Reim Empire

[Apollymi]

It would seem their group was losing numbers rather rapidly but this didn't seem to worry Nasira who was still standing and watching the two groups of people. As she was bid farewell by a particular male though she grinned in his direction, appreciating her apparently new nickname. "Goodnight, stay outta trouble." she said as if it was the clearest thing in the world. She would subsequently disappear to a room she'd chosen for herself but whether or not she'd actually stay there remained to be seen. Uzma remained in the window sill a while longer content to see any further happenings. While Erza excused herself but instead of walking out, walked further into the house, apparently taking her role as den-mother to the newcomers very seriously.

Meanwhile outside this residence the redhaired boy who was watching was called to. Or rather he assumed it was him being called to, because he'd seen no one else following this particular group of people. It wasn't very surprising to him, that the one who was seeking him was the ashen haired boy who'd been able to sense his presence earlier. But doing what he was, he'd never actually find him. Instead of saying anything to this effect the boy simply dropped a small pebble from above and waited to be joined, it wasn't as if he had anything to fear from this moment. In fact, given the boy's proximity to him, he was quite impressed by his ability to find him.

[Bloodedge]

There was no sign of Bakura's target, no matter how hard he looked, yet the strange feeling he always had around the red-haired boy continued to grow stronger as he moved. With his senses on high alert, Bakura heard the landing of a pebble dropped by Tetsuya, and traced it to its location. From there, he looked up until he saw the lad he'd been looking for all along. A grin passed his face as his eyes fell upon Tetsuya. To make his way up, Bakura slipped into the house Tetsuya stood upon. Less than a minute later, he climbed onto the roof from behind Tetsuya, approaching the boy slowly. "You're still watching us. Why?"

[Apollymi]

About a minute would pass between the time that the pebble was dropped and the time period in which the boy known as Tetsuya heard the small boy behind him. His words made Tetsuya's brows draw together and the red haired boy took a deep breath while trying to figure out how honest to be about his current activity. "Because I am supposed to. Does it matter?" asked the boy curious as to the reason why anyone would care. Beyond this, he couldn't well fully explain his mission to this boy, since he'd already stated that he was under no orders to assassinate any of them, he figured it would be enough for them to keep up their amiable interactions.

[Bloodedge]

"Supposed to?" Bakura questioned. He soon remembered an earlier mention in which Tetsuya implied that he took orders from another. In spite of this, the red-haired boy seemed to pose no threat to them, so he would not press the matter further. What he did press on, though, was something that had been on his mind throughout the interrogation he and Nasira were subjected to. "Nah... it doesn't matter. So... how does a guy learn how to be an assassin?"

[Apollymi]

A nod would follow the boy's question. There would be no real details given about his mission here. After all, the more people knew about his mission the more complicated it would be to keep unnecessary information from leaking where it ought not. But as it stood the boy Bakura seemed content to let this information pass by and asked an interesting question. Tetsuya was not prone to changes in facial expression and even now he was absolutely expressionless as he looked up from his seated position at the boy who had come to discuss being an assassin. If he had been normal this likely would have brought a smile to his face, but he wasn't so the coolness of his demeanor remained. "Under normal circumstances, one would be born or..." there was a pause as the boy tried to decide the best word to use he settled on one but something about the way it was said would seem a bit off. "Adopted into the Sham Lam which was a special tactical and secret unit of the Parthevian Army." he said. It wasn't uncommon in earlier times for orphans or the children of already established assassins to be made into more assassins. Mostly because the government needed a way to handle its more discreet affairs.

[Bloodedge]

The word adopted, as spoken by Tetsuya, stood out in Bakura's mind. It somehow didn't seem to fit into the idea of becoming an assassin, but with the less-than-reputable activities assassins took part in, it didn't take long for the boy to figure out what was meant. "Oh..." he said. If his train of thought didn't steer him wrong, it meant this was not an organization one would simply want to be part of. However, he still wanted the skills assassins had to offer. He looked toward the red-haired boy with utmost determination as he replied. "I've got no parents. Adopt me."

[Apollymi]

The red haired boy looked over his shoulder at the young man. True enough it had been him who said this boy would make an interesting assassin, and he was right about that... but it was still rather odd, for a boy who surrounded himself with people who were as nice as his group were to want something like this. "Why?" the boy asked, at this point genuinely curious. "It isn't that I mean to pry, though it is rather odd for someone who is older than me to ask me such a thing, but..." he paused, thinking about the actions he'd seen from the group of people the ashen haired boy travelled with and decided that they were very different from the kind of person who could be an assassin. "It would make you very different from your friends... in fact it would make you the direct opposite of them. A shadow trailing behind their light..." he said with a flick of his wrist which would bring into his hand the triangular blade attached to the end of the rope dart. "Though admittedly with friends like those your skills would be most useful, the brighter they shine the darker your shadow could be. But... would you really accept having skills that would tie you to them in such a way?" As an assassin Tetsuya was a special case, the kind of skills he could teach this boy, would require him to always be in the presence of someone considered greater than himself, and not many people would be capable of that.

