Serch for a Family Treasure

Cathrine nervously put a hand to the charms at her hip, preparing herself for what she was about to do. The cool metal always helped to calm her, it reminded her of her father. A week ago Cathrine had heard rumors about a group of bandit that had started robbing people when they entered this canyon. The rumors also mentioned that the leader of the bandits used a magical sniper rifle. Cathrine knew that it was a long shot, but there was a chance that it was her father's gun, and if that was the case she would do anything to get it back.

The half cat looked over to Vierorin, and felt a twinge of guilt about not telling him the real reason that she wanted to find these bandits. She had told him that they were simply here to stop the bandits and stop them from harming anyone else, it was not a job, but not everything that the Rune Knights did was, so her half truth seemed to have convinced him for now. She wanted to tell him about what she really wanted, but she was not sure if she could handle the shame. She had been to weak and foolish to keep the last things that her father had left her, it brought shame to both her and her fathers magic.

"Alright," Cathrine said in a voice that was more confident then she felt, "keep alert, we are near where the attacks were reported."

Vierorin wasn’t entirely sure why Catherine had been dead set on going after this particular group of bandits, it wasn’t like this was the only group out their antagonizing the locals. He sighed, he knew arguing would be no use since she would have simply dragged him with her anyways… with the help of the little annoying storm insect sitting on his head. Zekkaria studied the surrounding area with an unwavering gaze. “Did the reports ever say how the civilians were ambushed?” She asked while keeping her eyes on the surroundings. Vierorin simply sighed, “Wouldn’t it just be easier for one of us to go act as bait and draw them out?”

Cathrine shook her head at Vierorin's idea, "It would be to dangerous for us to try and bait them," the half cat said in the voice of a teacher, "Do you remember what last time we tried fighting without knowing our enemy? Those bandits almost beat the both of us." Cathrine did not bring up the part where Vierorin had gone berserk and attacked everything in sight. "We need to sneak up on them and get them by surprise since we don't know how strong they are." Next Cathrine looked at Zekkaria, "From what I hear the bandits like to ambush people as they walk through a spot in the canyon where the rocks block the view in front and behind." As Cathrine said this she noticed that due to a rather large rock her view of the next stretch of the canyon. Looking behind she also could not see where they had come from either due to a turn. "Just like this spot... of course." from up ahead on the path Cathrine saw a group of 5 men each carrying a magical weapon. Cathrine turned an saw another group of 4 come from behind them. "Alright kiddys, hand over all your jewels and any weapons." Cathrine silently cursed herself for allowing this to happen. She should have anticipated this, but had been to focused on finding her weapon to think straight. Cathrine took on her most official voice and said, "We are members of the Rune Knights, you have 10 seconds to surrender." Cathrine did not think this would work, but it was worth a try.

Vierorin fidgeted a bit from Cathrines comment, he still can't remember what happened that day fully but the revelation of what transpired still hit him like a brick wall. Zekkaria cocked her head studying Vierorin, she sighed then looked up and tugged at Vierorins hair a bit to bring him back into reality. He saw five men approaching from the front and four from the back, This isn't good... When he heard their demands he clenched his fists, however when he heard Cathrines comment his jaw dropped, She doesn't expect them to actually comply does she...?

He saw the nine bandits burst out in laughter, "We don't care who you are with, we rob everyone all the same!" Vierorin looked up at Zekkaria, she nodded and flew of his head, "Well if that is how you want to play it... Azure Flame Aura!" Blue flames erupted around Vierorin as he lunged forward and punched one of the four men who came from the back, in the jaw, Zekkaria turned to another one of them from the group and started to charge a high amount of electricity on her abdomen, "It is time for us to teach you all a lesson!" Then Zekkaria let loose a lightning whirlwind that impacted another man.

