What Will The Commoners Think? -[Rrah]-

[Amur]

Aimé landed carefully on the branch of a tree near a small flock of greedy-wingless. Their numbers had dwindled drastically since they had started trying to attack The Wingless-Hunter. Aimé would have found their blind persistence amusing, but, he couldn’t help but feel concerned about the rapidly deteriorating situation. Of all the greedy-wingless that Solomon had already killed, and looking at this small flock now, Aimé didn’t recognise any of them... He couldn’t understand why that was; the flocks of greedy wingless he had given direction to didn’t want to share the shiny with other flocks.

That is why he had picked them, there was no way they would have told the other flocks of greedy-wingless what they knew. So far his plan had only worked well enough to keep Solomon away from other wingless-nests, but, his actions had still caused more death than he had intended them to... He ruffled his feathers silently, necessary evil, as long as it kept The Wingless-Hunter away from the wingless-nests, then Aimé may have very well saved more lives than his actions had cost.

... At least that was the way he rationalised it.

Solomon could NEVER find out that Aimé was responsible for the greedy-wingless being able to find him. He would tell Aeon and Aeon would tell Alastor, and Aimé didn’t want to lose Alastor. He shivered, no, he was safe, Aimé was never going to tell Solomon of his involvement, and none of the wingless here knew of Aimé as anything other than a harmless bird. So they couldn’t very well surrender him as their source, even under interrogation.

“I don’t understand why everyone has been having such trouble with this guy; he doesn’t look all that tough. Bet’cha he just got lucky.”
He heard one of the greedy-wingless say out loud to the rest of its flock. Aimé couldn’t help but feel amused by that statement; this is why he didn’t pick the greedy-wingless that ignorant. He already felt bad for them, but he wouldn’t risk revealing himself to them. No, he was far too terrified of the consequences.

“I ‘unno boss, I heard some insane things about this guy.”
Aimé blinked as a second wingless spoke, they didn’t know the bare minimum of Solomon’s exploits... Where were the greedy-wingless that Aimé had given direction to? These ones didn’t have anything on The Wingless-Hunter.

“Prolly all lies, mate. You gotta remember that you can’t believe everything you hear.”
Aimé cocked his head and continued listening as a third wingless spoke up, lies? How stupid were these greedy-wingless? NOTHING relating to the accomplishments of a Hunter was fabricated, these wingless, they were in so far over their heads.

“I heard the guy killed an entire encampment of Urgals by himself.”
A fourth chimed in, which immediately drew laughter from the rest of the group. Aimé managed to keep his disbelief is check and not caw at these idiotic wingless. He didn’t know what these “Urgals” were, but that would most definitely NOT have been the first time a Hunter managed to destroy a temporary-nest by itself.

“Bullshit. There is no evidence of that.”
Aimé shook himself off and left the branch he had perched himself on, heading back to Solomon. He had, had enough of these foolish greedy-wingless, best to leave them to their ignorant discussions; he wasn’t getting anything of value from them.
---

Solomon leaned nonchalantly against the trunk of a tree, casually spinning his knife “Wyvernslayer” in his palm. For the time being he was stood on the ground, having run out of arrows shortly before his first meeting with Taured –a meeting he was trying to forget certain details of- Solomon had, had to resort to getting close to his prey in order to kill them. Not a huge issue for Solomon, he MUCH preferred getting close-and-personal to his prey as he struck the killing blow. The thrill of the kill just felt that much more satisfying.

However, the amateurs had been slowing in their advance. Either they were finally learning that they were no match for him, or –more likely- their numbers had fallen so greatly that Solomon was now dealing with little more than stragglers. He shrugged inwardly, he would find out the answer whenever Aimé got back from spying on whoever was left.

He didn’t have to wait long for that.

“Solomon”
Solomon nodded lightly as he felt Aimé’s mind before he spoke.

“What have you got for me, Aimé?”
He asked.

“Their numbers are all but gone; you only have few greedy-wingless to deal with now.”
Solomon smirked, much as he had expected. They had thrown themselves at him so recklessly that it made The Elf and the Wyvern-kin seem like a couple of tactical genius in comparison. He chuckled, amateurs, all of them. Why they hadn’t accepted that they were little more than prey to Solomon yet was beyond him, but, he didn’t care. If they were moronic enough to throw their lives away for money, then who was Solomon to begrudge them?

He span Wyvernslayer in his palm once more and began preparing himself for the brief hunt to come, Aimé had already informed Solomon of the direction that the amateurs were coming from. So, he already had an advantage over them, of course, it was a very small advantage. He had the fact that he was a Hunter on his side, and these fools... Well, they only had their numbers, and soon enough Solomon would rob them of that advantage.

“Aimé, Stay close at hand, if I need you, I’ll let you know.”
The idea that Solomon would “need” Aimé at all was laughable, but. He wasn’t going to send the biggest advantage he had right now away. Not when these amateurs had no idea that Aimé even existed. He pressed his back to the trunk of the tree he had been leaning against and kept himself tense as he heard the sound of voices.

Idiotic, apparently these amateurs were bad enough to be oblivious to the fact that talking out-loud when trying to hunt a Hunter was just asking to get killed... But, since they were being so gracious and giving their position and numbers away to Solomon so nicely he decided that he would spare all but one of them from the anguish of slowly dying to wyvern-venom.

There were six of them, and despite the obvious noise that talking was making, none of them were making any effort to try and cover the noise that their footsteps made as they walked over dead leaves or fallen twigs... Solomon could only raise an eyebrow in confusion, surely these amateurs couldn’t be that bad... There had to be some kind of method.

Solomon blinked when, as a unit the amateurs walked right past him, their weapons drawn, but not held ready. And they made no effort to make sure their backs were protected. He shook his head, he was dealing with whatever was left and this was it? He didn’t allow himself a sigh, no; he would make sure that the one dying to Wyvern venom was going to be thoroughly taunted and mocked. Silently Solomon shifted and snuck up to the amateur at the back of the group, it seemed like the quiet kind, as it wasn’t talking as much as the rest of its companions. They probably wouldn’t even notice that it was dead right away.

With his usual predatory grace, Solomon silently grabbed the first amateur and covered its mouth with his hand before immediately using Wyvernslayer and stabbing it at the base of its skull. It convulsed several times, but, ultimately was unable to warn the rest of its doomed group before falling still. Solomon gently lowered the body to the ground before silently hiding himself out-of-sight behind a tree that the rest of these amateurs would not have an immediate view of.

He waited several seconds, just to make sure they had continued walking before he moved to his next piece-of-cover. He allowed another several seconds to pass before moving to the next tree and then to the next tree. Once more, he had sight of his prey; one of them had stopped walking, and stood as if looking for something.

Solomon seized the opportunity and flanked his prey, silently running at it from its right-hand-side. It was about to speak to its companions when Solomon kicked it in the back of its knee, forcing it to the ground. And then, before he had the chance to vocalise its shock, Solomon drove his knife through the soft flesh at the underside of its chin.

Its eyes widened and an expression of shock crossed its features before Solomon tore the knife from the wound and allowed it to collapse to the ground noisily. Now, he would let his prey know that it was being hunted.

Just to allow them to panic.

Solomon once more moved to keep himself out-of-sight as the loud talking stopped abruptly. There were still four of these amateurs left, but now that they were aware just how out of their depth they were. Their numbers would mean nothing.

He heard the sound of hurried footfalls as they rushed to check on the condition of their companions; Solomon licked his lips and silently looked around the trunk of the tree he was hidden behind. Looking at the four that remained he finally managed to get a good look at his prey... They were all young, likely just starting out... Seeking to make a name for themselves by being the ones to claim the bounty on Solomon’s head undoubtedly.

The thought was highly amusing to Solomon; none of them even had a bow on them. Their inexperience was greater than that of the Wyvern-kin and its Elf. Never mind. This was their own fault.

One of them had now taken to watching the back of the group, far too late for that. Solomon was already drawing close to their newly self-appointed sentry. He waited for it to sweep its head in the opposite direction before he leaped at it, covering its mouth and then breaking its neck with a single practiced movement. He gently lowered the body to the ground and stood in silence behind the remaining the amateurs as they knelt over their other fallen companion.

A small smirk twisted its way across Solomon face as they sat trying to discuss a new plan of action between them.

“Ok, he’s much better than we thought. We’ve clearly underestimated him.”
At that Solomon knelt down himself and reach forward, slashing the throat of the first person he could reach. He allowed the body to fall to the ground with as much noise as possible before standing and taking a small leap away from the remaining two amateurs.

The two of them were on their feet and facing him within the space of several breaths. Solomon merely smirked at them, once more spinning Wyvernslayer in his palm.

An indecisive glance passed between the two remaining amateurs and at that moment they both went their separate ways. Solomon’s chosen prey opted to abandon its quest for money and glory and left its companion to its fate as said companion launched itself at Solomon with a silent snarl distorting its features.

Its charge was blind, and the way it held its sword betrayed its inexperience. It took Solomon only a simple side-step to avoid the strike before he swept his free hand to the side and took hold of the amateur’s wrist. He looked into its eyes and then thrust the heel of his palm into its elbow, breaking it with a cloud crack.

His prey screamed in agony and dropped its sword. Solomon once more seized his opportunity and leap forward and kick his prey solidly in the knee, breaking it with an o’ so satisfying crunch. Once again, his prey screamed and fell to the ground. It tried to use its remaining arm and leg to scrabble away from Solomon, however, Solomon simply stopped its progress by placing his foot on its face and forcing it to lie flat on the ground.

