Serious: Swords for Hire

The man continued to throw his fist forward, expecting Iken to get hit by his blunt and powerful attack. Iken quickly countered, and in an instant he man had his arm cut horizontally, as well as some of his torso. The opponent fell to his knees in pain while the blood rushed out of his severed arm. His attempts to kill Iken had ended, and there was nothing he could do about it. Cat looked at the man from a fair distance whistling. There was a lot of blood leaving his body, and Cat couldn't believe it. In his world, that much blood was inhuman! And the blood is very red. Very, very red. Almost looks like wine. The big guy passed out after getting hit by the powerful attack used by Iken; he had just barely used his other hand to stop the supreme master sword before it hit his chest. Cat, in the other hand, sat on a rock not too far from the fight.

The stale bread he ate had a tiny bit of blood on it, but not enough for it to ruin the appetite of the hungry Cat. "Iken! Quick question, does blood kill someone? Because I just ate some of this bread, and it had a little bit of blood on it.. but I've never had to eat something with someone else's blood on it. So, is it, like, dangerous?" Cat looked confused with the bread on his palm. He had almost completely forgotten that he still had an enemy he had to fight. Cat had his sword sheathed on his left side. "I wish we had a good cook in the crew. Then I wouldn't have to worry about blood in my bread." While Cat spoke the big man laid on the ground, squirting blood. one of the drops of blood flew towards Cat and landed on the bread he had in his palms. ".. DAMN IT!" Cat threw the stale bread against the floor.

"I doubt it'll kill you if that's what you're asking. However it could make you sick, so I would air on the side of caution, my friend." Iken said as he pulled the sword out of the mans arm. With a sigh, he realized Cat probably wouldn't have any idea what Iken had just said. "Don't eat the bread Cat." he said a moment before looking at his bleeding enemy now laying on the ground.

Iken drove his sword into the mans chest and twisted it until the blood stopped squirting out of the new wound. He stood there for a moment before pulling out the sword and with a flick of his wrist he removed the blood from the weapon. Smirking at the three remaining men, Iken looked up and said, "The deal was dead."

"Hahaha! You're an amusing one!" exclaimed the lead of the group as he tried to cover his wide toothy grin. "How the hell have we not crossed paths before this? Someone like you would be a great addition to our crew. Heh you know what? We'll even let your friend join as a choreboy, so whatya say? Join us!" offered the man as his eyes gleamed.

"No." Iken said quickly without a hint of hesitation. "I intend to create something better than what your crew could ever become. You're nothing but third rate priates that haven't even made it to the Grandline yet." he told them what he thought without holding back.

For a moment the man looked like he was going to retaliate for what Iken had said. The vein in the mans head buldged, looking like it was about to pop and explode. However the pirate kept his composure. If he had attacke, he would only have proven Iken right. "You're a cocky little fucker, I'll give you that. I'll let you live, but know I could have killed you at anytime. In fact the next time we meet, YOU WILL DIE! One week from now, my entire crew will attack this island. We will plunder, rape, and kill everyone and thing all in the name, the name in which you have spat on today. Motherfucker...Iken...I'll remember your name!" yelled the man. He turned around and waited for his men to cast off. The entire time he stood looking away from Iken and Cat and out towards the ocean until he and the boat was out of site.

10/15

Cat didn't hear Iken, he was too busy in his own world of blood on bread. His mind quickly wondered away from the question he asked Iken and focused on the bread he had thrown on the ground. Cat was sad, and it showed in his face. A small tear left his right eye and dropped to the ground. The bread was ruined, and it was all because Cat had thrown it to the ground. Cat looked back at the men, and Iken, and heard Iken call the crew a 'third rate crew', which offended the captain. Cat looked at the enemy crew as they sailed away, after the captain claimed he'd return with many men to destroy the village where Cat and Iken resided in temporarily.
 
"Iken, those were two men that came with him, and they were kind of strong. Are there other strong people coming over? Are there two more members in the crew or a little more?" Cat didn't know exactly what happened, but he knew the general gist of it. He was going to return with all of his crew, but in Cat's thoughts he could only imagine the enemy with the same amount of crew members that he saw him with. So to Cat, he had two other crewmates to make his entire crew. Cat looked at the bread on the floor again, contemplating whether or not he should pick it up and eat it. But Iken told him not to eat it.. Cat vaguely remembered that part.
 
