Saber cast an irritated glance at the female ranger. Didn't she have the common sense to realize he wanted to keep this secret? It was amazing enough he had permitted her to tag along, but...He shook his head and tried to get rid of the anger. He thought it over a bit and decided it wasn't so bad. Dogura is one of my closest friends. I know that I can rely on him in a tough spot. Still...I wish I didn't have to endanger him. Then he was jerked from his thoughts as a cry shattered his focus.

A man he recognized as a wanted thief was hurtling towards them with his strange gait, lugging a sack over his shoulder. Saber crouched and prepared to dive on him, but Dogura beat him to the punch. Or grab. Or whatever. He relaxed, thinking the thief--Sakon, if he remembered correctly--was caught. He was wrong, however, and was completely unprepared to stop him as he dropped his load and escaped. Saber stared wistfully at the retreating man--that was a hefty reward that had just slipped by.

He turned to face the new arrivals, Darkin and Alex. He cleared his throat as they conversed, hoping to get their attention. When they finally turned towards him, he reluctantly spilled the details of the infiltration. "We were planning on infiltrating a...'den' of thieves. I have...a personal vendetta to settle. Dogura..." His eyes flashed over to the samurai. "You know something of this. That day in the Castle Courtyard, the murder...I was a wreck then...I still am now...if it wasn't for Rose--" He nodded towards the human in question. "I would still be...less than cooperative. This is a suicide mission...I highly doubt we are going to make it out of there alive. If I know these guys as well as I think...Honestly, I wish you wouldn't go. It's too dangerous, I want to keep as many people safe as possible." He looked quizzicaly at the samurai. Would he still go?

MJ wrote:This is a suicide mission...I highly doubt we are going to make it out of there alive. If I know these guys as well as I think...Honestly, I wish you wouldn't go. It's too dangerous, I want to keep as many people safe as possible."

"Well, I really wish we could, but hey, we have to respect your wishes!" Darkin was about to leave, when Dogura grabbed him by the collar. "Hold your hoarses there BigBird." Darkin snarled at Dogura. "I'm sure if we ever needed a favor, Saber would be there to help out. Besides, we could use the exercize right?" Darkin pulled Dogura off to the side. "Did you hear what he said? A suicide mission! We're infiltrating a den of thieves!!" Dogura nodded. "Can't be any worse than that whole Hakiem thing." Darkin slapped Dogura. "Wake up!! We should just walk away from this!" The samurai sneered. "You know what you are?" Darkin's eyes widended. "Don't!" Dogura smiled wider, and put his arms to his sides, and made a flapping motion. "Don't you dare!!" Dogura made a series of small sounds: bawk... bawk bawk bawk... "DOGURA SHADOWCLAW DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME A-"

"Chicken?" Dogura intterupted, digging his back foot into the dirt behind him. "BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK!" Darkin's face turned red with rage. "THAT DOES IT!!" He turned to Saber, and gritted his teeth. "WE'LL GO ON YOUR MISSION! SUICIDE? HAH! DEATH IS MY MIDDLE NAME!!" Darkin folded his arms, as Dogura walked up behind him, and patted him on the back. "That wasn't so hard was it?" Alex just stood there with a blank look on his face. "You guys are both insane... In fact, I feel embaressed to have created you.." Dogura ignored the comment, and walked up to Saber still chuckling a little. "Dogura and Darkin, at your service!" Alex's jaw dropped. "What about me?? I'm old enough! Come on let me go!" Dogura snickered. "Well, at least you have more ambition than our feathered friend here!" Darkin muttered something about enslaving humanity, and turned around. "But you're just not strong enough!" Alex moaned, and hung his head. "I never get to do anything cool." The samurai patted him on the head, and ruffled up his hair. "Alex, head on home, and practice up a bit." He turned and nodded to Saber. "We're ready when you are."

Saber watched the comical interactions between the trio. Normally, this made him chuckle, sometimes he even laughed out loud! However...he just wasn't in the mood. Well..I have Dogura and Darkin's support...Which is extremely good for me, really...I just hope I'll be able to protect them...He cleared his throat and looked back up at the samurai. "Thank you for your help. Dogura. Darkin. It means a lot...although...'ready when you are'....heh....funny thing about that..." He gave a low chuckle. "I'm not ready...I...I have no idea where I'm going..." He leveled his gaze at Dogura and scratched the back of his head, trying to appease them with a sheepish smile. "So...first we have to gather information...so I suppose Alex can come for now..." His voice became much more serious again. "However, when we go into the base, I will NOT allow Alex to come. Keep that in mind." He smiled at the boy. "Don't be mad at me, it's just way too dangerous."

Dogura nodded. "Gathering information is my area of expertise." Alex's eyes widened. "I can come? AWESOME!! You hear that sensei? I get to go with you guys!" Dogura frowned at Saber. At that moment, Saber added that it was only for gathering information. Dogura smiled, and leaned in Alex's ear. "You hear that apprentice? You can come! Awesome!" Alex punched Dogura pretty hard, and mumbled something. "Alright, lets head down to the library. There are a few of them actually, which one should we hit first?" Darkin was about to speak, when Alex interupted. "I don't wanna go to no damn library!" The samurai turned to him, and spoke slyly, "So you do want to go to a library! You used a double negetive!" Alex stuttered on a word multiple times. Dogura didn't give the boy time to finish. "Alright, lets head out! Where to?"

Saber rolled his eyes as the bickering continued. He wanted to hunt down his enemies, not enjoy a slapstick comedy hour. When they finally finished and Dogura spoke of a library, Saber opened his mouth to reply. Unfortunately, he was cut off as the bickering started up again. He tapped his foot and cleared his throat. "We won't be going to any libraries." He said, pausing to give Alex a small smile. "They won't have anything about these guys. Not even the Royal Guard knows anything about it. Finding information about them would be like trying to find a campfire underwater."

He sighed and shook his head. "We're just going to have to scour the town, from wall to wall. I do have an idea about where to start though. The alleyway, where that merchant was murdered." He reflected on the dark day and felt his eyes water yet again. "Hopefully they left some kind of clue there."

Suddenly, Dogura remembered the horrific incident. "I see... If not even the Royal Guard knows about it, then it will be difficult to uncover any information." Darkin nodded. "I guess thats the only lead we have eh Saber?" Alex looked around confused. "A murder? Where, what happened?" Dogura kept his eyes on the water, as he explained the crucial points to his apprentice. Alex now fully understood the situation(or so he thought), and was ready for whatever Saber had in mind.

OOC: So we need to head back to the allyway? I'll be looking for the topic. I'm guessing it will be at North Castle. I don't have much to write on, so lets get this show on the road

OOC: Actually, it will be at that guard booth one space east of the Castle. I don't want those pornobots spamming it up

Anyways, HNS, go ahead and post what Rose does during the conversation, I'll add it to the novel version. We'll be waiting for you at the next topic. I hope you get a new cord soon, although if you're reading this then you already have the cord...but I digress...anyways, to the next topic, AWAAAAAAYYYY!!!!!

OOC: Yep, gots me a new cord. Time to play catch up now.

IC:
A rather strange bird caught Rose's eyes as Darkin and Alex came along. She followed it as it flew through the sky. It was a brilliant red bird, small and with an orange beak. She had never seen such a bird before, and it held her attention dispite the thief and the slightly comedic scene between sensei and student. When the bird was finally too far off to see, Rose turned back to the group with her, only to see them walking off. Damn, she thought. Now is not a good time to get distracted. She jogged to catch up, pretending she had been with them all along.