The Only Good Bandit {Open, 4 slots}

[Alos Ryndoa]

Alos watched as Dietrich, Fuchs and Hadrian all ran past, holding his ground at the base of the stairs. He knew that he wouldn't be much use in the fight to come, as fighting with a polearm in such a narrow spot wasn't too easy. Instead, he did as Dietrich asked and stayed put, making sure that no reinforcements could get through.

A few of the stragglers from Near's little stunt were now wandering the church, and upon hearing all the commotion started to approach the stairwell. Two, a swordsman and an axe-wielder, approached Alos with snarls on their faces.
Alos turned around, ready to face them, his lance in hand and a slight grin on his face.

"Two to one, eh? Well that's not fair, is it?"

The swordsman didn't say a word before drawing his sword and swinging for Alos, his strike glancing off the soldier's shield. Alos quickly struck back, kicking the man to throw him off-balance before thrusting his lance into the man's leg and striking his chest with the butt of his lance, knocking the swordsman unconscious. The soldier beckoned for the other to approach, his grip on his lance tightening.

The axe-fighter went for a vertical strike which cleaved through Alos' thin armguards. The lancer winced in pain but quickly struck back, shield-bashing the fighter to disarm him before going in for the killing blow, his sharp lance piercing the thin leather covering the fighter's torso.

As his foe fell to the ground, Alos dropped his lance and clutched his arm, blood seeping through his sleeves.

"That can't be good. When Hadrian comes back I'll have to have him fix that up."

Alos reached into his satchel and pulled out a long piece of cloth, which he quickly tore into a makeshift bandage. He leaned against the wall, awaiting the return of his companions.

[Ryuzaki]

"Oh, please. What stupidity."

Hearing the two idiotic brigands coming towards him from behind, the thief spun around, sheathing his blade as he turned and then flicking his wrists, watching with grim satisfaction as the axeman grew some new body piercings. Neck piercings. What a beautiful addition to such an ugly person.

Watching the swordsman advance, Ryu drew Gemini.

"You're a perfect specimen to test my weapon on. Prepare to die."

There was a brief lull as the thief bowed respectfully, and then a clash of steel as the two crossed blades. The other fighter had a longer reach, but Ryu was much faster, sending stabs and slashes at the brigand in a flurry of deadly strikes. The skillful bandit parried them, however, and Ryu smiled grimly.

"Well, well. You have earned the right to meet the full power of Gemini."

The sparkling blade rose up, the thief gripping it with both hands, and suddenly split into two halves, each with a serrated and razor edge. Moving skillfully, Ryu send his blades whirling in beautiful arcs, before catching his foe's edge on the teeth of one sword and disarming him with a stout flick of his arm. Bringing the razor-sharp edges of the two swords up, the thief gave one last smile before slicing the man's neck in an "X" pattern, sending a fountain of blood onto the floor as he collected all of his weapons from the bodies and doorframe before leaving, reconnecting and sheathing Gemini and then moving into the hall wordlessly, pushing past the guarding soldier, who seemed to be injured, and the others, who were standing as if on a Sunday stroll.

"We have someone to kill, do we not?"

Without another word, Ryu drew Gemini, the single blade sparking and gleaming, and began cautiously ascending. He would be the shepherd, then. They would follow him.

[Dietrich Landrik]

Landrik and Fuchs had not listened to what the others had spoken when they gave chase after the other man and Helix. The blonde swordsman knew that speed was their ally in this attack and wouldn't allow them to catch a moment's rest. Not surprisingly, they were fighting on a spiral staircase that gave them the disadvantage, but Landrik and Fuchs were trained well enough to fight on these steps. Just as they suspected, Helix's man stood there with his weapon drawn. It was something looking like a farm tool but far too military looking to be simply that. A better look saw it was a small handheld pickaxe, certainly something versatile in an unconventional fight.

Fuchs, with his shield raised pushed onwards up the staircase. The man braced himself and planted a strong kick that hit dead on and pushed Fuchs into Landrik - who was ready to brace him from the two falling back. Seeing his little tactic working, the man did it once more. This time, however, it wasn't square on and it glanced off the shield, causing the man to lose his balance. "Push!" Landrik ordered, sword at the ready. The two climbed the stairs with all their strength and knocked the man over. The bandit swung his pickaxe overhanded at Fuchs, but the soldier was quick to shift his shield upwards and pin the man's arm against the staircase. The man was already starting to react to Fuchs, but it was too much for him alone as Dietrich was ready and waiting with his sword. With a clean movement, the sailor's sword penetrated through the bandit's abdomen and straight up towards his lungs and heart. The shock and pain of the deadly strike left the man squirming on the ground, but he couldn't do anything to save himself from such a grave strike as his cries died down and he bled out quickly.

"Let's keep going." he announced as he recognized Near behind him. He was pleasantly surprised as the man was unscathed, but had bloody weapons. He could probably learn a thing or two from him he took the mental note. Up the staircase, he was unsure what awaited them if Helix was there or not. Regardless he took the front this time next to Near and Fuchs in reserve this time.

