[Kiel]

Kiel hummed and bounced on his toes. His red eyes scanned what he could see of North Road, a compacted dirt trail that, like, led north all the way from Alexandria, up through the teeny tiny, like, totally boring village of Little Eden, and up the River Cora toward Corantha. He was meeting someone the League claimed could help him with his initiation assignment. Like, they'd been impressed enough with his fighting skills to be all, like, welcome to the league and whatnot, but they wanted to see him in action before they'd accept him fully. Or, like, not in action, he guessed, 'cause, like, wouldn't that mean actually being there with him? Instead, they'd told him to meet some Anyeli chick who had, like, info about some bandit crew and then, like, take out said bandit crew. Kiel had laughed and said, like, no problem no problem, you know, but, like, now that he was standing here in the dark, waiting for some spy chick to show up and be all, like, do the spy thing and stuff, he was starting to wonder if he should have, like, asked for help or something.

He lamented as much to Neme. The full moon was bright in the starry sky, so at least he didn't need, like, a shevrock or something to light his way. “I mean, like, it's okay them saying to be all "rawr" and stabby, you know, but, like, how'm I meant to take out a whole gang by myself?” Shane nosed at his ankle, her whiskers tickling his leg and her cold, wet snout, like, nudging under the hem of his multi-pocketed trousers so she could lick his bare skin. “Wahahahaha, okay, like, okay okay! Okay? I'm not alone, I get it.” He giggled and shoved her face away with his knee. “It tickles, okay?” The shadowkin knew that, and did it anyway. “Wahaha, little minx. You're a minx.”

He had Pria, too, so it wasn't like he was alone alone, you know? But, like, he'd kinda figured that joining a league would, like, you know. Give him a league of people just like him to work with, instead of shooting him off into the wilderness by himself to meet, like, strange women who probably wanted to stab him in the back or something.

“Like, I hope she comes soon, man, for sers. I'm starving.”

[Serenity]

Serenity was annoyed. There was just no other way of putting it. She’d gotten called in for a job only to find out it was the League who’d found out from whispers that she knew were a certain group of bandits were that they’d been looking for. She thought she’d be able to get away with bartering the information she had with money but unfortunately they said she had to help and keep watch of their newest member dispatch of the issue. If she did that and reported back to them to give her opinion of how he’d done then she’d get her money. The only reason she’d agreed to babysit –cause that’s exactly what they put her on. Babysitting duty- was because of the hefty price they were willing to pay. They knew she worked alone and they’d been trying to gain her help for ages now. Damn them by Xanth but now they had it and she was royally annoyed at that fact as she glided down to perch close to the agreed meeting place.

Amusingly enough, ‘stab him in the back or something’ was exactly what Serenity wanted to do when she heard the voice of someone laughing and then speaking. This made her annoyance peak all the more at his lack of stealth and knowledge of spying. Did they not tell him he was not to be seen or heard before he strikes? Or was he just a blithering idiot? "Svouniá!" She whispered strongly, the curse rolling off her tongue like water brushing smoothly against rock. She’d been stuck with an absolute anói̱tos and this job just kept getting better and better. Stepping from her perch, she landed effortlessly on her feet making barely any noise as her wings puffed out to help her glide down a bit. Her movements were like a cat stalking its prey, precise and quiet. "I’m guessing you want anyone within a ten mile radius to come along with me.” Her voice was just a notch below a hiss as she made herself known to the male. Her wings outstretched to make her appear a little bigger, her body taught with the readiness to attack or defend. Her hands hovering over the area where she had her dagger today, strapped around her thigh in case she needed to grab it.

She took in the man she was supposed to babysit and snorted. Her hair was tied up and out her way, leaving it in a ponytail scaling down her back so that her blue eyes stood out all the more. She examined him, circling around him with a quite but deadly aura. Sure Serenity didn’t like killing but she’d been trained to do so by an ex-military veteran. She knew how to be deadly, she just wondered if this one would be up for slaughtering. Snorting and wondering why she cared, Serenity’s wings snapped shut behind her in clear irritation. "So you’re the one they want me to babysit. No wonder. Let’s get things right. You are neither to be seen nor heard. If you must speak do so without revealing your position because thirdly I don’t care if you die or not. My job is to merely help you get to the campsite. The rest is up to you. I get paid whether you live or die so by all means do anything you want that won’t get me killed as well. Got it? Get it? Good.” Serenity could feel that little smidgen of guilt crawling up her stomach but at the thought that this guy was becoming a part of the League she squashed it mercilessly. She didn’t particularly like the league nor anyone in it so she wouldn’t go soft.

