Swing of the Pendulum

OoC: (Anyone can Join) I think I will use Havane for this one. Feel free to jump in.

BiC:
The aroma was intoxicating.

An acute sense of smell, sharpened by the lasting memory of his robotic half, was one of the few remaining characteristics of what was still human in him. The ability to feel was gone in half his body, the ability to actually see, and not just interpret data, was gone in half his body. Half his body itself was gone, replaced by the ever clanking metal and the ever moving pistons.

The small village contained nothing more than shacks. Small huts made of a vile red clay, and covered by thatched roofs that looked as if they would never stand up to rain, or wind, or any other element. Yet here on the lee side of the mountain, the weather seamed to remain at a constant. Dry. Humid. Seemingly lifeless. The village disgusted him. The feel of the dirt road beneath his feet. The heat of the strong sun blazing like a furnace into his mechanical back. The quaint stares of the humans that occupied his own personal nightmare come to life. One thought constantly echoed in his head. Destroy it. Burn it down. He was even more disgusted by the lack of technology. None what so ever. Its hard to believe that at one time the bow and arrow were the pinnacle of human advancement and someone would actually fear if a person held a blade in front of them.

But the smell was distracting. Appealing. Something about it held the attention of the cyborg. It was familiar in a way, yet he could not identify it. It did not have the smell of food nor the interesting flow of perfume, or the gritty smell of burning wood. But the distinct smell was not altogether bad and for Havane that was unusual. He felt he was at peace, he was actually comforted by the smell and that scarred him like nothing else. He had spent his life as a man without fear and now he saw through his own disguise and that unnerved him and caused him to hate the village even more. Still, he was compelled to seek out the source of the smell. It cant be that hard to find, after all, there are only twelve houses in the whole town. His searching eyes glanced from side to side and his robotic eye found out all human heat signs. In all, there were about twenty.

He could feel the weight of the scrutiny of such a judgmental people. So stuck in the past that they would not leave there ways for anything. They were a people that would not, and worse feared to progress and more hate welled up within himself. He followed his nose to the outskirts of town and found an elderly man bent with age and stirring in a pot. The man did not look up to see that Havane had entered his private area. "What are you doing here old man? What are you making that causes such a smell."

"What I am doing is but making smell alone. My work serves no purpose but to draw travelers here."

"Why? What purpose does that serve." Havane struggled to understand this man. He could see obvious joy in the mans eyes but none what so ever in his voice.

"There is no purpose but enjoyment, and meeting new people is always an enjoyment to me. Tell me, do you do everything for a specific reason, or do you have spurs where what you do has no apparent motives?" The old man smiled and looked Havane with a curious eye.

"You speak as if you are not of this land. Where are you from old man? What is your name?"

"I have traveled the earth too long to recall trivial things such as where I am from and what my name is. As for the latter you may call me what you wish. I have no preferences." The old man was strange, and he was befuddling to him and he tried to comprehend the mans own words.

" What are your goals in life? Why do you attract travelers?"

"You must be deaf or dumb for I have already said my reasons." the old man grew impatient.

"You are the first to call me that and still draw breath. Considerer yourself lucky."

"I do not fear you metal one. I am not as weak as I would appear. You may call me Samen. You must do what you have come to do." And then he was gone. No sign remained of him and instantly Havane questioned his own sanity. The man was there. Every part of him, mechanical and human said that he was there. But with him he took the smell and that more than anything infuriated him. He was puzzled by the mans last words. He pondered their meaning with an intensity he was not used to. Unending questions filled his head and he could think of no logical answer to them.

As he struggled to find an answer to his questions, a rage boiled within him like he had not experienced in years, and the machine took control. He whirled and spewed out a volley of shruikens into the clay houses that angered him so. He watched as they burned, he listened, satisfied to the screams of the women, the cries of the children, and the shouts of the men as they desperately tried to eliminate the flame that scarred them so.

He turned away and walked without looking back. Just one more thing he would regret. One more thing he would need to deal with in his own time. He felt that his existence had become meaningless. Now all he knew, was that he was searching for someone, and it troubled him that he did no know the name or the face of the being he searched for so diligently.

Lachyn froze as he finally reached the mountain's summit and looked down into the village.

Or, rather, what was left of it.

It had been decimated, burned to the ground, and nothing remained of the houses but smoldering ruins. He blinked down at the wreckage, and his hand hovered, for a moment, between his sword, and his lute.

His fingers closed around his lute, his other hand automatically reached back to undo the straps, and he sat down and began to play, softly. The tune was an old one, one his mother had sung to him as a child, but he changed the chords, giving it a more melancholy feel. Under his breath, he began to sing, making up a few lines about the tragic, senseless destruction of a village at the mountain's foot, then abruptly stood, swung the lute back onto his back, and began the hike down the mountain.

He reached the village, and now it was his sword that he drew, and used it to dig through the still-smoking remains. There were footprints in the dusty road, and he bent to examine them. Not, he was certain after only a glance, Kellith's. It didn't seem like the sort of thing the Medallion caused, anyways. A fair fight, one-on-one, was much more the style of someone possessed by that charm.

He looked again at the footprints, curious. They were very strange, one of them ordinary, the other one larger, flatter. They continued down the road. At one point, they turned, and then walked on.

Lachyn wasn't much of a tracker, but he knew no ordinary person could have made those tracks. Who would have destroyed a village like this, without hesitation, without mercy?

He sang of few more lines of his earlier song and kept walking.

OoC: Hope you don't mind my jumping in. I've got no experience, but this should help me.

OoC; First off, your posts aren’t that long, but you have obvious talent as a writer. I would be honored if you joined me in battle. Second of, how do you pronounce your characters name. I like it.

