Party 1 Beginning: Lost Woods to Clock Town

Uneasily, the Happy Mask Salesman followed the stranger. He took a hanging mask off of his backpack and clutched it tightly, as if for comfort.

Rickamaru led him to an abandoned back alley. It was abandoned due to its proximity to the bombshop. Using his soulsight, he ensured that there was no living person in the vicinity. Turning to the shopkeeper he talked calmly and politely. "I am seeking information on the location of specific masks. I have heard that you possess great knowledge when it comes to masks and was hoping you could point me in the right direction. These masks are in a set. I have only seen one myself and it has slipped out of my grasp unfortunately. I do not know the name of theses masks but i can tell you what the one i saw did. It was a blank mask, pure white. When it was worn, it gave the user the ability to stretch their appendages like rubber. I am aware that there are several masks which make up a set and this is one of them."

These guys were looking for Chaos too? and what about that woman? Were they in danger. Reina smiled and almost giggled a little. "That mask looks funny...I've never seen anything like it." She looked up at these masked men. "Sorry sir, I don't know anything about it."

The one in the metal mask chuckled in a rather unsettling manner. Kneeling down to her level he quietly spoke, "Really now, because, if you're lying this could get messy......" he pulled a gun out from his bag and pointed it at her. " Are you sure you don't know anything?"

Reina gave him her best lying face, and she was pretty damn good at lying when she needed to be. "I've never seen a mask like that before in my life." She pointed at the thing he was pointing at her face. "I don't even know what that is." This guy was incredibly unsettling. Reina knew she was in danger. She just hoped Chaos wasn't close by, it might ruin everything.

" Think of it as a tube that fires little metal balls that go through just about anything." He cocked the gun. "I need only pull the trigger and anything I point at dies." Dark energy was faintly emitting from his body, darker then that of Chaos'. " I know you're lying, we've had people see a little girl from the forest with green hair traveling with someone we're looking for. Not exactly common place around here. I suggest you start talking before you lose your mouth entirely!" Fist saw this act from inside and began moving towards the door.

Reina didn't know quite what to say. 'I'm stuck, there's no way I can run.' she thought. She knew one thing though... She wasn't giving up Chaos to these guys. She took a deep breath and bowed her head. She smiled up at the man mockingly. "You know, I find I never really liked my mouth. The darn thing always seems to get me in trouble."

This frustrated the man, "Alright then, perhaps you'll care more about a limb." He reached for her arm, hand glowing with burning black fire when suddenly Fist jumped out of the doorway. As she landed in the street she spun around, arm extended and smashed one of the enemies in the face with her gauntlet covered arm causing him to fly backwards. Standing in a fighting position she prepared for combat. " Some senses, for searchers you really aren't very good at this," she said with in a confident manner

"DEAL WITH HER!" The one with the metal mask said, he continued to remain by the kokiri child. The one traveling with a young girl was confirmed male, another one must be nearby. The two other masked men pulled out weapons ( after the one got up of course ). One pulled out a sword and the other a gun. The sword wielder ran towards Fist and began attempting to cut her with quick movements. Fist had to be quick to avoid these swipes. The other man started firing his gun. While trying to dodge both she nearly got her arm skewered, dodging quick enough to get away with a smaller cut. The sword wielding one tried to go for a frontal jab with the blade. As he began his stabbing motion Fist used her protected hands to grab the blade from him. With her other hand she quickly knocked him into submission with a heavy punch to the face. Bending the blade so it was no longer usable she laughed "Well that's one down."

The other attacker was caught reloading, "Shit!" he said as she charged at him, scooping up a fallen stone and chucking it at him. The stone hit him straight in the head and he stumbled backwards. Fist then jumped on him and snapped his neck. "well, that's two." The one remaining enemy, still keeping hold of Reina, was filled with rage. " DAMN YOU REJECTS! WHY DON'T YOU JUST ACCEPT YOUR FATE AND DIE!" He picked up Reina with one hand and threw her at the charging Fist. The two collided and knocked Fist to the ground. The man laughed. "Heh heh heh, well that was quite the show, but it looks like it's all over now." he aimed his gun at the two and prepared to fire. The noise of gunfire echoed down the streets, but it wasn't from the metal masked man. The man stood there, holding his hand. The bullet had hit his armored hand and caused him to drop his own weapon.On one end of the street there stood Chaos aiming a gun of his own, smoke coming from the barrel.

"The other one, this is my lucky day!" The man said as he created a shield to block the barrage of bullets Chaos fired at him. Running full speed at the enemy, Chaos' hand began to emit purple energy as he smashed it right into the dark energy shield, shattering it completely. The man in the metal masked stumbled backwards, weakened from his shield being shattered. Chaos then took this opportunity to tackle him by the waste and knock the man completely to the ground. The hunter struggled on the ground, trying to get his newfound target off of his chest, but it was no use. Quickly pulling out a combat knife, Chaos plunged it into the man's throat, silencing him for good.

A few moments after the action had stopped Fist got up and removed Reina from on top of her. "Are you alright?" She said as she rubbed her head.

Reina was trembling all over "I'm fi-fine." she tried choking out. 'First the explosion and now this?' She thought, 'How many times am I going to almost die?' She tried picking herself up but she was far too shaken for that. "Chaos..." She mumbled as she fell back to her knees, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get into trouble."

