Swords and Coats

The Mood is Write

Mom-de-Plume
Original poster
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FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
  1. Looking for partners
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per day
  2. Multiple posts per week
Online Availability
It varies wildly.
Writing Levels
  1. Advanced
  2. Prestige
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
  2. Nonbinary
  3. Primarily Prefer Female
Genres
I'm open to a wide range of genres. Obscenely wide. It's harder for me to list all I do like than all I don't like.

My favorite settings are fantasy combined with something else, multiverse, post-apoc, historical (mixed with something else), and futuristic. I'm not limited to those, but it's a good start.

My favorite genres include mystery, adventure, action, drama, tragedy (must be mixed with something else and kept balanced), romance (again must be mixed, and more.

I'm happy to include elements of slice-of-life and romance, but doing them on their own doesn't hold my interest indefinitely.
A monotone voice came from the speakers arranged throughout the massive transport room. Circular transport pads each offered scores of soldiers a place to stand during the debrief.

"Congratulations, Unifiers. You have been selected to assist in converting a world's dwellers for Unification. You are the third and largest wave, and we will send two more after you once the builders have established a proper outpost from which to construct an orbital sub-base. Your individual missions will be assigned group-by-group on landing, however your primary mission is to ensure the Unifier emblem is viewed as a positive marker by the people. Conduct yourselves with honor and kindness, even if you are going to engage in combat with the locals. Do what is locally acceptable and honorable, and conduct yourselves with dignity. Dishonorable behavior and bad examples should be arrested and returned immediately, or submitted to the local populace for any local laws broken. We are here for not only conquest of resources, but of hearts and minds."

A pause.

"Remember also that although we should ensure the populace knows the danger of a Hunter presence, we must do so subtly and avoid at all costs yelling from the streetcorners or harrassment. Sending begins in ten, nine, eight..."

The countdown continued, and a Hunter wearing the Unifier uniform beneath her jacket hopped onto a specific pad with a brief wave at the occupants: mercs, looked like. She grinned. "Sorry I'm late. I'll be with you for only a few min—"

Between one syllable and the next, the group came through to the other side, landing a centimeter above the ground, as was standard.

"—utes." She looked around. "Whew." She offered a wave. "Gotta report in." She offered a wave, ready to go. Her name was Faida, and she was a Hunter turncoat: one of few individuals who converted to serving the Unifiers the moment the option was given her. Rumors said she was eager to serve her teal-clad masters, but something about her grin and easy manner seemed forced.

~*~​

Their briefing consisted of a reminder of the overall mission stated from the PA system in the main base: to win hearts and minds. It also offered the warriors something that suited their talents far better than diplomacy: subdue a group called "The Holy Order of Templars Chaste who Reach for Absolute Purity" who declared war on the Unifiers. This group, known for being sold unwanted, parentless, or 'inconvenient' children was highly secretive. Most children never again saw the light of day, and those that did were viewed as nearly godlike for their incredibly fine looks, pristinely clean bodies, and powerful muscles.

All members of the order who became visible to the public were nothing less than stunning. All were male, all were hairless, and each one moved with 'assassin-like grace', as described by those who went before.

Also described were how they acted with mercy until ordered to "harden their hearts as steel and purify the invaders above as they had those below". One of the survivors from the battle included in a written report that a templar he'd witnessed use nonlethal blows had stopped at the order, then sank his blade into the skull of each of those he'd downed, each with an apology. This survivor then told of how the apologizing templar was brought out later, arm held by two others, and another stood before him with a leaf of paper. This same survivor recorded the exchange.

"Templar of the Left Fist Briar. You are accused of shining the light of mercy upon those who cannot be brought to holiness. What do you plea?"

"Brother, I plea that I saw several pray before we met in battle. They pray as we do, with faces upward, and ask for light and courage."

"Your plea of being misled is heard. Your sentence will be mercifull, for your only fault is weakness."

"I am given no chance to redeem myself in battle?"

"This Holy War is too vital."

"So it shall be."​

As a note from the soldier who recounted the exchange, the accused was stabbed upward through the lower jaw, and his heart stopped so quickly he only bled a few drops after the sword was withdrawn.

More information followed: from their habits to their names and known numbers, including the small detail that the same man who recorded the exchange and provided most of the information in the form of a file would be waiting for them on arrival to the city that hosted this order, whose main (and seemingly only) temple resisted just on the city's edge and overshadowed even the public buildings.

The warriors needed only to overpower the Templars and if they could, force them to cede defeat and become allies to the Unifiers. If they could not, the Templars were to be wiped out, and any children found within the order were to be taken and held away from the dead to avoid undue trauma until a cleaner team arrived to dispose of bodies, clean the building of blood and battle signs, and then arrange for the children to be sent to the Unifiers for rehabilitation.

~*~​

In an annoying turn of phrase, "local" to a Unifier did not mean within twenty miles; "local" meant "within this universe". A cramped air-carrier ride with an ATV sized for the group left many grumpy and uncomfortable, and by the time they landed, they discovered a month of rations and that the GPS within the ATV gave them 20 hours of estimated driving time.

"Last group I took back said the best way to handle a long drive was taking four hour shifts and naps, with pauses in the drive to stretch and do a few training exercises," the pilot offered. Mere minutes later, a crackling came through his intercom, and he was requested for another trip. With a wave, he and his copilot took once more to the air, leaving the company windblown and alone with their ATV.

