HxH: 108 Stars of Destiny [IC]

[Yui]

---

Traversing the desert, this was more Razia's style. It was something she excelled in; she had plenty of practice in the field, with her armor attesting to that if her skin tone didn't already. Razia had opted personally to not buy any supplies; she knew she'd find some eventually. Or rather, some would find her. If there was one thing she knew about this place...

 

"Show's over, kiddies! Drop the valuables and leave 'em fer us, 'n' maybe we won't hurt ya. Sounds like a fair deal, yeah?"

 

...it was that one couldn't go very far without facing bandits. Where there were bandits, there was a camp somewhere with supplies. This was the reason Razia had opted out of buying any supplies for herself. She'd sustained herself for years taking from those who took from the weak, so a couple days more of that would be a cakewalk. The only regret Razia had about this scenario was that it had to happen before she'd finished the Hunter Exam and became a fully-fledged Hunter. What a shame. Regardless, she'd have to defend herself here. Unless these bandits decided to take her seriously, that is.

 

Stepping forward, Razia boldly declared in return to the bandits "In the name of Empress Razia, stand down and forfeit your stolen goods! I'll give you one chance!"

 

For a second, they stopped and looked at each other. However, it became clear the bandits weren't going to take Razia seriously. The five of them began laughing a boisterous and low-pitch laugh one would expect of stereotyped goons.

 

"Nothin' personal, Your Majesty," the leader said, laughing even harder as he addressed Razia, "but you don't get special treatment round here. Get 'em, boys!"

 

"Defend yourselves," Razia warned her allies (and honestly, partly to her foes as well) as the quintet of armed bandits charged. Four versus five? Well, given these were just bandits, the odds seemed almost fair for the assailants.

"Show's over, kiddies! Drop the valuables and leave 'em fer us, 'n' maybe we won't hurt ya. Sounds like a fair deal, yeah?"

 

"That's my line. Scram, befur I claw your eyes nyaut," Emui hissed in response, clawing ferociously at what little of a wicker basket was still intact in her hands. If her clawing and facial expression didn't already give it away, she was pissed. This heat was irritating the hell out of her, the sand was adding to it, her heist earlier had been mostly ruined by Aduain's arrival and calling out to her in the bazaar, Sela was mysteriously missing, and now to top it all off, these armed bandits were trying to steal from her, when stealing from people was supposed to be her shtick! Whether her face was red from rage, heat, or both was up in the air at this point.

 

The bandits didn't seem to care about her warning. They charged, and in response, Emui tossed her scratching post basket aside and with what sounded more like a screeching yowl than a battlecry, got down on all fours and ran at full speed, straight toward a bandit that stood furthest from the center of the group before planting her feet on his shoulders. However, she didn't attack, at least not in a way that would claw his eyes out as she'd threatened earlier. She simply dug her nails deep into the bandit's hand, forcing him to drop his sword; an act Emui responded to by quickly grabbing the sword and leaping off the bandit, back toward her group, carrying a stolen scimitar.

 

"After mew," the nekomimi said, gesturing from her teammates toward the charging bandits.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"The woman on the beast...wasn't there something between her and the beast that she sat on?"

 

"Uh...I do not need to think of that of all things right now.” The choice of wording made by the fire beast reminded her of a scary story told by the matriarch. She shuddered at even thinking about it, so she hoped that it’s not what Tai was trying to say. The time would be inappropriate anyway.

 

Although, thinking about it, it’s ridiculous to think that it’s what he meant.

 

“Uh…but I guess, you're referring to a saddle...right?" Miaris asked cautiously at the fiery beast, and he seemed to agree on it. Although, much to her chagrin, there was no such thing as a heatproof saddle around, and it would just add to Tai's discomfort anyway. She ended up sitting on him directly while both of they carried the team's stuffs. It was quite...uncomfortable. Her behind was burning, for one. It was not severe though, so she decided to stay around for now, at the very least. With that done, the group proceeded to walk their way through the desert. At first as a big group, but it's clear how they'll split up sooner or later.

 

One hour passed, and Mia started to feel the sensation of being grilled. Although the trip itself, for what tiny percentage of it that had been done so far, felt quite peaceful. Too peaceful, perhaps. It’s begging for something bad to happen. Miaris could feel it. The big group eventually split up, and now it’s back to the four of them again. Lettess, En, Tai, and herself. Things would really go badly.

 

"Show's over, kiddies! Drop the valuables and leave 'em fer us, 'n' maybe we won't hurt ya. Sounds like a fair deal, yeah?"

 

“…Knew it.”

 

Miaris cursed silently. Four to five, it’s clear how her group was in a massive disadvantage. Perhaps she should just let herself be carried away by them so she could at least stay alive to think of a way to stay alive?

