Legendary Hero no more(Sacae)

[Kenshin]

Kenshin vowed to go home and be a family man after his search for Alan. One morning he had been outside playing with Kirala when he had noticed the sky change colors, an odd looking lighting bolt struck just right outside the village and Kirala almost dove into Kenshin's chest. He wrapped his arms around her and took her inside telling her they're safe now. Kirala spent most of the next three days in his arms during the violent shaking and lighting strikes. On the fourth morning Kenshin had woken in confusion, where was he and how did he get here. There was a strange woman in bed with him. He had figured he was captured once again, he had slowly got out of bed not to wake her and crept over to the wall and began to take the sword off the wall when Katara had asked what he was doing. "Who are you and what am I doing here?" Turning around Katara noticed he had looked the same as he did the day the first met at Ostia. She had explained she was his wife and this was his home. Kenshin didn't believe her story until she had began to talk about things only he would know. She had explained what happened since his last memory of being captured by Hargus that she knew of. He was furious when he had learned future Kenshin had sat out the fight with Hargus to be with his pregnant girlfriend, if he was there instead he would have fought till Hargus' death.

He had spent the next six months attempting to be a leader and a father and he was doing a horrible job at both so he stepped down as the leader of the City of Heroes. He spent more of his focus on keeping Kirala happy and raising her right and listening to all the stories how great he is, or would have became. Sparing with some of the men who fought along his future self he had lost horribly. With each passing day Kenshin had felt guilty of robbing this wonderful woman of a loving husband and the adorable little girl her father even if he didn't actually do anything to cause this. One morning he had woken up early and gathered his stuff and stopped by by Kirala's room setting his pack next to her door as he entered. Walking up to her he kissed her on the forehead and gave a silent promise that he will find her real father and bring him back. Most of the rumored bandit attacks in Sacae was taking place near Bulgar, his blade would taste revenge once again.


Kenshin had finally made it to Bulgar, the city was as busy as it was in his memory. "Kenshin, old buddy! Nice to see you're still live in these crazy times." a man approached him from the right greeting him with a hug. "What's your secrete on looking younger? You could make a fortune off that." Kenshin looked uneasy "I... I don't know... I woke up like this one morning... Does anybody know where any bandit bases are located?" The man shook his head "Fine then, I'll find them on my own." Kenshin stormed off in search of either people to aid him or the bandits.

[Alexandrea]

"Sorry ma'am, but the shops that take that coin are on the other side of the market."

Alexandrea sighed, her frustrations apparent as she was reminded of her predicament. Six months ago she had been on the road with Avidan, and having finally found what had happened to her brother she had determined that she needed to find a way home. Though her original worry had been finding a way to sneak across the border amidst the war, it would quickly become more complicated as it did for everyone during the meld.

She still remembered how frantic she had been when she woke that day. Avidan had vanished, leaving her completely alone in what had, overnight, become a war-torn ghost town. She assumed Avidan had abandoned her amidst whatever chaos had ensued in this place, though she would later somewhat grasp what had happened. Nonetheless, her main concern then was getting back to her family, which led her traversing through a land called Sacae and happening upon a trade city called Bulgar.

"That's fine, thank you sir." Alex walked away from the man, her green skirt swaying as she made her way through the bustling market. Six months had passed and she still wasn't used to this. The world seemed the same, but some of the people she spoke to made her feel like a creature from another plane. But somehow two worlds had become one, and now she needed to try and make the best of it.

As she finally arrived in the correct side of the markets, she felt a sting of pain as she wished one of the people she had met on her travels could be there with her, though it was mainly Avidan. At least Avidan had been able to comfort her when she had been overwhelmed, had kept her safe in face of the dangers that could have easily overcome the two of them. Here she knew no one, couldn't even try to relate to anyone, especially since this Sacae was in the place her home country of Lupercallia should have been; in all of her books, in all of the stories she knew she had never heard of countries, land just moving. The thought made her want to cry, but she held the frustrated sobs back, having been overcome like this quite a few times in the past months. Instead she shifted her attention on browsing the stalls, focusing her efforts on finding something good to eat.

