False Knight - Open RP

They called him the False Knight.

He would appear at random, be it during the day or during the night. His arrival would be signaled by the sound of screams and shouts, and his black horse would gallop down the streets. On the horse's back sat an iron-clad "knight", with his face hidden underneath a helmet of steel.

Every time something was lost. Lives or money, he did not seem to care what he took.

Soon the villagers began seeking help, but no-one could find or defeat the knight, nor could they negotiate with him. Hopelessness struck the villagers harder and harder for every time the knight appeared. Their smiles had long since gone from their faces, and they lived in fear and suspense, waiting for the day when the knight would come to claim their lives too.

Travelers would still come to the village, but they soon left again. The villagers' dread was highly contagious. Life trotted by slowly, and the knight appeared again and again, claiming higher and higher prices.

One day, the local bartender had had enough. He put up a behest that would be shown throughout the country - slay the "False Knight" and rid our village of this evil!


OoC: Open to anybody, and I'll be using Caragon.

OoC: Seems interesting. I'm in. I'll be using Vivi.

BiC:
"God damn. This is just pitiful" Vivi spoke as she looked around the bar. Drunks carpeted the floor, and there were more about to join them as they took shot after shot. All she wanted was a decent meal with her hard earned cash from a recent bounty. But it looked like she wasn't going to get it in peace. She walked over to an empty bar stool, not noting any differences of the drunks from the flooring. Some of them grunted when she stepped down, but others were too drunk to care.

"Hey, can I have something to eat? Make it anything eatible and cheap" Vivi told the bartender. He nodded solemnly, walking off in a daze to get her order. She looked around, trying to see if this bar offered some bounty wall or something of the sort where she could get work.

"Hey pretty lady. Want to come over to my place?" asked one rather tipsy man to Vivi. Vivi quickly gave a poisonous glare at him.

"I don't associate with drunken dirtbags" Vivi responded coldly. The drunken man let it bounce off of him, quickly answering.

"It's not the time to be picky. One day the False Knights gonna get us anyway. Might as well have some -" Vivi quickly drew her sword and stuck it to the man's throat as he tried to grab her.

"I said I don't associate myself with drunken *******s like you" she said. The drunken man quickly ran out of the bar as soon as the sword was sheathed. "False Knight? Sounds like some villan from a children's cartoon." Vivi thought to herself, "But it won't hurt to ask about it."

As the bartender returned with her meal - a freshly prepared salad - she decided to ask.

"Hey, what's this False Knight stuff about?" Vivi asked as she dug into her meal, her starvation completely obvious to others around her.

"He's a villain who's plagued our town, miss. The False Knight has been killing off our villagers for some time now." the bartender explained as she listened in carefully.

"So...what's the reward?" Vivi asked.

"What?"

"You know! The reward for killing this guy! Money, free food, a bed, a shower? What is it?" Vivi spoke curiously. A small smile formed on the bartender's face.

"Never thought that I'd find some help in the form of a woman. Just name what you want, and I'll give it to you once you bring back the False Knight's corpse" the bartender spoke, a little more enthusiastic now. Vivi thought about it for a little bit. The town bartender could have some money on him, with all of the beer he's selling now. Might as well reap that benefit.

"Money! Oh, and the salad will have to be for free."

Ooc: Hey, I'll be joining. Link is in sig.
Bic:I was in the town over where the dread was still spreading. "What's everyone so gloomy for, anyways?" I called out to everyone in the street,fed up with the half-dead stares I had gotten over the past few hours as I tried to find a scabbard for my newly-obtained sword.
"It'd be the false knight, sir. Y'see, in the town over, this knight rides into town every so oft'n and collects money. As it went on, the demands got bigger and bigger. Soon, the guy's gonna drain that town dry and look for other places ot siphon. That's where we come in." a stall vendor replied while I walked over to him.
"Is there a bounty on his head?" I questioned."Surely a guy causing enough ruckus like that has to have a bounty on his head."
"Yes'r, he does. Just talk to the bartender in the next town over about it." he answered. And with that, I was off, on on my way to the "Next town over" in search of this "False knight".

OoC: Hmm...I'd use Mayula, but Judo seems more suited for this, so I'll go with him. :]

BiC: Judo was on one of his random explorations again, to get away from the burden of being the Hyrulean Royal Knight General for awhile. He once in awhile would do this, to have some time to himself and explore the surrounding world outside of Hyrule to know what was nearby or not very far away. Right now though, the only things his eyes could see were plains and trees, and his pointed ears could hear nothing but the light breeze blowing by.

For some time, Judo traveled on atop his valiant steed, Duke. A gray horse with a blackened mane and tail, Duke was the fastest horse Judo knew. He outran everything they came up against and never let his rider down. Eventually, Duke had led Judo to what appeared to be a town in the distance. As they trotted closer and closer, they could make out buildings and people. This town was larger than Hyrule Castle Town for sure, Judo could tell, and decided to get a bite to eat and a rest while he was there, then return home.

"Are you crazy?!" a voice shouted in the middle of the road going into the town. "We have to leave or else the False Knight will get us both!" A woman was talking to a man nearby one of the houses. One of Judo's eyebrows rose in confusion upon hearing this. False Knight? Judo thought. I wonder who that could be.

"No way. I want to battle it myself. I don't care how dangerous he is or many lives or money the fiend has stolen from us!" the man retorted. "I want to stop him!"