Chaos stood up from on top of the body. "It's alright. Just forget about it," he said as he pulled the knife out and wiped the blood off. Chaos sighed. " Good to see you again Fist." At that note Fist realized who exactly was in front of her. "C..C..Captain!" She said as she quickly saluted him. "I'm not your captain anymore Fist, no need for formalities." He picked up the corpse on the ground. "Take her inside for me... I'm going to dispose of these." He silently walked back to outside the city in order to rid any evidence that the hunters died there. Meanwhile Fist picked Reina up and carried her inside.

Reina ached all over. For the last two day she had been thrown around like a rag doll in a hurricane. "I'm so sick of being weak." she mumbled. Her broken ribs felt like they were stabbing her not to mention there were new injuries on top of the old ones.

Fist sat Reina down by the fireplace. and took a seat beside her. "Man, how did I get stuck babysitting this kid?" She muttered to herself as she crossed her arms. Clearly Chaos felt the need to protect this girl, so she decided to just do what her former leader wanted. She decided to ask him about it later. "I guess I should introduce myself. You can call me Fist." She said in a cheerful manner.

"Reina." she tried sounding cheerful back but she was still quite shaken. "So you're a friend of Chaos? Very pleased to meet you." She held out her hand for Fist to shake.

Fist returned the gesture with a strong grip. "yeah you could say that. He and I grew up together. Been working with him my whole life." She said as she looked at the fire remembering the past.

"I've only known him for a few days but he's been very kind to me." Reina kept quiet after that as Fist looked like she was lost in thought. She sat back and waited for Chaos to come back.

Chaos dug a big hole outside the city. He stripped the bodies of equipment and dumped them in the hole. He fired an energy blast at the corpses in order to destroy them more so that they were less recognizable and then he proceeded to cover the remains in dirt. He then returned to the inn some time later and sat down with the ladies waiting for him. "How are you two holding up?" He asked. Fist raised her arm in a flexing position "Excellent Captain!" She said happily. " He then turned to Reina, "What about you? Not to damaged I hope."

"Nothing I can't handle." She brushed herself off to show she was tough. "What was all that about anyway? Chaos who were those guys? Why were they after you?" Reina had let a lot of weird things about her friend slide but this was too much. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"

Chaos I sighed " Remember that group I used to be part of? Well at the moment they want people like me and Fist dead. We began asking too many questions. Thus they've marked us as failed experiments and replaced us with ones they deem more efficient. They don't ever think about what they're doing as we did. The perfect brainwashed servant, doing one's bidding without the slightest doubt or remorse, their abilities have been enhanced in strange ways far surpassing our own raw powers. Although they lack our experience and teamwork, so at least we have that. They're still green when dealing with our kind. When we were sentenced to death a large chunk of us managed to escape and decided to split up in hopes of loosing the assailants. That's why I was traveling alone in the forest that night." It was hard thinking about people he once considered family to now believe him to be a treasonous enemy. Fist leaned over to the two "Sorry about those guys. They were originally chasing me and I ended up leading them here."

Reina didn't quite know how respond. It was a lot of information but she had asked for it. She threw her arms around Chaos's waist, she didn't really know what to say but he just seemed so sad that she needed to hug him.

Chaos, now used to the action, quietly put a hand on her head as he continued watching the fire. Fist was thoroughly amused at the the out of character actions. How much had changed in the short time they'd been separated.

Ruul arrived long after the action ended. He sighed when he saw that nobody seemed to be hurt.

He then noticed that the other mask-seeker was no longer there.

He leaned against a wall in the now-deserted room. Everybody had fled when the fight began. Oh well, he'll return if he needs my help.

-

The Happy Mask Salesman's smile returned, but with an eerie tint to it, "My my, these masks sure are popular, aren't they? You are looking for the Ten Shards of the Ancient Dragon..."
He proceeded to tell Rickamaru the same thing that Ruul recounted to Fenrir.

"Will that be all then?"

"I know that you are an air mage, A very powerfull air mage if i'm not mistaken. I would like to know how you got your power since you didn't got it from a god. So either learned it yourself or you were born with that power. Either way I was wondering if you could teach me the advanced air spells?

Fenrir's facial expression was difficult to decipher. He cleared his throat, "It was granted to me by an ancient artifact. A circlet created by the Picori thousands of years ago. It allows me to manipulate the wind as I see fit. And to answer your question: No, I cannot teach you. My magic does not rely on spells, only on manipulation. And I have urgent business to attend to now, so I wouldn't be able to spare you my time anyways."

"I'm afraid that won't be all. I am also aware that you have one of these masks in your possession. I will require this mask from you. Unlike the other man you talked to, my need for them is greater. If i fail to get these, then i will suffer beyond your imagination. I know that i can not outbid him but keep in mind what lengths i would be willing to go to protect my existence. I also know that the mask you possess has no power in it. I would prefer to do this the nice way and that we part on good terms but understand my situation and don't ask me for specifics." Rickamaru watched the salesman carefully. He didn't want him to reach for a mask. The white mask had been trouble enough and this man had an arsenal of various masks. No telling what was possible.

HMS's face darkened as a surprisingly wide and toothy grin split his face, "Don't underestimate me. Not all things are as you assume, as you will soon learn."

Before Rickamaru could do anything, he took one step backwards and vanished in a shadow.