Beginnings (Isaac, Very Open)

[Isus Jarode]

Damnit, where is he?

The day had been rather sluggish, and it was only brimming on noon. The northern Poshtour mountain range stood in warm beauty, the cobalt peaks towering into the dry cyan skies. The earthy stone path was barely paved, and even those ancient rocks that were dug in to the flesh of the world were too fragile to give any real sort of vehicular support. The stilled plains swayed as if time had taken a strike to the temple, the neighboring beige cottages and worn brick structures tottering on life and death.

Standing stiffly at the edge of Greyton's minor highways, dull brown gaze to the world around him and plainer brown locks attempting to block his sight, Bremelian native Isus Jarode attempted to find focus in the structures of the nearby rock formations, his calculating conscious attempting to consider the possible elements and proton distributions between their atom and compound orders.

Hmm... probably a good deal of iron in there... maybe some magnesium. I could probably draw a circle and create a crappy little statue of myself... hell, anything else? That's kind of worthless.

The young Alchemist knew that spending two hours in wait would have tired out any natural legs by now, but his own form was lucky enough to be more than human; he had automail now, and while they were rather stiff and difficult to move, their uses included quite a bit more than standing around like a statue all day.

Still, Jarode knew he couldn't think up alchemical transmutations all day. He had to move forward. His research project regarding cultural building methods was due to Fourth Wing Chief Brandas in three months now, and his request to the local Bremelian militia for an escort soldier had taken a week to process. According to rumor, they had been forced to send him some young recruit.

Just great. What am I to do with some young blood? I'm traversing through the Umberlands for crying out loud, what's to say that Bandit King everyone's talking about decides to pay me a visit? Gah, damn magicians...

Sighing away his frustrations, Jarode chose to again wait, knowing that venting his anger towards the world would do nothing to change it. There was no other choice: he needed that soldier, or else he'd be doomed to die at the hand of some lucky bandit with an otherwise pointless shot.

Strolling forward toward the cluster of hard earth he had been pondering earlier, Isus forced himself into a crouch and gazed at a local rock, his artificial right hand slowly grasping the tough texture and tugging it roughly from the world, the strands of dirt and root left behind or falling back from gravity. A solid gaze analyzed the fragment of existence, before placing it on a flat piece of ground nearby.

Pulling forth a piece of chalk from his trench's pocket, Isus began the works to draw a large circular object in the circumference of the rocky subject. The foundation was set; now for the specifics. For a few more moments, the Alchemist spent his attention towards completing the accuracies of the energy pathways, the circlets and the battery alignments.

The Transmutation Circle was in place. Now... to complete the process and manipulate the matter itself into...

Suddenly, Jarode's ears perked to hear an small, inhaled voice, and with his eyes turned, he saw a young boy - perhaps not even six years of age - beginning to cry.

"Oh, come now child, what bothers you?" a kind old woman asked as she passed by, her wary gaze overseeing the child.

As it turned out, the youth was upset by the simplest of things: his toy, a simple figurine soldier, was all alone and without a friend. Such a modest, rather touching detail, and since Isus was having difficulty with inspiration to forge his new product, a bright idea beamed in his mind.

Turning to his circle with a hidden smile, Jarode's hands - both metal and flesh - quickly clapped together, catching the boy's attention rather quickly as his hands struck down onto the circle. For a second, nothing occurred. Then...

The bright white of Isus' bodily energy struck outward into the alchemical circle, near-instantly following the drawn paths and measures towards the simple shard of earth, igniting its body, then with a cloud of change, a new object was born - something far more exquisite, far more beautiful.

The simple piece of rock had become a modest figurine woman. The details weren't greatly chiseled,yet for a six year old, it would mean the world.

Pincering the head with his left hand - as his right would clearly shatter the fresh device - Jarode stood up and motioned towards the boy, leaned down and placed the new toy beside his impressive soldier, and nodded.

Not even paying attention to the joy of the boy or the smile of the old woman, Jarode stood up once more, the sound of hooves catching his attention. Pivoting his sight towards the south, Isus' right hand tents his eyes, hoping to see some sort of sign that the day's festivities would be more than little chit-chat with himself.

I'd like to get a bloody move on. Is that guy going to show up or what?

