Port Troubles (D-rank mission, private)

[Kasimir Sewik]

Hargeon's tavern was definitely one of Kaz's favorite taverns.  He'd visited nearly every tavern in Fiore now, but Hargeon's was unique.  In addition to serving good drinks, they had a sushi chef whose cuisine had no equal.  They had a happy hour though, right at noon, the only time Kaz could really afford to go.  On this particular day, at the order counter, he'd been informed that all food had been completely paid in full.  Something about a wedding or party, he wasn't sure which... although it was very crowded... Most garbed in formal attire, although there were a few casually dressed like him.

Well he was perfectly content with stuffing his face with sushi and only paying for the drink.  Although for the sake of appearances he tried to pace himself, didn't want to make it look obvious he didn't belong here... or taking advantage of someone's kindness, after all.  That and his chest was still a bit sore from his last injury.  Beneath his clothes the entire area was an ugly color of blacks and purples, just breathing too deeply was still painful.

A very pretty lady, young and close to his age, decided to take a seat next to him at the bar.  Naturally Kaz struck struck up a conversation with her.  She kept up with the conversation pretty well.  He couldn't really tell if she was just acting polite or honestly interested, but she did laugh at each of his jokes.  He was pretty sure the day couldn't get much better.  A girl at his side who was at least pretending to be interested with him.  That and free high quality sushi.  He was in an unusually good mood and wasn't paying much attention while shoveling fish into his mouth... which was probably why he missed when the girl slipped a strange tablet in his drink.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kaz stumbled a bit, barely able to keep his balance.  His face was completely flushed, beads of sweat rolling down.  He wasn't completely sure what had just happened... He didn't think he'd been drinking that much.  Certainly he'd built up a tolerance to handle more than one drink by now.  But that one drink he'd had at the tavern did something strange to him... maybe a greater alcohol content or something.  Or maybe something was wrong with the fish he'd had.  He couldn't focus his mind right, and everything looked a bit fuzzy.

He'd left the tavern as soon as he started feeling sick, excusing himself hastily from his temporary female companion.  From past experience, he knew passing out at the bar was not a good idea.  He thought that walking along the port might clear his mind a bit.  But instead of getting better with the fresh air, he was progressively growing worse.  He paused and leaned against a nearby building, catching his breath.

“...Kasimir?” An unfamiliar male voice hailed him from behind.  That was strange.  Even in his half-dellusional state, there were few who used his full name.  Maybe it was one of those wizards he'd been working with in Era.  Wearily he turned around, coming face to face with three men he didn't recognize.  Before he could register what was going on, one clapped his hand over his mouth.  Roughly he shoved Kaz into a nearby alley.  The other two men filled in behind quickly, both blocking out his potential escape route, along with masking the transpiring events from any casual passersby.

With a surprising amount of strength, Kaz slammed his fist into the opposing man's jaw.  He released Kaz with a gasp of surprise, staggering back a few steps.  Kaz used the time to unsheathe his two-handed sword.  “Who are you?” Kaz glared at the offending three men.  Even if his mind felt a bit off, he was still strong enough to fight back.

The bandana-wearing thug wiped off a small trickle of blood.  He managed to grin wryly despite the injury.  “Yeah, I'd say the similarities are too great for it to be a coincidence.  Kasimir... right?  Not that I'm particularly fond of the Magic Council, but... they do give jewels for turning in people like you.”

Kaz's eyes narrowed.  Bounty hunters, huh.  It'd been some time since one had gone after him.  He'd kept a fairly low profile over the last two years, so his name was slowly fading, being replaced by far more potent criminals.  In this day and age, with everything the Magic Council had to deal with, it was hardly surprising.  So past the initial slew of bounty hunters, he'd generally been left alone.  “Look... I'm not causing any trouble-” He began, but never got farther.

The thug lifted his hands, a wall of ice summoning between him and Kaz.  Moving his hands in a pushing motion, he sent the ice block flying towards Kaz.  In such a narrow alley, the move would be impossible to avoid.  Summoning forth his magic, Kaz lifted his hand to form a wall of his own for defense. ...Only for nothing to happen.  No matter how he concentrated, the earth remained still.

The ice wall didn't give him any time to ponder his plight.  It slammed into him heavily, ramming his body into the opposing wall.  He banged his head heavily against the brick, his ribs aching from the ice block's impact.  The block melted before completely crushing him, but the damage had already been dealt.  He slid slowly down the wall, his entire body crying out in pain.  He had somehow managed to keep holding onto his sword, although he could barely move anything right now.  This... was not a good situation.

“Heh... good thing you're such a sucker for the ladies, you've practically made this too easy without any magic.  Don't worry... we'll try to keep you alive for the extra reward money,” the thug grinned.  He cracked his knuckles, taking a few steps forward.  “Well, barely alive anyway...”

[Ambrose Wilder]

Amie popped up from his nap around noon. So someone had complained to him that he napped too much. He patted that person on the head and just smiled. It wasn’t worth getting upset over someone else’s opinion. Amie appreciated his naps. He didn’t need them so much as he liked them. He didn’t need chocolate or candy but he liked those as well. Naps were just something people didn’t understand.

The twenty-something had gone a long time where he wasn’t allowed even the minimal healthy amount of rest. Exhaustion to exhaustion and picked on for falling to pieces physically from it all. He didn’t dwell on those things in whole. He simply focused on the fact that he knew a contrast, and he appreciated the good. It was hard not to like a nap even if he’d had them his entire life. He had a room, and a roommate who periodically questioned Amie on things. Odd things actually. Like what he would do if he was dating someone. The eye brow raise Amie had given had confused his roommate more than the question had confused Amie to begin with, so they mostly just dropped the topic.

His roommate was off doing whatever he liked that day though. He was probably back at Lamia Scale actually, it seemed like a rational place for him to be, besides out in the field doing jobs and helping people. Amie liked to help people. He also liked getting paid. Most of all he liked finding things out to see if he could find Mariana. He didn’t tell people this was what he was doing, he just did it. They didn’t need to know some things, and he made that clear. No lies, no beating around the bush, if they asked about something he wasn’t willing to discuss, he told them he wasn’t going to get into it. Mostly they respected that.

Ambrose was in Ease Fiore today. Not his usual stomping grounds, but then again he didn’t really care what was or wasn’t usual. Travel was to see the sights and uncover new rocks, right? Or old rocks with moss you hadn’t seen yet, it didn’t particularly make any difference to him. He was the sort to roll with the punches, verbally or otherwise. The blond got off the boat he’d just taken and adjusted his shirt. The usual blue blazer, white button down shirt, and black slacks. He looked maybe a bit well dressed for someone just wandering the port for information, but was that actually a bad thing? It was much better than anyone recognizing him. He shuffled those worries away. It had been too long, he was too grown up by now, nothing was going to happen.

In the middle of reminding himself that he was an adult and he shouldn’t worry about his childhood, Amie was approached by someone. It was some man, at least a few years older than Amie, a bit shorter, and looking slightly nervous. Okay, he looked pretty nervous, but maybe that was because he was running up to someone he didn’t know. Amie tensed, he didn’t always know what this would mean.

“You, sir, you look competent,” he began. Amie tilted his head to the side slightly. He looked strong perhaps, but competent was more specific to the circumstances, and Amie had no idea what those were right now, “Are you a fighter?” Oh, well those circumstances.

Amie’s face broke into a smile, “That I am… but why do you ask?” he inquired, head tilted to the other side now, still smiling. Even if none of this made sense to him, he wasn’t complaining.