“No, no. Please. Please!”
It begged, Solomon merely smirked his malicious smirk.

“N’aww, don’t worry. I’ll make sure that treacherous coward suffers for leaving you to die alone.”
It tried to beg once more, however, Solomon put a stop to that by stomping on its head.

And again,
And again,
And again,

He snorted in disgust and then left the body where it lie... He still had one more little lamb to silence, his prey didn’t escape him.
---

Aimé cawed as he witnessed Solomon’s usual brand of brutality. No, no, no! This wasn’t the way this was supposed to happen; he had deliberately avoided the flocks of greedy-wingless that lacked the experience to stand against Solomon. How had they found out? He couldn’t make sense of it, he couldn’t simply tell Solomon to stop, since then he would know that Aimé had been the one pointing them in his direction... He could only continue going along with what Solomon was doing and hope that the greedy-wingless would be enough to keep Solomon away from any other wingless-nests. He wouldn’t let Solomon harm any more wingless-chicks.
---

It hadn’t taken Solomon long to catch up to his prey. The fact that it had slowed itself down and then tried to stop him by throwing its weapon at him told Solomon that it was desperate to get away from him, which could only make Solomon giggle gleefully. It was far too late for this amateur to “undo” its mistake now, it was going to die, and Solomon was going to be the one to make sure it happened.

It tripped, and at once Solomon was on top of it. He placed his foot across its neck and drew his venomous short-sword from its sheath, and looked at the blade lovingly for a long while. His prey far too scared to move, pity, had it struck Solomon while he had been distracted it might have been able to escape.

Its chance had passed and Solomon simply cut it several times on both arms before he moved away from it and returned his venomous short-sword and his knife to their sheaths. He smirked down at his prey as it started writhing in pain, and then turned his back to it and ran into the nearest tree in order to enjoy the show.
---

Finding Solomon was hardly a difficult task for Aimé, and he soon found himself perched on a tree-branch just over The Wingless-Hunter’s head. He looked down and immediately knew what Solomon had done to the greedy-wingless that had tried to flee; he made sure that Solomon was aware of his disapproval before he spoke.

“Do you really need to let them suffer?”
Solomon merely gave Aimé a look that alone asked him if he needed to ask such a question. Aimé simply narrowed his eyes in response; Solomon held his silence for a moment longer.

“They made the mistake of thinking that they were a match for me, so they pay the price for their arrogance.”
Solomon replied simply. Aimé ruffled his feathers, one-day Solomon’s actions were going to land him on the opposite side of such suffering. And when that day came, Aimé wanted to be there to witness it, however, for the time being he simply cawed at Solomon.

“Those last two were terrified of you.”
He said, which merely got a loud scoff from The Wingless-Hunter.

“Ja, as well they should have been. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m trying to enjoy myself.”
Solomon replied calmly, returning his attention to the now slowly dying greedy-wingless on the ground. Aimé averted his eyes, he didn’t want to watch. All he could do was comfort himself with the thought that this was potentially saving a greater number of lives elsewhere.

[Mali]

Taured and Varden had met with Nemesis Morona as Solomon had suggested. He hadn’t informed the pair that dropping his name would be the worst thing he could do. Although, the pair didn’t doubt that Solomon knew that if they dropped his name, the people there would treat the pair with hostility. They also knew that the chances of Solomon having informed them about that beforehand, was very unlikely, even if they had thought to ask at the time of their departure.

However, after the initial hostility toward the rider pair, things had gone well. They had both learned quite a bit that had been of use. Varden still wondered if it were possible for him to use his magic, the thought always in the back of his mind.

It intrigued him that Morona had been able to use the rawest form of magic to do something, anything, with it. He was so excited and anxious to find out if he would be able to do it that he was constantly bringing it up and thinking about it.

Taured didn’t mind however, since it was healthy thinking and there was nothing wrong with being excited. Taured knew that Varden always had a bit of jealousy and contempt towards the magic he possessed but was never able to use. The fact that it might be possible for him to wield his magic even made Taured excited. He was happy for his companion that he might be able to use what has always nagged him.

However, many times Varden tried to use the magic, to perform the act the way Morona had, nothing happened. But as Morona had said, it was difficult to master and took a lot of energy and effort to perform the technique. Since Varden had never wielded magic before, it would take him longer to perform the act and he’d told himself that was fine.

Taured on the other hand was quite close to mastering it. Well, mastering wasn’t the right word. More like performing the act. He was able to separate the energy with a single word and perform something similar to what Morona had performed. He assumed that he was using half-raw and half-processed magic. Since he wasn’t able to perform magic with just his mind yet, this was closest he would get to performing the same as Morona.

However, today wasn’t a practice day for the pair as they had taken off on new orders. The council had been intrigued as well about the information that Morona had provided about wielding magic in Empire Nirvana. The excitement was almost short lived as soon as Taured had heard his new orders. Instead of focusing on the good of the new information, he would have to revisit an acquaintance.

Of course, he knew that Solomon would hardly refer to him as an acquaintance and would refer to him as a few other things instead but that wasn’t the point right now. Solomon had spent the past few weeks putting himself on the map again. He wasn’t doing it as outright as he had been the first time they had met, but enough to warrant the council to send Taured and Varden out to check in on what he was doing.

Having stopped to rest at a local inn where the bounty hunters tracking Solomon were planning on capturing him, Taured and Varden turned to each other, but already agreeing that they should just follow the bounty hunters.

It was gruesome to watch as Solomon took out the bounty hunters. Varden looked away at certain parts, rather wanting to keep the contents of his stomach, in his stomach. It wasn’t that what he was doing was particularly hard to watch, it was just that Varden was a far gentler soul than Taured and would rather not watch what Solomon did to the poor men that were too greedy to go after him.

Upon dwindling numbers, the pair decided not to move from their current spot, instead watching the interaction between the three people. One got away and started to run, watching him for a moment longer, they turned back to see the other man pleading. Shaking his head, Taured had to wonder where some of Solomon’s arrogance came from.

At least Solomon had killed this man instead of leaving him behind to die slowly. As soon as Solomon raised his foot, Varden turned away, as did Taured. That was just disgusting. Snap his neck or something, don’t bash his head in with your feet.

Taured waited for Varden to feel a little less queasy before following after Solomon and the fleeing man. What they found was similar to what they had first encountered with Solomon. Being left to die while Solomon watched. What was this to him? Sport? Hunting animals was a sport, hunting humans was just cruel. Taured believed in self-defence but not to this extent.

“I call upon the soil and grass, swallow this man up and fill his lungs.”

[/b][/color] Varden was a little surprised to hear the spell that Taured cast, watching as the ground opened up underneath the man as the soils moved over his skin and down his throat; his body slowly submerging beneath the ground. After a moment, the man was gone, dead, and buried. Varden questioned his choice of death and Taured explained that it may not have been the least painful way for him to die, but now he had a final resting place.

Emerging from the bushes, Taured waved to Solomon. Of course, that may be too friendly a greeting to make to one such as Solomon, but it was the best he was going to give him.

“I have to wonder, did you play with your food as a child, Hunter Latro?” He grinned to him, knowing that the name he addressed him by was far too polite. He may not know everything that he’d accomplished to be able to refer to him as ‘master’ but he knew a fair bit more thanks to his meeting with Morona.

“You’ve become quite popular lately. The council sends their regards, wonders what you’re doing now. Oh, and I met with Nemesis Morona...” he left the sentence hanging for a bit, shaking his head.

“I said, I was sent by Solomon Latro, I’ll let you guess what happened next.” he continued to shake his head. Never again would he introduce himself to a Nirvanian with Solomon’s name. Maybe Morona would be a better name to use.[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

Solomon narrowed his eyes slightly as the ground beneath the still dying amateur seemingly opened up and consumed it. Well, that certain was just a slight bit more impressive than the last time the slowly dying amateur had been killed off with magic before the Wyvern Venom could claim it... Which also meant that what he had just witnessed could only mean one thing; Solomon actually smirked to himself and chuckled gently as his suspicion was confirmed only moments later as Taured emerged with a wave.

“Careful Taured; that almost seems friendly, I imagine people will start talking if you’re seen treating me so nicely when everyone else has attempted to capture or kill me.”
He said calmly, taking note of the unexpected greeting –well, truth be told Solomon hadn’t expected to see Taured again at all- he had to wonder why exactly Taured was even here. Solomon hadn’t moved very much since their last meeting, was he here for some kind of informal chat? He couldn’t quite place it; however, he held his impassive stance and simply leaned himself against the trunk of the tree he was perched on the branch of.

This time, he wouldn’t be leaving his perch. He was still somewhat bitter about his last encounter with Taured.

However, he hid his dislike –closer to hatred- for this Elf and chuckled as he made his comment. Well, at least he was being respectful “Hunter Latro”, Solomon, however, merely shrugged and smirked down at Taured.

