Fantasy Project Anima

[Srion Receno]

She listened to him before smirking. Another target on her back isn't that bad, she was a wanted assassin after all. "You don't know who you are asking to do this job "she laughed softly ". It will cast a lot for me. Him no idea" she pointed to the tent. This was kinda funny the way this all played out. They were looking for dragons and here one was! Right in front of them.

"Normally I take half payment up front, but I can make an exception. The price for not paying me is grate and many would rather pay then to cross me" after saying this she stood up with a smirk. "Im going to check the area. Ask him when he gets up if he wants to get side tracked" she turned and started to walk off into the darkness.

 

[From Darkness]

"Hmm, dangerous woman. I like it," Anjin smirked, giving off his most playboy-like voice. Which ended up with another shove from Namu right on his side. They stayed around the fire for a bit more before getting back to their tent.

Meanwhile, the Prince had finally woken up. In a complete darkness. He remembered putting down Crimson in a tent, and then...what had happened? He felt around, and then breathed a sigh of relief when he felt his rapier still dangling on his side. They had started the tent at dusk, so this must be night time.

"Ugh, so cold..." he commented while rubbing his hands on his upper arm. The night in the desert is cold, a big contrast to the heat at noon. Aside from the bonfire, there was nothing else around them except darkness.

 

[Srion Receno]

Hearing him she smirked but didn't stop moving in until she was no longer seen. Being taken in by the shadows. It seems she could have a little fun with the man, a bit anyway. A few hours later she walked back into the light with a yawn. It was all clear for a good mile from them. Going into the tent she stopped. "You are awake....are you cold?" She asked as she grabbed the cloak she had worn and put it over him. "The man wants to higher us to escort them there" she laid out beside him as she spoke. Her back to him as she closed her eyes.

 

[From Darkness]

Gills tensed up when he felt someone getting into the tent, but relaxed once again when he realized it was only Crimson. He was about to say something when her cloak was put over his head, blinding him for a moment. When he finally got untangled from the mess of cloth, she had laid out besides him.

"The man...Anjin, huh," he sighed. "We don't have time for this, we need to get back to Arty as fast as we could."

Not like he knew the way, though. The desert was vast, and everywhere looked the same. Although...

"You know that woman with him is a dragon princess, right? What do you think?"

 

[Srion Receno]

She nodded as he spoke. She knew they didn't, but they not have a choice. "Well...she would be good to have on are side. She seems kind" she said this as she turned to him slightly so they could talk better. "Also, don't talk about her being a weapon. He was not happy about it" she laughed softly. " We need her on are side for Arty" after saying this she closed her eyes once again. "What ever we do is for you to decide. I wouldn't mind getting paid" her voice started to drift off as she spoke. Before falling asleep she turned on her back to her comfortable.

 

[From Darkness]

Gills scoffed. "I won't call her a weapon. I understand what he meant, after all, my sister is also...nevermind," he scooted over to the corner of the tent, being uncomfortable in close proximity with Crimson, especially with her laying down like that. He wasn't...ready.

"Seems like you've made the choice right there. Fine. They seems to know the way so we can just ask direction after we're done."

He leaned down on the pile of things they'd taken from the riders' sacks. They owned them now. They would need as much supply as they could have in the middle of the desert anyway. Seeing Crimson falling asleep, he closed his eyes as well. Maybe a bit more sleep could help...and this time not because he was hopelessly fatigued.

=======

Gills was woken up by a bright light glaring on his eyes. When he finally managed to regain his focus, their tent was opened wide, and Anjin stood in front of it with a large grin.

"Wake up, you lovers! We got a long trek ahead of us. Oh..." He squinted to look at Gills, and then Crimson, noting the distance between the two. His gaze returned to Gills. "...Nevermind, you're just a pussy," he laughed before going away, letting the tent close up once again.

...What was that?

"Uh...what the heck just happened?" He frowned.

