Plot Thread 1.4: Blood Inheritance (THE TRUTH)

[Monthu]

An ungloved hand reached across the rest gently against Bast's neck whilst his gaze stayed locked on the flames. He let out a heavy sigh.

"Shi... Yeah... But we have limits, you and I, kid... Physically we can only push ourselves so far. I can't become a better archer because I'm at that point now, I can't become a better martial artist, because I'm at that point now." He closed his eyes now, pulling the cloak tighter around himself, as if sealing himself away.

"You still have that skill to develop. You have your magic, and when you master it, when you can control those fires like I can my bow... Your options will be limitless. Bast's been opened up to a whole new world of skills thanks to magic, by going invisible, she can mix things up so much... But I'm the same guy, the same Lü Jin, the same Monthu..." He chuckled.

"Did you know, thousands of years ago, a hero of mine, a man called Lü Bu, he shot an arrow from one hundred paces away and managed to hit a spear head with it, a true pinnacle of archery. I can recreate that, I can perform that same feat. What do you do... How do you develop, when you've reached the levels of your idols and legends?" Another dry, humourless chuckle, as he finally looked over his shoulder at Shin.

"Magic. Can you leave us, for a time, please..?" He asked Shin, his gaze turning back to the fire. "It's been a while since I've seen Bast... And no doubt she has questions..."

[Bast]

Bast watched the young man nod, stand up, leave the vicinity. Then, after he'd been gone a distance, she turned her head towards Monthu, yellow eyes sad.

"You never told me," she said, "why you refused to believe."

[Akira Satou]

The snow wasn't too bad today. Despite being from the country, Akira never cared for the cold. She adapted to it, she could resist it. And she could command it, thanks to the vision of the little Lunar Spirit that danced around her playfully. But she never cared for it. But tonight, it was worth it. Kelcia had told Akira that there were the Knights of Kerrian, Zephyr, and Valerian nearby.

"Is that them there?" Akira asks her with an almost-flat tone. She decided to light a cigarette for some warmth and a quick smoke. She nudged her head towards a small glimpse of smoke in the sky as she passed through an old, forgotten village. Breathing some smoke into the air herself, she flicks off ashes from her cigarette. Falling to the ground, it didn't melt the snow even a little bit.
"Yesyes, Aki-chan!~ Definitely them! Three Knights there for sure! Even your little 'Guoo-kun!" She playfully teases in a sing-song voice.

"Hush up, Kel. Nobody asked you."
"Actually, you did!" She giggles in victory.
"Whatever..." A few minutes pass as she leaves the small, dead town. Taking another drag, she sighs out the smoke and raises her free hand. "OOOOOOOI! 'GUOOOOOO! YOU OUT THERE?!" She yells out towards the smoke, continuing her approach.

[Monthu]

Both hands fell by his sides, and his gaze was cast down to the floor as if ashamed. To say he was anything but would have been a lie.

"You reacted to it so positively... It came naturally to you and I... Well... I envied you. I was in the middle of a children's story filled with magic and wonder, and I was that full grey character who was nothing special. With Falcon Recon it wasn't so bad... We'd all have gone home and I'd have been the normal one again, I'd be able to think myself the best. But we decided to stay, and I haven't regretted that, it's just..." He motioned to their surroundings before his hands dropped into his lap with a small slap.

"You, Itami, Natas... You're all so unique, and defined because of your power... Between you three, you can achieve anything I could add to the group. Itami can use long ranges attacks, Natas is good with a knife, you're stealthy... I'm..." He sighed. "I'm just a third wheel, almost."

[Zhen Anguo]

'Guo was stood on the edge of the group when Akira's call passes on the wind, perfectly in time with his rumbling stomach.

"Oi... I'm so hungry, I'm imagining I can hear Akira-chan..." He grimaced as his ears perked up, wait... That smell of smoke. That wasn't their fire... Could it be..?

"Uh.. A-Akira-chan..?" He said with a hint of confusion. That was definitely her! He tightened his eyes shut and could feel rather than see the pale blue of her aura in the distance, and snapping his eyes open, he rushed off in her direction, his large weapon in hand and a grin on his face as he went.

"Akira-chan! I'm here! We all are! Well! Most of us! Haha!"

[Akira Satou]

"Hehee! Well? Would I like, Aki?" Kelcia giggles and jumps in the snow, latching onto Akira's pant leg.
Akira doesn't answer. "Wow. I guess you really are here." She lets a small grin paint her lips. "How's it going, Greeny? Been a while... Is my little drinking buddy here? For a little one, that Rin really can hold her liquor..." She shrugs and hugs 'Guo quickly. "You almost look taller. Then again, I've been around shorties for the last few months... Heh. Right... What're you all doing in Ghiaccio? Gonna update your favorite Ice Knight on your happenings?"

[Bast]

She sighed, shook her head, hugged closer to him.

"Jin..." she began, then stopped, not really sure what to say. "I always have the right words for every occasion," she started again, "but I finally realized I don't know which words are the right ones here. Because for once in my life, I realize that the right words must be true words, and not false ones. But how to put the truth into words that you'll accept, and understand, and convey the right meaning and not the wrong, untrue one...?" She sighed, frustrated. "I'm a wretched and dirty thief. You're an assassin who kills for money. Yet we're both masters of our trades, were both masters of our trades even on our world. There was no thief better than I before we came here... I don't think there is a thief greater even here. But..." She shook her head. "I don't know, I don't really know what I'm saying. Maybe I wish I'd never found out that I've been using magic, because it makes me feel cheap. But the skill of using it surprises me and intrigues me, so that's not entirely true. And yet..."

She smiled.

