link
Last of the Shadow Foxes: 6 Justified

Ellinia Harbour was crowded at this time of year. With the holiday season moving in, families were travelling to Ludibrium with their eager children. Emerson gazed wistfully at the sight of civilisation. Gavrilla stood him, shrouded by a Black Giles cape.
“Back to humanity.” The hermit muttered.
“I almost forgot what it was like.” The assassin replied, pulling his Black Justice cape closer to his body. Gavrilla smiled knowingly. Ophelia returned from the ticket kiosk. Her White Seraph cape contrasted with the rogues’ capes.

The ranger distributed the tickets among the party. There were ten of them. Emerson, Gavrilla, Mali, Gates, Raynard, Fortune, Herself, and three other rangers: Clarity, Verity and Purity. Gavrilla was disappointed that one of her best scouts, Sawyer, was not present; though she knew that reconstructing his mauled face was a priority. She thought of taking Cosmo, since her clerics had healed him up, but his marriage was approaching and the guild leader wanted the bandit to take time off before his big day. Must remember to send a gift, she thought.

Their ship, the Azure Vesper, was preparing to leave. It was the earliest ship they could take and the party shuffled in with other latecomers. The cool sea breeze swirled around them as they made it down the aisles. Excited children bustled about, clutching their Panda Dolls and playing with Toy Trojan Swords. Their protective parents reeling them in if they wandered too far away. The captain strode onto the deck, his Blue Napoleon fluttering behind him.
“Good Morning all, what a splendid day for travelling. I am Captain Raekwon and I welcome you aboard my ship, the Azure Vesper. We will be departing shortly, so check that you have everything. The voyage will be half an hour; refreshments will be served in fifteen minutes. I hope you enjoy your ride.”
Captain Raekwon did a bow then returned to the ship’s bridge.

Emerson was sitting between Mali and Clarity. He noticed that Mali was nervous. The usually calm demeanour was replaced with one of anxiety. The priest was constantly wringing her wrists and glancing around. Emerson raised an eyebrow.
“I have a fear of flying.” Mali muttered, flexing her fingers. Emerson laughed.
“Shut up, we’re all afraid of something, my fear is flying.” Mali argued, a serious look on her face. That expression made the assassin laugh harder. Mali just frowned. Emerson calmed himself down and stifled a chuckle.
“Well, I’m afraid of slimes and bubblings.” Emerson admitted. Mali looked at him incredulously.
“You’re joking.” She finally murmured.
“Sure as sure.” Emerson confirmed. “They look so weird and when you touch them, it feels strangely like jelly and I have the sudden urge to eat it.”
Mali gave a faint smile and stopped looking so anxious. The white clouds drifted past as the ship powered through the air. An irregular beat filled the air as a child played with their Toy Drum.

About twenty minutes into the flight, a rogue dressed in a Blue Sneak and Blue Loosecap stood up and asked for the captain. A flight attendant escorted him to the bridge. Moments later, the rogue burst out of the bridge with the Captain at dagger point. The light glinted off the Forked Dagger. With a shrill whistle, five other rogues appeared dressed the same as the first, with the exception of the two females wearing a Sky Sneak instead.
“All right scum, hand over your valuables or the Captain here kicks the bucket.” The leader roared, pulling the dagger closer to Raekwon’s throat. Three of the rogues on deck produced sacks whilst the other three kept guard.
“C’mon, we haven’t got all day y’know.” A scar-faced rogue yelled, thrusting his bag at the nearest passenger. The brown haired female rogue kicked a man over.
“I says valuables in the bag, not to dangle it in fronts of me face!”
The man whimpered and dropped his pouch of mesos into the open sack.

Gavrilla tensed and looked around to Ophelia. The other guild leader was gripping her bow so tightly that her knuckles were white. The hermit then scanned the deck for the rest of the party. On the left were Mali, Emerson, Clarity and Purity. In the middle with her were Verity, Ophelia and Gates and Raynard. Fortune was by himself on the right.

