wanted! Castle Killer! [Kanix Laspor]

CALL OF THEWILD

Kanix Laspor yawned and stretched her limbs from where she sat on one of the stone benches Basilisk Fang had in its guild hall. She closed her eyes and spread her arms wide before letting them drop to her sides, and she stood to her feet. A lightheaded feeling rushed over her, so she placed a hand on the table to steady herself, then moved onto the job board when the feeling disappeared. With her right hand, she would trail her fingertips over the papers to feel for any possible chance that they had braille on them. Only a frown would appear on her face when she came to the realization that none of these papers had braille on them at all. Instead of stomping off angrily, the Basilisk Fang mage ripped one of them down and stuffed it in the face of a passing guildmate. Kanix would smile at them briefly, so show that she wasn't angry at or taking her anger out on them, but simply wanted to know what it read.

"Do you mind reading what's on that for me, please?" she would inquire in a more demanding tone, despite the "please".

"You've been contracted to take down an extremely dangerous man. The city guard has no information on him, and no one has come back alive. The guard can't even find him..." the nameless, faceless person carefully read over the request. "Job location is Rose Garden."

"Hm... thank you for reading that for me," Kanix thanked the man, her tone now sweet and kindly as she tore the paper from his hands.

She would turn on her way and exit the guild hall, heading down the mountain side and beginning her trek to Rose Garden. Kanix hummed a little as she walked through the terrain, narrowly avoiding anything dangerous that was in her path. It would be a couple of days before she even reached Rose Garden, so there wasn't any harm in taking her leisurely time. Perhaps she would make a pit stop here and there for the hell of it, but she also knew she had a job to tend to and not just a vacation.

CALL OF THEWILD

As she stepped onto the stone path of Rose Garden's streets, Kanix couldn't help, but look around at her surroundings. She could feel the aura of lacrima magic coursing through the place, igniting the street lamps that were lit aglow with a calming yellow light. A brief smile settled on her lips, as she enjoyed feeling the sensation of welcome run through her body. However, the smile disappeared instantly and she continued forth on her quest to run across one of the guards in town. Perhaps, they would be able to explain to her something of what was going on before she really delved deep into the job. What she really wanted was at least some sort of detail or hints on where she would be able to start her search.

Kanix had gotten lost in her thought over the job, worrying over how she was supposed to find this killer, and nearly bumped into one of the guardsmen.

"Hey, watch where you're going, lady!" the guardsmen ordered from her, but the expression on his face changed and he bowed toward. "My apologies, Miss, I didn't realize you weren't able to see. Please, forgive me; I won't make that mistake again!"

"It's quite all right, Sir; do you mind if I get a feel of what you look like?" Kanix requested, reaching a hand forward to place it on the man's face. "I'm looking for one of the palace guardsmen; they say that there's a castle killer around and I am here to help out."

"Feel free to... Oh! Well, Ma'am, I'm one of those castle guards. I can escort you to the palace grounds while you're here," the guard responded.

"That would be quite kind of you, Sir," she answered the guard, running her fingertips over the man's facial features.

A strong jawline, squared it felt like to her, running toward a pointy chin, and decorated with thin, small lips. High cheekbones, a hooked nose that was thin and long, much like a witch's, and beady, rounded eyes. Large forehead, a hairline pulled back, but the rest of his face happened to be disguised by a metallic helmet. Kanix dropped her hand to her side and smiled at him again, then extended her hand again, so that he could take it. When he did, the duo set off toward the castle, so that she was able to meet the duke that owned it and learn a bit more about the job.

CALL OF THEWILD

"Who is she?" another man's voice interrupted the silence that the duo had been walking in to the castle grounds.

"This is the mage who took up our request to help find that dangerous man," the guard beside her answered the man.

"I see... Well, bring her inside then and we'll discuss what we've learned so far of this guy," the other man ordered.

She could feel the guard tense his muscles and pull her along into the building, the doors slamming shut behind them with an echoing bang. He walked her toward one of the seats in the large gathering room and helped her sit down before moving away. Kanix placed her hands in her lap, her staff resting up against the base of the seat, right next to her. Her blind, iridescent, blue eyes studied the duke that owned the place, waiting for him to say something to her.