"We are to head due west towards where I saw the campsite last, then if they’re not there we shall track them to their new site. Keep in mind we must move quickly but quietly. She watched the male in front of her, he didn’t look very old and it would be a shame if he died tonight but she shook the thought out of her mind. He was League and she hated anything to do with them and their scheming to always get her to help them.

WORDCOUNT:: Seven hundred and eleven
MUSICPLAYING:: Gollum’s Song
CURRENTMOOD:: Serene
POSTTAGGEDFOR:: Kiel!
AUTHORSNOTES:: * Svouniá – Turd, * anói̱tos -Fool[/blockquote][/blockquote]

TEMPLATE CREATED BY YOUR SWEET DEMISE of CAUTION 2 THE WIND

[Kiel]

“Wah!” Kiel jumped and spun in one move, his fists up and his feet braced shoulder-width apart ready for fisticuffs. When he realised it was just some chick stalking toward him, he relaxed his arms and, like, tittered. “Wah, dude, you freaked me ou—Huh? Like, huh?” Kiel's welcoming grin turned into a frown that deepened the more she spoke 'cause, like, huh? What stealth? Nobody said anything about being all, like, stealthy, you know? Kiel didn't do stealth. Shane did the stealthy stuff and he watched and clapped and gave her treats for being so awesome at it. Sometimes he worked with Skotadi who did the stealthy stuff too, and he watched and he clapped and he tried to them treats for being so awesome at it, too, though more often than not the snacks were rejected 'cause they'd been, like, in his pockets or were half-eaten already or just looked crazy mangy or something. But Kiel himself didn't do stealth. Like, he wouldn't know how to sneak up on someone if they were blind, deaf and had the brain of a plum.

Well, like, that wasn't altogether accurate. He'd done the stealth thing himself a few times out of necessity, but for some reason things always went kinda pear-shaped. And, like, “Why am I thinking of fruit? I'm hungry. Dude, I'm starving. You want an apple? Like, I have apples in here somewhere.” Patting himself down in search of the relevant pockets, he plucked out two small apples and offered her one, smiling around his own mouthful. Like, dude, he was so so so hungry, man. He hadn't eaten since, like, an hour ago.

“So we're headed west, like, right? That's that way, like, right?” He pointed to the west and chewed. “Like, but you don't need to help with the tracking if they're not there.” She seemed like she'd rather be someplace else. Like, maybe she had a boyfriend and was giving up time with him to spend with Kiel instead, and the boyfriend would be all, like, "rawr" and stuff that she'd cancelled on him. Kinda like he wished Zeph would be instead of all "whatever". “Shane's got, like, awesome nostrils, doncha? Doncha?” The shadowkin nuzzled the back of his knee so he could ruffle behind her ears. When he offered her his apple, she turned up her nose and sniffed. “But I can do fast, so, like, lessgo lessgo!”

Tossing his apple core, Kiel sped off in a westerly direction and, like, slowed down when he realised she couldn't keep up, turning to speak as he jogged, “So, like, I'm Kiel, by the way. They didn't tell me your name?”

[Serenity]

Serenity felt her temper flicker as she realized the person in front of her totally disregarded every word she just said save for which way they were supposed to go. Suddenly he was rushing off and leaving her behind, for a moment Serenity just blinked as she tried to process what just happened before she growled. She unfolded her wings in a snap before folding them again, she wouldn't be able to fly without a little help that she didn't have unfortunately so instead she sprinted after him with a scowl on her face. Irritation was slowly eating away at her but she was beginning to realize he was the kind of person she didn’t like. Peppy, happy people always annoyed her and she couldn’t believe this was what she had to deal with. When she caught up with him as he slowed down he turned to her and introduced himself as Kiel. She glanced at him for a split second as was quiet for a few moments before she said, "Names are not necessary. We will have no further connections after tonight after all. " She continued on for a while without talking before that nagging feeling in her gut made her sigh in resignation.

"I go by the name ‘Star’ so if necessary you may call me that.” Serenity always went by her nickname when she was on a job, never saying her actual name unless it was necessary. She glanced back at Kiel and asked after a moment, "Do you know who or what exactly you’re going after? Or are you just following orders?” Serenity had only described the group of bandits and the League, recognizing the group as the bandits they wanted had bartered for her help. However, she had no idea who was the leader and what exactly they were, whether Therians or Anyeli. Serenity noticed they were closing in on she’d last seen the campgrounds they were looking for and slowed down to a stop. She stood still listening for any sign of life, unsure if they should move forward she looked over at Kiel and said, "I’m going to go ahead and see if they are still there. If you hear me whistle that means you can come over, if you don’t hear anything from me then you can assume I was captured or killed.” A part of her wondered if he'd follow that order, she couldn't be sure as she stood there waiting for his response.

