In the ancient times of peace, vampires were the mortal paragon of civility and wisedom. They were a powerful race respected by all in Gratu. And, under the united leadership of the Draco Clan, the vampires kept peace in Gratu along side Dai Gratu himself. They alone were privy to Dai Gratu's dream, a dream now long forgotten by the mortals. When Dai Gratu left this world, Gratu initially turned to Draco for guidance. For a while, everything remained well, while the rest of the world turned to chaos.

However, the war between Oni Akki and Tenshi Hikaru eventually found itself to Gratu. Draco fought with all its might to stop the corruptive nature of the Polar Gods, but the mere mortals were no match for the gods. The Draco Clan weakened, and the rest of Gratu fell into chaos as well. The Endless Wars came to the continent that was once the pride of Dai Gratu. The Draco Clan never gave up, until its darkest hour. The last heir to the union was Baltimore Draco, a young man who spitted on tradition. He sought power, and he abandoned the clan in order to join the Animus Archsage Zeus Solus and the Divinus Archsage Jax Dio in their fight against the Tractus Archsage Chronus Solus. The union still held, waiting for Baltimore to return, but he never did. Instead, he eventually joined Oni Akki as Oni Akki's greatest Demon Elite.

The Clan was finally shattered, and the vampire race fell into corruption. The three clans formed from the schism were the Chamblee Clan, the Lee Clan, and the Heinlein Clan. These three powers decided to divide their influence across the three countries of Gratu. However, they were barred entrance into Allana by the Chaos Archsage Schambregella Siare. Thus, the three divided Atumne and Zotta, and the rest was history. The Endless Wars did finally end, and the new Age of Peace came. In this new age, the vampire clans ruled as tyrannical interlopers, but they provided for a delicate balance, one that would eventually be crushed by the weight of reality.

In the fall of 1733 in the Age of Peace, the Heinlein Clan, which ruled over the Zutan Islands, entered a brief period of weakness. Their lord died an abrupt death, and he had left no will or direct heir. Thus, the clan was temperarily in a delicate moment of inbalance, and Schambregella knew this well. She hired five elite warriors to kill the five potential heirs. These warriors were Dionysus Solus, the last necromancer and the bastard son of Zeus; Yuki Solus, Dionysus's vampiric onihi wife; Amette Juliani, a famous dhampir bounty hunter; Liliana Cecchetti, a reknown Divinus Sage; and Leno Cecchetti, Liliana's kid half-brother.

With the fall of Heinlein, the balance was destroyed. Lee saw this moment as a chance to absorb Heinlein's territory. Meanwhile, Chamblee in the south marched north into southwestern Zotta. Because Lee was using its resources to conquere the northern islands, they had left their southwestern regions oepn to attack. Chamblee soon conquere the three regions, inciting war with Lee. Finally, the Zutan Government located in Zutahalla made its move. The government was tired of being underminded by the vampire clans, and it summoned forth its army and declared war on both clans. As such, in only a few months, civil war has consumed the nation.

In the southeastern corner of Zotta, war has yet to burn a hole into a peaceful life. However, the seeds have been planted and termoil slowly comes to a boil. But, for now, nothing has changed.

Yet from this normalcy a new, forth power will rise. This small group will reshape the war and become forever imfamous. While it is currently small, the potential it has is unparalleled. The group's name is the Death Merchants, a small, eccentric band of mercenaries. Currently, they are returning to the port city of Koplin in order to reap their reward from their current job. Cloaked in black jackets, the three enter the busy port dragging a half-living man behind them. Under his disfigured face are the eyes of a murderer. This criminal was just another piece of inventory for the Death Merchants. They quickly cashing in their prey, and, with the little bit of money made, they decided to hit the nearest tavern. And there everything became a legend.

The smell of smoke and booze filled the air in the tavern and shouts, jeers, and laughing could be heard from every corner of the establishment. Drunks, mercenaries, and workers alike were all present, some there for business, some there for pleasure. It was towards the end of the day and the sun was going down, so the tavern was getting more crowded by the minute.