"Are we going to get some food? I don't like being hungry." Cat's stomach growled. He was definitely hungry, and it came out from his stomach like a monster had decided to dwell in his insides and let out a mighty roar.

Iken staggered for a second before he dropped his blade down to the ground and used it to distribute his weight.  Taking a deep breath Iken looked at his friend as he spoke.  "I don't know how many of them there are exactly.  However they are one of the bigger crews in the West Blue, so maybe thirty to fifty people.  The amount of people doesn't really worry me as much as the fact that there are probably people even stronger than that guy on board." Iken told Cat as he made his way towards the ledge he had fallen off of.  

"We'll get something to eat once we get back." he told his eager friend.  It was going to be a giant pain in the ass.  Iken was beaten all to hell and he had to not only climb the ledge, but he also had a decent hike back to the compound at the center.  Rocks from the top of the ledge fell down causing a small chain reaction that threw a bit of rocky sand at Iken's and Cat's feet.  Looking up to see what had caused it, Iken seen three men.  Two mercenaries like Cat and he, and the captain of the guard.  The head of the mercenary groups was standing above them.  

"What the hell happened here?" yelled the captain.  

"Pirates were scouting the island, we managed to drive them off; but they said they'll be back in force in about a week." Iken responded.  

"Goddamn it!  We need to prepare our forces and evacuate the main family." said the captain.  "Hey you." he said pointing at one of the man on his right.  "Go and raise the alarm, tell my lieutenant everything you were told!" braked the captain.  "You." he said pointing to the remaining man.  "Assist our two men down there.  Take them to the medical tent and make sure their wounds are taken care of." he said with the same bark he had before.  

The right hand man ran off as the left hand man slid down the hill towards Iken and Cat.  He lowered himself under Iken's left shoulder to help him up the hill.  Slowly they managed to climb the small hill.  Once at the top, the captain looked Iken in the eye.  "Stay in the medical tent after your injuries are dealt with.  I have some more questions for you." growled the man before walking off on his own.  Within ten minutes or so, the nameless mercenary, Cat, and Iken were all sitting in the M.A.S.H style tent hospital as a older man looked over their cuts and bruises.

11/15

Cat saw three strange men appear the moment the pirates sailed away. Iken apparently knew about the crew, and told Cat about the amount of men that might show up. Cat wondered how 30 men looked like.. he pictured ants. There were a lot of them in his head. Cat imagined a full out war. He couldn't beat too many men, at least not in his current strength. Iken talked to the men in the top of the cliff, almost like he was trusting them, and told them about the pirate attacking the island. Cat then heard the captain give his subordinates orders. One of them was sent to do.. stuff, while the other was asked to give them medical attention. Cat felt fine, however. One of the subordinates slid down and held on to Iken, he seemed to be helping Iken walk.. and Cat felt tired.
 
Cat saw how strong the man looked, since he was helping Iken walk and climb the cliff-like slope. Cat felt a little tired, cuz he was hungry, and decided that walking was too much of a chore. He ran, unexpectedly, towards the man and jumped forward eventually landing on the man's back. Cat then pointed forward, completely misreading the situation.. he assumed the man was hired to help them walk to their destination with minimal effort.
 
The man was shocked when he felt the sudden weight slam itself on his back, he even staggered to keep both Cat and Iken under balance. The man looked angry, a temple on the side of his head looked like it was about to pop.
 
"ARE YOU AN IDIOT?! GET OFF MY BACK!"
 
"I refuse. My feet hurt."
 
"BUT YOU JUST RAN TOWARDS ME AND JUMPED ON MY BACK!!"
 
".... I'm hungry."
 
"DON'T CHANGE YOUR MIND SO QUICK!!"

The man struggled to walk towards the tent. It took him twice as long as he should have with Cat holding on to him in the back. When they arrived in the tent they gave Cat some soda, and a few things to eat while they waited for Iken to get treated. The thing that seemed to calm him down the most though, was lollipops. They were the juicy kind. They saved these for children to make sure they behaved, they told Cat they'd give him more if he stayed quiet and listened to what they told him.

