Derrel vs. Haineko (Come at me, Nekoryuuha!)

Around the world, there were Temples that trained the worthy to master magic, weaponry, and other things. The Macha Temples were unfimiliar to Derrel's kind, and he figured he should learn about them. The nearest was found in the Tenne Plains, surrounded by rolling hills and patches of forest. He journeyed there with two soldiers, trekking through rough terrain just for the sake of it, until they made it. He sent them back to base to confirm Derrel's arrival, and looked on from the trees.

This Temple of Macha was set like a palace, with a large central building, four smaller buildings, and all surounded by low walls that were twenty feet high. That may not seem very low to some, but Derrel had seen bigger. Judging from the sun, he could tell he as nearest the North Gate. He sheathed his swod, and put his weapons on his back, and made his way to the gatekeeper.

He told the gatekeeper he wanted to look around, and maybe train in weaponry. The gatekeeper said the main building was the training halls, the northwest building was the mess hall, and going clockwise were the library, barracks, and holding cells for people that got out of line.

He was instructed to go to the training halls, and find the central office. On his way there, he found he was being watched by a Neko with Ash colored hair and clothing.

OoC: Ok, here's the battle thread for me and Nekoryuuha. It's open to a few others, but the main invite is for Neko. If for some reason I've done something wrong pertaining to Macha Temples, I apologize, Neko.

(OoC: Nice. The few things wrong are fine and insignificate.)

Bic: I had just arrived at the Tenne Plains temple and was looking around. The place was similar to the main temple, but smaller. Soon after entering, I saw what looked to be to dinosaur-like person be directed to the central office. Well, unless protocal is different for each temple. He might just find himself a pile of meat. He must not know that the temples don't allow non-Nekos to join. I'll follow him and see what happens, I thought as I took to following from a discreet distance. Soon he caught on to me and stopped. I knew he noticed me and made no attempt to hide myself from him. Before I walked closer, I grabbed a passing student-priestess and had her warn the guards that a fight might break out soon and to be alert.

"Hey. Dinosaur. what are you doing in here anyway? I doubt you suddenly got a religious ferver for Macha, the goddess of temptation. What is your goal?" I asked as I carefully approched the dinofos. He seemed to be a close range fighter like many other people, but something about him rang familar to me. A like calling to like.

"Why should I answer to you? You were the one following me, not the other way around," he replied, his eyes narrowing as he looked me over. To someone like him, I probably didn't seem like much of a threat. Too bad for him I'm more dangerous then I look.

"Trust me, it's for your own good. Unless of course, you wish to like not see another day," I simply said to him. I realized the thing that seemed familar about him. He was a fire elemental. Probably not as strong as me, but fire elemental nonetheless.

"Is that a threat, cat?" he asked as a hand went to his broadsword. His body looked ready to fight.

"Not a threat, but take it as one if you wish. Just remember, if you don't wish to die you'll leave here. Non-Nekos don't last long behind these walls. Even some Nekos don't last long," I replied and stepped back. My left hand went to my bow as I got ready to put distance between us and arrows in this dinofos.

(OoC: Sorry if I got something wrong.)

OoC: Neko said it was alright for me to join.

Nikudemon started traveling to find his Neko friend that he’s been trying to find for a long time. He came to a big building that he as ever seen. I think I'm lost, I have no clue where I am, the swordsman though as he walked up the steps. “Hey, mister man up there! Can you help me!?”

“What are you talking about? I’m not a man. I’m a female Neko. Are you alright sir?” the young Neko women replied, as she walked down the stair.

“What are you talking about, your are a human! Don’t tell me what I know or I’ll have to kill you,” the cursed human said, then he when and put his hand to his sword.

“Why are you getting angry at me? You are the one wrong,” the Neko question, then she when for her short sword.

“So, human, you want to fight and not help. I have not killed anything in a long time so lets go!” the male human said as he ran at the Neko. The swordsman swung his sword out of his sheath at full speed. The female Neko was just able to block it with her sword.

“Your a fast human you are and seem of lost your way. I’ll have to stop you right here a now,” the Neko said, then disappear for in front of the swordsman and reappear in back of him. “Sleep young one.” Then she hit him in the neck with the hilt of her sword.

“What are y-,” the cured human said as he fell to the ground.

“Let’s get you to the holding cell until I can find out what to do with you,” the Neko said, as she picked him up and walked into the temple.