One particular man sat at a single table near the door of the tavern, his hood obscuring his face. A large pair of dark raven wings protruded from his back, though that did little to distinguish him from any other winged demon in the building. An empty plate and half-full goblet of ale sat in front of the man, as he stared with boredom at a fat man in a suit and cloak situated a few tables across from him. The man was eating greedily from multiple plates of food, and was attracting more than a few odd looks from the poorer patrons of the tavern. Taking a drink from his half-glass of ale, Zack thought about how much he would enjoy ending the fat man’s life that night.

It had been ages since Zack had been to Koplin. If things had gone better in Helvetii, it would have been even longer before Zack returned to the port city. But since Koplin was where the work was, Koplin was where Zack had to be. Helvettii was close to Autumne, and power struggles always gave plenty of assassination jobs. But unfortunately, Zack had been doing too many jobs, and was becoming more known than he liked. So Zack had returned to Aestii: an area where it was much more difficult to work because of the Death Merchants.

The Death Merchants annoyed Zack as they always seemed to pick up the same bounties as he did, and had a knack for cheating him out of more rewards than he cared to count. It wasn’t as if Zack hadn’t ever scored one over on them, but being bested at all by two women and an old fossil was anything but dignifying. It had been a relief that he hadn’t seen them yet since his return.

It looked like his current job would go of without a hitch. The fat man was almost done, and as soon as he returned to his housing, Zack would be able to take him out for the bounty and add to his funds. Zack considered the night to be going well until the three people he least wanted to see walked through the tavern door.

The three Death Merchants entered the tavern in an unbefitting manner. For agents of stealth, masters of bounty, and lords of vigilance, the three mercenaries were not exactly "quiet." The two women leading the tiny procession were arguing loudly over something seemingly trivial. They were talking about some sort of legal code, one that sounded nonsensical--not that most laws were sound to began with. The issue of the heated debat was over clothing. The shorter woman, who was scantly dressed as if she belonged in a whorehouse, was asking why she had to wear the giant black jacket that donned her petite body. The taller woman said something about it being the new uniform, though she herself notably lacked this aparant uniform. The third member only stood behind them, taking no stance.

The rest of the tavern poorly acted as if they were minding their own business. But, honestly, everyone was listening to the two women. The three were famous, and their entrance into Koplin earlier that day already had the town eavesdropping on their every word, stalking their every move. Rather it was out of curiousity, fear, or contempt, these three were in the spotlight, though they seemed to remain ignorant to this. No, they were not ignorant, only arrogant. They found the watching eyes to be no more a threat to them than a bubble was to a merman.

As their argument continued, the three took a seat at the back, only getting louder. The cloaked man sat there, holding a glass of water brought to him in haste by a barmaid. The two woman were now arguing about alcohol. The taller woman orating a monologue about the evils of alcohol and its adverse effects on society, and the diction easily seemed to be something out of a pamphlet and not her own words. The short woman retorted with a more emotional claim, such as it made "the shit of the world go away." Immediatel, the temperance woman yeild back, saying that alcohol was the complete opposite and only made things more depressing. Their argument continued until the taller woman felt that she had won the debat. Their ambience finally came to an end, and the rest of the tavern finally went back to their own socializing, though they remained warry of the three.

From his stool in the bar, Dante noticed the three death merchants and thought to himself "Death merchants, a fair sport I think. Well met, here on this evening to have a drink." Dante had a thing for doing stuff in rhyme. His thoughts, his speech, and most other things came in rhyme. He looked through a nearby mirror to observe the three and took special note of the two girls. Dante looked on at them and noticed of the two women that the shorter one, while obviously the more physically attractive of the two, wasn't turning him on. Dante sensed something about her that made him well aware to not try with her. He instead focused on the taller and more chubby of the two girls. He instantly went to formulating on how to go about hitting on her. He had a tendency to lose his typical formality around women, a trait apparently passed down by his father. He didn't want that to happen as it usually turned women off and made him wind up with a good smack on the face. Dante sighed and went back to drinking.

