Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-3293219-20140308235607/@comment-3293219-20140322224132

==Utopia falls==

Kaizen waited until nightfall; there were so many advantages to working in the dark. The shadows that he could wrap himself in and use as a shroud, using his enemy’s exhaustion and desire to relax against them, as it made sneaking past, stealth killing them and even fighting them head on a lot easier.

-

C’laro had returned some time ago, with little by way of results.

This killer, whoever he was, was clearly experienced. He had managed to cover his tracks, remarkably.

There was no sign of him anywhere, as if he had vanished on the spot, leaving no trace of his journey, past a certain point.

The Khajit had hoped to put this thing to bed and end the fear and discontent that the murderer had brought but sadly there was nothing that could help C’laro even identify him. Perhaps it was one of his old enemies, like Cyrelas…

Bastard… I should have killed him, when I had the chance…

The Altmer had been missing for several years now, there were stories about him but they were most likely gossip and rumour, still, it didn’t hurt to listen out to them. Cyrelas was sociopathic, erratic and cruel but even this didn’t seem like him.

Perhaps there was a new threat to County Cheydinhal, a place that hasn’t seen peace in centuries. Edgar, Xeran, Cyrelas, Dunlammus, J’dharjo...

There didn’t seem to be an end to them, the amount of crazies that lived in the woods. He made a point of making training difficult, so that exploring, patrolling and scavenging the woods wouldn’t have to be.

He made his way into his tent, with a sigh, as he had finished for the night. He sat down in his chair, trying to clear his head of what he had seen, earlier that day…

-

The Black Argonian approached and studied the patrol pattern of one of the adolescent soldiers, it took him approximately twenty seconds to walk to the left, gaze meaningfully into the distance and walk back to the right.

Child’s play…

 Kaizen got up from his hiding place, marching towards the camp, though it was tempting and it would solve a lot of his problems, the Black Argonian decided that killing the guard was more trouble than it was worth.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Argonian crept in, behind him, exiting his stealthy stance as he marched into the camp. He turned left, behind one of the tents, his black tail lingered and slithered around the corners as he passed them. He kept his focus on the path ahead, hopping from tent to tent, using them to conceal his infiltration as he made his way to C’laro’s base.

<p class="MsoNormal">Kaizen was almost spotted by a group of ‘Magna’s’ adolescents, they weren’t a patrol or even on duty and they quickly passed by, too busy comparing the size of their genitals to notice him.

<p class="MsoNormal">He watched, bitterly, as they turned the corner, giving him a chance to slip by, unnoticed.

<p class="MsoNormal">Now for the hard part…

<p class="MsoNormal">The Black Argonian stepped out, into the open part of the camp; most of the bandits were occupied by the fire pit and festivities to notice him walk through behind them. He stayed close to the walls of the tents, as he wandered through the camp, staying in shadow and avoiding being spotted at all costs. He was in no rush to reach his target but equally, he couldn’t linger in one spot for too long as that would surely give his position away.

<p class="MsoNormal">He began to pick up the pace as he got closer to his objective, longing for a battle against a warrior, who was a step closer to matching Pelinal.

<p class="MsoNormal">He entered the tent, throwing the flap over his head and sneaking in…

<p class="MsoNormal">Nobody saw him enter and his target was alone…

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri"> -            (Music ends here.)

<p class="MsoNormal">He looked up as he saw C’laro, sat around a small living area of his tent, drinking out of a wine glass as he settled in for the night. He had hoped to walk in on him doing something more impressive but everyone needs their downtime, right?

<p class="MsoNormal">The Black Argonian stepped around the room, trying carefully not to knock into any of the torches or candles or walk in front of them and cast a shadow. He watched carefully, his eyes darting between C’laro and the floor and whatever was to his left as he tried to sneak up on the Khajit.

<p class="MsoNormal">Secretly, he wanted to be spotted, to put this cat’s status to the test but he had to remember that he was an assassin first and a warrior later. Perhaps he hadn’t managed to suppress the excited nature of his youth, no matter how much effort Caius had put into smothering it out of him. Even though he felt and looked older, he was only 22... Or was it 23? Or more? Considering how much time he spent dead, some would consider him to be over 200 years old.