[Isaac Romanov]

Unending plains with the sight of mountains in the distance. That is all Isaac Romanov saw. That's all he had seen for a good day and a half. He was brought into Greyton in the truck bed of a farmers vehicle and Isaac had the privilege of helping him with his fields in return for the help in getting here. Isaac had to work all day yesterday in the fields until it was morning. He was tired from all the travel and suddenly being put to work. And now, he had to hike to some place along the road to meet the man h's supposed to escort. He still remembered his orders clearly in his head. He was given to him by the Warden of Shoreway himself. It appeared that the Oder of the Alchemist had asked for the Blue Coats aid once again.

"Regular Isaac, your orders are to travel to Greyton near the Shussei-Bremelian Border. There you will meet an alchemist. Your orders are to escort him on any mission or research he was given by his order."

"Damn it! You can't be serious? You're sending me all the way over there to escort some half-pint alchemist search for some big rock or something?"

"These are you orders Regular. You will follow them weather you enjoy it or not."

That is all Isaac Romanov was told about this mission.

"Damn alchemists always asking for our help only to leave us out of their plans. Don't they realize that we have our duties too? We can't just be some escort service for a group of snobs. If we're not careful then those Shussei bastards will invade us again."

He walked along the road. He had been hiking for a good seven miles so far. It was just now that he started seeing some rock formations as he got a little closer to the mountains.

In the distance he saw someone crouching down. He had searched for his objective long enough on his own, so he decided to get some help. He sprinted to the man at full speed at yelled at him.

"Hey you I need to ask you something!"

Once he reached him he slowed down and quickly caught his breath. Sprinting a good distance after a long hike when one was quite taxing on the body.

"Hi, I'm a Regular in the Bremelian Militia and I've been assigned to help out some half-pint alchemist. If you could point me in his direction that would be really helpful."

[Takai Eiga]

"You're on my land."

The words came from the top of the hill behind Isus, a good ten metres back. There stood four bandits, two of them armed with weapons while a robed man and the newly-created "Bandit King", clad in his leather armor as if prepared for war. It mattered very little to Takai that he was well outside of the Nothern Umberlands, but in the end, it mattered not. He would extend his territory, bit by bit, and Bremelia as the weakest of the three major powers.

Not to mention the rumours of powerful artifacts that Takai could use for himself.

"I'm going to give you one chance to survive. Tell me where the Relics are, or you'll die."

The Water Devil had very little doubt that the two would refuse. After all, the Alchemist he'd tortured a few days ago had told him nothing of use, only that there were Relics in existance. He'd known nothing of use, however, and after Takai had grown tired of the sounds of his screams, he'd ended the man's miserable life. The Bandit King turned to his followers, speaking to the two who were armed, rather than the robed one, revealing the large tank strapped to his back.

"Go convince them. Leave an Alchemist alive, I don't care about the civilians."

With that, the two men sprinted down the hill, hooting and hollering while waving their weapons in the air. Takai, however, simply stayed atop the hill, folding his arms in front of him as he watched the action unfold, the robed man remaining silent beside him.

OOC: The Bandits attacking are just generic NPC's, deal with them as you wish.

[Isus Jarode]

Half-pint? The hell does he mean by that?

Isus found himself caught off suddenly at the tone of another person in a direction he had not even expected. Turning his icy brown eyes toward the younger man that questioned him, Jarode instantly caught on to who he must have been speaking about.

I'm the only Alchemist that could possibly be in the area at the moment, but where does he get it in his head that I'm a half pint?!

Frowning significantly at the supposed Regular - I should have figured as much - Isus Jarode shifts the weight of his right arm slightly, before speaking to his assigned escort with an edgy voice: relatively low, yet youthful and chilled. It was clear this one had the ability to speak, but did not unless necessary.

This was one of those moments.

"You just found that 'half-pint alchemist,' Regular, if you looked hard enough." Jarode simply stated, eyes a bit offended, yet his lips turning into a whip ready to shape up the man into his duty. He was here to protect the Alchemist for a reason, and it would do no good if he would only prove a fool of himself.

It seemed he had a remarkably early chance to prove himself as well.

Did he just claim this land as 'his'? Isus questioned himself as he turned around in a relatively faster pace, gaze calmly set on the silhouette above him, shaded eyes seeing the two men charging at them with what looked to be simple sabres, and released an internal laugh.

