A Hiro's ambitions(Solo/PM to join)

[Hiro]

How does the saying go? Time fly's when you're having fun? Well that's a load of crap to be quite honest. Hiro had quickly lost track of how long he's spent in Ilia trying to recruit some sort of army of soldiers to take the fight to Kraft, his original goals were to find a bunch of suckers and steal the throne and give them the ol' shaft and leave them high and dry without any sort of payment that he promised. No, now he just wants a full night's rest, to walk down the street without checking over his shoulder, to feel the embrace of a woman without fear of her literally stabbing him in the back in the act. He wasn't sure what was harder to keep track of, how long he's been in this frozen hell hole or the number of times his troops dwindled to two hand fulls of names then shot back up, in an never ending rubber band effect. The ten men he normally had with him was with him from the start, they were loyal to his cause not for money nor fame, but because they had family that moved to Etruria. Some had received letters that slowed down as time progressed and others hasn't heard from their family since Kraft took power, all fearing the worst and out for revenge. Then suddenly news had hit that Ilia had some sort of truce with Etruria, talk about beating a man with a sack of bricks when he was down.


Looking his retainers in the eyes as he spoke, Hiro let out a long sigh. "That's it boys. We're done here, it was easier to recruit people when the looming danger of Etruria that could come crashing down like an avalanche but... Now? I doubt anybody is going to fight their new daddy. It's been fun rollin with you guys, but the fat lady has started her song." One of the men didn't like the little spew of nonsense, "So, what do you plan on doing? I doubt you can just simply give up now, roll over and die. I've seen how much you want to take out that coot." Hiro just shrugged his shoulders. "Hell if I know. Perhaps my ambitions were too much for me to follow up on, I defiantly bite off more than I could chew here. Not sure how gung-ho Ilia is when it comes to pleasing Etruria, you guys know that I'm wanted dead or alive there so I'm probably going to lay low and skip town before it gets too nuts here." With that he turned his back towards them and started to walk off. "If I come up with some kind of plan, I'll send word or something." With his final words he had departed from his group, who had returned home shortly after.


Hiro had spent some time in Sacae, gathering information when he could, mostly just enjoying the scenery and the weather. He had heard about how some dude had fought off an invasion with some guy named Kenshin, he admitted that it was kinda impressive to hear the pushed back on a small advance team Kraft had sent. Probably a scout unit or something. He doubt he could rally any sort of offense in the land of the savages, in the meantime he would just enjoy himself as he tried to figure out some sort of plan. Then when life was beating him with the sack of bricks when he was down, he thought of something. Something that would clearly trump his ventures in Ilia, why didn't think of it when he was in Ilia? Probably because he was salty about the recent turn of events there, but he did keep himself up to date on the civil war in Bern which Ilia lost. All he would have to do is get a chance to talk to the head honcho and lay it all out for them. How would he do that? Other than flipping the switch on the ol' Hiro charm and fake it till he can make it he had no idea. Quickly making his way south, he could see the Bern soldiers protecting the path and stopping people as they attempted to enter.

[Hiro]

It didn't take the bearded man long to reach the gate keepers, or whatever they called themselves. Hiro attempted to casually walk past them until one placed his lance in Hiro's path, causing him to walk into the pole of it. "Halt!" demanded the owner of the shaft. "What business do you have in Bern?" he added. Hiro let out a sigh, it seems like he couldn't simply just pass like he had hoped. Oh well, time to make his first ripple in Bern.

"What business you ask?" He responded, attempting to stall for time for him to think of a way to spin his story that wouldn't land him in jail. "I'm simply just a wondering mercenary who's looking for a new change of scenery." The guard started to size Hiro up. "Ain't look like one worth his salt to me. You're too scrawny to be of any use on a battle field." Hiro had chuckled at his remark, he was right on the money to be completely honest. "You're actually right about that. While I don't do the fighting myself, I recruit those who could do the fighting in my place. I'm kinda like a tactician of sorts I guess, but the men I employ aren't bound to a nation but to the people themselves." The man rolled his eyes at Hiro "We don't need no sell swords, we have the might of the Bernese army for that."

