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The Orc Knight, book 2

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1/1/2009 20:27:39   
HK 47
Member

Comments thread

The setting is in the kingdom of Osaka, near a local tea house. The area has many mountains in the background, with several people walking around, carrying sticks that had two bags over their backs. Their clothes were simplistic, almost robe-like. They wore hats that almost looked like cymbals, although they were somewhat taller.

Two figures approached the tea house. Both wore full suits of armor. One had a shield over her back, and another had two swords. The one with the dual swords had a metal mask that looked like an Oni. “May as well use that extra money from the last contract,” the one with the swords said. His voice was low and almost sounded like he was growling. It was impossible to tell any details about his body other than the fact that it looked like he worked out a lot, judging by the thickness of the arms.

“Of course,” the female replied. Her face was very beautiful, although her face was nothing like that of the people of Osaka. Her eyes were much rounder than the people of Osaka, and her face looked somewhat softer. She had emerald-colored eyes.

The two figures entered the tea house. There were many people sitting around eating or having tea. None of the people there wore shoes, although they did wear socks. There was a thin carpet on the floor, and there was a female wearing a lot of makeup and in a kimono dancing.

Both figures approached the owner, who immediately turned to them. “General Tommy! Leola! So glad to see you again!” he said, excited to see the two mercenaries.

“Thanks,” the man in the mask replied. “I’d like some white rice please.”

“And I’ll have some sushi,” the female replied.

“What kind?” the owner asked.

“Salmon please.”

“Rice for the General, Salmon sushi for Leola, got it. Any drinks?”

“Perhaps some green tea,” Tommy replied.

“None for me, thanks,” Leola answered.

“Okay, I’ll get started on your orders right away,” the owner said, turning away to work on the food.

Leola turned to Tommy. “I still can’t believe how nice Toren was to us,” she said. “I was expecting someone different.”

“I know a large array of strange characters. Toren’s perhaps the nicest necromancer I know,” Tommy answered.

At the other side of the tea shop, two people noticed General Tommy and Leola. Both were human males wearing leather armor, and carrying long swords that were reminiscent of the country of Eldor, where the kingdom of Lebanon was stationed.

One of them pulled out a wanted poster from his bag. When he opened it up, Tommy’s helmet and mask was shown with the words “Wanted, 100,000 Lebanon gold pieces” written on it. Underneath was “wanted dead or alive, preferably dead. Bring back the female he travels with alive and unharmed for an extra thousand Lebanon gold pieces”.

“That the guy?” the other man asked.

“That’s him alright. That guy’s supposedly a real pain to kill,” the first man said.

“Too bad for all of Osaka that they have this man working for them. We’ll have to save them while we can.”

“How? We can’t just walk up to him and try to take him alive!”

“Easy. We bring him outside and ambush him.” The second man then began walking up to Tommy and Leola.

“Here you go! Some sushi and rice!” the owner said, handing out the food to both of his customers. “That’ll be twenty gold.”

Tommy poured out some Osakan gold pieces. “Here you go,” he said.

Leola noticed the two people walking up to them. “Incoming,” she told Tommy.

“I smelled them. They really should wash up,” General Tommy answered. “First, we eat.”

Tommy pulled down the lower half of his mask just a tad, allowing the chopsticks with the rice to enter his mouth. The owner thought he saw a major under bite with Tommy’s mouth, but he had dismissed it long ago. Leola began to eat her sushi. There was a mild taste of salmon, but it was mostly rice that she tasted. The two men finished walking up to Tommy and Leola. “Hey, mind coming with us?” the first man asked.

Tommy turned around. “I’m sorry, do I owe you money?” he asked.

“No, but there’s something we need to talk about. Alone,” the second man replied.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Come on Leola.” Tommy stood up, closed the lower half of his mask, and began to walk out, carrying the rice with him for later.

Leola did the same, wrapping the sushi in one of her bags. The two followed the men behind a dark alley. Tommy brought his hands to his swords in anticipation of an attack. He sniffed the air, and twenty unique signatures, not counting his own, Leola’s, and the two men came through. "I smell an ambush,” he told Leola.

“I feel it too,” Leola answered, bringing her hands to her sword and shield.

When they were far enough into the alley, the two men drew their swords, whirled around, and tried to catch Leola and Tommy off-guard. However, both quickly drew their swords and blocked. Leola then readied her shield for the next attack. “Get them!” the first man yelled.

With that, twenty armed soldiers, most of them wearing metal armor, leaped down to attack. Tommy and Leola stood back-to-back. “Either I really do owe you money, or you want our heads,” Tommy said.

“You’re wanted by the Kingdom of Lebanon. Hand over Princess Leola if you want to live,” the first man ordered.

“I left on my own accord. We’re not going anywhere,” Leola replied. She then looked to Tommy. “Which one do you want?”

“I’ll take the stupid one who threatened us rather then attacked us while he had the chance,” Tommy answered.

The two then broke off and almost instantly killed two lightly armored fighters. The eighteen remaining fighters then attacked only General Tommy, leaving them wide open to Leola’s attacks.

Tommy managed to block and dodge every attack that came his way and even countered as well. Some of the fighters grew angry before getting stabbed in the back by Leola. One fighter broke off to fight Leola, but was quickly told, “You idiot! She’s wanted unharmed and alive!”

Leola answered, “Makes it all the easier for me.” She then stabbed that fighter in the gut.

The fight lasted all of one minute before the last man fell. Tommy turned to Leola. “Looks like your father posted a bounty on my head. We should expect more mercenaries coming for us soon,” he said.

“Yeah. Too bad for them,” she answered. Both then exited the alley after flicking the blood off their swords, and then ran off.

< Message edited by HK 47 -- 7/9/2009 16:05:18 >
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 1
7/1/2009 16:39:16   
HK 47
Member

General Tommy and Leola kept on going, eating the remains of their food. The two reached their house, given to them by Emperor Matsuo Heikichi. It was a rather small house, but it had the basics. When the two entered the house, it was rather quiet and tranquil. General Tommy immediately walked off to consider what had just happened.

Leola looked at General Tommy. “What are we going to do now?” she asked.

“Calm down Leola. We’ll make it, we just have to be careful and watch our backs,” General Tommy replied. “If we can take out the heads of the mercenaries, then we might be able to get them off our backs.”

“But who is hunting us?” Leola asked.

“That…I don’t know.”

“Perhaps we can find an informant.” Leola began to think about who could be an informant.

“Leola. You and I both know that very few people around here are going to want to be informants. It’s not honorable.” General Tommy sighed. "Perhaps…perhaps the Emperor would be willing to loan us a ninja though.”

“Ninjas? You gotta be kidding me!”

“The plural of ninja is ninja.”

“But that’s really confusing.”

“Got that right, I’ll admit that. But I think the Emperor would be quite upset if you used the wrong form. Besides, we don’t have a lot of rep here.”

Leola sighed, knowing that General Tommy was right. “You have a point…I guess we’ll just have to do some more contracts,” she said after a three second pause.

General Tommy nodded. “Shall we go get another contract?” he asked. It was midday, meaning that they had a couple more hours to kill before the sun set.

Normally, when the sun set in this country, demons and evil spirits roamed around, causing much trouble. As much as General Tommy and Leola would love to strike out at them, their weapons were not magical in nature, and thus prevented them from damaging the spirits. Unless the spirits were dumb enough to physically manifest.

The spirits were often beings cursed to eternal unlife, and took their rage out on the living. Luckily, both they and the demons were photosensitive. As long as the people stayed in the light, they were perfectly safe.

It didn’t make people sleep easier at night though, as some of the spirits were crafty enough to enter houses when the lights were off and cause mayhem. Numerous samurai were given magical weapons to fight off the infestation, but every time one fell, it seemed like two more took its place.

The demons were able to rise in this country, as the land was…somewhat cursed in nature. The country was a major battleground in the Elf/Orc war, which has been going on for tens of thousands of years. Many evil spells were cast, and no priests came to cure the land. As such, demons were openly able to roam the country, but only at night.

As such, every Emperor kept his land well-lit, and kept a mandatory curfew. Only Samurai were allowed to walk around at night, or mercenaries like General Tommy and Leola.

Leola answered, “Of course.”

General Tommy and Leola then exited their house and walked off to the Emperor’s palace. The palace itself was very large, mostly guard towers. There were exactly fifteen towers; all lined with a hundred guards each. Most of the guards were out patrolling the kingdom, or on the towers. Archers lined the walls, all carrying bows that shot arrows that had an eternal flame thanks to magic.

Each guard wore a set of interlocking plates, much like General Tommy’s armor. Leola’s armor had fewer plates, making it look more like the knights from Eldor. Consequently, it was harder for her to move around than General Tommy, although part of the reason was because General Tommy’s armor was forged from the rare metal Mithril, which greatly reduced the weight of his armor.

All the Samurai wore the same set of armor, although it still looked very fancy. Numerous Samurai however wore a kimono. Those that wore a kimono were normally well-trained and experienced samurai, or they simply did not like the restrictions that came with the armor.

General Tommy often berated such samurai for “making such a poor tactical decision”. Most samurai tried to duel General Tommy to show him that they are better without the armor. However, every time they were unable to get past the armor, or even touch General Tommy.

General Tommy always spared his opponent however, stating that, “And now you see why armor is a wise decision”. Such Samurai were seen the next day wearing their armor.

The palace itself was practically impossible to siege considering all of the guards posted, and the very large walls. The doors inside the palace were standard sized, rather than 40-foot-high double doors. General Tommy was glad for this because as he explained, “While 40-foot-high double doors do impress the neighbors, they’re rather hard to close in a pinch.”

Leola was a newbie as a mercenary, but she understood everything General Tommy said. When the two reached the palace walls, three archers aimed their arrows at General Tommy and Leola. “Who are you?!” one yelled down.

“I am General Tommy, and this is Leola! We have come to get a new contract!” General Tommy yelled back up.

“Ah, the new Ronin! Come on in!” the same archer yelled. General Tommy and Leola grinned as the bridge dropped, allowing them to cross the moat. Not too many Emperors used moats in this country, but some understood the strategic ideas for doing so.

General Tommy and Leola walked up to the doors and entered. The doors themselves were red with some jewels encrusted into the handles. The inside of the palace was very elegant, with golden pillars, long rugs, and many, many jewels. Samurai walked around the area, all having their Daisho at the ready.

A Daisho is composed of a katana and a wakizashi. General Tommy’s weapon combination is roughly the same, being composed of a hand-and-a-half sword, which was roughly the same length as the katana, and a short sword, which was the same as a wakizashi. Many samurai asked why he used an equivalent of the Daisho rather than the real thing.

General Tommy’s answer was always, “I built these. There are keen tactical ideas with dual-wielding these swords, but I have never been in this country before. And I never, ever, remove the weapons.”

So the samurai grew accustomed to his weapons. As the two walked down the long hallway to the throne room, there were many civilians walking around the halls, most of them feudal lords sending in their reports, or servants working for said feudal lords.

Leola never was much of one for feudalism, ironic, considering that she was a princess. General Tommy wasn’t much of one for it either. As he said, “Where I come from, everyone worked as one. There were no Feudal Lords, no Emperors. We all pulled our own weight, and the weight of others. We work as one.”

However, when asked where he came from, General Tommy remained silent. Only Leola knew, and she never talked about it. When the two reached the throne room, the Emperor, a human male wearing a very long, elegant robe, and holding a golden scepter, sat on his throne, which was extremely overdone, with countless amounts of gold, silver, and jewels built directly into it.

“Ah, the new Ronin have arrived. Is there something you require?” the Emperor asked. His voice was very smooth, although there was a slight hint of a Dwarven accent.

“Yes milord. We wish for a new contract,” Leola replied.

“A new contract? I suppose I could give one to you. You know of Oni, do you not?”

“The trolls? Yes, we know of them.”

“Good. Some Oni have walked a bit too close to civilization, and they have begun preying on innocents.”

“How many?” General Tommy asked.

“Twenty total, but they are mostly isolated from each other,” the Emperor answered.

“Twenty Oni vs. two Ronin. Piss-poor odds for them,” Leola joked.

“Don’t forget about that annoying regeneration factor Leola,” General Tommy replied. “But yeah, they’re screwed.”
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 2
7/1/2009 16:45:19   
HK 47
Member

After a quick description of where the Oni were located, Leola and General Tommy saddled up to move to the target locations. Some Samurai told General Tommy and Leola, “Good luck. You will need it.”

General Tommy answered, “I don’t need luck. I have skill.”

The two then rode off to confront the Oni. All the way at the first target location, two Oni were busy devouring the remains of the last samurai foolish enough to fight them. One Oni had red skin, while the other had blue. Both had full beards and large horns on their heads. Their teeth were sharp and jagged, harboring four fangs. One of the Oni had an extra eye, while the other had six fingers on both hands. Both of the Oni’s hair were completely wild.

Both of the Oni wielding large iron clubs, and had on tiger-skin loincloths. They were powerfully built, and by the look of their faces, they were quite glad that they had eaten. The few cuts that they had sustained healed very rapidly, as was the problem with their high regeneration rate. The blue-skinned Oni looked at the red-skinned Oni.

“When do you think our next meal comes?” the blue-skinned Oni asked.

“Probably soon. Knowing the emperor of this land, they want all of us driven off as fast as he can,” the other answered.

“None have been able to best us! Why does this Emperor keep on trying to stop us?”

“He is foolish. At least he’s giving us food.”

By this time, General Tommy and Leola were drawing close. General Tommy smelled the Oni and their meal. “They’ve just eaten. That means that the Emperor hasn’t sent us first,” he pointed out.

“Ah well. So how do we kill them?” Leola asked.

General Tommy got off of his horse. “Easy. Troll or not, without the head they cannot live. All we have to do is stab their brain or cut their head off. No way they’ll survive.”

“Good plan,” Leola complimented, getting off her horse as well.

The two walked up to the cave entrance. The two Oni smelled the two, and readied their clubs. “Come, meat! We hunger!” the red-skinned Oni yelled.

“Well, seeing as how you invited us in…why not?” General Tommy asked, already having his swords drawn. His longer sword, which he held in his right hand, had the carving of the waves on it, while his shorter sword had a carving of the sky.

Leola also had her sword and shield ready. Her blade had a carving of fire in it, while her shield had a carving of a mountain on it. The two looked at each other, and their eyes gleamed.

The two let out a battle cry and charged at the Oni. Leola took the blue-skinned Oni, while General Tommy took the red-skinned Oni. Both Oni swung their clubs down, in an attempt to smash the two. However, both General Tommy and Leola hopped to the side, causing the Oni to miss.

General Tommy climbed onto his Oni, and pulled back on the Oni’s neck. Leola leaped onto the blue-skinned Oni’s club and charged forward, aiming right at her Oni’s skull.

The red-skinned Oni fell backward, with General Tommy climbing off at the last second. With his Oni down, General Tommy leaped up and made his finishing blow: both of his swords entered the heart and brain at the same time, not only stopping circulation, but in effect negating all chance of regeneration.

The blue-skinned Oni was too stupid to move his head, and Leola’s sword pierced his brain. When Leola and General Tommy pulled out their swords, they were covered in green blood, which was immediately flicked off.

“Too easy!” General Tommy boasted, twirling his swords in his hands. “Just as I thought!” General Tommy then sheathed his swords.

Leola simply grinned and sheathed her sword. “Two down, eighteen to go. Best get going,” she said.

“Agreed.” Both General Tommy and Leola saddled up and rode off to the next sites.

Every time, it was only two Oni, both overconfident. Some Oni proudly challenged General Tommy and Leola to fight him at once, and they did just that…and killed him within about ten seconds.

The hardest challenge was at the last pair on Oni. These two were probably the ringleaders, and they wore a kimono instead of a tiger-skin loincloth. Instead of iron clubs, they wielded odachis. The curved blades were about sixty five inches long, and the Oni wielded them with one hand.

“Ah, more meat…wait…one of you is not human…you with the mask,” one Oni, blue-skinned and very humanoid, asked.

“Yes?” General Tommy asked.

“Take off your mask, Orc. There is no need to hide your identity from us. We are brethren here.”

“I am no monster. I turned by back on the Orcs eight years ago, and I don’t plan to go back anytime soon. And for the record, Orcs and Trolls, let alone Oni, never got along well with each other. We are allies of convenience, and nothing else. I was ordered to kill you, and thus I will.”

“You are a fool. We deserve what we got. We were around MUCH longer than the humans, and you know that. Our people have existed since the dawn of time, thousands of years before the humans. When they came, they pretended that they were the most powerful race in existence. We both know they are not,” the second Oni, red-skinned, replied.

“I know. But the humans have given me a home, food, and a line of work. And remember the Elves? They are no better than the humans, yet they have been around longer.”

“You and I both know the Elves are traitors to the treaty.”

“Treaty? What treaty?” Leola asked.

“Very near the dawn of time, all of our people met in one location. We agreed that we would live as one people. Our kind mixed together, and everyone was happy. The Orcs and the Elves were pretty much heads of this treaty, as they were the smartest. We Oni had much more respect for the Orcs, as they were humble.”

“However, the Elves betrayed us all. Their leader was overthrown, and they attacked the Orcs. Everyone took sides, and thus began the war. People like us, the Orcs, Trolls, and Oni, were cast down as ‘monsters’ as soon as the humans came into the equation. However, the Elves were immediately viewed as ‘noble’,” the first Oni chimed in.

“There is nothing noble about traitors. Our once great cities, burned to the ground. Our people shoved into tribes. Some of us decided to ignore this war, but some, like our tribe, refuse to simply give up on this war. We will make every last human and Elf SUFFER for their treachery!”

“I know your anger,” General Tommy replied. “But these…barbaric acts…are not the right way. If you truly wish to fight against the Elves, gather your tribe and the other Oni, and fight in the open with the Orcs. Do not degrade yourselves by these acts. Do not stain your honor in such a manner.”

“Yet another reason why we Oni prefer you Orcs. You have a true sense of honor, unlike the traitorous Elves. Very well…we will stop our attacks on your civilization, and fight in the open with your people. Perhaps one day, we can rebuild the treaty.”

“But first, we must remove the cause of this stain. The current Elven ruler,” the second Oni finished.

“Just a heads up…we killed eighteen of your people. Orders,” General Tommy said.

“Being wide open about your actions. Much honor lies within you. Take off your mask.”

General Tommy nodded, and pulled off his helmet. His green skin shone brilliantly within the light. His black hair was kept in war braids, and his blue eyes showed much wisdom. His mouth was much like the Oni, in that it was very pointy, with two fangs. His nose was upturned, much like a pig’s.

“Remember. If you attack any civilization near here without an army, then I will hunt you down and destroy you,” General Tommy growled.

“We will honor your wishes.”

General Tommy put his helmet back on. “We shall now leave,” he replied. He and Leola exited and got back onto their horses.
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 3
7/1/2009 16:48:41   
HK 47
Member

General Tommy and Leola arrived back at the Emperor’s palace. The air seemed lighter than before when people saw the return of the two Ronin. Leola lifted her chin high, with a wide grin on her face. “That was just too easy,” she said.

“Do not boast Leola. While we did do well, I do not wish to make enemies with these Samurai,” General Tommy replied, shooting a glare at Leola.

