Into the Desert!

"You ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?"

- Kite

Kite had given the order to Pein to revert the engine back to how it was originally was before it was tinkered with. Kite was a nice guy and respected Hika as the Guild Master and Pein being one of higher ranked members of the guild but being that he was captain of the ship and it was his home he was prepared to stand his ground on the subject even though he didn’t expect much of an argument from Pein. Kite had watched as his fellow guild member began to reassemble the engine he heard Pein apologize for taking it apart, even admitted that he couldn’t help but tinker with it, as Pein described it, the urge was like an itch that he absolutely had to scratch. Kite nodded in his direction "Nothing to worry about.“ he said in a less strict of a voice and then continued "While I appreciate the gesture of having a new engine and such, Tailspin is solid.“ he paused as he pressed his hand on the hallway’s wall and smiled "Some of her parts may be outdated could even be considered junk, but it all put together you get a Firefly, she will last forever just as long as it’s tuned up.“ he mentioned but then something popped, an idea just took root in his mind, a solution to the itch that Pein was suffering to itch. "Hows about this, lets scratch that itch, if you feel like tinkering then why don’t you go ahead and tune her up, make her run smooth as she is.“ he was happy with the suggestion and hopefully the techomanic guild member would be satiated with the suggestion.

As Kite began to lead the two guild mates down the hall that lead to the dining area once again, where they could make themselves comfy at the table and work on his fridge for a snack. It was during the little stroll down the hallway that he managed to hear the sound of a small rumbling emit from the stomach of his beautiful guild master, the sound of which caused Kite to turn and look at her as she wrapped both arms around her abdomen and hugged it tightly. The sight of Hika’s cheeks turning red from the obvious embarrassing moment for her, Kite smiled though and waved his hand to the both of them to follow him down the hall. Although he wouldn’t admit that the wave was more so directed at Hika who was showing more signs of being hungry but he didn’t want to point it out, it was clear she was already embarrassed from the noises made. Hika and Pein didn’t waste much time taking a seat at the table and Kite joined them both but he didn’t eat much of anything. Truth be told he had a small something before they arrived not to mention he didn’t do well with eating before a mission but he did sip his coffee while Hika ate her share of burgers, chips and drink but soon chewed and swallowed it down and got down to business. She first addressed the point that Pein had brought up, the possibility of being caught off guard right as they land by stating that when they land they would have to make sure that the coast was clear for them to proceed with their mission. She added the second part of the plan which would be for them to locate their client who was most likely pent up in one of the hospitals in the village. The plan sounded as good as any but he smiled before speaking his piece "Well finding the client would be the least of our worries, for the first part, determining whether the coast is clear wouldn’t be an issue.“ he took a sip of his coffee before he would continue sharing his thoughts with them. "Down in the cargobay, the main floor opens up from the inside, gives access so the ship could drop or pick up larger pieces of cargo. We can open it up and get a birdseye view of the ground, hell if any of you are feeling daring you could drop out on top of any possible opposition.“ he sipped his coffee once more not sure how they would take to the idea of opening up the main floor as a possible tactic "it’s just a thought.“

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"You ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?"

- Kite

Kite nodded to Pein’s statement about not letting his Guild Master starve "He’s not wrong. Gotta be up to full strength for a desert.“ said and then right  after his statement Kite lead his guests to the dining area but that was about as much as he had to do, the dining area of the ship was cosy and smallish with little to hide. There was a wooden table in the center with chairs about, there was a refrigeration unit in plain view, a stove/oven combination unit, a long counter just below hip level and a cabinet unit with nine individual units for storing dry ingredients. Inside the fridge would be leftovers cooked by Kite himself. Hika and Pein had found themselves eating burgers and the like which were also made by the demon slayer. "You two enjoy your food, in the meanwhile I will get the coordinates set and get the ship in the air. Don’t wait for me I won’t be more than a minute.“ he said upon exiting the dining area and crossing past the dorms and up into the cockpit. He sat hard in his seat and turns switches about and pulled back on the steering unit which forced the turbines on the side to fire up and push the ship into the air until the proper altitude was reached. He pushed another sequence of and he spun the wheel which moved the turbine on it’s swivel which caused the ship to rotate in the air until it was facing the proper direction what would take them straight to the village’s location. Once he was satisfied he did the final sequence and the turbines rotated to their proper place and propelled the ship forward. FInished with his business he locked the column in place and the ship would now fly straight to their destination which would allow Kite to rejoin his partners on the job.