BiC: The silence in the forest around him prevailed in driving him further into an unexplainable grasp of fury. He was always alone now a days, and sometimes it hurt. But he knew that to be with people would be dangerous, as he had just destroyed the last village he had stumbled across. He kept to the trail, not because he had a fear of anything that could be in the woods, but because he was not overly enthusiastic to think of the physical strain it would put on him to travel such a distance upward through such treacherous terrain. He paused and took a quick scan of his surroundings, his robotic eye picking up whatever flesh would miss. That’s when he saw him. A large man, striding through the twists and turns of the slinking trail towards him. Havanes extra sensitive audio receptors took in the sound of the man’s voice, but he was too far away for even his one robotic ear to hear what he was saying.

He watched the man warily and noticed that every few feet the man would bend over and examine something on the ground. I’m being tracked. Havane thought, and smiled at his own fortune. He could tell the man had a large sword on his back and the thought of a true fight, not just the slaughter of innocents, to calm his fury would be just what he needed. He cared not for the life of the man, nor did he care if he took it away, but his anger was built up and that was bad for anyone he might meet, for his robotic half would not let built up emotions go. If he could just relieve the pressure that would drive him to destroy everything then he felt he might have a chance to be around people once more. After all, what was one man when I would save an entire village? He lied to even himself, for he thought only of eliminating the pressure that intoxicated him with evil, and the fear that he would hurt more innocents. He was not an evil person and he did not like doing evil acts,. He starred down at himself, a bile spite welled in him, not for the first time, against his robotic half that tortured him with emotions he could not control and forced his hand in matters he had no wish to act upon. He would remove it and replace it as soon as he had the chance but the planet he had found seamed to primitive, as diverse in species and personalities as it was. Until then, he would attempt to relieve his pain and suffering.

He turned to face the man and called out a warning. “If you approach me, I will engage you. I give you one last chance to turn and go your own way. If you leave I will not pursue you.” He was not in the mood for a chase today.

“Was it you who obliterated the village below?” He asked simply, but with a slight edge in his voice.

“What did they mean to you young one? But yes, I did what you say.”

OoC: Crappy ending I know, I had to go, sorry.

OoC: Senkuu!
Lachy's name is pronounced with an A as in blah , a CH as in the Scottish loch (like a hard CK, but with a softer H sound blended in, if that makes sense), and the Y sounds like a combination of an EE as in beet and an I as in hit or in.
And here's the link to his profile, since you asked.

BiC:

Lachyn glared across the distance between him and the figure down the path. The killer was horrifying to behold, a twisted mixture of man and robot. It wasn't hard to imagine how easily he must have destroyed the little town. "What did they mean to me?" he echoed. "They meant what death means to someone who has seen--and caused, yes, I'll admit that much--his fair share of it. They meant the cost of lives. What did their slaughter mean to you?"

The cyborg didn't really appear to like that question, nor have an answer ready. "If you have caused death yourself, young one, are you in a place to judge me about slaughter?"

"I wasn't making a judgement," Lachyn said, a bit defensively. "I was asking a question."

"You don't seem like the sort to kill. You must have led a difficult life if you've seen as much death as you say, in so few years."

"Oh, I'm older than I look, and older in my head than my appearance and my true age put together," Lachyn said wearily. "I've killed, yes. There's blood on this sword, and shadows in my footsteps that aren't cast by the sun. I know what it is to kill, even to kill without reason. Was there a reason for what you did?"

"Was there a reason for you to follow me?" The cyborg was getting angry, impatient. A gleam of hatred lit up his robotic half's eye.

"There's a reason for everything I do," said Lachyn, quietly. "Just one reason."

"I'll give you a reason to fear," roared the cyborg.

Lachyn stepped forwards, furious, and realized his mistake. He'd compromised any safety he might have had.

He barely managed to draw his sword before the cyborg attacked.

OOC:I'm sorry if I intrude on this, but it looked too good to pass up.

BIC: Geo was one with the earth. He was one with the mountain upon which he sat. He was one with the village made of clay at the mountain's base. It was his job to maintain the balance of earth among the other elements. He was aware of everything that touched the earth. The gentle breeze, the root of the trees and other plants, the churning of the tectonic plates, and even the feet of the people down in the village. One such person intrigued him. His feet made a hollow, metallic "thunk" rather than the soft pitter-patter of normal people. He felt the man walk into the far hut and stand there. Now why would someone enter an empty hut?, Geo asked himself. Suddenly, Geo felt a pain rip through him. The strange man was destroying the village. He felt the blood of the innocents cover the clay and feed the earth.

Geo's eyes snapped open. He looked down at the village with a small ounce of hope that turned to dismay when he saw the smoke. A shred of fear ran through him, but he pushed it to the back of his mind and repeated a saying that he had read somewhere.

"I shall not fear. Fear is the mind killer...." Geo muttered to himself, when he felt another set of human feet on the mountain with him. He focused on it and tried to analyze it. Five-ten.......One hundred and fifty pounds......without armor, he thought to himself. A tickling vibration reached his fingers that touched the ground. And a talented musician, he added with a smirk. He felt the person, who he was certain was a man, descend the mountain and examine the ruins of the village. He smirked again. He felt heroic qualities in this man, which also meant that there must also be pride. The man began to follow the path of the flat footed stranger that had destroyed the village. Geo cringed at the memory of the pain. Geo opened his eyes again and decide that he would go an watch the confrontation between these two characters, for there would be a confrontation. He got up from where he was perched on a rocky out crop, and assembled his things. He grasped his great sword and belted it to his side. He did likewise with his two katanas, but he kissed them before belting them to his side, muttering his sister's name. He then grabbed his hammer/staff and descended the mountain with elfin grace.

