As Gwenyvier, the Valkyrie, walked over to Eras, she grinned like a fiend of hell. The doctor could do naught but fire off her Master Blaster, who's shots either missed or were deflected by the Valkyrie. Every step the Valkyrie took, the more fear crept into the doctor. It was as if Death itself was walking towards her, a sadistic, freaky Death. The Valkyrie lifted up her foot, and then stomped on the doctor's stub, where her left leg used to be. The shards of plastic and glass stabbed into the flesh, causing the doctor to scream. Another stomp into Eras's right stub resulted in a mess of blood spraying everywhere. The pain was way too much for a civilian like the doctor to even take, so she stopped screaming altogether. Instead, she only gasped at Gwenyvier with shock and fear. The doctor pulled the trigger on instinct, causing the Master Blaster to fly out of her hand. The Valkyrie only laughed like a freak, and raised her foot for another stomp. Only, that stomp never hit the floor. A blast erupted from underground, sending Gwenyvier mid-air. A solid wall of thorns shot out from the smoke, prompting the Valkyrie to raise her wings up in defense.

Not that it'd work.

Something, like a lance, broke out of her stomach with such force that her body contorted outwards. This left a wide opening for the thorn shower to directly snag her, peppering her full of the spiny protrusions. Another impact, something much more heavy in magnitude, slammed into the lance-like spike, leaving a fist-sized hole in her body. Something struck the back of her head hard, which was met with a crushing force into her face.

The Valkyrie was on the floor. No, the violence didn't stop there.

She got up as quickly as possible, and clawed instinctively behind her, hitting the surface of something furry. It wasn't nearly enough, to penetrate the hide, and she felt another flurry of thorns stab into her torso. She opened her eyes, to see Seatus slamming an elbow strike into her neck. Even for her, she felt as if she was being decapitated. As she was falling backwards, she saw blurry, hooded figure stand over her. His eyes were red, like that of a Snarbolax. But Seatus didn't wear a hood, nor did he have a hellish Thorn Blade in his hand.

The sounds of torn flesh and squelching echoed in Gwenyvier's ears for a time. She only felt numbness.

---

"Why did you throw her over the cliff?" Seatus asked, his legs dangling over Sanctuary's marble edge. He looked up at the cold, white sky of the Sanctuary, allowing the freezing air to flow through.

"Wanted to know how hard she'd hit the Core," Vin replied, dragging a fainted Eras into the pool nearby. Artif was completely submerged in the foggy liquid, his body recovering miraculously.

"Valkyries fly."

"As strong as she is, I don't think she can survive the things I've done. When I set my mind to that kind of thing, it usually means death."

"Never thought you'd brag about it."

"Did it sound like bragging?"

"Yup," the humanoid replied. He slipped back into the waters, and came out as fully human. He was a young man in his prime, his jet-black hair flecked with red barbs. He was lean, but still packed with quite a bit of muscle, although a bit wiry. (Due to him not purifying yet)

"Well, sorry about that," Vin replied. He still retained the blood red eyes, but no longer were they divided into thirds. No, they were still normal, human eyes. It was only the irises that were red. "Did you, by any chance, make an upgrade?"

"Yeah," the young man replied, scratching his head, "I put it more of 'you' than 'me'. Those crimson eyes fit you."

"Well, I liked my blue eyes more."

The two scoffed at this, and then sank deeper into the pool. Vin dragged the unconscious doctor into the pool with him, and sat her on his lap.

"Are her legs going to be like my arm?" Vin asked, pulling out the plastic shards. As soon as the fragments had left the body, they dissolved into nothingness.

"I'm not totally sure," the man replied, occasionally diving under to help pull out the shards. "It takes baby steps."

I don't like to kill off character unless I find them a pain in the ass to put into the story. If that should ever happen, I'll just put a bullet in their heads XD

Gwen was not that hard to put in, but she seems a bit too, brutal.

Yeah, she was a bit powerful to stick in the story, but at least she was able to wrap up the arc for us! Thank you Thin for letting me use her! And no, I didn't really kill her. Just kinda ripped her body to shreds and chucked her off of the isles of Sanctuary. She's probably going to live, more or less. No hard feelings?

YAYZ back to the slice of life style~

---

Vin, like an older brother, was guiding Eras through Sanctuary, holding her from under her arms, in case she fell. She couldn't believe it, she had new legs. It wasn't like the numb, cold feeling that her prosthetics had. No, she could feel the warmth of Vin's legs, the cold breeze that was in Sanctuary. The grass under her heel tickled and scratched, a sensation she hadn't felt in years. It was as if she was rebirthed into a new life, a life where she didn't have to be restricted by her prosthetics.