One Samurai overheard the conversation, and walked up to the two. “Easy? Slaying twenty Oni? Easy?!” he asked.

Leola grinned even wider. “Yep. It’s not hard when you know where to aim,” she boasted.

“How did you do it?”

“We aimed for the head. No being can function without a brain. At least, not properly,” General Tommy explained.

“Huh…that makes sense…we just tried hacking at him until his regeneration couldn’t keep up with the wounds.”

“And that is why you failed.”

“You insulting me?”

“I am pointing out the fact that because of your inferior tactics, you were unable to slay the Oni.” General Tommy then turned his head. “Now if you don’t mind, we’re going to see the Emperor to report our success.”

“I still don’t believe you. How many did you kill?”

“All twenty,” Leola boasted.

“ALL TWENTY!? Our best Samurai could barely kill two!” The samurai’s mouth was wide open.

“You underestimate our capabilities though. You aren’t a mercenary for eight years by pure luck,” General Tommy replied. He then began to walk off.

“Look, before you go…” the samurai said.

“What?” General Tommy asked, stopping in his tracks.

“Can you tell me how exactly you slew them?”

“Easy. We dodged a couple clubs, then pierced their brains with our swords,” Leola replied.

“I see…I’ll remember that next time I have to fight an Oni,” the samurai finished, walking off.

General Tommy and Leola finished their walk off to the Emperor’s throne room, where he was busy eating grapes. Unlike most Kings or Emperors, this man ate his own grapes, instead of being fed them by a slave. When he noticed General Tommy and Leola enter, he almost choked on the grape he was eating.

“You’re back so soon?” he asked, getting back up. “Did you kill them?”

“Every last one,” General Tommy lied, trying to hide the fact that he spared the last two.

“Amazing. Twenty Oni, and you killed them so quickly. I am glad to have such Ronin under my employment.” Emperor Matsuo Heikichi then fished out two hundred Osakan gold pieces, and handed them to General Tommy and Leola. “Your reward.”

General Tommy grinned, although nobody could tell because of the mask. “Thanks,” he said. “We’ll be leaving now.”

“I do have another contract.”

“What?” Leola asked.

“Some Kappa have been preying on our children. I need you to go and get our children back before they are eaten.”

“How much time do we have?” General Tommy asked.

“Knowing Kappa? As soon as it grows dark, they shall devour the children. So you’d best hurry.”

“We’ll need a way to breathe underwater,” Leola concluded.

“Kappa like to eat their meals above water. I can show you where they were last seen,” Heikichi replied.

“Please do,” General Tommy said.

Heikichi then got off his throne and gathered his personal bodyguards. There were five samurai, the best in the land. Three were male humans, and two were female Elves. All five of them wore only a kimono, and carried a katana by their side. There was no wakizashi though, which was odd for a samurai.

The first Samurai spoke to General Tommy. This man had brown eyes and black hair. He was a very skilled samurai, specified for up-close-and-personal encounters. However, he had grown to admire General Tommy’s sheer skill. “So, fate has thrown us together again, huh Thomas?” he said.

“Indeed it has Ishimaru. How are things back home?” General Tommy replied.

“The wife and children are just fine. Don’t worry, I will not tell your little secret to my friends, and definitely not to the Emperor.”

“Good. I only just got employed here, and I’d rather not be kicked out so soon.”

The first Elven female approached Leola, looking over her body. She asked Leola, “Why do you wear a full suit of armor? And where did you get it from?”

“I’m from the kingdom of Lebanon. And for the record, I wear a full suit of armor for the protection it offers,” Leola answered.

“Ah. I do so hope it won’t rust when you attack the Kappa. By the way, I’m Nakashima Nanami.”

“Okay then. What’s your specialty?”

“Ranged combat.” Nanami then pulled out a bow that she had slung over her back. “I’m a crack shot with this thing.”

“Okay then,” Leola replied. “We could use a ranged combatant.”

The second female Elf spoke up. “I’m the magic user of the group. Name’s Nakashima Ayumu.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Leola said, showing basic respect.

“Same. General Tommy’s reputation precedes him. Must be great working with such a legendary mercenary.” Ayumu was probably just trying to kiss General Tommy’s ass.

“He’s just General Tommy to me,” Leola replied. Leola was half-lying, as she was slowly developing feelings of love for General Tommy, but she kept it quiet.

“Very well. I just hope that I can learn from the best.”
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 4
7/1/2009 16:53:05   
HK 47
Member

Tommy, Leola, Emperor Matsuo Heikichi, and his bodyguard squad moved to the lake where the Kappa were located. The metal boots Leola and Tommy had on began to sink into the mud, but they kept pressing. Leola began to scan the area for the Kappa.

Tommy began to smell the air, hoping to catch the stench of the Kappa. As his sense of smell was highly developed, he was able to catch a whiff of the Kappa and the children, but he could not tell where the Kappa were keeping them.

Leola looked to Tommy. “Found them?” she asked.

“They’re here, but I can’t tell where exactly they are,” Tommy answered.

“How would you be able to tell?” Ishimaru replied, butting into the conversation.

“You know that I have a very acute sense of smell. But it’s not perfect. All I can tell is that they’re somewhere underwater. And I have an idea on how to get them to let the children go WITHOUT killing them.”

“What plan is that?” Ishimaru asked, raising his right eyebrow.

“The Kappa love cucumbers more than children. If we teach them how to make cucumbers, they likely would leave the children alone for the rest of their lives.” Tommy ran some calculations in his head. “I’m getting a 95% chance of it working.”

“Well, that’s better than some of our other plans. Good luck, alright? We’ll keep a fair distance away and make certain the Kappa don’t escape.”

“Okay then.” Tommy then turned to Leola. “Leola, let’s move. Into the water we go.”

Leola nodded. “Sir, yes sir,” she replied. “Sure it’s a good idea to be swimming in armor?”

“You could take your armor off if you want. But you know that I never remove my armor.”

“Okay then.” Leola then walked off into the brush to remove her armor without anyone else seeing her. First she removed the helmet, unveiling her blonde hair, tied up in a bun. Leola decided to remove the bun, letting her hair flow down past her shoulders. She then began to remove all of the rest of her armor.

She, like all soldiers in armor, wore clothing underneath the armor, so that the metal didn’t rub against her skin. Her clothing was actually hinting at signs of royalty, being extravagantly well-done, with some jewels in the clothing. However, it wasn’t a dress, instead keeping close to her skin.

Leola herself detested wearing dresses or robes, because she had given up her life as a princess a year ago. Instead, she had embraced her new lifestyle as a mercenary rather well, thanks to Tommy’s help. Her clothing was colored blue and red, and actually looked very good on her.

When Leola finished removing the armor, she returned back to Tommy with her sword at her side and her shield on her left arm. Leola grinned when she returned. “Shall we?” she asked, being completely rhetorical.

Tommy nodded. “Yes, let’s,” he answered, diving into the water headfirst. Leola quickly followed behind.

Despite the fact that Tommy was wearing armor, he was able to swim very well, having his above peak human strength, and the fact that his armor was forged from the metal Mithril, which greatly cut back on the armor’s weight. Leola’s armor however, was forged with steel.

Leola herself was actually rather strong in itself, as was evidenced by her very well-toned and slightly muscular body. However, she was nowhere near able to swim in metal armor. She had asked Tommy once if it was possible for her to wear Mithril armor, but Tommy answered that Mithril is a very rare mineral, second only to Adamantine.

I wonder how hard it will be to persuade the Kappa to let the children go… Leola wondered.

Hmm…we need to be able to persuade the Kappa into letting the children go, and my plan to teach them how to grow cucumbers is likely to work, as that is their favorite food…judging by these factors, I predict a 85-90% chance that we will be able to persuade the Kappa, give or take 2%, Tommy thought.

The smell of fish began to fill Leola’s nose as the two began to get closer to the Kappa’s home. Tommy had a good lung capacity, so he was able to swim rather well. Leola had only been on an extended swimming mission once before, so she was starting to run out of oxygen.

Luckily for the two, there was a cave nearby that had the strongest smell of fish. Leola pointed to it, and Tommy nodded. The two then began to swim off in that direction, hoping that is where the Kappa was.

The cave quickly opened up into a nice pocket of air, which Leola and Tommy breathed in happily. As the two scanned the cavern, they noticed the children that were kidnapped stowed away on an ancient ship. Tommy scratched his helmet. “How did that ship get in this cave?” he asked.

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it,” Leola answered.

“Well, there are the children. The Kappa should be around here somewhere. We should go and talk to the children.” Tommy began to swim over to the ship, with Leola following quickly behind.

As the two got out of the water, they were able to tell the details of the ship. The wood was splintered and rotting, with the depiction of a dragon from Eldor carved into the wood. This would only serve as a notion that people of Eldor once used this ship, probably from war, considering that there were several catapults that were on the ruined ship.

Leola looked over the ship. “This doesn’t match up with any ships of Eldor that I know of,” she pointed out.

“That’s because that’s an Elven ship from a long time ago. This country was a large battleground during the Elf/Orc war,” General Tommy answered. “The Orc navy far outclassed the Elven navy because we Orcs had discovered how to enhance our catapults’ ammunition with fire before the Elves did.

“It also helped with the fact that our ships were much more durable thanks to specific reinforcing with steel and Mithril in weak points. Elven ships relied too much on magic to survive.”

“I guess magic isn’t all they claim it to be,” Leola replied. “Still, how did this ship get here?”

“You wonder why this ship is here?” a voice said. It sounded dry and scary, much like an undead skeleton’s voice.

Leola and Tommy whirled around with their swords drawn. Sure enough, it was an undead skeleton. The skull was very pronounced, with a chin that could probably count as an improvised weapon because it was so pointy. A slight fire burned in the empty eye sockets.

“Yeah, we do,” Tommy replied. “And you are going to tell us.”

“Alright then. Countless millennia ago, during the opening skirmishes of the Elf/Orc war, this ship was sunk by the Orc navy. Despite us having magic on our side, the Orcs had far superior ships. For every one ship we sank, at least ten of ours were lost. However, this ship had a special enchantment on it.

“The ship rose from its grave, the crew turned to undead. However, the enchantment wasn’t perfect, and we wound up in this cave, stranded. None of us could leave beyond a specific radius because of the fact of the enchantment of the ship. So for countless millennia, we have waited, hoping someone would save us.

“We eventually found these children, brought in this cavern by the Kappa. Every night, two more are brought in, and two more are killed. So eventually, we took a stand, defending these children from the Kappa. Being undead, we have several advantages over the Kappa, not the least of which is the inability to die, as long as we are near the ship.

“Who sent you?”

Tommy nodded. “We have been sent by Emperor Matsuo Heikichi to save these children,” he answered. “We feel there is a way to stop the Kappa.”

“What is your plan?”

“I plan to teach the Kappa how to create cucumbers. From what I’ve gathered, cucumbers are their absolute favorite food. If they knew how to grow cucumbers, there would be no need for them to eat children.”

“Huh. Never thought of it that way. Alright, we can help you with this plan, if you can do one thing for us.”

Leola asked, “What is it?”

“Save us from this nightmare. Destroy the one thing that keeps the ship’s enchantment alive,” the undead answered.

“How?” Tommy asked.

“There is an orb in the captain’s quarters. If you can find the orb, and smash it, our souls will be free from this wretched horror. Then, you must find the other ships, and destroy those orbs, to save that crew too.”

“How would we know which ships there are?” Leola asked.

“I think I know where they are. Hang on, I have a map around here somewhere,” the undead replied, walking into the ship.
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 5
7/1/2009 16:57:11   
HK 47
Member

When the undead soldier returned, he came with an ancient map, depicting many great battles on the high seas from the early days of the Elf/Orc war. “On each of these battle sites, at least one of our undead ships was deployed. Every one of these ships’ crews are probably still alive and suffering. Smash the orb in each of these ships, and set their souls free,” the undead said.

“We shall do our best,” Tommy replied, taking the map. “This thing waterproof?”

“Yes, it is. Kinda stupid to make a map on a ship that you know will sink,” the undead answered.

“Now, how do we lure the Kappa here?” Leola asked.

“We have some ancient cucumbers with us. They’ve probably gone stale, but they will do the trick.”

Leola nodded. “Thank you very much for your help. But what do we do if negotiations fail?”

“Then our only choice is to kill the Kappa,” Tommy answered. “I’ve read up on their weaknesses. If you can get them to bow, they will spill some water that they keep in their heads, severely weakening them. They will do so if you bow to them, so it is amusing how easy it is to get them weak enough to kill.”

“That’s the problem with Kappa. Very easy to fool,” the undead replied. “By the way, I never caught your names.”

“Just call me ‘General Tommy’,” Tommy answered.

“My name is Leola,” Leola replied.

“Last names?” the undead asked.

“You don’t need to know my last name,” Tommy replied, trying to hide the fact that he’s an Orc.

“I don’t really have a last name,” Leola answered.

“Why? Everyone has a last name,” the undead replied, prying for information.

“I don’t need to tell you about my personal history,” Tommy answered, being very blunt while at the same time dodging the question.

“I was always called by my formal title of ‘Princess Leola of the kingdom of Lebanon’,” Leola answered.

“A princess? Here? As a fighter?” the undead asked, completely ignoring Tommy’s answer.

“I’ve turned by back on being a princess. My father never understood that I like fighting, although that may in part be because I always had to watch while the knights fought to save me, when I could’ve saved myself if I knew how to fight.

“Tommy here gave me that, and for that, I travel the world with him, working as a mercenary,” Leola replied. “It’s a lot more satisfying than living by my father’s rules.”

The undead chewed this new information over. After ten seconds, he nodded. “You have a point. Do what is best for you. Although, who will rule the kingdom when your father dies?”

“Lebanon practically runs itself. There’s no need for an actual ruler when there are really no problems with it,” Leola pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest.

“But what if something comes up?”

“Lebanon will adapt and change. That is, unless all the attempts we made at making it possible for Lebanon to rule itself fall flat on its face.”

“Hate to butt in,” Tommy said. “But we’ve got company.”

Tommy pointed to both children of many ages, ranging from five years to upwards of sixteen years. They were all citizens of Osaka, and they were startled to see Tommy and Leola simply having conversation with the undead Elf as if they found nothing odd about it.

Leola nodded. “Hey kids,” she said, waving to the children. “You okay?”

Some of the children bowed very low to show respect, partially because they found out that Leola was a princess. Others simply bowed a good distance. Only three people gave an actual response. “We’re not dead, are we?” they asked.

“That’s good,” Tommy replied. “We have a way to spring you out of where you are with minimal casualties.”

“Something about the ‘minimal casualties’ part makes me uneasy,” one of them, a human male with orange, spiky hair, replied. His voice didn’t sound very deep, which was unusual, given that judging by his physical appearance, he was sixteen.

“Well there’s always a chance someone will die, you know. But we’ll try to keep the Kappa off you,” Tommy replied, being very blunt.

“Good luck. The Kappa are fierce fighters, you won’t be able to win it.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Leola replied. “General Tommy and I had studied up on the Kappa during some downtime in Osaka, and we learned they have one big weak spot.”

“Yeah? Never saw a weak spot on them.”

“If we can get them to bow, the Kappa will spill the water on their heads, and leave them completely drained. Of course, fighting is a last resort thing. We’re going to try diplomacy first,” Tommy answered.

“We’re their favorite food. What could you POSSIBLY have to offer?” the kid asked. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to let in easily.

“Cucumbers.”

“What?” the kid asked, raising his right eyebrow in confusion.

“Kappa LOVE cucumbers. We’re going to teach them how to grow cucumbers. With the knowledge of how to grow their absolute favorite food, there would be no need for them to kill children.”

“That’s actually a very sound plan…well, get comfortable. The Kappa won’t return for a while.”

Leola sighed. “And I thought that being a mercenary meant MORE fighting than just standing around…” she muttered.

“Say, if you’re a princess, what are you doing here?” the kid asked.

“Long story short: I left behind my life as a princess to embrace the life of a mercenary. But that’s not really any of your business,” Leola answered.

“Huh. Never knew women could embrace fighting just like that.”

Leola’s eyes flashed. “What was that?” she asked; her voice lowering.

General Tommy walked behind Leola and whapped her once behind the head, knocking her out. “Sorry about that,” Tommy said, talking more to Leola than the kid. “Leola gets kind of sensitive when people ask her why she left behind her life as a princess. By the way, I never caught your name.”

“Ichigo,” the kid replied.

“Ichigo huh? Nice name.”

“Yours?”

“All you need to know me by is ‘General Tommy’. That’s all.”
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 6
7/1/2009 16:59:20   
HK 47
Member

The children, Tommy, the undead Elves, and Leola continued to wait for the Kappa. It felt like hours before Leola managed to wake up, and a couple more minutes before the Kappa actually arrived.

The Kappa were actually very small, about the size of a normal human child. The major differences were the fact that the faces were extremely ape-like in appearance, with scaly skin of numerous different colors, and a few had thick shells on their backs. There was a very noticeable water-filled depression on their heads, covered with scraggly hair.

Each one of the Kappa (there were five, total) looked directly at Tommy and Leola, confused as to the two newcomers. One of them, who had a thick shell and yellow scales, spoke first. “Who are you two and what are you doing here?”

Tommy answered, “We have come to make a bargain.”

“What bargain is that?”

“In return for these children.” Tommy motioned towards the helpless children. “We will teach you how to grow cucumbers.”

The Kappa all licked their lips upon hearing “cucumbers”. The talkative Kappa then spoke again. “How can we trust you?”

Leola replied, “I swear on my family’s name we will. And I’m a Princess, and I would never swear on my family’s name if I didn’t mean it.”

The Kappa all were startled, and some outright bowed, spilling their headwater. Only one did not lose his headwater, and those that did lose them fell down to the ground, gasping for air.

Tommy quickly ran to grab a bucket from the ship, filled it with water, and put the water into each of the Kappa’s heads. Each Kappa grunted as they stood back up. Tommy said, “Sorry about that. Leola can be a bit talkative.”

The yellow-scaled Kappa replied, “It’s not your fault. It is common manners to show respect to nobility, especially to a Princess. Tell me now ‘Leola’, where are you from?”

Leola grinned. “The Kingdom of Lebanon, in the country of Eldor,” she replied, almost boasting.

“Lebanon? Oh yes, I remember now. You certainly come from a nice kingdom.”

“You would know?”

“Yeah…I once followed the river here beyond this country, and wound up at Lebanon. Of course, I was scared off almost immediately by a fire going on, but it looked like a nice place from a distance.”

Tommy replied, “Would be better, if it weren’t for King Jakgo.”

“What’s so bad about the king?” the Kappa asked.

“He’s blindly rooted in tradition,” Leola replied. “He never once upped security despite all of my kidnappings.”

“Kidnappings? You stole people?”

“The other way around. I was kidnapped for the 50th time when Tommy showed up and liberated me…that’s when everything changed for the better in my life.”

Tommy sighed. “You had me blackmailed, remember?” he replied.

“Still, it made my life all the better.” Leola grinned. “And your life wasn’t that bad either while you were in Lebanon, remember?”

Tommy simply sighed. “Be that as it may be, we have to return to the task at hand. Namely, continuing our bargain.”