[Hera]

Hera sighed as she heaved a stack of axe handles back upright and made her way back to the front of the stall. Right now, she was on duty guarding the stall of a Sparathenian weapon smith who had decided to come south from his country. Joining up with him had made the trek south through the new and unfamiliar land quicker. Not to mention, he'd vouched for her when the Sparathenian soldiers had questioned her.

Of all the kind of people that could have served as a barrier between Ilia and the rest of the world, Sparathens was the worst. They were fiercly loyal to their queen, and not particularly fond of anyone else. Some of the people she'd overheard in Sparathens had talked about how the country had actually been waging a land war with it's neighbor country when the merging had happened. She wondered how that had worked out when the Queen's army had suddenly found themselves cut off and inside enemy territory....

Either way, the smith had been agreeable enough, if very business like. It was clear he was only hiring her because she had been on hand, and he could cut her pay in return for getting her through his country. Well, they'd gotten to Bulgar now, and she'd ended up having to stay with him for the time being. He provided a place for Sovereign, the pegasus she rode, and payed her to stand around and watch for trouble in his shop. Occasionally, he payed her for little pieces of information she remembered about the world, but she was pretty sure she'd exhausted that by now.

She sat down on a crate and looked out at the crowds of people, a slim lance leaning against her shoulder. The breeze rippled her hair over her face till she pushed it back with one hand. She pressed her lips together in thought as she remembered the past, and the future. Over the last six months, she'd had to accept alot of hard truths. She wasn't what she once had been, but she was still here. She was only eighteen, and still learning about the world, yet she was married and had a daughter of twenty-one.... She'd felt lost for a long time. She still did. She'd had most of her life robbed of her.

...But not my soul. She reminded herself firmly. She wasn't sure on where life would take her, but she knew she wanted to find the life she had. The journals she had read had shown her that. She looked over at Sovereign, and knew that she had trained him herself from when he was just a colt. But, she hadn't trained him. It was hard living like this, but-

-That man just stole a sword!

She stood up suddenly, catching her lance in one hand as she saw the cloaked figure heading back into the streets.

"Hey! Sir, you need to pay for that!"

The desired effect of stopping him was not forthcoming. Instead, the cloak took off, shoving through the crowds before hitting an open part of the lane at top speed.

The nerves that came before any potential fight hit her as she stood frozen in place for a moment. She didn't know what to do. She didn't really want to go after him, after all. He might be tougher than she was....

What would the other you do, Hera?... Ah.. Damn it. It took her less time to know that than it had for her to stand up, and she took off after the thief as fast as she could. She gave a sharp whistle as she ran and a moment later heard the heavy beats of feathered wings rising behind her. That wasn't going to help now though.

"Hey! Stop!..." She yelled, fists pumping up and down as she sprinted after the thief. "Alright Hera... just remember...what you told your daughter.... Watch..., plan..., and fight...." She was realizing just how useless that sounded to a newer knight about now, but it seemed to have worked for Clair. There was at least a little support that she knew what she was talking about when she said it. I should have added breathe in there somewhere.

[Kenshin]

Kenshin had been asking around town for bandit locations, his hatred for any man who acted in such a manner drove him to murderous thoughts. He may not be able to extract revenge upon Hargus but those who shared his ideals still lived so they'll receive the Crimson Demon in the making fury. Shouting, a woman chased after a man who she called a thief. Kenshin could intercept him so he took off, a thief is no better than a brigand, there were too many people to effectively fight him somebody could get hurt. The man made it to a small opening in the crowd only to be tackled by Kenshin, the two men hit the ground rolling. The thief was much more agile than Kenshin and on his feet again and was on the move. This man was much more faster than him, hopefully he bought the shop keep just enough time to catch up.

