"A highly respectable alchemist eh? I do not know much of my origins but teacher always told me that I am the bastard child of a king and a demon. Though I do not know if it is true." Ayumi said. As Eric asked about the dragon, the dragon responded: "You may call me Durandan. I was the dragon lord of these lands over 5000 years ago but with the fall of the dragons, my rule came to a halt. Now I am a simple dragon who sleeps most of the day or socializes with my neko friend the sorceress Ayumi. Is there any specific way you desire to go?"

Eric highly doubted that Ayumi was really the offspring of a king and a demon. There only kings that were around these days reigned up north, and the girl didn't look like she had a drop of northern blood in her veins. The alchemist thought for a moment before sharing whatever plan he had concocted with the others. "Well, long story short, dark armies are besieging the citadels in the Wyrm's Teeth. We have to get north, but flying there would be suicide on account of all the savage types of dragons around the border. You'd be blasted out of the sky, dragon lord or otherwise. Even walking there would be difficult, so we'd need to get a good group of people together." He quickly went over what he had said, checking if he had missed anything out. When he was satisfied with his speech, Eric nodded to himself and added "So, any questions, or shall we set off?"

"I know the savage types that swarm the north. If a dragon like me flies around up there, the dragons will be attacking in hordes." Durandan said. "Well, I am ready to depart on the journey." He took a look towards Ayumi. "I feel that way too. Let's go." Ayumi said and started to wander ahead. She wondered what the others were up to. Maybe they were still together or they could have left in separate directions. She had an interest in that strange boy, but for Ayami the interest was rather special and she would come out just to inspect the boy on where he is from.

Eric wasted no time in taking the lead at what was very nearly a jogging pace. Well, you couldn't say that he wasn't eager to get back home. The alchemist even occasionally stopped so the others could catch up. Finally, at the umpteenth halt, he didn't continue walking, and he had a good reason: that other girl from earlier was slung over the shoulder of one of a group of bandits. Had to admire her skill in taking down a few of them first, though. The stutterer was there too, with weapons drawn, ready for a fight. Eric simply stepped forward, saying "It's all right, let me handle 'em. Been a while since I've had a good fight!" This caught the attention of the bandits, and without wasting any more time with mere words he charged at the nearest foe, bellowing at the top of his lungs.

The man the held Tsuymoi gave Yuuki a dirty smirk. "Oh yeah? You think you're so tough, huh kid?" His eyes then darkened, "Look. We're done here. Unless you wanna' get taken to our master, too, then just follow like a good mutt would. Ya' hear?" He turned towards the reamining men standing, "Hey! Let's get outta' here. Just leave 'em. I'm sure they'll find their way back." He gave out a hoarse laugh and then let out a small choke.
He turned around to see that Yuuki was still there. "Waddya' lookin' at kid?" He motioned to the body on his shoulder,"This your girl or something? Tch, you have no buisness here. Get out." He started walking when he found another Neko that he wasn't familiar with.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Being the stupid klutz he was, Rei stumbled over his own feet and fell right infront of a short, buff, and bald man with scars all over his body carrying Tsuyomi. He got on his two feet, eyes widened, and pointed at the man. "Y-you! Let her go right now!" The man then let out another laugh and turned to Yuuki, "Oh geez, is this supposed to be your army or somethin?" He averted his attention back to Rei,"You think you so tough eh? Puh-lease, you look like you bout to take leak right then and there," he shook his head,"What a joke." He then pushed Rei back down to the ground and started collecting the weapons he had dropped earlier.
Rei really wanted to help out and get the man to release the fellow female he hopefully befriended. He was scared out of his mind, but then it happened. The scent of blood reached his nose and his head started pounding. His hands were shaking and his claws started growing. He let out a low growl and held his head, closing his eyes shut. He didn't know what was happening. It was as if all the ruby red liquid itself were pouring in his whole body, taking him over. Every whiff of the air, blood was there.

Yuuki heard the man say, "Oh yeah? You think you're so tough, huh kid?" The man looked at Yuuki and his eyes darkened while he continued with, "Look. We're done here. Unless you wanna' get taken to our master, too, then just follow like a good mutt would. Ya' hear?" The man turned towards the other men and said, "Hey! Let's get outta' here. Just leave 'em. I'm sure they'll find their way back." The man laughed hoarsely and choked a bit. Yuuki was geeting more and more mad at the man who was carrying Tsuymoi. The man turned around and looked at Yuuki while saying, "Waddya' lookin' at kid?" The man motioned towards Tsuymoi and said, "This your girl or something? Tch, you have no buisness here. Get out." Yuuki looked at the man and then at Tsuymoi then he blushed.

