Where, oh where, are you tonight? (Open, PM for story if needed)

The inside of Tifa’s Seventh Heaven bar was dark when you walked in but with the mid-afternoon sun pouring through the windows there was just enough light to see outlay of the place. There were a couple of non-descript chairs around basic tables which were arranged to allow maximum occupation while still giving one their personal space. The bar along the wall was just a regular bar with stools and a single patron sitting there enjoying a drink of some kind, a regular ‘Joe’ taking a break. John looked up after walking in and letting his eyes adjust to see Tifa herself tending the place and a pair of ladies sitting at one of the tables wrapped up in hooded jackets. He recognized the small figures but also that there was no rain outside and it was pleasantly warm which made their appearance in coats somewhat out of place.

He looked over to an old Pin Ball machine where a large man stood playing with his back to the room. Wahkan looked up from the flashing board as his game ended and gave no indication of knowing his old friend as he walked by heading for the bar. He just ordered a drink from Tifa as John took the event for what it was. Wahkan had come in ten minutes earlier and taken up a spot to see everyone in the bar while also keeping an eye on John when he came in. Never go anywhere you don’t know the exit from and you don’t have backup the Shaman thought as he saw the empty table across the bar. John smiled to Tifa then walked quietly and calmly over to it and sat down, just like the note had told him to do.

AVALANCHE never made anything easy he thought waiting patiently.

Three hours before someone dropped off a note at the Incense shop to Grandmother Twylah and she in turn contacted John. He came immediately at her call and when he read the small piece of paper it screamed the resistance group. Twylah begged him not to go, nothing good would come of getting mixed up with them, but John couldn’t refuse. If someone needed his help and they asked for it then he was obliged to at least hear them out. So he sat patiently and quietly waiting for whoever wrote the note to show up. A minute later his ears picked up the sound of feet approaching, familiar boots hitting the hard floor. “It’s nice to see you again, though I remember being told we never would set eyes on each other after we left you.”

The large ex-military man who had greeted John before in the safe house back when the Shaman was trying to find the Heir to the Teidor fortune sat down in the seat next to him, “We need your help Greywolf.” He said in a stern manner ignoring John’s comment.

The answer was short and to the point, just like someone who had been in SeeD training he thought. “Help in what way?”

“The kind of way you help people Greywolf,” was all the man replied with.

Someone walked by and placed a cup of tea by John’s hand, the smell of peppermint wafted up to his nose making him smile. Nothing happened in Tifa’s Seventh Heaven she didn’t know of, and no one walked through the door she didn’t know about. “I have some restrictions to the way I ‘help’ sir, certain things I won’t do.”

“We know, no hunting men down or possessing souls and all that. We’re good with those ‘restrictions’.” The man stated quickly with a huff of his voice.

This conversation was getting very murky the Shaman thought taking a sip of the tea feeling the peppermint open up his inner energy conduits or chakras. He looked to the man after his sip with a suspicious but calm eye and a smile. “Well, as long as we have our exit strategies mapped out what do you need my help with this afternoon? ”

“AVALANCHE needs you to find out who someone is.”

“You need me to discover someone’s identity?”

“No, though the way you found out about the Heir made us think of you right off the bat son. We need you to help someone ‘remember’ who they are Greywolf.”

This wasn’t a first John thought remembering to when he helped a small boy who had suddenly been struck with a magic form of amnesia. The lad was young and with a little help he recovered so the Shaman wasn’t that worried. John was about to ask who when the ex-military man pointed to the ladies at the table behind them. As the Shaman turned the one lady on the left touched the hand of the one on the right. She looked out from her hood to the Shaman with a perfect set of green eyes surrounded by dark auburn locks and a perfect white face. He heard the words the man said behind him as he looked fixedly on the woman.

“She just wandered into our safe house this morning. We need to know who she is so we can find out how she found us.”

I walked into Tifa’s bar letting my eyes adjust to the dark while my hand rested on my sword which was strapped to my left hip. My guns Mayhem and Chaos rested in their holsters as I scanned the room looking for John and his companion Wahkan. I left Nafeesa across the street to keep an eye out for anyone following us in. To be truthful I did not worry about some secret Shin-Ra soldier squad coming for us as much as I did this AVALANCHE group. I have no reliance in a group that hides in the shadows and acts like everyone is their enemy. If you asked me they were the ones who you could not trust.

Still, when John received word they were requesting his presence in Tifa’s bar for a ‘meeting’ I had to tag along. I did not want in on the meet between the shaman and the AVALANCHE man, but I sure as hell wanted to be close enough in case anything went crazy. So here I was standing in the doorway searching the room and after a second I spotted John and that gruff old Hume from the safe house. Funny, we had finished that whole business with the Teidor Heir and Atlas Arms not so long ago and yet that military man looked like he had aged a few years. I smiled as his eyes looked over and took note of me. I saw the recognition there in his gaze and from what I took in he had little love for me.

I moved on finally away from the door seeing John look over to the table beside him staring at some lady there. She did not look familiar to me as I scanned her face so I just walked over to the bar and took a seat there waiting to make my order. I saw Tifa but before she could walk over and speak someone took the seat next to me. He looked rather nice, built rock solid from the feet up like a fighter should be. I knew from the moment my eyes focused on him he was AVALANCHE, ex-military like the old man sitting next to John. He never looked at me as he spoke in a low hard tone. I figured he had seen enough when I walked in. “Don’t remember inviting you along, and I should since I’m the one asking people to this party.”

