Of Their Own Accord

The RP has started. you may start as you are ready.

a little side note, i am two people, my character and the narrator. When i talk in italics, it is the narrator.

please keep all comments to the other thread. START!

~RQ

Guill stood and watched the rain a while longer, getting soaked from the the water. He kept thinking back on the talk he had with Oki regarding their brother. He knew he was alone in this mission, no one would help him. Oki... he wanted to find out why Ryi would kill for nothing.

"The family has been dishonored enough from father," Guill simply replied. "I will end this."

He looked down at his arm, remembering his father and how he had the final blow in their fight. That day was both the saddest and the best he had ever had. He laughed and started to make his way back in the tavern, hoping to ask around for more information.

E placed the explosive, lit it, and quickly took cover. Seconds later, a loud blast could be heard from within the mine. The sound of rock clattering on rock seemed almost endless. E hated this degrading work. He was a combat droid, not some stupid mining tool! He should be on the battlefiled, not cooped up in a hole!

How long had he been here? Six years? "Six years of hiding in the dirt and filth." E spat disdainfully. All because of those damnable assassination protocols, all E-116's had been illigalized, and E had to remain in hiding. But not much longer.

E stood up and looked deeper into the tunnel. Smoke and dust billowed out of the mine. He would escape tonight, he knew. He would re-enter the world of men. And he would take the life of the man who destroyed his master.

When the sun had dipped into the sky, E loaded his stealth protocols and fled the mines, heading toward a nearby human settlement...

Guill walked into the tavern, Soaked from standing in the rain. The maid yelled at him for getting the place wet, causing him to apologize and dry off before hitting the bar.

He sat next to a rather huge man, and simply starting listening to what people had to say.

"Did ya hear 'bout them murders? crazy folk out here now days."

The man seemed to be drunk, for no one else was in the bar.

"I tells ya', what people do for dat der money now..."

Guill Sighed. It was rather late, and getting info on Ryi would just be imposable. only drunks would even come in at this hour. He reached down for his pendent, the one his father gave to him. Only the eldest of the family may hold it, and since that one day, that duty fell to him.

He stopped his hand dead at the base of his neck. The pendent was no longer around his neck. He franticly got up and left the tavern, thinking he had dropped it. Before he got out the door, the drunk man put his hand on his shoulder and gave him a muddy item.

"Hey boy, ya dropped this"

The man passed out, and Guill, not knowing what to do, simply caught him.

"Oh that old Mr. Gear, always drinking himself to near death. Guessing that's all he has time to do since he moved to this old dump," Said the maid. "Could you take him to his house? His keys are probably under his mat."

"Does he do this often?" Asked Guill.

"Pretty much, old fool. Feel sorry for him, he was a great engineer until Talkenta was destroyed. Lota people lost their jobs, mostly people who worked on technology."

"So i'v heard. fine, i will take him home." Guill thanks the maid, and headed for the door, while the man mumbled something under his breath.

Satsuki Kai ran through the forest on the edge of her home town. It was dark, rainy, and very cold tonight, but she needed to move quickly in order to make it to the ferry docs on time. She tripped over an exposed tree root and fell into the mud. Satsuki picked herself up and continued on. She was finally escaping this place and all it's rules and arranged marriages.

A noise a few feet away from Satsuki made her jump. They couldn't have found her already could they? She climbed one of the trees and hid. Below her a man walked with a torch. It was her brother.

Larry awoke to the sound of footsteps above. He had spent the night sleeping in a hole that is worm had dug for him. When the footsteps were right on top of him he heard a predominant *thud* as whoever was above fell to the ground. Larry's worm must not have completely buried itself in the ground again and was sticking out of the ground. Larry chuckled to himself as he drifted back to sleep.

Soft footsteps led him from the inn, carrying him outside and into the cool, night rain. Athe sighed, leaning against the side of the inn, paying no mind to the endless water that fell from the clouds above. He let his head hang slightly, cobalt hued bangs drooping over his eyes, saturated with water. "How much longer...?" He mumbled to himself softly. He was tired of making no progress. How could he take revenge on those murderers if he couldn't even get to them, let alone kill them.

