RuneScape Forum Archive | ~^v^~ Kashan's Tale ~^v^~

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Timier and Toin froze up, staring at the body in awe, and Kashan in shock. The barman, however, was too busy trying to set out the fire to worry about trivial things, such as a body on the floor or broken walls.

Kashan was untouched by any of this. He strode out the doorway, shoving past the two adventurers.

His voice sounded from the hall, emotionless and determined, startling the two friends in the doorway.

“Change of plans. We leave in five minutes.”

End of Chapter 3.

20-Sep-2006 00:16:43 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2006 00:17:57 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

[#80N8R0VWZ]

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Chapter 4.
(Name is yet to come)

The large, wooden door to the stables opened with a creak, and Kashan walked in. Timier and Toin came up close behind him, Toin still stuffing his pack with some clothing.

The stables were a simple wooden building, with a long corridor along the centre. Not a single step could be taken without treading hay, apparently much to the horses’ delight. There were a dozen stalls on each side of the corridor, one for each horse. At the moment, only the six furthest in stalls were occupied, one by a young boy at around fifteen. He was shovelling some of the hay in one of the stalls to a trough, a gross recycle of food for the horses.

Kashan went on a brisk walk towards the young boy. He didn’t look up from his job, though he seemed slightly nervous at the entry of the aristocrats.

*What horses are the best?” Kashan asked bluntly without even the slightest hint of the kindness usually evident in his voice.

The boy stopped his shovelling, and leaned on his spade. “Well, for longer distances I’d recommend Hoof, his endurance for long distance is extraordinary. If you’re going for a sprint, though, Thorn’s your horse; he’s the fastest thing west of the Salve. For a battle horse, Rose is the best. She’s seen more battles than most of the soldiers in this city, I think. You can’t take her, though, she’s Kai’s horse, and even if he’d allow you, she probably wouldn’t let you on.”

Kashan’s gaze wondered around the six horses in the stall. “Which is which?” he asked after a second.

The boy pointed towards three of the horses, one by one, repeating the names before. “Hoof,” he pointed to a large brown stallion. It was a noble creature; the thick mane flowing like a river of moonlight, and the thick coat of fur smooth like a cat’s. Toin was admiring its saddle, paying less attention to the animal itself. “Thorn,” the boy continued, now pointing his finger at another stallion, but this one grey.

20-Sep-2006 00:16:44 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2006 00:18:36 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

[#80N8R0VWZ]

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It was every bit as magnificent as Hoof, but its mane was longer, and the tail more kept. Timier was patting its strong looking back, but it didn’t pay much attention to him; it was too busy nuzzling against another horse. “and-“ the boy started, moving his finger, but Kashan was already bounding towards the horse he was about to point on.

“Rose,” he whispered to himself as he approached the magnificent mare. She was a thing of beauty, even more so than the other stallions. She was bigger than they, too, and gave off a sense of mobility, her black bulk strong and lean.

She didn’t let him up, and pranced and whinnied like a predator were near. Then Kashan did something that amazed them, especially the stable boy. He raised his arms to be parallel with his head, like he was surrendering, and muttered something under his breath, lowering his head slightly. Rose instantly calmed down, and even allowed him to up.

Kashan signalled for Timier and Toin to do the same, and they both stepped up on the respective horse: Toin on Hoof, the brown one, and Timier on Thorn, the grey one. They all rode out of the stalls. Timier’s and Toin’s faces were filled with amazement; Kashan’s showed nothing but determination, as before.

The stable boy stepped out of the stall he was in and out onto the corridor, opening and closing his mouth as if he were trying to say something, but kept forgetting it as it came onto his lips. Eventually he managed to stutter in a vain attempt to look and sound more important than he did, “y-you can’t take them, I-I need a clearance from an officer! Besides, Rose’ll throw you off!”

Kashan pretended he didn’t hear him. “Kid, I’m going to give you a piece of advice. When someone is about to run you over with a horse, it’s a good idea to step away.”

Timier looked at Kashan in surprise, and the stable boy got a strangely blank look on his face, as if Kashan had spoken in some foreign language he didn’t understand.

20-Sep-2006 00:16:46 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2006 00:18:55 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

[#80N8R0VWZ]

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That look disappeared as he dove into the nearest stall; Kashan had leaned forwards, whispering something to Rose, which took a sprint out of the stable. Timier and Toin followed behind a second later, rushing their horses onwards. They found that Kashan hadn’t turned west, as they had planned, but south-east. They rode after him.

“Where’re ye going? West’* that way!” Toin exclaimed as they caught up with him, pointing over his back with his thumb, towards the west gates.

“Kaiser’s in the Temple,” Kashan grunted without even turning his head to Toin as he answered.

Timier gave him a disapproving look, but Toin merely slowed down slightly to ride parallel to Timier.

They rode at great speed, and reached the Temple in a matter of minutes. Kashan kicked the great double doors from the safety of Rose’s saddle instead of knocking, and a few seconds later, a man, clothed in red robes with a large hood, opened. He seemed very aggravated, and poked his large staff towards Kashan as he spoke.