~*~​

As the ATV approached its destination, only an hour away, a teal-clad soldier stepped out onto the side of the road ahead, waving frantically with both arms: one of which was bent at a strange angle. He leaned heavily against a thick, forked branch, and was missing a leg. His uniform was filthy, and there was a green cast to his face.

He hobbled in front and waited for them to stop, then approached the driver's side. "You're the... the..." He trailed off as he rested his arm through the window. "Listen, they're..." He groaned, then continued. "They're up to something in the main building." He paused for breath. "Lots of flashing lights at night. Chanting I can hear even from outside." He inhaled through his teeth. "Don't know what it is. None have come outside in two days." He looked down the road as he sagged briefly, then returned his gaze to the warrior in the driver's seat. "They stopped putting out guards on the walls. Just..." He closed his eyes tight, then shook his head. "Don't do anything rash. I couldn't get in to look, because my leg and arms, but..."

Eyelids slid slowly shut, then forced themselves back open. "Nn. Don't get yourselves killed. This is..." He trailed off. "I wrote out everything I saw. I'm sure... Sure most of it's real. Not so much about..." He clenched his fist against the hard plastic of the inside of the door. "Some is probably hallucinations. Infection wasn't this bad when I volunteered." He forced a grin and a breathless laugh before he used the hand not gripping the door to dig into a pocket. "Here. My... my notes. Don't go in without looking them over." His voice grew quieter. "If I'm going to die out here like this, make sure that... that information is worth... worth something." Grin transformed into grimace. "Fuck... Ow... I wouldn't... wouldn't mind a medic about now..."
 
"Can you beleive this sugary-sweet shit?"

"Yeah... I thaught this was suppose to be a hostile take over."

"Try not to yell? What a pathedic way to operate."

The group whispered among themselves. Three in total, each looking somewhat stand-outish among the others here. For one, they all seemed to choose their own uniforms, with only the barest of essentials worn to identify them as belonging to the same army. All three of them hailing from the same world, and all three of them seeming to share the same sentiments. They came from warrior families, each with their own traditions and values and history. The one who stood out the most among the group was a giant called 'Rook'. He was massive and built like a human tank. With dark brown skin and huge mucles, he didn't wear a top, spare an armband that identified him with his unit. His hair was long and light brown, creeping up over the large headband that covered his eyes and effectivly blindfolded him. With cargo pants and laced up boots, he dressed minimally, content to shed his protection in favor of showing how much he didn't need it. Just as tall as him was his weapon, which stood beside him: A gigantic, ornate pillar, that seemed to be carved of various different animals and objects like a totem. Of the three of them, he came from the most notable and respected of families among their warrior's caste back at home.

The second was a man who was dressed rather garishly. A button up top that was not only let open, but purposfully held open by some straps on his long-sleeve top. Between the various buttons of stars and crecent moons on his collar, it seemed he was more interested in making a fashion disaster of himself than intimidating anybody. He even wore skinny jeans and dress shoes. He was of a much more slender build, and his features made him just slightly afeminine. His hair was straight, short on all sides with the exception of some very long bangs that covered half his face and was colored blond. He had some plump lips for a man, a fact hard to overlook from the solid gold lipstick he wore on them. He absolutly radiated style, but it was perhaps difficult to see him as a soldier because of it. While he actually came from a lesser family, he was the groups leader. While he might of looked like a dandy, he was quite possibly the most dangerous of them all. With a truly masterful mind and a knack for stealth, he fancied himself 'A real Magician' and is known for things always going his way in the end and pulling off spectacular miricles. Some might even call it 'magic'. His full name is Oribelle, though many shorten it to simply 'Ori'.

The third, only an inch or two shorten than Ori was a man with a sword.His collar was stood up and zipped high enough to keep his own mouth covered, and he wore leather brixton hooligan hat that didn't quite contain the stark white hair on his head. Most striking against his darker complexion was eyes jsut as white, peeking out from the space between the high collar and the brim of his headwear. He kept his sleeves rolled up, gloves on, and a hand continually resting on the hilt of his sword with a finger on the trigger as if that was just his default state. Despite coming from an old family that was known to inherit some very ancient and otherwise unknown traditions in his world, he was possibly the least remarkible seeming of the group. He didn't have the strength and sheer size of Rook, nor his families legendary reputation, and he wasen't the 'golden boy' of the group with Ori here. He was the only one to speak another language, his family carrying the traditions of eastern values that have long since become irrelivent in his world. With his family sword, said to be capable of even cutting through ghosts, he weilds a weapon that has the potential to be unspeakably dangerous in the right hands. His name is Ronin.

This group, despite seeming to just have three members, is officially reported to have four. While it seemed like a simple mistake, Ori insisted to keep it that way, as four is a lucky number where they are from. He even insisted on coming up with a name that boasted the number, though after no one could decide on one to actually use, Ronin settled with the kanji for the number four in his second language. So, the team 'Roku' was made, and it is along side their Unifier identifyers. Even if it might just be crudly drawn on like graphitii sometimes in garish colors.


