The man got up off his chair; he had to get ready. His friends would join him tomorrow and they would leave the morning after, since they would undoubtedly need some rest. But after that, they would have to move faster than if all the beasts of hell were chasing after them, and in a way, the Knights of Camaro could be just that.

He finished getting all his things in order, and sat back down outside, listening to the musical symphony of the animals. He was tense all over, and his heart seemed to skip every other beat. He knew he couldn't relax though, that wouldn't happen until he and his friends put some real distance between them and the Knights. He and his friends had a better lead on them then they could ever of possibly hoped for, in fact, if the gods were good, the Knights may not have even noticed that 'it' was missing quite yet, although he doubted his luck was that good. After all, we are talking about the Knights most beloved possession, something that had been made by the first of their clan. He wasn't going to get away that easy.

The man pulled the amulet out of his pocket. It truly was a beautifully crafted medallion, sculpted so beautifully he was sure not even Jude could craft a better one. It was made out of the most elegant silver he had ever seen. It was molded into a pentagon-shaped shield, with designs magnificently hand embroidered at the top and bottom. In the center, two swords crossed in the shape of an 'x'. The swords began on the outside of the bottom of the shield, their handles inlaid with a brilliant, gleaming gold. The blades went up the shield on a perfect diagonal course, the points of which just exceeded the edge of the shield. Also in the center, were five gorgeous, perfectly cut emeralds. The five sparkling stones came together to form a cross, the perpendicular, gem-filled lines coming together at the direct spot the swords came together. Lastly, the amulet also had a silver chain, which was connected to the back of the medallion. This was truly remarkable craftsmanship, and he hoped his buyer believed so too, he and his friends planned on making a fortune off this little item.

The man laughed to himself as he evaluated the medallion. When he moved it, the gems each shined, showing their great magnificence. He began to rub each of the emeralds with his thumb as he looked up at the sky just in time to catch a shooting star. He closed his eyes, and made a wish as he slipped the medallion over his head and around his neck.

Tomorrow is going to be my lucky day, the man thought to himself as he got up from his spot and returned once again to inside the house, nothing can go wrong.

Finally, an easy contract. Kage loved times of war, they brought in an insane amount of revenues, and notched him new customers. The problem with the jobs during war, he thought, was that the jobs became exceedingly tough, some of which couldn't be done by himself. He had already almost been devoured by a giant...what was that a groundhog?...while at the Sindar ruins. He had also been paired up with those two kids twice already, the boy ninja the very definition of the word 'idiot'. He hoped that a contract wouldn't lead him to them once again.

This contract however, should be very easy, and it netted a nice 70,000 potch. All he had to do was get a medallion back...and kill the man who had stolen it.

He had watched the man for almost two nights now, carefully analyzing the man he was contracted to kill. He was staying in the last house of the village, and appeared to be on the move once again. He had taken some time yesterday to pack up a bunch of stuff. What Kage couldn't figure out was why he had stayed there. It was almost like...he was waiting for something...or someone. He had watched the whole night, but the man just sat outside the whole night fiddling with the medallion, seemingly in his own world. Kage had contemplated taking him out then, but elected to sit and wait, to see what was up.

He had checked back and forth during the day on the man, to make sure he was still there, when three arrived at the man's house on horses. The man let them in and Kage hadn't seen a glimpse of them since.

So now night had fallen, and it was time for Kage to hold up his end of the contract. He silently stalked across the roofs of the village houses, calmly making his way towards the back of the village where the man was staying. Kage hoped the other men had left, because he would hate to have to take them out as well without being properly paid for it.

A cloud moved over the moon, blocking it's light, and casting the village into an eerie darkness. Kage let a brief smile, one that did little more than curve the end of his lips, appear on his shrouded face. He loved the darkness, embraced it, it was a true ally in his line of work, one whose importance could not be measured. Kage looked up at the sky, not realizing that so many clouds had arrived. It looked like a storm was coming, though he wouldn't be there to see it arrive.

He continued to jump from roof to roof until he reached his destination. A dim light shone through the window of the man's house, and Kage could hear the shouts of happiness and pride. To Kage it was the jubilation of a bunch of fools. He jumped from the roof to a tree on the other side of the house, hoping to get a better look at what was going on inside. He buried himself behind the numerous branches and leaves, and examined the house. Suddenly a man came out of the house, carrying a bottle of wine, and staggered over to the side of the house. He turned the corner, and Kage lost sight of him, but only for a minute, as the man soon came back carrying four more bottles of wine in his arms. As he stumbled back into the house, he didn't even bother to shut the door.

Kage shook his head. Why his employers would pay him 70,000 potch for this job was beyond him, but they had, and so he would deliver what they wished for. He jumped off the branch he had been crouched on, and swiftly made for the open window on the right side of the house, neglecting the seemingly wide-open invitation the man had left him leaving the door ajar. Faster than Stallion running at the first of an enemy, Kage reached and jumped through the open window, placing himself in a pitch black room, with the only light coming from the door which was cracked open, revealing the exit.

Kage placed himself on the wall to his left, and discreetly crept along the length of it, careful not to alert the men of him impending presence, and moved towards the door.

The men's loud, boisterous voices carried into the room, allowing Kage to hear every word they were saying. From what he could hear, their names were Larry, Curly, Moe, and Shemp. They continued brag in their intoxicated state, each bellowing how great he was, as Kage opened the door slightly, and proceeded to creep down the corridor.

