The Paths of Tragedy

With extreme difficulty, Skaol managed to keep his sleepy eyes from flinching at the man's introduction. In an odd twist of fate, the first person he had approached was none other than the man whose name topped his list of targets. Then, the implication of meeting Cairn hit him; Wylliam was not far away. With another great effort, he supressed his first instinct to bombard the man with questions on Wylliam's health, recent activites, and wherabouts, and instead decided that a hasty withdrawl was in order to avoid a premature reconciliation with Wylliam, though he knew, in the end, it was inevitable. "Perhaps we shall meet in the colosseum," he said, then added with a lazy laugh, "though I must admit, you are rather intimidating as a prospective opponent." Skaol lifted his hand in farewell and walked away, saying with a smile, "Let us meet again, if we are meant to." With that, he entered a nearby tavern, took a seat in a shadowy corner, propped his feet on the table, and instantly fell asleep.

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Wylliam continued to eat, pausing only once to dislodge a prematurely swallowed piece of bread from his airway.
 
Zeria winced as he placed his hand over her wound. She was shaking too, and chills were racing down her spine even more.

"D-don't touch me! Gah!"

A surge of pain through her wound. It had been much deeper than she'd thought. She fought back tears and tried to move away from Samael again, biting back a cry of pain, and aiming her gun towards him again.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?!"
 
Samael slowly stood straight up, replaced his hand back to his side and lowered his head.

"Because.......Even though you don't belive me and think every action I make to malicious. I do love you."

He then turned his back towerds Zeria and brought his head up and looked towards the sky.
 
Something about Preston made Cairn feel suspicion about that man's behavior, though he couldn't accurately say what it was. Concerned with more important affairs, Cairn decided to await there for the rest of the group. Having left Zeria near the airship, it was only a matter of time before seeing Hera, Jake, Jonad and the rest of them arriving to the small village of Baid. Gade, as far as Cairn knew, would stay with the rest of the guards aboard the ship in order to ensure its protection.

As time passed, Cairn noticed that no one arrived, so he opted to await for them in a more comfortable place. He noticed a nearby tavern, the one where the man he met a few moments ago had entered. Seeing it as a good way to relax, Cairn turned away from the fountain and headed to the tavern. As he opened the double wooden doors and venturing inside, Cairn noticed that the ambient of the tavern was as peaceful as it was outside, with little arguing, everyone seemed to enjoy their drinks. He smiled, greeting everyone inside and then following up to ask for a drink at the counter. The bartender welcomed Cairn and asked him about a beverage Cairn would like to have. Cairn placed a few golden coins on the counter and asked the Bartender to serve him a cup of wine. He reached the cup of wine and had a sip of the delicious liquid, as he relaxed and enjoyed a good time.
 
Zeria shakily stood to her feet.

"How?! How can you say you love me when you barely know who I am?! You know nothing about me! What I fight for!"

She winced again and noticed that her bandages were already bleeding through. ~Damn! I don't know how much strength I can keep up! I've lost too much blood and I'm tired from my fight with Cairn!~ Zeria winced yet again, gripping her wound tightly as more pain surged through her side.

"What do you want from me?!"
 
Samael brings his gaze back down to Zeria where he was standing with his right shoulder towards her.

"Oh but I know a great deal about you and what we share in common."

He then returns his eyes back towards the sky.

"And for what I want from you is simple......For you to withdraw from all this constant fighting.....for you to feel now pain....and for you to be happy."
 
Zeria laughed...almost scoffing.

"You think you know me, but you don't...my past was nothing but hell. I didn't have a childhood...I had abuse and living off on my own, trying to survive from day to day...and now I fight to protect those I care about..."

The pain became too much and she dropped back to her knees. Tears freely fell from her eyes and spilled down her cheeks now. A cry escaped her lips and she gripped the wound tightly.
 
Jake heard a wail and halted in mid-air. He whirled around in mid-air and stared off to where they'd come from. "That sounded like Zeria," he muttered. With a forceful burst of speed, Jake shot back towards the scream.

He landed with a loud thud between Zeria and her assailant, and stared down the foe. "You again," Jake spat. It was the same man who they'd met before, outside the walls of the city with the airship. "Don't you know when to quit?"