“Whether or not I played with my food has always depended on whether or not it was sentient, Taured. But, I don’t eat human much; the meat is bland, tasteless and tough. It’ll get you by in a pinch, but that’s about it.”
Solomon sneered in response. He would allow Taured to draw his own conclusions on whether or not Solomon was joking... Of course, he wasn’t, but he had no need to tell that to this Elf. Mind games weren’t as fun if they were given away too quickly... And while Solomon respected Taured, he didn’t like the Elf at all... Their last encounter would forever be bitter to Solomon.
---

Aimé had not been expecting to see the wingless that had humiliated Solomon ever again; he had to wonder if it was here for the same reasons it had been the last time... What Aimé would have given just to see Solomon so utterly silenced once more, but, he knew better than to expect to ever see the same Wingless-Hunter silenced twice in one life-time... But the memories of the last time were already valued above most of his other memories –that is of course excluding his memories of time spent with Alastor- and were capable of cheering him up when he needed it.

Aimé cocked his head as the wingless mentioned Solomon’s popularity among the greedy-wingless, it should have been obvious. The greedy-wingless were all after the shiny that was being offered for Solomon, so it would only make sense that they would seek the Wingless-Hunter out, as far as they were concerned the shiny was all that mattered.

The words of the wingless simply drew a loud scoff from Solomon.

“Ja, I hope they’re not under the impression that I’ll reconsider their offer. Besides, what would the commoners think if they were to find out I’ve been accosted by one from your joke of an order twice and am still left to roam as I see fit?”
Solomon taunted the wingless casually. Aimé couldn’t help but begin to feel uncomfortable about the direction the conversation between the two wingless was going in.

“But, as it is the case with amateurs, none of them learn their lesson. I have no idea how they keep finding me, but once I find their source of information, I’m going to be disposing of it.”
At once Aimé was glad that Solomon was more focused on the other wingless and not on him, for Aimé shifted around on the branch he was perched on uncomfortably. That one statement was more than enough to remind him just how dangerous his position was, if Solomon ever found out that Aimé was the reason that the greedy-wingless kept finding him... Then... He didn’t even want to think about the kind of pain Solomon would put him through.
---

The moment Taured mentioned that he had gone to meet with Nemesis Morona Solomon immediately knew what he had done. And he couldn’t help himself, he laughed out loud. Oh, how quickly that crowd must have turned against him, and that wasn’t even taking the Lizard into account either.

Nevertheless, he managed to regain control quickly, still having to hold back sporadic bursts of laughter.

“You actually dropped my name?”
Solomon asked, disbelief colouring the clear humour of his voice as he once more chuckled to himself.

“Let me guess, everyone there except for Nemesis Morona and his Lapdog immediately starting distrusting and reviling you. Heh, vexing isn’t it?”
He chuckled a moment longer.

“Nothing to be done about it now, I’d like to be the first to welcome you to life as a Hunter within Empire Nirvana. That distrust, that revilement. It’ll never go away; they’ll ensure it carries on into their future generations. So, to them, you may as well be a Hunter.”
Solomon smirked down at Taured, still taking a long moment to allow the amusement he found at Taured actually using Solomon’s full name to introduce himself to an entire village of people from Empire Nirvana.

“Of course, I’m not taking the Lizard into consideration yet. I imagine they enjoyed seeing it, didn’t they?”
Solomon mentioned in a sarcastic tone, remembering what he had thought when he had first seen the giant lizards of this land.

[Mali]

He didn’t resist the eye roll to Solomon’s response. So what if he had waved, he didn’t know of any better way to address the hunter. It was the same when he had first arrived at Morona’s settlement. He had no idea how to greet a Nirvanian properly and had done so wrongly.

“I suppose that may be true, however, my unusual demeanor for an elf already has people talking, so it doesn’t bother me.” It was true, people already talked about the dragon rider Taured Doenning. Even those who held the riders in contempt spoke neutral about him. They still disliked him, but at least they realised that he wasn’t like the rest. However, he wasn’t saying that he was better than the other riders were, far from it. He knew that there were others, like him, who were calm tempered and well mannered in stressful situations who could do his job just as well as he could. It was just that they didn’t travel the world informing and greeting the people. Of course, the general population wouldn’t know about said riders.

“And I see you remember my name,” he chuckled lightly. It felt nice to be referred to by his name instead of just elf. That was the kind of respect he had been hoping to gain from their first meeting. He wasn’t being smug to Solomon, not at all. He was just glad to hear his name.

Shaking his head, Taured believed that Solomon to be lying about eating human meat, but wasn’t sure. Solomon was gutsy and could be accused of doing such an act. The chances that Solomon were idiotic enough to resort to cannibalism were slim. He was smarter than that. There was no reason to call him on his bluff as it would prove no gain.

Taured couldn’t help the loud, short laugh that escaped him. “No, they know that the chances of you reconsidering their offer are nil. And I believe that they wouldn’t think anything of it as it does happen frequently.” Taured didn’t know of any other being to come into as much contact with the riders as Solomon had, but he knew that the riders had accosted many people and some more than just twice.

Taured took into consideration where the bounty hunters may be finding their information. It was something that he might as well look into while on his travels. It wasn’t that he wanted to help Solomon out, he wasn’t that nice of a guy, he was just curious about how these hunters were finding Solomon so easily. There had to be a way, a reason, or someone that was telling the hunters where to find Solomon. He just had to figure out who would be close enough to do so and gutsy enough to do it.

Sighing, he crossed his arms over his chest. This conversation didn’t seem to be going very well for him. “What else was I supposed to do? They weren’t exactly friendly to begin with. But then again, neither were you...” he trailed off, trying to remain calm. He didn’t like to be laughed at. Of all things, that he could endure and keep a straight face for, being laughed at wasn’t one of them. He had to bite the inside of his lip to refrain from asking Solomon to control his laughter.

“Very,” his patience as the laughter continued was growing thin. Varden nudged Taured mentally and reminded him that he could do it and remain calm. Thanking his dragon, Taured turned his attention back to Solomon. As he welcomed him to the life of a hunter, Taured had to sigh. Maybe he was right, that the people with Morona would never come to accept their presence, however it didn’t mean that he couldn’t hope for their acceptance. Maybe if they were able to do something for the better of their people, they would come to accept the rider pair a little more than they do now. He knew that full acceptance was wishful thinking, but some form of acceptance would be nice.

As Solomon called Varden a ‘lizard’, Varden mentally hopped with joy. “He called me lizard instead of wyvern! That’s a step up, right?” Varden asked Taured mentally. He was excited to hear the promotion from Solomon’s lips.

“The first thing we heard was ‘Wyvern attack!’ being shouted before a volley of arrows met our flight path. I’ll let you guess as to whether they enjoyed seeing us.” this conversation wasn’t going well at all. It seemed as if this was a battle, Solomon would be winning and Taured would be outnumbered. Good thing that this wasn’t a battle, other than of wits.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

“Why wouldn’t I remember your name? I said that I would.”
Solomon asked casually, still chuckling every so often.

“Heh, I have to admit, though Taured. I figured that you were smarter than that, after how quickly I’ve become hated here what do you think a village of commoners whom, until just a few short years ago were living in fear of my kind are going to think of me?”
He asked calmly, surely Taured would have thought along the same lines at some point... Wouldn’t he? Solomon shrugged; such a conclusion should have been easy to come to. But, still, it gave Taured valuable insight into what life back in Empire Nirvana was like.

“But, if you’re unhappy with the way things there started out, think of it this way.”
Solomon said.

“You know have information on what life in Empire Nirvana is like for A Hunter. You should also take heart with the fact that had I set foot there I’d have been dog-piled by the entire village.”
He chuckled once more, in fact, he hadn’t intended for Taured to receive such a greeting, Solomon had originally assumed that the Elf would be smart enough to avoid dropping Solomon’s name... Well, and somewhat more embarrassingly Solomon had actually forgotten what it meant to be A Hunter in Empire Nirvana.

He was still unused to being able to walk around with his insignia on display and not have multiple attempts made on his life because of his status as A Hunter.

“And they’d probably ignore any orders Nemesis Morona or his Lapdog gave them to back-off.”
He stated with a smirk, he had no reason to say anything else about it. It was a fact, plain and simple. The commoners from Empire Nirvana demonised The Hunters and reviled them; they made no effort to understand any of the four clans, so the four clans simply gave them what they wanted... Solomon knew without a doubt that he had about as much desire to teach the ignorant commoners as they did to listen.

“I also have to ask you why you felt it was a good idea to approach them from the sky first. I mean, surely I made it clear enough during our last ‘chat’ that Wyverns were the only giant lizards residing within Empire Nirvana. What are a load of commoners, fresh from Empire Nirvana, whom, don’t even know of the existence of the Lizards in this land going to think when they see one heading toward them with purpose?”
He asked curiously, his laughter fully under control and his voice once again steady.

“Or, did you just want to see how they would react? If you so desired, I could give you a list of less intelligent things to provoke reactions of hate from –what term was it Nemesis Morona coined? - ‘Nirvanians’, though, judging by the fact you dropped my name you’ve already done one of them.”
Solomon chuckled briefly again, but this time was able to bring himself back under control quickly. Drawing in a shallow breath he stood in silence and regarded Taured curiously for a moment, he was unsure why he had come back to him; surely there was more to this visit than to simply inform Solomon that his advice had been heeded.
---

It had taken Aimé a long moment to stop shuffling around uncomfortably and sit still again, there were times that he was sure that Solomon already knew of Aimé’s involvement in giving the greedy-wingless direction... But, if he was waiting to catch Aimé off guard, then... He shook himself off in an attempt to dismiss the thought, no, if Solomon knew, Aimé would have been dead already... He shivered briefly, it wasn’t worth thinking about.