Cathrine had not expected the bandits to surrender, but why did they have to laugh, was it really so hard to believe that the two of them were wizards? The half cat sighed when Vierorin jumped at one of the bandits. Impulsive as always, Cathrine thought as she reached for one of the charms at her side. "Weapon Transformation: Shotgun!" Cathrine raised her newly transformed gun and pointed it at the group infront of her. She briefly considered ordering the bandits to surrender again, but almost instantly dismissed the idea. They were obviously not going to listen to reason, so the mages would have to use force. Cathrine fired her shotgun at the men, knocking two of them backwards. The man who had demanded their money and possessions raised an eyebrow at the two Rune Knights. "Take them down," THe man said, "And make it hurt." All of the men that remained standing pulled out weapons and stared menacingly at the two  mages. Cathrine jumped behind a nearby rock and loaded another round into her shotgun. From what she had seen, the two of them should easily be able to overpower these men. I just hope Vierorin does not lose it again, At that last thought Cathrine could not help but feel shame. She needed to have more faith in her teammate.

Vierorin ducked as someone swung a magical battle axe at him, he managed to dodge it and felt the axe fly over him. Vierorin Quickly countered by kicking the man in his gut making him yell out and keel over in pain. He then followed up with a swift punch to the mans face sending him flying backward. "How are you fairing Cathrine?" Vierorin then swiftly dodged an incoming punch and head butted the last of the bandits he had been dealing with, he then turned to Cathrine to see how she was doing. Zekkaria then flew down and tackled the head of the last bandit Vierorin had hit and pinched his nose before unleashing a bolt water at the mans face to knock him out, "All done over here..."

"I'm doing fine," Cathrine shouted back to Vierorin as she prepared to make her counter attack. She stuck her head up briefly before immediately ducking back down as a bullet whizzed past and exploded a rock that had been just behind Cathrine's head. That was close, she thought as she looked around the rock. She saw that the three bandits that had remained on their feet were now holding weapons, a sword an ax and... "Yes!!" Cathrine excitedly whispered to herself, the bandit who had been ordering her and Vierorin to hand over their stuff was holding what could only be her fathers sniper rifle!

Cathrine ducked back behind the rock again as part of it was destroyed by her fathers gun. Dang it, he is to far way for my shotgun, but maybe I could use that spell I have been practicing. Cathrine closed her eyes and focused on the palm of her left hand, concentrating her magic power into center of her palm. The half cat saw a small ball of energy growing in her palm. When it reached about four inches wide. Cathrine quickly stuck her head above the rock for a brief second, ducking down almost immediately. When the expected shot was fired, Cathrine waited half a second before throwing the orb of energy at the group, praying that it would reach them without fizzling out like normally happened during her training. Cathrine watched as the orb flew and landed right in front of the bandits, making a small explosion that threw one of the bandits to the ground. Cathrine immediately rushed at the bandits that remained on their feet. As soon as the half cat thought that she was close enough to use her shotgun, she fired a round at the group, sending another to the ground. Cathrine continued running straight at the bandits and used the butt of her shotgun to knockout another of the bandits. The last bandit standing was the one that had the gun, and he was still trying to reload it. Cathrine smiled as the hit him in the head with her shotgun. As he fell to the ground Cathrine saw the sniper rifle shrink to  a charm just like the ones she had. "I knew it was here," Cathrine said quietly to herself, "One down two to go."

Cathrine attached the charm to the chain at her waist before turning to Vierorin. "Alright," She said in an authoritative voice, "lets get these guys to jail."

Vierorin watched as the sniper rifle the leader of the bandits was using suddenly shrunk down into one of Cathrines Charms, So that was what this was all about… Vierorin then dispelled the Aura spell and turned around. Zekkaria flew around for a bit before landing on a nearby rocky outcropping and sat there keeping a close eye on the bandits who were now sprawled about around the area unconscious.