Hiro laughed at the man. "Except there's a few problems." Raising his right hand, only extending his index finger. "As a soldier of an army you cannot simply just jump in to save somebody. You have rules and protocols to follow where I can operate in any way I would please as long as it's according to the laws of the land." Extending his middle finger as well as he spoke. "I can also accept a job to protect merchants, unlike you who can only make your presence known in hopes of deterring crime." Extending a third finger he didn't waste time moving into his next point. "Which brings me to my final point. If there are thieves or bandits around, it makes it easier for me to draw them out since I don't bare any insignia stating I'm in the army. Now," Hiro moved his hand in a motion as if he was pushing the lance away "if you'd move your sharp stick out of my way, I can go and Make Bern Great Again™" The man only glared at Hiro as his partner chimed in.

"Where are you coming from? What caused you to leave there?" That... was a difficult question to answer without them just beating him up on the spot. "Well, it can speak after all." He figured if he could possibly be jumped, might as well get a couple verbal jabs in beforehand. "But now for a serious response. Ilia." He paused for a moment while the men's eyes narrowed in on him. "But, it was for a good reason, not like I like that frozen hell or anything. I was a refugee from Etruria, I had landed myself in hot water there. I was sorta an information broker and Kraft didn't like that and had people out to get me you see, I was safer in Etruria than Lycia with their undead problem. Can't really handle living like a savage in Sacae, so the safest option was Ilia. That's where I began to learn and hone my new trade, if I had screwed up that only meant dead Ilians, and you know what they say, 'the only good Ilian is a dead Ilian' am I right? Anyways, I left there because things were getting too hot for my taste, with their partnership with Etruria and all." The first guard that spoke couldn't help but to laugh as he pulled his lance up. "I don't see a reason not to let you pass. You seem like a harmless person, but let me warn you now. No matter your intentions, if you f**k up you will know it."

Hiro had walked past them when the man spoke up again. "Say, I didn't get your name." Hiro had a sly smile on his face at this point, now that they couldn't see it. "Hiro, spelled with an I, not an E. I'm not that much of a cliché." With that, he had finally made it into Bern, his first step in an overwhelming scheme to kill Kraft. Hell, with the amount of hatred for that man at this point, he may be the one wanting to plunge his dagger into his throat.

[Hiro]

In 1292, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Bernese underground. Today, still wanted by Etruria, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them....maybe you can hire The H-Team. Other than the fact roughly 99% of that was made up, it was Hiro's back story in his head. Except there was only one problem, he had nobody to call 'The H-Team', yet at least. He had already tossed the first pebble into the lake, creating a very tiny ripple in the water. He wondered around the north-eastern part of Bern searching for his first hired muscle, this time he wasn't going to throw a pile of mud at the wall and saw what stuck, no he was going to hand select his team. Instead of attempting to gather an entire army he was looking for eight to ten people to do the fighting for him, if he was that lucky.

Drifting in and out of towns he was searching for his first member, a brute force type of guy. One that would ram their foot up somebody's ass for crossing their path the wrong way kind. The first two gave him nothing to work with, but the third had interesting tale. One that sounded like a myth or some crap, people would swear up and down they saw this hawking dude throw THREE men across the bar because his beer was too warm, or the time he destroyed a fruit stand because one apple was bruised and he didn't see it before buying it, or even the time time he wrastled the entire town's guards because he was bored. If Hiro was able to track them down and recruit them, it should be easier to find others seeing the type of muscle already at his disposable. That was easier said then done though, all he knew about them other than the stories is they're called 'The Hog'.

He first heard a story about The Hog as he ventured East, then a couple more would pop up the further East he went. Using that he figured The Hog was somewhere near the coast line if anything. When asking people if they had heard of somebody known as The Hog the normal reaction was them looking at him as if he had lost his mind, which wasn't too far from the truth. Eventually his luck did improve in a town on the edge of a mountain not too far off from the sea.

"You be lookin for The Hog?" A female voice came from behind Hiro.

"Depends, you heard of him?" Hiro responded, with the only reply was a laugh as he turned around. It was quite sudden but the woman placed her hands on his shoulders and basically shoved him down into a chair before pulling one up with it's back facing him and sat in it. Draping her arms on the back, crisscrossed and rested her chin on her left arm which was on top, chewing on something. Her eyes running Hiro up and down for a few moments as if she was sizing him up.

"Since ya lookin for'em, you must've heard the rumors." She finally breaking the silence, Hiro only responded with a slow nod yes. "Trackin'em down is a good way to get killed. Least I heard so, why is a scrawny thing like ya lookin for The Hog?"

