The Lionhearts

**Thanks so much!**
I made my way to the exit of this musty hold. Virgo, my friend who was currently in the form of a hawk on my

shoulder fluttered about. She was anxious to be in town. It was a wonderful place. We hadn't docked for months so it

would be nice to get your feet on solid ground and not worry about fierce storms that rocked the boat and nearly

sent you overboard. Or, like me, tumbling up against the hard walls of the ship's belly. I came up on the ladder that

would allow me to enter the deck. I pushed hard against the trapdoor but it didn't budge. Someone must have been

standing on it. I felt sorry for them. I muttered a few spells and the door blasted off. I entered the deck. Ballow

raised his eyebrow at me and motioned towards a man who I had accidentally exploded into the side of the ship. He

had wavy black hair and a smooth calm face. He seemed like a pleasant guy. "Oops. Sorry." I ran over to him and

helped him up. "It was an impulsive spell. Sorry about that. You aren't badly hurt?" He shook a few limbs to indicate

that he was fine but a bit shook up. "Who are you anyway? I don't recall seeing you around."

~~Raon~~

Raon made his way down to the bottom of the ship with a platter of food in his hands. HE walked down to the holding cells and then walked over to the last one and was about to slide the food in when he noticed it was empty. "must be the wrong one. Raon was walked down the narrow hall to the bottom of the hall and has he reached the last few got a feeling of unease. Then when he reached the final two and saw they were empty dropped the platter and ran out. he made his way to the top platform and looked wildly around for the boys figure but his search was pointless the boy was no where to be seen. He ran over Darroks quarters and knocked several times hard, and came close to breaking it.
"what is it" Darrok asked from the other side of the door.
"its Raon, the prisoner has escaped."
The door flung open and Darrok appeared. "well don't just stand around get some help and start searching, who knows what he knows or he has" Darrok ran away and Pressed an intercom and announced. "please be alert for a boy around 17 with wavy black hair, he has escaped from the prison hold and may be on the ship, if seen capture him and bring him to the main deck."

"Nobody's been in the prison hold for ages!" I muttered. I knew that because I walked right past it everyday.

*by the way, someone needs to read Armand's profile again. He's a protector of fellow Lionhearts!*

Ballow

The girl walked away from the bursted door and Ballow hlped Armand up. He smiled at the girl, "I'm Ballow and This is Armand."

Ballow smiled at Armand, "So what do you do around here?"

He placed the hair into one of the pockets of his cape as he stared up at Armand waiting for an answer.

"I'm the Protector of Lionhearts." There was proud look on Armand's face as he said it.

Ballow stared at him blankly and only managed to say, "I see."

Armand's face fell, "You mean you don't know who I am?"

Ballow smiled and pulled something out of his cape, "No clue. You know who I am?"

"Errr . . " Armand's gaze fell to the floor and he studied the carpet as if it were the most interesting thing he had ever see in his life.

Ballow grinned, "Exactly, here have an autograph."

He placed the parchment with Ballow's signature in the other person's hand. Armand held it slightly in shock, startled by this random gesture.

Ballow stared up at the human with a flash of excitement in his eyes, "Someday that'll cost a lot. So hold onto it."

What Armand didn't notice was when Ballow placed the autograph in his hands he had also stolen one of Armand's earrings. (A.N It's okay if he had an earring, right? I mean he can't remember his past so . . .)

When Armand looked up concerned by the sudden silence, he saw Ballow studying it close to his face. Then he did something totally unexpected, he licked it.

His face soured and his lips puckered, "EWW! I knew it! A Sour Ring! What are you doing with a Sour Ring?"

"Err . . " Armand was at a loss. He had no idea what Ballow was talking about, "I lost my memory and uhh . . . I had that so I kept it."

Ballow's excited, disgusted face fell into dismay, "Oh. Well, Sour Rings are a rare commodity which Kender's bestow upon those which they trust with all their hearts. I was going to ask if you stole it, but if you did you wouldn't even remember, now would you?"

He pulled it closer to his face, "Actually this looks a lot like the Sour Rings my dad used to make. . ."

There was a drawn out silence, before Ballow burst out laughing, "What a weird coincidence, ey? Here I am on a quest to find out who murdered me dad and you just happen to have a Sour Ring which looks exactly like the one's dad use to make."

Armand's eyes widened in realisation of what the kender was trying to subtlety say, "You mean you think I . . .?"

Ballow went quiet for a second and his usual happy smile drifted off of his face, "I don't think it."

The girl wasn't suite sure, what to do. Then he stared at Armand, a blood-lusting look rolled over his face for such a short moment that Armand was sure he had imagined it, then the kender smiled again and chuckled out, "I don't think it at all! You see I was there when my dad died and all I saw in the darkness of the new moon night was someone's long curly dark brown hair swishing out of the window. This world is full of coincidences, ain't it?"