<p class="MsoNormal">Kaizen kept his gaze fixed on C’laro, who grabbed his axe and began to drag a stone across it, sharpening it as he thought about his day. He stared at the wall, which didn’t help Kaizen as he would notice any unusual shadows. He had to be…

<p class="MsoNormal">C’laro jumped, seeing a big black shadow loom over him, which caused him to jump out of his chair and raise his axe.

<p class="MsoNormal">Too late…

<p class="MsoNormal">“Who are you?”

<p class="MsoNormal">Kaizen rolled his eyes, what a stupid question for an intruder, who was dressed in black, armed with a mace and a hand axe.

<p class="MsoNormal">“An inevitability…” He muttered, drawing his mace and axe and giving the Khajit a cold, hard stare.

<p class="MsoNormal">C’laro raised his axe and got into his stance, ready to deflect this argonian’s attacks, he had never seen an argonian like this before, his scales were pure black and his eyes were like ice in every possible way.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Were you the one who killed Jomar?” He asked, through gritted teeth; if he was, then he was in for some serious pain.

<p class="MsoNormal">“The Imperial? Yeah, killed him…” Kaizen replied, as if he was confessing to stealing a biscuit out of a tin. If he was that precious and fragile, he wouldn’t have been out in the woods.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Why?”

<p class="MsoNormal">Kaizen shrugged, he was surprised that it wasn’t obvious to this ‘warrior of legend.’

<p class="MsoNormal">“Loose ends and such…” He answered, just as carelessly.

<p class="MsoNormal">“B-Bastard…” C’laro’s grip tightened on his axe, he was glad that the killer had come to him, it saved the khajit the trouble of finding him.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Khajit dashed forward and ran over to the Argonian, his feet pounding the floor as he got ready to swing. He struck at a diagonal, starting from the top right and striking down to the bottom left but Kaizen blocked it, with his mace.

<p class="MsoNormal">He held the khajit back, with his mace, striking his forehead down and smashing it, into the cat’s nose. He did this several times, hitting his cheeks, forehead and mouth. Eventually, C’laro stumbled back and covered his face, with his free hand wiping the blood off of his nose and split lip. He could feel that his cheek bone was quite swollen and his eye was severely bruised from the bludgeons delivered by the Argonian’s crest.

<p class="MsoNormal">He looked up and saw that the assassin was approaching him; his mace and axe were hanging by his side. C’laro raised his axe and stepped forward again, learning from his mistake, he would keep his head up this time.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Die, bastard!” He cried out, striking at the Argonian, a second time. Kaizen blocked the sharp end of his axe but it heavily deflected his mace, almost knocking it out of his hand, C’laro struck him across the face with the blunt end of the axe, causing Kaizen to stagger and stumble across the room. As he fell, he reached out and grabbed hold of a torch, which he accidentally knocked to the floor. The flames caught the cloth and it slowly began to smoke. Both of them were too focussed on their injuries and each other to notice it.

<p class="MsoNormal">Kaizen spun around, to see C’laro running at him, swinging his weapon. He struck at Kaizen, with a horizontal strike, causing him to jump back to avoid it. Even with his lightning fast reflexes, Kaizen only managed to avoid it narrowly and the tip of it scratched him stomach. Though it hurt, it was an over glorified paper cut and he suppressed his need to react to it.

<p class="MsoNormal">Kaizen then lunged forward as the two handed axe was a heavy weapon and it took, even the strongest men, precious milliseconds to get ready for another swing. This was all the Black Argonian needed to bring him down, knocking him to the floor.

<p class="MsoNormal">He pinned his arms down, with his knees and pinned his chest to the ground, with the palm of his hand, wasting no time as he began to repeatedly punch the khajit’s face.

<p class="MsoNormal">Kaizen drove his fist into C’laro’s face, repeatedly, not letting up as the swelling increased and he began to become less aware of his surroundings. The Black Argonian pulled him up, by the collar, to keep him conscious and struck him again and again, hoping to make him live through every minute of it as he continued to beat him to death.

