Pale Ash

[ZaRenkinjutsushi]

Jyuken stared as Leonne led the guards away from his location. He regretted puting her in the situation and frowned. Sighing with an obvious relief he decided not to stay there any longer; the guards would find him eventually. He decided to climb the walls of the alleyway. Jyuken decided used his alchemy since there weren't any handholds. He drew a transmutation circle on the wall, then placed his hands on it. With his knowledge of the elements, Jyuken manipulated the molecular structure of the wall, in seconds, the wall had handholds. Swiftly he climbed up and succesfully reached the top. Jyuken then drew another transmutation circle and placed the wall to its original structure. From there he watched the cities' activities; Jyuken saw Leonne, though he didn't know what she was doing. 'Please don't be in troube, please...'

[Percival]

Percival rode into the stable and yanked back on his horse's reins. Shadowmere, the fastest breed of horse known to man was used by every Yazuac knight - or former Yazuac knight. Percival patted his steed on the head and let him take a sugarcube. "Hm, stay here okay?"

Percival grabbed his bow off his back and walked through the city gates. He looked around and frowned. A commotion by the tavern? Percival walked over and looked at them. "Men, what's wrong?"

They started to ramble about how the woman kneeling on the ground lied to them. Percival scowled and demanded, "And the captain of your unit? Bring him here!" They complied and went off to look for him. Percival bent down beside the woman who was now laughing to herself. He blinked and ignored her.

Percival stood up and asked, "Well, Captain? What is this all about?" Percival crossed his arms and blinked. "Ryohei Akane is no longer alive. That warrant is annulled." The patrol unit stared at him aghast. "...go to your posts!"

They trembled and murmured, "Y-yessir!"

[Thermite]

Leonne stood up and glanced over. She smirked and crossed her arms. "Percival the Heartless... how quaint. Pleased to make your acquaintance." Leonne refrained from holding out her hand to shake. She would have to be careful with this one. A moment passed in silence.

Leonne sighed and decided to see if she could strike a nerve. She pursed her lips and exhaled. "...want to know prior to two years ago, Percival?"

[ZaRenkinjutsushi]

"What is she doing...?" cried Jyuken as she spoke with Percival. "Something's gonna happen..." He racked his head for an idea. "Hmm... I think I'll wait. But where's Ryohei? And why are the guards returning to their posts...?"

[Percival]

Percival glanced up and grabbed an arrow from his quiver. He intentionally ignored Leonne's question, but it did nag at the back of his mind. He strung his bow and let loose the shaft. It arched into the sky and pierced the spot a few centimeters away from Jyuken. He scoffed and turned back to Leonne. "Do not bring rats with you whilst speaking with me."

[Thermite]

Leonne blinked and looked up. She cursed under her breath. Why hadn't Jyuken left like she told him to? Foolish boy. "He's not a rat. He's a mercenary. And you are, too, since I bet you were the one to kill Venom-Seether." Leonne grinned. "You can't hide those flasks of poisons behind a cloak. I'm a former information dealer, after all."

[ZaRenkinjutsushi]

"GAH!" An arrow just barely brushed by Jyuken and landed with a hard thump. "Man, I'd better run now." With inhumane speed and agility he jumped off the roof into the alleyway, then slowly walked towards the local stable. Snowfire, his trusty and most loved horse, was resting in one of the stables. Jyuken woke Snowfire up and untethered him from the hook. "Alright Snow, we're leaving." The duo strode towards the main gate. Fortunatly the guards didn't notice him he passed even when he forgot to cover his face. 'Phew. Be careful Leonne...'

[Thermite]

Leonne glanced up and twitched. "That little... ditching on the contract... Ah!" She pivoted on her heel and looked at Percival. "So, how has life been treating you, Percy?" She laughed and shook her head. "Forget I said that." Leonne hummed and started for the stables.

[Percival]

Percival followed her out of boredom; he had nothing better to do. If she was a mercenary, then perhaps he would get to kill something. Or someone. Percival blinked and murmured, "...Percy?" Percival clutched his forehead and winced. He took a deep breath and bit his lip.

"Stay with the Mercenary's Guild!" I screamed. I watched as the young recruit before me latched onto my leg. "Hey, get off! I'm going and that's final. Stay here."

"No, Percy. No!"

"Leon, stay here!"

Percival mused and shook his head. "Only Leon calls me Percy." He furrowed his brow and glared at Leonne.

[ZaRenkinjutsushi]

Jyuken felt quite guilty after running without Leonne, but what else was there to do? Of course, he could have parried the arrows, but he forgot about that... 'Is it just me or am I becoming forgetful?' He sat alongside the trail, musing over how to locate Leonne after he had ditched her... 'I'll just stay alongside the road.'

[Percival]

Percival shook his head and passed by the stables. He sighed and grabbed Leonne by the wrist. He dragged her towards his Shadowmere and told her to get on. "You need to find that rat right? Bring me along. I don't need payment, just food and board." As a small afterthought he added, "Don't call me Percy."

[Thermite]

Leonne blinked a little startled.She shrugged and mumbled 'okay'. Leonne grabbed the reins and gently guided the horse from the stable. "Onward!" The horse reared back, flailing his legs in front of him. He came back down and galloped off. Soon enough, Leonne caught Jyuken sitting down along the roadside. "Hey, Jyuken! Waiting for me, were you?"

[ZaRenkinjutsushi]

"Yea, I was," replied Jyuken. He noticed Percival and his black horse while jumping on Snowfire and completly missed, sending him sprawling to the ground. "What is he doing here? Isn't he gonna' kill me?" He brushed the dirt from his wool clothing and eyed Percival with a slightly scared expression.

[Percival]

Percival let Leonne get off and scooted towards his steed's reins. He pet his head and cooed, "Shh, I'll get you a nice, fat, juicy carrot. Peace, Kyne." Percival stroked Kyne's mane as he stared at Jyuken. He looked him up from top to bottom and scoffed. With a subtle smirk, Percival retorted, "You're not worth my time, whelp."

Percival brushed a few bangs behind his ear and closed his eyes. One of his hands slowly hovered over his quiver. "Blood, the very sight of it stimulates my nerves and keeps the nightmares at bay. Perhaps I am cursed with this abnormal obsession. Maybe I should take on the life of a vampire, find one and become one myself. Heh heh heh."

[Thermite]

Leonne walked over beside Jyuken and crossed her arms. She glared at Percival and shook her head. With a small sigh she muttered, "We're all allies now. Stop trying to bite each others heads off. It's foolish. Now... since Percival just fled from Yazuac and people are probably out to get him, we have to continue and camp by the forest east of town. A minor setback, but nothing too bad."

She took a deep breath and yelped with a blue mist enveloped her hands. It evaporated into the air, but left behind several slivers of ice. "Unstable aura flow, one must hate it."