The man let out a sigh of relief, “That is good to hear. I just, you looked like it…. Anyway, what I need. There have been some problems lately,” his eyes shifted around the area, “I am a business owner, and thugs have been breaking in and stealing. Kept quite unchecked. If you would perhaps look into it you could find them…?” he asked cautiously, as if he didn’t want to get his hopes up.

Amie ran his fingers through his hair, “I can do that. Are you offering a reward for something more than just finding them?” he asked. Among people who knew Amie, they knew he appreciated his money, and he was fairly stingy with it, so asking for a reward for a sort of job was well within the norm for him. Actually, he didn’t know of a guilded wizard who didn’t ask for a reward when actually being asked to take a job. Well, besides one.

“Oh, yes, yes,” he nodded vigorously, “I can pay you if you make sure they don’t come causing trouble anymore.” That was enough for Amie, besides gathering a few details. He found out that the men were bandana’s on their arms, and had been seen near the port. It wasn’t too much to go on, but Ambrose was happy to go looking into it. A fight might not help him find his sister, but it was still fun.

Ambrose was heading around that area when he heard some commotion. Someone was clearly threatening someone else. Bounty Hunters. Extra reward money was a dead giveaway. Amie did not like bounty hunters. He didn’t even rightly care who they were bringing in, he just had a natural aversion to them. Two men were guarding the alley, and Amie found that honestly cute, it would be more cute when they were laying on the ground somewhere.

“Come on guys, this alley is really special to me, you can’t be hogging it,” Amie teased as he got closer. Now that he was visible he could see over their heads, some guy who, sword or not, was not doing well in this fight. Amie’s jaw clenched, three to one and the guy already looked a mess. Not something he liked to see. Well it didn’t look like these guys liked seeing him either, because one of them moved toward him to, assumedly, make him leave, and now that he was already in a bad mood, he was ready to pounce.

The frown drained off him when he saw a bandana on their arms. He no doubt looked bipolar from the teasing, to tension, to grinning that he was doing now. “Hey! I know you! I was just looking for you, thanks for saving me the trouble,” he said, before taking a swing and connecting his fist with this man’s jaw, then crouching slightly to swing a kick under and knock the man off his feet. He didn’t know if they all had magic, but he wasn’t into showing his cards before he needed to.

[Kasimir Sewik]

Kaz looked up in weary surprise at the sound of a newcomer.  The attention of the thugs shifted from Kaz to the interruption.  Was someone... actually helping him?  Kaz was having trouble making sense of everything.  He wasn't sure if the guest had intended to help, or if it was just a coincidence.  But either way, it was a welcome distraction.  Especially when Ambrose planted a fist in the man's face, and proceeded to sweep him off his feet.

"You punk!" His friend snarled.  They weren't messing around anymore.  He reached into his jacket, pulling out a concealed knife.  "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you'll regret that!" He rushed against Ambrose.  It didn't seem like the thugs cared about being discreet anymore.

Slowly Kaz pulled himself together.  He couldn't just let this one man take on three enemies, especially since a fight was happening probably because of him.  There was a chance that this newcomer simply wanted the bounty for himself, but... there was another chance that he was simply trying to help Kaz.  He'd deal with ill intentions if it came later.  For now, he couldn't just sit back and let the other handle the fight.  One hand used the wall as support, the other stabbed the sword into the ground as he pulled himself to his feet.  He still felt terrible but... his mind was starting to clear a bit.  Now it just felt like searing pain, instead of all the fuzz.  Not that such a thing was much better...

The ice user cast another spell, a pole of ice summoning forth at his command.  His attention, like the others, was still on Ambrose.  No one had paid much attention to Kaz, likely assuming he was too injured to interfere.  But this pain was nothing for Kaz.  At least, that's what he kept telling himself.  None of the thugs noticed Kaz slowly walking closer.  At least, not until he grabbed the ice thug's hair, and slammed his head against the wall.  He let out both a cry in surprise and pain, crumpling dazed on the ground.

Taking a deep breathe, Kaz clenched his fist, looking up to the remaining two.  Now it was an even fight.  Or maybe not, since the one Ambrose had beat up looked the worse for wear.

[Ambrose Wilder]

Amie didn’t know Kaz, he didn’t know his name, or if he deserved what was happening. All Amie knew was his job, and that he didn’t like anyone who hurt the helpless. It wasn’t a challenge, and it wasn’t right. Amie loved challenges, and he loved to fight, and even if he didn’t like these guys, he was going to give them the fair chance of three against one. They seemed to think that was fair for the stranger, so he’d see just how competent they were.

Confidence went pretty well for Amie, who without any sort of hesitation backed away from the knife as it was brought out and used to attack him. Discreet was all well and good for some people, but Amie was perfectly happy just going at it. In fact, he was pretty sure he was being paid for this. Had he been Kaz, being hunted and not knowing if the new arrival would turn on him once things were over, Amie knew what he would do. However, when he was younger, he might have snuck off. Survival, not some misplaced moral code, was the only thing Amie had in his head back then.

“Aw, but this is fun. Why would I regret fun?” he asked, taking his hand and chipping it into the arm of the man who pulled a knife on him. The use of his Binding Strike temporarily paralyzed the man, and whatever magic he might be hiding. Amie had information he needed, such as who this other man was, but he needed to focus on the combatant in front of him if he wanted to avoid unnecessary damages. While this man was paralyzed he took an elbow down against the man’s arm, knocking the knife out of his hand, and took a heavy swing to his skull.

Ambrose was a strong guy, and a temporarily paralyzed opponent taking a punch straight to the face did not sound like something anyone recovered from quickly. That man went down, and it was now Amie realized the stranger was up and had knocked down the apparent leader. “Well that’s handy. The dead walk,” Amie said casually, grinning at the help. Now that it was two to one, the thug had to decide who was his biggest opponent, or if he even had a chance at this.


[190/200 MP][OOC: Since you weren’t in chat, and I dunno how exactly to do this kind of RP, I just… did that. If that works, cool, otherwise, I can mess with it when we’re both online.]

[Kasimir Sewik]

Kaz blinked at Ambrose's words.  Considering his pale face and heavy breathing, he probably did look like he was on the verge of death.  He certainly felt half-dead, and he was trying to stop himself from collapsing completely.  He could be tired when he was out of danger.

The last thug hesitated, taking a step back from Ambrose.  But there really was nowhere for him to go.  Kaz was directly behind him.  Hm... he had the choice between the newcomer, or the pale-looking Kaz.  The choice seemed pretty obvious.  Quickly he whipped around, roughly pushing Kaz against the wall.  Kaz lacked the reaction time to respond quickly enough, easily shoved to the side.  Instead of continuing the fight, the thug used the opportunity to dash away from the both of them.  He rounded the curve of the alley, apparently having some escape route in mind.

Kaz was far too tired to give chase, and he didn't particularly care about getting revenge either.  That, and he had a different issue to deal with now.  He pushed himself a more comfortable distance from where he'd been shoved to face Ambrose, but Kaz still used the wall as support.  Seemingly out of immediate danger at least, Kaz took a better look at his rescuer.  He was a bit older than Kaz.  Judging by his physique and the way he'd just intervened in battle, Kaz assumed he was a guild wizard.  Not that he'd seen the other use any magic - but few others would willingly entangle themselves with thugs.