Lives and money? I've heard of some real shady characters before, but this is ridiculous, Judo thought some more as he overheard more of the conversation. The young woman sighed, indicating she was about to give up and decide she'd never convince the man to leave town. Looking around, seemingly for another idea, she spotted Judo in just seconds and raced up to him.

"Hey! This armored man is on a horse!" she cried. "I bet he can help us. I mean look at that great sword of his!" Judo was about to say something when a whole group of people surrounded him, having heard what the woman said, the man from before included.

"Wow, yeah, that sword looks very powerful. This guy must have skill!" the man replied. "Hey, everyone, what do you think?"

"DOWN WITH THE FALSE KNIGHT!! DOWN WITH THE FALSE KNIGHT!!" the crowd chanted, hinting that they agreed.

"Hey, wait a--" Judo started, but the crowd was too loud. "Come on, let me--" Suddenly, some dirt was kicked up from the ground by one of the people standing partially in front of Duke, and a few grains had reached the horse's face. He neighed loudly at an instant and reared upon two legs without warning. Judo, not having seen it coming, was thrown off behind.

"WaaaaAAAH!" he bellowed with surprise. "Augggh..." Judo landed back first and groaned at the sharp pain that had generated. The people had rushed out of the way before Judo landed, and were now peering down at him. The woman from the conversation earlier was the first to speak.

"Oh my! We're so sorry! Are you alright, sir?" she asked. Judo slowly got up, still grimacing from the pain.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It's not the first time I've been thrown off my horse like this," he replied. "Who is this False Knight you all keep saying you want me to battle?"

"Oh, he's an evil knight wearing black armor. His face is covered by a black helmet," the woman explained. "He randomly rides into town upon a black horse and then steals or kills. Many of our inhabitants have left already. Only the brave people remain."

"I see..." Judo replied. "Since I'm here and it isn't like me not to, I'll help you out. I've had my share of powerful opponents in the past."

"Oh, thank you, sir! May we get your name?" the woman asked.

"Judo," Judo replied. "Now, I suppose since this False Knight's appearance is random, I ought to patrol this area. Everyone else should seek shelter." The townspeople listened to him right away as they dashed into the buildings, slamming the doors behind them. Judo drew his divine blade, Arion, and twirled it once in his hand.

"Whoever this False Knight really is under his helmet," he began. "I'm ready for him."

OoC: I can't find a link in your sig, ToonOniLink. :/

It had been a few days since Caragon's encounter with the warrior Zarek and the two rabbits in the forest. Since then he had earned some money by doing part-time work in some villages and getting an acceptable amount of income. His journey had eventually brought him to a small village rumored to be plagued by what was known as a "fallen knight".

"Water please," Caragon said as he sat down by the bardisk. The bartender glanced at him briefly before bringing a glass up from under the disk and pouring water into it before handing it to the warrior. Caragon thanked him gratefully and had a sip, as he spotted the behest put up on the wall behind the disk.

"Fallen Knight?" he asked curiously. The bartender nodded, not saying anything at first. But then:

"He's been killing and stealing around here for a while now," he said grimly. "No-one's been able to stop him. That's why I put up that offer, in case someone who could take him down would show up."

Caragon frowned and sipped more water. "Is he particularly powerful?"

"Not even five men could take him down," the bartender replied, a dark expression on his face. "He outclassed our best swordsmen in close combat. His armor can't be pierced by our arrows. He just rides in, takes what he wants, and leaves. Unharmed no matter what we try to do to him."

"Sounds... interesting..." Caragon muttered as he brought his glass to his mouth, drinking up what was left of his water. He put the glass down onto the disk, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "Well, I'll accept the offer."

"You would?"

"I will try."

"Then good luck to you. You are the third person to be accepting that behest, so you'll be getting back-up... or competition, I suppose."

"Pardon?" Caragon asked hesitantly.

"Well, there's the bounty that's promised."

"Oh - I need no payment."

Before the bartender could respond to this, Caragon had gotten to his feet, with his halberd in hand. "I just need a place to stay for a few days, and three meals a day."

"That - that could certainly be arranged," the bartender replied, baffled.

"That's a deal, then," Caragon smiled, before making his way out of the bar.

* * *

Finding any clues regarding the knight was difficult in itself, but what Caragon could find of information was next to useless beyond identifying him - he wore a black armor with helmet and cape, riding on a black horse, wielding a single sword. From what the bartender had said, the armor was apparently enchanted so to make it sturdier, and the knight's strength and speed were beyond that of a normal man's. So far he had claimed twelve human lives and over three hundred gold coins.

Putting his halberd against a wall, Caragon sat down to get some rest. He sighed heavily. If the knight showed up, he would just have to do his best. And somehow... he knew that the confrontation was drawing close already.

"Goddammit. This is annoying" Vivi muttered quietly to herself as she casually patrolled the village, "Everything else at least provided location. How the hell am I supposed to find a guy who just shows up?" Identification of the False Knight had been easy to get. Even the children knew what he looked like, and they're usually sheltered from this kind of stuff. Vivi's attempt to get a glimpse from patrolling was a wasted effort. He hadn't shown his evil butt for hours.

She sighed, looking at the colors that decorated the western sky. It was almost nightfall, and it looked like Vivi didn't have a place to stay that night.