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[Kiel]

Kiel let the chick take the lead and, like, moped. “Oh. Like. Oh.” She didn't want to tell him her name? Like, dude, that sucked. Did she think he was gonna be all, like, throw up a bounty on her head or something? He wasn't exactly the "fear me" type, you know? Not like his boyfriend. Like, dude, Zeph could scare a tree out of a forest, man, for sers, and Kiel kept trying to emulate that glare he did, but, like, he always looked more like a five-year-old imitating his dad than a Rutilus in his own right.

“Wah! Like, for sers? Wahahaha, man, that's awesome. Star. I was thinking of joining the Ascending Star once, like, you know? The one in the White City?” He could have gone on and on about their coolness but, like, she asked him then if he knew what he was doing and he huffed. “Like, it's bandits, it's bandits!” He grinned. Like, what did it matter what their names were? They must have been bad to get on the League's list of "to buttkick", like, right?

When "Star" tried to leave, Kiel darted after her. “Hey, hey! Like, dude. Don't leave me here alone, okay?” Shane growled and nipped his ankle, having lunged after him to keep pace with them. “Like, not alone, but, like, you can't just, like, say something like that and then be all happy lala, okay? "Captured or killed", like, what? No way, man, for sers.” Like, they'd only just met but no way he was going to let her go off and get herself killed without him, you know?

Besides, like, he had a better idea. “Like, Shaney Shaney Shaney Shaney Shaney Shaaaaaaane.” The 'kin snuffled softly, mauve eyes pegging him in the moonlight. She knew exactly what he was going to say and pivoted away to stalk ahead of them like a scout, her little pink nose close to the ground. She'd find the bandits for them, even if it meant bypassing the camp altogether. Kiel unsheathed his katana and followed close behind with an invitation tossed over his shoulder to “Lessgo lessgo!”

[Serenity]

Serenity couldn’t believe he moped because she didn’t want to tell him her name. He actually moped! Peppy, happy people seriously annoyed her. The moping soon led to the nagging feeling and then she was telling him her nickname much to her annoyance. What the hell was she thinking?! Serenity couldn’t believe her luck, if she hadn’t known any better she’d think that the League planned this out. Killing her with kindness and the like or at least that was how the saying went. The thought vaguely amused her but before the amusement reached her expression she pushed it down and ignored it. Serenity rolled her eyes in clear annoyance at how bubbly Kiel got when she gave him her nickname and he began to rant.

’And did somebody say I cared?’ She thought icily but kept the words from passing her lips. Her self-control thankfully was as good as ever but she was beginning to wonder how long it would last. She snorted at Kiel’s answer to her question about the bandits and looked ahead once more. "Of course. Mindlessly following orders and not questioning them. That’s a typical League member, as to be expected." Venom leaked from her voice so it was easy to tell she held no love for the League or at least it should have been. Everything just seemed to roll of this guy and he seemed unfazed with any of her icy or unkind comments since they met. Serenity wasn’t the time to not ask questions when she took up a job and asked questions she had. However, she pushed away the thought and kept on going until they reached the spot.

Just like she’d expected at her order for him to stay there, he’d objected to much to her exasperation. Giving him a withering glare she said as a matter of factly, "You realize for years I’ve been taking care of myself. I’m not a child. I know how to defend myself. I was just being practical." There was a low growl when she ended the word ‘child’ but she got herself under control again.

He called to his kin and it went to scout out ahead and she rolled her eyes towards the sky in a ‘why me?’ way before she followed behind him as they walked. Not long she heard a fire crackle and she laid a hand on Kiel’s arm hoping to get his attention, she put her finger to her lips in a silencing motion and hoped he’d get the hint before she moved forward a little. She saw a dying fire not too far ahead of them but nothing else that signaled to life. She looked at Kiel questioningly, silently asking him if it was safe to approach the campsite.

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[Kiel]

Like, this time, Kiel totally managed to stay quiet. His jaw worked and he swallowed repeatedly, like, drawing in a breath a few times to speak but swallowing it before he could make a peep. Like, he could do this stealth thing. Like, right?

He followed Shane toward the camp fire, totally peering at the ground like he knew how to read tracks. It was dark so, like, it was hard to see anything useful even if he knew what he was doing, so he trailed after Shane as she sniffed around instead. And, like, since the 'kin wasn't, like, freaking out and doing that "ears back, growl" thing, he figured it was safe to talk.