The details didn't matter, he knew he had to say enough to hopefully get a lead on The Hog's location. "Well, I'm looking to put together an elite team of fighters to-" "I ain't interested" the woman cutting him off. Hiro had looked at the woman puzzled. "They call me The Hog cuz I'm fierce like a boar, take no man's crap." She then rolled up her right sleeve to reveal a boar's head on her right shoulder.

"Well, I'd be damned then. I shouldn't be surprised, all I heard were rumors and I should have taken them at face value." Hiro said with an impressed look on his face. "Just because those stories weren't completely true aint mean I can't do'em." She responded with. "Right, right. Say, got anywhere you can take us so we can talk in private?"

"I told ya that I aint interested." She said while standing to her feet. Hiro had done the same, now looking up to her. Damn, he didn't notice the size difference a few moments ago since she shoved him down into a chair but she had quite a few inches on him height wise, he wasn't focused on her arms a second ago but her biceps were as big as his head. "And 'I ain't leavin till I say what I gotta say', so take me anywhere you'd like as long as it's just me and you." Hiro's accent almost mocking hers at this point. His eyes began to dart from her, to other parts of the tavern, back to her, then repeat.

"Aint nobody dumb enough to help ya scrawny ass in this town, nor the next few over when dealin with The Hog." She had clearly noticed his eyes searching the room, in truth based on the stories he figured things would go south quick and was looking for an exit plan. "I'm actually looking for a way to get away from you unharmed. You've noticed how tiny I am compared to you, hell I'm not even the average size for a guy. I'm really not looking to get manhandled here, so if you would kindly step aside then you won't have to ruin your clothes with my blood." She stepped aside laughing letting Hiro pass. "That's why I ain't interested. Ya have no backbone. Nothin more than a chicken."

Hiro had stopped in his tracks, spun on his heel now facing her again and marched up to her. "Nobody, and I mean nobody calls me chicken." He said while shoving his index finger into her chest. He realized the mistake he had just made, but had to roll with it if he didn't want to look like a coward but he did lower his hand away from her. "I had figured you knew where I could find... you but not you, if that makes any sense. But I was looking to save your time by giving you the too long didn't listen version. But no, you're the one backing down from a challenge and I'm the one walking away the victor since you don't want to hear me out." He gave her no time to respond and just turned away and started to walk towards the door. "Then ya skippin town already?" She said before he got to the door.

Hook, link, and sinker. He had an idea that she was the type that wouldn't back down from a challenge, he took a gamble of getting her wanting to listen to what he had to say or just deck him on the spot. "Go to the inn tonight and ask the inn keeper what room the 'scrawny' guy is in."

[Hiro]

Rat-a-tat-tat, was the sound of The Hog knocking that Hiro had hoped to hear, but no it had sounded like thunder pounding at the door. It did startle him a bit, honestly he wanted to avoid opening the door to see who it was. Taking each step slowly and lightly he was interrupted by the pounding at the door once again, he kept at the same pace ignoring the fact that if it was The Hog that she may leave or be extremely upset and refuse his proposal. Slowly opening the door enough for him to peek out, he had saw it was her but had absolutely no time in doing anything as she shoved it all the way open and entered. Hiro wasted no time in slamming it shut. "About damn time" she had said as he looked at her in annoyance. "Before I start this whole spew, what's your real name? I rather call you by that than 'The Hog'." Hiro started with. "Lia" she quickly replied with.

In an attempt to be kind he walked over to the table and pulled out the chair and offered it to Lia, who sat down with arms folded. "Alright Lia, this is going to be a kinda long and boring story so please bare with me." By her reaction she didn't want to hear the whole story, but screw it he was going balls deep with this recruitment. She didn't seem like the type that would care who he had worked for, or where he had spent his time as long as she got to kick some teeth in.

"During the time your former king was waging war with Lycia and Sacae, Etruria had some kind of war going on. It wasn't like the civil war that you guys had recently won but a struggle between the royal family and the church. It was a political war so to speak, as the church began to gain more followers that denounced the royal family they had made attempts to please the people which had failed. I had played a key role in that power struggle, favoring the so called prophet Kraft. I had made key people with connections with the royal family look like criminals in order to discredit them, being paid by Kraft himself. I was tasked with searching for the heroes of the Bandit Wars when I had my orders changed to taking out Ostia in the name of St. Elimine for Kraft, it was a f**k**g terrible event, I had saw the errors of my ways and booked it. From then on I was hunted by Kraft's assassins and bounty hunters for 'espionage'." Hiro saw the look of confusion on Lia's face after the last word.

