398 replies to this topic

[JRPomazon]

(OoC: I better keep you all on your toes and progress the story. The farther you go, the faster I can develop the story. Remember, the cloaked man is a NPC.)

The cloaked person appeared from the shadows, arriving at the house where XI and the others were staying. It had been a few hours since his first visit, seeing as the night had become day. Looking around his surroundings, he noticed a fallen tree that had been cut down recently. With a demented smile, he waked over to the fallen plant and knelt down. He placed his hand on the bark. The fallen tree sank slowly into the ground, beneath the rocky soil. He got to his feet and vanished into shadows once again, his twisted grin still on his face and he left the area. For a few minutes, there was only the sounds of the wind a seagulls to be heard. Soon after, the silence was broken.

A large, wooden sickle-like hand came bursting out of the dark soil, rocks and dirt flying in the air as it rose. It was followed by a creature that looked like an ent (A human-like tree). It's body was created from the remains of the fallen tree, looking human like. It's arms and legs like large roots and it was the size of at least 8 men stacked on top of each other. The monster howled loudly, as though it were cursing the heavens that it was given life. It set its sights upon the house a few feet away and began the march towards it.

[31-Year-Old-From-Georgia]

XI blinked and rose out of the couch. It had, unsurprsingly, remained too small all night. XI's body felt sore. This mixed with his usual morning grumpiness, XI was not in the best of moods. Thankfully, his grandmother was there with a breakfast made from love.

"Good morning, sleepy head!" she brightly greeted him from the kitchen. Her head poked over the wall. "I made your favorites: pancakes, scrabmled eggs, toast, and bacon. I also have waffles, muffins, sausages, porridge, bagels, and... well, just about everything else you can imagine! Come, come! Sit!"

The first meal of the day went pretty well. XI's grandmother was nuts, but she cooked a pretty mean breakfast. It was noted that Wanderer's arm was finallly fully functional once more. Wanderer seemed to be much more relaxed than before; it made it much easier to interact with. The morning was going fantastic. It seemed like the day would be a good one until XI's grandfather spoke to XI in private downstairs. From there on, the day didn't quite go swimmingly.

"Austin," the shopkeeper gruffly spoke, "What in the world are you doing here?"

XI told the story in a well-spoken way: "Well, a few weeks ago, fresh off the war, I met a spearman. We more or less became a duo and headed off to Ikana Canyon. He wanted to test their skills, and did so by brawling with a burping skeleton guy. After that was over with, we were attacked by a giant snake. This was two nights ago, mind you. So the snake beat us near death... or me, anyway. So this Wand- Ken guy pretty much took care of us. While we were staying in a hotel the next morning, this Shadow pretty m uch invited himself along. But Jordan- the spearman- thought it was okay, so I guess I do too. So we were going to the Forsaken Fortress. I didn't want to go one of the usual routes since I don't really know Shadow all that well and he may have had a secret agenda... but hey, looking back, what were the chances of that? Anyway, we caught a ride on a merchant ship which was attacked. And... well, we won but Jordan didn't make it. So now I'm with these two people I don't know off to the FF. And I was hoping you'd give us a ride there?"

"Did you rehearse that?"

"I was up late last night and didn't have much to do."

The shopkeeper looked XI over and sighed, "I see you're still living a dangerous life. And I do not approve of it. Unfortunately, that's not my decision to make. However much I hate it, I'll drop you off there. Don't expect me to stick around, though. The Fortress is an ugly chapter of my life which I have no intentions on re-living."

"Cool," XI shrugged, "I was hoping you- What in the hell is that!?!"

The horrific howl of the ent echoed through the tiny building. Curious, XI dashed to the door to look around. It didn't take long to find the ent approaching. The plant monster was slowly charging foward. It was clearly intent on destruction.

"Uh.." XI stammered, " Are you friendly?"

The ent responded by swiftly swining its arm at XI, knocking him over.

"I'll take that as a no..." XI coughed, on his back, "You giant monsters are really starting to bug me. Good thing I have my new dagger!"

XI reached for his fang dagger, which was not there.

