The Darkness Wars Rated Teen/Accepting

Tazer wanted to stop Nolan, but instead she signaled to the others that they should come out of hiding.

"Be careful," she called to Nolan. Then she turned her attention away. She was pissed off. Now dare he act like that towards her. Did he really except that she trusted him enough to talk to him alone. And now she trusted him less.
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Vixen wondered suddenly if Doran could read minds too, but that was silly. Of course he couldn't. It was probably because he understood her feelings about this that he guessed what she was going to say.

"I would never oppose Zarxs. He took me in after my village abandoned me. And I understand why we have to do this. But it just seems....wrong somehow. I just hope I will not have to kill another child again."

(Page claim for Talon and Koraxin. XD)

Rain walked along the bank of the river, he was calm now, and allowed the anger he had held towards Nala to slip away. He was himself once more, done making a scene in front of people, for now. It didn't take him long to figure out that one of the wild teens was following him. It was sure that this meeting was to be unpleasant. Rain didn't want to hurt any of these people, but he needed to see Nala. It was his destiny. He didn't give any hints that he knew the boy was following him. He decided he would take the route to his camp, and then confront the hunter. Until then he would think of what to do after he began to talk to his hunter. He considered many things, but he decided that the Wild Freaks needed an assessment. Rain made his choice.

Rain turned into the forest, where he had carved a small path with his sword. He walked down the path for two or three minutes before coming into some what of a clearing. Except it was not a clearing at all. A giant apple tree, dotted with blossoms stood in the middle of the field. It's branches stretched as far as the tops of the trees that surrounded it, but no tree was inside the tree's blanket of shade. This was where Rain had made his camp. This is where Rain would confront his pursuer. Rain walked in front of the tree, and placed a hand on the trunk. He closed his eyes, feeling the strength of the wood on the palm of his hand. "Reveal yourself." he told the Wild Freak.

"I think this mission shall determine our character. Are we willing to kill a child on orders from Zarxs or will we falter? After we kill her, whether or not we have to kill another matters not. We would still have done it once," Doran said evenly.

Vixen bit her lip. This was the life she had choosen. She shouldn't be talking about it this way. But Vixen still couldn't feel right about what they were doing. Still orders were orders.

"I guess you're right. Now let's hurry. We don't want to keep Zarxs waiting."

IC: Oeni

He hadn't gone far from Zarxs, so he returned quickly at his lord's summons. Already mounted on his steed, the traitor knight clasped his fist to his chest in saltue of Zarxs as he arrived before speaking. "Do we ride far, my lord?"

Nolan

Nolan walked out of the foliage, though he hadn't been hiding, he didn't want his presence concealed now, he wanted a confrontation. He made no hostile move, but there was such anger in his eyes. "Who the hell do you think you are," he asked, keeping his voice even.

Zarxs

"The ride is the shortest we'll have had on this journey," Zarxs replied, staring out as he waited for his band to gather. He was quite aware of what they all discussed, he kept tabs on them at all times, so he knew they had qualms about killing children. What weakness.

Vixen reached Zarxs and felt guilty inside. She should have never said anything. It wasn't right of her. Besides she didn't know this girl. Why should she care so much if she is killed. Vixen decided not to worry about it. Whatever happened, she would remain loyal to Zarxs and the girl would die.

"I'm here my lord."

"As am I, my lord," Doran said as he followed Vixen, his face in his customary frown. He should try to kill his inhibitions, he knew. Zarxs was too powerful to oppose and only by serving him, could one live. The child was simply unlucky.