A younger Neko came up to the gatekeeper Neko and said, “Keeper we need your help there’s going to be a fight breaking out soon!”

“What? But what am I going to do with him? Well he should be out for a while,” the gatekeeper said, then she sat him down near a wall next to the entrance.

Now that Derrel thought about it, the gatekeeper gave him a weird look when they met. Maybe he figured Derrel would get rejected, and didn't feel like getting into a fight about him being at the Temple.`"I heard Nekos trained here become powerful, so I stopped by. Maybe I can test my abilities on you." He said to the Neko before him. A small crowd had begun to gather, and it occured to him that fighting right away could land him in a holding cell. Maybe he'd just play with the woman, not going for the kill. Predators often enjoyed playing with their prey.

She grabbed her bow, so he did too. He had to discad his shield because holding a shield and bow would be clumsy, but he still had his breastplate. He aimed fo her arm, as it would disable her, but she dodged the first shot. She, however, was trying to kill him, as she aimed for his neck. He lowered his head, and the arrow glanced off his helmet.

As the crowd thickened, he traded his bow for his sword to prevent stray fire, then launched into an attack! She leaped aside, and began to chant. "O Lord, Mask of flesh and bone, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man, Truth and temperance, Upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws!" She chanted.

A ball of fire shot across the field, straight at Derrel. Thinking quickly, he beathed a blast of fire to stop the ball of blue flame. "A fire elemental warrior. Hmmm" He said to himself. The crowd had gotten excited, and a few of them looked to intervene, so he put his weapons up, and continued his walk to the training halls. The Neko woman didn't lower her weapon.

"Maybe I don't feel like joining the Temple, and maybe they only allow Nekos at these Temples. I'm just curious." He said aloud to no one in particular.

"Curiosity kills even Nekos, don't you know that, Dinosaur. I suggest you take my advice and turn back," I said to him as I circled a good distance in front of him, bow at the ready. The group surrounding us widened to give room. "Drop the curiosity and leave. It's probably not worth your life, but if you continue it easily could be more than you could hope to pay." The guards arrived and cleared the group surrounding us. At the sight of me, weapon at ready, they cleared the yard and formed a large circle around us, hands at their sword hilts.

Well well. It seems the guards know what to do. Now to get this dino out of here. I don't think he wants to die and I don't wish to possibly see dino steaks on tonight's menu. Probably give us all indigestion. I'll save Sokatsui for later. Maybe Shakahou can serve as a distraction, I thought as I aimed a hand at Derrel. "Hadou 31! Shakkahou!!" A red fireball a little bigger than a softball blasted toward Derrel from my hand. I then shot to his side and shot an arrow toward his sword arm to cripple it. He stopped my fireball with his breath, but noticed my arrow and turned his body to deflect it off his chestplate. Quickly, he took up his bow and fired back an arrow. I moved to the side far enough to let it go through my long hair. "I'll give you a last warning. Don't go farther. I won't stop you again if you wish to continue, but I advise you don't. Unless of course, you think you can survive. I will however, go with you if you decide to continue," I said to him to him with a dark smile. I returned my bow to its place around my left shoulder and moved back. The guards parted, pointing both toward the gate and toward the central office. "What's your choice, dinosaur?"

The swordsman woke up shortly after the two female Neko’s left him sleep. He got up and start walking around yelling, “Tsukineko! Tsukineko where are you! Hey Tsukineko are you here!” the swordsman yelled through the place. He then came to a place were a lot of Neko were. “Hey what going on here? And have any of you seen a Neko named Tsukineko,” the cured man said, then he started walking through the Neko’s. He reached the middle of the place and seen a gray female Neko and a Dino standing in the middle. “Hey, miss Neko have you seen a Neko named Tsukineko around,” the swordsman asked again this time hoping to get an answer.

“Leave me alone right now I have other stuff to do,” the gray female Neko replied.

“Not him again what is he doing up,” the gatekeeper asked. Then she walked over the swordsman and asked, ”What are you trying to do now trouble maker?”

“I have no clue what you are talking about. Have I met you before or something,” the swordsman asked, that he walked over to the door that the Dino was near.

“Stop! Human don’t go in here!” the gatekeeper yelled then ran towards the swordsman.