The girl watched as Armand went silent and Ballow slapped playfully him on the stomach, "Oy. Even if you did kill him, I wouldn't kill you, cause you can't remember it and you have no idea why you would do it. So I suggest you relax. I'm not gonna kill you, well, not until you get your memories back at least."

He shot Armand a cheerful smiled and then laughed, "Be my duty now to help you get your memories back, now ain't it?"

Armand was unsure how to react. All the evidence was set up against him, he could have very well killed Ballow's father and not remember it. The girl knew this as well, but she watched and wondered what would happen.

Ballow then stood on his tiptoes and pulled Armand's face right next to his own, "I like you well enough, you seem like a good guy. My dad was an asshole, but I loved him. I won't kill the person who killed him. I'll just throw a couple of daggers at him and if they hit, they won't be life threatening. So, if you get your memories back and you did kill him, I warn you to start running."

Armand was shocked frozen and he couldn't pull his face away from the close proximity of Ballow's. Armand opened his mouth to say something and Ballow grinned at him. At that exact moment The girl stmbled as the ship rocked and bumped Ballow.

Their lips met and they both sat there shocked into the other side of the world.

Ballow recoiled and fell to the floor, his face beet red, he began muttering, "I didn't mean . . I was pushed . . . . It wasn't meant to happen. . . . I don't swing that way. . . I never meant to . . . EUGH!"

Then as he wiped his lips, several expressions crossed his face, disgust, revulsion and then wonderment. He looked to Armand eyes wide as he stated, "You taste like cinnamon."

The girl was at a loss for words. Her face went red as well from that comment. Then his face went completely red, as if you could see right through his skin and to the blood that lay beneath it. Armand hadn't said a word and niether had the girl.

Ballow was spitting out words again, "I mean, that's irrelevant! This wasn't meant to happen . . . . . .That was momentary loss of thought after shock! I wasn't coherently speaking!"

He stopped talking for a second, and his face slowly dimmed to a hot pink. Then anger flew over Ballow's face an it went red hot again, "THAT WAS MY FIRST KISS!!!!!!!"

He folded his arms, while sitting on the ground and pouted, "And it was with a guy, who's amnesiac and probably killed my dad. How can the world get anymore unfair?"

The girl was still shocked as she had been completely ignored and was not in the actual conversation. Then Armand deemed it necessary to act and talk.

*No offense Boltageman but Kylar has a lot more attitude then you portrayed him with.*

Kylar-

Kylar gave low laugh as he saw the golem go streaking out of the prison hold. He leaned back against the wall and let the shadows drop from around him. Now he needed to find his sword, Kylar didn't mind being thrown in the holding cell, it was being unarmed that got under his skin. The sword had belonged to his father, at least, that's what his mother had always told him.

Setting off down the corridor, he checked down several hallways, but didn't see anything remarkable. Exasperated he looked around him, Kylar was at yet another branch in the corridor there was a staircase on his left, and the hall continued towards his right. "This ship is huge. Where would they keep a stowaway's sword, one who they know escaped? The Bridge obviously."

He turned and set off up the staircase. Kylar hadn't been climbing for long when he came to the landing, he peeked out of the stairwell and froze, three of the crew were talking in the hallway, a girl, a guy, and a kender. Even worse they were looking right at him.

"Hey isn't that the stowaway?" The kender pointed right at him.

Kylar didn't wait for them to react, he ducked back into the stairwell and bolted up the stairs. Behind him he heard banging as the trio entered the stairwell after him.

"Do you think this is it?" He asked, "Is Aksendrei receiving our orders to attack?" Darrok asked.

"I don't know." Jalliveri replied honestly. "But if the rumours about Oskaggar's alliance are anything to go by then yes, we'll be ordered to engage soon. Can't let the two stereotypical evil forces join up or things could get rather worrisome."

"Makes sense," Darrok returned.

The man always seemed rather hesitant around her, more so than other members of The Pride. But then that was probably reflecting that he was one of the few sensible members of the crew; exept for the captain himself. The rest were too young, too cocksure yet inexperienced to be this hesitant around her. Around a Daemon. It was probably the reason why Darrok was one of the few Lionhearts she could stand, even if he never let his guard down around her.

There was a shout from bellowdeck; which was nicely timed to end what was becoming an awkward silence between the two of them.
"I haven't had lunch yet, so you go check out whatever's going on down there and I'll go find someone to eat, ok?"

Darrok nodded and began to walk off to investigate the shout from below. He paused, turned and called after Jalliveri, who was already making herself invisible, "You mean something right?"