It took the doctor about thirty minutes to examine Iken and another twenty to completely treat his wounds.  After he finished wrapping the first bandage he stood up straight and sighed quietly.  "Well my boy." said the doctor trying to crack his back.  "The good news is, you don't  have any broken bones, however you're still beaten pretty badly.  In layman's terms your going to survive, but you'll be sore as hell for about a week.  My suggestion is, you take it easy in the mean time." the doctor ordered just as the captain walked into the tent.  

While the flap of the tent was open from the captain walking through, Iken could see men running by.  From the small glance he was afforded, it looked pretty chaotic out there.  It made Iken wonder just how strong that specific pirate group was.  He knew that they were anywhere from thirty to fifty men strong, but there were at least a good 100 people working on the island.  For such a small island, even for a rich family it was strange they had so many men.  No matter how suspicious Iken was, he knew that it'd probably be a good idea to leave the island before it actually came to the point where the mysterious nature of the small island was revealed.  

"Thanks to you two we now know the identity enemy that's been targeting us for the last month.  As a reward, I'm promoting the two of you to interior patrol, so basically you'll be patrolling the main house where the nobles live.  Tomorrow you'll be assigned a map with the layout of the manner with your patrol routes marked.  However for tonight you'll rest." the captain said in his gruff voice.

12/15

Cat looked at the man, confused. Apparently Iken and Cat were now bodyguards.. Or something. He was too busy sucking on the lollipop to care, it was strawberry kiwi. Cat snuck in a blueberry lollipop so he wouldn't get too much of a craving in the near future.  So far he loved this flavor. He looked at Iken a little confused. What were they going to do now that they had a small job? Cat liked being famous. He looked at the captain too, with a weird face. Almost interested in something unknown. "Do nobles pay a lot of money? How much?"

While Cat said this he blinked with his eyes half open in the first place. Cat usually squinted a little while speaking to people, it went with his 'cat eye' routing. His long sleeved white shirt had some blood on it too, now that Cat noticed it. The blood seemed to have splattered a little through his body. His short pants that reached bellow his knees looked baggy and a little dirty too. The blood tainted it, so there was no cleaning it either. The white shirt Cat had will probably have to be bleached or something, not that Cat knew that.. all he knew was that dirty clothes needed to be cleaned; Cat wanted to try to clean it later on.

"Okay, I understand. We'll be there tomorrow." Iken said leaning back in the bunk he had been sitting in. No matter how many times he thought about it, something didn't quite feel right. Their reward, with the upcoming invasion almost seemed more like a death trap. If the pirates were stronger than Iken had originally imagined then guarding the house when the invasion began would be a bad thing. At least if they were outside on the frontlines there would be a possibility of escape. The walls of the mannor may have seemed safe, but if they had any confidence in it at all the nobles would never had left in the first place. A few thin wooden walls were no shield against a horde of blood thirsty pirates.

"Pay? The patrols on the main grounds do pay a little more, but not much." retorted the captain to Cat's inquiries.

[The Next Day]

With all of the thoughts jumbled inside of his mind, Iken was unable to come up with any real plan of action for the day or their eventual escape. Iken passed out without coming up with anything. Waking up the next morning he dressed himself before taking one of the pea soup green blankets. He took the blanket along with some string and fashioned a makeshift sheath for his sword. Tying the blade to his side, Iken went to wake Cat before heading out to receive their orders.

13/15

Cat stayed on a chair watching Iken think for the entire day. He didn't have much to do, so his mind wondered through the tent and towards Iken. He didn't know what Iken was thinking about, however, what he did know what that Iken was acting strangely. Usually by now he'd be walking around, or getting drunk. Cat was confused, but he continued to suck on his lollipop until Iken went to sleep. Bored, Cat decided to sleep on a nearby bed that seemed to have nobody on it. Cat took off his boots and laid on the bed with one hand under his head, he didn't have a pillow in this bed for some reason.