However, she was a long way from actually getting to that point.

Suddenly, her legs felt weakened, as if her knees were jelly, and she dropped to the floor. Vin managed to hold her up, but she pushed him back, lightly.

"I haven't felt this since the Skylark!" she exclaimed, tears of joy running down her face. She struggled for a few minutes, but she managed to get up all on her own. The doctor then ran towards Seatus, who was sitting down nearby, and toppled right on top of him.

"H-hey! Vin also has to take some of the credit," the young man mumbled, blushing uncontrollably. It was evident that the Snarbolax hadn't had that kind of interaction with a person in a long time. He was only hugged tighter, until his breath was being stolen away. "Urgh, too, tight..."

The Inquisitor only kneeled over laughing. He hadn't seen Seatus actually open up like that, nor had he ever seen Eras break down in tears. It was a queer sight, but a happy one. The two people he had least expected to be like that were showing theirselves in front of him. As for Artif, he was sighing dreamily at the three. He was still recovering inside the pool, his ribs still being reconstructed. Despite his disheveled state, a surge of pure poetry went through his mind.

"What wonders are feeling such as joy! I, for one, have ne-" Artif exclaimed aloud, before cutting himself off. It was his pet peeve/virtue that he described his feelings in form of poetry, for life was like a novel to him. Vin only collapsed on the floor, curled up from his guffaws. It was ridiculous at this point. Four seemingly cold-blooded, business-like people were acting like children, and like children, seemed care-free.

For now, life for these people would be a bit more happier, a bit more fulfilling. And then there would be work to do.

Eras never got her legs back. They're still prosthetic legs, but it's fleshy. So it's like a half-replacement.

And also, numb3r5 = Noombars.

Well, like I suggested to Skye, try not to push things way too quickly for that stuff. If you are even going to get to that kinda area, do it like Artifice did. Just a beginni-[and then you cut it off here with some explanation for it]-and now you're done.

And no, I won't be getting to that part within the summer. I'll keep it clean, thank you.

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"Ah, she's waking right now," a voice echoed. It seemed to repeat itself for a time, and then its volume decreased into nothing. A bright light, albeit a small one, flickered on at the end of the darkness, and twinkled. This small light expanded, gleaming progressively brighter, until a sudden clarity overcame this brightness.

Eras realized that she was sleeping on a chair, her body slouched over something soft. The texture of hair notified her that it was an animal or person she was resting on, prompting her to shift her eyes down...

Her face was snuggling with Vin's head, apparently. At first, she took no alarm to this, passing off sleeping with him as a pillow as nor-

And then she realized it was Vin she slept on. Vin, the slightly insane Inquisitor, the one who helped get her new legs, the one that she was supposed to take care of, not the other way around. The doctor, without making any expressions, quietly eased herself up until she was leaning back into the chair, and found that she was in a homely cafe. At the table in the corner, two women were sipping tea, gossiping about something...

"...so cute together~!" one had suddenly exclaimed, and both the ladies laughed an elegant laugh. They appeared to act like some upper-class aristocrats, but their physical appearances had a different message. One was simply dressed in blue robes, her brown-gray hair tied up into a small ponytail. The other was a tad bit heavier, although petite all the same. This one was dressed in a grey winter coat emblazoned by an orange T0, her hair clipped and neatly ironed, making an impression of a helm around her face.

While the doctor was studying them, a sudden realization came into her head. "Excuse me, madams, do you know how we got here?"

The one in blue robes giggled, and replied, "It appears that the one sleeping on your lap carried you all the way here. Such a strong man he grew out to be!"

Another burst of giggling filled the room.

Eras, now blushing, looked down at Vin, who was only starting to wake up. He rubbed his face downwards into her lap, when he suddenly stopped. Whether it was by something in his dream, or he had lost oxygen, he suddenly bolted right off, straight into the floor. His face was a smooth red, all the way from the neck up. His legs were on the floor awkwardly, in such a way that it resembled some feminine appearance.

"S-sorry! I-I d-didn't know where y-you lived, so I j-just brought you here! No h-hard feelings?" he pleaded, his evil-looking crimson eyes changing into that of a shy child's. It was the first time she had seen him act so, girly. The way he acted, the way he looked from that posture...

Eras bursted out laughing a hearty laugh. She hadn't seen a guy, much less Vin, act like that at all. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she held out her hand, barely managing to say an "All's forgiven," to him.