Vierorin casually walked up to Cathrine and cracked a wide grin, This is my chance to finally get onto her about something! Hoorah this is my lucky day! Vierorin stood the for a moment and then said, “So… just going after this particular group of bandits for the good of the people right? The Gun had nothing to do with it, Right Cathrine?” He stood the for a moment, when suddenly he felt Zekkaria tackle his head, “I know what you are doing boy, be nice to the person who is essentially your CO!”

Cathrine diverted her eyes from Vierorin and Zekkaria, her ears and tail drooping as she did so. The half cat had hoped that the two of them had not noticed her picking up the gun, but it had not been so. Cathrine tried to find the right words to explain why she had tricked her teammates, “Ummm, well... you see.” For the first time since Cathrine had met Vierorin, she found herself speechless. With a sigh Cathrine decided to tell the truth and hope for the best. “You are right, I wanted to stop these guys because of this gun,” Cathrine gestured to the miniature sniper rifle at her waist. “but not because I wanted another gun,” she added hastily, “I... I needed to get it back, it used to belong to my...” The half cat hesitated, unable to get herself to say that she lost her fathers guns,  not even her team “... the person who taught me my magic, I lost them, and I swore to myself that I would do anything to get them back.” Cathrine turned her back to the fire mage to prevent him from seeing that she was blushing. “I was not sure if I could get it back on my own, that is why I asked you two to come with me.” Cathrine turned back to her teammates. “I am so sorry for lying about it, but I had to get this gun back.” Cathrine hoped that Vierorin and Zekkaria would understand her reasons for deceiving them.

Vierorin stopped squirming after hearing the truth come out of Cathrine, he waited for a moment for Zekkaria to finally stop pinching his hear to let him up. He sat up and sat there a moment thinking, for a moment when Zekkaria went up and landed on Cathrines head. Zekkaria then commenced to pinch Cathrines ear to help drive a point home, “I understand your reasoning for not wanting to tell us, however as a leader, and believe me I see the potential as a leader in you Cathrine, you need to make sure we know what is going on. Vierorin could have accidentally destroyed the very thing you brought us out here for due to him not knowing that was our goal. Becoming a dependable leader is a long road, but, if you manage to become a good leader… he may even listen to you… trusting we can get that blundering oaf to calm down…” Vierorin glared at Zekkaria for a moment and then said, “Leave her be Zekkaria, she didn’t have to tell us, after all we all have our own stories, some of which we don’t necessarily want to share right?” Zekkaria cocked her head for a moment, casting a sad glance his direction, “Lets not let the subject linger any more, Cathrine is there anything else we will need to be aware of coming up?”

Cathrine winced when Zekkaria pinched her ear. She hurt a lot more then the half cat had expected, and she had to fight back the reflex to knock the insect from her head. Cathrine quietly listened to Zekkaria, nodding when she finished. "Thank you for the vote of confidence Zekkaria," She said with a slight nod of the head. When Vierorin said that she did not have to tell them about her past, Cathrine shook her head, "As leader, my job is to keep you guys safe, no mater what." Cathrine had let her shame dictate her actions, she could never let that happen again. When Zekkaria asked if there was anything else they needed to know. Cathrine sighed. I need to tell them, "There are two other guns that I lost, and I need to get them back as well. they were stolen at the same time as this one," She motioned to the charms at her waist, "but I have no idea who has them now." Cathrine sighed "Thank you for understanding, it means a lot to me."

Vierorin looked at Cathrine a moment and then formed a large goofy grin on his face, “Of Course we will get them back Cathrine, and I promise not to destroy them in the process!” Zekkaria quickly flew off Cathrines head and landed on Vierorins head to pinch his own ear. “That is nothing to joke about, family heirlooms are important to many sensible people! And You shouldn’t forget that you have your own issue to keep track off lest you forget??” Vierorin winced and lowered his head at the thought of that thing… “I know that Zekkaria… but I rather not make my thoughts only be on that thing… anyways Cathrine needs help getting her guns back, lets worry less about my own issues and help her out!”