"We have nothing on this man; we don't know what he looks like, we don't know where he runs off to, and we don't know how he fights," the duke explained. "This man is a complete mystery to us, and no matter what we do to find him, he somehow is always a step ahead of us. What that means is that no matter what, he somehow always has his steps erased before we can get to them." As he was speaking, however, the heavy steps of someone landing on the roof echoed in the room around them. Everyone there froze in their place and listened to the footsteps, but Kanix stood to her feet and ran out the door with her weapon. She stumbled out onto the palace grounds and looked to the roof, but couldn't hear anything close to her.

Instead of sticking around, she decided to simply head out and get the job done, not worrying about how to find this person.

CALL OF THEWILD

Kanix bumped into someone who was carrying a hornet's nest, causing the person to drop it onto the stone path. The nest cracked open and the hornets began to fly out; instinctively, they started to swarm around the dark mage. She let out a wail of terror as buzzing filled her ears, and she ducked her head down, swatting at the hornets. Her staff whacked a few away, and when she given the chance, she tapped it against the ground as quickly as possible. With eyes lit aglow, the woman swiftly summoned the one thing that she knew would take care of the insects. As she did so, the buzzing stopped instantaneously, causing her to lift her head up and look around herself. Kanix was lucky enough to discover that her Nightmare Inducement spell worked well on the hornets.

She smiled at her accomplishment and strutted off, swinging her hips with her staff lightly tapping against the ground with each step. As she walked away, the hornets that had been frozen in fear now began to drop one by one like flies. This was one thing she didn't have to worry about anymore, as being stung by hornets likely didn't feel well. On top of that, it was the last sensation that she wanted to experience, and she was lucky enough to have not been stung by one. Without a second thought toward the dying hornets, the dark mage picked up her pace and continued her search for the killer. Kanix needed to get this job done and over with, the longer she wasted here, the higher of chance she had at failing.

CALL OF THEWILD

Kanix charged through the town, running as quickly as her long legs could carry her, and without running into things. Her staff was the leader, taking her around corners and buildings, and leading her toward where she hoped she would run into the killer. However, the likelihood of that happening was extremely low for her, especially with no information on him. She would just have to do her best though, she would just have to find a way to make sure that she knew it was this guy. Actually, she didn't even know if it was a guy at all; for all she knew, this killer could be a massive monster. The dark mage stopped in her tracks and listened in to her surroundings, trying to catch any sound at all. Nothing gave way, and she was disappointed to have to continue her search through the town, hoping to find it.

Her pace was slower this time, and she listened to the people conversing around her, how happy they were. It disgusted her really, but what did it matter when she was not part of the conversations and they were of no concern to her. Besides, if one of them turned out to be the killer, she would just have to kill them anyway, so whatever to her. Kanix blocked out the sound and continued on her way, trying to focus on her surroundings more than the talking people. No point in listening the conversations when she had better things to do, things that needed to get done.

CALL OF THEWILD

The smells around her were amazing, distracting even; bakery smells, smells of flowers, honey, and various other sweet things. Kanix closed her eyes, letting her staff guide her steps with each sweep and whack of the end as it moved forward. They were tantalizing smells, but she knew that she couldn't make a pit stop to eat something right now. It was far too early in the job to take a break; plus, she didn't know how the guardsmen and duke were with breaks. If they wanted her to complete the job as quickly as possible, then she wasn't going to be taking any breaks. She opened her eyes after a while, still unable to see like she wanted, and went back to listening to her surroundings. Snippets of conversation, but nothing of interest to her, so she pushed the information to the back of her mind.

A few giggles here and there entered her ears, Kanix would look toward them and the giggling would stop. She frowned, but would look away and continue walking, not interested in having to deal with people teasing her. Asking was one thing, but plain out teasing was another story when it came to the shaman, though that was for a different time. Her staff tacked against the wall of a building, then she turned a corner, heading down a different way from the giggling children. For one, she hated children, and for two, they way they blatantly teased her because of her lack of sight.

CALL OF THEWILD

The woman grumbled something under her breath and nearly bumped into someone at the same time from not paying attention. She frowned and maneuvered around the person, ignoring their blabbering yells toward her from behind her. People were things she didn't want to deal with right now, not when she was clearly a very busy person. They just didn't happen to like the fact that she was busy and walking in their way, when they weren't busy either. Kanix huffed and flicked her hair behind her back, shaking off any strands that had been pulled from it in the process. In fact, she hated people, and being surrounded by them was the most disgusting thing that could ever happen to her. Yet jobs came from people, so she had to tolerate them a little bit, enough that she wouldn't slaughter them all.