Kaz's head was starting to clear a bit, although he didn't trust himself to use magic again.  His body still ached and he was still panting.  If it came to another fight, he knew he didn't really stand a chance right now.  That and he was in too poor condition to even attempt running. Despite not knowing whether his savior was an ally or enemy, Kaz managed to grin widely at him.  "Hey, thanks," he said gratefully to the newcomer.  "That was a pretty bad situation there.  You saved me from a lot of pain.  Yeah, it was really nice of you.  I really appreciate the help.  So glad you intervened, when you could've just walked away instead. Thank you." He bowed his head lightly in thanks, still leaning against the wall and smiling.  If this guy really had intervened for the bounty, Kaz was going to make him feel so guilty.  At least that was the plan.  Say thanks as many ways as possible and hope he has a change of heart and lets him go... and being careful not to say 'I owe you', just in case he decided to take Kaz up on that. If the man wasn't there for the bounty to begin with, no harm done.

Even though the one thug had gotten away, the other two laid dazed on the ground still.  Kaz was grateful that the newcomer hadn't killed them - it showed a strength of restraint, of sorts.  Regardless of his enemy, Kaz really hated to see anyone die.  If this guy had been holding back on purpose, then maybe there was hope for Kaz yet.

[Ambrose Wilder]

Ambrose appreciated the mild help. Well, it wasn’t so mild, it just wasn’t something Amie felt he had needed. He was a bit cocky, sure, but he’d handled his thug easy enough. He was used to multiple opponents too. One on one was all well and honorable, but few enemies really cared about honor. Sparing partners weren’t enemies, and Amie knew the difference quite well. He actually enjoyed fighting, and he was a small bit disappointed that he only got to fight one of the three thugs. The last one, using his survival instincts, rammed into the stranger and went running.

“Oh come on! That’s pathetic! I’m not even that scary!” Ambrose shouted at him. He waved a hand dismissively, disappointed but not going to let it get him down. He was sure there were more elsewhere. If that man’s problems were all tied to three goons, he had offered far more money than they were worth. Not that Amie would have complained about that, actually.

He snapped back to reality when he heard the man talking. Well that was nice of him. And nice. And more nice. “Man, you’re pretty full of thanks. I literally just punched a guy, no awards needed,” he said with a laugh. He didn’t think he had a very distinctive guild stance or that his body spoke to his guilded wizard status. He was just sort of there. Sure he’d been in the guild for a while now, and he was very proud of being a part of Lamia Scale, but he figured he was just one of the guys. That seemed to be a Lamia Scale thing. They weren’t too much this or too much, they were the more sane and “average,” though he didn’t think of people as necessarily being average. Just some were more this and some were more that, and his guild loitered around the middle a bit.

He didn’t have any judgments on Kasimir except one. He was hurt. He was grinning, and he was thanking up a storm, but he was hurt. It was sort of funny to see, and since Amie had just made fun of a thug and then ended up laughing, he wasn’t complaining. It was nice to see someone look happy after they got beat up. Or… maybe that didn’t make sense. Oh well, he wasn’t concerned. “Besides, I think you suffered enough pain, you look a bit of a mess… why were they hassling you anyway?” Amie asked.

He would have assumed that they were just causing trouble, but somehow this seemed personal. The reward. Right, bounty hunters, “Looking for reward money I take it?” he added before too long had passed. He wasn’t interested in any of that, even if he knew it, but he figured he should ask. This guy was hurt, which made it Amie’s business, and he was tangled up with the thugs that Amie was hunting. He kept an eye on them, ready to go pound on them more if necessary. He had some questions for them, but he had questions for this guy first.

[Kasimir Sewik]

Kaz began to laugh loudly, probably too loud, when Ambrose started laughing. He managed to stop before he looked too much like an idiot. Ruefully he grinned when Ambrose mentioned his condition. It was true... Kaz really did look like a mess right now. The fight and past injuries had been one thing, but whatever he'd been drugged with... that had clearly affected his body more than he cared to admit. Visibly he flinched when Ambrose mentioned the bounty.

"Oh... Ah... you heard that part, did you," he managed to keep his smile, although it was noticeably more strained than earlier. From what Ambrose said, it seemed the bounty wasn't his original intention. But that could change. That or, he probably thought Kaz had done something wrong. Maybe one of those meddling types who thought they were doing the world a service. "It's from the past, but every now and then there's someone who recognizes me. From what one of them said, I'm guessing it was my new friend in the bar who realized it, must've slipped something in my drink or something when I wasn't paying attention," he rubbed the back of his neck, mainly embarrassed. He'd been too happy between the sushi and the pretty lady to watch his back. He should have figured the girl had an ulterior motive to playing along with his dumb jokes. She and the other men were probably working together... not that he was about to go to the bar and look for her. Hopefully with his explanation of the bounty being in the past... Ambrose would recognize it wasn't much money. That or a different page of his life that had ended for Kaz. He still couldn't guess the temperament of his newfound ally. Mainly to show he had no intention of fighting further, Kaz slung the claymore back across his back, one hand strapping it in place.

He tried to stand up a bit straighter, pushing himself away from the wall. Mainly trying to look like he was in better condition than what he was. "I don't seem to be bleeding or anything, so I'll be fine in a bit," Kaz shrugged.  "Well, might be bleeding internally, but nothing beyond bruises..." He took a deep breath. Probably talking too much again; giving out too much information. "I'm Kasimir, by the way," he decided to introduce himself. Full first name for now, just to be careful. He didn't want it to seem like he was lying, if the other man had heard the earlier part of Kaz's conversation with the thugs. "Hm, didn't you say you knew them when you first jumped in...?" Kaz remembered, looking at Ambrose curiously. With everything that had happened, Kaz had nearly forgotten. But, even in his half dazed state earlier... he thought Ambrose had said something like that.

[Ambrose Wilder]

Was Amie blunt? Enough that some people noticed it. It wasn’t that he just said absolutely everything, but he didn’t see the point in being that blunt. Life was short, life was crazy, and if you had to guess if someone liked you, well they probably didn’t like you enough. Amie just subscribed to the mindset that he should actually show people how he felt. They could respect it if they wanted, and he’d done his job. So when Kaz asked him if he heard that part, Amie wasn’t going to play dumb, “Yep. Perks my interest. Not like I’m turning you in or anything. A guy minding his own business isn’t causing any harm… and I really don’t like bounty hunters,” he shrugged, then smiled again. There was nothing to be gained from standing around being so serious.

“I’m curious about that though,” curious enough to point it out, but not enough to ask. It was this man’s business, wasn’t it? Amie did laugh a little again, “Well you two might not be as good of friends as you thought. None of my friends slip things into my drink, or let me end up in an alley with bounty hunters,” he mentioned. The term was no doubt being used as an exaggeration, but Amie felt like he was allowed to comment.

Thus far this man seemed pleasant, and Amie liked pleasant people, clearly. Things even seemed much more casual now that the sword was sheathed. “So, not to insult your intelligence or anything… but I’m pretty sure internal bleeding is pretty bad. Never been a doctor though,” he added, smiling although it was a serious comment. “Nice to meet you, Kasimir. I’m Ambrose, but Amie’s perfectly fine,” he said. Ambrose was more easily attached to his past, and Amie was what most people called him anyway. Win win, right? “Yeah… I don’t know them. I just know who they are. Thugs bothering the merchants or something. A man asked me to help straighten them out, so I went looking… I’m sure one of them will oblige and tell me where their friends are. I’m personable enough, right?” he asked, still being friendly. He walked over to the men and made them sit, or sort of slump, against the wall together so he could keep better watch on them.