A man dressed in black stolled in to Koplin, a smile on his face. His hair a burning red. He first decided to get a drink but a beggar grabbed on to his leg and started asking for money. After thinking it over he reached into his right shoe and handed the man a small gold coin. He then walked into the local tavern and ordered a beer. After paying for it he took the empty seat next to the Death Merchants not knowing who they were or even caring who they were.

Ryoma turned his head in their direction from across the room. He could not exactly 'look their way', as he has no eyes. His ears slowly track their every movement: a rustle of clothing; a shifting of feet. He knew these were the ones he must follow.

Racing down the street was another red-haired man dressed in a simple grey tunic and brown pants. What the man was running from exactly had yet to be revealed but the man certainly wasn't checking behind him to see. With a sudden veer to the left, the man burst through the door of the tavern where the three death merchants were located and hid quickly behind the door frame. The man was out of breath and clutching his side from the stitch that had developed due to a lack of oxygen. Clutched in his hand was a single brown pouch, probably stolen from somebody. Who this somebody was became quite obvious as a tall, silver-haired man came crashing through the wall, close to where the man was standing. The red-haired man let out a loud yelp and tried to run but he was headed off by a tall black haired man with two swords hanging over his left shoulder. "Going somewhere?" The black-haired man asked as the red-haired theif reared back and let forth a small burst of flame from his fist. This flame however was wafted away by a sudden breeze that seem to be emitted from the silver-haired fellow with an unusually large sword. "See now that wasn't nice." The silver-haired man said as he now held the large blade to the man's throat. Not particularly hard to do even though he was almost six feet away from the man. "W-w-who are you people?" The red-haired man squealed under his breath. To this the black-haired man answered, "Riku Zamura....the guy with the big fu**ing sword behind you is Katsu Myoto....and we're the wrong guys to piss off." To this the red-haired man almost fell backwards. He'd heard stories about these two. Especially the one called Riku. "H-h-here!!" With that, the red-haired man through the bag of coins to Riku and ran screaming out of the bar. "Well....you handled that one nicely, Riku." The man known as Katsu chuckled as he carefully flicked the large blade over his back. "Says the guy who came barreling through the wall." Came the quick retort of Riku, to which Katsu replied, "Do we have to pay for that?"

"Probably...."

The tall woman had watched the pair do their work with interest. She had watched their every move and studied their style. A slow grin creeped up her face. At first, it was something pleasant, almost transcient. However, this crescent glow slowly evolved into something more sinister--no, it was more insane--and the tall woman rose out of her seat. She approached the two men without haste. "Excuse me, you two, I'm impressed by our work. How would you like to become my employees? You get good work-benefits: free healthcare, free lodging, and free meals. Plus," the tall woman snapped her fingers, and the shorter woman bounced up and skipped over to the taller woman. "You'll get to see these everyday." At the moment she said 'these', the shorter woman started to bounce up and down to create a particular effect with her bossomly endowment. "So, what do you say? It's the deal of a life time."

A small growl could be heard from another tavern just down the street, adjacent to the building that Katsu had previously demolished. The growl grew louder and more clearly human, and ended in a quick shout of anger followed by the sound of breaking glass as Beck smashed his glass against the bar. He'd not had any real alcolhol for over a week, forbidding himself from being drunk while tailing a target, and to hear that he'd just wasted his time again, and had to settle with just water for the week, his nagging frustrations had the best of him. He stomped up to the door, grabbing the thing by the frame and turning to the women with a furious, wild glare.