"...my new dagger that's in the house! Somebody! Help me!" XI shouted as the ent marched on.

[Ken the Wandering Soul]

Ken looked outword at the giant tree monster with unease. Upon hearing XI's call for his weapon, he sprung. Wolfing down a pancake, he made a quick look around, before his eyes settled near the couch. After a quick look around there, he spotted the the dagger which had fallen under the coffee table.

"There you are!" he exclaimed, shoving the dagger into his belt.

Ken then took short detour, grabbing his sword and thanking XI's grandparents for the breakfast on the way out.

"Hey! Over here!" he shouted at the ent.

The ent turned it's attention away from XI, and was greeted a heavy slice at it's leg. Unfotunately, it only cut partway through the leg. Letting out a bellow of rage, the tree creature swiped with it's arms at the newcomer.

Ken cried out in pain as he collided near the ground at XI's feet. He barely kept a grip on the large sword in his hands, but he managed to bring himself to his knees. He pulled out the dagger from his belt, deftly handing the weapon to XI.

"You called?" he asked, trying to pull up the weight of the sword.

Edited by Ken the Wandering Soul, 09 November 2007 - 02:59 PM.

[SL the Pyro]

Shadow had finally gotten some sleep last night... although only four hours of it before the Ent was created. The monster's roar caused the boy to leapt off of the couch in surprise and land face-first on the ground. Not wasting any time, he grabbed his sword, shirt/item-holder and cape from the floor and put them on their respective places on his body, then ran out the door. "What in the name of Diel is going on out here!?" he shouted grumpily as he ran past the others; he did not like being disturbed in the middle of a nap.

He got an abrupt answer when the Ent's arm swung out at him; he barely had time to take out his shield and block the attack, though he was still knocked back with the others. That thing hits hard.

"Well, this is nice way to start the morning!" Shadow said cynically. He looked around the yard to see something missing from the scene. "Wait a minute, where's that tree I cut down last night?" he thought aloud. The Ent seemed to smile, as if saying that it was that tree. Shadow raised an eyebrow, but this was not the time to solve that mystery. Now was the time to fight, and he drew his sword to signify that fact and preparing himself.

[31-Year-Old-From-Georgia]

"Hey, uh, thanks!" XI greeted Ken, "You gonna be all right there?"

Before Ken could answer, the ent began to throb around as if on fire. The few vines hanging on it quickly began to horrifically expand. In seconds the vines became violenelty snake-like. Still connected to the ent's torso, they flung through the air towards the trio. All three were wrapped in the vines in the blink of an eye.

Tentacle rape? XI thought stupidly.

Thankfully, the ent had the same courtesy as the giant serpent and hadn't gone after XI's arms. XI's mind clicked into place and slashed through a vine. After quite a bit of slashing, he wrangeled out of the ent's grasp. Then the vines grew again and entangeled him again. XI cut through them. They came back a second time.

"This is ridiculous," XI sighed, "Would one of you please kill this thing!?"

[JRPomazon]

OoC: Just a quick message for everyone. You guys can control the monster as much as you want, have fun with it. As for the cloaked person NPC, leave him to me. That's all

[Ken the Wandering Soul]

Ken pushed the edge of his sword's blade up the against the vines, cutting through them. With this, he had the the fortune of avoiding a serious fall--he had accidently stabbed into what would be the ent's equivalent of the torso.

The creature produced a low-pitched, loud bellow. The vines seemed to be spasming, unable to move in a controlled manner. Ken hung onto the hilt of his sword for dear life as the thing tried to get him off. Eventually the creature started to calm down, and aimed the vines at Ken. The young man tried tugging the sword out with this impending danger, which made the creature cry out again.

"That's it!"

The boy wrapped his arm around the bit of cloth tied to his sword, and after getting a grip on the ent's bark, started to hammer his sword into the creature with his hands, bit by bit. The creature did not react as violently, but it still kept it's attention. Ken hung on as it tried to shake him off, but kept driving the sword in whenever he had the chance.

"Get him, now! While I still have him distracted!" the young man shouted to the others.