"Whatever, sleeping outside'll give me a better chance of seeing him" she thought optimistically. Most of the creeps she's killed off had a tendency to do their business at night. But then again, she did get to the point where she needed to bathe. When did she last take one? Was it two weeks? No...it was four weeks. She decided to use this bounty to get a room and a shower at the next town. She'll just use the rest of her money for any food she had to buy here. Vivi had noticed that her reflexes had slown down a bit when she pulled her sword at the drunk.

"Must be hunger" Vivi thought, stopping her patrol and sitting down for a rest. It would be no use facing the False Knight if her feet were tired. She leaned over, taking her finger and drawing a sketch of what she thought the False Knight looked like. He had been rumored to be covered with a special black armor and a cape, riding a large horse whenever he made an appearance in town. Apparently he was strong, which is how he'd been undefeated so far. Vivi didn't care about that small fact, because she was strong. She could hunt down and kill anybody she wanted, and this False Knight would be no exception.

Vivi finished her drawing, which had the quality of a two-year old, and looked around. Almost nobody had walked across the paths all of the hours she had been patrolling. Were they that scared of this villian? If they hated it so much, then they should just fight, or at the very least flee to another village. It was absolutely stupid to just stay here. But then again, Vivi wasn't here to criticize the villagers, she was just here to take the bounty.

OoC: Are our characters ever going to like, meet?

BiC: Judo simply sat there upon Duke, his sword tightly gripped in his hand. The sunshine reflected off upon Judo's shiny armor as he sat there. For awhile he and Duke just stayed there in the middle of the road, waiting for some sign of this False Knight's reappearance. But nothing happened as time went by, and Judo was starting to get tired of waiting.

Is this False Knight ever going to show up? he thought. Judo didn't want to give up and leave the town in danger, but he didn't want to sit there doing nothing either. He decided to simply trot around town, looking for clues or anything that might help him. But still, there wasn't much luck until he came across the same woman from before when he'd first arrived.

"Excuse me, is there anything else you can tell me about this False Knight?" Judo asked her. "Isn't there any pattern to his appearances at all?"

"Not that we've noticed. We can only try our best to prepare for him and protect everything as best as we can," the woman replied. "Although..."

"Yes?"

"He seems to only go for our most valuable possessions," the woman added. "As for his people victims, they're more often men than women."

"That doesn't really help a lot, but it's good to know," Judo replied. "Thanks."

"I'm glad I could at least try." With that, Judo continued on his little exploration of the town, deciding to take note of every place that would likely have very valuable items. He also decided to keep a closer eye on the town's men than the women and children, though there was nothing saying this False Knight wouldn't go after them as well.

OoC: In due time, haha.

BiC:

Nightfall had reached them before any real clue had been found regarding the false knight. Disappointed, Caragon retired to his room that he had been given by the local bartender (who apparently was also the innkeeper). It was small, dusty and not very comfortable, but certainly preferable to the hard ground he had been sleeping on the last few days.

He took his boots off with a sigh and let his feet have their deserved rest after a whole day of nothing but walking.

Turning his head, he noticed a plate with food that had been put on the bedside-table. He reached over and brought it to him. The food was still warm. He felt gratitude course through his body, even if the food looked more like vomit than anything digestable. He grabbed the fork that had accompanied the plate and had a taste. His mouth delighted in the luxury of finally having proper food to chew.

Looking over at the table again, he noticed some bread and a jug filled with water. As he was very thirsty, he immediately brought the jug to him and chugged some water down.

"Ahh..." he sighed in delight, putting the jug away.

"That must be one special jug of water."

Caragon reacted instinctively. He flung himself back, over the bed, landed on his knees on the floor as his arm shot out and caught the halberd that stood leaning against the wall. As the halberd swung out, there was a flicker of a shadow. He had missed.

It moved again. He did not swing this time, but kept his halberd ready.

"You know how to handle that thing. Good."

The voice spoke lowly, but there was no doubt that it was male. It had come from behind a black steel helmet. The knight stood by the window, not moving a muscle.

"You're here to kill me."

The voice sounded interested. Almost accusing, as though he could not entirely fathom why anyone would want him dead. Caragon frowned, getting to his feet.

"I am," he replied. There was no reason to say anything else, he figured. "So why have you come here?"

"I don't think you will kill me," the knight replied lightly. Caragon felt a sting of annoyance. This was a cocky bastard.

The knight's head turned a little.

"You don't have what it takes."

The halberd swung again, with swift and deadly precision. There was a clang! as steel met steel. The sword of the knight had easily stopped the halberd in its path. Caragon groaned. So all the talk about strength had been true.

"Especially not if this is what I can expect from you."

The knight pushed the halberd away easily, but did not make any attempts at attacking. Since fighting wouldn't work at this point, Caragon decided to give up at pursuing offense and instead went for interrogation.

"Why are you killing villagers and stealing their fortunes?" he asked, a dark expression on his face.

"... why does that matter?" the knight replied. "Why do you care for reasons? It doesn't matter, does it? You're still going to try and kill me."

Caragon was a little taken back by this response.

"Uh... well, I suppose," he said slowly. "But I'm curious, nonetheless."

There was a brief moment of silence.

"If you defeat me," the knight replied eventually, "I'll tell you."

He turned his back, and Caragon blinked in surprise.

"Leaving?"

"I have others to see. Afterall, you are not the only "bounty hunter" in town."

And then he was gone.

OoC: Well, if you say so.