 

"Are you capable of striking from my back," Taikyu calmly asked her, and broke Mia from her thoughts. The beast was in a position to retaliate, even preparing his quarterstaff. Miaris got off from him seeing that, and prepared her broom in a pathetic fighting stance. Thinking about it more, no. No way she would give up just like that. Even if she…of course not. She would survive now, and to do it, she would fight. They’re just scums and lowlifes, while Mia had a martial chef, a real ninja, and one hell of a literal beast alongside her. Numerical advantage shouldn’t mean sheet here…right?

 

“I just realized something. Desert bandits should have some knowledge of the desert right. Do you guys maybe know of some ruins around these parts?” Lettess, being true to himself, asked the bandit, perhaps out of jest. The boy himself prepared his own stance against the bandits while doing so. The ninja meanwhile was silent. Mia could sense his Ren expanding in an attempt to scare off the bandits, for now.

 

"I would suggest letting us pass unless you wish to become ashes," When the beast declared that, his body and staff started to superheat as yet another form of intimidation so that the assailant to give in. But no, of course that wouldn’t do. These kind of things wouldn’t do against these guys. These scums…they wouldn’t leave unless they’re wiped off the face of this world. Of course…of course…

 

“Big bark, wanna bite? Disgraces like you bunch should be burning in hell right now for all I care.”

 

No point in playing soft. Even if they retaliate harshly, it shouldn’t matter. Miaris raised her broom up, and took aim at one of the bandits. The desert wind and heat made it hard to aim, but at this close of a range, it shouldn’t matter. The nen-coated bullet had been loaded. Five of them, in an organized group. It’s as if they already knew about them going to pass this area…But that shouldn’t matter.

 

“Here, let me help. Thank me later in the afterlife.”

 

She pulled the trigger, aiming directly at one of the bandits’ head.  Perhaps it was unwise to start the violent confrontation from the get go, but whether the bullet of now missed or not, as long as she could wipe them off so that they wouldn’t threaten her and her only wish anymore, it all should be fine.

 

 

One hour had passed since Sela ran from the ruckus she accidentally made, and much to her chagrin, Emui didn’t actually follow her, leaving the cat-wannabe stuck alone in the desert, wandering aimlessly. Although, she did located the convoy of exam takers somewhat later on, so she decided to tail them from a distance in silence. Perhaps she would find Emui there somewhere?

 

Unfortunately, not long after, what looked like five bandits attacked the group she’s following. Sela paused for a bit, thinking whether she supposed to help or not. They didn’t seem to be helpless from her point of view, so she decided to ignore them, and continue on her way undisturbed, at least until she noticed another person being attacked by five bandits, just like before. How weird. These bandits were quite coordinated for lowlifes. But of course, Sela was not one to dwell on such matters, and she decided to look at the person instead. She (Sela think, from her frame) was a cloaked, shrouded woman with a face covering, undoubtedly using it to traverse the desert undisturbed. By looking closer, she noticed that two people were also with her, but for now, Sela was more focused on the cloaked girl.

 

"Defend yourselves,” She said. Sela could hear her voice from her position, so she decided to go straight at the group, going towards the cloaked girl’s side as fast as she could with a catlike dash. It would be weird for her to appear out of nowhere like that, so she tapped the cloaked girl’s shoulders while still facing the bandits. Her dear Emui not being there was quite a pain for her heart, but Sela considered that perhaps this group would help her locating her precious cat, sooner or later.

 

“I’ll join.” It was not a question. Sela just stated her intent while she’s there. Five bandits…would they prove to be a challenge? Sela readied her ball of yarn. She thought that it wouldn’t hurt too much to see, perhaps.

 

“Hello.” She turned to greet the cloaked woman, before turning at the bandits too. “Hello too.

 

Attack now?”

 

---

[Andx]

 

Groups were dispersing into the desert but Xiu remained focused on the little Aquarian she'd caught sight of. She kept her distance but always kept him in sight. She purchased what things she felt she needed and could carry but nothing was quite registering on her mind as much as getting the lead she sought. The boy now had a nekomimi with him and the other fish woman which briefly reminded Xiu of Arash and Cammie who had already departed into the desert. Eventually the group she was trailing left as well and at a reasonable distance back she followed, ducking out of sight when any of them turned backwards. In truth she didn't entirely realize why she was being sneaky and suspicious like this. They may well have openly received her had she just walked up and talked with them. She was still in doubt of what she was seeing, of what possibilities were in front of her. Almost as though approaching them would cause them to fade out of reality before her. And then what would she be left with? Well there was still the Hunter Exam anyway.

 

It quite uncomfortably hot as Xiu continued on her way following behind the group of non-humans. Before long they were confronted by a group of five bandits and Xiu took the opportunity to stay out of sight. Perhaps if needed she could come to their aid. But from their fight she didn't think mere bandits would be much of a match against the shark woman. It was still a waiting game for now. The wait was torture but Xiu loved every minute of it all the same.