Fists clenched and relaxed at his sides. A slight wince was given at the twinge in his left hand. He brought it up, observing the palm and wrist with electric blue orbs. The veins were raised, darkened to a deep ebony. He clenched it again, pulling the hand to his chest protectively, looking up to watch the center of the small village. With the rain had come fog, obscuring the already darkened view of the plaza. It was getting late. Hardly anyone was up. Athe could only spot one man, entering the tavern. "It's still open?" He wondered aloud.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps. Heavy footfalls echoed through his auditorial canals. He glanced to the entrance, eyes widening at the sight of a large droid, plowing straight for the village.

Tanis looked around the field full of corpses, taking a deep breath, smelling the odour of blood and decay. He loved war, the feeling that he got when his sword cleaved through an enemies bones. The fear he saw in their eyes.
He sighed contentedly, life didn't get much better.

Tanis threw the door of the inn open, sizing up every man in the room as silence decended upon it. He walked in calmly and sat down at the bar.

"Y'know son, they don't take mercenaries too kindly in these parts here." An elderly man next to him said softly.
"Is that right? Maybe these parts should learn to respect the men who clear out their trash." Tanis replied, somewhat louder. The silence of the bar was deafening, he could feel every eye on his broad back. He sighed and leant forwards, black hair swinging over his eyes briefly. Tanis stood up.
"Alright then, if any of you inbred scum have something to take up with me, say it now and let's get it over with, or stop glaring at me and get back to ya drinking." He snarled. No one moved, Tanis sighed again and sat down, waving to the barkeeper.
"Just a beer, mate, it's gonna be a long night..." He said as a bottle shattered over the back of his head. Tanis turned around and unsheathed his massive sword from his back, "Every bloody time." he mumbled under his breath.

Tanis walked out of the ruined inn, brushing splinters off his shoulders. He looked up into the moonless sky, ignoring the drops of water from the heavens. His fingers brushed his forearm, tracing over the brand of evil, the brand that drew evil spirits, demons and all sorts of monsters to him and sighed, he would make them pay, those who had cursed him. Those who had murdered his family and dreams.
That was when he saw the droid approaching the village, it's heavy footfalls clanking in the silence of the night.

E marched toward the village, the sound of his metallic footsteps seemed to echo along the walls and carry forever. Rain dripped off of his hull, but he didn't mind, for how could one who cannot feel mind the cold?

E stopped his marching abruptly and glanced around. The town was small, but certainly larger than the mining camp. Off in the distance, two figures could be seen, looking in E's general direction. E didn't care. If they should get any...interesting ideas about him, E was certain that he could easily eliminate them, or any threat for that matter. As E made his way over to the inn, he noticed that one of the figures looked vaguely familiar...

The droid didn't have the time nor the patience to see if he knew the kid. He pushed past the man standing near the front of the tavern and threw the door open. Inside, the tavern looked like a warzone. Tables and chairs lay in pieces, people groaned and clutched various wounds. E kicked away some of the rubble, exposing the half-crushed bartender.

"First that mercenary and now this?!" the man asked, fear in his eyes. "What did I do to deserve this?"

"Many things, likely." E replied. With one strong arm, E hoisted the man to his feet. "I require information, drink dispenser human. I've heard this town has many engineers. Did any of them happen to work for Sync Industries?"

"Few engineers live here anymore." the bartender replied shakily. "And none that worked for Sync ever lived here."

E's eyes shined ominously. "Then you serve me no purpose." the droid said. In one quick movement, E unsheathed his thin longsword and brought it up to the man's throat.

"Wait! Wait!" the batender cried. "There is an engineer...he's a regular here! His name is...um, Mr. Gear, I think."

E dropped the man back on the floor and stepped out of the tavern. It was only a name and not much else, but it was a lead. E stepped back into the pouring rain, setting off to find this Mr. Gear.

Guill sat down at one of Mr. Gear's tables, observing the so called house, though it looked more like a mad lab. He had been here for about an hour, waiting on the old man to awaken. The sound of rain grew louder outside.