He got his first real look at the carnage when he reached the base of the mountain. Burning rubble, lifeless bodies, and shards of metal. The stranger had gone simply berserk. Geo shook his head in pity. He set out on the same path as the two strangers, but he stayed a safe distance behind both of them, lest he be detected. He turned for one last look at the desecrated village, and saw the horror filled, death mask of a child. Geo shuddered at the thought of what awaited that boy when he awoke on the other side.

He was approaching a ticket of trees. The trees were clumped together in odd groups, with green leaves and strong trunks. Geo smiled at the harmony earth had created in this region. He focused on the two strangers, and found them a bit deeper in the forest. they were stand still and close together, perhaps they were speaking to one another. Suddenly the flat footed one's feet left the ground, and the other shifted to a defensive stance. The pendulum is in full swing, Geo thought to himself as he headed toward the fight.

OoC: GuruGuruguy, its bean a long time since we last met in combat. The pleasure is all mine. And your even using the same character too. Interesting, its like de-ja-vu.

BiC: The man acted quickly, faster than Havane thought was possible for a man of such stature. But he had given up his footing and shown h9mself to be somewhat arrogant, and prideful. Pride comes before the fall. Never forget that. He waited until the man was within range of his own blade and his interchangeable arm snapped quickly to a sword. He met the mans blade full on. The shock of the impact was stronger than he thought it would be. Haven unconsciously stepped back and swung low at the mans legs, but they were already gone. My own pride has blinded me. We have clashed but once yet I have underestimated him thrice.

“I will uphold what honor and dignity I have left by playing ”fair” with blade on blade.” Havane laughed as he saw the human eye his robotic hand cautiously. For now at least. The man almost laughed but he seamed composed enough to choke it back.

“What honor does a man who would not think twice at the slaughter of innocents have?” he questioned, his amusement gone and anger replacing it.

“No man is innocent. No being is entirely innocent. You surely must know this. Perhaps you should think as well. Perhaps it was not my choice to destroy the village. I do not have as much control over myself as you may think. This…” the metallic man waved his human arm over the half of him that was not flesh. “… controls more of me than I do. It will not let me make decisions on my own, and since it was made for war, it was not programmed with mercy, or kindness, or even love. I am only half human, and I only feel half human. You should not be so quick to judge me!” Havane bellowed. His anger had worked him into a fury. He advanced quickly on the man and jabbed forward.

The man deflected it to the side, Havane used the momentum to swing for the mans side. The man parried that as well but he took a step back. Havane smiled. He started driving the man back with a fury of blows that ranged at the highest speed he could must. The man intercepted them all with, at first ease, but then he began to tire. I can outlast him. Half of me never tires. Even if he was stronger and faster then me, I would out last him, but I doubt he is. He continued to swing in a frenzied fashion.

Havane watched with pleasure as the man grimaced with the effort of repelling his newest attacks. Suddenly Havane broke off. The man decided to strike while he could. His blade flew around his body and swiftly homed in on Havane’s side. The cyborg danced out of the way at the last second and moved farther away. The man dropped to one knee with the force of the miss, sweat protruding on his brow. He quickly stood, not wanting to show any sign of weakness. He looked at Havane and noticed that the robot paid little attention to him.

“Why have you stopped? Why do you not continue our battle. Surely you are not scared?” He smiled. Havane just starred at him, uncomprehendingly. His robotic half was in control temporarily.

“I see more then you do. We are not alone. A being sits just out of sight range. My sensors picked him up as I forced you towards his position.” Havane glowered, knowing that the chances of this knew creature joining the fight on his side was slim to none at best.

“I think you are seeing shadows. I do not see it.” the man murmured under his breathe, but Havane caught it.

“You are not the only one who has shadows that follow him, but my shadows are not the evil deeds I have done as yours are. My shadows are usually young men seeking revenge or glory by slaying me. You do not see him because he is well hidden, blending into the forest as if naturally. He is good at hiding, but even he can not hide the beat of his hard, and the sound of his lungs bringing in air. Even he can not stop his body from making heat. He is there, I assure you and soon, he will join our little dispute, and with all probability it will be as your ally.” Havane stated, unphased by the new turn of events.

Geo felt the fight stop. Eh? What's this?, Geo thought. They just stood there. Geo suddenly realized that he had been found. His shoulders sagged. I should have used my shadow powers, He thought to himself as he stood up. As he did, he could make out the vague shapes of the two men through the thin mist that had settled over the forest. Geo called upon the shadows and formed a small portal. He smirked in the direction of the two men and stepped through the portal.

When he stepped out he was near the two men. The first man, who was obviously human, looked shocked and stood there with his mouth open. The second man, if you could call him a man, looked amused. The second man was composed mostly of metal and wires. Very little was actual flesh. This was the monster that had destroyed the village. An irrational anger rose up within Geo, one that he could not calm.

"I suspect that you are the abomination that destroyed the defenseless village?" Geo asked the metal-man. The smirk on his face disappeared. Geo turned to the other man.

"Would you like assistance in riding the plane of this thing?" Geo asked. The astonishment disappeared from his face.

"I would," replied Lachyn. Geo nodded and set his hammer deep into the ground. He unbelted his great sword and stuck it in the ground. He touched one hand to the ground, and started muttering a spell. The ground quivered ever so slightly before a great hand of magma shot out. A golem of pure magma lurched out of the earth and stood beside Geo.

"Now the score is even," said Geo. His anger had turned to rage. He unsheathed the two katanas and the battle commenced.

OOC: Yes Bluefox, it has been a while. But you'll find me a more experienced battler, and Geo is a bit different than you remember him. I apologize for the extremely short post, but am am ill. I'll change it later if you wish.

OoC: Sorry I've been neglecting this a bit. D:

BiC:

Lachyn didn't know what was going on, but that was often the case in fights like this, and he knew how to hide his confusion. He was, at the least, glad for the help, even if he didn't know who this strange man was or why he, too, had a reason to fight the cyborg.