[Bloodedge]

Part of Bakura expected a rejection to his plea for training, but instead, he was merely asked why. This came with an explanation of why this may not be the option one would want to choose for their future in a situation like his. Visually, he seemed to be deterred by this, but his next words would be quite to the contrary. "That doesn't seem like a bad thing. You saw what happened today. Light never gets caught up in shadows, but shadows are always around where there's light. Those guys down there... they don't need me to be like them. I dunno why you're here now, but I don't think you always will be. But... we only made it today 'cause you were there, so if I can be like you, I can keep helping everybody out in ways they can't help themselves and each other."

[Apollymi]

Tetsuya found himself looking at the lad, and this ashen haired boy's expression didn't match up with the words that came from him. After a moment Tetsuya pondered the boy's words and found his understanding of this situation to be correct. Tetsuya himself had no idea how long this present stationing would last, and having someone else capable of pulling off the sort of things that he was capable of while he wouldn't be around would be reassuring for his employer. Knowing this and hearing that the young man intended to use the techniques he taught him simply to continue being useful to his friends, the assassin boy could more than rationalize giving him the same kind of skills he had. "Hm, you're surprisingly understanding of this situation." he said getting up and then stepping towards the window which would lead from the rooftop. "Come on... let's get you hiding in plain sight."

[Bloodedge]

Bakura made a complete gamble in searching for this boy and seeking his guidance in the art of assassination, but it seemed to have been well worth the attempt. Tetsuya, in the end, agreed to show him the ways. Bakura nodded, tugging on his bag as he followed behind this red-haired lad. "Right."

[Bloodedge]

The next afternoon, the villa inhabited by the group of training Dungeon Capturers was temporarily overcast by the shadow of what appeared to be an incredibly massive bird. Whatever this was, it was on its way toward the palace of Reim. Fudo, in his usual window seat, saw this creature overhead. Though he thought nothing of it, he wondered if it could somehow be part of what they spoke about the previous day.

Meanwhile, Makarov in the area he used to train his chosen successor, Shadiya, looked toward the flying creature as well. It was he who knew exactly what this was, and while standing atop a rock to oversee the apparently gruesome training of the lass, he spoke to her. "Artemyra's representative is here. Are you sure you want to be the one to meet with her?"

[Apollymi]

Yasmin was tucked away in the open courtyard of the villa, and from here she also saw a bird flying overhead. She found this interesting and wondered if it related to the information she'd read in a book the previous day about Artemyra. Still, she couldn't help but wonder what a person from that place would be like, and immediately became giddy at the thought of meeting yet another person, regardless of the fact, that she always seemed to meet people under strained or strange circumstances.

Meanwhile Shadiya was in her training with Makarov and also looked up to see a giant bird's shadow passing overhead. She couldn't help but smile at the potential for what she knew to be related to her next meeting. Just as she was feeling this, her master asked her if she was really going to go through with being the one to meet with this new person. "There isn't much choice it has to be me." the purple haired girl said turning back to give a bow to her master, her golden eyes glowing with determination. "Besides, I enjoy when there are things only I can do and that my friends trust me to do this." she said, still finding it hard to believe that she'd been accepted by the pair of dungeon capturers who were obviously very different from the run of the mill people she came across in her day to day life, including her brothers. "Besides, Dio said he'd look out for me... so there is nothing to worry about." mentioned the girl with a huge grin on her face she'd subsequently bow, but then she thought of a question which required her to ask something important of her master. "Why do you assume it's a girl?" she was presently just curious. She hadn't done as much research on Artemyra and couldn't remember any facts that would lead to such an assumption, unless her Master had special knowledge of this situation that she couldn't possibly possess.

[Bloodedge]

"Ah, the spirit of youth," the old master said with a mighty guffaw to spite his small stature. "I admire your resolve. You remind me of an old friend from ages ago." Hopping off the rock, he kept his arms behind his back to walk around without wasting his energy swinging them about. When asked why he assumed Artemyra's representative to be a girl, he looked to the sky again while reminiscing on old times. "I found Artemyra once. There are no men in the hierarchy. Men of Artemyra exist for nothing more than housework and the production of children. All important things in the country are done by women, and it is women who are able to control the animals. Their customs haven't changed to this day."

[Apollymi]

A small blush came over the girl's face as her master mentioned that she reminded him of someone else. She was almost tempted to ask who, but it seemed like he was enjoying his thoughts and she didn't want to interrupt. Even so, as the conversation shifted to one directly about the country of Artemyra she was a bit shocked to find that the higher rungs of the society built there were fully occupied by women. This way of doing things was pretty much directly contradictory to the rest of the world, but she imagined it had some merits since the country existed pretty much on its own for a long time. "I see... well, that is interesting information." she said a smile spreading across her face as she wondered if she could get some first hand information from the old master about his adventures in Artemyra one day. She sighed then, though she was hungry for information she had something she needed to do.

"I have questions... lots of them, but I suppose they'll have to wait. If you'll excuse me Master." she said bowing once more she excused herself to go off to the palace on an adventure unlike any she'd been on before. She was going to find the representative from Artemyra and convince them to come and talk with the rest of them, in order to avoid having anything bad happen to this person, after the incidents which took place the day before.

[Bloodedge]

In due time, the large white bird landed near the palace. The blonde figure who rode atop it hopped off and began petting the creature. The time for the representative's meeting with Sorio had come. On this day, Artemyra hoped to at last come to terms with Reim, the land which they had been at odds with since Sorio's ascension to the throne.