Kanix turned another corner, her staff's butt thwacking into the feet of another person, who only grumbled at her and continued on. She hissed in his general direct, but other than that, chose to ignore the people around her once again. The dark mage lifted her head up a little in a snooty position, the feathers and little bones on the knot of her staff jangling. Hell, she felt like being a bit of a bitch right now, but there was no one around for her to torture without getting in trouble. Well, not that getting into trouble should matter to her, but she didn't want to risk ruining her job over it.

CALL OF THEWILD

"Well, aren't you a pretty lady," a low voice rumbled out, a grungy-looking man appearing from the shadows. One hand was behind his back as he weaved his way around the blind woman, his brown eyes looking her over. Kanix stood rigid in her place, her staff pulled close to her, though ready to whack the man if she needed to. A small whine escaped her lips and she moved off to the side as he circled her one more time, her boobs jiggling from the movement. "What a nice body there. . . I could definitely use that for things. . ." the man spoke inconspicuously to her. He stopped and faced the front of her, eyeing her breasts like they were the most beautiful piece of art he's nice. The grubby man went in for a grope, but Kanix wouldn't let that happen and screamed before aiming her staff at his head.

People were looking in her general direction, but turned away when the knot of the staff made contact with the man's head. Unfortunately, despite being incapacitated for a brief second, the hobo grabbed her waist and pulled her into the dark alley. Kanix went in kicking and punching, and trying to whack him with her staff, but to no avail did any of that happen. The man grimaced at her, and tossed her to the ground with a loud oof as she landed harshly on the cement.

"Please, just let me go or I'll kill you!" she begged him.

"No, no, pretty kitty," he stated.

CALL OF THEWILD

Kanix lifted up her arm up that still held onto her staff, hand nearly white from the tight grip she had on it. "Go away!" she ordered him, pointing the knot of her staff at the man as threateningly as she possibly could. "I-I'll whack you with this staff if you don't leave me alone, and I swear to God it won't be a pretty sight when I'm done!"

"You talk smack for a pretty bitch, but that's not what I have in mind for ya, girly girl; I have much more better things." He smiled mischievously at her and pulled his hand from behind his back, shaking a little bottle at her. It wasn't an aphrodisiac, it wasn't any sort of thing for what she had thought he was planning to do to her. No, it was vial of poison that he wanted to poor down her throat that she was not aware of it being at all.

He knelt down, shoved her to the ground, and held her down with one knee, he would then aim to pour the liquid down her throat. Kanix wiggled around and kicked and screamed and tried biting his fingers, all to release herself from him. She lifted her staff again and whacked him over the head, which caused the poison to spill from the bottle and the man to topple over. The dark mage sat up and coughed, wiping away the poison that had spilled onto her face from the incident.

CALL OF THEWILD

She pulled herself to her feet and grabbed her staff, looking down at the man that was now unconscious from her whack. Her eyes narrowed and she picked up her staff in her other hand, pulling back and letting it swing forward. The crack of his skull sounded in her ears, and she blindly thwacked him again, as well as for a third time. He had angered her, and he would not live to see the light of day for making her scream like a helpless damsel. Kanix was not a damsel in distress, she would never be one, and what he had done was something she couldn't forgive. Several minutes later, and the woman stepped out of the alleyway with blood splattering her white coat. Running a hand across her face, she wiped the blood that had splattered onto her, then continued walking.

Kanix heaved a sigh and dusted herself off as she walked, weaving through the crowd of people as if nothing happened. Surely, they would find that man in the alley some day, maybe not today or maybe they would, who knew. She cleared her throat and looked up again, placing a fake smile on her face as she nonchalantly walked the town. Obstacles were part of the past, she would overcome them no matter what was thrown at her, blind or not. Just because she couldn't see, didn't mean that she wasn't capable of fending for herself and surviving like anyone normal. It just meant that she was a lot harder to take down because she had gone through a lot more to survive the world.

CALL OF THEWILD

Kanix stretched her arms above her head as she walked, giving out a yawn in the process before dropping them to her side. She felt rather sore from her struggle against the hornets and now against that deceased, insane hobo man. What she really felt like doing was taking a pit stop and eating something, maybe even rest for a couple of minutes. Perhaps she would do that, but she didn't know where any food store was at or any restaurant now that she thought about it. This place was just as foreign as walking through the halls of her guild, that she had yet to explore, by the way. So, she didn't know where she was going, she was just wandering around and using her staff as a seeing stick. Another corner around and that sweet smell of bakery goods entered her nose, and she licked her lips at the thought.