[SL the Pyro]

Shadow smiled; it looked like Ken's arm was better and he was making good use of it. He picked now to slash his way out of the vines with his own sword, then dashed at the beast. While he was tied up, he studied the creature, looking for a weak point. And he'd found one; the top of it's would-be head, and he had the perfect weapon handy to exploit it. He took out his spring-loaded chain and fired it at the Ent's head, launching himself upwards too fast for the vines to catch him, partly due to his speed and partly due to Ken's distraction. He landed on top of the Ent's head, then strapped on his magic shoes which he stole in the Vanadiel boat raid.

"Time to fry!" Shadow said menacingly, using the magic shoes to jump up high.

He whipped out his rod with a red crystal on the end, and began to shoot fireballs from it at the top of the Ent. It let out a loud groan as each one hit; Shadow knew that trees wouldn't like fire, even if they were monsters. It didn't take long for a hole to open up in the Ent's top, due to the punishing flames. Shadow let out one last stream of fire to set the beast aflame from the inside. The vines were burning off at their source.

"That should weaken it enough. Let 'em have it, guys!" Shadow yelled as he grabbed a nearby tree branch to prevent a nasty fall to the ground.

[31-Year-Old-From-Georgia]

"Resourceful, isn't he?" XI said to himself about Shadow. Amongst everything happening it took literally no effort to escape.

XI charged foward. The situation seemed under control now, so it was time to actually do something. With fang dagger in hand, XI prepared to swipe. It was at the moment that the flames visibly swallowed up the ent's exterior.

"Uuuh..." XI uuuh'd.

The flaming ent tumbled over. Surprisingly, being set on fire had managed to kill the ent. Scratching his head, the kid- who had done nothing to contribute- looked over the enormous, dead, flaming monster. "Well, when all else fails, use fire..." XI mumbled.

Edited by 15-Year-Old, 17 July 2007 - 05:59 PM.

[SL the Pyro]

Shadow looked on dumbfounded. "Well, that was anti-climactic. That thing had to be pretty weak to be killed that easily... sorry, XI. I was hoping to save some of the thing for you that wasn't made of vines." he apologized.

[31-Year-Old-From-Georgia]

"Say what?" XI turned his head to Shadow, "Between giant snakes and armored soldiers, I'd do anything to avoid fighting that thing. Good job, pyro. Now then... what the hell was that thing? Where did it come from?"

Ooc: Yeah, if you think I have any ill feelings about this, I don't. I'm just a fan of "All right let's do this!"/*problem solves itself* moments. I'm not annoyed or angry at you at all, SL. ^^;

Edited by 15-Year-Old, 17 July 2007 - 09:58 PM.

[SL the Pyro]

(Oh, okay. Gotcha.)

----------

Shadow hopped down from the tree and inspected the Ent, the fire inside already dying. "I wish I knew... all I know is that I cut this tree down when I was training last night." he said. "But this wasn't made with a good intention in mind, that's for sure. I vote we get going to the Fortress as soon as possible."

----------

Meanwhile, inside the woods, they were being watched. Koran, the water sorcerer under Dreadlord Z's employ, was still spying on Shadow. "Very interesting..." he thought, quickly leaving so he wouldn't be seen.

Edited by Shadow_Link, 18 July 2007 - 10:02 AM.

[JRPomazon]

The cloaked person began to apploud as he walked towards the three travelers.

"Excellent job, I'm impressed." He said in his child-like voice.

"You managed to kill that tree a brought to life. But then again, it was only a fallen tree. Not much there to make monsters with." The stranger looked at XI, then Ken, followed by Shadow, observing them carfully. His devious and strange smile faded from his pale face and only a grim frown was left.

"Listen carefully, Jordan is dead. I would have been the one to kill him if he didn't blow himself up. Judging by how you fight, I'd say that killing you three wouldn't be too difficult."

The cloaked person began to walk away from the three travellers.

"If you wish to live, you are best off staying away from Sornaiid. Trees aren't the only thing I can make into monsters."

His familiar smile returned to his face as his dissapeared into shadows once again.