He could already tell that the wingless was getting frustrated with Solomon’s taunts... Beakless-headed-wingless, even when they tried to hide their outward frustrations, they were still easy to see. Aimé, actually felt a small measure of pity for this one, it knew nothing of the way The Wingless-Hunter worked... So, it wouldn’t hurt if Aimé gave it a small nod in the right direction.

However, he didn’t particularly want to have to touch the mind of the wingless, so he opted instead to relay what he had to say to Emerald-Wings first. What he did with what Aimé told him afterwards was his own business at that point.

So, he gently reached out to Emerald-Wings’ mind.

“If the wingless wants to silence Solomon, it should know that it managed to hurt Solomon’s pride during their last exchange. Just remind him how quickly he was beaten... Or, failing that, just mention ‘The Incident’, and say Nemesis Morona mentioned it briefly.”
He said informatively, he hadn’t given away anything big. For Aimé was sure that Emerald-Wings and the wingless that was borrowing his wings would have found out about The Incident sooner or later, he just wanted to see Solomon silenced again.
---

“I imagine there’s more to this visit than to simply tell me that you visited Nemesis Morona, and I doubt this is simply a move to check-up on me. So, before we get down to the ‘why’, I need to ask, since I have no reason to doubt my message was deliver to The Elf and Wyvern-kin. How did they take it?”
He paused for a moment, and then.

“Oh, ja! I forgot to ask during the last time, the first amateur I killed using my venomous sword, did they find its family in time?”
He was of course, just finding as many ways to taunt Taured as he could now, he wanted to see if he could get to him as much as he had managed to get to the other Elf.

[Mali]

Taured had to stop and think for a moment, as Solomon asked why he wouldn’t remember Taured’s name. He hoped that he hadn’t offended Solomon by the comment. He was just glad that he had remembered the elf’s name. “I hope I didn’t offend you, I was just commenting on it. I apologise,” even if Solomon hadn’t been offended, he would still apologise for his comment. He hadn’t meant anything by the comment.

Taured was stuck in thought again as Solomon provided a very good question. He hadn’t known much about hunter culture until he met Morona. “The main reason you’ve become so hated here is because of the actions you have taken on the others in this land. When you first came here, you had a clean slate. And I didn’t know much about hunter culture until I met Morona...” He trailed off, letting Solomon know that he was thinking.

Chuckling, Taured could imagine the greeting that Solomon would receive. It tickled him to imagine seeing everyone dog-piling him as soon as he set foot inside the village. “They probably would. Kaime had to threaten the people to leave Varden alone. They were not too keen on us having a conversation.” He knew that the people wouldn’t listen to anything that Morona or Kaime had to say about leaving Solomon alone. The fact that they had used his name meant that they were partly lumped with him now. That was somewhat depressing.

“Our intention wasn’t to scare them. We were flying in that general direction, trying to find their encampment when we happened upon it and the volley of arrows followed after. If I had wanted to get a reaction, Varden would have blown fire instead of the magic I used. Although, knowing what is on that supposed list, may prove helpful in the future,” he wanted the list so he would know other such things not to do when they were visiting Morona.

It was then that something touched Varden’s mind. Allowing Taured in instantly, they both heard the message. Why would they want to silence Solomon? He hadn’t ever been this talkative to the pair before. There was no need to silence the hunter and that wasn’t the way that they did things. Even if his laughter had started to get on Taured’s nerves, there was no reason to sink to that level.

“Thank you for the advice, however, we do not wish to silence him.” Varden replied to the bird since he had touched the dragon’s mind instead of Taured’s. Were all beings of Empire Nirvana deemed superior to the creatures of this land? If so, many had superiority complexes that would need to be worked out. Taured had to wonder why the bird touched Varden’s mind and not his own. It didn’t bother him that much but it still made him curious.

Now that Solomon was ready to talk about why they were there, he then asked about Niko and the message he had been asked to deliver. That was a day that he would rather forget. Niko had been under house arrest for a short while when Taured and Varden approached him. Anger and resentment to the message had been part of the nasty reply Taured had received. It was almost as if breathing deeply was the only thing keeping the usually calm elf from attacking Taured. What on earth had Solomon done to Niko to make him that angry? And how should he tell Solomon of what happened?

“They were rather infuriated with the message. I have to wonder, what did you do to make him so furious with you? He was always so calm...” he would leave out the part about almost attacking Taured, unless Solomon asked, of course.

Then Solomon mentioned the family and the first man that he killed. Was he trying to work Taured up? He had to realise that Solomon had issues that needed to be dealt with and that was the reason he was the way he was. Some deeply rooted issues that would need to be cleared up before he could resemble a normal and decent citizen of Alagaesia.

“No, they didn’t. Died before the family could find him and before he could get back to them.” he could have left it at the first simple sentence, but Taured felt it fair to answer his question as fully as he could.

“Now, onto what I am here for. It’s for more information, if you’re willing. To complete our research on your Empire, we request information, such, that not even Morona knew of.” the information he was referring to was what Morona didn’t know enough detail about. He had said to see Solomon if he wished to know more, and that was only if Solomon were willing to give him the answers.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

Solomon arched an eyebrow as Taured spoke, why would his comment have offended him? The Elves really were too polite for their own good, or at least this one was anyway, it was actually quite an irritable trait. People like that made taunting difficult. Besides, what did Taured care about what Solomon thought?

A strange one This Elf.

“You worry too much, Taured. What makes you care so much about what I think?”
He still didn’t understand why Taured was so different from the rest of his kind... But that was a question for another time... Well, if Solomon ever cared enough to ask.

“Ja, that’s just it. Take into consideration what I’ve done here and then think for just a moment what an entire culture of people like me would have done in Empire Nirvana to make the commoners hate us so.”
He said calmly, that had originally been the line-of-thought that Solomon had thought Taured would have followed... Apparently he had overestimated This Elf’s ability to actually put information together, never mind.

Though, he found himself smirking at the mention that The Lapdog had, had to threaten to the people following Nemesis Morona to keep them quiet. That was altogether unsurprising to The Hunter, The Lapdog was an... Interesting person to be sure... One that Solomon couldn’t quite decide if he hated, or if he just pitied The Lapdog for its blind loyalty to Nemesis Morona. Solomon shrugged inwardly; perhaps it was simply a combination of the both. He could admit, however, that the Lapdog DID have a certain ferocity to him that many commoners lacked.

“The Lapdog got it right. That would have been the only way to shut them up and get them to back-off. Had you been an actual Hunter, however, it probably wouldn’t have worked... In fact, I’m going to guess that the only reason they didn’t attack was because they were wary of the Lizard in the first place.”
Solomon commented dryly. He paused for a moment, considering whether he should offer an example as to just how much the commoners in Empire Nirvana hated his kind. However, he dismissed the idea; it was probably obvious to Taured at this point just how bias the commoners from back home were.

However, he chuckled as Taured spoke his mind on the reaction of the “Nirvanians” in general toward him and his Lizard.

“That would have been an interesting sight to behold. Though, I imagine had you done that you would have riled up Nemesis Morona, which, is about as ill advised as using my name to introduce yourself to his followers.”
Solomon chuckled again, and then fell silent as Taured commented on the rhetorical list Solomon had offered him... Well, that was unexpected, did the Elf not realise that Solomon had simply been taunting him? Solomon blinked, in fact, did Taured have any idea just how difficult he was making it for Solomon to taunt him?
---

The reply that Aimé had gotten from Emerald-wings had been disappointing, why refuse the help when the wingless was clearly getting frustrated with Solomon? He ruffled his feathers, some of the beings in this land confused him; however, he was unlikely to be able to change their minds, so he didn’t bother commenting on it.

“Very well, I don’t understand why since the wingless is clearly getting frustrated with The Wingless-Hunter. But, the information is there if you want to make use of it... Just don’t tell Solomon that I was the one that told you.”
Aimé replied; he had at least tried to help... And this time it wouldn’t result in death.
---

Solomon smirked; admittedly he hadn’t actually expected Taured to deliver his message to The Elf and Wyvern-kin. And the description of the reaction was exactly what Solomon had hoped for, in fact, he once more found himself laughing –which, he was quick in getting back under control- he maintained his smirk even as Taured asked what Solomon had done to make The Elf so furious with him... Well, that was a good question.

“Well, I’d guess that the fact they have been out-performed by a human answers the majority of that question. Clearly, they can’t stand it and they’ve allowed their multiple defeats at my hands to gnaw away at them.”
Solomon answered, of course the answer was partially twisted, they were probably still somewhat angry at him for the way he had killed that child. But, the majority of their hatred for him clearly came from the fact that they couldn’t stand the fact that they had been out-performed and subsequently bested by a human. Such was the way with all racially superior morons; the event hurt their pride beyond repair.

He allowed himself another small chuckle upon hearing the end of the tale, of the family amateur.

“N’aww, that’s a shame.”
He sneered sarcastically, well, it seemed as though that family wouldn’t be getting their closure... Solomon found himself unable to care and soon dismissed the thought from his mind, clearly the moron had been too weak to force himself to stay alive just that little bit longer.

“More information? I find that hard to believe, what could Nemesis Morona not answer?”
He asked curiously, surely Taured would have gotten all the answers he was looking for from Nemesis Morona, the man had been present during the founding of The Four Hunting Clans... What would Solomon know that Nemesis Morona didn’t?

“Very well, same rules as last time, though, Taured. Information can be bought with information.”
Solomon answered casually, running the thought through his mind... Nemesis Morona was the best source of information regarding Empire Nirvana that Solomon could think of.

