“Go away....” Sora growled to the light that was starting to stream in through the windows of the Inn. She opened a brown eye, glaring daggers at it.”...Don’t want to get up...” Her reply was the cheerful—extremely too cheerful, according to Sora—chirping of the birds. Groaning, she sat up, stretching her body out as far as it would go. She winced, shying away from the bright sun as she let her light blonde hair down from a ponytail. She was surprised she could actually still put it up; it only fell to her shoulders.

    “I’m never going to challenge Shinjii to another sparring match...” She mumbled, climbing out of bed. “That ninja’s too dang fast...” She looked around the room, crossing her arms.

    Her room was strangely empty, surprising her, considering the fact that she traveled with three other people- People isn’t the best word..., she thought, rubbing her temples. A better word for it was friends.

    First off, there was her best friend and powerful black mage, Itaki. She had come from a black mage village but was kicked out when she was only thirteen. Apparently, while the mage was powerful, she just couldn’t control her powers and set the entire village on fire. It was an accident, but then again, Itaki had been giggling like the pyromaniac she was before she realized what she was doing. Instant banishment. So, she had traveled on her own until she met up with Riku.

    Riku came from Arcane Mountains, a place to the North where werewolves thrived but kept mostly to themselves. His tribe was one of the lowest of the low. When he was very young, Riku wanted to bring back the honor and glory it once had. But he had been young, weak, and naďve. The task he had been supposed to do was too much, because of his strength, and because he was supposed to slaughter an entire village, pups included. And he just could not do it. His tribe shunned him, and it was too much. He fled, only to wind up in a cage until Itaki came along. They had no idea how old he was, though he claims to be young in wolf years. Which meant he was around sixty in human years.

    Shinjii was twenty-five, a ninja who was sweet but chose silence over speaking. They had all found him in a bar, where someone had been making trouble, and watched in amazement as he took the huge man down without even batting an eye. His past was as mysterious as he, though Itaki managed to wriggle some things out of him. He had once been in the great army of Delta, under the King. His troop was once engaged in a bloody, violent, and brutal battle against some wraiths and goblins that had a taste for human flesh. The only ones that survived were Shinjii and two other people. Sick of the carnage, he quit, traveling until Sora and the others approached him about traveling with them. He agreed.

    Sora had also been in the army. She had been a Zodiac Knight, until she had been kicked out of the Academy. Her old teacher had told her of her great potential, and then proceeded to yell and scream about Sora’s lack of patience and discipline. She had a defiant air sometimes, and the Academy always brought it out. She was fifteen years old when this was happening. Of course, she hadn’t always been so defiant it drove people crazy. The missions she’d been forced to do were too advanced, too violent, too tough. Those pushed her over the edge.

    Normally, the Academy would at least attempt to try and convince her to stay. But, Sora would trip over her own feet, her own sword, in the heat of battle. They let her go very easily. But at twenty, she was more graceful, a lot stronger, and more focused than back then.

    They were all misfits in their own way. But that was completely all right with them. After being together for four years, Shinjii two, they were very close and loyal to each other. And while Itaki was still immature, Riku was still an arrogant jerk, and Sora had anger issues, they had grown a lot stronger. In fact, one of Itaki’s favorite pastimes was using Riku to experiment any new spells she’d learned. Normally, the werewolf would be hiding at any mention of magic. But he and Itaki had been together for over eight years, loving each other for at least half that time. The mage was really the only one that Riku would actually listen to.

    Sora sighed softly as she pulled her armor over the violet dress she wore as she heard the barely audible cling in the pouch she carried money in. They used to have a lot of it. You had to make money someway, so they would do all sorts of jobs, from rounding up chickens to killing a monster. People were very lazy and very generous at times. But that was until Itaki had been wandering around a town and spent nearly all the money on the single most idiotic thing she could have bought: A Boco Egg that cost almost a million gold.

    It was, as Shinjii humbly dubbed it, “The Extremely Overpriced Boco Egg.” Sora had come close to slicing Itaki into mincemeat—she had never been so furious in her entire life—but Shinjii had held her back, luckily.

    And the egg that caused her so much anger was sitting on the dresser, seemingly mocking her with its egg shape and whiteness. She narrowed her eyes, walking over to it. “I hate you,” She growled venomously. The egg didn’t reply. Sora’s eye twitched. “QUIT MOCKING ME! I OUGHTA EAT YOU!” The egg was still silent, which seemed to make the situation worse. The woman refused the urge to attack the inanimate object and chewed on her lip instead.

    Instead, she grudgingly picked the egg up and walked down the stairs to the main desk. Looking almost in pain, she handed over the last of the gold, putting the Boco egg into the pouch. The man behind the desk also gave her back her sword. Here in these small towns, they were paranoid about travelers stirring up trouble, so they confiscated any weapons. She was about to ask if he’d seen her friends when her question was answered by Itaki’s voice.

    “Ladies and Gentlemen! Come one, come all, and see the Amazing Itaki and Shinjii...with help from our less than willing assistant, Riku!” The black mage announced, smiling at the people inside the small bar. She was standing on a table because of her short stature, but also to attract attention. While Sora was asleep last night, she’d come up with a plan to pay Sora back to the money she had spent on the egg. Plus, she loved the attention she was about to receive.