“I don’t have time for you gatekeeper a well not hold back!” the swordsman yelled as he turned around and swung his sword around. The sword hit the gatekeeper with so much force that it cut her in half. “I told you that I have no time to play around with you. May you soul rest in piece. Now, if no one else know where Tsukineko is I’ll well be continuing trying you find him.”

"First she wants me gone, now she says she'll help me go in? I don't like the smell of this, but I'm not about to back down now." Derrel thought. He was about to approach the door when a Human started calling for a Neko named Tsukineko. The name didn't ring a bell, so he simply watched the Human to see what they would make of a second outsider. The gatekeeper must have thought letting two outsiders in was unwise, and started chasing the Human. This also turned out to be unwise, as the Human drew his sword and sliced the gatekeeper in half.

This didn't bother Derrel, and he wasn't sure how he should respond. He had shown patience because he needed information to take back to base, but the locals weren't about to take this lieing down. Should he reteat now, or fight, as the guads had already armed themselves. Trying to blend into the background would be a pain, and jumping into a battle while surrounded by strangers wouldn't sit well with him. In fact, they may turn on him just as a precaution.

Suddenly, he felt vulnerable. The smell of blood was in the air, and he was surrounded. His aggressive tendancies were starting to show, but he knew he couldn't kill all these Nekos. Not only was it beyong his skill level, but his superiors wouldn't like that kind of report. He exhaled a cloud of smoke as a diversion, and the crowd quickly scattered to avoid the noxious fumes. The fled aay from the wall of the building, but Derrel moved quickly to pin the swordsman to the wall.

"You have made my job a lot harder than it had to be. I don't care if you kill these people, just don't do it when I'm trying to play nice. I only have so much nice in me, Human, and you've just worn out your welcome!"

The Human tried to push him off, but his claws worked like cleats, and his tail a stabilizer. "Back off, before you die too!" He said.

"I'm two inches from biting your face off, and you're threatening me?"

The smoke was clearing, and the Female Neko from before was right behind him. There went that vulnerable feeling again. Why did he have this habit of splitting from his group?

I was standing behind Derrel, arrow pointed at him and this...human that dared to not only to cause trouble in this temple, but killed a guard for trying to stop him from going into a restricted area. I could feel the anger of every Neko that had witnessed the guard's murder. I wasn't the only one at the killing edge. Slowly I moved to the side of the two, my arrow pointed at the human's throat and my eyes wide with anger. "Human. Do you know what you've just done?" I snarled to him.

"Nope. All I know is Neko is going to be pissed when he finds out," the swordsman spoke be to me calmly.

"Can you not tell you invoked the blood lust of several hundred Nekos?" I replied to him, malice dripping from my words like vemon from snake fangs.

"Uhhh. Nope." He said back to me, still calm and a little puzzled. I wasn't quite sure I should be angrier or dumbfounded. I always thought of humans as a dime a dozen, but this one struck me as 10 for a penny. I motioned for the guard to stand down, but stay ready. One of the guards ran off and returned with six mage warriors who also stood ready. Is this human trying to play dumb or is he truly this dense? Regardless of which, he's strong and at this rate will soon be dead. First, I should find out about this Neko friend of his. It's both good and bad that I'm known well enough to command the people here, I thought as I made another signal and archers took places to fire on the pair and the mage warriors readied to fight if the archers couldn't kill them. Knowing I was a little more safe then before, I placed the arrow back in my quiver and placed my bow back on my shoulder.

"Human. I want some information from you. Who is this Neko you're looking for and why do you think he's here? You should answer soon if you both don't wish to die soon." I stated to them both with a smile. Derrel looked around and saw both archers and the warriors and turned back to the human he had pinned.

"Hurry up Human. I don't wish to be a pincushion because of your actions!" The dinofos said in an annoyed tone.

"I would if everyone would stop threatening my life," the human responded, looking back at the Dinofos.

"I'm getting tiresome of this dense act. Drop it and give me the information I asked for," I said to him, annoyed.

"What dense act? Anyway your question. What was it again? Oh right, the Neko. He's my friend whose probably going to leave me in a pool of blood later," The human said, looking back toward me.

"In a pool of blood?" I asked, slightly surprised. This Neko friend of his must be strong to do that to him. That or he has abilities to negate this human's power. He could make a great warrior in our hands. "So you believe he's here, huh? What's his name?" I asked in more relaxed tone.

"Didn't I said it already? It's Tsukineko," the human replied, slightly annoyed. The Dinofos hissed at him for his tone of voice.