 

Aduain had wandered around the market a bit after catching up with Emui. Ivory seemed busy shopping and he probably needed to get some things too. Asking around the shops got him all sorts of opinions on what he did and didn't need to safely travel across the desert. One merchant approached him saying it was foolhardy for a fish like him to travel across the desert naked and fully exposed to the rays of the sun and suggested some loose clothing that was common of desert travel. Aduain was curious but sure enough he detested wearing them and left the shop quickly afterwards. He did manage to get some food and water and his bag was a fair bit heavier than he was used to carrying around for it but it was nothing too bad. He had to be prepared for the long haul.

 

About that time Ivory caught up with him which he realized when she squeezed at his shoulder a bit. Turning around he saw that she was quite loaded up on supplies. Despite the load she didn't seem too troubled and even offered to carry things for him.

 

"Thanks but I'll help out some too. Couldn't call myself much of a Hunter if I passed cuz you did all the work." he said as he readjusted the strap of his bag around his shoulder. At the edge of the town they were able to meet up with Emui but Sela was no where in sight. The group figured they'd find her somewhere in the desert, either at the ruins or along the path somewhere and started on their way.

 

The desert was an incredibly uncomfortable place to be. Especially for Aduain who hated hot dry places. His skin never seemed to dry out despite everything. He was drinking water pretty regularly but it wasn't helping his mood. He wanted to be swimming in it not just drinking out of a bottle. Every so often he'd look back to see if Sela was coming or to see if he could still see the city and he'd catch glimpses of green. Having heard about the heat making people see things he didn't think much of it. One last time he thought he caught a glimpse of a green haired person and was about to call attention to it when the group was confronted by five men brandishing weapons and demanding all their valuables. Ivory quickly readied herself for a fight and Emui even went so far as to disarm one of the bandits. Focusing in on what was happening Aduain removed the straps from his bag on his trident and readied his weapon.

 

Looking over the charging bandits he identified one of the less physically imposing men thinking to make a quick pick and began running forward to meet the advance. Though he soon found he wasn't used to moving on dry sand and nearly tripped as the sand shifted under foot. Readjusting himself he planted his trident to make a usual leap at his target only to again be met with the reality that dry sand isn't super stable and so instead of a high leap onto the attacker he sort of flew into the man's chest knocking both of them over and onto the hot sand below which Aduain realized was hot when it started burning his somewhat sensitive tail. Jumping up he saw the man he'd charged into getting up as well and now he was sort of in the middle of things, not a great position to be in.

 

"I hate this stupid desert..." he grumbled as he prepared himself for the fight ahead.

[Aix]

What was this torture? Alexandre had been thrashed around by thugs, but he wasn't sure if that was worst than this. He could only put one foot in front of the next and sway his body forwards. With his jaw clenched, he looked with envy at the desert woman a few feet ahead of him who was walking in the 40°C heat like it was a casual stroll. He pulled out his phone right up to his face and squinted really hard to see that about an hour had passed. There was still the whole day ahead of them. Alexandre nodded to himself, he would definitely spend an entire day fighting criminals.

 

Speak of the devil, they say, and he shall appear. No sooner said, a group of thugs showed up. It was a sizeable group with more than enough numbers to confront the spread out parties of examinees.

 

"Show's over, kiddies! Drop the valuables and leave 'em fer us, 'n' maybe we won't hurt ya. Sounds like a fair deal, yeah?"

 

It seemed thugs were painfully generic everywhere you went. Still, adrenaline pumped into his veins as he prepared himself for the familiar task of beating the sheet out of the scum of society.

 

"In the name of Empress Razia, stand down and forfeit your stolen goods! I'll give you one chance!"

 

Huh? The desert woman was some sort of Empress? It was pretty evident that these men didn't recognize her though, so it was probably just some self-proclaimed or defunct title. He never heard of an Empress of the Screaming Desert, except in antiquity.

 

"Defend yourselves," said the desert woman.

 

"Next you'll be reminding me to breath," muttered Alexandre under his breath as he leapt forward in a pre-emptive strike.

 

Frankly, Jimmy the bandit was intimidated by the big man and his axe. He seemed to be the bodyguard of the group of children behind him. Jimmy smirked and dropped his scimitar. "Ahahaha! Fool, did you think I'd really risk close combat!" he cried. "They don't call me Jimmy Killshot for nothing!"

 

"No one calls you Jimmy Killshot," said the four bandits next to him in unison.

 

"All of you, shut up!" Jimmy cried, pulling at dual pistols and firing a few shots at random. "Sorry hairy axeman, you aren't getting anywhere near me. BITE THE SAND!" 

 

The other sword-wielding bandits stood at guard around Jimmy.

 

Timmy Trickshot looked nervously at the ninja. He wasn't a Nen user, so he had no clue what was causing the chills down his spine. However, the other members of this group merely consisted of two kids and their pet, Mozilla Firefox. He smiled. This would be easy as taking candy from a baby, a regular hobby of his.

 

"I would suggest letting us pass unless you wish to become ashes." Wait, the fox-horse could speak!

 

At that moment, the girl atop her fire mount raised her broom and seemed to have shot one of Timmy's teammates. The man's neck snapped back as he was knocked backwards. Blood flowed from a hole in his forehead.