That was when the thought hit him. It was less likely a case of “Couldn’t” and more likely a case of “Wouldn’t”, even after all this time Nemesis Morona still held the respect for Hunter culture... Well, for that Solomon was grateful... Somewhat.

[Mali]

Taured frowned at the response to his concern. Was Solomon oblivious to how Taured acted and thought? It must be perplexing to him to try to understand that he wasn’t like the others of his kind and cared for the general consensus of people equally, no matter what the species. He cared about what Solomon thought of him, just as much as what the head council leader thought of him.

“I care because you matter, just like everyone else, no matter what species. I do not view myself as higher than you, but as equals.” That shouldn’t confuse Solomon. It was a straight forward answer. Although, the answer may confuse him as to how he could view everyone as equals, it shouldn’t confuse him as to the meaning he was trying to get across.

Thinking about the horrible things that Solomon had done upon entering Alagaesia and had to seriously imagine what more of his kind would do. Why would they do it though? Was there a reason for such violence to occur? If Solomon hadn’t met Niko and Arashi when he did, would things be this bad? Probably not. Solomon would be just another man with a bounty on his head.

The fact that his encounter with Niko and Arashi added to the fact, wouldn’t change the actions Taured was taking, seeing as Solomon would probably still show such displays of his skill. He was referring to the bodies of his pursuers being strung up for the public to see. Even if he hadn’t met Niko before, they would probably still be exactly where they are today.

“Why are you compelled to perform such acts of violence? Is that part of hunter culture?” It was a fair question to ask. It didn’t ask anything too personal about his history so he should be able to answer it without feeling conflict.

He nodded his head at the next comment about if he had been a hunter. There was little chance that Taured could ever be a hunter. From what he understood so far about their culture, there was no way that he would have succumbed to that life style. He would have left if possible or die getting out. He could never live the way that Solomon seemed to be living. Not for the fact that Solomon was on the run, it just didn’t suit the image of peace that Taured and Varden wanted to spread.

“Good thing we are smarter than that. It wouldn’t have made for good conversation if Morona were to be riled up as well.” he didn’t comment on the last part of the response. So it had been ill advised to drop his name, it would have been nice to know that before the meeting had happened.

Varden simply tilted his head down a bit in respect to the crow’s information. The chance of the pair using such information was slim as it wasn’t their style. They assumed that this information was painful for Solomon to remember and thought it rude to try to use it against him. Unless they were in a battle or at war, they would never resort to such tactics. Although, they couldn’t say they never had. But that was a different time and place during the blue divide.

Taured couldn’t help the scoff that escaped him. That was all? Niko and Arashi should have been able to remain calm with even that small amount of actions occurring. “Oh come on Solomon, there must be more to that. I’m sure that Niko and Arashi wouldn’t be in their current state over only those few simple acts.” it was true he didn’t believe it possible.

Ignoring the offhanded comment about not finding the family being a shame, Taured pressed forward with why he was here. He knew that Solomon didn’t feel remorse for what happened to the man or his family. There was no point in commenting on the statement. By now, Taured wasn’t as agitated with Solomon as he had been before when he was being laughed at. Keeping his face calm and composed, he had to think of valuable information that Solomon would deem worthy for the information he would be asking in return.

It was then that he remembered the message Morona had passed to him to deliver should he ever meet up with Solomon again.

“Oh, before we start, Morona sends a message for you. He says, that he suspects you have left ‘prey’—he made an air quote motion with his hands—alive. I am to remind you of High-Huntress Alma D’alene. He also says that you should know what that means.” He had to wonder what that meant. He would ask however he wasn’t sure if Solomon would answer a question that appeared to be of personal history.

“Of course, if you’d like to explain, I’d be willing to understand the message I was informed to deliver.”

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

Aimé blinked and watched in stunned silence as Solomon fell silent at the words of the wingless, it wasn’t what he had been expecting, but this had been the first time he had ever witnessed a ‘Commoner-Wingless’ get to Solomon so much. And without having to humiliate him in a fight first... What was it about the words that this wingless was speaking that got to Solomon so much? Aimé didn’t understand, and he was sure that Solomon would blindly refuse to tell him why... Aimé cocked his head, now listening intently, Solomon had always had something smart to say to anyone he spoke to. This development was new and Aimé intended to learn as much as he could from it.
---

Solomon fell to silent thought for a long while, he still wasn’t sure if Taured was genuine when he spoke of Solomon’s equality... He had already admitted that This Elf didn’t seem to be as blinded by his sense of racial superiority... But, that was just it; Solomon had little reason to believe anything that an immortal had to say.

But still, he was conflicted.

In the end he shrugged inwardly, no, Taured may have been capable of doing something that the rest of his brethren were clearly incapable of. But Solomon did not believe he was genuine... Why would he be? There were no opinions of indifference towards Solomon or towards his kind, there never had been, why would any suddenly spring into existence now?

“That is something I’d much rather not discuss, Taured.”
Solomon evaded the first question. There was little need to answer such a question, after all. After that, he fell silent once more and allowed Taured to speak. Right up to the point where Taured scoffed, Solomon arched an eyebrow at that. And then shrugged as Taured spoke his mind on the situation with two people whom Solomon didn’t recognise the names of.

“What’s a... ‘Niko’?”
Solomon asked; it was at that point that Aimé chimed in.

“I think ‘Niko’ is the name of the wingless borrowing the wings of the one you know as ‘Wyvern-kin’, Solomon. Similarly to the way this wingless borrows the wings of Emerald-Wings.”
Aimé offered. Solomon blinked slowly as he took in what his feathered companion said. The Elf and the Wyvern-Kin? Well why didn’t Taured just say so? Solomon shrugged –visibly this time- in response.

“I said everything there was to say during our last chat, Taured. After our first encounter they knew I was the one responsible for the destruction of that encampment of apish brutes and managed to track me down. After much effort on their part to do some harm to me, they fell and were left incapacitated by my hand. And our third encounter, they clearly knew that I was to be found at the location of The Emerald Pillar and immediately rushed in to face me... To me that paints a picture worth a-thousand words, Taured.”
Solomon stated simply. Outlining that their fury toward him was little more than a clear inability to handle defeat gracefully, and the fact that it had been at the hands of a human, well, that had obviously made their reactions to such defeat even worse.

“Clearly they made it personal and it only ended up making the sting of each defeat worse for them.”
He shrugged once more and fell silent. Seeing no further need to expand on what he had to say on the matter. A brief silence fell between them before Taured spoke once more, this time giving Solomon a message from Nemesis Morona. One which caused Solomon great confusion, especially when the name “High-Huntress Alma D’alene” was dropped... Solomon blinked slowly, running the name and the information through his mind, Nemesis Morona knew something, there had never been a-

The thought ceased abruptly as everything suddenly snapped together. It couldn’t have been possible, Solomon had burned that entire village of traitors to the ground and he had ensured that every last one of those vile whores had been present when he did it.

“He... Told you to say exactly that? Given the circumstances, I may not be able to do as he wants.”
Solomon said slowly... He would avoid giving away personal history; he had no reason to trust Taured. But, if just one of those vile whores was alive, they needed to be dealt with. Solomon had already made history by killing the lot of them, so, he had little care whom got to “Alma” first... Of, course, there was still the issue surrounding an explanation.

“I see... Very well, this, I will explain to you for free... There is personal history with this explanation, given that you’ve already spoken to Nemesis Morona, I’m going to assume you understand the relevance of that.”
Solomon said slowly, scowling as he worked toward saying what needed to be said.

“You understand the relevance of history and personal history to those of us from Empire Nirvana; we Hunter’s are no different to other ‘Nirvanians’. Our biggest difference is that we also take the history of the four clans to heart during our tutelage and upbringing. So, understand when I say there is no mention in any of the clans’ histories of a “High-Huntress Alma D’alene” then such a person has never existed. That this thing has not bothered to look-up such a thing before assuming its false identity is nothing short of the ultimate insult to Hunters everywhere. My brethren allied with Nemesis Morona would have known immediately.”
Solomon said, already understanding their secrecy in the matter. However, that didn’t stop his words from being flecked with tones of disgust.

“She is likely part of a once existing splinter group of Huntresses previously known as ‘The Sirens’. These were females that became so intoxicated by their reputations as Huntresses that they no longer deemed themselves to be on the same level as their brethren. So, they fled in force and built their own hidden encampment.”
Solomon paused for a moment, drawing in a deep breath.

“Their delusion got the better of them and they began to believe themselves to be superior to men in particular. Primarily, their hunting methods were to use social stealth as a weapon. Along with their bodies, they would lure their prey back to their encampment utilising false promises and then make the kill there.”
Solomon swallowed hard, already feeling nausea grip him as he was reminded of his night spent in their encampment.

“Of course, their practices were unacceptable and none of the four clans could simply allow them to exist. However, The Sirens were intelligent enough to plan against established clan hunting tactics. So, the process of bringing them down was slow.”
He continued.

“That’s where I come in. Roughly five years ago I was dispatched to destroy the encampment and everyone in it. I had to use their own tactics against them in order to gain access to their encampment... Which I did...”
Solomon shivered involuntarily, disgusted that he had to admit to having to use such tactics. However, he composed himself.

