[centre][h3][color=gray][u]Fae[/u][/color][/h3][/centre]

	Whilst the rest were ready to greet one another, Fae had already taken the early start, just like he told them he would. He needed to ensure that the route was going to be clear, without them having to worry about taking a life. This was a grudge between the Thalburn Kingdom and Fae's past, not a fight they needed to get themselves involved with. If he could at least provide them with that location he told them about, a safe haven for temporary usage, then he'd be doing a good deed for once in the past few years. His solitary secrecy gave him a reputation of generally not being helpful...Well this was one large leap along the opposite direction.

	As he arrived to the street corner, there was noise...Not just any noise, the sounds of struggling competitors were at hand. When Fae had reached the street corner early, the road that had an alley directly to the village's horses, their ticket out of the hell MiddleSeed had turned out to be, he caught a glimpse of two figures. One armoured, and the other simply dressed in leather attire. One held a steel short-sword, capable of cutting limbs off of human bodies, whilst the other held a small dagger or knife, useful for taking jabs into the skin of the enemy. The one with the larger armour, and weaponry, was a Thalburn soldier. Fae stared around the corner of the building, seeing them struggle. It began to make more sense to him now. Seeing man and man struggle against one another once again brought accusations and theories into his mind. The fire...The chaos at the festival, it drew the Thalburn in, and gave the people a reason to revolt. Though they were few in numbers, and easily cut down, a small burst of inspiration came into the people. No wonder the King's men were here to seize control once again...They could not risk another word of an uprising, could they?

	He watched more and more, seeing the take swings and one another. It seemed like the local male had his match made, swings become more and more wild as the battle cries grew more violent. They intended on ending the other's life, but to tell who's was in defence was completely out of the question. Fae could see the Thalburn soldier taking more and more advantages of the situation, and a deepening feel for interfering was boiling inside Fae's mind...But he could not, could he? He had a task of escaping the village without any hostility, plus the additional burdens he had on top of them.

	The leather suited man fell onto one knee. The sword of the Soldier had slashed against his knee, causing him to collapse into the kneeling posture. It seemed to be over, but everything was happening so fast that time itself almost felt slow. A short exchange was made, the Thalburn soldier chuckling at the ideals of success as he raised the short-sword, clearly going to lop off the head of the disadvantaged opponent. But luck had him down, as his victory cheer only gave the man time to react, as the arm with the dagger lunged out. A piercing sound of blade and skin met, as blood spluttered out. The knife had dug into the soldier's neck, and the incapacitated man let go as the body fell. There was victory in the streets of Midd-

	And at that point, before the man on his knees had a chance to even celebrate or unease his tension, another nearby shot from a musketeer brought misery upon the morbid bloodbath. A pint of more blood burst from his chest and back, as he fell without any realisation of his demise. The rooftops were making sure that any victory was not to last any longer than it needed to be.

	Fae swung back across the corner he was looking around, staring behind him to see the group finally catching up. It didn't ease his nerves or tension, not one bit, as he knew this was where the more difficult part came in. Fae's hands shot up, as he signalled for them to pin up against the wall, and to wait until further instruction. Once he knew that their attention was focused upon him, he turned, staring blankly into the short crossing to the alleyway. The alleyway ahead was short and dark, a perfect spot to lose any heat or hide from the terrors that were marching around. The run was less than thirty metres, probably less than twenty, and yet Fae knew there was a threat lurking on the rooftop above. He turned, and stared deeply at the individual who spared him. For all he knew, this could be a one way trip to death, adding yet another name and number to the tally of the Thalburn massacre. It was not a scared expression, but one of almost comfort. If he were to die, he would die with the knowledge that he helped someone, or more.

	His foot went into a posture, one that would allow him to kick off and run as fast as his legs would carry. And as he took one last, long breath...He launched himself forward. There was never an opportunity to look backwards, to see if anything was about to take aim at him. All he could do wa-

[centre][b]CRACK.[/b][/centre]

	A whizz and a ping puffed cracked stone and paving between his feet. A projectile had crossed between his legs, slamming only into the area where his feet were apart. It happened just as he was about to enter the alleyway, and the sudden miss caused his legs to twist between one another, as his body seemed to trip and collapse into the darkness of the alley. His body almost fell completely limp, motionless to say the least. Like the man who was shot earlier, it almost looked like a direct hit. A minute passed, and Fae remained lying where he was. He had to confirm that he was not dead, but only to himself. Eventually, the time was right, and he could feel the slight pain in his left arm from the fall. You could've predicted that the Marksman was convinced of his shot, as he turned, moving further across the roof to rejoin his firing squad to rain havoc into the village centre.

	Fae sat up. He took the bearings of his surrounding, the darkness and shadow surrounding where he sat. He could see, through where he was concealed, the group, expectantly waiting to see what had happened. Another twenty odd seconds passed, with his hand eventually pushing through the darkness. His fingers snapped as he quietly, at least as quiet as he could manage, urged the rest that it was safe to travel. The difficult part was finally out of the way...For now...