Lost and in Process of Finding (Open)

[Darkrider]

The black coat caught a slight breeze, and then slowly died down, the top of the jacket remained fastly secured only by the top button fastened tight together. The hood covered the man's upper face, and he made his way towards a similarly hidden town. He stole a quick glance at the wooden wall built around it, and soon directed his gaze at the center building.

Must be the head of all the affairs handled here. Kent thought.

The citizens around the town looked at him in a way that he couldn't quite place his finger on, only that they seemed to have a watchful, perhaps in some situations, a deadly intent. Despite this, his face betrayed no emotion, he kept walking towards the main building, entering silently through the doors. He had heard things about about this town, various rumors and what-not about some order or another.

Ever since his willingness to put up with Stamaria's aggressive expansion had diminished, he had threw the rest of his efforts to finding somewhere relatively separate from main factions at war. In comparison to the fortress-city of Tracien, this town seemed quiet and relatively separate from anything war-related, from the outside, at least.

He presently made his way towards the main lobby to register some moving forms, sitting down on the end of a row of relatively comfortable chairs. He thought about his family, how they were coping in all of this. Ever since the conflict had begun, he constantly thought about them and how the war was affecting them. And thus he sat, deep in thought, thinking, waiting for, at least temporarily, some peace and quiet...

[The Silent Fourteen]

A man, dressed in a clean black jacket, white pants, and shining clean leather boots walked calmly through the door. He walked to the front desk, filled out several forms, and sat down, next to the only other man sitting.

"Hello. The name's Jericho. I'm just settling down here, hoping I can find some good work. What about you? Adventurer, wanderer, nasty killer ninja hitman thing? You know, this guy who owns the town, 'Darklighter'is a pretty interesting guy. Did you know he's actually a mercenary from the south? All the way up from the Chilling Plains... Amazing guy. Know anything about him?"

Jericho sat, fidgeting with the sword at his waist, waiting for the man to respond.

[Darkrider]

Kent eyed the man with inital skepticism. He was talkative, for one thing, so he was most likely not from these parts...

...Maybe a bit too talkative. The last comment of his question of his profession threw him off. His camoflauge, as far as he could tell, was working fine, and nothing betrayed that he was wearing any sort of battle armor. Additionally, his last statement seemed contradictory, considering he leapt straight into asking about a character who he knew nothing about, gave information about him, and on top of that, bringing it up with a clear stranger. A target to kill, perhaps? He wasn't quite sure. For now, he would go with the flow, although he was a bit more alert now.

Kent noticed the man playing with his sword, an impression of unease and perkiness emananted from the stranger's figure. He turn his head toward a window.

"My name is Kent Morgan. I've come from a fortress a ways away from here. I heard about this secluded town in rumors during the time I studied in Minervum, so I came here to get away from the conflict. From the looks of things, it looks quiet enough..." He said offhandedly, watching the pedestrians walk by. He presently continued.

"As for my job, I was an intern at said fortress, enlisted to develop new arms and armor for Stamaria. As I've also mentioned, my beliefs and the nations...conflict, so after my internship was done, I travelled here. I'm hoping to move in, settle down, and wait out until the conflict is over." Again, his gaze shifted casually, this time upwards towards the ceiling.

"And as for this 'Darklighter' character your speaking of, I have no idea who he is. Just what you have told me..."

He said the next remark in an offhand way so as to hide what might be considered cautious intentions.

"So what's so amazing about being a mercenary from the south? Do others think he comes from a different backround?"

After finishing the comment, Kent silently exhaled, and tried his best not to appear shifty or nervous.

[The Silent Fourteen]

"What's so amazing about being from the Chilling Plains?" Jericho acted in shock. "It's a freezing pit there. His parents supposedly died when he was 15 or so. But he survived on his own, until he found some kinda iceman."

Jericho settled down a bit. "You look nervous. Don't be. I may look scary, but not that scary. So, your a scientist, eh? Computer tech, by the looks. Hang on."

Jericho rolled up his sleeve, revealing a large LCD display on his forearm. He tapped a few buttons, and rolled the sleeve back down. "Just checking the weather. So, this Darklighter guy, he's pretty dang nasty. Killed plenty. Never fought for any world power. Just himself. I hear he lives here. In this very office." Jericho pointed upstairs. "So, you have any idea what Razortooth actually is? I'll tell ya. It's an assassins' town. Most people here are trained killers. You don't look like a killer. And you don't look like an actor, or a hooker. You look like a man looking for work. And I happen to have it."

The man stood up. "Kent Morgan, you will want to follow me now. Good ol' Jericho has a bit of work for you." He walked over to Kent, and put his mouth near his ear and whispered. "I work for him. Lighter. You want to follow me now."

[Darkrider]

Kent was still skeptical.

"Well, don't they have survival gear down there? I've never been down there, so I wouldn't know..."

Kent again exhaled, this time authentically relaxing, although he was still on gaurd. The next few statements concerned him, though. He was revealing more and more of the town of which he just moved into. Either he did a lot of prior research, for no apparent reason, or had been lying from the very beggining.