A blue-scaled Kappa replied, “Yes. So, you can teach us how to grow cucumbers if we let these children go, correct?”

“Positive.”

“We expect a down payment.”

The Undead Elf replied, “We have some cucumbers on the ship. They may be stale, but they’re still cucumbers.”

“Great! We’ll go and take them now! You may leave with the children,” the yellow scaled Kappa answered.

With that, each Kappa ran on board the ship to get at the cucumbers. Tommy walked on behind them. Leola looked to the children, and ordered, “Come with me.”

Each child nodded, and they all dived into the water to swim back home. When Tommy reached the captain’s chambers, he saw the orb keeping the undead alive. It was a black crystal ball, and it reminded Tommy of several orbs he saw necromancers carrying when he was working with Toren during his hide-out time.

He took the orb, gave one look at it, and smashed it against the wood. The orb shattered into a hundred pieces, and the undead Elf entered, gasping for air. “Thank…you…” he said, before a blast of dark energy erupted from his skull.

Tommy grinned. “One down, ten to go,” he said, before he exited to go back to land.
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 7
7/1/2009 17:02:02   
HK 47
Member

When Tommy returned to land, Leola and the children had already met up with Emperor Matsuo Heikichi and his guards. Leola was putting her armor back on, with some children helping her out. When she spotted Tommy, he waved.

“I see that the children are helping you out on this one,” Tommy replied.

“Yeah,” Leola answered. “To be honest, they didn’t have to. It was their choice.”

Ishimaru then pointed out, “We’re not done yet. What of the Kappa?”

Tommy answered, “They should be coming up soon.”

Surely enough, five Kappa came above water, waiting to learn how to grow cucumbers. “So, can we have our reward now?” a red-scaled Kappa asked.

Matsuo spoke up. “Yes, we will teach you how to grow cucumbers. I will send some farmers here by morning to teach you the art.” He then bowed. “I thank you for releasing our children.”

“We won’t need them when we have cucumbers,” a yellow-scaled Kappa replied.

Tommy simply grinned. “I should hope so. Otherwise this whole thing would’ve been a waste.”

Leola, by this time, had finished putting on her armor. She looked right at Tommy. “You think we should leave now? It’s almost dark,” she said.

“Good point,” Tommy replied. He turned to the Kappa. “Sorry, but we must leave. Evil spirits appearing and whatnot.”

“Agreed. We will see you whenever you return,” the yellow-scaled Kappa answered.

Tommy took lead in leading the children, with Leola at the rear. Matsuo’s bodyguards were put on the flanks, with Matsuo himself in the middle. Some of the children bowed to show respect not only to Tommy and Matsuo, but to all of those that came for showing them a way back home.

Sadly, night fell before the group returned to the kingdom, and almost instantly several evil spirits manifested themselves. One took the form of an Oni. Another took the form of an Elf. A third took the form of an Orc. A fourth took the form of a crazed Elf…the same one Leola slew one year ago: Ylthorin.

The spirit in the form of Ylthorin spoke first. “You think you could escape me that easily ‘General’?! I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!”

Tommy drew his swords. “Ylthorin, there are children here. Would you really risk murdering innocent children just to kill me?” he asked.

“You pulled that stunt last time, and I won’t fall for it again!” The Ylthorin ghost then drew two short swords.

The Oni spirit looked right at Leola. “A little girl run away from home? What a foolish maneuver,” it said, readying its club.

The Orc spirit asked Tommy, “What are you doing working with these HUMANS?! They are our sworn enemy!”

“No. It is the Elves. And you know it,” Tommy answered.

Both of the Elven sisters looked at each other, then Tommy. “What?” they asked.

“It doesn’t matter. I am not one of…” Tommy began, pointing to the Orc spirit. “Them.”

“You foolish fool! We are of the same race, you cannot hide that fact!” the Orc spirit yelled.

“Enough talk!” Ylthorin yelled. “Let us end this! Once and for all!”

Tommy readied his swords, and Leola prepared for battle as well. Ishimaru drew his katana, ready to fight the Elf spirit. The Elven sisters prepared to take on the Orc spirit.

Ylthorin struck first, swinging wildly at Tommy. However, his blows were quickly deflected by Tommy’s swords, leaving him wide open for a counter-attack. Tommy took that opportunity and plunged his blades right into Ylthorin’s head.

The Ylthorin spirit dissipated after being struck in the head, but not without saying, “I will be back!”

Leola leaped at the Oni spirit, slicing at the spirit’s legs. The Oni spirit was hit, but didn’t feel anything, so it swung down. Leola dodged to the side and leaped onto the club as it hit the ground. The Oni spirit was particularly surprised as to what happened, not expecting anyone to jump on his weapon.

Leola then ran onto the spirit’s arm, leaped off of it, and plunged her blade right into the spirit’s skull, riding down the spirit’s body until she hit the ground. The Oni spirit almost exploded from the damage.

Ishimaru leaped forward and attacked first, catching the Elf spirit off-guard, slicing one strong blow right over the spirit’s chest. The Elf spirit stumbled back, allowing Ishimaru to land the finishing blow on the skull.

The Orc spirit drew a battle axe and let out a mighty roar as it charged right for the Elven sisters. Nanami readied an arrow, and let it loose at the same time that Ayumu let loose a fireball. The two shots landed right on the Orc spirit, yet it stood right back up.

“What the?!” Nanami asked, surprised it didn’t go down fast.

Tommy leaped in and clanged his swords against the spirit’s axe. “Orcs are a very hardy people. You’d be surprised what one could resist,” he explained, shoving at the spirit’s axe.

“What are you doing brother?! Stop this treachery!” the spirit yelled.

“I am not one of you! I am not a monster!” Tommy yelled, applying more force than the spirit.

The spirit lost balance, and Tommy landed a final blow right on the spirit’s skull. It vanished into the night. Nanami then asked, “What did it mean by ‘you are one of us’?”

Tommy quickly thought up a lie. “I have been considered an ‘honorary Orc’ during the time that I worked for them,” he answered.

“You worked for the Orcs?” Matsuo asked, completely surprised at this revelation.

“They paid well, and that’s what I needed. I also learned quite a few things from their culture. They’re a lot different than the rumors about them say,” Tommy answered, sheathing his swords.

“Ah. Well then, I guess I can forgive you. Here I was thinking you were actually an Orc in disguise.”

Ishimaru walked up to Tommy and whispered, “Nice lie.”

“Thanks,” Tommy replied. “It works.”
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 8
7/1/2009 17:04:04   
HK 47
Member

When the Kingdom of Osaka came into view, General Tommy, Leola, and the Emperor’s bodyguards had already slain at least fifty nasty spirits. Matsuo decided to point out the obvious. “We’re almost there. As soon as we reach the light, we won’t have to deal with the spirits anymore.”

As if waiting for that statement, five more spirits manifested. This time, they took only vaguely humanoid state, whose state was only humanoid by the fact that they only had two legs. One spirit had five arms, and another had three heads. They all were black as the night.

Tommy sighed, and drew his swords. “You want something besides our souls?” he asked.

“Those children. They are ours!” the three headed spirit said. His voice boomed very loudly.

Ichigo asked, “And for what reason are we yours? Far as I recall, I haven’t seen you anywhere in my life.”

“Your parents pleaded for their life by putting you up for grabs,” the five armed spirit answered. His voice was much quieter, but it was still easy to identify.

“You’re wrong!” Ichigo yelled.

Tommy sighed. “I highly doubt that happened. No parent would ever give up their children that quickly. I shall make the third option a reality,” he replied.

“Third option? There is no third option!” the most humanoid spirit replied. This one had two arms and two legs, but it was still hard to say it was humanoid from its form.

Tommy grinned as Leola drew her sword. “The third option is: I destroy you,” Tommy answered, charging headfirst, not waiting for a reply.

Before the spirits could manifest weapons, Tommy and Leola were already clambering over the five armed spirit and the three headed spirit, respectively. Tommy quickly sliced off two arms by slicing the arms with his swords. Leola stabbed one of the three-headed spirit’s heads, right where the brain should be.

The head literally exploded in a cloud of dark energy. Leola immediately asked, “Why would it explode?”

The spirit answered, “That head was made of explodium. Anything made with that element explodes for no apparent reason.”

“Doesn’t that mean you’re made entirely of explodium then?” Leola asked, grinning widely.

“Uh…yes…”

Leola’s eyes flashed. “Perfect.” Leola quickly thrusted the blade where the heart should be, and leaped off quickly.

Just as she predicted, the entire body exploded in a cloud of dark energy. Leola simply grinned as she stood up, holding her sword in a backwards grip.

Ishimaru then leaped forward, having recovered from the shock of the attack first. His sword was swung forward directly at the most humanoid spirit. He managed to nick the spirit in the leg, causing it to fall over. Ishimaru then ended that spirit with a stab in the head.

Tommy hacked off another arm of the five armed…well, now two armed spirit. The spirit thrashed about in an effort to get Tommy off of his back, but to no avail. Tommy just sliced at each arm sent his way, and the fifth arm couldn’t even reach Tommy.

Both of the Nakashima sisters recovered next and attacked the fourth and fifth spirits, shooting out a fireball and an arrow at each one. Both hit dead on as the spirits were still trying to get themselves to focus more on surviving and less on being stunned by the brave move attempted.

Before any of the spirits could react, Tommy ended the five armed spirit’s life by plunging his longer blade right into the head of the spirit, then leaping off as it fell. Tommy slowly stood back up with a wide grin hidden beneath his mask.

Before either one of the remaining two spirits could react, Leola and Ishimaru leaped forward and ended their lives with two perfectly synchronized stabs. After the last of the spirits exploded in a cloud of dark energy, Tommy, Leola, and Ishimaru sheathed their blades, and let out a sigh of relief.

“Let’s move,” Tommy ordered, hurrying out in front. The others quickly followed behind.

In the darkness, a fox was watching the group. His body gave way to his more perplexing feature: Nine tails. The fox simply grinned. “That female seems just like the one that I like. But that man with her…I don’t think he’d appreciate me taking over her body…” it said in perfectly understandable Common, the human trade language.

The fox turned invisible and followed behind the group, eager to see what awaits it. Sadly, Tommy was able to smell out the fox. “Something’s following us,” he said to Leola.

“More spirits?” Leola asked.

“No. Smells like a fox. But at the same time, not a fox.”

“Could be one of those kitsune we’ve heard about in our travels.”

“Quite possibly. The only question now is how many tails it has.”

“Why would it follow us?” Leola began thinking up a storm of reasons why the kitsune would be following the group.

“Kitsune, from what I’ve gathered, have a thing for possessing women,” Tommy answered, causing Leola to realize its target.

“Where does it enter?”

“If I recall correctly, the most commonplace areas include the breasts…and the fingernails.”

“That’s disgusting!” Leola replied, referring more to the breast part than the fingernail part.

“Yep. Don’t know why the hell they do that, but they do it. More than likely, one of the women around here is its target. On an off-hand guess, it probably is you.”

“What the hell?!” Leola shouted, causing everyone to stop.

“What the hell what?” Ishimaru asked.

“Nothing. Nothing that concerns you.” Leola looked down.

The kitsune following the group stopped. “This complicates things,” it muttered. “That man was able to smell me out…that means he’s not human.”

The group continued on ahead with the kitsune in tow. Leola wondered to herself, What could possibly be the reason why he wants me?
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 9
7/1/2009 17:06:48   
HK 47
Member

When the group managed to enter the light that was in the kingdom of Osaka, the children immediately split off to find their family. The kitsune following Leola and Tommy remained following in the dark, invisible.

Tommy eventually stopped. “You do realize I can smell you, right kitsune?” he asked without even turning around.

The kitsune decided to turn off the invisibility. In the light, it was possible to tell that it had a golden fur, and carrying a glowing white orb in its tails. “Well then, what are you?” it asked. “No human can ever smell out a kitsune so easily.”

“I’m not going to tell you what I am. Every time I tell someone, they rat me out, and then the next thing I know, I’m being chased out of the town I’m working for with pitchforks and torches,” Tommy answered firmly.

Leola then asked, “Why the hell do you want to possess me?!”

The kitsune replied, “In order, I am not one of the Yako. I am one of the Zenko. Secondly to you Leola, I like you. You show much honor, and you’re very beautiful.”

Leola cut him off before he could say another sentence, “No. Before you go any further, no, I am not going to fall in love with you.”

“And what makes you say that? Your big friend here?”

Tommy replied, “She’s under my protection. We are both mercenaries, and as mercenaries, we can’t stay in one place too long. Especially with who I am.”

“Look, be glad I’m not a Yako. If I was, I would simply force you to love me with some of my magic. However, as a Zenko, I am above that.”

Tommy’s eyes gleamed as he quickly grabbed the orb on the Kitsune’s tails. "Now what is this thing?” he asked playfully, holding it far above the Kitsune’s reach.

“Give that back! That’s mine!” the Kitsune replied, trying to jump to reach it.

“Sorry, but I think this would be worth a lot on the open market. Man needs his bread.”

“Look, please! I can help you; just give that back to me!”

“Really now?” Tommy asked, obviously knowing the answer.

“Yes! I can give you anything you want! Money, jewels, safety, just hand it over!”

“There is one thing that I require, and only one thing.”

“What?” The kitsune stopped jumping as he said this.

“A man named King Jakgo of Lebanon hired mercenaries to take my head. I want to know who these men are, and their base locations.”

“Why would you want to know that?”

“Easy. So that I can take out their leadership, and deal a crippling blow to their morale. Once that is over with, I doubt they’d want to continue their attack for my head, and bringing Leola here back to her father.”

“Leola is a princess?” the kitsune asked, completely confused.

“And here I was thinking that a nine-tailed kitsune had omniscience,” Tommy replied. “Yes, she is Princess Leola of Lebanon. She turned her life as a princess away to be a mercenary because her father is a royal dumbass.”

“Well then, seeing as how you have a princess with you, I will most certainly help if you give back my orb. Without that, I can die.”

Tommy handed back the orb. “Talk.”

“Thank you,” the kitsune replied. “Alright, there are eight gangs going at you, most with one leader, one with two. I can tell you who the leaders of each gang are.”

“Please do,” Leola replied. “I want to know who my father sent after us.”

“The only gang with two leaders has these two leading them: Teran-ous the Elf, who loves to fight only with his crossbow, and Nakamura Junichiro the human fencer. Guy is able to weave magic attacks into his form, so he won’t be easy to take down,” the kitsune replied. “Other gang leaders include Ekad the human mage. He doesn’t have too many powers, but he’s a good healer.

“There’s also Aquas the Elven Mage. He is very strong with his water and wind powers, but he is somewhat unstable at times. I’ve heard that he kills some of his guards for disagreeing with him.

“Then you have Turk the human. He is a good fighter, but there’s nothing special about his fighting style. It is somewhat like Leola’s style, being well-balanced and fighting with a sword and shield. He’s a good leader though.

“Next off there’s Nukar the Dwarf. That guy is really hard to take down, and he wields a Warhammer. I recommend you all out blitz his defense if you want to take him down, because his defensive stance is fairly poor.

“Then you have Simis the thief. The guy can steal ANYTHING that’s not both nailed down and on fire. And I mean anything.

“Then, there is Five Sword Commander Nigo…”

“Him? That guy?” Tommy asked. “Why would he be working for someone who hates his kind?”

“I don’t know, alright? All I know is that he’s looking for you. Then there’s this Gnome. I don’t know his name; just that he’s very good at gathering intel. Being as short as he is, he’s not suited for fighting. Instead he plays mind games with his foes.

“Finally, there’s Bob the Dragon. Guy’s got a bone to pick with just about anyone because of his name.”

“Bob the Dragon? I was expecting something…more epic…from a dragon,” Leola stated.

“Yep, so does everyone. His parents apparently had a sense of humor, but Bob doesn’t like his name. Claims it isn’t as macho as some of the other names he’s heard, so he tries to show his machoness by attacking people.

“Listen, I can still offer some help to you. I can follow you around and give you advice when you need it most.”

“That would be well-appreciated,” Tommy answered. “And can you answer why at nine tails you don’t know the motives of some of the mercs?”

“You’re confusing knowledge with wisdom. At nine tails, you gain infinite wisdom, which is annoying because that means all I get is the ability to pull up any philosophical quote to fit any situation, rather than just straight up giving the answer. I only know the names of these mercs because I overheard their names being mentioned by their lackeys.”

“Wow…sucks to be you.”

“Agreed. 9000 years and all I got was knowledge of every philosophical quote in existence…and the ability to break the 4th wall, but that isn't very useful if nobody understand what I'm saying when using it."
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 10
7/1/2009 17:14:43   
HK 47
Member

“So, you guys ready for the tasks ahead?” the kitsune asked.

“Before we work as a team, I need to know your name,” Tommy answered.

“…I’d rather not say it.”

“Why?”

“I just don’t. It’s…kinda embarrassing. You can just call me ‘Rich’.”

“Rich?”

“Yep. The writer wanted to use a different name, one from a video game he loves, but it turns out it was copyrighted.”

“The hell are you talking about? What’s a ‘video game’ and who the hell is ‘the writer’?”

“Whoops, forgot you can’t break the 4th wall. Forget I ever said anything,” Rich answered. “So where is your house?”

Tommy nodded and began to walk off to their house. “Just keep close,” he answered.

Rich turned invisible and began to follow. “Don’t worry, I’m just invisible so nobody can try stealing my gem like you did,” he said.

“It’s okay,” Leola replied. “Long as you don’t try anything funny with me while we do our job.”

“I wouldn’t think of it, Princess Leola.”

Tommy then noted, “We should rest for the night. We already did two missions in a row, and a man needs his rest.”

“Agreed,” Leola stated.

“Understood,” Rich replied.

Tommy, Leola, and Rich then walked the distance to their house. When they arrived, Rich asked, “So this is our house eh? Where would I sleep?”

Tommy answered, “I dunno, find a nice place to rest or something. Leola and I already have our own beds.”

Rich nodded. “Well, I’ll go try to find a nice place to sleep,” he said, moving off to find a good place to rest in the house.

“You certain he won’t try anything?” Leola asked to Tommy.

“I’m sure of it. Kitsune, especially Zanto, are very kind-hearted and follow orders pretty well,” Tommy answered. “We should be fine.”

Rich was overlooking the house for the best place to rest. The house was pretty standard for an Osakan house. No real beds, no second floor, no basement, and pretty much no rugs.

“Where could I rest…?” Rich muttered. He tried finding where Leola slept, which he could identify by smell. “Where is that bed?”

Tommy sighed, moving to his bed, which was just a sleeping mat, like Leola’s. He looked around for a place to put Rich that wouldn’t give him an ample view of Leola.

Leola was following Rich to see if he wasn’t going to try getting an ample view of Leola’s sleeping mat. She had actually removed her armor to quiet her steps as she followed.

“You know, you don’t have to follow me,” Rich stated after about thirty seconds. “I understand your concern about me taking a quick look at you in the night.”

Leola sighed. “Look Rich, I don’t love you. I only just met you,” she said.

“But what about Tommy? I can tell you love him.”

“What?!” Leola asked, blushing. “I-I don’t love him! Whatever made you think that?!”

“Calm down Leola,” Richreplied. “Just answer the question.”