“What do you want?” he spat between his teeth, but lowered his staff as Kashan replied.

“We’re here to speak to Kaiser StrongBow, is he here?” he asked imposingly.

The man’s face darkened even more, and, without a reply, he stormed back in, muttering to himself. “Not enough to allow those weak Saradominists to stay in my temple, now I’m the bloody maid too!”

“I guess that’s the Zamorakian mage who ran the temple before the battle,” Toin grinned. Timier chuckled, but Kashan showed no signs signifying he heard him; it was as if all his emotions had been burned away in his fight with Xen.

A few moments later, Kaiser appeared through the door, Elissa at his side. They didn’t have the bandages on anymore, but Kaiser still held his arm slightly to his chest to shield it.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” he asked cheerfully, and added more questioningly, “Where’s Arya?”

20-Sep-2006 00:18:06 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2006 00:19:32 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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Timier opened his mouth to reply, but Kashan was a faster talker. “She’s waiting for us at the gate. We’re leaving for Falador, you coming?”

Kaiser smiled. “Actually, I think I’m going to stay here, you guys. Elissa and I are engaged,” he answered gleefully, hanging his hand round Elissa’s shoulders.

Finally, a show of emotion came on Kashan’s face; he smiled. It was only for a second, before his smile mixed with the slightest hint of sorrow.

“Congratulations.” He swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat, and continued. “You’re going to be very happy here.” He pulled the reins, forcing Rose backwards, as to make space for Toin and Timier to congratulate Kaiser and Elissa.

For the first time since they left the inn, he stopped and allowed himself to think, and as he had expected, thoughts and feelings rushed him like a flood of pain. He remembered the sneering face of Xen, and the smiling face of Arya. He saw in his mind at least a hundred ways they were probably torturing her at that very moment, each worse than the last, and it hurt him right to the soul.

Tears filled his eyes, unnoticed by the others. The sounds of congratulatory from Toin and Timier fainted, and all he heard were his imagined screams of Arya.

A sudden rustling jolted him out of his thoughts, but when he looked around, he saw nothing. He decided to forget it as Timier and Toin rode towards him, ready to leave.

They rode towards the west, out of the city, as Kaiser and Elissa returned to the Temple.

No one saw the face emerging from the wall of a nearby house, or the young woman who followed it. Her body was small and agile, covered by simple travelling clothes, which, at the moment, mirrored the wall behind them, to the crack. It soon shifted to a simple black after she had stepped away. Her raven black hair was cut short, making her resemble a man, had it not been for the shape of her body, and smooth, beautiful facial features.

20-Sep-2006 00:18:09 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2006 00:19:45 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

[#80N8R0VWZ]

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Her eyes were, strangely, of the same colour, but it didn’t seem as natural as the colour of her hair. A roguish grin was on her face.

“That was close. I could have sworn the young one saw me*,* she thought aloud as she absentmindedly unclipped a small grappling hook from her waist, and threw it on top of the building she had hidden by seconds before.

She pulled herself up with agility and strength unbefitting her small frame, and leapt towards the west, staying on rooftops as much as she could.

End of chapter 4.

20-Sep-2006 00:18:10 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2006 00:19:59 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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Chapter 5 – A camouflaged thief.

After a five hours’ ride, the sun was lower on the sky, and the road started to lead through a forest. Timier and Toin had a hard time following Kashan’s hasty ride, and after that long a journey, their horses were panting greatly, almost stumbling down the dirt road.

Kashan didn’t seem to have that problem, as every time Rose slowed down or showed any signs of tiredness, he leaned forwards and whispered something to her, and every time she continued with renewed vigour.

After another ten minutes of riding, Timier yelled to him. “Kashan, we need to stop! We can’t press the horses like we can ourselves, they NEED water and food!”

Kashan didn’t respond.

“Kashan, this is inhumane!”

This seemed to snap Kashan out of his emotional fortress. He seemed to finally notice the world around him, and looked around, almost confused. When he spotted the sweat covered horses, panting to the point of exhaustion, he wordlessly turned to his right and rode into the forest. They found a small clearing only a few feet in, covered from the road by the single line of trees.

Wordlessly, they tied the horses to nearby trees. As soon as their riders were off, they dropped to the ground, too exhausted to even graze.

Timier took out three travelling mats from his pack, lending one to each of them. He started a small fire in the centre of the small clearing with a poke of his staff, and then he and Toin planted themselves down next to it.

Kashan chose a spot further away, on the edge of the fire’s light. He lay there for hours after Timier and Toin fell asleep, staring into the darkness with tears in his eyes.

It was only then that he let his true feelings show, and in the darkness, silently and alone, he wept.

He wept out of sorrow for Arya, repressed rage at Zemouregal, and fear. Fear of what he was becoming, and the effects of his rage.

20-Sep-2006 00:20:17 - Last edited on 31-Oct-2006 20:26:54 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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The form he had taken to defeat Xen had not been a natural one, and he was afraid of what it could mean; if it would make him un-human.