The next day Cat woke-up shortly after Iken shoved him a little. Cat woke up while looking around in a sort of daze. His eyes were half close das always, but he looked more spaced out then usual. He put on his boots, slowly, and stumbled to get up in a normal manner. Cat felt weak for some reason. He heard his stomach rumble and that's when he figured it out. He didn't eat yesterday even when he was extremely hungry. Right now Cat was so hungry he felt nauseous. While they walked out Cat tried to walk, wobbly, towards a stew that was cooked on top of a barnfire. Someone stayed the night cooking a large pot, Cat didn't know for which group it was but he assumed it was for everyone.. especially him. Cat grabbed another smaller pot (because a bowl wasn't big enough) and poured himself about 20% of the larger bowl. Cat then slurped some of the hot soup, without using a spoon, and walked back towards Iken. Cat stayed beside him while the 'captain' talked while slurping. Cat's instincts, though, made him slurp the soup whenever he was bored or remembered that he was eating.. which was every time the captain talked in front of them. To the captain it would seem like Cat was going it on purpose, in reality Cat only did it whenever he remembered he was eating.. which was every time he got bored and attentive, which was every time the man talked.

While Cat was busy grabbing a bowl of soup, Iken grabbed himself a few pieces of bread and a chunk of meat.  The bread was hard and the meat was tough, but it was still something to eat.  After yesterday he needed to refuel before heading out.  Iken's injuries still hurt; after all he did fall off of a small cliff face first.  His brusies were pretty much hidden by his clothes, but a few on his arms were visible.  Despite the pain and discomfort, Iken trudged on gulping down his meat and bread followed by a pint of ale to relieve some of the pain.  

Still munching on whatever they could find Iken and Cat were met at the front of the manor by the captain of the guards.  He handed both Iken and Cat a map that detailed the layout of the house with each room given a specific code name.  A broken line was also draw on the map to indicate the route they were supposed to take when doing a patrol.  This was almost too complicated for the average person to understand without a little bit of thought.  The guard style in the manor and outside were completely different.  One was uniform and thought out while the other was just a free for all.  After studying the map and orders for a while, Iken motioned for Cat to follow him.  There was one room in particular that peaked Iken's interest.  It was labeled "Vault Room."

14/15

Cat saw Iken drink alcohol and more of his meat and bread. All Cat had was soup. Eventually Cat finished the soup and watched as Iken pointed to a certain area in the map. To Cat they looked like scribbles on a sheet that had other lines. Iken's finger pointed directly at a random area in the map that Cat didn't understand. Cat drank the last of the soup and threw the plate against the ground, smashing it. Was it necessary? No. Did Cat enjoy doing that? Yes. Perhaps the worst thing about this whole situation though, that Cat just realized, is that they had to do 'jobs'. Cat didn't like doing work in general, one of them included cleaning, forcing to march, and even guard duty in the ship.. or Crow Duty, as some might call it because they are in the crows nest.

Cat looked around and saw the men running around, then noticed Iken motioning Cat to follow him. Cat walked with Iken, noticing he was having a hard time walking.. he noticed this because Iken was limping. "Iken, are you alright?" Cat asked Iken, wondering how he'll answer when he was limping. Cat was very confused, he remembered Iken was hurt yesterday but he should have felt better by now. Cat usually felt better after a good nights sleep; although he did remember the doctor saying something about laying in bed for a week.. but Cat just assumed the doctor was dumb, because everyone felt better after a day or two of rest. Although in the last island it took a little longer.. maybe there was some falseness in Cat's logic

"Iken, Do you think they'll learn that we're famous?" Cat asked this question when they walked alone through the hallway, and Iken would know what Cat unknowingly meant. Cat thought his bounty poster was a picture that said he was famous, in reality it was a bounty of 17 million on his head. Cat likely won't get a bounty increase for awhile, because the marines have lost interest in acts of murder per head, but Cat's bounty, and Iken's, were very good for the blues section of the world.

He hadn't even noticed he was limping, that was until Cat mentioned it. Cat was pretty simple but it became pretty obvious to Iken that he cared. Iken turned his head to look at Cat while they were walking. "Yeah, I'll be fine in a day or two. So you don't have to think about it too much." Iken said so Cat wouldn't worry too much.

Once the two had walked into the manor, Iken looked at the map for a second before turning down the right hallway to the right of the entrance. "We should go this way." he said as he motioned Cat to follow. The mansion was large and decorated with a mid-evil type of theme. Glorious red carpets with suits of armor lining either side of the hallway were strategically placed to enhance the frames in which lavish paintings hung. Walking down the hallway, Cat once again questioned Iken. He had a valid point, if he had point in the first place. Iken's and Cat's bounties were pretty large for the blue they were in. However the island was full of people that looked suspicious as hell, Iken was sure more than a few had bounties on their heads as well.