"THAT IS THE FOURTH JOB YOUR JOKE OF A GROUP HAS RUINED FOR ME. HERE I'VE BEEN, TRAILING THIS PUNK AND FOLLOWING LEADS FOR A WEEK, AND WHEN I'M READY TO ADVANCE, YOU GET THE MOST RANDOM IMPULSE TO HIRE HIM?! I'VE HAD IT. YOU'RE A DISGRACEFUL RUIN TO THE OTHER MERCENARIES, AND YOU'RE KILLING OUR LIVING." He paused for a minute, closed his eyes and rubbed the center of them with his free hand. "Now, I have to move again just to run off with my down payment... Riku, for as oblivious and vulnerable as I've observed, you're damned lucky, finding haven behind that bunch before I got to you. As for you..." trailed off as he raised his head again, staring back at the famed death merchants, "could you please, PLEASE, just stay put so your constantly not butting heads with my own business? You'd get a better customer pool and generate less hate among any other number of mercenaries." He turned, expecting to walk away without any sort of response that merited his attention.

The two men paused silently as the man turned to walk away. As he did so Katsu glanced at Riku and asked, "You have a clue who that is?" To which Riku replied, "Haven't the da**dest, but I think he thinks we were chasing that guy for reasons other than the ones intended." Riku stated with a slight sigh as Katsu asked, "You mean he thought we were hired to take care of that guy?" "Would seem that way yes, however back to the business at hand." "Yes indeed, what is it that your employees actually do? Mrs. Death Merchant." Katsu inquired before Riku spoke up, saying, "From the looks of her bouncing friend I'd have to say she wants to hire us as male prostitutes. Which, if that be the case, we're deeply flattered bu-" Riku didn't get a chance to finish as Katsu yanked him off to the side, saying, "Just one moment please." He said as he took a seat in the corner next to Riku. "What do you think, Riku?" "I'm not sure. Look how she treats the employees she has now. She's gotten that poor little one wrapped so tightly around her finger she can scarcely breath." To this Katsu nodded and said, "Yes but we do need the money." "Perhaps a trial run then?" To this Katsu again nodded and the two rose from their seats and strolled back to where the death merchants were standing. "Forgive is if we seem somewhat skeptical. But Riku and I have decided to participate in one job with you. If we think that working for you would ultimately be a benefit for us, then we'll take the job. If not, well I guess your just sh** out of luck sweetheart." When Katsu had finished, Riku turned to the large and somewhat pissed off man again and said, "And you....quit complaining."

"Don't try to pick a fight, I've given up on your bounty as long as you plan to stay with that moronic group. Someone that's much stronger, or has a deathwish, could always find my employer and take up his offer, though. If your smart you'll hide behind those women as long as you can, and you'll probably not die young. Wouldn't that be nice?" Beck had only slowed his walk, not turning to speak to Riku, but did stop when he was finished talking; just a moment ago, he had thought of something brilliant to make of this situation, but the thought slipped his mind before completion...

"Your the only one trying to pick a fight. The only reason I'm here is to get my money pouch back and get some booze." On that note, Riku walked away from the two women and Katsu and proceeded to the bar. Upon reaching said destination, he ordered a simple mug of beer and tryed to relax. Katsu meanwhile now had his hand placed on top of the shorter girls head, so as to stop her from bouncing and allow a more civilized conversation. "Honestly you can stop that, Riku and I aren't quite that perverted."

Dante meanwhile, had still been observing the whole conversation, and, was that perverted. He instantly got out of his bar stool and walked over to the group. Staring intently at the two girls, as well as at Katsu. A mean look which told him to take his hands off of the short girl and let her continue bouncing.

Things were getting complicated. Just having the Death Merchants in the tavern was bad enough for Zack; but now two other men and a third unnamed mercenary were all in the vicinity of Zack’s target as well. Zack began to feel that his bounty was at serious risk. It would blow his cover, and he might be forced to fight an amateur body guard or two, but Zack decided he would have to strike now lest he lose his first bounty since returning to Koplin.

Staying seated, Zack began to focus on the fat man. The man had been eating for awhile, and was untrained in fighting so there was no way he would notice the extra mass accumulating in his gut. In a few moments, Zack would be able to terminate his target and collect the head for his bounty.