The man was attacking with something like fire--magma?--beside him as Lachyn swung at the cyborg with his sword. No sooner had he begun the fight than he knew this would not be an easy opponent. He hadn't expected it to be a quick fight, but he was pretty sure now that he would have his work cut out for him if he wanted to win.

And he didn't have a choice. He had to win. All it would take was one loss to destroy everything he'd worked for, if it was against a particularly cold-hearted opponent. If he lost to the cyborg, he would be killed. He couldn't be killed, couldn't die, not yet, not now. Not when he was so close...

So close. How many times had he thought that? And again and again, his hopes had been too high. Again and again, he'd felt that she was before him, only to have her slip out of his grasp.

How many times could a heart be broken? And, more importantly, how many times could a broken heart be mended?

Lachyn jumped and swung his sword down at the flaming shuriken the cyborg flung at him. Then the thought of fire hit him. His strange ally's fire was controlled. This fire was not.

And they were in the forest.

OoC: Ach, sorry, short post. x\ Hope you guys enjoyed it anyways.

OoC: I’ve noticed on both accounts Guru. Nice post Hylian. I like the ending. Two on one huh. I figured with Guru’s first post, and since he was using Geo. Ah well. It will still be fun.

BiC: Havane watched satisfied as his opponents temporary lapse in judgment aided him. Lachyn’s realization was to slow. His great sword deflected the shruiken into a nearby tree and the combustion was instantaneous. Havane switched his arm to a mini rocket launcher and sent a single shot into the creature of magma. The explosion did little good. He reacted on pure instinct, allowing his mechanical parts to assume control. His side blades swept down and gleamed in the light of the spreading fire. In one motion, he drew a sword from his back and switched his arm to a laser. A rough, coarse laughter cut the air, his laughter.

The magma creature moved into a defensive stance in front of the stealthy man. The large man readied his blade and took an aggressive stance. The cyborg laughed yet again and eased his own stance. “Two against one, hardly seams fair.”

“You verse the villagers was not fair either. They were not armed.” the stealthy one replied.

“True. Yet I find it funny that we will now turn and kill each other without even knowing whom we are fighting, the pasts and causes of our struggles. I for one will not continue this nonsense until I know the name of my wood be killers.” Havane stated, seemingly calm.

“I am called Lachyn.” the big one stated simply.

“I am named Geo.” the stealthy one grimaced.

“And I am Havane. Now that we have been acquainted, we can continue with the mayhem and murder.” he smiled in an almost anticipating way. The fire was spreading in a way that was uncontrollable and dangerous to all except himself. Even the odds. The wind in the air carried his own personal death song through the woods and closer to his victims. He watched the big man … Lachyn tense. He took that as his signal to begin. In a swift smooth motion, he shot a laser at the magma creature, this time with no intent to hurt the creature. Geo saw through the attack, and dodged just in the nick of time. The laser cut through the beast but no damage occurred. Havane ground his teeth and kept his attention on the beast.

Lachyn charged. Anger burned in his eyes and near madness in his eyes. Havane was free to think as his robotic half took control of his body. He moved to intercept the big man, but he did not take his eyes of the stealthy one. Something drives this Lachyn. He has a fear that drives him, a motive to live. He could feel the vibrations as his sword slammed into the blade of the big mans, but he watched warily as the stealthy ones beast stepped forward slowly and sluggishly. He watched the focus of the stealthy one strain as he starred into the fire. Havane laughed again. “Your power wont work here. That is, if you are trying to control my fire. It is not the same was what you are used to. It is not really even fire. Try all you want but you are wasting your energy.”

He could still feel the vibrations as he slammed his blade into each of his opponents attacks. He felt more of a draw to the big man. For some reason he felt like between the two of his enemies, the big one could relate. He could see it in his eyes. Something that was similar. Not the same, not even in him now, but in his past. Perhaps he could help him to get over his own problems. Maybe, just maybe.

OoC: Thanks, so did I. Among the people who get to read my work, I am well-known for my cliffhangers.
BiC:

If there was one thing you learned when you were a fighter, it was how to focus on one thing and see everything else at the same time. The more you fought, the wider your view expanded, or so it seemed, until you could see a whole scene in perfect clarity and react to everything that happened. If nothing else, it was useful for pulling off a feint.

Even when he was younger, Lachyn had been particularly good at this. It had been a good skill to have against his merciless father. He'd only grown better with each day's training, with every battle. These days, of course, he used it even when he wasn't in a battle. He had to. Now it wasn't just his eyes--any mark, any whisper, any trace of warmth on the wind, any slightly bitter taste, all of it, anything could be the one clue he needed to find Kellith.

Now he wasn't looking for clues, but while he wasn't thinking to pull off a feint--at least, not just yet--he was certainly utilizing this talent to the best of his ability. He looked right into Havane's one human eye as he dodged the blasts aimed at him from all sides, and darted in with an attack whenever he had the opportunity.

And in an instant, looking into the cyborg's eye, Lachyn saw a pain that went deeper that the steel and wires making up half of Havane's body. Pain, loss, perhaps even fear...and within it all, weaving in and out of it, twisted around it all like some wild vine, a feeling of being trapped.

And yet the laser fired, fired, and the sword slashed, parallel to the violence, the anger blazing in the glass-plated eye of the robot within the man.

But maybe, there was a chance, even if it was a tiny one, that the human part of Havane could still be reached, somehow.

"Havane," he said, calmly, and blocked a blow with his sword. "I told you, didn't I, that there is a reason for everything I do?"

The cyborg growled slightly. "Yes," he said.

Block--stab--duck--dart back. "Would you like to know the reason?" Parry, in, jab. He didn't wait for an answer this time. "It's because of my sister."

