Children of Blood (open)

[Lu Xiang]

His saintly eyes rummaged around the room; nobody knew him. Great. He let out a laugh that remained silent, a wisp of the unknown airs. His delicate eagle physique locked on to him enemy. His fierce face; his cold pale flesh - colder then his own ice wrapped heart. Fists made of pure stone, muscles to match the very beasts of the wilds. He was a man, but no ordinary man. They called him the Eagle of the North for his aerial structure and his love for the creature. Considered a bird of prey amongst the frontlines.

He was wrapped in what little treasures he had kept personally. Everything had been striped from him, everything. It was probably the easiest way to understand his condition now. Spaulders across his thick masculine shoulders, a brillaint robe dazzled down his back. His emblem upon his chest. It was in need of a good clean and maybe an upgrade or repair. Such things he could not afford. All his earnings; if he earned went on alcohol. Most of his earnings can from the pockets of his victims. He had sunk so very low. But the most important thing is.. he didn't give a fuck. At least not whilst intoxicated.

A permanant wasteland inside of his mind. A towering six and a half foot above the clouds. The room flickered as he loomed back into reality. Time hadn't changed; the Eagle had. His mind has eroded, segregated. He used to care; now it was dark and cold. His family was deceased. Every last one to his own knowledge. Not that it changed much anyways, his own hands would've done it himself if they remained. He was sinister, cold, evil, corrupt yet still an extremely social being. A man of good interests and entertaining values. He knew how to enjoy himself, he just cared for nobody else but himself.

"Fucking bastard.."

Amongst all his hates, he was a man of revenge. Taking back what was rightfully "his". A man who had climbed every man made barrier to ascend the highest ranks in the land; pushed away within a matter of days. He wore robes and had to beg and kill for meals whilst pathetic schlolars mocked him. Revenge. Sick, filthy, unhealthy Revenge. The lying, the bleeding, the screaming. Lu Xiang wasn't a man who was conventional needs anymore. Traditionally a murderer would flee from authority. Infact for Xiang he would murder anyone else who tried to bring him down. The world revolved around him. He didn't care about public opinion for himself. They were either with him or against him.

And then she appeared..

[Yu Lifen (Harley)]

There was only one reason to bring her to the East. She had heard word of the bandits being here; the worthless scum that had killed her master. As she travelled she never stopped to take a break; not once pausing for sleep, despite having to be tired, there was a surge of adrenaline through her veins. Then she spotted it and the adrenaline pumped faster. The bandits were setting up to get drunk, and she wanted them to be sober for their deaths. Yes, these weren’t all the bandits, but a small portion and it brought her closer to eliminating them all.

She slaughtered them, one after another, getting hurt in the process, but not caring about her wounds. The final man was one that she remember had physically hurt her. Throwing him down, she placed her leg on his chest, bare leg exposed. “Your day of judgment is here. You life will not bring my masters back, but it would help me sleep better at night.” Taking her ‘fan’, the man relaxed, thinking it was nothing, until she pulled the tanto from inside, she plunged the blade into his heart, twisting. His groan satisfying her as she pulled it back out.

Leaving the place, she had cleaned up a bit by the nearby river and could see somewhat of a shack nearby. There was still some blood stains left on her arms, the sleeve once covering her tattoo was torn off and the slit at the front of her dress had been wider. The dagger rope wrapped around her left leg now less hidden.

Was it a tavern? She wasn’t quite sure, but there were drunken men everywhere. She settled down in a corner, nearby a man immediately caught her interest. She wasn’t sure why, but there was something about his aura that was… intriguing to say the least. She watched him carefully then averted her gaze, she should get moving soon…

One man gawking at her made her look away in disgust. It was easy to ignore the men, she had dealt with scum like them during her pirate day's, but one thing she couldn't stop looking was look back at the man who caught her eye earlier. She couldn't quite figure it out, but he wasn't like the other men in here, not that there were many.

[Lu Xiang]

Lu Xiang laughed, turning his eyes away from the man he had overheard mocking him. Laying his dagger down on the table and presuming his death could wait; for now this newly arrived gem took his interests. Not only was it rare to see a woman in these parts but a woman of such skills and murderous abilities. For most she could hide her antics but not from Lu Xiang. Even washed off blood smelt fresh to him, it never went away. Never.

He laughed rolling his tongue in his mouth before smirking flicking the dagger left and right before concealing it within his sleeve. And coughing loudly before a waiter rushed to assist him. He had a reputation for starting trouble; the last thing they wanted was more damage. The conversate was petty and small before the Lu Xiang tossed the worker several coins and nodded his head before slapping the man with humilation on the cheek; not removing his eyes from the woman.