 

[Srion Receno]

It wasn't the light that woke her from her peaceful sleep, but the sound of Anjin. She quickly sat up hand on her dagger. It wasn't until he left that she relaxed. "He called you a pussy for some reason* she streched before looking at him. "Why are you so far away? I thought you were cold" she looked at him confused before shaking her head. "nevermind, I don't want to hear it. Come on" she got up and was soon out of the tent and stretching. "it's actually not that bad with out the burns" she said before looking over to Anjin. "I think we will be helping you"

 

[From Darkness]

"...What? What did I do?" Gills called out half-annoyed, half-confused, but in the end just shut up and followed behind Crimson. His brain was just too clogged up in the morning to think straight.

The bonfire had been put out for hours now, and the tent Anjin was in before had been returned to the sack. In fact, both Anjin and Namu had been up and ready on their camel. As expected from the native of this treacherous desert.

"Great! Just what I wanted to hear," Anjin replied, delightful with the prospect of having strong allies. "Get on your camel and let's start the journey. This time we'll move in that direction," he pointed toward a point around the north, based on the sun's position. "It'd be around four hours travel. There should be something good over there."

 

[Srion Receno]

She ignored Gills as Anjin spoke. Really she was surprised that they were ready so fast. "give us a moment.* She turned back and took the tent down easily since the top just came off. After packing it up she held her hand out to gills. " You get the rest. It's not much" she took her cloak from him and put it around herself after he was in his feet. She said nothing else as she got on her camel and waited

 

[From Darkness]

Gills took the rest of the thing and stuffed them all in his camel's bag. As a result, he trailed off a bit behind Crimson's and Anjin's steeds. It wasn't a problem as long as he could still see them. He just wanted to get some distance for now and think.

Anjin on the other hand moved his camel closer to Crimson. Seems that he wanted to spend the time with some chat.

"So, missy, how did you end up with your Animus artifact over there?" He pointed at Crimson's dagger. "Not everyone can get a hand on those, you know?"

 

[Srion Receno]

Crimson glanced back at Gills for a moment before she heard Anjin speaking to her. Turning her head she looked down at her dagger then back at him.. "I found it" she shrugged. It wasn't a lie, she actually found it. In a treasury. Trying to kill the man behind her. She held back a smirk as she turned to him. "How about your sword?" She asked as she glanced to Name then forward.

 

[From Darkness]

Anjin made a mock thinking gesture before replying shortly, "I also found it." He grinned. "No need to be defensive, missy. It is a valid reason. You do not choose to be a wielder, the Animus Artifact chose you. The matter of where or how you found it mattered not. Watch."

He held his left hand toward Crimson with its palm opened. "Ianos". With a murmur, an image of an hourglass, seemingly made of light construct, appeared on his palm. The sand was trickling down inside of it, the upper part almost emptied.

"This is also an Animus Artifact, the hourglass of Ianos. This allows me to know the time until then next 'event' occurred. The problem is I don't know whether it is a good or a bad event. Depending on my action, the sands would trickle slower or faster, or even changed shape. With this I can determine where should I go next."

 

[Srion Receno]

Crimson looked over at him as he spoke again. She wasn't, but he could think what he wanted. Seeing his hand out she frowned slightly. What was he planing? When he brought another Animus artifact out she looked a bit surprised. He had two? That was definitely surprising and what it did was even more surprising. "That must come in vary handy in life" she said this as she looked forward again.

 

[From Darkness]

There was a dark shadow on his face before he turned cheery again.

"You looked surprise. You can have more than one Animus artifacts, of course. Although...it's not like you can just get it from someone else."

His gaze returned forward.

"There are different ranks among Animus artifacts. A hierarchy. When two Animus artifacts physically clashed, the higher-ranked one would be able to break the low-ranked one, but not the other way around. Check your dagger's blade. When yours clashed with mine yesterday, there should be some tiny cracks. It'll heal over time, but if we continued, my scimitar would've broke yours."