Sidestep, slash, jump back, run in.

"I lost my sister, more than two years ago. Alright, so I admit, it was my own fault. But now I have to find her, and save her from..."

From what? The Medallion? No, Havane didn't need to know about that part. "From herself. So I ask you this: have you seen her?"

Havane narrowed his eyes and attacked, more forcefully, pushing Lachyn back. Towards the trees. Of course. Lachyn knew how to deal with that, so he stepped back as the cyborg marched forwards. "That's all I want to know," he went on. "I followed you because I thought that if you were so fond of violence, you might, perhaps, have fought her. But now I see it was a foolish hope. If you fought her...you would not have left her alive."

He was only inches from the edge of the path now, so close he could feel the heat of the blazing trees against his back. If they stayed on the path, they were reasonably safe, though not entirely. But if the fire jumped the path...

"That's why I must defeat you," he said. "I have a reason to live."

Suddenly, without warning, he ducked under a shot from the laser and darted around behind Havane. The cyborg was taken by surprise, and with good reason--Lachyn, if somewhat clumsy when speed was required, was still a good deal faster than he looked like he ought to be--and Lachyn took the opportunity to attack.

"Tell me, Havane," he said as he began forcing the cyborg back, "is there any small piece of your cold steel heart that will take mercy on me and let me escape this battle with my life?"

OOC: OOooooo illusionary flames. Nice touch, but that won't save you here.

BIC: Geo focused on the flames, trying to will it to shape into a human shape.

“Your power wont work here. That is, if you are trying to control my fire. It is not the same was what you are used to. It is not really even fire. Try all you want but you are wasting your energy.” said Havane. Geo bared his teeth and rage boiled up inside him. In reaction of this surge of emotion, the golem grew in height and in brightness. He lunged at the cyborg with enough speed to make a normal person stumble, but he matched his speed and deflected his blows. Geo broke away and lept next to his golem. Lachyn and Havane were still locked in a struggle. Lachyn seemed to be talking to Havane as they were fighting.

"He's using psychological weapons. He's trying to get inside Havane's head," Geo said with a chuckle.

"It is a most useful weapon, when wielded correctly," replied the golem in a deep, bass voice that came from the center of the creature rather than the head. Geo looked at the two fighters, studying their actions and reactions. Like two dancers, dancing a fatal waltz. Geo began concocting a plan as Lachyn continued to speak to Havane.

"We must come at him from either side. Give him no margin for escape," Geo said to his golem. It nodded and broke away to his left, behind Havane. Geo circled in the other direction and cornered Havane. Lachyn saw this and broke away as well.

"You are surrounded heathen, there is no escape," Geo taunted Havane, but he didn't seen to notice. In fact, it seemed that Havane wasn't even conscious. His blank stare turned to Geo.

"Surrender and die with what little honor you have left," Geo said, but again, Havane didn't seem to notice. Instead, he charged at Geo with impossible speed. Geo lifted a hand skyward, and a granite wall rose ten feet to protect him. But Havane simply jumped over the wall and landed several yards from Geo.

"For one who relies on machines to give him strength, you have a little skill. A little mind you," said Geo with a smirk. Havane smirked as well. Geo's golem silently appeared next to him.

"If you wish master, I could turn his metal into mush," it said as it raised a hardened, clawed hand and clenched it into a fist. Havane looked up at the golem with surprise.

"It speaks. That's a cleaver trick you've taught it, can it play dead as well?" Havane mocked the golem. It growled menacingly and lunged at him with vigor. Havane barely dodged it's grasp. He landed with grace, but Geo was there to meet him when he landed. He stared attacking with uncanny precision. Stab-slice-jab-parry-stab-stab-block-parry-stab-cut-repeat. The heat of battle was getting to Geo. Illogical anger was rising in him. The golem, now a towering beast, blocked Havane's path away from Geo. Geo broke away, sweat covering his brow. He studied his opponent. Small dents appeared where he had struck him multiple times.

"I see your armor isn't as indestructible as you thought, automan," Geo said, nodding to Havane's metallic components. He smiled to himself. Now I know your weakness heathen.

OoC: If you read Lachy's profile, you'll perhaps remember he has an injury cause by some thieves. If you haven't read it, go read it now, or none of this will make sense.
BiC:

Lachyn was exhausted, but determined to win this battle. He watched as Havane confronted this strange little man, Geo, as he caught his breath.

He was at a loss now at last. He should run up behind and pierce Havane's still-human lung. That would kill him, wouldn't it? But it might not. What was left to him?

He tried to focus, but pain was building in the back of his skull and everything seemed fleeting, unimportant.

His best strategy had nearly always been to force his opponent into a corner. But that hadn't worked this time. Except that the burning forest was a wall, not a corner, a wall was half of a corner. you needed two walls to make a corner, where could he get a wall?

Stop. Focus. Think. What would Kellith do?

Kellith would have bested him by now, said a nasty little voice in the back of his head, with the help of the Medallion. The Medallion! He needed the Medallion! No, wait. He didn't want the Medallion. He had to destroy the Medallion and save Kellith. Where was Kellith? Hadn't she been standing there, just seconds ago? Or had it been years? Everything was running together. His head ached as if someone had driven a knife into his skull.

Had someone stabbed him? He remembered it being dark, and shouting, and Kellith's scream echoed in his ears.

No! With an effort, he forced himself back to the present. Havane was still locked in combat with Geo.

What would Kellith do?

He could picture it in his head: run forward, run the cyborg through and rejoin the fray for as long as it lasted before Havane collapsed. And if that didn't work, just try something else.

Lachyn raised his sword and ran forwards.