“Did you really think the shaman would come alone to this ‘party’?” I asked back with a shake of my head. “Your no fool and neither is the old man over there so I am guessing we are all just being safe and that is fine as long as we all keep that attitude.”

“Nice knife on your hip, where’d you get it?” He asked changing the conversation. It was a move meant to tell me he was in agreement with my last without having to say the words he was.

Someone put a glass in front of me with some type of liquid. I pushed the container aside and snarled at the man making sure he got my point. “You will get a closer look than you want if you or the old man try anything.”. He just nodded and took a drink from the glass he was holding.

The lady’s eyes, they looked right through you John thought, right to the heart of you. Those green pools were like bright lights not just peering into the depths of a person’s being, but searched and sought for a truth others could not see. She had a gift of the sight, much like the Shaman, yet here she sat lost in a fog beyond the reach of her own memory. Did she know she had the gift he began to wonder? John stared back at her and spoke to the AVALANCHE man beside him.

“She has amnesia?”

The man huffed and fired back quickly. “Amnesia would lead one to assume she has a medical condition of some kind, a wound or contuse to the head area, and she has neither at the present time Mr. Greywolf. This leads our people, a very smart and very observant group, to lean toward something mystical.”

“Something…mystical?”

“Our people cannot confirm a diagnosis of that nature and with our past collaboration you were the perfect choice to discover what ails the lady.”

John turned away from the green eyes that had held him and looked hard at the ex-military man. “And then what? She gets turned over to your organization and they find out what she knows…by any means necessary?”

The man leaned in as his voice dropped amazingly deeper. “What ‘we’ have to do to protect ourselves from a merciless machine like Shinra is of no concern to those of the outside world. You would do well to keep that in mind Mr. Greywolf.”. The intention of the Shaman’s last was not missed the man from AVALANCHE obviously.

The Shaman though only looked back with his own steely glare. “She is special, something you and your ‘people’ missed. To bring harm to someone like her would only bring about your own destruction, from my hands or another’s.”

“Are you seriously threatening me son, in my own home none the less?”

“No, I’m only making you aware of the path you have chosen. If you decide to walk it then you will face the consequences of your actions, and more than likely you won’t be alone when it comes. Those around you will face this too. It is the path you chose to walk sir, do well to keep that in mind.”

The man just smiled, leaned back, and nodded. “As soon as you find something you contact us Mr. Greywolf. The message drop here in the bar will do just fine, evening.”

John watched the man stand and then leave the bar through a door in the back. The decision to find out who she was had been made the Shaman thought. Only the way to arrive at that answer had not been discussed or negotiated. If AVALANCHE wanted an identity then they would get one, as soon as he was sure of just what that ID would mean for her. He turned and looked into the green eyes again before speaking. “I think we have been asked to leave my friend, are you ready to go?”

“Yes,” she said with a whisper. Her voice sounded scared and John knew he would have to take this slow if he wanted to help her…with her memory and with AVALANCHE.

I watched John leave with the woman form the table side by side and I took the sight as a sign it was time to leave Tifa’s fine establishment. I looked to the fella sitting next to me and smiled, or snarled depending on how you look at it. “Looks like it is time for me to leave, just a note to anyone who thinks of following us. I am a deadly shot with my guns and a devil with my sword so stay here in your hole and look no farther than the door.”

“Yep,” was all the man said casually taking a sip of his drink.

I never placed my eyes on the man again as I got up from the stool I was occupying and made my way to the door. I knew Wahkan would be the last out so after exiting the building I walked across the street and waited by my mount where Nafeesa stood. We made sure the large man walked out and no one followed as he ambled north up the street toward his bike. The beast he rode let out a roar as it came to life and I knew Wahkan was safely away so I started the Dragon and left myself after Nafeesa climbed on behind me. Her arms wrapped tightly around my waist as we sped away in the opposite direction. I did not do the usual circling of the block to ensure I was not being followed as I neared the Incense shop John always visited. Everyone in Midgar knew where to find the shaman and if there was one who did not know of the Incense shop then all they had to do was ask someone who did and that person would have no issue passing along the information. The inside of Twylah’s was, as always, full of so many exotic smells my head swam for a second as I walked with Nafeesa in tow with the bell on the door ringing.

“Nafeesa!” The little girl Taima screamed jumping down off the counter and running to my companion. I watched my kitten kneel down and hug the little hume tightly. The two had formed a quick bond that was a deep as sisterly love could possibly be.

Across the room at his usual table sat the shaman and the owner of the shop. They were sitting and talking to the same young woman who had left Tifa’s bar with John and the trio seemed to be in a deep discussion about mystical things. I have no inkling of magic and an even less need for the mystical so I took the opportunity to check in on my new ship, the Crescent Moon. I picked up my communicator and called to my second in command, one Bully Hayes. “How is our mother this eve First Mate?” I asked with a smile on my face at reference. The new ship was a welcomed boon to me after losing the Half Moon to Jack and his torches.

“She is running smooth and fine this evening Captain, ready to leap into action and take on the worst any can give us.” He responded over the communicator. I could almost see him standing there on the bridge with his usual stiff bearing.

“That is good to hear Bully, so Roland fixed the issue with Engine #2?”

“He fixed it earlier today Captain. He tried to explain it to me in all his usual scientific jargon but being a simple Pirate I failed to comprehend a single word.”

I smiled a little bigger at the self deprecation. “A simple Pirate Bully, now that is something I would never call you.”

“Thank you ma’am,” was all Bully replied with and it was all really needed.