Even more red than last time, he slowly took the hand, and pulled himself up.

"A-aren't you supposed to be going to w-work?" he asked, his face still red. His eyes were deliberately looking away, too embarrassed to admit he had just done something completely out of the norm.

"I'm still on leave," she replied, slapping her knees. She held both her arms out, ready for another ride.

"Erase that picture in your head," he warned as he pulled her up.

"No."

"Then you owe me something."

"Whatever you want."

"How about...a d-"

"No dates."

"I was going to say dinner."

"Same thing."

"Fine, I'll invite as many people as I know."

The two went on like that as they walked out of the Guild Hall, gripping each other's shoulders as they went.

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Incoherrant and Kalaina cameos as elderly women? This is gonna be an uproar in my guild XD

"I've got dinner tonight, what now?"

"There's a riot at the Garrison!"

"What?!"

"Yeah, I don't know exactly why, but they're calling all available officers to keep this down. The rioters already lit several guild halls on fire, and some of the more aggressive ones already have their weapons pulled out and firing."

"How long has it been?"

"15 minutes in, sir."

Two people, one in grey and the other in the standard blue-black of the Order, walked briskly out of the station. Across Haven, a massive column of smoke billowed from a distance. The usually moderate noise from the Bazaar was replaced by complete silence, leaving only the echoes of sirens and screams to fill their ears. The one clad in the uniform activated his combat armor, a Pith Helm and Cobalt Armor, and rushed off, drawing out his stun gun. The grey one, however, had other plans.

"Oh, Lydia? Did you get the news of this?" he asked, sending a live feed to the receiver. He was activating his battle armor, the Grey Feather Cowl and Snarbolax Coat. Thorns ripped out from his back, and black fur grew rapidly from all over. A ring wrapped around his neck, and floated up over like a halo. Feathers colored in from transparent frames, and a grey-black material wrapped his face. His eyes were darkened from the shade, but an eerie pair of red lights sprung from the darkness.

"Yeah, talk about quiet. In fact, I think that we need to bring something, heavier. Something to put everyone down quickly."

"Did you get them yet?"

"Those ones? Yeah, I got the mods done with two of them. It only takes that much, right?"

"Yeah, meet me in front of the Station."

Two minutes later, a dark orb materialized from the air, until it suddenly expanded into a silhouette. The warped surface broke off, revealing Lydia in her combat armor: a Snarbolax Coat and Surge Tailed Helm. Immediately, she threw a Polaris at the man. He caught it, and gripped it tightly.

"No casualties today?" he asked, his eyes glinting with excitement.

"If you don't hit them in the face directly," was her reply, smirking underneath her helm.

The two sighed, stretched, and de-materialized into thin air.

~~~

When the pair finally arrived on scene, from inside the Lab, they saw a mob of angry people striking the meter-thick glass doors with crowbars, Brandishes, and other weapons. The two flipped over an empty table in front of the doors, and both raised their weapons. The crowd stopped for a bit, but only attempted to rush in harder. Lydia motioned the man to take cover behind the table, and planted a Big Angry Bomb on the doors. She vaulted over the table, and was pulled down close to the man.

The two glass doors were obliterated ten seconds proceeding the initial charge. Massive chunks of glass were carved into finer pieces from the bomb's own heat, all of which embedded into the crowd. From there, the two popped up, firing off their modified grenade launchers. The electric explosions wrapped around the crowd, enveloping them in several watts of energy. People collapsed on the floor, their body convulsing from the after-effects of the shock. The man dropped a Stagger Storm onto the crowds, releasing a mist over them. It was only a few minutes, but the riot was put down by the two officers. Arrests were made, janitors cleaned up the mess, and the Garrison seemed clean as usual. There were going to be quite the amount of interrogations today...

~~~

"Sorry, had a LOT of work today," sheepishly explained Vin, wearing a black hoodie, a white T-shirt, and black jeans. At the table were Eras, Uni, Zero, Artif, and Lydia waiting, all in equally casual clothing. They were in a pub, the dim lights only barely revealing anyone's face. This was not the only building that had such a queer lighting. Pretty much every outlet in Haven seemed to only have pumped out 3/4's of the normal amount of electricity, and all the lines seemed sluggish. The odd thing was, that the power outage happened only when the riot had been put down, where there were reports of an unknown weapon being fired on the crowds. No casualties were found, but nobody had any idea what exactly had happened. Well, except for the users of those weapons.