Rain could hear anger in the young boy's voice. It was likely this could turn ugly. That was good. Rain slowly turned from the tree and looked the boy in the eyes. "To be honest I haven't a clue." Rain told the boy evenly. He gave him a one over. He looked strong, but not stocky. He carried seemed to have a sword with him. (Assuming. But I doubt he came to the meeting unarmed and he uses a sword correct?) A name came to mind from yesterday. "Nolan, correct?" he asked, but then continued. "You seem to know your place quite well. Well that's a luxury I don't have." explained Rain and then broke his gaze to look down at his hand. He remembered that night, when his hand had been engulfed in shadows. The shadows of his lost life. "All I know is that my place has something to do with Nala. That's it." he said, and then looked back up to the boy, and looked at him calmly. "My purpose might well be to exterminate her. Or it might be to protect her. I don't yet know. So..." Rain said, and slowly drew his blade. "If you don't trust me, then you might as well be rid of me now. But kill me honorably. In a fair fight." he continued, and then took a defensive stance, pointing his blade at Nolan. "I'm not going down easy though." he warned.

Nolan

Nolan just looked at the man, holding his ground but making no moves to draw his sword. "I don't care who you are, or what you think you're supposed to do," he said. "You messed with my family. If you want to talk to Tazer, not Nala, then you can do it in front of all of us, or never. If you're just going to try and kill her though, stay away, or all of us will fight against you, and if need be, die together. I'm not going to fight you, and I don't want to be enemies, but that's all up to you." He backed up into the foliage, and dissappeared within it, heading back to the other Wild Freaks.

Zarxs

"Obviously," Zarxs said, not sparing them a glance. "To put your minds to rest, I will let you know now, you aren't here to kill. We'll be fighting against children at some point, they are beneath my notice, they can live or die with no consequence to me. You are here to keep them occupied and anyone else who might drop in on our mission, while I attend to the target. I will need full concentration on the girl, so do not fail me."

Doran nodded in understanding. Failure meant death and he hadn't fought to survive all these years to allow Zarxs or anyone to kill him. He nodded, "Understood, milord. We will not fail you."

{*cough*Koraxen*cough*Gotta work on making it more balanced...}



So the original preconceptions were wrong. The assassins' job wasn't to kill the girl, but just distract her comrades so that Lord Zarxs could kill her himself. It had made sense after all. What other need was there for he to accompany them? Despite this fact not much had changed. The assassins had there orders, and they would follow them. Part of Koh was relieved. Not for himself, but for Vixen, who seemed to have perturbed feelings about killing a child. It seemed like she understood what she had to do, as did Doran. Oeni was loyal as always, and this factor did not affect Koh at all, who remained apathetic regarding the target; it did not matter who it was, or how many there were, because Lord Zarxs's orders were absolute.

However, all was not clear. Could there be someone else? Some unknown factor...? Lord Zarxs had implied that there could be another, but perhaps he was just being cautious; 'paranoid' was the term used earlier. This uncertainty, real or not, would be revealed shortly. Koh Kuei was ready.



For awhile, Izumi thought for sure that the man called 'Rain' would attack Tazer, and she nearly shot at him. When he walked away however, she was relieved, though that feeling did not last for so long as Nolan pursued the man.

Izumi stepped out of the bushes, sheathed her arrow, and walked up to her Tazer. "Are you okay? Did he do anything to you at all?" she asked.

IC: Oeni

"As you wish, Lord Zarxs." Oeni spared a small glance to Zarxs' other servants, his amber eyes giving Vixen and Doran a look of disgust. "The child shall be yours, and I shall see that the others give you no trouble."

Killing children is a task that bothers them? They lack the will required to do what is necessary, and are made weaker for it...perhaps I shall have to dispose of them...they cannot interfere with my mission... His eyes lingered on Vixen for a few moments, narrowing on the female assassin. "I hope you find the strength to do what is necessary when the time comes, Vixen...Goddess knows what will happen if you don't."

(I loved how I couldn't spell my own characters name in the pairing...)

Vixen shot a nasty look at Oeni. He did not speak to the others and she could guess why.

"I wonder why you are pointing me out Oeni? Is it because I am the only girl here? Yes I have problems with killing a child, but I will do as I am told. I am not a traitor."

She turned to look at Zarxs then back at Oeni. "I am not as weak as you may think."
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Tazer nodded. She didn't want to scare her friends.