Looking around, Guill notices a picture of a young man, and what seemed to be Mr. Gear. Looking closer, he sees a small note.

"Thanks for all the fish, dad!"

Guill chuckled. Looks like the family had a sense of humor.

"That was me old Boyo-o"

Guill rose to see the old man looking right at him.

"Lost everything i did. Not much i can do..."

"So i'v heard. Your son..."

"Aye, he was not so lucky. What i wouldn't give to get him back..."

Guill thought back at his own father. The father that had sent him away and favored Oki over him. The father that would keep such a horrid monster and dare call it his kin.

"... Thank you for saving my pendent"

The old man smiled. He patted Guill and told him not to worry about it. "aye, if there be anythin' you need, just ask."

Guill thanked him, and sat down to collect his thoughts.

Once again Larry woke in the hole that he had spent the day in. He could clearly hear the symphony of insect calls and the pattering of rain from the surface. Now that his worm had had the time to rest it was time to move onwards. He saddled up his worm and his worm began burrowing through the earth.

Larry had been traveling to the Eastern Nest for almost 3 days now. Their old Lord had died and there was much struggle going on to decide who would take the throne. The old Lord's one son, the only true heir to the throne, had left the Eastern Nest many years ago. Without the rightful heir or any laws saying as to who would seize the throne, chaos broke out.

Larry prepared himself for what he knew he would soon face.

Athe's was canted lightly to the side as the emerald and crimson droid blew through the plaza and headed for the tavern. Earlier, there had been some sort of commotion, the sound of glass breaking, men yelling; some sort of Bar fight. Now the only man to walk out was pushed aside by the droid as it dashed into the tavern. "That's strange..."

What could a droid possibly want from a tavern? They couldn't drink or eat anything obviously. He decided to take a risk. He moved past the man who had been shoved out of the way, giving him a quick glance. He nodded to the large character, then moved on inside.

Storm-filled eyes widened as he took in the ruined state of the tavern. Tables and chairs appeared to have been tossed into the center of the room, then exploded everywhere, wooden shrapnel the only thing left. Men lay on the ground groaning and bleeding. One man seemed to be on the edge of death, bleeding out of his stomach, laying in the corner. He glanced over to see the barkeep, being interrogated by this droid. When the droid dropped him and headed for the door, Athe didn't budge. He let his arms hang at his sides, fingers close to the hilts of both his swords, hanging at either side. "Was this you?"

Tanis appears behind the strange man barring the doorway to the tavern and places his hand on his shoulder, "Nope, wasn't the droid matey, I did this. And before you get all critical and go white knight style on me you might wanna know that they started on me first."
Tanis stretches his arms and unsheathes his massive greatsword, "Anyways, looks like this droid might have a bit more in mind than just simply havin' a drink. If you ask me, he looks like trouble, and I'm generally pretty damn good at picking these things."

E eyed the two figures now blocking his path. One appeared to be a young man, likely no older than nineteen. The other, however, looked like he had seen his share of battles. He had said he destroyed the bar...he could be a worthy challenge.

"I don't want any trouble." E said unconvincingly. "And I certainly wouldn't want to draw attention to myself by killing you two."

The two men didn't move. The young man gripped his swords tighter. The older man placed a hand on his massive greatsword.

"You two don't understand the meaning of a threat, do you?" E asked.

Again, no answer. The three were sizing each other up, trying to note any particular oddities or weaknesses about their foe. The older man appeared calm, almost relaxed. The younger man seemed tense, but there was an aura of discipline around him.

If E had lips, he would've grinned. This might be fun.

"Loading combat routines." E said. In one quick movement, E drew his longsword and struck!

Satsuki leaned closer into the shadows avoiding the light of her brother's torch. He stopped under the tree and looked at her. She didn't move.

"Satsuki I know you are in the tree, I can see you. I'm just here to bring you a jacket and some extra money, because you left with pretty much nothing. Father does not know that you are gone yet." He said and Satsuki didn't say anything. Her brother set the jacket and money down underneath the tree and said"Good luck" to her before he walked away.