[Alexandrea]

Ah, there it was. After a few minutes of ambling around the market a hungry Alex now stared at a delicious-looking sweet roll, and the last one in the stall at that. While it wasn't necessarily what she should have been eating, she had been treating herself to more and more as of late, and this particular sweet roll was a recipe her mother used to make as a child. The young woman couldn't resist, so she quickly went digging in her pockets for payment.

But just as Alex had found her change and had begun to ask the baker for the roll, the call echoed through the market. "Hey! Sir, you need to pay for that!" Alex whipped around, quickly looking around to see if she could spot the thief. Part of her hoped she wouldn't see the man so she could simply enjoy her sweet roll in peace, but her luck wouldn't have it as she saw the man bolt past her. She sighed. Always as I'm about to eat. Just once, once could things happen after I've eaten?

Alex took a split second to ask the baker to hold the roll for her before taking off after the thief, her hand fumbling to snap her money pouch closed as she pursued. Sure, she didn't have to chase the man, but by the reaction from the crowd she judged no one else would try to help, so in a way she had to make it her duty to chase after him.

Her side pouch finally closed, Alex rested her hand on her rapier as she continued to jog after the man. He was a quick devil, somehow bobbing and weaving to keep a fair distance in front of her. At least until a red-haired man tackled the escaping man, though the interception barely seemed to affect the thief. Instead of being caught he slipped away from the man on the ground, getting up and continuing to sprint away.

Alex stopped quickly at the man who had tried to intercept the fleeing criminal, reaching her hand out to help him stand. "Come on," she spoke succinctly, fully intending to take off at a sprint after the still running thief as soon as the other man was on his feet. Hopefully he would follow her.

[Hera]

Hera saw someone break from the crowd and try to take the thief down and slowed her steps a bit. She wouldn't have to handle this after all, for which she was actually very glad. At the same time though, she was a little sad that she hadn't been the one to catch the.... -whoops spoke too soon. She saw the red head fall off to the side as the thief slipped away, and made his way up the streets. She was gaining a bit though, thanks to whoever it was that had slowed him somewhat.

She was still after him as he made his way down an alley, and... and....

She watched as the cloaked figure leapt up onto a stack of barrels, then turned and gave a great leap up to the wooden construction of the building he was next to. He was hanging from the the side of the low building, and about to pull himself up when Hera realized she was still running for him.

She suddenly felt very worried, as she decided her course of action. There was no doubt about what she had to do though.

"They didn't train me for this in basic!" She leapt up and swung her hands wildly, grabbing at foot and cloak as she passed by under him. As fortune would have it, she actually did manage to grab hold of him and felt the material resisting her pull as she fell back towards the ground. It didn't resist for long though. As she tumbled across the dirt of the alley and rolled to a stop against the wall, she saw the thief dropping back down, and landing on his back before springing back to his feet lithely. She pushed herself back up to her feet as quickly as she could, realizing she'd lost her grip on her lance when she'd jumped. It made no difference though. The man was only a flash of robes as he raced towards her, quickly wrapping a thin, yet deceptively strong arm around her throat and pushing her back out of posture with the hilt of the sword jabbed into her back. She winced as she felt the steel spike jamming into her spine, but wasn't really in much of a position to struggle. The only thing even holding her up was her captor, combined with a very slight supplementation of her grip on his arm.

Her eyes turned as round as saucers. Right about now, she was wishing she had listened to her first plan. Sit back down. She wasn't exactly looking, as she had other thoughts on her mind, but she could see that she was being held between the thief and the entrance to the alleyway. Most of what she could see was a gaunt lower jaw. She also realized that the man was quite a bit taller than she'd thought he was, now that she was at his mercy, looking up at him.

"An entire world with nothing but prey. Do you have any idea what sort of pleasure this land gives me?... Pathetic. So many of you humani are such easy targets.