Jake drew his sword immediately, and laid it along his shoulders, behind his neck. "Well, this time people aren't around to protect you. You and me, buddy, here and now. You'll get what's coming to you after what you did to those guards..."
 
Samael turn facing Zeria and reached up and grasped his mask.

"Zeria....How little you know of me. Walking the path of death and blood longer then most men have lived. Not knowing my own past except for fragments of memory. And sharing a body with two demons."

He then removed his mask. As he looked back at Zeria a tear fell from his eye.

"Now please let me take youback to the ship and have someone heal you."

Sameal said as he streatched out his hand.
 
The second Jake landed, she felt as if a weight had been lifted off her chest.

"Jake?!"

But then Samael offered to take her back to the ship to be healed...but yet, she didn't want to go back. She didn't want Cairn to call her weak, or continue to think her weak and useless. She wanted to be strong and live through it.

"Samael...I appreciate your kindness. I really do. But I'm no good. Find yourself a woman who is worthy of all you have to offer her. Jake, please don't fight with him. I don't want to see anymore fighting because of me. I just don't"

She winced again, her gaze rising to meet Samael's once more.

"I love Julius more than anything, Samael. You'll have to realize that...I'd die for him"
 
Deciding now was as good a time as any to meet with the others in town, Wylliam once again left the ship, this time making his way to the town. When he arrived, his first impression of the place was one of peace and community. Wylliam smiled at the people he passed as he walked through the town. Aside from the fame, the money, the glory, and fame, he thought to himself as he waved to a cheery looking family, this is why I fight. To see a day when the nations of the world learn to become content with what they have, like the people of this town. He eventually found himself in a small plaza with a tavern on its edge. He walked into the tavern, spotted Cairn, and, without a single glance at the other patrons of the bar, took an unoccupied stool beside him. "Water, please," he said to the barman, who nodded and gave him a glass. As the barman grabbed a pitcher and began to fill the cup, the sound of a door slamming caused Wylliam to whip around in his seat and subsequently sent his water flying onto the barman. There was no sign of the person who had made the noise, so Wylliam shrugged, turned back around, and noticed the consequence of his abrupt movement. He apologized with ample sincerity and embarrassment, but the barman shrugged it off and gave him another glass. Taking it, Wylliam turned to face Cairn. "I wonder who was in such a hurry," he said with a smile, taking a sip of his drink. "Sure is a nice, peaceful town. Ironic, isn't it, that it should be so close to the Colosseum, a place of intense fighting and competition?"

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Skaol knew he was no longer in immeadiate danger of being discovered, but that didn't slow his flight in the slightest. He remembered the door waking him when it closed. He remembered looking through heavy lids at the back of the newest patron to the bar. He rememberd Wylliam's voice ordering a glass of water. Skaol had leapt from his seat and rushed from the bar, slamming the door behind him and praying that Wylliam had not noticed him. He was still not mentally prepared to face Wylliam, though he knew he had little time to become so. He checked back into his inn and locked himself in his room. He could no longer risk walking through town and accidently bumping into Wylliam.
 
"Sure is a nice, peaceful town. Ironic, isn't it, that it should be so close to the Colosseum, a place of intense fighting and competition?"

Cairn smiled, realizing the irony of what William have just noticed. True, though this was a very peaceful town and that the Colosseum was a place where blood was spilled, it was actually set that way to help the warriors to relax and meditate before participating in the tournaments. "Well actually, I say it's perfect. As a warrior, I value the opportunity to rest and meditate before every great battle, though most of the time we don't get that chance. In the Colosseum, we don't face people of flesh and blood alone, we also face ourselves." Cairn commented as he took yet another sip from the cup of wine.
 
Jonad was slightly annoyed, with that the girl, that cairn spoke to as Zeria, ran off before he could heal her.

As he left the scene of the duel, and Cairn following a short time after.
Jonad headed back to the ship, as someone mentioned food.

A little time later, after the food was devoured, he had left the ship, as the spear wielding man did before him.
Though, Jonad used longer time, not inhaling his food as the man did.

He came to enter the gates of the town, it looked peaceful, not too crowded, and surprisingly much peace, considering the colosseum.

