The Coming Ashes
 

A Jaguar speeds down a curved road, going absurdly fast. The silver-haired man in the driver seat was very panicy, rambling about how they would get caught if he slowed down. The brown haired man, the calmer of the two, kept advising him to keep a speed limit, and not try and keep going 170 miles per hour. The two men had a brush with death at the hands of an unknown group an hour ago. The dark-haired man ordered the car to be pulled to a stop at the next town for supplies and ammo. So it was done. The two had pulled into a gas station in a small town, with a train that had just docked into the station.

"I think we should ditch the car and board the train, I don't think they'd catch us that way. Do you, Kedik?" Muro, the silver-haired man, walked into the gas station with Kedik and browsed around for food.

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Kedik picked up some drinks and junk food. "That's not a bad idea." Kedik pays at the counter. "But do you know where the train is headed?"

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Muro shrugs as the two walk out the door, some of the people of the town following them with their eyes. "Does it matter? We just need to get as far away from Pasadga and this place as we can. They still think we kidnapped the Queen so untill we somehow prove our innocence..." Muro starts to eat a candy bar and pays for two tickets on the train. "...Then we're screwed."

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"You're right." He takes his ticket from Muro, then looks back at the Jaguar, smiling at the message he carved in with a rock. 'Keep running, bitches.' Kedik boards the train behind Muro. "Come on, let's get our own booth."

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Muro and Kedik walk into their booth and sit across from each other. Muro looks out the window. "We need to figure out who all was hired to hunt us. And especially who that group was in the armor."

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Sander takes a seat in the passenger car of the train he just boarded. He is looking at a piece of paper referring to the bounties he's after. This one shouldn't be too bad, everyone else will be running themselves rampant over these guys they will miss the obvious facts....I though, I'll take the good long look and find em before everyone else.

Sander stares out the window the train car, thinking about what his first move should be. Its not like these guys are just gonna fall into my lap.....now that would be irony.

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Kedik closes the door on their booth tightly, so noone outside can hear them. He then pulls out a bag of tobacco, and some rolling papers, and begins to roll himself some cigars. "The best cigars are hand-rolled." He lights it and takes a puff, then offers Muro one. "I'm not sure who those guys in armor were, could they have been Pasadga's Army? Hmm, we should check the locan newspaper to see the deal on the Queen."

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Muro gladly takes the cigar and lights it with his own zippo. He blows a cloud of smoke from his mouth and shakes his head. "There was a patch on one of the men's arms. It had an elephant with the word 'Berbers' written on it. This wasn't Pasadga." Muro moved some hair from his face and the train began to move, slowly at first but it began to steadily pick up speed.

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"Berbers, huh? Never heard of them. Why do we have third parties out looking for us?" He sighs. "I'm gonna go buy a newspaper from the front of the train, I'll be back." Kedik sticks the cigar in his mouth, then walks out of his booth, making his way up to the front of the train.

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Sander looks up at the man walking to the front of the train. My god he looks familiar, and damn ugly too.....It hits him. God damn its him! Yee haw! He's ****in mine!

Sander jumps up with both revolvers in hand and yells. Reach for the sky! Sonny boy! Sander starts firing off shots at Kedik's feet to keep him from running but misses. Damn the boy knows how to dance.

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Muro, who had heard the gun shots, had come out of his booth and walked up behind the man, Sander. He took out his large revolver, Memory, and clubber him in the back of the neck with it. Knocking him unconcious. He then drug the man into the open booth wich was apparently his. "Looks like we ain't alone, eh? There may be more hunters here."

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"Man, what are the odds." Something catches Kedik's eye in the booth of hte man that attacked him. "Look at this. . . bounty papers! A group called Axis wants us captured. . . it even has pictures of us, and the video of us kidnapping the Queen!" He looks up at Muro. "It says here that the Queen is dead, so thats probably why we have extra forces after us." He puts the papers down. "Come on, let's get out of here." He walks out of the booth, making his way back to their booth.

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Riki, also seated on the train, but in a seperate capartment from Muro and Kedik, boredly flips through some bounty papers. An article about the Queen's death catches her eye. She scans it briefly and stops at the mentioning of the Axis. She stares at it in amazement. Quickly she looks back up at the pictures of Kedik and Muro. "I'll find these two...there's got to be some sort of bounty on their heads. But, in the meantime, I'll face off with the Axis and get the revenge Rikali never had the chance to take. I just need to find these two."

The commotion on the other capartment catches her attention. Getting up, she walks to the other capartment and opens the door, revealing Kedik and Muro heading towards her. "What luck." She idles in the doorway, waiting for them to get to her.

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((Introducing Alyssa))

Meanwhile, up on the rooftop, the peace seemed absolute. Only the faint noise of the traffic far below disrupted her concentration. Apparently, her target had been known to seek out places to just sit and watch the world go by, and this seemed to be the best of these places. A high-caste vampire like herself could survive in the sun, but it wa still not regarded as too healthy, due to the fact it still drained much of her power. Still, there was plenty of shadow here, and the target didn't seem to be too deadly.

