Collab between [@Ryuzaki] and Myself

[center][h1][color=660066] Seruh[/color] &[color=orange] Ryteb[/color][/h1]
Thorne City | Negotiating[/center]

[Color=orange]"Is there any other kind of bargaining?"[/color] Ryteb smirked, fully aware of how screwed he'd be if this went wrong. Though admittedly, it was a much more appealing death than being eaten by Sand Worms. Legend says they can digest a man for a thousand years, though he'd never stuck around them long enough to find out. [color=orange]"So here's the deal. I don't currently have money on me... but I'm on the hunt for the lost Tomb of King Solomon. Legend tells that it was lined with gold and jewels. Recently I came across a tablet inscribed with a clue as to its location. If you don't kill me, I can offer you... half?"[/color]

Seruh looked at the scrawny man named Ryteb as he talked with a look of suspicion. [color=660066]"Why should I trust you? How could I trust you? You're nothing but a lowly street thief as far as I'm concerned and you stole the blade of my allies."[/color] she apporached him slowly while she spoke, slowly drawing the blade at her waist not for the intent of killing him, but incase he tried anything dumb. Then she stopped as she finished her sentence.

[Color=orange]"Ah, now I remember!"[/color] Ryteb exclaimed, slapping his forehead, [color=orange]"The key to the lost city of Mu Kiza. Some idiot was using the relic as a weapon, giving it a stupid name like the Blade of Cereal or something."[/color]

He was cut off by the whirr of two more shuriken wizzing by his head, one grazing his ear with one of the three razor-sharp blades that protruded from the center. [color=660066]"Shut up! You're nothing but an incompetent street ra-"[/color] the assassin froze for a second, realizing she had crossed a line of her own. One she herself had no right to cross. [color=660066]"Forget this!"[/color] She sprung into the air, throwing a shuriken aimed for the center of his unsightly forehead, his throat, and his chest, all in rapid succession.

Like magic, the treasure hunter flicked off his jacket and in its place was a bronze scale cloak. Flicking it round, the shurikens pinged into the cloak, bouncing off harmlessly. He flicked back his hair, and gave a cheeky grin. [color=orange]"You know, I didn't think a professional would go for the bounty. Clearly I was right."[/color]

Seruh glared at the thief as she fell to the ground, bending her knees as she hit. Normally she was calm about her work, but something about this target just boiled her blood. She dashed toward him, the small blade in her left hand. As she came close to him, she slid under him and stuck the knife out in an attempt to slice his ankle.

Ryteb saw her rush towards him, and decided to drop his heavy metal cloak to incapacitate her. In doing so he allowed her to slice his ankle, but had moved so that it wouldn't slice through his Achilles tendon. From his suit pocket, he pulled an impossibly large book, and began to rifle through it. [color=orange]"Look, as a measure of trust, I can give you [i]one[/i] treasure from my collection. Worth far more than a dumb key that's for sure."[/color]

The cat girl sprung up behind him, now slightly interested in what the thief had to say. [color=660066]"Exactly what kind of treasure is this? And when will I be able to have it?"[/color] she tried her best to still sound suspicious and menacing but were he able to see her face he'd surely see the hints of interest that were painted there. Her ears perked up a tiny bit from the laid back, focused position they had taken when she began the pursuit.

Ryteb sighed, and began to explain. [color=orange]"Has the legend of Dragonheart and his lair filled with treasures really not spread outside Takhtajin? Probably not... the bastards at the Treasure Hunters Guild are pretty embarrassed by my existance. Anyway, I have all manner of treasures in my secret vault back in my home country. Here it is, the section on ninjitsu weaponry. Have a look, see if anything catches your eye."[/color] He turned around and handed her the tome.

Seruh had already been peering over his shoulder when he trurned around, and she found herself amost nose to nose with the man she had just been about to kill, the book in his hand held outward in a kind way. This man confused her, she decided, one minute he was insulting her and the next he wanted to offer her riches. She laughed nervously a bit as she pulled her face away from his, then carefully reached for the book, still on guard for any kind of trick the man might pull. [color=660066]"I'll just take that for a second..."[/color] she snatched up the book and quickly spun it around, skimming the page for something, although what she wasnt exactly sure. Somewhere on the middle of the second page, she noticed something that caught her eye. [color=660066]"The Katana of an ancient Kimuran prince..."[/color] she mumbled, but under that was something that made her gasp. It listed a necklace that matched the discription of the one she wore, shaped like the Crystal of Light. She turned the page quickly without saying a thing, and continued skimming, descretely patting her chest to check for the necklace, she sighed in relief when she realized it was still there. [color=660066]"Do you have any kind of replacement for this, with some kind of fancy story to it?"[/color] she held up the dinky dagger that the clan back in Kimura had given her.

With a flick of his wrist, the wind began to blow the pages of the book, until it landed on a page with two daggers, one white with an angelic design, the other crimson and rough. [Color=orange]"The dagger on the left was said to belong to an angel who descended to earth, bringing light to a realm plagued by a demon. The dagger on the right belonged to the Demon, with which, he slew the angel. Unfortunately for the Demon, in death the angel apparently became the great crystal that banished evil from our world. Both are powerful, but both have deadly curses upon them."[/color]

Seruh mulled over the idea of the daggers, thinking that the curses couldnt be [i]that[/i] bad. She also decided that this... this [i]thief[/i], for lack of a more accurate word, didnt truly have any ill intent toward her, he simply wanted his life, and the sword. She decided to make an offer, [color=660066]"How about this: I get these daggers, and until I do, you work with me as sort of my... [i]assistant[/i]. Then, whenever we happen to be in Takhtajan, you give me the daggers, and you walk off free."[/color] She didnt know if this... Dragonheart, Ryteb, would accept or not, but it was worth the try, and she could use a spare set of hands both back home and on the road.

[Color=Orange]"It's your funeral... but sure, if that's what you want. Put 'em there partner!"[/color] Ryteb smirked, holding out his hand in the universal symbol of dealmaking.

Seruh first removed the black glove from her opposite hand and then reached out and daintily shook Ryteb's outstreched hand, his skin rough and calloused against her softer skin. [color=660066]"So, back to the temporary HQ?"[/color]
 
[color=Orange]"Sure... I probably need to clean off this blood."[/color] Ryteb used Cure to heal up the wound.

Seruh gasped again, just realizing that Ryteb was a mage. She averted her surprised gaze and began to lead her new pet Hume back to the tavern she had chosen as her base during the festival.