Black Dawn with Blood Between My Teeth

[Kezaa (retired)]

"How....How COULD YOU?!"

In the tiny back alley of his old home in Spain, the window behind Kezaa rained glistening shards from the impact of the two bodies from moments before. And lying beneath him, his once alleged 'hero', Bryan. The man's virtually elevated locks of deep crimson hair now slumped lazily in his face, every bit as stunned as Bryan himself was.

Above Bryan was his kid brother Kezaa, his face clenched in a murderous snarl. And extended upwards from Bryan's throat was the deeply indented katana that Kez so favored throughout his youth, and the base of the blade was now caked. His gaze began to waver as the life fluid began to cascade from the rapture, though the alienic image of his kid bro above him in such a threatening and imposing stature had a knack for tattooing itself into his mind. Kez had become a monster, it seemed.

Kezaa's hands shook as his fingers dug deeper into the handle, and the blade shook with increasing discomfort inside the wound, causing it to widen and hemrage with a painful burst of ripping flesh.

Kezaa's grimace lessened to that of a gentle, distant sneer filled with silent scorn for his brother. Oh, how Sir Bryan had let him down. So severely. The former protector of his hometown village, the great hero whom stood once so tall, now lied so small. Like a sniveling, cowering b*tch.

"I am so tired." Kez growled suddenly as Bryan began to black out. "I'm tired of being strong. I'm tired of following in the footsteps of a man I thought to be a hero, when I come to realize that he was nothing like I saw him to be, with each step I take towards him."

Fishing a crumpled piece of paper from his now somewhat tattered jacket, Kezaa through the piece of paper on the ground next to Bryan's head. The letter Kez had recieved earlier that day, it had told him everything. Every-thing.

"And I'm tired of trying to give you a worthy dea-" The last segment of what Bryan saw and heard was literally cut in two as the blade passed through his vertebrae and across his skull, passing through his eye.

(OOC) Extra disclaimer: Sorry about the beginning part of this post. I'm sure all those pronouns were very helpful and explanitory.

[Kezaa (retired)]

And in that instant, Kezaa's eyes were open. Or rather, they had been open, glazed, for some time. Standing just a short distance from the appartments Kez had taken residence in, he was now just a few doors down from the Three Broomsticks, a booming tavern in these parts of Hogsmeade. And hurdled near the entrance were several homely blokes whom displayed their blood alcohol level just from the vapors that emited from their mouths as the whispered about the head boy, haunched near a street corner.

"I can hear you, just so you know." Kez projected, loud enough for everyone in the near vicinity to hear. His tone did not carry much threat, but rather a promise. Retorting thusly, the drunkards hobbled over with bottles brandished in hand. The group of five surrounded him, belligerantly demanding Kezaa arise from his sitting spot underneath the lamp post. And in doing so, one man to Kezaa's left swung his half empty bottle across his face, stopping within centimeters of Kezaa's closed eyes. Before the others could make their sluggish reactions, the sickening sounds of the man's arm could be heard as each joint in his arm was undone in a single jerk of Kezaa's own arm as he took the man's hand. Sending him flying in a throw towards the others, Kez followed up with a swing of his arm, sending a vorpal slash of air towards them.

They each cried out, more in fright than pain, as portions of their clothes were shredded. The follow through of the wave intensified as it rushed past them, sending the buliding behind them into a clamour of crushed lumber and stone.

Why prey on the feeble ones? I want to destroy something beautiful. Kez uttered beneath his breath, hardly coherent enough for any onlooker to hear as he began walking off into the bleakness of that evening. What was happening to him?

[Hikalyn Sarello]

He didn't get far, however, before one of the many onlookers to the impromptu brawl--if it could even be dignified by terming it that much of a fight--caught up with him, possibly the only one of the onlookers who had the nerve enough to do so. But then, this particular young woman generally had more than enough of that quality to go around. Often a good deal more than was prudent.

Hikalyn had thought she'd recognized the school's Head Boy seated under one of the lamp posts. Certainly she'd recognized the potential for trouble as the drunks closed in around him. She'd been on the verge of stepping in to offer some assistance herself, but in a short few moments it became quite obvious that Kezaa didn't particularly need any.