[Kasimir Sewik]

Kaz's smile slowly faded as Ambrose mentioned that his past had perked his interest. And then outright said he was curious. He made it a point to not comment on it. At least Ambrose had made his position of ally clear - and Kaz trusted his word. If he'd really meant Kaz harm, he would have already attacked. Kaz's past wasn't something he usually talked about, least of all with people he'd just met. Half of it was for his own sake, Kaz didn't want to re-live certain thoughts. When he was much younger, he had been far more hot-headed and sure of himself. He hated most of all how he'd felt at the time, mainly frustrated with his past ignorance. He didn't regret his past, but he did wonder if things could have turned out differently. Probably not. He should probably focus more on the present.

He shrugged, seemingly nonchalant. "Yeah I'll be careful about friends I meet in bars next time," he didn't need much convincing there. He doubted he'd see the woman again, and if he did... well, actually, Kaz probably wouldn't do much beyond glaring at her. And maybe cry angrily at her for leading him on. "But in the end I'm alive, so I'll be fine, thanks to your help." He paused for a moment, thinking. He still didn't know Amie well, but he seemed like a good guy. "If we're going by nicknames, my friends call me Kaz." He'd leave it up to the other on which name he preferred to use. The nickname was more of a sign of trust for Kaz, which was silly because it was just a name... but it's all he had. Kaz was his new life, and Kasimir was his old.

His gaze turned to the fallen two thugs. The previous ice-user twitched when Amie moved him. Hm... so he was awake and pretending not to be, was that it? "You seem like you've done pretty well dealing with them so far. Whatever business you got with 'em, don't let me stop you." He nudged the fallen ice wizard with a foot. Not quite a kick, but hard enough to illicit a jump from the other man. Kaz grinned a little. Well he was here already, might as well see how things panned out. It could be interesting.

[Ambrose Wilder]

It was unfortunate that Kasimir, as he introduced himself, was looking less pleased with Ambrose comment. Well that should fade. It was clear he didn’t want people curious about his past. Who wanted that? Amie clearly didn’t want that. If it wasn’t clear enough, he could say it. He had in fact, several times. He did not want people asking about his childhood. It was all well and nice if they cared, but no. He didn’t want to get into it. And if anyone had seen his smile turn into a frown, it was because they’d asked about his childhood. A tell-tale sign, but he wasn’t hiding anything. He was refusing.

“Oh, I’d be careful of anyone I met in a bar. I only let friends take me to bars,” then they try to set me up with people, and I convince them to dance instead. Much better, he thought with a slight smile, “I’m glad you’re alive, and I just met you,” he admitted. Ambrose did not like killing. He didn’t like death. Right about now Kaz was a helpless creature, a person, but still not at his best, and if someone tried to hurt him, Amie was going to ram them into a wall just because it wasn’t fair. You didn’t hurt the helpless. You weren’t allowed, at least if Amie had a say in it. He usually didn’t, so he made his voice quite clear when he did.

“Less nicknames, more strong personal preferences,” he said with a friendly wink. Maybe this was why people thought he flirted? No, they thought he never flirted. He never flirted, but he was friendly to the point of confusing people sometimes. Their own fault, he wasn’t vague. He didn’t hint. He was very clear about his feelings. If someone wasn’t sure, they could ask, or assume they were reading too much into it.

One man seemed to be mostly unconscious, the other… well he was twitching. He was twitching a bit too much. Ambrose knew that if you wanted left alone, you played dead. He knew it well enough to know this was a ploy. He had a job to do, and this man had been beating on his new acquaintance. Three to one? Oh, he didn’t have much to bargain with. Amie lifted him up again once Kaz poked him with his foot. “Awake yet, Sunshine?!” he asked, loudly, into the man’s face. He banged his shoulders back a bit, making sure he was awake, “Got all the time in the world to gang up on some guy, you’ve got all the time in the world to talk to a friendly guy like me… right?” he asked again loudly enough to be very well heard.

[Kasimir Sewik]

Kaz supposed Amie had a point. Making friends in bars wasn't always the safest option. But where else would he meet people? He had no guild, so that was out of the question. There were few places he could idle without calling attention to himself, but no one cared how long he spent at taverns. He wandered around too much to make friends that lasted more than a few days.

He was struck unusually speechless at Amie's next words. Maybe it was because he was so tired, but Kaz caught himself staring. The wink didn't help. It was borderline close to how Kaz tested others' interest, especially since he was more cautious with guys. But more than that, it was just hard to keep up with Amie. He talked like he and Kaz were best friends already, but responded so hotly to their opponents. Even the two interactions seemed completely different, Kaz could feel the underlaying level of intenseness in both. He had a feeling that intenseness could transfer in other interactions too.

Kaz let the other one handle the thug, falling into silent onlooker mode. Personally, Kaz had nothing against them. But if Amie was here for a job, he was pretty sure nothing would stand in his way of completing it. And besides... Kaz could learn more about the job through Amie's questions. If these men were part of a larger band causing trouble... perhaps Kaz would get involved too. He certainly owed Amie, at the very least.

Their previous opponent visibly flinched at the shouting. There was little point in playing dead now, so after Amie shook him a few times... the ice user opened his eyes hesitantly. "Wh-what do you want...?" He seemingly gave up, clearly cowed by Ambrose. Pinned against the wall, he didn't even offer token resistance. Trying to cast ice magic or reaching for his concealed dagger would pretty much only guarantee more pain at this point.

[Ambrose Wilder]

Amie personally made friends when he took a walk. He made friends when he got jobs and when people needed help. He’d helped a young woman in his guild install some things in her room. Some metal for hanging things, and a shelf for her stuffed animals. It was pretty cute. He also made friends when people dropped things and he carried it home for them. Maybe it wasn’t hard to become friends with Amie, he was a fairly happy guy and easy to get along with. He did have a home base though. He could go back there and be contacted there. It made things easier by far.

Amie said something pretty simple. He mentioned that their personal preferences on their names were more than just nicknames. Amie very strongly preferred his nickname only because of being identified. It was a really simple comment. Was it the wink? He caught stares from time to time because people didn’t understand him, but that didn’t mean he necessarily understood why he was being stared at. He wasn’t testing anything, just having fun. “Something wrong?” he asked. Oh well, no real time to wait on that, he had information to beat out. If necessary.

Luckily it didn’t seem like there would be necessary roughness with this guy. He was pretty much a pushover after being taken out by Kaz. He was so weak willed, and Amie hadn’t even personally harmed the man. When the man asked what Amie wanted he was happy to answer, “So, you’ve got some friends, right? Hideout someplace? You’re calling the shots here, but I’m preeeetty sure someone else is more impressive than you, and if not, you guys really aren’t that tough,” he said, sounding distracted by the thought, but really perfectly on task. He wanted to bang the man against the wall again, he was aggressive and violent and he knew it. Unfortunately this man wasn’t offering resistance, and Amie wasn’t going to hurt him if he was answering questions promptly. That wasn’t right, “So where do I find your friends? I hear they’re being all sorts of annoying to merchants around here.”

[Kasimir Sewik]

"N-no, nothing at all," Kaz quickly answered and looked away. Maybe too quickly. He'd realized he was staring and was trying to make it not awkward. The problem was, he hadn't exactly mastered all social cues yet. He was supposed to act more subtle or something. Sure he'd been a little surprised earlier, but nothing too extreme. Being called out on it was even harder, probably because he was overly eager to avoid offending.

Thankfully the task at hand provided a welcome distraction. The thug licked his lips, eyes darting nervously away from Ambrose, settling on Kaz. Maybe a silent plea for help. Not that Kaz's expression was particularly hard, but it was pretty blank. He had no plans on getting involved on his enemy's behalf. Especially if these guys were causing trouble around town... Kaz's own problems with them took a backseat to whatever they subjected the people of  Hargeon. The silence lasted an extra beat, the thug clearly considering what he should answer.