BiC: After a couple hours of wandering through town unsure of what he was really looking for at all, Judo returned back to the main road and decided to let Duke take a rest. Once dismounting his horse, Judo pulled a carrot from a bag attached to the saddle and started feeding Duke. Thinking the horse might need some water as well, he also took a bucket from a well that sat nearby and watched Duke drink up as much as he needed to.

"I hope you're ready for another battle, Duke," Judo said to his horse. "We may be getting into one soon." Upon hearing Judo's words, Duke brushed one of his front hooves in the dirt, as if it were about to run.

"Haha, you can still understand me, eh?" Judo replied with a smile. Many years back, Duke's body had been the home of a great spirit after it had been trapped inside him. Once free, it remained there to fool a powerful and evil monster into thinking it was still trapped. Six other spirits who'd been trapped did the same. The spirits had left a sort of piece of themselves behind in each horse.

"Duke, I'm so glad you were the horse I'd been given all those years ago," Judo said with a smile. "When I was first made an official knight of Hyrule. There's no other horse I would have rather spent the last fifteen years with." Duke stuffed his nose into Judo's cheek in a wet horse kiss.

"Hahaha, okay, okay! I get the point," Judo happily replied. He wiped away the little bit of slobber that reached his skin and pet Duke in his favorite spot to be petted, which was just below his ears at the side of his face. As Judo was petting the horse, however, he heard a familiar horse noise, but looked atDuke and noticed it couldn't have come from him. Upon looking down the road at the opposite end, Judo spotted a black horse, its rider being a man in black armor.

"It's him!" he exclaimed. With that, Judo immediately jumped back on Duke and readied himself for a fight. Armed with Arion in his right hand once again, he looked at the False Knight with confident eyes. The False Knight drew his own sword, and pointed it directly at Judo. Although he wasn't very knowledgable about it, Judo did remember that that maneuver meant he was being challenged to a jousting match.

"Blast! I've never jousted before," Judo said to himself. "What am I going to do?" Judo began to think as hard has he could before the Falst Knight charged at him. Wait...maybe I can think of it as just another form of horseback combat, Judo thought. With that, and just in time, he was ready to fight, as the False Knight's black horse reared upon its back legs and charged forth. Judo had done the same, and charged forth at blinding speed, thanks to Duke being as fast as he was. Before he knew it, Judo had clashed his sword with the False Knight's, and the two were pusing against one another.

"Why, hello there," the False Knight said. Blast...this guy is powerfuly strong, Judo thought as he had trouble overwhelming the evil knight. But he's going to find out that he's not the only one in this fight with strength at his side! Judo pushed even harder after this, his own powerful physcial strength showing more and more in the flexing of his muscles.

"Hey! What reason do you have for terrorizing these people?" Judo demanded, pushing as hard as he could. By now, many people began to appear at the sides of the road. They were amazed at the strength Judo had been pushing against the False Knight and had confidence that he'd win.

"What's in it to you?" the False Knight replied. "What is it about reasoning that interests you so?"

"I'm merely curious as to why anyone, especially a knight, would sink so low in life," Judo replied boldly.

"Hehehe...alright. I'll make you a deal," the False Knight decided. "I'll tell you if you can defeat me."

"Then I will!"

"You're quite a strong man," the knight went on. 'But you're not strong enough!" Just like that, the False Knight pulled his blade away, causing Judo to suddenly shift forward by mistake and almost fall off Duke. The False Knight then took his free hand and smashed it into Judo's unguarded back.

"AAAUGH!" Judo screamed, great pain forming from the impact of the False Knight's armored hand. This time he did fall off Duke, and landed in the dirt road below him. Arion landed next to him, having fallen out of his hand. Judo tried to get up, but the pain in his back was too much as he watched the evil knight disappear before his eyes. Duke nudged him with his nose, but Judo could only look at him as the pain stayed. The grimace on his face never left.

"I'm sorry, Duke," Judo said to the sad horse face looking at him. "We'll beat him...somehow...auggh..."

Vivi rested along the wall of the bar, the moonlight shining on her like a spotlight. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing slowed so much it looked like she wasn't breathing at all. The young woman's right hand was clenched around the hilt of her sword - a precaution she always took when she slept outside. Her appearance made her look the part of a homeless person, which wasn't necesarily a false statement.

Though a stir began to be heard throughout the street, noises centered around the area where Vivi rested peacefully. Black shadows covered the spotlight, and within a second the bounty hunter had her sword unsheathed and pointed at her unwelcomed guest.

"Tell me who the hell you are before I kick your ass" Vivi spoke menacingly. She heard a mocking chuckle, and then a mysterious voice.

"Aren't I the one you want to kill?" Vivi's eyes snapped open and looked up at the black-clad knight that stood before her, with his horse standing loyally behind him. As soon as the realization kicked into Vivi's mind, and she jumped to her feet and aimed for the neck. But the False Knight was a step ahead of Vivi. As soon she stood up, a pain struck her side, and Vivi was back on the ground.

"Dammit!" Vivi yelled, clenching her side in pain. It was all she could feel, all she could think about. All she could do was look at the knight that stood above her, with his fist still clenched from striking her.

"You certainly don't waste time" the False Knight commented.

"Drop dead, goddammit!" Vivi yelled, as she tried to lift her sword, which was still held in her hand in all of the pain. The False Knight simply stepped on her hand, which made her cringe in pain yet again.

"You know, persistence doesn't mean you can kill me. You're far from killing me, actually. Just like the others" he commented again calmly.

