Chapter 4

Yanni felt like crap. Once his eyes adjusted to the light, he could tell why. Bruises covered multiple parts of his body, and when he turned his head to the right, he found Ryan beginning to stir too, and in the same condition. What happened? thought Yanni.

Memories suddenly flashed in his head, and he remembered. Oh yeah... I was blown against a tree and got knocked out when the village... "THE VILLAGE!!!" shouted Yanni, bolting up right and looking around, trying to get a sense of where he was, and hoping he was inside his own home.

It was wishful thinking, as he was in an unrecognizable room, with beds, and a doorway leading elsewhere. As Yanni calmed down, he heard the clinking of glass, and footsteps heading in his direction. Ryan was up now as well, and though they searched for an easy way out, it was a vain attempt.

3 people around Yanni and Ryan's own age, 2 boys, and 1 girl, walked in quietly and calmly. "WHO ARE YOU!?" asked the now slightly frightened Ryan. Yanni didn't shout out, but he was yelling the same question through his head.

The boy with light brown skin quietly said, "Calm yourselves, you are safe for the time being."

Ryan, still obviously stressed out, but now having better control of himself, said tensely, "That didn't answer my question."

The other boy sighed, "It doesn't have to, but come with us into the living room, or we won't be able to answer any of your questions." Yanni and Ryan looked at each of them, though the girl didn't day a word, as if unsure of what to say.

Yanni and Ryan stiffly followed them, but not before slipping the daggers they had found on the table between the two beds they had occupied, just in case they needed to run for it. They were probably going to need it.

Takeshi was searching deep down to keep himself under control, instead of going crazy, since he wasn't used to sustained contact with people he didn't know; and he knew both Nyan and Teru felt the same as well. He sighed and finally got a hold of himself.

He motioned towards the couches in the living room. The two boys sat on the smaller one, most likely a tactical and comforting move. Takeshi, Nyan, and Teru sat on the larger one, and Nyan offered tea to everyone, though Takeshi could tell she was as unsure as he was about them. The two other boys accepted their drinks quickly and stiffly, as if trying not to slip up.

Takeshi let a few minutes of peace ensue before he began dropping surprises on the two boys. At last he spoke, "I don't expect you to say anything until I'm finished, and it would speed things along if you save questions until the end as it is so, let's first introduce ourselves, I'm Takeshi, this is Nyan, and Teru," he said, gesturing to both of them in turn.

A silence hung for a moment until the silver-haired boy said, "I'm Yanni, this is Ryan," he said, motioning to the other boy.

Takeshi nodded, it had already been decided he would give the speech, and Teru would back him up if he faltered. Nyan wasn't a fan of new people normally, and she remained quiet as she normally did when they met new people they had to talk to for a while.

"I think it's best I just say everything right now, so here's the basic idea, we are part of a group known as Sicarius, an organization of assassins," Takeshi watched as Yanni and Ryan's faces lit up in horror; Takeshi said quickly and carefully, "However, we only kill for the benefit of the people, and no, we weren't the ones who torched your village, they were our targets, and I'm sorry we weren't able to get there soon enough to save the rest of your village. Now, I know this may seem all new and strange to you but-"

Takeshi was cut off as Yanni and Ryan's faces turned into a mixture of grief and rage, and suddenly, without warning, their hands darted into their pockets, and drew daggers. They had all known they had grabbed the daggers, but they hadn't anticipated them attacking so quickly. Teru and Nyan had tackled the two attackers before they had a chance to cause harm, and Takeshi had deftly plucked the daggers from their hands in an instant.

Takeshi looked at them, while Nyan and Teru retrained them, and said, "I wouldn't try that again, we would hate to have to injure you." Yanni and Ryan seemed too shocked to speak, and so Takeshi continued, "As I was saying we are assassins, though the group is rather small; there's only about 5 other members at this point. I'd tell you the history of Sicarius, but it is a long one, and a secret one at that. And so I'd like to get to the point, if you wish, you can join Sicarius, you can be trained as assassins, and can avenge the village that was torched. We killed the ones who carried out the deed, but there was a mastermind behind the attack."

Ryan and Yanni were quiet for a few moments, and then Takeshi added, "So what's it going to be? In, or out?"

Ryan and Yanni were shocked enough by the fact they had been beaten, even when they had weapons, but they were shocked moreso by the offer to join and hunt down the mastermind behind the attack.

Ryan and Yanni looked at each other, knowing the image of the fireball, stil firmly in their minds, had sealed their decision.

"We're in," was all they said.

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