Knights, Shadows, and New Comrades (Intro, Open)

March 11, Year XXXX
A Few Miles From The Savage Skull Guild Hall
Kyoden A. Numata
Unaffiliated

The sun had set only a few moments before. The horizon blackening, and the tiny specks of light coming from the now dark sky were bringing some minute brightness to the forest floor below. A shadow dashed along the treetops at breakneck speeds, with another following close behind. The leading shadow was non other than Kyoden himself. The moment he landed on a tree branch, he was already transferring his weight in order to leap to the next. The shadow that was chasing him was a captain from the Rune Knight's special operations division. Some things had happened involving Kyoden in the city of Era, home of the Magic Council; So to make a long story short, He was now being pursued by this high ranking officer of the law. Kyoden had originally made his way to the Spooky Forest in hopes of losing the knight in the heavy fog, but to no avail. The captain was no push over when it came to speed. Kyoden would normally have no issue defeating someone of his skill, but he could not risk the Knights having any information on his appearance; So he was currently disguised as his black haired alter-ego of sorts. The downside to taking this form is that he does not have access to his magic; hence why he had chosen to run rather than fight.

The chase had proceeded for about an hour or so by that point, with neither side showing any sign of stopping anytime soon. Kyoden had just about given up on the prospect of losing the knight in the forest. He turned his head and looked behind him just to make sure that the knight was still there and pulled out a pair of metal tonfas from the inside of his jacket. At the next tree that Kyoden leaped to, instead of leaping to the one after, he had transferred his weight in the opposite direction and leaped back at the pursuing Rune Knight in an attempt to catch him off guard. Kyoden swung one of his arms out wide to hopefully land a blow to the Knight, but the knight was faster than expected and he countered the blow in mid air with his own bow staff that he had just drawn. The two hung in the air for a brief moment until they both pushed away from each other and landed on the forest floor simultaneously.

They both stood there panting for breath for what felt like years, until the Rune Knight came charging forward with his bow staff down by his side to try to hit Kyoden with an upper swing. Kyoden leaned back to dodge the strike and immediately retaliated with a right hook that buried the tonfa in the knights ribs, knocking him back about ten meters along the ground. Kyoden rushed forward to press the advantage but was already being charged again by the now recovered Rune Knight. Their weapons clashed several times in mid-air, with neither being able to cause a hit connect. Eventually, the knight swung to the left harder than he had up until that point, to which Kyoden blocked with both of his tonfas which were pressing against his forearms. This caused Kyoden to skid back about a dozen feet and try to figure out what to do next. He knew he could win if only he could use his magic; but it was a risk that he was not willing to take. It was then that he began to sense a foreign magic presence approaching.

As Kyoden and the Rune Knight continued in their never ending clash, the magic presence that he had sensed just a few moments ago was getting closer; and fast. Before long, Kyoden found himself being ensnared by devilish roots that emerged from the ground below him without warning. He thrashed around in an attempt to free himself, but to no avail. The thorns surrounding him and chaining him in place were of a magic power greater than his own. A black haired woman emerged from the shadows of the tree line; with it being obvious that she was the initiator of the trap. Kyoden looked directly in front of him and saw that the Rune Knight was ensnared as well. The knight flailed around even more wildly than Kyoden and had the look of true fear in his eyes. The kind of fear that one experiences only once or twice in their life.

The woman who had imprisoned them threatened the Rune Knight, which only strengthened his fears. But she looked at Kyoden and questioned who he was. Kyoden looked at her with anger in his eyes, but he kept a calm tone in his voice, albeit, blatantly laced with quivers of his internal rage. "Who I am is irrelevant. You can keep the Rune Knight for all I care. In fact, it would be better if you did."