"You can prove yourself helpful by keeping them off my back Regular. So hop to it." Jarode commanded of the soldier next to him, opening the side of his trench coat and pulling out a Colt Pistol. Gripping the firearm in his left palm, Jarode aims the weapon toward the center of the farther left opponent and prepares to fire...

Then suddenly tips his nozzle toward the dirt before the man, and releases the bullet. Suddenly, the rapid piece of metal is jumping from the world and into the man's leg, piercing his muscles and forcing him down.

That's one down. I'll leave the second to this soldier.

Still holding the Colt in his left hand, Isus pulls out a piece of chalk from his hip pocket, then leans to the cracks below him and rapidly etches out his Transmutation Circle.

Let's see you escape from this fool!

Within about fifteen seconds, the simple design was complete, and placing the pistol down on a nearby piece of dirt, Isus Jarode claps his two hands - natural and artificial - into one another, before placing both flat against the earth. Light instantly reflected back into his eyes and the surrounding radius, and soon enough, a rumble of movement suddenly struck forth toward the wounded attacker, before several spikes struck into the naked air around him. Suddenly falling from gravity, the mass seemed to literally grasp the man, holding him still.

Standing back up and grabbing his pistol, Isus Jarode feels himself grunt, before looking up to the man who seemed to claim the land of Bremelia as his own.

"I have no idea of these Relics, but you certainly won't be gaining them from me."

[Isaac Romanov]

~"You're on my land"~

This is what Isaac heard as soon as he learned the man he just questioned was the alchemist he had been searching for. The statement came from someone else, however. This man seemed to be the leader of a so far small group of bandits. Isaac instinctively grabbed his halberd and prepared himself for a possible attack. While he was getting ready, he shouted a retort to the bandit leader.

"Oh really? Your land? Last time I checked, this was Bremelia stranger...not just some bandit trashes play ground!"

And it was during this that he sent two of his followers to attack him and the alchemist. He had muttered something about 'relics' but he was a soldier, not a scientist. The alchemist seemed to take care of the first bandit, so Isaac wen t for the remaining opponent. He simply infused some minor magic into his weapon and smashed it vertically in the bandit's direction. Although he was shocked, he still was able to jump just far enough back to avoid the strike. He was lucky, for the instant the halberd hit the ground the man was just standing on, his weapon created a minor 'crater' about two feet by two feet by two feet roughly. It was then that Isaac let go of his weapon with his left hand and quickly pulled out his hand gun. He quickly aimed it at the bandit and shot three rounds into him. One hit his right shoulder, one his gut, and one went straight into his throat. He may not be as good with his revolver as he was with his melee weapons, but he could still easily kill a lowly bandit.

Being a soldier Isaac took the approach of shooting first and asking questions later. His mission was to act as an escort for the alchemist he found and it was one thing he planned on accomplishing. Isaac quickly aimed at the bandit leader and fired two more shots. However, because he rushed himself so much, it was likely that both of his shots would just barely miss the target. But, that was up to luck, not to Isaac.

[Takai Eiga]

As the bandits met their untimely ends, Takai gave little reaction to their fates. In truth, they were simplly means to an end, and two bandits meant little in the overall scheme of things. Still, the fact they were gone was annoying, for the simple fact that it seemed Takai would need to take care of things himself. The water contained in the tank on his back sprayed upwards, forming a small fountain that extended around the Bandit King's body, creating a circle in the dirt around him. As soon as the bullets fired from Isaac's gun touched the water, the liquid would shove the metal to the side, forcing the bullets off course and to sail harmlessly off to the sides of Takai.

"Bandit trash? No, I'm the Bandit King. And Bremelia, as well as its secrets, are mine."

As if on an unspoken command, the robed man began sprinting down the hill, heading towards the two men hailing from Bremelia, though his direction was slightly more towards Isus than Isaac. Takai, however, would remain where he was, smirking slightly. His true effectiveness came at long range combat, and with his water in the dirt around him, Takai felt he could easily counter anymore earth-based magic directed towards him from the one who had demonstrated his skills earlier.

Don't worry, mother. You'll get your chance. We'll crush them!