"I'm fine. He just kind of scared me when he threw his sword. I didn't except that. But I'm ok now."

IC: Oeni

"Should I explain myself to the inferior? No, I do believe I am above such petty annoyances." Oeni's gaze was a harsh, withering blast from his amber orbs, before he looked to the other two assassins. "Besides...one other troubles me as well, but Lord Zarxs has spoken, and I will trust his judgement, as always."

Without another word, Oeni looked to the road ahead, a ghost of a smile hidden in the darkness of his helm.

Zarxs

"Silence, enough time has been wasted here," Zarxs said. "You have your orders, execute them." He rode, horse and rider blending into one phantom menace. He knew where to go, but the girl knew this place, it was her home, and she could escape easily there. But why end it so quickly, when toying with her could prove to be somewhat amusing.

Vixen followed Zarxs. She was still mad at Oeni's word. Like he was so much better than her because he could kill without feeling guilty. But she knew she had to concentrate on what was going on now.

Ivy slipped from the tree, dropping to the ground in a crouch, standing up straight and half-turning to send an icy glare in the direction the man had gone before turning back to Tazer. "He's lucky that sword didn't even scratch you. He walks away today. Once more, and he won't ever walk again." Her tone was dead serious, no trace of anger, just a lingering sense of understanding. It was obvious in her gaze that the man's actions had brought forth an ugly reminder of her life before she became a part of the Wild Freaks.

Marcus was the last one to come out of the hiding place, and he kind of stayed too long behind the bush after Rain had gone. When he got out, he walked towards the group with a smile the stretched all over his face. As he walked, he was pulling something tied with a lace from his shoe. When he got up close to his friends he pulled up the lace with 3 bunnies tied up at the other end of the lace.

“Pretty awesome right!?” he said very excited.

IC: Oeni

He rode ahead of the others, not far behind Zarxs. He did not see a need to associate with the other assassins, feeling that their petty emotions weakened them and prevented them from seeing the need for this assassination. Only Koh seemed to truely grasp that his place was as an insturment of Zarxs' will, and Oeni held respect for the young assassin because of it.

With the right guidence, he would become a fine warrior, and a fine servant of Zarxs. Making a mental note to speak with the young assassin next time the group rested, Oeni shifted his attention back to the ride.

Doran followed Vixen with a frown, thinking about what they had to do. He needed shut out all emotions during the mission, lest they weaken him. He needed all the strength he could get if he wanted to survive in this world.

Koh rode close to the group, but not too close as if potraying any sort of dominance or stife. Honestly, he didn't particularly like the way Oeni had spoke to Vixen, but he knew that he was right in a way. Feelings would only cause conflict, and when there is conflict there is the possibility of failure. As an assassin of Lord Zarxs failure is not only unacceptable, but dangerous; to Lord Zarxs and to oneself.

Nolan

Nolan approached the Wild Freaks, trying to appear calm but still fuming inside. "Let's get out of here before he decides he wants to kill us," he said, attempting to make it sound urgent. He wanted to forget about this, and continue their lives normally before this guy came and accused Tazer of being called Nala. That wasn't likely, Tazer wouldn't give up just yet, but maybe they'd at least retreat for now.

Vladmir

The knight stood up, and turned to the group. "We need to get moving, we're not going to find the Princess by standing around here," he said. He walked to his horse and mounted it, waiting for the others to do so before moving on.

Tifa followed Vladmir's lead. She didn't like the guy, but he was right. They had to get going to find Nala. The forest was large and so they didn't have time to waste searching.
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Tazer smiled when Nolen returned. He was ok. She was glad that Rain wasn't the type of guy to hurt someone without reason. Maybe she had misjudged him. Still she didn't trust the man.

"Ok. It's getting late anyways."

Nolan

"Ok, let's get going then," Nolan said, restless and eager to get out of there and back to the treehouse. After what the man said, he figured the best thing to do would be to get away from him and his obsession with Tazer.