Fantasy INTERTWINED [private]

[Dizzy]

TSUKASA 'COLDKILL' NAKANO
WANTED CRIMINAL​

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Tsukasa was beginning to think he'd run shit out of luck. Between his boss betraying him, the kingdom-wide bounty on his head, and the knife that'd been buried quite literally in his back, the last several months had been a bit of a fucking nightmare if he was honest. Not that he wasn't use to those, it just would have been nice if he'd had an idea it was coming. He didn't usually let others get one up on him, and the fact that he hadn't seen any of this coming until it was too late had him more pissed off at himself than anything.

But sitting around moping wouldn't change anything, so he'd done the next best thing; he'd broke into his old guilds office trying to find some kind of intel to scorch his bastard of a ex-boss with, and maybe clear his name in the process. What he found was.. interesting.

After busting into a hidden safe he'd found a file for a mission that was set to go out in three days time. Intel, on a tower hidden away in some valley just outside of the kingdom, where a very special map was being kept hidden away. Apparently it could tell you the location of whatever you asked it to, and if that was true then Tsukasa could think of quite a few things he'd like to use it for- mainly finding the evidence that would clear his name, or at the very least something valuable that could buy him a way out of the Kingdom so he wasn't being hunted like a dog.

Two days later, Tsukasa found himself at that very tower early in the afternoon. From the outside it looked nearly abandoned; overgrown in vines and surrounded by brush and overgrown grass. There was a thin dirt trail cut through the grass where it seemed someone had worn a natural path into the earth coming and going from the place, but he didn't see any guards stationed or patrolling.

So, he made his way up to the door, a throwing knife in hand. He muttered the password that killed the protective seal on it, and then he was pushing it open and stepping inside, silent as a ghost. He was surprised to find the inside of the tower looking for more kept than the outside; torches lined the spiraling staircase leading upward and cast a warm, welcoming glow, and there was a plush carpet without a speck of dirt on it. No spiderwebs or crumbling stone.

Uncertain of what he'd find at the top, he cautiously began to make his way up the stairs, knife still brandished in hand as golden eyes peered through the darkness.

 

[KAZENIKURA]

YUUMA ROSE MASHIDA
Just let me love you when your heart is tired.​

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Yuuma was quite fond of his life at the tower. It was a peaceful and easy life. He had his plants to look after which his father had been so kind to bring to him from the outside - the forbidden world to attend. Whenever his father left the tower Yuuma always had the company of his plants to care for which also gave him something to do while waiting for father to return back from wherever he went. There had been times when he had asked to come with them but there always had been the same answer. No.

It was a dangerous world out there full of thieves and killers, people who wished to harm them, harm him. Father just wanted to protect them from all of it and Yuuma trusted them. If life were so dangerous and cruel then for sure his life in the tower was far better. Here he knew everything from every little book he loved to read on the shelf down to every little scratch mark on the floor. This was everything he knew, everything he needed. Father provided him with everything he could possibly dream of. There was no reason for him to dream of the outside when his life was as good as it could be. His comfortable perfect life away from anyone who wished to harm him.

That day he was humming to himself as he was watering some of his plants he had placed by one of the few small windows at the tower. It was a sunny day outside which meant it was going to be a good day. Yuuma smiled to himself as he wonderd when father would return back home today. He hadn't told them when exactly that was going to be like always. Sometimes he could be away for days before returning. Yuuma didn't like these days to be alone for so many days. It made him feel...lonely. Hopefully today wouldn't be a such day.

After finishing watering the plant by the window he contunied to hum as he went to another one of his plants to pick up since he wished to swap it's place to put somewhere else. With a smile he nudged one of the plants petals with his finger tip, daydreaming. It was in that very moment he heard footsteps coming from the stairs below.

Yuuma froze, his red-pink eyes slowly turning to the staircase. " Father?, is that you?." Was he home already?. That was early... not that he was going to complain. Carefully he put a smile on his lips always unsure which mood his father would be on when he got back home. Yuuma anxiously clenched his grip around the plant a bit more tightly as he turned to start approaching the stairs so he could welcome his father back home like he always did. " That was quick, i thought you were gonna be go-" he froze instantly when he come closer to spot something unfamilliar at the staircase. That was not his father. It was darker down the stairs since it lacked lights so he couldn't properly see who it was but it was not the man he had knew all his life that was for sure.

Yuuma dropt the plant as it crashed into the floor when a terrifying thought crossed his mind. Thief. Oh, his father had warned him about them so many times!. They were horrible cruel monsters!. Yuuma panicked as he backed away from the stairs slowly, heart racing in the youth's chest as he tried to figure out what to do!.