“To cut a long story short I was able to make sure that every one of them suffered before dying in a blaze of fire. I purged the encampment with the use of fire...”
At that point Solomon raised a closed fist to his mouth and remained silent for several long moments as he actively had to try to refrain from vomiting. Drawing in a deep breath he lowered his hand, swallowing hard another several times before he dared speaking again... The sight of the trophy collection still haunted him to a degree...

“If our suspicions turn out to be true, I advise getting to her while she believes her cover to be intact. As bad as I am The Sirens were... Well, still are worse... I would love to go and finish the job. Believe me, those things have no right to exist... But under current circumstances, unless you’re willing to personally deliver ‘Alma’ to me, kill her, and do it fast.”
Solomon drew in a deep breath, fairly confident that his explanation should suffice.

[Mali]

He tilted his head down gently as Solomon said he would rather not discuss his question. He seemed to have no comment about his equality statement. He believed that Solomon would rather recognise him as somewhat different but still the same as the rest of his species. Even if he had treated Solomon humbly since first approaching him, he would have to earn this view from Solomon.

At the question as to what a Niko was, Taured couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Solomon soon figured out who he was referring to but it was still ridiculous. How long would it take for Solomon to remember Niko’s name? He knew that the chances of him remembering Arashi’s name were slim seeing as he hadn’t yet remembered Varden’s name either. Although, Varden had received a step up from Wyvern to lizard.

Taured had thought that Solomon was just exaggerating the events at first, but with the new summary of exactly what happened, he knew that wasn’t the case. Therefore, it had been Niko and Arashi’s fault that things had escalated so far. Although they sought Solomon out and he may have done some antagonizing to the pair, it was ultimately the pair’s fault that things were the way they were.

“Okay.” he held his hands out toward Solomon, trying to get him to calm down, although he appeared to be calm already. He didn’t want to work the man up over something as simple as an explanation. He was about to speak further when Solomon seemed different about Morona’s message.

A word to describe how Solomon looked would be shocked and dismayed. As if what he was hearing was shocking to him. His face didn’t betray his mood toward the subject; however, his aura felt that way. “Yes, he did. He added that it may keep you away from our more populated areas, but I felt that part wasn’t necessary. Why?”

Taured felt compelled to know the answer and reasoning as to Solomon’s reaction to the message. He wanted to know why such a name and message would be shocking to the hunter. Nothing he had said before had shocked the hunter and yet this message could do such a thing. He needed to know the reasoning behind the message.

Thankfully, Solomon had agreed to give him his answer, free even. He nodded his head, showing that he understood the importance of personal history to the people of Empire Nirvana. It was part of the reason that he was here speaking to Solomon, in hopes that the information he sought wasn’t personal to him and he could get answers to his questions.

He listened intently to the story Solomon had to tell. He was confused at first. This person didn’t exist and yet was able to shock Solomon so deeply that it could change his aura. The insight and knowledge he was given about the hunting clans was interesting. They respected the other clans and learned about the other clans. It was interesting to be hearing about this information as the chances of Morona or Solomon giving him this information because of simply asking, was slim.

The story seemed to take a twist as these women decided that they were superior than all men instead of just the other hunters. It also raised the question of whether there were women in Solomon’s hunting clan. And if so, why was there a clan made up of only women? It made sense why they were no longer associated or considered to be a hunting clan after the change of their priorities. He wanted to ask his question but knew not to interrupt the story or else he may not be allowed to hear the rest of it.

At the shiver that was visibly shown to Taured, he had to imagine that Solomon had played to their tricks, tried to flirt with one of the ‘Sirens’ and gain access to their camp. It wasn’t a horror to imagine, something that was simple and easy as flirting, but the way he shivered made Taured think that it wasn’t just simple flirting to gain access to the encampment.

He nodded his head to the last bit. So if this Siren existed, as Morona had suggested that she were, she would have to be dealt with. Taured had asked if the violence that Solomon had shown thus far, was part of hunter culture. Of course, he hadn’t received an answer to his question. However, if this Siren was worse than Solomon was, he didn’t want to imagine the kind of trouble she would cause in Alagaesia.

“I shall search as soon as I can. If I come across her, is there anything I should be wary of? Any tactics or tricks I should know before trying to end her life?” if there was a trick that he needed to know, it would be helpful if Solomon were to give it to him. He trusted what Solomon said, knowing by the reaction he showed, that this was serious business. And he would treat it with the severity it deserved.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

“If this ‘Alma’, is still masking itself among my brethren allied to Nemesis Morona then it’s best to strike while it believes it has yet to be discovered. Though, I’m now under the impression that I’m supposed to tell you the other part of the ‘why’ surrounding Nemesis Morona asking you to deliver that message to me.”
Solomon paused for a moment. He no longer possessed any of The Medallions used for such requests, so he would be unable to give examples. He shrugged, deciding that the best idea would be to simply explain it.

“Despite popular opinion of my kind, we did have... Political dealings with many of the monarchs scattered around The Empire. The only exception being The Nameless Emperor, whom, of course, holds a special place of revilement in the heart of every Hunter...”
He began, pausing to best consider how to continue his explanation. Explaining the frail agreements between The Four Clans and the many monarchs littering The Empire was no longer taboo... After all, The Four Clans were now little more than shells of their former selves, many of their old alliances had collapsed.

“It was all highly secretive of course, imagine the rebellions the commoners would have had, had they found out that their sovereign was making pacts with The Hunters... Or the kind of fit The Nameless Emperor would have had upon finding out that those he entrusted with such positions of power were making pacts with The Hunters.”
He allowed the statement to hang in the air for a long while, allowing Taured to understand just what Nemesis Morona asking for his help meant.

“When one of these Monarchs needed something taken care of, they would send a single gold coin to each of the four clans. These coins are what are known as ‘Medallions’, specially crafted to show that a Monarch bestows upon one of merit a title worth more than words can explain... Of course, that’s the public use for them. As you’ve probably gathered, sending these to us is a request as opposed to a note of merit.”
Solomon explained.

“To cut some length from the overall process, we give the Monarch what they want and claim it in the name of The Hunters allowing the Monarch in question full deniability of their involvement... Of course, The Commoners, Amateurs and even The Nameless Emperor had no clue these pacts existed... In fact... The Sirens were likewise unaware of these pacts.”
He said slowly, once more turning the message from Nemesis Morona over in his mind. He knew how Monarchs from Empire Nirvana worked. They were absolutely dedicated to their people, all the more to keep the existence of such pacts secret... And, the opinion of The Sirens was lower than the opinion of The Hunters in general; it was unlikely that any of Nemesis Morona’s commoners knew this ‘Alma’ for what it was.

“He’s trying to invoke such a pact... As for your question, Taured, you have several choices. The first being to strike while it’s completely unprepared, stab it in the back, kill it while it sleeps... Or if you take issue with that, send it to me. That will, however require you to interact with my brethren and ‘Alma’ itself.”
He paused once more. This time, not simply to allow what he had just said to hang in the air, but, to word what he had to say next so that a commoner would be able to understand it, if ‘Alma’ wished to maintain its cover it would act accordingly to what Solomon sent it.

“Make the request of Nemesis Morona to speak with my brethren –‘allied hunters’- he’ll call them. And, when they are assembled before you, simply tell them.”
He paused for a brief moment.

“Master Hunter Latro Angebote seine Kollegen Jäger willkommen auf dieses Land und hofft auf einen Tag Hunt Seite an Seite mit den seine gleich.”
He allowed another momentary pause.

“Those that immediately move to touch their insignia are my brethren. The one that hesitates and then moves to copy the action is The Siren... It’s a method we developed to find any spies among our kind.”
He fell silent for a moment, this time to remove one of his concealed knives from its sheath. The knife was crafted of solid gold –one of the gifts he had received from Hunting Clan Terminus upon attaining the title Master Hunter- and span the knife in his palm once. Catching it by the blade he held the hilt in the air silently.
---

Aimé moved from his perch immediately as Solomon held The Sharp-Shiny in the air for him. Grabbing the protruding edge with his talons he flew down and hovered to be level with the wingless, still clutching The Sharp-Shiny between his talons, he remained where he was, hovering in silence.
---

Solomon waited for Aimé to stay and hover on the spot before he continued talking.

“Once you’ve found ‘Alma’ present it with that knife, hilt-first. And then say.”
Another pause...

“High-Huntress D’alene Ihre Brüder fordert ihre Präsenz mit Eile. Er will die Jagd mit ihnen.”
He paused once more, just to allow a space between his example and his explanation.

“If it is concerned about keeping its cover intact it will take the knife from you and will request my location. I’ll tell you the direction I plan to head in when we part ways. Answer her in the common tongue of this land... After that, it’s just a matter of playing the waiting game. Of course, if you would rather deal with it yourself, just say so...”

[Mali]

Taured felt grateful that Solomon was so willing to talk. It was a difference from how Solomon usually was around the elf. Although, they had only met once before, getting Solomon to talk was worse than pulling teeth. Taured was starting to understand what the message he had sent meant to Solomon, but he hadn’t expected that there would be so much work involved after it. He had believed that the message would just keep Solomon away from populated areas, not cause him to give a message to send in return. Taured wasn’t a mail person.

However, he listened again to much of the story, refraining from asking questions or interrupting. It was very interesting to learn even more about hunter culture. The way Solomon acted and spoke of his kind, Taured had believed them to be wild animals acting on sheer impulse all the time. It was Taured’s opinion of what Solomon had done since arriving in Alagaesia. However, to have secret dealings and receive medallions in return as proof of request, he had to admit that their culture was deeper than he had thought. He had to wonder if there was some form of hierarchy for members within the clans as well.