Fortune burned with fury. His skin prickled and a vein in his eye throbbed. This robbery was almost identical to one when he was just a child. The memories came flooding back. He was travelling with his grandmother to Victoria Island. During that fateful voyage, several bloodthirsty warriors held up their ship. In the ensuring struggle, Fortune’s grandmother was stabbed in the ribs and bled to death. The taste of blood entered his mouth and the bandit realised that he had bitten his tongue.

Kenda smiled. This was easier than Sagar had said it would be. All these fools, vacation season too, they should have known better. They were waiting to be robbed. Arnon was proceeding down the file, the bag half-full by now. Kenda moved up to keep an eye on the passengers. She noticed a man sitting in an aisle seat. What caught her eye was that this man was deathly pale. Shock, Kenda reasoned and went over to aggravate the condition.

Fortune glanced up and saw a blonde haired rogue approach him. Within the blink of an eye, he pulled out his red whip and wrapped it around the rogue’s neck. Then he jumped out of his seat and relieved the surprised rogue of her Forked Dagger. While throttling the robber, he flung the dagger laterally and caught the leader square in the shoulder. The leader released the Captain as the force of the throw sent him hurling to the deck.

Kenda eyes were wide. Her lips started to turn a livid blue as her circulation was cut off at the neck. She felt light headed as the blood drained from her face. She saw Sagar fall to the floor, she saw Strom running in her direction, she saw Arnon drop the sack of valuables and draw his dagger. She saw the horizon blend with the sky and the world blur into one as she finally died.

Clarity rose off her seat as soon as Fortune struck. She pulled back an arrow and let it fly into the back of a rogue. Mali also rose and produced a holy bow. She drew back the holy arrow and transfixed another rogue to the bridge door. Gavrilla flash jumped over the stunned passengers and landed next to the Captain. The rogue leader has recovered and lunged at the Captain. Gavrilla threw out her Maple Kandayo to deflect the thrust. The leader sprang back and avoided a backhand from the hermit. He turned to run when he suddenly saw Ophelia standing with her bow drawn behind him. The rogue leader smiled weakly and flicked his weapon across the ship. It sliced through the air and went through the starboard engine fan. The ship suddenly lurched, unbalanced by the sudden drop in power.

Sagar back flipped over the railing as soon as the dagger impacted on the engine. His opponents were thrown off balance. The leader grimaced. This had not gone well, with the unexpected resistance killing or maiming half his group. Taran passed in front of him, only to be cut down by a Maple star. Sagar let out an inward groan as he realised that he was a dead man. Oneida, his last member of the Sky Talons, was lying unconscious on the deck, probably from an unforseen blow to the head when the ship lurched. A red whip lashed out from his left and caught his neck. The leader staggered but continued to move. A second whip came from the right and joined the first one. Sagar collapsed and saw a shadow fall over him.
“We don’t tolerate people like you, you give the Dark Lord a bad name. Stealing from the children like that.” A voice told him. He managed to pull his head up to look at the speaker. It was an assassin, with amber hair and eyes. The speaker was holding one of the Sky Talons’ daggers.
“We can do this the easy way, or the hard way.” The figure spoke again. Sagar could not speak so he just spat instead. The figure bent down, face to face with him.
“Suit yourself.”

With that, Emerson heaved the rogue up and with the help of Gates and Raynard, hanged him over the side of the ship.
“I would have cut your throat inside the ship but there are children. And they’ve seen enough death already.” He whispered venomously to the dangling captive.
“So I’ll do it now.”
The rogue’s eyes widened in terror. Emerson did not hesitate. With a flick of the wrist, the blood wept from the leader’s neck. The crimson trail arched away from the ship, down to the reflective water below. When he was sure that the rogue was dead, he ordered the two bandits to drop his body. It fell.
Down.
Down.
Down.
Splash.

link
Last of the Shadow Foxes: 8 Apathy