    “Today, let us amaze and mystify you with examples of black wizardry and art! We will be using the flaming spell, Fire; The stony spell, Petrify; The quiet spell, Silence; and our ninja master, Shinjii, shall be using his shinobu knives!” She turned her back to the crowd, her eyes glowing very softly.

    Sora leaned against a wall, crossing her arms and smiling slightly. Itaki’s “Magic Shows” were always entertaining. And it always managed to rake in some money, enough for them to get by.

    The black mage winked at Riku, her brown eyes having a slight red tinge to them, pushing her raven hair back. Riku narrowed his crimson eyes, growling, exposing one wicked fang at her. He may be a guinea pig for her, but that did not mean he was going to like it. He never got hurt mortally; Itaki always healed him, though there was a period when his black hair was a bright green. Shinjii smiled at him reassuringly, receiving a heated glare.

    “You ready, hot stuff?” Itaki asked, and the werewolf growled. She casted Silence just as he was preparing to use some extremely vulgar words. The crowd blinked and clapped while Shinjii pulled out the small knives. He nodded to Itaki, whose hands and eyes started to glow red softly.

    The mage closed her eyes, focusing, feeling the rush of power as it began running through her veins. She clapped her hands together, intertwining all except her pointer fingers. “Burn,” She whispered softly, opening her eyes. Her pupils turned to slits as a surge of fire burst from her fingers. People gasped as the fire wrapped itself around the ninja’s knives

    Shinjii didn’t even blink. He was unafraid of the flames while the crowd took a step back. Riku’s eyes grew wide. He suddenly wished that he wore shirts, dawning only the loose pair of pants held up by many belts he owned. Since he was a werewolf, he liked to have as few pieces of clothing on at a time in case he needed to switch forms at a moment’s notice. Besides, Itaki always had some sort of trick up her sleeve.

    Just don’t turn me into a chicken again! He begged her silently, his eyes growing bigger when Itaki let out her pyro giggle. Before he could blink, Shinjii hurled the knives. They embedded themselves into the wall, dangerously close to the werewolf’s body. He didn’t move, though his eye was twitching as much as his tail.

    The knives outlined his body, the fire starting to surround them. The crowd gasped in amazement and started clapping enthusiastically. They’re so easily amused! Sora thought, chuckling. They may not want us to carry around weapons, but these small villages are ALWAYS starving for entertainment, they’ll take anything. I don’t blame them though...It’s becoming more and more dangerous to be a traveler...

    Sora sighed softly before laughing as Itaki suddenly turned Riku into a bright green frog. The little wolf-frog croaked silently, attempting to tackle the mage. She giggled, petrifying and catching him in mid air. The crowd went wild as she and Shinjii bowed.

    “Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, thank you!” She said, taking off her hat and offering it to people. They eagerly started filling it with gold. Shinjii took off his mask, a rare thing for him, and earned some very appreciative looks from a few women. One eye was green, the other gold, though they were sometimes hidden by his black hair and bangs. Talon-like scars were on both of his cheeks, but they only seemed to make him more appealing. He only smiled humbly at the women.

    As the crowd started thinning, Sora walked over, smiling. Itaki handed her the oversized hat full of the money. “Here you go!” She said cheerfully. “No where near a million, but it’ll keep us fed for a while!” Sora nodded, giggling at Riku’s state.

    “Itaki, he’s going to be really angry when he turns back to normal,” She warned. Itaki just waved a hand.

    “Gah, what’s he gonna do? And if he does try something, I’ll get Shinjii to use that charming potion I know he has!” She winked at him as his eyes got wide. He shook his head vehemently. Charmed only worked on the opposite sex. But if it worked on the same sex, you had a problem. “I was just kidding, Shinjii! Save it for the next cute chick that comes your way!”

    He, of course, stayed silent, blushing lightly. Sora was about to scold Itaki for picking on him when she felt a hand on her shoulder. “Excuse me, Miss?” It was the Inn owner. He was smiling at them. “That was a very entertaining show--”

    “Thank you, sir!” Itaki chirped, loving the praise.

    “—But I’m afraid I’m going to have to take the money you earned.”

    Sora’s face paled. “..W-Why?”

    He pointed to the wall, which now sported Riku’s outline in black. “Surely you’re going to pay for the damages you caused! I’m going to have to get that fixed!”

    Sora gave Itaki such a heated glare, the mage hid behind Shinjii. Again, almost painfully, she handed him in the money, wringing Itaki’s hat as she did. “Thank you, Miss!” The Inn keeper said, smiling and walked back over to his desk. The knight was twitching, flexing her hands.

    “I...Ta...Ki...” She said in a low voice. The mage made a “Meep!” sound.

    “Y-y-yes, Sora?” She replied, holding Riku’s petrified froggy form to her chest.

    “I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” She lunged for the mage since Shinjii moved out of the way. The mage yelped and tore out of the Inn as fast as she could with the fuming knight hot on her trail. Shinjii stared at them before sighing, taking off after both of them before Sora chocked Itaki to death.