At Lighters offer of work, he stiffened. And he sat deathly silent when he revealed the truth.

So it was a test. Kent thought.

The way that this Jericho character came so close to him also unnerved him. He tried his best to keep his cool, now knowing that he just walked into one of the most quiet, but most lethal towns that Allondel had to offer. His gaze was lost to musing. With a town full of assassins, the whole of the populace must have most of their life integrated with them, which would explain the looks he was given earlier. Backing out now would, at best, result in him being profiled and watched in case he gave information to others, and at worse, killed on the spot to prevent the former's ordeal from ever happening.

He stood up slowly, and followed the assassin up the stairs to where this Lighter character was supposedly staying...

[The Silent Fourteen]

Jericho smiled, and walked up the stairs, still talking. "You know, I fought in Ginther's rift, against the 'Local Insurgency.' Man, they kicked our asses. I was one of the few who made it out alive."

Jericho kept walking. At the top of the stairs, he stopped, and unlocked the door. "Through here, please." Jericho waited for the man to walk through, then unsheathed his sword, and walked after him. "You will want to leave any weapons on the table. He will check you. And if you try to smuggle any, he will kill you. You see those blood stains?"

Jericho put the sword down, and placed his large collection of knives on the table. Finally, he removed his handgun. "Don't touch that."

Jericho waited for the man to drop his weapons. "Come on, don't BS me. I know you have weapons. I see the occasional shimmer of your armor. Come on."

Jericho stood, tapping his foot impatiently, arms crossed.

[Darkrider]

Kent's face didn't change at Jerichos comments while they walked up the stairs, knowing it was most likely a scare tactic.

He heard the metallic protest as the sword was drawn. His stoic face continued. At Jericho's suggestion, he glanced, seeing streaks of dark red nestled comfortably on various sections of the walls. Seeing as Jericho put down his various weapons, he should do the same. The weapons that he had were hidden, unless he had detected it somehow...

...Well, that last statement answered his question. He didn't move for a second. Finally, a smile tugged at his lips.

"I suppose that I shouldn't keep up with this facade, then." He said finally.

He lifted what appeared to be his head off, replaced with an identical face, and set it down, the one that came off shimmering until it became his normal helmet. He reached for seemingly non-existent objects, and they too were put on the table, and finally, his jacket seamlessly broke apart until it layed crumpled in a geometric pattern on the floor, until the images changed it to be neatly folded battle armor.

"So you knew about this. And you don't have to speak in the third person." Kent mentioned offhandedly.

"I made a quick scan when we entered the room. There aren't any hidden doors on any of my extensive sensors array. You are the one called Darklighter. So what do you want with me?" Kent inquired. His voiced now expressed his caution, his intentions could now be without concealment.

[The Silent Fourteen]

"Wow. This one's a bright one. Ok, now, sit down, and shut up. I don't like freaks, I don't like losers, and I don't like backstabbers. If you are any one of these, you have ten seconds to make it know, so I can escort you out of here. Otherwise, I will kill you, if I decide that you are any of those things. Now, tell me about yourself, so we don't have to do this the hard way." Darklighter took his Ka-bar, and sat down behind his desk, waiting for the on coming story.

(OOC: Sorry for the short post)

[Darkrider]

Kent eyed the Ka-bar, and hoped he didn't have to use the last of his tricks.

"It is true, freaks and losers are determined by the beholder." Kent replied.

"As for backstabbers, that's a universal standard. And so far, that means I might have only qualified for one characteristic of being excommunicated from this town." He said half-jokingly, although the tone of voice did not suggest so. He continued.

"Although I don't consider knowing that you were in fact, Darklighter to be a feat that would be contribute to me being considered a freak. You're just easy to read. Comes with being in the military." Kent added as a side comment. His faced hung a bit lower during his next statments,

"...I don't like to talk about myself. I'm not that kind of person. Especially when I know full well that you're giong to file all of this away into some cabinet to look at whenever I do something considered suspicious. It's a big trust issue. But seeing as I'm being held at knifepoint, I don't have much of a choice, now do I? (And just when I thought I was going to have some peace and quiet too...)" He muttered under his breath.

"As mentioned before, I was an intern. At the fortress of Tracien. I was enlisted for help in weapons development, after I excelled in my study in a prestigous university in Minervum. I majored in research and devlopment, and minored in comat magicks. I was one of many to be tasked with improving Stamaria's current layout of weapons and armor. I had worked at this until my graduation."

On a more personal note, he continued.

"...War really isn't my thing. I kept lying to myself and believe that my work for Starmaria's empire was for the good of all, that I was improving our defenses and keeping the home front safe. It was only a matter of time, I suppose, that things just fell apart. You can't stop the press, you know. No amount of cencorship and propoganda in the whole world can prevent the truth from coming out. As long as there is someone else, another view of the world always comes out sooner or later. So I left after I graduated, carrying the best of what I had made if worst came to worst (And ironically, things just did). I had overheard from my studies in Minervum of such a town as this. Nothing much, I just heard the name once or twice. Because it sounded out of the way and relatively quiet, I came here looking for a place to wait out until the wars are over."