"Tsukineko. I can't say I'm familar with him, but your in luck. You won't die today, but you'll go only where I tell you to inside this temple," I spoke to them both as the archers put away their arrows, but kept their bows at hand. "You can releash him, dinosaur. I don't think you'll die today from him." Reluctantly, Derrel let go of the human. Beautiful! This human will lead me to this 'Tsukineko' and Macha will gain another powerful warrior.

What is wrong with this female Neko? It like she does not like any race but her own. Well at it a good thing she is letting me go. So where in this place do I want to go. Then the swordsman stomach started to make noise. "Can I get something to eat? It seem that I'm hungry," the swordsman said, as he when to hold him stomach.

The Dino grab the man again and muttered in he ear, "Do you really believe these people are going to let you eat after what you did. I think you should stop trying to push your luck."

"Ok, you can have some food this well give you a chance to rest," the female Neko replied and pointed the way.

"See their not bad people. They know how to forgive and forgot. After we eat can we go where the Dino want to go. I know there must be a place he wants to go. Come on Dino let eat, you must be hungry after that," the swordsman replied then started to walk the way the Neko said. After a little walk they came to the eating hall. It was a big hall that had five rows of long tables.

"So how much food do you think you need?" the female Neko said.

"Can you fill all the tables up with food that should do it," the swordsman replied, then he walked over to one of the tables to wait for the food. “On second though can you make that two rooms filled with food,” the man said, as he tried to sit down at a table. “Come on an join me to eat. After this will go to where the Dino wants to go.”

So they sat down and ate. Well, Derrel squatted on the bench and leaned over to tear into his food. He ate just enough to satisfy his hunger, without getting full, because he might fight again soon. It all depended on what the Temple Master said. All he had to do was get some good information to tell his superiors, and maybe get some training if he was lucky.

The Human Nikuvillian didn't eat two rooms full of food, but he did eat more than Derrel thought a Human could without bursting open. Haineko ate some, but she was more refined than the other two. Nikuvillian was gobbling his food while Derrel had never used a napkin in his life. Discussion soon followed.

"So, what are you here for?" Niku asked Derrel.

"I wanted to do some things worth telling my people back home. I need to get this woman to let me see the head of this Temple, then ask him some questions. If he lets me stay breifly, I'll teach these cats a thing or two about fighting. If he tells me to leave, the I will." He said.

Well, lets go. The Temple Master might know where Tsuki is."

They made their way down to the main building where they enteed a large hallway. Down the corridor was the room Derrel had been wanting. Before entering, the guard had them remove all weapons. Inside as a throne with four guards on each side. They were all female, and it got Derrel thinking that female Nekos may be stronge than males. He bowed slightly before the Temple Master, and lowered his tail.

"Greetings Wise One. I am Derrel of the desert Fire Tribe. I have come in search of knowledge and training." Derrel said.

OoC: I'll let Nekoryuuha decide what she says.

The Head Priestess simply looked over the Dinofos and Swordsman for a moment. As she opened her mouth to say something, she stopped and narrowed her eyes at Nikudemon. "Just who do you think yourself to dare bring a weapon before me?" she asked as three of the guards brought arrows to bear at the young samurai. The Dinofos looked back at Nikudemon with questioning glance.

I don't know how he got that sword in here, but if I don't do something I'll be searching for Tsuki to report this fool's death, I thought as I stepped forward and grabbed the sword off of Nikudemon's waist. "Idiot human! Are you trying to get yourself killed today? Because if you are you're getting close." I stepped back and was going to apologize to the Head Priestess when the sword in my hand disappeared, startling me and the guards while it reappeared on the young warrior's waist like it was never moved in the first place. "That was...a bit surprising to say the least," I said in a matter-of-fact tone while running a hand through some of my hair. Derrel nodded in agreement and turns back to look at the Head Neko sitting on the throne in front of them.

"Indeed. It was just a bit...unsettling. Anyway you two must be the ones that were involved in the death of Atoli, the south gatekeeper. Since Haineko allowed you to live, I won't order your execution, but the next time you enter a Temple of Macha you will be killed on sight. As for you, Derrel of the Desert Fire Tribe. Non-Nekos aren't taught anything in the temples, but I will allow you a dueling arena to fight and train each other and I'll leave fighting other Nekos to Haineko. You may go." The Head Priestess pointed toward the door and closed her eyes. Just before I turned to leave, she called for me to stay a moment.She didn't speak again until the other two left and the door closed. "Haineko. From everything said about you, I can't believe that you found it in your heart to forgive that human."