 

"AHHHH, KEN!" cried Timmy. "You funkers will pay for this. A shoot out you want, a shoot out you will get! Attack them, but the girl is mine!" He held his pistol behind his back and fired a shot. This was his trickshot... It wasn't anything special, but there was a slight surprise factor in how he was at least somewhat accurate while firing behind his back.

[Aix]

One man charged ahead towards Aduain with a large two-handed sword. "What's a fish doing out of the water?" he said with his weapon held high, intent on splitting the boy clean in half. Obviously, it did not occur to him that this diminutive amphibious creature would be capable of fighting back at all.

 

At the same time, a dual-wielding bandit was charging at Ivory with a upwards cross slash. "Don't worry, I'm using the back of my sword," he said. "Then we get a little rougher later."

 

The bandit was surprised by the girl's action, but he reassured himself it was merely a fluke and pulled a dagger from his belt before challenging the girl. The last bandit, not trusting his friend also went after the catgirl, lunging from the side.

 

"sheet, they've got firearms!" cried two of the bandits as they watched their leader go down. They backed away at the two's threats.

 

One of the bandits had a different opinion of the situation, however. "Aha! Look at me. I'm the captain now!" he said and with that he threw his sword at the cat boy and a dagger at the bird. "Get them!"

 

Taking advantage of the momentary diversion, the two other bandits charged forwards.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Did this dumb JABRONI just throw a sword at him? Arash had seem some crazy desperate moves but that was amazing. He barely had to move his body to avoid the blade, and in fact was able to grab the thing by the hilt as it soared past his face. Dropping his rifle behind him Arash brought up the blade just in time to block the bandit that had bum-rushed him. The two swords clashed together with a ringing sound, and Arash grunted. The man was strong, for sure, but so was Arash. He also had the advantage of the bandit expecting him to balk, seeing as the bandit looked like he should be obviously stronger.

 

Then, with eyes wide open in shock, Arash did indeed balk. The catboy was pushed back, lost his footing, and fell to the ground.

"Heh not so tough now are ya?" The bandit said, ready to go for the kill. He hesitated as Arash's grin appeared.

 

"Cozy down here; why don't you join me?" Arash said before grabbing the bandit's leg between both of his own and twisting, unbalancing the large man and bringing him down onto his back. Arash immediately moved, getting on top of the man, sword poised at the bandit's throat. "Not so tough now are ya?" Arash said in a rough imitation of the bandit's voice, before shoving the blade forward.

[Dad]

Warden spat at the sand, wiping his mouth as he listened to the bandits droll on.  He stood Harriet up right, carefully eyeing the one with dual pistols, as he ignored the rest of the bandit crew.  Warden looked to Nanika, then to Ninsar, his expression unchanged from the 'annoyed' and 'unimpressed' look he had given the bandits.  

 

Finally, as the bandit called Jimmy gave his big speech, Warden raised his guard, and pointed Harriet directly at Jimmy.  "Here's what's gonna happen, Jimmy," he said matter-of-factly.  "Your goons are gonna rush in.  They're going to--unprepared, improperly trained, and ignorantly--rush us.  My friends here will mop them up in a few seconds, and you're gonna watch your boys drop like flies."

 

Warden stuck Harriet back into the sand, and grinded her hilt in place.  "Then, you're gonna pretend you've got something up your sleeve, and I'm gonna put your neck," he said pointing at Jimmy again.  "Against Harriet's blade," he said knocking on the hard steel of his weapon.  "Finally, you're gonna cry, admit you were full of sheet, and you're gonna tell me a bit more about this desert.  We'll leave you with a parting gift--maybe one or two missing limbs--and we're gonna continue on with the Hunter Exam.  You're gonna tell your boss or whichever one of the proctors we were successful, and then go on about your miserable, pathetic life as a worm working for little of nothing."  Warden braced his back against the ingrained Harriet, and folded his arms as he waited.

 

"So whenever you're ready," he said waving a hand. 

[Love of Ghibli]

Lettess and En  looked on as their teammate seemed to have fired the first shot. Though neither of them were sure that she wanted to get the kill shot off but there was no turning back now. The bandits quickly dispersed as one of their members thought that he would be sick when he would actually shoot from behind his own back and be somewhat accurate. Lettess and En quickly went into action and the two split up. They were both very confident in the their comrades to keep everything else safe. 

Lettess used what appeared to be his radical speed and cutlery skills to do the same thing that he did to Mr. Buffalo back in the cage match. Of course this time it was just a little harder because he wasn't truly used to dodging bullets. Fortunately, he was used to much worse.

En on the other was no stranger to deadly uses of fire arms. Many people have foolishly tried to delay their deaths with guns...the end result was still the same. En used his speed to simply run past the deadly shooter and he seemingly appeared in front of the man. En then threw a Nen powered punch aimed directly at the trickshoters solar plexus thinking it would be more than enough to incapacitate him.