While Ori whispered his disappointment to Ronin, Rook seemed to take a lighter side to it. "Come on now, it won't be so hard. Were you expecting to start swinging as soon as we touched down?"

Ronin sighed quietly. "No, but... It would have made things much simpler than having to worry about leaving a bad impression. Somehow I don't think these people will be happy to see a bunch of alien invaders to begin with, never mind trying not to 'offend' them."

"You said it. This is going to complicate things. What a head ache... Do they want me to perform some card tricks? I fucking hate card tricks..." Then, the voice of Faida caught their ears. Unfortunatly, it didn't seem to be welcome. Despite the ride and her friendly attitude, she was met with a cold silence from all three of them. The conversation promptly stopped, and none of them seemed to even want o aknowledge her presence. It was frankly hard to tell if this was because they knew of her status as a hunter that was causing the cold shoulder... Or if they would have done this to anybody. They were a pretty tightly knit group, and it seemed that for now, they wanted to keep it that way.

~~~

While the breifing seemed to offer the group a bit of better knews, the general consencus at least between Ori and Ronin was that this was not at all what they thaught they were getting into. Not that they had a choice at this point. Ronin thaught they were going to be part of the reinforcements for a total hostile take over, while it seemed to Ori that they must be among the first wave here at all if they were still trying to convert people. Rook took it all in stride, though this was not uncommon. He very frequently found himself to be the mediator and center of the group between the two on many things.

"Alright boys, keep in touch on the comms. We're about to be deployed, and you can bet I'm not about to take the same ride down like any regular grunt."

"What?" Ronin looked to Ori, eyeing him over like he was mad. "What are you going to tell them? You can't expect to get away with that treatment here-"

"Shush shush, dead eyes. Don't worry about me, just treat this like standard operating procedure. Proceed as if I never left your side."

"That's fine when we have our fet on the ground, but we're not even on the planet yet. Why don't you just ride with us?"

"I am riding with you, silly." Ori smiled and gave Ronin a wink. "Walking gold like me doesn't share his seat is all."

Ronin went quiet, the sort of quiet that said he was harshly judging Ori from between that hat and tall collar. Just as Ori turned and strutted away, Rook chuckled and leaned over Ronin from where they were left.

"Don't worry my brother. He always finds a way to pull off miricles."

"... I would never have pegged that man for a leader, but... I suppose you're right."

With that, Ronin and Rook proceeded onto their deployment to the field. Just the two of them, sharing the same destination. Ronin was always the one to remain dubious as to what Ori was capable of pulling off... But, as of yet, had never NOT been suprised. That man had always had a nack for doing pretty impossible shit. When the time would inevitably come where he appeared with them down on the planet below, probably at the perfect time, when Ronin inevitably asked how he did it again, he could already hear his answer playing in his head: 'A magician never reveals his secrets' or 'My magic is the real deal, darling.'

Insufferable, smug, but otherwise golden.

~~~

The ride down was suprisingly interesting. While the vehicle granted to them could barely handle Rook and his weapon, they somehow managed to get to the point of coming across some poor soul who had clearly already had a goal at one of their major objectives...

"Anything you can parce from those notes?"

"I might... If Ori was here to see it."

Rook leaned over, trying to loom down at the notes Ronin was holding from above as they walked. Rook had leant the injured soldier some medical supplies and even straight up gave him the vehicle they had used to come this far, figuring if he was able to waddle this far, it wouldn't be that much of a walk for them being able bodied.

"You know he might get irate if we don't communicate with him."

"We don't even know if he's down here yet-"

Just as that was said, by some terrific serendipity, a familair voice chimed in through their ear peices.

"Hello? Where are you morons? Have you reached the target yet?"

That seemed to really suprise the two. With a somewhat frantic fubling Ronin fingered the button on his ear to respond.

"Ori? You're already down?"

"No, I'm just listening to my favorite new genera. Can you hear it?"

With that, the sound of slight fumbling on his part came accompanied by the sound of a somewhat dim chanting... Something neither of them recognized. However, that soldier had mentioned chanting. Ronin, huffing through his nose, was quick to respond.

"You're already there!? How!?"

"Magic, what did you think?"

"We didn't hear anything from you and yet you told us to operate as if you were present!"

"Yeah, and you did great, seeing as we're now bound for the same target. Honestly, what if I told you it was all part of my grand trick?"

"Okay, and how does the trick end?"

Some laughter came through the comms. "We're going to make some loyalists... Disappear. Just keep head for it, but don't worry about stealth. I want you to walk right up... Let them see you. Don't take the first shot until they try to stop you."

"Okay... Then?"

"Improvise. I'll get us in, count on it. Just do what you're good at, this is going to go swimmingly."

"Any idea what they've got in there?"

"No idea. I can't wait to find out though. My money is on choir practise."
 
Their arrival was met by a distinct lack of guards. None stopped them, even at the gate, and beyond it, the courtyard was lined with the dead and seated bodies of dozens from within the hairless order: all male, all armored, all seated behind their heads with their legs folded underneath them and hands rested on their knees.

The disembodied heads each rested on pristinely-manicured grass, only marred by the blood on it. Every face wore a serene expression, though the faces varied wildly. Most were pale or pink, though several had color to their skin from the sun. One of them, sunken eyes vivid blue and staring, had freckles and sunburn across his face.