"Really? And exactly what is said about me? I may need to do something about it," I inquired to the Head Priestess.

"That you kill quick and painlessly. Not many things anger you, but everything that has is currently a pile of ash. Your fire skills are unmatched by all but the greatest and even that is in question."

"I see. Nope, that's correct. I'm keeping the fool alive to find his Neko friend. He sounds like a good canidate for the Mage Warriors or maybe Gatekeeper. Is there a Neko by the name 'Tsukineko' here?"

The Head Priestess thought for a moment before shaking her head. "No one is here by that name. Well, what will you do if this 'Tsukineko' refuses to come with you?" the Head Priestess asked, sitting forward.

"I'll probably kill the human and move on. I won't stop my journey until I'm strong enough to become High Priestess of Macha."

"Knowing The 'Cherry Blossom Priestess' and a high chance of death await you at the end of your journey, you'll still fight her?"

"Yes. If you'll excuse me Ma'am, I don't trust the human to himself," Haineko said and bowwed to the Head Priestess. She nodded her acceptance and watched me leave the room.

"That girl may just do great things in her future. May Macha's will grant her a long life for it's about time we got a new High Priestess," the Head Neko murmured. The guards nodded silently in agreement. Outside, I found the other two being accompanied by the two guards outside the door.

"Come on you two. I'll show you to the Dueling arena," I said to them and lead them down the hallway.

Why do we have to follow her every time she says something. She really starting to get me angry. Wait did she just say Dueling arena? Yes, I get to take out my anger on something. This should be more fun then looking for my Neko friend for now. The swordsman looked up to see the female Neko up the hall looking at him evilly. She does know how to look evil when she wants to. “I’m coming! I was just in the middle of some deep thing.” The swordsman ran up to catch up with them. “So who are we fighting when we get there?” The swordsman waited for a responds but one ever came out.

The group soon made it to and outside area where they seen a big building in front about a mile ahead of them. “That is The Dueling arena, this is where the people go to get stronger.”

“So you want us to fight just to see if where strong. Because I can’t believe you want me to get stronger. That takes me to other thing you are you keeping me alive in the first place. I mean if you hate me so much and think I’m so dumb then why? Anyway I would love to fight I Haven’t had a good fight in a while.”

"I must brace myself for this Human's power, that not even he fully realizes. I have armor and shield, but I must not take for ganted that he sliced a woman in half." Derrel thought as they took their positions in the ring. There was a four foot baraccade surrounding them, and a ten foot high glass wall, that may be magic resistant. Behind these were thirty or so spectators to a battle that could be quickly over. Derrel wasn't one to drag things out, and they had already seen the speed and power of the Samuri.

"Don't worry Niku. I'll try to avoid your vitals so Haineko won't finish me off if I get tired during this fight." Derrel said with a sneer.

"You don't have to do me any favors. I plan to vent some frustration in this fight." Niku said as he drew his blade.

Derrel drew his sword and shield, and began to run low to the ground. This was a typical starter move, as it made him a smaller target, and gave him better control over balance and mobility. Nikudemon held his sword horizontally in front of him in a defensive pose as he ran forward. Instead of ramming Derrel, he leapt high into the air, and came down from behind. Derrel whipped his tail up to knock Niku off balance, and came around as he landed. Thenit was sword on sword.

Niku had more power here because he was using to hands, but Derrel had his shield. He used his Fast Cutter to slash the shield, then swept low to attack the legs. Derrel jumped up, onto his tail, and slashed with his feet, catching Niku on the shoulders. Holding his ground, Niku came up behind Derrel's shield and tabbed through his armor somewhat.

Derrel snapped at Niku's head and breathed fire to get him to back off, which worked momentarily. Both of them had drawn blood, but Niku's speed was a little much for Derrel. He drew some bombs to get even more distance, and pulled out his arrows. Fire arrows flew towards Niku, and were on mark, but his Fast Cutter was able to deflect them. He moved in again to strike at the Dino, but was met by a smoke screen.