"Almost certainly," Jalli chuckled, leaving Darrok to investigate whatever mess the novices had inflicted on the ship.

Darrok

Darrok began walking down the stairwell, where he got knocked over by a black winged humanoid. Armand, Ballow and a girl he didn't recognise followed, helping him up.

"Was that the stowaway?" He asked, patting dust off his shirt.

"Yeah," Ballow said, "he escaped."

"You carry on," Darrok ordered, "I'll warn the rest of the ship."

Ballow and Armand nodded and ran off, followed by the girl. Darrok hurried away, stopping at his quarters to pick up some spare ammunition - he only had one bullet left. The door knocked loudly, distracting him.

"What is it?" He asked.

"It's Raon, the prisoner has escaped."

I already know that, damn it!

He opened the door abruptly.

"Well don't just stand around get some help and start searching, who knows what he knows or what he has!"

Darrok ran off to the nearest intercom, on the main deck, tripping up on his wooden leg on the way.

Aksendrei

"Please be alert for a boy around 17 with wavy black hair, he has escaped from the prison hold and may be on the ship, if seen capture him and bring him to the main deck."

Aksendrei had barely walked on board the ship when he heard Darrok's voice on the intercom. Aksendrei loaded his pistol and drew his sword, before walking to the main deck. There he saw Darrok talking to one of the crew members. He had a stressed expression on his face.

"Darrok, explain what's going on."

"There was a stowaway, some kind of Dragon-Human hybrid-"

"A Drakos?" Aksendrei suggested.

"Right. Anyway, he escaped. He was being pursued by Armand and Ballow. Oh, and some other girl. Not sure who she is."

"You don't trust that they could catch him?"

"He was going pretty fast, and Armand and Ballow were slowed down by me. The intruder knocked me over."

Aksendrei nodded slowly. He pressed the intercom.

"This is your captain speaking," he announced, "I have spoken to Rikos. We will be leaving Andol at dawn tomorrow. For Angesk. From there our orders will depend on whatever Grand Commander Sir Algris Svenked has in mind. As anyone with any understanding of geography will know, Angesk is the closest Peninsularite city to Oskaggar. As such, once there, you will need to be prepared for battle with the Oskaggrites. Thank you for listening."

He walked back to Darrok.

"Captain," Darrok said, hiding his concern, "shouldn't you be focussed more on the matter at hand?"

"Perhaps." Aksendrei admitted, "but if the intruder has a brain, he won't want to be on this ship now he knows our purpose. And if he does want to stay, he's probably the sort of person that could be useful."

Kylar-

He swore a blue streak as Kylar heard the announcement. "Of all bloody airships." He muttered under his breath. "I had to pick the one going towards the country I'm trying to avoid." Kylar reached the top of the staircase, the corridor branched to the left and the right. The bridge, was to his right and the exit to his left.

Agitated, Kylar started towards the exit and then turned around. "I need to jump ship, but I need my sword too. I'm probably going to regret this, but what the hell." He bolted towards the bridge, once again drawing the shadows around him, to blur his image. Like this anyone who looked at him would just glance away.

Kylar slipped silently into the bridge. Sure enough his sword was sitting on one of the tables, to bad the room was occupied. Darrok was there, along with a man he assumed was the Captain. Carefully he kept to to the edge of the room, blending with already existing shadows.

The two men were absorbed in discussing strategy for the upcoming war, and didn't notice as Kylar snuck up to the table and grabbed the sword. Some of the tension left him the moment Kylar felt the familiar weight of the blade.

It was a good thing he was armed because at the moment the door banged open, and the crew that had been chasing him entered the room. That in itself wouldn't be enough to make him lose concentration, except that the were accompanied by the Oskaggar soldiers, who had cleared followed him onto the ship.

The moment the soldiers entered the room Kylar felt the drain on his powers, and the shadows bled away from him. As that happened Kylar realized his mistake, he had stupidly assumed that these Hunter's were the same as all the others, sent by one tribal king or another. They weren't, Karamaz had clearly sent soldiers uniquely suited for capturing him. Nulls, capable of destroying magic, spells only ever worked on them for a matter of minutes if at all.

Darrok and the Captain jumped as they saw Kylar standing at the table with them. The leader of the soldiers sneered at the mercanaries before clearly dismissing them. He turned to Kylar and smirked. "Not a very wise move trying to blind us young Kylar. Lord Karamaz himself, made sure we were prepared for your abilities. As I said before, he is keenly interested in meeting the one who inherited his power.

The mercanaries in the room were surprised to say the least over that revalation, but Kylar wasn't paying attention to them. "I'll tell you lot, what I told everyone else who's come after me from Oskaggar." Kylar stressed the last words making sure the soldiers got the point. "Over. My. Dead. Body."