Red blood shone, still liquid, under every head, and and none of the bodies were positioned in view of anyone who could see over the walls. No scent nor discoloration offered any hint these men had ever died, except their heads were quite clearly separated—bloodily—from their necks.

The bodies lacked even a hint that they'd lost bowel or bladder, and every pair of sunken, pale eyes stared skyward, pupils mere pinpricks as though their last sight had been blindingly bright. If any of the group touched the bodies or checked temperature, each one measured well over a hundred degrees.

Behind Ronin and Rook, the compound's gate began to close, loud and creaking. A voice from outside—a woman's—grunted suddenly. "Un—t... trap!"

Struggling to keep the gate open, a thin girl trembled as she used both arms and legs to keep the door open. She wore sack-cloth tied around her waist with a rope, and every part of her was shaven. Without enough strength, the gates pushed at her easily, and she groaned, then shoved herself inward, to stumble forward before she fell. The door crashed shut with a strangely-resounding echo. The walls rose, and the girl, her shadow black, slowly pushed herself to her elbows. "If you use the front door, they're going to wake up, and they won't fall back down until the people inside let them, even if you turn them to jelly!"

She pushed herself up slowly. "There... Around back, kitchen door. They didn't do the spell on it because they're still using it. You have an hour before they seal it, too. They have the windows sealed the same way!" She laid there, panting as she rested on her elbows, covered in sweat and dust. "You can't die here... Can't... You're supposed to be..."

Her words trailed off as she coughed, staring as she concentrated on breathing. Unlike others in the area, her skin was golden bronze, covered in freckles, and an angry scar extended from the back of her neck almost to the bridge of her nose, where dents marked the place where glasses sat at one point. Her face: ears, cheeks, nose, and lips were flushed with exhaustion, as was the brief glimpse of her collarbone and chest beneath the ugly cloth.

Most unusual, her eyes, pale violet, stared up at them. One had a normal pupil, iris, and sclera, but the one on the left stared up at them, the iris and pupil replaced by pale markings on the purple base. She caught her breath, then began to shout something else.

"You're going to kill all the Hunters for me, so you can't die before then!" The young woman's body shook as she stared at them, panting again, but this time waiting for their response.
 
"... He isn't here. No one is." Ronin muttered, Rook not far behind as they cautiously made their way through the gate. Ori had told them to just walk on through, to actually try to be seen, but... It seemed there was no one around to see them. It didn't sit easy with Ronin, tugging his already high collar to cover more of his face by sheer habit, even though it was already as high as it could go.

They hadn't seen anyone on their way here... And, even with the gate right before them, there was still nobody. It didn't make any sense... What happened to that other guy they met? He looked like he was ready for death, and yet, they had met no resistance. It stunk of a trap, fully anticipating something to happen the moment they passed through that gate.

"I smell blood. We gotta be close." Rook bellowed, pushing his bandanna up just a little bit over one eye, perhaps also nervous about just going in. His eyes, it seemed, were also stark white like Ronin's.

Despite it all, Ori was never wrong. It always turned out in their favor... Somehow. Even if it certainly never turned out ideal. They wouldn't distrust him now, and without breaksing stride, they walked right through the gates.

"Ronin..."

"I see them."

The sight of the headless people, still fresh, neck stumps steaming, wet with blood... It brought a chill through them. What did this? The unknown was terrifying, and the mystery of finding out what your enemy was capable of was almost always the worst part about encountering a new foe. After all, in many cases, not knowing is what nearly killed them in the past.

"...Where is Ori, dammit? We are through the gates and he still isn't here like he said he was."

The sound of the girl, suddenly appearing behind them, had both men stop in them tracks and turn. It wasn't who they were hoping for, but honestly that just made them more shocked to hear her. They didn't make a move to approach her, stock still as they listened to what she had to say. For a moment, they remained quiet, looking at each other to see the other's reaction to what the girl had said before Ronin promptly palmed his communicator.

"Oni, the situation has changed. There is a possibility of Hunters-"

"I heard her just fine."

A hand gripped the back of the woman's top by her collar, roughly yanking her up onto her feet before coming up under her arm, holding onto her in tandem with a little click of a gun stock. A short, snub-nosed revolver rested squarly with it's barrel at her head, and a familiar looking strand of golden hair came to rest just above her shoulder, matching golden lips curling into a little smile.

"Tell me girl, what do you know about Hunters?"

Ronin blinked, maybe even a little peeved. "Where were you hiding? Why didn't you come out when we got here?"

"And step through the gate first? What am I, stupid? Hold your tongue darling, I'm not talking to you right now." He said, pressing the gun a little more against the woman's head as if to make a point to Ronin. Ronin hated the way he did things sometimes... Why couldn't he just be more honest about things?

Well... At least he was actually here.
 
The woman choked as burlap slammed against her neck, but she remained still and obedient for Ori as he threatened her with his gun—even fearless and calmed by his threat, though she trembled in Ori's grip.

"They killed my teal family. You are paid by Unifiers, right? You'll kill the Hunters for me, but they aren't here yet."

Slowly, she lifted her head. Violet eyes looked up at Ori's face. "I can lead you safely into the Templar compound, too, and I'll be the one to save you from a Hunter ambush after that." She pointed to her magic-looking eye and nodded firmly.