Kent laid back in his chair, a look of self-amusment on his face.

"Guess I reasoned wrong, eh?"

[The Silent Fourteen]

"Actually, I never was in the military. And I am more difficult to read than you would think. Otherwise, you'd have pegged me as Darklighter from the start." Darklighter started to clean his fingernails with the knife, and put his feet up on the desk. He eyed the young man, carefully observing every detail about his face.

"So, a Stamerian weapons developer comes to our town? I don't suppose that you have anything that would be of use to me? I happen to be an... amateur weapons maker myself. Before coming here, I sold black market technology in Minervum. Then, I developed the PEHD, and then, all of the rules changed." Darklighter removed the device from his arm, and handed it to Kent.

"Feel free to try it out. Just not on me. I'd have to kill you then. And I do have a large caliber rifle hidden in here, within reach. Just so you know."

Darklighter kept playing with the knife, thinking about his newest project. The Order would finally be brought back, uniting the assassins once more. Now, all he needed to do was to establish his chain of command... and this new comer had a certain look about him, one that showed promise and hope for the future of the assassins of Razortooth.

[Darkrider]

Kent's faced changed to that of apology.

"I'm sorry, I meant that I, at least to a certain extent, can read people because of my military backround. Sorry for the confusion."

He moved on.

"A fellow weapons developer yourself, huh? Intresting, intresting indeed. And you don't have to worry about me turning on you, you've made enough threats and traps known already." He chided as he looked at a rather nasty rifle also nestled nearby, certainly close enough for Darklighter to grab it and kill him.

He examined Darklighter's funny device it a bit. Seemed normal from the outside, but the technology within was on par with the experimental prototypes he had seen back at Tracien. He handed it back to Darklighter, fairly impressed. The face that Kent met seemed to be analyzing him, with some plan or scheme showing through Darklighters eyes. He said nothing. He just stared back, as if death was smiling at him, and the only thing he could do was smile back.

[The Silent Fourteen]

Darklighter smiled, stood up, and took the device back, and reattached it to his arm. "I hope you enjoy your stay here. I have big plans for you. Come back in a day or so, and I'll have some work for you. Here, hang on to this." Darklgihter dug into his desk, and pulled out a small, smooth golden disk.

"Don't lose that."

Darklighter escorted the man out, and changed into his old, comfortable combat uniform. The star shaped patches on each clung tightly to his uniform. The words "With Honor, Art, and Mastery, for those who share our secrets." were stitched beneath each star. He cleaned off the dirt from his gear. He placed the sword beneath his desk, and holstered his pistol and knives. He thought about the new man, and decided to show him around town. Quickly, he darted out of the room, and followed the man. He pulled his mask over his face, and using his disguise ability, changed his face and voice.

"Can I show you around, sir? Not many get to meet 'Lighter, so I figure that you are a good man to hang around.

[Darkrider]

Kent inwardly grimaced, seeing as the statment could have inferred him as a mere tool in his plans. As for what it even was, he didn't have a clue. But he had a feeling that he would find out real, soon. He took the disk, and nestled it safely in his pocket.

After a few seconds of suiting up again, the colors changing to be his respective disquise, he followed Darklighter out from the office. He replied casually:

"Oh, sure. It was an honor to meet him, although he does seem to have a rather disquised feeling about him. I actually have to finish my moving forms, so I'll catch up in a sec, okay?"

He read over the papers one last time, scribbling his signature here and there, and not forgetting to read the fine print. Afterwards, he told the secretary,

"I'll have my things shipped here shortly. When it arrives, please have it brought to my room, thanks."

He followed Darklighter out the door, to further accustom himself to the assassins town he would soon be living in...It seemed rather surreal really. He wondered what other things would lay ahead in the near furture.

Ah, well. He sighed to himself.

It mattered not. He would find out soon enough. Perhaps sooner than he would like.

[The Silent Fourteen]

The disguised Darklighter stuck his hands in his pockets, and walked out ahead. "So, over here, we have the big mansions. Don't go inside. And then here are the midsized houses. Don't go inside. You get a small bunk, in the building marked 'Ghost'. That's where you'll live for now. But anyway. So, what do you do? I'm sure Darklighter wouldn't have talked to you if you weren't important. Crazy ninja hitman? Or some tech savvy nerd?" The man kept walking, hands in his pockets, paying attention to the man behind him. He walked quickly, and with intent, off toward the large hole just outside the city limits.... Let's see what this novice can do...

[Darkrider]

"I get the message..." Kent responded tiredly, after Darklighter told him for the second time.

He glanced quickly at the building, and then back at the disquised man.

"I'm a...developer of sorts. Came here to get away from my daily work, but I guess I just decided to move, that's all."

An eyebrow was raised when he saw Darklighter jogging towards the city limits. He seemed in a hurry, for exploring the town. He promptly followed suit, wondering what the excitment was all about.