While he focused his power, Zack casually observed the newcomers to the bar. The Death Merchants were the same as ever. For all they went through, they never changed. Zack doubted they had the capacity to. Zack didn’t recognize the two men. Riku Zamura- the name rang a bell. Zack suspected that it only did because of its striking similarity to the legendary Kenju Zamura. The other, Katsu rang no recognition at all. Glancing at the newly redecorated wall, Zack gauged the two as a pair who were more likely to accidentally interfere with his work than willingly interlope. Zack was thankful for his hood as he grinned when the third man made his loud entrance. He had only lost four jobs to the Death Merchants? He had obviously not been in the area long. Judging by his age and reaction, Zack assumed that the bellowing man had not been in the business very long.

Having looked at everyone who he believed to be of any sort of merit, Zack directed his full attention to his target, it would only be a few more seconds now. Zack polished off the remainder of his ale and rose from his table. He began to casually walk towards the fat man’s table. The two large men and the Death Merchants seemed preoccupied with each other for the moment, and the bellowing man was turning to leave. Things had looked shaky for a while, but things seemed to be panning out alright.

The tall woman had nodded the entire time during the situation. "I promise you won't regret this. Oh, and mister angry mercenary, if you're having so much trouble with work, I'll hire you as well. If you are strong, then I want you in my ranks. So far we have limited numbers, though we have a lot of power. But, we need more strength in order to achieve our goals. Oh, and Oracle," she called out to the smaller girl, "You can stop that. I know you don't like to do that, but your work is welcomed." She noticed Dante. "Sir, what do you want?"

Coming back several minutes later, Beck took a seat next to Riku, having made up his mind to at least pass time trying something interesting until his money ran out. Not talking or paying mind to Riku at first, he waited a minute patiently, calmly, then turned to him and said.

"No, I'm clearly not instigating a fight with you, not at the moment. If you're to be traveling with those women, then you're not worth the trouble, even with a bounty that high. But the fact that you can pass off free advice so casually has me so greatly humored I intend to continue tailing you. You yourself said it's a temporary arrangement, so I could always wait to kill you until you've parted ways, and these obnoxious hunters here seem to be quite anxious to widen the ranks and pay out money, so I may be able to burn quite some time just living off that." He realized what he'd said was ahead of his planned intentions, and turned to the woman in charge, ready to speak with her now.

"Normally, I'd not plan on pay before given a job, but -" He cut himself off, realizing she had just glossed over his accepted employment.

"Fabulous." He closed his eyes and took another sip of his drink, then pushed it away, turning around in his chair, then looking over the man that his employer was currently addressing. He noticed another figure in the corner who seemed uninterested in him, but perhaps someone else. He had no reason to interfere or alert anyone else, then.

"Only to be of service to fair maidens" Dante said with a flourish. "Dante Ashcroft, at your service."

Beck wished he'd been drinking a bit longer so he could pull away with just choking for a moment. He hid a his short laugh behind a cough, and tried with great difficulty to suppress a wild smile.

"You forget that theres an equally high chance that I'll be traveling with those women for quite some time. As for the bounty on my head. I'll be quite honest and say I haven't the faintest idea what your talking about. Nevertheless it would seem that you've committed yourself to the cause of killing me sometime in the future and when that time comes, I shall of course oblige you with a most pleasant fight." Riku said, calmly taking another sip of his beer. Katsu meanwhile only glanced at the approaching Dante and took his hand off the now still girl. "Assist fair maidens hmm? More like oggling fair maidens if you ask me." He said with an annoyed breath to move the large clump of hair that had now fallen over his face.

Coughing once more, Beck sighed away his laughter quietly, and grew uninterested in the large man's chivalry, particularly so painfully out of place.

"You're so dumb!" Beck chirped in a pleased voice, smiling earnestly at how Riku amused him. "No really, I've said all you need to know what I'm talking about. You; you have a bounty on your head. Probably very shady, from the offer I got. I won't give you details..." straightening up, he started to sound more uninterested, "but, if I got to that job early, I'd guess someone wants you dead and it just hasn't happened yet. Lucky devil you are, finding protection with a group that's got reputation enough to divert most of the common or unmotivated mercenaries, but I'd imagine somebody will try soon, if you wait. Sorry I have to spell it out for you to get it. But it would be tragic to see you get killed without even putting up a fight, having not been alert to threats around you. It would make the idea of someone else getting that large, wonderful price on your head so very, very sad.... To me. After all, I had first dibs on the job, and I still wish it would've been my money."