[SL the Pyro]

"Hey, come back!" Shadow shouted at the cloaked person, but he only laughed as he disappeared. Shadow growled. "Grrr... I knew something wasn't right about that guy... ugh. Whatever. At least he left us alone..." He then turned around and decided to go inside and wait for the boat to be prepared. "If anyone needs me, I'll be inside." he told the others.

----------

(I'm going away early this weekend, leaving on Thursday as opposed to Friday. So feel free to move Shadow around with you as you wish.)

[Ken the Wandering Soul]

Ken felt the skin on his back shiver in fear as the cloaked figure disapeared.

Who is he...? he wondered.

It was not long before Ken remembered his sword, and went to pull out. He eventually managed it by pushing his leg up against what was now definitely dead wood.

Now, huffing and puffing on the ground, Ken began to think more and more. He eventually caught enough breath to express himself simply.

"We have to reach Sornaiid... I don't know what's there, but if it is important enough for that--person to try and kill us..."

Ken lowered his head as he felt himself tire again.

[31-Year-Old-From-Georgia]

XI looked at Ken, who was exasperted, and Shadow, who was going back into the house. The atmosphere was unsettling. Murderous, monster-creating, mysterious cloaked strangers have that effect on people.

"Yeah... Yeah, Ken's right. I hope you're going to get your things, Shadow, because we're going to Sornaiid no matter what the guy says," XI gruffly said.

XI sprinted into the house. He nearly knocked Shadow over on the way. They had to go as soon as possible. Without even paying attention to where he was going, XI thought He knew Jordan. He was going to kill Jordan. He was going to kill us. Screw him. It doesn't matter how strong that cloaked prick is. We're going to Sornaiid. We're going to- OOF!

He hit a wall. Not a figurative wall, but a physical one. At least it wasn't a glass window being carried by two men. Quite accustomed to pain by this point, XI leapt back into his feet. The shopkeeper stood nearby, watching him. The awkward atmosphere from outside had leaked into the building.

"Grandpa, the monster was-" XI started.

"I heard. And I'm taking you all out of here right this instant. You're a rebellious runt and there's no way I'm letting your undeserving skin stay here and lead maniacs to endanger my wife, my business, and myself. We're heading off to that fortress. And after that, I never want to see you again until you've abandoned this little questing runaway stunt of yours." XI's grandfather grunted in monotone. He lead the way out of the shop.

"Sounds good to me," XI muttered.

[TheAvengerLever]

Someone had been following. Someone had been stalking. Someone knew that XI and two others were here. He didn't know what they were doing, but he was going to continue to follow them to the best of his ability.

[Ken the Wandering Soul]

Ken pulled himself up, leaning on his blade for a small time as support. After catching his breath, he sheathed the heavy sword. He heard the conversation and turned his eyes to XI and Shadow as they were being led out of the house to wherever the boat was. The shopkeeper looked to Ken long enough to order him to follow as well.

As much as Ken wished it was not so, he knew XI's grandfather was right. They were targets for some pretty bad people, and anyone nearby could be drawn in.

"Sorry..." he mumbled.

[SL the Pyro]

The moment that Shadow and the others set foot on the ship, he headed for the crow's nest; this was a welcome change from the mast on the merchant ship, since it didn't even have a crow's nest and as such was easier to fall off. This was much better.

Shadow closed his eyes. "Time to catch up on the sleep I missed because of that monster..." he thought as he yawned, then he pulled his hat over his eyes and tried to get some sleep.

[JRPomazon]

The Forsaken Fortress was a lawless, dark and exciting. The was always something going on. Men getting drunk, thrown out of buildings, fighting and killing each other without a care in the world. After all, they were mostly pirates. The morning was still young as people were suffering from rum-induced hangovers and waking up groggy. The light of the sun beamed through the window of the room Jordan was staying at. His wounds from the shipwreck weren't serious to begin with, so healing took little time. He opened his eyes from his dazed sleep, trying to recall everything that had happened. He remembered waking up on the beach late last night and recovering his spears, which had undergone a startling transformation. After that, he found an empty shack near the fortress and stayed there for the night.