In the rather nervous stillness that followed, Kalyn, apparently unmoved by the scene, headed after the blond. As slow as he was walking, it wasn't difficult to catch up with him. "That was neatly done," she offered the compliment with a faint, lopsided grin as she fell into step beside him. She regarded the Head Boy with her usual friendly, mild expression and one arched eyebrow. "I was hoping we would have a chance to meet up under slightly less terse circumstances than the last time," she added dryly, figuring she didn't need to name that last little incident in the Forest.

She noted, as she noticed everything else, the bleak, detached expression on his face, but refrained from saying anything else. After all, if she were in his position, she rather doubted she'd want a virtual stranger, however well-meaning, to go making what were bound to be awkward inquiries just as soon as they'd initiated conversation. Best to simply leave it at that.

[Kezaa (retired)]

Hikalyn. The Head Girl whom he had met and scarcely managed to stave away the monsters they encountered in the forest. It was a narrow escape, but it was fortunate that they escaped with minimal injuries. As a matter of fact, Hikalyn had come away with a stab wound and a broken nose, but her smile was just as pleasant and pretty as ever. There wasn't even a limp to her swagger.

"Yes, it seems we're predisposed to chaotic encounter together." Kezaa kept his stride, feeling that stopping just to talk would open another opportunity for more drunkards to ask for a beat down.

"Are you doing okay? With the injuries I saw you incure, I figured you would still be hanging around the hospital wing." he offered a hint of concern and gratefulness to her well being, but was still far to distant, if even rigid in his tone. Kez was a timebomb.

[Hikalyn Sarello]

Hikalyn chuckled at the remark, though her laughter might have been a tad rueful. Certainly it was more than a little wry. She shrugged her shoulders with unconcerned good nature, replying lightly, "Seems that way. Mind you, I know a few people for whom I could say the same thing." She grinned, a shrug in her voice as she added, "Maybe I just have a habit of acquainting myself with people who have a penchant for trouble."

At Kezaa's inquiry, the levity in her tone didn't alter, but her smile became softer, appreciative, in obscure acknowledgement. Kalyn answered for all the world as if she hadn't noticed the rigidity in the Head Boy's tone. "Nah, I'm fine, thanks. Believe me, I've had worse." She rolled her eyes in a gesture which accompanied that last statement, then loosed an indelicate snort. "Aside from which, I try to make a point of not spending more time around the Hospital Wing than I have to, or Kasey'd be likely to start charging me rent." The words were obviously meant as a joke, but at the same time they held a measure of truth. Sadly enough, the young woman thought dryly.

She tossed the Head Boy a sideways glance. "And yourself?" she asked. She didn't remember Kez taking any injuries in that little scrap, but then, at the time she hadn't been particularly preoccupied with absorbing all the details. Aside from which, it didn't take a genius to see that there was something else bothering him.

[Kezaa (retired)]

(OOC) *Grovels on ground appologetically* I know I've told you of my plans, but I am sorry it took this long to reply. >_<

(BIC) "Myself?"

Kez could not have been further from himself than he ever could recall. At least, not since he came to the realization that he had willfully destroyed any ties that he had to his past. Kezaa had absolutely no clue now what made him the person that he was.

Nothing except Jesika.

Keeping his stare straight forward, the blonde Head Boy continued his stride through the thin fog that seemed to gather at knee length above the ground. The crowds of people lessened, and the few that were still in these parts of the streets eyed the two from the shadowy doorways of the wall shops. Whether it was unbeknowengst to the boy, or whether he just plain did not care, he was leading Hikalyn into one of the more volitile corners of Hogsmeade. This was made more clear by the inhabitants of this area, whom seemed as undisposed towards kindness as a child's cheek to a sea urchin. Hideous were these people, lingering so from every angle, sizing up the two as Kez lead them through a starlit walk amongst scavengers and savages. People of all nationalities and backgrounds polluted this area, and while none of them would be reckognized by anyone in particular, it did not take long before they caught wind of whom those two students were.

