It let out a quiet sigh.

Such a troublesome obstacle, this water.

It picked up a handful of dirt and threw it into the water.

Naturally, it floated to the top and then dissolved. It thought about what that water would do to flesh and bone. Even it would wear down after extended exposure to that acidic water.

It let out another sigh.

It held its' forefinger and thumb together...

It hadn't thought to use it so soon, but this sea is an insurmountable obstacle without it.

It pulled its' forefinger and thumb apart, and in the space between...

Something glinted.

---

The girl rose from the cot that had been laid out for her use, and stepped out of the cabin.

Kneeling in a line, the six brothers held round wooden boards with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, chicken, beef, and cod.

Of course, all of the items were not quite healthy, but the land itself wasn't healthy.

The girl took the cod in hand, walked to the waters edge, and gave it a light toss into the water.

Nothing happened.

The girl let out a grunt, walked back to the six brothers, and selected an onion. Walking back to the coast, she sat down and snacked on the vegetable.

The six brothers offered the other food, but it was refused. Confused, the six go back into the cabin to store the food. When they come back out-

Water rained from the sky, splashing down upon the beach. It sizzled slightly, but not enough to be noticeable. The reason for the displacement of water was...

The fifty-foot eel, with a cod clenched in its' teeth.

The six brothers hurriedly retrieved their staffs, but was waved back by a laughing girl.

"Ha ha ha! Back off, boys." Said the grinning assassin. "This ones' mine."

Taking out her cord, she measured a length of the metal and began to spin it. Building up momentum, she let fly-

-And it wrapped around the head of the eel. As soon as it wrapped once around the head, the girl pulled with a heave-and did nothing except aggravate the eel. Turning its' head to look at the small girl, it seemed to have a mischievous grin.

The eel jerked its' head backward, and the girl-still holding tightly onto the cord-flew in a not-so-graceful arc over its' head and fell into the water.

The girl felt the wind of the ride-the thrill of the speed-the power of the eel. Then she felt the stinging sensation of slamming into water face-first.

The eel seemed to be amused, but changed its' priorities. One tiny fish was not a very good appetizer, but maybe six fleshy snacks could lessen the hunger...

Except, the cord was still wound around its' head.

With a splash, the water erupted where the girl had sunk, and she stood at her full height-which happened to be four-eleven-and-a-half.

"Now, you wiggling worm..." growled the girl, steaming slightly and with red skin from the water, "You're going to be my cute little pet for a while, kay'?"

With one arm, she gave a yank on the cord. To the eels disbelief, it was pulled slightly. In retaliation, the eel yanked its' head back violently-

She smiled.

The girl was pulled over the eels' head, speeding toward the ground-

And then the girl flipped the cord, and suddenly she was spinning around the eel. It tried to keep its' eyes on her, but she spun faster and faster, seeming to pick up speed-

She landed, feet first, on the back of the eels' head. Pulling the cord roughly back, she raised the eels' body. Digging her heel into its' spine, she forced its' body to the ground. Holding it down, she whispered next to its' head.

Yanking the eel upward, she looked back over the six brothers. Giving a one-hand salute, she turned away. "Thanks for the care, fellas! If I ever see you again, I'll try and repay you for almost getting you eaten!"

And then she was off, a dot in the distance. She did not hear the words of the six brothers.

"Just like how Granddad said. Like a storm."

"I agree. Though, not as scary as his."

"Hah! As if anyone could be like that...honestly, I think granddad has gone senile in his old age and made up stuff. It's not humanly possible to do the stuff Granddad said the other one did."

The eldest clapped the two brothers' shoulders. "Come, brothers. Standing here talking will do no good." The two who had been discussing the last assassin nodded reluctantly and followed their older brother. But as they were getting ready to get back to work, they heard one last sentence from their eldest brother.

"Who are we to talk anyway? We never met "Eagle" so we can't really say anything...Wonder what this ones' name will be?"

---

It followed its' guide.

Ever since meeting the strange group of people, it had been on guard. However, they had not tried anything, nor said a word after the initial request.

The request...

Perhaps it could not do it. Perhaps it was impossible. But, these people had helped it. The least it could do was try. Besides...

If it is going to kill the emperor, doing the impossible must become easy. Then it can start thinking about the hard stuff.

While thinking, its' guide had brought it to a wide space that was relatively flat. Here, it had a very particular task...

From behind a hill, a massive furred beast rose with the silence of a predator. From foot to shoulder, it was two men high. From snout to tail it was five men long. Fur poked out in tufts, and it appeared sickly and old. Strength, however, still flowed through its' muscles.

With the growl familiar to the wolf family, it pounced.

Stepping calmly to the side, it brought its' gauntlet around and cut a shallow gash across its' shin. It recoiled in pain, growling in pain. A hissing noise, followed by the sound of dripping-

And the beast was untouched.