"Others!?" Vivi thought with anger. Vivi merely gave a cold glare at the knight, which was all she could do at the moment. She was determined to kill this man, but she couldn't do it at the moment. Fighting in her position now would be foolish.

"Screw anybody else. I'll kill you first" Vivi spoke with determination. The False Knight chuckled.

"I'll see about that"

Pain struck Vivi's head. All of a sudden her vision blurred and her thoughts scattered. All she could see was the figure of a black man leaving the scene, and another creature leaving too. She heard footsteps fading away from her position. As soon as she realized what was happening, Vivi stood up. Her body ached, her vision wasn't clear at all, and her sword arm was injured. But it was clear to her that she needed to kill this knight first for the bounty.

"Don't run away!" Vivi yelled, running toward the noises. But it was no use, the footsteps had faded completely.

OoC: Oi! Hope you guys don’t mind me joining! I’ll use Leonna and Padme.

BiC:

“Nuh, Leonna, how much farther?” Padme dragged her large feet wearily along as she bobbed alongside me, her staff jangling lightly with her small movements.

“Just a little farther,” I replied with an encouraging smile. “Did you not say that you wanted to see a human settlement?”

“You never say it so far away!” Padme grunted with an irritated glance at the horizon. It had been days since we had first set off for the human village; Padme was surveying the place to make sure the humans were no threat to her tribe, and I was in the hopes of learning more of the people that lived outside of my own village. I might even be lucky enough to discover some of their history, which could have root in the ancient lore that I studied so vigorously.

“Perhaps it is a good thing on your part, Padme. The farther they are from your people, the less threat is posed toward them. Why your tribe has interest in them in the first place perplexes me.” I spoke calmly, despite Padme’s impatience, enjoying the peace of the night. All around us, nature was singing, the crickets in the grass chirping in time to the waving grass and leaves that lined the path which we walked upon. The moon had been our guide for almost an hour now, its pale white light the only illumination to show the crooked path before us.

“Shaw!” Padme spat in the dust, digging the butt of her staff into the dusty trail. “No threat, Leonna say? Threat there is! Four humans, four invade Haschen territory! Two of them be very bad, take whole forest to chase away!”

I sighed, fingering my own staff thoughtfully. “Is that so? Forgive me, Padme, but do you not think it is the vigor with which you protect your territory that causes some of this animosity with humans? If you were not so quick to attack, they may have passed peacefully.”

“Pfft! And let HUMANs kill all friends? Me no think so!”

I merely shrugged, scrutinizing the shadows looming above the trees before us. “Perhaps that is so, perhaps it is not. At any rate, we are coming upon the village. Can you see the buildings looming above the trees?”

Padme looked up, her eyes widening in surprise. “HUMAN houses be bigger than trees?”

“Yes. A good deal of them are much larger.”

“Hoyo, hoi! Elders not be pleased with this.” Padme took to walking with much more vigor, her curiosity becoming an anxiousness that drove her forward. I followed along at a light jog, and within minutes, we reached the surrounding wall of the village. In all actuality, it was not very impressive, being made out of logs and reaching three or so feet above my head. The trail through the forest led directly to an opening in the wooden wall, where two guards wielding spears stood.

“You! Stay right where you are!” One of the guards shouted as Padme and I broke through the trees. Both men pointed their weapons at me, their armor rattling fearfully upon their shaking bodies. I stopped in my tracks, dropping my staff and raising my open hands to show that I meant no fear. Padme, however, was not quite so peaceable.

“Who YOU to say what Padme do, huh?” The yellow creature growled and grasped her staff with both paws, her ears going flat against her head. To her great frustration and my surprise, it actually served to ease the guard’s tension. One of them broke into a nervous laugh, and the two of them lowered their spears.

“It’s just a traveler with a rabbit. Besides, He travels by horse.” The taller of the two men spoke with the same nervous tone, as if just mentioning this “He” brought fear upon them both.

“Yes, they’re much too scrawny. Jacob, all this fear must be making us blind!”

“Well, who can blame us? This post might as well be the gallows. The moment He decides to come in, we’re as good as dead.” The guard called Jacob sighed and shook his head, looking back into the dark village as if he would much rather be within it. “One more night of this, Sam, and I swear I’m going to lose it.”

“One more night in this village, and we’ll both go bonkers.”

“Er…excuse me, sirs, but may I pass?” I broke through their conversation with a good deal of tension myself, my calm quickly fading in the company of humans. They always made me nervous with their suspicious curiosity, which tended to lead them to the realization that I was not human.

“You hear that, Sam?” Jacob turned to the shorter, more portly guard with an amused smile on his face. “She’s a woman, too!”

“Crazy, crazy I tell you! A man’s truly lost it when he can’t even tell a man from a woman!” Both men broke out laughing, taking the greatest joy out of their shallow joke. I merely stood before them with mixed confusion and annoyance, not quite sure if it was polite to interrupt their laughter.

“Please, I do not mean to bother you, but I would very much like to—“

“Oh, sure, sure!” Sam made a maladroit bow, motioning to the village with the wide arch of his arm. “Come right in, Milady! Enter the village of death, and may your soul smile on its way out!”

“Er…right.” I was greatly disturbed by their ill humor, which was greatly tainted with darkness. It seemed as if it was hollow men that stood before me now, men whose good humor had long fled at the presence of some great evil.