Nonetheless, he walked into the town, spotting various shoppes as he walked.
He ended up at a location that looked like the center square. The fountain make that assumption clear.
He looked around, and saw little of interest.
Some kids where playing, seemed like a normal game, where one is a warrior, and "fighting against evil".
The only difference, is that this time, a girl with long brown hair, where the warrior. Normally that was a 'boys game'.
He laughed it off as the passage of time. And looked around yet again.
He spotted a tavern, and a man seemed to leave in a hurry.
Not bothering with details, he walked towards the door.

The doors opened, and the atmosphere inside, where surprisingly calm.
Smiling to himself as he shook his head, he entered.
He spotted Cairn, and the spear wielder, and chose to sit with them.

He took a seat on the side of Cairn, making him sit between Jonad, and the other man.
"An Ale, please" Jonad stated, as he put the nessesairy amount of money on the counter.
He was served the ale, but where slightly taken aback, that the barkeep where completely drenched on his chest area.
Though, he didn't seem to worry himself, so Jonad ignored it.

He took a great sip from the ale, it was ever so good.
He smiled. "G'day to you 2" he said referring to Cairn, and the spear wielder.
 
Mikhail

Wasting no time, Mikhail followed Skaol inside the small tavern, despite it's size and old look, the tables and floor were cleaned unlike most of the other taverns Mikhail and went to over the years, it was full probably by it's usual costumers drinking a beer or two. The owner of the pub was standing behind a counter cleaning a glass.

He walked in just in time to see Skaol slamming his door, thinking that there could be Seseus informants inside the tavern, he walked out back into the small plaza. There was hardly no movement and after noticing there was nobody lurking around, Mikhail jumped to a small balcony on the outside of the tavern, memorizing the position of Skaol, he leapt inside Skaol's room, the window was open, to find him laying back.

"It's been a while Sir Skaol, i did not expect to find you here...as the Emperor sent you to finish off Cairn or perhaps you came here for your friend Wylliam? Either way i trust that you know, that my job here is also to learn of the enemies next moves and eventually...kill them. Although now that you are here, perhaps i won't even need to bother."
 
Jake visibly struggled with Zeria's request. Though he didn't want to hurt anyone, particularly her, he found it very difficult to warrant not defending her, even if she didn't want to be defended.

"Fine," he grunted, sheathing his sword and looking at Zeria. "But if he attacks, he's dead." He turned back to the man whom Zeria had called 'Samael.'

"Look," Jake growled, "I don't give two fucks who you are, and I don't care what you're here for. Just consider yourself lucky that Zeria was here to call me off." Jake walked up to the stranger, and in a threatening whisper, said, "if you so much as lay a finger on another person here, much less try to kill them, my sword won't be so shiny." Jake stepped back and stood beside Zeria. "It's your call, buddy; take it or leave it."

Jake thought it grimly entertaining that he, only having turned fifteen a few months past, was defending people and threatening warriors billions of miles from his home.
 
After hearing Zeria statement and the young dragon Jakes threat Samael drop his hand back to his side and looked to the ground. His eyes grew dark and cold. Slowly he began to laugh until he was laughing maniacally.

"HAHA............My young friend you should count yourself lucky. The only reason I haven't decimated the town is only because I don't want to hurt my love. And the only reason I haven't killed you is because of my master."

Samael then turns his back to Jake and Zeria and begins to walk away.

"I leave my love Zeria in your hands for now."
 
Zeria found it difficult to deal with what was going on.

"Damnit...I'm not strong enough...I still can't protect myself...much less the people I care about...!"

She was crying now. Even though she was happy that Jake was here to help her, and that Samael was leaving, she still felt aweful.

"Jake...can I trust you not to tell Cairn and the others about this? I don't want them knowing Samael was here again..."
 
Jake bristled at Samael's comment. "Excuse me? I'd be dead if your master didn't say no?" Calm down, Jake, he told himself mentally. He's just playing mind games. He wouldn't be able to beat you anyway. But something told him that they hadn't seen the extent of his powers. Either way, it didn't give him any right to threaten.

"Just be grateful that Lucio or Lucius or whatever-the-hell-his-name-is interfered when he did, dude. You would be handicapped for life."

"Jake...can I trust you not to tell Cairn and the others about this? I don't want them knowing Samael was here again..." The suffering in Zeria's voice was painfully evident. Though Jake thought better of it, he decided to go along with her. It wasn't his place to tell anybody anything.

