The Dragon Empire: looking for recruits

James stood up next to Kristen and looked at Osamu. "Trust me... I don't like him either. I actually think he is up to something. He probably has spies throughout this castle listening to anything we say and are ordered to report back to him." Looking in the direction of the cat. "Can you give us a second dear?" He said walking with Osamu away from Kristen and to the window. "Kristen has obviously developed some sort of attachment to Chloe, so we can't just force her to leave. Kristen is a good young girl... a young girl... who knows nothing about her magical abilities." He said looking out the window at the flock of birds flying in front of the sunset. "At this point she doesn't know the difference between good and bad. Make sure that one of us is always with her." He said nodding at Osamu. "This little occurrence isn't going to stop our original goal. We will bring back the golden age..." He said putting his arm out towards Osamu.

Lucus narrowed his eyes a bit at Osamu when he said "Mr Zane", the tom cleared his throat a bit "It's emperor . ...". When James started saying how he didn't trust nor liked Zane, the black tom's ears twitched and he growled softly, Did these imbeciles forget I can hear them?, he thought to himself, and when the assassin looked at him, Lucus' dark yellow eyes were filled with suspicion and irritation, Hmph, it's their sort of talk that leads to mutiny...., the cat thought. When the two assasins went to the window, Lucus padded up  closer so he could be in hearing range, and grumbled quietly a bit at their words, Doesn't know right from wrong? Hmph, that's a load of rubbish, there's lots of children her age that make their own decisions, and unless she was raised alongside both good and evil, she'd know what makes her feel uncomfortable..., the cat thought to himself. However, when James said the bit about "this small occurrence" and "we will bring back the golden age", the cat wrinkled his nose, This has mutiny and rebellion written all over it, I'll have to inform Zane that these two are nothing but trouble....


After the spar, Zane had told everyone a meal was being prepared, so they should go inside to the dining room.

Ooc: If you want, Raccoon?

OOC: Thank you, Vixy!


Chloe's soldier returned to her and Lord Zane.
"Lord Zane, Lady Chloe. Shadow, his friend and a young girl have just had a conversation. I've also noticed a cat that is watching the whole situation." He told them with a bow.

Chloe, who actually saw the whole scene through her one eye, using a spell, nodded. Why didn't she tell Zane earlier? The reason was obvious, she wanted to check Osamu's intentions.
"My lord, I recommend you to keep calm and check the situation. I'll go with you, if You want" Chloe told Zane, feeling that her heart is starting to beat faster.

Osamu smiled, he had a plan, but they needed to be quick. "Yes, golden age. Our clans will return to help restore the balance." The ninja said. He, of course did know about the cat, about Lucus, but he wanted to reveal some of his intentions to make the cat not as suspicious.
"The alliance with..The lord, might be profitable for both sides, I must agree," Osamu said, looking at the cat. "However, it'd be this kind of alliance where both sides don't trust each other." He said, fixing his gloves. Osamu thought about it two times, alliance would be good, but being a pawn in the hands of the young warlock emperor would lead to a disaster. They had to think about Kristen, her safety was more important than anything. Also Chloe...If she could find a way to bring back his memories, or at least bring his body back to the oryginal, mature form, he would be happy. Shadow wanted to finally get rid of Chloe's curse.

James stood firm as he listened to Osamu. "Agreed, we could use some allies, but like you say. We can't trust Zane. We answer to no one, especially him." James walked back to Kristen. "Come on my dear lets go back and meet up with the others." He said smiling at her. "Osamu, we cannot let our guard down, remember that." James decided to recon this location just in case something happened later. "Osamu, would you mind bringing Kristen back, I have to attend to something at the moment." He said waiting for them to get further down the hall. He then reached inside of his cloak and pulled out a scroll. Placing it on the window seal and unrolling it, showing nothing but a blank slate. He pulled out his knife and cut his finger, letting the blood drip onto the paper. The blood dissolving almost instantaneously, then a map of the united states appeared in blood with X's marking all of the abandoned assassins dens. He marked the location of the castle on the map and rolled it back up.