The fact that the hunters took the fall for what the monarchs wanted done, also raised Taured’s opinion of Solomon. It was something brave that they had done. The reason the name of the hunting clans was in such disdain was so that the monarchs wouldn’t have to instead. They were the fall guys that took the blame for what monarchs needed or wanted done. He had to admit that it was brave of them to do so. No one liked taking blame that wasn’t theirs and yet the hunting clans had done so every time a medallion showed up, was courageous.

Since Morona was trying to invoke such a pact with Solomon, without his people knowing, did that mean that he was a nobleman? The thought wasn’t important now as Solomon started to answer his question about how to deal with the Siren. He could either sneak attack the Siren or send her to Solomon. Either way, wouldn’t that give Morona’s people more reason to distrust Taured?

“Either way, wouldn’t the people with Morona distrust me more by doing either one?” it wasn’t that he was very worried about his image. It was more of the fact that he knew his involvement in Morona’s village would be a constant in his life and it would be nice to know that some day, he could walk in and the people wouldn’t immediately grab their weapons.

Memorizing what Solomon said in his foreign language, Taured tried his best to remember it the way Solomon said it. He was afraid that the messages might be mixed up due to the accent he would have while trying to speak a language he didn’t understand.

“And they wouldn’t take offense at the mention of your name . . . again? Your brethren weren’t exactly happy to hear your name the first time,” Everyone, hunter or not, had grabbed their weapons and wouldn’t put them down after he’d said Solomon’s name. What would make it different this time? Just because it meant that there was a spy in their village? And how did Morona know that there was a Siren in the village? Obviously, based on what Solomon had told Taured, it couldn’t be possible since they despised all men. And yet, they had travelled from Empire Nirvana to Alagaesia with a whole lot of them. It didn’t quite make sense.

“What if the Siren isn’t with Morona? What if she is alone in Alagaesia? How would I find her then? Or is that not even a possibility?” Taured liked that he and Solomon were able to converse about topics in a civil manner. Of course, the severity of what they were talking about was high, but that wasn’t important right now. It was still nice to be able to talk with him and not pull teeth.

Taured watched as Solomon removed what appeared to be a solid gold blade. It was fine craftsmanship from what he could tell from the far distance they were apart. He watched as the crow picked up the blade and hovered it in front of Taured. He was hesitant to take it at first but took the blade gently from the crow’s grasp. It was rather light in weight considering it was made from solid gold.

Another message to memorize, Taured paid complete attention as he took it into his memory. At the end of Solomon’s long speech about what to do, he had to consider his options. If he didn’t follow the routine that Solomon had told him, then it would be impossible to find out who the Siren was. And even if he did know who it was, he wasn’t sure he could end her life without just cause. Of course, there was just cause if she was like Solomon said and was far worse off in this land than he was.

“I am not sure which method I plan to use. However, if I don’t say the first statement, I have no way of knowing who the Siren is. And once I do, I shall decide the method. If I do not present her with this blade, I shall return it to you after the deed is done.”

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

Aimé didn’t remain where he was once the wingless too the sharp-shiny from him. The moment he was free of the extra weight he immediately flew back to the branch he had been perched on before having fulfilled Solomon’s request. He still didn’t understand all the rituals these wingless had between each other, and now simply watched in confusion with his head cocked to one side. Surely it would have been better just to kill the wingless-threat outright.
---

“It’s why he’s tried to keep it discreet, Taured. Obviously the commoners following him are still completely unaware of these pacts... As is The Siren. Do not request to meet with my brethren publicly. Keep it quiet. Minimise the suspicion of The Commoners... As for my brethren, well... They’ll know what you’re doing.”
He said calmly, thinking over what Taured said regarding the greeting he got from Nemesis Morona’s people after introducing himself using Solomon’s name. No, his brethren would have been wary, nothing more.

“I doubt my brethren would have been hostile towards you. Undoubtedly Nemesis Morona had them hidden nearby, ready to strike should you prove to be a threat.”
He said calmly.

“We’re Hunters, not warriors.”
He reminded the elf calmly. Had his brethren taken offence to hearing his name then it would have made no sense... Unless of course it was “Alma”.

“The chances were my brethren were more shocked than offended... And with good reason. By our history I died roughly three years ago... No, they won’t take offence. Of that I am sure.”
He said calmly, mentally berating himself for having to reveal that particular piece of history. He would rather not have had to reveal that he had already faked his own death once, however, his desire to kill the last surviving Siren allowed him to ignore his displeasure. He drew in a shallow breath as Taured asked his next question, indeed, that would have presented a problem... But the only way The Siren would be anywhere in this land by itself is if it knew that it wasn’t hidden. And the chances of that were slim.

“The only reason it would have to be anywhere by itself is if it knew that its cover wasn’t intact. In which case, I have methods of hunting it down anyway. And if worst comes to worst, I have contacts to rely on. I don’t believe it is aware that its deception hasn’t worked. So, it should still among the commoners following Nemesis Morona.”
He explained, seeing no reason to tell Taured that the likelihood of him finding The Siren should it have escaped was next to zero.

“I’ll just remind you, Taured; that the only reason you found me in the first place was because you had a trail of corpses to follow.”
Solomon said. There may have been no reason to explain the odds of Taured finding The Siren should it escape, however, he would remind the elf that he had only found Solomon because circumstance had prevented him from cleaning up after himself in the first place. He shrugged inwardly, he had, had some fun with the amateurs that had managed to find him, but now, they were starting to get annoying.
---

Aimé had gotten lost to all the explanations, he may have lived among the Hunters with Alastor, but he paid little mind to their activities. But, listening to Solomon talk now... It all just sounded needlessly complicated, what good was it keeping such threats quiet when the best option would clearly be to unite against it as a flock?

He shook himself, wondering why the wingless simply stood around and idly talked about “dealing” with obvious threats.

“I cannot be the only one here that thinks all of this sounds needlessly complicated.”
He blurted out.

[Mali]

It made sense why Morona would keep it discreet. If the people in Empire Nirvana had no idea that these pacts were going on, then it would be a shock for them to find out now. The point of being the fall guy was that you took all the blame. If the people found out that the monarchs they had lived under had been the cause for most of the acts the hunters did, they would be conflicted with what to think. Their distrust toward the hunters would be in question and their loyalties may change. It was better that the people don’t know about these pacts.

As Solomon said that he doubted that they would have been hostile toward him, Taured had to wonder where they were then. Everyone had been hostile toward him, their weapons drawn. The next bit of information provided his answer though as Solomon said that he technically died three years ago. That would explain why Solomon thought that they wouldn’t have been hostile toward him. If they believed him to be dead, of course it would shock them that he was still alive and had sent someone to their village.

“You have contacts? I would have thought that everyone you came across was dead,” it was true to assume such a thing. Solomon had killed many people who came to receive his reward for capture. He didn’t think that Solomon had contacts, let alone friends. “Exactly my point,” he laughed aloud as Solomon told him that the only reason he was able to find him was by following the trail of corpses.

He didn’t doubt that if Solomon were to stop being chased and were to stop killing those that were chasing him, Taured would have a harder time trying to find the man he was looking for.

As the crow blurted out, to everyone’s mind, what he was thinking, Taured couldn’t help but agree with him to an extent. The ritual that the hunters had created to smell out a rat was rather strenuous for someone who hadn’t been there when it was created. He didn’t think that there would have been this much to do after delivering Morona’s message. He hadn’t thought anything about the message until Solomon turned serious.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

Solomon chuckled at Taured’s surprise upon the revelation from Solomon that he had contacts. He smirked back at the elf, giving the expression a “knowing” quality to it.

“Exactly, Taured. Of course, my contacts know me by a false identity; I had enough foresight to make sure they didn’t know exactly who I was when I made them. And of course, my disposition towards these commoners and the fact that I let people think that I kill everyone I come across removes any suspicions, don’t you think?”
He gave a small shrug, obviously, he had no need to confirm it any further, since Taured’s initial reaction had been all the information Solomon had needed on that front. He allowed his smirk to broaden ever so slightly.

“I allow people to see of me what I want them to see of me. And it clearly works well.”
He commented calmly. Giving a short pause... There wasn’t too much else for Solomon to say, he was sure that Taured had everything he needed to either deal with The Siren or knew enough to send it in Solomon’s direction.

He thought a moment longer.

“Don’t mistake what I tell you for anything else, Taured. I simply tell you of all of this because my hatred for The Sirens is perhaps slightly greater than my hatred for you. I may respect you, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still hate you.”
He clarified. Not wanting Taured to read Solomon being open with his information the wrong way, he didn’t want to be giving the elf the impression that he was friendly. Since that was, quite simply not the case. Giving Taured this information was the lesser of two evils to Solomon. He couldn’t very well allow his prey to freely roam the land.

“Though, I think right now, my hatred for the source of these commoners information regarding my whereabouts towers above everything else... I swear, when I find that source, I will enjoy making it suffer.”
Solomon said absently. Still trying to piece together how exactly these commoners were finding him, however, the longer he thought about it, the less plausible his answers became... And that frustrated him...
---

And once more Solomon’s comment had put Aimé on edge. However, this time instead of simply shuffling uncomfortably on his perch he actually discreetly edged himself away from The Wingless-Hunter. He was almost certain that Solomon knew of his part in how these greedy-wingless were finding him... He didn’t know what to think, he could never tell if Solomon was simply playing with him, or if he genuinely had no idea that Aimé was responsible.