"The truth is, I'm almost glad you don't have magic or can't make it work or whatever. If we were all magical superbeings things would be boring. Your skill competes with magic in every way... You're not a third wheel at all, Jin. And... if you still feel like you are... then we'll move on. Back to Earth or someplace else. Wherever it gets most exciting, right? We came here for new opportunities... we don't have to stay if those aren't to our liking."

[Zhen Anguo]

'Guo tried (unsuccessfully) to hide the pink in his cheeks as he gave Akira a quick hug. Stabbing his halberd into the snow, he scratched the back of his head and have a shrug.

"Rin's not here... Neither is Vash or Daisy... But Shinny just arrived, and Kurai's here too! A-and me..." He looked at his boots bashfully. "I-I'm here too..." He soon brightened up as he took a deep breath and went into a spiel into what had happened.

"Ok! Some evil guy from a millenia ago has broken free of his evil prison because he's evil and he's trying to conquer the world so Vash sent me and Mr. Horo an evidentially Shinny to help Andy and these hero guys and What's-his-face sent two of his people and we're gonna' stop the evil guy in the name of LOVE. AND. PEACE!"

He took a deep breath and was soon hyperventilating as he grinned up at Akira. "So yeah..." He said casually, between breaths. "That's what's been happening..."

[Akira Satou]

Akira raised an eyebrow, trying to comprehend what he's been saying. He spoke rather fast and it was kind of hard to keep up. "Right. Old bad guy. You're helping. Love and peace." That was what she got out of it. "Cool, cool... This guy's in Ghiaccio?" She looks down to her leg where Kelcia clung happily. Of course, only Akira could see her, so it looked like she was talking to the snow.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? I could have helped, you know..." Kelcia just shrugs and skips off somewhere in the snow. "Well..." She turns back to 'Guo, chuckling at his pink. She pinches his cheek playfully. "Good to see you're still a colorful bloke. Do you want some help? I've finished what I came back home to do, and I was gonna go find you guys anyway. I've kind of gotten used to the company, you know." Luckily, Akira wasn't a blusher unless she was drunk. Otherwise, she'd be pinkening. "I know these parts like the blunt end of my pole knows a smashed skull, you know." Snickering lightly, she punches his shoulder with tiny force. "Then we can get the whole gang back together."

[Monthu]

He smiled softly at her attempts, and opening up his cloak, he threw it around her shoulders as well, pulling her closer as he looked up at the night sky, covered by the falling snow and the clouds from which the flakes had been born.

"It's not about the excitement... Or just about being useles, there's other stuff as well..." He tried to frame his words, he didn't want to sound like he was pushing her away, she was making valid points, but he just wanted to convey what he felt without being a huge jackass. "I may be an assassin, but in my heart, I'm a warrior... A warriors life is striving to become stronger, better, more advanced. I'm stood in front of a wall, a gate which I can't pass, the pinnacle of what I can be is on the other side. Magic stands in my way, something does for every warrior of the times. For Lü Bu, my own ancestor, it was his impulsiveness that held him back, for Huang Zhong, an inspiration of mine, it was his age that held him back. For Taishi Ci, it was loyalty that held him back." His gaze held Bast's with a strong determination.

"I'm trapped with the ghosts of the past, before and unscalable wall, and I won't feel complete until I can get through that gate... I've seen glowing knights, crystal giants, Phoenix's and I've watched my girlfriend turn invisible gods knows how many times... I feel like I'm bringing a knife to a gunfight, Bast..."

[Zhen Anguo]

'Guo nodded his head. "He might be here... We're following up a lead and will hopefully catch him and put him in his place! For being evil! But as for now, we're taking a little break, but we should be moving out soon! Once grumpy-gills has cheered up, we'll be on our way! If not beforehand!" His cheeks flushed more as she pinched him and he tried to get it all under control again, he felt like a rowboat in a storm.

"And we... Um... We didn't... We weren't... We weren't quite sure if we could get in touch with you... Or how... Or if you were busy... But, y'know..." He scuffed the snow with the toe of his boot. "You can come along if you like, I mean... I'd like you to- I MEAN... I wouldn't mind... It'd be well, cool..? Yeah. It'd be cool!" Inwardly, he cursed himself for not having Ping's charm, or his father, Yu's stoic and calm nature.

[Akira Satou]

Akira covers her mouth over what was, for once, a laugh that could be considered feminine. "Oh, would it now?" She teased at him, hitting his other shoulder just as lightly. "Then I guess I'll grace you with my presence. You know. To fight evil and stuff." She could only smile and think that he needed a drink or something. Stealing another drag off of her cigarette, she holds it out to 'Guo. "Want a drag?" The answer was obvious, sure. But it was just her being courteous.

[Bast]

She poked him. "Maybe you need to stop thinking about all of those names and start living in the present, Jin. If you keep comparing yourself to them, you'll never be allowed to be Jin. I like Jin better than some... Lu Bu guy." She smiled. "Besides, I used to bring knives to gunfights all the time, and you never saw me getting all worried about it."

[Andy Jammer]

A sharp whistle cuts through the party chatter as Andy stands there, flabbergasted.

"People! I like how you're bonding, great, spectacular, but we kinda need to move now? So if you have to talk, you can walk too." he waved his arms to the path ahead of them. "Keep up okay? Only thing I ask."

He moved away of them, grumbling something about 'why am I stuck with these guys'. As he passed Navarre he said in a quick voice, "Yes I do, I know the Queen, she's my half sister. Talk and walk Navarre."

[Akira Satou]

"Yeesh." Akira mutters in response. Grinning up at 'Guo, she asks, "Who's the stiff? He hurt my ears." Yet she wraps her arms around 'Guo's, leaning on his arm with a yawn as she drags him along.

Kelcia notices Akira moving and instantly jumps into a skip beside her Knight.