Hoi, aren't those two the Head students at that magic school? We ought to get a pretty ransom for them... That was one of the main topics of interest that buzzed by Kezaa's sharpened ears. He paused, thinking for a second about the Head Girl's earlier question. Indeed, he had not exactly answered it. But then again, in the state of mind he was in, he never would have known how to answer such a question with as straight a face as she.

[Hikalyn Sarello]

Hikalyn was a bit surprised at the way he answered the question, or rather, at the way he avoided answering it. Admittedly, she hadn't really expected an honest answer; she had just figured that if anything, he would simply blow her off with some deceptively light-hearted response. Much like her own had been.

Instead, the Head Boy stared straight ahead, his expression set into hard lines and his eyes fixed steadily upon something that no one else could see. He was looking inward instead, she was sure--it was obvious that, for the moment at least, he was quite lost to the land of the living. Still, the purposeful length of his determined stride didn't one waver. Being much shorter than he was, Hikalyn had a bit of a job matching her stride to keep up. Fog swirled around their ankles; overhead, ominous-looking clouds began to move in. Obviously, it was going to turn out to be a rather miserable summer day.

Hikalyn wasn't particularly familiar with this part of town, and she had to admit that she undoubtedly would have been perfectly content to keep it that way. Still, despite the dubious nature of the witches and wizards, mostly the latter, that watched the two through malicious, dully cunning eyes, despite the whispers that were beginning to trail in their wake like the fog, she wasn't particularly afraid. Most of those who clumped together, muttering about it, probably wouldn't have the courage to actually do anything. For people like these, even the potential rewards they might get from the school for kidnapping its two leading students, or whatever else some of these men might have had in mind for the attractive young woman of the pair, simply didn't weigh up against the risks of such an action. Even for the bolder ones, a cool stare was enough to send them retreating sullenly back into the shadows of decrepid, potbellied buildings. The threat cloaked in that mere glance was enough to remind them of the other title that she held, and the one she was much more well known for: That of the Head of Aurors. She'd built up something of a reputation during the time she'd been in office, and that aside, nobody particularly wanted to bring the wrath of the Ministry of Magic down on their heads.

Hikalyn turned her gaze curiously back to Kezaa, deciding from the flavour of the silence that he wasn't going to answer the question. Deciding, too, that it was probably better just to leave well enough alone. She changed the subject, instead, accompanying the question with a raised brow. "Heading anywhere in particular....?"

OOC: *pulls to feet* Pish, none of that. You're allowed to be busy. *nods* Such is the royal decree. XDDD

[Kezaa (retired)]

"Anywhere? Well, we're always somewhere, are we not?" Kez stopped in his tracks, still keeping his gaze locked from the Head Girl, and through the growing crowd that seemed to bunch up around the two.

"To me, I covet no purpose to any of my current whereabouts. I have no place to be."

Kezaa's eyes were glazed. It was almost as if he hadn't blinked in ages through that thick tuft of bangs which fell in front of his eyes. The growing threat of the spectators' gaze eluded his attention. Even with the audatious steps of a bearded man whose visage was shrouded by a cloak as he stepped before the students. And in his hand, rested a seemingly ordinary crystal ball, glistening with a dull blue glow. The man's expression held a stale smile, and no words to accompany the strange item in his hand.

[Hikalyn Sarello]

Hikalyn chuckled faintly, acknowledging the truth of his first remark with the slightest of shrugs. It was a gesture that also disguised a growing measure of concern. Not so much for their current location, or the fact that the prospect of unsavory company seemed more and more likely, but for her companion who seemed to have grown increasingly spaced out in a very short amount of time. She didn't know him very well--hardly at all, in fact--but even to her, a veritable stranger, that glassy look in her eyes bespoke that all was not quite right with the world. Though it wasn't usually her way to press, she found herself reconsidering her decision not to ask again.

She never had a chance to speak the words, though, for just then a man stepped in front of the two of them. His face was hidden by the folds of his cloak, the only details of his features she was able to make out was a thick, ill-groomed beard, through which she could just barely see the lips that parted in a chilly smile.

Caution flared. Hikalyn just barely glanced at the glowing orb the man held up to them in one hand before returning her eyes to what she could see of the man's face. She didn't know what ensorcellment the man's little toy possessed, but if she'd had to hazard a guess, she wouldn't pick anything particularly friendly.