Zane nodded "Indeed, we should check it out", hopefully Lucus has some information as well" the dragon said "The warriors can head to the dining hall, the food should be done soon".  Stephan, Doug, Spade, Violet, and Erik nodded at their leader, Stephan nudged one of Chloe's soldiers and grinned "Our chef is an expert on culinary arts, his food's pretty good".

When he heard their intentions, it only made Lucus more suspicious, and the black tom had to keep the fur along his back from rising, what exactly were they up to? When James pulled out the scroll and marked it with his blood Lucus ultimately decided that they two were up to no good, I'm going to have to exterminate these two before they do anything, but of course I can't act now...In due time..., the cat thought as he lashed his tail.

Stephen nugged Carl who ran his hand through the back of his head. "Well..our best cook is Lady Chloe.. Her traditional European dishes are amazing" The soldier told him

Chloe started to lead Zane to Kristen's last known location. "The only thing I'm sure of is that we can trust Osamu. He's a man of honor..even as a ninja. You have my word. If something happens I'm standing in his defense. I should be more careful around his companion. He's more dangerous than Osamu. Assassins are murderes and hitmans. While ninjas' are mostly spies." Chloe told him.

Osamu quietly approached Kristen with a smile.
"Come on, Kristen, let's go find Chloe. James will join us later" He told her

However his words also could hear Chloe and Zane, because they were already in place.
" It's nice to hear that you actually were going to join us. However as you can see, we've decided to join you instead" Chloe told Osamu with a honest smile. It was obvious that they both trusted each other.

" Of course, Chloe. I bet that Kristen started to miss you, my dear. Am I right, Kristen-chan?" Osamu said using a very honest, kind voice. He didn't even notice that he used a Japanese honorific "-chan" for the first time. Some memories were returning to him, but he wasn't aware of it.

Kristen smiled and hugged Chloe's hip. "Yay I missed you miss Chloe!"

James rolled up the map and put it back into his pocket in the cloak. He then gazed out the window for several minutes, sighed, and walked down the hall. "I hope all this isn't for nothing..." He said as passed the cat, glaring at him with his red eye and continued down the hall. He felt as if this was a mistake coming here. It felt as if once again that no one trusted him, besides Osamu of course. For some reason, since his brothers disappearance, he felt connected to Osamu, as if he were his actual brother. He understands him and knows what he is going through. As he approached the group amassing in the hall he couldn't help but glare at Chloe. Standing besides Osamu and listening to the conversation.

Zane kept his eyes forward and his voice clear before he spoke to Chloe "That may be true that assasins kill, and ninjas can be used for spying, however, I don't judge individuals by their occupation, and besides..." The dragon glanced at Chloe and lowered his voice a bit "Ninjas can be trained to assassinate as well....". When the warlock and the witch got to the scene, Lucus instantly went up to Zane and climbed up onto the young emperor's shoulder, eyeing James and Osamu suspiciously. Zane knew that his advisor wasn't so trusting of strangers, but he never took Lucus' behavior lightly, for the tom never did anything without good reason.

Chloe nodded. "Yes, they are also trained to kill, however, their training focuses on spying skills. We should also mention fact that the ninjas were sometimes also samurais..or..Rōnins" She told Zane, lowering her voice as well.
The witch looked at Kristen and smiled for her, to show how happy she is, to see her. She put her hand on the girl's back. "Oh Kristen, you're so cute.." She told her.

"Of course she is.." Osamu said quielty with a smile.
Shadow looked at James and patted him on the shoulders, understanding what he feels. It reminded him of his first day in the famous shibusen. Because some people couldn't trust him, he got attacked by..Well..It seemed to be a dragon warlock or somethin'. It was normal that people don't trust spies and assassins, because, well, noone knows who is their target.

Kristen smiled and hugged her leg tight.

James just looked over at Osamu when he patted him on the shoulder. He had been lost for several minutes. This often happened when he was in the presence of someone he despised, he held a reasonable amount of hatred towards Chloe for abandoning the group. He believed once someone was assigned a mission or even began one, they see it through to the end, even until death. He had been in a state of meditation until he was touched by Osamu. After he glanced over at him, he then nodded and pulled away from the group glancing at Lucas with his glowing red eye, and then making his way to the window. Something felt off within himself... his body felt different as if someone was looking over him. He turned to see that everyone was still where they were. Was it his body? His soul? He felt as if he was losing the connection to himself, it almost seemed like he was being drawn to... well evil... "What the hell is happening..." He said looking out of the window.