[Kazooie]

 

Cammie flailed for a moment. Sudden dagger throwing?! That wasn't part of his master plan!

 

He ducked down as the dagger flew over his head, sometimes being short had advantages! He brought the bow of his cello up just in time to block the swing from the blade of a bandit who rushed towards him, a small huff escaping the boy as he slid back across the sand a bit. "You ruined everything! You were supposed to stay back there!"

 

He brought his cello up and whacked the bandit with it, growling slightly as he did. It wasn't very intimidating obviously, but it made it clear that the bird was not happy with the way things were going. He pointed his sword right towards the bandit, the blade of it shining as he lunged forward. The bandit blocked the swing and recoiled a bit, before retaliating with a jab towards Cammie. He brought the cello up and blocked the blow with the side of it, slicing down with his sword again. He didn't manage to cause much harm, but he did give the bandit a nasty cut! That wouldn't look pretty when it healed!

 

He put a lot of force into pushing the bandit back with his cello, giving him enough space to heft it into the air again and fire another bolt right towards the man. The first one was blown off course a bit, missing the man's chest and hitting his upper arm. It didn't really sink in deep, but it was enough to cause him to flinch and stop for a moment as he yanked the bolt out of his arm.

 

Of course, by this point, it was too late for him. A great evil had been unleashed in the desert. The great evil of a grumpy bird child. Cammie's stretched out and he charged forward with much more speed than he had shown before, gliding over the top of the desert sand. He narrowed his eyes as he jabbed forward with his cello, landing a blow against the bandit. The point at the end of the instrument dug into right into the bandit's stomach as he was distracted, forcing the man to the ground as Cammie pouted a bit, "I told you not to come any closer to me, I warned you mister."

 

---

 

Ivory laughed for a moment as she watched Emui charge towards the bandit, the yowling battlecry coming from the cat causing her to ball her fists together. Her stance got a bit more fluid, adjusting for the movement of the sand beneath her feet. Her gaze cast over the group of the bandits focused in at the one charging towards her, a small grin on her face as she punched her hands together, the sound of the gauntlets hitting together echoing around ever so slightly as she held her right hand out towards the bandit. 

 

"Don't worry, I'm using the back of my sword," he said. "Then we get a little rougher later."

 

"Aw, you want to wait? That's not very fun..."

 

Ivory watched as the bandit brought the blades upwards towards her, her hands shooting down to collide with them. The sounds of ringing metal echoed from the two of them as Ivory winked to the man, then swept her tail underneath his legs. The bandit lost his balance momentarily and had to stumble backwards in the sand, and Ivory took the opportunity to reposition herself.

 

The bandit shot her a glare before coming back towards her with one of his blades raised up, the other one lowered down. Ivory blocked the swing of the first blade with her gauntlet, her hand grasping onto the blade as she attempted to pry it from the bandit's hand. She didn't quite stop the second blade, and he jabbed towards her stomach suddenly. She grabbed onto his hand as the blade began to pierce through her armor, leaving her with a small cut under her armor as she glared towards the bandit, "Ready to get rough?"

 

She grabbed the bandit's arm after tossing his first blade aside, and began to spin him around as she grabbed the back of his neck. He attempted to bring the second blade towards Ivory again and managed to land a cut right on her upper arm, which caused to her growl out as she tossed the man across the sand and into a dune. She stumbled a bit as she grasped the cut on her arm and laughed, glaring at the bandit who was buried in a bit of sand, "Have any fight left in you?"

[Astolfo]

---

Nanika

---

Nanika followed the others to the Bizarre Bazaar District. It was sweltering hot outside, and she had a feeling it was about to get worse, given the Screaming Desert was directly ahead. An elegant figure in a white robe came to greet the competitors, and sure enough, they were the Proctor. After listening to what they would have to go through, Nanika's eyes began to twitch slightly. They were expected to cross the desert without vehicles within four days, as well as get all information and supplies by themselves? She growled internally. It seemed as if her axe-wieldng partner had a general grasp of the situation though. Nodding, she went to go look for the supplies within town. Ninsar voted to help assist, and together, they looked through the bazaar.

 

While collecting supplies, an annoyingly loud voice screeched out. They were blabbering about some desert navigation tool. Nanika figured it was probably just a cheap con if anything. However, the risk that it was genuine and passing it by was too great to slip up. Checking to make sure they had all other necessary supplies, she walked up to the man. Sliding out her sword and pointing it towards his general direction nonchalantly, Nanika spoke.

 

"I'm sure you can lower the price a bit, can't you?"

 

A few minutes later, she walked out whistling as she carried three of the so-called navigation devices.

 

---

Shortly after entering the desert, Nanika and the other Examinees were met by groups of bandits. She immediately thought about killing them all, but realizing her partners were still next to her stayed her hand. She had to keep up appearances. Warden wasn't about to take that crap though, and he brandished his axe, taunting the bandits. Listening to the bandits drone on was starting to get boring though, especially with the stupid attempts at looking tough, like one gun-wielding bandit tried to do. It seemed as if he was the leader. It also became obvious within a few moments his aim was even worse than his bravado.