He looked around briefly; Solomon had yet to notice Aimé’s discomfort, which once more allowed him to relax slightly... But, he kept himself ready to fly away at the slightest flicker of movement on Solomon’s part. Yet, still none came, and that simply put Aimé closer to the “edge” as the wingless liked to say.

[Mali]

Taured hadn’t meant to show his shock so openly. It was shocking that Solomon have contacts but he should have kept the emotion from revealing itself to the hunter. He had to remind himself that the chuckle wasn’t at him personally; it was at his reaction to the information.

Taured didn’t have much to comment on until Solomon informed him why he was speaking so openly with the elf. Ouch, that hurt Solomon, he thought to himself as Solomon said that he hated him. It made sense why Solomon would be so open when it concerned something he generally hated more. He wished that at some point, he may speak openly with him because he wants to and not because Taured is the lesser of two evils. He hoped one day he wouldn’t be any part evil to the hunter.

“Oh, I know Solomon. I would never mistake your open speech for something such as friendly.” Even though Solomon was speaking openly to him, there was nothing friendly in the conversation. The conversation was solely based on the Sirens and finding them. There was nothing friendly about the conversation. If they were talking as friends, then the topic would be a nicer one to talk about.

Not that he wanted to sound friendly with what he was about to say next, Taured decided that there was no other way to word what he wanted to say without sounding friendly. “If you’d like, I could try to find out where the individuals are finding this information to your whereabouts. I’m sure, it will be difficult since no one returns alive—he gave Solomon a pointed look—however, it can be done. Not for you to assume that I am implying friendly terms either”

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

Aimé flinched at the words from the wingless, no, they couldn’t help Solomon, surely that would be against the plans of... Whoever it was they were here on the behalf of. He shook himself off again; clearly his plan had gone wrong to the point where his intention had somehow failed.... He had no further need to send the greedy-wingless in Solomon’s direction... There was nothing that could be linked back to him... Was there?

No, he was safe. The only way The Wingless-Hunter would ever find out was if Aimé told him. And he wasn’t about to go and do that, Aimé disliked the thought of a painful death.
---

Solomon remained silent as Taured spoke; he understood what Solomon was saying, which was good. But why would he want to help Solomon find the source of information that was leading the amateurs in his direction? He doubted it was at all for his benefit, likely to stop them from, quite simply marching to their deaths. None of them were even close to a match for Solomon and anyone else with even a small amount of knowledge about him knew it.

In fact, he wondered why they continued to seek him out when the extent of his abilities were clearly littered around the land. He hadn’t exactly kept his killings quiet, on multiple occasions he had hung them in towns just to taunt the crowds still deluded enough to chase him. Solomon chuckled; perhaps it was simply better to ask his question outright as opposed to trying to answer it by himself.

“Do you make that offer simply to help the amateurs marching right into my arms? Regardless, finding and disposing of their source of information may improve my opinion of you slightly Taured. It gets to a point where the incompetence of these amateurs stops being fun and simply starts to get annoying.”
Solomon said, giving a small shrug as he spoke. Obviously, anyone would agree with that observation. Killing the mindless masses could only be fun for so long, especially when they refused to accept that they were below the one they were constantly trying to kill.

“That I’m sure you’ll agree with. Really have to question why they continue to fight when they should know by this point that they are no match for me... This is starting to feel more like assisted suicide. In fact I wouldn’t be at all surprised if these commoners left suicide notes before leaving to look for me.”
Solomon chuckled, outlining to Taured just how childishly easy these kills were starting to feel.

[Mali]

It was the first time he’d noticed it, but the crow seemed uneasy as to where this conversation had turned. Taured had offered to help track down the source that was telling the hunters where to find Solomon. It was a simple offer, and one that shouldn’t make the crow uneasy. He had to wonder if the crow had something to do with it. However, that would be jumping to conclusions. Besides, the chances of the crow doing something like that, even being acquaintances with Solomon, if not more, were slim. He would surely know by what Solomon said about whoever was supplying the hunters with his whereabouts, that if he’d helped them, he’d be a dead bird. That alone should be reason enough to push the bird from his suspect list.

“You’re not enjoying yourself anymore? Maybe taking asylum with the council would relieve yourself from what is becoming boring to you.” He crossed his arms over his chest, looking like he was deep in thought and considering what he said. If Solomon were to take asylum from the council, he wouldn’t have to worry about the hunters tracking him down as the bounty on his head would be paid off. However, the chances of that happening were void. Solomon had too much pride to take asylum.

“C’mon, I had to try,” he smirked to Solomon, knowing that he would immediately shoot down his proposal. Just as he had done the first time Taured had offered, he knew that there was no way Solomon would ever accept asylum from the rider’s council.

Taured scoffed and shook his head. The arrogance that is Solomon. “I’ll let you know if I find any suicide notes from the families before marching out to find you,” he shook his head again, smiling at the thought. So full of himself. But, there was nothing Taured could do to change that.

“I had other things to ask, but, seeing as Morona has sent me on a mission which I shall perform, I shall leave my questions until the next time, should we meet again.” Taured moved over to Varden who stood, stretching his legs. He commented on how long the conversation had been but Taured pushed that aside.

“I hope you to have a better opinion of me after I have slain this Siren. I am not a fall guy. Although I respect your hunter culture for taking the blame, it is not something I often do willingly.”

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

Solomon couldn’t help but chuckle as Taured –almost jokingly- gave Solomon the offer of sanctuary again, well, he could appreciate the fact that this elf could make light out of such a situation. He even had to somewhat admire the fact that Taured clearly knew what Solomon’s answer was going to be. Perhaps it was the fact that he wasn’t taking the whole situation as seriously as many others were, whatever the reason Solomon found himself enjoying the company –not that he would ever admit that- at least this way it was a break from what had now become the tedious norm for Solomon.

“Heh, have to admire your determination.”
Solomon replied calmly, not bothering to refuse the offer again, since Taured already knew what Solomon would say. Solomon rolled his shoulders as Taured spoke again, once more chuckling as Taured played along with what Solomon had said regarding the recent ease with which Solomon had killed these latest amateurs.

“Well, should you find any I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised, they way they seem to be recklessly throwing themselves at me makes it seem like a possibility.”
He sneered in return; this meeting was fast approaching its end and this time Solomon hadn’t been driven to feeling bitter about it... He still felt bitter about his last encounter with Taured, though. And he would likely continue to feel bitter about it until he in the very least redeemed himself for the humiliation that had been his loss.

“I intend to slowly make my way toward the edge of Du Weldenvarden in order to force some of the more intelligent bounty hunters to stop chasing me. I doubt they would willingly set foot there given the history between The Elves and Humans of this land. After that, however, I intend to drop off of the map, regardless of which decision you choose, make it quickly, because once i do drop off of the map, you won’t find me.... That much I can promise you, Taured...”
Solomon said calmly, giving Taured the direction that he had said he would. He paused for a moment as he ran the last thing Taured had, had to say to him through his mind. There was so much more to the “Medallion Pacts” than simply taking the fall for the said Monarch, but Solomon wasn’t going to explain it, no, that was history personal to The Hunters at large. He wouldn’t simply betray the trust of his brethren like that.

“Hmph, perhaps one day... The full scope of The Medallion Pacts will be explained to you, Taured. But today is not that day.”

[Mali]

Taured couldn’t help but shrug his shoulders as Solomon admired his determination. He was a very determined sort. He always got the information he was looking for. “Thank you,” he knew that Solomon was speaking in jest, but he might as well respond to the jest and show that he was a fair sport. Even if he didn’t enjoy people laughing at him, Solomon wasn’t laughing at him. It felt more as if he was laughing with him. Taured liked that idea a lot. Maybe they could foresee a friendship later on in the future.

“A very high possibility,” He had to admit, the reckless manner in which these men seemed to follow after Solomon, he wouldn’t be surprised either if he did find a suicide note left behind. They should have realised by now that there was no way that they would capture Solomon. After so many had failed, you would think that these idiots would have gotten the message already. However, he had to wonder how many more would chase after Solomon for the price over his head.

Taured listened as Solomon explained where he would be headed. He would have to meet up with the man after the act was accomplished. Or he could send a messenger hawk. It might be faster to send a hawk instead. After all, he only had so much time allotted to accomplishing his tasks. Soon enough, these meetings would get in the way of what he is ordered to search for next.

“I’m surprised that you would be willing to set foot there yourself. However, it would allow you rest from the more intelligent pursuers.” he agreed with Solomon’s plan to enter Du Weldenvarden. It made sense that he should head that way. Then he could escape into the forest and be in his element as well as get rid of the smarter pursuers on his path. He had to wonder again how they were finding him so easily. Aside from the body trail, it should be near impossible for them to find the hunter. However, that wasn’t something that he could find the answers to from Solomon.

“I shall take that with little discomfort. I know the value placed on history in Empire Nirvana. You secretive people.—he shook his head, smiling—You can rest easy, I plan to carry out the plan without hitch. The siren will be dead within weeks.” and he meant what he said.

Taking the reins in his hands, guiding Varden toward the opposite direction, he waved once more to Solomon, chuckling as he did so. He knew it was a very friendly gesture, but he didn’t care. He hoped that one day, they may be friends.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]