It didn't take long before watching this battle became a bit...repetitive. Looking around, I found a few mage warriors talking to each other while watching the fight. I could feel the knives in my sleeves and thinking about the weaponry skills the Mage Warriors are trained in and an idea soon came to her. Hey! This way everyone wins! I get to learn a new skill, those get a better training match, and everyone else gets to watch a more exciting match. Perfect. I walked over to the Warriors who stopped talking and quickly bowwed to me.

"What can we do for you, Priestess?" asked the Warrior in back. He had the marking of an officer and was the highest ranked one in the group.

"Which one of you has mastered throwing knives?"

"I have, Priestess," said the one to my left. "I'm 'The Shadow Knife' of the Mage Warriors. I can put a verticle inch long nick in a person's ear from two miles away."

"Really. Sorry if I seem a bit sceptical. Can you prove it?" He nodded and pointed to his companion next to him. "You can prove it?" I asked the second Neko. He bend down and pointed to his ear. There was a verticle, inch long nick in it. "Wait. You mean to tell me that he-" The Neko nodded. "And you were-" Another nod. "Well! It seems you'll do. The rest of you, bring me as many double-edged knives as you can find.

"And about how many do you think you'll need?" asked the officer. This question made me stop and think for a moment. I had always sucked in weaponry class and if anything, this would likely be one more I would suck at.

"Considering my abilities in most other weaponry, I'd say to bring at least 2 dozen," I said to the warrior. He didn't seem worried at all.

"2 dozen knives? Okay got it."

"Oh, wait. You miss understand me. I mean 2 dozen boxes of knives." The Officer's eyes went wide and the warrior next to 'The Shadow Knife' just put him on the shoulder.

"It seems I have my work cut out for me today. You guys have it easy going to get the knives. Now hurry up and get them," He said as the others disappeared off to get the knives. Meanwhile, me and him walked over to the wall and jumped to the top where he began teaching me how to throw the knife correctly. It wasn't long before the others returned with the Knives.

"Now make sure the little lady doesn't cut herself, okay?" The Officer said and burst into laughter.

"Hey, Officer. Do you ever wonder about death?" I said to the Neko. He stopped laughing and nodded wearily to me. In one lightning fast motion, I had my bow out and an arrow notched. Releasing the arrow, it sped past and nicked his left ear. He simply stood wide eyed in surprise for a moment. "Would you like to find out?" He shook his head and apologized before quickly walking out of the room. "Now that he's been put into place, lets get started. Show me how to throw a knife. At those two, but don't hit them......yet."

"Okay, sure," He jumped down and back up with a box. "Now that I've taught you verbally, I'll show you how. Try to see how I throw it." In one swift motion he tossed it into the ring where it lodged blade first at Nikudemon's feet. He paid it little heed as he had locked swords with Derrel.

"Like this?" I asked and threw the knife. It hit Nikudemon in the back of the head. Fortunately, it hit handle first. Nikudemon used his free hand to rub the back of his head as he tried to push Derrel back, but was unsucessful.

"It seems my work is cut out for me. I just hope 2 dozen boxes was enough."

"You and me both," I replied to him and grabbed another knife. "You and me both."

OoC: Short and sweet I'll post some real bloody stuff later in this but for now lets fight.

Nikudemon jumped back after getting hit with the back of the knife. “Well, Dino it looks like I’m going to have to stop playing with you. Don’t worry I’ll make it quick so I can stop getting hit with knives,” the swordsman said as he sheathed his sword.

The young male swordsman ran towards the Dino while he put his hand on the hilt of his sword. He unsheathed his sword to attack only to have the Dino stop it with his sword. Other knife flew through the air heading towards the two swordsmen but fell short and landed by there feet.

“Will you stop throwing knives at us you could kill me you know. I’m only human, so that mean I die easily. Now, she will sto-,” Other knife came at the human but just miss when he moved over a little. “Maybe not. Anyway lets go!”

OoC: I'm not sure if you wanted to add more to that post or not, but I'm going to post anyway, since I want to get this thread finished.

BiC: This reminded Derrel of the tournaments back home where spectators would throw rocks or weapons when their prefered fighter was starting to lose. It made things a little more interesting, but it did sting when a knife grazed his arm, drawing a line of blood. He hcarged Niku, and blew past when he dodged, so Niku gave chase. They ran and fought as Niku tried to catch the Dino, and Derrel gave him a run for his money. The Human was a fast runner, but the Dino had a tail for stability, so they weaved and ducked around each other as Derrel kept moving. At one point, Derel broke hard after two knives wee thrown at once, and Niku had to dodge frantically to evade them.