“She has the sight John, it is in her eyes.” Twylah whispered as she looked at the young woman her friend the Shaman had brought back from the meeting with AVALANCHE.

John had seen the gift in the young woman, but what intrigued him now were the tattoos on her wrist, a trio of vines intertwining and weaving around the entire joint. At the top of the wrist the vine then ran down along the forearm disappearing into the sleeve of her tunic. The tops of her hands were tattooed as well with the same vine turning in three complete inward spiraling circles before ending in a small budding flower in the center. The fact the lady was inked had no particular interest to the Shaman, he himself had several tattoos on his body. No, it was the fact this tattoo looked alive, as if the vine was a living thing warping itself all around the young woman, and the color was so vibrant compared to a normal inking. This was special too, though why John had not a clue. It was just another mystery to the young woman who spoke up breaking his trance with the vine tattoo.

“What do you mean I have ye ‘sight’?” Her voice was tinged with an accent that John had only heard once before, from a spirit on one of his Journeys. It was called ‘Hiberno’ with a special lilt and grammatical flare only possessed by someone who grew up on a small emerald isle. Now though the language and accent was dead because the isle was gone and the people who used it long passed into the mists of time. All except her it seemed.

John smiled hoping he could explain. “Grandmother noticed too what I saw in you at the bar. Your eyes, they can see things others can’t save ones who have the ‘sight’ also.”

“Aye, I feel no more special than the next person John. If ma eyes were so special why can-ah I see who I am? Why can-ah I see ma own name?” She said with angst flowing all through her voice.

“It will be all right sweetie. John here will help you, it’s what he does for people who seek him out. Only this time it seems his path may have put him in front of you.” Twylah smiled warmly.

The smile had the effect it was supposed to because the angst in the young woman’s voice quelled as she spoke again. “If’n you can help ma John I would never be able to repay you.”

“I’m not looking for payment of my services, helping and knowing you are safe is all I wish to see done. Now, do you remember anything from this morning?”

“No, I can-ah not.” The woman replied shaking her head making the long auburn tresses twirl. She took a breath trying to remember more in frustration. “All I can-ah remember is standing in the street looking at the hovel in front of ma eyes. I had just the clothes on ma back and nothing else…nothing…not ma memories or even ma name.”

The Shaman shifted in his chair leaning forward. “Are you sure there was nothing else but the clothes you were wearing? No one else was around?”

“No, I was all by ma-self…wait…I did have-a this in ma pocket! Will it help?”The young woman excitedly said reaching into a pocket on her tunic then producing a medallion. She laid it on the table and looked to John. [color=green]I dunna know where it came from or why it was in ma pocket but it was.[color=blue]“Oh I believe you…and I may be able to help you now that I have something to ‘see’ with.” John smiled and when he saw the same smile on the woman’s face he felt a nice jolt of unexpected excitement.

I dropped my connection with Bully on my communicator as I gave him the last order, which was to make sure he saw to the rotation of the watch and get some sleep. I then turned back to see my kitten playing with the small girl at the counter as the mother of the child watched with a broad smile. I approached carefully so as not to disturb the scene while drawing the flask of rum I carried on my person’s at most times. The metal case held the magical brew that would cure all that ailed most men, women, and pirate alike with one sip which I did at that moment. The gold liquid burned as it travelled down my throat to my stomach where it blossomed into pure heat and fire.

“Eww, what’s that?” The little one said with a sneer. The smell of my potion had obviously met with disapproval from her delicate nose.

“Then I take it you will not be wanting a taste?” I asked as seriously as I could while playing my game.

“Ew No!” The child squealed making Nafeesa laugh.

“Than that saves more for me!” I responded with a wink taking a second sip. The child just giggled as my kitten tickled her while the mother asked a question.

“Is the lady really unable to remember anything?”

I nodded while speaking. “She has no inclination of her name or past or how she ended up in that safe house belonging to AVALANCHE.”

The mother, I think her name is Tala, shook her head and whispered. “Grandmother says she has the sight, strong it its powers this one is she said to me.”

“You mean like John? She can see things about your past of she holds a personal object?”

“No, she has the sight like only a few possess.” Tala answered and the look of confusion must have signaled to her I was as lost as anyone would be so she carried on. “John can see one’s past or present when holding one of their objects, and sometimes he can do it without one, yet the lady can do much more.”

“”More?”

“Grandmother says she can see the future, what is to happen to someone or something.”

The conversation ensnared the two playing next to us as the giggling had long stopped and four sets of ears listened to us intently. “The lady sitting at the table can see the future before it happens?” I asked back a little taken back.

Tala nodded and spoke on. “Yes, but how far into the future she can look we won’t know until she can remember how to do it. The secret might be locked away forever.”

Now it was starting to make sense just a little. The lady of the flaming tresses was a witch, a seer of the sort and it seemed she could see into the future. She could tell you if taking a certain strategy would work in battle or if an enemy was looking to strike from a hidden position. She could expose spies and those working in the shadows to bring down kings and such. She could tell those with dealings in business where to buy and sell or what new contraption could take over the world. The lady sitting at the table could very valuable to a lot of people…and a direct danger to so many others. Maybe that’s how she ended up with no memory standing at the door of an AVALANCHE safe house? Maybe someone decided to lock the sight away so the lady could no longer use it…but why?

Of course this was all just speculation on my part I thought as I took another sip of rum.