Leola took a deep breath. “Tommy’s different. He saved my life, and he cares for everyone he meets. I don’t think you’d understand what I feel towards him. It’s more of a professional concern rather than outright love.” Leola was not fooling Rich as she said that.

“Don’t try to lie. I can tell, you outright love him. What is it about him that makes you do that?”

“Look, Rich,” Leola began. “Tommy…I’ve worked with him for over a year. And he is very caring, despite what he is on the outside.”

“On the outside? What do you mean?”

“I’m not telling you. Tommy would be furious with me.”

“You so sure?” Tommy asked. “I heard what you said with Rich.”

Leola and Rich both jumped after hearing this. “What do you mean?” Leola asked.

“I heard what Rich tagged onto you. To be honest Leola, I don’t fully trust you.”

“What? Why?!” Leola asked, completely upset after hearing Tommy’s response.

“I’ve learned not to trust humans and Elves, or any ‘noble’ race for that matter. You only know what I am, not who I was. And I don’t think you’d want to know.”

“Tommy,” Rich began. “We are all working together. I think some honesty is required here.”

“You don’t understand, ‘Rich’,” Tommy replied. “Every time someone knows who or what I am, they spill the beans. They attack me. I am banished from the kingdom I work for, no matter how many times I’ve saved them. No matter what I do, no matter how many lives I save, I’m always viewed as a monster.”

“What could ever make them think that? You are a hero, and I know it!” Rich replied.

Tommy sighed. “My race,” Tommy answered after a five second pause.

“Your…race?”

“Yes. I am not one of the so-called ‘noble’ races at all. I am one of the ‘monstrous’ humanoids. My kind was wrongfully persecuted, and there is a sense of fanatical racism against my kind.”

“Then you’re…an Orc!”

“Nice way to piece together the puzzle. How old are you again?”

“9100 years old.”

“Then you must’ve been around before the Elf/Orc war. Which side did you believe when the Elves persecuted my kind?”

“The Orcs. I knew many Elves and many Orcs, and in my honest opinion, the Orcs were the ones who were kinder and more honorable than the Elves. When I heard the news that the Orcs ambushed and killed an Elven patrol, I couldn’t believe it. No Orc would ever violate the treaty of brotherhood.

“So I checked out the crime scene. Despite being so young, I had a strong magical prowess, so I was able to see past the illusion the Elves cast. Elven bodies were actually Orc bodies, the burnt trees were burned from the opposite end…and every Elf believed them.”

“So you understand what it’s like,” Tommy concluded. “My entire kind was betrayed by the Elves. Flung into an ultimately futile war. And the humans were stupid enough to believe the Elves.”

“I think that it was because Orcs are ‘ugly’ in a human sense,” Leola stated. “That, and I read up on the event when humans first met Elves. We were indeed promised great magical prowess to follow them. And the Orcs merely promised us roughly the same, but in technology. Human minds are far more attracted to the concept of magic rather than technology.”

“Agreed,” Rich replied. “So you must be a Commando Orc, given your sheer combat skill that you showed against the spirits.”

“Yes. I was trained since I was four years old,” Tommy replied. “I did some things I’m not proud of. I disgraced myself from all Orc-kind by letting an Elf free. I was not honorable. I betrayed my entire race, for the life of one Elf.”

Leola looked at Tommy. “I forgive you,” she said.

“What?”

“Ylthorin, he’s dead now. That betrayal—“

“That betrayal still stands! I gave the lives of my own brothers for nothing!” Tommy yelled. “I lost whatever honor I had obtained! I can never return to my kind!”

“Tommy,” Rich replied. “While Orcs have a strong sense of honor, you regained it by slaying the Elf. They will accept you into their society, I can tell.”

“Leola killed him, not me. He nearly killed me, only to have Leola save my life at the last second. That is a disgrace of the highest order in Orc society, to be saved by an enemy.”

“Tommy! You regard me as an enemy?!” Leola yelled.

“Not anymore. But my kind still sees you as hostile, despite what you have done to help me. There is nothing we can do to change that,” Tommy replied. “Now let us rest. We have more missions later, and we still have to kill those mercs that King Jakgo sent after us.”
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 11
7/1/2009 17:17:00   
HK 47
Member

Tommy, Leola, and Rich slept well into the afternoon. Tommy was dreaming about the day he first met Ylthorin and spared his life.

“Tommy,” his commander ordered. He was a very tall Orc, standing only a couple inches under seven feet in height. He had a scar over his left eye, given to him from a scrap with an Elf a year ago. “There is a platoon of Elves heading this way to destroy our copy of the Treaty of Brotherhood. It is your goal to remove this threat by any means needed.”

“How many will I have with me?” Tommy asked.

“I can only spare four brothers to aid you. All commandos,” the answer was. “I know that you can do it. You are by far my best soldier.”

“Sir, I will accomplish the mission, sir!” Tommy yelled, snapping off a crisp military salute.

“Mount up! The other commandos have already been debriefed. You are their CO, so the success of the mission falls on your shoulders.”

Tommy ran off to his horse, inserting his war mask into his helmet’s slot. The war mask looked a lot like that of a really angry dragon from the country of Eldor. This was done solely for intimidation effect.

Tommy raced his horse to the ambush site, where his brothers awaited him. All four of them wore metal armor like Tommy, and had war masks like his own. They were already in the process of setting up a couple standard traps like a covered spike pit and a couple mines.

Despite the fact that Orcs were portrayed as stupid, they were in fact the most scientifically advanced society, to the point where they were able to set off their bombs to certain situations like pressure or a trip wire. It had won them many battles before, and it will work this time.

“Soldiers!” Tommy yelled, puffing his chest outward and straightening his walk. “What traps have we set up so far?”

“Right now we’ve got three mines and two spike pits ready,” Rex Gro-Achmed replied. He wielded a claymore, and he did so with very good skill. “All set up in strategic locations. We can easily get the Elves to walk right into these traps, and being non-magical in nature, they won’t see them coming.”

“Good, good,” Tommy replied. “You always were our best at setting up traps, Rex.” He then looked up towards an Orc wielding a battleaxe. “Salem, what’s the status on the bombs themselves?”

“We’ve got a total of twenty mines, all set for large crater,” Salem Gro-Nasem replied. He was the team’s technical advisor. “We also poisoned the spike pits. If the Elves don’t die from the spikes, they’ll die from the poison we’ve set into them.”

“Good,” Tommy replied. He then looked towards an Orc wearing a bow with a quiver of forty arrows and with a short sword by his side. “Asam, which direction are the Elves coming from?”

“They approach from the north,” Asam Gro-Nassume replied. He was the team’s scout, and he was deadly accurate with his bow. “I got a good look at their ranks. We got a battalion heading our way. Four Elven commandos, five wizards, the rest foot-soldiers. Piss-poor odds for them.”

“Great job,” Tommy replied. He then looked to the last Orc Commando with the group, Chiba Masahiro. He was the only Orc around that was named after his human side, and he was the youngest Orc Commando around.

Tommy and Chiba were only a year apart in age, and both of them dual-wielded a hand-and-a-half sword and a short sword. The only major difference was that Chiba liked to wear a flag on his back with a third sword hidden inside of it. Chiba was a better strategic planner than Tommy, but he was also the worst with tactical thinking. Together, the two formed quite the team.

“Chiba,” Tommy began. “Got a plan?”

Chiba nodded. “Sir, yes sir,” he replied, beginning to draw out the battle plan in the ground. The Orcs were represented by Xs, and the Elves by Os. “First, we get their attention by having Asam shooting a flaming arrow at one of the Elven Commandos. I doubt it’d catch him off guard, but it’ll do wonders for getting their attention.

“We’ll draw the Elves deployed in our direction over the first minefield. The explosions heard will probably draw more Elves this way. We’ll lure those Elves to the first spike pit. Then, we’ll have you and me throw two explosive daggers right at two different foot soldiers. It will create some disorder in their ranks.

“After that, the Elves will probably be getting annoyed and will send the whole group after us, from which we’ll split up and lure them to the second minefield and the second spike pit.

“After we thin out their ranks enough, it comes down to a good old fashioned melee. Our swords, our honor, and honed skill against the Elves’ longer training times, magic, and greater numbers. They don’t stand a chance.”

Tommy patted Chiba over the back. “That’s what I like to hear,” Tommy replied. “Let’s hurry up and set up the rest of these traps.”

The next six minutes were spent frantically setting up the remaining mines. They decided ten mines per minefield. Asam noticed the Elves first. “Here they come!” he warned the group.

The group split up and fell into the shadows. Tommy shined a glint of light at Asam three times, signaling “1…2…3!” Asam understood and ignited one of his arrows.

He found one of the Elven commandos, signified by his fancier armor, which was plated with gold and jewels, aimed right for the center of the mass, stilled his breath, and let the arrow loose.

The shot flew out and hit the Elven commando right in the chest, injuring him, but not outright killing him. Elven yells of “Damn!” and “Hostile!” rang out, each one searching for the sniper.

Asam made himself known by firing another arrow to finish the job, attracting enough attention to give away his position. One of the Elven commandos, an Elf standing roughly five feet tall, with dual short swords, ordered, “Get the Orc!”

Ten foot soldiers broke off to give chase. Asam skillfully wove past the minefield, with the Elves in tow. One of them readied a fireball, and found Asam, who fired another arrow at the Elf, killing him outright.

The remaining Elves charged blindly across the minefield. When the first one stepped on one of the mines, it blew up in a manner that completely shredded the Elf’s body. The other Elves only just realized this when a second Elf stepped on a mine, and the rest began seeking cover, only to run into the other mines.

With the first ten Elves destroyed, Asam used his sword to glint the light towards Tommy in a manner that signified “all dead”. The remaining Elves were startled by the sound. The Elf commando that sent the previous Elves to their doom ordered five Elven foot soldiers and his five mages to investigate.

Each one charged blindly into the forest, only to have their attention drawn away by Chiba waving his flag. He stood on the other side of the first spike pit, and proudly declared, “Come get me, if you dare!” to the Elves.

Three Elven wizards casted fireballs in Chiba’s direction, only to miss due to the foliage giving him cover. Chiba mocked, “200 years hasn’t helped your aim!”

The Elven foot soldiers charged directly at Chiba, only to fall directly into the spike pit. Each soldier was impaled with extreme prejudice. The Elven wizards readied a more accurate Ice storm, but were cut off as Asam hit them in the head with arrows.

Tommy and Chiba then moved to the side, reading two explosive daggers each. Tommy declared, “I’ll take the mooks using the spears.”

“That leaves me with the mooks using swords,” Chiba replied.

The two clapped hands and threw their daggers. Each one of them were aimed at the metal portions of the armor and their blades. As they hit, the black powder ignited, causing a massive explosion each time. Elven soldiers ran for cover, only to find no more daggers thrown their way.

The Elf commando in charge yelled, “Enough! Let’s get them all! Everyone, charge!”

A yell came out from the Elves as they ran directly for the Orcs in the forest. Rex yelled, “Over here!”

Tommy yelled from another direction, “No! Over here!”

The two groups split up to give chase. Tommy dodged the spike pit, while Rex led the Elves to the second minefield. None of the Elves were bright enough to realize that they were being led into a trap until it was sprung.

Another ten Elves died in the trap, bringing their numbers down from fifty to nineteen. Then the brawl began. Tommy and Chiba leaped out of the foliage to attack two different Elven commandos, while Asam and Rex took on the foot soldier mooks.

Salem swung his battleaxe in the direction of three Elven foot soldiers and the brawl went up in the air. Chiba and Tommy were practically untouchable as they dueled the Elven commandos, while Asam stayed at a good distance until he ran out of arrows. Rex charged with his claymore, taking on five mooks.

The battle raged on for only about two minutes. The Elven commandos proved to be the longest lasting fighters, but they were slain by Chiba and Tommy’s coordinated strikes. Rex was slain in the brawl, while Asam took some good nicks from when he had to switch to his sword.

Salem had a couple good hits on him, but he would live. It seemed like the battle was over. “Wait a second,” Tommy began, counting out the Elven commandos. “One…two…three…where’s the fourth?”

Tommy began to smell the air for the unmistakable scent of an Elf. Surely enough, he found the Elf trying to run. Tommy threw his body forward, causing the Elf to fall to the ground. Tommy crossed his blades at the commando’s neck.

The Elf had dirty blonde hair and emerald eyes. It was obvious that he was fresh out of camp, because there was one look in his eyes that only a rookie would make. Fear. The Elf was scared for his life. No experienced Elf was ever afraid of the Orcs.

Tommy tried to convince himself to end the Elf’s life. Cries of “Finish him!” and “Avenge Rex!” rang out from his fellow soldiers. But as hard as Tommy tried, he couldn’t get himself to kill the Elf.

He sighed. “I must be going soft,” he muttered to himself.

The Elf looked him right in the eyes. “What?” he asked. His voice was filled with pure, unadulterated fear. He couldn’t believe what he saw, that his entire platoon was slaughtered before his eyes, with only one Orc dying.

Tommy moved his blades away from the Elf’s neck. “Go,” Tommy said. “Before I change my mind.”

The Elf scrambled to his feet and began to run as fast as his legs could carry him. Chiba asked angrily, “What are you doing?! You’re letting one of the ELVES run free?!”

“What about Rex?!” Asam asked.

“What about the war?!” Salem asked.

Tommy spun his swords in his hands. “I can’t kill him. And I won’t let you kill him,” he replied.

Asam and Salem nodded their heads, charging right at Tommy. Salem swung his battleaxe, only to have it deflected by Tommy’s longer sword. He then had his stomach pierced by Tommy’s shorter sword.

Asam tried to pick up an arrow, but was hit with an explosive dagger before he could nock it. His body exploded along with the arrow, leaving only Chiba left. Chiba looked right at Tommy with regret.

“I can’t believe you would do this to your brothers,” Chiba replied, walking off. “Traitor.”

Tommy then woke up, his body covered in sweat. The dream hadn’t come to him since the day he and Leola went to Toren’s base in order to hide until things cooled down from Lebanon. Only this time, he couldn’t take a bath.
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 12
7/1/2009 17:18:50   
HK 47
Member

As Tommy dreamed about his betrayal, Leola dreamed of her first meeting with Toren the necromancer. She remembered it well.

Tommy and Leola escaped from Ylthorin’s body. The two ran into the mountains, and the two scoured for a specific cave. “Are you certain you know where we are going?” Leola asked Tommy.

“Yes, of course I know,” Tommy replied. “It’s just that Toren seems to change his cave location every time I visit. He’s a very nice guy though, and I’m certain he’d accept you.”

“Okay, I was just wondering,” Leola replied.

The two continued to scout for roughly an hour, before Tommy noticed a skeleton that was patrolling a cave. The skeleton held a long sword and a round shield. Tommy tapped Leola’s back.

“There,” Tommy said, pointing in the direction of the undead. “That’s one of Toren’s undead. That cave is probably his base’s location.”

“You sure?” Leola asked, raising her right eyebrow in confusion.

“Only Toren exists in these mountains. So only his undead patrol around here,” Tommy answered.

Leola nodded. “Okay then,” she said. “Let’s go say hi.”

Tommy nodded, and the two hurried forward to meet the undead. When the two got close enough to the undead patrolling, the skeleton swung his sword, pointing it at Tommy and Leola.

“Who are…” the skeleton began. His voice sounded like he was hissing at Tommy and Leola, but that was how all skeletons sounded. “Tommy! It’s a pleasure to see you again!”

Tommy bowed in respect. “Nice to see you again too,” he said. “What’s it been? Five years?”

“Longer, since your escape from the kingdom of Kahn,” the undead replied. He then looked towards Leola. “Who’s this?”

Leola bowed in respect. “I’m Princess Leola of Lebanon,” Leola replied. “Gave up my life as a princess so that I can be a mercenary.”

The undead fell to his knees. “It is an honor to see a princess around here.”

Tommy then asked, “Toren here?”

The undead nodded. “He actually just returned from his last mission.”

“How many necromancers does that make now?”

“I think that makes fifty necromancers since I joined his army.”

“What?” Leola asked.

“Toren wants to improve the look of necromancers by killing the stereotypical necromancers,” Tommy replied. “You know, robbing graves, plotting to rule the world, not giving undead free will, that kinda stuff.”

“Wow,” Leola replied. “That’s amazing.”

“Well, you’re about to meet him,” Tommy replied. “Follow me.”

Leola nodded, and the two entered the cave. The interior of the cave was radically different from the outside. Despite being a natural cave formation, they were lined with carpets, tables, chairs, and other items that would be able to pull off the look that it was actually a house, not a cave.

There were skeletons patrolling every portion of the cave, and when they saw Tommy they bowed and asked who Leola was. The answer was always with Leola explaining her stature as a princess and that she gave it up so that she could be a mercenary.

After the two walked down the hallways until they reached a door that was lined with gold and had knockers that were quite large. Tommy looked at Leola. “Just remember, Toren is a nice person, but don’t push him. If you do, we’ll have an army of the undead going after us. I won’t save your ass if you do piss him off.”

Leola nodded. “I understand,” she replied.

Tommy grabbed one of the knockers and banged the door three times. The wait lasted only ten seconds before a skeleton opened up the door. “Tommy!” the undead said. “Great to see you again!”

“Pleasure’s all mine,” Tommy replied. “Toren here?”

“Yep. Usual spot.” The undead motioned for Tommy and Leola to enter.

The two entered the room. It could easily be described of as a “throne room”, given that there was a large throne in the room. On the throne sat a man, wearing a hooded robe. The man had the hood up, but it was possible to see his blue eyes.

The man was reading a tome of necromancy, titled “Book of the Dead”. He was on page twenty of the book, and the current subject was about zombies. However, he looked up as soon as Tommy and Leola entered.

He immediately recognized Tommy, and he waved. “Tommy!” he said. “Oh man, how long has it been?”

“Two months,” Tommy replied. “Listen, I just got kicked out of Lebanon, but the princess decided to tag along. Her name’s Leola.”

Toren looked intently at Leola, and grinned. “Pleasure to meet you,” he said with a calm voice.

“Pleasure to see you too,” Leola replied. “Tommy talked about you before when he was in Lebanon. How are you doing?”

“Great,” Toren replied. “Got past another necromancer. That makes fifty-five.”

“Wow,” Leola replied. “You certainly are intent on killing fellow necromancers.”

Toren’s smile turned into a frown. “Those necromancers poisoned the name of necromancers the world over. I’m doing all necromancers a favor by removing such scum from the world.”

“Sorry,” Leola replied.

“Oh no, it’s quite alright. You don’t know the world of necromancers. But I will be certain to tell you how undead live.”

Leola then woke up, seeing Tommy checking over his weapons again. Only time he really does that is when he went through something he didn’t like.

“What’s wrong?” Leola asked.

“It’s nothing. Just a dream,” Tommy replied.

“Tell me.”

Tommy sighed, and sheathed his swords. “It was simply a memory of my past. When I first met Ylthorin. It’s not a pleasant memory, and I’d rather not go into the details.”

“I understand,” Leola replied. “I won’t push.”
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 13
7/1/2009 17:24:02   
HK 47
Member

When Rich awoke from his sleep, Tommy and Leola were already eating some food. Tommy was eating some beef and rice, while Leola was trying out some shrimp. There was actually some extra meat left in an extra bowl.