Air burst out of his mouth on a heartfelt sigh as he crouched beside the fire and held a palm over it to feel the heat. “Dude. Like, the embers are still hot so they can't have gone far. Can you see any tracks or anything? 'Cause, like, it kinda looks like there are two strong scent trails to follow.” Shane was pacing back and forth between two different directions, which meant he had, like, a decision to make. Star had mentioned tracking earlier, so, like, he had to figure she knew what she was doing, at least.

[Serenity]

Serenity watched as Kiel’s Shadow Kin tried to sniff out a scent but seemed to be having a hard time at doing that. She glanced over at Kiel when he spoke and frowned, ’Guess they aren’t as useful as I thought they were.’ Sighing lightly she narrowed her eyes at the fire, estimating just how long ago they had left and guessed it was only a few minute. Ten minutes minimum if she had to guess though and this had her searching around the campfire, trying to figure out what made them leave so quickly. Not far away she noticed a few branches in a bush seemed to be broken, furrowing her eyebrows she approached the bush and gritted her teeth at what she saw, hidden away was a man with a dagger deep in his chest. Looking over at Kiel she said, "I found what made them leave so quickly. They must have gotten into an argument or else someone stumbled upon them and they started moving.”

She kneeled down and noticed a broken branch that had a drop of blood. Looking down at the ground there was a slight smudged trail, looks like one of them men got injured and tried to cover his little blood trail. Noticing the scraped and scattered grounds direction Serenity nodded her head and said, "I can track them. Most wouldn’t notice the trail but it was there, the smudged blood plus the traces of dirt being moved and scattered show that they were covering their tracks. Follow that clue and they’ll stop trying to cover their tracks.”

Straightening as she stood she started walking towards the tracks were before stopping a few feet off. Looking at Kiel as her muscles tensed as she got ready to sprint she asked with a slight raise of her eyebrow, "You ready to go? They’ve made it known they have no fear of killing. So we should be prepared for the worst.”

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[Kiel]

Hrm, okay, so, like, the bandits must have used the other trail before or something. The Anyelos was, like, totally convinced it was the one they were following, so he couldn't figure out why Shane had sniffed out two. Like, maybe some of the bandits had come in that way, instead? Or, like, they'd split up or something. But then, if Star was as good a tracker as she claimed, then, like, wouldn't she know the difference?

Okay, so he followed her, like, totally trusting in her ability, and bounced after her on tiptoe with his hands up in claw fashion. It was a totally exaggerated stealth pose but, like, he grinned at her when she glanced back and nodded assuringly, his response a stage whisper.

“Like, no sweat, man, for sers! I've fought, like, gytrash, man, and those freak the Xanth outta me. Which is kinda hard 'cause she's a grown goddess and that'd just be weird, but, like, my boyfriend took me to the desert once and we fought lions, man, for sers!” He said it with such gravity, the lions might as well have been, like, a kraken or something. Which kinda reminded him of the trip to Anoria, actually. And so he continued to reel off his many encounters like a total pro, man, all the while tiptoeing behind the Anyelos as she followed the bandits' trail with Shane right at his heels.

[Serenity]

Serenity looked at the peculiar man at her side, unsure if she should take his rather dramatic pose seriously or not. Sighing and glancing up at the sky in an exasperated manner, she ignored him for a moment before he started whispering a reply to her question. She raised an elegant eyebrow in slight surprise when he said the word boyfriend, she hadn’t met many men that prefer men relationships but she wasn’t one to judge. After all she was beginning to believe herself to be asexual. Tucking a lock of loose hair back behind her ear she kept moving, just barely listening to Kiel as she tracked the trail. However, she was beginning to feel uneasy. Something wasn’t right and all her instincts were screaming at her to get out of that situation. It wasn’t adding up and neither was the fact the shadow kin had caught two scents.

Why had there been a man there, not very well hidden? Why did they leave in such a hurry but left a plainly obvious trail to follow? Why were there two scent trails? What was going on? Her body tensed, not liking what this was adding up to as her mind raced to put the missing puzzle pieces together, trying to figure out what was going on. It was then they came up on the tracks and she knelt down, examining them. It felt like it was too soon to be coming up on the tracks. Where they being cocky? Where they that confident no one would follow or have the skills to track them? It just wasn’t making sense to her. She stood up slowly, staring intensely at the tracks. Her instincts on red alert and her body tense with unease.

She looked back at Kiel, the frown on her face obvious as she looked at him. She wondered if he was thinking about how strangely all of this was coming out to be. It just didn’t make sense to her. She opened her mouth to comment on it when there was a sudden noise of a branch snapping and she froze. Her head snapping towards where the sound came from as she put her finger to her lips. Trying to listen for another sound, but nothing came and she scowled. Her wings stretched out as her feathers ruffled in unease, her body showing all the emotions that her face wouldn’t express as she said, ”Did you hear that?” She wanted to make sure it wasn’t just her hearing the sound, reconfirming it wasn’t paranoia making her act like this.