"It's alright, the riot today was kinda sudden," Lydia replied cheerily. She gave a wink to him, and resumed looking at the TV. The main events were usually a one-on-one lockdown skirmish, but today's was Blast Network. It seemed that the show had to be cancelled from the riots.

"So," Eras asked as she sat Vin down next to her, "did you find out what had happened?"

The Inquisitor sighed, and rubbed his forehead. "I've got the reports down at the office, pretty much chock-full of audio records. I was too tired to actually do the interrogation as well as I would have like it to be. I'm going to be sorting it out tomorrow, and maybe call back in some of the rioters. Can we not talk about work?"

"Well, there's not much else to talk about..." replied Artif, who was gripping a massive beer mug with both hands. It was filled with mineral water, since he looked like a minor.

"..."

"Well?" Vin asked, turning his head left and right at his friends. "We're hanging out right now. Aren't we supposed to talk about something?"

"All I know is work in my head," Uni finally replied, running her hand through her hair.

Everyone cocked their heads to the side, like puppies making a question face. "What kind of work?" asked Artif, his boyish face popping up from behind the mug.

"Didn't Vin just said not to talk about work?"

"It's not like we know what you do."

"Well..." Uni went on.

[Will not put in until the creator of Uni and Zero give me an idea of her occupation.]

"...and that's what I do." Uni finished, taking a sip of water from her own mug. The table was now covered with plates, bowls, utensils, and five mugs. The smell of fried batter accompanied the scent of alcohol, and an occasional belch from either Vin or Zero announced the end of dinner. Still, though, they went on talking about their own lines of work, and occasionally some small-talk.

"You've got to be kidding me..." Vin muttered to himself, waving an Ironmight-clad Artif over. The Inquisitor widened his dossier, revealing pictures of a bandaged figure in a wheelchair. However, a scar ran down its eye, and it seemed to have feathery wings...

"Is that-" Artif was about to say.

"I still don't know how she's still alive. I thought she'd hit the shell, and we'd be done with it."

"Perhaps she actually entered the Core?"

"Possibly, but how did she get out? Why is she even with these people? Well, I guess I can find out, if you can bring her back alive."

Artif shrugged, and walked towards a box by the tent's opening. He opened it, revealing...

What seemed to be a woman curled up to a Gran Faust. Artif, being delicate with both woman and weapon, gently picked both of them up. Automatically, the woman was sucked into the blade, and the Gran Faust's eye was opened. It fluttered, and then finally slowed down to a stare.

"I hunger, feed me," it demanded.

Vin turned around, and sighed. "Can you tell it that it will feed soon?"

"Lucy, just calm down. Wait a little longer, and you can have all the souls you wa...wait. You're sending me out into the camp?"

"Yeah, just you. With 'Lucy' there in your possession, it shouldn't be too much of a problem."

The Gran Faust shut its eye, and the image of the woman came out again. "My masters are the only ones who can call me that, trash! All the others must address me as Lucifer!" she yelled, causing the air itself to crackle with tension. A slight breeze, carrying an ominous aura, flowed through the tent. Obviously, the phantasmal blade seemed to be a copy of some other thing, presumably a higher-up demon.

Vin shrugged, and activated his battle armor: now an Ash Tail Coat, a Miracle Hood, and a Cold Iron Vanquisher. "I won't give you that satisfaction; you're not the Queen," he explained frankly, walking out of the tent.

Artif, alone, was with Lucifer, the Queen of Darkness descended into a Gran Faust. The lights seemed to flicker, and a growling echoed from inside Artif's head.

"I-I guess I'd better get going," Artif commented to himself, minding Lucy's ornerous look.

[Sorry, but not Valentine. I'll stick to Gwen, thank you. I'll probably make one with Ein and Trav having an adventure together, some time after this event...]

Vin was nowhere in sight, apparently having left the tent to somewhere. Artif sighed, and begun arranging the foliage to hide the tent. The Inquisitor usually gave Artif some sort of instruction, or at least lead the attack. In this case, however, it seemed that the mercenary was to independently do whatever he wished.

When can I feast?

You'll get your chance when we get there.

If I can't satisfy my hunger, I WILL take action. You might be a nice snack...

...

The mercenary heaved the straightsword onto his shoulder, and walked away from the tent. Soon, the foliage began to thicken, and the artificial sun above Artif was covered by the broad leaves. Meanwhile, Artif was devising a couple of scenarios to approach the cult's camp. He could just walk straight in, knocking out a few people, and leave without causing too much of an uproar. Alternatively, he could allow Lucy to feed off of everybody, therefore saving the trouble of having to face her wrath.