“That for me?” Rich asked, looking at the extra food.

“Yep,” Tommy replied. “Seeing as how you’re working with us, it’s best if we give you some food as well.”

“Thank you very much Tommy,” Rich replied, beginning to dig into some of the meat. He was actually eating it at an incredible rate.

After the three finished their food, Leola asked, “So Rich, how long has the Elf/Orc war gone on for?”

“It has gone on for almost the entire time I’ve been alive. I have existed for a few years before the Elf/Orc war, and it was an amazing time. Everyone was at peace. I couldn’t believe how much time has changed.”

“What were the humans like before the war?”

“Bunch of cavemen. Loved to throw rocks and sticks at each other and people. They didn’t gain any true sentience until roughly 5000 years ago. Were it not for them, the war would probably be over with the Orcs winning. Now they are stuck in a draw because of the human’s population rate.”

“Wow. So it’s thanks to humans that neither side is winning?”

“Yep. But it looks like the Orcs are slowly winning again. Humans must be becoming overconfident in the war thanks to the lies the Elves are spreading.”

“Damn,” Leola said. “Can’t believe the war is really implausible for the Elves to win. Stories have said that—“

“The stories are completely false,” Tommy stated. “I think you would’ve learned this by now from our time working together.”

“I know, I know, I’m just saying that the stories don’t match up with the reality.”

“That’s the Elves for you,” Rich replied. “Even before the Elf/Orc war, they were pretty arrogant. Rubbed their mastery of magic in everyone’s faces. No different with the humans, if not more so. Interestingly, I have barely seen any humans get angry at them.”

“What the hell?” Tommy said. “I know the humans get angry quite often, and thus it’d make a lot of sense for them to try pummeling the Elves when they get insulted.”

“Humans don’t seem to get offended by Elves,” Rich replied. “Maybe some illusion magic was casted over the humans by the Elves, or they just like Elves too much.”

“Meh,” Tommy replied. “Either way the Elves are jerks.”

Leola took in everything that was said. “Hey, before the war, were there any relationships between Elves and Orcs?” she asked.

“Yes, in fact they were quite common,” Rich answered. “There’s an entire race of half Elves and half Orcs. Those that fell into relationships with the other refused to fight in the war. But that didn’t last too long.”

“What do you mean?”

“Those that stayed with the Elves were massacred. Those that stayed with the Orcs survived but eventually went into exile. Nobody knows if they remain alive or completely died out. It is my belief that they are still alive, and refuse to show their faces to anyone.”

“Makes sense,” Tommy stated. “Over 9000 years of war can make it so that even if they have some blood in their bodies belonging to the enemy, they are hated on sight.”

“What do these Elf/Orc half-breeds look like?” Leola asked.

“They’ve got the pointy chin and ears of their Elven heritage, the green skin and muscular body of their Orc heritage, and are able to cast spells,” Rich answered.

“What?” Tommy asked. “The Orcish genes should prevent them from casting spells!”

“Apparently the Elven magic genes override the Orcish anti-magic genes. But they still have the far above human average intelligence that the Orcs have.”

Leola slowly nodded. “Where is the Treaty of Brotherhood?” she asked, very intent on knowing where it was and what was on it.

“Even if I did know, you still wouldn’t be able to get to it,” Rich answered.

“Why?”

Tommy answered, “Because it is put in a vault with security so great that it requires every race to be there to open it. The locks cannot be unlocked by those of the wrong race. It was done so that nobody would be able to destroy it.”

“I see,” Leola stated. “So it’s pointless for us to look for it?”

“The writings spoke of it being stationed in a very secure location, guarded by the most fearsome of guards. There is no way we’d be able to reach it, nor would it be wise to look for it. Too risky.”

“Sir, yes sir,” Leola replied. “So, should we go for our next mission?”

“Yep, there’s nothing else for us to do.”
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 14
7/1/2009 17:28:35   
HK 47
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Tommy, Leola, and Rich approached Emperor Matsuo’s palace. The guards bowed as soon as they saw Tommy. Rich was following Leola and Tommy while invisible, so as to avoid unwanted attention.

As the trio reached the Emperor’s room, he immediately handed two sacks of 500 gold pieces, one to Tommy, and one to Leola. “Your pay for your pervious mission,” Matsuo explained.

“Thank you very much,” Tommy replied. “We were actually awaiting our next mission.”

“Don’t overdo yourselves! Live a little!” Matsuo replied in a jolly voice.

“Alright.”

“Say, do you know a ‘Nakamura Junichiro’?” Leola asked.

“Ah, yes, of the Nakamura clan. He’s a good guy,” Matsuo replied.

“What can you tell us of the Nakamura clan?”

“The Nakamura clan has pretty much every person in the clan train to be samurai. Junichiro is the exception, because he decided to become a fencer mercenary. In fact, he set up shop here in Osaka.”

“Where?” Tommy asked, in an urgent tone.

“You can’t miss his headquarters. It’s the big building that recently was built,” Matsuo replied. “Junichiro is a very honorable man, I’m certain he’d accept you into his gang of mercs.”

“We’re not ‘joining’,” Leola replied. “We’ve got a score to settle with him.”

“A ‘score’?”

“He sent some of his mercenaries to kill Tommy and bring me back to my father. I cannot stress how much I do not want to return home.”

“Why is that?”

Rich then spoke up. “Leola’s father, King Jakgo, is so rooted in tradition that he thinks women should stay solely in the kitchen. Leola wanted to know how to fight.”

“Who’s there?!” Matsuo asked, frantically looking about the room.

“Whoops. Forgot I’m still invisible.” Rich then turned off his invisibility power.

Matsuo was startled to see a nine-tailed Kitsune in front of him, and he immediately bowed. “A Kitsune!” he said.

“Cool it,” Rich replied. “I’m just here as an avatar for the author.”

“What?” everyone asked.

“Whoops. I have got to remind myself that you guys can’t break the 4th wall…anyways, I’m working for Tommy and Leola. Tommy here managed to get me to do it by stealing my orb.

“Anyways, Leola’s father, like I said, never paid attention to what she wanted. Forced her to take cooking and cleaning classes. Tommy here gave her a taste of what she wanted and she wanted more. That is why she decided to tag along with Tommy.”

“Interesting,” Matsuo replied.

“How did you know that?” Leola asked.

“There is more than one way to break the 4th wall,” Rich replied. “There is…why do I even bother?”

“So you broke the 4th wall again?” Leola asked.

“Yes.”

“Let’s get back to the topic at hand,” Tommy stated. “Yes, Junichiro sent his mercs to attack us. King Jakgo put a bounty on my head. He thinks I kidnapped Leola, when she decided to come alongside me.”

“That swine!” Matsuo yelled. “I will make certain to—“

“Don’t. Who I am is the primary reason why he put such a massive bounty on my head.”

“How much?”

“10,000 Lebanon gold. There are eight or nine mercenary gangs going for my head, all hired by King Jakgo.”

“What kind of monster would you be in his eyes to send so many mercenaries after you?”

“It’s my race.” Tommy looked down to the ground. “My kind are…not accepted…in the eyes of humans.”

“So you are…one of the savage humanoids?”

“Yes.”

“Which one?” Matsuo’s voice lowered to a growl.

“I will not speak it,” Tommy answered. “I trust nobody with what I am. I do not trust Leola or Warlic with who I am. You may be the Emperor of Osaka, but you are not in control of my life.”

“SPEAK IT!” Matsuo yelled.

“Excuse me, Emperor,” Leola stated. “This has been happening for over eight years for him. I’ve only been with him for one year. He learned that nobody is to be trusted because of crap like this.”

“Forgive me for being so rude…” Matsuo stated. “It’s just…the savage humanoids are…so evil…”

“EVIL?!” Tommy yelled. “THE SAVAGE HUMANOIDS WERE BETRAYED!”

“Betrayed?”

“Yes! The so-called ‘noble’ races betrayed all of the so-called ‘savage’ humanoids! Especially the Orcs!”

“That is not the story I heard,” Matsuo stated.

“Because the Elves outright lied to all humans! The Orcs came to tell the truth to the humans, but the humans didn’t believe them!”

“I…I am sorry…I should not have spoken ill of the savage humanoids. I never knew any of them outside of battle…you know the Orcs better than anyone else…being one of them.”

“How would you know that?! All I said was that I was one of the savage humanoids!” Tommy yelled.

“Do not think I wouldn’t have pieced together the puzzle,” Matsuo replied. "The ‘honorary Orc’, being a savage humanoid, telling me the Orc’s story. Do not worry. While my people may not accept you, you have been a great soldier and hero to me. Please, remove that mask so I can see your face.”

Tommy slowly nodded, and put his right hand on his mask. He slowly pulled down the mask. Tommy’s green skin seemed to shine in the light of the torches that lined Matsuo’s throne room.

“I am glad to know that the savage humanoids are not complete monsters,” Matsuo stated. “And I am honored to have one working for me. If it is all the same to you, I wish to learn about your culture.”

“I will teach you a bit each day,” Tommy replied. “But first, I need to settle my score with Junichiro.”

“Junichiro will gladly accept any duel that comes his way. If you tell him that you wish to duel him, I am certain he will accept. And then you can fight without having to kill.”

“I am not certain that I can settle the score without having to kill,” Tommy replied.

“Well, at least we know one ruler is willing to accept you for who you are,” Leola stated.

“Let’s get going,” Tommy stated. “We still have to stop Junichiro and his band of mercs. What about Teran-ous the Elf? I don’t think that he’ll give up, given that our kinds are two mortal enemies. And yet we were once the best of friends…”

“What do you mean?” Matsuo asked.

“Over 9000 years ago, Elves and Orcs…hell…all races, were once considered brothers. But that is a story for another time.”

“Yes, this chapter is already longer than the writer had originally planned,” Rich stated.

“Could you not break the 4th wall when we can’t understand it?” Leola asked.

“Need to make a note of that,” Rich replied.
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 15
7/1/2009 17:31:01   
HK 47
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After the meeting, Tommy, Leola, and Rich ran off to see Teran-ous’ and Junichiro’s base. Tommy, naturally, remembered to put his mask back into its slot. As the two walked through the streets, Ichigo walked up to see the two. “Hey guys,” he said.

“Oh, hey kid,” Tommy replied. “Something you need?”

“What’s wrong?”

“We’ve got a score to settle with someone.”

“Who would be so rude to you guys? You guys are heroes!”

“You’d be surprised what kind or reputation I have.”

“Oh…” Ichigo stated. “Look, if I can help…”

“Don’t worry kid,” Leola replied. “We can take care of it. I’d rather not have to bring civilians into the matter.”

“Plus, we will be using sharp weapons. It’d put your life at risk. Not a good thing,” Tommy stated.

“Oh, okay,” Ichigo stated. “Who are you going after, anyway?”

“Nakamura Junichiro.”

“Dad? Why are you going after dad?!”

“He sent some of his mercenaries to kill me.”

“What?! Dad would never—“

“He’s a mercenary. I have a bounty on my head. A pretty big one too.”

“How big?”

“10,000 Lebanon gold. I won’t try to kill him, okay?”

“Yes…okay,” Ichigo stated. “Sorry…”

“Could you at least tell us a couple things about how your dad fights?” Leola asked.

“He uses finesse as opposed to brute strength. It’s pretty hard to break through his defense, and he is able to weave some illusion spells into his attacks,” Ichigo replied.

“What kind of illusion spells?” Rich asked.

“Eh? Who said that?”

“Down here.” Rich turned off his invisibility.

Ichigo’s eyes widened. “A Kitsune? What are you doing here?!” he asked.

“I’m working for these two mercs. In order to help them out, I’m going to dispel the illusions your father is going to use. But I can’t do that unless I hear what illusions he uses,” Rich answered.

“Right! Okay, the first illusion he really likes to use is making it seem like he’s moving his sword so fast that there are after-images,” Ichigo answered. “In reality, all he’s doing is casting an illusion.”

“That’s a pretty basic illusion. I think I can take it,” Rich replied.

“Another illusion is that he likes to use is casting the illusion that he’s throwing about fifty knives in your direction. He’s actually only throwing one.”

“A duplication spell. That’s pretty basic as well. Does he have any really powerful or complex illusions?”

“The only one I know that he casts is an invisibility spell. Pretty much impossible to see past it,” Ichigo answered.

“Now that’s a good thing to duel,” Rich replied. “I might be able to make it so that you can see where he is.”

“Don’t bother,” Tommy replied. “I can smell him out.”

“Oh yeah, you’ve got that enhanced sense of smell.”

“Hey, I just thought of it. Ichigo’s full name is Nakamura Ichigo, correct?” Leola stated.

“Yes,” Ichigo replied. “Nakamura Ichigo is my full name.”

“Great to know. That means you’re going to be a samurai later?”

“Yeah, I think I’ll take up the clan’s tradition,” Ichigo answered. “It seems like the right thing to do. You know, serve the emperor and all.”

“Kid,” Tommy stated. “Perhaps I can teach you a few things about combat. You don’t live as long as I have as a merc without learning a lot about fighting.”

"Trust me,” Leola said. “He taught me everything I know about combat. He’ll make a great mentor.”

“Later, maybe. For now, you’ve got to duel my dad to restore the lost honor of our families,” Ichigo replied. “I’ll take you to his headquarters.”
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 16
7/1/2009 17:35:04   
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Tommy, Leola, Ichigo, and Rich continued to walk down the streets of Osaka until they reached a fairly large two-story building. There was a sign on the shop that said, “Nakamura and Teran mercenary guild.”

“Here we are,” Ichigo stated. “Father should be inside.”

The other three nodded and walked up to the door. Tommy drew his swords, and Leola took out her sword and shield. Tommy decided that it is best to use shock-and-awe for this entrance, so he kicked down the door. “Knock, knock,” he said.

Leola then threw in the witty comment, “Room service.”

The mercenaries inside the base all drew their weapons and charged at Tommy, yelling, “That’s him! Get him!”

“Kid,” Tommy said. “Best get back.”

Ichigo nodded, and ran behind Tommy. The mercenaries got very close before a voice rang out. “Hold!” it said. The voice was very calm, the voice of a human male.

The mercenaries nodded and sheathed their weapons. Neither Tommy nor Leola sheathed their weapons, worried for a surprise attack. Two people walked forward. One was a human male, holding a rapier, and wearing leather armor. The other was an Elf male, holding a crossbow, and also wearing leather armor.

“So you must be the kidnapper,” the human stated. “You’re quite brave to come knocking down my door.”

“Listen, Nakamura,” Tommy replied. “I did not kidnap Leola. She tagged along. I discouraged her from coming, and yet she continued to come.”

“I know,” Junichiro replied. “But a guy needs to put food on the table. And unfortunately for you, I don’t like Orcs.”

“Many humans and Elves hate my kind,” Tommy replied.

Ichigo’s eyes widened. “The hero of Osaka…is an Orc?!” he yelled.

“Yes kid, I’m an Orc. What, thought that a so-called ‘savage’ humanoid can’t be a hero? Back to the matter at hand. Nakamura Junichiro, I challenge you to a duel. No striking to kill. If I win, you are to call off your gang of mercenaries from attacking me. If you win, you get to execute me.”

“Tommy!” Leola said.

“That is a great risk you are putting yourself at,” Junichiro stated. “Are you certain you are willing to pay the price if you lose?”

“Yes, I am. I have already been branded a traitor by my kind. The form of execution is to be decided by me,” Tommy replied.

“You are quite honorable. I never thought that a so-called ‘savage’ humanoid could be so willing to fight in a duel at such high stakes.”

“That is my kind for you. We are quite honorable, despite the lies spread by our foes,” Tommy replied. “Now, where shall we duel?”

“Just follow me to the dueling ring,” Junichiro replied.

“Tommy,” Leola said, putting her right hand on Tommy’s left shoulder. “Please be careful.”

“Don’t worry Leola, I’ll be fine,” Tommy answered.

Junichiro and Tommy walked off to the dueling ring. Ichigo and Leola followed after the two duelists. After a walk that lasted only about five minutes tops, the four found the arena.

It was not much to look at, simply a circle in the ground. There were seats put around it. Leola and Ichigo took their seats, while Tommy and Nakamura took wooden versions of their swords.

Both combatants bowed to each other when in the arena, and put their swords in the ready position. Tommy’s ready position was with both swords above and below his head, with his larger sword over his head, almost as if he slung it over his shoulder. Nakamura’s position was simply a standard fencer position.

“Nakamura will win this in five moves,” one of the mercenaries said.

“Ten seems more logical. This Orc has been a merc for over eight years now. He’s going to be a pain to kill,” another said.

“I think Tommy’s going to win this one,” Leola replied. A couple mercenaries laughed at this response.

“Tommy’s a pretty good fighter,” Ichigo pointed out. “He did save my life and the lives of many children from the Kappa and many evil spirits. I think he stands a good chance. No certainties though.”

Junichiro made the first move, a couple quick thrusts with his wooden rapier. Tommy responded by deflecting each one with his smaller sword. Tommy then struck out first by trying to get into a blade-lock with his longer sword.

As he swung his sword forward, it bounced off of Junichiro’s rapier. Not the result Tommy wanted, but it gave him enough time to stab his shorter sword forward, almost catching Junichiro off-guard.

Junichiro could barely deflect the attack in time. Tommy then took the offense, slicing and stabbing in a frenzy, in an attempt to overwhelm Junichiro’s defense. Indeed, as he sliced and stabbed, Junichiro found it harder and harder to block.

Tommy then swept Junichiro’s legs out from under him and crossed both of his wooden swords across his neck. “You lose,” he said.

“Great job,” Junichiro said. “You really are a great fighter.”

Tommy dropped his wooden swords and helped Junichiro up. The mercenaries that saw the fight were outright startled. “How did that happen?!” one said. “Junichiro wouldn’t lose so easily to an Orc!”

Leola slugged the guy across the face for saying that. “Orcs are great fighters. I should know, he saved my life several times from pretty impossible scenarios,” she stated. “His skill isn’t hurt by the fact that he’s a commando.”

“Didn’t know Orcs had commandos,” the second mercenary replied. The one that was hit was knocked out cold from the hit. “You’re a lot stronger than you look.”

“That happens when you go through over a year of fighting,” Leola replied. “Tommy put me through Orc Commando exercises in order to become a great fighter like him. It was quite difficult to get used to at first, but strength and endurance quickly came.

“While I’m nowhere near as strong as Tommy, and I’ll never be as strong because his strength level is above human limits, I can still hold a blade-lock with him for a couple seconds longer than a normal person can.”

“Must’ve been a pain,” the second mercenary replied.

“Oh yeah, big time,” Leola said. “I still haven’t done all the exercises yet. Orc commandos train until they’re twenty-one. Tommy’s thirty-three now, and he started training since he was four.”

“Damn. Orcs take their young in for fighting quite soon.”

“Yes we do. We have to,” Tommy stated. “Well Junichiro, it’s time for you to live up to your end of the bargain.”

“Of course. We will stop our attempts to attack you,” Junichiro replied.

“But his kind have been my enemy since time immemorial!” the Elf with the crossbow yelled.