Satsuki jumped out of the tree and picked up the things her brother had left for her and continued on her way to the ferry doc. She arrived just in time to make the first Ferry of the day.

The Ferry ride seemed to drag on forever, though in reality the trip was probably only two hours. Satsuki was one of very few people on the ferry at this hour. The water was rough due to the storm and that made it difficult to do anything without feeling ill. The ferry was heading to a small and unimportant town that used to be home to many engineers, but had fallen upon hard times. She didn't remember the town's name, but she hoped to get there, spend a little time looking around, and then leave for a larger city where she might be able to get a job.

The ferry finally docked and Satsuki got off. The rain still hadn't let up, so she headed to the closest tavern to find out where a good place to stay would be. When she opened the door to the tavern she was shocked by what she saw. Tables and chairs were rent asunder, and there were men bleeding on the floor. A droid stood in the middle of the room and held a long sword and it was faced two men like it was sizing them up. What had happened in here?

Athe didn't move once the larger man placed a hand on his shoulder, admitting to destroying the place. He listened as the droid denied having anything to with this, though it was clearly placing the two of them under every scrutiny. He shook his head, a mild irritation showing through. "I really don't have time for this....." He turned from the tavern, gripping his swords, beginning to walk out.

As the droid struck Tanis simply raised his metal hand to deflect the blow then followed through with a massive swing of his greatsword, destroying the entrance of the bar. The droid had leapt back though with inhuman speed and avoided the blow. Tanis grinned, "Well now, this could be fun!" Then he leapt through the shattered doorway and swung a humongous blow at the droid, who parried, although Tanis could see him shift under the weight of the swing. Then it counterattacked faster than a snake, sliding it's longsword out of the parry and slamming it into Tanis' side.
The droid seemed to be surprised as his blow didn't hit the fleshy exterior of a human but instead bounced off Tanis' light plate armour, merely denting it rather than shearing through the man. Tanis grinned once more and punched the droid hard in the head with his metal hand, sending it reeling against a wall.
"Had enough yet?" He laughed, "C'mon, we're only just warming up at the moment!"

E hit the wall, the force of the mercenary's blow sending him reeling.

"Had enough yet?" The mercenary taunted. "Come on, we're only just warming up at the moment!"

E glared at the man. He clearly had underestimated this human. He certainly hadn't expected the human to be armored. A flaw on his part. Still, even with the armor, the mercenary had vunerable spots. E scanned the man, picking out the most open spots on his opponent. The neck, underarms, and just around the hips. But the man's greatest defense was his massive broadsword. This battle, E realized, would be won with finesse, not brute force.

The mercenary rushed in, bringing his sword up high and slashing downward. E jumped and rolled to the side, feeling the rush of air as the man's broadsword cut through the wooden wall. E brought his metal foot up and slammed his heel into the mercenary's stomach, sending him stumbling backward.

The mercenary, however, was used to such combat, and seemed to have almost expected E's attack. Within seconds, the man's guard was back up and the two began to circle each other.

E broke the pace and rushed at the man. He swung high with his longsword, aiming for the man's neck. The man backpedaled, dodging E's strike, but E pressed on, relentless. E could feel the tip of his sword bite into flesh, albeit slightly. The mercenary snapped his sword up, deflecting another one of E's wild swings. The man reversed his sword's direction, knocking E's sword right out of his hands. The man rushed, stabbing straight ahead with his blade...

And piercing E's hull.

E staggered backwards, feeling the jolt of electricity coming from within him. He quickly ran a diagnostic. The mercenary's blade had just barely missed his core and had pierced (and destroyed) E's cooling system. Unless he shut down any unnecessary functions now, E ran the risk of overheating.

E stubbornly refused to do that. He was perfect! The pinnicle of combat tech! He was the latest of the Executioners!

E drew the sword out of his hull and dropped it to the ground. "Impressive, for a human." E snarled. The mercenary chuckled and scooped up his blade. "Any final words?" he asked.

E checked his weapon systems. His shotgun was still online. It was an underhanded tactic, sure, but E swore that he would achieve his goal at any cost.