The medallion sat between John and the lady with the amnesia with neither moving to touch it. The Shaman could tell it was an old piece of ornate jewelry. It looked simple at first, an oval piece of silver hanging from a silver chain which was longer than usual meaning it was meant to be worn close to the heart. A large green Aventurine cabochon sat perfectly in the middle of a disc surrounded by a weaving vibe that wrapped around the crystal snuggly before spiraling outward then inward in an infinite circle. He looked at it noting the use of Aventurine was to protect the Heart and release negative energy, but it was also used in some rituals to bring luck and even love. A stone to protect one in life and love was not unusual, but to fins one in your pocket with no memory of how it got there was not.

John knew he had to pick it to read it and he had done that exact thing too many times to count in the past, but tonight it was taking more effort than he remembered having to do before. It was like something holding his hand back form touching the medallion. It was strange to see John in this state and Grandmother Twylah asked him what was wrong with a touch of worry in her voice. “John, is something wrong?”

The Shaman looked up from the medallion smiling. “No, just thinking for a moment,” he said with grin before looking back to the object on the table. “What I find may not be what you want to hear, understand?” John asked the lady.

She didn’t say a word choosing to nod instead, choosing to remain quiet in giving the Shaman her approval to start whatever he was about to do. John took the silence as the nudge to begin so with a push of his own hand he reached out and picked up the medallion. As soon he felt its cold metal touch his skin the Shaman was muttering the words to start the magic of his ‘sight’.

((John cast Spirit Touch – Sight 819 – 20 = 799 MP))

His mind usually took a second or two before the images would come, sometimes longer. It usually started small and then grew into a final set of pictures he could string together. This time though the usual was thrown out the window. This time the images took over and leapt into his mind like something out of a live action theater, gone was the Incense shop in a whirlwind as his mind’s eye blurred then focused. He was standing in lab filled with tables of instruments and microscopes and what looked like a fully functioning surgery table in the center. He heard a noise behind him and John turned to see along the west wall, or more like the whole wall, were the long bars from ceiling to floor of a jail cell. The noise was humming and it was coming from the cell.

John walked over to the door, which was strangely open, and inside he saw a large bed with an oversized mattress. There were blankets all bundled around someone and as John approached slowly he noticed it was the lady who was sitting across from him. She looked sickly here in the images though, like she was drained and barely holding onto life. The intertwining vines tattoo that encircled her wrists and covered her hands also travelled up her arms to her shoulders where they circled and blossomed into flowers, but the vines didn’t stop there. No, the tattoo kept rolling along wrapping her neck at the nape and then flowing up the back of her neck. What did the vines mean? It was no ordinary tattoo that was for sure John surmised.

“She found you I see?” A voice said form behind.

The Shaman turned to see a man standing in the door. He looked small and diminutive at first but then John’s instincts kicked in and something told him all was not as it seemed.

“I am sorry to take over your magic, but it was needed I am afraid.”

Really, John thought, who was this man?

I have seen John’s magic up-close more than once and even though it is not an eye blinding spectacle of light that threatens to burn you alive it is quite formidable on a smaller scale. When he ‘reads’ an object for someone let us say, it may look rather unassuming and silly until he treads upon that secret you never meant to take to the grave. It is so easy to dismiss his gentle smile just before you feel the life drain from you when he touches your skin after uttering a word. There are times when you want the boom and I love the feel of a nice explosion, but after meeting the shaman I appreciate the mundane just a little more which is why when I saw John freeze after picking up the strange medallion off the table I felt a tinge of concern run through my mind.

I leaned away from the counter just a little farther as I put away the flask I had been drinking from. I kept a keen eye on the shaman as I stepped toward him, watching to see what was happening. I may have approached him closer had it not been for the sight that caught my eye outside. Along the walk just past the window I saw a rather small man, not a dwarf per say, but a man of smallish stature. From my position in the shop he stood an inch or two less than me with no remarkable features that would set him apart from another human, and yet I could not take my eyes off of him. So against my own proclivities for safety I walked out of the incense shop and started across the street toward the man. As I grew closer to him the regular features of his face just seemed to get more…vanilla for the lack of a better word. Everyone I have ever come across has had some distinguishing part of their face or body that has set them apart, from a scar to a broken nose, all but this man. The closer I got to him the more his face became uneventful.

And this made the hair on the back of my arms stand on end, that and the fact he winked at me before turning to walk away. “Pardon my manners sir, do I know you?” I called out as he walked away from me.

The strange little man said nothing, just kept walking away from me as calm but as fast as his small legs would carry him. I stepped up on the walk giving chase as I called out “Excuse me sir, I wish to talk.”

I am not one to chase anyone. I much prefer to have someone come for me but in this case I was strangely drawn to chase this odd little man. I felt drawn to him like a moth to a flame, an uncontrollable need to stop him, so I called out again as he turned down an alley and out of my sight for the briefest of seconds.

“Do not make me do something I will regret-”

I was cut off as quickly as you could blink. A blast of wind struck me across my body and face causing my hat to fly off and my legs to falter. I am not sure if what I saw next could be called magic, but I am sure my eyes saw the truth. I looked up just in time to see the large wings of a flying beast climb toward the night sky, the buffet of wind that almost knocked me down came from it as it leapt from the alley, and the small man I had been forced to chase was gone.

He had simply vanished leaving me alone in alley by myself.

“I think I need to go and see about John.” I whispered turning and heading back to the shop after picking up my hat.

“Who is ‘she’?” John asked the small man as turned away from the sleeping lady. The fact this, whatever you call it, take-over had never happened before in the past with his visions seemed to be a distant question on John’s mind.