"You're not actually considering going there?" The thug decided on questions of his own. "You might've gotten the drop on us now, but there's way more than just three of us around town. One person wouldn't stand a chance - it'd be like signing your own death warrant."

"Actually, I was thinking I'd come along too," Kaz interrupted, more for Amie's sake than to actually explain to the thug. "I mean, you kind of made it my business and all when you jumped me." Plus, he did owe Amie. If this was a job of some kind, Kaz was happy to help him complete it. It was the least he could do. Although not in perfect shape, he'd at least be able to help Ambrose to some extent. At least his head felt better with each passing minute. "I appreciate the concern for our well-being, but you don't need to worry about that. How about you answer his question before we get impatient?" Kaz said more seriously. One of their opponents had already fled, so they would need to move quickly if they wanted to catch the others in time.

The man gave up quickly. "An old warehouse, dock fourteen," he gave the location. Kaz didn't know if he was telling the truth or not... but if he thought his friends could take Ambrose and Kaz, then perhaps the thug was willing to part with such information.

[Ambrose Wilder]

Well whatever Amie had done wrong to confuse Kaz, he hadn’t made it any better by asking. Oh well, it wasn’t really his problem. Kaz was nice and all, but Ambrose wasn’t in charge of making other people make sense. It they wanted to be vague and confusing, they had every right to it, and he wouldn’t push them an inch. As for the thug, he was looking at Kaz. Amie didn’t know why, he was being particularly merciful. Honestly, it would have not been in Kaz’ best interest to attack Amie right now. Amie was stronger, not injured, and seriously not into doublecrossers. He could take a bit of time to find out about that bounty if Kaz turned out to be a bad guy. Now, that didn’t mean Amie was turning him in, he really didn’t like bounty hunters, and it went against every fiber of his paranoia to turn in a bounty, but he was very vindictive. He didn’t expect Kaz to turn out to be bad though, so it wasn’t an issue.

“Goodness, my travel plans are my own concern, you’re not my mother, and you don’t get to tell me where I can and cannot go,” Amie said in an exaggerated tone of exasperation. Clearly he was into joking around, and he didn’t find this situation dire enough to tone any of that down when he found someone being stupid.

It was Kaz’ turn to speak up, surprisingly. When the thug doubted Ambrose capabilities, not that it really mattered, but he did…. Kaz spoke. He said that he was coming, or considering it. Amie gave a thoughtful that could work expression at the words. Finally, with that, the thug gave an address. “Well thanks buddy. And you don’t want to head there. I’m not exactly stopping for a housewarming present, so if you head over, your face won’t appreciate the mistake. ‘Kay?” he asked in his usual friendly tone. He dropped the guy and walked in Kaz’ direction, motioning for him to follow. “If you have a better grasp of the area than me, that’d be great. I’m going to wander around like an idiot for a while before I actually find the action. But I swear, I can wander at really high speeds if need be.” That was his comment, and he was sticking to it. This guy could do his part and be helpful, if he did know the area, or he could think Amie was a complete moron. Actually, both or neither were options. Amie wasn’t really that picky. He had a job to do, but he didn’t have to be sullen and miserable about it either.

[Kasimir Sewik]

The thug shook his head wildly. As soon as Ambrose released him, he stumbled away before breaking into an all-out run, leaving his unconscious companion behind.

Kaz chuckled a bit at Amie's last comment. Wandering around seemed like a dangerous idea, and wandering around at high speeds seemed like an even worse option. “Can't say I'm super familiar with Hargeon, but I do know where the docks are,” he offered. Considering that Amie was here for a job, he wasn't surprised to hear that the other man was unfamliar with the area. “It should be a simple matter of finding the right numbered area from there.” They were already close to the landing area for the ships, so hopefully dock fourteen wasn't too far away.

Kaz fell into step next to Amie. Wanting to avoid a repeat of the last events, Kaz kept them on the main path to the docks. In the daytime there were still quite a few people milling about to do their business; Kaz suspected that the fourteenth dock was away from the town's bustle. Also, he seriously hoped he was heading the right direction, especially after volunteering to lead them. Nothing would make him look more like an idiot than getting lost.

Thankfully the sea was an easy indicator of their right direction. Soon they were on the path next to the docks, passing by plenty of boats, ranging from cruisers, yachts, and fishing boats. The sections were labled according to numbers, helpful signs indicating their current position in port. They started at dock ten, walking past eleven and twelve. But the thirteenth section had been boarded off – devoid of any boats, perhaps closed in response to superstition, or simply an unused section of Hargeon. It was cut off from the rest of Hargeon with a metal fence, another sign reading 'do not trespass'.

“Hm... I'm guessing this marks the beginning of their turf, although their base is probably in the fourteenth docking area like he said...” Kaz frowned a bit. So he'd be trespassing again. That hadn't worked out very well last time. He cast a glance at Amie. Clearly his partner wasn't one to be concerned about such things. Well, they were here on business, so hopefully that was good enough reason to avoid unnecessary trouble with the law. Stepping up to the grated fence, Kaz hoisted himself forward, climbing to the other side. Already he could see a few abandoned buildings and other structures. There could be more enemies lurking about... were they taking on an entire game by themselves? Kaz hoped Amie knew what he was doing for this job...

[Ambrose Wilder]

The thug clearly didn’t want trouble, and ran off. Amie scowled at him. Sure, he was a jokster, sure he was having a good old time today, but he wore his emotions out in the open, and he had negative feelings toward people like that. People who were big and tough when they had a posse and a helpless victim. People who would no doubt crumble in a fair fight…. And in this case, definitely had. Oh well, he heard Kaz chuckling and it brought Ambrose back. He liked to make anyone laugh, as long as it was good natured. He didn’t even care if they were laughing at Amie for doing something dumb, as long as it wasn’t malicious, Amie loved laughter. Amie was a traveler, he was used to finding area that he was unfamiliar with, and it was nice to find someone who was least had some idea of where he was going.

“Thanks a bunch, you’re a peach,” Amie told Kaz when he agreed to help find their way. That was something people said, Amie didn’t too often, but sometimes, and legitimately because he liked how it sounded. “…. Now I’m hungry. Oh well, later,” he shrugged. Some people found his talking annoying. Some people thought that him saying the majority of the things that came to mind showed a lack of intelligence, or self-restraint. Well he never claimed to be smart, or have self-restraint, so he didn’t argue with them. However he didn’t think those were really the big indicators.

The two men walked together for a while. Amie wasn’t really saying anything. He figured there was a job to be done, and Kaz probably wasn’t feeling all that great. He thought that perhaps he should ask if Kaz was feeling better, after the beating and apparently being drugged. However Ambrose felt like Kaz could tell if he was alright or not… but in the end he asked anyway, “So, you feeling good enough to wander into bad guy land?” It wasn’t Kaz’ problem, even if he might be personally invested now, and Amie didn’t want him to get more banged up.

When they reached the gate Amie laughed a little. Kaz made a comment on their “turf,” but Amie had to add his two cents, “Oh, are you sure? I figure they just wanted to make their big club house a well-kept secret. No girls allowed or something,” he shrugged. That was not a rule, most likely, but in all likelihood, there would not be any girls there. He looked at his companion and saw how serious Kaz was taking everything. It seemed so exhausting, but Amie supposed he could stop cracking jokes for a little while.