The two killers eyed each other, assessing the others' ability. Both were satisfied.

Hurling themselves toward each other, the sound of gauntlet against claw and fang resounded.

The two sisters watched it carefully, Never before had they seen something like it, the way it moved with smooth, almost mechanical movements. The way the two combatants moved in relation to each other seemed as if they were dancing, if holding each others' hands broke bone and send fingers and sparks flying. Each twirl sprayed the ground with blood, dying the grass red. Every time they clashed, more wounds appeared on the beast, and it breathed just a little harder. The thing was, the beast rejuvenated its' wounds, whereas it just became more and more fatigued.

Unconsciously, one of the brothers stepped forward to help. Turning like lightning, the beast leapt toward him, jaws opened-

It kicked the dirt beneath it, sending dirt and grass flying. Stamping its' foot into the ground, it levered itself into position, set its' stance, and spread the fingers of its' gauntlet.

With a savage Crack the lower jaw of the beast was broken, and the skin holding it came off, the skin and muscle torn off by its' own weight. The beast took one look at the piece of itself that could no longer move, then the beast grunted.

Bubbling liquid boiled up from the beasts' veins, and the wolf let out howls of pain and agony. With a mighty crack and snap, a fresh set of gums and teeth grew from the beast. Testing its' new, lip less jaw, it seemed to be permanently grinning without skin covering its' lower mouth.

The two combatants stood, facing off against each other. Intense, furious eyes from the beast, and calm, collected gaze from it.

Then it stood up straight, lowered its' gauntlet, and sighed. Nearby, the siblings heard..."I really don't want to...but if I don't, I'll run out of juice and die...but I really don't want to..."

Then it came to a decision, and looked up. Extending its' arm-"I apologize, noble beast. I will have to use dishonorable methods to finish you, as I have a duty to complete."

The beast howled, gnashed its' teeth together, and pounced-

"Forgive me, it must be done."

Taking out a cord, it stepped to the side, threw the cord skillfully, and took hold of the opposite end. As the cord wrapped around the front legs of the beast, it whipped the other end of the cord around the back legs, tangling them. The weighted ends of the metal cord spun around the legs of the beast, Like a chiken with its' legs tied, the beast fell heavily onto its' side and struggled to get up.

It jerked and bit, tore and strained, but the metal cord did not break. Then a shadow came between its' eyes and the sun...

"Be not afraid, I will soon send a friend to meet you. Just wait a while."

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Then it raised its' gauntlet, and pierced the beasts chest.

However, even burying its' hand up to the wrist, it could not deal a fatal blow. Spreading its' gauntlet, it let the claws tear and shred the beasts' flesh at it withdrew it. Then it tore back into the beasts chest, ripping out its' muscle and fat as if hollowing out a pumpkin.

Ripping, tearing, widening the hole, the beasts howled, crazed with pain and whimpering in agony. Each time it would tear open the beasts chest, it would replace the missing flesh. But, after half an hour of work, it was halfway inside the beast.

It ripped out organs and flesh faster than they could be replaced, and carved it out like a glacier carving a valley. Taking everything that got in the way and tearing it out or cutting it into ribbons, it slowly inched toward the heart...

And then, the gauntlet closed around the beasts' heart. The chest of the beast had healed around its' arm, trapping the steel gauntlet inside the beast. It squeezed.

The best howled. It squeezed harder. The beast whimpered. It squeezed harder. The beast looked into its' eyes, pleading, begging, for mercy.

It closed its' hand.

It had given the beast a mercy, of sorts.

The brothers and sisters sat, shocked at the brutality they had seen. It had been so intense that flecks of red had splashed their faces, but they did not seem to notice. One of them hesitantly asked...

"Is that...The Hawks' Tail?"

It looked at the cord, then nodded. "Yes, if that is what you call it. It's real name is "The Hangers Swing" but you wouldn't know. After all, its' user is much better known."

A hundred years ago, the Hawk took the world by storm.

Now it was the Ravens' turn.

---

The boy had gotten used to life in the village.

People were kind, even though communication was slightly inconvenient. The people here spoke in a heavy accent, which made understanding them, and vis versa, very difficult.

Still, things had gotten better.

When the boy had first come to the village, he had been begged for help. Who knew that his actions would have these consequences.

Laying on a wooden table, covered in bandages, he spoke with the elder of the village.

Apparently, some men had set up camp a short distance from their settlement, and demanded food and the such from the inhabitants. The villagers had heard rumors of those who came from beyond the mountain...

"Youza liek Reven in' hwak? weib az bug truble, nead azistents."

The boy had to laugh. Him? Like Raven? Hah!

He had never heard such a good joke. But...

Leaning closer to the elder, he told him to get some things...