His timing was perfect as Hika and Pein were both wrapping up their meals upon his arrival. Kite took a cup of coffee and sat at the head of the table and looked at the two waiting to come up with a solid plan, in the meantime he used his heat on the mug to warm it up some. It was then that Kite contributed the idea of using the ships cargo bay’s cargo doors in the floor to look and drop down from above. The idea was well liked among the other two and that is when Pein went a head and pulled out some gagets, one was an ear piece for communication which Kite looked at and put in his pocket. He wasn’t a fan of putting things in his ears like this unless he had to which is why he held onto it, in the desert the idea of having to go to desperate measures if things went south was extremely possible. The second gizmo was turned out to create a holo map of the village, it had the entire layout in front of them giving the three some idea of what things were and where they were. Pein pointed out the hospital in the northern area of the village, where the client was recovering from his experience in the desert. Pein made it clear he didn’t want to risk traversing the slums which seemed to make sense. Hika voiced her opinion of how she was perfectly fine with it and Kite then nodded. "Agreed, As much as I would like a good brawl a fight would complicate things. I want smooth as possible.“ he sipped his coffee knowing that this job won’t be smooth in the slightest, the possibility of monsters and the like waiting for them but the smoother the better. Hika excused herself from the table and headed towards the Cargobay while Kite went to the cockpit to alter the course and stabilize the ship for the other two to drop out. "You two take the plunge, I will land the ship right next to the hospital and approach by foot.” While Kite altered the current course to have them hover above the medical facility Hika had pressed the button on the panel, not the one that would open the hatch in the floor but the one for the ramp. He could tell by what the ship was telling him and he smiled. "Looks like I get to dive also.“ After the two had already jumped Kite guided the ship so it was a few meters off from the facility and arranged the speed and activated the landing gear so it would slowly descend into a landing. With a grin Kite sprinted down the fore deck hall and made a sharp left which lead to the stairs that descended down to the catwalk’s upper level. Kite vaulted over the rail landing on the lower floor of the cargo bay rolling on impact. He rolled to the panel and pushed the button that would pull the ramp back up and while it was being pulled closed Kite sprinted at full speed up the ramp as it got higher and he dove out the closing opening and went through the air like his mates. "Fire rocket.“ he said and forced flames to expel from his feet which slowed his descent until he landed on the roof of the hospital with a lightened thud. "That was fun. We all here?“ he asked looked from them and watched his ship land smoothly near them with a smile now formed. "Now we are.“


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"You ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?"

- Kite

Kite followed Hika inside the hospital after making his landing right near where she had landed but as it would appear Pein had missed the landing and was nowhere near them  in fact his guild mate managed to crash into a building so he was sorting that out on his own. Hika’s enterance caused glares to be fixed on them both but Hika quickly resolved this by claiming they meant no harm and asked to speak to the client Sir Jones in private so Kite stood outside of the room with his arms crossed as he listened in on the conversation Hika was having with the client and it was pretty cut and dry what had to be done, out in the desert there were treasures that this Jones fellow managed to uncover or so he claimed to Hika but he and his men were attacked by the creatures in the desert while they were searching for this lost treasure. Kite paid close attention to the details of the man's story and entered the room as he said he would pay any costs to reclaim the treasure ”So by reclaim you mean you already know where it’s located? You've been there?“ he asked the man merely seeking as much detail as they would need.  Jones gave the demon slayer a nod “that's correct young man. My team had its location discovered even had it mapped out to the shifting of the sands but then we were attacked.” Kite crossed his arms ”so point blank we find your crew one way or another and we find the treasure?“ and once again he received a nod. His eyes met Hika’s as she asked if they were up for the job ”yeah sounds simple enough, what would our heading be.“ the man pointed at a satchel on a chair to which Kite opened and extracted a rolled up piece of parchment “that is a map that leads you from here to there, it tends to alter but if you follow the general direction then you should find it...and my crew…” His voice was shaky and sad which made Kite feel bad for fate of his lost men ”if we find your men I will lay them to rest for you.“ he said trying to reassure the man whether it worked wasn't discussed it was time to go. Just was he was about to exit the room the sound of yells and shouting could be heard outside of the building causing the slayer to be generally concerned ”What's the noise about.“ one of the doctors spoke up “people, the wrong sort seem to be anger about damaged that your falling man caused. ”perfect, okay Hika why don't you and Chel smooth this out I'll go on with the job. This shouldn't take long.“