Then guilt entered his already confused mind, for thinking more of himself than Arya, and he hated himself for that.

He didn’t fall asleep until hours into the night, and even then it granted him no relief from his troubles. Nightmares haunted him, making actual rest seem a world away.

The sun was starting to cast uncomfortably strong light into the small clearing when a slight shuffling sound was heard from the forest around, unnoticed by the three sleeping men. Then all went silent again.

It wasn’t long after that that a tiny needle flew into Toin’* neck, seemingly sprouting from thin air. Another two followed, but into the necks of Timier and Kashan.

They didn’t move, or show any signs of even having felt it; the only change was that they’re breaths got even heavier and less rapid.

A second later, a young woman, no older than twenty-five, appeared on the edge of the trees. Her pitch-black eyes quickly scanned over the clearing, but stopped on Kashan’s pack. She seemed to forsake all regards of silence as she started rummaging through it like a starving dog through a food bowl.

After a few seconds of throwing his stuff out of it, she seemed to realize what she was looking for wasn’t there, and tossed it aside in frustration.

“Where are they!” she exclaimed to herself, louder than she would have wanted. She knew it wouldn’t wake the sleepers, though; she could torture a banshee right next to them without them so much as opening their eyes. For another six hours, at least.

As she went for Timier’s pack, her eyes hit Kashan’s clawed hands.

“Ah, there they are.”

She seemed to forget about the pack, but scurried towards the claws instead. As she reached out for them, Kashan suddenly grabbed her, his arm striking like a snake.

20-Sep-2006 00:20:20 - Last edited on 11-Oct-2006 15:20:11 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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She gasped in surprise as she instinctively activated the magic in her clothes, and anything below her neck disappeared.

Kashan twisted her invisible body down on the ground before she so much as breathed, and swung himself over her. He now sat astride on what seemed to be air, pointing his right hand claw towards a young woman’s head, and holding one of her hands next to her head with his left.

Kashan noticed a slight alteration in the earth’s shade; her body seemed to have taken on the color scheme of the ground below. A camouflage, showing the earth below instead of her body.

Her expression didn’t show the shock or fear Kashan would have expected from a person with three deadly blades pointed to their eyes, but rather startle. It turned to stubborn impassiveness in just a second, surprising Kashan even more. Her features seemed cold as stone.

She gave up on the camouflage soon, and her body appeared as if it had materialized from thin air.

She was wearing a black leather jacket, littered with pockets of varying shapes and sizes, squeezed on almost every available spot. Kashan saw that in a sheath under her forearm she had a trident dagger, the hilt pointing towards her body. After almost a full second he realized how brilliant that place was; it was easy to hide underneath a sleeve, she could easily parry without even drawing it, and unsheathe it to a defensive stance with a backhand grip much faster than drawing from her hip.

He guessed from the size of the weapon that she had another one on her persona, most likely under her other arm.

When he noticed the tinge of lemon-green on the trident, he realized who she was. An assassin.

Rage at Zemouregal swelled up inside him again. Now he was hiring assassins after them? And she seemed barely even out of her teens!

20-Sep-2006 00:20:21 - Last edited on 11-Oct-2006 15:20:43 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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Kashan suddenly felt piercing pain in his hands, as if the bones were sprouting through his skin. His eyes became wide for a second; as much out of fright as pain. It stopped as soon as the rage dwelled.

“So that’s how it is; keep your emotions in check or go were?” he thought, frustration boiling at the curse from Xen. He kept it from evolving, though, and set as straight a face as he could.

His train of thought took only seconds, and he began speaking. “Well, we both know it was Zemouregal who sent you to kill us, so we can skip that part. What’s your name, assassin?” He tried to be as impassive as he could, but couldn’t help showing hints of anger in his voice. He also couldn’t help admiring the woman’s talent to keep her emotions out of display, especially in a situation as this.

That suddenly changed, though, as she seemed as if she had been insulted and shocked.

“I’m no assassin! Assassins live in luxury off the death of others, and take payment to incite that death! I steal to survive!” she hissed at him, obviously offended at being considered an assassin. Then she added, “And who the hell is Zemouregal?”

Kashan was surprised that being called assassin got to her the way it did, but didn’t show it. “Very well; thief. My question still stands, whatever the title.”

The woman’* expression softened, and her voice turned from the hasty hiss to a comfortable, even enticing sound. “Eye for an eye. You still haven’t answered MY question,” she said slyly, slowly edging her free hand towards the cluster of needles strapped to her side.

Kashan shifted his weight without as much as a glance away from her black eyes. His leg fell onto the crawling hand, and his claws came closer to her face.

“This isn’t a game! And I don’t think you’re in the position to ask question. Now answer me: who are you, and if you’re not an assassin, why were you planting needles in my friends’ necks?” he nearly hissed at her, moving his claws gradually closer.

20-Sep-2006 00:20:23 - Last edited on 11-Oct-2006 15:21:05 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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