The man started to walk away when Rei came out of the bush in front of him. Rei looked startled but said, "Y-you! Let her go right now!" The man turned back around with a laugh and looked at Yuuki saying, "Oh geez, is this supposed to be your army or somethin?" The man turn his attention back towards Rei and said, "You think you so tough eh? Puh-lease, you look like you bout to take leak right then and there," The man shook his head and went on with, "What a joke." The man pushed Rei down to the ground at Yuuki was at his breaking point when that happened.

The man bend down and started collecting all the weapons he had dropped earlier. That's when Rei started to freak out and grew his claws from his hand. He then began to growl very lowly at the man. Yuuki had never seen this happen before but was okay with taking the distraction. Yuuki came closer to the man and whipped one of his sudi kamas at the mans leg. It hit in his upper thigh and stuck so Yuuki pulled hard on the chain, which caused the sudi kama to come ripping out of his leg. The man fell down in pain and dropped Tsuyomi on the ground by him. All of his men looked at Yuuki in shock at him taking down their leader. Yuuki whipped the sudi kama around his head and said to the man, "I warned you that I'd kill all of you if you wouldn't let Tsuymoi go. I am a ruthless assassin and was trained to kill men just like all of you. Rei you go and take care of the others I'll help you in a minute." With that Yuuki threw the sudi kama and it went passed the man's head. The man looked back and that's when Yuuki pulled the sudi kama back and lodged it in the man's throat.

If people had looked at the expression on Ayumis face, they would know that something was not right about her. A sinister smile stretched across her face and with a sinister tone of voice, her other persona Ayami said: "This looks like fun. I want to see more blood." She found another bandit who just gave her a smirk as she approach but it faded away as Ayami showed her bone hand. The hand of the bandit that held a sword came off as a flash of light came. Ayami was suddenly holding her scythe. Now where the one bandit was defenseless, with a swift attack using her bare hands, she grabbed the bandit at the top of his head and tore it off. She then held the head above her mouth and let the blood drip into it. "Oh this life force. I want more." She said and her red eyes sparked up.

Maybe these southerners were just as eager to enter the fray, Eric thought as his wild charge carried him straight into his target. They didn't stop until they hit a tree, and by that time the enemy was unconscious. With that one obstacle out of the way for the time being, the alchemist eagerly leapt at the next bandit, staff raised above his head. The force of the blow resulted in the next target's death, clean and simple.

With the majority of the combatants engaging in melee combat, Eric promptly switched to blasting foes from afar using his lightning magic. The sounds of thunder could be heard across the battlefield as he caused devastation to any foolish enough to tackle him. He stopped when victory was certainly within their grasp, and the others were busy fighting the remaining enemy forces. They could take care of it from there on out without assistance.

He turned back and noticed that Ayami had once again assumed control, but this time she wasn't the somewhat reasonable person Eric had met earlier; she was drinking blood, of all things! Eric wasn't going to let that slide. The alchemist went over to Ayami, snatched the severed head from her and flung it into the undergrowth. "We'll be having none of that blood-drinking business, y'hear me? If you're so keen to be a friend, you've gotta watch that attitude of yours," he snapped.

"A good friend shouldnt be so picky since you've got to accept flaws or differences." Ayami said. "And who cares about what I do with dirty outlaw scum. Its not like they will abide by laws if you spare their lives. So why dont we to get along and ignore the habits of the other. Its not like I try to force you to drink the blood of others. Ayumi doesn't do these things though, maybe I shall let her have control again." Her personality then changed back to Ayumi. "What happened here? Did we get stopped by bandits?" Ayumi asked.

As arrogant as she was, Ayami did indeed have a point, which Eric accepted begrudgingly although he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction by saying it out loud. Control of the body had been handed back to Ayumi, who was understandably disoriented.

"Yeah, we got stopped by bandits," Eric replied. "But not for that long." He refrained from mentioning the blood-drinking. Besides, Ayumi probably knew about it already. The alchemist was suddenly aware of Durandan's presence. He'd either charged into battle with the others, or stayed behind and watched from the sidelines. Eric walked over to the dragon and requested for a word in private.

"You know Ayumi better than me. Can you tell me anything about her other side, or maybe how she could control it?"

As Eric talked to Durandan and asked if there was a way for Ayumi to control Ayami, he said: "I have met some like her but in particular cases like her, it was best to have a good friend who was honest and never used their friend. But a way for Ayumi to control Ayami isnt exactly possible. I think Ayami came to be as Ayumi felt so much disappointment and abuse in her life and with every dishonest person and fake friend, Ayami come out more and every time in a more sinister way. I suggest if we found the love of her life, we could get rid of Ayami."

The love of her life? Seriously? Eric's face seemed to be caught between disbelief and a frown. Why couldn't this particular curse of undeath be simply taken care of at a temple, just like all the others? He ended up chalking it down as "one of those southerner things" before setting the matter aside. There were more important things to attend to at the moment, after all.

"We should go catch up with the others before they get too far," he said, breaking into a brisk jog. The sooner they got a group of people together, the sooner they could get back to the north...