The man shook his head and smiled. “That is a question with many meanings Shaman, too many to tell you now.”

John looked back to the lady then to the man. “Who are ‘you’ then?”

“That question has only one answer, only it is one you must learn another day when all must be told.”

He was about to ask another question, another inquiry that would probably be denied, when John noticed the man started to fade from view. As if he was a ghost the man began to disappear and the panicked feeling of losing a chance to learn something or anything gripped the Shaman. “Wait, what is her name at least?”

“They are coming for you, the snake ones. Protect her and we will meet again Shaman.” The man said one last time before finally fading from sight.

The snake ones, John knew what that meant. The Great Serpent and his minions had tracked him down finally. They would attack the Incense shop and him and even the family of Grandmother Twylah if they had to. He had to return to warn everyone John thought as he felt the connection starting to break, and yet he needed just a moment more to search this place to find something. He looked down to see the lady still sleeping in the folds of the blankets, the tattoo seemingly alive as it coiled all around her. He scanned the small room quickly trying to find a clue all the while fighting to keep the connection to this vision alive. Then, just as he could no longer stay where he was, John saw a clipboard jutting out of the fold of the blankets by the lady’s legs. His eyes saw two words as the connection finally broke and the world he was visiting was lost.

All at once he was back in the Incense shop sitting at the table holding the medallion so hard the metal bit into his palms as his knuckles turned white. His breath was ragged, forced, as he gathered his senses from the vision. Then something caught his eyes, a shadow crossing in front large window that looked out onto the street outside and he turned to it. John didn’t need to see who the shadow belonged too or if it were male or female. He could feel the corrupt magic on the air of the Great Serpent through the walls and windows. He could sense the presence of the dark foul magic as it pervaded all the energy around him.

“What is it John? What do you sense?” Grandmother Twylah asked quietly knowing the look on John’s face too well.

“Take Tala and Taima and the lady here and go upstairs right now. Lock the door and wait for me to return before stepping outside.”

The shadow outside the window stopped and seemed to lock eyes with John, marking him for a second, before turning and starting off down the sidewalk. He stood up just as he noticed there was a missing person in the shop. “[color-blue]Where is Keiko?[/color]”

I noticed the massing of commoners as I worked my way back to the Incense Shop, and I mean ‘commoner’ in the most respectful way. They were the typical people of Midgar, persons whose days were filled with leaving home to attend to employment then return home to inevitably do it all again on the next day and the next and the next, regular ‘folks’ as I have heard from some of the sailors who crewed with me and as such they lack the necessary skills to fight. They are what my Captain would call ‘soft skinned land loving sheep that have no business walking in a man’s world like ours.’ From the looks of the group that was growing by the minute those words were never spoken with more truth. One fellow huffed as he walked toward the shop due to being profoundly overweight while another had more mother qualities than warrior. She was dressed in plain clothes with a matching haircut and both screamed baking bread and looking after the children was her most demanding chore. Others, more every minute it seemed, had the same make and presentation and not a single one cared for me. They formed around me heading in the same direction I did, shambling toward the shop.

“What in the nine winds is happening here?” I whispered looking around. Something was affecting these people, some kind of mind control. It was the walk, the way they all seemed to fall in line and move the same, as if they had no control of their bodies but someone else did. They were all zombies and yet they were being controlled. The ‘folks’ all had the appearance of puppets with no strings being forced into moving in unison to the Incense Shop…toward John and my kitten and the others.

It was time to pick up my pace I decided and make my way back to the Incense Shop, only as I did the attention of the gathering mass focused more on me and less on the shop. Every step I took toward my goal drew more glassy eyes from the ‘folks’. I reached and touched the handle of Mayhem for some assurance as I took a quick look around noting where people were around me and to my surprise I saw myself being cut off from the door to the shop. The group began to funnel in and with it close in around me but I was not about to be set upon so easily this night.

“You will not take me with such an easy effort zombies!” I snapped with a wild grin and with a jump I broke for the shop. I drew Mayhem and as I bolted I saw one poor soul step out suddenly and try to grab me. He was given a quick taste of my pistol’s barrel with a whip crack blow and he dropped on the spot, only there were two more to take his place. I had no issue then seeing what was about to happen. I had no need of John and his ‘sight’ to see what was going to happen if I kept trying to make my way to the door.

I was cut off and time for a new plan was at hand, so I took a quick turn and headed away from the Incense Shop to my right, but as I ran I had every intention to make my return.

The shadowy figure was gone now but John knew he was just around the corner somewhere as sure as he knew the shadow was a man. The feel of the energy from him told the Shaman so. He popped up out of his seat and walked to the door just as Twylah took the mysterious lady’s hand in hers and Wahkan walked in from the backroom. “Are they coming in from the back?” John asked stopping short of the front door.

“Not after I just locked the door. If I had to guess on numbers it’d be more than a few and just short of a whole bunch.”

“I have a plan, John whispered to his friend trying not to scare the others, “but I need you to be quick and careful with the ones outside Wahkan.”

“What is ah happening?” The lady asked with worry in her voice.

Twylah smiled and gently, but firmly guided her to the stairs with Tala and Taima. “Oh its quite okay my lady, our knight here is going to take care of some trouble for us. Now we need to go upstairs with the others and lock the door.”

“Will ye be safe John?” The lady with no name asked looking to the Shaman with worry now in her eyes.