"In simpler words, I was a spy. I had dug out information about people or placed false evidence on others. I knew too much, going rogue was a danger to Kraft and he had wanted me dead. I tried hiding in Lycia for a while, but with more and more events of monsters attacking after Ostia was dropped by my hands I had decided that I needed to get out of there, as well as deal with Kraft so I could sleep with both eyes shut. I had made it to Ilia where it would be slightly easier to gather enough mercs to combat Kraft. The end result was a crap fest, lost more people than I could keep. I had my men combat bandits, and on rare occasions small strike teams from Etruria. There was two things that I realized during those times.

"I had lost a decent amount of battles before I started to win them. Smaller groups of fighters was easier to deal with as well as some satisfaction in helping people. Once Ilia sided with my personal enemy I knew I had to get out of there. I came to Bern in order to help the people where the government couldn't step in right away, I plan on hand selecting a small group of people in order to do that. The first name that I came across was you, The Hog. I need somebody I can trust to throw people through a wall before I find anyone else." Lia had a look on her face that showed she had put some thought into her response.

"Let me make this clear" Lia had broke the silence with. "I ain't here to play hero or nothing, ya reasons ain't my concern. I'm just here to kick some ass." Hiro smirked as he quickly replied "Only reason that I want you with me." As he reached out towards her, Lia taking his hand and grasping quite hard and shaking it. "If you fail to provide me with good fighting, I'm beating the crap out of ya and leavin." "Then I'll take a lickin, and keep on tickin without you." he said sealing the deal. The first member of the 'H-Team' has been successfully recruited. Keeping her satisfied while recruiting more members was going to be a challenge, but Hiro had figured he was up to it.

[Hiro]

Hiro had been knelling on the small hill next to The Hog, who was standing with her arms folded and axe on her back over looking a couple small poorly built houses. "Are you sure you're up to the challenge?" Hiro whispered without looking at her, only response he got was a grunt. It wasn't as if she was attempting to be quite or anything, like seriously who plans an attack at night and doesn't even try to hide their presence?

---

Hiro had spent the next couple of days searching for a new recruit, it was proving to be more difficult than catching wind about The Hog. He could tell she was getting tired of the two wondering around and absolutely no action going on. He was going to have to take a side adventure to keep her happy. While in a town he saw a wanted sign for a man named 'Black Eyed Cason' so Hiro snatched up the poster and began asking questions. Nobody had known exactly where his hide out was, just a general location of it. The reason he was wanted was because him and three other men had been robbing traveling merchants. The only real description of the man Hiro had to go by was he wore black paint on his face, only going across his eyes. "It's going to take me a little bit of time to find them, but if the stories is half true then you should have some fun with them."

"Whatever" The Hog said, shoulder checking him as she walked past. She had a HUGE attitude, but whatever. She was the muscle of the duo, so Hiro figured it came with the territory. It took him a few weeks, but he found something. Watching the pair of houses in the middle of nowhere he spotted one man with the black paint across his eyes leaving with his buddies. Hiro went back to retrieve The Hog and attempt to come up with a battle plan.

---

"Aw screw it, gonna wing it here. Just follow my lead." Hiro said as he stood up, the two began to casually walk to the front door of the house on the right. He could see light from the lanterns so that meant they should be home, the two stopped at the door for a moment. The Hog was off to the left a bit while Hiro stood directly in front of it, reached forward and knocked on the door. It had taken a minute or two before it swung open. "Excuse me sir, can you take a few minutes out of your day to talk about your savior St.Elimine." Hiro said with a straight face. "Wha da hell?" the man replied with. Hiro must have looked like an easy target to yank in and beat the tar out of, which wasn't false, the man began to reach out towards him when his arm was stopped by The Hog grabbing it. He had tried to break free but couldn't, her grip was too tight so Hiro took the opportunity to sock him in the rocks. Being punched in the junk cause his eyes to widen as he howled in pain and started to double over. The Hog pulled him out and slammed him in the ground before stomping on his shoulder. Hiro saw the two other men scrambling to their feet and towards their weapons, he wanted to keep the fight in their favor, even if it was for a few moments and set a Light Rune at the door sealing the most obvious exit.