A soft squishing sound, followed by quite the loud pop and splatter filled the bar as Zack’s target exploded, spraying blood and bone all over the tavern. The fat man’s eyes went blank as his intact head fell from his mangled body. The darkness Zack had focused on in the man’s body had rapidly expanded as it shot up through his chest, blowing out the man’s sides as it went before finally bursting horizontally at the fat man’s neck, severing his head from his body.

As the fat man exploded Zack created a sheet of tangible darkness to block the blood splatter. After the burst of blood, Zack dissipated his barrier and snatched the severed head out of the air.

“Contract fulfilled.” Zack muttered as he began to stuff the head of his target into his robes.

Zack looked around the bloody table. He didn’t see any bodyguards. Perhaps the man had been foolish enough to forgo the expense, or maybe they were out for a walk. Either way they hadn’t interfered with his task, and that was all that mattered in the end. Zack began to turn towards the exit. He would head over the bounty station and reap his reward, and then maybe go and get another drink before picking out his next job. Zack could see the star-filled sky through the hole in the tavern wall. The night was still young, Zack was beginning to be glad he came back to Aestii.

(Caution: This post contains trace amounts of suckage.)

The man finished off his beer, then went to get another. When he was returning to his table he noticed the group of people forming around the Death Merchants. He then walked over and said in a kind voice to the taller woman, "Hello there, I noticed you people early, and I just have to ask, why do people seem to be so interested in you? I'm new in the area, so I don't know all the important people around here."

"Heh?" The tall woman only looked the boy over. She hadn't actually noticed him earlier, what with the interest around the others. Just then, screams echoed as Zach killed his prey in the middle of the tavern. The woman seemed to take a moment to decide if she wanted to investigate the murder or if she wanted to stay were she was. Well, she didn't budge....

She returned her attention to the boy. "Oh, you asked about us? Oh, we're the Death Merchants. I guess we're famous, or something. Really, I don't see why anyone gives a pissy-fit about us; if I'm not rich yet, then we aren't nearly famous enough. Now, what fighting experience do you have? I'm looking for recruits to my company. I've already got those three," she pointed at Riku, Katsu, and Beck, whom she seemed to already count as hers. "If you join, you get his lovely eye-candy." And, like a dog to a wristle, Oracle did her little act, bouncing once more. And all this time, the cloaked man was just sitting there holding the same glass.

((BTW... guys... you should know that the events of CoT are not common knowledge in Gratu. While every boy and girl in Tana know the tales of Aino, Rockwell, Morgan, Kenju, et al, in Gratu only Tanan immigrants and scholars know. The history of CoT won't become wide-spread knowledge outside of Tana until the post-industrial age in the late 20th century.))

Katsu turned to the exploding man with a look of shock on his face. However seeing as how noone else seemed to be bothering with it, he decided to just sit back for awhile. "I might remind you, young miss, that Riku and I are not technically your employees just yet." He said in a mildly corrective tone, though it was obvious he meant to be humourable about it. Riku in the mean time was still staring at the assassin before finishing his bear and setting it back down on the counter. "Well....this place just got to weird for me." He grumbled as he rose out of his seat and headed out the door. "Call me when you need me, Katsu." And with that, Riku was off into the streets.

As Riku Walked off down the street, A man In a long Azure coat and a Cylindrical hatmorphed out of the crowd, and fell in step beside him.
" Youre Riku Zamura right? I'm sorry, but i'm going to need you to come with me." Said the man in a polite but almost flat tone, looking sidelong at riku out of one eye as he walked, as the other eyes was covered by a long paper seal.
"Nothing personal, but I cant take no for an answer."