“Come quick, Leonna! Me no like this!” Padme pulled at the hem of my skirt, and with an uneasy nod, I gathered my staff off of the ground and both of us hurried past the gaurds. To my dismay, the inside of the village did little to comfort me, for it, too, was empty and dark, completely silent in a way that made the hairs on the nape of my neck raise. I walked down the street with great trepidation, glancing nervously at the closed shutters of buildings, wishing that any sign of life would present itself.

I soon wished that I had never thought such a thing, for only a step more, and I saw something move. From the shadow of an overhanging roof, there emerged a large armored man on a great black horse. A deep chill rushed through me at the sight, for neither horse nor man made a sound. There was not sound of hooves on the road, nor the clinking of armor, just a cold silence as the two shadows walked about the street with a malicious air about them.

To my horror, the man’s gaze suddenly fixed on me, and his head turned, his lips contorted into an eerie grin. Through the slits of his black and spiked helmet, a pair of gleaming crimson eyes regarded me with dark amusement. For a moment, I feared that he might try to attack me, or cause a terrible death from his evil gaze alone, but his horse walked onward, fading into the night as he moved back into shadow.

It was only once he disappeared that I dared to breathe. Beside me, Padme was shaking, both arms wrapped around my right leg. When I looked down at her, she quickly withdrew, standing tall on her hind feet to prove she had not been afraid. Still, her small body was quivering, her black eyes wide and fearful.

“Leonna, village be haunted! We leave quick!”

“Well…” I hesitated, staring into the darkness that the man had disappeared into. Before I could finish, however, a groan sounded from somewhere farther down the street. It was a sound of weary pain, and to my relief, perfectly human. “Someone is hurt!” I quickly moved to find the source of the groan, but Padme jumped in front of me, her arms outstretched to block me.

“No, no, Leonna! It be trick! There be ghosts here!”

“Do not be silly! We cannot simply leave an injured person in a town such as this!” I brushed Padme aside in my rush for the wounded soul, and she followed me with an anxious stare. Both of us came upon a man lying on the ground, whose deep blue and gold armor gleamed in the moonlight. Beside him, a large horse stood, its head hovering over its groaning master.

“Oh dear! Sir, Sir, are you alright?” I knelt by the man lying on his back, searching over him with my eyes to find where he had been wounded. As far as I could tell, he had simply been knocked off of his horse.

That dark armored man could have done worse, but his intent was clear. He means nothing but harm.

Beside me, Padme scoffed at the fallen warrior. “Some great injury this be. What he do, run into a wall?”

I glared down at the small creature. “Hush, Padme!” I bent over the man, taking from my bag a pouch of willow bark. With trembling hands, I broke a good chunk off of the white bark and offered it to the stranger, still looking for signs of any obvious injuries. “Please take this. If you chew on it, it will ease the pain.”

"Don't run away!" Out of a nearby alleyway, a woman suddenly emerged, her dark brown hair flailng behind her. My hand holding the bark froze as I looked up with surprise.

"What next?" Padme sighed as her shoulders sagged.


OoC: Eh...sorry...it's kind of long...

OoC: I'm sure you're allowed, Navi. It's an open RP. :]

BiC: "What...next? Next...you should flee this town...while...you have...a chance," Judo stammered, the pain in his back still badly aching. "If that...evil fiend...could do this...to me...he is much too powerful!"

"What do you mean?" the woman who had offered him some kind of medicine wondered.

"Listen...I'm the most powerful soldier my kingdom has ever seen," Judo explained. "I've never lost a battle, no screw that, my army and I have never even...lost a war."

"Oh! That means..."

"Indeed. No one can stop him right now, at least not alone."

"What this man talking about?" a yellow rabbit next to the woman asked. The woman then repeated to her what Judo said.

"Oh..." the yellow rabbit said. "In that case, we team up to stop evil knight!"

"Do you really mean that, Padme?" the woman wanted to be sure.

"Yes. This injured man here is surely telling truth," Padme replied. "He have big sword and strong armor. He must have great skill. Can you not tell, Leonna?"

"Alright then. What do you say, sir?" Leonna asked Judo.

"I have...no choice. Thank you for...helping me," Judo stammered once more and tried the medicine Leonna had given him.

"Dammit. I hate cocky-ass bastards like him!" Vivi ranted to herself as she walked along the path. She had regained her sanity, but now she was even more fired up than ever. Vivi grunted, punching the nearest wall and looking around. Where did this False Knight go hiding? She needed to kill this man before these 'others' show up and take her bounty away from her. The bounty hunter still ached a throughout her body, but it was just a minor inconvienience.

Not too far off from where she walked, she saw two figures on the ground. What were civilians doing out here? The stupidity of the villiagers never ceased to amaze her. First they don't flee a village with a killer in it, and then they stand out right in the open in the middle of the night. Vivi began to walk towards them, her hand gripped on the hilt of her sword for precaution.

But as she began to see the two clearer, Vivi saw one injured on the ground. The other figure was bent over him, with an unknown substance in its hand.

"Could the False Knight have been here?" Vivi immediately thought with pleasure. She approached them even more, and immediately two pairs of eyes were locked on her.

"What happened here?" Vivi casually asked, gesturing towards the man on the ground, who almost looked like the opposite of the False Knight.

"The evil knight has attacked this man" spoke the woman that sat by the man.

"So he was here!" thought Vivi. She looked down to the injured man.

"Which way did he go?" Vivi immediately asked, looking around frantically for any trace of black armor.

"You aren't going to go after him, are you?" the man asked her. Vivi looked at him like he was stupid.

