Near lent against a wall. This was the time and place that he would finally meet his distant cousin, that he would know a relative of his. Since his parent's death he hadn't been able to get into contact with any of his relatives. Wait, who was that walking up to him? Could it be...?

Tamate walked up to the young boy, he was younger than he had expected. He looked him up and down and said,"Near? Is that you? It's Tamate, you're cousin."

"is this him, this is the guy you have been trying to find im sorry but i kind of expected you to be all....old" said Raiden stepping out from behind Near sounding very abnoxious and rude even though this was not his intention.

Near smiled,"you may tell him Tamate," he said, gesturing to Tamate.

Tamate also smiled,"young?!" He exclaimed,"you think I'm young?! I'm 324! I just look young, I'm a vampire. So you'd better watch out!" He showed his fangs, they glistened in the sunset. They were tinged with red, the result of several feeds.

"my m_m_mistake" said Raiden stepping back to a safe distance "you wont atempt to feed on me would you?" said Raiden even more nervously.

Tamate laughed,"don't worry!" He said,"I was just playing with you." He turned to Near,"so, Near. How is, aah, stuff?


Near smiled,"stuff is good, as usual," he said,"hmm, it's almost dark. We should go, it's not safe at night, at least not for humans." he gestured to Raiden and himself,"oh, by the way Raiden, I trust you now, my name is Near.

"Oh great mysterious Near! i agree with you lets go befor we nolonger have the advantage of sunlight" raiden said starting as sarcastic as possible and slowly ending in a serious almost scared voice.

Tamate looked around, watching for any creatures of the night,"don't worry," he said,"I'll protect you. Come back to my place. You too Raiden, it's not safe out here." Tamate grabbed Raiden in one arm and Near in the other before wings spurted from his back and they took off. It seemed to take hours but eventually they landed outside the Lost Soul. They walked inside and up the stairs to where Tamate's room was,"sorry about the mess,"he said,"I wasn't exactly prepared for visitors."


Near smiled,"don't worry," he said,"it's fine." But secretly he was hating the place, this was a dirty, disgusting pub.

"do not worry about the mess im used to this it strangly reminds me of home" said Raiden likeing Tamate even more now that he knew he lived near a pub.

OOC: heh, alcoholic.

Tamate smiled, pleased at their approval,"well, make yourselves at home," he said,"I'm going to hunt." He walked towards the cupboard where he collected his armor, donned it and retrieved his blades,"see you. Take care."


Near walked over to a bed and sat down,"bye Tamate," he said,"don't kill anyone I know." He lay down and fell asleep.

with tamate gone and near asleep Raiden sore this as a perfect opportunity to go have a drink even though near had asked him not to.

Several hours later Near rose. On the bed next to him lay Tamate, blood dripping from his mouth. He must have had a good feed. Wait, where was Raiden? Oh no. Near walked down to the bar section of the Lost Soul. At one of the tables, surrounded by several drunken idiots sat Raiden, asleep or unconscious and obviously very drunk. Great, just great!

"Near me good buddy oh oh pal" shouted Raiden accross the room for he had actually been staring at a spot on the table "wacha comin down ere for" he added sounding and looking like a drunken mess.

Neat sighed,"come on you drunken fool," he said as he helped Raiden to his feet and helped him up the stairs,"let's go up to the room." What had he said? No drinking! This... was why!

Raiden awoke with a splitting headache and the taste of bile in his throat, he must have been drunk last night, too drunk. he walked over to the door wondering if he should leave so that he may not be blamed by any barmen for inappropriate behaviour last night, he dissmissed the thought. He would just wait till either Tamate or Near woke up so he could explain his inappropriate behaviour.

Tamate opened his eyes. raiden was awake. He slowly rose and walked up to him, acting natural before punching him in the face,"that is for being a drunken idiot!" He kicked Raiden in the shins,"that is for being an alcoholic!" He reached back and punched him in the gut,"and that is for forcing my 15 year old cousin to drag you up the stairs when he specifically said no drinking!"

Near rose and smiled,"thanks Tamate," he said. He looked down at Raiden"you deserved that."

"as much as id like to dissagree with you near i know this is true and i appologise for any behaviour that was stupid, idiotic or inappropriate, but do you really think you had to hit so hard" said raiden attempting to get up still holding his stomach from the impact of the punch "is there anyway i can make up for my dispicable behaviour?"

Tamate laughed ,"the pleasure of puching you is all that I could ask for," he said as he helped Raiden to his feet,"so, what do you guys want to do today?

"im not sure about Near but i wouldn't mind inspecting the docks, as Near might have known i have a fasination with ships and boats of all kinds" answered Raiden hoping Near would agree, he hadn't seen a boat in ages and he truly missed the smell of the salty water.

"No," Tamate said,"definitely not. the docks are a haven for gangs and crooks, it's too dangerous."


"I'm sorry Raiden but Tamate's right," Near said,"the docks are just too dangerous. I'm sorry to disappoint you."