Very pointedly, she did not reach for her wand. She didn't reach out for the Nature magic either, though it waited just out of sight, and she knew she could seize it in a heartbeat if the need arose. Instead she met the implied threat with naught more than a cool stare, asking in a voice that was distantly polite, "Can we help you?"

[Kezaa (retired)]

"Oh, its funny you should ask there, my fair little lady." said the man in a cool tone, despite his local slur. He stepped closer to the group, uncommonly confident in the complacent little orb sitting comfortably in his palm.

"You see, we thought it would be fun if you gave up without trying, and then later having your school pay a nice little fortune to have you two back in relatively pristine condition. Its not like you really can't do anything, as this here is a Magic Seal. It completely blocks off the use of any conventional magicks within a certain radius. Whereas we-" he paused in midspeach, gesturing with his free hand to the crowd all around them, with their pitchforks and clubs and even an ax or two here and there.

"came quite prepared." he finished with a spiteful sneer on his face. He was quite confident that these two children would scarcely be able to over power a crowd like this, even if they had enchanted items.

[Kezaa (retired)]

"Is it now?" Kez responded, his head still tilted in a counterverse direction, his attention just barely clinging to the dirty cloaked one before him. For one whom was actually in his mid-twenties, Kez actually appeared to match the look of one of the abscent minded students in class. But this deceptively old child also held a malignant glint in his eyes, tearing away at his seemingly innocent and angelic features. Kezaa was not what he appeared to be at all.

His eyes took a downward gaze, averting the matching gaze of the cloaked man. Resting on the ground was a type of hoe, a metal rake used for tilling soil. Remembering the bedtime story of how a man named Musashi defeated a great swordsman with only a boat oar, Kez felt the daring inspiration to recreate the tale in that very instant.

Bending his knees, Kezaa's foot shuffled outward, lifted, and came down hard all in the same instant. The tip of his foot pressed down on the metal points, propelling the wooden handle in an upwards brown arc, snapping hard against the cloaked man's extended wrist. He then took the makeshift spear under both his arms, assuming the poise of a scarecrow on a fence post. With a dangerous smirk, he raked the seraded metal segments across the bewildered man's face and took a glance at no particular person in the crowd, wondering whom he was going to maim next, and also supressing a slight chuckle at how the awe-struck crowd flinched at the sudden turning of his gaze towards them.

[Hikalyn Sarello]

Hikalyn glanced down again at the glowing blue orb in the man's hands, and then back up to his face once more. A smirk grew on her features, more than enough to match his own, for there was no way this man could ever put into his own expression the menace that glimmered in deceptively mild eyes.

"That's your idea of fun?" she asked, allowing laughter to creep into her voice at the notion, not really caring if it provoked them further. They were already out for blood, so what matter if she made them mad? "You disappoint me."

Unlike Kezaa, she didn't bother searching the vicinity for some sort of weapon. She wasn't well-schooled enough in the use of one to make it worth her while. Some of the men grinned as they shuffled nearer, afire with liquid courage, seeing a short, slender slip of a girl without a weapon, without magic, and apparently making no move to defend herself.

A knee hard to the groin of the first one who came close enough quickly disabused them of that notion.

Still, there were a lot more coming, and physical fighting had never been the bulk of her combat experience. The men crowded close, urged on to greater glory by some of their comrades pressing in behind them. They stank of alcohol and sweat. Some of them wore leering grins as they neared, thinking they had at least one of their two targets cornered, helpless.

They were about to find out just why she had been named to the office of Head Auror.

A sudden outpouring of raw energy, explosion without sound, had them all staggering backwards, stunned by the unexepcted blow. A few of the unfortunates who had been close enough were left trying to blink away the afterimage that had been burned onto their eyelids by the flash of green-white luminesence. Those who had been out of range stared from their comrades to the black-haired girl, trying to figure out what had happened. Their expressions turned to astonishment and apprehension when they realized that, despite the apparent beating they had just witnessed, the girl who came easily back to her feet and regarded them with a trace of that cool smile still on her lips bore not a mark to show for it.