A fun fact about Ambrose, that definitely came to his mind as Kaz took the time to climb up and over the fence, was that Amie could clear that fence with a jump. Nothing to do with his height, he just could, and probably carry Kaz over too, but he needed to conserve his magic. He probably could have gone without using it in the last fight, but it was always a good time using magic. What was a better time was not being caught somewhat helpless at the whims of others. Nope, Amie didn’t make it a habit of falling into that role. Just so long as Kaz didn’t turn into a ragdoll by the end of this, they’d be fine. A crafty group of enemies would have planted Kaz like a decoy. Or would have done the same with Amie. Very crafty, but Amie didn’t have that much faith in these guys.

He climbed over without much trouble and walked cautiously. He didn’t have any weapons to put his hand over, but he did have himself, and he was keeping that well aware of the surroundings. It wasn’t lost on him that if one goon had escaped early, people were probably already prepared for this.

[Kasimir Sewik]

A peach huh... Kaz had never heard that expression before, but assumed it must mean something good from Amie's context. He thought it sounded a little strange though, maybe because he couldn't picture Amie and peaches next to each other. The hunger comment caught him off guard too. Kaz really couldn't predict what this guy was going to say or do next. Hopefully helping him out with the mission would go better - Kaz had a feeling Amie was also confused by Kaz's reactions. Perhaps in the face of such a dominant personality, Kaz found himself unusually silent. Maybe it was because of his earlier fight too.

Although he was feeling better now, he was still more tired than he cared to admit. "It'll be okay," Kaz assured Amie again. The other guy must've really cared to keep asking. It was nice in a way, to be fretted over by a complete stranger. Yet at the same time, so oddly different than the tough side Amie had shown the thugs. "It was mainly the drug that took me out against those three, and my head feels clear enough now. I've been in a few scuffles lately so I'm not completely at my best capabilities, but it should be enough to help you. Besides," he reasoned, "I would've been in poor shape anyway without your help, if I get killed along the way helping you at least you gave me a few extra hours to live." He said it so casually it could have been a joke. Yet it actually wasn't; that was how his mind worked with debts. He would have been in a fate worse than death without Amie's help. So, being killed a little later wasn't a big deal for Kaz. He could say it casually because it honestly didn't matter to him.

Past the fence, the area progressively became more run-down the further they got. The area had probably been in disrepair for some time now, many of the buildings closed and abandoned. Soon the more populated area of Hargeon was far behind them. They were still walking when a strange glimmer from above caught Kaz's eye. He looked up at one of the buildings just in time to see a person - a man with a cowboy hat. Before he could contemplate how strange that was, Kaz noticed something more important. Namely, the glittering thing he'd noticed in the man's hand. "Lookout!" Kaz pushed Amie roughly to the side, rolling behind a building.

The area they'd just been exploded in a small plume of flames, the shot of a gunshot almost simultaneous. Kaz took a deep breathe from behind the building, dusting himself off. So they had a sniper of some kind, was that it? He doubted the man would be working alone - there were likely others in waiting. Kaz unsheathed his sword. Already he was considering their options. "I'm no good at long-range combat," he looked to Amie, wondering if the other had better options. Otherwise, it was going to be difficult to get close enough to infiltrate the building the gunner was stationed - and then storm the place just to get to the top. "Well, at least we don't need to look for them anymore..."

[Ambrose Wilder]

Being unpredictable kept things interesting, right? Actually Amie wasn’t that immature. Amie was not immature enough to think shock value was… value. Amie would eat the heck out of a barrel of peaches, until he got sick, then he would stop. Then eat them the next day. Amie loved to eat. It was soothing. And survival. So he wasn’t articulate enough to describe how eating was to him. Wasn’t it enough to say he felt “full”? Why did people need something poetic to feel alive? He lived. It was enough.

Being unpredictable was best, right? Social was all well and good. Making friends was great. They could stick, or they could not. In the end, survival…. That was what kept you alive. No question. Fact. Being predictable in a fight could get you killed. Sometimes you could win out, but it was best to avoid being predictable. It wasn’t something Amie had actually chosen to do, but perhaps it was something he learned without noticing.

When Amie asked if Kaz was alright, he got a normal answer. It would be okay. Not that it was. People said that like it helped the situation, but Amie didn’t necessarily think it did. Kaz explained his situation, which was all well and good until he neared the end. Amie’s face grew very serious when Amie mentioned being in fights lately, and if he got killed at least something. The something didn’t matter. Amie really, really didn’t like death. It clicked a few things in him to the on position, and he simply said “We’ll we’re not going to let that happen.” Amie didn’t do what he did to kill people, he did it for the opposite reason. To live. He was a guy who would gladly take a hit for someone else, and Kaz might be a walking punching bag, but Amie wasn’t in the business of letting other people take his hits for him. Once the statement was said Amie smiled a little and tried not to sound so serious.

He was busy being in between serious and friendly when someone shot at them. Another thing Amie didn’t like guns. Also long ranged combat, but mostly guns. He grumbled a bit at that, more annoyed at himself for missing it than anything else. “Thanks,” Amie told Kaz. When Kaz mentioned not being good at long range combat Amie chuckled slightly, “At least you’ve got a sword, all I’ve got is my fists,” he admitted, balling one hand into a fist as an example. There was also that magic thing, and the fact that Amie could jump onto the roof of a building with one of his spells, but that didn’t need mentioned. “Its no fun to fight with a shooter, how about I go have words with the sniper, and you bet on them sending out more down here,” he suggested. He was sort of itching to go fight, but he was going to wait for some kind of a response to that.

[Kasimir Sewik]

Kaz really hoped that Amie had more than just his fists. Maybe not a physical weapon per se, but at least some kind of magic. Actually, Kaz would be more surprised at this point if Amie had no magic. Storming a base of brigands, jumping into alley fights... yeah, without some kind of backup plan, things could go real bad really quickly. Yet Amie seemed confident of his own abilities, which made Kaz think he had some kind of ace up his sleeve.

"Alright..." Kaz agreed. They had been behind this building for a few seconds now, and their opponents weren't following up immediately with another attack. That probably meant they had expected the sniper to get them with the first attack. If both he and Amie were limited to close range, it was going to be hard to close in on that sniper. There were probably enemies circling their position even now, to flush them out of hiding and into the gunner's range. "I'll act as a decoy and try to give you a clear shot to that sniper," he decided on their best course of action, given their abilities. It was probably not the original plan that Amie had meant. Before Amie could disagree, Kaz dashed out of the safe cover of their building, rolling to nearby rubble.

A gunshot fired. A bullet whizzed by painfully near his ear, his rolling trajectory literally saving his life. He took a deep breath from behind the rubble, steeling himself again. His hand unstrapped his sword from his back. Cautiously he peered out from the rubble. The building where the sniper was positioned - he saw movement in one of the half-barricaded windows. He also saw a flicker of a cloak somewhere to right of the building.

Another gunshot, and Kaz ducked. The bullet flew over his head, again painfully close. The sniper was frighteningly accurate, and it was taking all of Kaz's concentration to not get hit. At least none of the bullets had been magically based so far, except for the first one. Kaz could only assume the sniper was saving them for a better shot later. He dared to dash out again, this time heading for the safety of another abandoned building. With his sword unsheathed, Kaz was forced to run.

The next bullet was a bit slower in coming this time, as the sniper was still reloading from the last shot. Kaz barely got to the building in time, the bullet grazing his boot this time. He had no time to relax, as rounding a corner, he came face to face with a man. Nothing else even registered in Kaz's mind; he was back to his instincts of survival. He swung the two handed sword, slicing a serious wound across the man's chest. Without giving the man a second to recover, Kaz whirled around and slammed his fist into the man's face. He fell instantly. Hopefully that was an enemy. ...Yep, a bandana on the arm, just like the others - but then really, who else would be out here except enemies?