He was still a little curious however; it drifted over him like the dark cloud. A few men started trouble - stumbling over to him as their drunken minds reminded them of Lu Xiang's debt towards them. Three of them infact; all roughly the same size. Lu Xiang laughed.

"I'm sorry boys; I'm all out of gold - However I wouldn't test me whilst i'm sober."

He hissed through his cold words, as the ferocious words scolded off his lips. Snaking around they looked at eachother. They wanted their money, Lu Xiang wanted blood. The blade still hidden in his sleeve as the first man attempted to grab him around the neck; he trusted into the mans neck and the blood sprayed over the both of them. As he gargled between life and death - oxygen and blood. Lu Xiang laughed throwing him down on the table before the two of his friends and the entire audience of the tavern. He laughs. His bloodstained jerkin and the weak ripple of the wood as it takes his weight. The man is shocked for words as he tries to crawl away before be imapled and installed by Lu Xiang's mere presence.

"Nobody fucks with me.."

Deciding the fate of this man inspires a little thought; depending on his morals. His head tells him to leave this man to die; he isn't of a good status and his wounds or infection would slowly kill him. His heart is completely dislocated from affection; it says stamp this man out and break every bone in his body before he even has the chance to mutter abuse. Then there was chance. He laughed; launching the blade directly up in the air. If the man was lucky the dagger would end his life - it flung up into the air spiralling around for a second or two....

[Yu Lifen (Harley)]

While she knew it was best to leave now, something permitted her from getting up. Was she expecting something out of the man? Perhaps, but she couldn't quite tell what it was. The way the worker came to the man gave her a clue that he was a frequent here, but one thing for sure was that he was feared more so than respected.

When men started to fight, she momentarily broke her concentration, until she realized that it had to do with the mysterious man that interested her earlier. From what she was able to pick out, it sounded like he owed them money.

The bloody display before her left her unfazed. Other women would have gone running, screaming probably, but such a seen was so common to Yu Lifen that she didn't even twitch. Looking at the badly wounded man, her eyes narrowed. He seemed familiar and as she shut her eyes, a smirk played on her lips. It seems she missed a pest, but the wound he had would leave him suffering for long minutes before his death. The dagger was about to come down on him, ending his life quickly, Lifen would not allow for the man to be let off so easily.

Unwrapping the rope dart from her leg, she threw it, it spun around the dagger and she tugged gently. The dagger now clutched in her hand, the blade pointed downwards while her hand loosely around the handle. She didn't move, eyes dancing in the light. "This worthless scum deserves to suffer till the very last second of his life." she walked over to him, grabbing him by the hair and turning his head towards her, she wanted to watch as life slowly faded from his eyes horror stricken. The dagger in her hand fell to the table, right beside the poor bastard.

Everyone inside the room frozen in place, too scared to move. "It's been a while." she muttered to him before letting his head drop to the table. She didn't look up to the intriguing man, too absorbed in the almost lifeless body of the almost lifeless man who had taken part in the murder of her master and led the attack on her.

[Lu Xiang]

Lu Xiang was twisted up in a rhapsody for a moment; now a decision presented itself. Did this woman believe she was truly worth to take and grant life as she wished? Or maybe she owed this man revenge already. However she had involved herself in something a little larger than simply removing an enemy. Lu Xiang clicked his jaw for a moment. His brow concerned and rather interested.

"Very well.."

He muttered grabbing his dagger and concealing it back where it belongs upon himself before throwing the man off the table and to the floor where he belongs. Before staring at the crowd that had gathered, dispersing them in several directions in fear of them suffering the same as the man on the floor cried in pain.

"Now you listen to me, chap. I owe you nothing. If you live to tell the tale. Tell everyone that Lu Xiang takes nobodies bullshit... nobody. You got me?"

Lu Xiang said, pushing several fingers into his wound around his neck. The man squealed for help but none came. Not a single drop of sympathy flowed throughout Xiang's body. He laughed before kicking the man and then ripping a small pouch from inside his jerkin. Most probably a purse of some sort.

"Thanks."

He laughed before strolling out of the tavern; understanding soon enough some snitch would call armed authority and to avoid further bloodshed he would be moving on. Not that he didn't like it. He just didn't want too much attention. He spat to the ground; is dishonour before wandering outside. The barren desolace outside; a few sands scattered around as the sand picked them up.

No horse, no transport. Nothing. He yawned sighed. Not knowing what month, day, year or even hour it was. He didn't care. He knelt down wiping the blood on the floor before noticing a bucket of water nearby beside a shop. Handy. He walked over to it before washing a little with it.