Off balance, Niku was vulneable to attack. Derel did a sweeping slash with his tail, and pinned Niku down. Another knife made Derrel move his leg, and the Human escaped. Then, something quite surprising happened. In the instant that Niku moved, Derrel move forward, over the place where Niku's chest would have been. A short spear struck Derel's armor, then flew off from the momentum. It managed to cut a deep wound in the Dino's hide, and both surprised and enraged him.

At fit he thought it was Hai, but she looked toward a window in shock. A beast jumped down the other side, and Derel was quick to go after it. Unfortunately, it disappeared before Dreel could see where it went. He would have to do some tracking.

What in Macha's was that?! My surprise was short-lived as the creature disappeared just as it had appeared. I turned to see Mage warriors gathering back. "You six! Search the temple for what ever that thing was! You four inform the head priestess and stand guard at her side. You five go and see if you can figure out just what that thing was and how it got in here! Now go!!" the 15 Mage Warriors split off and and ran to their assigned tasks while I turned back to the Derrel and Nikudemon's fight they had stopped due to the thing's surprise attack.

"Priestess Haineko, what should I do?" asked the Mage warrior that had been teaching me.

"Unless those two intend to stop fighting I don't see any reason for you to stop teaching me. Now show me again. I'll going to get this yet." Mage simply shrugged and demonstrated the knife throw again, lodging a knive next to Derrel's tail. My attempt flew past Nikudemon's shoulder and stuck in the ground.

"Why won't you stop throwing knives at us!? Are you trying to kill us?!" yelled back an indignate Nikudemon as he turned and looked up at me high on the wall.

"Derrel? No. You? Not yet. Maybe later," I answered. Nikudemon didn't seem surprised at the answer I gave.

"But shouldn't you be helping to find out what just attacked us?" Derrel said a bit angrily. I meerly shook my head.

"No need to. The Mage warrior's highest priority is to protect and serve the Priestesshood. The few places they can't search have Priestess inside at all times. Hell, the orders in gave weren't even needed they just gave them someone to report to for a while. Though it doesn't seem like it, the temple is on alert. That thing appears here again and it will die." I stretched my arms and yawned before I picked up another knife. The first box was empty. "Now are you two going to continue fighting?"

"I don't like the idea of fighting after and attack like that. I don't know what you've done to have a monster like that attack you Dino but I it will be time for me to leave. But I've been know to want find info and I'm sure you want to find info on the monster right?" Nikudemon said looking over at the Derrel.

"Yeah."

"So, Neko can we go a place with a lot of books here? I'm not sure if you get a different name for this place then us humans. The male Neko I told you about didn't tell me much about your race. All I really know about you race is that your faster then most humans and to me seem to keep to yourself. Out of all the Neko's I've heard of only two seem to have been with humans, one was a master of a fencer that is stronger then me in both heart and skill. The other is the male Neko I speak of that end up stopping me for kill other but not a Neko. She is a demon that also hates human. So as you see trying to kill me after we leave here we'll most likely make you my friend. Miss Neko I will tell you now, not to fight me because in the end you might be my friend if not you will be die.”

The Neko jumped down and start to walk out the door only waving her hand to them. The swordsman and the Dinofos follow the female Neko. She said nothing to the human and like walk she couldn’t believe what he just said to her. They soon made it to the door and the Neko pushed the door open.

Derrel found the library and located a book with some help from the staff about dark creatures. The creature that attacked was a Hellbeast, and he had no idea why he would be targeted. Admittedly, his kingdom didn't have a military force that should make netherworlders nervous enough to attack it's officers. He wasn't even that high up in the chain of command.

Perhaps the target was Nikudemon. Derrel knew little about him, and maybe a he should look into that. The swordsman was soon focused on his earlier misson, and the Dino hurried to catch up. So Niku left the Temple of Macha, with two followers, and Derel looked back for a last look at a place he had a rare chance to see before following his new...acquaintences.

OoC: Okay, I think that catches us up to the Secrets Unlock thread, and frees me up to focus on new threads. In retrospect, Derrel and Haineko did less fighting than I had thought they would. Makes the title a tad misleading.

Oh well. I've got a thread to finish with Daemon warchief, and two more to start. End thread.