He came upon the doorway to the main room shortly after, the men's voices louder than ever before. Kage slipped past the doorway for a brief second, exposing himself to the drunken thieves. However, no one noticed, just as Kage predicted. He removed a couple of shurikens from his belt, and inched his way closer to the doorway once again. He peered in to see three men who had arrived earlier merrily drinking and laughing, just having a good time. The fourth man however, (who consequently had the medallion draped around his neck), did not appear to be drinking. It seemed to Kage that the man was too tense and paranoid to enjoy himself, as he just constantly ran his fingers around the amulet, never saying a word.

Three of the men were laughing now, as from what Kage heard, Larry had done something extremely funny to Moe. As their stomachs bellowed with laughter, Kage slipped in. When he reached the open doorway, he performed a quick somersault, and fired the two shurikens at the men in such a fluent motion, that had a person not been paying attention, they never would have known anything had left Kage's hand. The first shuriken struck Curly in the right eye and forced him down to the ground in a fit of agony. The second struck Larry dead in throat. Larry gurgled something through the flow of blood running down his neck, and dropped to the floor, deader than a doornail.

Moe, who was too intoxicated to realize the full severity of what had just happened, got up from his and turned towards the doorway, just in time to see Kage remove his blade and ram the blade into his stomach. A look of surprise masked Moe's face as he dropped to his knees. The blood flowed slowly at first, until Kage removed the blade from Moe's abdomen. Moe then fell face first onto the floor, trying to savor the few remaining breaths he knew he had left.

Kage quickly turned back around just in time to see Curly, minus a right eye, getting up from the pool of blood which he had left on the floor. Without the slightest hesitation, Kage quickly unloaded two more shurikens at the pitiful thief. The first struck Curly's knee, which buckled and forced him back down under the new found pain. The second struck maybe a half second later, leaving a large horizontal gash across Curly's forehead where it flew by. Kage quickly ran over to where the Curly's marred, and mutilated body lay. Without a thought, Kage thrust his blade through the man's back, puncturing his heart, and ending the man's miserable life.

Kage quickly analyzed the room...the fourth man, the only one he had been contractually obligated to kill, was nowhere to be seen. Kage was sure the man hadn't gone out the same way he had gone in, and there was only one other exit from the tainted room. Kage nimbly made his way to the doorway, remaining close to the left wall so as not to be spotted easily. He kept his sword in right hand, raised and ready to strike, while his left hand remained extremely close to his belt and shurikens. He inched his way closer to the door, listening attentively to any sounds that may give away the fleeing man. There was none. He reached the door, which was opened about a foot, and slowly raised his sword to crack it open more. If the man was there, he didn't attack. Kage finished opening the door and discreetly made his way closer to the exposed area. When there was no place left to go, Kage pushed himself off the wall and dove to his right, unloading two more shurikens as he fell towards the ground. He caught no sight of the man as he dove, and as he landed he heard his two projectiles hit the wall.

Kage picked himself off the ground and moved over to the door in a crouch. Looking into the room, it looked to Kage as if there were no other exits. He removed his blade, and cautiously moved into the next room. He examined the room from his spot, searching for where the man could have gone, when he heard a *click*. Kage quickly turned to his left to see a small nook, just big enough to hold 1 man. Kage looked at Shemp and saw that the thief had something raised and pointed at him. It wasn't a sword, the item didn't even have a blade, but Kage could have sworn he had seen something like it before. Shemp let a wicked smile purse his lips as he began to exit the tiny nook which had been his hiding place. Kage continued to look, not so much at Shemp as he was at the weapon he was holding. And then Kage knew. Clive. Clive had something like that, it was something the Howling Voice Guild used. So how the hell did this moron get his hands on one?

Before Kage even tried to finish the thought, Kage removed an item from his belt and threw it at the ground. When the item broke, a heavy smoke filled the area between the two men, impairing Shemp's vision. He fired a blind shot as he tried to make his way past the smoke, but it didn't come close to Kage, in fact, when the man made his way out of the smoke, Kage had disappeared. The man was looking around the room, when two shurikens struck his right hand and shoulder. The man quickly turned to his right, but only saw the wall. Just then another shuriken flew at the man, this one sticking itself in the left hand, forcing Shemp to drop the weapon. Shemp, deciding it was better to try and get the hell out, made his way towards the exit, stumbling and staggering on his feet. When he reached the doorway he turned back towards the room he was leaving, only to see Kage right behind him, only a finger length away.

"P-Please don't kill me mister, whatever their paying, I can double it. I just need to sell this" Shemp pleaded into the emotionless eyes of Kage, holding up the medallion.

"It's not personal, just business" was Kage's only answer as he jammed the blade through Shemp's midsection. He removed the blade swiftly, and this time made a nice swift stroke across Shemp's neck, parting the skin that had once been there. As the new corpse fell to the ground, Kage removed the amulet that was around it's neck. The body, never touched by Kage, fell to the ground with a nice *thud*.

Kage exited the house soon after, just as the first raindrops had begun to fall.

Kage walked up to his contact thinking how much he wanted a partner right now. If only for a few contracts. He needed a break. He made his way casually towards the man, thinking who would be a worthy candidate to accompany him.

"Did you get it?" the man asked as Kage reached him.

"Our business is done." Kage replied, pulling out the amulet.

"Ah, fantastic! We, the Knights of Camaro are very pleased, you are very worthy of your reputation, Mr. Kage" the knight stated taking the amulet back from Kage. "This has been in our clan for generations, we couldn't just let some lowlife get away with stealing it now could we?" he asked rhetorically. Kage made made no reply, and wouldn't have made one had the knight really asked him, he just didn't care. "We may need your services again later, Mr. Kage. We will be in touch."