 

"Really, this is all you amount to?"

 

Nanika stared straight into Jimmy's eyes with a chilling cold expression that only he and the other bandits could see. Beside her, Warden had a similar idea of how pathetic these bandits were. Nanika unsheathed her blade, pointing it at the bandits.

 

"It's a waste of our energy to have to fight trash like you. Save us the effort and just end your own lives, that'll be faster." One of the bandits decided to be a smartass though, and shot back a barb of his own. "Didn't they teach kids not to play with sharp toys? You should go run back to your mama before you miss dinner, gyahaha!" He charged towards Nanika, laughing annoyingly as he brandished his own scimitar.

 

Nanika simply stood there looking bored as the bandit closed in. As the bandit raised his arm to smash down his sword, Nanika spun around, kicking him squarely in the head with enough force to break his nose and instantly send him unconscious. The man flew backwards, sprawling into the sand. ”This is all you can do? I don’t even have to use my sword.” Nanika sheathed her blade, beckoning forth the others with her right hand. She glanced over at Warden. ”I figure you want the Jimmy guy?”

 

At this exchange, one of the other bandits grew furious. ”What the funk do you think you kids are messing around with, huh? We’re professionals, and we’ve killed dozens of people and children too! You think we won’t hurt you? As a thank you for hurtin’ Billy here like that, I’m gonna have fun with your body ‘til you’re beggin’ for us to kill ya’! You’re a girl, so we might as well get some use outta you first, right?” He looked to his fellow bandits as if to get them to admire his intelligence. He beckoned at his pals. ”You only got to take out Billy ‘cause he be by himself like a damned fool! Try takin’ on all of us at once!” With that, the other two lackeys charged forth at the group with him, while Jimmy sat back puffing out his chest as he flourished his guns.

[Tesability Black]

"You f*ckers will pay for this. A shoot out you want, a shoot out you will get! Attack them, but the girl is mine!"

Taikyu was confused, he wasn't sure what Miaris had done with her sweeping tool before the shout, nor did he know where the sudden 'bang' he heard after was from. He almost missed the tiny speeding things that flew past the group because of his confusion and growled because of it. Tossing his staff into the air, Taikyu managed to undo the belt under him holding the backpack that rested on his rump and allowed it to slide off him before catching the metallic battlestaff with the tip of his whiparm.

Now, it was time to roast some idiots. En seemed to have taken care of the one that somehow caused that strange banging sound while Miaris somehow took out another, which meant...

Rushing forward in a dash, as Taikyu closed the gap between himself and one of the others in this odd gathering of willing foes, the beast did something most couldn't do. The sand under his paws became instant glass as his appearance changed. He retained his general shape, but suddenly, instead of flesh, bone, and fur, there was literal flame holding up the two backpacks he had started this journey with as well as the lit-ablaze quarterstaff in the tip of the now-whipflame, none of them even appearing damaged as he made a bid to run straight through the stranger that he charged towards.

 

(OOC: Taikyu doesn't know jack sh!t about ranged combat, nor does he know that's even a thing...^^; )

[Dad]

Warden watched carefully as Nanika sized up the enemy.  She was confident in her abilities.  That made her much scarier.  When she popped a rushing buffoon in the face, and sent him reeling, Warden nodded his head in satisfaction.  At first, teaming up with this bunch seemed questionable.  Now he was reassured that they were much more powerful than they appeared.  "Never judge a book by its cover," he said softly to himself.

 

”I figure you want the Jimmy guy?”

 

Warden nodded.  "Yeah.  I'll take the big oaf."

 

”What the funk do you think you kids are messing around with, huh? We’re professionals, and we’ve killed dozens of people and children too! You think we won’t hurt you? As a thank you for hurtin’ Billy here like that, I’m gonna have fun with your body ‘til you’re beggin’ for us to kill ya’! You’re a girl, so we might as well get some use outta you first, right?”

 

Then, Jimmy opened his big mouth.  He said something so disgusting--so revolting, that Warden couldn't help but snatch Harriet out of the ground.  

 

”You only got to take out Billy ‘cause he be by himself like a damned fool! Try takin’ on all of us at once!” 

 

"You're disgusting, ya know that?" he said flipping Harriet over skillfully.  "And for that sickening comment to my friend here, I'm gonna make sure you suffer.  But first," he said turning to his right.  Warden quickly intercepted one of Jimmy's goons, nearest him.  He kicked the lackey in his stomach, causing him to hunch forward while getting the wind knocked out of him.  Warden immediately followed this with a vicious headbutt, knocking the sword wielding bandit backwards and to the ground.  He kicked the sword from his enemy's hand, and proceeded to draw back his axe.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

One down.