He smiled and nodded to her as the front window began to turn dark with all the shadows now approaching and gathering by it. “I’ll be fine my lady, we’ll talk on what I found once this all taken care of.”

“All right then,” The lady said accepting the choice but not liking it one bit.

Twylah and the lady made their way up the stairs as John continued on talking about his plan. “[color=blue]The ones outside have been corrupted, turned you might say, to do the bidding of the Great Serpent. They are true innocents in this so when you go outside after the Corrupter do not hurt them.”

“I’m going out there, amongst all those crazed people who have no control over themselves with the exception of yanking you apart limb by limb, that ‘out there’?”

“Exactly, and while you are outside look for Keiko please?” John smiled.

Wahkan waved both hands up stopping the conversation cold. “Whoa, your just gonna stay in here playing bait I assume? That’s not a plan John.”

“It’s the only plan that will work Wahkan. I’ll be okay as long as you get to the Corrupter quickly and take care of him.”

“Fine, and just how am I supposed to recognize this ‘Corrupter’?”

John began to shift the small tables in the shop to the back of the room as answered the question. “You’ll know him when you see him Wahkan trust me, now go upstairs and use the window to access the avenue outside.”

The large man looked hard at his friend, frustration etched on his face to the point it looked like he might throw a punch. Only in the end Wahkan shook his head and accepted the plan because really it was like John said, it was the only one that would work so he ran in long strides up the stairs to the second floor. Wahkan wasn’t sure where Nafeesa was but wherever she was ho hoped she stayed safe as he reached the landing for the second floor. Just before the now locked door was a window and the large man opened it and was out into the dark without a second thought.

He only had one purpose now, find this ‘Corrupter, and rip out his damn heart.

I ran down the alley with surprising ease. No one, not the zombies or such, followed me as I bolted down the length of the outlet toward an old wooden fence at it’s back. I never slowed or faltered in my steps as I ran right into it, or should I clarify, right up it. I took one step putting my boot straight onto the old wood and kept my momentum moving, so much so I took a second and then a third and finally I was airborne. I used all my built up speed to literally launch myself up to a landing for a ragged and ramshackle fire escape. As soon as my weight was on it the metal began to scream and protest for the sudden and unexpected appearance of my body.

Not being a weak woman, something I have prided myself on since stepping on the teak wood deck of my Captain’s ship. I can climb the lines of the masts with ease and quicker than any man I have raced to the crow’s nest. It was no hard task then to pull myself up and over the rail to a stranding position on the rickety escape. I then ran up the three ladders to the roof access and sprinted onto the roof without as much as a break in stride. I ran across the roof to the front and looked down. The street and the walk in front of the Incense shop was full, crammed shoulder to shoulder with the puppet commoners who looked to be in the first stages of an all assault of the shop.

“I need to get down there and help my kitten and John.” I whispered getting my thoughts together.

I took a quick look at the sides of the building but saw no quick way of ‘dropping’ into the fray without doing just that, falling four stories to the street below. I took a breath and looked behind hoping to see some sort of access into the building I may have missed. It took a minute, which felt like an hour, before I saw what was, for all appearances, a skylight. I wasted no time in scrambling to it, kicking in the protective glass, and then dropping down with folded arms into the room below.

The room was dark and cool and smelled of so many exotic perfumes I felt a little nauseous. This had to be a storeroom for Twylah I concluded finding the door out to my right. I kicked it open and found myself in the end of a small hall with a door to the west. I ran for it drawing Mayhem and readying my hand. I heard the crash of glass below as I ran out that door only to find more stairs down from the landing I was standing on.

“Damn for being so high up!” I cursed as I started to run again. I flew down those stairs and passed an open window as I heard more crashing and what sounded like thunder.


Nafeesa followed right behind Wahkan. Even though the big man had ordered her to stay she did not. Her friend needed her and she was not going to let him do this alone so with acrobatic ease she dropped down from the window right behind him.

Almost at once the strange ‘zombie’ people took notice and began to close on their position. She remembered John saying they could not hurt these people. They were innocent in all of this. So she turned her knife around in her hand and when the first poor came close she slammed the butt of the handle right into his ribs.

“Which way do we go Wahkan?” She asked as the man dropped to the ground.

The large man didn’t answer. He was too busy trying to wade his way through the mass of attacking people now.

With the last of the chairs and tables moved out of the way John moved to just a few feet in front of the door listening as the mob outside pushed against the barrier. He gave himself five feet, enough room for a few of the possessed mob to enter but not the entire horde and enough room to strike out and hopefully hold them at bay. They would have to strike with care as so not to hit each other while he was more than capable of landing multiple blows not having to worry who he hit. The only thing John had to worry about was not killing any of these innocent people. They had no control of what they were doing or about to do and when this was all over they would have no memory of what had transpired. It was the effect of being overcome by the Corrupter, the wielder of the dark magic of the Great Serpent.

The glass on the front door cracked and popped as the mob’s desire to get at John grew to a deadly crescendo. He concentrated and pulled all the energy he could out the air around him forcing it into his center. The door popped again and now the window broke as the pieces fell inward into the room with a crash. The time to stand your ground is here my son, honor our ancestors he heard from the voice of his teacher. The man who had taught him Takenouchi-ryu to defend himself against the forces of the Great Serpent encouraged him from across the worlds as John breathed deep one last time. The door to the incense shop slammed open as the lock finally gave and the first four of the possessed poured into the small space of the entrance.

“Awake Slumbering Beastmaster!” John grunted as his hands started to glow red as if on fire.