"Duh. Why else would I ask?"

"Don't. You can't defeat him. Look at what he did to me..."

"You're just weak. He just attacked me and I'm fine," it was a white lie, but Vivi was much better off than this man.

OoC: I wanna try and get back into the RP, so I'm going with Jezelik. Link is in sig.

BiC: Jezelik wasn't in a particularly good mood right now. Wherever he went, it was always freaking HOT!! And to top it off, this was the first bar he had seen in miles, so he might as well get some booze and try to learn something new. Though that was extremely short lived, to be honest. Some kind of commotion going on outside was seriously testing his patience. He decided to go investigate, but not by the traditional walk-up-and-ask-questions-as-if-he-was-an-authority-figure approach, oh no, he had his own methods.

Jumping up onto a roof, he looked down upon the weary fools that had pissed him off even further. They did not know who they were dealing with. Heck, they didn't even know where he was. But someone was going to get hurt, and it wasn't going to be him, that's for sure. "Heh, they have no idea that they're going to die. They've had their fun, now it's time for me to have my own little carnage fest. Soon..... Oh yes, very much soon."

"What?!" Judo shot back. "I may be weak now, but I assure you I put up quite a fight against him before he slugged me in the back!"

"Prove it then," the cocky woman replied.

"And how do you expect me to do that in my condition? Take a good look at me."

"You have armor and a large sword. So what?"

"So, I'm the commander of an entire army. In fact, I possess power no other soldier in my land has had before!" Judo replied.

"Ha, you expect me to believe that?" the woman replied. Judo couldn't hold back his anger any longer as he tried to get to his feet after using the medicine Leonna had given him.

"...Blast you! You're lucky I'm not at my full strength right now!" Judo yelled.

"Oooh, I'm so scared." This woman was messing with the wrong knight, and Judo knew it. If he grew angry, energized, and willing enough, the power he held would be activated. Slowly his strength was returning, and the pain in his back had gone down. But he didn't want to hurt anyone just because they were provoking him. So he refrained from attacking the woman, sheathed Arion, and walked away.

"Afraid to attack me or something?" the woman called back.

"No. I have no time for your nonsense," Judo replied, continuing his walk.

"Yeah, sure." Judo hadn't gotten far, but now he couldn't restrain himself any longer. He quickly turned back around, grabbed the woman by her neck, and picked her up. She struggled to get loose, but it was no use. Judo's great strength was too much. He almost effortlessly threw her into a window of a building in front of them. The glass shattered to pieces upon impact. The woman now had a grimace on her face from the pain.

"Now do you understand that if you can't stand up to me, you have no chance at all against the False Knight?" Judo asked. "I'm still not even at full strength yet and look how you ended up. Now leave me be." With that, he walked away once more to resume his business. The woman he threw did not respond this time.

My eyes were open wide. So wide, in fact, that it was almost painful. I was frozen in place, staring at the broken window where the woman had fallen through. In the bright moonlight, the pieces of broken glass glittered dangerously about her dark form, glinting threateningly after the violent intrusion. Never before had I witnessed such cruel violence in the form of a normal human being.

“N-no! Wait!” I cried out as the woman shifted her body to get up, a murderous expression on her face. I winced as her hands slid against the glass, digging into the exposed skin on her hands and arms. She hardly seemed to notice the cuts forming on her skin as she glared back at the warrior.

I swerved my gaze in the man’s direction, a sudden anger building in my chest as well. He had no right to attack someone like that, even if she had provoked him. No reasonable warrior did such a thing, for losing control was one of the best ways to show lack of skill in any given form of combat.

“HEY! You get back here!” Padme’s enraged cry echoed through the empty street, and she bent down on all fours, growling.

“Padme.” The end of my staff clinked to the ground in front of Padme, blocking her from the armored man just a few feet away. Though I was angry, too, I knew better than to think that more violence would help. The man had performed a thoughtless, selfish act of violence, but provoking him further would only bring more. He was clearly on his wit’s end, probably from having his honor damaged by the black knight. “That will not help. Fighting will only—“

“You no get it!” Padme growled, glaring up at me with terrible animosity in her eyes. Nothing enraged her more than dishonor in any sort of being.

Caragon stared down from the balcony, watching the commotion that had been going on. There was a man with a big sword, and a woman with short hair. They both seemed to have suffered some minor injuries. He frowned. Had the knight come here? Were these the ones he had talked about when he had left him in his room?

The warrior jumped off the balcony, landing in the shadows a little away from the others. Now he noticed a third person. It was a young woman, accompanied by -

His heart jumped a little. The yellow rabbit!

He slowly stood up, perplexed to see the creature again so soon after their last encounter. Maybe it was fate, like Delia would have said. Or maybe it was just a coincidence. Maybe... maybe...

He turned his head. The man with the sword had seemingly attacked the other woman, and was now walking away.

"That is why you will not defeat me."

Caragon turned around. In the darkness it was impossible to see him, but he knew that the fallen knight stood before him.

"What do you mean?" Caragon muttered.

"Look at you. With ease I have brushed away the strongest you can muster. Not even your Hylian commander could match me."

Caragon was silent. The knight went on.

"As you can see, there is no hope in defeating me. It simply can't be done."

"Yes. It can," Caragon said. "I'll show you."

The knight laughed, a cold and high laughter. It seemed to attract the attention of the woman with the rabbit who stood a little further away, but it was too dark for anyone to see them stand there.