"I don't think they'll know us from Adam. But if they start asking you any weird questions, just come and find me. Make sure you don't tell them we're famous or they might bother us with stupid things." Iken tried to explain keeping it as simple as possible. By the time he was done talking, they had arrived. Cat and Iken stood in front of a double wooden door that was locked with a cheap looking padlock looped through the handles on each door. He put his shoulder against the doors and with that he could tell the doors would easily break if the need be. The only problem was, they had no idea what was on the other side of the door. If only they could get on the other side without showing any signs.

All of the sudden, the sound of footsteps echoed down the hallway. Someone was coming towards Iken and Cat. Iken didn't know who it was, and that didn't really matter. They were standing around in front of the vault room and that would be suspicious enough for most. Iken grabbed Cat by the arm and rounded the opposite corner, they walked away quickly. "Shhh Cat." Iken said as they walked away.


15/15

Cat walked through the long halls of the manor. The area had a mid-evil feel to it, because there were knights on the walls and all sorts of things that Cat couldn't understand. People had full body armor, for example, which made some sense to Cat. It would mean less injuries, but it would also mean les movement.. which Cat didn't like. Cat was a naturally agile person, and had a very high perception of things. Combining this with his inability to think properly, or normally, and one has a very easily distracted individual. Cat didn't believe in armor, basically, because he believed in not getting hit. Although if it weren't for Cat's naturally resistant body he would have died long ago in his pirate adventures.

Iken stopped in front of a big door. He answered both of Cat's earlier questions, first he mentioned that he was fine and for cat to not worry about it. But even Cat noticed that he was in pain. He told Cat to not tell anyone about them being famous, as well, which Cat nodded. Iken was right, they didn't want people asking them for autographs. The last time people recognized Cat they ran him through the town trying to kill him, all of the stars received this treatment, apparently. Iken then grabbed Cat's arm and pushed him behind a wall while the others walked through. Iken told Cat to stay quiet. Cat took the que as a battle strategy, if these men were enemies then it would be wise to stay quiet. Although Cat didn't know that what Iken was planning. Cat did close his eyes, however, and focused on the noises around him trying to gather as much as the guards information as possible. If they didn't say anything then Cat wouldn't hear, but he thought that the most productive thing to do right now was to listen and wait for them to pass.

For the next few days the process repeated as Iken and Cat did their patrols while Iken tested the waters. Inside and out, for three days he searched for a way in to the vault room. He found nothing, it was an inside room with no windows. Even after all of their searching, he still had no idea what was even inside the room. It was frustrating, a possible small fortune could have been laying on the other side of that door and they'd never know if they couldn't get in. Everyday was the same thing for a while, until one day; the fir.....err.....pirates attacked.

Bells sounded causing the mercenaries to run around scrambling to take up position before the pirates they spotted arrived on shore. Iken and Cat were towards the back of the manor when the alarms sounded, it wouldn't take them more than a couple of minutes to get to the room where the pay was kept. He took Cat by the arm and ran towards the vault room. By the time the two reached the room the sounds of battle filled the air. Gun shots and the smell of black powder were strong and in the for front of Iken's mind. They needed to get their booty and get out of there before the manor turned into a death trap.

1/15

Cat waited days longer before Iken seemed fine. They took their time and memorized the routes of the home, even Cat got enough time to understand their walks. During the days there Cat tried his best to avoid eye contact with everyone else to avoid any recognition with his 'famous people' poster. It would be harder to recognize him if nobody took the time to stare at him. People saluted Cat and Iken as they walked by in the mornings for their shift. At night Cat would sneak by and grab some of their food and then walk back to Iken and Cat's tent to munch on the food with Iken. Cat could hear their conversations outside. He went to bed every night repeating this routine until the week ended, and then the enemy was among them.

Cat followed Iken after he held on to his arm and pulled him. Eventually they made it back to the vault that they walked through and investigated every day. Cat looked around, left and right, and then back at the lock. He could her the outside people dying, the sound of gunfire and the smell of gunpowder. Cat couldn't believe his ears, there was so much destruction.. the last time Cat saw this was when he was a village guard, and it was in a bar.. it wasn't a war. Cat looked at the lock, then Iken, before speaking in a calm tone.

"Are we going to look inside? What are we doing afterwards?" Cat didn't know why Iken was in front of the door, what he knew was that they had to either help or retreat. There was battle outside!