The first man had charged right into the barrier, knocking him flat on his ass. "What kind of witch craft is that." The other called out. Hiro laughed as he turned back towards The Hog as she was tackled by Cason, who must have came out and charged her like a mad bull. He was on top of her, punching her in the back of the head. "Think ya funneh eh?" Hiro pulled his dagger from his waist, while he wasn't a fighter he couldn't allow his muscle being manhandled like that before the others figured out that the windows was safe to exit. "Actually, yes I do." Hiro had almost yelled out as he jumped on the man's back and dug his dagger into his arm. It was like the stab wound unphased him as he threw Hiro off his back with ease. It did however give The Hog enough time to roll, throwing a backhand while she did it and catching Cason square in the jaw and getting him off her. Everyone was now on their feet, Cason was unarmed so The Hog undone the strap keeping her axe on her back and let it hit the ground, Hiro standing there with dagger in hand hoping The Hog could handle this dude, he did have a size advantage on her but Hiro figured that wouldn't stop her from removing his teeth with her foot. Oh crap, the other dude was out here too, Hiro's gaze turned towards him, be barely got up, with his right army just dangling while he held his shoulder with his left. Probably dislocated, he did hear something that sounded nasty when her boot fell upon it.

[Hiro]

While Cason and Lia was squaring up, Hiro and the dude that answered the door was doing the same. "Looks like we have ourselves an old fashion Sacaen stand off." Hiro said out loud with zero reactions, the crowd is tough tonight. Hiro was fidgeting with the dagger in his hands, he was unsure how to actually hold it to fight with, he carried it for show more than anything really. From the corner of his eye he was able to see the other men trying to figure out the barrier he placed on the door way, placing this hands on it trying to push through it only to look like a mine acting like they were stuck in an invisible box. He knew he had roughly eight or so minutes before the Light Rune lost it's effect, that meant he had to stall his dance partner long enough for The Hog to drop their boss like a sack of potatoes, then finish him off before those two could join the fight at the latest.

THUD. One of the men had tried charging through the barrier with no luck. With the door being wide open, and others watching he didn't have the chance to booby trap the door, heh booby trap. Taking a deep breath Hiro took off running in a flash, [CELERITY USED], towards the hater of fun. Using the extra speed boost's momentum he threw his body into the other man's and despite his small frame taking him to the ground. He had hoped to use the fall and his body weight to plunge his dagger into him deep, but the man got his good arm up in time causing the dagger to go through his forearm. Blood running down his arm, dripping on his face, the man licked some of it that dripped near his mouth. What a disgusting dude, like who really does that? A f**k**g lunatic, that's who. One thing Hiro picked up watching Kraft's men interrogate people was stabbing someone then twisting the knife before yanking it out hurt like hell, which he done to this person.

The Hog and Cason had began to take step after step towards each other with hands in front of their face, like in a boxing stance. Taking the first punch, Cason threw a right jab at her. Quickly raising her arm up she blocked his fist with her elbow. As he brought his hand back to a defensive area he let go of his fist and he shook his hand for a second before making a fist again. The Hog stepped left as she threw a left hook, looking to catch Cason square in the jaw. He had must have seen it coming or had really good reflexes, leaning back slightly she had missed him giving him time to lock his arms around hers as he placed his back against her body with her arm on his shoulder. He had attempted to flip her over him, but instead she locked her right arm around his waist. The two grappling didn't last long as he used his height advantage as he stood up completely straight, she had tried to pull him down so she could keep both feet planted firmly on the ground with no success. Now that she didn't have a good footing he jumped backwards landing on top of her. The Hog wrapped her legs around his waist as she got her arms in position to put him in a choke hold.

[Hiro]

"That's for not laughing at my jokes!" Hiro boldly proclaimed as he pulled the dagger from the twisted wound in the man's arm. "And this is for being so f**k**g ugly." saying as he raised both hands above his head holding the dagger pointing downwards. At this point he was sitting on the man's chest as he began to slam his arms downwards to drive the dagger into his skull, by some unbelievable miracle he caught Hiro's wrist stopping from killing him. His hands were shaking just as much as Hiro's, creating extra pain on injuries could break almost any man. Or at least that what had popped in Hiro's mind, he heard people squeal like a little piggy when the interrogator would focus on wounds.

Shifting his body some, he had one knee now resting on the dislocated shoulder. It allowed Hiro to push down a little bit further. He removed one hand from his dagger and shoved his thumb in the gaping hole in the man's arm, wiggling it around. The dagger lowered a lot more but not close enough, then he dropped his body on the dagger where the handle jabbed him in the ribs. Holy crap, this was Hiro's first kill, and he chose to do it on his own. Not only was it his first kill, but the first fight that he had won as well. Hiro stood up leaving his dagger in the man's skull looking down. After the initial shock of winning his first fight, an overwhelming feeling of guilt, dread, and nausea filled him. He turned towards the Hog and Cason to take his mind off of the deed he had just done.