 

It's funny. One guy had his head blown off, but the one that lost his head here was his friend. Shouldn't matter that much. Lettess and En looked at her weirdly. Shouldn't matter, one of the opponent took aim already. She didn't get to dodge the bullet from the trickshooter, but it only grazed her. En handled him before he could do anything else. Lettess handled another, skillfully handling the scum with a skill expected from a pro chef. Tai charged forward with his burning staff, glassing the sand in the process. That's hot. Miaris, seeing that one of the bandits still needed to be handled, sighed as she dropped her broom. The pistols she hid on her sleeves would still be functional. One of her arms was hurt, though it's not big of a deal.

 

"Gyo." Mia lunged forward with her Nen fully focused on her legs to increase her speed. The boost weren't that significant, but it was enough to get her to the one remaining bandit without opponent before he could properly aim at her. Now locked in close combat, he wouldn't be able to use his firearm effectively. "Ko." The focal point of her Nen shifted into her woundless arm. Her opponent seemingly was a normal human unlike the tempered sailor of earlier. Would be easy then even for a trash like her. The bandit drew his knife, but Miaris fired a punch to his abdomen before he could attack. It didn't break through him sadly. It was strong enough to stop him momentarily however, and with the Nen focused on her arm, she used that power to bring him to the ground. "Shu." She looked at his face a bit. That was a face of society's garbage. Maybe they're not too different. Only thing set them apart was-

 

"Bang."

 

Only one was in the position to fire at the other at point-blank range.

 

The battle wasn't over yet. Though even if the others decided to spare these trashes, she could arrange it to be otherwise. No one would miss them anyway, and the world could do with less trash running around.

 

"We're keeping one of them alive or should we just bury five bodies before we move on?"

 

---

[Dad]

A quick slam of his axe, and the enemy's head was left rolling.  Warden skillfully kicked the decapitated victim's skull into the air, and lobbed into Jimmy's arms.  As he caught it, Jimmy shrieked in a high pitched tone, before being slammed to the ground by a shoulder charge from Warden.  

 

As he toppled backwards, Jimmy lost control of his weapons.  Kicking them to the side, Warden held Jimmy's chin up with end of his axe, a trickle of blood running down Jimmy's neck.  "Tell me something," he said tilting Jimmy's head just a bit higher so that he could look him in the eyes.  Warden leaned forward to express his dominance, as he put a foot in Jimmy's chest.  "You think by insulting and attacking these girls, you're some kind of badass?" Warden said turning around to nod to Nanika and Ninsar.  "I've barely known them for more than a day and they've earned my respect.  It takes a real badass to stand in the face of adversity and be unfazed.  You're not a badass, Jimmy," Warden said nodding in agreement with himself.

 

"You're not even close.  You--what's that smell?"  Warden looked just below his foot to notice a liquid stain in the sand near Jimmy's crotch.  He had wet himself.  "Oh, Jimmy.  Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy," he said shaking his head.  Warden began to feel bad.  He put Harriet aside, and helped Jimmy to his feet.  "Come on, get up.  You're pathetic, you know that?"  He turned Jimmy around, dusted him off, and then turned him around once more to look him in the face.

 

"Jimmy.  You have too much pride.  You're a brat.  And I don't wanna kill you Jimmy.  So don't make me regret this."

 

Warden backed away, sizing Jimmy up.  Jimmy was practically shaking with fear, as Warden sighed.  "This is gonna hurt.  But you'll live.  You'll wake up, tell your boss our story, and you'll go on to be a bigger, better man," he said taking Harriet out of the dirt.  "Only instead of Jimmy Two Guns," he said taking careful aim with Harriet.  

 

"They'll call you Jimmy One Arm."

 

In one swift motion, Warden cleanly sliced off Jimmy's left arm, the shock of the strike not quite registering in Jimmy's brain.  Jimmy collapsed to a knee, before crying out in pain.  "Come on now Jimmy, toughen up.  IT's just your left arm.  Everyone knows the right arm is better.  Now pack that wound with sand.  You'll pass out from the shock, but at least you won't bleed to death."

 

Warden proceeded to tear the cloth from Jimmy's torso and wrap and pack his open wound.  "There.  Now piss off, yeah?  I don't want you to see the rest of this," Warden said, turning to the last of Jimmy's men.

[Love of Ghibli]

"We're keeping one of them alive or should we just bury five bodies before we move on?"

 

Lettess just simply looked at the woman as she made her dark statement and he was pretty dumbfounded. Getting a tad dark there aren't we? He said as he looked around. Of course it looked like he was the only person who did not actually kill his opponent. Well I guess this just proves that these were not Hunters here to test us on our survival tactics. Lettess said slightly nervous. Well my guy is still alive and I guess we can question him about the location of these ruins in the desert. Lettess turned around and looked down at his opponent who was frozen in fear at the sight of what happened to his comrades.