"You damn right we are. Once we're in there grab what I tell you to" Iken said. It was an instant later after replying to Cat, that Iken kicked down the two doors. The wood by the hinges shattered instantly causing the two doors to fall into the room with a thud. Inside the room was a large iron door covering an opening in the wall. To the right side, there was a monitoring station where video den den mushi monitored the grounds. There had to be den den mushi all over the island, at least thirty different screens showed what was happening. Sitting on the control panel there was a particular den den mushi that caught Iken's eye; it had the marines insignia painted on it.

"Jesus it's a fucking setup!" he exclaimed. None of them were safe anymore. Not the mercenaries, or the pirates, or even Cat and Iken, all of them were being targeted by the real enemy. They needed to get the hell out of there, however if they ran then; all of that time they spent would be for naught. "Damn it." he complained looking over the iron door blocking them from the treasure. There was absolutely no way for either of them to get through the door itself. However upon close inspection, it was obvious the door hadn't been properly cared for. The hinges were so rusty it looked as if the door could fall off at any minute.

"Cat, destroy those hinges on the right." Iken ordered. Moving over to the left side of the door, Iken gripped the handle of his blade. "Smashing Darkness” With one powerful slash of his supreme grade sword; all three of the rusty hinges broke into pieces. Iken's side of the door fell, cracking the wooden floor beneath.

2/15

Cat smiled when Iken said he was right about grabbing things from the inside of the room. When he kicked down the door and both him and Iken walked inside a small chill went up Cat's spine. He didn't know why though. Iken's expression changed almost completely, he didn't look semi-happy to go inside a room and grab stuff, he just looked angry. Cat looked around the room and noticed a den den mushi among many other things, such as monitors, inside the room they went in. On the other side of the room was a door that seemed to have some old parts to it. Mainly the two things on the sides that held it up, Cat didn't know their names. When Iken ordered Cat to destroy the other 'hinge' it took him awhile to understand what he meant; Cat watched Iken destroy one of the hinges before knowing how it looked like.

When he learned what a hinge was he positioned himself in front of the other one. Cat had his hand grab onto the handle of his sword and readied himself for something. Cat then suddenly drew his sword and slashed at the hinge, cracking it the moment the sword hit the rusted piece of metal. When the hinge dropped the door seemed to lose a lot of its support. It looked like it was about to fall. Cat instinctively jumped back and left his sword in a offensive position, with the sword forward, and waited for something else to happen.. although, it's likely Cat will just jump back if the door falls forward. This will effectively dodge the metallic door.

Cat then remembered something, Iken's reaction wasn't the most pleasant one. "What do you mean this is a set up? Does this mean we're in a movie? People are filming us?"

Iken had stepped off to the side and Cat had instinctivly leaped back at the first sign of the door about to fall.  The door fell forward onto the ground in front of Iken and Cat, it shattered the wooden floor boards like it was nothing.  From the way the wood looked once broken, it was appearnt that it was a very cheap wood.  It was only polished and cleaned to make it look like it was fit for royalty.   It was yet another deception of the manor.  Once the dust from the door faling has set, the contents of the safe were revealed.  There was nothing in the safe, not even a single belli for the payroll.  It became obvious, whether or not the mercanaries were innocent men; the marines intended to capture or kill them all.  

"Cat, we're not being filmed in a movie.  There are people here to kill us, and we're going to have to fight our way through them.  If something happens to me, run away and get on a ship and hide.  Otherwise, stick to my side, and we should be okay." Iken said walking towards the doorway.

3/15

Cat looked at the inside of the safe. A blank expression roamed across his face. The safe was empty. Why did he just attack the side of the door then? Where they just wanting a new empty room? Cat imagined living in the metallic room. It wouldn't be very fun. There's no room to run, there's no beds, everything would be hard to walk on barefooted.. it would be a disaster. When Cat looked to the side he noticed Iken was surprised at something. It looked like the empty room was not something Iken suspected. Cat smiled, he thought it was funny that there was a big metallic room protecting nothing. Cat's reality then came back when he heard more gunshots from the outside. More people were dying. Cat watched Iken walk outside, and he followed. Iken told Cat that this wasn't a movie, which meant that it was real life. Now they had a lot of enemies in front of them, and Cat was told to follow Iken through the crowds to survive.

