lamented the general, “Time is a rare commodity for men such as you and I. I’m more of a collector, thought sometimes it helps to keep up appearances.”

“A shame,” the scientist commented, wheezing as always. “And don’t worry, the committee and politicians will agree. The therians have invaded our homes, eluded our armies, defeated our champions. One more match will light the bonfire.”

“I’m impressed by the speed of your results though,” Victor said, his hand fell over another report which held classified information of the project. “The process…is it painful?”

“Excruciating,” the scientist answered, “Fifteen percent of subjects died in the process. We are currently researching ways to reduce the fatalities. The main issue is replication and integration. Not all are compatible.”

“Then I put my trust into you. Don’t let those lives go to waste, we will emerge victorious.”

"For the greater good," chorused the scientist.

“You look better,” April's voice startled him as she brushed passed him to enter the kitchen. He watched her walk by, unsure of what to say to her in response. How was it that he 'looked better'? To him, he still looked terrible, especially with his hair a mess.

“Bathroom is down the corridor, to the immediate left. Inside is a wash basin, just turn the handle clock-wise and let the water build-up…”

Touya stood still as he directed his gaze to Reginald. He didn't move nor say anything in response to the doctors words as he tried to answer the Therian's earlier question. After a second, Reginald pushed back his chair and stood up, smiling at him as he did so.

“On second thought, allow me to show you.”

Touya followed Reginald back to the bathroom where the wash basin was. It was a very large pot like contraption with a couple of metal bars on its end. Touya watched the doctor curiously as the man worked the contraption. Water poured forth from the spout and began filling the bath as Reginald plugged the hole on the bottom. Once that was done the doctor left the room and closed the door behind him. Touya watched the water spout for several moments longer. Reginald's voice reached him as the man yelled back to the room where the Therian was at.

“I left a spare set of clothes on the side if you need them!”

Glancing over to a small table, Touya spotted some folded clothes there. However he was more interested in the spout that poured water forth. Slowly, Touya leaned forward and touched the metal handles. He turned them slowly and witnessed more water spewing forth. Turning them the opposite direction slowed the flow of water until it no water came out at all. Intrigued, Touya turned the water back on and watched it fill the tub before he began taking the rest of his clothes off, which was just his leather pants as his shirt had been discarded the night before due to Reginald's treatment.

He slowly maneuvered his body into the warm water, wincing as the water crawled up passed his waist and began licking at the many wounds that ailed him. Blood began to seep into the water as the dried out places were soaked. Reaching back he pulled his hair over his shoulder and began undoing the braid. He worked his fingers through the pale silvery hair, trying his best to get the mud, blood and other dirt out of it. Leaning backwards he submerged almost the entirety of his body, the warm water amazing against his skin. He was used to bathing in cold rivers and lakes, this was certainly a luxury among the humans.

Pulling his body back up out of the water, he watched as the streams of liquid flowed down his form and brought with it trails of blood and filth. He grimaced as he sat there. Reaching up a second time he pulled his long hair over his shoulder and worked his fingers through it once more. Once he was done with that, he found a cloth along the edge of the tub and began rubbing his body down to wash it as best he could. He ground his teeth as he washed the wounds along his frame, too many to count at the moment. Nearing the end of his bath, a solid knock startled him and he immediately looked for his weapons, but when April's voice called out to him, he relaxed immediately, though he was curious about her words.

“Touya, we’re leaving before Reginald gets back. Don’t ask any questions, just finish washing quickly.”

Did she intend to leave the good doctor behind yet again? He frowned at the door and finished rubbing his body down. Standing he climbed out of the bath and dried off as best he could. Reaching for the clothes, he noted that they were made of simple material. A light weight leather that was nothing like he'd ever worn before. Pulling his pants back on, he reached for the shirt and tugged it over his head. The leather stretched nicely to fit his form, coming down to his hips just enough so that his belt could connect to the two pieces of clothing.

Once the belt was buckled on and his weapons secured he opened the door and stepped out. Moving down the hall he spotted Damea and April waiting for him. Looking over to where April motioned, he noted the pack and reached down to pick it up. Although he wished to ask her a question he decided that it was best to listen to her for once. He shouldered the pack and watched her, waiting for instructions.




“We’ll be leaving soon,” April said, her gaze flicking over to Damea and he felt a slight chill pass over his body. He was definitely in trouble with her. The fire mage continued to sip his hot coffee and tried his best to ignore her cold look. Reaching over she grabbed a bowl and began filling it with food.

“Remaining here is dangerous for Touya. We’ll leave the moment he’s done washing. I’ve borrowed a jacket that should hide Touya’s more characteristic features, and enough food and water to sustain ourselves for a time. I have something important to discuss with both of you later.”

Her hand gestured to the packs laid out behind her and out of sight for the most part unless pointed out. He lifted an eyebrow as he watched her. What was she planning this time?

"Leaving him again?" He asked her, a bit of accusation in his tone. She didn't have time to answer though as Reginald came back into the room after yelling down the hall to Touya.

Reginald sat down again and inquired about their travels to find Val. Damea didn't say anything and for the most part kept out of the situation, but he was a little surprised at her lack of information. He looked up at her for a moment, curious as to why she didn't say anything to the man that was important. However, he didn't butt in to add anything, if April didn't wish to tell, that was her own business and Damea had no reason to tell her otherwise.