 

En had honestly thought that his opponent was a hunter in disguise. The obvious lack of power was supposed to be someone playing possum. The result of his attack revealed to him that he shouldn't overthink things sometimes. En had begun to rummage through the corpses to see if there was something that would help the team on this journey. Outside of random weapons and survival rations it looked like there was a crude map that the group could use to help navigate the desert. En then threw the map at Lettess and who caught it rather non-chalant. Lettess then sat down and crossed his legs and made eye contact to this last not-standing bandit.

So...uh, forgive me I never really did the whole torture thing before. Okay um, I have this map here and I need you to point to a bunch of ruins. Now please do not lie me because as you can see my friends here do not really know how to hold back.

In the background En was using one of the Bandits own Hunting knives to carve up the body...for reasons.

[Aix]

"You guys were supposed to be a bunch of inexperienced desert travellers!" cried the last bandit as he tried to crawl away while simultaneously holding his sorely bruised crotch. All around him lay his comrades, either dead or incapacitated. The two women in the group were simply too strong. Alexandre was probably the weakest of this ridiculous party, but...

 

Alexandre smirked as he took a few leisurely steps forwards and made a motion to kick the poor man between the legs again, but stopped and stepped down on the man's back instead to pin him down. "Hmm? Who told you that?" the white-haired ex-police officer asked.

 

"I-It was... I'll tell you if you let me go!" cried the bandit. "Just--euuuff!!" He was interrupted as Alexandre exerted force on his back, driving the air out of his back.

 

"Hey, hey, when were you in a position to discuss terms with me?" said Alexandre with a smug smile. "If you need incentive... how about if you tell me, I'll consider not breaking your arm? Hm?" To accentuate his point, he reached down and pulled the man's arm behind his back. "I'll give you three seconds. Three..."

 

"D-don't! It was a pink-haired man who looked like a woman!"

 

Alexandre looked disappointed for a second, before sighing. "I already knew that," he said, breaking the man's arm.

 

Much to Alexandre's dismay, the man's scream was partially drowned out by a much louder sound that resonated through the desert. A split second later, a huge shadow passed over them.

 

Alexandre stopped for a moment in shock. "Dieu... they weren't just pulling the leg of the foreigner," he said wryly. "God of the Desert, they said. A funking dragon. Every now and then, it leaves its realm for up to a week to hunt... Now I just wonder what that thing hunts."

 

He seemed to have all but forgotten about the bandit. Giving the beaten up man one last glance, he turned to his companions. "If that thing has left its nest, that means its domain is free for people to pass. That should cut our journey down by half."

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"That was...funking pathetic." Arash growled, gripping the bandit's leader by the hair, holding his blade to the man's throat. The rest of the bandits had fallen easily and Arash was barely winded. In fact the worst wound he got was from his voluntary fall to the ground. "S-stop wait if you don't kill me I can tell you who sent us!" Sent? Well that makes sense, though whoever sent such weak assassins surely weren't a problem. "I don't really care." Arash said, before severing the man's head.

 

He turned back towards his companion. The bird boy had better get used to violence if he was going to stick around with Arash. "Pick up the cat, we're headed out as soon as we see what supplies these guys have."

 

While they were gathering their things, he noticed a shadow pass over. Arash glanced up and gasped. So there was definitely something dangerous in this desert. But if it was on the move..."Cammie we're going to have to move fast, okay? Get your ass in gear, if you can't keep up I'm leaving you behind." Arash stood and stretched his muscles. "Ready, set, go!" He set off. His words would imply they were going full speed, but Arash wasn't dumb. Going that fast in the heat would be dangerous. Regardless he did take off at a quickened pace, dashing across the sand with practiced grace.

[Love of Ghibli]

Lettess looked on at his victim who looked like he was about to reveal some actual useful information until a massive shadow came overhead and eclipsed everyone. The random bandit looked up and screamed something about some "God of the Desert" and then he passed out due to shock. Lettess simply rolled his eyes as he looked upward and he bore witness to what looked like a massive dragon flying over head. 

O....K...he said slightly awestricken. He had no idea that dragons were actually real. Though thinking of all the creatures he's had to help his family cook this shouldn't have been much of a surprise. But still....dragons. This was one of the first and few times he was actually speechless. Now what was the group to do?

 

En on the other hand was not surprised that a massive creature could take refuge in desert. It is a vast open land of sand after all. The problem was that it was a dragon. Who would have thought a dragon was this so called God of the Desert? Unfortunately that massive creatures presence was enough to take out the one lead the group had at navigating the desert. After a second of contemplation En had an idea. He fervently waved down the group and with his hand and showed the words EMPTY NEST flashing on his wrist. En was trying to signal to the group that if the dragon was here then they would have a shortcut to crossing the desert that was shown on the bandits map.

[Tesability Black]

Having long ceased being a glorious blaze of living flame for the time being, Taikyu lifted his head towards the sky after seeing the large shadow pass over him...

 

...whatever that creature was, it was huge.

 

"What...is that...?" The curious confusion had returned to the sound of his peculiar barking as he just continued to watch the strange thing fly off for as far as he would be able to watch. He was, sadly, not exactly paying attention to the others at the moment...