"I'll just improvise when I get there," Luke said to himself, glancing at his map. "Just wished I had a team..."

~~~

The mercenary walked into the encampment without saying anything, and avoided eye contact with a guard. He took a look around, finding that the cultists had only recently settled in. Dozens of cartons and boxes were stacked around, apparently in no specific order. The young man then began to peep into the tents, one by one...

"Sir?" a suave voice chimed out from behind him.

"E-eh?!" Artif stuttered, surprised. He whipped around behind him, to find a healthy man in Skolver fur staring at him.

"Sir, are you lost or something?"

Artif was somehow taken as one of the cultists. This would work out nicely...

"Y-yeah, I just got here," lied Artif. "I'm looking for someone I know..."

"Huh? Wouldn't you be referring to one of our helpers then?"

"Helper?"

This wasn't working out too well...

"What are you really here for?" the Skolver-clad man asked, his hand on the sword's hilt.

"Lucy, here's the first meal..." Artif said, unsheathing the Gran Faust.

The man charged at Artif...and had his body brutally cleaved in two by a single chop. The color from the body seemed to have drained instantly; it happened with such speed that the man did not even have time to twitch.

"I FEED!" the Gran Faust screamed in delight. "THIS ONE IS NOT ENOUGH, MORE!"

Artif obeyed to her commands as he began doing battle with the rest of the cultists, brutally ripping flesh and steel into scraps. Off a head went, or on occasion a body spurted a fountain of blood, drenching the mercenary in his enemies' own paint. Still, though, Lucy screamed for more, and Artif was more than obliged to do so.

Finally, the whole camp noticed the battle, and so the gunners came sprinting out of their tents. Artif flipped the blade in reverse-grip, and finished off a Dread Skelly warrior. A bullet flew through the air but it was split into two by Lucy. Wtih a devilish grin on his face, Artif slowly began walking towards the gunners, occasinally deflecting a bullet with the Gran Faust. With startling speeds, Artif dashed up to the shooters, and swung Lucy again and again. When the slaughter was finished, only the mercenary was left standing.

A little kid came running out, bawling, and came over to one of the corpses. Artif, still bloodlusting, approached the child, sword in hand. He raised the Gran Faust, and let it drop.

Only that it never met its intended mark. The shadowy blade buried itself into pale, white flesh, the flesh of a Valkyrie. Artif pulled out, and was shoved several yards away by the Valkyrie.

This one, this one will be enough. Lucy cheered excitedly. Artif tried to resist the temptation, but Lucy had built up too much power from the fight. He felt something dark enter his body, and he took a battle stance, one that he had never used before. Gwenyvier, the Valkyrie, only spread her limbs out in front of the child. Artif took a single step, and then another, and so on, increasing speed as he did so. He fluidly swung the blade low, around Gwen's torso, and bu-

But it was held back by a length of iron chain. The chain pulled the blade out of Artif's grasp, and landed into Vin's hand.

"I said I wanted her alive," Vin growled, letting the Gran Faust fall to the floor.

This pretty much leaves Vin inside a cliffhanger ATM.

While you guys are in suspense, I'll just drown you in more of it by COMPLETELY IGNORING HIM FOR THE NEXT FIVE CHAPTERS.

Will get to work on Travid and Einfield.

Also, Skye-Lightning, can you tell me Uni's occupation? Want it so that she gets involved somehow with Travid and Einfield, as well as a few others.

Also: April Fools. I couldn't pull it off early enough, sorry. You guys get the satisfaction of seeing my idea of the Swarm in the next chapter.

The bullet bounced harmlessly off of Vin's chin, apparently deflected by a shadowy black substance. Muttering a curse, he puts the Valiance down, and paces about the tent.

Gwenyvier was initially shocked, but the thing on Vin's chin explained everything to her.

It was coursed with red veins, similar in structure to that of the Swarm. Perhaps it was a developed version of the malevolent being, perhaps it was the same. She couldn't know for certain, but at least she had some rough idea of what Vin possessed. The Inquisitor sat down, letting out a deep sigh of embarrassment.

"I let myself get carried away too much. It's detrimental to my health, my mental state of being, but it keeps me alive. That's what the Swarm does for me; fixing pieces of things that I never wish I had," he explained to her, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "I know you were going to try and stop me, but letting this course on is probably better than most other options."

The Valkyrie, breathing out in relief, curled up around the Torchstone again. "How did you make a pact?"

"Well," he explained, now quite calmly, "it was during my first Shadow Lair: in the Gloaming Wildwoods."

"I voluntarily left from my party; I wanted to experience the forest by living there a few days. And lived there I did. I never set up camp; I just slept on the floor as I was. I started looking around myself, and found the woods...peaceful. At some moments, the Swarm appeared to have completely faded away, and the beasts had reverted from their poisonous state. If I moved around, however, the Swarm would come right back to watch me. This went on for a few days, just me rambling around, until I finally reached the elevator. For some reason unknown, the twin Snarbolaxes were not there. In fact, there wasn't any bell, no large quarry for the battle to take place in. However, as I took a couple of steps onto the platform, I was immediately swallowed by the Swarm. I guess it had judged me harmless, for I had no injuries from the meeting. However, I was marked with the Swarm, and I have my personal supply right here," Vin explained, patting his left wrist.

"So, you don't plan on opening the Core?" Gwen asked, a bit flustered at the summary.

"I'd rather stay with everyone here. Just live day to day," he replied, now quite casual.

"But what abou-" Gwen was going to say, when she paused herself. She realized that there was nothing for him on Isora. Here, on Cradle, he could start over. He didn't seem to age when he got onto Isora, as if it was an afterlife for him. Maybe it was.

"Can we continue where we left off?"

"I thought we were done."

"Wait, you're right! Well, I guess I can uncuff you right now..." Vin reluctantly sighed as he walked over to Gwen. Suddenly, he bent over and put his arms around her waist, his head buried into her stomach. He was sobbing.

"Something you have to say?" Gwen inquired, tugging at her shackles.

All she could barely make it out among the sobs, but it appeared to be: "Sorry for your arm. I want to find a way to fix it, to repair it. Right the wrong I've done to you. I'm sorry!"

With a sigh, she patted his head with her stub of a right arm. She felt a click on her left wrist, and found the cuff unlocked. However, she stayed until Vin fell asleep, and covered him in her blanket. With a few strides, she walked out of the tent, and flapped her wings.