[Alexandrea]

Alex kept pushing past people in the market place, keeping a sharp eye on the man who was still running away. She wondered how long she would have to chase this man before getting the opportunity After more bobbing and weaving the fleeing man ducked into an alleyway, which was when Alex noticed a blonde haired woman run in after him. Looks like I'll have some help then, thought the confident fencer as she ran up to the entrance of the alleyway, ready to kick some a-

As soon as she had turned down the alley, Alex scrambled back behind the corner of the building. She cursed at herself, hoping the man who had grabbed the smaller woman after the scuffle hadn't seen her. Alex immediately knew she needed to find a way to help the blonde-haired woman. It was clear the woman had some sort of battle training, judging by the armor she was wearing, so Alex assumed she'd be able to assist her if she was able to get away from the man. Alex also assumed the man wanted something besides what he had stolen from the woman, else he would have just killed her outright.

The green-haired fencer started looking around, trying to come up with a quick idea to try and distract the man. Unfortunately for her, most of the accoutrements that could have done so were in the entrance of the alley, meaning she would be clearly seen the moment she tried to even assess what she could do with them. Maybe I can ambush him then? She looked up, wondering if there would be a way she could scale the wall she was hiding behind to take the man from above. She quickly dismissed the idea as too brash, too dangerous, especially since he would most likely have enough time to brandish a weapon if he had one.

The ideas weren't coming to her, save for running around the other side of the buildings and seeing if there was a way in the alley on that side. Alex knew there wasn't enough time, though, so she said a quick prayer to the Watcher, hoping that her final idea would work, even if it was a bit simple. With that she stepped so she was standing in the middle of the entrance, clearly able to see the cloaked man restraining the blonde-haired woman.

"Let her go," was all Alex could think to say as she stared at the man, and immediately she wanted to hit herself. Regrets flooded her, reminding her how unintimidating she was and how foolish she probably looked. She wanted to turn and run, wanted to just step back in her hiding place and forget she had even pursued the thief. But one look into the other woman's eyes told Alex she didn't have a choice but to help now. She couldn't abandon the woman, not now, so Alex swallowed her fears and stood her ground. "You already took what you wanted; just let her go and you can leave with it."

[Kenshin]

Kenshin grabbed the girl's hand and got up. He watched the thief run off into an ally and the shop keep follow him into it, shortly after the one who helped him up was in pursuit. It's been at least a year since Kenshin remembers being in Bulgar, at least at this age he wasn't sure about before the transformation but he had none of that knowledge. He kinda knew he was around town or he had hoped. Darting down another street he followed it till he found an ally way where he witnessed a struggle taking place between the thief and shop keep while the other woman stood there. Before entering the other ally he hunched over catching his breath, it would be stupid to charge in like that.

Drawing his blade he entered the ally, would he go for a sneak attack or a direct approach? He was never known for his ability to prowlness, so it looked like a direct approach. With each step he tried to make sure he was heard, he tilted his head down a little and placed an evil grin upon his face. "If you want to leave this place alive I advice you drop the girl and return whatever you stole. You are in the presence of a living legend among the plains of Sacae, you evaded the Crimson Demon once but there's nowhere to run. If you harm even one hair on the girl you'll learn why I'm the Demon of the plains." He knew his swordsmen skills were nowhere near the level the Crimson Demon's are but if he's heard the name hopefully it would indeterminate him into releasing the girl.

[Hera]

Hera felt rediculous. She'd gone and overextended herself. Again! How many times must she do tis efore she learned her limits. She'd been fortunate enough before when she'd hit a wall, but this time she'd ended up taking a plunge into th deep end. She hadn't been putting up much of a fight before, but now she tried to wrench the arm away from her throat so she could get into a better position to fight back and escape. It didn't move, and she was rewarded with a casual stab in the back with the handle of the sword.

She yelped as she knew that it was going to leave bruising. She hated that, but there were bigger concerns on her mind at the moment. It was clear that she didn't amount t much of a concern at all though for this cloaked rogue though. She heard the voices of others. That was a relief. She had others trying to help her. If he wanted to though, she knew her captor could snap her neck before they could do anything for her.

The lanky cloaked figure sized up the green haired woman he saw follow him into the alley. She was lean and fit, but lacked any distinguishing marks that would denote experience of any kind. She was trying to be rather accommodating though, offering to let him leave in exchange for letting his captive go.