Shortly after, Reginald stood and left, excusing himself from their presence on the fact that he had to go to the grocery. Immediately upon his departure, April stood and made her way to where Touya was washing up. He faintly heard her voice calling out to him, asking him to hurry and not ask questions. She came back soon after and picked up one of the packs off the floor.

“I’m afraid we may be in immediate danger, get ready to leave. We’ll head for the western gates. It’s the closet exit to Reginald’s house.”

Damea stood and picked up the second pack and waited in the hall for the Therian to join them. He wondered why April was in such a hurry to leave, but felt that perhaps something was seriously amiss and didn't want to chance it. Especially not with the recent news that some of the guards had been killed the night before. Touya joined them soon after and the Therian also did not ask any questions as he looked down and picked up the pack that was pointed out to him by April. Right after, the three of them left and entered a brightly lit city. Looking over at Touya, the tall Therian eyed the coat that April had provided him. It took a moment, but Touya donned the jacket, though he didn't look all that pleased to be wearing it. With that, they started into the city, making their way to the western gates.

---

April Rosevolt

---

"Leaving him again?" Damea questioned, referencing Reginald.

“In a manner of speaking,” April replied. “It’s for the best.”

Touya rejoined them rather swiftly given the short notice, donning a brand new leather shirt. It tugged at his powerful frame nicely, emphasizing his athleticism unlike the previous armor piece. April put on a smile, grateful for their extrinsic compliance under the circumstances. Handing Touya the borrowed jacket, April went to the doorway and ushered the duo outside discreetly.

“Here, take these hats,” she said, offering Damea a beanie and Touya a top hat insistently, “Don’t ask where I got them. The salient point is both of you need to keep a low profile. You’re both still wanted after all…”

April shut the door behind them, receiving a resounding click for her efforts as the lock mechanism fell into place. Eyeing the streetscape warily, April strode down the steps and casually ringed their arms between their elbows, effectively dragging Damea and Touya along with her. She adopted a brisk but simple pace as they walked, hoping to avoid suspicion.

“And that leads me to my next point. Why hasn’t Reginald been arrested? We shouldn’t have come back to Altheim,” she stated, directing them left down the pathway. April was doing her best to keep calm, but the woman’s face was ridden with anxiety. Biting the bottom of her lip, she found it hard not to look as steam trucks trundled past on the road, distractingly. The clamorous machines belched black smoke clouds from miniature chimney stacks that were situated on the tops of their roofs. Alongside the growl of engines came the persistent clip-clop of ambling horses as they lugged their carriages, intermingling the smell of oil and manure.

It was still early morning so fortunately the street traffic was light. With relatively little to impede upon their path, they quickly reached the end of the block. April made another left, heading directly to the location of the west gates. “We can’t trust Reginald,” she said, “He may be the one who leaked the information of Val’s location to HQ. He may be working for HQ. Let’s just get out of here first. I’ll tell the rest later, and then you can tell me about those murders.”

Guiding the way, April could feel her heart pumping faster. Never before had she experienced the sensation of fear on her home turf. The feeling was alienating; she used to find the towering walls of Altheim so reassuring. Now they enclosed around her, imposingly like a jail. Just who could she trust in her position? The west gates loomed up ahead, a giant archway of solid stone. Identifiable from the large rolling doors that consisted of steel, iron and brass decorations, the gates projected an utterly indomitable image. After their construction over a four decades ago, never before had they been breached.

In front of the gate was a wide court made of stone paving, imitating a design that cut through most of the city. Overseeing the flow of traffic fell onto the duty of the city guard who commanded the gates. “Stick close and act natural,” April directed, “Hopefully we’ll be able to slip past. If things don’t go according to plan…I suggest we split up.”

---

Miles Riverbend

---

“Monstrous,” Miles murmured, sitting on the edge of his seat.

The Beast Slayer was recalling the events that transpired in the court house, in particular the sights he had laid eyes on. Like the majority of people within that room, Miles’ reaction to the scientists’ proposal was one of complete horror. It was a defilement of humanity.

Brooding over his memories in the last three hours quickly became taxing. To counter his worries, a bottle of whiskey accompanied him. When the scientist went about his investigations at Glendale prison, Miles had no idea that the lead-up would result to this. The mere thought of requiring the therian’s technology infuriated his pride. Technology was not the solution to defeating the therians. On the contrary, the therians thrived on it. Perhaps the one consolation was that Victor would never be able to earn the majority of votes required to properly support the endeavor, judging by initial reactions at least.

Still, that was little comfort when one considered that Victor and his pet scientist had broken just about every single humanitarian law. Miles was stunned the duo had not been instantly trialed, demoted then hung. He guessed it was a testament to how desperate the therians had made everyone. People were grasping for straws, desperate for quick band-aid solutions. Miles knew better than to hope however. When the conflict between therian and human ended, it would only do so after insurmountable loss and tragedy. History was simply repeating itself.

“Sir?”

Miles looked up from his desk in response to the voice. “What is it?”

“We’ve received a report that two of the city guard were found murdered early this morning,” informed his assistant.

“Why are you telling me this? This is a job for the city guard to clean up,” Miles said, waving off information.

“Evidence suggests that a faceless was involved.”