[Ryuzaki]

The staircase was curved... What a pain. It made advance notice nonexistent, and gave a heavy advantage to the defending bandits, who were no doubt laying in wait for them. Fine, then. He'd take matters into his own hands. Moving to the far outside wall, thereby giving himself as much line-of-sight as possible, and revealing to him a bandit who was standing in wait -- well, crouching, really, bowstring taut and arrow pointed at his heart.

"No."

The thief leaned to the side as fast as he could, but it wasn't fast enough to avoid the arrow, which lodged itself in his side, sticking through the left side of his abdomen and protruding from the back.

"Well, it's not fatal... I think."

Leaping forward, the thief stabbed the archer in the abdomen, but sliced upwards as well, drawing his blade out and watching the rivulets of blood drip off.

"Ok, since I can't rely on that damn bishop, I might as well heal myself."

Pushing the arrow through, the thief dropped the bloody projectile on the stairs and quickly bandaged his side, wrapping the injury tightly and then downing a draught of the medicinal vulnerary he carried.

"Gotta keep going. Keep going."

Edging up the stairs, Ryu kept a close watch. Soon, he came to a large landing, with a door to the side and then the stairs continuing up. A bandit stood on the landing, a large axe in hand. The thief chuckled and advanced confidently, but was forced to dive out of the way, wincing in pain at the still-fresh wound, as the bandit's axe went whizzing past him and then shot back to its owner.

"A tomahawk, huh? Well, then. I'll be sure to kill you very well."

There was a brief moment of confusion on the bandit's face as he struggled to comprehend what Ryu had said. That was all the time the thief needed, rushing forward and engaging him with a clatter of blades. Stabbing forward, Ryu tried to finish him as easily as he had the archer, but the experienced Berserker blocked the stroke and tried to cleave him in half. Swinging his right arm up and using it to smack the axe sideways, hearing the reassuring clang as his iron sword 'armguard' contacted the side of the weapon, Ryu deflected the shot into the ground and took an opportunity to slash into the bandit, leaving a deep cut on his arm.

Why wouldn't this guy just die already?

No matter, the thief was already circling, getting closer, watching the axe, and, oh look, a wall.

Getting body-checked into a wall.

Scrambling sideways, Ryu raised his... Where was Gemini?

Of course. Over on the other side of the room.

Sliding the sickles out of their holders on his back, Ryu whirled forward like a tornado and started slicing and dicing, using one to block as he simply tried to bleed the bandit out. The lacerations eventually added up, and the bandit, wincing in pain after a particularly nasty gash on his shin, opened himself up, which Ryu promptly took advantage of by slamming his sickle through his neck, hearing the familiar crunch as it cracked the bones of his spine.

Pulling the weapon out and retrieving his prized sword, the thief kicked open the door to reveal a small balcony. Nothing special. Nothing left to do besides go up, it seemed. The thief slid over to the wall and bent over, catching his breath. That was a tough fight.

[Dietrich Landrik]

The gray-haired man had raced past Landrik and Fuchs as they went up the staircase and the man ran into three different fights that nearly had him killed. The man wasn't using all his tools to his advantage and even became disarmed. This reckless fighting style almost had Landrik want to slip away from the man before his unpredictability wound up with an axe in his back. Still having his strength, the marine powered past the thief and further up the stairs.

Reaching the top of the stairs held no glory or great battle to be had. There laid Helix slowly bleeding to death with an arrow in his neck. He squirmed, choking, but the reaction was silence. Dietrich just watched as the man bled helplessly on the ground. Fuchs didn't care so much for the show and peered over the balcony, taking off his helmet and holding it in the air for Berg to see from down below. The well aimed shot from the marksman put a quick end to this frantic hunt.

The portly man huffed as he jogged his way towards the old church. On the base level he ran into Alos and Hadrian. He greeted them with a simple nod. He was more intent on reaching the top of the tower to see his shot up close.

--

A little while later, Dietrich, Fuchs, and Berg congregated to collect their pay and wish the holy man good travels. Landrik alone bid Near farewell while Berg and Fuchs chatted up with Alos about the course of the battle. A quick whistle signaled that the three aught to be moving and they headed towards the next town back towards the Nabatan border.

[Exit Thread]

[Ryuzaki]

The battle was over quickly; Landrik and his men moved past the thief and efficiently dispatched of Helix. It was a clean and satisfactory end, and that pleased Ryuzaki. He stabbed the corpse a few times, looted the few coins in the man's purse, and took his well-polished iron sword to fence later. He was sure some sap would believe it was silver and pay a pretty penny for the worthless weapon.

Now came the long part... Descent.

The journey down was a blur of soreness and quiet reflection; as he walked, the thief cleaned his weapons and nursed his wounds. It had been a long and harrowing skirmish, but it was over. The vast majority of the bandit gang had fled, scattering to their families and their old haunts and trying to regain a semblance of a normal life. With the head of the snake gone, nothing else remained...

This empty church made Ryu think. It was a perfect base; with Helix dead, nobody would expect activity there. It would be the perfect base of operations... A headquarters for a band of assassins.

Yes. Ryuzaki would keep this building. This would become his core, the node from which all of his spidery tendrils emerged. This would be the seed that launched the creeping vines, the ensnaring web of foliage...

Here, he would build his guild. A fearsome alliance of those willing to do anything... And everything. There would be no job too foul for the shadowy ones. It was just a matter of finding talent now.

[End Thread]