His mind turned back to the woman - she wasn't scared of him? And incepted him. How strange. He carried herself well for a woman and possessed some skill with arms. He looked around before sighing.

"Looks like it's just me and you."

He said before a large giant eagle sprung out of the air and landed on Xiang's shoulder as they wandered down the open wide main road of the town together.

[Yu Lifen (Harley)]

His body laid writhing on the ground, large bubbles forming, she walked over the body, the men scurrying away frightened. Yu Lifen didn't move, she just stood there watching him. It was time she left, momentarily forgetting the man who brutalized the one on the ground. Turning to leave, she paused at the door, looking back once more. She was closer now, but there were still a few out there.

Finally stepping outside, she remembered the man from earlier, Taking her rope dart, she wrapped it gently around letting it snake up her leg. She refused to speak, she just waited; for what she didn't know but for something. When the eagle perched itself on his shoulder she was even more intrigued. She was sure she was in these lands when she was much younger, but an eagle of that size she could not remember even being in this part of the land. When he started to walk, she had realized it was the same direction she would have anyway. Walking on, she kept her eyes focused on the people and not on him. While she wasn't exactly following him, she wouldn't lie to herself, it worked out in her favor that he was walking the same path that she was.

In her mind, she was replaying the mans movements, his actions, the way he spoke. None of it disturbed her, but there was something that not only intrigued her, but bewildered her just as much and for some strange reasons she could shake the feeling away. She would silently continue, if he were to turn another way, then she would go on her path, if he did not, then she would continue to 'follow'.

[Lu Xiang]

Lu Xiang gently chewed, a small ration of salted pork he had created for long journeys. He couldn't march on an empty stomach along or with company. The eagle seemed weary and turned behind to watch the woman following them. She wasn't an enemy nor had she been asked to follow. The eagle almost questions her; before it upset her owner enough for him to turn around and look her up and down.

"Hmph?"

He questioned wondering why she was following him, he was an independant man. At least for the time being. Nobody he had met had accepted him. He didn't really care anyways. His purpose was simple to kill and to piss the world off.

"Listen kiddo, It was real nice what you did back at the tavern but.. I'm not a nice guy. If you're planning to follow me at least speak and keep my occupied for a while. Who knows you could just be interesting."

He laughed, before brushing his face with his finger and carrying on steadily plodding onward. The woman was beautiful of course. But beauty was in everything and everyone. Just not everyone could see it. Lu Xiang was a complex individual yet associated with acts considered single. Violence, murder, drinking and anything else along them lines or inbetween them.

"Where you from, lass? And where are you going... I would hate for you to be eaten by the wolves around these parts so please do keep up. Also do you carry a name or would you like me to invent one for you?"

He laughs with sarcasm before launching a fresh apple at her, unwilling to poison it and not really interested in killing women. No matter their status or ability.

"How about Interupting Boobies?"

[Yu Lifen (Harley)]

Had he noticed? Probably, but she still didn't speak. It wasn't until he spoke did she feel it was necessary for her to speak. "I did not intend to follow you. You just so happen to be going the same path as I." being called a kiddo didn't upset her, if anything it amused her. Was he drunk? No, he was sarcastic, distant.

If he wasn't a nice guy, she would have been dead. Perhaps he wasn't the nicest guy in the world, more of a cruel person, but not absolutely evil. Was she judging just based of this little encounter? No, not completely judging him, but just making little notes in her mind. "I do not speak for the sake of just saying words." the thought was foolish. She spoke only when it was necessary and she didn't feel it was necessary earlier.

His questions made her raise a brow. Did it really matter to him? Would he really care by the end of the day. Ignoring the name he gave her she finally decided to speak "I am known as Yu Lifen." she wanted to be known by her real name, not the one bandits and pirates had given her. "Where I am going is not important, where I am from I cannot say." she couldn't say because she was born to travelers and had never settled in one place in her life.

She caught the apple and looked at it, she could have it later, she was not hungry at that moment. Tucking it away, she realized she was closer to him now, just behind him, but off to the side. She refused to tag along behind a man.

[Lu Xiang]

Lu Xiang laughed, she was almost as stubborn as himself. Great. He sighed stroking his face buy carrying on walking.

"Well it is nice to meet you, Yu Lifen. Unfortuantly for you; you will be spending this journey with me it would seem - so you better get used to talking."

He liked being social, words could move any man. No matter his patience or morals. Without speech what was human nature? Just a body full of bones, ambition and violence. He laughed rolling on that thought before deciding it would be nice if she knew his name.