A few moments later, the door to the roof opened and her target stepped out. She almost had to supress a laugh. This was what she'd been offered a blank cheque to erase? A short, pale, haggard looking man walked past her hiding place, worryingly looking straight at where she was hiding. However, he walked on, evidently not having seen anything.

He stepped out onto the rooftop, revelling in the slight breeze and the absence of cares. Towns and cities were places he never felt at home, large polluted hellholes. Still, one could blend in nicely in one. The problem being that anyone who you were looking for, or was looking for you, could also hide. He'd had the feeling he was being followed for a fair while, but tired to dismiss it. After all, he was the one doing the hunting. He walked past an area hidden in the shadows and something briefly caught his eye. Someone's evidently trying to hide themselves. Oh well. So be it.

He stood on the very edge of the roof and took a deep breath. He glanced back at her hiding place a few times, enough to make her worry. Well, if he wants to do things the hard way, that's just fine. Unsheathing Thanatos, she stepped out into the harsh sunlight behind him.

You're more astute than you look, Sparky.

Don't flatter yourself. You're lucky that you're still alive

With a quiet laugh, she pointed Thanatos' handle at him, and a blast of red light arced towards where Hayate stood, blowing a huge chunk out of the roof and showering debris onto the street dozens of stories below. A wry smile spead across the vampire's face as she walked to the smoking crater and peered in.

Hm. Who'd have thought the young man had no blood in him?

A faint noise, like a boot treading on gravel caught her attention and she whirled round, bringing Thanatos down in a massive swing.
...
The scythe's red glowing blade stopped a few millimetres from Hayate's skull, caught between his hands.

What?!

A vorpal bladed scythe? You are a professional. Anything else you'd like to show me?

Don't you dare patronise me!

She leapt back a few paces before charging at a speed no human could match, scythe swinging in a complex dance, yet the impassive Hayate always seemed to be one step ahead, effortlessly walking away from her charge, while never seeming to be struck by the blade

What in the bloody Hell are you?!

I am Hayate. That's all

Don't act funny with me! I'll~

At that point, the shouting match was interrupted by a group of armed guards investigating the explosion bursting through the door to the roof and being rather surprised by the sight of a scythe weilding woman screaming a seemingly unpeturbed man in black. They raised their weapons and were about to order the two to stand down when the vampire rounded on them and spoke in a strange tounge.

Hey Sparky, how do you think you can do against me and a police team?
KILL HIM!

For the first time, Hayate looks almost worried as the guards open fire with a variety of weapons, all with the same glazed look on their faces.
From the vampire's point of view, the air around Hayate was filled with dust and shreds of flying fabric which eventually covered the guard team itself. After a fair while, the sounds of gunfire died away, but eleven shots rang out in quick sucession after the team ceased fire.
As the dust died away, a ruined television aerial with a few strips of fabric on it became visible, as did the prone forms of four guards.

I really liked that coat, you know? It was like a part of me.

You? How?! Damnit!

With a faint sigh, Hayate raised one of the revolvers he was holding and casually pulled the hammer back. The vampire smiled at the thought of him using such a feeble weapon on her, until he swung it down to her stomach and fired. The agony was unbearable as the enchanted holy round blasted clean through her stomach and out the other side. She collapsed to the floor clutching her stomach, in too much pain to think of anything.

See you around, vampire. We'll have to do this again sometime.

An hour after he'd left the roof, she finally felt herself fit to move, and dragged herself to the still form of one of the guards. Despite having three bullets in him, he was still breathing, evidently merely unconcious.

What in the name of..? He must have got 12 of those things just to use on me.... damn.

With that sobering thought, she began to feed, recovering her strength. Next time, she'd be ready.

((Expect a pile of edits when I get back on tomorrow. :lol: As for now, Ta-ta. It's very late and I'm tired))

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Sander wakes up in the back of the train, his vision still blurry so he can't tell if anyone else is in the room. All he can discern is his bounty papers are in a pile on the floor. His vision slowly is clearing up.

Ugh....what the hells goin on....

He checks his pistols to find each of them have 2 bullets out of the chambers of each weapon. Hrm, I must of fired at the bastard.

Sander starts to get up and reloads the revolvers. My head feels like it did so often when dad came home....

((i gotta develop this character somehow :D))

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Muro walks up to Riki and looks her over, taking his finger and moving a strand of hair from her face. "Hello lady! Could you move please? My partner and I are kinda in a rush so if you would excuse us we have a lot of moving to do..."

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Riki stands to the side, allowing them to pass. As the walk by her, she speaks up. "So the Axis are after you, right?"

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Kedik looks back, not wanting anymore trouble he says, "We don't know what you're talking about. Leave us alone." Kedik then tries to push Muro forward to hurry him along.

