The Hydra's among Wolves

Arriving on horseback, Shuichi and Nelerad scan the curious Lunarian soldiers staring at them; some not lowering their guard. They then disembark off their horses and begin scanning at the soldiers.

"Where is your commanding officer?" Questioned Nelerad. "I believe his name is Sicarus?"

"I think it was Sicarious." Said Shuichi as he yawned.

"Whatever!" Said Nelerad as he looked back at the soldiers.

"What business do you have with him?" Sneered one of the soldiers.

It was then that Nelerad smiled.

"I don't think a soldier such as yourself need know my business." Replied Nelerad.

"What do you mean you lost him? Why are you back here then?" Sicarius was bright with rage as Fenris reported in. After the massacre, Fenris decided to come back down to camp. With no men and no extra provisions, he couldn't expect to find Silva in the mountains. Plus, a storm was on its way. A big one. Even here, down in base camp, it was pouring rain. He couldn't have hoped to make any progress up there.

Of course, you can't just tell that to an commanding general. He straightened up in front of Sicarius, and explained the situation again.

"Actually, sir, it was more like he found us. All the men I took were slain, all within a matter of minutes. With this storm on the way, and no men or supplies, I decided it would be best to report back here and go back, better prepared this time." Fenris heard a commotion outside, but he figured the men just got into a scuffle and dismissed it.

"Well, now that we know he is in the mountains, we must make sure he stays up there. Position men at every pass and entrance to the mountains, no one gets through."

"Sir, with respect, merchants use those passes to get to us for trade. How do you think Scaradian ambassadors would feel if they were detained and searched simply to be let into the country."

"A small sacrifice. The penalty for failing to carry out the king's orders is much worse than any blow we could strike to Scaradia's pride. Perhaps I shall let you experience this penalty for yourself. One thing is for certain, for one reason or another, the King wants Darkmoon dead. Until Darkmoon is dead, all other internal affairs are secondary." What a great way to lose the war, Fenris was thinking to himself.

"Yes sir. I will do my best to prevent him from leaving the mountains. Will that be all?" Sicarius turned his back to him, which Fenris knew was a sign that he was dismissed. Fenris sat down in a dark corner of the tent to retie his boots when the two very clearly Scaradian men walked in.

He was eager to listen to what followed.

Having dodged a punch from a soldier, Nelerad frowned and kneed the soldier in the abdominal area, causing the latter to fall in pain. Shuici on the other hand sighed and looked around at the remaining soldiers around them both.

"We won't cause any trouble so long as you direct us to your general, so I propose you do just that." Shuichi said scratching his head. "And if you don't, then we will have to beat it out you all and that would be too much of a hassle now wouldn't it?"

Soon then they were both led towards a tent to which they both entered and saw two men inside.

"Now which one of you is Sicarious?" Asked Nelerad.

Fenris stopped tying his boots together and straightened up when the men came in. Sicarius didn't know he was still in the room, and chances are he wouldn't ask him to leave in front of the Scaradian warriors, as it would look unprofessional. He straightened up and made it looked like he belonged there. He really wanted to hear why the Scardians were here.

"Now which one of you is Sicarious?" One asked. Fenris took time to size him up. The man smiled, and the way it was printed on his face, that was his natural state of existence. He looked to be a formidable warrior, and had to be at least a lieutenant back in Scaradia. All in all, Fenris wasn't sure if would be able to last in a fight against him, and Fenris was really good at reading people's battle skills.

The other one looked just as capable, in a way, but there was a more relaxed air about him. It was as those he was content to just sit around and didn't really want to be here. He looked to be the easily bored type. They were dangerous. Those who were bored easily usually had the power to have the right to feel that way.

Sicarius seemed to pay no heed to either of them in a cautious way, and he had no reason too. He was a General, and one of Lunaria's best at that. It took a lot to intimidate Sicarius, and even more to surprise him. Fenris supposed that was one of the reasons he was in his position.

"I am General Sicarius." Sicarius answered. "I am in charge of this army stationed here, and most of the forces currently fighting in the war with Heraclia. Why are you here? I had assumed all negotiations were handled between your emperor and our king. Why visit a military camp that doesn't concern your country?"