"You're going to keep me with you!"

The moment the words fled her, her lower lip began to tremble. "I'll be useful however you want me to, so keep me with you! I'll even be your trap-tester and walk ahead! Anything!"
 
Ori broke out into a grin upon hearing the girl's plea. "Trap tester? I like the sound of that." As simple as that, the gun left her head, and he ended it with giving her a little push to quickly get some distance, probably in case she actually tried turning around on him. A good habit if you have a lot of enemies.

This made Ronin do a double take. "What!? Ori, it's so obviously a trap. She just wants to lead us into the compound. This is the most blatant, stupid, naked bait I've ever seen."

"What's that, Ronin? You want to volunteer to be her baby sitter?"

Silence. Silence, with the exception of Rook breaking out into a amused chuckle. "He got you there, Ronin."

"I'm glad you're so helpful today darling, because I sure didn't feel like being responsible for another child under my watch." He stepped past the girl, walking up to Ronin before knocking the knuckles of two of his fingers against Ronin's chest teasingly. "If you're so worried, I'll leave the matter up to you. She's yours." With one more tap on his shoulder he walked past them, going a few steps before spinning to face them in place. "Lead the way, trap bait!"

Ronin seemed not so happy with what transpired, shutting his trap before he dug the hole he got himself into any deeper. Then, he brought his attention to the woman, stark white eyes glaring down at her with an eerie intensity. "Don't run. Or I'll kill you."
 
Stumbling, thin legs nearly gave out under the girl, but she caught herself and looked back toward Ori with a relieved smile, even as she began to tremble.

This was it, the first step toward her revenge on the Hunters.

She made no move to run, and nodded as Ronin spoke to her, even as she felt tears starting to form in her eyes. They took her on. She survived the meeting. From here, it would get easier, she felt certain.

The girl led the way around to the back, hands clasped together behind herself so that Ronin could see them.

"Ori. Ronin. Rook."

She committed the names to memory.

"Ori. Auri is a root word in latin for gold. Ronin. It means wandering swordsman. A rook is either a crow with a bare face or a chess piece named after a stone."

She recited them as though she had been using their names as a calming chant for ages.

"And my Teal family called me Heather, which is a type of plant. In my dreams, I am called something else I can't remember."

Her tremors stopped as she arrived at the open kitchen door in time to see a surprised and bald armored warrior.

In a panic, she shoved her fist as hard as she could into his mouth and grabbed his tongue. She looked back. "Hurry!"
 
The strangeness of it all, of the girl's behavior, didn't escape them. Once she recited their names, all three of them looked to each other in relative confusion, though Ori snickered as a smile crossed his face again. He seemed more impressed than concerned. Still, they followed, Ronin never more than five feet behind her. He still seemed convinced she was going to make a break for it eventually, hovering behind her with his hand on his sword's guard. Though, there was more than just one reason for that.

Then, things kicked off way faster and more suddenly than they anticipated. Ronin, behind so closely behind her, was the nearest person to respond the moment she opened the door and was discovered. Seeing how intentionally she silenced the man, he gathered there was some importance to make sure he didn't make a noise.

He stepped past her, drawing out his sword and in one fast motion stabbed it through the man's neck, just under the chin. He paused for a moment, feeling through the blade where it's edge was. It had slipped between the vertebrae in the back of his head, internally decapitating him. Instant death. Before the weight of his body caved in, he pulled the blade out, grabbing Heather by the arm as he did a flicking swing with his blade, sending the blood sliding off of it.

Rook came in next, carefully mangling his large weapon in with surprising quickness that implied his mastery over it, followed immediately by Ori.

"Something you should be telling us, Heather?" Ori asked, looking down at the body. Grabbing him by the tongue seemed an awfully strange first reaction from somebody unless it held some importance. Or maybe Heather was just a weirdo.
 
Heather's quick breathing betrayed her panic at the group's near-discovery. She couldn't stop staring at the man Ronin killed, and her shakes began again. In her dreams, she saw so much death, and she'd watched her family's deaths as they tried to protect her, but this was her first time taking part, even if it was a small part.

Wide, violet eyes turned toward Ori as his smooth voice asked if she should be telling them something. "W...what?"

Her own voice sounded lame in her ears, and she swallowed the lump in her throat.

"I didn't... see him in my dream, but if we're... caught, we lose um..." She swallowed. "We lose the ability to catch them by surprise, r-right?"

Her shaking continued.

"I looked braver in my dreams..."

Now that the warrior was out of the way, the kitchen appeared empty—no chefs, no templars, nobody but the four of them.

"He must have been... on his way to put up the trap..." Her breathing quickened. "We're just... just in time."
 
Another odd moment of silence among them, the only sound to break it was Ronin sliding his sword back into it's scabbard. Heather, even if she didn't mean to, definitly was coming off strange. For these three foreigners, it was a little odd to be dealing with a civilian talking about deams and reciting their names like they were a mantra.

"...Ori?"

Ronin asked, pressing him for orders. Even Rook seemed unsure when to proceed, or rather, how to proceed. With a sigh, Ori flicked his hair away from his face for a moment, putting a hand on his hip.