Jordan rose slowly from the bed he was laying on and looked at his spears from the other side of the room. The blades on the spears were extended to about 2 feet. The weapon itself resembled some hybrid of a lance and a spear, perhaps a design that took the best qualities of both weapons. How his weapon changed so dramatically was still a mystery to him and the answer to what happened would most likely elude him for the rest of his life. All that mattered was that him right now was that he was alive. He got to his feet and put on his chest armor and shoulder guard. After he was all set with his equipment, Jordan decided to move out.

"You are amazing. Not many people can survive explosions."
The voice was familiar. The young voice that triggered hatred and disgust in Jordan's heart. Before him, the cloaked person revealed himself to Jordan, smiling with excitement and intrigue.
"You, what are you doing here?" Jordan asked with disgust.
"Is that anyway to talk to a friend?"
"You're no friend of mine."

The two of them stood in silence for a moment. Jordan's eyes were focused on the strange person. He was well aware of what this man tried to do to him on the ship and recognized him as only one thing. An enemy.

"You are soooo hurtful Jordan, you know that?" The cloaked man said with his smile still intact.
"What can I say, I'm direct." Jordan responded.
The smile on the cloaked person's face disappeared, along with his playful disposition.
"Why? Why are you still alive?" He said with a serious tone. "WHY AREN'T YOU DEAD!?"

The sound of his child-like screaming surprised Jordan. It seemed like this person could be annoyed and pushed as well.

"Because I still have a reason to live. Because I want to keep my promises." Jordan said.

The cloaked person's rage was quelled, his expression changing from angry to solemn.

"Promises, eh?" He said to himself. "You truly are of the Hall's blood line, Pharos' descendant."

The cloaked man began to smile once again.

"I cannot control you anymore, so rest assured. Once you meet with your friends, you can resume your journey. However, I'm not going to stop hunting you or your friends. Don't think for a second that you are safe."

"Thanks for the warning." Jordan said, half expecting the cloaked man to try to kill him.

The cloaked man disappeared into the darkness, leaving Jordan to himself once more. He grabbed his weapons and placed them in their sling. He opened the door and left the old shack. As he began to walk away from the house, Jordan noticed a boat in the distance. It was a small craft that could hold at least 6 people. It was heading towards a nearby pier. His stood on the rock ridden beach and smiled.

"They came here after all." He said.

[31-Year-Old-From-Georgia]

The ride to the Forsaken Fortress hadm taken longer than it should have. It was most likely because of the man in charge, XI's grandfather. Between his carefulness to avoid others and unfamiliarity of the area after decades of absence, it was clear why. It was only until around three or four that the fortress came into sight. To make the long trek more unbearable, none of the ship's passangers were willing to talk all that much. Shadow was asleep the majority of the time, Ken understandably seemed to be either anxious or excited, the shopkeeper was focusing on not getting raided, and XI was just plain bored.

XI's mind was full of theories of who exactly the monster-producing mystery man could be. He could have been anything from an alien to a malevolent god as far as XI's overly active imagination was concerned. More plausible ideas included him being some kind of old enemy of Jordan's or a crazy person who could have been stalking them and thus knew of their situation. Whoever this mysterious figure was, XI hated him.

How dare he talk about Jordan like that? "Look at me, I'm oh-so-mysterious and I can make trees come to life and I know all about everything, ain't I cool?" Loser. XI had thought at one point during the ship ride.

Once the ship had finally reached one of the fortress's pier, the lazy atmosphere dissappeared. They had at last made it. It may have been only a day since the plan to reach the fortress, but it seemed like an eternity. As everyone got off the ship, XI thought he heard some movement in the ship. After a moment's hesitation, he shrugged it off as the moving water.

What are the chances of stow aways? We already got one stalker, assuming that mysterious alien punk had been following us, XI thought as he walked down the dock. The moment he completed this thought, a rough hand gripped XI's shoulder.

"Back off!" XI gasped suddenly. He swerved around to see his grandfather standing behind him. Realizing his mistake, XI blushed hotly and muttered "oh..."