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Sander stands up and his vision finally clears. Damn I could go for a cold one right about now. Now, a gun makes too much noise, and ain't safe to use in a train car like this....

Sander looks back and forth in the car and finds a nice crowbar sitting in the corner. All those years of baseball now come in handy. Sander silently moves up the train, hiding his face, and his crowbar, he comes up behind Kedik and slams him in the back with the flat side of the crowbar.

You dirty ****ing bastard! I had sunburn where your friend hit me!

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Kedik falls forward from the unexpected attack. His back muscles tense up, and he rolls over, seeing Sander. He struggles to get up, and notices the crowbar in his hands. "Who are you?!" Kedik was trying to stall, the only weapons he had were his guns, but he knew he couldn't use those, as they moved down to the more crowded part of the train.

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Sander swings at Kedik several more times WHILE speaking to him. He talks in short busts due to his breathing focusing on the swinging. I'm someone your not going to like very much, under better circumstances, I would be your friend, but I'm being paid a very pretty penny to capture you! Its nothing personal really, just buisness, now for gods sakes pass out! Sander continues to swing at him with the crowbar. Missing every few swings. But since he fell in such a small space, Kedik doesn't have much room to really move around.

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Muro, who was held back from Kedik and Sander by the crowd, simply sighs, hoping his friend would live up to his reputation and take care of himself. He couldn't do much else at the moment. "Well, we dunno, ma'am. All we know is we were framed by someone for kidnapping the Queen of Pasadga."

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Kedik keeps moving back, trying to lighten the blows with his arm, but he knew if he kept it up he'd only break his bones. He needed something to block with. "Who sent you?!"

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Sander continues wacking away at Kedik.Some group called the Axis, all I know is I'm gettin money. Like I said, nothin personal man. Sander starts asking him questions while swinging. So did you actually do it?

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Kedik thought to himself, 'Who is this Axis group?' and continued moving back. When Sander asked if they really did it, this angered Kedik and he found an opening in his swings, so he took it, pushing Sander back and away from him. "We didn't kidnap anybody!"

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Sander ducks down quickly in case the bullets are ment for him. He now turns the crowbar over the the pointed side which could puncture Kediks body on a whim. Boy, your friends causin you a damn whole lot of trouble...I'd tell him to stop if you wanna live.

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Kedik catches his switchblade, pondering his next move. Wait a minute... He pulls out his shotgun and cocks it, aiming at Sander, ready to fire. "My friend helped more, he fired shots, now I shouldn't have to worry about firing my own shots. Now, put the crowbar down before I blast you away"

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Sander, being a smart man. Puts the crowbar down, and backs away, and gives a sarcastic bow towards him. Sir, you may now leave at your leisure, please watch your step.

Sander stops being sarcastic towards him. Your friends slow, and is holding you back in a fight, he should have just killed those folks and helped you five minutes ago, I'd drop him like a bad habit. I'd even join you if you left him, being a bounty hunter is no damn fun. But alas, that shall not happen....

Sander starts walking away and closes the top of his revolvers holsters and steps into another car on the train, sits down, and tries to take a nap. Kids these days...

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A large hand rips through the top of the train car and grabs ahold of Muro, ripping him up and outide. Once on the roof of the car, he's tossed back and nearly off the train.

A large man stands, cracking his knuckles. "Get up, I ain't done yet."

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Muro shrieks like a girl as he his tossed nearly off the train. "Who in the hell are you?" Muro shakily gets up and points Memory at the towering individual, ready to shoot.

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Sander hears all the gunshots and the other noise. I'm sittin the rest of this out, if it comes to it, I'll just kill the other hunters and keep the bounty heads for meself.

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"I'm Onaudon, and I'm here to collect on your expensive hides, complements of A-" Shotgun blasts rip throught the train, unfortunately they completely miss Onaudon. "....****ing nitwit."

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"Well pretty soon our hides won't be worth much, because we didn't do a damn thing, so if you'll excuse me I'll be going now..." Muro fires at Onaudon's shoulder.

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Kedik runs down the train cart, trying to find a way to the top of the train. "Damn, how could things go so wrong so quickly? We just got on this train!"

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Sander leans back in his chair. Speaking to himself. Now this is just getting annoying, when the **** will this train get goin....I'll go ask the conductor...

Sander walks to the front of the train, just plain ignoring all the commotion and tells the conductor to get movin or he'll get killed.

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((Starting it up again...))

Kedik had been looking around frantically for a way to the top, he finally finds a ladder leading up to a hatch in the roof of the compartment. He climbs up and looks around for Muro and whatever it was that pulled him up. "Muro!"

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Onaudon is knocked back and winces. However, he soon shrugs off the wound as if it didn't hit him. "Nice try, not gonna work though. See, that little piece of scrap ain't no gun." Onaudon aims his AK47. "Now, this is a gun." The mercenary grins, prepared to rip the two bounty-heads apart.

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