"Well, I know we just got in, but we are in. Just managed to avoid detection too." With apparently no care in the world he strode over to the kitchen counter, turning around and propping himself up onto it, taking a seat as he crossed one leg over the other. "Rook, Ronin, make sure those doors are as locked as we can get them. Heather," He had this look in his eye, dropping his smile and letting her know he was all ears.

"Tell us what this dream of yours is about. What are we going to find in this place?"
 
The young woman, still shaking, slowly hugged herself, and as Ori addressed her again and urged her to speak of her dream to him, she nodded. Her eyes drifted to the body she helped to create, then slowly approached Ori, primarily to put distance between herself and the body.

"I dreamed I met you, just like I did outside, and I led you inside. The Templars were all performing magic, trying to summon Hunters, but you killed the man at the altar, and the spell sucked the life out of the rest, so it failed and exploded."

She spoke quickly. "The four of us and a few of the servants survive, but we're sent into the dungeons, and the way back is blocked."

As she spoke of her dream, she slowly calmed. "Of course, you three, you're easily able to fight down lower until we make it to the magic circle that leads out, and since I'm branded with their mark, I can activate it and get us out... After that—after that are other dreams, and in all of them, I'm with you, and helping you, and... and in return, you kill all of the Hunters for me!"

She swallowed. "Some of the dreams, though, they're blurry, but I know what's happening. I don't know why they're blurry. One blurry one, it..." She trailed off. "It shows Ronin, and he's covered in blood, and he's speaking to a grey woman who's a Hunter but also not..."

"I'm not in that dream, but I also am. He tells her to betray the Hunters."
 
Ori nodded his head, seeming impressed as he brought his hand up and scratched his chin. He let her go on uninterrupted, Rook and Ronin taking to actually standing right at the doors in lieu of locking them. Rook literally just set his pillar in front of it, thinking it would have the weight to do the job. They all listened though, it being hard to miss in the otherwise quiet room.

He looked over to Ronin, seeing him looking at the door. Even then though, he could see Ronin's brow furrow, no doubt confused. Still with nothing to say Ori was quick to look back at Heather. "Well, that is interesting. That must be how you saw us coming."

Ronin, naturally skeptical, thought Ori was just being facetious. It was pretty insane of an idea and she seemed pretty cryptic about the details. It stunk of a liar, and while he never would have put his faith in her words...

"You heard her, boys. There's a magic circle somewhere in here and they're trying to bring Hunters. You know what that means, Ronin?"

He smiled, looking to the swordsman and seeing he grabbed his attention away from the door.

"It means we're not too late. Hunters aren't here yet."

Ronin sighed. "Ori, you can't seriously assume-"

"I can, darling, and I think we should take her seriously. We were sent here for a reason, and it's up to us to investigate any sources leading to Hunter's influence. Even if it just slows them down, we should see if this magic circle exists, and deal with it accordingly." He unfolded his legs, sliding off the counter and clearing his throat before he reached out and pat Heather on her shoulder.

"Go on, trap bait. We've got your back. Especially Ronin. Isn't that right, Ronin?"

Ronin said nothing, white eyes not even bothering to look over, just waiting at the door. Rook, however, picked his pillar back up, striding over near Heather. He was a giant, having to lean over a bit to speak to her with lower volume.

"Don't mind him. You can rely on me, if you really need to." He said with big smile, officially outing Ronin as the only doubter, or at least the one staunchly opposed to this. "Move as if you can't die. We won't let you."
 
The girl looked between Ori and Rook, and as Rook leaned down to speak to her, relief spread across her features. "Thank you," she answered him quietly, then took a deep breath and began forward.

She led them with purpose down a short hallway to a large room, and motioned for them to be quiet as she peeked in.

Chanting came from that massive, high-ceilinged room, and beautiful bald men held their hands forward as they chanted. Visible lines of colorful magic slid forward from them, through the air and down into a chalice that bubbled over with liquid light.

One man, entirely hairless and wearing armor that gleamed golden in the white light of the chalice, spoke loudly, words of power as he chanted.

"Creatures of Council! Answer the call! Creatures of Teal seek to enter our hall!"

The chant continued.

"Ah!" Heather gasped as she realized the timing. "We're almost too late!"

A few templars looked over, but only saw her, and turned their attention back to the summoning.

Heather, determined not to let them succeed, grabbed a weapon from along the wall and charged at the man in the golden armor, dagger in hand.

Arrows zipped at her from above.

"Get... GET HIM!" the girl called.
 
The three fell in line behind her, keeping silence as they went. They seemed to be expecting more trouble along the way, but the further they got, the more empty the building seemed to be. With the exception of the ever present chanting, of course. As they came upon the door, watching Heather begin to check on it, the moment it opened and the chanting became much louder they knew they had reached what they were looking for.

And she just took off.

Ronin's eyes widened with surprise. "Heather!" He wasn't quick enough, seeing her rush through. Just as he was about to rush in and grab her, Ori grabbed him. Before he knew it he was pushed back, stumbling and falling against Rook as Ori took off in his stead.

"Stay here." He muttered to the two, apparently going in alone.

With surprising quickness, Ori B-lined it straight for Heather. He reached out, grabbing her collar by the finger tips before abruptly yanking her back. He pulled her so hard he practically threw her behind him, making her hit the ground near his legs as he found himself standing in the middle of the room, archers above and some more people below.