The Hog had one arm across his throat and the other pulling down on it, "Sun's getting real low, sun's going down" she whispered into his ear. Cason had tried to squeeze his hand between his throat and her arm, he knew he would have to break the choke hold or he was going to be out cold. Since he couldn't wedge his hand in he would have to attempt other methods, he raised his right arm up and rammed his elbow into her ribs, blow after blow he could feel her grip lessen a little. As his jabs became slower and slower he got one good hit that allowed him to take a breath, but just as quickly as he got oxygen into his lungs he expelled it with a howl of pain. There was a sharp pain coming from his family jewels as Hiro drove his heel into his groan. After a couple of minutes Cason had fallen limp, passing out from the lack of oxygen. At the same time they heard the sound of glass breaking. Hiro's hand instantly dove into his bag'o'fun.

He had found what he was looking for, pulled it out as he turned around to see the other two men coming from the side of the shack. They saw how quick the fight went down hill for their gang and gave up on the front door and found a way out, a couple of dimwits if Hiro was being honest which he was. "SOLAR FLARE." Hiro shouted as he threw the bag in his hand. The Hog shoved Cason off her and rolled on her stomach as Hiro shut his eyes tightly and brought his hands to the side of his face with his fingers extended as the bag flew through the arm. "MY GOD DAMNED EYES" one of the men yelled as the bag hit his face.[Flash Beam used]

Luckily Hiro was smart enough to give The Hog a code word when he was going to use the flash beam, just so she knew to hide her eyes.

[Hiro]

Pushing herself up to get on her feet, The Hog turned around to see how effective Hiro's little trick was. One man was on his knees shouting in pain, as well as screaming that he was blind while the other was rubbing his eyes. The one on his feet had seemed to regain his sight after a couple of moments while the other was completely blind now, after the flash beam went off inches away from his eyes. While it was unfortunate the dude had gone blind but, reap what ya sow right?

"They're all yours, if you wanna hit a cripple I ain't judgin." Hiro said walking towards Cason as he pulled some manacles from his bag. Luckily for him, Cason was already on his stomach so he didn't have to roll the lug over. Wasting no time in case he came to he slapped one pair around his wrist, then another around his ankles. Taking out a rope he wrapped it around the manacles on Cason's ankles and pulled it towards his wrist and wrapped it around those manacles. He pulled together as far as he could before tying a knot into the rope, that way The Hog could carry him like a handbag made of flesh to turn him in. Honestly he thought they'd be bringing in a corpse, but it had seemed like The Hog was out for a fight, not murder. Which means Hiro is the only one with a confirmed kill in the H-Team so fair, and that's the total surprise. The axe must have been for show or something.

The man had come charging towards The Hog in anger, or it had seemed like it. He had his sights on Hiro, now that he could see again. He was caught by an upper cut from The Hog and flipped in the air as his lower body kept going in the direction that he was running. Hiro turned around to see The Hog pick him up and slam into the ground a couple of times, he noticed something which cased him to dig into his bag again. Lia's movement was getting sluggish, he could see her begin to struggle to lift the man. Her injuries on top of fatigue must be starting to get to her.

"Hog, let's roll out. We got what we came for." Hiro then threw a smoke bomb towards them as she jogged towards Hiro and Cason. She picked up the rope and began to carry the man as he slowly started to come to. Hiro threw down his second smoke bomb at the location they were just at as they began to retreat. The area began to fill with smoke as the man got to his feet disoriented.

The two had left their weapons behind, but those were easily replaceable though. They took turns hauling the captured Cason to the nearest town, which was quite away from where they were. Lia would carry him as he flailed about while Hiro just drug him. As if Hiro had the muscle to carry a human being, HA! The sun had began to peak as they saw the town far off in the distance.

[Hiro]

It was morning once the two had made it to the town itself. Lia threw the captured man on the ground in front of one of the guards before she started to walk off. "I'm gettin some shut eye. If ya wake me, I got more than enough in me to put a hurtin on ya." Hiro shrugged it off as the guard asked who and what this was about. "Can't you tell?" he said as he stuck both arms out towards Cason expecting him to introduce himself. That's right, he couldn't. Lia got tired of his whining so she gagged him. "You know, the 'Wanted: Dead or Alive' posters about the infamous Black Eyed Cason. Captured him, left one of his dudes dead and one blinded but him alive here in front of you. Now, let's talk about that reward."