"I'm not that ticked off!" the shopkeeper barked. He was definetly in his annoyed state now. "I'm heading off now. You hate me saying this, but really, leave all this behind. I can't stop you, and I won't try, but let me tell you one more time: this is stupid. Stop being a rebel and go back to your parents before getting hurt."

Feeling defiant, XI hot-headedly responded, "I've already been hurt." He lifted up his shirt to expose his bandaged midriff.

"Well you keep up with that then," the shopkeeper said with a hint of amusement in his voice. As he turned away to return to his ship, XI spoke out to him.

"Are you going to tell my parents I came to you guys?" XI asked suddenly and worriedly.

As if considering it, XI's grandfather paused before answering, "No. But I won't stop your grandma from doing it."

Feeling both relieved and appreciative, XI continue to go down the pier without looking back. He joined with Ken and Shadow and without any words, they headed up to the fortress. As the shopkeeper's ship began to depart, XI lead the way again. Ken may have been here before, but he couldn't remember it. Glancing around the familiar area, XI saw someone in the distance in the corner of his eye.

"Is that...?" XI asked under his breath.

Jordan was out of sight. Figuring it to be his imagination at work, XI continued on.

EDIT 8/7: God, my posts completely butcher the English language. o.o

Edited by 15-Year-Old, 07 August 2007 - 12:29 AM.

[SL the Pyro]

Shadow noticed that XI was looking at the rocks on the shoreline, as if something were just there. He looked over there as well, but got the same result. He then remembered where he was going; in his career for Uradiel, he'd stopped a few pirate raids. He didn't want to chance being recognized, or it'd stir up a major commotion. It was best if he laid low. "You guys can go on; I'll catch up. Think I'll check the outside of the island incase we were followed." Shadow told the others for an excuse as he began walking around the shore.

Shadow had begun walking around in the direction opposite of the rocks where XI had looked, dashing through the large island. There were certainly plenty of large boulders around here; perfect place to train his balance. And so he did that, slowly hopping from boulder to boulder. Part of Shadow wanted to be with his new friends, but he couldn't risk being in close proximity of all those pirates. One might recognize him.

As he'd made his way around the shore, he'd seen someone walking towards him. He quickly ducked behind a rock to avoid being seen; was it a pirate on partol? He took a quick peek, and was both relieved and surprised. It was Jordan walking along the shore. He smiled and leaned back against the rock, his arms crossed. As Jordan walked by, Shadow casually said, "And here I thought Dreadlord Z was the dramatic one..."

[JRPomazon]

Jordan smirked at Shadow's comment. "Dramatic? Heh, I'm just lucky." Jordan walked up to the swordsman. "How has everything been since I left? It's been a few days since I've been conscious, so I'm a bit curious." He said, scratching his head. "To be honest, I thought you would of left XI and Wanderer by now, seeing as you have your own agenda." Jordan paused for a moment. "Not that I'm ungrateful that you stayed with them." Jordan didn't know what to make of Shadow. He was a skilled swordsman, but what his motives were didn't make sense to him. Mainly because he had no idea what they were. "Hey Shadow, if you're going to stick with us, then I have to ask: who are you exactly and what are your objectives? The sooner I know the sooner I might be able to help you."

[SL the Pyro]

Shadow turned serious. He was really hoping he wouldn't be asked that, since he didn't want to get anyone involved in his dangerous journey. But Jordan wanted to know, so... "The name 'Dreadlord Z' wouldn't happen to ring any bells, would it?" Shadow said; Z and his gang may be the most notorious and feared criminals in the nation, but there was still a chance that some people didn't know of him. He hoped that Jordan wasn't one of those ignorant ones.

Edited by Shadow_Link, 24 July 2007 - 05:53 PM.

[JRPomazon]

"Dreadlord Z?" The name struck a chord in Jordan's memory.

"I've only heard a little about him. Can't say I'm the leading source of knowledge when it comes to the criminally insane."

Jordan lowered his eyes, thinking about Z. "All I know is that he has killed a lot of people for his own gain. Not something I can forgive."