He looked around in awe for a moment, a Unifier caught alone among Hunter loyalists, and gun in hand raised his arms up as if surrendering. He stood in stark silence, waiting to see if his mock-surrender would give them any pause. He was, after all, a sight for sore eyes even to those who were his friends. That little pause, that hesitation, is what he was counting on.

After a moment, when it looked like they weren't going to just shoot him down immediately, he muttered to Heather.

"Wanna see a magic trick?"

His eyes never left the others present, but his golden lips did curl into a smile. With that, gun still harmlessly aimed straight up as he kept his arms in surrender, his finger curled around the trigger, and fired.

Just like that, one unfortunate archer collapsed, bullet through his head. Ori pulled the trigger again and again, the snub nosed gun loud as thunder as he didn't even take aim, just firing it into the air, the no doubt confused onlookers going down with each pull.

He killed those who could fire back first, finding just enough ammo in his gun to deal with them accordingly. Just like that, they were dead. He couldn't help but smile, bringing down his arms and smoking gun into a seamless bow like he had just put on a performance.

With no applause, however, as he brought his head back up he spun the barrel of his gun, having slid a single bullet into it's chamber, before taking aim at the man chanting. Despite basically playing a game of Russian roulette with just one bullet in the gun, he seemed to have no doubt in his eyes as he aimed right at him.

"You said there would be an explosion, right?" He spoke, addressing Heather. "You should get back to the other two. I'll be fine."

He always ended up fine in the end.
 
Heather stared in awe of the magic trick, then nodded as he ordered her to get to the others, but she hesitated. She was no warrior accustomed to following orders without question. She was, at best, an orphan with strange dreams.

From the upper balcony, through the chanting, a click sounded.

In Heather's ears, it sounded deafening, and she looked up into the muzzle of a large gun aimed at her.

She didn't dream of this. This person wasn't present in her dream. Heather stared in terror and watched the finger begin to depress the trigger.

Sudden calm filled her face, and she threw the dagger she'd found. It embedded itself into the barrel, and she turned to look at Rook and Ronin. "Come in, or we'll go separate places."

Her normal eye was unfocused, and the one with the sigil inside glowed faintly, and a red tear slid from it. Complete calm possessed her, and she smiled—so unlike the stammering, scared girl moments before.
 
Ori hardly hesitated, affording a confused blink before turning to see what Heather had done. Impressive! He lit up, golden lips breaking into an amused smile, before also looking to the two waiting at the doorway.

"You heard the woman!"

And with that, promptly swung his arm back, not even needing to look before pulling the trigger. Just like that, the bullet left it's mark, embedding itself into the chanter's head leaving a bloody geyser. Rook and Ronin, probably not expecting the order or at least for Ori to hold off killing him a second for them to follow up, promptly hauled through the door way to meet up with the two.

"What did I say about running!?"

"Don't worry about her Ronin." Immediately came Rook. He also seemed all smiles right now. "That was some impressive stuff you two!"

"Hold your applause darling. The shows not over yet..." Ori said, looking rather serious again. He was bracing himself for the unknown. The only thing he did know was that, according to Heather, there would be some kind of explosion after he killed the chanter...
 
A curse came from above, and the explosion came from there, and then a chain reaction took hold. At the same time, the magic channeled from the Templars grew thicker in the air as it rushed forward too quickly. They began to fall, starting with the weakest. Bodies shriveled as the ritual sucked everything from them in a wild and desperate attempt at reaching completion, but without the chanter, it lacked direction.

What it lacked in direction, it made up with force. As the last Templars fell, great tendrils of solid power formed and gained flame as explosions continued through the upper tier of the chamber.

Through it all, Heather stood still and calm. "And the surface wavers, and into the darkness the Four fell, led by the—" before the last word could be spoken, powerful tendrils of magic began to slam every surface of the room, growing larger. The floor cracked.

A tendril slammed right beside Heather as she remained still.

The floor gave, and she let out neither cry of alarm, nor did she struggle against gravity, only fell straight down.

The openings in each level below them were uneven and covered in thick, ropey cobwebs that broke underneath their weight as the group continued downward.

Throughout the fall, Heather remained silent. Her blood tears came more freely, and the glow in her strange eye increased.

And then, they hit the bottom. Brittle bones smashed beneath Rook, Ronin, Ori, and Heather and offered just enough cushion to bruise rather than to shatter bone. Dust rose in a thick cloud around them, and Heather suddenly shrieked in the newfound dark. The glow from her eye was gone, and terror gripped her as she whimpered and trembled in darkness pierced only by a pinprick of light from above. Rubble tumbled down still, and an inhuman shriek echoed from the distant hole.
 
Having someone so sure that they would be okay served as an anchor point for the group, hovering around Heather and nervously watching the strange and otherworldly display before their eyes. Not one of them had experienced this sort of magic before, this 'sorcery', as Ori would have distinguished it. He practiced 'magic', after all, and this was completely different.

As the terrifying tendrils grew greater and more threatening, Ronin in particular kept looking to Heather to check her reaction. He was the most skeptical of this all, and it seemed an awful idea to be here right now. And yet, Ori watched on unflinchingly, his apparent faith in Heather not faltering. Between the two of them... He didn't run. No matter how bad this looked.