“Not true,” Tommy replied. “That is a lie that was spread by your Elven Ruler’s family! He’s not even the true ruler!”

“What?”

“Teran…” Junichiro stated. “Hear him out. To be honest, I’ve never believed the story of Elves and Orcs always being foes. It doesn’t make any sense when you think about it.”

The Elf thought things over. “You know…you’re right…” He then looked to Tommy. “Tell me the story.”

“Over 9000 years ago, everyone was at peace. It was all thanks to the Treaty of Brotherhood that nobody fought each other. But then, betrayal,” Tommy said. “The rightful Elven Ruler’s entire family was assassinated. Nobody in his family survived.

“And the assassins then proclaimed themselves as the new rulers of the Elves. The first thing they did was then declare WAR on my entire race! For what reason, I do not know. But I know that the war is entirely futile. Countless lives lost. Neither side will win in the end, not with the traitor’s family still in power.”

“I see,” Teran-ous replied. “So this war…it was an act of betrayal by my own kind…never trusted the Elven Ruler.”

“Yep. I figure long as I’m here in Osaka, I should go and gather reinforcements for the ‘savage’ humanoid army. I already enlisted the help of the Oni.”

“The Oni?” Junichiro asked. “I thought that they were…you know…”

“Nope. Contrary to what the writings say, most ‘savage’ humanoids have a deep sense of honor and trust. That is why the war was so hard on us at first. We couldn’t believe that we were betrayed to such a degree.”

“So all this time…everything I knew about the war was a lie…” Teran-ous said. “I can’t believe it.”

“You don’t have to believe it,” Leola stated. “Just remember what we’ve said.”

“I trust that the score has been settled?” Junichiro asked Tommy.

“Yep,” Tommy answered. “Now that you’ve called off your men, maybe we can do a few missions together at a later date. Right now, I have to go start explaining my culture to the Emperor.”

“He knows?”

“He found out on his own. At least he didn’t chase me outta town. I just hope you won’t spill the secret either.” Tommy motioned for Leola to follow. “Oh, would it be okay if I gave your son a few combat lessons as well?”

“You are a great fighter. Just don’t make it too hard on him, okay? He is young.”

“I know. Humans are a lot more delicate than my kind.” Tommy and Leola began to walk off.

Ichigo looked at his father. “You really trust him with teaching me?” he asked. “He is one of our mortal enemies.”

“He saved your life, and he is quite honorable,” Junichiro replied. “I trust him alright. I just hope he won’t put you through hell.”
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 17
7/1/2009 17:37:45   
HK 47
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Tommy, Leola, and Warlic returned to the emperor’s throne room. Matsuo sat on his throne, eating a couple grapes. He almost immediately noticed Tommy’s entrance, and stood up.

“Pleasure to see you again,” Matsuo said, bowing. “How did it go?”

“I got the mercenaries to call off the battles,” Tommy replied, also bowing. “I’m also going to be Ichigo’s combat tutor.”

“Ah, good. So, shall you teach me a couple things about your kind?”

“Yes sir. What do you want to know of first?”

“What kind of life does your race live in?”

“A horrible life. We have to live like savages to avoid drawing unwanted attention from our enemies. Our once great cities were destroyed. Our legendary steampunk technology, we lost all copies of the blueprints. A couple places still have a few steampunk bots, but they have long since run out of power.

“And worst of all, our copies of the Treaty of Brotherhood were destroyed. Our ancient scriptures still survive, but a few of them have been destroyed by the opening attacks of the Elves.”

“Oh my,” Matsuo replied. “I feel much regret for the damage that has been caused by the humans.”

“It’s not your fault. I believe part of the reason the humans joined the Elves was because we Orcs look quite ugly to them. We tried offering them some of our remaining steampunk technology, but they opted for magic instead, probably because of the concept.” Tommy sighed.

“Why do you not exist with your fellow kind?”

“Because I am a traitor. I let an Elf run free, and I killed two of my brothers to help him escape,” Tommy answered. “I can never return to my kind. Tradition dictates that I should commit suicide, but I can’t get myself to do it. I guess I’ve turned soft.”

“This Elf. Was he the spirit that attacked us last night?”

“Ylthorin. He went completely insane from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and he had one singular goal in his mind: Hunting me down, and killing me. Back in Lebanon, he almost got me. I was disarmed and on the ground. He was just about to kill me before Leola ran in and stabbed him through the heart.”

“Ylthorin the Elf…what kind of fighter is he?”

“He’s an Elf Commando, but I think he lost most of his skills due to his insanity,” Tommy replied. “His attempts to murder me were not very thought-out. One of them was a good try, getting me onto a play with fake weapons vs. real weapons. I saw through it though, thanks to the glint off of one of the character’s axe.”

“And you are an Orc Commando?”

“Yes. Every army has a commando unit. To give you an idea of how hard it is to be a commando: Even as an Orc, I found myself often out of breath and injured. Once I even had to do a lesson with a stab wound on my chest. Going through Orc Commando training is hell.”

“And what do you learn?”

“Orc Commandos are given the title of ‘General’ after training, so we learn about tactics and strategy, as well as weapon forms and styles, how to set up a good trap, how to heal wounds using natural substances, when to fall back, and all that crap. I graduated top of my class in tactical thinking, though I faltered strategically.

“I keep on mistaking tactics for strategy, a rookie mistake. However, all this suffering I went through made me the soldier I am today. A disgraced commando who lives among his enemies to survive, always fearful of when someone will discover who I am.”

“I am sorry for what has happened to you,” Matsuo replied. “How long do Orcs live?”

“Orcs actually live as long as humans, but you don’t see many Orcs beyond the age of thirty-five because we die on the battlefield,” Tommy answered, taking a seat. “Me, I’m thirty-three. Been a merc for eight years now.”

“And how long to commandos train until?”

“We train until we are twenty-one, no matter how young you are when you start. My best friend, General Chiba Masahiro, he was a great soldier. He is also the youngest Orc Commando to ever be accepted. He started training at three, I started at four.”

“Wow…” Matsuo managed.

“Hey, doing the math, that means that you have been a full-fledged Orc Commando for four years, not counting your time as a mercenary,” Leola pointed out.

“Yep,” Tommy replied.

“Are there such things as female Orc Commandos?” Matsuo asked.

“Females take on all the roles males can do. I’ve worked alongside female commandos before, as well as standard female infantry.”

“How hard is it to take down an Elf Commando?”

“Much easier than you’d think,” Tommy answered. “Those Elf Commandos think that they’re superior because they’ve had longer training, but I’ve seen how they train. It’s more like a school than a military academy.

"Orc Commandos, we go through hell and back to be a commando. Their overconfidence, as well as their apparent lack of training, and sometimes lack of discipline, makes them easier targets to pick off, though one-on-one they can sometimes be a pain, given their magic and all.”

“Can Orcs cast magic?” Matsuo asked, eager to learn about the savage races.

“Only the half-Orcs. Full Orcs cannot cast magic under any circumstances. We make up for this with our superior intellect. To give you an understanding, average human IQ is 100. Average Orc IQ is 150. My IQ, 200.”

“Holy crap…”

“That’s why before the war, Orcs took up the technological department. Now, the Dwarves have stolen our schematics, if they haven’t burned them, and use it to their advantage, claiming it was their tech. Though to be fair, they are neutral in the war.”

“Really?”

“Only the Dwarves refused to take sides in the war. Their cities act as a neutral meeting ground for diplomacy and whatnot. Although not too many Elves are willing to use diplomacy with the Orcs. Only time I’ve seen an Elf willing to use diplomacy is when he’s hopelessly outmatched.

“In recent times though, it seems that the Dwarves are shifting to favor the Elves. I’ve seen a few Orcs imprisoned wrongfully, some logical arguments made by the Orcs swung in the favor of the Elves. I fear it is only a matter of time before the Dwarves start outright fighting the Orcs on the battlefield.”

“Do you at all have an edge over the competition?” Matsuo asked.

“There is one,” Tommy answered. “Don’t know if the project has been completed yet, but before I left the Orcs, there was rumor of a special weapons project being developed. Supposed to be used to fire a small metal projectile faster than sound. A super-crossbow, basically.”

“Is that even possible?!”

“Knowing the Orcs? We’ll find a way to make it work. It’s only a matter of time. However, the details for this project was kept secret even from commandos. I know little beyond what the project is supposed to do. And it matters not to me, as I refuse to fight my own kind under any circumstances.”

“I see…” Matsuo said. “Well, that will be enough babbling on for today. I look forward to continuing my learning of your culture. Perhaps tomorrow we can start speaking in Orcish?”

“Why would you want to know that? The Elf/Orc war ended here a long time ago,” Tommy asked.

“I wish to know more about the hero of Osaka. And if the Elf/Orc war reinvigorates in this land again, I know how to work with the right side of the war.”

“You’re willing to send your samurai to aid the Orcs? But…do they even like the Orcs?”

“Not all humans hate the Orcs. I remember hearing a couple, ancient tales, of how an Orc would save the lives of human civilians, only to, supposedly, use that to his advantage, like to get babies to eat.”

Tommy’s eyes went up in flame. “NO ORC WOULD EAT CHILDREN!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. It was quite scary to hear him this angry. Several samurai even reached for their swords, worried for the emperor’s life.

“That is only what the tales have said,” Matsuo replied. “I do not believe them in any manner whatsoever. Why would one that risked his life to save civilians then turn around and kill their children? Why would they not simply kill the children to start with?”

Leola put her left hand on Tommy’s right shoulder, looked him right in the eyes with a look that said, “Calm down. Please.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Tommy said, regaining his composure. “Lost it for a minute. Alright, I’ll teach you how to speak Orcish tomorrow. Do you have any missions for us in the meantime?”

“Just one. A couple bandits have been getting too close to my borders. They have been ambushing caravans and cutting my people off from much-needed supplies like metal,” Matsuo replied. He was a bit shaken by Tommy’s rage voice.

“Alright. Least I get something to hit,” Tommy replied. “So long, or, as they say in Orcish…” Tommy then let out two quick grunts that were highly unintelligible.

“What?” Matsuo asked.

“Just playing with you. Real Orcish sounds nothing like that. To say so long, you say ‘Egah’.”

“Egah then,” Matsuo said, waving his hand goodbye.

Tommy, Leola, and Warlic then began to exit the room. Tommy let off one last line. “Oh, and I would recommend looking into steel and iron from Eldor. Steel and iron round here is crap quality.”

“I completely understand what you mean,” Matsuo said, closing the door.
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 18
7/1/2009 17:48:58   
HK 47
Member

Tommy and Leola got on their horses. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Tommy said.

“What do you mean?” Leola asked.

“The Emperor. Why did he so easily accept that I am a savage humanoid? Why does he want to know about my culture? I think he’s trying to pull one over on us.”

“Calm down Tommy. At least we’ve got a place to work for good.”

“That’s the problem,” Tommy replied. “If I stay in that one place for too long, I fear that your father may declare war on Osaka. I think we’d best leave the kingdom soon, try to find another place to work.”

“Don’t worry Tommy,” Rich said. “Long as we’ve got plot armor, things will work out just—“

“You broke the 4th wall again, didn’t you? Cause I didn’t understand a word of what you said,” Leola replied.

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

“The point is, we may put an entire kingdom at risk. He may accept me, but your father is going to hunt me down. It’s best if I don’t stay in one place for too long,” Tommy said. “For the safety of the kingdom, of course.”

“Tommy,” Leola said. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll get through this.”

“At the cost of how many lives? We’re wanted, well, I am, and you’re tagging along. It’s not a good idea to stay in one place for too long if you’re wanted. I hate to say it, but we may have to go back to Orcish society eventually.”

“We don’t have to! We’ll get through this!”

“Leola. I understand that you don’t want to leave human society, but you have to understand. Your father is insane. We may very well need to escape to a society that is full of fighters, rather than hide behind a small army that will probably turn on us if they knew the truth.”

“Look, Tommy…” Leola looked down. “Your kind branded you a traitor. They’ll want your head. At least with humans, we stand a chance.”

“My kind doesn’t believe in capital punishment for their brothers,” Tommy answered. “They may put me in a duel with one of my brothers, yes, but I don’t think they’ll try to execute me on the spot. That’s not how my kind works.”

“Oh. You sure?”

“Ylthorin is dead. The betrayal no longer matters, now that he’s not going to be an issue with us. I’m sure that they’ll show us even a tiny bit of mercy. Now, let us return to the task at hand, and take out those bandits.” Tommy snapped the reins on his horse. “HIYA!”

The horse reared up, and began to run off. Leola did the same for her reins, and Rich jumped onto Leola’s horse so that he wouldn’t tire himself out. “Why are you on my horse?” Leola asked.

“You didn’t expect me to try to run all this way when I can avoid it, did you?” Rich asked. “I’m not that crazy.”

“Oh well. Just try not to fall off. I’m not coming back for you.”

“Oh I’m not falling off. To be certain, I’m just gonna hijack your body for the duration of the ride.”

“WHAT?!” Leola yelled.

“Don’t worry, everything will be fine. I’ll leave as soon as we arrive.” Rich leaped forward and went straight into Leola’s body, through the fingernails.

Leola grunted as a wave of heat entered her body. Her facial structure actually rebuilt itself with higher cheekbones. “Sorry about this,” Rich said through Leola. “But it’s just for my safety.”

“I should stab you for that,” Tommy said. “But I won’t. After all, you are getting out as soon as we arrive.”

“Yeah. It always feels weird to be taking over a female body when you’re a male Kitsune.”

“I suppose it would,” Tommy replied.

“Oh, one more thing,” Rich said. “These bandits are probably going to outnumber us at least ten to one.”

“Just ten to one? Piss-poor odds for them.”

“What?”

“I once slew a hundred bandits on my own. Taking down twenty’s going to be a warm-up for me.”

“Lebanon bandits are far less skilled than Osaka bandits. Plus the inverse ninja law comes into effect.”

“Say what?”

“You ever notice how in plays one ninja is always more deadly than fifty ninjas?” Rich asked.

“First, the plural of ninja is ninja, and second, yeah,” Tommy replied.

“That’s the inverse ninja law. It’s basically saying that the more of one kind of mook there is, the less dangerous they are individually. That’s probably why you were able to get past a hundred bandits on your own.”

"Yeah, I have been wondering the logic behind one ninja being more powerful than fifty ninjas. You would expect strength in numbers to give them a massive advantage, but it ironically makes them easier to dispose of. By the way, you able to tell when we’re going to arrive where the bandits are?”

“Probably in the next chapter. Whoops, broke the 4th wall again. Gotta stop doing that.” Rich shook his head…well…Leola’s head.

“Riiiiiiiiight…” Tommy said, obviously having no idea what Rich meant. “How come you break this 4th wall so often? Come to think of it, what is this 4th wall anyway?”

“Well, 9-tailed Kitsune are actually avatars of the author’s friends, who are going to be high-up in his future game company. He decided that…never mind, you don’t understand a word that I’m staying.”

“Nope. So what’s the 4th wall?” Tommy asked.

“You know how in plays characters seem oblivious to the audience?” Rich asked.

“Yep.”

“That’s the invisible 4th wall, separating the actors from the audience. Breaking the 4th wall actually involves acknowledging the audience or the director,” Rich explained. “Sometimes characters break the 4th wall so much there may as well not even be one. That’s called ‘No 4th Wall’. I’m avoiding the ‘No 4th Wall’ because it’s only me that does it, and I’m trying to do it only in moderation.”

“Not working out too well, given that you break the 4th wall every other line,” Tommy replied.

“It’s a bad habit. Only other 9-tailed Kitsune understand what I say when I break the 4th wall. Hmm…I wonder…”

“What?”

“Nothing. It’ll wait until the next book…whoops.”

“Um…okay then. Let’s get back to riding and pretend this conversation never happened.”

“Yeah, there wasn’t anything productive out of it,” Rich replied, forcing Leola’s face forward.
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 19
7/1/2009 17:51:19   
HK 47
Member

Tommy and the Rich-possessed Leola both rode until nighttime, at which time they worked to set up camp. Rich exited Leola’s body, and received a boot to the head for what he did.

“Don’t ever do that again!” Leola yelled.

“Sorry,” Rich replied. “I just didn’t want to fall off and fall behind.”

“Leola,” Tommy pointed out. “He didn’t do anything bad with your body. He was just hitching a ride.”

“He could’ve given me a better heads up!” Leola yelled.

“Don’t worry about it. We’re all safe, and it’s time to…” Tommy smelled the air. “Bandits.”

“How many?”

“I’m registering about twenty different signals. And I doubt they just are passing by.” Tommy drew his swords.

Leola drew her blade and took her shield firmly in her left hand. Rich turned invisible. “Where are you going?!” Leola asked.

“I can provide help via illusionary magic, but nothing else,” Rich replied. “I mean, I don’t have a weapon and all.”

Tommy nodded. “Understood Rich,” he replied.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Leola stated.

“You and me both. It’s as if something else is around. Come to think of it, there is this one out-of-place scent.”

“What does it smell like?”

“There’s chocolate and a human. Female, given the nicer smell. I wager quite young, if the chocolate smell is to be trusted.”

Leola nodded. “They could be keeping this child hostage,” she suggested.

“That is quite a possibility.”

The bandits then appeared in view. As Tommy predicted, there were twenty of them. They, excluding about three, were all armed with daggers. The remaining three wielded a katana and Wakizashi, suggesting that they had Samurai training.

“There you are!” one of the bandits with the swords yelled, pointing directly at Tommy.

“Do I owe you money?” Tommy asked.

“No, but we were looking for you. Heard you got in trouble with Lebanon. Would you be willing to work for us?”

“Lemme think about—no.”

“Why?”

“I am not a dishonorable bandit. I also like working for kingdoms, even if I get thrown out. Also, I was hired to kill you. So let’s get this over with.” Tommy took his fighting stance.

“Shame.” The bandits all drew their weapons. “You should have accepted my offer, but that reward money will do just as well. Kill Tommy, capture Leola.”

The bandits all charged directly at Tommy and Leola after letting out a battle cry. Tommy calmly took his stance, and swung his blades forward. He managed to take off the arms of one of the bandits with swords, who collapsed from the pain.

Leola stabbed with her sword, and took out a bandit with a dagger. Tommy then went back-to-back with Leola, and the two began a deadly dance. Even though the bandits had numerical superiority, Tommy and Leola were simply better. The two were calm and centered, blocking and retaliating with a cold precision.

The bandits quickly became angry and attacked with greater ferocity. However, they eventually stopped, looking confused. “Where did they go?!” one bandit yelled.

Thank you Rich, Tommy and Leola both thought.

The two of them then took advantage of their supposed invisibility and struck down another five bandits. This brought down the twenty bandits to eight bandits. The remaining bandits then ran off, confused and frightened.

“That was easy,” Tommy said. “Thanks Rich.”

“No problem,” Rich replied. “Invisibility on others is a pretty basic illusion to me.”

“Aw man,” a new voice stated. It sounded like a female child. “I wanted in on this!”

Tommy and Leola both looked in the direction of the voice. It was indeed a female child, probably no older than ten. She wore some very pretty clothes, having some very fancy designs on them, and what looked like magical runes as well. Her hair was jet-black and her eyes were brown.