((John uses Slumbering Beastmaster Prestige Class ability – Teir 1 Fire Elemental damage))

The first man into the fray was tall, maybe a soldier as he looked fit. John struck him with a full punch to the chest sending sparks and embers flying along with the man himself. His feet left the ground as he flew backwards into the others, but the impact wasn’t enough to stop them. Another smaller man came for the Shaman screaming like a banshee but as he did John dropped him with a rising elbow strike that landed right under the man’s jaw. Again, as before, sparks and embers showered the area as the Shaman’s hand continued to glow red. Someone else grabbed him, a woman this time, but John reacted quickly throwing her over his hip into the crowd coming through the door. She slammed into a pair trying to make their way in, but as the trio slumped to the ground more took their place.

John had to retreat away from the door more, deeper into the shop. It was quickly becoming evident he was not going to be able to hold the shop. There were too many. His only hope was going to be Wahkan now he thought as he landed a hard kick to another man sending him sprawling across the floor.


Wahkan clubbed the first three men who tried to grab him but the next five commoners had him blocked and stopped cold. The mass of people pushing against him was too much; it was like running right smack dab into a wall. Then he heard the crash of glass and Wahkan knew the possessed people were inside the shop now. John would hold them off as long as he could but just like the alley here there were too many. His friend could hold out for maybe a few minutes…maybe.

Then he heard a scream from behind and turned just enough to see Nafeesa trying to break free of two women who had grabbed her. Dammit, now two of his friends were in trouble. He had to do something; he didn’t have many friends to lose. Seeing the Mithra in trouble, hearing John in trouble, it was all enough to make the large man snap. He gave out a loud scream of rage which seemed to power him. Wahkan lifted the man in front him by the neck and using him like a battering ram he slammed through the mob and into the street.

I raced along the landing and to the stairs just in time to see John being overrun by the mob. He had created a choke point with the door to the shop as only a few of the zombie like people could enter the room at one time. It was a good and solid plan, but the shaman’s mistake was his lack of dong harm. He struck only hard enough to down one of the possessed commoners and not leave them down. I felt for the predicament John was in, but when one’s survival is at stake the need to be gentle is second behind staying in one recognizable piece. I watch in a small state of horror as he was suddenly beset and surrounded by a group that had slipped in when John was pushed back. I took the first three steps down in a single jump and then with the momentum leaped out into the shop and the growing mass of bodies with reckless abandon.

“Ahhhhhhh-Yahhhhhhhh!” I howled looking like some devil with a terrifying smile crossing my face.

This was my element, uncontrollable chaos. I slammed into two of the zombies just as they turned to me and the resulting impact sent us all three into the others like crashing marbles. In an instant the flood of possessed was down to nil on one side of John as I leapt back to my feet. In my left m y sword made a hiss as I drew it and in my right Mayhem gleamed. I struck out at the first posses who came to close as I dropped him with a swing of Mayhem’s barrel and the second fell when my pommel hit the jaw of some lady who was in reach. John looked to me wide eyed as I went shoulder to shoulder with him in an effort to stop the tide of evil coming in.

We made an impassable front as the possessed flowed in through the door at us, hands out stretched ready to render us limb from limb.


Nafessa was fighting admirably considering the situation until one the possessed finally slipped under her attack. All at once she went from attacker to defender as a woman grabbed onto her arm and started trying to bite. It was enough for a second to grab Nafeesa by the hair as she fought off the first. The swarm was moving in the Mithra thought, closing in like a clamp on them, and she panicked. She screamed out for help as the possessed behind her started to slip an arm around her neck. She was going to die…she was going…

Then the lady trying to bite her suddenly disappeared as a fist the size of a club hit her face driving her off Nafeesa. The one trying to strangle the Mithra screamed and then went silent as another hand slapped her unconscious. Nafeesa looked up to see Wahkan with a torn shirt grab her arm and propel to the street while yelling for her to get moving. She did as ordered half out shock and half from the force of the large man’s shove. She reached the street in three steps to see the possessed everywhere now, a writhing mass coming for them.

Nafeesa swallowed and readied her knives again as Wahkan appeared out of the alley beside her. It was time to fight or die…

With the arrival of the Pirate John felt the chances of survival were now at slim instead of none. He had estimated the group and its eagerness to attack him and sever his body into so many tiny pieces but he had no clue there were this many Possessed. It was a never ending tide of shambling and stumbling mind controlled innocents. For everyone he took out three more took the place and the fact they were all coming at him through the only door faster than he could fight them off was a sign of how bad he missed the mark, which is why the fortuitous appearance of Keiko was perfect as she added a quick counter to the number of Possessed.

Her attack on his left freed up the Shaman long enough to strike and knock down the ones who had been able to get a hand on him. He felt a jaw break from his elbow strike and tried to make a mental note to heal the poor soul when this was done. Someone else tried to grab his arm and John grabbed the appendage and twisted the appendage so quick he felt the wrist snap. The man who the broken wrist belonged to gasped in pain but could not scream, his body would not allow it. The Corrupter controlled the mob and he made them do his bidding and he followed the orders of the Great Serpent who gave the Corrupter his or her powers.

John heard a crash outside and assumed his friend and companion Wahkan had found his way out of the alley was in head long pursuit of the Corrupter. If the large man could get to the one who was causing the others to attack then he could stop all of this. It was a gamble with odds against them but it was the only choice they had. So when another Possessed got close John met her with a hard punch to the stomach sending her to the ground in lump. He looked out over the room and knew they had to push back and get control again or it wouldn’t matter if Wahkan found the Corrupter.