She would follow the smell until she came across the glass door of a bakery shop, and enter the small building. Kanix looked around and breathed in the sweet smells of cake, cupcakes, brownies, and so much more goodies. Then she would move over to an empty table and sit down, resting her staff against the edge of the round table. Sitting for a couple of minutes wouldn't be such a bad thing, she would just eat something after resting for a while. The dark mage would lay her head on her arms and close her eyes, breathing in deeply and resting at the table.

CALL OF THEWILD

It was silly, really, how she was forced into running out to catch that damned castle killer without a second's thought. Somehow, it had been ingrained into her nature that she should always do that, always run out to get herself killed. Kanix yawned and lifted her head from her arms, listening to the bustle of people as they walked in and out. The wavering smell of the food tempted her, and she stood back to her feet, bringing her staff with her. Calmly, she would walk to the counter and purchase a few cookies from the cashier, who grabbed them from the glass container and placed them in a bag. She would take that bag from the cashier and walked away with it, opening it on her way back to her table. Grabbing a cookie from the bag, she bit into it, savoring the sweet flavor that flooded her taste buds instantaneously.

Kanix set the bag on the table, her staff against the side, and plopped herself back in the seat she had claimed. She closed her eyes again, but only to enjoy the succulent taste that the cookies indulged her taste buds with. While she ate those purchased goods, she would listen in on the conversations of those who walked by her. Nothing much of interest, but it helped pass the time, so that's what she did until all of the cookies were gone. Afterward, she just sat there and listened, her head lowered; thus, making her look as if she was staring at the table.

CALL OF THEWILD

When a few more minutes had passed, Kanix decided that it was best to get a move on with her job once more. The longer she procrastinated, the longer it would take for her to get the job done on timely manner. As far as she was aware, the guardsmen and duke would want her to catch this bandit as quickly as she could. So, to procrastinate any longer would give her a bad reputation, and she did not want Famine to find out about that. Standing to her feet, the mage would grab her staff, leave the bag on the table, and head out the bakery's door. She exited the place as quietly as she had entered, this time leaving only the bag as evidence that she had been there. Not that anyone would have known that she, herself, had left that cookie bag there on that table in the bakery.

However, it was the pounding of footsteps that drew her attention to another direction, mostly to listen to them. She was curious to know what or who they belonged to, but also did not want to get closer in fear it was an enemy. The last thing she needed was another encounter with someone that she didn't necessarily want to handle at the time. No, what she really wanted to do, seeing as she was getting bored, was to go home and find something better to do. Yet, she stayed where she was, carefully studying the direction the sound was coming from, and waited.

CALL OF THEWILD

A swarm of hornets were heading this way, chasing people down the walkway, who were screaming in terror. Kanix merely stood there, slightly amused by how they were running, but also not wanting to be attacked, herself. She grimaced and turned back to the swarm of hornets, waiting until they were close enough to her to start attacking. The mage tapped her staff against the ground and called upon one of the spirits, she was friends with, for help. Her blind eyes swirled with a white light and the emerald on her staff light up with the same glow as well. Then she swept the staff in front of her, casting the spell on the swarm of hornets, who froze in place afterward. Their tiny arms gripped their heads as they swirled around in a mass, trying to decipher reality from illusion.

After a while, the hornets began to drop like flies, one by one, until they were all crumpled on the ground. Most of them were dead, others were paralyzed and dying, she could have cared less about nuisance of insects. She would turn on her way at this point and head on down the streets, wandering aimlessly like she had recently been doing. As if she would encounter the castle killer anytime soon, the doubt was starting to arise in her head already. Besides, what would she do when she finally did encounter that thing that was running rampant? Freeze in terror or fight it like an actual dark mage?

CALL OF THEWILD

Kanix yawned out of boredom and swung her staff forward, not caring if it happened to hit anyone in her way. Speak of the devil, and someone was screaming at her about how she should watch what she was doing with that dumb stick. She merely shrugged at them and continued on her way, the smile still plastered silly to her face for now. Nothing better to do than wander the streets, as she had long since given up on actually looking for the one who she was after. If it wanted to make an appearance, then by all means, she would encounter it at the time it decided to appear. The Basilisk Fang mage hummed a little she walked, twirling her staff slightly in her hand and enjoying the stroll. People passed by her, eyed her, but nothing more than that happened, and she was clearly covered in blood.