"erm.. yeah, that must be bad" Armand laughed in his deep voice,

The girl stood and watched the two guys.

Ballow rocked on the floor, "Thats was bad, very bad"

"Geeze guy, chillax" Armand said.

CASSANDRA

I raised my eyebrow at Ballow. "Smooth." And I couldn't help it but I burst out laughing. It was truly hilarious. Virgo

was a bear and was rolling around laughing. We had similar brain waves. What can I say? Brilliant minds think alike.

"I'm going to go now and spare you any further embarrassment. Fortunately for you two, I was your only witness.

I could use this to my advantage though..." I thought about skipping around singing, "Ballow's got a boyfriend" for

the amusement of the fellow sailors, but I decided it was too immature even for my standards. "How about you pay

me a latte and a chunk of marzipan and knowledge of this won't spread." I told Ballow. He looked at me like I was

crazy. I shrugged and headed towards the main cabin where the cabin boy innocently swept the floor. He was big

on gossip... "No! Fine. I'll get it to you ASAP." Ballow shouted out in desperation. "Alright then. There's interest

though, so hurry.

Aksendrei aimed his pistol at the three Oskaggrite soldiers, his sword drawn. Darrok aimed his musket between the eyes of the soldier who he assumed to be the leader.

"Oskaggar scum," Aksendrei growled, "what are you doing in Brimiscus? And what are you doing on my ship?"

"Just retrieving something that belongs to us," the largest of the trio said gruffly, gesturing towards Kylar with his broadsword, "I suggest you don't intervene any further."

"Why should we let you have him?" Aksendrei asked.

"The tensions between Brimiscus and Oskaggar are nearly at breaking point as it is," the Oskaggrite said, "if anything should happen to us, Lord Karamaz will hold Emperor Rikos responsible, and war will come to Brimiscus."

"I'd like to know what Rikos would think about your presence here," Aksendrei sneered, "if you leave now, without the Drakos, I'll give you a headstart before telling Rikos that you're here."

As far as Aksendrei could tell it was him, Darrok, Kylar, Armand and Ballow against three Oskaggrite agents. And there was a good chance of more Lionhearts arriving. Aksendrei didn't consider them to be a big threat.

~~~RAON~~~

Raon ran down the halls to the captains quarters. He knew that the boy would not leave with out the sword, after the fuss he made when i had been taken from him. He arrived at the room to see several large men at the door. He was to far to hear the conversation but he had caught war a few times and knew it had to do with some sort of negotiation. Raon drew his sword but when he tried to change the iron blade to fire it stayed. He thought it was strange but kept moving. He held his sword above his head he waited till he was right behind then attacked. He sliced his sword down the middles ones back and then before he had fallen pulled it out and stabbed the right one through the back in the heart and then did the same to the one on the right. he pulled his sword out and then seethed it. "what going on and please don't tell me i killed the good guys"

"Raon," Aksendrei sighed, his pistol still raised, "was that really necessary?"

The golem had an unsure expression on his face.

"No, it wasn't," Aksendrei answered for him, "but nevermind. We were probably going to fight them anyway. I would think of a suitable punishment, but I'm really not in the mood right now. You're dismissed. Everyone's dismissed, except the Drakos."

Raon looked at Kylar.

"Are you sure you will be okay alone with him? He is armed."

Aksendrei smiled.

"I'll be fine. That reminds me, I don't suppose you could get someone to clean up that mess for me?"

Aksendrei gestured to the carnage at Raon's feet. Raon nodded and walked away, followed by the others. Aksendrei was left alone with Kylar.

"So what was your name again?" Aksendrei asked, putting his weapons away.

"Kylar."

"Kylar. You must be very gifted to have sneaked in like that. I also take it you are a native of Oskaggar?"

"I was born in Oskaggar, though I hold no allegiance to Karamaz, or any of its other Kings, for that matter."

"How would you feel about aiding the Peninsula in the coming war against Oskaggar, as a member of the Lionhearts?"

Kylar-

"Fight them?" Kylar thought. "It's tempting, but it's probably suicidal too. Then again, it's not like they won't keep coming after me." He shrugged and sheathed his sword. "Sure why not. Screw it, I'm tired of hiding anyways."

*All I got, I'm exhausted.*

RAON

"hey Jalliveri there are 3 fresh Darko corpeses in the captins quartrers if you want them, and i would get there fast before the clean up crews come"
"3 bodys for, me oh that is very nice of you, i assume you killed them" the demon asked
"how did you know" the golem asked
"i smell the blood on your sword, how nice of you how did you know Drako is a delacusi to my people"
"i didn't, i just killed them thought you might want some flesh before you decide to eat one of the crew members"
"well it was nice of you to think of me" and with that the demon left for the captins room.