Iken told Cat that the people outside were out to kill them, and suddenly reality hit Cat. It wasn't that they had allies they had to help, apparently everyone was the enemy. Cat's calm mood changed completely; now he knew Iken was in trouble. A small killer intent could be seen in his eyes. He didn't care about having a relaxing life right now, what he wanted was to get out of here alive.

"When you move I'll move."

As Iken made it to the doorway, a couple of marines holding rifles blocked their path.  The marines had already made it to the manor.  This wasn't a good sign.  Less than a second later a group of pirate drove swords into the marines moving them out of the way of the door.  Iken used this opening to escape along with Cat.  The two ran down the hall as men on either side of the aisle fought each other.   One particular marine made the mistake of stepping in front of Iken and Cat, blocking the doorway out.  

"Sheath Blindside"

In the blink of an eye, the soldier had a deep gash on his chest.  The wound gushed blood as he fell to his knees and then to the floor.  It wasn't necessarily a fatal wound, however if it wasn't treated he could either bleed out or get an infection.  

The sun blinded Iken for a fraction of a second as the two of them ran out of the manor in the middle of the island.  It was a total war-zone out side.  Even with the mercenaries and pirates battling each other they were still giving the marine one hell of a fight.  As Cat and Iken were running through the battlefield three marines surrounded them and block their path.  The marines didn't look all that strong, in fact they were down right average.  Two of them had rifles and one a cutlass, and all of them a look of terror.  

4/15

[Marine 1 -Sword]
Strength: 15
Endurance: 10
Speed: 15
Agility: 10
Skill: 10
Tactical intelligence: 10
Practical intelligence:  10
Perception: 10
Charisma and leadership: 10  

[Marine 2]
Strength: 10
Endurance: 20
Speed: 10
Agility: 10
Skill: 10
Tactical intelligence: 10
Practical intelligence:  10
Perception: 10
Charisma and leadership: 10

[Marine 3]

Strength: 10
Endurance: 10
Speed: 10
Agility: 10
Skill: 15
Tactical intelligence: 10
Practical intelligence:  10
Perception: 10
Charisma and leadership: 10

Cat ran right behind Iken. Eventually a man tried to stand in front of both Iken and Cat, but before the man could make a move Iken had already killed him. Cat continued running past the dead body, he was already used too the thought of death by this point. Not that he wasn't trained for it before. When they stepped outside Cat couldn't believe his eyes. It was a warzone. There were many opponents, or potential dangers, fighting each other and among them were marines. Cat didn't know why marines were involved, but he knew that this was trouble. Cat looked around briefly before running behind Iken through the bright sun.

Eventually they were surrounded by three marines. Two of them held rifles while the last one held a sword. Cat wasted no time. The first marine attempted to slice Cat horizontally but Cat's body moved downwards by instinct. His body was positioned for an attack with one hand on his sheath with the marine wide open, but instead of swinging his sword Cat used the position to run forward full speed, past the marine with a cutlass, and towards one of the two men behind him with a rifle. The move was so unsuspected that the man hadn't fired the rifle at such close range. Cat ran 25 miles per hour towards the man and unsheathed his sword, slicing him in half horizontally. The other man, beside Cat, aimed his rifle at him. Cat only had one other choice. While his sword was pointed at the marine, unsheathed, Cat sprinted towards the man in a straight line while lunging himself forward. The sword was so perfectly straight that even a rookie like the marine knew he was in trouble. The marine shot at Cat, but with his lack of skill and Cat's increase in speed the rifle only hit Cat's left thigh. The bullet exited; it didn't seem to bleed too much, and no bones were broken. Cat pierced through the man's abdomen with his sword and forced the man down to the ground. Cat twisted the blade to make sure he stabbed whatever was inside that area of the body. Blood made a puddle under the man's body and Cat sheathed his sword once again. He looked at Iken, hoping he'd finished with the marine Cat left for him to kill.

Cat quickly leaped into action, he avoided the marine with the sword while he went for the two the the guns. With the combination of his speed and agility he was easily able to kill one of the two before they could even get a shot off. However the second marine did manage to fire. In the mean while Iken stepped towards the marine with the small sword that had tried to attack Cat. The marine hesitated for a second and stepped back. Iken continued forward, approaching the marine with his right hand on the handle of his sword. The marine yelled, he pulled his sword over his head and slashed downwards at Iken. In a split second, Iken had slapped away the man's attack with his free hand while sending the hilt of his sword up smacking the man's chin. The marine fell backwards from the simple blow, he was out cold.