"Well if your not the talkative type allow me to elaborate. I am Lu Xiang, originally a kinsman of a tribe not far from the borders of China. I personally used to be a very rich and powerful man but it was all striped from me.."

He talked about it as if he wasn't cared at all, however it truly upset him. He would drain a thousand bodies of its blood merely to have a taste again of it all.

"I'm a travelling circus act now, people piss me off. I kill them and buy my drinks with their loot."

He laughs out loud before remembering her little stunt back at the tavern. Stroking his face he pushes onto the weakness that she did reveal a little information already.

"You cannot say where you come from? Yet you would willingly give away your fighting background in front of a tavern of simple peasents? How strange.. either way very little slips by my eyes - My dear."

He said, turning his face to her. A little weird for her to not have a mount of some sort. But then again for himself. At least he had a sob story to go with his pitiful remaining grip on life.

[Yu Lifen (Harley)]

Lifen had no objection to traveling with someone, she knew eventually they would part ways. She would go on her path and he on his.

The fact that he wanted to talk was his choice, she would much rather listen and only speak when it was necessary; Yu Lifen refused to blabber on about things that by the end of the day wouldn't matter.

She listened at the little detail he gave about himself, then he pressed on about her little display of skill. If he thought that was her fighting style, then it was his choice to believe that. "I don't refuse to tell you where I come from. I really just cannot tell you. I come from a family of travelers, even after I left them I joined a crew of very different travelers." she had no original hometown village or city, whereas he knew where he was from. It was a pity the situation he was in, especially hearing he was once rich and powerful, but power and wealth were never important to her anyways.

Perhaps he may have noticed things about her, but she took was mentally taking notes on him, she just didn't show it. Her fingers slowly crawled up the side of her right arm, the tattoo there reminding her of who she was, she wasn't one to elaborate so she kept things simple it made things easier.

However, what she didn't say always floated in her mind. Her family, her former crew, her master... All things she could talk about, but he never asked and she wouldn't just randomly talk about her life long before, it wasn't interesting and it wouldn't matter. Things like a persons past was always trivial, it was the present that was important.

Running her hand over her two 'fans' she thought about the man who taught her how to use them. "So you kill simply for the pleasure and benefit of killing." it was merely restating what he said, only it was more to herself than to him.

[Lu Xiang]

And how wrong she would be to allow him to exist, such a man of pure evil and hatred for everyone and everything around him. Even the earth around him twisted and eroded in the spite of the previous man he had been. So many people had tried before to taint his broken, beaten heart but it had been long dislocated. Running on a pulse of his own ambition.

Clearly he wasn't hostile towards this woman though; she had shown her cruel ways. He respected her strong gut in the face of danger. It didn't make her any safer from the impending doom; but it saved her sweet ass for today at least.

"So you fear your past? or you fear your present. Who can say? I don't even think you know yourself. Ha."

He laughs, playing a little psychological warfare with her. She talked a good game but had she come to terms with herself. She didn't appear completely assured she knew what she was doing.

Now don't get this guy wrong, he didn't do it to attack her personally. Nor to offend her. It took a strict and open minded person to understand Lu Xiang. Infact you would probably never understand Lu Xiang's complex mind. His ideology was unlike any other. He did question existence nor the value of life but more acknowledge its worth towards him. Very few were worthy to remain in his "world."

"You lack words; but make it up with actions. I always complained about people who overtalk; but it seems I have met someone who underspeaks."

A smug smile upon his face; his ego was invinsible. Even down on his knees; trashed by the social hierachy. Tales were sung of him; Lu Xiang the great, the fierce... the eagle! Thinking about it only made him worse. There was no turning point now for forgiveness.

"Pleasure? Benefit? Words that mean nothing to me anymore. I do this for revenge. My war is not against a single man; but the country as a whole. The world turned its back upon me, neglected me and left me to die. But they were wrong, they bit the hand that feeds and now they will pay with their own lives."

He said sternly turning to a more serious looking face before bursting out laughing in a maniac stance.

[Yu Lifen (Harley)]

His words did not offend her in the least. She did consider what he was saying. "I do not fear my past for I didn't have a life worth fearing." if anything, the fact that she didn't stay in one place made it so much easier to kill her targets and move on. She was not a blood thirsty killer who had no emotion, but a women set on revenge. The only thing she really feared was the thing she wanted the most...

She made her mind shift to other things, to Lu Xiang speaking. He seemed to be self-interested. Everything else wasn't worth his time except for the things that he 'needed'? Things that humans 'needed' never interested Lifen, they were trivial to her The money, the power, the materialistic things in life.