"Fine," he said softly. "I won't tell." He shot Samael a withering look. "But you, bastard, had better not be in that tournament. If you are, and you fight me, I won't hesitate to disable you on the spot." Regardless of the fact that he was in human form, Jake was not a being to be trifled with. His Dragon form only had 1.5 times the strength of his human form.
 
The hours passed as Cairn spent some quality time in the tavern. As he realized that it was afternoon, Cairn had the last sip of wine and bid farewell to everyone in the tavern. He then turned away from the counter and left towards the exit. Once outside, Cairn thought that it would be best to look for a place to stay, since he didn't wanted to go back to the ship. Soon he sighted a small Inn, the owner being an old friend of his. Decisive, Cairn slowly walked towards the Inn as he cautiously surveyed the area. The peace still remained, regardless of the amount of warriors that have been arriving to join the tournament. As he entered the balcony, Cairn walked towards the door, turn around the doorknob and opened the archaic wooden door.

He entered and was greeted by Van, the youngest son of the Inn owner. Van was at least 15 years old, with long black hair, pointy ears, small nose and thin lips. He was wearing a leather vest with a white shirt underneath, cloth sienna pants, and brown boots. His shoulders barely could be seen behind the counter, but he was tall enough to attend customers. Cairn greeted the young Van and asked him if he remembered him. The young man wondered for a few moments, but then remembered Cairn. Cairn asked about Van's family, and Van explained that all of them have been well, except his father that was a little sick.

"Oh, I see. Then can I get a room?"

Van reached the wall where several keys were hanging, pull one out and gave it to Cairn. Cairn gratefully took the key and left several gold coins on the counter, then he left upstairs to his room, and locked the door. Once inside, Cairn left his pack on a corner, took of his armor and fell heavily on the bed, he was exhausted. Several more hours passed, and the sun was about to set on the horizon, illuminating the skies with yellowish orange and red pigments.
 
((OOC: Just a quick note, the inn that Skaol is in is not part of the tavern he fled, and is a different one than that in which Cairn is staying.))

Skaol jumped at the sound of Mikhail's voice. He sat up, turned, and smiled warmly to his comrade, though truth be told, he didn't much care for the man. Mikhail was one who would think nothing of involving innocents if it suited his purpose. "Mikhail! So, you have been given a similar mission. I was told originally to track down and kill the group before they reached the royal city. There was, however, an unforseen circumstance that forced me to depart with haste. The appearance of a dark knight calling himself Lucius attacked the group and spoke of armageddon. After he left, I decided to head back to Aldabra, but was intercepted by one of our messengers. Somehow, they had already learned of my failure and sent another missive, as well as a list of names of the target party. At that time, I wasn't sure why they gave the list to me this time and not the first time. Then I saw Wylliam's name, and I knew. Such missions were normally given to assassins such as yourself. Why did they assign me with this task? Simple: my loyalty was in question. If I would kill the man for whom I've been searching for years, then the empire would have no reason to doubt my loyalty." Skaol sighed, got up from the bed, and crossed to the window, staring sleepily at the peaceful town. "We may disagree in our methods, but our objective is the same. I do, however, have one request." He turned and looked into Mikhail's eyes, a look of drowsy pleading on his face. "Do not touch Wylliam. He and I need to conclude things ourselves."

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Wylliam whittled away the day, talking amiably with Jonad and Cairn, introducing himself to whomever in the bar could stomache his lengthy self flattery, and speaking at great lengths about his daring exploits and near impossible missions as an unpartisan mercenary. "Indeed," he said to one of the patrons who had decided to stick around to listen to Wylliam's rambling, "perhaps I am simply too great for words (an ironic statement, as he had been talking for hours about his 'greatness'). Though I must say, I have met some people recently that might provide a challenge. We'll see at the tournament though, eh?" Noticing that Cairn had left, Wylliam thought that now was as good a time as any to retire for the day. He left and went to a nearby inn (the one Cairn is in). The young boy behind the counter gave him a key, Wylliam gave him the nightly fare, and retired to his room. After taking off his armor, he sunk into his bed, falling asleep instantly and dreaming about his days as a knights apprentice.
 
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