<p class="MsoNormal">Though he felt the heat on his back and noticed the dancing of the flames as they swept across the tent, Kaizen paid no mind to the fire behind him as he was too focussed on his enemy.

<p class="MsoNormal">However, Kaizen then stopped as he heard the patting of feet, approaching from behind. He looked over his shoulder, grabbing his mace and raising it, just in time for it to clash with a katana. He glanced up to see a young, Dunmer girl, who looked down on him, with a furious look.

<p class="MsoNormal">She shrieked, swinging her sword again, a strike that Kaizen barely escaped from.

<p class="MsoNormal">He jumped to his feet and stumbled back, his trusty axe and mace hung by his side as he kept his gaze fixed on her, in an effort to read and intimidate her. She didn’t give him much time as she lunged forward again, driving her sword forward in an effort to run him through. Kaizen swung his mace, which she quickly deflected and then his axe, which caused her to stumble. He ran forward and swung his mace, striking her across the arm and sending her spinning to the floor, writhing in pain.

<p class="MsoNormal">Lila grabbed hold of her left arm, with the pain that she was in right now; she could have sworn that it was broken.

<p class="MsoNormal">Broken or not, she couldn’t show weakness, she had to get up. She grabbed hold of the hilt of her sword and pulled herself to her feet, her legs were shaky from the shock of the strike that she had received from the mace.

<p class="MsoNormal">They circled each other, until she had her back to the flames.

<p class="MsoNormal">Now was his chance…

<p class="MsoNormal">Kaizen lunged forward and swung his axe and mace, rapidly, as he made several desperate attempts to strike her with either weapon. Lila dodged it, desperate to avoid the weapons as they swung at her. Unfortunately for Kaizen, she realised what he was doing and choice to jump out of the way of the fire, to avoid falling into it.

<p class="MsoNormal">Kaizen swung his mace down as she did so; it hovered a few inches off of the ground as he was already in the process of striking her with it as she jumped out of the way. He glanced over to her and saw that she was crawling away, trying to find a table to pull herself up with as her arm was seriously hurting her at this point, it was almost debilitating.

<p class="MsoNormal">C’mon… 

<p class="MsoNormal">Just stay strong… 

<p class="MsoNormal">He can’t know that you’re hurt…

<p class="MsoNormal">Kaizen marched over to her, kneeling over her, like he did with her father, moments before. Lila had come to a stop as she reached a table, which stopped her from moving away from him, any further. She couldn’t hide under it, because that would just narrow her chances of escaping even more, if she even had a chance at this point...

<p class="MsoNormal">This time, he’d get it over with and use his mace; he needed to get out of here before the smoke overwhelmed him. He hovered the weapon above her head, ready to strike down and smash it repeatedly into the dunmer’s face, until she was neutralised. She wasn’t a target or a curiosity, so as long as she wasn’t able to attack him anymore, he was fine with whatever happened to her.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Dunmer stopped and looked up at him, a look of fear in her eyes. Kaizen didn’t even make note of it, he simply raised his mace, ready to drive it down, through her head, like her comrade before her…

<p class="MsoNormal">Lila winced and looked away as Kaizen struck down, with his mace. However, it never connected as Kaizen was shoved over by an unknown attacker. The khajit, from earlier, had him pinned down, repeatedly punching him in the face.

<p class="MsoNormal">   “Hands off of my fucking daughter!” He balled, pummelling the Black Argonian mercilessly, like he had done before. C’laro set out to punish the one who tried to take his daughter and lover away from him.

<p class="MsoNormal">Kaizen’s face took the beating surprisingly well, his scales provided some good protection, which kepts swelling and bleeding to a minimum.

<p class="MsoNormal">It still hurt like hell though…

<p class="MsoNormal">The Black Argonian found a weak spot in C’laro’s hold, his right hand could move and with a great deal of effort, he managed to pull it out, from under the khajit’s knee. He wasted no time before striking the khajit across the face, sending him spinning to the floor.

<p class="MsoNormal">Kaizen, now completely free, pulled himself to his feet and shambled over to his mace. It was time that the legend of C’laro came to an end and all good legends end with the death of the ‘hero.’