Revenge reverberated in her head. It was the one word that was a constant in her life. "Revenge..." she muttered under her breath "And revenge is only worthwhile when the target suffers." she was talking about the man from earlier, of course she never hinted at that, but if as he said nothing gets by him then he would figure it out.

Yu Lifen knew what he meant by those who wouldn’t stop talking, but underspeakers to her didn’t exist. Speaking was a form of communication, but when there was nothing to communicate she didn’t speak. Lifen silently looked herself over, she really needed to fix herself up, but for now that didn’t matter, she just needed to get back to her tent.

[Lu Xiang]

Lu Xiang laughed, they weren't alone. He didn't tell the woman though; if she was so hell bent for revenge then fate always had a way of removing the unworthy. Her path split here; revenge? The bitter curses revel upon the end of Xiang's tongue. He wasn't turning back now, he had no choice but to sit this one out. He wouldn't have it any other way. Be it ignorance. But it stubborness. He stuck to his words and his beliefs. As wrong as they were; they were right to the pinnacle of the catalyst.

"Living is just of death, and talking is just a waste of breath?"

He laughed, summing up literally what the woman had said in a short snappy catchphrase. Mocking her to some extent but abiding by some of the rules she suggest. Life had little value to him anymore. Other then ripping as many of the leeches from this dying empire and taking as many down with him as possible.

"Fear? I looked that bastard in the eyes and he tucked his tail between his legs, turned upon his hind legs and ran several leagues."

He laughed, fear? He scoffed at the fact such a petit thing existed. What was there to be fear of? Fear was for men who loved, men who were weak. There was no time for such treasons. He sniffed the air, taking a mental note of the band of miltia that had been chasing them from the small settlement after their encounter there. Several horsemen and a dog.

"Suffering? A sadistic notion in which I shall inflict. But for now; we are the victims and therefore I would advise you prepare yourself... Mi'lady."

[Yu Lifen (Harley)]

His cursing made her brow raise, she couldn't quite tell what it was but something obviously had to make him do it. The mockery that followed did not phase her, he could mock her all he wanted, but it never mattered. In the end, they would eventually go their separate ways and she would probably never see him again.

The way spoke about the man amused her, he seemed to like to make things seem less severe than it really was, make light of the subject. "Yes, well he's dead now, it doesn't matter how he felt." once he was gone that was all, she was just going to have to move on to her next target.

She wasn't quite sure what he meant by prepare herself, but she paused in her step before moving again. Paying more attention to her surroundings and less to the man, she realized that they indeed were not alone. Could she count how many? No, but she knew it was more than one. Who were they? Friends of the bandits she slaughtered earlier or someone at the tavern had told some officials. When it came to officials, she knew how to sidestep them very easily, but with this guy present, one who seemed to enjoy fighting she was positive she couldn't try to get out of this one. Instead, she kept her distance from the man and fingered the dart rope wrapped around leg. Pushing the slit of her skirt slightly back, she exposed more of her leg, but it would be easier to get the rope out and easier for her to attack.

She just continued walking as if there was nothing, waiting for the men to attack first.

[Lu Xiang]

"Your in my company now, we are bad company. We take no survivors. By misfortune or by curiousity you abide my simple rules or you suffer the same fate. I don't normally fame myself with others; but they want you just as much as me and therefore I cannot wipe you away."

He said before laughing sweeping his hair away from his face. They came; fiver riders and a single hunting hound. How traditional. He sighed. Pulling forth his fathers sword, a fierce looking blade that had decayed alongside his own spirit. A long silver hilted blade that ran across his face, he held the blade as if he was casually with friends rather then preparing for combat. The other vigilante company stopped seeing the woman and the man, offering a chance for them to hand themselves over.

"You are mistaken, you are the criminals. On your knees and I will grant you an easy way from this life."

Lu Xiang responded, they laughed before setting the dog on him and climbing down from their horses. Well at least it provided better transport for them and the remaining horses could be sold. The hound approached at a gruesome speed by only to find Lu Xiang's think heavy chainmailed feet upon its head in a single stomp. The animal wailed as the owners looked shocked.

"Clearly you have under-estimated me.. you think you can prance on your horses and stall my glorious ascension? Learn how wrong you truly are!"

He said spinning around with his blade before vaulting himself forward gripping a man unprepared by the throat before running him through completely, looking in his begging eyes. Inhaling for life, only inspiring death and more hatred. The bleeding husk was tossed to the floor as the last two remained, they ran towards the horses. They knew what was coming.