Ooc: Is this dead?

Ooc: No, and it's only been 4 days, not even a week, since you.posted, so yeah, I'm waiting for a bit because reasons.

Zane didn't respond to Chloe after her last statement, watching her, Osamu, Chloe and James silently while he thought to himself, Chloe obviously favors Osamu over James, and she seems to not think that ninjas are lethal, which they very much are, but ninja or not, you can't just judge someone by their occupation, and though I trust Chloe's word, but I'll have to get to know these two myself. Lucus was having his own thoughts as well, but his weren't necessarily positive, however, he kept his thoughts to himself as he and Zane watched quietly.

Ooc: sorry about that, I just really wanted to see what's next.

Zane's thought was wrong in one part. Chloe knew that the ninjas are lethal. She'd seen Osamu in action, his style, his sword, blood of his enemies. However, the young lord was right about one thing. She favored Osamu over James, because: 1.) She knew him better/longer 2.) There was some kind of a strange bond between them. 3.) She knew what Osamu was capable of 4.) The past that puts her in a negative light in James' eyes. The betrayal of Vinnie. Well, she did her part of the job so it wasn't really betrayal plus the kishin egg was killed by Inker. No, she did not leave, she was planning to finish her task, but in a different way. However the situation...Well...Everything went wrong and James and Vinnie became her enemies. But it was in the past, the past that should be forgotten...Forever..

Osamu bowed, in apology. "I'm sorry, I must immidiately speak to my comrade." The ninja told Chloe in Zane with so required respect.
Shadow walked over to the assassin and put his hand on James' shoulder. "Is everything okay? You don't look very well." He asked with worry in his voice.

James didn't even acknowledge Osamu's notion. He just had a blank stare in his face as he stood there. Since he entered this castle, he felt like his soul was fighting a battle.... and his was losing... He felt as if he was being drawn to some evil force. His eye began to glow red. He looked at Osamu. "Yes... I'm fine..." He said looking at him.

Lucus yawned, becoming bored of the situation, plus there was a schedule to uphold "Exscuse me" the cat said aloud "We should all be joining the others for the meal about now, evening will turn into night soon, and getting off of schedule is not something I'd wish to do". Zane nodded "Indeed, it would be best if we joined the others for dinner, they're most likely wondering what's going on" the dragon said.

The witch nodded. "I must agree. We can't keep everyone waiting, because it's not fair." She said with a smile.

Osamu knew that something was indeed wrong with James, but they couldn't ignore everyone's schedule. The ninja decided to nod at Zane, Lucus and Chloe's words. "Let's go, James, but please, if something is wrong tell me immidiately" He warned his comrade.

He just looked at Osamu. "I'm fine..." He said walking past him and walking with the others. For some odd reason he kept being rude and mean to his comrade. It isn't like him to act like this. He cannot figure out what is wrong with him.

Osamu shook his head. The ninja sighed loudly. The only thing he wanted in that moment was silence.

Chloe looked at the two, she didn't say anything and just decided to follow Zane and the rest.

Zane and Lucus started to head towards the dinning area, Zane signaling the rest of the group to follow. Once at the dinning area, they'd see Stephan trying to engage in conversation if one wasn't already started, Spade and Erik sitting there quietly, and Doug listening to Stephan.

James followed them in silence, he decided to pull Osamu aside and speak with him. His glowing eye beginning to hurt. He pulled him aside away from the group so they cannot overhear them. "Osamu... something is happening to me... i feel like im turning away from everything that i know... It seems like im being drawn to some evil force..." He said as he held his eye. He grabbed him by his collar. "You have to help me..."

Ooc: Guts, posting order...

Ooc: Sorry I got confused

Ooc: Yeah, I got confused too. Sorry. To fix it I'll write a short post

Posting Order (I don't want to have it destroyed again ;/ ):

Chloe followed Zane and Lucus. Her people were waiting there too.

Osamu made sure that the rest of the group are far enough from them. "Tell me more and give me an advice how to help you." He said