E flicked his wrist, exposing his shotgun. He swung his arm up, and--

SLASH!

The mercenary's blade sliced E's arm clean off. E activated his emergency protocols in the event he was defeated. His power core shut down, his memory core locked. E fell to his knees as his vision began to go fuzzy. E fell forward, shutting himself down completely. With any luck, the mercenary would think he had destroyed E's power core.

E's vision faded into blackness...

Tanis sat down, breathing hard. The droid had been the strongest enemy he had faced in awhile, he was starting to get a bit out of practice it seemed. It was good to have a challenge and if he hadn't chopped off it's arm before it had done whatever it was planning to do, well, Tanis thought that it was pretty unlikely he would've been alive judging from the level of mechanics.
Tanis just sat there for awhile deep in thought, then he stood up and picked up the droid and it's arm. He had overheard earlier about a man named Mr Gear who was meant to be an acclaimed mechanic so he went up to the nearest townsman and asked for directions. After a bit of walking around Tanis found the house, droid still draped over his shoulder Tanis opened the door and walked in, to be met with the sight of two men staring at him. He dumped the droid down on the ground, "Mr Gear?" he asked.

Guill looked at the man and machine that had appeared almost out of no where.

"Aye, that be me. and what da ye want!"

"Let's just say.. we had an accident, mate. Think you can help?"

Guill stared at the mech. He recalled having a similar model protecting Oki at the manor.

"Those are illegal you know," Guill said.

The room got quiet. Gear looked closer at the fallen robot.

"This your boy?"

"Not exactly..."

Mr. Gear sat down and shook his head. He explained that they were now rare and finding parts would take a few days. plus it would have to be done under cover.

Suddenly, the pendent begun to shine. It only did that when another of his blood was near by. It was a warm kind of shine, one that brought back powerful yet very hurtful memories.

He got up and approached gear.

"Here, install this." It's the newest O.S. before they were banned, straight from royalty itself."

Gear's eyes widened. He asked how he got his hands on such a thing.

"Doesn't matter, just do it. It has a tracker set on me. Let the thing decide if it wants to track me down or not"

"Ya plan to use it boy-o? it'll take three moons!"

"Doesn't matter..."

Guill made his way out, moving past the man that brought the bot in.

"Wait now, you never gave me a name!"

"... I'm dieing. Slowly, but for sure. A name won't matter."

With that Guill left. He knew Oki was at the manor. Only one other person could be close enough for the pendent to react. His man made brother, Ryi.

Athe had barely moved out of the doorway when the fighting had ensued. He pivoted around on a heel, watching as the two combatants went at it. It became a fierce battle, though any advantage the droid may have had was soon on the decline. His eyes widened as the droid was run through, then proceeded to have his arm chopped off. He moved out of the doorway as the man moved the remains of the droid to a man's house. He followed a little ways, stopping about halfway from the tavern to the man's house. He glanced over as a young man walked from the house and past him, giving him a cursory nod.

He moved to the large man with the broadsword, standing a few feet behind him. "So...you won..?"

Tanis turned around and looked at the young man, "Yeah, it seems like it." he said. "Anyways, would you mind staying here and looking after the old man, I think I can trust you. Something doesn't seem to be... right... about that other man who walked off, I'm gonna follow him for awhile."
Tanis walks off in the same direction as the other man and follows him from a distance, observing his movements.

Athe said nothing as the man walked off, watching him curiously. Did he know the other man who had left? Was there something to be suspicious of with that man? In fact, Athe wasn't sure he trusted this one at all. But, what else did he have to do? He turned to face the older gentleman's home, putting his foot in the door before the man brought the damaged droid inside. "I'm sorry, would you mind if I stayed until the droid is repaired? Just for a little while at least? The place I was staying was kind of well...trashed."

The rain poured even harder now. It was as if the heavens themselves were crying, knowing of the impending events.

Guill stops mid way of his target. He had not noticed him there yet.

The figure in the distance hears the footsteps and jumps up.

"Brother...!"