“Who are you?” Tommy asked. “And what do you mean by ‘I wanted in on this’?”

“In order, my name is Karin. And by I wanted in on this, I mean I wanted to fight as well. Those bandits would’ve provided some amusement,” the child replied.

“Uh Karin,” Leola stated. “How old are you?”

“Old as the stars themselves, why do you ask?” Karin answered.

This confused the hell out of Tommy and Leola. “You don’t look any older than ten,” Tommy pointed out.

Rich turned off his invisibility and walked forward. “You!” he stated.

“Huh? Fluffy?” Karin asked.

“Fluffy?” Tommy asked, barely holding back a chuckle.

“I told you never to call me by my real name!” Rich, or more accurately “Fluffy” replied.

“How long has it been?” Karin asked.

“650 years. Still into torturing innocents?”

“Oh no, I grew bored of that 500 years ago. Sadly, living as a child has also grown boring, so I took to fighting bandits. They provide ample amusement.”

“You two know each other?” Leola asked.

“Karin the demoness,” Rich answered. “One of the first demons. She once masqueraded as a Kitsune. I mistook her for the real thing, and we dated each other once. Her habit of torturing innocents was not what I wanted though, so I broke up with her.”

Tommy and Leola both had a confused stare for a couple seconds. “Karin, is this true?” Tommy asked. “If so, why the hell do you look like a ten-year-old child?”

“Well, it is true. I decided to take this form because nobody would suspect a ten-year old girl of being one of the most powerful demons in multiple realms,” Karin answered.

“Oh joy,” Leola said. “So you want to provide amusement by fighting us now?”

“Oh no, you two don’t look like you’d be too much of an amusing fight,” Karin replied.

“This coming from the demon who passes her time by killing off inexperienced bandits?” Tommy asked.

“Well…yes. You have a point. You two do look like you make an interesting fighting pair though, and an odd couple, considering that one of you is an Orc.”

“Is my armor that easy to see through?”

“I’m one of the most powerful and oldest demons. It’ll take more than simple armor to pull the wool over my eyes. Why is an Orc working with a human anyway?”

“I betrayed my kind eight years ago. I can never return to them.” Tommy looked to the ground. “So I live my life as a mercenary for my very enemies.”

“Sounds like you get all the fun. Mind if I join you?” Karin asked with a glint in her eyes.

“Well, what do you have under your belt?” Leola asked.

“I’ve got a lot of demon magics under my belt, and pretty much all of those are offensive. But I do have some holy magics.”

Tommy and Leola both raised their right eyebrows. “Holy magics? Casted by a demon?” Tommy asked. “Isn’t that an oxymoron?”

“I drained the soul of a cleric once,” Karin explained. “He tasted like chocolate. It also gave me access to his holy spells. While they are powerful, my unholy nature makes said spells also injure me in the process of casting them.”

“Sucks to be you,” Tommy replied. “Having magic that hurts you.”

“Hey, I still have enough power to blow up a star. I can be of great use to you two…three, forgot about Fluffy.”

Rich growled. “Stop calling me that,” he demanded.

“More importantly,” Leola said. “I don’t think the body of a ten-year-old is going to be that helpful when we’re in a massive melee fight.”

“Oh, you’re quite right,” Karin answered. “I guess I’ll just change into a more suitable form.”

Karin became wreathed in flame for a couple seconds, and she actually grew in height to about Leola’s size. The flames died off, revealing a stunningly beautiful woman in Karin’s place. The skin was a dark shade of bronze, the hair was long and red, the eyes were still brown, and she was wearing clothing that looked impractically tight on her.

The clothes were somewhat revealing of her body, and very tightly hugged her skin. The clothes were red all the way, and bared the upper portion of her breasts, her midsection, and her legs.

This brought Tommy to ask, “Why do you have clothes that are extremely impractical in this form?”

“I ‘unno,” Karin answered. Her voice was much older and smoother. “I’m not the one that conjures these things up.”

“Just be careful. You’ll be a prime target for archers. You’ll also need a weapon.”

Karin answered that by conjuring up a very large sword, the size of herself. It wasn’t particularly wide, but it was crazy large. “This’ll do,” Karin answered.

Tommy and Leola both looked at each other. “Why is that sword over five feet tall?” Leola asked. “It probably won’t even get any proper momentum when swung.”

“Demon-conjured swords are extremely light,” Karin replied. She showed this by holding the sword with one hand and pointing it right at Leola. “Plus, it acts as a focus for my spells, divine and demonic.”

“So to focus your magic you use an oversized sword?” Tommy asked.

“Pretty much. Pretty cool huh?” Karin swung the blade and slung it over her back.

Upon closer inspection, the blade was covered with ancient runes, in a language unknown to Tommy, Leola, or Rich. The blade was also black as a moonless and starless night. It had this evil feeling to it, but it was to be expected, given that the wielder was a demon.

“It kinda creeps me out,” Leola stated.

“It would probably creep out a normal human. This blade is demonic in nature, so it is more powerful than your standard sword,” Karin replied.

“Well, now that we’ve gotten acquainted, let’s get some sleep,” Tommy ordered. “We need our rest for our mission.”

“What is the mission?” Karin asked.

“Taking out some bandits on Osaka’s border. They’ve been robbing supply routes, and it’s our job to take them out. But we can’t do that without sleep.”

“Understood. Still, as a demon, I do not require sleep. So I’ll take the night watch.”

“How do we know that you won’t try killing us in our sleep?” Rich asked.

“Like I said, I grew bored of being evil 500 years ago,” Karin answered. “When doing night watches and I grow bored, I’ll probably just summon some other demons for a nice chat to keep myself from destroying a close city or two.”

“It’s not like we have another choice,” Tommy replied. “The three of us have not gotten much sleep recently given our missions. We have no choice but to trust Karin if we are to be in top fighting condition.”

“I’ll stay up with her,” Rich declared. “I don’t require sleep as well.”

“Great!” Karin said. “It’ll be just like old times!”

“Except you won’t be murdering our comrades.”

“Of course I won’t. I have no reason to kill them, and I did just join your group. It would have been a waste to kill them in their sleep after I just joined them.”

Tommy and Leola had both returned to setting up camp, their eyes heavy. “Whatever,” Tommy declared. “I just need some sleep.”
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 20
7/1/2009 17:54:09   
HK 47
Member

As Tommy and Leola began sleeping, Karin decided to ask Rich something. "Hey Rich," she began. "How come you refuse to trust me?"

"Besides the fact that you are a monstrous demon who does things only because she's bored?" Rich asked.

"Look, I admit, I'm not proud of everything I've done over my lifespan. I've caused way too much damage for any one person, let alone a demon. Entire star systems have fallen by my hand, all because I wanted something to do. While I can not make up for destroying stars like I did, I can at least make up for some of the damage I did. And I think that working for these two will give me the means to do just that."

"You destroyed entire cities and planets! There's no way you could make up for that!"

Karin sighed. "Yeah, probably not the planets part. But I get the feeling that we'll be dragged into the Elf/Orc war eventually. And that will give me the chance to help end the struggle and help the good guys win the war. And if that happens, I might get pardoned for some of the damage I've caused," she answered, looking over her demonic blade.

Rich sighed. "I can't believe I used to date you," he said.

"Well, you had no clue that I was a demoness, let alone one with a record like mine. And it wasn't that bad, was it?"

"Perhaps. Say, what are your thoughts about this group so far?"

"So far? Well, Tommy seems to be quite the...interesting...fellow. The world needs a hero like him. As for Leola, she seems like she'll be the one who gets Tommy's love."

"I don't think Tommy's in love with Leola though," Rich pointed out. "If anything, he only has her at a professional distance."

Karin's eyes gleamed. "Then that means he's still open for the taking," she said, grinning widely.

"I don't think that an Orc and a demoness would be a perfect match."

"Well, we'll see how he reacts to me."

Tommy then said, "No. Just, no."

This caused both Karin Rich to jump. "Aah!" Karin yelled, grabbing her sword.

When Karin aimed the sword at the voice, Tommy was already sitting down. "I don't love demons," Tommy said. "Especially not the extremely destructive kind. You may look nice, but to me, personality is what counts the most. And so far, Leola's got a better chance than you do, and I still keep her at arm's length."

"Well she seems to love you," Karin pointed out. "What’s so wrong about loving her?"

"I've learned from experience not to trust anyone. Leola may have put aside her life as a princess, but I don't know if she's to be fully trusted yet. To be honest, I can't trust anyone while I work for my enemies."

"Then let's all go back to Orcish culture! I'm certain they'll let us in!"

"I cannot do that."

"Why not?" Karin asked, a look of disappointment on her face.

"Because...I am a traitor to my people. I let an Elf escape, and I killed two of my brothers to allow that to happen. Tradition dictates that I should commit suicide, yet I cannot get myself to follow through with tradition, so I instead live the rest of my life for my very enemies, trying to eek by an existence, selling my services to the ones that hate my kind like fanatics. It is a horrible way to live, but I at least am doing something that I was born to do." Tommy looked down at the ground.

"Sorry, but I just can't understand." Karin stabbed her sword into the ground. "I know that Orcs have a deep sense of honor and all, but I just can't see them committing suicide over being the cause of two of their comrades dying. Orcs that I know of, they stand up and continue the fight, stronger than ever."

"Perhaps. But I don't like taking risks. Not since that one kingdom."

"One kingdom?"

"I once worked for a specific kingdom. I can't quite recall its name. I was ordered to take out a small army of the undead. I saw a weak point in their formation that I could exploit.

"But if I did, we would still be outnumbered 10-to-1. It would have been a losing battle. But I went ahead with the attack anyway. I lost my entire unit in the battle. It was a pyrrhic victory above all else. I was not given my pay for losing so many men. Since then, I refused to take too many unneeded risks."

"That's horrible," Karin stated. "Didn't you have any magic users?"

"Magic isn't as strong as people think it is," Tommy answered. "After all, my kind can't use magic of any kind and we are holding our ground against the Elves quite nicely."

"It's different for you guys," Karin declared. "You guys have super intelligence and strength."

"You actually mistake what a human can do. The human body has mental blocks that prevent it from using up 100% of its full potential, because it would actually injure itself in the process. Orcs have a stronger bone structure, and thus we never were born with such blocks, as our bodies can take it. But if the mental blocks become loose, the human body can in fact be as strong as an Orc."

"Huh. Never thought of it that way," Karin said. "The human body doesn't use its full potential?"

"Because it would destroy itself in the process if it did."

"What could cause the mental blocks to become loose?"

"If the human body is put in extreme danger," Tommy began. "It is quite possible that the body will override the mental blocks to save itself. Or, in some other cases, the mental blocks could become loose when a loved one is in danger. But these events are extremely rare, and most people won't wind up using their full potential even once in their lives."

"Wow." Karin began thinking. "So if you gave the human body a greater durability on the bones and removed the mental blocks, you get roughly the same physical strength as an Orc?"

"Roughly, yes. An Orc is likely still going to be a bit stronger because they are used to their body's potential. Plus, an Orc can continue fighting with the greater strength, where as a human would likely shut down the body when the fight drags on too long."

"Huh. So Orcs are simply better than humans? Why is it then that humans seem to be the top dogs around?"

"Because the great Orcish cities were already destroyed. The Elves caught us with our pants down. We were completely confused as to why this was happening, and had no defense against it. Because we now live like savages, and the Elves give the illusion that the humans are the ones in power, it seems that way," Tommy answered.

"That sucks. To have lost everything."

"What does it matter to you? You destroy a hell of a lot, from what I've gathered. Hearing that a race lost their homes shouldn't be too much of a surprise to you." Tommy yawned a bit. "Now, I must go back to sleep. See ya in the morning."
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 21
7/1/2009 17:56:08   
HK 47
Member

When morning came, Tommy and Leola both yawned as they stood up. Karin was busy drawing some kind of runes into the ground in the same unknown language that was on her sword. Rich was busy studying the runes.

“Hey,” Karin said as she finished up one last rune. “I was just going to get some company to talk with.”

“Rich wasn’t enough?” Thomas asked.

“On the contrary, we had some great discussions. The real problem came from the fact that we’ve been together for so long that we were running out of ideas to come up with for conversation.”

“Ah.” Thomas looked at the unusual runes. “What are those?”

“These are runes in ancient demonic. I use them for my spells. Modern demons, and modern demonic, are far inferior to the ancient demons and ancient demonic. Not that I have anything against modern demons, it’s just that their power level is far less than the ancient ones, which always brought up the question of ‘how come we depowered?’”

“I did ask some questions with the writer before,” Rich began. “He said that it’s because the other Gods were afraid of the demons. After all, the ancient demons like you possessed enough power to blow up freaking stars. There is little more that says ‘overpowered’ than that. And you actually lost some of your power.”

Karin was outright startled at that. “What?!” she yelled. “I’m not as powerful as I was?!”

“Aye. Though I suspect that as time progresses and you prove yourself to the Gods, you’ll become more powerful. Despite what happened, you still possess massive power, beyond that of any modern demon. You just can’t blow up stars anymore.”

“Huh. Never did blow up a star for the last 800 years, so I wouldn’t have known I got depowered,” Karin mentioned.

“Well, at least we’ve still got one among us who can use spells,” Tommy declared. “Now let’s get moving. The bandits are still around and we’ve got to take care of them.”

“Yes sir!” Karin, Leola, and Rich yelled simultaneously.

Tommy helped pack up the sleeping bags and got onto his horse. Karin conjured up herself a demonic horse, which was all black with pure red eyes. And a flaming mane. “Do all demons possess fire, red, and black skin?” Tommy asked.

“Only the weaker ones,” Karin answered.

“You’ve got red hair and skintight red clothes,” Leola pointed out.

“Yeah, well I didn’t pick the costume.”

“Enough,” Tommy ordered. “Let’s move.” He snapped the reigns on his horse and began riding off.

Rich looked at Leola. “Going to have to borrow your body again,” he said.

“Ugh, fine,” Leola said. Rich leaped into Leola’s body and snapped the reigns, moving his horse to catch up to Tommy.

Karin did just the same, except her horse was a wee bit faster. “Wait up!” Karin yelled as her horse ran to catch up with Tommy.

“Too slow!” Tommy yelled back, his horse accelerating. Interestingly, the horses didn’t seem to grow tired as they ran forward to the borders of Osaka.

Karin even asked, “Why don’t your horses ever grow tired from running so much?”

“We bought magical horses,” Tommy answered. “Some crap like that. At least it works.”

“Yeah, I guess. Even still, do you have a plan for taking on the bandits?”

“I always have a plan. I just need to see what formation they’re in.”

“Uh guys,” Rich said through Leola. “Look forward.”

Tommy and Karin both looked ahead, and saw thirty bandits robbing a small convoy of various supplies. There were a couple Samurai stationed to help defend the area, but they were outnumbered 3-to-1.

“Ten samurai on our side, plus ourselves, vs. all of these bandits?” Rich asked.

“I know. Maybe if it was just us three…sorry, four, they might actually stand a chance at hitting us,” Tommy replied.

“Doubtful,” Karin pointed out. “I mean, with you, a demoness, a nine-tailed Kitsune, and a regular human female on our side, the odds are kinda stacked against them.”

“Do you have any area of effect spells?”

“Yeah, plenty, actually. You want fire, ice, or lightning?”

“In my experience, nothing is more frightening than lightning. What I want you to do is scatter the bandits by firing off an area of effect lightning spell. When the spell hits, Leola and I will charge in head-first to take advantage of that chaos. Rich will cause even more by using his illusionary spells to confuse the enemy.”

Rich exited Leola’s body. “Got it,” he said.

“I heard what was said,” Leola answered. She did whap Rich once with the hilt of her sword. “And please, try not to stay in for too long.”

“Sorry.”

“Enough,” Tommy ordered. “On my go, let’s attack.”

Karin and Leola both nodded. Rich turned invisible to get past the enemy without being attacked. Over with the bandits, most were simple bandits armed with daggers, but about 30% of the group were ex-samurai, judging from their equipment.

“Give me the money,” one of the ex-samurai ordered.

“I refuse,” one of the defender samurai replied.

“Then pay with your life!” the ex-samurai yelled, drawing his swords.

The sound of fizzling air was heard by all for only a fraction of a second. It was then followed by a very loud boom as several of the ex-samurai were fried from a blast of lightning.

“What the hell?!” the bandits yelled, looking for the attacker. They then saw Tommy and Leola charging right at them, letting out a battle cry.

Rich then casted an illusion, making the bandits think that two dragons were charging right at them. Naturally, the bandits all broke and started to run.

Tommy simply grinned. “Looks like Rich really scared them,” he said.

“Yeah,” Leola replied. “Wonder what he made us look like.”

“Dragons,” Rich answered. “To them, you look like dragons.”

“Sweet,” Tommy replied. He continued his charge to the bandits, who were running as fast as their legs could take them.

Leola ran to the supply lines. To them, Leola looked normal. “What is going on?” one of the samurai asked.

“We were hired to save these supplies,” Leola answered. “Our Kitsune friend made us look like dragons to the bandits.”

“Wow. You’re friends with a Kitsune?” the samurai asked.

“Yeah,” Rich answered, turning off his invisibility. “Actually I was suckered into helping them, but they’re not terrible people.”

“A nine-tailed Kitsune at that,” the samurai replied. “So what’s with the lightning bolt that came through?”

“That was from a wizard, Karin,” Leola answered, half-lying.

“You have a wizard in your group huh?” the samurai asked, grinning widely. “That’s good; we could use magical support to defend against these bandits.”

Karin decided to walk up to the group. “Hey guys,” she said. “What’s up?”

“This is your wizard?” the samurai scoffed; outright surprised someone so apparently young could be a wizard. “She is so young!”

“Young yes,” Karin answered. “But I’m the only other one in the group.”

Tommy was gleefully slicing and dicing bandits as the fled from the apparent dragon. Most of this was accomplished by some bandits tripping and they were too scared to properly focus.

“And another one bites the dust!” Tommy yelled as he impaled one of the fleeing bandits at both the heart and head.

“Wow, he really can get crazy during a fight,” one of the samurai pointed out.

“Yeah, Tommy’s got a bit of a bloodlust when it comes to fighting,” Leola answered.

“I just hope he doesn’t attack us. I do not want to be on the wrong end of his blade.”

“Don’t worry; Tommy’s got a good sense of right and wrong. He won’t strike us.”

After scaring away the remainder of the bandits, Tommy let out a sigh of relief, and sheathed his swords. “That was fun,” he said. “You guys okay?”

“Yeah, nothing broken,” the lead samurai replied. “You seemed to be happy when you were cutting down those bandits…”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

“Huh. You must’ve lost yourself during the fight.”

“That’s kinda rare,” Leola pointed out. “Seriously.”

“Odd then,” the head samurai stated. “Well, at least you scared off the bandits. Let us hurry back to Osaka.”

“Agreed,” Tommy said. “I’d rather not waste time standing in one location when there are bandits about.”
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 22
7/1/2009 17:57:51   
HK 47
Member

As the caravan group began their return trip to Osaka, guards began to spoke to Tommy. “That was some amazing fighting you did there! Never seen anything like it in my life!” one said.

“Thanks,” Tommy replied.