He exited the hospital and followed the map the client provided him into the desert heading west. He wasn't sure how long he had to walk but he continued on regardless with the heat beating down on his neck and back but luckily heat wasn't a problem for him it was right at home for him. During his trek he came across the desert he stopped to rest on a flat rock but the second he did heard when he heard a strange sound a coming from behind him, he couldn't place where he had heard it before but what he had been hearing it soon had an ugly faces the second he turned to see it. A long tail erect into the air shaking about making a rattle sound with the face of a rattlesnake with slit eyes staring at him coiled and ready to strike. ”Greeeaaat.. Nice and slowly I'll go that way you stay right there “ he said in a reasoning tone as he stood up but the action must have started the snake who uncoiled and went at Kite looking to stick him with his fangs but luckily Kite’s reaction time was faster and caught the reptile by its neck before it bit him and looked at the snake with a ferocious look and then squeezed right on the neck crushing it beneath his grip. With a slight shudder he drop dead snake into the sand ”Snakes, hate snakes.“ with those words he carried on not really feeling the whole resting thing anymore. He walked for what seemed like an eternity the never ending sands were enough to drive someone mad but in the closing distance he saw what looked like an abandoned caravan and he immediately headed for it being that it was the first sign of human life since he entered the desert. The closer he got the more apparent it was that the caravan was abandoned and possibly the one his client was apart of before things went wrong during his own exploration and treasure hunt. Kite inspected the nearest carriage which looked like one you would see on an old western like Rawhyde and noticed very little damage so he looked inside and was surprised to see two men sleeping inside shaded from the sun but before he could sneak away one woke up. “Ey who the hell are yew!” Kite backed away from the occupied caravan quickly as the two men poured out holding knives while a third one came from one of the other carts a head. “Yous gonna be sorry you stepped foot here, this here be our claim.” Kite nodded ”By claim you mean the treasure?“ he asked but they all stayed silent in surprise that he knew about it. “How do ya…” Kite shook his head ”Doesn’t matter. Are there any more of you clowns about?“ the insult caught the ire of the one who came up on his own “there is only three of us, that will be plenty for a scamp like you.” Kite chuckled ”That’s a shame..“ the tattoo on his hand shift and the flames enclosed on the heart depicted in the tattoo ”That only three of you will get to see the gates open.“ the tattoo glowed a golden color and from in front of him on the ground a golden ripple appear with the handle of a sword sticking out from it and continued upwards until the handle was in his hand, once it was gripped Kite pulled the large sword free from it. ”Even with the three of you here, this won’t take long.“ he stated as he laid the sword on his shoulder. Two of them charged at Kite at the same time with their blades out and ready to strike the Demon slayer. With the handle and pommel of the sword he deflected the first knife away from him while he used his free hand to redirect the second’s knife so it stabbed his friend in the shoulder. He screamed from the pain and with the confusion now on the field of battle Kite swung his large sword with the blunt side and slammed it into both mades sending them crashing into the sand leaving one left. ”You still wanna try your luck my friend?“ he asked the lone bandit who seemed to weigh the options at hand in his head “You won’t catch me off guard like them Yahhh!” he charged in but all Kite did was toss his sword at the man at the last moment which caught the man and sent him crashing back to the sand with his body pinned under the massive sword. ”Get out of here before while you can.“ he picked up the sword and walked away towards the little bit of loot that was in the sand behind the carriages but the bandit didn’t heed his words and looked to shank Kite from behind, unaware of his enhanced senses Kite heard every move and turned and rotated around the knife strike and threw a stiff right hand into the man’s face dropping him instantly. ”Told you.“