"Don't call me that!" Yelled Guill, as he let a surge of energy rip out of his blade.

The figure dodged the attack, "Wait, Stop! I don't want to fight you Brother!"

"I said don't call me that!!! You are not my brother, you are a fallen god, a god made a monster!"

"Fool, That's Yir, not me!"

"Enough!" Guill said as he threw out another wave of energy.

"You are a monster and nothing more!"

The young man looked like he was struggling. Guill knew His brother, Ryi, was keeping Dia at bay. Dia was a curse to the old god. Ryi's soul was made. Made by another former god, and his own father. The old god, Sui, had his soul removed and replaced by this... this thing. It had since then grown and started thinking on its own. However it did not know this, and Guill planned to keep it that way. His father had made this thing, and he was going to put an end to it.

Guill got ready to take his next strike, and then a jolt of pain hit him. It was his own curse, the one that had already claimed his arm. The curse that gave him the power of training for more then 40 years, though he was only 21. But this power was only a test, and the side effects deadly.

He doubled over in pain. He fumbled to get the suppressing pills out of his pouch. The pills made him stable, but greatly reduced his power.

Ryi watched as his brother dropped the bottle and went limp.

"Guill!!" He yelled as he rushed over to get the pills. he popped the bottle open and put one into Guill's mouth.

he checked his pulse, and let out a sigh. "Will you ever let it go..."

He noticed a man in the bush. He got up and quickly left, making sure to put the bottle back into Guill's hands.

"Goodbye, brother."

E's optics flickered to life. He hesitated as his battle and other systems slowly came back online.

"Online." E said. "Running self-diagnostic."

The diagnostic results came back within seconds. All of E's systems read green. Which was rather unusual. Hadn't the droid just been engaged in combat with a powerful enemy?

"Woah, wasn't expecting him to come online so quickly!" a human's voice said. E didn't recognize the voice. It didn't belong to the mercenary. It sounded...older.

"Help me strap it down, lad." the man said to his younger partner. "Eh...what's your name again?"

"Athe." the boy said, obediantly crossing the workbench and stapping E's arms and legs down.

"Release me at once!" E roared. He struggled against the bonds, thrashing his body all about. He activated his weapon systems, firing his shotgun (to no effect) and blasting his shoulder mounted rifle (also to no effect).

"Blast and damn!" the older man cried, ducking to avoid the wild gunfire.

E thrashed around, refusing to being contained. He pulled against his bonds, snapping his right arm free. Fast as lightning, E drew his longsword and slashed the other bonds loose. The combat droid leapt off the workbench, red eyes glowing fiercely.

"How long have I been captive?" E snarled, pointing his sword towards Athe and the older man. "Answer me!"

"Two days!" the old man said, throwing his hands over his face. "I-I needed that much time to gather the parts to fix you!"

Now E understood. This man had repaired him. That's why all of his systems read green.

Athe drew his sword and swatted E's blade out of his metallic hand. E hopped back and flicked his left arm, extending his shotgun and pointing toward the boy. Athe's eyes revealed his determination. If there was to be a fight, he would willingly accept it.

"I'm looking for a man named 'Gear'." E stated.

The old man stood up. "I am Gear." he said, unsure of what this droid wanted.

E's eyes shone with delight.

"You are the engineer?" E asked. Gear nodded. "Tell me, Gear...what do you know of Sync Industries?"

"Sync Industries?" Gear asked. "They were your manufacturer, til Alex Sync got his head blown off by a defective droid. They've been shut down."

E digested this new info. So, Sync Industries had been shut down. But what about the saboteur? The one who had forced E to destroy his entire life? E bet that this man knew nothing of that. No one except actual factory workers would have heard of that.

E retracted his shotgun and sheathed his longsword.

"Thank you for the assistance, human." E said, striding towards the door.

"Wait, you're just gonna let him go?" E heard Athe ask Mr. Gear.

E shut the door behind him, feeling angered and defeated at the same time. This must have been the feeling known as "frustration".

He had no leads. No leads meant no vengeance. E stood in the town, the sun shining down on him. What did he do now?