<p class="MsoNormal">C’laro opened his eyes; his cheek throbbed, fiercely, as he wasn’t expecting the sudden blow to the head. There, he saw him, as he blurred into focus, The Black Argonian who shambled over to him, eager to finish him off and get out of there.

<p class="MsoNormal">Kaizen could see the shadows of ‘The Mother’s’ bandits, as they flickered across the walls of the tent and scattered around the room as they ran about, like headless chickens, trying to find some water to put the fire out.

<p class="MsoNormal">He had to end this…

<p class="MsoNormal">Now…

<p class="MsoNormal">He marched over and got ready to kill the khajit, with him gone, the bandits would have little by way of leadership, even with their original leader still in power; they’ll have no one to protect them.

<p class="MsoNormal">Lila pulled herself to her feet, finding it difficult to stand, with only one arm. She grimaced in pain as she saw Kaizen, going in for the kill as her father lay there, waiting for the killing blow.

<p class="MsoNormal">Desperately, she ran into the fray, katana at the ready as she plunged it forwards, aiming for The Argonian’s black heart.

<p class="MsoNormal">She didn’t hit her target, as her hands were trembling and she grew quite hesitant as she got up close. Her sword went through Kaizen’s coat and cut across his chest, leaving a deep scratch, that made him cry out in pain.

<p class="MsoNormal">It disturbed the young Dunmer, that she could inflict such pain on a living thing. Even though she had a traumatic childhood, where she saw the darkest corners of the human heart, she knew that others felt pain.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Black Argonian began to hack and wheeze as the pain caused him to yell and he inhaled an unhealthy amount of smoke, from the fire as he did so. He glanced down, pulling his coat back, to see a deep scratch across his torso. It was agonising, to say the least and he began to feel faint as he was sure that he’d pass out from the pain.

<p class="MsoNormal">Suddenly, a party of katana wielding bandits entered C’laro’s tent, looking around in the hopes of finding him and making sense of the situation.

<p class="MsoNormal">As they entered, they saw that C’laro was lay on the floor and his daughter was stood, staring at them, with a tight grip on her sword.

<p class="MsoNormal">Then, they saw him, The Black Argonian.

<p class="MsoNormal">The apparent leader turned to him and raised his sword, pointing it at him, in an attempt to intimidate the Argonian into surrendering.

<p class="MsoNormal">“S-Stop!”

<p class="MsoNormal">He should have known better…

<p class="MsoNormal">Kaizen rolled his eyes and lunged forward, swinging his mace across the boy’s arm and disarming him as well as doing a number on his sword arm. The others lunged forward, ready to plunge their katanas into the Black Argonian and kill him, instantly.

<p class="MsoNormal">But Kaizen, as always, planned ahead. He grabbed the apparent leader and used him as a shield, so that his comrades would stab him instead. Multiple swords went into the boy’s chest and stomach; some of them reached to the other side and managed to scratch the Argonian behind him.

<p class="MsoNormal">He now had two or three scratches across his chest and stomach as well as the deep one, that he had received earlier, none of his newly received ones hurt half as much as that did.

<p class="MsoNormal">He threw the boy’s corpse at them and set off running, across the camp, as reinforcements began to close in on C’laro’s tent. By now, the entire camp had now been called to arms, making escape very difficult but Kaizen had survived worse…

<p class="MsoNormal">Much worse…

<p class="MsoNormal">He drew his mace and raised it as three late katana wielding bandits crossed his path. Kaizen didn’t have time to face them, as his body was failing him and he had to get back home before he collapsed or worse.

<p class="MsoNormal">He had to get back to his sanctuary…

<p class="MsoNormal">Back to Petra…

<p class="MsoNormal">He drove his mace down and struck the middle boy’s head, the mace got stuck in the adolescent’s skull and the force broke his neck, killing him, instantly. The Black Argonian, unintentionally, dragged him along for a few seconds before stamping down on his shoulder and pulling it out, retrieving the mace, the contents of the boy’s skull stubbornly clung to it, even after he removed it.