His thoughts shifted from the Dreadlord to the cloaked person who had been pursuing Jordan. They were both attempting something on a grand scale, operating from the shadows. In some ways they were similar. The very thought of people like that began to annoy Jordan, he hated people who use others like puppets to get what they want than doing the dirty work themselves.

Jordan's face turned serious. "It seems that your motives are to find information on Z to eventually kill him. Am I right, or at least close to being right?"

[SL the Pyro]

"You're absolutely right." Shadow answered. "There's a chance that your little cloaked friend might be connected to Z somehow; if that connection exists, I need to find out what it is." Shadow's expression turned grim. "But... unfortunately, getting information on this cloaked person means I have to stick around with you guys. And I really don't want to get ya'll involved in such a dangerous journey..."

[JRPomazon]

"Not involved in a dangerous journey?" Jordan raised an eyebrow. "Last time I checked, a psychotic cloaked madman. . . or woman has been chasing me and you guys for some time now in hopes of ending my life."
Jordan gave a big grin.
"XI, Wanderer and Myself are already used to being in danger, so don't worry about too much. Wouldn't helping each other give us a better chance to accomplish our goals?"

[Ken the Wandering Soul]

Ken followed after XI for a little while before his attention was drawn. His eyes had found a smithing shop, and his legs seemed to carry him right to it. He walked in, spotting an anvil and several metal components for weapons and armor. Right before he could do anything else, a scarred man ran in at him waving a sword around.

"I knew I'd catch you act ya damned--!" the man started, before halting in place. "Oh, just you."

Ken blinked, confused. The man however, seemed oblivious.

"I heard you died on yer way to the Valhalla prison, guess it was just a rumor."

"Uh..." Ken tried to start.

"Now look, don't try ta' act stupid. I know what ya' came back fer'. Just hold on a second."

With that, the man disapeared into the back, leaving Ken to deal the chaotic flow of information that he just recieved.

"To be completely honest," the man spoke as numerous noises resounded from the back, "I thought you should have stayed behind and just remained a smithy fer the Fortress. Honestly, if you thought ya' needed someone else to hold it, you should have never left."

The scarred man returned, holding a scroll container. He handed it over to Ken immediately.

"It's got everything just as you left it. Just remember, this makes us even! Now get outta here! I'm gonna catch those damn thiefing hooligans if it's the last thing I do, I can't do it with you here!"

With that, Ken was shoved out, his face reflecting his utter confusion.

"Well, that was interesting..." he thought.

[SL the Pyro]

"...Well... I'll consider it." Shadow replied to Jordan. His thoughts then drifted to the others. "XI and Wanderer really miss you, ya know..."

[31-Year-Old-From-Georgia]

"Okay, guys, like I told you before, I have my own room. It's not the height of luxray, but it's better than what most people have here. The three of us should be able to..." XI prattled on before loudly shouting, "Where in the hell did you guys go!?"

The abandoned kid looked up and down the empty corridor. It was pretty safe to say they were nowhere near. XI walked through the fortress on his lonesome. Even the sparsly populated section he was in felt like a melting pot of all kinds of booze-breath old men, hot women, naive children, and pirate stereotypes with talking parrots and all. The Forsaken Fortress was enormous; even most of its residents could get lost. Despite slight bitterness of being unceremoniously ditched, XI decided it best to turn around and find his recently met traveling partners.

It had been months since XI last wandered through the stony walls of the Forsaken Fortress. Its coldness and rowdy occupants made it hard to feel safe, yet this place could be a real home to those who stayed long enough. XI emerged from the narrow pathways into a large, outdoors area: the marketplace. Taverns and armories coated the promenade like wallpaper. It was one of the busiest places in the entire city-like fortress. As XI passed a smithing shop, he glanced down at his dagger, hanging from its place on a beltloop.

Jordan had said "Take care of that dagger XI. We might want to get it plated with steel to strengthen it once we arrive at the Forsaken Fortress" right before the Vanadiel ship attacked. Remembering this, XI prepared to enter to see Ken be pushed out the door.

"There you are! 'Wanderer' is right, wandering around..." XI complained, "Where's Shadow? Did he find someone interesting to talk to or what?"