"Hahaha! Now there's a feisty commander!" Laughed Nelerad. "At ease soldier, we're here to assist for a while in any form of help we can."

It was then Shuchi turned to face a man standing in the corner as he raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? You smell...different..." Said Shuichi.

"Pay no heed to our ranks in our military general." Interrupted Nelerad. "Our ranks don't reflect our abilities, hell you can even say we're capable of destroying this camp should we receive orders to do so."

It was then the atmosphere around Nelerad changed. Even Shuichi turned to look back at Nelerad and then back at the general.

"We will assist in anything you need us to." Said Shuichi breaking the silence. "However, our assistance doesn't mean we serve under you. We have been granted permission by our emperor and your king to remain autonomous."

"You could say our status as of now could equal our emperor." Nelerad said as he walked towards the table and slammed his hands on it as he smiled at the general with eyes of a wild beast.

"What I am personally interested in however, is finding this assassin who had the confidence to face Ryu."

Fenris spoke up. "Then you would have to speak to me. I am currently in charge of the investigation of this assassin."

All three of the other men looked at him. Sicarius spoke immediately. "Well Anderson, I didn't realize you were so bold as to take it upon yourself to tell these men who to speak too."

"Well, with respect sir, I need more men." He turned to face the Scaradians. "I am Fenris Anderson, one of the best trackers in Lunaria. While the assassin was still among us, I rivaled his skill in battle. I know his tricks, his moves, his strategies, and all his likely hiding places. Should you be searching for Silva Darkmoon, you best shot is to work with me on my investigation."

He could feel the Scaradians sizing him up, their eyes rolling over him like wolves hungering over prey.

"So, perhaps you should fill them in right now?" Sicarius asked. "After all, you did leave out details in your report to me. Details I would like to hear."

"Very well sir. I took a band of twenty men to search the mountains around Lunaria. I figured that he would head for this mountain range because the city was locked down during the battle, and these are by far the easiest mountains to get into anywhere near the Solarian front, which is where he was last seen, fighting your emperor.

"My men weren't overly worried about running into Silv- I mean, Darkmoon, but I knew to proceed with caution. We were looking all throughout the most commonly traveled paths when he found us. He slaughtered all of my men."

"Then how come he let you live, Anderson?" Sicarius asked. It was an honest question, but Fenris knew he was suspecting foul play.

"As soon as the first man fell, I went ahead to see if I could get behind Darkmoon. Unfortunately, I chose the wrong side, and he leapt out of the other side of the pass. The battle, if you can call it that, was over too quickly, I doubt he even knew if I was there." Fenris knew the consequences of  lying to a commanding officer, but the only other person alive who could say what really happened was Silva.

"Now, as for why I came back," Fenris continued, "it was because of the storm. We Lunarians resist the cold, but this time of year is possibly the worst to be in the mountains. The blizzards that plague the mountains during the winter turn to rain, but it's still so cold up there that the rain turns to ice anyway. It can be quite dangerous. I could have stayed up there, but with no men and no extra supplies, I wouldn't be able to make any progress. However, this storm DOES at least mean that Darkmoon is still up there. I intend to lead another group when this weather clears up. You two are more than welcome to come along, if you so wish."

Nelerad and Shuichi stared at Fenris and listening to what he had just told them all. The assassin was somewhere in the mountain; he was alive.

"Hmmm..." Nelerad hummed as he stared at Fenris and frowned. "No thanks, I'll pass out on that for now."

"We aren't in the mood for waiting around." Said Shuichi. "We really just came by to greet you both."

It was then they both excused themselves and started walking towards their horses, ready to leave. And as they started to ride off, Nelerad smiled.

"That guy was lying to us...I could sense it." He said laughing a bit.

"Yeah I figured as much guessing as you suddenly lost interest, well whatever." Shuichi said scratching his head. "We weren't really after the assassin anyway, the camp was just a shortcut to where we're heading." He said looking at Nelerad.

"Yeah...still..." Nelerad said still looking curious. "That guy...he smelled like an animal who seemed lost."

Shuichi looked at Nelerad calmly and focused back on the desert sands that lay ahead of them.

"Leave it be, we don't have the time to care about such things. And besides, we weren't given permission to fight any Lunarians."

It was then the two rode off heading towards the land of the sands...