<p class="MsoNormal">Though it was agonising to do so, he bent down and retrieved the boy’s katana. Though it required more finesse than his hand axe or mace, he felt that the katana was better than relying on a blunt instrument alone. After all, slashing through his opponents was a lot faster than bludgeoning through them as it killed them quicker and he could swing the katana faster.

<p class="MsoNormal">By now Kaizen was in a great deal of pain, but he had to push past it, if he was to survive. He sprinted past the other two and made a break for the exit, being chased through the camp. More of ‘The Mother’s’ men appeared, armed with iron short swords, in civilian clothes. The Black Argonian didn’t even give them a chance to prepare, striking forward as he tried to cut through them.

<p class="MsoNormal">They continued to charge at him and they eventually met at the center of the battlefield. The first struck down, with his iron short sword. Kaizen held back and swung his sword across, slicing through the boy’s arm, like a hot knife through butter.

<p class="MsoNormal">He the continued forward, ready to take on the second one as he ran in, holding his pitiful excuse of a sword above his head. Kaizen cut across his stomach as he ran past, not even turning around to see if it had hit or not. He heard the blood drip from his stomach and splatter on the floor, the boy shuffled forward, clutching the wound and looking around, lost, as he looked for help. He quickly felt his grip on his life weakening before he finally keeled over, dead.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Argonian struck, horizontally, again at the third boy, who didn’t put up any resistance. He was too shocked, by what he had just witnessed, to defend himself or attack his assailant. The katana cut through his neck and sent his head flying in the air.

<p class="MsoNormal">By now, Kaizen could see the exit but he couldn’t leave yet, nobody could see him leave…

<p class="MsoNormal">If they did, they could follow him or follow his tracks and that could lead them back to Fort Farragut.

<p class="MsoNormal">Back to Larius, Levi…

<p class="MsoNormal">Petra…

<p class="MsoNormal">He’d die before he’d let that happen.

<p class="MsoNormal">He spun around and met the other two assailants; the first of the two bandits approached him. Kaizen struck the bandit’s block, heavily, causing him to stagger. He used this as his chance to run him through, with his sword, before retrieving the blade and decapitating the boy, with a horizontal strike. He was an easy target as he stood there, in shock, from the impalement.

<p class="MsoNormal">The second one tried to take the Argonian down but he proved even less of a challenge as Kaizen was able to bring him down, by swiftly slashing his sword, through his throat.

<p class="MsoNormal">He turned right before the body hit the ground and picked up two oil lamps as he started to run alongside the tents. He could only run at jogger’s pace, he was far too injured to sprint or run effectively.

<p class="MsoNormal">He threw the first lantern into the first of the tents, setting it alight. He raised his arm, as he threw it and stretched his chest, tearing at the wound. He grimaced as he grabbed hold of it; his run came to a slight shuffle as he threw the second lamp inside and picked up another pair, which had been scattered along the ground, during the chaos.

<p class="MsoNormal">He did the same again, only this time a lot slower, setting the tents a light by throwing the oil lamps inside. He stumbled back as the last of the tents burned; looking up in awe at his creation before coughing, due to the smoke, that he had inhaled before.

<p class="MsoNormal">Now… to get back to Petra and pray that she knows what to do…

<p class="MsoNormal">He looked down at the wound on his torso, seeing that it was far worse than he thought; he covered it up with his coat, grimacing as the wool grazed the exposed wound. He was too focussed on the blaze to notice that a khajit was approaching him, from behind. His green eyes lit up, in the dark, fixed on his enemy; who stood, relishing the destruction of everything he cherished.

<p class="MsoNormal">C’laro raised his Katana and swung it at the argonian, leaping forward from the shadows and exposing his full face and body as he landed his attack. His katana buried itself into Kaizen’s right arm, causing him to cry out in agony again, as the blade sunk into his flesh, almost touching the bone of his upper arm.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Black Argonian stumbled   as C’laro pulled the sword out, by dragging it across and dropped his sword, as his right hand could no longer grasp it. Though the wound wasn’t fatal, it only added to his troubles as he was one step closer to keeling over, he was amazed that he hadn’t already…

<p class="MsoNormal">C’laro wasted no time and smashed the hilt of his sword, into the side of the Argonian’s head. He was incredibly unsteady on his feet, as it was and such a powerful strike that it knocked him onto his back.