 

[Srion Receno]

(sorry for some reason this didn't show up)

Crimson looked at him for a moment before looking foreword as he spoke. really she didn't know anything about them. other then they chose you. hearing that her dagger was probably cracked she quickly took it out and frowned. There they were, something she never thought she would see on it. cracks. She held the dagger tightly before sighing. if it will heal then she would have nothing to worry about. hopefully anyway. maybe she needs to get swords just in case something like this happens. her dagger only should be used in dire situations. Her dagger was gently put away before she glanced over at him once more. "how far is this place we are going to ?" she said in a flat tone before picking up the water bladder and taking a drink from it.

 

[From Darkness]

Anjin took a glance at his hourglass. The sand was almost dropping down entirely. "Shouldn't be too long now. Be patient."

He took interest when Crimson was eyeing her dagger with a frown.

"Do you know how someone gain an Animus artifact? When an owner died, their artifact will disappear, searching for a new worthy owner. They can choose you, of course, but there's another way," he leaned closer to her, his voice toning down to a whisper. "You can either break their Animus artifact with your own, or you kill the owner. When you do it this way, the artifact won't go to a new owner but instead got absorbed into your own body. While you don't have them physically, you can materialize their power, and sometimes their shape if it is required to use their power. Just like this hourglass of mine."

He pulled back, waiting to see the effect of his words.

 

[Srion Receno]

Though she nodded her mind was on the fact that her dagger was cracked. hearing him talking again she looked over at him quiet interested. you can kill them and get the artifacts powers? she glanced back at gills and smirked. maybe she should test it out. "that would definitely be helpful...more information about them then i knew. ...so you killed someone for the power of that hourglass?" she asked as she looked back to him. the way he acted overt protecting the dragon princess she was sure he wouldn't have a problem killing someone. perhaps it was over her? Even with her thinking this she really didn't care.

 

[From Darkness]

Unexpectedly, the question made Anjin go silent for a moment. The hourglass on his left hand disappeared in an instant. Seemingly worried about him, Namu rubbed her head on his chest. In return, he patted her head.

"It's...yeah. I killed him. There's no denying that," he smiled. A nervous smile. "I'm just trying to gauge how much do you know...it seems your boyfriend didn't tell you much, did he?"

He cast a glance at Gills in the back. He was riding his camel absent-mindedly, bobbing his head down from time to time. Not enough sleep it seems.

"It's good that I don't feel so bad toward you, though. Animus artifact owners are, by fate or pure instinct, repulsive toward each other. Most of the time we would end up fighting or, in worst case, kill each other on the spot. But I could never hate a lovely lady like you. That guy on the other hand can just go die."

Namu smacked his chest with her head this time, making him laugh.

 

[Srion Receno]

Hearing that he killed a person didn't really surprise her. He went after her and if she wasn't tiered it would of been a fight until one of them submitted or died. she frowned hearing him once again call gills her boyfriend. it was one of the most annoying things she had heard. Hearing his kind words to her then the insult to Gills she laughed softly. "I do agree with you...I have been wanting to run my dagger though him for some time. when we first met I almost did....but im working for him and his sister at the moment so sadly he is safe" she shrugged before looking at him. "you are getting to be on my good side as well" she smiled before looking Namu. "and she won me over when she healed me" she smiled softly to her.

 

[From Darkness]

Namu's eyes glittered with happiness upon hearing her words, before turning around and buried herself in Anjin's chest. He just laughed, even louder than before.

"Apologies, this girl doesn't have enough human interaction ever since she was little. Being the water priestess of that blasted kingdom would do that to everyone," he patted her head again. "I'm going to smash them to pieces. They won't rest until they can reclaim Namu back, but they're in for a treat. Now that Serion and Lapant had withdrawn their armies from the border, we can attack the capital safely without fear of foreign force...hmm, I shouldn't talk about this with you."

He stopped the conversation abruptly. No need to explain their plan to a stranger. More importantly, they were close to the destination. After climbing the sand dune, he finally saw something.

"Look, see those convoy? Let's get there."

There was a group of four camels trekking the desert, one for each person pulling the reins. They looked like merchants, judging from their bags.