[maroon]"I know I can leave. Any time I choose, in fact."[/maroon] He kept waiting. The man that had tried to stop him before would either turn up in a few minutes, or he would abandon the chase. He wanted to be aware of which.

Ah. There he was. Coming out of another alley way. "Crimson Demon of Sacae"? He'd heard the name before. He was credited with being a great warrior of the plains.

[maroon]"Oh no! The Crimson Demon! How will I ever escape?! Hahahaaha...."[/maroon] The cloaked figure laughed, and Hera wasn't certain they were dealing with an entirely sane thief anymore.

[maroon]"Well, alright then. You can have her."[/maroon] Hera suddenly felt a tug on her armor as she was flung bodily through the air at the Crimson Demon. She was whipped backwards, so she only realized how hard she'd been thrown by the speed that things were passing. After throwing the pathetically light young woman, the villain turned and jumped up onto the barrels he'd gotten on before, and made another jump for the roof.

[Alexandrea]

He wasn't moving. Why wasn't he moving? Alex tried to think of what to say next, but instead the red-haired man from earlier appeared to have followed, calling himself "The Crimson Demon" and threatening the cloaked man to release the blonde girl or else. Seeing the thief's attention turn towards the other man, Alex slowly started moving towards the tall figure, intending to try and surprise him while he still listened to the Crimson Demon.

Alex wouldn't succeed, though through no real fault of her own. She watched the thief flee upwards as the shop-keeper was tossed towards the man. Alex instantly started towards the woman, her intention to see if the woman was alright, but she shifted her focus to the cloaked man as he scaled the wall to the roof. With the other man to catch and help the woman, the fencer couldn't let this villain get away so easily. Oh no, she would pursue him, and she would catch him.

Her first action was to scramble up the barrels that the other man had scaled so easily. A gut wrenching feeling entered her stomach as she looked at the gap she had to close going upward to try and get to the roof. How could this man have made that jump? In fact, what kind of man could? She shook her questions out of her mind, knowing they would be more useful later rather than now. Instead, she pushed upward and forward as hard as she could, her hands reaching for the edge of the roof.

Alex almost grabbed onto the edge; in fact, her fingertips grazed the stone for a moment before betraying her, sending her down instead of up. She fell, her legs crumpling under her as she tumbled down the barrels, landing on her back staring upwards at the roof. She huffed; it wasn't nearly as painful physically as it was emotionally, the young woman furious that she had, in that moment, failed to pursue the man and let him get away. What she had expected to be an epic chase had flopped down the barrels with her.

[Kenshin]

The man had clearly heard his name, either he was fairly confidant in his ability to fight and/or run or he saw through his bluff. It is true that he is the Crimson Demon but he's not as skilled as the local legend says. Katara had told him he was pretty decent with a bow before the world went to Hell and back, it would prove to be useful here but Kenshin was still confidant in his swordsmanship to stop that man. He had dropped his blade as the girl was hurled through the air towards him. Her momentum was too great and knocked Kenshin down to the ground. She was lucky, she had Kenshin to break her fall while the ground broke his.

If he was to throw a body at a positional threat Kenshin would try to retreat as well, he had to be on his feet before the man had tried to escape. Kenshin had shoved the girl off of him as he grabbed his sword and sprung to his feet. By this time the man was on the rooftops and the other girl started to fall back. Damn it, some protector of the plains if he allowed a petty thief escape.

Sheathing his blade he turned towards the blond girl extending his hand to help her up. "I'm sorry about just throwing you to the ground, I was trying to make sure he didn't escape. Are you okay?" Kenshin shot a look at the other girl, she looked like she took a nasty fall but he could only help one of them up at a time.

[Hera]

Hera closed her eyes out of sheer reflex, expecting an impact like falling off of a galloping pegasus, or some other painful experience. What she got though was much softer than what she expected.... She hit, and still felt herself falling though, landing on the man that had been trying to help her. Barely had she hit the ground than she was thrown off of him. It took her a moment to get her bearings, and by that time, all she saw was the thief getting to the roof, and the others failing to catch him....