"Very well," the knight said. "I will give you a day. At this time tomorrow, I will return. And when I do, I will not show mercy to those who stand in my way."

Before Caragon could say anything else, he felt a wind brush past him, and he knew that the knight was gone.

Vivi slowly rose from her position on the broken glass, a murderous look on her face. She quickly jumped out the window, storming back to her previous place where the 'knight' had once lay, a trail of blood following her. The woman - and some small yellow-ish rabbit that seemed to have been there too - was still there, seeming to be a little reserved with her anger rather than going after this knight.

Which way did he go? Where is this bastard at? These questions circled her mind as Vivi's hands began to pick the glass from her skin, almost like they were just little ticks on her skin. She could feel a warm liquid drip down her arms and legs, but she didn't even care about that. As soon as the woman noticed Vivi coming, she seemed a little paniced. Was she worried about Vivi? Yea right, like someone would care. Words that the woman spoke to her were drowned out by the sound of Vivi's heartbeat. She just stood next to the woman, picking out the rest of the glass from her legs, and then her torso, which was sparred injury due to her bullet-proof vest underneath.

Vivi looked around. There was a False Knight and a bastard knight she wanted to find. Although the False Knight had priority for the money, bastard knight would be for fun. She tried to walk away from the spot to find them, but the woman held onto her arm, as if to stop her from going. Vivi looked at the woman, who began to talk to her, but unfortunately, Vivi can't read lips. The bounty hunter merely pulled her arm free, and began walking away.

Unsheathing her sword, she walked around the villiage quickly, trying to spot any glimpse of armor in the moonlight.

"Where the hell are you? Come out and play!" Vivi began to think over and over again in her mind. Only minutes of this search had gone on when her sword began to get heavier and heavier. Gravity seemed to get stronger, pulling her body down to the ground.

"Dammit!" Vivi whispered as she tried to get back on her feet. She kept failing, and soon she gave up, lying on the ground, watching as the blood from her cuts flowed from her arm and into the ground.

“Honestly! Why do you refuse to listen?” I had been trailing the woman while she scoured the village, seemingly unaware of her numerous injuries. She had finally collapsed, no longer able to defy the limits of her mortal body. I ran to her in a panic, fearing that the worst may have happened, but once I knelt at her side, I was relieved to see that she was still breathing, if somewhat shallowly.

“Brownhair crazy?” Padme cried, her eyes wide with disgust and fear. She had seen animal carnage before, but so much blood always tended to sicken her stomach and scream at her instincts that it was time to leave. The woman opened her mouth as if to reply, but her eyes drooped down and she shuddered, overcome by fatigue.

“These wounds are too extensive to bandage quickly, and heaven only knows how much glass you managed to pick up. If you can still hear me, do not be afraid of what I am about to do. This will not hurt.” Closing my eyes, I began to focus on the burning energy within me, calling it forth from the innermost part of my chest and into my hands. I could feel the power flow through me like warm water, my inner flame burning just beneath the surface of my skin.

As I felt my energy begin to condense, I moved the palm of my right hand just inches above the girl’s chest, allowing the warmth to pass from my body into her. Slowly, a bright blue ball of light formed just below my hand, and the light poured into the bleeding body beneath it, curing the flowing blood and closing the open wounds as the light coursed through her body. As her skin mended together, the glass remaining in her limbs was forced to the surface, where they plinked back onto the ground as sparkling white powder. My limbs began to shake as I kept draining the energy out myself, but the cuts had soon disappeared, and I let my hand fall back into my lap, taking a deep breath to regain some of my lost strength. Beside me, Padme quivered with excitement.

“Woah! Me no know you have magic like THAT! Very good, Leonna!”

“Miss, are you alright?” I leaned over the woman to better see her face, concern welling up inside of my chest.

“Course she be fine!” Padme scoffed, turning to look back at the surrounding buildings. “Padme one that not alright! Cause’ we had to chase after Brownhair, EVIL man escape! He back there only moments ago, with nother’ man. Me hear them!”

BiC: "Heh, they don't even know I'm here....." Jezelik had been secretly following those strange people all the way toward their destination, wherever it was. But they were going to know terror one way or another. But before he could catch them, he had to set up his traps......

Moving around the outskirts of where they were situated, he set up some bomb traps, which automatically exploded if anybody other than him came within the blast radius. He had tinkered with them so that the range was enhanced by up to three times, and that the mines recognize his footsteps. "Perfect....." Now was the time to strike. But he had decided to wait until someone dropped their guard.

After waiting for a little bit, he saw the opening. "Now's my chance!" He jumped out of hiding, pulling out the scythe and holding it close to some sick girl's neck. The other girl bending over her, he had grabbed by the shirt collar so she couldn't react. "Heh, this is what happens when you let your guard down, girlies!" Before the group could rush him, his words stopped them dead in their tracks. "I wouldn't if I were you. This entire area is rigged to blow, and if any of you take even one step, it goes up in smoke and flames." This much was true. The blast radius had been adjusted in order to cover the entire center of the area. One false move and it will be the end of them.

A crazy smile lit up on Jezelik's face. "You are my prey, but I'll give you all two options: One being that you sit there quietly as I kill these girls, the other being you try to save them and risk getting blown up. Your choice." These life and death games were hobbies that he enjoyed the most. Whatever option they took, he would still have fun either way.

OoC: Trying a more evil approach to my character. Can you survive?