The world spun and lurched around him, and he staggered as the ground shifted beneath his feet. He swallowed hard and closed his eyes tightly, feeling suddenly sick under the weight of the attack of dizziness. He'd fought for too long, too hard, suppressing the warning ache at the back of his head until the old injury incapacitated him. He was helpless.

If Geo couldn't hold off the cyborg, there was no hope.

OoC; Well, I’m obviously out maneuvered an out written here. Time to get serious. By the way, the flames are not quite illusionary, and they are at the same time. Its kind of like having one of those fire places that show the flames, but heat still comes out of them. It is still enough to kill.

BiC; Geo had a surprising speed, and had even managed to get some hits on Havane, but he had not yet unleashed the full of his ability. His robotic half might be reckless, but it was also tactical. It learned from the movements and attack patterns of his opponents and was deliberately slow to begin with. Since he was at a handicap, he challenged each of the two individually to see what they were capable of. Between the two of them, Geo was the most threatening, and as astonished as he was, he actually liked Lachyn. From that base of Intel, his goal became clear. He waited patiently, taking all the damage that Geo forced upon him in a fashion of servitude to the machine that both caused him pain, and would save his life.

Then he felt it. The power built up and instantly his attack speed increased to full and his power went into its max limit. He drove at the stealthy one with a vengeance. The gollem stormed towards him as Havane drove his master backwards towards the wall of flames. The gollem moved with incredible speed, Havane had learned that quickly enough and he had also learned that if the beast got a hold of him it was over. He continued to attack Geo until the gollem was close enough. Havane turned his angle in a single motion of speed, and leapt into a side flip over the gollems head. The gollem reached to crush him but his surprise tactic worked and the gollem could not react fast enough. Havane rushed towards the flames and soared through them. As soon as he cleared the flames he activated his cloak and turned his body to the same glowing red of the fire.

He watched closely as both of his opponents acted differently. Geo instantly went on high alert and his gollem warily traced his vivid eyes up and down the wall of inferno. Lachyn on the other hand was looking confused and disoriented. He dropped down to one knee and that’s when Havane saw it. He hasn’t told me his whole story. He cant have. He knows how I feel, I can see it but he hasn’t told me why. If I am going to die, I will learn the whole of his story before, I swear it. He stood still, assessing the situation. None of them moved, none of them dared to make a move that may inevitably be their last.

He focused once again on Lachyn. He had no will to kill the big man. The stealthy one was getting on his nerves on the other hand. He switched to his robotic voice, he knew it would bound of all hard surfaces and disguise where he was. “ I am not the monster you think I am.” He watched, amusement played across his face as they flinched at the unnatural sound of his voice. “The machine controls who I am. It was made for battle and I have very little control over it. Please understand that, and do not hate me. Hate this machine that brings out the worst in me, that converts me into a monster that cannot be tamed. If I am to die here, I do not wish to be forgotten, or remembered as a vile creature. I would like the two of you to remember me as trapped in a beast that does things beyond my power. Now that you know a secret very few others know, then you know also that I would stop if I could, but I am unable to, I am unable to control this so this fight will continue.”

He used all of his will power to control his machine half, to wait, to allow them to regain the energy they had lost. He had no wish to die, but he had no wish to witness himself destroy more innocents. They had every right to attack him, to try and kill him. They had every right, and he would not blame them for it. He hoped they would honor his request, but he did not hold his breath for it. Mostly because he did not believe they would win. He had done things he considered unforgivable and he had committed acts he would call intolerable, and as much as he would like to never do those things again, his will to survive was stronger then that. His machine half would use that to make him stronger, to fuel his flame. It was time to step up his

Lachyn watched Havane. A small part of him was terrified, because when Havane attacked, he didn't think he would be able to force himself to fight back. The dizziness was lifting, the pain in his head, having reached a peak already, now fading at last, so that he was able to climb to his feet, but it was the story he'd just heard that made him hesitate.

The machine controls who I am. It was made for battle...

Lachyn clenched his teeth and closed his eyes briefly. Havane had no choice, no way to stop the monster he became when the machine took over. Lachyn could relate with that a little too closely for comfort.

Damn.

How was he supposed to kill someone who was as innocent--even more innocent--than he was himself? In a fight to the death against a willing opponent, he could do it, if he was forced to, but to take the life of a man held prisoner by himself, forced against his will by his own skin to slaughter and destroy?

Lachyn had been in that position not so very long ago. It had been years since he'd had the Medallion, but he remembered all too clearly the bloodlust, the hunger for battle, the raging, uncontrollable desire to fight, to hurt, to kill. Just thinking about it brought back the sick, guilty feeling that had occupied the pit of his stomach every day he'd worn the Medallion.

He'd sworn a vow the day he'd been himself again for the first time. He couldn't kill without reason.

After having experienced something so nearly identical to Havane's daily torment, the death of a dozen families wasn't a reason.

Lachyn weighed his options. He wasn't likely to survive a loss. He didn't think he could stand to kill Havane if he won. If he let Havane live, there was no guarantee that the cyborg wouldn't attack while his back was turned, and it would be as good as killing any people who might die later at Havane's hand. Maybe Geo would do it.

Regardless, Lachyn was exhausted, and it wasn't likely Havane would go easy, nor be able to restrain himself for much longer.

He could see only one choice if he was going to survive this.

He reached over his shoulder and closed his fingers around the slim wooden rod, like a baton. It was perhaps two feet long and an inch thick in any place, weathered and twisted. He pulled it free of its holder and held it in front of his face with both hands.

It grew longer, perhaps a bit thicker. The knotted wood was smooth in places from use. He felt an almost electric tingle in his hand, and behind Havane, he could see Geo's astonishment. He smiled grimly. It was no surprise that a man of the elements would have heard of this weapon.

After all, the Thunder Staff was a legend.