<p class="MsoNormal">Kaizen lay out, flat, immediately after impact. He was far too weak, from his injuries, to get back up and attack the khajit or even flee. He just lay on the grass, feeling the light flicker from the burning tents as its glow warmed the left side of his face.

<p class="MsoNormal">All he could see was the night’s sky, something that was to bring him comfort, during his final moments. It was an endless void, that he could stare into, that distracted him from the pain and the grimness of his situation.

<p class="MsoNormal">An endless void, like the one that his soul would soon go to…

<p class="MsoNormal">P-Petra…

<p class="MsoNormal">Belecha…

<p class="MsoNormal">Caius…

<p class="MsoNormal">Pelinal…

<p class="MsoNormal">He listed those who were closest to him, those who inspired him, loved him and made him who he was...

<p class="MsoNormal">He would call them ‘loved ones’ if he were capable of such a thing…

<p class="MsoNormal">His eyes fixed on C’laro as he appeared, towering over him, clutching his sword as he prepared himself for the final strike.

<p class="MsoNormal">Before C’laro could raise his sword, there was an explosion in one on of the tents as the flames had reached an ammo cache. The shells heated and expanded before popping, like a fire cracker and caused a large explosion, that engulfed the entire tent and surrounding tents in flames.

<p class="MsoNormal">C’laro felt the heat as the shockwave of the blast hit him, from several feet away, it knocked him to the floor as more of the beaumanic bullets exploded after it, creating a long succession of crackling and popping sounds.

<p class="MsoNormal">This was the distraction that Kaizen needed; fate would not give him this chance again…

<p class="MsoNormal">With a great deal of effort, Kaizen scrambled to his feet, picking up his mace. Whether it was momentary respite from lying in the field or his new found determination to survive, Kaizen, suddenly, felt a lot stronger as if he had a chance to escape. To say that he was rejuvenated would be incredibly inaccurate but he was able to stand on his own two feet again.

<p class="MsoNormal">As C’laro looked over to him, only just noticing his recovery, The Black Argonian swung his mace and struck C’laro around the head with it, sending him spinning to the ground.

<p class="MsoNormal">He looked around as everyone was too focussed on containing the chaos of the explosions and dousing out the fires to notice him. He basked in it all, seeing so many lives fall apart due to the actions of one man…

<p class="MsoNormal">Inspiring…

<p class="MsoNormal">With that, he turned around and walked away, leaving his legacy behind him.

<p class="MsoNormal">-

<p class="MsoNormal">Lila was the only one to see him leave, she abandoned her efforts of putting out the tent fires and chased after him but she found herself unable to move. A crowd of people congregated around her. They stood around, yelling orders that annoyed her to no end as they were incredibly loud and close; she almost wanted to start hitting her own people.

<p class="MsoNormal">The sea of fools made it impossible to move, more than an inch at a time. She grew more and more frustrated as her enemy got away.

<p class="MsoNormal">   A nord bumped into her broken arm, causing her to gasp and swear, under her breath, several times as she shuffled along, cradling the limb as she went.

<p class="MsoNormal">She was stopped by a Bosmer boy, who seemed intent on getting in her way. He stood, yelling orders at the top of his lungs, in an annoying, high pitched, prepubescent voice. The Dunmer grew impatient and shoved him to one side, with her good arm, but he had delayed her long enough as the Argonian had gotten away.

<p class="MsoNormal">   No sign of where he went…

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">She pushed out of the crowd and stumbled forward, as she nearly tripped over her own feet, through shuffling. She gasped as she saw what lay on the ground, where he had previously stood.

<p class="MsoNormal">D-Dad?

<p class="MsoNormal">She began to well up as she noticed that he wasn’t moving…

<p class="MsoNormal">“No…”

<p class="MsoNormal">-

<p class="MsoNormal">C’laro lay on the ground; his beard and mane were blown about by the breeze, as the wind picked up.

<p class="MsoNormal">He lay still, unable to move or respond as he had lost consciousness, some time ago.

<p class="MsoNormal">Gabrielle…

<p class="MsoNormal">I’m sorry…