He felt the heat before he saw it. Instantly he ducked, flames soaring past him again. Dang, more enemies. Raising his sword again and preparing for a fight, Kaz saw two other thugs - one racing to close the ground, the other standing a few meters away... and in the open, likely in a spot the sniper from earlier would be able to see. Hopefully Kaz's earlier little dance had given Amie time to cover more ground. "Hm... hopefully I can back up all that talking," he watched his foes carefully, knowing that his body likely wouldn't be able to withstand another solid hit. He was going to have to play serious if he wanted to help Amie complete his mission.

[Ambrose Wilder]

Amie had more than just his fists, sort of, but a lot of the time he didn’t need it. His magic was there to enhance his physical skill, and his physical skill was good enough to knock some people out in one blow. His intention was to jump up on the building and dodge any upcoming shots while charging. Easy enough, a sniper wouldn’t be able to shoot on that short of notice anyway. Unfortunately Kaz has some kind of a death wish. He said he was going to play decoy and Amie’s immediate response was a firm, “No!” He wanted to keep this guy safe, that had been the reason he offered to get the sniper in the first place. So instead of being safer, he thought he should play bait? Amie reached over and tried ot grab Kaz’s shoulder to keep him there, but the man was running. Stupid…. it was just stupid, and reckless, and Amie could do that, but other people weren’t supposed to.

Ambrose let out a groan as he saw Kaz being shot at. Well, no time to waste, Kaz was already doing his, stupid, part, and Amie was going to make sure this ended faster. He looked up. The buildings were close enough. He sprung upward with his Long Jump spell and landed easily on the roof next to the one the sniper had been on. Now he could see the guy, taking shots at Kaz no doubt. Amie had intended to charge him to avoid taking shots, but now he was doing it to try to stop the shooting at his company. Amie wasn’t a poor host after all. He sprinted, toward the man, arms swinging as he went. He was reloading and got a final shot off at Kaz, but then he realized Amie was closing in on him.

He spun around and fired a very poorly aimed shot at Amie, unable to do much more than that with his limited window. It hit Amie in the shoulder, and he knew he was going to feel that more later, but at the moment he just kept running. He used his Power Up and his eyes flashed red for a second before he used his Power Strike to uppercut the sniper. His momentum would have carried him past, but instead Amie jumped up and managed a punch to the side of the man’s head, wanting to really drive home how much this man was not getting back into this fight. With the sniper out cold Amie looked at the gun. He would have done something to it, break it, unload the ammo, something. Unfortunately his disdain for guns didn’t really permit him to know much about them.

Oh well, he had better things to do. He couldn’t see Kaz anywhere, which concerned him, but he did see a man, standing there, looking at something, and he had that telltale bandana. Let’s make friends… Amie thought, before diving off the roof and tackling this guy, swinging a few very powerful punches, his power up still in effect, and then looking up from the man’s bloodied face. He seemed non-responsive, so unless he was playing, he wouldn’t be any more trouble. That was when he looked over to see Kaz and another enemy. At least Kaz had his sword out right now, but that man was using flame magic, and Amie had already seen Kaz get hurt, and then act reckless. He didn’t want to leave this up to Kaz.

“Hey, buddy, I’m way more fun to play with,” he said to the thug, standing up and starting to run into the room to try to divert the attack and avoid Kaz taking further harm.

[145/200 MP]

[Kasimir Sewik]

The man closest to Kaz took out a dagger. Compared to Kaz's Claymore, the difference in size was almost laughable. But weapon size was hardly an indication of who would win a fight - Kaz knew that acutely. Heck, he hadn't even decided to stick with a two-handed sword until fairly late in his fighting career. The flame user rushed in recklessly, swinging the knife recklessly, seeming to aim more in Kaz's general direction than his actual opponent. Flames flared along the knife, extending the weapon's natural reach. Kaz rose his blade in a slice to meet his opponent, only to cut the fire in half and whiffing completely - the flames reformed within seconds. His opponent smirked smugly; clearly this strategy wasn't going to work out for Kaz. Kaz danced away just in time to avoid getting burned by another attack.

Just in time to see Amie plow from the sky, into the other man's face. "Whoa..." Kaz stared, momentarily distracted. Had he really just seen that right? He'd missed the exact angle where he'd come from, but it almost seemed like Amie had flown from above. It seemed like the sniper was already taken care of, then. The fire user spun to the side upon hearing Amie, so that the thug half faced Kaz, half faced Amie. His eyes danced between the two of them, clearly unsure where he should divide his attention.

He decided on both. Raising both hands and pointing one at Kaz, the other at Amie, flames spewed from his hands. At nearly point blank range, Kaz didn't have time to dodge. There was only one way out of this. The earth before him twisted, rising up and forming a shield in seconds. The fire harmlessly scorched the hardened earth. When the flames finally subsided, Kaz plunged his hand into the earthen wall he'd just created. His own magic made his fingertips glow. The compacted earth shield, although as hard as metal, easily melted into sand at his touch. His hand tunneled all the way through reaching out to the other side, just close enough to reach the fire mage. Kaz's hand gripped the other man's shirt, before pulling him harshly towards him. With the wall still in place, save where he'd tunneled through, it was more or less banging the other man against a metal wall. The other was too shocked to properly react, his head and body slamming repeatedly against the shield. After a few more bangs, Kaz released him and retracted his hand from the tunnel.

"Phew..." Kaz took the time to catch his breath, glancing around to make sure there weren't any more enemies. "Is that all of them...?" There could be others hiding somewhere nearby. And he supposed they still had to find the boss of this group for Amie's mission to be complete. He walked around the earthen wall to rejoin his companion. It was then that he noticed Amie's shoulder. Apparently Kaz hadn't been a good enough distraction. "Dang, are you okay?" He knew it was a dumb question, but it came out automatically. Frowning a bit, he decided on a more practical approach. He looked down at the man he'd just knocked unconscious, and unstrapped the bandana around his hand. "Here, let's take care of that before we go any farther," he insisted. For the moment at least, it seemed like they might have a brief respite. The least he could do was patch Amie up, or at least well enough to keep going.

MP 170/200:

[Ambrose Wilder]

Amie’s egging didn’t seem to have any impact. He did seem fairly distracted, but he attacked them both. Amie didn’t have much trouble making a wide sidestep. Although he was good at close range fighting, that didn’t mean he couldn’t dodge a distance attack. He had more time to react, after all. So he made an easy side step and looked back at the fight, more to prevent being hit with a second attack. Primary attacks, for people with range, were good distractions for a more powerful attack when the target was unprepared. Ambrose tried to be prepared most of the time. Except naps. He was never prepared when he napped, that was the joy of a nap. Lazing around, falling on a bed, and becoming like a coma patient for about an hour. Mmm, naps.

So there was a fight going on, and Amie was absolutely focusing, really he was. Kaz had just been attacked and raised a handy earth barrio to, assumedly, avoid the fire blast. Amie hadn’t really been watching him at that second, busy moving out of the range of his own fire attack. The man reached through the wall and started banging this thug against it. Amie laughed. He was someone who enjoyed laughing, and he struggled with keeping a straight face at times. Although when he was angry he usually didn’t crack jokes, and he was usually very violent, when he was happy, which usually came hand in hand with combat, or naps, or bunny rabbits, or food, or… right, combat. He was usually pretty happy in a fight, because it meant he got to do something he enjoyed, and he was easily pleased.