He was only half willing, having only just recovered from a relapse of his injury, to risk causing another one, but he could think of no other alternative. He just had to hope that it wouldn't strike twice in a row.

He looked the cyborg in the eyes, both human and robotic. "I'm sorry, Havane," he said quietly. "I'm so, so sorry."

He raised the Thunder Staff and, before he could think about what he was doing, slammed it, hard, into the ground.

OoC: Ouch. I like your writing and your cliff hangers but this one sucks to pick up on. Ill give it a whirl though. Oh, sorry about the font. I guess I’m going to start writing in blue, hence the name.

BiC: Havane couldn’t hold it any longer. As the feeling of danger struck, the machine took instant action. He moved as fast as possible … towards the weapon. Havane screamed at the stupid machine with all his might to change its direction, but to no avail. Suddenly it was if the world was in slow motion. He watched the staff slowly lower into the ground. He laughed to himself as he experienced all his life. I guess the stories are true. Someone must have survived to remember that though. Maybe Ill be lucky enough as well. Stupid memories. He felt his human half contort into a face of sheer agony. He realized that his life was horrible. He realized that he had become a monster worse than those he had fought to rid of his planet. A monster who had killed many and without remorse. He hadn’t realized how many lives he had taken with his own hands and his own blade. It was hard to remember half of them, or that they numbered so high when he focused on life one minute at a time, but none the less they were there. They waited on the other side of the river, calling to him. They’re faces were morbid. “Welcome home brother.” They call in perfect unison and they’re faces turn to glee. It was no more than I deserve. I hope that this does kill me. Though I doubt it. I will fight with this machine, and maybe this will be my last fight. Maybe they will succeed. After all, they are stronger then some of the others I have fought in the past. I wish them luck.

The shockwave hit him and tossed him like a hurricane tosses a leaf. He flew through the air and slammed through some trees. He lost count after two and just focused on staying alive. Finally he hit the ground and sighed with relief. He body tumbled and rolled and finally laid motionless against the bottom of a giant oak. He smiled. After all, he was still alive. He started to stand and managed. He turned and saw that he had smashed a considerable amount of the forest on his travels. His eyes scanned his body for signs of damage. He had a few dents but other then that he was fine. He took a step forward and then it clicked. Havane stepped forward again and realized that it was entirely on his own will. He sprinted back towards the clearing. Both of his opponents had relaxed. Lachyn seamed in some sort of pain and Geo had just starred at the spot where Havane had just left a new path. The stealthy one spotted him first. Instantly he was on his guard again. “Wait, don’t attack. I’m me. I wont fight back. That shock wave temporarily short circuited my suits control.”

“How do we know your not lying. I still believe you were always under your own control.” Geo snarled.

“If you look closely, you can see it in his eyes.” Lachyn was unusually quiet. “ He is different. He seams … almost happy.”

Havane watched them warily. He trusted Lachyn now, but not the other one so much. Then he felt it, it snapped back up and fell quickly. The machine was repairing itself.

“Kill me. Kill me now, before the machine goes back online. Quick!” Havane dropped down on one knee. He had a begging expression in his eyes. Lachyn looked too tired to move, but Geo would jump at the opportunity. Or so he thought. Geo straightened. He looked torn. “Kill me. Stop waiting and just do it. You had no problem doing it before! Do it now!”

“I had no problem killing you when you were fighting back, but after hearing part of your story, and seeing you act this way, it makes it … difficult … especially to kill a defenseless … man.” Instantly Havane was on his feet his blade extended to Geo’s throat.

“Defend yourself, and kill me.” he growled. “Now!”

Lachyn stared from Havane to Geo and back. He couldn't think of anything they could do. Anything except the obvious choice--kill the cyborg.

He hesitated, unable to think. Then, gathering his nerve, he said, "Don't kill him."

Geo and Havane both stared at him.

"You could have killed him with the shockwave," said Geo. "Now you want to save his life?"

"I didn't believe it would kill him," Lachyn replied. "If I had, I don't know if I would have done it, though in the end, survival instinct could have made me. But now, I cannot let him die, not with the intent of it happening."

"You have to," insisting Havane.

"No," Lachyn repeated. "Because I know what it feels like to lose control of my life and my hands."

Havane's human eye widened. At the same time, his metal hand curled into a fist. The robot was gaining more control.

"There was an amulet," Lachyn went on, "a--Medallion. It was terrible, wearing it. I was always hungry for a fight. Even when there was no fight to be had, it made me--different, enhanced--the worst part of me. Proud, arrogant, angry..."

He trailed off and took a deep breath before plunging ahead. "When I was in a battle, I was--energized, charged. Nothing could stand in my way. I was almost unbeatable. But afterwards, I felt drained, hollow. It just got worse, and worse. My sister, she hated it, hated what it did to me. One night she--well, I woke up and she was gone, with the Medallion."

There was a strange sort of ache in his chest. He'd never told anyone so close to the whole story before. It was like losing Kellith for a second time, but, anomalously, he felt as if a weight had lifted from his shoulders, a burden lightened that he hadn't realized he'd been carrying.

He was suddenly struck by a memory. He and Kellith were young, and he'd been charged with the task of dragging his father's heavy chain mail out to the field where they'd always practiced.

"Here," Kellith said, and lifted part of the chain mail onto her own shoulders. "Another carrying makes light the heaviest load."

"You got that from Mum," accused Lachyn, but it was easier with help.

Perhaps that was why he felt better, even for all the pain, having told his story to two men he hardly knew.

"I won't kill a man who's imprisoned by something like that," he told Havane. "I won't let anyone die under that weight if I can help it."

"I'm not under that weight," Havane said. "I'm free, but not for long. I want the last breath I take to be my own, without the anger and hatred of that machine."