"ok if we must avoid the place i have run out of ideas" said Raiden sighed trying to supress his dissapointment he had truly missed the sea.

Near patted Raiden on the back,"i am really sorry Raiden," he said," I've got an idea! why don't we go check out the carnival?"

Tamate smiled,"sounds good to me," he said,"it's up to you Raiden."

"sounds fun just a quick question where is the carnival and there arn't any..c..clowns are there?" asked Raiden trembeling for a retired pirate he was unusualy afraid of clowns.

Tamate thought for a moment,"um, I think it's in a general thataway direction," he said, pointing in two directions at once,"and yes, there are clowns. what kind of carnival would it be without clowns?"


"It is actually approximately 1.56 kilometers west," Near said,"judging by the strength of the noise coming from it.'

"damn clowns ruin everything" Raiden muttered to himself "oh yes lets head of then" he said not too keen on the idea but ready to go none the less

Tamate smiled,"to the carnival!" He exclaimed, secretly exited,"Aah, you lead Near."

Near sighed,"right this way!" The group headed off towards the carnival with Near leading the way.

OOC: this topic is getting kinda boring... It needs some action!

Raiden followed obediently he planned to go to the carnival but from there he would 'wonder off' and see the docks.

OOC:i agree but how u start the action

As the group were walking through the carnival a group of men, heavily cloaked despite the intense heat, walked into the carnival. They simultaneously reached into their coat pockets and withdrew various guns including to shot guns. They fired into the air. Screams erupted from all over the carnival as everyone rushed to find cover. Near just managed to say,"it's one of the gangs from the docks!" Before Tamate, himself and Raiden were separated in the rush of the crowd. One of the man's gun's rose, curtsey of Near, and began to shoot at the gang members, killing three.

Tamate ran at one of the men, using the wings that had just sprouted from his back to protect him from the bullets. When he reached the man he swung his sword around and decapitated him, sending a splatter of blood onto his comrades. Three down, 17 to go...

OOC: that's how...

Raiden seeing the bravery dissplayed from both Near and tamate sprinted at one of the gang members on the wing and just as he was about to shoot shot a spurt of water down the barrel of the gun wetting the gun powder rendering that bullet useless leaving him open for a strike with his sword.



OOC: i see and btw im not sure about the hole wet gunpowder thing but go along with it anyway it sounds cool :P

Tamate ran through the gang members, his swords held out to his side. One by one they fell, blood gushing from their fatal wounds. There were three left now...

Near stopped a bullet only inches in front of his face. It floated, still and harmless, before hurtling back at the man holding the gun that it had first been fired from. the bullet hit him square in the head, killing him instantly. Now there were just two more...

OOC: those two are all yours!

Raiden seeing the two gang members left thru two knives straight at the remaining enemies leavng them to die a long painful death due to the poisen added to the knives. he aproached Near and saided light heartidly "for a 15 year old boy you sure know how how to fight!".

Near smiled,"I use my mind to control certain objects as I did with the gun. I can read my opponents thoughts which allows me to predict what they are going to do next. It's simple really."

Tamate smiled. That was Near alright...

"Fasinating!" exclaimed Raiden retreiving his water he shot down the gun and extracting all contaminents to be left with pure water. He shook his head "i understand why you said we can go to the docks now but i never realised the gangs travel this far!?"

"You're right Raiden," Tamate said, thoughtfulness showing on his face,"it is strange that the gangs would come out here. I wonder why they did..."

OOC: I've decided to do one post Near, one post tamate. It's getting annoying doing both of them at once...

Raiden jumped as he heard a noise to his left and he glanced around unsheathing his sword he walked over to where the noise had come from and glanced down onto one of the gang members who had not yet died of the poisen running through his veins. "why are you here!" he said picking the man up by the lepel "Answer me!" as he said that he felt the man die and become limp in his hands, he dropped him and aproached Tamate. "what now?"

Near considered all the options, from tracing the gang to their hideout or examining what was left of a dead man's consciousness,"as much as I would like to find out who and why these people attacked us I believe that there is nothing we can do without putting ourselves in impending danger.

"but we can not just let this keep hapening can we? we must take action!" said Raiden angered by nears disbeleif in helping the situation.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you Raiden," Tamate said,"but Near is right, we have done all that we can do without risking our lives. And frankly, I don't want to die just now, I'm engaged!"

"wow" replied Raiden surprised "whos the lucky lady?" he also added to make things sound less surprised and more congratuletory.

Tamate smiled,"gee, thanks Raiden," he said,her name is Delia and she is like an angel. She, is what true beauty is."


Near stepped up to Raiden and whispered in his ear,"he's crazy with love. Just look at the way he looks off into the distance like he doesn't have a care in the world except for Delia!"

Raiden started a laugh but quickly swollowed it when tamate glared at him "so whens the wedding?" he said with a smile, he thought it was odd that somone in the nether to fall in love after all it was a very dreary place.