 

[Srion Receno]

Crimson smiled seeing the girls reaction, it was cute. hearing him laugh Crimson looked back to him. She didn't mind how the girl was, it would only be time before she would interact easily. His words drew her in as he continued to talk. when he stopped she tipped her head, but laughed softly. It was best not to tell her everything. it was one of her jobs to gather information and this was something that would go for a high price. once they were over she looked down at the convoy. she nodded then looked back at gills to make sure he was still fallowing. "do you think they will lead us to a city? I need to by new cloths...probably something that wouldn't completely stand out"

 

[From Darkness]

"Huh, what?" Gills snapped out of his daydream after hearing her question. He was actually really asleep? "Uh...yeah, yeah, whatever you say," he quickly replied, although he actually didn't know what she asked about. The camel ride must be really comfortable back there.

When Anjin reached the convoy, the people looked surprised, and then happy, as if looking at old friends. When they saw Crimson and Gills approaching, however, their eyes turned wary. Two people on the back pulled out spears, while the ones near Anjin stepped forward between him and the two, their swords drawn.

"Hey, hey, what gives?" Gills reached out for his rapier.

"Stop!" Anjin's yell caused the people to freeze in their spot. "These people helped me against the city guards. They're our allies. I want them to be treated with care."

They turned to look at Anjin, and then toward Crimson and Gills, their eyes still looked unconvinced. Finally, they just bowed down to Anjin and resumed the convoy. Their trek was going the other way, however.

"Alright, let's go. These guys will lead us to our hideout. Don't worry, it shouldn't be too far."

"...What the fuck?" was the only thing Gills could say while watching them strolling away into the far desert. He slowly turned to Crimson. "You sure we'll still get our payment if we follow them? This is suspicious as heck."

 

[Srion Receno]

Crimson rolled her eyes at Gills, though she wasn't surprised he had fallen asleep. when getting down to them she watched them with interest. new faces, just in case. when they started on them with spears and swords a frown went to her face as her hand went down to her dagger. really of all times now when her dagger was broken? Strangely when Anjin stopped them she was relived. normally she would be up for a good fight, but after what has happened in the past two days it wouldn't be best. after nodding to Anjin she moved her camel to the back along with Gills. With GIlls words she smirked. "if not lets raise hell then go sell there information" she said softly to him before putting a bit of her cloak over her face to keep from sun burn and wind burn. "but i believe she wouldn't let him go back on his word"

 

[From Darkness]

"Whatever, you're the pro," Gills just shook his head, but he did follow behind her.

The convoy led them to a large sand dune. The wind had grown stronger, and sands were starting to blow alongside it. The people pulled their hood to protect their face, but it didn't slow them on the slightest. They went around the sand dune for a while until they finally stopped at one point.

"Alright, we're here," Anjin said amidst the wind to Crimson and Gills. "Prepare to be amazed!"

One of the convoy men pulled out a gem, and then buried it into the sand. A ray of light suddenly burst out from it, and then the dune began to shook. Slowly, a large stone slab opened up from beneath the sand, slowly moving up until it revealed an opening. It was a dark tunnel leading underground, without any torch to light the path. The convoy went down without hesitation. Anjin followed behind, riding his camel along.

"Neat, right? They won't expect our hideout to be in the middle of the desert. This was made by earth Mages a long time ago, a secret known only among the graverobbers family. Anyway, come in, don't be afraid."

He said that before disappearing into the dark.

 

[Srion Receno]

As the wind grew strong the more Crimson cursed under her breath. Her exposed skin stinging from the high winds grinding sand against her. This was a pain and she was getting irrated. When they stopped she almost snapped, but her eyes were drawn to Anjin when he spoke over the wind. Soon she was watching the ground holding onto the camels rains tightly. The shaking ground was nothing it was more the dark hole that had her almost change her mind. "I'm not afraid" she mumbled and started in. With the darkness her shadow magic was easier to use to if she had to she would get out of there, will taking out a few of course.