~~~

Oh my god Vin is such a crybaby but I love it!

Why would you stain my thread?

And Feline-Grenadier sounds very feminine. Making a chapter for this char.

The twilight sun was lazily shining across the mechanical sky of Cradle, painting the clouds a vibrant peach. In return, the fountain in Haven's town square reflected a bright pattern of orange and blue. The Knights, at this time, usually were returning from their work, so that they could rest, eat, and play.

Timp, timp, timp...

A small girl was dashing across Haven's adobe rooftops, feet on the ledges. She was in her element, the one with the thrill of simply running, the anticipation of the next leap, and many more features like so. Her two ponytails whipped up and down with each leap, the mahogany hair flipping through the air.

For a person like her, Haven was a playground.

Increasing speed, the girl held both her arms out, until she finally kicked off the edge of the building, straight into the air. Already, her body was making fine-tuned adjustments to her ankles and toes, resulting in a clean landing. With another dash, she was running vertically up a wall, leaving marks on the cracked paint. Proceeding a flip onto the roof, the girl sprinted some more, occasionally vaulting or entirely jumping over various machines. Finally, the fountain of Haven came within her view. With one graceful leap, she sliced through the air...

And for the first time out of the fifteen similar runs, she did not splash into the fountain. As if frozen in time, she kept her posture for a few seconds, taking in the marvelous fact of her own precision. Finally, when this information registered in her head, she jumped in joy and lost balance, tipping...

Right into the fountain.

~~~

Travis, the pickpocket Knight, was nodding off by the fountain, when he suddenly heard a cry from behind him.

"KYAA!"

The next thing he knew, he soaked from head-down with water. He rubbed his eyes and spluttered before turning his head towards the fountain, to find a young lady sighing sullenly. In the fountain. She looked about a year younger than he, and was certainly a very, appealing girl.

"U-um, I-I, u-uhm..." he stuttered, absolutely bewildered by just her appearance.

The girl, her delicate face marred by a touch of blush, hopped out of the fountain, shaking off the water droplets as if she was a cat. With her hands clamped together, as an animal does with its tail between its legs, she was about to walk off.

Travid, for the life of him, had no idea what to do to keep this girl in his view. Suddenly, he rolled up his Silverweave handkerchief (which he had stolen earlier in the day) and fletched it at her.

Crap. he thought, as it was flying through the air.

"Watch out!" he cried as he sprinted towards the handkerchief, not looking ahead. There was a flash of smooth, brown hair, and then darkness. He had crashed into her.