“Heh, I know one thing. You’re no Orc. Those guys are nowhere NEAR as good as you. Most of the stories I hear are a large hoard of Orcs falling to only a few hundred Elves.”

“Thanks again…” Tommy looked down.

Leola rode up to Tommy as the guards turned their attention away from him. “This happen to you a lot?” Leola whispered.

“More than you can imagine,” Tommy answered. “But I’ve grown to…” Tommy’s head perked up.

“Grown to what?” Leola asked, confused.

Tommy whiffed the air three times. “Oh no…not again…” he said.

“Not what again?”

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOI!” a high-pitched voice yelled.

The group turned to look at the source of the voice. It was a pixie, possessing the glow, the small wings, the child-like appearance, and some pretty silly clothes. “Uh, hi little guy,” Rich said.

“Girl…” the pixie replied.

“Sorry. Hard to tell with pixies.”

Tommy rode his horse up to the pixie and looked her straight in the eye. “What did I say would happen if we met again?” he growled.

“Look…trouble…need help…you’re the only one I know who could do it…” the pixie said.

“You know this pixie?” Karin asked.

“Yeah,” Tommy replied. “Little pest kept on following me around in one kingdom, trying to get me to ‘relish life’.”

“You seem happy to me,” Leola said.

“Not to the pixie, I wasn’t. It wasn’t so much her intentions as how she was doing them. Suffice to say that she wasn’t quite sane.”

“Sane in what way?”

“Well, she often-times talked a mile a minute about things that had no connection to each other, she would try casting spells on me at various times…oh, and she didn’t know what the word ‘theft’ meant.”

“Say what?” Rich asked.

“Little pixie constantly was stealing items. She said that she was ‘borrowing’ them without permission, saying that the owner wouldn’t miss it. I swear, I don’t know what kept me from killing her, she was so annoying. Often-times her stupidity would wind up with me trying to smack some sense into her, to no avail.

“So eventually I settled for a threat. Do you remember what that threat was, little pixie?”

“I…umm…no, I don’t remember,” the pixie answered.

“The threat was, and I quote, ‘If I ever see you around me again, if you so much as say one word to me, I will not hesitate to decapitate you.’ However, seeing as how you have some trouble, I’m inclined to wonder what it is. But if it’s trouble with the law, I’m not helping.”

“It’s my village!” the pixie yelled.

“Uh huh, what about it?”

“The…the catgirls are—“

“Are. You. KIDDING ME?!” Tommy yelled, although it was more in a hearty yell than a pissed-off yell. He then started laughing. “I can’t believe it!”

“Huh?” Karin asked.

Tommy laughed for a good few minutes, and calmed down. “Sorry, sorry, it’s just that I can’t believe the scenario presented to me. The two things I didn’t want to ever see again in my life, and now one wants me to help out with the other,” Tommy replied.

“Got something against catgirls?” Rich asked.

“It’s not that I have something against them, it’s that the first meeting I had with one still gives me nightmares. ME. NIGHTMARES.”

“What happened?” Leola asked in a soothing voice.

“Okay, I was in the middle of a mission to rescue a princess. Along the way I noticed an injured girl in the middle of the streets. She had a hood over her head. I walked up to her and helped her up, only for the hood to come off.

“You can imagine my surprise when I saw that she had fangs, a really, really freaky and deformed skull, cat ears, and I think I saw a tail coming out of her ass as well. Trust me; I still have nightmares about that scene.”

“Yeah, that would seem freaky at first glance,” Leola said, visualizing the scene in her head.

“Some people think catgirls are cute,” Karin replied.

“But…that skull! It’s just not right!” Tommy replied.

“So…you gonna help me out with my little problem or not?” the pixie asked.

“Yeah…I guess…but so help me, I do NOT want to run into you again, got it?”

“Okay, okay.”

“We’ll come with you,” Leola said.

“No. I’ll do this alone. You three take over and do the missions on your own until I get back,” Tommy answered.

“How long would that be?” Karin asked.

“Knowing my luck and this pixie? At least two weeks.”

“Wow. Two weeks without you,” Rich stated. “This will complicate things a bit.”

“Leola, you I trust at being my second-in-command. Karin, too trigger-happy, Rich…a bit too…” Tommy started, trying to find the right words.

“Bit too what?”

“A bit too much of a pacifist. No offense.”

“None taken, I’m not a fighter,” Rich replied. “So, I hope that things work out for you.”

“Don’t worry. I doubt that I’ll end up dying. After all, they’re just catgirls.”

The pixie grinned. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she said, hugging Tommy.

“Would you kindly let go?” Tommy asked in as polite a voice as he could manifest.

“Sorry,” the pixie said.

“Hey, what’s your name little girl?” Leola decided to ask.

The pixie grinned. “Sarah,” she answered.

“Nice name. I’m Leola.”

“Pleasure to meet you Leola!”

“If you two are done talking, we’d best get back to our missions at hands,” Tommy said.

“OH! Right! Let’s go!” Sarah said, flying off with Tommy riding right behind her.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about that pixie,” Karin stated.

“Same, but Tommy knows her better than us,” Leola answered. “Let’s get back to riding our horses back to Osaka.”
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 23
7/1/2009 17:59:53   
HK 47
Member

“So…you going to tell me why you hate me?” Sarah asked Tommy as the two broke away from the group.

“You mean besides the theft, the random spells, and the insanity?” Tommy asked.

“Yeah. I mean, I wasn’t that bad, was I?”

“Actually, you were. You were driving me insane.” Tommy sighed and continued riding his horse. Sarah was able to keep up with Tommy as the two rode off to Sarah’s village.

“Come on, you liked having me around!” Sarah said, trying to get Tommy to screw up and say yes.

“Not really,” Tommy answered.

“Then why are you helping me?”

“Because it’s my job to help people out.”

“So what do you call yourself then?”

“My most common nickname is ‘The Masked Knight’. I wouldn’t argue with that…” Tommy stopped his horse and smelled the air. His eyes widened. “No way…”

“Thomas? Is that really you?” a low voice asked. It was an Orc’s voice, given the accent. “Or am I being fooled by an illusion?”

Tommy got off his horse and turned around. The man he was looking at wore plate mail of Adamntium design. He had a Greataxe over his back and a Longsword by his side. His eyes were brown, and his face showed concern.

Tommy took off his mask. “Commander Nigo?” he asked, his face confused.

“It really is you!” Nigo walked up to Tommy and hugged him. “Brother where have you been all this time?”

“You…you were worried for me?”

“Yes brother. You never reported back from your last mission. Chiba Masahiro claimed you were killed. But I could not fathom the prospect of you dying. What happened?”

“I…I’m sorry, but…” Tommy couldn’t find the right words to say to Nigo, he did not expect to see one of his best friends.

“We’ve all been looking for you for the past eight years. You’re wanted back in the village,” Nigo stated, his eyes showing concern.

Tommy shook his head. “I…I cannot,” he finally stated.

“What? You…you don’t want to return to your own kind?” Nigo asked, showing sorrow in his voice.

“Chiba didn’t tell you the facts as to what happened, I guess,” Tommy replied.

“What happened?”

“I let an Elf escape, and I killed some of my brothers to help him escape. I am a traitor.” Tommy looked down, his right eye dropping a tear.

Nigo put a hand on Tommy’s right shoulder. “Brother…I’ll let you know that it happens to all of us. I myself have let five Elves go,” he said.

“Really?”

“Brother, it’s hard being the good guys in a war like this. That is why some of us let the last few Elves go. And some of us do resort to violence to help in the escape. Your case wasn’t the first.”

“Then…so…all this time it wasn’t wrong for me to do this?” Tommy asked, his eyes showing hope.

“Right. So are you going to come back to us now?”

Tommy began to think to himself. He thought long and hard, constantly weighing the decisions. Sarah then spoke up. “Um…Tommy…” she said.

“Yes?” Tommy asked.

“You should choose what is best for your group. I mean, those girls really do seem to like you. That girl in the armor more so than the girl with the giant sword…”

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Nigo asked, obviously confused.

Tommy sighed. “Nigo, during my eight years that I was gone, I took up the life of a mercenary for humans,” he answered.

“You…you work for the humans? Why?”

“I thought I had nowhere to go…so I turned to working for the humans, as I knew they wouldn’t be able to tell who I was.”

“I see. What did this pixie mean by ‘group’?” Nigo was observing Tommy with suspicion.

“Right…for about seven years I was going solo in my missions. Then at Lebanon Princess Leola decided to tag along with me…”

“Are those your only party members?”

“Sadly no. I managed to trick a nine-tailed Kitsune into joining my group, and an ancient demoness joined the group as well. The Kitsune’s pseudo-name is ‘Rich’, though his apparent real name is ‘Fluffy’…”

Nigo couldn’t help but laugh. “FLUFFY!?”

Tommy and Sarah both chuckled as well. “I know,” Tommy said. “Now, the demoness’ name is ‘Karin’. She apparently grew bored of being evil and wanted to join my group.”

“Wow. Lucky, you really got yourself one hell of a fighting group,” Nigo stated.

“Yeah. I broke solo because I need to do this mission alone…”

“What mission?”

Sarah answered, “Catgirls are getting WAY too close to my village!”

Nigo stopped himself from saying anything. For about five minutes he was in deep though, trying to think what to say to that. He opened his mouth after five minutes, and said, “Catgirls? Did I hear that right?”

“Yes!” Sarah replied.

“And you want to do this alone Tommy?”

Tommy answered, “I uh…had a bit of a scaring moment when I first met catgirls…haunts me to this day…I have to do this alone so I can overcome that moment, to put the past behind me.”

Nigo nodded. “I fully understand Tommy. Where are your two friends going?” he asked.

“The Kingdom of Osaka.”

“Good. I’ll see you there then.”

“Wait what?” Tommy asked, confused.

“I’ll be joining your group.”

“Nigo, I can’t allow that,” Tommy answered, remorse in his voice. “You see, humans aren’t accepting of Orcs. Were it not for my full-body armor and my mask, I would be shunned from every kingdom I go to.”

“I can forge my own mask too,” Nigo replied.

Tommy sighed, and began to think to himself. He thought for about ten minutes straight. When he finished, he concluded, “Alright, you can come along. But I want your mask first.”

“Okay then. I’ll go back to the village and get my mask that I forged a while back.”

“Wait, you forged a mask a while back? Why didn’t you mention this in the first place?”

“Because I wanted to see your answer before I mentioned it.”

“…Okay then…put on your mask, and meet me outside this pixie’s village. We’ll talk more there.” Tommy got back on his horse. “Oh, and Nigo.”

“Yeah?” Nigo asked, hoping for something good.

“I hope you can get along with the rest of our group.” Tommy snapped the reins on his horse and rode off, with Sarah chasing after him.

“Wait for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Sarah yelled.

Commander Nigo chuckled. “I can’t believe after all these years that guy is still alive. Should’ve expected that from our toughest commando.” He then walked off to his village to grab his mask.
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 24
7/1/2009 18:04:46   
HK 47
Member

As Tommy and Sarah rode off to Sarah’s village, Leola, Karin, and Rich reached Osaka. The first thing that happened when they arrived was Karin commenting, saying, “What a beautiful place.”

“I know,” Leola replied.

“Ladies, we should get our pay for our duties,” Rich stated.

“Good idea,” Karin stated. “Off to the Emperor’s palace!”

Leola led the two to Emperor Matsuo Heikichi’s palace. Leola said to Karin, “You are to show respect to this man. He’s the one paying us for our duties.”

Karin nodded. “Okay, I’ll be as nice as I can,” she replied. She decided to conjure up a kimono right over her body. With it on her, she actually looked very stunning.

Rich sighed. “I have to admit, you like beautiful in that,” he said.

Karin kissed Rich on the cheek. “Awww…thank you!” she said.

Rich blushed. He couldn’t help it, as much as he hated it. He thought to himself, Perhaps some feelings for her still linger…much as I hate to admit it.

The two entered the palace. Karin got some stares from the samurai, most in amazement as to how Karin looked. They then blushed and returned to their duties. Karin could only smile at how these men felt about her.

When the three reached the Emperor’s palace, the first thing he asked was, “Where did Tommy go?”

Leola answered that. “An old friend of his wanted him to do a job for him. Said it was extremely important. He up and left to do that mission,” she said.

“Ah. And I wanted to give him something too…shame, it’ll have to wait.” Matsuo sighed.

“What did you want to give him?” Karin asked.

“He is an honorable man. I wanted to make him one of my samurai.”

“What an honor,” Rich said. “He’d be the first outsider in a thousand years to be a samurai.”

“And the first Orc samurai in over 9000 years. I did my research, and it seems as if it was true, how the Orcs were betrayed. In the next engagement between Orcs and Elves, I shall send my samurai to aid the Orcs.”

Leola bowed. “That is quite honorable of you,” she said.

“Which reminds me.” Matsuo clapped his hands and one of his samurai walked forward, holding a sheathed katana. “For you, Princess Leola.”

Leola bowed and accepted the katana. “I am honored,” she said.

“Don’t worry. You are one of the most honorable people I have seen in my kingdom in a long time.” Matsuo stood up out of his throne and approached Karin. He looked at her for about two minutes. “And who are you?”

Karin nodded. “My name is Karin. I have recently joined General Tommy’s crew of mercenaries,” she replied.

Matsuo nodded and walked back to his throne. “Very well then, Karin. The three of you should rest, as I have no more contracts at the moment,” he declared. “Oh and here’s your pay.”

Two samurai walked forward and handed out the two bags of gold to Karin and Leola.

Karin, Leola, and Rich all bowed. “Then we shall take our leave, my lord,” Leola stated.

When Karin, Leola, and Rich arrived at their house, Leola put aside her sword and shield. “It feels great to finally have a break,” she declared.

“Yeah, I would think so,” Rich replied. “How long has Tommy kept you working?”

“We normally do just one mission a day,” Leola replied. “They do take a while to complete.”

“Understandable,” Rich replied. “How about we go to the marketplace and get some food?”

Karin and Leola both nodded. “Understood.” The three then exited the house to go to the marketplace.

Commander Nigo entered Osaka, wearing his mask to hide his face. The mask was an Orc Commando mask, in the appearance of an angry dragon. He smelled the air, trying to pick up a whiff of something he recognized. “Nothing,” he said. “Best talk to the Emperor of this place. Maybe he will know where Tommy’s house is.”

He began to march forward to the palace, the sound of his Adamntium boots clanging against the ground quite loudly. He actually passed by Leola, Rich, and Karin as he walked forward.

Leola and Karin were both amazed at his armor. “That’s some high-quality metal,” Leola muttered.

“Yeah. Was that Tommy?” Karin asked.

“Nope. His armor isn’t in that style, and he doesn’t wear that mask.”

“Then who do you think that was?”

“Dunno.”

“If you two ladies are done talking…” Rich said. “CAN YA HELP ME OUT?!”

Karin and Leola both turned their heads to notice that Rich’s tails were being pulled at by a bunch of little kids. “OI!” Karin yelled. “Let go of the Kitsune.”

The kids immediately complied and let go of Rich’s tails. “Sorry ma’am,” one of the kids said. “But we’ve never seen a Kitsune before. We didn’t know if all those tails were real.”

“Of course they’re real!” a voice yelled. It was Ichigo. “You’ve never once heard a tale of a Kitsune? Pardon the pun.”

Rich nodded. “Not a problem,” he said.

“Now, the number of tails on a Kitsune denotes how old and powerful they are. Those with nine tails are said to create illusions that are so real, you can’t tell the difference between them and reality.”

“Whoa,” the kids said in unison. They then looked to Rich. “Is it true?”

Rich nodded. “Not to brag, but my illusions really are top-notch. I can probably create better illusions than the Elven Archmage,” he replied.

“As if,” an Elf stated, walking up to the group. “Nobody’s a better spellcaster than the Elven Archmage.”

“You’d be surprised at how good Kitsune are at casting spells. My spells are mostly illusionary, but quite a few Yakos know offensive spells that one could never hope to recover from. As a Zanto, I don’t do that.”

“Trust me, you’re only making yourself look like a fool for thinking you’re better than the Elven Archmage. Nobody could beat him!”

“What about demons?” Karin asked.

“Bah, even I could outcast any demon in this realm or any other,” the Elf boasted.

“How about we test that out?” Karin asked.

“Sure, just bring me a demon.”

“You’re looking right at one.”

The Elf was startled. “No way,” he said. “You can’t be a demon.”

Karin grinned. Her body was wreathed in flames as she began to unveil her true form. When the flames subsided, it was very hard to say it was the same woman. Her basic form was the same, but she was taller, her body covered in blood-red scales. She had a pair of bat wings, sharp claws and jagged teeth. She still had hair, but instead of it being red, it was snow-white. And she had this evil grin on her face.

“So, do you really want to try me?” Karin asked. Her voice was deeper and much scarier.

The Elf shook his head for a moment, warding off the fear he felt. “Yeah! Bring it on! I’ll beat you any day!” he yelled.

Karin simply grinned. “Name your game.”

“Summoner’s chess!” the Elf yelled, pointing right at Karin in a defiant pose.

Rich gulped. “Summoner’s chess? That Elf is screwed,” he stated.

“How come?” Leola asked.

“I’ve seen Karin play Summoner’s chess before. She’s incredibly skilled at the game. And she often times executes her opponent after they lose.”

“Why would she do that?”

“She’s a demoness. It’s what she does.”

“She said she’s changed. I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t do it,” Leola pointed out.

“Just saying,” Rich replied.

Karin grinned. “Let’s take this match away from this arena, so as to avoid collateral damage,” she said. Karin swung her right hand and several pillars of flame engulfed the Elf, Leola, Karin, and Rich, yet none of them felt any heat.

When the fire subsided, the four were in some sort of arena. The sky was blood-red, the arena circular, with a large-scale chessboard etched into the ground. It took a couple seconds for everyone but Karin to realize they changed locations.

The Elf simply grinned. “Alright, bring it on!” he yelled.

A giant six-sided die fell out of the sky. It was mostly black save for the red dots, and it possessed spikes on the corners. It was kinda creepy to look at. Karin then said to Leola, “Leola. Strike the die so we can begin this contest!”

Leola nodded, and swung her new katana at the die. It hit dead-on and the die was rolled forward. It bounced once, twice, three times before it stopped. The number on the top was five. The die even announced, “Level 5 tier accessible this round.”

The Elf grinned. “I’ll let you go first,” he announced.

Karin began to chuckle. “Your funeral,” she announced. She took up her sword and stabbed it into the ground. A column of fire erupted, and when it died out a demon not unlike Karin stood in its place. But this demon was far more masculine than Karin.

“Who dares summon me?!” the demon yelled. He looked around and noticed Karin. “Oh. It’s you. What do you want?”

“We’re paying a game of Summoner’s chess. I was allowed access to level 5 tier for this round, so I decided that you’d be an interesting person to summon. You don’t mind, do you?” Karin asked.

“Very well then Karin,” the demon replied. “I do owe you a few favors anyway.”

The Elf grinned. “Level 5 tier, eh? Alright, I’ll do this then!” he yelled, conjuring up a Red Dragon.

The dragon didn’t even question where he was. Well, he did for about five seconds, but he didn’t show it. The demon simply grinned. “A red dragon eh?” he said. “This will be an interesting battle.”
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 25
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