The guard rolled the bound man on his side to get a look at him as if he'd recognize him, which he didn't. He reached down to remove the gag only for Cason to try to bite him. Hiro kicked the bandit in the gut "Down boy." The guard laughed for a second, seeing a wanted man being treated like an animal. "Guess merchants can travel with some ease now that the Black Eyed Bandit has been caught. Follow me." Hiro followed the guard dragging Cason to his captain where Hiro talked to him about the bounty and collected it. The amount wasn't much, but the expose would do some good for him. Hiro stopped at the door for a moment. "Make sure you write 'Captured by the H-Team' on the notice." With that he made a hastily retreat to the shared room with Lia and crawled into bed without making a sound, he didn't want to risk an ass whooping, he was already pretty beat up from their scuffle.

Hiro slept till that night, when a loud thud on their door woke him. Almost crap himself, Lia was still in bed asleep and he knew he couldn't open the door by himself with the muscle sound asleep. Why did she threaten him like that if she could sleep through that? "Llliiiiiiaaaaa" Hiro said in a hushed voice in an attempt to wake her. Failed, on to plan b. He crept up to the side of her bed and give her a couple of nudges and when she started to roll over he fell on his ass and scurried backwards to avoid getting smacked up cross the head. "Ugh" the woman moaned out. "There was someone at the door, I think it's dangerous, go beat them up." "Chicken" the woman muttered as she sat up and got out of bed to open the door to see a note stuck to it by a dagger. She yanked the dagger out and took it to Hiro with the note and the two moved to the table and sat down so Hiro could read it aloud as she lite a candle.

Hiro of the H-Team,

I've been following your so call team of two for the past few days, I must admit your current accomplishments aren't half bad. If you keep that up I may end up wanting to join you two.


Signed,
    Your biggest fan.

That totally wasn't cryptic or creepy. The second, third, or fourth member may be around the corner and he didn't even notice.

[Hiro]

Whoever left this note must have been cut from the same cloth as Hiro, they were sneaky enough not to be caught spying on the two. Admittedly Hiro wasn't searching for somebody following him, in fact he was welcoming it assuming they lead him to his goals. The only sound in the room was Hiro drumming his fingers on the table one by one, Lia broke the verbal silence by asking if Hiro wanted her to find this person and give them a thrashing. "Nah, whoever left this not wasn't doing so to threaten us. They're interested in join us but I'm unsure how we can actually recruit them nor the full extend of their skills if we want them to join us. Honestly I'm keeping an ear open about a strong mercenary to help watch your back."

"I ain't need nobody to watch my back." Lia cut off Hiro with. "Right, I understand that. But if we get into a situation where we need more muscle I'm not going to be any help to you. As you've made it well known, I'm scrawny as hell." Hiro pushed his chair away from the table and moved towards his bag, setting it on his bed he started to rummage through it. "Based on the context of the note, this person is some what skilled at keeping them self hidden from the people they're tracking. My professional opinion is they're either a spy or an assassin, somebody that could back me up on covert missions." He found what he was looking for and pullet it out, a small sack full of gold coins and tossed it on the table. "It's your share for that bounty. I'm starved, let's hit the pub for dinner. My treat, just don't get use to me paying too often." Lia got up from her seat and headed towards the door leaving her money that Hiro just gave her on the table, he offered to pay so she had no need for it tonight.

As they were walking from the inn to the pub they passed the wanted board, Hiro stopped to look at it and it had no mention of their victory so he nailed in the wanted poster he ripped off before with the H-Team tag onto it. The two had order their food and drinks, was half way through the meal when it dawned onto Hiro. Lia was more of 'one of the boys' than he was, her mannerisms was something he avoided in women because it was too much like a mans but with his mission it was more than welcomed. It struck Hiro that he had the chance to test the men of this town as well as make a quick coin so he paid out his tab before pulling out a chair and hopping on it. Looking down towards Lia he smiled at her, "I'm gonna take a 10 percent cut of this." He turned his head so he could project his voice towards the pub. "My girl The Hog here can beat any of you in an arm wrestling match, if you think you could beat her form a line to prove me wrong. 5 gold to challenge her, if you beat her you get 10 gold in return."