Then, the floor collapsed. No one other than Heather was expecting that apparently, Ori letting out a surprised whoop as they all went tumbling down. Everyone did their best to brace themselves, Rook losing grip of his huge pillar entirly as they fell out of control all the way down through the floors...

The crash and rattling of bones as they hit was loud as hell, particularly with Rook and his weapon, the poor guy landing flat on his back and the pillar nearly falling on top of him from how close they were. Ronin landed with a loud 'oof' along with Ori, groaning from the sudden impact. The bones, however, snapped beneath them and... Perhaps miraculously, they survived. The bones were brittle and sharp, enough to dig into the skin without something between them and one's skin. Once again, Rook got kinda shafted in that respect.

"Ooof... That hurt." Rook bellowed out, not moving from where he lay but sounding just fine. Ronin picking himself up, coughing as he sucked in dust that they had kicked up, dusting himself off. He was sore, but he'd be alright. Ori's first priority was, apparently, to sit up and dust off his hair. He groaned too, but for seemingly different reasons unrelated to falling a few stories...

Ronin, after quickly looking around, seeing everyone was okay and their new surroundings, was the first to really speak. "Alright... Where are we now?" So many bones... Should they even be here? Debris were still falling, and the sound of something awful reached his ears.
 
Heather whimpered. With her potato-sack dress, she was as unfortunate as Ronin, though her light weight helped her slightly. Breathing fast, shaking hard, she looked around, then started reciting their names and meanings. In the dark, she could barely see.

Another whimper escaped her as the others began to speak.

"This—" A cough interrupted her words, and then a whole fit of it. "This-is-the-dungeon," she managed before coughing on the dust again. Slowly, sorely, she pushed herself to try and sit, but gasped and whined as a bone gave under her hand. Gravity yanked her back down, and she hit the bones before she pushed up again and scrambled backwards until she was away from the pile, bare soles against cool stone.

The dust stirred by her passage brought more coughs, and she felt something wet on her face. "This is... This is the dungeon. They send—send young templars down here to see if they're—if they're worthy." Heather paused to cough once more. "It's, um, a trial by fire? They get... get blessed, and then while they're still filled with—the um... Still filled with the batter, they get every hair plucked out, they get washed, and then they get shoved into the first level. They have to get—to get to the bottom—and do it alive. They can go back up once a week to get food, another blessing, and to be... to get hair removed, but then they—they have to start at the top floor again."

She swallowed. "I um... because I'm a girl, that didn't... didn't happen to me."

Her throat hurt from coughing and talking so much. "We just have to... to go down more levels. They marked... marked me, but they didn't—didn't bless me because I'm not a boy. I can activate... activate the bottom level's escape spell, though, because of the mark. We just... just have to get there."

Heather took a deep breath.

"In my dream, when we got out, that... that thing was gone."

Her eyes began to adjust to the dark, and she watched the three men—or rather, their approximate shapes. "You're all... all ok, right? The dream, it showed me none of you would be hurt badly by... by the fall. Things were different in the chapel, though, so—" Her own worry silenced her.

In her silence, she wasn't sure if it was her imagination that something clicked a few times somewhere—sound echoed strangely in this large, round room. On closer inspection, Ronin, Rook, and Ori might notice that none of the bones they landed on appeared large enough to belong to adults.
 
"I think we're good." Rook said, promptly coughing a bit as he waved his huge hand in front of his face as if to swipe away the dust. He stood up before spinning around, looking for his pillar as Ronin pressed his hand to his mouth, breathing through it like a filter to avoid sucking in dust and coughing like Heather and Rook.

Once the big guy found his pillar he stood it up, sliding his hand down it's mid section before seeming to feel something. With a slight twist, the seam was revealed. It had been perfectly aligned in such a way it was invisible, until now. Just like that the top pushed up and a little out with a mechanical click, and a brilliant light flooded the room. Just like that, they had visibility, the pillar acting like a portable lighthouse.

Looking down and getting a clear view of the small skulls seemed to strike a nerve on the big guy, grumbling quietly before bringing his headband back down over his white eyes.

Ronin would never understand his friends. Why did he bother with the light if he was just going to do that anyway? "She's right. There has been differences."

"Not really." Ori chimed in, still fiddling with his hair and trying not to get dirty from the look of it. "Omitting things is not the same as them being different. So long as she saw that we make it out of here, I'm confident we'll make it out of here." He flicked his head to get his now tidy bang out of his face before turning to look at everybody in the new light. "Lead the way down trap bait, we've got you're back."

Despite saying that he immediately went back to messing with his vanity, and Ronin just stared at him until he seemed to realize he was being watched.

"Go on without me darlings, I'll be right behind you. As usual, act as if I'm always there." He smirked, shooting a knowing look at Ronin. If he had been a woman and if not for Ronin knowing better, it might of come off as flirtatious. "Because youknow I'm always there. Go on now, hurry it up."

Rook mearly shrugged with indifference, hoisting the lighted pillar over his shoulders before making the first move to get going. Ronin, seeing this, turned to Heather once more.

"No running ahead this time. I'm going to stay directly behind you."

Even now, there was still that base level of caution or distrust. Though at least now he didn't seem so threatening about it.