Riku glanced at the man trailing along next to him and stopped, there, dead in the road. With a long deep sigh he moaned, "For the love of Gratu. Why does everybody want to kick my a** today? Fine. Who are you, why should I care, and for the love of all that is holy can you please blink? It's creeping me right the fu** out."

The man stopped as well and turned to face Riku.
" My name isnt really important, and all you need to know about me is that someone asked me to bring you in, and thats what I intend to do." Just to humor the man though, he blinked his eye several times, since it seems he was having a bad day.
Reaching into the folds of his coat, the man drew a strange looking, but exquisitely made white handgun and pointed it at Riku.
" I will let you know that theres an easy way and a Hard way, and i much prefer the easy way as it it quicker and a lot less messy."

"Hmph....guns....." Riku had barely said anything at all before he, quickly, lept towards the man. Using his left arm he clutched the man's wrist that was busy holding the handgun. With his right arm, he withdrew Kiori and held it ever so closely to the mans throat. As he did so the blade lit up in a bright orange fire. "Now then....theres an easy way out of this, and theres a hard way out of this. Either one could end up quite messy for you."

When Riku had left, Oracle sat down next to cloak man and reached into one of his large pockets. With some tugging, she yanked out a large ball, which she placed on the table, holding onto it carefully. She seemed to enter a trance, and she quickly found Riku. Already, he was in trouble, as Oracle had predicted. She returned to her normal state, slammed the ball back into cloak man's pocket, and ran out of the tavern. She quickly made it to the two men. "Newbie, what are you doing? I know it's fun toying with strangers, but you'll only make Kunoichi made. And then she'll fire you! So come on back inside, OK?"

It was obvious from the waythe man's eye that he had seen Riku's move quite clearly, but he had made no move to stop it, and seemed quite unperturbed.
"Yes, Guns. Meaning plural." He said, his uncovered eye flickng downward toinvite riku to do the same, and see the mans other hand , Holding a matching black gun, no more than an inch below Riku's chin, and with the barrel pointing stright at his head, the movement of the arm being so fast and subtle that Riku had likely not seen it move at all while he was approaching.
The Man let his gaze stray down to the blade at his throat and his eyebrows raised appreciatively. " Thats an extremly well made sword you have there. Under normal circumstances i'd ask for a closer look, but the situation being as it is, I think Distance-" The mans Knee suddely Rose up with viper-like speed and hammerd into Riku stomach as simulaneously the black gun knocked the flaming sowrd away from his thoat, the white gun remaing fixed on Kenju as the Man used the momentum to move back, " -Would serve better in the meantime."
The man's gaze strayed over to the newcomer momentarily, but only briefly.
"Friends of yours? " He asked.

"More like a temptation, but you could say that." Riku said, giving only the slightest of glances to Cherry. "Oracle, was it? Go tell Kunoichi I'll be there in a moment. Seems my friend here fancies the same bounty as our other friend from the bar." With this said, Riku reached his free left arm for Andari and withdrew it in one smooth motion. As he did, the very earth beneath him shook slightly under the released energy. "Your move, quick shot."

After thinking it over the man said, "I'll come and see what I'm getting into. As for fighting experiance, I've trained myself since the age of 16, and I've fought so many people that I've lost count." After a few seconds he blinked and said in his polite voice, "I'm so sorry, I forgot to tell you my name." He gave a slight bow, somehow without spilling his beer, while saying, "Shoshuo Timus at your service."

Seeing that oracle and Riku had left, and hearing a commotion outside, Beck turned to Kunoichi and leaned over so as to whipser into her ear.

"You know, whatever your offering to pay, I'm guessing that the bounty on that man is probably several months' work. The money's enough to drool over, and the price was put up just recently; if it drags out, I'm sure it will go up. You realize how much of a hassle it will end up being to take care of him with widespread mercenaries out for his blood? Ideally, one would take the money and go, but if you're smart, you would keep him around, and time has passed, and there's a threatening opponent before him, you let him die, off his assailant, then demand payment from the employer. At any rate, for a group so interested in making money, dividing your earnings seems like a slow road to success."