When the man was down Amie stood there for a moment as Kaz came closer. “That was pretty cool, wish I could do that. It would come in handy,” he said, still sustaining his power up spell, even while his eyes weren’t flashing a different color now. Still, it would have been nice it Amie had something that could protect someone else, besides his own body. He did have a good shield, but it was only around him. “I don’t know, we should look around, how are you? Also,” he got serious for a second, “really… don’t be a decoy. That was the exact opposite of my goal, you’ll get seriously messed up running in front of a gun.” Speaking of which, Kaz asked about if Amie was alright. Why wouldn’t he be alright? Oh… the bullet in his shoulder? Well that was bleeding. I’ve got tons of scars, believe me, this one will fit right in.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, although Kaz didn’t seem to agree. He pulled the bandana off and mentioned patching it up. “Really….” he sighed, supposing he wanted some leeway with this guy later to check on how hurt Kaz was, “Alright, but there’s a bullet in there, and best bet’s wrapping it around my arm for the bleeding, and if I try to shrug my shirt off, that’s going to hurt, and it’s just ruining my shirt as we speak, and I only have so many nice outfits,” he said, ignoring his blood, other people’s blood, his sweat, and the dirt already on this outfit. He had to be lighthearted about it, otherwise he would be depressed in life, and that just wasn’t worth it.


[140/200 MP, sustained Power Up for 5 MP]

[Kasimir Sewik]

“Jumping insane heights seems pretty cool too,” Kaz pointed out. He hadn't seen exactly where Amie had jumped from, but he'd seen the landing. Considering that their sniper foe had stopped firing, Kaz was fairly certain Amie must've used the same technique to corner the opponent. Really, Kaz's magical abilities were far from impressive. They served their purpose, but compared to many other wizards in the world, Kaz was sub-par at best.

With bandana in hand, Kaz get a closer look at Amie's wound, while being lectured. He shrugged apathetically, placing his sword back on his back. “Speaking from personal experience, right?” Kaz pointed out. “I'm not the one with a bullet in my shoulder.” In the end, Amie had been in as much danger as Kaz was. All considered, Kaz was fairly certain he'd done a good job in their last fight, managing to take out opponents without sustaining even more damage. Amie's constant worrying was becoming slightly more than just friendly concern.

“I know you kind of rescued me earlier, but I'm stronger than you think. I don't mind taking a few hits, and it's going to take a lot for me to go down,” he defended. The look Amie gave him, that more serious stare whenever asking or saying something about Kaz's well-being... It was beginning to get on his nerves. Kaz maybe liked a little pity thrown his way, but at the same time, he wasn't a wounded animal, and couldn't bare to be treated as such.

He sighed, ruffling his hair slightly. True to Amie's words, there was a bullet burried in the shoulder. Kaz lacked both the tools and technical know-how on how to remove it, without causing even more bleeding. Besides, they likely didn't have that much leeway room to rest. “I'm just going to wrap it  up to try and stem some of the bleeding, but you'll need to get it treated more properly when we get back,” he said. The bandage would be makeshift at best, but hopefully it would last until they finished their business here.

Kaz had just finished tying it when their temporary respite was interrupted. Strange cracking sounds resonated around them. Overgrown vines snaked into their temporary shelter. Kaz whipped around, quickly unsheathing his sword again. Laughter echoed around Kaz and Amie, but Kaz couldn't pinpoint where exactly.

“You little snots,” an unknown voice sneered. “If you think you can just waltz into my territory and beat up my men, then get away scot-free, you're dead wrong.”

Kaz watched the vines grow closer, at the same time scanning for the location of their hidden enemy. It sounded almost like it was coming near them somewhere. A few feet away, he could see a clump of vines bonded together. The smaller vines invading seemed to originate from that single spot. Perhaps that was where their mystery opponent was hiding? He hadn't even seen it earlier – it must have grown quickly during their little break.

“I'll try and clear a path for you to get a good shot,” Kaz rose his sword. Magical plants or not, they were still plants, and wouldn't stand against his sword. If Amie could follow up immediately with an attack, their opponent would likely be hard pressed. Kaz really hoped this was the last guy; this constant fighting was starting to get to his stamina.

[Ambrose Wilder]

“I’m just a fighter, its all I do…. Well, not all I do, but its what I’m good at,” he shrugged, then closed his eyes because shrugging apparently hurt. That was unfortunate, but he couldn’t have helped it. Amie didn’t feel like he was lecturing. He’d found someone who was injured, and he was trying to look out for him. It wasn’t his fault that this man was incurring himself more harm or disliked Amie’s concern. Kaz shrugged at Kade’s comment and asked something about personal experience, “Not really…. Well…. Not for a long time,” he said, thinking about how he’d been a decoy as a child. That hadn’t been… as dangerous… right? No one was shooting at him. He shook his head, not wanting to think about it, he’d done enough of that already.

“Fine,” Amie said, sensing the irritation from Kaz, “if you’re strong, you can fight. I just don’t like decoys. You or anyone else, ah nevermind,” he said, waving his hand. The not injured arm. He didn’t really want to get into it, it didn’t seem like Kaz liked or understood what Amie intended, so there was no use arguing with him. They had other things to worry about, like that bullet. He used his other arm to pull the collar of his shirt over enough to show the wound. It required unbotton it enough, as that shirt wasn’t going to give any. He had enough scars he was happier with the shirt on, but it didn’t matter, at least his chest wasn’t covered in purple bruises.

He let Kaz bandage the wound up. “Thanks, mate,” he said as he cheered up some more. Of course while he was starting to button his shirt up some more, struggling to do it mostly with one hand, he heard noises. “Aw c’mon, it isn’t even that much money,” he joked. Plants were growing toward them, and as much as Amie liked his hands, they weren’t much for cutting down plants. The threat just made him chuckle, “That’s not even a good line,” he said mostly to himself. He probably did have too much fun.

Kaz offered to cut a path, or clear it, Amie assumed cut, and Amie nodded. He didn’t feel like he could punch this man with his full power yet, but he could definitely cut down his magic. He was prepared to follow up Kaz’s attack with his own. This was his style, a burst of everything, not this drawn out combat that caused him to plan things out. Where was the fun in that?

[135/200 MP]

[Kasimir Sewik]

Kaz did agree with Amie on one point - this was starting to get pretty tiring, maybe even a bit ridiculous. This guy better be the last guy... for real. Kaz waited for Amie's confirmation this time, at least trying to be less of a decoy and more of a partner. But he didn't wait any longer past that. The vines were quickly closing in on their position, and eliminating places they might escape to.

Kaz sprinted towards the collection of vines. The plants rose up against him, but his two-handed sword made short work of them. The writhing vines ceased moving once cut in half, but more rose quickly to take its place. Kaz wasn't quite fast enough to chop much faster than its regeneration rate. He pressed on regardless, hoping that he was at least giving enough time for Amie to get through as well.

Unfortunately, despite his little speech earlier, Kaz was actually panting pretty heavily. All this fighting was getting to him, and he hadn't been in the best of condition before he met Amie. Just swinging the Claymore so many times and so quickly was quickly consuming what stamina he had left. But he couldn't go down yet... Just a few steps closer and they'd be there!

One of his tired swings failed to completely cleave one of the vines. Not realizing his mistake, he continued forward, only to have it wrap tightly around his ankle. It yanked him back harshly. Completely losing his balance, Kaz fell gracelessly to the ground. The vines quickly wrapped over his hand first, trapping his sword hand. He sat up halfway , snapping some of the vines covering him, but his hand was wrapped to thickly to extract his sword. "Don't worry about me - go!" He urged Amie, hoping the other was close enough to land a substantial blow.

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