She frowned, disappointed in herself. She looked up when the red haired man offered a hand down to her, and took it, studying him as she did. He looked pretty rugged, as many of the Sacaen peoples did. She let him pull him up, and went about dusting herself off.

"Thanks. For trying to help. I guess I got in way over my head there." She sounded a bit despondent as she said it, but the gratitude was genuine, and aimed at both of the people who'd helped.

"Guess I should have known better." She leaned over and retrieved her lance from the ground, slowly cleaning its blade off before turning back to the others. They were a strange pair. The girl looked lightly equipped, her only obvious weapon being a long narrow sword hanging a her waist. The red haired man was also lightly geared, wearing only a tunic of Sacaen cut, and his blade. Hera flicked her hair over her shoulders with one hand as she unconsciously brushed at her clothes again.

"I'm Hera.... Who do I owe my thanks to?" She knew she'd heard of the Crimson Demon before, but she was a little fuzzy on the details of who he was. Honestly, a name that included "demon" sounded much more like a monster than a hero to her.

[Alexandrea]

Alex stood up after a moment, swallowing her disappointment so she could instead check on the shopkeeper who had been thrown a fair distance. Luckily she appeared to be alright, still standing and speaking normally; thankfully the trip she had taken through the air didn't appear to have done any permanent damage. As Alex approached, she overheard the red man and the young, blonde-haired woman exchanging some manner of pleasantries, though Alex also noted the young woman picking up a lance. Seemed she wasn't just a shopkeeper after all. Probably just caught off guard then, Alex thought. Maybe that means she knows who the man attacking was.

The approach to the pair ended as Alex stopped next to the red-haired man as the young blonde woman introduced herself as Hera. Very pretty name, Alex thought, though she quickly shifted her attention as the woman indirectly asked what the "Crimson Demon's" name was. Alex was sure he gained that name either through fame or infamy, though whatever it was it seemed to be through the half of the world she was still fairly unfamiliar with. "I'm curious too," she added at the end of Hera's question, trying to mask her lack of knowledge as a joke. "Haven't heard of many men with the first name "Crimson" anyways."

[Kenshin]

Kenshin's eyes went from Hera to teal haired girl, then back to Hera. It seems they were just as clueless as he was about who the Crimson Demon really is. "My name, it's Kenshin. People of the plains refer to me as Crimson Demon, a nick name that had stuck to me during the war with Bern. It's far more intimidating than my real name. I would love stick around and chat but have either of you heard of any bandit bases near by?"

It was quite possible that charging into a bandit strong hold would prove to be foolish after this mishap. He had failed to stop the man not once but twice, his first failure led to Hera's life being in danger. He would have to be more careful about his approach when the time came. Kenshin's gaze returned to the roof top, could he catch that thief if he tried? If he would have fought instead of running like a coward he would have been slain in this ally. Kenshin no longer cared that the man stole something, it was more about how he got away now.

[Hera]

Hera smiled with a bit of long suffering as the other teal haired girl joined them. Crimson revealed himself to be named Kenshin, and to be some kind of war hero.... The War with Bern.... It had been rough by all accounts, though she was fuzzy on all the details. It was before her time.... Or after it, depending on how you looked at it. That was a little depressing. One of the greatest events in her life, and she barely knew anything about it. Just that she'd rejoined the battle around that time, give or take a few years....

His comment about "loving to stick around and chat" rang of sarcasm. The request for a bandit base came as a bit of a surprise though. She raised one eyebrow as and glanced over to the teal haired girl before looking back.

"I do know the location of one. West. North-west, specifically." She was protecting caravans not long ago. She'd made it her business to familiarize herself with route information from the people she worked with. Sometimes it had been costly information....

"What do you intend to do?" She was a bit skeptical of him now. Not many people asked for bandit strongholds. It wasn't the sort of thing people visited.