Letting out a low frustrated growl, she whirled around and doubled back towards the way they came. It was a trap and they’d walked straight into it. It finally made sense and she could only hope Kiel was following behind her as she said, ”we have to go back. It’s a trap. I think they set this up.” Her heart was hammering, instincts telling her it was already too late from what she thought that sound might have been.

Piper's Boutique • Link1 • Link2

[Kiel]

Kiel nodded, his eyes wide over the hand he had pressed to his mouth to muffle his inability to shut up. Like, Star had said earlier to be quiet, you know, and he was doing his best, okay? But he had definitely heard that twig snap and, like, his mouth was running away with the possibilities, you know?

When she headed off, he and Shane weren't far behind. “Like, dude, I am so there, man, for sers. Like, these guys knew we were coming, you know? Like, you think someone in the League tipped them oo-wahhhh!”

He was reacting before he really understood why. Like, there was a zing, like, right by his ear and blood seeped from a small nick on his cheek as he launched himself at Star's back. He tried to, like, grab her around the waist so he could tackle them both to the ground under the sudden barrage of arrows, a high-pitched squeal bursting from his lips as he hit the grass. “Wah! Wah, shooting! Like, they're shooting at us!”

[Serenity]

Serenity frowned as she tried to figure out how exactly this had all happened. How could they possibly fall into a trap when no one was supposed to know they were coming? Her frown only deepened when she remembered the face of the man that they’d found in the bushes. He’s looked oddly…familiar. Serenity glanced back at Kiel when he began speaking but kept her eyes front and her senses alert for anything. When he started speaking about the league the man’s face flickered in her mind and she let out a soft but surprised "Oh!” Her face going into shock at the realization that she’d seen him there before an alarm went off in her head that Kiel had been cut off and something was coming her way. However, before she was able to react she was being tackled to the ground, landing with a grunt. At Kiel’s exclamation Serenity through a dirty look at him as she hissed out, "No taroch dung! We’re in the middle of a trap, what do you expect?!”

Her eyes searched around them and she could just make out their silhouettes in the shadows. She tensed a bit as she reached for her dagger, noticing an arrow that was stuck in a log not too far from them. Calculating the wind and how hard she had to throw her dagger, she crouched low and brought the dagger just by her head before launching it at the closest silhouette. Hearing a satisfying groan and thud Serenity jumped away as familiar hissing ran through the air in retaliation. Brushing any arrow she could away from her body with her wings, using them as protection as she sprinted towards where she’d thrown her dagger. Finding the body, she ripped her blade from the body and hid in the darkness as she looked for the next person to hit.

It didn’t take her long to find him when he moved to look for his fallen comrade. Stealthily she snuck up but before she was able to sink it into his back he whirled around and stopped her with his own knife. Hissing low in anger as he made a swipe at her she leaped away from his reach. They circled each other for a moment before they attacked each other, Kiel momentarily forgotten as she engaged this man. Her eyes narrowed as she found an opening and sunk her dagger deep into his side right between the ribs. He looked at her, surprise obvious in his eyes before they dimmed and no life was in them. Serenity looked down at the blood on her hands and flinched, she wasn’t supposed to be getting involved with the killing. She was supposed to just watch, so why? She shook the thought off and frantically tried to rub the blood off on her clothes. There was a sudden commotion and she turned to see what had caused it.

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[Kiel]

“Wah, you don't have to be, like, mean and stuff, okay?”

Kiel turned away, ducking and weaving to avoid arrows as Shane phased through the darkness to nip and snarl at bandit ankles. “This sucks, man, for sers!” He wasn't sure how Star was even hitting the mark in the darkness like this. Like, he'd gotten pretty advanced in his training, you know, but he was still struggling to even see his targets.

But at least he had Shane, you know? Their Chosen bond allowed him to track her movements, so when she seized on the ankle of one guy, he was able to toss a throwing knife before the bandit could kick her away. Luckily, it pierced right into his heart, and Kiel let out a cheer. “Whoo! Didja see that, didja see tha-wah!”

Another hail of arrows sent him diving behind rock that jutted up from the dirt. It was a pretty small rock so it wasn't providing much shelter, but, like, it was better than nothing, like, right? So when Shane launched herself at one of the bowmen, forcing him to stop firing to fend her off and stagger back away from her, Kiel flung himself out from the shelter of the rock and whipped out his katana with a battle cry that sounded kinda like a bawling baby. “Waughhhhhhh!”