The men they faced were novices and didn't belong on a battlefield anymore than a small child. Iken was a lot like Cat in many ways, and they were good friends. However there was one big difference, Cat was simple and animalistic. Cat seen a weakness in his prey and attacked, going for the throat no matter what. Iken on the other hand had a hard time killing those that were weaker than him. If it was a good match, where both place their lives on the line; it was only honorable to finish them off. However this, this was not honorable, it was senseless.

"Come on Cat we're moving on." Iken said running towards the shore. He hadn't noticed Cat's flesh wound.

5/15

Cat prepared himself to continue fighting, but it looked like it had ended already. Iken knocked out the opponent, which confused Cat for a moment. To Cat an enemy was an enemy, if they drew their sword against him then they had already declared themselves a threat to Cat and sometimes the people he holds dear to him. Maybe Iken was more merciful then Cat recognized; Cat found enemies very easy to kill not because they were weak, but because he didn't hesitate to go for their throats. Cat ran behind Iken through the battle field. Cat's arms were behind him as he ran so he looked almost aerodynamic to the wind. It also helped that he was very fast. Iken and Cat looked decently fast compared to the enemies around them.

The war was chaotic; there were pirates, mercenaries, and marines attacking everyone else. It was a three way war, and Iken and Cat were technically alone in their party of two. Iken wanted to leave the battle, and for good reason. Cat had basic knowledge in tactics, which meant he knew that trying to take on all of these people would undoubtedly end against their little group's favor. Although Cat will make sure he doesn't hesitate to kill every man that gets in his and Iken's way.

Cat's flesh wound wasn't very bad, in fact Cat had enough endurance to ignore the pain and it didn't seem to hinder his speed much. However, some blood was still seeping through the wound which suggested that he should probably get some medical help at some point; maybe a very thick and long bandage to stop the bleeding.

As the duo ran towards the shore, they came upon a steep bay that lead down to where the ships were kept. It was a rocky plateau that had a large crack running through it about five feet or so away from the edge. As they ran towards the bay, Iken could hear their footsteps clomping against the rock underfoot. It took him a few seconds, however it hit him. Something was wrong, and if they kept moving forward; something bad was going to happen. Iken came skidding to a halt using his body to brace and stop Cat as well. They skidded to a stop just in time. Gun shots rang out, some of them ricochet against the rock wall as others went wising by their heads taking a few hairs with them.

Iken lunged back with all of his might so that both he and Cat would tumble backwards onto the rocky ground. By moving back only a few feet, they were able to move out of the sights of the line of marine sharpshooters that covered the bay and docks below. "Damn it all." Iken whispered angrily. "There are at least ten men down there, probably a few more. I couldn't get a good look before they just about took my damn head off." he said looking to Cat. Even if Cat and Iken could fight all of them off under normal close quarters combat; in this situation, the two would likely be shot multiple times before they could even come close.

6/15

Cat ran with Iken feeling the wind from the battlefield hit his face. The smell of death roamed the air, along with gunpowder.. and perfume, for some odd reason. Iken then went to a complete stop suddenly, this stopped Cat on his tracks after his body slammed into Iken's. Iken pushed Cat back away from the cliff; He was able to do this because Cat was pushing himself back before he hit Iken, so it wasn't like he collided with Iken with all of his force; although he was running forward so it was amazing that Iken had been able to push Cat back along with stopping himself at the same time.
 
Gunshots were heard and Cat immediately moved back with Iken until he fell on the ground. Cat looked around the battlefield to see who shot at them, but then he remembered the sound of gunfire came from bellow. Iken told Cat that there were about ten men under there that he saw before they shot at him. Cat took out his sword and prepared himself. Maybe he'd be harder to hit if he jumped off the cliff. There was only one way to find out. Whatever Iken ordered Cat to do he'd do it. Cat prepared himself for a dive by putting one foot in front of the other and placing his left and right arms on his sides. His right hand, holding the sword, seemed to be perfectly horizontal to the ground.
 
"What do we do, Iken?" Cat was ready to kill or be killed. Instincts took over.