Funny how no one had asked her what all of that was on her coat, as if they just assumed it was part of the design. Then again, that was probably for the best of them, as knowing that a dark mage was around probably wasn't good. Kanix hummed a little more and even put a jump to her step, though it wasn't long before that skip ended abruptly. There was something in the air again; she wasn't sure what it was, couldn't explain precisely, but it was there. She stood in place and spun on her heels to check every direction, for she felt that something was following her. Not that she could guess, but scenarios ran through her head, ones that she didn't necessarily like looking at.

CALL OF THEWILD

Kanix was tackled to the ground as someone came running by, grabbed her around the waist, and took her down. She let out a scream of terror, as she did not see that outcome as a possibility, meaning that they had changed the future on her. Now, she wasn't all that certain of what was happening, and she struggled against the weight that was on top of her. Her staff was tossed aside, thrown away from her after the impact of landing on the ground like something tossed away. With what little strength she had, the mage would try to push herself over, either rolling on top of the person or escaping. However, neither of that happened, as the one above her was far too heavy for her to even budge or push away. The woman let out a huff of air, but was taken back when the person maneuvered her, so that she was now on her back.

Her body was straddled between the person's legs, and the next thing she knew, a bottle top was being popped open. This would be the second time that someone was going to try and poison her, and now she was unable to do anything. Kanix was left utterly defenseless, and with her staff thrown to the side, she didn't know where it could be. She had heard it fall, but she didn't know how close it could be or if it was even possible for her to make a move toward it. The next thing she knew, she could feel liquid being poured onto her face, and her mouth being forced open again. She wanted to scream for help, but she couldn't.

CALL OF THEWILD

Suddenly, the woman felt the weight lifted off her body and she sat up, confused as to what had happened just now. She wiped away the liquid that had been poured on her face, likely poison, but she didn't know why they were trying to poison her. Perhaps they had a vendetta against her, but once again, Kanix wouldn't know why they would even have one. After all, she hardly knew anyone around here or anywhere in the world for that matter, so that's why she didn't understand. Kanix grappled for her staff, and when her hands wrapped around it, she lifted herself back to her feet. Quickly, she dusted herself off, and wandered away, too embarrassed about that incident than to deal with it. The mage grumbled a few things under her breath and tried fixing her posture and attitude, but nothing worked for it.

Things were just getting worse for her, she just wanted all of this to end and and it was starting to drag on. Why wouldn't the killer appear for her? What did the killer even look like? Why had she taken on this job when she knew nothing. Maybe she was mad at herself, maybe she wasn't, everything was starting to become confusing for her and messing her up. Kanix looked around, listened, but nothing gave away a single hint as to if the killer was even in this vicinity. Who knew, maybe it had run off to someplace else, some place that it wouldn't be as much of a nuisance for her.

CALL OF THEWILD

The familiar buzzing sound entered her ears for a third time that day, in which it was starting to annoy her more than anything else. A frown spilled across her lips and she turned on her way, rushing down the sidewalk without hesitating to look back. There was no way that she was going to stick around when there was a possible chance of being met with hornets again. She had a enough of those today, and to hear that they were there again, why that pissed her off to the utmost annoyed. Kanix wasn't sure if her spell kept failing and they weren't dying or if they were just literal nests being dropped right and left. All those possible outcomes rushing her mind, she wasn't sure which possibility she wanted to make come true. Even so, as she was running, they were constantly changing, which was giving her a headache alongside being annoyed.

She weaved through the crowd of people until she came to a door of a building and entered it, shutting it behind her. Kanix didn't know where the wasps were or if they were going to follow her after she ran away, but hopefully, they would be gone. With a heavy sigh, she pressed against the closed door and slid to the floor, but as she did so, a low growl emitted through the air. The mage went rigid, her body stiffening at the sound, and she listened as the growling and thumping of steps came closer. Snatching up her staff, she quickly tapped it on the ground, letting the gem glow and her sightless eyes light up. Again, imaged clouded her mind as she worked her way into summoning an elemental creature for protection. As the beast got closer, the creature at her side would growl threateningly before launching itself at whatever was coming toward her.

It nipped and clawed at the beast, which distracted it momentarily, but the creature only whacked her guardian away. That didn't stop it from launching itself back at her attacker though, this time latching onto one of its fat legs. Her fire elemental wolf would crunch on the leg until it made a large gash on the creature, then back off as it tried to attack. The creature would dodge and run around the beast, until finally it made another attack on the monster by slashing. Then it would shift a part of its body into a shield, making sure that Kanix was kept behind it at all times. While the monster was busy attacking her elemental, Kanix would stand back to her feet and prepare herself for the onslaught.