Lachyn considered this, then bowed his head. His heart felt heavy as he picked up his sword and went to stand over the cyborg, but he would allow Havane this dignity, this small mercy in a life that had become meaningless.

"If this is really what you want, I won't deny you liberation," he said quietly.

He closed his eyes and, with shaking but unfaltering hands, raised the sword.

OoC: I don't think I can end it...D:
Even so, hope you enjoyed it!

OOC: I'm soo sorry I have missed so much.

BIC: Geo stood by, stunned. The very man that was trying to kill them, was no begging for his life to be taken. Geo's mind raced. Just kill him quickly. You don't even need to think about it. Let your rage take over, said a voice the back of his head. He shook the voice away. He tried to make his arms move, but they were frozen to his sides. He finally succeed in calling upon the eon-old majik within him, when he felt a mental jolt within him. He turned to see his golem shaking what would be it's head.

"No master," it said,"This man, no matter how strange, is dominated by a greater evil. This is the true monster, not him. Remember the olden days? The heat of battle? The thrill of the fight? I have felt these things within you whilst this fight has been going on. Let him live, master. Let him live so you two may fight another day." The golem was wise, because it was a creature of the all knowing Gogode. He nodded to himself. He turned back to see Lachyn standing over Havane, sword poised in a fatal strike.

"NO!!" yelled Geo. Both of them turned to look at him. Geo summoned his hammer from where he left it. When he felt it land gently in his hand, he walked behind Havane. "Many apologies my friend, but this is going to hurt," Geo swung at the back of Havane's head with strength that put the golem to shame. As the bell of the hammer hit the back of his head, it made a sharp, metal pang. Havane swayed on his knees, and fell face down in the dirt. He was unconscious, but he would remain that way until Geo chose the wisest moment to release him. Lachyn stared at Havane's limp body.

"Is he........?"Lachyn asked, unable to complete the question. Geo shook his head, understanding what he meant.

"No, he is not dead. He is merely in a coma. I put enough force behind that hammer to crush a Titan's skull like a sandcastle," Geo said with some amount o pride.

"Not dead?!!!" Lachyn shouted, clearly over his shock, "He could get up at any moment and kill us!" Geo shook his head and lifted the bell of the hammer to eye level to show his friend what he meant. A fine, glowing powder was covering the surface of the hammer.

"This powder will keep Havane subdued for quite some time, with the added damage I did with my hammer. He most likely will be under for good if we do not treat him." said Geo rather smugly. Lachyn nodded, and they both stood there over the unconscious body of the automan.

OOC:Sorry if it's too short, or if it doesn't make that much sense. PM me if you would like me to change it.

OoC: Thanks for saving both Lachyn and Havane from that, Guru. I feel compelled to write a little epilogue, so...
BiC:

Lachyn let his sword fall from his fingers as he looked down at Havane.

"If only I knew how to cure him," he said softly. "But I have no knowledge n robotics, nor in healing."

He sighed and stared into the woods. Dusk was coming swiftly overhead now, and the forest was dim and shadowy. Through the tall trees he could still see the glow of flames raging on the other side of the path.

"Thank you," he said at last, without looking at Geo. "I don't...I don't think I could have killed him, if it had really come to that."

"I don't doubt you." Geo was somewhere behind him still. "I almost pity him."

"He wouldn't want you to," Lachyn replied softly. "He didn't want pity, only mercy. Mercy and freedom. Don't we all want a little mercy, a little freedom?"

"Freedom." Geo hesitated. "It seems--a strange thing, that he should want freedom. I understand after hearing his story, but to think that any bars cold hold him..."

"In some ways we're all prisoners," said Lachyn bitterly. "Just some of us more than others." He sighed and looked back at Havane, then bent to pick up his sword. "Someone will find him. There are healers in this universe who could wake him. Can you make a golem? One that can warn them?"

"I could."

He put the Thunder Staff away and looked back towards the path, towards the firelight. "I wonder what his story is. How he became this way. I wonder who he was before. Did he have a family? Friends he was forced to leave behind? A home? An ordinary life?"

"You ask so many questions."

"I'm a storyteller. That's part of me."

"You are a strange one, Wanderer. Your path is confusing, both behind you and before, and, I sense, covered in shadows. Within you is a light, but you walk in dusk and darkness." There was silence for a moment, and he watched the fire flicker and dance between the graceful trunks. "I hope you find what you're looking for."

"I hope so too," Lachyn whispered, and turned away from the flames to walk into the trees, into the shadows, and into whatever path lay ahead of him.

OoC: Wait, who said it was over? This will probably be a short post, Im short on time.

BiC: As Lachyn left the clearing, he paused for a moment to consider the weight of what he had done. Thats when he heard it. An explosion sounded behind him. In an instant he had returned to the clearing. The first thing he saw was Geo's shocked face. The second was that of Havane standing in the middle of the burned forest. His human eye was closed but his robotic eye was open and glowing red. His human half seamed slumped but his robotic half was moving, of its own accord. It had taken over again. "Geo, get down." Lachyn bellowed across the expanse. Geo was a step ahead of him though. The stealthy man leapt into the air and dove into the cover of the remaining brush.

"Whats going on? That atttack should have put him out." Geo called across the clearing.

"You rendered his human parts unconcious but his robotic half runs on something else entirely. When you knocked out his human half, you effectively eliminated his control. The robot is now the alpha, and the human half is now beta. I think we messed up. Thats just a theory of course, if you have a better explanation I will gladly listen." he yelled back. Geo let the depth of Lachyn's words set in before he planned a course of action.

"How could this have gone so wrong." He whispered to himself. Then he was in motion again. He sprinted full speed across the field to the robot man. Lachyn moved in from the other side. Havane started launching shruikans at them both with lightning fast reflexes. It had started again.