Two weeks later, then men from a nearby camp came. They saw an empty village, with a lone, old man standing in the middle of the village on his knees, as if he were praying. The bandits came over, getting ready to shake down the old man-

But the straw bag fell over, and from all around the two hundred villagers rose. The men, who numbered slightly less than sixty, still felt confident. They had rocks tied to sticks, after all.

The last thing each one of those men heard was a solid Thwuak and the screams of those beside them.

Amazing what violence can accomplish. But, if it didn't, who would need assassins?

---

It kicked open the doors.

A fat man dressed in bright red and orange, the signs of nobility and rich merchants/landowners. It gestured for the slaves to move in. Beside it, three-score of gaunt and gleeful men and women barged into the fat-mans home.

"Hey! Stop right the-" objected the fat-mans guard. His objections were overruled by a sickle in the throat, and he was too busy choking on his own bodily fluid to make any more comments.

It gestured for the fat man to be tied up, and smiled broadly as three of its' fellow slaves brought out the plundered contents of the pantry. It nodded proudly. "Good, good. What about the pantry guards? Did they have anything to say about you filthy bilge rats barging in and taking what isn't yours?"

One of the three dramatically hid a shiv behind his back, making exaggerated hand-gestures. "No, no, of course not! In fact, they were right agreeable and just fell out of the way and let us walk right in and take what we wanted, for free!"

It stopped a former slave from slitting the landowners throat. The slave didn't react very well. "Why?" She growled, "This bastard kept us like animals, and took us as he liked, he deserves to die!"

It reached out, and cupped her chin.

"Listen, missy. Forgiveness is a virtue."

She grumbled, but backed off.

The group of slaves approached the docks. A couple guards set off the alarm, bringing together a hundred men in total. the two groups faced off, one outnumbered and under-equipped. The slaves grumbled, and one started to raise his hands in surrender-

From the front of the group, it waved cheerily toward the soldiers. "Oi! My master here wants' to go for a boatride, and he wants some rowers. Wouldja' mind lettin us scallywags through? My master isn't very patient..."

The soldiers, after taking one look at the fat-mans clothes, immediately saluted and left without question, trying to hide their faces. After all, if the fat man wanted, he could buy all hundred of them and have them executed for his pleasure. You do not keep powerful men waiting.

The fat man walked as if he was in charge toward a medium-sized galley, letting the slaves board ahead of him. Once all of them were up, the fat man turned toward it. Sweat was dripping down his forehead.

"N-now c-can I l-leave?"

It tilted its' head inquisitively. "Are you sure? I mean, we won't miss you, but you could come along..."

The man vigorously shook his head.

It laughed good-naturally. "Well, it was a mistake that you were born in the first place. You mother was a rat, and your father smelt of newborn berry's. Say ello' to ol' Davy for me, eh, matey?"

Then it kicked the fat man into the harbor, yelled to the woman. "Now, I know I told you forgiveness is a virtue, but-hey, we all make mistakes! And sometimes those mistakes come in the form of accidentally hitting someone over the head with a large, heavy object while they are trying to stay afloat. Just something to think about..."

Then it untied the mooring rope and pushed off the boat. The slaves were slightly concerned by the fact that it wasn't on the boat. The slave girl was happily whacking the fat man over the head with a long board, and didn't appear to care. The hundred guards gathered in a half-circle around it, and edged closer as the boat drew away-

It flourished its' hands, and uttered in a dramatic voice, "You will remember this as the day that you almost, caught, Captain, Crow!"

The Crow threw its' hook into the crows' nest on top of the mast, and held on. He was pulled off of the dock-

And unceremoniously dumped into the river, sputtering and spitting. Crow started pulling itself up the rope, trying not to drown, and was helped up the last couple of feet by the other slaves. Crow turned around for one last quip-

"Hasta la Vista, B-" An arrow whizzed past its' ear, and it quickly got down. "Let's just stay here in the cool shade, eh, mateys?"

The boat sailed off, full of happy slaves. One of which was very happy after beating a defenseless fat man senseless with a wooden board while he floundered in the water.

---

As I walk down this street, I hear of the arena. Senseless murder of others for entertainment. Beatings in alleys for no other reason than boredom. Debt collectors knifing beggars, guards dragging an unconscious man to a cell, two knights having a duel to show off their prowess.

Why do men fight?

Why do they feel the need to prove that they are better, or that they are stronger?

Why am I going to kill the emperor?

I board a transport ship, manned by seasoned sailors and guarded by veterans. Why do we need to be guarded? Because of predators. Long ago, legends tell of giant beasts that roamed the earth. That was hundreds of years ago, and they were myths, in the minds of everyone.

If they were still here, would the men who so eagerly killed and fought each other instead band together and help?

Would they stop fighting, and go back to being brothers?

No. They would turn back to fighting right after the threat was dealt with. Perhaps my killing of the emperor will help...for a couple years, at least.

That is all I can hope for.