“Keiko, follow me! Push them back toward the door!” The Shaman screamed fighting back the hoard with punches and kicks.

The pair charged then and began to push the mass of possessed back to the door.


Out in the street now Wahkan tossed the still body of the man he had used as a battering ram to the side. He hoped the man was still alive because he surely didn’t have the time to check on him. The large man struck another Possessed dropping the teenager with one punch before scanning the street. He was looking for…well…hell he wasn’t sure what he was looking for. In all this chaos how was he supposed to find some special human or whatever causing all this mess. Was he or she supposed to have some kind of a sign on or something?

Then Wahkan saw a man dressed in a black trench coat, which wasn’t that unusual, only this man was hunched over. He looked to be deformed or something, like a hunch back, but that wasn’t what caught the large man’s eyes. It was the look the hunchback was giving him, the cursed look of the one causing all this damn mayhem. Wahkan didn’t waste a minute taking after the man even though he wasn’t sure why, it was just a feeling this was the Corrupter and if he was then Wahkan had to make sure he was stopped.

John and Keiko’s life depended on it.

With the plan stated I went into action pummeling and cracking everyone and anyone who did not look like John with the butt end of my pistol Mayhem and the pommel of my sword Revenge. I whipped snapped the barrel of Mayhem across a man’s face driving him back while the pommel of my sword struck a woman’s shoulder hard enough to hear the crack of a broken bone. If John were serious about healing all these people after this then he would be a tired little shaman for the next few days. By my count we were middle way to thirty people injured and by how bad I could not stop and make a determination. I simply just hit and struck anything moving as I pushed the possessed mass back to the front door of the shop.

And amazingly it worked. John and I held our own and after a second we started to push the group assaulting us backwards toward the entrance. My resolve hardened at the sight as I knew If we could get the group out of the door we could close it and gain control of the shop again. I smiled dropping another man with my pistol as another took his place and yet we pushed them back. I should have known better then to get my hopes up though. As soon as I did the front window to the shop cracked and then broke with a loud crash. I looked over just long enough to see the possessed now forcing their way in via another newly created entrance. The fact we had been pushing the group out of the shop was replaced now by the realization we were being outflanked. As two and then a third man poured over the sill and into the shop I knew we had lost the advantage and now it would be each of us, me and John, to hold what little ground we had gained.

“We hold John or we Die!” I screamed while charging the new stream of possessed hoping the shaman understood what I was trying to say before I dropped another man.


Nafeesa kicked and punched and slashed with her nails anyone getting close enough to try and grab her or take her down. After almost being mauled in the alley she had no desire to have a repeat of that happen again so she fought like a cornered cat. She screamed and hissed and lashed out until she saw Wahkan bolt for something or someone away from the shop. “Wahkan, where are you going?” She screamed at the large man.

When she didn’t get an answer Nafeesa decided it was best to go forth in groups, being along out here could be a bad thing right now. So with a jump she ran right behind the large man as he barreled through the mass toward what looked like a misshapen man in a black trench coat. She also noticed the mass, or what was around them, started to focus less on the shop and more on them, as if something were directing them to stop Wahkan’s approach.

The sound of breaking glass signaled a change in the fight as John stole a quick glance to his left to see the Possessed pouring into the shop. The move might have taken other fighters by surprise, but the Shaman and the Pirate only reacted like experienced warriors. He watched as Keiko took off into the new group swinging her pistol and sword slamming both into the Possessed with abandon. She had that end covered for at least the foreseeable moment so John turned and struck another man who had tried to grab his arm with a rising elbow. The blow connected just below the man’s jaw and lifted him backward into the group giving John enough space to palm strike another man flattening him with a single hard blow to the face. He kept swinging, kicking, and pushing the group back toward the door hoping Keiko was able to do the same herself on her side. He spun quickly catching one woman trying to slide by with a back fist sending her off her feet and to the floor. The Shaman looked up to see the Pirate more than able to hold her own with the numbers trying to get through the window.

Then a second widow blow inward with a loud crash. Another mass of the Possessed were invading the shop via the last opening they could from the street, bodies spilling in and falling on the floor in a tangle of arms and legs. How many souls could the Corrupter handle John thought? There had to be a limit and yet there seemed to be none with this dark man. John growled and launched himself into the group striking with his knee and then a fist and finally an elbow flattening more of the poor Possessed souls.

“We’ve sprung another leak Keiko, going to try and plug it!” John screamed giving notice to his friend and fellow fighter the battle had shifted yet again



The mass outside the shop had found another way in. The sound of breaking glass sent a growl through Wahkan as he slammed his way through the crowd. He knocked bodies, which before now had paid little attention to him but was beginning to form a wall to stop him, aside as he ran toward the man in the dark trench coat. Some poor man stepped in Wahkan’s way and went flying for it while he watched the man in the trench coat turn to look at his approach. They’re eyes met, cold hard steel like knives, and Wahkan growled deeper. The eyes staring back weren’t human, more reptilian, and filled with a sick happiness at what was happening.

“I’m coming for you! I’m coming for you!” The large man screamed.

The man in the trench coat hissed, like a snake, and smiled at the threat. Then it turned and bolted for the safety of some abandoned building. Wahkan knocked two more down as he gave chase refusing to let a bunch of mindless fools keep him from catching the trench coat. His friends, John and Twylah and Keiko, they all depended on him to break that man into very small pieces.