Leaning back, reaching for his glass again, then putting it down, deciding against further drinking, Beck raised his voice to a controlled, only somewhat quiet speaking tone and said casually without looking at her, "Oh yes, and you may call me.. Drift. Yes."

No sooner had Zack turned the corner beyond the pub, when he heard the clash of metal behind him. Zack cautiously looked around the building he was behind to see two men facing off in the street. Zack recognized one man as the Riku fellow from the pub, the other: the man in the azure coat was one Zack had not seen before. It wasn’t long before Oracle came up to them and starting badgering Riku.

Focusing the darkness around him, Zack walked around the corner onto the same street as Riku and the azure-coated man. Zack stood by the corner, a veil of darkness and the shadows of the shady street hiding him from view. This man, Riku, seemed to have quite the price on his head. First the bellowing man from the tavern and now this gunman. Perhaps it would be worth it to stick around for awhile to see how things unfolded. If the gunman won the fight, Zack planned on letting him take his prize. Zack already had his meal ticket for the next few days. But if Riku won and he seemed worn down enough, Zack wouldn’t hesitate to jump in and claim what should be an easy bounty.

Kunoichi nodded to Drift's proposal. She leaned in close to him, noticing that Katsu was no longer paying attention. In a very quite whisper, Kunoichi said to Drift, "When his bounty is high enough, I'll merely sell the guy myself. He's strong, but I have a trump card." She made a gesture to the cloaked man. "We just call him Cloak. He's a bit of a freak, but he will do anything I saw without question. All those times we've taken in bounties, he has no once fought. You see, he's so strong that it'd take the fun out of the good-old profession."

"Now," her voice was slightly louder and casual, as she resumed a position away from Drift, "We should get going soon. Time is money, for me. Oracle and Riku seemed to have upped and left. What a drag. Oh, Shoshuo, Riku's buttbuddy ((Katsu)), and creepy pervert ((Dante)), pick up the pace; I'm taking you all with me as well. From now on, I'll be calling you by nicknames, so hurry up and pick one. For reference, you can address me as Kunoichi. Any titles like master, god, etc. are welcomed and may earn you better living conditions. Now, let's go." And she stood up and started to drag Cloak behind her into the streets.

Shoshuo quickly caught up to Kunoichi and said,"I would like to be called Sho. If it's any importance to you, it's because of my great ancestor Sho."

His left eye started to lightly glow, and his right quickly flickered purple as he said,"Oh and time is of no importance with me around."

Ryoma 'watched' this unfold with a silent chuckle. The time to move was near. He slowly withdrew, his beer untouched, into the shadows and disappeared. It seemed the new women would get in the way of his plans, but he needed to follow the merchants.

"Hellwalker, my nickname shall be Hellwalker." Dante said to the two women. "Now then, what exactly do we do mistress?" Dante asked kunoichi.

"Gale...." Katsu whispered to himself. It had a nice ring to it and it certainly fit him well. "You can call me.....Gale.....it has a much better ring to it than 'Riku's but buddy,' don't you agree?" Katsu half chuckled. He had heard every word Kunoichi had said about Riku. How she planned to turn him in when the bounty was high enough. In honesty the two had known about Riku's bounty for quite some time and were planning on cashing in on it when the time was right or when they really needed the money. However with this woman becoming an apparent threat, Katsu would have to consider his options about what to do with her carefully. Without another word or thought about it however, Katsu followed Kunoichi and the others out of the tavern.

Kunoichi committed the new names to her memory pretty quickly. She was very good with names, actually. As she walked down the street with her minions in tow, she addressed Hellwalker's question. "The Death Merchants are an all-purpose company that deals in bounty hunting as well as all other quick-cash schemes achieved by might. By feeding off of the war environment, our organization and collective power will guarentee absolute success. As a company, I am in charge of all of our income. While you will not receive any hard income until you are dismissed from service, I will handle all of your necessities as long as you are under me. Food, lodging, drink, and a small miscellaneous fund will be set aside for everyone. As a team, we will all eat, sleep, and fight until we achieve our goal."