A quick glance showed her that Kezaa had done just as well as she. Strings of crimson liquid dripped from the tines of the rake he'd scooped up from the dirty street, and not too far away she could see the victim of the makeshift weapon clutching his bleeding face, his screams at least partially muffled by his coarse hands.

Hikalyn affected a tone of exaggerated casualty, addressing all the astounded expressions. "Nice toy." A hand flicked in a dismissive gesture at the blue-glowing orb. "Of course, I don't actually use conventional magic..." She let her voice trail off suggestively, and then gave a flippant shrug of her shoulders. "Minor detail."

[Kezaa (retired)]

Kez was quickly surrounded the other onlookers, probably after they took a few more shots of courage. The looks in their dull eyes held the shaking ackowledgement of Kezaa's vicious yet subdued fighting abilities, and his pensive embrace of his bloodlust which came with it. Probably thinking just this, one of the rioters yelled forth, calling Kez out on neutralizing their leader like he did.

"Hoi! If that's the Head Boy, then he can't hurt us! He's already gonna be in enough hot water for Gabrio once he gets back to the school!"

Weighing this for a moment, the attacker's expressions changed from reserved and outright fear to blatent over confidence. Their gazes shot back over to Kez, whom was now briefly frozen by the hidden man's statement, adding to the tension in the air. Was he to surrender? Or continue adding a struggle?

The uncharacteristically ominous laugh that rang out from where Kez was standing soon answered their questions, causing each of them to inch away slightly. His laugh grew more and more with each breath he took, until everyone in the crowd grew silent as they watched him slap his hand to his forhead in his hysterics. And as suddenly as the laughter softly began at first, suddenly died just as softly with a mildly amused scowl on his face.

"You TWITS. FYI, you've caught me at the worst time imaginable, and I'm not feeling particularly nice, today. I would have thought you'd have the good sense to take your friend to the hospital, but maybe he needs to have some room partners for you to understand that!" and with that he gave his stationary rake at his side a kick and let it twirl around behind him, charging full on into the crowd with a murderous bloodlust in his ice cold sapphires.

[Gavin]

OOC: Say the word and I'm gone.

BIC:


"That is quite enough."

Though the words themselves were said in the softest of tones, they were accompanied by a roar of thunder, a fountain of smoke and fire spraying from an alleyway behind the gathered onlookers, causing almost all of the rioters to lose focus on their original objective. More than one screamed in fear, leaping backwards into their neighbor in their panic to get away from the one thing that had inspired so much fear, inevitably parting way to reveal just what had caused such a ruckus.

Gavin stood bemusedly in the mouth of the alleyway, one gloved hand still cradling an ancient shotgun with hacksawed barrels. Wisps of gunsmoke still curled from the barrels, even as Gavin began to walk forwards through the crowd, the people unconsciously drawing away from the small boy with a big gun.

"Thats enough." He repeated, hefting the shotgun nonchalantly and cracking open the breech. Without breaking stride, he removed the pair of spent shells and inserted two fresh ones, pausing only to make sure they were in correctly before 'locking and loading', his weapon now calmly traversing the faces of the rioters around them. "There will be no kidnapping. No ransom. You will either disperse and return to your homes..... or I get angry." He said softly, his sapphire orbs full of a deep, and rather unsettling, sense of promise.

Even as he spoke, he tugged the rake gently, but firmly, from Kezaa's grasp. "I'll take it from here." He said softly.

[Kezaa (retired)]

(OOC) No way, don't worry about it. 'Tis good to see you again, Gavin.

(BIC) Disperse, the locals did. While most of them ran out expediantly, some of them actually took the time to pick up their wounded compatriots and disappear into the nearby buildings.

Kez swung pre-emptively at one bystander, strained in a nervous sweat at the havoc Kez was about to unleash upon them. He barely heard the shattering blast over the immediate panic of the crowd as they clamoured from the scene, quickly losing sight of their original focus.

Kezaa's gaze turned slowly towards the young blonde, unphased by the dangerous weapon that he weilded. His gaze remained a glassy, unyeilding constant. relinquishing the splintery weapon, he dusted himself off and ran a hand through his own feathery locks, keeping a cool and fixed gaze upon the equally youthy Gavin.

"So kid, what brings you to such a homely part of Hogsmeade?"