Kite entered the large area that was designated at the treasure area on the map he had, there were no signs of survivors or bodies but at least he was at the location and was that much closer to the job when all of a sudden out from the sand a large snake with a glare in its eyes and fangs that looked like the size of the rattlesnakes rattle tail. ”Can I trade you in for a rattler instead?“ knowing that this thing was here to kill and nothing more. Kite made the mistake of looking into it’s eyes which managed to cause damage somehow, it was like a nerve was struck in his head… that wasn’t good the thing’s glare caused damage which meant he would have to fight with his eyes closed. As his eyes closed he began to rely on his other senses inparticular his smell and hearing, he couldn’t feel much of anything but the sand which gave no vibrations to its movements but the shifting in the sand gave it away. Kite was almost in a mediated state by the time it decided to attack which is when Kite jumped above it but left his sword stuck in the sand so all the snake would hit was a two tone brick wall of a sword. Kite jumped down on its back and held onto it like a rodeo. ”No more play time now this is getting old. Flame Demon’s Burst strikes.“ his fists became encased in a white outline created by his flames and he immediately started to punch the beast he threw one punch to the back of it’s head followed by a swift hook shot to the side of it’s face which angered it enough to shake Kite of sending him into the sand. He rolled in the sand and came to his feet just as the large basilisk charged at him with his fangs bared ready to chomp down on the slayer. Not having any of that Kite caught that the mouth with his hands around the fangs and his foot pressed down on the bottom of its mouth stopping it’s biting action from completing, the smell of the venom and its breath was a bad combination ”good god, breath mint before you try to eat someone. “ he said as he let let one hand come off the roof of the mouth and threw a hard bunch still encased in his flames right behind the fangs in an uppercut like punch twice with the second one causing flames to shoot through the outside of its mouth from the tiny explosion that the punch created. The Basilisk fell limp which brought Kite down with it but he crawled out from under it. ”Wow that was heavy..I can live without seeing that again.“ he said as he stood up dusting off the dry sand from his pants while scraping the saliva drenched sand from everywhere else. ”Just what I always wanted, dried snake spit all over me.“ he was ready for a shower the second this was all over but for this to be all over he would need to find the treasure which meant he needed to explore every inch of the area. It took about two hours or so but he did search every inch of the area depicted on the map to the point where he was about to give up on searching for this hidden treasure but out of the corner of his eye he noticed something in the sand partially hidden in the sand. At this point it was worth investigating and upon his approach he was able to make out the edge of a wooden crate ”That must be it.“ he said to himself but he forced himself to skid to a stop the second he saw it. Coming towards him was a large creature, it was almost hidden in the color of the sand but there it was a gigantic scorpion the size of an average vehicle with three stingers on its tail. Kite put his sword away inside the gate and let his aura flow from his body in the form of white flames. ”Time to roast some scorpion.“ he said as he charged in at the scorpion head on. The scorpion stopped mid stride and trusted one of the stingers at Kite who dodged one, and then two but the third one grazed his arm it was painful and there was a trickle of blood going down his arm and dripping off his finger but the wound was more than a cut, he could feel the strange feeling circulation in
throughout his body. ”Venom….I wonder if this is the monster that the old man mentioned in the job post. I gotta end this fast so I can treat this wound.“ He flare up his aura again and jumped onto the back of the scorpion and held onto it by one of the protruding pieces of its exoskeleton to get his balance, he was in a good spot on its back, it wasn’t able to shake him off despite it’s larger size and it was out of the range of its tail. He held on with one hand while he chambered back his right hand and let the flames swirl largely around his knuckles, large enough infact that it looked like a whirlpool of flames but it all condensed down so it was barely visible unless you looked at his knuckles closely he held arranged his hand so it was straight with the fingertips pressing against the scorpion’s back, he snapped his straight hand into a fist while driving his knuckles down onto the back of the scorpion ”Flame Demon’s Exorcising strike! “  and an explosion rocked into the Scorpion’s back. It roared in pain and began to run around with Kite on it’s back trying to knock him off every which way but he still held on with one hand and gathered his flames into his hand and let go of the beast and cupped his hand together and produced a fireball made completely of his Demon Slayer flame ”Flame Demon’s Calamity!“ he slammed the mid sized fireball like a basketball into the back which made the Giant arachnid’s legs give out and press it’s belly to the sand. Kite squated down and launched himself into the air while inhaling ”Flame Demon’s Rage!“ he let loose a plume of fire from his mouth which collided with the beast’s back and helped propel him into the air gaining more altitude. ”Now I finish this! Flame Demon’s Inferno Destroyer!“ he put his hands in the air and created a giant sphere of his demon flames and hurled it at the scorpion catching it with sphere as well as the explosion that came afterwards turning it to complete ash. Kite landed down next to the mark in the sand where it had been and dusted himself off. ”Not bad.“ he said as he walked over to the crate that was still showing and pulled it out. As payment for this he got to pick a treasure from within the crate as a reward and he was about to get his payment and as soon as he picked the item he began his march back to the village where the client would be waiting as well as an antidote for the venom that was in his system thanks to the scorpion sting.
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