 

[Dizzy]

TSUKASA 'COLDKILL' NAKANO, WANTED CRIMINAL​

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Tsukasa wasn't so fond of his own life, if he was honest. The only chunk of time he could recall with any fondness was his early childhood in the village where he'd been born. His life there had been good- hell, it'd been perfect- until the Kingdom started expanding. After that, one by one, the people in his village were talked into selling their homes and farmland. He'd watched as, one by one, they all packed up and moved away, greedily choosing to pocket the cash rather than fight for their homes. His friends, his mentors, even his aunts, and grandparents, and older brother- ll of them traitors. They filled their pockets with gold and then never looked back, until the few stubborn families trying to remain were driven out by force.

He could still remember the day the soldiers came. They dragged people out of their homes, burned everything to the ground, and killed anyone who tried to fight back.

Tsukasa lost both his parents that day.

After that he was dragged back to the capital by the soldiers and thrown into an orphanage where he'd stayed until he was sixteen- not that he didn't try to leave before then, but his reckless attempts to run away were all thwarted in his younger years. That's when he'd met Reyner, who'd taken him in and given him a job with his mercenaries guild. He'd been too young back then to have a legal license, so he'd spent two years in training as Reyners 'apprentice'. By the time he turned eighteen and broke out onto the scene as the sellsword 'Coldkill', he already had a list a mile long of accomplishments behind him.

Life with the guild was nothing special. He was in control of his own life, sure -unlike at the orphanage- but he'd made a point to never get close to anyone. Why bother, when the word was full of fakes and traitors anyways? Work became his top priority, the only that came close to filling the void in him, but even that had gone to hell when Reyner had put that knife in his back and left him for dead. He'd stayed low, healed from his wounds, and then returned to the Capital only to have the city guard on his ass within minutes, claiming he was a traitor the kingdom. Apparently, his old mentor had 'misplaced' some very important magical items during the last mission, and rather than own up to his own incompetence, Reyner had instead told everyone that Tsukasa had stolen the items and sold them to the enemy.

That was nearly a month ago. Since then, his name and face had been plastered all over the Kingdom on wanted posters and every bounty hunter in the country had been breathing down his neck. His only option now was to either clear his name or to find enough money to get him from where he was, to a Kingdom that had hever heard of him before.

Which is why he had to do this.

To be perfectly honest, he hadn't been sure of what to expect inside the tower. Guards maybe, or traps. Maybe even a hoard of treasure from someone using the map. But as he ascended the stair with his knife in hand, he found none of that. In fact, the higher he climbed up the stairs the more... homey it was beginning to look, not at all like a treasure trove or a hidden fortress.

And that's when the voice reached him.

Tsukasa was stone still, brows furrowing in confusion as he lingered in the shadows of the staircase. Father?

The sound of footsteps approaching had the silver haired man clutching the handle of his knife a little tighter. One solid throw and the person at the top would be dead before they ever had a chance to scream for help. It would be easy, too. How many times had he done this as 'Coldkill'? A dozen? More? Assassination's were a common theme in his line of work.

He wasn't expecting the shocked pink-red eyes staring back at him.

Soft. was his first thought. Too soft, was his next. He watched the way they locked up in fear at the sight of him, as if they'd never had a day of combat training in their life. Hell, the way they lost their grip on the plant and shuffled backwards instead of running or reaching for a weapon- did hey even have a survival instinct? The opportunity was there for Tsukasa. Heartbeats upon heartbeats of stretching silence, all of which were perfect for sending his knife straight between their eyes.

But he'd never taken an innocent life before, and it was hard to start now.

A part of him wished the other had lunged for him or made a move to sntch up a weapon- at least then he would have been able to kill the guy without having to worry about feeling guilty afterwards. A single reason- that's all Tsukasa needed.

But the reason never came. They just.. stood there. Watching him.

"If you scream, I'll kill you." he warned coldly, yellow eyes narrowing as he shifted the blade in his hands to catch the light in a vicious gleam.

Slowly, he ascended the last few steps to join them in the tower.

"Who else is here? And don't bother lying- if you try anything stupid you won't live long enough to regret it." he growled softly as he sent his gaze around the place, giving it a quick scan to assure that nobody else was in the immediate area. Unsettlingly, the tower was nothing like what he expected. Bookshelves and plants and common household furniture decorated the space, and it was so damn normal that for a second, he wondered if Reyners intel had been wrong and if he hadn't just broken into someones house.

But that couldn't be right. The tower was as isolated as you could get, and the door downstairs had been sealed with powerful magic to keep people out. Whatever was in here had to be extremely important if that was the case, which meant the map had to be here. The intel had been right about everything else, after all, so why not that too?
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