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"Blood ties" Furious pounding, the sound of a horse, it's hooves beating against the hard, dampend earth. Muscles taut, straining under tightly packed hairs, cropped short by it's groomer. The light breeze gently blowing short, silken locks of blue hair across the sky, painting the wind with a rainbow of sounds and colors. The serentity of the fine spring day, just reaching it's prime, was not to last. A girl was on a mission, and hell itself would not stop her, not this day. Krysta Maldain would have this job,...and , unbenownst to her, the veangance she had craved so long. She was almost to Crystal Valley, home of the Howling Voice guild, the most powerful institution in Harmonia, next to the religious temple. And hell followed her. The forest was deadly silent, but it didn't matter to Pesmerga, he was used to silence, the feeling of being alone. Only recently had he been able to bring his emotions under control again, stop the flow of tears as he sobbed for a father long gone, murderd by his former bastard friend Yuber. His fists we're tightly clenched in silent resolve,his face etched in stone, the handsome features accompanying eternal youth keeping him locked in the mask of one barely into manhood, but did not give way to the torture that lay beneath his calm exterior. But he had changed. He was bitter, rageful, he lived for the fight, for his revenge. To hear the cries of Yuber as he lay, impaled, felled at Pesmerga's hand. Repayed for the torment he had caused, the lives slain, wars incited, the robbing of Pesmerga's little sister...of both her womanhood..and her life. But he had changed. He was a lone wolf, driven to distrust others by his own pain, his inner demons, a lonely recluse, devoid of love and friendship...devoid of emotion. But he had changed. Pesmerga was no longer the man he was. His fight with Yuber, the meeting with his father..the old memories of Tanya, they had released him...he was finally free. Free from guilt, free from torment, free from his demons. He had rememberd how to love, how to trust others. He was finally healed. Pesmerga, in a rare instant, smiled as he whsipered in his mind a silent thank you to his father and little sister, and faced the sky, the words he would utter echoing across the forest. "I AM FREE!!" Krysta dismounted her horse, sweeping a few loose locks of hair back against her pink, flushed skin, and walked through the door of the guild. As she entered, she was greeted by smiles from the few that rememberd who she was, having seen her go on various "gofer projects" for the guildmasters. One of these was the clerk sitting silently at the reception desk, who greeted her with a warm smile as she spoke. "Why hello Miss Maldain, what are you doing here this fine day? Intrested in one of our "gofer" jobs again?" Krysta smiled back, giggling slightly, giving off the false impression that she was a bit of an airhead, or at least on some sort of happy drug. "No Alma, I was summoned by Guildmaster Chamek, he said there was a' job of great import, that only I could handle', or something like that." Alma nodded, with a knowing smile, "Oh yes...it's a very important job, he told me to fill you in on the details so you could leave right away. It's going to be a long trip, so he wants you to get on it asap." Krysta arched an eyebrow, 'long trip? Why would she be going on a long trip?' "Where exactly am I going Alma?" Krysta's friend looked over the parchment in her hand, the glanced back up at her," Jowston. The City-State across the great sea." Krysta balked, "JOWSTON!? Why the hell am I going all the way to Jowston Alma!?" Alma almost sweatdropped, looking back down at the parchment, "Well...the specifics of the job say that a Harmonian traitor is staying in the area, hunting for something I beleive. Your job is to, in the name of national security, hunt him down and kill him. But..he's immortal, so you'll have to take one of our 'Slayer Runes' with you Krysta. It's the only thing that can peirce the immortality curse placed on him, well..that or a specific kind of sword, and you don't strike me as a swordswoman Krysta." Krysta gave Alma a funny look, oviously thinking over her options. After a moment of thought, she smiled. "Ok Alma, I accept the job. Hand me one of those Slayer Runes and i'll head straight for Kurdakk and hop a boat to Jowston." Unhooking her gun, Tempest, from the leather strap at her side, Krysta gave a quick chant, and using the skills her mother taught her as a runemistress, imbued the special rune into the gun. She grinned," It pays to be versitle y'know." As she turned to leave, she whipped around, rembering something she had forgotten. "Hey Alma! Umm..what's this guy's name..and what's he look like?" Alma looked back down at the parchment, "He's about six feet tall or so, with long raven hair, grey eyes, and usually wears black armor. Ummmmm..I think he also moves pretty quick for a guy his size, so you have your work cut out for you Krys. Oh yea! And his name's Pesmerga." Upon hearing her quarry's name, Krysta balked, eyes wide with shock. "ALMA! D-D-DID YOU S-SAY PESMERGA!" She leapt foward, grasping the edge of Alma's shirt, tugging on it hard. Alma did her best to remain composed, dispite her friend almost ripping her shirt off in public. "Yea Krys...h-he's supposed to be a w-war crimminal..they say he assasinated High Preist Rusenald over five-hundred years ago. And he may try for the current one as revenge for being banished." Krysta dropped her friend, and turned, quickly bolting out the door, with only a limp wave goodbye before the door slammed shut. Hopping onto her horse, she urged the steed to gallop off towards Kurdakk city, a flood of thoughts running through her mind. But despite the confuison she felt, she smiled, a grim, evil smile. "Well..Pesmerga," her eyes began to take on a sinister tint, a tinge of evil glee in her voice," it looks like it's pay-back time, brother dear. Little sister's coming for your ass you damn bastard! BE READY!" Her angry voiced echoed through the wind, as the sillhouette of her steed danced across the plains. Pesmerga picked up the shatterd remains of King Crimson, and gingerly placed the sword in his sheath, making shure not to re-open the multitude of gashes and cuts across his upper body by moving too fast. It was about time that he made his way to the Sindar ruins his father described, and found what awaited him there. After travelling only a mile or so into the forest, as darkness enveloped the land, he saw the dim blaze of a campfire in the distance. Curious, he quietly made his way to the campsite, staying hidden behind a row of bushes so he could avoid being seen. He noticed two sleeping bags strewn across the ground, both occupied. What he saw in the one farthest from him, was a striking woman, with short cropped, almost crimson red hair, her face slightly chiseled, eyebrows gently sweeping upwards. She looked like, from the sillhouette of her rather impressive build, concealed under the sleeping bag, she had been brought up on warfare and fighting, some kind of soldier perhaps? The closer one held an even stranger sight, gently nestled within it was a young teenage boy, with a bandanna over his head, raven black hair, and...clothes that looked... familiar? Trying to lean closer, so he could get a better look, he suddenly felt something, something very strong, wrap around his neck and push him forwards toward the campsite. Gasping, he tried to grip King Crimson, but the already delicate blade completely shattered as it was ripped from it's hilt. Inwardly cursing, Pesmerga continued to struggle in the stranger's grip, trying desperately to get air. He heard a raspy female voice, taut with effort and concentration, cry out. "Damnit, wake up Oulan! I said wake up damnit!" He felt claws begin to dig into the flesh of his neck, coming close to peircing his jugular vein, as he began to slump to one knee. He noticed the boy and red head starting to stirr,and he needed to break this..wench's deathgrip before they joined in. Pooling all the strength he had left, he cried out, concentrating all his power into his Rune. "C-C....Counter Rune, show your power!" His body turned golden blonde once again, as his body, no longer armored yet still sturdy, slammed upwards into the woman with great force, throwing her off of him and into a nearby tree with a loud crash. Panting, his lungs greedily drawing in gulps of air, just as a rather heavy fist landed into the small of his back. He fell to the ground in a batterd heap, his wounds once again open, the blood flowing out, unable to get another word out before another heavy blow sent him into blissful unconciousness.
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